Archive for the ‘Religion’ Category
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012
The Koran can be used to support the claim that there are multiple worlds - but only if we take the language extremely literally (e.g at [1:1],) and it gives no real indication of how these worlds should be understood. There are several distinct cosmologies that have currency in different ...
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Thursday, January 19th, 2012
Tazkiyat an-nafs (‘Purification'/'Augmenation' of nafs) can be taken as the essence of the Sufi tariqat, and it has Koranic support:
"By the soul and That which shaped it, and inspired it to its depravity and its godwariness. Prosperous is he who purifies it, and failed has ...
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Monday, January 16th, 2012
Much of the Sufi theory regarding the place of Man in the created cosmos is said to derive from the so-called ‘Hadith of the Hidden Treasure’ (hadith-e kanz-i makhfi), which is a hadith qudsi (meaning it is a statement attributed to God himself.) It is mentioned, for example, by Rumi, ...
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Thursday, January 12th, 2012
Tasawwuf
‘Sufism.’ Said to be derived from suf = wool, which the mystics wore, or from safa’ = purity.
Shaykh, Pir (P)
‘Old man.’ Each Sufi is bound to a mentor who is required to guide him on a ...
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Tuesday, January 10th, 2012
Consider the following argument by Rumi offered in explanation of Mansur al-Hallaj’s fevered declaration that he was God – a claim for which he was executed in 922:
When Hallaj’s love for God reached it utmost limit, he became his own enemy and he naughted himself. He said, “I ...
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Monday, January 9th, 2012
A summary of the informative parts of Chittick, W. C. (2000) Sufism: A Short Introduction (Oneworld:Oxford) ch. 1.
A. The din according to the Hadith of Gabriel (Sahih al Bukhari 1:2:48):
Aspect
Islam
(Submission)
Iman
(Faith)
Ihsan
(‘Doing the Beautiful’)
Bodily ...
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