You know, there are plenty of times in my life where I have felt so close to Allah that it fits all of the descriptions that the Prophet (ص) described in numerous ahadith. However, Christians, Hindus and members of all other religions claim to have religious experiences of God (and whatever they believe about Him). Homosexual Muslims claim closeness to God and so do panatheists. The point is, what is that feeling that makes us feel so close to Him? And what distinguishes the experiences of Muslims that follow the Qur’an in it’s entirety (and correctly), and those that do not, or of people of other religions?
I have been very confused about this for some time. How do I know that my feeling is not wrong? I think many other people feel this way. And often it leads to the over-restrictive interpretations, and conversely for some, it leads to the total liberation from any legislation of Shariah in forms of worship.
I have been putting this enquiry to my teacher for some weeks, and I finally managed to put it right today. He told me to be careful of the following distinctions, and that to ensure that only one is not overstated, but that there is an equilibrium, so that each is regulating the other. The distincitons were the following, taken from Hadith Jibreel:
Iman – Belief
Islam – Actions
Ihsan – To worship Allah as if you see Him.
(My comments adapated from his): To have one of these, but not the other renders one, in some cases, a non-Muslim, and in other cases an incomplete one. For example, to have Ihsan (that feeling of closeness to Allah), unregulated by the knowledge (and belief) of Him, His revelations, Angels, Messengers that which he has decreed and His accounting of us means that one has a feeling that is being wasted and is not Muslim. When that feeling is placed inside of you it needs to be nurtured according to truth, just like a person’s desires need to be controlled (whether religiously or socially prescribed).
The converse is dangerous, though, I think not as bad. If one has iman, but no Ihsan, one’s actions become in some sense robotic. The love, recognition, hope, emotion, voluntary (happy) conviction to religion is not achieved. How can one love the Prophet (ص) more than oneself if he is simply ‘believed to be a messenger’. Having Ihsan means comprehending the beauty of Allah, His Creation, His actions and His description. It means loving the actions of the Prophet ( because they were beautiful in themselves, not just beacause they were right (in a legislative sense), but because they were the best, and the best is what we want to emulate by our very nature.
Similarly in the case of Islam, i.e. the action prescribed in the Shariah. If it is not coupled with iman, it is worthless, and done in vain. Good action without the truth in it’s motivation is worthless. It’s like being motivated to help an old lady cross the road because you believe if you don’t, you will be eaten by a monstor. False beliefs motivate unworthy actions. While you should be commended for helping the lady, you are irrational, and I certainly wouldn’t trust you crossing the road with my grandmother. But also, and more importantly, Allah does not accept falsehood about Him, especially when He has made it clear in the various revelations and sending of Prophets.
Also, ihsan with islam causes problems. I think it leads to a very left-wing way of thinking. The good feeling of faith, and following the pillars without belief and the full implementation of the sharia leads to a person admiring the legal framework and the beauty felt inside of him, but never really takes the truth of the matter seriously.
Of course, there are not many Muslims without all 3. But the rise in sectarian behaviour, people being over metaphorical, overly literal, overly apolitical or the opposite leads to divides within the community. This normally means that a person has been emphasising one or two too much, or one or two too less. An equilibrium needs to be sought…
Jazakallah. Good post.