I just got back from the LSE ISOC’s Eid Dinner 2007. The event was on a boat, which was pretty cool, but other than the first half of the trip, we spent most of the night indoors since a) it was freezing and b) we had a guest speaker, Ms. Sarah Joseph.
I normally hate speeches on religion (my nihilism kicks in…), but this one had several interesting bits. Ms. Joseph was raised a Catholic and converted to Islam as a teenager, so she approaches many things from what is, originally, a Christian perspective. That, of course, is both refreshing and informative.
One of the most appealing aspects of Christianity to me is the notion of God’s unconditional love for his creation. To me, it’s unquestionably one of the most basic and valuable parts of faith, and one that Islam does not emphasise enough. When I was speaking with some brothers at the ISOC a few months ago and said just that, their eyes glazed over and they seemed to drift off; I could see they didn’t agree entirely with me, and I surmised this might have been because this idea isn’t explicitly stated in the Quran or Hadith. (If I’m wrong, please, please correct me.)
Anyway, this concept of God’s unfathomable love, was one of the points Ms. Joseph hit today. She talked about how when she converted, it was something she also felt was not emphasised enough in Islam, and how a few years later she realised it is central to one of the most basic acts of worship: “Bism illah ir-rahman ir-rahim”. The last two words there are translated as “the Merciful/Compassionate, the Beneficient”, and what is the love of a superior if not compassion, mercy and kindness? The second supporting argument Ms. Joseph provided is even more appealing: the word “rahim” is derived from the root “r-h-m”, which relates it to the Arabic word for “womb”, “rahm”. I found this remarkable, since it so beautifully captures our dependence on God, and the bounty of his kindness.
In the question-answer session, I got greedy and wondered if maybe she could provide an answer to another longstanding question I’ve had: while I was in Chicago, my manager CW forwarded me an article written by a Palestinian Christian, a convert from Islam who described it as a religion without ‘grace’. Other people too have described Islam as a religion that prioritises law over divine grace, the compassion and empathy that Jesus Christ embodies to Christians. They point to Islamic tradition that assigns a given value to positive actions and penance, and find fault with the promised weighing of one’s good deeds against the bad to decide the soul’s fate. I think the article I read described Islam as ‘mercenary’.
Ms. Joseph’s response didn’t make full sense to me, but it did spark an interesting conversation with a friend that led to a 2-part answer. First, the conclusion that Islam is flawed for placing value in recognising the value of one’s good deeds is silly — Allah is indeed just, and certainly rewards those who show him their love through actions and obedience. Second, inappropriate literal interpretations and, worse, reading Hadith in isolation are the surest way to confuse the message: there are several passages that mention the specific rewards of some particular deed, but quite possibly these specific rewards simply describe the value of the good associated with them, which is in line with my first point. (On this topic, Zia Sardar’s articles are absolutely fascinating: ‘We seek to do justice that paradise may be granted to us. We walk humbly before God, not claiming divine assurances as our own prerogative.’)
It’s weird…I’m thinking about this stuff more and in greater detail than before.
Update: SAA sent me a fantastic link to this article on Eteraz that suggests ‘mahabba’ is the equivalent of the Greek ‘agape’ in Arabic. Must-read. The comments also suggest ‘walaya’ as an equivalent.
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