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BY IMAM MOHAMMED IBN HAGMAGID ^ WITH SAMUEL ROSS
In this final exploration, we focus on the closing words of Surat al-Fatihah: “Guide us to thestraightpath,thepathofthosewhomYou have favored, not of those who earn Your anger, nor of those who go astray” (1:6-7). Who exactly are “those who go astray”? In our previous article, we warned about the “above-average effect” — our tendency to have an inflated sense of self, which results in such amusing findings as that 88 percent of Americans consider themselves to be above-average drivers, as reported by Ola Svenson (“Are we all less risky and more skillful than our fellow drivers?” Acta Psychologica 47 [2 Feb. 1981]: 143–48). It can be tempting to imagine that we are not among those who have gone astray by trying to limit them to specific groups of people. But while undoubtedly many groups do go astray, it is imperative to remember that God intentionally chose to keep the wording open. So too must we keep our hearts open to the possibility that we might be among those people, regardless of how we seek to define them. How, then, can we accurately diagnose ourselves? One way is to see where the Qur’an uses dalin (those who have gone astray) and its cognates. When the angels inform Ibrahim (‘alayhi al-salaam) that he will have a son, he is amazed, given his advanced age, and responds: “Do you give me good news (of a son) when old age has come upon me?” The angels reply: “Do not despair.” Ibrahim says that he is not despairing but merely surprised, for “who despairs of the mercy of his Lord, except the dalun [those who go astray]?” (15:54-56). Here we learn that one quality of those who go astray is that they despair of God’s mercy. What does this mean, for according to the Qur’an every aspect of our religion is a mercy. The Qur’an’s most common name for God is “the Most Merciful.” God says of Prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu ‘alayhi 58 ISLAMIC HORIZONS JULY/AUGUST 2010
Food for the Spirit Surat al-Fatihah / The Opener. Part XI wa sallam) that “We have sent you as a mercy to the worlds” (21:107). The Qur’an also calls itself a mercy: “These are verses of the wise book, a guide and a mercy to the doers of good” (31:2-3). We thus go astray when we give up on God’s mercy. Every time we fail to follow the Islamic way of life, it is as if we are saying: “I don’t think there’s mercy in this for me.” When we do not pray or seek perfection in our prayer, it is as if we are saying: “I don’t think there’s mercy in fully connecting with the Most Merciful and in experiencing what Prophet Muhammad called ‘the coolness of my eye’” (“Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal,” hadith no. 14069). When we fail to pick up the Qur’an, it is as if we are saying: “I don’t think God was truthful when he called it a ‘healing
While undoubtedly many groups do go astray, it is imperative to remember that God intentionally chose to keep the wording open. ______________________________________________________
Imam Mohammed ibn Hagmagid, vice president of ISNA, was educated by his father, an al-Azhar graduate and a leading scholar in Sudan, and other notable scholars, and earned the ijazah (permission to teach) in several disciplines. Samuel Ross is a student of the Arabic language.
and a mercy to those who believe’” (17:82). When we have an inappropriate sexual (or otherwise) relationship, it is as if we are saying: “I don’t think there’s mercy in God protecting me from a broken heart, from breaking someone else’s heart, from unwanted children, and from sexually transmitted diseases.” When we drink alcohol, it is as if we are saying: “I don’t think there’s mercy in being protected from a substance that destroys people, marriages, and families and that is associated with a third of all hospital admissions, as reported in 2003 World Health Organization’s report “Alcohol and Injuries” [www.who.int/substance_abuse/activities /injuries/en/index.html]). So why are we sometimes tempted to give up on God’s mercy? As Imam Muhammad al-Birgivi (1522-73) points out, despair often begins when people let themselves get overly attached to the world. Since nothing in this world is permanent, someone attached to the world inevitably faces disappointment.Thosewhoareungratefulareperhaps even more likely to lose their blessings, for as God says: “If you are grateful I will certainly give you more, and if you are ungrateful My chastisement is truly severe” (14:7). In this state of disappointment, Satan can encourage us to try a path other than