FREEDOM FROM THE CHAIN OF DESIRES
from
"Living Islam – East & West"
(Excerpts Only)

By: Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri

Although I have occasionally toured the Muslim countries, most of my work and my heart has been drawn to those who have not had the opportunity of knowing the true essence of Islam, rather, they have simply been exposed to so-called Muslims, and they have often been put off by the experience. I will never forget that during my first year in America when we arranged for twelve Americans to go on hajj, each of them told me upon their return that if they had previously (before becoming Muslims) been on hajj and seen the so-called Muslims, they would never have embraced Islam. I am telling you the truth. Most of our efforts have been directed towards those unfortunate people who have not had the opportunity, like ourselves, of having inherited something that we may call Islamic behavior and values. Having inherited a set of values, a courtesy, from whoever it may have been, perhaps our parents or grandparents, many beneficial qualities are still to be found among us although we may be ashamed of the behavior of the Muslim community as a whole. Our collective or public behavior leaves much to be desired; whereas our private behavior still contains many of the traditional Islamic values. After all, after one thousand four hundred years of being exposed to Islam, something must remain.

Islam is about duties and responsibilities, it is about the Ummah – the Muslim community; it is about the total illumination of mankind. For, the Prophet was sent as a mercy to all the world (Rahmat lil-'alamin); it is not only confined to us and our families. Islam is total ecology, it is the path of unification, unifying us, our neighborhood, our society, our country, mankind, and the whole cosmos.

Islam must move outward and expand, otherwise it will shrink. As we all know, there is no static situation, be it moral, economic, military or otherwise. If we are not expanding we are contracting, and generally speaking, these two cycles go hand in hand. Life is itself expanding and the cosmos itself is exploding. Man himself grows in size until he reaches a point where the process is reversed. The cosmos and man will collapse back to where they have come from. As far as man's spirit is concerned, it returns to the unknown, back to reality, back to Allah; and as far as his body is concerned, it becomes a bundle of minerals and organic matter which is recycled over and over again. I would like to share with you my heart-felt desire to see the revitalization of the Islam that has already come to us. We are not going to come up with anything new, nor to add to what Allah has already given us after thousands of years, after one hundred and twenty-four thousand Prophets have come and made Islam available and useable in all circumstances and at all times. The only thing we can do is take cognizance of the people's changing needs. In this age we need an Islam that is contemporary, available, assimilatable, useable, so that we can live it rather than talk about it. If we are talking about Islam we are not living it. Once we have separated Islamic studies or the study of the Qur`an from our day-to-day lives, we have abandoned tawhid, the principle of unification.

There was a man who once came to Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq and told him: "I have been afflicted with the desire for this world." The Imam asked, "What do you mean?" The man said, "Because I work hard and I am interested in my earnings." So the Imam asked him, "But what are you doing with your earnings?" The man replied, "I am providing for my family, my relatives and the people around me so that their lives are congenial and orderly and so that they are thereby better able to attend to their worship and inner awakening." The Imam said, "This is not the desire for this world, you are working for the Hereafter."

Outer connection and slave-hood must be linked with inner abandonment. We cannot have one without the other. Inwardly, we should feel free and unattached; while outwardly, we are attached to our society, community, family, and our responsibilities. These two things go hand-in-hand.

Concerning zuhd, which means 'renunciation', 'abstinence', or 'asceticism', Imam 'Ali said: "Zuhd does not mean that you should not own anything, it means that nothing should own you." To have something and not be owned by it is far more difficult, and it is for this reason that the weaker among us take off to the mountains or say, 'We don't want anything.' They know they can become attached.

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There is no end to the materialistic chain of desire. First we want a better house, then we want to improve it with a bigger door, a refrigerator, a driveway, one car, two cars, three cars. In other words, we don't know when enough is enough. Even if we were earning millions of rupees, we would consider ourselves to be average. If we earn five hundred rupees, it is the same. It is a strange phenomenon that we consider ourselves at the center of the world at all times, and essentially we are at the center of our own experiential worlds. Inwardly, in a meaning sense, we are at the center of the cosmos. The point that I wish to make is that our Islamic heritage now only needs to be revived. Allah has given the procedure to us in such a way that it can be separated from the culture into which it was received. Islam is not based on a culture of camels. It was bestowed on the Arab culture but it can work among the Eskimos as well. It can work anywhere at any time and it is provable. We do not have to go to Arabia to be a real Muslim. Rather, it needs to be explained and demonstrated that Islam is better than any other system – and this as yet has not been done. It is not our intention to point the blame at anyone. The problem that faces us cannot be solved in this manner.

Right now our Islam is not in fashion. We assume that it is the fault of the jurists, or the book of hadiths, but we are to blame. The scholars have done their best. What is the point of blaming them? It is not going to benefit us.

I have noticed in our Islamic history that there have been specific locations in which the atmosphere was so wonderful that people seeking knowledge would become attached to those places. In Karbala, when I was a young boy, people came there from all over the world, even from such places as Tibet. I remember their eyes and faces. No sooner had they come than they found a garden of knowledge, so lush, so incredible. Most of them never returned to their old lives, instead they remained there until they died. Now, you may say that they were selfish, but I say they were looking after their souls. When a man who was appointed as governor asked Imam 'Ali for his final advice, the Imam said, "Just save your soul." If we are safe and our conduct, our whole way of life, is correct, then everything else is correct. Ultimately, this is our responsibility. Once we have accomplished this, our responsibility includes others. The knowledge that will save our souls is attained through service to others.

Recently in England I had the opportunity of keeping the company of a great man from North Africa, one of the great hidden masters. While I was with him I said, "I have had my fill of people, all they are is trouble. I would really like to spend more time by myself for my own nourishment." He replied, "But don't forget arrival is by them and, at the same time, affliction is through them." One's involvement with people is analogous to one's use of electricity. If we know how to use the power which is available and show the proper courtesy towards it, both us and those around us will benefit. But, if our courtesy towards it is not correct, we will harm ourselves and others.

One of the courtesies that is to be practiced in one's involvement with others is 'speaking to the people according to their understanding'. 'Man is an enemy of what he does not know,' so if we are to relay the message of Islam properly we must be in contact with the people. Allah is the ultimate connector and His method is the way of unification. But occasionally the gulf seems so wide that we see nothing other than distraction and destruction – as we see nowadays in so many of our so-called Muslim communities. We follow the fashion and tradition and superficialities of Islam, but, in reality, it is only skin-deep for we do not benefit from the joy of faith and the freedom of surrender to the One and Only Creator from Whom we have come, by Whose mercy we are breathing and to Whom we are returning whether we know it or not. My task is to offer a diagnosis of our malaise. One problem is that, for the modern man who wants to know the Muhammadi way, Islam is not available in a manner which is usable or easily assimilatable. Nowadays, we are all used to easier ways of preparing foods. But the spiritual knowledge which provides food for our souls is not being made available in a manner that is usable. If we have to dig it up from the field, wash it, then cut it up; by the time we can eat it, we will have almost reached the grave.

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Along with the Qur`an we need hadiths. The Prophetic traditions are essential because they offer a model of how the word of Allah can be translated into the human situation. There are a great many collections from the Sunni sources and several great collections from the school of the Ahl al-Bayt such as Al-Kafi, Wasa`il Shi'ah and several others. But how many Wasa`il Shi'ah are in the whole country of Pakistan, for example? Besides, these large collections are for the specialist, not for people like us. Reading them we would become confused. In them there are things that are not totally applicable nor necessarily authentic. At the moment there is no collection that is both reliable and of a reasonable length, about a thousand pages. This resource will soon be made available, but it is long overdue.

As well as having access to a textbook explaining the Qur`an and a collection of hadiths that is usable, we need a book of shari'ah, a textbook on Islamic law. It is obligatory for every Muslim to adhere to the shari'ah; he therefore needs a book which he will use day in, day out. Amongst the Shi'ah the book that they will consult will be a treatise by a living jurist. Yet I assure you that these treaties are 99.9% the same because they are based on a common body of hadiths. If we look at the treatises which the jurists have written over the last six hundred years, we will find that there is no change even in the sequence of the points of law. Therefore, what is needed is a treatise of not more than two hundred pages, with the footnotes of a traditional jurist. In this way, even if we do not follow that particular jurist, we will have the points of law which do not change. And the points which do change will be no more than thirty of forty at most. For example, many of the schools of law differ concerning the determination of the distance of travel at which the prayer must be shortened. The point of difference lies in where one begins to count the number of miles of travel. Is it from one's house? Or is it from the boundary of one's town or district? The legal decrees of the jurists differ on this matter according to the school of law which they accept. What I wish to emphasize is that in trying to reactivate and revitalize our religion we need aids. To achieve our goal, there are three requirements: a) need; b) those who can fulfill the need – the scholars; and c) the means of fulfilling the need. What we are discussing now is the means. Essentially it is a kit comprising of:
 

1. A good Qur`an with a good, simple commentary in it, acceptable, modern, contemporary and usable.

2. A good collection of enough ahadith.

We are living at a time in which we all share the need for these resource materials. They will be made available if we genuinely want to use them. Why is it that they are not already available? Allah is not unjust. He says in the Qur`an:

We did not wrong them but they wronged themselves. (2:57)

We need to revive our religion and to live by our Qur`an and by our glorious beloved Prophet, yet we are unable to do so because the means are not available, in the form of human beings as well as in the form of books, publications, and so on. This only means that the demand is not real. We must first recognize the malaise and the need for a cure, then the means to overcome the illness will manifest. Then we can all live Islam without segregating Islamic studies from worldly studies. In recent times there has been much discussion about Islamic economics, yet Islamic banking, the basis for this economics, is something which does not exist. Islamic banking is a lie because the foundation for it is non-existent. As far as 'good loan' is concerned, it is done without imposing a condition. If you do, it is usury (riba). If we offer a loan, it is appropriate to receive our money back without an increase. But nowadays, as we all know, every country in the world is experiencing inflation. As a result, there is permissible loan policy and nobody is telling us what to do, nobody dares.

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Unless we believe in Islam by finding, through practice, that its bounds are of direct benefit to us, we will never adhere to it. We have come to understand that it is for our benefit to lower our eyes so that we do not become excited. For if we become excited, we will have a desire, and if we have a desire, we will have to satisfy it, because our minds will have become engaged with it. Lowering the eyes is for our benefit. The veil (hijab) is not to punish the woman. Actually, it is for her protection. A woman's role within nature is to attract a man and thereby unfold the plot that each one of us is hatching. But Allah is the ultimate plotter. He says:

You plot and I plot and I am the best of plotters. (8:30)

If we really do want to renew our lives, then that desire will produce the means. It is a question of a balance of economics – supply and demand. If we want to have the Qur`an, we must be free to challenge it. We find that one part of it will prove its other part and thereby give us a complete picture. For he who dives into the Qur`an, the allegorical ayats will become firm, clear ayats, along with the rest of the Qur`an. How can it be otherwise, since the author is He Who is the Most Decisive. "Take what comes to you easily from it" and move on; one should not be scholastic, academic and rhetorical as is taught in the so-called 'western education'. One should not debate or argue about the basic principles of Islam. Things are either clear or unclear. The artist knows that the grey that he sees is composed of black and white. For the discriminating being, it is similar. Every one of us has been given the capacity to discriminate clearly between right and wrong. If this were not true where would Allah's justice be? The Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family, said: "In your life you will recognize things that are correct and clear – Do them! You will also discover things you know are not correct – do not do them! And in between there are areas which are doubtful – avoid them!"

The Prophet has pointed to the fact that we know intuitively what is right and wrong. With this knowledge we can learn the correct courtesy towards the creation and towards the Qur`an.

It is up to us to take from the Qur`an what we can digest; and then take more and more so we may gain in strength. Instead of that we become academic, thinking of abstruse questions. In my case I was rude to one of my masters, asking the questions: "How should I fast if I am living at the north pole, because there the sun never sets completely?" He replied, "You idiot! Send me a postcard when you are there and I'll tell you!" The question had no relevance to my life. I was not going to go to the north pole. The Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family, said: "Give me knowledge that is useful." There is no benefit in seeking information that does not provide us with the correct courtesy towards Allah, the creation and ourselves. What have we become but a people who neither enjoy this world nor the next. At least the unbeliever has a fling here. Imam 'Ali Zayn al-'Abidin, upon him be peace, said, "For the believer this world is like a filthy, dusty, stinking gown; when he removes it, his soul is free." In fact, he has already tasted freedom, otherwise, he could not have possessed certain knowledge, yaqin. Also, the Imam said, "As far as the unbeliever is concerned, this world is his wedding gown." At least he has his wedding gown here. We have neither what this world nor what the next world has to offer – as is demonstrated by our lifestyle, which is part eastern and part imitation western. I do not mean to say that we should not live comfortably, joyfully and with great integrity, but we have become a nation of third-grade imitators.

In the last fifty years a technological gap has widened between East and West. The Muslims have been unable to absorb their own culture. Although they have their own pure cotton and wool, they import vast amounts of synthetic materials which electrocute them when they wear them. In the East, discriminating people are realizing the importance of pure materials. We have lost what we had. The Muslims living in the West are truly the worst off. They have lost what they had. Their younger generation is calling them to question. In England there are about 1.5 million Muslims out of a total population of 54 or 55 million. There is not one member of parliament amongst them. The Jews on the other hand, number just over 300,000 in England. They have thirty-eight or thirty-nine members of parliament. It is a reflection of our own reality: no two Muslim households are united; every mosque is fighting with its neighboring mosque. Can you imagine? There is no reality in the Islam that is being practiced in England.

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Many people whom I see, and to whom I am attracted are discriminating and intelligent people who realize that after this life there is death. They want to know what this life means. Is it fair that after years of gathering knowledge, experience and wisdom, we are recycled back to the worms? What is the purpose of this life? What is behind the things we see? What is this invisible hand that manifests in the visible? How does the interlink occur between them? Where can we find the code of conduct to follow that will bring us to safety? How can we live joyfully at all times, irrespective of the outer situation? How can we be in a situation where we are able to perceive cause and effect and yet retain our trust and faith that there is something beyond cause and effect?

Our lives are composed of a mechanistic side and a spiritual side. There is scientific, informational knowledge and there is spiritual knowledge. And Allah says in a Hadith Qudsi: "I was a hidden treasure and I wanted to be known, so I created (the world) to be known." Allah's purpose in creation is to unveil His knowledge to those who have purified and unveiled their hearts. These are the ones who have given in charity and have moved on the straight path, the sirat al-mustaqim, and then have found that there is no path. When they go through the door of 'Ali, they find that there is no door. They were already there in the companionship of those who have awakened in this life before their awakening in the next. The Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family, says: "Die before you die." He is not talking about the death of our bodies, but of the death of our whims, desires, lusts, expectations, fears and anxieties. If we kill them, we will find that we are alive with pure life and consciousness. Otherwise, we are as Imam 'Ali says: "As walking tombs." But also the Prophet said: "If you want to look at a dead person walking, look at me!" Does it mean that he was a dead being? Would so many thousands have fallen in love with and done anything for a dead being? What he meant was that he was dead to all the things which they, who possessed childish consciousness, were killing each other for. Die to those things and rise above them and you will find that it is all very easy. The Prophet said: "To remember Allah for one hour is better than to spend seventy years of worship in prayers." Worship without knowledge is actually not worship at all. He also said, "The sleep of a scholar who knows is better than a whole night of worship of he who has no knowledge."

So the purpose of our gathering is to obtain knowledge, the knowledge that is rooted within us. But because we have allowed ourselves to become overgrown with the concerns of this life, this knowledge has had no chance to grow. So we have to pluck out the weeds of concern. As the people of gnosis say: "First we must empty ourselves." And how do we do this except by recognizing that cheating one another is of no use and that hoarding is of no use. By experience we learn that these things are not going to make us happier. The reason why we want money is to have the potential of freeing ourselves from future desires. So then why have future desires? It is so simple. Once we learn this then emptying out becomes sweet. Once our fear of death and concerns for provision in this life are weeded out, the process of displacing our old values by higher timeless values becomes a joy. Old people in the West desire to live on in this life out of the fear of death. Because of the way they have lived their lives, they have no access to the discovery of the immortality within themselves. They are barred from the light of the Prophet, the Messenger of Allah.

It is very difficult to bring the message of Islam to the people of the West. They have been taught to be free like children. They have outward freedom and inward constrictions, the reverse of our way which is outward constriction, courtesy, and inward freedom, illumination. Therefore, they do not want Muhammad the Messenger of Allah. They can accept the concept of Reality and unification but they cannot accept the principle of Prophethood because they have been spoiled. Imam 'Ali said: "If you sit where you want as a child, you will not be sitting where you want as an adult." As children they were not groomed, and therefore the fruit which they bear is bitter. And as a result women are without guidance because there are no men. The world is run by women because we have failed to fulfill our reality as men. Contrary to the contemporary social situation, a woman wants to be contained. She wants the attention that a pearl receives when it is put in a fine protective box with love and care. She wants to be protected not as a prisoner but as something cherished.

We, in our superficial understanding of Islam, abuse our women and refuse to permit them their own lives. Our values are upside down. In the so-called 'Islamic World' a man's hand is cut off if he steals two rupees, but if he steals billions he is made a national hero. Such injustice is rampant because we are only applying the parts of shari'ah which suit us. It will not work! Allah says that He will bring people whom He loves and who love Him to replace the people who have proven unfaithful to Him. Allah says in the Qur`an:

And you will not find any change in Allah's way.

The Prophet was not outside the arena of trial. During the Battle of Uhud an arrow flew towards his mouth, striking his teeth and breaking them. But the Prophet's heart was with Allah and all he could say was: "Oh Allah! Forgive my companions for abandoning me, they are ignorant. I remain with them because I am your servant and slave in order to illumine their hearts." He did not complain.

So we see by the Prophet's example that the believer is at all times inwardly content and contained, and outwardly struggling and doing his best. When called upon, he serves, and when left to himself, he recognizes that he is in the hand of his Creator. He is joyful, seeing nothing other than His mercy.

It is up to us. I beseech you to call upon Allah and demand this certainty. We all have the same fears, anxieties, doubts and suspicions. If we truly want to awaken, it will happen: the means will become available; the men will step forward from amongst us. It is no use imagining that someone will come from elsewhere to help. The help will come from amongst us. This is the way of Allah. For those of us who have been awakened, there is no such thing as a miracle, rather everything is a miracle: our existence, our breath, every moment transforms us. There are laws and there are exceptions, always. There cannot be a rule without its exception. And why should we look for an exception to a rule which we have not yet grasped?