Each Breath Is an Exposure to Death

So the believer, according to the Islamic tradition, is called a muʾmin: somebody who is making himself safe. How? How does one make oneself safe, in a world of absolute change? We see change everywhere. We have no sense of security in this world. And a person who is in a secure state is in a delusional state. Really, if one thinks about this: if one feels secure at all times, then one is in a delusional state. Especially in California. Anyone who lives in California feels those shakes every once in a while, just as a reminder that it is not that secure. We are literally, as human beings, constantly exposing ourselves to death in every instant. Each breath is an exposure to death. And because of that, there is a deep instability.

Now, there is a type of veiling that takes place as a mercy. Because if we were constantly aware of this state, we would be literally wrecks — psychological wrecks. And there are people who go into these states. One of the things Lewis Thomas mentions in one of his essays is the whole fact that nature — which is often a scientific word for God — that nature does this wonderful thing of veiling death from us. Even though there is death all around us, one does not see dead animals everywhere. They are hidden. One can literally go down a road and go for a long walk and not see a dead creature. And yet there is death all over the place. There is death happening, decay; it is happening all over the place. But there is a type of veiling. And this enables a human being psychologically to maintain hope — to maintain hope for the future.

So īmān, or belief, is related to making oneself secure.