38. The Confused Intellect (1)

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Literal interpretations of revelation tend to be heavy-handed and bipolar. They regard individuals as unambiguous wholes – either sheep or goats, righteous or sinners, the saved or the damned. There is certainly much merit in this approach, for most readers lose their way with nuance and shades of grey. They want simple directions and a clear choice – right or left, up or down, white or black, and so on. The world is already a very complex place, and particularly so nowadays, when our political and religious leaders are themselves overwhelmed and embarrassed by the wealth and power that follow them into their professions. Quite often, therefore, the Qur’an has to take a peremptory approach in its rewards and warnings, and so likewise in the characterizations of those to whom they apply. Clarity is often the best antidote to spiritual confusion, as we will soon see.

But a closer look at certain verses, backed up by many ahadith of the Prophet (may GOD bless him and give him peace), show us that the world in which we live is alive with contradictions and exceptions. Light has varying degrees, and so does darkness; good and evil influences are inextricably intertwined. See, for example, the hadith from Chapter 7: “Verily Satan’s reach is as far as the blood in the human being. I feared that he had cast something into your hearts.” Or consider ‘No one enters the Fire in whose heart is a mustard seed’s weight of faith, and no enters the Garden in whose heart is a mustard seed’s weight of pride’, which is one of many counter-intuitive examples from Chapter 32. And here is another one:

For most of us, however, this malign companion remains largely unchecked, feeding off the “black hole at the heart of who we are” that I mentioned in Chapter 7. We like to think of ourselves as utterly virtuous, and our enemies as all bad, but the reality is that we are not wholly good, nor is there anyone – even Satan – who is wholly evil.

One example of this inevitable ambiguity – and there are many others in the Qur’an – is found in Q3:152-155. Addressing the believers, all of them companions of the Prophet (may GOD bless him and give him peace), AL-LAH describes how, at the Battle of Uhud, they were initially victorious, then lost heart, differed among themselves, disobeyed clear commands, turned tail, and yet were finally pardoned. The final verse of this passage displays how faith and satanic influence can coexist (Q3:155):

Even more compelling is the statement of Yusuf (peace be upon him), spoken after his innocence was publicly vindicated:

We should not be surprised, therefore, if the active intellect of Sulaiman (peace be upon him) discovers a similar ambiguity but a little distance off, in a kingdom with interesting parallels to his own.

(23)

This expression, given some of everything, is an eerie echo of what Sulaiman (peace be upon him) had said earlier, in verse 16, about his own kingdom. The wording, however, is so vague that it can refer not only to knowledge, which is what Sulaiman has, but also to what normally accompanies possession of an exalted throne, such as power and wealth. One might say, then, that power and wealth ‘sound’ like knowledge (referencing the famous equation, ‘Knowledge is power’), or are taken to be proofs of possessing knowledge, and quite often assume a similar authority, symbolized by the mighty throne.

(24)

When the hudhud begins his report in verse 23, he tells us what we would expect from a mainstream news broadcast today. It gives us a figure to focus on and what we might consider important facts, such as her possessions and authority. Together with the timing implied in being but a little distance off, we have a succinct picture of Where, When, Who, and What. But Why is missing.

In today’s news, the purposes of the reporter and the subjects he covers are rarely explicit, but supposedly understood. The reporter-journalist is assumed to have the best interests of the reader or audience in mind and to be telling objective truth within the secular, physicalist frame that dominates mainstream media today. Subjects that confirm this framework, such as one’s own party members or allies, are reported on approvingly, while identifiable outsiders, such as official enemies, members of opposing groups, or generic others classified by their different race, culture, or ideology, are cast in a negative light. Yet the effect is accomplished subtly, almost imperceptibly, by statements with a veneer of rational detachment. The presuppositions underlying these implicit biases are almost never brought out into the open, partly because, like Satan, they operate most effectively when unseen.

Contrarily, the text of the Qur’an, such as in this verse, is often felt to throb with the heavy drumbeat of severe theological judgement, and seems to be obsessed with topics, such as GOD, Satan, and Hell, that are deliberately kept out of conventional journalistic discourse. For the modern secular reader, therefore, this verse sounds unjustifiably narrow-minded, biased, and anti-intellectual.

Yet this bias, if we can attribute bias to GOD, is deliberately blunt and intense. As spiritual beings with little time and enormous responsibilities, we cannot afford to dally in subtleties and skeptical posturing. Inasmuch as our intellect is actively concerned with our ultimate welfare, it demands that we recognize our situation, identify our main goal in life, and find the path to it immediately. The signs of good guidance need to be affirmed, and the opposition to them – Satan – found out and published without delay. That is the framework of the Qur’an . . . a direct and confrontational text if ever there was one. It vibrates with the remorseless imminence of the Absolute.

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