Khutba (Sermon) of Eid-ul Fitr

Eid-ul-Fitr is a unique festival. It has no connection with any historical event nor is it related to the changes of seasons or cycles of agriculture. It is not a festival related in any way to worldly affairs. Its significance is purely spiritual. It is the day when Muslims thank God for having given them the will, the strength and the endurance to observe the fast and obey His commandments during the holy month of Ramadan. (via Darvish blog)

On the day of Eid-ul-Fitr, Imam Ali, inheritor of gnosis and to whom goes back all sufi lineage to finally connect to Prophet Muhammad, delivered a sermon in which he said:

"O people! Verily this day of yours is the day when the righteous are awarded and the wretched are losers. It is a day which is similar to the one on which you shall be standing (before your Lord on the Day of Reckoning). Therefore, when you come out of your homes to go to places of your prayer, remind yourselves about the day when you (your souls) shall come out of your bodies to go to your Lord.

When you stand on places of your prayer, remind yourselves of your standing in the presence of your Lord (on the day of Judgment). And when you return to your homes (after prayer), remind yourselves about your returning to your homes in Paradise. O Servants of Allah! Verily the minimum reward for those men and women who fasted (during Ramadan), is an Angel, who calls out to them on the last day of the month of Ramadan (saying): O SERVANTS OF ALLAH! REJOICE THE GLAD TIDING THAT ALL YOUR PREVIOUS SINS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN…"

- Selection from the Nahjul-Balaghah.

# Other Eid Sermons (Khutba):
+ Eid-ul-Fitr Khutbah 2006 By Shaykh Ninowy (google video, english)
+ Eid ul Fitr Khutba (Oct 23, 06) -- Sheykh Abdul Kerim (google video, english)
+ Eid ul-Fitr 2006 Speech and Khutba by Hafiz Asim at Leeds, UK, Makkah Masjid (google video, english)
+ Sermon delivered by Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, on the occasion of “Eid-ul-Fitr”, on the 29th June, 1919
+ Eid ul Fitr 1429 Khutba from Mecca by Sheikh Dr. Salih bin Abdullah al Humaid - Chairman Saudi Majlis al Shura (youtube, in arabic) Pin It Now!

Ramadan departs | Eid Mubarak

The month of fasting, Ramadan, is often greeted by the Sufis as a good friend, and as a welcome and honoured guest. They love to see this guest come, but also to see him go.

The implication of the first is clear, but perhaps not of the second. The end of the month of fasting is followed by a feast. In ordinary terms it means that you can eat and drink.

In Sufi terms the feast implies the meeting with the Beloved. The Beloved is then the cupbearer Who pours out the wine of gnosis and love.

Jami writes (ghazal #1-178 p. 201):
Helal-e 'id jostan kaar-e 'aam ast
Helal-e 'id-e khaasaan daur-e jaam ast.

The search of the crescent of the feast
is the work of the common people.
For the elite, the circling movement of the goblet
is the crescent of the feast.

That is why a Chishti pir often said: "May every day be a day of festival to you!"

As the moon of Ramadan come to an end and the new moon appear on the horizon, it marks the islamic festival, Eid ul Fitr. Depending on geographic location, muslims around the world will be celebrating the Festival either on Tuesday (30th September) or Wednesday (1st October).

The Shadhiliya sufi community, Naqshbandi-Haqqani community as well as others in USA will be observing on Tuesday this year.

About Eid ul Fitr: Eid-ul-Fitr or Eid, popularly known as the "Festival of the Breaking of the Fast", occurs as soon as the new moon is sighted at the end of the month of fasting, namely Ramadan. The festival is intended to be a festive and joyous occasion. (Eid simply means festival, Fitr is breaking the fast)

This festival celebrates the end of Ramadaz (or Ramzan), the Muslim month of fasting. It is an occasion of feasting and rejoicing. The first Eid was celebrated in 624 CE by the Prophet Muhammad with his companions and relatives over the completion a month of fasting.

Significance Of Eid-ul Fitr: Eid is a Thanksgiving Day : Muslims assemble in a brotherly and joyful atmosphere to offer their gratitude to God for helping them to fulfil their spiritual obligations like fasting and alms giving to poors - prior to the Eid.

Eid is a Day of Remembrance : The Muslims pray to God and glorify His name to demonstrate their remembrance of His favors.

Eid is a Day of Victory : The devotee who succeeds in attaining his spiritual rights and growth receives the Eid with a victorious spirit.

Eid is a Day of Harvest : God gives infinitely to those who are sincerely concerned with the general welfare of their fellow believers.

Eid is a Day of Forgiveness : When Muslims assemble in the congregation of the Day, they whole-heartedly pray for forgiveness and strength in faith. And God has assured those who approach Him with sincerity of His mercy and forgiveness.

Eid is a Day of Peace : When a Muslim establishes peace within his heart by obeying the Law of God and leading a disciplinary life, he has certainly concluded a most invioble treaty of peace with God.

Remembrance and Prayer of Eid ul Fitr:

Allahu akbar Allahu akbar Allahu akbar
Laa ilaha illa-llah
Allahu akbar Allahu akbar
Wa li-llahi-l-hamd

Allah is Greatest; Allah is Supreme!
There is no absolute reality but Allah
And Allah is Greatest,
And to Him rises up all praise. (dhikr of greatness in full version, pdf)

La ilaha illa-Llah (7 times)
Muhammadan Rasulu-llah
Alayhi salatu-llah.

"In the name of Allah, we pray at the beginning of ‘Eid. We ask You Allah, please accept our Ramadan prayer and fasting for Your face. Give us Your blessing and keep us on the straight path. Use us to carry Your message and Your religion; The religion of the Unity,
The message of Love, Peace, Mercy, and Justice."

Say: Al-Fatiha (the opening chapter of the Quran)

"Please Beloved God, give us Your mercy. Give Your mercy to our parents, our children, our families and our neighbors. And give Peace to everyone in all the world, without separation. Amin." - prayer of Sidi Said al-Jamal

Broadcast of Eid Prayer: Naqshbandi-Haqqani site will broadcast Live the Eid Prayers led by Shaykh Hisham Kabbani in Michigan starting at about 8:30AM* (Tuesday) Detroit, Michigan Time*. The broadcast will begin before that with Takbirat starting anytime after 7:30AM. To watch visit: www.sufilive.com and click on the live broadcast link.

# Related Posts:
. Eid Mubarak | Greetings of Festival
. Prophet's Eid and the Orphan
. Sighting Moon: Symbolic Meaning
. Moon as Sign and Symbolism in Quran
. Meditation on Full Moon

Pin It Now!

Hazrat Babajan | The Qutub of India

Hazrat Babajan (1806 - September 18, 1931) was a Baloch Muslim saint considered by her followers to be a sadguru or qutub. It was Babajan who gave Indian spiritual master Meher Baba, his God-realization through a kiss on the forehead in January 1914, after this, he said that he experienced being in bliss for nine months. According to Meher Baba, Babajan was one of the five Perfect Masters of her time.

A regular visitor to Hazrat Babajan could never miss hearing her constant muttering to herself, worded somewhat like this: "Vermins are troubling me incessantly; I sweep them away, but still they keep on gathering." Simultaneous with these mutterings, unintelligible to listeners, she would keep on moving the palms of the hand all over her body, as if removing dust or cobwebs.

Meher Baba, when questioned as to the meaning and significance of the above meaningless utterance and the almost constant movement of the hands, gave the following illuminating explanation: "Annihilation Of all Amal (actions) good and bad, means Najat (salvation) and Babajan being God-realized was much above the state of salvation. She not only had no Amal (actions) to account for, but was in a position to destroy the Amals of others. The physical body of a saint like Babajan, when working on earthly plane after realization, becomes the focal point to which myriads and myriads of Amal of the universe get attracted, and getting purified in the furnace of Divinity i. e., the body of the saint, they go out again into the universe as spiritual Amal. ... Perfect saints like Babajan give out more spiritual Amal to the world than they destroy. Hence it is that living saints are a blessing and mercy to the world whether one knows it or not." This condition: (halat) in saints is the aspect of Divine love and beauty (Shane-jamal).

Hazrat Babajan often times, when the aspect of Divine glory (Shane-Jalal) possessed her, used to rave and grumble in the following strain: "Why do you torment my children; nay, you even kill them. They have done no wrong to you. Do I not feed you, and clothe you? What is it you lack? And still you perpetrate all these atrocities on them. What have I done to merit all this?" Words conveying this sense have been frequently heard from Babajan and naturally they gave rise to some guess-work on the part of the hearers, who interpreted the words to mean that Babajan was remembering and bemoaning the loss of her children who perhaps were cruelly dealt with by her people.

Meher Baba, when questioned on the point, explained: "There can be nothing further from truth; Babajan was never married and had no children. By children, she evidently meant the saints of the time (Awliyae-waqt), who are misunderstood, vilified and persecuted by the churches of all denominations, unmindful of the circumstances of which they are the outcome. Babajan was equally concerned with the enlightened and the ignorant, and hence her reference to feeding and clothing of the latter. She was as much for the material well-being of the world at large, as for the spirituality of the godly few whom she called her children.

Hazrat Babajan's spiritual status in the hierarchy of saints is that of Qutub. Literally the word Qutub means pole, and a Qutub functioning on the physical plane is the hub round which the universe revolves. Babajan's subjective experience (halat) of Gnosis (Irfan), would be described by Sufis as that of Salik-Majzoob. After God-realization, one returning to normal consciousness is possessed both of Divinity and Gnosis (Haqiqat and Marefat). When Divinity is uppermost in him he is called Majzoob, and when Gnosis predominates he is a Salik. Babajan had both these aspects in her equally balanced, and hence she was Salik-Majzoob of the time, possessing all the characteristics of a Qalandar.

the final resting place of Babajan. Pune, India

Hazrat Babajan, like all Qutubs (Perfect Masters), had a circle of twelve disciples and the spiritual chargeman thereof is Hazrat Meher Baba of "Meherabad" (District Ahmednagar). She stood in the unique position of a mother (a storehouse of spirituality) to all the saints of the time.

After a spiritual sojourn of about 35 years in Poona, Hazrat Babajan left her mortal coil on 21st September 1931 at the ripe old age of 125 Years. Her funeral procession was a tremendous affair, never accorded to any dignitary or royalty in the annals of Poona. Her remains were laid at rest at the very spot underneath the neem tree where she sat and dispensed Divine Grace for such a long number of years, thus confirming the Sufi belief, that:

"Cycles change,
the worlds rotate,
But Qutubs never their
seat vacate."

by Dr. Abdul Ghani
HAZRAT BABAJAN: The Emperor of The Spiritual Realm of Her Time

Meher Baba on
experience with Babajan

"When the five perfect masters brought me down, they drew a veil over me. Hazrat Babajan was one of the perfect masters, and she unveiled me to my present form. With just a kiss on my forehead, between the eyebrows, Babajan made me experience (in May 1913) thrills of indescribable bliss that continued for about nine months. Then one night (in January 1914) she made me realise in a flash the infinite bliss of God-realisation.

At the time Babajan gave me the nirvikalp experience of my own reality, the illusory physical, subtle and mental bodies—mind, worlds, and all created things - ceased to exist for me even as illusion. Then I began to see that only I (in the sense of Highest Self), and nothing else, existed.

The infinite bliss of my self-realisation was, is, and will remain, continuous. At the moment I experience both infinite bliss as well as infinite suffering. Once I drop the body, only bliss will remain.

But at the time, I could not have said all this. During the first three days of my superconscious state, I was truly dead to everybody and everything other than my own infinite Reality, although my physical body continued to function more or less normally. Actually dead, though really living, I was considered by others to be seriously ill. I remained in bed, with wide open, vacant eyes that saw nothing.

On the fourth day, and after I was slightly conscious of my body, I began to move about without any consciousness of my surroundings. I received no promptings from my mind, as would an ordinary man. I had no knowledge of the things I did or did not do. I did not sleep and had no appetite. I did everything by instinct, like an automaton.

Although the infinite bliss I experienced in my superconscious state remained continuous, as it is now, I suffered agonies in returning towards the normal consciousness of illusion. Occasionally, to get some sort of relief, I would knock my head so furiously against walls and windows that some of them showed cracks.

In reality there is no suffering, only infinite bliss. Still, within the realm of illusion, it is suffering. My reality, although untouched by illusion, remained connected with illusion. That was why I suffered spiritual agonies.

Nine months after my self-realisation, I began to be somewhat conscious of my surroundings. Life returned to my vacant eyes. Although I would not sleep, I began to eat small quantities of food. I now knew what I was doing but I continued to do things intuitively, as impelled to do them by inner forces. I did not do things of my own accord or when asked by others.

Later, I began travelling long distances. Once, I left Poona by rail for Raichur, but felt the urge to get off at Kedgaon. There for the first time I came in physical contact with Narayan Maharaj (one of the five perfect masters) whose ashram is not far from that railway station. Similarly, from time to time I was drawn to see masters like Banemiyan Baba at Aurangabad, Tipoo Baba at Bombay and Tajuddin Baba (another perfect master) at Nagpur.

Finally, in December 1915, I felt impelled to call on Shirdi Sai Baba. The perfect Master among Masters. At the time he was returning in a procession from Lendi (in Shirdi). Despite the crowds, I intuitively prostrated myself before him on the road. Sai Baba looked straight at me and exclaimed: "Parvardigar" (God-Almighty-Sustainer, equivalent Quranic term would be Rabb).

I then felt drawn to walk to the nearby temple of Khandoba in which Maharaj (Shri Upasani) was staying in seclusion. He had been living on water there under Sai Baba's direct guidance for over three years. When I went near him, Maharaj threw a stone at me that struck me on the forehead exactly where Babajan had kissed me. That blow was the stroke of gyan (Marefat of Haqiqat, or divine knowledge)."

- From Hazrat Babajan by Meher Baba and A.G. Munsif (credit)

Further:
. Hazrat Babajan
. Shrine of Babajan (youtube)
. Sufi Masters of Indian sub-continent in 19th Century Pin It Now!

I am from Those and The Gift

I AM FROM THOSE!

I am from those, who write "Insight"
Now I'm blind, I have lost my sight
But to find where my beloved lies
I, my friends, need no eyes

I am from those, who choose to yearn
Don't bring water, I chose to burn
Beyond this pain is eternal pleasure
Beyond your ego, is the hidden treasure

I am from those, who choose the rift
harder the struggle, precious the gift
The Devil planned, and all was odd
Are thee drained, when prize is God?

I am from those, who are beyond the WHY
"What is this life, and who am I"
For how can you question your own fate
then blame time, when its never too late!

I am from those, who complain not
Nor do I say, what could have been
When the only thing that concerns a lot
Is what has been, and what I've seen!

I am from those, for whom houris don't matter
I live in a world, where dreams don't shatter
Because with every dream, hope is gifted
Hope gives me wings, and I feel lifted!

I am from those, who get stirred
when music is played, and melody's heard
And tears like a river, begin to flow
Do not presume they spring from woe!

I am from those, who peep behind
The agony of life, The veil, The signs
What mind couldn't grasp, now heart unwinds
What seemed like points, now draw a line!

I am from those, who are meant to whine
Like a lover for his beloved is meant to pine
Like a drunkard never gets enough of wine
And this "never enough", is called divine!

I am from those, who crave to die
Life is a blessing, But I would not lie
They say a flower is plucked in prime
Uproot my existence, O' Beloved, IT IS TIME!

- Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi

THE GIFT

My friend inquires, what is love?
What is flight, ask the dove?
Oh Birds can’t speak, forget this stunt
Just ask the hunter, what is hunt?
Ask me, a poet, what is rhyme?
Ask a clock, if you can, what is time?
Ask dew on grass, why it shines?
Or ask a toy less kid, why he whines?

And those who say, love is a crime
Tell them to pluck a flower in prime!

Ask then ask my Lord,
why this cosmos was made
And I swear to God, Love will unveil.

Many kingdoms vanished
Many treasures doomed
But the world cherished
Homers words, not his tomb
So, my gift for you, won’t with time
Vanish or fade, these words are MINE!

- Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi

Art: Qalander by Zed

Pin It Now!

Laylat al-Qadr | the Hidden Night of Power

1. The CROWNING GLORY

Laylat al-Qadr (also known as Shab-e-Qadr), translated as the Night of Power (Night of Honor) or Night of Decree is the anniversary of the night when the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed to Prophet Muhammad, blessed be his soul, in his profoundly deep meditation at the cave at the Mountain of Light (Jabal Nur). It is one of the most holiest night for the world.

Quranic chapter dedicated to this night speaks:
"Indeed the Divine Mystery has revealed this revelation
in the Night of Power: And what will make you comprehend what the Night of Power is?
The Night of Power is better in its status than a thousand months.
Therein come down the Angels and the Pure Spirit by God's decree, for every affair: Enshrouded in Peace this Night! Until the rise of the dawn!" (Surah 97)

Laylatul Qadr is the crowning glory of the holy month of Ramadhaan. The Night of Power is the night of spiritual bliss. Prophet Muhammad, is reported to have said: "Verily this month has come to you; and therein is a night which is better than a thousand Months. Whosoever is deprived of it, is deprived of all good; and none is deprived of its good except a totally unfortunate person". (Ibn Majah). "Whosoever stands up (in prayer) at the Night of Power out of faith and hopeful of reward, all his accumulation of negative actions will be forgiven."(Targhib)

Everything in the creation has an appointed time, the earth has its seasons and different human affairs also have its best moments of execution. As the rainy season is suitable for farming, similarly for the attainment of nearness to God, specific times , specific days and specific nights are most suitable, for example, the time of Tahajjud prayers in the most deepest part of night, Friday prayers, month of Ramadhan, the Day of Arafah, moment before breaking the fast after sundown. So also the Night of Power is marked as the most suitable night of mystery for attaining nearness to God.

2. NIGHT OF INNER CELEBRATION
The month of Ramadhan has been singled out for special worship ('Ibadat) and exclusive favours. It is a month unlike other months. One reason for this, as defined by the Qur'an, is because the Holy Qur'an was revealed in this month. Says Allah in Sura al ­Baqarah: The month of Ramadhan, that in which the Qur'an was sent down; a guidance for mankind, and clear signs of guidance and distinction (2:185). In fact, according to a hadith of the 6th Imam, Jafar as-Sadiq, may God be pleased with him, the other holy books were also revealed in this month.

Among the nights of Ramadhan is one special night, which is better than a thousand months (HQ, 97:3). Good deeds performed on that single night are equal to those performed over a thousand months. Some commentators believe it was the night when the Qur'an was brought down from Baytul M'amur (Heavenly abode), for Jibrael to reveal in parts to the Prophet.

Laylatul Qadr is a celebration to commemorate the arrival of the final guidance for humans. It is a tribute to the commencement of the message revealed to mankind by their Creator, a message which shows them the way to achieve happiness in both the worlds. Just as the arrival of a child is celebrated, on its birth and then every year, as a bringer of joy and fulfilment for the family, Laylatul Qadr is celebrated as a bringer of light and guidance for mankind. Unlike the birthday which is celebrated with a feast for the senses, Laylatul Qadr includes a feast for the spirit, a feast of worship and prayers. (credit)

3. LAYLAT AL-QADR DESCENDS ON THE INNER HEART
Sufi Master Bawa Muhaiyaddeen in his discourse on Lailatul Qadr said: Furthermore, God, the Singular One who rules and sustains, gave these explanations these words that will be known as the inner meanings of the Qur’an and as words of divine knowledge - to the Rasül, may peace be upon him. He explained the meanings of the fast to the Rasül, saying, O Muhammad, even as I sent down the first sürat to you on Mount Hira, I sent down this light and rahmat. I sent it to you as Lailatul-Qadr.

When I sent it to you that day, the first light which descended embedded itself in your inner heart. I sent down the light known as Lailatul-Qadr and kept your inner heart open. I made the heart of an ummï into a heart of ‘ilm - the heart of an unlettered one into a heart with sacred knowledge. I made it into rahmat. I made it remember. I made it into light. I made it so that you would be understood. And to you I revealed the rahmat that is Allähu as the light, the Lailatul-Qadr. I fed this light to your inner heart. O Muhammad, if man climbs the black rocky mountain of his heart and goes beyond, if he opens the bismin-käi, the minute morsel of flesh, goes within, climbs beyond, and worships Me with a melting heart, I will send down the divine knowledge known as Lailatul-Qadr. I will send this into his inner heart.

O Muhammad, I will send down the same divine knowledge, the same Lailatul-Qadr, to anyone who opens his melted inner heart and offers worship. This qadr, this ray, will resplend. It will resonate in the inner heart. I made the angel Gabriel hold you tight, three times. Then after you had crushed the three desires, earth, woman, and gold, 2 after you had crushed arrogance, karma, and maya, desire, anger, sin, and hell, after you had crushed all these black stones that arise from the bile, I sent down the light known as Qadr.

I made it descend and embed itself in your inner heart. That day, that first time, I sent the light, I sent the Qur’an.

All the lights I sent down to you after that were like rays of splendor to your inner heart. Every sentence and every word was a ray of light. All these rays were the Lailatul-Qadr. The Light known as Nür Muhammad accepted each meaning I sent down and made it its own.

Once established, it is revealed on the outside as the Thiru Qur’an, and as the inner Qur’an, the Thiru-Marai. When it emerges, each light is a ray, a qadr. The ray is the soul. The soul is light. The light is rahmat. The rahmat is fullness. This fullness is the light of ïmän, which is resplendent. This resplendence is the dïn, the light of purity. This light of purity is the Life of life, the Hayät. This Hayät is mysterious. And I, as the Mystery within the mystery, will be the One who bestows on all lives the rahmat of Bismillähir-Rahmänir-Rahïm - the limitless grace of God, most Merciful, most Compassionate.

O Muhammad, explain the meaning of ïmän to your followers, give them divine knowledge, open their inner hearts, and break down the rocks of darkness, the black rocks of sensory enticements. Break down earth, fire, arrogance, karma, maya, anger, lust, selfishness, pride, and jealousy. When man breaks down these black rocks and crushes them with his wisdom, when man breaks the hard rocks with the light of läm (Nür), the form of mim that comes into being will be Muhammad.

When this sürat, this form of Muhammad, comes into being, when this state dawns, worship with a melting heart will grow. When this worship begins to thrive, the first sürat will dawn in his inner heart as Lailatul-Qadr.

When man becomes one of pure faith and one whose heart is filled with the resplendence of God (Ïmän-Isläm), his heart, aham, will open. When all the darkness is destroyed, the light known as Ahamad will dawn. This light will imbibe each word spoken by Me. When the words are absorbed and then revealed, they will be the power of My attributes, My wiläyat. They will be the Asmä’ul-Husnä of the Qur’an, the ninety-nine wiläyat." (visit for full text)


4. SEEKING THE HIDDEN JEWEL
By the wisdom of God and his Prophet, the very knowledge of when exact night of Laylat al-Qadr is kept hidden. It is advised to journey to seek this hidden jewel. The traditions indicate that it is to be sought in one of the last ten nights and preferably in the last three odd nights.

Aisha reported that the Apostle of God said: "Search for the Blessed Night in the odd (nights) from the last ten (nights) of Ramadhaan" (Bukhari).

It was the practice of the Holy Prophet his companions to make I'tikaaf (seclusion) in the Mosque for the whole time offering Divine service during the last ten days of Ramadhaan.

Aisha has narrated in another saying: "I asked: O Messenger of Allah! Tell me if I were to find a Night of Power, what should I recite therein?" Holy Prophet Muhammad advised her to recite:

Allaahumma inna-ka 'afoow
wan tuhibbul 'afwafa,
afu 'an-ni.

O Allah! You are Forgiving,
You love forgiveness,
please have forgiveness for me.
(Bukhari).

The worship and the vigil of the Night of Power are a treat to the soul. The heart tends to melt into tears of heartfelt gratitude. The body is in a state of angelic ecstasy. The soul strives to reach nearer to Almighty Allah. (credit)

5. SECRET MAP
Khwaja Abul Hasan Kharkani mentioned that he did not missed the Night of Power since his adolescence age based on the instruction/ quotations of Imam Jafar Sadiq, the 6th Shia Imam and descendant of holy Prophet. According to him, the night of Power will be on the following:

· If first day of Ramadan starts on Monday, the Night of Power will be on 21st Ramadan.
· If first day of Ramadan starts on Saturday, the Night of Power will be on 23rd Ramadan.
· If first day of Ramadan starts on Thursday, the Night of Power will be on 25th Ramadan.
. If first day of Ramadan starts on Tuesday or Friday, the Night of Power will be 27th Ramadan.
· If first day of Ramadan starts on Wednesday or Sunday, the Night of Power will be on 29th Ramadan.

Moulana Abdul Hai Farangi Mahli has also mentioned in his book that he has implemented the above mentioned dates and found them blessed with the Night of Power. (credit) A similar methodology to find the Laylat al-Qadr is also mentioned by Shaykh Ibn Arabi. Truly, God alone knows the true Secret of this Hidden Night.

Further:
. Prayer of Laylat al-Qadr
. Explanation of Sura Qadr
. Dua for Laylatul Qadr

Pin It Now!

two fold meaning of sawm

Sawm is the original word in Arabic which has been commonly translated as fasting. The word sawm is derived from Syriac 'sawmo' and in its originality it carries deeper meaning than primarily perceived from its common translation. Irshaad Hussain, a contemporary Islamic thinker and author of Islam from Inside describe beautifully the meaning of the word Sawm (also written as Saum).

Sawm carries a two-fold meaning - two seemingly opposing definitions combined into a single word. And sawm, as described in the Qur'an and the hadith, simultaneously fulfills both of these definitions.

The primary meaning is:

to abstain, to hold back, to refrain from.

the further meaning is:

to rise beyond, to transcend, to move past former limits.

The month of Ramadan is a time in which we hold our bodily compulsions and instincts under strict control, together with our thoughts and our mental states, our moods and desires. We submit ourselves (our nafs) and our accustomed patterns of life to a higher template, one that fosters a regimen of self-restraint within the body and mind and correspondingly seeks an intensification of the life of the spirit.

During the interval of daylight, halal (the allowed) transforms into haram (the forbidden) and whatever nourishes the physical body becomes haram. As for the nafs, it undertakes a psychic fast from anger, backbiting, gossip, harshness towards others, from reaching in any manner through any of the senses towards that which is disallowed. All those inclinations which strengthen the nafs, which allow it to inject itself with vigor and attachment into the flux of worldly life are proscribed and denied expression.

The material form and its impulses (manifested through the nafs) are reigned in during fasting. All the things which give strength, vigor, and life to the body and nafs are terminated - the attachment is reduced, denuded, weakened. By penetrating to the very root of our attachment, to the most fundamental layer, to the very seat of our creaturely connection to the world - food, water, sex (the three cardinal symbols of life) we overturn their dominion and arrive at a position where we, for a time, subdue them.

The nafs is in continuous restless motion, but it is a motion that circumambulates around a center of manifold physical and chemical interactions that give rise to need, wants, pleasures, habits, moods, impulsions, compulsions, and desires. The complex system of body and mind are in an incessant state of movement (that ceases only with death), switching continually from one mode to the other, pouring forth a torrent of thoughts and internal impulses that turn the mind's focus endlessly from one locus to another.

And so the Qur'anic command is issued - "...fast until the night...." (Qur'an 2:187) Fast from what the nafs needs and desires. Let the nafs know that there is a truer aspect of yourself, a center capable of overseeing and stabilizing all the intersecting mental systems of the mind and all the material/chemical/habitual/hormonal systems of the body. Proclaim to it that there is a guardian and owner and ruler over the nafs and over the physical form with which it is integrally co-mingled. Let it know that the form and the stirrings of need and desire within the nafs have to submit to this guardian in seeking their satisfaction. The wants, needs, and desires that spring from the material form must submit to the governance and tutelage of a higher form - to the spiritual form indicated by the hadith that states: "God created Adam in His own form...."

Over the course of the month of Ramadan, as the days merge into the nights, as the moon journeys different phases the person who undertakes the fast with complete sincerity and profound intensity approaches a state of spiritual readiness.

Until the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan, there arrives the possibility of a profound inner remaking, an unfolding of the potential to witness the laylatul qadr (the hidden night of mystic power). "And what can convey to you what laylatul qadr is? That night is better than a thousand months...." (Qur'an 97:2-3)

During the day we break ourselves down, we fast from what sustains our existence - we submit our clay form to be unmade, to be kneaded and worked over - we remove ourselves from our material subsistence and turn to prayer and spiritual subsistence from God - we prepare ourselves to be reshaped. The onset of the darkness of night is representative of pure potential waiting to emerge into existence - waiting for the command and decree which will give it form. "The angels and the spirit (ruh) descend in it, by the command of their Lord with every decree...." (Qur'an 97:4) We turn ourselves into malleable clay awating the shaping command of that night - anticipating the profound and weighty descents that accompany laylatul qadr. "(That night is) Peace till the breaking of the dawn." (Qur'an 97:5)

So sawm (fasting) fulfills its meanings - to hold back from, to abstain, pertains to the restraint engendered through the fast - to rise beyond pertains to the results that God bestows upon those who seek the fast with sincerity and knowledge. So the fast is at once a holding back and a lifting up. The body and it's appetites are held back and through this holding back an elusive and subtle but profound awakening begins. We are provided the means by which to alter our reality, to shape what we ourselves are. By holding back the nafs from its activity and its sustenance, moments of stillness, of silence, are obtained - moments in which self-perception sharpens and deepens and spirit awakens and the (spiritual) form with which God created man begins to unfold itself. "And in yourselves - what do you not see?" (Qur'an 51:21)

. credit: Islam from Inside
[>] full article: And fast until the onset of night

. Prayer for the last ten days of ramadan

Pin It Now!

take my hand

"God's hand is upon their hands .." - The Quran 48:10


all love is a mysterious veil of One Love
of The One Beloved.

when veiled beloved's
heart calls us to take
her hand,
that invitation
arrives
from the Source Alone,
from Beloved,
the Most High.

in the path of
as-Siratul Mustaqeem *
taking hand of true master
is taking the hand of love.

'take my hand' is the call
to renew our covenant,
to renew our bond with the Beloved.

how can there be other love-source
when there's no absolute existence
but Hu!

(c) Sadiq Salim
North Hollywood, LA

* 'as-Siratul Mustaqeem' is a Quranic term that points to the Path of Truth. In Tasawwuf or Sufi Way it is embodied through the Tariqa (also means way or path) and the walking on Tariqa traditionally begins by taking hand (bayah or initiation) with a true master which also symbolizes a covenant with our Higher Divine Ideal.

Hu is a sufi term for Divine Essence.

Pin It Now!

Ramadan Sonnets | Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore

JEALOUS LOVER

The fast is also like
being so wracked with love
you can't eat. Tossed and
wrenched and high and dry with
single-minded devotion and expectation that no single

bite or sip can pass our lips, our
eyes are parched, throat dry,
head gone elsewhere almost entirely, and

only with extreme concentration can we
perform our usual tasks with anything
like normality.

It sweeps us off our feet. It's
bigger than we are. It goes
off with all our thoughts.

It's a jealous lover.

HIS GENEROUS PLEASURE

... Passion is a gift
we return to the Giver
in full enjoyment
of His generous
pleasure.

1.
"Ramadan Sonnets" is one of the most cited work of poetry of contemporary American poet and essayist Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore (born 1940), who is also referred as "American Islam's poet laureate."

About the HISTORY AND BACKDROPS of the Ramadan Sonnets, Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore mentions: "At the beginning of Ramadan 1406 (May, 1986), living in California by the Pacific Ocean, having experienced about sixteen Ramadans up to that point (in such remote places as England, Morocco, Spain and Nigeria), I made a prayer and intention to open myself to inspiration to write at least one poem every day or night of the fast as a poetic record, no matter what my state.

The title "Ramadan Sonnets" came to me, and I liked the clash and melding of cultural meanings in the pairing of the words "Ramadan" and "sonnets," there being no sonnet form as we know it in Arabic, nor in any of the usual Muslim languages such as Urdu or Farsi – their own strict, traditional forms being even more exacting than most of those for English in regards to rhyme and meter, though their languages offer more possibilities for rhyme than English. The undertaking was meant as an artful focus for meditation, a way of establishing a heart-space for the very personal experience of Ramadan itself, charting my own ups and downs, as the month progressed.

At the end of the month I had a poem for almost each day with a few lapses, and in many cases two or three, some long, some short (one only three lines long), and only a scattering of poems in traditional western sonnet form – although I hasten to point out that "sonnet" really just means "little song." Most of these poems were written in the Open Form of contemporary American poetics, punctuated by occasional formal sonnets that have rhyme and meter and thus act almost as sung refrains.

Not always a spiritual meditation, nor often even what should be felt and achieved in the fast (I was striving for some reality of feeling and experience), the resulting Ramadan Sonnets are a poetic record of the month, its small epiphanies and grim endurances, heading out from its physical constraints to contemplate a vast panorama, or focusing in on particulars, those embryos of explosive meaning, to evoke the blessed month of Ramadan’s intertwining flavors of asceticism and sensual gratitude, its palatable and palpable Light." (text credit)

2.
In many ways the collection of poems in Ramadan Sonnets is a treasure house of sweet embrace of the most holy month in Islamic calendar. These poems comes from the depth of someone who has arrived at the understanding of what it really means about the spiritual practice of fasting. In the introduction of the book its evident also when he says, "... For the fast locates us in time and space, on earth, among phenomena, in order to free us from phenomena altogether so that our hearts and souls might concentrate more fully on the Unseen Reality of God. It is truly a wonder, full of mystery - that such a seemingly little thing as not eating or drinking can have such a deep inner resonance, and that, though physiological, it should be a shared spiritual experience by all the Muslims on earth, an existential, objective task that is meant to bring about a Humanity of Light."

Some of the poems are exalted praise of the Most High in his beautiful poetic expressions where 'the theme of Ramadan' sounds like just an excuse for the exaltation. The poem His Audible Silence is one such remembrance poem.

God from First to Last is always the same.
Volcanoes erupt, tidal waves flash, cities disappear.
Each thing that happens is an appearance of His Name
rotating into action in this visible sphere.

... No thing that's added adds to Him a thing
He in His audible silence makes all life sing.

Daniel's personal experiences around the experience of Ramadan comes vivid in these poems. I loved the fact that he mentioned (Half-Day's Delight) how his 9 years old son fast for half a day.

Some of his poems in this collection are so rich that one needs to sip very slowly to adjust with their gravity. Apprehension is one such poem. Moore is also very successful in converting sufi metaphors and stories into poetic expression, almost like magic. Inestimable Water is a poem that takes world tour of Ramadan experiences. Poet's personal experience of fasting from Morocco to Berkeley California to Nigeria to Cordoba Spain, all fragrance comes alive in here.

Ramadan House Guest is an excellent example of Daniel's poetic genius, creative imagination and like many of his other poems it is infused with terms that reminds of Quranic passages and life of Prophet. Its worth mentioning that The Private Apartments is the 49th chapter of Quran (Al-Hujurat).

Ramadan has come to live with us.
It is God's private apartments
moved into our house
and taking over.
Where the doors were
are now entranceways into His Garden.
Where windows were are
continuous waterfalls.

... Our house is His. Its guests
belong to Him. The
repast is His, the
withholding and giving is
He alone.

Moses and the Saint is a very powerful sufi tale transformed into a magical work of poetry. A personal favorite. The audio of its recitation is available via IslamiCity. An Explanation of the Reason for the Fast is like a sufi metaphor of the genesis of fasting. The famous saying of the Prophet, "Die before you Die" a beloved hadith to sufis of all ages is given a whole new dimension of meaning, a new poetic interpretation if you like, in the poem titled with the same heading. The poem ends like this:

If we could see our real deaths we might die.
To die while still alive wakes up the eye.

Overall 'Ramadan Sonnets' by Daniel Moore has 63 plus 1, total 64 sonnets. A rich, nourishing supplement for Ramadan fasting for those who wish to dive into the sweetness of it. These are poems, and more that poems; these are litanies, these are remembrance and these are ecstatic exaltation in the realm of the Presence.

3.
PRAISE FOR 'RAMADAN SONNETS'

To read Moore is to journey. Going with him we ask, "Where are we? What world? What America? Who is a Muslim? Who am I?" Strange places, but Moore is a sure hand on the reins, making the Ramadan Sonnets a pilgrim's guide to exploration of intercultural, traditional and ultra-postmodern transpersonal space. - Professor Alan 'Abdal-Haqq Godlas

Poet's pen soar when they are free but disappear when they are effective. Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore's poems soar long after the ink has dried and the pen lifted. From feasts in Fez to desserts in the desert, Abdal-Hayy takes us on a trip of which the best guide happens to be a consummate poet. He is that guide. - Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson

Anyone who dives into the essence of religion gets sweetness from it. That's what I feel in this poetry. Daniel Moore has combined the strong and spontaneous strain of American free verse that flows up through Whitman, Williams and Ginsberg with the deep well of his Islamic devotion. The blending is a unique and very tasty series of fasting poems! He's definitely located the water table. - Coleman Barks

4.
SPECIAL RAMADAN OFFER

Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore’s Ramadan Sonnets, are available with a CD with 29 of the poems read by the author (plus a bonus Ramadan poem not from the book), at a special Ramadan price of $15.00 + postage, via PayPal, check or money order. Also during this Ramadan, you may obtain any of Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore’s books at a special offer directly from the poet. Visit here for details.

[>] You may listen to sample readings from the Ramadan Sonnets here. Also a video recitation of the poet from Ramadan Sonnets: titled Love.

[>] Daniel Abdal-Hayy publishes his poem and video recitation @ his blog: Ecstatic Exchange

. Biography of Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore
. Daniel Abdal Hayy Moore Poetry
. Available @ Lulu

Pin It Now!

Baraka | a visually rich spiritual treat

Baraka can easily be considered one of the most ambitious and astonishing film ever made - a real spellbinder! The title is taken from a Sufi word meaning "blessing" or "essence of life." This non-narrative film expands our awareness of the world and helps widen our circle of compassion. Produced by Mark Magidson and directed by cinematographer Ron Fricke using the 70 millimeter film format, it was photographed on six continents in 24 countries including Tanzania, China, Brazil, Japan, Kuwait, Cambodia, Japan, Iran, Nepal, and the United States. (credit)

Everything has its Way of Glorification

Baraka reminds us the Quranic saying, "The seven heavens extol His limitless glory, and the earth, and all that they contain; and there is not a single thing but extols His limitless glory and praise." - 17:44.

Also, "Glorifying The Divine is everything in the heavens and everything on earth." - 64:1

The powerful scenes of Baraka exactly reminds this glorification from natural world of still mountains and lust green forest to diverse animal world, to the monks in secluded temples or yogi at the bank of holy river ganges. Its a powerful statement of the oneness of our beautiful planet and everything in it. Also it captures beautifully the diverse nature of how humanity glorifies the Divine in different parts of the world, including devout Jews praying at the wailing wall in Jerusalem, the sufi dervishes of turkey in their whirling ecstasy, Japanese zen monks in their temple, sea of muslims circumbulating kaba at Mecca, Christian monk prostrating in church, Buddhists in their mindful meditation, indigenous people in their rituals and much more.

"A human being is a part of the whole called by us the universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest....This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in all its beauty."
- Albert Einstein

With its breathtaking cinematography and mesmerizing music, Baraka delivers an unforgettable collection of snapshots from the global family album. Startling, powerful, and moving images portray the vastness and variety of nature, city life, sacred sites, rituals, and the shared distress of earth and humankind. The images are carried into our consciousness and connected to our feelings by the soul-stirring music and sound collages of composer Michael Stearns.

The filmmakers have captured a compelling record of dramatic and spiritual moments as well as other scenes which give us pause to wonder about the fate of the planet and its creatures. In the end, Baraka helps us to see and to feel in our flesh that the healing of self and the healing of the planet are inextricably linked.

Watch the full film made available in 10 parts via youtube:

Part 1 - http://youtube.com/watch?v=dtiqrzmuWbw
Part 2 - http://youtube.com/watch?v=11QZiQFXTow
Part 3 - http://youtube.com/watch?v=U-sjmX9c450
Part 4 - http://youtube.com/watch?v=8DMA0c7KdYk
Part 5 - http://youtube.com/watch?v=aa_VUrys0j8
Part 6 - http://youtube.com/watch?v=in91EpP9US0
Part 7 - http://youtube.com/watch?v=5Qd8RhogIMY
Part 8 - http://youtube.com/watch?v=kbCNaGoaqLc
Part 9 - http://youtube.com/watch?v=9hU-Zb1BRmw
Part 10 - http://youtube.com/watch?v=CZYj55TAENY

. the DVD is available at Amazon.
. Spirit of Baraka
Pin It Now!

the meaning of shadhdhuli and history

the sufi lineage Shadhdhuli (pronounced as Shadh-dhu-li) takes it name from its eponymous 'founder', saint of saints, Sidi 'Ali Abu-l-Hasan (born in Morocco, 1196), may God be pleased with him.

the grand shaykh Abu-l-Hasan received his title, Shadhdhuli from God in a vision. In that state of lofty vision it was spoken from the Most Hight, "O 'Ali, you are ash-Shâdhdhu-lî, the one who is set apart (shâdhdhu) for Me (lî)". thus the meaning of the Shadhdhuli path (Shadhiliyya) is the path of the ones who is reserved for the Divine.

The Tariqa Shadhiliyya is the way of the person who forgets all things and returns back to the truth as in the beginning; a child in the Presence of God. You cannot see more than Him or hear of any other place. You cannot speak without Him. You are with God, in God, to God in the origin of all things. You do not sleep, you are not tired, you watch everything. And so you meet your love to the end which has no end. Then you are together; you are one thing only, without borders, without above or below, without right or left. You are in this station and this station is in you: fana al-mutlaq (annihilation in the freedom of God); the start which has no start; the end which has no end.

Shadhdhuli school of tasawuf is one of the major lineage which gave birth to a number of very influential philosophers, mystics, scholars and thinkers of all time including Ibn Ata Allah, Sheikh ibn Ajibah, Sidi ad-Darqawi, ibn Abbad of Ronda, Muhammad al-Jazuli, René Guénon etc. Ibn ‘Ata Allah was the first in the Shadhuli line to write sufi discourses and books. Included in his works is an account of the life and sayings of both ash-Shadhuli and al-Mursi. He also wrote the Miftah al-Falah, "The Key to Salvation", a manual on invocation and the Kitab al-Hikam, "The Book of Aphorisms".

. History of the Shadhiliyya Tariqa

Abu-l-Hasan was born in the village of Ghumara in Morocco in 593/1196. His early education was by his mother, father and a local imam. Around puberty he went to study with Abu ‘Abdallah M. b. Harazim (d. 633/1236), who himself was a pupil of Abu Madyan, one of the great medieval Sufis.

He went east in 615, where he was drawn to the Rifa‘i school, accepting Abu-l-Fath al-Wasiti as his shaykh in 618. While here he became obsessed with the search for the Qutb (Pole) of the time. Abu-l-Fath told him to return to the west where he would find him. He returned and eventually found the Qutb in ‘Abd as-Salam ibn Mashish of Fez who, after some trial, gave him bay‘ah, marking, as Abu-l-Hasan states, “the end of my beginning”.

Later, on the advice of ‘Abd as-Salam, he left Morocco to go into retreat in a cave near a village of Ifriqiya called Shadhila. Although Shadhuli sounds like Shadhila, our shaykh Abu-l-Hasan received his name from Allah the blessed who told him in a vision, "O ‘Ali, you are ash-Shâdhdhu-lî, meaning one who is set apart (shâdhdhu) for Me (lî)".

The final words of Ibn Mashish to Abu-l-Hasan, may Allah hallow their secrets, were, “O ‘Ali, Know that Allah is Allah and people are people. The remembrance of Allah will live in your heart. The guidance of Allah will always be with you. Do not refer to people other than as Allah commands you. Refrain from dependence on them and keep your heart from inclining to them. Your spiritual sovereignty (wilaya) has been perfected by Allah”.

In Ifriqiya, he periodically went out on preaching and teaching tours, thereby incurring the hostility of the Tunisian ‘ulama. So bitter did the persecution become that, in spite of the support of the sultan, Abu Zakariyya al-Hafsi, he was driven to take refuge in Egypt where he spent most of his years and won great renown.

Abu-l-Hasan made a practice of going on hajj every year. He was told in 656/1258 that he would die while on hajj. Abu-l-Hasan had idea that he may die on during pilgrimage, going as far as order a shovel and shroud be packed as he and his followers were preparing to leave.

When they reached the midway point, which is a well in a place called Humaythirah, he spoke to all his students and gave them the reading of Hizb ul-Bahr (The Litany of the Sea) saying, “Teach it to your children for in it is the greatest name of Allah”. He talked in private with Abu-l-‘Abbas al-Mursi and told all of his students, “When I am dead look to Abu-l-‘Abbas for he is the khalifa to succeed me”.

That evening, Abu-l-Hasan asked one of his murids to bring him a jug of water from the well. The student said, “Sidi, it is salty”. Abu-l-Hasan said, “My intention is other than what you think". So the murid brought him a jug of water from the well. Abu-l-Hasan drank some, rinsed his mouth and then spat into the jug, saying, “Put it back in the well”. He put the water back and it turned sweet, fresh and abundant. To this day the water in that well is sweet.

Abu-l-Hasan spent that whole night in dhikr. Many of students heard him, and at fajr, he was still. Thinking he was asleep one of the students shook him, finding him dead. From there he was washed, wrapped in the shroud, prayed over and buried in Humaythirah. His murids continued on hajj.

The existence of a Shadhuli tariqa is mainly due to Abu-l-‘Abbas al-Mursi, the successor of Abu-l-Hasan ash-Shadhuli and his successor, Taj ad-din ibn ‘Ata Allah al-Iskandari, may Allah hallow their secrets & perfume their tombs.

Shadhili order, the branches are as follows:

# Murabitun, this order was established in West by Shaykh Abdalqadir al-Murabit See The Recovery of True Islamic Fiqh: An introduction to the work of Shaykh Abdalqadir as-Sufi by the Muslim scholar Abdalhaqq Bewley. This is a branch of the Shadhili-Darqawi order. At other times it has been known as the Darqawi and Habibiya orders.

# One offshoot of the Murabitun is the al-Haydariya al-Shadhiliyah, headed by Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri. He is represented in the U.S. by Hajj Mustafa Ali, an American convert to Islam.

# 'Alawiya Order, deriving from Shaykh al-'Alawi. Shaykh al-'Alawi's current fame in the West derives largely from Martin Lings' book, A Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century. There are at least four distinct branches of this order in the West today (each of which has its own characteristics): 1) The website of Sidi Ahmed Ibn Mustafa al-'Alawi (known as Shaykh al-'Alawi) is maintained by a disciple of the Algerian shaykh, Sidi Ash-Shaikh al-Mouloud Boudai; 2) Another branch has among its shaykhs an American convert to Islam, Nuh Keller, who, although he is based in Jordan, has a number of disciples in the West 3) The third branch is that of the 'Alawiya Maryamiyyah, founded by Frithjof Schuon 4) The fourth branch is connected to an Algerian shaykh known as Sidi 'Alawi who in the West has a number of disciples, in particular, in Switzerland and the US.

# Shadhiliyya Sufi Center of North American and whose books are published by Sidi Muhammad Press, established in the U.S. by Sidi Shaykh Muhammad al-Jamal from Jerusalem (al-Quds).

# Tariqa Burhaniya, while primarily in the Sudan, where the shaykh is Sheikh Mohamed Sheikh Ibrahim Sheikh Mohamed Osman, it does have centers in New York City and Montreal (Canada). The order has one central website, titled Tariqa Burhaniya Disuqiya Shadhuliya indicating that originally it is a branch of the Shadhiliya order that later branches off with the coming of the Shaykh Ibrahim al-Disuqi (circa 12th century CE). (credit)

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Chain
of
transmission
of
Shadhiliyya
sufi
lineage

1. Prophet Muhammad, the praised and blessed one
2. Ali b. Abu Talib
3. Al-Hassan
4. Abu Muhammad Jabir
5. Sa’id al_Ghaznawi
6. Fath as-Su’ud
7. Sa’d
8. Abu Muhammad Sa’id
9. Ahmad al-Marwani
10. Ibrahim al-Basri
11. Zayn al-din al-Qazwini
12. Muhammad Sham ad-din
13. Muhammad Tajaddin
14. Nur a-din abu’l Hassan ‘Ali
15. Fakhr ad-din
16. Tuqay ad-din al-fuqayyir
17. Abd ar-Rahman al-Attar Az-Zayyat
18. Abd as-Salam b. Mashish
19. Abu-l-Hassan ash-Shadhuli
20. Abul-Abbas al-Mursi
21. Ahmad ibn Ata’llah
22. Dawud al-Bahhili
23. Muhammad Wafa
24. Yahya l-Qadiri
25. Ahmad b. uqba al-Hadrami
26. Ahmad Zarruq
27. Ibrahim Afaham
28. Ali as-Sanhaja al-Dawwar
29. Muhyid-din ibn al’Arabi
30. Abd ar-Rahman al-Majdhub
31. Yusuf al-Fasi
32. Abd ar-Rahman al-Fasi
33. Muhammad b. Abdullah
34. Qasim al-Khassasi
35. Ahmad b. Abdullah
36. Al-arbi b. Ahmad Abdullah
37. Ali al-Jamal
38. Abu Hamza
39. Ali Nuriddin
40. Sidi Ibrahim b. Ali Nuriddin
41. Sidi Abd ar-Rahman
42. Sidi Muhammad Said al-Jamal

. Photo Credit: the tomb of the founder Abu Hasan As-Shadhilli, Abu Hasan, Egypt 140 km from Marsa Alam, Red Sea. via flickr. Also Makam photos.

. Tariqa Shadhuliyya

. Shadhdhiliyya Sufi Communities in USA

Pin It Now!

with Sidi Said al-Jamal and sufi khalwa night

"My beloveds and my children, I've come to you from holy land, from the holy city which is the heart of the world. It is the mother city of the world. I carry its fragrance and its spirit."
- Sidi Said al-Jamal, may God be pleased with him.

this weekend (12th to 14th Sept, 2008) sufi master of Shadhiliyya order from the holy land of Palestine, Sidi Said al-Jamal, descendant of holy Prophet, graced the gathering, "Walking Through the Stations of the Heart" workshop held at Del Mar, organized by Sufi Center San Diego.

during the workshop other experienced teachers of the path and faculties at University of Spiritual Healing and Sufism offered resourceful and valuable sessions touching upon various aspect of sufi path including: Walking in the Sufi Way, Washing the Mountain of Existence, Metaphysics of Relationship, Healing in the Sufi Way etc.

SIDI's TEACHINGS | spontaneous jewels

Sidi started his teaching by talking about the special month of fasting, ramadan. The inner meaning of fasting, true fasting, fasting as spiritual worship and healing of fasting. Among the teachings he offered was on true station of Isa Massih (Jesus Christ), Musa (Moses) and Ibrahim (Abraham), may peace and blessings be upon all messengers of God. About Jesus Christ, Sidi touched upon the topic, about the surrendered state of Jesus and also that of his blessed mother. One of the very striking concept he talked about how to become the Jesus of this time and how to become a true healer like Christ.

Its worth mentioning that Shadhiliya sufi order is one of the most prominent contemporary sufi tariqa which carries the holy work of spiritual healing in the path of the prophets and messengers of God.

Sidi calls Jesus as the master guide of humanity and beloved of the sufis. He reminded that around the table of Jesus many spiritual disciples were raised. Jesus carried the complete and true healing for humanity. Because of Christ's purity and connection with Allah, he was able to cure many diseases like blindness and even raising people from dead by the permission of Allah. He never claimed to do these by himself, but always referred that he did it as a favor from God.

"I am a child from Jerusalem
who sends the voice
of this Holy City
for all who love God.

One night she sent me her order to speak with her tongue,
to all who love her
because she is the bride,
The bride who carries
the essence of the secret love."

- Sidi Said al Jamal

Sidi talked about the secret of true healing for humanity. Jesus became so because he was raised under the shadow of Allah and walked towards the divine presence from his very first beginning just as God ordered him to do. If we want to become the true healer like him, we must have pure understanding of his holy life.

Sidi teaches, we must adorn ourselves with Christ's godly qualities so that we all can become Jesus of the time, of this time. His life story teaches you how to become Jesus of your time. Sidi says, 'learn how to walk and arrive at the same station he arrived at. Then you will be provided by Jesus provision by his spirit, by adorning yourself with his qualities, and thats a divine provision. And your creed must be like him, your belief must be in the unity. And your ethics must be Abarahimic, Jesus-like and Moses-like and Muhammadan because they all carry the same spirit and we do not discriminate or separate between them because they are all messengers of God.'

'Jesus is the divine center, for Allah has given all of his messenger, prophets and gnostics his knowledge. So the gnostics who know how to be and adorn themselves with godly qualities can heal through true healing.' Through true merging of our will with Beloved's will, through true surrender to the Divine Will one become Jesus of one's time.

ADORNING ONESELF WITH DIVINE QUALITIES

Sidi again and again emphasized about adorning oneself with the divine qualities. The prophets and messengers are the model for humanity who were adorned by the divine qualities, so their life and their living, their ethics teach one how to adorn oneself by it.

Sidi prayed: "O Allah I direct myself towards You, and I ask You by the reality of Your Lofty Essence, by the reality of the presence of the great prophets Abraham and Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, I ask you please do not deprive any of us from spiritual happiness and bliss.

Protect us and guide us so we can adorn ourselves with Your godly qualities, so that we can die carrying the message of unity. I testify, there is no absolute existence but Allah. Amen."

LEAVING BEHIND THE PASSING WORLD

the moment we arrive at the gathering we leave behind the ten thousand distractions of the world, like Moses when he entered the holy presence at Mount Sinai, he was told to leave his sandals behind, esoterically which signifies the passing world. the presence of the master is also entering a similar holy space.

the presence of the teacher unfolds powerful process of those around him. i have seen people crying, weeping and sobbing just being in the presence with no words being transferred. in the process, for some, the soul's journey towards God is accelerated, for some deep washing of their spirit happens, for some their state of realization crosses few more thresholds and for some few veils are lifted by the grace of the teacher.

our masters presence
reminds us of the Highest Presence.

our soul starts to weep,
our spirit starts to sob
for which, if you seek,
you'll find no earthly sense.

our master carries the secret fragrance
that evokes the most ancient of ancients
reminiscence.

IN THE COMPANY OF HEART FRIENDS

what is one of the most beautiful aspect about such gathering of community is to be in the company of heart friends. when we finish our congregational prayer, we say peace to our right, to our left and upon finishing the prayer as we embrace other members, our hearts merge together and we experience the blessings that comes when two or more gather to remember and praise the Beloved.

Those who cling to the world,
Endeavor to free them;
Those who are free, praise.

- Mechthild of Magdeburg

the people who gather are fellow seekers who's hearts are oriented towards the One and like in metal when all its micro poles are aligned to one direction it becomes a powerful magnet, similarly there is a powerful spiritual magnetic field that permeates the company of the heart friends whose hearts are oriented towards the grand pole of highest Truth.

THE KHALWA | the sufi night vigil

the climax of the 3 day gathering reaches it peak at the khalwa night or sufi vigil. in our gathering we did an one night long khalwa beginning after night prayer, continued till 4 in the morning. the word khalwa literally means 'emptying out' and the practice involves deep immersion in the remembrance of the Lord to the extent that it empty's one's mind of everything else. Sidi led the khalwa after leading the night prayer, followed by tarawih and witr prayer. for the remembrance, specific invocations were given to recite and meditate upon.

BE STILL AND KNOW GOD | the practice of still glance at the Name

during the khalwa one of the practice given to beloveds of Sidi (Sidi uses the term 'beloved' for his students and seekers) is to still the glance upon the arabic name of God: "Allah" written in white on black background. during this khalwa it was recommended to still ones eyes on the name for one hour, followed by putting the name in heart and in front of the mind while eyes closed for next hour.

the practice has many spiritual dimensions including the esoteric power of letters. For example, ALLAH in arabic is written using four letters, Alif, Lam, Alif, Ha. Compare there are four stations such as station of the self (nafs), heart (qalb), soul (ruh) and secret (sirr). Also there are four stages: sharia (the sacred code of life), tariqa (the sacred path of walking), haqiqat (inner reality) and marifat (highest gnosis).

Also there is this stillness aspect of this practice of gazing meditation which reminds of the psalmic commandment / meditation instruction: 'Be still and Know God'. After gazing, the inner beholding of the Name with mind and heart is a powerful visualization meditation.

[>] Sidi will continue his travel to different parts of United States to visit and teach his beloveds. Check his tentative schedule and offerings for rest of this year 2008 in USA.

Sidi invites all for 10 day Ramadan retreat (Sept 21 - Oct 1 2008) at the Sufi Center, Pope Valley, California. Click here for registration details.

# Related
. Shadhiliya Sufi Center
. History of Shadhiliya Sufi Order
. Sufi Master Muhammad Said al-Jamal's visit to San Diego | invitation into the heart of sufism
. last years visit | from Sidi Shaykh Muhammad Sa'id al-Jamal's visit
. reminiscence from a khalwa night
. Sufi Gifts | Sidi's writings
. Journey to the Lord of Power: A Sufi Manual on Retreat

Pin It Now!

Ithaca | Constantine P. Cavafy

As you set out for Ithaca
hope that your journey is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.

Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
angry Poseidon - do not be afraid of them:
you'll never find things like that
on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts
raised high,
as long as a rare sensation
touches your spirit and your body.

Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
wild Poseidon-you won't encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope that your journey is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you come into harbors you're seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind -
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and learn again from those who know.

Keep Ithaca always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you're destined for.
But do not hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so that you're old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you've gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaca to make you rich.

Ithaca gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you would not have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca won't have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you'll have understood by then what these Ithacas mean.

- C. P. Cavafy's poem 'Ithaca' (1910, 1911)


[YOUTUBE] listen the recitation of the poem and watch the beautiful accompanying images. Recited by Sir Sean Connery and with music specially composed by Vangelis. Scenes taken from Ron Fricke's film 'Baraka'.

. About Ithaca, the island via Wikipedia

Pin It Now!

Know God Now

1.
Everything else can wait, but your search for God cannot wait.
- Paramahansa Yogananda

2.
... I say that you can know God now, this very moment.

You idea that you have lost Him is only an idea.
Is God something that can be lost?

God is your nature - how can you lost It?

You can repress It, you can cover It, but you cannot lose It.

But the old idea of postponing arises in your mind and you say, "If we do arduous spiritual practices for life after life, some day we might be able to know God. How can it happen so quickly?"

This is a deception. This is just postponement. You don't want to know God. Otherwise, nobody is preventing you from knowing Him this very moment.

- Osho, 'Showering Without Clouds'
in the chapter, 'Seek, And You Will Miss'.

3.
Be still and Know God!
- The Psalms

4.
God is Nearmost! God is nearer than your life vein.
- The Quran

5.
If you want to see the Divine, why don't you ask Him directly?
- Mother Meera

Pin It Now!

when sleep is better than prayer

1.

It is related that the Messiah (God bless him and grant him peace!) passed in his wandering a man asleep wrapped up in his cloak; then he wakened him and said, "O sleeper, arise and glorify God, Exalted is He!."

Then the man said, "What do you want from me? Verily I have abandoned the world to its people."

So he said to him, "Sleep, then, my friend."

2.
On the authority of Sahl bin Saad Al-Saedi, who said: A man came to the prophet and said: "O Messenger of God, direct me to an act which, if I do it, [will cause] God to love me and people to love me." He said: "Renounce the temporal world and its attachment and God will love you, and renounce what people possess and people will love you."

3.
The sleep of a learned person (aref, gnostic) is better than the prayer of an ignorant worshiper.
- saying of Prophet Muhammad

. graphics Rumi prints by Michale Green
Pin It Now!

Fasting | approaching the fire of hunger

If your mind
and stomach
burn with
the fire of hunger,
it will be like
a heavenly song
for your heart.

In each moment
that fire rages,
it will burn away
a hundred veils
and carry you
a thousand steps
towards your goal.

- Jalaluddin Rumi

It is written: Man Shall Not Live by Bread Alone but by Every Mystery That Comes Through the Divine-Breath.

- Jesus Christ, Gospel of Matthew, Luke

One cannot being to perceive the subtle levels of reality without first quieting the grosser vibrations of the outside world. Everyday reality is so striking that one has to make a conscious effort to downplay it in order to see the other reality that lies behind it.

- Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan

 . Art work by Dakini Lynn Marlow | Mixed Media
Credit. Dakini's Cave Gallery

Pin It Now!

Letter to God | sufi story of a sincere dervish

There was a poor sufi dervish in Istanbul who had no money and couldn't find work. One day he tells his friends, "I am going to write Allah a letter and ask him for money."

His friends say, "How can you write Allah a letter? What address are you going to send it to? How will the money get to you? Will it fall out of the sky?"

Now this dervish was very pure in heart, sincere and of spotless faith who lived in the beauty (Jamal) of Allah. He told his friends, "I know Allah's address."

Then he wrote the letter:

"Dear Allah,
I can't find any work and my family is starving, so send me fifty lire."

The dervish puts the letter in an envelope and takes it to the post office.

After the mails are sorted, one of the mail handlers sees the letter. Its addressed:

Dear Allah,
City of La Mekan Sehir (The Non-Existent City).

The mail handler is afraid to open it, so he takes it to the postmaster. The postmaster reads it and cries. Something happens to his heart. Compassion of the man reading becomes inflamed.

So he takes the letter and put fifty lire in it and puts this to man's address on the envelope. On the back he writes: 'Sent by Allah.' and he sends it.

The poor dervish gets the envelope and he's very happy. He shows his friends the money. "You see", he says, "I know Allah's address."

This is how Allah works through the creation!

# Related:
. Children write to God
. Children's Letter to God
. Write your own Letter to God

Pin It Now!