THE WITNESSER AND THE WITNESSED
from
"Living Islam – East & West"
(Excerpts Only)

By: Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri

As Muslims we inherit the belief that there is One Reality encompassing all existence both perceivable and unperceivable. We believe in One God – we believe in Allah. Therefore, praise belongs to the One and Only Reality. Whatever or whoever we may praise, we know that ultimately;

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. (1:1)

All praise goes back to Allah. By seeing this connection, we are on the path of unification with Allah. If we praise a good thing, we are ultimately praising the Creator of that thing.

So praise belongs to Allah. Those who see the one hand of Allah behind what appears to be diversity see the one interconnecting fiber and force. We experience life in this existence as a balance of opposites, whether it be ignorance and knowledge, health and illness, darkness and light, day and night, sleep and wakefulness, wealth and poverty, or life and death. What we conceive, or perceive, is necessarily one of a pair of opposites. Life cannot be experienced except as being composed of this balance. The melting pot of this existence is set up so that we interact, yet remain capable of discrimination, as the actors as well as the acted upon. We cannot avoid either of these two apparently opposite roles. At all times we are witnessing and being witnessed. At all times we are involved in a situation and yet have an awareness, a higher consciousness, of the situation.

This is the greatest puzzle and the source of the greatest gift of life for humankind – for the children of the Prophet Adam. If man perceives a dilemma or a situation which is not harmonious, it is because he has not seen what has brought about that situation. Looking back into the history of humankind, we find that man has been a seeker in whose primal nature there is programmed the desire to know whence he has come and whither he is going. From the time when the cell divided into multiplicity, we were programmed subgenetically with the desire to know the meaning of time, with the curiosity to know where we were before experiencing time and life, and where are we going after this experience ceases.

Some of us are more anxious about the experience of death than others. While some of us accept it simply as their inheritance, others are anxious to know and experience it here and now. The Prophet says: "Die before you die." The Prophet, being a most kind, generous and gentle being, did not mean that this life should be a slaughterhouse. What he meant was that one should experience the meaning of death in order to experience absolute purity of heart in this life. The Qur`an says:

So when you are free, still toil. And make your Lord your exclusive objective. (94:7-8)

What is meant by 'free' is the emptiness which manifests in the mind when there is no thought, implying a life free from agitations. The reflection of this state is described in the Qur`an when Allah says:

So that you may not grieve for what has escaped you, nor be exultant at what He has given you. (57:23)

This means that the situation most conducive to a noble life is that of being aware and alert to the here and now.

We are obviously the products of our past thoughts and actions interacting with the thoughts and actions of the people around us. The present state of affairs is the result of this interaction, and the future will be what we now make of it. According to the Qur`an and Sunnah (the sayings and doings of the Prophet), man's condition as God's representative or Khalifah is to be the slave of the moment ('abd al-waqt). This means he should be completely present from one moment to the next moment. The slave of the moment is not an irresponsible person who cares little about tomorrow or about his past mistakes, rather, he is a man whose energies are totally available to him when he needs them. He is efficient because he is undisturbed either by the past or by the future, and therefore he is able to harness all his will to the present. When the muezzin calls the Muslims to prayer, he cries out, "Hayya 'ala`l-falah" (come to success). Falah is connected with the verbal root falaha whose meaning is to plough the earth, turn the earth, which, by extension, means 'to turn the heart' and therefore encompasses all the parts that one plays in life.

If there is any dilemma facing us in this life, whether it be how to improve our state or our qualify of life as Muslims, our one underlying goal is to attain a state in this existence which will fully prepare us for the next experience about which we know nothing. One thing we know for certain: we will taste death. There is no escaping it. It is a statement of fact that we share with each other in the hope that we can reflect upon it and find our own personal meanings and conclusions.

The knowledges available to man are unchanging and are of two types. One is technological, informational, transmittable from the common man to the common man. It is mechanistic knowledge concerned with outer technology such as how to use a dishwasher or how to drive a car. Although it may influence our mechanistic existence, it has no effect upon our emotional life. There is another type of knowledge, primal in nature, whose ultimate form is divine inspiration – the revealed knowledge, the knowledge of the prophets who were the interspace, the interlink, between the Ultimate Reality, the Knower of all things (al-'Alim) and the rest of humankind.

If I inherited a defect in my eye or in my finger, though my will may not be able to alter it, it could take me to a position in which the deformity had no significance. What is of ultimate significance is the will to know Reality, is the will to know Allah.

Why not discover the nature of reality now? We investigate the physical laws in order to bring about harmony in our environment. We want to understand causality; we want to know the physics and mathematics of the existentially relevant aspects of our lives. Why? We seek to control the temperature of the air in our homes so that the body is without agitation. Then we seek to have financial security so that we are not worried about how we are going to feed or clothe ourselves or our dependants tomorrow. Then what? If a person is confronted with the possibility of having guaranteed health for the next ten years and any of the homes he wants – one winter home, one summer home, and that he will have no need to worry about feeding or clothing himself and his family and still have some income left for the uncertainties of life, what is he going to do? Honestly, what is next?

It is an incontrovertible fact that man is a seeker whose seeking begins at a low physical level and extends to higher levels in order to reach a state of relative harmony and peace. From the beginning we are seekers of death because the ultimate peace is death. We are programmed with the desire to know whence we have come and whither we are going. And we are also equally conditioned to be somewhat scared of this awesome experience called, death, for we try to postpone it, knowing all the time that every day we are closer to it. Yet even though we are rational beings we prefer to do nothing but drift on towards the inevitable, using different excuses to cover up the fact that we have not the courage to confront this incredible unknown.

Besides having to face an awesome unknown, we perceive something within us which says that death is very unfair. After years of having squandered thousands of tons of consumables in the form of food, air, fuel or whatever, and after having gained in experience and wisdom, we are suddenly deposited, at best, under six feet of dust. It seems pretty unfair, as though something is not right. It seems unjust. The Qur`an says:

And We did them no injustice, but they were unjust to themselves. (16:118)

We do to ourselves an injustice by not utilizing our diminishing capital which is the time in which we are alive. Although everything else is replaceable, time can neither be replaced nor reversed. We will experience the non-time zone which is the definition of the next life, but as for this present experience, it is sustained by a dynamic factor called time which is non-directional. Allah, on the other hand, is not bound by time. He is beyond time – He is the First and the Last so He encompasses time; therefore as Muslims we say:

Surely we are Allah's and to Him we shall surely return. (2:156)

If that is the case then why are we so concerned?

"Actions are determined by intentions and to each (individual) is his intention." If our intention is to attain knowledge and apply it in our lives, then we are intending to unify the inner and the outer. Islam is the path of unification (tawhid), the path of unifying the inner and the outer, the seen and the unseen. A Muslim has to believe in the unseen, the next life and what are called the angels. Angels can be imagined as being specifically defined bundles of energy. Our experiential physics has reached but the tip of the iceberg. The whole physical reality is sustained and supported by a much subtler reality which science has just begun to perceive.

As rational human beings, we can accept that there is an underpinning to creation that is so subtle that we cannot know it in its specifics. Yet we can accept that there is an order to which the entities called angels belong. Indeed we have to accept these facts as Muslims, we have no option. We have to accept the path of Islam. We have to accept the Qur`an. We have to accept the sunnah of the blessed Prophet.

Muslims born into Muslim families are suffering from the dilemma of having inherited the Islamic model. Fortunately, of course, Islam is uninheritable; on the contrary, it has to be earned. Throughout the ages Muslim communities have experienced cycles of revival and decline. It is in the nature of reality that whenever Islamic culture and civilization reaches its zenith, its people begin to take it for granted, and lead this to its dilution. The people no longer recognize the boundaries clearly and they begin to transgress. Worship ('ibadah) is the inner technology of Islam, and when this is strong and its people are true slaves of God ('ibad), then the outer technology of Islam surrounds them in safety. Architecture and the forms of art are also peripheral manifestations of an inner reality. Soon the wealth that living according to Islam brings can lead to luxury which, as you know from descriptions in the Qur`an, leads to the destruction of a people. The Qur`an says:

And when we wish to destroy a town, We send Our commandment to the people of it who lead easy lives, but they transgress therein; thus the word proves true against it, so We destroy it with utter destruction. (17:16)

It is inevitable that there will be corruption as a result of decadence. We must determine what is necessary to attain our first priority, relative tranquility. If our bodies are not relatively healthy, our nature is compelled to rectify that problem before all others. The body should be reasonably intact, the environment reasonably healthy. Then we need some clothing and food. Beyond that there are gray areas in terms of needs. Those who are pursuing the dunya or worldly existence will never stop seeking the things of this world. Ask a businessman what is enough? Whereas thirty years ago it would have been considered an insult to call someone aggressive, ambitious and competitive, today, especially in the business world, it would be taken as a compliment and a sign of the highest worth. When a bank advertises itself as 'aggressive', it means that it will callously forsake you when you need it most.

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In the sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad, it is very clear: you are not to recommend your goods over the goods of others. Among true Muslims there are very subtle, but clear courtesies. When the Muslims lived as members of a strong and united community (ummah), the non-Muslims around them were curious to know why the Muslims were so self-contained and content; why their culture was so superior.

Then the Europeans came into the Muslim citadels riding on the banners of service, basically health and education. They dominated the Muslim people through their possession of certain advanced techniques within the mechanistic side of health. These people were, and still are, mechanistic and materialistic, and this is partly because of their environment. One cannot live in a cold climate without being materialistic. It is not possible to live in the north of England and not be constantly concerned about sufficient fuel for the winter.

In the warmer climates, the reverse is true. It is a burden to have too many clothes. As a young man I came to live in a village at the southern tip of India where the staple diet was fish. The people had been living in great harmony. The village was composed of Muslims and Christians, yet as long as they could remember there had been no problems or strife among them. These people literally lived the whole year with only two loincloths. They had no need of anything more than that because the climate was so benign.

At the moment throughout the so-called Muslim countries, Muslims share the same desire for Islam. They know that therein lies their salvation, but they do not know how to bring it into reality. Most Muslims live under Muslim governments of varying degrees of hypocrisy. The Prophet said that a good intention was enough. But, although we may be redeemed by the purity of our hearts, the recipient of our actions may still have reason to complain. For example, I have the intention of painting a house using the best materials and best techniques, but out of a lack of knowledge about painting, I make a terrible mess. I may feel good that I have done my best, yet the owner of the house will have received nothing but a headache.

Our goal is to harmonize our intentions with the outcome, the inner with the outer. We must be men of tawhid (unification), otherwise, we are not in Islam. We have to unify the intention with the outer result. The Muslim wants success. We should remember the phrase in the call to prayer: "hayya `ala'l-falah" (come to success). We need to leave this world both having done our best and seen its results. If we fail to use the Qur`an as a manual for correct and effective action, then we have missed its meaning. Decadence and corruption spreads because the people are not getting inner nourishment. If they cannot get this nourishment, quite naturally they pursue the path towards outer fulfillment.

If you are not able to see the Creator's handiwork at every corner. If you are unable to take delight in a simple life. If you are unable to see the magnificence of this creation. If you are not drunk with the incredible gift of life. If you are not prepared to be intoxicated simply because you have been given the gift of being able to see though only for a brief moment. If you have not been trained in these ways you will be trained to make a quicker buck on the side. What else can you do?

If you have energy, an intellect, and time on your hands Shaytan will divert you. The Prophet said, "Everyone has a shaytan. But I have been given the gift of knowing my shaytan, and therefore he is under my control." Shaytan is present to keep us alert and make us aware of our potential to make mistakes. Shaytan can teach us the boundaries of proper action and thought.

The Qur`an says:

I swear by time, Most surely man is in loss. (103:1-2)

and:

Nay, most of them do not understand. (29:63)

And most of them do not hear, and most of them do not see. (11:20)

If man is at a loss at the physical, existential or basic state, this enables him to rise upward. From this platform he is powered to take off through the motive of discontent. No matter where we look there is discontent. If we were content it would be a sign that something was wrong. How can we be content with ourselves when there is always something more that we can do? If we turn towards materialism we find that we can never get enough; and if we turn towards spiritualism we find ourselves increasingly concerned about the purity of our intentions and ever seeking to leave the results to Allah and living the moment. By purifying our intentions and leaving the outcome to Allah, we will encounter what is best for us, what is guaranteed by Allah. We must remember that this life is Allah's arena, Allah's creation and Allah's plot.

If we enslave ourselves to this truth, we will cease to be a slave to any other reality or being. We will then be fearless of everything other than Allah. We will be courageous and willing to give up this life at any moment. Islam gives us this willingness because it teaches us that our life begins after death. And if, in this life, we have invested for the next, there is no need to fear death and what follows. It is un-Islamic to fear death and yet we find that, in the so-called Muslim societies, people are afraid of talking about it. The Prophet said, "This world is the believer's prison and the unbeliever's garden." It is a prison for the believer because he already contains within him the meaning of the cosmos, therefore his body confines him and is a nuisance.

"Beware of the believer's insight," said the blessed Prophet. The man of true faith has the gift of insight. By means of this gift he can quickly assess the extent of the illness of a person or society. So I share with you the news that we are sick. But in this knowledge is half of the cure.

Once we accept the fact of our illness, we will find a way to the cure. One of the main causes is our lack of discrimination. We are in a state of unclarity, whereas Islam demands clarity. The Prophet said, "There are things that are correct and things that are wrong, take what is correct and avoid what is incorrect." Between these two there are many shades. We tend to allow our actions to fall within this gray, unclear area, because we have not as yet developed and applied the science of the nafs (the self).

Islam spread through the efforts of the Sufis. These were men of inner knowledge who knew how to cure the self. Today we often find, even in great institutions of knowledge, that something is lacking. Usually there is a lot of outer knowledge – knowledge of the Qur`an, the sunnah, the Shari`ah and the Sirah (the life of the Prophet), but somehow these knowledges are not directly applied. The knowledge (`ilm) and the action (`amal) have not become one. And as we all know, little knowledge applied is far better than a lot of knowledge not applied. The reason why we are not able to apply our knowledge is because our nafs (the self) has been allowed to get in the way. We have not been watching our nafs nor have we been aware of its interference between our knowledge and our action. Actually, as a result of the confused state of our self, we will intend one thing but actions will result in something else. This is, of course, contrary to tawhid, the path of unification which is Islam. So something is wrong; not with Islam but with how we apply our knowledge. I, the self, has destroyed the intended project: some of me wanted one thing, another part of me wanted another, therefore, I have not been clear. That which is in us, the confusion, must become manifest. There is a tradition that the Prophet said: "Tell me where a person lives and what he eats and I can tell you who he is." You cannot be a man of simplicity, clarity, purity, and live in confusion. Such a thing is impossible. If you want Allah, you will get Allah. Allah says in the words of a hadith qudsi:

If you take one step towards Me, I will take ten steps towards you.

Like most of you here, [Note: This was a talk given by Shaykh Haeri] I was given Islam as a gift by my parents and by the blessed people of Karbala where I grew up. During the years that I have lived there I never heard of a theft. There were no policemen, nor hospitals. Most of my ancestors, including my grand-mother, died in their nineties, even in their hundreds. I did not dare misbehave in the street for fear that someone would grab me and bring me home and say, 'Look! Your son was being disorderly.' There was no disorderliness. People knew each other. There was harmony. There was not much wealth, but all the food was fresh. In the center of my house was an enormous kitchen in the middle of which was a big fire. Usually half a dozen elderly women would be around it having a good time, enjoying their lives there. Although they were servants, they were not considered socially inferior, rather they were considered more important than even my own mother.

Now that whole way of life has been destroyed. Today Karbala is a city of villas, cars, banks, and worries about higher interest rates. Now there are hospitals, ulcers, and imported drugs. What have we done with our traditional sciences? For example, Islamic medicine was an outer manifestation of an inner reality of Islam. The doctors in Islam (hukama) were servants of God. They would pray in the morning for God to send them someone whom they could help on the physical level so that eventually they could help him on the spiritual level. This was the true essence of medicine. Thus, medicine and spiritual teaching were working hand in hand. They did not separate physical well-being from inner well-being. Being Muslims, we have access to a great and powerful body of knowledge, in medicine as well as in other sciences. The Prophet said: "There is a lump in a man's chest; if it is well, everything is well, and if it is not well, then nothing is well; and it is called the heart." The root of the Arabic word, as you all know is, qalb and the verb is qalaba, yaqlibu (to turn). That means it is fresh, it is not stuck, it is not connected with one thing, it is connected with the One and only One. It turns. When people used to come to the Prophet and told him that a certain thing had happened, that a certain person had broken something, he would ask: "Did it happen?" They would say: "Yes." He would say: "(Glory be to God) it happened, what can we do? It is done, it is the will of God." This means: we were negligent. The will of Allah manifested in the form of the laws of gravity, the thing fell. The will of Allah manifests in a perfect, understandable, logical sense. Allah does not work in an illogical way. When we call something a miracle, it is because we are ignorant about the scenes that brought it about. We call something lucky because we do not understand all the physical and other forces that brought it about. It is a confession of our ignorance that is all and we will remain ignorant no matter how much we know. There is bound to be a certain measure of ignorance.

The situation we are in is fully understandable and it is our own doing. If we complain, it is out of ignorance. We have given priority to outer physical knowledge as opposed to inner knowledge. We have sought to acquire outer rather than inner technology. We have lost touch with our own hearts. If, in my heart, I intend to be nasty to my wife, bringing her flowers will be of no use. The lie will be apparent even to the children. We cannot lie, the liar lies to himself. The cheater cheats himself. God says in the Qur`an:

If you are good to one person you are good to all creation, if you are bad to one person you are bad to all creation. (17:7)

The meaning of this is that we are all from one self. The believers are brothers. If we believe that, and we truly come to know it, then we see everyone as our brother. Maybe some of them are asleep, but potentially they are our brothers.

He brings forth the living from the dead and brings forth the dead from the living, and gives life to the earth after its death, and thus shall you be brought forth. (30:19)

God says, how do you know what will happen to him tomorrow? He may be far more fully awake than you and I. We have no right to turn our faces and be arrogant simply because at that stage we are in a better state of knowledge, or health, or wealth or whatever. How do we know?

The Prophet says: "You are not a Muslim if you greet a poor man differently than a wealthy man." Do we greet our kings and presidents the same way as we greet the beggar at the door of Sayyid 'Ali Hujwiri? [Note: Shaykh Haeri is referring to the tomb of a great Sufi master, Sayyid 'Ali Hujwiri in Lahore, Pakistan, where one would find poor beggars] We have to be honest, we have to be aware of what we are doing and what state we are in. Then we should be able to unify the inner with the outer. What is missing, to a great extent, is the knowledge of the nafs (self). This is a much neglected science.