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Quaker Universalist Fellowship |
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Because of its eloquent statement of devotion and the manner in which it pervades religious life, The Opening has been called the Islamic equivalent of the Lord's Prayer in Christianity. The word translated "opening," fätiha, means the opening in the sense of the opening of a chapter or a story. Unlike the other early hymic Suras, The Opening occurs not at the end of the Qur'anic written text, but at the very beginning. It is the most recited of all Qur'anic Suras, not only in prayers and liturgy, but also in everyday life. After business transactions, for example, The Opening is recited by both parties as a mark of good faith and a solemn affirmation of the responsibilities affirmed by each partner. The Opening is the only Sura in which the phrase "In the Name of God the Compassionate the Caring" does not occur before the Sura, but is actually considered part of the Sura itself. Just as that phrase is woven into the pattern of simple activities as a form of reminder so "Praise be to God" (al-hamdu li lläh) has become part of everyday speech. It is used after any good news or any praise, and as a response to the greeting "How are you?" The two qualifications of God are "lord of the worlds" (the creator deity) and "master of the day of reckoning" (the deity who brings finality to all acts and all lives). The response for those hearing or reciting The Opening is to turn toward God in worship and for refuge. The "the road straight" frequently is translated as "the straight path." The term rendered here as road, sirät, would have connoted something grand to the inhabitants of the Arabian peninsula. There are many words in Arabic for paths; the Arabs of Muhammad's time traveled through the desert on barely discernible paths. By contrast, the word sirät means a paved road, such as the roads of the Romans which the Arabian travelers might come across in their journeys. 53: 118
The first eighteen verses of The Star are considered among the earliest revelations of the Qur'an and are the most explicit reference to Muhammad's prophetic vision. The Sura begins (1-12) with the divine voice swearing by the falling star that "your companion" has not gone mad or lost his way. "Your companion" is interpretated as Muhammad. His vision is also called a revelation (wahy) and is explicitly said to be rooted not in desire (hawä), which the Qur'an associates with the inspiration of the poets (Sura 26). The object of vision is never actually described. Instead, the text evokes the process of vision by tracing a movement along the highest horizon and then a descent and drawing near to the distance of "two bows' lengths." The passage ends with an affirmation of the validity of the vision: The heart of the prophet "did not lie in what he saw." This affirmation becomes a proof text for the claim among many mystics and philosophers that the locus of spiritual vision and mystical knowledge is the heart. In a second passage (13-18), the divine voice, referring to Muhammad again in the third person, describes another vision ("He saw it descending another time"). Here, "the lote tree of the furthest limit" is placed in or near the enigmatic "garden of sanctuary." We are told almost nothing about the tree, except that something came upon it in an enveloping manner. Of key importance is the "gaze" of the prophet, which does not "turn aside" or "go too far." This one verse became the paradigm for Islamic reflection on the proper state in contemplation. As in many evocative passages in the Qur'an, what is left unsaid is as important as what is said. Here, the powerof the vision is evoked through a depiction of the gaze of the viewer, but the vision itself is never described in detail or given fixed form in a way that limits thought or imagination. When the Qur'an states "He saw it descending another time," the antecedent of the pronoun (hu, it/him) is unstated, and thus the referent of the "it" is not determinable from the passage. The identity of the referent became a matter of controversy, with the debate centering upon whether or not the deity can be seen in this world. Those for whom the vision of God can only occur in the afterlife tend to interpret the it/he as referring to the messenger-angel Gabriel.
![]() The bismillah invocation in the form of an ostrich 87
Those who cannot be brought to remember their essential role and responsibility as human beings are said to prefer the lower life (al-hayät ad-dunyä). The word for "lower" here is also the word, when used as a noun, for "world," a meaning that has led some translators to render the phrase "the life of the world." Although there may be a play on the two senses of dunyä here, grammatically the term cannot mean "life of the world" and I have adhered to the more immediate meaning of the term. The other problem with terms like "life of the world" or "worldly" is that the Qur'an generally does not view the world in negative terms, seeing it instead as the gift of an infinitely generous creator that, however transitory it may be, is to be cherished rather than despised. The final verse suggests that the central message of The Most High is the same one that was revealed to Abraham (Ibrähïm) and Moses (Müsä). 90
The condemnation of indifference to the suffering of others is brought back to the sign of the land in a graphic manner. The emancipation of a slave or caring for the disinherited is portrayed as the climbing of a high pass, the steep, narrow, treacherous ledge that rises up along the face of desert mountains. The Sura ends with a divine command to people to counsel one another to patience and compassion, and with a warning to those who deny the signs. The word for sign (äya) means both a physical sign (such as the land) and also a verse of the Qur'an. The verses of the Qur'an are both a remembrance of signs that are present throughout the world and themselves signs, which, like the signs of nature, point to a deeper reality forgotten or neglected in everyday human consciousness and endeavor. 91
The second part of the Sura evokes the civilization of Thamüd. For the people of Arabia, there were few symbols more potent than the tribe of Thamüd and the ruins of their great city that may have been part of the Nabataean culture whose capital was Petra, the "red rose city as old as time." In both early Islamic poetry and the Qur'an, the destruction of Thamüd became a parable for the passing of civilizations. The poets attributed the passing of the civilization to the incessant work of fate/time (dahr), which wears down all things and thwarts human aspirations. The Qur'an attributed the destruction of Thamüd to the refusal of its people to heed the words of their prophet, a refusal that led to the destruction of other peoples before and after Thamüd as well. In disobeying their prophet, Sälih, the people of Thamüd slaughtered God's camel mare. Nothing was more taboo in ancient Arabia than the unjustified killing of a camel mare. The central ritual of pre-Islamic poetry was the camel sacrifice and distribution of the meat throughout the tribe. The improper slaying of a camel mare was a sacrilege or abomination of such enormity that it led to tribal wars that lasted generations. By slaughtering God's camel mare, the people of Thamüd committed what was by both ancient tribal standards and Qur'anic standards an abomination. The depictions of the destruction of Thamüd are also eerily similar to depictions of the events of the day of reckoning and may serve as a parable for them as well. 93
Muhammad was orphaned as a young boy and came under the protection of his grandfather. When his grandfather died, his uncle became his guardian. In a tribal society based on family and clan protection, the loss of his father and grandfather left Muhammad vulnerable to enemies in Mecca, particularly when he began reciting the Qur'anic messages that threatened the interests and beliefs of more powerful men. In this short Sura, the Qur'anic emphasis on helping the orphaned and the disinherited is directly tied into a reminder (to Muhammad and to the listener in the more general sense) of the sufferings Muhammad experienced in his youth. Many commentators believe that this Sura was a consolation to Muhammad for the opposition and persecution he suffered as a prophet in the early Meccan years. 103
The Epoch offers a condensed version of the ethos of the early Meccan revelations. There is no doctrine of original sin in Islam, no doctrine of an innate sinfulness that makes every human inherently unworthy of salvation without the saving grace of the deity. Instead, the Qur'an affirms that humankind is in a state of forgetfulness, confusion, and loss, and in need of reminder. This Sura affirms that each human being is at a loss, except those who engage in four activities. The first activity is holding or keeping the faith (imän). This word is often translated as "belief," but imän includes not only intellectual assent to certain propositions but also engagement in just actions. These actions include 1) defending belief in the face of persecution or ridicule; 2) sharing wealth; 3) protecting those who are disinherited or in need; and 4) performing the ritual prayer, salät the second activity explicitly mentioned in this Sura. The word imän also has connotations of being secure or protected. In other words, to keep the faith through an active witness that exposes one to persecution and danger, is, ironically, to gain refuge. The last two items tie two primary virtues, the seeking of truth (haqq) and patience (sabr), to the social nature of such activity, the mutual counseling and encouraging of friend to friend toward such ends. 107
The Small Kindness relates a series of activities in a way that grounds much of Islamic moral theology. The first act is rejecting or calling a lie the din, a word that can mean either the religion or the day of reckoning. Just as the word often translated as "believe" is more passive than the Qur'anic conception of holding fast to the belief or keeping the faith, so the concept of calling the reckoning (or religion) a lie is more active than standard English translations such as "unbelief." Those who reject the reckoning which, in early Meccan revelations, is the foundation of religion are those who abuse the orphan, who are indifferent to those suffering in their midst, and who are neglectful in performing the prayer. This neglectfulness has been interpreted in two ways by Qur'anic commentators: either as neglecting the proper timing and posture in performing the physical movements or as performing them mechanically while thinking about other things, without following through on the implications of the prayer for other aspects of life and behavior. The second interpretation is supported by the fact that the verse on prayer is followed by two verses on self-display and neglecting the small kindness. Display, particularly of one's own acts of worship or piety, betrays a lack of true generosity. Self-display ends as a form of self-delusion, as a person ignores what the Qur'an announces will be ultimate in the evaluation of each life at the moment of reckoning: a genuine act of kindness, however small it might seem. There is a moral circle of causality implied in the Qur'anic passages on this issue. The refusal to acknowledge the moment of reckoning results in blindness to the small act of kindness. On the other hand, the true weight of that small act will be revealed on the day of reckoning to those who have carried it out and to those who have neglected it alike. 109
Those Who Reject The Faith contains a series of hymnic repetitions. In arguing against religious intolerance, Muslim scholars frequently point to this Sura as a primary source. The Sura suggests that people worship different things and that the prophet should resign himself to that fact. It does not enjoin any kind of force to compel people to adopt the worship and faith of Islam. The forms of worship mentioned here in a general sense can be taken as differing religions or, ethically, in the sense of whatever one deems of ultimate value (the truth, al-haqq). The final verse simply states that there is a dïn for you and a dïn for me. Dïn can mean "religion," "way," or "reckoning." In first two cases, the implication seems to be that diversity of beliefs and values is acknowledged without any call for compulsion or conflict. If dïn is taken as final reckoning, the implication is more specific. There is no need for compulsion in values or beliefs now; each person will receive a just and final reckoning at the proper time. 112
The most famous Qur'anic passage of tawhïd (affirmation of divine unity) is among the shortest Suras of the Qur'an. In this passage, Allah is affirmed as one, not begetting, not begotten, and as samad, an enigmatic term in classical Arabic. Samad in pre-Islamic poetry meant a person whom one approached for refuge. Qur'anic commentators have stressed the notion of perdurance and indestructibility. Indeed, there is a feminine form of the word samada that means a large rock. In the translations above I have given three versions, each attempting to bring out one aspect of the complex set of meanings this word signifies. Significantly, this short Sura is called by the alternative name of sincerity (ikhläs). In Islamic theology the notion of sincerity or authenticity is necessarily connected with the affirmation of unity. As mentioned earlier, in Islamic theology and mysticism, the affirmation of unity has several facets. It affirms that the deity has no partners or equals. In the moral sense, it has been interpreted as having no other aims, goals, or thoughts beyond the one reality or one deity. In other words, any other object that becomes an end in itself, a goal, is a form of false deity. In the theological sense, it can refer to the interior unity of the deity. To give the deity separate activities (seeing, hearing, knowing, willing) raises issues about the unity of God. If those attributes are eternal, then there are an eternal number of differing powers. If they are not eternal, then God can change, a notion that many Islamic philosophers, influenced by Aristotelian ideas about the impassivity of deity, found inconceivable. Finally, in many mystical theologies, unity involves not knowing or seeing anything but the one deity and in the view of some mystical philosophers arrival at a point where one's own existence passes away into the infinite reaches of that one God. |
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