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Birth, God & Unlimited Mercy – a Thought from Imam Abdul Latif Finch

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Absolute free will is total freedom to do whatever one wants whenever one wants.

However, no one has the ability to choose when to be born.

Therefore, no one has absolute free will.

Without absolute free will human beings are left with relative free will.

That which is relatively free is fairly restricted.

That which is fairly restricted requires something that limits it.

This limitation may be natural to it or imposed.

That which is limited is necessarily incapable of imposing this same limitation.

So, that which has a restricted free will has its limitation imposed upon it necessarily.

That which necessarily chooses when the human being is to be born, it follows, has absolute free will regarding her.

That which has absolute free will does not suffer limitation.

The Creator has absolute free will.

Therefore, the Creator necessarily imposes a restriction on the human being without limitation.

Therefore, in an unlimited fashion, God imposes His absolute free will on her.

Quote by Imam Abdul Latif Finch

Quote by Imam Abdul Latif Finch

Something presented to another freely is a gift.

That which is presented absolutely freely is an unqualified gift.

An unqualified gift is an unlimited mercy.

The Creator, as indicated above, chose me to be born when He did as a mercy without limitation.

In this sense, birth is itself a proof for a Creator characterized with unlimited mercy.

Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch

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Tone Deaf – a thought from Imam Abdul Latif Finch

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If one looks for pleasure or fulfillment outside of what God has permitted,

God permits them to be lost in the displeasure of distance from Him.

His allowance is not in reaction to the slave,

But rather, is an aspect of the laws of the universe.

Something laid down or fixed.

When someone goes against even the most minute fibers of the fabric of reality

They will find it an action spent in vain.

A waste.

The action is rejected like a bad note,

In a beautiful harmony,

Amongst limitless voices,

All resonating in one unified sound.

The heart of the offender,

In its cacophonic reverberation,

Is cast to the wayside,

No longer to be found.

Out of frequency and lost.

Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch

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Attachments – a quote by Imam Abdul Latif Finch

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 “If you can attach your heart to anything, anything can break it.”

– Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch 2015

heart quote by imam abdul latif finch

Muhammad Abdul Latif converted to Islam at the age of 20 and has earned ijazas in Islamic Sciences including Quranic Sciences, Hadith, Maliki and Shafi’i Jurisprudence, Usul al-Fiqh, Seerah, Logic, and Arabic Grammar and Morphology under the tutelage of numerous scholars, including Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Shaykh Salik bin Siddina, Imam Zaid Shakir, Shaykh Abdur Rahman Taahir, Qari Umar Bellahi, Shaykh Abdullah Ali, and Shaykh Yahya Rhodus.

Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch co-founded the Lighthouse Mosque in Oakland, California where he served as the Imam till for 3 years until he resigned in 2012 to focus on his graduate studies. In addition, he was a teacher and a program developer for Deen Intensive Foundation, Seekers Guidance and has assisted Zaytuna College ‘s Summer Arabic Intensive program for three years in a row.

Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch has recently attained a Master’s degree in Philosophy at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, a member of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.

Many thanks to Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch for contributing to this blog.

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The Presence of God – a thought from Imam Abdul Latif Finch

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The only Unconditional Presence is God.

Unquestionably.

The limitation of space and time which are both inherent to presence are of no consequence to Him.

He is beyond any specific extent whether it be in one, two or three dimensions.

So, even in Deen, which is expressed in three dimensional terms, God is still absolute.

Islam cannot contain Him.

Iman cannot contain Him.

Ihsan cannot contain Him.

Rather, the Prophet ( God’s Mercy and Peace be upon him) said that God said: “The Heavens and Earth failed to contain Me (Allah), yet I was contained in the heart of a believer” (Musnad Imam Ahmad)

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Quote by Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch

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“May our hearts be content with the One who keeps them beating“

– Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch 2015

Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch converted to Islam at the age of 20 and has earned ijazas in Islamic Sciences including Quranic Sciences, Hadith, Maliki and Shafi’i Jurisprudence, Usul al-Fiqh, Seerah, Logic, and Arabic Grammar and Morphology under the tutelage of numerous scholars, including Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Shaykh Salik bin Siddina, Imam Zaid Shakir, Shaykh Abdur Rahman Taahir, Qari Umar Bellahi, Shaykh Abdullah Ali, and Shaykh Yahya Rhodus.

Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch co-founded the Lighthouse Mosque in Oakland, California where he served as the Imam till for 3 years until he resigned in 2012 to focus on his graduate studies. In addition, he was a teacher and a program developer for Deen Intensive Foundation, Seekers Guidance and has assisted Zaytuna College ‘s Summer Arabic Intensive program for three years in a row.

Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch has recently attained a Master’s degree in Philosophy at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, a member of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.

Many thanks to Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch for contributing to this blog.

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Turning to Allah – a thought from Imam Abdul Latif Finch

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Allah commanded us in the Quran to run to Him and also shows us how to do so.

He says: “So flee to Allah. Indeed, I am to you from Him a clear warner.” (1)

The first part of the verse, “So flee to Allah” is in reference to our running from the difficulty we face, created by Him, back to Allah who also creates the refuge we seek from Him.

Usually, this is due to the Jalali (Mighty) aspects of God’s presence, those overwhelming aspects of life.

The Jamali (Beautiful) aspects of God’s presence are the merciful and more subtle signs of His existence.

At times one can be so taken by these symbolic aspects of His gentle indications that we forget the beauty of God, Himself.

As a result we have to detach ourselves from the beautiful and gentle things of this world.

This back and forth, is the fleeing from His Jalal (Might) to His Jamal (Beauty) and from His Jamal to His Jalal.

For those who are drawn close with intimate knowledge regarding their Lord (al Aarifeen) this fleeing is even past the Jamal and the Jalal mentioned above.

They flee from the World, Creation, Ego, the Hereafter and all those things which occur in time and space.

Having traversed creation in every sense of the term, they are really fleeing directly from Him to Him as indicated above.

The second half of the verse, “Indeed, I am to you from Him a clear warner” is in reference to the Prophet, God’s mercy and peace be upon him, our guide who shows us how to do this as in the following supplication: “(O God!) I seek refuge in You from You.” (2)

When we put these two aspects together we see the declaration of faith, “La ilaha illallah, Muhammad Rasulullah” (3)

 Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch

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Footnotes:

(1) Surat Adh Dhaariyaat: 50.

(2) I put my hand on the inside of his feet and he was in the mosque. They were upright and he was saying, ‘O Allah, I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your anger, and Your pardon from Your punishment. I seek refuge in You from You. I cannot reckon Your praise. You are as You praised Yourself.’“” [Muslim]

(3) “There is no god but God and Muhammad is His Messenger”

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