“Happiness According to Islam!”[1]

INTRODUCTION: Once while a very young, Pentecostal-preacher-to-be, I went to the Federal Reformatory in El Reno, Oklahoma. The purpose of my trip was to visit Richard, a friend from childhood, who had been incarcerated on drug charges.

As I was wont to do in those Pentecostal days – whether meeting a hitchhiker, waitress, or friend – I felt compelled to try and get her or him to take the steps necessary to become a Christian.

Richard, in response to my entreaties, told me that he had tried believing in God, but all to no avail. He said, “I prayed, ‘Oh God, if you’re real, make it rain.’ Nothing happened.”

I wasn’t ready for that response, and I don’t remember what I answered. But afterwards, as I was driving back to Oklahoma City, I was torn by two thoughts: The first was, Richard had a point. If God would send Jesus in to the world to die for all of us sinners, then, why not send just a teeny, weenie, little shower to save Richard? Maybe ten seconds, or so.

But then on the other hand, I thought, how weird the world would be if God answered every prove-me prayer, even a little rain-on-demand prayer. I didn’t like either one of those choices. But if those choices weren’t the real options, then what were?

I. THE FOUNDATION OF HAPPINESS.

German theologian Paul Tillich once coined the phrase, the “god-above-god.” Surprisingly, his phrase is much like the first pillar of faith of Islam, namely, the declaration of faith: “There is no god, but Allah….” “Allah” is not meant to reference an Arabic god; rather, it is to point to the reality that is beyond all perceived realities...the God-beyond-the many differing and competing notions of god.

To explain better what that means, imagine that reality is in the center of an enormous circle, and all the peoples of the world are somewhere on the rim of the circle: the Christians here, the Muslims here, the Buddhists here, the atheists here, the agnostics here, the Mormons here, and on and on; but every one is somewhere on the circle looking in at reality. Some are saying, “My view of reality is best.” Some even say, “Mine is the only true view.” And I’m sure that some may be more reflective of reality than others.

But the point is that no one of the views of reality is reality itself. They are different ways of seeing…other paths of understanding…what reality really is.

My point is this: Realizing that we all see reality differently – our differences of birth, geography, education, opportunity, age – all go in to the mix of informing how we see the Universe to which we belong. Because reality is so much more than any one of us can grasp.

Let me break that down a littler further: Thanks to Einstein and scientists before and after him, we’ve learned to split the atom. Unfortunately, one of the first things we did with that knowledge was to make atom bombs. In fact, we dropped two of them on Japan. I’m sure that many of you have seen pictures of those bombs -- big, menacing and ominous -- 500 pounds or more each.

That’s one view of atoms, but what if I told you that there are about six sextillion atoms (that would be a 6 followed by 21 zeros – millions, billions, trillions, quadrillions, quintillions and sextillions) 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms in an ordinary drop of water. And if there are that many atoms in one drop of water, think how many would be in a spoonful, a gallon…in a lake…in the ocean. It’s beyond comprehension. On the submicroscopic level, that’s what we are referring to when we speak of reality. What wondrous Mystery the atom is.

But what if we think in the opposite direction…into the Universe, the macroscopic. Let’s start with our Earth. It is about 25,000 miles in circumference. I can grasp that somewhat because I know how far a mile is. So 25,000 miles seems within my comprehension, even though that’s a huge distance, relatively speaking. But it’s nothing when we measure the distance from the Earth to the sun, which is 92 million miles. And in this galaxy of which our sun and its planets are one tiny part, there are more than one billion other suns…some of them millions of miles wide in diameter and trillions of miles away. But that’s just our galaxy, the Milky Way. There are at least a billion or more other galaxies, some of which make ours seem like really small potatoes.

So when we speak of reality in the macrocosmic sense, Wow! What a Universe. And when we add those opposite end descriptions of reality together, what an awesome universe we are contemplating…what an enormous macro-reality and an incredible submicroscopic reality before which we stand, and of which we are a part.

But the amazing thing about our reality is not only the external world. Last Friday night, I conducted a marriage ceremony for a young couple from Ohio. The family was longtime friends of two of our founding members, Karen and Jim Nathan. In the ceremony, I told the story of Socrates, Plato, Aristophanes and others, who more than 2,000 years ago, were having a discussion on the incredible power of love. One of them asked, Why is it that we absolutely lose every bit of common sense when we fall in love? Kings have given up their throne, the wealthy have given up fortunes, everything for the love of a woman or man. Why is that?

Aristophanes explained. He said once long ago there was only human being. No such thing as woman or man. But human being displeased the gods, so in punishment god Zeus divided human being into two and made woman and man. And ever since, they’ve been trying to get back together. What a powerful force love is on this planet. What a potent part of our reality!

But there’s more. Last Monday, just a few blocks from here, I conducted a funeral service for Gina Guadette’s stepfather, Paul Kidd. The grief of her mother was palpitating it was so strong. Why him and not her? Why not a brother or sister? Why any one? Why do we have to die at all?

Why floods and rains and hurricanes and tornadoes? Why disease and heartache? Why pain and poverty? Why is our life…this world…this way?

On the other hand, why the beautiful sunsets? How can the smile of a child sometimes light up a whole room? Why is the touch and presence of the one we love so comforting? Why are there so many good people in our world, who give to the poor, who help the helpless, who feed the hungry, who go out of their way to make a difference? Why is the world like that?

 There is a reality of atoms, a Universe, love, death -- beyond all of our perceptions and attempts to understand.

But how do we connect to that Mystery? How do we connect with reality…with God? According to Islam, it’s done in a very special form of communication. It’s called prayer. It’s the second rung on the ladder to happiness, according to Islam.

II. ACCESS THE MYSTERY THROUGH PRAYER.

But not just pray: pray five times a day. But why five?

I love the story that comes from the sacred scriptures of Islam, the Qur’an, where they tell of Muhammad’s “Night Journey to Heaven.” He rises to the 7^th heaven where he is told directly by God that faithful followers of the Way should pray 50 times each day. As Muhammad is descending back to earth, he stops in the 6^th heaven and tells Moses the instructions he’s been given.

According to the Qur’an, when Muhammad tells Moses that God wants his people to pray 50 times every day, Moses says, “That will never work.” If you are familiar with the book of Exodus in Jewish scriptures, you will remember that Moses has experience in negotiating with God. He advises Muhammad to go back for a better deal. Muhammad does and returns to Moses and relates that he got the number of times necessary to pray each day reduced to 40. Moses says, “I know people. They will never do that. Go back again and get it down to a reasonable number.”

So Muhammad follows this pattern, getting it reduced to 30, 20, then 10. Each time Moses says that’s still too many. Then Muhammad reports back that God had said the faithful should pray only five times a day. Moses shakes his head, and again said, that too is too many.

But this time Muhammad refuses to go back to God anymore. And so faithful Muslims are to pray at least five times a day: (1) on arising, (2) when the sun is at its highest, (3) when it is in the middle of its setting, (4) at sunset and (5) before going to bed at night. At first they prayed towards Jerusalem, but now all over the world, when faithful Muslims kneel in prayer five times a day, they do so with their face towards Mecca.

There’s this wonderful Muslim saying that every time a bird drinks a drop of water, it lifts its eyes in gratitude toward heaven. Five times a day, so do faithful Muslims.

But let’s stop for a moment: Why pray at all, whether once, five times, or a hundred times? What’s the purpose?

Martin Luther said, “We pray, not to inform God, but ourselves.” Prayer is not so much getting it to rain-on-demand, but in the process of praying, an awareness of what might be arises. Or we feel empowered to become a change agent in our circle and our community. We touch the source of life and find inner peace. We slow down to live.

Many of need the help that regular prayer can bring, so as to come to terms with the hustle and bustle of life. An anonymous Muslim has written:

“Life is not a race. It is a journey. Getting someplace first, before anyone else, has very little real and lasting meaning. When you hurry through each moment, you miss out on the richness that could be yours. Take the time to live, to experience where you are, rather than being so obsessed with getting to the next checkpoint. Learn to experience joy where you are. Do not move so quickly that speed becomes your only experience, for there is so much more to enjoy.”

I must confess, I have always been in a hurry. It’s a curse. Back in season, one of the things I committed to when on retreat at the House of Prayer was that when driving on the interstate, or 41 or Daniels, I would stay in one lane regardless of how slow it went. And when I thought I was absolutely going to die if I didn’t change lanes, I resorted to prayer, not the Muslim prayer, but e.e. cummings’ prayer of gratitude:

I thank thee God for most this amazing day…for leaping greenly spirits of trees…for blue true dreams of sky…for everything that is infinite, that is natural, that is yes. Amen.

And then I focused on some dimension of the Universe, so gorgeous to behold, that was right before my eyes.

Five times a day, practicing Muslims pause to pray…to connect to the encompassing Mystery of our existence. For certain, according to Islam, that’s one of the keys to happiness.

Finally, here’s a third key to happiness: give.

III. A THIRD KEY TO HAPPINESS: GIVE!

I’ve said it before, but it deserves telling again. When Brenda Wester joined with the Hopesters to take the kids from Hope House to the zoo in Collier County, one of the children asked her the most disconcerting question. It’s one I’ve not forgotten, and I hope you won’t either. This little child, whose home life had been so rotten that the police had stepped in and removed him from his home, he looked up at Brenda and asked, “Why are you doing this?”

Brenda was so caught off guard that she had to ask him to repeat what he’d said. He did: “Why are you doing this?” In other words, why are you being good to me? In his little life, no one had ever done that before.

That was a million dollar experience for Brenda and for all of us here who through our time, money and effort have made such a difference at Hope House. It’s also something that Islamic faith, discovered a long time ago. That giving to others…to those in need…is one of the keys to what it means to be happy.

CONCLUSION

Last Friday, I was visiting with Mary Lewis, the Executive Director of Our Mother’s Home. It’s a very special place for six to eight children who’ve also given birth to children – children who’ve had children because of rape and sexual abuse. Our Mother’s Home has a bedroom for each young mother and a room also for her baby. The residents sometimes stay for three and four years, or at least until they reach 18.

On Thursday, one of the staff had taken one of their newest residents and her two-year-old baby to the beach. Though the mother was 14, she had never before seen the ocean or the gulf. On the way back, they stopped at McDonald’s…she had never been to a fast food restaurant before.

The sordid truth is that she had been sold by her father at age 11 to a group of men for their sexual pleasure. She had lived in hell until someone accidentally discovered the homemade prison she was living in. She and her baby were taken to Our Mother’s Home.

Why are there, the Mary Lewis’s and Our Mother’s Home in our world? Why Hope House and the Hopesters? Why Patricia Smith and White House/Black Market? Why care? Why give?

All the great faiths…including Islam…have discovered a wonderful secret: It’s one of the keys to happiness. Giving.

So let me repeat, that according to Islam: Happiness starts with understanding there is one God-beyond-all-gods…one reality beyond all realities. Second, accessing reality can be done through prayer. Third, life can be greatly enhanced by sharing our time, our money, and our concern. Amen and blessed be.