I’m sorry, I dont too understand, coz I only can talk with Indonesia language.

tetap berjalan dijalan Allohu, sperti jlannya nabi Ibrahim yg lurus.
and minta ijinya buat copy gambar Muhammadnya, buat d save k komputer ane…
jangan lupa untuk tetap sabar menghadapi kaum kafirin di planet bumi ini.

semoga ane gk slah ngomong he..he…

Takbir
“Allohu Akbar”

thanx yu.

I am a devout Protestant Christian who believes that from the beginning God intended that humanity maintain a spiritual relationship with Him because only He can provide true comfort, security, and hope. Even though I am Christian, some of my closest friends have been Muslims.

I see you have the Ottoman (Osmanli) coat of arms on your site. I have a similar display on my wall which a friend gave me when I was Istanbul in 2006. I continue to have close ties to Turkey.

asalaam alaykum! Thank you all for commenting. I appreciate all of your wonderful thoughts.

Saha, alhamdulillah. I am pleased that this weak attempt at something beneficial was helpful, shukralhamdulillah.

James you wrote,

“Formal religion will only get you so far; true revelation belongs to God and the seaker alone.”

We are not talking about the end game in this discussion. Merely training camp. And we all agree no one can meet the requirements of the end game without attaining a number of qualities, some of which include experience, spiritual maturity and some know how. All of which begin in training camp with an authentic coach and authentic method, that is what we are talking about here.

The end game is not something that I can say is this or that as I have yet to experience this. I am still in training as everyone can well see from my writings and photographs.

-Saifuddin

Once again I am reminded I must read St Augustine

This is nothing new. Man always has been a spiritual being. Even the Neanderthals held ceremonies for their dead. Shamans and holy men have been part of Hunter-gatherer societies since Homo Sapiens first made the long trek out of Africa.

Religion is door to spirituality. It is system that brings us in touch with the greater mysteries. It is spirituality melded with discipline.

One of the greatest Christian Minds though proved the limits of Religion and Philosophy. St. Augustine was a formidable mind who helped create Christian Orthodoxy. He lied down proofs for such Dogma as the existence of God, the Virgin Birth, and the holey Trinity. He spent many years writing about and for God. But at the end of his life he fell silent. He was given a gift of the spirit from God. He got a brief glimpse of the divine spirit and the that tiny bit of knowledge left him so humbled that he felt any further intellectual inquirery was pointless. Formal religion will only get you so far; true revelation belongs to God and the seaker alone.

wa ‘alaykum asalaam dawudwalid!

“In my city, we have people who say, “I’m a Sufi, but not a Muslim.”

Europeans and Americans have been saying this since the 70’s and perhaps longer. But we do not make a big deal out of it, as they like, if want to call themselves sufis and say “Allah” thats good, better than not, so we don’t make a fuss.

What they are not accepting is His Holy Prophet (may Peace and Blessings be upon him). But whether or not their efforts benefit is for Allah to determine.

-Saifuddin

Very profound explanation by Shaykh Nazim (May ALLAH preserve him).

Due to the excesses of the Church, especially the Catholic Church, organized religion, especially religion with catechism and rituals, is viewed a tool of oppression in the West. Hence America’s “founding fathers” stressed so much the seperation of church & state and the 1st Amendment.

In my city, we have people who say, “I’m a Sufi, but not a Muslim.” The benefit from the dhikr and hadra on one hand then do not accept any matters relating to shar’iah.

WALLAHU `Alim.

Wassalaam

salam alaykum! Lucy Nom de Plume and For Prez ‘24, welcome to you. It seems you both have very different positions on this subject yet still feeling comfortable to respond which means I have done my job, shukralhamdulillah. Thank your for commenting.

Lucy, that must have been some 10 days. I too had the opportunity to wake up to myself through hardship. Consider yourself fortunate, those kinds of opportunities are precious gems. And the stronger our faith become, the bigger the test, the bigger the pearl. The difference is, you are choosing to string your pearls. Good choice.

For Prez ‘24, perhaps you are one of those who may find the success. May God Almighty guide you to the Success, amin.

-Saifuddin

http://www.QuestioCunctus.com

I realise now that although the church has its faults, it is very old and it has a huge library of experience. For me it is a good idea to be humble and to follow the wisdom of all those years of experience.

I was also seeking plurality but I understand now that I can follow Christianity while continuing to have the utmost respect for the other world faiths.