asceticism in islam

8/6/2019 Asceticism in Islam

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ASCETICISM IN ISLAM

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf

very religion crystallizes after the death ofi t s

founder into differentiatedexoteric and esoteric institutional forms. W e tend to call th e exoteric "reli-

gious" or "outer" practice and the esoteric "sp iritual" or "inner" practice, while

both strands are organically linked to each other in the original form as prac-

ticed by the founder and his immediate disciples and followers, as organically

linked as body i s to soul for a hu m an to be alive and called hu m an . The exoteric

crystallization within Islam becam e popularly know n as the Sharia, Divine Law

or C anon, and the esoteric crystallization as the Tariqa, the Way. The Tariqa's

focus and praxis became knovm as tasawwuf, or Sufism in English.

Religion's objective as a whole, both exoteric and esoteric practice taken

together, is hum an perfection according to the religion's existential worldview

of the nature and purpose of humankind. Religion's given is that we humans

are imperfect: eithe r inhe rently at birth—born with original sin in the Christian

worldview, for example—or a s in th e Islamic worldview born perfect b ut derailed

from th e pu re state of birth by the urgings of our app ointed dem ons as we grow

older.



A S C E T I C I S M A N D I S L A M

tan in one's life style, with a presum ption of piety and being devoted to the serv-

ice of God. Asceticism is therefore not a necessary end or required permanent

practice to attach oneself to bu t rath er a tool to be used for atta inm en t of theseends. W hen, wh ether, how and for how long it should be dispensed by the spir-

itual teacher is a function of the individual character and personality, his or he r

phase of religious/spiritual development and the context.

For the purpose of this essay, we shall d iscuss Islamic ascetic practice by con-

textualizing it within a narrative of the Islamic perspective on hu m an na ture

and the Divine call to humanity, a narrative which determines and also

describes the ultim ate purpose of ascetic practice.

The Islamic Woridview on the Nature of the Human Being^

We can look at the nature of the hu m an being either from the hum anly gener-

ated or from God the C reator's perspectives:

The human perspective provides as many definitions of man as there exist

human sciences: biologically a creature evolved out ofthe sea, physiologically a

warm-blooded mammal, most closely related to the apes but with a thinkingand creative mind; sociologically a gregarious animal, needing to live in com-

m un ities. Each definition w ithin such a cluster of definition can no t provide an

existenfial purpose outside its own terms. Thus biologically and physiologically

a hu m an being lacks any purpose oth er th an to eat and drink, sleep and repro-

duce, as the rest of creatures are impelled to do. Those governed by this defini-

tion regard the ir physical life as all the re is, with a value system com pletely dom-

inated by it.

The other way of looking at the human is God the Creator's point of view,

given to each faith by its sources such as Scripture which is the record of the

Creator's speech. The Qur'an is, for Muslims, God's speech to humanity. It

defines man as the earthly receptacle, container and repository of a breath of

the D ivine Spirit (ruh)—an earth ly crea ture given an especially exalted tru st and

mandate (the amanah) by Divinity Itself. Those governed by this definition, or

taken by it, find that it precipitates a significant shift that focuses the human

individual on a clearly depicted purpose and inten t.



I M A M F E I S A L A B D U L R A U F

the most developed locus where D ivinity manifests Its Attributes, including Its

desire to be knovwi, according to one of God's well-laiown speeches passed on

by the Prophet (Hadith Qudsi):" I

was a hidden treasure and desired to be knovwi,so I created the Creation, and through Me they knew^ M e ." In othe r words. Cod

created the universe for the purpose of Divine Self-discovery. And since our

being maps the cosmos in microcosm, the correspondences between us and Cod

have a nu m ber of definite consequences.

First, we too are a hidden treasure desiring to be know n, and our struggles

in life take us on a life journey of self-discovery reflecting divine realities. We

too seek to know our own m eaning; and we are prompted to do this not only tofathom the meaning and purpose of our own existence, bu t primarily to recip-

rocally create Cod's existence w ithin our consciousness, the do main th at m axi-

mally lies w ithin ou r power. Just as Cod created us in order for Him to be lcnown,

we too "create" the consciousness of Cod w ith in u s as pa rt of our self-discovery,

in order for us to be known. W e do this in two d imen sions: we seek to be knovwi

to the world, and we seek to be loiown to Cod: worldly and divine recognition.

Of course, at the basic level both the world and Cod laiow us. But when we

accomplish great things in the world, the world grants us special recognition: a

loiighthood or an Oscar, for instance. And when we accomplish g reat thin gs in

the spiritual dimension. Cod grants us special recognition in His domain.

Self-discovery i s therefore n ot only the pa th tha t leads to Cod-discovery; it i s no

less true that Cod-discovery leads to greater and truer self-discovery, a cyclical

process in w hich as we get to better know ourselves, we get to know Cod better.

This is succinctly expressed in a Tradition of the Proph et's cousin and third suc-

cessor ^ A l i that paraphrases the Oracular demand to "Know thyself: "He who

knows himself, loiows his Lord."

Additionally, Muslim spiritual teachers believe that the Creator discloses

Itself to every human being as an act of Divine grace, an awareness we

serendipitously receive at least once in our lifetime, given as a reminder to all

hu m ans of a compact we each made before our souls were incarnated into this

life. The Qur'an asserts that all human souls were arraigned in a prior exis-

tence to this life, and shall exist to be arraigned again after it. How come we




oblivion, and our task in this life is to learn to lift the veils and to remember

in this realm what we have seen and done in the previous realm of our exis-

tence. The Creator gives each human being the opportunity to remember theact of bearing witness to God, and th e h um an individual in tu rn either accepts

or rejects it. Those who reject it are "rejecters of G o d " [kaflr or "infidel"); those

who accept it are "believers."

The ultima te hum an att ain m en t of all religious activity in the Islamic view-

po int therefore can be described as:

1 . W itnessing the reality of God, called th e shahadah, followed bymerging our individual human consciousness—bounded in the

self or ego—with God. This step of dissolving or extinguishing

the bo unda ries of the ego or self and merg ing and anch oring it

w ith the Divine Self i s called/ona'.

2 . Anchoring ou r consciousness in God and m ainta ining a state

of union with God. This phase is called baqa', which means"abiding"

3 . Returning to the plane of hu m an work in a state wherein our

vdll is sub m itted to the Divine will, called islam, maintaining a

state of God-mindfulness and obedience to the Divine will,

called taqwa (often translated as "piety") and to discharge a

God-given mandate on earth during one's lifetime.

Looking at this objective throu gh an Islamic lens bu t us ing vocabulary asso-

ciated with the Hindu Brahman, or supreme Reality, it is the personal attain-

ment of anchoring oneself in Absolute Being or Reality (sat). Absolute

Consciousness (chit) and Absolute Bliss (ananda). God, according to the Islamic

viewpoint, has ninety-nine Attributes or Divine Names (compiled from many

more found in the Q ur'an an d th e prophefic Tradifions), two of which are pure

nouns (ol-hoq: Reality or Tru th, and al-salam, Peace or Bliss) the rest being adjec-




not to dwell on the nature of God as it could lead to wrong ideas that would

thereby constitute sin against G o d ) , and instead focuses on the p ersonal process

of attaining the "mo men ts of contact" w ith th e Absolute and anchoring oneselfwith It, th at i s , achieving enlightenment.

Right Loving: Love Your Jesus and Not His Donkey

The inner personal jou rney to this u ltim ate goal involves a com bination of per-

sonal striving on our pa rt and an act of Divine grace on God's pa rt. The striving

enhances our capacity to perceive and receive Divine inspirations, and elimi-

nates those behaviors and attitudes that impede the process. Fasting and other

ascetic pa ttem s of living are an integral pa rt of this inte rna l struggle.

The spiritual journey is further based on a concept of the human that

divides our n atu re in to four com ponents: the physical, the intellective, the emo-

tional/sentimental, and the spiritual. Nurturing and taking care of ourselves

means no t only to take care of our physical being and its health , bu t to also take

care and develop our intellective, emotional and spiritual natures; although

many however ignore their spiritual health to the point that they are hardly

aware or aclaiowledge that they have a spirit nature or component of being.

The famous thirte en th-c en tury A fghani lu m inary p oet Jalaluddin Rum i, in

one of his wdtty stories whose purp ose is to rem ind his listener of this lesson,

describes the relationship between the h um an soul and the h um an body as like

Jesus, the soul, riding a donkey, the body.2 To paraphrase, those whose view-

poin t is merely worldly and w ho ignore the ir souls are like those who "listen to

the m oan ing of the donkey, and pity comes over them ." Don't they know, Rumi

asks, that "the donkey commands you to be asinine?" He advises us to "Have pity

on Jesus (the soul created in the divine image vwthin you that is riding your

body) and have no pity on th e donkey (your physical self)." Personally I am like

many who find having n o pity on the donlcey hard to do; I love my latte coffee

and smoked-salmon-on-seven-grain-bread breakfasts. But what I do find is

tha t by taking care of m y donkey, my physical nature and appetites, my "inner

Jesus" rides much faster. T h e donkey that knows it i s carrjdng a Jesus rathe r tha n

a bale of hay is a far happ ier and more fulfilled one.




form miracles because of his knowledge of the natural laws which are still

unknow n to u s . He knows the hidden motives existing behind w hat w e call Life,

the consequences of these for th e presen ta s

well as the future.T o

reach the levelof wall or sainthood we must be prepared to work for years in silence and lone-

liness, with utter dedication and gratitude to God who vwll inspire us to achieve

what is possible for human understanding in that field chosen for us.

In Islamic vocabulary, this is the path of the Sufi, which at cer tain stages, in

certain contexts and for certain souls, embraces ascetic practice. Sufism, which

is pilgrimage along the spiritual path, requires two elements: Divine remem-

brance and companionship with an authentic Master. The first element isembodied in the first part of the Muslim profession of faith, the Shahada: la

ilaha illallah, ("There is no god bu t God"). The second elem ent i s embodied in the

Shahada's second part: Muhammadun rasulullah ("Muhammad is God's messen-

ger"). In the Q ur'an , this is a call from th e Lord of the Worlds—w ailahuyad'u iia

dari'ssalam, "and Allah invites to the Abode of Peace:" the Greator's Abode,

wherein exists Absolute Truth, Absolute awareness and Absolute Peace/Bliss

(corresponding to sat-chit-ananda). This call is our call to perfection in the

Divine Plan, a call tha t requires us to destroy all th at i s bad and unw orthy in our-

selves, simultaneously develop higher and more refined skills, and to seek

insight into the lines of God's policy.

The methodology of this journey i s embodied in the term dhikrullah, or dhikr

for short. Dhihr, which may take many practical forms such as simple recitation

of God's name, is the intake and assimilation of a form of Divine energy that

completely nourishes the human soul as mother's breast milk completely nour-

ishes an infant baby. The masters are tributaries of the Prophet, the main river

through whom the dhikr flows to each community. The masters dispense it to

their students, and this is why in Sufi imagery the master is likened to a v/ine

giver and his monastery to a pub, and he dispenses to his students a beverage

that alters their consciousness towards a state in which their consciousness of

the Divine is enhanced. Dhikr is a powerful source of self-discovery, through

which come knowledge and strength. W ithou t knowledge, strength is not per-

fect; and without strength, no one can achieve much worth achieving. We are




m ain secrets of a new life for which we are to be prepared by means of our tests.

Along his pilgrimage the Sufi is requ ired to serve the T ruth (this is the def-

inition of the term "dervishhood"), for Truth is an attribute of God. This, how-

ever, takes time for the young spiritual journ ey-m ake r to understan d. To begin,

he -will have to learn to control his senses so tha t his spirit may be free and thu s

rewarded with a clear insight. This is the value of ascetic practices. They con-

tribute to necessary steps of spiritual realization that help to push the young

soul seeker along the path to unde rstanding his service to God.

Fasting as an Example of Ascetic Practice

Muslims are commanded to fast for the thirty-day month of Ramadan from

davm to sunset, th e fast defined as avoidance of food, drink (even water), smok-

ing and sexual activity. In verses 2:183-185 of the Qur'an, God commands the

Prophet's followers to fast in order to gain piety or a state of God-mindfulness,

add ing th at He desires ease for them , no t difficulty, and th at they should com-

plete the period requ ired of the fast, and that they should magnify God for hav-

ing guided them , so tha t th at they may learn how to be grateful.

Like the Zen Buddhist sitting silently for hours in a state of stillness, fasting

stills the m ind , slows down th e em otional and psychic processes and calms the

body. It allows the fasting person to observe himself from the vantage po int of

the soul, and to discern the distinction between soul, body, mind and emotion.

Often a fasting person w ill experience an em otional stimulus - say, to anger -

bu t will perceive the lag (due to fasting) between the stimulus and the ability to

respond. During the time ofthis lag we discern the locus of the observer, who is

the soul, and th e locus of the pa rt stim ulated: the body if it's a physical stimu-

lus, the emotional "body" if it's an emotional stimulus, or the mind if it's an

intellectual stimulus. This experience provides the seeker vwth an important

step in his or her spiritual development—an important lesson in self-discovery.

By learn ing to distinguish the locus of the soul and its inspirations from

what originates in other loci of our being, the seeker is enabled to recognize

such inspirations and realizations, for the soul is his or her source of guidance.

The soul is, as we have seen above, the b rea th of God with in us, and it is in and




course, is to make sure th at w hat we are receiving is indeed from God and no t

from the anti-God pole, what in th e Semitic traditions is called Satan. It is also

important to discern the difference between an urging from the soul and one

from the m ind or em otion or body, or as Rumi says above, to recognize the dif-

ference between one's Jesus and one's donkey.

Fasting during Ramadan, therefore, as part of an ensemble of acts deemed

ascetic, is a form of "add ition by subtraction ," or as is often mentioned in spiri-

tual works, learning how to spiritually detach for the benefit of the soul's devel-

opment and ascent along the Path, analogous to throwing ballast out of the bas-

ket of a ho t air balloon in order to ascend.

Submission to What Comes Authentically from the Soul Equals Togetherness

with God

"Walking vwth God" is a phrase commonly used in the Christian West to

describe the demand placed on the spiritual traveler (salik is the term used for

such a traveler in Islamic parlance). A key term in Islamic spiritual (or Sufi)

vocabulary is "togetherness with God," or "togetherness" for short (from the

Arabic word ma'iyyah, based on the Qur'anic verse 57:4, w a huwa ma'akum ayna

ma kuntum, "He (God) is with you wherever you are.") In his commentary to th e

Risala't-tawhid. or "Affirmation of Divine Oneness" of Shayldi Wali Raslan (writ-

ten in twelfth century Syria), Shaykh al-Hamavw (d . c. 1530 C E ) urges the travel-

er to give "togetherness w ith God" (ma'iyyah) its due, and always be on one's best

behavior (adab) for H is sake. This is understood to mean abiding b y the "levels or

degrees of courtesy or protocols" (adah, proper behavior, that is, morality and

ethics) required to "walk vdth God."^

Togetherness (ma'iyyah) v^dth God has th ree dimensions , which must no t be

thought of as stages ordered in sequence. To speak of stages implies that we

develop from one to the other. These are rather three independen t aspects. Each

has to be developed, practiced, and refined. There is a bleeding effect between

each stage and the othe rs, in the sense that developing one aspect has a positive

catalytic effect upon the development of the other dimensions.




decreed and ordained for you. It means that all the limbs and

organs of your physical body are actively engaged in worshipful

obedience to Him, and that you spend every moment of yourtime in His service. He vwll therefore screen you, at this stage,

from the distracting influences of your (lower) self (nafs) and

your circumstances, and He will enable you to witness His gra-

cious favor toward you.

2, At the interm ediate dimen sion, you are present w ith Allah in

keeping vwth the standards of behavior proper to the SpiritualPath (adah at-Tariqah). This means that you are personally

non-existent in relation to the service in which you are

engaged, since there is no work more eagerly hoped for by

hearts than the work that has no visible connection with you,

and the very existence of wh ich is unim po rtan t from your per-

sonal point of view. As Allah has said: wa'l-amalu's-salihu

yarfa'uh (35:10), "And th e righteou s deed He does exalt." At this

level, the soul says: "My Lord, if good qualities (mahasin) appear

to come from me, they do so through Your gracious favor, and

to You belongs the credit for the ldndness bestowed upon me. If

evil qualities (masawi) appear, they do so because of Your justice,

and to You belongs th e evidence against m e."

3. At the innermost dimension, or some may say the highest

degree, you are present wdth Allah in keeping with the stan-

dards of behavior prope r to Reality {adah al-Haqiqah). This m eans

that you recognize what belongs to you and what belongs to

Him, for the rea lity is th at to you be long poverty, weakness, inca-

pacity, ignorance and abject humility, while to Him belong

affluence, stren gth , power, wisdom and glory. To you be long

non-existence, to Him all-Being; you are contingent reality, a

zero, and Allah is Absolute Reality and Being, therefore Infinity.




with His power, your ignorance with His knowledge and wis-

dom, and your abject hu m ility w ith His glory, your no n-b eing

w ith His Being. He will display His splendor on your canvas.

At this stage, you will witness n oth ing bu t His actions {af a l ) and His char-

acteristics {awsaf). Your personal existence (wujud) will fade into insignificance,

and every attachm en t w ill take its leave of you. The spiritual station of unifica-

tion [maqam at-tawhid) will be rightly and properly yours. All tha t i s superfluous

will depart, and you vwll come to be numb ered amo ng "the singular people" ( a h l

at-tafrid).The rays of insight

(shVat al-basira)will cause you to witness His near-ness to you. The eye of insight (' a i n al-basira) will cause you to witness your

non-existence in relation to His existence. The truth of insight (haqq al-basira)

will cause you to witness His existence, neither your non-existence nor your

existence: in the beginning there was Allah, and th ere w as noth ing w ith Him,

and He is now in th e state in which He was then .

All these experiences are among the results of togetherness ( m a ' iyya), of

observing th e standards of behavior proper to it, conforming to its rules of con-

duct, and adhering to its basic principles. If someone does not merely fail to

observe the standards of behavior proper to togetherness with the Lord {adab

al-ma' iyya), but keeps company with h is own (lower) self (no/s) instead, follov^ng

it obediently wherever it happens to lead him , tha t person is screened from his

Lord and Master {Mawla) by his own lower self, and it is the most seriously

obstructive of all screens.

What is the objective of the Sufi's ethics? T o learn that if you surrender to

Allah, He will draw you close, but if you argue with Him, He will keep you a t a

distance. T o comprehend tha t if you draw near th rou gh Him, He will bring you

close, bu t if you draw near thro ug h y o u . H e will keep you at a distance. T o under-

stand that your nearness to Him is your separation from you, while your dis-

tance i s your sticking with y o u . T o realize tha t if you come witho ut your self and

e g o . He wdll accept you, but if you com e th ro ug h you, full of your self and ego.

H e will exclude y o u . And finally, to loiow th at all of creation is a screen, and you

are a screen, while He is the one Who screens. He is screened from you because




because of you. So detach from you, and you shall witness H im.

In this narrative the ultimate objective of any spiritual practice, including

asceticism, is to locate the Self among the unseen order of God's creations.

Muslims, in this regard, have the unparalleled luxury to live as ascetics witho ut

leaving society, or w itho ut changing the ir physical location. Our religion, made

portable by our unwavering faith in its timeless tenets andpractices, has never

confined itself to a lonely hillside or he rm it's cave. Instead, Muslim ascetics walk

the earth as usual— whether d uring Ram adan, a fast of prophetic tradition, or

simply as a regular exercise in spiritual restraint—and amalgamate their obser-

vance into their everyday lives. Humans, again, are social c reatures, and draw

up on each oth er for suppo rt in times of externa l or intern al difficulty. And even

as we live in difficult, trying times, ascetic spirituality vwll never he far beyond

our reach as long as the comfort of society's embrace lies definitively within it.

I pray, and ask you to pray alongside m e, tha t w e all find th e courage to reex-

amine our humanity, renew our relationships with our fellow people and

restore ou r un ity with God.

Notes

1. We use the term "man" for the Arabic insan, for which no precise equivalent exists in English. It

refers to the generic individual human whether male or female. We intend no sexism in such use.

2. This story is part of the oral tradition connected to Rumi.

3. Shaikh Wali Raslan Ad-D imas hqi. Concerning T h e Affirmation Of Divine Oneness (Risala fi't-Tawhid),

Tr. Muhtar Holland. (Fort Luaderdale, FloridaAl-Baz Publishing), 1998.

asceticism in islam

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