Why America needs Rumi - Maliha Masood

[Guest guest]

Why America needs Rumi

By Maliha Masood

 

When Cat Stevens (aka Yusuf Islam) got on a plane from London, it

did not touch ground at Dulles International in Washington, DC, as

anticipated. Instead the flight was diverted to Maine's Bangor

Airport, where the former pop singer turned Muslim peace activist

endured a four-hour detention and a subsequent return to England on

grounds of being on a US government watch list. Refusal to enter the

United States also befell a prominent Swiss Muslim scholar whose

visa to teach at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, was revoked

at the last minute. Both scenarios are sordid examples of the

paranoia that has engulfed the US administration in the name of

national security. They alienate meaningful cultural dialogue,

reinforce stereotypes and deepen the growing chasm between Islam and

the West.

 

Perhaps it is somewhat surprising, then, that one of America's most

widely read and best-selling poets has been a devout Muslim mystic

born eight centuries ago in Afghanistan - Maulana Jelaluddin Rumi.

His verses in praise of Allah were set to music by Madonna; Donna

Karan has used recitations of his poetry as background to her

fashion shows. A two-year-old Time magazine article heralds the rise

of Rumi's popularity with US readers in the tenuous aftermath of

September 11, 2001, when Harper Collins published a pricey hardback

titled The Soul of Rumi, 400 pages of poetry translated by Coleman

Barks, to follow up its previous best-seller, The Essential Rumi,

published in 1995, with more than 250,000 copies in print. In the

currently deteriorating relations between the United States and

Islamic constituents, that the words of an ancient Muslim mystic

having captured the hearts of so many Americans might seem a total

aberration or imply some hidden logic of hope and renewal.

 

Historic linkages

 

The 13th-century Rumi was no stranger to cultural animosity. He had

witnessed the Mongol pillage and plunder of Muslim dynasties of

Central and West Asia. Influenced by Islamic Sufism and the

Christian mysticism of St John of the Cross, he longed for a world

exuding immense affection for humankind. This alone could turn the

world into a paradise. His verses spread the message of love - love

for its own sake, not in consideration of a good turn - that

resonated with Western/Christian teachings of selfless love. The

20th-century German poet Hans Meinke considered Rumi's work " the

only hope for the dark times we are living in " .

 

In his masterpiece " The Mathnawi " (a Persian word for God), Rumi

blends the sacred and the profane, countering the notion that Islam

is antithetical to secular thought. He likens the world to a tavern

where people are drunk with desire and longing, mingling until they

realize their calling to return to a God whose sweeping love

supersedes all earthly love from the most mundane to the deepest of

passions. He poses a question that we have all asked ourselves at

point or another: " Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to

be doing? " His answer: " I have no idea. My soul is from elsewhere,

I'm sure of that, and I intend to end up there. "

 

The God-intoxicated philosophy of Rumi urging a spiritual union with

the divine showcases the softer, prettier side of Islam known as

Sufism that Westerners find most appealing. But what the majority of

non-Muslims and even most Muslims don't realize is that this all-

abiding love for God rooted in the idea of Tawhid or oneness, free

from the institutionalized mosque culture and the heady violence

committed in the name of the Holy Koran, is the real heart and soul

of Islam, not an esoteric branch of faith disguised as mystical

belief. It is also important to realize that an Islam without

barriers - be they national, cultural or dogmatic - is not an

Instamatic oasis of peace but a daily striving of human dignity

overriding power and greed. Rumi reflects on the spiritual journey

that welcomes uncertainty and places the burden of responsibility on

the individual to make enlightened choices.

 

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of it's furniture,

still, treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out

for some new delight.

The dark thought the shame, the malice,

meet them at the door laughing,

and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.

(The Essential Rumi, 109)

 

Feeding spiritual hunger

 

Public figures such as Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Choprah have made it

clear that Americans are in search of getting in touch with

their " inner self " . Evidence of this can be found in any New Age

bookstore across the United States promoting a wide variety of books

dealing with enrichments from yoga to Zen Buddhism. Their common

goal is to reach a state of serenity in a life fraught with chaos

and material demands. Rumi is not the first Asian mystic imported to

American shores to feed a dearth of spiritual poverty. Even though

he speaks from a vessel grounded in Islamic concepts, his words

refuse to essentialize one faith over another, but offer a 700-year-

old poetic history of human acceptance without limitations.

 

The enigma of Rumi's attraction to US audiences, despite a daily

barrage of negative images and sound bites concerning Muslims, can

be explained by the priority of religion in this society compared

with its relative decline in Europe. The recent debate in Congress

to retain the " one nation under God " clause in the Pledge of

Allegiance attests to this theory. Furthermore, as Americans are

among the most materially fortunate people in the world, they can

also afford the luxury of spiritual exploration that developing

nations, caught up in the daily stresses of basic survival, are less

equipped to indulge in. Therefore, Rumi's message is more relevant

in an America grappling with individual sustenance and the

collective neurosis of fear and ignorance when it comes to

the " other " .

 

The Sufi and the terrorist

 

In the polarized tensions among Islamic militants, global terrorism,

homeland security and national interests, the teachings of Rumi are

all the more relevant in deflecting misunderstandings. It seems odd

that the same poet is read with voracious intensity across the US,

Afghanistan and Iran. One would think that the World Trade Center

attacks would also have obliterated appreciation of Islamic

literature and poetry in the US. But the Rumi resurgence in spite of

or perhaps because of September 11, 2001, is a strong testament to

Americans' newfound receptivity to learn more about Islam. Rumi is a

necessary voice to bridge the gap between the Islam that stands for

pluralism and tolerance and the belligerent abuse of religion

branded by extremist factions that gets the most media attention to

distort public perceptions.

 

Since many Americans admire and relate to Rumi's philosophy, they

can also learn to distinguish between Rumi's message of a peace-

loving Islam that embraces humanity and the misdirected Islam of

bigotry and desperation that leads to violence. It is easy to forget

that tragedies have been perpetrated throughout history by people of

other religions in the name of God. To categorize the entire

tapestry of Muslims as dangerous because of the actions of militant

elements (that are inexcusable and beyond justification) is a

shortsighted tactic of addressing symptoms rather than the root

causes of a particular disease. It can only lead to an endless cycle

of reprisals and counter attacks. The onus on the American people to

influence their allegedly representative government to channel the

Sufi's passion for tolerance and understanding over the terrorist

mentality of self-righteous indignation has never been greater.

 

Americanizing Rumi

 

It is arguable that Rumi's popularity in the US has been stripped of

its linguistic and religious integrity and Americanized to

accommodate a spiritual Starbucks of mass consumption. But an

American Rumi who speaks to the hearts and minds of hundreds of

thousands of people and builds bridges of understanding between

Islam and the West is, after all, better than defunct national media

incapable of projecting a balanced perspective of the Muslim world

and certainly more effective than the official rhetoric of good vs

evil, the evil being undoubtedly the " Islamist threat " that kept

Yusuf Islam off US shores. A lover of irony, Rumi would have groaned

knowingly at such an absurdity. He certainly would have appreciated

the confluence of spiritual hunger and terrorist alerts that keeps

his pages turning in America.

 

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/FJ06Aa01.html

 

Maliha Masood is a graduate of the Fletcher School of Law and

Diplomacy at Tufts University. She is the author of an upcoming

travelogue on the Middle East to be published by Cune Press in 2005

and the co-producer of a documentary film on American-Muslim women.

She currently resides in Seattle.