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AL-LISAN SCRATCH PAD
CHAPTER 6SELF-VIGILANCE (MURAAQABE)THE NECESSITY OF SELF-VIGILANCE& ITS MEANING: The most important subject in wayfaring to Allah is self-vigilance (muraaqabe) for the purpose of attaining proximity to God. And it is the key to all kinds of felicity and the best way to attract virtues and blessings.The meaning...
CHAPTER 5SELF-APPRAISAL (MUHAASABE) [1]Imam al-Kazim (‘a) says: Whosoever does not appraise his actions daily, is not from us. That is, he should evaluate and see that if he has done a good deed, he should ask more of the same from Allah, and if he has done any sin, he...
[NARRATION OF PRESENCE contd.][Ali Muhiti says:]13. A Prisoner in the World of IntuitionIn this connection [i.e. abstaining loquacity], Hadhrat Ustaad (perpetual be his esteem) narrates a spiritual intuition (mukaashafa) that he had experienced:During the predawn (sahar) moments of Saturday night, the 12th of Jamadi al-Awwal 1389 [AH lunar] (5/5/1348 AH...
CHAPTER 4REFRAINING FROM LOQUACITYShaykh Tusi (sanctified be his spirit) narrates from the Holy Prophet (s) that he said:Do not overindulge in speech that concern other the remembrance of God, for overindulgence in speech about other than the remembrance of God results in the hardness of the heart (qasaawat al-qalb), and...
CHAPTER 3ABSTAINING FROM OVEREATINGGod says in Qur’an:“…and eat and drink, but do not transcend the limit[s]; indeed He does not like those who transcend the limit[s]. [1]O friend, know that overeating undoubtedly kills the heart and makes the soul disobedient and oppressive; and know that hunger is the most exalted...
[ A CONTINUATION OF CHAPTER 2]Narration of Presence4- That which is Important in Practical Gnosis[ALI MUHITI SAYS:]That [particular] day the subject of discussion in the class of Misbaah al-Uns was about the necessity of purification for the spiritual wayfarer and kinds of purification. In this connection, Hadhrat Ustaad (perpetual...
Mr Moo
There was a young Imam from Leicester…
There was a young Imam from Leicester Who was known as a charming jester He wore fancy hats And ornate cravats (He made sure they were polyester) One Friday, during Jumah speeching The young Imam was bored of preaching ‘We should leave this fine place To the beach we should race Sun sand and sea will be my teaching!’ The...
The Muslim origins of Valentine’s Day
There are plenty of naysayers who say Islam forbids celebrating Valentine’s Day, that we should be nice to our loved ones all year round. However, it is all based on the premise that Valentine’s Day is a purely Christian festival. The origins of Valentine’s Day are quite sketchy. Here is...
Four Lions and the right to offend
[This post first appeared on the Guardian Commentisfree site] Four Lions and the right to offend Some Muslims are gearing up to be offended by Chris Morris’ Four Lions. Others will be having a good old laugh “Muslim Protest at Jihadist Film” – I can see the headlines already. Despite no release date...
[This post first appeared on the Guardian Cif Belief section, in answer to the question: Do animals have souls.] Muslims’ complex relationship with animals in this life makes for uncertainty in the next A cursory look at Islamic scriptures would indicate that the souls of animals do not carry on...
Awaiting reply II: UKIP if you want to
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Three Things: Muslim Survival Guide For Christmas (Part 2)
It is so hard to see what is allowed and what isn’t, without appearing dull. Click on the image below....
Jahane Rumi
Rakhshanda Jalil The controversy regarding the conferment of Qatari nationality upon M.F. Husain — and his acceptance of it — has given us the opportunity to revisit an old but neglected debate. The debate on being an Indian Muslim or a Muslim Indian is old hat; but the one concerning the...
Abr mi barad-o man shovm-e az yar-e judaa (The cloud weeps…)
Amir Khusrau's lofty couplet Abr mi barad-o man shovm-e az yar-e judaa Choon kunam dil becheneen roz zedildar judaa. Abr baraan wa man-o yar satadah ba-widaa Man judaa girya kunaan, abr judaa, yaar judaa The cloud weeps, and I become separated from my friend - How can I separate my heart from my heart's friend on...
Oxford University Press and the British Council are holding a literary festival - first of its kind. The programme can be viewed here. KLF programme I am off to Karachi next weekend to attend this moot....
“When I am with you, we stay up all night. When you're not here, I can't go to sleep. Praise God for those two insomnias! And the difference between them.” * Jalal ad-Din Rumi...
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – Man Kunto Maula
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This being human is a guest house Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they are a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some...
Indigo Jo Blogs
Why get sanctimonious about Tantawi?
About 24 hours ago, Muhammad Tantawi, the shaikh of al-Azhar in Cairo, died of a heart attack at Riyadh airport. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’oon. Formalities over … I am somewhat taken aback by the tone of the comments on some of the Muslim message boards and blogs. People have seemingly...
Erwin James on the Angola Three
37 years of solitary confinement: the Angola three | Society | The Guardian I had heard of the Angola Three before today, but this article puts the whole case into very clear detail for anyone else not familiar (and I wasn’t). Two African American men, Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox,...
Last week, Umar Lee posted his parting message to the Muslim blogging community, after his blog had been offline for some weeks. His reasoning was twofold: one is that all the best blogs (Sunni Sister, Izzy Mo, Tariq Nelson, Amir of Mujahideen Ryder etc) have been closed down or...
Tory think tank compared to “madrasa”
Today the Guardian carried a front-page story about how various Tory MPs and activists are being given training by an offshoot of the party’s youth wing, Conservative Future, named the Young Britons’ Foundation ([1], [2]). The group’s leadership regards the NHS as a waste of money, disbelieves global warming...
Old wounds opened by Venables re-arrest
One of the two men who were convicted of the murder of James Bulger as boys was recalled to prison about a week ago, something the public found out yesterday and was all over the papers today. There is a lot of speculation about why this happened; it could...
Ricky Gervais on ME, and other bad comedy
Yesterday I had a brief exchange of tweets with Organica, who told me of her enthusiasm for the British comedian, Ricky Gervais, best known for writing and starring in The Office, his stand-up shows, and most recently the critically very unacclaimed film titled The Invention of Lying. She was...
On Rooftops and Clifftops
I simply felt like going through it again
The business of blogging, that is. So I’ve moved. Here. That might just disappear one of these days. And when it does, you can love me again. It’ll take me a while to sort the pages and the blogroll out, so give me a while and I should be back to browsing,...
I want a punch line of my own. Because I’m witty and funny and uber-awesome super ultra cool.
A totally unrelated -but true- title that has no relation to this post whatsoever. A totally unrelated -but true- image that has no relation to this post whatsoever. But that guy is a major asswipe. And if you’re wondering about his hand to face ratio, it’s 2:1 It’s been over two years...
For you and for me and the entire human race. I will do my best, inshaAllah. May Allah subhana we ta’ala have mercy on your soul, for the humans sure showed little of it. I grew up with you, I admired your attitude and your words and today they tell me ‘haram’ here...
The death of my child and the arrancar encyclopedia
I spent today and yesterday transferring files from my laptop to my sisters’ then running system recovery… And then transferring files from my sisters’ to mine. Everything is fine, except my laptop somehow feels… new to me. It’s like my baby died and was replaced by an imposter. Ah~ How...
Why I share a blog with The Ruler
Someone just asked me this and I thought hey, why not just answer right away. Curious? She just Private Messaged me one day in a forum we both daily visited (and still do), asking me if I wanted to share a blog with her and I said ‘Yes’. Sounds like a drunken...
I am finally free. After weeks and weeks of exams and revision, I can finally put it all behind me. Well, not really. But for a while at least. In the past few weeks, I thought of so many things I wanted to do, so many things I wanted to...
Islam in China
Chinese New Year – Year of the Tiger
Happy Chinese New Year to all the Chinese brothers and sisters. 恭喜发财 If the readers want to know how to greet Chinese people on this ocassion, here is link which can help you. http://blog.mangolanguages.com/2010/02/15/a-happy-chinese-new-year-at-mango-languages/ (Image Source: http://www.malaysiasite.nl/images/tigerchinese.gif) ...
Transmission of the flamethrower from Greece to China
The flame thrower was invented in the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) who used it against the Arab Muslims. It was later adopted by the Muslims who transmitted it to China. The Chinese author Lin Yu explained in his book in 919 AD that it was acquired by the Chinese...
Muslims and Chinese Rocket Technology in the time of Kublai Khan
While it is widely known that the Chinese were instrumental in inventing explosives and in advancing early rocket technology, it is less known that during the time of Kublai Khan Turkish Muslims were instrumental in helping the Mongols in conquering China and advancing this technology and building siege weapons. According...
Chinese pilgrims return home from Mecca
From the Xinhua news agency. Chinese pilgrims return home from Mecca YINCHUAN, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) — A plane carrying 323 Chinese pilgrims landed safely at Hedong Airport of Yinchuan, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Saturday afternoon. They are the first batch of Chinese...
Finally Rumi’s Masnavi has been translated into Chinese. Work on other languages like Korean translation is still ongoing. The link is in Turkish, you can use a translation utility like Google Translation to view the page in English. ...
Islam in China wins Brass Cresent Awards and Facebook
The Islam in China Blog won the Brass Crescent Award for the best Muslim blog in the East and South East Asian Blog category. Thank you to the readers and Jazak’Allah for voting for the Islam in China Blog. To connect more with the readers I have created a Fan...
MuslimMatters.org
Sunday Open Thread – 3/14/2010 – Intellectual Grab Bag
Avatar, Quebec's niqab ban and Biblical errors....
EEOC Rules in Favor of Debbie Almontaser; Victory for Civil Rights
The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ruled against New York City's Department of Education, declaring that Debbie Almontaser was the victim of discrimination. The NY Times reports. An important first step towards full justice!...
Islamic Art Feature: Pick of the Week 3/13/10
Welcome to the another edition of MuslimMatters.org’s regular Islamic Art feature. If you want to see your work on MM, then either email us your images to art[@]muslimmatters[.]org or submit them to our Flickr group. Click on the images below to view the original. Visit the MuslimMatters Flickr group to view the...
Labor of Love: Lessons Learned Overnight
I could have been sleeping at home in my comfortable bedroom with it's neat-and-clean attached bathroom, offering my Fajr on a plush Musallah... but no, going through all those experiences that night opened my eyes to an existence that was based on putting someone else before your own needs. In...
7 Good Reasons for Attending a Sisters’ Halaqah
From forging a sense of community to providing an iman boost, the benefits of attending a weekly halaqah are many. Umm Ismail shares seven good reasons to get you out of your house on the path of knowledge....
Some Advice for Muslim Husbands on Giving Your Wife a Break
I was pretty much "hands-off" dad - diapers repelled me, and I would leave watching the kids to my wife. Since they didn't like leaving her side, it was all the more reason for me to say, "See, if I take them, they'll just cry, so you keep them."...
Outlines
Won’t you take me to the Queen of Hearts?
It has been faaaaar too long. I write this in the hope that someone, somewhere is still reading, but I know that ultimately, I blog for myself. I want to write more. I do. But then I want to write about so much that I don’t know where to start and...
An even stranger trip home then usual. I always have a head swimmy feeling as I leave due to mutual sobbing with Umm Mr Outlines. I do not like goodbyes. This is made worse on the way to the airport with the big, blue sign above the motorway which reads ‘GOOD...
Is anyone still there? Anyway, after an unintended break , I shall be taking another one.Alhamdulilah for planes, as insha Allah, I’ll be in Syria later today. So no internetry until I get back. *shakes*. A summary of things I could have written about before, but didn’t: Nick Griffin on Question Time: Tosser. And...
A belated Ramadan and Eid Mubarak to you all. I have recently moved and had no internet, hence my delay in moderating and blogging. Two recent posts here have discussed spiritual abuse within Islam, particularly the abuse meted out to women. The most recent post provoked a detailed discussion. Here is a...
So Salafi Burnout’s website has been taken down. While the comments were full of trollery, there were a lot of people able to finally talk about the abuse they had suffered at the hands of so called ’scholars’. Naively, I had hoped that from revelations there and elsewhere, there would be a...
Scribbles Not Outlines 7: Better out than in
Salaam Alaikum to anyone left reading this. It has indeed been far too long. Oreo is now six months old. The title refers to her, as I’m enjoying being a mother about a million times more then I enjoyed being pregnant. People say about mothers loving their babies, but I don’t love...
Darvish
Salaam and Greetings of Peace: To acquire knowledge is binding upon all Muslims, whether male or female. He who travels in the search of knowledge, to him God shows the way of Paradise. Acquire knowledge, because he who acquires it in the way of the Lord performs an act of piety;...
Milad Un-Nabi – Birthday of the Prophet (pbuh)
Salaam and Greetings of Peace: “You have indeed in the Messenger of God a beautiful pattern of conduct for anyone whose hope is God and the Final Day.” (Al-Ahzab 33:21). Alhamdulillah! The moon is full, a reminder that this is Rabi a-Awwal, by the Lunar calendar the month of the blessed birthday...
Salaam and Greetings of Peace: I read of a Christian woman years ago who went on a forty day meditation retreat in a monastic cell. When she finally came out, all she could say is: “Everything is love!” Surely those who open to faith and do beautiful wholesome works, for them the...
Islamic Writer Alliance Poetry Contest 2010
Salaam and Greetings of Peace: The Islamic Writers Alliance is sponsoring its Annual Poetry Contest for 2010 in April to coincide with National Poetry Month in the US. The theme of this year’s contest is ibadah, or worship. Submissions will be accepted from April 1st through April 30th 2010. For complete...
One Chicago, One Nation – Short Film Contest
Salaam and Greetings of Peace: I received this email from Souheila Al-Jadda, a producer at Link TV, and promised to help get the word out about the “One Chicago, One Nation” short film contest (under 5 minutes). It is a worthy interfaith project, and I am from Chicago, although the contest is...
Purple Hijab Day Against Domestic Violence
Salaam and Greetings of Peace: International Purple Hijab Day, Saturday, February 13, 2010 is a day to reflect on the deaths which have resulted from domestic violence. A purple hijab is an apt reference for this phenomenon. The hijab—or head scarf, is a symbol of the modesty and piety associated with...
Laila Lalami
I’m back in Los Angeles for a reading at Book Soup. This will be one of only two events that I will be doing in L.A. to promote the paperback launch of Secret Son. Here are the details: 7:00 PM Reading and Signing Book Soup 8818 Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood California If you’re around,...
I’ve been to Georgia only once before, for a conference when I was in graduate school. I do remember, however, that I kept getting lost in Atlanta because nearly every street was named “Peach.” Peachtree Road. Peachtree Street. New Peachtree Road. Old Peachtree Street. You get the picture....
I am back in Los Angeles, but only briefly, as I have to be on the road again next week. You can listen to my appearance on BBC Radio 4 here. And my interview with Mark Coles on BBC’s The Strand has been archived here....
Greetings from London, where it’s really chucking it down at the moment. (”Chucking it down” is one of those wonderful Britishisms I’ve been picking up since I got here; it means “raining heavily.”) The event at the University of East Anglia on Tuesday night was a smashing success,...
I’m in London this week for the launch of the U.K. edition of my book, Secret Son. I will be doing some interviews (details to come soon) and I will also be reading at the University of East Anglia, as part of their literary festival. Here are the...
By sheer coincidence, three of the five most recent books I’ve read were set in Vietnam or featured Vietnamese characters. One of these was Monique Truong’s debut novel, The Book of Salt, in which the main character, Binh, works as a cook for Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas....