Voices of Islam (128 page)

The contemporary discourse about religion is full of contradictions. It remains unclear what secularization is supposed to achieve, or how the religious bathwater is to be thrown away, leaving a healthy secular baby. Often, a person is considered a fundamentalist if she appears to practice her religion at all, especially if she dresses differently or refuses to participate in certain social activities and forms of entertainment, such as drinking alcohol and gambling. It is a common notion that the exercise of free will is restricted

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by having a comprehensive set of rules to live by, or a demanding set of rituals to perform. Some people are convinced that most rules and rituals are artificial and that individuals should not have to rely on such programming in their daily lives. In addition, many argue that religious ways of life are out of date and are counterproductive or even destructive to human welfare and progress.

Before rejecting the argument for the validity of a God-centered framework for life based on submission to God and the authority of revelation, one should consider the alternative. Today’s society demands a great deal from the individual soul. Exposure to electronic media entails significant and perva- sive psychological demands. Consider the following familiar vignette: an average adult in a developed country wakes up to a clock radio or a mechanical alarm. The abrupt transition from the bed to the outside world might be postponed a little until she enters the kitchen, the car, or the workplace, but it comes all too soon. At the first moment of consciousness after the quiet of sleep, the environment created by different forms of media takes over, broadcasting the latest news and traffic, reciting the names of the villains and heroes of the moment, and filling the mind with concerns, fears, hopes, and problems. Many people feel duty bound to partake in the news on television, radio, the Internet, or in print. Very few people can ignore it altogether, and some ‘‘news junkies’’ consume news in vast quantities. Hearing these reports, one is forced to respond, to take positions, and to assess oneself in comparison with the proffered ideals, values, and calls for action. There are calls to mind one’s health and well-being, to advocate various causes, to measure one’s children against expected achievements, and to assess the family in compari- son with the societal ideal held up as an example. Standards of financial success are presented for personal comparison. In recent decades, calls to prepare for the fi ancial burdens of the future have become pervasive, and the dire consequences of not doing so are frequently hammered home. Even persons of means are threatened by the idea that they are making the wrong prepara- tions or that they might be missing an investment opportunity. Finally, images of sickness, war, poverty, and natural and human-caused disasters confront us with the needs of their unfortunate victims and remind us of the inability to relieve suffering, however much we may want to help.

Upon getting out of bed, the requirements of the day begin to flood into the consciousness. Hygiene rituals focus on appearance in comparison with others. We desire to be perceived as attractive and successful persons in a manner consistent with socially conditioned images: chiseled body, white teeth, antiseptic breath, fragrance, coiffure, makeup, and clothing. Dissatis- faction with one’s appearance is a proven source of self-alienation among both men and women. At the breakfast table, even our foods send out messages on their packaging that demand value judgments and self- assessment. Is the packaged food vitamin enriched, fat- or cholesterol-free, free of preservatives, and liked by kids or moms? Almost everything a person

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consumes or applies to her body announces itself from the shelf with advertis- ing messages, often accompanied by images of human bodily perfection. Colorful type flashes messages about price, value, health, or danger.

Most of the day is punctuated with messages blaring from radio or televi- sion, messaging gadgets, or cell phones, constantly subjecting the mind to a cacophony of conflicting ideas, commands, and exhortations. Individuals are confronted throughout the day with a multitude of situations that call for ethical or moral judgments requiring immediate responses. Individual proclivities, the ability to refl and reason, the level of awareness of the issues involved, and the individual’s moral upbringing all help determine the nature of one’s responses. Multiplied by the days of the year, the passing decades, and phases of life, the sum total of these demands on the conscious and unconscious mind amounts to a pervasive, externally generated regimen. Combined with the responsibilities of caring for self and family and earning a living, this form of life surely deserves to be called a ‘‘Rat Race.’’

By contrast, a God-centered life cultivates a spiritual consciousness and reaches beyond the world of physical experiences toward the unseen. The most important aspect of any act, according to Islamic teachings, is the intention behind it. This is called
niyya
in Arabic. The Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said, ‘‘The reward of deeds depends upon one’s intention; every person will get a reward according to what he has intended.’’
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Spiritual discipline entails guidance about things one should and should not do, but it is also accompanied by an invitation to engage the faculty of reason, a constructive reminder and source of recentering, regeneration and renewed purpose. A God-centered life in Islam is not an inward-looking, monastic life, but one that reminds the believer of the central purpose of this life and places the demands of the external society in perspective by comparing its demands with the limitless power and presence of God. This consciousness is a source of strength, not of weakness.

A disciplined life in Islam offers an approach to handling the rigors of life, and especially for resisting its manipulations and ordering one’s priorities and responses. It is a means of supporting the comprehensive incorporation of Islamic teachings into all aspects of life, from the ordinary to the most far-reaching. Such a discipline does not preclude participation in the modern regimen as described above. In fact, Islamic teachings do not require or prefer an isolated, monastic life away from society, nor a communalistic existence within religious enclaves. Muslims can and do enjoy living in both majority Muslim countries and in countries where they live as minorities. Wherever they live, Muslims find ways to maintain a way of life that is intertwined with Islam. This is the purpose of Islamic self-discipline. Islam is flexible, so Muslims can adapt to life anywhere on the globe. This fact has led Islam to become a cosmopolitan, global religion. The popular notion that Muslims would rather live separately, in a veiled, mysterious, and impen- etrable isolation, is entirely false.

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The formal act of accepting Islam is simple. In the presence of two witnesses, a person simply recites the
Shahada,
the Testimony of faith. The Arabic formula of the Shahada is
La ilaha illa Allah wa Muhammadun Rasulullah
(There is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God). This statement connotes the idea of a God that is as near as one’s jugular vein but is also transcendent and requires no physical image. The second part of the Shahada places the Prophet Muhammad in the context of the sacred history of humanity. He is the last of a long and broad river of God’s Messengers since Adam, all sent to guide and instruct human beings. Acceptance of Islam brings immediate changes in the daily life of the individ- ual, just as the spread of Islam to a locality introduces institutions that make such changes permanent.

Five acts of worship are obligatory for every Muslim above the age of puberty who is sane and in possession of the physical or material means to carry them out. These acts of worship, called the Five Pillars of Islam, form the universal foundation of Islamic culture and civilization. The fact that these five practices are performed by all Muslims explains the unity within the diversity of Muslims around the world. Apart from the Shahada, these practices are Prayer, Charity, Fasting, and Pilgrimage. Each of these pillars of Islam has both a spiritual and a worldly signifi and each impresses itself in different ways upon the individual and the community. Each pillar also brings forth cultural expressions and institutions that are refl in multiple dimensions of human life.

ISLAM: A PATTERN FOR DAILY LIFE

Human relationships may be imagined as a web or a matrix in three dimen- sions, in which individuals are located in interlocking webs that intersect with the webs of other people. These relations can be mapped within a single life- time or onto succeeding generations. A hallmark of Islamic teachings is the way in which they allow people to view themselves and others in terms of the responsibilities and expectations appropriate to the multiple relationships in which they participate. Taken as a whole, this matrix describes a web of relations extending from God and the self to the family, the community, the world, and the universe.

The main responsibility of the Muslim is to the Creator. This relationship is described in Islamic teachings as one of gratitude and indebtedness. The Qur’an describes the central obligation of each person to believe and to worship, but the relationship is reciprocal, as the covenant of God grants mercy and everlasting life to the one who fulfills it. Giving oneself to God is described as a goodly exchange whose reward is unimaginable. The concept of homage and indebtedness to the Creator has three implications. First, such homage may be granted to no person or created being, but only to

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God. This is the central idea of
tawhid,
the concept of the oneness of God in Islam. Second, this relationship means that we do not have the right to act according to whim, nor are we supposed to wrong our souls, which is how the Qur’an describes sin. We are creatures of God to whom life and physical existence has been entrusted. This means we may neither abuse nor take our own lives nor those of others with abandon. In Islam, suicide is the most heinous act after associating other deities with God.

Third, Islam requires worship, obedience, and submission to God. The purpose of worship is to renew and purify the self and the soul, and it is a path to achieving peace through submission. The teachings of the Qur’an and the Sunna outline the duties and specifi rites of worship. These rites are both physical and spiritual on the one hand and worldly and otherworldly on the other. The collective expression of worship joins believers together and acts as a bridge to the universal community of souls. Beyond obligatory worship, individual striving increases the capacity to draw near to God. However, worship must not be taken to excessive lengths; and other rights and duties maintain the balance between these dimensions.

Prayer and Supplication

A Muslim is obliged to awaken at dawn for the morning (
fajr
) prayer at the sound of the call to prayer, the
adhan,
which echoes from the mosques in any village, town, or city in the Muslim world. Apart from mosques, the
adhan
is called in any place where Muslims gather for prayer. It may be called by an elder such as the head of a household, by a boy of suffi ient knowledge, or by a woman or a girl among other women. The times for calling the prayer may be determined by the observation of the sun and shadows or calculated with sophisticated mathematical and astronomical instruments. Today, prayer charts based on astronomical calculations are published for urban locations, and personal electronic devices are programmed to broadcast the call to prayer at the proper times anywhere in the world.

Upon waking in the morning, it is considered good to pronounce a short invocation, such as ‘‘Praise be to God who gives us life after He has caused us to die, and unto Him is the return,’’ which is one of many prayers and supplications taught by the Prophet Muhammad.
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After rising, a Muslim performs the ritual washing or ablution (
wudu’
) that is required before each prayer. This washing must be performed with a pure source of water. If pure water cannot be found, it is permissible to strike the hands on pure earth, sand, or dust, shake them off, and then symbolically cleanse the hands and face. According to a tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, ‘‘When a servant of Allah washes his face for ablution, every sin he contemplated with his eyes will be washed away from his face along with the water, or with the last drop

of water. When he washes his hands, every sin they have wrought will be

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The Muslim Call to Prayer

1. Allahu akbar
   Allah is Great (said four times).
   

2. Ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah
   I bear witness that there is no god but God (said two times).
   

3. Ashhadu anna Muham- madan Rasul Allah
   I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God (said two times).
   

4. Hayya ‘ala-s-Sala
   Hurry to prayer (said two times).
   

5. Hayya ‘ala-l-Falah
   Hurry to success (said two times).
   

6. Allahu akbar
   Allah is Great (said two times).
   

7. La ilaha illa Allah
   There is no god but God.
   

For the morning
(fajr)
prayer, the following phrase is inserted after Part 5 above:
As- salatu khayrun min an-nawm
Prayer is better than sleep (said two times).

effaced from his hands with the water, or with the last drop of water. When he washes his feet, every sin towards which his feet have walked will be washed away with the water, or with the last drop of water, with the result that he emerges pure from all sins.’’
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When a person proceeds to the place of prayer in the home or at the mosque, she may find that others may already have begun to perform the voluntary units of prayer. Then everyone performs the morning or
Fajr
prayer, followed by supplica- tions. After the prayer, in the quiet of the morning, many Muslims read the Qur’an until sunrise. The habit of rising for the prayer at dawn encourages Muslims to begin their day’s activities early and many find this quiet time very productive.