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Seeing with Both Eyes Abdal-Hakim Murad Text of a Lecture give at the Cardiff conference

Jan '00

In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful


The Dajjal, as everyone knows, has only one eye Those ulema who are !on!erned to understand and a""ly their intuition rather than sim"ly to a!t as histori!al relay stations have sometimes inter"reted this attribute as a re#eren!e to the !hara!teristi! si!kness o# de!adent religious !ommunities$ a si!kness that will ne!essarily be at its most "revalent as the end o# time a""roa!hes The human !reature has been given two eyes #or reasons o# obvious biologi!al utility% the !a"a!ity #or #o!ussing so s"lendidly "rodu!ed by the !iliary mus!les in the eyeball &a su"erb te!hnology most o# us never "ause to give thanks #or' is nonetheless not a "er#e!t instrument #or the gauging o# distan!e Human beings need "ers"e!tive% #or hunting and #or #ighting$ and #or the e##i!ient monitoring o# !hildren And hen!e we have two eyes, as the (ur)an notes, asking #or our #aith and our thank#ulness% *Have +e not given him two eyes), The Dajjal, however, has one eye only$ #or he is si!k He re"resents, in human #orm, a !osmi! "ossibility whi!h o!!urs throughout history, gathering momentum as -ro"heti! restorations are #orgotten, until, #or a time during the last days, he is the one-eyed man who is king There are several esoteri! inter"retations o# this, but one in "arti!ular is "erha"s the most satis#ying and "ro#ound .t "oints out that the latter days are the time o# a loss o# "ers"e!tive Distan!es and "riorities are mis!al!ulated, or even reversed The name o# Adam)s an!ient enemy, .blis, signals his ability to invert and overturn% yulabbis, he !on#uses and muddles mankind And the Dajjal is in this sense a "hysi!al materialisation o# .blis% he is the /reat De!eiver inso#ar as he dresses virtue u" as vi!e, and vi!e-versa E0am"les s"ring all too readily to mind 1or instan!e% on!e the old were res"e!ted and admired more than the young$ today, it is the other way around 2n!e unnatural vi!e was des"ised, now it is the only "ra!ti!e that !annot be !riti!ised in the #ilms or in "olite so!iety 2n!e humility was "raised, and "ride was a sin$ today there has been a !om"lete inversion 3o longer are we asked to !ontrol ourselves, instead we are urged to *dis!over) ourselves The na#s is king o# the millennium Those o# you who saw the (ueen #or!ed to wat!h the orgy at the /reenwi!h Dome, a !elebration o# mindless eroti! and athleti! dis"lay that had nothing to do with the man whom the Millennium su""osedly marked, will know this well enough .t is the "rin!i"le o# the Dajjal that brings about this kind o# evil .t is an evil that is worse than the traditional sort, whi!h was sim"ly the #ailure to "ra!ti!e !ommonly-res"e!ted virtues$ be!ause the new evil yulabbis% it inverts% it turns virtue into vi!e .t is, in this sense, one-eyed and without "ers"e!tive The sight by whi!h we observe the outward world is !om"osed o# in#ormation #rom two se"arate instruments +hen we s"eak o# religious understanding, we s"eak o# basira, "er!e"tion guided by wisdom And it is !hara!teristi! o# .slam that wisdom !onsists in re!ognising and establishing the !orre!t balan!e between the two great "rin!i"les o# e0isten!e% the outward, that is, the #orm, and the inward, that is, the !ontent% 4ahir and batin, to use the (ur)ani! terms The Dajjal sees with one eye .n this understanding, we would say that he is there#ore a man o# 5ahir, or o# batin, but never o# both He is a literalist, or he is #ree in the s"irit The most glorious a!hievement o# .slam, whi!h is to reveal a "attern o# human li#e whi!h e0"lores and !elebrates the "hysi!al "ossibilities o# man in a way that does not obstru!t but rather enhan!es and dee"ens his meta"hysi!al !a"a!ities, is hen!e negated The mis!reant at the end o# time is, there#ore, the e0a!t inversion o# the .slami! ideal At the beginning o# our story, the balan!e between the 5ahir and the batin was "er#e!t The Messenger, u"on whom be the best o# blessings and "ea!e, was the man o# the Mi*raj, and also the hero o# Badr He loved women, and "er#ume, and the delight o# his eye was in "rayer The transition between moments o# intense !ollo6uy with the su"reme ar!hangel, and o# "oliti!al or military or #amily duty, was o#ten little more than momentary$ but his balan!e was im"e!!able, #or he showed that body, mind and s"irit are not rivals, but allies in the "roje!t o# holiness, whi!h means nothing other than wholeness The 7om"anions mani#ested many as"e!ts o# this e0traordinary wholeness, the traditional .slami! term #or whi!h is a#iya, and the "roo# o# whose a!!om"lishment is the "resen!e o# adab The luminosity o# the -ro"heti! "resen!e resha"ed them, so that where on!e there had been the !rude, materialisti! egotism o# the "agan nomad, there was now, barely twenty years later, a uni#ied nation led by saints .t seemed that the !rudest "eo"le in history had suddenly, as though by a mira!le, been transmuted into the most re#ined and -age 8 o# 9

balan!ed The "agan Arabs seem almost to have served as a "review o# the tem"er o# our age, and the man who !ame among them, uni6ue among "ro"hets in the uni6ue di##i!ulty o# his mission, is the al"ha amid the omega, the "roo# that an Adami! restoration is "ossible even under the worst o# !onditions, even in times su!h as ours The su"erb human 6uality o# the 7om"anions is one o# the most moving and astounding o# the Blessed -ro"het)s mira!les :e!eiving alone the burden o# revelation, and bearing virtually alone the res"onsibilities o# #amily and state, he maintained su!h san!tity, humour, and moral seriousness that his world was trans#ormed around him Had you s"ent all that is u"on the earth, you would not have re!on!iled their hearts, the :evelation tells him$ but Allah has brought re!on!iliation between them The "oliti!al uni#i!ation o# Arabia, itsel# an un"re!edented a!hievement, was only made "ossible by the e0isten!e o# a s"iritual "rin!i"le at its !entre, whi!h melted hearts, and made a new world "ossible The 7om"anions, as the most "er#e!t e0em"lars o# the .slami! "rin!i"le o# seeing with both eyes, were, as the saying goes, #ursanun bi)l-nahar, ruhbanun bi)l-layl% !avalrymen by day, and monks by night They united 5ahir and batin, body and s"irit, in a way that was to their "agan and 7hristian !ontem"oraries e0traordinary, and whi!h, in our day, when balan!e o# any sort is rare, is hard even to imagine Their #a!es radiated with the inner !alm that !omes o# inner "ea!e% ala bi-dhikri;<lahi tatma)innu)l-6ulub% *it is by the remembran!e o# Allah that hearts #ind "ea!e ) Among the 7om"anions) own mira!les was the !reation o# an astonishingly new language o# beauty The Dome o# the :o!k in =erusalem, built while many 7om"anions were still alive, trium"hantly announ!es the divine will to save humanity through a new religious order >nder .slam, the world was made new The war on the #lesh, mani#ested in the new and strange sha"e taken by 7hristian !eliba!y, was at an end The Sunna, emerging as a barely imaginable !lima0 o# human #lourishing, be!ame the ideal #or the an!ient world$ an ideal all the more im"ressive #or having been a!hieved +hen .slami! !ivilisation was buoyant, everything tou!hed by the hands o# believers turned to gold The Dome o# the :o!k is "robably the world)s most beauti#ul building, the subje!t o# !ountless studies by astounded art historians Through its o!tagon, the s6uare outline o# the an!ient Solomoni! tem"le is resolved to a !ir!le, and thus to the in#inity o# heaven .t announ!es the su"rema!y o# the Muhammadan moment, the time out o# time when the Station o# Two Bows) <ength &6aba 6awsayn' was a!hieved 3o earlier religion had "reserved the memory o# so e0alted and so "urely s"iritual a !lima0 to its story, as a mortal man ventured where even the highest angels !ould not ste" And yet he returned to earth$ and this is the se!ret o# the Sunna)s majesty He had been redolent in the s"lendour and "ower o# the Divine "resen!e, but he nonetheless returned to the lower ranks o# the !reated order, to re#orm his "eo"le 3ot be!ause he "re#erred them, but be!ause he loved them He had seen with his "uri#ied heart, as the (ur)an reveals% The heart did not deny that whi!h it saw He bore a truth whi!h hitherto they had only dimly intuited% the !ore o# the human !reature is the heart, and the heart is the lo!us o# a vision so trans!endent that even the :evelation s"eaks o# it only allusively% He saw, o# the signs o# his <ord, the greatest +hen we take on the Sunna, and reje!t #lawed "atterns o# behaviour whi!h have been sha"ed and guided by the ego and by #antasies o# sel#-imagining, we de!lare to our 7reator that we a!!e"t and revere the "ro#ound revelation o# human #lourishing e0am"led by the Best o# 7reation Every a!t o# the Sunna whi!h we may su!!ess#ully emulate de!lares that our role model is the man who had no ego, and to whom Allah had given a de#initive vi!tory over the #or!es o# darkness Modernity holds out li#estyle o"tions !entred on the sel#, and on the lower, agitated "ossibilities o# the human !ondition Every word o# every maga5ine now breathes the message o# the na#s% e0"lore yoursel#, #ree yoursel#, be yoursel# Buy a -ors!he to e0"ress your identity$ dress in a 7a!harel suit to make a statement about yoursel#$ be seen in the right "la!es The result, o# !ourse, is a so!iety whi!h "ursues ha""iness with great te!hni!al brillian!e but whi!h "u55les over s"iralling rates o# sui!ide, drug abuse, #ailed relationshi"s, and ever more aberrant #orms o# sel#-mutilation .t is a so!iety in denial, a so!iety in "ain By taking on the Sunna, a human being a!!e"ts a dee" and total reorientation 1or the Sunna is not one li#estyle o"tion among many, sim"ly an e0oti! addition to the standard menu The Sunna tears u" the e0isting menu by de#ying its assum"tions By living in the -ro"heti! "attern one "ursues a "aradigm o# e0!ellen!e that demonstrably brings serenity and #ul#illment, and hen!e silen!es the babble o# the style maga5ines <iving in !redit, knowing one)s neighbours, and holding the event o# the Mi*raj !onstantly in view, !on#ers -age ? o# 9

membershi" o# Adam)s #amily o# khali#as <iving in debt, !hasing mirages, and serving the na#s, renders the human being a de#initive #ailure +e !an be higher than the angels, or lower than the animals The Sunna, as the uni6uely e##i!ient vehi!le o# human im"rovement and illumination, hen!e embra!es every as"e!t o# man 2utward serenity is im"ossible without inward "ea!e$ and inward "ea!e, !onversely, is im"ossible when the body is behaving abusively The Muslim, who sees with both eyes, and hen!e sees the modern world #or what it is% a naive vi!tim o# the oldest o# all illusions, whi!h is the belie# that human #lourishing o!!urs when the needs o# the outward are met, and that inward e0!ellen!e is nothing but the vague myth o# intangible religion, is hen!e truly Muslim to the e0tent that he reje!ts imbalan!e <oyal and loving adheren!e to the details o# the #i6h will !hange to obsessive and neuroti! behaviour when the inward meaning o# the sunna is absent Hen!e the Dajjal is o#ten an e0oterist But he may be an esoterist also, when he #alls "rey to the #atal myth that religion is about inward "er#e!tion alone, and that this !an be a!hieved even when the outward !ondu!t is dee"ly #lawed by a #ailure to be sha"ed by a "attern o# !ourteous human li#e mani#ested by the su"reme #igure o# a more !ontem"lative and digni#ied age .n our times, thanks to a dajjal-ty"e la!k o# "ers"e!tive, some Muslims are sus"i!ious o# the traditional talk o# a 5ahir and a batin .t seems too esoteri!, mysterious and elitist The word batin itsel# a""ears #aintly hereti!al% one thinks o# e0treme antinomian grou"s su!h as the medieval .smailis, #or instan!e And yet the !on!e"t is "urely and entirely (ur)ani!, and was never !ontroversial among the !lassi!al ulama .n #a!t, an im"ortant "art o# the healing that the (ur)an o##ers !an be #ound in its insisten!e that religion in!ludes, and unites, an outward and an inward dimension <et me give you some e0am"les, whi!h no-one in his right mind !ould des!ribe as !ontroversial 1or instan!e, Allah says% +a-a6imi)s-Salata li-dhikri% *and establish the -rayer #or My remembran!e) He tells us that the "rayer is not an arbitrary !ommand, a set o# "hysi!al movements whi!h earn us treats in the herea#ter .t has a wise "ur"ose, whi!h is to hel" us to remember Him The believer at "rayer is not just o##ering his "hysi!al #orm as a token o# submission to the divine "resen!e whose symbol is the @a*ba He, or she, is worshi""ing with the heart The body o# #lesh bows towards the @a*ba o# stone$ while the invisible s"irit bows to the invisible divine 2nly when both o# these take "la!e is worshi" truly "resent Another e0am"le% Allah says% *1asting is "res!ribed #or you, as it was "res!ribed #or those who !ame be#ore you ) +hy, *<a*allakum tatta6un) - *that you might learn ta6wa ) 1asting has a 5ahir and a batin, an outward and an inward And neither is o# any use without the other As a hadith says% *Many a #asting "ersons gains nothing #rom his #ast, a"art #rom hunger and thirst ) .n other words, without a batin #ast, an inward #ast, the #ast is only #ormally, me!hani!ally !orre!t .t is like a body without a s"irit, whi!h is nothing more than a !or"se The one who #asts, or "rays, or "er#orms any other religious a!t, without his s"irit being in it, is like a 5ombie, whose mind and s"irit has gone away #rom the body, to another "la!e And this is not how Allah wants us to be when we worshi" Him Another e0am"le :egarding the sa!ri#i!es on the day o# Eid al-Adha, Allah says% *Their #lesh and blood will not rea!h Allah$ but the ta6wa that is in you rea!hes Him ) +ithout !orre!t intention, and "resen!e o# mind, in other words, without a "ro"er dis"osition o# the batin, the sa!ri#i!e is just the killing o# an animal .n a sense, it is worse, sin!e a slaughter that did not "retend to be religious would at least be sin!ere$ whereas one that "ur"orts to be #or /od, but in its inner reality is not, is a kind o# hy"o!risy .n #a!t we !ould say that the 5ahir without the batin leads #atally to ni#a6 .# we are not enjoying the divine "resen!e during our worshi", i# our minds are elsewhere, i# we have swit!hed on a kind o# auto"ilot, then we are "ra!ti!ing rusum% outward #orms, a husk without a kernel To any visible or invisible onlooker we are "ro!laiming by the outward #orm o# the a!t that we are worshi""ing /od$ but in our inward reality we are doing nothing o# the kind :iya) - ostentation - is "ossible even i# we are alone Even i# we know that no-one knows we are "raying, or #asting, we !an still !ommit riya) How, By showing-o## to ourselves By going through the motions o# the "rayer, we grati#y our own sel#-image as "ious, su"erior "eo"le To the e0tent that the "rayer la!ks a batin, that will be a mortal danger Even i# our minds are !on!entrated on the meaning, our souls may be disengaged And to the e0tent that the "rayer, or the #ast, or the Hajj, or the 6urbani, does have an inner reality, we will be less interested in showing-o## to ourselves, in taking the na#s as our real 6ibla The a!t will lead us, we will not lead the a!t

-age A o# 9

This is what sayyiduna *>mar, radiya)<lahu *anhu, meant when he said% *The thing . #ear most #or the sa#ety o# this >mma is the learned hy"o!rite ) +hen asked how one !ould be both learned and hy"o!riti!al, he said% *+hen his learning does not go beyond verbal knowledge, while his heart remains untou!hed ) Another e0am"le, #rom the (ur)an - and remember, this tea!hing o# the interde"enden!e o# 5ahir and batin is "urely (ur)ani! *And they give #ood, #or love o# Him, to the "oor, the or"han, and to !a"tives +e #eed you only #or the sake o# Allah$ we desire #or no reward or thanks #rom you ) Here the revelation is insisting that !harity, too, be!omes ibada only when it has an inward reality as well as an outward #orm And that inward reality is not "rimarily mental% as in *1ine, it)s 5akat time, bismi)<lah, . make the intention to do this #or Allah) That is only the most basi! re6uirement The "assage states that !harity is to be done *ala hubbihi out o# love #or Allah That re6uires #ar more than the sim"le silent #ormulation o# a niyya .t !an only be a!hieved when one)s heart is in it, sin!e love, hubb, resides in the heart, not the mind 7harity without love is heartless Hen!e "art o# the brillian!e o# the (ur)an is its insisten!e that Allah is not worshi""ed by outward #orms$ but that He has established !ertain outward #orms as a !onte0t within whi!h we !an do ibada% sin!e ibada, as an e0"ression o# devotion and servitude to our maker, re"oses in the heart A dis"osition o# the heart is always true$ a dis"osition o# the body may be true or #alse The (ur)an)s message is unmistakeably that the human !reature is a !om"osite whose dimensions must be brought into harmony with ea!h other i# our Adami! "ossibility as true worshi""ers may be realised So ours is a religion o# 5ahir and batin 2ur enemies see only the outward #orms, and assume that this is hy"o!risy, *-harisai! #ormalism) Some use the traditional 3ew Testament language by whi!h St -aul atta!ked =udaism% *the letter killeth, but the s"irit giveth li#e ) .n #a!t, this is a !ommon theme o# a !ertain kind o# traditional 7hristian !riti!ism o# .slam As su!h, it !learly re"resents the borrowing o# an even older theme in 7hristian theology% that o# antisemitism, as a wea"on whi!h will serve in the battle against the Sara!en Muslims, in!onveniently, are not mentioned in the Bible, but some 7hristians have instead used the anti-<aw "olemi! o# -aul as a sti!k with whi!h to beat Muslims, by situating us in a Bibli!al !onte0t .t is evident, however, that this will not serve There are some Muslims, it has to be admitted, whose "reo!!u"ations are mainly or even e0!lusively with outward #orm - a -harisai! .slam, we might say - but that is not the way o# traditional Muslims 1or traditional .slam has always !ultivated in a ri!h and "ro#ound way the inner dimensions o# #aith Most o# our "oetry, #or instan!e, is about the batin, not the 5ahir .# .slam was as they su""ose, then most o# our "oetry would be about wudu, or the rules #or inheritan!e But it is not . ho"e that the (ur)ani! insights . have !ited are 6uite enough to e0"lain why the traditional ulema o# .slam s"eak o# the religion)s having a 5ahir and a batin Shaykh Shahidullah 1aridi, the great English saint o# the ?Bth !entury, "ut it as #ollows% *.# it is ne!essary to observe the outward ordinan!es o# the #aith, it is e6ually ne!essary to develo" within ourselves those 6ualities whi!h are their soul These two are !om"lementary and one !annot e0ist in a sound state without the other ) Shahidullah 1aridi himsel#, like virtually all the edu!ated !onverts to .slam in this !ountry, was attra!ted to the religion "rimarily be!ause o# its inner ri!hes Those Muslims who today s"end most o# their time talking about shari*a, and regard the batin as "eri"heral, are unlikely to make many su!h !onverts% there is no reason why sensitive, edu!ated "eo"le should be attra!ted to the husk, i# the kernel is so well-hidden that it might as well not e0ist They may even, by wild, mer!iless and hikma-less behaviour, re"el thousands 4ahir and batin are the terms . have used They are !on!e"ts !lear #rom the (ur)an There are other terms whi!h !onvey roughly the same distin!tion 1or instan!e, the terms shari*a and ha6i6a 2utward a!t, and inward state Again, the distin!tion is (ur)ani! A!!ording to .mam Abu Ali al-Da66a6, it !an even be derived #rom the 1atiha Allah asks us to say% iyyaka na*budu wa-iyyaka nasta*in% *Cou we worshi")% this is shari*a$ and *Cou we seek #or hel")% the divine res"onse, whi!h is #rom ha6i6a The "airing o# the "rin!i"les gives us this #undamental distin!tion% the initiative #rom man, whi!h is shari*a, and the generous out"ouring #rom Allah, whi!h is ha6i6a .mam al-(ushayri makes a still more subtle "oint He says% *@now that the Shari*a is also ha6i6a, be!ause He Himsel# made it obligatory And ha6i6a is also shari*a, be!ause the means o# knowing Him were made obligatory by His !ommand ) -age D o# 9

.n other words, this bi#ur!ation, indi!ated in the 1atiha, whi!h we re"eat every day without "ondering its de"ths, is in reality two sides o# one !oin Shari*a is not Shari*a without ha6i6a$ be!ause without an inward reality and an a""roa!h to Allah the outward #orms are useless$ and ha6i6a is nothing without shari*a, be!ause shari*a is the set o# #orms by whi!h ha6i6a !an be known Ea!h is sound only when it "oints a!!urately to the other .mam Abu Bakr al-*Aydarus, rahmatullahi *alayh, e0"lains it in terms o# the (ur)ani! verse% *Those who strive in >s, +e shall surely guide to 2ur ways ) He writes% The *striving) is the Shari*a, and the a!tive res"onse to its injun!tions, whi!h will !ause one to be led to His *ways), is in turn a re#eren!e to the Ha6i6a ) .mam al-(ushayri drives home this vital "oint by saying% *Every shari*a whi!h is unsu""orted by ha6i6a is una!!e"ted And every ha6i6a whi!h is not !ontrolled by shari*a is una!!e"ted ) .mam al-Haddad, in one o# his most #amous "oems, says% Wa-kullun ala nahj al-sabilis-sawiyyi lam yukhalif li-amrin akhidhan bish-shariati Wa-innalladhi la yatbaush-shara mutla an ala kulli halin abdu nafsin wa-shahwati !ll of the righteous were on the straight "ath# never violating any command# holding to sharia $or truly# the man who does not follow sharia# %s in every case the slave of his nafs and his own desires& .mam al-/ha5ali, rahmatullah alayh, s"ent mu!h o# his li#e making this "oint, in some very so"histi!ated ways <et me read to you his very "assionate de#en!e o# this (ur)ani! "rin!i"le% *.# you are edu!ating yoursel#, take u" only those bran!hes o# knowledge whi!h have been re6uired o# you a!!ording to your "resent needs, as well as those whi!h "ertain to the outward a!tions su!h as learning the elements o# "rayer, "uri#i!ation, and #asting More im"ortant however, is the s!ien!e whi!h all have negle!ted, namely, the s!ien!e o# the attributes o# the heart, those whi!h are "raiseworthy and those whi!h are blameworthy, be!ause "eo"le "ersist in the latter, su!h as miserliness, hy"o!risy, "ride and !on!eit, all o# whi!h are destru!tive, and #rom whi!h it is obligatory to desist -er#orming these outward deeds is like the e0ternal a""li!ation o# an ointment to the body when it is stri!ken with s!abies and boils while negle!ting to remove the "us by means o# a s!al"el or a "urge 1alse ulema re!ommend outward deeds just as #ake "hysi!ians "res!ribe e0ternal ointments E#or virulent internal diseasesF The ulema who seek the akhira, however, re!ommend nothing but the "uri#i!ation o# the na#s and the removal o# the elements o# evil by destroying their nursery-beds and u"rooting them #rom the heart ) A key !om"onent o# the /ha5alian agenda is the restoration o# balan!e between outward and inward And the .mam himsel# realised that the balan!e !omes about "rimarily through !ultivating the inward 1or a balan!e, whi!h is the true meaning o# al-sirat al-musta6im, is a subtle thing, and re6uires wisdom, and wisdom only e0ists when the soul is illuminated The !risis o# the modern world is a !risis in both 5ahir and batin .t takes di##erent #orms amidst the ruins o# di##erent !ivilisations .n what was on!e the 7hristian world, 5ahir has been lost or even turned on its head% homose0ual marriages in !hur!h, the a""roval o# the lottery by bisho"s, and other sym"toms o# !olla"se The sym"toms are more advan!ed in #ormerly 7hristian !ountries than elsewhere, be!ause, as St -aul believed, 7hristianity has no shari*a .t is always reinventing itsel# as something that !an be believed, as T S Eliot "ut it, and nowadays this inevitably takes "la!e under "ressure #rom se!ular ethi!s .n the .slami! world, there are also dee" "roblems But these arise not through la!k o# shari*a as su!h, but through a la!k o# balan!e between outward and inward Mu!h Muslim revivalism today #o!usses on the outward, and a""ears to regard the inward as o# se!ondary im"ortan!e The result is wild behaviour and !onsistent #ailure, #or Allah "ro!laims in the (ur)an that the su!!ess in the world o# religious !ommunities de"ends on their s"iritual !ondition He does not !hange us until we !hange what is within ourselves The #ailure o# any .slami! movement is de!isive "roo# that that movement has not gained the re6uired inward harmony, wisdom and s"iritual de"th -age G o# 9

The modern world there#ore o##ers, in mad abundan!e, both o# the Dajjal)s aberrations There is "reo!!u"ation with #orm, and there are also, in in!reasing varieties, a "reo!!u"ation with *s"iritualities) whi!h re6uire no irritating moral !ode .n the +est, 3ew Age s"irituality is re"la!ing 7hristianity as the #aith o# many young and edu!ated "eo"le .t "romises a ty"i!al Dajjalian de!eit% the gi#ts o# the s"irit may be had without "aying a "ri!e, or !hanging one)s treasured *li#estyle) The Sunna is the Dajjal)s great enemy in the modern world, be!ause it reje!ts both o# his "romises 3o human being !an #lourish on the basis o# "ure <aw, or "ure "hysi!al satis#a!tion, or o# s"iritual "ra!ti!es devoid o# im"li!ations #or so!iety and "ersonal !ondu!t 1or us, religion is about integrity and !om"leteness And yet, there are no grounds #or !om"la!en!y The Sunna itsel# is today a !ontested !on!e"t A materialisti! world ne!essarily in#luen!es the #orms o# religion whi!h grow within it$ and some Muslims today ado"t #orms o# .slam that de#ine the Sunna in a one-eyed way Either su!h advo!ates are "ure esoterists, with a !avalier attitude to the #ormal duties gi#ted by revelation$ or &and this is among mass-movements more #re6uent' they mutilate the Sunna by minimising or even negating its inward dimensions Any #ollowing o# the e0ternals o# religion whi!h is not made "ro#ound, !om"assionate and wise by an a!tive and trans#ormative s"iritual li#e, will be a mere husk without a kernel% abrasive, hostile, sel#-righteous, lashing out at the inno!ent, and thriving on s!hism and !ontroversy May Allah enable us to o"en both our eyes, and hen!e to see things in due "ro"ortion, and to res"ond in a way that brings re!on!iliation, light, and wisdom among the des!endents o# Adam
H Abdal-Hakim Murad

-age 9 o# 9

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