The Migration to Peace
by Murshid F. A. Ali ElSenossi

You Tube channel : www.youtube.com/almirajsufi

Search for
Site Search

To make donations
to Almiraj Sufi & Islamic Study Centre

Your donations are greatly appreciated.

Upcoming Event
Art Exhibition by Circles of Beauty

About Us
This page includes the following selected articles:

•Sufism- the Spiritual
Psychological Teaching of Islam
•Colour Your Life with Love for the Prophet Muhammad (saw)
•The Geography of Paradise
•The Development of the Self and the States of Consciousness According to The Word of Allah

Murshid'sTalks
(Listen here
)
The Sufi Teaching - An Introductory Talk
1. Awakening of the Conscience
2. Cleansing of the Heart
3. Die before you die

Love and Islam
1. Loving Allah in His Creations
2. The Natural Proof of the Existence of Allah
3. 'We will show them Our signs on the horizons . . .'
4. The love of creation for the Holy Prophet

More Talks

Contact Almiraj Sufi & Islamic Study Centre/Almiraj Sufi Books

The Purpose of the Centre/Membership Application

CURRENT MOON


Articles

The Vehicle of Light:

The River of Water
Door of Purification

Door of Prayer

Movement of the Prayer

Door of Good and Bad
The Seven Deadly Sins

Stages of the Self

Adab at Tariqa - Spiritual Courtesy of the Path of Allah

The Disharmony of the Heart and Body

Silence on the Path of Knowledge

The Meaning of the Hajj

The Mother of the Book

Hadith an Nur - The Descent of Light

The Merging of Aikido in the Sufi Path

The Seven Treasures of the Heart

Some Advice from Mevlana Rumi

The Subtle Centres of the Heart

Woman In Islam


Things the seeker should know
Some useful links.

The Treasure Magazine

Unity Aikido



 

 

The information contained within this website is subject to copyright. Permission
is granted to use the information for research, study purposes and reprinting in
appropriate use articles. If you reprint anything from this website,
please include an acknowledgement of your source
and forward a copy of the work to the centre.

The Language of the Future - Sufi Terminology
by Murshid F. A. Ali ElSenossi

(Now with improved navigation tools)

Click here to access

Nasihah

(An Arabic word for Sincere Advice)


Do not blame your parents, or your personality, or your society, or your geographical location in this world, or your so called 'karma', or anybody else for what you are.

The Merciful Allah (God) gave every man and woman the chance to undo what has been done through genuine exercise of determination; to have access to the ultimate realisation of the Truth within yourself.

Determined will is Allah's gift to you - when you tune your will to the will of Allah.

In a nutshell - when you learn the art of surrendering your will to Allah.

So, now is the time to decide, my dear brothers and sisters, about your purpose in this life. Are you going to be part of the problem? Or part of the solution to the crisis of this beautiful earth that the Beloved Allah has entrusted us with?

Click here for the Shopping Cart. We are still working to complete the online store. If you do not find what you are looking for on the shopping cart, please feel free to contact us.


Awrad of the Tariqa Burhaniyya-Dasuqiyya-Shadhuliyya.

The Treasure Magazine
Australia's Magazine on Sufism produced by Almiraj Sufi & Islamic Study Centre. Available by individual issues or by subscription. Back issues available. Current issue is Double issue #27 and #28 and is available for purchase on the shopping cart.

The Chart of Knowledge
This diagram by Murshid F.A. Ali ElSenossi is a means of meditation, contemplation and most importantly, visualisation.

Centre Publications

Recommended Reading
Sufism studies. Our Murshid highly recommends reading the following selection of books for those who are serious in travelling the path of enlightenment and those seeking and approaching the realisation of Allah.

Book Review - Muhammad in the Vedas and the Puranas


Time in Mecca -

 

 



 

 


What is Sufism?

The Spiritual Psychological Teaching of Islam

Sufism is the esoteric, heart teaching of Islam. We are living in the 21st Century, the age of 'modernisation', mass communications, the internet and the 'global village' concept, so would hope by now that Sufism (Tasawwuf) does not require much explanation. This teaching has been made more accessible around the world by means of thousands of websites and talks on internet television programs and You Tube. Sufi Books, Sufi music (qawwali), and Sufi poetry are some of the ways that Tasawwuf is introduced to humanity at large. We are not surprised when we discover that some of the best-selling books are written by great saintly people who are deeply rooted in the traditions of the final Prophet and Messenger to all of creations, The Holy Prophet Muhammad, may the salutations of Allah be upon him, and peace. For the sake of clarification and explanation, and as an introduction to our web site, we will give the authentic teaching and explanation with regard to this beautiful and illuminating way. The methodology and practices go back to the Practices (Sunnah) of the Holy Prophet÷ and the Science of Prophethood.

It has been said that Tasawwuf has taken its name from many different sources. In some Traditions the Sufis are connected with the Companions of the Holy Prophet÷ . There was a group of very highly devoted and sincere seekers of Allah known as the Ahl as-Suffa, the People of the Bench. They spent their lives in a state of remembrance of Allah and complete detachment from this world with great love and devotion to the company of their Beloved Prophet÷.. It has also been said, that Sufism is related to the root of the word "safa" – to purify – here meaning to purify the heart of other-than-Allah. There are many names attached to this particular teaching. The Sufis nonetheless say: "If one says he is a Sufi, he is not a Sufi". To be a Sufi is to be in a state of complete awareness of the self and complete awareness of the Divinity and you must have sufficient knowledge of both the exoteric and the esoteric teachings of Islam. If you try to separate Tasawwuf from its root, which is Islam, you are opening a very dangerous door and could cause yourself and others great harm. To do this is also to try to build a castle without foundations. There are many legends regarding this name, but by whatever name we call it, it is the heart of Islam and we could say that every good Muslim is a Sufi and every good Sufi is a Muslim.

Now, we go back to our subject - the aim, the method, the practice and the travel on this great Path of Allah.

"The goal of self-transformation is to remove all the veils between us and Allah.  The final veil is the "I", the sense of separateness we each carry.  To remove this is far from easy.  Ask yourself, "How can I take the "I" out of me?"

The Sufis take as their starting point the Unity of Allah– 'La ilaha ill Allah' – There is no god but One God; There is no reality but One Reality. It is not that we have to acknowledge the Unity of Allah. He does not need our confirmation of His Oneness. This acknowledgement is for our own benefit. When one starts with Unity it is easy to integrate all the different "I’s" which have no function except to confuse and mislead us. For this reason the practices of the Sufis include the remembrance of Allah (Dhikr) and His Names, in various forms, to awaken the consciousness and activate the subtle centres of the heart.

In Sufism there are seven stages of consciousness. (Stages of the Self) When we progress through them we will reach the Ultimate Truth and the Ultimate Unity of Realization in Allah. It is hard; and at the same time it is easy. If we are sincere and if we have great determination (himma) and really wish to be with Allah then, as Allah says in the Holy Qur’an, He is closer to us than our jugular vein. It has been said that there are 70,000 veils between the seeker and Allah, but there are no veils between Allah and the seeker. The complications are from our side. We have to put our lives in order and bring peace and knowledge and proper behaviour to our existence so that we may be able, gradually, to remove the veils of personality, conditioning and lower desires (and after that, the higher desires).

"The Sufis are people who prefer Allah to everything and Allah prefers them to everything else."

So the first step, as we mentioned, is the acknowledgment of the supremacy of Allah, and the acknowledgement which includes the acceptance of 124,000 Prophets and Messengers of Allah who have been sent to humanity and to all the creations in the universe, (those creations that we know of and those that have not been discovered yet).

The last Prophet and Messenger of Allah is the Holy Prophet Muhammad÷ . If we acknowledge this then the second step is to worship, because there is no point in acknowledging Allah if we do not fulfill His commands. As a Sufi poet said: "You disobey Allah and yet you claim His Love. That is indeed a very strange kind of love!" If you truly love Allah you will obey Him because the lover is in a state of total surrender to his Beloved. So – worship you must! What does is mean to worship? Worship is not just the movements of the body. (Movement of the Prayer). It is the orientation of the heart so that the object of your love is the Supreme Being. It is a state of knowledge, because in the true sense you cannot worship something that you do not know. So, the Sufis say: "Worship!" Worship in the Arabic traditions is called ibadat. Ibadat should take us to 'ubudiyya meaning slavehood. You are slave to none but the One. If worship does not produce this result then it has not been done properly. The highest state of consciousness is to be completely and totally submitted to your Beloved, Allah, the Supreme Being and the Creator of all things and the sustainer of all things, because we all remember when we arrived to planet Earth, we arrived without any luggage, Ipods, computers, or any of the other gadgets that we depend on in our daily lives. We think that if we don't have them, our lives will be disastrous.

The Holy Prophet÷ has said, "What I say is the Law, what I do is the Way and my inner state is Reality". There are three stages of practice and understanding in Sufism:

Islam (submission)
Iman (belief)
Ihsan (perfection) or, you could say:

Shariah (The Law)
Tariqah (The mystical Path)
Haqiqah (Reality)

Each is built upon the stages that go before.When we combine this knowledge based on the Holy Qur'an, we will come face to face with each of the seven stages of consciousness.

Islam (submission)
Iman (belief)
Ihsan (perfection)
'Ilm al Yaqin (knowledge of certainty)
'Ain al Yaqin (the eye of certainty)
Haqq al Yaqin (the Reality of Certainty)

The seventh stage is the Complete Self, known also as Hayat as-Sha'ur, the Life of the Senses.

To start this process, you must take the necessary steps. It is highly recommended to observe the month of fasting every year (the Holy month of Ramadhan) in order to experience something of hunger,to tame the animal self and to become conscsious of the suffering of the human being who has nothing to sustain them. The Murshid, or Teacher of a Sufi order or school to whom one attaches oneself, may recommend other fasts if they are required.

There is also zakat, or charity, which deals with material wealth. The Holy Prophet÷ never kept anything more than what he needed for the day and he is our example to follow. When we practise zakat, which requires a percentage of wealth to be given to the needy, then, according to the esoteric Teaching, we are learning detachment, generosity and many other qualities. We must know that the best gift one can give to others is a heart full of love and respect for all the creations of Allah.

Additionally there is the Hajj or pilgrimage. The Holy Prophet÷ said: "Whoever dies without the intention to go on the Pilgrimage, may die on a different faith than that of the religion that I brought". One must strive to perform pilgrimage to the House of Allah once in a lifetime. However, the real pilgrimage is to travel to one’s heart because it is the Real House of Allah. Allah says in a Hadith Qudsi (Holy saying) "Neither My heavens nor My earth contain Me, but the heart of My true believer contains Me". This 'containment' is of knowledge and realisation and illumination.

The Holy Prophet÷ has said "die before you die" and he also said "whosoever knows himself, knows his Lord". So the Sufis use all of these methods and more to transform the self. It is common knowledge that the ego-self cannot surrender to itself. From the very beginning of our lives we are learning from our parents, our peers, schoolteachers, our university lecturers, and the masters of whatever trade we undertake. There is always someone at the beginning who must show us how to learn and Tasawwuf is no exception. However, there is something unique to Islam and to Tasawwuf in particular, called bay'at, which was performed by the Holy Prophet÷ and this practice still continues right to our time. In some parts of the world it is called mukaffaf – taking of the hand. That is, you must take the hand of the one nearest to you to link you to the chain which goes back to the First Teacher who brought this Teaching to us, the Holy Prophet Muhammad÷, who links us to Allah Himself. It is like a very powerful magnetic circle. The one who attaches himself becomes like a magnet, receiving the barakah, spiritual blessings , and participating in the Universal Remembrance of Allah, because this Teaching is for all of humanity. It is Universal. It is fresh and unadulterated and it gives you access to everything that your heart desires and unlocks the mysteries of everything you want to know, but were afraid to ask. I beseech my Beloved Allah to fill the hearts of those who seek the Truth and nothing but the Truth, with the Truth, so that they may become free, inward and outward. The 21st Century, the end of the cycle is a wonderful time if the eye of the heart is open, but it is a dangerous time for those who are in a comatose state of forgetfulness. Their only worries and concerns deal iwth the material world, the enslavement to their work and their bodily needs and desires and the weekly rituals of pushing the tripod trolley through the supermarket, which has become our 'home away from Home'.

Almiraj Sufi & Islamic Study Centre  was established many years ago in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It provides all those who want to know – and who really want to know – with a large range of books on Sufi traditions and their original sources and other traditions as well. So, I hope this introduction helps to give you some idea, but if you want more than the menu - the kitchen and the Cook are here on the Web. May your search bring you success in this life and the next.

And may Allah fill our hearts and yours with Peace, Love and Knowledge and Guide us all to Him, by Him. Ameen.

Sufism is but a name; when it is finished, only Allah remains.

Written by Murshid F.A. Ali ElSenossi- Almiraj Sufi & Islamic Study Centre

Go to: Almiraj Sufi Books


 

Almiraj Sufi and Islamic Study Centre Inc.
Incorporated in the State of Tasmania, Australia

Page last updated 20-Jul-2010