Islam and the Divine Feminine (Adi Shakti)

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" So often has Islam been portrayed as an exclusively masculine,

patriarchal faith that many have never suspected the central

importance of the Feminine in Islam and would be astonished to

realize that it has been there from the beginning. Perhaps in part

due to the metaphysical interiority of the Feminine, this aspect of

Islam has lived a largely hidden existence — but it is no less

vital for that. In recent years there has been much discussion and

controversy over how to reshape Christianity to include the Feminine

on the divine level, but in Islam that has never been an issue, for

the feminine element in Islam has always been present, especially in

Sufism. . . .

 

Allah as Mother

 

In contrast to Christianity, Islam has never depicted God as Father.

Such a comparison is completely outside the boundaries of Islamic

discourse. However, Muslims have always found it easy and natural to

speak of the maternal qualities of Allah.

 

Prophet Muhammad was the first to use the example of mothers to

illustrate Allah's mercy. After a battle, the Prophet and his

Companions came upon a group of women and children. One woman had

lost her child and was going around looking for him, her breasts

flowing with milk. When she found her child, she joyfully put him to

her breast and nursed him. The Prophet asked his Companions, " Do you

think that this woman could throw her son in the fire? " They

answered " No. " He then said: " Allah is more merciful to His servants

than this woman to her son. " (From the hadith collection of al-

Bukhari).

 

Another al-Bukhari hadith describes how during the Muslim conquest

of Mecca a woman was running about in the hot sun, searching for her

child. She found him, and clutched him to her breast, saying, " My

son, my son! " The Prophet's Companions saw this, and wept. The

Prophet was delighted to see their mercy, and said, " Do you wonder

at this woman's mercy (rahmah) for her child? By Him in Whose hand

is my soul, on the Day of Judgment, Allah shall show more rahmah

toward His believing servant than this woman has shown to her son. "

 

Jalal al-Din Rumi, in an amazing passage of the Masnavi on the

Return to Allah, made reference to the story of the infant Moses and

addressed Allah directly as " Mother " :

 

On Resurrection Day, the sun and moon are released from service:

and the eye beholds the Source of their radiance,

then it discerns the permanent possession from the loan,

and this passing caravan from the abiding home.

If for a while a wet nurse is needed,

Mother, return us to your breast.

I don't want a nurse; my Mother is more fair.

I am like Moses whose nurse and Mother were the same.

(Masnavi, V:701)

 

 

The Ka`bah in Mecca, the very heart and pivot of the Islamic

world, naturally is associated with feminine imagery, veiled in the

black color of the Feminine Beyond-Being. Medieval writers and poets

have often compared the holiest shrine of Islam to a veiled bride or

a desired virgin, especially when on the pilgrimage. Their goal was

to touch and kiss her beauty mark, the black stone. Khaqani was the

Persian poet who most frequently employed this symbolism in his

pilgrim poems. But another look at the Ka`bah can come from the

root of its name in the Arabic language. Although the word ka`bah

itself means 'cube', it is very close to the word ku`b

meaning 'woman's breast'. This turns out to be an appropriate

metaphor, as indeed the Ka`bah nurtures with the milk of

spiritual blessing all the faithful who come to touch and kiss it.

Consider also the eminently feminine Yoni form of the Black Stone's

setting.

 

The Prophet's Feminine Soul

 

Prophet Muhammad's soul had a deeply feminine nature within. When

his Companions asked him whom he loved most in the whole world, he

answered it was his wife, 'Â'ishah. They were surprised to hear

him announce love for a woman, as this was a new concept to them;

they had been thinking in terms of the manly camaraderie between

warriors. So they asked him which man he loved most. He answered

Abû Bakr, 'Â'ishah's father, a gentleman who was known for his

sensitivity. These answers confounded the Companions who until then

had been brought up on patriarchal values. The Prophet was

introducing reverence for the Feminine to them for the first time.

 

Surah 109 in the Qur'ân, al-Kawthar, gives an especially revealing

look into the Prophet's feminine soul. It was revealed because his

enemies had been taunting him that he had no sons, only daughters,

while they had been given sons to perpetuate their patriarchal ways.

Allah revealed this message of consolation to the Prophet: " We have

given thee al-Kawthar ... surely the one who hates thee will be cut

off (from progeny). " What is al-Kawthar? A sacred pool of life-

giving water in Paradise-a profoundly feminine symbol. It represents

a heavenly exaltation of the Feminine over patriarchal society. The

name of Kawthar is derived from the same root as kathîr

'abundance', a quality of the supernal Infinite, the Divine Feminine.

 

Woman as Creator

 

One of the most outright declarations of the Divine Feminine in all

Sufi literature is in Rumi's Masnavi. In a passage praising the

feminine qualities of kindness and gentleness, a passage that is

increasingly well-known in these days of the resurgent Feminine, he

says:

 

Woman is the radiance of God, she is not your beloved.

She is the Creator—you could say that she is not created.

(Masnavi, I:2437)

 

 

The Primacy of the Feminine in Islam

 

Seen from the exterior, Islam may appear as a masculine-dominated

faith. That is because its external aspects, such as the sacred law

that governs the social order, are a manifestation of Allah's

jalâl attributes. The hidden side of Islam, little known to the

outside world, lives and breathes the values of interiority, the

loving, forgiving, merciful Divine Presence that draws hearts

closer, the infinite jamâl aspects of Allah's Beauty. The eternal

primacy of Allah's feminine nature is established in a hadith

qudsi: " My mercy precedes My wrath " (rahmatî sabaqat ghadabî).

 

Beyond all, the infinite eternal mystery of Allah's uncreated

Essence is the Divine Feminine that is the ultimate spiritual

Reality, calling to the souls who love Allah to come home and find

perfect peace. "

 

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