Editor's Note: Huffington Post Religion has launched a scripture commentary/reflection series, which will bring together leading voices from different religious traditions to offer their wisdom on selected religious texts. We are pleased to announce a series of reflections for the Holy Month of Ramadan featuring posts by HM Queen Noor, Dalia Mogahed, Eboo Patel, Kabir Helminski, and Rami Nashashibi. They will all be reflecting on a passage from the Qur'an, Sura 2:177, which appears below. Last month we featured Christian reflections on the Gospel by Rev. Jim Wallis, Dr. Serene Jones, Dr. Emilie Townes, Sister Joan Chittister, and Rev. James Martin, S.J. Coming in September we will feature Jewish commentaries for the High Holidays and in October Hindu commentary for Diwali. We hope all readers, Muslim and non-Muslim, will gain wisdom from the insights of our writers on the Holy Qur'an:
True piety does not consist in turning your faces towards the east or the west -- but truly pious is he who believes in God, and the Last Day; and the angels, and revelation, and the prophets; and spends his substance -- however much he himself may cherish -- it -- upon his near of kin, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer, and the beggars, and for the freeing of human beings from bondage; and is constant in prayer, and renders the purifying dues; and [truly pious are] they who keep their promises whenever they promise, and are patient in misfortune and hardship and in time of peril: it is they that have proved themselves true, and it is they, they who are conscious of God. (2:177 [Asad])
Many people, and not all of them from other faiths, would define Muslim piety as strictly adhering to Islam's exterior "rules," what in the modern West may seem like an endless list of dos and don'ts -- and mostly don'ts. While The Law is by no means irrelevant to Muslim piety, this ayah (the name for a verse in the Qur'an, which literally means "miracle" in Arabic) gives a more holistic picture. According to this passage, devotion to God is not merely about the motions -- facing towards the east or west -- but about the belief in certain ideals and the courage to act on them.
The scholars of Quranic revelation sequence explain that God revealed this verse shortly after He ordered the faithful to change the direction of prayer from Jerusalem to Mecca. This shift in the rules legislating worship made some people nervous. The ayah was responding by expanding their and our understanding of religiosity.
The verse begins with the foundation of piety -- belief in God. Islamic monotheism functionally means making God -- not money, ambition, or any other selfish interests -- lord of our lives. The implications are profound. It means ethics must rule over impulse, principles must supersede passions. It means that we must treat each other not according to the pull of society's power differentials, but according to the compassion prescribed by The All-Powerful.
The lifelong process of purifying the heart of its attachments to false deities, and therefore realizing true monotheism, is the very essence of our purpose.
The rest of the verse integrates the "how to" and the "outcome of" this cleansing process. To lead a God-centric life, we need to be grounded in faith, which means believing in that which we cannot see or measure in a laboratory -- an idea captured by the belief in angels. We also need guidance, what God's prophets and revelation provide.
However, beyond the theory, people need hands-on training to put God first. That is where Islam's devotional requirements or "five pillars" come in. The pillars of Islam, which include prayer, paying the purifying alms, fasting Ramadan, and pilgrimage to Mecca, like other "pillars," exists to support something, not just to exist. These tools, each in their own way, help free our hearts from the shackles of earthly addictions. Deep and regular connection with God through the five daily prayers gives us perspective and spiritual strength often worn away by the clamor of life's immediacy.
Sharing our wealth with those in need, though it is dear to us, gives us practice putting God before material gain. By giving some of our money to the orphan and the wayfarer in kinship, not patronage, we empower ourselves to be masters of our material processions, not their slaves, while at the same time building brotherhood in society.
The outcome of this dual-learning approach of principles and practice should be a heart and mind wired toward justice and compassion, and actions to prove it. The Prophet saw this as the core of his mission. He famously said, "I was only sent to perfect good character" -- good character demonstrated in trustworthiness, integrity and patience in times of great turmoil, as the ayah goes on to explain.
This is what it means to be truly pious, leading a life of principles, not just ritual prescriptions.
Dalia Mogahed is Executive Director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies. She writes here in her personal capacity.
Follow Dalia Mogahed on Twitter: www.twitter.com/dmogahed
She consistently avoid mentioning that sharing wealth and showing compassion is strictly restricted to the believers; for the non believers, different sets of rule apply.
and yet look in answer at at some of the denigrating and bigoted posts here.
plain barking mad
Can you explain?
so many times you hear the question "where are the muslim voices of moderation?" "where are the muslim voices of condemnation for inter-muslim sectarian violence?" while all around the muslim voices of moderation and the voices of condemnation are everywhere around those asking the question.
the askers are blind to the actual manifestation of what they ask for
they are blind to this I believe because they are ignorant of Islam or have a misconception
of course the role of the governement is to share the wealth , through taxes and make things that will be usefull for everybody like roads or bridge.
dont rich people use roads ? bridges ? clean streets ? well they need to give something back to the community
but god , please , stay out of my life , my property and my business ...
What will happen when Ratzinger, Robertson, Bin Laden all realize they are preaching the same hatred and intolerance? What will happen if they all join forces to cram as much misery into the human condition as possible? Its a good thing that so far, their own bigotry gets in the way of them joining of forces, because they all have the same Orwellian dystopia in mind for humanity and the will to commit any atrocity to make that dystopia a reality. But there are signs that they will join forces, like when Pat Robertson said the US deserved 9-11.
You will never hear a Muslim say anything about Prophet Jesus (pbh) and Prophet Mosses (pbh) not only do we believe that they are messangers of God, like all the others, and showing our respect for them is a tenet of Islam.
The task that all three scriptures and religious traditions give us is to fight the tribal impulse and realize that our true self-interest lies in building brotherly love globally.
"I'm right, and everyone else is wrong."
This scripture commentary makes me think about what 17th century philosopher Spinoza calls 'true religion': he claims that if you 'scientifically' study the Bible to try to understand what this book is really saying, it's difficult to know anything about God himself, but there do is one single message that remains, once you leave out all the contradictions etc., and that is:
being a religious person means relating everything to God, and doing so will increase the presence of two fundamental virtues, i.e. those virtues which, when you try to put them in practice each and every day, are exactly what makes a person truely 'pious': charity and justice, in other words love.
According to Spinoza, this 'true religion' is universal (= accessible to every human being), and at the core of every particular religion.
It's interesting, because this article seems to confirm that idea.
Thanks for the article Dalia Mogahed!
Love alone is not the answer to true religion. Christianity which equates God with Love only deals with one aspect of God and there are many. The course correction was needed to counter the effects of human corruption on the last major course correction, the message of Moses. This course correction (Judaism) established laws of God and can be seen as a counter to human activity at the time when the Egyptian Pharaohs had begun establishing courts. Jewish obsession with Gods code forgot them love which Jesus came to remind them of.
The Koran (the final course correction to be made) has come with both Love and Law
That is an Islamic perspective
would Jesus vote no against laws of justice for all, laws of true justice, fair, equal regulation laws protection for all Jesus middle class poor, on wall Street?
Would there be a wall street in God's Kingdom his house? Would one need a wall street in God's house?
Did Jesus ever rebuke Caesar, when he stood before him?
Did Jesus not know that whom God places in authority, power over his sheep, will also be judged? If a good shepherd or bad shepherd, that all placed in their seat of power by God will be tested and judge more harshly then others, also? Feed my sheep?
Has God not even laws of judges? Commanded to serve true justice for all?
Has God not commanded no one in power is to take bribes, but serve in true justice for all his people? Feed my sheep.
I ask there no rich or poor with God is there?
Nor in God's Kingdom. No one goes without.
did not God say, In heaven there is no Jew, Greek, man or woman, rich or poor etc?
But all are one, family? God's children who he is our Father.
Would Jesus vote no, not work for affordable health care for all citizens?
Or would Jesus be, fighting for, rising premiums, voting yes yes, to maintain Jesus, profit margins instead?
Just asking, you will know them by their fruits
Not only that, you have been respectful of the writer's intent in this interfaith series. What has made some folks so angry? That Christianity was not first in the series? That Islam was first? That's Islamophobia-- the far right cause du jour-- talking. You nailed it. Oops, I did not mean it literally. ;-)
The World needs a better system to strive for, right now the most popular model is the American and Western European though the results of these models (as seen in America and Western Europe) though capable of providing some great benefits still amount to a zero sum game on true justice, true freedom, true liberty and true democracy
maybe democracy without trash is just not possible by humans and all we can do is minimise it
Would Jesus call the unemployed, drug addicts or lazy?
Did Jesus call the poor when he walked among them, they were poor, because they were, drug addicts or lazy?
Would Jesus give the wealthy more tax cuts and raise taxes on the middle class hard labors instead?
Or would Jesus give the middle class, a honest days work, for a honest days wage? True value of their hard labors?
Would Jesus only created jobs, if he was only given massive tax cuts? Or would Jesus serve all and share with all, all he had?
Would Jesus, himself, be happy with a living wage, or would Jesus also demand massive profits on top?
Would Jesus judge and hate others of different faiths? Or did Christ serve his enemies (his enemies, all of us) and died for enemies, those who hated him, instead?
Did Jesus ever spew, his hate, bitterness, kill anyone, or ever carried a sword, or force anyone to accept his word of God as truth?
Muslims believe in the say God we do, but practice their laws same Moses more strickly till this day. Muslims have never mocked Jesus, or used in cartoons or made jokes with his name, or have used Jesus name in cursing, either. Muslims honor, believe in Jesus, but not has their savior, but as a prophet of God only. To use Jesus name and mock him, to Muslims is blasphemy against God, for Jesus was a prophet of God, to the Muslims.
Muslims honor greatly Jesus Mother Mary, and the Blessed Virgin is written more about her in their holy book, then in the Bible.