The Path to the Light
(Part 1)
Every minute, somewhere in the world, a Muslim stands facing Mecca in prayer. In each unit of prayer, nestled into the verses of chapter Al-Fatihah, a crucial du’a, or supplication, is made:
{Guide us to the straight path.} (Quran 1:6)
Often we recite this verse without thinking about what we are asking. What is the straight path? Where does it begin, and to where does it lead? How do we navigate it, and, if we lose our way, how do we come back again?
The allegory of life being like a path or a road is found in many cultures and languages. We often hear things like, “the path to success is never easy,” or “the road of life is filled with twists and turns.”
However, the specific path mentioned in chapter Al-Fatihah must be something significant enough that we ask Allah Almighty for it in every single one of our prayers.
This series of articles hopes, by the will of Allah, to help us learn about this path: the path to the Light.
The Nature of the Path
Throughout the Quran, Allah Almighty uses metaphors and allegories to help us better understand His words. Had Allah willed, chapter Al-Fatihah could have asked for guidance to a specific place—a single spot in space and time whereby the one arriving at it would have achieved faith.
But Allah, in His infinite wisdom, described it as a path, a way. This is no coincidence.
Think for a moment about a physical path that guides us from one place to another. It may not be paved, but is still distinguishable from the earth around it. The successions of people or animals that have trod over it have worn away at the earth, creating any obvious track in the ground to lead the way. In most cases, the path exists where it does because that is the way upon which travelling is the easiest and safest. For a traveler lost in the woods, finding a path brings much peace of mind.
By definition, a path is not a single spot. It is a series of infinite spots all connected together to form a way. Once we begin taking a path, we don’t just stand in one place. We move forward, step by step. Finding the path doesn’t mean we’ve arrived at our desired destination. It just means that we’ve now found the way to get there.
Similarly in life, we are not all at the same place on our spiritual path to Allah Almighty. Some of us may be just beginning, others may be further ahead. When we recite Al-Fatihah, we ask to be guided to the path, but getting to the path doesn’t mean we’ve arrived at our destination. It just means we’ve found the way. It is up to us to follow that path.
Allah explains this idea in many places in the Quran:
{And verily, this is my Straight Path, so follow it, and follow not [other] paths, for they will separate you away from His Path. This He has ordained for you that you may become pious.} (6:153)
Scholars have explained the straight path that Allah mentions in the Quran in several ways. They have said it is the path of Islam, of peaceful submission to The One; the path detailed in the Book of Allah, and exemplified in the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad; the path of truth; and the path that begins in this life and ultimately leads the believer to al-jannah (Paradise).
Finding the Path
Imagine walking through the woods in the darkness. There is no moon, and we have no flashlight. There may be a very clear path, but in the darkness, we just can’t see it.
Humans naturally don’t do well with darkness. We get uncomfortable by virtue of the fact that we can’t appreciate our surroundings—we can’t see our way.
Our eyes perceive physical darkness. They send signals to our brain and we, in turn, react to the darkness. If we were really lost in the woods at night, each of us might react differently. Some might sit very still and listen, hoping to use sounds to find their way. Others might start feeling around with their hands, relying on their sense of touch to understand their surroundings.
But surely, the wisest step to take when we find ourselves in the midst of physical darkness is to try to find a source of light. That source of light, whether a flashlight, a candle or even just a match, will help us understand our environment far better than if we tried to rely on all our other senses combined. With a source of light we not only find the path, but are better able to keep from veering off of it.
The physical world is one of Allah’s signs to His creation. Allah says in the Quran that in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the transition from the darkness of night to the brightness of the day are signs for people of sound understanding. Our physical realities help us better understand our spiritual realities.
Just as Allah Almighty has enabled us to perceive physical darkness, so too has He enabled us to perceive spiritual darkness. Spiritual darkness makes it difficult to decipher things. Truth is indistinguishable from falsehood. Good and evil become muddled. Spiritual darkness makes it very hard to find our way. However, unlike physical darkness, we don’t perceive spiritual darkness with our eyes. We perceive it with our hearts.
The heart is the vessel that carries our faith. It is the organ with which we know and love Allah Almighty. It is the vehicle we use to traverse the path to Him. We distinguish truth from falsehood with our hearts. We sense spiritual light and darkness with our hearts.
We know that it is very hard to follow a path in the darkness: we need light. What is the source of our spiritual light? Allah Almighty tells us that He is the Light of the heavens and the earth. His Light guides us to the path, helps us follow the path, and ultimately helps us arrive at our destination. Allah has given us the tools we need to increase the spiritual light in our lives. We just need to know how to use them.
In the next article, we will, Allah-willing, examine those tools, aim to better understand them, and learn more about how to best follow the path to the Light.
Healthy Hearts - Part 2
Sometimes everything seems dark. We look around and wonder what has happened to our world. Innocent people are being killed, families are being torn apart, and so many are suffering. The aches in our hearts and the lumps in our throats linger into the night.
At such times we might forget that darkness doesn’t exist on its own. Darkness is merely the partial or total absence of light. This series, The Path to the Light, aims to help us illuminate whatever darkness we find ourselves in. It is meant as a reminder for all of us that we are in control of the light we let into our lives, and that light—both physical and spiritual—are gifts from our Creator.
In the previous article, we introduced some of these concepts. We remembered how in every unit of our prayers, we ask for guidance to the straight path. And we also discussed how the path may be very clearly marked, but we will not be able to follow it in the darkness. We need a source of light.
Just as we can distinguish physical darkness and light with our eyes, we too can distinguish spiritual darkness and light. Not with our eyes, but with our hearts.
The Importance of the Heart
Almost universally, religious traditions have stressed the importance of the heart. Numerous examples in the Judeo-Christian tradition,[1] in various eastern traditions,[2] and even among the ancients,[3] discuss the heart as the vehicle used to connect to the Divine.
In contemporary discussions, we often refer to the heart when talking about human behavior. For example, when someone has a shift in their attitudes or actions, we call it a “change of heart.” When we want to convey sincerity, we speak “from the bottom of our hearts.” Someone who has a “heart of gold,” is extremely kind and helpful, while their opposite, a person with a “heart of stone,” is cold, stern or cruel.
We’re told by society to “follow our hearts,” but usually warned that doing so will get us hurt. The heart is devalued by virtue of it being emotional, impassioned and impulsive. Logical reasoning, thinking, and comprehension, we are told, are faculties reserved for the brain.
But Islam says otherwise. Islam teaches that the heart is the most valuable possession of the believer, best able to know and love the Creator, distinguish between good and evil, and derive meaning from life’s circumstances.
The Quran tells us that with our hearts we “know” and “comprehend” (Quran, 22:46), “see” (Quran, 7:179), and find peace (13:26). The heart is a vessel, a container meant to be filled with faith, light, and guidance. Its soundness is equated with soundness in speech, thinking, and action.
Prophetic Guidance
One of the most famous of the hadith about the heart is as follows:
“There lies within the body a piece of flesh. If it is sound, the whole body is sound; and if it is corrupted, the whole body is corrupted. Verily this piece is the heart.” (Bukhari and Muslim)
Interestingly, this is only part of a much longer hadith. This first part of this hadith states:
“That which is permissible is clear and that which is not permissible is clear, and between them are matters unclear that are unknown to most people. Whoever is wary of these unclear matters has absolved his religion and honor. And whoever indulges in them has indulged in that which is not permissible. It is like a shepherd who herds his sheep too close to preserved sanctuary, and they will eventually graze in it. Every king has a sanctuary, and the sanctuary of Allah is what He has made not permissible.” (Bukhari and Muslim)[4]
When we put these ideas together, we see that there is a direct connection between the states of our hearts and our ability to withhold from doing the wrong things, from violating the sanctuaries of our King.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, also said:
“Indeed if a believer sins, a black spot covers his heart. If he repents, and stops from his sin, and seeks forgiveness for it, his heart becomes clean again. If he persists (instead of repenting), it increases until it covers his heart…” (Ibn Majah)
The Quran references this idea as well, mentioning a seal, veil, or stain that covers the hearts of those who knowingly deny the truth once it has come to them (83:14). Like a blindfold, this covering prevents the heart from “seeing” by the degree to which it covers it. A heart enveloped in darkness will not perceive light.
Keeping Our Hearts Healthy
It thus follows that one of the best ways to ensure our hearts are illuminated is by safeguarding our actions. The Quran tells us to {Do good to others, surely Allah loves those who do good to others} (2:195). Speaking truth, helping others, enjoining what is good and advising against what is not are all actions that contribute to the health and light of our hearts.
None of us is perfect, and we undoubtedly make mistakes. But when we do, let us turn in humility to our Lord, Sustainer, Master and Cherisher, and ask forgiveness. Repentance ensures our hearts remain pure, healthy, and full of light.
The Quran tells us that the person who {repents, believes, and works righteous deeds, Allah will change the evil of such persons into good} (25:70). And over and over again, the Quran emphasizes Allah’s Mercy towards His servants: {Surely Allah forgives the faults altogether; surely He is the Forgiving the Merciful.} (Quran 39:53)
As we said previously, the straight path of Islam is not a single spot. It is a series of infinite spots all connected together to form a way. Finding the path doesn’t mean we’ve arrived at our desired destination. It just means that we’ve now found the way there. We begin at the path by recognizing the importance of our hearts and committing ourselves to improving our actions. We also seek forgiveness for the times we’ve erred.
At a time when there is much darkness around us, we can all benefit from increasing the spiritual light in our lives and sharing it with others. In the next articles, we will, God-willing, discuss more ways of doing so.
References:
[1] https://bible.org/article/guarding-heart
[2] http://loveyogaanatomy.com/opening-the-heart/
[3] : http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/heart.htm#ixzz43hXrTeM2
[4] http://40hadithnawawi.com/index.php/the-hadiths/hadith-6
Prayer – The Spiritual Light and Guidance
(Part 3)
In every unit of prayer, Muslims stand before their Lord and recite the Opening chapter of the Quran. Nestled into the verses of this chapter is a crucial request:
Guide us to the straight path.
The previous articles in this series examined that path, emphasizing that it is not a single spot. It’s a series of infinite spots connected together to form a way. Like movement forward on a physical path, moving forward on this spiritual path requires effort—not only of the limbs, but also of the heart.
One of the essential teachings of Islam is that every person is born with a simple, spiritual truth already imprinted in his or her being: That God exists and that He alone is to be worshiped and obeyed.[i]
Just as dust covers a book forgotten high upon a shelf, at times in the history of humanity, this spiritual truth got covered up, hidden, obscured and sometimes even forgotten.
Islam teaches that messengers and prophets like Noah, Abraham, Lot, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and Jesus were sent to metaphorically dust off that truth. They were to remind people of their covenant with their Creator, and to enjoin goodness and justice.
Prophet Muhammad was the last of these messengers and prophets. His mission sealed the long line of prophets. His legacy contained all that humanity would need to fulfill their covenant with God, to find and follow this “straight path.”
Prophet Muhammad’s Legacy
In this hadith, often referred to as “Hadith Jibreel,” [ii] the Prophet Muhammad was approached by a the Angel Jibreel who came in the form of a man and asked him several questions.
Importantly, the legacy of the Prophet Muhammad was not one of outward actions alone or of inward beliefs by themselves. It encompassed both. One beautiful hadith outlines the foundational pillars of his legacy, in a sense, marking the path for those who chose to follow it.
The first was to inform him about Islam. His response was that Islam was built on five: to testify that there is no object worthy of worship or devotion except Allah, to pray, to fast in Ramadan, to give charity, and to perform the pilgrimage of Hajj if one is able to do so.
Very often when thinking about Islam, we focus on these five pillars and stop there. We think of them as a to-do list, and once we’ve checked everything off, we go on with “life.”
But the teachings of Islam are not just relegated to the religious. Islam is described as a deen, an Arabic word that connotes all that a person does out of submission and worship for the Creator, inclusive of beliefs and worship, and also of intellectual, moral, and social realities.
Internal Dimensions
Few of us would ever move into a house that consisted of a foundation alone. We’d want a structure built upon that foundation, walls, doors, windows, and a roof. And we’d probably want to furnish the house and make it comfortable, perhaps even decorate the inside a little.
Thus, the Prophet Muhammad’s legacy, the straight path, is not just that we outwardly fulfill the actions outlined in the five pillars. The Prophet said Islam was built on these; if we stopped there, we’d have only pillars, and no building.
Understandably, the Angel Jibreel’s conversation with the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not end there. His subsequent questions, “Inform me about Imaan” connected these outward actions to the concept of belief or faith, and thereafter, “inform me about Ihsan,” to the idea that we should perfect whatever actions we do for Allah Almighty at both the internal and external levels.
At the end of the narration, the Angel Jibreel asked the Prophet about the Hour and its signs. The Prophet (peace be upon him) emphasized that all of these laid the foundation for one’s deen.
The flow of ideas in this beautiful prophetic narration is no coincidence. It emphasizes a very important principle in Islam: That every external action, whether religious or secular in nature, has an internal dimension.
Thus every action has the potential to transcend the physical realm and affect the state of the heart. Some actions reflect positively on the heart, helping it remain sound and aware of the truth within it. Others put a stain or blemish on the heart, and the heart is thus blinded by the degree to which it is covered.
Connected Hearts
How often do we realize the effects the images we’ve seen, or the things we have heard have had on our hearts? What, if anything, can we do to connect our external realities with our internal ones?
It might make sense in theory that actions at the physical level affect us spiritually. However, understanding the practical implications of this isn’t always easy. How many of us rush through our prayer unaware that our hearts did not benefit from the prayer?
Knowing the intent behind our actions is one of the first things we can do to help us make that connection. For example, I could perform prayer in perfect physical fashion to the outside observer. However, my prayer could be completely devoid of the focus and awareness that is meant to accompany it.
I could approach the prayer as if it were a burden, with the intent to check one more thing off of my to-do list. Rather than improving my internal state, my prayer has become merely mechanical, and I will no longer derive from it the intended benefit.
Read: Practicing Islam: A Burden or Ease?
However, if I’m aware of the purpose behind the prayer, that it is meant to reconnect me with my Lord, Sustainer, and Provider. And to light my spiritual path in life, then everything changes. I no longer see the prayer merely as an obligation I should fulfill, but as a gift, a priceless opportunity to move forward on my spiritual journey.
The same applies to other acts of worship, like fasting, giving charity, and performing the Hajj. When we cultivate an understanding of why we do each of these things, of the imaan that fuels the act, and when we engage our hearts in the act and try to do it as beautifully as possible, we derive the most benefit from it. Instead of just a foundation, we become equipped to build an entire house, beautifully decorated on the inside and out.
Islam is not simply a religion. It is a holistic way of life whereby everything a person does is tied to his or her connection with the Creator. The Source of our spiritual Light and Guidance. The outward components of Islam are intricately tied to faith and belief and should be done in a way that is internally and externally beautiful.
(From Discovering Islam’s archive)
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[i] The Quran mentions this: “When your Lord took from the children of Adam – from their loins – their descendants and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes, we have testified.” [This] – lest you should say on the day of Resurrection, “Indeed, we were of this unaware.” (7:172)
[ii] A full explanation of Hadith Jibreel available here.
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