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"I'll take the spirit of Jalal al-Din Rumi .......":
Just wondering...what do you mean by this?


I received the above anonymous comment/question on the Rumi poem which I contrasted with the Tafsir al-Jalalayn. The Tafsir implies that Jews and Christians are misguided. There are more than enough Qur'anic verses to challenge such a commentary. For example:


The Holy Qur'an says in al-Baqara itself in Sura 2:62:

"Those who believe (in the Quran),

And those who follow the Jewish (scriptures),

And the Christians and the Sabians,

- Any who believe in God And the Last Day,

And work righteousness,

Shall have their reward With their Lord: on them

Shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve."

Of course, al-Fatiha itself does not mention specifically the Jews or the Christians at all. The Tafsir al-Jalalayn, with respect to al-Fatiha, makes assumptions about the validity of guidance to the Jews and the Christians. Subsequently, other tafsirs have accepted the same misinterpretation.

Rumi's approach was and is much more embracing and inclusive. He focuses on the Ibadat of each seeker:

"In truth, then, God is worshiped by all,
since all wayfaring is for the sake of the pleasure
of which He is the source."

To the extent that Jews and Christians worship the One, they are surely not misguided.
In fact, with reference to The Straight Path
"The path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed favors,"

all the prophets of Israel as well as Jesus are implied in this Surah.
Since the "plural" is used, the verse cannot exclusively refer to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w).

In fact, Tafsir al-Jalalayn itself offers the following commentary on 2:62 which contradicts the commentary on 1:7:

"(2:62) Surely those who believe, (who believed) before, in the prophets, and those of Jewry, the Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabaeans, a Christian or Jewish sect, whoever, from among them, believes in God and the Last Day, in the time of our Prophet, and performs righteous deeds, according to the Law given to him - their wage, that is, the reward for their deeds, is with their Lord, and no fear shall befall them, neither shall they grieve..." (2007, p. 9).

I would go further and say that all the sages, saints and mystics of all the Abrahamic faiths, as well as other faith traditions, both male and female, are fully embraced in al-Fatiha.

Thanks for the question and the opportunity to clarify the post.