Fantasy and Faith: Muslim Fantasy, Myth & Meaning
10 Rules for Writing Muslim Fiction Part 2
Beskrivelse
Welcome back to Fantasy and Faith, where we explore the magical, the mythical and the mystical. I’m your host Noor A Jahangir, author of The Changeling King, The Adventures of Some Kid, and the forthcoming Arabian Dreams series. This is second part to my 10 Rules for Writing Muslim Fiction. In the first part I looked at the first two rules, Enjoin Good and Forbid Evil, and Do No Harm. In this episode I am going to look at Intentions, the Means and the Consequences. This correlates well with Brandon Sanderson’s concept of Promise, Process and Payoff, though I will be relying mainly on the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, to address the three themes that I have identified. Rule 3: Actions are According to Intentions Umar ibn Khatab heard Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) saying, “The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended. So whoever emigrated for worldly benefits or for a woman to marry, his emigration was for what he emigrated for.” Sahih Bukhari 1:1, Hadith 1 Intentions linguistically means The determination of the heart. The core meaning of this tradition is that complete and correct actions don’t exist except for with intentions. A Muslim carries out actions with intentionality. When a Muslim sets out to do something, there should be a clear purpose for their intended action. Therefore a Muslim character doesn’t embark on a journey without a clear understanding of what is their purpose to make that journey. Another factor to consider is that intentions stack. So a Muslim may have a primary intention for an action, but can also have secondary intentions too. So for instance, if a man was travelling to another country with the primary intention of getting married, they may also intend to visit their relatives and do some sightseeing. Furthermore, there is nuance at play in an intention too. So, a Muslim travelling to another country to get married may form an intention as follows, ‘I am travelling to this country to get married, as this is part of the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and will allow me to protect myself from temptation and fulfil my obligations as a Muslim.’ This intention changes the act from one of worldly gain to an act of fulfilling a Prophetic command and the purpose God created us in pairs. Therefore, when you are writing a Muslim character, they should be a person of clear intentions, and depending on how religious they are, their intentions will likely have an Islamic angle to them. For instance, a Muslim won’t simply think, ‘I’m taking a shower’. Rather they will think, ‘I am taking a shower so that I am clean and will be able to perform my prayers in this state’. Or, instead of ‘I am going to work’, they are thinking, ‘I am going to work so that I can support my family and give in charity’. Lets put that into a scenario: The devastation left behind by the invaders was horrifyingly breathtaking. Not a single building in the village had been left standing. Even the well had been despoiled. Bodies of men, women and children lay wherever they had been killed. Their bodies, like the buildings, had been burned. Abdullah vowed that he would bring the perpetrators to justice. He would hunt them down and dead or alive, he would bring them back to face judgement. That was his duty to the dead of this village and he would see it done. The character in this passage has witnessed something horrific. He has made his intention to avenge the dead, but he has also considered how he will go about doing it and what justice will look like. He is not just going to set off in pursuit without understanding his purpose. Only by understanding the character’s motive can we make fair judgement on the results of their actions and hold them accountable. Rule 4: Ends do not justify the means Abu Barzah Al-Aslami narrated that the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) said: “The feet of the slave of Allah shall not move [on the Day of Judgement] until he is asked about five things: about his life and what he did with it, about his knowledge and what he did with it, about his wealth and how he earned it and where he spent it on, about his body and for what did he wear it out.” - Jami` at-Tirmidhi, 37:3, Hadith 2417 This heart-shaking hadith tradition builds on what we have understood from the previous principle. It is not just about your intended purpose and the consequences, but also how you went about achieving said purpose. In Islam, how you go about your business is as important as what you achieve by it. A person could have good intentions but do something bad to achieve the results, e.g. they want to establish a mosque, a hospital or school, but the money come from ill-gotten gains, such as gambling or theft. In this case, the good work of opening a hospital does not wipe out the sins committed in getting the money together. The hadith clearly points out that we will be questioned about what we did with our lives, how we used the knowledge that we gained, how we earned our wealth and what we spent it on, and what activities did we engage in to wear our bodies out. A Muslim character who is engaged in illicit activity should be conflicted unless they have been so embroiled in sinful behaviour that they have stopped considering the legitimacy of it. But an inherent aspect of being a Muslim is a sense of regret over bad deeds. I have met Muslims who would consider themselves sinners, and they have been so long in these lives that they are hopeless about gaining forgiveness. As a result, they think themselves unworthy of redemption. Islamically, this is incorrect because we should always be hopeful of God’s forgiveness. One of the defining characteristics of God is that He is All-Merciful and Oft-Forgiving. Regardless, a Muslim character should feel remorseful and longing for forgiveness and escape from a life of sin. Consider the following scenario: Ghulam looked back at the wisps of dark smoke that rose up from the horizon. The horrors that he and his fellows had engaged were etched into his psyche. It would take many, many days before he would be able to sleep without remembering the screams of the villagers or the stench of their bodies burning. He had joined this band of raiders hoping that he would be able to make enough money to support his family. However, he had not envisaged that it would lead to him pillaging villages that looked like his own village and killing women and children that could have been his own family. He wondered if God would ever forgive him. More than that, he wondered if he would ever forgive himself. Ghulam knew with grim certainty that he and his fellows would one day burn in the fires of hell for their actions. In this passage, our POV character is riddled with horror and guilt over the actions that he has committed. His intention had been good, to try and support his family by earning coin. However, the means were incorrect and the consequences were deplorable. If the character is a Muslim, he should be considering not just the worldly consequences but also facing the Judgement of God. Imam al-Shatibi, the author of al-Muwafaqat, considers that an action should only be judged once the consequences have also been weighed, however the consequences may contradict the stated objective. Another venerated scholar, al-Sanusi, clarifies that this could be the result of three factors: 1. Wrong intentions to attain an unlawful objective through permitted actions 2. Abuse in using the right 3. Implementing rules in the wrong context Therefore a Muslim should weigh their intentions, use lawful means and seek positive outcomes. Rule 5: Actions are According to their Endings The Prophet (ﷺ) looked at a man fighting against the pagans and he was one of the most competent persons fighting on behalf of the Muslims. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Let him who wants to look at a man from the dwellers of the (Hell) Fire, look at this (man).” Another man followed him and kept on following him till he (the fighter) was injured and, seeking to die quickly, he placed the blade tip of his sword between his breasts and leaned over it till it passed through his shoulders (i.e., committed suicide).” The Prophet (ﷺ) added, “A person may do deeds that seem to the people as the deeds of the people of Paradise while in fact, he is from the dwellers of the (Hell) Fire: and similarly a person may do deeds that seem to the people as the deeds of the people of the (Hell) Fire while in fact, he is from the dwellers of Paradise. Verily, the (results of) deeds done, depend upon the last actions.” Sahih Bukhari 81:82, Hadith 6493 The last verse of this hadith, Inamal A’Malu bil Khwatim is a counterpoint to the first part of the first hadith: Inamal A’malu Biniyat. A Muslim should be wary of how things end. Merely good intentions and doing good things isn’t a guarantee that something good will happen. A person could be good their entire life but end up causing the death of many because of a faulty action. Or a person could live their entire life as a villain but their life may end whilst doing something heroic that saves lives. We have an example of this in Star Wars, with Anakin’s fall into darkness and rebirth as Darth Vader. He becomes notorious for his evil actions. And yet his last action is to sacrifice himself to save his son, and by the same virtue saves the galaxy from the tyranny of an evil emperor. George Lucas even shows him as a force ghost alongside Yoda and Obi Wan, suggesting his final act was enough to redeem him. Lets bring together our two characters, Abdullah and Ghulam, and see how we can bring this principle into the story. Ghulam was bleeding from several wounds. He was starting to feel light-headed. Across the way, his fellow raiders had encircled Abdullah and were slashing at him with great relish. Abdullah and Ghulam had managed to kill a number of them but Ghulam had hesitated and it was likely going to cost both of them their lives. Beyond Abdullah a woman and her two daughters huddled together, their terrified faces revealing that they too would pay dearly for Ghulam’s error of judgement. However, they would face unbearable torment before the raiders took their lives. Ghulam could not allow that. His complicity and silence had doomed too many in the past. He would not let these women suffer the same consequences. Ghulam reached for his sword one last time and then slowly stood up. The faces of all that he had killed flashed before his eyes once again. This time, instead of recriminations, the faces willed him on, to fight in their memory and give them some sort of peace. Ghulam roared and charged at his former companions. We have come full circle with our two characters. Ghulam, our anti-hero has begun his journey to redemption by seeking to ally himself with Abdullah, to seek vengeance for the people that he and his fellow raiders had killed. Whilst his life has been spent poorly in the past, he started with good intentions and now his ending will be a good ending. Yes, he is likely to die, but in doing so will spare the lives of Abdullah and the three women. In summary, Muslim characters should be mindful of their intentions, the means they choose to carry out their objectives and also be wary of how things end. Thank you for watching. Please do remember to like, share and subscribe. The Kickstarter is coming soon and there will be a video on that in the next few weeks. As always, Keep Dreaming, Keep Writing and Let Your Stories Shine. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit noorajahangir.substack.com [https://noorajahangir.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]
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