A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is extracted from a swuhbah by Shaykh Tu’sun Bayrak al-Jirrahi ( q.s. ).   What does it mean to be in the world but not of it?   Shaykh Muhyi ad-Din Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Arabi ( q.s. ), who is considered to be the greatest shaykh in Sufism, was traveling to Makkah, and he passed through Tunisia.   In Tunisia he was told that there was a holy man living there who he must visit.   This holy man was a fisherman who lived in a mud hut on the beach, and caught three fish a day, no more, and he gave the bodies of these fish to poor and hungry people.   He himself boiled the heads of the fish, and just ate the heads.   He did this day after day, year after year.   He lived the life of a monastic person, a person who had divorced himself from the world totally,   and, of course, Shaykh ibn ‘Arabi ( q.s. ) was very impressed with this discipline.   So he spoke to the fish...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيم   The heretic, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab, the founder of the Wahhabi sect said, in his Kitab at-Tawhid , “The agreement between the Scripture of the Jews and Islam, in that they both confirm that Allah has fingers, though they are unlike our fingers, and exactly how they are, is unknown to us.”     This is blatant misrepresentation of Jewish and Muslim theology.   Shaykh Muhyi ad-Din Abu Muhammad ibn Abu Swalih ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani ( q.s. ), in his Sirr al-Asrar wa Mazhar al Anwar , wrote, “Our Master. the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) said, ‘The hearts of the Children of Adam are between the two fingers of the All-Merciful.   He Turns them whichever way He Wills.’”   This is a metaphorical phrase.   Shaykh Tu’sun Bayrak al-Jirrahi ( q.s. ) said, the two “fingers” of Allah ( s.w.t. ) are His Attributes of the Irresistible Power of punishment and the Loving and Delicate Beauty of the Beneficence, His Jalal wa Jamal ....

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Shaykh Tu’sun Bayrak al-Jirrahi wrote, in “Reflections on Love”, adapted from Futuhat al-Makkiyah , of Shaykh Muhyi ad-Din Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Arabi ( q.s. ), that the Prophet’s ( s.a.w. ) love for his Lord was his life.   The one who reads and understands the Qur’an certainly learns.   But only the one who applies the knowledge to life takes the right steps on the path to Truth.   It is not sufficient to read the Qur’an in daylight and by lamplight at night.   One should read oneself in the light of the Qur’an, for the Truth may be found only in oneself.   Sayyidatina ‘Aishah bint Abu Bakr ( r.a. ) said that the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), “is the living Qur’an.”   But to seek the perfection of our Prophet ( s.a.w. ) in the sentences of ahadits is insufficient. We should seek it in ourselves.   Our Prophet ( s.a.w. ) has been Sent as a mercy upon the universe.   Do we have that sense of...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Tu’sun Bayrak al-Jirrahi said, “Service should be from the moment you are born until the moment you give your last breath, but you have to find out in what way.   That is what is most important.   We have to find out in what manner we are supposed to serve.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Tu’sun Bayrak al-Jirrahi ( r.a. ) said, “To know oneself is to see the truth.   To see oneself only is blindness.   The one who knows himself comes closer both to the Creator and to all and everything He has Created.   The one who only sees and cares for himself is far from Allah, from everything except his evil commanding ego. Each and every one of us has been Brought to this life and to this world for a specific purpose: some to cure ills, some to build, some to feed those whom no one feeds, some to count the money of others, some to defend the helpless against tyrants, some to teach and some, alas, to be a lesson to others by doing what is not meant to be done. Each of us is a minute part of a whole, without or with the failing of which the whole will suffer.   And when our functioning deteriorates with age or deficiency, the part is changed, the old part is taken away and replaced by a new part, a new person ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is by Shaykh Tu’sun Bayrak al-Jirrahi.   There is a hidden meaning in the arrangement of the obligations of Islam: kalimat ash-shahadah , swalah , swa’um , zakat and haj .  Fasting during the month of Ramadhan is our attempt to recognise and practice the Divine Attributes, the Asma’ al-Husna , the Beautiful Names of Allah ( s.w.t. ) which He Taught our father, Adam ( a.s. ).  Patience, compassion, love, gentleness and forgiveness, which we may experience during fasting, bring the Creator and the Created closer as we experience aspects, at the human level, of these Divine Qualities.  Through this connection, we strive to truly become the sons and daughters of Adam ( a.s. ).   During the five daily prayers, especially during the position of prostration, we are in the Presence of Our Lord, and we are speaking with Him.  When we become conversant with our Lord, He may Ask us to come and visit His House....

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ This is adapted from a letter from Quthb al-Aqthab Shaykh Muhyi ad-Din Abu Muhammad ibn Abu Swalih ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani ( q.s. ) to his murid .   It was taken from “The Secret of Secrets”, and translated by Shaykh Tu’sun Bayrak al-Jirrahi ( q.s. ).   Our heart is a polished mirror.   We must wipe it clean of the veil of dust which has gathered upon it, because it is destined to reflect the Light of Divine Secrets.   When the Light from Allah ( s.w.t. ), Who is the Light of the heavens and the earth, begins to Shine upon the regions of your heart, the lamp of the heart will be lit.   The lamp of the hearts is in a glass, the glass is as it were a brightly shining star.   Then within that heart, the lightning-shaft of Divine discoveries strikes.   This lightning-shaft will emanate from the thunderclouds of meaning neither of the East nor of the West, lit from a blessed olive tree and throw light upon the tree...