End of Ramadhan

Eid Mubarak to all!

Faithhub

"Beings were not created so that you would see them, but so that you would see their Master in them."

- Ibn 'Ata' Allah


I've only just realised how long it's been since my last post. I've been busy with work, reading all my favourite blogs (there's really a lot of good stuff out there!), watching, learning, practising (or at least trying to), thinking, contemplating our insignificance ................................


I've just found out about this local organisation. Do take a look:
http://faithhub.com/About_Us.htm

Forgiveness

In the glorious Quran entitiled al-tawba (repentence), Allah swt refers to Abrahim ra as awwahun halim.

awwah: one who often remembers Allah swt, weeping and wailing from fear and love of Him.

halim: one who forgives those who cause him pain, who responds with good deeds to the bad deeds of others, and who constantly begs his Lord for the ability to forgive those who do him ill.

Through this verse, the Lord of Majesty and Perfection lets us know how it is with His loyal friend, instructing us to behave likewise if we seek the friendship of HIs Divine Essence.

- Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak

Contemplate what is in the heavens and the earth

"And how many signs in the heavens and the earth do they pass by? Yet they turn their faces away from them!" Quran 12:105

"Allah swt says, ‘Why do you not look into yourself and meditate upon your own structure?’

The lord of the worlds has recorded many fine points of wisdom and realities of handiwork with the pen of eternal gentleness upon the tablet of this structure. Upon it He has inscribed various kinds of artistry and different varieties of ennoblement. He made the round head, the tent of intellect and the meeting place of knowledge, into a monastery of the senses. If anyone has considered this hollow structure, this compound person, to have any worth, he has done so because of the person’s intellect and knowledge. The worth of a human being lies in intellect and his importance in knowledge, his perfection in intellect and his beauty in knowledge.

Allah swt created the forehead of the human being like a bar of silver. He strung the two bows of his eyebrows with pure musk. He poured the two dots of his eye’s light into two cups of darkness. He made a hundred thousand red roses grow up in the garden of his two cheeks. He concealed thirty-two teeth like pearls in the oyster shell of his mouth. He sealed his mouth with glistening agate. From the beginning of his lip to the end of his throat He created twenty-nine waystations, making them the places of articulation for the twenty-nine letters. From his heart He brought a king into existence, from his breast a royal parade ground, from his aspiration a fleet-footed mount, from his thought a swift messenger. He created two taking hands and two running feet.

All the aforementioned is but the robe of creation and the beauty of the outward realm. Beyond this is the perfection and beauty of the inward realm. For a moment ponder the Lord’s subtleties and kindnesses and the traces of the divine solicitude and care that have arranged this handful of earth. Look at the different kinds of honour and the special privileges of nearness that He has placed within human beings. For He created the whole cosmos, but He looked not upon a single creature with the eye of love, He sent not a single messenger to any existent thing, He sent no message to any creature. When the turn of the children of Adam arrived, He pulled them up through gentleness and caressed them through bounty and quarries of light. He made their inmost mystery the place of His own glance, He sent them messengers, He set angels over them as guardians, He placed the fire of love in their hearts, and He sent them continuous incitements to yearning and motives for desire.

The purpose of all these words and allusions is to show that a human being is a handful of earth. Whatever ennoblement and honour people have received derives from the gentleness and care of the holy Lord. When He gives, He gives because of His own generosity, not because of your worthiness. He gives because of His magnanimity, not because of your prostration. He gives through His bounty, not because of your good works. He gives because He is Lord, not because you are lord of the manor."


Rashid al-Din Maybudi

Put you trust in Allah swt

For some reason, the prophet Moses (Musa) (pbuh) has been in my thoughts recently and I have been trying to recall all I've read about him and his conversations with Allah swt. Abdallah's last post was really coincidental and I had to reproduce it here (Jazakallah brother):

Thus Moses said, when he conversed with God: “O Lord, where shall I seek Thee?” God answered: “Among those whose hearts are broken.” Moses said: “O Lord, no heart is more broken and despairing than mine.” God answered: “Then, I am where thou art.”
http://heartmedicine.blogspot.com/

http://seeker94.blogspot.com/2006/08/sorrow.html

A couple of nights ago, I opened my much neglected book "The Seals of Wisdom" by Ibn Arabi and there was a reference to some verses in the quran which I found to be of great comfort:

Surah 11, verses 110 - 115, 121 - 123:

We certainly gave the Book to Moses, but differences arose therein; had it not been a Word had gone forth before from your Lord, the matter would have been decided between them but they are in suspicious doubt concerning it. And, of a surety, to all will your Lord pay back (in full the recompense) of their deeds: for He knows well all that they do. Therefore stand firm (in the straight Path) as you are commanded, you and those who with you turn (unto God); and transgress not (from the Path); for He sees well all that you do. And incline not to those who do wrong, or the Fire will seize you; and you have no protectors other than God, nor shall you be helped. And establish regular prayers at the two ends of the day and at the approaches of the night: for those things that are good remove those that are evil: be that the word of remembrance to those who remember (their Lord): And be steadfast in patience; for verily Allah will not suffer the reward of the righteous to perish.

Say to those who do not believe: "Do whatever you can: we shall do our part; And wait you! we too shall wait".

To Allah belong the unseen secrets of the heavens and the earth, and to Him goes back every affair (for decision): then worship Him, and put your trust in Him: and your Lord is not unmindful of aught that you do.

People with Special Needs

This caught my attention recently:

The Prophet's Care for People With Special Needs

Paradise is encompassed with pain

How would the seed of expectation be sown
if your heart did not sow that seed
and then encounter barrenness,
how would it then recognize its submission to Divine will?
By their failures lovers are made aware of their Lord
Lack of success is the guide to Paradise
Pay attention to the tradition
"Paradise is encompassed with pain"

Rumi

Wardah Books - new opening hours

Al-hamdulillah! Longer opening hours for Wardah Books.

Quote: "We are pleased to announce our new opening hours of 10 am to 9 pm everyday. Yes, this includes Sundays. For public holidays we open from 10 am to 6pm."

Predestination and free will

It is related in the annals of the prophets that once Prophet Moses (as) met the Devil and said to him - had he not refused to bow before Adam he would not have been damned forever. The Devil said, "What could I do? It was my destiny." The Prophet said, "Did you know that?" The Devil replied, "No." "Then it is your fault," the Prophet said. It transpires that from what Prophet Moses (as) said, that all actions on the part of man without prior knowledge of what is written in his fate are his actions based on his free will. When somebody kills his enemy he does so because of the feelings of vengence or hatred against him, and not because of the fact that it was so written in his fate since he did not know about it. This shows that the truth lies not in predestination alone or free will alone; it is both. That is why when Hadhrat Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq was asked about it, he said."The truth lies in between the two." He is also reported to have said, "Man can do what he wills, but cannot will what he wills."

(Kashful Mahjub, commentary by MWB Rabbani, pg 220)

Dhikr

"As for the travellers among the angels, their station is known, since they are constantly travelling around seeking the sessions of dhikr. So when they find the people of dhikr, who are the people of the Quran, those who are truly recalling the Quran, they do not give precedence to anyone from the sessions of dhikr of those who are recalling something other than the Quran. But if they do not find people recalling the Quran and they do find people recalling Allah swt, not just reciting, then they come to sit with them and they call out to each other 'come quickly to what you all desire!' , because that remembrance of Allah swt is their sustenance. Through it they flourish and in it they have their life."

- Ibn Arabi