A Muslim Convert Once More

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-‘Abidin ( q.s. ) was a person with great patience.  After the Battle of Karbala, he was marched to Damascus in chains and in the time of ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, he was arrested and chained.  He was then forced to walk from Madinah to Syria in chains.  With all this, he never complained or said one word about his condition in the Court of Allah ( s.w.t. ).  He instead remained patient and made shukr with every step.  It is written in Khazinat al-Aswfiyya’ , Imam Zayn al-‘Abidin’s ( q.s. ) most loyal student, Imam Muhammad ibn Muslim az-Zuhri ( q.s. ) could not bear to see the Imam in this condition, so he went to ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, and had the great Imam released.  He then took him back to Madinah.   Imam Zayn al-‘Abidin ( q.s. ) had a very soft heart and always thought of the sacrifice that was given by his father, Husayn ( r.a ) and all the martyrs on the pl...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is a brief explanation of the Eleven Naqshbandi Principles.   These must be known and practised by the muridun of the Naqshbandi Haqqani.   There were originally eight principles formulated by Khwaja ‘Abd al-Khaliq ibn ‘Abd al-Jamil al-Ghujdawani ( q.s. ).   The last three were later added by Shah Muhammad Baha’ ad-Din an-Naqshband ( q.s. ).   The Eleven Naqshbandi principles, known in their original Persian as Kalimat-i Qudsiya , “the Sacred Words”, are a system of guidelines used as spiritual exercises.   The use and deep meaning of these Eleven Principles, is, in truth, unlimited.   As the murid matures and develops spiritually, he will perceive more and more aspects of each of the Principles.   They are secrets because they open little by little, developing the individual who uses them constantly, as guides to self-knowledge and to knowing more and more of the Totality that gives Life to Cre...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following was adapted from “ Nahj al-Balaghah , Sayyidina ‘Ali ibn Abu Thalib ( k.w. ) and translated by Ustadz Askari Jafri.   When Sayyidina ‘Ali ( k.w. ) was asked about faith in religion, he replied that the structure of faith is supported by four pillars endurance, conviction, justice and jihad .   Endurance is composed of four attributes: eagerness, fear, piety and anticipation of death.   So whoever is eager for Paradise will ignore temptations; whoever fears the fire of Hell will abstain from sins; whoever practices piety will easily bear the difficulties of life and whoever anticipates death will hasten towards good deeds.   Conviction has also four aspects to guard oneself against infatuations of sin; to search for explanation of truth through knowledge; to gain lessons from instructive things and to follow the precedent of the past people, because whoever wants to guard himself against vices and sins...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Sufism is generally accepted to be the mystical dimension of Islam.   Imam Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn ‘Utsman al-Hujwiri ( q.s. ), in the eleventh century, presented several views of the origin of the term, “Sufi.”   Some scholars say Sufism is derived from the word Ahl asw-Swuffa , or the People of the Bench, which refers to the platform on which the Holy Prophet Muhammad ( s.a.w. ) and the believers used to sit while worshipping Allah ( s.w.t. ).   Others say that they were named Sufis because of their habit of wearing swuf , wool.   The habit of wearing wool next to the skin dates back to the first master of Sufis.   While this theory of the derivation of the word does have a foundation in the practices of Sufism, the words of Shaykh Mir Quthb ad-Din Muhammad Angha ( q.s. ) clarify this point, “While every Sufi wears swuf , not every person who wears swuf is a Sufi.”   Others have concluded that Sufis were named so b...