{ Islam from inside }

(Sura 33: verse 67) - Prisoners of thought

Sura 33, verse 67 reads as follows:

33:67  And they shall say: O our Lord! surely we obeyed our leaders and our great men, so they led us astray from the path.

Society is a reflection or projection of the human mind - in other words, the world as it is and as it has been, is to a great extent shaped by people's minds and their interactions with one another and with their environment. The choices that result from this interaction and the courses of action decided upon, followed and executed, and the philosophy or worldview that shapes these decisions, all these affect the society that we construct around ourselves. So this world is, in a way, a projected image of the human mind. If some characteristics are more prevalent in the world, perhaps it is because those minds, those societies with such characteristics exert greater effort, leverage more resources, and therefore exert greater influence.

To the extent that our minds are full of ambitions, conflict, fragmentation, aggression, ego, thoughtlessness, self-interest, desire for gain, fear, paranoia, so also the world is full of such things. To the extent that they are full of compassion, concern, intelligence, wisdom, equity, justice, thoughtfulness, inclusiveness, the world has such qualities.

However, outwardly directed qualities such as ambition and aggression, by their very nature, seek to impact, change, control, shape, lead, and direct  the outside world. Their force is generally more immediately palpable and more evident than the more subtle effect of internally directed characteristics. As well, they are not, by nature, tempered by an internal compassion and wisdom, but shaped by lower, more base internal directives, arising as they do out of the lower self. This problem is compounded by the fact that, with the advent of modern technology, our reach and impact, our ability to influence and control and wreak damage has increased exponentially. As a result, the necessity of a corresponding improvement in character and motivation becomes essential, otherwise the dangers of modern technology placed in the service of ambitious, agressive impulses will wreak extensive and lasting damage.

"O God, You have made my creation (khalq) beautiful, so also make my
character (khuluq) beautiful."

So the internal character of man becomes an essential concern, and
understanding how to alter our character and thus the character of our society and our environment becomes crucial. Legalistic religion or even legalistic secularism sets limits on outward behaviour (which is useful as it can prevent catastrophic actions), but an internal change in character can only begin through one's own desire and understanding - through mindfulness, attentiveness, awareness, consciousness and the thoughtful communication of what results from this process.

"Surely there is a Reminder in that for whoever has a heart, or listens
attentively, while he is witnessing..." (50:37)

This is not a speedy process, bringing immediate tangible rewards. It is rather the slow and patient creation of new structures and new processes which allow the latitiude necessary for deeper, more comprehensive and flexible solutions, resulting from a deeper understanding of the problems faced and from qualitatively better thought processes.

Within societies, individuals and groups representative of various strands of thought compete to gain influence over the society and to direct that society in the direction they desire - shaping it to match the form and thrust of their own minds, their own thoughts. So in a sense competing ideas, competing thoughts come into play and over time some forms come to dominate over others - some ways of thought over others. The individuals (and organizations) that are representative of these thoughts gain an authority and are actively followed or are acquiesced to. They become a real force in the world - holding large segments of society in the grip of the legal, economic, and societal structure that arises from their thoughts.

During the last several decades, Iraqis were held prisoner to the thoughts of one man - Saddam. He in turn derived his authority and was able to give free reign to his brutality because of the system of thought that existed in the nations which armed him and supported him for their own purposes. Vast numbers of innocent people died as prisoners of these co-operating systems of thought. It becomes apparent then that thoughts are the originating point and have an impelling power capable of creating forces that have powerful effects in the world - mean, low, uncompassionate, self-interested thoughts can enslave many and result in much harm. When internal character and real knowledge is non-existent or given a low priority, the result on the world stage can be devastating. If ambition and power and base character is on display and we acquiesce to the movements and motions and trends manifesting in our time it is as if we have submitted to the mean and low thoughts of those who are attempting to shape the world according to their ambitions and desires, according to their corrupt and contemptible thoughts, their deformed character or their selfish ends.

"Our Lord! We obeyed our leaders and powerful men and so they misled us as to the path." (33:67)

The Prophet (s.a.) explained that the greater jihad was the internal struggle with our own nature, our own thoughts, our own character. The external combat is nothing, and may not even be necessary if the internal combat is conducted successfully. If that which is low and base within us and within our societies is conquered - replaced by compassion and beauty, then the external struggle eventually becomes unnecessary. As Rumi puts it: "...external enemies are nothing. What could they be? Don't you see how many thousands of unbelievers are prisoner of an unbeliever, who is their leader? That one unbeliever is a prisoner of thought. We realize thus that thoughts are to be reckoned with, since by means of one feeble, mean thought so many thousands of people are held captive.....When I see distinctly that a hundred thousand forms without bound and hosts without end, multitude upon multitude, are held captive by a person who is held captive in turn by a miserable thought, then all these are prisoners of that one thought. How would it be if the thoughts were great, endless, holy, and sublime? We realize then therefore that thoughts matter; forms are secondary, mere instruments." (Signs of the Unseen - discourse 12, translated by W.M Thackston Jr.)

The forms cause pain and grief in the external world as outward manifestations of inward arrogance, ambition, cruelty, of a degraded and selfish nature. The way to battle them is on the level of thought, of ideas, of reshaping structures and processes within societies - the external physical battle, though sometimes necessary, should not be the primary solution as it cannot alone result in lasting change. The important thing are thoughts and what feeds them - this comprises the input, and the output is dependant on the input. The nature of one's thoughts, one's interior landscape creates a corresponding outer landscape.

-Irshaad Hussain

Anyone who reads the Qur'an is likely to be struck by the unique nature of its construction, its unusual and constantly shifting rhythms and the sudden transmutations and displacements in its subject matter. At first this ever changing literary terrain seems an obstacle to understanding, but the more time one spends with this book, the more organic, the more natural the flow of its words feel. It is almost like flying over an ever-changing landscape - rolling valleys punctuated by jagged rocks, forests and plains giving way to upthrust mountains, high plateaus broken by deep lakes, deserts sprinkled with oasis' and cleft by canyons. Despite the variety of the forms, despite the startling contrast of adjacent features, a complex organic beauty underlies and unites all the various elements. These "tafsirs" emerged from numerous brief scattered notes made while reading the qur'an (along with numerous commentaries and the works of various scholars whose profound analyses strongly effected my views) and reflecting on its content. As well, for a number of years I have participated in a hallakha, a qur'anic study circle, and many of the tafsirs presented here were originally researched for presentation at that forum.