Wisdom of Islam: Source Teachings on Muslim Values and Spirituality - New Expanded Edition

By Ahmed Sheikh Bangura

It presents source texts from the Qur’an and the prophetic traditions, touching on Muslim beliefs, practice, and the quest for happiness through ethical and spiritual excellence.

Ahmed Sheikh Bangura was born in Sierra Leone, where he completed his undergraduate studies. He earned a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Alberta in 1994. In 2017, he took early retirement from the University of San Francisco, where he had been a professor since 1994, and had taught courses in French, Literature, Islamic studies and Arabic. His first book, Islam and West African Fiction: The Politics of Representation (Lynne Rienner 2000), was a work in literary criticism. Among his other publications is “Orientalism, Africa, Black,” a contribution to the New Dictionary of the History of Ideas (Thompson-Gale, 2004). For the past ten years, he has focused on the study of Islamic spirituality and ethics. He is also the founder and chair of the
Ihsan Foundation for West Africa.

“Wisdom of Islam” displays both the range and depth of Muslim values and spirituality.
.. . . sure to attract a diverse readership from different cultures and faith traditions.
Stephen Jamal Leeper, Writer, Educator, Consultant

“Wisdom of Islam,” by my friend and teacher, offers the objective reader a glimpse at the precious gems of Islam’s theological, ethical, and spiritual beauty.
– Dr. Abdullah bin Hamid Ali, Assistant professor of Islamic Law and the Prophetic Tradition, Zaytuna College

“Wisdom of Islam,” a lucid overview of the Muslim faith ... Its pearls of wisdom will be illuminating to the believer and non-believer alike. As the author puts it in his introduction to Chapter Six, may we all learn from these teachings, and cultivate within [ourselves] those characteristics that are beautiful: true piety, generosity, love, compassion, and wisdom.

– Stephen Roddy, Professor of Modern and Classical Languages,
University of San Francisco

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ahmed Sheikh Bangura
• Release date: Jun 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215425886

Book preview

Translator’s Clarifications

1. You will see both Allah and God used in this book. They both refer to the same reality, the transcendent originator of everything. There are differences in the way that the two terms are used in their respective cultures. It is however worth noting that Arab Christians use the word Allah just as Muslims do to mean God.

2. I have used the Arabic symbol ﷺ after the words Prophet Muhammad, the Messenger of God ﷺ, the Prophet, and Muhammad, It means Peace and blessings be upon him, and can be transliterated as salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Similar reverential invocations are routinely used by Muslim after the mention of Biblical prophets like Moses, Abraham and in the Muslim perspective, Jesus. Radhi Allahu ‘an hu/ha (May Allah be pleased with him or her are often used after the mention of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. I have not used them in this book to avoid repetitiveness that might disturb the flow of the narratives.

3. The word ‘hadith’ refers to eyewitness reports of episodes related to the life of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which often contain his words. The hadith, although often used to clarify issues in the Koran, is strictly distinct from the Koran and its verses, considered as the verbatim Word of God, revealed by Allah to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ through

the Angel Gabriel.

4. I have occasionally included Arabic words in parenthesis when its translation in English is deemed inadequate.

5. The word Muhajiroon, plural of Muhajir, means Migrants, and refers originally to the early followers of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, who had to migrate from Makkah to Madinah due to persecution. The Muslims of Madinah who welcomed them are referred to as the ‘Ansar’ (Helpers).

6. May my father and mother be sacrificed for your sake is a statement of reverence and affection often used in Arab tradition, and is occasionally used by companions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ when they address the Messenger of God ﷺ.

7. Mothers of the believers is a title of reverence reserved for the wives of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

Preface

Students in my ‘Introduction to Islam’ class at the University of San Francisco have asked me through the years about Islam’s core values, and how they compare with Jewish, Christian, or secular ethics.

I started to collect verses from the Qur’an, and teachings from the hadith literature and prophetic biographies that answer some of the questions often asked regarding spiritual and moral ideals in the Islamic tradition. I also included teachings that give a general sense of Islam’s view of the world and Reality. Wisdom of Islam is a fruit of that endeavour. It weaves together the threads which constitute Islam’s vision of Reality, and the overarching spiritual and moral values of the faith.

The first chapter, Meditations, invites the reader to reflect on the wonders of earthly life and the cosmos. The Book of Meaning features teachings on subjects such as God, men and women, suffering, joy, the Qur’an, angels, death, and paradise. This is followed by the Essence of Islam, which together, with the Book of Virtues, Book of Vices and the Friends of God, constitutes, the core of Wisdom of Islam. In this expanded edition, I have added a new chapter featuring two chapters of the Quran. They are: Joseph and Mary. This section gives the reader access to complete chapters of the Quran, and thus enables him or her to experience some of the characteristics of the Quranic narrative, and how some of the themes already covered in the earlier chapters are reflected in them.

I present a prologue at the start of each chapter, in which I summarise the major teachings of that section.

References to Qur’anic texts have been done in-line, to distinguish them from the rest of the texts whose references are found in the endnotes. I am grateful to the many writers who have made English compilations of hadiths or Quranic verses. For Qur’anic verses I have simply decided to use Yusuf Ali’s translation of the Qur’anic text.

In the case of the prophetic traditions, I have sometimes adopted existing English translations of the original Arabic texts. I did this notably with Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan’s translation of Sahih al-Bukhari, considered to be one of the most authentic collections of prophetic traditions. In most cases, however, I have come up with my own translations of the texts, and, therefore, assume full responsibility for any shortcomings in the translations My special thanks go to several people, who assisted me with this work. Among them are Hajra Meeks (a former student of mine), Robert Benidettino and Ustaz Mustapha al-Hamadani. I am also grateful to Professor Ismail Sesay in Niger and to Dr. Hisham Abdallah for their early contributions, and to Gerard Bilal and Khaled Hussein, who read and made significant editorial recommendations.

I am also grateful to Fahim Munshi who edited and formatted the material of this book’s first edition. Equally I thank Dr. Mustafa Mheta for proofreading this expanded edition. I also thank the deans of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of San Francisco for providing funding for this book project. My very special thanks go to my wife Fatima Maju for her invaluable comments, word processing and moral support.

It is my hope that the reader will acquire an appreciation of Islam’s spiritual and ethical vision by pondering the texts in this collection.

San Francisco Ahmed Bangura

August 2021

Islam – A Brief Introduction

Islam is the word that refers to the faith practiced by Muslims. Muslims hold that Islam is the faith that was taught and practiced by all the Biblical Messengers of God, including Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, upon whom they traditionally invoke God’s Peace. It calls for the worship of the one universal God and Creator, and for the upholding of the essential dignity of all of mankind, who descended from two common ancestors, Adam, and Eve. God is referred to as Allah in Arabic. Non-Muslim Arabs, notably Christian Arabs, use the same word to mean God.

The Prophet Muhammad is believed to have been sent by God as the last in a long chain of prophets. He was born in Arabia around 571 AD and died in 632. In his twenty-three years of prophetic ministry, he received portions of the Qur’an from God through the Angel Gabriel. The process was completed shortly before his death.

By the time of his death, Islam had become the religion of nearly all the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula. It is these new Muslims, who, soon after his death, spread Islam beyond Arabia to Persia, Africa, Southern Europe, and Central Asia.

Islam is one of the fastest-growing religions today. There are now approximately 2 billion Muslims in the world.

Prologue to Chapter One

Many people have wondered about the tapestry of being, and the natural occurrences that connive to make life possible. The sun, the water, the clouds, the mountains, the trees, bees, and other insects; the seasons, and countless other realities all must play their part for the concert of life to take place. People have also wondered why human beings come in different skin colours, speak different languages, and belong to different racial groups.

According to Islam, through all these realties, God is speaking to, and perpetually revealing, the meaning of existence to people who wonder.

The texts in this section talk about these phenomena, which surround us so constantly that we sometimes become blind to their majesty, and fail to hear about everything that has been made, according to Islam, to tell us about ourselves and our place in the universe.

These teachings invite you to ponder some of these signs of God, beginning from yourself, your race, your skin colour, your mind to englobe all the signs that are strewn out in existence, which point to the single transcendent reality that connects all that there is.

One

Meditations

Signs For People Who Ponder

Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth; in the alternation of the night and the day; in the sailing of the ships through the ocean for the profit of mankind; in the rain which Allah sends down from the skies, and the life which He gives therewith to an earth that is dead; in the beasts of all kinds that He scatters through the earth; in the change of the winds, and the clouds which they trail like their slaves between the sky and the earth; –(Here) indeed are Signs for a people that are wise. (2: 164)

All Living Creatures Are Communities Like You

There is not an animal (that lives) on the earth, nor a being that flies on its wings, but (forms part of) communities like you. Nothing have we omitted from the Book, and they (all) shall be gathered to their Lord in the end. (6: 38)

The Cosmic Congregation

Seest thou not that it is Allah Whose praises all beings in the heavens and on earth do celebrate, and the birds (of the air) with wings outspread? Each one knows its own (mode of) prayer and praise. And Allah knows well all that they do.

Indeed, to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth; and to Allah is the final goal [of all]. (24: 41-42)

Love, Mercy, Variation in Languages and Skin Colours

Among His Signs in this, that He created you from dust; and then, - behold, ye are men scattered (far and wide)!

And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts): verily in that are Signs for those who reflect.

And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations in your languages and your colours: verily in that are Signs for those who know.

And among His Signs is the sleep that ye take by night and by day, and the quest that ye (make for livelihood) out of His Bounty: verily in that are signs for those who hearken.

(30: 20-23)

Rain, Wealth, Children and Virtue

Make for them a parable for the life of this world: It is like the rain which we send down from the skies: the earth’s vegetation absorbs it, but soon it becomes dry stubble, which the winds do scatter: it is (only) Allah who prevails over all things. Wealth and sons are allurements of the life of this world: But the things that endure, good deeds, are best in the sight of thy Lord, as rewards, and best as (the foundation for) hopes. One day We shall remove the mountains, and thou wilt see the earth as a level stretch, and We shall gather them, all together, nor shall We leave out any one of them.

(18: 45-47)

Cattle and Bees

And verily in cattle (too) will ye find an instructive sign. From what is within their bodies between excretions and blood, We produce, for you drink, milk, pure and agreeable to those who drink it. And from the fruit of the date-palm and the vine, ye get out wholesome drink and food: behold, in this also is a sign for those who are wise.

And thy Lord taught the bee to build its cells in hills, on trees, and in (men’s) habitations; then to eat of all the produce (of the earth), and find with skill the spacious paths of its Lord: there issues from within their bodies a drink of varying colors, wherein is healing for men: verily in this is a Sign for those who give thought. It is Allah who creates you and takes your souls at death; and of you there are some who are sent back to a feeble age, so that they know nothing after having known (much): for Allah is All-Knowing,

All-Powerful. (16: 66-70)

Water and the Land

Seest thou not that Allah sends down rain from the sky? With it We then bring out produce of various colours. And in the mountains are tracts white and red, of various shades of colour, and black intense in hue.

And so, amongst men and crawling creatures and cattle, are they of various colours. Those truly fear Allah, among His Servants, who have knowledge: for Allah is Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving. (35: 27-28)

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