“Then Gai told me about the famous cup of the heart, which I should now begin to empty. The Sufis compare our spiritual heart, the seat of God within us, with a cup into which the love of God flows.… — Kristiane Backer Copy Share Image
“the essence of the Hajj is Arafat. On the ninth day of the Hajj month all pilgrims gather on the great Plain of Arafat… — Kristiane Backer Copy Share Image
“Boys will always be boys,’ he said. ‘The relationship obviously wasn’t meant to be.’ He told me I should trust that the break-up was for the best, even if I couldn’t see that yet. As with every form of suffering, heartache brings with it catharsis, and turns us into better human beings. ‘It is like an iron in the furnace… — Kristiane Backer Copy Share
“You’ve been tested.’ He advised me to try and ‘forgive and pardon, and this way seek to become beloved by God’ without my forgiveness being tied to the one who wronged me. ‘This is the Divine remedy,’ he emphasised, ‘remind your ego when it resists. Don’t you love for God to forgive you on the day, too?’ Reflecting on what… — Kristiane Backer Copy Share
Living a lie - pretending everything is fine when we are actually discontented - is hard work and, in the long run, even bad for our health. We pay a high price for compromising on this honesty - and neglecting ourselves. Finding our inner passion, our mission in life, and connecting with who we really are, our spiritual being or… — Kristiane Backer Copy Share
A sick person is Allah's guest for as long as he is ill. Every day he is sick, God gives him countless rewards, as long as he says ' al hamdulillah', praise be to God, and does not fight it and complain. When God returns to him his health, he expiates his sins and gives him the status of the… — Kristiane Backer Copy Share
“God was inviting me to go on Hajj, but before that I needed to settle my debts. Muslims may only embark on their pilgrimage… — Kristiane Backer Copy Share Image
“Religion is also a process of healing, I discovered – a healing of the soul. Even our language points to this relation. The words ‘holy’, ‘wholesome’ and ‘healing’ all have the same root. (In German, this is even more striking: heilig, heil and heilen.) Muslims believe that all humans are born in a state of purity, our fitra, and it… — Kristiane Backer Copy Share
“everything that is in the world, there is a correspondence on every level of existence. The macrocosm is a reflection of the microcosm, and the way we experience the outer world is a reflection of our inner state: it is our mirror. If we are in harmony with ourselves, then we will be in harmony with the outer world, i.e.… — Kristiane Backer Copy Share
“It was clear to me by now that studying Islam was one thing – and absolutely worthwhile, because it helped me grasp the meaning of the religion and how it all fitted together. However, I felt as though I was standing in front of a shop window full of lovely things, and all I could do was admire them from… — Kristiane Backer Copy Share
“The words of the Quran all seemed strangely familiar yet so unlike anything I had ever read before,’ he told us. He embraced Islam in 1977, and changed his name to Yusuf, the Arabic for Joseph. ‘I identified with the story of Joseph in the Quran,’ he said. ‘His brothers sold him like goods in the market place.’ Yusuf felt… — Kristiane Backer Copy Share
“Purify your intentions, your inner being, your heart and be sincere in your actions,’ he wrote. ‘God looks into your heart, not at your… — Kristiane Backer Copy Share Image
“You have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad (jihad alakbar).” His followers asked him what that greater jihad was. “The struggle against your passionate soul,” he replied. ‘So what does this greater jihad entail?’ I asked him. ‘It is the effort to practise our faith,’ Gai replied. ‘To pray five times every day is an effort, to… — Kristiane Backer Copy Share
