Part 4 (2/2)
2 A large number of thee articles were included in two volumes: al-Balagh al-jaza'iri (Mustaghanim, 1986).
3 Quoted by Martin Lings in Sufi Saint, p. 23.
4 al-Bahr al-masjur fi tafsir al-Qur'an bi-mahd al-nur, 2 vols. (Mustaghanim, 1995).
5 All English translations of the Qur'an appearing in this article are taken from Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall's cla.s.sic The Meaning of the Glorious Koran.
6 See verse 4:46.
7 We draw this summary from Eric Chaumont's article ”Abrogation”, in Dictionnaire du Coran, ed. Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi (Paris: Robert Laffont, 2007), pp. 14-17.
8 Quoted by Eric Geoffroy in Initiation au soufisme (Paris: Fayard, 2003), p. 273.
9 Concerning this event, see Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources (Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 1995), p. 326.
10 Hadith transmitted by Abu Hurayra and validated by Bukhari; and quoting the Qur'an verse 3:84.
11 Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Sufi Essays (Albany, NY: SUNY, 1973), p. 175.
12 Ibid., p. 123.
13 Concerning his teaching see Tayeb Chouiref, Les Enseignements spirituels du Prophete (Lille: Editions Tasnim, 2008), vol. I, p. 183.
14 Lata'if al-isharat (Dar al-kutub al-'ilmiyya), vol. I, p. 50.
15 Ruh al-Bayan (Dar al-fikr), vol. I, p. 153.
16 al-'ilm bi-l-amr 'ala ma huwa 'alayhi.
17 Fusus al-hikam, p. 113.
18 See Michel Chodkiewicz, Le Sceau des saints (Paris: Gallimard, 1986), p. 101.
19 Quoted by Seyyed Hossein Nasr in Sufi Essays, p. 149. We have slightly modified the translation of Rumi's text.
20 On the relations.h.i.+ps of the Shaykh with these movements see Martin Lings, Sufi Saint, pp. 114-116.
21 See al-Bahr al-masjur, vol. I, pp. 145-148.
22 Allusion to a famous hadith: ”Indeed, G.o.d Most-High wrote for Himself, when He created the world: 'Indeed, My Mercy prevails over My Wrath'” (quoted by Tirmidhi).
23 The term refers here to revealed religions and therefore to those which possess a holy Scripture.
Religion Is One in Its Essence:
The Spiritual Teaching of Tierno Bokar1
Amadou Hampate Ba Tierno rebelled against the idea that any being could be excluded from G.o.d's love. He scorned the distinctions made by those ”attached to the letter” and chose to ignore those who make this love the privilege of only orthodox believers.
For my own part, I could not understand how only Muslims could be the beneficiaries of the mercy of G.o.d. I reflected on the smallness of their number in relation to the whole of humanity, both in time and in s.p.a.ce, and I said to myself: ”How could G.o.d, in front of a mound of seeds, take only one handful of these seeds and reject all the others, saying: 'Only these are my favorites'?”
I had often heard around me, especially from certain marabouts, that non-Muslims were kuffar (infidels) and that they would go to h.e.l.l. This angered me, as if I myself had been one of those unhappy infidels. So one day I took advantage of a cla.s.s to ask him about this subject that was troubling me: Does G.o.d Love Infidels?
”Tierno, you always speak of G.o.d's love which embraces everything. But does G.o.d also love infidels?” He answered: G.o.d is Love and Power. The creation of beings comes from His love and not from some constraint. To detest that which is the result of the Divine Will acting through love, is to take a position against the Divine Will and dispute His wisdom. To imagine the exclusion of a being from primordial Love is proof of fundamental ignorance. Life and perfection are contained in Divine Love, which manifests Itself in a radiating Force, in the Creative Word that brings the living Void to life.2 From this living Void, He makes forms appear that He divides into kingdoms.
May our love not be centered upon ourselves! May this love not incite us to love only those who are like us or to espouse ideas that are similar to our own! To only love that which resembles us is to love oneself; this is not how to love.
Being a man, the infidel cannot be excluded from the Divine love. Why should he be excluded from ours? He occupies the rank which G.o.d has a.s.signed to him. The act of a man debasing himself can bring about a punishment for him, but without thereby provoking an exclusion from the Source from which he came.
It is necessary to reflect upon the legend of Korah and Moses.3 Korah was the most perverse of beings. He had received his share of the finest riches that a man can enjoy on earth. From these, he had made a paradise for himself, access to which, he said, was forbidden to Moses and to his G.o.d. Moses asked G.o.d to chasten Korah.
G.o.d replied, ”I have entrusted the earth to you. Act as you see fit.”
The Prophet Moses then addressed Korah, ”O infidel! Mend your ways and return to your Lord, otherwise you shall receive a punishment that will be cited as an example.”
”Call upon me all the misfortunes you want, I fear nothing,” replied Korah.
So Moses ordered that the earth swallow up Korah and all of his possessions. Korah, ensnared by his feet and unable to loosen the hold, understood that he was lost. He repented and asked Moses to forgive him.
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