Meditations

Introduction to a new project

As part of the next stage of this work, I will attempt to produce a compendium of reflections to provide sustenance to the Believer.

It will comprise short meditations which reference Qur’anic principles, and is intended to supply to Qur’an-alone Muslims the type of service rendered to Catholics through Thomas À Kempis’ Imitation Of Christ.

Such writing requires reflection; it cannot be dashed off in an afternoon. But I will apply myself to it consistently as part of my broader scope of work.

All new postings in this category will be listed under the relevant heading above and contain a link to this post.

Those who are able to comment are encouraged to supply any additional references to verses they think are appropriate.

One benefit to publishing in this way is to crowdsource editing assistance. I will attempt to receive notice of errors in syntax, spelling or obvious deviations from clear sense with good humour. Accordingly, readers will appreciate that posts may be amended, edited or otherwise corrected without notice.

When complete, God willing, the final work should be made available in the following formats:

• As a free, printable download (pdf)

• As a free audio (mp3)

• As a high-quality, hardback book

The current working text of the Preface is below the line.

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The conception of this book owes much to the works of  Marcus Aurelius, Boethius, Epictetus, Thomas À Kempis, Teresa of Ávila, John Bunyan, and others.

Its object is to provide Quranite Muslims — those who take the Qur'an as their sole authority in questions of Doctrine — a source of scripturally-based sustenance that conforms to modern expectations of categorisation and reference.

The appeals which it comprises are intended to help sustain the Wayfarer on the path to God, to admonish and instruct him in Qur’anic terms and in digestible bits, and to fortify him in the battles of which life chiefly consists.

If I succeed in securing for my audience some part of what À Kempis and Bunyan, for example, achieved for theirs, I will consider the time well spent. And just as the works of those men have been appreciated by many outside their respective confessions, it his hoped that this book might also be beneficial to those who are outside mine.

This is not a self-help book in the profane sense, nor does it pander to the whims of Modernity. It rests on Scripture and is intended for those who fear God and expect to stand before Him. It does not concern itself with the doctrines of those who deny that they must give account.

This compendium of appeals and counsels is directed firstly and emphatically towards my own soul. If the reader advances by them also, my efforts shall be doubly blessed.

The scriptural references supplied as footnotes are to be understood as representative rather than exhaustive, and are intended to inform rather than limit private study.