The Universal Experience of Divine Breath Nov 12, 2024
I invite you to do this exercise: take a deep breath and breathe in the sweet fragrance of the air that has just been exhaled by the people around you. Appreciate the air exhaled by your brother or sister. This air is not pollution, but an invitation to feel the Truth that we are really only...
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To be in search of Allah is not to be disturbed by anything Nov 10, 2024
" A Zen master was once asked how long it would take to reach enlightenment.
The master said:
- Ten years.
- ‘And by working intensely at it?’
The master replied: "Twenty years, then.
 
He  who seeks peace is disturbed by everything that is not peace.
He who seeks joy is...
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Recreating Ourselves Through Art Nov 05, 2024
Some people ask: What does art give us? How important is human art, when nature is already the most beautiful masterpiece of all? Why go and contemplate a work of art instead of concentrating on the beauty of the sky, the warmth and majesty of a sunset, the wonderfully colourful flowers of spring...
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Understanding The Meaning of Existence and Cultivating Space for Growth Oct 27, 2024
Like all of you I'm a helpless witness, live from my telephone, to the events unfolding at this very moment and for over a year now in Palestine, and now in Lebanon.
 
Faced with so much horror, it's only human to ask ourselves the meaning of this existence, and why is there so much pain and...
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What is โ€œal-Ihsanโ€? Oct 25, 2024
Like you I've often read the term “al-Ihsan” translated in a way that I can't help but find unfortunate: "al-Ihsan is when you worship Allah as if you see Him”.
 
Here it's the term “ta'bouda” which is translated as “you worship”, in which I see an...
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To be and to become are synonyms. Oct 06, 2024
To be and to become are synonyms. To be means to become. I become, therefore I am. I evolve, therefore I am. I am constantly becoming, I blossom, I grow, therefore I am.
 
Otherwise, I'm frozen which means I stop growing. I put myself in a cage, in a box, like a lifeless statue without...
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The Mawlid, An Opportunity To Experience The Living Prophet Sep 11, 2024

Rabi' al-Awwal literally translates to “the first spring” or rather “the original spring”: the spring that preceded all other springs, the one that became the source of all springs, or the source that became the source of all sources, the flowering season that brought...

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A Lesson from Karbala: The Importance of Developing Healthy Personalities Jul 18, 2024

The memory of Karbala should be approached as a lesson for us, not just as a story that makes us choose sides. Studying these historical events can teach us a lot about the human condition, and therefore about ourselves.

As human beings, we all come from the same soul and possess the different...

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The Straight Path Nov 19, 2023
The Straight Path
 
The passage from Surat al-Fatiha "ihdina sirat al-moustaqim" is often translated as "Guide us to the Straight Path"...
 
However, "moustaqim" does not really mean "straight" in the sense we understand it today, i.e. "path of rigidity and limitations"...
 
...
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Hamd Aug 04, 2023

The Islam I like to call "conventional" is in a "hamd" crisis today. Yet the opening of the Qur'an, this invitation to enter the dimension of Revelation, begins with "Al-hamd"... and the same is true of the fundamental ritual of the five daily meditations.


"Hamd" describes a state of deep...

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Referring to God by the pronoun Hu, a pronoun beyond gender Jul 10, 2023

You can find this calligraphy on many doors of mosques, dergahs, zawiyas and “centers of spiritual development” especially in the Turkish and Persian Islamic world. It consists of two parts.


1. The word Adab - often translated as 'having good manners'. We would like to translate it as...

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A Rajab Sweep & A Divine Breeze Feb 10, 2023

The month of Rajab is the month of Istighfar. The literal meaning of ‘Istighfar’ in Arabic is:
“to empty the heart of all its darkness, in order to receive the light.”

The common translation used for ‘Istighfar’ nowadays is “the seeking of...

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