Modern Man

When you read “The Histories” Herodotus, then what should strike you is how little man has really changed down from those 2,500 years, when it was penned. 

It’s true that the ways and means that we allow ourselves to be socially organised under, really do determine who we inevitably will become and what we will achieve. And yet 2500 year old man, was essentially the same as today’s man. 

Just as the Athenians were the same people as the Spartans, for they were both Greeks, but what crucially made them different were their differing modes of social organisation. 

And it is this realisation that should put the lie to the modern held belief in the natural progression of man. That there is something inevitable about us becoming better, more efficient and more happy. 

In reality man either regresses or advances based upon the social mores the he chooses to live under. 

And the reality is that that choice is yours to make on a daily basis. 

And that is one of the reasons as to why the last revelation sent to mankind came down over a period of 23 years, in order to bring into existence the perfect society of man- the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. 

But Real Man- individual Man, his needs, desires and what drives him- has not changed one iota past the advent of Modern Man around the era of Ibrahim (as) (circa 3000-4000 years ago). 

Most pertinently God declared Ibrahim (as) in His Speech to be the father of us all; the father of the Muslim Nation. 

When you deliberate upon the speech and actions of our father Ibrahim (as), as contained within our scripture, then his intelligence is clear to behold.  

And when you deliberate upon the actions and sayings of our Messenger (saw) then you can only marvel at his intelligence. 

From the manner in which we cut our nails and share a date-fruit, all bear the hallmarks of someone who allowed his intelligence to bear even upon each supposedly mundane action. 

One of the hallmarks of our religion is it’s insistence on using our intelligence and our rational faculties, this even though we admit to there being a hidden World that we cannot see. For the Quran declares many a time, “We did this to make you think”. As if part of the continual blessing of it, is that it continually challenges us. 

The contradiction here, between believing in an Invisible World and focusing on rationality as a tool, belongs only to those who have no faith, and cannot see past the trees to the forest, and the evident intricacies, and care, that abounds.

Here our rationality, that is guided by the Speech of God, first hand is asked to consider that very Speech. Can it have come from any other, other than the Most Gracious? Could Muhammed (saw) have penned it? And at every instance of the Quran challenging us to think, we come back to the fact that it is unique, immutable and clearly a revelation sent down, and protected, from on High. 

But most incredibly our Messenger (saw) showed us that our rationality should extend beyond that and encompass our whole life, and not just our religious life. 

And yet it is human to house contradictions within one body. 

When we examine v4 of S Azhab *1, it is interesting when we deliberate that in essence what makes each of us unique is the capacity to house contradictions, and to live with them. And as I hinted in a previous post, maybe it’s this that necessitated abrogation as a phenomena within the revelation of the Qur’an. 

Even more interesting is that the Qur’anic speech talks of Abrogation and yet I am hard pressed to find a real example of it, that cannot be explained by a contextual reading. Maybe abrogation was in itself abrogated? That is a question for another day. 

Even with this understanding that people are essentially complex creatures, having and fulfilling multiple identities with layers of hidden motive, that we should still strive to rationalise within each of their respective remits. 

Because rationalising here means ironing out the contradictions within each of those distinct remits. Just like when the Most Gracious rebuked the Qurayshi idolaters- “What for you the sons, and for Him (God) the daughters?” This because the pagan Arabs called the angels- daughters of God. 

What rationality demands within each of those remits is a focus on being true, just and faithful, but being primary to the goodness that resides within each of our souls. Not allowing the expression of falsehoods, injustices and faithlessness. 

So for example the hats and roles, that determine who I am, are varied. 

As a boss, it is my duty and obligation to pay my staff on time, and to not over-burden them with duties and tasks. 

As a father my duty is to both provide materially and spiritually, to set out limits to freedom as a means of allowing my sons to grow into those freedoms via understanding their consummate responsibilities. 

As a social creature, my responsibility is to overlook my fellow brothers errors when they impinge on me, but when they do an injustice to another to correct them and not overlook their errors. 

To myself, my responsibility is to ensure that the livelihood that I earn comes from a halal and clean means. And that the company I keep must be sound, and I should not associate with those that slander another, or cause fitna, even when they smile and joke as if it were a nothing. 

To my wife, my responsibility is that I must provide her both with my time, my company, and lots of loving care. 

To my parents, my responsibility is to keep their company and to be kind to them even as they looked after me as a child. 

But all of these complex and differing roles vie with one another, and it is this that causes both friction and conflict within ourselves. 

That is the reality of what it means to be a man, and that has not changed down through the ages. 

Knowledge is sought through study, deliberation and contemplation. 

Not lectures, nor talks, nor this above. 

May this be a door for you to contemplate for yourself. Aameen. 

*1 Al-Azhab v4, when you contemplate this then your heart will be uplifted. For it is an argument brought by the Most Gracious, and what it points to is incredible. For it is neither literal, as an argument from a literal point of view would carry no force. Allegorical off course the heart points to love, but explain the conflict alluded to? And actually allegorically barely catches the truth… go further and contemplate the context. 

I will give you no more hints, except that it is worthwhile. 

Legitimacy and Authority

Legitimacy and Authority 

The question of both legitimacy and authority is often not framed using either of these words, even though they are central to our understanding of society, at large, and that of our beautiful religion, that concerns itself most with our social order. 

Indeed the Messenger (saw) said “pray as you have seen me pray”. All legitimacy, and therefore authority, is derived from both his actions and his words. 

His words here command us to heed his actions. 

Furthermore he (saw) told us that he learnt the prayer firsthand from the archangel Jibreel (Gabriel) (as). 

Down through 1400 years, this command to pray “as you have seen me pray” is the bedrock of all legitimacy. Not because it talks of prayer, but because it is like a rope extending down the centuries to a terminus within the Messenger’s (saw) own life. 

However when we are faced with multiple schools of thought, how then can we cope with the demand that legitimacy puts upon us, in the face of difference of opinion. 

Many faced with this dilemma resort to a concept which has more to do with the false religions that predated Islam, and some that to this day still advocate “blind faith” as being the kernel of their religion. 

How can we as a Nation justify our behaviour with appellations to “blind following” (Taqleed), when God’s speech declares “are the blind equal to the seeing?”, whilst also declaring that it is a guide to the pious (muttaqun)?

In Ali Shariati’s system of thought one of the pillars of unbelief is the promotion of ignorance. 

The promotion of Taqleed, which came to be defined in the era following on from the cementing of the four madhabs (schools of legalistic thought), is nothing short of the promotion of ignorance. 

And then for scholars to justify it by appellation to the era directly following on from the loss of the revelationary connection, when the Messenger (saw) left this earthy abode, is just plain wrong. 

It is to remove Taqleed (blind following) from its origins within the sectarianism of the Madhabs (four schools of thought) and to transpose it to the generation that the Messenger (saw) called “the best generation is this generation and the one that follows that, ….”  

There was never any sectarianism in Kufa, nor in Medina, neither in Misr, during those first few generations. And the same is true for the centuries that followed up until the cementing of the Madhabs into four schools of legalistic opinion, that demarked what it meant to be a Muslim during that era. 

Granted that we had moved on from that, because we as a Nation realised that sectarianism had no place within our faith. 

But we still live within its shadow when we justify ourselves using arguments that Taqleed is both beneficial and necessary. 

But if those first few generations did not do “Taqleed”, and granted they were also not all scholars who deliberated on all that they did, before putting it into action, what in the body of knowledge of our religion could give them legitimacy within their practice of that same religion?

“Allah t’ala will never unite my Ummah upon misguidance”

It is as if this saying of the Messenger (saw) was made to solve this problem. 

In Islamic legal theory this is the foundation of Ijmaa’ - the consensus of the scholars- as a source of knowledge. 

But it’s power deepens beyond that. 

For it is with this saying that we can escape from accusing the first generations of blind following, for if they were holding to the commonly held views and practises then they were safe in their justification of those things. 

As the centres of jurisprudence developed in spatially distant lands from Kufa to Mecca to Misr, it is clear that so long as you held to the commonly held views and practices within those centres of population you were safe by virtue of this Hadith. 

Alhamdolillah using it  in a descriptive manner blesses us, and saves the honour of our forbears. Indeed it is said that those that curse the prior generations are themselves cursed. 

But taking it in a prescriptive manner makes it even more powerful as a determinant of what and how we should deal with difference of opinion in this age. 

The scholarly classes have used it in a prescriptive manner to advocate for the Ijmaa  (consensus) of the scholars, and here it’s potential for unification has been thwarted. 

However. when we apply it to our selves and the practice of our religion, and we try and understand the implications that this Hadith brings to us, then it opens a door. 

“Allah will never unite my Ummah upon misguidance”

Says to me when I look at it from the perspective of my own practice- “strip away all that is superfluous, and harken to that which is clear and agreed upon”. 

And this understanding in fact resonates with the clear prescription of the Messenger (saw) to make things easy for the people. 

So for example with this understanding the raising of the hands, between the first takbeer and the right and left salutations over each shoulder, is superfluous. 

It is not agreed upon and therefore should be abandoned. Whereas the first raising of hands at the outset of the SALAAT is agreed upon and should never be left. 

In each matter we should endeavour to strip away that which is not agreed upon, in favour of that which is agreed upon, and when we do this we will realise not just the beauty, simplicity and succinctness of the religion, but we will also make the religion more appealing to humanity. 

This prescription to strip away the superfluous is indeed a powerful tool to unite us all, whilst also allowing for further difference of opinion. And it is a means for guaranteeing legitimacy, and legitimate authority for those that would seek it. 

Knowledge is sought l through study and reflection. Not by attending lectures or talks or reading this above. 

I write to stimulate your thought, and not to spoon feed. 

Alif Laam Meem

Alif Laam Meem

MashaAllah how perfect is the Quran. 

Before declaring that His speech is “without  doubt, a guide to the pious” the Most Gracious starts with what many construe to be Mystic letters as if in response to the Celestial Pen mentioned in the first revelation. (S Alaq):

In that God declares that He taught by the (Celestial) Pen, taught man(kind) that which he did not know. 

Indeed the Quran as a revelation is a question on many levels. What does God mean by prefacing the statement that this is from a book without doubt, a guide to the pious, by those letters?

On one level the Quranic revelation was response to the supplication of Ibrahim (as) for God to send a Messenger to the unlettered people of the Arabian peninsula. The Umiyoon whom he said had never received a message before, precisely because all other messages were heavenly books, sent down. 

And the Umiyoon were a people without writing, without a circumscribed alphabet of letters, and therefore without the knowledge of books. Theirs was a verbal tradition, of stories and poetry. 

And that necessitated the sending down of The Recitation, literally al-Quran. 

Such a phenomenal event that the Quran declares that if it had been sent down upon a mountain, then the mountain would rent asunder, and fall in upon itself, in awe of the Most Gracious. 

Then we see the dual nature of those beginning letters. 

1- That whilst it is a recitation kept alive on the tongues, and in the hearts of the believers, the Most Gracious wanted it to be written down, studied and deliberated upon so He begins with the circumscribed  letters: Alif Laam Meem: and not with their respective sounds: Aaa Laaa Maaa. 

So much so that the Messenger (saw) declared a reward for every Alif Laam and Meem recited even though we cannot really fathom their outward meaning. 

That they are there, as is much of the Qur’an, to develop mankind, to act as a spur and here specifically to teach us the written Arabic language. 

For that is another miracle of the Quran, even aside from it’s protection. We know that the order of compilation of the revelation was as much a part of it as the words themselves. And that it was compiled and that the writing styles evolved to make it easier to read. 

Remember that the original texts had no harakaat, no vowel sounds and no dots to distinguish a “ba” from say a “noon”. 

The script functioned in those earlier days as a tool for memory, as a mnemonic. 

Alhamdolillah thot the Most Gracious made clear the need to write it down and deliberate upon it simply by starting with those three letters and then following them with an undoubted statement of fact. 

And therefore to literally teach the whole of mankind by the pen, that which we did not know. 

The pen then, on this level of understanding, is the command to study, and write and deliberate. 

Indeed when we deliberate and write, something magical happens, and words flow and ideas develop just by the very act of writing. 

Furthermore it is the writing of it that caused its words and ideas to spread far beyond the confines of Arabia. 

2- And then too He prefaces certainty with doubt. That we cannot know with full certainty what He means by these letters, but we can know that something will follow that changes everything. 

And so He annexes the letters that we cannot fully fathom, with words that we can test to see whether they bear truth or underly falsity. 

And so He says that certainty always follows on from doubt for those who believe, and spend out of what the Most Gracious has given to them - of their wealth, whether it be monetary, time or knowledge. 

And that what follows is something majestic  that we need to struggle with to understand, by virtue of His declaration that it is from a book, without a shadow of doubt. 

Indeed just as the cosmos is a sign that points to the Most Gracious, so to does the Quran with its ayahs and signs that demand deliberation. 

And it is these that advanced mankind, wholesale, on an upward path. 

And it is these that when we each deliberate upon them will advance each of us upon the upward paths. 

And indeed God knows best. 

And knowledge is kindled through study and reflection. Not lectures, nor talks, nor this above. 

The Reflection (events invitation)

This Wednesday evening after Dinner from 9:30pm I’ll be holding a taster session on how our reflection on the Quran will progress. 

The ultimate reason for these sessions is to provide a structure so that the reflection can progress along avenues that we can each benefit from, but most of all myself. 

Alhamdolillah Allah t’ala has blessed me with something of this ability, and yet I would never pay claim to being a knowledgeable man. 

But as Allah t’ala calls such people doors in His scripture. Then I would hope to unlock doors for you that you might yourself push through. 

The reflection should never be about providing answers, but about each of our individual relationships both with God and with His speech. 

Primarily what you would learn from these sessions is not to provide people with solutions, but to help them each with their own journeys through their Qurans and ultimately with their own lives. 

To become doors for them, that they might become doors for still others. 

So that you can see and feel the benefit of such an approach first hand I would start the deliberation with something that I know, through reflection, to be Sahih. 

It is not documented, nor can it be found in any book.

So deliberate first upon

*“the man from the furtherest part of town”*

who is mentioned in S YaSin. 

Who is the man?

Who is he referring to?

Who were the three Messengers?

Read the first part of S YaSin and deliberate. And if you come to the session then I will act as a door for you that you might feel the beauty of the revelation. 

My one proviso is that when I teach you, you would likewise teach another in the same manner. Providing hints and guidance, but not the answer. 

Shafi 

RSVP

*Date-* Wednesday 11th May

*Time* from 9:30pm till 11pm

*Address-* REDACTED

*Please inform me if you are coming so that I can arrange for mint tea and snacks*

The Father of our Nation

Over the past few days we have heard many different knowledgeable people tell us about the essence of Islam. 

For sure the Messenger (saw) said that Islam Is Yemeni, meaning that it is all about being considerate and having good manners. And that he was sent to perfect good manners. 

We have also been reminded that he (saw) was in the words of his wife, Bibi Aisha (ra), the walking Quran. 

As I have reiterated many times before the unusual thing about the revelation of the Quran was twofold- it’s non physical nature, and then the fact that it was often sent down after the fact, and in response to the events that occurred during his lifetime. This to teach us the correct interpretation of things. 

So therefore it’s primary impact on the Messenger (saw) would have been on his values. That it was sent to teach us how to interpret the events of our lives, and what to value. 

As we approach the month of Hajj it is pertinent to recall the father of our Nation: Ibrahim (as). And whilst the focus of our deliberations are often upon his and his family’s sacrifice and their consummate submission to God, his life prior to that still factors largely in our scripture. 

His people were idolators (worshiping hand crafted stones) and are reputed to have believed in the stars, and that is why he is said to have feigned illness and intimated that the stars had affected him. 

It is obvious from the story that he was a man of deep contemplation. 

And that even here he did not lie, but allowed his people to suppose what they wished to believe. 

But what is outstanding is the depth of knowledge that can be gleaned from true and deep contemplation. 

We see a like occurrence within another chapter of the Quran devoted to Luqmaan the wise. Luqmaan was neither a prophet  nor a Messenger, and we know this because we are nowhere told that he was. And yet once again through sheer contemplation he is able to garner the central truth of Islam: that associating others with Allah is the greatest of oppressions, from which all other oppressions tend to follow. 

And then also, and incredibly,  the necessity of prayer to the extent that he even advises his son(s) to pray. 

This may sound obvious, but actually when you think about it a bit, this means that his conviction was a deeply held reality. That he knew that he was on the Haqq, and had not a shadow of doubt about it. 

This profound belief is so clear in Ibrahim even before he became a prophet, for when the angel of the fire appeared to him, he is not a astounded nor taken aback but instead refuses his help. 

It is at the appearance of the angel that it could be argued that he attains the station of prophethood since it is here that he is shown something of the hidden world. 

But before that it is sheer rational thought and contemplation that leads him not just to know that there is a hidden World, but that there is One who created and has the authority to do as He wishes (the Sovereign of the Universe) and then to put his trust fully in Him. 

This both from solely contemplating the signs within God’s creation. 

Imagine then when we are gifted both God’s speech and His religion, both ripe with yet more signs. 

And we fail to contemplate them. 

How sorry we are when we feel that God will not guide us, and that His care will only extend to us when we pay due obeisance to those we believe are in the know. 

Maybe it is this that explains the saying of the Messenger (saw) to seek knowledge even if it is to China. 

For it is the traveller that is under the special care of the Most Gracious, and His infinite care extends to those that contemplate in the hope of earning His pleasure. 

*END*

Knowledge is sought through study and contemplation. 

Not lectures and talks, nor this above. 

I write to stimulate thought, and therefore do not posit full texts or arguments as I wish for you to pursue these yourselves. 

My argument stands or fails based upon your pursuit. 

The beautiful story of Joseph (Yusuf (as))

How beautiful is the Quran, and the instruction contained within it. 

When we approach S Yusuf, the first question that we must ask ourselves is it’s time of descent- was it sent down in the Meccan period spanning the first 13 years of the Messenger’s (saw) mission or in the last 10 years where he established the Islamic Polity at Medina?

For the stories of the Prophets most often came down in the Meccan period by way of consolation to the Messenger, so that he would know that the troubles that he had to endure, others had endured before him. 

The story of Yusuf (as) is unlike any of those, for he was not sent to a People neither as a Warner, nor as a Bringer of Glad Tidings. 

Furthermore the first that our Messenger (saw) came into contact with Bani Israel was in Medina. And here it is that the vast portion of the Qur’an that talks about them was revealed. Both as an appeal to them, of the Unitary origin of all revelation and as an instruction for the Community of the Messenger that we should not fall into the same errors that they made. 

So the question begs is the Story to Yusuf a consolation to the Messenger, with it’s beauty, or a means of communal instruction for the Messenger’s Nation?

It is clear that the story is both beautiful and a source of instruction, but the instruction contained within it is deeper and more cryptic than a Medinan revelation. And that it is also unlike the Meccan Surah’s that console the Messenger in regards to the persecution that was metted out to both him and the believers. 

The fact of its unusualness is further brought more home when we consider that far greater Prophets from Bani Isreal are not honoured by having a Surah named after them. 

For of the five greatest Prophets, the two from Bani Israel, whilst figuring greatly in the revelation are not honoured directly with a Surah being named after them - Musa (as) and Isa (as). 

For sure Taha, and many other Surahs concern themselves with the life of Musa, and S Maryam is devoted to the mother of Isa and his miraculous birth. 

But even then it’s clear that there is something special about the story of Yusuf. 

And this alone should make us think that it was sent down within the first 13 years whilst the Messenger (saw) faced persecution within Mecca. 

As a consolation to him in a manner unlike the stories of the Prophets that faced trials and tribulations with their people, and as a cryptic source of instruction. 

The Surah begins with a verse that indicates that the conversations contained within it may have taken place in a language other than Arabic, but they are related in Arabic for our instruction. 

And then Yusuf (as) narrates his famous dream. 

The verse  (5) following on from that is unusual in that it is not how we Muslims are supposed to be. 

  

It’s evident from the Seerah and our way that we do not worry about the plots of Shaitan, that is not to say that they cannot be harmful but that we take them in our stride and continue past them. 

They do not affect us in the slightest, for our honour dictates that we do not revenge, but in stead bear with patience any and all that betray their trust. 

But not only do we not revenge, but whilst we may take precautionary measures against betrayal these measures should not prevent us from being fully open, even with our erstwhile enemies. 

This is the injunction contained within Baqara- “if they incline to peace, then you too incline to peace.”

Worries about betrayal have no place here, for this is the command of God. 

And even if our enemies betray, then that is their loss and our gain. No matter how much pain might come our way because of that betrayal. 

As a Muslim the command of God is greater than any pain that we may suffer due to it. 

This pure honesty we can see within the conduct of Yusuf further into the story. 

For his companion in the jail forgot about him, and then when he comes for advice about the seven lean cows consuming the seven fat cows, we do not see Yusuf scolding him. Nor do we see Yusuf withholding aught of his knowledge and saying bring me out from this place and I will instruct you in the interpretation of the dream. 

Instead Yusuf’s demeanour is completely open, in complete harmony with how our manner is to be. Completely trusting of God’s plan and that ultimately it will be for the best. 

But the greatest clue of what the Story of Yusuf is really to instruct us in is contained in verse 6. 

Reading the verse in the pure Arabic we have a simple conjunction …

“Wa kathalika…..”

Wa is simply “And”

When you approach this first you would clearly assume that the speech of Yaqub (as) continues on from v5 because of the simple conjunction of “and”. 

Remember in verse 5 we have - Qa La - He said, and it’s clear from the content and the fact that in verse 4 Yusuf is addressing his father, that Yaqub is speaking. 

But when you look at v6 and try to understand what is going on, it is clear that v6 is God’s speech and not Yaqub’s speech. 

Essentially God says here :

“so that We could teach Yusuf the interpretation of (dreams / things), so that We could raise him by degrees”. 

“Wa KaDhalika” is simply “And so that”. 

But what is most interesting about this is that the conjunction “Wa - And” is just not necessary and stands out like a sore thumb. 

After all the verse could have read Kathalika - So that We might …

And we would understand that it is simply God’s speech. 

The WA conjunction is simply not logical. 

And that’s what makes it completely interesting and furthermore meaning generating. 

And when we deliberate on it then we see that if it had been missed in error, then it being missing would not have been noticed. 

And this is the miracle of the protection of the Quran. 

For with it, it is as if God links the speech of Yaqub (as) with His speech, as if to say that those words of worry from Yaqub were in some way inspired by Him. 

And then it is as if God says here because of that conjunction 

“and We did this so that We could teach Yusuf (as)…”

Then we would understand from it that the origin of the whole story begins really not with the dream, but with the speech of Yaqub (as). 

It is this that sets in train the whole motion of events. 

Indeed it is clear that when one close to God makes an error then God immediately sends something to correct them, this is God’s blessing upon them. 

And when someone who is distant from God makes an error, then God gives them respite that they might repent and make good their ways and return back to Him. 

The speech of Yaqub (as) was not an error, as God attributes it to Himself, but it set in motion everything. 

If we want to know what S Yusuf is there to instruct us about, we simply have to look at Yusuf’s (as) last words on the matter. 

From it we can see that Yusuf only attributes goodness to God, even despite all that he has been through. 

That the trials that he faced are simply for that reason, to teach him (and us) that how we interpret our lives is the measure of all of us. 

And those who are best interpret them in the best of manners, attributing the best to God and focusing on his blessings. 

The greatest thing about this is that this is exactly what sets the Quran apart from all prior revelations, and this we can see because it always descended after the fact to teach us the proper interpretation of events. 

And that is why S Yusuf is such a special story in regards to its relationship with the Quran. 

Look now again at verse 6. 

How you interpret your life will determine your worth in your future life, both here in this world and then because of that spur to good deeds- in the life to come. 

END 

Knowledge is sought through contemplation and study. 

Not lectures, nor talks, nor necessarily this above.