It is not about about which book to read, how much dhikr to do, which scholar to follow, or which group to join. It is about identifying what it is that is preventing the innate spiritual inclination already within you.
لَا يُخَافُ عَلَيْكَ أنْ تَلْتَبِسَ الطُّرُقُ عَلَيْكَ، وَإنَّمَا يُخَافُ عَلَيْكَ مِنْ غَلَبَةِ الهَوَى عَلَيْكَ
Indeed, Allah does not fear for you that the paths or choices will confound you.
Rather, He only fears for you that your whims will defeat you. ~Ibn 'Ata'Illah
Look around you. Evaluate, not your life, but your state of being. The fact that you exist. The fact that you are conscious and aware. My dear... you are already on a spiritual path. You want a spiritual experience? You want to be spiritual? This is it. Your very existence is a spiritual experience. You but need to realize the journey.
The danger does not lie in the confusion of choices or the difficulty in discerning the right path. The fear is not that the believer will become lost in a maze of decisions or become disoriented in their spiritual or moral journey. Clarity of guidance is ever available and accessible. The paths to righteousness, virtue, and truth are ever illuminated for those who seek them sincerely. Moral truths and the principles of upright conduct are not inherently hidden or inaccessible. The knowledge of right and wrong is embedded in both human reason and in Revelation, and those who seek guidance with sincerity will always find the right path.
Hence, there is no fear of getting lost due to external factors or complexities, for the human capacity for discernment, when aligned with right intention, guided by Revelation, will always be drawn to the truth. This is what moral clarity dictates, that while life presents many choices, it is within the power of the individual to choose rightly when they are guided by sound principles, ethical reasoning, and spiritual insight. The word Khayr خير does not simply mean "Good". It means to "Choose Good." The choice, as it were, is not between right and wrong. The choice is always right. Its adverse is a capitulation. Evil is not a choice... It is a surrender to other than good.
The true danger for the believer lies in the overpowering influence of base desires and inclinations. The real obstacle upon the right path is not a lack of guidance but the dominance of one’s lower self, which leads to moral blindness and error, despite the availability of clear guidance. These whims and desires cloud judgment, distort perception, and steer one away from the path of virtue, even when the right course of action is evident. The battle against the self is therefore central to maintaining moral clarity, as unquestioned desires sow the seeds of self-deception, rationalizing wrong choices, and ignoring the guidance that is present.
True freedom and moral agency come not from the absence of external obstacles, but from the mastery of one’s own passions. The challenge for the moral agent is less about external confusion and more about maintaining self-discipline and inner clarity in the face of conflicting impulses. The human struggle lies in resisting the temptations of the ego and maintaining a state of inner humility and receptivity to higher truths. In this manner, the haze of confounding choices and decisions is lifted and clarity is granted with which the course is maintained. All else that is external becomes a semantic and logistical matter.
If the internal state of the being is sound and clear, both spiritually and intellectually, all external obstacles of worldly life are easily resolvable and the path becomes clear. However, if the internal aspect is itself confounded, the blame lies not with a lack of guidance, but with the self that could not prevent itself from self-delusion.
You want to be spiritual? Master your 'self'...
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