surah iii: the family of imran

la illahe illala. this is the lesson of surah iii. there is no God, but God. all praise is due.

at 2 am, i was still up, scheming through web surfs on the house, the kids, the car - dreams i inherited from my mother who began having these aspiration when she began babysitting in 1979. 35 years later, not much has changed for us. her dream still remains a dream and i am a man-child who has become one of the last mohicans on this block, wondering if we will be evicted soon, if the landlords will find a way to slip an eviction note under our door as they did with my boy who has lived here for 3 decades, who has driven a cab for 15 years to maintain. 

anxiety drives people in droves into the apthecary i work in. they seek natural supplements for sleep, for anxiety, for for not being able to quiet their disappointments with life.

in surah iii, ALLAH reminds us that our anxieties flourish, promulgate, colonize our being when we live in fear, when through this fear we find unplausible explanations, proofs, beliefs. in modern man, this is the appearances of science, of dr. oz mentioning garcinia cambogia, a fruit rind in a supplement that will help you lose weight. our fear misplaces divinity in doctors and scientists who themselves may be misdirected, who may be so entrenched in their self-worth, that their ability to connect with the cable to the Mystery - to time and space, before and after, of ancient and future - is rendered fruitless. 

if our belief is in other than the Essence, other than the One, if it becomes about ascribing partners, not through reason, but through fear, than we become prone for punishment, for cancer, for disease. we become ripe for suffering. 

there are those amongst us who live this fearless path, some of them are penned upstate in 4x5 rooms, rooms smaller than your lower east side bathrooms. some of the warriors are dodging bombs as i write this, are leading prayers in the sundarbaon jungles besides the royal bengal tiger, who sits and watches in hunger and humility. he has an appetite to become us, a human, just to gain in this possibility of connection. all praise is due.

such are the prophets who have come before us, yogis who have lived in this alignment, in their fearless pursuit of higher and continued to pursue their truths and live by example to those who gathered around them, who cried in staring at the purity of truth in their eyes.

such was the family of imran, the descendants of adam, noah, abraham, the antecedents of mary, jesus. these were prophets whose truths were so undeniable that the anxiety-stricken people of babylon power sought to strike them down, sought to keep them at bay. but "Allah does not oppress his bondsmen". 

through the utmost humility, these messnegers of yore placed faith, prayer, and steps towards understanding, towards alignment. zachariah, through his righteous deeds, prayed for his barren wife to bare child. thus was born mary, who gave birth without laying with a man, who saw a child come forth from her womb with signs, with words, with a touch that could heal the blind, with a glow that brought three kings who in their deep meditation in the signs of the stars, were guided to bethlehem. 

they, these messengers, like muhammad, were powerful, wore their truth on their sleeves for others to see, to cower as one may do in the face of a blazing sun. but they were mortal, mere people. they, like yogis of the himalaya, tapped into a greater frequency, defied normal perceptions of anatomy and physiology with what they did with their bodies, by way of their minds, by way of their spirits. but all humans are capable of this enlightenment. “we believe in ALLAH and that which is revealed to abraham and isaac and jacob and the tribes, and that which was vouchsafed unto moses and jesus and the prophets from their lord. we make no distinction between any of them and unto Him we have surrendered.” (3:84) 

what ALLAH makes clear is that even though the wife of zachariah was barren, his prayers to ALLAH were heard and responded to, that although Mary would sit hungry, her prayers were heard and she was provided for and although she did not sleep with a man, Allah gave her seed, as the birth of Jesus, and although Jesus was born of no father, this should come as no surprise, such is the glory and capacity of Allah, that Allah is a sciecne and a Mystery. this is the contention with christianity and judaism – people of the book. that the people of the book, jews and christians should be clear in la illahe illala – there is no god but God, that if they believe in the infinite possibility of the Creator, then the miracles sent forth by moses and jesus and maryam should be of no surprise.  “people of the Scripture! why drive back believers from the way of ALLAH, seeking to make it crooked, when ye are witnesses.” (3:99). 

the message of the Quran is to reestablish truthfulness, to steer clear the distortions of religion that have been used to abuse power and exploit, after all, “it is not for any human unto whom Allah had given scripture and wisdom and the prophethood that he should afterwards have said unto mankind: be slaves of me instead of Allah." (3:79). 

so, la illaha, illala - there is not God but God. so submit with humility. 

this is the key to practice, to understanding revelation – submission, complete surrendering to the One. afterall, "unto ALLAH belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth; and unto ALLAH, all things are returned.” (3:109). thus the christian saying: ashes to ashes, dust to dust. 

even the prophets are subject to dust, even they have to become the skull of alexander the great that hamlet grapples with in the grave yard, as he is torn by the concept of death, of the ceiling that is life. “Muhammad is but a messenger, messengers have passed away before him.” (3:144) 

if even alexander the great who conquered a sizeable portion of the globe, died, if ronald reagan who with margaret thatcher was able to lay out the massive war against humanity, has died, if martin luther, and martin luther king, gandhi and nelson mandela have died, then who is spared? who is more than this moment? what is it? what is permanent? nothing, ALLAH remind us. so, avoid making a statue, an idol of any human being, of placing them into a special category of being that deifies them and in the process creates a cult of personality. for what happens when these personalites die? “will it be that when he dies or is slain, you will turn back on your heels? (3:144)

herein comes the path of submission - islam - of utter humility through constant work. those who follow the faith of surrender, of giving up of their arrogance by way of modesty of humbling oneself, by way of praying accord to the laws in al baqara, will flourish and be clear in the prophecy of the yogis before them and in turn they will be capable of the actions of yogis, of miracles. but it is not for others to see. it is not to be shown off, as this will cause humans to misinterpret and pedastalize or persecute, as they are wont to do. thus the laws, thus the need to establish a sense of order, of decency. 

no war, no battle, however small or big, can harm the believer, the surrenderer (3:11), as the believer is tied to the cable of/with Allah (3:103). the battle of Badr, when the Muslims were terribly outnumbered is an example of this. what is impossible with this level of faith, with this level of fearlessness. cohelo said it through his fortune teller character in the alchemist, when your work towards your purpose, the universe will conspire to fulfill it. “Your lord will help you with five thousand angels sweeping on” (3:25).

to understand scripture, the path of surrender take heed from the yogis before you, let them serve as your guru, afterall didn’t their lives furnish truthfulness and fearlessness? (3:132).

those who die on this path of faith are immortal, have reached a nirvana  – “with their Lord they have provision” (3:169). but those who continue to place faith in the mundane, in fear  and anxiety of all things, they will suffer, they will be in a state of of punishment (3:180). belief, the path of the yogi, of the surrenderer, is pure, is aligned with the Harmony – ALLAHis no oppressor of his bondman”(3:182) hence prayer, hence “remember ALLAH standing, sitting and reclining” live life in this mediation, walk meditation.