Controversy of Seeking Baraka
Seeking baraka has been a source of controversy throughout the Islamic world. Through the act of ziyara, saints and the shrines of saints are seen as a means to access the baraka sent from God. Because of this, many within Islam see ziyara as a form of idolatry in the way devotees may look towards the saints instead of towards God, Himself, for baraka. Although ziyara has been a source for great controversy, it remains one of the most typical ritual practices of Islamic spirituality.
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Famous quotes containing the words controversy, seeking and/or baraka:
“And therefore, as when there is a controversy in an account, the parties must by their own accord, set up for right Reason, the Reason of some Arbitrator, or Judge, to whose sentence, they will both stand, or their controversy must either come to blows, or be undecided, for want of a right Reason constituted by Nature; so is it also in all debates of what kind soever.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1579–1688)
“Not only do I disbelieve in the need for compensation, but I believe that the seeking for rewards and punishments out of this life leads men to a ruinous ignorance of the fact that their inevitable rewards and punishments are here.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)
“his address
to the grey monsters of the world,”
—Imamu Amiri Baraka (b. 1934)