A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is extracted from “The Purification of the Soul”, compiled from the works of Imam Zayn ad-Din Abu al-Faraj ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Ahmad ibn Rajab al-Hanbali ( r.a. ), Imam Shams ad-Din Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah ( r.a. ), and Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali ( r.a. ).   We should know that all acts of disobedience are poison to the heart and cause its sickness and ruin.   They result in its will running off course, against that of Allah ( s.w.t. ), and so its sickness festers and increases.   Imam Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman ‘Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak ( r.a. ) said, “I have seen wrong actions killing hearts.   And their degradation may lead to their becoming addicted to them.   Turning away from wrong actions gives life to the hearts, and opposing your self is best for it.”   Whoever is concerned with the health and life of his heart, must rid it of the effe...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيم   The following is extracted from Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali’s ( r.a. ) Ihya’ Ulum ad-Din .   The Amir al-Mu’minin , Sayyidina Abu Hafsw ‘Umar ibn al-Khaththab al-Faruq ( r.a. ) delivered this sermon to the people after taking charge of khilafat .  “O people, let the inhabitants of Iraq stand up, and let others sit down.”   A party of men stood up.  Then he said, “Let the Inhabitants of Kufa’ stand up, and let the others sit down.”   When it was done, he said, “Let the people of the Murad clan remain standing, and let the others sit down.”   After that, he said, “Let the inhabitants of Qarn remain standing, and let others sit down.”   Except for one man, all others sat down.  Then, Sayyidina ‘Umar ( r.a. ) asked him, Do you know Uways al-Qarni?”   The man replied, “I know, O Commander of the Faithful.  Why do you ask about him?  By Allah, there is none more...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is extracted from “The Purification of the Soul”, compiled from the works of Imam Zayn ad-Din Abu al-Faraj ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Ahmad ibn Rajab al-Hanbali ( r.a. ), Imam Shams ad-Din Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah ( r.a. ), and Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali ( r.a. ).   The servant may experience one of two states as regards what he dislikes: the state of being content, or that of being patient.   Being content is a praiseworthy quality, while being patient is a duty which the believer must fulfill.   At some times, the people of contentment witness the Wisdom and Beauty of the One Who Tests when He Tests His servant, and they see that He is always Right in whatever He Decrees.   At other times, they witness the Might and Majesty and Perfection of the One Who Tests, to such an extent that they become completely immersed in these Attributes of Allah ( s.w.t. )...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali said, in Uswul ath-Thariqa’ , “Anyone who has one of five qualities is not valid to be a shaykh : ignorance of the diyn , failing to respect the Muslims, being involved in what does not concern him, following passion in everything and bad character without concern.”   So the company of someone like this is pure harm.   He indicates this: “It may well be that you are in a bad state - but to keep company with someone worse than you would allow you to see good in yourself.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The view that the early Muslims, the Salaf, refrained from engaging theological questions and opposed it is bid’ah , an innovation, of unsound basis.   We can provide further examples to support this, including the narration of Shaykh Taqi’ ad-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah ( r.a. ) from Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal ( r.a. ), who, in his Radd ‘ala az-Zanadiqah wa al-Jahmiyyah , engaged in certain interpretations against what the Zanadiqah and Jahmiyyah .   They doubted regarding the ambiguous elements of the Qur’an, and he then addressed their meaning, as is further narrated by Imam Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Husayn al-Bayhaqi ( r.a. ).   This is similar to what we regard as the right position, that is, kalam as the attempt to posit solutions or repudiations to theological problems posed.   Of course, these attempts are delimited by authentically-narrated articles of creed indicating what Allah ( s.w.t. ) has ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is my answer to a Quora question: “ What is the theological basis for the negative view of music by some Muslim? ”   There is no theological basis for the negative view of music in Islam.   When we say that something has a theological basis, it implies that it has something to do with the Divine, the Divine Nature or Its relationship with Creation.   The negative view of music in some quarters has a jurisprudential basis, taken from ‘urf , culture, and not Revelation.   There is no prohibition of music in the Qur’an, and there is a multitude of ahadits , prophetic narrations, where music was approved and encouraged.   Within fiqh , jurisprudence, there are two types of disapproval of music.   One type is the disapproval of music or certain musical instruments based on their perceived association with the haram.   An example would be Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Malik ibn Anas’ ( r.a. ) personal pro...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is my answer to a Quora question: “ Why would God Create the world, knowing all the mistakes His “Perfect Creation” would make? ”   Perfect from the Divine Perspective is not the same as from our perspective since we are limited by time and space.   We see the apparent and relative, not the absolute.   Hence, the Divine Plan is not visible, and we adhere out of faith.   To paraphrase Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali ( r.a. ), the Muslim theologian, the ant crossing the carpet complains about the hills, the valleys and the difficult journey.   The ant does not see the beautiful pattern of the carpet that the weaver does.   Theology us about trying to find the Divine Intent in all that happens, and understand it in light of the Divine Attributes.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is an adapted extract of Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali’s ( r.a. ) Ayyuha al-Walad .   When Shaykh Abu ‘Ali Shaqiq ibn Ibrahim al-Azdi al-Balkhi ( q.s. ) asked his student, Hatim Ism ( q.s. ), who became a great spiritual master, about the benefits of associating with him, he named eight.   Of the sixth, he said, “O my teacher!   The sixth benefit is that when I glanced at the people, I saw that every person having enmity with someone else for some reason.   Then I deliberated on the following verse:   سُوۡرَةُ فَاطِر إِنَّ ٱلشَّيۡطَـٰنَ لَكُمۡ عَدُوٌّ۬ فَٱتَّخِذُوهُ عَدُوًّاۚ ... (٦)   Verily Satan is an enemy to you: so treat him as an enemy ... (Surah Fathir:6)   After that, I developed the certitude that Allah ’s ( s.w.t. )  Saying is the truth; I should not have any enmity with anyone other than Shaythan .   Since then, I considered Shaythan my enemy and di...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is an adapted extract of Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali’s ( r.a. ) Ayyuha al-Walad .   When Shaykh Abu ‘Ali Shaqiq ibn Ibrahim al-Azdi al-Balkhi ( q.s. ) asked his student, Shaykh Hatim Ism ( q.s. ), who became a great spiritual master, about the benefits of associating with him, he named eight.   Of the fourth, he said, “O my teacher!   The fourth benefit is that I looked at the people of the world and saw that some of them think that grandeur and honour belong to the nation or tribe that is big and powerful; that is why they express pride in their tribe.   Some of them are such that they think that the grandeur is obtained through abundance of wealth, possessions, family, and relatives; that's why people express their pride in their wealth and children.   Some are such that they think that their grandeur and honour is in displaying anger, beating, killing, murder and pillage and th...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is an adapted extract of Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali’s ( r.a. ) Ayyuha al-Walad .   When Shaykh Abu ‘Ali Shaqiq ibn Ibrahim al-Azdi al-Balkhi ( q.s. ) asked his student, Shaykh Hatim Ism ( q.s. ), who became a great spiritual master, about the benefits of associating with him, he named eight.   Of the seventh, he said, “O my teacher!   The seventh benefit is that I looked at the people and saw that every person was preoccupied with his livelihood and search for sustenance with an intense effort.   In this regards, they did not even differentiate between halal and haram but instead, were humiliated with doubtful and haram earnings.   Then I deliberated on the following verse:   سُوۡرَةُ هُود ۞ وَمَا مِن دَآبَّةٍ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ إِلَّا عَلَى ٱللَّهِ رِزۡقُهَا ... (٦)   There is no moving creature on earth but its sustenance depends on Allah ... (Surah Hud:6) ...