Find Out Why a “Fatwa” is Sometimes a Good Thing

(The 3-Minute Weekly Insight from Spirituality U.)

Hearing the word, “Fatwa” (pronounced fah-twah) can strike fear into the hearts of non-Muslims. That may be because of a famous event that happened in the 1980s. At that time the writer Salman Rushdie published a novel called The Satanic Verses that some Muslims felt was blasphemous. As a result, the Ayatollah Khomeni issued a Fatwa calling for Rushdie to be killed. There were several attempts on Rushdie’s life, and he had to go underground for a number of years.

That is one manifestation of the idea of Fatwa, but there are other, more common understandings of what a Fatwa means. In much of the Islamic world today, a Fatwa is understood to be a non-binding religious/judicial opinion issued by a recognized spiritual authority such as a “Mufti” (pronounced moof-tee). Usually, fatwas have to do with family matters or cutting-edge social issues rather than sensational situations like the publication of The Satanic Verses.

An example might be two siblings who are arguing over the estate of their deceased parents. In parts of the Islamic world they would seek the advice of a Mufti who would offer his opinion on how to resolve the situation based on what is found in the Holy Qu’ran (pronounced cur-ann) or Hadith (pronounced hah-deeth) which are the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.

In Egypt, for example there is a highly structured, elaborate system for seeking and receiving fatwas. Muslims can seek a fatwa in person from a Mufti, but they can also seek an opinion using high technology. In 2008 I visited the enormous office in Cairo of the Grand Mufti of Egypt, named Ali Gomaa. In his multi-storey, state-of-the-art facility in Cairo, I learned firsthand that Muslims can seek and receive a fatwa via a phone “hotline,” a fax machine, or even email. 

These days, I imagine you can also get a fatwa using Facebook and other social media.

While on my visit to Egypt, I joined other members of my American interfaith delegation in a meeting with Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa. We sat with him in his enormous modern office for an interfaith dialogue that was covered by Egyptian newspapers and several radio and TV networks from that country. He expressed strong support for interfaith peacemaking and I later learned that his words of moderate Islamic practice are listened to not only by Egyptians, but also by Muslims throughout the Mediterranean world. I began to follow his published fatwas online. One in particular got my attention.

Several years ago a Muslim wrote to him seeking a fatwa on whether or not it is ok to convert to another religion. To paraphrase his response, he said “While I wouldn’t recommend conversion, I can find nothing in the Qur’an or Hadith that prohibits it.”

To understand the significance of this, think of someone writing to the Pope and asking if it is ok for a Catholic to become a Jew or a Muslim. If the Pope said it was ok, there would be headlines throughout the world.

To learn more about fatwas, visit:

http://www.islamicsupremecouncil.org/understanding-islam/legal-rulings/44-what-is-a-fatwa.html

April 8 Insight: Find Out What Makes God Laugh

Click Here to Watch a Short Video:

https://vimeo.com/91366272

Find Out What Makes God Laugh

(The 3-Minute Weekly Insight from Spirituality U.)

Spiritual folks sometimes take their religion a bit too seriously. A touch of humor can often help us relax and have a more enjoyable spiritual experience. There are many sources of religious humor. These include movies, books, and the jokes we tell each other.

Funny religious movies to explore include Monty Python's "Life of Bryan," the film, "Oh, God" featuring George Burns and John Denver, and the brand new movie, "Noah." (Just joking about "Noah"; it's pretty grim).

Among my favorite humorous books about religion are The Church of 80% Sincerity, by my friend, David Roach; and, Driving Your Own Karma, by Swami Beyondananda, aka Steve Bhaeman. By the way, "ananda" means "bliss."

David created The Church of 80% Sincerity to counter the hypocrisy he encountered in the religion he grew up in. Swami Steve created his character to echo and poke playful fun at spiritual gurus like Ram Dass and Pema Chodron.

In the 80% Church you only have to be 100% sincere 80% of the time, or 80% sincere 100% of the time. Either way, you have 20% of your life left to just be "you"! And how about this wise and funny observation from Driving Your Own Karma: "The bad news: There is no key to the universe. The good news: It was never locked."

And what about religious jokes? The best make us chuckle while also making us think. Also, good manners suggest we make jokes about our own religion rather than at the expense of someone else's.

A few jokes are so subtle they need explanation. Case in point, a Quaker joke. Quakers don't have a worship service like Protestants; they have a "meeting for worship." But Quakers are very service oriented. And when Quakers worship they simply sit in silence for an hour listening to God. So, here's the joke: a church member goes to Quaker meeting for worship expecting prayer, preaching, and singing. Nothing happens, nothing happens, nothing happens. After a while the church member turns to a Quaker and asks, "When does the service begin?" The Quaker responds, "As soon as the Meeting is over." You may have to think about that for a second before you get the joke.

Occasionally a spiritual joke pokes fun at a key concept in a religion: A woman walks into a pizza parlor and orders a Buddhist pizza. The clerk looks at her in puzzlement and asks, "How do I make a Buddhist pizza?" She replies, "Make me one with everything."

Sometimes our jokes can be funny and painful at the same time. Case in point, this philosophical joke: A minister, a rabbi, and an imam are gathered in the Middle East. They pray to God, "O Holy One, will peace EVER come to the Holy Land?" A voice from Heaven replies, "Yes, my children, peace will come to the Holy Land...but not in my lifetime!" [Chuckle followed a moment later by a groan]

So what makes God laugh? I've heard that if you want to hear gales of laughter coming from Heaven...just tell God your plans!

And tune in WNDA, 1570 AM, at 8:25 each Monday morning to hear Kristen Riddick

and Terry Taylor discuss the Weekly Insight on 

"Real Life in Louisville"

April 1 Tip: Find out what “Wabi-Sabi” has to do with Spirituality

Find out what “Wabi-Sabi” has to do with Spirituality

(The 3-Minute Weekly Insight from Spirituality U.)

No, Wabi-Sabi (pronounced Wah-bee Sah-bee) isn’t that hot mustard you get in Asian restaurants. It’s a concept in Japanese spirituality that can help us bring together creativity and spirituality in a way that can also have an impact on the way we live our day-to-day lives.

In a word, Wabi-Sabi (let’s call it WS for short) finds beauty in imperfection. It emerges out of the practice of Zen Buddhism, and focuses on the counter-intuitive idea of finding loveliness in things we often overlook because of their flaws. In Wabi-Sabi, beauty is imperfect, impermanent, and often incomplete. Put another way, WS expresses the three-part idea that nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect—and that’s wonderful!  The concept may be startling in a culture where our highest ideal is absolute, shining perfection.

Visual examples of Wabi-Sabi, include ceramic cups that are rustic and slightly misshapen (but in an elegant way), and those famous Zen gardens that feature, jagged rocks that seem to float (two or three at a time) in what appears to be a small sea of carefully raked sand.

In verbal expression, a good example might be this wonderful haiku poem by Basho:

Fallen petals rise

Back to the branch

Ah, butterflies!

Something that is more noticeable in the poem than in the cup or the garden is the notion that an object or poem expresses Wabi-Sabi if it evokes in the bolder “a sense of serene melancholy and spiritual longing.” When we see flower petals on the ground, how can we keep from hoping against hope that they’ll return to the branch?

Wabi-Sabi clearly embraces not only Nature, but the naturalness of the found object…just as it is. Other characteristics of WS include simplicity, roughness, irregularity, austerity, and most of all, modesty. But what does all of this have to do with spirituality, and more particularly, how we live our lives?

Some answers to that question can be found in a small but compelling book called, Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers. In the chapter called “Wabi-Sabi and Spiritual Values, “ author Leonard Koren invites us to consider what he terms the lessons of the universe. Here are a few of his observations: Truth comes from the observation of nature; greatness exists in inconspicuous and overlooked details; beauty can be coaxed out of ugliness.

And here’s some Wabi-Sabi to live by: Give up your obsessions with neatness, consistency, and punctuality. Don’t throw away things that are chipped or marred if they are still useful. On the other hand, give away things that add unnecessary clutter to the space you live or work in. Stop beating up on yourself: the next time you do something wrong, remember that the original Hebrew word for sin is simply an archery term that means “missing the mark.” Don’t add sauces or spices to everything you eat; savor the natural flavors of foods. And finally, focus on the intrinsic value of people and things rather than engaging them for their “status” value.

For more information about Wabi-Sabi visit:

http://nobleharbor.com/tea/chado/WhatIsWabi-Sabi.htm

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