On His Lordship, & our servitude

On the authority of Abu Dharr Al-Ghafari, of the prophet is that among the sayings he relates from his Lord is that He said:

"O My servants, I have forbidden oppression for Myself and have made it forbidden amongst you, so do not oppress one another.

O My servants, all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek guidance of Me and I shall guide you. O My servants, all of you are hungry except for those I have fed, so seek food of Me and I shall feed you. O My servants, all of you are naked except for those I have clothed, so seek clothing of Me and I shall clothe you. O My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness of Me and I shall forgive you.

O My servants, you will not attain harming Me so as to harm Me, and you will not attain benefiting Me so as to benefit Me. O my servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to become as pious as the most pious heart of any one man of you, that would not increase My kingdom in anything. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of any one man of you, that would not decrease My kingdom in anything. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to rise up in one place and make a request of Me, and were I to give everyone what he requested, that would not decrease what I have, any more than a needle decreases the sea if put into it.

O My servants, it is but your deeds that I reckon up for you and then recompense you for, so let him who finds good praise Allah, and let him who finds other than that blame no one but himself."

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Allah the Almighty has said: "O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it."

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with thanks to
the Supreme Lord,
the Most Kind.

virtual IV

Conclusions:

[Know this,] so that you may not despair over whatever [good] has escaped you nor exult [unduly] over whatever [good] has come to you... (57:23)

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"Young man, I shall teach you some words [of advice] : Be mindful of Allah, and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him in front of you. If you ask, ask of Allah; if you seek help, seek help of Allah.

Know that if the Nation were to gather together to benefit you with anything, it would benefit you only with something that Allah had already prescribed for you, and that if they gather together to harm you with anything, they would harm you only with something Allah had already prescribed for you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried."

and in another version,

"..Be mindful of Allah, you will find Him before you. Get to know Allah in prosperity and He will know you in adversity. Know that what has passed you by was not going to befall you; and that what has befallen you was not going to pass you by. And know that victory comes with patience, relief with affliction, and ease with hardship."

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Allah the Almighty has said: "Who soever shows enmity to a friend of Mine, I shall be at war with him. My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have imposed upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him. When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it."

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"Purity is half of faith. alhamdu-lillah [Praise be to Allah] fills the scales, and subhana-Allah [How far is Allah from every imperfection] and alhamdu-lillah [Praise be to Allah] fill that which is between heaven and earth. Prayer is light; charity is a proof; patience is illumination; and the Quran is an argument for or against you. Everyone starts his day and is a vendor of his soul, either freeing it or bringing about its ruin."

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with thanks to
the Most Merciful

On Certainty

The levels of certainty.


Allah who knows the seen and the unseen proclaims that the Quran revealed to the Holy Prophet is the truth of assured certainty (haqqul yaqin), which can never be disproved.

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Truth as understood by man by the application of his power of judgement and appraisement of visible evidence through reasoning or inference is called ilmul yaqin.

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If he sees something with his own eyes, described as "seeing is believing", it is called Ayn ul yaqin which sometimes terminates in delusion or deception.

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tafsir 69:38 --from here

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"Argue with a fool, and most likely the fool is doing the same... because the problem is not, do you believe what you see, but what is it that you see?"
-- reproduced, with thanks

knowledge & submission III

In prayer, I felt the stubbornness in my soul
I realised - I loved the world & was reluctant to leave it - so
If I would not leave my home, how could I begin the journey to God?

For a while I was dumbstruck, silent; until
I realised - or remembered - the world is fake, deception
And knew; no-one who knows this, would want it at all.

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"Many a knowledge comes to man in stages:

(1) first he becomes aware of an idea;
(2) then he has some doubts about its correctness;
(3) then he becomes inclined to accept it;
(4) then gradually the possibility of his accepting the opposite view vanishes completely and he becomes firmly convinced of the truth of that idea - and this firm conviction is called knowledge.

If such a knowledge is concerned with some frightening affair, then his worry and disquiet will begin as soon as he reaches the third stage when he is only inclined to accept it - is only "thinking" that probably it may be true."

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(c) July 2007,
with thanks to AlMizan.org

Seeking knowledge of God...

... above and beyond any other form of knowledge

All praise is due to Allah, the First and Last, the Originator and Creator, the giver of Order and Beauty.

Throughout the courses of our lives, it is necessary for all men to acquire knowledge. From the time an infant is born the mind and senses combine to analyse information from the outside world, which is then assimilated into an internal world-view in the theoretical arena, and later applied to physical problems in the practical arena. Over the course of history men have combined their knowledge and built upon the works of their forefathers, separating it out into schools of science and mathematics, philosophy and art; continually expanding, refining and specialising the content of each. Each school has become a blanket for a vast array of knowledge, by no means complete, yet far beyond the capability of any one individual to amass or encompass. The totality of knowledge within a single speciality within any one school is approaching impossible to acquire even for the brightest minds; and the sum of all human knowledge to date is impossible to comprehend, let alone the sum of all knowledge – known or yet to be discovered, if discoverable at all.

Those who seek knowledge (over and above the basic levels required to function and interact within society) must choose carefully which type of knowledge to pursue, and which to forgo. Many decide according to their interests or abilities, some driven by curiosity or the prospect of income, others seeking practical solutions or innovations to better their situation. But in each of these choices, there necessitates a neglect of other branches of knowledge which may be more worthy of pursuit. The one who seeks knowledge for its own sake; to better understand the universe from the heavens above to the depths of men’s souls; cannot tolerate blind pursuit of arbitrary branches of knowledge, knowing they within their lifetimes they may never chance upon the knowledge which can help them unlock the greatest questions of existence. Without a reasoned and logical direction to their studies, the vast majority of these thinkers would be doomed to frustration and failure.


Believing in God, knowing that He is the Source and Original Cause of the universe, understanding that He created all according to a Grand Design; its complex progression, laws of interaction and development, the natures of all beings and the purpose behind their creation; Master of all about which there is knowledge, in all schools and that which is unknown; leads towards an understanding of the power and significance of knowledge of God. Knowledge of Him encompasses the ultimate reasons for the form and existence of the universe, and the totality of the myriad of directions it may take in times to come. Attaining core knowledge from the very Source of Knowledge will shed light upon countless world-truths, the way fundamental axioms unfold and combine to give endless rules and realities, which ultimately stem solely from their logical conclusions. The knowledge relating to Him traverses all branches and schools, colouring the understanding of every aspect of creation.

If a seeker desires knowledge, the most worthy pursuit must be that most complete and all-encompassing, general knowledge; which may be expanded towards any direction and within any branch they choose. It must be in seeking those general, fundamental truths, which are the essence of the universe. No single speciality can be studied without starting at the end of knowledge in its field, then working back along the single branches towards the source; never touching any branch except those directly preceding the one you started upon.

Only through knowledge of the Source of all branches can one gain general understanding of all knowledge, then move on to specific and detailed understanding of some.

If a seeker desires Truth, it is incumbent upon them to seek knowledge of God; and in so doing they may approach every other form of knowledge, as the source of a river leads to the sea.


All praise is due to Allah, Lord and Cherisher of the Worlds.

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(c) June '07