Muraqabah: the Training Ground of Salat Mysteries Revealed through the Spiritual Light of the Latā if

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Thomasine Ruth Harrington
5 years ago
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1 Muraqabah: the Training Ground of Salat Mysteries Revealed through the Spiritual Light of the Latā if These are the last ten days and it is an odd night. Abdu l-qadir al-jilani (ra) said that for decades he saw the Laylatul Qadr. I think the last time I mentioned the anwar sayr fusi, to be able to meditate on the batīn, and the illumination of Allah s Sifat/Attributes on the inhabitants of the universe. We were at the end of story of the Hadith Jibreel. The point of this was to talk about muraqabah. Whatever is contained in the ālam al-kabir is also present in the human body. Allah (swt) has indicated to us to meditate towards this reality and to meditate in such a way as to make dhikr/remembrance and muraqabah, according to turūq. [We are] to meditate on the physical universe, that is to say, everything that is manifest in the ālam alkhalq, all things that are created out the earth, air, fire, and water, and which are characterized by our nafs/self. This is usually referred to as the anwar of the light, or the lights that illuminate the journey to the a faq. The muraqabah/ meditation on the internal latā if of the ālm al-amr (the subtleties of the latā if, the subtleties of the faculties of our inner perceptions) is anwar sayr anfusi. This illuminated the lights of the journey through the seven stages of the anfus. [One comes to] be able to mediate on the batīn, the hidden, inner lights, the inner illuminations of Allah s Sifat. That is to say, there are the outer aspects of the sifat, and there are the inner analogues of them. So the illuminations of Allah s Sifat on the inhabitants of the universe, this muraqabah is known as the wilayat ashshugra (the lesser sainthood). [One comes] to be aware of how Allah (swt) is close to humanity, how Allah loves those people who are pious, and how Allah enlightens the hearts, cast His light upon the hearts to meditate about his dhahir (His Sifat, the 1

2 manifest attributes of Allah). That is to say, [when you find] those attributes that you find in the Prophet Muhammed (sal) and the other awliya-llāh, [this is] known as the waliyat al-kubra (the greater sainthood). [Then one comes to] meditate upon His batin sifat. There are the sifat, the attributes of Allah (swt) in the manifest, in the outer. It is as if you see polarities. Then there is the inner side of each of these sifat. There is the outer aspect of the sifat and there is the inner aspect of it. For example, think about the All Powerful, or think about the Ever Living. There is the outer aspect of the living, and then there is an inner aspect, the Ever Living. There is an outer aspect of peace, and there is an inner aspect of peace. So the meditation on the inner aspect, or the hidden, or the batini, and the names, from where the names come, is known as the waliyat al-uliyya, or the higher centered. So after one spends time meditating on the nubuwat risalat ( the prophethood and the messengerhood), those prophets that have given Divine Revelation on the prayers, on the Qur an, Allah (swt) then opens up for us, over time, these perceptive faculties, these latā if. As they open, just like a flower when it opens, it receives the light of the sun. It receives the fayd, the spiritual illumination, the spiritual light. And it is through these latā if receiving this spiritual light, having meditated on the dhahir, on having meditated on the sifat, having meditated on the bātini, having meditated on the prophets (nubuwat), and the messenger (risulat), and on the prayers, and on the Qur an, these are the elements that allow the flower or the fruit to grow. When it opens up, the light comes. Through that spiritual light, through the latā if, we see many mysteries. They are revealed to us. We get knowledge of what is the hidden entities, the hidden realities. For those few who attain to the state of complete illumination or fayd, or 2

3 overflowing, spiritual knowledge, marifat haqiqah, these are the walis, these are the abdals, these are the anwars, these are the muqarar, the saints and the forty and the qutbs. This begins the training ground for this. It is what everybody does, and takes for granted, and does mechanically, including you. The training ground is prayer, salat, namaz, to keep your mind focused during the namaz and to be present during the namaz. Do you know how silly you feel when you forget how many raka s you did? Because nine out of ten times you are thinking about something else. I don t think that nine out of ten times you are so devoted and abstracted that you are majdhub and you have good reason to do that. I could be wrong. What do you keep in mind: that I can see Allah, that I want to see Allah. This is taken directly from the Hadith of Jibreel. That Allah can see me, that I am being observed. What does it mean that He can see me, like Allah is sitting with a binocular? What does it mean Allah can see me? Of course, Allah can see you; Allah has five million eyes. What does it mean Allah can see you? It means is that we are a creation and a moment to moment manifestation of the intention of Allah (swt). Allah did not decide to create us five million 2 hundred thirty-two thousand two hundred and forty four years ago at four o clock in the afternoon, before there were clocks. It means that this creation is going on and on and on and on. If you go to this pottery studio and you create a pot, can you do it from long distance? You understand that Allah can see me. You can keep an eye on the meaning of the words themselves, of the salat, namaz. What does it mean? What are you saying? You see on this blue card (for those of you watching this on youtube, we have a card for prayer times). On one side, it tells us the times of prayer [for two months]; but on the other side, it has the Rules of the Order, and our invocation that I compiled over 30 years ago, from extant sources and my kashf. Now why are they are the same piece of paper? Because I needed a medium to put these invocations on? Did 3

4 any of you ever ask why they were on the same sheet of paper? Never in 30 years did anybody ask me this question. Not one time in 30 years did any of you, living or dead, say to me, Why are these on this card? It was just a whim. Oh, gee, we have one side, and instead of putting four months of prayers, let s see what can I put there. Ooooh! Why not the Rules of the Order and the invocation? Good idea. Okay. Fine. Thirty years, no one has asked me this question. Of course, in thirty years, nobody asked me a lot of questions. I have to tell you that Emad and my daughters ask me great question whenever we meet, which I hope will be once a week. They ask me very good questions. The answers are all recorded. I don t know if it sinks into their heads any more than it sinks into anyone else s head, but the fact is that they ask me good questions. Most of the young people over the years have asked me good questions. The point is there is a reason why these things are together. They go along with salat, namaz. These are things that should be in your mind and heart all the time. In fact, if you just studied what was on one side Let us pray for the blessings of Allah you would know the whole point of the whole path. [You would know the whole point of the path] if you keep that in mind, if you keep the meaning in mind of what you are saying, keep an eye on the meaning of the words, to keep an eye on each word of the tasbih and of the qirat (do you know what is tasbih and qirat) as if your mind is present and not just reciting from memory, and to think that this might be my last prayer, that my life might end right this minute, which is also the reason why you want to have wudu. What difference does it make? Who is going to know? Let us put it this way, if you are asking the question, What difference does it make? and Who is going to know? and Really doesn t make any difference that I had wudu; if you are asking 4

5 that question in your own mind, the answer is, you don t know, because you are asking the question. And if you don t know, we have an old saying: Better safe than sorry. You choose of these things that are easy to follow. It was narrated by Ibn Abbas (ra) Two cycles of prayer with presence of mind this is also muraqabah is better than a whole night of inattentive prayer. For two cycles of prayer, two rak a, with presence of mind is better than a whole night of inattentive prayers. This is also muraqabah. Before you come and sit in muraqabah at fajr or at maghrib, what happens? What do you do? (Not a rhetorical question.) You make a niyyat. You make an intention. What do you do before prayer? You make a niyyat. Do you make a niyyat, or do you remember now that you are supposed to make a niyyat? The other thing is these latā if have names: qalb, rūh, sirr, khafī, akhfā and nafs, mā, nār, bād, and khak. They have names. Names have meaning. Names mean something. They have power. What is in a name? This is how it all began: Allah says to the angels, Tell them the names of things. Believe in the names of the latā if. What does it mean to believe in the names of the latā if? And believe in the methods that have been given by our pir murshīd, by the awliya-llāh, by the mahashaykhs of our tariqah; and follow these paths. Tariqah means path. Follow these tariqahs (pl. turūq) within the tariqah; and if you do that, not only do you achieve something, but that is called pleasing Allah. It brings you to knowledge of the mysteries of Allah (swt), inshā a-llāh. Believe in the names of the latā if. Qalb does not only mean heart. What does it mean? Rūh does not just mean spirit; it comes from the same name as ruhas. Sīr doesn t just mean secret; khafī, hidden; akhfā. We have given many discourses on these. Remember: Ask the people of dhikr if you realize this not. Ask the people of 5

6 dhikr. If you do not believe this, if you do not understand this, ask the people who make dhikr, who remember Allah (swt). Allah says in Surah al-ambiyā, āyat 7: And We did not send before you other than men like yourself to whom We revealed the message. So tell the doubters, ask the people of remembrance who are the scholars of the earlier books of revelation, ask the people of remembrance if you do not know. Who are these people? We did not make them with bodies that do not eat food nor were they immortal. They are people. Then We fulfilled the promise. We made them and saved them and whoever else, We willed and destroyed the wasters. Surely, We have sent down a Book in which you are reminded. Will you not use your mind, your intelligence? Who are these people? They are the Sufis. They are the people of dhikr. Aren t they? Aren t we? We are the people of remembrance, of dhikr. Not just somebody who remembers Allah, but the people of dhikr. Ask those people, the people of the Truth, the knowers of the Truth. This is it. So when people say, You don t need to be a Sufi. You just need to know how to pray. Sure. And I just told you how. I am not exactly a salafi imam giving you a khutbah from the mimbar. These are the secrets that are revealed when the latā if are open, when the lower sainthoods, and the higher sainthoods, and these different worlds are opened up to us, which then takes me back to what happens: ghunoodgi. Even if you are sitting in meditation and you are doing meditation, it is very hard to fall asleep during prayer, right? In prayer, you are in jamat, and then you are by yourself in sunnah and nafl. So it is also very hard to go deep into muraqabah. Now I have been with people who have totally, like Shaykh Osman Sirajuddeen Naqshband. I remember, I have told you the story of the old shaykh who on occasion 6

7 would lead the prayer and the prayer would last, a half an hour, 20 minutes per rak ah, because he would become majdhub. You are following him because he is the imam, and he is weeping and he forgets where he is. He is totally majdhub. You can see him on that poor video that we did of the mawlid in Turkey. But when you are sitting in muraqabah, you are going to drift. You are going to drift, because you are going to go into these inner recesses, and then you will have to become conscious within that drifting. I gave you that example of the beggar who is sitting outside of the door. Is he going to be punished for waiting a long time and then dozing off? No he is not going to be punished. The food, the provision is still going to come to him. But when this fayd manifests, we become more attentive. We become very aware of this world and the Hereafter. This fayd softens our heart and overflows with love, and it begins to remember all the time. What are the consequences of this attainment of this fayd of the heart? If a person regularly and abundantly engages in dhikr, a time comes when the heart becomes as I told you jahri, set in motion. It means not only that you have movement in your heart, but you experience an attention, muraqabah, tawajjuh towards Allah (swt). You have to realize, if you think that your heart is alive and moving, then you should say to yourself, If this is real, I will be obeying the commandments of Allah (swt). If this is real, then I will be a more compassionate, and kinder and loving person. I will understand the Sifat of Allah (swt). All the things that I described to you in the first part of what I just spoke about in the last 20 minutes will be happening. What is the use of dhikr, if it does not take us toward the inculcating of the sunnah of Rasūlu- Llāh (sal) through muraqabah? We should try to perform the dhikr often and abundantly wuqūfi qalbi, pausing and making the dhikru-llāh (wuqufi qalbi is also wuqufi zamani,) so Allah will bless us with His lessons and His favors. 7

8 Once our heart becomes alive, jahri, and we get that joy, you get to this place where you don t forget Allah. Even if you tried to, you couldn t forget Allah. Everything is reminding you of Allah. I m standing, yesterday, in this store buying presents for my daughter s birthday. Now, I am not young, as you know. I am looking at this woman, and I am looking at the misery of old age misery. She can barely walk. She shuffles from one foot to another. She has this meat hanging under her arms, on her neck, her jowls. She is balding on her head. She has a zillion wrinkles in her face and everything is sagging. I am looking, I am thinking, Ya Allah! This used to be a beautiful young girl. She had pretty blue eyes. This used to be someone s daughter beautiful young girl. Do you understand? I m buying presents for my 17 year old daughter, and I am looking at someone who used to be a 17 year old daughter of somebody. Aside she doesn t have any teeth in her mouth and talks [with a thick southern Virginian accent] to her daughter, who also weighs about 280 lbs and also shuffles for other reasons, whose child weighs about 180 lbs and is about 9 years old. Oh, my God. Anyway, I don t want to be talking about weight as I am so svelte now. I am looking at all of this and thinking: I am probably as old as she is. I am looking at the daughter s age, and looking at her. She probably lived a very hard life, farming and working at a local factory, or whatever she was doing. I can t say that I had a tremendous amount of love in my heart for her. I certainly had a lot of empathy. She didn t know how to live her life right. She didn t know how to eat correctly. I m sure she went to church every Sunday, and I m sure the fear of God was put in her. So what was my point? How did we get to this? You find yourself remembering Allah all the time. Everything reminds you of Allah, even this sagging, old lady with the meat hanging off of her arm. You can t forget Allah, even for an instant, even if you try, and we all 8

9 of us should ask Allah (swt) for this blessing. [We should ask that] we don t forget Allah for even a moment. Because this is an incredible maqam from which there is no turning back, no return. Those who came before us have revealed to us that a fani (a person who has achieved fana) never returns. Well, of course, there is baqa, but they come back with fana. Some people didn t like that statement and raised objections to it and asked, Why is it that this fani can t return? To this objection our shuyuk responded by asking whether a fully ripened fruit can ever return to a former state of greenness. Can a child ever return to infancy? The answer to these questions is, of course, no. Similarly, if a person has attained to that blessing, than Allah protects that person from returning, protects them from sin in such a way that the question of falling back into a previous state, does not even arise. And this is called fani fi qalbi. This is the sayr ul suluk. This is what makes life worthwhile and meaningful. No one wants to be looking with that lady. Inshallah. We are all going to get old and I, of course, I understand that. Inshā a-llāh, everyone will live to be old and ugly, but there will be a beauty in it. I remember Shaykh Osman (ra) at 104, 106, whatever age he was when I last saw him. Some people say 104, but I am pretty sure he was 107 when he died. He couldn t walk very well, and he was pale, and he had liver spots on his face, and all the rest of it, but there was something extremely youthful about him. Shaykh Ahmed Kaftaroo also; he was in his 80 s. Subhāna-Llāh, he was quite young feeling and looking in vibration. And Dede Suleyman Loros (ra) had to climb those stairs, helping himself with his hands. You look at his photograph, and my Shaykh, Shaykh Hazrat Rasool. Maybe in the last minutes, who knows, I don t know but he looked young; he looked strong; he looked alive. That is what we can all hope for, inshā a-llāh. Salaam aleykum. 9

Ramadan Muraqabah: Outer Things must be Motivated by the Inner

Ramadan Muraqabah: Outer Things must be Motivated by the Inner Dinner blessing: Bismi-Llāhi-r-Rahmāni-r-Rahīm. Allah, we are so grateful for the gathering tonight and the blessings we are having: new faces,