Spirituality and Universality in Islam

Dr Reza Shah-Kazemi will deliver a lecture and respond to questions.

The event will launch the following IIS publications: 

Spiritual Quest: Reflections on Quranic Prayer According to the Teachings of Imam Ali 

 The Spirit of Tolerance in Islam

Social Hall, The Ismaili CentreThursday 26th June 2014 at 8:15 pm

 

Islam’s Record of Tolerance The leading British scholar of Islam of his

generation, Sir Hamilton Gibb, wrote in 1932: 

Islam possesses a magnificent tradition of inter-racial understanding and co-operation. No other society has such a record of success in uniting, in an equality of status, of opportunity, and of endeavour, so many and so various races of humanity.

Sir Thomas Arnold The Preaching of Islam, 1896:

 On the whole, unbelievers have enjoyed under Muhammadan rule a measure of toleration, the like of which is not to be found in Europe until quite modern times. Forcible conversion was forbidden, in accordance with the precepts of the Quran

Bernard Lewis Multiple Identities of the Middle East, 1998

Pluralism is part of the holy law of Islam, and these rules are on many points detailed and specific. Unlike Judaism and Christianity, Islam squarely confronts the problem of religious tolerance ... For Muslims, the treatment of the religious other is not a matter of opinion or choice, of changing interpretations and judgments according to circumstances. It rests on scriptural and legal texts, that is to say, for Muslims, on holy writ and sacred law.

Norman Daniel Islam, Europe and Empire (1966)

The notion of toleration in Christendom was borrowed from Muslim practice.

John Locke: “Letter Concerning Toleration”, 1689:Calvinists and Armenians were free to enact their specific forms of Christian worship if they lived in the Muslim Ottoman Empire, but not if they lived in certain parts of Christian Europe. So:

Would the Turks not silently stand by and laugh to see with what inhuman cruelty Christians thus rage against Christians?

What God loves

In answer to the question: which religion is most beloved to God, the Prophet answered:

al-Hanifiyya al-samhaThe primordial, generously tolerant faith[of which Abraham was a perfect embodiment al-hanif].

So: what went wrong?

Extrinsic factors: western colonialism

Intrinsic factor: decline of Spirituality—defined in terms of knowledge and of love.

God said:I was a hidden treasure

and I loved to be known; so I created the world.

The Prophet is told to say to us:

If you love God, follow me; God will love you (Q 3:31).

The Religion of Love - RumiMy heart has become capable of every

form: It is a pasture for gazellesAnd a convent for Christian monksAnd a temple for idols And the pilgrim’s Ka‘baAnd the tables of the ToraAnd the book of the Koran.I follow the religion of Love: Whatever way Love’s camels take,Love is my religion and Love is my faith.

RumiThe religion of Love is separate from all religions:

For lovers, the religion and creed is—God.But also:

I am the servant of the Qur'an as long as I have life. I am the dust on the path of Muhammad, the Chosen one. If anyone quotes anything different from this from my sayings, I am quit of him and outraged by these words.Quatrain, No. 1173

Similarly, for Ibn Arabi:

The lyrically described religion of Love is for him: Islam

Unveiling the Spirit of the Qur’an

Rumi, Discourses:

The Qur'an is like a bride. Although you pull the veil away from her face, she does not show herself to you. When you study the Qur'an, but receive no joy or mystical unveiling, it is because your pulling at the veil has caused you to be rejected.

…But if you stop pulling at its veil, and seek its good pleasure; if you water its field, serve it from afar and strive in that which pleases it, then it will show you its face without any need for you to draw aside its veil.

Sufism and Islamic SocietySufism: the Spirit of the Qur’an and the Soul of the Holy Prophet. “His character was the Qur’an”.

Ali Hujwiri: To deny Sufism = denying the whole of the Law (Sharia).

It is probable that without the subtle leaven of the Sufi orders, giving to Islam an inward personal thrust … the mechanical arrangements of the Shariʿah would not have maintained the loyalty essential to their effectiveness.

Marshall Hodgson, The Venture of Islam, vol.2.

The Holy Qur’an and the Spirit of Universality and Tolerance

IRONY: the most universal revelation is being paraded as the most fanatically exclusivist.

Imagine an interview: answer using the Qur’an as source of your identity as a Muslim:

Question 1: What is your creed; what do you believe?

2:285:The Messenger believes in that which has been revealed unto him from his Lord, and [so do] the believers. Every one believes in God and His angels and His scriptures and His Messengers—we make no distinction between any of His Messengers. – Quran 2:285

SalvationQuestion 2: According to your faith, who is saved?

2:62 Truly those who believe, and the Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabeans—whoever believes in God and the Last Day and performs virtuous deeds—surely their reward is with their Lord, and no fear shall come upon them, neither shall they grieve. – Quran 2:62

PluralismQuestion 3: Why is there a diversity of faiths?

5:48

For each We have appointed a Law (shirʿa) and a Way (minhāj). Had God willed, He could have made you one community (umma). But that He might try you by that which He hath given you [He has made you as you are]. So vie with one another in good works. Unto God you will all return, and He will inform you of that about which you differed. - Quran 5:48

The Message

Question 4: What is the quintessence of the religious message?

21:25

And We sent no Messenger before you but that We inspired him [saying]: There is no God except Me, so worship Me. – Quran 21:25

Remembrance

Question 5: What is the essence of your religious practice?

20:14 Establish the prayer for the sake of My remembrance (dhikri)

(29:45 … And the remembrance of God is greatest)

Humanity and Prophecy

Question 6: To whom is the essential message of your faith addressed?

The whole of humanity has received this message, according to the Qur’an,

10:47:For every umma there is a Messenger

Vanity of ChauvinismQuestion 7: What does your scripture say about religious exclusivism?

In response to the claim by the Jews and the Christians that they, alone, go to Paradise, the Qur’an refers to this claim as a vain desire (tilka amaniyyuhum) and tells Muslims to respond as follows:

Say: Bring your proof if you are truthful. Nay, but whoever submits his purpose to God, and is virtuous, his reward is with his Lord, and no fear or grief will befall such people. - 2:112Instead: beautiful dialogue: 16:125

Defending all Faiths Question 8: What is the purpose of warfare in

your faith?

22: 39-40

Permission [to fight] is given to those who are being fought, for they have been wronged … Had God not driven back some by means of others, monasteries, churches, synagogues and mosques—wherein the name of God is much invoked—would assuredly have been destroyed. – Quran 22:39-40

See The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World, by John Andrew Morrow.