truth is with the proof - not the majority or minority

the truth can be established neither by the large number of those who adopt it nor by their small number. Rather, it is established by incontrovertible proof, and all people must follow the truth, and not cleave to the large number of adherents or the small number of adherents, but instead to those who have the truth

al-Qadi al-Numan,. Disagreements of the Jurists: A Manual of Islamic Legal Theory (Library of Arabic Literature) (Kindle Locations 2499-2501). NYU Press. Kindle Edition.

Natural Disasters

46:24  Then, when they saw a cloud approaching their valley, they said, "This is a cloud that will bring us rain." "In fact, it is what you were impatient for: a wind in which is grievous suffering." 25  It will destroy everything by the command of its Lord. And when the morning came upon them, there was nothing to be seen except their dwellings. Thus We requite the guilty people.


It was a tornado


just like the one which destroyed Sodom was a volcano!

and the one which rained down baked clay on the army of the elephant was a meteorite shower

two deaths

40:11  They will say, "Our Lord, you made us die twice, and twice you gave us life....

we live (the first life)
then we die a bodily death (the first death)
but the soul lives on in the grave
then when the horn is blown the first time - the soul dies (the second death)
and then the horn is blown again and we are all resurrected (the second life)
never to die again -
be it in hell or paradise

Advice from Quran

Commune with God

2: 186  ... I Am near; I answer the call of the caller when he calls on Me. So let them answer Me, and have faith in Me, that they may be rightly guided. 40:14  So call upon God, with sincere devotion to Him, even though the disbelievers resent it

Act on Knowledge

3:79  ..."Be people of the Lord, according to the Scripture you teach, and the teachings you learn."

Submit wholeheartedly; do good works with your body; set your mind to monotheism; long from the depths of your soul to befriend God

4:125  And who is better in religion than he who submits himself wholly to God, and is a doer of good, and follows the faith of Abraham the Monotheist? God has chosen Abraham for a friend

Don't obey lowly desires over God's grand guidance

6:56 ..."I will not follow your desires; else I would be lost and not be of those guided." 30:29  Yet the wrongdoers follow their desires without knowledge. But who can guide whom God leaves astray? They will have no helpers

pray sincerely
7:55  Call upon your Lord humbly and privately....


Not everything is meant to be understood literally; the Qur'an often makes use of metaphorical imagery
8:24  ...And know that God stands between a man and his heart ... 48:10  Those who pledge allegiance to you are pledging allegiance to God. The hand of God is over their hands. Whoever breaks his pledge breaks it to his own loss.

Love God's Messenger (saas) who cares  about you so much
9:128  There has come to you a messenger from among yourselves, concerned over your suffering, anxious over you. Towards the believers, he is compassionate and merciful. 61  ... "He listens for your own good. He believes in God, and trusts the believers, and is mercy for those of you who believe."... 33:6 The Prophet is more caring of the believers than they are of themselves, and his wives are mothers to them...

Free Will is only with God's permission; we have no mental or physical power to change a Fate which God has already decided
12:67  And he said, "O my sons, do not enter by one gate, but enter by different gates. I cannot avail you anything against God. The decision rests only with God. On Him I rely, and on Him let the reliant rely."  68  And when they entered as their father had instructed them, it did not avail them anything against God; it was just a need in the soul of Jacob, which he carried out. He was a person of knowledge inasmuch as We had taught him, but most people do not know. 21:87 And Jonah, when he stormed out in fury, thinking We had no power over him.... 74:55  So whoever wills, shall remember it. 56  But they will not remember, unless God wills.... 76:30  Yet you cannot will, unless God wills... 81:29  But you cannot will, unless God wills-The Lord of the Worlds.

Always remember God (swt)

13:28  Those who believe, and whose hearts find comfort in the remembrance of God. Surely, it is in the remembrance of God that hearts find comfort."  33:41  O you who believe, remember God with frequent remembrance 43:36  Whoever shuns the remembrance of the Most Gracious, We assign for him a devil, to be his companion. 58:19  Satan has taken hold of them, and so has caused them to forget the remembrance of God. These are the partisans of Satan. Indeed, it is Satan's partisans who are the losers. 62:10  ...and remember God much, so that you may prosper. 63:9  O you who believe! Let neither your possessions nor your children distract you from the remembrance of God. Whoever does that these are the losers.

Thank God; you are the one who needs it, not Him
31:12  We endowed Luqman with wisdom: "Give thanks to God." Whoever is appreciative-is appreciative for the benefit of his own soul. And whoever is unappreciative-God is Sufficient and Praiseworthy.  13:8  ... "Even if you are ungrateful, together with everyone on earth-God is in no need, Worthy of Praise." 

Satan has power over those who listen to, obey or follow his way in disobedience to God

15:42  "Over My servants you have no authority, except for the sinners who follow you."
16:99  He has no authority over those who believe and trust in their Lord. 100  His authority is only over those who follow him, and those who associate others with Him 17:62  He said, "Do You see this one whom You have honored more than me? If You reprieve me until the Day of Resurrection, I will bring his descendants under my sway, except for a few." 63  He said, "Begone! Whoever of them follows you-Hell is your reward, an ample reward." 64  "And entice whomever of them you can with your voice, and rally against them your cavalry and your infantry, and share with them in wealth and children, and make promises to them." But Satan promises them nothing but delusion. 65  "As for My devotees, you have no authority over them." Your Lord is an adequate Guardian. 22:4  It was decreed for him, that whoever follows him-he will misguide him, and lead him to the torment of the Blaze. 24:21  O you who believe! Do not follow Satan's footsteps. Whoever follows Satan's footsteps-he advocates obscenity and immorality.... 26:221  Shall I inform you upon whom the devils descend? 222  They descend upon every sinful liar. 223  They give ear, and most of them are liars. 34:20  Satan was correct in his assessment of them. They followed him, except for a group of believers. 21  He had no authority over them; except that We willed to distinguish him who believes in the Hereafter, from him who is doubtful about it. Your Lord is Guardian over all things.  41 ...In fact, they used to worship the jinn, and most of them had faith in them." 38:82  He said, "By Your majesty, I will seduce them all. 83  Except for your loyal servants among them." 84  He said, "The truth is, and I say the truth. 85  I will fill Hell with you, and with every one of them who follows you." 59:16  Like the devil, when he says to the human being, "Disbelieve." But when he has disbelieved, he says, "I am innocent of you; I fear God, the Lord of the Worlds."


all of God's creatures are His servants
16: 68  And your Lord inspired the bee: "Set up hives in the mountains, and in the trees, and in what they construct." 69  Then eat of all the fruits, and go along the pathways of your Lord, with precision...

Don't attach your self to temporary things; give freely from what you have been given

17:100 Say, "If you possessed the treasuries of my Lord's mercy, you would have withheld them for fear of spending." The human being has always been stingy  47:38  Here you are, being called to spend in the cause of God. Among you are those who withhold; but whoever withholds is withholding against his own soul. God is the Rich, while you are the needy. And if you turn away, He will replace you with another people, and they will not be like you 64:16  So be conscious of God as much as you can, and listen, and obey, and give for your own good. He who is protected from his stinginess-these are the prosperous.

Those misguided like to judge who is guided and who is not
18:104  "Those whose efforts in this world are misguided, while they assume that they are doing well." 20:135  Say, "Everybody is waiting, so wait. You will know who the people of the straight path are, and who is rightly-guided. 38:62  And they will say, "What is it with us that we do not see men we used to count among the wicked?


God's love
19:96  Those who believe and do righteous deeds, the Most Merciful will give them love

Speak well, even to tyrants
20:43  Go to Pharaoh. He has tyrannized. 44  But speak to him nicely. Perhaps he will remember, or have some fear."  41:34  Good and evil are not equal. Repel evil with good, and the person who was your enemy becomes like an intimate friend

Be patient
21:37  The human being was created of haste. I will show you My signs, so do not seek to rush Me.  103:1  By Time. ... recommend patience.

Chose your friends wisely

25:28  Oh, woe to me; I wish I never took so-and-so for a friend. 29  He led me away from the Message after it had come to me; for Satan has always been a betrayer of man."

Those who have been humbled low with nothing to lose can more easily accept the truth
26:111  They said, "Shall we believe in you, when it is the lowliest who follow you?"

God is a witness of everything you say; don't you see how He recorded every word spoken by those in the past
28:28  He said, "Let this be an agreement between you and me. Whichever of the two terms I fulfill, there shall be no reprisal against me; and God is witness over what we say."

God guides with light those who strive to do good
29:69  As for those who strive for Us-We will guide them in Our ways. God is with the doers of good.  31:16  ...even if it were the weight of a mustard-seed, in a rock, or in the heavens, or on earth, God will bring it to light. God is Kind and Expert. 22  Whoever submits himself wholly to God, and is a doer of good, has grasped the most trustworthy handle. With God rests the outcome of all events. 42:52  We thus inspired you spiritually, by Our command. You did not know what the Scripture is, nor what faith is, but We made it a light, with which We guide whomever We will of Our servants. You surely guide to a straight path

A little can stretch far if God wills, and a lot can suffice none if God wills
30:37  Do they not see that God expands the provision for whomever He wills, or restricts it? Surely in this are signs for people who believe

Love for the Prophet's family (as) is more than love for his companions (ra)
33:6 ... And blood-relatives are closer to one another in God's Book than the believers or the emigrants, though you should do good to your friends. That is inscribed in the Book.  53  ... You must never offend the Messenger of God, nor must you ever marry his wives after him, for that would be an enormity with God. 42:23 ..."I ask of you no wage for it, except affection among the near of kin." ...


When you work; work well
34:11  "Make coats of armor, and measure the links well; and work righteousness. I am Observant of everything you do."

We all make mistakes eventually but the Most Forbearing waits to see who will seek His forgiveness
35:45  If God were to punish the people for what they have earned, He would not leave a single living creature on its surface. But He defers them until a stated time. Then, when their time has arrived-God is Observant of His creatures

God creates everything; be it directly or indirectly; even if it is via our own two hands!
37:96  When God created you, and what you manufacture?"

Creation is not random and meaningless
39:5  He created the heavens and the earth with reason. He wraps the night around the day, and He wraps the day around the night. And He regulates the sun and the moon, each running along a specific course. He is indeed the Almighty, the Forgiver.

Pray in times of ease; not just in times of hardship

41:51  When We provide comfort for the human being, he withdraws and distances himself; but when adversity befalls him, he starts lengthy prayers.

Description of the believers and followers of God's Messenger (saas)
48:29  Muhammad is the Messenger of God. Those with him are stern against the disbelievers, yet compassionate amongst themselves. You see them kneeling, prostrating, seeking blessings from God and approval. Their marks are on their faces from the effects of prostration. Such is their description in the Torah, and their description in the Gospel: like a plant that sprouts, becomes strong, grows thick, and rests on its stem, impressing the farmers. Through them He enrages the disbelievers. God has promised those among them who believe and do good deeds forgiveness and a great reward

Qualities of a good wife
66:5  Perhaps, if he divorces you, his Lord will give him in exchange wives better than you: submissive, believing, obedient, penitent, devout, fasting-previously married, or virgins.

God sends each of us signs personally to increase our belief in Him
93  And say, "Praise belongs to God; He will show you His signs, and you will recognize them. Your Lord is not heedless of what you do."

Another Similarity between Moses (as) and Muhammad (saas)

27:10  Throw down your staff." But when he saw it quivering, as though it were a demon, he turned around not looking back. "O Moses, do not fear; the messengers do not fear in My presence


Both assumed a demon was revealing to them first - - rather than assuming it was from God as many so naively do

Where is God?

27:8  Then, when he reached it, he was called: "Blessed is He who is within the fire, and He who is around it, and glorified be God, Lord of the Worlds. 9  O Moses, it is I, God, the Almighty, the Wise.

In and around His creation
Panentheism

Summary of ego

Egohood is the source of Satan's sin
38:73  So the angels fell prostrate, all of them. 74  Except for Satan. He was too proud, and one of the faithless. 75  He said, "O Satan, what prevented you from prostrating before what I created with My Own hands? Are you too proud, or were you one of the exalted?" 76  He said, "I am better than he; You created me from fire, and You created him from clay." 

Ego is the source of disbelief and sin
40:60  Your Lord has said, "Pray to Me, and I will respond to you. But those who are too proud to worship Me will enter Hell forcibly."
75:31  He neither believed nor prayed. 32  But he denied and turned away. 33  Then he went to his family, full of pride.

Ego is the source of belief in falsehood
53:23  These are nothing but names, which you have devised, you and your ancestors, for which God sent down no authority. They follow nothing but assumptions, and what the ego desires, even though guidance has come to them from their Lord.

إِن ضَلَلْتُ فَإِنَّمَا أَضِلُّ عَلَى نَفْسِي

34:50 ..."If I err, I err only on my own (lit: my self / ego)

Which is worse; Satan who commands or your Ego who obeys?
14:22  And Satan will say, when the issue is settled, "God has promised you the promise of truth, and I promised you, but I failed you. I had no authority over you, except that I called you, and you answered me. So do not blame me, but blame your selves (egos). I cannot come to your aid, nor can you come to my aid. I reject your associating with me in the past. The wrongdoers will have a torment most painful."

So what is the ego? our ego is a mental mask we put up as a defence mechanism; an illusion that our mind creates to filter out the rawness of reality;

But we must let go of this ego mask because ultimately it is falsehood; a darkening veil that prevents us from accepting the light of Truth as it is;

22:62  That is because God is the Reality, and what they invoke besides Him is vanity, and because God is the Sublime, the Grand. 31:30  That is because God is the Reality, and what they worship besides Him is falsehood, and because God is the Exalted, the Supreme. 31:33  ...do not let this life deceive you, nor let illusions deceive you regarding God.  40:35  .... Thus God seals the heart of every proud bully

When we die and are resurrected we will wake up from this false state we are in.

27:87  On the Day when the Trumpet is blown, ... everyone will come before Him in humility. 57:14  They will call to them, "Were we not with you?" They will say, "Yes, but you cheated your souls, and waited, and doubted, and became deluded by wishful thinking, until the command of God arrived; and arrogance deceived you regarding God."

but is there any way to wake up before we die? to be awakened; to be enlightened; To live without an ego? To live a selfless life?

Yes; but... to completely unveil means to become completley naked; defenceless to the harsh, raw realities around us; to see the unfiltered Truth . So we must put our trust completely and fully in God; and not rely on our selves / egos any longer.

But that is scary and unpredictable. we must move out of our comfort zones and accept constant change. most of us will resist that. After all; ignorance is bliss and its easier to close our eyes and hide under the covers. 

Thats why life tests are painful; they rip the cover off us and temporarily expose us to the cold; these situations force us out of our comfort zones; they unmask our ego and humble us - and that is why life tests actually purify us; they cleanse us like a fire cleanses impurities from gold

23:75  Even if We had mercy on them, and relieved their problems, they would still blindly persist in their defiance. 76  We have already gripped them with suffering, but they did not surrender to their Lord, nor did they humble themselves.

But can't we just take off our own mental masks? Like a self-cleansing?

87:14  Successful is he who purifies himself.  91:7  And the soul ...9  Successful is he who purifies it.

Can't we think them away?  Unfortunately the ego is a tricky mistress.  The more we use thoughts to fight it, the stronger it becomes.  The ego is a mental illusion after all and built from thought.  Many false awakenings have happened this way; whereby people's egos have become inflated by believing they are awakened, egoless, enlightened masters.

Rather than resist our egos with thoughts; we surrender our selves / egos; we give up thoughts.  Notice that ego is not present in small children or animals.  An ego exists in humans because it requires at least two things to exist; 1) a memory to re-enforce the mental illusion, and 2) self-awareness to observe it.  If we didn't have a memory we couldn't have an ego.

29:41  The likeness of those who take to themselves protectors other than God is that of the spider. It builds a house. But the most fragile of houses is the spider's house. If they only knew.

Or alternatively we could stop observing our own thoughts; stop projecting our memories onto the world, stop projecting our future plans, stop creating false hopes and expectations, stop following your desires, opinions and biases;

53:3  Nor does he speak out of desire.
53:24  Or is the human being to have whatever he desires?
54:3  They lied, and followed their opinions...

simply stop observing our thoughts so that we can simply observe the present moment around us without any mental filter; we are just present in the now. 

The more we do that; the weaker our ego becomes until we forget we have one; and then it's gone! We forget our selves / egos.

Wali /mawla

Friend [Waly / mawla]

Testimony of faith is taken by God Himself

3:18  God bears witness that there is no god but He, as do the angels, and those endowed with knowledge-upholding justice. There is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise.

cause of splits / sects

3:19  Religion with God is Islam. Those to whom the Scripture was given differed only after knowledge came to them, out of envy among themselves. Whoever rejects the signs of God-God is quick to take account.

slip of scholars

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd said one day,
“Let no one among you declare ‘I am a believer,’ for if he declares that he is a believer, he declares that he will enter Paradise, and whoever claims that he will enter Paradise will enter Hell.”

Then Yazīd ibn ʿAmr remarked,
“Muʿādh warned us about such as you.”

Ibn Masʿūd asked,
“What did Muʿādh say?”

Yazīd replied,
“He said, ‘Satan will put a word in the utterances of a wise man, and he will speak it, but do not convey it to others. Beware of the slip of the wise man.’”

Yazīd added,
“I asked Muʿādh, ‘How am I to know when that occurs?’
Muʿādh replied, ‘The truth is illuminated by a light.’”

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd did not answer him and, subsequently, would treat Yazīd with honor whenever he visited.

[Al-Bayhaqī, al-Sunan al-kubrā, 11 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 2003), 10: 116]

shirk of scholars

God said, «They adopted their rabbis and their monks as lords instead of God!» 84 They have related that ʿAdī ibn Ḥātim recounted, “When I converted to Islam, I came before the Prophet, God bless him, and he saw a cross of gold on my neck. He said to me, ‘Cast off that idol from your neck.’ Then he began reciting the Sūrah of the Ultimatum85 and continued until he reached God’s word, «They adopted their rabbis and their monks as lords instead of God.» 86 I broke in, ‘O Messenger of God, we did not worship them.’ He posed the question, ‘Did they not declare things permitted for you or forbidden to you, and did you not consider what they had permitted or forbidden to be so?’ ‘Yes, certainly,’ I responded. ‘So that was worshiping them,’ he said.” 87 Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, God’s blessings be upon him, recited this verse, then said, “The Jews and Christians did not pray to them, nor did they fast for them, but the rabbis and monks made forbidden things lawful for them, and they considered them lawful, and made lawful things forbidden for them, and they considered them forbidden, so that, in this way, they became their lords.” Among such reports, and similar to them, is the statement of the Prophet, “Indeed you will tread the path of the nations before you, as much as one sandal resembles its mate, or an arrow-feather its match. Even if they entered a lizard’s lair, likewise you too would enter it.” It has been related from ʿAlī, God’s blessings upon him, that he said, “The least thing by which a man may be a polytheist is that he adopt something as his faith and claim that God commanded it, when God did not command it, but rather another besides God commanded it. He would then be worshiping the one who claims that God commanded this, who is other than God and thus would be attributing a partner to God.” Then ʿAlī, peace be upon him, said, “Polytheism can be even harder to see than a black speck on a black surface on a dark night,” and he recited God’s word, «Most of them do not believe in God without attributing partners to Him.»

people of knowledge ['ilm] vs people of understanding [fiqh]

A man of knowledge

with a hidden agenda

preaches to you the following:

"all men are better than women!"

he then presents his supporting evidence:

A wise man once said:

"A woman without her man is nothing"

[authentic chain of narrators]

You check what the man of knowledge (i.e. a scholar) said

and find that what he quoted was really said by the wise man

and so you start doubting the way and 'wisdom' of the wise man

Then you meet a man of understanding (i.e. a wise scholar)

and he explains what you missed from the words of the wise man

he says the wise man actually said it like this:

"A woman:

without her,

man is nothing"

moral of the story:

Even if we have some facts, proofs & evidences

it does not mean we have the correct understanding

fiqh terms

legal jurisprudence (fiqh)

legal interpretation (ijtihād):
arbitrary adoption of views on authority (taqlīd),
consensus (ijmāʿ),
speculative reasoning (naẓar),
analogy (qiyās),
preference (istiḥsān),
inference (istidlāl),

prophets saas mercy and widsom in teaching

It is narrated on the authority of Mu‘awiya bin al-Hakim as-Salimi: I prayed with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, and a man sneezed. I said: ―May Allah show you mercy‖ (yarhamukullah). The people cast their glances towards me. I said: ―May your mother lose her child! What are you looking at?!‖ I continued to pray. They began slapping their thighs with their hands to silence me. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, completed his prayer. I swear by my father and mother, I noticed that before then and afterwards, there was no one who was the best at teaching than him! By Allah, he never tore into me, insulted me, nor struck me! However, he said: ((Whenever we pray, it is not valid for one to say something from human speech. Rather, the prayer is glorification, praise, and recitation of the Qur‘ān))88.
Footnotes:
88 Also transmitted in Sahīh Muslim, As-Sunan Abi Dawūd, Musnad Ahmed, Sunan ad-Dārimi, Sunan an-Nisā‘i, al-Musannaf of Ibn Abi Shayba, Kanz al-Ummāl, Al-Mu’jam al-Kabīr, As-Sunan al-Kubra and Sahīh Ibn Hibbān

dinner with prince charles

i dreamt that we were all at an outdoor location
near the river
somewhere in the UK I suppose
which had been made to look very nice
and everyone who was there were in their best clothes
because they were all expecting prince Charles for dinner
I was there
and I remember how pretentious everyone was being
how well behaved they had to act
so then prince Charles came
dressed in his navy blue parade dress
he seemed older than Id imagined
but very friendly
and he gave a few speeches
there were no body guards
no huge crowds
there were probably less than fifty of us there in total
closed event
private party
like a special guest appearance
I couldn't remember what he was saying
but he seemed alright with me - a few direct eye contact
very casual or personal interactions
considering he is a royal
I kept thinking
how could this be the same guy who cheated on princess Diana
he seems like such a decent man

Present

The present
Of being present
In the present
Is His presence

The present (or gift)
Of being present (egoless..aware..awake....enlightened..seeing it as it is...not as I think it is)
In the present (the now..not the past or future)
Is (the realisation that we are in )His presence (i.e. mindfulness [taqwa])

true love

True love… is self-less.

Giving ….without expecting anything in return.

such a love (if one possessed it)

could even be given to those who wrong or hate you

since your giving would not be based on reciprocation

(i.e. unaffected by whatever they gave you back in return…or didn't….or took)

If you want to see this selfless love

look at a mother with her child

God’s Messenger (saas) said,

"Your mother carried you for nine months in her womb, than gave you birth. After that she gave up her sleep for your sleep, suckled you, carried you in her arms, and cleaned you. For years she cooked for you, fed you, and served you food. She did your laundry. When you were forty, fifty, sixty, she still followed your progress with interest. Your father sowed you in your mother's womb, provided your food, and made sure you had clothes to wear. Can this be compared with your mother's role?"

…

Someone said:

"Well, I wonder if I could ever repay my mother for all the help and service, however much I might do for her?

God’s Messenger (saas) said:

"You could not repay so much as one night's due!"

"But suppose I carry my mother on my back for years, clean up after her, cook for her, and feed her. Suppose I attend to those same services as long as she may live?"

"There will still be this difference between you: your mother looked out for you to live, while you are waiting for her to die."

It doesn't mean love EVERYONE who hates you

But

True Love would be given EVEN if the person you CHOSE to give it to hates you

Cos it's not dependent on them at all...its not about getting anything in return

Like a mother's love for her child

If a child hates her mother

And causes her pain etc 

She still loves them

🌷

And now remember
God loves us more than a mother loves her child
and He nurtures and provides for us without hoping for payment
In fact, He offers to pay us - to reward us - so long as we do whats best for humanity and ourselves

If we love Him
then we should still love Him
even if He revealed that there was no such thing as paradise and hell
and that after death we would cease to exist
we should still love HIm
just because
He is Allah
our Nurturing Lord

Reading list

self improvement

Ingredients to grow an ego

1) Self-awareness (when you are aware of your thoughts, you start to notice certain patterns. In reality, these patterns come and go and easily change over time. However, a collection of patterns gives the illusion of a specific personality. Once we label this specific set of personality thought patterns, we tie them together as a single imaginary entity and the illusionary EGO is born)
2) Memory (if we remember these personality thought patterns and the label we have given it, then continually reaffirm it in our minds, the illusion slowly solidifies. Our thought patterns become rigid and unchanging.  Closed minded.  The EGO - an imaginary internal entity - became more real to us than the external entities we observe in the outside world.  We believe "we" are a specific, fixed personality, rather than a collection of thoughts with certain patterns appearing and disappearing as we learn new things) 

ego and AI

is the ego an unwanted side-effect of being self-aware?  (yes - ego is a sense of self - the very definition of self-awareness)

can someone without a memory have an ego? (no - memory helps to solidify the ego in our minds)

how to break the ego

if there's something beneficial
that you don't want to do
then do it!

Don't try to rationalise it to your'self/ego'
just free yourself of your'self/ego'
surrender your'self/ego'
let your guard down
and be naked
just let go!
just do it

dream of donald trump

I dreamt we met Donald Trump
in his white house
and he was being personal with us - friendly almost
and he was asking how much we got paid
and we said
then we asked him
and it made ours look like pennies compare to his hourly salary

At the end of the dream
a voice said
the Mahdi is coming soon
because the pair of jewels has been found
in a cave
in Iraq
and I saw an image of the pair of jewels
like two cherries connected by a stalk
and it was made of precious stone

then I woke up

row your boat

row, row, row your boat
gently down the stream
merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
life is but a dream

Meaning:
row, row, row (i.e. continually work righteous good deeds)
your boat (i.e. your life)
gently (i.e. not to extremes but according to a middle-way)
down the stream (of time)
merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily (i.e. enjoy life while you work)
life is but a dream (this is the only literal part!  "we are all asleep, and when we die, we wake up")

 Sufyan l-thawri said: Had this hadith been khayr (good) it would have decreased as the good decreases, but it is evil, so it increases as the evil increases

Quran vs hadith

The Messenger of Allah (saas) saying:
“You will be confronted with a multiplying number of traditions after me. Therefore, when a hadith is narrated to you, compare it with the Book of Allah; accept that which agrees with it and reject that which contradicts it.

Most trusted Hadith Narrators from among the companions

Those who were responsible for issuing fatwa (verdict) during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, being three from among the Emigrants (Muhajiran): Umar, Uthman and Ali, and three from among the Helpers (Ansar): Ubayy ibn Ka’b, Mu’adh ibn Jabal and Zayd ibn Thabit.

 At any time any issue happening to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq needing consultation with sagacious people, he would summon some men from al Muhajirun: Umar, Uthman and Ali and some from among the Ansar as Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, Mu’adh ibn Jabal, Ubayy ibn Ka’b and Zayd ibn Thabit. All these men were able to issue verdicts in religious issues during the caliphate of Abu Bakr, who kept on this procedure for a time. And when Umar attained to power, he used to call in these men for consultation.

 the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (S), and discovered that all their knowledge ended with six people: Umar, Ali, Abd Allah, Mu’adh,82 Abu al-Darda’ and Zayd ibn Thabit, and then nosed about the news of these six, finding their knowledge be originated from Ali and Abd Allah.83

• Ali
• Abdu l-lah
• Umar
• Uthman
• Ubayy b. Ka'b
• Mu'adh b. Jabal
• Zayd b. Thabit
• Abdu l-Rahman b. Awf
• Abu l-Darda

chivalry [futuwwa]

Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq was once asked by the famous mystic Shaqiq al-Balkhi to describe what chivalry was [Ar. futuwwa].  So Imam Ja’far asked him back, “Well, what do you think it is?”  Shaqiq replied, “If we are given [favors or gifts from someone] we thank them, and if we are not given [anything], we remain patient.”
“Even the dogs here in Madina do that!” Imam Ja’far exclaimed.  Then Shaqiq asked, “O son of the Messenger of Allah [peace and blessings of Allah be upon him], then what is chivalry to you all [of the Prophetic household]?”
Imam Ja’far replied: “If we are given, we show appreciation… but if we are not given anything, we still thank them.”  [Imam al-Qushayri, al-Risala]

sometimes He (swt) selected an individual, sometimes He (swt) selected a family

3:33
It is God (swt) who chose,
Adam and Noah
and Abraham's family and Amram's family
over (all) the Worlds,

who is he?

who is he? 

he is a martyr (as)
son of a martyr (as)
son of a martyr (as)

he is...


Zayd (as) - killed in battle
b. 'Ali Zaynu l-'abideen (as) - poisoned
b. l-Hussayn (as) - killed in battle
b. 'Ali (as) - killed in prayer

Relate less hadith - act on them more instead

Umar used to say: Decrease number of traditions you report from the Messenger of Allah except those that can be applied in life

encouraging the sunnah

The Book being decisive and asserted, while the Sunnah is doubtful. And affirming it (Sunnah) is valid only in its generalities not the details, on the contrary of the Book which is established in general and in details.

literaliist salafi scholars

scholars have never approved of every hadith reported in the Sunnah books,
This verily being a common fact known for men of discernment
with no disagreement between even two scholars,
except for the Hashwiyyah
who believe in all the traditions narrated to them whether being correct or incorrect,
as long as their chain (sanad) be established in their viewpoint

life of the ego

You
You and family
You and family and me
family and me
me
me and You
You and me
You and me and family
You and family and me
You and family
You

Life and Death of the Ego

Life and Death of the Ego

God

(as a BABY there is nothing in our world but Him)

God and I

(as a TODDLER our sense of self develops and we think we are separate from Him)

Me and God

(as a CHILD our sense of self dominates our thoughts as we interact with the world. we lose sight of Him as we learn to be more independent)

Me!

(as a TEENAGER we forget about Him and become completely self-absorbed)

Me and God

(as a YOUNG ADULT we are reminded about Him from events around us)

God and I

(as an ADULT He becomes more than a theoretical concept. He becomes personal. He becomes more beloved to us than our own selves)

God

(as an OLD MAN we finally remember that the self was nothing but an illusion, and there was only ever Him)

Biographies of sahabah

Scholars of hadith use a variety of related sciences in their quest for identifying the authentic narrations of the Prophet Muhammad (s). A key one is the science of men or ‘ilm al-rijal that allows them to sift through the biographical data on a specific narrator and determine both his or her credibility and also whether he or she met with (or had the possibility of meeting) people above and below in any given isnad or chain of narration.

So for instance, a very famous hadith recorded in Imam Malik’s Muwatta’ says

• From Malik that he heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “I have left two matters with you. As long as you hold on to them, you will not go the wrong way. They are the Book of Alláh and the Sunna of His Prophet.”
  
  Source: al-Muwatta’, Malik b. Anas, Kitab al-Jami’ in the section called “alnahiy ‘an al-qawl bi al-qadar ”.

Unlike most other narrations in the Muwatta’, this one has Imam Malik narrating without any intermediaries directly from the Prophet (s). So a hadith scholar would not take this as reliable, despite his comfort with Malik b. Anas himself as a reliable person, and would look for other versions that have a full and uninterrupted chain of narration.

Now when you do find such versions and research the narrators, you realise that the unmentioned narrators are not reliable, rendering no isnad for this hadith as reliable.

This science of men, under Sunni scholarship, does not include an assessment on the Companion in the isnad. However, a knowledge of the life of the Companions and who their students were, the tabi’un, was a very important part of determining the authenticity of what may have been attributed to them.

For that purpose, biographical dictionaries were written that aimed to collect all the data available to the compiler on each Companion. I mention some of the famous ones below:

• al-Isaba fi Tamyiz al-Sahaba - Ibn Hajar al-’Asqalani
• al-Isti’ab fi Ma’rifat al-’Ashab - Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr al-Nimari
• Usd al-Ghaba fi Ma’rifat al-Sahaba - Ibn al-’Athir al-Jazari

In actual fact, a researcher will probably want to look at each of these as well as various other historical and biographical works that are not exclusive to the Companions, for instance Kitab al-Tabaqat of Ibn Sa’d that is available in English, and the history of al-Tabari, the Ta’rikh al-rusul wa’l-muluk, that is also available in English in its entirety, and the Ta’rikh al-khulafa’ of al-Suyuti (also translated) primarily covers the first four caliphs.

Beyond these texts, and once we start to consider the lives of the tabi’un and the scholars after them, they were not immune from scrutiny by Sunni muhaddithun and so books of rijal would pass judgement on them, or, share any mixed opinions from earlier rijal scholars.

There are quite a few books such as al-Dhahabi’s Mizan al-I’tidal and even books focusing on weak and rejected narrators such as al-’Uqayli’s Kitab al-Du’afa. None in English as far as I know.

If you can handle Arabic, a great book for researching hadith narrators is al-Mizzi’s Tahdhib al-Kamal. It is very easy to navigate and quite comprehensive.

As far as the origins of this science, one example of an early scholar who was regarded highly for ‘ilm al-rijal was Yahya b. Ma’in, another that comes to mind is Ibn al-Madini, I believe both were a little earlier to al-Bukhari though they may have overlapped. Al-Bukhari was certainly not the first to practice ‘ilm al-rijal and, as I have stated above, he did not scrutinise any Companions either, consistent with his outlook. The science of men for the Sunni scholars was exclusively for the Successors and those who followed them.

For those interested in this fascinating area of Islamic studies, I recommend Studies in Hadith Methodology and Literature by Muhammad Mustafa al-A’zami and Lights on the Muhammadan Sunnah by Shaykh Mahmud Abu Rayyah.

is "the green (man) [l-khidr]" Andreas The Cook of Alexander in The Greek Alexander's Romance?

The Romance reflects Alexander’s metamorphosis in legend from a consummate general to a sage and beloved of God

 39...We came to a place where there was a clear spring, whose water flashed like lightning, and some other streams besides. The air in this place was very fragrant and less dark than before. I was hungry and wanted some bread, so I called the cook Andreas by name and said, “Prepare some food for us.” He took a dried fish and waded into the clear water of the spring to wash it. As soon as it was dipped in the water, it came to life and leapt out of the cook’s hands. He was frightened, and did not tell me what had happened; instead, he drank some of the water himself, and scooped some up in a silver vessel and kept it. The whole place was abounding in water, and we drank of its various streams. Alas for my misfortune, that it was not fated for me to drink of the spring of immortality, which gives life to what is dead, as my cook was fortunate enough to do

41... ‘After we had re-emerged, the cook told us what had happened at the spring. I was consumed with misery when I heard it, and punished him severely. But then I said to myself, “What use is it, Alexander, to regret what is past?” I did not of course know that he had drunk some of the water, or that he had kept some of it. He had not admitted this, but only how the dried fish had come to life again. But then the cook went to my daughter Kale,87 whom one of my concubines, Unna, had borne to me, and promised to give her some of the water of immortality; which he did. When I heard of this, I will admit, I envied them their immortality. I called my daughter to me and said, “Take your luggage and leave my sight. You have become an immortal spirit, and you shall be called Neraida because you have obtained immortality from the water.”88 [Then I ordered her henceforth to live no longer among men but in the mountains.] She left my presence weeping and wailing, and went to live with the spirits in the desert places. As for the cook, I ordered that he have a millstone tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea. He thereupon became a spirit himself and went away to live in a corner of the sea, which is called Andreas after him.


Conclusion - although there are interesting parallels - Andreas the Cook can't be l-Khidr, for a simple reason.  l-Khidr met Moses [Musa] a.s.  and Moses [Musa] a.s. was alive many centuries before Alexander the Great and his cook. 

Religious fanatics

Religious fanatics, on the other hand, are always trying to live up to some model of how it all is supposed to be.
They try to win people over by coming on very strong and frantic,
as though they were completely pure and good.

Ego in Qur'an

Story of Iblis - all about Ego
Story of al-khidr - about The Questioning Ego, not surrendering / letting down defences
Surah 'Alaq - Man thinks himself self-sufficient...
Pharaoh, etc - Ego

sunnah vs hadith - teaching vs rote learning

dealt with people simply, openly and very wisely.

The teachings are not passed along as information,
handed down as a grandfather tells traditional folk tales to 'his grandchildren
knowledge is not handed down like an antique

We must work with our individual experiences.
When we become confused,
we cannot turn back to our collection of knowledge and try to find some confirmation or consolation:

The problem is that we can interpret them (written teachings) ourselves.
written teachings are always open to the interpretation of ego

It is not enough to imitate your master or teacher;
you are not trying to become a replica of your teacher.
The teachings are an individual, personal experience,
right down to the present holder of the doctrine

one teacher experiences the truth of the teachings,
and he hands it down as inspiration to his student.
That inspiration awakens the student, as his teacher was awakened before him.
Then the student hands down the teachings to another student
and so the process goes.

The teachings have the quality of warm, fresh baked bread;
the bread is still warm and hot and fresh.
Each baker must apply the general knowledge of how to make bread to his particular dough and oven.
Then he must personally experience the freshness of this bread and must cut it fresh and eat it warm.
He must make the teachings his own and then must practice them.
It is a very living process.

it is essential to relate to yourself,
to your own experience,
If one does not relate to oneself,
then it becomes purely external entertainment,
rather than an organic personal experience

Enlightenment / awake

Asleep:
Unaware of God's existence. Believe that they are independent beings.

Waking up / remembering :
dimly aware of their own existence as distinct from God's.

Awake / enlightened:
beings are overwhelmed by the Divine Light and are unaware of their own existence'

Seeing the Unseen

...with God's name [bi-smi-l-lah(i)]

The Cherishing Cherisher [l-rahmaani l-raheem(i)]

Maker of the skies and the earth [faatiru l-samawaati wa-l-ard(i)]

Knower of the unseen and the seen ['aalimu l-ghaybi wa-l-shahaada(ti)]

Nurturing-Lord of every thing and His angels [rabbi kulli shay'in wa-maleeku-h(u)]

I testify that (there's) no god but You [ash'hadu an la ilaha illa ant(a)]

Alone; You have no partner [wahdu-ka la shareeka la-k(a)]

and I testify that Muhammad [wa-sh'hadu anna Muhammada(n)]

is Your servant and Your messenger ['abdu-k wa-rasoulu-k]

God's greetings (be) on him [salla l-lahu 'alay-h(i)]

and his family and companions [wa-ahli-hi wa-sahbi-h(i)]

and peace [wa-sallim(u)]

I'm taking refuge with God [a'udhu bi-l-lah(i)]

from the evil of my ego [min sharri nafsi-y]

and the evil of satan [wa-sharri shaytan(i)]

and his polytheism [wa-shirki-h(i)]

(There's) no mental or physical strength [la hawla wa-la quwwa(ta)]

except with God the High and Mighty [illa bi-l-lahi l-'aliyu l-'adheem(i)]

Your Question:

If angels can't be seen by our eyes, then with modified vision so that we can see all kinds of light, will we also be able to see angels?

My Answer:

Your assumption is that angels and angelic beings are created of a light which is identical to the light we see in this physical, materialistic world [l-dunya] (which literally translates to “the lowest (world)”). You have probably heard one of God’s names: “Nurturing-Lord of the Worlds [rabbu l-’alameen]” - notice how WorldS is plural (a minimum of three worlds by the way the word is pluralised in arabic). This indicates that, aside from the “seen” (physical, materialstic) world, there are at least two other “unseen” (non-materialistic, non-physical) worlds. (Some call them mental, astral, spiritual worlds, etc). You may have heard of the Islamic belief of the trials in the grave (l-barzakh) which occurs after you die and before you are resurrected for judgement in the afterlife. You may also have heard of the Islamic belief that some people (martyrs, prophets, etc) are currently alive in their graves - even though we can “see” that their physical bodies are dead.  If you only believe in the physical, materialistic world [l-dunya], then these beliefs can be hard to fathom.

So, to answer your question. I believe that just as we cannot “see” our souls with our two eyes (which are designed to sense a small spectrum of light in the physical, materialistic world), we also cannot “see” other “unseen” (non-physical) creatures (e.g. demons, angels, l-buraq, etc).

You may then ask, how is it then that some people “saw” such creatures? - Some might say the creatures themselves reveal themselves in our physical world (which is confirmed in numerous prophetic narrations). However, is that the only way?

The human being is not a purely physical, materialistic being (a body). We have a mind which creates thoughts which exist within our ‘heads’ (or in a mental world) that is not part of the physical, material world.  Furthermore, we have a non-physical, non-materialistic soul. This part of us belongs to the “unseen” world (in fact, this part of us IS us, and our body is a vessel we use to interact in the physical, materialistic world).  So, does our soul have sensors (eyes, ears, touch, etc) to perceive the non-physical world (just as our body has sensors to perceive the physical world).  There are those who say yes (as I say too)- but that is for you to research and decide for yourself.  Such non-physical, non-materialistic sensors are known as: clairvoyance (extra sensory vision), Clairsentience (extra sensory touch), Clairaudience (extra sensory hearing), etc.  (You may have also come across the popularised term the “3rd” eye). 

Anyway, the belief in the unseen (like angels) is a mandatory part of the Islamic belief system. However, the “how”, is not.  Many discourage delving into such “other-worldly” topics as they are near impossible to prove and open the door for speculation and misguidance.  Non-the-less, I hope this has shed some ‘light’ on your question (excuse the pun).

Thank God [l-hamdu li-lah(i)]

Nurturing-Lord of the (seen and unseen) Worlds [rabbi l-'alameen(i)]

Disclaimer:

I'm no scholar!

nor even a specialist

I'm but an ordinary man;

a son, brother, husband and father.

Even if my answers contain proofs

from The-Recitation (of God) [l-Qur'an]

or The Prophetic-Example [l-Sunnah];

( authentic [sahih], strong [hasan]

or perhaps even weak [da'eef] )

1) any evidence out of context will be misleading

2) and sometimes meanings are lost in translation

Worlds

1) Material World [l-dunya] (= body)

• Physics, Chemistry, etc
• Medical
• Diet
• (hard) Physical exercise
• (external) martial arts
• (Chin na book)
• ...

2) Mental World (= mind [qalb])

• psychology, hypnosis, NLP, etc
• linguistics, Arabic, etc
• asceticism, seclusion, silence, meditation, etc
• left / west / male / fatherly / independent-details / mathematical-logical-symbolic mind / cool rationalising heart [lubb] - EGO [nafs]
• (Materialistic spiritualism book.  Power of now book)
• right / east / female / motherly / social-holistic / emotional-imaginative-creative mind / hot fiery heart [fu'ad] - LOVE
• (Muslim Jesus book. Ghazali books)
• ...

3) Spiritual World ( = soul [rouh])

• (soft) aerobic exercise, yoga, taichi, etc
• (Unlocking the energy gates book)
• (internal) martial arts
• (BA gua book)
• 3rd eye, lucid dreams, astral travelling, etc
• magic, demons, etc
• miracles, prophecies, etc
• ...

Islamic Psychology / Spiritualism

Chest [sadr] = skull / head

inside it is the
heart [qalb] = brain / mind

it has two sides:

Right (East* / Female-Motherly / Holistic) = hot-Fiery-heart [fu'ad] = Emotional-Imagery-Creative side of the brain
...in excess this can be bad since it leads to heedlessness and hastiness but it is also the much needed source of Love (and how else can you love God swt with all your "heart"?)
(teachings of Jesus ['eissa] a.s.)

Left (West* / Male-Fatherly / Specific Details) side= cool-rationalising-heart [lubb ..(i.e. "men of understanding-hearts" ahlu lbab)] = Mathemtical-Logical-Symbolic side of the brain. 
...this can be good since it is the much needed intellect ['aql] but it is the source of the overprotective, veiling Ego [nafs] (and how else can you know the Truth?)
(teachings of Buddha [dhu l-kifl] a.s.)

* The east (orient) also tends to be more metaphorical and mystical and caring in their psychology / explanation of events - corresponding to a dominant right (female) east side.    The more east you go (Asia) the more humble (lack of ego) and mystical or imagery they become.

* The west also tends to be more logical and intellectualy inclined as well as egotistical - corresponding to a dominant left (male) west side.  The more west you go (i.e. USA) the less mystical and more materialistic , egotistical and intellectual people are.

* This may explain why the chosen lands (Jerusalem, Mecca, Medina) have always been in the centre, geographically ..not too east not too west. Neither extreme is good. A balanced place because we must have a balanced mind. The middle path is the sunnah.

alcohol - spiritual side

"The good soul jettisons the body, staying connected to a tether, and a dark entity takes the body for a joy ride around the block, often in a hedonistic and self-serving illogical rampage. Our bodies are cars for spirits. If one leaves, another can take the car for a ride. Essentially when someone goes dark after drinking alcohol or polluting themselves in many other ways, their body often becomes possessed by another entity."
I became aware of this phenomenon years ago when I was given a spiritual vision. In this vision, I was transported as an observer above a popular bar and nightclub. Above the venue where a variety of ghoul-like entities. Inside the bar were people drinking alcohol, socializing, dancing, and so on. I watched as certain people became very drunk. I saw their souls, while connected through a thread, exited the body. I understood that the soul was leaving the body because of the great discomfort of being in a body highly intoxicated with alcohol. When the soul exited the body, other non-benevolent entities entered or latched on to their vacant shells. Once the entities took hold of the body, they used the body to play out all kinds of dark acts, such as violence, low-level sexual encounters, destructive behaviors, rape, and more.