Monday, August 13, 2012
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Bawa Muhaiyaddeen on Zikr
"You don't have to sit in one place to do this (the zikr.) You don't have to close your eyes and do this. You don't have to have a special place to do this. While you're walking, while you're sitting, while you're sleeping, while you're eating, while you're drinking, while you're working -That will work automatically. Like how the water ripples and goes on the stream consistently. It doesn't stop; it always keeps on moving."
"If you go on saying that amount [43,242 times per day], if you keep on moving your zikr so much, now God glorifies you 400 million million times. He prays to you because He now has to respond to your zikr. So to the sounds of your zikr, He has to respond to that. It's not a sound that has no response. He will respond to every sound of yours. So His sound now comes to you. Your resonance is with Him and His Resonance is with you. That is what you call a reply...
Having transcended the four religions...you get to the station of Sufiyyat. And in that station of Sufiyyat, you merge in God and become one. That is what is meant by Sufism. This kind of prayer and worship is what we have to do."
~Bawa Muhaiyaddeen,The Third Kalimah CD, tracks 7-9, July 19, 1975. ♥
~Bawa Muhaiyaddeen,The Third Kalimah CD, tracks 7-9, July 19, 1975. ♥
Monday, August 6, 2012
The Prophet said, "Nothing ascends to Allah except good."
Allah's Apostle said, "If somebody gives in charity something equal to a date from his honestly earned money ----for nothing ascends to Allah except good---- then Allah will take it in His Right (Hand) and bring it up for its owner as anyone of you brings up a baby horse, till it becomes like a mountain." Abu Huraira said: The Prophet. said, "Nothing ascends to Allah except good."
(Bukhari :: Book 9 :: Volume 93 :: Hadith 525)
"I have been all things unholy.
If God can work through me, he can work through anyone."
~ St. Francis of Assisi
- Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
- Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
- Where there is injury, pardon.
- Where there is doubt, faith.
- Where there is despair, hope.
- Where there is darkness, light.
- Where there is sadness, joy.
- O Divine Master,
- grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
- to be understood, as to understand;
- to be loved, as to love.
- For it is in giving that we receive.
- It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
- and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
- Amen.
-
- Lord, make me a channel of thy peace;
- that where there is hatred, I may bring love;
- that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;
- that where there is discord, I may bring harmony;
- that where there is error, I may bring truth;
- that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;
- that where there is despair, I may bring hope;
- that where there are shadows, I may bring light;
- that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.
- Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted;
- to understand, than to be understood;
- to love, than to be loved.
- For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.
- It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
- It is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.
- Amen.
- (found in AA 12 Steps and 12 Traditions)
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Interfaith Voices From The Next Generation
Young people share their Ramadan experiences in essays that the Huffington Post's Paul Brandeis collected. Nayab Mahmood shares from her perspective as a Muslim in Food for Thought: An Interfaith Ramadan. Why I Stopped Observing Ramadan: A Unitarian Universalist's Journey Toward Spiritual Practice is by UU Nicolas Cable. The third essay is My Jihad by Saadia Ahmad who attends college in Providence, Rhode Island.
Read the essays:
Saturday, August 4, 2012
What we do with how we feel...
"To conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others."
:: Buddha ::
The Prophet, saw, said,
"Actions are judged by motives and a man shall have what he intends... "
:: Bukhari ::
The Prophet, saw, said,
"Fear Allah wherever you are, do good deeds after doing bad ones,
the former will wipe out the latter, and behave decently towards people."
:: At-Tirmidhi ::
The Prophet, saw, said, "One is not strong because of one's wrestling skillfully."
They said, "Allah's Messenger, then who is strong?"
He said, "He who controls his anger when he is in a fit of rage."
:: Muslim ::
Jesus, saw, said,
"But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..."
:: Matthew 5:44 ::
Friday, August 3, 2012
Zikr and Chechen women making zikr...
Those who believe, and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance (zikr) of Allah:
for without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction.
(Quran 13:28)
Men who celebrate the praises of Allah, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides,
and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth,
(With the thought): "Our Lord! not for naught Hast Thou created (all) this! Glory to Thee!
Give us salvation from the penalty of the Fire.
(Quran 3:191)
But those will prosper who purify themselves,And glorify the Name of their Guardian-Lord,
and (lift their hearts) in prayer.
(Quran 87:14-15)
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Each of our brethren...
May we understand the hearts
of each of our brethren
understand their
hunger, illness, old age and death,
and realize their need for
food, clothing and shelter.
And because they live with us,
bringing them peace
will be the benefit
and the fast.
---Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, The Fast of Ramadan---
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Nurah-Rosalie P. Jeter Amat'ullah | Truth Commission on Conscience in War
What Does Islam Say About War?
War Ethics In Islam
The Command of War In Islam
O people! I charge you with ten rules; learn them well!
Stop, O people, that I may give you ten rules for your guidance on the battlefield.
Do not commit treachery or deviate from the right path.
You must not mutilate dead bodies.
Neither kill a child, nor a woman, nor an aged man.
Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire,
especially those which are fruitful.
Slay not any of the enemy's flock, save for your food.
You are likely to pass by people who have devoted their lives to monastic services;
leave them alone.
(Abu Bakr)
Fight for the sake of God those that fight against you*, but do not be aggressive.
(Quran 2:190)
To those against whom war is made,
permission is given (to fight)*
because they are wronged.
(Quran 22:39)
Do no mischief on the earth, after it hath been set in order,
but call on Him with fear and longing (in your hearts):
for the Mercy of Allah is (always) near to those who do good.
(Quran 7:56)
*fighting is allowed only in self-defense
Muslim Women's Institute for Research and Development
Nurah Rosalie Amat'ullah @ Huffington Post
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Rumi Tuesday
Speak a new language
so that the world
will be a new world.
Rumi
***** ***** *****
Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.
Rumi
***** ***** *****
It is Love that holds everything together,
and it is the everything also.
Rumi
Monday, July 30, 2012
Feed the World
There but for the Grace of The Beloved go you and I.
“There is no Them. There are only facets of Us.”
John Green
You can make the difference!
Sunday, July 29, 2012
We are prayer....
image from Wikipedia
WE ARE PRAYER,
coming to prayer and abiding as prayer.
We are prayer serving,
prayer sleeping,
prayer breathing.
May we always move
with the graceful movements
of the prayer,
and the silent dignity
of the prayer,
for prayer is
the very nature of our humanity.
Lex Hixon in Atom from the Sun of Knowledge, Islamic Meditations 154
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
What Is Ramadan? An Explanation by Yusuf Islam
Ramadan Information from About.com
Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens)
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Feed the hungry...
"The day that hunger is eradicated from the earth
there will be the greatest spiritual explosion
the world has ever known.
Humanity cannot imagine the joy
that will burst into the world."
---Federico Garcia Lorca, Spanish poet---
"I have the audacity to believe that people everywhere
can have three meals a day for their bodies,
education and culture for the minds
and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits."
---Martin Luther King Jr.---
Wikipedia on PlumpyNut
The victim of starvation burns up his own body fats, muscles and tissues for fuel.
His body quite literally consumes itself and deteriorates rapidly.
The kidneys, liver, and endocrine system often cease
to function properly.
A shortage of carbohydrates, which play a vital role in brain chemistry,
affects the mind.
Lassitude and confusion set in,
so that starvation victims often seem unaware of their plight.
The body's defenses drop; disease kills most famine victims
before they have time to starve to death.
An individual begins to starve when he lost about a third of his normal body weight.
Once this loss exceeds 40 percent, death is almost inevitable.
---Time Magazine---
We can feed the world!
One in seven people will go to bed hungry tonight.
There are more hungry people in the world
than the combined populations of
USA, Canada and the European Union.
(statistics from World Food Programme website)
Not sure where to donate?
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
In this empty stomach....
Man is like a lute, neither more nor less:
When the lute’s stomach is full, it cannot lament, whether high or low.
If your brain and stomach burn from fasting, their fire will draw constant lamentation from your breast.
Through that fire you will burn a thousand veils at every instant — you will ascend a thousand degrees on the Way and in your aspiration.
Keep your stomach empty! Lament like a flute and tell your need to God!
Keep your stomach empty and speak of the mysteries like a reed!
If you keep your stomach full, it will bring Satan to you at the Resurrection, instead of your intellect, an idol of the Kaaba.
When you fast, good character traits gather round you like servants, slaves and retinue.
Continue your fasting, for it is Solomon’s seal: Give not the seal to the devil, disrupt not your kingdom.
And if your kingdom and army should flee from you, your army will return, so raise the banner!
The Spread Table has come from heaven to those who fast, for Jesus son of Mary has called it down with his prayers.
Await the Table of Generosity in your fast — the Table of Generosity is better than cabbage stew.
- Jalal ud-Din Rumi, translated by William Chittick in “Sufi Path of Love”
Monday, July 23, 2012
Sunday, July 22, 2012
You don't have....
I was hungry
and you gave me food.
I was thirsty
and you gave me drink.
I was a stranger
and you welcomed me.
(Injeel* Matthew 25:35)
*Injeel is the New Testament Gospels of the Christian Bible.
Muslims are taught to make no distinction
between any of the Beloved's Revealed Books.
You don't have
(the first three words
of this poem
are the meaning
of Ramadan Kareem).
It means Ramadan
is generous,
it means Ramadan heals.
It means Ramadan feeds.
It means Ramadan clothes.
You don't have
to be Muslim
to have a blissful Ramadan.
There is room for everyone
at the table where we fast,
that place in the hearts,
where the prayer is:
"May my hunger
empty my wallet
(the first three words
of this poem
are the meaning
of Ramadan Kareem).
It means Ramadan
is generous,
it means Ramadan heals.
It means Ramadan feeds.
It means Ramadan clothes.
You don't have
to be Muslim
to have a blissful Ramadan.
There is room for everyone
at the table where we fast,
that place in the hearts,
where the prayer is:
"May my hunger
empty my wallet
into your hands."
You don't have
to be Muslim
to call out to your Beloved,
"What can I do?
What can I do?"
You don't have
to be Muslim
to make sure
everyone has food.
May all creation
know the meaning
of Ramadan Karim.
Amin
You don't have
to be Muslim
to call out to your Beloved,
"What can I do?
What can I do?"
You don't have
to be Muslim
to make sure
everyone has food.
May all creation
know the meaning
of Ramadan Karim.
Amin
by K. Nur
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Ramadan 2012 - Islamic Relief
I S L A M I C --- R E L I E F --- U S A
Play multiple choice games and generate donations
of free rice for feeding the hungry.
*
*
*
*
*
*
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired,
signifies in the final sense a theft from those
who hunger and are not fed,
those who are cold and are not clothed.
--Dwight Eisenhower--
*
*
*
May the Syrian people be set free from oppression.
Amin
*
*
*
May the fruits of my Ramadan fast
be peace in the world,
hunger taken away.
Amin
*
*
*
Please make a Fatiha, fellow Muslims, for the victims of the Colorado shooting.
May Love Prevail
Amin
Friday, July 20, 2012
May Ramadan Fill All Creation With Peace
image from FanPop
America's present need is not heroics but healing;
not nostrums but normalcy;
not revolution but restoration.
--Warren Harding--
Damascas Residents Told to Flee As Military Promises 'Violent Clashes
I believe in the religion of Islam. I believe in Allah and peace.
Muhammad Ali
*** *** ***
I think that people want peace so much that one of these days
government had better get out of their way
and let them have it.
Dwight Eisenhower
image from FulwoodURC
LIGHT A CANDLE
AT GRATEFULNESS.ORG
* * *
Y a S a l a a m !
May Ramadan fill all creation
with peace and the desire to love.
Amin
Amin
Amin
Thursday, July 19, 2012
To reflect on in the hours before Ramadan...
The Prophet, may Allah immerse him in continuous peace, said,
"An hour's worth of contemplation is better than
sixty years of worship."
The soul's true happiness lies in experiencing the inner joy, and it will never be fully satisfied with outer, seeming pleasures. Its connection is with God, and nothing short of perfection will ever satisfy it.
Bowl of Saki, July 19, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
R A M A D A N
I S
G E N E R O U S
from al-Sakuni, from Abu 'Abd Allah (al-'Imam al Sadiq) (A) that he said:
"Amir al-Mu'minin (A) used to say: `Arouse your heart to contemplation;
keep your side clear off the night; and be heedful towards your Lord."
(Usul al-Kafi, II, 5)
***** ****** *****
The most superior form of worship is perpetual contemplation on God and His Power.
(Usul al-Kafi, II, 55)
****** ****** *****
"GOD IN EVERY HEART"
Snatam Kaur
(make it your mantra)
***** ***** ******
“Say: 'I give you only one admonition,
That you stand before Allah either two by two, or one by one and reflect.”
34:46 Quran
***** ***** *****
IN THE HOURS BEFORE RAMADAN
One woman realizes
the universe
is engaged in wazifa.
A new mother
looks into her infants eyes
and notices
even a baby knows God.
A little boy
tells his grandpa,
"My imaginary friend is the Real.
My imaginary friend is God."
A cat naps in the sun,
using purrs for tasbeh,
dreaming, "Ya Nur!"
A flower bud waits to open,
hoping for Life to witness it.
Ten people die
on a day of war
when it all would stop
if they would gather
together
and chant "Ya Salaam!"
(by K.Nur)
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
On the Nafs
From the Qadiri Rifai Sufi Order teachings on Levels of the Nafs
1. Nafs-i-Ammara, the Commanding Nafs
Behold! The commanding nafs encourages evil, except when my Lord bestows mercy. (Qur'an 12:53)
Traits: narcissistic, mechanical, conditioned, non-reflective, impulsive.
Habits: pride, enmity, cruelty, lust, stinginess.
2. Nafs-i-Lawwama: Blaming Nafs
But I swear by the accusing nafs that this Scripture is true. (Qur'an 75:2)
Traits: conscience, capacity for self-observation.
Habits: backbiting, trickery, conceitedness, hypocrisy, self-consciousness, guilt, fearfulness, wishful thinking, intense desire to please others.
3. Nafs-i-Mulhama: Inspired Nafs
And a nafs and Him who gave order to it and inspired it with a sesnse of what is wrong for it and what is right for it.
Traits: generosity, gratitude, modesty, empathy, ardent desire.
Habits: liberality lacking discrimination, mystical inflation, tendency toward spiritual greed.
4. Nafs-i-Mutmaina: Tranquil Nafs
To the righteous soul will be said, "O you nafs in complete peace and satisfaction!" (Qur'an 89:27)
Traits: dignity, sincerity, courage, compassion, complete loyalty.
Habits: Attachment to spiritual ambition.
5. Nafs-i-Radziyya: Satisfied Nafs
Return to your Lord, content (Qur'an 89:28)
Traits: knowledge of Allah, sincerity, unbounded faith and hope in existential communion.
Habits: mystical intoxication, lack of sobriety and balance.
7. Nafs-Safiyya: Purified Nafs
This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favor to you, and chosen for you as your religion Islam. (Qur'an 5:3)
Traits: freedom from duality, acceptance of Allah's will, joy of union, freedom from expectation, contentment.
Habits: None remaining
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Monday, July 16, 2012
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Women As Imams
...Antonia Toni's Call to Prayer...
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...Women Imams in China...
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...Women Imams in Morocco...
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...Brother Shabir on women leading prayer...
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...Hamza Yusuf says women can lead the prayer...
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...Amina Wadud on gender equality in Islam...
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