Purification of the Heart
Signs, Symptoms and Cures of
the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart
Translation and Commentary of
Imam Mawlud's Maášharat al-Qulub
by Hamza Yusuf
Anger
POEM VERSES 130-37
As for the swelling ocean of all of these diseases, I mean
anger; if you come to its shore, you'll see great astonishments.
Its waves and everything else about it are overflowing. So say
of it what you will without constraint.
It has two treatments: one of them removes it altogether
without trace. The other suppresses it should it manifest itself.
To be adorned with the ornament of its cure, remember the
extensive praise lavished upon forbearance and humility
in Sacred Law, as well as in the poetry and prose of the wise.
Indeed, remember that all of the prophets have been depicted
as having both qualities.
Repel [anger] by perceiving at its onset that there is no one
doing anything in reality except the Almighty;
also by performing ablution with cold water, keeping silent,
lying down (if one is sitting)
and sitting (if one is standing). It will pass by doing these
things, and also by seeking refuge in God as was mentioned in
the tradition.
Definition
Imam Mawlud says of the next disease that it is a "swelling ocean." He refers to ghadab, intense anger or wrath, which aptly compares with a swelling mass of emotion that is difficult to hold back once it is unleashed. Anger is truly an amazing phenomenon if one reflects on its nature and presence in human life and character, its peril and liability, as well as its utility and necessity. According to a hadith, a man asked the Prophet pbuh "What is the worst thing that one incurs concerning God?" And the Prophet pbuh said, "His wrath." The man asked, "How do we avoid it?" The Prophet pbuh said, "Do not become angry." This statement reveals a fascinating reality in which we live and informs a good portion of the Muslim religious perspective: there is a correlation between what a person does and what he receives from God in kind—a correspondence that our all-wise Lord has placed in the workings of creation. If one wishes not to incur the wrath of God, then this person should not be wrathful or angry with people unjustly. Similarly, the Prophet pbuh said that whoever makes one's path to knowledge easy, God will make his or her path to Paradise easy. And whoever covers the shortcomings of his brother, God will cover his shortcomings in the Hereafter. God the All-Wise placed this special reciprocity in this world.
A man asked the Prophet pbuh, "Give me advice." The Prophet pbuh said, "Do not become angry." The man asked again, and the Prophet pbuh repeated his advice. For a third time, the man asked the question, and the Prophet pbuh said again, "Do not become angry." The repetition of this counsel stresses the importance of the Prophet's admonition about anger. Scholars agree, however, that this hadith does not prohibit anger per se, for even the Messenger of God pbuh became angry at times. He once said, "I am a human being and I become angry like you." The Prophet's anger could be seen on his face. But his anger was always in response to an aberration in human character and behavior offensive to God. So anger is not a negative emotion in and of itself. It is part of the human creation as our flesh and limbs are. Without anger, there are many things that would not have been achieved. Anger can be a positive motivator.
But there is another side to anger that we must guard against. If it is not guided to something useful, it can possess, consume, and ultimately destroy a person. How many times have we seen or heard of a person who ruined his or her life because of a rash act or statement made in a fit of rage? How many people do we know who are entirely estranged and avoided because of their inability to corral their anger? How many times have people been deeply offended and unjustly violated by the anger of another? How many people create oppressive environments because of the fear they instill in others because of irrational and feral anger? (Mawlana Jalaluddin al-Rumi locates the wisdom of the Islamic prohibition of alcohol in the peril of anger. When people drink, even if they are not visibly inebriated, they become easily angered and belligerent. What is mercifully veiled in human beings is exposed when alcohol enters the picture.)
According to scholars, like Imam al-Nawawi and others, when the Messenger of God pbuh said, "Do not become angry," he meant do not allow anger to lord over oneself and cause the loss of one's comportment. In other words, do not become anger, its embodiment, such that people only see your rage. Instead, control anger and never lose control. Scholars have likened anger to a hunting dog: without training, it will never retrieve what its owner needs nor will it point a person in the right direction. So anger is something that needs to be trained, not abolished, for if people completely suppressed their sense of anger, many of the injustices of the world would not have been opposed and tyranny would have gone unchecked. Without anger, people would go around with complete impunity and commit heinous acts without resistance from the people. Corruption would cover the face of the earth.
Muslim scholars have identified four essential qualities in human beings, which have been identified in earlier traditions as well. Imam al-Ghazali and Fakhruddin al-Razi adopted them, as did Imam Raghib al-Isfahani in his book on ethics. The first of them, according to al-Ghazali, is quwati'l 'ilm, which is known in Western tradition as the rational soul, the human capacity to learn. The next is quwati'l-ghadab, which may be called the irascible soul, the capacity that relates to human emotion and anger. Quwati'l-shahwa is the third element, known as the concupiscent soul, which is related to appetite and desire. The fourth power is quwati'l adl, which harmonizes the previous three powers and keeps them in balance so that no one capacity overtakes and suppresses the others.
In Western tradition, these capacities correspond to what are known as cardinal virtues. Muslims call them ummahat al-fada'il They are wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice (hikma, shaja'a, 'iffa and 'adal). When the rational soul is balanced, the result is wisdom, Whoever is given wisdom has been given much good (QURAN, 2:269), Wisdom, according to al-Ghazali, is found in one who is balanced, who is neither a simpleton nor a shrewd, tricky person. If there is a deficit in the rational soul, the result is foolishness. When the rational soul becomes excessive and inordinately dominant, the result is trickery and the employment of the intellect toward the exploitation of others.
Courage is when the irascible soul—anger—is under control, when a mean is struck between impetuousness (irrational behavior that people ultimately regret) and cowardice, which is marked by fear overriding the anger required to courageously respond to exploitation, oppression, personal threats, and wrongdoing. There is a middle path between these extremes, as the Prophet pbuh said, namely, a middle way of wisdom and courage.
Temperance ('iffa) is a balance within the concupiscent soul, which is related to appetite and desire. The ignorant, when they see the indigent believers, think they are rich because they have this 'iffa, this dignity in their soul (QURAN, 2:273), which causes them to abstain from trying to attain wealth through ruse and fraud, but also through begging. Attaining things through illicit means is working from a posture of imbalance with regard to one's desire. It is a suspension or retraction of balance resulting in defrauding people and, ultimately, one's own soul. This is the irony of giving in to one's base desires, which offers some immediate gratification but harms the soul and dampens its spirituality.
The topic of anger is usually treated as a matter of balance and is closely associated with those deeds and habits that either throw one's balance off or guard it. As it is traditionally understood, imbalance in one realm of life cannot help but touch other aspects of human behavior. The Prophet pbuh said, for example, "The worst vessel the son of Adam fills is his stomach." We understand from this that there is a relationship between character and consumption, a dialogue that the modern marketing mentality desperately wants us to discount. It is oppressive to fill our stomachs for health considerations, but also because of the connection between excessiveness in one area and the corollary damage it brings about in others. Muslim scholars throughout our history have pointed this out and have relied on sound statements of the Prophet pbuh for proof, for he prayed against a stomach that is not easily satisfied. He recommended that the stomach be filled one-third with food, one-third with water, and one-third free.
The same ethic applies with sexual appetite, which is required for a healthy state. It is discouraged to completely ignore one's desire. But if one transgresses and goes beyond what is permissible, this is oppression and wrongdoing. Popular culture has placed an emphasis on illicit sexual intimacy and recklessness, making it seem normal and acceptable. Sexual relationships between unmarried partners, who neither commit their lives to each other nor feel any necessary emotional ties, is made to seem the summit of sexual excitement.
According to Imam al-Ghazali, the one who perfected the balance between these forces was the Messenger of God pbuh, for he was the most just of men. The more one emulates him in his behavior, the greater balance one will achieve. The way of the Prophet pbuh was the middle way, the way of moderation.
With regard to anger, Imam al-Ghazali says that it is acceptable only at the right time, in the right place, for the right reasons, and with the right intensity. The Messenger of God pbuh never allowed his anger to get the best of him. He was in control of himself, secure, and always in the state of spiritual certainty. Out of the thousands of reports about the minutest details of the Prophet's life, never has anyone related that the Prophet pbuh ever did anything imprudent or rash. Never did he apply his intellectual gifts and prophetic status for anything other than guiding humanity aright.
Al-Qadi Ibn al-Arabi, in speaking about courage and the larger issue of balance, said that after the Messenger of God pbuh, no one was more courageous than Abu Bakr. If one were to ponder the events during the life of the Prophet pbuh, it was Abu Bakr who continually showed up in the Prophet's defense and support. He was particularly firm and resolute, the one who did not waver when others wavered. He was the one who accompanied the Prophet pbuh in his migration to Madinah. Each of the Rightly Guided Caliphs (Khulafa' al-Rashidin) embodied one of the aforementioned virtues as his dominant character. Umar ibn al-Khattab is associated with being particularly sensitive to justice and fairness. Uthman ibn Affan's name is derived from the same Arabic root as 'iffa, which, according to al'Qamus of al-Fayruzabadi, refers not only to moderation but also to one who is abstinent and chaste, a meaning that is fitting for Uthman. The Prophet pbuh once said that even the angels were shy before Uthman because of his modesty. In Ali ibn Abi Talib, there is extraordinary wisdom or hikma. It is true that these great heroes of Islamic civilization embodied in a particular way one of the four virtues, but they also kept a balance that enshrined the rest.
The phrase sirat al-mustaqim, the straight or upright path, is repeated many times each day by the Muslim worshipper. No phrase better epitomizes the way of life of the Muslim. The word mustaqim suggests balance. If one deviates from this balanced path, he does so in one of two ways: deficiency in fulfilling one's obligations and excessiveness therein. The concept of monkery, for example, does not receive approbation in Islam as a form of practice. The Quran states that the institution of monasticism was not prescribed by God (QURAN, 57:27). According to the commentators, the people of monasticism became immoderate in practices that originated from the desire to gain God's good pleasure. But they were unable to fulfill it, which is the nature of excess and its main defect. A person cannot keep up with it and becomes either worn out or altogether jaded, which is antithetical to the path of religion, the straight path of Islam. Balance, then, is not merely a merciful device for adherents, but the shortest distance between a person and his or her spiritual objectives.
The objectives of the rites of worship cannot exceed what is natural. Sexual attraction, like hunger, cannot be removed from the soul; nor is it to one's benefit to try to do so. Celibacy is not considered a virtue in Islam. Chastity and licit sexual intimacy are. Church history tells of the Puritans who went so far as to swear off normal desires, such that sexual relations were nearly tabooed between a man and his wife. It became an entirely perfunctory activity of marriage fleeced of the enjoyment that a husband and wife are not only entitled to have but are encouraged to experience.
The usual result of excessiveness is its antithesis. A society that starts out with extreme Puritanical ethics may turn into one of overindulgence and licentiousness. On an individual level, the experience is similar. It is a principal feature of the Islamic faith that the "middle way" be the path that Muslims adhere to. The Quran calls the believers a "middle nation," which commentators say includes moderation, which leads to a consistency of worship and conduct that one can carry on throughout his or her life. It is said that the Judaic legal tradition is based on stern justice, while at the foundation of the Christian phenomena is the idea of categorical mercy where everybody should be forgiven no matter what. With Islam, a balance is struck suitable for the complex societies that have spread across the face of the earth, a balance between ghadab (wrath and stern justice) and rahma (mercy). To take the straight way, one must have both, the law and the spirit of the law, the Shari'a and the haqiqa. The law consists of rules, and the spirit of the law is mercy. God sent down the Shari'a as a mercy, and the Prophet pbuh himself is the mercy to the worlds (QURAN, 21:107).
There is an inward and outward state in every human soul, with the inward being iman (the condition of the faith) and the outward being islam (the manifestation or practice of the faith). When the two come together inwardly and outwardly, the resulting balance is a truly beautiful human being, one generally called a muhsin, one whose worship and character are excellent. This is the taker of the straight path and what we all strive for and petition God for each time we stand in prayer. According to Ibn al-Taymiyya, Muslims can deviate by way of ghadab or by way of rahma. They go the way of the hair-splitting, tyrannical scholar or the way of the ignorant worshipper, as in extreme Sufism, which concludes that all is one and that everybody is going to Paradise, regardless of one's creed, one's disfigurement of God's revelations, and one's outright fabrications about God and His nature.
The balance is to cling outwardly to the law and carry the spirit of Sufism inwardly, which is the advice of Imam al-Shafi'i. When Muslims deal with one another, they should incline toward clemency and mercy, not wrath and severity. God says that the former is closer to taqwa (God-consciousness) than the latter (QURAN, 5:8). It is a more elevated act to reprieve than it is to exact justice. Imam Raghib al-Isfahani said, "When love exists, there is no need for justice." What he meant by this is that when love is present and is allowed to override one's anger, the demand for retribution is quieted. If we were to look at the emotions behind the first major trial of the Islamic community after the passing away of the Prophet pbuh, there was a deviation from the spirit of love and cooperation. Mu'awiya demanded justice for the murder of Uthman. But Ali ibn Abi Talib, who had great wisdom, demanded forgiveness because he saw that the demand for retribution would rip the nation apart. Muslims, however, maintain a good opinion of Mu'awiya, contrary to the Shiites. We believe his intentions—like those of A'isha and Zubayr— were purely for the attainment of justice. 'Ali's position, according to many Muslim historians and scholars, was actually the higher level of Islam, which is rahma or mercy and clemency. What we learn here is that there is a hidden hazard in inordinate demands for justice and retribution. We have seen how this extreme position can lead to injustice, as pointed out above. Extremism, in general, usually results in the opposite extreme. Our early history bears this out, for Ali was a victim of injustice by those who rebelled against him out of their sense of indignation.
The cardinal virtues originally stem from religion. A generous person gives from his wealth to others because he is not afraid of losing his power or wealth; he knows all power and wealth are with God. All further virtues emanate from the cardinal virtues (or matrices of virtues). Mercy, for example, issues from wisdom (hikma), since forgiving someone when you are wronged requires a recognition of the greater wisdom in remission and the greater good in clemency.
Anger (ghadab) remains an essential quality of the human creation. The human brain is said to be a triune brain because it has three dominant centers. This observation of the brain is not modern, for Imam al-Ghazali mentioned it. The lowest brain is known as the "R" brain (reptilian according to the evolutionary scheme of things), which is associated with appetite, mainly for food and sex. The midbrain is where the emotions are centered, which includes anger. The third portion of the brain is known as the new brain or the neocortex, which is where the rational faculty resides. When these three centers function properly in proportion to one another, the human being is said to be functioning in equilibrium. Such persons are stable and immediately likeable.
There are people who are entirely cerebral; everything is theoretical or abstract to them. Their rational center suppresses their emotions residing in the midbrain and the physical needs in the R-stem. And there are people who work mainly from their so-called reptilian centers, impervious to protocol, higher ethics, and a civil association with others. It is not unusual to hear someone likening another's behavior to that of a snake, a kind of slinking predator, entirely selfish and wholly tenacious in acquiring his desires. Then there are people who are overly emotional. They are either very happy or very angry, the latter of which is the more common emotion.
There are basically four reasons people get angry. One is related to primal needs, such as food, shelter, and life. When these are threatened, a normal person feels vulnerable and responds with anger. If someone threatens one's life or family, the person needs to respond. This anger is not blameworthy. If humans were incapable of a response, we would have a society indifferent to crime and transgression. This would spell doom for human civilization. This is part of the wisdom behind the Quranic commandment to enjoin what is right and forbid what is evil.
The second reason is related to position, dignity, and protecting one's honor. Human beings are born with sensors that detect when others try to belittle them or when they are the object of contempt and scorn. The other side of this is when people view themselves with hubris and manufacture delusions of grandeur. They grow angry when they interpret normal and acceptable behavior towards them as beneath their dignity.
The third cause of anger is related to specific people and their particular sense of values. If, for example, a scholar sees that a book is being abused, he will become angry. An illiterate farmhand may not be vexed about the abuse of a book, though he may curse a man who breaks a pitchfork.
Finally, the fourth cause is ghira, commonly translated as jealousy. The Prophet pbuh said that he himself had jealousy in the sense of guarding and protecting something important to him. God has placed jealousy as part of human nature. If men did not have jealousy for their women, relationships would fall into dissolution. It is natural for a man to have this protective sense of jealousy regarding his wife, as long as it is not expressed in the form of oppressing her, which unfortunately happens frequently.
With regard to these causes of anger, Imam al-Ghazali says the first one (related to material needs) is healthy if it is not taken to an extreme, in which case a person steals from others in order to secure his food and shelter. The second one (related to dignity) is also healthy, with the similar caveat of avoiding two extremes, haughtiness and abject humiliation. The Prophet pbuh said, "The believer does not humiliate himself."
According to Sidi Ahmad al-Zarruq, if ignorant people say something disparaging that does not relate to religion, then ignore it. One should not grow angry when there is no benefit in doing so. God the Exalted commanded the Prophet pbuh when faced with the discourse of ignorant people, Be patient with what they say, then part from them graciously (QURAN, 73:10). The Prophet pbuh praised a man named Abu Damdam who never became angry when people spoke ill of him, for when one speaks ill of another, the speaker not only acquires misdeeds, but his own good deeds transfer to the account of the victim.
Treatment
As for anger as a disease of the heart, Imam Mawlud says there are two cures. One of them removes anger when it comes, and the second suppresses or thwarts it. The first cure is to remember the extensive praise and goodness associated with forbearance and humility. Sidi Ahmad al-Zarruq contends that the main reason people become angry is because they are filled with themselves; their egos get in the way. In their persecution of the Prophet pbuh, the Quraysh mocked him like children. But the Prophet pbuh did not become angry.
The ethic promoted here is simply letting go—not allowing insult to penetrate and manipulate one's emotion. It is about keeping control, feeling secure. One should remember how much humility and forbearance are praised by the Best of those who praise, that is, God the Exalted. When the Maker of the heavens and the earth commends a certain behavior or disposition, race to attain it.
Humility and forbearance are praised in poetry and by all the different sages, even outside the religion of Islam, The Prophet pbuh said that God elevates a person who is humble for the sake of God, but whoever tries to exalt himself, God debases him. The Prophet pbuh was the most forbearing and forgiving of people. All the prophets were characterized by these qualities. None was known to be arrogant or easily angered.
Imam Mawlud states next that one can control anger by recognizing that nothing takes place without God's leave: there is no power or might except with God, This life is a crucible of trial, and those who are heedless of this react severely when trials come upon them. The Prophet pbuh said the strong man is not one who can wrestle people, but the man who controls himself when he is angry.
The Prophet pbuh also advised that if one becomes angry, he should sit down. And if one is sitting, then he should recline. If neither of these helps, then perform the ritual ablution (wudu) and then pray. The actual act of splashing water on the face can alter a person's mood. Anger often manifests itself in the face, which becomes red and warm. Once a person grew very angry before the Prophet pbuh who then noticed how when the face shows extreme anger it resembles Satan, The Prophet pbuh then said, "I have a word, if spoken, will remove it from him. It is, 'I seek refuge in God from Satan the accursed.'"
We know how anger can escalate. When conflict foments and becomes heated between two parties, they reflexively stand, which is the nature of rising tempers. It is important to make the parties sit, which lessens some of the anger. These simple remedies are not tricks; rather, they reveal how thin the veneer of anger can often be. Anger can be entirely irrational and require nothing more than a change of posture to reconstitute the mind. The Prophet's counsel is very telling of human nature; he reveals insights into the ebb and flow of human emotions and the ease with which we can alter our emotional condition. It is said that one of the ruses of Satan is to make what is easy appear difficult or even impossible; he whispers feelings of despair to make us grow despondent of God's mercy and thus surrender ourselves to the insidious view that we can never repent.
Umar ibn al-Khattab was known to grow angry. But if we look further at him over the course of his development in Islam, his anger no longer got the best of him. In fact, it was the opposite. He tended to be forgiving and compassionate—especially near the end of his life. But he was also known for being a lion. Once the Prophet pbuh was teaching a group of Qurayshi women. When they noticed that Umar was coming, the women fled into another room. This was before the commandment for hijab was revealed. Umar came to the Prophet pbuh and saw that he was amused. Umar asked the Prophet pbuh about what had amused him. The Prophet pbuh said, "It is these Qurayshi women: when they see you, they flee." The Prophet pbuh called back the women, whereupon Umar asked them, "How is it that you flee from me and you are not shy in front of the Messenger of God? He is more worthy of your shyness!" And they said, "You are harsher than the Messenger of God. He does not become angry." And the Prophet pbuh laughed and said, "If you, Umar, went down one path, Satan would take another."
According to one Islamic model, the soul has three stages. In the first seven years, it is known as the appetitive soul. The primary concerns of children in this stage are eating and wanting attention. The second stage is the next seven years, the age of anger, when kids react strongly to stimuli and are annoyed easily. The third is the rational stage, when reasoning and discernment reach their full capacity. Ali ibn Abi Talib encouraged parents to play with their children during the first stage, to indulge them, for they are discovering the world. They had been in a spiritual realm and have entered the realm of the sensory. In the second stage, he counseled, parents should focus on training and discipline, for in this stage young people have a heightened capacity to receive and absorb information and thus learn new things. In the third stage, parents should befriend them, form a relationship that is amicable and full of kindness and companionship. After this, their children, now adults, are set free.
Source: Purification of Heart
to be continued ....
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