"'Do not approach the Prayer when you are intoxicated, until you know what you are saying.' [al-Nisa, 4:43]
Some say that 'intoxicated' mean inebriated by many anxieties, while other say it means drunk on the love of this world. According to Wahb, the meaning is obviously a caution against worldly attachment, since the words 'until you know what you are saying' explain the underlying reason. Many are those who pray without having drunk wine, yet do not know what they are saying in their Prayers.!'"
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship
As I warned you, most of the foreseeable posts are going to center around al-Ghazali and his Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship, which I'm both thoroughly enjoying and which is making my head hurt and, not to put too fine a point on it, my heart expand. Here al-Ghazali is referencing the fourth surah and one of the four times in the Quran when alcohol is referenced. In an earlier post I walk us through the four passages and the evolution of a statement on drinking. The point I made at the time is that we get wound up on drinking, but sometimes forget why we're warned against drinking, so I guess it's not surprising that this passage jumped out at me. Here al-Ghazali is considering intoxication in a much broader context, and that we can be "intoxicated" in such a way that he stands in the way of reaching a meditative spiritual place in all sorts of ways, including a "caution against worldly attachment." In this case the ablutions are not a physical cleaning, but rather a spiritual cleaning, and not because of the holiness of the water, but rather the process of placing yourself in a state to approach God (however you define that).
Some say that 'intoxicated' mean inebriated by many anxieties, while other say it means drunk on the love of this world. According to Wahb, the meaning is obviously a caution against worldly attachment, since the words 'until you know what you are saying' explain the underlying reason. Many are those who pray without having drunk wine, yet do not know what they are saying in their Prayers.!'"
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship
As I warned you, most of the foreseeable posts are going to center around al-Ghazali and his Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship, which I'm both thoroughly enjoying and which is making my head hurt and, not to put too fine a point on it, my heart expand. Here al-Ghazali is referencing the fourth surah and one of the four times in the Quran when alcohol is referenced. In an earlier post I walk us through the four passages and the evolution of a statement on drinking. The point I made at the time is that we get wound up on drinking, but sometimes forget why we're warned against drinking, so I guess it's not surprising that this passage jumped out at me. Here al-Ghazali is considering intoxication in a much broader context, and that we can be "intoxicated" in such a way that he stands in the way of reaching a meditative spiritual place in all sorts of ways, including a "caution against worldly attachment." In this case the ablutions are not a physical cleaning, but rather a spiritual cleaning, and not because of the holiness of the water, but rather the process of placing yourself in a state to approach God (however you define that).
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