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Episode 22: Islamic Spirituality, Pt.5
One of the richest traditions Islam has is its spiritual tradition, or Sufism as it is more commonly known. In this 5 part series I introduce the richness of this tradition from a bird’s eye view perspective and offer some practical tools in later episodes that I have found to be tremendously useful in all aspects of my life.
Episode Notes
Episode Notes
2:17 tools of the path
2:36 tool #1: absolute adherence to Sharia and sound belief
4:22 tool #2: persistence
7:31 tool #3: lessening of particular things in the beginning of the path
12:43 tool #4: remembrance (dhikr) and contemplation (fikr)
22:36 tool #5: the need for a teacher and instructor
23:24 conditions for finding a spiritual teacher
29:38 what to do if you can’t find a teacher
Selected Notes
Imam Nawwawi’s Book of Remembrance
Conditions for finding a teacher
Purification of the Heart
Ghazali translations
Quran Mentioned
The people that remember God standing, etc., 3:191
Remember God often, night and day, 33:41
Indeed by remembrance of God the heart is tranquil, 13:28
If My servant asks of Me, Indeed I am near, 2:186
Ask the people of remembrance if you don’t know, 16:43
Hadith Mentioned
“Best of actions consistent even if few”, Bukhari
“Enough for the person is a couple of morsels of food per day, but if he can’t…”, Tirmidhi
“Will people enter into hell fire with other than the harvest of their tongues?”, Ahmad, Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah
“Everything has a polish and the polish of the hearts is the remembrance of God”, Bayhaqi
“Remember God until people say you are crazy.”, al-Hakim
“The Prophet was in the service of his family”, Bukhari
“Chains of transmission is from the religion”, Muslim
“Never given an option except that he chose easiest of options.” Abu Dawud
People Mentioned
keep learning
Understanding the Muslim Mind
If we could take all of Islamic intellectual history, what sort of patterns and principles could we deduce? More importantly, if we found someone who actually knew all this information, what would they look like, think like, talk like, etc.?
What is Usuli Islam?
In The Clock of the Long Now, Stewart Brand argues that religion is one of the most durable institutions of civilization that helps ground us all in timeless values. In his concept of the forces of innovation (rapidly changing) and durability (slow changing) of civilization, religion would definitely be amongst the more slow adapting forces.
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