Interfaith Spirituality 101: what are three universal lessons from Islam?

August 14, 6:16 PMMiami Interfaith Spirituality ExaminerDr. Deb Brown

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Imam Mousa al-Kazim shrine in Iraq
(AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

This is the fifth article in a series of weekly articles about universal lessons offered by the spiritual Teachings, beginning (in alphabetical order) with Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Indigenous wisdom, and continuing this week with Islam.

This article does not address the ideas and beliefs that led to 9/11, which have been denounced repeatedly by Muslim scholars around the world. This article focuses on Islam, the sacred religion of peace founded by the Prophet Mohammad (570–632 AD), who is believed by Muslims to have directly received the word of Allah/God from the angel Gabriel and transcribed it into the Qur’an (Koran). The word “Islam” means “submission” in Arabic, and its primary focus is on humbly submitting to the Divine.

This article looks past issues that often divide us, and offers three of many Muslim lessons that could be considered universal lessons for all of us. These three lessons are not meant to capture centuries of Muslim thought and are offered in no particular order:

Lesson #1: Be content with what you have: your body, your talents, your bank account, and everything else you possess. Reach for any worthy goal you choose, but also be content with what you have now. You are not lacking anything. There is no magic point where your body is forever perfect, your financial situation is forever perfect, your relationship is forever perfect, etc. This present moment is what matters. Be content now, here, with what you have. Muhammad said, "Allah loveth those who are content."

Lesson #2: Be charitable. This doesn’t mean that you need to write a big check to a local charity when you barely have enough money to feed your own family. It means opening your heart, not necessarily your wallet, to help the people around you. Muhammad said, “Your smiling in your brother’s face, is charity…pure, comforting words are charity…Every good act is charity.”

Lesson #3: Make time for what is important. How often do we allow the most important things in our lives to fall to the bottom of our to-do list? How often do we make a resolution to devote more time to our health, our partner, or our own self-development, and that time never comes? Muslims traditionally perform salah (prayers) five specific times daily to ensure that time is devoted every day to the most important aspect of their lives.

Muslims traditionally greet each other by saying, “Assalamu Alaykum” (peace be upon you), with the reply, “wa alaykum assalam” (and peace be upon you also). The lessons listed above are part of Islam’s primary focus to surrender all (e.g., surrender greed, surrender envy, surrender fear, surrender vengeance) in order to find peace.