Tag Archive for: Sufi Art
Atonement, Returning, and Repentance in Islam – Atif Khalil
Abstract:
“The aim of this article is to demonstrate how in Islam the principle mechanism for atonement lies in tawba(returning, repentance). Divided into four sections, and drawing primarily on the literature of classical Sufism, the analysis begins by defining some key terms related to the idea of atonement, with special attention to the language of the Quran. Then it outlines three conditions of returning, repentance, and atonement, delineated by classical Muslim authorities, before turning to a brief overview of the concept of amending wrongs or settings matters aright. It concludes with some final remarks about the possibilities of atonement available until death, and the soteriological role divine mercy is believed to play in the posthumous states of the soul“
The Sufi Path of Light Translated by Khalid Williams & Yousef Casewit
Abstract:
“Our Lord is Light; our holy Prophet is Light; our unswerving Islamic faith is Light; our Holy Qurʾān is Light; and our prayer is Light. Why then do you wish to live in darkness? Why do you aloofly imagine, with your delimited and narrow mind, that the Light is merely an abstract concept that cannot be seen?” inquires Shaykh Mohamed Faouzi al-Karkari. Divine Light, luminous vision (mushāhada), and mystical experience are central to the Qurʾānic revelation, the Hadith corpus, and the Sufi tradition. In this major contemporary treatise on Islamic spirituality, Shaykh al-Karkari provides a detailed esoteric commentary on the Light Verse (āyat al-nūr) as well as other verses concerning Light in the Qurʾān. He then highlights the centrality of luminous vision in the teachings of renowned Sufis of the Shādhiliyya order and beyond, including Abū Madyan and Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī. The book concludes with a commentary on Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Illāh al-Iskandarī’s aphorisms on luminous vision. Throughout the treatise, the Shaykh identifies popular questions pertaining to contemporary Sufi practice and invites us to consider the challenges we face along the spiritual path. He proclaims, “You know Islam with your bodily idol, yet your spirit does not recognize it, for you are absent from witnessing the Lights of the Real and the Lights of His holy Messenger. You say, “I bear witness,” yet your insight is blotted out, your heart blind, and your inner heart rusted over. Your testimony is mere speech, not witnessing. Come with me, then, upon a voyage into the depths of pure meaning. Let us travel from one verse to another, until you come to know that the road has been one from the Messenger of God until today-the road named the Radiant Path, whose night is as bright as its day, from which none stray but those bound for”
By Mohammed Rustom (translator)
“Caring for the Ill” – Kristin Zahra Sands
Abstract:
“God will say on the Day of Resurrection, “O child of Adam, I was sick but you did not visit me.” [The child of Adam] says, “My Lord, how could I visit you when you are the Lord of all beings?” God says, “But didn’t you know that my servant so-and-so was sick and yet you did not visit him? Did you not know that if you had visited him, you would have found me present with him? O son of Adam, I asked you for food but you did not feed me.” [The child of Adam] says, “My Lord, how could I feed you when you are the Lord of all beings?” God says, “Didn’t you know that my servant so-and-so asked you for food and you did not feed him? If you had given him food, you would have found that in my presence. O son of Adam, I was thirsty but you did not give me water.” [The child of Adam] says, “My Lord, how could I give you water when you are the Lord of all beings?” He says, “My servant so-and-so asked you for water but you did not give it to him. If you had given him water, you would have found that in my presence.”