Category Archives: Islam

Islam, Metaphysics, Psychology, Uncategorized

The Real Problem of the Taliban-Religious Materialism

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The Taliban have recaptured Afghanistan!So we see these noble,dignified soldiers dressed in sunnat clothing and if we look no further,we could be impressed.Personally,I find their dress,at least for the males,much more appealing than that of Western politicians who are essentially wearing the garb of the lower echelons of the royal courts-the jacks of the monarchy!.As to the women,the imposed dress code is both awful and unnatural-the product of a misplaced principle of modesty.We will look into the issue of “principles” a little later in the article as they seem to go hand in hand with “Materialism”.

Now,when I say materialism I am not referring to its sense of greediness and avarice as it is commonly used.I am referring to a philosophical,attitudinal position where the concrete is the predominant and determinant reality.So the Marxists say they are “dialectical materialists”. The scientific types say they are empirically-based .But Empiricism is just another form of materialism.And many of our religions are carrying another and even deeper form of materialism-the dress,the rituals the rules of the religion in its outer form.I call that”Religious Materialism”.

Now this is not what religion is supposed to be.This is not what the Prophets and founders and mystics of the religion were teaching.In fact,this common distinction between spirituality and religion is moot,in fact.True religion IS spiritual,by definition.But it appears that the human mind has a need to concretize and codify everything.And therein the problem begins.Now codification may well be necessary to some extant but it musn’t become predominant.Otherwise we are into religious bureaucracuy -an inevitable consequence of Religious Materialism.At that point,we have “thrown out the baby with the bathwater” so to speak.

So, paradoxically the Taliban have fallen into the same trap as the Marxists.The Marxists believed that if you changed the outward,economic situation of the people their inward state would change.And the Taliban believe that if you set up the structure of an Islamic state,people will become good and virtuous.So they are deeply misled.Au contraire what they become is rigid (uncompassionate) or hypocritical! Neither is a good outcome.Neither is what the founders of religion including our Prophet wished for!

So,when I look at the Taliban,I don’t see any of the “nur”(light) of Islam in their faces.I am sure this was not the case with the original Muslims around the Prophet saws.The unbelievers began seeing this transformatioin two generations after the Prophet saws where the nur of the Sahhabbas was beginning to diminish in the Muslim community.At this point in time you have to search it out unfortunately.I remember being in Mecca and looking and looking for it.I finally found it in a group of Bangladeshi people who belonged to the Naqshbandi order.And yes,it is the Sufis who are carrying this nur most clearly.It is not there-neither in the Taliban nor the Salafis nor the Shia generally.

Now,this is a universal phenomenon-not unique to Islam.We can find it in all religions.The original light and baraka and Love becomes a set of rules and regulations and customs and rituals.And the life is lost.No matter how noble the principles,how accurate the scriptrural exegeses,how clever the scholars,the very essence of the religion,the sap of the tree so to speak, is lost.And then we too are lost.

One of the paradoxes of this Materialism is that it is almost inevitably tied to a series of principles -i.e. things that are not material in themselves but of course end up being materialized in ways that are often contrary to the origins of the principles themselves! So the Marxists are bound to the notion of “The Dictatorship of the Proletariat” which then becomes the dictatorship of the top echelons of the Communist party.The Scientific Materialists become the advocates of the “randomized,placebo-controlled, multi-centered , peer-reviewed articles in published  prestigious journals”(That IS a mouthful lol) and then miss the Reality on the ground as they did so ignobly with early treatment of Covid epidemic.That one cost millions of lives on its own!The Christian Materialists massacre those from a different faith as in the Spanish inquisition and the Crusades and burn the witches at the stake in the name of “The Love of Jesus” Wa la howla wala quwatta.And the Muslim Materialists continually talk about “Quran and sunnat” while missing the wisdom ,compassion and humanity of both.These contradictions tend to supplant the original intentions and tend to have a very long life,unfortunately.

Once the essence is lost,the entire structure is compromised.Peoples hearts are dry and all sorts of excesses and cruelties become possible.Thence the critique of the secularists against religions.And unfortunately they have a point.

So now we can see it, in its full manifestation, in the Taliban.Outer,materialistic religion.what a trap?! The devil must be rubbing his hands in glee.And yet,these people think what they are doing is right and pure.Little do they know what trap they have fallen into.I will let God decide their fate but for sure I will not be part of it and I will call them out as I have done many times in the past to the other Islamic Materialists-the Wahhabbis.I clearly remember leaving one of their dinner invitations saying to them bluntly:”I do not see any light in your faces.How can I possibly believe your words” And I said the same to a group of Shia who were also trying to convince me of their ideas.Until I see the light and feel the Love,their empty words are meaningless.

So,is there a way out?! Of course there is!. Allah would not leave us with a problem for which there is no solution.But the way out requires something that few people seem willing to do-self-observation(muraqabat). Let me give you an example!

About twelve years ago, in Jordan, I met an ex-Wahhabbi who had come to spend time with my sheikh of the time-Sheikh Nuh Ha Mim Keller.”How did you get here?” I asked” Wahhabbis never come to see the Sufis.” He told me that he was earnestly following the Wahhabbi way(now they cal themsaelves Salafis after the early generation of Muslims but they are very far from the state of those noble ones!). He continued to tell me his story;’My heart was dry .I could feel nothing.And then I appealed to my Lord for help.He swt sent me a dream in which the Prophet saws was driving a Chevrolet?! ” I knew then that Sheikh Nuh was a true representative of our Prophet and my Wahhabbi teachers were a mere shadow of that reality-at best.That is the kind of lucidity required to break out of the Materialist conundrum that troubles all the religions.May Allah help us to remain inwardly rich and alive and not to fall into the trap of outwardliness. Salaams,Ibrahim

Islam, Psychology, Spiritual Practice, Uncategorized

Ramadan as Process(An update to The Phenomenology of Ramadan)

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Islam, Modern Living

Ramadan as Process:

I an writing this article because it seems to me that there is a major aspect of the Ramadan experience that our scholars are unwilling to talk about -except in the most fleeting terms-its difficulty lol.They much prefer their idealizations and their principles to the lived reality!On the other hand ,in sharp contrast,I was pleased to hear Sheikh  Zaid Shakir recently mentioning “the rigours of Ramadan” The local Imam,when the mosque was operating at full capacity,loved,instead, to talk about how quickly it is was passing.”19 days” he would say:”and it passed like a brief moment”.Really?! Yup,a brief moment -of 19 eternities.

So ,all around me I would see and hear of events.Like my very first Tarawih prayer where the Imam fell to the floor writhing in pain.It turned out that the Ramadan dehydration phenomenon had crystallized a stone in his urinary tract requiring an emergency medical procedure.Or the woman who would mention to her friends that her husband, who said he was fine with fasting, was regularly losing his temper for nothing.Or the patients I had to recommend to stop their fast because their depression,which they were already struggling with, had gotten worse! All of this goes on backstage,while in the foreground the ulema are only telling us of the blessings and the benefits- which is also true.

Don’t get me wrong here! I think Ramadan is a wonderful practice- clearly ordained by our Lord for our benefit.But that benefit is spiritual- not physical.And it involves hardship and perseverance and submission to our Lord.If it were otherwise it would not be called “the month of patience”. It is not a beach-party of Divine Presence.For that, no patience would required.

So why do I bring this up?! Because I don’t believe in “denial'”. According to the psychoanalysts,denial is the most primitive form of defense mechanism.And in the Arabic language the root word for denial (k-th-b) is the same as that for lying! So we really don’t want to go there.This attempt at denial ends up being counterproductive! If the ulema were hoping to encourage us by telling us only about the positive aspects and not acknowledging the experience,they have the opposite effect.People who are having difficulty and pain then feel like they are defective,slackers and losers.Is that what we want?! To have a collective assault on our self-worth?That is certainly NOT the intention of our Lord or his Prophet saws

Now,once again,the point here is not to minimize the importance of Ramadan.Allah has ordered it for our benefit.The point is to learn how to manage it in a way that we get the maximum benefit and the least harm.We all know of people who cannot do it-due to diabetes,or migraines or circulatory illness or even in my experience people who are depressed and psychotic.But there are many more subtle and more common issues.Last year, I myself missed a large part of the fast because of the viral illness called Shingles.It was apparent that the fasting had triggered it and it would only get worse if I continued fasting .I had to make up the days during the year.I was content with my decision.And this year all is well,so far! Alhumdulillah.

Others are not so discerning.I remember being with an Irish convert in England who suffered from serious epilepsy.I advised him to do only a partial fast. He wouldn’t listen and had a grand-mal seizure in the Peckham mosque during tarawih prayers in the last ten days.That seizure elicited a huge fitna between the believers in neurology(including myself lol) and those who considered it was “jinn”.A huge conflagration occurred and the police(who were excellently trained unlike in America!) had to be called in to quell the riot!. That is not what we need as Muslims!

Admittedly most Ramadan issues are not quite so dramatic.They are more about managing our energy deficits,dealing with the headaches,the periods of constipation and loss of drive.All of those are reasonably frequent and need to be managed.For most people,Ramadan is a roller-coaster!  Periods of loss of energy,loss of motivation followed by moments of barakat and peace and blessings.Some experience tranquility and calm.Others lose their will to to do anything! “it’s all grist for the mill” the psychoanalysts like to say.For us “it’s all service to our Lord”. But, we are not supposed to be increasing the pain through blindness and ignorance.And the blindness we are referring to here mostly involves blindness to our inner experience.

“So what does this mean concretely?”you may ask.And we ARE living in the era of concreteness! It is called Philosophical Materialism or Empirism-and it affects the Muslim psyche just as it affects the social psyche generally.Some examples.When I was still practising psychiatry,I would reduce the number of patients I saw /day and abstain from new evaluations and complex reports since that is what took the most cognitive effort.When I met some Iranian students of agriculture at the local university,they told me they started studying at iftar and studied through the night.”Clever ones” I thought! A member of the Tunisian Olypmpic team told me they did their athletic training at midnight during Ramadan-after the Tarawih prayer.Another brilliant move.But all of that requires awareness and breaking of habits-somehing that is all too rare in many circles!

One of the keys here is NOT to feel guilty about our experience.And not to be a”.Ramadan fasting macho”.The Imams seem to be specialized in making us feel bad! ‘You fasted all day but you had some bad thoughts about a friend.Fasting cancelled”. “You recited some Quran.Did you not know that Imam AbuHanifa and Imam Shafii did two complete Qurans /day.So you’re a slacker”! ” You left after 8 rakats.Don’t you know that 20 is better” And on and on .I call this “The Catholicization of Islam” as the Catholics were adept at making their parishioners feel bad about themselves and regularly sending them to the hell-fires! One of the reasons so many left the Church.

Sheikh Nazim used to tell us that the formula for life was 40 to1- pain to pleasure.My apologies to any hedonists in the audience lol.Ramadan may well be even more acute.But the reward is with Allah.I shudder to think what the outcome would be if it  were in the hands of human beings.Actually if you look around at our planet you can see what that would be?! Gradual and systematic destruction! Tawakuultu Ilayhi Wa Huwa Rabb ul Arsh Al Atheem. (We trust in Him and He is the Lord of the Magificent Throne-i.e. the Ultimate Manager!)

So,Ramadan Kareem and Saleem.It’s going to be tough! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise! But in the end it’s more than worth it.And it’s well  worth managing it skilfuly as well!

The Phenomenology of Ramadan

“Phenomenology” is a relatively new area of inquiry- often associated with such personalities as the German philosopher Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) and Martin Heidegger(1889-1976).We will not even attempt to go into the the intricacies of their philosophical systems as this would fly in the face of my most profound conviction about the need for simplicity. I would prefer to sort out a chaotic garage or warehouse space(obviously of my own making lol) than to even attempt such an endeavour.

Nevertheless,I think these schools of thought do represent an important development in our own way of conceiving the world and more specifically the need for us to observe and reflect on our inner  experience.This need does not seem to be very present in traditional cultures including Islam where correct behaviour and correct beliefs seemed to suffice.So for most Muslims ,the fact that Allah ordained fasting in the Quran(2:183) and the Prophet saws told us of its benefits and the scholars have determined that the first ten days are for “Rahmat”(mercy) and the second ten are about” forgiveness from God” and the last ten give “freedom from the hellfires” is sufficient.

Being in the modern world, however, some of us, at least, feel the need to go deeper-into the inner experience and this is where phenomenology comes in.We need to look at the inner,experiential reality .

As I reflected on this( it may well have been an inspiration) I realized that an interesting parallel to Ramadan is the experience of pregnancy.The trigger for this thinking may well have been a difficult beginning to this year’s Ramadan and my recollections of the accounts of Kate Middleton, the duchess of Cambridge, and her difficult pregnancies being bed-ridden for months at the beginning of each of her pregnancies with overwhelming nausea.The details of her experience are not what is important here however,no more than the details of the philosophical systems of Husserl and Heidegger.What is interesting is that the three trimesters of pregnancy provide an interesting parallel to the three ten-day sections of Ramadan and I believe this can be helpful to us in understanding the process.

So, in Ramadan,the first ten days especially the early ones can be difficult for people.Just as women often experience nausea(morning-sickness) during the first trimester fasters will have a variety of symptoms as they take on the fast-headaches,dizziness,weakness,lack of concentration ,etc. Depending on the state of health of the practitioner this may last only a day or two or may continue for a longer period of time,for some intermittently throughout the month.

The second trimester of pregnancy usually is characterized by a subsidence of the ‘crisis mode’ ,less symptoms,a calmness and  a waiting.I would call this phase”paddling” and “incubation”. The baby is slowing growing and developing.The same is true in Ramadan.The worst is over.Now is the time of persistence and patience.

We all know where the third trimester of pregnancy leads! If we have had any contact with a woman going through it,we know they are literally “carrying a heavy load” ,exhausted,breathless at night and anticipating and fretting about the”apocalypse ‘to come.And then it is over.At this point the model breaks down somewhat as Ramadan is not as clearly defines in its finality.So for the last ten days  to be more accurate I would add in the model of the Shakespearian play which builds up to its climax(Lailat al Qadr) and its dénouement(the few days left after Lailat al Qadr. And the the Eid celebrations-in both cases.However for the woman, as opposed to the faster,the work has just begun!That is why Allah and his Prophet insist so strongly on the rights of the Mother!

I hope that helps you understand better the inner process of the month of fasting and makes it a more fulfilling and satisfying experience.I feel like it is helping me to think of it this way.And I can’t wait to see the baby at the end! Salaams,ibrahim

Islam, Metaphysics, Spiritual Practice, Sufism

Ramadan-A Newer and Deeper Perspective

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I have been struggling to get my head around our Ramadan practice for as long as I can remember.Yes,I know the Quranic injunctions and I am aware of most of the hadith and the scholarly analysis around this month. But I have never felt quite satisfied.For most people, it is simple,I understand.Allah says to fast,it is a religious injunction and we follow and thus get the rewards.And the reward is with Allah.I get it!

But there must be more! Allah does not prescribe things without reason and purpose.So what is the deeper reason and mystery here?!

And this morning while on my dhikr walk that is part of my daily routine,it came to me ! The “aha” experience.In essence Ramadan is a khalewah-a retreat- a time to go within ,to disengage from our social activities and to connect with our soul and with its Divine source!

Remember the first Ramadan!? It was our Prophet saws doing a retreat in the cave of hira in the mountains around Mecca.That is when the Quran came down and that was the start of our religion.So that is the quintessential Ramadan-the essence of Ramadan. After that the Prophet saws had a mission! He had to teach and build a community! So he could no longer do a monthly retreat like he had done in the past..But that doesn’t change the spirit of the practice-to renounce worldliness,to go within and contact the sacred.

Now,for most of us, we have obligations-whether work or family or study.We can’t stop doing those.But we can reduce the workload,we can certainly reduce socializing and we can change our focus.Some of us, like us retired folks, can even spend most of the time alone lol.And that is the spirit of the month-“azhod”-giving up.

I can already hear the naysayers lol.”What about Tarawih prayer? What about joining family members for iftar?What about doing good deeds-like feeding people during Ramadan?Yes,all of that is true.But the spirit is still that of khalewah.If you are able to go to tarawih and feel it incumbent on you ,then do so.But I would suggest using the Naqshbandi adage”alone with your Lord in the crowd”.Turn your focus away from the people and towards your Creator and the ruh that he has breathed into you.

Sometimes,in understanding matters,we need a “foil” i.e. the opposite of the truth that reflects back to us what we shouldn’t be doing! For me,all due respect to its depth of history and pious people,in this matter the foil was Cairo during Ramadan.All day the city was dead and after the call to prayer of Maghrib it converted into a Mardi-Gras like atmosphere! It is surely not the only Muslim community to do so! For me that is not the right attitude just like the Bacchanalian Mardi Gras of Rio de Jameiro is not fitting for the Christian tradition.So take this month to be quiet and contemplative and tune in with your Lord,as much as possible .You will not regret it.

This understanding has brought a certain comfort to my heart.I hope it does so for you as well.Salaams and Ramadan Kareem and Saleem, Sufi Ibrahim

Islam, Metaphysics, Modern Living

“Heuristic”

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Salaams.People who have been following my posts know that despite my abhorrence for the usage of status- enhancing,pretentious Greek and Latin terms,I have been using the Greek term “Epistemology” a lot these deals.It is a very useful concept,I believe.But here is another one-“Heuristic” that is increasingly present in my consciousness.The Oxford Dictionary defines it this way:”enabling a person to discover or learn something for themselves”.A better word than “pedagogy” -which is too obsessive and regulatory for my tastes-for the learning/teaching process.

So what are the implications of this term?” you may well ask.Well,I am coming to the conclusion that the essence of the life process is that it is designed as a heuristic exercise-i.e. a learning tool! Many other  people have seen this- through contemplating their own situations and life tests.

On top of this,we may have here one of the answers that has confounded the Islamic exegetes(_”mutafaseeroon”) for a long time.In the second and longest surat of the Quran,surat al Baqara,the angels, claivoyantly seeing what man will be up to on Earth, say the following::

“Wilt Thou place therein one who will make Mischief therein and shed blood?” protesting to God the Creation of man.And who can blame them once we look around us?! God swt answers:””I know what you know not”. Is it not then possible that this is one of the things that God knows?! That this whole earthly experience is a “heuristic” exercise-designed to teach us what we could not learn otherwise! What a Sublime and Magnificent teacher is our Lord!

Is it not time for our schooling systems to learn from Him,the Greatest Teacher,and  instead of setting up stress-laden.obsessional,misery-generating curriculum,perhaps they could attempt to set up contexts where real learning is possible. As opposed to contexts designed to test out our robotic-like intelligence and our capacity to manage unnecessary stress.Food for thought,no doubt!

 

Islam, Metaphysics, Modern Living

Suffering in Life

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Every difficulty in life is both a test and a teaching. Most practicing Muslims are aware of the former.Allah tells us to be patient when we are being tested and to be grateful when we are receiving “niamat” (gifts).But these same Muslims are often unaware of the second part-that these difficulties have meaning(ma’ana).

The meanings ,when we are able to figure them out-which is not always possible,are also in two parts.What have we done wrong to cause the problem and how are we to proceed in a way that is more in line with the will of God.A point of clafication here.If you are undergoing suffering it does not mean necessarily that you have done something wrong.Often,that is the case but it could also be your Lord raising your rank as He has done with his beloved Prophets.In that case it is mostly a test for them although they still have to figure out how best to proceed-something they have in common with all of us!

The answers are not always easy to find.Sometimes ,they are obvious.You ate too much.Now you are having heart problems.You treated your partner badly.Now they have left you.Easy-peasy,right lol? Often it is not so simple.And then the Istikhara practice(see the text on this blog) may be of help to identify the factors that need to change.

What I am trying to underline here is that it is ALL meaningful.We just need to figure it out.Some times it takes a while to do so! May Allah guide us all! Salaams,Ibrahim

Islam, Metaphysics, Modern Living, Politics

Trump ,Marx and the Ikhwan

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An odd analogy,I know, but Trump is somewhat like Marx! He sees many of the problems clearly(the swamp in Washington,China cheating on trade,an over-priced medical system) but doesn’t seem to really know  what to do about them.So like the Marxists,he ends up making things worse rather than better.There are still people, almost 200 years later, who believe in Marx because of the accuracy of his insights.I hope they will catch on quicker to Trump lol,preferably before the next election!

The other thing they have in common is that they are both materialists! Marx was a dialectical materialist.Trump is a pure materialist.So they both believe that you can solve problems from outside /in.Wrong! The mystical way teaches us that problems need to be solved from inside out.

While I am on it, there is a third type of materialist out there -the religious materialist, incarnated perhaps most clearly in the Islamist movement particularly with the Ikhwan Muslimeen(Muslim Brotherhood). They, too, believe in solving problems outside/in,My spiritual teacher,Sheikh Nazim, used to take them on directly-this was before some of their offshoots like Al Qaida and Isis.”You do not understand our religion properly” he would say.”Your idea of an Islamic state is false.We get the governments we deserve(so true! Look at the U.S.A. lol) If you want a better government,help the people to improve themselves” These words ring loud and clear so many years later!

 

Islam, Metaphysics, Modern Living

The Talibanization of the Muslim Community

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The psychoanalysts learnt relatively quickly,  in their work with people, that it was more effective to begin their interpretative work by analyzing the defenses rather than go directly to the “Truth ” of the matter.In a way the first part of the Islamic testification of Faith “laillaha ilallah” says something similar(There is no god besides the One True God) So first you denounce the falsehood and then you affirm the truth.

When there is an entire Community, or at least large sections of it, involved in this kind of defensiveness the problem becomes even more complex.This is because a large-scale social consensus then is involved in  supporting the falsehood-or at least in promoting an incomplete version of the Truth.This is what I have been coming up against frequently for a long time but particularly in the last couple of years as I try to promote authentic Sufism as the best possible spiritual path and the most noble form of Islam itself.The Community pushes back!

In order to give you some concrete examples of what I am talking about, let me cite the following episodes-all occurring recently in the space of a few weeks.1) I message a Facebook friend to describe an event in the endodentist’s office(read root canal) .Although being one of the most skilled people in this specialty,he was unable to find the root canal for what seemed like a long period of time”i don’t understand it”he said”.Usually, especially after a clear Xray like the one I did on you,I hit it in a few minutes.This one seems to be calcified and very difficult to locate”. I tell my friend that I then made dua to Faqih Muqaddam the saint of lost objects –a practice I was taught in Yemen amongst the Habaib. Less than 30 seconds after the prayer the dentist announced with obvious relief in his voice that he found it.”I cant understand why it was so difficult “he said.God isn’t in his equation obviously lol.

My friend then chastised me” I will never make dua to a saint “she said adamantly.It is shirk to do so.We must only make dua to Allah.Please note that this is not someone who self-identifies as a Salafi or even a Dedobandi.The next day I did a little research and found a fatwa on Seekers Hub by Faraz Rabbani(may Allah raise his rank) that stated that ‘Tawwasul'(the name of this kind of practice) to awliya is permitted in all four madhabs of traditional Islam.I sent the fatwa to my friend and I did not receive any response or acknowledgment.It is quite possible that she doesn’t believe either me or Faraz lol

2) Two young Muslim females ‘freeze’ when we do Dhikr with some simple movements from Chigong added to the ritual.They obviously felt there was something wrong or even haram in doing so.One of my most shariah-strict shuyukh,Sheikh Nuh, had used Chigong himself to recover from a post-hajj respiratory infection that had been resistant to all the standard treatments.He did warn us not to pay attention to the Aqida (beliefs)of Taoism but had no problem with their healing movements.And did the Prophet sal not advise us“Seek Ye wisdom even if you have to go to China.”The only reason the Muslims would go to China nowadays would be on a business venture lol.In all fairness, the wisdom traditions in China have more or less been erased by the rampant materialism there..We could,however, say the same,to a lessor degree,about the Wisdom traditions in Islam including Sufism.So what’s the problem of adding in some health-inducing Chigong movements?!The Buddha did say that”habit-energy” is one of the biggest impediments to Enlightenment .Another potential source of wisdom for the Muslims!

3)I go to visit a Sheikh who claims to have been and still be a disciple of Bawa Muhayyideen, one of my earliest sheikhs.I can feel the ‘Bawa hal'(powerful energy force) coming through him but all he talks about to his audience and in his writings is about Shariah.When I confront him with the fact that his discourse sounds nothing like B awa’s he pridefully responds”Excuse-me!” obviously irritated by my statement.He then goes on to say” You have to adjust the talk to the audience” -a plausible explanation but completely unconvincing.Something else is going on here.You see there was a serious problem with the teachings of Bawa which only looked at the inner process and didn’t seem to be concerned about the outer practices of Islam.A serious problem-ironically the opposite one to the one we are addressing here which is the overemphasis on the external.But the sheikh didn’t seem to want to address that.Instead,he seems to have gone into denial- a common ploy in a state of cognitive dissonance but a mistake nevertheless.

So what is going on here?! Why are the internal processes of the Islamic practice being given so little importance and so much energy is devoted to the outer sciences.Where is the Islam of the Middle Ages when Muslims preserved the science of the Greeks in medicine and philosophy and translated their texts into Arabic thus preserving the knowledge?Where is the Islam of the Ottomans where people of all the nations and religious affiliations were able to use their talents for the futherance of the needs of the people?Where is the Islam of the great Sufis like Jellalludin Rumi and Ibn Arabi and Fariduddin Attar. Mostly gone! Instead, we have narrow-mindedness ,rigidity,obsessive rule-following,”cook-book” religion .I call this  process the “Talibanization” of our religion.Follow the rule-book closely and all will be well. Clearly it is not working!

If we go further still, in terms of psychological and sociological analysis,we will see that contemporary Muslims are often more like the Quraysh than like the Sahhabba. Shocking,yes!The Quraysh are the foils for the Muslims-showing them how not to be and yet they have become like them.The Sahhabbas, on the other hand, had to be open-minded people.They adapted a system of thought and behaviour that was radically different from that in which they had been raised.Their lives were turned upside-down both conceptually and concretely and yet they accepted it enthusiastically.Admittedly they had an excellent teacher but that is another matter.Many of their Qurayshi cohorts rejected that same teacher in no uncertain terms as we know from studying the seerat of the Prophet.The Sahhabbas heard the Truth and followed it regardless of the risks involved.Can contemporary Muslims say the same?

Then to continue our historical analogies there was Jesus a.s. and the Pharisees, the believers in the letter of the law but not the spirit..Unlike the Qurash ,they had a proper legal code,a proper shariah.But they misapplied it by losing its life-force. Are contemporary Muslims not somewhat similar to these Jewish Pharisees? Can they hear the Truth beyond  the texts as the apostles of Jesus a.s. had to do? Or are they more like the Pharissees who got stuck on a literalist view of the Revelation?

Now the so-called practical people amongst you, unsatisfied by just being conscious of the problem,will ask what to do to change this.Believe me,it is no easy matter.I have been struggling with this issue for decades and the situation seems to be getting worse rather than better!The simple answer is that we need to bring back and support and disseminate the teachings of the authentic uncorrupted Sufis.But as soon as we try doing this we come up against the defenses.”This is shirk”. This is bida.This is kujfr” the opponents will exclaim.Answering their protestations is usually of no avail.The opponents are”deaf,dumb and blind” as the Quran describes unbelievers of all sorts.Another possible venue for development is learning about psychology and Comparative Religion,something I consider vital for my own students.Both of those disciplines point the way to interiority and away from literalism.Both,understood properly, can have salutary effects on the soul Otherwise,if we continue on the same path,a calamity,an Apocalypse, is certainly on the way.Nothing less seems able to shift peoples’ consciousness.In the meantime it is incumbent on us to try. our best to warn people.That is the purpose of this writing.May Allah give us tawfiq in these efforts,Salaams,Joel Ibrahim Kreps

Islam, Modern Living

The State of the Muslim Nation

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N.B. THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IN THE MODERN MUSLIM WORLD IS THE REPRESSION OF THE MYSTICAL INSTINCT!! This process has been going on for over 100 years and is at the base of all the more manifest problems-like terrorism and sectarianism.Ponder this O Muslim brothers and sisters.And also non-Muslim friends because at this point in world history wherever Islam goes the rest of the world will be carried in its wake! That is my understanding.Salaams,Ibrahim

Islam, Psychology

“Inshallah” unpacked.

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Asalamu aleykum,brothers and sisters.Since there is so much overuse and outright abuse of the “Inshallah” expression,let us go over its’ origins- at least the most important one.

A group of Quraysh came to the Prophet saws and asked him  a set of three questions given to them by the Jews.One of the questions about who the youth were who escaped  Prophet saws did not have the answer to so he told them he would answer their question the next day,hoping for a Revelation from his Lord.But Allah made him wait fifteen days and endure abuse from the Quraysh because he had not said “inshallah,I will give you the answer”,acknowledging that all knowledge comes from our Lord who endows it on us as He pleases.He was eventually vindicated by the revelation of surat al Kahf two weeks later.In that surat Inshallah and Mashallah are used for the first time.

What does this tell us about the use of the term “inshallah”? That we need ,all of us,to recognize our dependency on Allah for both our understanding and the results of our actions.This is NOT an excuse to put all our failings and our neglicence and laziness on the account of Allah Estagfirullah.So inshallah is for those issues over which we have limited control.Examples”I am working hard at school this term.Inshallah I will get an A average”or”I should apologize to my parents for my bad behavious.Inshallah they will accept my apologies”. On the other hand,”inshallah I will do the dishes tonight”or “Inshallah I will pray more regularly” is not an acceptable use of the term.These are things over which we have control.We should not “use the name of the Lord in vain” as the Old Testament teaches us.

As the Christians say”Render unto Cesar what is Cesar’s and render onto God what is God’s.”So we can say “render unto Ahmad( the generic Muslim lol) what is Ahmad’s and render unto Allah what is Allah’s” lol.Ahmad can do the dishes and respect his parents.That is the responsiblity of Ahmad not of God.I hope people can get the point! Salaams,Ibrahim