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.