Self Building

Preface

In the Name of God the Beneficent, The Merciful

Praise to the Lord of the Worlds, salutations and greetings be upon the most noble messenger and prophet, God's beloved, Abi al-Qasim Muhammad (S), who was appointed, to be a blessing for the mankind, to help them attaining spiritual purification, to teach them the book and wisdom and salutations be upon his Holy Household, Ahlul Bayt (a.s.)

Oh God! Please guide us towards the straight path leading to perfection: enlighten our darken hearts with the light of faith and Your Knowledge; remove the dark intense veils of egotism, selfishness, whims and passions of self; open our exoteric heart's eyes for witnessing Your Unique Beauty; strengthen us on the path of self-building and self-purification, remove from our hearts the love and desires of other than You; remove the veils of negligence and satisfy our thirst with the pure fountain of your Love and Nearness.

Oh God! Please enlighten our hearts with the heavenly light of faith and certainty by awakening us from the deep sleep of ignorance, so that we may discover our lost selves and do not waste our precious lives in ignorance like before.

Any how, this servant of God, confused, bewildered, entangled, captive of selfish whims and passions, ignorant of the existence of various spiritual stations of perfection and stages of mystical journey towards God-Almighty was suddenly inspired to move his feet inside this vast arena of spiritual fields dealing with self-building, refinement, and purification of human self.

By utilization of enlightened verses of the Holy Qur’an and instructions given by Holy Prophet (S) and infallible Imams (a.s.) of his Holy Progeny (Ahlul Bayt)[^1] abstraction of the overall basic principles of self-purification and spiritual mystic journey towards God-Almighty was accomplished. May be these efforts would be of some help, and guidance for the truth seekers and wayfarers in their march on this road of spiritual perfection.

May Merciful God accept this insignificant work and may hold the hand of this deprived servant, leading from the intense darkness of ignorance and egotism towards the illuminated valley of invocations, love, enlightenment, and countenance of God-Almighty. And if it happened, may be it will compensate the omissions of the past for the coming life (if there is any left) of this servant.

An Important Reminder

Before entering into discussion, it must be emphasized that the monasticism, renunciation of worldly affairs, and unacceptance of social responsibilities are not pre requisite for undertaking a self-purification program, on the contrary, as will be shown in the book later on that seclusion and relinquishment of individual and social responsibilities are inconsistence with the spiritual self-building and self-purification program.

Islam demands from Muslims that simultaneous to living among the people and discharging their social obligations they should not be ignorant about their spiritual requirements and therefore, should pay special attention towards their self-building and self-refinement.

Ibrahim Amini
March, 1984
Qum, I.R. IRAN.

[^1]: Ahlul Bayt (a.s.): It refers to the immediate descendants of a family or such a family of the same house or bayt. In this compound form, Ahlul Bayt is used in the Holy Qur’an especially in reference to the immediate family of Muhammad (S). In verse 33: 33 we hear: “And God only wishes to remove from you all kind of uncleanliness, O members of the family (of Muhammad) and thoroughly purify you.” All the commentators of the Holy Qur’an are unanimous in the opinion that the term Ahlul Bayt in this verse refers to Muhammad's daughter Fatimah, his cousin and son-in-law ‘Ali, and his two beloved grandsons, Hasan and Husayn [Tr].