Hadith, Terminology

Thinking: The Best Ibada, ولا عبادة كالتفكر

Thinking: The highest form of Ibada (Servitude for Allah):

‘There is no poverty worse than ignorance, no investment with more return than that of ‘Aql (Intellect), and no Ibada (Servitude for Allah) like unto the Tafakkur (Thinking)’, said the Prophet.

كنز العمال الإصدار 2.01 – للمتقي الهندي
المجلد السادس عشر >> الحكم وجوامع الكلم والأمثال من الإكمال
44135- لا فقر أشد من الجهل، ولا غنى أعود من العقل، ولا عبادة كالتفكر.
(أبو بكر بن كامل في معجمه، وابن النجار – عن الحارث عن علي)

Source: http://www.untiredwithloving.org/ali.html

Once you could cease the consumption for a moment, by fasting or silence or solitude, do away with the chatter and distress that accompanies consuming, thoughts appear within the mind, of highest spiritual caliber and most sacred.

general, Hadith

Libya: Fruits of Brother Killing Brother

http://news.yahoo.com/benghazi-where-libyas-uprising-began-now-shattered-city-063427822.html

1. If the American came to you and said “here take these weapons and kill your brother for democracy”, say:”I will not and go away”.

2. If the Sunni came to you and said “here take these weapons and kill the Kafir Shiites”, say: “I will not and go away”.

3. If the Shiite came to you and said “here take these weapons and kill the Takfiri Sunnis”, say: “I will not and go away”.

We are in darkling times of confusions and trickery, other than self-defense to defend your life or your family and neighbors, do not allow anyone whisper as much as a sigh towards your brothers.
These are samples of the Hadith (Prophetic Narrations) about the value of the blood of the believer appraised higher that Ka’ba.
Prophet was circumambulating Ka’ba while adoring her and praising her and suddenly acknowledged that the wealth and blood and honour of the believer are more grand than that of the Ka’ba.

Hadith Collections: Al-Jami’ Saghir of Suyuti, Kanz Al-Ummal of Muttaqi Hindi, Sunan Ibn Maja, Kashf Al-Ikhfa of Ajulani, Takhrij Ahadith Al-Ihya of Araqi.

زيادة الجامع الصغير، والدرر المنتثرة، – للإمام السيوطي
كتاب “زيادة الجامع الصغير”، للسيوطي >> حرف الميم
2614- ما أطيبك وأطيب ريحك ما أعظمك وأعظم حرمتك، يعني الكعبة، والذي نفس محمد بيده لحرمة المؤمن أعظم عند الله حرمة منك ماله ودمه وإن يظن به إلا خيرا.
(ه) عن ابن عمر.

كنز العمال – للمتقي الهندي
المجلد الأول >> الفصل الرابع في أحكام الإيمان والإسلام فيه فرعان >> الفرع الثاني في أحكام الإيمان المتفرقة
401 – ما أطيبك وأطيب ريحك، ما أعظمك وأعظم حرمتك، يعني الكعبة، والذي نفس محمد بيده لحرمة المؤمن أعظم عند الله حرمة منك: ماله ودمه وأن يظن به إلا خيرا.
(ه عن ابن عمر).

 

سنن ابن ماجه. – للإمام ابن ماجه
الجزء الثاني >> 36- كتاب الفتن >> (2) باب حرمة دم المؤمن وماله
3932- حدّثنا أَبُو الْقَاسِمِ بْنُ أَبِي ضَمْرَةَ، نَصْرُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سُلَيْمَانَ الْحِمْصِيُّ. حدّثنا أَبِي. حدّثنا عَبْدُ اللهِ بْنُ أَبِي قَيْسٍ النَّصْرِيُّ. حدّثنا عَبْدُ اللهِ بْنُ عَمْرِو؛ قَالَ: رَأَيْتُ رَسُولَ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَطُوفُ بِالْكَعِبَةِ وَيَقُولُ (مَا أَطْيَبَكِ وَأَطْيَبَ رِيحَكِ. مَا أَعْظَمَكِ وَأَعْظَمَ حُرْمَتَكِ. وَالَّذِي نَفْسُ مُحَمَّدٍ بَيَدِهَ! لَحُرْمَةُ الْمُؤْمِنِ أَعْظَمُ عِنْدَ الله حُرْمَةً مِنْكِ. مَالِهِ وَدَمِهِ، وَأَنْ نَظُنَّ بِهِ إلاَّخَيْراً).
في الزوائد: في إسناده مقال. ونصر بن محمد شيخ ابن ماجة، ضعفه أبو حاتم، وذكره ابن حبان في الثقات.
[3932- ش – (أعظم عند الله حرمة منك) أي من حرمتك. فإن حرمة البيت إنما هي للمؤمنين. قال تعالى: إن أول بيت وضع للناس.. إلى قوله مباركا وهدى للعالمين. (ماله ودمه وإن تظن به إلا خيراً) مجرورة. على أن الأول بدل من الؤمن. والآخرين يعطف عليه. أي حرمة ماله وحرمة دمه. وحرمة أن تظن به ماعدا الخير.]

 

كشف الخفاء، – للإمام العجلوني
حرف الميم.
2676 – المؤمن أعظم حرمة من الكعبة.
رواه ابن ماجه بسند لين عن ابن عمر قال رأيت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يطوف بالكعبة وهو يقول: ما أطيبك وأطيب ريحك، ما أعظمك وأعظم حرمتك، والذي نفس محمد بيده لحرمة المؤمن أعظم عند الله حرمةً مِنْكِ: ماله ودمه، وأن يُظـَنّ به إلا خيرا.
ولابن أبي شيبة عن ابن عباس أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم نظر إلى الكعبة فقال: ما أعظمك وأعظم حرمتك، والمؤمن أعظم حرمة منك: قد حرم الله دمه وماله وعرضه، وأن يظن به ظن السوء.
ونحوه عند البيهقي عن ابن عباس.
ونحوه ما أخرجه البيهقي بسند ضعيف عن ابن عمر، ومن قوله “ليس شيء أكرم على الله من ابن آدم”، قلت: الملائكة. قال: أولئك بمنزلة الشمس والقمر، أولئك مجبورون. والصحيح وقفه.
وروى البيهقي أيضا بسند متروك عن أبي هريرة من قوله “المؤمن أكرم على الله من ملائكته”.

 

تخريج أحاديث الإحياء،  – للحافظ العراقي
المجلد الرابع >> كتاب الصبر والشكر
4 – حديث “المؤمن أفضل من الكعبة”
أخرجه ابن ماجه من حديث ابن عمر بلفظ “ما أعظمك وأعظم حرمتك، والذي نفسي بيده لحرمة المؤمن أعظم حرمة منك ماله ودمه وأن يظن به إلا خيرا” وشيخه نصر بن محمد بن سليمان الحمصي ضعفه أبو حاتم ووثقه ابن حبان، وقد تقد

 

Hadith

The Fard (Solitary)

The Fard (Solitary)

Discussion   Join

It is reported that, the Messenger of Allah, Peace and Blessings upon him, while walking, encountered Abu Dhar. He said to him: “Poor Abu Dhar, walking by himself; he is a solitary, alone in heaven, and a solitary, alone on earth; the ultimate solitary. The Prophet then said: “O Abu Dhar, Allah is Beautiful and Hu/He loves Beauty. O Abu Dhar, do you know what my concern and my preoccupation are and to what my yearning is?”. His companions said : “Inform us of your concern and of your preoccupation, O Messenger of Allah!”. He responded: “How I yearn to meet my brothers who will come after me!” Those who are equal to the Prophets in their rank and are for Allah in the status of martyrs; they flee from father, mother and sibling desiring only the pleasure of Allah the most High. They leave wealth and debase their Self with humility, having no wish for the desires and the bounties of al-Dunya. They meet in one of the houses of Allah aggrieved and saddened out of love for Allah. Their hearts are for Allah, their soul from Allah and their knowledge for the sake of Allah. If one of them should fall ill, it is of more value than the worship of one whole year. And I can tell you more if you like, O Abu Dhar ! Who responded : “Yes! O messenger of Allah” He then continued : “If one of them should be bothered by a louse in his clothes, his reward by Allah is that of seventy Hajj and conquests and that of having freed forty slaves of the children of Ismael, who count each as twelve thousand men. And I can tell you more if you like, O Abu Dhar!” Who responded : “Yes! O messenger of Allah” He then continued: ” When one of them remembers his family and becomes aggrieved, each breath that he takes is counted for him as (an elevation of) a thousand thousands ranks. I can tell you more, if you wish, O Abu Dhar! Who responded : “Yes! O messenger of Allah” He then continued: “That one of them prays with his companions two ruk’a (Bow) to Allah Almighty is more valuable to Allah than the worship of another man who has worshiped Allah in the Mountain of Lebanon for as long as the thousand years which Noah lived. I can tell you more, if you wish, O Abu Dhar !” Who responded : “Yes! O messenger of Allah” He then continued: “That one of them should glorify Allah once is better for him on the Day of Resurrection than if he should walk with the mountains of al-Dunya in gold. I can tell you more, if you wish, O Abu Dhar!” Who responded : “Yes! O messenger of Allah” He then continued: “A glance at one of them is lovelier than a glance at the House of Allah Almighty and whoever looks at one of them, it is as if he is looking at Allah Almighty; and whoever pleases one of them, it is as if he has pleased Allah Almighty; and whoever feeds one of them, it is as if he has fed Allah Almighty. I can tell you more, if you wish, O Abu Dhar !” Who responded : “Yes! O messenger of Allah” He then continued: “People who are tenacious (sinners), burdened by sins sit with them;  by the time they leave them, Allah Almighty has looked at them and forgiven them their sins because of the favors of the Solitaries by Allah Almighty. Their laughter is worship O Abu Dhar, their fun is glorification and their sleep charity. Every day, Allah Almighty looks at them seventy times. I can tell you more, if you wish, O Abu Dhar !” Who responded : “Yes! O messenger of Allah” He then continued: “O Abu Dhar ! I yearn so much for them!”.

The Messenger of Allah bent his head for a long while then lifted it and cried until his eyes were full of tears : “O how I yearn to meet them ! O my Allah! guard them and make them victorious over those who oppose them and refresh my eye with their sight on the Day of Resurrection.” He then recited: “Behold! verily on the friends of Allah there is no fear, nor shall they grieve” (Surat Yunus 10: 62).

Allah the Supreme stated the Truth and so did his Noble Messenger.

روى أن رسول الله صلَى عليه و سلَم رأى يوماً اباذر يمشى. فقال: مسكينٌ ابوذر يمشى وحده و هو فى السَماْ فردٌ و ابوذر فى الأرض فردٌ, كن فرد الفرد. ثمَ قال: يا اباذر إنَ الله جميلٌ يحبُ الجمال, يا اباذر أتدرى ما غمى و فكرى و الى أيِ شىء إشتياقى؟ فقال أصحابه: أخبرنا يا رسول الله, بغمِك و فكرتك؟ قال له: واشوقاه الى لقاء إخوانى يكونون من بعدى! شأنهم شأن الأنبياْ و هم عند الله و بمنزلة الشهداْ يفرُون من الآباء و الأمَهات و الأخوة إبتغاء مرضاة الله تعالى, و هم يتركون المال و يذلون انفسهم بالتواضع. لا يرغبون فى الشَهوات و فضول الدُنيا. يجتمعون فى بيتٍ من بيوت الله مغمومين محزونين من حبِ الله. قلوبهم الى الله و روحهم من الله و علمهم للله. إذا مرض واحدٌ منهم هو أفضل من عبادة سنةٍ. و إن شئت ازيدك يا اباذر. قال: قلت: بلى يا رسول الله, قال: الواحد منهم يؤذيه قملةٌ فى ثيابه فله عند الله أجر سبعين حجّةً و غزوةً و كان له أجر عتق أربعين رقبةً من ولد إسمعيل و كل واحدٍ منهم باثنى عشر ألفاً. و إن شئت أزيدك يا اباذر. قال: قلت: بلى يا رسول الله. قال: الواحدُ منهم يذكر أهله ُ ثمََََ يغتمُ يُكتَب له بكلِ نَفَسٍ ألف ألف درجةٍ. و إن شئت أزيدك يا اباذر. قال: قلت: بلى يا رسول الله. قال: الواحدُ منهم يُصلي ركعتين في أصحابه أفضل عند الله تعالى من رجلٍ يعبد الله تعالى في جبل لبنان مثلَ عمر نوح ألف سنةٍ. و إن شئت أزيدك يا اباذر. قال: قلت: بلى يا رسول الله. قال: الواحد منهم يسبِح تسبيحة خيرٌ له يوم القيامة من أن يسير معه جبال الدنيا ذهباً. و إن شئت أزيدك يا اباذر. قال: قلت: بلى يا رسول الله. قال: نظْرةً تنظر إلى أحدهم أحبُ إلى الهر من نظرةٍ إلى بيت الله تعالى, و من نظر إليه فكأنَما ينظر إلى الله تعالى, و من سَرَه فكأنَما سَرَ الله تعالى, و من أطعمه فكأنَما أطعم الله تعالى. و إن شئت أزيدك يا اباذر. قال: قلت: بلى يا رسول الله. قال: يجلس إليهم قومٌ مصرِين مثقلين من الذنوب لا يقومون من عندهم حتى ينظر الله إليهم و يغفر لهم ذنوبهم لكرامتهم على الله تعالى. يا اباذر ضحكهم عبادةٌ و مزاحهم تسبيحُ و نومهم صدقةٌ. ينظر الله تعالى إاليهم فى كلِ يومٍ سبعين مرَةً. يا ابا ذر إنى إليهم مشتاقٌ. ثمَ أطرق رأسه ملياً, ثمَ رفع رأسه و بكى حتى دمعت عيناه فقال له: واشوقاة إلى لقائهم! و يقول صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم: اللهم احفظهم و انصرهم علي من خالفهم و اقرَ عينى بهم يوم القيامة. ثم قرأ: ألا إنَ أولياْ الله لا خوف عليهم و لا هم يحزنون. صدق الله العظيم و صدق رسوله الكريم

Source:
مرآة الافراد
The Mirror of the Solitaries
Letter 1
By Pir Jamaled-Din Ardestani
This narration is found in Tamhidāt but the origins of it cannot be found in regular books of Hadith (Prophetic Narration).
India Office Library & Records
Ref: Per IO 3866a

Publisher (Tehran Iran):
انتشارات زوار
Researched and Edited by Hassan Anisi-Pour (PhD)

© 2007-2002, Hind Rifai M.D. , Dara O. Shayda

Tafsir Irfani

Attar’s Irfani (Gnostic) Tafsir (Exegesis) of 57:4 , در معنی هو معکم أینما کنتم


Attar’s Irfani (Gnostic) Tafsir (Exegesis) of 57:4
Excerpt from Attar’s Jauhar Al-Dhat

ISBN 964-8746-00-1
Editor: Prof. Taimour Burhan Limoudehi
Publisher: Sina’î Intisharat

Discussion   Join

در معنی هو معکم أینما کنتم و حقیقت کل فرمود

On the meaning of : 57:4 Wa (And) Hu is with you wherever you might be!
وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنْتُمْ

Adam was created and ennobled and placed within the Gardens of Paradise. However he was quite restless and running around the Gardens without any tranquility.

…

When, in Gardens, Adam found this noble status
Immediately hurried seeking after the Divine Beloved

چو آدم در بهشت این مرتبت یافت
از آن دم سوی جانانْ زود بشتافت

And all the while roaming around the Garden of spirits
Glanced around and all he saw was his own Self Adam

چو آدم دربهشتِ جان زد آن دم
نظر می کرد و خود می دید آدم

Perplexed bewildering at ITs terrific creations
Secretively turned inward within his own

عجب درمانده بُدْ در کایناتِ او
که چون آمد نهان در سویِ ذاتِ او

Alone talking to his own Self and bemoaning
Sharing the sorrows of his heart with the Lord

نهانْ با خود دمادمْ زارْ می گفت
غمِ دل با خدا او باز می گفت

And since he could see the Divine manifest within (Haqq)
Therefore he would make declarations and acknowledge with attestations:

چو حقْ در خویشتن می دید تحقیق
به خود می گفتُ و خود می کرد تصدیق

“O Beloved of the Cosmos, the Beloved of my very essence
You are, in both universes, my guide and leader

که ای جانِ جهانُ و جوهرِ من
تویی در هر دو عالم رهبِر من

Brought me here and exposed me to Your own
From Your own Divine Self endowed me with this human Self

مرا آورده و بنموده ای تو
خودیِ خودْ به من بخشوده ای تو

Dara: In the metaphysics of Sufis, our attributes are infinitely vitiated derivatives of the Divine Attributes e.g. Divine Mercy vs. human mercy or Divine Wrath vs. human anger, our Self  is also the infinitely vitiated derivate of the Divine Self.

Within me it is all only You!
Within here I am cognizant of a nonpareil secret i.e. You!

درونم هم تویی بگرفته بیرون
تو را دانم در این جا سرِّ بیچون

Your veils are Your true shapes and forms
Yearning of unrestrained love is Your shape and form

حجاب تو بود این صورتِ تو
که عینِ شوقَ ست صورتِ تو

Dara: ‘Shape and form’ is the word Surat in Arabic which has entered into both Qur’an and Hadith (Prophetic Narration). The incredible Irfan (Gnosis) of the Sheikh Attar informs us that the real Surat or veils that conceal Allah are made from the substances of yearning and ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love)! We cannot behold Allah here because we yearn for other than Allah.

Unveil Your Face and show
That You are within only One

حجاب از پیشِ رویْ بردارُ و بنمایْ
که هستی در درونِ جانْ تو یکتایْ

Don’t forsake me here like of this (as though an ignorant)
Since it was cognizance that made me to appear! “

چنین تنها مرا این جا بمَگْذار
که دانایی مرا کردهْ پدیدار

Dara: In one of the Israiliyat (Hebrew Narrations) Allah has been quoted: I was a treasure and wanted to be discovered… and this form of cognizance of discovery was what motivated Adam’s creation. He was created to discover to learn to know to feel the cognizance of Divine Presence.

Suddenly a call echoed within his body and soul
While he was completely exposed to Divine Secrets

ندا آمد درونِ جسمُ و جانش
وِرا بنمودْ کلْ رازِ نهانش

That Adam why do you feel so lonely
For I am with you here with attention to none other!

که ای آدم چرا هستی تو تنها
که من با تو درم این جایْ تنها

For I am within your body and your soul
And within this Garden I have My Eye on you at all times

چه من با تو درون جسم و جانم
در این جنت تو را عین العیانم

Then why do you say that you are lonely
While I am so close to you within your own soul

چرا تنها همی گویی که هستم
که با تو در درونِ جانْ نشستم

Ahoy Adam within this moment frolic
And be free from all else but Me

ايا  آدم در این دم شاد می باش
به جز من از همه آزاد می باش

Ahoy Adam behold Us within
Little look at your own body and spirit

ایا آدم درونْ ما را نظر کن
نظر در جسم و جان مختصر کن

Ahoy Adam I am within your soul
Who has exposed you to all Divine Secrets

ایا آدم منم در بودِ جانت
که بنموده همه رازِ نهانت

Ahoy Adam you are such a precious pearl
Then why do you need other (lesser) companions?

ایا آدم چو تو دُرِّ نفیسی
همی خواهی در این جا همْ جلیسی

Are you lonely here all of a sudden
Though there is no one here except Us?

دلت تنگ آمده است این جا به یک بار
که جز ما نیست این جا هیچ دَیّار

However I am the Generous Lord
The obvious Divine Artisan The Giver of Life so Merciful

ولیکن من خداوند کریمم
عیانْ صانعُ و حَیِّ رحیمم

I am the Knower, I am the Seer and in all occasions
For sure I know what is transpiring within you

منم دانا منم بینا به هر حال
همی دانم درونت کلِّ احوال

Then I shall endow you here, something of My Grace:
Exposure to ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love) of seeing Us

مَنَتْ بخشم به فضلِ خویش اینجا
نُمودِ عشق همْ در دیدن ما

Then I shall endow you here to behold Me
Since nothing can be with Us that has existence

مَنَتْ بخشم در این جا دیدن خود
که پیش ما نگنجد هیچ از ُبد

Dara: There is no creature alive or dead that can look at Allah directly or attend ITs Divine Presence without being annihilated! But Adam and his progeny! He was given an endowment of infinitesimal closeness to Allah and ability to have specialized eyes to see IT.

IT unveiled all veils from the Divine Face
And once Adam set eyes upon IT

حجابْ آن گه ز پیشِ رویْ برداشت
چو آدم در نمودِ او چشم بگماشت

Within the self-less-ness found the singleton Lord
And by ITs Divine Self found the true certitude

میان بی خودی حق را یکی یافت
خدا وز خویشتنِ او بیشکی یافت

Became so drunken by this close encounter
When he saw that Divine Secret for the first time

چنان مستِ لقا شد او به یکبار
که آن سرّ دید چونْ اولْ دگربار

Adam did not know his head from his feet (lost confused)
Left all wandering perplexed and madly in love (Shayda)

نمی دانست آدم او َسرْ از پای
بمانده والهُ و حیران و شیدا

Adam lost all comprehension whatsoever
And (Allah) shed all the veiling veils

نمی دانست آدم هیچ بی خویش
حجاب جملگی برداشت از پیش

He was so intoxicated seeing this encounter
That exited from his own existence and creation

چنان مستِ لقا بُد درْ عیانش
که بیرون بود از کَوْنُ و مکانش

Dara: Within the Gardens, either Adam was living like a wandering savage or when he was exposed to the Divine Beauty of Allah, directly without any intermediary, he was intoxicate and no longer amounted to anything we might consider as a human! There was no balance and there had to be a new creation that would help Adam to find the equilibrium between his human-ness and the intoxication of full exposure to Divine Beauty.

…

Angel Gabriel is called upon by Allah and it rushes towards the said Gardens to obey the command. Adam was put to sleep:

IT called upon the Gabriel (to summon)
Listen! Extract from the left side of him fast

خطابی کرد حق در سوی جبریل
که هان از پهلوی چپ زود تبدیل

Fashion something patent and incredible
For Adam to see Our true artisanship

کنی آدم در اینجا آشکارا
که تا بیند حقیقت صنع ما را

…

From the left side of Adam’s torso
Some fully detailed and integrated entity appeared

زِ پهلوی چپ آدم عیان شد
نُمودِ جزو و کلّْ دیگر نهان شد

While under the Angel Gabriel’s watchful stare
A new shape and form appeared

چو جبریل اندر آن بُد در نظاره
یکی صورتْ دگر شد آشکاره

An incredible shape, a new Divine Secret
Emerged from his left side of the torso

عجایبْ صورتی در دیگر اسرار
زِ پهلوی چپش آمد پدیدار

A newly shaped entity and its purpose
Piety-filled a concealed Divine Secret within

یکی صورتْ که بُد آن جمله معنی
که او را بود در جانْ سرِّ تقوی

Prophet-like and Aulia-like
Within its spirit the most incredible intelligence

نُمودِ انبیا و اولیا بود
که در جانِ او ذکیّ با ذکا بود

Dara: Aulia means a close friend of Allah.

From feet to the head all and all Divine Light
Divine Secrets all patent within this entity

قدم تا سَر همه نور الهی
در او پیدا آمد همه سرِّ الهی

Two daffodils for eyes as though almonds
Such a trap upon the path of his mind!

دو چشمِ نرگسین مانندِ بادام
ولی در راهِ معنیِ او بُدِهْ دام

Dara: The new creature was given such a Divine Beauty ,within and without, that by one glance could stall Adam from wandering around and acting estranged. As though the creature’s glance was a trap to settle Adam down in one place.

From head to the toes effulgent and luminous
A prized famed amongst the entire creation

سر و پایش پر از فیضُ و پر از نور
میانِ جزوُ و کلّْ او گشته مشهور

It emerged due to the Divine Glance of That Beloved
And the name she was given: Hawwā’ (Eve)

زِ دید جانِ جانانْ گشته پیدا
وِرا اسمش نهاده باز حَوّاءْ

Hawwa’ means something derived from the life i.e. first primordial woman who was generate from the living life-form of Adam the first primordial man.

تفسير القرطبي
قلت إذ أقبلت وزهر تهادىكنعاج الملا تعسفن رملا ف “زهر” معطوف على المضمر في “أقبلت” ولم يؤكد ذلك المضمر. ويجوز في غير القرآن على بعد: قم وزيد. قوله تعالى: “وزوجك” لغة القرآن “زوج” بغير هاء، وقد جاء في صحيح مسلم: “زوجة” حدثنا عبد الله بن مسلمة بن قعنب قال حدثنا حماد بن سلمة عن ثابت البناني عن أنس أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم كان مع إحدى نسائه فمر به رجل فدعاه فجاء فقال: (يا فلان هذه زوجتي فلانة): فقال يا رسول الله، من كنت أظن به فلم أكن أظن بك، فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: (إن الشيطان يجري من الإنسان مجرى الدم). وزوج آدم عليه السلام هي حواء عليها السلام، وهو أول من سماها بذلك حين خلقت من ضلعه من غير أن يحس آدم عليه السلام بذلك، ولو ألم بذلك لم يعطف رجل على امرأته، فلما انتبه قيل له: من هذه? قال: امرأة قيل: وما اسمها? قال: حواء، قيل: ولم سميت امرأة? قال: لأنها من المرء أخذت، قيل: ولم سميت حواء? قال: لأنها خلقت من حي. روي أن الملائكة سألته عن ذلك لتجرب علمه، وأنهم قالوا له: أتحبها يا آدم? قال: نعم، قالوا لحواء: أتحبينه يا حواء? قالت: لا، وفي قلبها أضعاف ما في قلبه من حبه. قالوا: فلو صدقت أمرأة في حبها لزوجها لصدقت حواء. وقال ابن مسعود وابن عباس: لما أسكن آدم الجنة مشى فيها مستوحشا، فلما نام خلقت حواء من ضلعه القصرى من شقه الأيسر ليسكن إليها ويأنس بها، فلما انتبه رأها فقال: من أنت? قالت: امرأة خلقت من ضلعك لتسكن إلي، وهو معنى قوله تعالى: “هو الذي خلقكم من نفس واحدة وجعل منها زوجها ليسكن إليها” الأعراف: 189. قال العلماء: ولهذا كانت المرأة عوجاء، لأنها خلقت من أعوج وهو الضلع. وفي صحيح مسلم عن أبي هريرة قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: (إن المرأة خلقت من ضلع في رواية: وإن أعوج شيء في الضلع أعلاه لن تستقيم لك على طريقة واحدة فإن استمتعت بها استمتعت بها وبها عوج وإن ذهبت تقيمها كسرتها وكسرها طلاقها). وقال الشاعر:

مختصر تاريخ دمشق  ابن منظور
وعن ابن مسعود، وعن أناس من أصحاب النّبيّ صلى الله عليه وسلم، قالوا: أخرج إبليس من الجنّة ولعن، وأسكن آدم حين قال له: ” اسكن أنت وزوجك الجنّة “، فكان يمشي فيها وحشيّاً، ليس له زوج يسكن إليها، فنام نومةً، فاستيقظ وإذا عند رأسه امرأة قاعدة، خلقها الله عزّ وجلّ من ضلعه، فسألها: ما أنت? قالت: امرأة؛ قال: ولم خلقت? قالت: تسكن إليّ؛ فقالت له الملائكة ينظرون ما بلغ من علمه: ما اسمها يا آدم? قال: حوّاء؛ قالوا: لم سمّيت حوّاء? قال: لأنها خلقت من شيء حيّ؛

Dara
Male-kind is like a pendulum, swings between the drunkenness of the Divine Presence’s exposure, to the savagery of his humanity. He knows no way of seeking a stable existence, whereby attaining the benefits of Qurb (Divine Nearness) while sober enough to function as a human being. His primordial father was a long awaited secret and his primordial mother was yet another secret extracted from the first. Adam was the only creature that came too close to Allah and he saw what no one had ever seen, and knew what no one had ever known! He was the epitome of Tauhid (Divine Oneness) via this endowment of closeness. Therefore all that was linked him could not be extracted from any other, violation of Oneness, and therefore the Divine Secret of his stability came from deep within his own existence, a creature made from the Divine Secret of Tauhid (Divine Oneness) with full irradiation by Nur (Divine Light), a prophet-like Aulia-like creature that unlike Adam did not come from the unliving mud, but was extracted from living life!

Even Jesus, who was born without a father, had to have a mother since she was necessary to stabilize him, for he was too near to Allah to function without the woman-ness of Mary. And Al-Mustafa (The Chosen), peace be upon him, in spite of lack of sexual desire surrounded himself with many wives, some quite old and some unattractive, but due to his exposure to the Nur (Divine Light) he either had to bewilder lost within the drunkenness of the Divine Nearness or run into the sand dunes screaming:

“I see what you cannot behold, and I hear what you cannot hear. And indeed the heaven brayed and had all the reasons to moan as such (due to heaviness of what she carried like a moaning camel in distress of a load). Within her, there is no position as large of four fingers without an angel positioned, in prostration towards Allah. By Allah! If you knew what I was taught, for sure you would have laughed less and cried more. And would not have enjoyed the women in beds, and for sure you would have run outside screaming and seeking help from Allah. By Allah! So I wished that I was a chopped tree!” Said the Prophet, peace be upon him.

سنن ابن ماجه.  – للإمام ابن ماجه
الجزء الثاني >> 37- كتاب الزهد >> (19) باب الحزن والبكاء
4190- حدّثنا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ. أَنْبَأَنَا عُبَيْدُ اللهِ بْنُ مُوسى. أَنْبَأَنَا إِسْرَائِيلُ عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ مُجَاهِدٍ، عَنْ مُوَرِّقٍ الْعِجْلِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِي ذَرٍّ؛ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم:
(إِنِّي أَرَى مَا لاَ تَرَوْنَ، وَأَسْمَعُ مَا لاَ تَسْمَعُونَ. وَإِنَّ السَّمَاءِ أَطَّتْ وَحَقَّ لَهَا أَنْ تَئِطَّ. مَا فِيهَا مَوْضِعُ أَرْبِعَ أَصَابِعَ إِلاَّ وَمَلَكٌ وَاضِعٌ جَبْهَتَهُ سَاجِداً للهِ. وَاللهِ! لَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ مَا أَعْلَمُ، لَضَحِكْتُمْ قَلِيلاً وَلَبَكَيْتُمْ كَثِيراً. وَمَا تَلَذَّذْتُمْ بِالنِّسَاءِ عَلَى الْفُرَشَاتِ. وَلَخَرَجْتُمْ إِلَى الصُّعُدَاتِ تَجْأَرُونَ إِلَى اللهِ) وَاللهِ! لَوَدِدْتُ أَنِّي كُنْتُ شَجَرَةً تُعْضَدُ.
[ش – (أطّت) في النهاية: الأطيط صوت الأقتاب وأطيط الإبل أصواتهم وحنينها. أي إن كتره ما فيها من المرئكة قد أثقلها حتى أكّت. وهذا مَثَل وإيذان بكثرة الملائكة، وإن لَمْ يكن ثُمَّ أطيط. وإنما هو كلام تقريب أريد به تقرير عظمة الله تعالى. (الفرشات) جمع فُرُش، جمع فِرَاش. (الصعدات) في النهاية: هي الطرق.وهي جمع صُعُد. وصُعُد، كظلمة، وهي فِناء باب الدار وممر الناس بين يديه. (تجأرون) أي ترفعون أصواتكم وتستغيثون. (لوددت) قَالَ الحافظ: هذا من قول أبي ذر، مدرج في الحديث (تعض) بمعنى تقطع

She is the Divine Secret of: 57:4 Wa (And) Hu is with you wherever you might be!
وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنْتُمْ

You glance at her then you glanced at uncovering of a Divine Secret: That no matter where you are Allah is with you!

If you do not have that understanding when looking at her, then forsake her for you will only produce broken misguided families and disbelieving bastards:

71:27 “For, if You leave (any of) them, they will but mislead Your devotees, and they will give birth to none but wicked ungrateful ones.

إِنَّكَ إِنْ تَذَرْهُمْ يُضِلُّوا عِبَادَكَ وَلَا يَلِدُوا إِلَّا فَاجِرًا كَفَّارًا

Note: Yalidu is male plural verb i.e. They (the male) will give birth, it is not the women who give birth to disbelievers, it is the men.

© 2008-2002,  Dara O Shayda

Terminology

Adab (Etiquette) of Sheikh

Salaam everyone

One of most ailing ailments of the heart is the yearning for being recognized by people somehow e.g. I yearn for people to read my writings and send me admiring notes, or call me some lofty titles, or invite me to give talks or form a following for me to lead. These are far away from Islam and its spiritual arts of Sufism.

The  disaster: A Sheikh who calls on Murids (Seekers) to seek his love! As Allah commanded the Prophet:

3:31. Qul (Say): If you (plural) are to love Allah, Fa (Consequently, in this order) follow me Allah shall love you (plural).

قُلْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ

It does not say: Follow me so I (Muhammad) to love you or follow me and love me! It is about being a conduit for Allah and people to love each other.

The best example is this book Sheikh Izzed-Din Kashani wrote on Sufism (below), he did not write the book to be famed as a scholar, nor to publish it and make money, nor to be loved and endeared by masses, he wrote the book since the Persians of his time asked him for a non-Arabic Farsi manual for Sufism, since the other manuals were in Arabic and hard for them to read. So he basically wrote a book of terminologies and practices and sayings of the Sufis as a service to the Murids (Seekers), not to be loved and obeyed and followed. Only the psychopath criminal thinks of the religion as such!

 

Adab (Etiquette) of Sheikh and its virtues
Chapter 5
Misbah Al-Hidaya (Lantern of Guidance)
Izzed-Din Kashani

Discussion   Join

Most virtuous Daraja (Gradation) after the Prophet-hood is being a Sheikh as the representative of the Prophet, calling unto the people towards Allah, in concordance to the ways of the Prophet peace be upon him. Sheikh is such deputy. And therefore such a rank is indeed the most virtuous as was said by the Prophet:

And by Al-Ladhi (That Which) i.e. Allah, at ITs Hand is the person of Muhammad, and if you might, I would take an oath for you, Inna the most loved servants of Allah by Allah are those who make Allah love ITs servants and make the servants to love Allah and they roam upon this earth giving (good) advice.

كنز العمال – للمتقي الهندي
المجلد الثالث >> الإكمال من الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر
5565- ألا أخبركم بأقوام ليسوا بأنبياء ولا شهداء؟ يغبطهم يوم القيامة الأنبياء والشهداء بمنازلهم من الله على منابر من نور يرفعون الذين يحببون عباد الله إلى الله، ويحببون الله إلى عباده، ويمشون في الأرض نصحاء، قيل: كيف يحببون عباد الله إلى الله؟ قال: يأمرونهم بما يحب الله وينهونهم عما يكرهه الله، فإذا أطاعوهم أحبهم الله.
(هب) وأبو سعيد النقاش في معجمه وابن النجار عن أنس

Remark: “those who make Allah love ITs servants” the word ‘make’ does not have any measure of control or subjugation, it is the best and simplest word in English to convey the concept of being an instrument to make a servant loved by Allah.

The latter is the meaning of the concept of Sheikh in Sufism.

The intent of the Sheikh is to polish the rustic lusts/desires off the mirror of the Murid’s (Seeker’s) heart, therefore (Murid’s heart) to reflect the rays of the Divine Beauty of the Ahadiyat (Divine Oneness) and the rays of the Momentous/Glorious Samadiyat (Absolute Mastery), to brimfill the goblet of the eyes by such (beautiful) observations and thus place the Mahab-bat (Divine Love) within the heart of the Murid (Seeker of the Divine). (Dara: We love beautiful things, therefore something to become beloved for us we must first see its bedazzling beauty)

Therefore the ‘profession’ of Sheikh is to make Allah the beloved of the Murids (Seekers of the Divine) and vice-a-versa:

3:31. Qul (Say): If you (plural) are to love Allah, Fa (Consequently, in this order) follow me Allah shall love you (plural).

قُلْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ

Adab (Etiquette) and duties of the Sheikh towards the Murid (Seeker of the Divine)

As the Murid (Seeker) has an Adab (Etiquette) for the Sheikh i.e. Irada (Willful love to follow), Sheikh also has Adab (Etiquette) for the Murid i.e. right to make Tarbiya (Nurturing). There are fifteen Adabs (Etiquettes) for the Sheikh:

1.    Purity of Intention and absence of all causality: First thing the Sheikh is to do is to interrogate his self to make sure that he does not desire to lead, to be called Sheikh or yearn to be loved—intense feelings as desired much by the Nafs (Self) of every human being. And do so even if he sees his Nafs (Self) already cleansed i.e. to accuse his Self again and again. Since it is quite possible that being loved by people and being the center of attention have been occluded and he could not see these faults. And thus when finds some Murids (Seekers), even if being all sincere, turning to him to seek guidance, he rushes not to their aid! He is paused until upon much turning to Allah and much invocations the veils of ambiguities are removed and vis-à-vis the Divine Cognizance he knows with certainty what Allah’s wish is for these Murids and him. First case: If this affair is all trials and tribulations to test, to safeguard and keep away and invite the Murdis from a distance and as such concealed. Second case: He sees that Allah is pleased for these Murids to be guided by him and therefore he completely takes over the responsibility and preoccupied by it.

2.    Cognizance of Preparedness (Isti’dad): Prior to engaging the Murid (Seeker) the Sheikh must see if the Murid is prepared for Suluk (Voyage) upon the Path of those near to Allah, and if so to invite him according to the wisdom and ways suitable for those close to Allah. And if the Murid is not prepared, to admonish him with the glad tidings of the Gardens and warnings of the Fire. For those prepared and close to Allah to aid them to keep their Sirr (Divine Observatory) clear and discernment of Khatir (Ideas, Notions) i.e. what thoughts are Divine and which are from the devil. Those who are not close to Allah to discipline with worships and physical rituals. In summary to advise and command the Murid (Seeker) to do that which in accordance to their preparedness. And the person who is not competent to do the latter is not suitable for the profession of a Sheikh as the Sheikh Al-Islam said (Suhrawardi?): Amazing! The desert dweller knows each patch of earth and the trees i.e. knows which tree belongs to which earth as every artisan knows its art i.e. the benefits and shortcomings and even the female working the spindle knows the threads and the yarns, and yet so does the Sheikh knows the circumstances of the Murid (Seeker) and what is good and applicable to him.

3.    Complete disinterest in the Murid’s (Seeker’s) wealth: Under no circumstance offer any services for any Murid (Seeker) with even slightest inclination towards any monetary rewards. Tarbiyat (Spiritual Nurturing) and Irshad (Spiritual Directives) are far better than any wealth as has been attributed to the Prophet (Khabar): There is no charity spent more valued than that of spreading some Ilm (Divine Knowledge) amongst the people. If the Murid (Seeker) wishes to do away from all the worldly possessions and liquidate assets for charity, the Sheikh must come up with an alternative proposal such that there are no worries about the duress of financial loss for the Murid (Seeker) i.e. he is not able to endure poverty and might succumb to it. The Prophet peace be upon him allowed Abu Bakr to give away all his wealth to charity, and when there was worry that he would be in stress of the financial loss to retain some. When one of the Murids (Seekers) asked permission of Junaid to spend all his money on charity Junaid did not allow him and said to him: Keep some for your needs for I am not secure about the desires and inclinations of your Nafs (Self) after the remittance of the funds.

4.    Ithār (Altruism, Selflessness): Sheikh must sacrifice, selflessly, all that material gains he enjoys and to cut off personal interests (in daily consumption) so that the altruistic traces are observed by the Murid (Seeker) within the Sheikh and as such the same selfless behavior and sacrifice would become easy for the Murid as well. And if there happens to be some additional provisions coming the Murid’s way he (Murid) would give it away in ease and peace sharing with the needy and poor.

5.     Compliance of action with the words: Sheikh should not instruct or order the Murid (Seeker) to do anything (or abstain from anything) unless and until he himself complies with such order, way in advance of its issuance, so that it would readily be complied with by the Murid (Seeker). As some said: If looking at a person does not benefit you, neither does his word! (i.e. seeing him in action an indication for the veracity of his words). Even for the Sheikh being well to do is the same as living with scantiness, yet it is best for the Murid (Seeker) that the Sheikh sacrifices his personal interests and daily living so that the Murid find it easier to steer away from the consumption and material coveting. As was said by Umar to this regard: The poverty and affluence are two burdens (loads), I do not care which one to carry! (i.e. both are the same or he is the same person given both)

6.     Befriending the weak: Any time the Sheikh could observe a weakness or deviance he ought to be ultra-patient with the Murid (Seeker of the Divine) that might help him to overcome his shortcoming. And this can become second nature to a Sheikh by spending much time amongst the poor and the destitute. When one of the affluent Murids of Ahmad Qalanisi cut off from the worldly life, after some time, there appeared with him some weaknesses. Therefore this Sheikh, anytime made some money, used to send the Murid (Seeker) good foods and pastries saying: He has forsaken the very worldly life that he was so used to, therefore it is most appropriate to befriend him (in his time of need and weakness) and provide for him some provision.

7.    Purification of the words: Sheikh must filter away the desires and lusts out of his words. Since the effect of his words upon the heart of the Murid (Seeker) is that of a seed planted, if the seed is a good one a nice plant sprouts, if the seed is bad then there is no sprouting. The ruin and impurity of the words is the immixing of personal desires with words (addressed to the Murid). There are two ways for the corruption of the words: first the speaker says what the listeners want to hear (marketing savvy), second the speaker feels ‘Ujb (Self-amazement) bedazzled and admiring his own speech! The appearance of the latter within the Nafs (Self) is the worst possible crime a Sheikh can commit. Therefore when Sheikh speaks he needs to clear and filer his personal desires out of the words and as such plant a verbal seed within the heart of the Murid (Seeker) and leave these words under the care of Allah to make them truth and bring them to fruition and safeguard them against the Shaitan (Satan). To get rid of the criminally spoken ‘Ujb (Self-amazement) to observe and study the benevolence of the Divine Gifts and thus to shatter the eyes of the Nafs (Self) and destroy the darkling veil of ‘Ujb (Self-amazement) upon the dawn of the rays of Nur (Divine Light), and to see and find his total existence nothing but a droplet of water tumbling upon the tumults of the resistless waves the sea of Divine Blessings, dissolving to oblivion.

8.    Elevation of the heart to the Divine Presence during the conversations: When the Sheikh attempts to speak to the Murid (Seeker) first he must elevate his heart to the level of the Divine Presence and ask from Allah words that are filled with benefit and goodness for the Murid so that his tongue speaks the truth and much benefit provided for the Murid (Seeker). And as such the speaker is the same as the listener! Once a Sheikh said to his people: I am the same as you listening to my own words! Some of those present within the audience found it strange i.e. how can a speaker listen to his own words same a listener in the crowd, how can the speaker and the listener be equal? One of the listeners that night saw a pearl diver in his dream, fetching pearls from the depth of the ocean and when swam ashore and opened the shells both he and those who did not swam along saw the same pearl i.e. in that moment of observing the never-seen pearl the diver and the spectator at the shore became the same! (Experienced the same)

9.    Speaking with allusions: Anytime the Sheikh observes a defect or undesirable attribute or behavior within the Murid (Seeker of the Divine) he must avoid all direct conversations and confrontations and instead speak to an audience and indirectly address the fault and the issues. This way of advising is closest to the wisdom and best to affect the Murid (Seeker).

10.    Preserving the Divine Secrets of the Murid (Seeker): In occasions Sheikh might see and find with the Murid (Seeker) Divine Gifts and Benevolence and it is the duty of the Sheikh to conceal these gifts and blessings and not to make them public. When in private with the Murid (Seeker) to belittle the importance of these gifts and grants to remind the Murdi (Seeker) that all these are from Allah and not originated from him or her, and all in return the Murid (Seeker) should do is to offer gratitude to Allah, busied in the state of thankfulness, since otherwise any other attention and diversion might diminish or ruin the Divine Gifts:

12:5. Said (the father Jacob): “My (dear) little son! relate not your vision to thy brothers, lest they concoct a plot against you: for Satan is to man an avowed enemy!
قَالَ يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تَقْصُصْ رُؤْيَاكَ عَلَى إِخْوَتِكَ فَيَكِيدُوا لَكَ كَيْدًا إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لِلْإِنْسَانِ عَدُوٌّ مُبِينٌ

19:10. (Zakariya) said: “O my Lord! give me a Sign.” “Your Sign,” was the answer, “Shall be that you shall not speak to no man for three nights, although you art not dumb.”

قَالَ رَبِّ اجْعَلْ لِي آَيَةً قَالَ آَيَتُكَ أَلَّا تُكَلِّمَ النَّاسَ ثَلَاثَ لَيَالٍ سَوِيًّا

19:26 “And if you do see any man, say, ‘I have vowed a fast to ((Allah)) Most Gracious, and this day will I enter into not talk with any human being'”
فَإِمَّا تَرَيِنَّ مِنَ الْبَشَرِ أَحَدًا فَقُولِي إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ لِلرَّحْمَنِ صَوْمًا فَلَنْ أُكَلِّمَ الْيَوْمَ إِنْسِيًّا

11.     Forgiving the mistakes and failures of the Murid (Seeker): Sheikh must be patient and forgiving when the Murid (Seeker) loses his Adab (Etiquette) or forsake some service he was ordered to do, as a man asked the Prophet: How much should I pardon my servant? The Prophet replied: Seventy times a day, each day. (Dara: Seventy in the language of the Arab means ‘a lot’ not the number 70)

12.    Disregarding one’s own rights: Even if the Sheikh deserves much respect and honor, and the more he does so, he is to disregard any rights for being respected and paid attention to, for such expectations are unbefitting the profession of a Sheikh. And do disregard with best of behavior and presentation. Daqqi narrates: I was in an Egyptian mosque with a group of Faqirs (Sufi Paupers) when Abu Bakr Warraq arrived and started offering prayers behind a column. We decided to stand up and greet the Sheikh once he finished. As soon as the Sheikh said the final Salaam (Peace) of the prayer he got up and came to us and surpassed us in greeting. We replied that it was our duty to greet him first and the Sheikh replied: Allah has never tormented my heart with that (i.e. expecting respect and attention from the people). (Dara: End of Sufism in our days)

13.    Fulfilling the obligations for the Murid (Seeker): (In contrast to the #12) The Sheikh is obliged to perform and fulfill all the rights that are due to the Murid (Seeker) of respect, expectations and attention and so on. Abu Muhammad Jariri narrates: When I returned from the Hajj I decided to go visit the Sheikh Junaid so he is not bothered to make the trip to my place. When the time for the Noon prayer arrived (the hottest time of the day to travel) I saw Junaid arriving and thus I told him: My Sayyid (Master) I meant to be the first to greet you (coming to your place) so that you might not come here, and Junaid replied: O Muhammad this (meaning to come to see me) is your virtue and generosity and (my coming to see you) your right!

14.    To allot time for Khalwat (Solitude) and Jilwat (Unveiled for public access): Sheikh should not be obsessed and preoccupied by the public affairs and mingling with people filling all his time, he must allot time for Khalwat (Solitude) to regain his Hala (Momentary States of the heart) Kamal (Perfection) and feeling the Divine Presence, as was practiced by the Prophet peace be upon him. The Prophet sometimes was with the people to be merciful with them and sometimes in solitude to gain and benefit more from the Divine Mercy.  Human being often suffers from lack of verve in worships and Dhikrs (Remembrance) and such times are most suitable to have Suhbat (Companionship) with people and attending to their affairs and once the attention and energy appears again return to the Khalwat (Solitude) and continue the worships with enthusiasm and zeal. Junaid told his companions: Had I known that a short prayer (Two Ra’at) is more valued than Suhbat (Companionship) I would have never socialized.

15.    Increased Performance of additional Dhikr and Worships (Nawāfil): Sheikh should never be mislead believing that he is not in need of additional non-obligatory Dhikrs and Worships, since the Prophet peace be upon was quite diligent to observe the Nafla e.g. additional prayers during the night and Dhikrs around different times of the day. It has entered into the Hadith (Prophetic Narration) that one night the Prophet prayed so much extra worships (Tahajjud) that his feet had swollen. Aisha asked him: O Messenger of Allah didn’t Allah forgive your past and future sins? The Prophet replied: (Since so) shouldn’t I be a grateful servant?

These were the collection of Adab (Etiquette) for being a Sheikh.

End.

© 2010-2002,  Dara O Shayda

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Response to Traweeh from Shakir

5 Comments

Salaam Shakir

The most important guidelines for anything dealing with Qur’an are set by Allah and the Prophet:

1) you listen to the words attentively

2) you understand the full meaning of the words and composition of the verses and so on

While Taraweeh is in part a social activity in its very nature, it is also fully centered about reading and listening to Qur’an. Therefore the said guidelines above apply.

I cannot stand even for 2 Rak’a of long recitations of long Surahs, since my mind cannot focus and I do not understand the meaning of all the words and their compositions. Therefore within few minutes my mind dilly dallies and other thoughts occur.

As a result I attended the Traweeh but I did not remember Allah and I did something else other than its purpose.

Therefore my suggestions for my own Self, not an instruction to you, is to do what is the easiest that optimizes the two guidelines mentioned above.

I prefer to read 1 fully understood verse in each Rak’a and full understanding of Fatiha, and the duration easiest for my mind and my focus, therefore how the Rak’a numbers might add up that evening.

These are of course not perfect words and people do not like them, but I rather be honest in Presence of Allah, when it comes to Qur’an these days we are ignorant folk, all of us, and we need to face the fact and instead of acting to impress others or to make a point for others to see, pause to optimize the mentioned guidelines above.

Sadly for me to be truthful is far more suited than being pious.

Allah’s aid is most sought

Dara

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Taraweeh

Salaam

Every year this dispute becomes evident in Muslims. While majority prays 20 rakaat salah,but many argue that taraweeh is 8 rakaat. Plus in some cases this argument goes into extremism.
If you could give some advice on this issue, please.

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Believe It Or Not, Most Published Research Findings Are Probably False

1 Comment

 

by Simon Oxenham

The rise of the Internet has worked wonders for the public’s access to science, but this has come with the side effect of a toxic combination of confirmation bias and Google, enabling us to easily find a study to support whatever it is that we already believe, without bothering to so much as look at research that might challenge our position — or the research that supports our position for that matter. I’m certainly not immune myself from credulously accepting research that has later been called into question, even on this blog where I take great effort to take a skeptical approach and highlight false claims arising from research. Could it be the case that studies with incorrect findings are not just rare anomalies, but are actually representative of the majority of published research?

The claim that “most published research findings are false” is something you might reasonably expect to come out of the mouth of the most deluded kind of tin-foil-hat-wearing-conspiracy-theorist. Indeed, this is a statement oft-used by fans of pseudoscience who take the claim at face value, without applying the principles behind it to their own evidence. It is however, a concept that is actually increasingly well understood by scientists. It is the title of a paper written 10 years ago by the legendary Stanford epidemiologist John Ioannidis. The paper, which has become the most widely cited paper ever published in the journal PLoS Medicine, examined how issues currently ingrained in the scientific process combined with the way we currently interpret statistical significance, means that at present, most published findings are likely to be incorrect.

Richard Horton, the editor of The Lancet recently put it only slightly more mildly: “Much of the scientific literature, perhaps half, may simply be untrue.” Horton agrees with Ioannidis’ reasoning, blaming: “small sample sizes, tiny effects, invalid exploratory analyses, and flagrant conflicts of interest, together with an obsession for pursuing fashionable trends of dubious importance.” Horton laments: “Science has taken a turn towards darkness.”

Last year UCL pharmacologist and statistician David Colquhoun published a report in the Royal Society’s Open Science in which he backed up Ioannidis’ case: “If you use p=0.05 to suggest that you have made a discovery, you will be wrong at least 30 percent of the time.” That’s assuming “the most optimistic view possible” in which every experiment is perfectly designed, with perfectly random allocation, zero bias, no multiple comparisons and publication of all negative findings. Colquhorn concludes: “If, as is often the case, experiments are underpowered, you will be wrong most of the time.”

The numbers above are theoretical, but are increasingly being backed up by hard evidence. The rate of findings that have later been found to be wrong or exaggerated has been found to be 30 percent for the top most widely cited randomized, controlled trials in the world’s highest-quality medical journals. For non-randomized trials that number rises to an astonishing five out of six.

Over recent years Ioannidis’ argument has received support from multiple fields. Three years ago, when drugs company Amgen tried to replicate the “landmark publications” in the field of cancer drug development for a report published in Nature, 47 out of 53 could not be replicated. When Bayer attempted a similar project on drug target studies, 65 percent of the studies could not be replicated.

The problem is being tackled head on in the field of psychology which was shaken by the Stapel affair in which one Dutch researcher fabricated data in over 50 fraudulent papers before being detected. The social sciences received another blow recently when Michael LaCour was accused of fabricating data; the case exposed how studies are routinely published without raw data ever being made available to reviewers.

A massive operation titled The Open Science Collaboration, involving 270 scientists, has so far attempted to replicate 100 psychology experiments, but only succeeded in replicating 39 studies. The project looked at the first articles published in 2008 in the leading psychology journals. The news wasn’t entirely bad; the majority of the non-replications were described by the researchers as having at the very least “slightly similar” findings. The resulting paper is currently under review for publication in Science, so we’ll have to wait before we get more details. The paper is likely to ruffle some feathers; tempers flared a few years ago when one of the most high-profile findings of recent years, the concept of behavioral priming, was called into question after a series of failed replications.

Whatever way you look at it, these issues are extremely worrying. Understanding the problem is essential in order to know when to take scientific claims seriously. Below I explore some of Ioannidis’ key observations:

The smaller the study, the less likely the findings are to be true.

Large studies are expensive, take longer and are less effective at padding out a CV; consequently we see relatively few of them. Small studies however, are far more likely to result in statistically significant results that are in fact a false positive, so they should be treated with caution. This problem is magnified when researchers fail to publish (or journals refuse to publish) negative findings — a problem know as publication bias or the file drawer problem.

The smaller the effect size, the less likely the findings are to be true.

This sounds like it should be obvious, but it is remarkable how much research fails to actually describe the strength of the results, preferring to simply refer to statistical significance alone, which is a far less useful measure. A study’s findings can be statistically significant yet have an effect size so weak that in reality the results are completely meaningless. This can be achieved through a process known as P-hacking — which was the method John Bohannon recently used to create a spoof paper finding that chocolate helps you lose weight. P-hacking involves playing with variables until a statistically significant result is achieved. As neuroscientist and blogger Neuroskeptic demonstrated in a recent talk that you can watch online, this is not always the result of foul play, but can actually happen very easily by accident if researchers simply continue conducting research in the same way most currently do now.

The greater the number and the lesser the selection of tested relationships, the less likely the findings are to be true.

This was another key factor that enabled Bohannon to design the study rigged to support the case that eating chocolate helps you lose weight. Bohannon used 18 different types of measurements, relying on the fact that some would likely support his case simply due to chance alone. This practice is currently nearly impossible to detect if researchers fail to disclose all the factors they looked at. This problem is a major factor behind the growing movement of researchers calling for the pre-registration of study methodology.

The greater the financial and other interests and prejudices, the less likely the findings are to be true.

It is always worth checking to see who funded a piece of research. Sticking with our chocolate theme, a recent study that found that chocolate is “scientifically proven to help with fading concentration” was funded by Hershey. On a more serious note, tobacco companies have a long history of funding fraudulent health research over the past century — described by the World Health Organization as “the most astonishing systematic corporate deceit of all time.” Today that baton has been handed to oil companies who give money to scientists who deny global warming and fund dozens of front groups with the purpose of sowing doubt about climate change.

The hotter a scientific field, the less likely the findings are to be true.

Though seemingly counter-intuitive, it is particularly common in fast-moving fields of research where many researchers are working on the same problems at the same time, for false findings to be published and quickly debunked. This has been dubbed the Proteus Phenomenon after the Greek god Proteus, who could rapidly change his appearance. The same can be said for research published in the sexiest journals, which only accept the most groundbreaking findings, where the problem has been dubbed the Winner’s Curse.

What does this all mean to you?

Thankfully science is self-correcting. Over time, findings are replicated or not replicated and the truth comes out in the wash. This is done through a process of replication involving larger, better controlled trials, meta-analyses where the data from many trials are aggregated and analyzed as a whole, and systematic reviews where studies are assessed based on predetermined criteria — preventing the cherry picking that we’re all, whether we like it or not, so naturally inclined to.

Replications, meta-analyses and systematic reviews are by their nature far more useful for portraying an accurate picture of reality than original exploratory research. But systematic reviews rarely make headlines, which is a good reason the news is not the best place to get an informed opinion about matters of science. The problem is unlikely to go away any time soon, so whenever you hear about a new piece of science news, remember the principles above and the simple rule of thumb that studies of studies are far more likely to present a true picture of reality than individual pieces of research.

What does this mean for scientists?

For scientists, the discussion over how to resolve the problem is rapidly heating up with calls for big changes to how researchers register, conduct, and publish research and a growing chorus from hundreds of global scientific organizations demanding that all clinical trials are published. Perhaps most important and most difficult to change, is the structure of perverse incentives that places intense pressure on scientists to produce positive results while actively encouraging them to quietly sit on negative ones.

 

© Copyright 2015, The Big Think, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Just Beautiful

Salaam everyone

This video to the best of my knowledge is animated by modelling actual data obtained from actual observations, so it is not an animation of someone’s imagination. These are happening in every cell in your body, every moment of your life:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzcTgrxMzZk

 

The entire animated entities are surrounded by the intra-cellular water which the animation does not show.

Specially see this excerpt from the video:

 

These are Ishara, pointers pointing towards a direction. So it is lesser about the questions “why I am here” or “what is the purpose of life”, but more about what are we pointing at? Or Who are we pointing at?

 

More about seeing, less about knowing.

 

Dara