Month: December 2010

Knowledge – the Meaning of Man

In this time, if men want to know, they must set out in search of men who live to know, and who have freed themselves from the crushing a-culturisation process that makes the product of our universities such zombie-like historical products. Such men are not part of the problem nor are they part of the solution. For it is the current dialectic that is the tyranny of modern society. It is the method itself of this culture that is its madness. Here is another way, and in it man is not endangered – he is liberated and that means life for all those around him. Just as knowledge is not to be found in either social upheaval or in stasis, just as it is not to be found either in esotericism and experimental groups or in power structures, so the seeker must break out of his cultural mould and recognise that knowledge is the property of the poor. If poverty were eliminated, knowledge would be eliminated. It is the only clue we can leave in writing. The way of poverty is the way of knowledge. We write it on the cave wall. We write it on your heart.

 
From the poor slave, the helpless, the needy,

Abdalqadir as-Sufi.

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Sink or Swim

Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, created this world as a means. All that is, was and shall be upon it will cease to exist, in some cases almost as soon as it came into being and in others their non-existence is unknown to all of mankind. He tells us, subhanahu wa ta’ala, that the creation of the heavens and earth is greater than the creation of man and nothing comes into existence without His will and command but with purpose and void of caprice. Everything created is a clue and an indicator of its creator and this it its purpose.

Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, tells us on the tongue of his prophet, Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa sallim, that He was a hidden treasure and desired to be known. He is the Light of the heavens and the earth, so in relation to His creation (if that can be said), He declares that He is its light. He also says that He created it ‘bi ‘l-Haqq, (with Truth), so we can take from His own words that He is its reality and it reflects that truth. The universe does not lie about itself or its Creator. This is important because there are those who say that truth is relative, which it is not, as we would have no access to certainty. Truth belongs to Allah and it is there for all to see, but most do not because of their own mound of rubble. It is inestimably precious and like all treasure it must be sought. Remember that the revelation of a secret is in the hands of its keeper and not its seeker. Continue reading “Sink or Swim”