Dr Muhammad Maroof Shah

The deeper or comprehensive meaning of Quranic descriptions about hell as mawla – friend (Q. 57:15) – and umm – mother (Q. 101:9), as something for which we ought to be thankful in the chapter Rehman , and use of such words as azab derived from the root word azb meaning sweet thing haven’t been given due attention by mainstream Muslim scholarship. The distinction of Ibn Arabi lies in providing an alternative understanding of hell that finds deep resonance in our hearts and minds besides opening up new vistas on various verses of the Quran. Ibn Arabi declared that his life-long mission is to broadcast the Mercy centric message of Islam – he deciphered the universe’s relationship to the Breath of the All-Merciful  and need to appreciate the dimension of beauty or aesthetic point of view – so that no servant ever despairs. Let us read how he applies his ontology of mercy to non-believers and hell in light of a few statements and works of William Chittick and Muhammad Khalil. ...

Understanding why we can't question the belief in Hell as explicated by Sufis and philosophers According to mystical belief, to be human is to be accountable to God, to accept the measure called absolute.       Our human state is such a treasure that we are not ready to exchange it for anything. If we are offered all the treasured things of the world on the condition that we renounce our human state and become beasts, we will not accept the bargain. The cost of failing to realise responsibilities or potentialities of human state can’t be anything less than hell. As Frithjof Schuon, metaphysician and doyen of traditionalist school, writes, “The notion of Hell becomes perfectly clear when we think how senseless it is-and what a waste and a suicide-to slip through the human state without being truly man, that is, to pass God by, and thus to pass our own souls by, as if we had any right to human faculties apart from the return to God, and as if there were any point in th...

Is heaven like a modern nation state that has restricted entry on the basis of birth in particular region/religion? Who says God has no reward for other faith communities? None of the towering scholars holds historical Islam has monopoly on salvation. Islam that alone is acceptable to God according to the Holy Qur’an embraces, as metaphysic, all revealed traditions and can’t be identified with Sharia tagged historical Islam given Sharia has kept changing previously but salvific efficacy hasn’t from Adam/Noah to Muhammad. The logic of salvation couldn’t change on any arbitrary date and none has so far fixed that date either. Islam questions those who maintain Judaic or Christian monopoly on salvation and can’t contradict itself by asserting its own monopoly. Salvation is primarily a function of metaphysical/esoteric core that stays/stayed unchanged across scriptures. Even if salvation of believers in other religions is theoretically not conceded, in practice when it comes ...

Understanding Islamic View on Universality of Salvation and limited duration of hell Most Muslims assume that punishment for nonbelievers will not end as they shall be compelled to stay in eternal hell and that none will enjoy stay in hell at any point of time as if God’s mercy has no dominion or role there. Many Muslim theologians believe that God doesn’t need any reason (sin) to consider punishing someone in hell and can send anyone to hell.  None of these assumptions have gone unchallenged by towering Muslim scholars, philosophers and Sufis. Before discussing the specific case of Ibn Taymiyyah against eternality of hell and exclusivist view on salvation, let us sum up certain points against the popular view.       How come hell is called a friend ( mawla ) and mother ( umm ) in the Quran?  How can any place be sealed for good against penetration of divine mercy? If we note that one is not punished for sins but by sins as noted by many astute minds and if suff...

Is there any possibility for exit for all and any hope for those who are condemned to it? Hell is obviously a bad place or state to find oneself in. But the story doesn’t end here.  There arise many questions regarding it, that cry for answers. One such important question is about God’s mercy if so many people end up in hell. And is there any possibility for exit for all and any consolation/hope/remedy for those who are condemned to it? How do we live lives if such terrible future awaits most of us/fellow humans? How come we can sleep well if it is the case that anytime anyone amongst us is going to be picked up for ultimate concentration camp? I think most of these questions hinge on understanding the nature of hell. Today we ponder on a few points to help us approach these questions.       Peter Kreeft, an influential religious figure, has this to say in his Three Philosophies of Life , on the nature of hell: “The essence of Hell is not suffering but ...

For most women living here, Kashmir has always been hell. To live as a daughter is hell, to leave one’s home for the spouse’s home is a bigger hell. To continue to live in alien house (that rarely becomes home) is like serving a life sentence. Most homes are a hell for daughters-in law. Mothers-in law have their own hell to keep burning. But let us today focus on the hell of our daughters who suddenly get deprived of the status as daughters and become only legal subjects, who are no longer humans. One daughter-in-law reaches her home by   6pm   where everyone including the mother-in-law and husband’s brother, are waiting for her to prepare tea and dinner for them. She is unable to take tea before 7.30pm .  Kitchen odour must not spread to irritate anyone in the house and she must be very careful in the kitchen. Another has to buy the milk she boils that curdles for no fault of her own.  Another is caught between two dictators – mother-in-law and husband who make it...

Why isn’t it easy for our political parties to negotiate to be able to form a stable government in which opposition parties and critics too could largely trust or desist from mudslinging? Even if they do succeed in forming one, isn’t it going to be ever under strain? Aren’t all parties uneasy bedfellows when it comes to sharing power? I am not going to answer these questions – we know them anyway – but  transpose these questions to domestic sphere. Seeing the stalemate in domestic politics of home where only a few family members tied by blood relationships I have no surprises to be shocked by any arrangement that ensues and that have ensued in our history by different permutations and combinations in politics. If we are so divided at family level, if there is difficult to find the undisputed leader or trust in a leader at home level (most of us don’t practically buy the thesis inherited from our tradition that husbands are leaders (qawamoon?), if most mothers-in-law have grudges ...

People don’t want a particular alliance but their leaders or representatives want or are compelled to accept some arrangement. Kashmiris feel they will be sold cheap and in their name, there will be tons of justifications for any action taken by those who chose to rule. Let us note how easy it has been to trivialize people’s mandate. How shocking we find yesterday’s arch rivals hugging one another. How shameful to invent ever new excuses for consenting to this or that action that previously few weeks back parties openly opposed. Even God is bound by the principle of non-contradiction as far as He operates in the world governed by reason and logic. But politicians seem to have license for flaunting even the laws of logic including the law of non-contradiction. BJP-PDP alliance is not acceptable to vast majority of Jammu and Kashmiri’s voters. So isn’t any other alliance to another large section of voters. But do voter’s wishes matter or mandate matters?  Who should decide? Isn’t t...

I don’t understand politics; I understand ethics only ___________ Borges The torture of a bad conscience is the hell of a living soul. __________ John Calvin Hateful to me as are the gates of hell, Is he who, hiding one thing in his heart, Utters another. _____________ Homer There is no greater hell than to be a prisoner of fear. _____________ Ben Jonson We understand more politics than ethics. And no wonder we find ourselves in hell. Hell is facing other people you don’t like. Hell is greed, envy, desire, ambition for worldly power. Hell is where love is not. Hell is regret, guilt, heedlessness. Hell is the laughter of the enemies. Hell is feeling unable to act.   Hell is a desecrated nature, deserted relationships, distrust, betrayal. Hell is the world under capitalism. Hell is the world today. Hell is Kashmir in search of home, in search of trustworthy leaders, in search of peace. Our world is hell thanks to the money power. Our politics seems such a stinking affair because ...

Reading Political theory on Ethics and Bureaucracy Bertrand Russell has a collection of essays called Unpopular Essays. Today I am not commenting on it but attempting to write an unpopular essay. Though often reminded of Mark Twain who when asked to comment on heaven and hell said, “No comments. I have friends on either side”, I wish to express suspicions/questions that have haunted me and compelled me not to pray for success to anyone who requests when administrative exams are on. I try to pray instead with Iqbal: Meri dua hae ki teri aarzu badal jayae (I pray that your wish changes). These questions include: •Generally speaking, masses have felt alienated from bureaucrats and great social thinkers from Marx to Max Weber to Foucault have explained why this alienation is a product of the very system. Modern democracies are controlled by the interests of the Capital or are instruments in the hands of an elite class that has ascended in social hierarchy by a system that ultimately r...

Kashmir is assumed to be a  pir-waer  and its implies values will count in every sphere. Here belief in God is shared by almost everyone. Here is a legacy of four religions and great literature all centred on values. What happens if we practically delink values from our lives is nothing short of death of soul if not of body as well in the long run. This death is what is imminent today in Kashmir and I think we have no moral right to call ourselves sons of the soil, the soil where shrines are on every nook and corner and saints used to rule the hearts and the minds. We were a  pir-waer  and are fast losing this identity if we don’t care to take values seriously. I take the example of economy delinked from values to state my case. Three quotes to give an idea regarding what happens in a value centering culture with regarding to economics. Abu Yazid Bistami was asked what is the fatwa regarding how much money should one possess to be eligible for  zakaat and p...

Questions that our posterity will ask Posterity and in fact the current generation will ask us few difficult questions. As parents I don’t think we have any answers. A few questions and issues they will raise I discuss today. What we have made of Human Resource Management in Kashmir? Once it was not a big problem. Take the case of log winters, handicrafts and extensive local manufacturing of important woolen, matting and other commodities in most houses. Neither women nor the elderly people were jobless. Today even our youth are unemployed. And most of the jobs are in sectors that are not really productive or contributing in real sense to solving local problems. Previously it was almost all green. Just take the example of constructing house. A few decades back it cost almost nothing. Only certain patience. In the first year bricks were prepared. In the next year other requirements were gradually completed. Then labour was mostly either free or community based. Hardly anyone was hir...

He lacerates our ego, decimates self righteous attitude, and rips apart all pretensions Reading Camus’ The Fall is like consenting to be operated without anaesthesia. Nothing exposes better our moral weaknesses, our complacency, our guilt. Reading his The Plague calls for almost superhuman courage to experience life as plague without shrinking from responsibility to ameliorate it. His The Stranger has a hero who doesn’t feel about anything including the death of his mother thus critiquing modern alienation. Camus lacerates our ego – self righteous attitude and pretensions. Be ready for soul hammering in the works of Camus. One can emerge much more humble and compassionate after baptism in the fire of his works. He sees through the sickness, the cancer of the soul of modern man. There are dangers too, however. We have to be respectful but critical. Great lessons in ethics need to be learnt but corroding skepticism following from failed mystic adventure and dogmatic rationalism and ...