|||---Class V on Doctrine---||| Our religion is worth nothing if we don’t even know what we believe in; that’s why `Aqida is so important. Imam alGhazali’s (may God be pleased with him) books, as mentioned by the scholars, is capable of reviving the religion if all the knowledge of the religion disappeared. It is indeed a series of books that can change your state and with sincere application, can bring you closer to God in such a short time. Don’t delve too deeply into Theology (philosophy regarding God) and the science of Kalam (which is Theology in Arabic) since it uses words to comprehend a Divine Being. Theology, let alone language, is limited to the boundaries of the human mind, which are mute compared to the Greatness of God. We can never comprehend God through words only. You will end up only with a false comprehension of God. Not all philosophies are exactly damaging to belief – it’s mainly just the study of Kalam, which should only ever be used when one needs it to rectify the issues with their belief. Ultimately, Theology shouldn’t be used to reach Ma`rifa (Gnosis of God) because of its limitations. Ma`rifa can only be gained with through combining the following: - Piety [taqwa] (inwardly and outwardly) where you love good deeds and hate sins (love and hate for the sake of God) with a strong connotation of doing it with love for God - Relfection [fikr] - Refinement of the soul [tahdhib wa tazakiya] which is training and purifying the soul - Remembrance [dhikr] - Ascetism [zuhd] which is not being attached to wordly things If one has kept up with the classes from the past months, one will notice that these have been discussed heavily in the past chapters. The Imam has been grooming us slowly to realise all of these attributes before we reach the final point – knowing the correct creed. Combining all of these things are extremely important to becoming a Knower of God. The sum total of all these characteristics being in a person will lead to the lowest and the highest of all stations that a person can reach, called Servitude [`ubudiyya] which is to truly know one’s self in relation to God’s Greatness. You have to live the path of Ma`rifa; it’s a visceral and experiential path, not one that can just be downloaded or read about it. Internal and external piety must be working together at the same time. You cannot just be externally pious or just internally pious, such as a person who prays the prayers on time, but thinks badly of people, or a person who has great character but does not fast Ramadan. Self-confidence is not just what people need for their mental diseases, of which can be found affecting people all over the world, especially in our super-rich societies, even though psychologists believe this is what they need. This is not the case. People rely on their charms, smarts, intelligence, degrees, looks, strength and other physical aspects of their bodies. When these things begin to fade, as all things do with time, then people begin to lose self-confidence, bringing psychologists to believe that that is what people need. What they need is faith. Faith in something greater than the self – how can something conditionally infinite (the soul, since it can’t be destroyed or die without God’s permission) rely on, depend on or feel safe with something finite (the body or physical things). Only something Infinite can give the soul comfort, rest, confidence, rest and tranquillity. And only God is the Infinite. Drawing lessons from reflecting upon the heavens, understanding and comprehending the point of these creations is what you should be doing on a daily basis. The secret behind it is actually studying and learning these different creations and realising that everything has a purpose and that the Greatness of God transcends all these things. Refining the soul’s attributes is basically following and embodying and emulating the character of the Prophet (peace and blessings upon him). Decreasing the density of the soul through discipline requires monitoring one’s intake of food, drink, sleep and other appetites of the soul so that one is not fully consumed by only fulfilling their desires like an animal, but slowly approaches the state of being Angelic, while only eating to satisfy hunger and thirst and sleeping so that the body may rest. It is so that you are never excessive, as excessiveness is an attribute of the Devil. What this does is clean the mirror of the heart, so that the Lights of God shine and reflect upon it. Clean it from the rust of the self and desires. We are a society that has no need for things, but a humongous need for faith. Following and sticking with all of the above will leave you with very few friends – only the people who actually follow this path, and they are few – because it is a path to the Truth and the Truth is indeed heavy. People will shun you and being shunned by people is just God showing you that He is your Friend and Confidante [wali]. Don’t ever think that you need anyone’s approval. You only need His approval. God the Exalted tells the Arc Angel Jibril (upon him be peace) that He loves so-and-so. So what more do you want, if you are that so-and-so? Likes on facebook? Lowering your standards will only cause you to lose and forget yourself, which in turn will cause you to forgot about God and He will leave you to yourself. Don’t even worry about people not liking you. If the Righteous People [salihin] don’t like you, then you have a problem. It means that you are doing something that God doesn’t like. To take this way, you must commit, sacrifice and you will ultimately find what you are seeking. Those who did it –the Sufis – made it. If you mess around and muck about with it, not taking it seriously, you will get nowhere in this life and the next – and what a great loss that is. This is the aim of the Gnostics and the Muslims.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 10:30:09 +0000
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