SAYYIDINA MIFTAH (saws) in the SHAHR AL-MIFTAH - The Ramadan Story, Part 4

The Further Prophet

Oh Prophet of God,

Oh Muhammad, the Flag of Guidance,

Oh Muhammad, the Key to the Garden,

Verily, the further in history you are,

The more there is to know of you,

Like a glittering star,

The more distant you appear to be,

The more fascinating your story,

The more immense your personality,

The more complete your mercy.

The Greatest Master

And the Greatest Servant,

The One who is named after the Only One,

The Reason for Creation,

God's Mercy to all the Worlds!

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End of Time. The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s) departed this world in the year 632 A.D. But unlike any other person before him and since, his story has not ended with his demise. Indeed, his story continues to flourish with greater vigour and spirit, despite the best efforts of those who would cut short his prophethood. 

120. The Wounded Shepherd (With our own mason)

I hurt, I bleed.

But not a drop

Of my blood must fall

On the soil of Ta’if.

Am I not the prophet for the end of time?

And the end of time is not here yet, O’ Gibrail.

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A Dynamic Life. And flowing from this understanding of the Messenger's (s.a.w.s.) unique station that transcends time and space, comes the supporting life tales of the holy host of Messengers, Prophets and Saints before him and of Saints after him, that are sent by our One Loving God to guide all of humanity towards adab (good manners) and ilm (knowledge), and to forsake our hubris, hate, bigotry, pride and selfishness. This dynamic nature of spiritual lore that both transcends and governs physical knowledge is the particular hallmark of Islam, which is manifested by the Criterion, the Book of the Universe called the Holy Quran, and the traditions of the Chosen One, Muhammad Habibullah, known as the Sunnah.

The Guide and the Key. But I cannot say anything anymore on this. For beyond this is the path of experience and love. And for this, you need to find your guide. So for heaven's sake, don't forget to ask God for your guide, who will lead you, on a direct course for the Key. The Key to Creation, the Key to Mercy and Compassion, the Key to knowing best the person that you call "me" or "I", that being none other than Muhammad Sayyidina Miftah, Most Beloved of God (s.a.w.s.).

And since this month of Ramadan is also known as Shahr al-Miftah (the Month of the Key), I think this is most apt. Don't you agree, sunshine?

Wake Up!

Do not despair in this world and its nightmares!

Wake up to Him! Wake up to Love! Wake up to Truth!

Wake up to Beauty, Mercy and the real you!

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wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way  

The Gravestone & the Death Shroud, The Dustbin & the Garbage

A small furry dustbin from Turkey

The Semazens.

I visited Ihsan the Turk recently and he gave me what appears to be a small furry dustbin. Very chic, very post-Modern. Of course, I am kidding with you. It is in fact a gift from Istanbul, a headgear (It sounds weird to just call it a 'hat') worn by the Mehlevi Sufis in their Sema, that famous whirling form of worship. It is more than one foot tall in a beige velvet-like material. The original headgear used by the Mehlevi Order would traditionally be made of camel felt, an excellent material for cold climates but a sauna-on-your-head in the tropics. It appears that the its high profile is analogous to your gravestone and their wide white skirt is symbolic of the death shroud. All sufis are big about spiritual death, not just the Mehlevi devotees of Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi. They are so enamoured by the transformation of death that they would all like to spiritually die before physically dying. "Only then..." they would tell me, "...would you truly understand and appreciate God, love and life." Some people also call this 'dying' as fana or annihilation in the Oneness of God, the fanafillah.

I recall a grand old shaykh of another Sufi order once advised, "You must all be like dustbins. You must accept the refuse and garbage of this world!" Hmm. So maybe the tall headgear is actually a dustbin. Does that make me the garbage? I guess it does. Wonderful!

After receiving the gift, I felt compelled to visit a Sufi dergah nearby. A big Shaykh was in attendance last Thursday night. I brought my new headgear, but I did not wear it. I kinda just lugged it around under my arm, feeling terribly self-conscious. It was absolutely the biggest thing to put on your head, you know. But minutes before the end, I put it on anyway, feeling safe as I was, alone and outside in the dergah's garden. Later Heche texted whether I was wearing that godawful 'hat'. I replied, "You misunderstand, I am not wearing the hat. The hat is wearing me."

When the 'hat' is this big, you are never wearing the hat.
The hat is wearing you.

Life is beautiful. Have a salutary Sabbath, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Unity of Religion, Moderation and Tolerance

13. Moderation
If you choose moderation,
You must be moderate
To those who are not.
And not let your understanding
Lead you to become
What you oppose.

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MODERATION. I get moderation. But oh, in so many aspects of my life I am immoderate... my temper (especially while sharing the road with idiotic drivers - see!), my liberal food consumption, my cigarettes... all these bad things I do... I do it immoderately well.

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While talking to an old buddy of mine last night, the topic spanned into Islam, secularism, the OIC, belief and how religion has been co-opted into the politial mainstream. This I hope to write about later. What I wish to share with you is when he accused me of being tolerant of other faiths!

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GOD LABELS. I guess you could say that I am understanding. Indeed what brought this up is when I said that when it comes to dealing with your co-religionists, it is important for you, whether you are Christian, Jewish or Hindu to support and conform to the forms and labels of your religion. After all, that is the distinguishing fact by which you build unity and brotherhood within your faith. On the other hand, when it comes to interaction with other faiths, what is important to highlight is not the forms and labels - but rather the commonly held belief behind the different names and forms by which the One God is worshipped in different creeds. Common beliefs like steadfastness, patience, kindness, charity, love and compassion. These things by which God is recognised and devotedly worshipped and loved by a Rabbi, a Reverend or a Buddhist Abbot.

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IF IT IS EASY IS IT TOLERANCE? But can you say that I am tolerant? For me (and I may be mistaken), tolerance means that there is some will or conscious decision on your part - an inner struggle to accept/tolerate what does not conform to your personal world view. But the pluralism which underlies my belief in the Quranic message of Unity of Religion (see earlier posting on Mawlana Abul Kalam Azad's writings on this -Click Here) is not the conclusion of intellectual thought. It is an overwhelming feeling. So I do not have to struggle to be 'tolerant'. It just happens.

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Oh well, who cares, sunshine. After all, isn't my obsession is in the meaning behind the words and not the words themselves? So what does it matter by which names you and I are called... when in Truth, I only hope to follow your good example - united in worship to the Absolutely One God Almighty.

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Have a delightedful Monday, pet.

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Pax Taufiqa

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Picture - It is the Church of the Transfiguration, in Blue Mountain Lake, New York. I just thought it looked beautiful in a cozy sorta way.

Tawhid, God is Indescribable and He Gets You all the time

97.God Indescribable
God.
Indescribable.

But that too is
A description.

I think that there is no heresy in the worship of God, not in a song, a poetry, a dance, a sigh, a painting, a picture, a building, or in any manner that your heart and mind can conceive. So I am quite prepared to talk to God, in the most intimate and personal way I can. Why do I need to feel shy and embarrassed with the One who has already seen me in my nicest and (more importantly) most wicked aspects?

Whether in the proscribed ritual prayers of your religion or outside the orthodoxy, He listens and sees you. If you approach God through another way do you think that God will close His eyes and put on earplugs, saying "Oh no, I am not Listening Now". Yet, despite this reasoning, there will be people who will not understand and will simply not get you.

But God? He Gets You all the time.
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So don't worry, okay? Just do it.

Pax Taufiqa.