"To
God the dearest places are the mosques, and the most
unpleasant places are markets." (Reporter:
Hadthrat Abu Hurairah in Sahih Muslim, Riyadus lSaeheen, #1841)
Amanda:
There
are plenty of references in the Qur’an and the Hadith which teach Muslims how to conduct business in an honest,
respectable way. Even a cursory examination of Islam shows that it is not anti-business,
and Muslims throughout history have been prosperous businessmen and women. But
this hadith does make an important
point about what our priorities should be. The markets aren’t just described in
this hadith as unpleasant—they are
actually contrasted with the ‘dearest places’ to God, our houses of worship.
That’s because there is nothing that works against our spirituality like the
pursuit of worldly wealth. For most of us, our work tends to take up more time
than our worship, our family time, and our creative pursuits combined. This
hadith is a call for us to re-examine that inequality of spirituality
in our lives and to keep the pursuit of earthly success in perspective.
LeeAnne:
Keeping
our focus on worship rather than on the pursuit of wealth is also a central
tenet of Christianity. All four of the Gospels include the story of Jesus
clearing the Temple of money changers, who were selling animals for sacrifice and
exchanging foreign coins at exorbitant rates. In addition to taking advantage
of poor pilgrims who had no choice but to accept their terms, the money
changers turned the Temple into a marketplace rather than a place where people
could meet and worship God. It is this perversion of sacred space – and subversion
of sacred intent – that so incensed Jesus. This hadith and the Gospels seem to suggest that we cannot
simultaneously be concerned with worldly commerce and religious
reflection. As Amanda states, business isn’t bad. But our primary focus in a
holy place must be the glory of God. How does our perspective change if we
consider our lives a sacred space like the Temple, best suited for worshiping
God instead of pursuing monetary gain?
Yaira:
Judaism
is also rich in teachings and practices that guide us to conduct business in
honest, respectable ways. Ideally, everything we do—including our monetary,
worldly pursuits—is done with perfect kavanah (intention) and a spirit
of holiness. But Judaism recognizes, too, that we humans are limited creatures,
and it is all too easy for us to forget and go astray. Accordingly, many Jewish
teachings and practices make a clear distinction between the holy and the
ordinary—none more important, perhaps, than the practice of keeping Shabbat. On
the ordinary days of the week—Sunday through Friday—we work and engage in
worldly commerce; but on the Sabbath, we do not. On Shabbat, we are prohibited
even from carrying money, in case having it handy would tempt us to spend it.
The observance of Shabbat helps us more easily connect with God and the wonders
of creation. This dedicated, holy time is designed to help us keep the pursuit
of earthly success in perspective, even during the other, ordinary days of the
week.
There is no Nirvana without Samsara
ReplyDeleteWe have a similar saying in Judaism: "There is no Torah (wisdom or study) without Derekh Eretz (worldly pursuits/occupation)." Also, without flour (bread) there is no Torah, meaning, if a person's basic, physical needs are unmet, s/he cannot turn attention to spiritual needs. Thanks for your comment! B'shalom, Tziporah
DeleteThis post strikes at the heart of why it is wrong to put money before people. What a powerful message.
ReplyDeleteRe LeeAnne's post: Don't know how familiar she is with the period in which Jesus lived, but the "clearing the Temple of money changers" bit is not entirely accurate. It's not her fault; it's a common mistake. Transactions were carried out in the Temple _courtyard_, not the Temple itself. Within the Temple proper, business was not allowed. You could do it but it had to be outside.
ReplyDeleteAs for the rates, I don't know if they were excessively high or not but I can tell you why the currency exchange was there: It was a service for those who wished to purchase animals to offer as a sacrifice. Refrigeration hadn't been invented yet; you couldn't just buy a chicken at the local supermarket & then have it shipped to Jerusalem. Transporting a live animal has other problems, which were beyond what most pilgrims could or would handle. It made sense to set up a market nearby the Temple, so if you wanted the Saduccees (priesthood) to offer a sacrifice on your behalf & could afford it, you could just go to Jerusalem & buy it there. Animal sacrifice isn't done in Judaism anymore, of course, but when it was, doing things as described above is what made sense to those alive at that time.
Moebius, this is an excellent explanation of what the money changers were doing just outside the Temple, and I appreciate your adding it to the comments, especially b/c we always prefer readers to engage with the text (rather than having the blog manager respond all the time). When I visited Jerusalem a few years ago and saw the reconstructed arch over the marketplace street, it made it so much easier to imagine the stalls lining the street. Of course, class was an issue even then: if you were of limited financial means, you would only be able to afford a bird, not a bullock or sheep, for your sacrifice. And while I would venture that the authors of the gospels were editorializing when they describe the money changers (and it's likely they lived and wrote AFTER 70 CE), there probably was more resemblance to Wall Street than Main Street, don't you think? I can see it now: Occupy The Cardo! In any case, thank you for your comment, which adds historical context for LeeAnn's post, and l'shanah tovah, Tziporah
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