Fear and Love

It is fascinating that this sentiment regarding worship and one's spiritual psychology in terms of framing our relationship with the Divine has been discussed extensively by the masters of the past.

Imam al Razi outlines this in his tafsir of Fatiha (translated courtesy of @tafsirdoctor who in typical Razi fashion is encyclopaedic in his outline of the types and levels of worship:

The Sufic poets most famously the report of Rabia of Basra is again intriguing who scorned the approach of the first type of worship. Here is a beautiful watercolour depicting this moment of divine passion. Courtesy of Nida Naushad's blog » Rabia Basri in watercolor

The miserliness of seeking profit in the context of worship is a recurrent motif. Here is Rabia's verse from Jamal's brilliant anthology of translated Islamic mystical verse ('Islamic Mystical Poetry')

Clearly a combination of ecstatic spiritual fervour with poetic license indicative of the spiritual psychology that characterised these pious icons. At this juncture it is crucial to stress the importance of khawf, the centrality of it and the real value of cultivating it. Despite the poetic censure against it which I suspect is an indictment of a pseudo-fear, displaying outward affirmation for the sake of worldly status. For the sake of cementing social authority (see the Malamatiyya Sufic movement who took this consideration of avoiding religious ostentation- riyaa to an absolute extreme - see the tongue in cheek Path of Fear

Khawf is part and parcel of a truly authentic Islamic spiritual experience. See my thread here. Imam Qushayri in his Risala and Ibn Qayyum al Jawziyyah notably in Madarij us Salikeen give credence to an authentically Quranic ethic of fear balanced by hope (rajaa). A lot more can be said but it is important for moderns to be accustomed about how extensively these seemingly novel concerns about religious formalism, hypocrisy, the different types of worship, spiritual psychology etc have been debated extensively. It allows us to connect with a canon of illustrious thought and provides context to our musings today without being rootless.

Again a final digression but somewhat related is the work of Hafez and Omar Khayyam in confronting the excesses of formalism, again very much an exercise in social satire/commentary. There is of course also Imam Al Ghazali's "Condemnation of Status and Ostentation"

Hafez and Al Ghazali are necessary to read not just for our age but every age. For the temptation for self aggrandizement under the auspices of the Divine is a most tempting trap, a sure means towards complete destruction and darkness. Hafez and Al Ghazali are necessary to read not just for our age but every age. For the temptation for self aggrandizement under the auspices of the Divine is a most tempting trap, a sure means towards complete destruction and darkness.