Act. Implement.

 بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

ثُمَّ جَعَلۡنَٰكُمۡ خَلَـٰٓئِفَ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ مِنۢ بَعۡدِهِمۡ لِنَنظُرَ كَيۡفَ تَعۡمَلُونَ

Thumma ja’alnaakum khalaaa’ifa fil ardi min ba’dihim li nanzura kaifa ta’maloon

Yunus (Jonah) 10:14- And thereupon We made you their successors on earth, so that We might behold how you act.  

Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi was among the notable scholars and political activists of South Asia. Among his many roles, he served as the Home Minister of the first Provisional Government of India established in Afghanistan in 1915. But that effort did not continue for long, and under indirect British pressure he was compelled to leave for Russia. It is sometimes mentioned that he met the ailing Lenin, though the evidence for such a meeting remains uncertain. What is clear, however, is that his writings show a serious engagement with the socialist movement and its concern for justice.  

Before the Russian government, Maulana Ubaidullah made a passionate appeal. He urged them to consider the Qur'anic principles of social justice. He argued that despite so much sacrifice and so much bloodshed, the revolutionaries had still not established the justice they had set out to achieve. He spoke of natural law, of fairness, and of the just order reflected in the khilafah al-rashidah. He answered their questions with clarity and conviction. 

It is related that the head of the Russian government, or according to another narration Lenin himself, remarked that what Maulana Ubaidullah was saying was reasonable and appealing both to the intellect and to the demands of justice. But then came the question that left him with no answer: there are so many lands under Muslim rule, is there any place where these principles are actually being lived, so that we may go and see them?  

At that, Maulana had no choice but to lower his head in shame. He spent the remainder of his life grieving over this bitter reality, and it is a grief that should trouble us as well. When will Muslims stop contenting themselves with speaking about the ideals of Islam and begin to implement them, even in a small corner of life?

Let us begin now with our own selves. Let us bring into our homes, our dealings, and our communities the principles we so readily praise with our tongues. Otherwise, ideals remain only words. May Allah help us to live by what we claim to believe. Ameen. 

Hold fast to the rope of Allah snd never lose hope

 بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

  

ضُرِبَتۡ عَلَيۡهِمُ ٱلذِّلَّةُ أَيۡنَ مَا ثُقِفُوٓاْ إِلَّا بِحَبۡلٖ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَحَبۡلٖ مِّنَ ٱلنَّاسِ...

Duribat ‘alaihimuz zillatu aina maa suqifooo illaa bihablim minal laahi wa hablim minan naasi 

Part of Al-Imran(Family of Imran) 3:112:Overshadowed by ignominy are they wherever they may be, save [when they bind themselves again] in a bond with God and a bond with men !  

 

قُلْ يٰعِبَادِيَ الَّذِيْنَ اَسْرَفُوْا عَلٰٓى اَنْفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوْا مِنْ رَّحْمَةِ اللّٰهِۗ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوْبَ جَمِيْعًاۗ اِنَّهٗ هُوَ الْغَفُوْرُ الرَّحِيْمُ

Qul yaa’ibaadiyal lazeena asrafoo ‘alaaa anfusihim laa taqnatoo mirrahmatil laah; innal laaha yaghfiruz zunooba jamee’aa; innahoo Huwal Ghafoorur Raheem

Az-Zumar (The Troops) 39:53 Say, "O My slaves! Those who have transgressed against themselves, (do) not despair of (the) Mercy (of) Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives the sins all. Indeed He, He (is) the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.

Lesson 1: Do not let despair become greater than the sin

In the books of biography and narration there is a deeply moving report about Muhammad ibn Shihab al-Zuhri and Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-Abidin, may Allah grant him peace. The details do not come to us in exactly one form. One early report says that al-Zuhri became responsible for bloodshed by mistake, then left his family and withdrew from ordinary life. A later retelling says that while serving in authority under the Umayyads, he punished a man and the man died under that punishment, after which al-Zuhri fled in terror and lived for a long time in isolation. What is clear in all the reports, however, is the heart of the matter: a grave wrong had occurred, remorse had consumed him, and Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn taught him that despair of Allah can become worse than the sin that first broke a person.  

There are people who sin and continue living as though nothing has happened. They eat, laugh, plan, and sleep while the heart remains untouched. Then there are others who are shaken to their core by one fall. Al-Zuhri, in this story, appears to have been of the second kind. He did not treat it lightly. He did not hide behind office, status, or legal wording. He saw only one thing before him: that a life had been lost, and that he would have to stand before Allah with that burden.  

The shock of it drove him out of ordinary life. Some reports say that he abandoned his home, left his family, and took up residence in a tent, saying in effect that he was no longer fit to live under the roof of a house. Other reports say that he wandered in a state of grief and estrangement, then entered a cave and remained there for years. Whether one pictures a tent in the open or a lonely cave in the wilderness, the meaning is the same. He had become a man who could no longer bear the company of people, because he could not bear the company of his own thoughts.  

Day and night the same thought must have returned to him. What answer will I give on the Day of Judgment? What shall I say when the rights of people are laid bare? How can a man return to learning, to respectability, to normal conversation, when blood has been spilled through him? This is what unchecked grief does. It begins as remorse, and remorse is healthy. It is a sign that the heart is still alive. But if it is not guided, it can harden into despair. And despair is one of the most dangerous traps on the path back to Allah.

Then Allah sent to him one who could heal him and correct him, compassionately, saving him from breaking himself further.

During Hajj, Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn came upon al-Zuhri in this shattered condition. In one report the Imam passed by him while he was in seclusion. In another, he encountered him in the Haram while people were already speaking of how deeply disturbed he had become. The Imam asked about his state, and al-Zuhri opened his heart. He confessed that while entrusted with authority, he had become responsible for the death of a man. He saw no way back for himself. He believed that he was ruined.  
What followed is one of those brief statements that can save a life.
The Imam said to him: 

 يا ابن شهاب قنوطك أشد من ذنبك 

O Ibn Shihab, your despair is harsher than your sin. 

Another narration gives the same meaning with a few additional words, saying that his despair of the mercy of Allah, the mercy that encompasses all things, was more shocking than the sin itself. The Imam did not deny the gravity of what had happened. He did not say that the matter was small. He did not flatter him, and he did not tell him to forget. Rather, he showed him that a servant must never add a second destruction to the first. Sin wounds the soul, but despair cuts it off from the very mercy through which healing comes. 

Then the Imam showed him what repentance actually looks like.  Seek His forgiveness. Send the blood money to the family of the dead man. Return to your people. Return to the path and signs of your deen. Some narrations add that if the family would not accept the compensation openly, then it should still be conveyed to them discreetly. This is an important point. The Imam did not reduce tawbah to tears and private sorrow. Where the rights of another human being have been violated, repentance must also include restitution as far as one is able. Regret alone is not enough when another family has been left carrying grief.  

That counsel broke the spell of despair. The reports say that al-Zuhri returned to his home and used to say later that Ali ibn al-Husayn had the greatest claim of favor over him. A broken man had been given back his life, not because his sin was made to look small, but because the mercy of Allah was placed back before his eyes.  

There is a lesson here for all of us.

Many people understand that sin is dangerous. Fewer understand that hopelessness is also a sin of the heart. Shaytan is content with either one. If he cannot make a servant bold in wrongdoing, he will try to make him hopeless after wrongdoing. If he cannot destroy a person through desire, he will try to destroy him through despair.

This is why this story matters so much.

A believer should fear sin, yes. He should be ashamed before Allah, yes. He should weep over what he has done, yes. But he should never imagine that his sin is greater than the mercy of Allah. That thought does not come from humility. It comes from confusion. Allah did not open the door of repentance only for small mistakes. He opened it for sinners. He opened it for those who have gone far. He opened it for those who have wronged themselves greatly. The Qur’an does not say, “Do not despair, unless your sin is too serious.” It says, *Do not despair of the mercy of Allah.*

At the same time, hope in Allah is not cheap talk. It is not a slogan used to cover what we have done. It is not a way of escaping responsibility. Real hope in Allah sends a person back to prayer, back to restitution, back to truthfulness, back to the people he has harmed if their rights can still be restored. That is why the Imam’s answer is so complete. He joined hope with accountability. He joined mercy with duty. He joined healing with repair.

How many people today sit inside their own invisible caves? Outwardly they are among people, but inwardly they have shut themselves away. A past sin follows them. A wrong decision follows them. A harm they caused follows them. And instead of turning that pain into tawbah, they let it become paralysis. They call it remorse, but sometimes it is simply a refusal to believe that Allah can still guide them after what they have done.

This story tells us: do not stay in the cave.

If you have sinned, repent.
If you have harmed someone, repair what you can.
If you have taken a right, return it.
If you have broken a trust, admit it.
If you are ashamed, let that shame carry you to Allah, not away from Him.

And if your heart tells you that there is no way back, then answer it with the words taught in this story: the greater danger is not only the fall, but to remain lying there because one has lost hope in the mercy of the One who calls people back.

May Allah protect us from sins that harm others and stain our own souls. May He grant us honest remorse, sincere tawbah, the courage to make amends, and hearts that never despair of His mercy. Ameen.

A brief note on the reports: the early form of the story says that al-Zuhri “incurred bloodshed by mistake” and withdrew from his family under a tent, while a later retelling says he was serving the Umayyads, a man died under punishment, and he secluded himself in a cave for years. The central lesson is shared across the narrations.  

Lesson 2:

In a town near the desert, there lived a notorious highwayman whose name had become a source of fear for travellers. Along with his band of robbers, he would attack caravans, seize their wealth, and leave behind grief and ruin.

One day they fell upon a large caravan and looted everything they could find: gold, silver, garments, animals, and provisions. Among those who had been robbed was a scholar of Islam. Like the others, he lost his belongings, but what pained him most was not the gold or the clothing. It was his books and manuscripts, the labour of many years, that grieved his heart.

Because of the love he had for knowledge, he resolved to search for the hideout of the robbers and try to recover his books.

By the will of Allah, he eventually reached their camp. To his surprise, they did not harm him. Instead they let him sit with them. As they sat together, the scholar noticed that the leader of the bandits was not drinking with the others.

So he asked him, “Why are you not drinking?”

The man replied, “I am fasting.”

The scholar was astonished. He said, “You rob people, spread fear, and commit major sins, yet you keep an optional fast. What do you hope to gain from it?”

The highwayman lowered his voice and said, “It is my rope to Allah. It is thin, and it is weak, but I do not want to cut it. Perhaps one day Allah will use this small rope to pull me out of the darkness and guide me back to Him.”

After saying this, he returned the scholar’s books and allowed him to leave in peace.

Years passed.

Later, while performing Hajj in Makkah, the scholar saw a man at the Kaaba clinging to the kiswah, crying in prayer with deep humility. There was a light on his face and a calm in his manner. The scholar looked carefully and was startled. It was the very same highwayman, but he was no longer the man he had once been.

He went near him and asked, “How did you come to this state?”

The man replied, “I never lost hope, That thin rope to Allah did not break. Allah accepted my repentance, pulled me out of darkness, and brought me here. Now I try to serve those whom I once used to harm.”

There is a lesson here for all of us.

We should never belittle any act that still connects a person to Allah. A person may be drowning in sins, yet some small deed done with sincerity may become the means of his rescue. A fast, a prayer, a tear, a charity, a moment of regret, any of these may become a rope by which Allah draws His servant back.

So long as there is hope, the rope is not cut.

Let us not despair of the mercy of Allah, whether for ourselves or for others. Let us hold fast to whatever bond remains between us and Him, and let us strengthen it before it is too late.

May Allah keep us attached to Him, forgive our shortcomings, and grant us sincere repentance. Ameen.
 

Miracle of Transformation

 بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلِيمُۢ بِذَاتِ ٱلصُّدُورِ

 innal laaha ‘aleemum bizaatis sudoor

Part of Al-Imran(Family of Imran) 3:119: Behold, God has full knowledge of what is in [their] hearts !

Niaz Fatehpuri, a famous albeit somewhat misguided Urdu poet who had won many awards and accolades in South Asia was a strong critic of religion. Once in Lucknow, he was arguing with Maulana Manzoor Nomani against the existence of miracles in general, and specifically that the Prophet ﷺ had not performed any miracles.

Maulana politely said that between the two of us, can we come up with a strategy to fix this city and rid it of the misguided and corrupt people?  Niaz replied,  "Maulana you are crazy, this is impossible!"

To which Maulana replied, "You are well read and erudite, and you cannot even entertain the idea, and yet you saw how an unlettered Prophet with no worldly teacher, within a portion of his lifetime, managed to transform the worse of the jahiliyyah Arabs into arguably the best of all human race. Is it not a miracle enough?"

This stunned Niaz, and he became much more amicable towards religion after that.

An example of this exemplary transformation is the story below:

As was his habit, one night the Caliph Umar al-Faruq رضي الله عنه went out in disguise to see the condition of the people. This time he was with his companion Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنه or Aslam (رضي الله عنه). As they were moving from one quarter to another, they reached a colony where among the poorest of the poor lived. In one small dwelling there was light emanating and it seemed like there was a disagreement going on. They could figure it out that a mother was complaining to her daughter that the amount of money earned by her from the sale of milk that day was very little. She further said that when she was young, and used to sell milk, she always mixed water with milk, and that led to an increase in the earnings. She was compelling her daughter to do the same.

The girl replied "You adulterated milk when you were not a Muslim. Now that we are Muslims, we cannot continue in the same old corrupt ways."

The mother said "What does Islam have to do with adulteration of milk?"

The daughter said, "Do you not know that the Caliph has instructed according to the commandments of Islam that food should not be adulterated?"

The mother said, "The Caliph has forgotten us. We are so poor, what else should we do but adulterate milk in order make two ends meet?"

The daughter said "Such earnings would not be lawful, and as a Muslim I would not do anything whereby other Muslims are deceived."

The mother persisted, "But, child, there is neither the Caliph nor any of his officers here to see what we do. Daughter you are still a child. Go to bed now and tomorrow I will myself mix the milk with water for you."

The girl refused to fall in with the plan of her mother. She said, "Caliph may or may not be here,  but how can we escape the notice of Allah and our own conscience."

Thereupon the mother remained quiet. The lamp was extinguished and the mother and the daughter went to sleep.

The next day, the Caliph sent someone purchase milk from the girl. The milk was unadulterated. The girl had kept her resolve and stayed firm. Umar رضي الله عنه  turned to his companion and said, "The girl has kept her resolve in spite of the exhortation of her mother."

The next day the Caliph summoned the daughter and the mother to his court. The mother trembled as she stood before the mighty ruler. But the girl faced the Caliph boldly and there was an impressive dignity about her. Then before the gathering, Caliph Umar رضي الله عنه related how he had overheard the mother and the daughter, and how the daughter had kept her resolve despite the exhortations of the mother .

Someone suggested that the mother should be taken to task. The Caliph said that ordinarily he would have punished the mother, but he had forgiven her for the sake of her daughter. Turning to the girl the great Caliph said, "Islam needs daughters like you and as a Caliph of Islam it I would like to propose that you become my daughter." The Caliph called his sons, and addressing them said, "Here is a gem of a girl who would make a great mother. I desire that one of you should take this girl as wife. I know of no better bride than this girl of sterling character. "

Abdullah and Abdur Rahman the elder sons of the Caliph were already married. Asim the third son was yet unmarried, and he offered to marry the girl. Thereupon with the consent of the milkmaid and her mother Asim was married to the girl, and milkmaid became the daughter-in-law of the Caliph.

From this union was born a daughter Layla bint Asim, who became in due course the mother of Umar bin Abdul Aziz.

Umar bin Abdul Aziz was elected as Caliph and served for a short period during 717 - 720.

While other Caliphs of the Ummayad dynasty reveled in luxury, Umar bin Abdul Aziz as a Caliph set standards for austerity and simplicity in accordance with Islamic teachings. He preferred simplicity to the extravagance that had become a hallmark of the Umayyad lifestyle, depositing all assets and finery meant for the caliph into the public treasury. He abandoned the palace and instead preferred to live in modest dwellings. He wore rough linens instead of royal robes, and often went unrecognised. He even persuaded his own wife – who had been daughter, sister and wife to three separate caliphs – to donate her jewellery to the public treasury. It is said that if ever there was a noble Caliph after the first four “Rightly guided Caliphs,”such a man was Umar bin Abdul Aziz. And he inherited the noble qualities of the milkmaid who married the Caliph's son, and those of Caliph Umar Farooq who had the eye to discern the nobler qualities of sterling character in a poor girl.

There is a related incident that the relatives complained to Umar's aunt, meaning the sister of Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan, that he is repossessing our endowments and distributing to the poor and our lifestyles will be lost.   She went to him and asked him to let the relatives enjoy the state wealth. But he did not relent as they were using the state exchequer to enrich themselves and he insisted on all of that to be returned for the welfare of the community. It is notable here that she grumbled that when we married off into a family like his, what else would we expect other than honesty and austerity?

The cause of his death is attributed to the reforms he initiated, which greatly angered the Umayyad nobility. It is reported that they bribed a slave of his to administer a deadly poison. The Caliph having felt the effect of the poison sent for the slave and asked him why he had poisoned him. The slave replied that he was given one thousand dinars for the purpose. The Caliph deposited the amount in the public Treasury and freeing the slave asked him to leave the place immediately, lest anyone should kill him.

He reportedly left behind only 17 dinars with a will that out of this amount the rent of the house in which he died and the price of the land in which he was buried would be paid.

Depend solely on your Lord

 بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

 ... فَٱبۡتَغُواْ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرِّزۡقَ وَٱعۡبُدُوهُ وَٱشۡكُرُواْ لَهُۥٓۖ إِلَيۡهِ تُرۡجَعُونَ

... fabtaghoo ‘indal laahir rizqa wa’budoohu washkuroo lahooo ilaihi turja’oon

Part of Al-Ankabut (The Spider) 29:17   seek, then, all [your] sustenance from God, and worship Him [alone] and be grateful to Him: [for] unto Him you shall be brought back!  

Depend solely on your Lord

In the well known historical compilation Al-Bidāya wa-n-Nihāya (البداية والنهاية), The Beginning and The End, by Ibn Kathir, there is mention of the story of the grandson of sayyidina Umar ibn al-Khattabؓ, known as Sālim ibn Abdullahؓ ibn Umarؓ.

Once when Hisham bin Abdul Malik, one of the Umayyad rulers was performing Hajj, he saw Sālim performing Tawaf around the Ka'aba.  Unadorned, with simple attire and handling pair of sandals in need of repair, the austere appearance caused an idea to form in the ruler's mind.  Perhaps he is needy and I should help him, after all, I am the rich and generous ruler. He went close to him and said,"Sālim, let me know if you are in need of anything so that I can help you."

Sālim looked visibly disturbed, and replied:  'Have some humility. How can you want me to ask other than Allah for my needs, while we are in the house of Allah?'

Hisham realized his audacious mistake and he left him alone while observing him complete the obligations of his pilgrimage. Yet not one to give up easily, he kept observing and followed him out of the House of Allah. As soon as they were outside, he caught up to him and said, 'O Sālim, now that we are outside the House of Allah, and your reason for not telling me earlier is not applicable, so now tell me what are you needs that I can fulfill them?'

Sālim asked, 'Are you referring something worldly or my needs in the Hereafter?' 

Hisham promptly replied, 'Of course, something worldly. Only Allah can fulfill your needs of the Hereafter.'

Perhaps realizing that the poor ruler needs to understand the truths of the world, Sālim said, 'O Hisham, I swear by Allah, I have yet to ask anything worldly from the One who owns the world, so how do you expect me to ask of someone who does not own it?'

This piercing lesson caused Hisham's eyes to be welled up with tears and he said, 'I would give up my entire kingdom to be like Sālim.' At that moment, he probably meant it.

Know your Limits and Limitations

 بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

فَعَّالٞ لِّمَا يُرِيدُ

Fa’ ‘aalul limaa yureed

Al-Buruj (The Mansions of the Stars) 85:15   a Sovereign Doer of whatever He wills. 


Know your Limits and Limitations

This is a story whose origins lie in a debate with one of my acquaintances who was from the Ahmadiyyah community (which us Muslims often call Qadiani or Mirzai, in a derogatory way), before reverting back to Islam after renouncing his beliefs in the community.  Knowing that I am from Kashmir, he had tried to form a connection using the name of Hakeem Noor-ud-din, who spend several years as the court physician of the Maharaja of Kashmir. Hakeem Noor-ud-din was of the most well read and well traveled of those involved in the missionary activity in the cause of the Ahmadiyyah, and was influential in shaping their discourse.  I read up on his biography, and on page 106, I found an interesting story, which not only showcases the vision of true scholars of the ummah such as Maulvi Abdul Qayyum, but also has lessons for all of us.  

The story goes like this.

When Hakeem Noor-ud-din was leaving Bhopal after studying for a while with a famous scholar of Hadith at the time, Maulvi Abdul Qayyum, he asked him for some advice. Knowing his student has not completed his studies yet, and probably realizing what the future holds for him, Maulvi Abdul Qayyum gave him the following, somewhat cryptic, advice in Urdu:

خدا نہ بننا اور رسول نہ بننا

Roughly translated, it means "Do not (ever) try to be God, nor a prophet."

Obviously flustered by such an outwardly outrageous statement, Noor-ud-din pleaded ignorance regarding understanding the message behind such a statement. Not only that, he claimed that no one present in the audience, however august, could not decipher the meaning behind the statement.

Seeing that the message has been missed, Maulvi Abdul Qayyum asked, "Whom do you consider God?" meaning, what is the quality, in your mind that defines God. Noor-ud-din blurted that "God is the One Who possesses the attribute "a Sovereign Doer of whatever He wills" (referring to the Qur'anic verse 85:15). Maulvi sahib replied "This is what I am referring to. If something that you desire does not come to fruition, then (do not distress but) tell your ego that are you God?" (that all what you want is bound to  happen).

Similarly, since a prophet gets direct commandments from God, he feels distressed when people disobey those, worrying for their well-being in this world and the Hereafter whether they might end up in the Fire. But if someone rejects your opinion, or disagrees with it, does that necessarily mean they will end up in the same Fire? So you need not take that personally.

It is not apparent that Hakeem Noor-ud-din benefited from this advice, but for sure we can benefit from it and learn to know ourselves, especially our limits and limitations.

In the name of God

 بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

... وَيَقُولُونَ هُوَ مِنۡ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ وَمَا هُوَ مِنۡ عِندِ ٱللَّهِۖ وَيَقُولُونَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ ٱلۡكَذِبَ وَهُمۡ يَعۡلَمُونَ

wa yaqooloona huwa min ‘indillaahi wa maa huwa min ‘indillaahi wa yaqooloona ‘alal laahil kaziba wa hum ya’lamoon

Last part of Al-Imran (Family of Imran) 3:78  ....and who say, "This is from God," while it is not from God: and thus do they tell a lie about God, being well aware [that it is a lie].  

Muhammad 'Abduh (in Manar III, 345), says that the above-mentioned distortion of scriptures does not necessarily presuppose a corruption of the text as such: it can also be brought about "by attributing to an expression or meaning other than the one which was originally intended."
In this context,  Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him), has reportedly said:
“What earth would give me place to live and what sky would shade me if I should speak about the Quran with my opinion(conjecture) or by something I do not know.”

In the name of God

This so called century of information,  has brought with it an excess of polarization of beliefs across the spectrum, whether religious or non-religious, and at the same time an unfortunate surfeit of those who claim to speak on behalf of God, or in the name of God. The ayat above explains that this is historically done, and will always happen. The examples below relate to it, albeit on a lighter note.

Lesson 1: The Rescue

One day, a man climbed up a rather tall tree to pluck some fruit. But as soon as he had his fill, he realized that that the trip down was not going to be as easy as the trip up. He started panicking and shouting for help. Soon a small crowd gathered, trying to figure out a way to help him (without putting themselves at risk, of course).

As luck would have it, a "scholar" passed by and he immediately took charge. He seemed to be in know of things. A scholar of the scripture. He summoned for a length of rope to be brought to him, and had it thrown up to the stranded man . "Tie this around your waist, and I will immediately rescue you."

When the man had the rope tied around his waist, he and the others were wondering what to do next. The scholar reassured them:"Do not worry, I have read of a similar rescue attempt in the scriptures, and it was successful."

Saying that, he yanked hard at the rope, whereupon the man fell from the tree and was hurt badly, lucky to have survived.

 The horrified bystanders shouted, "What kind of a rescue attempt was that?"

"Well," the scholar said with an enlightened expression on his face, "Now I realize the difference. The person mentioned in the scriptures was stranded in a well, not on a tree."

So saying this , he left them to go about their business. And probably take the unfortunate man to the hospital, I guess.

Lesson 2: Divine Inspiration

One night, the village scholar woke up with much excitement. He eagerly told his wife,  "Please get up!  Hurry ! I have just been divinely inspired! Get me something to write it down immediately!"

The wife rushed to find the necessary materials, lit a lamp and was waiting to hear this piece of divine wisdom.

He wrote furiously, and then rewrote several times, and then put out the lamp and tried to go back to sleep.

The wife was curious, "Wait. Let me know what is the divine inspiration."

He gave it to her and said: "Read and Be enlightened.".

She impatiently went to the other room and lit a candle and eagerly looked at the writing, which said:
"Wherever you go, there you are."

And this became another one of the "divinely inspired" hackneyed ideas in his repertoire that he kept teaching the people of the village, may God have mercy on them.

Lesson 3: Dilettante

Once someone elliptically told a scholar's son : "Your father is not a scholar but a dilettante." The boy took fancy to this word and started muttering it like a charm. "Di-lit-tan-te...Di-lit-tan-te...Di-lit-tan-te.......Di-lit-tan-te"  while playing the kind of games that kids of his age usually play.

Soon after, his father was returning from his discourses with a friend and the friend, overhearing this muttering, was curious as to the meaning of the word.

He said:"Boy, come here. What is the meaning of the word 'dilettante"?"

The boy, without batting an eyelid, said: "It is a seasoning used to make fried chicken."

The father, looked at the boy with so much pride, and smiled :" See how smart my son is. He made that answer up all by himself. I am sure in the classic treatises, such a meaning can be found as well if we research carefully. "

Lesson 4: A remedy for wild lions

A religious scholar was frenetically going on and on about a supplication, and a cure to keep dangerous lions away from the neighborhood. He supported his arguments drawing upon his international experience learning from a teacher who had learnt and used it against the wildest lions of Africa.

So saying, he gave all of them a white powder (looked like salt to me, though I dare not taste it), and a mantra to go with it, that had to be recited starting the night of the full-moon, standing on one leg, and to be recited continuously for forty days.  He claimed that since he has come back from his travels, he did it before and it is a safe remedy, worth trying.

As he was exhorting the audience to start on this endeavor, a child innocently asked. "But dear teacher, there are no wild and dangerous lions in this region."

To which, the teacher gleefully replied "Effective, isn't it?".

Lesson 5: Buttering bread the right way

Once a scholar gave a lengthy discourse about how whenever you butter a slice of bread, and drop it, every time it will land on the buttered side, rendering it unsuitable for eating. He gave proofs and explanations from the length and breadth of his knowledge. Everyone was impressed, but there was one student of the Sufi path who believed in trying before believing.
So he went and bought bread and butter. Applied butter generously to a slice of bread, and threw it up, and lo and behold, it landed the right side up. Meaning, the unbuttered side on the ground. The buttered side facing up.

Demonstrating this as a failure of what the scholar was saying, the Sufi questioned the scholar about it.

To which, the scholar explained "It is not my fault that you put butter on the wrong side of the bread".

Conclusion

So, if this is the state of scholarship around us, what should we do? I propose that rather than spending time and energy on these "scholars",  we should instead focus on improving ourselves, by looking at how the teachings of God have been implemented by the pious people, and seek to implement them ourselves.  And this has been the purpose of the stories in my blog from its inception.

Do not blindly follow conjectures of other people

 بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

وَإِن تُطِعۡ أَكۡثَرَ مَن فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ يُضِلُّوكَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِۚ إِن يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا ٱلظَّنَّ وَإِنۡ هُمۡ إِلَّا يَخۡرُصُونَ

Wa in tuti’ aksara man fil ardi yudillooka ‘an sabeelil laah; iny yattabi’oona illaz zanna wa in hum illaa yakhrusoon

Al-An’am (The Cattle) 6:116   Now if you pay heed unto the majority of those [who live] on earth, they will but lead you astray from the path of God: they follow but [other people's] conjectures, and they themselves do nothing but guess.   

Do not blindly follow conjectures of other people

Towards the end of the twentieth century, Muslim scholasticism saw a resurgence in the literalist tradition, partly due to the economic support offered by certain governments for the same. This has led to a decline in the teaching of so-called twenty-first century skills, especially creativity and critical thinking, and increased emphasis on sticking to opinions of past scholars.  The challenge is not a new one, but it definitely is on a larger scale now, as compared to the past.

One of the famous Punjabi scholars of undivided India, Hafiz Muhammad ibn Barakallah Lakhwi (1806-1893) , who has had a tremendous impact on religious thought in the Punjabi language, narrates a story to illustrate this problem from more than a hundred years ago.

There was once a trader who used to travel far and wide for business.  When he got married, it was thought that he would settle down, but few months into the marriage, he decided to travel again as expenses were increasing.  He promised to write to his wife regularly, and he kept his promise till he reached a city in Afghanistan where he had to stay for sometime. His laziness overwhelmed his desire to keep his promise.  As his replies grew few and far between, despite his newly wed wife sending letters on a regular basis, she started becoming upset by all of this. One fine morning, fed up by all of this, she asked her brother to bring the family stationery and the seal and wrote a terse message to him.

"On this and this date, your wife has become a widow."

Then she sealed it and stamped it with the family seal, and asked her brother to go travel to Afghanistan, find his brother-in-law, and deliver the letter to him in person. The brother reached his destination after several weeks, and lost no time in locating his brother-in-law.  After the usual curtsies he delivered the letter.

Upon reading the letter, the trader became distraught. He start crying inconsolably.  His friends gathered round and offered him support and tried to find out what was wrong.  He just showed them the letter and kept on weeping.

One of his friends was puzzled.  He protested to his friend, the trader : "But your wife can only become a widow if you are dead. And yet, here you are, hale and hearty."

To which the trader replied: "What you say does seem to make sense, but I recognize her handwriting, and the stationery, as well as the family seal. Furthermore,  it is delivered by her brother himself. Thus, this chain of narration is authentic and cannot be ignored or disregarded."