"Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un."
"Truly we are God's, and unto Him we return."
As is so often the case this wasn't my original plan for today's post, which shows how foolish it is to think that I'll be locked into a Ramadan theme during Ramadan. I guess it's sort of like teaching where one of my biggest strengths/weaknesses is my tendency/willingness to head off in a different direction on the spur of a moment. I would argue that it's more important to follow what inspires you or what is needed at that moment than what is scheduled, although that is also a path that is more useful if you have the experience and bank of acquired knowledge to roam around and get back (going back to my teaching as improvisational jazz theory). Anyway, I woke up this morning to the news from one of my brothers (and dear friends) from the mosque that his sister had died. I knew that she was in a grave condition and that he was rushing back to India to be with her. Like many Muslims I responded with "Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un" on his Facebook note. It translates out as something like, "Truly we are God's, and unto Him we return," and it's a traditional condolence that one Muslim would offer another. It is drawn from the second surah, the longest in the Quran.
"And we will indeed test you with something of fear and hunger, and loss of wealth, souls, and fruits; and give glad tidings to the patient - and those who, when affliction befalls then, say, 'Truly we are God's, and unto Him we return.'" Quran 2:155-156
We can get into the bigger issue of why God would feel the need to test a believer later in the year (which, of course, won't really be answered because that's a debate thousands of years in the making) but now I just wanted to focus on the statement of condolence itself. In the Study Quran Nasr translates it as, "Truly we are God's, and unto Him we return," but I've also seen it translated as, "We belong to God and to Him we shall return." Nasr adds that this passage is "traditionally recited by most Muslims at the moment of learning of another's death, is connected with the loss of souls mentioned in the previous verse. The theme of returning is common throughout the Quran."
"Truly we are God's, and unto Him we return."
As is so often the case this wasn't my original plan for today's post, which shows how foolish it is to think that I'll be locked into a Ramadan theme during Ramadan. I guess it's sort of like teaching where one of my biggest strengths/weaknesses is my tendency/willingness to head off in a different direction on the spur of a moment. I would argue that it's more important to follow what inspires you or what is needed at that moment than what is scheduled, although that is also a path that is more useful if you have the experience and bank of acquired knowledge to roam around and get back (going back to my teaching as improvisational jazz theory). Anyway, I woke up this morning to the news from one of my brothers (and dear friends) from the mosque that his sister had died. I knew that she was in a grave condition and that he was rushing back to India to be with her. Like many Muslims I responded with "Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un" on his Facebook note. It translates out as something like, "Truly we are God's, and unto Him we return," and it's a traditional condolence that one Muslim would offer another. It is drawn from the second surah, the longest in the Quran.
"And we will indeed test you with something of fear and hunger, and loss of wealth, souls, and fruits; and give glad tidings to the patient - and those who, when affliction befalls then, say, 'Truly we are God's, and unto Him we return.'" Quran 2:155-156
We can get into the bigger issue of why God would feel the need to test a believer later in the year (which, of course, won't really be answered because that's a debate thousands of years in the making) but now I just wanted to focus on the statement of condolence itself. In the Study Quran Nasr translates it as, "Truly we are God's, and unto Him we return," but I've also seen it translated as, "We belong to God and to Him we shall return." Nasr adds that this passage is "traditionally recited by most Muslims at the moment of learning of another's death, is connected with the loss of souls mentioned in the previous verse. The theme of returning is common throughout the Quran."
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