Home > Work > Holistic Islam: Sufism, Transformation, and the Needs of Our Time
1 " Ibn Arabi is suggesting that the contemplation of God is possible, indeed enhanced, through the human form: when man contemplates the Reality in woman he beholds God. The Epiphany that Ibn Arabi found in the contemplation of the feminine need not be exclusive to the feminine. Indeed, as the Qur‘an says in Surah Tin, the human being is created in the most beautiful proportions, created on an archetype of beauty. What Ibn Arabi found in his contemplation of Woman is a profound recognition of the Divine in the „other“. Since God has breathed His Spirit into human beings, the outward form is creaturely, while the inner nature is Divine. Therefore, God is loving Himself in us, and we are loving God in each other. In the same way, man is loving himself in woman, and she is loving herself in him. But the finding of wholeness within oneself doesn‘t necessarily cancel out the beautiful polarity between lovers. Ibn Arabi is describing sexual union as a mirroring of God within God, as a Divine Union of deep awareness, and this is the appropriate human state for sexual relations. Sexuality is sacred because it is a form of relationship within this great electromagnetic field of Love. To disparage this polarity is a denial of the Divine origins of our very humanity. To ignore its spiritual potential is to deny the Spirit that has been breathed into us. (p. 107) "
― Kabir Helminski , Holistic Islam: Sufism, Transformation, and the Needs of Our Time
2 " As spiritual seekers, we know that the objective knowledge we require cannot be constructed by human intellect alone. Intellect can perform many useful functions; it can divide, critique, and negate, but intellect is not the source of inspired knowledge about the purpose of life. Intellectual conjecture too often leads only to a labyrinth of opinion. Rather it is the heart that is the seat of true knowing. (p. 53) "
3 " Love is the essence of this religion. I pray that we will approach all of our questions and concerns, especially the most difficult and intimate questions, with love, in order to be able more and more to solve our problems with love. The Sufi lives in a compassionate and passionate universe, a universe born from a spark of love. (p. 108) "
4 " An illuminated heart is rare; opinion is all too common. The illuminated heart sees the Divine Reality, the Balance in all things; it sees with the impartial light of Allah. Illumination says: „Let‘s see what God does, what God does is always beautiful.“ when the heart is purified, Truth becomes an objective reality that can be known by human beings. This Truth is not equivalent to the formulations of beliefs and concepts. For the human being, Truth is the direct experience of Divine Presence. Freed from our illusions and enslavement, we can go on to discover the treasure we really are, which will inevitably lead to the sharing of this treasure, a spontaneous service to Life itself. (S. 44 Holistic Islam) "
5 " The heart is not merely a metaphor for an undefined capacity for feeling. The heart is an objective, cognitive power beyond intellect. It is the organ of perception which can know the world of spiritual qualities. It is the heart that can love, that can praise, that can forgive, that can perceive the Divine Majesty. Only the human heart can say yes, can affirm wholeness, can know the Infinite. Guided by its inner discernment, al-Furqan, the heart can apprehend what is Real. As a Hadith Qudsi says: „The heavens and the earth do not contain Me. Only the heart of my faithful servant contains me.“ We need an education of the heart to receive this qualitative knowledge. "
