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Secrets of the Heart Retreat Details: Markfield Conference Centre Ratby Lane Markfield LE67 9SY Fri, 5 May 2023 18:00 - Mon, 8 May 2023 Further details can be found here About Guest: Dr. Laird has practiced integrative patient care in a variety of outpatient settings for forty years. As an early member of the holistic medicine movement, Dr. Laird noted with concern that "body-mind-spirit" medicine generally lacked deeper understandings of spiritual transformation. In early 1980's, he organized several major conferences exploring scientific and spiritual perspectives on healing. He founded the Great Smokies Medical Center and co-founded the Great Smokies Diagnostic Lab in North Carolina to expand innovative and comprehensive patient care options. Although schooled in several spiritual traditions, Dr. Laird's personal spiritual practice for over thirty years has been classical Sufism. Spiritual healing in this tradition is based on deep and subtle understandings of the human heart. As a co-founder and past president of the University of Spiritual Healing & Sufism, Dr. Laird played a leading role in shaping academic and clinical instruction on the application of these classical perspectives. He has provided personal healing sessions to hundreds of people with a wide variety of physical, emotional, and spiritual concerns. Having taught these approaches to several thousand people in the past twenty years, Dr. Laird is widely recognized as a sincere, engaging, fun, and uniquely effective teacher.

Abd Al-Razzar Kashani was a student of Mu'ayyid al-Din al-Jandi, who was a student of Sadr al-Din Qunawi, the stepson of Ibn 'Arabi

Passage from the Futuhat al Makiyya

A poem by Sheikh Muhammed al Jamal Shadhili

Imam Abdul Karim reads from The Secret of the Love of God

Reading from Rumi, Fihi ma Fihi, Thackston, Boston Shambala, 1994, p42-43

Imam Abdul Karim describes his experience of knowing the Prophetic character pbuh

Reading from Letters of a Sufi Master - Shaykh as-Darqawi

Reading from Letters of a Sufi Master - Shaykh as-Darqawi

Imam Abdul Karim reads a poem called I witness

Imam Abdul Karim reads passages from Music of the Soul by Sidi Muhammed Jemal

Abdul Karim Pinckney was born and raised in The Bronx, NY, and converted to Islam in 1999. He was a student at Zaytuna Institute in Hayward, CA, for five years where he studied Maliki fiqh. He took bayyah with Sidi Shaykh Muhammad Said al-Jamal ar-Rifa'i in 2009. He was also an assistant to Imam Musa Abdul Ali in Mt. Vernon, NY, at Masjid Yusuf Shah from 2012-2015. Currently, he is the Imam at the Farm of Peace where his duties include giving classes, assisting events, and giving Friday sermons. He has a yearning for helping beloveds come to know their Lord with clarity through revelation and reason, in the hope of reaching direct experience, with the result of an increase in the love of God.

Podcast Summary Dr Hany Talaat Ibrahim, author of Love in the Teachings of Ibn ʿArabī and professor at the University of Calgary and Mount Royal University Canada, walks us into the world of Ibn al-ʿArabī and the Metaphysics of Love in face of some Islamic scholars’ criticism of the great saint. Acknowledging that such criticism might scare off seekers, like it initially did for Dr Hany, this  conversation is significantly pertinent to our times. Specializing in pre modern Islāmic thought, Arabic Ṣūfī literature and Islāmic art and architecture, Dr Hany speaks to all spiritual seekers in a language that is clarifying and comprehensive. He addresses, perhaps, many of us, at different stages on our journey—cautious in our spiritual undertaking—to open the ears and eyes of our hearts. Although not explicitly mentioned as such, this interview is highly relevant to persons coming from a traditional Islāmic schooling and upbringing, underpinned by a limited understanding of what Ṣūfism, the mystical dimension of Islām, is. In context, Dr Hany emphasizes the station of Ibn al-ʿArabī, a ‘ārif bil’Lāh (عارف بالله), gnostic, and an ʾimām (إمام), spiritual leader, for all times. He says, the knowledge conveyed to us through him was received directly from God. He reached al-’ijtihād al-muṭlaq (الاجتهاد المطلق) and discerned fiqh (فقه), jurisprudence. We are advised to take heed of this. To receive our understanding of spiritual openings according to the teachings of Ibn al-ʿArabī, and not the opposite. Dr Hany extends a gnostic’s gentle embrace, inviting the wayfarer, hesitant or not, to sharpen understanding in three dimensions of Islām: expanding on what it means to fulfill the obligations of submission—ʾislām (إسلام), the obligations of faith—ʾīmān (إمان) and the obligations of spiritual excellence—ʾiḥsān (إحسان) in light of exerting personal effort, juhd (جهد), and the process of purifying the soul, an-nafs (النفس), in order to attain the level of witnessing to the Oneness of Being. Meaning is reinforced through Qur’ānic passages, marrying the three distinct but intertwined stages of spiritual development to the declaration of unity, tawḥīd (توحيد), with a discernible Qur’ānic definition of the two paths to God: those who are chosen, al-mujtabūn (المجتبون), and those who are guided to repent and seek Him, al-munībūn (المنيبون). Witnessing, the backbone of unification, is talked about as an oxymoron; witnessing behind a veil, the ḥijāb (حجاب); annihilation, fanā’ (فناء); and, what it means when gnostics speak about Oneness, that is, God who witnesses God through the Muḥammadan Light—Nūr Muḥammad (نور محمد). Dr Hany elaborates on the subject of incarnation and Ibn al-ʿArabī’s position on the importance of strictly adhering to the sharīʿa (شريعة). Other concepts and frameworks discussed include the absence of a lineage in the Akbarian heritage; the role of a living shaykh (شيخ); the relationship between the Ṣūfi order, at-ṭarīqa (الطريقه), the educational litany, wird at-tarbiyya (ورد التربيه), and the disciple’s progression, the murīd (مريد) that is, toward the witnessing of God and an affirmation of Creator and creation. Furthermore, we explore the three stages of fanā’ together as elucidated in the story of Mūsa (Moses, موسى) and al-Khidr (the Green man, الخضر) ‘alayhim as-salām in the Holy Qur’ān. Firstly, there’s annihilation in action, al-fanā’ fīl af‘āl (الفناء في الافعال); secondly, annihilation in attributes, al-fanā’ fīl ṣifāt (الفناء في الصفات); and thirdly, annihilation in the essence, al-fanā’ fīl dhāt (الفناء في...

In conversation with Jane Clark, we are reminded about the mysterious nature of الله سبحانه و تعالى (Allāh) as the source of Guiding Light. Jane, a Senior Research Fellow of the Muḥyiddīn Ibn ʿArabī Society, co-founder of the Journal of Consciousness Studies, and currently editor of the Beshara Magazine, an independent non-profit organization that serves as a platform for intelligent and thought-provoking material on unity in the contemporary world, first stepped onto the path of spirituality not as a seeker, but as a hardwired scientist agnostic raised as an atheist. Similar to Jane’s series of life events, we are taken alongside in recollection, from physics to Ibn al-ʿArabī’s metaphysics.  In 1974, Jane was at the brink of giving up her PhD, finding herself, like many of us do, in a profession (as a physicist) stuck at the fork of dissatisfaction. Around this time, she went on a car-ride to Gloucestershire—enticed by the country’s offering of stunning and varied countryside. Coincidently, she joined a study group at Swyre farm reading what came to be known as 29 pages: an introduction to Ibn al-ʿArabī. Although ungrounded in any kind of theology with little intellectual understanding of what was being said at the time, subliminally, she knew, a deeper calling and invitation. Three years later, after a serious motor bike accident, she enrolled in an intensive eight month course of study on Ibn al-ʿArabī  at the mystical grounds of Swyre farm.   Jane’s foundational grounding was in Ibn al-ʿArabī, under the mentorship of Bulent Rauf, a Turkish Ṣufī with a strong connection toالشيخ الأكبر (al-shaykh al-ʾAkbar). Ibn al-ʿArabī’s teachings were the basis for the unified perspective. Intentionally, the study of metaphysics continued with the Christian tradition, Bhagavad Gita, Tao de Ching, and the like. A means of expansivity. Can one recognize the unity within other traditions? At the same time, let go or not get fixated on a belief? With Jane, together we traverse the paved road of digital archives; the why and how there are now over 3,000 copies of manuscripts in digital form today. Our conversation highlights and distinguishes the role of books as a conduit to personal transformation, bridging each individual to receive directly from الوجه الخاص (al-wajh al-khāṣ),  the ‘particular face’ of God. Jane paints the imagery of a private umbilical cord between each person and the One Reality. There is no intermediary. The connection, the transmission, is direct. In context, what is fascinating, is the large number of original manuscripts that have been preserved, either written by or attested to by Ibn al-ʿArabī, from around 800 years ago! Almost 66 to count and the knowledge, as Jane reminds us, is in the books.  Enfolding and unfolding in discourse are Ibn al-ʿArabī’s renowned texts: الفتوحات المكية (Futūḥāt al-Makkīyah) and theفصوص الحكم (Fuṣuṣ al-Ḥikam), connecting us back to disciples including Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī, Moa'yyad al-Din al-Jandī, and ʿUsman Yaḥya.  Most pronounced is Jane’s exposition on Ibn al-ʿArabī teachings on love; “He and Rūmī are completely at one really on this matter.” Everything is underpinned by love. We journey in and through with Jane, from the Beshara School back into the web of knowledge preservation and sharing, circling and backtracking, to the four elements constituting Beshara’s residential courses at the time: working with the mind; meditation; work as service to others and the world; and, devotional practice. Full embodiment of the human constitution of thoughts, emotions, and bodily feelings. Experiential knowledge beyond intellectual standing. Deepening integration. Connecting, receiving, directly from the One. Reminded, once again:...

In this podcast, we continue alongside Dr Eric Winkel (Shuʿayb) to unpack the multifaceted voluminous work of Ibn al-ʿArabī—the translation of the Futūḥāt al-Makkīyah, a project that spans over 10 years in the works and counting! He provides an update about the complimentary visual works that draws meaning from imagery for the 28 or so concepts needed to understand Ibn al-ʿArabī (An Illustrated Guide to Ibn al-ʿArabī, concerted with the Islamic Creative Imagination, now available on Pir Press) and explains how creative art and visualization have been immensely beneficial for translation. Ibn al-ʿArabī see things visually—letters, grammatical forms, and syntax; they all form a world of their own, a universe of rules and meaning through which الله (Allāh), God, communicates with us. Through visualization, one taps into the portal for the imaginal realm and arriving at greater intrinsic meaning becomes possible. Eloquently expressed, as illustrated, by Sidi Shuʿayb. To access this shoreless ocean comprised of multilayered meanings, Shuʿayb also looks at the root words of the Arabic language with quite a literal approach to interpreting the Qurʾān. By bringing the implicit forward, conscious understanding manifests and the message of Islām, from the outward شريعة (sharīʿa) to the inward طريقة (ṭarīqa), continues to propagate as a waveform in the universe. A deep learning opportunity for the listener arises through Shuʿayb’s detailed discussion on the Nūr Muḥammad ﷺ, relayed in the context of the ḥadith in which ʿĀʾisha r.a. says that ‘His character was the Qurʾān.’   Steering with the theme of this podcast, the Qurʾān in the works of Ibn al-ʿArabī, we delve into specific verses and passages. Shuʿayb explains: every page has an honouring of the Prophet ﷺ and every page has many verses of Qurʾān and they’re very much connected. The potential permutation of meaning from a linguistic undertaking reminds us of the importance of إجتحاد (ʾijtiḥād) and the myriad عقيدة (ʿaqīdas) underlying a spiritual walking. As Sidi Shuʿayb touches on in this podcast, طحقيق (ṭaḥqīq), our internal validation, becomes essential to uncovering our story and the story of creation. Once again, Ibn al-ʿArabī’s role as a dragoman reminds us that through the special face of حق (Ḥaqq) in every created being the تجلی (tajallī) of Allāh hits, yielding depth to the phrase Islām, in surrender, is the دين (dīn) of Allāh. Every person is painted a unique picture through the means that Allāh reveals Himself, never twice to two people nor in the same way twice, allowing each individual thread of creation to be carried forward into the world as a unique expression of truth. So in contrast to the negative connotation traditionally derived from scholarly works for example with a concept such as كفر (kufur), this conversation extends an invitation to a change in viewpoint where the word كافر (kāfir), through inflection, can also mean the people who cover up their station, beautifying revelation. Other words with inflected meanings are examined in the context of the original Qurʾānic sūras.    Together, we explore the subtle nuances. We begin to taste, through a seamless transmission of love, the paradoxical nature, and perplexing depth, of what it means to hold close proximity to the Divine—taking off the covering of those who are drawn near. The kind of love experienced by the ʾawliyāʾ—the friends of God, lovers of the...

In this podcast we explore the sacred worldview of walking into life as a prayer with author and amazon best seller of The Secrets of Divine Love, A. Helwa.  A. Helwa reminisces about details shaping her own journey interwoven with a common thread: the heart of engagement both with the Creator and with creation, His creation. We are invited to explore: revelation as a revealed truth, a living Book, and the light of Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ; the balancing act of two realities, vicegerency and servanthood; and, our role in awakening to remember, to answer to life with our highest integrity and become instruments of love.  She reminds us that what may appear as seemingly insignificant moments passing us by, fleetingly, often gone by unnoticed, are truly infused with the Mysterious. If only we stopped to see, to witness, and to listen; to listen deeply. Sometimes, life’s greatest teachers are unnamed. The limitation is in our awareness to the miracle that is. Here, in our discussion, we examine the non dualistic unity, reality, that’s expressed in dualistic language. The message of the prophets and saints, and the essence of surrender and the Islamic tradition. Veiling; intention; silence; and self-confrontation.  We tap deeper into the Qur’an being veiled, but also it’s unveiling through symbolism; a Book that allows each person to meet it where they're at; a Book that the great mystics Rumi and Ibn al-ʿArabī based their ideas and works on.  Here, in our discussion, we step into spaciousness. Language, as an axis, a tipping point, to openings, guidance, receptivity and inner transformation. Our relationship to God. Prayer, as an offering, carried with the word Be, and so it is. Walking in the way of the prophets as an answer to the needs of creation. Fasting, within holy reflection, as an anchor for inner beautification—a sharp contrast to the shadow forces shaping human behavior today (driven by self-consciousness). In closing full-circle, A. Helwa summons grace: pause between words and recognize that the very spaces are an intimate part of revelation that give language its meaning; live a life being a prayer, be an answer to prayer. A. Helwa believes that every single person on Earth is deeply loved by the Divine. She is a writer who has inspired hundreds of thousands of readers through her passionate, poetic, and love-based approach to spirituality. Her popular blog @quranquotesdaily, was established while obtaining her Masters in Divinity, as a means of helping others overcome personal and spiritual struggles on their journey of experiencing divine love. With over 15 years of experience writing and speaking on Islam and spiritual development, A. Helwa draws from her personal experiences and traditional sources to help her readers access 'Divine love in everyday life.' When Helwa is not reading at coffee shops, she can be found climbing mountains, camping in deserts, hiking jungles, or reading about black holes

Summary: Leader in the field of Islamic psychology, Dr Abdallah Rothman shares his journey into Islam and what it means to heal the heart and psyche from an Islamic perspective; the way to relieve the suffering that is a part of the human condition, as taught by two prominent and influential Sufi figures in the Shādhulli ṭarīqa, and experientially understood. Despite world travel to explore spiritual communities in search for truth; it wasn’t until his encounter with saintly Sufi teacher Sidi Shaykh Muḥammad Saʿīd al-Jamāl ar-Rifaʿi that his life’s trajectory changed. Captivated by the science of the soul from the Islamic tradition and drawn to this notion of healing and spiritual development, Dr Rothman experienced first-hand the incomparable healing power of love. He later studied with Shaykh Nooruddeen Durkee in effort to quench his thirst for knowledge. Virtues of wisdom, humility, patience, and diligence were given space to grow under Shaykh Nooruddeen’s care, guidance and ‘tarbiya’. A disciple-teacher relationship integral to the heart and soul’s processing, purification and healing. Dr Rothman further explains that both secular mindfulness and non-secular spiritual modalities appear, at surface level, similar in reward and benefits to the Islamic approach of going inward and cultivating presence. Consistent, diligent inner-work and practice will improve emotional well-being, energy, and tranquility. And yet, intention makes all the difference—seeking the annihilation of the self to then be unified with the One, with Allāh; to realize, actualize, and embody being. The Islamic tradition honours Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ as an exemplar: the epitome of high moral standing, good character and being. To emulate and take on the Prophet’s traits and conduct as one’s own is to strive and draw closer to Allāh; the heart of spiritual training, tarbiya, in one sense; and, the connection of a purified heart to wisdom and witnessing Truth. To bring home the message of Islamic spirituality, Dr Abdallah Rothman draws upon key aspects in the Prophet’s life, ʿalayhī as-ṣallātu wa-salām, highlighting the significance in certain acts of worship, linked to the objective and actualization of Oneness, tawhīd. Distinctly, the retreats to Cave of Ḥira and the daily practices of night vigil, qiyām al-layl.  Relatable to every wayfarer, this podcast connects spiritual training ethos, the role of the heart in personal and emotional well-being, and purification to honing presence and witnessing the One. Concepts of islām (surrender), amāna (trust), tawakkul (reliance), and baraka (blessing) remind us that we are not responsible for the outcome of events, but rather, our responsibility lies in intent and action and ultimately, our alignment and submission to serving the Divine Will. Speaker: Dr. Abdallah Rothman is the Principal of Cambridge Muslim College, founder of Shifaa Integrative Counseling, co-founder and Executive Director of the International Association of Islamic Psychology, and visiting professor of psychology at Zaim University Istanbul, International Islamic University Islamabad, and Al-Neelain University Khartoum. He holds an MA and a PhD in psychology and is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and a Board Certified Registered Art Therapist (ATR-BC), licensed in the United States and currently living in the UK.

Author, research fellow and lecturer of Islamic studies and metaphysics, Dr Mukhtar Ali shares with us how to go about studying the great thinker and gnostic Ibn al-ʿArabī, ash-Shaykh al-Akbar, in post-modern times. Specializing in Sufism, Dr Ali paves the way of understanding the spiritual dimension of Islam. He introduces us to Ibn al-ʿArabī, the great mystic of the Sufi tradition, and clarifies the dimensions of Sufi walking: الشريعة (ash-sharīʿa), الطريقة (at-ṭarīqa), and الحقيقة (al-ḥaqiqa). In discussing this basic framework, Dr Ali uses rhetorical speech to teach us how one goes about to ascertain inward truths and realities, planting the seed of the esoteric methodology of questioning and striving.  In our discussion, considerations are given to: the essentials of Islamic theology and understanding the Qurʾān; the basis of attaining knowledge on the premise of unveiling; the four main commentators on Ibn al-ʿArabī and the gist of their work; the complexity of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s terminology and the potential benefit of studying English-Arabic translations alongside an instructor; acquiring and building a vocabulary in Arabic; the recommended trajectory of study for students new to metaphysics; and, the challenges of self-study and the value of approaching Ibn al-ʿArabī’s cosmology through a course or a layman’s book. This podcast also provides information on the upcoming courses on the Ḥikmah Project, and a modest overview of Dr Ali’s contemporary books, which, in his words, ‘are written as an introduction to the School of Ibn al-ʿArabī in simple language’. For further details, visit www.thehikmahproject.com

One of the five pillars of Islām, fasting, is explored in its relation to the nature of man, its role as expiation, and as a means for spiritual elevation and growth. Dr. Winkel discusses Ibn al-ʿArabī’s Mysteries of Fasting in the Futūḥāt al-Makkiya, explaining the non-dual nature of fasting and its positing as a great ritual of dependency and a gateway to the Divine; the beauty of fasting as mirrored in its interior disposition to open the door to sincerity, servitude, and sacred adornment.  The conversation flows to cover Islamic jurisprudence, the Nur Muhammad (the Light of Muhammad), and Ibn al-ʿArabī’s role as the conveyor of the message of this Universal Light. Dr. Winkel talks about situational decision-making and governance in its connection to the اسم (ʾism), archetypal name, the حال (ḥāl), one’s state or condition, and the حكم (ḥukum), the ruling; fasting as a prompter of اجتهاد (ijtiḥād), prompting a soul conversation in its inward reality; moon sighting as it arises in the hearts of the عارفون (ʿarifūn), arising in the full moon of Truth as the truth of Muhammad ﷺ; and, the paradoxical outward disconformity amongst Muslims that parallels inward conformity and harmony.