By Babatunde Jose

The Vulture has a bald head, the monkey has hairless buttocks, the hornbill- Akalamagbo, has goiter on its neck, and the sheep lacks upper front teeth, each faces it’s unique challenges, there is no human without imperfections or shortcomings, all praises are due to Allah who has taken away from us discomfort and granted us relief, every good thing starts with Bismillah and end with Alhamdulillah, may Allah be pleased with us, forgive our sins, grant us long life, good health, and make Aljannah our final abode – Bearer Niji Kazeem SAN

One way of exploring mercy is by looking at what it means to people of different faith traditions. Their scriptures and beliefs can enrich our own understanding. To examine a theology of mercy in Islam may seem somewhat strange in today’s context of what could be called a plague of terrorist attacks by Islamic fundamentalists against both Muslims and non-Muslims in many parts of the world, especially with Boko Haram, ISIS and its derivatives in our clime.

However, their interpretation of the Qur’an and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) – which forms the religious rationale for their political and military movements – do not represent the vast majority of Muslims.

It could therefore be helpful to take a brief look at a different interpretation. What is the theological understanding of Mercy in Islam? This can be found in the two primary sources of revelation, the Qur’an and the Sunnah.

Mercy in Islam is seen as having two manifestations – internally: a kind heart and compassionate soul, and externally: “pardoning those who slip, forgiving those who are mistaken, helping those in trouble, assisting the weak, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, tending to the sick, and consoling the grieved…as well as many other things”.

The importance of the concept of mercy in Islam is seen in its use in the Qur’an. The Arabic invocation Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim appears at the beginning of all but one of the 114 Suras (chapters). Translated, bismillah (or Basmala) means “In the name of God (Allah)”. It is also used at the beginning of any activity and is therefore an essential element of a Muslim’s identity.

The second part lists two of God’s names or attributes, rahman and rahim, which are derived from the Semitic root r-h-m. These two terms are often translated into English as “The Compassionate (or Gracious or Beneficent) and The Merciful”. Both words, rahman and rahim, are derived from the same word, rahmah meaning ‘mercy’. Rahim (raham or rahm) is also the word for ‘womb’.

In the Hadith collection of Al-Tirmidhi, the Prophet (SAW) reports that “Allah the Exalted said: I am Ar-Rahman. I created the Raham”. In this saying, Raham is related to the Arabic word rahm (womb). Veronica Lawson, in her book The Blessing of Mercy, explains the Hebrew use of words in the Bible relating to mercy and ‘womb-compassion’: “The noun raḥamîm, the verb raḥam, to mercy or to show womb compassion, and the adjective raḥûm, merciful or womb-compassionate, are all related to the Hebrew word for womb, reḥem”. The close relationship between these concepts in Islam and Judaism and their similar use in Greek in the Christian New Testament, offers great potential for dialogue and shared commitment to mercy between these three Abrahamic religions.

This womb-compassion of God is reported in another Islamic Hadith: The Messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad (SAW)…said: “Those who are merciful will be shown mercy by the most Merciful. Be merciful to those on the earth and the One above the heavens will have mercy upon you. The womb is derived from the Most Merciful, thus whoever keeps relations with [their] family then Allah will keep relations with [them], and whoever abandons [their] family then Allah will abandon [them]. (Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith no. 1924).

Wahiduddin (Richard Shelquist) sums up this idea of womb-compassion: …the phrase ir rahman ir rahim is a recognition and honoring of the very source of all existence, the source of all blessings, the source of all compassion, the source of all mercy who gives endlessly to us and who also responds according to our moral integrity, our harmony with all of creation and our love of Allah.

In the Qur’an, God is revealed as having mercy on believers: “[God] is ever merciful (Rahim) to the believers” (Quran 33:43). ‘Believers’ in this context refers to those who believe in God and have accepted Muhammad (SAW) as the Messenger of God, i.e. Muslims (Quran 4:136). The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was sent as a messenger of this divine mercy to his followers: “Surely, a Messenger has come to you from among yourselves; …ardently desirous is he of your welfare; compassionate and merciful towards the believers” (Quran 9:128). His mission also extended beyond ‘the believers’ to all: “(O Muhammad!) We have only sent you as a mercy for all worlds’ (Quran 21:107). The Turkish scholar, Cafer Yaran, says: “Therefore, it is possible to conclude that mercy is one of the most essential Islamic virtues and anything which conflicts with mercy does not coincide with the Prophet’s mission”.

When asked to pray against idolaters, Muhammad (SAW) is reported as replying: “Verily I was not sent to invoke curses, but rather as mercy” (Muslim, Hadith no. 2599).

Muslims, as well as receiving the mercy of God, are required to extend mercy to others. The Prophet said “Allah will not be merciful to those who are not merciful to the people.” (Bukhari, Hadith no. 6941 and Muslim, Hadith no. 2319). Being merciful is basic to being a Muslim.

This brief exploration of a theology of mercy reveals an aspect of Islam that is very important to millions of Muslims. Following various terrorist attacks, many Muslim leaders make public statements condemning the actions and motivations of the perpetrators, and their message is: “They do not represent us”.

Muslims in general hold strongly to their belief that Islam is a religion of peace, and being merciful is an essential element of being a good Muslim. Being merciful is also an essential element of being Christian. This common ground between Muslims and Christians is an invitation for mutual exploration.

Our world is dangerously polarized, and religion is often regarded as part of the problem. Yet religions should be contributing to one of the chief tasks of our time. Our religious traditions are rich and multifarious—they differ significantly and in important ways. But they all agree that compassion is the test of true spirituality and lies at the heart of morality.

The compassionate imperative has been epitomized in the aphorism that is sometimes called the Golden Rule: “Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you” (or, in its positive form, “Always treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself”).

The prophets and sages insisted that we cannot confine our benevolence to our own group. We must have concern for everybody: love the stranger in our midst, love even our enemies, and reach out to all tribes and nations. If we want a viable world for the next generation, it is essential that in the global community, all peoples, whatever their nationality, ethnicity, or ideology, are treated with respect and can live in harmony.

If this principle had been applied more stringently in the past by, for example, the colonial powers during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, we would likely have less problems today.

If we want a peaceful, just, and sustainable world, we have to behave more compassionately. The compassionate message of religion is more sorely needed now than ever. There is a worrying imbalance of power and wealth in the world and consequently an escalating mix of rage, malaise, alienation, and humiliation that has, in some cases, led to terrorist atrocities that endanger us all. No day passes without sad news of people being kidnapped, killed or maimed by terrorists.

We are engaged in wars and conflicts that have entailed horrific civilian casualties and denial of fundamental human rights. Islamophobia has become a growing trend in Europe, North America and even here at home; and its divisive discourse threatens fundamental human decencies.

In a world in which small disaffected groups will increasingly have destructive powers hitherto confined to the nation-state, it has become imperative to apply the Golden Rule globally, ensuring that we treat all people as we wish to be treated ourselves.

Compassion is no longer an option—it is the key to our survival. If our religious and ethical traditions fail to address these challenges, they will fail the test of our time. It is crucial that we develop a more global outlook. We need a global democracy, in which all voices— not merely those favored by the rich and powerful—are heard.

At the same time as the world is so perilously divided, we are bound together more closely than ever before. We are interconnected economically: We are also linked politically: And we are drawn intimately together on the World Wide Web; and we all, without exception, face the possibility of environmental catastrophe.

What afflicts the eye necessarily concerns the nose, if the rich and affluent think that they are immune to the predicaments and suffering of the poor, they are deluded. When ‘the come’ comes to become, all will be consumed by the conflagration. A word is enough for the wise. Ihdinas Siratal Mustaqim – (Quran 1:6)

Barka Juma’at and happy weekend

By Babatunde Jose

The fatherless child is snatched from the breast; the infant of the poor is seized for a debt. Lacking clothes, they go about naked; they carry the sheaves but still go hungry. They crush the olives among the terraces; they tread the winepresses, yet suffer thirst. The groans of the dying rise from the city, the souls of the wounded cry out for help.

But God charges no one with wrongdoing (Job 24:8-12)

Our lot as a people can be summed up as a situation of tragedy and hope. Our condition is tragic as this sum up our economic, social and political impotence and inability to change the game; our spiritual powerlessness to invoke the higher authority to lend a hand on our affairs as a result of our iniquities and moral degenerative state and spiritual delinquency. Not only have we been unable to chart a clear and unambiguous path for sustained economic advancement, we have failed to harness our God given potentials as a people to create self sustained development like other countries faced with similar tragedies. Today, majority of our people live in tattered penury, naked poverty, want and spiritual hunger.

Oscar Wilde said: ‘Behind every exquisite thing that happens, there was a tragedy.’ We have all heard about the pacifying clichés like, ‘bad things can lead to good’, ‘A blessing in disguise’ or ‘beauty from ashes’. This however, is not the case with poverty, which for people in low-income settings, the tragedy of poverty has been turned into a case of double jeopardy.  It is as if people in poverty are being punished twice for the same crime: that they are poor and that due to their poverty, they are unable to bring about change in their condition. They are literally, the ‘forgotten’, forsaken by man and their creator.

For many, poverty elicits very personal terrible memories. A case in point: Adidi was born the tenth of 16 children in a small town in Umudike. His father worked a medium income job and their mother stayed home to look after the children. At 14, his father unexpectedly had stroke and died within one week.

For all his childhood he knew only one meal a day. He saw poverty ruthlessly ravage his family like a lion tears apart its prey. Some of his siblings and childhood friends remain trapped in poverty. For most of his school days, he used kerosene lamps to do his homework. He has no good memories of the unpleasant smells, the coughs and lung infections they suffered from inhaling the smoke from these lamps – night after night.

What are more dangerous are the generational effects of poverty. Adidi has seen good-hearted, generous former classmates of his turn into mean, selfish politicians and bureaucrats, who take community funds for themselves and their families because poverty has taught them that there aren’t enough resources for all to share.

Looking at our clime we see an economy that is trapped in corruption because poverty taught us to hold on to what we have, for tomorrow, we may not have it. This really is a monumental tragedy.

Nigeria and South Africa, which together make up more than half of sub-Saharan Africa’s gross domestic product, are in deep trouble. Their economies are in trouble.

The naira is under pressure, foreign exchange is rationed, the budget is strained and a balance of payments crisis is looming, not to talk of debt ridded economy where the future of its people has been mortgaged.

The grotesque use by politicians of the people’s money and resources around the continent is a reminder that corruption is alive and well. Just this week, we received the report of the son of recently retired Intelligence Chief making away with a cool $2,000,000 cash from his father’s safe. Where did the retired Chief get that kind of money from, if not the proceeds of crime? He must be one of the modest thieves in the cleptocracy. More humongous funds have been stolen and starched in septic tanks, village stores, and burial grounds than this paltry 2million.

Judging from the experience on the continent, there are evidences that democratic governments do not necessarily produce better economic results. Our experience in the last 25 years is a glaring testimony to this thesis.

Our middle class is also very fragile, where it exists at all. Many of the so-called “middle class” are scraping by on a few dollars a day in insecure jobs. Many well-paid jobs are in the bloated public sector, funded by governments that may no longer be able to afford such expense. We have seen the trauma occasioned by unpaid salaries.

The biggest flaw in the middle class story is that, with a few exceptions, we are not a manufacturing nation. The economic model continues to be to dig stuff out of the ground and sell it to foreign companies without any added value; which is still the same old colonial economy.

Kingsley Moghalu argues that declining oil prices are just the spur Nigeria needs finally to diversify and become a manufacturing force. Yet Nigeria is not even at the starting line. Home to 2.5 per cent of the world’s population, the country has just 0.1 per cent of its installed electricity capacity, inadequate potable water, and no serious industries to write home about. It has non-industrial labor, a devalued currency and a business class skilled at making money through arbitrage and rent-seeking.

IS THERE HOPE OF A RENEWD HOPE?

It’s not sure what one means by hope; whether you mean hope of a better economic, political emancipation or hope of a better society. In search for this elusive and hopeless hope, people turn to the scriptures. But there is no help from there.

It’s been repeated that the meek will inherit the Earth. See Matthew 5:5. But under the present circumstance, that looks like a furlong hope. Given the negative connotations of meek as passive submissiveness in modern English, this is a problem.

Some linguistic archaeology is needed, both for Psalm 37:11 ‘But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity. The lowly will possess the land and will live in peace and prosperity. But under the present circumstance, this is not going to happen. Like they say; the patient dog starves to death’.

Without a doubt one of the classic descriptions of the poor comes from the book of Job: Like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go about their labor of foraging food; the wasteland provides food for their children. They gather fodder in the fields and glean in the vineyards of the wicked. Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked; they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold. They are drenched by mountain rains and hug the rocks for lack of shelter (Job 24:5-8).

Job continues, in his description, by pointing out the unfair nature of the social and economic situation, hinting at an abusive and unequal reality, and raising hard questions about the justice of God: The fatherless child is snatched from the breast; the infant of the poor is seized for a debt. Lacking clothes, they go about naked; they carry the sheaves but still go hungry. They crush the olives among the terraces; they tread the winepresses, yet suffer thirst. The groans of the dying rise from the city, the souls of the wounded cry out for help. . . . . . (Job 24:8-12)

Job has described what modern sociologists term “the social construction of poverty”. The category of “the poor” is socially constructed and socially maintained, at least in part, by those who are not poor.

Various kinds of social injustice are very much operative at various levels, namely, political, economic, social and even religious. The dialectics of the struggles between the rich and the poor, the haves and the have not’s; the employed and the unemployed, the powerful and powerless, has become a common place in Africa and has proved itself a great source of worry for the African masses.

We have got nepotism, provincialism, ethnocentrism or tribalism, and various forms of institutionalized social discriminations. This sort of social atmosphere, deeply poisoned and violently charged as it is, poses a serious obstacle to justice and its administration and to the recognition and observance of human rights.

In the domestic sphere, there is the glaring fact of irresponsible procreation or rather irresponsible conception which stubbornly perpetuates the reckless practice of launching new babies into the community, with or without the visibility of the means of livelihood.

In consequence recognizable human values are being jeopardized. It is human dignity and decency and security in the standard of living that are here being assailed, if not sacrifices.

Often irresponsible reproduction gives rise to domestic classrooms of ape-looking children suffering from acute malnutrition and want of care. It is also evident to all observes that illiteracy like malaria is a widespread plague.

Probably the greatest, obstacles to the realization of the human person is ignorance and illiteracy which warp and surround with darkness the human personality, as they inhibit its growth and development and kills and dims all hope.

The good life, which is often acknowledged as the purpose of education becomes impossible where ignorance and illiteracy are the order of the day. What they need is poverty alleviation spearheaded by education, even at its rudimentary level, which will open to them a vista of opportunities in a world increasingly dependent on knowledge.

This is where the state comes in, but unfortunately it has abdicated this role.

It is therefore striking to note that poverty is largely manmade, and not as a result of bad luck or unalterable destiny. What is obvious is the existence and operation of unjust sociopolitical and hence power structures, built on networks of domination and exploitation of the poor by the rich and powerful, which are a major cause of poverty.

Rabbana atina fid-dunya hasanatan wa fil ‘akhirati hasanatan waqina ‘adhaban-nar. Our Lord! Grant us good in this world and good in the hereafter, and save us from the chastisement of the fire. (Q2:201)

Barka Juma’at and happy weekend

By Babatunde Jose

Life after death takes two forms: a life in Paradise for those in whom their good deeds preponderate over the evil and a life in hell for the evil doers. The word Paradise (Firdaus) occurs only twice in the Quran; on one occasion with the word garden or Janna and on the other alone. It is the word Janna or in its plural Jannatul that is most often used to indicate the abode of the righteous.

As to those who believe and work righteous deeds, they have, for their entertainment, the Gardens of Paradise, (Quran 18:107); Who will inherit Paradise: They will dwell therein (forever). (Quran 23:11)

“The idea of paradise as a place of rest and refreshment in which the righteous live in the presence of God appears in Judaism and thence in both Christianity and Islam…The word itself is said to derive from Old Persian pairidzaeze, meaning an enclosed area, usually a royal park or pleasure garden, although some derive the word more simply from the Persian firdaws or garden. Whichever is the case, the origin is undoubtedly Persian.” – Edward Burman, The Assassins – Holy Killers of Islam. This is the origin of the Moslem saying, ‘Aljanna Firdaus’; which semantically is a tautology.

“There is also good indication that the Biblical paradise, which is described as a garden planted eastwards of Eden, from whose waters flow the four world rivers including the Tigris and Euphrates, may have been originally identical with Dilmun, the Sumerian paradise-land.” – S.N. Kramer, History Begins at Sumer. “.

In technical theological language the word is used for the inner circle of Heaven, or the highest Heaven, the destination of those who perfectly fulfil both requirements, viz.; a sound faith, and perfectly righteous conduct. Small faults in either respect are forgiven; the Mercy of Allah steps in.  But in the life to come, there is no doubt that every man will see the fruit of his life here, and the righteous will inherit heaven, in the sense that they will attain it after their death here. 

The description of Paradise as a garden with flowing rivers is a parable or a likeness and not an actuality as we know it here. The Quran explains:

The parable of the Garden which the righteous are promised! –Beneath it flow rivers: Perpetual is the enjoyment thereof and the shade therein: Such is the End of the Righteous; and the End of Unbelievers is the Fire. (Quran 13:35)

(Here is) a Parable of the Garden which the righteous are promised: In it are rivers of water incorruptible; rivers of milk of which the taste never changes; rivers of wine, a joy to those who drink; and rivers of honey pure and clear. In it there are for them all kinds of fruits; and Grace from their Lord. (Can those in such Bliss) be compared to such as shall dwell forever in the Fire, and be given, to drink, boiling water, so that it cuts up their bowels (to pieces)?(Quran 47:15)

In this description there are four kinds of drinks and all kinds of fruits; and the summing up of all delights in the “Forgiveness from their Lord”. These drinks, will cool the spirit, feed the heart, warm the affections, and sweeten life. See Surah 43:73. Forgiveness from their Lord: that is the covering up or blotting out of sin and all that was sad or unsatisfactory in the lower life; the pure light from the Countenance of Allah Most High: Sura 92:20. Cf. Sura 37:66-67. Just as the bliss of the Blessed will penetrate their being through and through, so the agony of the condemned ones will penetrate their being through and through.

Now no person knows what delights of the eye are kept hidden (in reserve) for them–as a reward for their (good) Deeds. (Quran 32:17)

Delights of the eye: an idiom for that which pleases most and gives most satisfaction. In our present state we can scarcely imagine the real bliss that will come to us in the future.

The prophet(SAW) said: “Allah says I have prepared for my righteous servants what no eye has seen and no ear has heard, and what the mind has not conceived” Bukhari 59:8

The fruits of Paradise whatever the names mentioned are not the fruits of this life. Similarly is the case with the rivers of water, milk and honey all of which are plainly spoken of as a parable ; the thrones , cushions, and carpets; the ornaments, bracelets and silk robes, are not things of this world and only serve to perfect the picture of the happiness of man as his sense are incapable of perceiving these things. They are only a likeness as is explained in the Quran.

The resurrection means quite a new life and new order of things, a new heaven and a new earth. Paradise extends over the whole of heaven and the universe:

Be ye foremost (in seeking) forgiveness from your Lord, and a Garden (of Bliss), the width whereof is as the width of heaven and earth, prepared for those who believe in Allah and His apostles: That is the Grace of Allah, which He bestows on whom He pleases: And Allah is the Lord of Grace abounding. (Quran 57:21) See also (Quran 3:132)

The Prophet (SAW) was asked, if Paradise encompasses all the universe, where then is Hell; he replied: Where is the night when the day comes?  This shows that Paradise and Hell are more like two conditions.

Watchful preparation in Life, and the light of faith, which reflects the divine light are matters of personal life, and cannot be borrowed from another. So, in Christ’s ‘Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matt. 15:1-13), when the foolish ones had let their lamps go out for want of oil, they asked to borrow oil from the wise ones, but the wise ones answered and said, “Not so; but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves”. The wall will divide the Good from the Evil. But the Gateway in it will show that communication will not be cut off. Evil must realize that Good-i.e., Mercy and Felicity-had been within its reach, and that the wrath which envelops it is due to its own rejection of Mercy.

It is in this vein that those who have conspired to make our lives miserable in this country will find themselves on the other side of the Resurrection divide. These include, the 10 percenters; embezzlers, outright raiders of the Exchequer, subsidy racketeers, kidnappers and the wreckers of our economy, including the Assemblymen and Senators.

As noted earlier, the things mentioned about Paradise are not the things of this world. It is therefore, with the same end in view that mention is made of the company of men and women in that state to which sensually minded people have attached a sensual significance.  This is the root of the misconception of ‘women in Paradise’. Nowhere in the Quran is it suggested that there would be a sexual relation between men and women in Paradise. This idea is a figment of the lustful imagination of depraved minds who think of part of the pleasures of paradise as being having sexual intercourse with young virgins. The Quran makes no such promise.

The wives of the righteous are mentioned as accompanying their husbands in paradise as co-beneficiaries of Allah’s Grace: They and their associates will be in cool groves of (cool) shade, reclining on Thrones (of dignity); (Quran 36:56)

“And grant, our Lord! That they enter the Gardens of Eternity, which Thou hast promised to them, and to the righteous among their fathers, their wives, and their posterity! For Thou art (He), the Exalted in Might, Full of Wisdom. (Quran 40:8)

According to the Quran concerning women in Paradise, we read: We have created (their Companions) of special creation.  And made them virgin pure (and undefiled), Beloved (by nature), equal in age, For the Companions of the Right Hand. (Quran 56:35-38)

In connection with their being a new creation, the Prophet (SAW) is reported to have said that all women who die old would on resurrection be transformed into virgins, equals in age. An anecdote is related of an old woman who asked the prophet if she would go to Paradise; he promptly replied that there would be no old women in paradise; dejected the woman was about to go when the Prophet added that, all women shall be made to grow into new growth. This, surely draw a picture of Paradise without the association of any sensual idea therein.

What is true of women is also true of children in Paradise. Round about them will (serve) youths of perpetual (freshness),(Quran 56:17)

And those who believe and whose families follow them in Faith, –to them shall We join their families: Nor shall We deprive them (of the fruit) of aught of their works: (yet) is each individual in pledge for his deeds. (Quran 52:21)

Literally, progeny, offspring and family; applied by extension to mean all near and dear ones. Love is unselfish, and works not merely, or chiefly, for self, but for others; provided the others have faith and respond according to their capacities or degrees, they will be joined together. Each individual is responsible for his conduct. There is therefore no indication or insinuation of sensual pleasure in Paradise.

Allah hath promised to Believers, men and women, Gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell therein, and beautiful mansions in Gardens of everlasting bliss. But the greatest bliss is the Good Pleasure of Allah: That is the supreme felicity. (Quran 9:72)

The ultimate goal of Paradise is our meeting with God. And that life is above all corporeal conceptions.

O ye who believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance: In the hope that your Lord will remove from you your ills and admit you to Gardens beneath which Rivers flow, –the Day that Allah will not permit to be humiliated the Prophet and those who believe with him. Their Light will run forward before them and by their right hands, while they say, “Our Lord! Perfect our Light for us, and grant us Forgiveness: For Thou hast power over all things.” (Quran 66:8)

The true joys of Paradise are thus really the true joys of advancement in righteousness.

Last Friday September 6, 2024, we lost venerable Chief Imam and Missioner of Anwar-ul-Islam Movement, Chief Imam Ahmad Babatunde Yoosuf, a righteous man. He was 97 years old. He was interned at Abari Muslim Cemetary on Saturday at an impressive farewell ceremony attended by the Muslim community of Lagos.

He was the longest serving Chief Imam of the Movement, having being turbaned in December 1980 (44 years). As members of Anwar-ul-Islam gather tomorrow to pray for the repose of his soul, we implore Almighty Allah to grant him Jannatul Firdausi.

 The truth is that only the righteous shall experience paradise, and we pray to be counted among them; including our departed ones: Amin.

Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend!