Islam and Sufism an introduction

link to a lecture on Jesus in Quran by Professor Timothy Winters (Abdullah Hakim Murad) of Cambridge University https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=AVXCsvFhKxM

A link to a lecture on Muslim-Christian view of each other by Professor Timothy Winters (Abdullah Hakim Murad) of Cambridge University given over 20 years ago.   https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=RZ_lXtzrEp0

A link to a lecture on scripture links between Judaism, Christianity and Islam by professor Timothy Winters ( Abdullah Hakim Murad) of Cambridge University given over 20 years ago.   https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=Mv_wKR9hoK4&t=996s

The Silk Road route  in the Hunza area of Pakistan. Here is a Balti man posing in the ceremonial attire.  The silk road brought prosperity to Muslim regions and China in the golden age of Islamic period (8th to 13th century).

O God free me/us free from envy, greed, inflated ego, selfishness, false pride and from bearing resentment and hate. May God fill our heart  with humility, gratitude, compassion, generosity, Knowledge, forgiveness, sense of fairness and justice, truth and other virtues.

Although the faith is built on 5 pillars, Yet, by God, the greatest pillar of those is fasting. But He has hidden in all the five the value of fasting, Just as the blessed Night of Night is hidden in fasting|.

He is the first, He is the last, He is the outward, He is the inward ; I know none other except "Ya Hu" [Yahweh] and "Ya man Hu" ["O He who is"]. I am intoxicated with Love's cup, the two worlds have passed out of my ken; I have no business save carouse and revelry. If once in my life I spent a moment without you, From that time and from that hour I repent of my life. If once in this world I win a moment with you, I will trample on both worlds, I will dance in triumph for ever. O Shamsi Tabriz, I am so drunken in this world, That except of drunkenness and revelry I have no tale to tell.

But hear an old man's words: the heart that's freed From gnawing passion and ambitious greed Looks on kings' treasures and the dust as one; The man who sells his brother, as you've done, For this same worthless dust, will never be Regarded as a child of purity. The world has seen so many men like you, And laid them low: there's nothing you can do But turn to God; take thought then for the way You travel, since it leads to Judgment Day.”  

The silk Road- The  route before it crosses over to China goes though a mountainous area of Pakistan. The area adjacent and the scrounging regions are beautiful. Here is a picture taken in Miadam in  Swat area of Pakistan.

A link to an explanation of "what is spirituality (about 5 minutes) by professor Sayyed Hasan Nasar of George Washington University who  is regarded as an authority on Sufism and Islam. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=X4JC4xH5xgs&t=131s

 A link to a lecture on five pillars of Islam given by Professor Timothy Winters (Abdullah Hakim Murad) of Cambridge University given over  20 years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=wXoLwyelxOg&t=746s

Pain is a treasure, for it contains mercies; The kernel is soft when the rind is scraped off. O brother, the place of darkness and cold Is the fountain of Life and the cup of ecstasy. So also is endurance of pain and sickness and disease. For from abasement proceeds exaltation. The spring seasons are hidden in the autumns,   If spiritual manifestations had been sufficient, The creation of the world had been needless and vain. If spiritual thought were equivalent to love of God, Outward forms of temples and prayers would not exist

A vista of the terrain that  the silk road traversed through the Gilgit-Baltistan area of Pakistan. The silk road brought prosperity to Muslim regions and China in the golden age of  period of Islam (8th to 13th century). I took this and other photographs that I have posted many years ago on our traveled in the northern areas of Pakistan.

A selection from Masnavi of Rumi. The Prophet said that God has declared, "I am not contained in aught above or below, I am not contained in earth or sky, or even In highest heaven. Know this for a surety, O beloved! Yet am I  contained in the believer's heart! If ye seek Me, search in such hearts

Here is a link to a You Tube lecture by professor Timothy Winters (also Abdullh Hakim Murad) of Cambridge on Muslim theology and Islamic mysticism given over 20 years ago. part 2 of 2.   https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ylx7bDbEA3U&feature= em-share_video_user

Here is a link to a You Tube lecture by professor Timothy Winters (also Abdullh Hakim Murad) of Cambridge on Muslim theology and Islamic mysticism part 1 of 2 given over 20 years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=CbvG4KffgSI&t=577s

The area adjacent to the Silk Road route and the surrounding region of Pakistan  is beautiful.  Here is a picture of a guest house in Miadam, in Swat that I took during our travels in the northern areas of Pakistan.

Alike for those who for TO-DAY prepare, And those that after a TO-MORROW stare, A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries "Fools! your Reward is neither Here nor There!"26

The Silk Road traveled through Gilgit-Baltistan area of Pakistan which is home to someone of the largest glaciers of the world outside of polar regions. To name a few, Baltora (about 67 km long) and Batura about 57km.  Here is a picture of conical mountain outcrops that  not far from the glacier.

The Silk Road was a trade route. It brought prosperity to both China and  Muslim regions in the golden age period of Islam (8th to 13th century). The silk road in Pakistan traveled through diverse land-forms and offered beautiful vistas to travelers. Here is a view from Karakorum Highway. The landscape  has its own beauty in its barrenness.

Myself when young did eagerly frequent Doctor(scholars) and Saint, and heard great Argument About it and about: but evermore Came out by the same Door as in I went. ---- With them the Seed of Wisdom did I sow, And with my own hand labored it to grow: And this was all the Harvest that I reaped--- "I came like Water, and like Wind I go."

The Silk Road traveled through a mountainous and the most beautiful part of Pakistan. Mount Everest the tallest (88000m) is shared by both Nepal and China. K2 in Pakistan at 8600m is the second tallest in the world. Pakistan is also home to several other peaks that are in 75500m and over range. Some peaks of Himalayas in India and China are also tall. By contrast the tallest mountain in the Alps(Switzerland) is 4500m, the Canadian Rockies 3700m and US Rockies 5500m. Many mountain peaks in the Andes of South America are in 6700 to 7000m range.

Nur ad-Din Abd Al Rahma Jamin   was born in 1414 in Jam and grew up in Herart (Afghanistan). He was a scholar of Islam, a poet and a Sufi shaikh of Naqsbandi order. He received his higher education at Madrasa Niazmiyah, an institution of higher learning and research in Herat where he studied mathematics, natural science, logic, philosophy,  Arabic literature and religious studies.  For more advanced studies in science he went to Samarkand to attend  its famous institute of advanced studies in sciences. He wrote extensively on science, religion and poetry. His divan "Hft Awran" (7 thrones) is well known. It contains the famous story of  "Yousuf and Zolekha". He wrote Treaties on Sufism and many other divans, books articles and commentaries. Not much of his work is available in English translation. To give Jami's period a context, Lodhi Dynasty rule in India began in in1450.  Leonar...

The Silk Road was a trade route. It brought prosperity to both China and the Muslim regions in the golden age period. This route existed in the pre Islamic period. The last link of the Silk Road (Karakoram highway)  before it crosses over to kashghar in China goes through a most beautiful part of Pakistan. I will share a few pictures that I took in this area some years ago. Looking down at river Sindh from the Kakakoram Highway.

A glimpse of the terrain that  the silk road traversed through Pakistan. The silk road brought prosperity to Muslim regions and China in the golden age of Islamic period. Here is a view at dusk from a hotel in Gilgit, Pakistan.

The Silk Road was a trade route. It brought prosperity to both China and the Muslim regions in the golden age period. This route existed in the pre-Islamic period. The last link of the Silk Road (Karakoram highway)  before it crosses over to Kashghar in China  goes through a most beautiful part of Pakistan and I will share a few pictures that I took some years ago. below is a view of Mt Rakaposhi (7788m) from the Hunza area of  Pakistan.

The Silk Road was a trade route. It brought prosperity to both China and the Muslim regions in the golden age period. This route existed in the pre-Islamic period. The last link of the Silk Road (Karakoram highway)  before it crosses over to Kashghar in China  goes through a most beautiful part of Pakistan and I will share a few pictures that I took some years ago. below a view from the Hunza area of  Pakistan.

Omar Khayyam is best known for his Rubayats translated by Edward Fitzgerald in the 1880s. Sufi poetry has lot of references  to wine and love, more so in Hafiz(1325–1389) and Omar Khayyam. However their wine did not come from a bottle but a mystical experience.  Love is Love of God (Ishque Allah). Oh, come with old Khayyam, and leave the Wise To talk; one thing is certain, that Life flies; One thing is certain, and the Rest is Lies; The Flower that once has blown for ever dies.