Old
School
Remedy For the
Relief of Stress While Residing in the Belly of The Beast
By:
Hajj
Haroon
(March 2003)
In light of today’s
recognition of Holistic Medicine, many alternative approaches to
health and healing have become fashionable. Aside from Herbs,
Acupuncture, Network Chiropractic, Reflexology and a host of other
healing techniques there remains looming in the background the
ancient techniques involving Prayer, Meditation and Invocation.
Prayer and Worship need
no introduction or explanation to what is referred to these days as
“Old School”. High-button shoes, tradition bound old timers from
the “Old Schools” are still around despite the arrival of the
Millennium and the propensity of the New School of high tech
fashions and fads.
The drug stores
(pharmacies) are filled with various remedies that offer relief from
the pain and the frustrations of modern contemporary life. Pain
which in some cases is accompanied by mental anguish, which may be a
result from feeling somewhat out of sync with the times. Millions of
dollars are spent weekly in advertisements by the leading
pharmaceutical companies, offering relief from “the pain and misery
of the fast pace of modern living”.
I am aware of the fact
that many people in the world today have returned to brushing their
teeth with baking soda and table salt, definitely “Old School” and
as a result have reduced tooth decay – are experiencing cleaner
teeth, pleasant breath –and are inclined to smile more often. You
will now see the leading toothpaste makers offering brands that
contain these older remedies.
I guess that we can
classify Pain and Anguish as “old School” phenomena, since they have
been around for so long – but we as aware human beings don’t seem to
be able to get a handle on their eradication. The advertising world
has captured our imaginations and our pocketbooks away from “Old
School” remedies. Meanwhile our teeth (our bodies) and our souls are
deteriorating at a rapid pace.
The School of Hard
Knocks is really a relic from the past that we haven’t been able to
bypass – I must assume that the curriculum is still valid and
refuses to be replaced by Doctor Spock and the exponents of what
might be called “The New School” – everything is new nowadays even
the much lauded “New World Order”, which if you take a good look at
it – it is really negative old school: power, greed and world
control –that’s really Old School isn’t it.
Looks like we might need
“Old School” remedies for “Old School” problems.
But be aware that before
we jettison the fuel tanks of those really old school Prophets of
God – like Abraham, and Jonah we must be careful that we don’t throw
the baby out with the bath water. Perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate
the efficacy of formula’s used and prescribed by the Prophets of old
–our Spiritual fathers and the fathers of true healing techniques.
We as spiritual aspirants must also be reminded that the Qur`an is
the time honored Manual for healing on all levels, and it contains
these prayers and utterances of the Prophets’ that have helped to
heal mankind for centuries. We must recognize that we are ALL in
dire straits and we need to learn how to call out for help from the
only source of all help, and that is Allah. Let us begin to pore
through the manual (Qur`an) for the remedies. Let us search for
those ancient formulas that were helpful not only in healing
individual bodies but of also restoring whole communities and
nations of believers. In light of our present precarious position -
I think it’s worth a try –don’t you?
Two verses of the Qur`an
immediately stand out as prescriptions for healing – eminent
Mujtahids have commented in their Tafsir (‘s) that these two verses
of the Qur`an carry a guarantee and an endorsement from the Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) and the Righteous Imams. That’s better than a money
back guarantee on a prescription bottle by any stretch of the
imagination.
The first ayat to be
examined is verse 87 of Surah Anbiyyah, which is the
heart-rending appeal (duah) of the Prophet Yunus when he found
himself in the stomach of the giant whale (beast), which is very
much like our present day situation – in the process of being
digested by the great beast –the Quran states that: “Remember Yunus
(Dhul Nun), when he went away in anger and imagined that We would
never straighten him; then he cried out from the darkness: “La
ila ha ila ant - subhanaka innee kuntoo, minal dhaalimeen.”
A literal translation would read: “There is no God but You.
Glory belongs to You –surely I was of the Unjust”.
Accordingly the following verse, #88 is the fulfillment of the
prayer, the translation reads as follows: “Then We responded
to him and delivered him from grief, thus do We deliver the
believers.”
S.V. Mir Ahmed Ali and
Maulana Agha Pooyah Yazdi remark that the efficacy of this
particular duah has been confirmed by the prophet Muhammad and the
Imams – in other words it comes with a Spiritual Guarantee, all that
is required is that you have faith and embark upon using it with a
clear purpose. (Old School).
Let us take a close look
at the circumstances that preceded this event and the amazing
scenario that follows immediately in its wake.
Yunus was sent to the
City of Nineveh to inform the people to worship God and to warn them
to change their iniquitous ways –the people utterly and thoroughly
ignored him to the extent that in his anger and frustration he asked
God to destroy them. As a result of his anger and his curse on the
people Allah placed him in a situation by which he was able to
discern his mistakes and lack of patience – but he was also given
the opportunity to rectify his mistakes and re-establish himself as
a fully confident emissary of his Lord.
I will not attempt to
relay the full story at this time but I strongly recommend that you
gentle reader make it a point to study this story in depth. There
are several good sources that I am familiar with one such account is
given in the Tafsir of Qur`an by Mir S.V Ali, Surahs Al Anbiyyah
(The Prophets) verses #87 & 88 and Al Saffat (The Purity) verses 139
thru 148. And there is a very fine recounting and analysis of the
story done by his Excellency Bawa Muhaiyadeen that I read many years
ago.
The gist of the appeal
is to be released from the constraints and the accompanying horrors
of being devoured (assimilated?) in the Belly of the beast in which
one has found themselves. This situation could have been brought
about as a result of ignorance and or a lack of faith or patience –
the situations of course can vary according to the particular
intransigence (personal dilemma) of the believer who is being
tested.
It may be advisable to
keep in mind that the digestive juices that were being secreted by
the beast as a result of Yunus being in it’s stomach – had begun to
take effect on his body –he was in fact being dissolved in
preparation of being digested and assimilated. A very painful
situation, to say the least.
During the
course of my research I have uncovered manyl Duah’s from the Noble
Quran that have the Prophets and the Imams seal of approval, and as
such, provide those of us who honor the ways of the Old School
Prophets a guarantee of efficacy. As is the case with most herbal
and natural medicines, it is safe and there are no disturbing or
painful side effects, as you might find in the readily available
prescription and non-prescription drugs readily available on your
local drug store shelves.
Sources
-
The Holy
Qur`an: English translation and commentary by S.V. Mir
Ahmed Ali, with special notes from Ayatollah Agha Hajji Mirza
Mahdi Pooyah Yazdi. First U.S. Edition. Tahrike Tarsile Quran
Inc. Elmhurst, N.Y. 1988.
-
Bawa
Muhaiyadeen: Commentary on the story of the trial of
Yunus (Jonah) in the whale, taken from an early publication
issued from The Bawa Muhaiyadeen Fellowship,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
-
C. G
Jung:
Memories, Dreams, Reflections.
Chapter VIII (The Tower) pages 235-237. Vintage Books,
New York, 1989.
