A Muslim Convert Once More

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ In “The Spirit & the Letter IV”, Bishop Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis wrote, “There is an opinion that calls for sharp and vehement resistance - I mean the belief that the power of the human will can of itself, without the help of God, either achieve perfect righteousness or advance steadily towards it.”   Pelagius was an ascetic who opposed the idea of predestination and asserted a strong version of the doctrine of free will.  He was accused by Bishop Augustinus and others of denying the need for Divine Aid in performing good works.  They asserted that for him, the only grace necessary was the declaration of the law; humans were not wounded by Adam’s ( a.s. ) sin and were perfectly able to fulfill the law apart from any Divine Aid.  He denied the more specific doctrine of Original Sin developed by Bishop Augustine.  Pelagius was declared a heretic by the Council of Carthage.  His interpretation of a doctrin...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is adapted from a swuhbah from Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ) on the 09 th April 2010.   Many so-called scholars in Islam reject taswawwuf and thariqa’ .  Some not only reject it, they even label it as bid’ah , an innovation.  We have to open our eyes and take a good look at the world around ourselves today.  We have become restless creatures.  We seek solace and peace but cannot find it in the world of technology and entertainment.  Our souls are thirsty for spirituality.  There is an intense craving in many hearts today for a journey of love.  The world of materialistic pursuit is not one that will ever bring happiness to our hearts.  One is never contented or satisfied.  It is a world of mutual boasting and petty rivalry; it is meaningless and empty, and souls can never find rest.  The world of materialism leads to Jahannam ; it is Cursed by Allah ( s.w...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is taken from The Qur’anic Symbolism of Water , by Shaykh Siraj ad-Din Abu Bakr Martin Lings ( q.s. ).   In the Quran, the ideas of mercy and water, in particular rain, are in a sense inseparable.  With them must be included the idea of Revelation, tanzal , which means literally “a sending down.”  The Revelation and the rain are both “Sent Down” by the All-Merciful, and both are described throughout the Qur’an as “mercy,” and both are spoken of as “life-giving.”  So close is the connection of ideas that rain might even be said to be an integral part of the Revelation which it prolongs, as it were, in order that by penetrating the material world the Divine Mercy may reach the uttermost confines of Creation; and to perform the rite of ablution is to identify oneself, in the world of matter, with this wave of Mercy, and to return with it as it ebbs back towards the Principle, for purification is a return to our o...