(Umma) refers specifically to the community of the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace). He is the Seal of the Prophets. The Message which he delivered to the humanity, through the Final Revelation The Q...
(Al Wahid al Kathir). The Essence Itself, or Being, is called 'The Unity of the One'. When considering Being as Possessor of the Names it is called 'The Unity of Multiplicity'. When taking both perspectives into account Allah is called 'The One-The M...
(Warid). An inrush of knowledge and awareness. Every affair which enters the heart from any Divine Name is called a warid. During the collective dhikr and spiritual audition of the Sufi gatherings the dhakir and listener may be opened to powerful inr...
(Witr). There is a prayer called the witr prayer which is the final supererogatory ritual prayer of the day. It consists of an odd number of rakats, (either one or three, according to the different schools). Coming as it does from the Divine Name al ...
(Wujub). Necessity or obligation. There is a type of mercy which is called the mercy of obligation. It is a specific mercy which becomes obligatory for Allah only in the case of certain of His special slaves and friends.
(Ya Hu!). Hu is the Essence Itself. The lover who is seeking the Essence calls 'Ya Hu!'. He calls to the One Who is absent. When the lover is annihilated in the Source Itself he no longer needs to call 'Ya Hu!'. He becomes the one who has realized th...
(Zaman). Allah is Time (dahr). Allah is a beginningless and endless 'Day'. Allah's Names and Attributes divide His 'Day' into many days. These days are the 'Days of Allah'. The Names become manifest within the cosmos and each Name possesses days whi...
(Zawiyyah). The transmission of the Divine Wisdom which flows from the Murshid to his murids traditionally takes place in a space or room or building, which is set aside specifically for that sacred purpose. Such a place is called a zawiyyah, which ...
The plain between Mina and Arafat where, during the rites of Hajj, the pilgrim collects 49 pebbles with which to symbolically stone the Satan. On the higher plane, this represents the collective state of nearness.
(Khalwa). The spiritual retreat and seclusion. Initially seclusion is undertaken by physically withdrawing from those outside disturbances which have the potential of distracting one in his contemplation of Allah's Names and Attributes. Ultimately th...
(Hijab al Sirr as Sirr). The veil of the Hidden Secret is the veil of greatness and majesty. This is called the Station of the unveiling of the attributes. This is still not the end of the road. One must continue on to the unveiling of the Essence a...
To teach or explain a point. In Tasawwuf, Talqin is used when the Shaykh or Murshid says something and the murid repeats it back to him. This may be used when one enters Islam at the hand of the Shaykh or when entering upon the Path of Allah during b...
Islam means peace and the person who follows this peace is called the Muslim. From another root meaning of the word, Islam means complete submission and surrender, and the person who submits and surrenders himself to ...
Sayyidi Abdul Qadir al Jilani was born in the town of Na'if, in the Kermanshah Province of Iran, in the year 470AH/1077CE, during the last night of the month Sha'ban. His lineage traces back to Sayyiduna wa Mawlana al Imam al Hassan, on his father's ...
Sayyidi Ahmad ar-Rifa'i was born in the Hasen Region of Wasit, Iraq, in the year 512AH/1118CE. His linage traces back to the Prophet (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace) on both his father's and mother's sides. His cousin wa...
