The Hikmah Project Saqib Safdar

Podcast Summary: Heart of Business - Episode with Mark SilverIntroduction:
Mark’s book, Heart-Centered Business, is dedicated to Al Amin, highlighting the deep trust and love Mark strives to embody in commerce and life.
Mark Silver's Journey:
Raised in a Jewish family, Mark dreamed of becoming a rabbi but felt something was missing.While exploring deeper spirituality and starting his journey with business owners, he encountered Sufism through teachers from the lineage of Sheikh Muhammad Jamal.Initially, Mark struggled with his transition from Judaism to Sufism, feeling conflicted about betraying his heritage.A profound spiritual experience led him to fully embrace Sufism, taking shahada and finding healing between his Jewish and Islamic identities.
Sufism and Business:
Sufism’s teachings deeply influenced Mark’s approach to business, focusing on love, integrity, and the sacredness of relationships.He emphasizes that business, often seen as detached from spirituality, can be an act of love and service, challenging modern capitalism’s toxicity.
Heart-Centered Business:
Mark founded Heart of Business in 2001 to help entrepreneurs integrate spirituality with the practical aspects of running a business.His approach involves seeing business as a dynamic set of relationships, not just transactions, encouraging entrepreneurs to cultivate curiosity, compassion, and a healthy relationship with money.
Key Themes and Quotes:
Dedication to Al Amin:
Mark admires the trustworthiness and integrity of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), striving to embody these qualities in his business practices.
Love in Business:
Love, if unleashed, could transform the world of business, making it a part of a culture that lifts and serves everyone.
Essence of Business:
Business lies in the aliveness of relationships, not just in transactions or systems.
Healthy Relationships:
Healthy businesses necessitate healthy relationships, avoiding the pitfalls of unhealthy dynamics.
Curiosity and Shame:
Cultivating curiosity is crucial as it shifts the internal narrative, softening judgment, and opening the heart to truth and possibility, countering shame.
Seeing the Divine in Business:
Every aspect of business, including clients, colleagues, and even money, should be viewed as an expression of the divine.
Practical Application:
Mark's work involves practical business coaching, spiritual guidance, and retreats to help entrepreneurs align their business practices with their spiritual values.His virtual retreats offer a space for deep spiritual practice, helping participants gain insights and make decisions aligned with their heart’s guidance.
Conclusion:
Saqib and Mark discuss the importance of integrating spirituality with business, emphasizing that such integration can lead to profound transformation and healing in the business world.Listeners are encouraged to explore Mark's work and consider how they can bring more heart-centered approaches to their own business practices.
Contact and Further Information:
Listeners can learn more about Mark Silver and Heart of Business at https://www.heartofbusiness.com, where they can find resources, assessments, and information on joining the community for support and growth in

Fawzia Al-Rawi holds a PhD in Islamic studies. She completed her Arabic, Islamic and ethnological studies at the Universities of Vienna and Cairo. She then spent 12 years in Jerusalem where she brought up her children and worked at the Institute for the Promotion of Palestinian Agriculture and at the University of Jerusalem, while deepening both her theoretical and practical knowledge of Sufism under the guidance of Sidi Shaykh Muhammad Al-Rifai. She has been living in Vienna with her husband and their three children since 2001.
Fawzia Al-Rawi has been teaching Sufism for over 25 years. She holds workshops in various countries and works particularly with women. Her teachings draw on a wealth of experience from a bicultural environment which uniquely enables her to build a bridge of understanding between different cultures, open a space where these can meet and thus contribute to peace. Further details can be found on her website

Dr Sh Usama Hasan reads Purification of the Gnostics by Ibn Arabi

 Michael Sugich, an American writer who was initiated into a traditional Sufi order over forty years ago and who lived for 23 years in the sacred city of Makkah Al Mukaramah, has kept company with some of the greatest Sufi saints of the age from many parts of the world. His book is a unique eye-witness narrative of a mystical tradition that today hides in plain sight, veiled by the turbulence and materialism gripping the Muslim world.

Summary notes are due to follow. Further details of the course can be found on thehikmahproject.com

Two new courses are due to start soon:
1. Qu'ranic Arabic for Beginners with application to Wazifah Ibn Mashish, Ibn Arabi's Prayers of the Week (Wird) and his Salat al-Faydiyyah

2. Fusus al Hikam & Classical Commentaries - line-by-line reading with Dr Hany Ibrahim

Session notes to follow shortly for members...