From tariqas-approval Thu Dec 8 13:01:57 1994 Received: by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA20973; Thu, 8 Dec 1994 18:00:58 GMT Received: by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA20957; Thu, 8 Dec 1994 13:00:57 -0500 Date: Thu, 8 Dec 1994 13:00:57 +0001 (EST) From: Steve H Rose Subject: Re: A Discrimination Case To: tariqas@world.std.com In-Reply-To: <17455.199412081731@lenzie.cent.gla.ac.uk> Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: tariqas-approval@world.std.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: tariqas@world.std.com Status: RO X-Status: Assalamu alaikum. I am very sorry to hear of such an apparent case of discrimination. Have you posted to the newsgroup soc.relgion.islam about it? Partly since I was raised a secular Jew, I have to question the relevance of raising this issue in connection with the case. Discrimination is discrimination, whether performed by a secular Jew, a religious Jew, a Christian or a Muslim. My suggestion is to let the facts speak for themselves. Some other secular Jews might have done someting similar, however other secular Jews would be among your staunchest supporters. Secular Jews are people, and exhibit the range of variation of any group of people. (By the way, thanks for pointing out that this should not be used as an excuse to hate Jews -- there is enough hate and all too little understanding already!) yours, habib From tariqas-approval Thu Dec 8 03:03:46 1994 Received: by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA00710; Thu, 8 Dec 1994 19:08:50 GMT Received: from mickey.hq.interlink.com by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA00696; Thu, 8 Dec 1994 14:08:49 -0500 Received: from ntrlink.hq.interlink.com by relay2.UU.NET with SMTP id QQxtku21765; Thu, 8 Dec 1994 14:03:09 -0500 Received: from mickey.hq.interlink.com by ntrlink.hq.interlink.com with SMTP id AA04437 (5.64+/IDA-1.3.4-901124 for tariqas@world.std.com); Thu, 8 Dec 94 10:52:31 -0800 Received: by mickey.hq.interlink.com (AIX 3.2/UCB 5.64/4.03) id AA23414; Thu, 8 Dec 1994 11:03:46 -0800 Date: Thu, 8 Dec 1994 11:03:46 -0800 From: mateen@mickey.hq.interlink.com (Mateen M. Siddiqui) Message-Id: <9412081903.AA23414@mickey.hq.interlink.com> To: tariqas@world.std.com Subject: Forwarded: Fwd from MSA-News Sender: tariqas-approval@world.std.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: tariqas@world.std.com Status: RO X-Status: Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah As-salamu 'alaikum wa rahmatullahi Here is an interesting article about the Naqshbandi Tariqat in Uzbekistan (which encompasses both Samarqand and Bukhara, where the Naqshbandi traces its initiatic formal roots). Though full of typical misconceptions about Sufism, it indicates how Islam was kept alive by the Sufis in the portions of Russian-occupied Central Asian territories. --mateen siddiqui ------------------------------- Date: Tue, 6 Dec 1994 13:08:12 -0500 From: MSA Subject: Bukhara Diary: UZBEKS EMBRACE ISLAM Apparently-To: msanews@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Views expressed on MSANEWS do not necessarily represent those of MSANEWS, the Ohio State University or any of our associated staff and "WATCHERS". MSANEWS is a medium of exchange of news and analyses (standard and alternative) on Muslim World affairs. Information provided for "fair use only." For subscriptions/suggestions drop a note at msanews-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu _______________________________________________________________________________ The Plain Dealer November 6, 1993 Saturday, FINAL / WEST SECTION: NATIONAL; Pg. 3C HEADLINE: UZBEKS EMBRACE ISLAM; COMMUNISM'S LOSS IS SILK ROUTE CITY'S GAIN By: LONDON OBSERVER DATELINE: BUKHARA, UZBEKISTAN When religious leaders and followers gathered at the shrine of the medieval Islamic St. Bahauddin Naqshbandi recently, Bukhara had not seen the like for several decades. Once renowned as one of Islam's holiest cities, the Silk Road caravan city in the depths of Central Asia lost its influence in the Islamic world when the Soviet Union set about cleansing religion from its territory earlier this century. But the 675th anniversary of Naqshbandi's birth on Sept. 17 saw the shrine crowded againe with Uzbek mullahs and preachers; visitors from Turkey, Arabia and all over Central Asia; Uzbek women in European clothes and women from the Persian Gulf veiled in black. Scores of old men in high leather boots and brilliantly colored khalats (gowns) recalled a Central Asia abolished long ago by Soviet Russia as they sat chatting in the mosques or rewinding their turbans. The mufti of Tashkent, official Islamic leader for most of the Central Asia republics, was present in a shining white turban and striped khalat, and a Russian Orthodox priest in full canonicals even wandered through to pay his respects. Naqshbandi was the greatest of the Islamic sufi teachers of Central Asia. He was born in the 14th century in Bukhara, which now lies in the independent repubic of Uzbekistan. The gathering on the anniversary of his birth was the first large religious event permitted in ex-Soviet Central Asia in decades. Sufis are Muslim mystics who stress the spirit rather than the letter of orthodox Islam. In Europe, the best known sufis are the "whirling dervishes" of Turkey, followers of the medieval Afghan poet Jalaluddin Rumi, who danced themselves into a divine trance. Other sufis use poetry, music and chanting in their zikr (remembrance of God). Naqshbandi sufis became the most influential fo many sufi orders in the Middle Ages, with followers throughout Central Asia, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. During the Soviet period, the mosque complex that had grown up around Naqshbandi's grave just outside Bukhara was turned into a "museum of atheism" and pilgrims were forbidden to visit it. Only in 1989 was it reopened as a shrine. The complex, with two mosques and a 16th-century khanaka (a domed hall where the sufis lived and studied), has now been carefully restored. "During the Soviet period we wanted to feel ourselves Muslims, but those who believed tried to hide it from the government," said Tursonov Kurbanali, the young director of the Mir-i-Arab Madrassa in the midst of Bukhara's old city. "Now we feel free to be Muslims." The Mir-i-Arab Madrassa, a late medieval building of turquoise domes and the gorgeous blue tile work characteristic of central Asia's Islamic architecture, is Bukhara's oldest working madrassa, or Islamic college. Closed by the communists in the 1920s, it was reopened in 1946 as Soviet Central Asia's only working madrassa. The modern Uzbek view was summed up aptly by poet Jamal Kamal. "Uzbekistan has fallen behind the world," he told the audience at the concert. "But if we hold the Koran in one hand and a computer in the other, the world will be ours." -------- End of Forwarded Message ___________________________ mateen@mickey.hq.interlink.com -------- End of Forwarded Message From tariqas-approval Thu Dec 8 11:01:11 1994 Received: by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA20095; Fri, 9 Dec 1994 01:05:37 GMT Received: from wizard.Colorado.EDU by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA20040; Thu, 8 Dec 1994 20:05:33 -0500 Received: from granger.colorado.edu by WIZARD.COLORADO.EDU (PMDF #12158) id <01HKERD7P6V49I4KIE@WIZARD.COLORADO.EDU>; Thu, 8 Dec 1994 17:56 GMT Date: Thu, 08 Dec 1994 18:01:11 -0700 From: granger_m@WIZARD.COLORADO.EDU (Mike Granger) Subject: Re: Forwarded: msa: Shaykh Bin Baz: Fatwa: Do not read Masaari and others! To: mateen@mickey.hq.interlink.com (Mateen M. Siddiqui), 72704.574@compuserve.com, 73444.1307@compuserve.com, 74552.716@CompuServe.COM, HOLDIJK@auc-acs.eun.eg, Karam@ix.netcom.com, U30159@UICVM.UIC.EDU, abahnink@ere.umontreal.ca, abain@nero.UVic.CA, asifdhar@midway.uchicago.edu, g4ujec@fnma.com, godlas@phoenix.cs.uga.edu, granger_m@WIZARD.COLORADO.EDU, insyed@midway.uchicago.edu, jbsj@aol.com, kaye@longbow.usace.mil, obsto@uni-muenster.de, rjensen@rain.org, stourk@orion.it.luc.edu, ys590004@longs.lance.colostate.edu, tariqas@world.std.com Message-Id: <01HKERD7P6V49I4KIE@WIZARD.COLORADO.EDU> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" X-Sender: granger_m@128.138.131.7 Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Sender: tariqas-approval@world.std.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: tariqas@world.std.com Status: RO X-Status: This is interesting, and I wonder what is the "correct" stance for a Muslim to have on it. I clearly recall a Hadith by RasoolAllah (PBUH) to the effect that fighting for Nationalism, as opposed to truly fighting for the cause of Islam, is forbidden. Did he not also say that, unless a ruler is actually preventing his subjects from practicing his/her Islam, or a part of it (and this would include, I assume, murdering, torturing, and otherwise unjustly excercising some kind of extreme form of interruption in a Muslim's life), then there is no cause for Muslims trying to overthrow that ruler or government. As repugnant as the Saudi government probably seems to most of us Western thinking Muslims, and perhaps alot of others too, does the Saudi government deserve to be replaced, and if so, by what or whom? Is the main objective of this CDLR group truly the overthrow of the King and his Princes? > Text of report > > Riyad, 10th November: Shaykh Abd al-Aziz Bin Baz, Saudi Arabia's mufti, > head >of the Senior Ulema Council and the Department of Scientific Research and >Religious Jurisprudence, has advised the Muslim community to shun leaflets >published by the so-called Committee for the Defence of Legitimate Rights >[ CDLR] headed by Muhammad al-Mas'ari. "My advice to everyone is not to read >them or look at them," he said. > > Shaykh Abd al-Aziz Bin Baz, in a lecture he gave in Riyad at the beginning > of >last week, said that importers of the leaflet wanted to create a division >between Muslims, a division between the ruler and the people. [They also >wanted] >to cause sedition and a rebellion against the ruler. That was a great evil >and a >calamity. They wanted to cause a rebellion among Muslims. > > He added that these things [leaflets] which were coming from Europe - from >Mas'ari and others - and were attempting to create a rebellion and sedition >should be shunned and ignored, not read, and should be warned against. He >indicated that they opened the door to evil, the door to sedition and it was >the >duty of Muslims to stay away from the causes of sedition and rebellion, >sedition >between Muslims and problems between the ruler and the masses. > > A Muslim should unite and not divide, should not cause unrest but should > try >to unite people with advice, guidance and benign words. A Muslim should not >cause sedition, should not use words which lead to evil and corruption and >methods which open the door to evil, enmity and division. A Muslim should >[not] >do so [either] in his lectures. A Muslim should be careful in his lectures >and >recordings to use the method which would benefit the nation and did not open >the >door to sedition. > >Reuters World Service November 11, 1994, Friday, BC cycle >HEADLINE: Saudi cleric says opposition seeks to divide >DATELINE: DUBAI, Nov 11 > > Saudi Arabia's top cleric urged Moslems to ignore publications issued by a >militant opposition group and said their purpose was to divide Moslems, the >official Saudi news agency SPA reported on Friday. > > It quoted Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Bin Baz, president of the Higher Council of >Ulema, as saying the aim of leaflets issued by the London-based Committee for >the Defence of Legitimate Rights ( CDLR) was to create ''division among >Moslems >and between them and their ruler.'' > > The CDLR was set up in 1993 by ultra-conservative Saudis and was > declared >illegal by Saudi religious leaders who said Islamic laws applied in the >kingdom >were the best protector of human rights. > > The CDLR has argued that the Saudi royal family was not as strict as it >should be in following Islamic teachings. > > The Saudi interior ministry said in September it had arrested 110 people > in >connection with attempts to sow dissent and chaos. The arrests followed >disturbances by supporters of a controversial militant cleric, Sheikh Salman >al-Audah, who had been detained. > > The ministry said in mid-October that out of 157 detainees, 130 were > released >and another 27 were still under investigation. > > The CDLR said in a statement in late October that another cleric had > been >arrested. It was not immediately clear if Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Bin Mohammad >al-Qassem was still in detention. > >___________________________ >hossein@engin.umich.edu > > >-------- End of Forwarded Message > From tariqas-approval Thu Dec 8 18:20:39 1994 Received: by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA00338; Fri, 9 Dec 1994 04:20:52 GMT Received: from access1.digex.net by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA00320; Thu, 8 Dec 1994 23:20:50 -0500 Received: by access1.digex.net id AA01385 (5.67b8/IDA-1.5 for tariqas@world.std.com); Thu, 8 Dec 1994 23:20:40 -0500 Date: Thu, 8 Dec 1994 23:20:39 -0500 (EST) From: Abdkabir To: tariqas@world.std.com Subject: Cat Stevesn and Rusdie In-Reply-To: <9412081903.AA23414@mickey.hq.interlink.com> Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: tariqas-approval@world.std.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: tariqas@world.std.com Status: RO X-Status: Mateen, please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe it was you who posted a message almost a month ago that Cat Stevens was a member of the Naqsbandi order (please forgive my spelling)? If so, I would like an answer to my question that I posed then, which you or no one answered, which is: does Sheik Nazim approve of the fatwa against Rusdie, since Cat Stevens, his alleged disciple, has publically stated that he, Cat Stevens, approves of the fatwa? From tariqas-approval Fri Dec 9 02:48:43 1994 Received: by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA18519; Sat, 10 Dec 1994 21:31:23 GMT Received: from uunet!fifthd by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA18504; Sat, 10 Dec 1994 16:31:22 -0500 Received: from espace.dcl.com by relay3.UU.NET with SMTP id QQxtsn25850; Sat, 10 Dec 1994 16:24:01 -0500 Message-Id: Received: from forthd by espace.dcl.com (MX V3.1C) with UUCP; Sat, 10 Dec 1994 13:23:38 PST Received: by forthd.dcl.com (DECUS UUCP /2.0/2.0/2.0/); Sat, 10 Dec 94 12:42:08 PST Received: from fifthd by fifthd.uucp (UUPC/extended 1.12b) with UUCP; Fri, 09 Dec 1994 02:48:52 GMT From: Super User To: tariqas@world.std.com Date: Fri, 9 Dec 1994 02:48:43 GMT+6 Subject: response re: Abd al-Aziz bin Baz, Cat Stevens, et al Priority: normal X-Mailer: Pegasus Mail v3.1 (R1a) Sender: tariqas-approval@world.std.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: tariqas@world.std.com Status: RO X-Status: As-salaam 'aleikum was rahmatu'Llah Again: PEACE be with you and the MERCY of Allah The recent postings about Abd al-Aziz Bin Baz vs Ma'sari, and Cat Stevens "vs" Salman Rushdie, on tariqas were a bit of a jolt to this person, considering the theme of this on-line group. May I offer some thoughts? Islam was never intended to be a hierarchical organization with a male authority body akin to a priesthood. Ultimate authority is with the One God, and in the message of the One God (Qur'an), and after that the sayings and example of the Prophet, and long after that upon interpretations of Qur'an and the Prophet's sayings and example. These are truisms in the world of Islam. I will take a risk here by observing that temporal power belongs either to those who seize it or to those who deserve it according to their wise use of it or to those who accept it by default if wise and compassionate humans do not prevail. We could neither live nor move if we attempted to obey all the fatwas and interpretations that have been handed down over 14 centuries by innumerable qadhis, hujjas, ulema, mullahs, imams, and authors. Those on the path of the heart and service to humanity in submission to the One God are open to guidance from Al-Hadi Al- Rashid, and must be aware of when others are trying to inflame our lower nature, complimentary to an awareness of when others are being abused. With all deserved respect to those steeped in the ways of inherited and traditional wisdom, the voice of truth can be spoken by any person in Islam, and we need not look to those whose authority comes from the temporal realm if they are out of harmony with Divine intention. If you are still with me after the sermonette (thanks for your gracious patience), let us remember it obviously serves no one to speculate about another's teacher, and what such a supposed teacher might have said about another leader's edict, and what yet another person might think about it. Just as obviously, it helps to learn from history: an enormous amount of suffering might have been avoided if the American government had heeded reports of inhuman activities in some Islamic countries prior to 1978, focussing instead on its economic and strategic interests, and this may currently apply to Arabia. At this juncture, issues about male authoritarianism, political interests, exercise of power, and (mis)use of the power of the media converge. This is where our work as compassionate Muslims in tariqat is tested, and this is where above all self-observation becomes crucial. If we do not understand our motivations, we will contribute to more suffering and confusion. It might help tariqas readers (it would certainly help me!) if when we quoted Qur'an or hadith to support an assertion, we identified our source. Now for the commercial: A remarkable book about the Salman Rushdie business has been written by two American women. It is fair, clear-headed, informative, based upon thorough investigation, relatively free of opinions-presented-as-facts, and bears the stamp of intelligent humans who are respectful of Islam as it is, and addresses larger issues of male authoritarianism in Islam, and censorship. The publication is a testament to American freedom of speech and religion. At the risk of sounding sexist, it is also a testament to women making their voices heard in a unique way. It touches upon Western intellectual authoritarianism and our cultural conditioning in a way that made me wish the authors would devote a book to that subject (although Said's "Orientalism" covers the topic well): have a look at "The Rushdie File" by Sara Maitland and Lisa Appignanesi, Contemporary Issues in the Mid-East Series of Syracuse University Press 0-8156-0248-0 '90. Thanks for listening. (Muzaffer) -- Khadim Chishti khadim@forthd.dcl.com From tariqas-approval Sun Dec 11 03:12:06 1994 Received: by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA08309; Sun, 11 Dec 1994 03:13:04 GMT Received: from ioe.ac.uk (mentor.ioe.ac.uk) by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA08290; Sat, 10 Dec 1994 22:13:02 -0500 Received: by ioe.ac.uk (5.0/SMI-SVR4) id AA15662; Sun, 11 Dec 1994 03:12:06 +0000 Date: Sun, 11 Dec 1994 03:12:06 +0000 From: teesmjk@ioe.ac.uk (MR MOHAMMED KHAN) Message-Id: <9412110312.AA15662@ioe.ac.uk> To: tariqas@world.std.com Subject: Re: Literary Request Cc: M.KHAN@ioe.ac.uk Content-Length: 1424 Sender: tariqas-approval@world.std.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: tariqas@world.std.com Status: RO X-Status: Prophet Mohammad desires to be blessed with the joy of Allah's Sight: " O, Allah! Bless me always with the joy of thy sight and the pleasure of beholding thy countenance, unharmed by anything harmful and disturbed by anything disturbing!" A true sufi is he who acts on the Quranic injunction: "Ye grieve not for the sake of that which hath escaped you, nor yet exult because of that which hath been given." I found the following poetry very illuminating: O, thou who wanderest in search of God, Thou must indeed be blind since thou art seeking Him out of thyself ! God tells thee through the tongue of every thing, >From thy head to foot it is Me, where, then, thou wanderest in search of Me ? At times he addresses them thus: O, thou who seekest God in every nook and corner! Thou art indeed God Himself, not anything beside ! This quest of thine is like the quest Of water drop in the ocean which may like to seek the ocean ! He is reminded of the times of his quest and repeats the words which had issued from his lips at the end of the quest: O, Friend, I sought for Thee in all places, And asked of thy whereabouts from every passser by! I saw me with thee and found thee was really me ?! When I am really thee how long this talk of me and thee ? Since thy self-respect does not admit of existences other than Thine Why keep up this pretence of separation ? Junaid Khan M.KHAN@ioe.ac.uk. From tariqas-approval Mon Dec 12 13:15:40 1994 Received: by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA09608; Mon, 12 Dec 1994 13:16:05 GMT Received: from lenzie.cent.gla.ac.uk by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA09563; Mon, 12 Dec 1994 08:16:02 -0500 Message-Id: <20473.199412121315@lenzie.cent.gla.ac.uk> From: "N. Tsolak" <924610ts@udcf.gla.ac.uk> Received: (from 924610ts@localhost sender 924610ts) by lenzie.cent.gla.ac.uk (8.6.9/UK-2.2a/cent-sparc) id NAA20473 for tariqas@world.std.com; Mon, 12 Dec 1994 13:15:41 GMT Subject: Rumi To: tariqas@world.std.com (tariqas) Date: Mon, 12 Dec 1994 13:15:40 +0000 (GMT) X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL23] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Length: 4653 Sender: tariqas-approval@world.std.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: tariqas@world.std.com Status: RO X-Status: > Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi > > The name Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi stands for Love and ecstatic flight into the > infinite. Mevlana is one of the great spiritual masters and poetical geniuses > of mankind and was the founder of the Mevlevi Sufi order, a leading mystical > brotherhood of Islam. > > Rumi was born in Balkh (Afghanistan) in 1207 to a family of learned > theologians. Escaping the Mongol invasion, Rumi and his family travelled > extensively in the Muslim lands, performed the pilgrimage to Mecca and finally > settled in Konya, Anatolia (Turkey), where he succeeded his father in 1231 as > professor in religious sciences. > > He was introduced into the mystical path by a wandering dervish, Shamsuddin of > Tabriz. His love and his bereavement for the death of Shams found their > expression in a surge of music, dance and lyric poems, `Divani Samsi Tabrizzi'. > Rumi is the author of a huge didactic work, The `Mathnawi', and discourses, > `Fihi ma Fihi', written to introduce his disciples to metaphysics. If there is > any general idea underlying Rumi's poetry, it is the absolute love of God. His > influence on thought, literature and all forms of aesthetic expression in the > world of Islam cannot be overrated. > > Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi died on December 17, 1273. Men of five faiths followed > his bier. That night was named Sebul Arus (Night of Union). Ever since, the > Mevlevi dervishes have kept that date as a festival. > > The Mevlevi rites symbolize divine love and mystical ecstasy; they aim at > union with the Divine. The music and the dance are designed to induce > meditation on the love of God. Mevlevi music contains some of the most > valuable elements of Turkish classical music. It serves mainly as > accompaniment for poems of Rumi and other Sufi poets. The music of the sema > (ceremony) is generally conducted by the chief drummer. Percussion > accompaniment is supplied by the kudums (small kettledrums) and cymbals; > melody is provided by the ney (reed flute), the string instruments and the > voice. The words and even syllables of the poetry are connected to the > musical sentences. > > "Dervish music cannot be written in notes. Notes do not include the soul of > the dervish." > > The dervishes turn timelessly and effortlessly. They whirl, turning round on > their own axis and moving also in orbit. The right hand is turned up towards > heaven to receive God's everflowing mercy which passes through the heart and > is transmitted to earth with the downturned left hand. While one foot > remains firmly on the ground, the other crosses it and propels the dancer > round. The rising and falling of the right foot is kept constant by the > inner rhythmic repetition of the name of "Allah-Al-lah, Al-lah..." The > ceremony can be seen as a great crescendo in three stages: knowing God, > seeing God and uniting with God. > > The Ceremony > > The steps of the way to union with the Divine are performed according to > strict rules. > > Within a circle the sheikh stands at the "post". It is the highest spiritual > position, marked by a red rug indicating the direction of Mecca. Red is the > color of union and of the manifested world. The musicians' platform faces > the sheikh; the whirling dervishes take their places to his left. > > The Naat, a poem of praise to the Prophet, opens the ceremony. It is > followed by a recitation from the Qur'an. The kudums (drums) then break the > silence to introduce the flute solo that conveys the yearning for the union > with God. The next step is the Sultan Veled Walk when the dervishes, > following the sheikh, circle the hall three times, stopping to bow to each > other at the "post". > > The first selam (salutation) introduces the dance: by kissing the hand of > the sheikh, the dervish obtains his permission to whirl. The master of the > dance directs him to his position: As the musicians play and the chorus > chants, the sheikh stands at the "post" and the dervishes unfold and turn > repeating their inaudible "Allah, Allah, Allah. . ." This part of the > ceremony lasts approximately ten minutes and is repeated four times. At the > fourth selam the sheikh joins the whirling. He represents the center (the > sun); the dervishes represent the orbiting planets turning around him and > around themselves in the solar system of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi. > > The Ceremony is concluded by the recitation of the Fatiha, the opening > chapter of the Qur'an, followed by a prayer to Mevlana and Shamsuddin of > Tabriz. Then all the dervishes join in sounding the "Hu" which is the all- > embracing Name of God, the One. From tariqas-approval Mon Dec 12 02:02:25 1994 Received: by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA07833; Mon, 12 Dec 1994 15:58:40 GMT Received: from wizard.Colorado.EDU by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA07806; Mon, 12 Dec 1994 10:58:38 -0500 Received: from granger.colorado.edu by WIZARD.COLORADO.EDU (PMDF #12158) id <01HKJTOIGAJ49I4PIN@WIZARD.COLORADO.EDU>; Mon, 12 Dec 1994 08:57 GMT Date: Mon, 12 Dec 1994 09:02:25 -0700 From: granger_m@WIZARD.COLORADO.EDU (Mike Granger) Subject: FW: Good Times = Bad Times To: tariqas@world.std.com Message-Id: <01HKJTOIGAJ49I4PIN@WIZARD.COLORADO.EDU> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" X-Sender: granger_m@128.138.131.7 Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Sender: tariqas-approval@world.std.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: tariqas@world.std.com Status: RO X-Status: Although an erased hard drive may be a good trial for a sufi, I woldn't wish it on anyone. >Date: Mon, 12 Dec 1994 08:14:09 -0700 >From: berry_d@WIZARD.COLORADO.EDU (Dennis Berry) >Subject: FW: Good Times = Bad Times >To: UMS_STAFF@WIZARD.COLORADO.EDU >X-Sender: berry_d@daryl.colorado.edu > >I received this from a friend at Iowa State. Something to look out for. > > >> >>****************ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION******************* >>****************COMPUTER VIRUS ALERT****************************** >>>>>There is a virus on America on Line being sent by E-Mail. If you >>>>>get anything called "Good Times", DO NOT read it or download it. >>>>>It is a virus that will erase your hard drive. Forward this to all >>>>>your friends. >> >> > > From tariqas-approval Mon Dec 12 05:59:50 1994 Received: by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA08983; Mon, 12 Dec 1994 16:00:16 GMT Received: from access1.digex.net by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA08934; Mon, 12 Dec 1994 11:00:12 -0500 Received: by access1.digex.net id AA15224 (5.67b8/IDA-1.5 for tariqas@world.std.com); Mon, 12 Dec 1994 10:59:51 -0500 Date: Mon, 12 Dec 1994 10:59:50 -0500 (EST) From: Abdkabir To: tariqas@world.std.com Subject: Re: response re: Abd al-Aziz bin Baz, Cat Stevens, et al In-Reply-To: Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: tariqas-approval@world.std.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: tariqas@world.std.com Status: RO X-Status: On Fri, 9 Dec 1994, Super User wrote: > Islam was never intended to be a hierarchical organization with a > male authority body akin to a priesthood. Ultimate authority is with > the One God, and in the message of the One God (Qur'an), and after > that the sayings and example of the Prophet, and long after that upon > interpretations of Qur'an and the Prophet's sayings and example. > These are truisms in the world of Islam. > You omit something essential: authority is passed onto a genuine murshid in a silsilah. > With all deserved respect to those steeped in the ways of inherited > and > traditional wisdom, the voice of truth can be spoken by any person in > Islam, and we need not look to those whose authority comes from the > temporal realm if they are out of harmony with Divine intention. > Don't know what your point is here. > If you are still with me after the sermonette (thanks for your > gracious patience), let us remember it obviously serves no one > to speculate about another's teacher, and what such a supposed > teacher might have said about another leader's edict, and what yet > another person might think about it. This is utterly false: we are required in the Koran to use are heads, to be discerning, to seperate wheat from chaff, truth from falsehood, to find the truth, "even if it is China," as is stated in a hadith Granted, there could be bad reasons for doing this, but there also could be good ones. Trying to understand what a teacher says and what he does, as well as what his followers say and do, is essential to finding out the truth. Just as obviously, it helps to > learn from history: an enormous amount of suffering might have been > avoided if the American government had heeded reports of inhuman > activities in some Islamic countries prior to 1978, focussing instead > on its economic and strategic interests, and this may currently apply > to Arabia. > ?! How does this folow or connect all with your prior paragraph? What doe this have to do with it at all? > At this juncture, issues about male authoritarianism, political > interests, exercise of power, and (mis)use of the power of the media > converge. This is where our work as compassionate Muslims in tariqat > is tested, and this is where above all self-observation becomes > crucial. If we do not understand our motivations, we will contribute > to more suffering and confusion. This doesn't make a connection any clearer. > From tariqas-approval Mon Dec 12 06:20:42 1994 Received: by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA23359; Mon, 12 Dec 1994 16:26:18 GMT Received: from york.wash.inmet.com by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA23291; Mon, 12 Dec 1994 11:26:16 -0500 Received: by york.wash.inmet.com (AIX 3.2/UCB 5.64/4.03) id AA20573; Mon, 12 Dec 1994 11:20:42 -0500 Date: Mon, 12 Dec 1994 11:20:42 -0500 From: dlb@york.wash.inmet.com (David Barton) Message-Id: <9412121620.AA20573@york.wash.inmet.com> To: tariqas@world.std.com In-Reply-To: <01HKJTOIGAJ49I4PIN@WIZARD.COLORADO.EDU> (granger_m@WIZARD.COLORADO.EDU) Subject: Re: FW: Good Times = Bad Times Sender: tariqas-approval@world.std.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: tariqas@world.std.com Status: RO X-Status: While applauding the spirit in which the following has been posted: >>****************ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION******************* >>****************COMPUTER VIRUS ALERT****************************** >>>>>There is a virus on America on Line being sent by E-Mail. If you >>>>>get anything called "Good Times", DO NOT read it or download it. >>>>>It is a virus that will erase your hard drive. Forward this to all >>>>>your friends. >> >> > > I must say that this has been debunked as a fraudulant alert by several extremely knowledgeable sources, including the government virus tracking organization whose name I cannot remember for the life of me. A pair of people --- one on AOL, and one on the Internet --- originally sent it out, for some reason I do not comprehend. In any case, there is no such virus. Don't worry about it. Sorry about the digression, but the follow-up government alert debumking this announcement requested that we try to get the true word out wherever we see the false message posted. Dave Barton dlb@wash.inmet.com From tariqas-approval Mon Dec 12 07:32:42 1994 Received: by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA18769; Mon, 12 Dec 1994 17:42:51 GMT Received: from teer23.acpub.duke.edu by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA12630; Mon, 12 Dec 1994 12:33:01 -0500 Received: (from hthashq1@localhost) by teer23.acpub.duke.edu (8.6.8.1/Duke-2.0) id MAA20077; Mon, 12 Dec 1994 12:32:45 -0500 Date: Mon, 12 Dec 1994 12:32:42 -0500 (EST) From: Hugh Talat Halman Subject: Re: Rumi To: tariqas@world.std.com Cc: barbara stenross , Vincent Cornell , Carl Ernst , omid safi , muhsin orsini , tariqas In-Reply-To: <20473.199412121315@lenzie.cent.gla.ac.uk> Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: tariqas-approval@world.std.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: tariqas@world.std.com Status: RO X-Status: A Hu! As-salaam 'alaikum wa rahmatu 'llah wa barakataHU! Dear Friends, I salute N. Tsolak, al-Hamdu li-Llah for his beautiful, meaningful, and informative presentation on Rumi. I propose that we who share hearts and minds in Cyberspace and persue a Path of Sabr-space join our energies, voices, and visions in an URS of Cyberspace on the day of the URS ("Spiritual Wedding") of Mevlana Jalaladdin Rumi. We might share meditations, reflections, prayers, poems, stories of either our own or those of Rumi and the erenler (spiritual adepts) in his path and the Way of Allah. Let us celebrate in a whirling world of wonder with each other in turns of endearment. Hu! Dostlar! H. Talat al-Zumurrudi