Clarification on Shahab Sahib (ra)

Visitors to this blog will know that I have posted a number of pieces on the life and teachings of Qudratullah Shahab (ra) in the past and I can say (based on the feedback I get) that these posts of been very popular with people. To my mind this is an indication of the immense [...]

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Behind the Face of Anger

When you see the face of anger
look behind it
and you will see the face of pride.
Bring anger and pride
under your feet, turn them into a ladder
and climb higher.
There is no peace until you become
their master.
Let go of anger, it may taste sweet
but it kills.
Don’t become its victim
you need humility to climb to freedom.
– Ghazal (Ode) [...]

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A Must Read

I’ve only read a chapter or so of this book (yet) by Mariana Caplan but feel the subject matter is so important that I have to recommend it. Its a must read for anyone interested in the various spiritual paths on offer and their teachers with a useful discussion of counterfeit spirituality and the “less [...]

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Three New Websites on Shaykh al-Akbar (RA)

The Shaykh al-Akbar Muhyiddin Ibn al-Arabi (ra) has been one of the most influential sufis in history. His teachings have always been a source of attraction for the most keenest minds as well as seeping into diverse muslim cultures through more popular forms such as poetry. However in more recent times these teachings have also [...]

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Shariah, Tariqah and Haqiqah

Hz Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi (r.a.) explains the relationship between the Shariah (law), the Tariqah (way) and the Haqiqah (Truth/Reality) thus:
The Law is like a lamp: It shows the way. Without a lamp you will not be able to go forward. When you enter the path your going is the Way. And when you reach the [...]

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Afternoon Tea with Shaykh Abdal-Hakim Murad

Bismillah-The Journey Of the Soul (the following are some notes I took-I have a feeling this will be long one)Shaykh Abdul Hakim began by speaking about the year coming to its end, with the Hajj having just taken place and reminding us that all ibadaat are forms of dhikr; our days are punctuated with the [...]

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Eid Mubarak!

Its Eid-ul-Adha here today commemorating the great Abrahamic sacrifice. Its message  can be summed up in the words of one contemporary sufi : “God refuses to be anything but our number one priority”. Eid mubarak to you all.

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Comparison of Christian and Platonic Doctrine

I talked briefly about Causality and Necessity a while ago. That was in respect of the impact of Platonic and Neo-Platonic teachings on Islamic philosophy and mysticism. The following article by Phillip Sherrard looks at the same theory of emanation from a comparative approach which is very instructive for us as Muslims. It also tackles [...]

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Metaphysics and Virtue in Sufism

Titus Burckhardt an eminent traditionalist author writes:
Sufi doctrine possesses several branches, the two most important of which are the domain of Universal Truths (Haqâ’iq) and the domain relating to the human or individual stages of the spiritual way (daqâ’iq); in other words, metaphysics (the science of principles, or of the Principle) and [...]

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Adamic Knowledge

When Adam became the theater of Divine inspiration and love,
his rational soul revealed to him the knowledge of the Names.*
His tongue, reading from the page of his heart,
recited the name of everything that is.
Through his inward vision his tongue divulged the qualities of each;
for each it bestowed an appropriate name.
Nine hundred Noah walked in [...]

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