The Language of the Future
Sufi Terminology
by Murshid F.A. Ali ElSenossi

sirat al-mustaqim
Straight Path

(Sirat al mustaqim) is the Path laid down by the prescriptive Divine command in The Qur'an and the Sunna of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace). It is the Path which leads man to felicity. This is the straightest and therefore the shortest way of Return to the Source.

See also: Beautiful Model Divine Command-Prescriptvie Felicity Guidance Prophet Practice of the Holy Prophet Qur'an

Beautiful Model ( uswa hasana )

(Uswa hasana). The Holy Prophet Muhammad al Mustapha (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace) is the beautiful model. Through his perfect example man is given the means of drawing closer, and yet closer, to Allah. The degrees of such nearness depend upon the manner and attitude in which one follows the beautiful model. Those who love Allah and His Messenger more than anything, more than life itself, are the slaves who follow Muhammad al Mustapha in their outer lives and in their inner realities. To approach Allah, the slave must first meet the Holy Prophet Muhammad. This meeting is a Mystery. The Holy Prophet Muhammad, the beautiful model, becomes the slave's inner reality through the unveiling of the Reality of Muhammad. The hadith says, "Who has seen me has seen Allah".

Felicity ( sa'ada )

(Sa'ada) is nearness to Allah and the Infinite Expanse of His Mercy. The attainment of ultimate felicity awaits the believer in the Garden, yet he may experience a relative felicity, in this life, when he is engaged in prayer or the Remembrance of Allah. Valuable knowledge leads to deliverance, and deliverance is felicity.

Guidance ( huda )

(Huda). It is Allah Who guides whoever He wants to Himself. The journey from the circumference to the Centre is under Divine Guidance and is specific to the people of yearning who travel the Spiritual Path. When He wants to join someone to Himself He guides them to His saints.

Prophet ( nabi )

(Nabi). A Prophet is a friend of Allah (Wali) who possesses unique knowledge of the Unseen Worlds. Allah has sent 124,000 Prophets to humanity to show them the Way of Returning to Allah. The Prophets are under the Command of Allah to invite people to their particular way (or religion). The teachings of these religions are varied in keeping with the different peoples to whom they were directed, yet the Source of all is One, Allah. Each Prophet and each religion reveals a specific Face of the Absolute. Muhammad the Chosen One is the Final Prophet of Allah - May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace. The universal message which he delivered is the perfect and complete religion. It is for all of humanity, not being limited exclusively to one group of people.

Practice of the Holy Prophet ( sunna )

(Sunnah). The profound Science of Beautiful Moral Behaviour based upon the beautiful model of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace). Following the form of, and contemplating the meaning within, the sunna are the most profound ways in which man can prepare himself to receive Divine Knowledge.

Qur'an ( al-Qur'an )

The Recitation or The Reading. The Qur'an is the Final Revelation from Allah to humanity. This Sacred Book contains all the keys with which to open the endless unfolding of Knowledge of Allah. The Qur'an is that which brings together (qur'an), and it is also that which differentiates (furqan). Seeing furqan without qur'an is seeing only multiplicity and is therefore associating other gods with Allah. Seeing only qur'an without furqan is denying the secondary causes (asbab) and therefore limiting Allah. The First Word, 'Iqra' , of the Final Revelation, which descended upon the Holy Prophet Muhammad (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace) through Jibril, the Archangel of Revelation, (Peace be upon him), opened for mankind the Perfect and Complete Way of Return to Allah.

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