MD MOQ and Islam

From: Khalil (khalilm@netcomuk.co.uk)
Date: Tue Feb 17 2004 - 12:09:36 GMT

  • Next message: Khoo Hock Aun: "Re: MD MOQ and Islam"

    Hi,

    I'm new to the group so forgive me if this is a subject that has already had an airing on MD but I was surprised after reading Lila that apart from a couple of almost disparaging remarks about Moslems and mullahs no other connection was made.

    In my opinion, although I fall way short of being anything of a scholar on these matters, Sufism, the mystical element of Islam has much in common with MOQ.

    In a sense we of course shouldn't be surprised at this as all the mystical traditions come together into a unity, as that is their purpose, to transcend the multiplicity in search of the origin.

    Sufism talks of Islam as being a combination of Shariah and Haqiqah, Sacred Law and Truth. Sacred Law provides the framework and detail of the rituals, duties, & prohibitions etc of daily life while the Truth contains the Spirit. We see here a correlation between static and dynamic quality. Indeed the problem with Islam today is that it has become trapped in the Shariah and has lost the Haqiqah in much the same way as Judaism was trapped in the Law before the advent of Jesus.

    Contrary to what some in the West believe, there is no Sufism without the Law. There is no Haqiqah without Shariah

    In Islam God, Allah, who is One, Immanent, Transcendent, Immutable is described as Lord of all the worlds, the 7 heavens and the 7 earths. We see here the unification of the different levels of existence, sub atomic, atomic, molecular, biological, social, intellectual, spiritual. Apparently separate but held together in a seamless unity. Islam is first and foremost the religon of Unity, it makes no separation between secular and spiritual and hasn't suffered the same church/science split as Christianity. In fact there is no Church(or Mosque) as such to uphold a particular dogma.

    It is said that God Who is unknowable in His* Totality is known through His Signs and His Qualities. Although His Names and Qualities are infinite He is referred to by 99 Qualities. e.g the One, the Truth, the All-Seeing, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, the Infinite, the Eternal, the Creator, the Living, the Merciful, the Compassionate, the Sustainer etc *(in Arabic the language of revelation Allah is neither masculine of feminine, but translating into an impersonal pronoun seems even less appropriate).

    It is widely recognised that the North American Indians were greatly influenced by early Muslim travellers see

    http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/4321/namuslims.html

    Also Fritchof Schuon, one of the foremost intellects in the field of comparative religion in the 20th century, of Swiss origin, who converted to Islam in his twenties and established with Rene Guenon the school of Religio Perennis which sought to unveil the essential unity within all the great religious and mystic traditions, spent the last years of his life in Indiana amongst the American Indians and wrote about them.

    http://www.religioperennis.org/Document/RenaudPat/Schuon_Indian.html

    The name Laila, which means night in Arabic, is also a name given amonst Sufis to the feminine essence of of the Divine Reality. There is a famous Persian allegorical love story known as Laila and Majnun. Majnun means the one who has gone mad. It is the story of Majnun who has become mad through his love of Laila!

    Lastly for a fuller understanding on Sufi metaphysics I can recommend The Sufi Path of Knowledge Ibn Arabi's Metaphysics of Imagination by William Chittick. Chittick has written a number of excellent books on Islam and Sufism. His wife Sachiko Murata has written the Tao of Islam.

    Ibn Arabi (sometimes Ibn al Arabi) is known amongst Sufis as the greatest of the Knowers, while Jalal ad Din Rumi the Persian mystic and poet and founder of the Whirling Dervish order of Sufis is known as the greatest of the Lovers. Chittick has also written a book on Rumi's teachings called the Sufi Path of Love.

    Please forgive me if this is something that has already been noted and discussed at length. Otherwise I hope it has been useful.

    regards

    Khalil

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