ISLAMICA Magazine Issue 18
January 3, 2007
Excerpt: The Education of the Heart: Liberating Our Capacity to See and Act
“We need to be aware of how education systems, secular or faith-based, can dehumanize us by devaluing those subjects that seek to understand the human condition in all its diversity and complexity. The marginalization of the humanities — of literature, history, archaeology, geography, and modern languages — will only ensure that ignorance of the richness of human heritage and diversity is compounded by incompetence in cross-cultural communication.”
In Quest Of God
November 9, 2006
If You welcome me, then I am Your accepted one:
If You do not, I am still Your rejected servant!
I should not be worried whether You accept or reject me:
My task, in either state, is to remain preoccupied with You!
— In Quest of God
On Being A Muslim Woman Writer In the West
September 30, 2006
Feature on Literature In ISLAMICA Issue 17:
In Mohja Kahf’s essay ‘On Being A Muslim Woman Writer In the West’, she discusses the stereotypes and pitfalls awaiting Muslim woman writers who enter the publishing industry.
“The Muslim woman author of a recent debut novel told me she was offered a million dollars for her book if she would slant it against Islam. She did not accept, and held out and got another publisher who offered a smaller advance but allowed her to keep the integrity of her writing.”
Poetry of Harmony
January 30, 2006
“In Islam, religious songs are designated by the generic term ‘inshad’, from the root ‘n-s-h-d’, meaning to aspire to something, or to seek, to have an aim, to go in search of something. The word ‘nashid’, formed from the same root, means a hymn or a canticle, and a ‘munshid’ is a hymn-singer or cantor… The mystic poets most frequently encountered in this repertoire include ibn al-Farid, al-Nablusi, al-Barzanji, al-Bura’i, and al-Busiri [May Allah Sanctify Their Secret]”
— From the information booklet of The Path Of Ecstasy CD .
The Malay Sufi
December 21, 2005
Syed Naguid al-Attas in his book, ‘Some Aspects of Sufism as Understood and Practised Among The Malays’ published in 1963 (in Singapore!) wrote:
“Never has the Malay mind soared to heights of sublimity in the realms of abstract thought as when it was steeped in Sufism.”
and
“This peacefulness and non-militant characteristic of the (Sufi) Orders of Malaya has definitely influenced the outlook of the Malays with regard to their political and social order.”
For all to reflect
Conference of Insights
September 2, 2005
Terror paralyses the senses and numbs the intellect. The reflexes of the body cringe and the intellect races to understand. Like disease, terror is a state of chaos. Like health, peace is vibrant order.
— Conference of the Books: The Search For Beauty in Islam, Khaled Abou El Fadl
The Path We Need
August 27, 2005
“The fact that a path exists at all indicates that people before us had walked on it. If we do not recognise our predecessors, the path would disappear from our perception and we would not be able to take another step. When we look around, we only see wilderness and chaos. Any steps we take would be filled with uncertainty, further augmenting our anxiety. Not only would we feel lost, but also alone. This is how we are today — lost, alone and surrounded by wilderness and chaos. If you are still reading the newspapers, you’ll read about someone who gave up their life in despair or in anger.
We must ask ourselves, ‘Where are we heading?’ ”
So reads the Editorial in the inaugural issue of The Path, a Singapore-based publication on Islamic Spirituality. Contributors include, Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller, Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad, and Prof. William Chittick.
Look out for Prof. Chittick’s quintessentially illuminating essay, “Can The Islamic Intellectual Heritage Be Recovered?” … he writes, “It is impossible to be a Muslim without taqlid, because one cannot discover the Qur’an or the practices of the Shariah by oneself. Just as language is learned by imitation, so also the Qur’an and Islamic practice are learned by imitating those who know them.”
Title: The Path, Issue 1 — Spirituality: An Islamic Tradition
Why Are We Here?
August 9, 2005
On being here:
“Al-Ghazali sees the reason for us being here is to love God”
On remembering:
“One is to constantly repeat “Allah, Allah”, with the heart, not with the tongue. Indeed, one should not (even) say it with the heart, for this uttering is like talking to oneself. Rather, one must be continually in a state of witnessing so as never to be inattentive.” — Alchemy of Imam al-Ghazali
Both quotes from:
Al-Ghazali: His Psychology of the Greater Struggle
Author: Laleh Bakhtiar
Rumi, The Slave of the Quran
August 8, 2005
I am the slave of the Quran while I still have life,
I am dust on the path of Muhammad, The Chosen One,
If anyone interprets my words in any other way,
I deplore that person and I deplore his words. — Rumi
It was as if Maulana Rumi knew that his words would be misunderstood and mistranslated, especially by those unfamiliar with Islam. As can be seen from the translation of one of his quatrains shown above, no one should interpret Rumi’s speech and poetry as having meanings that do not conform to the revelation and to the practice of Islam.
Some western scholars have said that Rumi was not Muslim, but was some kind of ‘universal sufi’ who did not belong to any religion. Some, have even gone so far as to say that his poetry reflect homosexual love! They are attempting to force-fit the poetry of Rumi to popular culture. May God guide us all to the truth.
This issue of Islamica, issue #13, attempts to frame Rumi as what he really was — an orthodox Muslim, a Hanafi scholar, a Poet … and a Sufi (It goes without saying, but I feel I need to stress this point, that though not all muslims are sufis, all sufis are muslim.)
Title: ISLAMICA Magazine, Issue 13
What’s Right With Islam Is What’s Right With America
June 18, 2005
Excerpt from the Book:
“The most important religious development … in the Muslim world was arguably the institutionalization and spread of Sufi orders. Although sufis existed from the beginning of Islamic history, Sufi wisdom was more the treasure of a small minority, an elite of the pious withdrawn from the mainstream of Islamic political advance. Often misunderstood and maligned, Sufis were accused of excesses in matters of worship.
What made the difference was the work on one man, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali … ”
The writer, Feisal Abdul Rauf, is the imam of Masjid al-Farah in New York City, a mosque located only twelve blocks from the site of the former World Trade Centre. He founded the ASMA Society, a non profit educational and cultural organisation building bridges between the American public and American Muslims, and co-founded the Cordoba Initiative, a multifaith effort to help heal the relationship between the Muslim world and America.
Title: What’s Right With Islam Is What’s Right With America
Author: Feisal Abdul Rauf
