Posts from the ‘Musings’ Category
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh and as we say in Tarim, “min al-A’idin al-Maqbulin”. Habib Ahmad bin Hasan al-Attas said, “If someone ponders the customs of Tarim with inner sight, he will see that all of them have a connection to the sunnah.” This is a short video of part of the Eid festivities [...]
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In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate Praise is for Allah, Lord of the Worlds May Allah bless and grant peace to our liegelord Muhammad as well as his folk and companions Dear brothers and sisters from the nation of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), As we wait in eager [...]
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By the Grace of Allah, we had a seamless second lesson in ‘Abdullah bin Abu Bakr al-Aydarus’ Red Sulfur (may Allah have mercy upon him). Habib Umar (Allah preserve him) mentioned that we would study texts from the Imams of the Ba’Alawi Tradition. In preparation for this lesson, we were struck by how very steeped [...]
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According to my Shaykhs what is needed to surmount the challenges facing us today is tarbiya (spiritual nurturing). Our crisis is one of Iman not fiqh and throwing dispensations at it won’t help, tarbiya will. Shaykh Nuh (Allah preserve him) is one of those who can give it — please benefit from this lecture: The [...]
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Another beneficial piece by our beloved Uncle Shafiq Morton – an account of Habib Umar’s recent talk on Women in Islam: Talking at the St Athan’s Road mosque, he said that Allah had created men and women as mutually complimentary beings. Gender relations could not be conducted on the basis of competition. That was the [...]
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Please benefit from the following account by our beloved Uncle Shafiq Morton who accompanied Habib Umar during his recent visit to Cape Town, South Africa: Media interviews can be predictable things. People who are famous for being famous can hardly utter a sentence. Those who are well-known might be worth a few sound bytes; and [...]
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From Durban, South Africa, with Love: Spreading Love, Tarbiya and Tazkiya — *Tarbiya: Spiritual rearing and nurturing of the faith, piety, adab and character of the believer. *Tazkiya: Spiritual growth and purification.
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O slave of the body, how long will you toil in its service? Are you seeking profit in that in which there is loss; Turn to the soul and perfect its virtues; For you – through the soul not the body – are human. Much of Habib’s message here has revolved around this meaning of [...]
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Yesterday we visited some local scholars with Habib Umar. It was a lesson in adab (good manners) to see the immense love and respect that these scholars showed one another. One of the Shaykhs asked Habib about his father, Habib Muhammad bin Salim bin Hafiz bin Shaykh Abu Bakr bin Salim (may Allah sanctify his [...]
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We visited a small very humble mosque in Soweto with Habib Umar this evening. He told the small congregation that he intended visiting them on behalf of all Muslims because they deserve to be visited by every Muslim. Brought me to tears, I could barely translate it. It is a blessing that there are still [...]
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