Rumi
Paper on Rumi’s thought: “Signs of the Unseen” & “Fundamentals of Rumi’s thoughts”
Mevlana Jalal al- Din Rumi is one of the most influential Islamic mystics of all times. It is no surprise that even seven hundred years after his death; he remains to be the best selling poet in North America. His poetry reflects the teachings of Islam and his opinions on various matters such as faith, prayer, love, free will etc. are assembled in a book called “The signs of the Unseen”. Occasionally, commentators dissociate Rumi poetry’s from Islam but the fact is that Rumi’s entire writings are inspired from the Quran and sayings of Prophet (PBUH) and represent the essence of Islam. Rumi sheds light on many important aspects of Islam and that is the reason that many writers and authors consider his writings to be the second best source of Islamic concepts and traditions after Quran. For instance, Rumi explains the concept of prayer stating that “There is no prayer without the presence of the heart”. Prayer does not just mean performing a set of actions five times a day but the soul of prayer requires absolute absorption and unconsciousness when one is subjected to God. Without that, the purpose of the prayer won’t be fulfilled. On another occasion, Rumi stated that the faith in God surpasses every form of prayer as the prayer is “obligatory only five times a day but faith is uninterrupted. One can be excused from prayer but cannot be excused from faith”. To lay more emphasis on the importance of faith, Rumi expressed that the faith without prayer brings reward but prayer without faith is purposeless. Rumi also reflected the idea that the faith does not only mean to have a belief in God but one should also never be despair of God as “Hope is the first step to salvation:. A true Muslim should consider his self helpless at all times and subject himself to God’s will. In the “Fundamentals of Rumi’s thoughts”, Sufik Can
Mevlana Jalal al- Din Rumi is one of the most influential Islamic mystics of all times. It is no surprise that even seven hundred years after his death; he remains to be the best selling poet in North America. His poetry reflects the teachings of Islam and his opinions on various matters such as faith, prayer, love, free will etc. are assembled in a book called “The signs of the Unseen”. Occasionally, commentators dissociate Rumi poetry’s from Islam but the fact is that Rumi’s entire writings are inspired from the Quran and sayings of Prophet (PBUH) and represent the essence of Islam. Rumi sheds light on many important aspects of Islam and that is the reason that many writers and authors consider his writings to be the second best source of Islamic concepts and traditions after Quran. For instance, Rumi explains the concept of prayer stating that “There is no prayer without the presence of the heart”. Prayer does not just mean performing a set of actions five times a day but the soul of prayer requires absolute absorption and unconsciousness when one is subjected to God. Without that, the purpose of the prayer won’t be fulfilled. On another occasion, Rumi stated that the faith in God surpasses every form of prayer as the prayer is “obligatory only five times a day but faith is uninterrupted. One can be excused from prayer but cannot be excused from faith”. To lay more emphasis on the importance of faith, Rumi expressed that the faith without prayer brings reward but prayer without faith is purposeless. Rumi also reflected the idea that the faith does not only mean to have a belief in God but one should also never be despair of God as “Hope is the first step to salvation:. A true Muslim should consider his self helpless at all times and subject himself to God’s will. In the “Fundamentals of Rumi’s thoughts”, Sufik Can