Praise be to Allah.. all praisers failed to praise Him on their own, so they truly praised Him by acknowledgement of their failure to do so. None of them could enumerate tributes of Him. However, He praised Himself as He is, for He is the secret treasure and the divinity manifest, which exhibits through His name “The Beneficent One” Who is firmly established over His Throne. Read more »
Filed under: Let It Be Good, O' Allah
Sawt Al Umma Issue NO. 107
16 December 2003
No matter how widespread and accepted they may be among people, false ideas and misconceptions, fixed and immovable in the minds of those who hold them, are devoid of lifeblood. They are ideas sealed with red wax. They are like pieces of dry wood. People eat them, thinking them to be honey, and are astonished to find the only things that come out of their mouths are splinters and shavings. Whoever swallows fire will only feel the flame. Read more »
Filed under: Glimpse of Light
Sawt Al-Umma, Issue No. 106
9th December 2002
Our life, no matter how long it may last, is no longer than an exciting movie. No sooner have you seen the opening scene than you find yourself close to the last. So don’t neglect your spiritual ‘fitness’ before you are surprised with the word ‘the end’..before you find yourself travelling, flabby with no merit, to the tent of judgment. Don’t think about eternity in terms of a wax museum for only Allah is eternal. All the kings, stars, emperors, and rulers returned to dust…those that remained were the awliya, the chosen ones, Allah’s people…those who walked in Allah’s way. Read more »
Filed under: Glimpse of Light
Sawt Al-Umma, Issue No. 105
2th December 2002
The Arabic word al-wahi usually translated as ‘revelation’ is a secret between the one who gives revelation (Ar: al-mulqi) and the one who receives it (Ar: al-mutalaqqi) The Quran says: “Raised high above ranks (or degrees), (He is) the Lord of the Throne: by His Command does He send the Spirit (of revelation) to any of His servants he pleases” (Ghafer:15) Read more »
Filed under: Glimpse of Light
Sawt Al-Umma, Issue No. 104
25th November 2002
Some people mistakenly imagine sufis are exempt from obligations. It’s a common misperception, a result of a superficial and hasty interpretation of texts or sometimes even an intentional animosity toward sufism. In fact, as is so often the case, the opposite is true. Sufism actually involves an increase of obligations. Read more »
Filed under: Glimpse of Light
Sawt Al-Umma, Issue No. 103
18th November 2002
The sufi perhaps is more sensitive to and has a stronger belief in this despite the mistaken, widespread, prevalent and inaccurate ideas people have about sufis such as the ‘lifting of obligations’, ‘the people of the step’ (Ar: ahl al-khatwa), ‘the power to heal’, ‘returning missing people to their families’, ‘performing miracles’ and so on. While expressions such as these are true, the problems lie, as usual, in a proper understanding of their meaning. Read more »
Filed under: Glimpse of Light
Sawt El Umma, Issue 102,
11th November, 2002
At the moment we find ourselves losing consciousness, we won’t have time to weep under domes, nor read the Book. We will be holding onto nothing but a mirage. At the moment the rain stops, there will be no moon at the end of the night to keep us awake until dawn. We will enter the next world without a passport. At the moment we feel ourselves being scattered in pieces, we will not have a tongue, lips or words. We will be afraid to speak because it will be a timeless moment crossing it will separate pleasure from oppression. Its cure will be to remember Allah who is unknowable by humans even if they swallowed time by the day and month Read more »
Filed under: Glimpse of Light
Sawt ul-Umma, Issue 101
November, 4, 2002
Who can hold the desert to account for the shimmering strip of water on the horizon? Who can hold the poor man to account for dreaming of riches, if only for a few minutes? Who can hold the saints (awliya) the chosen ones and the pious to account when they are constantly absorbed in the invocation of Allah’s Name (dhikr Allah)? Read more »
Filed under: Glimpse of Light
Sawt al-Ummah, Issue #100
October 28, 2002
Islam came to the desert Arabs to proclaim a nation of tolerance and understanding in the face of tribal hatred, ugliness and narrow-mindedness. With Islam, the Arabs established a nation of compassion after the failure of the age of ignorance to establish a similar nation if only the size of a mosquito or a pill of aspirin. Read more »
Filed under: Glimpse of Light
Sawt Al-Umma, Issue #99
October 21st 2002
Three Muslim clerics were sailing in a small boat which belonged to a poor and humble fisherman. As they sailed peacefully through the gentle and calm waters the first cleric asked the fisherman if he was knowledgeable about religious law (Ar: sharia’h] The fisherman said he wasn’t, Read more »
Filed under: Glimpse of Light