The Jewels and Pearls of Al-Fatiha

Monday, April 28, 2008

The Jewels and Pearls of Al-Fatiha

To quote al-Ghazali's "The Jewels of the Qur'an" again, it is important to read the final chapter of the first part of the book entitled "The Reason for Stringing the Jewels and the Pearls of the Qur'an on Two Separate Strings" within the context of the famous hadith transmitted by Muslim, Sahih, Sala, 38, which is as follows:

"The Messenger of God (may God bless him and greet him!) has declared that God (may He be exalted!) said, "I have divided ritual prayer (in which the Opening Sura is read) into two halves between Me and My servant, and My servant will receive what he asks. When the servant says, 'All types of perfect praise belong to God alone, the Lord of all the worlds', God (may He be exalted!) says, 'My servant has praised Me.' When he says, 'The Most Gracious, Ever Merciful', God (may He be exalted!) says, 'My servant has lauded Me.' When he says, 'Master of the Day of Judgement', God says, "My servant has glorified Me.' When he says, 'You alone do we worship and You alone do we implore for help', God says, 'This is between Me and My servant, and My servant will receive what he asks.' Then when he says, 'Guide us along the straight path - the path of those on whom You have bestowed Your favours, those who have not incurred Your displeasure, and those who have not gone astray', God says, 'This is for My servant, and My servant will receive what he asks'."

It is within the context of this hadith that al-Ghazali offers the following:

"We shall now string the jewels of the Qur'an on one thread and its pearls / on another. Both may sometime be found strung in one verse by chance, and since it is impossible to divide it we shall consider the greater part of its meaning. The first half of the Sura of Opening belongs to the jewels, and the second half to the pearls, and this is why God (may He be exalted!) said, "I have divided the Sura of Opening between Me and My servants..." (to the end of the Tradition). We (should like to) remind you that the purpose of the string of jewels is only to gather the light of knowledge (of God, His attributes and His works), and the purpose of the pearls is steadfastness on the straight path by action. Thus the first is cognitive and the second is practical, and the basis of faith (iman) lies in both cognition and action.

~ Excerpted from "The Jewels of the Qur'an" (1977, p. 87).

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Al-Fatiha ~ The Opening

In the name of the Beloved One,
The Infinitely Compassionate, the Infinitely Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, the Sustainer of all the Worlds,
The Infinitely Compassionate, the Infinitely Merciful,
The Sovereign of the Day of Resurrection.
Thee alone we worship and to Thee alone we pray.
Guide us to the Straight Path
of self-cultivation to the Gardens of Paradise,
the path of those upon whom
Thou hast bestowed blessings, favors and Grace,
not of those who are consciously or unconsciously immersed in Sacred Chaos,
Nor of those of who have lost their way.
~ Dr. Jalaledin Ebrahim translation
In the Name of God, the Infinitely Compassionate, Most Merciful.

All
praise is God's, The Sustainer of all worlds,

The Infinitely
Compassionate and Most Merciful,

Sovereign of the Day of Reckoning.

You alone do we worship,

And You alone do we ask for help.

Guide us on the straight path -

the path of those who have
received Your favor,

not the path of those who have earned Your wrath,

nor of those who have gone astray.

~ Sheikha Camille Helminski translation

DEDICATION

This Sacred Space is dedicated to celebrating
Al-Fatiha
or
Al-Hamd
The Opening Seven Verses of the Holy Qur'an
the one fundamental
"lived experience"
shared by every single Muslim,
with the intention of fostering a profound and abiding level of commitment to Love and Unity within the Ummah,
in commemoration on July 11, 2007 of the Golden Jubilee of the Imamat of His Highness, Prince
Karim al-Hussaini, Aga Khan,
The Imam of the Time.
Inshallah, it will also serve as a deep wellspring of inspiration, creativity and knowledge in the direction towards developing
An Integral Psychology of Islam.

THE CONTEXT

"A central element in a truly religious outlook, it seems to me, is a recognition that we all have a great deal to learn from one another. The Holy Quran speaks of how mankind has been created by a single Creator "from a single soul…" – a profound affirmation of the unity of humanity. This Islamic ideal, of course, is shared by other great religions. Despite the long history of religious conflict, there is also a long counter-history of religious tolerance. Instead of shouting at one another, our faiths ask us to listen - and learn from one another. As we do, one of our first lessons might well center on those powerful but often neglected chapters in history when Islamic and European cultures interacted cooperatively and creatively to realize some of civilization's peak achievements. The spirit of pluralism is not a pallid religious compromise. It is a sacred religious imperative. In this light, our differences can become sources of enrichment, so that we see "the other" as an opportunity and a blessing - whether "the other" lives across the street - or across the world."
~ His Highness the Aga Khan,
Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris,
June 15, 2007

REMARKS BY HIS HIGHNESS THE AGA KHAN

This programme is also an opportunity for achieving insights into how the discourse of the Qur’an-e-Sharif, rich in parable and allegory, metaphor and symbol, has been an inexhaustible well-spring of inspiration, lending itself to a wide spectrum of interpretations. This freedom of interpretation is a generosity which the Qur'an confers upon all believers, uniting them in the conviction that All-Merciful Allah will forgive them if they err in their sincere attempts to understand His word. Happily, as a result, the Holy Book continues to guide and illuminate the thought and conduct of Muslims belonging to different communities of interpretation and spiritual affiliation, from century to century, in diverse cultural environments. The Noble Qur’an extends its principle of pluralism also to adherents of other faiths. It affirms that each has a direction and path to which they turn so that all should strive for good works, in the belief that, wheresoever they may be, Allah will bring them together. Tradition honours the vocation of the learned scholars who are gathered here for this colloquium. The Qur’an itself acknowledges that people upon whom wisdom has been bestowed are the recipients of abundant good; they are the exalted ones. Hence Islam's consistent encouragement to Muslim men and women to seek knowledge wherever it is to be found. We are all familiar that al-Kindi, even in the 9th century, saw no shame in acknowledging and assimilating the truth, whatever its source. He argued that truth never abases, but only ennobles its seeker...
Does not the Qur’an challenge the artist, as much as the mystic, to go beyond the physical - the outward - so as to seek to unveil that which lies at the centre but gives life to the periphery? Is not a great work of art, like the ecstasy of the mystic, a gesture of the spirit, a stirring of the soul that comes from the attempt to experience a glimpse of, and an intimacy with, that which is ineffable and beyond being?
Remarks made on October 19, 2003 at
"Word of God, Art of Man: The Qur’an and its Creative Expressions"
at an International Colloqium sponsored by the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, England.

Al-Fatiha - The Opening to an Integral Psychology of Islam

Islamic Garden

Monday, April 28, 2008

The Jewels and Pearls of Al-Fatiha

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