The Glimpse
THE GLIMPSE
The Inner Teaching of Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazzali’s
Mishkat al-Anwar (The Niche for Lights)
The Mishkat al-Alwar, an examination of the Light-Verse in the Koran and the symbolism of the Veils-Tradition, was written in the eleventh century by al-Ghazzali, a man of formidable intellect working in the Muslim tradition, who understood that spiritual realisation entailed making a jump from the limitations of the mind and sensory experience. Abdullah discusses the inner teaching of the Mishkat al-Anwar, explaining truths which are as relevant to twenty-first century man as to seekers a thousand years ago.
Read an excerpt - Page 77
80 pages Hardcover 190 x 120mm
ISBN 0-9597566-6-3 — $NZ 24.00 + p&p
Remembrance of God can be passive, as a memory of Him without direct acknowledgement … or active, as in prayer or repetition of God’s name. You may sit down and attempt to say a prayer in your head, and find another thought keeps popping in; this might make you irritated so you make a determined effort, you make it happen. Then something comes in, an energy which helps you to stop the associative thinking, your desires or whatever it may be. The key to the spiritual work of Sufis is remembrance, zikr.
There are always veils between you and God, separating you from the realisation of God. The key to removing the veils will come from your understanding. To realise God is one of your main aims, but you have to start at the beginning and try to understand God through self-remembrance. You try to remember your real self which is a part of God.
