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Reflect II
deenb4dunya
10/13/03 at 12:50:25
[color=Red][i][size=3]This thread only thrives with participation...[/size][/i][/color] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “A sufi is neither an ecstatic devotee lost in contemplation of tawheed, nor a saintly recluse shunning all commerce with mankind.  The true sufi goes in and out among the people, eats and sleeps with them, buys and sells in the market, marries and takes part in social intercourse, and never forgets God a single moment.” -- Abu Sa'id
10/13/03 at 12:51:07
deenb4dunya

Re: Reflect II
deenb4dunya
10/13/03 at 12:51:22
“The best use of life is to spend it on something that will out last it.”

Re: Reflect II
deenb4dunya
10/13/03 at 12:51:34
“In the time of the Rasoolullaah (saws), tasawwuf was a reality without a name. Today tasawwuf is a name, but few know its reality.”

Re: Reflect II
AyeshaZ
10/13/03 at 20:15:21
[color=Navy]When light engages the heart, it causes an illumation of the path,a purification of the consciousness, an enlightenment of the intellect and an establishment of the foundations of dhikr and shukr and of beautiful worship... Habib Umar Bin Hafiz [/color]
10/13/03 at 20:15:49
AyeshaZ

Re: Reflect II
paula
10/13/03 at 22:16:47
[slm] Enjoyable Sister Deen ....   [i]Jazak Allahu Khairan[/i] ---------------------------------------------------- "IF words come out of the heart, they will enter the heart, but if they come from the tongue, they will not pass beyond the ears." ~ Unknown [wlm]
10/13/03 at 22:23:58
paula

Re: Reflect II
paula
10/13/03 at 22:20:20
[slm] Whatever we perceive in the world around us tends to reflect who we are and what we care about most deeply, as in the old saying, "When a thief sees a saint, all he sees are his pockets." ~  Robert Frager [wlm]

Re: Reflect II
paula
10/13/03 at 22:29:47
[slm] "Illness itself is one of those forms of experience by which one arrives at the knowledge of God ... It is, so to speak, the cord of love by which God draws to Himself the saints." ~ Al-Ghazzali [wlm]
10/13/03 at 22:34:58
paula

Re: Reflect II
deenb4dunya
10/14/03 at 16:36:28
JazakAllaahu Khayran  :) Deen :-) [i]i bet this post will be removed...  ;)[/i]

Re: Reflect II
AyeshaZ
10/14/03 at 23:32:11
[color=Maroon]"If you desire to live such that your religion is safe, And your portion is full and your honor is sound,   Guard your tongue and never mention another's faults Remembering you yourself have faults and others have tongues. Watch your eye; Should it ever reveal to you the faults of others Say to it,   "O my eye! Other people have eyes too!"     Purification of the Heart: Part 24 ( Shyakh Hamza Yusuf) Counsel Sidi Ahmad Zarrooq (d. 1492 C.E.) [/color]

Re: Reflect II
AyeshaZ
10/14/03 at 23:34:50
[color=Green]Advice from Aissata to her young son Charno Bokar Salif Tall (who grew up to be an 'Alim in West Africa) "Write the Divine name ALLAH on a wall, in front of your bed, so that it may be the first image offered to your sight on waking. Invoke it fervently from the depths of your soul, so that it may be the first word coming out from your lips and striking your ear. At bedtime, fix your eyes on it, so that it may be the last image you contemplate before you subside in the temporary death of sleep. If you persist, in the course of time the light contained in the secret of these four letters will spread on you and a spark of the Divine Essence will set your soul on fire and will radiate it." Taken from Amadou Hampate Ba's, Vie et enseignement de Tierno Bokar (Paris: Seuil, 1980) pp.27 [/color]

Re: Reflect II
Nawawi
10/21/03 at 07:05:21
Abdul Qadir Jilani said, "Do not try to run away from trials and tribulations, but endure them with patience. They cannot be avioded, and there is nothing for it but to endure them with patience, How can you expect the whole of this world, and all that has been created therein, to undergo change and transformation just to suit your convenience? The Prophets are the best of all creatures, yet they have always had to suffer afflication and so it is for their followers, those who tread in their footsteps as they walk along their highway, emulating their example."

Re: Reflect II
knowledge_seeker
10/25/03 at 10:52:04
[color=Purple]"As the Arabs say, "Familiarity is blessing's disease" (extract from Q-News - Habib Ali Jifri Ramadhan Advice) [/color]

Re: Reflect II
Nawawi
10/25/03 at 23:15:24
Ibn Masoud said, "True knowledge is not measured in relationship tohow much you memorize and then narrate, but rather, true knowledge is an expression of piety."

Re: Reflect II
Tesseract
10/26/03 at 15:12:52
Assalamu 'Alaikum,            (On description of the Name of God "Allah", from the New Encyclopedia of Islam):            In the words of Muhammad Busharah, a representative of a Moroccan Darqawi shaykh of the beginning of this century:            The Name is made up of four letters which are read [i]Allah[/i]; if you remove the first letter, those which remain are read [i]Lillah[/i] ("to God"); if you remove another letter- the first lam- what remains is read [i]Lahu[/i] ("to Him"). Finally, there remains only one letter [i]Ha'[/i], which, vocalized, is the Name "He" (Huwa: the Name of Essence). In the same way, when we invoke the Name of God, its form gradually melts into the breath itself. The same happens to the dying man whose soul is resolved into breathing alone and leaves the body with the last breath. Wassalam.

Re: Reflect II
bhaloo
10/26/03 at 17:42:22
[slm] Nice one Bulwark of Islam.  :) Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751 H) – rahimahullâh – said in ‘Ilâm al-Muwaqqi’în (2/121): “So what Dîn, and what good is there to be found in the one that sees the prohibitions of Allâh being committed, His prescribed punishments being laid to waste and abandon, His Dîn left, and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allâh (sallallâhu ‘alayhi wassallam) being thrown away while he is of cold heart with a silent tongue, a dumb-mute Shaytân just as the one who speaks falsehood is a speaking Shaytân?! Is the tribulation of the Dîn in other than these, who if their source of food and position is safe, then there is no concern for what happens to the Dîn? The best of them is the one that feigns and pretends to be sad. If however, a dispute arose with regards to something that is important to him in his rank or wealth he would most certainly spend out and expend and make strong effort in earnest and he would have utilized the three levels of censure according to his ability.For these, along with them being removed from closeness to Allâh and Allâh hating them, they have been afflicted in the world with most tremendous affliction that can be whilst they perceive not, and that is the death of the heart. For the more complete the life is in the heart, the stronger and stronger its hatred is for the sake of Allâh and His Messenger and the more complete its assistance and victory is to the Dîn.”

Re: Reflect II
UmmWafi
10/26/03 at 22:36:21
[slm] [color=Maroon]What hurts the soul ? To live without tasting the water of its own essence[/color] Rumi

Re: Reflect II
deenb4dunya
11/01/03 at 20:46:43
Assalamu Alaikum, Can someone explain this to me: [quote]"As the Arabs say, "Familiarity is blessing's disease" (extract from Q-News - Habib Ali Jifri Ramadhan Advice) [/quote]

Re: Reflect II
knowledge_seeker
11/02/03 at 13:45:14
[quote author=deenb4dunya link=board=bookstore;num=1066060225;start=15#16 date=11/01/03 at 20:46:43]Assalamu Alaikum, Can someone explain this to me: Quote:"As the Arabs say, "Familiarity is blessing's disease" (extract from Q-News - Habib Ali Jifri Ramadhan Advice)   [/quote] Assalamu Alaykum Blessings such as breath, water, food, good health etc are all things which Allah has blessed many of us with.   Breath for instance is something we need to do almost every second, it is a familiar act, as such we are often less thankful for such a blessing. I explained that terribley, if someone else can do better, please go ahead inshaAllah  :-X

Re: Reflect II
deenb4dunya
11/04/03 at 22:46:52
Assalamu Alaikum, This was posted before... "Who has never killed an hour? not causally or without thought, but carefully: a predmeditated murder of minutes. The violence comes from a combination of giving up, not caring, and a resignation that getting past it is all you can hope to accomplish. So you killed the hour. you do not work, you do not read, you do not daydream. if you sleep it is not because you need to sleep. And when at last it is over, there is no evidence: no weapon, no blood, and no body. the only clue might be the shadows beneath your eyes or a terribly thin line near the corner of your mouth indicating something has been suffered, that in the privacy of your life you have lost something and the loss is too empty to share." Wassalamu Alaikum, Deen

Re: Reflect II
deenb4dunya
11/04/03 at 22:54:26
Assalamu Alaikum, I was reading over these quotes. I had a question about this one: [quote]"Illness itself is one of those forms of experience by which one arrives at the knowledge of God ...   It is, so to speak, the cord of love by which God draws to Himself the saints." ~ Al-Ghazzali [/quote] Do you suppose he is referring to the illnesses of the qalb, through which Allaah azza wa jal draws His 'ibaad closer, or physical illnesses? Wassalamu Alaikum, Deen :-)

Re: Reflect II
paula
11/06/03 at 00:35:33
[slm] [quote]Sis Deen: Do you suppose he is referring to the illnesses of the qalb, through which Allaah azza wa jal draws His 'ibaad closer, or physical illnesses? [/quote] Smile…Ramadan Mubarak Sister Deen … I pray you & your families are finding a truly blessed month… May Allah (swt) assist us all … Ameen I’m not sure how short or long to make this response; in the end I felt that trying to paraphrase, I may not do the topic any justice. So, I’ll opt to be kind of brief here. In the context that Al-Ghazali made this statement I’m almost certain he was specifically making reference to physical Illness & the symptoms thereof. That when physical symptoms appear, quite often they are attributed to reasons based on branches of knowledge, such as medical, scientific, astrological, etc. Which in their own right are correct & often work in treatment, however they are limited & based on a limited form of vision. That on the whole, the affliction itself ultimately stems from Allah (swt) & recognition should be given as such. “Illness itself is one of those forms of experience by which one arrives at the knowledge of God ...  It is, so to speak, the cord of love by which God draws to Himself the saints."   … those chosen, may come to realize that affliction of Illness stems from Allah(swt) & Allah(swt) alone. … those chosen, may come to realize the existence of Allah(swt) himself  (i.e. the knowledge of God). That was my quick attempt  …..  However very crude… & I could be wrong or incomplete. That being said, I do wonder sis, as you stated, if ‘Illnesses of the heart’ are not touching on the same kind of concept. How we like to attribute symptoms of affliction on various sources. When the heart of the afflictions we face, stem from Allah (swt) himself & need for purification of the heart & reform of our actions... drawing us to Allah(swt) himself. Well, Allah (swt) knows best. ((still enjoying your thread & awaiting more posts)) [wlm]
11/06/03 at 00:47:27
paula

Re: Reflect II
timbuktu
11/06/03 at 06:28:54
[quote author=knowledge_seeker link=board=bookstore;num=1066060225;start=10#17 date=11/02/03 at 13:45:14]Breath for instance is something we need to do almost every second, it is a familiar act, as such we are often less thankful for such a blessing.[/quote] Sheikh Sa`adi: (in my transliteration .... all mistakes are mine) "har nafasey keh firo mey rawad, mummid-e-hayat ast wa har nafasey key beiyroon mee aayad, mufarrahe zaat pas dar har nafas doo n`imat ast wa ber har n`imat shukrey waajib" & an approximate translation, which will ruin the couplets: "every breath that is inhaled, helps in (prolonging & enjoying) life while every breath that is exhaled, gives freshness to the soul so, in every breath, there are two blessings, & on every blessing, one thanks becomes due" ---- Now, this is interesting. with every thanks, one will have to inhale & exhale once each, so two more thanks will become due .... ad infinitum i guess, now you will want to break my head for explaining the beautiful thought of Sa`adi in such a cruse way!  :)
11/09/03 at 00:59:28
timbuktu

Re: Reflect II
Nawawi
11/28/03 at 14:55:09
Imam Nawawi's 'Bustan al-`arifin' (The Garden of Gnostics), Beirut: Dar al-kitab al-`arabi, 1405/1985 p. 53-54. Imaam Shafi`i said, may God have mercy on him: [color=blue]"Only the sincere one (mukhlis) knows hypocrisy (riya')." [/color] Imaam Nawawi comments: This means that it is impossible to know the reality of hypocrisy and see its hidden shades except for one who resolutely seeks (arada) sincerity. That one strives for a long time (yajtahidu azmanan) searching and meditating and examining at length within himself until he knows or knows something of what hypocrisy is. This does not happen for everyone. Indeed, this happens only with the special ones (al-khawass). But for a given individual to claim that he knows what hypocrisy is, this is real ignorance on his part.

Re: Reflect II
se7en
11/29/03 at 17:03:54
Reflections 9/7 shukr Last week we began our journey into the Maqamaat or Stations of nearness to Allah, subhana wa taa’ala. We began with Shukr – thankfulness and gratitude to Him for all the blessings we have been endowed with and have experienced in our lives. Everything in life is either a trial [ibtilaa] or a blessing, and we have far more blessings than trials, though we are often times unconscious and unaware of them. Expressing shukr is a three-fold process. It begins as an acknowledgement and understanding in the Qalb that anything good I possess or that I experience is solely from Allah swt’s mercy upon me. Any person, institution, technology or object that has led me to have this blessing was only a means or an instrument by which Allah has granted it to me. My heart should remain in the same steady state with or without these instruments. If I feel anxiety when they are not available to me, this is an indication that I attribute the blessing to that tool, and not to Allah swt. So, I must first acknowledge and understand in my Qalb that Allah alone is the one who has blessed me with everything good in my life. Secondly, I must enact Shukr by using the ni’am Allah has blessed me with in the way He has intended them to be used. Thus my limbs and senses should be used in accordance to the laws He has prescribed upon me. Any time I use something He has blessed me with in an act of disobedience, I am being a Kaffir of that blessing. Thus Shukr is not only an intellectual understanding, and motion in my Qalb, but also an attempt to strive to use my body, my senses, and every ni’mah He has given me, in obedience to Him.   Thirdly, I should use my tongue to express Shukr, by glorifying and praising Him, and constantly remembering His blessings upon me. Together, these three elements help me perform Shukr to Allah swt. As I spend more time in contemplation and reflection of my life, I become overwhelmed with the sheer number of blessings Allah has given me, that I all too often ignore or remain unaware of. The inhale-exhale rhythm of my breath, the rivers rushing through my veins, my ability to perceive, understand, articulate, walk from one place to another, my ability to feel a cascade of emotion; to feel pleasure at a child’s face being lit up at seeing it’s mother; to be able to recognize beauty in a sweet breeze moving through trees and making leaves tremble; to feel regret at opportunities lost and mistakes in the past; to feel hope and to yearn and desire to become better.. the infinite number of emotions and abilities that make up human existence is worth more thankfulness and gratitude than a person can expend in a hundred liftetimes. Such is the realization the illuminaries of our past came to be aware of, and were left in such a state of humility they called upon Allah saying “Oh Allah, how could I ever be thankful to You, when even my very thankfulness to You is a ni'mah?" And realizing that only He Himself, subhana wa ta’aala was able to thank Himself fittingly for the Ni’mah He has given us, one said, “Oh Allah - You know well my incapacity of being thankful to You, so please thank Yourself for me [in the most perfect way].” (Hassan ibn Ali, radhiAllahu anh) We learned that Rasulullah, salAllahu alayhi wasalam, was the ultimate Shaakir and stayed up nights in loving devotion to Allah, tears streaming down his blessed cheeks, soaking his chest – to express his gratitude to Allah. SalAllahu alayhi wasalam. We concluded last week’s class by learning that the bounties Allah blesses us with are slippery, and they can slide away from us easily. Shukr helps purify, bless, preserve and multiply the ni’am we have, so it is to our own advantage to practice it. Shukr ties blessings to us and helps bring about more. May Allah bless us with perception of our blessings and keep our hearts, limbs, and tongues in ever-constant gratitude and thankfulness to Him. Ameen.

Re: Reflect II
se7en
12/02/03 at 06:39:13
[color=black] My brother, if you shed tears for me and wet my grave with them in humility then light the candle for them with my remains and march with them towards eternal glory My brother, if I die we'll meet our loved ones for the gardens of our Lord are prepared for us and their birds have fluttered around us so blessed are we in the homes of eternity. My brother, the armies of darkness will be swept away and there will shine in the world a new dawn. so let your soul go after its desires [for jihad] you will see the dawn staring at us from afar. -- Sayyid Qutb, in his Qasida [/color]

Re: Reflect II
Nawawi
12/27/03 at 22:26:17
Yahya bin Muadh said, "No one attains the reality of renunciation (Zuhd) until there are three characteristics in him: work without attachment, speech without personal motives, and honor without seeking position."

Re: Reflect II
Nawawi
01/02/04 at 04:37:10
Al Ghazali says on Companionship, My dear son... If you understand this tradition, there is no need for too much knowledge. There is also another story to meditate and reflect over. Hatim al-Asam was among the friends of Shaqiq al-Balkhi (may Allah have mercy on them both). One day Shaqiq asked Hatim: "You have kept my company for thirty years; what have you gained in the course of those years?" Hatim replied: "I have gained eight benefits from the knowledge which is sufficient for me. I hope my salvation and safety are embodied in them." Shaqiq asked Hatim to mention them. Hatim al-Asam said: "The first benefit is that I observed the creation and saw that everyone had a loved one and one passionately desired whom he loved and longed for. Some of the beloved accompany the lover up to the brink of sickness and death and others to the gate of the graveyard. All of them return and leave him there alone. No one goes into the tomb with him. I looked into the matter and said to myself: 'The best beloved is that which would enter the tomb with the lover to console him'; I found it to be nothing else than good works, so I took this as my beloved, to illuminate my grave for me and to comfort me in it and not leave me alone. "The second benefit is that I saw that people were following their lusts and hastening towards the desires of the souls; and I meditated on the saying of Allah the Exalted: But as for whoever has feared the majesty of his Lord and has refrained his soul from lust, truly the Garden shall be his dwelling place (Quran, 79:40-41). Convinced that the Quran was true and right, I began to deny my soul [its pleasures] and hurried to combat it and refuse it its passionate desires, until it enjoyed real satisfaction in obedience to Allah the Exalted. "The third benefit is that I saw that every human being is striving to accumulate as much as he can from the wreckage of this world and then holding on strongly to it. I meditated on the Quranic verse: What is with you must vanish; what is with Allah must endure (Quran, 19:96). So I gave freely my worldly possessions for His sake by distributing them among the poor so that it would be my provision in the future with Him the Exalted. "The fourth benefit is that some people whom I observed think that their dignity and honour lie in the multitude of their family and large clans. They were fascinated by these things. Others claimed honour and dignity in abundance of wealth and children, and they were proud of it. Some believed honour and power abide in appropriating the wealth of others, doing injustice to them and shedding their blood. Others considered dignity to consist of extravagance and spending wealth in a foolish manner. I meditated upon the saying of the Exalted: The most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you (Quran, 49:13). I chose righteousness for myself, convinced that the Quran is right and true and those claims and opinions of the people are all false and temporal. "The fifth benefit is that I found the people slandering each other and speaking ill of one another out of envy of fortune, power and knowledge. I meditated upon the saying of Allah: It is We who divide their livelihood among them in the life of this world (Quran, 43:32). I realised that the process of dividing livelihood is entirely in the hands of Allah since the beginning of time. Therefore, I never envied anyone and was satisfied with the distribution of Allah the Exalted. "The sixth benefit is that I saw people becoming enemies of each other for different reasons. I meditated upon the saying of Allah the Exalted: Verily, Satan is an enemy to you; so treat him as an enemy (Quran, 35:6). I became aware that enmity with anyone except Satan was not permissible. "The seventh benefit is that I saw everyone working very hard, exhausting themselves to obtain food and sustenance, tempted by doubts and forbidden things. They degraded themselves in humiliation. I pondered over the saying of Allah the Exalted: There is no moving creature on earth but that its sustenance is dependent on Allah (Quran, 11:6). I knew that my livelihood is guaranteed by Allah the Exalted, so I engaged myself in worship and cut off my covetousness of all else, other than Him. "The eight benefit is that I saw that everyone relied on some created thing, some on the dinar and dirham, some on wealth and property, some on trade and craft and some on creatures like themselves. I meditated upon the saying of the Exalted: And whosoever places his reliance on Allah, sufficient is [Allah] for him. For Allah will surely acomplish His purpose. Verily, for all things has Allah appointed a due proportion (Quran, 65:3). I therefore placed full trust in Allah the Exalted. He is sufficient for me and He is the best Disposer of affairs." At this point Shaqiq said: "May Allah bless you and grant you success. I looked into the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Zabur and the Quran and have found that the four books revolve around these eight benefits. Whoever works according to them is working according to these four books." -Hujjatul Islam Imam al-Ghazali, Dear Beloved Son

Re: Reflect II
Nawawi
01/08/04 at 18:57:36
Maruf al-Karkhi said, "Guard your tongue from praise as you have guarded it from blame."

Re: Reflect II
Nawawi
01/21/04 at 23:21:14
Abdul Qadir Jilani said, "Allah says: Whoever is blind in this world, he will be blind in the hereafter. (Sura Bani Isra'il, 72) It is not the blindness of the eyes in one's head but the blindness of the eyes of one's heart that will prevent one from seeing the light of the Hereafter. As Allah says: For surely it is not their eyes that are blind, but their hearts which are in their breasts. (Sura Hajj, 46) The only cause of the heart becoming blind is heedlessness, which makes one forget Allah and one's function, one's purpose, one's promise to Him, while one is in this world. The principal cause of heedlessness is ignorance of the reality of the divine laws and orders.

Re: Reflect II
Nawawi
02/14/04 at 05:48:40
Ibn Masud said, "Nothing is worthier of a stay in prison than the tongue."
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