Sacred Laughter of the Sufis: Awakening the Soul with the Mulla's Comic Teaching Stories and Other Islamic Wisdom - Softcover

Rahman, Imam Jamal

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1594735476 ISBN 13: 9781594735479

Publisher: SkyLight Paths, 2014

Synopsis

A first-of-its-kind combination of the legendary wisdom stories of Islam s great comic foil with spiritual insights for seekers of all traditions or none.

We would do well to heed the Mulla s wisdom. One day, inevitably, our personal storms will not abate before causing destruction. Something will break our hearts and cause us to ask deeper questions. At that point we will become spiritual seekers, each in our own way.... We will begin to hear deep inside the mysterious calling of our soul to fulfill the purpose for which we were created.

from the chapter The Storms in Our Lives

The mythical Mulla Nasruddin is a village simpleton and sage rolled into one. His wisdom stories, timeless and placeless, emanate from a source beyond book learning, and contain several layers of meaning.

In this unique presentation, Imam Jamal Rahman weaves together spiritual insights with the Mulla s humorous teaching stories and connects them to the issues at the heart of the spiritual quest. Addressing such topics as human vulnerability, the rigors of inner and outer spiritual work, the hazards of the ego and more, he roots the Mulla s stories in Islamic spirituality by pairing them with sayings from the Qur an, the Prophet Muhammad, Rumi, Hafiz and other Islamic sages.

Together, these sources combined with spiritual practices will awaken your spirit with laughter and inspire you to transform yourself and the world around you.

About this title

Review

Sufism is Islam's mystical dimension, and Sufi stories are used to teach "larger" lessons. The protagonists for most stories are famous Sufi luminaries; however, Mulla Nasruddin is the main character in several of the stories. In the stories, the main character typically does "stupid" things to expose our fallacies or show us what is truly important. This collection of stories is divided into nine sections. Each section contains about half a dozen chapters, and each section takes the reader into a higher level of consciousness (which Sufis typically work toward). Each chapter contains a couple of stories, but the bulk of the chapter is devoted to explaining the lesson. The stories, although humorous, serve to embellish the lesson rather [than] form an integral part of it, and each chapter ends with sections for further reflection and practice. Although the stories included are generally intended for children, this book is more suitable for older readers and adults. A chapter can be read quickly, but the reflection and practice last a lifetime.

(Muhammed Hassanali BookList)

About the Author

""Imam Jamal Rahman, a popular speaker on Islam, Sufi spirituality and interfaith relations, has been featured in the New York Times, CBS News, BBC and various NPR programs. Co-founder and Muslim Sufi minister at Interfaith Community Church and adjunct faculty at Seattle University, he is a former host of Interfaith Talk Radio and travels nationally and internationally, presenting at retreats and workshops. He is coauthor of Getting to the Heart of Interfaith: The Eye-Opening, Hope-Filled Friendship of a Pastor, a Rabbi & an Imam and Religion Gone Astray: What We Found at the Heart of Interfaith, and author of The Fragrance of Faith: The Enlightened Heart of Islam, among other books""

About this edition

• Publisher: SkyLight Paths
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1594735476
• ISBN 13: 9781594735479
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 180