Love God for God’s sake, Spiritual Meditations, NewAgeIslam.com

Spiritual Meditations

Love God for God’s sake

By Sadia Dehlvi

January 7th, 2010

Although born a Muslim, I embraced true faith at the feet of my Sufi master who taught that religion is meaningless unless warmed by emotions of love. Thirty years ago, I took the oath of allegiance in the Chishti Sufi order, making the lifelong commitment to spiritual Islam.

Sufism, the accepted name for Islamic mysticism, is about awakening the higher consciousness through submission to divine will. Prophet Mohammad said, “Surely in the breasts of humanity is a lump of flesh, if sound then the whole body is sound, and if corrupt then the whole body is corrupt. Is it not the heart?”

The Sufi path is about purification of the heart. It’s about how to free oneself from the ego and realise God’s countless attributes within one’s own spirit. Sufis desire to unravel divine mysteries and remove the veils that separate mankind from God. Sufism is the eternal quest for union with God, the beloved.

The life of Rabia Basri, my favourite woman Sufi saint, best illustrates the philosophy of divine love. The 8th century mystic remained a celibate for her overwhelming love for God left no room for any worldly relationship. She wrote:

I have made You the companion of my heart,

But my body is available to those who desire its company,

And my body is friendly toward its guest,

But the Beloved of my heart is the guest of my soul.

http://newageislam.com/love-god-for-god%E2%80%99s-sake/spiritual-meditations/d/2342

The Golden Age Of Islam: But How Did It End? Tell Us For God’s Sake, Islamic History, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic History

The Golden Age Of Islam: But How Did It End? Tell Us For God’s Sake

By Dr. Nazir Khaja

Sept 28, 2009

Every Muslim talks about the Golden Age of Islam, and is nostalgic about it. Rightly so. In terms of science, medical progress, scientific achievements, and philosophical, religious inquiries, Islam and Muslim societies were recognized as the gateway to knowledge. While the Muslims derive great satisfaction in recounting the past glory of Islam, no one is interested in answering the questions as to how these things ended?

There must be a reason for this. Why Islam suddenly went into a deep freeze intellectually speaking. The process of going from religious commitment to religious confusion begs understanding and inquiry especially by Muslims themselves.

Critical to the understanding of the problem is to note the attitude of the early Muslims; if they had actually been insular and resistant to the ideas and beliefs of other cultures, there never would have been the flowering of philosophy, poetry, ethics, and mysticism, influenced by the best thinking of the surrounding cultures.

Their main mission was to lend Quranic authority to contemporary social struggles and engage with local customs, culture & traditions to synthesize & evolve a dynamic culture of their own. The Quranic framework became the matrix of their society and social moral values.

This they could have hardly done without critical thinking and a spirit of free inquiry. In their mind were questions about freedom and tradition. What is it that they were inheriting, as well as what capacities they had for critiquing that inheritance? These questions were in their face as much as they are now in the face of contemporary Muslims. Yet the earlier generation did not falter. They pursued knowledge relentlessly and with an open mind. All of this resulted in the glory of that Islam which the Muslims now pine for and refer to as “going back to”.

http://newageislam.com/the-golden-age-of-islam--but-how-did-it-end?-tell-us-for-god%E2%80%99s-sake/islamic-history/d/1828