Guide
The Guide sits beside the Names of Allah. It does not replace the 99 entries. It gives ways to read them together, the three parts of the deen that frame that reading, and essays on the practices that surround them.
- Lenses for Understanding a Name — five ways to look at a Name, after a check on how firmly it is established. States of the heart still answer the question most readers actually have: what is this for?
- Reading a Name Page: A Guide for Readers — what each section of a Name page shows you, why it comes in that order, and what it means when a section says nothing is established.
- Ihsan: Worshipping Allah as Though You See Him — the Hadith of Jibril’s three layers of the deen, and what ihsan means.
- Tazkiyah: Purification of the Heart — a practical guide to purifying the heart and walking the path to ihsan.
- Tasawwuf: The Science of Ihsan — what tasawwuf is, its roots in the Sunnah, and an honest account of what is rejected and what is debated.
- Ihsan and the Human Mind — how the abilities Allah gave the mind serve ihsan, and what research on attention, dhikr, and salah suggests.
- How a Name Is Presented — the standard for every Name page: the order of its sections and what each one includes.
- Counting Dhikr: Sunnah or Innovation — whether counted remembrance is prophetic, the numbers he gave, and where numbered litanies go wrong.
- Counting Aids: Fingers, Stones, and Beads — what he counted with, why the fingers are preferred, and where the misbaha came from.
- The Sufi Orders: A High-Level Summary — six orders compared, each a different method of remembrance for the same problem of forgetfulness.
- English Qur’an Translations: The Major Versions Compared — seven major translations, how they differ, and one verse in six of them side by side.
- Hadith Grades: Sahih, Hasan, Da’if, and Mawdu’ — what the grades mean, when weak hadith may be used, and three famous sayings that fail the test.
- Template for Writers — how to fill each section of a Name page, including the required counterweight.