Remembering What we are Created For Help through Suhbat and Connection with the Shaykh

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Brooke Booker
5 years ago
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1 Remembering What we are Created For Help through Suhbat and Connection with the Shaykh Look at it this way: there are appropriations and misappropriations in life. What do I mean by that? I don t know. I ll tell you a story by Mevlana Rumi about that, at some point. Basically, it means that we forget. When you forget, it doesn t mean that you stop living. You don t stop thinking, talking, eating, working or anything. So what s the problem with forgetting? And what s the benefit of remembering? Maybe I ought to tell you the story. Mevlana Rumi said, There is one thing in this world that should never be forgotten, and if you were to forget everything else, but did not forget this, then there would be no cause to worry. Whereas, if you performed and remembered, and did not forget every single thing but just that one thing, then you would have done nothing at all in your life. We come into this world with a very particular task, and that is our purpose in life. If we don t perform it, we will have done nothing. He quoted, We have offered the trust to the heavens and the earth. Then he gets to the point and says, We honored the children of Adam. Allah does not say, We honored the heavens and the earth. So the task which is not performed by the heavens and earth and mountains is performed by humankind. When he performs this task, the amanat, and takes this responsibility, what happens is that all sin and all useless actions are removed. Even if you say, Even if I don t perform this task, look at all the things I do! Look at all the many tasks I perform every day. You were not created for those other tasks. Rumi says, 1

2 It is as though you were to procure a sword of priceless Indian steel, such as to be found only in the treasuries of kings, and you convert it into butcher s knife for cutting up putrid meat, saying, I m not letting the sword stand idle! See? I m putting it to all these useful purposes! Doesn t that sound like politicians, justifications? Doesn t it sound like people you meet every day? Like you, maybe? Or it was as though you were to take a golden bowl and cook turnips in it; whereas, with a single grain of that gold you could procure a hundred pots that are made for cooking turnips. Or, it is as though you would take a dagger of the finest tempered steel, and make of it a nail for a broken gourd, saying, I m making good use of it. I m hanging the gourd on it. I m not letting this dagger stand idle. How lamentable and ridiculous that would be, when the gourd would be perfectly well-served by means of a wood or iron nail whose value is a mere farthing. How does it make sense to employ for the task a dagger valued at a hundred pounds? Allah Most High has set a very high price on each one of us. Allah has brought from the believers their selves and possessions against the gift of Paradise. He quotes, You are more precious than heaven and earth. What s more, you know not your own worth. Sell not yourself for a little price; you are so precious in God s eyes. Allah says, I bought you your moments. I purchased your breaths, your possessions, your lives. If they are expended on Me, if you give them to Me, the price of them is everlasting Paradise. This is your worth in My sight. And if you sell yourself to hell, it is yourself you will have wronged, just like the man who hammered a dagger into the wall and hung a jug of gourd on it. This is the pain of forgetting, the illusion of forgetting. All the justifications we make for everything we do, all the things we say and think are important in life. But if we 2

3 don t know what we were created for, we don t know our value. If we don t know our value before Allah s eyes, how are we going to know our value in our own eyes? He returns to that and says, You put forth your excuse: I expend myself on lofty tasks! I am studyng jurisprudence, philosophy, logic, astronomy, medicine, whatever. For whose sake but your own are you doing these things? If it is jurisprudence, it is so nobody shall steal the loaf out of your hands or steal your clothes or kill you. In short, it s for you to win your security. If it s astronomy, the phases of the sphere and its influences on the earth, whether light or heavy, portending tranquility or danger, all these things are connected with your own situation and serve your own ends. If the star is lucky or unlucky, it is connected with your one ascendant or likewise serves your own ends. When you consider the matter well, the root of the whole business is you, yourself. This bears daily reflection. This is really what should be at the core of muhasabat. Do you understand that? This is what should be at the core of muhasabat. Not, Did I do a good thing or bad thing today? But, Am I living according to what my value is and what I was created for? If these things, which each one of us is doing and justifying and excusing, are a branch of our self. He goes on and says, These are so multifarious, and comprise so many marvels, phases, worlds both wonderful without end, consider what phases you may pass through, who are the root. If your branches have their ascensions and descensions, their lucky and unlucky aspects, consider what may transpire to you, who are the root. What ascension and descension in the world of spirits, what luck and unluck, what profit and loss? Such a spirit possesses his property and produces that such as one who is suitable for such a task. 3

4 For you there is other food besides this food of sleep and eating. The Prophet (sal) said, I passed the night in the presence of my Lord, He giving me to eat and drink. In this lower world, you have forgotten that heavenly food, being occupied with this material sustenance. Night and day you are nourishing this body. Now this body is your horse, and the lower world is your stable. The food of the horse is not the food of the rider. The rider has his own kind of sleeping, eating, and taking enjoyment. But because the animal and the bestial have the upper hand over you, you have lagged behind with your horse in the stable for horses, and do not dwell in the ranks of kings and princes of the world eternal. Your heart is there, but inasmuch as the body has an upper hand, you are the subject of that body s rule and have remained its prisoner. He then goes on to the story of Majnun and Leila. When Majnun is making his way toward Leila s residence, so long as he was fully conscious, it was fine. He was on his camel, going in the right direction. But for a moment, he became so majdhub, absorbed in the thought of Leila, that he drifted in that reverie and he forgot. The camel, which had given birth to a baby camel back in the village, then had the chance to return to her foal. She turned in her tracks and went back to the village. When Majnun came back to his senses, he found himself back in the village again, two days journey back. For three months, he continues in this way. He leaves the village, gets absorbed in Leila, drifts off, and winds up back in the village again time and again, time and again. Finally he said, This camel is the ruin of my life! He jumped off the camel, and continued on foot, singing, My camel s desire is behind me, and my desire is before me. She and I are at cross purposes, and agree no more! 4

5 How do you get to the point where you leave your camel, and you continue on the real journey? Not that you weren t on the journey on the camel, but you gave your rights up to your camel. You eat the food of the horse instead of yours. You sleep when the horse sleeps, instead of when you sleep. Sayyid Burhan al Muhaqiq (ra) said, Someone came and said, I heard your praises sung by such and such a person. And Burhan replied, Wait until I see what sort of man he is; whether or not he is of sufficient rank to know me and praise me. And if he knows me only by word of mouth, he doesn t really know me. These words don t endure. These syllables and sounds don t endure. These lips and mouths don t endure. All these things are mere accidents. But if he likewise knows me by my works, if he knows me by my essential self, then I know that he is able to praise me, and that his praise belongs to me. This is like the story of the king who entrusted his sons to a group of learned scholars. Over a period of time they taught him astrology and geomancy and all the things they were teaching at the time. He became a master of all the subjects he was taught, despite the fact that he was a dullard, a witless individual and stupid. One day, the king took a ring in his fist and put his son to the test. Tell me, he said, What am I holding in my fist? The thing you are holding is round, yellow, and hollow, the son replied. Since you have given all the signs correctly, now tell me what it is! It must be a sieve, said the son. What?! cried the king. You gave correctly all the minute signs, such as might baffle the minds of men! Out of all your powerful learning and knowledge, how is it this small point escapes you, that a sieve cannot be contained in a fist? 5

6 This is the way many people live their lives, and what we see happening in the Middle East today. People are being manipulated by these supposed scholars by these kinds of partial truths and observations that are totally wrong. What of the truth that says, If you take the life of one person, it is like taking the life of all humanity? Shouldn t that be sufficient for any Muslim to contemplate before they take any life? But do they? No. The splitting of hairs is exactly that. Unless we show some gratitude and understand what we are created for, we won t understand anything about life. Back to where I began. How do you stay on that path? How do you know that value? How do you know when to get off your camel? How do you understand what this life is about while you keep the company of those good people, and you try to emulate them? I told you yesterday, at least in their company, you will get good knowledge and tips. What s essential is that you value the knowledge of the good people; you value their company and imitate them. Real suhbat is suhbat with the truth. That is to say, when we are sitting together and I am speaking, what s the most important thing? That you are sitting with me, or the truth that I am trying to impart to you, which comes from much better people and minds than mine? I hope the answer is the latter. Sure, we enjoy each other s company, and that part is very important, but it has no importance unless the dagger is used as a dagger, and the gold is used for gold. It has no value. That s why in our tariqah, the whole issue of rābita of the shaykh, tasawwur, became very important. Yes, it s fine, but we have to understand why. What s important is the message. Tying one s heart to the murshid, and in that process keeping the image in one s imagination / khayal, even in the absence of the shaykh, this tasawwur, is important. But it s important for what is transmitted in that, not the fact of it. That s why memorizing the rules of Shar īah, becoming an alim, memorizing the hudūd and ulūm and all that, is important only if you understand what its purpose is. 6

7 It was said by those who came before that the murshid / shaykh is like the roof gutter. A spiritual outpouring comes from the heart of the murshid to whoever is connected to it. It comes through the downspout. You can let it run out on the ground; but if you collect that water, you can use it for cooking, drinking, cleaning, washing, and irrigating your crops. Allah provided the water. He provided the means. What are you going to use it for? The spiritual outpouring, the fayd, comes from the heart of the murshid to one who is connected, the murīd. It s true what s been told. Benefitted that in the company of the pious, one repeatedly hears useful knowledge and tips for putting this into practice in everyday life. This will motivate the clumsiest of the murīd to action. This concept of the murshid as being a gutter or rainspout means you have to be connected to it, in accordance with the hadith of Rasūlu-Llāh, he said, Man is with whomever he loves. The whole principle of these stories of Rumi, and what I ve been saying tonight, is actualized in the murīd as the murīd struggles to understand, takes on certain characteristics and attitudes and positions of the murshid, and there by absorbs the means for the knowledge, which takes us to the durūd sharīf. What does it mean, the means to Allah? Al Khani (ra) said in his book, Self extinction in the shaykh is the prelude to self-extinction in Allah Swt. Al-alf ath-thānī Shaykh Ahmad Farūqī Sirhindī (ra) said, It must be known that wayfaring, in the most distinguished way (meaning Naqshbandiyya way) is through rābita, and love for the shaykh being followed. His look is the cure for the diseases of the heart, and his tawajjuh lifts away spiritual ills. 7

8 The shuyukh of Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiya line, and all of our lines, and parallel in the Shadhili line, is that suhbat and companionship is the most independent way and strongest way to reach what we call the Divine Presence. That is followed immediately by tasawwur, rābita. Why then don t we emphasize tasawwur anymore in our line, especially from Shaykh Abdul Bari Shāh (ra)? Because Shaykh Mohammed Suleiman al Baghdadi said, in quoting Imam Nablusi s commentary, Whatever meanings the wayfarer imagines of the manifestations of the Divine Presence during his presence with it, by the power of this Divine Presence and not by himself, [they]are but through the murshid, through the latter s tawajjuh (turning toward Allah in the heart, with the heart). Sometimes this happens by heart to heart inspirational addresses, discourses, waz, bayan, darus / dars, or allusions. Sometimes it happens by giving the kierka. In the moment the kierka is given, the transmission is given of that knowledge to the khalifa, he says. The pre-condition of all this is perfect honesty, truthfulness, from both sides. We are talking about haqiq, marifah. We are not talking about, I swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God. We are talking about the Truth. The murshid s truthful state, meaning his sincere, clear, unalloyed love for Allah and commitment to the path, oft times frustrating 40 years of talking to deaf ears, or semi-deaf ears, but hopefully open hearts, permeates the truthful murīd. In other words, the murīd s openness / connection to that downspout has to be there. Imam Nablusi s commentary and Ibn Fareed s writing goes on. The murshid s truthful state by the leave of Allah Most High permeates the truthful murīd. Sometimes the shaykh gazes out of the hadith quds: I become his eyesight by which he sees, the hand by which he grasps, and the feet by which he walks. Sometimes the murīd looks at the shaykh out of the hadith, When they are seen, Allah is remembered. All this matter varies in speed according to preparedness, according to sincerity, according to service and 8

9 manners / adab with the shaykh, as well as safeguarding one s own sincerity, honor in their absence as well as in their presence. An example of this is given in a passage from Shaykh Hasan Hilmi ad-dagestani. Whoever enters tariqah and strives in worship becomes an enemy of shaytans, and therefore needs a guard, guarding him continuously from them. This is why the shaykh orders him to do rābita with an ccomplished shaykh. If the shaytans were to approach the latter, they would be almost burnt by the light. The meaning of this protection is that it is customary cause, just like medication or a weapon, and the effector is Allah Swt, not the shaykh. He is the All- Encompassing guardian. He is the Watcher. That takes us back to tawajjuh again, turning one s heart to Allah, being vigilant in muraqabah, turning one s heart toward the shaykh, Allah, and the Prophet (sal). One of the guarantees for safety on this path indeed, I think it is an absolute requirement is shukr. If you think about your day today, and what you were consciously, purposefully, and intentionally grateful for I ll give you an example, Farah. I know something you are grateful for, and we have not even talked about it. You are grateful that the children did well on their tests today. In turn, we were grateful for you: how you have taken that control, worked so hard, ceaselessly are trying to better everything for them. And how, in a matter of days, you have inspired my own daughter. You were grateful for that; is it not true? As a result, she was grateful. As a result, I was grateful, and Mitra was grateful. It came to my mind now, talking about gratitude. Do you see how it works, folks? How many times were you grateful today? Do you think your problems are so great that you can t be grateful? Do you think you have 9

10 to overcome this issue or that issue, or this problem or that problem? Maybe it s an issue with me. I m the Shaykh, but you don t really like me. You love me, but you hate me. We talked last week about resenting Allah. We resent Allah, Rasūlu-Llāh, the shaykh, all that. Or, what can we be grateful for? What this teaching is, is the more you are grateful, the more you overcome those obstacles. It s where I began tonight. You overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of being protected and loved by Allah and loving Allah Swt. But if you shape your personality, character, and attitude around, I ll be grateful when that changes, or I ll be grateful if that happens, or I ll be grateful if I get this or do that, endless things. or shaping it around the things you are doing only, using a dagger for a nail, and justifying it by saying, See all the good I am doing? For any of us who are working for Legacy and doing so much good in the world (we really are), if it is not framed personally for us, not publically or for any religious reason, but personally fī sabīli-llāh you know what it means: for the sake of justice, for the sake of compassion, mercy, love, tolerance, patience if it isn t framed for that, then it is using the gold cup to boil turnips. No matter what it looks like to anyone else, or how much good it seems to be doing. It s not sustainable, which is why I put so much emphasis on sustainability. We are still so far ahead that we haven t come to the world where people fund and support that kind of mentality. They still fund and support programs, projects, attitudes. So you have to put on this face, and do it for that reason. I ll talk about gratitude, inshā a-llāh, the next time. Asalaamu aleikum. 10

Connecting with Allah through the Shaykh Contact, Correspondence, Sitting in Meditation, and Tawajjuh

Connecting with Allah through the Shaykh Contact, Correspondence, Sitting in Meditation, and Tawajjuh I think that I am going to spatter among my talks some instructions. So I do suggest that you come