14
FOLLOWING THE NOON PRAYER on Monday I headed for my rendezvous and found a huge crowd awaiting my arrival. My quartet of closest confidants welcomed me and sat me down on a small pulpit. I had no idea what to focus on during the lesson or what the people present expected me to say. I leaned over and asked `Abd al what he thought, and he replied that he only knew a few of the students who had come. In his opinion the best thing was to treat them all as virtual novices. They would thus prefer clear presentations and relatively simple content; that way any diffidence they might have about understanding and learning about complicated matters would be gradually overcome.
I signaled everyone to quiet down, whereupon they all stretched their necks and stared straight at me, notebooks and pens at the ready to take notes on what I had to say. I intoned the phrases "In the name of God" [Bismillah] and "God alone possesses the power…" [Hawgalah], greeted them all and spoke as follows:
"In Surat al-Zumar (Companies [Sura 39]) God Almighty says in the ninth verse, `Say: Are those people who know to be the equal of those who do not know? Only possessors of intellect remember'-God Almighty has spoken the truth. In this context `Those who do not know' refers to the common people, and they come in two categories: those who realize their ignorance and try to rid themselves of its trammels; and others who fail to realize their ignorance and thus fall victim to the clutches of indifference and sheer folly-and may God and His light protect us all from that. Those who know also fall into two categories: those who make a big show of how much they have learned, however little it may turn out to be; and those whose learning is rich and blessed, people who make due acknowledgement to God and to the extent possible use their knowledge to people's benefit.
"In this fractious and broken era the domains of theology and law are utterly gutless. Every so-called expert is satisfied with the knowledge that he has, applying whatever he knows and peddling it as part of his assessment of the status quo, his own static ideas, and his long-buried sense of initiative. Stultifying debates and inane disputes occur, where incidentals regularly win over essentials, branches supersede roots, and froth overwhelms substance. The word of truth is lost in the process of plowing fields consisting of stones and sand. Existence itself is peeled off its edifice and sense of unity, causing splinters to fly and bounce off in scattered fragments.
"So avoid this kind of religious learning, turn your backs on such people, and avert your gaze. Instead you should sit on different riverbanks and undertake research into other spheres and enlightening values, spheres that will take you away from mere quantities and divisions and lead you toward the framework of true understanding, something that will produce a profound sense of well-being and complete bliss. However, without genuine passion and a quest for the circles of proximity and fulfillment you will never manage to achieve such a state.
"Take as your example the inventive researcher who wishes to create something-in other words, a process of arousing his quest for learning, of honing his talents and his own confidence in them. In the course of carrying out this obligation with all due enthusiasm and seriousness, he enables you to embark upon a path that equips you to perform at your optimum level, all the while existing in a state of somnolence.
"I want you to act just like this inventive investigator. Train your memory and encourage it to memorize passages of prose and poetry, all of them chosen for their inimitable style and rhetorical and intellectual acumen. That way you will acquire the gift of language that serves as the very air of your ever-developing identity and its dynamic base.
"But language with no ideas behind it is an empty vessel, a skeleton with no flesh and bones. It is only through the power of ideas that language enables you to understand the All-knowing and His words.
"The intellect is a creative force through which truths are sought. It may manifest itself in a form that is either logically organized or else scattered and fragmentary. The process involves particular methods that my assistant, `Abd al'Ali, will now explain to you."
With that Abd al-Ali stood up. "The first of those methods," he told his audience, "involves ways of framing and posing questions. The gateway to probing and lively thought and the primary mode of its instigation lies in the question itself. Among its worthy attributes are authenticity, creativity, and profundity. In that way the question itself raises issues and topics that require the activation of the mind, since it is able to distinguish between what is essential and what is coincidental, the mind that is in quest of the source, the totality, and the comprehensible.
"Second, the construction of hypotheses, a mental activity that focuses on knowledge and a reasonable inclination to invigorate what is static and keep the imagination at work.
"Third, an intellectual approach that makes use of logical, recognized methods: careful examination and inference, juxtaposing one problem with another once you have analyzed both, followed by a process whereby the two are combined into a single issue that manages to surmount the difficulties they present by preserving the essential qualities of each one of them. While still at the learning and experimental phase such practices are unavoidable, but, once a certain stage of achievement and maturity has been reached, then the `escape of the gnostic' can be realized through impulse, discovery, and invention in a realm beyond the logic of opposites and the various rationales of adaptation, invention, and rotation..'
All of a sudden he fell silent. I was in the process of trying to come up with some vivid, tangible examples that I could use with the students to explain certain obscurities in my statements. But once I became aware of what was going on around me, I noticed that a stern old man was heading in my direction, accompanied by two other people like him. He leaned over and addressed me in a chiding tone.
"I am the supervisor of this mosque," he said, "and I'm responsible for what goes on here. Esteemed shaykh, teaching in this spot without a proper license is not permitted."
"But the mosque is God's own house," I replied. "Teaching the next generation is a solemn obligation enjoined upon those with knowledge."
"True enough, shaykh, but not without due permission from the local authorities. His Excellency the Governor commands that order be kept and forbids all kinds of sedition and dissent."
When my quartet of students heard what he was saying, they rose to their feet in disgust.
"My good man," said Al-Sadiq in a harsh tone that was clearly audible, "haven't you read in the text of the Qur'an those verses that encourage people to study and learn? Can it be that the words of the Lord of all messengers have not reached you, where he says, `Knowledge is a cache of treasure whose key is questioning? So ask questions, may God have mercy on you all! There are four people whom He will esteem: the questioner, the teacher, the listener, and the one who loves them all."'
"Yes, and that's a report recorded by Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani* from 'Ali* himself," Adnan continued in support of his colleague. "We are gathered here to acquire knowledge in accordance with the ordinance of God and His apostle. We have no need of a license from any governor or sultan."
The entire assembly now stood up and chanted the words that Adnan had uttered. The entire situation was in danger of getting out of hand and moving to other quarters as well. Through the hubbub I heard the supervisor issuing threats.
"You're inciting young people to commit rebellion, shaykh," he said. "Either you break it up, or else I'm going to call the police and guards."