June 18, 2015
Ramadan Mubarak ~ Have a blessed Ramadan!
The Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) says that Abu Bakr was superior to the other Companions, not due to his prayer and fasting, but because that special favor -- the Love of Allaah -- was with him. On the Resurrection Day, a person’s prayers will be placed in the balance along with their fasting and generosity, but once Love is brought forth it cannot be contained by any balance. Therefore, Love is the root.
When you find Love in your heart, then encourage it to grow. When you see the original investment within yourself, namely the desire [yearning] for Allaah, increase it through searching. “In movement is blessing.” If you do not build on it, even the original desire [yearning] will leave you.
Are you less than the earth? Farmers turn the earth with a hoe and it yields crops. When they abandon it, it becomes hard. So, when you find the quest for Truth within yourself, follow it wherever it may lead. Do not say, “What use is there in following this desire [yearning]?” Just go! The profit will show itself.
(adapted from Fihi Ma Fihi,
translated by A.J. Arberry, p. 387)
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In looking for a selection to explore Ramadan, the holy month of fasting, I came across the above text and was moved to choose this. When one looks at the deeper invitations and purposes of Ramadan, one comes to see that one of the (divine) intentions of fasting is self-purification. And one of the intentions of self-purification is to reveal that abounding, innate Love of the Absolute that dwells within us. One of my most treasured sayings of Jalaal ud-Diin Rumi is: “Your task is not to search and seek for Love, but instead merely to seek and find all the barriers within that you have built to Love.” And then to release these so Love, and all its abounding endless glory, may reveal and unfold itself within and beyond us. When we talk about Abu Bakr As- Siddiq, we are talking about a man who lives the fullness of this.
Abdullaah ibn Abii Quhaafah, more commonly known as Abu Bakr, was Muhammad’s (p.b.u.h.) closest Companion (Sahaabi). Tradition holds he was the first person who wasn’t a family member of Muhammad to convert to Islam. Muhammad noted that of all the people he offered Islam to, Abu Bakr was the only one who accepted without hesitation, doubt, or argument. With such acceptance, he went on to draw many converts to Islam. He also spent large portions of his personal wealth to buy and then free enslaved men and women who were Muslims. He was with Muhammad during many key moments in the early history of Islam. He is also the father of A’isha, who remains one of the most esteemed of Muhammad’s wives. Abu Bakr was also a deeply spiritual man: he was called As-Siddiq (The Truthful) because of his unwavering piety. He would cry unstopping tears when he recited the Qur’aan: this was one of the reasons Muhammad instructed that Abu Bakr should lead the congregational prayers after Muhammad was no longer able to do so (because of illness). Therefore, it was not surprising that after Muhammad’s death Abu Bakr was chosen as the first Caliph (Khalifa), the leader of the Muslim nation / community.
Muhammad said: “Never has the sun risen or set on a person, other than a prophet, greater than Abu Bakr.” Many people think such a station is attained through extensive prayer and meditation, fasting, spiritual study, selfless service, charity, closeness to a master, and other components of spiritual practice -- especially if we are engaged in these ourselves. It’s not that these should be discounted or discarded, but Muhammad acknowledges a more significant factor for Abu Bakr’s greatness: Abu Bakr was superior to the other Companions, not due to his prayer and fasting, but because that special favor -- the Love of Allaah -- was with him. But what does this mean in a practical sense?
Those who study Abu Bakr’s life will see that he was immersed in the components of spiritual practice listed above. These do not cause a person to attain the special favor of Love for the Beloved but a genuine, grounded, and disciplined spiritual practice removes the barriers to realizing Love. Jalaal ud-Diin speaks to this in terms of the Resurrection Day, but some context may be helpful to understand.
Traditional Islam does not speak of the Resurrection Day as a coming time for judgment where all hope for humanity is lost because we’re all going to Hell. One of the explicit duties of Muhammad, as stated repeatedly in the Qur’aan, is that of being a Warner. But he warns from