The scholars were Boutchichi

wassalam

Yes, I too watched the whole series of prgrammes on BBC 2 and found it very moving. I am not a muslim, but a Christian of an with unorthodox views. I was interested in the faith of Abdullah Trevathan and his follwing of the Sufi tradition of Islam. I really felt that I was there at the retreat, and I certainly found the spirituality coming accross. I think I would like to do ‘retreat’ one day, whether its Islamic or Christian. The only thing I would find difficult is getting up to go to prayer hall for morning prayers at 5 am. All in all, I felt that if Islam followed a bit more of the Sufi Spirituality, then as one of the Faiths of the Book, attitudes could change. However the ideals of a retreat were that ‘inner peace’ that all peoples of faith strive to touch and reach. May Allah/God go with you

wasalam

Shaikh Abdal-Hakim Murad

UNDERSTANDING THE FOUR MADHHABS the problem with anti-madhhabism

Yusuf says: please see this page for the article ‘justoju’ posted. Please note that I do not allow entire articles to be posted as comments here, especially if they are already available elsewhere.

I ve read the comments on here regarding how you view the sufi version of Islamic chanting. I am from a traditional Islamic background… So not so up on the Sufi side of things. But What i find annoying in this thread is the “my Islam is better than your Islam” view. It is probably correct that the type of Islam shown in the Retreat is acceptable in Islam… I remember at the Madressah we use to end classes with 10 mins dhikr… whats wrong in that? wernt the people on show just praising Allah… they read the 5 times salaat (Farz accomplished) anything extra is just Nafil Ibaadat!

Like the professor said, Islam needs to move forward and needs to appeal to the indigenous population of the UK to find more converts… he was spot on when he said that there is a spiritual vacuum in British society. If Sufi Islam is appealing to the locals LET THEM DO IT! As long as they follow the path of Allah and they do in an acceptable form them let it be!

Narrow minded Muslims like Aisha, and some of the bloggers here are why Muslims and Islam has been held back… Just because you dont like it is not wrong!

Islam and Muslims need to be pragmatic in the 15th Islamic century! By keeping the core beliefs the same… lets push the boundary in a Halal way and appeal to the Europeans… or else the Buddists, or the Evangelical Christians will Convert these people.

Just think about it and get back to me

Wasalaam!

Ismail

“i always knew there was a more warming and free side to Islam, a part thats all about feeling, but unfortunatly that isn’t taught these days.”

It IS still taught, but not advertized and proselytized the way the outward aspect of the religion is.

It is said that a man who practices tasawwuf without fiqh is in danger of turning into a heretic. And a man who practices fiqh without tasawwuf is in danger of turning into a fasiq, or one who flagrantly transgresses the laws of Allah.

Remember, the deen is about specialization. If you wish to learn tajwid, go to a tajwid specialist. If its fiqh you are after, find a fiqh specialist. Same goes for aqidah…and same goes for tasawwuf.

If you wish to purify yourself of the INWARD diseases of the heart, go to a sheikh of tasawwuf. A valid sheikh of tasawwuf (for sadly there are a few imposters present in the muslim world) is one who understands that the shariah is greater than him or anyone else, and who has been given authorization to teach the science, and train the student, by a teacher of a lineal chain going back to the Prophet (may allah bless him and give him peace).

There are many different schools, or tariqas, in tasawwuf. If you have heard of the Shadhili, Naqshbandi, Qadiri, Rifa’i, and Ba’alawi tariqas then you already know the names of a few valid tariqas and can continue your quest from there. But even within these tariqas, make sure that the sheikh (or murshid) you are interested in has an authorization to teach from his own teacher in the path and is firm on the shariah.

The Alqueria de Rosales place featured on ‘The Retreat’ is affiliated with the Naqshbandi tariqa from what I recall. If I am mistaken then someone please jump in and correct me.

And again, some EXCELLENT information on the traditional path can be found on the http://www.masud.co.uk website.

WasalaamuAlaikum

I watched all the episodes, and like many found it freashing and wonderful. As a person, being brought up in London, I only saw the western side of islam, so to speak and it didn’t really attract me to the religoin. At mosque there wasn’t much to absorb spiritually, its only do’s and don’ts or haram and halal. I thought that was really narrow minded of many people to say something and do another, basically hypocrits. i always knew there was a more warming and free side to Islam, a part thats all about feeling, but unfortunatly that isn’t taught these days. But when i watched this i was so relieved to see the side of Islam that i really love but never actually embraced. It kinda helped me to look at it in a spiritual prospective, because that works best for me and now I feel like a Muslim and i want to know more abd discover this beautiful religion. I’m sure many people feel this way too.

I was really touched when Pom converted to Islam. I’v never seen anybody convert to Islam and I loved it. Her reaction and her relief showed the power of Islam, the power that you can’t describe in words.