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To hold until full is not as good as stopping.
An oversharpened sword cannot last long.
A room filled with gold and jewels cannot be protected.
Boasting of wealth and virtue brings your demise.
After finishing the work, withdraw.
This is the Way of Heaven.
Lao Tzu’s Dao De Ching
Zaytuna College Students @ Occupy Oakland, hold a sign which reads “Islam is 4 Peace” 10/14/2011
—Dr. Umar
From The Spiritual Writings of Abd al-Kader:
On that day, We will display Jehenna(Hell) to the disbelievers, those whose eyes were covered with a veil which kept them from remembrance of Me, and who could not hear. Qur’an, 18:100-101
This is both a warning and a threat. For each being, Jehenna is in accordance with his state and his station. “Jehenna” means, according to its etymology, “distancing.” For some, Jehenna will consist in being deprived of the divine vision; for others it will consist, in addition to this privation, in punishment as well. […]
If they are incapable of seeing God in the forms through which He manifests Himself and the particular determinations which He takes upon Himself, if their eyes are covered with a veil which prevents them from remembering Him at the very moment when they perceive the manifest forms, if they are unable to hear His word, all this is because of their exclusive attachment to the divine transcendence (tanzih) as it is conceived by their intellects, without letting this transcendence be mitigated by the immanence (tasbih) which is inseparable from it in the sacred Law. They have not know that Allah is infinitely transcendent and exalted above all inherence, above all union and above all mixture with the creature, at the very moment when, with regard to His name the Apparent (al-zahir), He manifests Himslef in the forms and is thus apprehended by all the senses, perceived by every organ of perception, internal or external. […]
It is He who is heard by the sense of hearing, He who is touched by the sense of touch, for He who manifests Himself is the very essence of that which manifests Him.
—
Shaykh Hamza, God bless him!
(Astronomy class, Zaytuna College)
—Imam al-Haddad
It feels like just yesterday that I was stalking the Zaytuna webpage while reading the mission statement and thinking to myself, “This is the perfect school that I am looking for!” Now, two years later, here I am, reading a thirty page article on Islamic History for Imam Zaid’s class and preparing for Sheikh Hamza’s Introduction to Theology class. Bewildering, and it’ s all so surreal, yet the sincerity, love, and kindness that one finds at Zaytuna, with it’s amazing staff, students, faculty, and community members, is one of the most real things I have ever experienced.
Alhamdulilah, the first week has come and gone, and all though it only consisted of two days of orientation and our first two days of actual classes, the duration of time that passed seems a lot longer than just one week! The amount of knowledge and opportunity offered here at Zaytuna is just unbelievable, subhanAllah. Although I have just met most of my classmates and peers here, we are a small group, and are drawn close together by one common goal: to seek Sacred Knowledge in order to better understand and get closer to our Lord Almighty. Zaytuna is a beautiful environment filled with beautiful souls who are encouraged and helped by wonderful staff who really care about them while being taught by some of the best scholars of our time.
May Allah give this community tawfiq, allow them to grow and prosper, and become ever more successful in their endeavors. Lastly, please do not forget us, the students, as well as the teachers, staff, and faculty, in your duaa’s, because we are all most definitely in need of it.
Jazakum Allahu Khairan.
God is Greater,
From a new Zaytunie,
May your day and days be filled with blessing and presence
May you radiate with the light of faith
May you be the mercy that someone else needs
May you have a blessed Eid
Zaytunies,
(reblog the baraka)
—Imam of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Mosque, PA, Khutba 8/26/11
