Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Self Building (An Islamic Guide for Spiritual Migration towards God)

Author: Ayatullah Ibrahim Amini
Translator: Sayyid Hussein Alamdar
Publisher: Ansariyan Publications – Qum
Category:

• Translator’s Foreword
• Notes
• Biography of Ayatullah Ibrahim Amini
• Note
• Preface
• An Important Reminder
• Note
• Self-Purification, the Main Goal of Divine Messengers
• And said
• 1. Self-awareness and Self-building
• 2. Human-soul and Animal-self
• 3. Human Virtues
• 4. Esoteric Life
• 5. What to Be?
• Notes
• The Heart in Quran
• 1. Reasoning and Comprehension
• 2. Un-comprehending and Reasoning
• 3. Faith
• 4. Blasphemy and Disbelief
• 5. Dissension
• 6. To Receive Guidance
• 7. Negligence
• 8. Certainty and Tranquility
• 9. Anxiety and Conflict
• 10. Blessing and Kindness
• 11. Hot-temper and Cruelty
• Soundness and Sickness of Heart
• Heart in Traditions
• 1) The Heart of an Unbeliever
• 2) The Heart of a Believer
• 3) The Heart of a Believer- Occasionally Contaminated
• Hard-heartedness
• Heart's Physicians
• Refinement and Perfection of Self
• Notes
• Evacuation or Self-refinement (Takhliyeh)
• Self-refinement
• 1. Negligence from the Disease
• 2. Diagnosis of Self-sickness
• 2.1. Strengthening of Reason
• 2.2. Thinking before Action
• 2.3. Being Pessimistic towards the Self
• 2.4. Consulting Spiritual Physicians
• 2.5. Consulting a Wise Friend
• 2.6. Learning from Other's Faults
• 2.7. Learning from Criticism
• 2.8. Symptoms of Heart's Sickness
• 3. Decision for Treatment
• 4. Control and Domination of Self
• Notes
• Self-Struggle
• 1. Greater Struggle (Jihad al-Akbar)
• A. First Reason
• B. Second Reason
• C. Third Reason
• 2. Struggle and Divine Assistance
• 3. Man, His own Physician
• Notes
• The Stages of Self-refinement
• 1. Prevention
• 2. Sudden Renunciation
• 3. Gradual Renunciation
• Notes
• Things which are Helpful for Self-refinement
• 1. Meditation
• 2. Reward and Punishment
• 3. Dignity of Human Essence and Strengthening Human Virtues
• 4. Renunciation of Bad Company
• 5. Avoiding Potential Blunders
• Notes
• Egotism - the Root of all Evils
• 1. Worldliness, the Source of all Sins
• 2. What is World?
• 3. World's Reality
• 4. The Next Worlders
• 5. The Worldly Beings
• 6. The Worldly and Next Worlders
• Notes
• Piety, the Most Important Factor for Purification
• 1. Piety, Objective Behind the Divine Commands
• 2. Definition of Piety
• 3. Piety and Seclusion
• 4. Piety and Insight
• 5. Piety and Victory over the Difficulties
• 6. Piety and Freedom
• 7. Piety and Treatment of Diseases
• Notes
• The Characteristics of Pious (Sermon of Hammam)
• Note
• Supervision - the Most Important Factor for Self-restraint
• 1. Recordings of Deeds
• 2. Accounting on the Judgment Day
• 3. Self-scrutiny Before the Judgment Day
• 4. How to Scrutinize?
• 4.1. Making Commitments (Mosharateh)
• 4.2. Supervision and Control (Moraqebat)
• 4.3. Accounting of Deeds
• Notes
• Repentance and Self-cleansing
• 1. The Need for Repentance
• 2. Acceptance of Repentance
• 3. What is Repentance?
• 4. Things which Require Repentance
• 4.1. Moral Sins
• 4.2. Practical Sins
• Notes
• Nourishment and Perfection of Self (Tahliyeh)
• 1. God's Nearness
• 2. Meanings of God's Nearness
• 1. Nearness Relative to Place
• 2. Nearness Relative to Time
• 3. Metaphorical Nearness
• Faith, the Foundation of Spiritual Perfection
• The Means of Perfection and God's Nearness
• First Means -God's Remembrance (Dikhr)
• A) The Aim of Invocation (Dikhr)
• B) The Degrees of Invocation (Dhikr)
• Notes
• The Effects and Indications of Invocation (Dhikr)
• 1. Commitment for God's Obedience
• God-Almighty said in Holy Qur’an
• 2. Humility
• 3. Excitement for Worshipping
• 4. Tranquility and Assurance
• 5. God's Attention towards the Servant
• First Reason
• Second Reason
• 6. God's Love towards the Servant
• 7. The Most Important Effects
• Notes
• The Means of Attainment
• 1. Meditation and Reasoning
• 2. Deliberations over the Qur’anic Verses
• 3. Worshipping
• 4. Invocations and Supplications
• Notes
• Instructions
• 1. Instructions of the Commander of the Faithful Imam ‘Ali (a.s.)
• 2. Instructions of Imam al-Sadiq
• 3. Instructions of ‘Allamah Majlisi
• 4. Letter of Akhund-Mulla Husayn Quli Hamdani
• 5. Instructions of Mirza Javad Agha Malaki Tabrizi
• 6. Instructions of Sheikh Najmuddin
• Notes
• Obstacles of the Path
• 1. First Obstacle: Incompetence
• 2. Second Obstacle: Worldly Attachments
• 3. Third Obstacle: Obedience of Passions
• 4. Fourth Obstacle: Overeating
• 5. Fifth Obstacle: Unnecessary Talks
• 6. Sixth Obstacle -Love for Self (Hubbe-Zat)
• 7. Seventh Obstacle: Indecisiveness
• Notes
• Second Means, Nourishment of Moral Virtues
• Notes
• Third Means, the Righteous Deeds
• The Sincerity
• Notes
• Some Righteous Deeds
• First: Obligatory Prayers
• 1. Heart's Presence in Prayer
• 2. Degrees of Heart's Presence
• First Stage
• Second Stage
• Third Stage
• Fourth Stage
• Fifth Stage
• 3. Important Factors for Attaining Heart's Presence
• Secluded Place
• Removal of Obstacles
• Strengthening of Faith
• Remembrance of Death
• Readiness
• Second: Supererogatory Prayers (Nawafil)
• Third: Night Prayer (Salatul-Layl)
• 1. Details of Night Prayer
• 2. Etiquette of Night Prayer
• Prayer of Shafa
• Prayer of Witr
• Notes
• Fourth Means, Struggle (Jihad) and Martyrdom (Shahadat)
• A. First Dimension: The supreme Goal of the struggler
• B. Second Dimension: The magnitude of sacrifice
• Notes
• Fifth Means, Benevolence and Service to Humanity
• Notes
• Sixth Means, Supplications (Dua)
• Notes
• Seventh Means, Fast (Sawm)
• Role of Fasting in Self-Building
• Notes
• Appendix 1: A Mystical Poem (Ghazal al-Irfani) of Imam Khomeini
• Notes
• Appendix 2: Supplication of the Holy Month of Sha'ban (Munajat al-Shabaniyyah)
• Note
• Appendix 3: A Prayer
• Notes