ASK Conference 2004
Islam of the Mind

By: Aliya Haeri

“Whatever gladdens the mind is the scent
of My Beloved,
Whatever enraptures the heart
is a ray of light from Him.”
- Rumi 

“I am in My servant’s opinion of Me.”
- Hadith Qudsi 

What we think, we perceive.  What we perceive, we experience -- and what we experience, we become.  In this way, we create our reality.  We are responsible for what happens in our life.

Our mind, our thinking, can lead us to the highest formation of our being, or to the lowest of the low.

The mind is a marvellous, practical tool necessary for survival.  We would still be living in caves had it not been for our ability to influence our surroundings.  If mind is applied rightly, it brings about healthy living and growth in the direction of maturity, which will enable us to choose correctly in life situations.

We constantly seek to understand our place in the universe.  We are hardwired for meaning.  It’s written in our DNA.  It is by moving towards higher meaning and purpose that we evolve. 

We must go on with our exploration, and the end of all our exploring is to arrive where we began, and to know it for the first time.
-  T S Eliot 

Yet, in our present age, mind has become a monster, its control and manipulation has led to weapons wiping out whole populations in the blink of an eye and global pop culture trivialising the nobility of the human being, where he is oblivious of his great destiny. 

“Know, O beloved, that you were not created at random or in jest, but marvellously made, and for some great end.
   - Ghazali 

Our thinking is the source of our fears and anxieties.  We live with remorse over the past, and fear of the future.  Our mental dialogues create false imaginings that may never happen.  The thinking, the thoughts veil us from the deep self, which is the light within, our inner essence of pure consciousness.  A similitude:  Our thoughts are like the flickering images of a film over the eternal screen of our consciousness.  The images cease; consciousness is ever-present.  If we can get ourselves out of the way, and stop the internal dialogue of the mind, we would then live from the deep inmost core of stillness, light and joy.  The divine within. 

“O my Lord, relieve my mind – open my heart to Your light -- and make my task easy for me!”
- Prophet Musa, before his confrontation with Pharaoh 

Do not curse the self – it is a stage in His divinely conceived unfolding of your awakening.  You first need a self before you can transcend it.  Opposing the self only feeds it.  Accept the shadow and face the fears of your ego self -- and it will disappear, revealing your real self.  Try it.

Finally, the Islam of the mind ultimately is in its surrender.  It is to let go of the tyranny of identifying with your mind.  It is the giving up of your ego self.  By its surrender, you open yourself to your real nature – your illumined essence, your original enlightenment.

O friend, don’t you long to get rid of yourself?  Die before you die, and awake to eternal life.

So long as we do not die to ourselves, and so long as we are identified with someone or something, we shall never be free.