Islamic Society of Central Louisiana

Spiritual Disciplines in Isslam

Spiritual Disciplines in Isslam are the gateways to spiritual regeneration, mental health
and emotional stability. God provides Mosslems with specific check points or gates that
allow us to repent our sins thus purify our souls. These check points can be accessed
through two main routes: Route to Allah’s Grace through worshipping him and Route to
Allah’s Grace through being good to his Creations. This is summarized in a verse in the
Holy Quran:

“O you who believe! Bow down, prostrate yourselves, adore your Lord,
and do good deeds so that you may prosper” (Haj, 77)

A] Route to Allah’s Grace through worshipping him:

This route has been paved to Mosslems through a number of check points or gateways.
These check points function at specific intervals of our lives as refueling stations that
strengthen our faith, connect us to the creator, and remind us of his supreme power. The
rewards of stopping at those gateways are numerous: we are purified of sins, we are
blessed in this world, we are promised paradise, and we are sheltered from Hellfire.

1- The first of these gateways is Haj

Pilgrimage or Haj is obligatory for all capable Mosslems once in our life time. By
performing pilgrimage at Mecca, we are reborn free of all sins. Allah swt promises us
forgiveness if we truly perform pilgrimage with pure intentions to please God, and if we
follow Haj specific guidelines that he has given us.

2- The second of these gateways is Fasting the month of Ramadan

Mosslems are asked to abstain from eating, drinking and marital intimacies from dawn to
sunset for 30 consecutive days once a year. Prophet Mohamed SAAS tells us that
whoever fasts Ramadan with pure intentions to please Allah swt, Allah forgives his sins.

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3- The third of these gateways is Reading Quran

Mosslems are asked to read our Holy Scriptures (which is called The Quran) every day.
Scholars state that it is preferable to finish reading the Holy Book (The Quran) once a
month. The rewards of finishing The Holy Quran include forgiveness from sins, and
endless blessings in this world. Moreover, reading the Quran protects us from two types
of tribulations:
a) The tribulation of Desire
We are surrounded with many temptations that lure us away from the righteous path.
These temptations include carnal desires, fiscal desires and supremacy desires.
Continuous reading of the Quran, help us recognize the fake glitter of those desires,
and help us curb the urge to satisfy those desires through unlawful means.

b) The tribulation of Distrust

We are asked to believe in God without seeing him; we are also asked to believe in
the unknown including paradise and Hellfire, angles and devils, and rewards and
punishments. The Quran addresses our intellect- the scientific miracles in the Quran
(including the stages of fetus formation, cosmic and galaxy engineering and others)
help us understand that whatever we do not know, is sure to be as correct as the things
that have already been proven by modern science to be true. Moreover, in the Quran,
we feel that Allah swt is addressing every one of us. He is talking to us, and engaging
us in a conversation with him- we answer him with our hearts and in the process our
faith strengthens.

4- The fourth of these gateways is Friday Prayer (Jum3a Prayer)

Friday service and prayer is obligatory for men and optional for women once a week.
Allah swt forgives all unintentional sins of the congregation who attend the Friday prayer
if they follow the guidelines of Prophet Mohamed. These guidelines include showering
before prayers, dressing in our best attire, listening carefully to the sermon (Khutba),
learning from what we hear, applying what we learned in our daily lives, and avoiding
harming others.

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5- The fifth of these gateways is the Five Prayers a day

Mosslims are asked to pray 5 times a day: Early morning or dawn, noon, afternoon,
sunset, and evening prayers. If we perform ablution (which is steps of washing up before
prayer) correctly, pray on time, and concentrate in our prayers, God forgives our sins.
Prayers also function as a screen that stops us from committing evil- it is the shield of
Mosslems that protect them against the devil and his luring whispers.

6- The sixth of these gateways is Work

Mosslims are asked to perform their work knowing that it is inspected by Allah swt; as
such, we are to perfect it as much as we can, and we are to do it honestly and
conscientiously. Our real boss is God, not the man or woman sitting behind a desk and
writing our annual evaluation. What really matters is that God sees, and knows what we
do- if he approves it, we are blessed and our rewards add up to mountains and mountains
of good deeds.

7- The seventh of these gateways is Education

Isslam is about educating ones self and ones kids. The very first word given to Prophet
Mohamed SAAS in the Quran is “read”. If we study and enhance our education with the
intention of following Allah’s orders and improving ourselves as Mosslems, we are given
a lot of rewards in both this world and the hereafter.

8- The eighth of these gateways is the Mention of Allah

We are asked never to veer away from Allah, to always remember him in all our actions
and thoughts. We should mention Allah and his 99 names as many times as possible
during the day. We should glorify him, thank him, and praise him. Moreover, we should
ask him to forgive us, and ask him to give us from his plentitude. He will give us what we
ask for in both worlds. Those that fail to ask God, fail to recognize his power and his
omnipresence.

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9- The ninth of these gateways is Consulting Allah

We as Mosslems understand that we have a choice in many of the issues in this world.
But we have been taught by Prophet Mohamed that we can either choose for ourselves or
we can ask Allah to choose for us. We opt for Allah’s choice since he is the Almighty and
the All Knowing. There is a special prayer in which we ask Allah swt to choose for us
among the many confusing alternatives that face us. For issues of lesser importance, we
may just ask Allah swt to choose for us without actually performing the special prayer. In
whichever case, we understand that we have to ask Allah to choose for us, then we
exhaust all possible means of data collection, then we wait to see what Allah swt has put
in our hearts. We know that whatever is in our hearts is of his choice not ours.

10- The tenth of these gateways is Dealing with Disasters

Allah has taught us that whatever happens to us could not have been avoided, and
whatever missed us could not have been ours. We resign to Allah’s absolute power and
understand that although we have choices in many issues in this world, we are
predestined in some: we do not choose when we are born, or when we die, or what
disease is going to afflict us, but we choose how to deal with what we have been served.
We know they are trials of our faiths and patience, and we aim to succeed at those trials
and reap the numerous rewards of patience. Those rewards are in both worlds.

B] Route to Allah’s Grace through being good to his Creations.

This is the second route to Allah’s Grace. We have so far covered the first Route which is
Route to Allah’s Grace through worshipping him. Now, we are moving to the second
part of this talk.

Allah asks us to be good to all his creations including other people, animals, plants and
inanimate objects. We enter his grace through the gateways of unconditional respect and
kindness to his harmless creations (and I stress harmless). If we do not observe his
boundaries, we are rejected from his grace, unless we repent and correct our aggressions.

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1- The first of these gateways is Being Good to Other People:

The main principle in Isslam is to “love for others what you would love for yourself”.
The saying “treat others as you like to be treated” is very similar. But the Isslamic
concept goes beyond the proverb, it extends into other realms. Prophet Mohamed SAAS
says that the most beloved people to God are those that help others most. The best
explanation I can give in this perspective is to quote a chapter from the Holy Book, the
Quran:

In the chapter called The Subsistence (Al-Ma3oon) made out of only 7 verses, Allah swt
starts with a rhetorical question in which he asks us: Have you seen those that disbelieve
in religion? His question is more in terms of Do you know who are the ones that
disbelieve in religion? He does not wait for us to answer; rather he furnishes the answer
in the following verses. He says those that disbelieve in religion are those that humiliate
orphans and treat them badly, and those that do not support the right of the poor and
needy by helping them and asking other people to help them. Then Allah swt goes on to
threat to expel from his grace those who pray absent mindedly- their prayers are mere
movements that do not help them understand the real essence of Isslam which is being
good to others. Allah swt says that those people are only praying to show off so that
others would think that they are religious. Those people that are expelled from Allah’s
grace and mercy are the ones that do not help their fellow humans and stop others from
helping them. This small chapter gives the essence of Isslam in a nutshell: help other
people because this is the gateway to the Grace of Allah.

2- The second of these gateways is Being Good to Animals:

Mosslems are asked to be good to all harmless animals. If we intentionally inflict pain or
kill an animal not for food or defense purposes, we are expelled from Allah’s Grace. It is
Ok to slaughter what we will eat. It is also OK to kill in self defense or in defense of
others, but to kill for fun or spite is a gateway to Hellfire. On the other hand, feeding
animals and being kind to them is a gateway to Allah’s grace and to everlasting pleasure
in Paradise provided that none of the major sins have been committed and/or all the other
gateways have been met.

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3- The third of these gateways is Being Good to Plants:

Mosslems are asked to always plant trees and other plants, and never to kill them without
a good reason. We are told to continue planting even if Doom’s Day comes. We are given
rewards in the hereafter equivalent to the number of humans, animals and birds that eat
from whatever we plant.

4- The fourth of these gateways is Being Good to Inanimate Objects:

Mosslems are asked to never burn down or destruct a house or a property without a good
reason. Prophet Mohamed SAAS asked his armies not to burn down cities or houses, not
to cut down trees, and not to harm defenseless humans. Following the Prophet’s orders is
enough reason to be admitted to Allah’s Grace.

Isslam is about being good to ones self by following the 10 gateways I mentioned in the
first part and by being good to others (the 4 gateways I mentioned in the second part).
Only then is a person admitted to the Grace of God and his mercy.