All Existence is the Truth

All of existence is the Theater of Tawhid, the drama of Oneness. The price of admission to this theater is adab. We have considered adab many times before. Understood as spiritual courtesy, it is the essence of the Sufi path, but there is a much higher understanding of this basic practice.  Adab is to live from our essential nature, which is the mirror of God’s essence and qualities. When we have attained that, we do not search for faults outside ourselves, we see the perfection of each moment. To live from our essential nature is the true Din. “Din” is usually translated as religion, but its meaning is how we transact with reality. To live from our innate nature, our fitrah, is to be aware of the meter of the heart where the divine intelligence reflects. Someone who has polished away superficial opinions and judgments can listen to the heart, witness the manifestation of attributes in the heart and thus respond appropriately to every situation. This is the real adab, the true spiritual courtesy in relation to reality.

What makes us acceptable and loveable is to see the Truth (Haqiqat) in human beings, to see them as manifestations of God’s meaning and qualities. When we can see others in this way we will not be drawn into negativity and anger. We will learn from every situation.

We will learn as much from the negative situations as from positive situations. I don’t say this lightly or without an awareness of how deep the disappointments and betrayals of life can be. We will learn from life, rather than be defeated by it, to the extent that we can remember to see the Truth manifesting through every detail of life, every relationship, every condition.

All of existence is a book to be read. Every thing, every being is, in a sense, a word of God. 

(Kabir Helminski)

Love in Islam

A man once came to the Prophet (puh) and asked him about the hereafter. The Prophet asked him, “And what have you prepared for that time?” The man replied, “Nothing, except that I love Allah and I love you.” The Prophet (puh) answered him, “You are with the ones you love.”

Dear brothers and sisters, the guidance of Islam is the guidance of love. The innate, natural and ancient religion that is Islam is the religion of love. The Prophet (puh) came to guide us to love and to make clear the love that is at the core of all religion. Our purpose as human beings is to consciously manifest Allah’s love in our lives. This is the most significant meaning of Khilafa and Ibada that can bring purpose to us and transform our lives. When we reflect upon the history of the Prophet (puh) and the spread of his message we will realize that Islam could not have taken root in the world without the love that filled the heart of the Prophet and was clearly manifest in his way of relating and interacting with people that brought out their own deep and profound love for him. Without this mutual and abiding love, none of us would be here today. Without this love Islam would not have been possible.

Today, it seems that we too often hear and read much that is harsh and heartless about Islam and not enough that is loving and beautiful. There seems to be too many messages of prejudice, literalism, legalism, violence, and oppression. The superficiality, ugliness and darkness that is too prevalent in today’s Islamic discourse is nothing like what the Prophet brought us.

This is what he had to say to his companions,

Verily, the best discourse is the Book of Allah. One is truly successful whose heart Allah has adorned with the love of His Book, and whom, after living in denial, Allah has caused to enter into submission to Him, and caused him to prefer His Book above any human discourse. The Book of Allah is the most beautiful and eloquent of discourses.

Love that which Allah loves! Love Allah with all your hearts! Grow not weary of hearing the Word of Allah. Do not stop remembering Him. Do not let your hearts grow hard toward Him. For verily, Allah has preferred His Book above all of Creation. Indeed, Allah has endowed it with guidance to the best of deeds, and made it an example for the elect of His servants, and filled it with righteous discourse, and has made clear in it what is lawful and unlawful for you.

So, serve Allah alone, and associate with Him no other. Be ever conscious of Him. Be truthful to Allah in what you utter from your mouths. Let the Spirit of Allah be the source of love between you.

Can you hear the love in his words? Can you hear his urgent call to our hearts? Can you sense the profound purpose in his teaching?

Love is so central to Islam that without it there can be no real faith.

(Mahmoud Mostafa)

True Happiness Lies In Finding Our Purpose of Life

"Every soul was meant for a certain purpose and the light of that purpose was kindled in that soul."
Saadi

This whole universe is like one symphony and all souls are as different notes. Their activities are according to the rhythm of this symphony and their purpose is to perfect this symphony.

People are anxious to do something and wait for years and years, unhappy, in despair, waiting for that moment to come. It shows that the soul knows in its subconsciousness that there is a note to strike and the moment when it shall strike that note that soul shall be satisfied and yet does not know what note it is nor when shall be struck.

What is life, and what keeps us living in this world of limitation, world of continual changes, world full of falsehood and world full of suffering and trouble? If there is anything in this world that keeps us alive, it is hope. Hope, the honey of life.

There is not one soul in this world who says, "Now, i'm satisfied; i have no further desire." In everyone, whatever be the position in life, someone very rich or someone very poor, one full of life and the other ill, in all conditions, man is continually yearning and waiting for something to come, he does not know what, but he is waiting. The real explanation of life is waiting; waiting for something. And what is it that man awaits? It is the fulfilment of the purpose of life, which comes when the soul strikes that note; that note which is meant to be his note; and this he seeks, whether in the outer plane or the inner plane.

And man has not fulfilled his life's purpose until he has struck that note which is his note. And the greatest tragedy in life is the obscurity of purpose. When purpose is not clear, man suffers, he cannot breathe. He knows not what is the purpose, what he must do.

This life will present to him things that will interest him for the moment, but the moment he possesses that thing he will say, "No this is not it, it is something else." So man goes on, in an illusion, constantly seeking, and yet not knowing what he seeks.
Blessed is he who knows his life purpose, for that is the first step to fulfilment.[]

Spirituality in the Midst of Life

Spirituality is not in a long face and deep sigh.
No doubt there are moments when you will sympathize with the troubles of others; there are moments that move you to tears, and there are times when you must just close your lips.
But there are other moments when you can see the joyous side of life and enjoy its beauties.
Man is not born into this world for depression and unhappiness. His very being is happiness.
Depression is something unnatural. By this I do not mean to say that sorrow is a sin or suffering always avoidable.

We all have to experience both in life, to accomplish the purpose of life.
We cannot always be smiling.
There is no spiritual evolution in ignoring either side of life. Spirituality is in every side of life. As long as one is not bound, it is not sin to stand in the midst of life.
Man need not go into the forest, away from all people, to show his goodness and virtue. Of what use is his goodness and virtue if he buries himself in the forest?
It is right in the midst of life that we have to develop and express all that is beautiful and perfect and divine in our souls. []

Prophet Muhammad's Letter to Protect All Christians

A letter from The Holy Prophet Muhammad addressed to all christians ensuring mutual respect, honor, safe guard, and assurance to the value of human rights and equality and his promise to protect all the christians. (addressed to Saint Catherine's Monastery at the foot of Mt.Sinai)

This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them. Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them. No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries.

No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims' houses. Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God's covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate. No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants.

No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world).

*******

Written by Ali Ibn Thalib, Hand marked by the Prophet himself

The Greatness of Simple

Even though the beginning seems complex, the beginning of the beginning is simple.
Find the simple beginning.
The greatest arises from the simplest.
At the centre of the largest is the smallest.
Find the greatness of simple.

Be careful of pretense and adornment.
When seeking the important, keep to the simple.
Great is never complicated.
Trust the simple.
Accord and harmony arise from it.
Greatest is always found in least. []

Trust in God

Losing hope when a slippage occurs is a sign of relying too much on (one's own) deeds.

An ordinary servant of Allah depends on his deeds including his prayers and supplications to enter the Paradise and escape from Allah's punishment whereas a spiritual aspirant (murid) takes his deeds a means to reach Allah. But an enlightened servant (gnostic or 'arif ) will never trust or depend on his deeds. He will neither rejoice over a good thing he did, nor regret a fault that happened to him, because he has dedicated himself to Allah so that his doing or undoing is no more important for him.

Since people belonging to the first and second category ascribe their success or failure to their deeds, they lose hope when they commit a mistake; but those who belong to the third category is so preoccupied with Allah that they are not concerned about the value of their deeds.

Since he does not want his selfish motives to dilute the quality of his worship, the enlightened servant makes Allah the pivot of whatever he does. If achieving any selfish interest, even if it be entering the paradise, becomes the objective of worship, Allah will cease to become the first priority. With the focus shifting from Allah to something lesser such as self, worship loses much of its sheen and becomes a substandard means to scrape through the test of Allah.

If a man rejoices over a good thing he did, it means he is furtively impressed by his calibre and skills which he believes enabled him to do that; but his pleasure is totally misplaced because he is unable to do that without Allah's blessings. If he loses hope when he commits a mistake, it also shows that he attaches too much importance to his deeds. When he himself becomes the focus of his deeds, His worship hardly serves the purpose demanded of it. One who considers each supplication a means to improve the prospect of winning an individual achievement and each mistake as an opportunity squandered, will mourn his mistakes as if he were responsible for it and were to pay the penalty for it. []