Addendum to Ten Principles
1. Taqleed, blind imitation, is not a level of iman. It is the lack of it. It is as real as counterfeit money or artificial flowers.
2. Taqleed can only be transferred into tahkik, confirmation through research, by a deliberate attempt and a realization. Otherwise, it will stay that way no matter how long the practitioner keeps doing it.
3. Iman involves redefining the fundamental concepts that we think we know from prior experience such as being, man, Creator, prophet, good, evil etc.
4. Only those that are cleansed can touch the Qur’an. Without getting rid of the culture laden definitions, it is impossible to get the message.
5. There is no dichotomy between the physical world we live in and what religion defines as real. Religious definitions are not and should not be superfluous and extra.
6. Islam means submitting to one’s reality. That is, accepting the fact that our existence is not our making but given by Someone else. Living by this conviction constitutes ubudiyyah. A guest should behave like one.
7. Iman cannot be improved by telling stories about the people in the past no matter how noble and pious they might be. Admiring an architect’s works will not make you an architect.
8. Monotheism, tawheed, is the opposite of henotheism; not polytheism. Tawheed involves seeing the reflections of God’s attributes in everything, which results in knowing the Creator, maarifah, which then results in the love of Him, muhabbah.
9. Nondenial is not iman; it is not kufr either. Nondenial is passive while iman is an active process.
10. Iman is not information. It is a skill that needs to be individually cultivated and acquired with a particular intention to do so. Thus, it is never realized at one instance but rather it is an ongoing process.
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