Pari Jaan: Yes, the happiness and innocence of children is so refreshing to be around, alhamdolillah!

Irving: A medal would be nice but what I really need is regular and massive doses of ibuprofen now!

ABD: I hear you on the larger philosophical ideas at stake, but I believe that the readers of this blog are mature enough to read mystics, poets, and theologians like St Francis, St Theresa, St Augustine, the Buddha, John Donne, various Jewish seers, etc., without my having to put up a disclaimer that says, “Not all statements in the following poem or prayer are reflective of Islamic theology/dogma.”

I believe that one can appreciate Wagner’s music or Heidegger’s mind without at all supporting their anti-Semitism. In fact the idea that they could be so brilliant and yet misguided forces us to look at the world and people in it in a more nuanced way, and is thus a valuable lesson in itself.

I also agree that your Donne analogy is a better one than the leap you make to Heidegger. St Theresa was a Christian mystic and has much in common with Hafiz and Rumi (with obvious theological differences). While I don’t subscribe to Donne’s “three-person’d God” his passionate writing resonates with me, as does St Theresa’s prayer. Even as I recognize the theological differences, I also recognize their longing and striving toward the Source.

Interestingly, in both of the earlier Abrahamic traditions, it was common for prophets to be called “sons” of God and for people to refer to God as “Father.” At that time, people also prostrated to each other in certain circumstances, as illustrated in the dreams/reality of Hadhrat Yusuf (Qur’an 12:4, 12:100). Both of these actions were abrogated in our religion, and yet the stories are still told to illustrate a point.

It often seems that the “golden age” Muslims were able to take the best of civilizations around them without feeling threatened by them. They looked at the world with curiosity and discarded what was irrelevant to their faith or perspective.

Perhaps being better grounded in faith and a part of an ascendant civilization made the difference?

Thank you for your comments.

Warmly,
Baraka

thank you for sharing. may Allah reward you. as always and again.

your mild ire at kk is understandable, but i’m going to be a fool and take her (his?) place in the ring. without adopting a position on the propriety of a line such as “children of God”, i think kk’s general point still holds. i believe you’ll agree that we can’t always replace things we don’t like and move on. in fact, should we not as persons of faith be all the more concerned about incompatible beliefs (i’m looking for a milder word for falsehood, and this is the best i can do for the moment) creeping into our vocabulary? what do we do when something sounds beautiful-but-not-quite-true?

i am reminded here of a well-meaning professor’s advice to appreciate the german philosopher martin heidegger for his theoretical contributions while “gliding past” his nazi personal history. now heidegger is one of the most significant minds of the twentieth century, but i don’t think one can simply glide past or move on from the incompatibility of his personal beliefs and ours.

if the heidegger analogy doesn’t work for you, perhaps another poem would be more to the point. here’s a sonnet by the seventeenth-century catholic/anglican poet john donne, whom i love yet makes me cringe for reasons that will quickly become obvious:

HOLY SONNET 14
John Donne

Batter my heart, three-person’d God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp’d town to’another due,
Labor to’admit you, but oh, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captiv’d, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be lov’d fain,
But am betroth’d unto your enemy;
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

Ya Haqq!

kk: You don’t have to agree with everything it says in order to benefit from it. If the word “children” bothers you so much replace it with “creation” and move on. Or not, it’s up to you.

~W~: Alhamdolillah, the trip was great but truly exhausting. I have a bit of a cold now and need to catch up on at least two nights of sleep but it honestly was wonderful to see their faces light up on the rides and during the parade/fireworks!

Warmly,
Baraka

I’m not sure how acceptable this statement is in Islam, or for a Muslim to say.