Annemarie Schimmel was a renowned German scholar of Islam. Amongst many others, this book explores the theme tasawwuf/sufism. Mystical Dimensions of Islam presents, for the first time, a balanced historical treatment of the transnational phenomenon of Sufism—Islamic mysticism—from its beginnings through the nineteenth century. Through her sensitivity and deep understanding of the subject, Annemarie Schimmel, an eminent scholar of Eastern religions, draws the reader into the mood, the vision, the way of the Sufi in a manner that adds an essential ingredient to her analysis of the history of Sufism.

After exploring the origins of the mystical movement in the meditations of orthodox Muslims on the Koran and the prophetic tradition, the author then discusses the development of its different stages, including classical voluntarism and postclassical theosophical mystical trends. Particular emphasis is placed on spiritual education, the different ways of leading the mystic toward the existential realization of the profound mystery of the profession of faith that "there is no deity but God." Sufi psychology and Sufi orders and fraternities are comprehensively explored.

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May you like to study the Glorious Quran in different formats ie HTML, PDF or

If you are interested in study of Tafsir of Quran (Tafsir Ibn Kathir) or

If you may be interested in Tassawuf (Mysticism / Sufiism) field, all you find at one place and Free Download, Just click,

 www.quran4u.com

but burden yourself according to their pleasures,

so long as they do not violate the sacred law.

- Hujjat ul-Islam Imam al-Ghazali (from Ayuhal Walad)

Knowledge is not the abundance of narrations.  It is only a light that Allah Most High places in the hearts.

Imam al-Junayd (may Allah be pleased with him)

Knowledge is that by which you know your Lord...

ibn Dunya:  Wa 'alaykum as salam Sufi Shaykh, I hope you have the words to heal me, but my sickness isn't a physical one, it's mental.

S:  Yes I did think when you came in, someone walking around in public with that haircut could not be of a sane frame of mind. Hehehehe (laughing to himself), I kid young man, please go on.

iD:  (laughs nervously) Yes erm that's funny.  Actually my friend cut my hair.

S:  A friend?  What kind of friend would do that?  Shall I get him for you?  I am trained in Silat you know, hehehe (laughing on his own again) I kill me sometimes.

iD:  O Shaykh you are making fun of me but I'm really ill, I think I'm depressed.  Please I need you to cure me, I heard you have helped many people.

S:  No more joking my friend, sometimes a little laughter is the best cure for sadness.

By the will of Allah we will try to make you better, most physical and mental sicknesses are rooted in some sort of spiritual disease.  Didn't our beloved Prophet, peace be upon him, say "No man fills a vessel worse than his stomach..?" And "an unbeliever eats and fills seven intestines whereas a believer uses only one" also that "Allah hates those who eat excessively."  Yet we find people transgress and eat more than they need, and what is the root of this?  The spiritual disease of greed.

This advice should suffice if you grasp the apparent and hidden meaning behind them, if not tell me your problems.

iD:  Thank you for your advice but I actually have quite a healthy, balanced diet.  My problem is that I am unhappy with my life, I am not happy with the cards I have been dealt in my life.

S:  (Thinks to himself: "My first reply did answer him, only if he pondered more deeply)

iD: Am I an unbeliever for what I said O Shaykh?  I'm admitting I'm not happy with Allah's will.

S: No my friend you certainly are not an unbeliever. The fact you have taken your time to come to see me, to ask for help, concerned you may be an unbeliever, proves you are a Mu'min with taqwa of Allah.  Now tell me what specifically are you unhappy with in your life?

iD:  Everything... My job - I wish I was earning more money, my body - I wish I was taller and slimmer, my house - I wish I had a bigger one, my friends - I wish I had more interesting ones, my personality - I wish I was more intelligent, more funny....

S:  Stop, stop.  Do you not see this is from the hunger of your nafs (lower self)?  It can never be satiated with more dunya.  Job - be grateful you have a job many don't, body - be thankful you are not ill, house - you still have a house...

iD:  (interrupting the Shaykh)  I'm sorry Shaykh but I've heard all this before, look to those who have less than you and all that, but  all I see are people with more than me.  I meet people who are less capable than me but have better jobs, why did Allah make me smaller than others?  Why can't I have a bigger house?  If I had these things I would be happier and more grateful to God. Please Shaykh that kind of advice may work for simple people but not for sophisticated people with complicated lives.

S:  (Silently prays: "God bless the simple folk) My friend, sophisticated person or not the problems are usually very simple and often the same.  This is love of dunya over the akhira.  Islam means to "submit", to submit your affairs to Allah, to put your trust in Allah, your faith and hopes all in Allah.  You were not created for the dunya, you were created for the akhira, to be with Allah.

Your nafs is not a complicated thing; it only wants one thing - MORE.  You are a clever man you can see this want of the nafs will never be satiated, no matter if you give it more, it will still want.. yes you guessed it - more.  Even if you were given the whole Earth with everything in it, it would just want another planet!

iD:  Please go on Shaykh, my heart is listening to your words.

S:  My friend you need to change your world view, change it to an akhiri view!  Your purpose in this world is to know God, through worship.  Worship in prayer, your state with God, your relationships with people, your work, the way you treat the environment.  You work hard to make these things as best and beautiful as possible. 

After your hard work the condition you are placed in; your physical state, your wealth, your job all of those things are exactly what God wants you to have.  Be thankful for it and be patient during difficult predicaments.  Also know that these situations you face are all from the infinite wisdom of Allah so that you could know him.  These things are given in perfect measure for you, the best possible combination for you to know Him.  You may think you would be better off with a different job, different house, no!  This is your nafs talking again. This wisdom warrants repeating:

The share of the dunya apportioned to you is the perfect amount you need to fulfil your purpose in life.

Please ponder on this.  Whether religious or irreligious this benefits all.  If you internalise this wisdom and live by it you will find a priceless contentment in your life.  If you don't, no matter how much dunya you amass you will never be satisfied.

iD:  Wow Shaykh, you have blown me away.  I will reflect on your words and pray my state changes to that which God will be pleased with me.

S:  Yes may Allah always guide you, and lastly get a decent haircut.

[The Abdal (people of the step) and other Awliya have achieved these things hundreds of years ago!!]

By Matthew Moore

Teleportation and forcefields could become scientific realities within decades, and time travel will also be possible in the future, according to one of the world's leading physicists.

Professor Michio Kaku of City University in New York has studied a range of scientific "impossibilities" and concluded that most will almost certainly be achieved as our knowledge expands.

Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited and must not be reproduced in any medium without licence. For the full copyright statement see Copyright Applying the rule that unless something breaks a law of physics "then it's not only possible, it is sure to be built someday", Prof Kaku has established a hierarchy of "impossibilities", separating those phenomena that are sure to remain science fiction from those which are likely to become reality at some point in the future.
Teleportation, telepathy, forcefields and invisibility are Class 1 impossibilities, meaning they are likely to be realisable within a few decades or at most a century.Class II impossibilities may take centuries or millennia to perfect, while Class III impossibilities are truly impossible.

Class 1

Teleportation is likely to be achieved through "quantum entanglement", a property that allows connections to be formed - and information transmitted - between particles many miles apart.
Applying the process to larger objects like people is just a scientific "engineering problem", that is likely to be solved in time, Prof Kaku writes in his new book Physics of the Impossible.
Similarly, telepathy will be made possible by improved MRI machines that can effectively read minds, and electrodes that can then pass the information into the brains of other humans.

Invisibility will probably be achieved using a recently-built "metamaterial" capable of bending light rays, he argues. Alien life will most likely be discovered within decades as our ability to analyse the universe improves.

Class II

Time travel is a Class II impossibility because, while it need not break the laws of physics, science still has major knowledge gaps to cross to make it a reality, Prof Kaku believes.
"What makes them [Class II impossibilities] so difficult is that they generally require vast amounts of energy, and their underlying physics is not totally understood," he writes in this week's New Scientist magazine.
The research of Stephen Hawking, Albert Einstein and the physicist Kip Thorne has shown that time travel is theoretically possible, but no-one has yet found a way to produce the energy necessary to keep a "wormhole" open.
"This technology is only achievable for a civilisation significantly more advanced than ours," Prof Kaku writes.
Parallel universes and travelling faster than the speed of light are also Class II impossibilities, he argues.

Class III
The only two science fiction phenomena which Prof Kaku believes are truly impossible - Class III impossibilities - are perpetual motion machines and telling the future (precognition), both of which break the fundamental laws of modern physics.
"In considering what the future may hold, then, we should keep an open mind to Class 1 and Class 2 impossibilities," Prof Kaku writes.
"What is unthinkable today might not be forbidden in a few decades or centuries."

Source

Hazrat Ali (radi Allahu anhu) said: Faith is built upon four thing - sure faith, patience, Jihad and good judgement. He said also: Patience is to faith just as head is to body. He who has got no head has got no body. Similarly he who has got no patience has got no faith.

Hazrat Umar (radi Allahu anhu) said: Iman has got two burdens - blessings and mercy. This appears from the following verse 2:157 - On them is blessing from their Lord and mercy and they are those who are guided. We found him patient. How good is the servant as he is most repentant.

Hazrat Abu Darda'a (radi Allahu anhu) said: To remain patient at commands and to remain satisfied with fate is the best rank of faith.

"He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still"

Lao Tzu

KNOWLEDGE + WORKS + STATE

= SUCCESS IN THE TARIQ

Vær ligeså beskeden over for Gud, den Almægtige, som nødvendigheden af beskedenhed ved at være foran Ham kræver. Lad ham, der er velsignet med en sådan grad af beskedenhed, altid kontrollere sit sind og dets indhold, såvel som sin mave og dens indhold. Lad ham altid huske på døden og forfaldet efter den. Èn, der begærer det næste liv, vil forsage denne verdens besmykkelser. Èn, der kan gøre dette, kan føle så megen beskedenhed over for Gud, som nødvendigheden af at være beskeden foran Ham kræver.

Fra "Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 1:387".

Subhan Allah...

[From Ihya ulum-id-Din; written by Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali]

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: "When you see a garden of Paradise, roam in it." He was asked: "O Prophet of God (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), what is the garden of Paradise?" He said: "Assembly of Zikr."

So a student should not turn away from such an assembly. When a man complained to Hasan al-Basri about the hardness of his heart, he said to him: Attend the assemblies of Zikr.

[From Ihya ulum-id-Din; written by Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali]

[From Ihya ulum-id-Din; written by Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali]

[From Ihya ulum-id-Din; written by Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali]

The scholars of the heart say it is important to have a daily wird, an optional supererogatory worship, that by consistent practice of it you draw closer to Allah. About this Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman al-Saqqaf said whoever has no wird is a qird [monkey].

One of the most powerful wirds is by Imam Abu Hasan al-Shadhili (may Allah sanctify his secret) called Hizb al-Bahr (Litany of the Sea). A special du'a by the Imam and includes ayats from Qur'an. It is the most famous of Imam Shadhili's Hizbs.

Following links explain more about the Imam and the Hizb -

Imam al-Shadhili

Translation of Hizb al-Bahr

Arabic text

Background story

Audio of recitation by Shaykh al-Kurdi

Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad

Donald Garrett (Bassist) to John Coltrane

Mystical insight is much like the physical eyesight; a tiny piece of dirt in the eye impairs it's vision as is mystic insight impaired by a small sin.

1. By the sun and its brilliance,

2. and the moon, following it,

3. and the day, revealing it,

4. and the night, concealing it;

5. by the sky and its construction,

6. and the earth and its extension;

7. by the self and its balance,

8. and its inspiration with its depravity and its conscience;

9. whoever purifies it is triumphant.

O you who long to know our sacred beauty,
Know that to betroth Us costs a high dowry;

A languished body and soul that's in distress
And eyes never tasting any sleep or rest,

And a heart with nothing in it besides Us;
So then if you wish you'll carry out this cost

If you wish vanish in endless extinction,
For non-being draws one close to that situation.

Cast away those two sandals at the valley
When you enter for there lies our sanctity.

Leave those two worlds and all in them far behind,
And of all that veils you from Us rid your mind,

And when you're asked, "Who do you love" surely cry,
"I am who I love, the one I love is I."

Chorus:

There is no god but Allah, Allah Allah;
There is no god but You Allah, so honour us.

everything seemed fine , until he said that his sheikh said , that 90% of the shariah is interpreted by the fuqaha and not the quran and sunnah . I think this is were the concept of taqlid comes .

  I am not here to say so and so is in some wrong idea , but I just want people to think in a rational sense .I mean how can shariah not come from quran and sunnah ? so then what did the phrophet swa do ? ....it doesnt make sense to me .

...without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest. Q.13.28

Why do we find rest in the dhikr of Allah?

The Soul

• Our souls (ruh, pl arwah) by their nature are drawn to it's Creator, they remember when in the pre-wordly life Allah asked them "Alastu biRabbikum?" - "Am I not your Lord?". To which they replied "We testify that indeed You are". Our Ruh longs to return to it's Lord, through dhikr the heart awakens and reminds the soul of it's origin.

The Body

• Contrary to the phrase "sticks and stones may break my bones but words never hurt" - words do effect the physical world. A study by Dr Masaru Emoto showed interesting results of how water is effected by sound and thought (our bodies are made of approximately 60% water - lungs and heart 90%). Dhikr polishes the heart and organs, cleanses them of the stains from sins.

The Intellect

• We believe the intellect ('aql) remains after death, therefore we are still able to 'think' and we have consciousness after death. By regularly thinking about death and the afterlife (dhikr ul-mawt wa ma ba'dahu) we are preparing for this phase of our existence, so when we find ourselves still conscious in the grave and find we may not be alone in there, and when Nakir and Munkar appear, we aren't surprised and confused. Because we knew this was going to happen, our Iman of this was strong in the dunya, insha Allah.

There are many other benefits for our Body, Mind and Spirit. Our whole being will surely find rest when all of these faculties are working properly and in synch - i.e we hold the correct beliefs about Him (Iman/aqidah), we obey His laws (Islam/fiqh) and we sincerely yearn for His good pleasure (Ihsan/tasawwuf).

A few good articles on dhikr - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Sweetness can only be experienced by tasting. Some people taste the sweetness straight away for others it takes longer. It doesn't matter how long it takes to taste the sweetness, the important thing is you are doing it. Sometimes Allah takes away the sweetness to test our sincerity, are we doing it for the sweetness or for the sake of Allah?

The true Servant of Allah doesn't worship Him for the sweetness, he worships Allah because Allah deserves to be worshiped, he worships out of gratitude to Allah. For this is what he was created for, to know Allah.

May Allah make our tongues moist from his remembrance, and may He accept all our ibadah, amin.