"Traditions of the Prophet, on him be peace:
'Two members of my Community may perform the Prayer in such a way that their bowing and their prostration are as one, yet their Prayers may be as far apart as heaven and earth. (In respect of their humility, that is.)'"
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship
For a person who is not as serious about his faith as I probably should be - that is often how I feel about myself, and I'm sure how my brothers and sisters at the masjid feel about me - I sure seem to devote a lot of my time to studying my faith. Lately I've been reading Abu Hamid al-Ghazali's Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship. al-Ghazali was an eleventh century philosopher and mystic who wrote many works, which apparently I'm going to have to track down and read because I've found this work to be profound and humbling. I think I was drawn to this volume because of my perpetual struggle between the more internal and external versions of faith, and my frustration if not sometimes careless rejection of the external. al-Ghazali's point is that dichotomy between the internal and external is a false one, and I shouldn't be surprised by this argument since it's the same one that Nasr makes in the Heart of Islam and we know what a man crush I have on Seyyed Nasr. On one level I'll blame it on my training as a historian and my decades of teaching about religion. I think I default to the endless compromises that religions make as they evolve and devolve, and my belief that too many of the things that we view as essential to the faith are instead decisions devised by the leaders of the religions to bring the often fractious communities together. So, Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem because of his deep faith, but also as a mechanism to draw the tribes together and centralize authority. As Muslims we all pray the same way and are pushed to learn the prayers in Arabic less because it truly pleases God and more because it is an artificial means to unite the ummah. What is beautiful about al-Ghazali's work is that it is making me reconsider this whole question.
Obviously, much more on this coming.
'Two members of my Community may perform the Prayer in such a way that their bowing and their prostration are as one, yet their Prayers may be as far apart as heaven and earth. (In respect of their humility, that is.)'"
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship
For a person who is not as serious about his faith as I probably should be - that is often how I feel about myself, and I'm sure how my brothers and sisters at the masjid feel about me - I sure seem to devote a lot of my time to studying my faith. Lately I've been reading Abu Hamid al-Ghazali's Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship. al-Ghazali was an eleventh century philosopher and mystic who wrote many works, which apparently I'm going to have to track down and read because I've found this work to be profound and humbling. I think I was drawn to this volume because of my perpetual struggle between the more internal and external versions of faith, and my frustration if not sometimes careless rejection of the external. al-Ghazali's point is that dichotomy between the internal and external is a false one, and I shouldn't be surprised by this argument since it's the same one that Nasr makes in the Heart of Islam and we know what a man crush I have on Seyyed Nasr. On one level I'll blame it on my training as a historian and my decades of teaching about religion. I think I default to the endless compromises that religions make as they evolve and devolve, and my belief that too many of the things that we view as essential to the faith are instead decisions devised by the leaders of the religions to bring the often fractious communities together. So, Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem because of his deep faith, but also as a mechanism to draw the tribes together and centralize authority. As Muslims we all pray the same way and are pushed to learn the prayers in Arabic less because it truly pleases God and more because it is an artificial means to unite the ummah. What is beautiful about al-Ghazali's work is that it is making me reconsider this whole question.
Obviously, much more on this coming.
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