Archive for August, 2022

Trust in God – Part 1

By • Aug 25th, 2022 • Category: Lectures, Quran Study

Session 23. Trust in God (Tawakkul /تَوَكُّل) is a hallmark of faith. In the eye of the Quran, Tawakkul is an essential ingredient of faith: if a person does not put her full trust in God in daily life, she would not have true faith. She may believe in the “idea” of God, but she would not have faith in God. Conceptually, Tawakkul is difficult to comprehend, and even more difficult to practice. The difficulty is partly due to the fact that there are no concrete activities associated with Tawakkul. Daily prayer, invocation, fasting… are concrete practices we call “religious acts”; however, there are no such activities associated with Tawakkul. And therein lies the problem. We will explore some of the Quran’s teachings on the nature and meaning of Tawakkul in this presentation.

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Philosophy of Du‘ā (دُعا) / supplication

By • Aug 3rd, 2022 • Category: Lectures, Quran Study

Session 22. Du‘ā (supplication) is a crucial component of all Abrahamic religions. Contrary to the ritual daily prayer (Salat), Du‘ā does not have any particular structure or rules; it can be done in any language, day or night. The ultimate aim of authentic religion is to enable us form a fellowship with God: Du‘ā serves that purpose. In Du‘ā, we share our needs, heartaches, longings and aspirations with God. When we do Du‘ā on regular basis- throughout the day-, we create an inner space that is full of God’s presence. In this presentation, we will explore the philosophy of Du‘ā according to the Holy Quran and Islam’s mystical tradition.

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