Friday, February 6th, 2026
StageAchievementOccult power0. Salik (Seeker) On the Sufi path 1. Muridi (Discipleship) Accepted by a master – a Sheik or Murshid 2. Tariqat (Potentiality)Dedicated to oneness with the spirit of the Sheik or Murshid Sihr. (Lawful/white magic) only by permission of the Sheik or Murshid3. Safar-ullah (Journey to Knowledge)Dedicated to oneness with the spirit ...
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Sunday, February 5th, 2012
There’s always the assumption that mystical gnosis will result in an elevated ethical state on the part of the gnostic. Given that there’s plenty of controversy over the ethical stance of someone who is concerned above all with their own salvation, I find this lazy acceptance a little puzzling. It’s ...
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Tuesday, January 31st, 2012
Person
Uwais Qarni (ob. 657 AD)
Texts
-
Themes
Awareness of Muhammad’s spiritual presence
‘Uwaisi’ transmission of barakah
Person
Rabi’a al-Basri (717-801 AD)
...
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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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