From a comment I made on a friend's journal, wherein we were talkin' religion, and she asked about having heard a reference to a Green Man and Sufis:
"Al-Khidr or Al-Khizr, the Green One.Al-Khidr is a Qur'anic figure (Sura 18:66-18:88 -- yep, just checked it; he is referred to not by name, but as "one of Our servants to whom We have vouchsafed Our mercy and whom We had endowed with knowledge of Our own" when he meets up with Moses. He does things that seem highly arbitrary and violent to Moses, while commanding Moses to stop questioning him, then when they are fixing to separate, he explains the reasons behind why he did what he did) and when I say figure, it's because his position is unclear: saint, prophet, undefined servant of God.
There are many things not known about Al-Khizr, but there is no doubt he is an instrument of God. One thing that is known is that he has the ability to suddenly help those chosen to receive it with insight and realization, sometimes rather painful. There are customary du'as where you can ask for help/intercession/guidance through Al-Khizr, but they are never to be used lightly.
Some have said he is associated with the Green Men of Europe, and is basically a pagan figure made Islamic.
I'd say tread *very* lightly on that notion, though. Similar ideas may abound because there is an essential truth with a different interpretation, but Al-Khizr should not be considered pagan or entirely analogous to a Green Man...and it gets into some pretty gray areas to incorporate Islamic beliefs into anything polytheistic :).
Oh! Also: green is the color of Islam. It was the color most favored by the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh), and in hadith, he said: "Three things of this world delight the heart [are worthy of the gaze]: water, green things, and a beautiful face." :)"
So other than checking the Qur'anic reference, this was an off-the-cuff answer, and may be riddled with half-accuracies. For more on Al-Khidr, there are many sources. One such page is here.
Al-Khidr fascinates non-Muslims as well as Muslims, in part because he is so enigmatic, and yes, there is a sense of wildness, unpredictability, and a kind of elemental nature that maybe does equate him with the European Green Man. I don't really like to speak in terms of archetype, because doing so makes something/someone of infinite complexity and truth into something that is pat and unformed. I think such parallels -- which again, are NOT complete -- indicate something true conducted as light through different cultural prisms. After all, the Prophet (pbuh) himself said that there were prophets sent to all the peoples on earth; each prophet, while a vessel of the Divine, is also a human product of his or her own culture, so the construct of the message he or she brings is going to be delineated by that culture. I don't know how else to put it. Does that make any sense to y'all? (I'm tired, but I still felt compelled to write this).
Y'all can see why Al-Khidr is not spoken of or to lightly. The issue of asking Al-Khidr to intercede or give guidance, and the issue really of saints (wali) in Islam is somewhat controversial. Intercession (tawassul) is a controversial matter, with those of more conservative Sunni bent seeing it as shirk. Shi'ites put firm boundaries on it, as I understand, as do that majority of Sunnis. Sufis? Well, we just love our walis, yes we do.
Recall, Islam is no monolith in belief or in custom, even if we all pray using the same words and at the same time and facing the same direction.
Another site on Islam:
http://www.livingislam.org/index.html
This one will take me quite a while to explore, it's so dense. I am not sure, if you're looking for basic info, that this is your best bet. The stance seems to be more conservative on the whole, although it's evident the maintainers don't much care for Salafis (Wahhabis), which really, I'm not that big on Salafis, either, since I consider it misguided and reactionary (and heaven knows, MY opinion on these matter counts for so much, but I like to make my stance clear). But for deeper readings of texts, it looks very useful, and the articles cover a wide range of things. I'll be foodling around on this one for a while.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Original Sin and an Unkind Heart
Here's something I have difficulty getting my head around...
The notion that the human heart is somehow *inherently* sinful in Christianity. That one never made sense to me, the whole thing with Original Sin leaving a black mark on everyone's heart, etc.
It's always bothered me. Someone (and you know who you are!) not long ago gave me a Chick Tract (in a joking spirit) titled "Heart Trouble" that goes on about this...as Chick tracts do...and I just re-found it in my laptop bag, which is what got me to thinking about this...
Also, at the Urbanna Oyster Festival, there was some frightened-looking young man street preaching, and the first thing I caught him saying was, "The human heart is WICKED!" And I had to check myself from turning around and saying, "I beg your pardon, it is NOT. God did not make us to be wicked." Funny, both my father and I had theological issue with that rather-scared and unhappy-looking guy, from different angles. We both confessed a desire to go argue with the guy. Then we decided that getting tag-teamed by the two of us would probably make the young man give up any kind of religion for good.
In Islam, no one bears the sin of another. We come into this world clean and innocent; it's the crap we latch onto in this world, the illusions and echoes, that leave sooty marks and gives us baggage.
A good explanation of such. The salient kind of summation is the bigger font near the bottom, if you want the short version.
And as for Eve being the problem...
Unfortunately, this concept has penetrated the beliefs of the conventional “Muslim” as well. This theory of “Adam and Eve” is invariably referred to prove the inferiority and wickedness of women.
The Quran has not even feeble affinity with this theory. It declared that men and women exist on their own right, and that both were created out of one single life cell. Both are responsible for their own actions and deeds. A woman is neither weak nor wicked simply because is she a woman. In Surah 2, Verse 36, it is stated that both men and women are equally susceptible to temptation.
It is very important to understand this in the interest of the future of women around the world. As long as the concept of Eve being created for man prevails, women can never be free in true sense of the word.
Word, in every sense of The Word.
n.b.: this is NOT to suggest that "If you're a Christian you're just WRONG!" Most of the Christians I know -- including my dear dogmatic dad -- don't much like this notion either as a literal thing. Christianity being a big arena, there is room for interpretation; i gather the real emphasis on this as being fundamental tends to be taken by the well, fundamentalist Protestants. I'm just explaining why I, personally, don't much get this.
The notion that the human heart is somehow *inherently* sinful in Christianity. That one never made sense to me, the whole thing with Original Sin leaving a black mark on everyone's heart, etc.
It's always bothered me. Someone (and you know who you are!) not long ago gave me a Chick Tract (in a joking spirit) titled "Heart Trouble" that goes on about this...as Chick tracts do...and I just re-found it in my laptop bag, which is what got me to thinking about this...
Also, at the Urbanna Oyster Festival, there was some frightened-looking young man street preaching, and the first thing I caught him saying was, "The human heart is WICKED!" And I had to check myself from turning around and saying, "I beg your pardon, it is NOT. God did not make us to be wicked." Funny, both my father and I had theological issue with that rather-scared and unhappy-looking guy, from different angles. We both confessed a desire to go argue with the guy. Then we decided that getting tag-teamed by the two of us would probably make the young man give up any kind of religion for good.
In Islam, no one bears the sin of another. We come into this world clean and innocent; it's the crap we latch onto in this world, the illusions and echoes, that leave sooty marks and gives us baggage.
A good explanation of such. The salient kind of summation is the bigger font near the bottom, if you want the short version.
And as for Eve being the problem...
Unfortunately, this concept has penetrated the beliefs of the conventional “Muslim” as well. This theory of “Adam and Eve” is invariably referred to prove the inferiority and wickedness of women.
The Quran has not even feeble affinity with this theory. It declared that men and women exist on their own right, and that both were created out of one single life cell. Both are responsible for their own actions and deeds. A woman is neither weak nor wicked simply because is she a woman. In Surah 2, Verse 36, it is stated that both men and women are equally susceptible to temptation.
It is very important to understand this in the interest of the future of women around the world. As long as the concept of Eve being created for man prevails, women can never be free in true sense of the word.
Word, in every sense of The Word.
n.b.: this is NOT to suggest that "If you're a Christian you're just WRONG!" Most of the Christians I know -- including my dear dogmatic dad -- don't much like this notion either as a literal thing. Christianity being a big arena, there is room for interpretation; i gather the real emphasis on this as being fundamental tends to be taken by the well, fundamentalist Protestants. I'm just explaining why I, personally, don't much get this.
First, an explanation...
Bismillah ir-Rahman, ir-Rahim...
Assalamu alaikum!
I suppose I needed to be on yet another place on the Web like my submarine needs screen doors (Betchall didn't know I have a submarine, right?)
I already have an LJ, and a Facebook. I have a Web site. I'm just all over the place, really. So why bother with a blog?
Well, it's like this: I have a lot of thoughts. I have to keep them compartmentalized, for my own convenience and that of others. Some stuff is appropriate for one place, some for another. The stuff I post on my LJ is not always stuff I would want to post to my FB, and so on.
I post a fair amount of religious rumination on my LJ; because it informs most aspects of my life, it shows up a lot. Shows up in FB, too, but we keep it short and sweet. The format demands it, for one thing.
Not everyone wants to read everything. Nor does everyone want to have to wade through years of stuff (as on my LJ) to find my thoughts on one particular subject. Particularly if they're not wearing hipwaders.
So I am creating this blog specifically for religious/theological thought. Some of this will be crossposted elsewhere, but this will be the essential roundup of my thoughts and feelings spirit and heartwise.
This may include links to other things in my life; I imagine a certain amount of evolution to occur. For now, I may begin transcribing a couple of posts from *there* to *here*, if you get my drift. So if you follow me *there*, you may be having deja vu all over again.
We shall see how this works. Shall we?
Assalamu alaikum!
I suppose I needed to be on yet another place on the Web like my submarine needs screen doors (Betchall didn't know I have a submarine, right?)
I already have an LJ, and a Facebook. I have a Web site. I'm just all over the place, really. So why bother with a blog?
Well, it's like this: I have a lot of thoughts. I have to keep them compartmentalized, for my own convenience and that of others. Some stuff is appropriate for one place, some for another. The stuff I post on my LJ is not always stuff I would want to post to my FB, and so on.
I post a fair amount of religious rumination on my LJ; because it informs most aspects of my life, it shows up a lot. Shows up in FB, too, but we keep it short and sweet. The format demands it, for one thing.
Not everyone wants to read everything. Nor does everyone want to have to wade through years of stuff (as on my LJ) to find my thoughts on one particular subject. Particularly if they're not wearing hipwaders.
So I am creating this blog specifically for religious/theological thought. Some of this will be crossposted elsewhere, but this will be the essential roundup of my thoughts and feelings spirit and heartwise.
This may include links to other things in my life; I imagine a certain amount of evolution to occur. For now, I may begin transcribing a couple of posts from *there* to *here*, if you get my drift. So if you follow me *there*, you may be having deja vu all over again.
We shall see how this works. Shall we?
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