Bismillahir Rahmaanir Raheem!
In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Merciful!

 

Payaam-e-Maghrib, Voice of the West
by Syed Husain Pasha

 

“Auron ka hai Payaam aur, mera Payaam aur hai,
Ishq key dardmand ka tarz-e-kalaam aur hai!”

(Iqbal)

“How different is my message from the message of all the others!
How different indeed is the cry of a heart stricken by love!”

Payaam-e-Maghrib =

Payaam-e-Mashriq = Payaam-e-Qur’an?

Copyright © Syed Husain Pasha

Contents:

For, if both the East and the West belong to Allah, how can there be one law for the East and another for the West, right? And if Allah’s law and message for and from the East is “Fear Allah, follow the Prophets and love and serve Allah’s creation!” how can that law and message be any different for and from the West?

What other explanation do you have for Rasul after Rasul of Allah (May Almighty Allah bless them all!) coming and telling their respective people – their respective “Qawms,” as Allah calls them in the Qur’an – in their respective times and lands “Ittaqullaha wa Atee’ooni”?

Because that is what the Qur’an tells us they did – tell their Qawms: “Fear Allah and follow me!”

Please take, if you will, some time and study the 26^th Surah of the Qur’an – Ash-shu’araa’ – to get a good sense of the overall message and method of the prophets of God, Allah bless them, in the service of humanity in different times and places.

And if all that is embodied in the Qur’an, how can this overall law and message – whether from the East or the West, from Mashriq or from Maghrib – be anything other than Payaam-e-Qur’an or the Message of the Qur’an?

And what utility or validity does any message or law have that is not from the Qur’an or that is opposed to the Qur’an? For, the Qur’an is from the Master of the Universe for the use and benefit of all of his slaves throughout his plantation earth and throughout the universe, whereas all other laws and messages are from and for the benefit and advantage of different segments of the human population, often at the expense and to the detriment of others.

This is an important clue for people to keep in mind when they are trying to decide what is from God Almighty and what is not.

From Above or From Below: Wahy vs. Science 

Human life on earth is largely an artifact of knowledge – or its converse, ignorance. That means you do things in this world for two reasons: (a) for what you know; and (b) for what you don’t know. As a result, every single conscious and deliberate human act is a function of the complex interaction of your knowledge and your ignorance.

“Iqra’!” “Read!” – Allah’s first command to humanity – more than illustrates the absolute importance of knowledge in human affairs and provides a powerful clue on how to go about obtaining it. The Qur’an also shows how knowledge (Ilm) was going to be the basic requirement – the deciding factor – for human beings to qualify as Allah’s representatives – Khaleefahs – on earth. The Qur’an is so clear on some of these issues that it does not require a lengthy explanation.

When the angels expressed reservations about Adam, Alaihis Salaam, Allah did not ask Adam, Alaihis Salaam, to demonstrate what a great Sajdah he could make. Allah simply taught Adam, Alaihis Salaam, everything that there was to know, and challenged the angels to show they could match his level of knowledge.

But where would this knowledge come from? We are not talking about esoteric, mysterious mumbo-jumbo made up by some people considered to be “holy” that most people cannot figure out, but real knowledge that can be easily learned and taught by all, and that really helps human beings to live a better life on earth. Such knowledge can only come from above or from below.

From above, it comes from God Almighty in the form of direct divine revelation to the prophets (Allah bless them) called Wahy. From below, it comes from whatever we can figure out by ourselves right here on earth using the tools and skills of observation and analysis Allah has placed in us. It comes from science!

For, science often is knowledge with a component of error attached to it. Wahy is knowledge with the component of error removed from it – Laa Raiba Feeh, as the Qur’an puts it. That means science done right – to a point where all error is siphoned off – is Islam in its pure and original form. And Islam properly understood is science at its best and without any elements of human folly associated with it.

What a perfect meshing and matching of the divine with the human; of what is directly from heaven with what is best on earth; of what God himself chose to teach directly in his books and through his prophets with what he allowed human beings to figure out for themselves using the instruments and abilities he gave them!

But the key to the acquiring of knowledge, whether it is from above or from below, is education. Hence the importance of education in Islam and hence the command Iqra’: Read! in the Qur’an to everyone – at a time when the world had made reading forbidden for everyone except a privileged handful.

And hence the declaration by Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam: “I am only a teacher!”

And, of course, Allah does what he does in his own special way.

From Ummiy to Ummiy: A Model for World Education

Allah first picks a spot on earth where reading and writing were rare. Then he picks a man who himself could not read or write. Allah then charges that man in that place to go teach the entire world.

And that man, Allah bless him, terrified at first at the enormity of the charge that had been so suddenly placed upon him, nevertheless, ends up teaching the world all that it needed to know to live a most wonderful life right here on earth as well as after death in the next world.

Yu’allihumul kitaaba wal hikmah is how the Qur’an puts it.

He taught everyone how knowledge was key to success – Talabul ilmi fareedah.

He showed them how cleanliness of body, mind, place and clothes was vital to good living.

He asked them to eat and drink only that which was good and to avoid eating and drinking all that which was bad.

He explained to them that marriage was a good thing and therefore must be pursued, appreciated and protected. He also explained to them at the same time that divorce, though permissible in extreme cases, was a bad thing and therefore must be avoided as much as possible.

He pointed out that loving and fearing God in heaven meant loving and serving his creation right here on earth, even if all you do is to save the life of a dog dying of thirst in a desert or release a starving cat out of a cage so it can forage for food.

He told people to always tell the truth, even if it were against their own best interests.

That is just some of what that illiterate man from an illiterate culture taught the world – 1400 years ago. And the world has taken all these 1400 years trying to catch up with his teachings. And it is still working on doing so.

 Payaam-e-Islam = Payaam-e-Muslim?

And if all this is the real message of Islam, and the method of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, then should it also not be the message – and the method – of every Muslim, wherever that Muslim maybe? When this message – and the method of love and service and sacrifice associated with it – is fully understood and internalized, what difference does it make where a Muslim is located physically? Whether he or she is located in the East or in the West – or somewhere else?

So, all that I have been saying so far boils down to one thing: Payaam-e-Islam = Pyaam-e-Muslim!

So, regardless of where we are in terms of time and space, the basic message and methodology of Islam remain the same. What changes is people’s understanding of that message and that method and their abilities and skills to fit them to the changing demands and circumstances of an ever-changing world.

A Wonderful State of Permanent Peace

What a marvelous equation Allah taught his slaves! An equation that guarantees us permanence in the midst of change and shows us how to deal with change itself, which is an inevitable and defining characteristic of all life in this impermanent and transient world – this world of being and becoming as that beautiful Muslim expression puts it: Kaa-i-naat.

Because that other world that is yet to come – Aakhirah – is a very different world. It is no longer a world in flux and transition; it is a permanent state of being and rest at the end of the long and eventful journey of life. It is a peace at the end of life’s long tunnel of turbulence.

Laa yasma’oona feehaa laghwan wa laa ta’theema. Illaa qeelan salaaman salaamaa. Paraprase: They shall hear in it neither wasteful talk nor sinful speech. But rather only saying everywhere “Peace! Peace!”

And that whole wonderful state of permanent peace and bliss will be capped off the only way that makes sense: Wa aakhiru da’waahum anil-hamdu lillaahi rabbil ‘aalameen. Paraphrase: And their final assertion will be, “All praise belongs to Allah the master of the worlds.”

Nothing but Slaves! 

And in the midst of all this, we continue to be slaves of Allah. That is right. Slaves, not servants as some of us would like to upgrade our status. Slave was good enough for our masters, the illustrious Biblical prophets, Allah bless them all. And that includes the mighty Prophet-King Solomon, Alaihis Salam.

Surely, Jesus, son of Mary, Allah bless them both, did not and would not mind being a slave of Allah: Lany-yastankifal Maseehu anyyakoona ‘abdal-lillah!

Allah says so in the Qur’an. And what a slave he was, says Allah about Solomon, Alaihis Salam. So given to turning to his master all the time. Ni’mal ‘abd. Innahu Awwaab.

A master being pleased and proud – what else can a slave want? Isn’t that what a slave’s life is all about: turning to his master all the time – and for everything? That is who Hazrat Sulaiman, Alaihis Salam, was.

As was Hazrat Ayyub, Alaihis Salam – Job as the Bible calls him.

How proudly the Qur’an describes them both: “Ni’mal ‘abd: What a slave!”

One surrounded by immense wealth, power, majesty, glory and prosperity and the other mired in abject distress, penury, ill-health and helplessness. Two poles that sum up the full range of human conditions between them. And yet both of them nothing but Allah’s slaves as Allah makes a point of calling them.

And then Hazrat Zakariyya Alaihis Salam! And then Hazrat Nuh Alaihis Salam – the super-patriarch of all of Allah’s prophets and messengers. Allah refers to them all as his slaves.

And then that prince of peace, as the Christians refer to him, the supreme miracle of fatherless motherhood, Hazrat Jesus, Alaihis Salam! Listen to the way he introduces himself as an infant in the arms of his mother to a skeptical audience of his people: Innee ‘Abdulllah! “I am Allah’s slave!”

How much more clear or definitive does it get?

I Would Like to Know 

By the way, since we are talking about Hazrat Isa Alaihis Salam, have you ever read – in any book in any language – a sweeter, gentler and more tender account of the virgin birth of God’s beloved prophet, Jesus, may God bless him, than the one the Qur’an gives you?

And a more respectful, supportive and sympathetic treatment of his mother Mary’s (may God bless her) ordeal of childbirth and her encounter with her people when she returns to them after a prolonged and mysterious absence with infant Jesus (may God bless him) in her arms?

I don’t mean a novel or a history book or a children’s book from recent times, but a real serious book from ancient times, the Bible for example? If you have, please let me know.

I would like to know.

Honor of Allah’s Slavery

Therefore, for a human being, there is no greater honor than to be a slave of God Almighty. If that expression slave was good enough for all of God’s prophets, in the Bible, by name, it is good enough for you and me – and for everyone else.

There is a reason why Allah emphasizes that notion in the Qur’an repeatedly – the notion of all humans being nothing but Allah’s slaves. And that is why whenever some of us try to raise our position a degree by calling ourselves servants rather than slaves because we are embarrassed by what others may say or think about us, Allah lowers our position a notch. We get a slap on our wrist from Almighty Allah.

That is how it works. As that other prince of poetry and Islamic thought put it: Khud badaltey nahin, Qur’an ko badaldeytey hain. Iqbal, right? I don’t remember. Paraphrase: Some of us would rather change the Qur’an than change ourselves.