Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

CHAPTER V: CONCERNING MUSIC AND DANCING AS AIDS TO THE RELIGIOUS LIFE

THE heart of man has been so constituted by the Almighty that, like a flint, it contains a hiddenfire which is evoked by music and harmony, and renders man beside himself with ecstasy. These harmonies are echoes of that higher world ofbeauty which we call the world of spirits; they remind man of his relationship to that world, and produce in him an emotion so deep and strange that he himself is powerless to explain it. The effect of music and dancing is deeper in proportion as the natures on which they act are simple and prone to emotion; they fan into a flame whatever love is already dormant in the heart, whether itbe earthly and sensual, or divine and spiritual.

Accordingly there has been much dispute among theologians as to the lawfulness of music and dancing regarded as religious exercises. One sect, theZahirites ,[11] holding that God is altogether incommensurable with man, deny the possibility of man's really feeling love to God, and say thatbe can only love those of his own species. If he does feel what he thinks is love to his Creator they say it is a mere projection, or shadow cast by his own fantasy, or a reflection of love to the creature; music and dancing, according to them, have only to do with creature love, and are therefore unlawful as religious exercises. If we ask themwhat is the meaning of that “love to God” which is enjoined by the religious law, they reply that it means obedience and worship. This is anerror which we hope to confute in a later chapter dealing with the love of God. Atpresent we content ourselves with saying that music and dancing do not put into the heart what is not there already, but only fan into a flame dormant emotions. Therefore if a man has in hisheart that love to God which the Law enjoins, it is perfectly lawful, nay, laudable in him to take part in exercises which promote it. On the other hand, if his heart is full of sensual desires, music and dancing will only increase them, and are therefore unlawful for him. While, if he listens to them merely as a matter of amusement, they are neither lawful nor unlawful, but indifferent. For the mere fact that they are pleasant doesnot make them unlawful , any, more than the pleasure of listening to the singing of birds or looking at green grass and running water is unlawful. The innocent character of music .and dancing, regarded merely as a pastime, is also corroborated by an authentic tradition which we have from the Lady Ayesha,[ 12] who narrates: “One festival-day some negroes, were performing in a mosque. The Prophet said tome , 'Do you wish to see them?'I replied, 'Yes.' Accordingly he lifted me up with his own blessed hand, and I looked on so long that he said more than once, 'Haven't you had enough'?” Another tradition from the Lady Ayesha is as follows: “One festival-day, two girls came to my house and began to play and sing. The Prophet came in and lay down on the couch, turning his face away. Presently AbuBakr [ 13] entered, and, seeing the girls playing, exclaimed, 'What!the pipe of Satan in the Prophet's house!'Whereupon the Prophet turned and said, 'Let them alone, AbuBakr , for this is a festival-day.'“

Passing over the cases where music and dancing rouse into a flame evil desires already dormant in the heart, we come to those cases where they arequite lawful . Such are those of the pilgrims who celebrate the glories of the House of God at Mecca in song, and thus incite others to go on pilgrimage, and of minstrels whose music and songs stir up martialardour in the breasts of their auditors and incite them to fight against the infidels. Similarly, mournfulmusic which, excites sorrow for sin and failure in the religious life is lawful; of this nature was the music of David.But dirges which increase sorrow for the dead are not lawful, for it is written in the Koran, “Despair not over what you have lost.” On the other hand, joyful music at weddings and feasts and on such occasions as a circumcision or the return from a journey is lawful.

We come now to the purely religious use of music and dancing: such is that of the Sufis, who by this means stir up in themselves greater love towards God, and, by means of music, often obtain spiritual visions and ecstasies, their heart becoming in this condition as clean as silver in the flame of a furnace, and attaining a degree of purity which could never be attained by any amount of mere outward austerities. The Sufi then becomes so keenly aware of his relationship to the spiritual world that he loses all consciousness of this world, and often falls down senseless.

It is not, however, lawful for the aspirant to Sufism to take part in this mystical dancing without the permission of his “Pir ,” or spiritual director. It is related of the SheikhAbu'l Qasim Girgani that, when one of his disciples requested leave to take part in such a dance, he said, “Keep a strict fast for three days; then let them cook for you tempting dishes; if, then, you still prefer the 'dance,' you may take part in it.”The disciple, however, whose heart is not thoroughly purged from earthly desires, though he may have obtained some glimpse of the mystics' path, should be forbidden by his director to take part in such dances, as they will do him more harm than good.

Those who deny the reality of the ecstasies and other spiritual experiences of the Sufis merely betray their own narrow-mindedness and shallow insight. Some allowance, however, must be made for them, for it is as difficult to believe in the reality of states of which one has no personal experience as it is for a blind man to understand the pleasure of looking at green, grass and running water, or for a child to comprehend the pleasure of exercising sovereignty. A wise man, though he himself may have no experience of those states, will not therefore deny their reality, for what folly can be greater than his who denies the reality of a thing merely because he himself has not experienced it! Of suchpeople it is written in the Koran, “Those who have not the guidance will say, 'This is a manifest imposture.'“

As regards the erotic poetry whichis recited in Sufi gatherings, and to which people sometimes make objection, we must remember that, when in such poetry mention is made of separation from or union with the beloved, the Sufi, who is an adept in the love of God, applies such expressions to separation from or union with Him. Similarly, “dark locks” are taken to, signify the darkness of unbelief; “the brightness of the face,” the light of faith, and drunkenness the Sufi's ecstasy. Take, for instance, the verse:

Thoumay'st measure out thousands of measures of wine,

But , till thou drink it, no joy isthine .

By this the writer means that the true delights, of religion cannot be reached by way of formal instruction, but by felt attraction and desire.. A man may converse much and write volumes concerning love, faith, piety, and so forth, and blacken paper to any extent, buttill he himself possesses these attributes all this will do him no good. Thus, those who find fault with the Sufis forbeing powerfully affected , even to, ecstasy, by these and similar verses, are merely shallow and uncharitable. Even camels are sometimes so powerfully affected by the Arab-songs of their drivers that they will run rapidly, bearing heavy burdens, till they fall down in a state of exhaustion.

The Sufi hearer, however, is in danger of blasphemy if he applies some of theverses which he hears to God. For instance, if he hears such a verse as “Thou art changed from thy former inclination,” he must not apply it to God, who cannot change, but to himself and his own variations of mood. God is like the sun, which is always shining, but sometimes for us His light is eclipsed by some object which intervenes betweenus and Him .

Regarding someadepts it is related that they attain to such a degree of ecstasy that they lose themselves in God. Such was the case with SheikhAbu'l HassanNuri , who, on hearing a certain verse, fell into an ecstatic condition, and, coming into a field full of stalks of newly cutsugar-canes , ran about till his feet were wounded and bleeding, and, not long afterwards, expired.In such cases some have supposed that there occurs an actual descent of Deity into humanity, but this would be as great a mistake as that of one who, having for the first time seen his reflection in a mirror, should suppose that, somehow or other, he had become incorporated with the mirror, or that the red-and-white hues which the mirror reflects were qualities inherent in it.

The states of ecstasy into which the Sufis fall vary according to theemotions which predominate in them--love, fear, desire, repentance, etc. These states, as we have mentioned above, are often the result not only of hearing verses of the Koran, but erotic poetry.Some have objected to the reciting of poetry, as well as of the Koran, on these occasions; but it should be remembered that all the verses of the Koran are not adapted to stir the emotions--such, for instance, as that which commands that a man should leave his mother the sixth part of his property and his sister the half, or that which orders that a widow must wait four months after the death of her husband before becoming espoused to another man. Thenatures which can be thrown in to religious ecstasy by the recital of such verses are peculiarly sensitive and very rare.

Another reason for the use of poetry as well as of the Koran on these occasions is that people are so familiar with the Koran, many even knowing it by heart, that the effect of ithas been dulled by constant repetition. One cannot be always quoting new verses of the Koran as one can of poetry. Once, when some wild Arabs were hearing the Koran for the first time andwere strongly moved by it, Abu-Bakr said to them, “We were once like you, but our hearts have grown hard,” meaning that the Koran loses some of its effect on those familiar with it. For the same reason the Caliph Omar used to command the pilgrims to Mecca to leave it quickly, “For,” he said, “I fear if you grow too familiar with the Holy City the awe of it will depart from your hearts.”

There is, moreover, something pertaining to the light and frivolous, at least in the eyes of the common people, in the use of singing and musical instruments, such as the pipe and drum, and it is not befitting that the majesty of the Koran should be, even temporarily, associated with these things. Itis related of the Prophet that once, when he entered the house ofRabia , the daughter ofMauz , some singing-girls who, were there beganextemporising in hishonour . He abruptly bade them cease, as the praise of the Prophet was too sacred a theme tobe treated in that way. There is also some danger, if verses of the Koranare exclusively used , that, the hearers should attach to them some private interpretation of their own, and this is unlawful. On the other hand, no harm attaches to interpreting lines of poetry in various ways, as it is not necessary to apply to a poem the same meaningwhich the author had.

Other features of these mystic dances are the bodily contortions and tearing of clothes with which theyare sometimes accompanied . If these are the result of genuine ecstaticconditions there is nothing to be said against them, but if they are self-conscious and deliberate on the part of those who wish to appear “adepts,” then they are merely acts of hypocrisy. In anycase the more perfect adept is he who controls himself till he is absolutely obliged to give vent to his feelings. Itis related of a certain youth who was a disciple of the SheikhJunaid that, on hearing singing commence in an assembly of the Sufis, he could not restrain himself, but began to shriek in ecstasy.Junaid said to him, “If you do that again,don't remain in my company.” After this the youth used to restrain himself on such occasions, but at last one, day his emotions were so powerfully stirred that, after long and forcible repression of them, he uttered a shriek and died.

To conclude: in holding these assemblies, regardmust be had to time and place, and that no spectators come from unworthy motives. Those who participate in them should sit in silence, not looking at one another, but keeping their heads bent, as at prayer, and concentrating their minds on God. Each should watch for whatevermay be revealed to his own heart, and not make any movements from mere self-conscious impulse. But if any one of them stands up in a state of genuine ecstasy all the rest should stand up with him, and if any one's turban fall off the others should also lay their turbans down.

Although these matters are comparative novelties in Islam and have not been received from the first followers of the Prophet, we must remember that all novelties are not forbidden, but onlythose which directly contravene the Law. For instance, the“Tarawih ,” or night-prayer, was first instituted by the Caliph Omar . The Prophet said, “Live with each man according to his habits and disposition,” therefore it is right to fall in with usages that please people, when non-conformity would vex them. It is true that the Companions were not in the habit of rising on the entrance of the Prophet, as they disliked this practice; but where ithas become established , and abstaining from it would cause annoyance, it is better to conform to it. The Arabs have their own customs,and the Persians have theirs, and Godknoweth which is best.

CHAPTER VI: CONCERNING SELF-EXAMINATION AND THE RECOLLECTION OF GOD

KNOW, Obrother, that in the Koran God hath said, “We will set up a just balance on the day of resurrection, and no soul shall be wronged in anything.” Whosoever has wrought a grain of good or ill shall then behold it. In the Koran it is also written, “Let every soul see what it sends on before it for the day of account.” It was a saying of the Caliph Omar's, “Call yourselves to account before ye be called to account”; and God says, “O ye believers, be patient and strive against your natural desires, and maintain the strife manfully.” The saints have always understood that they have come into this world to carry on a spiritual traffic, the resulting gain or loss of which is heaven or hell. Theyhave, therefore, always kept a jealous eye upon the flesh, which, like a treacherous partner in business, may cause them great loss. He, therefore, is a wise man who, after his morning prayer, spends a whole hour in making a spiritual reckoning, and says to his soul, “O my soul, thou hast only one life; no single moment that has passed can be recovered, for in the counsel of God the number of breaths allotted thee is fixed, and cannot be increased. When life is over no further spiritual traffic, is possible for thee; therefore what thou dost, do now; treat this day as if thy life had been already spent, and this were an extra day granted thee by the specialfavour of the Almighty, What can be greater folly than to lose it?”

At theresurrection a man will find all the hours of his life arranged like a long series of treasure-chests. The door of one will be opened, and it will be seen to be full of light: it represents anhour which he spent in doing good. His heartwill be filled which such joy that even a fraction of it would make the inhabitants of hell forget the fire. The door of a second will be opened; it is pitch-dark within, and from it issues such an evilodour as will causeevery one to hold his nose: it represents anhour which he spent in ill-doing, and he will suffer such terror that a fraction of it would embitter Paradise for the blessed. The door of a third treasure-chestwill be opened ; it will be seen to, be empty and neither light nor dark within: this represents the hour in which he did neither good nor evil. Then he will feel remorse and confusion like that of a man who has been the possessor of a great treasure and wasted it or let it slip from his grasp.Thus the whole, series of the hours of his life will be displayed, one by one, to his gaze. Therefore a man should, say to his soul every morning, “God has given thee twenty-four treasures; take heed lest thou lose any one ofthem., for thou wilt not be able to endure the regret that will follow such loss.”

The saints have said, “Even suppose God, should forgive thee, after a wasted life, thou wilt not attain to the ranks of the righteous and must deplore thy loss; therefore keep a strict, watch over thy tongue,thine eye, and each of thy seven members, for each of these is, as it, were, a possible gate to hell. Say to thy flesh, 'If thou art rebellious, verily I will punish thee'; for, though the flesh is headstrong, it is capable of receiving instruction, and can be tamed by austerity.” Such, then, is the aim of self-examination, and the Prophet had said, “Happy is he who does now that which will benefit him after death.”

We come now to the recollection of God. This consists in a man's remembering that God observes all his acts and thoughts. People only see the outward, while God sees both the outer and the inner man. He who really believes this will have both his outer and innerbeing well disciplined . If hedisbelieve it, he is an infidel, and if, while believing it, he acts contrary to that belief, be is guilty of the grossest.presumption . One day anegro came to the Prophet and said, “O Prophet of God!I have committed much sin. Will my repentance be accepted, or not?” The Prophet said “Yes.” Then thenegro said, “O Prophet of God, all the time I was committing sin, did God really behold it?” “Yes,” was theanswer. Thenegro uttered a cry and fell lifeless.Till a man is thoroughly convinced of the fact that be is always under God's observation it is impossible for him to act rightly.

A certain sheikh once had a disciple whom hefavoured above his other disciples, thus exciting their envy. One day the sheikh gave each of them a fowl and told each to go and kill it in a place where no one could see him. Accordingly each killed his fowl in some retired spot and brought it back, with the exception of the sheikh'sfavourite disciple, who brought his back alive, saying, “I have found no such place, for God sees everywhere.” The sheikh said to the others, “You see now this youth's real rank; he has attained to the constant remembrance of God.”

WhenZuleikha temptedJoseph she cast a cloth over the face of the idol she used to worship. Joseph said to her, “OZuleikha , thou art ashamed before a block of stone, and should I not be ashamed before Him who created the seven heavens and the earth?” A man once came to the saintJunaid and said, “I cannot keep my eyes from casting lascivious looks. How shall I do so?” “By remembering,”Junaid answered, “that God sees you much more clearly than you seeany one else.” In thetraditions it is written that God has said, “Paradise is for those who intend to commit some sin and then remember that My eye is upon them and forbear.” AbdullahIbn Dinar relates, “Once I was walking with the Caliph Omar near Mecca when we met a shepherd's slave-boy driving his flock. Omar said to him, “Sell me a sheep.” The boy answered, “They are not mine, but my master's.” Then, to try him, Omar said, “Well, you can tell him that a wolf carried one off, and he will know nothing about it.” “No, he won't,”said the boy, “but God will.” Omar then wept, and, sending for the boy's master, purchased him and set him free, exclaiming, “For this saying thou art free in this world andshalt be free in the next.”

There are two degrees of this recollection of God. The first degree is that of those saints whose thoughts are altogether absorbed in the contemplation of the majesty of God, and have no room in their hearts for anything else at all. This is the lower degree of recollection, for when a man's heart is fixed, and his limbsare so controlled by his heart that they abstain from even lawful actions, he has no need of any device or safeguard against sins. It was to this kind of recollection that the Prophet referred when he said, “He who rises in the morning with only God in his mind, God shall look after him, both in this world and the next.”

Some of theserecollectors of God are so absorbed in the thought of Him that, if people speak to them they do not hear, or walk in front of them they do not see, but stumble as if they collided with a wall. A certain saint relates as follows: “One day I passed by a place where archers were having a shooting-match. Some way off a man was sitting alone.I approached him and attempted to engage him in talk, but he replied, “The remembrance of God is better than talk.”I said, “Are you not lonely?” “No,” he answered, “God and two angels are with me.” Pointing to the archers, I asked,Which of these has carried off the prize?” “That one,” was his reply, “to whom God has allotted it.” ThenI inquired, “Where does this road come from?” Upon which, lifting up his eyes to heaven, he rose and departed, saying, “O Lord!many of Thy creatures hold one back from the remembrance of Thee!”

The saintShibli one day went to see the SufiThaury ; he found him sitting so still in contemplation that not a hair of his body moved. He; asked him, “From whom didst thou learn topractise such fixity of contemplation?”Thaury answered, “From a cat which I saw waiting at a mouse-hole in an attitude of even greater fixity than this.”Ibn Hanif relates: “I was informed that in the city of Sur a sheikh and his disciple were always sitting lost in the recollection of God.I went there and found them both sitting with their faces turned in the direction of Mecca.I saluted them thrice, but they gave no answer. I said, 'I adjure you, by God, to return mysalutation.' [14] The Youth raised his head and replied, 'OIbn Hanif ! The world lasts but for a little time, and of this little time only a little is remaining. Thou art hindering us by requiring us to return thy salutation.' He then bent his head again and was silent.I was hungry and thirsty at the time, but the sight of those two quite carried me out of myself.I remained standing and prayed with them the afternoon and evening prayer.I then asked them for some spiritual advice. The younger replied, 'OIbn Hanif , we are afflicted; we do not possess that tongue which gives advice.'I remained standing there three days and nights; no word passed between us and none of us slept. ThenI said within myself, 'I will adjure them by God to give me some counsel.' The younger, divining my thoughts, again raised his head: 'Go, and: seek such a man, the visitation of whom wilt bring God to thy remembrance and infix His fear in thy heart, and he will give thee that counsel which is conveyed by silence and not by speech.'“

Such is the “recollection” of thesaints which consists in being entirely absorbed in the contemplation of God. The second degree of the recollection of God is that of “the companions of the right hand.” [15] These are aware that God knows all about them, and feel abashed in His presence, yet theyare not carried out of themselves by the thought of His majesty, but remain clearly conscious of themselves and of the world. Their condition is like that of a man who should be suddenly surprised in a state of nakedness and should hastily cover himself, while the other class resemble one who suddenly finds himself in the presence of the King and is confused and awestruck. The former subject every project which enters their minds to a thorough scrutiny, for at the Last Day three questions will be asked respecting every action: the first, “Why did you do this?” the second, “In what way did you do this?” the third, “For what purpose did you do this?” The first will be asked because a man should act from divine and not merely Satanic or fleshly impulse. If this questionis satisfactorily answered , the second will test in what way the action was done, wisely, or carelessly and negligently, and the third, whether it was done simply to please God, or to gain the approval of men. If a man understands the meaning of thesequestions he will be very watchful over the state of his heart, and how he entertains thoughts which are likely to end in action.Rightly to discriminate among such thoughts is a very difficult and delicate matter, and he who is not capable of it should attach himself to some spiritual director, intercourse with.whom may illuminate his heart. He should avoid with the utmost care the merely worldly learned man who is an agent of Satan. God said to David, “O David! ask no questions of the learned man who is intoxicated with love of the world, for he will rob thee of My love,” and the Prophet said: “God, loves that man who is keen to discern in doubtful things, and who suffers not his reason to be swayed by the assaults of passion.” Reason and discrimination are closely connected, and he in whom reason does not rule passion will not be keen to discriminate.

Besides such cautious discrimination beforeacting a man should call himself strictly to account for his past actions. Every evening he should examine his heart as to what he has done to see whether he has gained or lost in his spiritual capital. This is the morenecessary as the heart is like a treacherous business partner, always ready to cajole and deceive; sometimes it presents its own selfishness under the guise of obedience to God, so that a man supposes he has gained, whereas he has really lost.

A certain saint namedAmiya , sixty years of age, counted up the days of his life. He found they amounted to twenty-one thousand six hundred days. He said to himself, “Alas!if I have committed one sin every day, how can I escape from the load of twenty-one thousand six hundred sins?” He uttered a cry and fell to the ground; when they came to raisehim they found him dead.But most people are heedless, and never think of calling themselves to account. If for every sin a man committed he placed a stone in an empty house, he would soon find that house full of stones; if his recordingangels[ 16] demanded wages of him for writing down his sins, all his money would soon be gone. People count on theirrosaries[ 17] with self-satisfaction the numbers of times they have recited the name of God, but they keep no rosary for reckoning the numberless idle words they speak. Therefore the Caliph Omar said, “Weigh well your words and deeds before they be weighed at the Judgment.” He himself before retiring for the night, used to strike his feet with a scourge and exclaim, “What hast thou done to-day?” AbuTalha was once praying in a palm-grove, when the sight of a beautifulbird which flew out of it caused him to make a mistake in counting the number of prostrations he had made. To punish himself for his inattention, he gave the palm-grove away. Such saints knew that their sensual nature was prone to goastray, therefore they kept a strict watch over it, and punished it for each transgression.

If a man finds himself sluggish and averse. from austerity and self-discipline he should consort with one who is a proficient in such practices so as to catch the contagion of his enthusiasm. One saint used to say, “When I grow lukewarm in self-discipline, I look at MuhammadIbn Wasi , and the sight of him rekindles myfervour for at least a week.” If one cannot find such a pattern of austerityclose at hand , then it is a good thing to study the lives of the saints; he should also exhort his soul somewhat in the following way: “O my soul!thou thinkest thyself intelligent and art angry at being called a fool, and yet what else art thou, after all? Thoupreparest clothing to shield thee from the cold of winter, yetmakest no preparation for the after-life. Thy state is like that of a man who in mid-winter should say, 'I will wear no warm clothing, but trust to God's mercy to shield me from the cold. He forgets that God, at the same time that He created cold, showed man the way to make clothing to protect himself from it, and provided the material for that clothing. Remember this also, O soul, that thy punishment hereafter will not be because God is angry with thy disobedience;. and saynot , 'How can my sin hurt God?' It, is thy lusts themselves which will have kindled the flames of a hell within thee; just as, from eating unwholesome food, disease is caused in a man's body, and not because his doctor is vexed with him for disobeying his orders.

“Shame upon thee, O soul, for thy overweening love of the world! If thou dost not believe in heaven or hell, at any rate thoubelieves in death, which will snatch from thee all worldly delights and cause thee to feel the pangs of separation from them, which will beintenser just in proportion as thou hast attached thyself to them. Why art thou mad after the world? If the whole of it, from East to West, werethine and worshipped thee, yet it would all, in a brief space, turn to dust along with thyself, and oblivion would blot out thy name, as those of ancient kings before thee. But now, seeing thou hast only a very small fragment of the world, and that a defiled one, wilt thou beso mad as to barter eternal joy for it, a precious jewel for a broken cup of earthenware, and make thyself the laughingstock of all around thee?”