From the Thirty-Third Discourse—page 675

in Irshad: Wisdom of a Sufi Master, by Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak Al-Jerrahi, trans. Muhtar Holland. An Ashki Book of Amity House, Warwick: 1988.

 

 

 

…Greed is a quality hateful to Allāh, abhorrent to the Messenger, and loathsome to righteous believers.  The principal cure for such spiritual sickness is to read the Holy Qur’ān, to reflect upon it, to steep oneself in it, to make it the criterion for all one’s conduct and to obey its laws.

The first commandment of the Holy Qur’ān is the affirmation of Unity and Oneness.  The Holy Qur’ān strongly urges us not to separate in disunity but to cling to that lifeline, one end of which is in God’s Almighty Hand, while the other is extended to His creatures.  It commands us to rally in a single body around the blessed Prophet who is the spirit of the Holy Qur’ān and the religion of Islam.

Unfortunately, the Muslims have failed to appreciate the importance of this Qur’ānic injunction, clear and explicit as it is.  Factious discord broke out even in the time of the third Caliph, ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān.  For centuries, dissension and enmity among the Muslims themselves have served the cause of those hostile to Islam, including not only unbelievers but also many hypocrites in Muslim guise…