Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali opens his biography of the venerable saintly scholar, ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, with this highly profound and glowing tribute: ‘The worldly renuncient (al-zahid), shaykh of the age, exemplar of the knowers [of Allah] (qudwat al-‘arifin), sultan of the shaykhs, master of the people of the path in his time (sayyid ahl al-tariqah fi…
Contentment: The Soul’s Software & the Mark of True Tawhid
In a very short, yet highly instructive passage, the venerable Hanbali jurist and saintly scholar, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, said: لَا بُدَّ لِكُلِّ مُؤْمِنٍ فِي سَائِرِ أَحْوَالِهِ مِنْ ثَلَاثَةِ أَشْيَاءَ : أَمْرٌ يَمْتَثِلُهُ، وَنَهْيٌ يَجْتَنِبُهُ، وَقَدْرٌ يَرْضَى بِهِ. فَأَقَلُّ حَالَةِ الْمُؤْمِنِ لَا يَخْلُو فِيهَا مِنْ أَحَدِ هَذِهِ الْأَشْيَاءِ الثَّلَاثَةِ، فَيَنْبَغِي لَهُ أَنْ يَلْزَمَ هَمَّهَا قَلْبُهُ، وَلِيُحَدِّثَ…
Turning to God After All Else Has Failed Us
Isn't it the height of bad faith if we turn to God only after everyone else, or after everything else, has failed us? Isn't that trivialising God's greatness that we've put Him last on our list? If so, will He still listen to my plea for help? Should I still turn to Him? Or will it be a case of: 'The cheek of it!'? ♦ In…
‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani: See[k]ing God in the Shopping Mall
In our second visit to the discourses of the saintly shaykh, ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (the first outing may be read here), we find him discussing the issue of going to the market place: or, in our time, the shopping mall. While it is beyond doubt that markets and commerce have played a critical role in Muslim…