🕊️ THE MA’RIFA IN FOOTBALL 〽️⚽️ Analyzing a bit spitting a bit 〽️ 〽️Training Camp: ‘Ilm (Knowledge of Rules and Tactics) Before a footballer steps onto the pitch, he studies the rules, tactics, formations, and styles of play. But this is only informational knowledge the equivalent of reading books about God, memorizing verses, or understanding theology. • This is ‘Ilm — necessary, foundational. • But Ma‘rifah is deeper — it’s what comes after the drills. Just as a player who knows the rules doesn’t automatically become Messi, a seeker who memorizes theology doesn’t automatically reach Allah. ❝The rulebook doesn’t teach you vision. Only the game itself does.❞ 〽️Stepping onto the Pitch: Dhikr & Practice A Sufi sees the football pitch as the world a place of constant motion, testing, and opportunity. Training alone is not enough. Now, he must play with presence. • When a footballer dribbles with grace, senses his teammates without seeing them, and moves in rhythm with the game he begins to experience flow. • The Sufi calls this dhikr in motion the remembrance of God not just with the tongue, but with every movement of the soul. ❝When the ball is at your feet and the crowd fades away, and you hear only your heartbeat and your breath that is when you remember your Origin.❞ 〽️Coach’s Voice: The Shaykh (Spiritual Guide) Every great player is shaped by a great coach. Not one who screams tactics, but one who sees your heart. • The Shaykh doesn’t just correct your posture in sujūd — he watches how your ego reacts when you lose the ball. • Just like a coach sees the attitude in how you warm up, a Shaykh reads the state of your nafs (ego) in how you serve others. ❝The Sufi footballer listens not just for praise, but for the silence between commands there he finds the hidden wisdom.❞ 〽️ Tawakkul: Trusting the Game Plan Even the best striker misses. Even the best keeper concedes. But the Sufi footballer knows: • You don’t win every match by your skill. • You win because Allah wills you to learn sometimes through victory, sometimes through humility. Tawakkul is when you play your heart out, but accept the outcome as a message from the Divine. ❝If you dribble past 10 and still miss the goal know that the lesson was not in the goal, but in the humility that follows.❞ 〽️Fana’ on the Pitch: Dissolving into the Game Fana’ is the Sufi stage of self-effacement losing your ego in the Divine presence. • In football, it is when you stop playing for fame, money, or applause. • You play for the beauty of the game itself, and in the service of the team. You no longer say, “I scored.” You say, “It was written. I was merely chosen to be the tool.” ❝He no longer sees himself as a player. He sees the pitch as a canvas, the ball as dhikr, and his feet as brushes painting the Will of the Divine.❞ 〽️Ma‘rifatullāh: Seeing the Game Maker The ultimate goal is not the trophy, the fans, or even the perfect performance. It is to realize Who created the game, Who gave you breath to run, legs to move, and a heart to feel joy in the game. • You feel Allah’s presence in every pass. • You see His Wisdom in every mistake. • You sense His Mercy in every new half. ❝Ma‘rifatullāh in football is when the game becomes a mirror, and in every motion you see Him.❞ 🌟 Final Whistle To a Sufi, football is not just a sport. It’s a path (ṭarīqah). The pitch is a place of witnessing (mushāhadah). The game is a journey to the Beloved. When you play with this presence, every match becomes dhikr, and every goal becomes shukr Gaskia 〽️🫂 #sufi #maarifa #football #viral #themarifainfootball