Title: Muraqabah: Guarding Something Precious Begins with Reflection in the Heart DVD title (the same) Bismi-Llāhi-r-Rahmāni-r-Rahīm. I find myself always returning to the subject of muraqabah. To spare you going deeper into what we were talking about last night, I will give you a little respite. There is an implication in this word muraqabah, which is literal and is intentional. Literally, it s talking about taking care of, guarding something. You guard what is precious. For the Sufi, what is precious is the abode of Allah (swt), which is the heart. In a strange analogical or metaphorical way, Allah (swt) has placed Itself / Himself [in our heart]. When I speak of Allah (swt), I don t speak of some god sitting on a throne somewhere. But I speak of the Asmā al-husna, the 99 Attributes of Allah (swt), and the inner, mystical aspect of Allah (swt), which is always present. It is the ocean of air we breathe: the compassion, mercy, love, tolerance, patience, understanding, etc. etc. the thousand names of Allah. When I say placed Himself, it means that in our hearts, we find the evidence and elements of that Divine Presence. We know that, because it s from our hearts that we feel love, compassion and mercy. Allah (swt) tells us that we have been offered and we have accepted the amanat. When the mountains refused and the heavens refused, the human beings accepted it. He adds to that the statement: Woe unto you! This is a really heavy weight you have taken upon your self. This is a really difficult contract you have made, which you can make because you have choice and you have chosen to make it; whereas, that which is much stronger than you, much more resilient than you, has refused it. So we are the guards of the Abode of Allah (swt), the guards of the abode of the heart. 1
In Quran Allah says, And Allah watches over all things. This caring for implies watching over and caring for in a way that is very careful. Just as if you were going to guard something, you have to watch very carefully. According to those who have come before us (who were much more erudite and wise), to recite the Names of Allah (swt), the kalam/word of Allah, or āyāt of the Qur an with tafakkur/deep reflection enables us to at least hope to be aware of its essence, its substance. If nothing else, [it helps us] to inquire about how this manifestation of this substance this coming from the ālam al-amr (the world of command) to the ālam al-khalq (creation) comes into being, how it can take its place deep within us, and how we can have the potential of deep concentration and be able to make fikr. We can [inquire about how we] arrive at a place where nothing other than this thought of Allah (swt), meaning this awareness of the Divine Presence, enters into our minds to the point where we have these moments, hal / states, and achieve the maqamat / stations of absence/ghaiba and presence/hudur. As I said last night, absence and presence are the same; they only appear to be different absent from all thoughts other than Allah, present only in Allah. The misconception even among Islamic philosophers is that these are opposites; they are not opposites. In the epitome of absence, you find presence. In the epitome or nadir of presence, you have absence. Eventually, through muraqabah, one is active in the process. First, one becomes absent. In Urdu, we call it ghunūdgi/drifting, and sleep where you are dreaming but you don t know it. Everybody dreams. Adraq is where you are sleeping and you know you are dreaming. Then warūd is where you are sleeping, know you dreaming and you are controlling and active in the dream. You are active in the dream. This life is a dream. There was a great song about that when I was a kid. (Sings, Life is but a dream. I was on the path even in the 50 s!) The general meaning of muraqabah is the implication that we reflect upon the Sifat/Attributes of Allah in such a way that the existence of all things disappear, and only 2
the existence of Allah remains in the mind. When one is able to hold onto that thought, or the perception of that, forgetting one s own self in such a way that you attain to a state of absence for a given time, being fully present in Allah (we call it fana), that is the achievement of muraqabah. We achieve it even at the very beginning of the process of learning how to meditate, but it is as if we are sleeping and dreaming, but we don t know we are dreaming. Every once in a while, we have an implication or sense that we are aware. Eventually we become aware. Or, for a limited period of time, we are vigilant and aware of that Divine Essence, what we call the Divine Presence, Allah (swt), or His Sifat. Some aspect in the mind raises within us certain Attributes of Allah (swt) that confirm for us, in a very subtle way through the latā if, His Presence. [It could be] a rising sense of devotion, an expanded sense of devotion, a depth of iman / faith, a more profound sense of humility/khūshū and gratitude/shukr. It comes from inside of us. At other times, we don t know if something is coming from the inside or the outside, like thoughts. They seem to be coming from the outside, invading our mind, and going on. Sometimes they are coming from the inside, like ru ya, visions. There is a sense of presence of Allah (swt) in something that is [beautiful]. We listened to the beautiful singing and music tonight. We are moved [and we express that feeling]. Though it may be cultural, because you grew up hearing other people saying, Ya Salam and Allah [during a music performance], it s a key that unlocks something inside yourself that allows you to recognize something that is transpiring inside yourself, and you give voice to it. In that way, you join the music, the sound, the voice with your voice, from your soul. You don t inhibit. You open the doorway/fath, the greater doorway, the bab that is in your heart, which is the valve that allows what is in the lower section of the heart to rise to the upper section of the heart. We look at the heart as having two sections, upper and lower, and the center section. I won t get into the physiology of Sufism, but they have different purposes. 3
This devotion, which is an intentional practice, comes from almost an autonomic reality. We all are inclined by our Creator to love, to find and seek peace, to love freedom, to care for one another. One would not know it to look at the news or at the history of humanity, but in that history there are always the lovers of Allah (swt), by whatever name they call themselves: Muslim, Jew, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu. It doesn t matter. We are inclined. That s like the autonomic nervous system. There is no choice in that, fortunately or unfortunately. The blessing of choice is an unfortunate situation, because of usually materialistic and cultural and social reasons that have been exacerbated by economic and other social realities. But in the best of all creations, of all worlds, which somehow ended after Adam and Hawa, people only (from my understanding, my kashf) people only spoke one language: the language of du ā. There was only the praising of Allah (swt). People could actually understand one another through the praise of Allah. We still do it: Oh, come outside and look at that beautiful sunset. Mā sha-llāh, look at that beautiful baby! We know exactly what we mean. You look at a baby s face and say, Mā sha-llāh, mā sha-llāh! Everyone knows what you are saying, whether you know Arabic or not. We still have the capability. That is the whole essence and point of Tasawwuf, to speak from that point of observation, of knowledge. It is knowledge. We have to arrive at it, or re-arrive at it. I love it when they say people reverted to Islam. They don t really know what they are saying. They are talking about reverting back to a religion, but the people are returning to a state of peace and tranquility, a state of security and love. That s the reversion, the moving away from the attractions of the physical world, from the distractions to the attractions, to the jedhb. We have to return to the subject of no-choice to make choices. If one wants to fill full their heart and fulfill their purpose, one has to choose to seek out the Divine Presence of Allah (swt). I happen to think, because it is my spiritual orientation, culture and training, 4
that one needs to sit in muraqabah, as well as to understand what it really means to make dhikr all the time. It is to be in the state of remembrance of Allah, and I don t mean only saying, Allah Allah Allah your whole life. It is recognizing that wheresoever you turn, there is the face of Allah, that he is the Lord of the East and the West, from the sunrise to the sunset, from the moon to the stars. When we say, Lā haulā wa lā quwwata illā billahi-l-adhim, the power of the Divine Presence is already within us and around us. We are not using any force that we ourselves have or own. We are using that force of life itself that has been bestowed upon us and sustained in us by this Thing / Reality / God/ Truth we call Allah. We have to call it something because Allah (swt) said that we have to name things. You can t know them until you name them; and you can t name them until you experience them. So in the Adamic reality, we name things. This intentional choice [of choosing to seek out Allah] that human beings can make, most do not make. It is the most who control our lives it s very few who represent the silent, dumbed-down most. It s the way of the world, until people get tired enough and revolted enough to revolt for a period of time. Unfortunately, the reality is not what it appears to be. More people have been imprisoned since [the peaceful revolution held at] Tahrir Square than were imprisoned under Mubarak. Even if it s not true, that s the latest propaganda that is there it undercut what is happening. I saw an article by a man I know personally, who likes conspiracy more than truth. He said that nobody knows the truth about Libya because Gaddafi said, Until everyone in Libya owns their own home, he and his family will not live in a house. Well, he didn t live in a house. He lived in palaces. Propaganda to dumb the people down. My point is, there are things that are naturally automatically placed within our hearts, but we have to choose to unlock that door, and most people will not do that. The people who do that, have a profound influence on humanity: the Imam al-ghazalis, the Ibn Arabys, the Abul Hasan ash-shadhilis, the Bahaudin Naqshbands; some even a little more 5
contemporary: Ubadiyya Ahrar, Ahmed Shahid, and others. We are the poor water carriers, trying to carry a bucket from their lake (or ocean) to humanity, because the oceans are drying up. With this little bit of knowledge we have, and with this vast treasure within our hearts, yet with little knowledge of how to access that treasure, weak and incomplete ideas take root. They become stronger in the heart the more you sit in muraqabah, the more dhikr you make, the more you keep the company of good people, the more suhbat you have, until all differences fade away, or, until all differences are appreciated every color, every flower, every race, every group. This strengthening that takes place in the heart is the strengthening of knowledge, ideas, and insight that are supported by our peers, by the mahashaykh, by the shuyukh, and also by the common people, the people who know because they know, the talim al-dīn. Behold in the creation of the heavens and the earth, in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men (and women) of understanding, men and women who praise Allah (swt), standing, sitting, and lying on their sides. And who contemplate the wonders of creation in the heavens and the earth with the thought (as Allah says in Surah al-imran), O Lord, not for nought have You created all this. Subhāna-Llāh! Give us salvation from the penalty of the fire. In a tafsir on that āyat, it is said, The intelligent people take lessons from the creation of the sky and the earth, and it is only instructed to think about creation. I thought one of the first times I heard the āyat, it reminded me of how I came to spirituality. I was 10 years old. I was lying on the lawn in front of my parent s home, and it was a starlit summer night. Alhamduli-Llāh, there were no ticks or chiggers. I looked up the heavens and I thought, Where did this come from? This is too much for me. I can t handle this. I looked, and I turned away. I looked again, and I turned away. It is just like the 6
comment from Hazrat I read to you. He said, Some letters are so dark you can t pick them up; they are so heavy. And some letters he received were so filled of light, he would pick them up and put them down until his eyes adjusted to it and he could read them. He had to turn away. I don t want to claim myself to be an intelligent person, but the tafsir did say that the intelligent person takes lessons from the creation of the sky and earth and is only instructed to think about the creation. That s all I could do. How did that come about? Who made that? It s a child s way of thinking, but we all think that. It s the natural question that comes. Where did that come from? The next level is, I have to go there! Well, I m not smart enough in math or science, or an engineer like him, so I couldn t go there in a space ship, which anyhow would have been very frustrating for me, because I d get up there and want to go further. I would have some mission to accomplish, some scientific thing to do, some rat to run somewhere or whatever. What a waste of really good muraqabah time! I guess I could be like Timothy Leary and have my ashes or my body, in the case of being a Muslim sent up into space on some ship that would go on forever, but why not just go in here (the heart) and look for it? The Prophet (sal) said, Ponder about the creation and do not ponder about the Creator. That was hard. That s how you learn that this journey, this suluk is endless. We are not used to open-ended things. We like beginnings, middles and ends, but we don t like the end. But because nobody has ever returned to tell us how bad or good it is, we can assume it is great. We have even built whole religions around that idea, so we don t become too afraid at the end. But to understand that this journey in life, to die before you die, is an open-ended journey, means what? In the end, using that phrase idiomatically, it means being present in the moment. Being here now, my old friend Ram Dass used to say. Be here now, in this moment, seizing the moment. 7
One of the things a Sufi learns is how to recognize the moment and seize it. Many people do that in many different ways. A good public speaker reads the crowd and seizes the moment to rouse it. A charismatic leader does it, changing the intonation of the voice, for the good or for the bad. When they are developed fī sabīli-llāh, for the sake of real love and service to the Creator of this creation, that is overwhelming, then we see the fruit that comes from that tree. The instruction of Rasūlullāh (sal) to only think about the creation means it is impossible for us to fathom the depths of Allah (swt), and pondering upon that, one can become stuck and frustrated. Everything in science tells us we can t do that, anyway. Every time we discover something, we discover something more. Now this week, something that we as mystics have known since the beginning of time: one can go faster than the speed of light. If it proves to be true by their methods of proof, then you can travel in time, among other things. You can get from here to Lynchburg very quickly, which is a really practical application. Or get out of Lynchburg really quickly, which is even more practical! It raises other questions: could you travel in time before you were born, because you wouldn t be there yet? One theory is you can only travel forward in time, or back to when you were born. You can play with that idea if you like. We know these truths to be self-evident, as our founding fathers said, because it happens. I have experienced it. Others have experienced traveling in time. It s not the karamat that is important. What is important is that it is just possible that this creation is happening moment to moment, totally and completely. Every An, every moment, is complete and full. The only thing that makes us think there is a continuum is our memory. We have been born and we have died with every breath, which is why holding the breath is called the baby death. It s all good to think about, but what is the practical aspect? The practical part is you wouldn t be thinking about it unless someone told you about it, or you are guided by some cosmic transcendental concept that is deep within you. You might do it through 8
science, physics, astrophysics, quantum physics, but there is something that is pulling you toward that truth, attracting us toward it. So we have to become a murīd, a seeker, in order to become a murad in order to be called by Allah. The call is already there, but you have to activate it by your own sense of seeking, and the world is a big distraction. This āyat is limited only to creation. If you are thinking about creation, and pondering the Creator of this creation, that is ill-advised according to Prophet Muhammed (sal). But when you turn your attention inward, and you become immersed in the Creator, your fikr of Allah (swt) is different than contemplating the Creator of things. You actually are contemplating the moments of creativity or creation within your own self, and that s okay. That s fine. Because Allah says, You will find Me in the heart of the believer. Find Me means what? You are going looking. You look into the heart. Allah says, Wheresoever you turn, there you will find the countenance of Allah. So, it doesn t mean seek the Creator of materiality, but seek the moment of creation. This āyat has two characteristics, those of the people who understand it, who are continually engrossed in the dhikr of Allah; and those who ponder and reflect on the creation of Allah (swt). This is what is known as muraqabah. What are the rewards of muraqabah (if you want to use the word reward )? Let me tell you what Hazrat Hasan al Basri (ra) said. He quoted a hadith: One hour of muraqabah on the creation is better than a whole night s worship. This hadith was quoted in a narration from Ibn Abbas (ra). Abu Hurayra said, The Prophet (sal) said, To reflect for an hour is better than 60 years of nafle prayers. Do we need any more instruction than that? Oh, but it s hard to reflect for an hour! Sit in meditation for an hour? I know people who think they are getting the thawab of Allah by making 50 extra rak a a day, which is wonderful. Maybe they are working on the bump on their heads. But how come it s hard to sit for one hour in muraqabah, and it s easier to make more and more rak a? Most of 9
you know the answer to that question. Hazrat Anas said, To reflect for an hour is better than 80 years of nafle. Well, I m very tempted to get into time and space now, but I m going to avoid that. In another hadith narrated by Abu Hurayra, One person lying on his bed looking at the sky and the stars said, I know you have a Creator, and it causes flames of love of the Creator to rise in the heart. So he prayed: O Merciful Lord, forgive me. So the Lord forgave him. Why? Forgive for what? Why forgiveness? Did you ever look at something you were not sure you should be looking at? Nothing bad. Do you ever feel undeserving to see something, be presented with something, or given something, or in the company of someone, or in the presence of some situation? Did you ever have that experience? That s why. When that moment comes to you, and you really get it, for just a second, you are almost ashamed, because it s a reflection. Why me? I don t deserve this. And it s a weight. What am I going to do with this knowledge? How am I going to sustain it? We know in the world we live in today how hard it is to sustain peace, to sustain the environment and equity in society. It s virtually impossible. Well, it s virtually possible, but practically impossible. The world has changed. We can do it on Second Life, but not in first life. In another hadith, Abu Hurayra reported, On the Day of Judgment, an announcement will be made, the Prophet (sal) said. Where are the intelligent ones? So the people will ask, Who are the intelligent ones? And the answer will be about the people mentioned in this āyat. And then a flag will be raised for them, and they will gather around this flag, and they will be allowed to enter the Jannah for eternity. And we know the story of Aisha (ra) waking in the middle of the night and seeing the Prophet (sal) bowing and praying, and he said, O Aisha, I will now worship my 10
Lord. When she questioned him, You are masūm; why are you doing that? He said, Destruction for the person who recites this āyat but does not do muraqabaha. Should I not be a grateful servant to Allah? Why should I not cry, because just now this āyat has been revealed to me. If you don t understand this āyat, you don t understand. So my dears, there is a lot of validation from muraqabah, from the moment of creation to the choice we have to make every day. And it really is fikr, tafakkur, contemplation, and muraqabah. It is a very superior form of worship, told to us by Prophet Muhammed (sal) himself. Dhikru-Llāh and you know what I mean by it, not just reciting words over and over again contains the gnosis, awareness of Allah. The key to that is reflection, thinking, contemplation. The love of Allah (swt) is so deeply established through this fikr that the fikr now changes its name. That s what I really wanted to get to. We are talking about contemplation, but at some point it changes its name and becomes muraqabah. It becomes care-full, guarded, of the sacred place, of the sanctity of the Divine Presence. We may call it, Sit in muraqabah, but it begins with fikr, and at some point, it changes its name. Same path, but changes its name. If you drive to Lynchburg, Rt. 460 is Lynchburg-Salem turnpike at one place, then Timberlake Road, then it becomes something else. But it s the same road. It s all Rt. 460. In our case, it is Rt. 786, Rt. Bismillah. That s enough. The next step, you know, is the Hadith Jibreel, the how. Act if you are seeing Allah, and if you are not, know that Allah is seeing you ihsan. Of course, it starts with islam, and of course you have to have iman, then it becomes ihsan. What is it? What are the three M s? Muhasabat, muraqabah, mushahadah. Muhasabat is islam. Muraqabah is iman, and mushahadah is ihsan. Asalaamu aleikum. 11