Sufi Comics is an entertaining but thought-provoking piece of work by two brothers from Dubai, Mohammed Ali Vakil & Mohammed Arif Vakil, that reminds me of the Analects of Confucius and zen in general, a playful, gentle form of teaching that puts the burden of contemplation, rightfully, upon the student.
I know that Sufis have their own conflicts with other Islamic sects, but I have problems finding fault with the joyful element they bring to ethics and religion and suspect that everyone, not just in Islam but across the board, would do well to learn that you can lighten up without losing focus, that it is not necessary to grovel and stare at the ground in order to see.
The Sufi tradition also gives us the playful tales of Nasreddin Hodja, a sort of trickster teacher who plays the fool but always with good effect. I first ran into him as a small boy, and this story stuck with me (this version coming from the previous link):
A beggar was given a piece of bread, but nothing to put on it. Hoping to get something to go with his bread, he went to a nearby inn and asked for a handout. The innkeeper turned him away with nothing, but the beggar sneaked into the kitchen where he saw a large pot of soup cooking over the fire. He held his piece of bread over the steaming pot, hoping to thus capture a bit of flavor from the good-smelling vapor.
Suddenly the innkeeper seized him by the arm and accused him of stealing soup.
"I took no soup," said the beggar. "I was only smelling the vapor."
"Then you must pay for the smell," answered the innkeeper.
The poor beggar had no money, so the angry innkeeper dragged him before the qadi.
Now Nasreddin Hodja was at that time serving as qadi, and he heard the innkeeper's complaint and the beggar's explanation.
"So you demand payment for the smell of your soup?" summarized the Hodja after the hearing.
"Yes!" insisted the innkeeper.
"Then I myself will pay you," said the Hodja, "and I will pay for the smell of your soup with the sound of money."
Thus saying, the Hodja drew two coins from his pocket, rang them together loudly, put them back into his pocket, and sent the beggar and the innkeeper each on his own way.
Sufi Comics are a bit more pointed in their teaching mission, but the storytelling aspect remains.
The book is free on line or may be purchased (for six bucks), which itself implants a moral burden, yes?
Each left hand page has a comic, while the right hand page has both an informal discussion and one more directly based on the Quran. But the comics themselves are sufficiently well-crafted in their clear, sparse style to implant the seed, even without the explication.
And, as with all popular teachings, this tradition reaches beyond the imam and prayer and into the daily world. This is a funny piece, but it is not shallow, and to simply laugh is to miss the point entirely.
And yet, it does bring a laugh. Learning doesn't have to be entirely solemn, if the student has the discipline to laugh and think at the same time:
I think you should buy the book. Such lessons are beyond price, but producing them is not.
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