Most, if not all religions, function in the world of symbolism and communicate their universal messages to their followers through these religious symbols. Rituals, sacraments, prayers, worship services, religious ceremonies and more are nothing but to invite believers to engage with very deep ethical, moral and spiritual teachings through set of symbols and symbolic acts and behaviors. These religious symbols are never meant to be goals as themselves but vehicles and agents to much higher ultimate goals. If one does not get lost in the actual practice of these religious symbolic acts but constantly strives to get connected and feed him or herself with the deep teachings beneath these acts, he or she could develop a healthy spirituality, strong ethical and moral values, righteousness and more. However, it is one of the most common human weaknesses to easily get disconnected from what those religious symbols have been trying to teach us and keep practicing them as a form of habit or regular task that we feel obliged to do.
Islam, through its foundational texts (Holy Quran and Sunnah), and daily, monthly and annual rituals and practices, offers one of the richest such worlds of pedagogy of symbols to Muslims. Every Islamic ritual and practice is an invitation for the believers to commit themselves to a process of increasing purity, tranquility and peace in their internal and external world. This khutba is an invitation for me and to all to strive to live Islam meaningfully and purposefully by paying attention to the language of those religious symbols.
Let me discuss several such central Islamic symbols in this regard. What is religiously more central, for believing and practicing Muslims, than five daily prayers in their lives? We stop and pause five times a day, every day through out our adult lives to pray. Wherever we may be, Muslim men and women rush to the water tabs, take our ritual ablution (Wudu), spread our prayer rugs toward the proper direction, and then stand, bow and prostrate before God Almighty five times a day, every day of the year. Every single step of these five daily prayers are nothing but a series of Islamic symbols and in high volumes talks to us about the ethical moral teachings of our beautiful religion. We should not fail to pay attention to their voices as we practice these Islamic rituals. Otherwise they will turn into voiceless, repetitive acts of useless traditionalism.
Let's start reflecting on our ritual ablution practices that we do before we pray. We wash our hands, wash our mouths, our arms unto our elbows, clean the dust on our heads and wash our ears and feet. The purpose of this symbolic cleansing is not only for our physical hygiene and health but more importantly to engage in a conversation and prayers of thanksgiving and forgiveness with God Almighty and with ourselves. If we pay attention to the meaning of the prayers we say during this ritual bath, the believer in effect says, as she or he washes each and every body part in that process, "Thank you merciful God for this healthy hand, mouth, tongue, eyes, nose, ears and feet. Their health is from you as you are the source of all blessings. Empower and guide me to do good things with them and I ask forgiveness for the wrong things that I have done or might have done with them." These ritualistic symbols are there to make the believers slow down and remember if he/she might have said something hurtful or have done anything ethically, morally questionable with his/her hands, eyes, ears, feet and so on since the last prayer. These Islamic symbols are there to clean and purify and improve us internally, spiritually, ethically and morally if we can constantly engage and pay attention to their symbolic language and voice.
Our prayer rug is another Islamic symbol. I call our prayer rugs "Portable Muslim Airports." We set up this portable symbolic airport to spiritually take off to the higher realities and meanings, to our five daily appointments with the Beloved, and after our brief reunion with our Maker, we land back to earth to our regular lives. As we pray, we practice symbols such as standing in awe of God, bow and prostrate before God. All these symbols teaches us and reminds us our main identity: Being Human, completely dependent on God. These symbols attacks our arrogance, the idea of self-glory and inflated egos. They humble us before God and fellow human beings. However, these symbolic practices will only have their real affect on us by not just doing them but by allowing their deep meanings to tame our internal demons and shape our souls.
These Islamic symbols are not exclusively limited to our worship and prayer lives only but could be found in every distinct Islamic ritual related to our personal, professional, family and communal lives. Take Islamic marriage contracts (Nikah) for example. If one pays attention to how these religious contracts are crafted, they will see that every symbolic ritual is there for a purpose of teaching and inspiration. The fact that Islam requires for couples to draft a written contract and sign it in the presence of reliable witnesses, symbolically tells these souls who are committing themselves to this serious business of marriage: "Love, mutual respect and mutual consent is essential for the success of such holy union but simply not enough to sustain happy marriage. Marriage requires a lot of work and investment from all sides to work. All contributing factors need to be discussed and agreed upon with a firm commitment prior to marriage." The symbolic practices of such Nikah contracts invites couples to take this very seriously and built their marriage upon sound foundations.
These Nikah contracts, the way they have been uniquely done according to Islamic regulations, simultaneously encourage and warn the future husbands and wives to the potential challenges and opportunities, gender dynamics and more. For example, one of the main requirements of Islamic marriage contract is Mahr, where the groom promises to pay a substantial amount of money to bride which functions as a financial insurance and guarantee to women in case if marriage goes wrong. This genius Islamic practice is a lot more than potential problem solving. For a man to agree Mahr before even marriage starts, this Islamic practice symbolically tell this about to be husband guy in high volumes: "There is something in men's soul and psyche, if it is not tamed and disciplined, which can bring so much harm to marriage, cause abuse and destruction." The practice of Mahr is a clear warning for potential male domination and domestic violence. By agreeing to the institution of Mahr, Muslim men symbolically acknowledge this potential danger and promise to constantly work against it. I wish more Muslims would take Nikah contracts and its very many beautiful symbolic teachings more seriously these days.
Fellow believers, extend the microphone to every single Islamic ritual and symbolic act (as you practice, study and or learn about them) and listen to what they have to say very closely. Those symbols are not just symbols but powerful way of our beautiful religion communicates her moral ideals with her adherents. Let us resist becoming lost and losing sight in the external Dos and Do Nots of these symbolic Islamic rituals and practices. Let us strive to mindfully engage and shape our lives with beautiful messages that they give us. May Almighty guide us and be our source of strength in this process, inshallah. Amin.
Follow Imam Abdullah Antepli on Twitter: www.twitter.com/aantepli
Iman Hariri-Kia: Think Before You Stereotype
One of the things that brought me to Islam was a desire for a deep connection with the Beloved. There is so much in Islam that reminds us to remember all day long that we are watched over and are here on this planet to serve the Beloved.
It ain't easy, but its worth the struggle. Islam has helped me live my life dedicated to the Divine. And there is always room to go even deeper into my relationship with God. Because there are many ways to be with God even amongst people who practice the same religion, it causes me to consider my relationship with everything.
Even daily conversations with people and the music I choose to listen to can become prayerful and mindful. It can create peace in my heart which can then overflow into the world. insha'Allah.
Please continue guiding us via the symbols. Once it is esoteric, going inward, there is so much depth and beauty in our religion.
Peace be with all creation.
Peace be with you.
Your Islam (Surrender) appears to be true Islam and your Jihad (Struggle) a true Jihad.
I have a feeling that my La ilahha (there is no god) is more similar to your La illaha el-Allah (There is no god but God), than either of us may admit at all times...
your La illaha el-Allah (There is no god but God), than either of us may
admit at all times..."
Would you elaborate on this? :) Insha'Allah, I will spend the day contemplating on this. Thank You!
Peace be with you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98XqT4kBWT4
George Harrison-My Sweet Lord
http://youtu.be/9qdKZBXMX5E
Ya Allah! Hare Krishna! Praise the Lord!
As you can see they make fun of the symbols of Islam and pull the wagon to somewhere else. May I suggest that you translate what AMENTU and Kenz-ul Arsch states nextime. Perhaps then they or few will comprehend what islam stands for and what is the meaning of a moslem. Selamlar
Please do not mix traditions of nations with the religion. Arabic, and some of the Asian nations who are members of the Islamic world are still following their traditions which are thousands of years old.
Consider the following, Moslems do remember the Crusaders which came to their land 17 times. Not for GOD mostly for Gold.
Another issue when Scottish Princess was handed over to French king she was a child.
There are many examples, women issues...did you know that Turkish women got voting rights before American women? Let us not play with the words. You are free to choose whatever you think. The creator of the heavens knows it all and sees it all. so may you be blessed...and I hope that when you read history through other sources , you will see that I am telling the truth. Ha.. polygamy,.... have you heard of Mormons and early..11-1-13 Century catholic popes? If tolerance is the issue begining from 1293 until 1920 Islam would have been the dominant religion in Europe due to vast lands of Ottoman empire...
I realy suggest you dig some more in to the issues you are talking about. Respectfully,
Sexual slavery isn't part of Islam. Remember Abraham, the spiritual father of Jews, Christians and Muslims, had a son w/Hagar, a slave? Jews, Christians and Muslims are smarter than you think. We don't condone slavery.
Scholars resesarched the hadith on Aisha being 6. Most now agree that she was at least 19 when she entered into marriage.
Verses used to "prove" "non-tolerance" refer to historical events. Muslims were harrassed, beaten, forced out of homes & into a small area (like Jews forced into ghettos). It led to war, but Quran is CLEAR Muslims can't be aggressors.
Quran granted women rights centuries before US changed laws about wives being property. Look at history at that time & you'll see Muhammad was a feminist. Buddha taught women have to be re-incarnated as men to enjoy nirvana. Islam teaches God created genders equal.
Mistranslation of the word daraba ignores the fact that daraba is used 20+ times in Quran; most times it doesn't mean beat, but western translators lived in societies where wives were property (wives vowed to love, honor and OBEY).
To you your way, to me mine. Peace.
(Quran 2:177)
My question, to Abdullah Antepli and anyone knowledgeable in general, was how the symbolic aspects of the Islamic concepts of decency and modesty became so disproportionately assigned to women? I am thinking of Hijab in particular.
Don't get me wrong, allthough my thoughts about female beauty, sexuality and interaction differ greatly from the Islamic interpretation, I respect the choice to follow another code on modesty and privacy. It just seems unbalanced to me in daily practice. In the sense that there seems to be a shortage on shielding women from men's desires, and a surplus on shielding men from female beauty. These are IMO two very different things.
To stay on-topic: the 'overkill' on certain symbols seems to be taking prevalence over the original intent of respectfully protecting decency and morality.
PS: I just saw a blog popping up on this site with Hijab in the title, guess that will be my next stop for information.
Yes, I have in the UK. T-shirt, shorts, sneakers. Followed at the regulation distance by a woman in a Niqab. At the time, I wondered if they had really understood what they were doing.
thank you for the insights in some of the well-known Islamic symbols. I agree all too often symbols become meaningless, people practicing them but at the same time neglecting to fulfill the values they represent. I'm not just talking about Islam, or even religion.
I do have a question about the hijab though. It is my understanding 'veil' between man and god, or between women and men is the most neutral, original meaning. How did it evolve from that to the common use today, along with the practice of making it mostly a female responsibility?
I'm a big fan of the female body, consider sexuality a healthy thing and regard free interaction between people a critical component of society. But if you or other individuals prefer the Islamic version of decency and modesty, I respect that. The unbalance between the roles of man and woman within this concept makes no sense though.
So, why?
I realize you are asking the author, but I, as a woman, would like to speak for myself as a woman here.
The hijab is a spiritual tool. It is not a tool for imprisoning women. It acknowledges how beautiful every woman is inside and out. It acknowledges our inner beauty and also acknowledges that women are beautiful creations of the Beloved.
I would recommend you open your heart up by acknowledging you may have something to learn about women who wear hijab. Do this by asking women who wear hijab and then truly open yourself to the way we experience it.
Sexuality is also honored deeply in Islam. A couple years ago, a Muslim man asked his imam if he could open a shop that sold sex toys. His imam said it was acceptable. I think Islam teaches us to honor that sex is sacred though. AIDS taught us that sexual revolution of the 60s and what followed is not healthy for humanity. Not because sex is unhealthy, but because practiced irresponsibly it will pass on stds and create millions of children who were not really wanted.
I hope this helps and you see that I, as a Muslim woman, know that in God's eyes the genders are equal. It honors that in a way that should empower me in my society. If hijab, etc., is used to oppress, it is not truly what God taught us about gender equality in Quran..
Peace be with you.
I alwasy try to adress the author because I never know to what extend his/her opinion reflects that of the group. That doesn't mean I don't want others like you to help me out as well.
Your views on sexuality, and the meaning of Hijab (concept) and wearing a hijab (the garment) certainly don't sound wrong or misogynic to me. I do understand many Muslims take a healthy approach on sexuality and female beauty. I also see no problem at all with wearing a hijab in particular.
My concern are with the way the Islamic concept of modesty is applied. I know men must cover themselves from knees to navel at the very least, avert their gaze and all that, but on the whole the way Hijab is implemented seems to imply any sexual tension are caused by women('s bodies) and that the responsibility of the man to control his primitive desires when nescessary doesn't exist.
But I am still learning. And I know that many Muslims, including men, don't only follow Islam, but also their good nature. I won't ever consider you a homogenous group.
Thank you for the insights.
In these matters Islam is no different than any other system of belief.
I think whirling dervishes remember much more than you think they do. They are lost in divine remembrance and nothing can be forgotten when God is always remembered.
La ilaha ill Allah!