Balancing Worldly and Spiritual Life
“But seek, through that which Allah has given you, the home of the Hereafter; and do not forget your share of the world. And do good as Allah has done good to you. And desire not corruption in the land. Indeed, Allah does not like corrupters.”
[28:77]Tafsir (Interpretation) of the Verse:
- This verse emphasizes the importance of seeking the hereafter while also fulfilling one’s responsibilities in this world. It encourages Muslims to use the blessings Allah has given them (wealth, time, resources) to do good deeds and prepare for the afterlife, but not to neglect their lawful enjoyment and responsibilities in this world.
- Ibn Kathir’s Tafsir:Ibn Kathir explains that this verse advises believers to use their worldly blessings to obey Allah and seek the hereafter, but not to abandon their share of lawful worldly pleasures. It is a call to moderation, avoiding extremes of either complete asceticism or excessive materialism.
To know Allah is to know His Attributes
The Names which are specific to Allah
The Life-Giver
The attributes which are appropriate for humans to imbibe in their lives
The Most-Forgiving: Be forgiving
Fear Allah
Al-Baseer: The All-Seeing.
The science of Tawheed (Monotheism)
Knowledge of Allah’s names and Attributes is the most virtuous knowledge.
Surah al Ikhlas (Surah at-Tawheed)
Glorify Allah
Gratitude
- Gratitude is the solution to our empowerment
- They want to dominate the realm of ideas
Love Allah
Fear Allah
- Take a breath to prevent fight or flight. To remain in a rational conversation.
- You don’t fear yourself and your nafs, if you are not enslaved by them.
- You only fear your master, what controls you.
- It’s not good when we allow others to control our tongue.
- Most people have things that they fear and avoid.
- Take on the world, at the level you can handle.
- Wrestle with a part of reality, that you have a good shot at victory.
- Social anxiety
- Don’t focus on your adequacy and calming yourself down, try to calm the other person down.
- Put yourself into the social situation purposefully.
- That way you don’t expect the negative thoughts.
JOURNEY TO ALLAH
- Waking up from the sleep state.
- Taqwa of Allah and Allah will teach you.
- The information is all around. The potential is all around us. We are not seeing it.
Shukr / Grattitude / Opportunities
- Shukr – If you try to enumerate the blessings of Allah, you will never.
- There are many blessings, that we are unaware of.
- Thankful for consciousness.
- Thankful for free will.
- Thankful for good intentions.
1. The World of Duality (Alam al-Mithal)
- Definition: The world of duality refers to the created universe, which is characterized by pairs, opposites, and relativity. This is the realm of multiplicity, where everything exists in contrast to something else.
- Quranic Basis:“And of all things We created two mates; perhaps you will remember.” (Quran 51:49)“Exalted is He who created all pairs – from what the earth grows and from themselves and from that which they do not know.” (Quran 36:36)
- Examples of Duality:
- Male and female
- Day and night
- Good and evil
- Life and death
- Light and darkness
- Purpose of Duality:
- Duality serves as a means of balance, testing, and reflection. It allows humans to recognize contrasts, make choices, and strive for harmony.
- The Quran often uses duality to highlight the signs of Allah’s creation and to remind humans of the transient nature of this world.
2. The World of Absolutes (Alam al-Haqiqah)
- Definition: The world of absolutes refers to the divine reality, which is beyond duality, time, and space. It is the realm of Allah’s oneness (Tawhid), where there is no multiplicity or relativity.
- Quranic Basis:“Allah – there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of existence.” (Quran 3:2)“He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden, and He is, of all things, Knowing.” (Quran 57:3)
- Characteristics of the World of Absolutes:
- Oneness (Tawhid): Allah is One, without partners or equals.
- Eternity: Allah is beyond time and space; He is the First and the Last.
- Perfection: Allah’s attributes are absolute and unchanging.
- Transcendence: Allah is beyond human comprehension, yet He is closer to us than our jugular vein (Quran 50:16).
3. The Relationship Between Duality and Absolutes
- Creation as a Reflection of the Divine:
The world of duality is a reflection of Allah’s names and attributes (Asma ul-Husna). For example:
- Mercy and justice in creation reflect Allah’s attributes of Ar-Rahman (The Most Merciful) and Al-Adl (The Just).
- The pairing of opposites in creation points to the unity and balance inherent in Allah’s design.
- Temporary vs. Eternal:
- The world of duality is temporary and subject to change.
- The world of absolutes is eternal and unchanging.
- Purpose of Duality:
- Duality serves as a means for humans to recognize the signs of Allah and strive toward the absolute truth.
- It is a test and a means of spiritual growth, as humans navigate the contrasts of this world to seek closeness to Allah.
Spiritual Systems
- Tawhid: Recognizing the oneness of Allah and transcending the illusions of multiplicity.
- Fana and Baqa: Annihilation of the self (fana) in the divine reality and subsistence (baqa) in Allah.
- Dhikr: Remembrance of Allah to purify the heart and transcend the distractions of duality.
Implications of Intentionality as the Basis of Existence
- Purpose and Meaning: If intentionality is fundamental, then existence is inherently purposeful. This aligns with religious and spiritual views that life has meaning beyond material existence.
- Free Will: Intentionality implies the capacity for choice and agency, suggesting that free will is a real and significant aspect of existence.
- Interconnectedness: If consciousness is primary, then all beings and things are interconnected through a shared foundation of intentionality or awareness.
- Ethics and Morality: A universe grounded in intentionality would imply that moral and ethical principles are not merely human constructs but are rooted in the nature of reality itself.
- Allah’s intentionality (will and purpose) is the ultimate basis of existence. The Quran frequently emphasizes that Allah created the universe with wisdom and purpose (e.g., “We did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between them in play.” – Quran 21:16).
- Reality is fundamentally mental or spiritual.
- Modern science describes the universe in terms of energy, matter, and physical laws. However, intentionality introduces the idea that consciousness and purpose are fundamental to existence, potentially even prior to or independent of physical reality.
- Intentionality refers to the quality of mental states (thoughts, beliefs, desires) being directed toward an object or purpose. It is the “aboutness” of consciousness—the ability of the mind to represent or stand for things, properties, or states of affairs.
- Consciousness is the foundation of reality, and the physical world emerges from it.
- Quantum physics suggest that observation or consciousness plays a role in determining the state of particles (e.g., the observer effect).
- If intentionality is fundamental, then existence is inherently purposeful. This aligns with religious and spiritual views that life has meaning beyond material existence.
Duality – Created everything in pairs.
If you deny God, and reject Him. Return and reunification with God becomes impossible, because he does not want to look at you.
If you are a bad person, you create an evil world, hell.
Knowing Allah: Submitting to Truth
Indeed, the worst of living creatures in the sight of Allah are the deaf and dumb who do not use reason. 8:22
- Tafakkur – Thinking about the meanings of the names of Allah.
- Tadabbur – Following an idea to it’s conclusion. To accept truth and follow rationality and logic.
- Tadhakkur – Recalling the Truth that you have accepted. Reaffirming the Truth. We worship the Truth. We worship Allah, which is worshipping His qualities.
Allah consciousness
- You see something infront of you, but you can’t see it’s reality.
- You are trapped in a mindset, and you can’t see the other dimensions.
- They have eyes with which they cannot see, ears which they cannot hear. hearts which they cannot see.
- Distraction gets you into a state of Ghaflah.
- Sometimes you see someone, you meet someone, you speak to someone and your life changes.
- Prophet (SAW) was sent to achieve 2 things Tazkiyah, then Ilm.
- Student must be mindful.
- The Prophet (SAW) is supposed to awaken the fitra in our hearts.
- Love for Allah. Emotion and Motivation.
- Teach before you awaken, you create robots.
- You awaken their soul. They learn at a different level.
- Ilm without Tazkiyah, leads to using the ilm to feed your ego and beat others down with it.
- It starts with Silence.
- Composure
- Heart is in heedlessness
- The intentions and motivations direct the mind.
- We travel between levels of awareness.
- Social media recruits us against our own interests.
- Cutting the hands is also the removal of the means of stealing. At its root.
