Improving yourself is the real dhikr.
~Shaikh Husain ash-Shadhili ad-Darqawi
The Eating Place: A Short Story
Carnelian Lane was a dead end street. At the very end of the road, nestled among giant shade trees and a lovely fountain which sang its tune refreshingly, there was a very fine restaurant. As the phrase suggests, this dead end street was somewhat dead: not in the sense of…
Rumi’s Revolution: Mawlana’s First Night of Dhikr-e Samâ’, Adapted from The Forty Rules of Love
The following account of Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi’s first night of dhikr-e samâ’ has been adapted from the novel "The Forty Rules of Love", by Turkish author Elif Shafak. There are those who say that dancing is sacrilege. They think Allah gave us music—not only the music we make with our…
Islam Image Quotes: Spiritual Excellences
From the Islam Image Quotes series: Islamic Wisdom, Sayings and Quotes Rest assured that abstract knowledge cannot be held with the hand. For example, a man is in the wilderness. He has ten lethal swords together with other weapons and he is brave and bellicose. A huge and ferocious lion…
Islam Image Quotes: Earthly Challenges
From the Islam Image Quotes series: Islamic Wisdom, Sayings and Quotes "And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient." (Al-Qur'an 2:155) "Or do you think that you will enter Paradise…
Islam Image Quotes-IQ2: Sincerity
If I had to choose the one phrase out of all of Shaikh Husain's "oft-repeated phrases" that I hear the most, it could be this one. Such a simple statement – in theory - but in practice… Whatever you do, do it sincerely. ~Shaikh Husain Ash-Shadhili Doing sincerely is never…
Beyond Words and Weapons: Muhammad’s Message
Words in the Arabic-speaking world are powerful and effective weapons. While the Qur’an is the ultimate and unique masterpiece of the Arabic Language, Arabic poetry has been a highly influential force in Arab society and has been regarded as the Diwan ul-Arab: a literary heritage of Arab life collected by…
Islam Image Quotes-IQ1: One Truth
From the Islam Image Quotes Series: Islamic Wisdom, Sayings and Quotes The truth of Muhammad’s (pbuh) message and the guidance he brought by the Way of Islam transcends all divisions and leads us back to the recognition of our Lord, the One True Reality. In this spirit of Divine Unity,…
Real-ization
Not long ago, it came up in conversation: “Saying that we have the 'Qur'an and sunnah’ is very vague. It is a cliché with no real-ity.” Because saying is saying. The quest of every soul who has been guided to the path of Islam, whether real-ized or not, is real-izing.…
Missed Opportunities: On My Becoming Muslim
Al hamdulillāh [i], when Allah led me to the wellspring of Islam, I recognized the sweetness of its cool, refreshing water. Al hamdulillāh after much time spent wandering the desert of my inner life, I didn’t think: “Well, maybe there is a deeper, clearer pool over there somewhere.” A dear,…