Jadhb And Injidhab (Attraction and the Feeling of Being Attracted Toward God) This article covers Jadhb and Injidhab (Attraction and the Feeling of Being Attracted Toward God) in sufi terminology. In the language of Sufism, jadhba (attraction) means that a servant is attracted toward God by God Himself, purified thereby of human...
Dahsha and Hayra (Utmost Astonishment and Amazement) This article covers Dahsha and Hayra (Utmost Astonishment and Amazement), Every traveler journeying in valleys of love and zeal sometimes burns with the fire of love, and sometimes overflows with joy owing to the “wine of immortality” offered by the Beloved. While burning,...
Qabd and Bast (Contraction and Openness) Qabd (contraction) and bast (openness), felt by almost every-one during their lives, relate especially to those who live their lives consciously. Literally meaning being caught, being in straits or distressed, and being grasped by hand, Sufis use qabd to mean that the link between...
Barzakh Barzakh designates a place between hell and heaven, where the soul resides after death, and experiences its own heaven or hell, until the resurrection on Qiyamah (Judgement Day). In Islamic eschatology, although largely up to interpretation, al-Barzakh is generally viewed as the barrier between the physical and spiritual worlds. Barzakh may, according to Ghazali, also be...
Qast And ‘Azm (Decision And Resolution) This article explains the meaning of Qast and ‘Azm (Decision and Resolution) in Sufism. Qast means confidence, determination, choosing, and advancing straight toward a destination, thinking and reasoning moderately and deliberately, and living a moderate and balanced life. For Sufis, this term represents an...
Irada, Murid, and Murad (Will, the Willing One, and the Willed One) This article explains the meaning of Irada, Murid, and Murad (Will, the Willing One, and the Willed One) in Sufism. Irada (will) is both a verb and a noun. As a verb, it means to choose between two...
Yaqin (Certainty) Yaqin (certainty) means having no doubt about the truth of a matter and arriving at accurate, doubtfree knowledge through exact verification. Used also to mean verification, seeking certainty, examining, and exerting strenuous effort to arrive at certainty, certainty is a spiritual station that a traveler on the path...
Basira and Firasa (Insight and Discernment) This article covers Basira and Firasa (Insight and Discernment). Literally meaning perception, intelligence, discretion, evidence, and witness, insight (basira) is defined as having an eye of the heart open, deep perception, an ability to see consequences just at the beginning of an act, or...
Sakina And Itmi’nan (Serenity And Peacefulness) This article explains the meaning of Sakina and Itmi’nan (Serenity and Peacefulness) in Sufism. Literally meaning calmness, silence, steadiness, solemnity, familiarity, subsidence of waves and tranquillity, sakina (serenity) is the opposite of flightiness, restlessness, and wavering or indecision. In the language of Sufism, serenity...
Spiritual Journey “Spiritual Journey” is an agreeable luminous joyful and spiritual sacred truth. This truth has been proclaimed taught and described in thousands of books written by the scholars among the people of illumination and those who have had unfolded to them the reality of creation who have told us...
Divine Light In theology, divine light (also called divine radiance or divine refulgence) is an aspect of divine presence, specifically an unknown and mysterious ability of God, angels, or human beings to express themselves communicatively through spiritual means, rather than through physical capacities. Spirituality The term light has been used in spirituality (vision, enlightenment, darshan, Tabor Light). Bible...
What Is Shekhinah? The Shekhinah (שכינה, šekīnah, Shekina(h)) is the English transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning “dwelling” or “settling” and denotes the dwelling or settling of the divine presence of God. This term does not occur in the Bible, and is from rabbinic literature. Etymology The word shekhinah is not...
Spiritual Practice A spiritual practice or spiritual discipline (often including spiritual exercises) is the regular or full-time performance of actions and activities undertaken for the purpose of inducing spiritual experiences and cultivating spiritual development. A common metaphor used in the spiritual traditions of the world’s great religions is that of walking a path. Therefore, a...
Religion And Drugs This article covers the relationship between religion and drugs. Many religions have expressed positions on what is acceptable to consume as a means of intoxication for spiritual, pleasure, or medicinal purposes. Psychoactive substances may also play a significant part in the development of religion and religious views...
Key Concepts In The Practice Of Sufism The aspect of Fethullah Gülen’s “mission” or personality as a trainer of the human soul may be seen most profoundly and comprehensively in Emerald Hills of the Heart or Key Concepts In The Practice Of Sufism, a four-volume compilation of his writings that...
Ihsan (Perfect Goodness) Ihsan (Perfect Goodness) has two literal meanings, doing something well and perfectly and doing someone a favor, and is sometimes used in the Qur’an and the Sunna with either meaning. At other times, as pointed out in the reflections on Heart while describing the Prophet Joseph’s consciousness...
The Heart and Some of Its Dynamics This article covers The Heart and Some of Its Dynamics in Sufi terminology. The heart (Kalb) is a spiritual resource with two aspects; through one it turns toward the world of spirits, through the other it connects with the world of physical bodies....
Dhikr (Recitation of God’s Names) This article is all about Dhikr (Recitation of God’s Names). Literally meaning mentioning, remembrance, and recollection, in the speech of the Sufis dhikr denotes regular recitation of one or some of God’s Names in the same recitation session. Some spiritual or Sufi orders prefer to...
Rida (Resignation) Rida (resignation) means showing no rancor or rebellion against misfortune, and accepting all manifestations of Destiny without complaint and even better peacefully. In other words, one should welcome all things and events, even those normally associated with distress and terror. Another beautiful definition of resignation is having or...
Inbisat (Expansion) Inbisat (Expansion), Literally meaning growing larger and deeper, spreading and expanding, Sufis use inbisat to signify the relaxing of one’s heart, to the extent allowed by the Shari’a, so that it can embrace everybody and make them pleased or contented with one’s gentle words and pleasant manners. In...