Qawwali in the Rain!

Peace, one and all…

Here is a very nice qawwali I recently came across, by Sher Ali and Mehr Ali.  It’s split into three parts and is entitled Maula Ali.

Enjoy…

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

 

He Had Sought Me

Peace, one and all…

‘At the beginning I was mistaken in four respects.  I concerned myself to remember God, to know Him, to love Him and to seek Him.  When I had come to the end, I saw that He had remembered me before I remembered Him, that His knowledge of me had preceded my knowledge of Him, His love towards me had existed before my love of Him and He had sought me before I sought Him’
(Bayezid Bistami, may God sanctify his secret)

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Learning to Talk: Concerning Others

Peace, one and all…

Here are some further hadith materials relating to the ethics of speech and interaction.  These relate to the following previous posts:

Learning to Talk

Learning to Talk as a Muslim

Learning to Talk: Some Resources

Learning to Talk: More Resources

Learning to Talk: Some Issues to Consider

Learning to Talk: the Place of Adab

The Prophet (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam) is reported to have said:

‘Whoever spies on a group’s private conversation knowing they would dislike him doing so shall have lead poured into his ears on the Day of Judgment’
(recorded by Imam al-Bukhari)

‘Moderation in spending is half of sustenance, friendliness toward people is half of intelligence and asking good questions is half of knowledge’
(recorded by Imam Baihaqi)

‘The believer is one who is sociable, and there is no good in one who is not sociable nor in one who is not met sociably’
(Imam Baihaqi)

‘Whoever advises his brother concerning a matter, knowing that correct guidance lies in another direction, has betrayed him’

‘Gatherings are to be kept in confidence’
(Abu Dawud)

 ’When there is a group of three, two of you should not converse in private, excluding the third, until you meet others, as it may offend him’
(Bukhari & Muslim)

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Pursue Knowledge, Even Unto China…

Peace, one and all…

As I have struggled to grow towards wholeness, I have been struck by the idea of growth as travel.  I have found the metaphor of travelling both useful and suggestive.  Such a conception is useful because it feels indelibly human: wandering in search of something greater than ourselves seems to be an almost quintessential feature of what it means to be human.  It is suggestive because it implies that we can renew ourselves, we can turn away from psychic dead-ends; we can leave unworthy behaviours and conceptions behind us as we walk; it suggests that beyond all the emotional turbulence of life lies a calm inner self - one which journeys ever onwards.

In an important hadith, the Prophet (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam) is reported to have said:

‘Be in this world as though you were a stranger or a traveller’. 

I find this a particularly profound tradition.  It provides a basic orientation towards life, a fundamental method of being in the world.  A traveller depends on the generosity and hospitality of others.  A traveller must therefore understand and strive to practice the adab of travel, or the proper manners of a wanderer.  Everything that a traveller encounters must be respected and met with honour, especially since we are always so utterly dependent upon the generosity of our True Host, God.  Being a traveller also suggests that the final destination lies beyond this world.

These thoughts are, for me, reinforced by another hadith, in which the Prophet (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam) is reported to have said:

‘Whoever leaves home to seek sacred knowledge is on the path of Allah until he returns home’

On one level, this hadith underlines the value of travelling to learn about Islam, and its injunctions, obligations and responsibilities.  On another level, it could well speak to the idea of leaving our habitual selves behind us as we pursue learning.  That is, if we understand our entire lives as a kind of religious/spiritual journey then we are, insha Allah, in fact always travelling along God’s path.

Another famous tradition is relevant in this regard.  The Prophet (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam) is reported to have said:

‘Pursue knowledge even to China, for its pursuance is the sacred duty of every Muslim’

As I understand it, some scholars of hadith have declared this to be a very weak tradition.  In other words, some have been uncertain of its authenticity.  Even, as is sometimes the case, if this statement was made by someone other than Muhammad (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam), it is still profound.  The pursuit of knowledge is for all of us; everyone has a duty to learn, and a right to follow that duty - even unto the outermost limits (China is perhaps here used as a symbol of the outermost limits of human knowledge/experience).  Travel is thus an inherently democratic affair - to which every woman, man and child can aspire.

The significance of travel as a metaphor can also be found elsewhere in the Islamic tradition.  The Quran, for example, refer to the traveller as ‘ibn al-Sabil’, or ’son of the Way’.  In 2:177, wayfarers are described as being eligible for receiving zakat (the compulsory wealth tax).  That is, they are entitled to monetary support.  On a deeper level, we are thus all required to aid a traveller.  Or, if we are all travelling in one form or another, in truth we are all obliged to help each other.

The legal schools of Islam are called madhhabs, or ‘ways of proceeding’ - in that they provide detailed road maps of religiously sanctioned practice.  The Sufi orders are known as tariqas, literally ‘paths’, along which the seeker walks towards God.  The seeker takes detailed instruction on this path from the murshid, or guide.

Travel was also the way of the prophets (alaihim al-salam).  Yusuf and Yunus travelled greatly, and in great hardship (alaihim al-salam).  Ibrahim (alaihi al-salam) wandered from the lands of Ur into Canaan, under divine guidance.  Moreover, he (alaihi al-salam) was not just a traveller, but a commited and gentle host in his own right.  Indeed, his (alaihi al-salam) generosity is justly famed within the Islamic tradition and beyond.  Musa’s (alaihi al-salam) life was filled with many arduous journeys.  Indeed, he (alaihi al-salam) encountered the Burning Bush as he was travelling through the land, and it was here that he was tasked with setting free the Children of Israel that they too might seek God.  Muhammad al-Mustapha (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam) travelled to Syria as a child, and into the heavens as a man.  And, when the time was right, he (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam) migrated to Medina and thus began the Muslim count of years.

The more I explore this metaphor, the more profound it becomes.  O God!  Let me be a wanderer, regardless of where this body of mine goes, and let all my destinations end with You.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

 

The Heart and the Eye are Rivals

Peace, one and all…

‘Mahabbat (love) is said to be derived from hibbat, which are seeds that fall to the earth in the desert.  The name hubb (love) was given to such desert seeds (hibb), because love is the source of life just as seeds are the origin of plants.  As, when the seeds are scattered in the desert, they become hidden in the earth, and rain falls upon them and the sun shines upon them and cold and heat pass over them, yet they are not corrupted by the changing seasons, but grow up and bear flowers and give fruit, so love, when it takes its dwelling in the heart, is not corrupted by presence or absence, by pleasure or pain, by separation or union. 

Others say mahabbat is derived from hubb , meaning ‘a jar full of stagnant water’, because when love is collected in the heart and fills it, there is no room there for any thought except of the beloved, as Shibli says: ‘Love is called mahabbat because it obliterates (tamhu) from the heart everything except the beloved’.

Others say that mahabbat is derived from hubb, meaning ‘the four conjoined pieces of wood on which a water-jug is placed, because a lover lightly bears whatever his beloved metes out to him - honour or disgrace, pain or pleasure, fair treatment or foul’.  According to others, mahabbat is derived from habb, the plural of habbat and habbat is the core of the heart, where love resides.  In this case, mahabbat is called by the name of its dwelling-place, a principle of which there are many examples in Arabic.  Others derive it from habab, ‘bubbles of water and the effervescence thereof in heavy rainfall’, because love is the effervescence of the heart in longing for union with the beloved.  As the body subsists through the spirit, so the heart subsists through love, and love subsists through vision of, and union with, the beloved.

Others, again, declare that hubb is a name applied to pure love, because the Arabs call the pure white of the human eye habbat al-insan, just as they call the pure black (core) of the heart habbat al-qalb: the latter is the seat of love, the former the seat of vision.  Hence, the heart and the eye are rivals in love, as the poet says:

‘My heart envires mine eye the pleasure of seeing,
And mine eye envies my heart the pleasure of meditating’

(Ali ibn Uthman al-Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub, trans. RA Nicholson)

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

A Teacher Must Be A Student

Peace, one and all…

A teacher stands in debt to those he teaches, for the great honour they have done him in opening themselves.  And, as in all things, the honour of teaching is in fact a deep and sacred trust.  An honest student places their suddenly vulnerable selves into the teacher’s hands.  What greater sacrifice could there be?

This is why a teacher must first be a student themselves.  How can you hope for the gift of another’s heart unless you have first struggled to surrender your own?

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Dancing Shadow

Peace, one and all…

Dancing Shadow

These poems are naught
but a dancing shadow of words.
So, if one dance displeases you,
do not be troubled overmuch.

Love’s rhythm is always moving,
for all symphonies fall into silence
when they cease to move,
and so it has always been.

This world is naught
but the interplay of light and shade,
so be not burdened by thoughts of form,
for beyond all form walks love unbounded.

Abdur Rahman, 20th April 2008

The Reflection Network

Peace, one and all…

It’s been a couple of weeks since I went to the Christian Muslim Forum conference in Leeds, and I’m now starting to work through the many interesting materials that I picked up whilst I was there.  As such, I wanted to start sharing that information with the wider world.

So, to get the ball rolling, whilst I was in Leeds I had the good fortune to listen to a fascinating talk by Rehanah Sadiq of The Reflection Network.  This organisation runs cultural awareness training courses on Islam and Muslims.  I really enjoyed sister Rehanah’s talk and, insha Allah, will offer a synopsis here in the future.  For now, here’s a link to their current brochure (pdf document).

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Your Own Hour of Need

Peace, one and all…

Your Own Hour of Need

Love resides in the heart of each human being,
so beware of your words,
lest you spurn love
as she passes by.

Love is the hand
that moves all things,
so do not break the sacred threads
that have been given into your care.

Break no hearts!
Lest love turn you away
from her door
in your own hour of need.

Abdur Rahman, 8th May 2008

 

The Grandeur of Distant Hills

Peace, one and all…

The Grandeur of Distant Hills

The grandeur of distant hills
fills me with quiet joy
as I travel into
the waking heart of morning.

They invite my eyes
and gladden my soul.
Beloved, the hills’ wide breadth
is a certain cure for every vision of narrowness.

The miracle of sun, rain and clean air
falling upon this green fertile earth,
these things are right and true
and I am grateful to have partaken of them.

Abdur Rahman, 20th April 2008

Learning to Talk: the Place of Adab

Peace, one and all…

In a recent post, I shared some material from the Islamic tradition on the ethical dimensions of conversation/dialogue.  The post also contains links to a number of other posts in the same vein.  As I said there, I wanted to offer a few thoughts on some of this material, and so with God’s help, here goes…

Islam has a very demanding sense of ethical conversation.  It bids Muslims to follow a very rigorous standard when talking and interacting with others.  There are a great number of Quranic passages and Prophetic traditions (hadith) in this regard.  I have collected some of these passages elsewhere:

• Learning to Talk
• Learning to Talk as a Muslim
• Learning to Talk: Some Resources
• Learning to Talk: More Resources

I have been thinking recently about the purpose behind such ideals.  Why are they there?  What purposes do they serve?  As I also suggested in a related post, these ideas can all be subsumed under the term adab (for more information see here, and here)  .

Adab forces us to think about the rights and needs of the other in a rigourous and structured manner.  That is, true adab forces us to go beyond superficialities, beyond a kind of default, diffuse respect.  Such things are good in themselves, no doubt, but they are merely a starting point.  Beyond lies an enhanced ability to build, foster and maintain relationships with others.  In other words, adab draws us into the realm of spiritual companionship/conversation (sohbet).  It raises the real prospect of true spiritual friendship.  Indeed, it is only through a rigourous understanding of the rights of others that such friendships can begin (see Aelred of Rievaulx for a beautiful description of such friendship).

When we begin to take on these qualities we begin to transform ourselves, we begin walking the path of spiritual chivalry (or futuwwa in Arabic).  In other words, we begin to consider others in each of our actions, in each of our thoughts and in each of our breaths.  We empty our selves of ourselves, that we might be filled with light, and that we might spread that light in all that we do.

Note: our worthy brother Saifuddin has written a very beautiful description of spiritual chivalry in the Islamic tradition.  Please do visit his excellent blog.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

The Past Has Gone

Peace, one and all…

The Past Has Gone

The past has gone
and the future has yet to arrive.
There is only this unfolding present,
this urgent now.

Beloved, veil what has passed
with the grey cloak
of Your tender mercy
and overflowing grace.

Beloved, let the future arrive as it will.
The only thing I ask,
O light of my soul,
is that I be always ready to reach for You.

Abdur Rahman, 23rd April 2008

Thank You Note for the Bird

Peace, one and all…

Thank You Note for the Bird

you don’t need a fairy
to carry you, bird.
you fly fine on your own.
and i don’t need an angel
to heal the hurt.
i just need your song.

(From the excellent While Kneeling Before the Rose blog)

 

Thoughts on Reading and Interaction

Peace, one and all…

What assumptions do I bring to all my readings and interactions?  What hermenuetical strategies do I employ in the act of reading?  Through what ideological, theoretical and cultural membranes do I filter my reading of the primary sources of the Islamic tradition?  What kinds of interpretive frameworks am I using in my attempts to explore and understand the teachings of Islam?  Or, to put this question in its most basic terms: how do I read?

Questions such as these demand both rigour and honesty.  Rigour is necessary because laying bare my hidden assumptions is absolutely fundamental to growth of any kind.  Honesty is necessary if I am to open my inner workings to reflective scrutiny.

So, with these thoughts in mind, what are my personal assumptions?  How do I read?  I have been pondering this question for a while, and I have come to some basic conclusions.  I would like to offer them here.

1. Human Autonomy

My reading of any text starts from the basic assumption of individual human autonomy/free will.  My reading of specifically religious/spiritual texts only amplifies this basic assumption.  That is, any serious engaged reading has to start from the position that each human being is the centre of their own unique world, their own universe of meanings, ideas and associations.  Thus, each human being has the fundamental right/duty to determine their own realities and allegiances, to construct their own languages of meaning and profundity, and to own their own beliefs.

2. Encounter

If, as outlined briefly above, the world is populated by autonomous individuals, then any reading of a religious text must seek honest engagement with other readings.  That is, it must lead to an encounter with and experience of the other.  Moreover, religious texts must themselves be approached in this manner.  That is, the fundamental unity of purpose of a given religious text must be acknowledged and respected.  In other words, it too must be encountered as other.

3. Companionship & Conversation (Sohbet/Suhbah)

If autonomy breeds encounter, then encounter should lead to an open and honest dialogue, in the sense that it should generate a move towards communication.  This is why I find the metaphor of conversation to be so very profound.  Conversation implies the development of a relationship.  It also implies a real attempt to explore meanings beyond our own (sohbet).  It suggests a meeting of equals, on a platform of open enquiry.  Moreover, this necessitates an acute understanding of the ethics of dialogue.  That is, we are forced to consider the impact of our words/thoughts and also to consider the vantage points and values of others in a formal, concrete fashion.

4. Ethical Orientations (Adab)

This term, drawn from the Arabic lexicon of Islam, is pregnant with a wide range of meanings.  It conveys the sense of ettiquette, in the sense of formalised social practice.  It also denotes respect, consideration and more broadly, manners.  Furthermore, it is used to refer to someone with education, erudition and civility.  This accounts for its more extended meaning of literature.  I use it here to refer to a structured, informed committment to ethical dialogue, in a practical sense.

These four broad principles inform the ways I seek to interact, with texts in general, with religious texts in particular and with the wider world at large.  It is important to note, however, two key points.  Firstly, as with any human being, there is much that moves beneath the surface; there are always hidden motivations at work.  It is therefore important to acknowledge their existence, to accept them and to strive to understand their wider impact.  Secondly, these principles represent to isolate significant strands of my own thought/approach.  They are not meant to be taken as final summations, nor as sealed containers.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

To My Children

Peace, one and all…

In her unique, passionate and beautiful manner, our worthy sister Aaminah Hernandez recently shared her advice to her son on navigating the perils of life (Regalos Por Mi Hijo).  I have often thought of writing something in this vein for my own children and Aaminah’s efforts have spurred me on to action!  (If I had a hat, I’d be tipping it now)!

To My Children

My beloved children, this world can be a strange place.  By turns it can be both terrifying and wondrous, and since it is a father’s duty to guide his children to all that is good and wholesome in life, here is my advice to you.  I do not order you to follow my every word, nor do I demand from you obedience in all things.  Rather, these are the words of my heart, carved there during my wanderings through life.  I offer them to you with all the love that I possess and with all the care that I can muster.  Take them in this spirit.  Reflect upon them to your hearts’ desire and may Allah guide you all to good fortune.

What then of advice, my blessed ones?  If words are the gift of the heart, then what treasures would I bid you seek beyond all things?  What gifts, then, do I hope to bestow upon you that you might grow to your true estates?

Hold fast to love.  Always strive to draw closer to her.  Let love open your eyes each morning and let love close them again each night.  Let love be the very best of you, that you might become all that God meant you to be.  Remember that love walks beyond all forms and so, be not surprised when love appears to you in guises strange and unusual.

Love can be seen in the eye and it can be felt in the hand’s gentle warmth, so always be ready for love’s blessed embrace.  Each person that you will meet in life was brought forth into this world from and through love.  Therefore, open your hearts and see truth as truth when it manifests itself before you.  If you can do this, my loved ones, your lives will be doubly blessed.  Not only will you see love manifest itself around you but it shall also manifest itself within you, and that is a treasure not to be spurned.

Dark times will come, just as surely as night follows day.  But, if you cleave to love, in all truth, you will come to know that which is false for the shrivelled and withered thing it really is.  You will see the false light of those who mean you harm and seeing this, you will be forewarned.  Nurture strength of spirit when you move amidst the dark and remember that God’s love is always with you - never more so than when you are in danger.

You will meet those who speak and live truth and you will meet those who do not.  Listen to your own intuition and to your own instincts, for they were given to you for a reason, and never feel ashamed of being who you are.  You have a right to be here and to do your own work, in your own way.  Those who question this fundamental right, however ‘noble’ they may seem, mean you harm and so should be avoided.  In all things, know this: your choices are your own, to make as you think best.  None has the right to divest you of this freedom.

But most of all, light of my eyes, take joy in life; take joy in the things that you do and take joy in love.  Be happy and remember that no matter what the future may hold, your mother and I will love you always, with a love that will neither change nor diminish.

And at the end of all things, I commend you to God, the Sustainer of All Being.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Aelred of Rievaulx on Spiritual Friendship

Peace, one and all…

During the recent Christian-Muslim Forum conference, I was introduced for the first time to the thought of Aelred_of_Rievaulx, a 12th century monk.  It seems that Aelred had much to say on the topic of spiritual friendship.  As his words struck a chord, I wanted to share them with the wider world:

‘The truest kind of friendship is what we call spiritual friendship.  We should desire it for its own intrinsic worth and for the way it reaches into the human heart, rather than for any external reason or because it might bring any worldly advantage.

The spiritual friendship that exists between people of integrity springs out of their common attitude to life, their shared moral outlook and the kind of activities they engage in - in other words, it consists of mutual agreement in matters human and divine, combined with goodwill and practical loving concern.’
(De Spiritu Amicitia)

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Your Bright Gift

Peace, one and all…

Your Bright Gift

Beloved, where You go I will follow
and where this narrow heart prevents me
I will await Your return
with tears of silent penance.

Beloved, wheresoever You wander
there too will I go,
my arms outstretched
that I might grasp the blessed hem of Your robe.

Beloved, this quiet yearning of mine
is Your bright gift of love,
and in that gift
I place my work, my hopes and my thoughts of return.

Abdur Rahman, 30th April 2008

Thoughts of Power

Peace, one and all…

Thoughts of Power

We are not given power
that others might serve us.
Rather, we are given power
that we might serve others.

O Ibn al-Sabil,
strength is given as a mercy
that you might stand
for those who are oppressed.

Remember this truth:
power is but a fleeting thing
and as with all gifts,
you will questioned regarding its use.

Abdur Rahman, 21st April 2008