Khutbah #7 - 03/04/98

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim

Alhamdulillahi rabbil'alamin wa salaatu wa salaamu ala Rasulihi  

In the last couple of Khutbahs I have been talking of our relationship to our God, our Deen, the muslim way of life that we share as a cultural way of like with our fellow muslims, but which we experience as a Personal Experience.

We experience our relationship with the Divine at the level of the Intellect, as with the Most Beautiful Names. But the beauty of the Names is not only in the intellect, but also in the emotions, a bond of feeling that we only know through our shared human experience, Compassion, feeling along with another, Mercy for or from another.

To guide us on the way to God awareness, as well as God's Names, the Qur'an also gives us other signs. And the signs of God show us a way to look towards God that is highly sensual. We are told to look, and listen, and taste the fruits that are sent to feed us. And when it comes to the Afterlife, the words of description become highly sensual. The Garden is filled with pleasure, fruits, shade, sex, and that highly individualistic matter of personal preference, beauty. The pain of the Fire would also seem to be something described in a highly sensual manner.

We are sensual creatures. Our senses feed our intellects and emotions. Our senses may well have an animal quality about them, but it would also seem that such qualities may not be too mean to be applied to God.

Qur'an speaks of God 'Seeing', and in each rakah we speak of God 'hearing the one who prays' (and if there was no 'hearing', what else could be the purpose of our praying?). And, of course, God's Hand can touch us, and support us, and feed us, just as God feeds the birds.

"Have they not regarded the birds above them, spreading their wings, and closing them? Nothing holds them but the All-Merciful. Surely He sees everything.

Or who is there to be a host to help you, apart from the All-Merciful? The unbelievers are only in delusion.

Or who is there that shall provide for you, if He withholds His provision? No, but they persist in disdain and aversion.

What, is he who walks prone upon his face better guided than he who walks upright on a straight path?

Say: 'It is He who produced you, and appointed for you hearing and sight and hearts; little thanks you show!'

Say: 'It is He who scattered you in the earth, and unto Him you shall be mustered.'" from the surah called The Kingdom.

*****

A muslim I know makes a living selling fabrics, some of which are so expensive that one might begin to wonder about the morality of selling something so apparently common at such a high price. She often says that she consoles herself by thinking of the Prophet.

Because, before Muhammad was known as a Prophet he was known as a trader, a merchant, a businessman (I'm not strictly sure which word would best apply). And he was certainly good enough at the job to seriously impress his employer. As we know, she married him.

Clearly he knew the value of things, and that some things are worth more to some people than others (buying from one and selling to the other is how you make a profit). And I find it interesting to think about his favourite merchandise, his specialities, one of which was fine fabrics. What makes one fabric worth more than another? Will we find the measure of its value in some quality of craftsmanship, its fineness, or an attraction much harder to define - some kind of innate beauty?

His other speciality was Perfume, an extraordinary substance, virtually infinitely varied, and appealing to that most subtle of the senses, smell. I think that they have found that the sense of smell is particularly linked with long term memory. But certainly a slight scent can be enough to trigger recollections of another specific time and place. And smell is so personal. What is it about one perfume that makes you prefer it over another, that pheromone that keys into your nerve ends in a way that really suits your senses? What is it that appeals? Well, we speak of a beautiful perfume, just as we speak of beautiful sights and sounds. I guess that what we look for is beauty.

And "God is Beautiful and loves Beauty" said the Prophet.

So there is Beauty in both cloth and perfume, but they work in different ways. Sweet smells, an attractant, a sensual delight, something overwhelmingly benign, liked by almost everyone, and reaching out to those around you floating through the air. And fine cloth, used to beautify a subject to the eye, but through covering, or veiling, screening and protecting from the sun and people's gaze, and granting privacy.

But it was the delight of perfume that was one of his three favourite thing, along with what most men find gentle, beautiful and delightful, the company of women; and then of course there was his first favourite thing, which he associated with the other two, the Prayer.

How many muslims nowadays ever speak of their prayers as having any quality of delight? Let us pray that God might hear us as we offer praise, and grant us delight in our prayers, even as much as we can find delight in the Beauty of God's Creation. And why should we not find pleasure in our prayers, when of all the freely chosen actions of mankind it is prayer that God finds most pleasing.

O God, forgive us, and have mercy on us, and guide us, and grant us security, and grant us sustenance.