Text published in Arabic under the title “الإرهاب الروحي” in the series Nafahât min al-mahjar (Breaths of Exile), on 17 April 2025.
Without dwelling on a terminological definition that would distract from the subject, let us recall that Islam, this religion of uprightness and completeness, counts “spiritual security” (al-amn ar-rûhî) among its highest aims.
It is those who have faith, and do not mix their faith with idolatry, who will be secure, and it is they who are rightly guided.’
Qur’an 6:82
From intellectual terrorism to spiritual terrorism
We have set out in detail, in earlier articles and columns, the gravity of intellectual terrorism. Starting from a deviation in belief and a corruption of morals, it ends in hatred and in the exclusion of the other, of the one who differs. It hides sometimes behind the principle of enjoining good and forbidding evil, sometimes behind that of loyalty and disavowal (al-walâ’ wa-l-barâ’).
We have shown the difference between these notions taken in their foundation and the use that the terrorist intellectual enterprise makes of them to attract followers and enslave them, and to erase their identity and their capacity for discernment. Yet this discernment, this reason, is the seat of responsibility before God and the secret of the singularity of man, established as vicegerent on the earth.
But there is a terrorism of a more dangerous and deeper kind still, for it touches the essence of man and his spirit. The Real, glory be to Him, relates the words of Pharaoh:
But Pharaoh said [to him], ‘If you take any god other than me, I will throw you into prison,’
Qur’an 26:29
And in another passage:
I will cut off your alternate hands and feet and then crucify the lot of you!’
Qur’an 26:49
Pharaonic terrorism wanted men’s souls: that they worship him instead of God. To whoever opposed him and refused to hand over his heart and his spirit, he promised the worst of punishments and the vilest of torments. Whoever seeks to compel people to a “spiritual” allegiance, an allegiance “of the heart”, and to submission, through the force of threat, inevitably practises spiritual terrorism.
The gentleness of the messengers, the beauty of the Beloved
The Most High says through the mouth of Abraham, His intimate friend:
Anyone who follows me is with me, but as for anyone who disobeys me- You are surely forgiving and merciful.
Qur’an 14:36
And through the mouth of Jesus, His word:
and if You punish them, they are Your servants; if You forgive them, You are the Almighty, the Wise.’
Qur’an 5:118
And He says of the noble Messenger, the Mercy bestowed as a gift, the lord of the knowers:
By an act of mercy from God, you [Prophet] were gentle in your dealings with them- had you been harsh, or hard-hearted, they would have dispersed and left you
Qur’an 3:159
The Real begins by praising His beloved and by confirming his noble traits, which are the epiphany of His mercy, before establishing a reality of human nature: souls have been kneaded with love for whoever does them good, and with aversion for whoever does them harm.
Here, then, is the holder of the supreme Secret and of the highest Reality, peace and blessings be upon him and upon his family: the Real removes harshness and roughness from him, and attests in him mercy and gentleness, which are the two opposites of spiritual terrorism. More than that: the Real educates His beloved through beauty, and teaches us thereby that following him (which is a duty towards him) is not obtained through terror, but through love, which is born of the beauty of the beloved’s qualities.
Thus the supreme Messenger opened hearts through his beauty, with a gaze that enriches, heals and elevates. One who saw him in truth exclaimed: “This face is not the face of a liar!” And another said:
When I contemplated his radiant lights,
I placed my hand over my eyes, out of fear,
fearing for my sight the beauty of his face:
I contemplate him only in the measure of what I am…
Lights born of his light, drowned in his light.
The true master does not terrorise: he elevates
So it is with the heirs of his Secret, of his light and of his guidance: their allusion precedes their speech. Whoever keeps their company loves them, draws from their spring, is guided and rises, gently and without violence. The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, was asked about the best companions to keep. He named three qualities: the one whose sight reminds you of God, the one whose speech increases your knowledge, and the one whose deeds remind you of the life to come.
The gaze, then, is the threshold and the door: “The friends of God are those whose sight brings God to mind.” It is a gaze of the heart, which through its sincerity sees the light of the Muhammadan heir master, the one whose state lifts you and whose speech leads you to God, as one sees the sun shining in broad daylight, beyond any dispute or doubt.
The author of the Latâ’if al-minan wrote:
“Your master is not the one you listened to: your master is the one from whom you received. Your master is not the one whose words faced you: your master is the one whose allusion travelled within you. Your master is not the one who called you to the door: your master is the one who lifted the veil between you and him. Your master is not the one whose discourse presented him to you: your master is the one whose state made you rise. Your master is the one who brought you out of the prison of the passions and brought you in to the Master. Your master is the one who never ceased to polish the mirror of your heart, until the lights of your Lord appeared in it. He raised you up towards God, and you rose towards Him; he walked with you until you reached Him, and he stayed at your side until he set you down between His hands.”
Ibn ‘Atâ’illah al-Iskandarî, Latâ’if al-minan
None guides to God, in times of trial, except the one whom God has honoured with a support drawn from the Muhammadan beauty: he makes God beloved to creatures and makes creatures beloved to God, without weariness or respite; he brings good tidings and does not drive away; he sows hope in hearts after their despair, wanting neither reward nor thanks from anyone.
In the Pharaonic age, the Real set gentleness and beauty against it:
Go, both of you, to Pharaoh, for he has exceeded all bounds. Speak to him gently so that he may take heed, or show respect.’
Qur’an 20:43-44
Herein lies a lesson, and a clear answer to anyone who makes “force”, “domination”, “terror” and “intimidation” the foundation of his call and of a “spiritual” allegiance to his person alone, claiming to hold the only path to the Real, one that no one else in the world would share with him.
Our masters taught us that lights do not compete for space, that whoever says “I” stands on nothing, that the Real is not recognised by the number of followers, and that the one whom the Real has clothed in the garment of humility and submission has had the path of good pleasure opened to him.
Lord, make us firm in the covenant and upon Your straight path, do not place our trial in our religion, and grant us the best of endings.
Breaths of Exile (Nafahât min al-mahjar), by the one in need of Allah, Dr Tarik Abou Nour, may Allah be gentle with him and with his parents. 17 April 2025.
