Reflection is Remedy

“Our personal and social lives are measured by the degree to which we crave, and how successful we are in acquiring the objects of our desire. The more we obtain and the more we satisfy our base impulses, we are told, the more we truly taste and enjoy the reality of life.  The Qur’anic message, conversely, advocates something entirely different, and warns us of being deceived by the illusory nature of the world.”

-Al-Madina Institute

“The person who reaches the spiritual station of Islam (outward submission) never tires from performing good actions, while the person who reaches the spiritual station of Iman (inner surrender) no longer sees his actions, and the person who reaches the spiritual station of ihsan (beauty of soul) no longer sees himself.”

-Shaykh Ahmad ibn Ajiba, “The Divine Openings (al-Futuhat al-Ilahiyyah)”

“We wag our tails with deceptive ruses and attractive words
so that every random person will be in awe of us
We have become seekers of people’s awe,
trying to play God and rival Him in station.
Through trickery, we seek to possess hearts
but we don’t see that we are stuck” -Rumi

“If you need the reward of heaven or the threat of hell to be behave decently, then you really aren’t a good person at all.” (CNN atheist commentator today)

“Oh my Lord, if I worship You from fear of Hell, burn me in Hell; and if I worship You from hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise. But if I worship You for Your own sake, do not withhold from me Your Eternal Beauty.” -Rabiah Al-Adawiyyah (Sufi woman of the 7^th century AD)

~~~

It was told of Rabi`a that she was seen one day carrying a brand of fire in one hand and a pitcher of water in the other, and that she was running very fast. When they asked her what she was doing and where she was going, she said, I am going to light a fire in the Garden and pour water onto it so that both these veils may disappear from the seekers, and that their purpose may be sure, and that the slaves of God may see Him, without any object of hope or motive of fear. What if the Hope for the Garden and the Fear of the Fire did not exist? Not one would worship his Lord, nor obey Him. But He is worthy of worship without any immediate motive or need.

This is why I love Sufism, and this is why I love Rabiah Al-Adawiyyah, because they both teach sincerity in its purest form!  Love for God and worship of Him without any bodily and tangible incentive!

~~

A short biography on Rabiah Al-Adawiyyah (from Oxford Islamic Studies Online):

Female mystic of slave origin from Basra, often called the first Islamic saint. Introduced the doctrine of selfless love into Sufism. Demonstrated the importance of attitude and spiritual motivation for actions, rather than mere ritual correctness. Emphasized ascetic detachment, renunciation of the world, meditation, and love of God. Taught that people should worship God out of love, rather than the fear of hell or promise of paradise. Wrote passionate poems about the desire to be joined to God, permanently influencing the development and nature of Sufism. She symbolizes the importance of spiritual excellence over gender and serves as a historical example of female autonomy and freedom from male authority.

Dear God,

You have given me an ocean of bounties that I do not deserve.  You have given me the most beautiful friends, the most compassionate and understanding mother, brother, and sister-in-law.  You have given me a tremendously beautiful father, please rest his soul in peace in the barzakh.  Please shower your mercy on him as You are always showering Your mercy on us all.  I feel so happy to be in a state of contentment and ease.  Please preserve this feeling.  Please make easy for me any hurdles that I must come across.  I fear the state of despair and hopelessness for I have experienced it before.  But it is amazing how you always bring me out of that state even when it feels like it will last forever.  Please prevent my thoughts from roaming about and into past painful memories.  Please help me to be optimistic and to look forward to positive things.  Please protect me from Your Justice and Your Wrath and shade me under Your Mercy and Forgiveness.  I have many, many shortcomings and deficiencies which I hope you will overlook and help me to improve in.  Please make the path to attaining closeness to You easy for me.  Please guide me to what is the right and best niche for me in this world so that I can help serve Your creations.  Ameen.

A Hindu saint who was visiting river Ganges to have a bath found a group of family members on the banks, shouting at each other. He turned to his disciples, smiled and asked,’Why do people shout at each other?’

The disciples thought for a while, one of them said, ‘Because we lose our calm, we shout.’

‘But, why should you shout when the other person is just next to you? You can as well tell him what you have to say in a soft manner.’ said the saint.

The disciples gave some other answers but none satisfied the other disciples.

Finally the saint explained.

‘When two people are angry at each other, their hearts are very distant. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other to cover that great distance. What happens when two people fall in love? They don’t shout at each other but talk softly, because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is either non-existent or very small…’

The saint continued, ‘When they love each other even more, what happens? They do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in their love. Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other, that’s all. That is how close two people are when they love each other.’

He looked at his disciples and said, ‘So when you argue do not let your hearts get distant, do not say words that distance each other more, Or else there will come a day when the distance is so great that you will not find the path to return.

Dear God,

All praise and thanks belong to You. The source of all good and pleasure is from Your mercy and compassion. There is no amount of thankfulness and praise that can do justice to what You deserve.

My dear and beautiful Rabb, please grant my friends who are seeking life partners beautiful companions that will fulfill their needs and make them happy. Please allow them to bring ease and coolness of the eyes and hearts to their spouse and vice versa. Ameen.

Dear God please grant me a companion that will be the coolness of my eyes and heart. Someone with an undying yearning for sacred knowledge, a love of deep words of wisdom, and a passionate appreciation of the living, breathing, intellectual and yet practical sciences of Islam (Sufism). Someone who has deep love and respect for our intellectual and spiritual giants: Ibn al Arabi, Shaykh Jalaluddin Rumi, Imam Ghazali, Imam Al Haddad, Shaykh Ibn Ata’illah, and more. Someone who appreciates deep reflection of this world, the afterlife, the human soul. Someone who passionately appreciates service to others, and the united and compassionate spirit that ties all humans together. Surely the reality of all things comes back to one unity. Oneness.

A man is happy when he has pain, for the pain of having no pain can only be cured by the fire. -a poet

This quote was stolen from my friend’s blog.