I have always wondered, what exactly is an ummah? Is it a theoretical political construct, a spiritual community, or both? It seems that all too often we refer to the ummah as a national polity invoking the suffering of co-religionists in a political sense, especially with the ubiquitous violence plaguing so many Muslim societies and Muslim-majority countries. But what about spiritual suffering? Muslims are engaged socially, politically and culturally to stop injustice, but are they engaged spiritually as well to stave off the corrosive effects of materialism, logical positivism and empiricism, powerful intellectual currents that have transformed national economies but not souls.
I think the emphasis on the ummah as a national body is a bit overdone leading to a type of nationalist Islam that is more focused on political ills rather than spiritual diseases. I feel the suhba of many Muslims is filled with discussions of politics rather than spiritual states and refinement of the self. I think my spiritual journey and the journey of many others would be helped if politics was not always the main issue for our Muslim gatherings, but rather how to help ourselves become better people. We focus too much on saving the world rather than ourselves.
And I don't mean that to be selfish, but I genuinely believe that we can't change significantly what's out there until we change what is in our heart of hearts first. And it's not that our religious gatherings don't involve the invocation of God and His remembrance, but it seems a formality rather than a genuine commune with the truest Reality. I need to be surrounded by people who are intoxicated with God's love rather than the news. And don't get me wrong. Politics and social activism are needed. We must be engaged participants in our societies to change them for the better. But politics is an outward struggle. We need some inward struggle as well. There must be a balance struck between the inner and outward; a synthesis that draws on the material means (asbab) and the inner ocean of perfection, majesty and subtlety that is He and has no shores.
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5 comments:
Well put, masha'Allah
salam, very nice m/A I agree completely...
As salamu alaykum!
I always understood the Ummah as a family, a community of brothers and sisters, bonded by our faith in Allah and his Prophets (peace be upon them all).
As to inner versus outer jihad -- someone wise once said, "Religion without spirituality is as empty as spirituality without religion." Inner purification and outer purification go hand in hand. Yet it seems the majority of Muslims neglect the one or the other...
The Straight Path is thinner than a hair's breadth. May Allah guide us all and unite us in brotherhood and sisterhood!
p.s. Zanjabil's blog has moved to Adamite.
good article.
http://radicalmuslim.blogsome.com/
A complex issue dear Jordan. The concept of an Ummma is very difficult to understand. There are probably several ways of establishing one's connection to other Muslims, which may be the most basic sense of an Umma. For example, one is part of the Umma insofar as she bears witness to the oneness of God and Muhammad as God's prophet. So, at some level, all those who testify this are part of the Umma. At a more complex level, the Umma may be the community of believers who are united in more ways than just the shahada. Perhaps, the Umma isn't so Muslim-centric and extends to all those who have a spirit.
At any rate, it seems to be a complex idea that has the risks of being too inclusive and/or too exclusive.
I agree that the political platform of many Muslims today is perhaps too easy to stand on. We can all rally around Palestine but we can't seem to treat one another to a warm hug every Friday after prayer. This is a common problem within any community: wherein one issue dominates collective interests at the expense of others of equal importance.
Maybe the separation between inward/outward is a bit too mind/body for me. Political issues can often deepen one's sense of their own presence in the world, especially when a sincere activist encounters the feeling of empathy that connects them to a cause. I recall the deep sense of emotional pain I felt after learning that the US would invade Iraq. A very abstract issue generated a very profound sense of suffering that taught me about the deep spiritual connection that not only linked me to a "cause" but to the suffering of a people I neither knew nor might ever know.
In every camp there are your free-loaders who ride the wave of popularity both strangling the spirit of a movement and compromising the platform it built. I think we have to try to find those who are sincerely engaged and reflect more on what about politics can actually deepen a sense of who we are.
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