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**Ubgvuncd** · 04-04-2011, 06:58 PM

David Eagleman is a neuroscientist with the new book “Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain” in which he explains our conscious mind is just the tip of the iceberg and most of our daily behaviour, actions are not a result of our conscious mind and conscious thinking. Sometimes actions happen so rapidly that our conscious mind doesn’t even have the time to register the event let alone make a decision!

This isn’t a new concept but it’s fundamental to our understanding of “Tassawuff” and what it entails and what it certainly isn’t.

Consider the following delivery of Shoaib Akhtar who is the fastest bowler in the world, hurling the ball at close to 100mph at batsmen 22 yards away. David Eagleman postulates that at these speeds it isn’t possible for the batsmen’s conscious mind to register the delivery accurately, let alone play it AND YET we see batsmen taking evasive manoeuvres or even hitting the ball; it’s all down to the rest of the brain, folks!

At any given time our brains are processing millions of ideas and some of these ideas and actions are biologically hardwired into our brain e.g. attraction to certain attributes of the opposite sex, likeness to certain foods, certain scenery and even predisposition to violence and anger etc. Consider the time when an idea popped into your head and you thought “Wow! I just thought of that...”

No you didn’t!

The rest of your brain has been silently gathering facts, assimilating observations and it then passed the information (fully cooked) to your conscious and that’s when you perceived and realised it (i.e. actually got the idea).

So surely if most of our actions are a result of our “subconscious or unconscious mind” then why do we punish people or lock them in prisons etc...Surely they are not responsible for their actions?
Wrong!

Studies have shown that prisoners are deficient in “decision making process” and many of them have degraded “impulse control”. In other words (fortunately) most of us are not facing Shoaib Akhtar at 100 mph, rather our brains serves up an idea to our conscious mind and we simply “act on impulse”. We have certain pleasure impulses (e.g. smoking, looking at members of opposite sex) and we simply give up and act on it and off course it gives us instant “pleasure”.

We go for “instant gratification” because we lack “impulse control”

Now, consider another scenario...You are a broker and the price of the stocks in your portfolio has gone up, you have two choices:

Instant Gratification: Sell and make instant money
Delayed Gratification: Employ “impulse control”, evaluate your choices, do your research and delay selling and if you have made the right choice then your “delayed gratification” will yield considerably higher results and thereby greater satisfaction

Fortunately, Islam isn’t the stock market or some abstract theory and the issue is much simpler and the choices much easier.

You are not punished for impulses which your “hardwired brain predisposes you to” i.e. if you find certain physical features of a strange woman attractive and stray thoughts come into your brain, there is no sin on you, as long as you don’t dwell on it
Millions of stray thoughts come into your mind so simply let them go UNPROCESSED.
There is a HUGE CARROT of “Jannah” to drive you to delay your gratification
There is a HUGE STICK of “consequences” if you decide to steal a glance at the pretty woman i.e. you will be incurring a sin, Barakah will be taken away from your earnings and your life and your heart and mind will not be at peace.

You try and try and try and don’t look at her but you come home and you can’t help thinking about her so you give up and masturbate and achieve “temporary pleasure” and you think that it’s all over!

WRONG AGAIN!

What you have just done is destroyed the little bit of natural “impulse control” which you had by giving in...Next time the impulse will be stronger and your control will be weaker and your “impulse control” will keep getting weaker and weaker and weaker until you have very little or none at all! That’s what happens to addicts, their addiction started with something very little and inconsequential (or so they thought). So you will be glancing at pretty girls and masturbating and may even go further and it will become harder and harder for you to stop!

Why Tassawuff?

The idea of Tassawuff is for the student to learn “impulse control” that’s all! Dhik’r and various exercises and methodologies are nothing but an aid to learning “impulse control”. Those who get bogged down into Dhik’r and experiences have actually missed the point.

Your brain serves up an idea, consider for a moment:

Instant Gratification: If its HALAL you are free to act on the idea
Delayed Gratification: If its HARAM, delay it until Allah (SWT) gives you Jannah which is infinitely more pleasurable.

In Tassawuff the Shaykh may even tell you to avoid certain “HALAL” and that’s because it’s part of your training to learn “impulse control” and once you have sufficient control (over your Nafs) and able to make sound decisions the restrictions will be lifted.

However, despite the best of “impulse control” you will sometimes slip up and that’s where Tauba (repentance) comes into play, turn to Allah (SWT) immediately and ask for forgiveness.
You slip up, repent and get up again.

But hopefully these slips ups will get to be less frequent as you get better and better at it.

Why contact a Shaykh?

Having a “Shaykh” isn’t a requirement to learn “impulse control” but it’s easier and gives you a much smoother ride to the destination. It’s like having a Coach!

Can you learn to play Shoaib Akhtar on your own? Off course you can but you may make a lot of mistakes and it may take longer. A Coach will independently look at your technique and advise you of suitable adjustments BECAUSE the coach is qualified and looks at other players’ day in and day out and he has learned from observing many others like you!

When you make a mistake, you can evaluate it on your own and adjust your technique OR consult a Shaykh and let him evaluate it for you and recommend adjustments.

Why stay in the company of a Shaykh or a Khanqah?

Your brain is able to pickup astronomical amounts of data when your conscious isn’t even aware of it. So staying in the company of Shaykh is more important than mere contact because remember the example of “how you get an idea in your brain?”

Your brain thinks up, evaluates, calculates and then serves up a “cooked idea” to your conscious mind.

Stay in a good environment and your “cooked idea” will be good because the observations, calculations were all good.

Stay in a bad environment and your “cooked idea” will be bad because the observations, calculations were all bad.

So when you are with a “Good (i.e. Sunnah following) Shaykh” you are constantly picking up habits which your conscious isn’t even aware of!

What’s wrong with many of the Shuyukh or the Tareeqas of today?

They have missed the mark!

It isn’t about Dhik’r or the Mujahada or the experiences, it’s about controlling your desires and ability to OPPOSE THE NAFS’!

The Dhik’r and other methodologies are to “aid” in the objective and where they are contradictory or conflict with “Shariah and Sunnah” then the goal won't be achieved.

Having the wrong Shaykh or being part of the wrong Tareeqa or practising the wrong “Dhik’r” is like having a bad Coach or using the wrong techniques so your game will get worse instead of improving!

Right Technique?

Since there is a danger of finding the wrong coach, or the coach with the wrong techniques while the search is on its safer to stick to the proven and guaranteed techniques and what are they for laymen:

MADHAB AND ITS MOST SOUND RULINGS!

OR for Salafees:

FIQH ITS MOST SOUND RULINGS!

The basics won't change and the whole issue equally applies to Salafees or Non-Salafees or where-ever you come from...

The Summary is given below by our noble and respected Shaykh (Mufti) A.S Desai or Majlis(South Africa.

04-04-2011, 06:58 PM	#1
Ubgvuncd Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 643 Senior Member	Tassawuuf, Cricket & Neurosciences David Eagleman is a neuroscientist with the new book “Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain” in which he explains our conscious mind is just the tip of the iceberg and most of our daily behaviour, actions are not a result of our conscious mind and conscious thinking. Sometimes actions happen so rapidly that our conscious mind doesn’t even have the time to register the event let alone make a decision! This isn’t a new concept but it’s fundamental to our understanding of “Tassawuff” and what it entails and what it certainly isn’t. Consider the following delivery of Shoaib Akhtar who is the fastest bowler in the world, hurling the ball at close to 100mph at batsmen 22 yards away. David Eagleman postulates that at these speeds it isn’t possible for the batsmen’s conscious mind to register the delivery accurately, let alone play it AND YET we see batsmen taking evasive manoeuvres or even hitting the ball; it’s all down to the rest of the brain, folks! At any given time our brains are processing millions of ideas and some of these ideas and actions are biologically hardwired into our brain e.g. attraction to certain attributes of the opposite sex, likeness to certain foods, certain scenery and even predisposition to violence and anger etc. Consider the time when an idea popped into your head and you thought “Wow! I just thought of that...” No you didn’t! The rest of your brain has been silently gathering facts, assimilating observations and it then passed the information (fully cooked) to your conscious and that’s when you perceived and realised it (i.e. actually got the idea). So surely if most of our actions are a result of our “subconscious or unconscious mind” then why do we punish people or lock them in prisons etc...Surely they are not responsible for their actions? Wrong! Studies have shown that prisoners are deficient in “decision making process” and many of them have degraded “impulse control”. In other words (fortunately) most of us are not facing Shoaib Akhtar at 100 mph, rather our brains serves up an idea to our conscious mind and we simply “act on impulse”. We have certain pleasure impulses (e.g. smoking, looking at members of opposite sex) and we simply give up and act on it and off course it gives us instant “pleasure”. We go for “instant gratification” because we lack “impulse control” Now, consider another scenario...You are a broker and the price of the stocks in your portfolio has gone up, you have two choices: Instant Gratification: Sell and make instant money Delayed Gratification: Employ “impulse control”, evaluate your choices, do your research and delay selling and if you have made the right choice then your “delayed gratification” will yield considerably higher results and thereby greater satisfaction Fortunately, Islam isn’t the stock market or some abstract theory and the issue is much simpler and the choices much easier. You are not punished for impulses which your “hardwired brain predisposes you to” i.e. if you find certain physical features of a strange woman attractive and stray thoughts come into your brain, there is no sin on you, as long as you don’t dwell on it Millions of stray thoughts come into your mind so simply let them go UNPROCESSED. There is a HUGE CARROT of “Jannah” to drive you to delay your gratification There is a HUGE STICK of “consequences” if you decide to steal a glance at the pretty woman i.e. you will be incurring a sin, Barakah will be taken away from your earnings and your life and your heart and mind will not be at peace. You try and try and try and don’t look at her but you come home and you can’t help thinking about her so you give up and masturbate and achieve “temporary pleasure” and you think that it’s all over! WRONG AGAIN! What you have just done is destroyed the little bit of natural “impulse control” which you had by giving in...Next time the impulse will be stronger and your control will be weaker and your “impulse control” will keep getting weaker and weaker and weaker until you have very little or none at all! That’s what happens to addicts, their addiction started with something very little and inconsequential (or so they thought). So you will be glancing at pretty girls and masturbating and may even go further and it will become harder and harder for you to stop! Why Tassawuff? The idea of Tassawuff is for the student to learn “impulse control” that’s all! Dhik’r and various exercises and methodologies are nothing but an aid to learning “impulse control”. Those who get bogged down into Dhik’r and experiences have actually missed the point. Your brain serves up an idea, consider for a moment: Instant Gratification: If its HALAL you are free to act on the idea Delayed Gratification: If its HARAM, delay it until Allah (SWT) gives you Jannah which is infinitely more pleasurable. In Tassawuff the Shaykh may even tell you to avoid certain “HALAL” and that’s because it’s part of your training to learn “impulse control” and once you have sufficient control (over your Nafs) and able to make sound decisions the restrictions will be lifted. However, despite the best of “impulse control” you will sometimes slip up and that’s where Tauba (repentance) comes into play, turn to Allah (SWT) immediately and ask for forgiveness. You slip up, repent and get up again. But hopefully these slips ups will get to be less frequent as you get better and better at it. Why contact a Shaykh? Having a “Shaykh” isn’t a requirement to learn “impulse control” but it’s easier and gives you a much smoother ride to the destination. It’s like having a Coach! Can you learn to play Shoaib Akhtar on your own? Off course you can but you may make a lot of mistakes and it may take longer. A Coach will independently look at your technique and advise you of suitable adjustments BECAUSE the coach is qualified and looks at other players’ day in and day out and he has learned from observing many others like you! When you make a mistake, you can evaluate it on your own and adjust your technique OR consult a Shaykh and let him evaluate it for you and recommend adjustments. Why stay in the company of a Shaykh or a Khanqah? Your brain is able to pickup astronomical amounts of data when your conscious isn’t even aware of it. So staying in the company of Shaykh is more important than mere contact because remember the example of “how you get an idea in your brain?” Your brain thinks up, evaluates, calculates and then serves up a “cooked idea” to your conscious mind. Stay in a good environment and your “cooked idea” will be good because the observations, calculations were all good. Stay in a bad environment and your “cooked idea” will be bad because the observations, calculations were all bad. So when you are with a “Good (i.e. Sunnah following) Shaykh” you are constantly picking up habits which your conscious isn’t even aware of! What’s wrong with many of the Shuyukh or the Tareeqas of today? They have missed the mark! It isn’t about Dhik’r or the Mujahada or the experiences, it’s about controlling your desires and ability to OPPOSE THE NAFS’! The Dhik’r and other methodologies are to “aid” in the objective and where they are contradictory or conflict with “Shariah and Sunnah” then the goal won't be achieved. Having the wrong Shaykh or being part of the wrong Tareeqa or practising the wrong “Dhik’r” is like having a bad Coach or using the wrong techniques so your game will get worse instead of improving! Right Technique? Since there is a danger of finding the wrong coach, or the coach with the wrong techniques while the search is on its safer to stick to the proven and guaranteed techniques and what are they for laymen: MADHAB AND ITS MOST SOUND RULINGS! OR for Salafees: FIQH ITS MOST SOUND RULINGS! The basics won't change and the whole issue equally applies to Salafees or Non-Salafees or where-ever you come from... The Summary is given below by our noble and respected Shaykh (Mufti) A.S Desai or Majlis(South Africa.
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