Episode 1: Introduction

3 Comments

1. 

   blisz 19 March 2010

   bismillah,
   asalamu alaikum

   a few comments. I believe that work, approached in the right way, can be both a tool for spiritual refinement and a great worship. if your ultimate aim is to reach Allah, it is not correct to say you must strive to do this only in the 1 or 2 hours a day you have left after work and the rest of life. Correcting your intention can transform your day so that 10 hours of it become worship – to make the intention for the sake of Allah of providing halal income for our families, contributing to the development of society, through good manners and dilligence in work being a positive islamic presence in the wider community and a rolemodel and source of knowledge and inspiration for other members of society. Being female, I have no clear-cut religious obligation to work. Except that it became very clear to me early on, Allah wanted me to. So for that reason I continued, and periodically reflected upon the benefits of it. It forces the perfection of ones manners, sense of responsibility and dependability and teaches working with difficult personalities, in crumbling organisations devoid of beneficial leadership to try and bring in improvements for the future. This I believe is invaluable spiritual training for those who wish to be helpers of the imam (aj) – we will have to be trustworthy and dependable, and work together in an army with people of many other backgrounds and personalities, in a team, accepting orders and working for a greater good to secure a result.

   It is difficult, and yes sometimes you feel like your religious practice is lacking. So, as you mentioned in podcast 2, you can make time; or you can use shortcuts the AB (as) have taught us. Recite surat al tawhid 3 times, this gives the reward of reciting the whole quran. Make wudhu before bed and it is as if you spent the night in worship. To perform ziarah of imam Hussein (as), simply say “sallallahu alaika ya aba abdillah” three times. There is no need to overcomplicate and overload yourself. We have to remember, we don’t need to feel bad about what we haven’t got the opportunity to do – we need to know we will *never* find a means to progress faster towards Allah than by doing what He wants from us, at the time He wants it, in the best way we can. So work and be happy, and make every small prayer you can do count, by doing it in the best spirit and with the fullest attention possible.

   imam Ali (as) would work performing heavy manual labour for 14 hours a day, then came back to duties at home and in society, without being held back. If we can work, have families and keep our spiritual progression up, doesn’t that put us closer to him than those with lives we may envy, who have nothing to do except pray all day? we should be excited at the chance to meet this challenge!

   with salam & dua.
2. 

   Ehsan 22 March 2010

   @blisz

   That was some excellent piece of advice you gave sister. Gems of wisdom indeed. If you constantly live in the present, then yes such small thing create big impacts on the soul. If you however are engrossed in the world then you might be needing a proper retreat and some time for yourself so you can get strong enough to benefit from the small things. It’s so easy to lose focus, indeed the system has even been designed to make you lose focus.
3. 

   blisz 24 March 2010

   bismillah,

   I agree. re-focusing is of paramount importance, and will never occur organically in western society, it must be self-initiated. it can be anything from physical escape for an extended period, to a shift in perception induced by forcing yourself to stop, and look hard at what is around u, knowing it has no independent reality, and try to make yourself see it all as indications of the ultimate, Divine reality behind it. then with these new eyes look at the world again and it will be easier and natural to think and act as described above. may Allah ease this for all who aim for it.

   with salam.