The Divine Feminine?

truth

Peace,

I think the term 'divine feminine' has only really come into popular consciousness since the fictional writings of Dan Brown in the Davinci Code. The article you post is from an organisation devoted to Eastern thought and awareness in their own admission. I think the article is trying to explore things with the underlying assumption of a masculine god. But this is just as nonsensical as putting forward a fuzzy concept like 'divine feminine'.

The God is neither masculine nor feminine. Even though we refer to "Him" as "He" this is not indicative of a gender but rather a limitation of language.

In this sense I am fortunate to be bilingual in Turkish and in that language there is no gender at all. There is no 'he' or 'she' at all and to think of things in neutral genderless ways is straightforward.

In my view the concept of 'divine feminine' is a doorway to pagan belief systems that embrace it. One must be aware of the poison baits that are dropped around to pollute the absoluteness of the God. I think that entertaining such things is flirting with these incorrect ideas. The God is far above what they attribute.

kevynbello

In my Faith, we try to avoid making anthrophomorphic descriptions of God and rather vesture Em in Eir Attributes and Names. Labelling anything masculine and feminine is culturally subjective anyways.

I just simplify my belief that Everything is in God, but God is not in everything (I am a panentheist, but even all forms of theisms fail that God transcends and above ALL human comprehension; the label is just my limited understanding of a transcendent but personal God). Rather, God dwells in the human heart, yet transcends all.

Peace and love!
Kevyn.

unknownuser

Peace be upon you,

Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine are the same as Yin and Yang. The are Modalities.

Divine Feminine corresponds to cold, water, dark, nouturing, within, ...ect
Divine Masculine corresponds to hot, fire, light, outer, forceful, .....etc

Life is about bringing about the balance of the "male and female" the Divine marriage.

People are conditioned as they grow to be polarized into one or the other, but life will bring you challenges to CHANGE ...it will bring the FIERY PERSONALITY a situation that demands "coolness" to get through.

unknownuser

Peace

Rahman is comes from Rahm or womb.In fact many attributes of God listed in the Quran are female.Allah from al-illah meaning "the god" is male.This shows that God can be thought of as both male and female.Not meaning that God has a male or female reproductive system.But simply that God is a mixture of oppisites.His most important name is most merciful yet he is also the most wrathful.He forgives and loves yet destroys citys like lot's.He is the source of peace yet will bring about a violent judgement day.So since God is contradicting he can be both a she or a he (not on a biological basis).The belif that this will limit has greatness is wrong.Creation is in pairs so God could have made male and female based on his core attributes.The reason most people call God he is because man is thought to have authority.Further in the the quran God speaks of the nafs and nafs is feminine.The Quran's use of female names for God is amazing because of its 7th century arab context.Also females are mentioned often in the Quran.The Quran mentions killed little girls and mothers having lost there only child and a elusive female is menteined often in the early so called "meccan" surahs.In one surah near the end of the Quran, God swears on "the male and the female".Why is the male and female so important that the lord of the heavens and the earth makes a oath on this.Also I find this surah very intresting.
"We sent him down on the night of destiny.
And what can tell you of the night of destiny?
The night of destiny is better than a thousand moons.
The angels come down-the spirit upon her-
by permission of their lord from every order.
Peace she is until the rise of dawn".
Although this may have been lost in translation, there is a unusaly suggestive blurring of masculine and feminine, especially in pronoun.Sunnis and shias see in this surah a mention of Muhammeds first revaletion.But Muhammed is missing in the this surah.Instead the night is given center stage.The night is described as a "she" and that the something that desinded was a "he".To me this surah describes a future in which the loving and warm peace of God's light will fill the dark world which is tired of the night and has long waited for day-break.Back to the divine feminine, God is both male and female as his names sugesst.And to this surah the blurring of gender sugessts the eqality of men an women.Also I may be wrong since im not a expert on arabic, layla the word used for night in this surah is I think (I might be wrong) feminine.I might be wrong.If I am forgive me peace

Lareb

anders

Yea i'm starting to think this isn't Islamic.
whether something is islamic is only relevant for islamists, not for truth seekers, the two not being mutually exclusive...
Why don't you ask whether it is true or not?

In all times it has been known that original source divided itself in two aspects in order to make creation possible the masculine (mind) and feminine (spirit), resulting in a 3rd possibility, their androgynous union known as the son of god (matter)
Early islam probably knew of this, but as with christianity the female aspect was not acceptable culturally and hence became written out of the script.
This is one of many falsifications that will see its correction soon.

On earth, both male and female are androgynous spiritually but 'specialised' physically for reproductive and evolutionary reasons.

anders

Double post removed, see above

huruf

In fact from God come all qualities. Whether we choose to call some of the this or that is for us and it is our choice. They serve us well, good, the stop serving as well, we may choose to order our perception and manifetation differently. That is not going to change God who is The Source.

huruf

In fact from God come all qualities. Whether we choose to call some of this or that is for us and it is our choice. They serve us well, good, when they stop serving as well, we may choose to order our perception and manifetations differently too. That is not going to change God who is The Source.

Sorry double post.

Samia

Salaam Aleikum,

Allah is all good Attributes combined into One. We have those attributes according to our biological needs. So for Allah it is just having an attribute, to us it may look like attributes are more female or male, but in reality they are just more compatible to male or female biological functions.

We call certain attributes as 'male' or 'female', but these attributes existed before there were any creatures created, before there was any male or female. Certain attributes were given to male and female, as these were compatible to the biological setup and functions.

So to say these Attributes are male or female is like saying a plastic bottle defines raw oil. Oil is used to define plastic, not the other way around. Same holds for the Attributes, they define human biological differences, but the our biological differences do not define the Attributes.

Also very important is that the Attributes explain what He DOES, not what He IS.

Allah is Above all we claim Him to be.

This is also what I think of God attributes and actions rather than existence.

anders

All thinking and all talk about god is of man. The futile way of the unwise.
Seek and ye shall find. Find and ye shall experience. The way of the wise.

the_path_of_light

This is a good thread, and I hope nobody minds me bringing it back.

I think acknowledgement of the divine feminine is very important to Islam. As I'm sure most of us will admit, we are stereotyped as being very anti-feminine (i.e. stoning females to death, etc). I wholeheartedly agree that at its essence, Allah totally transcends our notions of gender (and everything else, for that matter). There are several ways to look at Allah

Transcending Everything (as mentioned). Being infinite, and beyond space-time/time-space, Allah is unknowable at this level (at least in our current state of consciousness).

However, since we are humans, we are inclined to want to think about Allah. We are curious, and saying that Allah is beyond our comprehension isn't intellectually/spiritually satisfying. I use the terms masculine and feminine in their most primordial definitions masculine energy emanates, while feminine energy receives. At this level, those terms have nothing to do with gender constructs in a given society.

So even though we start defining Allah from our limited perspectives, this is important to do because at least for me, before I started praying and meditating on a regular basis, I tried to "figure out" Allah on an intellectual level. When we think about the divine, I think it is very important to acknowledge its feminine attributes. We experience this reality in a dualistic fashion, and it is important to keep your opposites in balance, in order to ultimately transcend completely these opposites.

So-called holy people that hate women really bother me (really, hatred in general bothers me). I find misogyny particularly awful though, because if you actively hate/show constant disrespect toward a little over half of humanity, your mindset can't be particularly endearing.

Here's an interesting website to check out http//harekrishnawomen.wordpress.com/ I am pretty sympathetic toward the religions of India, but this particular group of people's guru is fairly ridiculous, in my humble opinion.

The moral of the story is, don't be a hater. Salaam.

Also, I know I said there are several ways to look at Allah, and I only posted two.

The_Dreamer

PEace all

Interesting read... would like to hear your thoughts

Could it be that Allah is neither male nor female because He is both? I don't mean genitals, but characteristics. Read on

http//www.sol.com.au/kor/22_02.htm

Fatimah, Mary and the Divine Feminine in Islam

At the very core of Islamic philosophy there is evidence of what can be called a vision of the Motherhood of God.

In the first Sura of the Koran, the Fatiha that is recited by millions of Muslims in their daily devotions, God is called Al Rahmin, the merciful and compassionate one. ?Ramin? is derived from the Arabic for ?womb? or ?matrix?, mercy is also a feminine attribute, and so Muslims are reminded that God can be either woman or man. Every day God is compared to a mother and woman.

While the Muslim vision is often perceived to be authoritarian and punitive the Koran, on close inspection, is filled with descriptions and vision of God?s more feminine attributes such as gentleness, providence, love, universal compassion and tender-heartedness.

Muhammad was himself a living example of the Divine?s infinite capacity for forgiveness many times he forgave enemies who had committed unspeakable atrocities against him and his brethren.

The religious intolerance that characterises the behaviour of many Muslim communities today is inconsistent with the heritage of tolerance that is professed by the Islamic tradition. For example, the Koran clearly states in several passages that any person who lives a life of holy reverence is welcomed into paradise regardless of their religion. Muhammad openly praises both Judaism (Abraham is deeply respected within the Koran) and Christianity (Muhammad frequently praises Jesus and Mary in the Koran).

Even more surprising is the Koran?s reverence for Mary, mother of Christ. Muhammad (and also in later Islamic theological scriptures) regarded Mary as the most marvellous of all women, a high adept and living example of the pure and holy life. Later Koranic commentaries describe Mary as an intervening force between God (Allah) and humanity. This intervening force is characterised by Allah?s mercy, forgiveness, sweetness and humility- the embodiment of Allah?s love for creation.

When Muhammad retook Mecca he began a programme of removing the pagan influences from the Kaaba, the most holy of Muslim sites. He removed many frescoes and images that he considered inauspicious but he specifically left on the walls a fresco of the Virgin Mary and her child.

In one of the most powerful Hadiths ( prophetic sayings of Muhammad) it is reported that Muhammad said, ?Paradise is at the feet of the Mother?. Does this suggest that the feminine aspect of God is an important and essential pathway to the attainment of supreme consciousness?

Muhammad?s peak defining experience, called the Meraj, saw him elevated through the seven heavens to the realm of God Almighty at the resplendant Sidrath where he communed with God, received his divine visions and instructions and was placed on the inexorable course of his life-mission to establish Islam. Muhammad was escorted by the archangel Gabriel (a masculine force) but the vehicle upon which Muhammad rode was the beautiful ?Buraq?. The Buraq was a white horse with wings and the face of a woman! Clearly suggesting that the great power by which Muhammad was elevated to the level of supreme consciousness was ultimately feminine in nature! Some scholars say that the Buraq is an Islamic symbol of the Kundalini, a force that Eastern Yogis describe as the Goddess or Divine Mother.

Fatimah is another prominent female in the Islamic tradition. Muhammad revered Fatimah as if she were a divine being, saying "Allah, The Most High; is pleased when Fatimah is pleased. He is angered; whenever Fatimah is angered!"

Whenever Fatimah would go to the house of Muhammad, he would stand up out of respect for her and honour her by giving her a special place to seat herself in his house. He regarded her as a sort of primordial woman, a symbol of divine womanhood giving her many holy names, such as Siddiqah; The Honest, The Righteous; Al-Batool, Pure Virgin; Al-Mubarakah, The Blessed One; .Al-Tahirah, The Virtuous, The Pure, Al-Zakiyah ;The Chaste, The Unblemished ;Al-Radhiatul Mardhiah, She who is gratified and who shall be satisfied; Al-Muhaddathah, A person other than a Prophet, that the angels speak to; Al-Zahra, The Splendid; Al-Zahirah, The Luminous.

Shias revere the person of Fatimah, Muhammad's daughter and mother of the line of inspired imams who embodied the divine truth for their generation. As such, Fatimah is associated with Sophia, the divine wisdom, which gives birth to all knowledge of God. She has thus become another symbolic equivalent of the Great Mother.

Sunni Islam has also drawn inspiration from the female. The philosopher Muid ad-Din ibn al-Arabi (1165-1240) saw a young girl in Mecca surrounded by light and realised that, for him, she was an incarnation of the divine Sophia. He believed that women were the most potent icons of the sacred, because they inspired a love in men which must ultimately be directed to God, the only true object of love.

More generally speaking Muslims are reminded in the Koran that humans can experience and speak about God only in symbols. Everything in the world is a sign (aya) of God; so women can also be a revelation of the divine. Ibn al-Arabi argued that humans have a duty to create theophanies for themselves, by means of the creative imagination that pierces the imperfect exterior of mundane reality and glimpses the divine within. The faculty of imagination is commonly associated with the Divine Feminine.

While official Islam may not consistently describe the role of the Divine Feminine, this principle has been described and explored at length in the more esoteric Islamic tradition of Sufism. Sufism emphasises passionate, mystical adoration of God. Many Sufis (and other mystics in other religions) seek a spiritual union between themselves and the divine principle not unlike that between a child (the Sufi) and his mother (God) or a bride (Sufi) and the husband (God).

The Sufi poetry teaches the feminine qualities of joy, love, tenderness and self sacrifice on a path of true knowledge derived from the spiritual heart. The spiritual rebirth of the individual is not unlike the trial and tribulation of physical childbirth, according to the Sufis. They take the principle of divine love and use it to facilitate the process of alchemical transformation from mundane human to spiritual being.

The fanaticism that we see in modern Islam is a new development in a religion that, in its early history, was famous for its tolerance and respect for other religions. In Islam?s classical period in medieval Spain and Egypt perhaps only Buddhism rivalled Islam?s tolerance. The fundamentalism that characterises the behaviour of many of today?s Muslims is in fact anti-Koranic.

A Sufi Ode to the Divine Mother
On the face of the earth there is no one more beautiful than You
Wherever I go I wear your image in my heart
Whenever I fall in a despondent mood I remember your image
And my spirit rises a thousand fold
Your advent is the blossom time of the Universe
O Mother you have showered your choicest blessings upon me
Also remember me on the Day of Judgement
I don?t know if I will go to heaven or hell
But wherever I go, please always abide in me.

Too long; didn't read.

Oklosa Hmsna

Thank you for sharing this thought-provoking article and starting this discussion. As mentioned, while some interpretations in the piece touch upon unconventional or controversial ideas, the core discussion on linguistic roots (like 'Rahman' stemming from womb/matrix) and the emphasis on divine attributes such as mercy, compassion, and gentleness offer a very deep perspective. In traditional Islamic theology, God is completely transcendent beyond physical forms or human gender classifications yet encompasses the ultimate perfection of all qualities, both majestic and beautiful. Excellent points brought up by everyone in the thread!