Ingrid Mattson – Purity, Simplicity & Balance
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
I begin by praising God
and by sending peace and blessings
to the prophet Muhammad.
Today, I want to
just outline a brief
presentation
on
the issue of
the general issue we're talking about today,
which is,
which is justice.
And
this is a very complicated topic, and the
subtopic that I've been given has even many
more dimensions.
I have 20 minutes, so I've decided to
simplify
my presentation
and focus on
basically one issue.
And that is
how to
understand
justice as a balance
between
allowing the maximum freedom possible,
the freedom that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, that
god has given us
to
choose to do right or choose to do
wrong,
with the need
to have
rules that regulate
our lives
here on this earth so that we don't
impede on each other's freedoms,
as well as
rules or guidelines
that help us develop
a close and meaningful
relationship
with Allah
so that we can
attain his pleasure and ultimately,
his eternal presence.
So this this balance
between
freedom
and
following rules or guidelines.
I think that much unhappiness
that we see and that we experience in
our own selves
is
by,
being being imbalanced,
in this area from one side or the
other, by inclining towards one side or the
other,
or not understanding
the role
of each of these two important
aspects
of our lives as believers.
And so we are confused.
Now, on the one hand, we have
people who see
freedom, the pursuit of freedom, as an end
in itself,
As a value in itself.
And
although I don't like to rely
very much on, you know, different sort of
contemporary science or current studies in
science, when I'm talking about,
Islamic theology and ethics,
I think there are some very interesting and
important
facts
about
human beings,
about our psychology,
about the way our brain works that can
help us understand
why we have
some of the,
some of the rules we have about being
a Muslim, why Islamic civilization
and,
Islamic scholars have developed certain ways
of interacting with the Muslim community
to help guide us.
I think that there are some very important
realities
that can help us understand these things and
live ultimately
a more satisfying,
peaceful,
life in harmony with the guidance that we've
been given through the prophets and particularly through
the prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon
him.
So
the issue of freedom,
we all are aware of
a very clear statement in the Quran that
Allah gives
us.
There is no compulsion in deen, which is
often translated as religion.
Now, one of the aspects of the subject
I was supposed to address today is simplicity.
Is there anything that could be more apparently
simple than this?
And part of the challenge is to, on
the one hand, not lose the simplicity
of very clear
messages
that are given to us by Allah in
the Quran
and by the prophet Muhammad,
not losing that simplicity and clarity,
while at the same time not becoming simplistic.
Because, of course, in the application of these
principles, we're dealing with
complex societies,
complex human beings
who are living in particular circumstances.
So
to always remember
not to make make things overly complicated so
that we lose the clarity
of the message, after all,
that is one of the main points of
revelation is to help guide
us in a complicated
and and sometimes confusing world, while at the
same time
not reverting to a very simplistic
approach
in dealing with
complicated
situations.
Individuals,
societies,
communities.
But it is very clear
that when
our creator tells us there is no compulsion
in religion,
that we need to contemplate
this
statement very deeply.
That,
we understand as Muslims that the term deen,
which I'm translating here as religion,
is not simply about worship,
about how we pray and how we fast
and the rules for making,
pilgrimage,
and the other areas
of or acts of worship.
But that dean
includes
as well the way that we are,
required and encouraged to interact with each other,
All of the good things there are to
do,
as well
as the necessary things,
the required things and the limits and the
rules on our interactions,
for example, are contractual
relationships,
that they must be entered into voluntarily,
That that people shouldn't deceive each other
on two sides of a contract.
That we should fulfill our contracts. That we
shouldn't engage in,
usury.
So there are many, many other rules that
affect our worldly life that are aspects of
our deen.
Now if that's the case and there's no
compulsion in dean,
then how do we,
as a community
that has,
clear guidelines about these things,
interact with other communities
who have choose chosen
a different way
of understanding their
contractual
law,
political matters, family law, and many other aspects
of life.
And here is where things can start to
get very complicated.
And we need, then,
to engage
as a community
in very serious deliberations
and study
about these matters.
These are not,
issues that can be answered very
simply.
This is where simplistic thinking will only get
us into trouble.
And here is where
we are required
to join together as a collective obligation,
a Farqifaya,
in studying these issues
by developing
think tanks, by developing
colleges and universities,
madrasas,
by developing
journals where we study these matters,
by
supporting the education of scholars, men and women,
who can research these
issues and come to a very deep understanding
by engaging in a dialogue
with the communities,
with whom we're interacting
on these matters to see if we can
see if we have any common values or
principles so that together we can build a
more just society.
And in fact, one of the very satisfying
things about engaging at a deep level,
at the level of ethics and values
with sincere people of other faith communities in
America,
is that we discover that there are some
truly,
significant shared values, and that together
when we,
when we research and study and discuss
at a serious level, at a deep level,
that we find
that not only is it easier for us
to fulfill our own religious obligations,
to find the freedom to do that, but
we also, together with others, can work to
make society as a whole more fair, more
just.
But if this is the case, if we're
going to
not be simplistic about these matters, and if
we're going to understand them at a deep
level,
then we also have to
understand that as individuals
there are certain matters
that
we are not going to completely
understand.
They will be out of our areas of
expertise.
It doesn't mean we can't understand something about
them,
but if we have not deeply studied in
this area, if we're not specialists in this
area or experts,
then we'll find it very difficult to make
a decision
about how to act
when we are presented with a situation
in which we have to choose one way
or another.
Is this lawful or is it unlawful?
Is this act or transaction
permissible
or is it prohibited?
And here we have this tension within us
as human beings
where
we
want to express our individuality.
We want to choose
freely,
choose issues freely.
And in fact,
current science has shown that when we do
choose something freely,
we There are certain areas of our brain
that are stimulated that create a sense of
pleasure and joy,
that are not stimulated when we're simply given
that thing.
So say say,
you
are present in a situation
where you can do one of 2 things
and you choose
to do a good thing, you will not
only have chosen to do the good thing,
but you will feel an added sense
of satisfaction and pleasure because of doing the
good thing.
Now if you had been compelled to do
that,
if you had been compelled by your parents
or your teachers or someone else to do
that, and you experience
that
situation as
as being oppressive or in a way taking
away your freedom of choice,
you would not experience the same satisfaction,
even though the result was precisely
same thing. You know, playing in a particular
sport or buying
a particular item.
So the so this desire
to always want
to
be the one who chooses
is something that is
It is hardwired within us.
Now if this is the case, why in
certain societies
are people satisfied
when their parents or elders or others might
choose for them.
The difference is that
their understanding of self is not a narrow
sense of self.
They understand that they are both an individual
and a member of a community.
So that they are able
to identify as their choice
something that is done,
by an expert or someone who who they
choose to listen to,
they
experience that as in fact their choice.
Why is it their choice? Because they identify
as part of that group or part of
that community.
They don't have this very narrow understanding of
self,
where it always has to be I'm the
one, you know, who's going to decide and
no one's going to tell me what to
do.
So what this shows is that when it
comes to choosing
within our community
how we're going to behave, how we're going
to act, what is right, what is wrong,
how are we going to simply become better
people
and more able to follow the guidance that
has been given us,
there's an important issue here.
We need to realize that we have to
let go
of
a very narrow sense of self.
And to truly understand that we are both
individuals
who are responsible after all
for our decisions. Allah
in the Quran says,
no soul bears the burden of another soul.
But we can choose
to be part of a community.
We can choose to be part of a
community
that collectively
shoulders the burden
of
decision making about certain issues.
And here is the beauty
of the balance between
being an individual
and not letting go of that sense of
responsibility and autonomy,
but also being part of a community that
allows
for the choice of who are our who
are going to be our scholars, who are
going to be our experts, who are going
to be our imams.
And this is an extraordinary freedom that we
have in American society.
No one is choosing that for us.
And so
when when I choose
to consult with an expert in a certain
area who knows far more
than I do about a certain matter, and
I say, you know, whatever you tell me
is is the right thing to do in
this area. For example,
you know, financial law, which I have no
expertise in and I have no interest in
learning,
much about other than the basics.
And I say, you know, I trust you,
I know this person, well educated person with
integrity,
you can give me the answer, Which is
the right thing to do in this situation?
I can embrace
that answer
and adopt it and
I'm not
abdicating my autonomy,
I'm not giving up my individuality because in
fact I have chosen
the method or mechanism by which I will
make a decision.
And
I'm reaching the end of my time and
so what I'd like to do is
is summarize this
with a few general rules that I gleaned
from reading,
a number of books. One of them is
a very interesting book by Barry Schwartz
called The Paradox of Choice, Why Less is
More. And I'm just going to give you
quickly 6 lessons from that book that I
think apply in this situation.
I derive these these six principles from this
book and I'd like to
to highlight how they align with many of
the teachings that we
embrace as Muslims
and how perhaps
this will help all of us
move beyond the kind of antagonism
and debates that we hear between those who
who feel that,
you know, I should be free to decide
whatever I want to do, I should be
free to interpret the Quran and the sunnah
the way I want,
because after all there's no one between
me and God and my worship.
This is an extreme that is reduces Islam
to a very simplistic understanding.
On the other hand, those people who don't
understand the importance
of
all of us together as a community choosing
who will be our experts
and choosing what is the mechanism by which
we will
give
up some of our
individual choice for the sake of the community
deciding. For example,
if you are a member of a masjid
and equally and after an open discussion, the
members decide
that
the imam
will make the determination
of how,
the lunar calendar will be decided.
You have all made that choice.
Leave it after that. It's not right after
that that then someone stands up and says,
but no, I believe this and I can't,
I can't do anything other than what I
believe.
This is a false,
a false paradox or a false choice.
So we can choose and we need to
choose how we're going to decide things.
Who are going to,
be the people to whom we turn to
ask
for
more direction in very complicated
issues or in issues where we need one
decision
for the whole community.
We need to do that.
But let's think about a few of these
rules and with that, I'll finish up
so that others can take the stage.
One of the things that that,
the author Barry Schwartz talks about in this
book, Paradise of Choice, is he has a
very nice phrase. He says,
we should not be
fetishistic
about choice, meaning that we don't make choice
itself as a fetish,
but choice is something that we naturally want
for the sake of improving our lives.
So one, he says, voluntarily
embrace constraints on our freedom of choice.
In other words, choose when to choose.
As I said, in some cases, I will
choose to listen to someone who identify
who I identify as an expert in this
field.
I have chosen to make a choice,
and after that, I'll be satisfied with it.
2nd,
in a consumeristic
society, we should seek what is good enough,
good enough rather than always wanting the best.
You know, because
the problem is there will always be
a better item
or a better looking,
you know, spouse.
The day you get married, you're going to
look around and there's, oh, there's someone who
who would have been better than my wife
or my husband. There's always going to be
a better school out there or a better
job.
So we should be,
people who say, you know what, that is
that is good enough. Not
to avoid pursuing excellence,
but it doesn't mean that in everything we
need the best because with that we'll never
be satisfied.
Another rule,
and this comes from it's quite amazing from
studying many, many people. It's from psychology. It's
from sociology.
Avoid regret
by lowering our expectations
about the results of our decisions. This is
very interesting because
when we say, as Muslims, we say,
what we're acknowledging
is that
we are going to make a great effort
to do the best thing,
to choose the right course of action,
but at the same time the result is
not in our hands. And I think that's,
it's so clearly,
if we if we understand what insha'allah means,
what if god wills it means, we'll be
much happier people.
If we truly embrace the implications of that.
And and I can't go through all of
these, so let me just say one final
thing that he talks about.
If we really wanna be happy when we're
making our decisions, and I think this has
to do with not just,
in the consumer
our relationships
and in
the way that we even live our lives
as Muslims,
we should
If we do compare ourselves with others, we
should make downward comparisons
instead of upward comparisons,
and practice an attitude of gratitude for what
you have. Now what does he mean by
downward comparisons? This is precisely
the meaning of
the statement of prophet Muhammad
when he said, when you see someone who
has more,
look to someone who has less.
Because when we see someone who has more,
we're frustrated.
But when we see someone who has less,
then we're feeling a,
gratitude.
And I think this is true of the
Muslim community in America
at this time.
Are there communities
that had more than us?
In terms
of religiosity,
piety,
maybe their adherence to,
to good behavior as Muslims? Sure.
There have been.
And there are in other places in the
world.
But it's a little bit frustrating when we
hear people saying,
oh, you know, Muslims aren't any good or
they aren't behaving the way they should
Because let's do a little bit of downward
comparison.
Let's think of all of the places where
things are so much worse.
Things are so much worse for so many
other people, politically, economically, socially,
and even in terms of our communities.
We have beautiful,
caring, generous
people in our communities,
and we shouldn't forget them
when we're remembering
that there were great Muslims in history who
were so much better than us. Yes, there
were.
But there were also people who were a
lot worse
than your neighbor or brother or sister
who is
trying and struggling to make a contribution in
the community.
So we shouldn't always compare
ourselves and our community
only with the best. We should strive to
be better,
certainly.
But we shouldn't,
we shouldn't
always
we shouldn't forget that there
are people who are really trying and who
have elevated even themselves compared to where they
were in their lives,
because that would be ungratitude.
And we're required to be grateful,
because Allah loves those who are grateful.
So just a few,
a few brief
comments
on this issue of seeking justice and a
balance in justice, and particularly
the issue of
freedom
and how we pursue freedom and freedom of
choice,
with balancing that
with
creating some kind of order in our community
so that we won't simply be chaotic or
a bunch of people who have no ability
to work together for what is good.