Conversing with God: The Art of Living Duality

 

The sacred month of Ramadan is celebrated as a month of Quran - God’s address to the human (2:185) and prayer - the human’s address to God (2:186). While the former is often given its due space through the celebration of taraweeh (a nightly supererogatory congregation) in many societies,  the centrality of prayer (dua) and its vital role in enriching our spiritual experience and empowering our spiritual intelligence in this holy month is often not sufficiently emphasized.

 

Listening to God and talking to God must go hand in hand for an authentic spiritual experience. The Quran itself invites us to respond to questions it poses and turn to God in prayer asking for help, understanding, and light.

 

While not everyone can understand the words of the Quran, everyone should naturally be able to converse with God through their authentic selves and in their own language. That is the meaning of the Prophetic teaching that “Prayer (dua) is the brain and heart of the human experience with the Divine.”

 

Even though all spiritual knowers agree that the best prayer that one could utter is the one that stems from the authentic need of one’s authentic self, they also agree that one’s spiritual intelligence could be elevated and trained to reach higher horizons through an exercise of aligning with the prayers of spiritually intelligent beings who have had deep experiences with the Divine.

 

To engage in this exercise of alignment with higher spiritual intelligences, to enhance our own spiritual inteliigence, and deepen our own authentic experiences of prayer, I invite you this Ramadan to join me in a meditative study of a famous prayer of one of the most illuminated and inspired souls that humanity has ever known- Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (may God continue to nourish his light and our connection to his legacy).

 

I believe that this prayer composed so early in the history of Islam, clearly served as a model of inspiration for all the prayers of the Muslim saints (friends of God and people of empowered spiritual intelligence) that came after it including the masterpiece of Imam Ali ibn Hussain ash-Sahifa as- Sajjadiya. I would also say it has impacted the prayers of the non-Muslim saints like St. Francis Assisi and others. Prayer after all is an universal experience that goes beyond and flies above religious identities.

 

 

Dua Kumayl is a supplication and prayer that is much celebrated and holds a significant place in many parts of the Muslim world especially in the month of Ramadan. It is attributed to Imam Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad (may God empower his light and our connection to him). According to tradition, it was taught by Imam Ali to his friend and companion Kumayl ibn Ziyad. Kumayl was one of Imam Ali's sincere companions who stayed true to him despite the persecution the latter faced in his life. Imam Ali taught his students a prayer that if recited would "remove evils, envy and suffering" from one's life. After the gathering, Kumayl asked Imam Ali to dictate the prayer to him so he could share it with others. For this reason this prayer became known as Dua Kumayl.

 

 

 

Online via Zoom (link will be provided for registrants)

 

 

SATURDAY MARCH 16 | 5 - 7PM EST

SATURDAY MARCH 23 | 5 - 7PM EST

SATURDAY MARCH 30 | 5 - 7PM EST

SATURDAY APRIL 6 | 5 - 7PM EST

 

 

Reflections and meditations on the art of conversing with The Divine through a spiritual commentary of the famous Dua Kumayl.

 

 

Registration is mandatory before attending the class. Registered students will receive the zoom link a few hours prior to each session.

In support of the Rhoda Foundation's Ramadan 2024 Fundraising Campaign, this class offered by the Ha-Mim Institute is accessible upon giving a suggested donation to the Rhoda Foundation.