Toward the latter days of indiscriminate violence, be like the first and better of the two sons of Adam who said, “If you raise your hand to kill me, I will not raise mine to kill you; surely I fear God, the Lord of the worlds.” (Qur’an 5:8)
From a sound tradition of the Prophet, peace be upon him, narrated by Imam Tirmidhi.
Scratch the surface and you’ll find that many of today’s conflicts are about water, not ideology. An inconvenient truth.
Consider the shrinking Lake Chad in West Africa, the Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan, and ISIS control of the Tigris and Euphrates, to name but 3 cases.
It was the view of one of my lecturers at SOAS 15 years ago that the next war in the Middle East would be over water. He did not predict US/UK intervention in 2003, but I don’t think he was far wrong.
Today there are probably around 50 countries (effecting almost 3 billion people) at high risk of violent conflict due to climate change, environmental degradation and related fresh water crises.
The geo-politics of water will dominate our age, though of course it will be packaged as a clash of civilisations, such is our thirst for palatable explanations.
Who can blame young people for learning a perverted version of their faith online, when our communities do not serve them at all? It has become a common refrain to lament the rising tide of unverified Internet guidance, but the wailing and gnashing of teeth is but hypocrisy. If we truly cared, we would do something about it. But we don’t.
In truth, I too turn to the Internet for inspiration. I will mine YouTube for sermons to nourish my soul. If I need a Fix, I’ll turn to a pixelated scholar or mp3 teacher instead of the local community-appointed sage, who speaks with beautiful lyricism, but in a language I do not understand.
My standards are exacting, for I was raised in a family of sermon writers. Both of my parents used to spend their Saturdays carefully crafting intelligent, considered, inspiring homilies, which they would then humbly deliver the following day to their congregations. It was a noble art form which served me well, animating my own writing. A good sermon is like medicine for the soul, but alas good sermons are few and far between.
Most sermons I listen to in real life today are delivered in a foreign tongue. For me it has become blind ritualism, devoid of spiritual uplift; I liken it to sung Matins, beloved of a dying breed of diehard traditionalists in the Church of England. I am present, but not present; in the moment, but elsewhere.
But oddly I prefer the incomprehensible sermon in a language I do not understand to the other type: the lazy sermon, cobbled together on the hoof, or blurted out on the spot, or composed hastily on the back of an envelope, jotted down with no real thought. These are the sermons of the celebrated English-speaking imam, brought in to assuage the complaints of the unsettled masses, whose Urdu or Punjabi has foundered. His ability to speak English is enough, the management committee seems to believe. But it is not enough, and so we go elsewhere in search of answers.
My heart inclines to the gentle and merciful manifestations of our faith. To the old traditions of Europe, Africa and Medina. To expressions of good manners, noble speech, perceptive learning, respect. And so my playlist populates in kind.
But others are inclined to bitterness and hatred and rancour, to argumentation, self-righteousness and arrogance, and so their playlists will gather all of those characters I will spurn; those straight talking acolytes with smug faces and piercing cynicism, ready to dissolve whatever goodness remains in the young man’s soul.
So of course we condemn the students of Sheikh Google and Imam YouTube, deriding the shallowness of faith in the twenty-first century. Isn’t it easy to condemn, but so difficult to provide alternatives? Young people will continue to self-radicalise as long as our communities ignore the needs of their members.
If our communities will not nourish us, we will turn elsewhere for nourishment. If disaster lays ahead, we only have ourselves to blame.
It’s okay, dawn raids on schools for brown people will stop white people voting for a nasty party like UKIP. Thank goodness for that.
If we spent as much time perfecting our character as we do convincing everyone else that we’re right, we might get somewhere.
If you hold everyone in contempt, don’t be surprised if everyone holds you in contempt too. If you can see no good in those around you, don’t be surprised if those around you see no good in you. If you have concluded that you are always right and everybody else is always wrong, don’t be surprised if people always turn away repulsed.
Be grateful for the blessing of you Lord and walk humbly on the earth with patience.
I have no issue with sufism that is founded on and grounded in Islam. Many (though by no means all) of the Muslims I find most inspiring are students of that path. Furthermore, it is nigh on impossible to learn any Islamic science without the chain of transmission having passed through scholars of the tradition. One of my favourite books is described by some as a manual of sufism, though I would simply describe it as a guide to Islamic devotions, prayer and practical ethics. (more…)
Nobody likes the weekly shop, but this is how I approach it…
1) Think of it as sadaqa to your family. Then it becomes an act of worship, done for the pleasure of Allah.
2) Always buy the same things from the same store. Then all the choice disappears. You become like a blinkered horse.
3) Recognise that the Islamic definition of manliness is not the same as cultural definitions. Manliness is embodying traits that bring us closer to Allah. Hence, in serving our parents, our wives and family we are not Modern men, but Muslim men.
And finally….
4) Stop worrying about getting it right. We have all bought coriander instead of parsley, cucumber instead of courgettes, grapefruit instead of orange. These are just stories to tell our grandchildren.
Mind you, our grandchildren won’t know what a shop is; they will just blink at their Google Glass and dinner will pop out of a 3D printer.
http://youtu.be/YJhEzWkYiss
http://youtu.be/VZKfZmRQRgA
http://youtu.be/dg59z3ritAU
It is the height of delusion to make mockery of the ignorance of others, ignorant of your own ignorance.
“I never wish to offend, but I am so foolishly shy, that I often seem negligent, when I am only kept back by my natural awkwardness … Shyness is only the effect of a sense of inferiority in some way or other. If I could persuade myself that my manners were perfectly easy and graceful, I should not be shy.”
From Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.
“Speak Kindly.” (Qur’an 2:83)
“Speak the Truth.” (Qur’an 3:17)
“Speak Justice.” (Qur’an 6:152)
“Speak graciously.” (Qur’an 17:23)
“Speak fairly.” (Qur’an 17:28)
“Speak politely.” (Qur’an 17:53)
“Speak no lie” (Qur’an 22:30)
“Speak gently.” (Qur’an 20:44)
“Speak not in vain.” (Qur’an 23:3)
“Speak Straight.” (Qur’an 33:70)
The problem is that we believers have become tribal people, exhibiting the characteristics of a Chosen People that our religion so strongly opposed. Instead of standing for justice, we stand for our tribe (our supporters, friends, family). However our religion tells us to do the opposite: to stand up for truth and justice — even if that is against ourselves!
Qur’an 4:135:
“O you who have believed, persistently stand firm in justice, witnesses for God, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives. Whether one is rich or poor, God is more worthy of both. So follow not your personal inclination, lest you not be just. And if you distort your testimony or refuse to give it, then indeed God is ever, with what you do, Acquainted.”
In Turkish:
“Ey iman edenler! Adaleti ayakta tutan ve kendiniz, ana-babaniz ve yakin akrabaniz aleyhine de olsa, yalniz Allah için sahitlik eden kimseler olunuz. Zira zengin de olsa, fakir de olsa, Allah ikisine de (sizden) daha yakindir. Nefsinizin arzusuna uyarak adaletten uzaklasmayin. Eger (sahitlik ederken) dilinizi eger, bükerseniz veya çekinirseniz, süphesiz Allah yaptiklarinizdan haberdardir.”
That is a lesson for us all, be we leaders or common folk. However for the leaders it is much more important.
A leader who thinks only of his own survival is not much of a leader at all.
