Non-Violence, Tolerance and Love: Aspects of Rumis Influence - Essay Example

Non-violence, Tolerance and Love: Aspects of Rumi’s influence Introduction Jalal al din Rumi is primarily known as one of the most influential mystic poets of Persia. One of the most influential aspects of Rumi’s Sufism and mystical thought is that it is non-violent and at the same time, it advocates for love and a tolerant view of the religions of the world. Rumi’s thoughts and teachings not only influenced the followers of Islam but also the religious ideologies in general, as William C. Chittick remarks Sufism in the following manner, “Sufism is the most universal manifestation of the inner dimension of Islam; it is the way by which man transcends his own individual self and reaches God” (Chittick 7). Rumi’s influence is to be counted on religion in general as Rumi’s mysticism can be applied to the notion of God and human soul in most of the religions of the world. The mystic tradition itself does not adhere to any particular institutional and formal features of a religious system. Though mystic traditions differs from each other based on various features of the notion of God and the relationship of human beings with God, these traditions are stitched together with the thread of spirituality of human being. In the same manner, Rumi also defies the materialistic and the traditional institutional approach of Islam and stresses on the fact that the ascendance to God is only possible through spirituality and devotion to God. In this regard Rumi’s Sufism often resembles to Dante and Whitman. Rumi’s Concept of Love of Human Being for God In the mystic tradition of Islam Rumi’s concept of love is the most influential aspect that tends to validate Sufism as an essential part of Islamic theology, in Chittick’s view the Sufi concept of love is to be characterized as ‘gnosis’ in other words, “wisdom made up of knowledge and sanctity” (Chittick 18). Rumi asserts that man is essentially a theomorphic being, “a being created in the image of God and therefore as possessing the three basic qualities of intelligence, free-will and speech” (Chittick 7). Here the intelligence of a human being reveals the existence of God before him and free-will enables to take the initiatives to be united with God. Finally Speech provides a man with the means to bridge the illusory gap between man and God. In Rumi’s Sufi doctrine, human speech that serves as the means towards the intimacy of God appears in the form of prayer or invocation. A man can transcend himself to a state -where he feels the presence of God as a real being- though spiritual realization. “Therefore attainment of metaphysical knowledge” as Chittick says in this regard, “….is the removal of the veils which separate man from God and from the full reality of his own true nature. It is the means of actualizing the full potentialities of human state” (Chittick 18). For Rumi, love is the spiritual beatitude of human soul that can transform the human substance. He considers that love is “attribute of God” (Chittick 19). Rumi’s Sufi doctrine asserts that man can transcend the limitation of the material world. Indeed for Rumi God is abstract and man’s spirit is limited within the physicality. Therefore the only means to bridge the gap between man and God is the means of love. Rumi’s concept of love is best expressed in the following verse: “By love dregs becomes clears; by love pains become healing; By love the dead is made living…….. This love, moreover, is the result of knowledge…” (Rumi, II 1530-3 in Chittick 19) One of the consequent of love for God is that man becomes oblivious of everything except love for God. It provides man with the scope to be united with God. Therefore when Sufism asserts that “there is no real but the Real” (Chittick 33), the physical existences and realities of the world appears to be the mere reflections of the Real that, in Sufi context, is to be considered as God. Such notion of the reality of the world rather redirects the love of human being for God to His creatures. Thus Rumi’s doctrine universalizes the concepts of love. According to Rumi, love is precondition of intimacy of man with God, as he says, “This is Love: to fly heavenwards, To rend, every instant, a hundred veils” (Diwan, 137 in Chittick 20). Again he speaks of the true nature of love, “Love is that flame which, when it blazes up, consumes everything else but the Beloved” (Rumi in Chittick 20). Universality of Rumi’s Thought on External and Internal Forms of Islam By adding spirituality to the exoteric form of Islam Rumi makes his doctrine more universal and influential. Though Rumi’s thought on the spirituality of man does fully discard the notion of the ritualistic approach of Islam, he simply considers it to be insufficient to deal with the betterment of human being in a universal way, as -Chittick says, “It addresses itself to a particular humanity and a particular psychological and mental condition- even though its means of addressing itself is to some degree universalized and expanded through time and space to encompass a large segment of the human race” (Chittick 21). Rumi effectively highlights and the inner meanings and implication of Islamic rules and laws by expounding its compatibility with ‘Sariah’ the external forms and rituals of Islam. He was successful to influence a significantly large sect of the Muslims by including Sariah the ritualistic form of Islam in his Sufi Doctrine. The Sufis consider that the essences of spirituality are embodied within the exoteric form of Islam. Rumi’s Sufi Doctrines and Sufism in general deal with the exoteric Islam from a subjective point of view. Rumi criticizes the spiritual barrenness of the ritualistic Islam, as it is mainly concerned with the rules and laws of Islam. But Sufism considers that the “direct knowledge of God and realization….of spiritual realities which exist both within the external form of the Revelation and in the being of the spiritual traveler” (Chittick 21). The Sufis considers that both spirit and spiritual realization cannot exist without forms and ‘Sariah’ the exoteric form Islam is the only possible sacred form to contain spiritual realization of God. As Sariah provides the required form in order to contain truth of God, one who wants to be close to God must abide by the rules and laws of Sariah. In this regard Chittick says, “They [the Sufis] recognize that to reach the indwelling spirit of a doctrine or a sacred form….one must first have that external form which is the expression of Truth” (Chittick 21). Rumi’s Contribution to the Development of Sufism One of Rumi’s significant influences is that Rumi rendered a static shape to Sufism by providing ways out of the controversies and contradictions existing in Sufism. The Sufis are highly fragmentized because of the very abstract nature of the concept of God and spirit. But Rumi stitches these fragmented parts by dealing with all of the metaphysical questions of Sufism, as in a foreword Seyyed Hossein Nasr comments on Rumi’s contribution, “Jalal-al-Din was a metaphysician of the first order and dealt with nearly every metaphysical question…...in the forms of parables, narratives or…poetic symbols” (Chittick 5). For his influence to the development of Sufism Rumi has often been called “the greatest mystical of any age” (Chittick 7). For the first time Rumi in the history of Sufism Rumi attempts to legalize the role of spiritualism by drawing example from the Quran and the verse of Hazrat Muhammad. Indeed he considers Islam as a way of knowledge that lets a human being know the presence of God. The gap between a human being and God is illusory and man needs to attain some spiritual virtues in order to bridge this gap. In the first place Rumi’s Sufism has its origin in Islam. Necessarily Rumi’s Sufi doctrines inherit the essence of Islam that is “shahada”, the declaration of the unity and uniqueness of God. As Chittick says in this regard, “through ‘Shahada’ man come to know the Absolute and the nature of reality and thus also the way to salvation” (Chittick 18). God and the Reality of the World: Rumi’s Concept Rumi’s another influential thought is the relationship between God and his creation, physical reality of the world. For Rumi, the world is the essential manifestation of God. Here his argument is something that as there is no reality except the reality of the existence of God, and one who thinks of God, tries to unite with Him through spiritual practices, one becomes united with the being of God and can claim to god. This definition essentially renders a way out of the contradiction between science and religion at a time, as it is in Rumi’s word, “To know the science of ‘I am God’ is the science of bodies; to become ‘I am God’ is the science of religion” (Rumi in Chittick 36). This approach of Rumian doctrine hugely affected the theological concept of the science and reality. When Rumi says that God cannot be reached through rational processes, it seems that he tends to ignore rationalism. But Rumi does not necessarily mean that rationality of science cannot discover the existence of God, He is a transcendental being, and science cannot exceed the boundary of its observation. In this regard Rumi says, “No created being is unconnected with Him: [but] that connexion, O uncle, is indescrible. Because in the spirit there is not separating and uniting, while (our) thought cannot think except of separating and uniting” (Rumi in Chittick 36) Rumi’s Sufism and its Essential Non-Violent Features Rumi’s thought and ideas deal first and foremost with the place of spirituality in the whole theological structure of Islam. His doctrines are concerned with the features of human soul that direct human activities towards the intimacy with the Divine. He puts emphasis on divine will and human realization. The extensive and inclusive defense of Rumi is of great importance in many ways, because he has been one of the well recognized poets in the world especially from India to Greece. He has enjoyed greater influence than only other author of Islam. One of the reasons of Rumi’s increasing influence is that it advocates tolerance among the followers of Islam and at the same time, highlights tolerability of Islam for the followers of other religions. Rumi appears to be optimistic concerning the possibility of overcoming conflicts from ignorance. His prime concern is to show human beings the path of god. Instrumental reason is not a must to analyze religion. Yet Rumi does not say that reason has no place at all. According to him human is not fully competent in deciphering the knowledge of god and his creation. A religion cannot demand its superiority over another religion simply basing on reasons and it cannot be presented as a sole concern in spiritual matters. Rumi expresses that toleration dose not contradict religious codes. Rumi points out the dissimilarities among cultures and different societies. To him these differences are the consequences of divine design. Rumi’s views thus continue to play an important role in Islam. Rumi’s Sufism is often viewed as the deviation from the right track of Islam. But Rumi assures an honorable place for the central figure, the Prophet Muhammad in Islam. From Rumi’s point of view spiritual life can only be gained under the guidance of a spiritual leader who has been chosen to lead others. It is evident to the Muslims that no one is as close as the prophet Muhammad is to God. Rumi interprets that the essence of religions is the same. He successfully defies the Islamic fundamentalists by proving that intimacy with God can be achieved only through the means of human spirit. Therefore he asks to go beyond the literal meaning of strict reading of the Quran. For him God is immanent in human being but human being needs to be spiritually devoted to know God. At the same he also considers that God is transcendent also. So God can be perceived through one’s consciousness. Conclusion Though Rumi is severely criticized by the Islamist fundamentalist, the encroaching influence of Rumi on Islam lies in the point that he proficiently extracts and appropriates the mystical ideas and implication from the Quran and espouses their validity by drawing examples from the life of the Prophet Muhammad. A more particular aspect of Rumi’s influence on Islam and other mystic thoughts is: it prioritizes the role of spirituality in Islam in a way that essentially defines other aspects of Islamic theology. Works Cited Chittick, C. William, The Sufi Doctrine of Rumi: An introduction. Boston: Offset Press Inc. 1974 Read More