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