Wrongdoing
19. AL ZULMU ZULUMATUN
INTRODUCTION
The aim of this lesson is showing that any wrongdoing (zulm), triggers a series of consecutive and mutual wrongdoings and these may accumulate into such a fireball of vicious circles that what went wrong where becomes a question almost impossible to answer.
Take this imaginary scenario: A hits B without a reasonable justification and B, being himself an immature soul hits back at A even harder. The exchange of blows continues until one side, seeing that he is no match for the other throws in the towel but resolves either to get even by bringing in allies for a next round or if that is not possible to avenge his hurt by transmitting it to an innocent victim, i.e. beating up another and weaker person on some pretext. Street gangs relate to each other on this basis and their mutual as well as pass-on violence continues to the end of their existence. Hence the Messenger of Allah said “Az zulmu zulumatun”, i.e. “Wrongdoing generates a black atmosphere of interminable wrongdoings”.
I will go straight for the jugular and say that why chronically poor and backward countries are poor and backward is that among them there is both a vertical and horizontal transmission of interminable wrongdoings. In contrast, in advanced, stable and prosperous countries, wrongs, while not absent, are dealt with more institutionally rather than personally and arbitrarily, so therefore the hand of the law is felt by all concerned from the head of state, down to the street thug. Thanks to successful press surveillance, president Nixon of the United States of America was impeached and evicted from office for engineering a break-in into the opposition’s offices to find any incriminating information. Presidents after him had to tread more carefully about how they conducted themselves afterwards. Compare this with a president in a backward country- in many cases presidency is obtained by a thuggish violent coup and retained by police-state methods using unlimited brutality towards rivals and dissenters. If the dictator dies in his bed he is usually smoothly succeeded by a son or brother or a long-standing subordinate, usually his strongman, like Stalin succeeding Lenin. Otherwise he ends up being violently brought down by a rival faction.
Given the absolute type of power and freedom from prosecution dictators enjoy, their interminable wrongs often go un-avenged in this world- for example, Stalin comfortably died in his bed. In any case the wrongdoings do not stop at their deaths, but they are added to by their successors until one day a great reformer breaks this chain of tyranny and wrongdoing. A bright recent example has been Nelson Mandela, and before him we have the great Ghandi. Ghandi liberated and democratised India while Mandela did something similar to South Africa. Of course nothing is perfect in these two countries since these leaders reformed them but things are far better than before. Especially India can boast of the world’s best democracy among the until recently so-called ‘Third World’ countries despite its huge and extremely multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-faith social structure. Few countries outside Western Europe, North America and Australia-New Zealand can boast of more. Lebanon for example, which can be seen as a miniscule India, trails far behind India in democracy and internal peace.
This lesson then is about analysing the subject of social evil and throwing light on the mechanisms of pervasive wrongdoing among people and the possible cures.
HOW WRONGDOING DEGRADES BOTH ITS PERPETRATORS AND VICTIMS- GODLY VICTIMS BEAR WITH AND MAY EVEN SAVE THEIR OFFENDERS
Before we consider the deliberate doing of wrongs to others we better begin with the case of doing wrong to ourselves which is called by Allah “Yazlimuna enfusehum” or “They do wrong/abuse themselves” which is another way of saying sinning. As an example we may read:
Allah does not do wrong to people in any way but the people themselves do wrong to themselves” (10: 44). Again we read in the verses:
“(Moses, after hitting an innocent Egyptian while thinking that he was saving an innocent Israeli and then realising his mistake) said ‘My Lord I did wrong to myself, please forgive me...’” (28: 16) and “Those who commit some evil or do a wrong to themselves and remembering Allah afterwards ask for pardon for their sins- who can pardon sins if not Allah. Such do not insist on their sins while knowing better” (3: 135).
Obviously each act of sinning hurts the interests of the sinner first before it hurts the victim and can therefore be seen as a self-inflicted harm as much as a harm inflicted on others. In other words, by each act of wrongdoing the resultant debris includes the sinner as much as the victim. It is like a suicide bombing to use a current metaphor. Knowing this I challenge any reader to dare to sin from now on, provided of course he has any sense.
Another point to consider in understanding wrongdoing is realising that it is motivated by a desire for revenge, often by proxy or as a substitute revenge. I am excluding animal violence which is based on satisfying a natural desire like for food or any safety fears. Beasts, young children and physically adult but mentally defective people attack, grab, steal or hit on innocent instinct. Our Sharia recognises such innocent acts and excludes them from procedural punishment while stopping the animal or child from causing harm is allowed even if it takes some violence. Said Rasulullah (S) “Kullu mudirrun yuktal”, i.e “Every (decidedly) harmful animal can be killed”. Best example are animals which are allowed to be killed even within the grounds of Masjid al Haram, like snakes, scorpions, rats and crows- and some people out to commit an atrocity. Outside these last quoted, punishable wrongdoing is often motivated by an often misguided desire to hurt others in the hope that one’s own perceived grievance shall be avenged. So, a greedy man resenting the real or wrongly perceived prosperity of another man may rob or swindle him just to get even as he sees it. Another too sex-obsessed man can violate a woman in a vulnerable position just to avenge ‘the fact’ as he sees it that the society is denying him the right to have his fill of sexual satisfaction. A pig-headed ideologist or religious fanatic blows up those he sees as unappreciative of his beliefs in order to get his burning if mad sense of grievance recognized and again in order to avenge his non-appreciation by others. And lastly and more generally, many socially maladjusted people burn with a desire to hurt as many others, and in as many ways as he can, in order to avenge the sufferings caused to him by those who one can say simply look much happier than him.
Lastly, we come to the perfectly sane but morally corrupt people who simply have no scruples against victimizing anybody and everybody they find in a vulnerable position and with an enviable asset. Many businessmen indulge in this kind of wrongdoing; they may overcharge or short-change customers, cheat on contracts, evade taxes or deal in fake products etc.
In every single instance of wrongdoing, the victims are hurt while the wrongdoer is self-debased, becoming even greedier for more wrongdoing and more daring making it more dangerous for the next time. Since avenging hurts is a natural instinct in all people, the wrongdoers catalyse a process which spreads the desire of wrongdoing among the rest except the few highly spiritualised and moral people. At each such a man or a woman the transmission of wrongdoing is broken- the perfect person absorbs and dissolves away the harm. That is why perfect men and women, called saints in religion, are vitally necessary in every human group if that group is to enjoy some social peace and stability. We should rather note though, that while not everybody appearing to be a saint is one, many true saints in fact are not known as such either by themselves or by others. One can only do one’s best to recognise God’s saints, sometimes despite the saints themselves.
Their mark is such humility and charity as to defy comprehension and often also a great lack of worldly means. They look one in the face like a small innocent but very sociable child would look at you; they are all welcome and hospitality and charity in any way they can manage, cheerful and respectful, do not take offence easily and when they do, seem more sad than angry. In other words they are ‘egolessness’ personified and personal charity institutionalised. They come readily and cheerfully when invited and go away without resentment when rejected. You see, they have little in the way of an ego and being so light of burden they go about their lives like a feather drifting and dancing in a breeze. Deep down however they are great sages, their sagacity being more circumstantial and non-verbal than verbal and methodical. Only Allah avenges hurts caused to them for they themselves are incapable of responding to wrongs to their persons with vengeance. Against this they can respond to wrongs done to others only too well if they have the power and opportunity to do so, for they are born judges and saviours of people without advertising it. As such the Messenger of Allah (S) has been the greatest of saints in every sense, as his righteous vengeance saved both the offended and the offender while his otherwise personal humility, sweetness and charity disarmed and charmed all who came to him with some goodwill. All his personal sufferings in a social context were delivered to him by jealous people, for jealousy is the greatest and only sin which can persuade others to attack a friend of God. It was the only motive which led Iblis the Satan to attack both Adam and Adam’s Maker, Allah. Only satans among people can attack prophets and saints- all the rest the saints charm and disarm. That enemies of God (who are those who take their own ego as their god) inflict revenge on the friends of God as a matter of course just because the latter are friends of God can be seen from the verse:
“Killed (cursed) are the gang who had a trench full of burning fuel around which they squatted and were witnessing what they were doing to the believers (burning them alive). They were not taking revenge from them for any other reason than they had believed in Great and Praiseworthy Allah Who created the heavens and earth. Allah is Witness over all things” (85: 4- 9).
Here we again see the fact that true believers are always envied and persecuted while they envy and persecute nobody- so seek Allah’s friends among the most envied and persecuted. Enemies of Allah disguised among His friends always target them the elect; they try to hinder, block, disgrace and if possible destroy them one way or another while those persecuted friends of Allah just bear all in silence and patience. They are the true victors, victors without exterior effort or struggle but victors through interior struggle to keep patience with all and by performing charity towards all. Make no mistake about it: a non-responding-in-kind believer in God is just trying to inspire shame and repentance in his persecutor; if the latter has any good left in him a day may come when he will be no more able to suppress his self-disgust and he must seek forgiveness from his pious victim on his way towards Allah’s forgiveness. Look how men of God save and even reward their offenders- so shall Allah do to the repentant, the contrite at heart. How Kind and Wise is He!
But not all victims are Godly, in fact most aren’t. Therefore if the not godly enough survive the oppression, they can only wait to exact a vengeance; that is why the less godly a society is, the more evil circulates among them, evils like gross crime, social strife, obscene inequalities and totally un-apologising brutalities. Unfortunately and naturally, poorer countries are more like this and rich or poor Muslim countries are among the greatest offenders when it comes to inequalities and human rights abuses! This must be a way for the Satan avenging God! Shame on us ‘Muslims’.
CAUSES AND VARIETIES OF ZULUMAT AMONG MUSLIMS
Zulumat, that is to say evil and unhappiness flying around a Muslim atmosphere is firmly rooted in the moral and spiritual inadequacies of Muslims whether practicing or not so practicing. Most of the practicing understand Islam in a mechanical sense- the more of the formalities of Islam like the rituals they act out the greater and more holier-than-thou they feel. A lot live a schizoid life, that is to say one half of such acts like a faithful Muslim when it comes to the rituals and formalities while his other half lives almost entirely from his lower animal self which never passed from near a mosque. For example he cheats amply at his trade or work or seeks promotion by favouritism and bribery and cheats on his taxes heartily. Strangely however he is not as guilty as it would seem: all are at it and as our imam Abu Hanifa says, when a failing becomes universal it becomes an excuse as well. Because most are offending and thereby surviving while the non-offenders may have a hard time even unto death, people’s survival instincts may persuade them to join in the rampage and save their necks and survive. It is a sad fact that human rights issues, whatever their merits, are far less appreciated and addressed among Muslims; oppression by government officials are routine and these officials themselves are no less oppressed by their superiors. Teachers routinely beat up pupils, rich men and the powerful demand worship from the poor and the weak, doctors bow to rich and powerful patients who reward them while they may despise and may maltreat the poor and the weak. A mischievous friend told me how he visited a hospital dressed and acting like a destitute and ignorant man and was ignored and despised by almost all staff but when he left and returned dressed and acting like a rich and powerful man the same staff could not fall on each other more to worship him. Even the young and gorgeous reception girl staff looked at him as if they had fallen in love with him despite him being quite old for them. We cannot say that this is exactly the same in a developed Western country like the UK. Although negligence and abuses are not unknown here in the West they are miniscule when compared with those routinely committed more to the East and the South.
What is lacking in Muslim countries? It is security for all concerned. From the head of state down to the beggar on the pavement the members of undeveloped societies have little to turn to when they need help and protection. The head of state is in a state of fear from a coup and must either take all precautions whatever their legality or be toppled by the first daring and unscrupulous contender who has been hatching a coup. The commercial entrepreneur either evades taxes and dues like other colleagues do or his profits shall fall and he will go out of business. Honest public officials either accept the bribes on offer thus filling their pockets or, both the bribers and the bribed other officials will see to it that he loses his job. You either pay the traffic police to get away with your traffic offences or the police frames you to end up in prison. In short the problem is the lack of fairly honest and smoothly working public institutions like an upright law enforcement or tax collection system, a nearly incorruptible police, all natural under an honestly democratic or alternatively a virtuous monarchical government. The measure of good government is the existence of a very strong and well-educated middle class and a conspicuous lack of a too poor underclass- which is the case in the most developed parts of the world, mostly situated in Europe and North America and their immigrant extensions like in Australia. Unfortunately not a single Muslim country is like them whatever its national wealth; even the fabulously wealthy Arab nations around the Gulf have their shamefully destitute citizens. In countries like Turkey and Pakistan, the poverty of the large underclass is to be seen to be believed. So long as such corruption and injustices exist to such extent, the zulm involved can only breed zulumat, that is to say, an infinite number and variety of social offences each helping the other to continue as part of an overall vicious circle. In short, where there is no institutionalised reliable justice, each citizen if left to his own devices and he either lingers in his misery or joins the jungle battle of the survival of the fittest. That is how we can explain the misery, the never-do-well condition of all backward countries.
As to the varieties of zulumat among Muslims, they are economic injustices and insecurity, lack of trust between the government and the citizen, the seller and the buyer, the law-enforcer and the accused, the doctor and the patient, the teacher and the pupil and so on and so forth. These breed crimes of dishonesty, selfishness and ready insult and violence across the board, all of which are survivals of a sick tribal past in which tribal selfishness is the only institution to take care of each and every citizen’s interests- and that, irrespective of the justice of those interests!
ARE ALL IN ORDER IN THE WEST?
If the problem is shallow, if across the board religiosity in Muslim countries coupled with ruthless tribal and class attitudes, the problem in the West is too much secularism encouraging a frank and extensive hedonism an indulgence of which is only possible, and often also habitual, amongst the richest of muslims. These Muslim rich, except the truly pious among them, often are not ashamed to lead dissolute lives in their countries and even more while abroad. I was once officiating the marriage of one very rich Arab press heiress to another Arab man; the heiress dressed and lived in a fabulous mansion, just like another rich Londoner, with her uniformed limousine driver and general servant at constant attendance. Again, like any other Western ‘liberated’ woman she divorced the man within a few months, sending for me in aid of the divorce procedure. The man having just disappeared back to an Arab country he had come from, had not maintained her and had not responded to her calls for a reunion and living together again. Witnesses testified that all of this was true and since she had asked and obtained from her husband the right of divorcing him if she wanted to, my job was just to make the divorce official. Obviously, like all her other marriages this was also a passing sexual fancy and as such, despite the thin disguise of an Islamic marriage, she was quite unemotional about it- just like the serial boyfriend-girlfriend arrangements in the West. Obviously thinking that I would raise some objections to the divorce on grounds of Sharia, her many male friends at attendance at the divorce competed in their offering me bribes in kind, like holidays together or membership of their exclusive golf club (they pronounced ‘golf’ as ‘julf’ the typical Arab way). Several months passed and I had forgotten all about this incident when a call came from the same lady; she was about to send her chauffeur to pick me up and bring me to her for some consultation. I duly arrived at her palatial home where I was received in her luxurious guest hall in total privacy- me and her alone. She offered me coffee and sweets, we sat facing each other but there was hardly anything to talk about. She just eyed me strangely or I thought so. It could be her strange make-up which was making her eyes sparkle chemically perhaps. But her silent and constant eyeing me without either talking much or bothering with responding to my remarks, intended to find out what it was that I was being invited for, began to make me feel uneasy. After a few mumblings and probings on my part leading to nowhere I had to ask to be allowed to leave which permission was granted. In retrospect I have a feeling that she was perhaps interested in my humble person you know for what but I am notoriously blind to such subtle advances and she was not the first or last of many advance-makers in my life. You see, I was a very handsome man but as shy as a ‘girl behind seven veils’. I simply cannot bring myself to admit that women may be interested in me even if they made it boldly plain - to take advantage. I simply can’t and thank Allah for that.
But in the West and perhaps also amongst the most liberated and prosperous Muslims, sexual adventurism is a matter-of-factly routine. Of course I am not taking the temptation of sexual intercourse as the only temptation raging among the Westerners; alcohol, drugs, extreme obsession with sports and games, fashion and lottery - all extremely indulged in - are all too popular enslavers and robbers of their souls, preventing them from contemplating some more edifying and rewarding possible interests of life, like religion and mysticism, real art and ennobling philosophy. This of course does not mean that the Westerners have fewer numbers of noble-spirited people among them than the Easterners or Muslims in particular. I believe, for good reasons, that all races have equal proportions of noble souls who can do any good for anybody who needs it with enthusiasm and grace- men are the same everywhere. Some of my best friends have been Western Europeans whose sweetness and charity towards me left great green areas of love and gratitude in my heart; most were not particularly religious in any conventional sense but were extraordinarily charming and generously charitable people for nothing in return. O Allah, only You know Your saints!
But despite such saints the too many if not most Western human brothers and sisters of ours are victims of those human devils among them who are inculcating them with their philosophy of Godless and irresponsible hedonism. Hedonism is always associated by waste and bodily harm. As for waste, witness the rubbish mountains all over the West - a major ingredient of which is perfectly good but discarded food. I believe the wasted food from the Western premises could completely wipe out all the starvation elsewhere. A more responsible use of fuel consuming items like motor vehicles and heating of premises could easily halve the carbon footprint over our declining environment. A more responsible sexual conduct could cut many pathological and surgical cases and pharmaceutical waste - again at least by half. If the present consumption rates is heading us towards the heat death of our world, halving that consumption could not only permanently stave it off but also improve our sanity and health enormously. Both our environment and health remain eminently saveable provided we use our natural resources more responsibly and conduct our personal lives less hedonistically and more spiritually- by ‘spiritual’ I mean moral values-orientated.
I can assure my any unconvinced readers that spiritual life is superior to hedonistic by a very far margin not least because it is both very innocent and cost free. Its fruit is that priceless commodity called peace of mind and relationships; a spiritually motivated and morally responsible man is too good and too harmless a person for anybody to be offended or fight with while at the same time he is a non-stop friends-making machine using far less fuel than the enemy-making machines that most other men are. He is an environmental economy star, both in material and social senses. The West, by going too far in its so-called liberal (actually hedonistically enslaving) philosophy and lifestyle, is digging its own grave and the grave of all humanity. It cannot see this because it is to absorbed in and obsessed with its hedonistic addictions. Pity!
SINCE ZULM IS EVERYWHERE ZULUMAT ALSO ARE
On the one end we have, as we have seen, a Muslim world paying a strong lip service to Islam but otherwise mostly practicing ignorance, kufr and mal’anah. Kufr means denial and that denial of Islam is in the acts and not words of most Muslims. It is therefore escaping attention and detection. Mal’anah (from root lam, ain and nun) means cursed acts and behaviours unworthy of Islam, and in fact betraying a lack of enough faith in God, while great investments are made in sordid worldly interests like political power, obscene wealth and hedonism second to none- all at the cost of enormous injustice and atrocity! See all the civil wars across Islam, the terrible dictatorships, the obscene wealth on the part of a corrupted minority and the equally obscene ignorance and foul decomposition on the part of the underprivileged majority among whom the only effective religiosity is insurrectionary fundamentalism with rivers of blood and fire in prospect just to substitute one form of elitist tyranny with another.
THE MOST DIRECT AND PERVASIVE MEMBER OF ZULUMAT RANGE
Zulm is an excuse for lying and cheating- a believer is allowed to lie and cheat if any of his legitimate fundamental rights are at stake. He can even pronounce disbelief in God if his life is in danger on account of being a believer- this is allowed by Allah in His Qur’an.
But such circumstances should be exceptional. But they are not. Muslim rulers and in fact many Muslims who have some power over others are so unscrupulous in wielding that power that their respondents are forced on the defensive and do utter lies and commit deceits. It is a law of psychology, that threats to vital interests one holds causes the one so threatened to resort to hypocrisy in which telling lies is the staple major ingredient. Unjust and cruel authority figures like bad parents, taskmasters and governments drive their subjects to all sorts of lies, frauds and pretences and if these are healthy and legitimate responses to the cruelty involved they become so ingrained over the long term that the subjects in question become desensitised to lying and cheating on their part; that is why in poor and backward counties both buyers and sellers, for example, have to haggle and swear and pretend so much over almost all transactions, a phenomenon so absent in the West. This desperate and pervasive need for and habit of negotiating everything by lying and counter lying, pretending and counter pretending and ultimately hopefully winning something by cheating the other party is very typical of societies where the chief cultural element is zulm. Another and even worse effect of zulm is that it often persuades the recipient of zulm to commit zulm on others himself- it looks to him that to be safe and happy one should rather join the ranks of the zulm-workers instead of staying among its sufferers. Hence the prolific cadres and specialists in zulm ranges in badly-run human groups from family to government.
This is just one curse of zulm. Many others are added to it some of which passed above. Truly “Al zulmu zulumatun”. We should never tyrannise and exploit those weaker than or subject to us. May Allah keep us both from committing and sufferting zulm. Amen.
20. ON THE TRUE NATURE AND POTENTIAL OF THE MI’RAJ MIRACLE
(WARNING- THIS ARTICLE IS INTENDED FOR ONLY ADVANCED STUDENTS OR THOSE GENUINELY INTERESTED IN SPIRITUAL GROWTH)
INTRODUCTION
Without doubt we have a few clear references to a Prophetic miracle in the Book of Allah which miracle has since been known as ‘Mi’raj an-Nabi’ (S) which means ‘the Ascension of the Prophet’ (S). In broad terms it is believed that the Messenger of Allah (S), was one night towards the end of his mission in Mecca, taken up by Allah to Jerusalem and from then on, to the heavens where he saw many Divine wonders and secrets and held to a conversation by the Lord Almighty All-Gracious. The brief references in the Qur’an are abrupt and sparse in detail and we believe that is for a good reason as we shall in sha Allah see in a moment. Against this we have a range of far broader and detailed if contradictive accounts in our Hadith literature on which muhaddithin have been debating and disputing about ever since. We shall insha Allah touch upon that as well in due course.
As for the reason why this article has been written, it is because we always have among us more talented and industrious believers who would like to penetrate Islamic spiritual secrets more, whereby these believers can benefit more from the potential saving power of the secrets in question.
It is a sad observation by all serious Muslim students of Islam in general and all equally serious Sufi aspirants in particular, that there is far more to Divine and Prophetic secrets than meets the eye of an ordinary believer whose interests lie more with this world on the one hand and for all intents and purposes have less talent in spirituality on the other.
Because we do not want to hurt the sensibilities of such believers we advise them to either ignore this article or if they have to read it to suspend judgment on it, seeing that it is not their kind of stuff, while it may be very useful to others. In fact all Sufism have always had these kind of dilemmas attached to it for better or for worse.
Lastly we are aware that any idea or statement doesn’t necessarily have to be correct simply because a Sufi is saying it. Only Allah knows and judges and we can only pray and hope for His Guidance and ask His Pardon in all things we err despite all our good will. We also take refuge in Him from acting from ill-will. Your Guidance o Lord! Amen.