Paul Salahuddin Armstrong, Founder and Director of Wulfruna Sufi Association
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Meeting with Bnei Baruch Association UK
Paul Salahuddin Armstrong of Wulfruna Sufi Association meeting with members of Bnei Baruch Association UK, at their event “Studying the Zohar with Rav Michael Laitman” on January 3rd 2010. Kabbalah is an ancient wisdom and spiritual path, helping to connect us to our Creator and in unity with one another. Kabbalah has much in common with Sufism.
Prophet Muhammad’s Promise To Christians
Free to be Christian?
There exists in the Sinai a document written by the Prophet of Islam that clearly lays out the responsibility Muslims have to protect the Christians that live in their midst. It is a potent reminder of our collective responsibility to look after our neighbors.
Muslims and Christians together constitute over fifty percent of the world and if they lived in peace, we will be half way to world peace. One small step that we can take towards fostering Muslim-Christian harmony is to tell and retell positive stories and abstain from mutual demonization.
I propose to remind both Muslims and Christians about a promise that Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) made to Christians. The knowledge of this promise can have enormous impact on Muslim conduct towards Christians. Muslims generally respect the precedent of their Prophet and try to practice it in their lives.
In 628 AD, a delegation from St. Catherine’s Monastery came to Prophet Muhammed and requested his protection. He responded by granting them a charter of rights, which I reproduce below in its entirety. St. Catherine’s Monastery is located at the foot of Mt. Sinai and is the world’s oldest monastery. It possess a huge collection of Christian manuscripts, second only to the Vatican, and is a world heritage site. It also boasts the oldest collection of Christian icons. It is a treasure house of Christian history that has remained safe for 1400 years under Muslim protection.
The Promise to St. Catherine:
“This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them.
Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them.
No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims’ houses.
Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God’s covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate.
No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants.
No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world).”
The first and the final sentence of the charter are critical. They make the promise eternal and universal. Muhammed asserts that Muslims are with Christians near and far straight away rejecting any future attempts to limit the promise to St. Catherine alone. By ordering Muslims to obey it until the Day of Judgment the charter again undermines any future attempts to revoke the privileges. These rights are inalienable. Muhammed declared Christians, all of them, as his allies and he equated ill treatment of Christians with violating God’s covenant.
A remarkable aspect of the charter is that it imposes no conditions on Christians for enjoying its privileges. It is enough that they are Christians. They are not required to alter their beliefs, they do not have to make any payments and they do not have any obligations. This is a charter of rights without any duties!
The document is not a modern human rights treaty but even thought it was penned in 628 A.D. it clearly protects the right to property, freedom of religion, freedom of work, and security of the person.
I know most readers, must be thinking so what? Well the answer is simple. Those who seek to foster discord among Muslims and Christians focus on issues that divide and emphasize areas of conflict. But when resources such as Muhammad’s promise to Christians is invoked and highlighted it builds bridges. It inspires Muslims to rise above communal intolerance and engenders good will in Christians who might be nursing fear of Islam or Muslims.
When I look at Islamic sources, I find in them unprecedented examples of religious tolerance and inclusiveness. They make me want to become a better person. I think the capacity to seek good and do good inheres in all of us. When we subdue this predisposition towards the good, we deny our fundamental humanity. In this holiday season, I hope all of us can find time to look for something positive and worthy of appreciation in the values, cultures and histories of other peoples.
(Photo by Bakar_88 via flickr under a Creative Commons license)
Merry Christmas 2009
Wishing everyone a joyous and blessed Christmas,
and all the very best for the New Year!
Vayigash
Slightly edited to ease understanding and reposted here with permission from a Jewish friend; from a portion in the annual cycle of Jewish Torah reading (Parshat Vayigash). The lessons contained herein are universal. Lets build upon our common ground, to establish good relations between people of different faiths.
Blessings and peace,
Paul Salahuddin Armstrong
———
Parshat Vayigash starts in the middle of the story of Joseph (Yoseph/Yusuf), peace be upon him, confronting his brothers. After holding back as long as he could, Joseph finally revealed his identity, and eventually asked for his father to be brought down to him. When Jacob (Yaakov/Yaqub), his father, peace be upon him, finally did come, Joseph took him to meet Pharaoh, setting up a confrontation between two opposing powers; Jacob was the spiritual leader in his generation, while Pharaoh ruled the physical. Their conversation seems (47:8-10) strange at first glance. The only question Pharaoh asked Jacob was (literally) “How many are the days of the years of your life?” which is not only a strange question, but is obviously worded strangely, too. The response seems even more bizarre, when Jacob answers that “the days of the years of my (physical) living is 130 years, (but) the days of the years of my life are few and bad, and did not surpass those of my fathers.” What does all the obscure language mean? Why didn’t Jacob answer Pharaoh’s question directly by just telling him how old he was? And who asked about Jacob’s forefathers?
Rav Hirsch helps us by explaining that Pharaoh actually asked Jacob how many truly meaningful, spiritual days he had had in all the years of his lifetime. Jacob answered by first explaining to Pharaoh that although his physical years were 130, he didn’t look at those physical numbers. Instead, his focus was on achieving the spritual greatness of his forefathers, and answered that he hadn’t reached that goal. Physical numbers meant nothing unless there was a spiritual purpose attached to it. And although Jacob didn’t reach his own personal goals, he’s our forefather BECAUSE he struggled to reach them. That’s the lesson Jacob taught Pharaoh, and that’s the lesson we must learn: We mustn’t get caught up in our clothing designers, cars and bank accounts, but must strive to be more spiritual, where the only thing that really ‘counts’ is effort. We should all commit to doing at least one action a day (give charity, read the scriptures, learn about our religion, pray, meditate on God’s names) to make deposits into the only bank account that really counts – the spiritual kind.
Why Hate?
By Paul Salahuddin Armstrong
I hate the attitude of hate… Why hate? I love God, love His prophets, love His saints, love creation, and love all people! On this, virtually all religions would agree, yet then they pick at straws: their concept of God (or gods) -only, their prophets/avatars/saints/gurus -only, people of their sect -only. Why? Many scriptures, especially of course the Holy Torah, Holy Bible and Holy Qur’an, but even some Hindu scriptures, testify to the Oneness of God!
“Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad” (Holy Torah, Deuteronomy 6:4), “Allahu Ahad” (Holy Qur’an 112:1), God is One and only! If God is One and only, as the scriptures testify, our concepts of God are purely human constructs, God is way above such false limitations being placed upon His Divine Majesty! God inspired all prophets, avatars, saints and gurus who spoke Truth, irrespective of which artificial religious institutions later placed claims upon them. The creation is the reflection of God’s divine attributes, in the material world, which transcends any particular religious claims to it. Humanity is part of God’s creation, each person a manifestation of one of God’s divine names in the flesh. How can we then hate anyone, when all people were created by the same God of all creation, all religions and all humanity?
According to the scriptures of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, we are all descended from Adam and Hawwa (Eve), the first man and the first woman. Adam in Hebrew means “Earth”, as well as man. The Arabic letters that make up the name Adam; Alif, Dal, Mim; indicate the positions of our Salaah (daily worship), standing, bowing and prostrating, which is similar to a traditional form of worship found in Judaism as well. Thus indicating our utter dependence upon God.
Through Adam, humanity’s connection to the Earth, which our bodies are formed from and one day return back to, is made abundantly clear. Surely, this should inspire within us a certain degree of reverence and respect for nature. God willing, we may return to our role of stewardship, “God’s viceregents” (khalifa) of the Earth, taking good care of the creation God has entrusted to us.
Through Adam, we may see our common heritage. Modern science too, now acknowledges our mitochondrial DNA, demonstrates we were all descended from a woman, even they’ve called “Eve”. Whether we are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Druze, Samaritan, Zoroastrian, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Confucian, Shintoist, Animist, Agnostic or Atheist; we are all one very extended family, each branch blessed with their own unique characteristics, qualities, tastes, culture, crafts and skills. Oh how God has blessed humanity! How can we then be ungrateful?
Anuna : Jerusalem [Extract]
Was Ayesha A Six-Year-Old Bride?
The Ancient Myth Exposed
by T.O. Shanavas
A Christian friend asked me once, “Will you marry your seven year old daughter to a fifty year old man?” I kept my silence. He continued, “If you would not, how can you approve the marriage of an innocent seven year old, Ayesha, with your Prophet?” I told him, “I don’t have an answer to your question at this time.” My friend smiled and left me with a thorn in the heart of my faith. Most Muslims answer that such marriages were accepted in those days. Otherwise, people would have objected to Prophet’s marriage with Ayesha.
However, such an explanation would be gullible only for those who are naive enough to believe it. But unfortunately, I was not satisfied with the answer.
The Prophet was an exemplary man. All his actions were most virtuous so that we, Muslims, can emulate them. However, most people in our Islamic Center of Toledo, including me, would not think of betrothing our seven years daughter to a fifty-two year-old man. If a parent agrees to such a wedding, most people, if not all, would look down upon the father and the old husband.
In 1923, registrars of marriage in Egypt were instructed not to register and issue official certificates of marriage for brides less than sixteen and grooms less than eighteen years of age. Eight years later, the Law of the Organization and Procedure of Sheriah courts of 1931 consolidated the above provision by not hearing the marriage disputes involving brides less than sixteen and grooms less than eighteen years old. (Women in Muslim Family Law, John Esposito, 1982). It shows that even in the Muslim majority country of Egypt the child marriages are unacceptable…
Happy Chanukah
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