Castaway

O my soul, come, cast away from fantasy, O my soul, come, cast away from fantasy, Dive into this sea of love if you would see With your heart’s eyes wonders known in prophecy. ♦ Lovers follow Love alone as their imam, Drunk within but outwardly serene and calm, Love is older than all else…

Finding Truth

“Do not look for truth through people. Find the truth then find its people” لا تعرف الحق بالرجال. اعرف الحق تعرف أهله — Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (ra) [via sheikh Muhammad Al-Yaqoobi: Commentary on Book of Knowledge; Ihya Uloom Al-deen by Imam Ghazali] .

The Islamists?

I have no right to comment on Egypt as I have almost no knowledge of the details other than through western media which I don’t fully trust. In the words of a friend of mine: “I think one of our biggest faults as westerners is the arrogance that we think we can judge others… in…

Islamic Texts for the Blind

A remarkable effort to make Islamic texts and knowledge available for the Blind. [http://www.kitaba.org/] An example of their work is below: —————————— As Ramadan approaches, Islamic Texts for the Blind is preparing to help all our supporters utilise and benefit as fully as possible from this blessed month. We have prepared an audio book on…

Dreams

A wonderful book recommended to me by Sh. Faraz Rabbani, describing how a person can find their purpose and passion in life. Here’s an interesting passage from the book on dreams and aspirations: “After one of their gigs, I told Charles how well I thought he’d played that night. Then I said that I’d live…

To Taste is to Know

A while back, I attended a talk by Ustadh AbdelRahman Murphy. The room that had been booked out was intended to host both males and females with the speaker sitting in the same room. However, it quickly became apparent that there wasn’t enough space for both. This is where it gets interesting. The sisters far…

A glass of water

Harun al-Rashid, one of the richest of the Abbasid Caliphs, once heard of a righteous scholar named Ibn As-Sammaak and requested his presence in his chamber to give him good counsel. When the scholar arrived, the Caliph had ordered a glass of water to drink. Seeing this, Ibn Samaak asked; “what would you give if no…

The Swords of Self-Discipline

Taken from Marc Manley: http://www.marcmanley.com/tag/aphorisms/ ———————————————– I have been taking the time to re-read al-Ghazzali’s Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din again (as I do from time to time) and always enjoy the anecdotes and aphorisms he sprinkles throughout his prose. One in particular is from Yahya bin Mu’adh al-Razi: جاهد نفسك بأسياف الرياضة – والرياضة على أربعة أوجه: القوت من…