MANIFESTO

A Manifesto is a Declaration of Intention.

Intention is a statement of desire - a prayer, if you will.

Intent, however, is that about which the soul is actually sent to accomplish and is certainly accomplishing, because the soul will have its way. Will you surrender to its way, which is Allah's will? Or will you continue to fight it, calling it evil and yourself good?

Intention is of the will and the self, and it can be investigated, purified and changed. Intent is not so easily perceived, but it can be known by the adepts. But know that your soul is on the path of goodness, there is no "original sin". Your soul is already surrendered to Allah. Why then are you fighting it?

So if you are fighting, look to your intention, and see if there isn't some room for purification. And then look to what it is you are actually accomplishing and if it is truly matching your "intention". You cannot really change your true direction (which is to God), but you can relinquish illusion and surrender to it. 

Your direction is to God, my friend.
So rest in peace, and know it's true.
It matters not a whit to Him
How hard you choose to make your life,
The end will be the same.
But it matters unto you.
So learn to take the easy way,
Of trust and action true,
Surrender now and taste the love
of peace and blessings, too.

What meaning then, of salam alaik,
if not to remind you to
remember that the peace and blessings
of Allah are upon you. 
Now! Not later! This moment is eternal. 
Why then should we leave?

"Hadha s-sirat al-mustaqim"
"This is the straight path",
To love now and be with your Lord thy God
With all your body, mind, heart, soul and spirit.

The garden is not to be entered,
We were never not in it.
But the fire is to be left.
Why would you want to carry the fire
of division, anger, separation, fear and hatred
in your hand and in your heart and be calling it Islam?

And to the "Sufis" in dispute, I say,
Why feed those who only want to fight?
Don't let the hooks and barbs over the pul-sirat
Catch you and carry you away
From the razor's edge bridge
Of the straight way.
To Allah!
Recognize illusion for what it is,
Someone else's problem, and don't feed it
with what you ascribe to yourself as good will.
There are more "good" ways to fall off the path than "bad".

The worship form is a way to God,
It is also, like everything else,
From him and by him too.

It can be viewed as a discipline enforced upon yourself
Or as a true act of worship
Coming from the loving gratitude
Of a slave who has seen and knows his Lord.

The point of practice is to make perfect.
A Muslim can be "in the zone" too.
Remember the hadith where it is said that the slave
Practices voluntary worship until Allah
Becomes his worship? (hands, eyes, feet, ears, etc.)
That is what we mean to be "in the zone", in Sufism.
This is the perfection that we seek.
This is "ihsan", "yaqin", "haqiqat".
Perfection, Certainty, and the Reality.

So, it is good if your intention is a manifestation of and can serve your intent. If it is not, then accidents happen, because the soul will have its way, or it will split. If you think it might come back again, it may. I definitely wish you better luck next time.

And now back to the purpose at hand: 

It is my hope and intention to satisfy the desires of my heart for the company I crave through manifesting the intent and destiny of my soul to be an active and leading participant in a community of like minded people whose desires and intentions are to learn, study, practice and teach Surrender in this true Sufi way.

To this end I have spent my life. Learning, studying, practicing and teaching, that I would reach the point of considering myself worthy and capable of such participation. I have asked my shaykh and master Sidi Muhammad al-Jamal for confirmation of such worthiness in the form of a permission to start my own school and he has granted that it is so. And the rest is up to Allah. 

All this to say that. 

W/love
Ali

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