Practical Mysticism in Islam and Christianity: A Comparative Study of Rabia al-Adawiyya and Catherine of Genoa
Abstract
:1. Introduction
Mysticism and Mystical Experience
2. Rabia al-Adawiyya and Catherine of Genoa—A Brief Background
2.1. Catherine of Genoa—Background
2.2. Rabia al-Adawiyya Rabia
3. Themes Common to the Mystical Experience between Rabia and Catherine
3.1. Love of God as Pure Love
Before God created man, love was pure and simple, free from all taint of self-interest and needing no restraint. And in creating man, God was moved by no other cause except his pure love. In all that he did for him, he had no other motive or object. And as his love allows nothing to prevent it from doing all possible good to its beloved, and attends to nothing which is not necessary to that end, so the love of man should return to God all that it receives from him; and then, having no respect for anything but love, it will fear nothing, because it never seeks its advantage.
Genuine and pure love is such force that it cannot be diverted from its object, nor can it see or feel anything else. Hence it is a useless toil to try to make such creatures employ themselves in the things of this world, as regard to them they are as insensible as if there were dead.
If I worship Thee from fear of Hell,burn me in hell.And if I worship Thee in the hope of paradise,exclude me thence,but if I worship Thee for Thine own sake,then withhold not from meThine eternal beauty.
O’ God, I love thee, I love theeNot out of hope of heaven for meNor fearing not to love and beIn the everlasting burning …Not for heaven’s sake, not to beOut of hell by loving theeNot for any gains I seeBut just the way that thou didst meI do love and I will love thee …
3.2. Self-Denial and a Deep Sense of Sin
3.3. The Desire for Union with the Divine
4. Synopsis and Analysis
4.1. Mysticism: The Love of God and Neighbor
Souls which have been able to make contact with eternity through love, exert themselves to implant in all other souls what they received from eternity. They dedicate their lives to this sacred duty, for the sake of which they endure every kind of hardship to the end, and just as they pronounce ‘love’ with their last breath, they also breathe love while being raised on the Day of Judgment.
4.2. Mysticism: A Common Ground for Interreligious Friendship
“Human beings are so made that they cannot live, develop, and find fulfillment except ‘in the sincere gift of self to others.’ Nor can they fully know themselves apart from an encounter with other persons: ‘I communicate effectively with myself only insofar as I communicate with others. ‘No one can experience the true beauty of life without relating to others, without having real faces to love. This is part of the mystery of authentic human existence. ‘Life exists where there is bonding, communion, and Fraternity, and life is stronger than death when it is built on true relationships and bonds of fidelity. On the contrary, there is no life when we claim to be self-sufficient and live as islands: in these attitudes, death prevails”.
It is my conviction that in the future years, the new millennium will witness unprecedented religious blooming, and the followers of world religions, such as Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, and others, will walk hand-in-hand to build a promised bright future of the world.
5. Conclusions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
1 | Catherine was not distressed by her rejection to join the convent. Instead, she submitted everything to the will of God, whom she trusted would never abandon her. |
2 | There was no detail about Rabia’s daily chores as a slave but legend has it that her master was very cruel to her; he exacted all kinds of menial services from her. It was told that one day, when Rabia was seeking to avoid the rude gaze of a stranger, she slipped on the path and fell, breaking her wrist. Lying there with her face to the ground, Rabia said, “Lord, I am far from my own, a captive and an orphan, and my wrist has been broken …” (Field 1910). In all of these, Rabia remained steadfast in her love for the divine. |
3 | In one of her famous prayers, she said, “O my Lord, the stars are shining, and the eyes of men are closed, and kings have shut their doors, and every lover is alone with his beloved, and here am I, alone with Thee” (O’Brien 2010, p. 83). |
4 | Legend says a spectacular incident occurred during one of her night prayers. While she was enrapt in prayer, her master woke up, and looking out of the window, he saw Rabia in ecstasy, head suspended in the air, and around her entire body was a ray of bright, radiant light that illuminated the whole of the house. Having witnessed the spectacular scene, the next day, Rabia’s master realized that Rabia was an enigma. From that moment, the master felt unworthy to have Rabia as his slave, and so he called her and set her free (Smith 1930). Rabia departs from her master and travels to a desert, where she settles and devotes her entire life to prayer, fasting, and the service of others. Smith notes that Rabia was very religious. For example, a story was told of when she went on a pilgrimage to Mecca; instead of her going to meet the Ka’ba, the Ka’ba went to meet her. She said, “It is the Lord of the house whom I need. What have I to do with the house? I need to meet with God, Who said, ‘Who approaches Me by a span’s length, I will approach him by the length of a cubit.’ The Ka’bah which I see has no power over me; what joy does the beauty of the Ka’bah bring to me?” (Othman 2012). The statement pointedly portrays Rabia as one who was so concerned with the deep love of God instead of mere external rituals and practices. This idea is in line with the Sufi doctrine that the love of God must be made concrete. |
5 | Margaret Smith states that celibacy for the orthodox Muslim is not only unacceptable but also considered to be in great opposition to the prophet Muhammad. It is said that the Qur’an condemns monasticism and celibacy as being satanic innovations introduced by Christians (O’Brien 2010). In a tradition known as Akkaf al-Hilali, legend has it that the prophet asked a young man if he was married, and he said no. The Prophet said to him, "Then you are either one of the followers of Satan or one of the Christian monks. If so, go to them, but if you are one of us, then do as we do, for our Sunna includes marriage. The most wicked among you are celibates, and the most ignoble among your dead are your celibates. Woe be to you, …” (O’Brien 2010, p. 166). With such a violent declaration against celibacy, one wonders how Rabia emerged as a celibate. Margaret Smith asserts that Rabia’s Sufi background may have been a factor that helped her to rise against the opposition of the orthodox doctrine of celibacy. Sufis’ approval of celibacy is shown in the founding of monasteries and convents in 1199 AD. Sufis argue that celibacy should be preferred to marriage life. This is because, in celibacy, one is relieved of the burden of childbearing and the distraction and responsibility that are associated with marriage (O’Brien 2010, p. 81). They add that the peace and fulfillment that come from celibate life have no comparison with the happiness of married life. Given this background, Rabia refused to yield to the temptation of marriage because she thought that marriage would obstruct her devotion and prevent her from devoting her entire life to God. |
6 | Drawing parallels between the spirituality of Rabia and Christian nuptial mystery and monasticism, O’Brien believes Rabia is a legend modeled on those early Christian mystics. Probably because Rabia lived in Iraq when Iraq and Syria were evidently influenced by Christian monasticism. (O’Brien 2010, p. 99). |
7 | Both Rabia and Catherine craved for what Underhill refers to as ‘a union with the absolute’ (Underhill 1964). Sardar Muhammad, Rabiah Rustam, and Sadia Irshad discuss this concept, stating that divine union both in Islam and Christianity is an experience comparable to a meeting of two intimate friends, where self-ego dissipates and the mystic experiences nothing but the burning fire of God’s love (Muhammad et al. 2021, p. 862). Henry Suso compared divine union with God to a drop of water falling into wine, taking on the taste and color of the wine (Suso 1953, p. 185). Similarly, Jan van Ruysbroeck portrayed divine union as “iron within the fire and the fire within the iron”; Teresa of Avila compared the soul that absorbs and is saturated with God to a sponge and water (Teresa of Avila 1957). |
8 | Fethullah Gülen was born and raised in the far eastern region of Anatolia, in the city of Erzurum. He started his career as a teacher of religion and a preacher in the mosques. In 1958, at the age of 20, Gülen discovered the writings of Said Nursi, which greatly influenced his thinking. Similar to many other Turkish Muslims, Gülen studied the Risale-i Nur, Said Nursi’s extensive (6600 page) commentary on the Qur’an (Michel 2012, p. 2). |
9 | Gülen is often called the founder of “The Hizmet Movement”, a community of Muslims inspired by Gülen’s thoughts. However, Gülen has denied that he has any movement of his own. Instead, he describes the movement as one of like-minded colleagues and students who share a common vision and commitment to society (Michel 2012, p. 1). |
10 | In the 1980s, the community expanded beyond its schools into the media by launching a daily newspaper, Zaman, and a television channel, Samanyolu. Today, Zaman is published in 20 countries with an average circulation of half a million. Overall, the Gülen community oversees about 35 newspapers and magazines in various languages. The monthly journal in Turkish, Sizinti, which has a circulation of over 500,000, has been continuously published since 1979, making it the longest continuously published Islamic magazine in Turkey. The English version, Fountain, has a worldwide circulation in the tens of thousands. Aksiyon, an influential weekly news magazine, is considered the Turkish equivalent of Time or Newsweek. Additionally, the community publishes a number of professional journals for doctors, engineers, teachers, and others (Michel 2012, p. 3). |
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Idoko, P.E. Practical Mysticism in Islam and Christianity: A Comparative Study of Rabia al-Adawiyya and Catherine of Genoa. Religions 2024, 15, 1030. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15091030
Idoko PE. Practical Mysticism in Islam and Christianity: A Comparative Study of Rabia al-Adawiyya and Catherine of Genoa. Religions. 2024; 15(9):1030. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15091030
Chicago/Turabian StyleIdoko, Patricia Enedudu. 2024. "Practical Mysticism in Islam and Christianity: A Comparative Study of Rabia al-Adawiyya and Catherine of Genoa" Religions 15, no. 9: 1030. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15091030