Universal 'Royal' Values...

Dear Friends

Yesterdays Royal wedding in London was a great advertisement for ‘royal’ universal values and traditions such as love, commitment, marriage, respect for experience / elders and above all celebration of God. After all 2 billion tuned in!

These and other universal values are the aspirations of millions and although success is not guarantee they make the whole human enterprise worthwhile. Otherwise there is no difference between us and an amoeba!

This century may well be plagued with every peril and problem imaginable yet it is full of so much promise and hope...Inshallah / God Willing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYLseVbOHjk

Salaam

Faisal

The TRUTH HURTS but...

Dear Friends

I love a dose of hard cold truth...Can my fellow Muslims please listen up! My fellow Pakistani Murtaza Razvi states:

‘’It is not the West or the CIA that have done this to us. We’ve worked hard to achieve this ignoble status ourselves. The kind of education we impart, with heavy doses of right-wing rhetoric and a hollow sense of patriotism based on the hatred of others, instead of empirical knowledge and adherence of universal values, produces only bigots. Those not having access even to this shady mix of ideological social engineering then gang up on society to blow up schools, preferably girls’ schools, mosques and shrines alike. That’s their revenge on a society that is working to sully not its own honour but also that of the great Muslim faith, hence there can be no meeting point with them.’’

http://www.dawn.com/2011/04/27/imran-khan%e2%80%99s-revolution.html

MY FELLOW MUSLIMS WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE...

Faisal

Sufi Business...

Dear Friends

More from Nitin Nohria, Dean of Harvard Business School:

‘’For Nohria, business is a sacred activity and just as good doctors honour the Hippocratic oath, business leaders too should honor their social and ethical responsibilities.’’

Source: ‘What guides Harvard B-school dean Nitin Nohria’

The above makes so much sense since business has the potential to transform society.

Granted Armani clad and hardnosed business people may not look or feel like spiritual folk. However according to the Quran only Allah knows the secret of people’s hearts...And it is worth remembering that our beloved Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was a top notch trader...

Power to the Heart and the Bank Account...  : )

Faisal

Sufi Harvard Business School...

Dear Friends

The recently appointed Dean of Harvard Business School, Nitin Nohria, made an awesome observation that business leaders need to create value first before they claim value. Wow!

The implications of Nitin’s business philosophy are revolutionary to say the least especially in the wake of the current financial debacle engineered by the casino bankers.

There are also profound spiritual lessons namely that as saliks / aspirants we should be creating intangible value on a daily basis for example  smiling more often…before we demand an audience with God or an epiphany or a vision

Salaam

Faisal

Remembering George Bush Jnr

Dear Friends

During the reign of George Bush Jnr I posed the following question to a group of Muslims, if George Bush was a Muslim what would be our reaction to his adventures in Iraq, Afghanistan and his War of Terror in general? The room fell silent. I broke the silence and stated we would probably be celebrating and claim that he was doing the work of Allah.

However, I am confident that the ‘left’ of Islam namely the Sufi’s would voice their opposition, demand justice for all regardless of faith and  challenge religious jingoism and extremism. 

And if the medieval Muslim Andalucian miracle is anything to go by then a ‘Muslim Bush’ would be more enlightened...Inshallah / God Willing!

Salaam / Peace

Faisal

THANKS PASTOR JONES ps

Dear Friends,

Pastor Jones refused to pay a $1 PEACE BOND and was briefly jailed. This sums up the calibre of the man...He needs our prayer and medical help...

Faisal

THANKS PASTOR JONES!

Dear Pastor Jones,

Thank you for uniting the Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities in Dearborn, Michigan! If not across the globe...

I am sure your protest will be a huge success...

Someone once asked the Rumi why there is evil. He replied so that you can see good...

Therefore, Pastor Jones please keep up the evil work...

Believe me folks if I did not have my current responsibilities I would have jumped on a plane, as I have done in the past, and joined the folks in Dearborn to give Pastor Jones a ‘love slap’...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sjSHazjrWg

Bring it on Pastor!

Cheers

Faisal

Sufi Pick axe!

Dear Friends

Come let us heed the Quran and dance with Rumi...

“O Lord!

Open for me my heart.”

[Qur’an 20:25]

“Come, take a pick axe and break open your stony heart.

The heart’s matrix is glutted with rubies.

Springs of laughter are buried in your chest.” (Rumi)

I absolutely love Rumi...He is one of the reasons why I am still sane! : )

Faisal

THE FIGHT BACK!

Dear Friends

It deeply hurt me when I read about the Pakistani suicide bomber that survived during last month’s attack on a prominent Sufi shrine. Please hear his testimony.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13111948

No doubt he was brain washed and emotionally raped by the Taleban. However it is high time that Muslim ruling elites stop hiding behind the indigenous and global extremist Muslim threat and milking / fleecing the western world.

It is a dirty and open secret that the President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, is a billionaire.  He came into this world empty handed and will return so as well.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/7923479/Asif-Ali-Zardari-life-and-style-of-Pakistans-Mr-10-Per-Cent.html

Why cannot Asif transform / utilise some of those ill gotten gains for educational and economic  programmes for the Pakistani rural poor who are the principle target of the Taleban? Why not leave a lasting legacy rather than a political chair for his playboy son ?

There was a time when the Islamic world was a transmitter of all types of knowledge especially the Greek tradition. Today it is acknowledged that the, almost mythical, medieval society in Andalucian Toledo was responsible for the European Renaissance, the scientific method and provided the blueprint for the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

The greatest enemy of the Muslim world is its self. FULL STOP. And it is clear from Quranic scripture that God will not change a nation until it does not change its self.

Thus Muslim intellectuals should quit complaining, making excuses, weeping and analysing. All we need is every Muslim Man, Woman and Child to individually work their damn hardest.  Just look what my Jewish and Hindu brothers have achieved in the last 60 years....

Unfortunately Islamism has become an opiate in the Muslim world and source of tyranny and exploitation...Inshallah / God Willing Muslims will and are changing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLSWJtxvaUY

POWER TO THE HEART

 Faisal

Seize the Moment...

Dear Friends

Whatever ones station in life  the following is a damn good reminder:

‘One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. ‘Which road do I take?’ she asked. ‘Where do I want to go?’ was his response. ‘I don’t’, Alice answered. ‘Then’, said the cat, ‘it doesn’t matter’. ‘’

Lewis Carrol, Alice in Wonderland.

Carp Diem...Seize the Moment!

Faisal

Transformative Knowledge...

Dear Friends

Academic credentials such as PhD’s are milestones. The acid test is how the knowledge is used and whether it makes a difference i.e. is it transformative. The same is true of spiritual knowledge and business experience. Thus it is down to the individual to actualise the essence of what they have imbibed and should not feel inferior or compare themselves with others.

Excellent examples are Prophets such as Jesus (pbuh) who was a humble carpenter or the unlettered Muhammed (pbuh) who was a trader. They went onto make history that continues to this day.

Salaam

Faisal

My path...

Dear Friends

The late Sufi philosopher, reformer and God Father of Pakistan Iqbal once remarked to his fellow Muslims:

‘’Exalt thyself so high

That before the divine writ is penned

God personally asks man ‘What is your will?’’

Simultaneously exceptional and inspiring...and my path to liberation

Faisal

Authentic Bridge Builders...

Dear Friends

Sai Baba of Shirdi is one of favourite Indian mystics.

He was a great bridge builder between the disparate Indian communities especially Hindu and Muslim. Sai Baba is revered by all to this day…

His favourite saying is:

'Allah Malik' / God is King…

Faisal

Please Keep engaging...

Wow! I have been missing for a couple of days and so many comments mostly negative !


Just to let my other readers know that I was actively engaging with the folks who burned the Quran in the States...


Any way peace, love and harmony to all especially my critics! : )


Faisal

Ps - When you spit at the moon you will merely soil yourself...   ; )

Which pill?

Dear Friends

Sometimes I walk past an old and decrypt church which also has a grave yard. As you can imagine the grave yard is also in a bad state. The other day it occurred to me, as I walked past, what is the point of having a fancy gravestone if no one is going to maintain it and friends and family have also passed away.

In reality all we leave behind is the fruit or poison of our actions which reverberate into posterity. This is our legacy not an exquisite grave stone...and consequently we have to choose whether we lead a meaningful or meaningless life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te6qG4yn-Ps

Do we take the red or blue pill? : )

Ciao

Faisal

Icing on the cake...

Dear Friends

I finished formal teaching last week. It has been nothing short of a rock n roll year! Countless highs and numbing lows...but all worth it. Much manure for my soul...

In my final session a L6 / final year student shook my hand and thanked me. That was the icing on the cake...

Teaching undoubtedly is the mother of all professions (and I have another profession under my belt and can testify to that) and the profession of the Prophets...It is a vocation if not a calling...I am so glad I heard and went with the flow...THANK YOU GOD!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XKCNWNAk5E

Definitely I am to learn...

Faisal

thinking obedience'...

Dear Friends

One of the things that I detest in ‘organised Sufism’ is the expectation of blind obedience which I can never do. On the other hand my Murshid, Pir Muhammed Nur-ud-din, demanded ‘thinking obedience’ where he inspired me to focus, and ‘think’ using the heart...For that I will be eternally grateful to him...

He also ignited my mind. As a 14 year old I asked him if I could read literature about Islam written by non-Muslims he agreed wholeheartedly...This was a major turning point in my life....

POWER TO THE HEART AND BRAIN....  : )

Faisal

'Godless Believers'...

Dear Friends

What if I became an atheist?

What would it feel like?

Would I be free?

Would I be happier?

Would I achieve more in this short life?

I would probably enjoy unfettered sexual freedom and could eat and drink what I wanted. There would be no moral responsibility to provide for my family or obligation to my extended family especially my parents.

No wasting time offering prayers and other acts of devotion. No submission to an invisible deity who does not seem to care any way.

I would not have to look out for my neighbour or fellow human beings and animals. In short I would be the centre if not focal point in my own little world. Thus there would be no moral imperative to make a difference.

As long as I obeyed the common law and paid my taxes I would be free to do as I pleased. I could possibly become Buddhist if I was experiencing a spiritual void as there is no need to acknowledge a supreme deity however I would have to lead an ethical life thus the aforementioned would be out of the question.

So should I become Buddhist?

Possibly but there is no equivalent of a Rumi or Ibn Arabi or my beloved Hallaj in other alternative spiritual systems...

This short thought experiment demonstrates to me that at the heart of Islam there  is an expectation  to help your fellow wo(man) and becoming a what  I call a ‘co-worker’ and ‘co-learner’ with Him, and being grateful to God. The latter is not necessarily praying or giving alms as the former is a form of worship and gratitude. Thus the onus in Islam is doing rather than merely praying...

So why is the Muslim world in such a mess? Because we have become what I call ‘Godless Believers’ most notably leaders at a local, national and global level regardless of geography...Who routinely violate their fellow man, spout religiosity and don Muslim garbs especially beards. No wonder we Muslims lag woefully behind in every league table imaginable in comparison to ‘non-believers’...At least the Atheist respects the law...hahahaha...


Drink and enjoy hemlock!


Faisal

Who is thirsty?

Dear Friends

Mevlana Rumi reminds us:

"Not only does the thirsty seek

water, even water seeks the thirsty,"

Keep drinking & flowing...

Faisal

Are we all confused & lost?

Dear Friends

Someone remarked to a Sufi Master / Murshid of the highest rank:

‘’I am confused and lost’’.

The Murshid replied:

‘’Me. Too!’

Faisal

Christian-Muslims?

Dear Friends

My wife informed to me today that one of her former Quranic studies students is on the verge of converting to Christianity. Apparently this young lady was an orphan, fostered and subsequently lost touch with her Muslim heritage.

My initial response was that even if she ‘converted’ to Christianity she would be exposed to goodness and love. In time she may well ‘revert’ back to Islam but we should not attempt to ‘rescue’ her. Let her explore and make her own mind up. I am reminded of a Jewish anecdote that if someone has decided to put sugar into their tea they should not be prevented otherwise there will be a mess...Not forgetting the classic Quranic verse:

LET THERE BE NO COMPULSION IN RELIGION

This is a hidden and new phenomenon for minority Muslim communities residing in the West. On the otherhand I have more respect for ex-Muslims who are humane and law abiding than self-righteous zealots who can be deeply spiritual as well!

Ciao

Faisal

Burning the Quran...

Dear Friends

So Pastor Terry Jones finally facilitated the burning of the Quran! His hostage of God is over...Congratulations!

For me the only offensive thing is that he executed his egotistical act in a house of God namely a Church. Since, just the other day I was reading in the glorious Quran:

‘’Had God not defended some men by the might of others, monasteries & churches, synagogues and mosques in which His praise celebrated, would have been utterly destroyed. But whoever helps God shall be helped by Him’. (surah 22: verse 40)

How many copies of the Quran will you burn Pastor Terry Jones? You have transformed into a Nazi...

My heart burns daily in His praise and delights in His creation and signs...

Salaam / Peace

Faisal