After long reflection and observation,I have concluded that the biggest problem in the modern world is that we are victimized by our own minds.This problem does nor correlate well with the traditional maps of vice and virtue such as the Seven Deadly Sins in Christianity.In fact most of the modern analyses are convinced that most of it is about greed.However if we stick to the Christian model for now,because it is the simplest ,we could say this obsession with rationality is about pride.But I prefer to think of it as ignorance-the cardinal “sin” in Buddhism.Oddly enough this very problem is what the modern world believes to be the solution! Thus Universities and Research and Commissions of Enquiry-most of it leading to more dead ends.Let’s conclude with the words of Jesus”Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”.Not the Phd.s and post-docs.The simple in spirit.Our Prophet Muhammad saws did not have to repeat that as most of the people around him(the Sahhabba r.a.) were already like that.If you don’t believe me go back to the sources and read the exchanges that occurred at the time..! Nothing like the debates in our universities and governing bodies.
A Good Idea vs. a Perfect Idea
Many years ago a dynamic Sufi activist named Nurrideen had a good idea.He wanted to build a Muslim commune in New Mexico.He managed to raise a substantial amount of money from rich Arabs in Saudi and the Gulf states who liked his idea.He worked with architectural plans from the famous Egyptian architect Hassan Fathi and built a multi-million dollar complex with local adobe materials.It was truly beautiful.I visited it early on in its inception and it was indeed impressive.
When people came to ask our sheikh of the time-Sheikh Nazim about it, he gave a somewhat cryptic answer.He said”Yes,this is a good idea,but it is not a perfect one.” I understood immediately what he meant.This was a good idea in the mind of Nurrideen but not a Divine inspiration-i.e. not really the will of God.
The project began well with Muslim converts flocking to the Centre in small numbers to live and have their children educated in a “true Muslim environment”.It wasn’t long however,before problems began to emerge.The environment was not propitious for recruiting.The locals were mostly Mexican and they had little interest in the project.The people who would naturally have been attracted to the project were from all over America but had no roots in New Mexico and no way ,often,to earn their living. The Arabic and Islamic teachers had to be imported from the East and there were often inter-cultural problems that had to be addressed.
Eventually the project failed.People started drifting away.The Saudis found out that most of the people there were Sufis and pulled their funding.Now the centre is only used for summer retreats.It was a good idea ,not a Perfect one!
How many times, in our own lives,do we have good ideas that are not Perfect ones?This is a cause of enormous sufferings.May Allah guide us to avoid these self-made plans!
Waking Up!
I,too,was raised in the liberal,democratic tradition.Let me share with you two events that helped me wake up.This is from long ago-1975 precisely,for Chantal that means before you were born lol.The first event was in San Francisco.It was the beginning of an interesting but flawed movement called Est seminars(Erhard Seminar Trainings) and they had some legitimate insights.The trainer (that’s what they called the leader) stood up at the board(yes there were no computers and projectors at that time!) and wrote down the “Hierarchy of Spiritual Development).The lowest level,just above animality, was Reason.The trainer underlined the point.”Rationality is the lowest level of spiritual attainment” he reiterated.It was all uphill from there.My entire liberal education was put into question and Alhumdulillah for that.Studying the Hindu and Buddhist concepts of “mind”(as illusion) confirmed my understanding.
The second event occurred at “The Abode of the Message” in the Berkshires at The Abode of the Message “with Pir Vilayat Khan.We did practices called “The Songs and Dances of Universal Peace”.In one of the practices ,the men and the women were separated into two concentric circles.Alternatively we would do some kind of circular movements and chanting”.When I heard ,one after the other,the two collective sounds,I was moved to tears.I felt the sublimity of the Creation.Vive la Difference!The feminist bubble, in which I too was raised, was beginning to burst,Alhumdulillah.Everything after that was a confirmation of what I had realized in that moment.Sublime!
Thought and Reality
Plus ca change plus c’est pareil (the more it changes,the more it’s the same).A Professor Emeritus is visiting from France.He is presenting “A Theory of Cancer”.Aha.That’s going to do it! Another Theory!At least since Descartes the French intellectuals have been producing theories.What’s more is the iconic theory of Descartes”Je pense donc je suis” is the opposite of the Truth! In fact ,it is only when you stop thinking that you discover who you really are.The world is falling apart but not for lack of theories?! It would be much more effective to teach people to see,hear and feel rather than to spin out theories like spiders spin webs.We are like the insects caught in these thought webs.Let’s become humans(insan in Arabic) once again.
Wahhabbism-A brilliant Summary
We generally try to avoid politics.But this is a story with all kinds of spiritual implications across the Muslim world and now internationally.Well-worth the read.Salaams,Ibrahim
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/kingdoms-failed-marriage-why-its-time-saudi-arabia-martinez-castillo
And the second article-Read the two and you will have a good understanding of what is going on in the Muslim world and elsewhere.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-yousaf-butt-/saudi-wahhabism-islam-terrorism_b_6501916.html
Don’t Be Deceived by Outer Appearances
As part of our Pilgrims’ Progress outreach I went to two different Sufi gatherings in the last two weeks.One was in a lovely centre with plush carpets and comfortable cushions finely decorated in Moroccan tones.The other was in a murid’s appartment that reminded me of how we lived as students.The first Dhikr was attended by approximately seventy five people.There was a delicious meal served at the end.The ritual was rich and complex.The second dhikr was attended by two men on one side and two women on the other side.In the first Dhikr I could feel almost nothing.A very slight sweetness developed over time(It was dhikr after all!).In the second dhikr the entire ritual consisted of listening to a tape of the Teacher.The Presence was powerful and sublime.The “hudur” of Allah was everywhere in the room.Don’t be deceived by outer appearances. Salaams,Ibrahim
Personal Will vs. Divine Will.
(A recent significant Facebook exchange)
“Sometimes life knocks you on your ass… get up, get up, get up!!! Happiness is not the absence of problems, it’s the ability to deal with them.”
Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free
Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free
Joel Ibrahim Kreps That sounds too much like American hubris to me.You have to understand that it is God that is knocking you on your -ss.And it’s not all about you and your will,Steve. Being knocked down is purposeful .It’s a teaching moment.And the first lesson, that Steve totally misses here, is that he is not in charge! Once you get that,not easy for arrogant Westerners bred on the omnipotence of Science and Personal will, you have taken a huge step.Alhumdulillah.
Joel Ibrahim Kreps The second lesson has to do with one’s proper relationship to the Omnipotent One who is in charge.I’ll leave it at that for now.
Communication
In the past, I often felt guilty about communicating with people-except for the essentials of course.I can still remember going to an Indian reserve in Northern Quebec where no-one talked unless they had to.It was unsettling after being raised in a noisy Semitic environment. It felt a bit like Woody Allen visiting the Catholic family of Diane Keaton in Annie Hall ,I believe.He had images of his own Brooklyn -based family shouting at each other across the dinner table in order to make a point.With his in-laws everything was prim and proper and he was clearly ill-at-ease.
Nowadays I think I would love that Indian reserve.The silence was like that of a Zen monastery ,in the middle of family life with women taking care of the cooking and the kids and men preparing to go out to hunt.Everyone seemed peaceful.
Nevertheless,I have become convinced of the value of communication.Whereas I used to consider it an unnecessary leisure activity,and it surely is in some contexts, I now see it as a spiritual obligation- somewhat like praying together or eating together.This is probably why I now post regularly on Facebook and keep up this blog.Whatever I can share with others and whatever I can learn from their feedback ,it is all for the good.After all,where would we be if our Prophets and our awliya(saints) did not communicate.
One thing that troubles me ,however,is something I have noticed with the younger generation.They tend to just break off the conversation as soon as their immediate needs are met.This happens on Facebook,on chat, by email or in texting.Suddenly they disappear off the radar.I call this”ropey-dope” in honour of the technique Muhammad Ali developed to avoid his opponents blows and tire them out.For me,what feels right is to find a natural flow in the conversation and end it when it is becoming repetitive or running out of energy.Then I will say something like”I have a bunch of other things that need doing” or:It is getting late and I need my rest”.So we end the conversation in a smooth and polite manner and I feel that a good piece of work has been accomplished.Not so the younger generation.They just disappear.I guess this is just part of the cellphone texting generation.Or am I missing something?Salaams,Ibrahim
Community
(Upon the visit of some old Afghani friends). Many times I have been reminded of the need for community.My last tariqat was always reminding us of the need for brotherhood.Unfortunately, for cultural and characterological reasons, I could not relate to that brotherhood.But the need for appropriate community is still there.
This morning, as we were praying the Fajr salat,it became obvious again.The prayer alone is not the same! Our Prophet saws also reminded the ummat of the importance of the collective prayer.
For the doubters and skeptics,don’t think I am being naive.I am continually impressed by the kinds and intensity of the psychopathology of the people I meet in my office and outside. In fact what I see outside is often more intense than what I see in my office! for sure,people can be a pain in the b-tt!
I am also aware that obligatory and inappropriate community is not the answer.Every week I hear of people who were badly served by being obliged to attend churches and Islamic schools that did not address their heart-felt concerns.So that won’t do ,either.
NBut let’s not throw out the proverbial baby with the bath-water.We all need support and help and confir mation.And community can help us with each of those.The next step is making this into something concrete.Inshallah,in the not too distant future.Salaams,Ibrahim
Obama ,Trump and the Intellect
(Response to a video praising Obama as “amazing” and Trump as a misogynist)
Forget Trump.He represents much of what is wrong with America but unfortunately he does represent America.Actually,Obama ,and I like the guy,is More of a problem! He represents political correctness to the nth degree and it is not healthy.It sounds good but it is all designed to please the audience.On this note, Trump is right.You have to break through political correctness to solve problems. I naively wrote a relatively short letter to Obama shortly after the start of the war in Syria,saying that he would be held to account ultimately,for not intervening just as Clinton regretted not intervening in Rwanda.Logistics of getting through aside,I know why he didn’t intervene.And its not because of the usual; conspiracy theories like not enough oil or to support Israel or whatever.He didn’t intervene because of another politically correct intellectual error-that you can figure out what to do by analyzing past similar interventions-specifically Afghanistan and Iraq.Wrong! Each situation is unique and comparisons don’t work.Our minds and their analysis don’t work-even if you are Harvard or Yale educated lol.Actually,especially if Harvard or Yale educated!. That’s why I use Istighara-the Islamic prayer for guidance.If you don’t believe me because this is too faith-based,check out “The Fog of War” and see what the secularist Robert McNamara had to say.He came to the same conclusion.Salaams,Ibrahim