In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
One should not miss the opportunity to be in gatherings of remembrance of Allah such as gatherings of learning sacred knowledge and gatherings of the pious until the light of remembrance appears within him. Where will this light come from? It will come from the One being remembered. One should actively expose himself to receive the inner secret after which his heart will fill with light. The scholars mention the various paths to expose oneself to attaining the secret and the light because striving towards this should be everyone's goal.
Imam al-Haddad conveyed to us from Imam Ghazali who transmitted from those before him, the path by which a slave truly remembers Allah, attain spiritual secrets and attains light. In his poem: The station of certainty are nine. Know and perfect them and begins with sound repentance. The scholars say if a person begins with genuinely repenting to Allah, as indicated in the Qur'an, its fruits will appear in him. They say repentance is the first step a wayfarer takes. It is one of the stations of wilayah (sainthood) and of the religion. It will necessarily elicit a spiritual blessing, an effect and a spiritual state.
What is the state? If a person truly repents, a light will glimmer in his heart. The light will protect him from slipping back into heedlessness. It protects him from taking the wrong path. It protects him from turning to other than his Lord. Thus, he progresses to the station of truthfulness. If he attains the station of truthfulness, its state manifest on him. Due to his truthfulness, he moves to one of the other stations. This is the path of spiritual secrets, the path of light, the path of arrival to the Divine Presence.
La illaha illa Allah (there is no god except Allah) is required of a slave and it is the starting point of all stations so its states and inward and outward realities and effects must manifest on the slave.
Once Iman As-Sirri as-Saqati was passing through a place, a man told him that one of the houses of the people of la illaha illa Allah was on fire. So he said, la illaha illa Allah and the fire was extinguished. That was his station. Where did this la illaha illa Allah emerged? From a heart of the heedless? From the heart of a liar? From a heart distracted by other than Allah? From a heart that did not realize the Truth? No. The effects of la illaha illa Allah manifested due to his state. And likewise it is manifested for others.
Some guests stayed the night at Malik bin Dinar (died 748 CE and was from the generation of the Tabi'in). He prayed for them and granted them leave. But they returned after a while. He said, "Why did you return after after I saw you off with prayers and granted you leave?" They replied, "We encountered a pride of lions." He said to them, "Do you fear lions?" They replied, "Who doesn't?" He said, "Follow me!" Malik grabbed the ear of one of the lions and said, "Didn't I tell you not to disturb my guests?" This is the light that manifested in this inheritor of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam.
Allah Almighty says,
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَكُونُوا۟ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰدِقِينَ ﴿١١٩[Qur'an, At-Tawba 9:119]
O you who have believed, fear Allah and be with those who are true. (119)
This is the fruit.
If someone wants light to manifest in him, he should remember Allah alone. When he says la ilaha illa Allah, he should leave all other than Him. Its spiritual blessing will eventually appear in him.
What is this blessing? It is not turning away lions, nor is it warding off fire. It is not something tangible. Rather, from the words of Imam Al-Haddad, it is a spiritual light that engulfs the heart in those moments. It is priceless.
Shaykh Yahya Al-Khatib spoke of a great Imam, Shaykh Ahmad bin Abd-ur-Rahman Shihabud-Din. He said when someone come to see the Imam, he would surprise him by saying, "Haven't you come to tell me such and such?" He would answer, "Yes." So Shaykh Yahya asked the Iman, "How do you know what the person was going to say to you?" The Imam replied, "Do you not read the Qur'an?" He said, "Yes, I do?" The Imam recited..."It is clear signs in the hearts of those endowed with knowledge." These signs are engraved in their chests. The entire world is like a tablet before them. They read whatever they wish to read from it. Is this something visible? No. Rather, it is a secret only the heart can perceive. The perceptive heart which the Qur'an addresses, not the small piece of flesh. Sometimes the Qur'an calls it the heart, sometimes, the soul, sometimes the secret, sometimes the spiritual breath. All terms are fine.
There is also in the Qur'an, about Prophet Sulayman's companion, even though the people of this Ummah receive much greater bounty than him:
قَالَ ٱلَّذِى عِندَهُۥ عِلْمٌ مِّنَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ أَنَا۠ ءَاتِيكَ بِهِۦ قَبْلَ أَن يَرْتَدَّ إِلَيْكَ طَرْفُكَ ۚ فَلَمَّا رَءَاهُ مُسْتَقِرًّا عِندَهُۥ قَالَ هَـٰذَا مِن فَضْلِ رَبِّى لِيَبْلُوَنِىٓ ءَأَشْكُرُ أَمْ أَكْفُرُ ۖ وَمَن شَكَرَ فَإِنَّمَا يَشْكُرُ لِنَفْسِهِۦ ۖ وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ رَبِّى غَنِىٌّ كَرِيمٌ ﴿٤٠(40) [Qur'an, An-Naml 27:40]
One with whom was knowledge of the Scripture said: "I will bring it to you within the twinkling of an eye!" Then when he [Sulayman (Solomon)] saw it placed before him, he said: "This is by the Grace of my Lord - to test me whether I am grateful or ungrateful! And whoever is grateful, truly, his gratitude is for (the good of) his own self, and whoever is ungrateful, (he is ungrateful only for the loss of his own self). Certainly! my Lord is Rich (Free of all wants), Bountiful."
Ask Allah for this bounty, and then rid your hearts from the darkness of delusion that has led people into heedlessness and brought them into the realms of ignorance. Someone prays and he has no idea how many units of prayer he has completed. He doesn't know what surah the imam recited. He is unaware of the secrets in Al-Fatihah and other surahs. He has no idea of the secret of the glorification recited when bowing. He is unaware of the secret of the praise after bowing. He does not know the secret of glorification when prostrating. He does not know the secret of the praise between the two prostrations. He does not know anything. When asked, "Did you pray?" He replied, "Yes! Alhamdullillah, I prayed!" Are you aware of anything in the glorification? Did you ascend at all through them? Was anything from the unseen world opened to you? Did anything manifest for you from the hidden world? Were you aware that you were being called through your heart, through your hearing, inwardly and outwardly? Or is it just one prayer after another?
Likewise, people go for hajj or umrah this year, as is customary for many. When asked, "Did you go for hajj?" "Alhamdulillah!" he replied. Have the supplications of your hajj or umrah manifested? Have the secrets of your wudu' appeared? Will you deny the spiritual blessings which descend from the heavens? Will you deny the mercy by which Allah manifests Himself? Did you receive a portion? Have you felt anything? Have you tried to feel anything? Have any of these manifested for you? Or are you in the same state you were last year and the year before? You have returned to your heedlessness.
Who keeps the night vigil? Were you able to recite some of the Qur'an while keeping the night vigil last night? "No!" he replied, "I've got nothing from keeping the night vigil."
"Did you recite the du'a of Fajr?" "Yes" Has the light this supplication speaks of manifested for you?
"O Allah, verily I beseech You for Mercy from Your Presence, by which You guide my heart."
Has the guidance manifested? If he gets in a quarrel or dispute, his ego emerges. He begins to argue. Then he abuses people -- Allah's refuge is sought. Behind this behavior is scheming and cunning, etc. These things get into a person and so Shaytan dominates him and leads him wherever he wishes. Perhaps he even swears a false oath. Allah's refuge is sought. Why? The reason is, as Allah says, "The Shaytan has gained control over them and make them forget the remembrance of Allah." These heedlessness means that the blessings of prayers and gatherings do not manifest themselves.
What is a person waiting for? What are these blessings? The blessings comes in three things, tranquility descends. Has he felt tranquil? Has his heart been moved? Has he felt at that moment an outer and inner stirring or has he not obtained any such thing? These are the effects of tranquility and the mercy which descend and the effect of the angels sent by Allah to attend gatherings of remembrance of Allah. If the person cannot feel, if the blessing, mercy and goodness do not manifest, what is the person waiting for? What has increased in him? His life has passed but he has not attained any spiritual secrets. He is in heedlessness.
They wander on in their wild intoxication -- Allah's refuge is sought. Drunkenness within drunkenness within drunkenness. They said anyone who is not affected by the prayers, not affected by the verses of the Qur'an, not affected by remembrance, not affected by glorification, not affected by gatherings, anyone who does not feel anything of these -- Allah's refuge is sought -- has been overcome by drunkenness and blindness. He is unaware of the past and the future. The secret of la illaha illa Allah has not appeared on him, not its blessings, nor its mercy.
We are invited to a great feast. It is the feast of Prayer. The greatest feast offered to Muslims is the feast of Prayer. So how should he enter into it? What will he remember while in it? Will his heart be present while in it? What feast is he sitting at? Does he take heed. Allah says, "Will anyone take heed?" Gatherings like gatherings of remembrance of Allah, gatherings of the pious and gatherings of learning sacred knowledge are also feasts. They are not small affairs. No forty people gather except among them is a friend of Allah. In the gatherings there are people who have been given the greatest providence from Allah. There are people whom Allah has made guardians of His creation, of His elite, of His cosmos. They are entrusted with the secret. They are the bearers of the secret. They are the one who place secrets in the hearts. If someone comes to them with truthfulness and righteousness, they will put something in his heart without him knowing.
May Allah grant us His Light and make us of those who are truthful. Ameen.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Based on a talk of Al-Habib Abdul Qadir As-Saqqaf (may Allah have mercy on him)
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