Comments on Technology of the Heart: Parable of the Budding Fig Tree and the Fig

Fear is essential part of IMAN, its brought us til...

2010-08-15T13:56:26.612+06:00

Fear is essential part of IMAN, its brought us till high level of IMAN; muslims have thier stages. Can we have be a perfect muslim, Mu'amin! Without FEAR of God never be a perfect muslim-best of people.
Many and many places of Qur'an mention directly that'Fear Allah', and many times in prophet's hadiths.
Qur'an teach us fear Allah but not fear His creations.
(-Qur'an 3:175)
''So fear Allah much that you may be grateful''.
- Qur'an 3:123
Yes,we must be trust in Allah, Hazarth Hud( peace be upon him)said to his people:''I trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord''!
-Qur'an 11:56
But Allah not order fear Him to only low level people but also to all knowledgeables, it will bring successful to our life.
' So fear Allah, O men of undestanding in order that you may be succeful''. - Qur'an 5:100
(- Qur'an
In Islam, as a muslim also, many poeple beleive and follow what he/she suitables and others have neglected.

FEAR and LOVE can have at one time and one person? Yes, it the messege of Islam; surrender to Him completely with believe, fear and love Him in one time.

Now adays, some people said God is Energy, this world is going on by energy, like this the MAJESTIC vitue of God destroy at all.

Islam is not builted up by philosophy of people but by the revelation of God. Yes, True philosophy and true sceince were in the Qur'an; everythings come from Allah and will return to Him.
No any sufism beyond the Qur'an, if any one neglect qur'anic messege in the name of sufism, he is really astray.

Thank you for your answer Sadiq. And yet .... &qu...

2010-08-15T02:35:15.791+06:00

Thank you for your answer Sadiq.
And yet ....

"very few can truly be called as beloved of God and the right to call God as beloved. We can easily use that term to address God, but whether that call is reciprocated by God is another question."

... doesn't it say in the Quran (or is it a hadith kudsi?) that if we take one stpe towards God He takes two steps towards us?

As a Christian child, and now as a Muslim adult, I have never feared God - nor wanted to. And with knowledge my love increases daily - because I have total trust in His mercy, even when I fail.
Sorrow at failure - yes, awe at His splendour and His Mercy - yes.
But fear, to me, is the feeling one has for bullies, for someone who might hurt me, not for arrachman, arrahim (the most merciful the most compassionate).

As Rabia said:
'Lord, if I worship you for love of heaven, or for fear of hell
Then cast me out.
But if I love you for Yourself alone
Hide not from me your infinite mercy.

Ramadam kareem.

"God is Lord of Forgiveness as well as Lord o...

2010-08-13T21:35:34.691+06:00

"God is Lord of Forgiveness as well as Lord of dire Retribution. His Mercy is Infinite, yet His Wrath and Punishment is also on the Extreme End because inside God all qualities exist that you see spread across in the creation."

but...

“My Mercy precedes My Wrath" (Inna rahmati taghlibu ghadabi)

And there the matter stands. Before every other Divine quality, there is the quality of Mercy/Compassion (rahma).

As Khayyam wrote:

Though pearls in praise of God I never strung,
Though dust of sin lies clotted on my brow,
Yet will I not despair of mercy. When did Omar argue that the One was Two?

Dear Sadiq Alam, And Old Testament says, "fe...

2010-08-13T17:01:25.856+06:00

Dear Sadiq Alam,

And Old Testament says, "fear is the beginning of knowledge."

Your quote poof that God revelations support one each others.

(Qur'an 5:48, 26:196)

thanks

2010-08-13T15:27:47.370+06:00

thanks

Dear Sadiq Alam, And Old Testament says, "fea...

2010-08-13T14:03:40.324+06:00

Dear Sadiq Alam,
And Old Testament says, "fear is the beginning of knowledge."-
Your quote have proof that all revelations of God support one each others.
(Let see Qur'an 5:48,26:196)

Ar -Rahaman(The Compassinate),Al-Rahim(The Merciful)etc, there were 99 attributes names of Allah from Qur'an and Hadiths.Al-Wadud(The Loving),is His a attribute name,''And He is the Oft-forgiving, the All-loving.''
-Qur'an 84:14
Al-Qawiyy(The All-stronger) was also one of them;''There is no power except in Allah''.
-Qur'an 18:39
God is Al-Aliy(The Sublime)and Al-'Aful(The Forgiving) All Pardoner but All-Darr(The Afflictor), Al-Muntaqim(The Avenger) also. ''We shall take vengeance upon the sinners.''
- Qur'an 32:22
''Thus it is We punish the wrongdoers!''
- Qur'an 12:75

What have happened with Pharaoh!
''so We sieze him with a heavy punishment''.
-Qur'an 73:16
On other hand, how he Mercy and save those who exploited.

What are the main contradiction between Islam and other faiths?
That was 'concept of God'.It will very helpful to study about Asma ul Husna, The most beautiful names of Allah, to this journey.

I wil remain all of you at friday prayer specially:
SADIQ ALAM and ALIYYA

Sweet Salaams Sadiq, I love the fig and all the se...

2010-08-12T22:40:38.666+06:00

Sweet Salaams Sadiq,
I love the fig and all the secrets it holds. I just plucked my first one this season from the beautiful fig tree in front of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship house after morning prayers, this first day of Ramadan for us here.
Bawa says that: "True Ramadan is when the inner Heart Blossoms".
May all our hearts blossom with the sweetness of God's Grace!
Salaams.

Bou Aliyya, In your life, do you call anyone as y...

2010-08-12T21:09:41.419+06:00

Bou Aliyya,

In your life, do you call anyone as your friend, let alone your beloved? To become a friend it needs a connection of heart. To become a beloved it needs even more strong dedication. Perhaps like how Christ described, "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”

Very few can do that, hence very few can truly be called as beloved of God and the right to call God as beloved. We can easily use that term to address God, but whether that call is reciprocated by God is another question.

God is Lord of Forgiveness as well as Lord of dire Retribution. His Mercy is Infinite, yet His Wrath and Punishment is also on the Extreme End because inside God all qualities exist that you see spread across in the creation.

For those who are yet to become intimate of God, for them understanding the Might of God is important, understand the Majesty of God is important. And when one does that, one can not help but be in awe of God, be in holy fear.

And Old Testament says, "fear is the beginning of knowledge."

and that knowledge is the knowledge of the Real, knowledge of God.

"Fear of God is a part of IMAN:" How ca...

2010-08-11T18:29:37.342+06:00

"Fear of God is a part of IMAN:"

How can one fear the Beloved? How can one do anything but approach with love in their hearts, secure in the knowledge that one will receive such love in return?
Fear of oneslf perhaps - of one's baser nature, one's nafs - that I can understand.
But perhaps I have it all wrong?
Would someone please enlighten me.

Thank you Sidi ABNIZAR for your gracious presence ...

2010-08-10T12:25:07.925+06:00

Thank you Sidi ABNIZAR for your gracious presence and comment. May God bless you and protect you as well.

Very beautifully put on the subject of " hypo...

2010-08-10T08:31:38.517+06:00

Very beautifully put on the subject of " hypocracy " , Sadiq & Helena - an eye-opener for me.
May God bless your souls...

'Human being is the micro-cosmos', and ...

2010-08-08T13:32:15.082+06:00

'Human being is the micro-cosmos',
and
' Alam nashrah laka sadrak?
Have we not expanded your inner heart'?
- The Quran 94:1
... Very nice, dear Sadiq!

'And what will make you know
the path that steep'?
- qur'an 90:12

If there was no changeable
bring in our daily way of life
with our knowledge of truthness,
Elma without amal!
will not ask by God?

We,many people write and talk about Islam
Alas! we done know what is Islam well,
God says about some poets:
''... they speak about every subject...
And they say what they do not do''.
- Qur'an 26:225-226

It is not address to only some poets
but we also need ownself thing down;
how plenty knowledge we have earned
where and how put them without practicle?
It is for only debating competition!

They are waiting us very eagerly
at the stations where they have found a MUKAM
By the grace of Almighty Allah!

''Guide us to the straight way.
The way of those on whom you have bestowed Your Grace,
Not( the way) of those who earned Your Anger.'
Qur'an 1:7

If we know Islam well,
Prophet sunna will follow carefully,
By theory without practicle
can'nt bring a experience.

Suppose, who can claim that fig tastyful and good smell,
untill he/she taste and try to smell?

Fear of God is a part of IMAN:
''He will put the wrath on those
who are heedless( not use their knowldge for thesake of God)''.
-Qur'an 10:100

Dear M.E.B., Thank you for sharing your dream wit...

2010-08-07T18:24:15.698+06:00

Dear M.E.B.,

Thank you for sharing your dream with us.

Kindest wishes,

mo'in

Dear Sadiq, Thank you for this most interesting p...

2010-08-07T18:23:27.776+06:00

Dear Sadiq,

Thank you for this most interesting post about trees in general and, specifically, the fig. In my opinion, there is great affinity, on many levels, between human beings and trees.

We (humans & trees) share roots, trunk, and crown. Energy flows within humans and trees. We both stand and walk upon this beautiful earth, though in vastly different scales of time.

May we all ~ inshallah ~ ascend the Great Tree from Crown back to Roots.

Kindest wishes,

mo'in

"When or if Jesus spoke these words, he spoke...

2010-08-07T15:56:47.069+06:00

"When or if Jesus spoke these words, he spoke them in Aramaic..."

Nicely put, 'Sakshin' ;-)

I owe it to George Macdonald-Ross for helping me to understand that Jesus most likely spoke Aramaic and Greek interchangeably (and no doubt could muster enough Latin to speak to the Roman Centurion). He carefully points out the places in the Gospel of Thomas where Jesus uses Semitic idioms (as here) and where he uses Greek idioms that are not easily expressed in Aramaic or Hebrew.

Having witnessed my own teacher switching, at a moment's notice, between languages according to who he was addressing, such a view of Jesus seems most convincing. All of the Sufis I've been fortunate to 'sit with' (as someone expressed it here recently) have been proficient in multiple languages. And my Arabic teacher when I was 19, the lovely Ahmed Tewfik Ayyad (himself an ardent follower of the Sufi Way) used to insist that learning languages can be greatly accelerated in the context of a mystical school. All knowledge is related.

The point about 'ripeness' makes much more sense of these parables of the fig tree, and is much more in keeping with Sufi teaching (which is instrumental, and not judgmental) rather than a more moralistic religious interpretation. There really is no need to bring 'fornication' (a prurient clerical hang-up, and nothing to do with true spirituality, if you ask me) in to this parable.

"If you can appreciate "ripe" then ...

2010-08-07T15:47:05.916+06:00

"If you can appreciate "ripe" then why not the word "good"?

"Good" is an okay word as words go but in this example, "good" is really not a good "replacement" for ripe. And "evil" is an even less good "replacement" for unripe.

Sakshin, If you can appreciate ripe, then why not ...

2010-08-07T13:07:16.034+06:00

Sakshin,
If you can appreciate ripe, then why not appreciate the word "good"?

Calling evil as evil should not make one ashamed. Christ didn't feel ashamed to speak Satan / Devil as Devil which I am sure many new age, newly "unripe" spiritual people of our age - thinks thrice to use that term because they can not distinguish between what is evil, what is from the devil and what is right and righteous.

A good tree, a wholesome tree, a fruit producing tree - is much more communicative than saying "ripe tree". Ripe is easily associated with fruit, not with tree.

Its easy to keep oneself comfortable by replacing discomforting words with comfortable ones that doesnt challenge us. A warrior of light and truth should not be ashamed to stand in front of the mirror of truth, and the better polished the surface of the mirror, reflecting more clearly what is communicated, the better it is. No need to distort what is plain and clear.

Truth and Falsehood, Good and Evil is already cleared. He who has ear, let him hear.

Why you, haggle with words and react with word meaning?

"Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, b...

2010-08-07T06:22:42.675+06:00

"Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit{ (Mathew 7:17). "When or if Jesus spoke these words, he spoke them in Aramaic. In aramaic and in all the Semitic languages, the word for 'good' primarily means ripe, and the word for 'corrupt' or 'evil' primarily means unripe. When heard with Aramaic ears, those words might sound more like this: 'A ripe tree brings forth ripe fruit, an unripe tree brings forth unripe fruit'." ~ Neil Douglas Klotz from The Hidden Gospel (Decoding the Spiritual Message of the Aramaic Jesus).

How very refreshing and indeed "nourishing" Neil's offering is herein as it teases out the deeper meaning from the otherwise flattened, limiting and profoundly misleading translations of this and other familiar Biblical passages so often quoted ~ yes even on this site.

thank you Sadoq, for raising the issue of hypocrac...

2010-08-07T04:19:19.691+06:00

thank you Sadoq, for raising the issue of hypocracy in this beautiful post: i liked the analogy with the leaves and the fruit ( of the fig tree): if there are just leaves, then there is just hypocracy as there are no good deeds, just beliefs and a lot of words, but the fig tree is barren.
strangely enough, only yesterday i was reading Epistle of James in the Bible and i found this ( by the half brother of Jesus) in his epistle : it is to do with " doers - not hearers only", and it says:"But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror, for he observes himself, goes away and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the Perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be BLESSED in what he does".( James, 1:22-25)
your analogy and this description of the Tree of Life is truly inspirational and beautiful, as most of your posts are.thank you for the work you have put into this post

Helena