THE TRUTH & SPIRITUALISM

Kenali Diri Anda

2009-05-06T21:01:00.000-07:00

“ KENALI DIRI ANDA “

Kita tidak bisa mulai benar benar hidup sebelum mengetahui siapa dan apa kita. Jadi siapakah kita? Apakah kita adalah apa yang kita kerjakan sesuai nama pekerjaan kita? Apakah kita adalah dari mana kita berasal, sesuai bangsa kita? Apakah kita, keyakinan kita, sesuai kepercayaan kita? Jika tidak ada satu pun dari hal tersebut menjawab pertanyaan diatas, dan memang tidak, apakah anda? siapakah Anda? Tak ada lagi yang tersisa. Kalau begitu kita harus memanggil Anda apa? Kepekaan? Kesadaran? Jiwa? Roh? Ataukah semua itu lagi lagi cuma merek label ? Dapatkah kita melampaui semua label tersebut dan hanya menjadi jati diri Anda? Jati diri. Perorangan. Sadar.

Bebas. Jati diri yang mawas diri. Itulah Anda.
Bahasa yang lazim di dunia ini adalah bahasa label. Dan seperti halnya label yang menempel di sebuah kotak atau yang tergantung pada sebuah pakaian bukanlah barang yang di deskripsikan label itu, kita telah salah mengenali kedua hal tersebut. Kita berfikir bahwa kita adalah apa yang di deskripsikan label kita. Lalu pada saat label tersebut terancam atau dilepaskan, kita merasa sangat kesal. Kita sukar melihat ilusi itu dan menyadari bahwa kita sebenarnya bukan apa yang dikatakan label kita. Beberapa dari kita bahkan rela mati demi label( agama, komunitas, partai, suku dll) mereka.

Kita bukanlah kebangsaan, ras, gender, atau agama kita. Akan tetapi,

kita diajari untuk berfikir bahwa kita adalah berbagai hal tersebut

dan hal itu sangat tidak tercerahkan. Hal itu juga menjadikan

kehidupan sebuah perjalanan yang sangat menyakitkan. Tidaklah

mengejutkan bila orang-orang di sekitar kita sering kali mengenal

kita lebih baik daripada kita mengenal diri sendiri. Tak seorangpun

mengajari kita nilai mengenal diri sendiri, seperti yang dikatakan

seorang filsuf terkenal “ hidup yang tidak disadari tak berharga

untuk dijalani.” yang sesungguhnya bermakna bahwa jati diri jarang

dikenal seutuhnya.

Mengenal diri sendiri berarti menyadari jati diri sejati ( jiwa ),

sifat sejati ( damai ), dan tujuan sejati ( menciptakan, memberi,

dan menerima). Bila hal itu diwujudkan dan dipahami, Anda akan mulai

mengerti dari mana emosi-emosi seperti kemarahan, depresi, rasa

sakit dan ketidaknyamanan, kehampaan, dan keserakahan berasal. Anda

perlu mengetahui bagaimana dan mengapa perasaan perasaan itu muncul

dalam kepribadian Anda. Jika tidak, kesengsaraan akan sering

mengunjungi Anda, akan terjadi kehampaan makna hidup, dan Anda akan

merasakan hidup Anda tak berharga.

Ketika Anda mampu menanggalkan semua label palsu identitas Anda,

Anda akan mulai memperoleh kembali kesadaran akan jati diri sejati

Anda. Kesadaran itu lebih merupakan pengalaman daripada gagasan,

yang menjadi alasan kenapa meditasi atau tafakur adalah jalan

terbaik untuk mencapainya. Ingat , cara Anda melihat diri sendiri

sepenuhnya mempengaruhi cara Anda melihat dunia, pendapat Anda

tentang dunia, dan karena itu apa yang Anda berikan kepada dunia dan

semesta. Dan apa yang Anda berikan kepada dunia adalah apa yang Anda

peroleh kembali dari dunia.

Bagi banyak orang, mengenali diri sendiri bisa jadi ide yang aneh.

Hal tersebut sedemikian asing pada seluruh sistem pendidikan kita

sehingga bisa jadi sulit untuk melihat kaitannya dengan kehidupan

sehari-hari kita. Akan tetapi, bagaimana jika di usia yang sangat

tua Anda menemukan bahwa Anda betul-betul seseorang yang pandai dan

bijaksana, seseorang yang penuh wawasan dan tercerahkan. ...kenapa

Anda tidak bisa menemukan ciri khas bathin terpendam itu pada usia

dua puluhan tahun? Kemawasan diri, penemuan diri, pemahaman diri,

dan penguasaan diri semuanya merupakan jalan setapak untuk menemukan

kembali kebijaksanaan dan harta karun kekayaan bathin kita ( kuntu

kanzan mahfiyan ). jangan jalani seluruh hidup Anda di luar diri

Anda sendiri, luangkan sedikit waktu di dalam ruang rindu dan Anda

akan mengerti makna sejati “ perburuan harta karun”. Setelah Anda

menemukan harta karun tersebut itulah peta Anda, dan saat nya untuk

memulai perjalanan Anda. Wa Allahu 'Aalim.

AL ISLAM

2009-05-06T20:56:00.000-07:00

“ Al-Islam sesuai dengan segala zaman dan tempat “

Tiga agama besar dunia, Yahudi, Nasrani dan Islam, dibawa oleh keturunan dari Nabi Ebraheem. Sedangkan dari segi ajaran, walaupun semua Nabi sama-sama membawa ajaran keesaan Tuhan, namun dalam pemaparannya Nabi Ebraheem mengemukakan bukti-bukti yang berbeda dari Nabi-nabi sebelumnya. Hal ini sesuai dengan perkembangan tingkat kedewasaan berfikir umat pada setiap Nabi-nabi itu.

Nabi Ebraheem merupakan periode baru dari tuntunan pencarian seorang manusia tentang ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa. Sebab jauh di dalam diri manusia terdapat kekuatan-kekuatan yang masih tertidur nyenyak ( Annas niyaam faizhaa muutuu intabahuu ), kekuatan yang membuat
mereka takjub yang apabila digugah dan ditindaklanjuti akan merubah paradigma dan kehidupan secara cepat. Hal ini lah yang dialami oleh Ebraheem, dia termasuk manusia dengan tipikal Climber ( orang yang seumur hidupnya membangkitkan dirinya pada puncak perjalanan
keruhaniannya untuk mencapai dan menjalani hidup secara lengkap.

Sebagaimana direkam dalam Al-Qur'an QS. Al-An'am 76-79 dalam proses pencarian akan kebenaran ada orang-orang yang menolak kesempatan untuk tumbuh dan berkembang ( Quitter ) seperti Ayahnya Ebraheem, dan ada juga orang-orang yang cepat puas dengan perjuangan dan pencariannya akan kebenaran dan karena bosan mereka menghentikan dan
mengakhiri pendakian spiritual serta mencari tempat datar aman dan nyaman saja (Camper ). dengan kata lain manusia ada yang tidak percaya akan adanya Tuhan, ada yang percaya adanya Tuhan dan mereka merasa cukup untuk tidak menggali dan mencari serta mendaki lagi, serta ada manusia yang percaya pada Tuhan dan dijadikan kepercayaannya itu sebagai Stepping Stone atau batu loncatan untuk pencarian lebih dalam dari apa yang dipercayainya itu. Hal ini lah yang terjadi pada Nabi Ebraheem, sehingga dikenal disamping sebagai “ Bapak para Nabi “, Ebraheem pun dikenal sebagai ' Bapak Monoteisme serta proklamator keadilan Ilahi “.

Nabi Ebraheem mengajak kepada semua umat manusia pada masanya untuk menyembah Tuhan Yang Maha Esa. Tuhan Pencipta langit dan bumi, serta semua umat manusia. Tuhan semua makhluk yang tidak membedakan suku, bangsa dan jenis makhluk tertentu. Namun secara jelas dan harfiah dituturkan dalam kitab suci bahwa yang pertama kali menyadari
Al-Islam atau sikap kondisi jiwa yang pasrah total hanya kepada Tuhan itu sebagai inti agama ialah nabi Nuh, Rosul Allah urutan ketiga dalam deretan 25 Nabi & Rosul setelah Adam dan Idris.

Dituturkan bahwa Nabi Nuh mendapat perintah Allah untuk menjadi salah seorang yang Muslim ( orang yang pasrah ) dan bersifat Al-Islam, pasrah hanya kepada Tuhan ( QS. 10 : 71-72 ). Kesadaran akan al-Islam itu lebih lebih lagi tumbuh derngan kuat dan tegas pada Nabi Ebraheem. Seperti juga halnya Nabi Nuh, Ebraheem juga diperintahkan untuk berislam ( QS. 2 : 131 ).

Agama yang benar dengan inti ajaran pasrah total hanya kepada Tuhan itu kemudian diwasiatkan Ebraheem kepada keturunannya. Salah satu garis keturunannya itu adalah Nabi Ya'qub atau Israel ( artinya hamba Allah ) dari jurusan nabi Ishaq, salah seorang putra Ebraheem.

Wasiat Ebraheem dan Ya'qub itu kemudian menjadi dasar agama-agama Israel, yaitu yang sekarang bertahan agama Yahudi dan Nasrani ( QS. 2 : 132 ). Jadi agama Yahudi dan Nasrani berpangkal pada Al-Islam, karena merupakan kelanjutan agama Nabi Ebraheem. Tapi tidaklah
berarti bahwa Ebraheem itu seorang Yahudi atau Nasrani, melainkan seorang yang pasrah total hanya pada Tuhan ( Muslim) ( QS.3 : 65-67 ). Bahwa agama Yahudi itu pada dasarnya mengajarkan “Islam” , ditegaskan dalam penuturan Al-Qur'an mengenai fungsi Taurat ( QS. 5
: 44 ). Begitu pula dengan Nabi Isa/Yesus atau Al-masih/Kristus putera Maryam, Isa datang dengan membawa ajaran pasrah total hanya pada Tuhan ( QS. 3 : 52, QS. 5 :111 ).

Karena merupakan inti semua agama yang benar, maka “ Al-Islam “ atau pasrah hanya pada Tuhan adalah pangkal adanya hidayat Ilahi kepada seseorang. Maka “Al-Islam” menjadi landasan universal kehidupan manusia dan semua makhluk Tuhan dan berlaku di setiap tempat dan waktu. Dan karena “ Al-Islam “ merupakan titik temu semua ajaran yang benar, maka diantara sesama penganut yang tulus akan ajaran itu pada prinsipnya harus dibina hubungan dan pergaulan yang sebaik-baiknya, kecuali dalam keadaan terpaksa, seperti jika salah satu dari mereka bertindak zalim kepada yang lain. Sikap ini terutama diamanatkan kepada para pengikut Nabi Muhammad, sebab salah satu tujuan dan fungsi umat Muhammad adalah sebagai penengah (umatan washatan/washit ) antara sesama manusia, serta sebagai saksi (syuhada) atas seluruh kemanusiaan. Jadi sikap pasrah kepada Tuhan itu merupakan tuntutan alami semua makhluk Tuhan dalam hal ini adalah manusia.

Agama ( bahasa Arab nya :al-din, secara harfiah antara lain berarti “ ketundukan, kepatuhan, atau ketaatan ) yang sah tidak bisa lain daripada sikap pasrah kepada Tuhan ( Al-Islam). Maka tidak ada agama tanpa sikap itu, yakni, keagamaan tanpa kepasrahan kepada Tuhan adalah tidak sejati ( inilah antara lain makna penegasan QS. 3 : 19, QS. 3 : 85, barang siapa menuntut “ agama” selain “al-islam” maka darinya tidak akan diterima, dan di akhirat ia akan termasuk mereka yang merugi ). karena prinsip-prinsip ini maka semua agama yang benar pada hakikatnya adalah “ al-Islam”, yakni mengajarkan sikap kepasrahdirian hanya kepada Sang Pencipta, Tuhan yang Esa.

Dalam kitab suci berulang kali kita dapati penegasan bahwa agama para Nabi terdahulu sebelum Muhammad SAW, semuanya adalah “Al-Islam” karena inti semua ajaran agama itu adalah ajaran tentang pasrah kepada Tuhan. Atas dasar inilah maka agama yang dibawa Nabi Muhammad disebut Agama Islam, karena ia secara sadar dan dengan penuh deliberasi mengajarkan sikap pasrah kepada Tuhan, sehingga agama Nabi Muhammad merupakan Al-Islam, namun bukan satu-satunya, dan tidak unik dalam arti berdiri sendiri, melainkan tampil dalam rangkaian dengan agama-agama Al-Islam yang lain, yang telah tampil terdahulu. Apalagi sikap pasrah kepada Tuhan itu merupakan hakikat dari seluruh alam, yaitu sikap pasrah pihak ciptaan kepada pencipta-Nya, yaitu Tuhan. Ketaatan langit dan bumi, mekarnya bunga
di taman, bergugurannya dedaunan di musim dingin adalah kepasrahan dan keislamannya. Maka implikasi prinsip-prinsip yang diletakkan dalam Al-Qur'an itu adalah kesatuan kenabian dan kerosulan. Yaitu bahwa semua Nabi dan Rosul mengemban visi dan misi yang sama yaitu membawa manusia kembali kepada Tuhan yang Esa dan Tuhannya adalah Tuhan yang Maha Esa. Tugas Ilahi ini sama dan tidak bisa, serta tidak dibenarkan, untuk dibeda-bedakan satu dari yang lain. Mereka menyampaikan pesan yang sama dengan bahasa yang berbeda-beda.

Sikap pasrah kepada Tuhan sebagai unsur kemanusiaan yang alami dan sejati, kesatuan kenabian dan ajaran para Nabi untuk semua umat dan bangsa, semuanya itu menjadi dasar universalisme ajaran yang benar dan tulus, yaitu “ Al-Islam “. Ini pula yang mendasari universalisme Islam ( dengan I besar ), yang secara historis dan sosiologis, disamping secara teologis ( termuat dalam Al-Quran ), menjadi nama ajaran Islam yang dibawa Nabi Muhammad. Penamaan ini dibenarkan, karena ajaran Nabi Muhammad adalah ajaran pasrah kepada Tuhan. Jadi Islam memang sudah menjadi nama sebuah agama, yaitu agama Rosul Pamungkas. Namun ia bukan sekedar nama, tapi nama yang tumbuh karena haqeqat dan inti ajaran itu, yaitu pasrah kepada Tuhan ( Islam ).
Patut kiranya kita renungkan kembali dalam-dalam pesan Tuhan yang menyeluruh berkenaan dengan “ kesinambungan” agama Ebraheem yang hanif dan pasrah. “ Dia Allah menetapkan bagi kamu “ agama” sesuatu yang telah Dia pesankan kepada Nuh, dan yang telah Kami wahyukan
kepadamu, dan yang Kami pesankan kepada Ebraheem, Musa, dan Isa yaitu hendaknya kamu sekalian menjaga “ agama” itu dan tidak berpecah belah di dalamnya ( QS. 42 : 13 ). “ Ebraheem bukanlah seorang Yahudi atau seorang Nasrani, melainkan seorang yang hanif ( QS. 4 : 67 ). Kembali kepada agama dan Tuhan Ebraheem secara patuh dan pasrah ( Islam ) adalah jalan keselamatan dunia dan akhirat.

Dengan begitu maka seorang yang mengaku pengikut Nabi Muhammad adalah seorang Muslim, yang pada dasarnya tanpa mengeksklusifkan yang lain, yang dalam menganut agamanya itu seharusnya senantiasa sadar akan apa hakikat agamanya, yaitu Al-Islam, sikap pasrah total
hanya pada Tuhan. Yang mampu pasrah total hanya pada Tuhan tentunya yang sudah mampu benar-benar mengenal-Nya. Karena kesadaran makna hakiki keagamaan itu maka agama Islam, juga orang Muslim atau umat Islam selamanya harus mempunyai impulse universalisme , yang pada urutannya memancar dalam wawasan kulturalnya yang berwatak cosmopolit tidak picik dan taklid buta. Wa Allahu 'Aalim.

kenali-diri-anda.

Five Principles for Prosperity

2008-09-19T20:31:00.000-07:00

Levy's Five Principles for Prosperity

Principle Number One: Enjoy Everything.

We should understand the world does not owe us a living. We will succeed or fail by the amount of Joy we have for the project we will call our work. The number one ingredient is enthusiasm and commitment for the job in hand.

We have to understand that very few things will go in the direction we desire and the more we practice our skills, the luckier we will become. We manufacture our own luck, and recognizing opportunities is the key to success.

Every viewpoint, in every business day, has to be explored. Never say no to anything until we have examined every possibility and outcome. Even if we find that it is not what we desire, we leave the door open for future development. If we are only interested in what we can get out of any action of the moment, we are doomed for failure.

Principle Number Two: Give First.

A key ingredient in a successful venture is giving rather than taking. In other words give the best and you will receive the best. If you do not have the ability to give the best, keep on trying different approaches until you can give the best. Whatever you give you will get back in abundance.

There are those who have achieved money and status by devious means. They may have all the trappings of the luxury lifestyle, but they do not possess the clear mind to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Therefore, they are not a success to themselves.

All the stresses and strains of cheating will one day manifest into an illness. You can mislead other people but you cannot lie to your immune system. So, it pays big dividends to give others a helping hand up the ladder of success.

Principle Number Three: Overcome Adversity.

Enjoy the failures more than the successes. Understand there is no such thing as failure. Each lesson learnt, is a lesson gained. Just don't keep making the same mistakes. Everything is a gain, gain situation. Negative people are our stepping stones to wealth. The more they tell us it can't be done, the more energy they give us to get the job done successfully. Adversities are sent to test our resolve. Become a good hurdler and learn how to jump over them.

If we require an answer to a difficult problem we need to solve, we ask any questions we need to solve, a few minutes before we go to sleep-and then forget about it. We then go into a sound, deep sleep.

The next morning, on awakening, we may get an idea from "out-of-the-blue" that solves the issue. If not that morning, then it may take more time to solve. Ask the question every night until the matter resolves itself…and it surely will!

Principle Number Four: Stay Debt-Free.

It is far better to walk before we can run. We must not pile up too much debt. If we cannot afford something, then we work a little harder and longer until we have the funds to expand. I know this is not the modern way of thinking and there are always exceptions to the rule, but being debt-free sure makes for 'Peaceful Sleep.' Being 'Under Pressure' to pay bills is no way to live. Our purpose is to enjoy life and our labor must be a labor of love without demands.

Principle Number Five: Enjoy Endurance.

Remember the three P's: Patience, Persistence, Perseverance. If we trust in our ‘True Self,' we cannot fail. As long as we are enjoying our business activities in the same way as we enjoy our leisure, success is assured.

If it takes a few years more than we thought to achieve our goal, then so much the better, because we have more time to gain extra experience… It will allow for more time to exhibit to people that we are trustworthy and reliable.

Integrity cannot be bought, therefore once we gain authentic credibility, everything else we do eases into its appropriate space. It will eventually mean other business people will regard us as experts in our field. We have mastered time and space.

With the five principles for prosperity deposited into our memory banks, we are ready to build new bridges. Network with all the new and innovative companies in our field.

We are constantly entering new areas of High-Technology. Business today needs new innovation and leadership to succeed. This is year 2005 and new dimensions of thought are needed for success. Therefore, it is now more important than ever to project the five principles of prosperity.

We will also need to understand how to overcome and eliminate worry and anxiety. It is essential to find inner peace and harmony to relieve the burdens of stress.

By allowing our minds the freedom of silence that transcends to higher dimensions, we will find infinite possibilities. Our potential for success is only limited by what we think we know.

That type of limitation can cause great pressure, therefore we require an objective detachment from outside events we cannot control. We can only execute what we are able to perform-and what seems impossible at one moment, we can do at another appropriate-moment-in-time.

When we open our imagination (image-maker), we open the doorway to success. Every human mind has a wormhole in the deepest section of the brain that can take the mind's thoughts into what Einstein called the ‘Creative Mind of God.' Einstein declared that he wanted to know what God is thinking, everything else is mere details…and so it is.

It is never too late in life to explore your mind's links to creativity

Even when we retire from our occupation, we must never retire from life. The secret to retirement is to keep an active mind. I have a friend aged eighty-seven who still enjoys working as a realtor, selling apartments. He tells me it makes him feel like a young pup. There are many hobbies we can enjoy and maybe they will make money? Regular exercise will keep us healthy and it also keeps the sex drive in gear. Aging signifies that life is still a joyride to an active mind.

Just one other point…It is important to note that we will never actual own anything. We only possess what we can take on our eternal journey. We are just renting space and time, so our success is not measured by our bank balance. We live in a materialistic world and to become truly prosperous we need to ascertain that, when we reverse our conditioned mind's way of thinking, we find …( in whatever form our image-creation observes) creativity. A Universal spirit guiding us on an authentic life course. What a power-force to guide us and establish an easy way to follow to prosperity!

Are you now ready to accept success?

al-islam.

PROSPERITY PRINCIPLES

2008-09-08T15:35:00.000-07:00

PROSPERITY PRINCIPLES

In this moment, choose to believe that the Universe is abundant and that you are a part of that abundance. You are a part of the universal flow of energy in an ocean of abundance. One aspect of this energy is the concept we call money, and it is just as spiritual as anything else.

2. In this moment, feel the presence of Spirit in your life and know that Spirit is the true Source of your abundance, not your job or any other person. You are always taken care of. You are safe. Remember that Spirit always has the solution for any challenge that confronts you. Meditate daily to connect with Spirit so that you can truly feel that all is well.

3. In this moment, know that you are deserving of all the abundance of the Universe. Just because you exist, you are deserving. There is nothing you need to do or be. Just be willing to accept the idea that you are deserv-ing.

4. In this moment, be willing to give up your limiting beliefs about pros-perity. The abundance of Spirit abounds everywhere! Open your mind to the idea that there is plenty for everyone. Your personal beliefs in any area of your life create your personal reality. As you change the beliefs that limit you, the outer reality changes!

5. In this moment, remember that you are connected with Infinite Mind. This Mind works through the Law of Attraction, and It is always responding to your thoughts and feelings. Affirm and visualize the abundance that you want in your life. Include joy, peace, love, wonderful relationships, and health along with money and material things.

6. In this moment, practice feeling the joy of knowing that all is well in your life. Relax. Smile. Dance. Enjoy the beauty of nature. Focus on this moment in time, not yesterday or tomorrow, and appreciate this mo-ment. Practice faith and trust.

7. In this moment, recognize that as you accept your prosperity, you en-courage others to do the same. When the consciousness of one person shifts, it affects everyone else. Your own acceptance of prosperity helps the entire planet.

8. In this moment, be willing to begin sharing your prosperity with others, even if it is only a dollar. When you give freely to others, you are affirming that you are prosperous enough to share.

9. In this moment, remember that you are on this earth for a purpose, and that purpose is to be of service. You have your own unique skills and abilities to offer in being of service. As you practice joyful service, your prosperity will increase.

10. In this moment, feel the attitude of gratitude. Be grateful for every-thing in your life, even those things you would say are challenging. Each morning when you wake up, think of everything you are grateful for.

Open your arms wide and say to Spirit, THANK YOU!

Enjoy the miracles that occur in your life as you practice these principles!

DIVINE THINKING AND PERSONAL REALITY

2008-09-08T15:23:00.000-07:00

DIVINE THINKING AND PERSONAL REALITY

In metaphysics we are taught that the mind plays an important role in determining one's reality. The combination of all our belief structures, attitudes, expectations, hopes, feelings, and subconscious imprints build up the "reality" that we experience. This reality is substantially our mental perception and interpretation of the varying impressions that our senses accumulate, and this resultant reality differ from person to person. No two individuals perceive or interpret the world exactly alike, even-though there may be a consensus, a collective consciousness underlying everyday objective consciousness that forms a basic reality for individuals or entities vibrating at mutual wavelengths. This is sometimes called a "shared-dream." From the Cosmic point of view, everything is a dream, a play of the senses, a cosmic dance of the gods. Everything is illusory; however this is not to say that we are not affected by our "dreams" whether understood as the sleep-state or Maya-waking reality. Our dreams affect us in accord with the power that we bestow upon it. We empower our dreams to cause fear or love within us. The unlimited power is really within our beings and not existing externally. It exists here and now within ourselves, not in the past nor in the future but in the present moment. People and things have no power to inflict harm upon us except for the power that we give to them.
But to return to the principle of the personal reality that we create for ourselves, we may illustrate this by noting the differences in our interpretations of what we call "colour." A person may interpret energy vibrating and emanating from an object as "green," another individual may interpret it as "blue." Who is to say what is the actuality? Though many may agree a colour of an object to be green, for instance, does not imply that the perception of blue as invalid. Calling someone "colour-blind" is actually an expression of arrogance. We judge others by our own moral, intellectual, emotional, and physical standards. We consider this as the "norm." Just because someone's perception or understanding is different from ours is no reason for condemnation and destruction, so long as that person's understanding does no harm to any being.
Animals may also differ from humans in their perception of the world. They may see things in black and white or shades of gray. They perceive a different reality even-though triggered by the same spiritual substratum or actuality. What that "actuality" is can only be intellectually speculated upon. We have often been told by Spiritual Masters that Truth can only be experienced and not thought about. The actual state of all phenomena is what philosophers of all ages have been seeking, and this they designate as "Truth." We might express actuality as the Law of Energy; and reality, the various phenomena that we realize, as the Law of Perception and Sensation. Summarily, no one's personal reality ought to be considered as the Absolute Truth, since this is unstable, ever-changing, forever in formation.
It may be appropriate to explain this principle of actuality and reality much more explicitly: what we realize in our minds are our realizations, hence, our reality. What really exists out there beyond our objective, everyday consciousness and perception, is "actuality"-the actual state of things: a whole spectrum of energies vibrating at varying frequencies. Actuality is noumena, whereas realities are phenomena. The objective mind is often fooled by what it senses and perceives. A nervous disorder could cause a different form of sensation and perception compared to a nervous system functioning normally. A sensitized nervous system could also receive more impressions from the environment than those nervous systems dulled by negative energies and undeveloped neurons. The Central Nervous System (CNS) has a dual function: it carries impulses from sensors to the brain receptors. This is its afferent function. Its other function is to convey impulses from the brain to the effectors--to the muscles and such. This is the efferent function of the CNS. The CNS in one sense is a channel of knowledge for it presents to us the impressions with which we may know and realize our environment. On the other hand, it is also a channel of ignorance, for it blocks out certain vital impressions from us with which we could further understand Nature. Man, however, is built in such a manner that he may receive and be aware of impressions or energies emanating not only from the third dimension but of the higher dimensions as well. Aside from the Central Nervous System there is also the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic nervous systems that have psychic functions as well as the known physical ones. Although these three nervous systems relate to the physical body, the etheric sheath also has these counterparts. In yoga these are called "nadi." In acupuncture these are referred to as the "meridian channels." These subtle channels are interrelated and interconnected with the three physical nervous systems mentioned above. The more we unfold, purify, and upgrade these subtle and gross channels, the more information we may acquire from the physical, psychic, and spiritual dimensions. This cannot help but alter our personal reality and the level of our consciousness.
But returning to the physical level in relationship to one's personal reality, consideration should also be given that the normal five senses are often tricked by external stimuli forming illusions in the consciousness. There are many examples of such; for instance, parallel railway tracks seem to join at the horizon. Another illusion is that which has fooled humanity for centuries, that the sun orbits around the earth. We know that Corpenicus revealed the opposite to be true.
Though the conscious mind with its senses are susceptible to deceptions, the subconscious mind is even more so. One striking feature is that it is unable to distinguish between dreams, fantasies, imaginations, hallucinations, and objective reality. To the subconscious mind, everything is real, no matter what arouses or stimulates it. A person dreaming of running will physically break out in sweat, just as he would if he were to run in a physical and objective sense. A person hypnotized into believing that his skin was "burnt" by a cigarette would physically form a blister, even-though the "burning" cigarette was really something else. A person fantasizing sexual thoughts would physically trigger the flow of bodily chemicals and hormones. Thus, a natural law is herein revealed that our mind may be made to believe and act upon the belief in accord with what we impress upon it. Pretending that one is inferior causes the subconscious mind to release the related energies in the form of chemicals and reduce the quality of radiations that would enforce and maintain that belief. For instance, feeling oneself inferior lowers the intensity of the aura, and hence, one's charisma. Believing in one's unworthiness disrupts the harmonious functioning of the body's immune system and lowers the body's vitality. Animals as well as some people are sensitive to the energies that we radiate through our aura and minds. As an illustration, if we do not have self-confidence we would radiate a weak magnetic aura and have a poor effect upon our environment. A prospective employer or client would consciously or subconsciously feel this un-charismatic radiation and would subsequently dismiss our application or proposal. Employers do not simply evaluate us by what we say, or the resume that we submit. They also evaluate us by what they "feel" about us. This, of course, applies to many other situations.
The actual state of phenomena is devoid of anything that our senses interpret as light, sound, odor, taste, and feeling. This is graphically illustrated in psychological studies that states that in the event of a tree-fall in a forest without anyone present, no sound exist for the reason that there is no one to hear it. Sounds only exist when the mind translates vibrations emanating from a source into meaningful impressions. The same goes with the other senses. If we are not in the forest to perceive the tree, the tree would not exist. Its actual state is simply energy vibrating at a certain rate. Our realizations may be considered "Maya" or cosmic illusions, for they do not reflect the actual state of things. They are impermanent, forever in a state of becoming, or a state of change; whereas the actuality that arouses perception may be considered as Truth, as we mentioned before. It is the awareness, knowing and understanding of this Truth that will liberate us from mortality, from the world of relativity and duality, and the world of illusions that bind us to a never-ending cycle of reincarnation. Falsehoods make a karmic-generator out of man. It is by transcending the dualistic mind that judges between realities and arbitrary standards, between the many opposites such as "good" and "evil," "strong" and "weak," etc., that will set us on the path of "Divine Thinking," and aid us in attaining the state of godhood, or to be a citizen in the Kingdom of God. Heaven is a matter of awareness and vibration, so is hell.
Mystics call the actual state of things "the Void" or "Emptiness." This is made known to them not through the ordinary channels of perception, not through the external senses, but through a certain faculty in the microcosm that transcends the mind. This condition of being aware through inner knowing may be called "apperception." It is the direct awareness of things that are, of what Is--the apperception of the Truth stripped away from its many illusory appearances. Hindu philosophy calls such appearances "Maya." It is the play of the mind, a cosmic dance of the gods.
One person's mortal reality is not superior to another. However, each reality gives us certain experiences that we dualistically interpret as "good" and "bad"; "earthly" and "spiritual;" "beneficial" and "non-beneficial," etc. We usually interpret our experiences from a pessimistic or optimistic point of view. This is often called "negative" and "positive" thinking. This dualistic mode of thinking creates our various concepts of ourselves, our world-view, and subsequently our reality--the things that we experience in our daily life. If we find ourselves in psychological pain and suffering, in most cases it simply takes a "change of mind," a change in our attitude and thinking to transmute the condition that we find ourselves in. St. Paul calls this the "renewing of your mind."
"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Romans:12:2)
The above is a Divine-thinking precept. We should transcend positive/negative thinking (be not conformed to this world), but exercise Divine-thinking (the renewing of your mind).
El Morya, one of the Lords of the Planetary Hierarchy of the Spiritual Government serving Terra, once said that it is the sense of struggle that causes the struggle. This principle also applies to suffering and pain. A sense of suffering and pain causes suffering and pain. It is as simple as that. And yet sufferings are not easily eliminated for the one reason that people believe they have to suffer because they lack self-esteem and self-worth. Indulgence in self-depreciatory states and conditions are caused by a displacement in the psyche, by misidentifying one's Self. People tend to punish themselves for unjustified reasons. For instance, we believe that we did something wrong and so we must pay the price, and in this we judge and inflict pain upon ourselves. Love is not present in this. No one is in a position to judge us, not even ourselves; and our very Real Self will not do so, for it is the embodiment of Love. Remember the words of Jesus, "He who has not sin may cast the first stone." Those in the position to judge us will not, for they are one with God and express all the divine attributes such as God-Love, God-Mercy, God-Grace, and God-Goodness. Once again we emphasize, God does not judge us, the false ego does.
The act of transcending the sensations of suffering, pain and struggle in order to free ourselves from mortal living is not quite the same as positive thinking. Positive thinking would simply strive to see a bright side to one's experiences but not to transcend it altogether. Positive thinking does not impel us to strive for a higher evolutionary level in the way that Divine thinking would. It in fact prolongs a mortal way of behavior.
We are often told that a positive outlook of things is beneficial to our lives--and so it is. Compared to a negative frame of mind, it is much wiser to see the positive side in all experiences. However, maintaining a positive point of view is not at all that easy. The positive and negative poles are part of the dualistic system of reality, and as such it swings from one to the other. It follows the Law of the Pendulum. Thinking dualistically actually limits our being, our divine potential and expression. It locks us up in a prison of mortality. It perpetuates mortal concepts of our True Self and conditions our poor understanding and interaction with Life. Dualistic thinking is synonymous with mortal thinking, and so long as we think like a mortal we will never begin to express our divinity, our godhood. We are often reminded in Holy Scriptures that we are gods, why is it then that we do not express this? Why do we express ourselves as beasts or even lower than them, or be complacent with our human state which is actually transitional? We often think it impossible or blasphemous to be humanly perfect, to be a god and divine--by such a belief we cease to unfold ourselves, we lock ourselves in a cage of misguided thought, freeze our hearts of our humanity and express our inhumane folly.
Divine thinking on the other hand, cause one to understand that every phenomenon and experience as illusory. It helps us to center ourselves in our divinity with its blissful and joyful nature. Divine thinking helps us to untie ourselves from things that are unreal--from Maya, glamour and illusions. The Master Jesus once said that we should be in this world but not of it; or in other words, to be renunciants. This is again a Divine thinking precept.
Our mortal concepts should be transmuted into immortal notions and realties. Only then do we prove our kinship to God. This is an alchemical procedure that requires careful tending. The exoteric goal of alchemy is the transmutation of base metals into gold. Gold is the symbol of perfection, of beauty, light and all that is good. Making the physical form beautiful and youthful through external techniques such as cosmetics and implants without first considering the improvement of the character and personality is a deviation from the Spiritual Path. People are being daily misled by the Dark forces in their search for happiness and a meaningful life. They consult those that pretend to know and offer answers to their problems and yet what they get do not fulfill their spiritual needs although their physical wants and desires of the lower self may be catered to; however, this is short lived and has no lasting value. The desires of man are often counterproductive to his ultimate good and stalls his evolutionary journey; it checks his spiritual unfoldment. Lower desires should be replaced by the desires of the Higher Self. Desires should be transmuted into aspirations. There is power in desire but it has to be appropriated correctly for spiritual, selfless and sacred concerns. Instead of beautifying oneself through artificial methods, one should maintain divine thought, this would have a rejuvenating effect upon our psychology and physiology making us youthful and beautiful.
The manifestation of true perfection occurs first within--within one's realization and awareness, and then without in one's lower nature as it gradually reflects the perfection of one's Real Being. Perfection consequently shines without for the glory of God to be seen. Man does not need to wait for the Christ to physically appear again or seek Christ in earthly places. As soon as man is pure and as soon as man is aware of his true Self, Christ would manifest physically within him. Man shall be as the gods. This is the fruit of the Tree of Life that the tender of the Garden of Eden was so anxious that man should not eat prematurely, otherwise mortal imperfections would have been immortalized.
To be an Immortal we must think like one. Immortal concepts should replace mortal notions, beliefs and falsehoods. How do we think like an Immortal? How do we think divinely? There are many principles involved. If we were to pattern our lives after the great spiritual avatars that have appeared from time to time on the physical stage of Terra, we would make leaps and bounds in our spiritual journey back to our Source. Our spiritual being would unfold like the blossoming of a rose. Avatars such as Krishna, Jesus, Gautama, Quetzacoatl, and many others were fine exemplars of spirituality and of the mystic life. They showed us the way to immortality. The Master Jesus said, "I AM the Way." In this he meant that we should emulate him, that we should raise ourselves up to his level of consciousness, to his level of Divine thinking, of understanding, of living, of expressing all that is virtuous and beautiful in the soul--all that expresses one's innate godhood. In this decree of his, the expression "I AM" also refers to the God-Self within us with its perfect blueprint that we should strive to outpicture in the world of form. True Christians are not those who worship the "son of man" called "Jesus," they are the ones that manifest their personal Christhood. Only when we vibrate at the level of Christ do we become true Christians. Here we use the term "Christ" to refer to the divine aspect of man and not to the historical Jesus. True Christians are not followers or worshippers of any person, but an active channel for the Divine forces, the Christic energies of Love, Life and Light. Many men have been Christians even-though externally they formally embraced other religions or none at all.
However, let us get down to the essentials of learning how to think divinely like a god, and be aware of the divine spark of God that we should recognize and acknowledge at every waking moment. Buddhist call this the "divine pride of being a Buddha." Immortal or Divine thinking consists of understanding and living certain principles. All of our habitual thoughts, attitudes and feelings should be based upon the precept of Divine thinking if we are to progress spiritually. Below we present just some of these vital points and principles that we should incorporate in our Divine thinking "way of life" :

• Knowing one's true SELF
We often identify ourselves with our physical body, with our emotions, and with our mind. These three principles represent our personality. We are often led to believe that the personality is the Self, whereas it is simply a persona, a mask that the Soul wears that it may function in the lower dimensions. The personality is mortal and subject to change. It is not the permanent part of our being. Should we identify with the personality we assume the characteristics of mortality with its sense of limitation and lack. In the long run we lose our true sense of identity. We feel that our identity is somehow displaced and know no longer what we are. By this false identification we block the entry of spiritual forces into the lower aspect of our microcosmic being. We also close our consciousness from higher perception and awareness. By knowing, being aware, and identifying ourselves with our Reality, we liberate ourselves from a sense of separation from God--which is spiritually impossible. We are God's expression; God is our essence. By essentially knowing our true Self, we come to realize God; we come to realize the infinite creative potentials that lie within our divinity. Please note, however, that what we mean by "true Self" is far different from the usual understanding of the term. It is not the hidden desires and characteristics that lie within the subconscious mind, nor is it what most artists normally refer to as their true self when they express themselves on canvas. The True Self is not the subconscious mind, nor the conscious mind alone. It is the Divine Spark's Cosmic Consciousness or God's Divine Awareness of Its inherent Existence and Bliss within the microcosm at a lower level, and in the macrocosm at a higher level. Always identify yourself with the God-Spark within you. Essentially, all of God's attributes are to be found within you as well.

• Knowing Cosmic Laws that generates all the contents of the Omniverse
When we begin to know and understand the laws of our inherent existence we should begin to align ourselves and cooperate with Cosmic forces. We come to realize that the many beliefs and attitudes that govern our mundane existence are false and have no universal basis in truth. We learn that life is eternal and that our divine essence is immortal. By understanding Cosmic laws we would eventually come to understand our Self and the many roles that it plays in the world of form; we would also be able to differentiate between the Real and the unreal; that which is True and that which is False. We would grasp how and why our divinity should be expressed and manifested on the physical plane. Aside from this it will eventually dawn upon us that we are really one with God, one of God, and one as God; and that separation is simply an illusion. If God is everywhere present, he is also present within us. More accurately, everything is an expression of the Source of Life, and this includes us.

• Knowing the Plan of God
Most of us live without a sense of purpose in life. To most people it is unknown that all human beings have a mission in life. The Divine Mind has a Plan for humanity, a Plan for Planet Earth and the Solar System. This Plan is related to the divine and eternal aspect of man. The more we understand this Divine Plan, the more we are impelled to assist in its manifestation and fulfillment. All of our thinking will be aligned with the Will of God. Every one is sojourning on this physical plane for the purpose of fulfilling his or her mission and manifesting the Divine Plan of God upon Earth. When we think in terms of this Plan we invoke the aid of higher forces and live in accord with God's Will. The "mortal will" should be set aside to channel the Divine Will. Our will would be to express God's Will as God's desire is to express our divine desire. By being cognizant and attentive of Cosmic Order and the Plan we begin to live in terms of selflessness, service, sacrifice and the elimination of egoistic qualities for the good of all. Knowing the Plan of God expands our consciousness and helps us to see beyond mortal vision.

• Knowing that there is no separation between Man, God and Nature
Our mortal sense of duality makes us assume a defensive-offensive attitude. We attack others due to a sense of separation and fear. We should begin to realize that there is only One Substance, One Power, One Mind, One Self in the Omniverse, and this One Progenitor manifests as the varied and manifold structures of energies that we perceive. Relatively speaking, the many phenomena and things that we cognize are all illusions. They are all expressions of the One. By knowing that every form is illusory and are merely appearances, that behind all realities is Energy, the One Universal Substratum that we call God, the Void, Universal Essence, etc, we will eventually begin to think, act and behave accordingly--according to Truth. We would know that to hurt another we would simply be hurting ourselves, that what we give out eventually returns to us. Always regard another as yourself, as a divine presence of God. The precept "Do unto others as you would others do unto you," is related to this principle.

• Knowing that everything has a cause, has a purpose that the mortal mind may not know or understand.
To think divinely we should always keep in mind that nothing occurs without a purpose, that there are no accidents, or coincidences; that everything is based upon Cosmic law. Even-though consciously we may not know why things occur as they do, realize that everything will eventually have effects beneficial to soul-growth. The person who thinks divinely will never be overwhelmed with sufferings and sorrows for he or she knows the divine purpose of life through the constant attunement with the Divine Self.

• Knowing that one's true SELF is already immortal and divine
Immortality need not be searched frantically for in dark places, for it is already a reality in the light of our Divine Presence. Death is not the end, nor is it a beginning. We conquer death by realizing its non-existence, its illusory nature. A Master once said that "that which is Real cannot be threatened, that which is false does not exist." The Self that we are is beyond hurt, pain, suffering, and sorrow. It is immortal and divine. When we are submerged in a "gloom and doom" attitude it signifies that we are identifying ourselves with all that is unreal in us. The Self, or its threefold nature--existence, consciousness and bliss, cannot be extinguished. By continuously thinking from this level, by maintaining our consciousness on this plane of thought--that our essential being, our Self is immortal--we strengthen the influence of our highest aspect upon the lowest vehicles of our microcosmic being.

• Knowing that all experiences are of value to the soul
There is much that physical three-dimensional existence has to offer in terms of experience. There are things that cannot be experienced in the higher worlds that may be extracted from the material world. Evolution proceeds at a quicker pace when a life-stream is exposed to physical existence. In the spiritual planes the soul is hardly ever confronted with problems. Without challenges the soul does not evolve. Because of the density of matter, its resistance to the probing of the spiritual aspects of man, the physical world is an apt place for soul-unfoldment. Living in this three-dimensional plane unfolds the divine attributes and potentials within us such as courage, perseverance, patience, will-power, etc. It is for this reason that all our experiences, whether positive or negative, are beneficial to soul growth. They offer nourishment to our Higher Self. Therefore, in accord with this, we enforce the power of our divine thinking by extracting all that life has to offer and not indulging in any form of escapism or suicide. Perceive life from the point of view of the Self and not the personality. The personality simply wishes comfort, instant development, self-aggrandizement, and egoic power. The Self, or Soul is indifferent to external circumstances and experiences; it would regard everything and every experience as of value; its only wish is to acquire wisdom and extract spiritual nutriment from its earthly sojourn.

• Knowing that attachment to the illusory worlds only cause man to sink deeper into spiritual forgetfulness and into the mire of materialism
As mentioned above, Master Jesus once told us to be in this world but not of it. As divine immortals we should not be tied to that which is false and illusory. When we pass through transition, when we shed off this mortal form, we do not take along anything with us that is false, so why should we be overly attached to them? Attachment causes pain and suffering. It makes us forget our Source and our true Identity. Attachment also causes false identification; it displaces the Self from its throne and causes many other egoic qualities to emerge. Attachment lowers one's soul-frequency to the level of the physical octave. It attracts particles of darkness to adhere and cohere in our lower microcosmic structure. In such a state it is difficult for spiritual liberation and the ascension to take place. The antidote to attachment is simply detachment which in Sanskrit is called "Vairagya." Why should we be attached to things that are impermanent in nature? Earthly possessions and conditions are transient. Things get lost, they get stolen, they spoil, etc. Knowing that nothing is perennial we should not get upset if their cycle of existence come to an end, even prematurely. In terms of relationships, non-attachment entails loving others unconditionally and impersonally, not caring whether our love is returned, or expecting any reward. We would simply desire the happiness of others even-though their happiness may not be sought in our own kisses and embraces. Our every thought, word, and action should be prompted out of unconditional and impersonal love. Non-attachment to things of this Earth help us maintain tranquility, calmness, and a clear rational mind. It paves the way for the expression of our Higher Self.

• Knowing that one must do one's own thinking and not allow others to do the thinking for oneself
Dark and Negative forces do not desire the transformation of humanity into divinity, or man into god, they strive in various ways to hinder spiritual and evolutionary growth. Their most powerful weapons are thoughts and ideas, utilized for the control and manipulation of people's minds. They fill our minds with errors disguised as truth, and with dogmatic theologies represented with false spiritual façades. By subtle means the Dark ones would lure us away from our divinity into a lower expression. If we do not control our own conscious and subconscious minds, they will do so for us and lead us from the Real into the unreal, from Truth into falseness, from Light into darkness. We are easily mislead by authority figures falsely acting as emissaries of the Spirit. The bicameral or subconscious mind is easily controlled through feelings of fear, guilt and sin. As a disciple on the Path of Spirit it is necessary to think for oneself and to listen to the silent voice of the Soul reverberating within where one's immortality and divinity are proclaimed, where only perfection is affirmed. When we constantly listen to the voice of God within and not to the chaotic voices without we would progress quickly into the Kingdom of Light. Divine power lies within us that evil ones may not override unless through folly and ignorance we give-up what we have that they may control us and turn us into their helpless minions.

• Knowing that life is omnipresent and is not limited to the physical dimension, or even on this planet
Life in this three-dimensional existence has made us forget many spiritual truths. One of these truths is that life is not confined to physical existence nor to this particular planet alone. God is Life, and since God is omnipresent, so life is to be found in every part of the omniverse--in every dimension, and in every celestial body. We may presume sentient life to be dependent upon certain conditions--upon certain chemicals, gases, the correct temperature, atmospheric pressure, and gravitational forces, etc. However, the life-force always finds a way of manifesting itself no matter what the conditions of the environmental surroundings or substances available as building blocks for the form. Immortals do not think in terms of limitation, confinement, or constraint. Everything in essence are infinite and perennial. Though Science and Religion may teach of a "beginning," Immortals are aware that any birth of activity in the universe is simply a commencement of a new cycle of manifestation. If we were to believe that life exists solely upon Earth and upon the physical plane, we would imprison our consciousness and prevent it from expanding and embracing Cosmic Consciousness. The mortal mind is incapable of apprehending infinities; the immortal mind, however, grasps the picture in an intuitive manner. Regarding that life is omnipresent and eternal releases the power of the Higher Self within us.

• Knowing that fear and judgement are unnecessary and counterproductive
The Self is fearless. It knows itself to be beyond pain, hurt, and sorrow. That which fears is the elemental life or intelligence of the physical body. The mortal part of man, the persona of the Self, is in a constant state of tension and stress. It fears the loss of many things, but its main fear is the loss of its self-existence. Since the persona or the lower part of man is actually devoid of any soul or Self, this fear is unwarranted. Unless we identify ourselves with the eternal Self, this condition of fear of the persona or "lower self" will create psychological aberrations within us and influence our thoughts, feelings and behavior in a detrimental manner.
It is a delusion to judge appearances and that which has no real existence. In a spiritual sense, personal judgements comes from false reasoning; it is an expression of the false ego. All judgements are an expression of the dualistic mind that considers itself separate from the rest of the world, from Nature, from God. The Real Self does not judge, however it does discriminate or discern that which is Real and that which is unreal, that which is True and that which is false, that which is Absolute and that which is relative. Judgement and fear prolongs a mortal mentality as it blocks out the entry of spiritual forces and light into our system. They lower one's personal frequency and ossifies the mind. An Immortal filled with Love, Mercy and an Enlightened Mind, no longer expresses any fear or judgment. By casting out fear and the arrogantly passing of judgments upon our fellow beings we mentally prepare ourselves for the ascension and the realization of the state of immortality. The Master Jesus once said that by judging others we would in turn be judged. In one sense this could mean that we may possibly assume the condition that we pass judgement on. It is always best to see the Good in others, the God within them.

• Knowing that there is no limitation--no time and space, etc, and that everything is possible to man as he was created in the image of God.
Man is a reflection of God, a microcosm of the macrocosm. All forces and powers of the greater universe lies within the lesser universe of Man. Every phenomena of Nature has its correspondence in the microcosmic being. Since God is boundless, infinite, and eternal, and knows no limitation, the essential Man, created in God's image is likewise unlimited. Man possesses all divine potentialities and possibilities; to think otherwise is to put a false constraint upon Man's spiritual evolutionary growth. Immortals do not think in terms of limitation and lack. They only know abundance and infinities. Time and space are realities in human consciousness but not actualities in the Divine Mind. They are in fact illusions--expressions of Maya. Immortals have transcended human consciousness and are one with the Divine Mind. Time and space are no longer hurdles to them. The first rule of overcoming time and space is the realization that they are false conceptions of the mortal mind and may be transcended by identifying with the Consciousness of God within Man. Thinking divinely implies thinking like God.

• Knowing that humor and simplicity are divine qualities that need to be expressed
The higher one goes on the scale of evolution and the greater one becomes in spirituality, the more simple, child-like, and humorous one becomes. Immortals do not take themselves seriously, they know that every effort has its worth. Although the higher spiritual, and Cosmic beings are sweet and simple as compared to the psychological complexities of man, when it comes to the direction of planetary affairs of evolution, their wisdom and intelligence are far beyond the degree reached by humanity. Being simple and humorous eliminates many egoic qualities and raises one's consciousness to a higher spiritual plane. Seeing the humor in one's mistakes, expressions, and failures re-conditions and re-programs the conscious and subconscious minds with patterns of thought expressive of one's divine state of being.

• Seeing perfection
While the dualistic mind sees imperfection everywhere, the Divine Mind only knows and visualizes perfection, beauty, purity, and goodness. Whatever we see, visualize and believe we maintain our focus and attention upon it. If we continuously look for imperfection we maintain its illusory existence in our consciousness. Energy follows thought. By thinking in terms of imperfection we eventually manifest that state or condition in the world of form. Conversely, if we were to visualize perfection we would be manifesting and out-picturing the divine archetypes that God has formulated in the celestial worlds upon the earthly plane. This is the manifestation of Heaven on Earth. Divine thinking entails manifesting one's immortal state, not simply in a spiritual, psychological manner, but in a physical fashion as well. By constantly visualizing, and believing in one's immortality we would eventually display it.

• Making love the basis of one's habitual thought pattern and processes
Thinking divinely like an Immortal entails expressing the various virtues of Love, such as tolerance, kindness, benevolence, mercy, goodness, and purity. Our relationship with others, with Nature and with God should be motivated by the force of unconditional and impersonal Love. Think, speak, and relate to others with love. The power of the spoken word is expressed through the power of the Heart. Love is divine, and by expressing love we reveal and expose our divinity--the glory of God for all to see. Love, Life and Light transmutes our physical being at cellular and atomic levels. They transform and transfigure our being into a radiant vessel of Christ ("Nur Muhammad").

Conclusion
What are the benefits of divine thinking? Summarily, divine thinking unfolds the divine potentials lying latent or dormant within us. It contributes to the expansion of one's consciousness and the transmutation of one's lower mortal expression into a higher divine manifestation. Divine thinking liberates us from the wheel of rebirth and the transcendence of the realms of relativity. Physical immortality is a spiritual potential and divine thinking is a prime requisite in creating this possibility. Divine thinking raises us up to the level of the gods, it increase the rate of our personal vibrations or frequency to the energy-levels of the Adepts and Masters. Our personal evolution is accelerated as a result of thinking like an Immortal or a god. Human imperfection can only be surmounted by expressing the divine perfection within us. The first step that leads to this is Divine thinking.
Serapis Bey: "Men cannot build immortal bodies out of mortal substance. They cannot build out of mortal thoughts immortal ideas. They cannot build out of mortal feelings divine feelings that enfold the world and create the great Pyramid of Life."
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Copyright © 2001 Luxamore

Angelic Names and Their Dhikr

2008-09-08T15:14:00.000-07:00

Angelic Names and Their Dhikr
Call Upon Them
" Its Not What you know but Who You Know"
Their Praises to The King of All Universes

Artiya-il

Healing For: Sadness, grief, depression

Depression is a sickness of heart and soul made possible only through heedlessness. Arina’il
Heaven from copper and has named it Zaytun
Subhanal-mutiyl-wahhab,
Subhanal-fattahil-‘alim,
Subhanal-mujibi liman da’ahu.
(Praise be to the Giver of all things, the generous Bestower,
Praise to the Opener of All Ways, the All-Knowing,
Praise to Him who answers all prayers.)”
Subhanal-khaliqil-azhim,
Subhana-lladhi la mafarra wa la malja’a minhu illa ilayhi,
Subhanal-‘aliyyil-a’la.
(Praised be the Almighty Creator,
Praise be to Him from whom there is no escape and no refuge but in Him; Praised be the Highest of All.)

Angel Habib “Weeps for the Sinners and Prays for Mercy Upon Them"
The angel appointed as their head and overseer was called Ra’ad (which means thunder). He is responsible for the clouds and the rains.
Subhanal-malik-il-a’la.
Subhanal-‘aliyy-il-azhim.
Subhana man laysa ka-mithlihi shay’in.
(Praise be to the Highest King; Glory to the High, the Mighty; Glory to Him who is unlike any other.)
Subbuhun quddus Rabbuna wa Rabb-al-mala’ikati wa-r-ruh
(Praised be He with exalted praise, He who is holier than holy, our Lord and the Lord of the angels.)”
I beheld a number of angels created from wind and water. The angel appointed as their head and overseer was called Ra’ad (which means thunder). He is responsible for the clouds and the rains.
Ya man allafa bayna-th-thalji wa-n-nar, allif bayna qulubi ‘ibadikal-mu’minin.
(Oh Thou who hast joined the snow and the fire, unite Thou also the hearts of Thy believing servants.)

Angel Quroos The Rooster

This angel who has the form of a rooster descends to the earthly skies when it is night, and this is his Tasbih Subhanal-malikil-quddus,
Subhanal-kabiril-muta’al,
La ilaha ill’Allah-al-hayy-al-qayyum.
(Glory to the All-Holy King,
Glory to the Great and Exalted God,
There is no God but Allah, the Ever-Living, Eternally Abiding.)
Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim, La ilaha ill’Allah, Muhammadan Rasulullah.
Kullu shay’in halikun illa wajhahu, al-Wahid ul-Qahhar.
(In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate. There is no God but Allah; Muhammad is Allah’s Messenger. All must perish save His Divine Countenance, He who is One, the All-Vanquishing.)
“At every prayer time, this angel would raise his head and repeat the glorification:
Bismillahil-‘azhim wa bi-hamdihi
(In the Name of Allah, the Mighty and in Praise of Him.)
“His Tasbih was thus:
Subhanaka, ma a’zhama sha’nuka.
(Praise be to Thee, how great is Thy Glory!)

Angel Mikha’il

Subhana-llahi kullama sabbaha-llaha musabbihun,
wal-hamdu lillahi kullama hamid-allaha hamidun
wa la ilaha illAllahu kullama hallala-llaha muhallilun
wallahu akbaru kullama kabbara-llaha mukabbirun.
(Glory be to Allah whenever the glorifier glorifies Him;
And praised be He whenever the praiser praises Him;
There is no God but He each time this Tahlil is recited;
And Allah is Greatest each time this Takbir is affirmed.)

They remained always in this position and recited this Tasbih:
Subhanal-warithul-wasi’u-lladhi yudrikul-absar;
Subhana-lladhi la tudrikuhul-absar;
Subhanal-azhimul-‘alim.

(Praised be He, the Heir Universal who sees, the All-Discerning;
Praised be He whom our eyes cannot perceive;
Praised be the Majestic, the All-Knowing.)
Subhana Rabbi kulli MU'MINN wa kafirin,
Subhana man tada’u min haybatihi ma fi butunihal-hawamil.
(Glory be to the Lord of every believer and every infidel;
Glory to Him, from awe of whom pregnant women bring forth what is in their wombs.)”
“The glorification of the angel Mikha’il is this:

Subhana-Rabbil-‘ala
(Glory be to the Highest Lord.)”

According to one narration he r is to have said: “If a person perseveres along his life in reciting this Tasbih, ‘Subhana Rabbil-‘Ala’, when his time to die has come, the angel Mikha’il will send the Angel of Mercy to him with a gift. He who is visited in his grave by the Angel of Mercy is made safe from the punishment of the grave.”
On account of this vision, the Holy Muhammad {s} included this Tasbih in his Sunna, since Muslims recite this phrase in every Sajda, so that they may ultimately reach to this felicity.
The Holy Muhammad {s} then continued:
“After this we reached a luminous green sea where there was a multitude of angels - Allah Almighty alone knows their number – and their Tasbih was this:
Subhanal-Qadiril-Muqtadir,
Subhanal-Karimil-Akram,
Subhanal-Jalilil-‘Azhim.
(Glory be to the Mighty, the All-Powerful;
Glory to the Most Generous of the Generous,
Glory to the Glorious, the Illustrious.)
“I then asked, ‘What sea is this?’ and Jibra’il told me, ‘The name of this sea is ‘Bahr-al-Akhdar’, the Green Sea.’

Prophet {Isa} Jesus and John {Yahya}

“The Tasbih of ‘Isa Jesus {as} was this:
Subhanal-hannanil-mannan;
Subhanal-abadiyyul-abad;
Subhanal-mubdi-al-mu’id.
(Praised be to the All-Compassionate, the All-bounteous;
Praised be the Eternal, Never-Ending;
Praised be He who creates from nothing, then causes to die
and returns to its previous state.)
“Each tongue glorified the Lord as follows:
Subhanal-khaliqil-azhim;
Subhanal-azhimil-‘alim;
Subhanallahi wa bi-hamdihi;
Subhanallahil-azhim wa bi-hamdihi,
Istaghfirullah.
(Praise be to the Creator, the Glorious;
Praise be to the All-Powerful, All-Knowing;
Praise be to Allah and glorified be He;
Praise be to Allah the Magnificent and glorified be He,
I beseech Allah for forgiveness.)

Angel Qasim
This is the angel who is charged with the distribution of provisions
Subhana-llahi wa bi-hamdihi,
Subhana-llahil-azhim wa bi-hamdihi
wa istaghfirullah.
(Praise be to Allah and glorified be He;
Praise be to Allah the Magnificent and glorified be He,
I beseech Allah for forgiveness.)
Prophet Joseph {as}
“His Tasbih was this:
Subhanal-Karimil-Akram,
Subhanal-jalilil-ajall,
Subhanal-fardil-witr;
Subhana-abadiyyil-abad.
(Praised be the Most Bounteous of the Bountiful;
Praised be the Greatest of the Great;
Praised be the Peerless, Unique;
Praised be Eternal, Never-Ending.)
Prophet Da’ud and his son Suleiman {as} Subhana khaliqi-n-nur; {7Veil,Rajab}
Subhana-t-tawwabil-wahhab.
Subhana malikil-mulk ,
Subhanal-qahiril-jabbar,
Subhana man ilayhi tasir-al-umur.

Angel Soha’il Subhana man huwa fauqal-jabbarin;
Subhanal-musalliti fauqal-musallitin;
Subhanal-muntaqimi mim-man asahu.
(Glory to Him who is above all oppressors;
Glory to Him who attacks all attackers;
Glory to Him who takes revenge on whomever disobeys Him.)
“After this, I beheld a Sea of Fire surrounded on its shores by fierce and terrible angels. ‘What is this?’ I asked, and Jibra’il explained to me, ‘This sea is the ‘Sea of Sa’q’ (Lighting),
Angel Malik This is the Guardian of Jahannam (Hell)
“His head was bowed forward and he recited this Tasbih:
Subhana-lladhi la yajuru wa huwal-malik-al-Jabbar;
Subhanal-muntaqimu min ‘ada’ihi,
Subhanal-mu’ti li-man yasha’a,
Subhana man laysa ka-mithlihi shay’un.
(Praised be He who commits not injustice
and He is the Almighty, Omnipotent King;
Glory to Him who triumphs in revenge over His foes,
Praised be He who bestows on whomever He wilt;
Glory to Him who is unlike anything.)

Angel Salsa’il Subhana khaliq-iz-zulumati wa-n-nur,
Subhana khaliq-ish-shamsi wal-qamar-il-munir,
Subhana-r-rafi’-il-‘ala.
(Praise be to the Creator of darkness and light,
Praise be to the Creator of the sun and the shining moon;
Praise be to the Highest of the High.)
Subbuhun quddus, Rabbun-ar-Rahman-ar-Rahim illadhi la ilaha illa huwa.
(Glorified be our Lord, the All-Holy, the All-Compassionate,
The All-Merciful, besides whom there is no other god.)

Prophets Idris and Nuh Subhanal-mujibi-s-sa’ilin,
Subhana qabzil-jabbarin,
Subhana-lladhi ‘ala fa la yablughu ‘uluwwahu ahad.
(Glorified be He who answers those who ask of Him,
Praised be He who constrains the tyrants,
Praised be He whose lofty height none can reach but He.)
The Tasbih of the Prophet Nuh was this

Subhanal-Hayyil-Halim,
Subhanal-Haqqil-Karim,
Subhanal-Azizil-Hakim.
(Glory be to God, the Living and Gentle,
Glory to God, the True and Munificent,
Glory to God, the Powerful and Wise.)
Angel Kalqa’il Quddusun quddus Rabb-al-arbab,
Subhana Rabbinal-‘alal-‘azham,
Quddusun Rabb-al-malaikati wa-r-ruh

(Holy, Holy, the Lord of All Lords!
Glory to our Lord, the Lofty, the Majestic!
All-Holy the Lord of the angels and the spirit.)

“Having passed by these angels, I came upon another flock, and Allah alone knows their number. These were seated in an attitude of perfect devotion in the posture of Qa’da, never raising their gaze from their knees as they recited this Tasbih:
Subhana Dhil-fadhlil-akbar
Subhanal-‘adl illadhi la yajur.
(Praise be to the Possessor of Greatest Grace.
Praise be to the Perfectly Just One who wrongs none.)
Prophets Isma’il, Ishaq, Ya’qub, Lut and Harun Subhana man la yasiful-wasifuna ‘azhmatahu wa muntahahu
Subhana man hada’at lahu-r-riqab wa dhallat lahu-s-sifaq.
(Glory to Him before the Extremity of whose Majesty all attempts
at description must pale,
Glory to Him before whom princes bow their heads and the
brazen are humbled).

Angel Samkha’il this Heaven from a yellow gem and has called it Khalisa. Subhanal-Karim, subhana-n-Nur-al-mubin,
Subhana-lladhi huwa ilahu man fi-s-samawati wa ilahu man fil-ard.
(Glory be to the Munificent, Glory to the Unmistakable Light,
Glory to Him who is God of all that is in the heavens and on the earth.)
Prophet Musa Subhanal-Hadi man yasha’u.
Subhanal-Mudillu man yasha’u;
Subhanal-Ghaffur-ur-Rahim.
(Glory be to Him who leads to righteousness whomsoever He will;
Glory to Him who leads astray whom He will;
Glory to the All-Forgiving, the All-Merciful.)
Angel is Afra’il
7th Heaven is Ghariba
Subhana-lladhi sataha-s-samawati wa rafa’aha,
Subhana-lladhi basatal-arda wa farashaha,
Subhana-lladhi atla’al-kawakiba wa azharaha,
Subhana-lladhi arsal-jibala wa haya’ha.
(Glory be to Him who has fashioned the skies as a roof and raised them aloft;
Glory to Him who has flattened the earth and fitted it accordingly;
Glory to Him who brought forth the stars and made them to be adornments;
Glory to Him who has set up the mountains and fixed them in their places.)”

Subhanal-muhtajibi bi jalalihi,
Subhanal-musawwiri fil-arhami ma yasha’u.
(Glory be to Him who is veiled by His Majesty,
Glory be to Him who forms in the womb whatever He wills.)
Subhanaka ma ‘azhama sha’nuka,
Subhanaka ma ’azhama makanuka,
Subhanaka sayyidi ma arhamaka bi khalqika.
(Be Thou glorified, how immense is Thy dignity!
Glory be to Thee, how high is Thy station!
Glory to Thee, my Lord, how great Thy Mercy on Thine creation!)

Angel Israfil Subhana-s-sami’-al-‘alim,
Subhanal-muhtajibi ‘an khalqihi,
Subhana Rabbina wa ta’ala.
(Glory be to Him, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing,
Glory be to Him who is veiled from His Creation,
Glorified and exalted be He, our Lord Almighty.)
Prophet Abraham Subhanallahi wal-hamdu-lillahi
wa la ilaha ill-Allahu wallahu akbar,
wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa billahil-aliyyil-azhim.{ Salatul Tasbih}
(Glory be to Allah and Praise;
None is worthy of worship but Allah alone, and Allah is Most Great!
There is no Might and no Power save with Allah, the Exalted, Majestic.)
Tell them to recite this Du’a (prayer), for each time they recite it, a tree is planted in Paradise.’

Hakikat Karamah

2008-09-08T07:27:00.003-07:00

Hakikat Karamah

Fatwa Syeikh Abul Hasan Asy Syadzili

Soal Karamah yang dilimpahkan oleh Allah kepada para auliya' seringkali ditentang oleh mereka yang anti dunia sufi. Mereka menganggap Karamah itu seperti sihir, bahkan termasuk kategori khurafat dan zindiq. Padahal Karamah adalah bentuk lain dari sesuatu yang luar biasa, jika itu turun kepada Nabi dan Rasul disebut Mu'jizat, tetapi karena diturunkan kepada para wali maka disebut Karamah.

Pada era terakhir ini muncul di berbagai media massa sejumlah iklan yang menonjolkan istilah Karamah, misalnya, Ilmu Karomah, Kadigdayan Karamah, Karamah Sejati, dan sebagainya. Sebenarnya, istilah yang disebarluaskan dalam iklan tersebut sama sekali bukan masuk dalam istilah Karamah para sufi atau para wali. Karena itu perlu ekstra hati-hati untuk melihat dan memandang apakah keluarbiasaan seseorang itu bersifat Karamah atau sekadar Ilmu Jin, atau Ilmu Hikmah. Semuanya berbeda, walau pun punya kemiripan.

Banyak sekali kisah al-Qur'an yang mengilustrasikan Karamah itu sendiri. Misalnya kisah-kisah Maryam, Ibunda Nabiyullah Isa as, seperti dalam surat ali Imran 37: "Maka Tuhannya menerima (nazarnya) dengan penerimaan yang baik dan mendidiknya dengan pendidikannya yang baik, dan Allah menjadikan Zakaria pemeliharanya. Setiap Zakaria masuk untuk menemui Maryam di Mihrab ia dapati makanan di sisinya. Zakaria berkata, "Hai Maryam dari mana kamu memperoleh (makanan) ini?" Maryam menjawab, "Makanan itu dari sisi Allah." Sesungguhnya Allah memberi rizki kepada siapa yang dikehendaki-Nya tanpa terhitung."
Pada surat lain, misalnya Maryam 25 disebutkan, "Dan goyanglah pangkal pohon kurma itu ke arahmu niscaya pohon itu akan menggugurkan buah kurma yang masak kepadamu."

Sementara itu dalam hadits Nabi, soal Karamah itu juga dijelaskan, misalnya, riwayat Abu Hurairah dari Nabi SAW bersabda: "Tak ada bayi yang bicara kecuali tiga bayi: Isa bin Maryam, seorang bayi di zaman Juraij dan seorang lainnya….dst." Juga kisah Ashabul Kahfi.

Sedangkan Amirul Mu'minin ra pernah berucap, "Wahai pasukan! Awas bukit…awas bukit…!" diucapkan di tengah-tengah Umar bin Khaththab sedang berkhutbah jum'at. Suara Umar ketika itu didengar oleh pasukan yang sedang bertempur sengit di medan laga saat itu.

Proses-proses munculnya Karamah adalah sebagaimana munculnya Mu'jizat. Bisa muncul karena doa seseorang, bisa karena muncul tiba-tiba secara luar biasa. Namun, hakikatnya Karamah itu, bukan saja sesuatu yang muncul dengan kedahsyatan. Seseorang bisa menahan kesabarannya, ketika harus marah besar, bisa disebut sebagai Karamah Allah atas orang itu.

Kebajikan-kebajikan dan barakah-barakah para sufi terhadap para pengikutnya juga bisa disebut Karamah. Namun munculnya Karamah itu bukan atas usaha seseorang yang disertai ilmu-ilmu tertentu atau dzikir tertentu supaya Karamah bisa datang. Dan ciri-ciri orang yang punya Karamah itu tentu berbeda dengan orang yang punya ilmu hikmah. Kalau Karamah mesti tumbuh dari para sufi, sementara ilmu hikmah muncul dari kalangan ahli hikmah, yaitu mereka yang menguasai ilmu-ilmu tertentu yang bisa mendatangkan keluarbiasaan. Derajatnya pasti jauh, dan Karamah berada di tempat yang sangat luhur.

Tetapi di dalam perjalanan sufi menuju kepada Allah, seseorang dilarang mencari Karamah. "Uthlubil istiqamah walaa tahlubil Karamah." (Carilah istiqamah, dan jangan mencari Karamah). Karena hakikat Karamah itu adalah istiqamah itu sendiri. Orang yang bisa istiqamah akan mendapatkan Karamah, tetapi orang yang mencari Karamah belum tentu dapat Karamah sekaligus juga belum tentu bisa istiqamah.

HADITH: THE QUESTION OF AUTHENTICITY

2008-09-08T07:27:00.001-07:00

HADITH: THE QUESTION OF AUTHENTICITY
By Aisha Musa

Hadith are such an integral part of traditional Islam in all its variations, that when someone suggests that the Qur’an alone should serve as the source of religious law and guidance for Muslims, the idea is usually met with shock and amazement. So, those who advocate following the Qur’an alone must address the issue of hadith.

The Arabic word "hadith," means a story, or saying. Any story, or saying, from anyone. For traditional Muslims, it has come to mean specifically a story or saying told about, or attributed to the prophet Muhammad.

Discussions of hadith have traditionally focused on the question of authenticity. This is true of discussions among those who advocate following hadith and between them and those who advocate following the Qur’an alone. God willing, we will see how this focus on the question of authenticity has overshadowed other crucial questions about hadith.

For traditional Muslims the focus on authenticity is an attempt to insure that people can judge the veracity and reliability of hadiths, in order to determine which are valid as sources of law and guidance.

Early Muslim scholars took great pains to compile biographical information on the people who allegedly narrated and transmitted the hadiths in order to determine those who were to be considered reliable from those who were not. Only reports passed on by supposedly trustworthy individuals are to be considered authentic, and hence valid. The question of whether or not Muslims have always be true to their stated standards is a separate issue that I will not address here. What is important here is the fact that the question of authenticity is of primary importance in their understanding and acceptance of hadith.

Many of those who advocate following the Qur’an also focus on the question of authenticity when debating the use of hadiths. They do so by challenging the authenticity of all hadiths and thereby, the validity of following them. Their challenge to the authenticity is of hadith is based primarily on the fact that the first so-called "sahih," or "sound, authentic" collections of the hadith were written over 200 years after the death of Muhammad. Encouraged by the work of prominent, non-Muslim western scholars have also questioned the authenticity of hadiths on the same basis, those who advocate following the Qur’an alone assert that hadith should not be followed because they are late fabrications, with no connection to Muhammad.

In response to the original challenge posed by non-Muslim scholarship, Muslim scholars have worked diligently to uncover the earliest possible written sources of hadith and have some which they date to the middle of the second century after hijra, about 100 years before the writing of the so-called sahih collections. This together with early histories which talk about the first generations of Muslims writing and relating hadiths, leads scholars sympathetic to hadiths to conclude that even without actual physical specimens of written hadiths from those early generations, it is reasonable to accept that hadiths had been transmitted both orally and in writing from the beginning.

The historical record has not provided clear evidence that can prove or disprove the early transmission of hadiths. So, each side accepts and argues the information that best supports its view; and the authenticity debate rages on.

But is authenticity the real question we should be addressing? Does it deserve to be the central focus in the discussions of hadith? Let us now turn, God willing, to the other questions that are often overshadowed by the question of authenticity.

The Qur’an poses a number of questions related to hadith. By considering them, God willing, we can put the question of authenticity in it’s proper perspective.

Among the questions the Qur’an poses in relation to hadith are:

"In which hadith after this will they believe?" (al-A`araaf [7]:185).

"These are God’s revelations we recite to you in truth. Then, in which hadith after God and His revelations will they believe?" (al-Jatheya [45]:6).

We understand the import of these questions from yet another question posed in the Qur’an:
"Shall I seek other than God as a source of law and judgment when He is the One who has sent down the Book to you in detail?" (al-An`am [6]:114).

Also,

"What is wrong with you? How do you judge? Do you have another book which you study?" (al-Qalam [68]:35-36).

These are the real questions that deserve to be the central focus in the discussions about hadith. If we answer these questions in the negative (i.e. "No, I shall not." and "None."), then we see that the question of authenticity does not merely become secondary-it becomes moot.

If we seek only God and His revelations as a source of law and guidance, and do not believe in any hadith other than God’s revelations, it makes no difference if a hadith is authentic, or not. The Qur’an does not ask if hadith is authentic. The Qur’an asks if it is "other than God and His revelations." Even if we have absolute proof that a hadith came from the messenger, even if we may have heard it directly from the lips of the messenger, with our own ears, it is still "other than God and His revelations." Therefore, in light of 6:114 and 45:6 it is invalid as a source of law and guidance.

Not only are hadith, even authentic hadith, invalid as a source of law and guidance, they can be a source of misguidance. It is obvious that hadith with negative content, such as those that call for stoning adulterers, are a source of misguidance. But what about hadith with positive content?

Mainstream Muslims of all schools of thought insist that hadith are necessary for a number of reasons. Among the most important reasons, is that without hadith we cannot properly understand the Qur’an. Hadith, they say, shed light on the Qur’an. But God tells us that the Qur’an is light (4:174, 42:52). Can the hadith shed light on the Qur’an which is light?

Can the moon shed light on the sun? No, for the moon only reflects the light cast by the sun. Likewise, any light in found in any hadith from the messenger is no more than a reflection of the light in the Qur’an.

The moon is only visible when our side of the earth is turned away from the sun. When the sun is above us, the moon is no longer visible. But if the moon moves between us and the sun, we find ourselves in the darkness of an eclipse. During an eclipse, the moon which reflects the light of the sun when we are turned away from the sun, now cuts us off from the light of the sun.

For a believer, the Qur’an is as the sun which never sets. Hadith, any and all hadith, are as the moon. If we turn toward the hadith, we turn away from the Qur’an. If we let the hadith come between us and the Qur’an, we will find ourselves in the darkness of a spiritual eclipse, cut off from the light of the Qur’an.

FREE YOURSELF

2008-09-08T07:25:00.000-07:00

"...O people of the Scripture, let us come to a common agreement between us and between you; that 1) we do not serve except God, and 2) do not set up anything at all with Him, and 3) that none of us takes each other as patrons besides God...." (The Message 3:64)

This website has been created for all people who have a desire to allow God into their lives and follow His path alone...

This website invites all people of various beliefs (Sunni, Shia, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Bahai, Agnostic, Humanist, and even Atheists) to come and examine for themselves the system of Submission/Islam which is based on God Alone.

Many of you may outwardly be content with your current faith or that which you inherited from your parents and community...but to some out there, there will always be a tugging at the back of their mind that 'there is something more', and that 'some things don't always make sense'...

If you are one of those people, then open your eyes, put on your thinking cap, and welcome to an open examination of the system of Submission/Islam which very few know about...

WHAT IS Islam?

The system of God "Islam/Submission" has been taught to us through God and His messenger and is fully outlined in the final Book of God (The Quran) which was revealed centuries ago...

The Book claims legitimacy for itself and within itself, allowing NO room for self-made priests, or religious leaders, who have distorted and misquoted the Book of God to give themselves authority and partnership with the Almighty...

“'Shall I seek other than God as a judge when He has sent down to you this Scripture fully detailed?'” Those to whom We have given the Scripture know it is sent down from your Lord with truth; so do not be of those who have doubt." (The Message 6:114 )

"Say: 'Which is the greatest testimony?' Say: 'God is witness between me and you, and He has inspired to me this Quran that I may warn you with it and whomever it reaches, that you bear witness that along with God are other gods!' Say: 'I do not bear witness!' Say: 'He is only One god, and I am innocent of what you set up!'” (The Message 6:19)

"And We have come to them with a Scripture which We have detailed with knowledge; a guide and a mercy to those who believe." (The Message 7:52)

"We have revealed to you the Scripture with truth that you may judge between the people by that which God has shown you, and do not be an advocate for the treacherous. " (The Message 4:105)

"And the Day We send to every nation a witness against them from themselves, and We have brought you as a witness against these. And We have sent down to you the Scripture as a clarification for all things, and a guide and mercy and good tidings to those who have surrendered." (The Message 16:89)

"And We have sent down to you the Scripture with truth, authenticating what is present of the Scripture and superseding it. So judge between them by what God has sent down, and do not follow their desires from what has come to you of the truth. For each of you We have made laws, and a structure; and had God willed, He would have made you all one nation, but He tests you with what He has given you; so strive to do good. To God you will return all of you, and He will inform you regarding that in which you dispute." (The Message 5:48)

What about Obeying the Messenger?

The gravest crime the self-appointed scholars who claimed to be Muslim made was to give authority to the traditions (Sunna) and the books of Sayings (Hadith) ALONGSIDE the authority of God and His messenger. They believe that it was God who authorized such action by commanding the people to ‘obey God, and obey the messenger’…

"Whoever obeys the messenger has obeyed God; and whoever turns away, We have not sent you as a guardian over them." (The Message 4:80)

What is so sadly neglected is that the most critical aspects of the messenger’s life have been recorded and captured in the most detailed manner…not in the books of Hadith or tradition…but in the Holy Book itself. The questions that he was asked, and the answers (inspired by God) that he gave:

"They ask you about intoxicants and gambling. Say: 'In them is great harm, and a benefit for mankind; but their harm is greater than their benefit.' And they ask you how much are they to give, Say: 'The excess.' It is thus that God clarifies for you the revelations that you may think." (The Message 2:219)

"And they ask you concerning the Spirit. Say: 'The Spirit is from the command on my Lord, and the knowledge you were given was but very little.'" (The Message 17:85)

The list of questions and answers goes on throughout the Book of God…This is the life of the Messenger, and this is the ‘obedience’ of the messenger…Without ‘obeying the messenger’, we would inadvertently ignore nearly 1/3 of the Book of God which deals with his most authentic narrations authorized and inspired by God which we have been commanded to follow…

“Nor does he speak from personal desire. It is a divine inspiration." (The Message 53:3-4)

What is Difference between Islam and Today's PRACTICES?

In comparing the teachings of Islam as derived from the Book of God to the practices taught and enforced by the popular Sunni and Shia faiths (1.2 Bn followers), we find that the list is quite extensive, with some of the highlights as follows:

In Islam, the requirement to be a Muslim is to simply accept and live according to the ‘Straight Path’ (6:151-153), Vs. the Sunni or Shia 5-pillars which come from unauthorized books…

In Islam, abolishing Slavery is taught to be an act of righteousness (90:12-13), Vs. Sunni and Shia teachings which encourages slavery under war…

In Islam, women are never forbidden from praying or fasting during Menstruation (2:222), nor is there a specific dress code (i.e. the Headscarf) imposed on them beyond modesty, Vs. the Sunni and Shia which teach the undermining of women and forcing them to cover their hair and avoid praying or fasting at certain times...

In Islam, a man or women may leave a Will, after settlement of debt (4:12), Vs. Sunnis who refuse to accept wills if there are any direct descendants...

In Islam, Monogamy is the basis for normal relationships, while polygamy is only allowed in cases involving marrying the mothers of orphans under the man’s guardianship (4:3), Vs. Sunnis where a man may be a polygamist simply if he can afford to, and Shia which allow sex for pleasure (Mut’a)...

In Islam, Divorce is enforceable only after a two-phase period, and it may be made nullified if the couple reconcile before the end of this period (65:1, 65:4), Vs. Sunni teachings that destroy families by allowing a divorce to occur on the spot with no waiting period and no nullification...

In Islam, Thieves do not have their hands cut-off, but are made to work until they return that which is stolen (12:76), Vs. Sunni and Shia teachings which brutally amputate the hands causing disability...

In Islam, no one is allowed to be killed or Stoned for adultery (24:2), Vs. Sunni and Shia laws of stoning married adulterers to death...

In Islam, absolute Freedom of Religion is allowed (2:256, 10:99; 18:29; 88:21-22), Vs. Sunni and Shia requiring apostates to be killed and rejecting the practice of other faiths...

In Islam, people are acknowledged as being diverse and each is to be respected for his/her level of spiritual growth. A Submitter ‘Muslim’ must work to attain the status of Faithful ‘Mumin’ (49:14), Vs. Sunni and Shia teachings that all followers of their religion must think, act, and even look the same (cult syndrome)...

In Islam, War can only be declared in cases of self-defence - no offensives (2:190), Vs. Sunni and Shia teachings allowing raids and attacks on any people who are considered non-Muslim by their standards...

In Islam, praying to God can be done at any time by any person (2:186) Vs. Sunni and Shia teaching that God is to be called upon at 5 specific times a day in a ritual format…

In Islam, Pilgrimage is a centre for gathering of nations and for all to witness the benefits of being together (22:27-28), Vs. Sunni and Shia bringing in polytheistic rituals and superstition (touching of black stone, circling 7 times, etc..)...

In Islam, a Year is a luni-solar count made of 365-days (17:12, 9:36), with all the seasons fitting-in-place Vs. Sunnis teaching it to be a lunar one based on 354 days which creates confusion of seasons and time…

In Islam, males and females are not required to be Circumcised (32:7), Vs. Sunni and Shia teachings requiring all males to be circumcised and females in some cases...

In Islam, music, statues, gold and silk are all Lawful (7:32-33, 16:116), Vs. Sunni beliefs forbidding silk & gold for men, and forbidding music & statues for all...

In Islam, rule of Government is under the constitution of the Book of God and by free-speech (5:48). Vs. Sunni teachings which allow the rise of dictators or monarchs, and Shia teachings which uphold self-appointed religious leaders based on genealogy.

Therefore, the clearest difference is that Islam is a monotheistic, clear, consistent, dynamic, progressive, balanced system...a system that eliminates conjectures, hearsay, fairy tales and contradictions...therefore it eliminates hardship, confusion, chaos, and division. It is a system which puts more accent on the usage of intellect, reason, pondering over God, His Creation, meaning of life, pondering over everything...While the sects represent superstition, unfair treatment for non-cult members, inequality of the sexes, oppression of human rights, inability to contribute to human progress, amputations or physical violence, regression of ideas and thoughts to primitive levels of barbarism, and most importantly setting-up partners with the One True God and thus promoting polytheism.

God Alone

For the Sunnis and Shia who are shocked by the words they have been reading, we invite you to seek God Alone with your heart and your mind and to give-up all the previous wasted years of idolatry and polytheism that you have unknowingly been party to...For our Lord tells us that it is never too late to seek His forgiveness:

"Say: 'O My servants who transgressed against themselves, do not despair of God's mercy. For God forgives all sins. He is the Forgiver, the Merciful.'" (The Message 39:53)

But be warned, while only God knows the fate of an individual, by simply turning away without verifying what has been said here can bring the gravest of consequences:

"And who is more wicked than one who is reminded of his Lord’s verses but he turned away from them, and he forgot what his hands had done. We have made veils upon their hearts from understanding them, and a deafness in their ears. And if you invite them to the guidance, they will never be guided." (The Message 18:57)

Now ask yourself: Will God Alone be enough for you?

"And when God Alone is mentioned, the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter are filled with aversion; and when others are mentioned beside Him, they rejoice!" (The Message 39:45)

Why is Islam for me?

This is what it all boils down to, a "what's in it for me" outlook that is very human and very natural...Well, the answers that may sway you to 'God Alone' and let you abandon your current faith, whatever the costs may be, are as follows...

"And if the town’s people had only believed and been aware, then We would have opened for them blessings from the sky and the land; but they denied, so We took them for what they used to earn." (The Message 7:96)

Islam guarantees victory (30:47, 22:38-39, 47-7).

Islam guarantees prosperity and abundance (7:96, 41:30-31).

Islam guarantees maximum freedom for the people - freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom to travel, and freedom of economy (2:256, 10:99, 88:21-22).

Islam guarantees human rights for all the people, regardless of their race, color, creed, social status, financial situation, or political affiliation (5:8, 49:13).

Islam guarantees a political system that is based on consultation and the freedom for open expression (42:38).

Islam guarantees a society that upholds and maintains the highest standards of moral behavior.

Islam guarantees a maximum regard for people's lives and properties.

Islam guarantees prevalence of love, courtesy, peace, and mutual respect among the people, and with other world communities (3:110, 60:8-9).

Islam guarantees environmental protection as a result of deterring pollution through conservation and prohibition of wasteful practices (30:41).

If you are convinced that a dignified, prosperous, righteous, logical, and practical way of life is your desire, then Islam is for you. You can begin to change your life immediately by putting-aside all that you have been raised to believe in and objectively taking a fresh-start by reading-up on the topics we discussed and many more in the words of God in His Book, and discover for yourself with no prejudice or interference.

"That is because God was not to change anything He bestowed to a people, unless they change what is in themselves. God is Hearer, Knowledgeable." (The Message 8:53)

"GOD ALONE"
SAY NO TO ANYTHING ELSE

5 Pillars Myth (MITOS 5 RUKUN ISLAM)

2008-09-08T07:23:00.000-07:00

5 Pillars Myth

In today's version of Islam, we hear that the religion has been built upon 5-Pillars which, if upheld, grant the person a very high chance of his/her succeeding in this worldly life and entering paradise...

The 5-Pillars are described as follows:

Witnessing there is no god but GOD, and that Mohammed is His messenger;

The daily Prayer/Salat - 5-times per day;

The obligatory charity (zakat) amounting to 2.5% per annum;

Fasting the month of Ramadhan;

Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once.
Although the above has now been taught to over 1-billion people worldwide as being 'Islam'...What perhaps may become obvious to readers of this site is that GOD Has provided mankind with a SYSTEM (click for 'What is Religion?') and not a set of rituals...

In this page we will present the 'true' pillars that all Muslims will unite around, as well as presenting select articles which will show different understanding of today's pillars.

The 'true' pillars of Islam

"Abraham was a nation, humble to GOD, a monotheist; he was not of those who set-up partners. Thankful to what provisions he was provided; He selected him, and guided him to a Straight Path. And We have given him good in this world, and in the hereafter he is one of the upright. Then We inspired you: 'follow the creed of Abraham, monotheism; he was not from those who set-up partners." (16:120-123)

Monotheism (the path of the One GOD) is directly related to the 'Straight Path':

"Say: 'my Lord has guided me to a Straight Path, an upright religion, the creed of Abraham, monotheism; he was not from those who set-up partners'. " (6:161)

The Straight Path

Here now is the LAW which all Submitters are to uphold and honor:

"Say: 'come let me recite to you what your Lord Has forbade for you:

that you should not set-up anything with Him.

And be kind to your parents;

and do not kill your unborn children for fear of poverty, We provide for you and for them;

and do not come near evil, what is openly of it, or secretly;

and do not kill the soul which GOD Has forbidden, except in justice. That is what He enjoined you that you may comprehend'.

'And do not come near the money of the orphan, except for what is best, until he reached his maturity;

and give honestly full measure and weight equitably. We do not burden a soul except by what it can bear.

And if you speak then be just even if against a relative;

and with pledges made to GOD you shall observe. This He Has enjoined you that you may remember'.

And this is *My path, a Straight One, so you shall follow it, and do not follow the other paths lest they divert you from His path. That is what He has enjoined you to that you may be righteous." (6:151-153)

*Please note that this is the SAME Straight Path that was revealed not only to Abraham, but to Moses and his people (the exception being the Sabbath which was made as a punishment for some of the Children of Israel 16:124).

Articles regarding the 5-pillars:

True Testimony
A very revealing analysis of the "Shahada".

The Link (Salat)
One of the most misunderstood practice associated with this great system.

Purification (Zakat)
Find out just how simple GOD's system of giving can be.

Fasting (Saum)
Can we find all we need from the Quran's guidance?.

Pilgrimage (Hajj)
What are the rules that govern Pilgrimage?.

Ana Al Haqq

2008-09-08T07:20:00.000-07:00

Untuk memahami statemen Ana Al Haq nya Siti Jenar mau pun Al Hallaj yang tingkat spiritual nya sudah sangat tinggi tentu berbeda dengan pemahaman manusia pada umumnya yang terkukungkung oleh dogma agama. Untuk memahaminya kita harus berbicara di dimensi yang lebih tinggi dari dimensi kemanusiaan atau dimensi syariat…Kalau Siti Jenar berbicara mengenai Ana Al Haqq maka beliau berbicara di dimensi ke Illahian atau dimensi marifat dimana ke aku an nya telah sirna oleh cahaya-NYA dan yang tinggal hanyalah AKU atau Allah dalam dirinya.
Jadi pro dan kontra selama ini terjadi karena masing masing berbicara dalam dimensi yang berbeda,…jadi tidak ketemu. Jadi masing masing sikap tersebut sebaiknya tidak saling menghakimi malah justru harus saling menghargai. Jadi bagaimanapun, Siti Jenar adalah salah satu Wali Allah dan untuk memahami ajaran beliau yang penuh hikmah diperlukan sikap hati yang bersih dan akal yang jernih pula dalam mensikapinya tanpa dikotori oleh dogma dogma agama…karena disini kita berbicara mengenai "hati" atau sirr dimana Allah beserta orang orang yang hati nya telah "luluh" karena Nya. Jadi jangan lah kita sekali sekali menghakimi seseorang karena ketidak tahuan kita.

Tentang Kemakmuran dan Kekayaan

2008-09-08T07:17:00.001-07:00

TENTANG KEMAKMURAN DAN KEKAYAAN

“Sesungguhnya Kami telah memberikan kepadamu Keberlimpahan (Kekayaan) yang banyak. Maka dirikanlah shalat karena Tuhan mu dan berkorbanlah…….”
“Truly we have given thee an ABUNDANCE; Pray therefore to the Lord, and slay the victims….” (Q.S 108.1-2)

Ayat Tuhan diatas merupakan salah satu kunci utama untuk memahami kekayaan, dan bahwa kekayaan itu telah diberikan kepada manusia sejak dulu dan sekarang.
{mosimage}

Kebenaran Tuhan ini sungguh telah menembus yang namanya batas batas agama, sosial, ekonomi, politik, budaya dan tidak tergantung pada jenis ras, bangsa, dan kedudukan manusia pula. Kebenaran Tuhan ini tidak milik agama tertentu maupun golongan tertentu pula. Dan untuk itu pula penulis berusaha untuk mengutip dari berbagai sumber antara lain dari kitab kitabNya, karena justru dari kitab Allah lah terletak rahasia dan kebenaranNya. Dan juga dari sumber sumber lain yang kompeten dan yang telah memberikan sumbangan ilmu dan rahasia yang tidak ternilai yang berkaitan dengan peningkatan kesadaran spiritual manusia.

Sudah saatnya lah kita kembali kepadaNya dan mengakui hanya Dia sebagai sumber rezeki kita, kesehatan kita, kebahagian kita karena sesungguhnya tiada Tuhan selain Nya.

“ Barang siapa patuh (taqwa) kepada Allah, niscaya Dia akan mengadakan baginya jalan keluar, dan memberinya rejeki dari arah yang tidak diduga “ (Q.S XLV : 2-3)

(Ir.Hadrian Nataprawira,MBA)

Hikmah Siti Jenar-1

2008-09-08T07:16:00.001-07:00

“Allah itu adalah keadaanku, kenapa kawan kawan pada memakai penghalang ?…Sesungguhnya aku ini lah Al Haq, Allah pun tiada wujud dua, nanti Allah, sekarang Allah, tetap dzahir batin Allah, kenapa kawan kawan masing memakai pelinding ?”

Hikmah Siti Jenar-2

2008-09-08T07:15:00.003-07:00

"Jika ada seorang manusia yang percaya kepada kesatuan lain selain dari Tuhan Yang Mahakuasa, ia akan kecewa karena ia tidak memperoleh apa yang di inginkannya"

Hikmah Siti Jenar-3

2008-09-08T07:15:00.001-07:00

"….tidak usah kebanyakan teori semu, sesungguhnya ingsun (aku sejati) inilah Allah. Nyata Ingsun Yang Sejati, bergelar Prabu Satmata (Tuhan Yang Maha Melihat) , yang tidak ada lain kesejatiannya, yang disebut sebangsa Allah…" (tidak boleh ada yang lain yang penyebutannya mengarah kepada Allah sebagai Tuhan)

Hikmah Siti Jenar-5

2008-09-08T07:14:00.000-07:00

"….marilah kita berbicara dengan terus terang. Aku ini Al Haq. Akulah yang sebenarnya disebut Prabu Satmata (Yang Maha Melihat), tidak ada lain yang bernama Allah….saya menyampaikan ilmu tertinggi yang membahas ketunggalan. Ini bukan badan, selamanya bukan, karena badan tidak ada. Yang kita bicarakan ialah ilmu sejati dan untuk semua orang kita membuka tabir. (Artinya membuka rahasia yang paling tersembunyi)"

Kiamat

2008-09-08T07:12:00.000-07:00

TENTANG KIAMAT

"Ya Tuhan kami, berilah kami apa yang telah Engaku janjikan kepada kami melalui rasul-rasulMu, janganlah Engkau hinakan kami pada hari kiamat. Sesungguhnya Engkau tidak menyalahi janji". (Q.S 3:194)

Pendahuluan

Kiamat lebih dekat artinya pada kebangkitan JIWA. Memang disertai dengan guncangan yang cukup berat untuk dipikul karena tidak ada lagi tempat yang aman. Kebangkitan JIWA dan guncangan mempunyai penyebab yang sama, yaitu meningkatnya vibrasi atomik karena posisi bumi dan tata-surya dalam ruang maknetik (photon).

Untuk lebih memahami gejala kiamat khususnya dan ajaran agama pada umumnya, kita perlu lebih dalam mengkaji bagaimana seluruh alam semesta yang diciptakan, diurusi karena dihuni manusia seperti kita.

Keterangan ini digali dari penjelasan yang diberikan oleh mahkluk samawi ( makhluk tingkat tinggi - malaikat ) . Mereka mengatakan bahwa menjelang tahun 2000 keatas, bencana alam seperti gempa bumi, banjir, tsunami, badai, tanah longsor dan lain sebagainya akan meningkat. Apakah benar ada mahluk samawi dan apakah benar keterang yang mereka berikan dapat di uji dari pemeriksaan data statistik.

Tulisan ini Disampaikan untuk sekedar tahu bukan untuk menggurui. Syukur kalau dapat diterima. Kalupun tidak, agama mengatakan : HAKIKAT dan kebenaran segala sesuatu tidak dapat dipaksakan.
Dalam literatur yang beredar dewasa ini khususnya di Barat, dapat kita temukan keterangan yang datang dari mahluk samawi dan berbunyi demikian :

1. Semenjak pertengahan abad ke-20 (jadi sekitar tahun 1950), bumi dan tata-surya sedang mendekati dan akan memasuki ruang berkekuatan magnetik (photon belt) yang meninggikan "vibrasi" atom (peningkatan vibrasi ini sesuai dengan ajaran fisika)

2. Impak dan dampak nya sangat mendasar dan menyeluruh dan menjadi awal dari pada :

a. perubahan dalam keseimbangan bumi dalam sumbu putarnya yang selanjutnya membuat gejala
gempa, gempa yang diikuti dengan bencana tsunami, banjir, tanah longsor dan meningkatnya
badai, hurricane, typhoon dan lain sebagainya.

b. perubahan dalam kesadaran moral manusia yang akhirnya memuncak dalam suatu "mass awakening- kebangkitan dalam kesadaran moral secara global"

{mosimage}

Tentang Mahluk Samawi / Malaikat

Benarkah ada mahluk samawi ? Benarkah kata kata mahluk samawi itu ?
Pertanyaan tersebut diatas dapat dijawab sebagai berikut : Satu diatara tiang Isalam adalah IMAN pada adanya MALAIKAT seperti Jibril, Mikail, Ridwan, Malik, Israfil, Izrail dan lain sebagainya. Jibril adalah mahluk samawi, jadi pertanyaan apakah benar ada mahluk samawi sudah terjawab. Tapi mungkin yang dimaksud adalah : Apakah dewasa ini benar mahluk samawi datang ke bumi ? Jawaban untuk ini hanya dapat saya berikan dari ucapan mereka yang mengatakan : " We come to gather the wheat as prophesied in your scriptures (Matius 13:39).

Kalau dibaca begitu saja, ucapan ini semakinsulit untuk ditangkat. Tapi kalau kita hubungkan dengan yang disebut diatas tentang "mass awakening" dan kebangkitan secara global, menjadi agak jelas.
Jadi pertanyaan siapakah mahluk samawi itu sudah terjawab.
Mereka (tidak semua) berkata : "We are the reaping angels". jangan dilupakan bahwa malaikat atau angels secara etimologis, dalam makna aslinya hanya berarti : yang diutus - bukan menunjuk pada jenis.

Kunci utama dalam misteri ini kita temukan dalam ucapan mereka bahwa bencana alam seperti gempa, tsunami, banjir, badai, longsor dan lain sebagainya. Khusu semenjak tahun 1970, bagi orang orang yang mengerti keadaan, harus mengakui bahwa bencana alam benar benar telah meningkat intensitasnya. Kalau ini diakui benar, maka otomatis yang lainnya pun benar yaitu bahwa bumi dewasa ini dikunjungi oleh mahluk samawi, diantaranya beratus malaikat. Karena itulah bahwa kebenaran dan amanah mahluk samawi perlu disebarkan seluas mungkin, bukan untuk menakut nakuti bahwa hukuman Tuhan terhada orang berdosa akan datang, dan bukan pula untuk meng-gurui, melainkan sekedar pembaca pun turut tahu dan mengambil hikmahnya.

Harus diakui bahwa keterangan diatas sungguh jauh berbeda dengan cara kita memahami agama dewasa ini.

Kiamat Sudah Semakin Dekat

Ucapan bahwa kiamat sudah semakin dekat, didasarkan pada keterangan samawi (KES) yang datang melalui berbagai jalur komunikasi. Komunikasi ini bersifat supra-normal karena mahluk samawi (malaikat) tidak mempunyai badan jasmani. Cara yang mereka gunakan ialah melalui :

1. Telepati - mendapat pikiran tanpa dipikirkan dimana enerji gelombang diarahkan ke otak manusia sehingga terjadi rangsangan yang menghasilkan kesadaran dan pikiran. Pikiran ini umumnya mengandung keterangan. Cara ini juga disebut "channeling".

2. Clairaudience - mendengar secara gaib, dimana enerji gelombang langsung ditujukan ke sel pendengaran di otak sehingga terjadi pendengaran secara gaib. Apa yang didengar dari dalam, lalu dikeluarkan sebagai ucapan atau tulisan. Dengan cara inilah Nabi Muhammad saw menerima wahyu. Cara ini mempunyai sejumlah kelemahan :
+ Terbatas pada khazanah kata kata dalam otak penerima. Kalau pengirim hendak mengatakan sesuatu yang tidak ada "kata" nya dalam otak penerima, pengirim terpaksa menggunakan kiasan. Ini banyak terjadi dalam Al Quran dan disebut yang "mutasyabihat" (makna tersembunyi karena menyangkut yang gaib)
+ Bila ada yang kurang jelas. penerima tidak dapat bertanya, sehingga makna tetap kabur. Itu sebabnya dalam mengkaji isi Al Quran, banyak terjadi penafsiran yang kurang tepat dibanding dengan sesungguhnya dimaksud Malaikat Jibril.
+ Keterangan yang disampaikan dapat terkontaminasi oleh pikiran penerima. Kemungkinan ini juga terdapat dalam telepati.

3. Clairvoyance - melihat secara ghaib. Cara ini satu kali disebut dalam Al Quran yaitu dalam surat Bani Isaril (Al Isra 17:60) Jibril memperlihatkan pada Nabi secara gaib, sesuatu yang berbentuk pohon dan disebut pohon zaqqum. Kalau kita pahamai cara clairvoyance, kita akan mengerti bagwa yang dilihat Nabi saw adalah sesuata yang bentuknya seperi pohon, tapi memancarkan api (dsebut dalam Surat Al Mursalaat 77:32). Apa lagi kalau bukan ledakan bom atom. Melihat secara gaib dapat terjadi dalam mimpi, maka antara mimpi dan penglihatan (vision) tidak banyak perbedaan.
Praktis semua komunikasi yang disebut diatas mengandung amanah sebagai berikut :
"DUNIA SUDAH DIAMBANG PINTU ZAMAN YANG LAZIM DISEBUT AKHIR ZAMAN"

Sebagai tanda tanda nya adalah sebagai berikut :
Tanda Primer :
Meningkatnya bencana alam
Tanda Sekunder :
- Ledakan Bom Atom yang dalam Al Quran disebut pohon zaqqum, dan dala Kitab Taurat disebut Tiang Asap (Yoel 2:30 - Pillar of smoke dalam King James Version)
- kembalinya Bani Israil ke Palestina (Surat Bani ISrail , Al Isra 104)
- berjangkitnya penyakit penyakit "aneh" dan sukar disembuhkan seperti AIDS, Flu Burung, dll.

Bagi pembaca yang tidak lazim menyimak literatur tentang supra-normal yang disebut diatas dan masih ragu dalam hatinya tentang kebenarannya, saya hanya dapat berkata sebagai berikut :
a. Pada dasarnya tiapa orang hanya dapat menerima sebagai benar apa yang dapat dicernakan oleh otaknya (Al Quran mengatakan :

" Baru demikianlah pengetahuan mereka, dan Tuahn tahu siapa yang diberi petunjuk." (Q.S 53:30).

Pembaca mempunyai hak penuh untuk menolak atau menerima keterangan yang diberikan.
b. Kuncinya terdapat pada keterangan samawi (KES) yang mengatakan bahwa gejala alam dewasa ini dimana banyak terjadi keganjilan berujud gempa, banjir, bdai, tsunami dan sebagainya masih akan meningkat dan memuncak menjelang awal tahun 2000 an.
c. Benarkan bencar alam sudah meningkat ? Jawabnya hanya Ya dan Tidak. Terserah pembaca memilih yang mana.
d. Kalau pembaca memilih YA, maka keterangan samawi (KES) benar adanya. Kelau memilih tidak, tidak mengapa, penulis tidak rugi apa apa.

Kiamat

Ada beberapa istilah seperti akhir zaman yang sudah disebut diatas, Kiamat, Akhir Dunia, dan Hari Akhir (yaum il akhir dalam Al Quran), sebagai nama untuk suatu peristiwa yang akan menimpa bumi. Yang paling tepat adalah Akhir Zaman, yang akan berakhir adalah zaman, yaitu zaman yang kita sebut peradaban materialistis. Zaman ini yang berkembang berdasar kekuatan otak akan berakhir karean di kala manusia mampu menemukan kekuatan nuklir, disitulah batasnya untuk pengembangan akal. Ilmu tentang tenaga atom adalah pohon pengetahuan yang terlarang (Kejadian 2:17).

Kata akhir dunia (Yesaya 2:2 dan Matius 13:39) dimana dikatakan bawha akhir dunia adalah waktu menuai. Kata hari akhir banyak dijumpai dalam Al Quran. Tanad atandanya pun diberikan seperti yang disebut diatas. Kata KIAMAT telah memasyarakat dalam pengertian akhir alam semesta. kalau kita jeli membaca Al Quran, akan kita lihat bahwa Al Qiyamah dalam Q:75, dapat diartikan kerusakan dan kebangkitan. Ada dua makna sebagaia berikut :

KIAMAT - kehancuran alam semesta (Q.75:25) - dapat diartikan secara muhkamat

KIAMAT - kebangkitan yang mati (Q.75:40) - harus diartikan secara mutasyabihat karena yang bangkit
adalah "jiwa" (lihat Surat Lukman : 28)

Keterangan mahluk samawi / malaikat, mengatakan bahwa banyak kerusakan yang akan terjadi tapi sebagai peristiwa alam, bukan sesuatu yang Tuhan kehendaki. Tata-surya dan bumi dewasa ini (sejak tahun 1950) sedang memasuki medan magnetik (photon) yang kuat yang membuat vibrasi atom meningkat. Peningkatan ini membawa perubahan dalam struktur materi mulai dari yang terkecil sampai ke yang terbesar yaitu dalam perut bumi.

Magma diperut bumi bergolak membuat pelat tektonik naik atau turun. Inilah awal gempa. Karena pergolakan ini, sumbu putar bumi dapat terjungkir. Ini sudah terjadi secara perlahan. Akibat distribusi permukaan bumi yang panas dan dingin berubah, inilah awal daripada "el nino" dan kemarau panjang yang melanda Indonesia pada bulan Oktober 1997.

Efek dari pada meningkatnya vibrasi yang langsung menyangkut diri manusia terdapat ditingkat psikologis. Meningkatnya vibrasi atom dalam sel otak, membuat sel bekerja lebih bergairah. Ini dirasakan ditingkat kesadaran moral yaitu menyangkut hubungan manusia dengan Allah swt. Dorongan untuk mendekatkan diri ke Allah swt semakin kuat terasa. Ini dapat kita lihat semakin menjamurnya gerakan moral dan agama, seperti ceramah ceramah agama yang semakin meningkat, dzikir akbar, pelatihan spiritual serta munculnya pemuka pemuka agama yang baru yang lebih muda dan liberal dalam menyampaikan kebenaran agama serta perbaikan akhlak dan lain sebagainya. Inilah awal bangkitnya jiwa yang menjadi topik utama dalam amanah malaikat Jibril pada Nabi Muhammad saw. Ini adalah efek positifnya.

Ada juga efek negatif nya. Orang orang yang tidak mampu atau tidak mau mengikuti diringan dari dalam untuk mendekatkan diri ke Allah swt, merasa ada desakan yang mengganggu, yang membuatnya gelisah. Untuk menghilangkan kegelisahan ini, ia lari ke minuman keras, narkoba dan perbuatan maksiat lainya. Kalau sudah begini, ia mudah menjadi mangsa iblis yang masih berkelaran, malah menjamur dalam berbagai bentuk hiburan (diskotek, bar, karaoke, night club dsb). Dari situlah kejahatan meningkat dalam pembunuhan, free sex, homoseks, perkosaan dst..
Namun kecenderungan umum adalah meningkatnya kesadaran yang dalam literatur Barat disebut sebagai "the awakening". Dimana mana bermunculan gerakan New Age. Dikalangan Islam jelas kelihatan meningkatnya "dakwah" dan kegiatan beragama.
Arti sesungguhnya dari perubahan zaman adalah "kebangkitan jiwa". Keterangan samawi / malaikat mengatakan dewasa ini bumi disinari dengan "cahaya ruhaniah" yang turut meninggikan efek dari pada medan magnet (photon) ini. Agar cahaya ruhaniah ini mencapai tujuannya yaitu kebangkitan jiwa, cahaya atau nur ini harus dikelola secara sistematis melalui amalan amalan baik, shalat (dalam arti seungguhnya), puasa (dalam arti sesungguhnya) (dapat dilihat dalam artikel tentang shalat dan puasa dalam situs ini. red)

Kebangkitan Jiwa

Pemahaman agama dalam Al Quran maupun kitab kitab Allah lainnya dapat kita bagi dua sebagai berikut ;
a. yang menyangkut kehidupan dunia.
Dalam kategori ini termasuk ibadah seperi shalat dan puasa, berbuat baik, soal warisan, perkawinan, kewajiban dan larangan. Ini termasuk ayat ayat yang muhkamat, yang maksudnya jelas, menyangkut urusan dunia.
b. Yang menyangkut kehidupan akhirat.
dalam kategori ini termasuk yang ghaib seperi syurga, neraka, malaikat, ruh, jiwa dan lain sebagainya. Ayat ayat dalam kategori ini termasuk yang mutasyabihat, yang maknanya tersembunyi karean kita kurang memahami yang gaib (kecuali jika Allah menghendakinya).
Pemahaman agama dewasa ini bertitik berat pada muhkamat karena ini yang mudah kita pahami. tapi sesungguhnya titik berat amanah yang diberikan Malaikat Jibril bukan menyangkut kehidupan dunia, melainkan kehidupan akhirat. Kehidupan dunia hanya berlangsung sebentar, rata 65 tahun, tapi kehidupan akhirat bersifat kekal.
Rasanya tidak akan sulit menerima keterangan bahwa kehidupan akhirat itu sifatnya ghaib. Kalau kita akan mencarinya secara dunia dengan mengarungi angkasa dalam roket (ibaratnya kita mampu), kita tidak akan menemuinya. Bukan saja karena jauhnya (katakanlah 50 tahun perjalanan cahaya), karena sifatnya yang ghaib.
Bicara tentang ghaib, mungkin pikiran kebanyakan kita akan tertuju pada tujul, hantu, setan, jin dsb karena itu yang melekat dalam hati kita (sub-human) Tapi yang ingin ditinjolkan disini ialah bahwa yang ghaib di tingkat supra-human jauh lebih utama dair pada tujul / jin.
Untuk memahami yang ghaib, kita harus memahami cara kita melihat. Kita melihat suatu objek, bila cahaya jatuh pada obyek itu dan cahaya itu memantul ke mata membawa informasi tentang obyek itu. Dalam hal gelas, 90% tidak memantul karean demikian struktur molekul dalam gelas. Cahaya itu menerus dan keluar disis lain. hanya 10 % cahaya yang memantul dan merangsang sel dalam mata. Dengan demikianlah gelas itu masih dapat kita lihat. Dapat kita bayangkan adanya obyek dimana 100 % cahaya menerus, tidak ada cahaya yang memantul, maka tidak ada sela mata yang dirangsang. Obyek itu tidak dapa kita lihat tapi dapat diraba. Bahan seperti itu terdapat dalam "pesawat" samawi dan penumpangnya.
Ruh dan Jiwa termasuk yang ghaib. Keterangan samawi / malaikat mengatakan bahwa kalau kita berfikir, kita sesungguhnya sudah menciptakan zat di tingkat pikiran (sub conscious mind) yang dalam Keterangan Samawi disebut "zat morontial".
Sebagaimana kita mana nasi untuk membentuk sel dalam tubuh, demikianlah jiwa dibagun dari "zat morontial". Sebagaimana tidak semua makanan yang kita kunyah menjadi sel dalam tubuh, demikian lah tidak semua pikiran cocok untuk membangun jiwa. Yang diambila dari makanan adalah yang bergizi. Yang bergizi dalam pikiran untuk membangun jiwa adalh pikiran didalamnya ada unsur mulia, agung, suci, kebaikan, kebenaran dan keindahan (MAS 3K) . Pikiran yang tidak mengandung unsur unsur tersebut (MAS 3K), seperti makanan yang tidak mengandung gizi, adlah ampas yang tidak berguna. Dalam hal makanan, ampas ini langsung keluar, tapi dalam hal pikiran, masih tersimpan dalam bathin.
Jiwa dibangun dalam bathin sebagaimana embrio dibangun dalam rahim seorang ibu. Jiwa juga harus mempunyai badan, anggota badan seperti kaki dan tangan, panca indera, seperti mata, telinga dan sebagainya tapi semua ditingkat ghaib. Kalau jiwa sudah mulai hidup (sperti embrio mulai bergerak) maka dikatakan bahwa jiwa sudah hidup, sudah bangkit.
Saya menyadari bahwa tulisan / versi ini jauh berbeda degan yang diajarkan kaum ulama. Ini mungkin menimbulkan kesulitan bagi sementara pembaca yang merasa terikat pada paham tradisional dan dogma agama. Itu hak mereka dan saya tidak berniat untuk mencampurinya. Saya hanya perlu untuk mengajukan versi keterangan samawi / malaikat ini dalam hubungannya dengan apa yang sudah diambang pintu…Hari Akhir / Akhir Zaman….

Kebangkitan jiwa banyak disinggung dalam Al Quran dan Kitab Suci lainnya dengan istilah seperi berikut ;
a. Mahluk Baru (Surat Al Ar-Ra’d 13:5) - bila kami jadi tanah, apakah kami jadi mahluk baru ?. Bila "tanah" diartikan secara mutasyabihat, maka tanah adalah badan fisik dan ayat ini mengatakan bahwa mahluk baru akan bangkit dari badan fisik itu. Yang dimaksud mahluk baru bukan dalam arti fisk, melainkan dalam arti "jiwa". Disinipun terdapat dua paham :
- Yang melihat manusia terutama dari sudut fisik, dalam raga. Ini terdapat di kalangan kaum syariat dan tareqat.
- Yang melihat manusia terutama dari sudut isis bathin nya, kesadaran moralnya.
b. Iblis tidak mampu lagi menggoda orang yang sudah bangkit. Kalau diartikan secara tradisional , ayat ini tidak bunyi. Tapi kalau diartikan secara mutasyabihat, ayat ini mengatakan bahwa iblis tidak mampu lagi menggoda manusia dalam ujud jiwa karena sifatnya luhur (MAS 3K).
c. Lahir kembali - Dalam jawabannya kepada Nikodemus, Nabi Isa as berkata bahwa manusia harus lahir kembali untuk dapa melihat kerajaan Tuhan. Secara harfiah, lahir lagi berarti lahir kedua kali dari rahim seorang ibu - ini tidak mungkin. Maka yang dimaksud adalah lahirnya jiwa. Kalau jiwa sudah lahir, manusia mempunyai sifat luhur (MAS 3K) dan karena itu mampu melihat kerajaan tuhan - artinya mampu memasuki kehidupan akhirat.
d. Allah membangkitkan orang yang dalam kubur (Surat Al Hajj 22:7)
Dalam paha tradisional, ayat ini diartikan secara harfiah. Lalu timbul pertanyaan: "Apakah cara ini tidak merupakan kemunduran dibanding dengan cara Tuhan menciptakan manusia melalui kelahiran dari rahim ibu ? " Tapi kalau diartikan secara mutasyabihat, yang dimaksud dengan "kubur" adalah kehidupan dunia. Kehidupan dunia disebut "kubur" (untuk jiwa) karena jiwa tidak dapat tumbuh didalamnya. Sebabya, kehidupan didunia adalah gersang akan nilai nilai ruhaniah.

Penyelamatan Manusia

Keterangan samawi / malaikat menerangkan bahwa bila guncangan terjadi mencapai puncaknya, besar kemungkinan bumi tidak dapat dihuni untuk sementara waktu. Bagaimana besarnya magnitude guncangan, tidak ada yang tahu dengan pasti, namun menurut keterangan samawi/malaikat, para mahluk samawi tersebut akan siap dengan rencana penyelamatan. Tiap individu di bumi sudah dipantau kemajuan jiwa nya dan diperkirakan 10 % penduduk bumi mancapai pembangunan jiwa yang memadai.
Hal ini sesuai dengan hadis Nabi saw yang meriwayatkan tentang pertanyaan para sahabat tentang hari akhir. Jawaban Nabi saw," Hanya sedikit dari umat ku yang akan selamat". Dan para sahabat pun menangis. Melihat kesedihan pada sahabat kemudian beliau berkata : "dan sebagian besar dari umatku yang shaleh."

Semenjak tahun 1945, para mahluk samawi mencoba memberitahu manusia tentang keberadaan mereka. Tetapi gagal karena beberapa kesulitan sebagai berikut ;
1. Keadaan asli mereka adalah non-fisik ( dimensi ke-4 atau lebih tinggi). Untuk dapat dilihat dilihat oleh manusia, mereka harus menurunkan vibrasi atomik dari Dimensi ke-4 (D4) ke tingkat D3, tapi ini sama dengan kita kalau kita masuk kedalam air, kira tidak dapat lama lama didalam air tanpa kehabisan oksigen.
2. Orang orang yang dibawa masuk ke dalam "pesawat samawi" sebaliknya tidak dapat lama lama berada didalamnya. Vibrasi tinggi dalam "pesawat samawi" membuat kesadaran mereka menjadi kabur (disoriented) dan dapat pula membunuh sel darah sehingga terjadi leukemia. Banyak orang yang memasuk "pesawat samawi" mengeluh berada dalam keadaan linglung dan bingung disebabkan meningkatnya vibrasi sel otak. Bila di interogasi, mereka memberi jawab yang tidak konsisten disebabkan perubahan kesadaran itu. (Lihat pengalaman pribadi orang orang yang telah "bertemu" dengan pesawat samawi antara lain George Adamski, truman Bethurum, daniel Fry, George van tassel, Dino Kraspedon, Eugenio Siragusa, Herbert Schirmer, Woodrow Derenberger, Raymond Shearer dsb)
3. Mahluk luar bumi tidak dapat mendarat terang terangan karena pesawat samawi mereka akan ditembaki kaum militer kita. Bila diminta mengidentifikasi diri, terjadi masalh karena tanda identifikasi mereka tak berlaku dibumi. Usaha pengenalan terjadi sampai sekitar tahun 1970 an lalu dibatalkan dan diganti dengan mengadakan komunikasi telepatis. Inilah yang terjadi hingga sekarang. Intisari keterangan mahluk samawi / malaikat adalah bahwa bila guncangan memuncak sehingga bumi tak dapat dihuni, mereka (malaikat) akan segera bertindak, tapi tidak dengan mendarat secara terang terangan melainkan menggunakan cahaya levitasi. Cahaya ini hanya berfungsi pada orang yang telah bangkit jiwanya. Mereka akan menyapu bumi dengan cahaya ini dan "menghisap" siapa yang responsif ke dalam pesawat samawi.

Latihan kejiwaan melalui shalat dan dzikir (yang sesungguhnya) adalah disiplin ruhaniah. Dikatakan disiplin karena harus dilakukan setiap saat dan tidak hanya lima kali sehari saja. Dikatakan ruhaniah karena didalamnya berfungsi kodrat ruhaniah yan disebut "khatir ilham" - kodrat ruhaniah yang diilhamkan untuk menghidupkan jiwa". Mungkin inilah yang disebut cahaya yang menyirami bumi untuk pembersihan. Penyerahan diri secara total melalui shalat dan dzikir berfungsi sebagai lensa optilk untuk memadatkan cahaya ruhaniah ini.
" Ya Tuhan kami, sempurnakanlah bagi kami cahaya kami, dan ampunilah kami, sesungguhnya Engkau Maha Kuasa atas segala sesuat" (Q. Al Tahrim 66:8)

Orang yang sudah hidup jiwanya, didalamnya terdapat kodrat ruhaniah karena kodrat ruhaniah yang membuatnya hidup. Konsentrasi kodrat ruhaniah inilah yang membuat cahaya levitasi dapat berfungsi.
Keterangan mahluk samawi mengatakan bahwa manusia akan ditampung dalam pesawat samawi sampai bumi reda kembali. Ini mungkin akan memakan waktu sekitar 5 tahun, lalu manusia akan diturunkan kembali ke bumi untuk membagun "dunia baru". Ini semua mungkin bernada terlampau fantastis dan seperti cerita dongeng belaka untuk diterima secara akal sehat. Maka kiranya cukup sampai sekian.

Melihat Allah

2008-09-08T07:11:00.000-07:00

TENTANG MELIHAT ALLAH :
SAMPAI PADA TINGKATAN MELIHAT PERWUJUDAN ESENSI TUHAN

Penglihatan terhadap (Diri) Allah terdiri dari dua macam : satu adalah melihat perwujudan Sifat-sifat Keindahan Kesempuranaan Allah secara langsung di Akhirat. Yang kedua adalah melihat perwujudan Sifat-sifat Ilahi yang dipantulkan diatas cermin yang bersih pada hati yang suci, dalam hidup ini, didunia ini. Dalam kasusu semacam ini, penglihatan muncul sebagai perwujudan cahaya yang memancar dari Keindahan Sempurna Allah dan terlihat oleh mata esensi hati.

Allah menggambarkan penglihatan batin oleh mata hati : "Hatinya tidak mendustakan apa yang telah dilihatnya." (Q.S An Najm:11)

Tentang melihat perwujudan keIlahian melalui suatu perantara, Rasulullah saw bersabda,
"Orang beriman adalah cermin dari orang beriman."

Apa yang dimaksud dengan beriman yang pertama, cermin didalam kalimat ini, adalah hati yang suci dari orang beriman, sementara "beriman" yang kedua (Siapa) Yang melihat pantulan-Nya di dalam cermin itu adalah Allah Yang Maha Tinggi. Siapa pun sampai pada tingkat melihat perwujudan Sifat sifat Allah di dunia tentu akan melihat Esensi Allah di akhirat tanpa bentuk atau wujud.
Hakikat dari hal ini telah ditegaskan oleh banyak kekasih dan para pecinta Allah. Hadrat Umar r.a berkata : " Hatiku melihat Tuhanku dengan cahaya Tuhanku." "Aku tidak akan memohon kepada Allah kecuali kalau aku melihat-Nya"
Mereka pasti telah melihat perwujudan dari Sifat-sifat Illahiah. Allah memberi contoh paling indah tentang perwujudan Sifat-sifat Nya.

Arti dari lubang (ceruk) adalah hati orang Mukmin yang bertaqwa. Pelita menyinari ceruk hati adalah esensi dari hati, sedangkan cahaya yang dipancarkannya adalah rahasia Ilahiah, jiwa penguasa. Kaca adalah transparan dan tidak menyimpan cahaya di dalamnya, tetapi melindunginya dan menyediakannya untuk disebar, sehingga disamakan dengan sebuah bintang.

Tentang RUH

2008-09-08T07:10:00.002-07:00

TERBUKANYA TABIR MISTERI KEGAIBAN RUH DALAM JASAD, AWAL PERJUMPAAN DENGAN KEBENARAN TUHAN

I. JASAD PERWUJUDAN KEGAIBAN RUH YANG NYATA

Pembedahan masalah Ruh sudah sejak alam dilakukan oleh manusia dengan memakai banyak pendekatan seperti agama, ilmu pengetahuan, psikologi, paranormal dan lain sebagainya.

Ilmu manusia tidak dapat meliputi ilmu NYA (Ilmu Allah)
(Q.S 27:82)

Dimensi Ruh tidak dapat dicapai dengan bentuk pendekatan lain , kecuali hanya dengan pendekatan dimesi ke Illahian.

Dan Kutiupkan Ruh Ku dalam dirinya
(Q.S 38:72)

Pemahaman yang kami dapatkan dari Q.S 38:72 diatas, Ruh yang ditiupkan ke jasad manusia adalah pada hakekatnya Ruhullah yang dengan ketentuanNya dan kekuasaanNya, Ruh yang ditiupkan itu adalah terbatas sifat sifatnya dan tidak sama dengan Ruhullah yang Maha Tidak Terbats sifat sifatNya. Keterbatasan sifat sifat Ruhullah yang terdapat didalam diri inilah yang disebut Kodrat untuk setiap manusia.
Tuhan mengutus Ruh kepada jasad agar senantiasa Ruh dapat dipertemukan dengan Kebenaran Tuhan didalam jasad dan pertemuan ini akan menjadi kenaikan tingkat Ruh itu sendiri dialam ghaib.
Pada hakekatnya jasmani (jasad lahir) dalah perwujudan sementara dari pengembaraan Ruh (jasad bathin) didunia nyata ini.

"Mereka menanyakan kepadamu masalah ruh, jawablah Ruh adalah masalahKu tapi sedikit saja yang diberikan kepadamu" (Q.S 17:85)

Pemahan yang kami dapatkan dari ayat tersebut diatas hanya sedikit dari manusia yang diberikan rahasia tabir Ruh oleh Tuhan dan mereka termasuk manusia manusia pilihan.

"Ia pilih untuk RahmatNya siapa yang IA kehendaki. Dan Allah mempunyai karunia yang berkelimpahan" (Q.S 3:74)

Semoga kalau ridho Allah diturunkan kepada kita, maka kita termasuk manusia pilihan yang akan dibukakanNya misi Ruh sesungguhnya didunia fana ini. Pada gilirannya dengan disingkapNya tabir misteri Ruh maka terbuka jalan untuk bertemu dengan Kebenaran Tuhan dalam diri.
Tanda tanda yang nyata dari tingkatan Ruh yang tinggi dan mewujud sebagai manusia terpilih, akan terlihat mereka selalu beramal soleh terhadap manusia serta lingkungan dan selalu menciptakn suatu kehidupan yang adil, makmur dan bahagia dunia dan akherat serta mengajak manusia kejalan yang lurus untuk bertemu dengan Kebenaran Tuhan.

II. RASUL WUJUD NYATA KE-NABIAN (MALAIKAT)

"Maka Allah mengutus para Nabi (Malaikat) sebagai pengemban berita baik dan peringatan " (Q.S 2:213)

Menurut pemahaman kami ayat tersebut diatas, bahwa yang diutus Tuhan dari kerajaanNya (Lauful Mahfudz) kepada umat disebut oleh Tuhan sebagai Nabi. Nabi itu sendiri identik dengan pengemban berita baik dan peringatan bagi sipenerima/umat. Nabi tiada diutus Tuhan kepada setiap manusia melainkan hanya kepada manusia terpilih yang sudah dipilih Allah.
Manusia yang terpilih jasadnya ditunjuk sebagai tempat kedatangan para Nabi. Manusia terpilih dan kepada jasad ini diutusNya para Nabi disebut Tuhan debagai RasulNya (manusia)

"Dan ketika Allah mengambil perjanjian para Nabi, " Apa saja yang Ku berikan kepadamu berupa kitab dan hikmat." Kemudian datang kepadamu seorang Rasul." (Q.S 3:81)

Tuhan mengutus UtusanNya (malaikat) hanya kepada Rasul (manusia) dan menurut pemahaman kami rasul adalah wahana wujud sementara dari Nabi (utusan Tuhan) didunia nyata. Nabi / Malaikat adalah bersifat langgeng dialam ghaib.

III. RASUL UNTUK UMAT

"Dan bersama mereka, Dia turunkan kitab dengan kebenaran" (Q.S 2:213)

Didalam diri pribadi Rasul terpilih tersimpan rangkuman Firman FirmanNya. Rangkuman Firman Tuhan terkandung didalam diri pribadi para Rasul disebut Dia adalah Al-Kitab.
Al-Kitab yang terkandung didalam diri Rasul disampaikan kepada para sahabat yang dihadirkan saat itu. Kemudian ucapan ucapan rasul tersebur disalin oleh para sahabat. Salinan salinan uicapan Rasul inilah disebut sebagai Al Mus-haf (salinan ucapan Rasul akan Al Kitab).
Diantara para Rasul dipilih lagi oleh Tuhan beberapa Rasul yang ditugaskan membawa umatnya kehadapan Tuhan. Rasul ini meninggalkan Al Mus-haf sebagai pegangan bagi para pengikutnya. Al Mus-haf yang dikenal oelh umat (manusia) adalah Taurat, Zabur, Injil dan Al Quran. Disamping itu terdapat juga suhuf suhuf dari Ibrahim maupun Musa yang juga berfungsi sebagai Al-Mushaf.
Rasul yang meninggalkan Al Mus-haf untuk umat termasuk Rasul Rasul untuk umatnya.

IV. DIRI PRIBADINYA UMAT PERTAMA RASUL

"Kami tidak membedakan salah seorang Rasul RasulNya." (Q.S 2:285)

Pada hakekatnya rasul itu adalah manusia biasa (Q.S 25:20), oleh karena itu Tuhan tidak akan membedakan diri pribadi antara satu Rasul dengan Rasul yang lainnya. Pada dimensi Keilahian, Nabi yang diutus membawa FirmanNya adalah UtusanNya dan tiada dibedakan antara mereka.
Kami diberi pemahaman dari Firman diatas bahwa Rasul Allah itu banyak, akan tetapi yang dikenal oleh kita sekarang ada 25 rasul, karena Al-Kitab yang terkandung dalam diri Muhammad (Al Quran) hanya
menyebutkan nama nama mereka.
Ke 25 Rasul diutus Allah kepada umat yang berbeda kerena perbedaan waktu dan tempat. Rasul diutus kepada umatnya masing masing. Rasul yang ditentukan Allah untuk suatu umat adalah Rasul bagi umatnya.
Karena Allah mengutus banyak Rasul, maka akan terdapat rasul -Rasul yang tidak diutus untuk umatnya, melainkan Rasul diutus untuk dirinya Pribadi. Dlam hal ini diri pribadi Rasul juga berlaku sebagai Umatnya pertama.
Sebagai kesimpulan pemahaman kami adalah Kebenaran akan adanya tuhan akan diberitahukan oleh Tuhan kepada diri Pribadi manusia melalui Utusan UtusanNya (malaikat), tanpa membedakan manusia itu menurut suku, ras, bangsa dan lain sebagainya dan ada rasul untuk umat yang banyak dan terdapat Rasul untuk umat dirinya sendiri.

V. KEBENARAN ADALAH TUHAN

"Rasul beriman kepada apa saja yang diturunkan kepadanya dari Tuhannya". (Q.S 2:285)

Bagi para Rasul kedatangan kedatangan Utusan Tuhan (Nabi) kepada diri Pribadi mereka adalah merupakan suatu Kebenaran Tuhan bagi Pribadi Rasul tersebut.
Jadi hakekat yang dapat kami pahami disini adalah : Kedatangan Utusan Tuhan (Nabi) kepada para Rasul adalah merupakan hakekat Kebenaran adanya Allah bagi Pribadi para Rasul.

Dari hasil pemahaman diatas diberitahukan kepada kami bahwa Rasul itu adalah manusia pilihan Tuhan, kepada mereka itu dibukakan misteri ghaib Tuhan dan pada gilirannya mereka diberikan suatu tingkat kesadaran (consiousness) oleh Tuhan bahwa Kebenaran akan adanya Tuhan dapat diyakini dengan tingkat keyakinan yang nyata (Haqul Yakin).

"Kebenaran adalah dari Tuhanmu". (Q.S 3:60)

Menurut pemahaman kami dari Firman diatas, Tuhan itu Esa dan tidak dipersamakan dengan ciptaanNya. Karena itu apapun bersama Dia adalah Dia. Kebenaran itu bersama dia maka Kebenaran dari Tuhan adalah Tuhan.

VI. UMAT YANG SATU

"Manusia adalah umat yang satu." (Q.S 2:213)

Kutipan Firman Tuhan diatas diberikan pemahan kepada kami bahwa pada dimensi ke Ilahian manusia itu adalah satu dan disebut sebagai umat. Satu umat disini dilihat dari hakekat manusia sendiri, bahwa terciptanya manusia pada saat Ruh telah ditiupkan kedalam jasad yang semula dalam keadaan mati. Jasad dibentuk dari unsur unsur tanah, air, api dan angin.

"Ialah yang menciptakan manusia dari unsur tanah". (Q.S 6:2)

Hakekat kelahiran manusia didunia dikelompokan menurut ras, suku, bangsa, adalah agar manusi dapat saling mengenal satu sama lain.

"Sesungguhnya kami ciptakan manusia itu ber suku suku / berbangsa bangsa semata mata untuk kenel mengenal satu sama lainnya. Yang paling mulia adalah yang paling taqwa." (Q.S 49:13)

Diperkenalkan kita satu sama lain antar suku bangsa oleh Tuhan agar dapat melihat Kebesaran Tuhan yang ada pada diri mereka, dan sebagai sarana bagi kita untuk meningkatkan keimanan kepada Tuhan. Ilmu manusia adalah penyebab terjadinya perpecahan antar umat (bangsa dan agama).

"Tatkala datang pertolongan Allah dan kemenangan
Dan engkau melihat manusia masuk karena jaminan dalam Agama Allah dengan Sunatullah,
Maka sucikanlah dengan memuji Tuhan dikau dan mohonkanlah perlindungan". (Q.S 110:1-3)

Menurut pemahaman yang diberikan dari Firman diatas, suatu saat yang telah ditentukanNYa akan diciptakanNya suatu persatuan Umat manusia tanpa dibedakan atas suku/bangsa, agama/kepercayaan. Kepada Umat tersebut telah dibukakan hakekat Kebenaran Tuhan Yang Esa. Kebenaran Tuhan yang dibukakan kepada diri masing masing umat inilah nantinya yang akan menyatukan Umat.

"Tuhan kami , Kaulah yang akan menghimpun manusia menjelang hari yang tiada diragukan adanya". (Q.S 3:9)

Setelah manusia manusia menyatukan diri dengan Tuahn, maka Tuhan akan menyatukan mereka. Dan pada akhirnya Tuhan dengan kekuasaanNya akan menyatukan dan mempersatukan manusia.

"Bagi setiap umat ada Rasul, maka apabila datang Rasul mereka, antara mereka diberikan keputusan seadil adilnya." (Q.S 10:47)

Keputusan Allah yang memberitahukan melalui Al Quran berlaku sepanjang masa/zaman. Adapun kehadiran umat dibatasi oleh zaman nya. Sedangkan Firman Tuhan akan terus menerus turun. Sedangkan Firman Firman Tuhan akan terus menerus diturunkanNya.
Hanya melalui pertemuan dengan Rasul dizamannya manusia dapat dituntun kejalan perjumpaan dengan Kebenaran Tuahn, karena rahasia Allah yang ghaib hanya dibukakan kepada RasulNya.
Berbahagialah dan bersyukurlah barangsiapa yang sudah dipilih Allah untuk dibukakan diri Pribadinya akan Kebenaran Tuhan. Kalau sudah diridhoi oleh Allah maka akan diperjalankannya untuk bertemu dengan Rasul dizamanya. Melalui perjumpaan Rasul dizamanya, akan dibukakan misteri kegaiban ruh dalam diri Pribadi dan akan diberikan pengetahuan mengenai Kuasa Tuhan. Dengan suatu tingkat kesadaran tinggi ini diri Pribadi akan selalu dibimbing oleh petunjukNya. Manusia pada tingkat ini akan menjadi wakil Tuhan didunia untuk mewujudkan semua kehendak Tuhan.

By Hadrian Nataprawira & Sutan Taswin,MBA

Tingkatan RUH

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TENTANG TINGKATAN RUH
Oleh : Hadrian Nataprawira

Beberapa tingkatan ruh atau tingkatan cahaya manusia untuk memahami isi Al Quran antara lain adalah sebagai berikut :

Pertama, RUH INDERAWI

Yaitu ruh yang dapat menyadap segala sesuatu yang ditransfer oleh panca indera. Ruh ini adalah ruh dasar makhluk hidup.

Kedua, RUH KHAYALI

Yaitu ruh yang merekam informasi yang disampaikan oleh panca indera, kemudian menyimpannya, selanjutnya dikirim ke ruh akal disaat ia memerlukannya.

Ketiga, RUH AQLI

Yaitu ruh yang dapat menyadap makna makna diluar indera dan khayal. Ruh ini merupakan substansi manusiawi yang tidak dimiliki oleh hewan, bayi atau anak kecil. ruh akal ini mempunyai daya sadap pengetahuan pengetahuan yang bersifat dharuri (aksiomatis) dan universal.

Keempat, RUH FIKRI

yaitu ruh pemikiran yang mengambil ilmu ilmu akal murni. Dari ruh ini timbul pemikiran pemikiran dualisme (tesis dan antitesis)yang selanjutnya menumbuhkan pemikiran yang sangat berharga. Kemudian dari tesis and antitesis ini timbulah sintesis. Akan tetapi dari sintesis ini timbul lagi tesis dan antitesis. begitulah hingga membentuk dialetika yang tiada kata akhir, yang menyebabkan pengetahuan itu kian hari kian bertambah.

Kelima, RUH AL-QUDSI AN-NABAWI

yaitu ruh yang khusus dimiliki oleh para nabi dan sebagian para wali. Didalam ruh ini tersingkaplah lauh-lauh (catatan catatan) gaib. Disamping itu terbuka pula hukum hukum akhirat, pengetahuan pengetahuan tentang kerajaan langit dan bumi, bahkan terbuka pula pengetahuan pengetahuan rabbani (tentang ketuhanan) yang semua itu tidak dapat dijangkau oleh kemampuan akal dan pemikiran.

"Demikianlah Kami wahyukan kepadamu ruh ini dengan perintah Kami. Sebelumnya kamu tidak mengerti tentang apakah Al Kitab itu, juga apakah iman itu. Akan tetapi Kami jadikan Al Quran itu cahaya yang Kami tunjuki siaoa yang Kami kehendaki diantara hamba hamba Kami. dan sesungguhnya kamu benar benar memberi petunjuk kepada jalan yang lurus." (Q.S 42:52)

Kita tidak boleh berhenti di alam akal, sebab dibalik alam akal masih terdapat tingkatan alam lain yang tidak dapat dijamah oleh akal. Hal ini seperti alam yang terdapat dibalik (diatas) akal tamyiz dan akal inderawi, yang berisi muatan muatan tersingkapnya keajaiban keajaiban dan keanehan keanehan yang tidak terjamah ileh akal tamyiz dan inderawi.

Maka janganlah sekali sekali beranggapan bahwa kesempurnaan itu hanyalah milik anda !!

Lihatlah mereka yang mempunyai "dzauq syi’ri" (perasaan yang halus) yang hanya dimiliki oleh orang tertentu saja. Padahal perasaan itu merupakan jenis daya sadap yang tidak dimiliki oleh setiap orang Akibatnya orang yang tidak memiliki perasaan halus ini tidak dapat memberdakan antara nada irama yang indah, teratur, rapi dengan nada yang kacau dan sumbang.
Cobalah analogikan perumpamaan ini dengan dzauq kenabian yang sangat spesifik. Dari sana berupayalah untuk menjadi orang yang dapat memahami dan memiliki ilmu pengetahuan tentang perumpamaan itu, paling tidak anda harus termasuk golongan yang mempercayai ilmu sepertinya.

"Allah akan mengangkat orang orang beriman diantara kamu dan orang orang yang mempunyai ilmu pengetahuan beberapa derajat." (Q.S 58:11)

Ilmu berada diatas iman, dan dzauq berada diatas ilmu, dan ketahuilah bahwa dzauq itu adalah "wujdan" (perasaan yang sangat halus yang timbul di hati nurani) dan ilmu itu adalah analogi. Sedangkan iman adalah semata mata penerimaan dengan cara taklid dan berbaik sangka terhadap ahli wujdan dan ahli makrifat.
Setelah memahami kelima macam ruh daiatas, ketahuilah bahwa semua itu merupakan cahaya-cahaya, sebab dengan cahaya itu segala maujudat menjadi kelihatan. Sedangkan dua diantara berbagai ruh itu, yakni ruh inderawi dan ruh khayali dimiliki juga oleh hewan. Tetapi kedua macam ruh itu, dan yang berhubungan dengan manusia adalah lebih mulia dan lebih tinggi tingkatannya. Kedua ruh itu diciptakan pada diri manusia untuk tujuan yang lebih jelas dan lebih terang. Sedangkan tujuan dari diciptakannya ruh inderawi dan ruh khayali pada binatang semata mata untuk mencari makanan.
Adapun tujuan diciptakannya kedua ruh itu dalam diri manusia adalah sebagai sistem atau metode untuk menangkap dasar dasar ilmu pengetahuan agama yang mulia, yang terdapat di alam bawah (alam dunia). Sebab, jika manusia mengenal sesuatu dengan indera nya, maka lebih jauh melalui akalnya dia dapat menangkap makna yang umum dan mutlak.

Sunnah Rasul

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Main Ideas from Sunnah Rasulullah
And now let us acquaint ourselves with some hadiths — statements of
prophet Muhammad and of God through him, which are recorded in the books of the Holy Tradition of Islam — Sunna (cited from Condition of Faith. Hadiths,Tumen, 1991):

Good education is the best legacy, which can be handed down to children.
Speak always the truth, even if it is not profitable for you.
Share that, which you know, with others and teach them.
Him, who pitied no one, no one will pity.
Be not a burden for people.
Do not sit down between two sitting people without first asking their
permission.
Be economical and do not bring yourselves to destitution.
Do not do things, which then make you conscience-stricken.
The riches consist not in quantity of goods, but in the breadth of the
soul.
The knowledge is a treasure, the key to which is inquiry.
Step aside from a fool.
Avoid intoxicating drinks…
Calmness is a gain; confusion is a loss.
Do not be hurry in taking decisions and provide for consequences.
Do not judge anyone from assumptions or if you have doubts.
Exhort every one not to do evil.
If you have to punish the guilty never strike him in the face.
He who wakes up lately closes for himself the door to prosperity.
Any bribe is a sin and an odious source of income.
He who has flared up should break off immediately.
An inhospitable person is an inferior person.
Repay to those who made good to you.
It is a virtuous deed — to forgive the one who offended you, to give
to the one who refused to give to you, to stretch a hand of peace to the
one who quarrels with you.
O man! If you are not satisfied with the small, the great can satisfy
you neither.
Do good deeds without creating buzz.
Do not wish death to yourself or to others.
The one who does not thank people will thank Allah neither.
Everything created by Allah is fine, though people do not always understand
it.
Allah created diseases, but He also created medicines for them.
Allah is generous and likes generous people.
For everything there is a way. The way to paradise is opened by
knowledge.
Do not be lazy to go for knowledge even to distant China, because
gaining knowledge is the main duty of a Muslim.
Panhandling is an indecent occupation.
Begin a meal with remembering about Allah and be not choosy with
food.
Gates to well-being are under lock. The key to it is work.
To divine and to believe the words of diviners, foretellers, and sorcerers
is meanness.
A bad person is characterized by the following features: he lies in
conversation, does not keep his promises, and, feeling impunity, does
base deeds.
Pay to a worker for his work before his sweat dried up.
He who is mild, behaves well, and does not harm others will never be
touched by the fires of hell.
An hour spent for gaining useful knowledge is more pleasing to Allah
than a whole night spent for praying.
In any time try to be pure…
Specially for men:
Be kind to women…
A noble one is kind to women; a low one is guileful to them.
Respect women…
If you are called by the father and the mother at the same time, come
first to the mother.

IS THE BIBLE GODS WORD?

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IS THE BIBLE GODS WORD?

CHAPTER ONE

WHAT THEY SAY CHRISTIANS CONFESS

Dr. W. Graham Scroggie of the MOODY BIBLE INSTITUTE, Chicago, one of the most prestigious Christian Evangelical Mission in the world, answering the question — "Is the Bible the Word of God?" (also the title of his book), under the heading: IT IS HUMAN, YET DIVINE. He says on page 17:

"Yes, the Bible is human, though some, out of zeal which is not according to knowledge, 1 have denied this. Those books2 have passed through the minds of men, are written in the language of men, were penned by the hands of men, and bear in their style the characteristics of men." (Emphasis added).

Another erudite Christian scholar, Kenneth Cragg, the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, says on page 277 of his book, "The Call of the Minaret":

"Not so the New Testament3 . . . There is condensation and editing; 4 there is choice, reproduction and witness. The Gospels have come through the mind of the Church behind the authors. They represent experience and history." 5

If words have any meaning, do we need to add another word of comment to prove our case? No! But the professional propagandists, after letting the cat out of the bag, still have the face to try to make their readers believe that they have proved beyond the shadow of any doubt that the Bible is the "irrefragable 6 Word of God." Their semantic gymnastics — equivocating, and playing with words — is amazing!

1. Out of ignorance.

2. The Bible is not Just a Book. It is a selection and compilation of many books.

3. As opposed to the Qur’an.

4. Another word for Interpolating.

5. Emphasis are mine.

6. Indisputable.

Both these Doctors of Religion are telling us in the clearest language humanly possible that the Bible is the handiwork of man, all the while pretending that the are proving to the contrary. An old Arab saying goes: "IF SUCH ARE THE PRIESTS, GOD BLESS THE CONGREGATION."

With this sort of drive, the hot-gospeller and the Bible-thumper is "inspired" to harry the "heathen." 1 A theological student — a not-yet-qualified young evangelist — from the University of Witwatersrand, became a frequent visitor to the Newtown Mosque in Johannesburg, with the "noble" thought of "witnessing"2 to the members of its congregation. When I was introduced to him, (and having learnt his purpose), I invited him to lunch at my brother’s residence — a stone’s-throw from the Mosque. While discussing the authenticity of the Bible over the dinner table and sensing his stubborn dogmatism, I put out a feeler: "Your Professor Geyser, (The Head of the Department of Theology) does not believe the Bible to be the Word of God." Without the slightest surprise he answered, "I know." Now I personally had no knowledge of the Professor’s conviction about the Bible. I had only assumed so from a controversy which raged around him about the "Divinity of Christ." 3 He had taken issue with the orthodox believers on this point some years ago. I continued further, saying, "Your lecturer does not believe the Bible as being God’s Word." The young evangelist, responded again, "I know" but he continued this time-with the words, "but I believe that it is the Word of God!" There is no real remedy for such people. Even Jesus bewailed this sickness:

"… seeing they see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand." (Matthew 13:13)

Al-Qur’an, the Holy Book of God, also condemns this mulish mentality:

These pages are now addressed to those sincerely humble souls, who are genuinely interested in seeking the Light of God, and who wish to be guided by it. As for the other, with a sickness in their souls, the facts presented herein can only increase the disease of their hearts.

1. See "How Lost are the Heathen?" by the same MOODY PRESS of Dr. Scroggie.

2. When the Christian talks of "witnessing" he means propagating, proselytizng, converting.

3. This subject is dealt extensively in the book — "CHRIST IN ISLAM"

CHAPTER TWO

THE MUSLIMS’ STANDPOINT

PRESUMPTUOUS CHRISTIANS

Whether Catholic, Protestant or a "Cultist," of the thousand -and - one - sects - and - denominations-of-Christianity, never will you find a missionary who will not, prima facie, presuppose that his potential convert accepts his "Holy Bible" as the book of final authority on every religious opinion? The only answer the prospective proselyte has is to quote verses from the Bible which are contradictory to the missionary’s or debate their interpretations.

THE DOGGED QUESTION

When the Muslim proves his point from the Christian’s own Holy Scripture, and when the professional priest, parson or predikant cannot refute the arguments — the inevitable Christian evasion is — "DO YOU ACCEPT THE BIBLE AS GOD’S WORD? On the face of it, the question seems to be an easy one, but a simple "Yes" or "No" cannot be given as an answer. You see, one has first to explain one’s position. But the Christian will not give one the opportunity. He gets impatient. "Answer — ‘Yes or No!’ " he insists. The Jews did the same to Jesus two thousand years ago, except that surprisingly he was not strait-jacketed, as is the fashion today!

The reader will readily agree that things are not always either BLACK or WHITE. Between these two extremes there are various shades of GREY. If you say "Yes" to his question, then it would mean that you are prepared to swallow everything HOOK, LINE and SINKER, from Genesis to Revelation from his Bible. If you respond with a "No" he quickly unhooks himself from the facts you have presented, and rallies support from his co-religionists in the audience with; "You see, this man does not believe in the Bible! What right has he to expound his case from our Book?" With this hydra-like somersault he rests content that he has safely evaded the issue. What is the Muballigh1to do? He has to explain his position vis-a-vis the Bible, as he ought to do.

1. MUBALLIGH: The Propagator of Islam

THREE GRADES OF EVIDENCE

We Muslims have no hesitation in acknowledging that in the Bible, there are three different kinds of witnessing recognizable without any need of specialized training. These are:

1. You will be able to recognize in the Bible what may be described as "The Word of God."

2. You will also be able to discern what can be described as the "Words of a Prophet of God."

3. And you will most readily observe that the bulk of the Bible is the records of eye witnessess or ear witnesses, or people writing from hearsay. As such they are the "Words of a Historian"

You do not have to hunt for examples of these different types of evidences in the Bible. The following quotations will make the position crystal clear:

The FIRST Type:

(a) I will raise them up a prophet . . . and I will put my words in … and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him." (Deuteronomy 18:18)

(b) I even, I am the Lord, and beside me there is no saviour." (Isaiah 43:11)

Note the first person pronoun singular (highlighted in green) in the above references, and without any difficulty you will agree that the statements seem to have the sound of being GOD’S WORD.

The SECOND Type:

(a) "Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani? . . ." (Matthew 27:46)

(b) "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord:" (Mark 12:29)

Even a child will be able to affirm that: Jesus "cried" Jesus "answered" and Jesus "said" are the words of the one to whom they are attributed, i.e. the WORDS OF A PROPHET OF GOD.

The THIRD Type:

"And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he, (JESUS) came, if haply he (JESUS) might find anything thereon: and when he (JESUS) came to it, (Jesus) found nothing but leaves . . ." (Mark 11:13)

The bulk of the Bible is a witnessing of this THIRD kind. These are the words of a third person. Note the underlined pronouns. They are not the Words of God or of His prophet, but the WORDS OF A HISTORIAN.

For the Muslim it is quite easy to distinguish the above types of evidence, because he also has them in his own faith. But of the followers of the different religions, he is the most fortunate in this that his various records are contained in separate Books!

ONE: The first kind — THE WORD OF GOD — is found in a Book called The Holy Qur’an.

TWO: The second kind — THE WORDS OF THE PROPHET OF GOD, (Muhummed, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) are recorded in the Books of Tradition called The Hadith.

THREE: Evidence of the third kind abounds in different volume of Islamic history, written by some of high integrity and learning, and others of lesser trustworthiness, but the Muslim advisedly keeps his Books in separate volumes!

The Muslim keeps the above three types of evidence Jealously apart, in their proper gradations of authority. He never equates them. On the other hand, the "Holy Bible" contains a motley type of literature, which composes the embarrassing kind, the sordid, and the obscene — all under the same cover — A Christian is forced to concede equal spiritual import and authority to all, and is thus unfortunate in this regard.

CHAPTER THREE

THE MULTIPLE BIBLE VERSIONS

It will now be easy for us to analyze a Christian’s claim about his Holy Book.

SEPARATING THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF

Before we scrutinize the various versions, let us clarify our own belief regarding the Books of God. When we say that we believe in the Tauraat, the Zaboor, the Injeel and the Qur’an, what do we really mean? We already know that the Holy Qur’an is the infallible Word of God, revealed to our Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhummed Mustapha (Peace be upon him) word for word, through the agency of the Archangel Jibraeel, (known as Gabriel in English), and perfectly preserved and protected from human tampering for the past fourteen hundred years! 1 Even hostile critics of Islam have grudgingly vouched for the purity of the Holy Qur’an: "THERE IS PROBABLY IN THE WORLD NO OTHER BOOK WHICH HAS REMAINED TWELVE CENTURIES (now fourteen) WITH SO PURE A TEXT." — (Sir William Muir)

The Tauraat we Muslims believe in is not the "Torah" of the Jews and the Christians, though the words — one Arabic, the other Hebrew — are the same. We believe that whatever the Holy Prophet Moses (Peace be upon him) preached to his people, was the revelation from God Almighty, but that Moses was not the author of those "books" attributed to him by the Jews and the Christians. 2

Likewise, we believe that the Zaboor was the revelation of God granted to Hazrat Dawood (David) (Peace be upon him), but that the present Psalms associated with his name are not that revelation. The Christians themselves do not insist that David is the sole author of "his" Psalms.3

1. Whether Muslim or non-Muslim, you do not have lo accept this claim on faith alone. You can verify the fact that Al-Qur’an is the Word of God. See "AL-QURAN- The Miracle of Miracles";

2- More evidence later on — "Moses not the author of the Biblical "Torah."

3.. Later on you’ll read how Christian "Brains Trust" confess — "Author; Principally David, though there are other writers."

What about the Injeel? INJEEL means the "Gospel" or "good news" which Jesus Christ preached during his short ministry. The "Gospel" writers often mention that Jesus going about and preaching the Gospel (the Injeel):

1. "And Jesus went . . . preaching the gospel . . . and healing every disease among the people." (Matthew 9:35)

2. "… but whosoever shall lose his fife for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it." (Mark 8:35)

3. "… preached the gospel. . ." (Luke 20:1)

The "gospel" is a frequently-used word, but what Gospel did Jesus preach? Of the 27 books of the New Testament, only a small fraction can be accepted as the words of Jesus. The Christians boast about the Gospels according to St. Matthew, according to St. Mark, according to St. Luke and according to St. John, but there is not a single Gospel "according" to (St.) Jesus himself! We sincerely believe that everything Christ (May the peace and blessings of God be upon him) preached was from God. That was the Injeel, the good news and the guidance of God for the Children of Israel. In his life-time Jesus never wrote a single word, nor did he instruct anyone to do so. What passes off as the "GOSPELS" today are the works of anonymous hands!

The question before us is: "Do you accept that the Bible is God’s Word?" The question is really in the form of a challenge. The questioner is not simply seeking enlightenment. The question is posed in the spirit of a debate. We have every right to demand in a similar vein — "Which Bible are you talking about?", we may ask. "Why, there is only ONE Bible!" he mutters.

THE CATHOLIC BIBLE

Holding the "Douay" Roman Catholic Version of the Bible aloft in my hand, I ask, "Do YOU accept THIS Bible as the Word of God?" For reasons best known to themselves, the Catholic Truth Society have published their Version of the Bible in a very short, stumpy form. This Version is a very odd proportion of the numerous Versions in the market today. The Christian questioner is taken aback. "What Bible is that?" he asks. "Why, I thought you said that there was only ONE Bible!" I remind him. "Y-e-s," he murmurs hesitantly, "but what Version is that?" "Why, would that make any difference?" I enquire. Of course it does, and the professional preacher knows that it does. He is only bluffing with his "ONE Bible" claim.

The Roman Catholic Bible was published at Rheims in 1582, from Jerome’s Latin Vulgate and reproduced at Douay in 1609. As such the RCV (Roman Catholic Version) is the oldest Version that one can still buy today. Despite its antiquity, the whole of the Protestant world, including the "cults"* condemn the RCV because it contains seven extra "books" which they contemptuously refer to as the "apocrypha" i.e. of DOUBTFUL AUTHORITY. Notwithstanding the dire warning contained in the Apocalypse, which is the last book in the RCV (renamed as "Revelation" by the Protestants), it is "revealed":

". . . If any man shall add to these things (or delete) God shall add unto him the plagues written in this Book."
(Revelation 22:18-19)

But who cares! They do not really believe! The Protestants have bravely expunged seven whole books from their Book of God! The outcasts are:

The Book of Judith
The Book of Tobias
The Book of Baruch
The Buck of Esther, etc.

* This disparaging title is given by the orthodox to Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Seventh Day Adventists and a thousand other sects and denominations with whom they do not see eye to eye.

THE PROTESTANT BIBLE

Sir Winston Churchill has some pertinent things to say about the Authorised Version (AV) of the Protestant Bible, which is also widely known as the "King James Version (KJV)".

"THE AUTHORISED VERSION OF THE BIBLE WAS PUBLISHED IN 1611 BY THE WILL AND COMMAND OF HIS MAJESTY KING JAMES THE 1ST WHOSE NAME IT BEARS TILL TODAY."

The Roman Catholics, believing as they do that the Protestants have mutilated the Book of God, are yet aiding and abetting the Protestant "crime" by forcing their native converts to purchase the Authorised Version (AV) of the Bible, which is the only Bible available in some 1500 languages of the lesser developed nations of the world. The Roman Catholics milk their cows, but the feeding is left to the Protestants! The overwhelming majority of Christians — both Catholics and Protestant — use the Authorised (AV) or the King James Version (KJV) as it is alternatively called.

GLOWING TRIBUTES

First published, as Sir Winston says, in 1611, and then revised in 1881 (RV), and now re-revised and brought up to date as the Revised Standard Version (RSV) 1952, and now again re-re-revised in 1971 (still RSV for short). Let us see what opinion Christendom has of this most revised Bible, the RSV:-

1. "THE FINEST VERSION WHICH HAS BEEN PRODUCED IN THE PRESENT CENTURY." — (Church of England Newspaper)

2. "A COMPLETELY FRESH TRANSLATION BY SCHOLARS OF THE HIGHEST EMINENCE." — (Times literary Supplement)

3. "THE WELL-LOVED CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AUTHORISED VERSION COMBINED WITH A NEW ACCURACY OF TRANSLATION." — (Life and Work)

4. "THE MOST ACCURATE AND CLOSE RENDERING OF THE ORIGINAL" — (The Times)

The publishers (Collins) themselves, in their notes on the Bible at the end of their production, say on page 10: "THIS BIBLE (RSV), IS THE PRODUCT OF THIRTY-TWO SCHOLARS, ASSISTED BY AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE REPRESENTING FIFTY CO-OPERATING DENOMINATIONS." Why all this boasting? To make the gullible public buy their product? All these testimonies convince the purchaser that he is backing the right horse, with the purchaser little suspecting that he is being taken for a ride.

"THE WORLD’S BEST SELLER"

But what about the Authorised Version of the Bible (AV), the "World’s Best Seller?" These Revisers, all good salesmen, have some very pretty things to say about it. However, their page iii, paragraph six of the PREFACE of the RSV reads;

"THE KING JAMES VERSION (alternative description of AV) HAS WITH GOOD REASON BEEN TERMED ‘THE NOBLEST MONUMENT OF ENGLISH PROSE.’ ITS REVISERS IN 1881 EXPRESSED ADMIRATION FOR ‘ITS SIMPLICITY, ITS DIGNITY, ITS POWER, ITS HAPPY TURNS OF EXPRESSION … THE MUSIC OF ITS CADENCES, AND THE FELICITIES OF ITS RHYTHM.’ IT ENTERED, AS NO OTHER BOOK HAS, INTO THE MAKING OF THE PERSONAL CHARACTER AND THE PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLES. WE OWE TO IT AN INCALCULABLE DEBT."

Can you, dear reader, imagine a more magnificent tribute being paid to the "Book of Books" than the above? I, for one, cannot. Let the believing Christian, now steel himself for the un-kindest blow of all from his own beloved Lawyers of Religion; for in the very same breath they say:

"YET THE KING JAMES VERSION HAS GRAVE DEFECTS." And, "THAT THESE DEFECTS ARE SO MANY AND SO SERIOUS AS TO CALL FOR REVISION . . ." This is straight from the horse’s mouth, i.e. the orthodox Christian scholars of "the highest eminence." Another galaxy of Doctors of Divinity are now required to produce an encyclopaedia explaining the cause of those GRAVE AND SERIOUS DEFECTS in their Holy Writ and their reasons for eliminating them.

Divine All Religion

2008-09-08T07:04:00.000-07:00

We all want to make it through life with some degree of success, some sense that we did it right. And if others think they know a way for life to be satisfying, even meaningful, it’s at least worth
checking out.
What about the world’s major religions? Is there anything we can find there that would give our lives greater stability and value?

The following is an opportunity to look into the major world faith systems…Hinduism, New Age, Buddhism, Islam, and the teachings of Jesus Christ.* Included is a brief description of each, its distinguishing characteristics, and what a person cangain from each.

The author then presents for your consideration the ways in which Jesus’ teaching differs from the world’s religions.
*Each of these systems has sects with differing beliefs. The description given here focuses on the heart of that system.

Hinduism

Most Hindus worship infinite representations of ultimate oneness (Brahman) through a multitude of gods and goddesses, over 300,000 of them. These various manifestations of gods and goddesses become incarnate within idols, temples,gurus, rivers, animals, etc.
Hindus see their position in this present life as based on their actions in a previous life. If their
behavior before was evil, they might experience tremendous hardships in this life. A Hindu’s goal is to become free from the law of karma…to be free from continuous reincarnations.

There are three possible ways to end this cycle of karma:
1. Be lovingly devoted to any of the Hindu gods or goddesses;
2. Grow in knowledge through meditation of Brahman oneness)…to realize that circumstances in life are not real, that selfhood is an illusion and only Brahman is real;
3.Be dedicated to various religious ceremonies and rites.

In Hinduism, a person has the freedom to choose how towork toward spiritual perfection. Hinduism also has a possible explanation for the suffering and evil in the world. According to Hinduism, the suffering anyone experiences, whether it is sickness or starvation or a disaster, is due that person because of their own evil actions, usually from a previous lifetime. Only the soul matters which will one day be free of the cycle of rebirths and be at rest.

New Age
New Age promotes the development of the person’s own power or divinity. When referring to God, a follower of New Age is not talking about a transcendent, personal God who created the universe, but is referring to a higher consciousness within themselves.

A person in New Age would see themselves as God, the cosmos, the universe. In fact, everything that the person sees, hears, feels or imagines is to be considered divine.
Highly eclectic, New Age presents itself as a collection of ancient spiritual traditions. It acknowledges many gods and goddesses, as in Hinduism. The Earth is viewed as the source of all spirituality, and has its own intelligence, emotions and deity. But superseding all is self. Self is the originator, controller and God of all. There is no reality outside of what the person determines.
New Age teaches a wide array of eastern mysticism and spiritual, metaphysical and psychic techniques, such as breathing exercises, chanting, drumming, meditating …to develop an altered consciousness and one’s own divinity. Anything negative a person experiences (failures,sadness, anger, selfishness, hurt) is considered an illusion. Believing themselves to be completely sovereign over their life, nothing about their life is wrong, negative or painful.Eventually a person develops spiritually to the degree that there is no objective, external reality. A person, becoming a
god, creates their own reality.

Buddhism
Buddhists do not worship any gods or God. People outside of Buddhism often think that Buddhists worship the Buddha. However, the Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) never claimed to be divine, but rather he is viewed by Buddhists as having attained what they are also striving to attain,infinite manifestations of god we are God no gods or God Connecting with the Divine which is spiritual enlightenment and, with it, freedom from the continuous cycle of life and death. Most Buddhists believe a person has countless rebirths, which inevitably include suffering. A Buddhist seeks to end these rebirths. Buddhists believe it is a person’s cravings, aversion and delusion that cause these rebirths. Therefore, the goal of a Buddhist is to purify one’s heart and to let go of all yearnings toward sensual desires and the attachment to oneself.
Buddhists follow a list of religious principles and very dedicated meditation. When a Buddhist meditates it is not the same as praying or focusing on a god, it is more of a self-discipline. Through practiced meditation a person may reach Nirvana — “the blowing out” of the flame of desire. Buddhism provides something that is true of most world religions: disciplines, values and directives that a person may want to live by.

Islam
Muslims believe there is the one almighty God, named Allah, who is infinitely superior to and transcendent from humankind. Allah is viewed as the creator of the universe and the source of all good and all evil. Everything that happens is Allah’s will. He is a powerful and strict judge,
who will be merciful toward followers depending on the sufficiency of their life’s good works and religious devotion. A follower’s relationship with Allah is as a servant to Allah.
Though a Muslim honors several prophets, Muhammad is considered the last prophet and his words and lifestyle are that person’s authority.

To be a Muslim, one has to follow five religious duties:
1. Repeat a creed about Allah and Muhammad;
2. Recite certain prayers in Arabic five times a day;
3. Give to the needy;
4. One month each year, fast from food, drink, sex
and smoking from sunrise to sunset;
5. Pilgrimage once in one’s lifetime to worship at a shrine in Mecca.

At death —based on one’s faithfulness to these duties a Muslim hopes to enter Paradise, a place of sensual pleasure. If not,they will be eternally punished in hell.
For many people, Islam matches their expectations about religion and deity. Islam teaches that there is one supreme God, who is worshiped through good deeds and disciplined religious rituals. After death a person is rewarded or punished according to their religious devotion.

Jesus Christ
Christians believe in a loving God who has revealed himself and can be personally known in this life. With Jesus an infinite & personal God one transcendent God Christ, the person’s focus is not
on religious rituals or performing good works, but on enjoying a relationship with
God and growing to know him better. Faith in Jesus Christ himself, not just in his teachings, is how the Christian experiences joy and a meaningful life. In his life on Earth, Jesus did not
identify himself as a prophet pointing to God or as a teacher of enlightenment.
Rather, Jesus claimed to be God in human form. He performed miracles, forgave people of their sin and said that anyone who believed in him would have eternal life. He made statements like, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”1
Christians regard the Bible as God’s written message to humankind. In addition to its being an historical record of Jesus’ life and miracles, the Bible reveals God’s personality, his love and truth, and how one can have a relationship with him. Whatever circumstances a Christian is dealing with in
their life, they can confidently turn to a wise and powerful God who genuinely loves them. They believe that God answers prayer and that life takes on meaning as they live to honor him. is there a difference?

In looking at these major belief systems and their views of God, we find tremendous diversity:
• Hindus believe in 300,000 gods.
• Buddhists say there is no deity.
• New Age followers believe they are God.
• Muslims believe in a powerful but detached God.
• Christians believe in a God who is loving and approachable.

Are all religions worshiping the same God? Let’s consider that. New Age teaches that everyone should come to center on a cosmic consciousness, but it would require Islam to give up their God, Hinduism to give up their numerous gods, and Buddhism to establish that there is a God.
The world’s major religions (Hinduism, New Age, Buddhism, Islam, following Jesus Christ) are each quite unique. And of these one affirms that there is a personal, loving God who can be known, now in this life. Jesus Christ spoke of a God who welcomes us into a relationship with him and comes along side us as a comforter, counselor and powerful God who loves us.
In Hinduism a person is on their own trying to gain release from karma. In New Age a person is working at their own divinity. In Buddhism it is an individual quest at being free from desire. And in Islam, the individual follows 2 religious laws for the sake of paradise after death. In Jesus’
teaching, you see a personal relationship with a personal God — a relationship that carries over into
the next life.

CAN A PERSON CONNECT WITH GOD IN THIS LIFE?

The answer is yes. Not only can you connect with God, you also can know that you are fully accepted and loved by God. Many religions place an individual on their own, striving for spiritual perfection. Buddha, for example, never claimed sinlessness. Muhammad also admitted that he was in need of forgiveness. “No matter how wise, no matter how gifted, no matter how influential other prophets, gurus, and teachers might be, they had the presence of mind to know that they
were imperfect just like the rest of us.”2 Jesus Christ, however, never alluded to any personal sin. Instead, Jesus forgave people of their sin and he wants to forgive us of our sin also.
We all are aware of our faults, the areas of our lives that may cause others to think less of us, areas that we ourselves wish were not there…maybe it’s an addiction, a bad temper, impurity, hateful remarks.
God loves us but hates sin, and he has said that the consequence for sin is separation from knowing him. But God provided a way for us to be forgiven and know him. Jesus, the Son of God, God in human form, took all of our sin on himself, suffered on a cross, and willingly died in our place.

The Bible says, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us.”3
God is offering us complete forgiveness because of Jesus’ death for us.
This means forgiveness for all our sins…past, present and future. Jesus paid for them all. God, who created the universe, loves us and wants to be in a relationship with us. “This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.”4Through Christ, God offers us real freedom from our sin and guilt. He does not leave a person’s failures on their shoulders, with a dim hope of becoming a better person tomorrow. In Jesus Christ, God reached toward humanity, providing a way for us to know him.
“For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”5

God wants us to know him. We were created by God to live in relationship with him. Jesus said, “He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty…and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”6 Jesus called people not only to follow his teachings, but to follow him. He said, “I am the way, and the truth and the life.”7 In claiming to be the truth, Christ goes beyond mere prophets and teachers who simply said they were speaking the truth.

Jesus identified himself as equal to God, and even gave proof. Jesus said that he would be crucified on a cross and that three days after his death, he would come back to life. He didn’t say he would reincarnate someday into a future life. (Who would know if he actually did it?) He said three days after being buried he would show himself alive to those who saw his
crucifixion. On that third day, Jesus’ tomb was found empty and many people testified that they saw him alive again. He now offers eternal life to us. it’s a two-way relationship. Many religions focus on a person’s spiritual efforts.

With Jesus Christ it’s a two-way interaction between you and God. He welcomes us to go to him. “The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth.”9 You can communicate with God, who will answer your prayer, give you greater peace and joy, provide direction, show you his love, and transform your life. Jesus said, “I came that they might have life, and have it more abundantly.”10 It will not mean that life will become perfect and free of problems.
But it means that in the midst of life, you can relate to God who is willing to be involved in your life and faithful in his love.
This is not a commitment to a method of self-improvement like the Eight Fold Path or the Five
Pillars, or meditation, or good works or even the Ten Commandments. These seem clear, well-defined, easy-to -follow paths for spirituality. But they become a burdensome striving for perfection, and connection with God is still distant. Our hope is not in following laws or
standards, but in knowing a Savior who fully accepts us because of our faith in him and his sacrifice for us. We don’t earn our place in heaven by religious efforts or good deeds. Heaven is a free gift to us, when we begin a relationship with Jesus Christ. Would you like to be totally forgiven and personally come to know God’s love for you?

G O D.

as simple as sincerely asking God for his forgiveness said, “Behold, I stand at the door [of your heart] and will come into him.”11 Would like to begin a loves you? You can do so right now, if it is your invite you to enter my heart right now. Thank you my life as you said you would.”The Bible tells us that “as many as received him, to If you sincerely asked God to come into your life, you like you have just met God and he wants to help you decisions confront you. The book called “John” in the relationship with God.Perhaps you might want to tell someone else about .In the world’s religions a person has a relationship person canhave a relationship with the loving and
you in this life now. He doesn’t just point you to a experience joy, and to have confidence in his love in Father has given us, that we should be called children

Syurga & Neraka

2008-09-08T07:03:00.001-07:00

Surga dan Neraka ada dimana ?

Membakar Syurga dan Memadamkan Neraka dengan Air harus diartikan secara "mendalam". Pada hakekatnya Syurga dan Neraka sudah ada saat ini juga dalam kehidupan kita ini. Sesungguhnya Syurga dan Neraka adalah apa yang kita "rasakan" dalam hati kita. Jika kita selalu merasa resah akibat menipu atau membunuh, ya itulah Neraka…perasaan resah yang menusuk nusuk hati kita. Jika jika kita merasa tenteram dan damai maka sesungguhnya kita berada dalam "syurga" karena itulah yang kita alami…perasaan tenang,damai.
keduanya syurga dan neraka adalah ciptaan-Nya. Jadi jika berharap syurga semata, maka kita telah menyembah selain kepada NYA…sang pencipta syurga itu. Itulah "berhala" yang disembah oleh sebagian besar manusia entah itu yang beragama Islam atau tidak. Beribadah karena berharap sesuatu dan tidak ikhlas semata kepada Allah.

Jika ingin "masuk" syurga, maka beribadahlah secara ikhlas hanya kepada-NYA dan tidak mensekutukan segala sesuatu selain NYA.

Itulah Syahdan, yang ingin membakar Syurga dan memadamkan Neraka, menghilangkan segala pengharapan selain kepada NYA. Hakekatnya, beribadah lah kita dengan ikhlas tanpa meminta imbalan syurga karena ibadah dengan meminta imbalan yang pasti anda mendapat "neraka" sebagai gantinya…perasaan "resah" yang tidak menentu karena tidak melihat syurga sesungguhnya.

Jesus In Islam

2008-09-08T06:58:00.000-07:00

BY THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST BENEFICENT, THE MOST MERCIFUL
Jesus in Islam
Most surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day there are signs for those who understand. (3:190)

Where Islam and Christianity Agree Concerning Jesus, Son of Mary
It is an essential part of Islam’s teachings to believe in all of Allah’s prophets and Messengers, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Lot, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Moses, David, and the many other Prophets that Allah sent down to different communities at different times.

Islam also advocates the holiness of Jesus, son of Mary.
A Muslim’s faith is not complete until he or she reveres Jesus and believes in his holiness, and that he lived in this world as a pure person free of any sin. Allah’s book, the glorious Qur’an, declaresWhen the angels said: “O Mary! Surely God gives thee good news of a word from Him whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, Son of Mary, worthy of regard in this world and the hereafter, and of those who are highly accepted by God.” [3:45]
Islam also declares the holiness of Mary, the mother of Jesus. No Muslim can doubt the decency and purity of Mary. She, according to the Qur’an, was among the noblest and most virtuous noble women of all time:

“And when the angels said: ‘O Mary! Certainly God has chosen thee and made thee pure and has preferred thee above the women of all nations. ‘O Mary! Be obedient to thy Lord, prostrate thyself and bow with those who bow (in worship).” [3:42-43]

Islam also declares that Jesus was miraculously born from a virgin mother with no father. From the Holy Qur’an: And make mention of Mary in the Scripture, when she withdrew from her people to an Eastern place, And chose seclusion from them. Then We sent unto
her Our Spirit and it assumed for her the likeness of a perfect man. She said: Lo! I seek refuge in the Beneficent One from thee, if thou art Allah-fearing.’ He said: “Nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son. She said: ‘How can I have a son, and no mortal has yet touched me, nor have I been unchaste?’ He said: ‘So (it will be). Thy Lord says: “It is easy for Me; and that We may make him a sign to men and a mercy from Us. And it is a matter decreed. Then she conceived him; and withdrew with him to a remote place. And the throes of childbirth drove her to the trunk of the palm-tree. She said: ‘Oh, would that I had died before this, and had been a thing quite forgotten. So a voice came to her from beneath her: ‘Grieve not, surely thy Lord has provided a stream beneath thee. And shake towards thee the trunk of the palm-tree, it will drop on thee fresh ripe dates. So eat and drink and be pleased.” [19:16-26]

The Holy Qur’an attributes to Jesus many of the miracles mentioned in the Gospel: … and He (Allah) will make him (Jesus) a messenger to the children of Israel (saying): “I have come to you with a sign from your Lord that I fashion for you, out of clay, the likeness of a bird, and I breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by Allah’s permission. I heal him who was born blind, and the leper, and I raise the dead by Allah’s permission. And I announce unto you what ye eat and what ye store in your houses. ‘Lo! Verily this is a sign unto you, if ye are to be believers.”
[3:40]

The Holy Qur’an also ascribes to Jesus a miracle that is not recorded in the gospels: Jesus spoke clearly while he was in the cradle:
Then she came to her people with him, carrying him. They said: ‘O Mary, thou hast indeed brought a strange thing. O sister of Aaron, thy father was not a wicked man, nor was thy mother an unchaste woman.’ But she pointed to him. They said: ‘How should we speak to a one who is a child in the cradle?’ He said: ‘I am indeed a servant of God. He has given me the Book and made me a prophet; and He has made me blessed wherever I may be, and He has enjoined on me prayer and purity so long as I live. And to be kind to my mother; and He has not made me insolent, un-blessed. And Peace be on me the day I was born, and the day
I die, and the day I am raised to life (in the Hereafter). [19:27-33]

Where Islam and Christianity Differ

Islam is uncompromising in its Monotheism. Although Islam accepts the holiness of Jesus, it categorically rejects his divinity. God is only One, and there is no God but He, the Almighty, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsistent, the Infinite in life, knowledge, and power. Muslims believe that he is worthy of reverence and great respect, but that he was not
God, nor was he united with God. Jesus is not ever-living. He was born less than 2000 years ago, and according to the gospels, he died after a very short life. He is not almighty because he was a subject of persecution. Jesus could not
be the Creator of the world because the world is over four billion years old, while Jesus was born less than two thousand years ago. The Gospels show that Jesus considered himself only as a servant of God [Matthew 12:18, Acts 3:13,4:27] and prostrated himself humbly before Him on many occasions.

Neither could Jesus have been the son of God. Allah has no need for a son nor is it befitting of his exalted nature to attribute a child to him. Bodily parenthood is inconceivable for Allah because He is not physical. Spiritual parenthood is similarly inconceivable because He is the
Creator of every spiritual and material being. The Holy Qur’an is clear on this point: And (they) impute falsely, without knowledge, sons and daughters unto Him. Glorified be He and high exalted above (all) that they ascribe (unto Him). The Originator of the heavens and the Earth! How can He have a child when there is no consort for Him, when He created all things and is Aware of all things? Such is God, your Lord. There is no God save Him, the Creator of all things, so worship Him. And He taketh care of all things. [6:100-102]

Islam also rejects the crucifixion of Jesus on the cross: And their saying: Surely we have killed the Messiah, Isa son of Marium, the messenger of Allah; and they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but it appeared to them so, and most surely those who differ therein are only in a doubt about it; they have no knowledge respecting it, but only follow a conjecture, and they killed him not for sure. Nay! Allah took him up to Himself; and Allah is Mighty, Wise. [4:157- 158]

The Holy Qur’an clearly states that Jesus was not crucified, but that it was made to “appear so unto them.” This claim is supported by evidence from the gospels themselves. Thegospels state that Jesus did not remain long on the cross. It was the custom of the Romans to break the legs of the crucified, yet Jesus’ legs were not broken. Moreover, he was taken down hastily, as the Jews were preparing to Criterion for Truth In light of the wisdom of Islam that has just been
presented, take some time to consider the following:

• Are the teachings of your belief system rationally tenable?
• Is your belief system universally applicable?
• Does your belief system enhance your progress towards spiritual perfection?
• Who is the creator of your belief system? Is he a creation or is he the Creator?
• Has your belief system been corrupted by superstitions, myths, or man-made philosophies?
• Does your belief system concur with the discoveries of modern science?
• Could a human being have invented your belief system?

At a Glance celebrate Passover and did not want him to remain on the cross on the day of the Sabbath. The gospels also state that after Jesus was assumed tobe dead, a man struck at his body with a lance, causingblood to gush out from his body; Yet, it is known that blood does not flow from a dead body. This indicates that Jesus was still alive. The gospels go on to state that a heavy stone was laid over Jesus’ tomb, but that by Sunday, the stone had been removed and that Jesus’ body was found missing. It is easy to conclude that some of his disciples removed the stone and rescued him. The removal of the stone indicates human, not divine activity. Were Jesus miraculously resurrected, there would have been no need for removal of the stone. God, for Whom all things are easy, would have been able to raise him from the grave and keep the stone where it was. In addition, the gospels also state that Jesus appeared several times to his disciples after the event of crucifixion.These appearances took place in secrecy, away from the public. Were Jesus miraculously resurrected, and had attained “eternal life,” he would have had no need to hide from his enemies. The notion that Jesus was crucified leads to all sorts of
absurdities. If Jesus was God, could he not protect himself from the people? How could God die? If Jesus was God, why did he cry out to the Almighty “Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani” while on the cross? Who was Jesus calling out to?

An Appeal to Reason O People of the Scripture!

Do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter aught concerning Allah save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah, and His word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers, and say not “Three.” Desist, it is better for you - Allah is only One Allah. Far is it removed from His Transcendent Majesty that He should have a son. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And Allah is sufficient for a Protector. [4:171-2]

Say (O Muslims): We believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and that which the prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered. [2:136]
Jesus in Islam

About Angels

2008-09-08T06:40:00.001-07:00

Introduction: What Are Angels?

Angels are the hope of humanity. They are the source of light
and the energy of creation. They are the beacons for every seeker,
the oasis in every desert,
the waves in every ocean,
the spring of every river,
the crystal in every diamond. They are
the dew from heaven on every leaf. They are
the life in every drop of blood in animate beings,
the motion behind every living cell. They are
the driving force of constellations
and galaxies.
They are the stars
and suns
and moons in every firmament.
The universes swim in their orbits. They are the superpowers known
by all traditions, beliefs,
and philosophies.

It is universally known, based on these sources, that God created the angels to carry out His orders and transmit the messages that pertain to human beings. Angels are honored, subtle beings created from light who serve their Lord. They exemplify the qualities of perfection, obedience, and dedication. They can take any form they like at any time and place. They carry unlimited miraculous powers through which they can reach anyone in the blink of an eye to help and to heal, to serve and to console, to love and to be loved.

Angels take any form they wish in the physical world. As crystal water takes the form of the cup in which it is poured, angels can take the form of any creation which they visit. They do not retain their full original form of light when they are sent to human beings: "Say: If there were in the earth angels walking secure, We had sent down for them from heaven an angel [without change] as messenger" (17:95). Angels can come as birds, as human beings, or as a form of light like a rainbow adorning the sky. They have a mind and a heart, but no will and no desire other than to serve and obey God. They are never too proud to obey Him.

Angels worship day and night without fatigue. They do not need to sleep, as their eyes never tire. They know no heedlessness. Their attention never wavers. Their food is glorification of God, their drink is to sanctify and to magnify Him. Their intimacy is in calling their Lord through hymning and singing His praise. Their enjoyment is to serve Him. They are devoid of any and all physiological restraints. They suffer no mood-changes.

Angels inhabit Paradise and the seven heavens. They worship more than human beings because they came before them and they have greater and more powerful faculties than they. They are more pious than human beings because they are innocent and unable to fall into mistakes or wrongdoings. They never ask forgiveness for themselves but always for human beings. This shows us how much they care for us and to what extent God created them to look after us. God made them our guardians because a guardian is more perfect than the one he guards.

Angels are more knowledgeable than human beings. The teacher, again, is better than the student. Their knowledge is of two kinds: intellectual and traditional. "Intellectual" means here: "of the essence of reality" or "of the heart." "Traditional" means: "revealed and translated down from above."

Intellectual knowledge is a must, such as knowledge about God and His attributes. It is impossible for angels, the prophets, and pious people to fail to possess it. They have no excuse in failing to know it. The knowledge that is not obligatory is the way in which God has created the wonders of creation, such as knowledge of the Throne, of the Pen, of Paradise, Hell and Heavens. In addition there is the knowledge of the different kinds of angels, human beings, the inhabitants of the earth on the ground, under the ground, in the air, and under the sea. In the latter kind of knowledge angels are undoubtedly more versed than human beings. This is because they were created long before them: angels accompanied the entire process of creation of the universes as well as that of human beings. They are also more familiar with that knowledge because of their God-given vision and hearing. But such knowledge is only attainable to those who have purified their heart and vision among human beings.

As for traditional knowledge, it is the prophetic knowledge that cannot be known by human beings without benefit of revelation. Only angels are able to bring that kind of knowledge to them. They were indeed the intermediary between God and human beings in that respect. Furthermore, it is possible that they are the continuous intermediaries of the events of the Last Day, after having been those of past and present events up to the Last Prophet, Muhammad, Peace be upon him. They are knowledgeable in the traditions that particularly regard them and with which God has entrusted them. That is the reason why angels are far more knowledgeable than human beings and carry six kinds of perfect attributes:

# They are messengers from the divine presence;
# are noble in God’s sight;
# They have been empowered by God with a power rendering them capable of pure obedience;
# are well-regarded and firmly established in the Divine Presence;
# They are obeyed in the earthly world;
# are trustworthy in receiving, keeping, and delivering the revelation.

The perfect state of human beings can no doubt never be achieved until the angelic power is linked with it. By God’s permission, angels monopolize that angelic power which enlightens any human individual that connects with it. The perfection of human beings, therefore, depends on the capacity to annihilate the human soul in the crucible of the angels. The conclusion of this process is described in the Koranic verse: "Thou soul in complete rest and satisfaction! Return unto thy Lord, accepted and accepting! Enter thou among my servants (angels), and enter thou my Garden!" (89:27-30)

According to that verse, God causes the spirit of human beings to enter the throng of the angels first, then Paradise. A condition of entering Paradise is to receive angelic greetings and revelation, at which time one enters it as a spirit endowed with angelic attributes. God then makes of such spirits messengers for His continuous creations; they are granted the happiness of living in Paradise and enjoying the sight of their Lord. God made the greetings of angels necessary for human beings when their spirits enter into the angelic power. This is to elevate them to a higher state and produce for them a great happiness. Therefore, without the heavenly input of angels, the spirit of human beings cannot reach everlasting happiness.

The contribution of the angels to human happiness is derived from their perfection. Angels are free from any kind of anger, illusion, imagination, or delusion. This characteristic gives them the power to be in the divine presence and under God’s divine light. It is because of these shortcomings that human beings are prevented from being in the divine presence. Because perfection resides only in the state of reaching the divine presence, only angels can properly be said to have the attribute of perfection among created beings.

The spiritual dimensions of angels have different aspects.

* The angel is a sublime luminescence.
* His knowledge is perfect and complete because he knows the secret of the unseen and
* is acquainted with the hidden secrets of creation.
* His knowledge is real, active, and continuous.
* The action of the angel is genuine because angels are committed to serve and their commitment is perfectly carried through.

Angels inhabit the seven moving planets, the polestar, and all the fixed stars of every other galaxy.

* Orbits are like their bodies whose hearts are the planets.
* The movements of these planets in their orbits is the principle of the changes on this planet earth.
* The movements of angels in this universe has an influence on the states of human beings on this earth.
* From the movements of these angels, by God’s order, the connection is made between the movements of galaxies.
* The transmission of signals even millions of light-years away from us affect the states of human nature.
* The heavenly world thus always holds sway over the earthly world.

God created the sun from the angelic light. It allows this world to see everything of the material objects that were previously wrapped in darkness. Without that light of the sun nothing can be seen.

The latter always shines and reflects on the moon like a mirror so that it appears like a shining body. In the same way human beings, though they are inscribed by an angelic power, darken themselves through the oppression of their ego. Never theless, they are in a position to be always shining, and shining far more radiantly than the moon.

The moon possesses nothing of the light of the sun by itself; it only reflects at best. The main power belongs to the sun. Similarly, God has placed and organized in every orbit of the heavens, skies, galaxies, planets, and Paradises a creation differing from one orbit to another. They act like mirrors that reflect the light of the angels from the divine presence.

These celestial phenomena extend that angelic light, mirror-like, for the benefit of human beings and other creations. That light is "made subject" (musakhkhara) to whatever is needed by creation. That light is the source of the angelic power, the very angelic power itself. Indeed, it is the substance of goodness and benefits every place of creation.

As the angels move in the divine presence, their lights move in and upon the orbits which God created to be governed by them. Angelic powers affect the movements and contents of these orbits. Since these orbits reflect angelic lights upon earth, we see how human beings can in turn be affected by the movements of orbits in their lives. Angelic lights also affect feelings, moods, manners, and actions.

The elements and qualities of human beings and other created objects on earth vary according to their respective distances from the sources of angelic power. Hence we find differences between human beings, even though their bodies are similar. This is because they differ in respect to their connections with angels. The differences are not really in bodies but in the human beings’ spiritual attributes and characteristics.

Human beings carry from childhood either the characteristics of goodness and holiness, or those of evil and wrongdoing. That is a very real picture of the spiritual "dress" of human beings and their hierarchies: one receives an angelic power while the other does not. This is what makes one better than the other, just as diamonds excel emeralds, which are better than sapphire, which is better than rubies. All these are rare jewels but they vary in exellence. For all these jewels are more precious than gold. Gold is more precious than silver and silver is more precious than iron. The latter ends up as scrap while the others are always kept as valuable elements.

Light is better than darkness. The transparent is better than the opaque. The subtle is better than the dense. The enlightened person is better than the one in darkness. The beautiful is better than the ugly. The one calling to goodness is better than the one calling to evil. The shy, courageous, generous, patient one is better than the one who carries hatred, enmity, darkness, evil, greed, and stinginess. All the above-mentioned characteristics depend on the nearness or farness of their respective bearers to the sources of angelic power.

Therefore, in this world the human spirit is a sign pointing dimly to the perfection of the higher world. It is like the light of the candle in relation to the light of the sun, or a small drop in relation to the ocean. Angelic light is the means of visibility of light on earth, both material and spiritual. We know about the sun from its rays. Similarly, we know about God from the creations of the heavens and the earth, the perception of which is brought about by the shining of angelic light upon them and their expression through revelation by that light. There is no darkness for us deeper than the non-existence of angelic light. There is no light of God more expressive for us than the angelic light. The appearance of each single thing is the result of this light, just as the existence of each thing proceeds from its existence. In this way God preserves creation through the light of the angels.

Human beings are themselves like a veil or eclipse of the angelic light. That is, they eclipse the angelic light which eclipses the light of God. Thus you can see the attributes of the Creator through His wonderful creations. This is the meaning of the Prophet’s saying: "Think of the creations of God. Do not think of His essence."

The spirits of human beings can be described as atoms inside the heavenly world and their bodies as the houses of their spirits. Now, the house has a state and the inhabitant of the house has a state distinct from the first state.

* It is clear to us that the inhabitant is more honorable than the house, for the greatness of the house depends on its inhabitant. { What makes Kabbah is Muhammad {S}}
* These human spirits are an actual part of the angelic spirits.
* That is why the condition of entry into Paradise for the soul of a dying person is that it be accepted into the angelic realm first, as we have said. That is also why the human spirit is qualified to receive transmission from the angelic powers, as the satellite dish is made to receive transmission from the main station.
* To the extent that these individuals are connected to the angelic powers, they become undoubtedly more and more important to other human beings on earth. However, human bodies remain a compound of many different elements mixed together. The bodies of angels, on the other hand, are only made of light from the divine presence. It is important to know that this difference never goes away in the material world. That is why the angels prefer to support the spirits of the bodies of prophets. For the prophetic spirits have elevated their bodily receptacles to the point where they acquire all manners of gnosis and spiritual states. These in turn enable them to become beacons of light spreading heavenly gifts and carrying God’s message to His creation. All these relations between angels and prophets, saints and pious people, obtain by God’s will and His permission.

Angels are honored because of their knowledge and status as inhabitants of Paradise and recipients of God’s satisfaction. They always look at their Lord and seeing nothing but their Lord. As we said previously, the inhabitant is more important than the body it inhabits. This is evident in the fact that the Prophets are more precious than their mothers, although they inhabited their mothers’ wombs. The status goes to the prophets, not to their mothers, because of the prophets’ greater connection to the angelic powers. As an illustration we may say that the spirit of Jesus is better than his mother’s body, and similarly that the spirit of the Messenger of God (Muhammad) is better than his mother’s body.

When God created creation, He said: "Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, the Beneficent; with Whom none can converse. On the day when the angels and the Spirit stand arrayed, they speak not, saving him whom the Beneficent alloweth and who speaketh right." (78:37-38) God shows in these words that the angels are from among His greatest creations. They stand second to him and they are His messengers of revelation sent to His prophets. He has honored them by letting them reveal the astounding knowledge in two ways: spiritually and phenomenally. He reveals it spiritually by letting prophets bring such knowledge in heavenly books and thereby guide others to the faith and honorable manners characteristic of the servants of God. He reveals it phenomenally by inspiring the hearts of humankind to investigate and discover the visible world and accumulate empirical data. Hence, they achieve the most sophisticated technology that can possibly be reached by them in every given century.

This opens another window into understanding the role of angels among human beings. Scientists are actually using the energies that radiate from the angels on this earth to build up technological knowledge. By use of angelic energy they achieve a perfect mode of living: educating, helping, and healing those in need.

Spiritual people use the angelic power as a path of discovery for different purposes. They use this power in the knowledge that it is special grant from God.

* He gives them a sacred and noble trust that has the potential to govern countless bodies other than their own.
* This ability is defined as " the angelic power in them." These spiritual people are known in Islamic spirituality as abdal: "changed ones."
* They can move from one place to another in the blink of an eye. They can live at one and the same time in the first and the second place.
* They can live in many other places as well and yet maintainn the same appearance as their original self. This is called ubiquity.
* Famous abdal in sufi history are al-Junayd, Abd al-Qadir Jilani, Jalal al-Din Rumi, Muhyiddin ibn Arabi, Mansur al-Hallaj.

Sufi scholar-saints such as these, also known as knower-saints or gnostics (`arif, pl. `arifun), have confirmed that there is another world between that of human bodies on earth and that of angels, and have called that world the imaginal world. This imaginal world is more subtle than the earthly world and yet denser than the angelic world. This characteristic of the imaginal world allows the abdal to travel within that dimension in the way that we have mentioned.

The method used by these spiritual people can be described as a self-riddance of the trappings of gravity. Everything yearns for its origin and the body yearns for earth which is pulled by gravity. The spirit, however, yearns to the heavenly realm which pulls upwards. These abdal were capable of balancing the opposite elements earth/heaven, or upward/downward, within themselves in such a way that the element earth which once dominated over the other is now dominated by the other and follows it.

The intellect dominates the conscience to the extent that some have said that the conscience is in the prison of the mind. If the intellect is of the destructive type, that person will use knowledge and self-discovery to hurt instead of to heal. Laser beams can be used for destruction as well as healing, but they are the same rays in either case. If that intellect does not balance properly between right and wrong, then it will be using the knowledge it acquires in an inappropriate way. If, however, the conscience dominates and plays a greater role, it will at one point dominate over the mind and ensure that it is controlled by the yearning to do good. That is best for himself and for humanity at large, for that person will be constantly motivated to use his knowledge to help and to serve others.

* This is the case in the body that imprisons the spirit: the person who can balance the two poles within will be qualified as a wise one.
* Further down the road, if that person can progress more in the heavenly direction, he can use his spirit to dominate the body and acquire those powers that cut through the fetters of gravity.
* This enables him to use the spirit to move the mass of the body, not only his own but those of others as well. For such a spirit, when it connects with its angelic power, will become a form of energy and light.
* These entities can move mass at higher speeds than the mind can conceive.
* This is how these pious people known as saints or abdal were known to appear at any critical time and any place that they liked.
* Thus, they help people and teach them. The ubiquitous appearances of one’s person in many places are like reflected images of the same one body through the mirror of an angelic power.
* This mirror produces thousands upon thousands of pictures at the same time, except that those pictures are every bit as real as the original which is being reflected. {similar to Facsimile machine}

God will create an angel called al-Natiq, " the Uttering Angel," out of His own dhikr (remembrance) of Himself for every one of these types of realized people.

* That angel is instructed to inhabit the heart of the pious servant of God.
* His duty is to continuously inform that servant of his duties and obligations in each twenty-four hour cycle, besides the known duties of worship.
* This link of information establishes a further possibility for the saint of reaching other human beings through the power of his heart.
* Furthermore, God will enable him to hear the minutest cell in his body.
* The angel speaks to him and explains why God created it, what physical purpose it serves in the body, what can poison it, and what can heal it. Moreover, it will inform him how to heal himself from any disorder of his body, and enable him to heal others through his acquired angelic energy.
* The saint’s angelic power thus enables him to converse freely with every cell in his body as if he were speaking to another person sitting in the same room. This ability will open for him the understanding that the human body to which is joined an angelic power is greater and even less fathomable than this entire universe.
* Indeed, each cell is a world unto itself. It is inhabited by all kinds of infinitesimally small spiritual laborers. Their function is to run the life support system of that cell. A factory needs all kinds of instruments and machines, labor and managers to keep it alive and protect it from any kind of error and destruction. In the same way, scientifically speaking, the cell has its own defense system against any invader from outside: that protection is produced by the tiny angelic staff whom God created for that purpose.

As the saint becomes more and more perceptive in his inner hearing and speaking, he will concentrate his entire power. He then places it in his heart exclusively of any other focal point. This process can be compared to the concentration of light which does not burn if scattered over the paper, but burns if reassembled into one ray under a magnifying glass.

* At that time the saint will be able to send that gathered angelic light out of his heart in order to reach any human being on this earth and any heavenly being above.
* The continuous build-up of this angelic power in the saint’s heart allows him to witness heavenly sights and acquire heavenly knowledge.
* This continues until the day comes when an indescribable light appears in the horizon of his heart.
* This light expands the heart to an infinitesimal degree. It removes from it all the remaining veils that up to this point prevented it from reaching the realities of the heavenly world.
* Meanwhile, God orders the angels, each one in his state, duty, and position, to inform that pious individual of three things:
o the reason of his creation,
o his position in the divine scheme, and
o his duty within creation.
o Every single one of these angels will thereupon adorn that pious person. They will endow him with a kind of gift. At a certain point, he will himself become "dilated" which, in the language of mystics, means that he will be clad in a subtle body of light, the same light that characterizes angelic beings. That body is not visibly transparent to other human beings. Nevertheless, they can feel the light that emanates from the saint’s body and be attracted to him as a magnet attracts other elements.

When people are attracted to this Knower-saint, however, he must not show that he is different from others and pretend to be higher than them. He must be an instrument of this angelic power. Being proud puts him in the same category as Satan. Although the latter possesed an angelic power he fell from heaven because of pride and that power was taken away from him. The saint must only use angelic power in a constructive way, for the happiness and benefit of human beings. He must do so without asking for anything in return from those he helps. Angels never ask anything for themselves, rather, they always ask for the sake of human beings.

Children have not been involved in the low desires that strip the heart of its angelic power. In fact, they are at the rank of saints although they themselves are unaware of it, much less their parents and relatives. The child that declares that he has visions and sights is telling the truth; whereas the parent who hears the child’s accounts sifts them through the grid of the mind and does not consider them factual. "I heard music," "an angel came to me," "people came and disappeared," "they brought me gifts," are frequent utterances of children who blurt out these statements as the event occurs. The child cannot control himself, however, the saint keeps all these events hidden from others.

An intermediary state of knowledge exists between that of children and knower-saints which may be called a "premature sainthood." In that state many people experience visitations and sights and sounds which may be few and far in-between, or on the contrary frequent. These happenings seem discontinuous and even perhaps incoherent, like someone being addressed in a foreign language and struggling to understand.

The reason is that those experiencing them have not achieved the state of purity that permits them to converse fluently with their angelic power. Like children, they cannot help revealing these experiences as soon as they occur or shortly thereafter in ways that may or may not make sense to them or to others.

The happiness that these retellers of angelic visitations feel in telling others of their experiences is like the happiness of a child who receive candy. A child will become happy with its candy and forget about a diamond. Nevertheless the goal remains the diamond. It is important for persons to always re-direct themselves towards that goal: the continuous connection of their heart with angelic power at every moment of their life.

Each human spirit evolves from the point when it was present and testified before God on the Day of promises, to the reality of earthly life then to the life of the grave then to eternal life. This evolution consists in changes from one image to another.

The garment the spirit takes in the fourth month of its life in the womb is kept until death{ 4 Hijab Rahma Subhan Rafi al Ala}. Another dress is put on in the grave, which also deteriorates. Finally, the spirit puts on the body of the hereafter. This body changes to an angelic body at the time it enters among the angels, as we have already mentioned in relation to the Koranic verse "Enter thou My servants."

That angelic body will keep on changing, continuously and forever, from one excellent dress to one even more excellent, according to God’s infinite creation of the levels of Paradise. Each dress of paradise, when worn, opens a new level. When one sees this new level, he desires to attain it. He puts on this new garment by divine permission. And a resurrection from one level of Paradise to the next continues ad infinitum. This astonishing phenomenon shows the great extent of God’s power of creation.

In every period of evolution from one dress to another prior to Paradise the individual can understand his surroundings and in what state he is. He will be living in that very state and experiencing it but he cannot understand the other states. A person is virtually imprisoned in the state he is in and cannot see any other state.

* On the other hand, the individual who reaches the full state of sainthood can understand everything from beginning to end.
* That is what differentiates the ordinary individual from the saint.
* A saint has already acquired the subtle body of light which enables him to see the past, present and future in one brief moment.
* Indeed, he can attain the knowledge of the souls from the moment they stood in the divine presence to the day they came to this world, entered the grave, were resurrected and stood before God again, and entered Paradise.
* This reality is expressed in the following prophetic tradition in which one of the Companions of the Prophet was asked by the latter to give those present a glimpse of his angelic vision:

Harith ibn La`man said: "Once I went to the Prophet and he asked me in what state I spent the day. I replied : "As a true believer." Then the Prophet asked me the state of my faith. I replied: "I see the throne of God and the people of Paradise helping each other, and the people of hell lamenting in hell. I see in front of me eight heavens and seven hells as clear as idol-worshipers see their idols. I can recognize each individual just like a miller can recognize wheat from barley. That is, who is to go to paradise, and who is to be found in hell. In front of me people are like fish and ants. Shall I stay silent or continue?" The Prophet told me to stop and say no more." [Abu Hanifah, "al-Fiqh al-Akbar"].

One of these accomplished saints in more recent times said:

"I met an angel standing on the shore of a vast ocean. I saluted him, and the angel replied: ‘Wa alaykum al-salam wa rahmat Allah.’ Then the angel asked me by my name, ‘O So-and-So, how is your shaykh, the master of abdal?’ and he named him. I answered him by giving him good news about my shaykh, then I asked him how he knew him. He expressed surprise and answered: ‘Do you think we do not know him? Everyone in our realm knows and respects him. When God elevated him to his rank He informed everyone in His creation, all the angels and every single creation on earth, that that person had reached the station of I love him, and I want everyone to love him also. Therefore, every stone, tree, animal, angel and jinn love him.’ I said: ‘There are some people on earth who want to kill him because they are jealous of his angelic knowledge and power.’ The angel said: ‘It is impossible that anyone can kill the one whom God loves and has raised to an angelic power.’"

"The angel continued:

‘Your master can hear and see the image of every created object in this universe. In this universe, there is nothing but these created reflections. They represent angels, human beings, and every element, living and non-living; and all of them are praising their Lord. All creation, except human beings who did not reach the state of angelic vision, are given a knowledge that enable them to hear each other’s praising and hymning in whatever orbit of space or existence they move. Everyone praises his Lord with his own attributes and in the words of his own language. God gives everyone the understanding of the other’s language but not the permission to use it. He has to use his own language.’"

"I interrupted the angel:
- ‘Even the inanimate elements can understand the praising of others?’
- ‘Yes, even they can understand. A stone is inanimate to human eyes but it is a living and praising creation. Haven’t you heard of those who heard the stones praising God in the presence of the Prophet and his Companion-saints?’" { Atomic Form is Living and in Resonance}

"He continued:
‘We angels have been created out of divine light, and we have been greatly honored! Yet we both admire and pity you, human beings, because you have been created in God’s image. Haven’t you heard the saying of the Prophet: ‘God created Adam after his likeness’? We understand this to mean that human beings have been elevated to a rank where He honored them by allowing them to reflect His image. This honor has raised human beings to a very high level. That is why God said in the Holy Koran: ‘Verily We have honored human beings, and We have carried them over the earth and over the sea’ (17:70). These two bodies, earth and the ocean, here represent the external knowledge and the internal."

"Such honoring of human beings is chiefly represented by their face, and the head is the true center of gravity of human beings.

For you cannot say that the perfect place denoted by the word ‘likeness,’ in God’s creation of human beings, consists in this or that limb of the body, as they are all the same from one person to another. But every one has a different face and there lies God’s likeness.

That is why the Prophet scolded the man who struck another on the face and forbade the striking of the face of human beings, even in battle."

"When God wants to manifest Himself, He looks at His creation. His first attention goes to human beings because they resemble him. Those who resemble Him the most among them, are the saints; hence the Prophet said of them: ‘They remind you of God.’ We angels may speak to prophets alone, except for saints."

"We also pity you because human beings are unwilling to open themselves to attract the angelic power by which they reach the state of heavenly knowledge that is their inheritance. That makes us appear in your human form in varying shapes and degrees of light, in different places and to different ages of human life, to remind you that you have been honored with an angelic power and a divine likeness. Keep the likeness! Use the angelic power! It shall elevate you to that luminous station without which God said: ‘Verily, those for whom God did not appoint light, they will never inherit light!’ (24:40) and He said: ‘Light upon light!’ (24:35)

declaring that the light of the heart’s vision must be connected with the light of angelic power, ensuring success and guidance to all human beings. That light shall then appear over the entire human realm like a rising sun and a rising moon over all of creation, without ever setting. The light of this power, at that time, will make every individual like a moon, that is, a heavenly body that will reflect the original light for the rest of creation. By this light, this world will be preserved, the love of nature will rule the earth, and everyone will live in peace and love, swimming in the ocean of angelic beauty and harmony."

The angel spoke this, then he gave me the angelic greeting of peace and left.

Belief in the Angels

34:40: "And on the day when He will gather them all together, He will say unto the angels: Did these worship you?"

43:53: "Why, then, have armlets of gold not been set upon him, or angels sent along with him?"

It is said that the word "angel"

* comes from the Latin "angelus," which is borrowed from the Greek "angelos."
* In Arabic the word is "malak" or "malaak," plural "malaa’ikat."
* The Arabic root verb "alaka," which means "to give a message," confirms the angel’s etymological connection to the function of Messenger of God in the semitic languages.
* The existence of angels is one of the pillars of belief in most religious traditions and that is the case in Islam also. God mentions the angels in the Holy Koran in more than ninety different places. They also occupy prominent places in the narrations of the Prophet Muhammad, Peace be upon him, and the many accounts of saints and the pious men and women of the recent past and present. The following pages are an all-too-brief selection of some of the accounts and explanations that have reached us from those three sources.

The Koran says (2:285): "The Messenger believeth in that which hath been revealed unto him from his Lord and so do the believers. Each one believeth in God and His angels and His scriptures and His messengers - We make no distinction between any of His messengers - and they say: We hear, and we obey. Grant us Thy forgiveness, our Lord. Unto Thee is the journeying." God thus orders every person to believe in His angels as an obligation parallel to that of believing in Himself, His Books, and His Messengers.

The Angels of Koran

4:166: "But God Himself testifieth concerning that which He hath revealed unto thee; in His knowledge hath He revealed it; and the Angels also testify. And God is sufficient witness."

God has created a tree in the seventh heaven, on each leaf of which is found one letter of the Holy Koran. Every leaf is a throne carved from a precious stone, and every letter is represented by an angel sitting on that throne. Every angel is the key to a different endless ocean of knowledge, which has no beginning and no end. In every ocean there is a complete universe with its own unique creation. The diver into these oceans is the Archangel Gabriel. It was he who brought to the Prophet the pearls of those oceans when he appeared to him and said three times: "Read!" To this command the Prophet, Peace be upon him, each time answered: "What am I to read?" and Gabriel said:

Read: In the name of thy Lord who createth,
Createth man from a clot.
Read: And thy Lord is the Most Bounteous,
Who teacheth by the pen,
Teacheth man that which he knew not. (96:1-5)

* At that time the Archangel brought to the Prophet two green pieces of cloth from heaven, one of which was decorated with all kinds of precious stones from the earth, and the other with precious elements from heaven.
* He opened the first cloth and told the Prophet to sit on it, and he handed him the second one and told him to open it.
* When he opened it, he received the Holy Koran with words of light, and the secret of that tree in the seventh Heaven was revealed to him.
* Whoever reads the Holy Koran with sincerity and piety is enabled to enter these oceans of knowledge and light.
* The Prophet Muhammad, Peace be upon him, saw a tablet made of rare pearls under the Throne of God and another tablet of emerald.
* Upon the first was the first chapter, Surat al-Fatihat, which consists of seven verses, and upon the second the entire Koran. He asked the Archangel Gabriel, "What is the reward of one who reads the Fatiha?"
* Gabriel said, "The seven doors of hell will be closed for him, and the seven doors of paradise will be opened for him."
* The Prophet said: "What is the reward of the one who recites the whole Koran?" Gabriel replied: "For every letter that he reads God will create an angel that will plant a tree for him in paradise."
* Then the Prophet saw a triple light radiating in three directions, and he asked what it was. Gabriel said: "One of them is the light of the Verse of the Throne (2:255), the second is the Chapter Ya Seen" (Chapter 36), and the third is the Chapter of Oneness (Chapter 112).
* The Prophet asked: "What is the reward of one who reads the Verse of the Throne?" Gabriel replied: "God said: It is My attribute, and whoever recites it shall look at Me on Judgment Day without veil."
* The Prophet then asked: "What is the reward for one who reads the Chapter Ya Seen The answer came from God: "It consists of eighty verses, and whoever reads it will receive eighty mercies: twenty angels will bring him twenty mercies in his life, twenty more angels will bring him twenty mercies at his death, twenty more, twenty mercies in his grave, and twenty others, twenty mercies on Judgment Day."
* The Prophet said: "What is the reward for reading the Chapter of Oneness?" The answer came: "The angels will give him to drink from the four heavenly rivers that are mentioned in the Holy Koran: the river of pure crystal water, the river of milk, the river of wine, and the river of honey."

The Angel That Carries the Whale That Carries Creation

3: 190-191: "Lo! In the creation of the heavens and the earth and in the difference of night and day are signs of His sovereignty for those possessed of understanding, such as remember God, standing, sitting, and reclining, and consider the creation of the heavens and the earth, and say: Our Lord! Thou createdst not this in vain."

* In the beginning God Almighty in His majesty created a huge jewel of green peridot.
* No one but He knows its size.
* Then the Lord trained His gaze onto that jewel and looked on it with a glance of awe.
* Under the influence of God’s gaze, this jewel became liquid and began to undulate.
* It turned into a sea and began to boil and churn and was moved from its depths.
* As it boiled, it began to evaporate, and steam rose up from it.
* This vapor continued to rise, and below it remained a thickening, coagulated, precious mass.
* From the layers of vapor the Lord of the worlds created the seven heavens, and from the remaining primordial mass he created seven layers which He then made into the seven earths.
* The thickness of each of the layers of heaven and earth was five hundred thousand light-years, and as for the space separating each of them from the next only God knows it as He said:

"Have not the unbelievers then beheld
that the heavens and the earth
were a mass all sown up,
and then we unstitched them
and of water fashioned every living thing?
Will they not believe?" (21:30)
* After creating the heavens and the earth, God created a great angel.
* Between his eyebrows there is a distance of five hundred light-years.
* He has two wings decorated with great constellations. They spread their lights like flickering fires over his majestic shoulders.
* One wing represents the East, the other the West. The angel was ordered to bend down his neck.
* With both his arms he lifted up the whole of creation spanning the East and the West.
* He carried this burden until he came to rest right beneath the divine Throne. There he will remain until Judgment Day.
* When he lifted his burden, the angel saw that his feet remained suspended in mid-air. God then ordered the angels to bring from the highest Paradise a stone of red ruby.
* This heavenly rock was placed beneath the angel’s feet so that he found a place for his feet.
* Now this red ruby remained suspended in mid-air.
* So the Lord brought an enormous ox which had seventy-thousand legs from Paradise.
* This ox { Taurus}was so huge that its horns reached from the highest heaven to the foot of the divine Throne.
* It was immeasurably greater in size than the angel carrying the heavens and the earth.
* The angels placed the red ruby stone between the horns of the ox where it was firmly grounded; except there was nothing to support the feet of the ox.
* God, therefore, fashioned a dome-shaped vessel; its breadth was a distance of seven hundred thousand light-years.
* The angels placed this vessel beneath the feet of the ox.
* The ox now stood firm. But the vessel was left hanging in the air. From the perfection of
* His divine power, God created a whale by the name of Lutia.
* He then ordered the angels to place the vessel on its back, and the angels obeyed.
* By the will of God, the vessel stood fast. Now only the whale remained in the air.
* So God created an angel more beautiful than the new crescent moon. Half of it is fire and half snow. Its constant prayer is: "By the Lord who has made this fire cohabit in peace with this snow, may God bless and forgive His human beings."
* Thus God made the angel that carries the universes stand on top of the red ruby, placed on top of the ox that rested on the dome-shaped vessel that sat on the whale Lutia who swam in the palm of the angel of opposites like a ring lost in the midst of a great desert.

Angels and the Creation of Adam

2:31-33: "And He taught Adam all the names, then showed them to the angels, saying: Inform Me of the names of these, if ye are truthful. They said: Be glorified! We have no knowledge save what Thou hast taught us. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Knower, the Wise. He said: O Adam! Inform them of their names…"

2:34: "And when We said unto the angels: Prostrate yourselves before Adam, they fell prostrate, all save Iblis. He demurred through pride, and so became a disbeliever."

7:11: "And We created you, then fashioned you, then told the angels: Fall ye prostrate before Adam! And they fell prostrate, all save Iblis, who was not of those who make prostration."

15:28-31: "And remember when thy Lord said unto the angels: Lo! I am creating a mortal out of potter’s clay of black mud altered. So, when I have made him and breathed into him of My spirit, do ye fall down, prostrating yourselves unto him. So the angels fell prostrate, all of them together save Iblis. He refused to be among the prostrate."

17:61: "And when We said unto the angels: Fall down prostrate before Adam and they fell prostrate all save Iblis, he said: Shall I fall prostrate before that which Thou hast created of clay?"

18:50: "And remember when We said unto the angels: Fall prostrate before Adam and they fell prostrate, all save Iblis. He was of the Jinn, so he rebelled against his Lord’s command."

20:116: "And when We said unto the angels: Fall prostrate before Adam, they fell prostrate all save Iblis; he refused."

38:71-73: "When thy Lord said unto the angels: lo! I am about to create a mortal out of mire, and when I have fashioned him and breathed into him of My spirit, then fall down before him prostrate, the angels fell down prostrate, every one."

God taught Adam the names of everything in creation: the inner nature and the outer, qualities and quantities, and the secret of all existence. It is by virtue of this knowledge that He elevated him to a state of purity and perfected him to reach the divine knowledge from which angels derive the nectar of their own knowledge. God thus enabled Adam to teach and inform the angels, although he was created after them.

* These verses point to the essence of the human condition, whereby human beings can reach a station where they command angelic power.
* They teach us that angels can take the form of human beings, and that human beings can purify themselves to the point of carrying angelic attributes.

God has placed the angels at the service of His beloved creation, and caused them to appear to mankind and help them. This is symbolized by their prostration to Adam. It was Adam whom God chose as His viceroy on earth and not the angels. "And had We willed We could have set among you angels to be viceroys in the earth" (43:60). Many stories illustrate this angelic service to humankind in the following pages.

It is related that when Adam approached death he assembled his children and he told them that he desired to taste of the fruit of Paradise again. All his children went in search of such fruit. The angels knew that Adam was going to die. They received his children with heavenly shrouds in their hands and water from the rivers of Paradise for Adam’s final ablution. Adam’s children were surprised. "How did you know that our father was ill?" The angels replied: "What are you looking for?" The children answered that their father was sick and that he desired a fruit of Paradise. "Perhaps that will heal him," they said. The angels told them: "O children of Adam! Paradise was created for you. We are but the caretakers of that place for you. How can the owners ask permission from the caretakers? But if you wish to enter it again, you have to come back to the divine presence and reclaim your angelic reality as before." "How can we do that?" asked the children of Adam. The angels replied: "You have to long earnestly to meet your Lord, and he will teach you the way back to Him." "And then?" asked the children of Adam. The angels said, "Then, you have to enter through the door of death."

Adam died, the angels came down and buried him themselves, showing his children the manner of this ritual and teaching it to them for the first time. After that, the sun and the moon were eclipsed for seven days and seven nights.

Noah’s Angelic Light

23:24: "But the chieftains of his (Noah’s) folk, who disbelieved, said: This is only a mortal like you who would make himself superior to you. Had God willed, He surely could have sent down angels. We heard not of this in the case of our fathers of old."

Noah was born with the light of prophets on his forehead. God created that light before Adam and He caused it to pass from one generation of prophets to the next until the Seal of Prophets, Muhammad.

* After he received the prophecy Noah preached for nine hundred years. The angelic light in him shone forth and even the animals and stones were praising God when they saw him.
* Yet Noah’s people were so stubborn that he succeeded in calling only eighty persons to the true faith, among them three of his sons.
* In the end Noah was fed up and he asked God to be relieved from the task of constantly calling in vain. God accepted Noah’s request and decided to send the Great Flood as a trial for human beings. When the command came for Noah to build the ark, he asked for instructions and God sent him Gabriel to teach him how to build it.
* Gabriel ordered the angels of safety to collect the best timber for a ship to resist the Waters of Wrath.
* The angels brought Noah a pile of wood and timber from the cedar-trees of Lebanon which were later used to build the Temple of Solomon.
* They placed the wood in front him. The pile was so great that from whatever point of Noah’s country one looked at it, that pile always seemed to cover the sky above one’s head. Noah took one splinter of that pile and from it began to build a huge ark.

Never before had a ship been built in that country.

* Noah’s country did not meet the sea or any other great body of water.
* His people scoffed at him, saying: "A ship in the middle of a plain!" and: "How should there be a flood in this country which hasn’t even seen rain in so many years?"
* Gabriel instructed Noah how to piece together the hull of the ship with one hundred and twenty-four thousand planks.
* On each of these planks was inscribed the name of one of the one hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets who were to appear from the beginning of creation to the end of times, starting with Adam.
* God created an angel to safeguard and insure the soundness of each plank even after it had been incorporated into the ship. This was done to show that God protects his creation with his beloved ones among the angels and the prophets.
* God places within creation itself the causes and effects of salvation and the road to Paradise. God saves His beloved servants time and again with the arks of salvation brought by the angels. In times of disasters, plights, wars, famines, and great depressions, angels never fail until today to bring help and relief for those who ask. The following story illustrates this.

Abraham’s Honored Guests

51:24: "Hath the story of Abraham’s honored guests reached thee (O Muhammad)?"

Abraham’s nickname was: "Father of guests" because he was so hospitable. Because of his great hospitality, God always sent him an angel to keep company with him, so that Abraham would not have to sit and eat alone.

* One time God sent Abraham three angels to bring him news of a son, although he and his wife were quite old. It is said that the three angels who visited Abraham are called "honored" because Abraham, the Intimate Friend of God, served them himself.
* It is also said that they are called this because the guest of an honorable person is himself honorable.
* God blessed the lands of the entire Middle East with great angelic presence and light.
* He caused all the prophets and saints who are mentioned in His revealed Scriptures and traditions to be born there.
* God made them visit and bless the various locations that He caused to bathe in perpetual angelic light, such as Mecca, Madina, Jerusalem, Damascus, Sinai, Yemen, and the mountains of the Lebanon.
* God brought Abraham to Syria and called it: "The land which we have blessed for the benefit of the worlds" (21:72).

Then God ordered the angel of the shade to descend and make Abraham’s stay a comfortable one. The angel of the shade came down and caused a huge garden to sprout instantly in the midst of the fire. A green meadow appeared in the midst of which there was a pleasant pond filled with fish and swans from Paradise. Their scales and feathers shone like silk and reflected all the colors of creation. Servants were attending Abraham, who was found under the cool shade of a willow-tree surrounded with delicious fruits and dainty dishes, and the angels engaged him in a divine conversation, during which they revealed to him the secrets of their stations and the powers God had endowed them with, giving him everything. At that time those who were outside looking in, began to wish that they, too, would be thrown into that fire with Abraham.

Even his father, who previously disbelieved in him, said: "O Abraham, what a wonderful Lord your Lord is!" And his mother actually went into the fire escorted by the angels, hugged Abraham and came back out without being harmed. No-one else could approach it without feeling an intense scorching heat.

The fire burnt uncontrollably for forty days. But Abraham’s garden only increased in verdure and kept expanding with the constant visitations and blessings of the angels. At that time, Abraham’s fire was the most blessed spot on the entire surface of the earth, as God looked upon it with the highest favor. He ordered all the angels of creation to pay at least one visit to His Friend Abraham.

Jonah’s Angelic Whale

37:139-144: "And lo! Jonah verily was of those sent to warn when he fled unto the laden ship, and then drew lots and was of those rejected; and the whale swallowed him while he was blameworthy; and had he not been one of those who glorify God he would have tarried in its belly till the day when they are raised."

* God sent Jonah to the people of Nineveh in Iraq.
* He called them to God’s message but they refused to listen to him.
* He was calling them night and day to no avail. Instead they harmed him and cursed him at every turn. This lasted for a long time.
* Jonah was unable to bear this situation any longer. He began to threaten them: "I am going to ask my Lord to send you a severe punishment which has never been seen before; to destroy your cities and burn your gardens; to make you barren and end your line." He then left them.
* Slowly, his people began to feel the approach of punishment in their daily life. They began to realize that they had made a big mistake.
* God is the Most Merciful; for at every moment in this world he will show His greatness and cause people to observe Him through many signs. He will do this by sending angels in order to direct the sincere, and, indeed, anyone who asks for guidance, to the light of happiness in life.
* God sent the people of Jonah the angels of Mercy and the angels of Safety in order to inspire their hearts to do good, and guide them to safety through the destruction that was descending on their heads.
* Abraham was protected from Nimrod’s fire by the intervention of the angel of snow and the angel of peace. In the immense heat of this great fire where he had been thrown, surrounded by great destruction from above, from below, and from every side, Abraham was saved and protected. This was a message from God to tell His people: "I can save whomever I wish from any harm, whenever I like, no matter how bad their situation is."
* Jonah was angrily moving away from his people. They regretted what they had done to their prophet. Men, women, children, old people, and even the animals, both tame and wild, were heard and seen crying out, each in his own particular language. It was a tremendous event, and everyone asked for mercy and for the angels’ intercession.

God Most Merciful, Most Powerful, and Most Beneficent took away the destruction and saved them through his angels from this great havoc. Meantime, Jonah boarded a ship and took to sea. A big storm broke, and the ship was being torn apart and about to sink. The crew decided to draw lots and throw out one passenger as an expiation for the sin which was bringing death upon their heads. When they drew Jonah’s lot, they loathed to throw him because he was the prophet, so they drew lots again. Every time, however, his lot kept coming out.

In the end Jonah threw himself over board, and a great green whale came from the bottom of the ocean and swallowed him.

* An angel appeared before the whale and instructed her not to crush Jonah but to keep him safe in her stomach.
* At that moment Jonah spoke to the angel and asked for his advice, saying: "Give me the glad tidings from your Lord.
* How did God teach you the knowledge of the Unseen?"
* "Because I don’t commit sin," said the angel.
* Jonah said: "Advise me." The angel replied: "Be patient and not full of anger, for you are full of anger against your nation right now.
* Be a person who gives benefit, not harm — for you were praying your Lord to destroy your people for harming you.
* Don’t be happy with your pride and arrogance.
* Don’t humiliate your nation with their sins, because you also have mistakes."

Inside the stomach of the green whale, Jonah went into prostration and said: "O God, I prostrated for you in a place where no-one before has prostrated.

* O God, you have drowned me in the oceans of hope, and
* caused me to forget the day of my death.
* O Lord, you are the possessor of my heart and of my secret.
* I am the drowned one, so catch me by the hand and save me.
* Relieve me with Your perfection and inspire me with Your love!
* Let the angels of mercy reach down to me and pull me,
* O You who accept the prayers of the needy in the darkness of punishment.
* O the unveiler and remover of difficulties and harm,
* here I am coming to You and adoring You. Do not keep me from Your presence. Forgive me."

God ordered the angel to move the whale through the farthest oceans of the world and take her to the saltiest, or most concentrated and deepest depths of the seas.

* There Jonah began to hear the praising of all whales, all fish, all corals and all creatures of the depths. Nothing remained except they praised God and lauded Him, and Jonah was praising Him also.
* [God created a saint whom he endowed with such great powers of praising and remembering that he did not need to eat or sleep.
* Instead, he spent all his time praying to God, chanting his praise, and making intercession for other human beings.
* God placed him in a room at the bottom of the ocean.
* There he perpetuated God’s praise unhindered for hundred of years.
* When that saint died the angels brought him before God Who asked him: "O my beloved servant, shall I reward you according to your deeds or according to My forgiveness?"
* He replied: "O my Lord, according to my deeds, since you have granted that they consist solely in Your praise."
* The angels placed the saint’s deeds on one side of the scale and on the other side they placed God’s generosity to that saint.
* God’s generosity weighed heavier, and the saint fell prostrate and speechless, begging for God’s forgiveness.]

The angel inspired Jonah to say: "O God, Most Exalted, no-one can thank You nor worship You as You deserve to be thanked and worshipped. You know the secrets and the deepest knowledge, You unveil everything hidden from Your servants, You know every slight matter in this world and the next, and accept the prayer from every creation, forgive me and accept me in Your presence as Your humble servant."

God revealed to Jonah the following:
"And mention the Lord of the Whale Dhul-Nun, when he went off in anger and deemed that We had no power over him, but he cried out in the darkness, saying: There is no God save Thee. Be Thou glorified! Lo! I have been a wrongdoer. Then We heard his prayer and saved him from the anguish. Thus We save believers" (21:87-88).

Then God ordered the whale to throw Jonah out onto the sea-shore, and ordered the angel to tell Jonah: "This is God’s mercy. He can send it on anyone He likes, even in the midst of the greatest destruction and the surest death, far from any help." Thus did God save Jonah, and the following story illustrates how God saves His people from the grip of destruction even against the greatest odds.

The Angels of the Torah

2:248: "And their Prophet said unto them: Lo! the token of his kingdom is that there shall come unto you the ark wherein is peace of reassurance from your Lord, and a remnant of that which the house of Moses and the house of Aaron left behind, the angels bearing it. Lo! herein shall be a token for you if in truth ye are believers."

This verse shows the miraculous power of angels and their superlative ability to act upon the physical realm.

* They carried the Ark of the Covenant in front of Saul’s army and the relics which the family of Moses and Aaron left behind.
* Angels were carrying the Ark of the Covenant because it was very important for humanity.
* It contained one of the heavenly Books, the Torah, in its original form. When God ordered Moses to write the Torah, He said: "O Moses! you have to write it on tablets of gold."
* When Moses asked where he would find such a metal, God sent him the Archangel Gabriel and ninety-nine other angels.
* Each one represented an attribute of God and they taught Moses one hundred and twenty-four thousand words.
* With every word Moses was elevated to a higher level.
* At every level Moses saw light coming to him from the Divine Presence and dressing him, until he reached a state of purity similar to the transparency of crystal water.
* This caused every on-looker at Moses to see nothing but light.
* At that moment, Gabriel ordered the ninety-nine angels to adorn him with the attributes and powers that each was carrying.
* Moses wore a veil to cover the intense light which emanated from him and caused others to faint if they looked at him.
* Then Gabriel poured into Moses’ heart the heavenly knowledge meant to be consigned in the tablets.
* He taught him the chemistry of gold.
* Moses in turn taught his sister one-third of this chemistry,
* Joshua another third, and Saul the last third.
* Then he wrote the Torah on the gold he manufactured. All the while the angels stood by him and taught him how to write and adorn that heavenly book.
* Then God created a four-winged angel and ordered him to keep company with Moses and be the guardian of the Ark.

Mary’s Virgin Angels

3:42: "And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! God hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above all the women of creation."

* The "Virgin Angels" were created from the Word of God, carrying His Light and appearing to the Virgin of virgins, Mary.
* They informed her that she had been chosen to carry a great message for humanity.
* They were her guardian angels.
* They were wearing crowns of pearls and rubies on their head.
* The Virgin Mary’s eyes were drawn to these pearls and emeralds without her will.
* This enabled her to see that this world, with all its magnitude, disappeared into one of these jewels as a ring disappears in an ocean.
* This vision elevated her to a state where she reached a knowledge which dwarfed all the knowledges of this world, enabling her to carry in her womb the secret of Jesus, which is a Word from God.
* God has prepared and guarded Mary through these two messengers for her to carry the light which the Archangel Gabriel would bestow upon her at a later time.
* She was chosen among all the women of the world for her sincerity and piety and to carry a baby without the agency of a man.
* She was asking God from her first day in existence to be a virgin in body and a virgin in soul.

The Four Archangels in Charge of Earth

42:5: "Almost might the heavens above be rent asunder while the angels hymn the praise of their Lord and ask forgiveness for those on the earth. Lo! God is the Forgiver, the Merciful."

53:26: "And how many angels are in the heavens whose intercession availeth not save after God giveth leave to whom He chooseth and accepteth!"

83:20-21: "A written record, attested by those who are brought near unto their Lord."

* There are four angels and their innumerable retinues in charge of this world.
* The first is Gabriel and his armies. He is in charge of soldier-angels and revelation. Gabriel insures victory and is responsible for the extinction of nations: human, animal, vegetal, or others, when God wills it.
* The second is Michael and his armies, in charge of rain and vegetation. He conveys sustenance to nurture mankind.
* The third is `Azra’il the angel of death and his assistants. They are in charge of seizing the souls of those who die.
* The fourth is Israfil and his assistants, in charge of the Hour of the Day of Judgment. When the earth has passed away God will order these angels to bring forth their scrolls and they will bring them. Then God will order them to open the Book of Life. They will then find that their scrolls are the same as it.

Gabriel, the Servant

66:4: "And if ye aid one another against him (Muhammad), then lo! God, even He, is his protecting Friend, and Gabriel and the righteous among the believers; and furthermore the angels are his helpers."

2:98: "Who is an enemy to God, and His angels, and His Messengers, and Gabriel, and Michael! Then, lo! God Himself is an enemy to the disbelievers."
The Soldier-Angels

3:124-125: "And when thou (Muhammad) didst say unto the believers: Is it not sufficient for you that your Lord should support you with three thousand angels sent down to your help? Nay, but if ye persevere, and keep from evil, and the enemy attack you suddenly, your Lord will help you with five thousand angels sweeping on."

9:40: "Then God caused His piece of reassurance to descend upon him (the Prophet) and supported him with hosts ye cannot see."

37:173: "And that Our host, they verily would be the victors."

48: 4,7: "To God belong the soldiers of heaven and earth, and God is Knower, Wise."

67:20: "Who is he that will be an army unto you to help you instead of the Beneficent?"

74:31: "And none but your Lord knows the number of His soldiers."

* These verses have two explanations, external and internal. In support of the righteous people who followed the Prophet Muhammad, Peace be upon him, God has ordered three thousand of the angels created from the light of the attribute "al-Jalil," "The Majestic," to descend and protect the believers against terror and devils.
* These angels were "sent down," in other words, came down from the Seventh Heaven which is the highest heaven. The second verse shows that God has sent the angels carrying signs of special significance which were visible to the believers.
* These signs were crowns of gold on their head, which represent the richest and most precious state, as these angels came from the most precious state of perfection in the first heaven.
* Through the light of their crowns these angels were able to strike dead whomever came in front of them. At the occurrence of that event in the battle of Badr, believers were given the power to see those angels and to believe in their support by direct sight.

The internal meaning of these verses, which very few believers experience, is based on the fact that in the Holy Koran God has ninety-nine names and attributes, whereas in the Bible He has nine hundred and one, and in the Torah, two thousand.

* In the first of these two verses God mentions that these angels have been sent down from the highest heaven which is in the highest state of perfection near the divine presence.
* Each angel was carrying one attribute of the three thousand attributes that exist in the three Holy Books.
* This means that holy support came from all three heavenly books and was given to the believers and their Prophet Muhammad, Peace be upon him.
* The symbol here is that of the unity of religion and the oneness of faith. It enabled those believers to understand that Islam accepted Jesus and Moses and the Books that they brought.
* The second verse defines a firm reality that egoistic devils cannot reach you as long as you are aware of God’s presence in your heart.
* This presence elevates you to a state of perfection comprising five different levels. Each level consists of one thousand different layers or states, and each layer is represented by one of the five thousand angels mentioned.
* When you ascend from one level to another, you will be dressed with the power of the angel of that level.
* Each level increases your heart’s power twofold so as to embrace all the power and knowledge of that level.
* This increased light provides the key to the next level, and so forth from the first to the last of the five thousand levels.
* At that time, you will be a light from God’s Light and a deputy among His angels on earth, shining like a sun on a bright day.

The Angels of the Throne

39:75: "And thou (O Muhammad) seest the angels thronging round the Throne, hymning the praises of their Lord. And they are judged aright. And it is said: Praise be to God, the Lord of the Worlds!"

69:17: "And the angels will be on the sides thereof, and eight will uphold the throne of their Lord that day, above them."

* God has created the divine Throne with light from His light.
* The greatness of the Throne is such that, besides it, all the seven heavens and the seven earths are like a tiny mustard-seed in the midst of a great desert.
* When God wanted to show the greatness of the Throne, He created an angel by the name of Harquaeel.
* This angel has eighteen thousand wings. Delighting in his many wings, this angel was taken by the desire to appraise the size of the divine Throne.
* God said to that angel: "O Harquaeel, I know that you have an ambition to see the greatness of My divine Throne, so I am granting you another eighteen thousand wings, and allowing you to fly with all your might roundabout My divine Throne.

Harquaeel deployed his wings and flew for three thousand light-years until he grew tired, even though angels do not get tired, and had to rest. Again, the divine command came, saying to him: "Harquaeel, fly on!" A second time, the angel deployed his wings and flew on for another three thousand light-years. Again, he grew tired and had to stop. A third time the command came to him to fly more. And a third time he deployed his wings. He flew on another three thousand light-years until he stopped again, dazed by the great distance which not even his wings allowed him to encompass.

Harquaeel spoke to His Lord:

- "O my Lord and Creator, tell me how many times now I have circled Your Throne?" The Lord of heavens and earth and all creation answered: "O Harquaeel! you have been flying for nine thousand light-years, but you have not reached even one pillar of the base of the Throne!" Harquaeel felt shame and repented of his desire to measure the greatness of his Lord’s creation and to know the extent of His secrets. God then spoke to him and said: "O Harquaeel! if I had ordered you to fly incessantly up until the Day of resurrection, you would still not be able to reach the knowledge of the first pillar of the divine Throne. No-one can know the unknowable except by My favor and My grant."

God has created eight angels to carry the divine Throne. These angels are immensely powerful and awesome.

* Each has a sevenfold aspect: one face in front, one face in back, one face on the right, one face on the left, one face facing up, one face facing down, and one face at the centerpoint or heart connecting all six faces.
* This face is the most radiant and powerful. It is the receptacle and source of angelic energy.
* These seven faces correspond to the seven heavens and the seven earths.
* In the court of the Almighty, these angels have been granted immense honor.
* They are from among the very first angels to be created.
* The first of the eight angels has a human form
o and is constantly praying on behalf of the human race, saying:
o "O Lord! give ample provision to mankind, and look upon them with kindness and favor."
* The second angel is shaped like a lion, and his prayer is: "O Lord! give their provision to each animal from among the beasts of prey."
* The third angel is shaped like an ox and he intercedes on behalf of domestic animals and the pasturing beasts. He prays that their provision never be lacking and that they might be at ease.
* The fourth angel has the form of an eagle and he prays for the benefit of the birds and all winged creatures.
* The fifth angel is shaped like the sun and his light shines upon the planet earth.
o He prays for the benefit of the human race, animals, and nature, so that they may enjoy the energy that he is sending.
* The sixth angel is shaped like a tree whose leaves represent everything which God has created. He prays for all these leaves that they flourish by receiving the nectar of God’s praise.
* The seventh angel has the shape of a constellation. He is the source and the center of all the others. He turns to God and receives His light.

God placed the greatness of the divine Throne on the shoulders of these angels.

* Their heads are underneath the Throne and their feet reach below the seven earths.
* Although angels never tire, the burden of the Throne of the Almighty became too heavy for them.
* They were too weak to bear it. God then inspired them to praise Him in a certain way: "Glory to You, our Lord, and utmost praise! May Your Name be blessed, and Your Might, and Your Power! There is no god other than You." Then the Throne grew light on their shoulders.
* God has commanded the entire host of angels in the heavens to come forward daily and give their praise to the Throne-bearers.
* They perform their task of praise in two shifts: one group salutes them in the morning, the other in the evening.
* God has ordered them to ask forgiveness on behalf of mankind. Their tears are like rivers. From every drop God creates still more angels to praise Him and to ask forgiveness for human beings until the Day of Judgment.

The angels of the Throne always bow their heads. They cannot raise up their eyes lest the light that comes from the Throne annihilate them. When the angel Harqaeel saw the greatness of the Throne and of its carriers, he recited:

Can any sustain the Almighty?
A servant may carry body and soul.
But to carry God’s Throne –
Who can grasp its Reality,
Its vastness? What eye sees the whole?
On no other way does eye see and word comprehend
Except when God says:
"Above His Throne exists Mercy without end."
Eight are its pillars,
Known by non but their Lord.
Muhammad stands first in order by right,
Then Ridwan, Malik, Adam columned and bright
Stand arrayed in rank by his side.
Over Gabriel, Michael, and Israfil
Does Abraham preside:
Eight veiled in darkness
Envision the sight:
How the pillars stand hid
In the might of their height.

Angels and Material Energy

25:7: "Why bringest thou not angels unto us, if thou art of the truthful?"

15:7-8: "Why bringest thou not angels unto us, if thou art of the truthful? We send not down the angels save with the Fact, and in that case the disbelievers would not be tolerated."

17:92: "(We will not put faith in thee till) Thou cause the heaven to fall upon us piecemeal, as thou hast pretended, or bring God and the angels as a warrant."

25:21-22: "And those who look not for a meeting with Us say: Why are angels not sent down unto us and why do we not see our Lord? Assuredly they think too highly of themselves and are scornful with great pride. On the day when they behold the angels, on that day there will be no good tidings for the guilty; and they will cry: A forbidding ban!"

* The unbelievers refuse to believe in God, His angels, and His revelations. They only believe in material things.
* To them, belief in what one sees and the material is more practical.
* Such practical-minded people are blind to the reality for which God has given children, prophets, saints, and believers eyes and power to see.
* To those the power is given to feel and to see the angelic beings that reside among us and to visualize these spiritual things.
* When we see such matters with believing eyes, we become receivers clearly catching the images sent by the spiritual emissaries.
* We visualize them as real, not false, pictures in our daily lives.

Energy is a form of angelic power.

Human beings have been granted the permission to use it. As we can develop the intruments to use these energies with greater sophistication, we can achieve more and more visible powers in the material world.

* The energy that is used to light a lamp, convey sound to a loudspeaker, see images on a television, run a car, launch a satellite, keep us warm in winter and cool in summer, is all the same.
* Only the instruments change.
* Similarly, angelic energy changes from one person to another.
* The source is one and the same.
* When human beings elevate themselves to higher states of purity, they can use this energy to be more powerful and visible to others as servants of God, and they themselves become messengers of this angelic power.

* Angels and their power are not sent down to satisfy the whim or curiosity of unbelievers.
* They are sent to bring inspiration to God’s servants, to execute His decrees, to help people in their daily lives and resolve their problems.
* They raise and protect children through their childhood in order to bring all human beings to the highest level they can reach in the divine presence.
* Angels and their angelic powers do not help tyrants and oppressors dominate this world.
* Instead, they look for soft-hearted people to direct them and instruct them on how to keep this world orderly and pure from spiritual and material pollutions.
* They disconnect their energies from anyone who tries to harm nature, animals, or human beings, or exploit them for selfish purposes.

The angelic source of power rests on three hundred and sixty pillars.

* Each pillar can contain the entire visible universe.
* The distance between one pillar and the next is five hundred thousand of God’s years, and "One day in the sight of God is like one thousand of your years" (32:5).
* God has created for this angelic power one million six hundred thousand heads.
* Each head has one million six hundred thousand faces.
* Each face is bigger than this universe by one million six hundred thousand times, and
* each face has one million six hundred thousand mouths.
* Each mouth contains one million six hundred thousand tongues.
* Each tongue praises God with one million six hundred thousand different languages.
* For each praise, God creates one million six hundred thousand angels.
* All these angels shall say on the Judgment Day:
* "O God! give the reward of our praises to Your believing servants among human beings."

The Angels of Dhikr (Remembrance)

16:49: "And unto God maketh prostration whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth of living creatures, and the angels also, and they are not proud."

41:30: "Lo! Those who say: our Lord is God, and afterwards are upright, the angels descend upon them, saying: fear not nor grieve, but hear good tidings of the paradise which ye are promised."

The Prophet Muhammad showed his companions the unlimited worship of creation by allowing them to hear the praise to God of stones, animals, and trees. All of creation constantly praises God and makes prostration to Him. Human beings are raised to a most honorable level by being listed the angels. That is why the angels shower special blessings on human beings who remember their Creator, and God boasts to his angels about them with the words: "Look at My servants who leave their pleasures despite themselves in order to worship Me."

* The Prophet said that God created special angels who roam the earth to find people engaged in His dhikr (Remembrance).
* When the angels find such a group reciting His praises and chanting His names, they call each other and encompass that group in layer upon layer of angels until they reach the nearest heaven, the distance of which is in God’s knowledge.
* Then God asks His angels: "What are my servants doing?" He asks not because He does not know, but because He wants the answer to be spoken outloud for us to know it.
* The angels answer: "They are praising You and magnifying Your name, and glorifying You, and reciting Your beautiful Attributes!"
* God then asks: "Have My servants seen Me?" When the angels answer: "No," God asks: "What kind of praise would they make if they actually see Me?"
* The angels answer: "O our Lord! If they see you, they are not going to be able to stop worshipping You, praising You, and declaring their love for You."
* God then asks: "What are My servants asking?" The angels reply: "They are asking for Your Paradise."
* God asks: "Did they see it?" The angels reply: "O our Lord! No, they did not see it." "What if they see it?"
* God asks. The angels reply: "If they were to see it they would be even more attracted to it, to the point of forgetting everything else in their lives!"
* God then asks: "What are they running from?" The angels answer: "They are running away from hellfire, which they fear greatly." "Have they seen it?"
* God asks. "O our Lord! No, they have not seen it," the angels reply. "What if they see it, what then?"
* God asks. The angels answer: "If they see your fire, they are going to be more intent on fleeing from it, to the point of forgetting everything else in their lives!" At that time
* God says: "O My angels in heaven and on earth! I am taking you as witnesses of My word that I have forgiven them." One of the angels says: "O my Lord! there was someone among them who does not belong to their group, but came to them for some other need."
* God says: "If one were only to sit in the company of such a group, his sins also will be forgiven, and he has nothing to fear."

God’s speech to the angels and their replies form a heart-melting dialogue that encourages and uplifts the hearts of believers. God is telling us to come together and love and help each other, and forgive each other, all for the sake of the fact that He created us and He loves us. The greatest kind of gathering, however, is the gathering where nothing other than God is mentioned or remembered among those gathered. Even to sit near such a gathering though not participating in it, insures one’s forgiveness in God’s divine presence. God mentions us in an exalted assembly and a gathering far better than ours when we mention him.

The following is what happened to one of the saints during his last sickness. He said: "O God! I felt afraid of you before, but today I am beseeching You: You know that I did not love this world more than You. I did not try to cheat and deceive, to hoard palaces and farms and properties full of fruitful trees, and cattle, and wells. But you know that all the time I tried to help the poor, visit the sick, help those who asked, welcome strangers, and care for your creation. You know that I was running to the angelic gatherings of good people, chanting and singing and calling on You. You know that I was seeking the help of Your angels. O God! You know that my heart longs for You.

O my Lord! that pain of love in me takes away my mind and causes me to faint, and I cannot carry it anymore." At that point he fainted.

* When he woke up he continued: "O God! You know that I have a son who died as a martyr, and he just told me in his angelic form that he had been in a gathering of angels, prophets, truthful saints, martyrs, and righteous people.
* O God! let me be in a similar gathering also." At that time the angels surrounded him and became visible to him, greeting him and smiling upon him and encouraging him with kind words.
* He was seen rising in the air and calling out the names of the angels.
* He began to say: "That is Artiya’il, and that is Hara’il, and this is the angel of shadows, and
* that is the angel of the wind, and
* this is the angel of the unborn, and
* that is the angel of tears, and
* this is the angel of the sea, and
* that is the angel of thunder,
* this is the angel Gabriel, that is the angel Michael, this is Ridwan the angel of Paradise, and that is Malik the angel of hell.
* Here are the angels of sleep and dream, and the angels of provision, and the angels of vegetations, and the spirit-angels, and the cherubim, and the seraphim, and those brought near,
* and the angels of the mountains, and Raphael, and these are the angels of tree-leaves, and the angels of the planet earth, and those of the stars, and the moon, and the sun, and the galaxies…"
* Then the saint began to speak in a language that no-one could understand, until he finally asked the angel of death to take his soul in order to reach his Creator and be placed there as an angelic power. He died with open eyes suffused with light.

The Angels of Dreams and Premonitions

"The good dream is one forthysixth part of prophecy" (Tradition of the Prophet).

God has created specific angels that display visions and sounds to the sleeper. These pictures take a physical shape that can be sensed within the dream of individuals. Every dream fits the dreamer. This is proven by the fact that a sleeper in a place where there are many non-sleepers, sees what no-one else sees at the same time. That is because each person has his or her own individual angel in charge of sending the information contained in their dreams.

Thus dreams may be real, confirming what might happen in the future of that individual, except that he is seeing it happen beforehand. On the other hand, the dream may refer to a specific item of knowledge, phenomenal or spiritual, concerning the dreamer in his daily life. In either case it may be good tidings or a warning.

Abu Bakr Bin Furq was writing on the subject of dreams that warn us about a future event and their relation to the angelic realm. He fell asleep one Tuesday night in the year 1165. He saw an angel approach him clad in a beautiful, subtle body of light. The angel said to him: "God has created us and He has created you. It is He Who causes you to live and to die; He Who resurrects you and brings you to Paradise; He Who connects you with your soul after death. Everything that we receive in heaven is from him, and everything that you receive on earth is from Him." The angel disappeared and the sleeper woke up. He wrote: "I knew at once that the angel had provided me with all the knowledge I needed to complete my work. When I finished writing, my book on angels and dreams numbered six hundred pages."

The Angels of Tree-Leaves

6:59: "Not a leaf falleth but He knoweth it, not a grain amid the darkness of the earth, naught of wet or dry but it is noted in a clear record."

* God created from among the angels a group other than the recording angels. They are in charge of every seed in the earth and every leaf that falls to the ground, and everything in nature, both wet and dry, green and dead.
* They also oversee the events of human and other beings that enter into the realm of uninhabited nature.
* If a human being is somewhere without help, he should say: "O invisible servants of God, support me with your help! And may God’s mercy be with you."{3x madad yaa rijaal-Allah a`eenoona bi-`awnillaah wa kun `awnan lanaa billaah `asa nahda bi-fadlillaah.} Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: "I went on pilgrimage five times, and on three of these five times I was on foot. Once I lost my way in the desert, so I kept repeating: ‘O servants of God, guide me to the right way!’ and I found my way not long after that." If one utters this prayer sincerely, the angels will guide him and protect him from the harms of travel and the hostility of rebel spirits.

The angels of nature fall under the authority of the Archangel Michael, and they have under them angelic legions and hosts constantly asking for forgiveness on behalf of human beings.

* Their intercession is according to the infinite numbers of the species and genera of nature they oversee. They ask intercession from the Lord and Creator of everything great and small.
* Even tree-leaves cause forgiveness of human beings, and the Lord of creation blesses human beings through them.

A famous saint had purified himself to the extent that he could hear the intercession of the angels of tree-leaves and of all nature, and he began to recite with them:

Praise be to the God of creation,
The Lord of everything,
Who created before the sky was hoisted
and the earth flattened,
Before the mountains were erected
and the springs made to burst forth,
Before the oceans were contained and the rivers tamed,
Before the sun was set alight and the moon and the stars,
Who wrote in the Book of His knowledge the name
Of every single rain-drop, of every leaf and seed,
Who owns whatever descends from the sky
And ascends from the earth,
And whatever grows under it,
And has entrusted it to His servants,
The loyal, unwavering, tireless angels.

Israfil, Archangel of the Trumpet-blast

21:103: "The Supreme Horror will not grieve them, and the angels will welcome them, saying: This is your Day which ye were promised."

25:25: "A day when the heavens with the clouds will be rent asunder and the angels will be sent down, a great descent."

47:27: "Then how will it be with them when the angels gather them, smiting their faces and their backs!"

* After God created the Throne He created the Trumpet (sur) and hung it on the Throne.
* Then He said: "Be!" and the angel Israfil was.
* He ordered him to take up the Trumpet which is like a white pearl and transparent like glass.
* He made holes in the Trumpet according to the number of every spirit and angel created in creation without duplication.
* In the middle of the Trumpet there is an opening bigger than the sky and the earth put together.
* Israfil is able to stop that opening from top to bottom by placing his mouth over it.
* The length of this Trumpet is seventy thousand light-years and
* its body is divided into seven trunks.

God said to Israfil: "I order you to blow this Trumpet when I shall tell you."

* Israfil stands at the base of the Throne and awaits God’s order.
* He is so near to God that between him and his Lord there are only seven veils of light.
* One of his wings is in the East, another in the West, one encompasses the seven earths, and the fourth wing is on his head to protect his eyes from the light of God.

One day the Prophet was sitting with Gabriel, and the sky opened. Gabriel humbled himself and appeared to fall to the ground as if prostrating, and an immense angel dressed in white appeared before the Prophet and said: "O Muhammad! God sends you greetings and salutations and gives you the choice between being an angel-prophet or a servant-prophet." The Prophet answered: "The happiest time of my life is when my Lord calls me: ‘O My servant!’ O servant of God! I choose to be a servant-prophet." And Gabriel revealed: "God chooseth from the angels messengers, and also from mankind. Lo! God is Hearer, Seer" (22:75).

* Then the angel disappeared. The Prophet asked Gabriel: "Who was that angel?"
* Gabriel said: "That was Israfil. Since the day God created him, he has not raised his eyes from the ground for fear of his Lord.
* Between him and God there are seven veils of light and if he were to pass only one of them he would be annihilated.
* The Preserved Tablet whereupon the destinies of mankind are written lies before him.
* Whenever God allows for something to exist in heaven or on earth that Tablet is raised up and he reads it.
* If a task falls within the sphere of the angel of death, He orders him to perform it.
* If in my sphere He orders me to do it, and
* If in Michael’s sphere He orders him in the same manner.
* I did not think that Israfil would come down to earth before the Day of Judgment and that is why I was afraid!"

On the Day of Judgment God will order Israfil to blow that Trumpet.

* Upon the first sounding of the Trumpet all bad things are lifted and taken away from the earth.
* Wrongdoings and all that is related to it will disappear.
* The heavenly books will shine in every place.
* Angels will appear and reveal the places where they have been kept in their pristine state.
* The memory of heavenly teachings will become fresh again in people’s minds. All manner of good character, dignity, honor, mercy, and blessings will be brought over all the earth and become the norm.
* Angels will feel welcome to walk upon the earth for the first time.
* No-one will have power to do any harm in the world.
* Belief in God and knowledge of spiritual things will become the daily conversation of everyone young and old.
*

Angelic light will increase upon the earth to such a degree that everything sad will become happy, everything bad will become good, everything poor will become rich, and everything ugly will become beautiful.

Upon the second sounding of the trumpet,

* all beings in the heavens and on earth will enter a state of perplexity and become afraid.
* They will fall down on their faces and faint believing the Day of Judgment has dawned upon them. This is described in the Koran, 39:68: "And the trumpet is blown , and all who are in the heavens and on the earth swoon away, save him whom God willeth.
* Then it is blown a second time, and behold them standing waiting!" The sound of that trumpet will be so awesome and terrifying that all beings will lose consciousness. The earth will begin to roll and heave, the stars will fall from the heavens, the light will disappear, the sun and the moon will lose their light, and all will be plunged into abysmal darkness.
* The mountains will jump from their places and turn to dust, and rise as clouds over the earth.
* The water of the oceans will dry up.
* Just as wind carries away chaff, so creation will be blown away by those cataclysmal storms.

The good people will be covered with garments of light and mercy which the angels will bring down in waves.

* The angels will smite all wrongdoings and shameful actions and they will disappear like dust that must be removed from furnishings in a huge palace.
* They will bring light and smile on those who believed in them like parents smile on their children, as reassurance on that day. For on Judgment Day there is no-one who will not need the support of reassurance.

Upon the third sounding of the Trumpet

* God will dress and adorn all human beings with angelic power and send them into the throng of His servants. There they will inhabit that divine indescribable light that enables them to reach the everlasting life of Paradise.

The Angels Who Bring Peace in the Last Days

2:210: "Will they wait until God comes to them in canopies of clouds, with angels in His train and the question is thus settled?"

* In the last days, evil will be eradicated from the surface of the earth. Peace will be shining everywhere. It is related that at the end of times Jesus will reappear and descend upon the White Minaret at Damascus, both his hands resting upon the shoulders of two angels.
* He will be wearing two garments lightly dyes with saffron.
* He will be welcomes by a descendant of the prophet Muhammad who will be waiting for him with forty thousand angels, together with the believers who will be waiting for a divine rescue.
* They will pray together and ask God to open for them a support to destroy tyranny and oppression, and to spread peace and love and happiness.
* God sent the angel Gabriel who related the message to Jesus, son of Mary, and to Mehdi, the grandson of the Prophet (s).
* The message will be: "God gave you the permission to use divine light for uplifting all humanity towards heaven and overcoming evil and oppression.
* They will then meet the Anti-Christ and his armies at the Lat gate near Jerusalem.
* A series of great battles will ensue at the end of which Jesus will kill the Anti-Christ, who is the enemy of good.
* God will then make Jesus the son of Mary, and Mehdi the descendant of the Prophet, the rulers of the world in the peace that follows the Great War at the end of times.
* Jesus will marry at that time, raise children, die, and be buried in Madina near the Prophet Muhammad, in the space left vacant for him there. Peace be upon them and upon the angels!

"Do not think that I have forgotten you, O angels!
Verily, even though the gulf is great between us,
I still love you, and my letters to you will never stop.
My love for you will never change.
My emotions are like a spring falling into your oceans.
I have left the distractions of my self to turn to you.
Your world has taken over mine, and shines over it.
I shall praise our Lord with your words, not mine,
With your sincerity, not mine,
With your fragrance and light, not mine.
O God, keep the radiance of Your angels
Ever shining on me!"

Michael, Elder Archangel

13:13: "The thunder hymneth His praise and so do the angels for awe of Him. He launcheth the thunder-bolts and smiteth with them whom He will while they dispute in doubt concerning God, and He is mighty in wrath."

* God has created the Archangel Michael and put him in charge of nature, rain, snow, thunder, lightning, wind, and clouds.
* God has appointed a complete creation of angels to assist him and placed them under his command. These angels are countless and no-one other than God knows their number.
* God has given Michael power to see the entire span of the created universes at once, with no interference of other universes.
* He knows at all times where he has to send rain, wind, snow, and clouds without effort on his part.
* The angels who assist him range in size from the hugest size imaginable to man to that of the smallest species living on this earth.
* They fill the entire atmosphere of every star and planet in every universe. Their praise to God can be heard by the other angels, by prophets, by saints, and by young children.

Michael is the angel of mercy which is another name for rain in Arabic.

* He is created from the light of God’s attribute al-Rahman, "the Merciful."
* He was never seen smiling after hell was created. He was created before Gabriel.

Once upon a time, Gabriel and Michael visited the Prophet Muhammad, Peace be upon him. The latter had a toothstick in hand which he immediately handed to Gabriel, the angel who constantly brought him Revelation. Gabriel said: "O Muhammad! give it to the elder angel."

* The Prophet gave it to Michael.
* The Prophet said: "God gave me two celestial assistants to help me deliver my Message: Gabriel and Michael." He used always to send for Gabriel and Michael concerning matters important to human beings.

The caller to prayer (muezzin) in the heavens is Gabriel and the prayer-leader (imam) is Michael.

* God created a house for Himself in Paradise (al-Bayt al-Ma`mur) to which the angels make pilgrimage every day five times.
* There, five prayer-services are held and every service is heralded by Gabriel and led by Michael.
* The angels all come with their lights and ornaments, their jewels and fragrances, chanting and praising God with their heavenly music.
* Some people on earth, especially children, are able to hear their voices. This sound gives them indescribable pleasure.
* Every angel chants and praises in a different language without clash or disharmony. All are pleading to God for mercy for human beings and asking Him to elevate the state of people so that they can hear and see these daily ceremonies.
* To reward the angels for their praise, for the sincerity of their intercession, and to show them the great extent of His mercy, God at every moment showers His mercy on human beings.

Until the time of the Prophet Noah the House of God existed on the face of the earth. People came from all over the world to walk ceremoniously around it the way pilgrims walk around the Ka`ba in Mecca today. When God set His face on sending the flood to drown the entire world, He ordered His angels to transport the Heavenly House up into the fourth heaven.

* It stands there until now with the angels walking continually around in solemn state
* . It was transformed into a Palace of Paradise.
* Its only remnant on earth is the Black Stone in the Holy Kaaba: it used to be white like the Palace it came from but has been clouded over blackened by the sins of mankind.
* It has been left on earth for the sake of remembrance. All who kiss it, it is as if they are kissing the right hand of God on earth.

About Angels

2008-09-08T06:40:00.000-07:00

What Are Angels?

The spiritual dimensions of angels have different aspects.

Angels inhabit the seven moving planets, the polestar, and all the fixed stars of every other galaxy.

God created the sun from the angelic light. It allows this world to see everything of the material objects that were previously wrapped in darkness. Without that light of the sun nothing can be seen.

It is clear to us that the inhabitant is more honorable than the house, for the greatness of the house depends on its inhabitant. { What makes Kabbah is Muhammad {S}}
*

These human spirits are an actual part of the angelic spirits.
*

That is why the condition of entry into Paradise for the soul of a dying person is that it be accepted into the angelic realm first, as we have said. That is also why the human spirit is qualified to receive transmission from the angelic powers, as the satellite dish is made to receive transmission from the main station.
*

To the extent that these individuals are connected to the angelic powers, they become undoubtedly more and more important to other human beings on earth. However, human bodies remain a compound of many different elements mixed together. The bodies of angels, on the other hand, are only made of light from the divine presence. It is important to know that this difference never goes away in the material world. That is why the angels prefer to support the spirits of the bodies of prophets. For the prophetic spirits have elevated their bodily receptacles to the point where they acquire all manners of gnosis and spiritual states. These in turn enable them to become beacons of light spreading heavenly gifts and carrying God’s message to His creation. All these relations between angels and prophets, saints and pious people, obtain by God’s will and His permission.

Spiritual people use the angelic power as a path of discovery for different purposes. They use this power in the knowledge that it is special grant from God.

He gives them a sacred and noble trust that has the potential to govern countless bodies other than their own.
*

This ability is defined as " the angelic power in them." These spiritual people are known in Islamic spirituality as abdal: "changed ones."
*

They can move from one place to another in the blink of an eye. They can live at one and the same time in the first and the second place.
*

They can live in many other places as well and yet maintainn the same appearance as their original self. This is called ubiquity.
*

Famous abdal in sufi history are al-Junayd, Abd al-Qadir Jilani, Jalal al-Din Rumi, Muhyiddin ibn Arabi, Mansur al-Hallaj.

This is the case in the body that imprisons the spirit: the person who can balance the two poles within will be qualified as a wise one.
*

Further down the road, if that person can progress more in the heavenly direction, he can use his spirit to dominate the body and acquire those powers that cut through the fetters of gravity.
*

This enables him to use the spirit to move the mass of the body, not only his own but those of others as well. For such a spirit, when it connects with its angelic power, will become a form of energy and light.
*

These entities can move mass at higher speeds than the mind can conceive.
*

This is how these pious people known as saints or abdal were known to appear at any critical time and any place that they liked.
*

Thus, they help people and teach them. The ubiquitous appearances of one’s person in many places are like reflected images of the same one body through the mirror of an angelic power.
*

This mirror produces thousands upon thousands of pictures at the same time, except that those pictures are every bit as real as the original which is being reflected. {similar to Facsimile machine}

God will create an angel called al-Natiq, " the Uttering Angel," out of His own dhikr (remembrance) of Himself for every one of these types of realized people.

That angel is instructed to inhabit the heart of the pious servant of God.
*

His duty is to continuously inform that servant of his duties and obligations in each twenty-four hour cycle, besides the known duties of worship.
*

This link of information establishes a further possibility for the saint of reaching other human beings through the power of his heart.
*

Furthermore, God will enable him to hear the minutest cell in his body.
*

The angel speaks to him and explains why God created it, what physical purpose it serves in the body, what can poison it, and what can heal it. Moreover, it will inform him how to heal himself from any disorder of his body, and enable him to heal others through his acquired angelic energy.
*

The saint’s angelic power thus enables him to converse freely with every cell in his body as if he were speaking to another person sitting in the same room. This ability will open for him the understanding that the human body to which is joined an angelic power is greater and even less fathomable than this entire universe.
*

Indeed, each cell is a world unto itself. It is inhabited by all kinds of infinitesimally small spiritual laborers. Their function is to run the life support system of that cell. A factory needs all kinds of instruments and machines, labor and managers to keep it alive and protect it from any kind of error and destruction. In the same way, scientifically speaking, the cell has its own defense system against any invader from outside: that protection is produced by the tiny angelic staff whom God created for that purpose.

At that time the saint will be able to send that gathered angelic light out of his heart in order to reach any human being on this earth and any heavenly being above.
*

The continuous build-up of this angelic power in the saint’s heart allows him to witness heavenly sights and acquire heavenly knowledge.
*

This continues until the day comes when an indescribable light appears in the horizon of his heart.
*

This light expands the heart to an infinitesimal degree. It removes from it all the remaining veils that up to this point prevented it from reaching the realities of the heavenly world.
*

Meanwhile, God orders the angels, each one in his state, duty, and position, to inform that pious individual of three things:
o

the reason of his creation,
o

his position in the divine scheme, and
o

his duty within creation.
o

Every single one of these angels will thereupon adorn that pious person. They will endow him with a kind of gift. At a certain point, he will himself become "dilated" which, in the language of mystics, means that he will be clad in a subtle body of light, the same light that characterizes angelic beings. That body is not visibly transparent to other human beings. Nevertheless, they can feel the light that emanates from the saint’s body and be attracted to him as a magnet attracts other elements.

whereas the parent who hears the child’s accounts sifts them through the grid of the mind and does not consider them factual. "I heard music," "an angel came to me," "people came and disappeared," "they brought me gifts," are frequent utterances of children who blurt out these statements as the event occurs. The child cannot control himself, however, the saint keeps all these events hidden from others.

On the other hand, the individual who reaches the full state of sainthood can understand everything from beginning to end.
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That is what differentiates the ordinary individual from the saint.
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A saint has already acquired the subtle body of light which enables him to see the past, present and future in one brief moment.
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Indeed, he can attain the knowledge of the souls from the moment they stood in the divine presence to the day they came to this world, entered the grave, were resurrected and stood before God again, and entered Paradise.
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This reality is expressed in the following prophetic tradition in which one of the Companions of the Prophet was asked by the latter to give those present a glimpse of his angelic vision:

One of these accomplished saints in more recent times said:

"The angel continued:

"Such honoring of human beings is chiefly represented by their face, and the head is the true center of gravity of human beings.

That is why the Prophet scolded the man who struck another on the face and forbade the striking of the face of human beings, even in battle."

The angel spoke this, then he gave me the angelic greeting of peace and left.

Belief in the Angels

34:40: "And on the day when He will gather them all together, He will say unto the angels: Did these worship you?"

43:53: "Why, then, have armlets of gold not been set upon him, or angels sent along with him?"

It is said that the word "angel"

comes from the Latin "angelus," which is borrowed from the Greek "angelos."
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In Arabic the word is "malak" or "malaak," plural "malaa’ikat."
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The Arabic root verb "alaka," which means "to give a message," confirms the angel’s etymological connection to the function of Messenger of God in the semitic languages.
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The existence of angels is one of the pillars of belief in most religious traditions and that is the case in Islam also. God mentions the angels in the Holy Koran in more than ninety different places. They also occupy prominent places in the narrations of the Prophet Muhammad, Peace be upon him, and the many accounts of saints and the pious men and women of the recent past and present. The following pages are an all-too-brief selection of some of the accounts and explanations that have reached us from those three sources.

4:166: "But God Himself testifieth concerning that which He hath revealed unto thee; in His knowledge hath He revealed it; and the Angels also testify. And God is sufficient witness."

Read: In the name of thy Lord who createth,
Createth man from a clot.
Read: And thy Lord is the Most Bounteous,
Who teacheth by the pen,
Teacheth man that which he knew not. (96:1-5)

*

At that time the Archangel brought to the Prophet two green pieces of cloth from heaven, one of which was decorated with all kinds of precious stones from the earth, and the other with precious elements from heaven.
*

He opened the first cloth and told the Prophet to sit on it, and he handed him the second one and told him to open it.
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When he opened it, he received the Holy Koran with words of light, and the secret of that tree in the seventh Heaven was revealed to him.
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Whoever reads the Holy Koran with sincerity and piety is enabled to enter these oceans of knowledge and light.
*

The Prophet Muhammad, Peace be upon him, saw a tablet made of rare pearls under the Throne of God and another tablet of emerald.
*

Upon the first was the first chapter, Surat al-Fatihat, which consists of seven verses, and upon the second the entire Koran. He asked the Archangel Gabriel, "What is the reward of one who reads the Fatiha?"
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Gabriel said, "The seven doors of hell will be closed for him, and the seven doors of paradise will be opened for him."
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The Prophet said: "What is the reward of the one who recites the whole Koran?" Gabriel replied: "For every letter that he reads God will create an angel that will plant a tree for him in paradise."
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Then the Prophet saw a triple light radiating in three directions, and he asked what it was. Gabriel said: "One of them is the light of the Verse of the Throne (2:255), the second is the Chapter Ya Seen" (Chapter 36), and the third is the Chapter of Oneness (Chapter 112).
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The Prophet asked: "What is the reward of one who reads the Verse of the Throne?" Gabriel replied: "God said: It is My attribute, and whoever recites it shall look at Me on Judgment Day without veil."
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The Prophet then asked: "What is the reward for one who reads the Chapter Ya Seen The answer came from God: "It consists of eighty verses, and whoever reads it will receive eighty mercies: twenty angels will bring him twenty mercies in his life, twenty more angels will bring him twenty mercies at his death, twenty more, twenty mercies in his grave, and twenty others, twenty mercies on Judgment Day."
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The Prophet said: "What is the reward for reading the Chapter of Oneness?" The answer came: "The angels will give him to drink from the four heavenly rivers that are mentioned in the Holy Koran: the river of pure crystal water, the river of milk, the river of wine, and the river of honey."

The Angel That Carries the Whale That Carries Creation

In the beginning God Almighty in His majesty created a huge jewel of green peridot.
*

No one but He knows its size.
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Then the Lord trained His gaze onto that jewel and looked on it with a glance of awe.
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Under the influence of God’s gaze, this jewel became liquid and began to undulate.
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It turned into a sea and began to boil and churn and was moved from its depths.
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As it boiled, it began to evaporate, and steam rose up from it.
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This vapor continued to rise, and below it remained a thickening, coagulated, precious mass.
*

From the layers of vapor the Lord of the worlds created the seven heavens, and from the remaining primordial mass he created seven layers which He then made into the seven earths.
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The thickness of each of the layers of heaven and earth was five hundred thousand light-years, and as for the space separating each of them from the next only God knows it as He said:

"Have not the unbelievers then beheld
that the heavens and the earth
were a mass all sown up,
and then we unstitched them
and of water fashioned every living thing?
Will they not believe?" (21:30)
*

After creating the heavens and the earth, God created a great angel.
*

Between his eyebrows there is a distance of five hundred light-years.
*

He has two wings decorated with great constellations. They spread their lights like flickering fires over his majestic shoulders.
*

One wing represents the East, the other the West. The angel was ordered to bend down his neck.
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With both his arms he lifted up the whole of creation spanning the East and the West.
*

He carried this burden until he came to rest right beneath the divine Throne. There he will remain until Judgment Day.
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When he lifted his burden, the angel saw that his feet remained suspended in mid-air. God then ordered the angels to bring from the highest Paradise a stone of red ruby.
*

This heavenly rock was placed beneath the angel’s feet so that he found a place for his feet.
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Now this red ruby remained suspended in mid-air.
*

So the Lord brought an enormous ox which had seventy-thousand legs from Paradise.
*

This ox { Taurus}was so huge that its horns reached from the highest heaven to the foot of the divine Throne.
*

It was immeasurably greater in size than the angel carrying the heavens and the earth.
*

The angels placed the red ruby stone between the horns of the ox where it was firmly grounded; except there was nothing to support the feet of the ox.
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God, therefore, fashioned a dome-shaped vessel; its breadth was a distance of seven hundred thousand light-years.
*

The angels placed this vessel beneath the feet of the ox.
*

The ox now stood firm. But the vessel was left hanging in the air. From the perfection of
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His divine power, God created a whale by the name of Lutia.
*

He then ordered the angels to place the vessel on its back, and the angels obeyed.
*

By the will of God, the vessel stood fast. Now only the whale remained in the air.
*

So God created an angel more beautiful than the new crescent moon. Half of it is fire and half snow. Its constant prayer is: "By the Lord who has made this fire cohabit in peace with this snow, may God bless and forgive His human beings."
*

Thus God made the angel that carries the universes stand on top of the red ruby, placed on top of the ox that rested on the dome-shaped vessel that sat on the whale Lutia who swam in the palm of the angel of opposites like a ring lost in the midst of a great desert.

Angels and the Creation of Adam

2:34: "And when We said unto the angels: Prostrate yourselves before Adam, they fell prostrate, all save Iblis. He demurred through pride, and so became a disbeliever."

7:11: "And We created you, then fashioned you, then told the angels: Fall ye prostrate before Adam! And they fell prostrate, all save Iblis, who was not of those who make prostration."

17:61: "And when We said unto the angels: Fall down prostrate before Adam and they fell prostrate all save Iblis, he said: Shall I fall prostrate before that which Thou hast created of clay?"

18:50: "And remember when We said unto the angels: Fall prostrate before Adam and they fell prostrate, all save Iblis. He was of the Jinn, so he rebelled against his Lord’s command."

20:116: "And when We said unto the angels: Fall prostrate before Adam, they fell prostrate all save Iblis; he refused."

These verses point to the essence of the human condition, whereby human beings can reach a station where they command angelic power.
*

They teach us that angels can take the form of human beings, and that human beings can purify themselves to the point of carrying angelic attributes.

Noah was born with the light of prophets on his forehead. God created that light before Adam and He caused it to pass from one generation of prophets to the next until the Seal of Prophets, Muhammad.

After he received the prophecy Noah preached for nine hundred years. The angelic light in him shone forth and even the animals and stones were praising God when they saw him.
*

Yet Noah’s people were so stubborn that he succeeded in calling only eighty persons to the true faith, among them three of his sons.
*

In the end Noah was fed up and he asked God to be relieved from the task of constantly calling in vain. God accepted Noah’s request and decided to send the Great Flood as a trial for human beings. When the command came for Noah to build the ark, he asked for instructions and God sent him Gabriel to teach him how to build it.
*

Gabriel ordered the angels of safety to collect the best timber for a ship to resist the Waters of Wrath.
*

The angels brought Noah a pile of wood and timber from the cedar-trees of Lebanon which were later used to build the Temple of Solomon.
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They placed the wood in front him. The pile was so great that from whatever point of Noah’s country one looked at it, that pile always seemed to cover the sky above one’s head. Noah took one splinter of that pile and from it began to build a huge ark.

Never before had a ship been built in that country.

Noah’s country did not meet the sea or any other great body of water.
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His people scoffed at him, saying: "A ship in the middle of a plain!" and: "How should there be a flood in this country which hasn’t even seen rain in so many years?"
*

Gabriel instructed Noah how to piece together the hull of the ship with one hundred and twenty-four thousand planks.
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On each of these planks was inscribed the name of one of the one hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets who were to appear from the beginning of creation to the end of times, starting with Adam.
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God created an angel to safeguard and insure the soundness of each plank even after it had been incorporated into the ship. This was done to show that God protects his creation with his beloved ones among the angels and the prophets.
*

God places within creation itself the causes and effects of salvation and the road to Paradise. God saves His beloved servants time and again with the arks of salvation brought by the angels. In times of disasters, plights, wars, famines, and great depressions, angels never fail until today to bring help and relief for those who ask. The following story illustrates this.

Abraham’s Honored Guests

51:24: "Hath the story of Abraham’s honored guests reached thee (O Muhammad)?"

One time God sent Abraham three angels to bring him news of a son, although he and his wife were quite old. It is said that the three angels who visited Abraham are called "honored" because Abraham, the Intimate Friend of God, served them himself.
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It is also said that they are called this because the guest of an honorable person is himself honorable.
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God blessed the lands of the entire Middle East with great angelic presence and light.
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He caused all the prophets and saints who are mentioned in His revealed Scriptures and traditions to be born there.
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God made them visit and bless the various locations that He caused to bathe in perpetual angelic light, such as Mecca, Madina, Jerusalem, Damascus, Sinai, Yemen, and the mountains of the Lebanon.
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God brought Abraham to Syria and called it: "The land which we have blessed for the benefit of the worlds" (21:72).

God sent Jonah to the people of Nineveh in Iraq.
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He called them to God’s message but they refused to listen to him.
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He was calling them night and day to no avail. Instead they harmed him and cursed him at every turn. This lasted for a long time.
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Jonah was unable to bear this situation any longer. He began to threaten them: "I am going to ask my Lord to send you a severe punishment which has never been seen before; to destroy your cities and burn your gardens; to make you barren and end your line." He then left them.
*

Slowly, his people began to feel the approach of punishment in their daily life. They began to realize that they had made a big mistake.
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God is the Most Merciful; for at every moment in this world he will show His greatness and cause people to observe Him through many signs. He will do this by sending angels in order to direct the sincere, and, indeed, anyone who asks for guidance, to the light of happiness in life.
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God sent the people of Jonah the angels of Mercy and the angels of Safety in order to inspire their hearts to do good, and guide them to safety through the destruction that was descending on their heads.
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Abraham was protected from Nimrod’s fire by the intervention of the angel of snow and the angel of peace. In the immense heat of this great fire where he had been thrown, surrounded by great destruction from above, from below, and from every side, Abraham was saved and protected. This was a message from God to tell His people: "I can save whomever I wish from any harm, whenever I like, no matter how bad their situation is."
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Jonah was angrily moving away from his people. They regretted what they had done to their prophet. Men, women, children, old people, and even the animals, both tame and wild, were heard and seen crying out, each in his own particular language. It was a tremendous event, and everyone asked for mercy and for the angels’ intercession.

In the end Jonah threw himself over board, and a great green whale came from the bottom of the ocean and swallowed him.

An angel appeared before the whale and instructed her not to crush Jonah but to keep him safe in her stomach.
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At that moment Jonah spoke to the angel and asked for his advice, saying: "Give me the glad tidings from your Lord.
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How did God teach you the knowledge of the Unseen?"
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"Because I don’t commit sin," said the angel.
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Jonah said: "Advise me." The angel replied: "Be patient and not full of anger, for you are full of anger against your nation right now.
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Be a person who gives benefit, not harm — for you were praying your Lord to destroy your people for harming you.
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Don’t be happy with your pride and arrogance.
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Don’t humiliate your nation with their sins, because you also have mistakes."

Inside the stomach of the green whale, Jonah went into prostration and said: "O God, I prostrated for you in a place where no-one before has prostrated.

O God, you have drowned me in the oceans of hope, and
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caused me to forget the day of my death.
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O Lord, you are the possessor of my heart and of my secret.
*

I am the drowned one, so catch me by the hand and save me.
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Relieve me with Your perfection and inspire me with Your love!
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Let the angels of mercy reach down to me and pull me,
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O You who accept the prayers of the needy in the darkness of punishment.
*

O the unveiler and remover of difficulties and harm,
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here I am coming to You and adoring You. Do not keep me from Your presence. Forgive me."

God ordered the angel to move the whale through the farthest oceans of the world and take her to the saltiest, or most concentrated and deepest depths of the seas.

There Jonah began to hear the praising of all whales, all fish, all corals and all creatures of the depths. Nothing remained except they praised God and lauded Him, and Jonah was praising Him also.
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[God created a saint whom he endowed with such great powers of praising and remembering that he did not need to eat or sleep.
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Instead, he spent all his time praying to God, chanting his praise, and making intercession for other human beings.
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God placed him in a room at the bottom of the ocean.
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There he perpetuated God’s praise unhindered for hundred of years.
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When that saint died the angels brought him before God Who asked him: "O my beloved servant, shall I reward you according to your deeds or according to My forgiveness?"
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He replied: "O my Lord, according to my deeds, since you have granted that they consist solely in Your praise."
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The angels placed the saint’s deeds on one side of the scale and on the other side they placed God’s generosity to that saint.
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God’s generosity weighed heavier, and the saint fell prostrate and speechless, begging for God’s forgiveness.]

The Angels of the Torah

This verse shows the miraculous power of angels and their superlative ability to act upon the physical realm.

They carried the Ark of the Covenant in front of Saul’s army and the relics which the family of Moses and Aaron left behind.
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Angels were carrying the Ark of the Covenant because it was very important for humanity.
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It contained one of the heavenly Books, the Torah, in its original form. When God ordered Moses to write the Torah, He said: "O Moses! you have to write it on tablets of gold."
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When Moses asked where he would find such a metal, God sent him the Archangel Gabriel and ninety-nine other angels.
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Each one represented an attribute of God and they taught Moses one hundred and twenty-four thousand words.
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With every word Moses was elevated to a higher level.
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At every level Moses saw light coming to him from the Divine Presence and dressing him, until he reached a state of purity similar to the transparency of crystal water.
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This caused every on-looker at Moses to see nothing but light.
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At that moment, Gabriel ordered the ninety-nine angels to adorn him with the attributes and powers that each was carrying.
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Moses wore a veil to cover the intense light which emanated from him and caused others to faint if they looked at him.
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Then Gabriel poured into Moses’ heart the heavenly knowledge meant to be consigned in the tablets.
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He taught him the chemistry of gold.
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Moses in turn taught his sister one-third of this chemistry,
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Joshua another third, and Saul the last third.
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Then he wrote the Torah on the gold he manufactured. All the while the angels stood by him and taught him how to write and adorn that heavenly book.
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Then God created a four-winged angel and ordered him to keep company with Moses and be the guardian of the Ark.

Mary’s Virgin Angels

3:42: "And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! God hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above all the women of creation."

The "Virgin Angels" were created from the Word of God, carrying His Light and appearing to the Virgin of virgins, Mary.
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They informed her that she had been chosen to carry a great message for humanity.
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They were her guardian angels.
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They were wearing crowns of pearls and rubies on their head.
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The Virgin Mary’s eyes were drawn to these pearls and emeralds without her will.
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This enabled her to see that this world, with all its magnitude, disappeared into one of these jewels as a ring disappears in an ocean.
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This vision elevated her to a state where she reached a knowledge which dwarfed all the knowledges of this world, enabling her to carry in her womb the secret of Jesus, which is a Word from God.
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God has prepared and guarded Mary through these two messengers for her to carry the light which the Archangel Gabriel would bestow upon her at a later time.
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She was chosen among all the women of the world for her sincerity and piety and to carry a baby without the agency of a man.
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She was asking God from her first day in existence to be a virgin in body and a virgin in soul.

The Four Archangels in Charge of Earth

42:5: "Almost might the heavens above be rent asunder while the angels hymn the praise of their Lord and ask forgiveness for those on the earth. Lo! God is the Forgiver, the Merciful."

53:26: "And how many angels are in the heavens whose intercession availeth not save after God giveth leave to whom He chooseth and accepteth!"

83:20-21: "A written record, attested by those who are brought near unto their Lord."

There are four angels and their innumerable retinues in charge of this world.
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The first is Gabriel and his armies. He is in charge of soldier-angels and revelation. Gabriel insures victory and is responsible for the extinction of nations: human, animal, vegetal, or others, when God wills it.
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The second is Michael and his armies, in charge of rain and vegetation. He conveys sustenance to nurture mankind.
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The third is `Azra’il the angel of death and his assistants. They are in charge of seizing the souls of those who die.
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The fourth is Israfil and his assistants, in charge of the Hour of the Day of Judgment. When the earth has passed away God will order these angels to bring forth their scrolls and they will bring them. Then God will order them to open the Book of Life. They will then find that their scrolls are the same as it.

Gabriel, the Servant

2:98: "Who is an enemy to God, and His angels, and His Messengers, and Gabriel, and Michael! Then, lo! God Himself is an enemy to the disbelievers."
The Soldier-Angels

9:40: "Then God caused His piece of reassurance to descend upon him (the Prophet) and supported him with hosts ye cannot see."

37:173: "And that Our host, they verily would be the victors."

48: 4,7: "To God belong the soldiers of heaven and earth, and God is Knower, Wise."

67:20: "Who is he that will be an army unto you to help you instead of the Beneficent?"

74:31: "And none but your Lord knows the number of His soldiers."

These verses have two explanations, external and internal. In support of the righteous people who followed the Prophet Muhammad, Peace be upon him, God has ordered three thousand of the angels created from the light of the attribute "al-Jalil," "The Majestic," to descend and protect the believers against terror and devils.
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These angels were "sent down," in other words, came down from the Seventh Heaven which is the highest heaven. The second verse shows that God has sent the angels carrying signs of special significance which were visible to the believers.
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These signs were crowns of gold on their head, which represent the richest and most precious state, as these angels came from the most precious state of perfection in the first heaven.
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Through the light of their crowns these angels were able to strike dead whomever came in front of them. At the occurrence of that event in the battle of Badr, believers were given the power to see those angels and to believe in their support by direct sight.

In the first of these two verses God mentions that these angels have been sent down from the highest heaven which is in the highest state of perfection near the divine presence.
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Each angel was carrying one attribute of the three thousand attributes that exist in the three Holy Books.
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This means that holy support came from all three heavenly books and was given to the believers and their Prophet Muhammad, Peace be upon him.
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The symbol here is that of the unity of religion and the oneness of faith. It enabled those believers to understand that Islam accepted Jesus and Moses and the Books that they brought.
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The second verse defines a firm reality that egoistic devils cannot reach you as long as you are aware of God’s presence in your heart.
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This presence elevates you to a state of perfection comprising five different levels. Each level consists of one thousand different layers or states, and each layer is represented by one of the five thousand angels mentioned.
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When you ascend from one level to another, you will be dressed with the power of the angel of that level.
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Each level increases your heart’s power twofold so as to embrace all the power and knowledge of that level.
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This increased light provides the key to the next level, and so forth from the first to the last of the five thousand levels.
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At that time, you will be a light from God’s Light and a deputy among His angels on earth, shining like a sun on a bright day.

The Angels of the Throne

39:75: "And thou (O Muhammad) seest the angels thronging round the Throne, hymning the praises of their Lord. And they are judged aright. And it is said: Praise be to God, the Lord of the Worlds!"

69:17: "And the angels will be on the sides thereof, and eight will uphold the throne of their Lord that day, above them."

God has created the divine Throne with light from His light.
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The greatness of the Throne is such that, besides it, all the seven heavens and the seven earths are like a tiny mustard-seed in the midst of a great desert.
*

When God wanted to show the greatness of the Throne, He created an angel by the name of Harquaeel.
*

This angel has eighteen thousand wings. Delighting in his many wings, this angel was taken by the desire to appraise the size of the divine Throne.
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God said to that angel: "O Harquaeel, I know that you have an ambition to see the greatness of My divine Throne, so I am granting you another eighteen thousand wings, and allowing you to fly with all your might roundabout My divine Throne.

Harquaeel spoke to His Lord:

God has created eight angels to carry the divine Throne. These angels are immensely powerful and awesome.

Each has a sevenfold aspect: one face in front, one face in back, one face on the right, one face on the left, one face facing up, one face facing down, and one face at the centerpoint or heart connecting all six faces.
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This face is the most radiant and powerful. It is the receptacle and source of angelic energy.
*

These seven faces correspond to the seven heavens and the seven earths.
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In the court of the Almighty, these angels have been granted immense honor.
*

They are from among the very first angels to be created.
*

The first of the eight angels has a human form
o

and is constantly praying on behalf of the human race, saying:
o

"O Lord! give ample provision to mankind, and look upon them with kindness and favor."
*

The second angel is shaped like a lion, and his prayer is: "O Lord! give their provision to each animal from among the beasts of prey."
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The third angel is shaped like an ox and he intercedes on behalf of domestic animals and the pasturing beasts. He prays that their provision never be lacking and that they might be at ease.
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The fourth angel has the form of an eagle and he prays for the benefit of the birds and all winged creatures.
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The fifth angel is shaped like the sun and his light shines upon the planet earth.
o

He prays for the benefit of the human race, animals, and nature, so that they may enjoy the energy that he is sending.
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The sixth angel is shaped like a tree whose leaves represent everything which God has created. He prays for all these leaves that they flourish by receiving the nectar of God’s praise.
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The seventh angel has the shape of a constellation. He is the source and the center of all the others. He turns to God and receives His light.

God placed the greatness of the divine Throne on the shoulders of these angels.

Their heads are underneath the Throne and their feet reach below the seven earths.
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Although angels never tire, the burden of the Throne of the Almighty became too heavy for them.
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They were too weak to bear it. God then inspired them to praise Him in a certain way: "Glory to You, our Lord, and utmost praise! May Your Name be blessed, and Your Might, and Your Power! There is no god other than You." Then the Throne grew light on their shoulders.
*

God has commanded the entire host of angels in the heavens to come forward daily and give their praise to the Throne-bearers.
*

They perform their task of praise in two shifts: one group salutes them in the morning, the other in the evening.
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God has ordered them to ask forgiveness on behalf of mankind. Their tears are like rivers. From every drop God creates still more angels to praise Him and to ask forgiveness for human beings until the Day of Judgment.

Angels and Material Energy

25:7: "Why bringest thou not angels unto us, if thou art of the truthful?"

15:7-8: "Why bringest thou not angels unto us, if thou art of the truthful? We send not down the angels save with the Fact, and in that case the disbelievers would not be tolerated."

17:92: "(We will not put faith in thee till) Thou cause the heaven to fall upon us piecemeal, as thou hast pretended, or bring God and the angels as a warrant."

The unbelievers refuse to believe in God, His angels, and His revelations. They only believe in material things.
*

To them, belief in what one sees and the material is more practical.
*

Such practical-minded people are blind to the reality for which God has given children, prophets, saints, and believers eyes and power to see.
*

To those the power is given to feel and to see the angelic beings that reside among us and to visualize these spiritual things.
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When we see such matters with believing eyes, we become receivers clearly catching the images sent by the spiritual emissaries.
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We visualize them as real, not false, pictures in our daily lives.

Energy is a form of angelic power.

The energy that is used to light a lamp, convey sound to a loudspeaker, see images on a television, run a car, launch a satellite, keep us warm in winter and cool in summer, is all the same.
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Only the instruments change.
*

Similarly, angelic energy changes from one person to another.
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The source is one and the same.
*

When human beings elevate themselves to higher states of purity, they can use this energy to be more powerful and visible to others as servants of God, and they themselves become messengers of this angelic power.

Angels and their power are not sent down to satisfy the whim or curiosity of unbelievers.
*

They are sent to bring inspiration to God’s servants, to execute His decrees, to help people in their daily lives and resolve their problems.
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They raise and protect children through their childhood in order to bring all human beings to the highest level they can reach in the divine presence.
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Angels and their angelic powers do not help tyrants and oppressors dominate this world.
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Instead, they look for soft-hearted people to direct them and instruct them on how to keep this world orderly and pure from spiritual and material pollutions.
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They disconnect their energies from anyone who tries to harm nature, animals, or human beings, or exploit them for selfish purposes.

The angelic source of power rests on three hundred and sixty pillars.

Each pillar can contain the entire visible universe.
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The distance between one pillar and the next is five hundred thousand of God’s years, and "One day in the sight of God is like one thousand of your years" (32:5).
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God has created for this angelic power one million six hundred thousand heads.
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Each head has one million six hundred thousand faces.
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Each face is bigger than this universe by one million six hundred thousand times, and
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each face has one million six hundred thousand mouths.
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Each mouth contains one million six hundred thousand tongues.
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Each tongue praises God with one million six hundred thousand different languages.
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For each praise, God creates one million six hundred thousand angels.
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All these angels shall say on the Judgment Day:
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"O God! give the reward of our praises to Your believing servants among human beings."

The Angels of Dhikr (Remembrance)

16:49: "And unto God maketh prostration whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth of living creatures, and the angels also, and they are not proud."

41:30: "Lo! Those who say: our Lord is God, and afterwards are upright, the angels descend upon them, saying: fear not nor grieve, but hear good tidings of the paradise which ye are promised."

The Prophet said that God created special angels who roam the earth to find people engaged in His dhikr (Remembrance).
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When the angels find such a group reciting His praises and chanting His names, they call each other and encompass that group in layer upon layer of angels until they reach the nearest heaven, the distance of which is in God’s knowledge.
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Then God asks His angels: "What are my servants doing?" He asks not because He does not know, but because He wants the answer to be spoken outloud for us to know it.
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The angels answer: "They are praising You and magnifying Your name, and glorifying You, and reciting Your beautiful Attributes!"
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God then asks: "Have My servants seen Me?" When the angels answer: "No," God asks: "What kind of praise would they make if they actually see Me?"
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The angels answer: "O our Lord! If they see you, they are not going to be able to stop worshipping You, praising You, and declaring their love for You."
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God then asks: "What are My servants asking?" The angels reply: "They are asking for Your Paradise."
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God asks: "Did they see it?" The angels reply: "O our Lord! No, they did not see it." "What if they see it?"
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God asks. The angels reply: "If they were to see it they would be even more attracted to it, to the point of forgetting everything else in their lives!"
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God then asks: "What are they running from?" The angels answer: "They are running away from hellfire, which they fear greatly." "Have they seen it?"
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God asks. "O our Lord! No, they have not seen it," the angels reply. "What if they see it, what then?"
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God asks. The angels answer: "If they see your fire, they are going to be more intent on fleeing from it, to the point of forgetting everything else in their lives!" At that time
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God says: "O My angels in heaven and on earth! I am taking you as witnesses of My word that I have forgiven them." One of the angels says: "O my Lord! there was someone among them who does not belong to their group, but came to them for some other need."
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God says: "If one were only to sit in the company of such a group, his sins also will be forgiven, and he has nothing to fear."

O my Lord! that pain of love in me takes away my mind and causes me to faint, and I cannot carry it anymore." At that point he fainted.

When he woke up he continued: "O God! You know that I have a son who died as a martyr, and he just told me in his angelic form that he had been in a gathering of angels, prophets, truthful saints, martyrs, and righteous people.
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O God! let me be in a similar gathering also." At that time the angels surrounded him and became visible to him, greeting him and smiling upon him and encouraging him with kind words.
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He was seen rising in the air and calling out the names of the angels.
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He began to say: "That is Artiya’il, and that is Hara’il, and this is the angel of shadows, and
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that is the angel of the wind, and
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this is the angel of the unborn, and
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that is the angel of tears, and
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this is the angel of the sea, and
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that is the angel of thunder,
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this is the angel Gabriel, that is the angel Michael, this is Ridwan the angel of Paradise, and that is Malik the angel of hell.
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Here are the angels of sleep and dream, and the angels of provision, and the angels of vegetations, and the spirit-angels, and the cherubim, and the seraphim, and those brought near,
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and the angels of the mountains, and Raphael, and these are the angels of tree-leaves, and the angels of the planet earth, and those of the stars, and the moon, and the sun, and the galaxies…"
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Then the saint began to speak in a language that no-one could understand, until he finally asked the angel of death to take his soul in order to reach his Creator and be placed there as an angelic power. He died with open eyes suffused with light.

The Angels of Dreams and Premonitions

"The good dream is one forthysixth part of prophecy" (Tradition of the Prophet).

The Angels of Tree-Leaves

6:59: "Not a leaf falleth but He knoweth it, not a grain amid the darkness of the earth, naught of wet or dry but it is noted in a clear record."

God created from among the angels a group other than the recording angels. They are in charge of every seed in the earth and every leaf that falls to the ground, and everything in nature, both wet and dry, green and dead.
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They also oversee the events of human and other beings that enter into the realm of uninhabited nature.
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If a human being is somewhere without help, he should say: "O invisible servants of God, support me with your help! And may God’s mercy be with you."{3x madad yaa rijaal-Allah a`eenoona bi-`awnillaah wa kun `awnan lanaa billaah `asa nahda bi-fadlillaah.} Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: "I went on pilgrimage five times, and on three of these five times I was on foot. Once I lost my way in the desert, so I kept repeating: ‘O servants of God, guide me to the right way!’ and I found my way not long after that." If one utters this prayer sincerely, the angels will guide him and protect him from the harms of travel and the hostility of rebel spirits.

The angels of nature fall under the authority of the Archangel Michael, and they have under them angelic legions and hosts constantly asking for forgiveness on behalf of human beings.

Their intercession is according to the infinite numbers of the species and genera of nature they oversee. They ask intercession from the Lord and Creator of everything great and small.
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Even tree-leaves cause forgiveness of human beings, and the Lord of creation blesses human beings through them.

A famous saint had purified himself to the extent that he could hear the intercession of the angels of tree-leaves and of all nature, and he began to recite with them:

Israfil, Archangel of the Trumpet-blast

21:103: "The Supreme Horror will not grieve them, and the angels will welcome them, saying: This is your Day which ye were promised."

25:25: "A day when the heavens with the clouds will be rent asunder and the angels will be sent down, a great descent."

47:27: "Then how will it be with them when the angels gather them, smiting their faces and their backs!"

After God created the Throne He created the Trumpet (sur) and hung it on the Throne.
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Then He said: "Be!" and the angel Israfil was.
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He ordered him to take up the Trumpet which is like a white pearl and transparent like glass.
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He made holes in the Trumpet according to the number of every spirit and angel created in creation without duplication.
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In the middle of the Trumpet there is an opening bigger than the sky and the earth put together.
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Israfil is able to stop that opening from top to bottom by placing his mouth over it.
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The length of this Trumpet is seventy thousand light-years and
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its body is divided into seven trunks.

God said to Israfil: "I order you to blow this Trumpet when I shall tell you."

Israfil stands at the base of the Throne and awaits God’s order.
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He is so near to God that between him and his Lord there are only seven veils of light.
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One of his wings is in the East, another in the West, one encompasses the seven earths, and the fourth wing is on his head to protect his eyes from the light of God.

Then the angel disappeared. The Prophet asked Gabriel: "Who was that angel?"
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Gabriel said: "That was Israfil. Since the day God created him, he has not raised his eyes from the ground for fear of his Lord.
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Between him and God there are seven veils of light and if he were to pass only one of them he would be annihilated.
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The Preserved Tablet whereupon the destinies of mankind are written lies before him.
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Whenever God allows for something to exist in heaven or on earth that Tablet is raised up and he reads it.
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If a task falls within the sphere of the angel of death, He orders him to perform it.
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If in my sphere He orders me to do it, and
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If in Michael’s sphere He orders him in the same manner.
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I did not think that Israfil would come down to earth before the Day of Judgment and that is why I was afraid!"

On the Day of Judgment God will order Israfil to blow that Trumpet.

Upon the first sounding of the Trumpet all bad things are lifted and taken away from the earth.
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Wrongdoings and all that is related to it will disappear.
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The heavenly books will shine in every place.
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Angels will appear and reveal the places where they have been kept in their pristine state.
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The memory of heavenly teachings will become fresh again in people’s minds. All manner of good character, dignity, honor, mercy, and blessings will be brought over all the earth and become the norm.
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Angels will feel welcome to walk upon the earth for the first time.
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No-one will have power to do any harm in the world.
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Belief in God and knowledge of spiritual things will become the daily conversation of everyone young and old.
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Upon the second sounding of the trumpet,

all beings in the heavens and on earth will enter a state of perplexity and become afraid.
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They will fall down on their faces and faint believing the Day of Judgment has dawned upon them. This is described in the Koran, 39:68: "And the trumpet is blown , and all who are in the heavens and on the earth swoon away, save him whom God willeth.
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Then it is blown a second time, and behold them standing waiting!" The sound of that trumpet will be so awesome and terrifying that all beings will lose consciousness. The earth will begin to roll and heave, the stars will fall from the heavens, the light will disappear, the sun and the moon will lose their light, and all will be plunged into abysmal darkness.
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The mountains will jump from their places and turn to dust, and rise as clouds over the earth.
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The water of the oceans will dry up.
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Just as wind carries away chaff, so creation will be blown away by those cataclysmal storms.

The good people will be covered with garments of light and mercy which the angels will bring down in waves.

The angels will smite all wrongdoings and shameful actions and they will disappear like dust that must be removed from furnishings in a huge palace.
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They will bring light and smile on those who believed in them like parents smile on their children, as reassurance on that day. For on Judgment Day there is no-one who will not need the support of reassurance.

Upon the third sounding of the Trumpet

God will dress and adorn all human beings with angelic power and send them into the throng of His servants. There they will inhabit that divine indescribable light that enables them to reach the everlasting life of Paradise.

The Angels Who Bring Peace in the Last Days

2:210: "Will they wait until God comes to them in canopies of clouds, with angels in His train and the question is thus settled?"

In the last days, evil will be eradicated from the surface of the earth. Peace will be shining everywhere. It is related that at the end of times Jesus will reappear and descend upon the White Minaret at Damascus, both his hands resting upon the shoulders of two angels.
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He will be wearing two garments lightly dyes with saffron.
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He will be welcomes by a descendant of the prophet Muhammad who will be waiting for him with forty thousand angels, together with the believers who will be waiting for a divine rescue.
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They will pray together and ask God to open for them a support to destroy tyranny and oppression, and to spread peace and love and happiness.
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God sent the angel Gabriel who related the message to Jesus, son of Mary, and to Mehdi, the grandson of the Prophet (s).
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The message will be: "God gave you the permission to use divine light for uplifting all humanity towards heaven and overcoming evil and oppression.
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They will then meet the Anti-Christ and his armies at the Lat gate near Jerusalem.
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A series of great battles will ensue at the end of which Jesus will kill the Anti-Christ, who is the enemy of good.
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God will then make Jesus the son of Mary, and Mehdi the descendant of the Prophet, the rulers of the world in the peace that follows the Great War at the end of times.
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Jesus will marry at that time, raise children, die, and be buried in Madina near the Prophet Muhammad, in the space left vacant for him there. Peace be upon them and upon the angels!

Michael, Elder Archangel

God has created the Archangel Michael and put him in charge of nature, rain, snow, thunder, lightning, wind, and clouds.
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God has appointed a complete creation of angels to assist him and placed them under his command. These angels are countless and no-one other than God knows their number.
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God has given Michael power to see the entire span of the created universes at once, with no interference of other universes.
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He knows at all times where he has to send rain, wind, snow, and clouds without effort on his part.
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The angels who assist him range in size from the hugest size imaginable to man to that of the smallest species living on this earth.
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They fill the entire atmosphere of every star and planet in every universe. Their praise to God can be heard by the other angels, by prophets, by saints, and by young children.

Michael is the angel of mercy which is another name for rain in Arabic.

He is created from the light of God’s attribute al-Rahman, "the Merciful."
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He was never seen smiling after hell was created. He was created before Gabriel.

The Prophet gave it to Michael.
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The Prophet said: "God gave me two celestial assistants to help me deliver my Message: Gabriel and Michael." He used always to send for Gabriel and Michael concerning matters important to human beings.

The caller to prayer (muezzin) in the heavens is Gabriel and the prayer-leader (imam) is Michael.

God created a house for Himself in Paradise (al-Bayt al-Ma`mur) to which the angels make pilgrimage every day five times.
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There, five prayer-services are held and every service is heralded by Gabriel and led by Michael.
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The angels all come with their lights and ornaments, their jewels and fragrances, chanting and praising God with their heavenly music.
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Some people on earth, especially children, are able to hear their voices. This sound gives them indescribable pleasure.
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Every angel chants and praises in a different language without clash or disharmony. All are pleading to God for mercy for human beings and asking Him to elevate the state of people so that they can hear and see these daily ceremonies.
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To reward the angels for their praise, for the sincerity of their intercession, and to show them the great extent of His mercy, God at every moment showers His mercy on human beings.

It stands there until now with the angels walking continually around in solemn state
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. It was transformed into a Palace of Paradise.
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Its only remnant on earth is the Black Stone in the Holy Kaaba: it used to be white like the Palace it came from but has been clouded over blackened by the sins of mankind.
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It has been left on earth for the sake of remembrance. All who kiss it, it is as if they are kissing the right hand of God on earth.

Hikmah Siti Jenar-7

2008-09-08T06:36:00.000-07:00

"Jika anda menanyakan dimana rumah Tuhan, jawabnya tidak lah sulit. Allah berada pada dzat yang tempatnya tidak jauh, yaitu bersemayam didalam tubuh. Tetapi hanya orang yang terpilih yang bisa melihatnya, yaitu orang yang suci."

Hikmah Siti Jenar-8

2008-09-08T06:35:00.000-07:00

Hikmah Siti Jenar-8

"Syekh Lemah Abang namaku, Rasulullah ya aku, Muhammad ya aku, Asma Allah itu sesungguhnya diriku, ya Akulah yang menjadi Allah ta’ala."