Today’s quote was from Shakespeare, “Temptation is the fire that brings up the scum of the heart.” Not sure what he meant by that, but I do know the Quran has something to say about the multiple images contained in that sentence. The notion of fitna in the Arabic language and in Islamic usage is of separating gold from the scum in the ore. Depending on context, fitna is translated as trial or purification, pain or punishment, or events and circumstances creating great confusion and in the process testing people’s mettle.
In the last sense, our scholars have described fitna as something that “when it is approaching, every person of knowledge recognizes it; when it is over, every person of ignorance can recognize it.” Times of chaos and great confusion have to be anticipated by the cultivation of wisdom, integrity, and discipline. When the chaos is upon us, it is too late to acquire any of that and we get lost, sometimes taking many with us. But even those times can serve, as Shakespeare describes temptation, to light a fire that tests the heart.
The Quran uses both fire and water to describe fitna. In soorat al-Ra’d (13:17) God gives the parable of the rain flooding the valley and fire purifying the ore. The first is the parable for testing the heart with knoweldge and wisdom. The second is the parable for testing the heart with experience, be it temptation or peril, pleasure or pain. In both parables, and in all tests, contrast is set up between the pure and the impure, certainty and doubt, insight and ignorance. The Quran articulates the contrast as between that which is of benefit to people and that which is the scum. In Shakespear’s words, the scum of the heart is brought up. In the words of the Quran, the scum rises, but then goes away. What remains is what we need!
Dr. Yaser, you should look into Martin Lings’ works on Shakespeare and see how he interpreted his works through the lens of ‘Sacred Traditions’. Then you should do a halaqa on it so we can cut to the juicy parts without the added research ;-)
Good topic Dr. Yaser. Many people use the term fitnah in its many contexts, and what is needed is clarification of these definitions and more importantly, how to deal with fitnah.
The verse you have mentioned is absolutely amazing, and I wanted to point out that it is in surat Al Ra’d not surat Al Hijr:).
Jazaakallahu khayran Basil for pointing it out. I have corrected it in the original post.
One truly amazing part about the verse is what some mufassiroon observed that God consistently in several places of the Quran gives a dual parable using water and fire for believers, hypocrites, disbelievers. E.g. for hypocrites in surat al-Baqara (2:17-19) the 1st parable for the hypocrites is of lighting a fire to see then being deprived of the light. The 2nd parable is of receiving the rain and the way they fear the storms that bring the rain. For the disbelievers the parables are in surat al-Noor. Their deeds are like the mirage seen in the intense heat. Or their deeds are like darkenesses in the depths of the ocean. And so on. Truly the Quran was meant for reflective people.
hey yaser,
i like this post the best so far. This brings me to ask a question of you.
How does one know his deeds are being accepted and are not just the mirage seen in the intense heat?
-abdul
salaam abdul
this is of course the most important question for all of us in our lives. the short answer is that this is the heart of the struggle. our struggle to become better human beings is fundamentally a struggle to have integrity: to be honest at least with our own selves, to be honest in examining our motivations and our qualifications. in soorat at-tawba (chapter 9 of the Quran) Allah speaks of groups of Muslims that suffered the fitna of the preparation for the battle of Tabuk. Tabuk was unique in that it was the farthest the Muslims would travel with the prophet peace be upon him, they would face the strongest enemy they had known up to that point, and it came at a particularly hard time for Muslims. For all these reasons and more it is known in the history of Islam as the army of hardship (jaysh-ul-’usra). Most of the hypocrites found some excuse to stay back and not participate. Then there were others that simply could not participate and were blameless. Finally there were three people that stayed behind without good cause and regretted it later. God speaks of all the different categories and draws our attention to a number of important lessons and patterns of behavior and understanding. At the end of all this He says, “Believers: have taqwa of God and be among those that are truthful!” So in the end what allows you to go through a time of fitna is your honesty with yourself and with Allah. We need not become paranoid; but we should not just invent excuses for ourselves or accept these invented excuses and be content to remain as we are.
A second useful thing to think about is that, by and large, success begets success. So if we find that our commitment, our spirituality, our awareness, our understanding, our motivation, and our activism and service of others are improving, that is the most important clue that we are doing what we need to do inshaa Allah. The opposite also, by and large, holds true.
One final note. In general, we should not dwell too much either on a particular action taken or sin committed. When by the grace of God we are able to accomplish a task or take an action, we should attribute success as a gift from God, and attribute any shortcomings to our own defeciency either in intention, understanding, or effort. We should thank Allah for the former, ask forgiveness for the latter, and move on. In the case of error or sin, we repent and ask for forgiveness, and again move on.
AA,
Jazakum Allah khair. Coming across this blog, I found it to be really interesting and informative.
On the topic of Fitna and how to deal with it, I have some humble comments.
Narrated An-Nu’man bin Bashir
The Prophet said “Both legal and illegal things are obvious, and in between them are (suspicious) doubtful matters. So who-ever forsakes those doubtful things lest he may commit a sin, will definitely avoid what is clearly illegal; and who-ever indulges in these (suspicious) doubtful things bravely, is likely to commit what is clearly illegal. Sins are Allah’s Hima (i.e. private pasture) and whoever pastures (his sheep) near it, is likely to get in it at any moment.”
The challenge, I believe, lies not simply in finding the position of an act on the legal spectrum. Quite often, illegal acts tend to accomplish quick satisfaction for our instincts. However, one important principle is that for every illegal act, there is a legal substitute. So that becomes the second challenge. Namely, it is training the self to accept the sub instead of what initially wanted. The word “training” is crucial, because it implies the need for time and constant evaluation.
What happens though if a sub doesn’t exist or is unattainable at a specific point in time? Does that justify a compromise?
This is the third level, which is the most challenging I believe. It essentially implies that you’ve got to live with a void in your life until the legal becomes possible on your terms. This is will power. This is the stuff that makes self-ownership possible. This is the discipline that leadership masters need and should want to have. It’s one thing to deal with the illegal. It’s another to deal with “no subs” or emptiness.
However, when the legal becomes possible, those who stuck to their principles during tough times will know the conditions of success. They will know what it takes to fail. They will know what what is destiny and what is free will.
This is perhaps why the verse says,
24:55 ….and that He will change (their state), after the fear in which they (lived), to one of security and peace: ‘They will worship Me (alone) and not associate aught with Me. ‘If any do reject Faith after this, they are rebellious and wicked. (Quran)