Archived Excerpts
September 30, 2001
"Life is full and you contain all of it, in
a meaningful form, in your very breast. That is the meaning of the
tradition related to the Prophet from Allah that 'The heavens and the
earth do not contain Me, but the heart of a trusting believer contains
Me.' In other words, a believer has in his heart the sub-genetically
encoded seed of the meaning of the entire creation."
From "Living Islam – The Path of Unity" by
Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri
October 7, 2001
Islam – submission – is easy.
Witnessing and affirming that there is only One God is a reality
accessible to everyone. This truth is encapsulated in the first
phrase of the Muslim creed: 'I witness that there is no god but
God.' The translation of the complementary second half of this
testimony of belief, that 'Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah',
is harder to decode. This is because through time its misapplication
has clouded over its transformational dynamism.
From The
Elements of Islam by Shaykh Fadhlalla
Haeri
October 14, 2001
In our traditions, simply asking for
the knowledge of the Essence will get us nowhere. We have to seek
the knowledge of God's attributes, of God's actions, of God's laws,
so that we may guard against transgressing them in this world.
Guarding against falling prey to the pitfalls of following our own
whims will protect us from the reaction born of wrong action which
we call punishment. Punishment is part of the love of Reality for
us. The entire creation is based on love. The pain we occasionally
feel is because the balance has been disturbed due to our ignorance,
because we do not know how to unite our expectations and desires
with God's decrees and absolute laws. We are bound to adjust to
them, and that is the meaning of slavehood. We are enslaved to that
truth, whether we like it or not. The sooner we submit to it – and
this is the true meaning of Islam – the sooner we will come to know
from our hearts where to stop and where not to venture. If we make a
mistake, then we have acted upon a desire or whim.
The purification of the heart occurs degree by degree, and the way
to this purification is by going against one's own personal selfish
motives, desires, expectations, and so on. This is called the
struggle of the self, al-jihad an-nafs. Maintaining this jihad
constantly, and keeping diligently to the shari'ah (the body of
Islamic law) as it has come to us, one eventually ends up being the
free man who is a true slave. If you are a slave, you have no
choice. If you have no choice, you are free. Choice is confusion.
Enslavement is fusion. There is no other way to this purification.
From
In Pursuit of
True Knowledge
from
"Living Islam - East & West"
by Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri
October 21, 2001
The practice of pilgrimage has roots
in the notion of inherent sacredness, which accounts for the
universality of pilgrimage. Sanctity attaches to specific places in
consequence of something decisive having happened there, for
example, the Buddha Gaya near Benares in India, scene of Gautama’s
enlightenment; Jerusalem (meaning the city of peace), the scene of
Jesus’ alleged resurrection; and Canterbury where the archbishop
Thomas was martyred. Any site of martyrdom (mashhad:
martyrium) attracts pilgrims in its own right; witness the way
pilgrims gravitate towards the scene of Hamza’s (the Prophet’s
uncle) martyrdom at Uhud, or the city of Karbala which grew as a
result of Imam Husayn being buried after he was martyred there.
From
The Pilgrimage of Islam – Encompassing the Five
Schools of Law
by Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri
October 28, 2001
"The purpose of outer disturbance or
affliction is to draw one closer to and make one more dependant on
Allah alone, and thereby to increase one's knowledge. In a sense,
Allah is most exclusive. He does not want man, even occasionally, to
think that he is depending upon anybody else. Yet it is courteous to
thank the person who is the vehicle or means of help. This is the
true inner meaning of the din, the life-transaction, as it is
called in the Qur`an."
by Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri
November 4, 2001
The human self (Nafs)
resembles a hologram, which can reflect and reproduce ever-changing
states and attributes. The range covers the lowest qualities to the
highest Divine attributes. The Nafs can behave in the meanest
and in contrast the most generous of ways. Fearful or courageous,
patient or impulsive, stupid or wise, agitated or peaceful, ignorant
or illuminated.
From
Ripples of Light
by Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri
November 11, 2001
Who is the Realized Being?
The fully realized being is the one who has
returned to the source of one's origin, the pure state of divine unity. It
is the original, adamic state, for Adam was originally in the pure and
unified state in the Garden of bliss. He was given everything and had no
whims, thoughts, or desires, manifesting only inspired and divinely guided
continuous submission. He was in the realm of pure consciousness, the
realm of joy and contentment.
Then a voice arose, a wave on the adamic
consciousness of being, a whisper that cut through the state of pure
submission. A different moment came about – the realm of our own existence
based on opposite forces and energies. So Adam descended from the unified
field into a realm of duality, a realm based on opposites where both right
and wrong could be experienced. It is of course in this realm that the
faculty of discrimination develops.
Adam was placed in this worldly condition
in order to evolve in discrimination by being tested, so that he could
develop towards a state of perfection equilibrium and contentment based on
knowledge, differentiation and on a primal experience, for he was
originally conceived in the Garden of absolute bliss.
Mankind, in essence, originated by command
from the realm of divine unity, and has been placed in this realm of
duality so that in every situation, he must discriminate between the two
thresholds of good and evil. By this he may emerge, awakened from duality,
and return to his original state.
From
The Journey of the Self
by Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri
November 18, 2001
Nothing in existence takes place unless
there is a reason behind it. Our scientific endeavors and technical
achievements have all progressed because of the search for cause and
effect, building up the information base for what is now our contemporary,
modern society, with its far-reaching programs probing further into outer
rather than inner space. Whatever we pursue in our intellectual life,
using our brain capacity, is based on a sharable pattern that we can
understand within the context of a language or culture. Whenever we are
shocked, disappointed, afraid, or uncertain, it is because a discontinuity
has taken place in our thought pattern. If someone suddenly begins
speaking in a language one cannot understand, there will be an immediate
freeze in the communication. So discontinuity is what we do not accept or
like, by our innate nature.
From
INNER MEANINGS
OF THE QUR`AN
from 'Living Islam - East & West
by Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri
November 25, 2001
The month of Ramadan is a most difficult
and the most easy and the most glorious month for the Muslims. Indeed, the
Din of Islam is simply echoing all of that which were before it. The
Din of Islam did not begin with the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) it
ended, it was completed. All the prophets, all the messengers were
prophets of Islam. They had to submit to the fact that we are here in
order to leave, they had to submit to the fact that we are ignorant and
that we are seeking knowledge. They had to submit to the fact that we are
uncertain and that we are seeking certainty. They had to submit to the
fact that we are insecure, seeking security on a personal level as well as
that of a society. We are all in submission to these realities. The only
difference is that some of us by that submission and that auba we
get more and more tuned to the presence of eternal light and therefore we
begin transformation rather than information. We all begin wanting to be
informed but we all want to end up being transformed in the knowledge that
Allah is in charge, that the glorious Lord and the Creator…… He has never
neglected anything in existence because Allah’s permeates everything
in existence known and unknown. Allah gives us constant opportunities for
us to rediscover. Allah tells us in the Qur`an that he has created us all
from one self and therefore equally in the eyes of God. We are all the
same in the eye of Allah’s except according to our degree of
abandonment according to our degree of detachment of less eagle, less of
our animal self. More and more of the higher self which according to
Allah’s is above the angels. We can be worse than the animals and we
can be above the angels, this is the freedom we have.
From
Eid Talk
by Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri
December 2, 2001
Ramadan Reflection
Behind all, is a constant One
His radiance pales the shinning sun
But we do not see Him through our veils
Our lower self's winds fill our sails
We spend our days chasing the shadow show
From hence life came we do not know
But soon death will knock at our door
And we will have to look some more
At where we have come and where are we going
And what our actions in this life are sowing
Is what we are doing leading to know Him?
Or are we following every passing whim?
To witness His names and attain true being
Requires awareness, the true art of seeing
It takes remembrance of the reality
For knowledge, light and solemnity
To lift the veils of the shadow show
To see things as they are and come to know
So take the mantle of doing without
And restrict the self and have no doubt
That from denial comes relief
To see the truth behind every leaf
For hidden within us is the universe
The Qur`an unveils it verse after verse
So rejoice it is Ramadan take to the fast!
For this month of barakat will not last
Soon the month of fasting will fly away
And all the habits that we have kept at bay
Will come forward to have their appetites display
Without restriction of the Ramadan day
But for all those of subtle light
Those whom have attained inner delight
Will make their fast last all the year
Making their lives so precious and dear
For they are the true ones that have found the treasure
That all life comes in a clear balance and measure
So seek His knowledge and turn away from the plight
To rejoice in the splendor of His eternal Light.
From
Poems
by Hajj Mustafa Ali
December 9, 2001
The Primal Pattern
Human beings are
conditioned to:
Be healthy and well.
Seek and enjoy good
food.
Seek comfort and
ease.
Seek a clear and
healthy mind.
To know what is
needed and not to be kept in ignorance.
Have good
relationships.
Give and receive
love.
To be secure
emotionally and materially.
To be content with
the moment.
To be balanced
between the opposites of:
Action and rest.
Challenge and
idleness.
Giving and taking.
Outer action and
inner peace.
Once the mapping of
the self, heart and Ruh is read,
then a self imposed discipline will come about.
The seeker wants the Ruh to illuminate his actions,
this desire is the ultimate root of moral and ethical character.
From
Ripples of Light
by Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri
December 16, 2001
I thank Allah for His infinite mercies upon
us. That mercies that are visible and the mercies which are invisible. The
ultimate mercy of having created us in order to discover the reality
behind all known and unknown realities. Allah and His eternal light. I
tank Allah for enabling us to gather today to celebrate and rejoice for
what is called Eid. Eid in Arabic is from the word that leads to the
meaning of returning. ……
So that we return back and back to rejoice, and for us to celebrate
and glorify Allah, and give gratitude that we have been glorified as human
beings, so that we discover the world of the seen allowing the world of
the unseen to impinge upon us and leading us into the next phase of life.
From
Eid Talk
by Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri
December 23, 2001
Once ten learned men approached 'Ali and said,
"We seek your permission for our putting a question to you.".
'Ali replied, "You are at perfect liberty."
They said, "Of knowledge and wealth which is better and why? Please give a
separate answer to each of us."
'Ali gave the following ten answers:
-
Knowledge is the legacy of the prophets.
Wealth is the inheritance of the Pharaohs. Therefore knowledge is better
than wealth.
-
You are to guard your wealth but knowledge
guards you. So knowledge is better.
-
A man of wealth has many enemies while a man
of knowledge has many friends. Hence knowledge is better.
-
Knowledge is better because it increases with
distribution. While wealth decreases by that act.
-
Knowledge is better because a learned man is
apt to be generous while a wealthy person is apt to be miserly.
-
Knowledge is better because it cannot be
stolen while wealth can be stolen.
-
Knowledge is better because time cannot harm
knowledge. But wealth rusts in course of time and wears away.
-
Knowledge is better because it is boundless
while wealth is limited and you can keep account of it.
-
Knowledge is better because it illuminates the
mind while wealth is apt to blacken it.
-
Knowledge is better because knowledge induced
the humanity in our Prophet to say to God, "We worship Thee as we are Your
servant," while wealth engendered in Pharaoh and Nimrod the vanity which
made them claim godhead.
From the Nuradeen Magazine, Vol. 1, No.
4, July 1981
December 30, 2001
(c) Contention and (d)
Quarrelsomeness. Contention and quarrelsomeness are both based on
discord and disharmony, and are therefore aspects of ignorance. These two
vices cause intimacy and friendship to disappear, producing instead
repulsion, separation, dislike, hostility and ultimately destruction and
breakdown, for the entire world and its functions and the universe itself
depend on familiarity, love, harmony and unity.
Quarrelsomeness is among those basic
corruptions that disrupt the order of the universe. As such, it is one of
the most abhorred and destructive of vices. Engaging in contention or
quarrelsomeness is to preserve one's own position while attacking
another's. It is essentially destructive and negative.
The manner of resolving a dispute is as
important as the reason for it. Quarrelsomeness only brings about greater
anger, which in turn casts veil upon veil over ignorance. Instead of
illuminating the heart of the matter, the darkness of ignorance is
reinforced. It must therefore be stopped. The remedy is to bite one's
tongue. Simply not to reply. Silence.
The treatment requires awareness and insight.
The remedy can occur if one does not cling to a fixed image of oneself and
one's position and reputation. Once a person sees that what one is doing
is causing greater discord and dispersion, then the process of reduction
and of an eventual end to one's pugnacious ways may occur. With that
realization, one will only respond if it is of help or positive benefit to
another, and if it upholds justice. This positive response will neutralize
the contention, whereupon clarity will prevail and all will benefit.
From
The Journey of the
Self by Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri
