Means of Approach

"Everything He Almighty has given to the Descendants of Adam is temporary, not worthy of that ultimate love. You must give your love to the One who is always in existence - from pre eternity to post-eternity.

'Glorified is the Ever-living (Lord), for whom there is no Death'
At any time sorrowful and unliked events may - and will - descend upon you, your Lord makes them a means of approach to Him that He may pour out everlasting Love Oceans on His beloved servants.

This is a very important point, and a very heavy one. We must comprehend these wisdoms and their import, but such a realization will evade us as long as we are thinking that these are just some words. That Divine Love must be tasted. As much as I may repeat the words: 'Honey, honey, honey...' or describe the characteristics and flavour of honey, as long as you are not tasting it, you are not going to be satisfied. These realities must be tasted, and unless you have reached that point you cannot understand more than these words."

-Mawlana Shaykh Nazim

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Surah An-Naba'

Bismillahi 'r-rahmani 'r-raheem

1. AAamma yatasaaloona
What are they asking (one another)?

2. AAani alnnaba-i alAAatheemi
About the great news, (i.e. Islâmic Monotheism, the Qur'ân, which Prophet Muhammad brought and the Day of Resurrection, etc.)

3. Allathee hum feehi mukhtalifoona
About which they are in disagreement.

4. Kalla sayaAAlamoona
Nay, they will come to know!

5. Thumma kalla sayaAAlamoona
Nay, again, they will come to know!

6. Alam najAAali al-arda mihadan
Have We not made the earth as a bed,

7. Waaljibala awtadan
And the mountains as pegs?

8. Wakhalaqnakum azwajan
And We have created you in pairs (male and female, tall and short, good and bad, etc.).

9. WajaAAalna nawmakum subatan
And have made your sleep as a thing for rest.

10. WajaAAalna allayla libasan
And have made the night as a covering (through its darkness),

11. WajaAAalna alnnahara maAAashan
And have made the day for livelihood.

12. Wabanayna fawqakum sabAAan shidadan
And We have built above you seven strong (heavens)

13. WajaAAalna sirajan wahhajan
And have made (therein) a shinning lamp (sun).

14. Waanzalna mina almuAAsirati maan thajjajan
And have sent down from the rainy clouds abundant water.

15. Linukhrija bihi habban wanabatan
That We may produce therewith corn and vegetations,

16. Wajannatin alfafan
And gardens of thick growth.

17. Inna yawma alfasli kana meeqatan
Verily, the Day of Decision is a fixed time,

18. Yawma yunfakhu fee alssoori fata'toona afwajan
The Day when the Trumpet will be blown, and you shall come forth in crowds (groups);

19. Wafutihati alssamao fakanat abwaban
And the heaven shall be opened, and it will become as gates,

20. Wasuyyirati aljibalu fakanat saraban
And the mountains shall be moved away from their places and they will be as if they were a mirage.

21. Inna jahannama kanat mirsadan
Truly, Hell is a place of ambush,

22. Lilttagheena maaban
A dwelling place for the Tâghûn (those who transgress the boundry limits set by Allâh like polytheists, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allâh, hyprocrites, sinners, criminals, etc.),

23. Labitheena feeha ahqaban
They will abide therein for ages,

24. La yathooqoona feeha bardan wala sharaban
Nothing cool shall they taste therein, nor any drink.

25. Illa hameeman waghassaqan
Except boiling water, and dirty wound discharges.

26. Jazaan wifaqan
An exact recompense (according to their evil crimes).

27. Innahum kanoo la yarjoona hisaban
For verily, they used not to look for a reckoning.

28. Wakaththaboo bi-ayatina kiththaban
But they belied Our Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, and that which Our Prophet (Peace be upon him) brought) completely.

29. Wakulla shay-in ahsaynahu kitaban
And all things We have recorded in a Book.

30. Fathooqoo falan nazeedakum illa AAathaban
So taste you (the results of your evil actions); no increase shall We give you, except in torment.

31. Inna lilmuttaqeena mafazan
Verily, for the Muttaqûn, there will be a success (Paradise);

32. Hada-iqa waaAAnaban
Gardens and grapeyards;

33. WakawaAAiba atraban
And young full-breasted (mature) maidens of equal age;

34. Waka'san dihaqan
And a full cup (of wine).

35. La yasmaAAoona feeha laghwan wala kiththaban
No Laghw (dirty, false, evil talk) shall they hear therein, nor lying;

36. Jazaan min rabbika AAataan hisaban
A reward from your Lord, an ample calculated gift (according to the best of their good deeds).

37. Rabbi alssamawati waal-ardi wama baynahuma alrrahmani la yamlikoona minhu khitaban
(From) the Lord of the heavens and the earth, and whatsoever is in between them, the Most Beneficent, none can dare to speak with Him (on the Day of Resurrection except after His Leave).

38. Yawma yaqoomu alrroohu waalmala-ikatu saffan la yatakallamoona illa man athina lahu alrrahmanu waqala sawaban
The Day that Ar-Rûh [Jibrael (Gabriel) or another angel] and the angels will stand forth in rows, none shall speak except him whom the Most Beneficent (Allâh) allows, and he will speak what is right.

39. Thalika alyawmu alhaqqu faman shaa ittakhatha ila rabbihi maaban
That is without doubt the True Day, so, whosoever wills, let him seek a place with (or a way to) His Lord (by obeying Him in this worldly life)!

40. Inna antharnakum AAathaban qareeban yawma yanthuru almaro ma qaddamat yadahu wayaqoolu alkafiru ya laytanee kuntu turaban
Verily, We have warned you of a near torment, the Day when man will see that (the deeds) which his hands have sent forth, and the disbeliever will say: "Woe to me! Would that I were dust!"

from The Holy Quran

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Daddy, Can you give me $10?

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5 year old son waiting for him at the door.

"Daddy, may I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, sure, what is it?" replied the man.

"Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?"

"That's none of your business! What makes you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily.

"I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?" pleaded the little boy.

"If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour."

"Oh,” the little boy replied, head bowed. Looking up, he said, "Daddy, may I borrow $10.00 please?"

The father was furious. "If the only reason you want to know how much money I make is just so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you're being so selfish. I work long, hard hour’s everyday and don't have time for such childish games."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even madder about the little boy's questioning. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money? After an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think he may have been a little hard on his son. May be there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door. "Are you asleep son?" he asked.

"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.

"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier," said the man. "It's been a long day and I took my aggravation out on you. Here's that $10.00 you asked for."

The little boy sat straight up, beaming. "Oh, thank you daddy!" he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled up bills. The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at the man.

"Why did you want more money if you already had some?" the father grumbled.

"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied. "Daddy, I have $20.00 now... Can I buy an hour of your time?"

(source: unknown)

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What Prophet Mohammed (SAW) Said About Some Food

Bismillahi 'r-rahmani 'r-raheem

Milk: The Prophet (SAW) said that milk wipes away heat from the heart just as the finger wipes away sweat from the brow. It strengthens the back, increases the brain, augments intelligence, renews vision & drives away forgetfulness.

Honey: Considered to be the best remedy for diarrhoea when mixed in hot water. It is the food of foods, drink of drinks & drug of drugs. It is used for creating appetite, strengthening the stomach, eliminating phlegm, as a meat preservative,hair conditioner, eye salve & mouthwash. It is extremely beneficial in the morning in warm water & is also a sunnah.

Olive oil: Excellence treatment for skin and hair, delays old age, treats inflammation of the stomach

Mushroom: The Prophet ( SAW) said that mushroom is a good cure for the eyes, it also serves as a form of birth control and arrests paralysis.

Grapes: The Prophet was very fond of grapes, it purifies the blood, provides vigour & and health, strengthens the kidneys & clears the bowels.

Dates: The Prophet (SAW) said that a house without dates has no food, also to be eaten at the time of childbirth.

Figs: It is a fruit from paradise and a cure for piles.

Barley: Good for fever in a soup form

Melon: Melon contains 1000 blessings & 1000 mercies, the Prophet SAW said "None of your women who are pregnant & eat of water melon will fail to produce offspring who are good in countenance & good in character.

Pomegranate: The Prophet (SAW) said it cleanse you of Satan and evil aspirations for 40 days.

Water: The Prophet (SAW) said the best drink in this world & the next is Water. When you are thirsty drink it by sips and not gulps. Gulping produces sickness of the liver.

So praise be to our beloved Nabi (SAW) who produced us with knowledge which dazzles the wisest minds. May this information be beneficial to all of us

Blessed Foods

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Ya Mawlana Shaykh!

Bismillahi 'r-rahmani 'r-raheem

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How I Came to Islam

Bismillahi 'r-rahmani 'r-raheem

Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad
Written on the 19th of Ramadan 1417 (28 January 1997)

I was born and raised in a typical middle-class Lebanese Catholic family in Beirut, Lebanon. Two years into the war I was forced to leave, and completed high school in England. Then I went to Columbia College in New York. After my BA I went back to Lebanon and taught at my old school. Two years later I left Lebanon again, this time of my own free will, although it was a more wrenching separation than the first. I left behind my war-torn country and made for my new land of opportunities. I was demoralized, and spiritually at a complete impasse. With my uncle's support I went back to graduate studies at Columbia. This is the brief story of my conversion to Islam while there.

While in Lebanon I had come to realize that I was a nominal Christian who did not really live according to what he knew were the norms of his faith. I decided than whenever the chance came I would try my best to live according to my idea of Christian standards for one year, no matter the cost. I took this challenge while at Columbia. A graduate student's life is blessed with the leisure necessary for spiritual and intellectual exploration. In the process I read and meditated abundantly, and I prayed earnestly for dear guidance. My time was shared literally between the church and the library, and I gradually got rid of all that stood in the way of my experiment, especially social attachments or activities that threatened to steal my time and concentration. I only left campus to visit my mother every now and then.

Certain meetings and experiences had set me on the road of inquiry about Islam. During a scholarship year spent in Paris I had bought a complete set of tapes of the holy Qur'an. Back in New York I listened to its recitation for the first time, as I read simultaneously the translation, drinking in its awesome beauty. I paid particular attention to the passages that concerned Christians. I felt an inviting familiarity to it because undoubtedly the One I addressed in my prayers was the same One that spoke this speech, even as I squirmed at some of the "verses of threat". After some time I knew that this was my path, since I had become convinced of the heavenly origin of the Qur'an.

I was reading many books at the same time. Two of them were Martin Lings' "Life of Muhammad" and Fariduddin Attar's "Book of Secrets" (Persian "Asrar-Nama", in French translation). I found extremely inspiring Lings' account of Shaykh Ahmad `Alawi's life in his book "A Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century." I did not finish the latter before I became a Muslim; but I am jumping ahead. At any rate, it now seemed my previous experience of religion had been like learning the alphabet in comparison, even my early morning and late night Bible readings and my past studies in the original Latin of Saint Augustine, who had once towered in my life as a spiritual giant.

I began to long almost physically for a kind of prayer closer to the Islamic way, which to me held promises of great spiritual fulfilment, although I had grown completely dependent on certain spiritual habits -- particularly communion and prayer -- and could hardly do without them. And yet I had unmistakable signs pointing me in a further direction. One of them I considered almost a slap in the face in its frankness: when I told my local priest about the attraction I felt towards Islam he responded as he should, but then closed his talk with the words: Allahu akbar. "Allahu akbar"? An Italian-American priest?!

I went to two New York mosques but the imams there wanted to talk about the Bible or about the Middle East conflict, I suppose to make polite conversation with me. I realized they did not necessarily see what drove me to them and yet I did not find an avenue where I would pluck up the courage to declare my intention. Then I would go home and tell myself: Another day has passed, and you are still not Muslim. Finally I went to the Muslim student group at Columbia and announced my intention, and declared the two Shahada: The Arabic formula that consists in saying "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah" -- the Arabic name for God -- "and I bear witness that Muhammad is His Prophet." They taught me ablution and Salat (prayer), and I gained a dear friend among them. Those days are marked in my life with letters of light.

Another close friend of mine played a role in this conversion. This devout American Christian friend had entered Islam years before me. At the time I felt in my silly pride that it was wrong for an American to enter into the religion of the Arabs and for me, an Arab, to stand like a mule in complete ignorance of it. It had a great effect on me from both sides: the cultural one and the spiritual, because he was -- is -- an honest and upright person whose major move meant a great deal to me.

I had also come to realize that my early education in Lebanon had carefully sheltered me from Islam, even though I lived in a mixed neighbourhood in the middle of Beirut. I went to my father's and grandfather's Jesuit school. The following incident is proof that there is no turning away of Allah's gift when He decides to give it. One year, when I was 12, a strange religious education teacher gave us as an assignment the task of learning the Fatiha -- the first chapter of the Qur'an -- by heart. I went home and did, and it stayed with me all my life. After parents complained he was fired -- "we do not send our children to a Christian school in order for them to learn the religion of Muslims" -- but the seed had been sown, right there in the staunch Christian heartland, inside its prize school. Now here I was in the United States, knocking at the door of the religion of the Prophet, peace be upon him!

Days after I took Shahada I met my teacher and the light on my path, Shaykh Hisham Kabbani of Tripoli, after which I met his own teacher, Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani of Cyprus. May Allah bless and grant them long life. Through them, after some years, my mother also took Shahada and I hope and pray every day that my two brothers and stepfather will soon follow in Allah's immense generosity. Allah's blessings and peace on the Prophet, his Family, his Companions, and all Prophets.

Fouad Haddad

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S.O.S. - Save Our Souls!

Bismillahi 'r-rahmani 'r-raheem

All souls are calling S.O.S.- Save our Souls! They feel as if they are in Hell. All mankind is in need of spiritual food. It makes their faces bright and their hearts full of light, peace comes to their minds, and their spirits open towards the Heavens. Contentment is dressed on their physical beings.

Sufi Ways are spiritual ways, the ways to the Heavens. If you like, you may follow them, so that your soul is in Paradise before you die. Then dying will only be like a change from one place to another, so easy- opening a door and being welcomed.

- Sheikh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
(taken from Bridge to Eternity)

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Easy Way to Change Ourselves

Bismillahi 'r-rahmani 'r-raheem
============================

There was a king long time ago and he had a vast kingdom. Though he had tremendous amount of wealth, but he didn't have peace of heart. So he decided to be a good Muslim. He heard that there is a very pious man who stays in a jungle and that many people go to visit him for advice. The king decided to visit him for some advice also. When he got there, he asked the pious man "How can I become pious like you?" The pious man replied that remember death 40 times a day for 40 days. The king thought that it was very easy and he thanked him and left for his palace. He remembered death 40 times a day for 40 days but no change came to his life. He was same as before.

The king became angry and called that pious man to his court. The king told him that he is nothing but a liar and that he should be killed before he fools other people. It was decided that he will be beheaded the next day. But the Pious man had a request. He asked if he could become the king for a day. He promised that after getting the command, he will not kill the previous king or do any harm to him. So, the king agreed and made the pious man the king for a day. As soon as the pious man became the king, he went to the market and saw a man selling peanuts. He told the soldiers to catch that man and bring him to the palace. So, the peanut sales man was brought to the court. The pious man told the peanut sales man that he will be killed tomorrow. The peanut sales man became frightened and dropped all his peanuts. He started crying and asked what he did. But the pious man said that he will be killed tomorrow and locked up in jail for today.

Now, as the peanut sales man knew that he is going to die, he forgot about everything else and started asking forgiveness from Allah. He started praying and doing excessive Dhikr (remembrance of Allah). The Pious man ordered that the most beautiful prostitute in the city should be brought and placed in the jail with peanut sales man. She was brought and she asked the man to commit adultery with her. Now the pious man brought the previous king and told him to watch. The peanut sales man started yelling at the woman to get away because he is going to die tomorrow and this evil deed will surely cause him problems with Allah.

Then the pious man asked the previous king if he understood what is going on. The Pious man explained that when you really know that you will die, then you will surely stay away from all evil deeds and engage yourself into the worship of Allah. So, remembering death once properly would be enough to change the life of a human being.

Of course, the peanut sales man was released afterwards.

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Rumi Poem

Bismillahi 'r-rahmani 'r-raheem

Who is the Sheik?

Who is the Sheik?
The infinite elixir.Who is the Sheik?
The very sea of eternity.
Fire is always terrified by water.
When was water ever afraid of being set aflame?

Know that while the eyes of the egoless Sheik are asleep,
his heart is awake.
Our eyes are awake
while our heart is sunk in slumber;
the true, egoless Sheik's eyes are asleep
but his heart is in contemplation of the
opening of the door of divine grace.
While he dwells with us
in some place on the earth,
he is traversing over
the seventh sphere of heaven like Saturn.

Immediate intuition or intuitive knowledge in relation to the egoless Sheik
is what thought is to us.
Thought is of the past and future.
When it is emancipated from these two,
the difficulty is solved.
The spirit beholds the wine in the grape,
the spirit beholds 'thing' in "no-thing'.
It beholds every conditioned thing as unconditioned.
The spirit beholds the genuine coin
and the alloyed before it is discovered in the mine.
In hot July the egoless sees December;
in the sunbeams he see the shade.
In the heart of the grape
he sees the wine.
In his egoless state,
he sees the object.
When you see two of them meet together as friends,
they are one and at the same time
they are six hundred thousand.
Their numbers are in the likeness of waves.

An egoless Sheik is as the lion,
and people's hearts are his jungle.
Like hope and fear,
he enters into the heart
not hidden from him are the secrets of the world.

The book of the egoless Sheik
is not composed of ink and letters
it is naught
but a heart white as snow.
What is the Sheik's provision?
Footmarks.
The Sheik stalks the game like a hunter
he sees the musk-deer's track
and follows the footprints.
For a time the track of the deer
is the proper clue for him;
afterwards it is the navel
(musk-gland) of the deer that is his guide.
When he has given thanks for having
been favoured with knowledge of
the track and has traversed the way,
of necessity by means of that track
he arrives at a goal.
To go one stage
guided by the scent of the musk-gland
is better than going a hundred stages
following the track and roaming about.

The heart that is the rising-place of the moonbeams of divine light
is the opening of the doors of reality
for the egoless.
To us it is a wall,
to them it is a door.
To us a stone,
to them a pearl.
What we see plainly in the mirror
the egoless sees more than that
in a brick.

Choose an egoless Sheik
for without a him
this journey is exceeding full of woe, fear and danger.
Without an escort
you are bewildered
even on a road you have travelled many times before.
Do not then travel alone
on a Way
that you have not seen at all.
Do not turn your head
away from the guide.
Fool,
if his shadow
--protection--
be not over you,
then the cry of the ego will keep you
wandering about
with your head in a whirl.
The ego will entice you
away from the Way
and cast you into destruction.
There have been on this Way
many craftier than you
who have perished miserably.
Be not a friend to your ego
since it leads you astray
from the Way of God.
Nothing in the world will break or mortify your ego
like the egoless protection
of the Sheik.

- Mowlana Jalaluddin Rumi

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Honour of Women

Bismillahi 'r-rahmani 'r-raheem

Jalaluddin Rumi wrote:
Women are honoured to carry in themselves the greatest secret – that of human life.
The Prophet, to whose speech the whole world was enslaved, use to say: “Speak to me, o, Aisha!”
The Prophet said that women dominate men of intellect and possessors of hearts,
But ignorant men dominate women, for they are shackled by the ferocity of animals.
They have no kindness, gentleness, or love, since animality dominates their nature.
Love and kindness are human attributes, anger and sensuality belong to the animals.
She is not your “sweetheart”!
She is the radiance of God.

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