Strictly speaking, the goal of this school is to make you a Muslim. The words Islam and Muslim come from the same 3 letter root word (s,l and m) in Arabic. Islam by definition means surrender and submission only to the one true creator. A Muslim by definition means one who surrenders and submits to the laws of God. So I am trying to help you surrender completely to your Lord.  Does that mean you have to become a Muslim in the traditional sense of the word?  I don’t think so.

Sidi has said you can be a Christian Sufi, a Jewish Sufi, etc.  I interpret this to mean that you don’t have to convert to Islam in order to reach God.  You can add the Sufi practices to your current religion.  This should make you a better Christian, a better Jew, a better Buddhist, etc. In Music of the Soul in the chapter called, “The Love”, Sidi says, ” If the Muslims, Jews, Christians, and the people of any other religion knew their religion well, there would only be one religion, the religion of love and peace and mercy.”

I consider myself a Christian Sufi.  Do I follow all the rules of the Shar’ia, the moral code and religious law of Islam?  Not always.  Do I think it would be better for me if I did?  Probably. Do I have to take a shower, eat right, and exercise everyday? No, but I am healthier for it.  Do I have to do wudu and ghusl everyday?  No, but it’s the same principal.  Just because you can’t see the spiritual “dirt” doesn’t mean it isn’t there. We pick up spiritual dirt by being around people who transmit negativity and bad intentions. We get more by watching the news on TV. It’s even in the air from the collective unconscious.  Just like we clean our physical body each day, we need to clean our spirits from the daily grime we pick up. We clean our spirits by doing the practices: salat, wird, remembrance, working with the Qualities, wudu, ghusl, etc.  Whether it is our physical health or our spiritual health, there are guidelines that we can follow that will make healthier people.

We can choose to ignore these guidelines and our physical or spiritual body will suffer the consequences for it.  Does that mean that Allah will hate us and reject us for choosing to act in an ignorant manner?  I really, really don’t think so.  Our God is a loving, merciful God.  When we observe our grown children making poor choices in their lives, we don’t hate them for it.  We feel bad knowing that the outcome isn’t going to be what they want, but they have to have the freedom to make their own choices and learn from the consequences of those choices.  It isn’t appropriate to punish them for being ignorant. Life will teach them what they need to know.

So whether you choose to convert to Islam and call yourself a Muslim, or just incorporate the Sufi practices into your daily life, that is totally up to you and what you feel called to do.

“What is Faith? When your good deed pleases you and your evil deed grieves you, you are a believer. What is Sin? When a thing disturbs (the peace of) your heart, give it up.” 

– The Prophet Muhammad (SAW), from “Sayings of Muhammad” by Prof. Ghazi Ahmad