A Muslim Convert Once More

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Sister San Yee posted this article on The Sharing Group on the 26 th April 2015: Why I am Against Institutionalised Religion .   An excerpt of the article states, “The most heart-breaking thing about institutionalised religion for me is that it also teaches us to judge a man not based on his character and how he treats others, but by the way he dresses.   Spirituality has been taken over by superficiality.   Institutionalised religion insists on playing God.”   Brother Colin Turner : She makes some interesting points, but then, so did Hitler.   I am afraid I am as suspicious of the “no religion, only spirituality” brigade as I am of the head-banging death-cultists who go by the name of Salafi or Wahhabi.   I fear both.   Brother AbdRohim Sinwan : I thought that the Diyn encompasses both religion and spirituality, rather than pitting religion against spirituality.   Maybe there are just not enough adher...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is adapted from a swuhbah from Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ) on the 20 th October 2010.   Shaykh Nazhim ( q.s. ) said a servant has nothing to offer his Lord, for Allah ( s.w.t. ) Owns all Dominions of Honour, but Allah ( s.w.t. ) is Pleased when a servant is grateful to Him.   Allah ( s.w.t. ) is Pleased when His servant realises it is He Who has Granted him life and its Blessings.   Allah ( s.w.t. ) is Pleased when a servant acknowledges this with adulation and respect for Him.   Allah ( s.w.t. ) is Pleased when a servant is humble enough to bow and submit to Him.   Though such glorification, submission and realisation brings no benefit to Allah ( s.w.t. ) whatsoever, Allah ( s.w.t. ) is Pleased with one who exhibits such trait: humility and servanthood.   These are the attributes of His Beloved, Muhammad ( s.a.w. ).   Even if an ant were to say, “ Subhanallah ,” it Pleases H...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is a commentary of Swalawat al-Mashishiyyah of Mawlay Abu Muhammad ‘Abd as-Salam ibn Sulayman ibn Mashishi ( q.s. ) with translation and transliteration by Shaykh Abu Faydan Faridi Muhammad Harun Riedinger ( q.s. ).   Shaykh Muhammad ‘Abd as-Salam ibn Mashish’s ( q.s. ) full name was Muhammad ‘Abd as-Salam ibn Manswur ibn Ibrahim al-Hasani al-Idrisi ash-Sharif, of the Bani ‘Arus, of the Jabal ‘Alam, to the southeast of Tetuan, in the Maghrib.   One of the secrets of this Swalawat al-Mashishiyyah is that not only does its structure correspond to that of Surah al-Fatihah, and thus relates to it like the second part of the Kalimah ath-Thayyibah , viz “ Muhammadan Rasulullah ”, relates to the tahlil of its first part, “ Laa Ilaha illa Allah ”, but there is also, as it were, a specific tafsir of it.   In the first part of Surah al-Fatihah, the essential attributes, relating to the Rububiyyah of Allah ( s.w.t. ...