Browsing Category
The Practices
8 posts
Realizations on the Path
The investigations of those who travel the Sufi path are practical and personal, not theoretical, and the resulting realizations are difficult to convey in words. Sufism is a journey from the inner to the outer. Through the realization of the…
Remembrance of God (Dhikr)
Sufi masters stress dhikr (remembrance of God), for it grounds the belief, knowledge, and faith of the seeker by focusing his or her attention on God. One of the fundamental commands of God is to do dhikr as often as…
Spiritual Affinity (Nisbat)
The word nisbat in Arabic means an affinity or connection between two people. In Sufi terminology, it is the spiritual affinity that develops between God and human beings. The essence of Sufism is that a person should develop some quality…
Spiritual Transmission (Tawajjuh)
Many scholars consider the angel Gabriel’s (AS) three embraces during the first revelation to the Prophet (SAW) a form of spiritual transmission. Origin The Prophet (SAW) was in the cave of Hira when Gabriel (AS) came and asked him to…
The Inclusion of the End in The Beginning (Indiraj al-Nihayat fil Bidayat)
Indiraj al-nihayat fi’l-bidayat meaning “The inclusion of the end in the beginning”, is a phrase used in the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order to describe a distinctive sequencing of spiritual practices. Introduced by Shaykh Baha’uddin Naqshband (RA) in the fourteenth century, it is a…
Meditation (Muraqabah)
Experience over the centuries has shown that Sufi meditation (muraqabah) leads to all stages of perfection. For this reason, although shaykhs of our order also perform dhikr (recitations evoking remembrance of God), durud (supplications for blessings upon the Prophet SAW),…
Subtle Centres of Consiousness (Lata’if)
It is generally thought that the human body contains only one subtle center of consciousness: the mind or brain. But the elder Sufis, through their spiritual experiences, discovered additional centers of perception or inner senses which they referred to as…
Introduction to the practices
The goal of Sufism is the development of certain noble qualities such as the purification of the self, purification of the heart, moral etiquette, the state of doing what is beautiful (ihsan), nearness to God, gnosis (ma’rifat), annihilation (fana) and…