Evidence of Research (Beginning)

Evidence of Research:

Source 1 Notes:

Bentounes. Sheikh Khaled. Sufism: The Heart of Islam. Arizona: Hohm Press, 2002.

· The Declaration of Faith: acknowledgement of God’s oneness. “I declare there is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is the messenger of Allah.” (pg 64-5)

· The Sense of Prayer: After Shahada, prayer is the best tie between man and God. It is the key to the right way, it purifies the heart so that it may reflect God’s light. One who does not pray cannot meet God.

· Prayer is the daily cycle in Islam

· Morning prayer: symbolizes the beginning of life (subh)

· Midday Prayer: no more shade in the day, the sun is up, one somehow finds oneself in ones culminating point, in one’s verticality. (duhr)

· Prayer of the mid afternoon: prayer of the sages, and the path to wisdom (asr)

· Sunset Prayer: the moment when a person’s life gradually leaves this earth. (Maghreb)

· Penetrating the night we enter a parallel world which we do not know, teaches us that prayer exists in the other world as well. (esha)

(PG 65)

· The role of prayer is to place us each time in front of God

· Prayer transports us from the temporal world of an everyday life usually difficult to live, to a sacred encounter.

· “Prayer is a means for the practicing individual to improve his or her inner side and to progress, because disipline that is based on that desire to prostrate and to communicate with God elevates us and protects us from the abuses and the distractions which may be born in us.”

· “Prayer is the mechanism for the spiritual transformation that is going to take place, It is a key for one to move from one stage to the next…By the power of persuasion and discipline, he will obtain a result- a promise to experience a better state than the one he is now.” (pg 67-68)

· Basically prayer, in many ways, helps get Muslims closer to their final goal

· Fasting: has a role of purification, and is also a form of worship. It is not only a matter of abstaining from eating, but also from everything that is superfluous in the relationship between the human and the divine.

· Zakat: represents the expression of gratitude that I have for God who has given me life, health, and the possibility to enjoy the gifts of life. It is not charity, nor is it a donation-it is a duty and obligation.

· The Pilgrimage: People integrate themselves into something else, and the bond between people comes ouit in an extremely powerful way

-Here are notes from my first source......this is all we needed for today right? I was kinda confused...but I hear we just needed evidence that we are moving along.