Love of God and Sufism

1. Love of Godand Sufism

2. WHAT IS THE SUFISM "Sufism is that you should be with God--without any attachment." Junayd Al Bagdadi "Sufism consists of entering every exalted quality (khulq) and leaving behind every despicable quality." Abu Muhammad al-Jariri

3. Shibli’s definition is summarized as being always together with God. Tasawwuf is a path leading to knowledge of God.

4. Your journey is towards your homeland. Remember you are traveling from the world of appearances to the world of Reality. Abd’l Khaliq Ghijuduwani Tasawwuf or sufism (the translation usually preferred in the West) is the name of the ways sufis follow to reach God, the Truth. FETHULLAH GULEN

5. WHAT IS THE LOVE Mahabba (love) means fondness, tender and kind feelings, and inclination. Love is based on two important pillars: The first is that which is manifested by the lover’s acts. A lover tries to comply with the Beloved’s desires. The second relates to the inner world of the lover, who should inwardly be closed to everything else unrelated to Him.

6. LOVE OF GOD Everyone prays to You from fear of the Fire; And if You do not put them in the Fire, This is their reward. Or they pray to You for the Garden, Full of fruits and flowers. And that is their prize. But I do not pray to You like this, For I am not afraid of the Fire, And I do not ask You for the Garden. But all I want is the Essence of Your Love, And to return to be One with You, And to become Your Face." Rabi’a Al-Adawiyya

7. "O God, if I worship You for fear of Hell, burn me in Hell, And if I worship You in hope of Paradise, Exclude me from Paradise. But if I worship You for Your Own sake, Grudge me not Your everlasting Beauty." A man asked Bayazid, "Show me a deed by which I will approach my Lord." He said, "Love the friends of Allah”

8. HOW DO WE KNOW GOD LOVES US If Allah loves His servant He will grant three attributes that are the proofs of His Love: generosity like the generosity of the ocean, and favor like the favor of the Sun in its giving of light, and modesty like the modesty of the Earth. The true lover never considers any affliction too great and never decreases his worship because of his pure faith." Ebu Yazid Al-Bistami

9. THE STATES OF SPIRITUAL JOURNEY 1. Al-emaanu billah (to believe in the Oneness of God) 2. Marifatullah (gnosis or spiritual knowledge of God): From the Holy Sciptures

10. Through science (the Names being various and being manifested in the various ways and degrees) Through experience (worship, dhikr, devotion, caring) “True spiritual Knowledge is a light that God projects into the heart of the Knower.”

11. 3. Muhabbatullah (love of God): Divine love can not be defined or described. It can only be known through experience A- Metaphorical love B- True love “Everyone prays to You from fear of the Fire; And if You do not put them in the Fire, This is their reward. Or they pray to You for the Garden, Full of fruits and flowers. And that is their prize.“

12. But I do not pray to You like this, For I am not afraid of the Fire, And I do not ask You for the Garden. But all I want is the Essence of Your Love, And to return to be One with You, And to become Your Face. Rabi’a Al-Adawiyya

13. 4. Makhafatullah (fear of God): This fear is out of respect 5. Zawki rukhani (spiritual pleasure)

14. HOW WE KNOW THAT GOD LOVES US “My servant draws near to Me through nothing that I love more than what I made obligatory for him. My servant never ceases drawing near to Me through supererogatory works until I love him. Then when I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he grasps, and his foot with which he walks."

15. Ebu Yazid Al-Bistami says, “If Allah loves His servant, He will grant three attributes that are the proofs of His Love: generosity like the generosity of the ocean, favor like the favor of the sun in its giving of light, and modesty like the modesty of earth.”

16. HOW A PERSON CAN LOVE GOD 1.To follow the examples of His messengers A man asked Bayazid, "Show me a deed by which I will approach my Lord." He said, “Love the friends of Allah.”

17. 2. Purifying the heart and doing what is beautiful. “My earth and my heaven do not encompass me, but the heart of My servant who has faith does encompass me.” The heart of a person of faith is the Throne of the All-Merciful (Qalb al mumin ‘arsh ar-Rahman)

18. Heart is the house of God. Purify it from whatever if other than Him so that the All-Merciful may descend into His palace at nights. (Ibrahim Hakki of Erzurum)

19. 3.Remembrance "Remember me, I shall remember you." (2:152) 4.Service to the creations of God. Jesus, peace be upon him, said, “I came not to be served, but to serve.” Mathew 28 5.Love needs to be tasted and experienced 6.Contemplation 7.Thinking about the death and Hereafter

20. FOUR STEPS OF SAFETY OF THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY (According to Said Nursi) First Step – Do not praise yourself. ”Therefore, do not justify yourselves” (53:32). “Who takes as his god his own desire” (25:43) Second Step – Do not forget God. “And be not like those who forget God, and He therefore makes them forget their own selves” (59:19).

21. Third Step – Goodness is from God. “Whatever good happens to you is from God, but whatever evil befalls you is from yourself” (4:79). “Truly he succeeds who purifies it.” Fourth Step –Journey to real world. “Everything will perish except His own Face” (28:88).

22. THE DEGREES OF LOVE 1- A person will sometimes love and sometimes, by following his carnal soul, a person will forget Allah. 2- A person will obey God’s commands, but will make mistakes 3- A person loves God more than anyone or anything else all the time 4- Intoxicated love of God.