"Nothing is heavier in the balance than good character."
Muhammad, Hadith
As I've said I'm mainly going to be talking about what I'm thinking about on a daily basis; so, no great unfolding plan of where this is headed. At least with the daily ruminations on Proust that I had a structure and a definitive end point because I was working my way through Remembrance of Things Past. While I read the entire Quran, including the extensive commentary included in Nasr's The Study Quran, every Ramadan, I also read bits of the Quran every day (or at least almost every day). Truthfully, the quiet moments spent studying the Quran qualify as my favorite part of the faith, which is probably the best evidence that Islam is a good fit for me because I've never had the same response with my readings of other religious texts (even if I truly enjoyed them). I guess it's also true in regards to Friday communal prayer. I've never felt like taking off in the middle of the day to drive out to Colchester to attend the midday service was an imposition; essentially, I've never blown it off because I just wasn't in the mood or was busy. At school I'm always happy to teach a class at any time (and I think my generally churlish behavior is forgiven because I'm always happy to take an 8:00 a.m. class) but my own stipulation is that I can't take a 12:30 WF class because it conflicts with the midday prayer.
If I'm not reading the Quran during the day I'm reading the Hadith, which are the sayings of the Prophet (and they deserve a few blog posts themselves, not simply specific ones but more generally the concept itself). Anyway, the passage above is one of my favorite sayings of the Prophet. I think I like it because it gets to the heart of what I think the faith - and for that matter any faith - should be about: what you do with your faith, how you live it. And, yes, those actions are a reflection of your character, but I think that character is defined by your dedication to doing the right thing and serving the broader community and being consistently kind to other people, much more than it's defined by rigidly keeping Halal or starting your Ramadan fast on time.
As Nasr tells us in the Study Quran, "The image of a balance weighing good and evil deeds is used in other Quran passages as a metaphor for Divine Judgment. This image is consistent with repeated Quranic injunctions to weight with justice and integrity in commercial transactions as well as with the larger Quranic theme that God creates all things 'in due balance' and thus 'sets [or sends down] the balance' for everything in the created order."
Muhammad, Hadith
As I've said I'm mainly going to be talking about what I'm thinking about on a daily basis; so, no great unfolding plan of where this is headed. At least with the daily ruminations on Proust that I had a structure and a definitive end point because I was working my way through Remembrance of Things Past. While I read the entire Quran, including the extensive commentary included in Nasr's The Study Quran, every Ramadan, I also read bits of the Quran every day (or at least almost every day). Truthfully, the quiet moments spent studying the Quran qualify as my favorite part of the faith, which is probably the best evidence that Islam is a good fit for me because I've never had the same response with my readings of other religious texts (even if I truly enjoyed them). I guess it's also true in regards to Friday communal prayer. I've never felt like taking off in the middle of the day to drive out to Colchester to attend the midday service was an imposition; essentially, I've never blown it off because I just wasn't in the mood or was busy. At school I'm always happy to teach a class at any time (and I think my generally churlish behavior is forgiven because I'm always happy to take an 8:00 a.m. class) but my own stipulation is that I can't take a 12:30 WF class because it conflicts with the midday prayer.
If I'm not reading the Quran during the day I'm reading the Hadith, which are the sayings of the Prophet (and they deserve a few blog posts themselves, not simply specific ones but more generally the concept itself). Anyway, the passage above is one of my favorite sayings of the Prophet. I think I like it because it gets to the heart of what I think the faith - and for that matter any faith - should be about: what you do with your faith, how you live it. And, yes, those actions are a reflection of your character, but I think that character is defined by your dedication to doing the right thing and serving the broader community and being consistently kind to other people, much more than it's defined by rigidly keeping Halal or starting your Ramadan fast on time.
As Nasr tells us in the Study Quran, "The image of a balance weighing good and evil deeds is used in other Quran passages as a metaphor for Divine Judgment. This image is consistent with repeated Quranic injunctions to weight with justice and integrity in commercial transactions as well as with the larger Quranic theme that God creates all things 'in due balance' and thus 'sets [or sends down] the balance' for everything in the created order."
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