heart matters
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Pitfalls for the Practicing Muslim PDF Booklet
From the introduction: For converts, learning how to gradually grow into an observant, ‘practicing’ Muslim has a host of complex challenges. For those born into Muslim families, the journey towards becoming practicing presents its own set of hurdles. Once practicing, however, both the convert and born Muslim are exposed to the same set of pitfalls… Continue reading
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Be Like the Bee: Ten Spiritual Rules for Daily Life
This is another booklet from The Humble I Print series. This one brings together ten spiritual principles from some of our past Imams and Shaykhs that we should try to ground our daily lives in. The principles are practical, liveable and, ultimately, should be transformative. Each principle is accompanied by a brief explanation, helping to… Continue reading
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The ‘Dream’ World v. the Real World
FOR MUSLIMS, WHILE this world is a theatre of joy and an arena of responsibilities, it is primarily a place of preparation for what is to come. What we believe, say and do here has ultimate consequences for what happens to us in the Final Judgement and the life after which follows. Given the immediacy… Continue reading
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Imam Ahmad’s Spiritual Vision
IN THIS POST we shall see how Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal’s spiritual vision was part of a larger part of his overall path of tahqiq al-ikhlas — ‘actualising true sincerity’ to Allah. For whatever else it might mean, spirituality in Islam is about the ruh or ‘Spirit’. It is about how to strip away the… Continue reading
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The Journey Starts from the Outside-In
WE READ IN the Holy Qur’an: Assuredly, Allah loves those who turn to Him in repentance, and those who strive to purify themselves. [Q.2:222] Given that the context of the verse is about women’s menstruation, the first thing included in the idea of purification, or taharah, is purification of the body from physical and ritual… Continue reading
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Contentment: Software of the Soul
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… Continue reading
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Impediments to Suluk: Six Steps in the Devil’s Deception
Masters of the inward life tell us that the aim of suluk or spiritual wayfaring to God is: al-tahabbub ila’Llah bi ma yarda – ‘Becoming beloved to Allah by doing that which pleases Him.’ They also teach that this Station of Being Loved, this maqam al-mahbubiyyah, must be grounded in knowledge and the firm resolve to… Continue reading
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Friday Reminder for Thoughtful Hearts: 2
WE READ IN THE Qur’an: And when the [Friday] prayer is ended, then disperse in the land and seek of Allah’s favour, and remember Allah much, that you may succeed. [Q.62:10] The shari‘ah combines between establishing Allah’s rights; like prayer, fasting and dhikr, and between securing benefits to oneself; such as the need to earn a living.… Continue reading
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Friday Reminder for Thoughtful Hearts: 1
THE QUR’AN says: Whoever does righteousness, be they male or female, and has faith, We will cause them to live a goodly life. [Q.16:97] The ‘goodly life,’ explained by the great sages and scholars of Islam to mean a life of inner contentment and happiness, is profoundly tied to doing righteous deeds, and doing them well.… Continue reading