Inner Friendship In Islam

10:00 AM - Aygust 14, 2014 by Jonathan Burch

Inner friendship is about receiving wise guidance from your inner voices that know better than you do how you should respond in your circumstances to be happy.   You experience the source of your inner voices, hunches, thoughts or feelings as a person who becomes your inner friend.

    For a Muslim your inner friend is one to whom you pray for guidance and help.  Some Muslims pray to a saint, a deceased wise master or other person to whom they feel close.  For many Muslims their inner friend is Allah.  You communicate with Him through the power of prayer.  The Qur’an reveals: 

Allah by His Grace

Guided the Believers

To the Truth,

Concerning that 

Wherein they differed.

For Allah guides

Whom he will

To a path

That is straight.

                        2: 213

… Thou leadest whom

Thou wilt into the right path.

Thou art our protector:

So forgive us and give us

Thy mercy, for Thou art

The Best of those who forgive.

                        7: 155

But Allah doth call

To the House of Peace.

He doth guide whom He pleaseth

To a Way that is straight.

                        10: 25

Say: “Truly Allah leaveth,

To stray, whom he will;

But He guideth to Himself

Those who turn to him 

In penitence-

Those who believe, and whose Hearts

Find satisfaction in the remembrance

Of Allah: for without doubt

In the remembrance of Allah

Do hearts find satisfaction.

For those who believe 

And work righteousness,

Is (every) blessedness 

And a beautiful place

Of (final) return.” 

                                                                                    13:29   

    Who is your inner friend?  Many Muslims may prefer Allah.  Some Muslims may be more comfortable with a different inner friend.   Some may prefer a favorite saint, who has blessed and nurtured them all their life.  Some may prefer a deceased ancestor or departed soul who was a great believer in Allah.  Who do you feel close to of this sort?  Who is real to you?  To whom do you pray?  What supernatural being do you trust?  This is your inner friend.

    You need to have a passionate loving, guiding inner friendship with an inner friend you can relate to and trust.  Only then can you become accustomed to quickly receiving accurate inner guidance, trusting it so well that you act on it immediately and gratefully, and then give thanks to your inner friend for loving you so.

    You will share your fears and petitions with your inner friend seeking guidance in how to respond righteously to the circumstances of your life.  Give thanks when you receive answered prayer.  

    It also is good to share the joys of your life with your inner friend and give thanks for them. When you share how happy you are about how something turned out, and receive a response sharing the joy of the moment, that builds the inner friendship. 

    Your inner friend is a friend with whom you share the most intimate and deep personal concerns you have. It is very nice to have such an inner friend, who always has your best interests at heart, even if it does not seem so, sometimes. 

    You are very lucky to have such an inner friendship. You worked at it. You said “Hello” first. You opened yourself up to it, and now it is a wonderful, guiding part of your life.  As you look over the years of the inner friendship, you see how you have grown as a person, how much happier you are, how fulfilled you are, and how wise the guidance of your inner friend has been in your life.  You are comforted knowing you are living righteously, successfully and happily as a whole person, as you were created to live. by the loving guidance of Allah.  You could not ask for more.

    How do you begin an inner friendship with Allah?  It is easy.  Just pray.  

    The first step is to quietly pray.  Allah is always listening.  You do not have to be loud or wordy.  Just let Allah know you are now reaching out.  You can pray out loud or silently in your head.  “Hello.  It’s me.  I don’t know what I am supposed to do, but here I am.”  Your inner friend is waiting for you and will be glad you opened the door.  To begin … just pray.  Then follow the nine steps to a mature inner friendship described in Inner Friendship For Everyone.  Enjoy your inner friendship.

Request For Articles

    This article has been prepared for this web site, www.innerfriendship.com by the author of the site.  It is only one point of view.  

    The author is a Christian of United Methodist denomination.  The author’s brother-in-law is a Muslim Sheik.  The author asked his brother-in-law, whether the author should write these articles about inner friendship in Islam, or ask  a Muslim expert in Islam to write these articles.  The Muslim brother-in-law lovingly replied, “If you were about to have an operation, who would you prefer to operate on you, someone who had written a book, or someone who had done many such operations?”  

    Being suitably admonished I am asking for articles by Muslim authors.  If you have an experience with inner guidance through prayer in your walk with Islam, and would share it with others, how you did it and how it worked out, please write a brief article about it and email it to contact@innerfriendship.com.  It will be reviewed and some of the articles will be added to the Muslim page on the web site.  We cannot put them all on at once, but we may rotate them.  Include your name, city, state and mosque affiliation if you want.  Also include your written permission to publish your article on the site.  Any suggestions for the web site or for improving the ebook for the next edition will also be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jonathan Burch