Between Flames and Shadows....

Society Religion & Philosophy
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**Sufism: the flame and the shadow **

Muahammad Sabieh Anwar

At the times of greatest turmoil, the spirit found its fullest

from the quotes of gretest faqeeh Imam Shafi…to the Imam Ibne Tamiyyah..from Imam Jauzi…to** Imam Zahabi**…the ever-green debate and neurons squeezers are on the way of deception to the flames …in the shadows of the reality and burning truths of what happened to us ..at the edge of the 1400 lasting years ..!!!

and still…

http://ravi.lums.edu.pk/sabieh/sufism-05-04.pdf](http://ravi.lums.edu.pk/sabieh/sufism-05-04.pdf)

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Re: Between Flames and Shadows....

personally..i not get 100% of this stuff...:)

Muslim reaches UK finals for Miss Universe
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Re: Between Flames and Shadows....

Peace (sign of) divine-light

The first paragraph is a discourse on the dual aspect of Sufism i.e. the apparently contradictory ... the flame and the shadow in co-existence. He effectively provides many examples of such dichotomites.

The second paragraph deals with the nature of its study ... for discipline or for experience.

Discipline deals with purification ... expereince deals with glorification ...
Some examples were given to reflect this.

Illumination = light that shines - guides and provides clarity
Conflagration = light that burns - minimises all desires and needs to merely worship of Allah (SWT).

End of page 2 borders on the fact that sufism appears in history as a counterbalance to political decadence and material ambition.

There is a definite basis for forebearing with patience rather than voicing for justice. This is especially true in the case where voicing for justice will lead to more imbalance.

Page 3 sets the way to explaining the optimistic outlook on life and knowledge.

But here is the blow ... late on page 3 the author puts a postive spin on the sectarian aspects of the fiqh activties. He makes it appear that Mut'azillah are a good thing to have!

Page 4 deals with it revival and needs for it.

However, there is a danger in reviving such a thing without first teaching Muslims the basics of Islam. The deviant approach being the favoured one.

My overall opinion of this article is that it is written by a passive person, or an apologetic.

What some Sufi sellers fail to realise is that the highest realisation of such Sufi activity is on the battlefield not in isolation.

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Re: Between Flames and Shadows....

thanks sir for the detailed explanation of such a difficult piece of article...:)

and one thing i want to tell you...he is a very optimistic man ..and never becomes sad or in a stet of failure...:)

The Random Thread
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Re: Between Flames and Shadows....

interesting.
sir will you elaborate more on this notion.

thanks

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Re: Between Flames and Shadows....

Peace zobia

It is often understood that the Sufis are passive non-violent people. However, that is merely a phenomenon of Sufi manifestation in times when Muslims were fighting one another. Too much fighting causes for the opposite.

Sufis tend to look at society and bend it in a direction closer to the middle path. If we lean towards materialism then they will lean away from it to counterbalance the trend, usually by isolation. Sometimes they choose isolation as a way of life but they walk amongst people spreading their knowledge.

Consider a time when Muslims around the world are good, the people are good, an evil ideology sets off and war is required to quell an oppressor. In those times the Sufis will be the first to call Jihad, because they will need to maintain the middle path trend.

In fact jihad itself is to struggle with oneself towards the good. On the battlefield it is the Sufi who will invite his enemy (who is poised to kill him) to a better way. On the battlefield angels can fight so then why not Sufis?

... This makes me sound like a Sufi ... I am not ... to me being a Sufi is not a sect it is actually a religious conscious level. I do aspire to become Muttaqi and the true Sufi is a Moh'sin - i.e. giving up ones rights for the rights of others.

The Sufis will be those who go on to the battefield out of love for protecting the enemy from his own hatred and protecting the enemy from earning sins by fighting good. They are about compassion not about passiveness. In fact how can they be passive when they are striving so much to seek God?

There are many sects that have formed as a result of Sufis, none of these I profess to, however, Sufis are not from them either. It is hard to unravel what position a reporter has on Sufism when he talks about it. But certain clues are left behind when reading carefully. I think he has a good understanding of the mechanics of Sufism, but more I cannot say.

If I were to argue my point home I would say along the same vein of argumentation that the reporter uses ... flame and shadow well if the shadow is isolation the flame must be jihad.