SD Review Flashcards
Is it possible to truly serve ourselves and not serve others?
No. God has designed us and the world such that everything is interrelated and intertwined. We learn and grow through our interrelations. In turn, as we grow and attain greater perfection we nourish back positively all our interrelations. For example, love, thankfulness and humility are core virtues of human perfection each of which can only be lived in interrelation with others. Others benefit from their presence as much as we do.
Why do we need to purify our soul?
In Surah Shams, Allah swears 11 times that the person who purifies his soul will be successful and whoever pollutes and corrupts his soul will fail. So those who purified their soul will be prosperous and happy on the Day of Judgment. Purification of the soul is a prerequisite for closeness to Allah. The whole point of morality and spirituality is to purify one’s soul - only then will the soul start shining, receiving and reflecting utmost radiation and light from Allah. If we want to meet Allah, Who is the Most Pure, then we need to achieve purity.
Explain the Philosophical approach.
The soul has 3 different faculties that are responsible for actions:
a) Rational faculty: responsible for knowledge - helps us understand matters and engage in discussions
b) Faculty of anger: controls our temper
c) Appetitive faculty: includes sexual appetite, appetite for food and other things
Striking a balance in all 3 faculties results in wisdom, bravery and chastity, which is what we need to attain justice. This approach is too abstract.
Explain the Mystical approach.
The process of self-building is a journey towards Allah (swt) or a matter of gradual growth. It is a dynamic and carefully planned procedure that requires guidance from others who have experienced this process. The expectations in each stage are different. It is a constant journey from one level to the next.
Explain the Scriptural or Text-based approach.
It is sufficient to rely on the Quran and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (saw) and his family (as) to determine desirable and undesirable qualities of man.
Briefly describe one of the three different treatments of spirituality.
a) Combat Against the Self (Jihad al-Nafs) - one understands that fighting the self is the most difficult battle because (1) the enemy is internal and not external, (2) knows your secrets and weaknesses, (3) fights you without end, and (4) is dear and beloved to you.
b) Healing - The paradigm of spiritual healing for spiritual ailments with the help of spiritual doctors and creating a spiritually healthy environment and entourage.
c) Journey - The paradigm of spiritual journey endeavoring to gain proximity to Allah (swt) by removing or overcoming any obstacle or imperfection that is standing between us and our Creator. The journey is long and difficult but Allah (swt) has provided different kinds of help and guidance.
Describe two consecutive stages in the process of self-development.
a) Wakefulness (yaqadhah): To come out of the sleep of obsessive preoccupation with worldly pursuits and realize that life is short and precious and needs to be used for gaining proximity to Allah (swt)
b) Self-Knowledge (ma’rifatu al-nafs): To know ourselves, our potential and what can benefit and harm us
c) Self-Care: To put what we know into practice at the personal level while being focused on our own areas of improvement and far from being preoccupied with the faults of others
d) Acquiring the correct beliefs and faith: To acquire necessary knowledge about the Truth and reality of things, including the Creator, this life, the next life and the relationship between them to help make the right decisions and actions
e) Performing obligatory acts of piety and refraining from sins and evil deeds: To adhere and commit to all the requirements of the shari’ah as a bare-minimum lifelong requirement.
f) Continuing the process of self-development until one becomes a true servant who meets his Lord. The process of self-development has no limit and is lifelong.
How is the virtue of thankfulness related to the love for Allah (SWT)?
If you are thankful you will certainly love Allah (SWT) because of all His favours and if you love Allah, you will believe in Him and obey Him. Thankfulness is considered to be identical with faith and to be unthankful is identical to kufr, disbelief. Thankfulness is the core of man (faith). Thankfulness comes in different forms and levels. The optimal level of thankfulness is when you are so absorbed by God’s love that you don’t feel ease or pain, you are so distracted by His essence.
What are the 3 main types of thankfulness?
a) Thankfulness from the heart - knowing that something is a gift from Allah (SWT), one becomes filled with humility and love
b) Thankfulness with words - Declaring with your tongue that you are thankful for divine bounties. Glorifying Allah (SWT) alone.
c) Thankfulness in Practice: Doing something with your hands, feet, eyes, etc. as acts of worship. Obedience and use of the body for the sake Allah (SWT) alone.
Explain how thankfulness has different levels.
a) Shared by everyone: Understand that these are gifts from Allah (SWT) and are thankful for
b) Thankful for whatever happens to them, even if it’s something bad. Know it’s not because of lack of love.
c) Optimal level - Level of the Elite. So concerned with Allah (SWT)’s presence, they feel no ease or pain as they do not have any time to think about whether they are in a state of ease or pain. Completely distracted and absorbed by God’s love (ex: watching an interesting film)
Identify and explain the 5 practical instructions rooted in the Quran that will assist us in our spiritual journey.
- Not to speak unless necessary
Many sins are committed because of our tongue; we have less control over what we say; unnecessary talk is harmful to our spirituality. Silence is a good form of worship - enjoy the spiritual world - Not to eat more than necessary
Do not eat if you do not have the appetite; only eat if you are hungry. Eat only what is lawful and begin in the name of Allah (SWT) - Not to sleep too much
Do not waste time and lose the golden opportunity of performing night prayers. The most important time of the day is the time before dawn and after dawn till sun rises - Have private time to contemplate
Sit alone everyday 10-15 minutes; think about divine attributes and actions; think about the things that we have done, the things that we were supposed to do.
For bad habits, put some condition on ourselves to fix a penalty for breaking it - Constant remembrance of Allah (SWT)
Remembrance of Allah (SWT) is healing. The names of Allah (SWT) are medicine and if we take this medicine we will be healed.
Practical step is to keep a notebook and set out some objectives for yourself each day. Assess yourself and compare your actions with your objectives.
List and explain 3 outcomes of the spiritual journey (there are 7).
- Complete support: Allah will listen to us and give us what we want. He will be our ears, eyes and hands.
- Perfect knowledge: We will be granted knowledge of the realities of the world, including mysteries that can’t be known through ordinary methods.
- Exclusive devotion to Allah: We will be free from relying on anything other than Him. We can live within society but still remain totally mindful of Allah.
Unfortunately there are many actions that can negatively affect our devotion, not only bad actions or sins. Good actions can also become corrupted by arrogance and pride. They will then become a barrier between us and Allah. - Entrance into the realm of light: In the realm of light, everything is clear and the true reality of everything is known.
- Immense love for Allah: Once one has tasted this love, there is no substitute. Our love or dislike for anything becomes only for the sake of Allah.
- Witnessing Allah in everything: Allah constantly shows Himself to us in different ways. If our hearts are pure we can witness Allah through all things.
- Internal peace: All worldly affairs become insignificant to us. We feel that we are under Allah’s protection and that nothing can harm us.
We understand that all pain and suffering are for our own benefit and we will be rewarded by Allah.
Nothing can disturb us because we are not afraid of losing anything
Explain the 3 possible states of light for humans.
- Inherent state: all humans naturally possess light/ immense brightness; we are all created pure and have been given enough light to find our way to Allah and perfection
- State reached through faith and purity: increases human brightness and can eventually make him Allah’s vicegerent, allowing him to spread brightness among other creatures
- State reached through disbelief and impurity: decreases human brightness to the point where one becomes lower than an animal or the lowest of the low
After faith, what is the other important source of light? Explain with examples.
Doing good deeds - every good deed increases the light of a believer in this world
- Wudu: by itself it is a kind of worship and causes light
it is not only performed for prayer or other acts of worship - it is spiritually significant and it is recommended to be in constant state of wudu. Wudu is a kind of remembrance of Allah and a source of proximity; repeating it is beneficial vs physical cleanliness from washing repeatedly may have no use. It has a deep spiritual effect in the real world - water used for other than wudu purifies only the external whereas when used with the intention of wudu, it attains the power of spiritual purification and its drops are actually droplets of spiritual purity - in other words, droplets of light - Hajj: hadith by Imam al Sadiq (as) the light of the hajj ritual remains with a pilgrim so long as he does not sin after performing it
- Looking after orphans: In the Prophet’s will to Imam Ali (as), he said for those who pass their hands on an orphan’s head as a sign of mercy, Allah will give them illumination for every single hair (of that head) on the Day of Resurrection
What is the result of remembrance of Allah?
If you remember Allah, Allah and the angels will send their blessings on you until it drives you from darkness to light. So one of Allah’s favours and mercies for a believer is sending blessings upon him which causes his leaving darkness and moving toward light. So with invocation, one can move toward the source of light and increase his light. Once they think of Allah, humans attain light and tranquility. Since the Prophet constantly remembered Allah, Allah and the angels continually sent salutations to the Prophet and so he always shined like a radiant lamp. This remembrance is not merely the remembrance of the heart - it appears in individual and social behaviours, such as praying and alms-giving. So people who remember Allah not only become illuminated but their homes also become a place of manifestation and radiance of the Divine’s Light (Prophets’ homes, Imam Ali, etc)
