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(Excerpted from Q News, Issue No. 363)
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away noble Sufi shaykhs trained young
dervishes to battle dark powers that sought to lead people along the path of
hatred and anger.They floated through the air, walked on water and did
remarkable acrobatics - all by invoking the divine Force. Sound familiar? It’s better
than you think. IRFAN M. RYDHAN explores the secret relationship between Islam
and Star Wars.
Most Star Wars fans know that director George Lucas,
influenced chiefly by the works of the late American
scholar Joseph Campbell, took spiritual elements
common to many world religions to create the mystical fabric
of his epic saga of good versus evil. As a Muslim, I always
thought the Jedi to be what a true follower of Islam should be
like. Jedi masters, with their North African cloaks and scruffy
beards look like Sufi shaykhs, are taught to respect a greater
power, fight for the innocent and honour a code of morals and
ethics in order to bring about peace and justice in their societies
- exactly what the Islamic tradition prescribes. So what is
the connection between these seemingly ‘Islamic principles’
and the fictional Jedi Order of the Star Wars saga?
There is devotion to Star Wars that non-enthusiasts will
not understand. For example, National Statistics UK reported
that in its 2001 Census 390,000 respondents declared Jedi to
be their chosen religion. I am sometimes unsure whether devotion
to Star Wars has crossed the make-believe barrier or if
these Star Wars fans are just pulling our leg. There may be
some truth in fiction. And I think I know where some of the
truth of the Jedi comes from.
I came across an interesting article entitled Eternal Jihad:
The Way of the Mystic-Warrior from a Sufi website. It
revealed, “We are at the core a Movement of Jeddi; masters of
Futuwwat (“the Way of the mystic-warrior”). We encourage
adherents to train both physically and spiritually, for their
own personal edification and to enhance their knowledge and
abilities in the struggle. The Real does not lie alone in contemplation,
prayer and meditation; nor does it lie alone in
action and revolution. Both of these are notions of “one or the
other” and Allah is not ‘one or the other’. ‘Allah’ literally
means ‘the One[ness] which manifests from Nothing.’”
Note that the Arabic term al-Jeddi (master of the mystic-warrior
way) along with another Islamic term not mentioned,
palawan (perhaps from pahlwan, or strong young man in
Punjabi), similar to Lucas’ Padawan for Jedi apprentice, were
actual titles used by Muslim knights.
THE FORCE
The Force is the common thread between all six movies
and is defined as an energy field, which binds all living things
together, like Allah, God, a Supreme Being or power that most
religious adherents worship, follow and yearn to become a
part of. According to Star Wars mythology, the Jedi “are a
noble order of protectors unified by their belief and observance
of the Force.” The Jedi study and train under the
apprentice-master relationship similar to how many religious
students study under a priest or religious scholar until they
have learned enough to teach and train the next generation of
students.
From a Muslim perspective, the similarities between the
Jedi and the Islamic traditions of instruction are strikingly similar.
For example, a Muslim scholar usually trains under a
shaykh for a number of years before they are given the right
or permission - ijazah - to teach others about Islam. As Martin
Nguyen points out, “In Islamic Sufism shaykhs will have silsilas
that list the chain of teachers going back to the Prophet
Muhammad. A silsila indicates a shaykh’s lineage of mystical
learning from which he draws his spiritual authority.”
Similarly in the Jedi tradition of Star Wars, each Padawan
(apprentice) is taught the same tradition and skills their Jedi
masters were taught by their previous masters. Star Wars fans
know the lineage of Jedi instruction starting from Yoda to
Count Dooku to Qui-Gon Jinn to Obi Wan Kenobi to Anakin
Skywalker.
In the first Star Wars movie, Episode IV: A New Hope,
Luke Skywalker, like his father, Anakin, lives in the desert
(incidentally, the desert planet of Tatooine was actually filmed
near the real desert town of Tataouine in Tunisia). From
among this remote desert area with no roots of a civilised
urban society, a ‘chosen one’ arises who brings the hope of
peace and justice to their society. Anakin is the chosen one in
the latest Star Wars films, and Luke can be considered the chosen
one from the original Star Wars trilogy.
Similarly, the Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings be
upon him) lived in the desert where there was no true rule of
law or justice and people followed the tribal system of blood
vengeance. Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, brought
Islam to the Arabs, which completely changed their way
beliefs, thinking and the way they lived their lives. Instead of
living for the present and for themselves, as Muslims they lived
living for the present and for themselves, as Muslims they lived
for the hereafter and were taught to take care of the poor,
orphans, those less fortunate than themselves and to fight for
social justice and well being for the whole community.
Thus, the Jedi too is taught to be selfless and not selfish like
the Sith, an ancient order of Force-practitioners devoted to the
dark side and determined to destroy the Jedi. Just as Yoda, the
little green master, taught young padawans not to give into fear
and be tempted by the Dark Side - the temptations of the devil
or shaytan - Muslims are taught not to be attached to the life
of this world, the dunya, nor to fall prey to the diseases of the
heart like jealousy, envy, fear and especially hatred as they lead
to evil and sin.
THE GREEN ONE
There is an interesting connection between the Jedi master
Yoda (a short, green skinned creature first seen in Episode V:
The Empire Strikes Back) and Islamic traditions - the character
of al-Khidr means “the Green One” in Arabic. Some
Quranic commentators say that Khidr is one of the prophets,
others refer to him simply as a divinely sent guide and yet others
argue that he is a perfect wali, a friend and devoted servant
of God.
So in other words Yoda - the name itself comes from the
Hebrew for ‘wise one’ or from the Sanskrit for ‘warrior’ - is like
a spiritual mentor who guides the young Jedi in the ways of the
force and teaches them to be strong enough to resist the temptations
and evil inclinations of the Sith and other Dark Forces.
In Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the Emperor tries to
influence Luke Skywalker to give into his feelings of anger and
hatred. As we all know Luke’s father Anakin, did fall prey to
the Emperor’s whispers and joined the Dark Side to become
the fearsome Darth Vader. Because the Jedi - like Muslim warriors
- are taught that one’s intentions in battle must be pure
and that it’s wrong to kill out of anger, even when is outwardly
justified.
Imam Ali, the fourth Caliph and the cousin of the Prophet
Muhammad, was faced with this situation at the Battle of the
Ditch. The noble Imam had knocked an enemy soldier to the
ground and was raising his sword to kill him, when the unbeliever
spat in his face. Imam Ali at once stood still and
refrained from killing his enemy and stated: “Your property
and your life have become sacrosanct to me. I am not authorized
to slay you. I can receive permission to kill only in holy
combat, in fighting commanded by Allah. Just a few moments
ago, I had overcome you in battle, knocked you to the ground
and was on the point of slaying you. But when you spat in my
face, my selfish anger was aroused against you. If I had killed
you, I would have slain you not for Allah’s sake but for my
own selfish reason; they would then have called me not a
champion warrior, but a murderer. When you spat in my face,
my selfish passion threatened to overwhelm me, so instead of
striking you with the sword for my own sake I struck my passion
for the sake of Allah, Exalted is He. There you have the
reason for your escape.”
The Jedi could be considered “Holy Warriors” (or
mujahideen) as they fight for truth, justice and peace. They
meditate (do dhikr) as much as they can, to become “one with
the force”, even in the midst of battle. In Episode I: The
Phantom Menace, the Jedi master, Qui-Gon Jinn begins to
meditate in the middle of his battle with his arch-nemesis
Darth Maul.
Islamic History is filled with stories of Muslim warriors
who stop in the heat of the battle to remember Allah and take
heed of the noble teachings of Islam. Imam Hussain the grandson
of the Prophet stopped to do his Asr prayers at Karbala.
There is even an account of Sayyidna Ali who completed his
prayers while he had an arrow stuck in his leg.
There is a saying in Islam, which states: “Life in this world
is Paradise for the unbelievers and a prison for the believers.”
Which basically means that if one puts all their faith in this
world - the dunya - then it is very easy to fall off the straight
path and be tempted by Satan to the “dark side”.
This is shown very clearly in Episode III: Revenge of the
Sith which is all about the Anakin’s fall into the dark side.
Lucas, himself stated in an interview that the he chose the final
battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan to be on a planet with
flowing molten lava and fire, which represents the fires of
Hell. It is the ultimate showdown between good and evil.
Anakin falls victim to the dark side because he loves power
and the dunya, as he wanted to have the power to live forever
and save his loved ones from death, in particular his wife from
dying during childbirth. He has excessive anger and arrogance,
as he felt he was the most powerful Jedi and no other
Jedi was better or stronger than him. He began to distrust
those who are his righteous guides. He felt Obi-Wan, his
Shaykh, was jealous of him and thought the Jedi Council - or
should we say shura - was against him, which lead him to follow
other sinister forces for guidance. Lastly he had hatred in
his heart and admitted to hating the “sand people”. He fell to
all those vices that Islam teaches the Muslim to avoid.
THE SAND PEOPLE
The sand people or the Tusken Raiders could be considered
a metaphor for the nomadic peoples of Arabia. In
Episode II: Attack of the Clones, the Tusken Raiders kidnap
and torture Anakin’s mother, Shimi, eventually killing her.
Anakin then proceeds to kill sand people in vengeance, and as
he tells his wife, that he ‘killed all of them, including the
women and children.’ But this did not relieve him of his anger
and hatred. I believe Lucas is trying to make a point about the
continuous spewing of hate against Arab and Muslim peoples,
specifically after September 11th. Even though the countries of
Iraq and Afghanistan were bombed relentlessly (it hasn’t
stopped yet), as punishment for the attacks of September 11th
(without any proof or legitimate legalities of course), many
Americans still have hatred against anyone that even looks like
an Arab or Muslim. Many innocent people, specifically
women and children, have been harassed, attacked and sometimes
even killed, because of this ‘hate’.
This wasn’t the only example of Lucas getting political.
After Episode III debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, many
Europeans were saying that Anakin represents Bush and his
Neo-Con cohorts currently in power. One couldn’t help but
notice the very overt examples in the last and final instalment
of the Star Wars series. Of course, the most obvious example
was when Anakin tells Obi-Wan before their final duel,
“Either you’re with me, or against me”, which sounds remarkably
like a current American President.
THE JEDI ARTS
One of the most popular aspects of the Star Wars films are
the exciting light-sabre duels and swordsmanship (Lucas is an
admitted fan of old Samurai films) and martial arts style fighting,
which of course originates from the East. As a former student
of Eskrima Serrada - stick and blade fighting developed
by Muslims of the Philippines - myself, I see many similarities
in the fast-moving and short-range fighting I studied and the
“invented” art of the Jedi masters.
When Anakin fights Count Dooku at the beginning of the
Episode III, he applies a disarm and cut technique that is
directly from the Eskrima tradition Dooku’s arm. The fighting
techniques in Star Wars are reminiscent of the Muslim martial
arts of Southeast Asia as exemplified by Pencak Silat and
Eskrima, which are based on paying attention to the limbs of
the attacker and not concerned with an immediate strike to the
attacker’s head or torso.
Ray Park, who plays Darth Maul in Episode I: The
Phantom Menace, studied Kung Fu (very similar to the empty
hand techniques of Serrada) and Wushu. He frequently travelled
to Malaysia to refine and develop his skills. The bases of
the Muslim martial arts of Southeast Asia are spiritual. This is
the local Sufi expression of Islam. Traditional Indonesian/Malay folklore attributes the initial design of these arts to Muslim saints in the region going back to the 7th
Century. The Silat system is attributed to nine main awliya or
saints, also called the Wali Songo.
Here is another example of the Sufi-Jedi connection. As
Jedi’s study the force and train in the Jedi Arts under the
apprentice-master relationship, so do the Sufis.
My research has shown me some remarkable similarities
between the spiritual world of Star Wars and the ideals, principles
and understanding of Islam. Some of the similarities are
clear - master/apprentice being shaykh/talib and the Force being
akin the creative presence of the divine in creation. Other similarities
were more hidden and surprising - the Jeddi and Palawan
Muslim knights and Yoda’s remarkable similarity to Khidr.
Even though Lucas himself is not a follower of any specific
religion, he has used elements of Islam to convey universal
understandings of good and evil. Combining the common
threads of the human experience with a futuristic space-age
setting and exciting martial arts swordsmanship, came a creation
that has inspired many, across religious lines. There is
something about the Star Wars saga that everyone can relate
to and enjoy. People searching for a “truth” within the
mythology of Star Wars, will hopefully look a little deeper
behind the fiction and find a way of life which emphasises
peace, justice and brotherhood for all humanity. Sounds like
Islamic ideals to me.
