Do Not Despair

Do Not Despair

A Poem By Mawlana Jalal al-Din al-Rumi

Say, do not despair because the Beloved drives you away; if
He drives you away today, will He not call you back tomorrow?
If He shuts the door on you, do not go away; be patient
there, for after patience He will seat you in the place of
honour.

And if He bars against you all ways and passages, He will
show you a secret way, which no man knows.

Is it not the case that when the butcher cuts off the head of
a sheep with his knife, he does not abandon what he has slain,
but first slays, and then draws?

When no more breath remains to the sheep, he fills it with
his own breath; you will see whither God's breath will bring
you!

I spoke this as a parable; else, His generosity slays no man,
rather it rescues him from slaying.

He gives all the kingdom of Solomon to a single ant; He
bestows both worlds, and does not startle a single heart.
My heart has travelled round the world and found none
like Him; whom does He resemble? Whom does He resem-
ble?

Ah, silence! For without speech He gives to all of this wine
to taste, He gives to taste, He gives to taste, He gives to taste.

Dhikr by Word and by Action

Dhikr by Word and by Action by Imam Ahmad Sirhindi (Allah be pleased with him)
(famous as ‘Imam Rabbani’ and ‘Mujaddid Alf Thani’)

There are many different ways of dhikr (remembrance of Allah), both through obeying Allah's Laws, and through repeating certain phrases. Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi helps to clarify the relationship between the different ways of dhikr in the following passage. Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi says:

Remember that dhikr means to avoid forgetting Allah in any way that is possible. Contrary to what people think it is not confined to repeating the formula of nafi wa ithbat (i.e. la ilaha illa Allah) or repeating the ism dhat (i.e. Allah). In fact every act in compliance to the commands of Allah, whether positive or negative, is to remember Allah. Even the buying and selling in which you observe the regulations of the Shar` is dhikr; similarly, the marriage and divorce which is carried out according to the laws of the Shari`ah is dhikr. For one who performs these acts according to the Shar` is conscious of the Giver of the Shar` and does not forget Him.

To be sure, the dhikr which consists in saying the names and attributes of Allah is more effective and more helpful in generating the love of Allah, and winning His nearness; and the dhikr which consists in submitting to Allah's commands, in carrying out His orders or abstaining from His prohibitions, is less effective in producing these qualities. However, some people have acquired these qualities as a result of practising dhikr in the sense of obeying Allah's commands and avoiding His prohibitions. But such cases are few. Khwajah Naqshband has said about Zain 'l-Din Tabyadi that he reached Allah by way of knowledge.

On the other hand, the dhikr which is saying the names and attributes of Allah, is a means (wasilah) to the dhikr which is obeying the rules of the Shar` in life. For it is impossible to observe the rules of the Shar` in all matters unless one has a strong love for the Giver of the Shar`, and the strong love of Allah depends upon the dhikr of Allah by saying His names and attributes. Hence one has to say dhikr in order to do this noble dhikr.

[Quoted from "Sufism and Shari`ah: A study of Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi's Effort to Reform Sufism," by Muhammad Abdul Haq Ansari (The Islamic Foundation, Leicester, UK, 1986), pp. 232-3. Originally from Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi's letters, Vol. II:46. I have replaced the word "God" in the translation with the word "Allah".]

http://www.haqq.com.au/~salam/sufishar/wordaction.html
taken from sunnipath.

The Way of Sunni Islam: Islam, Iman, and Ihsan

The Way of Sunni Islam: Islam, Iman, and Ihsan

‘Umar ibn al-Khattab said:

As we sat one day with the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), a man in pure white clothing and jet black hair came to us, without a trace of travelling upon him, though none of us knew him.

He sat down before the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) bracing his knees against his, resting his hands on his legs, and said: "Muhammad, tell me about Islam." The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: "Islam is to testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and to perform the prayer, give zakat, fast in Ramadan, and perform the pilgrimage to the House if you can find a way."

He said: "You have spoken the truth," and we were surprised that he should ask and then confirm the answer. Then he said: "Tell me about true faith (iman)," and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) answered: "It is to believe in Allah, His angels, His inspired Books, His messengers, the Last Day, and in destiny, its good and evil."

"You have spoken the truth," he said, "Now tell me about the perfection of faith (ihsan)," and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) answered: "It is to worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you see Him not, He nevertheless sees you."

He said: "Now tell me about the Hour." The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) answered: "The one who is asked about it does knows no more than the questioner."

He said: "Then tell me about its signs." The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace answered: "That a slave girl shall give birth to her mistress, and that you see barefoot, naked, destitute shepherds vying to build tall buildings."

Then the visitor left. I waited a long while, and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said to me, "Do you know, ‘Umar, who was the questioner?" and I replied, "Allah and His messenger know best." He said,

"It was Gabriel, who came to you to teach you your religion" (Sahih Muslim, 1.37: hadith 8).
This is a rigorously authenticated hadith, described by Imam Nawawi as one of the hadiths upon which the Islamic religion turns. The use of the word "religion" (din) the last words of it, "came to you to teach you your religion" entails that the religion of Islam is composed of the three fundamentals mentioned in the hadith: Islam, or external compliance with what Allah asks of us; Iman, or the belief in the unseen that the prophets have informed us of; and Ihsan, or to worship Allah as though one sees Him.

Sunni Islam, or Ahl al-Sunna wa’l-Jama‘ah, understands the Islamic religion as it has been passed down in an unbroken chain of transmission from teacher to student from the time of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) until today. The way of Sunni Islam is to take the branch of Islam from living jurists who follow one of the four Sunni schools of fiqh: the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi‘i, and Hanbali schools; the branch of Iman from living scholars belonging to one of the two Sunni schools of ‘aqida: the Ash‘ari and Maturidi schools; and the branch of Ihsan from living masters of one of the many Sufi orders that have emerged over the centuries, such as the Qadiri, Naqshbandi, Shadhili, Chishti, and Rifa‘i tariqas.

taken from sunnipath.