We all need a place to heal while witnessing horror
I have always felt deep personal grief for injustice committed near or far, whether it was the killing of George Floyd or the Iraq War, human trafficking or the global refugee crisis. I remember standing alone in front of the State Government office in Hackensack, NJ with a sign “War creates Terrorism” right before the Iraq War, and my photo appeared in our county’s newspaper. I got so many calls from friends who said: why would you do that and risk your family’s safety? 15 Million people marched around the globe and the powers (the Matrix) that control everything did not listen!
Just as today, a live genocide is taking place on our daily screens, as a nation that had been brutally occupied for decades is subjected to a level of brutality unheard of in the 21st century. Even the International Court of Justice ruling has not stopped the killings. As our hearts explode with pain and rage, we see dead silence, apathy and even encouragement on official media, by politicians, by corporations (who have the most to benefit from this land and resources grab), by academia, and on and on. There is no shared humanity. There are no human rights. There is no international law. There is only might and greed. So as I joked to my friends, what saves me from imploding with rage and grief is my spirituality and Coke Studio of Pakistan!
What is Coke Studio?
Coke Studio is a music project started by young Pakistani musicians to blend the ancient wisdom and beautiful poetry of the Subcontinent with modern music to make it more accessible to younger generations. Unfortunately their main sponsor is a corporation that poisons us with sugar! Every year a new season is published with at least 15–20 songs illuminating our rich heritage in poetry, spirituality and wisdom…it makes my heart sing! Here is an example of it using Bulleh Shah’s poetry. Bulleh Shah was a Punjabi (North Indian/Pakistani province) poet/philosopher/social justice reformer in the 17 th century.
This piece is called “Matti di Dheri” meaning pile of sand, a song of humility and submission to our Creator by Bulleh Shah.
And here is an older piece called “Aik Alif” (one alif- the first letter of the alphabet signifying unity and transcendence in Sufism).
What is spirituality?
We as human beings are blessed to have a complex mind and a feeling heart that allows us to live beyond instincts, as other living beings do. Geese fly north in summer and south in winter not because they plan it and discuss it, but because they have built-in instincts to do that. With that great gift comes the ability to think, plan, act and to reflect. As we grow older we begin to wonder what the purpose of life is, what our purpose is, what are we expected to achieve while on Earth? So, for us spirituality gives us a framework as to the why, what and how to be in this material existence, which is only a transient part of our soul’s journey.
In the modern secular world, it is fashionable to distinguish spirituality and religion. As Westerners got more alienated from their religious institutions, they separated the two. But that created a vacuum. And now as people seek more meaning in their lives, they flock to spirituality gurus who may not use the word God or follow a religion, but words like Universe, Spirit, Humanism, etc. to denote what we Muslims mean by Allah. What is most fascinating is that quantum sciences seem to confirm some of the fundamental truths espoused by traditional religions; e.g. this material world is just an illusion! This just confirms that without spirituality we human beings wander aimlessly and feel lost.
In Islam, we see both as intrinsically linked. Religion is the outer form of practice. Spirituality is the invisible faith and God-consciousness that brings us inner peace and makes us good human beings. In fact, all religions develop this spirituality in their own way, and it is only evil intentions that exploit religious differences to sow hate and violence. All religions aimed to teach us to be better human beings, and only distortions took us off the path.
My Sufi teacher described faith in the most beautiful way, and one that helped me grasp the different levels of spirituality in Islam. Imagine a walnut- a precious and nutritious nut. It is covered with a hard shell that protects it. That hard shell in turn is covered with another softer layer of green flesh and leaves
Islam
One way to look at the first layer is that it is what we call “Islam”. It is the rituals, customs, rules of how to pray, give of one’s wealth, help the poor, and all the rights and responsibilities towards others and community, state, etc. It is the most visible layer and one that all can see and respond to. Islam is the outermost layer and protects the deeper, invisible facets of our spirituality.
Iman
The next layer- the hard shell- is Iman, which is the faith or as secular scholars would call it spirituality: the belief in a greater power and is invisible to others. Imaan is the faith we were created for a noble purpose. We have will and choice, and we use our judgment and wisdom to be good human beings, or not. But in the end, we are accountable for our deeds.
Ihsan
Ihsan is to act with God-consciousness, which is to be kind and good to ourselves and others. So it is about the actions that human beings are truly capable of and have the potential for, including all the noble human values: kindness, mercy, selflessness, generosity, abundance, humility, patience, and a love for all Creations, which are universal to all traditions in all corners of the world.
In a way, it is the purity of our intentions that then translate into our beautiful actions and love. In an age where religion is being shunned by many and blamed for the hatred and violence around the globe, we would do well to seek the inner core in each tradition rather than differentiate spirituality and religion. And this is where we would find the unity that interconnects us all, and the beauty that is possible for human society as we face unprecedented global challenges to our humanity and levels of dehumanization beyond our scariest nightmares, while we have unprecedented technological power and tools concentrated in the few.
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