Dear Ismailiworld Members,
The Paramount Need for Higher Spiritual Education
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Ya Ali Madad. Why do we need higher spiritual education? The simple answer is because we have a personal world which consists of a body and a soul which can be enlightened. Let us examine these concepts in more detail:
What are the three components of a human being?
"A human being is like a three story building, in which the body is the lowest storey, the soul is the second and the intellect (in the form of light) is the third storey, just as the Ark of Nûh, may peace be upon him, had three levels, the bottom, the middle and the top. It resembles human existence, for the spiritual ark is in the personal world (i.e., within yourself). Thus in the above mentioned three storey building, the physical (worldly) bounties are available at the ground level, the spiritual bounties (of the soul) in the middle and the intellectual bounties (in the form of light) in the upper, so that, those who strive hard for the sake of God, should be enriched, not only with the everlasting wealth of the recognition of the self (soul), but also with the recognition of Paradise through these lofty spiritual and intellectual (luminous) bounties (Holy Qur'an 47:6)." (Source: Healing through Knowledge, p. 116)
How can human beings cure themselves?
"He who derives pleasure only and only from physical bounties and has no sense of the pleasure of spiritual bounties, namely, dhikr-u ibadat and of intellectual bounties, namely (spiritual) knowledge and wisdom, then frankly speaking, such a person suffers from spiritual diseases, therefore he should cure himself through dhikr-u bandagi, contemplation and (spiritual) knowledge." (Source: Healing through Knowledge, p. 117)
What can a human being see from his palace?
"Man, in fact, lives in a palace, in which through the windows of the first storey can be seen the scenery of nasût (human kingdom), through the windows of the second storey the secrets of malakût (angelic kingdom) and through the windows of the third storey, the manifestation of the beauty of the jabarût (Kingdom of the Divine attributes, i.e., the Light of the 99 beautiful Names of God). But man is always very negligent and lazy and hence he is in great loss (Holy Qur'an 103:1). He confines himself to the first storey and does not take the trouble to climb the stairs of the second and third storeys. Or, he is ill and therefore is not able to use the upper storeys of his palace. Except what God wills." (Source: Healing through Knowledge, p. 117)
What can a human being achieve in his/her personal world?
" Microcosm is also called the personal world. Thus, potentially, you are a world. If you accept the real spirit of Islam (Holy Qur'an 8:24), you save your personal world from the death of ignorance and by the Divine tayid (help) you bring it to life from potentiality to actuality. The example of this feat is as if someone rescued the entire people of the world from an atomic destruction. Why is this feat so important and so great? It is so, because of the fact that, in the personal world (i.e., within yourself) live the people of the entire world (in form of alm-i dhar: the world of spiritual particles). It is in this sense that Habil was a personal world, whom Qabil assassinated and destroyed his inner world with all the people of the entire world (who were present in the form of spiritual particles in his personal world)." (Source: Healing through Knowledge, p. 112)
From the above examples, it is absolutely clear that we need higher spiritual education in order to reach our three-dimensional, hierarchical human potential. May Mowla bless us immense barakat of his spiritual (ruhani) and luminous (noorani) knowledge so that we may all become his real, luminous spiritual children in this glorious, extended Golden Jubilee year! Ameen.
Project Archives
Prayer Card for the Well-being and Health of the Whole Noorani Family
Niyat and Wish List:
Let us first declare our noble intentions and then invoke the angelic salwat for exoteric and esoteric purposes. Ya Ali, Ya NOOR Mowlana Shah Karim Al-Hussaini Hazir Imam, we pray for:
- The well being and health of the whole NOORANI family;
- Protection from the elements of dross and darkness;
- Sunshine in hearts, Light in our foreheads and the blessing of the inner vision of the Truth;
- Mushkil Aasan and material, spiritual & intellectual upliftment of the global Jamat, the global Muslim community and humanity at large;
- Salvation of all departed souls;
- Empowerment of our children with the correct understanding of our holy faith;
- External and internal peace for the whole humanity; and
- Improvement of our physical, spiritual and luminous quality of life.
"It is mentioned in verse (33:33): "O you the people of the house (of the Prophet)! Verily Allah intends but to keep off from you (every kind of) uncleanness and purify you with a thorough purification." By the people of the house or ahl-i bayt are meant the holy Prophet himself, Hazrat Ali, Hazrat Fatimah, Hazrat Hasan and Hazrat Husayn. (Muslim, IV, 1883; Tirmidhi, V, 663)" [Source: Tawil 144: A Thousand Wisdoms]
Now let us recite angelic salwats to invoke Divine grace and mercy.
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