The following is based on an edited reply to an e-mail (December 2000)
The Love of Humanity
by Jamiluddin Morris Zahuri.
Salaams,
It is a great pleasure for me to receive your e-mails. They are so often full of earnest
questing and sincere soul searching. How much this is needed in the modern world full of so
many false values or 'off the shelf' solutions. As before I want to try to discuss some points,
but of course really the answers lay within yourself - as your heart well knows. In answering I
try not to do so from a theoretical perspective - I am no philosopher (thanks be to God).
As regards sufism which you mention - I think, as you seem to imply, that the real sufis do
not concern themselves with being sufis at all. Their attention to, and love of, God does not
leave them time for such matters. If others wish to consider them as such they leave it to
them to do so. I have heard Zahurmian say - 'do not call me a sufi, rather call me a sinner'.
However this does not mean that the company of like-minded people sharing common
goals and aspirations is not beneficial - it certainly is a great aid for one on the path.
Perhaps this is a major factor in sufis developing orders etc.
The question you raised concerning loving others when one sees them engaged in acts of
barbarism and inhumanity towards their fellow man or indeed animals, disrespect for
institutions intended to enshrine their spiritual aspirations and so on. I think the sufi answer
may be along these lines.
There is in each and every human being an unquenchable spark, which is a spark of
divinity. The sufis learn to perceive this spark in meditation - it is not beyond your capacity
to do so. To be technical the meditation involves the development of the pineal gland
located in the centre of the forehead.
If one understands this one must see that it is this divinity within each man or woman that
one loves or seeks to love within them. In short one loves them for the divinity within them
and not for the forces which appear to hold such divinity in thrall and which are responsible
for the negative effects and inhuman behaviours. Another way this is sometimes expressed
is to say that one loves the person not the deeds. But I think one can express this better by
saying one loves the divine within each person and seeks always to relate to that - for in so
doing one is seeking to love the Divine itself. Ultimately, and immediately, All-mighty God
governs the universe and the task is not difficult for Him. This world is a transient phase in
our existence, a testing ground for our soul. The one who succeeds is the one who keeps
the All-mighty in mind at all times and thus, if He wills it, unites with Him. Again Zahurmian
used to make this point in reference to problems - he would say when you get a problem
don't look at the problem look at the solution - the One who sent the problem. This is a
technique in life.
I mention this because one must recognise the transient nature of the upsetting inhumanity
one sees and hears whilst simultaneously taking it seriously as challenge or an opportunity
to find divine qualities such as compassion within ourselves. It seems to me a constant in
sufi thinking to hold two apparently opposite views simultaneously. Perhaps it is more than
just dialectics since not only does the sufi reconcile opposites in a transcendent unity but
retains the value of each component within itself. Thus while alive to the working of God in
tragedy, suffering, poverty etc. the sufi tries to act towards it with humanity, as if he were
viewing it entirely from a human perspective. Surely this, in the well-known phrase, is to be
in the world and not of it.
This is also a practical approach - in the case of difficult situations or emergencies the one
who is most helpful is not the one who feels most strongly about it but the one who can
suspend such feelings in order to act most effectively.
Thus our heart functions within its sphere, our intellect within its sphere, and the physical
actions within the sphere proper to them. When one or another sphere becomes involved in
things not proper to it then the individual is out of balance and less effective. So when strong
feelings cloud our judgment we act less well. When the intellect reduces our capacity to feel,
making us cold, our actions lack passion and vitality. When the body overreaches itself or
under performs we are equally ineffective.
You speak about loving Lord Jesus and the holy Prophet Muhammed. You know my own
feeling is, and I think I have read this from Mevlana (Jalaluddin Rumi) and perhaps others
too, that there are two facets to this. There is the Prophet within us as well as the Prophet as
a unique soul who exists and functions beyond the death of his body, indeed preexisted
before taking bodily form. I am inclined to think that when many speak of finding Jesus they
are referring to some recognition of the Jesus within. I think the mystics have recognised
that in certain respects we can find the whole universe within us. To identify with or relate to
the Prophet or saint within is to identify or relate to that part of us which represents good,
purity, love, benevolence, light, beauty, etc.
''Tread softly for you tread on my dreams' - as the poet says. Nevertheless you know, I am
sure, that I must aver when it comes to thinking of Jesus as the son of God. I certainly will not
be drawn into theological debate but I have always found the words of Shah Wali Ullah most
helpful in this respect. He says that Lord Jesus - discovering what is a very high and subtle
spiritual reality - correctly recognised three distinguishable facets of the divine. These Lord
Jesus named as the father, son, and spirit. He goes on to say that the naming of them by
such human parallels became the cause of confusion to succeeding generations since they
misunderstood to what he referred. Perhaps it is for this reason that this way of describing
these exceedingly subtle distinctions is - as you know - forbidden in the Qur'an. But in the
end the truth of such matters will surely be revealed as the Qur'an itself says.
I mention this to clarify my response to your idea that whilst Jesus serves the function for you
of a relationship to a higher state of consciousness, the holy Prophet Muhammed serves
this function for me. Actually Lord Jesus as well as the holy Prophet Muhammed, and the
other Prophets all serve this purpose for the sufis. As a matter of fact the true spiritual guide
whom one actually meets and knows on this earthly plane serves this function (a point of
course hotly disputed by the orthodox). In a sense this is for the very the reason you
describe - that to know God directly without a point of reference, seems to defy a human's
capacity. As a matter of fact I thought that what you said, leaving out the reference to the
concept 'son', shows a remarkable grasp of the Prophetic role between man and God. This
is paralleled in institutional sufism by the Guide/Disciple relationship. So may be after all I
share your love of Jesus more than you credit. My concerns about the existence of some
inaccuracies with the Holy Bible, inspired as so much of it undoubtedly is, may be a
reflection of this love, as much as those who claim such love based unquestioningly on
these scriptures - but God knows best. I would want to know and love the real Jesus rather
than a version engendered for various possibly political motives - wouldn't you?
However, all that having been said to satisfy the demands of the intellect, neither I nor
anyone else can or should try to stand between one who seeks to be a lover and their
Beloved, by whatever name you care to call the Beloved - and I cannot think of a better path
than that of love. In that respect consider me and all I have said as nonexistent. Love on!
Jamiluddin Morris Zahuri (Southampton. Dec 2000)
Published by The Zahuri Sufi Web Site December 2002