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Analysis Of Origins AndEvolution Of Sufism

Origins (632-650)

The Sacred sources Translation of Al Kahf and Al Hadeed into lifestyle

Translation of Hadith into lifestyle

Evolution from Islam to Ihsan

Great discord of 642 leads to withdrawal

People Abu Dhar Al Ghifari (d. 652)

Ikhwan Al Saffa

Hthaifa Ibn Al Yaman (d. 657)

Prophethood and Khilafa

Ascetism (640-730)

WorshipStrict Adherence to Sharia

Emphasis on Supergatory worship

Invocation

Character Austirity

Humility

Goal Strive to experience divine proximity

People Abu Al Hassan Al Basri (d.728)

Al Foudil Ibn Iyath (d. 730)

Center moves from Medina to Baghdad

Mysticism (750-1110)

Transition from Ascetism to Mysticism (750-810)

Chararteristics Mystical Language

Structure: Master and disciple

People Dhu Al Nun Al Misri

Rabia Al Adawiyyah (d 801)

Early Mysticism (810-910)

Charteristics Mystical Psychology [1]

Mystical Sobreity [2]

People Al Muhassibi (857) [1]

Al Junayd (910) [2]

Intoxicated Mysticism (850-910)

Characteristics Fana: Annihilation

Ecstatic Utterances

People Al Hallaj

Ba Yazid Al Bastami (d. 875)

Systematization of Sufism (980-1110)

CharacteristicsThe rise of epistles and historical records [1]The appearance of Sufi Manuals [2]

The formation of formal sufi schools in the main stream [3]

People Al Sarraj (988) [1]

Al Qushayri (1072) [2]

Al Ghazali (1085) [3]

From mortification to

psychology

Sufi Metaphysics, Prose AndPoetry (1200-1400)

Characteristics

Mystical Metaphysics [1]

Non-Devotional

Poetry [2]

PeopleIbn Al Arabi (1200) [1]

Fareed Al Din Attar, Rumi, Jami (1400) [2]

The rise of Mysticism away fromthe heartland of Islam (Balkhand Spain)

Popular Sufism (1400-Today)

EastKobriyah

Nimatullahia

Naqshabandiyah

WestRifaiyyah

Shadilliyah

Qadiriyyah

The reference for East and West is the ME

Sufi Legacy

PathBrotherhood

Invocation

Spiritual State

Enlightenment

Still exist today

Origins and evolution of Sufism.mmap - 2/14/2006 - Mindjet Team

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Sufism connects sincerity and tariqqah

Example of difference betweenhearing about an event andexperiencing the event

Complementary not

contradictory or hierarchical

The Purpose AndContent Of

Traditional Sufism

Perfecting The ReligiousExperience

Islam (Submission:Free of defects)

Iman (Belief:Safe)

Ihsan Perfection)

Acting On The Spiritual Self

Commanding Self

Conscious Self

SatisfiedSelf

Methodology

Sharia: Islamic way of life, also used for Islamic law Ilm:Knowledge Amal:Actions

Sidq:Sincerity

Triqqah: Path

Haqiqah: Rality

Knowing

The knowledge of Certainty

The eye of Certainty

The reality of certainty

Exoterism Vs. Esoterism

Zahir:Exoterism (Explicit Text)

Batin:Esoterism (Speculative Text, Allegorical Meaning)

Miscellaneous

Wali & Sheikh: The spiritual guide:

Dhikr: The invocation and its various styles

Khalwa: Isolation

Kashf: Enlightenment, intuitive knowledge

Purpose and Content of Traditional Sufism.mmap - 2/14/2006 - Mindjet Team

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The Doctrines Of Sufism

Perfecting The ReligiousExperience

Improving The Spiritual Self

Kashf: Enlightenment

Wali: Spiritual Guide/sainthood

Annihilation

Unity Of Existence

The doctrines of sufism.mmap - 3/4/2006 - Mindjet Team

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Annihilation

The Context: (The Approaches ToFaith And Understanding)

Sufism

Emphasizes perception, maarifa leadingto direct knowledge of Self and God, anduses the heart as its medium

Kalam

Emphasizes reason, ilm leading tounderstanding of God, uses the Aaql asits medium, and subjects reason torevelation

Philosophy

Emphasizes reason, ilm leading tounderstanding of God, uses the Aaql asits medium

The Goals Of The Spiritual JourneyTaqwa: Piety

AL BAQARA

QAAF

AL HADEED

The Origins Of Annihilation

AL RAHMAN

The Motivation For Annihilation

Living the Shahada

Results from the negation in the first partof the Shahada (fana)

And from the affirmation of thesubsistence in the second part of theShahada: (Baqa)

Living the TawheedBe witness to the divine reality, andeliminate the egocentric self

Self transformationStart as a stone

Be shuttered by the divine light of thedivine reality you witness

Emerge restructed as a jewel

The Consequence Of Annihilation

Sobriety

IntoxicationParadox and biwelderment

Perplexity Abu Bakr (RAA): Incapacity to perceive is perception

Annihilation By Examples Al Junayd

Al Hallaj

Annihilation.mmap - 3/6/2006 - Mindjet Team

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AL JUNAYD

Biography

Born and Raised in Baghdad (died in 910 or 198 H)

His education focused on Fiqh and Hadith

He studied under the J urist Abu Thawr: An extraordinary jurist started as aHanafii, then followed the Shafi schoolonce al Imam Al Shafi came to Baghdad.

Abu Thawr was equally skilled in Fiqh andHadith

The strength of Al Junayd in classicalstudies was Fiqh

Although he distinguished himself earlyenough as a gifted mystic he refused toteach as a sign of respect for his teacher Sari As-Saqati

He also learned from AL Muhasibi andconsidered him his spiritual master

He was a silk merchant by trade

Maintained a balanced life style: Noexcessive material life and no extremeausterity

He was also balanced in character

The Mystical School Of BaghdadIn The 10th Century

Tawhid as opposed to Kalam

Esoteric Character

Suffered great persecutions for accusations ranging from innovations andquestionable practices to heresy

The Writings Of Al Junayd

Kitab Amthal Al Quran

Kitab Al Rasail

Other historians and biographers haveattributed to Al Junayd many more books

The Doctrines Of Al Junayd

Unification (Tawheed): using his f amousdefinition=> "Unification is the separationof that which has from that whic h wasoriginated in time"

Separate and fix the Eternal Essence of God and reject all others

Separate and fix the attributes of God anddisapprove all others

Separate the actions of God and refute all others

Mithaq: Covenant

Understand the relationship between Godthe creator and the Human the created,and the realization by the human of his/her place before God: Surah Al Ahzab

Fana: Annihilation/Obliteration

"true" Tawheed can only achieved oncethe created human loses his/her individuality and asserts only the divinepresence

Details Of Fana In Al Junayd's Theory

Fana: of natural qualities in one's motiveswhen one carries out religious duties. Thisis moral and objective.

Fana: of pursuit after pleasures toeliminate intermediation with God. This ismental and subjective.

Fana: of consciousness. This is where AlJunayd restore the Baqa. When this stageis attained the worshipper should recover sobriety after intoxication

Preventing Excess And InsuringThe Supremacy Of Sharia

Baqa: Subsistence. This is theprescription against pantheism

Sahw: . This is the prescription againstlibertinism and antinomianism

Al Junayd.mmap - 3/4/2006 - Mindjet Team

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AL HALLAJ

Biography

Born and Raised in Tur south-westernIran (in 858 or 244 H)

His education focused on Fiqh

Although a Sunni he found himself in Shiite milieu

The strength of Al Hallaj was Hanbali Fiqh

Prior to his focus on sufism he was known at a preacher

Al Hallaj came under the influence of AlJunayd and Amr Al Makki

He was a wool carder by trade

He was a social activists who denounced

injustice and became a voice for the weakand the oppressed in Basra

After his death his mutilated body was laid to rest in Karkh

The Mystical School Of BaghdadIn The 10th Century

Tawhid as opposed to Kalam

Esoteric Character

Suffered great persecutions for accusations ranging from innovations andquestionable practices to heresy

Diwan

Diwan Al Hallaj

The Ta-Sin of the Circle

1. The first door representsthe one who reaches the circle

The Doctrines Of Al HallajUnification (Tawheed)

Fana: Annihilation/Obliteration

Fana For Al Hallaj's: Devotion And Martyrdom

Fana: Total and complete annihilationleading to intoxication with sobriety

The Reactions To His Death

Massignon and Mason (BU)

His inquisitors

His c ontemporaries

Later generations of Muslims

The ambivalence continues to this day

The Martyrdom of al-Hallaj, Baghdad 17thcentury Indian painting (Allahabad,1017a) from Diwan, by Amir Najm-ad-dinDihlavi (Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore)

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Chronology Of Ibn AlArabi's Life

Born 17Ramadan 560/1165

Place: Murcia, Spain

568/1172His familySettles inSeville

Learns The Quranic Sciences 578/1182

Enters The Mystical Path 580/1184First Vision: A ll Prophets 586/1190

Corresponds to the third crusade

Learns The Sciences 589/1193

Travels To Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Cordoba, Granada AndGoes Back To Seville 1194-1201

West

Travels To Cairo, Jerusalem,Hebron, Mecca, Taif And Medina1202-1204

East

Settles Permanently In Syria 620/1223

Saint Francis goes to Egypt 1219

Mongols invade Persia 1220

Mongols take Kabul 1221

Frederick the 2nd deports Muslims from Sicily 1223

Writes Al Fusus 627/1229

First Draft Of Al Futuhat 629/1231

Composes The Diwan 634/1237Cordoba falls to the Christians

Dies 22 Rabi II 638/1240

568/1172His familySettles inSeville

Ibn Al Arabi Chronology.mmap - 3/20/2006 - Mindjet Team

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We experience the duality

Ibn Al Arabi'sThesis: Oneness Of

Being

Ontology

Existence/Non Existence

God is being

Everything else is non existence

Self-disclosure

The role of divine names

Steady State/static

New Creation Infinite possibilities

Perpetual Renewal

Dynamic

Cosmic Imagination Is access to nature of existence other than God

Intermediate rality

To resolve ambiguity

Isthmus To separate between God and nothingness

Epistemology

Knowledge

Revelation Law

Theology

Reason

Gnosticism

Acquiring KnowledgeReflection

Unveiling

Following Authority

Hermeneutics

Faith and Rational Interpretation

FaithKnowledge of incomparability accessible to reason

Knowledge of similarity accessible to imagination

Rational interpretation

Natural

IntelligibleDivine

Knowing God's Self Disclosures

Ontological: Existence

Cognitive: Knowledge

Unveiling through light

Understanding the scripture

Ibn Al Arabi Thesis.mmap - 3/16/2006 - Mindjet Team

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Ibn Al Arabi In The Wes t

Homeland In The Iberian Peninsula

Place: Murcia, Spain

Inspired by Andalusiaas a heavenly place

Roots back to Arab tribes claiminggenerosity and mercy as good characters

Protected against temptation in his teens

His Calling From 575 To 580/1184

Discovers his gifts at the age of 15

Enters the Mystical Path at the age of 20 (580H)

Starts his travel and learns from Mastersin Andalusia and North Africa

In Seville becomes the disciple of his firstmaster Abu Al Abbas Al Uraybi

In addition to teachers and masters of thisworld, he claims to have been trained byJesus and Khidr

Corresponds to the third crusade

He Gets Selected

Cordoba: First Vision: All Prophets 586/1190

Seville uses extensive retreats to obtainrevelation: Sees some manifestation of the Divine in 586H

His Intellectual Upbringing

His milieu in Spain included

78 Scholars of Hadith

88 Scholars of Fiqh

126 Scholars of the Quran

Literature

Language and Grammar

Scholastic Theology

Philosophy

He trained extensively

Religious disciplines

Literature

Kalaam

His Life In North Africa In 589H

Experiences a new dimension of Cosmology (New Earth)

Spirits take on appearance

Bodies take on Spiritual Characters

In Fez (Morocco) He Experience A "Miraj"Like Experience In 594

In 597 He Leaves For The Muslim EastNever To Return

Ibn Al Arabi's life in the Muslim West ischaracterized by learning and training, andunveiling leading to the formation of aSpiritual Master

Ibn Al Arabi's life in the West.mmap - 5/8/2006 - Mindjet Team

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Ibn Al Arabi In The East

New Found Land In The East

A land of turmoil with a brief reprieveunder the Ayyubid dynasty

27 Rajab 583H SalahEddine takes down theCross from Masjid Al

Aqsa

22 Shaban 598 Salah Eddine signs apeace treaty with Richard at Ramalah

Ibn Al Arabi Acquires TheStatus Of Seal Of Sainthood

Enters the Mystical Path at the age of 20 (580H)

Similar to the hadith he interprets thevision to mean it is a seal of Sainthood

At The Age Of 40: Similar To TheProphetic Experience Of Revelation

The year is 600H

He sees the Prophet (SAWS) in a Visionwho asks him to share his gift

620 He Makes Damascus His HomeHe trained extensively

Focuses on teaching and writing

638 He Departs To Meet His Maker

Ibn Al Arabi's life in the Muslim East ischaracterized by teaching, and writing theexperience of a Spiritual Master for futuregenerations

Ibn Al Arabi's life in the East.mmap - 5/8/2006 - Mindjet Team

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We experience the duality

Ibn Al Arabi'sThesis: Oneness Of

Being

Ontology

Existence/Non Existence

God is being

Everything else is non existence

Self-disclosure

The role of divine names

Steady State/static

New Creation Infinite possibilities

Perpetual Renewal

Dynamic

Cosmic Imagination Is access to nature of existence other than God

Intermediate rality

To resolve ambiguity

Isthmus To separate between God and nothingness

Epistemology

Knowledge

Revelation Law

Theology

Reason

Gnosticism

Acquiring KnowledgeReflection

Unveiling

Following Authority

Hermeneutics

Faith and Rational Interpretation

FaithKnowledge of incomparability accessible to reason

Knowledge of similarity accessible to imagination

Rational interpretation

Natural

IntelligibleDivine

Knowing God's Self Disclosures

Ontological: Existence

Cognitive: Knowledge

Unveiling through light

Understanding the scripture

Ibn Al Arabi Thesis.mmap - 3/16/2006 - Mindjet Team

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Akbarian Work

Thesis

Method

Elements of the thesis

Epistemology

Knowledge acquired byrational consideration and based upon revelation (known as Al Ilm AlSharii) -> leads to the interpretation of the scared text with reason playing an important role

Empirical Knowledge (known as Ilm Al Ahwal) -> sweetness of honey or bitterness of aloes -> leads to the appreciation of (Halawat Al Iman, "the sweetness of faith")

Gnosis (AL Maarifa) also known as the knowledge of mysteries. Reserved to do prophets,messengers and saints.

Gnosis (AL Maarifa) leads to Unveiling (Al Kashf) which in turn leads to Experiencing the divine reality (Al Haqq)

Theology

Ontology

Al Nur 39

He builds on acceptable ideas of his time: know the differencebetween quiddityand existence (mahiya and wujud).

Existent entities (a'yan mayjuda) come to be found onlywhen Allah wills it

If things cannot exist as phenomena, which means theycannot be found, but they can stillhave a quiddityand be manifest in Imagination (This will be important as we will see shortly)

Relativism: each entityreceiving the will differs from all others this leads to infinite and perpetual disclosures

Imagination or vision (Al Khayal)

Imagination orVision (AlKhayal)leadsto atool of experientialSufismto exist in dimensionsoutsidethe world surroundingus. Connectsmanyworldstheocosm, macrocosmand microcosm. Removesthe temporallimitationsof thisworld!

Sainthood (Al Wilaya)

Formulation of the doctrine of Wilaya, its nature and function, its relation to prophetic inheritance. Healso formalized atypology. Review thework of MichaelChodkiewicz, titled:Sealof thesaints, 1993, TheIslamictextssociety

His rankand school in the legal tradition

Useof S acred Text and Tradition and rejection of Kalamand Philosophy

Schoolof gnosisand behavior(suluk)vs. Schoolof love(Mahaba)

Critique

Internal: From the Muslim Scholarship ->The mainpoints of the critique: 1) Innovation, 2) Falsehood,3) Blasphemy, 4) Lack of scholarship, 5) Delusion

Page135 of AlexanderD. Knysh'sbook, called:Ibn Arabi in the laterIslamict radition, 1999 , Suny Press

External: From the Non-MuslimScholarship ->The main pointsof the critique: 1) Lack of rigor,2) Highlyimaginative, 3) Veryincoherent, 4) Veryabstruse

Supporters

Chodkiewicz

Addas

Michel Vaslan

Opponents

Clement Huart: Fantaisie desordonnee

Arberry: Confused mental universe,incoherent technical vocabulary

Rom Laudau: Contradictions and ambiguitiescan lead the reader to depression

Massignon

Myown

Methodology

Role of Historyof religions

Role of Anthropology

Role of individual vs. institutional Sufism

Critiquing the critics

Blind passion

Intellectual chauvinism

Not crediting the power of Sulukand Maarifa

Not denouncing exaggerations around certainsuluki qualities such as reliance (Tawakul)

Oeuvre Akbarienne.mmap - 6/4/2006 -

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Ahmad Sirhindi

Review Of Concepts Learned To Date

Corporal Asceticism

Mental Asceticism

The rise of Institutional School of Asceticism

Islamic Mysticism

Biography Of Ahmad Sirhindi

Born in Sirhind India IN 971 (H) or 1563 (CE)

Learned classical Islamic studies at thehands of scholars

Enters the Mystical Path at under theguidance of his father

Becomes a member of Chishti order

At 28 he switches to the Naqshabandi order

At 30 he becomes a scholar and a mystic

At 40 his start political, social andreligious reform

The Context In Which He Evolved

963-1013 coincides with the reign of Akbar the Mughol Emperor

Challenges

Absolute power of Akbar

Has the support of the religious scholarship

Akbar declared infallible

Akbar gives concession to majority nonMuslims at the expence of Muslim

Akbar rolls back the scriptural authority of the Quran

Akbar excludes Islamic law from Public life

Theological Movements of the time

Heavy concentration of Fiqh at theexpense of other sciences

Valued scholars were coopted by the imperial court

The mystical MovementsPopular Sufism bordering shamanism

Loss of Islamic values and rules

The Reform Principles Adopted By Sirhindi

Education

Reconciliation

Wholistic Approach

Non Violence

Details Of The ReformMethodology

Personal Preparation

Upbringing

Training and scholarship

Mystical training

Political training

Network of disciples

Learned students

Good role models

Good geographical coverage over Indiaand neighboring countries

WritingsEpistles

Private letters to people of influence

Power baseBuild relationships with imperial court scholars

Build relationships with imperial court nobles

Leverage historical events Exploited the succession from Akbar to Jahangor

Use of political officeBecomes appointed to run the office of special council to Jahangir

The Impact Of The Reform

Political ReformReestablished imperial Islam in India

Laws and valuesReestablished Sharia as the basis for law and values

Mysticism

He deconstructed antinomianism and popular Sufism

Relinked Sufism with Sharia

Instead of driving Sufism away in fact hisera saw a larger adoption of spiritualIslam

TheologyFormed the basis of the reestablishmentof the schools of Hadith

Sirhindi's Critique Of Ibn Al Arabi

Deconstruction

The theoretical critique of Ibn Al Arabi'sunity of existence thesis

Theoretic consciousness strives towardand ideal unified picture of the universe,from which a multiplicity can be deduced

In comparing theoretic consciousnesswith the religious one we find that Ibn Al

Arabi's thesis bears the traits of thetheoretic and not the religious

The critique of Ibn AL Arabi's thesis fromthe experiential view point

Sirhindi challenges the Kashf experience of Ibn Al Arabi

He brackets the experience of Ibn Al Arabias legitimate but did not reach theintended objective

He critique the imaginary framework of Ibn Al Arabi as a construct leading tounsustainable claims.

Sirhindi offers an alternative to the unity of existence: He calls it the Tawhidiexperience

Wujudiyat: the metaphysics of existence

Turns belief based on faith or reason todirect experience

Can be thought of the spiritual experienceof the unity of existence and in factrepresents the lowest level of mysticalexperience

Ziliyat: Shadows of reality

The mystic perceives a duality betweenthe existence of God and the world

The mystic cannot outgrow this stage

This is an intermediate stage and quite unstable

Abdiyat: ServitudeHighest stage of the mystical path

Bodies take on Spiritual Characters

Sirhindi's Approach To Reform BecomesThe Basis Of Resistance To Colonialism InMany Muslim Heartlands

South East Asia

Central Asia

Middle East

Africa

Conclusion

While Sirhindi was represented in theliterature as a political reformers withunanimous support it is important toconsider alternatives

Could he have been a mystic byexcellence primarily interested in hereform of Sufism? Evidence suggests thatit is a viable option

Is it possible that he was not unanimouslycelebrated as a reformer? Here too thereis evidence suggesting that the number of voices opposed to him was significantand he cannot be viewed as the renewer of the millennium as much as Ibn AL

Arabi cannot be viewed as the seal of saints!

Ahmad Sirhindi.mmap - 7/15/2006 - Mindjet Team

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Iranian Sufism

Introduction And Review Of Concepts To Date

Corporal Asceticism

Mental Asceticism

The rise of Institutional School of Asceticism

Islamic Mysticism

Origins

Judaism and Christianity had a notablepresence in Persia pre-Islam

Eastern Christian Mysticism was well known

Buddhism flourished in Eastern Persia

Hinduism had a strong presence in theEastern posts close to India

Zoroastrianism was know in Khorasan

In 215 Mani attempted fusion of manyfaiths Zoro. Buddhism. and Christianity.

Islam enters Persia in the 7th c entury

The Sassanian Empire has diplomaticrelations with the Arabs bef ore Islam

Persia had heard about Mohamed(SAWS) before Islam arrived to Persia

In Persia while Islam absorbed Greekheritage and it did not do the same for Zoroastrian heritage.

2 Traits of mystical Islam developed

South West: Sufism d isplayed traits likePuritan, orthodox, asceticism, explicit,Kufa, Arabic

North East: Mysticism showed traits likeFusion, reconciliation, antinomianism,esoteric, Balkh, Persian

Sufi Schools And Their Masters

The Safavid empire ruled over Persiafrom 1501 to 1736

Abu Hamid Al Ghazali 1059-1111

Saad Eddine Hamuiyah 13th century

Nasr Eddine Al Tusi 13th century

Rajab Al Bursi came along one century later

Hayder Amoli the author of " Jaami al Asrar" born in 1320

The Safavids had a tight relationship withthe Nimatullahi order

The Nimatullahia originated with SheikhNimatullah Wali Kirmani in 1432

In comparing and contracting Sufiexperiences in Sunni and Shii Islam wefind striking similarity and distinctdifferences

Similarities

Same general elements of truth, ontologyand epistemology

Cross fertilization between bothcommunities and shared geographiesleading to similar views on many points

The mystical communities face similar challenges when confronting the orthodox

jurists

Diffusion and f usion with eastern tradition

Sufism And Modernity

By some accounts mo dern day Iran has avibrant and living Sufi tradition in its midsttoday

Maarifa and Hikmah continue to me solidinstitutions and science diligently taughtand passed from one generation to theother

Could we possibly witness the emergenceof a new dynamic between modern dayIran as an Islamic Republic and thereinterpretation of Sufism outside itsclassical/medieval traditional setting?

Could Iran set the path for a renewal of ametaphysical outlook?

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Rumi & His Doctrine

Introduction

Born in Balkh Khurasan 9/30/1207

Father Baha Eddine

Settled in Konia to flee the Mongols

Baha Eddine appointed at the head of thereligious scholarship

With 10 more years of study in classicalIslam Rumi takes the position of his father

At the age of 37 he meets Sham Tabriz

Rumi wrote prolifically

He trained a large number of disciples

His written works are:

Mathnawi

Diwan Shamsi Tabriz

Feehi Ma Feeh

The Mystical Path In Rumi's View

IN line with the definition of Ihsan(perfection) in he hadith

Builds on Asceticism, institutionalorthodox Tassawuf, metaphysicalmysticism a new path of "Love"

For Rumi Love is wisdom made up of knowledge and sanctity

Maarifa is synonymous with love for Rumi

Love for Rumi symbolizes the trust bywhich the spiritual world expresses itself

Love for Rumi is knowledge based ontradition and sharia

For Rumi invests the whole being with adirect experience of the Real

Theology In Rumi's View

Defining God and studying him starts withthe definition of the Tawhid and morespecifically the Shahada

The shahada in his view is a combinationof negation/affirmation or tanzih/tashbihj

With Allah's name being Al Haq: Theshahada takes on a profound meaningexplaining the nature of God

Leading to the idea that only reality inexistence is that of God

The Nature Of Man In Rumi's View

At the origin Adam was a Universal Manwith Universal knowledge

Man is part of this world in which onewitnesses divine manifestations

To explain the need to recovery the truenature and go back where we comesfrom: Rumi discusses the fall of man andibliss from heaven

To Rumi the fall was the result of theblinding of the eye of the heart

The remnant of that blinding is today'sforgetfulness of Allah

To Rumi the original function of man is tobe universal and act as a conduit of

Allah's grace

Practicing The Path In Rumi's View

Know Allah: He has a clear view of theobject of his search on the mystical path(Al Haq: The Real), the way by wish to getthere (The mystical path) and the vehicleto journey (one's self)

For Rumi man's knowledge of Allah is

conditional upon the deliverance of one'sself from limitations

Know yourself: For Rumi the ego or self isa veil preventing man from knowing hisown true nature

Know your heart: At the center of thisbeing we call man is the heart. For Rumiis the direct link to the world of the spirit.

As such it is t he center of knowle dge andlove

Use Dhikr: Contemplation andremembrance helps coalesce thefragmentation of the world and striveagainst the forgetfulness of the divine

Strive for Taqwa (spiritual virtue): This is astate which Rumi defines as a point inwhich your whole being becomes a mirror reflecting God

Use Muraqaba (Be vigilant): Once youattain a spiritual station of great value andexperience the gift of love strive tomaintain it

Conclusion

Share the thinking about the limitations of an analytical technic applied to studyRumi and all of its shortcomings.

Explain that Love is not to explained it isto be experienced

Make the point using Kandansky's work:Yellow, Red. Blue

Describing love is like describing art: Becareful of the tools one uses

Rumi and his doctrine.mmap - 10/2/2006 - Mindjet Team