New Born Words

If I was asked to say a single word to describe the contemporary world, I would say fast. It is not only the existing things and interactions that are occurring at an ever increasing pace but also change itself is getting faster. This situation is also foretold in the words of the Prophet Muhammad (Bukhari 7061, 7121). Embodiment of all this, we are talking about the Z-generation whose everyday items have been invented no so long ago. And it is them that I want to talk about. This new generation is, as all human beings, under the responsibility of fulfilling certain expectations from God. And it is our, the previous generation's responsibility, to convey them the message of God in the best and wisest manner. However, given the differences in paradigms and values, how to achieve this mission is a great unknown and concern.

"Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction..." (16/125)

The great sufi poet Rumi has a wonderful piece that clearly highlights this point:

Yesterday is gone,

And its tale told.

Today, new seeds are growing.

The mentality, life conditions and the corresponding rhetoric of yesterday belongs there. In the realm of the yesterday, something that is valid today could still be valid centuries from now. However, in the realm of now, something valid today hardly makes it to 20 years later. So, considering the new generation's responsibility towards God and our responsibility towards them, what are we going to convey to them and how are we going to do it?

This situation is even further compounded, if you are living in social conditions where the image of religion and the religious people is blended with all sorts of immorality and cruelty. As a comparison, when Islam had come, its propositions meant mercy, compassion, justice, hygiene, intellectual inquiry and independence. Today, however, the opposite of these qualities are associated with the religious people, either because they are indeed so or because they are victims of slanders and oppression. Either way, the new generation living in such societies are not seeing, when they look at the religious people, the image of a role model to imbibe the religion from. And it cannot be expected from them to make a self-motivated action and reach out to the authentic sources, given that they are not even aware of their responsibilities nor of what is available. So, again it is the previous generation's responsibility to do something. But what and how?

The answer to this question cannot be given at once. Plus, it must be an ongoing research in the minds, since what you may think of for today will expire in a few years, unlike in the previous centuries where answers survived for centuries. Having said that, I would like to share with you a few thoughts of mine regarding the what and how of today. 

In the societies we live in, there are religious people and there are those far or even against religion. There are also those who are ok with having a faith, but are opposed to the idea of religion or institutionalized religion. What is the common factor to reach all? What are the shared values among different kinds of world views? These questions can be discussed at length, but I am going to focus on one answer that is inspired by the Quran and that can be used to reach the young generations. 

Follow those who do not ask you for any reward and who are rightly guided. (36/21)

Analyzing the event at which this admonition was uttered, we see that it is given to those who have not yet embraced the faith. And more importantly, this admonition has been included in the Quran, although the event took place long before the prophet Muhammad and in a society other than Arabs. What makes it so important that it is included in the book of God addressing all of humanity till the end of time?

Well, instead of investigating why and then looking at the content, I am going to take the other way around. The verse tells that a distinctive property of those who are rightly guided and who are trying to invite people to guidance is not asking any kind of return from the audience. So, being told by the All-Wise Creator, this criterion must be true and universal. So, a message can be formulated around this notion.

No matter they are religious or not, regardless of their inclination to question things, every member of the new generation can digest a message that tells them a litmus test about who to trust. That message is "when it comes to the matters of truth, magnitude of the demand for a return is proportional to the level of dishonesty". These returns can be in terms of money and wealth, but they can also be in the form of authority and fame. A person who is wholeheartedly dedicated to telling and spreading the truth does not worry about people giving them any return. So, the youngsters can be warned about watching for this criterion when deciding who to follow.

Individual Patience and Collective Patience

Patience is mentioned in the Quran 103 times in various conjugations. One verse involving patience, though, is particularly noteworthy due to the co-presence of two distinct conjugations:

Believers, have patience, help each other with patience, establish good relations with one another, and have fear of God so that you may prosper. (3/200)

Here, in the same verse, the believers are told to show patience in two different forms. The nuance between these forms is reflected in the numerous translations of this verse with varying levels of interpretations. Here, I want to focus on a subtlety that I think is important in our time.

The two instructions about having patience in the above verse are usbiruu and saabiruu. The second one, based on its grammatical conjugation, has a notion of being done with other actors. This is why some translations interpret it as "help each other to be patient" or as "race with the disbelievers in being patient". By logic, if the second usage of patience has a collective spirit in it, then the first must have a rather individual meaning. Indeed, when Allah tells His messengers to be patient, He uses this first form that has the individual emphasis.

And certainly were messengers denied before you, but they were patient over [the effects of] denial, and they were harmed until Our victory came to them. And none can alter the words of Allah. And there has certainly come to you some information about the [previous] messengers. (6/34)

And be patient, [O Muhammad], for the decision of your Lord, for indeed, you are in Our eyes. And exalt [Allah] with praise of your Lord when you arise. (52/48)

And be patient, [O Muhammad], and your patience is not but through Allah. And do not grieve over them and do not be in distress over what they conspire. (16/127)

So, given that there are two kinds of patience, one rather social the other rather individual, it is necessary to explore the different meanings behind them and their implications in our lives. To do so, we can start by looking at the meaning of patience.

The common belief about patience is about preserving your position in adverse conditions. This position can refer to your mood, your attitude or your actions. However, despite this broad sense of meaning, patience is deemed as a passive action. That is not in agreement with the approach presented in the Quran.

If good touches you, it distresses them; but if harm strikes you, they rejoice at it. And if you are patient and fear Allah , their plot will not harm you at all. Indeed, Allah is encompassing of what they do. (3/120)

O Prophet, urge the believers to battle. If there are among you twenty [who are] steadfast, they will overcome two hundred. And if there are among you one hundred [who are] steadfast, they will overcome a thousand of those who have disbelieved because they are a people who do not understand. (8/65)

In the two verses above, believers are told to have patience in the face of the enemy. Anyone with a clear mind would know that patience as mentioned here cannot be just about waiting passively. Rather, it means that the believers should make meticulous and elaborate plans and execute them consistently. If the believers do not take this lesson from these verses, then history is proof that God allows the disbelievers to overcome the believers, by which the believers are forced to learn the proper meaning through dire losses. So, individual patience is NOT about passively waiting, it is not just about accepting what befalls you.

But those who were certain that they would meet Allah said, "How many a small company has overcome a large company by permission of Allah. And Allah is with the patient." (2/249)

If patience is not a passive reclusion, then what is it exactly? To see that, we can look at the words of prophet Noah (pbuh), where he is complaining about his people to Allah:

He said: O my Lord! surely I have called my people by night and by day! but it has had no effect on them except to make them run away. Every time I invite them to Your (guidance) so that You can forgive them, they put their fingers into their ears, cover their heads with their clothes, persist in their disbelief and display extreme arrogance. Then surely I called to them aloud; Then verily, I proclaimed to them in public, and I have appealed to them in private... (71/5-9)

In these words, we see a man who is committed to his mission and persists on it for several centuries. He clearly shows patience in his dealings with people and in enduring the backlash for voicing the message of God. However, his persistence never means doing the same thing for centuries. He constantly changes his strategies. He tries to reach them at different occasions. He tries to talk to them in groups and individually. He uses announcements as well as personalized messages. And all this is done by a single man in the face of a powerful community and a ruling elite that are committed to ensuring the failure of his mission. So, the patience that we observe here is about change in order to survive and persist.

Therefore, the individual patience has to do with change at the individual level. Similarly, collective patience has to do with change at the group or communal level. And the change we are talking about here is not for the sake of itself nor for the sake of rising to the power. It is for the sake of establishing freedom and justice for all.

By time, Verily Man is in loss, Except those who believe and do good, and enjoin on each other truth, and enjoin on each other patience. (103/1-3)

And when they went out against Jalut and his forces they said: Our Lord, pour down upon us patience, and make our steps firm and assist us against the unbelieving people. (2/250)

Based on this conclusion, the very first question that one must answer is what have you done to evolve. Without a satisfactory answer, it is in vain to expect a different outcome from the events, because they are still the same, because they are going to act and react as before, and this state of certainty is going to put cream on the cake of those inflicting the innocent. So, those striving on the path of truth and justice must include as part of their agenda a component of evolution.

When you allow each individual to evolve on their own, it is natural and inevitable that there are going to be differences among people. Such differences are considered to be evil due to their potential for creating conflict. So, the traditional approach in these matters is to suppress differentiation and establish a unanimity. These proponents of status quo even use the verses of the Quran to fortify their views:

And obey Allah and His Messenger, and do not dispute and [thus] lose courage and [then] your strength would depart; and be patient. Indeed, Allah is with the patient. (8/46)

However, from our analysis here, it is obvious that God does want change and He does favor differences among people. So, the admonition in the above verse must be in a different direction. In fact, when you try to look at things through this perspective, you quickly realize that this verse has a link to the fact that hostile polarization among people is one of the greatest enemies of creativity and change. Peace and stability, on the other hand, are the conditions that are more favorable for fostering the birth of the new. Healthy change thrives on support and stability. Unhealthy change, on the other hand, feeds from the destructive effects of abrupt and unpredictable events. So, by creating a micro climate of stability and support, the believers or those who strive on the path of freedom and justice must encourage change and evolution.