Sadia Dehlvi
Trust does it
Tawakkul is an Arabic word that is used for trust in and complete reliance on Allah. The Quran says, “And He provides for him from (sources) he never could imagine. And if any one puts his trust in Allah, sufficient is (Allah) for him. For Allah will surely accomplish his purpose: Verily, for all things has Allah appointed a due proportion.”
The garden of truth
Who we are? Where do we come from? What are we doing on this planet? Where do we go once we die? All these are questions that remain part of the eternal human quest.
Paean to patience
The word patience has been mentioned in the Quran more then 90 times and is a constant theme running throughout the holy book.
Lest the soul rust
Prophets bring God’s signs, just as the heavens, the earth and everything in them display God’s signs.
Love thy neighbour
The Quran commands, “Worship God and join none with Him in worship, and do good to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, the poor, the neighbour who is near of kin, the neighbour who is a stranger, the companio
Nude mystic in bigot’s empire
Close to the eastern gate of Delhi’s Jama Masjid, there is a dargah painted half green, half red.
The dervish & a dacoit
According to the Islamic calendar, this is the fourth month of Rabi al-Thani. It marks the death anniversary of the greatest of Sufi masters, Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani. A direct descendant of Prophet Mohammad, he is universally acclaimed as the Master of all Masters, and called Pir Dastgir and Ghaus-ul-Azam for his ecstatic utterance, “My foot is on the neck of every Sufi,” which established his rank as the foremost amongst all Sufis.
The first major Sufi order to be formalised was the Qadri order that was established by Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani in the 12th century. The Qadri order spread to Syria, Turkey, Damascus, Africa, Mauritius, Chechnya and many countries in Asia, including India.
Colour & the sacred word
Quranic calligraphy represents the response of the soul to the divine message. It occupies a special place in the evolution of the traditional Islamic visual art and is the most visible aspect of Islamic civilisation. Calligraphy on walls and other objects of everyday life remind the believers of God’s presence in all phases of human life. The Quran, containing the inexhaustible possibilities of creativity, attests to the “ink” in the verse, “If all the trees on the earth were pens and if the sea eked out by the seven seas were ink, the words of God could not be written out unto their end.”
The harbinger and warner
Sunday, February 5, is the 12th of Rabi-ul-awwal, the third Islamic month — the day Prophet Mohammad was born. Muslims celebrate this day and view it as a great blessing that God has conferred on humanity, for the Quran declares him as rahmat al alameen, mercy for the all the worlds.
Walk the mystic path
Abu Said ibn Abi Al Khair, a 11th-century Sufi mystic, came from the Persian town of Mayhana. Studying under Abu Ali Zihir and Husain al-Sulami, he confessed that efforts to achieve spirituality with intellectual proof had failed. He spent seven years alone in the mountain deserts of Mayhana.
