(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best books about sufism

If you like alchemy of happiness you will want anything from the Ihya which is a lot more in-depth.

You want high quality translations. These are done by the islamic texts society:

http://www.its.org.uk/product-category/the-ghazali-series/

They're quite good, but pricey, raid your local library.

I want to read this book:

"Deliverance from error"

http://www.amazon.com/Al-Ghazalis-Path-Sufism-Deliverance-al-Munqidh/dp/1887752307/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415351661&sr=1-2

I feel like I identify with Al-Ghazali on a small scale. This is his autobiography.

BTW. He has books on philosophy and logic as well as theology. This is what he is famous for as well. Those works are very abstract in their nature but if you are interested his work "Moderation in Belief" was translated very well.

EDIT: Also, hamza yusuf has translated his "marvels of the heart" Check that out too, because hamza yusuf is awesome.

By default they have to attach themselves to doctrinal Islam, it is the same that Tantric Aghoris in India attach themselves to Hinduism, it's all about where you are coming from Geographically and socially.

I take it your knowledge of Islam stems from the internet which is a double edged sword, one of the best books i have come across about Islam is this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Islam-Frithjof-Schuon/dp/0941532240
And for Sufism:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Mystics-Islam-Reynold-Nicholson/dp/0941532488

I highly recommend you seek out knowledge on what Islam is. Your talk about "I don't want there to be more Muslims in the world" worries me, it sounds very similar to what the "opposition" would say.
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Essential Sufism is a great place to start. It isn't so much a review of basic beliefs, but rather a collection of various writings from sufi thinkers from various places and times.

A more academic, but good overall introduction to sufism is Carl Ernst's book.

The best books on sufism to a newcomer is Fethullah Gulen's series on Sufism.

disclaimer: i am not a follower of Gulen

I really enjoyed the book her father wrote. Never heard about his daughter, what a story.

For spirituality in general, the Tao Te Ching in my teens.

For the Abrahamic religions specifically, the Sufi mystics Ibn Arabi and Suhrawardi, and more specifically, their dissection by Henry Corbin in the corpus of his writing, which is best encapsulated for Westerners in this book.

For Eastern Orthodox Christianity: Just restricting myself to books, I'd have to say this for the history, this for the theology, this for the apologetics, and perhaps this for bringing the whole thing full circle.

That was just the beginning. Little did I know what lay ahead of me in the writings of the Church Fathers, starting with St. Athanasius.

Practically implementing them in your life, the easiest being in duas, really helps. Take ten Names (preferably in order), learn about their meanings, and then write a dua associated with the name. Use them in duas.

> Yet this Name has another dimension: al-Jabbar is the One who is able to restore and mend what is broken. Some of the great scholars would supplicate “Ya Jaabir kul kaseer” when they were faced with overwhelming difficulty, meaning “Oh You who mends everything that is broken.” The Arabic word for a splint that is used to help an arm heal when it is broken is “jibeera” from the same root ja-ba-ra. Thus, when we feel broken, we need to go to the only One who can mend our state–al-Jabbar. Sometimes when we get this broken feeling, shaytan (satan) tells us not to go to Allah because we are being hypocritical by only going to Allah when we are down. Yet this is untrue– Allah has named Himself al-Jabbar and given Himself this attribute; you cannot go to the One whose attribute is mending what is broken, and not be healed by Him.

This is a pretty good book on Allah's names, their meanings, and how we can implement them in our lives.

Amazon?

Here's UK and here's USA

or from Firdous Books

Checkout Professor Sherman Jackson's new book: Sufism for Non-Sufis?

Inform yourself.

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Devil's Quran

https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Quran-Martinet-Press/dp/0692260846/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=devil%27s+quran&qid=1572011905&sr=8-1

The Black Path

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Path-Tariqa-Azzeddini/dp/0692484469/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=devil%27s+quran&qid=1572011905&sr=8-2

Read "Sea Without Shore": http://www.amazon.com/Sea-Without-Shore-Manual-Sufi/dp/1590080661

https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Practices-Sufi-Freemasons-Teachings/dp/1594774684

The Named and the Named.

>Your talk about "I don't want there to be more Muslims in the world" worries me

I think the Abrahamic doctrines are all obsolete. And of them Islam seems to be the most pernicious one.

My intent is to wake people up to this fact. I hope people start to change their minds and either leave Islam behind, or at least soften and modernize their stance the same way Christians had to do in the past. I don't want to hurt human beings, but I do want them to stop believing harmful beliefs, and Islamic doctrine contains a number of harmful beliefs.

I don't go around explaining problems in Islam for no reason. I have better things to do. But if some dumb shit happens and it is related to Muslims, you can bet I will speak up about it from time to time. And I hope if I don't, someone else does. We can't let this insanity continue.

I don't like wars and violence, but I also realize some beliefs drive people toward hostilities. If not hostilities toward other believers, then hostilities toward women, sexual minorities, and so on. I'm not going to just sit here and say nothing. Don't even think about that.

So if you are worried, I hope what you fear is not me, because all I do is shine the light of truth on Islam. And you shouldn't fear truth. What you should worry about is the shit in the Islamic doctrine. You should also worry about what your Muslim "brothers and sisters" do and believe. Things like that. That would be a legitimate worry. Because if Islam stood in the light of truth, it wouldn't be possible to criticize it. The reason it's so easy to criticize Islam is because Islam, as a doctrine, stands in the shadows of ignorance. That's something that should worry you.

>And for Sufism: http://www.amazon.com/The-Mystics-Islam-Reynold-Nicholson/dp/0941532488

I have two books about Rumi on my bookshelf, as well as another, more generic book on Sufism.

>I highly recommend you seek out knowledge on what Islam is.

I've heard that before. ;)

> New scenarios pop up all the time and religion can't have specific answers for all of them. That is why there are jurisprudential principles that help scholars come to new rulings on new things based on the spirit and principles of islam.

They can try, but often they are wrong, that's all.

> I don't understand your question. Do you think homosexuality doesn't harm others? What things do you think don't harm others? I need examples.

Yes homosexuality doesn't harm others. Other examples would include not praying, eating pork, drinking alcohol, taking drugs, and not keeping holidays like Ramadan. These are victimless crimes.

> I have no idea what you're talking about concerning ezra. Do you mean that your post insult ezra and the muslim forum censored it because they don't like the insults?

There is a difference betwen criticism and insults, a difference that many Muslims fail to recognize. Ibn Hazm, an Andalusian Muslim scholar, explicitly accused Ezra of being a liar and a heretic who falsified and added interpolations into the Biblical text. This is a criticism. The Muslim forum censored it because they don't like free speech/thought.

> Concerning free speech, what I know is that it should have boundaries. Where those are, I'll have to think about it.

Here is something to think about:

http://www.mikraite.org/Freedom-of-Speech-tp1915.html

Regarding Al-Ghazali, I don't read Arabic so I read Path to Sufism: His Deliverance from Error (al-Munqidh min al-Dalal) and my opinion is based on that.

> Why did you come up with that? Why do you think that's enough? From the POV of islam, the one true god requires far more than what you're doing in beliefs and practice. Are you not concerned that it might be the truth and you're overlooking it?

I was raised as an atheist. So switching to the Old Testament was a big change. But it didn't require me to give up skepticism, so it works well for me. I don't believe in truth in Plato's sense, so I am not concerned about this. I consider both the Old Testament and Islam to be valid paths, but the Old Testament works better for me and Islam works better for most other people.

> Without an afterlife then there is no point in living or waging a culture war as you're doing. It's all pointless then, so why keep on living or acting righteously?

The Old Testament promise is success for one's descendants, not an afterlife. This view is strongly compatible with evolution which I believe in. The idea that my genes, genes for intelligence and morality, will be wiped out and replaced by the genes of evil morons in the future horrifies me. So I will do what I can to prevent this.

> Why is 2:2 problematic?

2:2 asks for certainty and I doubt everything by my nature.