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Qast and ‘Azm (Decision and Resolution) 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 initiate’s pursuit of love and the pleasure of God, the Truly Beloved One, and...
Irada, Murid, and Murad (Will, the Willing One, and the Willed One) Irada (will) is both a verb and a noun. As a verb, it means to choose between two things, to desire. As a noun, it means the mental power by which a person can direct his or her...
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...
Sakina and Itmi’nan (Serenity and Peacefulness) 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 means that a heart gradually comes to rest as a result of experiencing gifts...
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...
The Emerald Hills of the Heart or 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, a four-volume compilation of his writings that were...
Ihsan (Perfect Goodness) Ihsan 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 of ihsan,...
The Heart and Some of Its Dynamics The heart 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. If the body is under the command of the spirit according to all the...
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) 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 the context...
Islamic Pillars / Satan-Devil-Jinn
by slife · Published August 9, 2019 · Last modified August 10, 2019
Stoning of the Devil The Stoning of the Devil (رمي الجمرات ramy al-jamarāt, “throwing of the jamarāt [place of pebbles]”)[1][2][3] is part of the annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. During the ritual, Muslim pilgrims throw pebbles at three walls (formerly pillars), called jamarāt, in the city of Mina just east of Mecca. It...
Mount Arafat Mount Arafat[1][2] or Mount Arafah (جَبَل عَرَفَات transliterated Jabal ʿArafāt) is a granite hill about 20 km (12 mi) east of central Mecca in the plain of Arafat.[3]Mount Arafat reaches about 70 m (230 ft) in height, and is also known as the “Mount of Mercy” [4] (جَبَل ٱلرَّحْمَة, Jabal Ar-Raḥmah). According to Islamic tradition, the hill is the place where the Prophet Muhammad stood...
Tawhid (Unity) Tawhid, derived from wahda (oneness), means unifying, regarding as one, believing in God’s Oneness or Unity, and sincerely accepting the reality that there is no deity but God. The Sufis add to these meanings the ideas of seeing only He Who is the One, and knowing, mentioning, desiring,...
Tawadu (Humility) Tawadu (modesty and humility) is the opposite of arrogance, pride, and haughtiness. It can also be interpreted as one’s awareness of one’s real position before God, and as letting that realization guide one’s conduct toward God and with people. If one sees oneself as an ordinary, individual part...
Sidq (Truthfulness) Meaning true thought, true words and true actions, sidq (Truthfulness), is reflected in the life of a traveler on the path to God as follows: he or she does not lie or tell a falsehood, lives according to truthfulness, and strives to be a trustworthy representative of loyalty to God....
Haya (Modesty) Sufis use haya, which literally means shame, bashfulness, and refraining from saying or doing anything improper or indecent, to describe one who, out of fear and awe of God, seeks to avoid displeasing Him. It urges one to be more careful, self-possessed, and self-controlled, for such restraint, if...
Shukr (Thankfulness) Literally meaning gladness felt about and gratitude shown for the good done to one, Sufis use shukr to mean using one’s body, abilities, feelings, and thoughts bestowed upon one to fulfill the purpose of his or her creation: being thankful to the Creator for what He has bestowed....
‘Ibada, ‘Ubudiya, and ‘Ubuda (Worship, Servanthood, and Deep Devotion) Although some view worship, servanthood, and devotion as synonymous, most Sufi scholars and masters say that these words have different meanings and connotations. ‘Ibada (worship) means fulfilling God’s commands in one’s daily life and fulfilling the obligations of being His servant,...
Ikhlas (Sincerity or Purity of Intention) Ikhlas (Sincerity or Purity of Intention) has been interpreted as being upright, sincere, and pure; being distant from show and ostentation in one’s intention and conduct; and being closed to whatever clouds or fouls the heart. Purity of intention, straightforwardness in thought, pursuit of no worldly...
Istiqama (Straightforwardness) People of truth have interpreted straightforwardness as avoiding all deviation and extremes, and as following in the footsteps of the Prophets, the faithful, the witnesses (of truth), and the righteous (in belief) in their religious deeds and daily lives. The verse: Those who declare: “Our Lord is God,”...
