This 3 part class will meet on Friday 4/29, Friday May 6th, and Thursday May 12th from 6pm to 7pm.

Description:

Of all the faculties man has been endowed with, none excels the heart in importance and nobility.

For the heart is both the seat of intelligence and understanding, and the locus of faith and spirituality; it is the quintessential faculty by which we as humans may come to know his creator, and seek nearness and intimacy with Him. The heart's spiritual sustenance lies in its being receptive to the effusions of divine grace and guidance, without which the veils that cover it will continue to corrupt its primordial purity, gradually rendering it dysfunctional.

Each veil- a metaphor for heedlessness, sins and distraction- that is melted away by the rays of faith and spiritual endeavor, allows vital qualities or such as love of Allah, as well as hope, fear, remembrance, and reliance upon Him, are referred to in the religious vocabulary as spiritual stations or "STEPS"; only when the heart embraces these stations is it said to be truly sound. The Majestic Qur'an informs:

'The day when wealth and sons avail not, save him who brings to Allah a heart that is sound.'

This short introduction, led by Irfaan Nooruddin, explains 7 of the main spiritual stations that the heart is required to embrace as part of its worship of Allah and its journeying to Him. Each class commences with a Quranic verses which highlights one of these spiritual stations; each stations is then explained in a clear, lucid style, seasoned with insights by some of the sages and spiritual masters from the early Muslims. The nature and brevity of this book is such that it may be regarded as a primer to the science of "suluk", ie "Wayfaring" or Muslim Spirituality. External Event Url
GW Hall of Government, Room 102
G.W. Burgerplein 102, 3021 AV Rotterdam, Netherlands