Monthly Archive

There are 81 ayat in the Qur’an that speak to signs in creation.  Night and day, sleep, our spouses, mountains – all are signs for those who reflect.  But how about a sign from Allah (swt) in a candy bar?

As it is halloween, the firm has a big bowl of candy on every floor.  Tastey yes, but disasterous for those of us who are trying to eat healthy.*  Because I have no self control, I dug around and found 2 butterfingers, one baby ruth and one snickers.  The first butterfinger was very very tastey, but for some reason, the baby ruth and snickers just didn’t hit the spot, so I didn’t finish them.   I proceeded on to the second butterfinger, only to find it shattered into a million little messy pieces.  I went back to the candy bowl, looking for another butterfinger.  Alas, none to be found.

Is it a sign from God, telling me to stick to my healthy eating?  I know, I know, it seems silly and trivial, but since I’ve been working on my taqwa, I notice God where I hadn’t seen Him before.  Like in a bowl of candy.  Why couldn’t God use something as simple as a shattered butterfinger as a sign that I need to watch what I eat and take care of my body?  Am I just being silly?

 36:33 And [yet,] they have a sign [of Our power to create and to resurrect] in the lifeless earth which We make alive, and out of which We bring forth grain, whereof they may eat 

*I lost a good 10 pounds earlier this year, but quit exercising around the beginning of September, and slowly started eating more and more junk food.  In the past 2 months, I gained back those 10 pounds *sobs*

I’ve been wanting a big long khimar for salat for quite some time, so today, I set out to find one.  Idealy, it would cover my ankles, so when it’s time to pray, all I would need to do is throw it on, rather than struggle into an abaya and wrap a scarf.  I have one of those prayer outfits that are quite common, but alas, it’s a bit see through, so if I’m wearing a tshirt and/or shorts, it doesn’t do the job.

I’ve always admired the somali sisters’ long khimar and skirt combos, which float elegantly around them as they traverse the streets of the twin cities.  I live in the metro area with the largest somali population in the US, and yet, I have never been to a somali mall.  So, today I went in search of my prayer khimar. 

Unfortunately, things didn’t quite work out as planned.  I entered, gave my salaams to the women sitting in their booth, and asked to look at their khimars.  The women gave me a puzzled look.  I’m like, umm, khimar, and pointed at the khimars that they were wearing.  Ahhh, hijab, they said, their faces lighting up with recognition.  Ummm, ok.  I tried to explain in Misr (what’s somali for egypt?  I figured misr would probably be closer than the european word for the country), long round over the head scarves were called khimar, but the shop keepers’ lack of english quickly became apparently.  I gave up, smiled and said, yes, hijab please.

Then I switched to sign language.  I pointed to various colors, and tried to mime that I wanted a khimar, um, hijab, that when all the way down to my ankles for salat.  Alas, my miming must be lacking, because I ended up with a khimar that goes down to about my knees.  Now, it’s a gorgeous mauve color that I *heart*, and the material is not too heavy, but still, dur, now I’ll have to throw on a pair of pants when salat comes round, which kinda defeats the purpose of having the khimar as single prayer garment in the first place.

But, I’m not detered.  inshaAllah I’ll venture out to a different somali mall with some friends, and we will suceed.  Plus, I have to look at their skirt selections.  There was a totally funky orange tie dyed one that I saw today, but I only brought $20 with me, specifically to limit my spending.

I know I look like a big purple blob, but it’s so darn spiffy.  It’s too bad that in the husband’s culture, if you put on khimar, that’s that, you wear it forever.  No switching between hijab and khimar.  And, there are just enough egyptian women at the local masjid who would notice (and comment) if I wore khimar on occasion.  So, for now it’s just my house khimar, but I’m hoping that if/when I go to a suhba or an out of town islamic convention, I’ll get a chance to rock the khimar.

On a related note, I came across this article while searching for pictures of somali khimar.  I am going to have to keep an eye out for the book Fashioning Africa: Power and the Politics of Dress , which has her article Nationalism Without a Nation: Understanding the Dress of Somali Women in Minnesota in it.

I covet the misbaha at Uns.  I *heart* them all, but in particular, I looove this one, this one, and this one.   As an anniversary gift, the husband has promised to get me one, to which I went, huzzah!  But now, I’m having second thoughts.  I mean, do I really need to spend $100 on prayer beads, or should I put that money towards my debts instead?  Honestly, should I even be getting things like this when I have debts to worry about.  Probably not. 

Instead, I gave my old misbaha a (not so) extreme makeover.  It wasn’t really all that bad.  It was just that the color of the tassels wasn’t my favorite and the string was a bit too long, so that the beads kept slipping away from my fingers as I tried to make dhikr.

So, I took a trip to the local craft store, bought some new string, dug the superglue out of the drawer and went to work.  I’m quite pleased with the results.  I may have made the string a bit too short so that it’s kind of tough to work through the top beads, but once my fingers get out, they move through my fingers much easier then before.

Guess I won’t be getting new prayer beads anytime soon.  Maybe for my next anniversary instead.  Now I can tell the husband that he can get me a cat as a present instead, bwahaha!

Before:

 

After

Via Izzy Mo, I just learned that my alma mater is being subjected to the sham that is islamo fascism awareness week.  I had celebrated earlier when I didn’t see UW’s name on the list, but alas, our college repubs even got the big man himself to speak.  MSA and other orgs organized a “wear green” campaign to show displeasure, but I didn’t see too many people wearing green

 However, positive news in that both the “conservative” student newspaper and the “liberal” student newspaper agree that something fishy this way comes (looks like things are going in a more positive direction at the Badger Herald, since publishing the Muhammad cartoons last year, blah).  Also, Hillel disassociated itself with Horowitz.  This makes me wonder how interfaith dialogue is going on campus.  We had a few first timid steps when I was a part of the MSA.  It would be interseting to know how it has continued.

As much as I am happy to see the MSA and other student orgs are working together to provide an alternate view, I am soooo glad that I am not there.  I was there for the whole Daniel Pipes fiasco, and let me tell you, it was exhausting, both physically and emotionally.  Haters tire me out.

Will be looking for more info on what the MSA is doing and will post as found inshaAllah.

The now defunct muslim charity Holy Land Foundation/several of its leaders were on trial in Texas on numerous charges related to support of terrorism.  Looks like there’s some reasonable doubt. 

One of the nasty little side shows related to the trial is the list of the “unindicted co-conspirators” that included many prominant american muslim organizations such as CAIR and ISNA.   Um, yeah, these people conspired with the baddies, but we can’t prove it in court, so we’re just going to taint your name and not allow you the chance to defend yourself within the legal system.  Despite the mistrial, these organizations are going to be forever tarred with the unindicted co conspirator label for a very long time, much like Imam Siraj Wahhaj is still an unindicted co conspirator in the 1993 WTC bombings. 

I dunno about you, but something seems distinctly unamerican about being not being able to have your day in court to clear your name, and being convicted (in the public’s eye) without a trial.  I guess I’m just an idealist who actually believes that stuff the founders put in the Bill of Rights.  Guess I’m just naive.

from Ghazali’s ‘Ilya’ ’Ulum al-Din’

Meaning of nafs: It has two meanings. First, it means the powers of anger and sexual appetite in a human being… and this is the usage mostly found among the people of tasawwuf [sufis], who take “nafs” as the comprehensive word for all the evil attributes of a person. That is why they say: one must certainly do battle with the ego and break it (la budda min mujahadat al-nafs wa kasriha), as is referred to in the hadith: A`da `aduwwuka nafsuka al-lati bayna janibayk [Your worst enemy is your nafs which lies between your flanks. Al-`Iraqi says it is in Bayhaqi on the authority of Ibn `Abbas and its chain of transmission contains Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Ghazwan, one of the forgers].

The second meaning of nafs is the soul, the human being in reality, his self and his person. However, it is described differently according to its different states. If it assumes calmness under command and has removed from itself the disturbance caused by the onslaught of passion, it is called “the satisfied soul” (al-nafs al-mutma’inna)… In its first meaning the nafs does not envisage its return to God because it has kept itself far from Him: such a nafs is from the party of shaytan. However, when it does not achieve calmness, yet sets itself against the love of passions and objects to it, it is called “the self-accusing soul” (al-nafs al-lawwama), because it rebukes its owner for his neglect in the worship of his master… If it gives up all protest and surrenders itself in total obedience to the call of passions and shaytan, it is named “the soul that enjoins evil” (al-nafs al-ammara bi al-su’)… which could be taken to refer to the ego in its first meaning.

My nafs is hungry and lazy.  It likes to eat out for lunch, and flop down in front of the tv when I get home from work.  The husband asked me to calculate how much money I spend going out to eat at lunch, and goodness, it does add up!  Seriously, $4 for a bowl of soup?  I made a whole huge pot of minestrone this weekend for $5 – probably enough for 8 bowls.

So, I’ve decided to bribe my nafs.  There is a whole big long list of things I’d like to buy in the way of Islamic books and lecture cds, as well as classes to take at Sunnipath and our new local Islamic University.  The problem is that there never seems to be enough money in the budget.   There never seems to be enough money to go around, and as such, we get sucked into the pit of debt.  Ack, debt

Ah, but what about all that money I spend on food?  Instead of withdrawing money from the ATM each week and feeding the “me me me, I’m too lazy to pack my own lunch, so buy me pizza and soup and popcorn,” the plan is to withdraw $20 each week, and designate that as my nafs money.  I can use it for anything I want.  I could feed my lazy hungry nafs with restaurant food for lunch each day.  Or, I can save that money and put it towards stuff that will help improve my islam, iman and ihsan.

So nafs, I’m declaring jihad on you.  No more wasting money on soup that I could easily make for much cheaper at home.  No more greasy pizza that is clogging my arteries and increasing my blood pressure. 

You’ve been warned nafs.   Time to get my jihad on.

Imam Suhaib’s khutba before eid, via his blog.  To watch later, so I don’t have any comments on it at present:

 [kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/R9LHkm1k1e8" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/47I0Ocw0JwM" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

From Tariq Nelson:

I was told of an Islam that spoke of God’s Infinite Love and Mercy for His creation. I was told of an Islam that inspired people to make positive changes to their lives. I was told of an Islam that offers to serve others and offered solid solutions to problems. All of these things were attractive and this is the Islam that people were flocking to in the 1990’s. This is the Islam I accepted

Now all of those things are a “waste of time”. This new “Islam” is about hate, killing, rape and murder. I am told by a person visiting this site that I should be praising the daily carnage that I see on the news and to believe in wacky conspiracy theories and blood libel. (I have been accused several times by my co-religionists of being a spy and a closet Zionist)

Now I am told that I never understood Islam and that the things I mentioned above represent an “American” Islam and hence bidah (rejected innovation) and that I should accept this “real Islam”

Wish I could come up with something profound and constructive to add, but words escape me.  But if I had to pick someone to speak for me and my Islam, I’d chose Br. Tariq any day of the week.

“Those who have no mercy on other human beings (NAS), will not receive the mercy of Allah.” Bukhari

Note the NAS.  NAS, people, not Momineen, believers.  Have mercy for PEOPLE.

I was a little thief.  In my youth (ok, and in my teenage years), I stole from my parents, my grandmother and my siblings.  $5 here, $20 there.  It wasn’t even for anything important – just going out to lunch with friends, snacks, soda and candy.

My parents knew I was a little thief.  When I was in 6th grade, my mom found gum wrappers in my room.  She made me tell her where I had stolen the gum from, and then made me go apologize.  You would think after that humiliation, I would have stopped stealing.  Nope, I just started stealing from them instead.

When one converts to Islam, they’re told that all their past sins have been wiped away, that you’re as clean as the day you were born.  Unfortunately, if you violated the rights of others (like stealing from them), you still owe them.  If you don’t pay them back and make amends, Allah (swt) will take what you owe them on the day of judgment.  *gulp* 

I had thought I put that chapter of my life behind me.   I had to work hard to regain my parents’ trust.  And now I have to face it all again.  I have to sit down, admit my thefts and repay my family.  *gulp*   I’m going to have to role play this conversation a million times and make lots of dua to have the strength to face these past demons.  It’s going to be a fun thanksgiving at my parents’ house this year.  *gulp*

 Here’s the game plan:

*Sit the whole family down, preferably when they’re all happy at the same time

*Say something along the lines of – you all know that when I was younger I stole from mom and dad.  Well, on occasion, I also stole from you guys (ie brother and sister).

*I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching lately, and trying to improve myself.  In Islam, when you violate the rights of another person, you cannot be forgiven of that violation unless you recify the wrongs you did to that person.

*So, I’m here to ask for your forgiveness for my past actions, and to repay you what I took.  I am unsure of the amount, so I have  $x in cash for you (brother and sister).  Mom and Dad, I would like to work out a payment plan with you over the next few months until I’ve paid you back. 

Oh Allah (swt), give me strength!  My heart is palpitating just thinking about doing this.

Anas ibn Malik reported that the Messenger of Allah said, “When you come upon the meadows of the Garden, graze in them.” He was asked, “What are the meadows of the Garden?” “Circles of dhikr.” he replied. (at-Tirmidhi)

I’m a bad, bad blogger.  I signed up for yesterday’s Blog Action Day, and was suppose to post something re: the environment.  I had grand plans to post, if not a dissertation on islam and the environment, at least to write a bit about my favorite environment friendly hadith:

 ”If the Day of Judgment begins while one of you is planting a shoot (of a tree), let him finish (planting it) if he could.”

Well, the weekend rolled around with both Eid and my anniversary (has it been 2 years already).  No problem, I think, I’ll just get into work early and write something.  Ah, never get into work early if you’re doing trial prep for 3 cases (ok, 1 trial, one arbitartion, and one mock trial).  Nope, not a second to write even a sentence on the ol blog yesterday.  The lesson?  Procrastination doesn’t pay.

 So, here I am, a day late and a dollar short.  Instead of my own thoughts on being a green muslim, I’ll just throw up some links.  Bah.

What does Islam say about the Environment?

Towards an Islamic Jurisprudence of the Environment

An Islamic Approach to the Environment

 Islam and Earth Day

Islam and the Environment

Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences

SubhanAllah, God guides those who ask of Him.  I’ve been dipping my toes back in the waters of a christian forum, and also asking God to guide me on the straight path.  I posted the letter from the previous post in the non christian religion section, hoping to spark some dialogue based on it.   This is the response I got.  SubhanAllah, think someone is trying to tell me to spend my time elsewhere?

We’ll see.  Printed it out to read on the bus ride home (in between the VA Suhba).  It does have quite a variety of high level shayook as signatures.  Can’t comment on the variety, as I’m not too familiar with most of the top salafi scholars today, but all my favorites are there.

 A Common Word Between Us

Two new shops – one for buying, one just for looking

 Nashid and Kayra.

 Spendy but so pretty.  If I ever become a lawyer, I’m going to Turkey (and this online shop) to do all my shopping.

 

Via Umm Zaid:

 Egypt Today’s cover story on Sh. Hamza, Mufti Gomaa (woo, look at that egyptian jeem) and Amr. Khaled.

In recent years, members of our ulema have come out with quite a few statements and declarations that express opinions on living in the west, relationships between muslims and terrorism.   Unfortunately, I can’t see what effect these declarations have on the ummah.

I’ve previously blogged about the Salaam 100, and I’m sure that most blogosphere muslims have read the Amman Message.   On a more recent blog/online oriented level, we have the Sunni Unity Pledge.  These messages are all well and good.  In fact, I whole heartedly agree we should be making statements such as these.  But, what happens after the statement?

 Just today, I stumbled upon the Topkapi Declaration, which was signed last year at a conference attended by some of the biggest names there are – Sh. Ali Gomma, Sh. Qaradawi, Sh. Hamza Yusuf, Sh. Nuh, Sh. bin Bayah, Mufti Ceric, Tariq Ramadan, among others.  How did I find out about this document?  Not in some message board exchange about it’s implications, or even an old blog post.  No, I found it while looking at pictures of the Shayook at the Muslims in Europe conference. 

 We remain committed to working to ensure that the voice of the peaceful majority of Muslims overcomes that of the tiny minority who seek to promote distorted misinterpretations of Islam. We join our voices to those of scholars from across the world to say that we reject the cancer of terrorism. We pray for the guidance of those to whom extremism and violence may seem an attractive route.

Why isn’t this document more widely discussed?  Why haven’t we worked on some way to get this message out in our words and deeds? 

In quasi related news, check out this picture.  So much ilm in such a small space.

The whited out blob is Sh. Nuh, who doesn’t want to be photographed

Make dua for Baraka.

In fact, make dua for everyone.  One thing Shaykh Nuh repeated over and over again in the 1998 Suhba is that Allah (swt) loves for His servants to ask of Him.  Ask Him for anything and everything.  It builds a connection with Him.

If any of you could spare 10 seconds, could you please make dua for me?  inshaAllah ta’ala I am starting the 40 Grand today, and I need all the help I can get.

It’s funny (in a kind of ironic way, not ha ha funny), but one of the main reasons I am muslim is because of salat.  It’s a form of worship given to us by God, validated by God, ordered by God, unlike the liturgy/mass/service of the christian churches.  It’s remained unchanged since it was given to our Prophet (saws).  Allah (swt) told the Prophet (saws) that his ummah should pray 5 times a day.  What’s so funny about that, you may ask?  It’s funny because I struggle so hard to make my salat.  I can’t think of a single month since I converted where I’ve prayed all my salat, astaghfirullah.  I get on a roll, then bam, that time of month hits and afterwards, I’ve lost all my momentum.  Sometimes I struggle back up to that level, and sometimes, it takes months to motivate myself again, astaghfirullah.

But this time, inshaAllah inshaAllah inshaAllah, I’m going to do it.  It may take me a year, but I’m going to finish 40 days of salat come hell or high water. 

Please make dua for me.

As you may have guessed, one of my internet obsessions is surfing Islam related blogs and websites. Another unrelated obsession is gawking at insanely cute animals and lolcats. For the uninitiated, lolcats combine a picture of a cat with a humorous internet speak caption. Pictures of cats using internet slang and poor grammar have not crossed with my primary love of Islam related content until now.

There fore, I am proud to present…Mecca cat!

All the more relevant since we’re in Ramadan. Wonder how many people are praying for cheeseburgers during magrhib salat, lolz.

 Click here to register.

Sunnipath must have rearranged their answers section, because links are frequently broken.  It’s a shame, because there are several great compilation answers that pull together resources pertaining to a specific subject.  One such answer is their Reader on Islamic Spirituality.  I’ve gone through their archives and updated the links.  Maybe if I volunteer to do this for them for other answers, they’ll give me a tuition discount, lol.

A Reader on Islamic Spirituality (Sufism)
Answered by SunniPath Answer Service Team
I know sufficient Fiqh to fulfil my daily obligations. What I find missing is the spiritual side to this. How would I go abound learning this, are there books you would recommend? What about the Sufi tariqas – are they bida? My Arabic teacher told me that tassawuf didn’t exist in the sahabas time, but that there was zuhd, is this true? Also what books/subjects would you recommend to further my knowledge of fiqh?

Wa alaykum Assalam wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatuhu,

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful & Compassionate

The following are a collection of links on Sufism sorted by topic. Articles are from Sidi Masud Khan’s Excellent Site: http://www.masud.co.uk/ and Q&A links are from the archives at www.sunnipath.com 

What is Sufism, is it an innovation? – What is its Place in Islam?

The Place of Tasawwuf in Traditional Islam Sh. Nuh Keller

How would you respond to the Claim that Sufism is bid’a? Sh. Nuh Keller

Islamic Spirituality: the forgotten revolution Sh. Abdal Hakim Murad

What is this “Sufism” that some love and other people hate?

Imam Ghazali on Sufism and the Reality of Spiritual Inspiration

The Meaning of Tasawwuf Sh. Shahidullah Faridi (r.a.)

Is Sufism a ‘Gross Innovation? What is the Reality of Sufism?

Dhikr by Word and by Action

Rumi: True and False Sufis

Jihad al-Nafs (Striving Against One’s Lower Self)

Taking a Shaykh in the Spiritual Path (Tariqa)

Taking a Spiritual guide: Is there something wrong with it?  - can’t find

Taking Bay’a with a Shaykh?

Is taking a shaykh on the spiritual path an innovation?

Meeting with Reality: My Road to Tasawwuf – Qais Arthur

Books

What are good writings on the soul, the stages it goes through, and man’s place in this world?

Sufism and the Shariah

Sufism and Shariah

Tasawwuf and Sharia – Shafiq ur-Rahman

www.masud.co.uk/ISLAM/misc/shafiqur.htm

Also Related

The Concept of Bid’a in the Islamic Shariah Sh. Nuh Keller

Spiritual Meaning of Prayers (Worship) Performance of the daily prayers (Salbt)

Calling to Allah: from the best of spiritual works

Have you seen a Faqih? Reason and Knowledge in Islam

Clarification on reciting the names of Allah
May Allah `Azza wa Jall guide us all to the way most beloved to Him, ameen.

Wassalam,

Hanafi Fiqh Team

The husband and I had a rousing discussion last night about sufism.  It didn’t change his views, but at the end of the day, if I feel like I want to join a tariqa then he’ll support me, even if it means I drag him to a suhba.

I’ve revised my game plan.  First and foremost, I’m making istikhara tonight.  Then, if the answer is that I should pursue this path, I’ll start on the Forty Grand.  In the mean time, I’m reading everything on the Shadhili Tariqa website, and have started in on the sufi path and VA suhba lectures.

 Ya Rabb, let’s see how this goes.

I received this from one of my yahoo groups.  The survey has some very thought provoking questions.  Please foward it on to others who may be interested.  It’s aimed towards american muslims, although there is a question later on where you can answer that you’re canadian, european, etc etc etc.

 Asalaam wa Alaikum!

I hope everyone is having a blessed Ramadan.

I have received a lot of interest in the hijab study. To accommodate the interest, I have developed four surveys on Survey Monkey. One for born Muslim women, one for born Muslim men, one for convert women and one for convert men.  Please distribute this message broadly so that I may get a good sample for the study. To participate one will need to have use of a computer. The survey is completely confidential. It will extend internationally, so all may participate.  I plan to be able to share the results by January 2008. If you have any questions, please contact me at hlairdjackson@… .

If you are a born Muslim women click here:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=R4V9QsbGeDh7Njz_2b2KYsAQ_3d_3d

If you are a born Muslim man click here:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=RiSPVIAh_2fUZ1vT_2fgY2kMfg_3d_3d

If you are a female convert click here:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=zwielyCEHXOyrOzcyJulAw_3d_3d

If you are a male convert click here:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2fHAxzv_2byXRe83sR3tZfL1w_3d_3d

Thank you for all your efforts.

Wa salaam,

Sr. Heather Laird-Jackson

I’ve felt drawn to tassawuf since I converted.  Well, perhaps more accurately, I’ve felt that there was something lacking in the way I was learning Islam – introductary books and articles on Islam focus mainly on fiqh.  And, while getting down the halal and haram are absolutely essential to tread the straight path, I was missing something.  I wanted to develop my relationship with Allah (swt).   Not in the cheesy “God is my homeboy” protestantish way I taught as a camp counselor.  No, I wanted to KNOW Allah (swt), to love Him, to worship Him in my every action.

Up until this point, I’ve been dabbling in tassawuf informally – doing random wirds, reading, making lots of dhikr, things that I think good sufis should do.  But, I don’t think it’s enough.  I’m getting to the point where I want to develop a relationship with a sheikh, to make bayah and to be guided in my spiritual development.  But before I get to that point, there are a few things I have to deal with:

 1.  The husband.  Despite the fact that his grandfather (or was it his great grandfather?) was a sufi sheikh, the husband is not a fan of sufism, to put it lightly.  He’s ok with my dabbling in the area, and even jokingly refers to me as a sufi, but he doesn’t feel that it’s necessary to give bayah and to follow a sheikh.   So, to that end, I need to…

2.  Understand sufism in the context of Islamic history and development.  While I am convinced that there is a sufism that is not bidah, etc etc etc, I’d like to be able to convince my husband of that as well.  And since he is well read, I need to be well read in this area as well.  This would all be so much easier if I had his support 100%.  This is not to say that he’s being unsupportive, just skeptical.

3.  Give 110% in ibadah.  I still struggle with salat, although I’ve greatly improved in recent months.  I need to get as close to perfecting it as I can on my own, before I seek to formally study sufism.

4.  Actually find a tariqa/sheikh.  How does one do this?  There are no sheikhs in my area, heck, no sheikhs in the US that I know of that I would like to follow.  There are two sheikhs who’s writings I really like, and who teach a sunnah approved sufism – Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmad of the Naqshbandi Mujaddidi tariqa and Shaykh Nuh Keller of the Shadhili Tariqa.   I know that there are some mureeds of Shaykh Nuh out there in cyberspace, and inshaAllah I’m going to see if I can get in contact with some sisters to find out more.

5.  Take the Introduction to Islamic Spirituality courses at Sunnipath.  This would allow me a chance to correspond with Shaykh Nuh, as well as get the basics down.

All right, there’s probably more I should do, but for right now, 5 things are probably enough to work on.