بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
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.
Case 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.
Case 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.
Case 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. "
Case 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?".
Case 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.
Once the disciples of Mevlana Rumi came late from the masjid. Upon being asked the reason for the delay, he answered, “A preacher had mounted the pulpit and was giving advice. I suddenly felt overwhelmed, as did the others, was not able to leave.”
“What did he say that made everyone overwhelmed?” asked our Master.
“He was basically talking about this verse:"
الْحَمْدُ
لِلّهِ الَّذِي هَدَانَا لِهَـذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لِنَهْتَدِيَ لَوْلا أَنْ
هَدَانَا اللّهُ لَقَدْ جَاءتْ رُسُلُ رَبِّنَا بِالْحَقِّ وَنُودُواْ أَن
تِلْكُمُ الْجَنَّةُ أُورِثْتُمُوهَا بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ
"All praise is due to God, who has guided us unto this; for we would certainly not have found the right path unless God had guided us! Indeed, our Sustainer's apostles have told us the truth!" (Part of 7:43)'
"And he was arguing about our superiority over the others and of those of different faiths. This made almost everyone in the mosque abandoned themselves to supplication and lament.”
Our Master, smiling sadly, said “What a malicious one! Witness how the blind are leading the blind! They look down on the others, thinking, gloating: ‘I am better than you.’
But we should instead be measuring ourselves by the standards of Prophets and Friends of God—then we would see our proper worth and understand what constitutes real religious perfection."
Sultan Valad relates that once, a group of distinguished people were visting, when Mevlana shared this passionately:
“O Bahauddin, if you wish to be in Paradise forever, be a friend to everyone and never hold malice towards anyone in your heart.”
Then he recited:
Do not ask for more; do not consider yourself superior to others;
be like balm and a guiding candle, not a stinging needle.
If you do not want evil to come to you from anyone,
Never speak, teach or even think evil of anyone.
When you speak about others with goodwill and intention
you will be blessed with continuous happiness, and this is a from paradise itself.
If you speak with bitterness about someone,
you harbor malice and anger, this is from Hell itself.
When you remember your friends,
the garden of your heart blooms with happiness,
replete with roses and sweet smelling herbs.
If you speak of enemies,
thorns and poisonous snakes enter the garden of your heart,
and you will grow weary and wither away.
All the prophets and saints (May peace be with them)
have realized this and thus acted accordingly.
Their fellow human beings, overwhelmed by their beautiful character,
are involuntarily drawn to their kindness and willingly, happily
end up following them in their path .
