How did
Islam spread?
By Professor Shahul Hameed
It is a striking fact of history that within three
centuries, after Prophet Muhammad started preaching
Islam in Mecca, Islam spread over the area of three
continents; Asia, Africa and Europe. There are many
reasons why people have been, from past to the present
embracing Islam. Muhammad Asad, a Jewish convert to
Islam, says:
Universal
Declaration of Human Rights When
I was a little girl, I had the privilege of meeting
Eleanor Roosevelt,
who was visiting Rancho Lilac, in Valley Center,
California, where I lived as the daughter of the ranch
cook. Interestingly, Colonel Irving Solomon, who owned
the ranch and had served with Roosevelt at the UN, had
apparently told her that there was a little girl who
wanted very much to meet her.
"I
wish you enough" At an
airport I overheard a father and daughter in their
last moments together. They had announced her plane's
departure and standing near the door, he said to his
daughter, "I love you, I wish you enough".
She said,
The
Signs of Happiness
There
was a young couple living in Denmark who led a very
happy life
together. The only thing that they worried about was,
whether their
happiness would last forever or would they too would
have to face problems.
NOT
IN FRONT OF THE CHILDREN! Setting
Bad Examples for Children
"Tell them I'm not here," we yell to our
spouse or children as the telephone
rings. Although we might not have noticed it, we have
just set an example of lying for our children. When
they see us lying, they may say to themselves that
it's okay to lie. Dad and mom do it.
THE
MELTING SNOW
by Rumi
(Translated
version by Nasir Shamsi) The worldly goods and body are mortal like
melting snow yet Allah buys them
it is said Allah has purchased.*
(Yet) you prefer the melting snow to Allah's offer, it's because
you are in doubt (shakk) and lack conviction (yaqeen).
You think you have a great idea in you !
but it won't fly to that garden of certainty.
Oh son ! Every idea craves for conviction
flapping its wings in its pursuit.
When it attains knowledge (ilm)
the wings turn into feet, and the knowledge adds its fragrance
to the garden.
In a certain way, knowledge is inferior to certainty but it's
above idea.
Know that knowledge is a seeker of certainty (yaqeen), and
certainty is a seeker of vision and intuition.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Mâl o tan barfand rizân-e fanâ
Haqq kharidâresh keh Allâha-shtarâ*
Barf-hâ ze ân az saman-e avvalistet
keh hayi dar shakk yaqini nistet
Vin `ajab zannast dar to ay mohin
keh na-mi parad be-bostân-e yaqin
Har gomân teshneh-ye yaqin ast ay pesar
mi zanad andar tazâyod bâl o par
Chon resad dar `elm pas par pâ shavad
mar yaqin-râ `elm-e u buya shavad
Zânke hast andar Tariq-e moftatan
`elm kamtar az yaqin va fawq-e zann
`Elm juyâ-ye yaqin bâshad be-dân
vân yaqin juyâ-ye didast va `iyân
* sura Taubah, 111
-- Mathnawi III: 4115-4121, Version by Nasir Shamsi (Persian
transliteration
courtesy of Yahyá Monastra)
< >
From
heedlessness to Him by Rumi
God said, "It
is not because he is despicable that I delay My gift to him:
That very delay is an aid.
His need brought him from
heedlessness to Me,
pulling him by the hair to My lane.
Were I to satisfy his need, he would go
back
and immerse himself in that game.
Although he laments to the bottom of
his soul:
'Oh Thou whose protection is sought!' - let him weep with
broken heart and wounded breast.
For I am pleased by his voice,
his saying, 'Oh God!' and his secret prayers. . . ."
People cage parrots and nightingales to
hear the sound of their sweet songs.
But how should they put crows and owls
into cages? Who indeed has heard tale of that? . . .
Know for certain that this is the
reason the believers suffer disappointment in good and evil.
--
Mathnawi, VI: 4222-26, 28-29, 37
Translation by William C. Chittick
The Sufi Path of Love -