The Fully Integrated Life

Jum'ah khutba - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - 9 October 2015 - 25 mins 16 secs

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'Allah bears witness that there is no god except He, and the Angels and the ones endowed with knowledge, upright with equity (bear witness). There is no god except He, The Ever-Mighty, The Ever-Wise...' 

(Surah al-Imran, Verse 18)

As the new academic year begins the Shaykh talks about how one should approach the balance needed in life, to put everything where it deserves to be put. How should one manage the different influences and complexity of life as a student. How does one find the right balance between what may seem Deen and what may seem Dunya. The Shaykh explains how we must strive for the fully integrated life and shares some useful tips from the works of Hujjat ul-Islam Imam Al-Ghazali.

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Living with Our Selves

Talk by Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - 30th November 2010 - Cambridge - 1 hour 30 mins 46 secs

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How can one leave the self behind on the path to Allah when we are the self? This was the central paradox behind the sheikh's latest circle: living with our selves.

Approaching the question through the language left us by today's monoculture makes our task difficult; the word has been so desacralised that it is nigh on impossible. This is not to say that signs are not present. Ironically the depth of modern scientific study has only given us the opportunity to diversify our appreciation of God's signs, from the far reaches of the universe down to the enigmatic workings of the subatomic realm; these ayat all urge us to be what the sheikh calls 'New Cynics', the Rindan of Mevlana Rumi. Akin to the intoxicated joyful ones of old who would laugh at the absurdity of their own selves and the world around them, we need now more than ever to marry the exuberance of youth with a learned cynicism over what the modern world seeks to beguile us with.

This futuwwa has Hadhrat Ali - Shah e Merdan - as its champion, for his sword Zulfiqar with its two points indicated to the inward and outward rectification required of those who would tread the path of Islamic chivalry. That this dual jihad was and indeed is necessary was highlighted by the Sheikh in a chilling passage: al-Hasan al-Basri said that 'this world is a bridge, it is for passing over, not building on'; if you cannot realise this then your thoughts are not your own, and you are as good as dead.

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Self-Knowledge

Talk by Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Islamic Society Freshers' Dinner, Cambridge - October 2006 - 34 mins 22 secs

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The sheikh begins this talk by considering the mystery of the relationship between self-knowledge and knowledge of God, referring to the Qu'ranic verse in which He promises to show us signs within ourselves. The sheikh contrasts this type of vision or perception granted by God with modern exhortations toward self-discovery. The latter are frustrated by the confusion which surrounds material definitions of human consciousness; modern man is told to fulfil himself without really knowing what the self is. From an Islamic perspective, the efforts of a disembodied intellect can never overcome this problem: rather, the body, mind and spirit are integrated and their effects on one another absolutely connected. Different aspects of the religion illustrate this, such as the physical dimensions of different acts of worship ('ibada) and bodily resurrection after death. The sheikh relates this idea in particular to the mi'raj, the ascent to Heaven of the Prophet (peace be upon him), and contrasts it with the rebellion of Iblis, who refused to act on the signs shown to him by God. Self-transcendence or self-knowledge from an Islamic point of view is presented not as abandoning the body or as some kind of 'out-of-body experience', but as a model of spiritual practice that keeps us in the world while granting us surer comprehension of our place in it.

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