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In the Name of God بسم الله

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I was raised Sunni but after reading Henry Corbin (a scholar of Islamic gnosis and its various speculative traditions, particularly in Iran), the knot of dogma was loosened in my mind, and the outward form of Islam (its legal and doctrinal elements) felt superfluous compared to the kernel of esoteric wisdom contained in the writings of Ibn Arabi, Haydar Amuli, Mulla Sadra, Suhrawardi, Ahmad Ahsa'i, etc.... I abandoned prayer, I abandoned dhikr, I even abandoned the Qur'an, as I spent months reading the Hebrew Bible looking for some kind of perennial religious wisdom. After reading Shaykh Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai's exposition on Shi'ite Islam, I want to return to the normative fold but I feel like the structure of my mind is utterly changed now, as in I'm not satisfied by the basic categories of religious thought anymore. Prayer, dhikr, the Qur'an, etc., it feels like the meaning of these rituals has totally changed for me. How can I become a normal Muslim when I've been drinking from the fountain of oriental spirituality for more than a year now, without the rigor of systematic learning which would've probably saved me from what was blatant apostasy on my part?

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4 hours ago, Hakma said:

How can I become a normal Muslim when I've been drinking from the fountain of oriental spirituality for more than a year now, without the rigor of systematic learning which would've probably saved me from what was blatant apostasy on my pa

Salam related thread

 

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Addendum

Shaltut's Fatwa on the Permissibility of Acting Upon Shi'a Jurisprudence

Issuance and Significance of the Fatwa

Shaltut's fatwa was issued in response to an inquiry regarding the permissibility of following Imami and Zaydi Shi'a jurisprudence. It was issued by Shaltut, a Hanafi jurist who served as the president of al-Azhar University at the time and was a co-founder of Dar al-Taqrib bayn al-Madhahib al-Islamiyya (House of Proximity among Islamic Denominations). The fatwa was issued on Rabi' al-Awwal 17, 1378/October 17, 1958 which coincided with the birthday of Imam al-Sadiq (a). Representatives from Imami ShiismZaydi Shiism, and the four Sunni jurisprudential schools were present during the issuance of the fatwa

Some believe that Shaltut's fatwa was influenced by the efforts of Muhammad Taqi Qummi and Sayyid Husayn Burujirdi during the establishment of Dar al-Taqrib.

Prior to the issuance of this fatwa, Sunni scholars generally did not permit the adoption of Shi'a jurisprudence. It is reported that Shaltut's motivation for issuing this fatwa stemmed from the recognition of the superiority and strength of the arguments in Shi'a jurisprudence, particularly in areas such as inheritance and divorce, when compared to Sunni jurisprudence.

https://en.wikishia.net/view/Shaltut's_Fatwa_on_the_Permissibility_of_Acting_Upon_Shi'a_Jurisprudence

https://www.shiachat.com/forum/topic/235086815-if-you-apostate-shia-to-another-sect-can-you-come-back/

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12 hours ago, Hakma said:

I was raised Sunni but after reading Henry Corbin (a scholar of Islamic gnosis and its various speculative traditions, particularly in Iran), the knot of dogma was loosened in my mind, and the outward form of Islam (its legal and doctrinal elements) felt superfluous compared to the kernel of esoteric wisdom contained in the writings of Ibn Arabi, Haydar Amuli, Mulla Sadra, Suhrawardi, Ahmad Ahsa'i, etc.... I abandoned prayer, I abandoned dhikr, I even abandoned the Qur'an, as I spent months reading the Hebrew Bible looking for some kind of perennial religious wisdom. After reading Shaykh Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai's exposition on Shi'ite Islam, I want to return to the normative fold but I feel like the structure of my mind is utterly changed now, as in I'm not satisfied by the basic categories of religious thought anymore. Prayer, dhikr, the Qur'an, etc., it feels like the meaning of these rituals has totally changed for me. How can I become a normal Muslim when I've been drinking from the fountain of oriental spirituality for more than a year now, without the rigor of systematic learning which would've probably saved me from what was blatant apostasy on my part?

Dear sister, you read about esoteric wisdom contained in those books yet failed to understand the benefits of Prayer, Dhikr and Quran. It is actually very astonishing for me as to why didn't you gave thought to what would be the reason of existence of these kinds of Worships. In Quran, Allah (عزّ وجلّ) says :"Prayer keeps you away from indecency and evil". The main apparent advantage of prayer is that it is prayed between intervals and between each interval, it should remind you to stay obedient to Allah (عزّ وجلّ) and fulfill his duties. Thus, a part of staying obedient is staying away from what pollutes and a part of fulfillment of duties is that you should be beneficial for society. As regards Dhikr, Allah (عزّ وجلّ) teaches us in Quran how to do his Dhikr that is to say "Remember his boons and take lessons from those whom He (عزّ وجلّ) punished" the boons include taking lessons from Quran, Prophets and Ahlebait and taking lessons from His punishment means that we should not do things which other nations did, this is Dhikr of Allah (عزّ وجلّ). Even if you are just saying names of Allah (عزّ وجلّ) on Tasbih, tell yourself what for are you taking such name. As for Quran, it is a huge miracle, all those who excelled in discovering esoteric secrets learned it from Quran whether you call it mysticism or Zuhd. Quran is foundation of every Islamic knowledge and while questions can be raised about the authenticity of other sources of knowledge but no Question could be raised against Quran. Thus, if you accept other sources of knowledge without having Quran as a backup source to help you understand it, you might get lost in such source because of its non-conformity with the divine knowledge and it has happened many a times that people tend to generate faulty books by adhering to their whims and guesses.

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15 hours ago, Hameedeh said:

Salam. A person as intelligent as you are should know that rituals are how you show Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) that He is your Creator and you want to obey Him. Repent and return to your prayer, dhikr, Holy Qur'an, etc. while you are able to do so. We have many Muslims that have passed away and some who cannot leave their bed and cannot pray anymore. May Allah protect you and help you return to the Right Path. 

Of course, I always knew this, but the manner in which esotericism in Islam expressed itself to me made the rituals feel a little arbitrary in comparison. Why are there five prayers in the day for instance, if the soul can always be in a state of prayer, if prayer is nothing less than a desire of a mode of being, if prayer is a desire for the hidden God to manifest itself inside his creature, etc.? This is the kind of reasoning that led me out the fold, and which is more obviously expressed in this quote from an interview of that French Islamicist I mentioned. 

Quote

I recall once, in the course of an international conference, some twenty years ago, a colleague from a distant country, hearing me express myself upon Shiism in the terms I ordinarily use, whispered to his neighbor : « How can one speak of a religion in such terms, when it is not one’s own ? » But then, in precisely what does the « adoption » of a religion or a philosophy consist? Unfortunately, there are those who can only think in terms of « conversion » ; that is, in terms of a process that would permit them to assign you a collective label. No. To speak of « conversion » is to have understood nothing of « esotericism ». A philosopher knows very well that to be a Platonist is not to register one’s self in some Platonic Church, and even less to prohibit one’s self from also being anything else besides a Platonist. Each and every ‘Orafa, whether from the East or from the West, cannot but think and weigh things in terms of interiority and interiorization, which means making in one’s self a permanent accommodation and abode for the philosophies and the religions towards which one’s Quest conducts one. And such a one must keep his or her secret: Secretum meum mihi. A secret that belongs to the Castle of the Soul. It is not through some external sociological choice that he will outwardly manifest this profound internal reality. It is in the “personal” work that he produces, the exteriorization of which results from the concordance of all of his or her “modes of being”. The “community”, the Ummah of the esotericists, found in all places and in all times, is the “inner Church”, and there is no confessional act of adherence required for one to be a part of it.

I guess my personal issue is, how do I led myself out of this confusion, how do I reconcile the truth of these statements with what I was brought up upon, how do I reorient myself beneath the saving fold of orthodoxy, etc.

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Check out his videos. He’s a twelver Shia expert in the fields you mentioned, especially Ibn Arabi, 

 

here he’s instructing how to actually get started on this path, and prayer and tahajjud is the bare minimum

 

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14 hours ago, 313_Waiter said:

Check out his videos. He’s a twelver Shia expert in the fields you mentioned, especially Ibn Arabi, 

 

here he’s instructing how to actually get started on this path, and prayer and tahajjud is the bare minimum

 

Very interesting channel. Thanks for the share!

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On 8/24/2024 at 10:23 PM, 313_Waiter said:

Check out his videos. He’s a twelver Shia expert in the fields you mentioned, especially Ibn Arabi, 

 

here he’s instructing how to actually get started on this path, and prayer and tahajjud is the bare minimum

 

Will watch this later.

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