The Darkening of The Heart -
According to Ghazali the main entrances through which Satan enters the heart and pollutes it are -
1. irascibility and desire
2. Envy and Greed.
3. Eating one’s fill, for this increases the other desires, causes illness and reduces one’s receptivity to wisdom and desire for worship.
4. Love of self-adornment, whether in clothes, furnishings or residence.
5. Coveting what others own and control, and hence flattering and deceiving them.
6. Haste, which (according to the Prophet ‘comes from Satan’)
7. Money, property, and all other kinds of wealth in excess of one’s needs, for wealth creates its own concerns which will distract the heart.
8. Avarice and fear of poverty, which destroy the heart’s serene conviction that God will provide.
9. (Gold imo) Fanatical attachment to schools of thought and sects, hatred of rival doctrines, and delight in criticizing them.
10. Studying advanced knowledge for which one is not prepared (or not smart enough) and hence falling into false beliefs.
11. Harbouring a low opinion of other Muslims which leads to self-satisfaction.
Source - Ghazali’s Disciplining The Soul and Breaking the two desires. Technically this isn’t actually part of the book I’ve read the ITS translation of it and at the very end of the book Timothy Winter summarizes Ghazali’s book Wonders of The Heart. Overall can’t praise the book and the translation of it enough. ITS has done such a great job in their Ghazali series just wish I could find the remaining books they’ve done some how.
You can read the whole book here -
http://www.scribd.com/doc/88281476/Al-Ghazali-on-Disciplining-the-Soul-and-on-Breaking-the-Two-Desires
To be awake to this world means to sleep,
It’s worse than sleep in fact, and much more deep!
Asleep to God, awake to spectacles-
This represents the worst of obstacles;
We’re kicked and punched by fantasies all day
From fear of loss to hope of higher pay,
Our souls thus lose their grace and purity
To block the path above for you and me.
The one asleep believes in fantasies
And dozes off seduced by what he sees.
The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.
– Ernest HemingwayIf you cannot be of the poor, then be with the poor. If you cannot be with the poor, then pray with the poor. And if you cannot pray with the poor, then pray for the poor. Beyond this there remains not an atom’s weight of faith.
One of my favorite pictures with one of my favorite quotes
But for us, it’s different. Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of the dot on scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner of the dot. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity – in all this vastness – there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us. It’s been said that astronomy is a humbling, and I might add, a character-building experience. To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish that pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.
Carl Sagan
idh ja’izun ghufranu ghayri’l-kufri
fa-la nukaffir mu’minan bi’l-wizri
since forgiving what is not unbelief is possible,
as we do not declare an unbeliever any believer on account of a sin.
wa-man yamut wa-lam yatub min dhanbihi
fa-amruhu mufawwadun li-rabbihi
Whoever dies and has not repented of his sin,
his matter is turned over to his Lord.
Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources - Martin Lings
Overall I really enjoyed the book, it covers the Prophet’s life perfectly and the details are a lot and well researched (remembering all the names though gets hard at times lol). The book reads more like a prose book than a history lesson so I had a lot of fun reading it. The first few chapters Lings writes especially the introduction to The Abrahamic religions etc can flow over your head but when you get used to his writing style it is a good read. The one problem I had with the book was with the narrations and their translations. They were translated in old roman English (with worlds like thy, thyself etc) by Lings (was a huge fan of Shakespeare probably thats why and the book was written 30 years ago) so if youre not a fan of old roman english that might put you off and I wish they would come out with an updated version of it. But overall it is a great book that covers The Prophet’s life extensively and all aspects of it. Glad I came across it and would recommend it if anyone wants a biographical aspect to The Prophet’s life. (And on a more personal note some of the chapters will just get to you, and make you realize what a great great man The Prophet (PBUH) is.)
Edit - There are some sources and facts Lings uses which might not be upto the mark but I havent researched and looked them up so I cant be sure.
The Ten Benefits of Hunger
Ghazalis 10 benefits of Hunger -
1. The first is the purification of the heart, the illumination of the natural dispostion and the sharpening of one`s insight.(According to Ghazali satiety(overeating) engenders stupidity and blindness in the heart).
2. The second benefit is a softness and purity of the heart, by which it is readied to attain the delight of intimate discourse with God and to be affected by His remembrance.
3. The third benefit lies in mortification and abasement, and the removal of exultation, rejoicing and exuberance, which comprise the beginning of rebellion and heedlessness.
4. The fourth benefit is that one comes never to forget God`s trials and torments, or those who are afflicted by them. For the man sated is liable to forget those people who are hungry, and to forget hunger itself.
5. The fifth and greatest benefit lies in the breaking of all one`s desires for sin and in achieving mastery over the soul which commands evil. According to Ghazali all sins originate in one`s desires and strength and when the source of that strength is cut off meaning one starts eating less then the desires become weak.
6. The sixth benefit consists in the repulsion of sleep and acquiring the ability to remain awake for long periods. A man who eats his fill will drink abundantly and whoever drinks abundantly will sleep abundantly also.
7. The seventh benefit is that lengthy acts of worship are made easier. (He goes on to explain how food makes one lazy and the time that is taken in eating and preparing the food can be spent in worshipping much more)
8. The eight benefit is the bodily health which results from eating little. Again simple and something we over-look way too much on how eating less is much healthier etc etc and saves us from various diseases.
9. The ninth benefit lies in reduced expenditure. Whoever becomes used to eating little will find a modest income sufficent, whereas a man who is habituated to eating his fill will find that his belly becomes a creditor impossible to shake off, who seizes him by the throat every day saying `What will you eat today`.
10. The tenth benefit is that the aspirant is enabled to put others before himself and to give in charity to the orphans and the poor that which is surplus to his wants.
He goes on to explain each benefit in length giving some great narrations as always to back his points up. Just summarized these so I dont forget them.
Source - Disciplining The Soul and Breaking The Two Desires.
The Prophet (PBUH) said “The nearest of all men to God on the day of Arising shall be those who were often hungry, thirsty and sad in this world, and who were affectionate and Godfearing; who, when seen went unrecognized, and who, when absent, were never missed by men, but yet were known to the provinces of the earth and were compassed by the angels of heaven. Others rejoiced in the world, but they rejoiced in their obedience to God. Others made soft beds for themselves, while they rested only on their foreheads and their knees. Others caused the works and morals of the Prophets to be lost, while they observed them. The earth itself weeps when it loses them, and the Almighty’ s wrath descends upon every land in which they are not found. They did not rush into the world as dogs descend upon a carcass; rather did they eat such food as was sufficent to retain life, wear patched raiment, and were dishevelled and dusty headed. When people saw them they though them to be sick, yet they were not sick. It was said, “They are deranged; they have lost their minds”; yet they were of sound mind, it was only that the people’ s hearts beheld the decree of God, which had divested them of the world, so that for the world’s people they walked without minds. Yet when the minds of the people had departed from them, it was they who understood. Theirs is the honour of the Afterlife. O Usama! when you see them in a land, know that they are a source of protection for its people, for God shall never loose His chastisement upon a nation amongst whom they live. The very earth rejoices at them, and with them the Almighty is well-pleased. Therefore hold them for your brethren, that perhaps they will be the cause of your salvation. And if you can live so that when death comes to you your stomach hungers and your liver thirsts, then you shall attain to the most exalted ranks, and shall abide with the Prophets; the angels themselves shall rejoice at the advent of your spirit, and the Almighty shall grant you His blessing.
– Narrated by Usama ibn Zayed and Abu HuraryraCalamities and tribulations have different benefits based on the different ranks of people(rutba’). Benefits are based on the differences in the ranks of people.
1- Realization of the power of Lordship over you. Learning that Allah(swt) is the Lord, and that He overpowers His servants.
2-…
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