Audhu billāh min ash-shaytān ir-rajīm
Bismillāh ir-rahmān ir-rahīm

Nawaytul arbā`īn, nawaytul ‘itikāf, nawaytul khalwat, nawaytul riyāda, nawaytus salūk, nawaytul `uzla fī hādha al-masjid

Ati-Allāha wa ati`ur-Rasūla wa ulil-amri minkum” – “O ye who believe! Obey Allāh, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you. [Surat an-Nisa, 4:59]

This is our message for every association: that we must be obedient to Allah (swt) and to his Messenger (s) and to His sincere servants who guide us to the right way. The right way is the way that all people seek. The right way is the way that all people hope for. The right way is the way that all people desire for themselves. The right way is the way that leads us directly to the Presence of the Divine. Any distraction from the right way will lead us to other than the right way and will not conclude in the Divine Presence. Any path other than the right way, rather, is likely to drive one towards a state wherein he or she is spiritually lost.

Allah (swt) sent His messengers and He sent the Seal of Messengers (s) to show us how to establish ourselves on the right way and how we can thus heal all the pain and sadness that may occur in our lives. Pain, sadness and difficulty are important in that they serve to guide us. They propel one towards safety and so direct you back to the way and state that Allah (s) wants you to be in. When one is in a difficulty, he or she remembers and becomes conscious of Allah (swt). When one is in pain, he or she remembers Allah (swt). When one is in sadness he or she remembers Allah (swt). When one is sick he or she remembers Allah (swt). When one is in any state of loneliness or depression, he or she remembers Allah (swt). When one longs for someone that he or she cares for, one remembers Allah (swt).

And so Awliyaullah reached high levels of spiritual enlightenment: because they were always longing to reach Allah (swt). They were always in pain seeking to reach their Creator, always heartbroken in being unable to reach the door of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). An overwhelming energy pours out from the heart when such a situation exists, and that guides one to the reality of the love of the Shaykh (q) and the love of the Prophet (s) and the love of Allah (swt). If only others could see how much Awliyaullah suffer because of their intense and immense love for Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and wanting and needing to reach his door that they may reach the door of Allah (swt)!

Allah (swt) said in the Qur’an:

“وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذ ظَّلَمُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ جَآؤُوكَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ اللّهَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُواْ اللّهَ تَوَّابًا رَّحِيمً

wa law annahum idh dhalamu anfusahum jaa’uka fastaghfaru Allaha wastaghfara lahumu arrasoolu la-wajadullaha tawwaaban raheema.  

If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come unto thee and asked Allah (swt)’s forgiveness, and the Messenger (s) had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful. [Surat an-Nisa, 4:64].

When one is an oppressor to himself, when he is in a situation that makes him to remember love of the Prophet (s), he must come to the Presence of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) as did the Sahaba saying, “Ya Rasulullah!,” seeking forgiveness, for this means is a condition established by Allah (swt). “Wa staghfara lahum ar-Rasul – The Prophet seeks forgiveness on their behalf.” Thus they were guided to reach the Divine Presence, which they were dearly longing for.

O believers! Spirituality and spiritual practices are very important in your lives. Spirituality, the path of ihsaan and tazkiyyat an-nafs, is the way that leads a Muslim and a dedicated person to reach the Divine Presence that his soul seeks and longs for. Allah (swt) is like the source of the light of the Sun which is always giving continuous energy and after millions of years it is still exploding and even increasing in energy and intensity. Allahu akbar! How that can be?!

Even an atomic nuclear reaction does not continue forever. Although a nuclear reaction will explode and devastate a large area, yet it will stop. After perhaps one or two hours of reaction and its process is finished. And what purpose does such a reaction of energy serve? It kills people. In a sense, this energy is similar to the energy of the Sun – they are both a source of energy. Yet the energy of something that we explode to kill people will end, as every evil must end. However, the exploding reaction that produces the energy of the sun never ends. And this energy does not kill people. To the contrary, it rejuvenates people and gives them health. And it never ends. Everything in dunya has an end. Masha’llah, the Sun is still glowing and exploding and giving energy, and that energy is vital for human beings and for the maintenance of the entire galaxy in which we are living.

What are these two energies? One explodes on earth and kills people. Yet the one from the Sun enlivens and rejuvenates people. The one on earth ends. The one in the heavens never ends. This means there are two kinds of energy. One is heavenly energy, and it never ends. The evil energy is here in dunya and it is destructive, yet it will end.

People complain that they are not achieving illumination in they lives. They feel themselves distracted and misdirected. They are losing confidence and hope in themselves. In such cases one must look closely and examine what is really going on. There are people that confess that they are losing faith, yet they want their belief back. Those are good and sincere people. Always our faith is being tested for Shaytan is after us seeking to destroy us, and we are always failing.

There are others who do not believe in spirituality and they consequently find that worship has no taste or sweetness, but rather experience it as sour. They are no more longing for Prophet (s) or for Awliya. They long only for dunya and for evil. What has happened is that evil energy has been built up in their bodies and within their systems.

Negative and polluted energy is broadcast from all kinds of people. We must know that we are beings of energy – we produce energy and we receive energy. Negative energy is produced from evil beings and from the worst kinds of devils. They produce that evil energy and it becomes like a shield around a human being. To understand this concept, one may look at the example of the space shuttle which is launched into space. It is built so that it can be protected from the high intensity of the energy of its ascent, that it may withstand the intense pressure of the upper atmosphere and not be engulfed by fire that will cause it to be destroyed. Similarly, airplanes if not made of specific kinds of metals designed to protect their hull and to maintain internal stability and pressure, will fail and their passengers will die. The shuttle when in decent passes through a phase where the heat is so intense that even a single tile missing in the wing, for example, is sufficient to permit unlawful entry of energy into its system immediately causing a cataclysmic failure. And so scientists must build that shuttle to withstand the intensity of such energy, that its structure may resist and not be set ablaze.

This example is not unlike what we have been doing as human beings. Many of us have built around ourselves a shield of evil energy beginning in earliest childhood, and that is what we call the nafs at-tifl al-madhmoomah. It has grown up within us through childishness and the nurturing of bad characteristics, strengthening in us all manner of arrogance and pride, causing us to lie, cheat and deceive, and worst of all to forget the Prophet (s) and to forget Allah (swt) and to forget the Awliya. Like the space shuttle, this layer of negative energy does not let good energy to penetrate. And this is why people are losing their faith and their confidence. The fact that they are stepping forward and admitting it, however, is good and shows sincerity.

A sick person who has a kidney failure requires dialysis to purify his blood. A doctor will insert a tube in his arm through which the dialysis machine will begin to cleanse and purify the body. So when one admits that he is losing faith and losing himself and losing confidence and so is not able to make muraqabah or meditation, the Shaykh will make such a tube for him that will allow the good energy to penetrate that shield of acquired darkness. That shield is but a shield built by Shaytaan and the ego. The Awliya insert a small tube and permit that positive energy which is coming from the Sun of the Divine Presence to enter one’s system slowly destroys the bad energy that is around and within oneself.

أَأَنتُمْ تَزْرَعُونَهُ أَمْ نَحْنُ الزَّارِعُونَ

Allah (swt) said, a antum tazra`oonahu am nahnu az-zaari`oon.

Is it you who cause it to grow – or are We the cause of its growth? Surah 56 al-Waaqi`ah, 64. Allah (swt) said in verse 62:

وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْتُمُ النَّشْأَةَ الْأُولَى فَلَوْلَا تَذكَّرُونَ

“and indeed you have already known the first form of creation (that is the form of Adam). Why then do you not then take heed?” [56:62]

This verse teaches that Allah (swt) has created mankind perfect, without any pollution and clean. Do you recall?

أَفَرَأَيْتُم مَّا تَحْرُثُونَ

“Then tell me about the seed that you sow in the ground.”

Now understand the seed that you have grown in your body. What kind of seed have you planted there? Is it rooted in good energy or in polluted energy? If the tree that grows within you is based in polluted energy, then know that you are in error. Allah (swt) said, “Is it you who cause it to grow or is it We who are the growers?” When you planted, you took a decision based on your niyyat, your intention. If your intention was good and sincere, you will receive good energy. If your intention was bad, you will bear the fruit of bad energy.

لَوْ نَشَاء لَجَعَلْنَاهُ حُطَامًا فَظَلَلْتُمْ تَفَكَّهُونَ

“Is it ye that cause it to grow, or are We the Cause? Were it Our Will, We could crumble it to dry powder.’ [56: 64-65]

If you insist on establishing that shield and maintaining it, you are going to be dry and you are going to be regretful. You will then witness nothing through your heart. You will be afflicted with a dark heart. But if allow that shield to be destroyed by good energy that comes through a heavenly channel, you will reach happiness and bliss. Each person has a channel. Each human being has his own particular channel that Allah (swt) bestowed upon him. The channel that you have been granted is for you and not for anyone else. And the only one that can heal you and guide you through your channel is the doctor authorized to put the dialysis machine into your system. He or one of those assistant doctors that administer the serum every few hours and keep you connected.

That doctor represents your spiritual Guide. He has must administer the tube for you. If he is not present, then one cannot break a hole in that shield of dark energy. That doctor must locate the weak spot and drill through that to insert the tube and then he may begin to administer the serum. After a few days the patient will stand, no longer sick.

Awliyaullah open that tube and make you receive that energy that is heavenly energy. What is that heavenly energy and how can it change our lives and how can we get and achieve it? This we will leave for another association. But I will say that the only way you can receive that energy is through muraqabah. Like a magnifying glass, muraqabah intensifies and concentrates the energy of the Sun that through that energy, throughmuraqabah, you may destroy that shield that Shaytan has established around you. Muraqabah is a magnifier – it intensifies the energy of the good energy and to overcome the bad energy and destroy it.

Next time we will explain that and the technical ways to understand that energy. What is that energy? People speak of energy and give it different meanings. They say it is electric fields, electromagnetic fields, different wavelengths, etc. What is the origin of that energy and how does it operate through Awliyaullah?

[during the Dhikr Shaykh begins to speak again, crying]

If the love Awliya have for the Prophet was to be revealed it would burn. When that love comes, they cannot control themselves, tears come. They cannot control themselves.

How much awliya were longing, to be in the presence of the Prophet, in dunya and akhira, addressing and seeing him and speaking with him, face to face with no veil. That can stop them from being given that blessing that Allah (swt) gave to Sayyidina Muhammad (s).

[crying heavily while speaking]

O Muslims, believers, that love to the Prophet is beyond description! That what that kind of energy that can burn every other energy, can overcome every kind of energy, that makes tears in the eyes, that one tear can bring fire down. That energy that Sayyidina Muhammad (s) when you come in his presence and he dresses you with that beauty dress that Allah (swt) gave him that energy can break through all the polluted energy, that can makemuraqabah with the Prophet with no veils. That is the experience of shaykhs through their seclusion that is their experience in their life. That is why they addressed the Prophet through all kinds of praising from a burning heart. That comes from the emotions of a burning heart. These tears were turned into ink, their hairs were turned into pens to write, all kinds of praises, all kinds of beauty, all kinds of blessings and manifestations, all kinds of revelations that Allah (swt) had thrown in their hearts, using the ink of their tears, to write through every hair of their body, through every capillary in their hearts and veins, all them writing Muhammadun Habibullah, Muhammadun Rasulullah, Muhammadun Khalilullah, Muhammadun Naji’ullah. May Allah (swt) dress us with that; may Allah (swt) bless us with that; may Allah (swt) give us what He likes and keep that connection through our shuyukh to Sayyidina Muhammad (s) to enable us to be at his door, asking: ji’naaka ya Sayyidina ya rasulullah ji’na li baabik bil `ajza, fa laa tukhayibna `inda rabbina, washf`a lana `inda ’l-mawla al-`adheem, ya ni`ma ar-rasul. Allahuma salli wa sallim wa baarik `alayk ya Sayyidina rasulullah.  Ya sayyidee ya rasulullah ya shafi` al-mudhnibeen, ya sayyidee ya rasulullah shf`a lana `inda ’l-mawla al-`adheem. Allahuma ija`lna min `ibadidak at-tahireen alladheena laa khawfan `alayhim wa laa hum yahzanoon. Qul ya `ibadee alladheena asrafoo `ala anfusihim laa taqnatoo min rahmatillah. Inn-Allah yaghfir adhdhunooba jami`an. Albisna bi sirr hadhihi al-ayat.

Rabbana taqabal minna bi hurmatil-Fatiha.