Allama Iqbal’s “Khudi” (Selfhood) – Most misunderstood concept
Music in Islam – Al Ghazali’s opinion
How to unite Muslim Ummah – a brand new idea!
Why 5 times prayers are not helping Muslims?
Sunnah – What is lacking today?
Tazkia-e-Nafs (Purification of Soul)
Fundamental Flaw with Modern Sufis
West & Islam: Thought of the Day
4. 13 ideas of thesis topics for academic students: MA/PhD in Islamic Thought & Civilization, 2009
5. 10 things to do in Ramadan
30 Benefits of Following a Shaykh
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“Why Modern Intellectuals don’t reach the Truth?”, 2009
Published in 4 International Journals:-
JRISS, JRSS, Transcendent Philosophy, Suvidya
The pendulum of our age swings with the thrust of relativism, the amplitude of uncertainty while hinging on subjectivity. Paradoxes that defy the best brains, stir the calmest hearts and threaten the conviction of most, revolve around Truth. Reality is a supreme puzzle harder to join after the ascent of intellect. Most religions demand leaps of faith too big for inquisitive minds. Science’s relentless pursuit of facts renders it cold for human emotions. Philosophy cannot avoid and instead drowns in the waves of its times. Psychology mocks man’s dignity by deeming him a puppet dancing to an unheard tune. Intuition and imagination in Art and Literature fail to serve the utilitarian ends of materialism. Hedonism is a forbidden tree whose fruits poison man’s soul; so pleasure, too, is not a beacon of guidance. Thus a cry for intellectual unity among all kinds of people seems fruitless. Yet, one definition of truth worthy of highest consent is that it has to pass the deepest scrutiny of reason and stand the longest test of time.
Is there anything that is qualified to be called the Truth? Do we need a Truth to live for? Can there ever be a single Truth which would unite the whole world without any conflicts? Or is Truth the unmatched utopia which will never prevail beyond wishful thinking? Does Truth stand independent of us? Is Truth only an illusion of our psyche? Is it an inevitable epiphenomenon of the natural disposition of our brain? Do we see things as they are or as we are? Is there a visionary who, blessed with the height of wisdom, possesses a magical answer to these unsolved riddles of our times? The History of Western Thought is full of false prophets who claimed to bring man out of darkness.
Once upon a time, man was foolish, naïve, “backwards” and irrational. When he would set his eyes upon the mighty mountains, he would think of a Creator behind them. When he would witness the undisturbed alternation of sun and moon, he would imagine a God moving them. When he would see his body designed with fragility and perfection, he would ascribe the same cause to it. When he would be in need, he would lift his hands for a prayer. When he would be confused about right and wrong, he would open a Holy Book. However, thanks to science, technology, intellect and progress, there is no such idiocy anymore. Now he can explain everything with science and logic. He does not need fairytales to be fascinated with; perhaps he has grown too wise for them. How superstitious was he!
The above is an excerpt from the diary of a modern man as to how he views religion. Is not it wondrous that some of the most educated and intelligent people turn completely stupid when it comes to religion? People who can design highly complex integrated circuits fail to understand a simple teaching of religion. We have already read the modern man’s explanation, but the secret is much deeper than that which, if understood, would not have given birth to so many “isms”.
The body-soul duality has confused some of the most sophisticated minds since ages. Spiritual masters of all traditions claim that the soul, too, has organs. Let us consider what Western Philosophy calls as the mind-body problem. Neuroscientists claim the dualism of mind-brain to be true; the mind is to soul what the brain is to body; the mind is a ‘spiritual’ brain distinct from the biological brain. To understand how they interact, let us consider computer technology as an analogy. Intelligence itself belongs to the software but it cannot perform its function without its information processor i.e. the hardware. Mind is like the software whereas brain is like the hardware. Furthermore, in both cases, the earlier is non-material whereas the later is material.
Perhaps the two most fascinating scientific discoveries in the last few years are as follows. Firstly, the biological heart which has been considered as only a blood-pump since ages is actually a lot more than that i.e it is an intelligent organ. Secondly, there is a dualism of heart as well i.e besides the biological heart, there is a spiritual heart.
Recently, a relatively new medical discipline known as Neurocardiology has uncovered the presence of the neurons in the heart, the same type of cells that are present in the brain. There are as many as 40000 neurons in the heart. The nervous system of the heart is made up of these neurons which are capable of processing information without the help of neurons from the brain. The neurons of the heart obtain information from the rest of the body and make appropriate adjustments and send back this information from the heart to the rest of the body including the brain. In addition to this, these neurons possess a kind of short-term memory which allows them to function independently of the central nervous system.
These findings prompted the nervous system of the heart being mentioned as the “brain in the heart”. The heart possesses its own little brain, capable of complex computational analysis on its own. Data clearly indicate that the intrinsic cardiac nervous system acts as much more than a simple relay station for the extrinsic autonomic projections to the heart. An understanding of the complex anatomy and function of the heart’s nervous system contributes an additional dimension to the newly emerging view of the heart as a sophisticated information processing centre, functioning not only in concert with the brain but also independent of it.
The heart communicates with the brain in 4 different ways. Firstly, its nerve cells or neurons transmit information to the brain. It is called neural traffic and research has shown that the heart sends more neural traffic to the brain than the other way round. Secondly, the heart has been found to secrete a very powerful hormone called Atrial Natriuretic factor (ANF) that has a profound effect on many parts of the body including those portions of the brain that are involved in memory, learning and emotions. Thirdly, with every heartbeat, pressure waves are generated and when these travel through the arteries to the brain, there are recordable changes in the electrical activity of the brain. Finally, the heart has an electromagnetic energy field 5000 times greater than that of the brain. Since the heart’s energy field is greater than that of the brain, it has a profound effect on the brain’s functions.
Even though the timing of the heartbelt can be influenced by the brain (through the autonomic nervous system), the source of the heartbeat is present within the heart. There appears to be no need for nerve connections between the heart and the brain. That is why, when a person has a heart transplant, all the nerve connections between the heart and brain are cut but that doesn’t stop the heart from working when it is placed in the new person’s chest.
It is common knowledge now that the heart of the unborn child develops and starts pumping long before the brain comes into existence. Even though the actual event which triggers the beating of the heart cells of a baby is not known, it is suspected that the mother’s heart energy conveyed in primal sound waves contains the information that is the code that jump-starts our life. Once the heart begins to beat, it continues to beat throughout a lifetime (auto rhythmic beating function) even when the brain stops working in cases like ‘brain death’. Brain death is described as a condition when brain activity has stopped forever. Hence even when the brain dies, the heart can still live. But when the heart dies (unless we find a replacement for the heart), the brain cannot live. Thus, the brain needs the heart for its survival more than the other way around.
Joseph Pearce, in “Evolution’s End”, claims that the biological heart is governed by another higher unseen order of energy. The behaviors of people after heart-transplants reflect that of the late donors. Experiments were done on two cells taken from the heart and observed through a microscope. In the first experiment in which they are isolated from one another they simply fibrillate until they die but when similar cells are brought near to each other, they synchronize and beat in unison. They don’t have to touch they communicate across a spatial barrier. Our heart made up of many billions of such cells operating in unison is under the guidance of a higher, non localized intelligence so we have both a physical heart and a higher universal heart and our access to the latter is dramatically contingent on the former.
Intelligence used to be defined as only rationality expressed by the brain and measured by IQ tests. In 1983, Howard Gardner of Harvard revolutionized the whole concept of intelligence. He showed 7 distinct kinds of intelligence – logical/mathematical, linguistic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, spatial & bodily/kinesthetic. He claimed that IQ-tests measure only the first two types. In 1996, Daniel Goleman, in his famous book ‘Emotional Intelligence’ showed that life depends far higher on the ability to manage emotions rather than mental abilities alone. Emotional intelligence is of a humanistic type whereas logical intelligence is of a selfish type. Thus intelligence devoid of heart turns man cunning and insensitive. Some deem emotions as only the by-product of brain but it has been shown that emotions are much faster than the thought process and surpass the linear-reasoning of the brain. J. Andrew Armour proved in his book “Neurocardiology” that amygdala, the portion of brain dealing with emotional memory processing, is influenced by the heart.
On a less scientific and much simpler, philosophical and experiential level, we can understand the heart-brain interaction by reflecting on how we reason in our everyday lives. An emotion or feeling gives birth to a thought process. The sequence of the reasoning progresses in the direction as governed by the emotion behind it. The final conclusion which we label as rationale is nothing but the super-imposition of the initial emotion. Man, as we all know, is primarily governed by passion. There are very few instances in which his rationality is unaltered by his emotions. His heart and mind are fully interconnected. Feelings arouse thoughts and thoughts stir feelings and this vicious cycle goes on.
Where man becomes rational in a neutral manner, that is, without favoring his emotions, is mostly the scientific domain. Conclusions of scientific investigations and experiments are more often than not free from adulterations and biases. Why is that so? Why is a scientist more often than not honest in scientific truths? It is because the conclusions have nothing to do with the fulfillment or negation of his desires; but the same scientist will never be that honest in concluding religious truths because, he knows it will directly interfere with his desires. Even in scientific matters like evolution and creation, scientists who are inwardly anti-religious lose their honesty. Atheist Richard Dawkins, who can be called a “fundamentalist Scientist”, despite claiming to be a pure rationalist, rejects a refutation of Darwinism which is more rational than its defense. Scientists, too, are humans like us.
Is intuition a source of intelligence? How can people create art or become great artists with neither learning or studying art nor having an arts degree? They call it artistic sense. But what is artistic sense? Artistic sense is nothing but intuitive intellect invested for art. The rationalists recognize it in the domain of Arts but shun it when it comes to religion. It is their intellectual dishonesty and hypocrisy. Without intuition no one can compose music or write poetry. ‘Gut feeling’ and ‘6th sense’, too, are human experiences that cannot be denied. Why does someone in love possess such a strong and accurate sixth sense regarding his beloved? Heart is way above being just a romantic-sounding word.
Knowledge itself is neither Western nor Eastern. Science is neither materialistic nor spiritual in its scope and purpose; it is concerned with the observation, collection and definition of facts and the derivation from them of general rules. But the inductive conclusions derived from them are not based on facts and observations alone but are influenced, to a very large extent, by the intuitive attitude towards life and its problems. The great German philosopher, Kant, said: “It seems surprising at first, but is none the less certain, that our reason does not draw its conclusions from things, but ascribes them to it” . This ascription cannot be free from intuition coming from the heart.
“If you are not deceived by the mirage, be not proud of your understanding. Your freedom from this optical illusion is due to your imperfect thirst” – Urfi
One seldom comes across a more beautiful explanation of the phenomena of perception than the above words of the Persian poet. With a vehement desire to drink, the sands of the desert would give the impression of a lake but due to the absence of a keen desire for water, one cannot perceive it. A person with hatred for someone will see faults in him that do not even exist, whereas, a person in love with someone finds gems in him out of no where. Human knowledge is only a perception of the reality, not the reality itself. In quantum physics, even the distinction between subject and object has ceased to exist. We see things as we are not as they are. Perception, too, is the work of heart.
Till now we have discussed heart in the light of modern science and simple philosophy. Although it has certainly shed new lights on many things but we have not yet answered the question raised at the start. It is said that where all human intellect ceases, the sagacity of revelation starts. Similarly, where scientists and philosophers have nothing to say further, a deeply spiritual or religious man will have a lot to offer. The role of biological heart and the existence of spiritual heart that Science has discovered now were revealed in the Quran, in more than 100 verses, 15 centuries earlier. But Islam did not just settle there and took the concept to another level altogether. It further explained the role of spiritual heart (qalb) as well which would, in turn, create all the difference.
A mirror reveals the true picture only when it is itself clear and clean. When an impurity mars it, the image is dimmed and if it becomes covered with dirt, it cannot reveal a true reflection. The qalb is a mirror. When it is freed from vices, it is spotless and speaks only the truth. When a vice takes place, a black spot appears on it and if the vices go on persisting, the black spot grows bigger till the heart becomes completely blind to the truth. Just as the brain has an IQ level reflecting capability to understand many things, the heart has a purification level which indicates its capacity to comprehend the Ultimate Truth.
Truth is infinite and cannot reside in a finite container. Human senses have limitations with mortality written all over them. Although the human brain is amazing to reach beyond the stars or inside a micro particle but it, too, would fail to give the right output in some of the fundamental questions of life if it receives input from a corrupt master (qalb). Qalb is the only organ which has the potential to grasp the infinite despite human limitations. Quran says that God neither exists in the heavens nor on the earth but only in the qalb of His true followers. The qalb is His home but He enters it only when it is clean enough for Him.
The modern man, in his sheer ignorance, thinks that religion doesn’t appeal to him because, unlike the older times when man hadn’t developed logical competence, now he has intellectually progressed too much to even need religion. In truth, his heart has been darkened so much due to sins that he has lost the ability to see the reality. God describes such people as deaf, dumb and blind who can neither see the truth nor hear the truth nor speak the truth. When Muhammad (pbuh) said that our heart is the organ which governs our body, his words were spoken from a spiritual point of view because from the physical perspective, even a school-kid knows it. The indifference to religion in the modern age is not because of intellectual superiority but due to spiritual inferiority.
People can be brilliant in their professions with impure hearts because most require only good brains. Religious knowledge, however, is quite different from secular knowledge. If Ghazali, Rumi or Ibn-al-Arabi used logic to the fullest for their brilliant philosophies, it is because with a heart similar to theirs, reason will always reach the truth. The problem with the modern man is that he uses logic as much as them but has a heart not even worth comparing to them. As much as intellect guides man, it leads him astray – the criteria being state of the heart. Modern man’s intellectual discourse is mostly a rational expression or rather justification of the call of lower-self (nafs).
It is noteworthy to compare the ancient and modern concepts of Philosophy. In Greek tradition, it was considered hikmah (wisdom). For Muslims, philosophy was nothing but an honest search for the truth. In today’s academics, the discipline of philosophy comes under Arts because now it has been robbed of its serious nature and is more just a creative ability to think without any profound veracity, with more emphasis on originality rather than depth. Iqbal must have seen the highly obscured vision of Russel, Nietzsche, Freud, Marx and Rousseau, when he said that, “man’s reason aims at the conquest of the world of matter; his love makes conquest of the infinite. Knowledge devoid of love is nothing but juggling with ideas” . Quran rightly described pseudo-intellectualism as nothing but mental conjectures devoid of reality.
Rumi saw the heart, being a special inner insight, bringing us into contact with aspects of reality other than those open to sense-perception and intellect. Intellect, according to him, only restrains the living heart of man and robs it of the invisible wealth that lies within. While admitting the superiority of intuitive intellect over rational, Iqbal said that “where thought grasps Reality piecemeal, intuition grasps it in its wholeness. One fixes its gaze on the temporal aspect of Reality; the other on the eternal. One slowly traverses, specifies and closes up the various regions of the whole for exclusive observation; the other is present enjoyment of the whole of Reality” .
The issue with the modern man is that he is so in love with this illusionary world that his rationality is bound to suit only his emotions which are non-religious and non-spiritual in nature. That is why even when he opens a Holy Book, his interpretation deprives him of the truth and the celestial verses fail to penetrate into his dark heart. On the other hand, the same man, amazingly, shed tears on a mere song or a movie or a novel despite knowing it is only art not the truth! The issue with religion is that it is too deep to be grasped without a receptive heart, and certainly not for the shallowness and superficiality of the modern age. Thus Islamization of knowledge is Islamization of man which in turn is Islamization of hearts.
A Sufi once said that no real understanding of the Holy Book is possible until it is actually revealed to the believer just as it was revealed to the Prophet. Sufis of the past were able to derive many hidden meanings behind seemingly simple Quranic verses. Hazrat Ali gave a lecture from isha till fajr on only the first letter of Bismillah. These people had hearts of gold; we only wear gold on our skins. The spiritual heart (qalb) is the organ of higher knowledge when pure. The holy book is not another collection of papers, letters and ink. It is an infinite ocean of knowledge, but only for the thirsty – not for the heedless, arrogant, “civilized” and “refined gentlemen” of the 21st century! The reason why most cannot perceive God in anything in life is because they have too much of everything else, instead, to long for. A Sufi once said that this universe is His book to take lessons from it.
The modern age speaks too much of enlightenment of the mind, whereas, with a darkened heart, the mind will only give birth to an inverted reality. No wonder arrogance is known as dignity; indifference is known as tolerance; humbleness is known as weakness; material greed is known as ambitiousness; vulgarity is known as freedom; lust is known as love; insensitivity is known as rationality; conscience is known as confusion; short-sightedness is known as practicality; conviction is known as fundamentalism; higher conviction is known as extremism; denial of human limitations is known as genius. The best illustration of inverted reality is human prosperity, a term we hear earlier than we learn how to crawl. By devoting himself solely to increase the quantity and quality of ghair-ullah (non-God), man is now inevitably fascinated with all but God whereas the essence of religion was none but God.
What appears as the decay of religion and the rise of intelligence is in reality nothing but the death and emptiness of hearts turned idle, unable to hear that eternal inner voice. Nietzsche said God is dead. I say conscience is dead. The pinnacle of delusion is that modern man has assumed his superiority amongst creations as an unconditional state whereas it solely relies on his acts – man can even be lower than the beasts. Man is great only because he has will and yet doesn’t sin, not because he sins and can rationally justify it as well. The latter case represents that of the modern man and he is so proud of it. He defies the truth using an instrument which alone cannot even measure it.
If man flies to the highest sky of reason, he would nothing but the clouds of Truth, only if the wings of faith take him that far!
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mushtaq, Gohar (1987). The Intelligent Heart, the Pure Heart: an insight into the heart based on Quran, Sunnah and Modern Science. London: Ta-Ha Publishers
Muhammad, Riaz (1998). Sayings of the Mystics of Islam. Karachi: Dawah Academy
Herlihy, John (1990). In Search of the Truth. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Pustaka Islam
Iqbal, Muhammad. (1982). Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. Lahore: Javid Iqbal.
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“SUFISM – THE MISUNDERSTOOD ISLAM”, 2009
Published in Daily Times newspaper, Ravi Magazine & Pakistan Think-Tank
There are four kinds of opinions about Sufism. The true Sufis claim it as the real Islam. The literalists shun it as a mixture of biddah, kufr and shirk. The pseudo-Sufis “follow” it without knowing anything about its reality. The rationalists deem it only for those who are superstitious, backwards and lack brains. Let us discuss all four with slight details.
The Sufis say that Islam is empty without Ihsan which is worshipping as if one sees God. They say that religion is way beyond acts with a ritualistic and heartless attitude devoid of any concentration. They say that Sufism is a higher dimension of Islam and the perfection of Iman. They aim far above the minimum requirements for salvation. Their focus is not just the quantity but the quality of deeds. They claim Sufism as the spirituality of Islam. Furthermore, they claim some portion of Sufism as a hidden Islam graspable only to them, not even to ordinary scholars let alone to laymen.
The literalists say that Sufism has nothing to do with Quran & Sunnah. They say that whatever Sufis say and do is either different or contradictory to what has been revealed to and practiced by the holy prophet. They say that Shariah is one for all without any distinction between the awaam (common man) and the khawaas (elite). They say that the holy prophet and his companions were the true elites and they didn’t practice Sufism. They do not realize that it is a part of the divine plan that there is a hierarchy within the diversity of creation. Just like plants, animals and humans cannot be put in one category, all humans cannot be put in one category as well. The Quran itself says that Allah has given some prophets precedence and superiority over other prophets. When even all prophets cannot be put in one bracket, how can all humans be categorized as one? Similarly, within believers, the Quran has divided humanity into many categories with each having its own level in the eyes of Allah. So the distinction between the common man and those destined for spiritual and intellectual ranks is a Quranic concept and doesn’t need any debate at all.
The pseudo (fake) Sufis are the liberals who find the conventional, orthodox and traditional Islam as dry, boring and tough not knowing that it is a compulsory pre-requisite to Sufism. They take only the outer form of some aspects of Sufism without even a hint to their inner reality. For example, they are delighted with the artistic aspects of Sufism and find a way to follow their nafs under the guise of Sufi Art not knowing that before creating Sufi Art, one has to become a Sufi which is a lifetime struggle against nafs. Women who do not want to cover themselves as ordered by God, and, men who do not want to follow the Sunnah in appearance consider themselves as “Sufis”. The fact that Sufism stresses on the inner aspects does not mean that the outer is irrelevant; what it teaches is that the outer has to be combined with the inner. In the case of men, since beard and Islamic attire are both not compulsory, one may become a Sufi without Sufi appearance as an exception like Iqbal, but it is very rare. However, in the case of women, since the attire is a compulsion, it is impossible to be a Sufi without it.
The rationalists deny Sufi knowledge because according to them it has nothing to do with reason, logic and proof. This category has similarities as well as differences with the literalists. The difference is that where the later implies revelation as proof, these imply rationality or empirical information as proof. The similarity is that both deny religious experience and intuition as sources of knowledge because for them there are no higher levels of human consciousness than their own. Thus where one consists of those who are modernists to the bones, the other carries the germs of modernism.
Sufism, if properly understood, is the heart of Islam and the essence of deen. It comprises of tazkia-e-nafs (purification of soul) and tasfia-e-qalb (purification of heart). It involves the diminishing of ego, the dominance over animal instincts, abstinence from vain or worldly desires and the freeing of one’s heart from the love of all but God. The sole aim is an intimate relationship with Allah by self-negation.
No discourse on Sufism is worthy without a discussion on qalb (human heart). The entire Quran is full of verses which say that people who deny the truth have hearts with blameworthy traits. The sayings of holy prophet also convey the same theme. The Sufis claim that just as the denial of truth is linked to hearts that are diseased or hardened or blackened, the comprehension of truth to the extent of an almost direct “vision” of God is linked with the purity of heart. This fact is proved by prophet’s experience of miraaj. Although no heart can be purer than his heart but since this experience was of the highest order unmatched by Sufis, even his heart had to be washed thrice. Moreover, when his chest was ripped apart in childhood, even then his heart was washed.
The Sufis insist on nothing more than the act of zikr (remembrance of God)as it is the most supreme cleanser of hearts. However zikr has a much broader and deeper meaning in Sufism. It is not the repetition of a mere tongue-recital of divine names and words as non-Sufis do with the help of beads (tasbi). In general, it is a heartfelt awareness of Allah irrespective of whatever actions are on the limbs. A specific practice to develop this state is muraaqba (concentration) in which they do zikr in isolation in such a way that the tongue, heart and mind all converge on celestial verses while being forgetful of everything other than Allah. Both Quran and hadith have claimed zikr (whether general or specific) as among the most virtuous deeds.
The difference between calculating the height of Mount Everest and climbing it is not more than that between the theoretical conceptualization of and practical adherence to religion. That is why the main theme of Sufis is ishq-e-ilahi (love for Allah) as it is love that softens hearts and inspires men to reach heights, unmatched. Hence they differ from philosophers, theologians and jurists of religion who don’t go beyond mental comprehension. Instead of trying to understand God by reading or thinking, they believe in finding Him. Yet, due to the depth of Sufi thought, it is inevitable that some of the greatest intellectual contributions to both philosophy and literature came from Sufis.
A strong condemnation of Sufism is that since it is about renunciation and other-worldliness, if it is practiced, it will further stagnate the progress of ummah which is the last thing needed. This misconception is due to the lack of understanding of the word dunya in Islamic dictionary. Dunya, which is worthless in the eyes of God, is not attaining a high rank in the society itself but attaining it either for egoistic reasons or love of material things. If the same high rank is attained for a righteous cause with a godly intention, it is deen and not dunya. This proves we need Sufism all the more for two reasons. Firstly, since a Sufi cannot attain status through the wrong means, he has to rely on his brilliance alone and thus will be more competent. Secondly, if there will be Sufis at the top of society, there will be no dirty politics because they would not be sitting on high ranks for selfish motives. Thus Sufism has nothing to do with going to a forest and sitting under a tree doing zikr. Zikr is free from the limitations of place and time.
So far we have discussed aspects of Sufism which even its greatest opponents can only admire. What most don’t realize is that Sufism didn’t start with those categorized under the word, “Sufi”. All those since Adam (AS) who lived exclusively for God in the footsteps of prophets were Sufis. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was the biggest maker of Sufis and his special companions known as Ashaab-e-Sufa who devoted their entire days and nights to residing in Masjid-e-Nabwi learning the essence and spirit of Islam were true Sufis irrespective of when this word was introduced in any language. It was for a reason that Hazrat Ali Hajweri[1] said that once there used to be Sufis but the name of Sufism was not there; now there are only Sufi terminologies but there are no Sufis left. However, there are two things that need to be understood at all costs. Firstly, someone who rejects all aspects of Sufism may enter the lowest ranks in paradise but cannot become a momin at all. Secondly, a momin who is considered as a non-Sufi isactually a semi-Sufi because he cannot become a momin without following a major portion of Sufism even if he rejects the minor portion.
However, Sufism is not as simple as we have disclosed so far. Its history is full of controversial statements and actions. Many Sufis have been labeled as either heretics or crazy. Few were persecuted or forced to leave their towns. Most were either never understood or many years after their deaths. The first criticism against Sufis is their distinction in knowledge between the common men and the spiritually elite ones. The question is when Islam is the same for everyone, who put this distinction? The holy prophet himself created this distinction. Hazrat Abu Hurairah narrates a hadith: “God gave me two types of knowledge. One, I have transferred to you. The other, had I transferred, people would have cut down my throat”. When the purpose of holy prophet’s life was to spread knowledge, why would he say such a thing had there been no distinction? Furthermore, another hadith is, “We, the assemblies of the prophets have been commanded to address men in proportion to their intellects”. It proves that prophets do not disclose everything to laymen.
The second criticism raised against Sufis is about their claim that there are hidden and higher dimensions to meanings of Quranic verses. Hazrat Ali narrates a hadith, “every verse of the Qur’an has four layers of meaning: an exoteric sense (zahir), an inner sense (batin), a limit (hadd), and a beware point (matla‘)”. It was for a reason that Al-Ghazali claimed four levels of Tauheed. He said that the first and lowest is the literal text of Surah Ikhlaas which is for ordinary men. The second is for the khawaas (elite). The third is for the elite among the elite. About the fourth, he said that had he disclosed, people would call him a kafir. Here, we cannot help but mention a very subtle aspect of a Quranic verse [Yousaf Ali 3:7]. “In it are verses basic (of established meaning); they are the foundations of the Book: others are allegorical…..but no one knows its hidden meanings except God. And those who are firmly grounded in knowledge…..none will grasp the Message except men of understanding”. Notice that the full stop between the bolded lines is put by the translator and is obviously not in the original Arabic text, without which it would be read: “no one knows its hidden meaning except God and those who are firmly grounded in knowledge”.
Religious knowledge is divided into two: evidence-based and experience-based; the earlier means the literal text of Quran and hadith; the later implies the one earned by actually walking on the path taught by the earlier and thus a more profound understanding of the earlier. The literalists reject the later one due to their shallowness, superficiality and short-sightedness. Hence, although they are fully qualified for eternal salvation, they deprive themselves of an immense treasure of knowledge. The Sufis believe in learning by doing it, a rule people otherwise follow in all walks of life e.g a doctor who has not practiced medicine or treated patients will never grasp the expertise through reading books alone.
In my last post I discussed intuition as a source of intelligence. The Sufis take this concept to another level. They claim intuition (ilhaam) with a pure heart as a source of higher knowledge beyond sense and reason. It is below only the prophetic revelation in the hierarchy of God-man communication. Since non-Sufis cannot see anything in between revelation and reason, they are divided into 2 categories – the ordinary religious man deems Sufis as deviants as he sees only revelation, whereas the modern rationalist deems them senseless as he sees only reason. Both are wrong as they don’t see anything in between. This intuitive aspect allows Sufis to have access to those channels of truth which non-Sufis don’t have and thus are deemed as crazy.
Now we will discuss the most “dangerous” part of Sufism – the things said by Sufis which seem totally outside the bounds of Shariah. Human language is lost for words to describe a state of spiritual witnessing. Few moments of mystical experience yield more knowledge than a thousand books. During such experiences, the levels of human consciousness reach far beyond a normal man. Thus mystics have access to those channels of truth which normal people cannot even think about. Here we discover another reason why prophets are greater than the Sufis. Both of them know and experience way beyond a common man but where the prophet’s superior wisdom doesn’t let him disclose everything, the childish ecstasy of a Sufi turns him vocal and thus leads to trouble among novices. That is why Sufis call themselves as intoxicated.
Let us consider the most extreme case of the great Mansur Al-Hallaj who uttered probably the most controversial words in the history of Sufism, “I am the Truth”. If his words are taken literally, how can a non-Sufi accept it? It took another great Sufi, Rumi, to explain it three centuries later after experiencing the same level of proximity to God. As a person travels the path of Sufism, his own “I” (as standing in opposition to Him) gradually gets diminished as it continues to attain unification with “He”. There comes a point when the mystic doesn’t even possess an individual “I”. When Hallaj said “I”, since his own “I” had diminished in the love of “He”, he meant “He is the Truth” with the highest possible conviction. Such apparent contradictions arise due to the fact that a Sufi has two centers of consciousness – human and divine. Outside his state, he speaks from the earlier one; during his state he speaks from the later one.
Some Sufis recognize two deep layers within qalb. The first is called ruh, the spirit and the second which lies even deeper is called sirr, the secret. The sirr is the deepest layer of consciousness and is infact “beyond consciousnesses”. It is the sacred core of the soul where the divine and the human become united, unified and fused. In other words, it is in this dimension of the soul that the “uniomystica” is realized. The ego-consciousness which is actualized in this dimension and which naturally is the highest form of ego-consciousness in Sufism is no longer the consciousness of the mystic himself. It is rather the consciousness of the divine I speaking through him.
Ibn-al-Arabi’s Wahdat-ul-Wajood (Unity of Being) is another serious example. It implied that God alone has existence, and, was misunderstood as Pantheism by the Western Orientalist, Nicholson. It took someone as great as Shah Wali Ullah to admit that far from being false, it was the ultimate realization of Tawheed on a most superior level. Amazingly, Quantum physics, the enemy within secular science, has recently proved exactly the same thing. We live in a spiritual (rather than material) universe. There is a universal consciousness right from an atom to a human being. There is no dead matter. The intensity of this universal soul differs among creations and thus creates the hierarchy from matter to plants to animals to humans. The scientific explanation is not part of this topic but it proves that both extremes were wrong – the dualism of Creator-creation as well as that everything is God – the right view is that “in everything there is God”. Reading scientific proof of Wahdat-ul-Wajood sounds almost unthinkable but the relationship between a high intuition and ordinary rational intellect was best expressed by Iqbal:
“Where thought grasps Reality piecemeal, intuition grasps it in its wholeness. One fixes its gaze on the temporal aspect of Reality; the other on the eternal. One slowly traverses, specifies and closes up the various regions of the whole for exclusive observation; the other is present enjoyment of the whole of Reality”.
Since Thought (brain) will grasp that, much later, which a high Intuition (heart) grasped much earlier, it took 1000 years for scientists to understand that which a mystic understood in a moment. The incommunicability of a mystical state, in the form of an argument, between the one undergone and the one challenging its authenticity raises serious doubts. It is because intuitive knowledge, despite being valid, is unverifiable. However, as discussed earlier, it is even verifiable for those who reach that spiritual level. The great Rumi once said that “whatever exists in the unseen realm has its roots in the seen realm; the forms may change but the essence remains the same”. The multiplicity of different beings that we observe in the universe with the physical eyes is reduced to unity when witnessed with the eye of heart. Thus the mystic, in that state, “sees” or rather experiences nothing but one being in the form of a light (nur) (or some other inexpressible entity) everywhere.
Modern man finds such subjective experiences impossible to believe in. How can we rely in matters of knowledge on something as unreliable as experience of others? What about History? Why, then, does he believe in Aristotle or Plato? Has he himself seen, heard or touched them? The whole recorded history is nothing but an account of other’s experiences. “If a man could say nothing but what he can prove, history could not have been written” – Michael Jackson. Not only this but when we closely study the lives of these Sufis, their truthfulness even in ordinary matters of life was undeniable let alone in a matter as big as the experience of God.
A very strong criticism against Sufism is its extremeness and lack of balance. The Urdu word Ishq, which has no equivalent in its English translation “love”, does true justice to Sufism. Ishq itself turns something finite into infinite but when the subject of that ishq is Himself Infinite, then how can there be balance in it? The holy prophet, again, due to his superiority above Sufis could combine the mutually exclusive combination of Ishq and moderation; otherwise, there is no greatness without a touch of madness. A Sufi sees neither heaven nor hell but only his Beloved. For him, deeds done for the fear of a fire or want of a garden is a trade, not worship.
The various orders (tariqah/silsila) of Tasawwuf have often been criticized as they involve a kind of exaggerated relationship between a Shaikh (master) and a mureed (disciple) in which the later “blindly follows” the earlier by a “slavish imitation”. Even religious people, influenced by contemporary thought, criticize it. It is true that Islam is submission to God and not to someone else but before that one has to learn submission itself and it is not an easy or an overnight process at all as it is harsh on the nafs. The purpose behind such a relationship is learning the “art of submission” which once learned makes following Islam in totality easy on the nafs. Otherwise a genuine Shaikh never goes against Quran and Sunnah in both speech and action.
Secondly, since the Shaikh has walked the path, he knows exactly all the traps and webs of both Satan and nafs and how to avoid and conquer them as well. Thus he makes the aspirant’s journey much easier. The traveler’s spiritual progress is accelerated as a result. Those who do not follow anyone remain stagnant in tarbiat (training of nafs) and islah (self-rectification). When a 1000 things told by a Shaikh are followed, since he is only human, there maybe 10 wrong things as well but who would deprive himself of the benefit of the other 990?
“Every Sufi order is descended from the Prophet. The rite of initiation (bait) is a crucial moment in the history of Islam when, sitting beneath a tree, he called on his Companions to pledge their allegiance to him over and above the pledge they made at their entry into Islam. The prototype of the pact between Master and disciple is mentioned in the Quran[XLVIII:18]: God was well pleased with the believers when they pledged allegiance unto thee beneath the tree. He knew what was in their hearts and sent down the Spirit of Peace upon them and hath rewarded them with a near victory”.
Islamic Education, Culture and Civilization is incomplete without the concept of adab. One may explain everything about Islam in the most convincing manner but he cannot become a scholar unless he has adab for those above him in knowledge, taqwa or experience. Today we come across students and professors of Islamic studies who reject Sufism simply because they cannot understand it. Rather than considering their own lowliness, they reject something followed by the greatest Muslims in history, both qualitatively and quantitatively. The only explanation behind this severe lack of adab is arrogance.
This raises a very serious question. Is there anyone other than the holy prophet who was so pious or knowledgeable that he was infallible? No. Ghazali or Ibn-al-Arabi or Rumi or even the Sahaba (Companions) didn’t have that right at all. But the point that modernists miss is that only those who themselves reach that or near that level have the right to refute them, not us. The hierarchy among scholars cannot be broken; one cannot jump without crossing the intermediate levels. When someone of the caliber of Ibn-e-Taimiyah criticizes Sufism, then it is intellectual difference worthy of respect. But people like us have no choice but to be silent when we don’t understand a Sufi or find him contradictory to Quran due to our own low understanding of Quran.
What it is about Sufis that they deserve knowledge and experiences of a different level altogether? Here, they can be clearly differentiated from other religious people. Religious people may follow all the compulsory acts and abstain from all prohibited acts but when it comes to negating oneself, no one tolerates anything that hurts his pride among others. There is no veil between man and God thicker and most hard to lift than his own ego. No one wants to be considered inferior at any cost and would do anything to avoid such an opinion among peers. What makes Sufis the greatest after the prophets is their willingness to suffer humiliation for God because of their ishq (intense love) for Him. They, because of their humbleness, attain indifference to how much people look down upon them. Their selflessness is their highest virtue and their key to unlock the Divine mysteries kept hidden from everyone else.
Critical Analysis of Modern Islamic Scholars: Philosophical, Epistemological, Scientific & Spiritual Problems
Published in “Pakistan Times” newspaper & “Askedon” Educational Blog:
The entire thought of many modern Islamic scholars is based on the assumption that the strength of an argument is directly proportional to the truthfulness of the claim. Educated and literate people follow them because of the fact that their arguments are stronger than others. If you ever listen to their lectures, watch their videos or read their books & articles, the most frequent words are, “this argument is weak; that argument is strong”. The assumption on which this entire paradigm of knowledge is based – is it wrong or right? Does religion or life in general teach us that something is true or false because it is based on a strong or weak argument?
I strongly disagree. The strength of an argument is a sign of the intelligence of a person. It is not a sign of someone being on Haq (Truth or Reality). The weakness of an argument is a sign of lack of intelligence. It is not a sign of someone being on Batil (Falsehood or lie). The lawyer who wins the case or the debater who wins the debate do not necessarily represent who is based on truth or who has more authentic knowledge. It tells us who has the better brains.
In religion, the proximity to truth/reality is only partially related to the intelligence of mind and it is intimately related to the purity of heart. A pure heart free of spiritual sicknesses will accept the truth even with a low IQ. An impure heart full of spiritual sicknesses will reject the truth even with a genius IQ. Yes the best combination is people like Allama Iqbal who had both genius & inner purity and that is why he was such a great scholar but if Allah has to choose between one of the two things for giving someone hidayat (divine guidance), He will definitely choose inner purity not genius. The history of this world as well as the present era is full of genius people who had or have zero iman (faith/belief).
Religion is the ONLY field of knowledge in this world in which the criteria for reaching or not reaching the right conclusions is based not just on the data and information you have acquired, memorized and processed mentally but it is also highly based on your taqwa (piety), spiritual level, tazkia-e-nafs (self-purification) and connection with the Almighty. You can become the best doctor or best engineer while being a horrible, sinful, unethical and immoral person if you have great brains and have done hard work in your study and practice but you CANNOT become a great Islamic scholar at all without possessing an extremely high level of the virtuous traits mentioned earlier.
If modern Islamic scholars should be followed because they have better arguments than others, then we should apply the same formula and same principle outside Islam as well. We should follow all those atheists, agnostics, Christians, Jews, New age spiritualists & Yogi mystics like Sadhguru who do not believe in Islam at all and have extremely powerful arguments against either religion in general or Islam specifically. Why should we restrict ourselves to the bounds within Islam only? If strong arguments is all that matters, then why not follow schools of thought, philosophies or other religions that are in total contradiction with Quran/Hadith because they too have all the arguments in their baggage to support their own point of view and negate our point of view.
I simply cannot understand why followers of modern Islamic scholars apply this method only within Islam. Why not outside Islam? That is not intellectual honesty. If a genius non-Muslim can prove Islam is wrong on the basis of Science or Philosophy or comparative study of religions or the awful state of Muslim world since centuries with the strength of his arguments, why should these followers remain Muslims? Why should they close their eyes to the powerful analysis of that anti-Islamic scholar? Why do they conveniently negate all the highly intelligent people who speak and write against Islam very logically and rationally? Why do they fit their theory of strong argument only among Islamic scholars? Isn’t that bias or prejudice?
I am saying this because I have been searching for the truth since more than 15 years during which I explored not just Muslim scholars but also non-Muslim and even anti-Islamic intellectuals. I know it for sure that all of them have one thing in common – they all have equally valid arguments. So Islam is not the only one with arguments. I assure you. It seems as if followers of modern Islamic scholars have not explored these other options at all and they have wrongly assumed that their teacher has the best arguments in the world.
The big question which is automatically raised at this point is then why should we be a hardcore Muslim if we know there are arguments against Islam as well? Secondly, within Islam, why should we ascribe to Sufism/Tasawuf if we know there are arguments against it from many Islamic scholars of present & past?
1. What is Iman? Iman is believing in something without evidence because it is told by Holy Prophet SAW who is a prophet and, thus, infallible. I have read his entire life in details from A to Z and I am convinced that when he claimed to be the last prophet of Allah, it is impossible that he was either lying or in a state of delusion. I am not a Muslim due to any other reason at all. I have no proof at all that there is any life after death, heaven, hell, angels, Day of Judgment etc but I only believe in all this because it was said so by Muhammad SAW – that’s it – nothing more, nothing less!
2. Religion is not just an academic or scholastic or intellectual or “mental gymnastic” activity which is only to be read & understood logically like Physics, Chemistry or Biology.
Real religion is something far beyond that. It is not research but search for the Divine. It is an entire journey rather than a mere set of concepts, theories, ideas & beliefs. It is a living experience; it is unveiling of something hidden; it is tasting something spiritual; it is disclosure of deep truths; it is a comprehension of reality where the heart and soul matter more than the mind; it is only understood by practically following and implementing it in your life and not by debates or discussions or social media rants; it is NOT a test of your IQ level but a test of your humility/humbleness; it is not a test of how smart you are but a test of how much you can kill your ego, how much you can sacrifice your desires, how much suffering you can bear for your religion, how much worldly loss you can manage due to your righteousness, how much you can fight against your Nafs (lower-self), how much you can love your Creator and how much you can drown in the footsteps of Holy Prophet SAW.
This moral, ethical, psychological, emotional and in simple words – PRACTICAL – dimension of religion is best demonstrated throughout 1400 years by Muslim saints/sages who are now known as Sufis or Ahl-e-Tasawuf. In the times of Holy Prophet SAW, they were known as Sahaba (companions of the prophet) because then Sufism or Tasawuf was fully in practice without its name or terminology or label. Later, when the spiritual state of Muslims deteriorated drastically, it became a specialized branch of learning via Sufi orders (silsilay) like Chishti, Qadri, Naqshbandi, Suhrawardy etc.
These people who we call Awlia Karaam are blessed with wisdom, penetrating insights & sincerity of intention (ikhlaas) much more than scholars or professors or intellectuals (danishwar). Wilayat or Sainthood (not in the Christian sense) is an indispensable and integral part of Islam. Anyone who denies it denies some of the greatest Muslims ever in history. Thus, I very respectfully disagree with modern Islamic scholars on this as well. Calling Sufism a parallel alternative path to Islam is negating the inner, deeper, mystical aspect of Islam which is its core, essence & spirit – not outside it!
Now, I will comment on Science & Islam. Very often, modern Islamic scholars will say, “Quran said this 1400 years ago and Science discovered it or proved it now”. Using Science to prove the veracity of Islam is an unbelievably wrong approach in many ways.
Science is divided into facts & theories. Facts are few and remain unchanged while theories are many and keep changing because Science has always been and will always be in a state of constant evolution, progression, discovery and exploration. There is no finality in it. There is nothing conclusive about it. Why? Because it is human knowledge and, thus, always dynamic. Religion, on other hand, is always static, fixed & permanent because it is based on revelation (wahi) which is from God. Using a temporary thing to prove something permanent is a flawed method to start with. If tomorrow Science changes its stance on something which was earlier compatible with Quran, would we disbelieve in Quran because of that?
Quran is not a textbook of Science at all and is a book of hidayat (guidance) and spiritual nourishment. Its primary purpose is elevating our consciousness about deeper realities. It was not sent to us for engaging us in scientific experiments. Even when it says anything about Science, the purpose of that verse is not telling us a scientific fact or theory at all but giving a religious message and guiding a seeker of God while casually mentioning something related to Science. If we take that comment on Science too seriously and start comparing it with modern science, it is a very immature, superficial, shallow and amateur approach to scripture and will land us in a lot of confusion because there are many incompatibilities between Quran & modern Science. Should we lose our faith because of that? Taking Science from Quran is missing the whole point of that revealed verse which has a totally different and much higher purpose for mankind.
Scientific theories are born when a scientist philosophizes on a fact he discovers or learns. The fact is in nature but the theory is in his head as a result of his own thinking. The worldview, philosophy of life, beliefs, spiritual outlook and metaphysical framework of that scientist will determine what his theory concludes and what is the epistemological nature of his work? Today, due to the fact that Muslims are far behind the West in all domains of worldly knowledge, Science is in the hands of the West where most people do not believe in Islam and many disbelieve in any religion for that matter. Thus, the Science of today is not pure Science at all but it is Western Science which is heavily influenced by ideas based on Kufr (disbelief) because, sadly, it currently belongs to disbelievers (Kufaar). Science is not a neutral endeavor at all. It is simply too naive to consider it free from distortion. Thus, seeking support for Islam from a Non-Islamic Science is a failed venture from day one.
Last but not the least, I will discuss the immense spiritual problems of current scholars. It is a very common practice that after learning Islam and gaining expertise on it, people start seeking fame, limelight, recognition, glory and worldly status. They start making huge number of followers. They end up becoming a brand. Thus, Islamic scholars become celebrities as big as cricketers, rock-stars and actors. Immense prestige, honor and respect is seen as a sign of Allah being pleased with them. This is clearly the devil playing with them and they do not even know it properly. Since we are living in times of fitna (trials) and spiritual degradation, even Islamic scholars are not safe from the traps of Nafs (lower-self). They themselves need guidance and self-rectification to a very high extent. This is why the Quran says that only the real scholars fear Allah. The last thing on the mind of a real scholar is being a part of news and interviews.
The basic prerequisite of being an Islamic scholar is following the spiritual path much more than an ordinary person does. The basics of Islamic spirituality teach us as our primary lesson that we have to intentionally avoid popularity and opportunities for it. We have to conceal ourselves and impose on ourselves being very low-profile so that we can strive to develop and maintain ikhlaas (pure intentions) in whatever we do. Our objective, goal and purpose is only and solely pleasing Allah and becoming a much better Muslim. That is the whole benefit and fruit of real knowledge. It is not for making fans, impressing others and feeding our ego. People of humility and humbleness do not indulge in any marketing or promotion of themselves or their work. They do not chase media, TV or social media platforms for getting attention and praise. They quietly and silently do their work without any flags or horns or clapping. Their entire concern and focus is on being accepted by Allah in His Kingdom rather than making a big name in society or masses.
And indeed, only Allah has perfect knowledge. May Allah forgive me if I have mentioned something wrong – Ameen!
What is spirituality? Why is it so unpopular?
Published in “Global Village Space” & “New Age Islam”, 2021
What comes to your mind when you hear spirituality? In the West, spirituality is often confused with Yoga, meditation, and similar exercises for attaining peace of mind. I do not deny that inner peace is a fruit of spirituality, but it does not imply spirituality. Islam has a very comprehensive, deep, and intense understanding of spirituality. There is a very high criterion for something to be spiritual.
Spirituality is the process and pursuit of inner purification, unveiling of God, unlearning of false knowledge, attainment of wisdom, the elevation of morals, the perfection of ethics, and self-rectification. It is a journey in which you slowly and gradually attain proximity to Holy Prophet (PBUH). The real purpose of spirituality is to purify your intentions to such an extent that you do everything only to please your Creator. It is an outcome of getting rid of worldly, egotistic, selfish, and materialistic desires. According to religion, a deed as big as giving birth to a country is worthless if there is no sincerity in the intent. You have to fight and conquer the strong impulse of the lower-self (nafs) again and again till your last breath.
Spirituality is almost impossible without a spiritual master, mentor, guide, or teacher? Why? Because the lower-self (nafs) in humans is such a deceptive, powerful, and complex entity that a person cannot analyze and judge his deed objectively without bias, prejudice, narcissism, and favoritism. Only a person who has crossed the spiritual path far ahead of him can rightly tell him why he did something and for what reason. Only a person who has walked miles ahead of him on this vulnerable way can determine if his heart, mind, and soul complied with spirituality. Secondly, the traps of Satan are so clever, brilliantly disguised, and beautified that only a man of superior spiritual level will tell him if he has been deceived or not.
There is no spirituality without religion. In the West, some innumerable people describe themselves as “spiritual but not religious.” Undoubtedly, you can be religious but not spiritual. However, you cannot be spiritual without religiosity. This misunderstanding arose because people assumed certain positive traits to be a sign of spirituality. Love, forgiveness, compassion, honesty, humbleness, generosity, patience, humility, simplicity, tolerance, sincerity, sacrifice, perseverance, and fearlessness are spiritual attributes if accompanied by the correct belief. These qualities alone in themselves do not qualify for spirituality because even an atheist can possess them. There is an immense difference between temperament and spirituality. The motive, psychology, and incentive of a humanitarian who is not a believer may be genuine empathy for others which is commendable. However, it is not comparable with the humanitarian efforts of a Sufi driven solely by the pure intent to earn the pleasure of God alone.
Spirituality is attainable when you sacrifice your desires, wishes, wants, ambitions, goals, dreams, and passion for a higher cause, a Higher Being, a higher aim, and a higher plan. In this regard, you have three options. You do not give up on your objectives and remain far from spirituality; you give up on them and turn towards spirituality; God Himself will destroy all your plans and forcefully bring you towards the spiritual way. Most people would never adopt spirituality because it is giving them the signal that, “Your will, choice, preference, opinion, like, dislike is of no value whereas only the Divine Will is important.” In simple words, YOU are not significant; only HE matters the most.
The second reason spirituality is unpopular is that it may bring a lot of suffering, tragedies, setbacks, disappointments, and rejections, and let us be honest – no one wants that. Why is it so often associated with pain? Rumi, one of the greatest spiritual masters ever, said, “The wound is where the light enters.” We do not want our ego to be hurt because psychologically and emotionally, it is a painful experience. Spirituality is not attainable until and unless your ego gets destroyed – not once, not twice, not thrice – a thousand times indeed. Since human beings are highly egoistic creatures by nature, you cannot sell an idea that says no to the ego.
Here, any intelligent mind would ask why we need to suffer so much in the first place. It is because we need to understand the real purpose and true meaning of life itself. According to religion, the sole aim behind life in this world is seeking, discovering, and recognizing God as He is. There are many veils between man and God. These veils need to lift before we can know the reality of anything. These veils exist due to the false knowledge we learn since childhood from education, parents, society, motivational speakers, and best-selling authors. They have given us perspectives, concepts, definitions, theories, and opinions that oppose spiritual wisdom. We blindly follow them because they complement and endorse our desires. We never see them with critical lenses if they are actually in line with the essence and spirit of religion or not.
Why do the genuine seekers of truth suffer? The deeper, hidden, mystical and secret meanings of everything are bestowed on them when, one by one, their wrong beliefs are shattered by real-life experiences that demonstrate that what they had thought and understood earlier was not the case at all. Instead, what Quran and Sunnah say is the real thing. While an average believer pays lip service to revelation and prophetic traditions, a spiritual person goes through a sequence of circumstances, episodes, and events which leaves him with no choice but to affirm what religion stated many centuries ago. It is called faith in the real sense. This level of conviction cannot be developed by reading books, listening to sermons, academic studies, and intellectual pursuits. It is only possible after you have undergone something abnormal which goes against worldly wisdom, which challenges the phenomenon of cause and effect. The majority of people believe that everything is happening due to cause & effect. However, a spiritual person disbelieves it and realizes that not even a leaf stirs without God’s will.
It is not something to be debated, argued, or discussed in drawing-rooms; it has to be experienced, tasted, undergone, and understood from the deepest core of one’s heart and soul. It is foolishness to share spiritual secrets with an ordinary man as he is a product of his mind which cannot understand spirituality through logic, science, and philosophy. It is only an actual connection and relation with your Creator which would make you comprehend it properly. That is why it is so unpopular because not many people in the modern age possess such a pure and potent link with the Almighty. This bond is far beyond any yoga, meditation, or well-being exercise. It will give you inner peace without any yoga, meditation, or well-being exercise. The Western form of spirituality can only guarantee a good life in this temporal world. It cannot give you anything in the eternal life after death which is the concern of religion. Islamic spirituality starts where its Western counterpart ends.
The third reason why spirituality is so unpopular is that we live in a world where all we hear about throughout our lives is success, achievements, accomplishments, glamour, pomp, prosperity, glitter, money, power, dominance, fame, and recognition. All these words are utterly worldly terms. We dwell in a society where our entire worth, value, importance, intelligence, competency, knowledge, and respect is judged based on these so-called positive aspects of life because they feed our ego to the fullest. No one wants to be a failure in the eyes of others. In spirituality, the opposite is true. Our worldly failures are an asset because they diminish or weaken our ego. Our false pride decreases by these failures. So, from a spiritual point of view, it is a blessing in disguise; it is a sign of real success that we will only realize on the Day of Judgment. However, this idea is not appealing to anyone because we want to safeguard our egos at any cost. So you cannot make spirituality sell and attract others.
Spirituality, indeed, is only for the chosen people of God that He especially selects for His path. Only those who are blessed develop the capacity for selflessness. Only at His discretion, few people have a soul so refined and fine-tuned. In this quest, man sees his complete dependence on God hidden from the majority. Since it is a game of love rather than intellect, it is only for the beloved. It is a journey of untainted devotion, uninterrupted heartbreaks, unconditional virtue, and unending resilience. It is a test of genuineness rather than smartness. It is a tale of a man embracing characteristics even beyond the reach of angels. It is a story of why God did not listen to angels when they opposed the creation of man. When you would know divine love, you won’t have better things to do!
POSTS
An Ideal Model for Muslim Universities
NOTE: Here the term CIU refers to the name of any university, not a specific one.
1. Train teachers intellectually & spiritually so that they ensure students become Sir Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal’s mard-e-momin (ideal Muslims) of the future.
2. Generation of ideas for teaching methods & strategies so that students acquire the combination of a brilliant mind and a pure heart (qalb).
3. Imparting knowledge to teachers so that they understand the philosophical, spiritual and revolutionary dimensions of Islam.
4. Networking with scholars, Professors & intellectuals as a marketing strategy to make CIU a “brand” among all Islamic universities.
5. Development of content to be taught so that students know that a) Islam is not only about Shariah & Tariqah but also an entire system of governance with political & economic structures. b) Science/Technology is not just a need of the hour but actually a hallmark of the Islamic civilization. c) Muslims are not only supposed to aspire for an eternal paradise but they should become leaders of humanity in this life. d) Ghazali, Ibn-al-Arabi, Rumi, Shah Wali-Ullah, Iqbal, Wasif Ali Wasif and many others are giants to be read, understood and followed in 2021
6. Islamization of existing Syllabus so that there is no conflict between Islamic Studies & other subjects.
7. Composition of a book on Ethics & Morality named ” CIU Shadow” as a tool for Tarbyah of students
8. Introduction of programs by Pearson to improve the standard of English drastically
9. Creation of Magazines as part of CIU Publications to engage the maximum audience in a positive way
10. Generation and imparting of a grand idea for Global Muslim Unity which inculcates among students love for all sorts of Muslims irrespective of their sect, school of thought, category, type, country and language.
11. Explanation of Iqbal’s Khudi (selfhood) according to the intellectual level of students so that they can experience it.
12. Introducing Iqbal’s book, “Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam” as a Muslim response to modernity
13. Critical Analysis of Western Thought so that students become original thinkers rather than blind followers of the West.
14. Workshops and short courses on writing so that students are able to become internationally published authors.
15. Students should be taught that in the Islamic worldview, Art & Literature should be learned and produced only to inspire humans to do great deeds in life.
Philosophy of Tragedy & Suffering in Life
1) virtue and suffering are to some extent inseparable. All Prophets, great Sahaba, Awlia, momineen, Sufis and some great Islamic scholars throughout history mostly had tragic lives with very few exceptions. Most people who live easy comfortable lives actually compromise on virtue to do it although they will never admit it.
2) When a genuinely good person goes through hell, the natural response is God doesn’t care. But the reality is that God considers him worthy of being pushed to that extent which a normal person can’t take at all. It is that genuine person’s capacity to take blows much more than a normal person that actually proves how elevated he is in front of Allah. Thus Allah has a special place for this victim in His kingdom.
3) Holy prophet said, “people are asleep. When they die they wake up”. In another instance, he said that if this world would have been even as worthy as a wing of a mosquito, Allah would not have given a single sip of water to disbelievers. However we see that disbelievers are enjoying bounties of the world like Kings and queens. Why? Because Allah doesn’t give any worth to this world at all. Most of our pain misery agony is a consequence of considering this world as the place of results and when we see injustice all around, we can’t make sense of a God who loves us. It is only the correct deep conceptual understanding of life itself with the Spiritual perspective and Spiritual lenses that this world is only a place of temporary tests and the results are to appear in an eternal heaven. This perception of heart mind and soul makes life not just bearable but beautiful in the face of crisis and cruelty.
4) American Sufi scholar Shaykh Hamza Yusuf says “this world was designed to break your heart”. The truth is that there are veils between man and Ultimate Reality. These veils in most cases are not lifted when everything is going exactly as you wanted to. When all your desires are fulfilled, you have not paid any price for lifting the veil. It is only when your heart breaks into pieces that you see things in a different way and you realize that your most treasured and most loved things were actually not a source of being close to God but a major distraction away from God. You were living a life of merry and bliss and you thought how lucky am I whereas in truth how unfortunate u were then to be deceived by this world and how fortunate you are now to know it is a mirage, a fleeting shadow, a mere illusion.
5) whatever situation one is in, it will always be a combination of good and bad. It’s not black or white. It’s actually a grey area. If we focus only on what we don’t have, we will become either suicidal or bitter or anti God. If we focus on what we do have, we will remain sane, happy and grateful to God. At the end of the day, it is we who decide which way to look at the picture. Positive thinking is something we hear about everywhere but not many people practically implement it in their lives. It’s very easy to stay positive when your dreams are fulfilled. If Atif Aslam can stay positive there’s nothing special about it at all. It is actually if you stay positive when your dreams hopes aspirations are shattered that makes you a real hero, a real gem, a real diamond a real fighter a real man a real survivor and the real deal in the eyes of God.
Why God must be loved unconditionally!
A normal believer loves Allah when things are going well but if we read lives of Prophets Sahaba Sufis Islamic scholars, their love was unconditional without any concern or relevance to what was happening in their lives. Why?
Because the Quran calls man as Abad (slave of Allah). A slave has no will no preference no choice no ego no identity of his own. The master can do whatever he wants to do with him and doesn’t need to explain justify defend it either.
Whatever we have be it respect in society, love from family, wealth, health, food, sustenance, talent ability skill knowledge intellect, Taqwa (piety), avoiding sins, spirituality, righteousness, values, morals ethics faith conviction iman (strong belief) academic credentials professional success worldly achievements accomplishments, source of entertainment recreation joy and above all sanity normality sound mental condition- anything and everything that we have is in truth and reality Allah’s FAZAL i.e. huge favor blessing bounties gifts that we do not deserve at all. We did not earn it. We have no right to have it. It’s not our possession at all. It’s only and solely His Special grace Mercy compassion generosity wisdom that He granted us all these without our entitlement without an iota of our own greatness involved in it.
This psychology thinking mindset understanding comprehension perception of life, existence and our own self inculcates reverence for Allah without ever feeling that we have done something amazing for Him. We realize that actually we have not done anything for Him at all. He has done everything for us. Thus the inevitable logical conclusion is that Allah must be loved unconditionally otherwise it is not ISHQ (love) at all but only tijarat (trade) in which we give something and in return get something. Our relationship with Allah must be unconditional obedience and devotion because behind the curtains veils illusions mirage of asbab (worldly means), only He is there for us, with us, by us, in us, around us always and forever waiting for us to seek explore find discover realize and see Him ONLY with the lenses of our heart, not with the eyes or the restricted limited rational mind which can solely operate in the framework of Time and Space but can never go beyond it to experience horizons further and above it to reach heights of wisdom unattainable otherwise.
When the great German Philosopher Nietzsche said “God is dead”, what did he actually mean? People don’t read the entire paragraph at all to see its actual context and interpretation. He, as a genius man with vision, was talking about the horrific and Terrible consequences of atheism that will occur in the future. This is exactly what happened with 2 world wars after that. Thus, even without being a believer himself, he was smart and wise enough to acknowledge, appreciate, admit and confess the immense role of religion in making people’s lives much better.
If an atheist like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris Christopher Hitchens, Noam Chomsky, Stephen Hawkins asks me what is the use benefit advantage practical utility of religion in this life in this world in this age? My answer will be very simple and to the point:
Throughout history and till today, the factual tale of man, the biography of this planet Earth has been and is still full of injustices cruelties oppression horror deception betrayal crime and evil. Which is that one and only single unique rare thing which gives Sahara (uplift) hope optimism positivity smiles inner peace and raises the morale of millions of victims, millions of those who are wronged, millions of people inflicted with diseases, millions of people with broken hearts, millions of people with sad tragic stories – Tell me one thing besides religion which not only fully compensates in the hereafter but really truly undoubtedly makes, in this world in this life, the suffering bearable, the wound healed, the tears wiped out and the bitterness or anguish be replaced by virtue and tranquility. This is the beauty of religion which no agnostic skeptic can deny at all.
Thus, in 2019, we should love Allah and His creation not just because we want heaven/paradise after death but because we want to make an otherwise ugly world run by Zionists on Satanic principles look beautiful not just bearable, seem based on justice not only compromise, appear to be worthy of being lived in as a virtuous noble good man not out of any cowardice or peer pressure or fear or law but out of a genuine intrinsic inner love for goodness itself as a matter of principle after full choice and maximum freedom because the greatest GIANT of all time, Muhammad SAW asked his companions: what is the Hallmark of Islam? Someone said Salat (5 times prayers). Someone said Jihad (holy war). Someone said pilgrimage. Someone said some other good deed (Naik amal). But Holy Prophet SAW said, NO.
“Beware, the Hallmark of Islam is love, love, love”.
IQBAL’S KHUDI (SELFHOOD) – MOST MISUNDERSTOOD TOPIC
Allama Iqbal said (in Urdu), “Khudi ko kar buland itna ke har taqdeer se pehle
Khuda bande se khud pooche bata teri raza kya hai”
The most common translation in English with which I do not agree at all is:
Raise your self so that before every decree
God will ascertain from you: “What is your wish?”
The entire misunderstanding arose due to this false translation. Many people did not get what Iqbal meant. Secular people saw a link between this & the self-actualization of Western thinkers. Some religious people saw conflict between Khudi (selfhood) and Sufism’s self-annihilation / self-negation (khud ko mitana / khud ki nafi). Both parties are wrong.
1. Self-actualization as understood in the West means to unleash one’s maximum potential as far as abilities/skills/talents are concerned. The sole focus is on brilliance (qabliat). It has nothing to do with spirituality (rohaniat). Steve Jobs, Wasim Akram & Michael Jackson were self-actualized individuals because they attained genius in their fields irrespective of whether they were spiritual or not. Spirituality is not the criterion here at all.
2. Iqbal was a spiritual thinker. His entire thought can only be understood if seen with spiritual lenses. Iqbal actually did not say anything different from what Sufis had been saying. Sufis say that due to sins, the corrupted self of people has to undergo many stages of inner purification before it reaches its true real original self. That is why there is so much importance given to denial or opposition of one’s Nafs-e-amarah (lower-self NOT self). Iqbal obviously knew all that. What he really meant can be translated as:-
Raise your PURIFIED self so that before every decree
God will ascertain from you: “What is your wish?”
Thus Iqbal did not say anything new at all. However, his greatness lies in the exact choice of words selected. Why did he use words that seem totally different from what Sufis say?
3. Iqbal’s entire goal was waking, motivating & inspiring Muslims especially of the subcontinent whose spirits, courage, confidence, and energy level were completely zero. Since his audience was already demotivated, shattered, crushed, and demoralized, he could not afford to use words like khud ko mitana (diminish your self) or khud ki nafi (negate your self). His deep wisdom was using words that do 2 things at the same time – endorse spirituality and raise the morale of Muslims.
4. Islam is obviously not against self-actualization at all but it demands humans to first cross the spiritual path before pursuing self-actualization so that their genius has ikhlaas (purity of intention) in it. The aim of a momin (genuine believer) is not glory itself at all but to benefit humanity or glorify Islam with his God-given gifts or knowledge or caliber in anything. If Allah grants him glory in the process, he thanks Him. If Allah does not grant him any glory at all, he is still equally happy. That is the sign of Nafs-e-Mutmainah (contended soul).
Holy Prophet (SAW) is the ideal human because his spirituality & brilliance both reached their highest possible level. That is why he is still the most influential person in history!
MUSIC IN ISLAM: AL-GHAZALI’S OPINION
Imam Ghazali on Music in Islam – Summary of his chapter in Ihya Uloomudeen (Revival of Religious Sciences)
Music can be absolutely prohibited, permitted, reprehensible or praiseworthy. As for that which is prohibited, it is for most young men who are overwhelmed with the lust of this world; for listening will stir up in them nothing but the reviled attributes prevalent in their hearts. As for that which is reprehensible, it is for those who do not project what they listen to into the image of human beings, but take listening as a habit for most of the time, for entertainment. As for that which is permitted, it is for those whose share of listening is restricted to enjoying beautiful voices. As for that which is praiseworthy, it is for the one who is captivated by the love of Allah Most High, and listening will only stir in him his praiseworthy attributes. Centuries ago one had to go to special places and gatherings to listen to songs, which were not available all the time. When Muslim scholars discussed and ruled over listening to music and songs, they could not imagine a time in the future when literally millions of recorded songs would be stored in a virtual reality
that are readily available all the time. But what are they listening to? Imam al-Ghazali’s first concern was about the content which might lead youngsters to psychological projection and fantasising about sexuality. They colour what they hear through their own lustful desires. Once the content in itself is problematic, it becomes prohibited. The degree of prohibition of this type of songs may have been more severe had the scholars of old known about some of the explicit lewd content of many songs today. And while there are songs today that may be considered positive, because they motivate people to overcome challenges and do something good, there are dark-themed songs that entertain suicide and encourage wrong behavior. Once the song is devoid of problematic content according to Islamic universal norms, and the listener does not project any ill thoughts, but only listens by way of habit for extended periods, then listening is reprehensible. Al-Ghazali is concerned here with wasting time, as with any type of extended activity that does not generate personal or public good, material or spiritual. Listening here is a distraction from a purposeful life. It is interesting that the synonyms of ‘entertainment’ include diversion and distraction. The third category is when listening to songs is simply permitted. Here the listener enjoys the beautiful voice and the melody. There is no transgression in content and it is done only occasionally. The fourth category is when listening becomes commendable. It is for those whom the love of Allah occupies their whole time, emotions and actions. They are the opposite of the first category, for once they hear a song about the beloved, they think of Allah. The song, in their case, becomes a tool that helps in bringing forth the best in their souls and character.
HOW TO UNITE MUSLIM UMMAH – A BRAND NEW IDEA
The biggest root cause of Muslim downfall is the lack of unity in the Ummah. Everyone knows it already but no one has understood the reasons for the lack of unity. Thus, no one can provide a solution as well. Most people have this huge misconception that unity means uniting everyone on the same opinions, same views & same beliefs. That is humanly impossible and not the definition of unity at all. Unity is living with love, peace, compassion, brotherhood & goodwill despite intellectual differences. The target is not to finish intellectual differences but to teach people how to live with intellectual differences with mutual respect. Right now, why there is so much disunity in the first place? There are many categories of religious Muslims. Each category considers itself as right and others as wrong. Thus each category teaches preaches endorses proves promotes only its own version of Islam. Thus followers & students of each category naturally develop a sense of superiority for their own group and look down upon others consciously or subconsciously whether they openly express it or not. This psychology is itself most destructive for unity and is sadly the perfect condition for disunity. I have identified the problem. What is the solution?
Throughout the world in Muslim countries, all Islamic institutes should have only and solely the following design:-
The governance/leadership/management/administration and especially faculty members should have no affiliation or association with any category at all. They should be 100% neutral. They should call themselves only Muslims – no further label at all. Admissions should be equally open to any person who claims to be a Muslim even if you don’t consider him one. In the same classroom, in front of all students, the teacher should teach point of views of all categories whether Sunni (and its sub-categories) or Shia (and its sub-categories) with equal intellectual honesty, arguments, and details without any bias, prejudice, discrimination, and distortion of facts. Students should not be forced by the teacher to subscribe to any single opinion at all. It is totally the free choice of all students to subscribe to whichever point of view they themselves find convincing. They can become whatever they want to be without any fear. Qadiani’s point of view should also be fully included but to prove it wrong and show its flaws so that graduates can later do dawah among Qadianis. The only way to convert Qadianis is to speak to them and show them politely that their opinion is wrong because good people are in every single category – only Allah can judge them. We cannot judge anyone at all. Simply calling them Kafirs is no solution at all. You have to show them why it’s kufr in the first place and that is only possible if you actually know their thesis in full detail. Similarly, within the Shia sect, there is only one sub-category: Kufr, and students should study it properly only to prove its wrong.
The philosophy behind this unique idea is that Muslims of every category should know clearly that the other categories are also sincere and honest in their quest for the Truth. They are not bad or astray people at all. They are not fools at all and have their own sound reasons for believing in whatever they believe. No category has any right to claim its ahl-e-haq at all. No category has any special privilege towards Ultimate Truth. Only Allah knows the Absolute Truth. Only He can decide on the Day of Judgment who is right or wrong. Our job is not to judge people but to give them the benefit of doubt that they might be right as well. If we find something convincing, we cannot expect everyone else to be convinced with it as well. All we can claim is that we tried our best to reach the Truth and our category appealed to us more than others in the process but other categories may be right as well. Only Allah knows it in the end. This is the psychology that generates mutual respect and trust despite all the differences in thinking, which is perfectly natural and needs this hour.
Why 5 times Prayers are not helping Muslims?
The Quran said namaz qayim karo (establish Salat). It doesn’t say namaz parho (offer salat). Why? Because establishment of salat means living your entire life on the teachings of quran Sunnah as recited repeatedly in salat whereas offering salat simply means performing the small ritual for 10 minutes with full devotion concentration focus love sincerity (khushu khuzu). Please note that I am not denying the importance of ritual at all as it’s an obligation but the duty is fulfilled only when its practically applied during the 23 hours outside Salat.
Today the entire Ummah is in a pathetic state because Muslims only offer salat. They don’t establish Salat at all. They can continue doing this for 1000 more years. The horrible conditions of Muslim world will never change because in reality they are not following Quran’s order of Salat at all.
SUNNAH – WHAT IS LACKING TODAY?
There are thousands of things which come under the category of Sunnah. Not a single aspect of his life is unworthy but it is obvious that there are levels of importance & levels of categories within Sunnah. All Sunnah are NOT equally important at all. The LEAST important Sunnah are growing a beard, wearing certain type of clothes, having a turban/cap on your head, using miswaak etc. The MOST important Sunnah are having intense love compassion mercy for others, forgiving your enemies, having a pure heart free from hatred jealousy ill will for anyone, being concerned about the welfare of entire humanity, having pain and worry for the cause of entire ummah, having deepest wisdom, being an intellectual giant with profound knowledge both spiritual & worldly, having patience to bear injustice and tribulations in life, being happy with Allah even when everything goes wrong, going out of the way to help others, perseverance, selflessness, unwavering commitment, determination, high aims, high goals, high aspirations, courage, fearlessness, speaking the truth without compromises, sheer hard work, attaining excellence, sincerity of intention, not being judgmental about other people’s status in the eyes of Allah, embracing people with totally different views, doing something to benefit the society, making sacrifices of your own pride & selfish desires, fighting anger, totally avoiding backbiting or dirty politics, doing everything on justice & merit, never depriving anyone of his/her due right, finishing personality-worship (shaksiat parasti), being practical/realistic in approach, highly strategic visionary far-sighted thinking, totally avoiding dispute over small issues, full chastity (haya) while dealing with opposite sex and many other qualities- this is the real essence and spirit of Islam. These are the things which defined Holy Prophet SWS.
Today, the Muslim world is in a pathetic state because religious people who call themselves Ashiq-e-Rasool (lovers of Holy Prophet SWS) are focused on the least important Sunnah and discard, ignore & never adopt the most important Sunnah. They can continue doing what they are doing for 1000 more years, the horrible conditions of Muslims will never change because in reality they are not following Sunnah at all.
TAZKIA-E-NAFS (PURIFICATION OF SOUL)
In Muslim world, many Sufi Khanqas are working on tazkianafs. However, a close examination of their people shows that the results are very unfavorable. Many people don’t attain purity of heart at all which is clearly demonstrated by their bad morals bad ethics. This is because of lack of deep understanding of tazkianafs of those who are in charge. Currently, the only method being applied for tazkianafs is Zikr, Meditation, quranic recitation, acts of worship etc. This is obviously one way but not the only way at all. There are 2 more methods as well which I will introduce. 1) intellectual tazkianafs 2) imaan tazkianafs.
1) The important thing which needs to be understood is that how does a spiritual sickness originate in the first place? Why does a qalb (heart) become sick? There is a thought process behind every spiritual disease. There is a deviation from correct knowledge in every case. Let me give you an example. Jealousy is a very common disease. Have you wondered why does a person become jealous in the first place? It is the thinking in his mind, “why does he have what I don’t have” or “why did Allah give it to him and not me”. This is the mindset behind jealousy. Note that the cure for jealousy can be done by correcting this thinking through proper knowledge based on quran Sunnah. How? A Shaykh should explain to his disciple that whatever the other person has been given is between Allah and him. Whatever the disciple has is between Allah and himself. It is part of our faith and belief as Muslim to be happy with the distribution of Allah because it is His own wisdom and we can not question it at all. Once the disciple understands this concept properly, he will never feel jealous of anyone at all. Note that this tazkianafs took place only on a mind level and since the heart is connected to mind, the heart becomes pure as a result. Let me give you another example. Hazrat Wasif Ali Wasif said, (Urdu) “ghussa na karo koi bhi shakhs Jo bhi bura karta hay woh Apnay fehm say he majboor hay”. Note that this is a very deep wisdom. It is telling us that when people act horrible with us we should not be angry because people only act according to their level of thinking and they themselves are not fully aware of it. Thus we should ignore them. If you properly conceptually understand what hazrat Wasif said you won’t be angry at all unless in extreme cases. This understanding will help you in controlling your anger and thus you will fight with your nafs and retain a pure heart. Again tazkianafs took place purely on an intellectual level.
2. A person can get rid of a spiritual sickness also by an imaan method. For example, someone has done extremely bad to you and you want to take revenge. You should consider that Rasoolullah SAW forgave his worst enemies on conquest of Makkah. If you love him, you should act like him and adopt his morals. Thus you too should forgive those who do wrong to you so that you will earn the proximity of Rasoolullah SAW. This imaan-oriented feeling emotion inner state will motivate and Inspire you to not take revenge at all. Thus your heart will become pure once again. This is tazkianafs through imaan method.
Note that all 3 methods of tazkianafs are equally valid and successful. The only difference is that it depends on the aptitude temperament personality of disciple which method to apply. It will vary from case to case. A Shaykh should know his disciple very well before suggesting him the appropriate method. All 3 methods will give positive results.
Fundamental Flaw with Modern Sufis
Tazkianafs is not an end in itself but a means towards the end. If we read holy Prophet SAW and Sahaba’s lives it becomes crystal clear what is the purpose of tazkia. 1) Allah wants momineen to establish a nizaam (system of governance). This process is full of hardships because of the sheer opposition by those running nizaam based on kufr. To do sabar u need tazkia. 2) once the nizaam is established, you can easily get corrupt because of power, worldly desires and temptations. Again u need tazkia to retain purity and justice. These are the two reasons why tazkia is needed. The biggest mistake of Ahle Tasawuf is to consider tazkia itself as the goal and not do the things for which tazkia was required in the first place. This is why Ummah is in a horrible situation since 6 centuries because of lack of proper understanding of deen.
IDEAS FOR THESIS TOPICS as Student of Postgrad Courses at ISTAC, IIUM in 2009
English Literature
Islamic Interpretation of Shakespearan Tragedies:
There is a book by the same name in main library. Take one specific play, lets say Hamlet or Macbeth and then relate to islam what we learn from it about life or man. Someone really good in English should take it. Prof Ajmal would be delighted to be the supervisor, what more do you need!
Psychology/Spirituality
Islamic Reconstruction of Western Hierarchy of Human Needs:
The famous psychologist Abraham Maslow came up with his theory of human happiness and motivation which is, unfortunately, accepted as a universal standard in academia. Just like any Western Psychologist, since there is no mention of soul or spirituality, the hierarchy is flawed to the fullest. It teaches that man has 4 levels of needs for satisfaction (starting from the lowest and most fundamental) – the physiological, social, egoistic & pleasure-oriented. From the islamic perspective, it can be challenged and refuted both on theory and in practise. What modern psychology doesnt know is that the veracity of
this hierarchy is inversely proportional to the spiritual level of a man. The higher the spiritual level, the lesser the dependence on other needs for satisfaction. Our History is full of people who, because of their connection with God, have lived with highest contentment with only the basic needs of food, clothing, shelter & marriage i.e the physiological.
Science
Quantum Physics & Wahdat-ul-Wajood
Ibn-al-Arabi’s concept of WW has been deemed as outright kufr by some, the highest level of tawhid by some and not understood at all by others. Interestingly, what he underwent as a mystical experience or state of spiritual witnessing, is slowly and gradually being uncovered or rather affirmed by Quantum Physics. The new physics has already shattered all the previously held myths of a materialistic mechanicalistic interpretation of the Universe. We live in a spiritual rather than a material universe. Surprisingly, the Multiplicity we see in creation is reduced to Unity i.e there is one universal soul in everything. When “matter” is dug deep into down to the most microlevel, there is nothing left. The seen realm points to an unseen realm which seems to be, mysteriously, responsible for everything in the seen realm.
Here Harun Yahya’s idealism is really helpful but it shouldn’t be borrowed fully. He was a bit too inspired by the movie, Matrix, and thus surpisingly came up with an islamic philosophy which was partially mind-blowing and partially flawed because Islam is in between idealism and realism.
Philosophy (Theoretical)
Comparison of Nietzche’s Superman and Iqbal’s Khudi (Selfhood) / mard-e-momin
Take two of the most breathtaking thinkers from West & East and see where they meet and where they differ when they came up with their magnum opus.
Philosophy (Practical)
Self Actualization & Islamic Revolution
I can give you example from Pakistan but I think it applies to most Muslim countries. The secular people manage to fully develop their inner potentialities, gifts, talents and abilities. Since they are secular, they either dont serve islam at all or harm islam. The religious people on the other hand fail to acquire any sort of brilliance and thus fail to have any impact on society. The running system, as a result, remains secular and an islamic revolution remains a mere dream despite innumerable efforts. What are the exact measures to be taken in all walks of life to solve this problem? Your thesis is the answer.
Philosophy/Science
Is human nature good or bad – Scientific Solution to an old philosophical riddle
On one hand the Quran says that Fitrah (human nature) is good. On other other hand, the whole history of man is nothing but a proof of man’s innate evil. How do we reconcile the two? This is one of the most debated topics ever in philosophy. Science, again, comes to a partial rescue of religion. The recent studies in brain have shown that the nueronal arrangement is “hardwired” in such a way that it facilitates belief in certain universal good moral ethical principles. However that doesnt fully answer the question at all because if that is the case, then why do humans dont act that way in real life? Here we have to bring in a lot of concepts to prove our case. First, nueroscientists have shown that the dualism of brain and mind is true i.e they are two seperate entities influencing each other. Analagous to software-hardware relation in computers, the brain is just a processor of information whereas the mind is the seat of intelligence. The brain’s “hardwiring” thus is not a fixed configuration but is altered by the mind. Mind is related to soul whereas brain is related to body. Here comes the concept of what we call tazkia-e-nafs (purification of soul). A spiritual person’s mind doesnt let the brain lose its innate goodness whereas an impure soul (and thus mind) leads to the corruption of brain’s original structure. Thus religion plays the role in not letting the fitrah get distorted. However, the quran has also affirmed that most people do not accept the truth. Thus without religion, the soul acquires adverse traits and thus the mind distorts the brain’s nueronal arrangement. All this explains why man has acted more evil than good throughout history despite good nature. This also answers another very important question – free will is not a myth but a fact. Just because brain is hardwired to be good doesnt mean we are puppets or robots or machines but we control our own hardwiring.
Intellectualism – Modern Affirmation of Ancient Perspective
The Quran said that Truth is for intellectuals. But when we see the history of Western Thought or even Muslims of the modern age, we see that many many people with brilliant IQs either become agnostics or atheists. Have you ever wondered why? Perhaps the most fascinating discovery in Nuerocardiology has revealed 2 things. a)the biological heart is not just a bloodpump but a highly intelligent organ having influence on brain b)the experiments done on biological heart further prove the existence of a spiritual heart. The Quran and Sufis have always claimed the spiritual heart when pure as the organ of higher knowledge and when impure as that which conceals or distorts or rejects the truth. So now we know why people like Russel, Marx, Frued were deprived of the truth despite having wonderful brains. Fascinating, isn’t it?
Art/Spirituality
Impact of Contemporary Music on Human Spirituality
Shakespeare said that “Music is the soul’s medicine”. If I were to islamize his theory, all I need to do is insert one extra word in the statement – Music is the commanding soul’s medicine. Shakespeare probably didnt know the difference between ruh (soul) and nafs-e-amarah (commanding soul).
Most people debate on whether music is haraam or halaal but what is important is its impact on spiritual level, the rest will follow inevitably. The music which most people listen to serves as a poison for the soul. This is from a purely listener’s perspective. When we talk from the Artist’s perspective, the psychology hidden beneath them shows that modern art is nothing but a beautiful outlet for a miserable void within. Here again, there is a direct yet secret link between the low spiritual level of contemporary artists and the inspiration behind their work.
Transcendent Unity of Religions
It amazes me to see that both professors & students get seduced by a concept owing to its philosophical eloquence despite being nothing but outright Kufr with no space for difference of opinions. It doesnt require much labour to shatter this concept by the help of both Quran & Sunnah. So the need for a rational argument or debate is not even required. However, since we shouldnt let our emotions mix with the Truth, a scholarly analysis of both its exponents & opponents be carried out objectively and let the Truth stand out clear once and for all that AFTER the advent of holy prophet/Quran there is no way to find God other than Islam (not in the universal sense but specifically shariah) although we dont know who will go to heaven/hell.
The Concept of Knowledge and Scholar
We live in an age of superficiality & shallowness with all emphasis on the outer (zahir) of everything. None suffers this dilemma more than the concept of knowledge/scholar. There are two levels of it. The lower level deals with the uncompromisable distinction between knowledge (ilm) and information (malumaat) as far as the content is concerned. Modernity fails at even this lower level as it doesnt distinguish between the two. But the current world of islamic intellectualism, too, is not free from error. It fails on the 2nd or higher level. In this level, the distinction is drawn not on the content but the inner reality (batin) of that knowledge. Quran and Sunnah defines scholar (alim) as the one with 2 characteristics – fear of Allah & consciousness of the gravity of the consequences of sins. In Sufism, knowledge is something which lifts the veils between man and God. The higher the realization of man’s own nothingness infront of Allah, the higher the knowledge. The current ummah’s educated/literate class, however, is suffering from a crisis. Even when it comes to an islamic scholar, it has borrowed the western image i.e the one who talks/argues well, writes well, publishes a lot, collects huge gatherings i.e those characteristics which Allah even gives to sinners and He benefits deen by sinners as well. Note that I am not denying the need of people in the modern age who safeguard the intellectual veracity of deen infront of the onslaught of secularism and westernization. Such people are required and be appreciated but they are not qualified to be called scholars if they suffer from the same spiritual diseases of the heart as the masses. Knowledge is way beyond just a mental/academic/verbal/literary exercise devoid of the transformation that it is supposed to bring in man. Modern ummah is full of people who outwardly know all the ins and outs of deen but inwardly know nothing at all.
The Concept of Adab
In Tasawwuf, a disciple (mureed) is a slave of his guide/master/shaikh. In madressas, the student has almost the same relation to an ustaaz. In secular institutes, any Tom Dick Harry would start challenging someone like Shah Wali Ullah. None of the above is right. In the first 2 cases, adab is exagerated unnecessarily. in the 3rd case adab doesnt even exist. On one hand we should have adab for big scholars. On the other hand we should consider the hujjat (proof behind argument) not the person. How do we reconcile between the two? Here it gets very technical. Lets divide religious knowledge into 2 categories – evidential & experiential – the first (e.g haram/halaal, fiqh etc) requires evidence from quran/sunnah, the second (e.g unveling of God, ilham etc) can be respected without evidence owing to someone’s higher level of relation with Allah unless it is directly contradictory to revelation. Now the real challenge is how do we exactly differentiate which issue belongs to which category – your thesis is the answer.
Happiness & Satisfaction
This is highly related to the 2nd suggestion in my 1st email.
There is an immense difference between solution to a problem and escapism from it. The fact that no one is truly happy from within despite glowing & cheering faces has almost become a universal law in our times. So what does the modern man do about it? He comes up with 10000 ways to distract himself from the perpetual spiritual void within. Thus his Wants surpass his Needs by miles. Since acquisition of so many wants is not easy and neither he feels good without them nor knows his real need, his life is a constant vain struggle for satisfaction. How tragic indeed!
The Concept of Human Dignity
Just because two people use the same words doesnt prove they mean the same thing. It is surprising that some people in the quest for islamizing western thought would relate the Quran with the saying of, lets say, Erasmus and propose that they both mean the same just because they both say “man has dignity” NOT realizing the unbelievable difference between the two. The holy prophet & Sahaba lived the life of fakr which is considered as the most inferior way of life in our age where dignity is seen in a pompous outlook of life totally devoid of submission, humility & simplicity – the essence of real dignity. Thus dignity is not just different but rather opposite in Islam and West.
10 things to do in Ramzan
1. We should make sincere repentance infront of Allah for the sins of the past
2. Plead Allah to make it easy for us to change our lives completely
3. Clean our hearts for each and every person who has wronged us and forgive our worst enemies
4. Immerse our philosophy of life in the knowledge of Allah and His messenger who know about everything much more than we do
5. Empty ourselves from all actions based on ego and show-off
6. Disconnect ourselves from the materialistic rat race of the modern age
7. Read about the lives of saints, sages, Sufis & great Islamic scholars so we learn what is spirituality and how far we are from it
8. Find a mentor / guide / teacher / Shaykh / Peer / Murshad who has already traversed the spiritual path and can take us directly to Allah’s proximity and Holy Prophet’s imitation.
9. The highest virtue is love and we cannot love Allah without loving our fellow human beings.
10. Beg Allah to accept us for doing some service to Islam before we die.
30 Benefits of Following a Shaykh
1. A Shaykh is like a mirror who shows you your spiritual sicknesses which are completely hidden from your sight without him.
2. A Shaykh also acknowledges the distance that you have actually crossed in your spiritual journey, so you remain encouraged and motivated.
3. A Shaykh makes you develop that insight so you can see the virtues of other people rather than focusing on their vices alone.
4. When 2 Quranic verses or 2 Ahadith seem contradictory to one another, a Shaykh tells you which verse or hadith is applicable in your specific case.
5. Tareeqat is a personalized Shariat. A Shaykh gives you guidance according to your personality, character, temperament, and habits, which will benefit your spiritual growth.
6. A Shaykh translates your life experiences into practical wisdom and insight, so you are able to comprehend God’s plan in what you went through.
7. A Shaykh teaches you real humility & humbleness because you always compare yourself with him rather than the society or world.
8. A Shaykh tells you where and how your Nafs or Shaytan are deceiving you so you can see things with the light of Allah.
9. A Shaykh tells you what exactly Allah wants from you, so you don’t commit the blunder of traveling 100 miles on the wrong path, only to find it was not for you.
10. A Shaykh teaches you the reality of Adab for Rasoolullah SWS and Ishq for Allah which are the fuel for any spiritual journey.
11. While a scholar can only give you an intellectual understanding of religion, a Shaykh can instill in you the spiritual states which complement that understanding.
12. In the company of your Shaykh, there is no conflict between your heart and mind.
13. A Shaykh teaches you the art of silence when you don’t understand the wisdom of Sufis, saints, sages & mystics.
14. A Shaykh teaches you the limitations of logic, so you don’t apply it where it’s not to be applied.
15. A Shaykh inculcates in you a drop from the ocean of ikhlaaq-e-Rasool SWS so that people smell the fragrance of your good ikhlaaq.
16. In the presence of a Shaykh, you feel a major boost in your Imaan.
17. A Shaykh teaches you that knowledge that is not found in books or Youtube – it is only possible to understand that after many years of experience on the spiritual path.
18. A Shaykh teaches you to get rid of those desires which are a hurdle in your relationship with Allah.
19. From your Shaykh, you learn how to attain ikhlaas in an age devoid of mukhliseen.
20. After following a Shaykh, you are less impressed by Philosophers or Scientists and more inspired by Awlia karaam who have more worth in the eyes of Allah.
21. A Shaykh teaches you the mindset where instead of focusing on rectifying others, you are more interested in your self-purification.
22. A Shaykh grants you that attitude that makes you think positively in the face of harsh circumstances in life.
23. A Shaykh teaches you the reality of shukar when you lose sight of your blessings from Allah.
24. A Shaykh gives you a deeper understanding of sabar so you truly practice it during adversity.
25. You learn tawakul from a Shaykh which makes you escape from the chains of cause and effect.
26. You develop that eye by which you stop judging people according to their ranks – worldly or religious – you embrace them purely as people of Allah.
27. You are able to establish the hierarchy of objectives in Islam by correctly prioritizing which aspect is how important.
28. Instead of accumulating wealth, you start spending on others.
29. You climb the ladder of taqwa from Islam to Iman to Ihsan.
30. Instead of quantity, you concentrate on the quality of deeds.