Freeing the Heart to Work Together

Those awful allegations! United in horror at the unbelievable charges, Muslims and non-Muslims, Sunnis, Salafis, Sufis, Progressive Muslims, sisters with hijab and without, feminists and activists, artists and lawyers, people from a range of political belief and background, all came together in simple human concern for a meeting last Saturday. Will people of conscience be able to cooperate in order to help these detainee girls, their family, and the process of justice? Can we put our differences in perspective?

What is conscience? Conscience is not the same as socially imposed morality—it comes from your awareness and spiritual intelligence. It is often a gift that comes in repentance, after a mistake, an opening to light that appears in closing, contraction and darkness, a new flower on a dead branch. Do you have conscience? Oh, you think you do. Sometimes you do. But if we really did have conscience, a living heart, we would live our lives more fully, more humanely, all the time. These sectarian differences would cease to be of much interest. Our hearts and minds would consciously be in service; whole and holy. How would that feel?

Conscience does not just indicate concern for Darfur, or for Palestine— or the brave whistleblowers of Enron and other corporate rebels. Conscience is also compassionate awareness of our limited lives, our suffering families, our poor being. A recognition that we are often wrong, maybe even now! But always we tell ourselves we don’t need to feel bad, why should we, what good would that do-- so let’s think of something else. We don’t want to feel our contradictions and repent. Anyway we are busy. We know better.

Also we are hungry. OK, then let’s make an omelet for the hungry Ummah. The oven is warm, how can we begin? The Progressives of PMU want an egg without a shell—what a mess! Reminds me of the name of two raw eggs on toast— Two eggs over-easy. Adam and Eve on a raft, as they also call it. On the other hand, the Salafis like the shell of the egg—but is anything inside that thick shell? They are trying to break it on the edge of the pan and still nothing. Ouch. Each cook has some good ideas, but learned a different way. Meanwhile the people are hungry. Still no smell of cooking! And how to spice it? Don’t even argue! As long as it nourishes the soul, give the people what agrees with their digestion, their tastes. Some variety.

Enough with the Martha Stewart Madhab. But of course we have different legal schools and interpretations within the deen. Now is a time of argument in the kitchen—but let Muslim cooks at least hear each other. And perhaps try some compromise? In France, for example, master chef Tariq Ramadan suggests a moratorium on some controversial and easily wrongly interpreted laws of shariah such as stoning. Why not? We complain at the arbitrary nature of some American laws. And some shariah is often wrongly imposed. Forgiveness is better for the spirit—and perhaps society as well

One problem with defining Islam as “a way of life” is that this definition places emphasis on the cultural norms, not on the awareness and virtue of the spirit. But the norms should nourish the spirit. Do they really? Each must ask his or herself. Each must feel it. If not, what is wrong with our practice or with our understanding? Healthy questioning, and not blind obedience, leads to spiritual growth. For often the imam you think you obey turns out to be yourself in disguise —a trap of ego that only questioning can open. Rebelliousness too can be a similar trap. So is negativity. To escape all these, just free your heart with some gentle self-questioning. And listen deeply to that heart.