Living with Intention: Recognition of the Transcendent Life
By Janice Tufte | July 23, 2021
Practicing Islam and other religions today can prove to be challenging for a number of reasons. One is the growing number of divisive socio-political climates, where prevailing negative discourse unfortunately affects many communities. Anti-Islamic sentiment exists and increasingly crosses visible and invisible boundaries and borders, resides in personal thought, and has gained traction in rhetoric and personal ideologies. Fear of Muslims, and more profoundly the fear or expressed distaste for the religion Islam, has added to current death anxieties and contributed to collective thought association that is not beneficial by nature. Referencing Islam or Muslims, or the word ‘terrorism,’ and even Islamic prayers can contribute to real death anxieties in individuals. As Becker discussed, people embrace ideals and beliefs to buffer their death anxieties, and collective fear of the unfamiliar can become dangerous to communities and societies. Taking the time to acquire intimate knowledge of the ‘other’ may stem currents of unrest that are pervasive across communities today.
Are you searching for the river of your soul?
Then come out of your prison.
Leave the stream
and join the river
that flows into the ocean
~ Rumi
People believe that science is not found in religion, though some is found in the Islamic holy book: the Quran. The first word that was revealed to Prophet Muhammed PBUH while meditating in the cave of Hira near Mecca, was Read! or Iqra!. Muhammed was stunned ‘hearing’ this statement from an invisible source. He was letter illiterate, so replied out loud “How can I read”? The first Quran chapter, or surah, was revealed later to Prophet Muhamad also, via angel Jibril and is titled The Embryo or Al-Alaq. Muhammed understood defined measurement, value in trade, and spoke a number of dialects and was known as a trusted merchant on the celestial navigated trade routes that traversed the mid east. Acquiring and using knowledge is foundational to Islam; scholarship is encouraged for all of mankind and applies to both men and women contrary to some cultural practices that unfortunately still exist in some societies.
It is an imperative to understand the importance of Intention (Niyyah in Islam), as intention as a separate action is foundational to the five pillars of Islam, to be implemented before any activity in the daily lives of Muslims for just rewards later in one’s afterlife. A commitment to the pillars of Islam including Sadaqa (Charity), and general kindnesses towards others and oneself are integral to Islamic thought and pedagogy, as individual Muslims will personally be held responsible for all of their earthly actions, for their deeds both good and bad, weighed justly upon death. Becker’s work and Terror Management Theory could be cited here with Muslims using intention alongside good deeds as a buffer to death anxiety. They strive to adhere to the pillars of Islam to benefit from rewards in the heavenly Jannah (afterlife) rather than an eternity in hellfire. It appears that the fear of one’s own death is more removed by this cycle-of-life thinking; a believing Muslim recognizes that they have some control over their final destination place through their intentions and subsequent positive actions. Their earthly deeds will then be judged upon their death by the ultimate Judge, Allah (God), with Jannah (heaven) as their everlasting reward.
Becker’s statement, “Man cannot endure his own littleness unless he can translate it into meaningfulness on the largest possible level,” reminds me of when I embraced Islam as my religion of choice. It is important to mention that Allah is recognized in Islam as all-knowing, all-loving, and transcendent in presence. The Holy Quran addresses that I as an individual and we as a human race are here on this Earth (Dunya), to be stewards of this earth we all call home. Islam recognizes that we as humans have a duty to care for one another, our families and our society. Muslims are expected to care for their neighbors as they care for themselves, and it is understood that as an individual it is required of us all to help to alleviate the suffering of others who do not have their essential needs met, including covering debts of fellow Muslims before or after their death. An all-encompassing Allah who has created the earth, the creatures, humans, angels, and prophets is a reminder to us all that we are finite and have only limited time on this earth to make a positive difference, and that this is why we are present.
On the day I die, when I’m being carried
toward the grave, don’t weep. Don’t say,
He’s gone! He’s gone. Death has nothing
to do with going away. The sun sets and
the moon sets, but they’re not gone.
Death is a coming together. The tomb
looks like a prison, but it’s really
release into union. The human seed goes
down in the ground like a bucket into
the well where Joseph is. It grows and
comes up full of some unimagined beauty.
Your mouth closes here, and immediately
opens with a shout of joy there.
~ Rumi
Janice Tufte has been an avid follower of Becker and the EBF since 2006 when she first attended a Becker conference at Seattle University. She has participated in discussion groups, attended lectures and presented on Islamic Beliefs, Traditions and Death on an Interfaith panel for a Becker event. Janice is currently involved with health services research, medical evidence, guidelines and measurement and advancing human readable computable scientific knowledge. Born and raised in the Seattle area, Janice has lived in a number of states, appreciates travel, discussions on heady subjects, and embraces lifelong learning with zeal.
https://www.janicetufte.com
@Hassanah2017
Janice Tufte | LinkedIn