A tale of two Nations

Who takes pride in a measley division in 

No better than the miser who covets others’ provision. 

And he thinks that the power of quantity

The dumbing down of all and sundry

The masses, the tabloid rabble, with fierce names 

“Does power the engines of progress?”

So that there come to sway over them

A lesser Napoleon, from a lesser tale

Who taunts at a religion 

That makes the rich the brother of the poor 

That makes wealth not sought for.

A burden, more burdensome than ever before 

Instead a perfectly mercantile society, where there is no division 

No cat/ mouse, no counter revision. 

No proletariat- bourgeoisie schism. 

Just a people who revel, each, in the giving. 

A Nation built on one commonality 

That each is equal 

But much more so 

those that live in poverty.

The engines here are not for one over the other 

The engines here are for one giving to t’other.

END

Western society sees the division between rich and poor as being a necessary evil that spurs progress. But not so Muslim society which makes the rich man the brother of the poor man.

Ta Ha

Alchemy of the Soul

The transformative power of the religion only begins with the testimony of faith. 

When Umar (ra) the then arch enemy of the faith set out to murder Muhammed (saw) he was told that he should see to his own household first, for unbeknownst to him his sister had entered the religion. 

After aggressively slapping her, he felt remorse and asked for her to read what Muhammed (saw) had been sent. 

She read the first verses of Surah Taha, and later Umar said that it was as if the revelation had been revealed just for him. 

It spoke directly to him. 

TaHa

We have not revealed unto you this Quran that you should be distressed by it. 

But as a reminder unto him who fears. 

A revelation from the Creator of the earth and the high heavens. 

The most merciful who is established on the throne (of authority). 

To Him belong all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth, and whatever is between them and whatever is beneath the soil. 

And if you pronounce the word aloud (or keep it hidden, then it matters not), for to Him belongs the knowledge of what you keep secret, and what is still more hidden. 

Allah, there is no god but He, and to Him belong the most beautiful names. *1

Why did these verses have such a transformative effect on Umar (ra)?

For he was a man of a single heart,  not devious, nor cunning but simply true to whatever he believed to be true. 

And he had seen and worried about the new faith, that it had set father against son, son against father and brother against brother. 

And this discord within his community was a source of dismay and distress to him. 

So much so that it was the very reason that he had wanted to end it by ending the Messengers life. 

So with the first line of TaHa it was as if this pain that he was feeling was being directly addressed: that Truth is simply that, even that is when it distresses people it still remains true. 

And the clarity, simplicity and beauty of the message made it an evident truth. 

And then the decisiveness of the judgment was made clear ... it does not matter whether you declare its truth or not, for Allah knows what you keep secret and those things that are still more hidden in you. Then should you not submit your will to the One who knows you better than you know yourself?

Umar (ra) set out with loosened sword to kill the Messenger (saw), and ended up on that same day bearing witness to his truth and the Oneness of God. 

Indeed the revelation of the Quran is a psychological manual on many levels. 

Indeed when we read the battle of Uhud in the historical account given by the Seerah and then compare it to the account given in the revelation then we see a disparity. 

Unlike other revelations given to other prophets which were in essence prophesies of the future, the revelation of the Quran (like in the Uhud example above) occurred after the fact. 

It is as if God is teaching us that things happen, but what is more important than the fact of the happening is your interpretation of what happened. 

It is what you decide to take from it, and how you remember it, that can act as a positive spur for you to go on from there. 

At Uhud the Messenger (saw) and the Muslims were defeated. 

And yet the Messenger (saw) said of Uhud that it is like a mountain of gold for the believers. 

Who other than a Messenger could have said such words?

Knowledge is sought through study and contemplation. Not lecture, nor talks, nor this above. 

*1 Ibn Ishaq tells us that it was recited to verse 14- Verily I am Allah, there is no God but me, so serve me only, and establish regular prayer to remember me. However the words establish prayer belong at earliest to a late Meccan period. 

The Declaration of Faith as Protection

“Every action is by it’s intention”

Strangely this facet of our belief on one occasion does an about turn. 

Every action shall be judged by its intention, is a means for us to check our intention before the action. For us to check our action before it is too late. 

The English have another saying which is no less true: “the path to hell lies paved with good intentions”. The Khawarij did not intend harm, but their ceding from Ali (ra) on grounds which proved that they knew nothing of the religion beyond it’s rituals, said more about who they were and where they were destined for, than those rituals themselves. 

The one act that in our religion completely turns this understanding of intention preceding action on its head, is the one thing that makes us Muslim in the first place. 

For when we suggest that a person take the Shahadah, we are not required to check and interrogate their beliefs. 

We do not need to ensure that their intentions are pure. 

Indeed it is the declaration of faith that guarantees protection. 

Classically we all recall that when Ali (ra) was fighting an enemy and he spat on him, that Ali left him be, because he did not want to fight out of anger. 

The fight was fought for good over evil, and once it became personal then that pure fight left him, and he left it. 

Likewise on a field of battle it is the saying of the Shahadah that conferred protection, even that is when the enemy was at his last straw. 

It is this fact of our religion that conferred on it the erroneous idea that Islam was spread by the sword. 

Because once said irrespective of your intention, whether to avert your imminent death, or for any other reason, it was accepted as a fact. 

That the saying of it did not require us to check their beliefs, nor even instruct them in the prayer, nor in anything else except as they wished and wanted. 

They were Muslim. 

And were counted amongst the brotherhood and sisterhood of Islam. 

Indeed it is the Shahadah that confers protection on us all, as is narrated in Hadith ul-bitaka, that Muadh (ra) only gave up to us on his death bed. 

And then we have the case of the man who came to the Messenger (saw) whilst a battle raged, and asked to be allowed to fight alongside the Muslims. 

The Messenger (saw) asked, are you a Muslim?

The man said no, and the Messenger refused. 

Thrice this happened and thrice was the refusal. 

And then the man took his Shahadah and was allowed to fight with the Muslims. 

Consider the Messenger (saw) knew what his response would be on to the two following questions and yet continued to ask “Are you a Muslim?”

The Shahada does not need to be heartfelt, because the transformative power of it is awe inspiring. 

Indeed many people who enter into the fold of Islam talk about a weight being lifted from them, or about the intense feeling of them doing something which is incredible. 

But we who are born into it, cannot feel this transformative power unless we enter into it in fullness. 

The Shahadah- I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except the One True GOD, and Muhammed is his Messenger-

• is enough to clear all of your sins, to make you as a new born baby in both God’s eyes and the eyes of the Muslims. 
• is enough to make you accepted as a fellow Muslim, by the whole brotherhood of Islam. 
• is enough to confer protection upon you, for in essence it is a treaty that you bind with the Most Gracious. And that the Muslims honour. 
• is enough to guarantee you paradise, if you stay true. 

 Knowledge is sought through study and contemplation, not through lectures and talks, nor this above.