INTERVIEW ON SCHOLAR’S SPIRITUAL JOURNEY INTO ISLAM AND THE LIFE OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD
Huffington Post
Feb 12 2014
Craig Considine, Ph.D. candidate, Trinity College Dublin; Film
director, ‘Journey into America’; Interfaith activist
ReviewThe Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad With the Christians of
the WorldInterviewDr. John Andrew MorrowAllahCraig ConsidineInterfaith
NewsProphet MuhammadChristianityIslam NewsGodReligion News
This interview with Dr. John Andrew Morrow, Islamic scholar and
author of the new book The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the
Christians of the World(Angelico Press, 2013), is a follow-up to my
review “New Book Sheds Light on Prophet Muhammad’s Interfaith Views.”
In his response, Dr. Morrow brings us on his journey to Islam, his
research on the life of Prophet Muhammad, and his spiritual quest
to find divine unity among the peoples of the world. My interest
in his scholarship arises from my own desire to understand Prophet
Muhammad’s legacy, which I have recently touched upon in the article
“What Studying Muhammad Taught Me About Islam.” I find Dr. Morrow’s
words uplifting and inspiring, and I am sure they will be to others
as well.
Tell us a little bit about your background and your research. How
did you become interested in Islamic studies?
I am a Metis Canadian, which means I am of mixed Amerindian and
European ancestry. We are known as the Otipemisiwak, the people who
own themselves, les gens libres or the Free People. At 500,000, we
represent 1.5 percent of the Canadian population. Although we have
European blood, we are indigenous by culture, and famous for being
fiercely independent. While most of my ancestors who came from Europe
were French, one of them was a Morisco from Portugal who settled in
the New France in the 17th century. Genetic analysis demonstrates
that he was not European, but Semitic. Not only was he Semitic, he was
an Arab. Not only was he an Arab, he was an Arab with origins in the
Hijaz. Not only were his ancestors from the Hijaz, they were members
of the Household of the Prophet. Research has further shown that
the DNA of my ancestor left Arabia during the early days of Islam,
spread into North Africa and entered al-Andalus during the period of
Muslim rule. His DNA is the same that is found among the descendants
of the Moroccan Idrisids.
So, as a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad through his
grandson, Imam al-Hasan, one can say that my interest in Islam, and my
attachment to the Household of the Prophet, was innate. I was always
drawn to Morocco and consider it my second home. I married a Moroccan
woman who is a descendant of the Prophet through both her maternal
and paternal lines. Even before I obtained genealogical and genetic
evidence of my ancestry, I had written extensively about the Idrisids
of Morocco, and had even made a pilgrimage to the tomb of Moulay
Idris, the great-grandson of Imam Hasan, the son of Imam ‘Ali and
Fatimah al-Zahra and the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, in Zerhoun.
It was there that I sent my salaams to the illustrious founder of the
Idrisid Dynasty. Little did I know at the time that I was saluting
my great grandfather, may the mercy of Almighty Allah be upon him.
Evidently, descent from the Prophet does not denote spiritual status
in and of itself. If anything, it is a heavy burden. For me, it is
something to live up to and something shameful to betray. It serves
to remind me of my obligation to adequately present the authentic
teachings of Islam. For some, descent from the Prophet is a point of
pride; for me, it is humbling and fills me with reverential fear.
Most of my indigenous ancestors were Huron, Algonquin and Nipissing,
or belonged to First Nations that formed part of the Wabanaki
Confederacy. They were all friends and allies of the French and
among the first Native people to embrace the Catholic faith. Most
of my European ancestors were Catholic. Some were Protestants who
fled persecution in Europe, but were quickly assimilated into the
Catholic majorities in Acadia and Quebec. Since most of my ancestors
were followers of Catholicism, this is the religion in which I was
raised, and it is a religion that I continue respect despite the fact
that I disagree with certain dogmas and doctrines.
For as long as I can remember, and I can remember vividly all the way
back to the time I was an infant, I was a strongly spiritual human
being. As an infant, a child, a teen and an adult, I have always felt
immersed in the radiance of divine love. I loved God, prayed fervently
and enjoyed attending Church. While I was a Christian, I had never
conceived of Jesus as God, and had never prayed to him. I had always
believed that Jesus was the “Son of God” in a spiritual sense. To me,
Jesus had clearly been created. “Son of God” was simply a title like
“Spirit of God.” As for the “Holy Spirit,” I always envisaged him as
the Angel Gabriel and the Messenger of the Creator. When I learned
that many Christians literally believed that Jesus was God, and that
God was composed of three beings, the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit, all of whom were God, I was dismayed. This sent me off on a
spiritual quest.
By the time I was thirteen, I was reading one book per week. To
the shock of my family, I read the entire Bible, both Old and New
Testaments. I read all sorts of apocryphal literature and lost books.
I studied all of the world religions along with their sacred
scriptures. Eventually, I came across the Qur’an, and I was convinced
that Islam was the religion that had always resided in my heart. I
remember the actual moment that I recognized my primordial nature. It
was during a ski trip to Vermont. I had been reading the Autobiography
of Malcolm X for weeks. I finished it in the car, closed the book
and said to myself: “I am a Muslim.” I was sixteen years of age. From
that moment forward, I would be an observant Muslim known in Islamic
circles as Ilyas ‘Abd al-‘Alim Islam.
Since that time, my studies have never stopped. By the time I was
an undergraduate student, I was devouring one book per night. By
the time I was in graduate school, I had learned how to speed read,
and was easily reading a dozen books per day. My desire was always
to go to the East to study Islam. However, the clerics I associated
with believed that I would be of more value to Islam if I completed
my studies in the West. Some told me quite clearly that I would not
find true Islam in the East, and that I would only find it in books.
Fortunately, the University of Toronto has the largest collection of
books in Canada. It has the third largest collection in North America.
Its collection of Islamic manuscripts easily surpasses those found at
the best universities in the Muslim world. I could therefore complete
my theological studies in Toronto, which is precisely what I did,
learning Islamic Studies both inside and outside of academia. I
took religion and philosophy classes at the University of Toronto. I
studied the history of Islamic Spain, the Moriscos and the literature
that they produced. I delved into the Arabic and Islamic influence
on Spanish and French Literature. I even studied the Muslim presence
in the pre-Columbian Americas. At the same time, I learned Islam
independently and at the hands of a series of Muslim scholars: Sunnis,
Shi’ites and Sufis, essentially extracting all the information from
them that I could. Eventually, when they could no longer respond to
my questions, I sought the guidance of Grand Ayatullahs from Iran,
Iraq and Lebanon whenever I stumbled across an issue I could not
fully comprehend. While it took decades, it was in this fashion that I
completed the three levels of traditional Islamic seminary studies. As
a seeker of knowledge, of course, my research has never ceased.
Can you tell us about what The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad
is about?
The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad is about Islam; it is about true
Islam; it presents Islam as it really is, in essence, in nature and,
quite often, in practice. This is not to say that “Islam is peace,”
that “Islam turns the other cheek,” that “Islam is passive,” and that
“Islam is non-violent.” If someone is raping your wife and killing
your kids, you would be an emasculated idiot to remain non-violent.
What Islam aims to do is establish a climate of peace. This can be
established by diplomacy and dialogue. Sometimes, however, peace can
only be achieved by eliminating the enemy. Peace is very much the
absence of enemies. So, Islam is primarily a religion of the Word;
however, when push comes to shove, it can also be a religion of the
Sword. But even when it resorts to violence, it is defensive, as
opposed to aggressive violence. It serves the purpose of protection:
To counter the attacks of the enemies and to liberate the oppressed.
It must also follow a set of clear ethical and moral guidelines.
Obviously, as Muslims, we are not going to wait until someone attacks
us before we prepare to defend ourselves. If I know that someone is
planning to attack me, to attack my family or attack my community,
I have the obligation to prepare myself, to have specific strategies
in place to prevent an attack and to neutralize the enemy in the
most definitive manner possible. In other words, if what I desire
is justice and its natural consequence, which is peace, I must be
prepared militarily. As the saying goes, “If you want peace, prepare
yourself for war.” To put it plainly, Islam prefers peace. However,
if attacked, Muslims must defend themselves. As such, Islam must
prepare itself for any future attack by developing its defensive
forces like any other nation in the world.
Not only did the early Islamic State protect Muslims, it even came
to the defense of non-Muslims. Muslims went to war in al-Andalus to
liberate the Jews and Catholics from the oppression of the Visigoths.
Muslims went to war in Armenia to free the Christians from the
oppression of the Byzantines. Millions of Muslim men and women
fought against the Axis during World War II, not to support British
Imperialism, but to oppose a greater evil. Many people cannot see
beyond the negative portrayal of Muslims in the mass media. Muslims
are very much demonized and de-humanized in the same fashion that Jews
were targeted by Nazi propaganda. Muslims commit crimes; there is no
doubt. Some Muslims engage in atrocities in the name of Islam. This
is true. However, thinking people must distinguish between Islam
and actions of misguided Muslims. After all, many Muslims also
fought alongside the Nazis during the Second World War, as did many
Christians. During the Spanish Civil War, Catholics and Muslims both
defended, and fought against, fascism.
Millions of indigenous people died as a result of the European
invasion of the Americas. 90 percent of deaths were the result of
disease; however, 10 percent were killed in fighting. Millions upon
millions of Aboriginal people were killed in the name of Christ as
infidels worthy of death. Slavery, a scourge that killed an equal
number of Africans, was also justified in the name of Christ. Between
1882 and 1968, nearly 3,500 African Americans were lynched by white
supremacists. This is always portrayed as “political violence.” This
terrorism was committed by Christians, in the name of Christ, with
crosses burning in the background. The Irish Republican Army used to
kill civilians for the greater glory of the Catholic Church. Now,
no Muslim in his right mind would ever blame these crimes on Jesus
or Christianity. Likewise, Westerners must stop blaming Islam, the
Qur’an and the Prophet for the evil actions of certain pseudo-Muslims.
Muslims know that Klansmen are not true Christians. Likewise,
Christians should know that Takfiri terrorists are not Muslims.
What inspired you to write The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad?
The choice of the verb, “to inspire,” is most appropriate when
speaking about this project. I never planned to write this book. I
never intended to write this work. I never set out to write this book.
On the contrary, I was inspired to write this work. I did write an
article on “Jihad” for a university class in 1990. I expanded upon it
in 2012 for inclusion in Islamic Insights: Writings and Reviews. I had
cited part of the Prophet’s charter with the monks of St. Catherine’s
Monastery at Mount Sinai; however, I wanted to track down the original
Arabic source. This is what put me on the path of the covenants of
the Prophet Muhammad.
What was it like actually researching the Prophet Muhammad’s Covenants
with the Christians of the world?
In the process of tracing the achtiname, I came across the Testamentum
published by Gabriel Sionita in Paris in 1630. This eventually led to
the discovery of a previously unpublished covenant of the Prophet which
was transcribed in 1538 and the rediscovery of other letters, treaties
and covenants of the Prophet, which had been ignored for decades
and centuries. As an intellectual adventurer, I engage in academic
archeology. I dig, and never quite know what I will come across…
What was the most surprising thing you learned about Prophet Muhammad?
The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him and his holy
household, was a man of sublime character. He was the embodiment
of ethical excellence. Muhammad was the Qur’an and the Qur’an
was Muhammad. He was the Pole of Poles, the Universal Axis, and a
Perfected Person. This is reality, not hyperbole. This surely sounds
insane for people who have been poisoned by hate propaganda. As one
who walks the Path of Love, which has been preserved by the true
Ahl al-Sunnah, Ahl al-Bayt and Ahl Allah [the people who follow the
Prophet’s practice, the People of the Prophet’s family, the People
of God]. I have been swimming in a sea of sacred sayings, the hadith
qudsi, the spiritual and literary masterpieces which Almighty Allah
shared with the Messenger of Allah. So, for me, I expect the Prophet
Muhammad to be the example of justice and morality.
When I read the letters, treaties and covenants of the Prophet Muhammad
with various Jewish and Christian communities, I was not the least
bit surprised at his tolerance. What did, however, impress and amaze
me the most was not his tolerance: It was the deep and profound love
that he expressed towards other Judeo-Christian communities. He did
not address them like a ruler; he addressed them as a father. He was
paternal, not paternalistic. He combined stern warnings with words of
warmth, love and affection. Not only did he command Muslims to love
peaceful Christian friends and allies, he demanded that they love
their religion. Truly, the Prophet saw beyond exoteric differences and
stressed esoteric unity. He may not have agreed that Jesus was God,
but he did appreciate the fact that the name of God was remembered
in churches.
How does The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad apply to current events
around the world today?
One day, the Prophet was about to witness the sunset. The sun was but
a sliver away from setting. Only a thin line divided the sun from the
horizon. The Messenger of Allah observed that the time that remained
until the Day of Judgment was shorter than the distance between the
setting sun and the Earth. On another occasion, he mentioned that the
Day of Judgment was as close as the space between two of his fingers.
The rediscovery of the covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the
Christians of the world is a portent, a sign or warning that something
momentous or calamitous is likely to happen. Atheists and unbelievers
will object, but most believers, be they Jewish, Christian or Muslim,
will agree that we are operating in the Latter Days. The Prophet
Muhammad predicted that righteous rule would be replaced by the rule
of iniquity. He foretold that the Muslim world would be colonized
by the West. He spoke of a time when believers would adopt the ways
of the unbelievers. He described days when religions would fight one
another and that various Muslim groups would massacre one another. He
also provided vivid and disturbing details of the corruption that
currently surrounds us.
When the Monastery of St. Catherine, a place of holy pilgrimage for
Christians and Muslims for over one thousand years, is forced to
close its doors due to the danger of Salafism/Wahhabism/Takfirism,
I am not surprised. In fact, I am well-aware of the intentions of
these Satanists. They seek to destroy the achtiname of Muhammad as
a symbolic precursor to the extermination of the Christians of Egypt.
When the rabid, Saudi-financed pit-bulls burn down churches and
monasteries in Syria, I know their intent. A covenant of the Prophet
Muhammad is secretly stored in Damascus and they seek to destroy it.
When Wahhabi terrorists shoot rockets at Jerusalem, one of the holiest
cities in Islam, they show their true nature. The Armenian and Greek
Orthodox Christians of Jerusalem are custodians of covenants from
the Prophet Muhammad, the Caliph ‘Umar, Imam ‘Ali, and Salah al-Din
[Saladin]. I speak not of fantasy, but fact and historical precedent.
When the Kurds decided to slaughter the Assyrians in the mid-nineteenth
century, they first confiscated the Covenant of the Prophet with
the Assyrian Christians. When the Young Turks decided to massacre the
Assyrians, the first thing they did was to destroy this covenant. While
it is only a theory, the original copy of the achtiname, which was
taken to Istanbul by Sultan Selim I in 1517, may have been deliberately
destroyed at some point in history, perhaps by the Young Turks,
in ritualistic fashion, prior to killing over one million Armenian
Christians.
Although the six covenants that I have brought forth pose a different
series of problems, and the degree of reliability of these documents
may vary, they all agree with the Qur’an, the Sunnah and the Shari’ah.
Many Muslims accept them both in letter and spirit. Others may only
accept them in spirit since they confirm what we already know from
other authentic sources. These covenants are a test. They may even
be a trial and tribulation for some. To obey or disobey, that is the
question, and it is a question that was presented to Iblis as well
[Iblis is the Muslim Satan]. I cease not to be amazed at the reaction
of some Muslims who rely on the opinions of others to determine their
own destiny and eternity. “I will see what my shaykh says.” How about
seeing what your heart says? “I will only accept it if Muslim scholars
accept it as authentic.” Am I not a Muslim scholar myself?
Temporarily setting aside the issue of authenticity, I propose
the following in an attempt to make headway: “Do you agree with
the content?” “I will have to ask Muslim scholars,” one woman
responds. I confronted the same problem when tackling the explosive
issue of suicide bombings. “Suicide bombings are haram,” I ruled
authoritatively. “I will have to ask Maulana,” one Muslim replied. “Do
you really need someone to tell you that it is wrong to commit suicide
while killing defenseless men, women and children?” “Seriously,
now,” I state, “If your shaykh says that it is halal to slaughter
non-combatants, you should find a new shaykh.” Perhaps they should
also reconsider their religion, because if this is what they truly
believe, they are far, far away from the faith of Islam.
Not only will the Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the
Christians of the World distinguish between believer and unbeliever,
it will distinguish between people of faith and hypocrites. Jihadist
terrorists will reject it, showing what little regard they have for
authentic Islam. Abd el-Krim al-Jaza’iri, the Algerian revolutionary,
had no such qualms. He rigorously abided by the covenants of the
Prophet Muhammad and treated Christians with chivalry. Salah al-Din
respected the covenants. Many Safavid, Ottoman, Moghul, Mamluk,
‘Abbasid and even ‘Umayyad leaders followed Islam’s highly-developed
theory of Just War. So did the first four Caliphs, who emulated the
example of the Prophet.
Some scholars, I can confirm, have made a complete volte-face. When
suicide bombings were committed against the Israelis, the French, and
the Americans, they endorsed them. However, now that they themselves
have become targets of the terrorism that they started, endorsed and
encouraged, they rule that suicide bombings are forbidden and that
suicide bombers have no religion. When blowing Muslim and non-Muslim
civilians to bits serves their cause, they are “martyrdom operations.”
When the tables turn, and their politicians and diplomats are
targeted, they are “suicide bombings” and “terrorism.” This is sheer
hypocrisy. If there are marriages of convenience, these clerics
have “morals of convenience.” The enemies of Islam, those career
professionals who serve the Empire while pretending to sympathize
with Muslims, have also crawled out of the woodwork, not because they
believe in the covenants, but because they wish to co-opt them to
make Muslims easier to conquer. There is a battle going at the heart
of Islam and the Covenants of the Prophet are set to play a major part.
What does the legacy of the Prophet Muhammad mean to you?
The Prophet Muhammad is not dead. He is very much living. He lives in
the Qur’an and its correct interpretation. He lives in the authentic
Sunnah. He lives in all that is good about Islam. Over the course of
the past fourteen hundred years, however, much extraneous material has
accumulated around the person of the Prophet. Much of this material was
falsified by the enemies of Islam, the usurpers of divine authority,
the Umayyads, both past and present. If the Prophet is alive and
well, so are his enemies. They are those who seek to soil the image
of Islam from within. They undermine the Qur’an and Sunnah.
They eat away at Islam like termites eat away at wood. They are the
Pharisees of Islam and the Uncle Tom ‘ulama. They are the sell-out
scholars of Islam, the court-clerics at the service of kings,
dictators and despots. They are modern-day Kharijites like these
Takfiri terrorists who have no respect for life and no religion. They
are the corporate, capitalist, liberal Muslims at the service of the
Empire. The Prophet Muhammad is a pearl. His enemies can toss filth
at him, but he will always come out clean. His opponents, however,
are made of cloth and they do no nothing but stain their own souls.
If you could give one piece of advice to Christians and Muslims
worldwide, what would that be?
If I could give one piece of advice to Christians and Muslims worldwide
it would be that peace is possible, although it is not always
profitable. Conflicts are caused by socio-economic and political
interests. In the absence of conflict, conflicts will be created
by the economic elite. On the battle-field opponents appear to be
polarized. It seems that both sides are independent. This is merely
because we see the puppets, but not the puppet-masters, those who
create the conflict, play both parties against one another, and who
profit from the death and destruction thus created. This not to say
that people, politicians, presidents and military commanders do not
cause wars, but we must realize that bankers are behind all of them.
These international bankers and multinational corporations had
no loyalty to the Axis powers or to the Allies, to Communism
or Capitalism, to Arab nationalism or Islamism. They funded all
parties and profited from the blood-shed. The presence of peace is
not profitable; not when compared to the billions that are made by
war and redevelopment.
Christians need to understand that Islam is not the enemy. Muslims
need to understand that Christianity is not the enemy. The enemy of
one religion is the enemy of all religions. What we are facing in
the world today is a confrontation between Secularism and Religion,
between Materialism and Spirituality, between the worship of Mammon
and the worship of the Creator, between those who believe in this
world and those who believe in the next world. By turning religions
against one another, the power elites accomplish two objectives at
the same time: to make money and to destroy any future possibility
of opposition. As one would expect, the enemies of God cloak their
cause in religion. Most so-called Christian and Muslim militants are
unwittingly advancing the agenda of atheism. Surely, the prophets are
brothers to one another. Moses, Jesus and Muhammad all followed in the
footsteps of Abraham. The true believers among the Jews, Christians
and Muslims must unite, as followers of Abraham, in order to fight
their common enemies. Those who divide us seek to destroy us. The
believers in Divine Unity must unite.
From: A. Papazian