I am interested in comments and feedback about
this club. I am open to any questions at anytime, and
will try to answer as promptly as possible. So if
there are any areas about sufism that confuse or
delight you please note them here.<br><br>I have noticed
that there are a couple of men who have joined our
club, and I welcome them. You will not be kicked out as
would happen in some other "sister only"
clubs.<br><br>To any non-muslim vistors, please feel free to post
your qeneral questions about Islam as well. I realize
that many people become confused and think that sufis
are different from the mainstream Muslims, but this
is very far from the truth.<br><br>Thanks

Assalamo Alaikum!<br><br>Here is thought to take
with you on your travels.<br><br>"Be so tolerant that
your chest becomes wide like the ocean. Become
inspired with faith and love of human beings. Let there be
no troubled souls to whom you do not offer a hand
and about whom you remain unconcerned." M. Fethullah
Gulen.

I am gathering my information for the next post
which will be on repentance (tawba), an essential part
of sufism. Here is something to think about while I
prepare... The Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) said, "One who
sincerely repents of his sin is as if he never committed
it."

I have finally finished moving alhamdulillah, and
hope to be able to dedicate more time to this site,
insha allah. I have a new thought for the day from M.
Fethullah Gulen's book Key Concepts in the Practice of
Sufism. Here it is:<br><br>Appluad the good for their
goodness; appreciate those who have believing hearts; be
kind to the believers. Approach unbelievers so gently
that their envy and hatred melt away; like a messiah,
revive people with your breath.<br><br>Good advise for
every Muslim.

Here is a thought for today and everyday. Think
of this often...print it, live by it.<br><br><br>A
soul without love can not be elevated to the horizon
of human perfection. Even if he lived one hundred
years, he could make no advances on the path of
perfection. Those who are deprived of love, entangled in the
nets of selfishness, are unable to love anybody else
and die unaware of the love deeply implanted in the
very being of existance.<br><br>Thank you M. Fethullah
Gulen for this wonderful quote. Maybe the world would
be a better place heeding just these words.

I have found a new and wonderful book for those
interested in sufism for those interested in learning about
it, or practicing it.<br><br>The name of the book is
"Key Concepts In The Practice of Sufism" by M.
Fethullah Gulen. I am not sure who would carry it but I
have an ISBN # which is 975-7388-57-2. This book was
published by The Fountain, 9900 Main St. #504, Fairfax, VA
22031. Any Barnes and Nobles should be able to order it
in. My book is paperbook and is marked
$6.95.<br><br>I can't believe that someone finally put this
amterial together in such a readable and understandable
format.

Salams to all. I am in the middle of moving to a
new (new to me) home, so I have been rather
unavailable lately. But I have a thought to pass on.<br>If a
tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear
it does it make a
noise?<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>There is not a
place in existance that Allah does not
hear...Allah is everywhere. So much for psyc 101.<br>~~

People count with self-satisfaction the number of
times they have recited the name af allah on their
prayer beads, but they keep no beadsfor reckoning the
number of idle words they speak. Caliph Omar said,
"Weigh well your words and deeds before they are weighed
at the last judgement."

Assalamo Alaikum!<br>We are getting alot of veiwers to this page and I hope they
like what they read.  If anyone has a story, message or question feel free to
post them all.

To completely trust in Allah is to be like a child who knows deeply that even if
he does not call the mother, the mother is totally aware of his condition and is
looking after him.

Hello and Salams to All visitors.<br>I am looking
for some input on this site, any questions or
suggestions, please note them or write me directly.<br><br>For
now I have a question.<br><br>If one of your friends
was to ask you questions about Islam, all the while
keep the secret that they themselves were Muslim, they
simply were testing you for your answers, would you fell
betrayed? Would you trust that person to be your friend
after that?

Three athiests visit a sufi sheik. The leader of
the group says we would like you to answer three
questions for us. If you can then we will become Muslims,
if not then we will remain athiests. The sheik
agrees. The speaker continues and asks this:<br>How can
you prove there is a God, we can not see him, so
therefore how do we really KNOW that he exists?<br>The
sheik tells him to continue on, so the speaker asks him
this:<br>If Shaytan is made of fire, then how is Allah going
to punish him by putting him in the hell fire? Fire
to fire doesn't seem like a punishment.<br>The sheik
tells him to continue on, so the speaker asks him the
final question:<br>Why does the religion put so many
rules on the people, why doesn't Allah just let the
people do what they want, when they want to do it? He
should just leave them alone to do good or bad which
ever they
prefer.<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>The sheiks looks at the man
and picks up a brick and
smashes it against the side of the mans head, and then
gets up and walks
away.<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>Later the mans freinds take him
to the judge and he
makes his complaint against the sheik and says I asked
him three questions and he hits me with a brick. He
never answered my questions. So the judge calls the
sheik in front of him and says this man is complaining
that you attacked him, and that you never answered his
questions. What do you have to
say?<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>The sheik rises and
speaks:<br>He asked me how I
believe that God is real even though I can not see him.
He says he has a headache now, and although I don't
see it I beleive that he has one.<br>He asked me how
Shaytan was going to be punished by the fire when he is
made of fire, I say that man was surely made from
clay, and so was the brick.<br>He asked me why people
are not left alone to what they wanted to do when
they wanted to do it, so that is what I
did.<br>Therefore I believe I answered all of his questions
accurately. the judge agreed and dismissed the man's
acusation the the sheik had attacked him, when reallt the
sheik was giving him a reply to his questions.

A thief intered the house of a sufi and found nothing to steal.  As he was
leaving, the dervish (student), sensing his disappointment, threw him the
blanket on which he was laying.

Assalamo Alaikum!<br><br>The self pleasing to
Allah - at this stage the person becomes not only aware
of the fact that all power to act comes from Allah,
but they realize and understand this in their daily
lives. They realize that they can do nothing without
Allah, "they no longer fear anything, nor ask for
anything."<br><br>Ibn "Arabi writes that this level is the inner
marriage of self and soul. This is unity. He explains that
in earlier stages people struggle with the world
because the suffer from multiplicity.<br><br>"A broken
mirror creates a thousand different reflections of a
single image, if the mirror could be made whole again,
it would then reflect the single, unified image."

Thank you very much for the good advice.  I've been away for a while, so I'm
looking forward to reading your posts.

Assalamo Alaikum!<br><br>Sorry to confuse
everyone, but my last post on The Self should ahve been
part four, not three.<br><br>The Contented Self- it is
at this level that one begins let the ego go. One is
at peace - Islam. The stuggles of the earlyier
stages are for the most part gone, as well as old
desires and attachments. The person at this level is more
able to accept hardship with the same sense of
"Security" as one accepts benefits or ease. Both are from
Allah, and both are good for the soul. This is a
transitional level when self-boundaries are forgotten, and
universal self is discovered. The self that links us to all
that is around as. One might think of this as the
daydreaming self, because you might often find yourself
mediatating on how you fit into the scheme, or the giving
self, because too often the a person will start to give
away the things which in the other levels had meaning
to them, but no longer give them satisfaction
because they are material.

Assalamo Alaikum!<br><br>I am sorry to all of my
readers. My health has kept me from my work with this
club. I have tried to up with my updates on self, which
must be pretty self explanitory since no one has asked
any questions. Insha Allah I will be setting down
times for open chat and discussion. Hopefully this will
be around 2:00 on Saturdays but I have to be sure of
my schedule first. And then also one night during
the week say 7:00. Any suggestions on which night
will be helpful. Oh these times of course are Tulsa
time which is the central time zone so please set your
clocks accordingly.<br><br>Again, please feel free to
float questions or comments. I am really interested in
getting some feed back from members and non-members alike
(although you have to join the club to post a message you
don't to send me a direct e-mail).<br><br>Salams for
now.

Assalamo Alaikum!<br><br>The next level of self
is "The Inspired Self". It is at this level the one
starts to enjoy their spiritual side and finds joy in
prayer, meditation, and other activities. It is here that
one may become more motivated by compassion,
servitude, and moral values. It is beyond the mechanical
outer worship, to a worship of understanding. It is
here that one becomes aware of why we must worship,
not just because we are told to do so by our creator,
but the values beyond that. Though still at odds with
one's own ego, it is easier to control the urges that
come from the ego. It is at this level that a person
might say something (after being accosted or wronged in
some way) "That person better be glad that I am a
Muslim, because I would have really told him where to
go...or done such-and-such to him." The urge is present
but not in control.<br><br>However, this level is
fragile, and one must constantly gaurd oneself from
letting the lower self take control. One must practice
the higher values consistantly, or lose them. It is
written that those at this level become more mature,
respectable, ... and RESPECTED.

Assalamo Aliakum!<br><br>The second self is that
of the regretful self. It is in this level that that
one becomes aware of the lower self, and although
still continuing to give in to the wants and desires of
the controling self, a person may become repentful
after the fact or the act as the case may be. It is at
this level that a person may from time to time repent
to Allah for his or her deeds and will try to follow
higher impulses.<br><br>This is a difficult level
because the person may clearly see their own faults, and
repent, but not know how to correct their
path.<br><br>Sheik Muzaffer writes, "There is a battle between the
self, the lower self and the soul. This battle will
continue through one's life. The question is who will
educate whom, who will become the master of whom? If the
soul becomes the master, then you will become a
believer, one who's soul embraces truth. If the lower self
bocomes the master of the soul, you will be one who
denies the truth."

The Commanding Self-<br><br>This is the first and
lowest level of self or total selfishness. This is the
level of self in which one's passions and desires
control the individual, leaving no sense of
morality.<br><br>Some of the traits at this level are "wrath, greed,
passion, envy, and sensual appetites." And these traits
are in control of the person. It is at this level
that many people are given to do criminal acts, or
acts of indecency. And most of the time they will
either justify, excuse, or just flat out deny these
actions. This is because they almost unaware of the fact
that they have done a misdeed.<br><br>Islam, when
practiced correctly, can help the individual grow beyond
this stage. It awakens the mind to this "self", and
establishes the threshholds that one is not allowed to
surpass. This is done by constantly reminding oneself of
the morality and goodness. It counters wrath with
forgiveness, greed with giving, passion with prayer, envy with
patience, and sensual appetites with various fastings and
rememberance Allah.<br><br>Some examples of this
are:<br><br>1. Wrath with forgiveness: A Muslim is only alowed
to be angry with another Muslim for a maximum of
three days. If they have not forgiven each other by the
third day, their anger counts against them, and on the
day of judgement they will prevented from entering
the garden unless they reconcile.<br><br>2. Envy with
patience: If a Muslim feels envy for another persons
posessions they should make a prayer for Allah to bless that
other person more, and know in their heart that Allah
has a reward waiting for them in Paradise - if they
make it.<br><br>3. Sensual appetites with fasting and
rememberance of Allah: It is recommended for a Muslim who is
able to get married to get married, or fast. It is
also not allowed for men to wear such things as silk
or gold, so that the desires for these things should
not over ride their rememberance of Allah.

Hello.<br><br>I gather from your remarks that you
have not yet taken Shahadah, but are rather in the
search mode. I welcome you, and will help in any way I
can. I have stood in your shoes as a convert to Islam
myself. And believe me, I too asked why women would want
to live the way I do now. This part I will answer
later.<br><br>As to the first question, there are a few books that
are a good place to start. The first one that I
suggest is the one my mother just finished reading. It is
called "What is Islam All About" by Yahya Emerick. It
costs around ten dollars and is set up like a lesson
book for teen agers, but for where you are now it is
an excellent start for learning all of the
basics.<br><br>As per the second part, you may be more able to
learn about the spiritual aspects of Islam from the
sufi resources. One book that I can recommend is
"Essential Sufism" by James Fadiman & Robert
Frager.<br><br>Yes, I too agree that it is hard to find the essence
of Islam in the "Nation of Islams" teachings. Don't
make yourself to confused by adding this until you are
more settled with "mainstream" Islam. <br><br>I will
go into sunni and sufi Islam in my next post as my
time is very short at this moment, but I hope I will
be able to answer your questions. Oh just so you
know, I came from a varied back ground also,
Catholic-Methodist-Protestant-Jewish-American Indian. If you can imagine, my
views of God were
rather varied. I know this answers are brief, but I will
be back.

Hello. I'm new to Islam and looking for a place
to read and receive information about the religion.
It's hard to explain why I'm drawn to Islam, given my
family's religious beliefs (from Johovah Witness to
Baptist to Catholic). After a co-worker cleared up some
misperceptions that I had about Islam, I started to read more
about it. After reading books on women in Islam and
comments from various sources, I'm interested... but it's
hard to understand why a woman would choose to live by
certain laws. In my "research" I started to read more
about Sufism. Although I'm not sure about this, but I
get from certain sources that I would feel most
comfortable learning and practicing from the "sufi"
perspective. Please excuse my jibberish and ignorance of the
religion. Since I don't have close friends or family
familiar with Sufism or Islam it's very hard to
experience. You can only get so much from a book, or magazine
article. I also wonder about what the relations between
Sufi and sunna beliefs? <br><br>The Muslims in my
neighborhood are mostly Nation of Islam. I try hard not to
judge, but I don't like what I hear from their
spokespeople.<br><br>Well, I could go on forever, but I'll stop here.
Thanks.

For anyone entering this club even just to
browse, it would be nice for a comment, or a thought.
Just e-mail to the founder. Thank you for the visit,
hope you come back every so often and catch up on the
posts. I hope to be able to set a calender in the near
future of upcoming chat topics. Thanks.

Assalamo Alaikum!<br><br>One of the goals of the
sufi is to transform or control one's "self" (nefs).
The "self" is what is created when the soul enters
the body and becomes attached to it. This is done by
cleansing the heart of pride, egotism, greed and lust. It
is these things which tend to lead one astray from
the truth. That does not mean that the self is a
thing, but rather an essence or "nature". Sheikh
Muzaffer wrote:<br>"The self is not bad in itself. Never
blame your "self". Part of the work of sufism is to
change the state of your self. The lowest state is that
of being completely dominated by your wants and
desires. The next state is to struggle with your "self",
to seek to act according to reason and higher ideals
and to criticize yourself when you fail. A much
higher state is to be satisfied with whatever Allah
provides for you, whether it means comfort or discomfort,
fulfillment of physical needs or not."<br><br>According to
many teachers of sufism there are in all seven levels
to the self. These will be discussed in the next few
posts.<br><br>The above has been para-phrased from the introduction
to the book "Essential Sufism" by James Fadiman and
Robert Frager. I recommend this book for any and all who
are interested in learning about the "mystic" aspect
of the sufi.

Assalamo Alaikum!<br><br>Many people beleive that
sufi (Islamic sufis that is) are deviants from Islam.
I can tell you tah is not true. To be a Muslim one
MUST adhear to the 5 pillars (Testomony, Prayer,
Fasting, Zakat, Hajj) and the creed (6 beliefs) of Islam
without fail. To be a sufi, one must live according to
the sharia (islamic law) as much as one ability and
knowledge allows. Of course one can not act on something he
does not know about, thus the other resposibility of
the Sufi, never stop studying and learning the
sharia. This tends to take of alot of time for the sufi,
but it is better to always be busy for Allah than to
be busy for Shaytan (authoo billahi.)

The Prophet Mohammad (SAW) entered the Mosque one
day a found a group sitting in a circle. He
approached them and asked "what were you doing?" The men
replied "we were making Dhikr of Allah." He asked, "What
else were you doing?" They answered, "By Allah we were
doing nothing else." The Prophet Mohammad (SAW) said to
them, " I just wanted to know what you were doing
because the angel Garbriel came to me and said that Allah
Ta'ala was pleased with your actions."<br><br>The circle
of Dhirk is a sunnah, and not to be confused with a
halaqa or a circle for the purpose of lecture or
learning. This si one of the practices that some modern
scholars have neglected and like to make everyone believe
is a bidah. But clearly this Sahih Hadith will stand
as its own witness.

Since I became a sufi I have many sisters in my
community who think I am no longer a Muslim and do not even
give me salams. Have any other sisters had this
problem? Have any of you forsaken a friend because they
became a sufi? I would like to hear some stories.

It is important to understand that sufism is in
no way a deviation from Islam, or the Ahl-as-sunnet,
the sunnah of the Prophet Mohammed (SAW). I will
present some hadith and ayats in the future to uphold
this claim. But first it is important to explain that
there are some groups which call themselves sufis, but
are not Islamic. There are such things as Jewish,
Christian, Buddist, and Taoist mystics. These people, like
the sufis of Islam find the proof of a higher,
controlling being in everything around them. We Muslims call
this being Allah, the only true God worthy of worship.
To be a sufi is to look at the things around you and
realize that it proves god simply by its existance in
this world. Tassavuf is the "knowing" or understanding
or Allah. Most Muslims today stop at Taqwah, fear of
Allah, but don't really know or understand what or why
one must be fearful. A sufi knows why one must be
fearful, because of their understanding. But the story
goes much deeper than this as I will try to explain in
future messages. If anyone has a question or a thought
about this please post it, I welcome all comments.

Dear sister in Islam,<br><br>Isn't it wonderful
how Allah made us all different, yet we are still
able to enjoy the ways that we are all the same. After
all we are all human aren't we? Aren't we are all
women, too? (At least we better be, LOL) So why is it so
hard to believe that Allah may have more than one path
to follow to reach him? Here is the place to discuss
this idea, as well as some other topics with respect
for our sisters views. Assalamo Alaikum my dear
sisters.

Welcome to the Yahoo! Message Board for Sufi Sisters