Religious Views On Suicide Many of the world’s religions have traditionally condemned suicide because, as they believe, human life fundamentally belongs to God. In recent years many faith traditions have modified their views of suicide and looked more closely at what their role should be, in both prevention and healing....
Ightirab (Doubled Separation) Ightirab (doubled separation) is a feeling resembling that which arises from falling into error after reform, or night following day, or the darkness of distress that surrounds the heart after exhilaration. Those whom the Messenger praised in His saying, Glad tidings to the outsiders, have always had...
Walaya (Sainthood) Literally meaning a person, a community, or a country that is under the direction and rule of another, walaya (sainthood) denotes annihilation with respect to carnal selfhood and egoism in favor of awareness of being under the dominion of the All-Living, Self-Subsistent One and of the need to...
Istighraq (Immersion) Literally meaning absorption, diving into, becoming deeply involved in, istighraq (immersion) denotes transportation by joy, oblivion of the world, the cleansing of the heart from worldly worries enabling one to turn to God wholeheartedly, and, in consequence, going into such deep ecstasies that one becomes unaware of even...
Ghurba (Separation) Literally meaning the state of being a foreigner, homelessness, loneliness, separation, and being a stranger in one’s own land, ghurba (separation) has been defined in the Sufi language as renouncing the world with the charms to which one feels attachment on the way to the True, Desired One,...
Ghayra (Endeavor) Ghayra (Endeavor) literally means making every effort of concern, and being alert in striving, for chastity, honor, and esteem. It signifies being on the alert in respect of religious prohibitions. God is limitless in His concern for the purity of His servants and is infinitely pleased with the...
SIR (Secret) This article covers SIR (Secret) in Sufi terminology. Meaning something kept hidden from the knowledge or view of others, sir (secret) is a spiritual faculty deposited in the heart as a Divine trust. As a Divine trust, it has the same significance for the heart as spirit has...
Ghayba (Absence) Literally meaning disappearance and no longer being existent, ghayba (absence) denotes that the heart has cut its relationship with the corporeal world in order to give itself to exclusive devotion to God. Although derived from the word ghayb, which means being not present, ghayba (absence) signifies self-annihilation and...
Waqt (Time) In the language of Islamic Sufism, waqt (time) denotes the time when the Divine gifts pour on a traveler to the Truth in accordance with one’s nearness to Him. These gifts invade the inner world with their Divine quality according to one’s capacity to receive them in the...
Adam And Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. It also provides the basis for the doctrines...
What Is Munkar And Nakir? Munkar and Nakir (منكر ونكير) (English translation: “The Denied and The Denier”) in Islamic eschatology, are angels who test the faith of the dead in their graves. Description These angels are described as having solid black eyes, having a shoulder span measured in miles, and...
The Quran and The Resurrection This article covers The Quran and The Resurrection. Quranic Arguments About The Resurrection Although scientific findings like the second law of thermodynamics show that existence is gradually disappearing, and even a collision of two planets could destroy the universe. If existence began with a big...
The Resurrection In Revealed Scriptures This article covers The Resurrection in Revealed Scriptures. The Qur’an, the last heavenly Scriptures, has four main themes: God’s Existence and Unity, the Resurrection and afterlife, Prophethood, and worship and justice. It emphasizes the Resurrection far more than all previous Scriptures. Despite the distortion it...
Creation And Resurrection Your Creation And Your Resurrection Are As But A Single Soul What does the verse: Your creation and your resurrection are as but a single soul (31:28) mean? Answer: That the Divine Power can create and resurrect humanity as easily as it creates and resurrects one person. For...
Benefits Of Belief In The Resurrection After belief in God, belief in the Resurrection has the primary place in securing a peaceful social order. Why should those who do not believe that they will be called to account strive to live an honest, upright life? But those of us who...
A’raf (Araf) A’raf (الأعراف) is the Muslim separator realm or borderland between heaven and hell, inhabited by the people who are evenly balanced in their sins and virtues. This place may be described as a kind of beneficent purgatory with privation but without suffering. The word is literally translated as...
Seven Heavens In religious or mythological cosmology, the seven heavens refer to seven levels or divisions of Heaven. The concept, derived from ancient Mesopotamian religions, can be found in the Abrahamic religions such as Islam, Judaism and Christianity; a similar concept is also found in some Indian religions such as Hinduism. Some of these traditions,...
Garden Of Eden The Garden of Eden, also called Paradise, is the biblical “garden of God” described in the Book of Genesis and the Book of Ezekiel. Genesis 13:10 refers to the “garden of God”, and the “trees of the garden” are mentioned in Ezekiel 31. The Book of Zechariah and the Book of Psalms also...
Jannah or Paradise In Islam, Jannah (جنّة Jannah; plural: Jannat), lit. “garden”, is the final abode of the righteous and the Islamic believers, but also the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Hawwa dwelt. Firdaws (فردوس) is the literal term meaning paradise, but the Quran generally uses the term Jannah symbolically referring to paradise. However “Firdaus”...
Speaking About The Resurrection Our next step should be to talk about the resurrection. The child should believe in their hearts that as soon as this life ends a new life, an everlasting afterlife, will begin. Science, wisdom and reality point out that Allah created this universe and that He...