The Wrappings of Gratitude

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
ِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

Ghadab (anger), Sha’wah (desire), Ilm (knowledge)

Taken from the book ‘Alchemy of happiness’, is a remarkable understanding of Imam Al-Ghazali’s, which is of considerable benefit to us all, especially if we are able to remember this wisdom in our every day activities.

Ghadab

Imam Al-Ghazali said that there are three sources of felicity, of happiness related to the next life. Which means three things that, of we can perfect in this life, will be our source of happiness in the next, insha’Allah. These are anger, desire and knowledge. Now ordinarily one may not understand this idea without further explantion because, whilst knowledge is self-explanitory, anger and desire are not. The prophet has commanded, and there are several hadith that reiterate the need to not get angry and the need to control ones anger. The course of action is not to supress ones anger but to use it:

- at the right time,

- for the right cause,

- to the right extent, and

- for the right duration.

Furthermore, and more importantly Allah subhanhu wa ta’ala has granted anger as a means of protecting honour, that is ones own honour as well as that of ones family, beloved and community. Thus Islam presents two concepts that could be understood together, anger and honour, as being bound together. Another good aspect of anger is that its use enables a person to defend justice, to be just and hence to be an ambassador for Al-Adl (The Just), which is one of the important attributes of Allah. The kind of anger being referred to here is not an uncontrollable loss of control in which a person is not in control of ones senses and intellect, for this is haraam in Islam. But instead anger is positive when used only for just means, and when its used through ones rationality, and intellect.

Sha’wah

Again, similar to anger one may superficially consider desire to be something bad, and it is, but it is only so when that desire consumes a person, when it removes a person from the remembrance of Allah, and which may also and more fatally lead to the disobedience of Allah. But in the positive context of desire Imam Al-Ghazali states that it is a force, a power that must be used for the service of the individual and not the other way around where the individual is used at the service of the desire. The necessity of desire is that is compels a person to achieve his aims and goals in the world, to strive for his benefit, to travel the earth and all those activities that propel a human being. Without the desire to, for example work, a person would remain at home. Without the desire to eat a person would remain hungry, as happens when a person falls ill. And in this is a sign that desire is very much a blessing from Allah. There are numerour other blessings that we may find in desire, but it also has very strict limits as ordained by Allah, which must not be transgressed.

In summary, both anger and desire are necessary and beneficial, which then allow the third component to become more effective, which cannot be unless one has brought under complete control ones desires and anger. The key adjective in which to think about anger and desire is balance, which are the terms in which Imam Al-Ghazali presents it. That the two must be balanced which allows greater ease in the acquisition of knowledge.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
ِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

I pray you are well insha’Allah. I hope by way of benefit, that I would use this post as a means of summarsing some learnings and wisdoms gained from reading some key texts, as well my own observances, which themselves relate to sacred knowledge.

To begin with and as a continuation in many ways of the last post I wanted to focus, not only on learning, but why we learn and the purpose of learning. What does learning provide. The understanding of this question provides a key prerequisite that enables, what we might then learn, to become more effective. And it is effectove because every component of learning fits part of a greater whole towards which one is striving, and that whole is to see the greater picture, and that picture is to see ourselves, in this time and place in the right context. The basis for this is the prayer of the prophet, peace be upon him, ho prayed to Allah, “Oh Allah show me reality as it truly is”. Thus essentially the purpose for learning to bring us ever closer to understanding reality, what is real, understanding the truth. And understanding the truth is understanding Al-Haqq, which is one of the attributes of Allah subhanhu wa t’ala. So that was by way of introduction, and what I hope to do over the next fews day and weeks insha’Allah is to keep adding summary understandings and hadith that may be of benefit to you insha’Allah and that you may be able to apply in your own life easily.

Who better to begin with than with Imam Al-Ghazali who says in his Ihya Ulum id-deen, “All that knowledge is, is a sign that a person is under guidance”. Subhan’Allah this is a deep hikmah (wisdom) because it is common for us to think that guidance comes from knowledge, that knowlegde facilitates guidance. However, this statement was made in the context of self-struggle or Mujadaha, which means, those that struggle first are then rewarded with knowledge and guidance from Allah. And that guidance is not like reading lines on a page but understanding and an illumination in the heart, thus:

• Knowledge and Guidance are proportional. Knowledge is a sign of guidance, and is rewarded directly as a result of struggling over ones nafs, over ones worldly desires, and over ones lower self.

Another understanding related to guidance and struggle is:

•There is no guidance without obediance.

This is a common principle found mentioned throughout the Qur’an. The essence of which is that all khair (good) comes from Allah after our submission and obedience to Him.

• The key to happiness is three: anger (the control of), desire (the control of), and knowledge (the acquisition and application of)

• Islam is simplicity and beauty.

•Shall I tell you what is greater than the greatest thing in the universe? Something greater than love? It is freedom. It is that freedom that, the highest freedom, and the only reason why ALlah created freedom, which was to worship Him alone and without any partners. Love can enslave a person, whereas as freedom by its very nature causes a person to soar. The highest of heights is thus to be free to love Allah alone and without association.

Hadith

• The Messenger of God, peace be upon him, said, “Love for humanity what you love for yourself”. (Al-Bukhari)

• The Messenger of God said, peace be upon him, said, “Should you become eager to mention another’s faults, recall your own”. (Ar-Rafi’i)

•The Messenger of God, peace be upon him, said, “To acquire some useful knowledge is of greater merit than to perform a hundred devotional prayers voluntarily”. (Ibn Majah)

•The Messenger of God, peace be upon him, said, “Practice humility until no one oppresses or belittles another.” (Muslim)