Adil Najam
On this auspicious day, we at ATP pray for peace and goodwill to all.
A couple of days ago we had done a post related to Christmas by celebrating the architectural heritage of Churches in Pakistan. Of course, one needs to go beyond structures and to the core of relations between Christian and non-Christian Pakistanis. It is in the content of that relationship that the essence of true Pakistaniat lies.
This picture, from Islamabad (published in Dawn 24 December, 2006) reminds me of the famous 1947 speech by Jinnah (whose birthday we are also celebrating today), where he says:
Of course, the Santa Clause in the picture is a plastic doll. We still have a way to go towards making the relationship between Pakistanis of various religions – and even of various sects within the same religion – what Jinnah had hope it to be. That is the goal we must keep striving for.
I must confess, my spirit is uplifted today by reading this wonderful op-ed by Karen Armstrong in The Guardian (23 December, 2006), which she starts thus:
In 632, after five years of fearful warfare, the city of Mecca in the Arabian Hijaz voluntarily opened its gates to the Muslim army. No blood was shed and nobody was forced to convert to Islam, but the Prophet Muhammad ordered the destruction of all idols and icons of the Divine. There were a number of frescoes painted on the inner walls of the Kabah, the ancient granite shrine in the centre of Mecca, and one of them, it is said, depicted Mary and the infant Jesus. Immediately Muhammad covered it reverently with his cloak, ordering all the other pictures to be destroyed except that one.
As someone who named one of his sons Eesa (Jesus in Arabic), I can relate also to how she ends her essay:
The Muslim devotion to Jesus shows that this was not always the case. In the past, before the political dislocations of modernity, Muslims were always able to engage in fruitful and stringent self-criticism. This year, on the birthday of the Prophet Jesus, they might ask themselves how they can revive their long tradition of pluralism and appreciation of other religions. For their part, meditating on the affinity that Muslims once felt for their faith, Christians might look into their own past and consider what they might have done to forfeit this respect.
All I can say to this is, Amen and Aameen!
On Sufism, whoever suggested Kashful Mahjoob as a reading is right. It is a very inspiring text. I read it many years ago when in college. For those wanting more accessible texts both for scholars and lay-persons, any of the many books by Idries Shah should be a starting point. He was clearly the leading scholar of the subject and writes clearly and very readably.
Understanding Sufism is no more complex than understanding any religion and maybe less. Since everyone seems to have an opinion on religion that they thrust on others, people should not shy from understanding Sufi thought either.
At its core it is very simple (like powerful idea). The idea is that it takes all middlemen out and seeks to establish a direct relationship between God and the individual. It is the discovery of truth through self-reflection and thought. No one needed to hold your hand. No ulema, no interpreter of what is right or wrong. Instead, deep meditation and deep thought and deep reflection to discover the meaning of truth for yourself. The journey of discovery is much more difficult because it is a different journey for each individual, but once you arrive at belief that faith is much stronger than what may come from someone (your parents, your teachers, your ulema) just telling you what to believe or not.
For those who confuse it with just singing or dancing, that is neither correct nor funny. Both can be ways of meditation like with the whirling dervishes in Turkey, but they should not be confused with just entertainment please. Similarly the themes of love and intoxication and abandon have to be understood in the right context and not be confused by literality.
[quote post=”490″]what we call Sufi tradition[/quote]
Sufism is as misunderstood as a woman.
For current govt, the sufism is dance,music and taking drugs and then get Mast that’s why they are promoting it. For Ms.Armstrong, Sufism is something else. Nobody knows the real Sufism at all.
One can always read ‘Kashful Mahjoob’ by Ali Hejveri[RA] to get some background about it though it’s not an easy subject at all.
Karen Armstrong, when asked, simply says that she has a very strong belief in God, and that she finds God in every religion. This meshes well with her own stated leaning towards what we call Sufi tradition (but has existed well before Islam in Judaism and elsewhere); see end of her book ‘History of God’ for some great discussion on Sufism.
As to whether a painting is allowed or not, that is not a debate I wish to indulge in. There are and have always been literalists for whom the prescribed ritual is more important (e.g., hijab or bakra for qurbani). There are others for whom faith is about the message andnot the ritual (e.g., decency in appearance and action or spirit of sacrifice). I wish those who lean the first way the best of luck since it is not for me to judge others. My own leaning is towards the second. I suspect that so is Karen Armstrong’s.
“There were a number of frescoes painted on the inner walls of the Kabah, the ancient granite shrine in the centre of Mecca, and one of them, it is said, depicted Mary and the infant Jesus. Immediately Muhammad covered it reverently with his cloak, ordering all the other pictures to be destroyed except that one.”
Can anyone actually back up Armstrong’s comment by any Islamic source? A hadith maybe?
Secondly, about 25th of December, Russian Orthodox celebrate xmas on the 7th of Jan…
[quote post=”490″]Depiction of Mary and Jesus and Believing in them are two seperate things and in islam former is forbidden whereas latter is part of the faith.[/quote]
Actually Karen,an ex Nun and God knows what does she follow now was actually ignoring[delibrately or innocently] that Imaging/sketching is forbidden in both christianity and Judaism as well. Maybe Karen Armstrong had forgot to recall the Ten Commandments in which one of the clause explictly discusses about imaging which is not allowed in Islam as well. From Ten Commandments:
You shall not make for yourself an image, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me
Islam doesn’t say something different. The fifth clause which actually disallow the worshipping of images[which Chritians do by worshipping image of Marry by bowing infront of her sketch or idol]. I wonder why an ex-Nun is not recalling her own lesson rather teaching muslims about old Islam history. Irony is that our muslims get so happy after listen her and try to learn Islam though a NUN. I must *admire* such fellow muslims.
Funniest thing is that 25th Dec is not B’day of Jesus[AS] anyway, Chrisitans also know it via their Bible but still celebrate it. I wonder how Karen doesn’t remember it and don’t preach to ban this fake b’day festival.