Kindle Edition
Category:
Spirituality
ISBN-10: 1933316640
Type: Non-Fiction
ISBN-13: 9781933316642
Price: $9.99 (eBook)
Why do more than one billion people claim Islam as their religion? American convert John Ahmed Herlihy provides his personal answer and takes readers on a journey to the heart of Islam, the fastest growing religion in the world. Weaving details of Islam's central beliefs and practices-its Five Pillars-with intimate autobiographical details of his more than thirty years in the religion, Herlihy presents readers with an insightful glimpse into a religion that remains so often misunderstood.
Excerpt
PROLOGUE
Through the Lattice of the Soul
When I behold the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and
the stars which you set in place, what is man that you should be
mindful of him? (Psalms VIII:3-4)
If by some magic wand we could retrace our steps through the mirage
of time spanning a half century, we would find once again a small boy
walking on his way to school. Perhaps only God knows how a distant
memory is retained and kept alive like a snapshot from the past
through the course of a long and varied life, but I remember making
my way on foot to school through a forest of sycamores when I suddenly
had a strange inspiration that has stayed with me through the
years as a phantom wish. It struck me with the force of an inevitable
truth that I wanted to write a book. Of course I had no idea what I
could possibly write about; but children don’t worry unduly about
details and tend to follow the inspiration of their dreams without
concern for the unknown. The challenge to use words big enough and
the desire to express my thoughts clearly enough to fill a book entered
my mind and remained there as a sacred vow down through the years.
Whether the words that follow are big enough and my thoughts clear
enough will be left for the reader to decide. For my part, I have now
fulfilled that childhood vow by writing this book.
A work such as this not only has a story to relate and a message to
convey; it also endeavors to deal with the subject of the spiritual life
of the soul in a meaningful way that can relate to the aspirations and
hopes of the people of our time. This simple aim would have posed
no special problem to people of earlier centuries who were more
accustomed to religious sentiments and more attuned to the spiritual
Wisdom’s Journey: Living the Spirit of Islam in the Modern World life of their time. In today’s highly charged world, however, reason and intelligence are no longer partners with inner feeling and sacred
intuition. Spiritual experience has taken on a questionable nature in
the minds of many innocent people, who would otherwise express the natural instincts of their faith in God if it weren’t for the overwhelmingly
secular and worldly environment that now pervades every aspect of modern life. Therefore, a few initial comments may anticipate and resolve some preconceptions and prejudices concerning the themes developed in this work.
We begin with a provocative question, one that hovers like a phantom deep within our being and haunts modern-day souls with its perennial quality. What is man? And alternatively: who is man that someone should care, much less the Supreme Being who created us? We begin with this important question because it lies sequestered within our minds and hearts as a remembrance of all that we are not and all that lies beyond our reach in a world that does not explain itself. We have only to look at the forces and subtleties of nature that surround us and the profound mysteries that break upon the shores of our consciousness to reveal the unanswered question that lies at the heart of universal mystery. If we pursue this mystery down into the
depths of a seashell or up to the bird whose miracle of flight defies the laws of gravity, we can hear a whispered revelation that will make
itself known through the latticework of the soul where the mystery remains, as elusive as the wind in the trees and as inscrutable as the image of the sphinx.
No doubt many people turn toward religion and the life of spirituality
that it offers the aspiring soul in an attempt to answer this powerful question, one that shadows us like the footsteps of time and that never gives up its mystery unless we crawl over the edge of ourselves and scratch beyond the surface of the world to reveal the essence of what lies beneath. In this sense, I am not the exception to the rule but the norm, desperate to arrive at an answer that makes sense, and hoping to find the essence of a truth to live one’s life by. We live now in an eclectic world, a global world, and even the disinterested person will encounter people and have experiences that will lead him in directions that were perhaps not available to people of earlier generations and time periods.
Within these pages, the narrative of an evolving spirituality takes its definition and shape from the outward expression of the Religion Prologue
of Islam. The book’s thematic line, and its very substance, sinks its
roots into the traditional knowledge contained within the framework of Islam’s main sources of knowledge, namely Revelation, Nature, and Man, revelation being an expression of the Mind of God, Nature being the created manifestation of God, and Man being the human reflection of the Spirit of God. A revealed scripture conveys the absolute Word of God, representing a communication that has descended from the Divinity to guide, heal, and ltimately lead mankind to the light of the truth. “Mankind, there hath come to you an instruction from your Lord and a healing for the (diseases) in your hearts, and for the believers, a guidance and a Mercy” (10:57). Nature and Man as sources of knowledge are stated clearly in the Quran: “Soon We
shall show them Our signs on the horizons of the earth and within their own souls, until it becomes clear to them that this is the Truth” (41:53). Mother Nature, whose inner messages reach from the depths of the human soul to the outer limits of the horizon, contains within its order of physical magnitude a balance and harmony through its signs and symbols that humanity cannot live without. Finally, Man himself—known as insan in Quranic Arabic—is the human revelation
and thus a source of knowledge by virtue of the divine imprint stamped on his being, making him a creature in divinis and thus a true reflection of the Divinity. The more he comes to understand himself not only as Homo sapiens but also as Homo spiritualis, the more he becomes the sacred mirror reflecting the light of a truth that verifies all knowledge. Muhammad, upon him blessings and peace,1 once said:
“He who knows himself, knows God.”
Over 30 years have now passed by since I embraced the Religion of Islam and became a Muslim. Before my conversion, I thought myself the master of my own destiny. Fortunately however, as I will
soon relate, the circumstances of my life forced this view to collapse
through the sheer weight of its own absurdity. Life’s truth finally
overwhelmed my own personal lie. I began to realize that there must be something more than the petty self-centeredness of the individual ego, something more than merely human intelligence, something more to human life than its expression as a chance encounter followed by 1 As a gesture of reverence and respect, Muslims the world over, in both the spoken and written word, extend their salaams to the Prophet in this manner.One day,as unexpected as life itself, I was
exposed to the basic profession of faith in Islam which proclaims the unity of God and asserts that Muhammad is God’s messenger to mankind. Once the essential elements of the religion were explained, I felt its mysterious attraction and subtle influence seep into my being in a manner that could not be ignored. With an inner conviction that precedes any great decision and that finds its resolution in feelings of certitude, I became Muslim, formally made the profession of faith,and proceeded to experience my life; but not as the same person and
not the same kind of life as I had lived until then.
Soon I commenced the spiritual practices that mark the Muslim
life, such as prayer and fasting. I grew to like the Islamic rituals for
their liberating quality: the heightened spiritual awareness that results from praying to God five times a day, the awakened consciousness
that comes from giving to the poor, the intensely moving spiritual
experience that is the pilgrimage to the Kaaba in Makkah, when a life
journey becomes a spiritual journey to the inward Kaaba of the self. Even the fast of Ramadan, whose broad avenue of self-denial opens the soul to nearness with God, has provided an intense physical experience rendered spiritual by virtue of its substance and meaning. I have grown accustomed to abstinence from alcohol, preferring the clear awareness and self-control that comes with sobriety, rather than the fleeting pleasure of a light-headed drunkenness with its bitter aftertaste of artificiality and depression. Also, the meat of the pig no longer holds any special attraction over me. If the religion asks me to refrain from pork, I am willing to do so out of respect for the injunction and out of love for the God who imposes it upon me.
In addition, I have prayed in the three places designated as sacred
in Islam. I have visited the holy Kaaba in Makkah, the “city of peace,”
where I made the pilgrimage (hajj) to the house of God on earth and kissed the sacred black stone. I have driven through the black hills of western Arabia to Madinah, the “city of light,” the second holiest sanctuary in Islam, where the body of the beloved Messenger is buried and where endless streams of pilgrims raise their hands in aspiration and respect to the beloved Prophet who brought them this miraculous way of life. Before his tomb, I wept with sacred emotion before sending my humble greetings and salaams, and thereafter I sat down and meditated in an area of the mosque designated in the Holy
Traditions (hadith) as a part of paradise. I have also been to Jerusalem
Prologue and worshipped within the sacred precinct of the Dome of the Rock
and al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest sanctuary in Islam, where the prophet ascended during his night journey through the seven heavens unto the Throne of God. If participation in the rites and rituals offers me the possibility to become the “universal” and “perfected” man of Islam—the aboriginal self according to the American Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson—then I will gladly abide by the strictures and guidance of the religion.
Since that crossroads and turning point many years ago, my life has
been enriched beyond measure or reckoning. I can now speak and read
Arabic, and this gives me entry into the sacred experience that comes
with Quranic recitation. I feel closer to the inner self that knows God,
especially when I sit in the early morning as the dawn light begins to
emerge in the eastern sky, and read from the sacred book, the Holy Quran, revered by all Muslims as the absolute Word of the Divinity. Behind every verse lies the knowledge and light of God, whose spiritual energy and blessing course through one’s entire physical being with a spiritual emotion that leads to the very threshold of tears. In return for the efforts demanded from the doctrine and the worship,I have been compensated with an overwhelming sense of well-being,with inner reservoirs of tranquility and peace that the word islam both means and promises. Altogether, I am a happy man. Can anyone askfor more than this?
The desire to write a book was conceived many years ago in my
childhood; but the idea to write this particular book was born out of
a suggestion by my brother-in-law to write a book about Islam that
could state the framework of beliefs and the practical application of the religion in a simple, clear, and convincing manner. Indeed my brother-in-law, who is an intelligent and inquiring fellow with simple demands of life and easily satisfied, wanted to know in a concise and straight-forward manner what true Islam set forth as the principles of a virtuous life. He had watched the progress of my life as a Muslim since the time when I converted to Islam, in a more benign age long before the threat and hysteria of terrorism had raised its ugly head over the horizon of the world. He had witnessed with a non-judgmental interest my early years as a growing Muslim and recognized the extent of my determination to follow the practices of Islam and to adapt
myself to its exotic and unique way of life. He was smart enough to realize that the Islam I pursued with such devotion was not the same Islam portrayed daily through the mass media, either the stark images
of fanatical, hooded, and veiled Arabs expressing their frustration and
rage through acts of terrorism and suicide or the alien otherworldly
culture of the desert Arabs with their distinctive clothing and their strange ways. He wanted to know about the other Islam, as he called it, meaning the true Islam, groping for the right words to explain his desire to know more that could touch his mind and heart with the inner revelation of the religion, and not just the outer form of fanatical devotees twisted by the misguided mission of jihad that calls for the slaughter of the kafirun, or disbelievers, and world domination.
Every piece of writing addresses a particular audience and this endeavor is no exception. In writing this book, I wish to address all those people who believe in God as a matter of spiritual instinct and are ready to examine their experience in light of a professed faith in a Divine Being. These reflections are intended for those who find themselves on the threshold of a new spirituality that can take root in the traditional forms, but whose experience conforms to the existential,psychological, and metaphysical needs of today. This book is meant for all those people who are looking for an experience of God as a real and truly felt spirituality within themselves, and for those who understand that these anti-spiritual times offer new spiritual possibilities for lifting the veil and transcending human limitations precisely because we are so close to “the brink,” and so near what the traditional writer Martin Lings has fittingly called “the eleventh hour.” We are writing for none other than ourselves, a search for knowledge that must eventually lead within, in order to uncover and expose the message of spirituality that lies dormant within every human being and awaits the fullest of expression.
No doubt everyone makes their own choice regarding the purpose of their life and the means to fulfill that purpose. We have chosen to pursue the knowledge of Truth that has come to humanity from the Supreme Being as expressed in the Religion of Islam. We have chosen to follow the “straight path” of Islam—alternatively known as “the middle way”—that will lead us back to God through the purification
and perfection of the self.
Ultimately, truth’s vital pursuit rather than truth’s utter attainment will portray the human being as he or she is intended to be and is in their essence: A perfect inspiration of God and a human creature unique in kind who aspires to find its meaning and
salvation in God alone. I may not be a virtuous man, but I have learned to struggle with myself to become irtuous. I may not be a good man,
but I now realize that simple human goodness can only come from the discipline and efforts of an effective spirituality. A life lived in the
shadow of the truth demands that we strive to free ourselves from the illusions of this world. It requires us to substitute the relative with
the Absolute and to rise above profane existence through an awareness of the sacred quality at the heart of all existence. The Muslim life requires the believer to meet the moment of truth with his own truth. The present moment becomes a moment within eternity, while the eternal moment superimposes itself on the existing moment, thus making the presence of God real and truly experienced.
The idea of God must be conceived in the mind as a Truth, but it must also be felt in the heart as a sacred and divine Presence. Human intelligence conceives of the Absolute Being as a vital and living reality, and the free will of humanity proves its validity in pursuit of a life of spirituality that reflects that Truth. Ultimately, the Divine Mystery of the Unseen must be internalized within the heart and soul as a sacred possibility leading towards the kernel of a truth—the Overwhelming Truth—that needs to be experienced in order to be known. The spiritual path is straight, although it is difficult to follow. Human goodness is simple, yet sometimes impossible to achieve. Truth is accessible to all, but infinitely profound. Through the perennial search for the truth, the seeker can once again become as God created him to be. He can be the most human of beings, the repository of divine knowledge,
a narrative of love in bodily form, and a channel of grace in a world in
which he lives as a central and vertical being. Thus, the true Muslim
can face the reality of this life with the perception of human nature in
divinis and with a knowledge that allows him to experience the vision
of God through the window of the soul.
With these thoughts in mind and asking God’s help, let us now proceed with the following reflections.
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