Ta’leem for the Jamaat of Daar-ul-Ehsaan, USA

Facing the Day of Judgment: Submission, Surrender, and the Sirat This episode explores the Islamic teachings on the Day of Judgment and the spiritual path of submission. The speaker reflects on the terrifying events of Yawm al-Qiyamah — its 50,000-year trials, the melting earth, overwhelming heat, the procession to the Prophets, and the Sirat bridge — to emphasize the urgency of sincere worship an...

Who Am I? Ego, Soul and the Primordial Covenant In this recorded ta'lim session dated April 5, 1997, a senior teacher leads a reflective lecture responding to a question from Brother Abdul Aati about feeling coerced when others say certain beliefs place someone outside the Muslim community. The session includes questions and brief contributions from attendees (notably Brothers Idris and Shafiq) an...

Born in Submission: How the Ego Forms — Nafs, Parenting & Healing In this March 22, 1997 talk the speaker addresses the Jama'at on the origin and development of the ego (nafs), opening with the Qur'anic and Prophetic teaching that every child is born in a state of fitrah — a blank, submissive nature. He explores how parental messages and early experiences imprint identity onto that blank tape,...

It is a warm Friday evening, 28 August 1997. A circle of seekers sits in quiet zikr as Shaykh Abu Anees Muhammad Barkat Ali (قَدَّسَ اللّهُ سِرَّه الْعَزِيز) opens a simple image—shama and parwana, lamp and moth—and turns it into a map of the heart. He invites the listeners to watch the moths: one dances around the naked flame, intoxicated yet safe; another throws itself into the fire and is consu...

On the blessed first night of Rajab, this lecture explores the importance and virtues of Jehri Zikr (loud remembrance of Allah). Drawing on the teachings of Shaykh Abu Anees Muhammad Barakat Ali (قَدَّسَ اللّهُ سِرَّه الْعَزِيز), it explains how loud dhikr educates and attracts people, keeps the heart and mind focused, invites angels, spreads blessings, and serves as a spiritual remedy and source...

والصلاة والسلام على رسول النبي الكريم أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم Heartfelt Dhikr & Salawat: A Loud Assembly of Remembrance This episode presents a full session of dhikr (remembrance of Allah) and Salat al-Nabi (sending blessings on the Prophet ﷺ), performed loudly in congregational style across many centers. It includes a special, heartfelt du'a at the end and offers l...

Pleasing Allah, Not People: Family Life & Spiritual Tests This episode is a Saturday morning Ta'alim talk (March 23, 1996) that explores how Allah tests believers through wealth, health, spouses, and children, and emphasizes the need for purification and surrender to Allah. The speaker explains the difference between seeking one's haq (right) and seeking satisfaction for the ego, urging listen...

Beyond the Illusion of "I": Embracing the Witness In this episode (July 25, 1996), the teacher explores how to transcend the false self or ego through the practice of dhikr. He explains three states of consciousness: deep sleep, dreaming, and waking, and contrasts the fleeting, changeable waking state dominated by the illusion of "I" with an unchanging, blissful no-awareness witness that always re...

Beyond the Self: Transcending "I"-ness to Find Allah This episode records a Friday/Saturday gathering with the blessings of our Shaykh Hazret Abu Anees Muhammad Barkat Ali قَدَّسَ اللّهُ سِرَّه الْعَزِيز  , focusing on spiritual purification and the transcendence of ego (the "I"-ness). The Shaykh explains that believing in a separate inner entity causes suffering and prevents total submission and...

Awaken from the Dream: Understanding the Ego and True Self This episode—recorded at a Friday night meeting—explores the Islamic understanding of the ego (nafs) and the heart’s diseases, stressing that insight must become practice. The speaker explains that our true identity is the eternal soul, not the changing body, mind, or social labels. Key ideas include the distinction between soul, mind and...

Transcending the Ego: A Mystic's Journey in the Jungle of the Heart This episode (Friday evening meeting, October 19, 1995) explores the Sufi path of transcending the ego through extracts from Shaykh ul Azzam Abu Anees Muhammad Barkat Ali قَدَّسَ اللّهُ سِرَّه الْعَزِيز Words of Wisdom, Manifestations of the Stages of Blessing (Vol. 2). Using the symbolic account of a journey through a dark jungle...

Transcending the False Self: From Witnessing to Divine Presence This recording from a Friday evening gathering (October 12, 1995) explores the spiritual process of transcending the false self. The speaker explains the real nature as a receptive mind, body, and a silent soul, and describes "witnessing" as a transitional practice used to see the ego from outside and begin letting it go. The talk emp...

The Benign Watcher: Unmasking the False Self In this episode a spiritual teacher explains the difference between the real Self (the benign, non-judging witness) and the false self (the illusion of an independent “I”), and why that illusion causes suffering. He describes the natural state of mind and body as submissive to the Divine, how the false self hijacks that nature through desire and fear, a...

Transcending the Ego: Finding Your True Self in the Present This episode explores the Islamic spiritual teaching on the ego, showing how our sense of personality is an illusion formed by memories and projections. It explains that the real self (the soul) is changeless, without memory, and only truly exists in the present moment. The speaker describes how attachment to past pleasures, pains, guilt,...

The Witness Within: Rediscovering the Ruh This Friday evening talk (6th in the series) explores how the soul (ruh) as a silent witness can transform the mind and body through unconditional love and compassion. The speaker explains the law of Allah governing influence, and why force breeds resistance while calm compassionate presence invites harmony. Using vivid analogies—the calm surgeon in a chao...

Facing the Ego: Fear, Consumption, and the Path Inward In this Friday evening talk on purification, the speaker completes the seven characteristics of the ego, focusing on three: the ego as cowardly (rooted in fear), as driven by consumption and external validation, and as essentially insane because it leads us away from what is best. He explains how fear thrives on generality and confusion, and h...

Transcending the Ego: Discovering Your True Essence This episode covers a guided talk from a Friday night gathering on the spiritual process of purification. The speaker explains that true purification means understanding and transcending the ego—recognizing what we are not so we can experience our real, formless essence. Using a simple analogy of a defective radio, the lecture shows why external...

Breaking the Ego: Mastering Your Thoughts for True Freedom In this episode a teacher explores the illusion of the ego (nafs) and explains how it shapes our reality through repetitive thoughts. Using the apple-seed analogy, he shows how small positive seeds planted in the mind can grow into lasting change when nurtured with patience and effort. The talk emphasizes human responsibility and free will...

Breaking the Illusion: Understanding the Ego and True Self In this episode a speaker explores the ego as an idea and a false identity that emphasizes the physical self. He lists common ego traits—lust, greed, pride, arrogance, fear, aggression, possessiveness, criticism, laziness and deception—and explains how they build an inner wall that separates us from our true self. The talk stresses that kn...

The Mirror of the Ego: Finding Your True Self Within This episode explores the nafs al-ammarah (the ego) as an illusion that makes us see ourselves backwards, like a mirror image, and keeps us searching outside for satisfaction. The speaker explains how the ego and a ‘parent mind’ voice create constant inner conflict, and how these false selves block our knowledge of our true spiritual essence. He...

Reviving the Sunnah: Purpose & Practice from 'Itabud Amr al‑Sunnah' Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. In this episode dated 11 May 1995, Shaykh Abu Anees Muhammad Barakat Ali قَدَّسَ اللّهُ سِرَّه الْعَزِيز discusses the purpose and blessing behind his compilation Itabud Amr al‑Sunnah (also known as Kitab al‑Amal al‑Sunnah or Durti‑yusharif) and why it guides Muslims toward a strong, practical Islamic...

Kitab al‑Amal: The Highway to the Sunnah — New Series Begins In this episode (Thursday evening meeting, 4th of May) we introduce a new series based on Shaykh Muz\'zilluhu\'s Kitab al‑Amal (also known as Kitab al‑Amal al‑Ma\'ruf / Kitab al‑Amal bil‑Sunnah / Tartib Sharif). The Shaykh presents the book as a practical, lifelong guide to reach Paradise by following the sunnah of Rasulullah (sallallahu...

Al-Kanuzul Qur'an Al-Azim: The Key to Allah’s Names and Power This episode launches a new series, Al-Kanuzul Qur'an Al-Azim, beginning with Al-Miftah (the Key). The host introduces the author and explains that the series will present the Names and Attributes of Allah directly drawn from the Qur'an. The episode reviews many Qur'anic verses (from Surahs such as Al-A'naam, Yunus, Ar-Ra'd, Al-Ahzab, F...

From Small Vessels to Divine Wisdom: The Path of Spiritual Capacity This episode explores how divine wisdom is passed from Allah to the Prophet ﷺ , then to the awliya and students, using the image of small vessels growing in capacity through contact with greater reservoirs of spiritual light. It emphasizes the essential adab (manners) of learning: trust, obedience, patience (sabr), and avoiding ju...

Musk-Scented Graves & Preserved Bodies: Miracles of the Awliya Date: August 25, 1994 (Friday evening). This episode continues the series on the virtues (fadayl) of sending Salawat on the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), focusing on muhadditheen and awliya whose spiritual states and miracles became evident during or after their lives. The lecture recounts the life of Imam Abu Abdullah Muh...