The Five Pillars of Islam

[Almustafa]

Islam is Arabic for "submission to God's will."

The Qur'an (Koran) was composed by the Master Muhammad in A.D. 610. Upon the dissemination of his doctrine, he was widely persecuted, and sought refuge from Mecca to Medina.

The life of the Prophet is one of controversy and scandal, yet this has always be the fate of those who follow the Direct Path, the Path of the Bodhisattva. Let us remember that there are two Laws.

• The Second Law: the Law of Deuteronomy
• The First Law: the Law of Christ

Deuteronomy consists of the Twelve Commandments (ten which are public and two which are esoteric), which any disciple or Initiate must follow before reaching the height of Tiphereth. It is from there that the Initiate must decide which path to take: the Straight or the Spiral Way.

Those who take the Straight Path, as Muhammad did, fall under the auspices of the First Law, which transcends the code of Deuteronomy. This is why Muhammad was known to do things that contradict the Fifth Commandment: "Thou Shalt Not Kill."

Even the first Dalai Lamas waged war for Christ, Allah, Chenrezig. Being beyond the written Commandments, they only follow the will of their Father Who is in Heaven, Who is beyond Good and Evil. This is why the life of any prophet is one of scandal, since humanity cannot comprehend the revolutionary ethics of the Lord.

The Venerable Master Muhammad stated:

I am no apostle of new doctrines: neither know I what will be done with me or you. Only what is revealed to me do I follow, and I am only charged to warn openly. -Qur'an 46:9

We know from Gnosis that all religions are precious pearls strung upon the golden thread of Divinity. Muhammad clearly professed the same in his doctrine. The Qur'an was a reaffirmation of faith for the Initiates of his time, who were surrounded and persecuted by the fanatics, those who only carried the corpse of Christianity and Judaism within their afflicted minds and hearts.

We can say that the following is a description of a true Muslim, or "one who submits to Allah:"

There is no piety in turning your faces towards the east or the west, but he is pious who believeth in Allah (the Cosmic Christ), and the last day (the Resurrection), and the angels (the Resurrected), and the Scriptures (the Word of Allah), and the prophets (Bodhisattvas); who for love of Allah distribute his wealth (Dharma) to his kindred (fellow disciples), and to the orphans (without their Divine Parents), and the needy (the sleeping ones), and the wayfarer (the Hermit of the Ninth Arcanum), and those who ask (from their humility), and for ransoming (negotiations with the Great Law); who observeth prayer (remember God), and payeth the legal alms (to the Lords of the Law), and who is of those who are faithful to their engagements when they have engaged in them (who do not follow the way of the Hanassmussen with a double personality), and patient under ills and hardships (the sufferings of the Eighth Arcanum), and in time of trouble: these are they who are just, and these are they who fear the Lord. -Qur'an 2:177

It is to the great detriment of humanity that the words of Muhammad have been so grossly misunderstood. Yet the meaning of his revelation is clearly stated in the Qur'an:

He (Allah) it is Who has sent down to thee the Book: In it are verses basic or fundamental of established meaning; they are the foundation of the Book: others are allegorical. But those in whose hearts is perversity follow the part thereof that is allegorical, seeking discord, and searching for its hidden meanings, but no one knows its hidden meanings except Allah. And those who are firmly grounded in knowledge (Da'ath) say: "We believe in the Book; the whole of it is from our Lord:" and none will grasp the Message except men of understanding (Binah). -Qur'an 3:7

It has been the mistake of many who call themselves Muslim to persecute and kill those who do not follow Islam. Yet, these scribes and pharisees ignore their own Qur'an, and interpret it according to their fears, prejudices and fanaticism. So let us answer: who are the infidels?

And they (the infidels: fornicators) say, "None but Jews or Christians (who follow the dogmas of the Intermediate Mind) shall enter Paradise.' This is their wish. SAY: Give your proofs (from the Consciousness) if ye speak the truth.

But they who set their face with resignation Godward, and do what is right (by awakening the Inner Mind),— their reward is with their Lord; no fear shall come on them, neither shall they be grieved.

Moreover, the Jews say, "The Christians lean on nought:" "On nought lean the Jews," say the Christians: Yet both are readers of the Book. So with like words say they who have no knowledge (Gnosis: direct experience). But on the resurrection day, Allah shall judge between them as to that in which they differ. -Qur'an 2:111-13

The infidels are the fornicators, the blasphemous ones who say they are Jews (Initiates), yet are not (Revelation 2:9). But we do not need to worry ourselves about the unbelievers outside of us; we have to direct our attention to those unbelievers (fornicating egos) within our psyche. These internal unbelievers are the ones we must kill in the name of Allah.

The Propher Muhammad taught two forms of war: jihād al-akbar (the greater holy war) and jihād al-aṣghar (the lesser holy war). The greater holy war is always against oneself, against the tyranny of the mind, the red demons of Seth within the depths of our psyche. It is necessary to die in oneself, to annihilate those psychic aggregates who pollute the temple of our soul with their putrescence. This is truly the meaning of jihād.

The lesser holy war, however, is against the persecutors of our faith from without, but this does not imply that we kill others in the name of the Lord. To fight against the injustice of the world does not necessitate violence, as many mistaken "infidels" of the Muslim faith have supposed. Instead, the lesser jihād means to teach the truth even when we are despised for it, and to fight relentlessly against the black magicians of the internal planes with warrior-compassion. The Master Muhammad, when asked by his disciples which is the greater, always taught that the war against ourselves takes precedence. Otherwise we fight for nothing.



The Five Pillars of Islam

Islam is founded upon Five Pillars. These are:

• 1) Bearing Witness: Confession
• 2) Daily Prayer
• 3) Fasting During the Month of Ramadan
• 4) Charity
• 5) Pilgrimage to Mecca (the Holy City).

It is necessary to state that while these observances are followed in the exoteric level, what is important for us, as disciples, is to follow these tenets with the Consciousness.

Confession

To enter the faith of Islam, the tradition is that one recites the following: "Lā ilaha illa al-Lāh, Muhammadun rasūlu l-Lāh" ("None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah").

What does it mean to bear witness? It means to experience, to awaken in the Internal Worlds, to receive the direct wisdom of one's Inner Being. This means to speak directly with the Gods, to bear witness to all the Prophets who delivered the teachings: Buddha, Rama, Krishna, Jesus, etc. This has nothing to do with belief.



Daily Prayer

Daily prayer (salaat) is made five times a day: at dawn, at noon, in mid afternoon, dusk and night. This has a symbolic and practical purpose: to remember oneself throughout the day, to keep vigilant, to be awake as a watchman during times of war.

We must awake and pray at dawn (to the coming of the Christ), at noon and mid afternoon (to wakeful experiences, when the Sun illuminates our understanding), at dusk (when Christ appears to be far from us), and at night (even when we do not perceive God at all).

When we pray and Self-remember, no matter what our circumstances, we must always praise the Lord: "Allāh hu Akbar!" (God is Greater). We prostrate ourselves (psychologically and spiritually) towards Mecca (the superior worlds) and say with our hearts: "Bismillah ir-rah-mân ir-rahîm," ("In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful;" followed by, "Al hamdu 'lillah" (All praise is to God).

And let us remember that we must not only pray in our poverty, but also in our abundance:

You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.

For what is prayer but the expansion of yourself into the living ether?

And if it is for your comfort to pour your darkness into space, it is also for your delight to pour forth the dawning of your heart.

And if you cannot but weep when your soul summons you to prayer, she should spur you again and yet again, though weeping, until you shall come laughing.

Fasting

Fasting for Muslims occurs from dawn to sunset during the month of Ramadan. This is a very special month because the Angel Jibril (Gabriel) delivered the first revelations of the Qur'an (the Recitation) to Muhammad during this period upon Jabal Nur ("the mount of light"). There is general consent that this happened on the 27th, which aligns with esoteric thought because it is the most Solar Christic day of the month.

Every Muslim must refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and the sexual act. While this has some physical benefits, the symbolic meaning is that we must always fast in the Spirit; the ego must die in all its cravings, and the only sustenance we must take is the manna from our living God. This occurs from dawn (the Mountain of Initiation, when the Sun enters into us) till dusk (the evening of the Second Mountain: complete psychological death). This is a psychological pilgrimage we must undertake to the internal worlds, the Holy City of the Celestial Mecca or Jerusalem (Darus-salaam; Daru'l-Islam: the City of Peace).

To understand the fasting of Ramadan, it is important to remember that Gabriel is frequently referred to in the Qur'an as the Holy Spirit. So like Muhammad, it is by meditating with faith upon Jabal Nur, "the mount of light," that we can receive the Theophany or Christophany: the revelation or appearance of the Lord. Remember that any mountain is synonymous with the spinal column; therefore the peak of the "mount of light" refers to the Chakra Sahasrara or Church of Laodicea, the Christified halo of the saints.

It is through this Chakra of omniscience that we may reunite with the Holy Spirit, since Sahasrara is intimately related with the pineal gland, wherein resides the sacred atom of the Holy Spirit. To achieve communion with this atom can only occur by fasting in the wilderness like Jesus and Muhammad (which indicates complete renunciation of self) and by climbing the Mountain of Initiation (whereby the fire of Kundalini rises from the base of the spine up into Golgotha: "the place of the skull").

Charity

Each year, near the end of the month of Ramadan, each household is requested to give some of its wealth to the poor. Every religion practices the tithe, which is meant to serve as a conscious practice for developing Bodhichitta: which consists of 1) compassion for all sentient beings, and 2) comprehension of Emptiness; impermanence. Nothing is static, especially material goods, so we should provide materially when and if we can, either with food, money or shelter. This is the Law of Universal Charity, the Law of Christ, which is sacrifice, since all belong to the Lord, whether they are working on themselves or not. Also, if we are part of a Gnostic school we should provide for it so it may thrive.

This is also a reminder that as disciples, we must always give to the poor in Spirit: those who long for these mysteries and this knowledge, and that we must give to them even if it brings us pain.



Pilgrimage to Mecca

The pilgrimage to Mecca is an important duty for all Muslims. In the Holy City resides the Kaaba, the black cubic stone said to have been set down by Abraham and Ishmael (A-Brahma: the Exalted Father; Ishmael: "God heeds.") This is the most sacred site of Islam, where Muhammad was said to have ascended into the Seven Heavens. This black cubic stone is, of course, Yesod: the Foundation.

Tradition states that when first given to the patriarch Abraham, the cubic stone was of perfect whiteness, of such brilliance as to be seen all over the world. It became black, however, due to man's sin, meaning: the stone of Yesod became foul and corrupted through fornication. It is necessary to rework the stone, to make it pure and smooth, without imperfection of any kind. We do this as we transmute the sexual force through Alchemy and the dissolution of the ego.

While it is inspiring to travel to the Middle East to the city of Mecca, it is even better that we travel to our own internal city, our particular Celestial Jerusalem, wherein resides the blessed sacred stone. It is from the cubic stone of Yesod that we may ascend into our superior worlds, and speak directly to our Inner God.

During Dhul Hijjah, the month of pilgrimage, Muslims are required to walk several times around the stone. This is representative of the White Rose seen in the Empyrean of Dante's Divine Comedy:



Even the Gods continue Their pilgrimage through the Incomprehensible Absolute.

Al hamdu 'lillah (All praise is to God).

As-Salaam Alaikum (Inverential Peace).

[Jupiter]

Thank you for this beautiful and informative text on such a misunderstood religion as Islam.

[Damiorfla]

Very much appreciated. Thank you.

[arin]

Thanks for this.

[Almustafa]

Sufism (تصوّف‎ taṣawwuf) is the mystical and esoteric dimension of Islam. The word mysticism comes from the Greek root "mystikos" (μυστικός), which refers to anyone initiated into the Mysteries, and "myein," which means: "to close the eyes."

Before the soul can see, the Harmony within must be attained, and fleshly eyes be rendered blind to all illusion.

Before the coming of Muhammad, religious law had died in the Middle East. The mysteries and ethics of God were forgotten, and the Path of the Razor's Edge remained obscure amongst the dead sects of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Islam set the stage for the practices of Sufism.

Ṣūfī (صُوفِيّ) is Arabic for "pure," "wool," since the first Sufi mystics wore simple cloaks made of wool (ṣūf), as a representation of their poverty in the Spirit.

Dervish (Persian درویش, darvīsh) comes from dar, "door," since like Buddhist monks, these practitioners were required to go from door to door asking for alms and food. The letter "dāl" is equivalent to the Hebrew "Daleth," which also means door. This has a direct reference to Da'ath (דעת) and indicates how the Dervishes stand within the door that leads to the direct experience of God.

Faqīr is also another term in relation to the Dervishes, and is a word in Arabic for a poor person.



The Three Blessings

There are three blessings considered amongst the Sufis: islām (submission), īmān (faith), and iḥsān (awareness of God).

Islām is absolute surrender to the commandments of Allah through the Prophets, whether through the Qur'an, the Bible, or any sacred scripture. This does not have anything to do with following the dead letter, of adopting a stale and repressive system of rules with the hope of attaining salvation. The commandments of the Lord are a beautiful teaching directed at the consciousness. These are scientific principles by which the soul can realize her beloved, a precise methodology of actualizing the occult science.

Īmān is faith, or the living expression of the teachings. It is the recognition of the esoteric work's value, fulfilled with rectitude and love. Regarding īmān, Sufis uphold six principles or tenets of faith, as stated by the Prophet Muhammad in the Sahih al-Bukhari:

It is to affirm your faith in Allah (the Christ), His angels (the Resurrected), His Books (the Holy Scriptures or Word of God), His Messengers (Bodhisattvas) and the Last Day (of Judgment and Resurrection), and to believe in the Divine Destiny (Karma) whether it be good or bad.

Iḥsān means "to act beautifully." This means that we act as if we were standing before the presence of our Being. In the words of Samael Aun Weor, "Express everything in a beautiful way." We must be upright in our thoughts, words and deeds. The consciousness is beauty, truth and clarity, a small reflection of the glory and majesty of the Innermost. This type of action means to remember ourselves, to be in direct connection with divinity. This is our moment to moment practice of Self-remembrance and Self-observation (known as dhikr, the invocation and remembrance of Allah amongst the Sufis). Without this we cannot have faith (īmān) nor the realization of God's commandments (islām) since we are not submitting to the Lord, but to our ego.

All three aspects constitute religion, the occult science of achieving union with God. These three aspects are inseparable, and constitute an integral teaching for the consciousness. It is impossible to have one without the others; otherwise there is an imbalance. Faith (īmān) without consciousness (iḥsān) is blind belief, submission (islām) without faith (īmān) is fanaticism and ignorance, īmān (faith) without islām (the Law) is "anything goes," and consciousness (iḥsān) without islām is the soul without guidance.

And an old priest said, "Speak to us of Religion."

And he said:

Have I spoken this day of aught else?

Is not religion all deeds and all reflection,

And that which is neither deed nor reflection, but a wonder and a surprise ever springing in the soul, even while the hands hew the stone (of Yesod) or tend the loom (of God: the Twenty-fourth Arcanum)?

Who can separate his faith (īmān) from his actions (iḥsān) or his belief from his occupations (islām)?

Who can spread his hours before him, saying, "This for God and this for myself; This for my soul, and this other for my body?"

All your hours are wings that beat through space from self to self.

The Whirling Dervishes and the Music of the Spheres





The practice of the Whirling Dervishes is a direct representation of the movement and Music of the Spheres cited by Pythagoras. These dances are meant to serve as a representation of celestial harmony, and as a practice is meant to reflect such harmony within the Three Brains (through Movement, Devotion, and Music).

In the words of the great Sufi mystic, Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī:

There are many roads which lead to God. I have chosen the one of dance and music.

It is amazing that these are the same revelations made by other great mystical Master-musicians from other parts of the world:

There is no loftier mission than to come nearer than other humans to the Godhead and to disseminate the divine rays among mankind.

By utilizing the breath, the Whirling Dervishes become a beautiful way to transmute the sexual energy.

Erotic Mysticism

The mystical Sufis have always described the love of God with the erotic; to be drunk with the wine of Allah is symbolic of the inebriation of the soul in union with the divine. Samadhi, ecstasy, is always achieved through the proper utilization of our spiritual wine, which occurs through the transmutation of the sexual waters. This is the same symbol represented by Jesus performing his first miracle, of transforming regular water into the wine of the Spirit. It's wonderful that the Sufi tradition has survived and struggled against the literal interpretation of the Qur'an, being that it is a symbolic book, like any great work of the Initiates.

One Persian philosopher and poet stated:

Select a new wife for yourself each spring of the new year, because last year's calendar is no good.

People who read this literally become scandalized, yet it is a symbolic statement, that when we practice Sexual Magic with our spouse, we must always be in love; we must always renew our appreciation and tenderness for God and our spouse. If we are a man, our wife is our Divine Mother, and if we are a woman, our husband is our Divine Father. We must always strive to feel that divine tenderness for our loved one, to renew our love every spring, which is a symbol of spiritual voluptuousness. Spring also deals directly with the forces of procreation which revitalize the earth. This means that we must always revitalize our physical-chemical earth (Malkuth) with the potency and power of sex (Yesod).

The Four Stages of Sufism

There consist of four stages or levels of practice in Sufism.

• Sharī'a (religious law)
• Ṭarīqa (path or practice)
• Ḥaqīqa (Truth)
• Ma'rifa (Gnosis: knowledge)

Sharī'a is the foundation for all practice; in Arabic it means "road," and specifically connotes a broad path of spirituality that many follow. At the exoteric level, these are the fundamental commandments of morality expected of all believers and practitioners of any tradition. To the esotericist, it is the ethical discipline required to develop serenity of mind, without which it is impossible to advance in meditation. This is the same as the Buddhist practice of refraining from harmful action, performing beneficial action, and helping others. Sharī'a is the equivalent of the Torah and Dharma, "the Law," which all must follow, initially upon an exoteric level, and later in the esoteric dimension, in order to enter the path of Initiation.

Ṭarīqa is the actual practice of Sufism and literally means "path," implying the hidden, narrow and obscure road taken by the Bedouin in the desert from oasis to oasis. This is symbolic of traversing the wilderness of our own mind, and of finding the fountainhead and sexual power of God in order to sustain us. This is the straight path that leads to the profound knowledge of God, the psychological work leading to the realization of the divine within.

Ḥaqīqa is the Truth; it refers to the direct experience of mystical states. It is the internal truth, purpose and significance of any spiritual practice that we reap from our individual work. Let us remember that one of the Beautiful Names of Allah is "Al-Haqq," which means "the Truth," and which the Muhammadan Christ, Mansūr al-Hallāj, pronounced himself to be before the incredulous Muslim orthodoxy, which thereby had him executed.

Ma'rifa or Gnosis, is the highest spiritual attainment, the continous remembrance and realization of the Supreme Essence (Allah). This is the state of the Avatars, Messengers and Prophets who have attained complete Self-realization (Ain Soph Paranishpanna). A true Sufi or Gnostic (ārif) has attained complete purity (indicated by the word "ṣūf" in Sufi) and knowledge (ma'rifa) of the divine, and "knows the Lord through the Lord" (al-ārif bi Llāh). Those who work through the tradition of Sufism are therefore more appropriately called mutaṣawwuf, not Sufis, since the term Ṣūfī implies great realizations.



In order to understand the psychological implications of each level, we may refer to the words of the Sufi sage Ibn 'Arabī.

The level of the written law (sharī'ah) is the level of "yours and mine." In the Sufi path of practice (ṭarīqa), "mine is yours and yours is mine." With the Truth (ḥaqīqa) there exists "no mine and no yours." Those who have attained the highest form of knowledge and understanding (ma'rifa) understand that there is "no me and no you."

These levels are equivalent to the levels of instruction and wisdom presented in Buddhism, which are three:

• Shravakayana - Foundational Vehicle
• Mahayana - Greater Vehicle
• Tantrayana - Diamond Vehicle

In the Foundational Level, we learn the written law (sharī'a): "Do not lie; do not steal; do not fornicate; do not kill; do not take intoxicants, etc." This is in order to have a mind which is clear and stable, by which we can learn to meditate.

In the Sufi path of practice (ṭarīqa) where "mine is yours and yours is mine," we are concerned more with the welfare of others than for ourselves. This relates to the Mahayana or Greater Vehicle, which places greater emphasis on the spiritual development and well-being of our fellow man.

The latter two stages of Sufism (ḥaqīqa and ma'rifa) are related more with the Tantrayana teaching: which is complete sacrifice of self and work for the benefit of others. This is the recognition that there is no such thing as "mine or yours." Not only this, but "neither me or you" exist.

Tantrayana, the levels of ḥaqīqa and ma'rifa, acknowledge the impermanence of all manifested things, and the Emptiness or Void of the Absolute, in which exists no particular individuality. There is only the Seity, the Absolute Consciousness (Allah), beyond the shackles of individualism. This is the abiding place of all Prophets and Bodhisattvas.

Al hamdu 'lillah (All praise is to God).

As-Salaam Alaikum (Inverential Peace).

[karkadann]

Thank you for this insightful posting.

It is timely to study the inner teachings of Islam, as misinterpretations of this religion continue to generate fear and violence. The Quran contains much about the path of mystical death and the remembrance of the one true inner Being:

"Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth.
The semblance of His light is that of a niche
in which is a lamp, the flame within a glass,
the glass a glittering star, lit with the oil
of a blessed tree, the olive, neither of the East
nor of the West, whose oil appears to light up
even though fire touches it not.
Light upon Light."

-Holy Quran 24:35

[Almustafa]

Allah is the light of the Heavens and of the Earth. His Light is like a niche in which is a lamp (the Innermost) - the lamp encased in glass (Buddhi), the glass, as it were, a glistening star (of Christic wisdom). From a blessed tree (of Life) is it lighted (the illuminated spinal column with the Fire of Pentecost), the olive neither of the East or the West (being neither Ida or Pingala, but Sushumna), whose (sacred transmuted) oil would well nigh shine out, even though fire touched it not! It is light upon light. Allah guideth whom He will to His light, and Allah setteth forth (Kabbalistic) parables to men, for Allah knoweth all things. -Qur'an 24:35

[karkadann]

[Damiorfla]

Thank you for this.

[aum-tat-sat]

This is a beautiful insight on mystic Islam. This is a beneficial light that is needed in the world and I believe would be a great benefit to Muslims seeking a more direct path to Allah. Kudos!!