Monthly Archives: November 2006

Of In-Laws & Libraries…

30 Thursday Nov 2006

Posted by in Miscellaneous, Moments from My Life

≈ 10 Comments

Peace, one and all…

I’ve got a few minutes to wait before my train is due, so I thought I’d spend the time writing a quick post (don’t say I don’t give you all anything)! Well…I’ll be off to London tomorrow, insha Allah, for the weekend. It’s time for our regular (6-weekly or so) visit to the in-laws.  They live in the small town of St. Albans, which is on the outskirts of the ever-expanding metropolis that is 21st century London.  It’s a nice town, I suppose, but being from the heart of the inner city (is that what Americans call downtown?) it feels very different from what I’m used to.

I’ll be visiting the excellent library of the School of Oriental & African Studies in central London. I have to say that it’s one of my favourite places in the whole, wide world! Insha Allah, I’ll be bringing back a few new books. Allah, Allah!!!  In particular, I’m hoping to locate a few new items for my studies. 

I’m currently studying Arabic with one of my colleagues and I seem to be learning lots of really useful small things every time we meet!  Al hamdu lillah.  It’s so good to be able to read a passage from the Quran in Arabic and understand it!  Allah, Allah!!!

Ya Rabb!  Al hamdu lillahi `ala kulli hal… 

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman 

The Valleys Faith Forum

30 Thursday Nov 2006

Posted by in Interfaith, Kindred Spirituality, Miscellaneous, Moments from My Life

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Peace, one and all…

I’m going out and about this evening (insha Allah). I’m participating in the newly established Valleys Faith Forum, run under the auspices of the Chaplaincy Service at Glamorgan University (not far from Merthyr, my town). I went to an inter-faith dinner on Monday, which was really interesting (al hamdu lillah).  The aim tonight is to draw up some common goals for future collaboration and to discuss common issues.  Sounds really good!  I’ll offer some reflections on the event in the coming few days, bi ithnillahi ta’ala.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Bismillah Your Old Self…

29 Wednesday Nov 2006

Posted by in Hazret-i Pir Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, Muslim & Sufi Poetry, Our Spiritual Heritage, Sufism/Tasawwuf

≈ 8 Comments

Peace, one and all…

Here’s another pearl from Mevlana’s great treasury.  Enjoy…

Ya Allah!  Draw me close to You.

Bismillah

It’s a habit of yours to walk slowly.
You hold a grudge for years.
With such heaviness, how can you be modest?
With such attachments, do you expect to arrive anywhere?

Be wide as the air to learn a secret.
Right now you’re equal portions clay
and water, thick mud.

Abraham learned how the sun and moon and the stars all set.
He said, No longer will I try to assign partners for God.

You are so weak. Give up to Grace.
The ocean takes care of each wave
till it gets to the shore.
You need more help than you know.
You’re trying to live your life in open scaffolding.
Say Bismillah, In the Name of God,
as the priest does with a knife when he offers an animal.

Bismillah your old self
to find your real name.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

The Prophet’s Sword

28 Tuesday Nov 2006

Posted by in Our Spiritual Heritage, The Words of Muhammad (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam)

≈ 4 Comments

Peace, one and all…

In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

The Threshold Society pages give a really beautiful tradition of the Prophet (alayhi al-salatu wa al-salam), which in these days of violence and misunderstanding, are important to recall:

Inscribed on the hilt of the Prophet’s sword: ‘Forgive him who wrongs you; join him who cuts you off; do good to him who does evil to you, and speak the truth although it be against yourself.’

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Finding Presence…

26 Sunday Nov 2006

Posted by in Moments from My Life, Our Spiritual Heritage, Reflections, Sufism/Tasawwuf

≈ 12 Comments

Peace, one and all…

The Prophet (alayhi al-salatu wa al-salam) is reported to have said: ‘There is no prayer without Presence’.  Presence, and I believe the Arabic term here is khushu`, is of critical importance.  Indeed, given the importance of the prayer to Islam (and then, at deeper levels, iman and ihsan), this focus on understanding, finding and developing Presence becomes intelligible.

Thinking, moving and acting in Presence are crucial to the Path (well, at least as I’m experiencing it at present, though God knows best). Abdur Rahman Jami, the famous sufi and poet (my knowledge is a little patchy here) is reported to have made the following statement about Presence:

‘Constant practice is needed so that in no circumstances will you be empty of awareness, or presence – neither in coming nor in leaving; neither in eating or sleeping, nor in listening or talking.  In short, at all times one should be present to the Moment, so that it will not pass away in idle unawareness’

This idea reminds me very much Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah’s idea of being Ibn al-Waqt (son of the moment), in which we try to maximise our presence, for want of a better word.  In some senses, I think that this ability to live within the moment is the hallmark of any mature spirituality.  Moreover, the Muslim world generally is desperately in need of this quality too, which after all, is deeply ingrained in our tradition.

Shaykh Kabir Helminski refers to Presence in this way:

‘Presence is the witnessing of my action, feeling, and thought.  Presence is the context, the conscious space of my experience’.

This Presence is the true Self, not the nafs/id/personality/ego.  It is this Self which, to this unworthy beginner at least, the Path attempts to activate and develop.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Exploring the History of Islam

25 Saturday Nov 2006

Posted by in Miscellaneous

≈ 11 Comments

Peace, one and all…

I have been a busy boy this morning!!!  I’ve been posting bibliographical information relating to the study of various aspects of Islamic history over at The Islamic History Corner (another alternative blog of mine).  So, get yourself over there and let’s get studying!

Recent Posts:

Academic Articles for the Study of Early Islamic History (1)

Hadith Studies

Bibliographies

New Addtions

A New Title for the Study of Sufism

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Wean Yourself…

23 Thursday Nov 2006

Posted by in Hazret-i Pir Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, Muslim & Sufi Poetry, Our Spiritual Heritage, Sufism/Tasawwuf

≈ 2 Comments

Peace, one and all…

I’ve not posted anything from Mevlana’s great storehouse.  So, let’s break open the larder door and feed our hungry souls.  Enjoy…

Ya Allah!  Forgive me, heal me and help me in my struggles towards You.

Wean Yourself

Little by little, wean yourself.
This is the gist of what I have to say.
From an embryo, whose nourishment comes in the blood,
move to an infant suckling milk,
to a child on solid food,
to a searcher after wisdom,
to a hunter of more invisible game.

Think how it is to have a conversation with an embryo.
You might say, ‘The world outside is vast and intricate.
There are wheatfields and mountain passes,
and orchards in bloom.

At night there are millions of galaxies, and in sunlight
the beauty of friends dancing at a wedding’.

You ask the embryo why he, or she, stays cooped up
in the dark with eyes closed.

Listen to the answer.

There is no ‘other world’
I only know what I’ve experienced.
You must be hallucinating.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

On Social Duties…

22 Wednesday Nov 2006

Posted by in Notes, Our Spiritual Heritage, Ramadan Diary 2006, Sufism/Tasawwuf

≈ 2 Comments

Peace, one and all…

Imam Abdullah al-Haddad (May God sanctify his secret and have mercy upon him) was a scholar and sufi of 17th century Yemen.  His writings show him to have been a deeply spiritual person, a murshid indeed.  His Book of Assistance is a veritable treasure of guidance and well, assistance.  Here’s his chapter on social duties (I’ll post it in sections as it’s a long chapter).  Reflect, enjoy and practice!

(And please remember your poor brother Abdur Rahman in your du’as)

On Social Duties

‘Deal justly with those in your charge, whether ‘public’ or ‘personal’.  Be altogether protecting and solicitous for them, for God will call you to account in their regard and ‘every shephered will be asked to account for his flock’.

By your ‘personal charges’ I mean your seven organs, which are your tongue, ears, eyes, stomach, genitals, hands and feet.  These are your charges which God has given you and a trust with which He has entrusted you, which you should restrain from sin and use in His obedience.  For God, the Exalted, created them only that by means of them you might obey Him; they are among the greatest of His favours, for which we should thank Him by using them to obey Him, and not in His disobedience.  If you do not do this you will be turning God’s favour into ingratitude.  Had God the Exalted not made these organs to be your servants and made them to obey you by disposition, you would not have been able to use them to disobey Him at all.  When you intend to use any of them sinfully it says in its own way: ‘O servant of God! Fear God!  Do not force me to commit what God has forbidden me!’  If you commit a sin, it turns to God and says: ‘I forbade him, O Lord, but he did not listen; I am innocent of what he did’.  You will one day stand before God and these organs will testify to every good or evil in which you used them, on a day which cannot be averted, brought on by God, you will then have neither refuge nor denial (42:47), a day when wealth and children will be of no avail, and only those who come to God with a whole heart (26:89)

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

What is Tasawwuf…?

22 Wednesday Nov 2006

Posted by in Our Spiritual Heritage, Sufism/Tasawwuf

≈ 6 Comments

Peace, one and all…

Here’s a second instalment of my new Tasawwuf is… section.  Enjoy (and may Allah bless you with goodness).

Mimshad al-Dinawari:

‘Tasawwuf is purity of heart, and to do what is pleasing to God Almighty’

(R S Bhatnagar, Dimensions of Classical Sufi Thought, p.15; taken from Tadhkirat al-Awliya II.159).

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

The Edicts of King Asoka…

22 Wednesday Nov 2006

Posted by in Kindred Spirituality, Moments from My Life, Teaching

≈ 2 Comments

Peace, one and all…

In my seminar teaching last week, we were looking at the Dhammapada (a key source of Buddhist doctrine).  This week, we’re focusing on Buddhist history by exploring the Edicts of King Asoka.  For those unfamiliar, King Asoka is the first king of India for whom historical records survive.  He is said to have been a great Buddhist ruler.  Today’s seminar will explore this a little more closely.  Fascinating stuff, al hamdu lillah.  I’ve often ‘walked’ to India (in my imagination) via Rome, Greece and Persia.  I’ve never travelled from the other end!!

The text we’re using today is available online.  The text itself is taken from Buddhanet.  You can also find a copy of the Dhammapada there too.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

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