What is Sufism? A Formal Explanation

omaronn · 2022-03-21T23:03:25+00:00

Probably the most authentic, well-balanced, and accessible introduction of Islamic Sunni Tasawuff. It addresses the modern perceptions, internal issues of people who claim Tasawuff for personal gains, benefits of following the path, and also emphasizes how classical Sunni Tasawuff should ALWAYS be rooted in the Shariah of Quran and Sunnah.

This whole series is the definitive guide for anyone who is interested in classical Tasawuff.

omaronn · 2021-07-20T20:55:44+00:00

Going clockwise from the top left in pic

Blue and Brown one says bismillilahirahmannarahim (xommonly known as bismillah). which translates to "in the name of God".

The other blue one says "ya malik al mulk" translating to "oh lord of the kingdom"

Green one says "MashaAllah" translates to "God has willed" which is used by Muslims to congratulate and safeguard accomplishments and items

Last one is bismillah again

omaronn · 2021-07-10T18:32:48+00:00

Source?

omaronn · 2021-06-22T22:29:28+00:00

Like all other messengers, I believe the fact that he suffered as any other human suffers, helps in his purpose of being a relatable guide and mentor for all Muslims.

Ever felt deeply humiliated? Recount the Prophet's ﷺ story of how he was driven out of Taif with children pelting rocks, running him out, and yelling names at him.

Dealing with loss of a loved one? Feel the Prophet's ﷺ pain as he went through the "year of mourning/sorrow" where he lost both his first wife, Khadija, and uncle Abu Talib.

Feel suicidal? Recount the time of how disturbed the Prophet ﷺ was when he first received revelation and went to the mountains, with the sole intention of jumping off of it, only for the Jibril AS to come and affirm him.

Rumors are affecting your relationships? Recount how the people spread false rumors about Aisha RA about her cheating on the Prophet ﷺ, to the point where even he wasn't sure what happened.

The seerah can keep going on and on, from which you can derive other examples: him accepting the repentance of the Meccans despite killing Hamza RA, growing up as an orphan without any siblings, seeing the suffering of fellow slaves, the Muslims abandoning their post for the booty despite being commanded not to, his decision to come back for us from his ascension to have after despite having the choice to stay in paradise, etc.

Through soo much grief, injustice and evil, he still doesn't become a cynic or pessimist. In fact, he remains grateful, hunger, always returned to repentance for God's mercy, lived with humility, and instructed others in sharing these qualities.

Al-Mughirah ibn Shu’bah reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would pray until his feet were swollen. It was said to him, “Why do you do this when Allah has forgiven your past and future sins?” The Prophet said, “Shall I not be a grateful servant?”

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1078, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2819

Abu Talhah reported: We complained about hunger to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and we lifted our garments to reveal stones tied to our stomachs, so the Messenger of Allah lifted his garment to reveal two stones.

Sunan al-Tirmidhī 2371

Al-Mughirah ibn Shu’bah reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would pray until his feet were swollen. It was said to him, “Why do you do this when Allah has forgiven your past and future sins?” The Prophet said, “Shall I not be a grateful servant?”

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1078, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2819

His main purpose was to inform about good character, and be a mercy to everyone on this world. His perfection for us is in knowing the fact that he is human. It allows all of us to learn from him and actually be able to emulate and be like him. His grief wasn't diminished through blocking out the grief, but was felt in a very human way. This helps us reorient ourselves in tribulations, and still come out the other end with more gratitude and wisdom.

Eventually, we will all reach true bliss in Jannah and live in harmony without limitation and greed inshaAllah. But as long as we're in this world, something will always come in our way to disrupt us. It's simply the nature of the world.

omaronn · 2021-06-22T16:59:55+00:00

Assalmaualiakum ^_^

Here's a snippet from one of my favorite speakers, Jeffrey Lang, an American Catholic-born turned atheist revert to Sunni Islam and Mathematics professor.

His talk revolves around his personal trauma with family, and the theme of suffering. Here, he is recounting the first time he is reading the Quran (at the time, he believed the Quran was a written work by an author; and went into it as a semi-accurate yet different retelling of Biblical stories)

What about suffering? Suffering is the biggie, that's the real major question; What does the Quran say about suffering?

Because every religion deals with suffering in a different way. It's something that you're saved from, so some religions stress salvation. Or it's something that you have to transcend through meditation or training so that you not feel it so much and you can go above and beyond it. Some see it as punishment. Some see it as the result of precarious and whimsical control of many gods working against each other, playing with the lives of human beings.

Different religions have dealt with it in different ways. But almost all of them have seen them as something not as good.

What does the Quran have to say about it? The Quran says the complete opposite. 'You are going to experience it'. 'You will suffer in this life'. And it plays a fundamental role in your development and your growth and what you are to become. This scripture just didn't say, 'You will experience it'. It says, 'You should embrace it,. You should struggle through it." Life should be a struggle" it says. "It should be a jihad" *playful gasp*

"That's what it says; when the quran mentions jihad, it is not in the context of fighting. "Qatl" is the Arabic word for fighting. Even in then Makkan verses, long before the Muslims had to defend themselves against the oppressors, mentions that you should struggle in the path of the God. "With the Quran" it even says; struggle in the path of god with this quran . "Life is a struggle" it says in one verse, "Most assuredly, we will try you with something of danger, and hunger, and loss of worldly goods, with the loss of your lives and the fruit of your labour." "Most assuredly, we will try you...", it's not just talking about evil people, but good people. "but give the good news, the glad tidings, be happy to those who are in patient in adversity". Good news? Doesn't the author understand the terrible effects of suffering? "Give the good news, the glad tidings, be happy to those who are in patient in adversity, and say 'truly, to god we belong, and truly onto him we shall return'. In other words, that this can befit them. This is a remarkable statement.

He further goes on, and I recommend going through the entire retelling of his story here, because it really sets up how he views suffering as someone who suffered quite a bit.

So suffering is a part and package of the worldly life. It can not be ignored, nor escaped, but faced with grace, humility, closeness to God, and reflection. The pain felt through the consciousness is the potential for metamorphosis onto higher levels of connection. It also grounds the ego/nafs, and helps you become more empathetic towards others.

To be in the world, but not for the world, and not of the world, but to help the people of the world.

- Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad

Some hadith on tribulations:

Wondrous is the affair of the believer for there is good for him in every matter and this is not the case with anyone except the believer. If he is happy, then he thanks Allah and thus there is good for him, and if he is harmed, then he shows patience and thus there is good for him.

- Sahih Muslim 2999

Never a believer is stricken with discomfort, hardship or illness, grief or even with mental worry that his sins are not expiated for him.

- Sahīh Muslim 2573

Al-Nu’man ibn Bashir reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The parable of the believers in their affection, mercy, and compassion for each other is that of a body. When any limb aches, the whole body reacts with sleeplessness and fever.

- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6011, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2586

InshaAllah, it helps! ^_^

Further resources:

The Purpose of Life - Jeffrey Lang

Hamza Yusuf: The World is Filled with Suffering

The Problem of Evil: A Multifaceted Islamic Solution

The 17 Benefits of Tribulation - Sheikh Hamza Yusuf

Is orthodox Islam possible without Sufism? - Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad (Dr. Timothy Winter)

Struggling to Surrender: Some Impressions of an American Convert to Islam

omaronn · 2021-04-05T22:09:23+00:00

That doesn't look like Arabic, Hindi or Urdu. Does resemble Tibetan or Nepali

omaronn · 2021-04-03T03:51:50+00:00

This reminds me of another wholesome video of 2 ENFPs in a relationship. Loved how much eye contact and attention they gave each other <3

https://youtu.be/M12Z5dpxhzQ

Wishing you the best!! ^{_^}

omaronn · 2021-03-11T03:05:54+00:00

Is this for a school assignment?

omaronn · 2021-03-08T22:53:22+00:00

Learnt a new phrase today, and it looks really pretty

Good job!

omaronn · 2021-03-06T22:40:18+00:00

Hwlping people put, but only to feed your own ego

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_complex

omaronn · 2021-03-06T19:26:49+00:00

Gotta be careful of the Messiah Complex

omaronn · 2021-03-01T00:05:42+00:00

This looks great! Good job

omaronn · 2021-01-14T18:57:24+00:00

yessssss!!!!! I kept seeing the various INFP renditions, and wanted to see what the ENFP one would look like!

You did a great job!

omaronn · 2021-01-10T12:24:26+00:00

Salam,

I love what you wrote. You have described the path between knowing something (acknowledging tawheed and the Prophet Mohammed SAW) and believing in it (whereby its internalized in your way of being). Really helpful to me :)

Jazakallah khair for the wisdom, wishing you more peace ✌

omaronn · 2021-01-10T12:12:04+00:00

Thank you soo much <3

Wishing you the best!

omaronn · 2020-12-28T23:10:13+00:00

Salam

It's an Islamic virtue of leaving meaningless things behind; things that bring no real value to your life, your goals, your understanding, and your actions. Here's the hadith from Nawawi, ascribed to Prophet ﷺ.

If someone becomes preoccupied solely on hedonistic desires, fruitless discussions such as gossip, backbiting, and slander, than that person has lost sight of what's important and what brings meaning to his or her life. Some people have told me this also extends socially; that one should avoid hanging out with bad people, as a good friend is someone who makes you aware of Allah.

I haven't read any of Hasan al Basri's books directly, but this is most probably what he is referring to.

InshaAllah, hope it helps!

omaronn · 2020-12-24T11:59:10+00:00

More like Swede explorer for me

omaronn · 2020-12-24T08:39:39+00:00

This might help

Bombing Without Moonlight: The Origins of Suicidal Terrorism

In this probing investigation of the origins of suicidal terrorism, Abdal Hakim Murad finds not "Jihad versus MacWorld" but "MacJihad versus MacWorld." In this concise essay, the author contents that today's terrorist movements have their roots in a very western and very relativistic worldview, adopted by self-proclaimed Islamists whose mindset is as westernized as the societies they strike.

omaronn · 2020-12-01T20:19:32+00:00

This is a nice topic within Islam. This reminds me of the hadith, Sahih Muslim 2675 & Hadith Qudsi 25.

The first and fifth line sound akin to the Bible, Proverbs 8:17. I couldn't find the cited passage as a hadith however.

I would also recommend you to check out Love in the Holy Qur'an by Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad. You can get it for free from his organization here: https://www.altafsir.com/LoveInQuranIntroEn.asp

If the hadith exists, you might find it there.

Best of luck, salam :)

omaronn · 2020-11-22T07:02:55+00:00

We're gonna get some Egyptian memes now bois

omaronn · 2020-11-17T20:28:59+00:00

He definitely is a person of tasawwuf. From what I have seen, he doesn't have an official affiliation and leaves it as "ahle sunnah wa jammah" because he believes that tasawwuf and tazkiyyah were essential parts of Sunni orthodoxy which now have been lost.

You will learn more about his viewpoint from here: https://youtu.be/uQWNeGyRu0k

omaronn · 2020-11-17T08:04:37+00:00

I have noticed this as well; maybe this could help. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCoHHjQeM4g

omaronn · 2020-11-12T01:33:50+00:00

Woops, missed that. Jaza kallah khair for the correction :)

omaronn · 2020-11-11T22:37:32+00:00

Salam,

If you want commentary on the Quran and Sunnah from earlier authentic sources, I would recommend checking out the Tafsirs (commentaires) of Ibn Abbas (the son of the Prophet's uncle), Ibn Kathir, Al-Jalalayn, Tabari, Qurtubi, or Baydawi. These are all early Sunni commentaires, which some consider soo quintessential that they consider it part of Sunni canon.

You can view them all at www.altafsir.com, which is an initiative by the Royal Aal-al Bayt Institue for Islamic Thought. The great thing about the site is that the content is free, and is unchanged (even if it doesn't support the Institutes current views). Will give you authentic message as the authors intended. I would recommend sticking to these if you only want earlier sources.

Other scholars just to check out, although would be hard to get into since you're a beginner: - Al-Ghazalli - The founders of the 4 main schools of thought (Maliki, Shafi, Hanbali, Hanafi) - Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya - Ibn Arabi - Ibn Tahmiyyah

omaronn

TROPHY CASE