Alienation in Islamic Writings December 2015 Linda Buckley For many Islamic authors, exploration of human experience can provide lessons to supplement Sharia law, which does not provide instruction on how to be moral.1 By reflecting on how good and evil manifest themselves in the world, these writers discuss how we may discover the divine within ourselves and lead more moral lives. This can be seen particularly in the writings of Attar, Ibn Hazm, Hussein, Mottahedeh and Farrough. For these authors a key theme is the role of alienation as a precondition for divine discovery. Alienation is isolation from others to include family, community or country, or even from one’s self; ultimately, alienation is detachment from worldly concerns. According to Attar in The Conference of the Birds, there are several steps to divine discovery. Detachment (alienation) is the fourth step following aspiration, commitment and insight. It is the necessary precondition for a humanity that is united in love. The next stage, bewilderment, represents a “shattering of the soul,” or alienation from the self. The final step, nothingness, is ultimate unity with God,2 which is beyond what most humans can achieve; therefore, selflessness, or alienation from self, is the goal achievable by the normal moral person. A commitment to selflessness begins by alienating ourselves from those from whom we cannot receive a positive spiritual benefit; it requires that we not subordinate our own good to that of others. Ibn Hazm in On Love, provides the example of the noble but inconstant seducer who, while irresistible, must be avoided, for “one will never derive any advantage from his 1 2 Heck, November 17, 2015. Attar, 180-196. 1 friendship.”3 Unfortunately, bad influences are often more subtle and difficult to identify because “countless swine and idols tease the mind.”4 In Hussein’s “City of Wrong,” he offers examples of individuals who were good, just and understood right from wrong, who—on the day of the crucifixion--were caught “in a vortex of seducing factors and taken unawares amidst them, they faltered.”5 One example was Caiaphas, a Jewish leader who condemned Christ, despite knowing that Christ was innocent. Even this just and learned individual made a political choice to preserve the unity of the people; he felt that Christ was a destabilizing force despite the correctness of his message. By deciding that the ends justify the means, Caiaphas decided to let matters take their own course and not stand for what he knew, in his heart, to be correct. 6 In essence, he allowed society to commit a great crime because it was “committed in the name of society.” 7 It is the evolution of human society that makes it difficult for us, as individuals, to discern right from wrong, particularly when it comes to love. For both Ibn Hazm and Hussein, the highest form of love is that of love between those who love “in God,” who love selflessly and without motivation. But selfless love is not easy to achieve. Love has evolved from love of self to love of family to tribe or city to nation. This is a natural evolution as man seeks companionship and greater self-defense. 8 Love of nation or community often results in a subordination of our individual conscience9 to causes espoused by the larger society, such as the “false idols” of patriotism, civics, family loyalty, even religion.10 3 Ibn Hazm, 14-15. Attar, 78. 5 Hussein, 3. 6 Hussein, 44-57. 7 Hussein, 20. 8 Ibn Hazm, 2; Hussein, 64. 9 Hussein, 4. 10 Hussein, 132; 199-200; Attar, 68-69. 4 2 According to Hussein, the “general good” is not actually in the interests of individuals.11 This is why alienation from the influences of society is key to our own moral development. For Mottahedeh, “a stage is reached where they must part company with oppressors.” An early allegory of the importance of this concept can be seen in Noah’s flood where Noah, alienated from society, required the assistance of God to purge the world of sin.12 This alienation from community (including family and nations) is essential because we need distance to understand how the interests of the community infringe upon our abilities to discern right from wrong. According to Hussein, being close to a problem does not give us the ability to see clearly. For him, good and evil are very much alike unless we are distant from events, either in time or space. 13 When we are in the midst of situations, emotions tend to get the best of us and we aren’t able to distinguish our own desires and agendas from what is truly good and right. For Hussein, we need to see eternal truths as opposed to expedient, or “temporal” good, and to look for principles that derive from our own inner conscience rather than those imposed by “manmade” systems.14 We must see the divine voice within ourselves. For Attar, this is the “Valley of Detachment and serenity” where what we think we know is meaningless and the heart commands the mind.15 For Ibn Hazm, this is defined as “reason,” where man is guided by “nothing that is not pleasing to God.”16 Lest we think this to be an impossible task, Mottahedeh provides us with examples of actual individuals who underwent this process. In particular, al-e Ahmed, who was alienated 11 Hussein, 200. Mottahedeh, 266-267. 13 Hussein, 22-23. 14 Hussein, 32, 201. 15 Attar, 199. 16 Ibn Hazm, 21. 12 3 from his family, was educated abroad and who was able to view his societal relationships from afar. While in Europe, al-e Ahmed joined the Communist party, but also broke from them and even broke from his own religion, deciding that official Shiah called upon people to pray to false idols (clay tablets).17 Unable to commit to any “man-made” construct, al-e Ahmed seeks the “Imam within each of us” and goes to the countryside to look for the “true” Iran. Through his writings, according to Mottahedeh, this alienated individual became a prophet of a new religion founded entirely within himself, absent external influences, declaring that the “Imam of the Age is spread in the body of each individual.”18 Similarly, Farrough, as shown in her poetry, underwent a similar alienation from her own society, to emerge as the voice of love. While her poetry, similar to Ibn Hazm’s work, speaks to erotic love, as Mottahedeh reminds us, it is difficult to argue “that all modern Persian love lyrics were purely sensual.”19 In describing her work as Quranic verse, Farrough, is also describing humanity’s relationship with God and the divine within us. In her poems, “Transience” and “Earth Signs,” she speaks to her deep alienation from her own society and her search for deeper meaning.20 In “Union,” she speaks to a sexual experience21 reminiscent of Mottahedeh’s main character, Ali, and his experience with erfan, which he described as “fearlessness against all things external.”22 For Farrough, it is a “bursting” and “breaking free,” similar to Attar’s bewilderment, where the soul shatters.23 Her goal, in the poems “Barriers” and “Red Rose,” is to give birth to a new Jesus who can bring humanity into union in love—similar to Hussein and Ibn Hazm who argue that unity and love for humanity is the goal of all individuals in alienating 17 Mottahedeh, 302. Mottahedeh, 287-323. 19 Mottahedeh, 285. 20 Farrough , 6-7; 52-59. 21 Farrough, 25-26. 22 Mottahedeh, 183. 23 Attar, 212. 18 4 themselves from society.24 Farrough, like Mary Magdalene in City of Wrong, discovers her divine voice through pure love, separated from family, community and ultimately self. In Mary’s case, she is able to ultimately find salvation in Christ, by focusing on someone else rather than her own pride.25 While crucial, alienation alone is not sufficient to be a good person. For these authors, alienation is the journey, not the goal. To alienate from self is the final step: to love without agenda or self-interest; to be self-less. In Conference of the Birds, only those birds that are truly committed, who leave worldly concerns behind, are able to finally reach God. In the end they are willing to die to achieve this union with God. This is not prescriptive but rather represents the lesson that these authors are trying to impart. In order to achieve the love that the Quran, as well as the Bible, speak to, humans must be willing to put aside all that they hold dear, and die a metaphorical death in order to lead a moral life—they must strip away their own preoccupations—whether imposed by society, family or our own minds -- in order to hear the divine voice within. For these authors, true prophets are inspired by God, not by their own wits or ideas.26 According to Ibn Hazm, our inner voice can only be found by tempering our passions with reason. For him, the “soul” is the seat of lust and carnal passion, such that when the soul dominates reason, a person’s “inward eye is so blinded” that he/she can no longer distinguish between good love and selfish love. For Hussein, evil happens when people take guidance from anything other than their own conscience, which is a gift from God.27 For Attar, one must become “empty” such that the heart core can receive God’s light. Attar entreats us to 24 Farrough , 34-36, 75. Hussein, 71-85; 101. 26 Hussein, 32. 27 Hussein, 4. 25 5 Be nothing first! ... Til you reach nothingness you cannot see The Life you long for in eternity.28 For these writers, the next life is determined by how we lead our lives on earth. A moral life requires that our “inward eye” be clear and that we are always following “what is pleasing to God.”29 Alienating ourselves from all that may distract us from this goal is essential. For Mottahedeh and Farrough, the message is less direct, but also very clear. Both speak to the disarray within Iranian society and the need to discover the voice within. For Mottahedeh, the external influences of a fractured society are every bit as dangerous as one where there is a coherency that demands loyalty. For his main characters, the need to isolate themselves and rediscover their own path is essential to staying true amongst the ambiguity of their situation. Similarly for Farrough, only by turning her back on a country that had lost its way could she discover her purpose, which was to preach love for humanity; and, while Ibn Hazm might dispute her sexual approach, he could not argue with her message: Let me be filled with small raindrops, with ungrown hearts with globs of unborn children, let me be filled, perhaps my love will be a cradle for the birth of another Jesus.30 28 Attar, 237. Ibn Hazm, 21. 30 Farrough, 36. 29 6