Reflection is Remedy

The dumbing down of religion to simplistic and literal terms has brought on the likes of ISIS. The intellectual elevation of religion to metaphysical and spiritual terms has brought on the likes of Rumi, Attar, and more. May God preserve the elevators and elevate the simpletons.

Humble beginnings lead to lofty states, but lofty opinions of oneself lead to events that humble…such is the cycle of life.

I hosted my first Gathering of Remembrance at my house on September 26, 2014. I was truly exhilarated for a great program. My friend and I sang my first written duet, as well as traditional Arabic and English Nasheeds/Qasidahs.

Before we started I welcomed everyone and gave a brief introductory talk on the importance of having these gatherings in which we can safely express our musical creativity and direct it toward a Higher Purpose and Reality.

One of the scholars of our past said that the Messengers of God were not sent to instruct humans to eliminate their desires, or their natural instincts. They were sent to refine and polish the human instincts, such as hunger, thirst, and the desire for intimacy. One aspect of humanity that is instinctual is our affinity for rhythm and music. Across the earth you will see mothers singing to their babies to cajole them to sleep at night. When people are in love they tend to break out into tune. If you attend any popular, contemporary musical concert, you will see people swaying in their seats, many times with their hands raised or snapping/clapping to the beat. Music is played EVERYWHERE-from supermarkets to malls, elevators, hotels, doctors’ offices, lobbies, buses and more. It is obvious that music is a part of human nature. It is obvious how music can affect the human brain and mood. However we must polish and refine this innate need for beautiful melodies. God has set guidelines and restrictions for music. Yes, there are differing opinions with regard to the types of instruments allowed. I like to stay on the side of caution, and revel in the angelic sounds of the human voice. Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad stated it nicely:
“My own sense in the arguments over instrumental music of various kinds is that the never-ending debate can be shortcircuited quite simply by remembering that the human voice is the most beautiful of instruments, and that by cultivating its correct harmonies we can produce genuinely spiritual sounds that are superior to anything that an instrument could generate.”

Thus we MUST hold gatherings in which we can channel our musical energy to the Creator. We MUST create music that extols God and His Messengers. We MUST write and compose music that encourages humans to become victorious in the battle against their egos, rather than to worship their egos and cave into lust, violence, and untamed desires. Music should be heavenly, and we must reciprocate this heavenliness with our hearts. We must sing for the sake of God.

Sis. Sanaa, the chaplain of Stony Brook University MSA, invited me to a Gathering at her place a week later and asked me to discuss the same issue regarding music for the sake of God. At her Gathering I was overjoyed to meet a new sister that enjoyed playing the duff and singing. Sis. Sanaa is a follower of the Naqshbandi Tariqah and their repeated dhikr of La ilaha il Allah was absolutely enchanting and rejuvenating.

We used this text in class: http://themathesontrust.org/papers/islam/ibnataallah-hikam.pdf

Some select Hikam I would like to post:

Hikam 14:
The Cosmos is all darkness.
It is illumined only by the manifestation of God in it.
Whoever sees the Cosmos and does not contemplate Him
in it or by it or before it or after it is in need of light
and is veiled from the sun of gnosis
by the clouds of created things.

Hikam 48:
A sign of the heart’s death
is the absence of sadness
over the acts of obedience you have neglected
and the abandonment of regret
over the mistakes you have made.

Hikam 56:
Light is the army of the heart,
just as darkness is the army of the soul.
So when God wishes to come to the help of His servant,
He furnishes him with armies of lights
and cuts off from him the reinforcements
of darkness and alterities.

77:
The gnostic is not one who,
when making a symbolic allusion,
finds God nearer to himself than his symbolic allusion.
Rather, the gnostic is the one who,
because of his self-extinction in His Being
and self-absorption in contemplating Him,
has no symbolic allusion.

85:
Outwardly, creatures are an illusion;
but, inwardly, they are an admonition.
Thus, the soul looks at the illusory exterior
while the heart looks at the admonitory interior

104 (excerpt):
“The daytime sun goes down at night,
But the sun of gnostic hearts never goes down.”

115:
The devotees and ascetics are alienated from everything
only because of their absence from God in everything.
Had they contemplated Him in everything,
they would not have been alienated from anything.

120:
Ritual prayer is the place of intimate conversations
and a mine of reciprocal acts of purity
wherein the regions of the innermost being are expanded
and the rising gleams of light shine forth.
He knows of the existence of weakness in you,
so He made the number of ritual prayers small;
and He knew of your need of His grace,
so He multiplied their fruitful results

144:
The most ignorant of all people
is the one who abandons the certitude he has
for an opinion people have

161
Your wanting people to know your specialness
is a proof for your lack of truthfulness in
your slavehood.

205:
Sometimes Spiritual lights descend but finds
the heart filled with images of physical things
and thus goes back to where it came.

245
He placed you in the middle realm between His physical world
and metaphysical one to inform you of the loftiness
of your rank among His creatures.
You are a gem enclosed by the shells of created forms.

259
Sometimes a long life is fruitless.
And sometimes a short life is extremely fruitful.