Stages of Tawhid

The opposite of shirk is tawhid (monotheism), which means that there is no power in the universe except that of the Almighty God.

Tawhid has stages; they are:

1. Verbal admission or acceptance of tawhid; that is uttering that (laa ilaaha illallaah - there is no god but God) without believing in the sentence with the heart.

2. Believing with the heart when the above statement of monotheism is made with the tongue.

3. Realization of the unity of God through epiphany and numinous experience. In other words, one discovers that the vast multiplicity of creatures derive their existence from the One God, and recognizes that no power other than God's operates in the universe.

4. One sees nothing in the world except the Divine Being and perceives all creatures as emanations and reflections of that Being.

These stages of belief in tawhid guide us to recognize the cause of the disease of shirk. The root cause of shirk is immersion in the material world and forgetfulness in regard to God. In order to cure it, one must meditate upon the creation of the heavens and the earth and myriads of God's creatures. That may awaken within one the appreciation of the glory of God. The deeper his meditation and contemplation on the beauty of the universe and the mystery of its creation, the greater his faith in the existence and unity of God shall become.

The Quran says:

Such as remember Allah, standing, sitting, and reclining, and consider the creation of the heavens and the earth, (and say): `Our Lord, Thou hast not created this in vain. Glory be to Thee! sane us from the chastisement of the Fire. (3:191)

Imam al-Rida (A) has been quoted as saying:

Worship does not lie in copious prayer and fasting, but in the amount of contemplation in the works of God.

Muhammad Mahdi ibn abi Dharr al-Naraqi; Jami' al-Sa'adat

Tazkiyat an-Nafs

William Chittick

In order to learn how to see God in oneself and things, one has to learn how to be aware of God constantly. One has to see the shining light of the risen sun in a landscape that others perceive as shrouded in midnight. All the practices of Islam and Sufism are focused on one goal – allowing people to open up their eyes and see. Numerous Koranic verses and prophetic sayings speak of this goal with a great variety of images and expressions. One of the most succinct of these and one that has often been taken by Sufi teachers as the definition of the path to God is tazkiyat an-nafs, a phrase that is usually translated as “purification of the soul.”

The phrase is derived from a Koranic verse that I would translate, with some hesitation, as follows: “By the soul and That which shaped it, and inspired it to its depravity and its godwariness. Prosperous is he who purifies it, and failed has he who buries it” (91:7–10). According to this verse, only those who purify their souls achieve “prosperity.” The Koranic context makes clear that this prosperity pertains to the next world and that the prosperity of this world is irrelevant, if not positively dangerous. Those who fail to purify their souls and instead “bury” their souls – as if they were hiding their souls under the ground – will not be prosperous. Instead, they will be miserable when they move on to their final home, whether or not they consider themselves prosperous here.

Like all translations of Koranic passages, this translation is problematic and tentative. To begin with, “purify” is definitely a misleading translation for tazkiya. All the dictionaries tell us that tazkiya has two senses, though the lexicographers disagree as to which sense is more basic.

One meaning of the verb is to purify and cleanse, the other to augment and increase. Hence tazkiyat an-nafs, as the Koran commentators recognize, can be understood to mean both “purification” of the nafs and “augmentation” of the nafs. Most commentators stress the first meaning, apparently for theological reasons. After all, the primary task of Muslims is to submit themselves to God, and this cannot happen until they rid themselves of things that God does not like. This can be called “purification.” However, it is obvious that the soul also needs to grow and to increase in stature with God’s help. Bringing about this growth can also be called tazkiya.

Thus, two things need to take place, and both are implied in the word tazkiya – purification and augmentation. We can also consider purification as occurring simultaneously with the soul’s growth and increase, and thus the two senses of the word coalesce. The complementarity of these two meanings can be seen in some of the ways in which the word tazkiya is used. The dictionaries tell us that it can be employed for planting seeds or raising cattle, in which cases it means neither to purify nor to augment, but something that combines these two senses. When seeds are planted in the ground, they are purified of everything alien to them and exposed to God’s bounties – earth, water, and sunlight.

This prepares the way for the seeds to increase and grow. Those who plant the seeds neither “purify” them nor “augment” them. Rather, they put them into a situation where they can thrive, prosper, and bring out their own potentiality. Hence tazkiyat annafs means not only “to purify the soul,” but also to allow the soul to grow and thrive by opening it up to the bounty of God. A better translation might be “cultivation of the soul.”

Signs and Gateways to seeking Yaqin

Jami' al-Sa'adat by Muhammad Mahdi ibn abi Dharr al-Naraqi

There are certain signs associated with the state of certainty against which anyone can measure himself to determine his own degree of conviction. These signs are:


1. Reliance on God in all one's affairs, and having mind only for His good pleasure. To put it succinctly, it should be one's firm belief that: 'There is no power or might [in the world] except that [it is derived] from God, the Most High, and the Most Great.'

2. Humility before God, both inwardly and outwardly, at all times and under all circumstances, and obedience to His commands to the smallest detail.


3. Possession of extraordinary - almost miraculous-powers through being close to God - a condition that comes about after one has realized one's insignificance and weakness before His greatness and majesty.


There are three stages of Certainty
1. `Ilm al-Yaqin: Which is certain and permanent conviction. It is like the conviction of a man who when he sees smoke believes with certainty that there must be a fire too.


2. `Ayn al-Yaqin: Which is beholding something with-either the outer or the inner-eye. Using the above example, it is like the conviction of a man who not only sees the smoke but fire itself.


3. Haqq al-Yaqin: Which is the state of certainty acquired when a form of spiritual and actual union exists between the knower and the known thing. This would be the case, for example, if one should be himself in the midst of fire mentioned in the above example. This is called "the union of the knower and the known", and is discussed in its appropriate place. 

In order to attain haqq al-yaqin one must fulfil certain necessary conditions. These are:
1. The individual soul must have the capacity to receive and understand these truths; the soul of a child, for example, cannot understand the reality of things.
2. The soul should not be one defiled by corruption and sin.
3. Complete attention must be concentrated on the object in question, and the mind must be free of pollution of worldly and base interests.
4. One must be free of any kind of blind imitation and prejudice.
5. In order to attain the aim, relevant and necessary preliminaries must be covered.

Laylat al-Qadr and the Prophet's Heart

(5 minute read featuring an exceptional dimension of Laylat al-Qadr)
Reza Shah-Kazemi


Outwardly, Surat al-Qadr describes the revelation to the Prophet of the Qur'an, in its entirety, in synthesized form, on one of the odd nights during the last ten nights of Ramadan; inwardly, or esoterically, the 'Night of Power' is interpreted as an allusion to the very soul of the Prophet.
Exoterically, the particular verses of the Qur'an are deemed to have descended 'upon' the heart of the Prophet (26:192-194); but esoterically the essence of the Qur'an is deemed to have descended 'into' the heart of the Prophet.


Kashani, for example, tells us that the Night of Power is 'the Muhammadan constitution in a veiled state' - that state in which, alone, he can receive Revelation, after having had 'essential vision', that is, of the Essence beyond forms, and thus, beyond Revelation (Kashani, Tafsir Ibn Arabi, vol. 2 p. 447). What this kind of interpretation alludes to is the spiritual power inherent in the absolute receptivity of the state of the Prophet's soul. This receptivity can also be considered as total emptiness, and thus as faqr; and, at the highest level, as fana'; a state of total extinction from oneself. Applied analogically, it can be said that every soul must make itself into a kind of 'Laylat al-Qadr', by emptying itself of egotism and worldliness, in order to be 'full' of receptivity to the divine; one aims to become a vessel made empty for the influx of divine grace.


For emptiness of the qualities of the ego implies fullness of the qualities of God. It is for this reason that the heart of the Prophet is compared in Islamic spirituality to a spotless mirror; there is no 'spot' or trace of individualism or egocentricity which might prevent the qualities of God from being reflected by the heart of the Prophet.


The manifestation of divine reality through the spiritual 'constitution' of the Prophet - through him as the Laylat al-Qadr - by no means entails a reduction of the divine to the human. It does not, in other words, imply shirk. Rather it implies the most radical display of tawhid. For the Prophet's soul, being utterly effaced before God, allows the oneness of God to display its various modes of perfection, unimpeded by any individualistic veils; those perfections of unity, or divine qualities, which can be manifested will be manifested - and to perfection - through the effaced soul of the Prophet. The human manifestation of virtue becomes but an appearance; the reality of this manifestation is purely divine: 'And thou didst not throw when thou threwest, but God it was who threw' (8:17), God tells the Prophet.


The Prophets virtues, then, are not his own; they must be seen as the reflections of qualities which are ultimately, or metaphysically, God's own Names and Attributes. These virtues are human and created in form, but divine and uncreated in essence. When, therefore, he is described as ra'uf, 'kind', and rahim, 'merciful' (9:128), one cannot but see these traits, according to the metaphysical logic of tawhid, and in the light of the effacement of the Prophet, as being reflections of the divine qualities, al-Ra'uf and al-Rahim. Herein lies one of the meanings of the 'tremendous character' (khulqun azim) ascribed to the Prophet (4:68); one should note that al-Azim, also, is one of the Names of God.


The spotless mirror, the Prophets heart as the Laylat al-Qadr, not only reflects faithfully the light of the Qur'an revealed to him, it also reflects the very Face of God, that Face which the Qur'an tells is visible, in principle, wherever we may turn (2:115).

Dhikr, intention and awareness

William Chittick

Given the centrality of God’s remembrance in the Qur'an and Hadith, there can be no question that dhikr was basic to Islamic practice throughout the early centuries. As the jurists gradually codified the Sharia, however, they could not impose dhikr on the community. Even though the Qur'an repeatedly commands people to remember God, by nature dhikr is connected much more to intention and awareness than to the outward activity that is ruled by the Sharia.
The root of being a Muslim is 'laa ilaha illallah - No god but God,’ words that are identical with remembrance. Hence, the spirit of the daily prayer and the other ritual practices, such as fasting and pilgrimage, is ''the renewal of God’s remembrance in the heart.''
Turning to God – remembrance – awakens awareness of God in the heart and actualizes the divine image latent in the soul. Ultimate felicity is nothing but the remembrance of the wellspring of our own true nature, and that is God Himself; or, it is the realization of genuine human character traits, which are the traces of God’s names.
“Every breath taken in replenishes life, and once let go it gives joy to the soul. So each breath counts as two blessings, and each blessing requires thanksgiving.” It is the silent
and persevering remembrance of God in gratitude for each breath or each heartbeat, always within the context of the Sunnah, that takes the seeker to the ultimate goal.

VISION: THE CLIMAX OF HAJJ

When prophet Musa (‘a) went to Mount Sinai and had a secret mutual conversation with Allah for thirty nights [Wa waa‘adna Musa thalathina laylatan (and And We made an appointment with Moses for thirty nights- Qur’an 7:142], they actually were the thirty nights of the holy month of Dhu al-Qa’da [Ref: ‘Allama Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, v.13, pp. 213-214], a month when those who aspire to meet the Beloved, and not merely His house (ka’ba), engage in spiritual pursuits in preparation for the fundamental vertical (spiritual) journey to the Beloved. 


Then Allah says “wa atmamnaahu bi ‘ashr” (And we completed them with ten [more days]-Qur’an, 7:142). Almighty Allah confers ten more days to Musa (‘a) for munajat. And these ten days are the very first ten days of the holy month of Dhu al-Hijja when the hajis are busy in their spiritual excursion. 


Having undergone specific stages of spiritual change through the help of his Lord, Musa (‘a) finally asks for vision. He says, “Rabbi arini anzuru ilayk” (My Lord, show [Yourself] to me, that I may look at You!’- Qur’an, 7:143). 

Insightful scholars like Imam Khumayni say that Musa (‘a) did not aspire for vision through the physical eye, free from such kind of thinking are the Prophets of Allah [Ref: Imam Khumayni, Notes on Nubuwwat, p. 352]. He yearned to see the Beloved through the heart. Such vision obviously is not “complete comprehension” which presumes the comprehending one to encompass the object of comprehension. It rather is a limited comprehension of the Divine Attributes according to the capacity of the beholder. And this can only be achieved through self-purification, whose fundamental stages according to authoritative divine sages are as follows:


1) Al-Tajliya (Strictly adhering to the apparent Islamic laws and refraining from whatever Islam has prohibited)
2) Al-Takhliya (Cleaning oneself through the water of repentance and tawba)
3) Al-Tahliya (Beautifying oneself with the perfections of the Absolutely Beautiful according to one’s capacity)
4) Al-Fana (Dissolution in the Beloved, such that one visions that no identity exists save that of Allah)


Aspirants of hajj should try to journey through these stages, so that on the 10th of Dhu al-Hijja they deserve to put on the Ihram of Musa (‘a) and sincerely yearn for the vision of the Only Beloved.


What is so captivating is to behold the Musa of Karbala, who in the Mount Sinai [Bihar al-Anwar, v.98, pp. 108-109] of Ghadhiriyya (another name for Karbala), is reported to have said:

I left the entire creation in Your Desire
And made my family orphans so that I may see You
So even if you cut me into pieces in my love for You
My heart would not incline to other than You


This peerless Musa of history was so intensely sacrificing, that the Beloved bestowed him with peerless bestowals, one of which is:
Al-sujud ‘ala turbat al-Husayn (‘a) yakhriqu al-hujub al-sab‘ (prostrating on the clay of al-Husayn severs the seven veils [‘Allama Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, v.82, pp. 153]). A probably meaning of the seven veils is ‘the seven levels of existence’, the highest of which is in the close proximity of the All-Beloved.


But the Beloved’s love is so special for this Moses of Karbala. According to a tradition narrated from Imam al-Sadiq (‘a) [Ref: ‘Allama Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, v.98, pp. 87] Allah on the day of ‘Arafa begins with the visitors of the grave of al-Husayn first, and then the lovers stationed in the sacred plains of ‘Arafa.
We pray to Almighty Allah to enable us comprehend the secrets of Hajj better as we cross the stations of our transient life.


Shaykh Muhammad Khalfan

In consequence of a fractured leg,
God bestows a wing.
Likewise, from the depths of the pit,
He opens a door of escape.
God said, "Don't consider whether
you're up a tree or in a hole:
Consider Me, for I am the key of the way."
Rumi

Contradictory attributes in the Quran, with the exception of one!

life-giving read - adhere with patience, word by word


Within the human makeup, it is the “heart” (dil) that attracts God’s love, not the “clay” (gil), which is shared by many other creatures. 
The Quran sets up opposition between Creator and creature in many different ways, constantly asserting the divine greatness and human insignificance. Only in talk of love does the Quran speak of mutuality.

God gave news of the attribute of His knowledge – Surely God knows everything [29:62]. He also gave news of the attribute of our ignorance – Surely he is very ignorant, a great wrongdoer [33:72].


He gave news of the attribute of His power – Surely God is powerful over everything [2:109]. He also gave news of the attribute of our incapacity – God strikes a likeness: a servant possessed by his master, having no power over anything [16:75].


He gave news of the attribute of His exaltation – Surely the exaltation, all of it, belongs to God [4:139]. He also gave news of our abasement – And faces are humbled to the Living, the Selfsubsistent [20:111].


He gave news of the attribute of His incomparability and holiness – Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of exaltation, above what they describe [37:180]. He also gave news of the attribute of our taintedness – Did We not create you of a vile water? [77:20].


He gave news of the attribute of His subsistence – There subsists the face of your Lord, Possessor of Majesty and Generous Giving [55:27]. He also gave news of the attribute of our annihilation – Everything upon the earth is undergoing annihilation [55:26].


He gave news of the attribute of His life – Trust in the Living who does not die [25:58]. He also gave news of the attribute of our death – Surely you are mortal and they are mortal [39:30].


Since Lordship is His attribute – Your Lord and the Lord of your fathers, the first [26:26] – servanthood is our attribute: I created jinn and mankind only to serve Me [51:56].


Since unity is His attribute – Your God is one God [16:22] – pairedness and association are our attribute: Of each thing We created a pair [51:49].


However, when He gave news of love, just as He affirmed love for Himself, so also He affirmed love for us – He loves them, and they love Him [5:54].


Here there must be a secret that will increase the refreshment of the lovers’ spirits: Knowledge, power, life, holiness, subsistence, and unity are the attribute of His Essence, and His Essence is holy and incomparable. These attributes are suited for Him. Glory be to Him who is disposed to exaltation and suited for it!


When one looks at the human essence, it is tainted and distracted. It is a muddiness, a dark water, a clay. Hence, all those attributes appeared within it. But, the site of love is the heart, and the heart is pure gold, the pearl of the breast’s ocean, the ruby of the inmost mystery’s mine. The hand of no one else has touched it, and the eye of no one who is not a confidant has fallen upon it. The witnessing of God’s majesty has polished it, and the burnisher of the Unseen has placed its seal upon it, making it bright and limpid. 

The angels are cut off from love because they cannot taste wrath, severity, and distance, and the beasts are far from love because they cannot experience beauty, gentleness, and nearness. Human beings are woven from both nearness and distance, both gentleness and severity. All the contradictory divine attributes are brought together within them. Only they can truly love God, within whom all opposites coincide. 

“In the eighteen thousand worlds, 
no one drank down the cup that holds the covenant of 
They love Him except human beings.”

The heart... ...The house of God... ...The abode of dhikr.

William C. Chittick


The human task can only be accomplished in the 'heart', a word that designates the unlimited realm of human awareness and consiousness. The heart alone, among all created things, is given the capacity to encompass God. As the famous extra-Quranic Divine saying puts it, 'My heavens and My earth embrace Me not, but the heart of My believing servant does embrace Me.' To remember God fully and actually is to find Him sitting within the heart, which is His Throne in the microcosm.


Knowledge of things as they actually are can only come through knowing them as disclosures of the Real, as signs and traces displaying God's names and attributes. This is not a theoretical sort of knowledge, but a knowledge of recognition and gnosis. It is to gain a true vision of the Divine omnipresence, the fact that, as the Quran puts it, 'And Allah's is the East and the West, therefore, whither you turn, thither is Allah's purpose; surely Allah is Amplegiving, Knowing. (2:115)' Such knowledge comes by way of dhikr, which is al-hudhur ma a'l-madhkur, 'presence with the One Remembered.'


It is only this sort of knowledge that allows man to see that everything in this world is accursed if he does not see it as displaying the Real, and that he himself is accursed to the extent that he does not know that things do infact display the Real. Once we see the world for what it is, we see that it is nothing but dhikr-Allah - a reminder of God, a mention of God, a remembrance of God. Our response to the world can only be to follow its lead - to mention and to remember God. 'Everything is accursed,' says the hadith, 'except dhikr-Allah.' But everything is dhikr-Allah, so nothing is accursed. The alchemy of dhikr transmutes the accursed into the blessed. The place of that dhikr, where God becomes truly present and man becomes truly blessed, is the heart.


As Ibn Arabi put it:
The greatest sin is what brings about the death of the heart. It dies only by knowing God. This is what is named 'ignorance'. For the heart is the house that God has chosen for Himself in this human configuration. But such a person has misappropriated the house, coming between it and its Owner.


A person like that is the one who most wrongs himself, for he has deprived himself of good that would have come to him from the Owner of the house - had he left the house to Him. This is the deprivation of ignorance (III 179.6)

The Perfect Servant

Ibn Arabi (III 248.12)


God made this earth a place for the vicegerency. Hence it is the abode of His Kingdom and the site of His deputy, who becomes manifest through the properties of His names.
So, from the earth, He created us. Within it, He gave us residence, whether alive or dead. And from it He will bring us forth through the Uprising in the last configuration. Thus, worship never leaves us wherever we may be, in this world and the afterworld, for, even though the afterworld is not an abode of [religious] prescription [taklif], it is an abode of worship.
Among us, whoever ceaselessly witnesses that for which he was created in this world and the next is the perfect servant, the intended goal of the cosmos, and the deputy of the whole cosmos. Were all the cosmos - the high of it and the low of it - to be heedless of God's remembrance for a single moment, and were this servant to remember Him, he would take the place of the whole cosmos through that remembrance, and the existence of the cosmos would be preserved through him. However, if the human servant were to be heedless of the remembrance, the cosmos could not take his place in that. That of it which is empty of the human being who remembers would go to ruin.
The Prophet said, 'The Hour will not come as long as there remains in the earth someone who is saying <Allah, Allah>'

Know yourself, Know your Lord

William Chittick

Unless and until we understand that dhikr is a practice of God Himself, and along with Him, that of all the creation, we will not be able to grasp our human condition or to take advantage of it while we have it.

Anyone familiar with the Quran knows that it speaks of God by detailing His names and attributes. It goes extraordinary lengths to emphasize that it is God's book, revelation, speech, and words. It maintains that all revelation is God's speech, and that God speaks to the Prophets so as to clarify the nature of things and to explain the appropriate human response.

Just as the Quran and the other scriptures are collections of God's signs or ayaat, so also the whole universe is a vast collection of God's signs and ayaat.
In effect, God creates the whole universe by revealing three books - 1) the Universe 2) the Human Self 3) the Scripture. In each, He reveals His signs and writes out His words.

Once we understand that reality is configured by speech, we shall also see that human task is to see and understand what has been written. Then we can follow the instructions laid out in the text of scripture, the world, and the soul.

The interpretation of the Quran - which is the foundation and fruit of all Islamic sciences - has always entailed the simultaneous interpretation of universe and the soul. Every Muslim, by accepting the Quran as God's word, has accpeted the responsibility of understanding what the Word means. The fruit of this understanding rebounds on the soul.

Every soul will answer for its own reading, not only of the Quran but also of the other two books, the universe and the soul. And given the fact that it is the soul itself that reads and understands, the book of the soul is the all-important determinant  of our destiny. This helps explain why, in recounting the events that will take place on the day of Resurrection, the Quran tells us that every human being will be addressed by the words, 'Read your book; your own self is sufficient as a reckoner against you this day.' [17:14]

The crux of knowledge, then, is to read and know one's soul. The whole trajectory of the voluntary return to God is to learn how to interpret oneself through understanding the wisdom present in both revelations and the cosmos. The return reaches its fruition on the Day of Resurrection.

What we as human beings should want to learn is who we are now and who we will be when we arrive back at the meeting with God. All knowledge should serve the goal of this knowledge. As Rumi puts it,'The spirit of all the sciences is this, only this:
that you may know who you will be on the Day of Resurrection'

In order to know who one is and who one will be, one must know one's relation with God, who created man in His own image. It is clear that the Divine speech creates the world and reveals the scriptures. It is this same speech that appears as the distinguishing feature of reminder, guidance, and prayer whereby man is able to remember his Source and undertake the return journey. And it is also this same speech that will be written plainly in the book of the soul on the Day of Resurrection.

The human condition, then, demands knowing that everything we understand, speak, do, and embody is being written and recorded in our own selves.

'How can anyone stop dealing with such a Generous One and become indifferent even for a twinkling of an eye?!'

A 2-minute thought-provoking word from
Sh. Husain Ibn Ali Ibn Sadiq al-Bahrani
that will escalate our love and perception of Allah (swt)

A believer who tries to follow in the footsteps of Ahlulbayt (as) must accustom himself to thinking well of his Lord, expecting Allah to reward him with plenty for the little that he does. He (swt) is the Only One Who gives plenty for little. Whatever good things you expect of Him, and whatever you think of the norms of His generosity, He is more than what you think: you mental scope is limited while His generosity has no limit.

He (swt) has already informed you that He is according to your good thoughts of Him. Our master, the Commander of the Faithful (as), has said, 'Whoever thinks well of you, you should prove him right' (Bihar al Anwar vol 74 p 212)

One who thinks well of something, Allah will prove him right as this is linked to thinking well of Allah, since the source of everything good is Allah, therefore Allah actualizes such a notion, proving its accuracy.

One particular hadith clearly stated that if anyone thinks well even of a stone, Allah will place a lot of goodness in it. The person who transmitted this tradition, thereupon, asked the Imam (as), '...a stone!?' The Imam (as) said, 'Dont you see the black stone (hajar-e-aswad)?'

Our master, Al Rida (as), is quoted as having said, ''Allah revealed to Nabi Dawud (as) saying, 'A servant of mine may come to Me with one good deed whereby I grant Him paradise. He was asked, 'Lord, what is this good deed?' He said, 'He removes the worry of a believer even with half a date.' Dawud (as) said, Anyone who trule gets to know You can never loose hope [of receiving Your mercy]''' (Al Jawahir Al Saniyya p 76)

So if the most Exalted One and the most Great grants this paradise, the width of which is like that of the heavens and the earth, in exchange for half a date [given by way of charity], I plead to you in the name of Allah to answer me: How can anyone stop dealing with such a Generous One and become indifferent to such a dealing even for a twinkling of an eye?!

What would be ones alternative? If one lost a moment wherein he did not pay his full attention to Allah, what can his compensation for his loss be? Never! He has surely missed something for which there is no compensation and has cheated himself irreparably.

p.s.
The Prophet (saw) used to always love to be optimistic and to hate pessimism (Bihar al Anwar Vol 92 p.2)

Pessimism is according to what a pessimist envisions: If he sees it as severe, so will it be, and if he sees it as light, so will it be, too. And if he does not pay any attention to it, it will be as though it was never there. (Rawdat al Kafi, p.197)

An axiomatic argument proving the existence of God

By Mujahid Khalfan and Revolutionary


'Do they not reflect within themselves' (30:8)


'The most superior form of worship is perpetual contemplation on God and His Power.' (Usul al-Kafi, II, 55, hadith 6.)


Question: Is the cause always caused?
1. A cause caused is dependant on its cause for it to exist.
2. That which is dependant cannot bring itself into being.
3. Therefore not all causes are caused because
(i) if all causes are caused all causes are dependant
(ii) if all causes are dependant no cause would exist because that which is dependant cannot bring itself into being.


Question: Is there an absolute cause?
4. A caused cause is always relative. (see footnote 1)
5. The opposite to relative can only be absolute. (see footnote 2)
6. Therefore a cause not caused is not relative and so must be absolute.


Question: Can there be more than one Absolute Cause?
7. That which is limited cannot be absolute.
8. More than one absolute cause would be limited by the other.
9. Therefore there can only be one absolute cause.


Footnote 1. Definition of relative: Dependant on or interconnected with something else; not absolute.
Footnote 2. Definition of absolute: Something regarded as independent of and unrelated to anything else.


'Do they not reflect within themselves' (30:8)


'The most superior form of worship is perpetual contemplation on God and His Power.' (Usul al-Kafi, II, 55, hadith 6.)

Practical Way to increase concentration in Salat – the mysterious ascension of humankind!

Imam Khomeini; Forty Hadith, Twenty Seventh Hadith

‘‘Know that freedom from other work for the sake of absorption in worship is obtainable through:

1. Possessing unoccupied time

2. Possessing an unoccupied heart.

Attentiveness of the heart consists of two matters:

The first of these lies in possessing unoccupied time and an unoccupied heart

The second lies in making one's heart understand the importance of worship.

What is ‘unoccupied time’?

It is that one should set aside a certain time out of his day and night hours exclusively for the sake of worship wherein he should devote himself solely to worship without engaging in any other preoccupation.

If one were to understand that worship is an important thing whose significance is greater than any other activity, or, rather, that it is something of incomparable significance, he would allocate a certain time to it and be careful to observe its timings.

What is ‘unoccupied heart’?

It is that at the time of worship one must disengage himself from mundane engagements and cares and turn his heart away from all kinds of matters and cares and make it entirely empty and unencumbered for attending to worship and supplication with God Almighty.

My dear, consider the prayers you offer to God by comparing them with talk and conversation with one of His insignificant creatures. (a best friend, a spouse, a fiancée,  a tutor etc)

When talking to a stranger, you attend to him with all your attention and are oblivious of anyone else as long as you are engaged in conversation with him.

But why is it that while engaging in communication and prayer with your Provider and the Lord and Sustainer of the worlds you are totally heedless of Him and attentive to other matters?

Is the station and worth of creatures greater than that of the Sacred Essence of the Lord?

Is conversation with them more valuable than supplication with the Fulfiller of needs?

Yes, I and you do not know the significance of supplication with God.

We consider these divine duties as a cumbersome burden, and, of course, a matter that is a cumbrous weight on one will not be significant for him.’’

A good parable explaining God to non-Muslims‏

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. Barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject of ALLAH, the barber said: 
"I don't believe that ALLAH exists."
Why do you say that?" asked the customer
"Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that ALLAH doesn't exist. Tell me, if ALLAH exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If ALLAH existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving ALLAH who would allow all of these things."
The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbers shop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair & an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt. The customer turned back and entered the barbershop again and he said to the barber:
"You know what? Barbers do not exist."
"How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"
"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards like that man outside."
"Ah, but barbers DO exist! What happens is, people do not come to me."
"Exactly!" affirmed the customer. "That's the point! ALLAH, too, DOES exist! What happens, is, people don't go to Him and do not look for Him. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."

QUESTION: What is the difference between nature and God? If we sow a seed then the tree of that particular seed grows. Then what did God do in that case? Similarly, in the case of rain. We know the procedure of rain. Then what’s the work of God?   
ANSWER: When you take a car (in perfect condition), put in petrol and switch the engine on, it starts running. Then what did the Ford or Nissan or Mitsubishi Company does in this case?  You know the process how the said engine works, then what's the work of its manufacturer?