Apostle of God (S) - editable

145 Pages·2.804 MB·English

by  Mohammad Ali Shomali

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Edited By: Mohammad Ali Shomali

Spiritual Message of Islam

edited by
Mohammad Ali Shomali
Islamic Reference Series:
Vol.4 Spiritual Message of Islam
Edited by Mohammad Ali Shomali
First published in Great Britain in 2010
ISBN: 1-904934-16-1
978-1-904934-16-5
Published by
Institute of Islamic Studies
Islamic Centre of England
140 Maida Vale, London W9 1QB
Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
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In the Name of God,

the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Table of contents
Preface 7
Spiritual Direction: An Islamic Perspective
on Self-purification 15
by Mohammad Ali Shomali
Invocation of God: The Only Way to Human
Salvation and Prosperity ................................ 37
by Muhsin Araki
The principle and Practice of the Remembrance
of God: An Islamic Perspective ......................... 73
by Reza Shah Kazemi
Contemplation in Islamic Spirituality 91
by Mahnaz Heydarpoor
Reflection on Prayer: A Muslim Perspective . 103
by Mohammad Fanaei Eshkevari
Religion and Mysticism .......... 1 13
by Abolfazl Sajedi
5
My God! Make me completely cut off from
all else but You, and enlighten the vision of
our hearts with the radiance of looking al
You, until the vision of our hearts penetrates
the veils of light and reaches the Source of
Grandeur and set our spirit to be suspended at
the glory of Your sanctity. (4iAl-Munajat al-
Sha4baniyyah” in Mafatih al-Jinan)
6
Preface
There are three main factors involved in any decision making:
knowledge, motivation and power. Knowledge is important in
order to make an informed decision. For example, in order to
decide to buy a book, we must first know what a book is. We
must also know what kind of book we want, what language it
should be in, what genre and style we prefer and so on.
Motivation is important as without it we clo not have any desire to
make a decision or to perform any action. Lastly, we need the
power or ability to make a decision or to act. For example, if we
know what type of book is useful for us, and we also have the
desire for reading it, but the book is not available, we cannot clo
what we would like to do or what we are supposed to do.
Therefore, we can only make a decision or perform an action
when we have knowledge, motivation and power combined
together.
Let us now discuss the role of each of these components in self­
development.
Power: We all have the power or ability to make decisions or to
take action because we all have free will; no-one is forced to be
good or bacl, or created wicked. Of course, individual people may
have different life experiences or extent of their power or ability.
Some people may be more prepared for the spiritual journey due
to their upbringing or environment whereas it may be more
difficult for other people. However nobody is deprived of the
power to become good. Even people in the worst situations can
become good. There are many such examples in the Qur’an，such
as the wife of Pharaoh who, although she lived with Pharaoh in
the same environment as him, yet she was a good believer，so
much so that she became an example for believing men and
women. The Qur'an says:
God draws an [other] example for those who have
faith: the wife of Pharaoh, when she said, ‘My Lord!
Build me a home near You in paradise, and deliver
me from Pharaoh and his conduct, and deliver me
from the wrongdoing lot.’ (66:11)
In contrast to this is the example of the son of Prophet Noah. He
was under the care of a great Prophet and yet he still did not want
to follow the path of his father. Therefore, people have different
degrees of readiness, but nobody is forced lo be good or bacl.
God also judges us according to what we clo with what we have
been given:
God does not task any soul beyond its capacity.
Whatever [good] it earns is to its benefit, and
whatever [evil] it incurs is to its harm. ... (2:286)
... God does not task any soul except [according to]
what He has given it. God will bring about ease after
hardship. (65:7)
Thus, for people who live under circumstances in which they find
the spiritual journey difficult, the little that they do may be
considered equal to great things done by people who have
everything available to them. According to a well-known hadith
from Prophet Muhammad, “the most privileged acts are those that
are done in greatest difficulty”. {Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 67, p. 191)
So the power to decide or to act is present to a greater or lesser
extent in each one of us, and we will be judged according to our
individual capacities and abilities.
Motivation: Like power, the desire for perfection is experienced
by all. Human beings have an inherent desire to be goocland have
a desire for perfection, for justice, benevolence, honesty, etc. Gocl
8