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Chapter 26
Remembrance
It was to change such a world that you set out in search of Joseph. The nine segments of ‘A Parable Never Told’ held out a promise. So do the next nine chapters.
1
It is the beginning of the world. Souls have been gathered and the Creator asks them, “Am I not Your Sustainer?” They all answer, “Indeed, You are.”
2
You hear the Quran being recited: the text and the melody remain untouched by interpretation, translation or commentary.
3
Jerusalem is destroyed after Jesus Christ. The Romans start building an idol house in place of the ancient Temple of David. Jews move out and disperse. The memory of Moses and Aaron lives with them, and the songs of David resonate in their hearts. They survive as a nation.
4
“Seek no other meaning in the Divine Law except the evident,” Iqbal says to you. “There is nothing except light inside the gem.”
5
A beggar is being too persistent. Iqbal is young and hits him with the walking stick. Iqbal’s old father, with tearful eyes, says, “On that Day when the followers of the Prophet are gathered before him, this beggar’s cries will also be heard and what am I to say when the Prophet asks me, ‘God committed to you a young Muslim, and was it too hard for you to teach him some of my manners?’”
The Poet feels remorse and his father recites from Rumi: “Do not sever your life from the last Prophet. Do not trust your abilities too much!”
6
Abraham and his son Ismail are raising the foundations of Kabah in Makkah and praying, “Our Lord! Make us both Muslims, bowing to You, and of our descendents a Muslim nation, and show us our place of worship, and turn to us, for surely You are Oft-Returning, the Merciful.”
7
Iqbal mentions that the Prophet was leading prayers when God asked him to change the direction – qiblah – from Jerusalem to Makkah. The hypocrites found this difficult to comply with.
8
Many things are placed before angels for them to name. They cannot, but the newly created Adam does. God commands the angels to bow down to Adam.
9
An infant recognizes its mother but as it grows up, it begins to recognize others too. Memory records the data and the child becomes a personality: with memory comes the awareness of “I.” The same is the case with a nation.
DISCUSS
- What principles do you learn about the Muslim nation from these nine segments?
- How are these related to the parable told in the first chapter?
- In the 'Dedication', you saw a graceful figure lying asleep. Was that a metaphor or is the Muslim nation a real personality?
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Due to nine basic concepts, Muslim nationalism is different from other worldviews.
