From tariqas-digest-approval@europe.std.com Sun Aug 25 12:19:00 1996 Date: Sat, 17 Aug 1996 20:48:55 -0400 (EDT) From: tariqas-digest-approval@europe.std.com Reply-To: tariqas-digest@world.std.com To: tariqas-digest@world.std.com Subject: tariqas-digest V1 #106 tariqas-digest Saturday, 17 August 1996 Volume 01 : Number 106 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Steve H Rose Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 14:00:45 -0400 (EDT) Subject: DAILY HADEETH- JIHAD (fwd) Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 08:33:38 +0800 (SST) From: Imaan Shivani Joshi To: "Muslim Students' Association" Subject: DAILY HADEETH- JIHAD Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Assalaamu 'alaikum wa Rahmatullahe wa Barakatu ###################################### JIHAD AL AKBAR When returning from a battle Rasulullah[saw] said to some of his companions: We have returned from the lesser holy war to the greater holy war. And when one asked "And what is the greater holy war[ jihad]?"he replied: The war against self.[nafs] Taken in this context, the following ayat takes on a whole new meaning: ######################################### "Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that you love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth and ye do not."[2:216] in this light, the fight that is so impt, most of us have already lost, and worse, are not making any effort to undertake. ########################################### Rasulullah[saw] said: The Garden is surrounded by hated things. ########################################### "It is this constant bringing-to-mind of the True Goal that enables the seeker to struggle and strive and fight 'In the Way of Allah', fi sabil'illah. This is true jihad, the jihad al akbar. This is the battle to bring peace to the earth- not that physical earth there, outside the window, but the earth of the self. [ the greater peace on the planet cannot be achieved until the inner peace within the human self is achieved.] To subdue all the infidels in the land of the ego-self. To struggle in the journey from the lower self[ nafs] to the higher self. This is why the seeker is able to subject himself to seemingly harsh disciplines." [And The Sky is Not the Limit, by Sis Amatullah Armstrong, Book 3] @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ I was deeply struck by this; Insh'Allah, you will be too. Allahu 'alam. Wa 'alaikum salaam wa Rahmatullahe wa Barakatu Fee Amaan Allah, Wasalaam. Imaan Shivani Joshi, sci30342@cobra.nus.sg If you want what Allah[swt] wants then there is no confusion as what Allah[swt] wants happens. From the moment you came into the world of being, a ladder was placed before you that you might escape. "If I will something that my LOrd does not will for me, I should then be guilty of unbelief." [Rabi'a] ------------------------------ From: Steve H Rose Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 14:06:25 -0400 (EDT) Subject: address change for Rabia (fwd) - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 13:29:30 +0000 From: a.orselli_dickson@cowan.edu.au To: habib@world.std.com Subject: address change Dear Habib, my E mail address has changed to: a.orselli-dickson@cowan.edu.au It would be very helpful if you could send this info on the tariqas list in case anybody tried to contact me privately. I will re subscribe early October when I come back from Europe. Rabia ------------------------------ From: Lilyan Kay Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 12:52:08 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: Independence Day salaams all One thing about the White Balloon - it was made by Iranians in Iran, so in that context they cannot be considered as 'others'. It was a lovely film though, and I apologize to Habib & Elaine for making the lady in front of us move when I was trying to read the credits out loud. Lily ------------------------------ From: ASHA101@aol.com Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 23:27:05 -0400 Subject: Re: Better Dear poet friend, I can't tell if i am getting better or not! But when a flower dies and a seed is put beneath the flail how can the spirit of the plant think other than that it is not getting better. And yet it must sense the naturalness of these tragedies. It is not that these tragedies are not real! Like a greek play the tragedy is necessasary for revelation and it is revelation in which the seed and the seed's story finds it's true value. There was the story but out side of the story is the issue, the revelation to the Reader, and as She/He is lifted up so She/He uplifts the seed to become the bread of life. Remember glorification. To do so is to be one with the lover of the play, who is Her/Himself, the beloved object of the play. Remember, glorification, where the bitter and the sweet tango the night away. "Better"(?) you say! when will i be better? overwhelmed was allways more like it! love, Asha ------------------------------ From: ASHA101@aol.com Date: Sat, 17 Aug 1996 00:52:23 -0400 Subject: Re: carol woodsong's question{s} >>> I have a /need/ to know that what i am surrendering to is TRULY God and not some false idea. To give my/self/ is not something i take lightly. What i've seen as TRUE so far on this jourrney... is that which resonates deep within me.... in my heart, if you will. I must surrender to /something/ outside myself? But /what/? And what is this /self/? <<<< Such a beautiful passage! Such essence of surrender is contained in these words! Nur Durkee has also explained surrender in other eloquent words, words of knowledge, and Carol has said it in words of the human heart. Both know about surrender, perhaps even embody surrender. It is this for which i tune into this forum. love, Asha ------------------------------ From: maarof Date: Sat, 17 Aug 1996 15:10:32 +0800 Subject: Re: carol woodsong's question{s} On Sat, 17 Aug 1996, ASHA101@aol.com wrote: >>>> I have a /need/ to know that what i am >surrendering to is TRULY God and not some false idea. To give my/self/ >is not something i take lightly. What i've seen as TRUE so far on this >jourrney... is that which resonates deep within me.... in my heart, if >you will. > >I must surrender to /something/ outside myself? But /what/? And what is >this /self/? <<<< > > Such a beautiful passage! Such essence of surrender is contained in these >words! > Nur Durkee has also explained surrender in other eloquent words, words of >knowledge, and Carol has said it in words of the human heart. > Both know about surrender, perhaps even embody surrender. It is this for >which i tune into this forum. > love, Asha > my friend Asha, you explain beautifully the essence of surrender -- when the soul is calm without answers and not restless with questions. This is the state of Luqman, when he gave advice and taught his son about life. Your calm and silent words is poetry of a calm soul. in awe maarof ------------------------------ From: maarof Date: Sat, 17 Aug 1996 16:02:14 +0800 Subject: RUMI (knowledge and opinion) Knowledge has two wings, Opinion one wing: Opinion is defective and curtailed in flight The one-winged bird soon falls headlong; then again it flies two paces or (a little) more. The bird, Opinion, falling and rising, goes on with one wing in hope of (reaching) the nest. (But) when he has been delivered from Opinion, Knowledge shows its face to him: that one-winged bird becomes two-winged and spread his wings. After that, he walks erect and straight, not falling flat on his face or ailing. He flies aloft with two wings, like Gabriel, without opinion and without peradventue and without disputation If all the world should say to him, "You are on the Way of God and (are following) the right direction," He will not be made hotter by their words: his lonely soul will not mate with them; And if they all should say, "You are astray: You think (you are) a mountain, and (in reality) you are a blade of straw," He will not fall into opinion (doubt) because of their taunts, he will not be grieved by their departure (estrangement from him). Nay, if seas and mountains should come to speech and should say to him, "You are wedded to perdition," Not the least jot will he fall into phantasy or sickness on account of the taunts of the scoffers. - --Mathnawi III (1510-1521) Nicholson translation ------------------------------ From: maarof Date: Sat, 17 Aug 1996 17:15:34 +0800 Subject: Re: Independence Day On Fri, 16 Aug 1996, Steve H Rose wrote: >Assalamu alaikum. > >I'm glad someone raised this topic on tariqas. I have been torn over >seeing this movie. In ways, I'd like to see it, to see just how the >"aliens" are being represented. But, on the other hand, I can probably >guess -- and your note supports my guess. > >This movie seems to be just another instance of exploiting and >"dehumanizing" the Other (course, in this case, the aliens aren't goihng >to be human anyway, but you get the point). Whether the Other is >represented as particularly viscious (older films about "savages" in >Africa), or particularly virtuous (newer films that glamorize "noble >savages"), the Other is almost always portrayed in a way that results in >increased stereotypes and decreased understanding. Once in a while, a >movie comes a long that appears to be an honest portrayal of another >culture (such as the recent film "The White Balloon" about Iran -- hope >I've got the color and spelling of balloon right!). But, typically these >films aren't given wide distribution and promotion. In my opinion, the >movie industry has one primary activity -- making money in as shortsighted >a way as possible. Along the way, it ends up reinforcing a whole range >of stereotypes that allow "us" to claim a great victory in a war against >Iraq while neglecting to mention that one of the things we did to win this >victory was to intentionally bomb the water supply of the city of Bagdad. > >My personal feeling is that the issue of extraterrestrial intelligence is >one of the most important that we as a species may ever face. The >evidence that there was life on Mars, if validated, implies that the >universe is FULL of life. Insh'Allah, if we survive long enough and are >able to understand radio transmissions from other civilations, we may be >able to plug into and learn from a wealth of information and experience. >On the other hand, maybe we'll be happier just spending $8 to go to a >movie and get vicarious thrills from "fighting the bad guys." It >certainly is a lot easier than trying to learn from other people -- or, >heaven forbid, our own experience! ;-) > >Yours, > >Habib > Dear Habib, Your are staying in the "strongest" country on this planet. It's "natural" for you, I guess, not to be afraid of the "others" -- aliens from outer space or not. Maybe your country has formed a pact with the "ET superpowers"? The rest of the world, might never know... I am in a small country -- weak in militarily and technology -- and the view from here is: your country is not so friendly or compassionate as it tries to potray... smiling and holding a big stick at the same time. Not a posture of peace, is it? salam maarof ------------------------------ From: Michael Moore Date: Sat, 17 Aug 1996 08:36:06 -0700 Subject: Not so friendly Dear brother maarof maarof wrote: > > > Dear Habib, > > Your are staying in the "strongest" country on this planet. It's "natural" > for you, I guess, not to be afraid of the "others" -- aliens from outer > space or not. Maybe your country has formed a pact with the "ET superpowers"? > The rest of the world, might never know... > > I am in a small country -- weak in militarily and technology -- and the > view from here is: your country is not so friendly or compassionate as > it tries to potray... smiling and holding a big stick at the same time. > Not a posture of peace, is it? > > salam > maarof We must ask, what do we mean by 'your country'. Do we mean the thousands of people who work towards humanitarian aid. Do we mean my Grandma? Do we mean the thousands of American Muslems? the Jews? the Christians? How about the millions who just struggle to go to work day to day and raise children and pay taxes. Perhaps we mean the millions of blacks or latinos or orientals? Maybe we mean the American Military or the Government policies which are made by the eleit few. You see, all of this is 'my country' but only a small portion of this is the part that is 'not so friendly'. I am an American who is smiling and reaching out a hand to all peoples of the world. I am not reaching down my hand and I am not reaching up my hand (except to allah swt :-) My wish is that all the people of the world will see the real enemy as 'thirst for power over this world'. Now some people in governments examplify this satanic thirst but there are others in governments and perhaps even in military branches who are fighting fire with fire. They are protecting and their jihad is a holy one. But it is sometimes difficult to know which is which or indeed if there are any at all. If we could see this then the real American people could hold the hands of the real Iraqui people and the Jewish people could take the hands of the Palestinean Muslem people. Not the power mongers, standing behind flags of nations or the religious pretenders who justify their hatred behind behind the names of their gods. Well maarof, I know that I am not telling you anything that you don't already know and I expect that you agree with me. Maybe I just need to pray that I can learn to accept that people may not always like me; justified or otherwise. salam - -Michael- ------------------------------ From: ASHA101@aol.com Date: Sat, 17 Aug 1996 12:14:36 -0400 Subject: the other and the day of real independance Dear Habib, you wrote of the "Other". Such a wonderful insight, you really got me to thinking about the sufi tendency of analogous speech in relation to the "Other" and even the "slave". For a sufi, i think, the experience of the "Other" is always the problem of seeing from the inside, so to speak. Whenever we make people to be the slaves (a typical way of seeing and treating the "Other", especially for those in power or position or dominance such as the U.S. or rich people, or men), which is to say the slave is always the one who is the unimportant, the unintelligent, the bad guy, the impolite lacking in manners, the un-noble, the unclean ..... whenever we make the "Other" to be this it is to be able to see ourselves as the clean, upright, intelligent, well mannered, the good guy, etc. It is to be able to see the Divine in ourselves in an outer manner. I think, when the sufi speaks of being the slave of god what is meant is that the sufi is trying to see thier self from the position of the Divine point of view, which is to say to recognize our divine inheritance but it is not to say that the divine looks at us in this way (as a dirty slave) or that we are that way. What i mean is that the sufi is not actually looking at thier self as the unintelligent, the un-mannered, the bad guy, etc, but that actually they are accepting thier self totally even and perhaps especially the dark parts (at least they become very familiar with thier 'dark' parts and thier blocks and resistances and wounds). In a way the sufi is saying that only when you have reallyaccepted and understood and worked with and are in a healing attitude to your "self" only then can one recognize the Divine point of view, which if we were to analogize the situation it would be as we would look at the "Other" if we could see only with our outer eyes. Is there such a thing as a reverse analogy, i.e. when a sufi calls himself salve he doesn't mean he is a slave but that by recognnising his slavehood he recognises his Divnine inheritance in himself as if he were not slave but god. That is why a sufi doesn't speak of himself as god, except with his silent voice. As long as you really think of yourself as somehow degenerate in comparison to god, you are thinking with your outer eyes and cannot imagine freedom, it is only an analogy. It is a fact, that mostly those in slavery do not even attempt to escape to freedom, because they cannot imagine the impossible (freedom for themselves). But really the sufi, in relationship to the "Other" thinks how much the "Other" is really himself and makes a capacity for the "Other" and so speaks of the "Other" with the greatest degree of tolerance and speaks of self as a slave, but with the inner eye this means not that self is degenerate but that the true self is Divine and that the "Other" is but one's self recognizing more of himself than he could have imagined. Thus imagining the impossible and the slave escapes! What we need is a science fiction movie which looks at aliens like sufis so, that would be real interesting, but for now i am wondering if i can defeat my own alien by being able to interface with the mother ship through my Macintosh computer like they did in the movie. For that i'll have to ammend some of the present software .... "Ya Freedom!" love, Asha ------------------------------ From: Well333@turbonet.com (Jacquie Weller) Date: Sat, 17 Aug 1996 10:55:59 +0100 Subject: Re: not so friendly We are citizens of a planet The illusions of our separateness divide We are humans with the same blood running Through our veins. If we attack each other We attack ourselves No one truly owns the planet or a country or even a small acrea. It is only God's land, and lent to us Governments may divide it up And call it east, west, south, north, This country and that country But in One God, in Allah, in all the names Is only One Love to know and universally To give from this love that which is not Purchased by anyone. What is it we have to fear, military or might, superpowers or aliens, anyone who is different. Is fear our own projection of how we see what we do not understand. All the walls ever created, were not built by God. If God is love then this is what tears down separations and fear And those who are hungry will be fed, and those who are sick will Be tended, and those who are homeless will be sheltered and those Who are suffering will not be alone, For love will be reaching out It's hands through brothers and sisters everywhere without selfish considerations, and demanding something in return. The only war we need to fight is poverty, selfishness, us verses them, and violence. Enough for my soapbox. I get carried away. Love Kaffea Lalla ------------------------------ From: woodsong@juno.com (Carol Woodsong) Date: Sat, 17 Aug 1996 13:28:37 PST Subject: love, life, everything Thanks to whoever it was that suggested i watch /Wings of Desire/... it was interesting to see where /Far Away, So Close/ came from. wow! :) Actually, to me it seemed quite 'dark'.... and it was very explicit about 'this' and 'that'... whereas /Far Away.../ seems to give fewer 'answers'... much more left up to the imagination. Much more 'poetic' to my way of seeing. I mean, what is life without an angel like Raphaella?! God! Anyway, as Peter Falk in /Wings.../ says, it's all about finding out for yourself! God, i love that line! :) So... tell me friends, how much did you get for your armor? :) Life is Beautiful... don't care what anyone else says! ... that's what i want to believe, so it is so. <> thank you all. i got a lovely email this morning... i was thanking my friend, for being a friend... for allowing God to be, through him... >>God, i love you! >>thank you, God... thank you for being steve, my friend... and he reminded me, yet again... >We're welcome! we are very beautiful! Thank you, God... my friends. please don't let me forget again... still falling in love, carol ------------------------------ From: gmtn@mail.comet.net (Green Mountain School) Date: Sat, 17 Aug 1996 18:58:08 -0500 Subject: answer to carol woodsong part 3 as-salaamu 'alaykum, i don't mind if you don't say anything while you digest it as long as you don't mind if i keep trying to answer the question. so this is the third part of an answer to carol woodsong. to reach to the point of saying "laa 'ilaha 'illa-llah muhammad rasulu-llah" or even more to the point reaching the place where one can say ash-shaddu an-laa 'ilaha 'illa-llah wa ash-shadu anna muhammadar-rasulullah to reach to the point of saying "there is no deity save allah muhhamd is his messenger" or even more to the point reaching the place where one can say "i witness that there is no deity save allah and i witness that muhammad is is the messenger of allah" is, as we wrote earlier a matter of having a clean heart and a pure mind. it also reuqires a certain degree of knowledge which may come through study or maybe come as a sudden insight. a friend seeking ecstasy in morocco knowing nothing about anything except that one might find ecstasy of one kind of another in moroccco went there and became very ill and fell asleep on a beach. two fisherman found him and took him home and fed him some soup upon which he fell asleep to be awoken by the call to prayer which contains the shahadah. he woke from his sleep knowing that this was the truth. he asked how do you get into that and was asked can you say this, "ash-shaddu an-laa 'ilaha 'illa-llah wa ash-shadu anna muhammadar-rasulullah. " he said sure i can say that and he said it just like that not knowing what it meant but knowing that it was his destiny and if he just said that it would finally all click together. a scots friend was in his eleventh year. a bus stopped in his village near edinburgh. some people got down. men and women. they formed themselves in rows and somebody began calling words he had never heard but as he said, "pierced me to the heart". they spent a few minutes during which he saw them go thru a set of what he thought were exercises which also moved him very deeply. then they got on the bus and went away. some years later, now an architecture student, he was given a summer scholarship to visit iran. he had just got off the plane and was taking a bus to go to isfahan when the bus he was riding he, for the first time since that day when he was a child heard the sound of the call to prayer and a few minutes later the bus passed a courtyard of a mosque, and almost tengentially he looked in and saw the people doing that same thing he saw all those years ago. some how he got the driver to stop the bus and hauling his bags back he found the courtyard and without knowing 'anything' he walked in and joined in the 'excercise' {which we call the salah or the namaz or the prayers which is not exacxtly what it is but ok something like that} and has been now continuing that salah many years. there are many such stories and then there are many stories of people who met a shaykh or a teacher or an imam or a pir or a murshid and after some time passes they too find that they can say ash-shaddu an-laa 'ilaha 'illa-llah wa ash-shadu anna muhammadar-rasulullah. others read poems or books or tough it out in hermitage or retreat and they they find the only things they can finally say is ash-shaddu an-laa 'ilaha 'illa-llah wa ash-shadu anna muhammadar-rasulullah. and then there are other who say well sure ok but what does it mean? and what can you say. it means "i witness that there is no deity save allah and i witness that muhammad is is the messenger of allah.' yeah but what does that mean? well that is, as they say, a long story but it has to do first of all with understanding, if understanding is what you have to do, what or who allah is and obviously who allah isnt as there is a dynamic going on between there is no but there is. you might trying saying ninety nine times in english real fast 'there is no god but god there is no god but god there is no god but god there is no god but god there is no god but god there is no god but god there is no god but god there is no god but god there is no god but god there is no god but god there is no god but god there is no god but god there is no god but god there is no god but god there is no god but god there is no god but god there is no god but god there is no god but god and you kind of get some idea on the dynamic of the statement in arabic. then of course there are so many avenues leading down the road of this god stuff but in the end it is rather like the old man {lao tse an exact translation of shaykh} said, 'the tao that can be named is not the tao that is just as the allah that can be described is not really the allah that is because whatever you can conceive is in the end contingent on your being and you being {and mine} is by anture limited so whatere allah is or isn't what or it is is always just that quantum more that whatever it that you may think, imagine, speculate it could or might be. or there is the arabic itself tho arabs will tell you there is no meaning to ther word allah other than allah for this is a word which has never been used for anything or anyone else but then there are bedu who say it does have a meaning and the meaning is like this. there is a woman crosssing the desert with her husband. they are riding two up on the camel. she is holding him round the back when she feels him shudder and then slump -- dead of a heart attach in her arms. almost simultaneous with her realisation is the realisation of the camel that bolts throwing her off. the camel is running off into the distance she is lying breathless on the earth her husband next to her is dead she has no water no food and they are 7 days out from the next oasis. in such a case she says the only thing that can be said. allaaaah. then there is the view of allah of looking at the blades of grass and realising that everyone of them is different no two the same like the stars and the snowflakes and the sands and the souls and all of that is a passing thought of what it is that is allah. in then end it comes down to whether you see it or you dont for allah says {translated} "there is no coercion in the way. the right way is clear from the wrong. {Q2:256}. you see which is to say you witness which is to say you testify that aside from who or what ever it is that made you and me and everything else and gave it life and causes it to be at every level at all times in all dimensions that there is no being other than that being and the name of that being is allah. if you want to say someother name Yahuwwah or Ishwara or God or Nothing or Nature that is your business about which i have nothing to say other than since allah is one i have no doubt that all of that is in there somewhere. but if you interested to follow on the teachings of the self surrendered ones you will know that this name of being is allah and part of the surrender is accepting that truth. if you cannot accept that or want to continue in some other way that is not my business but if you can accept that there is a name that is known {and a whole body of teaching and, more importantly, integrated and integral practices that go with it} and that name is allah and we mean by that name all that we have written of above and that clearly there is nothing or no one else that could possibly exist other than that then that is one step. the second step of being able to say "wa ash-shadu anna muhammadar-rasulullah" will have to come in another day. mind you having spoken or written about allah and then muhammad, belssings of allah and peace be upon him we will have to open the next area to see a little about "i" whoever that might be or not a bit we have touched upon in the part about the day when allah brought together the souls and sked "who is your lord?" you know we all saw allah before we were and really that is why we can say ash-shaddu an-laa 'ilaha 'illa-llah. all of this is trying to answer the question > okay. I've been warned not to do this... but i'm throwing caution to the wind these days! ... I am one of the 'unknowledgable'. I wish to see Truth. I wish to do God's Will. I have absolutely no undersatanding of Islam -- but i do have an intense desire to "surrender to Allah".... TELL ME how to do that!" i hope my attempt to answer a part of this question is of some help. wa salaam which is to say, peace abdullah nooruddeen the mower of the shaykh's lawn A. N. Durkee Green Mountain ------------------------------ From: woodsong@juno.com (Carol Woodsong) Date: Sat, 17 Aug 1996 19:43:24 PST Subject: Re: answer to carol woodsong part 3 >as-salaamu 'alaykum, namaste. >i don't mind if you don't say anything while you digest it as long as >you don't mind if i keep trying to answer the question. so this is the >third part of an answer to carol woodsong. Let us continue to question and answer... :)(: thank you. >that one might find ecstasy of one kind of another in moroccco went [...] >he asked how do you get into that and was asked can you say this, >"ash-shaddu an-laa 'ilaha 'illa-llah wa ash-shadu anna >muhammadar-rasulullah. " he said sure i can say that and he said it >just >like that not knowing what it meant but knowing that it was his >destiny and >if he just said that it would finally all click together. but, why would one /want/ ecstasy? I see people seeking /that/ all the time... through 'worldly' means. I realize that many people reading here /know/ something that i do not yet know. I also realize that some people know and do not do. In other words, it seems so very important to me, that what i /know/ be put into practice -- else i simply seem to be 'playing' with these 'concepts' of Spirituality. What you /know/ to be true, i can know. I know that there is ... /some/thing -- /some/thing so wonderful, i don't even /want/ to attempt to talk about it. But, this /knowing/ is not on the same level as your knowing. I have not yet tasted it. But, still... it is so very deep, so very much a part of me that i could /never/ deny IT. What this means to me ... at this moment, is that i must give my all... to IT. I do not choose to do this. I /must/ do this. My choices are small ones... what time to get up, to walk or to ride, here or there.... and none of that matters. What matters is that through all of this... each moment is /given/ for God. Do i do that? Of course not. But, i know that i must... that is the only way HOME. I guess what i'm learning... is what Kaffea said here not too long ago. We each must follow our own 'destiny'... we all find our own Way to God, our own Way HOME! But, i am here.... and you are speaking with me now. I will open my heart to your words... and hopefully to that which is behind the words you have chosen... and i will trust that God will allow me to see Truth... and to follow the True Path. I have no other choice. >god but god there is no god but god there is no god but god there is I used to say, Allah-u-Abha... 99 times a day -- sometimes more. >says >{translated} "there is no coercion in the way. the right way is clear >from >the wrong. {Q2:256}. you see which is to say you witness which is to >say >you testify that aside from who or what ever it is that made you and >me and >everything else and gave it life and causes it to be at every level at >all >times in all dimensions that there is no being other than that being >and >the name of that being is allah. yes. >the second step of being able to say "wa ash-shadu anna >muhammadar-rasulullah" will have to come in another day. yes, another day. :) >you know we all saw allah before we were and really that is why we can >say >ash-shaddu an-laa 'ilaha 'illa-llah. yes. >i hope my attempt to answer a part of this question is of some help. thank you. Only Allah knows if it 'helped'. >wa salaam which is to say, peace wa salaam and much thanks, carol the mower of Tracie's lawn. :) ------------------------------ End of tariqas-digest V1 #106 *****************************