Subhanallah
Recite the Kalimah practice upon it and have faith/yaqeen just like Hazrat Shafiq and then be content because Allah will take control of all your affairs
The first step is connection with the sheikh and then steadfastness
May Allah grant us the Tawfeeq Ameen
20th Aug, 2021
How Can We Attain the Reality of the Kalimah?
Throughout the Creation of Allah subhana wa ta'ala, He has created limitless animals and life forms – and also human beings. If we consider all the Makhluq of Allah, then we see that every life form is different from the others. If we take the example of trees in nature – a tree is a tree, and we cannot say that it is an animal. Allah ta’ala created animals, and you cannot say that animals are trees or plants. So every created life form is different. In the same way, a human being is a human being, and you cannot say that he is an animal or a tree – we can use this example to make the same point. But if we look at nature and take the example of trees, we can see that there are different species of trees. There are date trees and apple trees and trees that grow different fruits and other types of trees besides these as well. But their essence is the same – we call all of them trees. We won’t say that they are animals, because they are different. In the same way, if we look at the animals of the world, there are many species and forms of creature, but collectively we call them animals; we wouldn’t classify them as another type of creation. Human beings are the same. To look at, everyone shares the aspect of a human being, don’t they, whether they are white, black, yellow, brown, tall, short, or whether they speak different languages. You won’t classify a human being as a tree or a different animal – you will call him Insan, a human being.
But, although we are one form of creation, human beings, there are variations within human beings, just as there are differences in varieties of trees – different species, different forms, different types. They are all trees, but they are different. It is the same with human beings – there are differences, SubhanAllah. So what makes the difference in Insan, in the Ashraf al-Makhluqat? How does the difference arise? This is what we need to look at. Outwardly, everyone is a human being - so where is the difference? The difference is in the Batin, the inner soul. Externally, Dhahiri, we are all the same – it makes no difference if a person is black or white. But Batini, spiritually, there is a difference between people, SubhanAllah. In the Batin, the inner state, resides the difference between human beings. What is it in the Batin that makes this difference? It is one thing, namely the affirmation and witnessing of Allah ta’ala – it is to believe in Allah. Whoever makes the Shahadah and affirms that our Rabb is One – Wahdahu la Sharika Lah – and bears witness that he believes in Allah and makes the confirmation of faith, then that human being is different to other human beings who have not testified to this nor confirmed their belief in Allah. They are different; just as one type of tree is different to another, those human beings become different to other human beings.
The difference is on the basis of the Batin – a change has been made internally. On one side, you have those who do not believe in Allah, and on the other, you can see that there is a difference internally and the qualities have changed. So what’s the difference between those who believe in Allah and confirm Allah’s existence and those who don’t? The person who doesn’t believe takes Allah’s creation as his lord and creator, and the one who believes in Allah accepts Allah as Allah and accepts the creatures as the creation of Allah. SubhanAllah – that is the difference. For the person who doesn’t believe, it doesn’t matter how intellectual he is or how high his status or how big his intellect and brain is. What is the difference? He then believes in the creation itself as the lord and the creator, and thus his neck bows in front of everyone; he is prepared to believe in everything as a god. His neck bows in submission to everything. But the person who believes that Allah ta’ala is the Rabb, and who is steadfast on his Shahadah, it doesn’t matter how weak he is in that. Even if he is very weak indeed, if he has believed in Allah and has uttered the Shahadah, then his quality is such that even if he is on a mountain, his neck and body will submit to Allah. He does not prostrate and submit to anyone else or anything else, however weak he is.
That is the difference that the Kalimah makes. Look at how much strength and power there is in the Kalimah ‘La ilaha illa-llah, Muhammadur- Rasoolullah.’ So here’s the difference. If we look at those people who are not steadfast on Wahdaniyat, who don’t believe in the One-ness of Allah, then that individual makes everyone his lord. He will bow and submit to a tree or anything that is more powerful than him, saying ‘Oh, this is higher and more powerful. This is very high grade’ - and there is a very big punishment for this. But as for the person who has accepted and believed in Allah and has recited the Kalimah of Shahadah, his neck does not bow or submit to anything else. No matter how weak he is, no power of the Dunya can make him submit or bow to anything apart from Allah. If he does bow, his submission will be only to Allah subhana wa ta'ala. So the Kalimah Shahadah is such a fantastic thing, and it creates such a big difference between human beings – otherwise there would be no difference between humans, no difference at all.
So two types of human beings have been defined- externally everyone is equal, but those who recite Kalimah and those who don’t make that testimony of faith are different. But now, within the people who recite the Kalimah, there is also a difference – there are two groups of people who recite the Kalimah. How is this the case? Those who protect the Kalimah Shahadah and protect themselves from Nafs and shaytan become different from those who do not protect themselves. SubhanAllah – that is a clear difference. This is another level of difference again. He who protects the Kalimah Shahadah that he has recited, which is a very crucial matter, does so in what manner? He protects himself from Nafs and shaytan, and by doing so, he becomes totally different from those who do not protect themselves from Nafs and shaytan. His Maqam is different in the world, and his Maqam in the Akhirah, in respect of his rank with Allah, will be different. So what we realise is that after Iman comes into being, this is the next big step for a human being.
My brothers, these words that I am putting forward to you are directed at the very reason we have gathered here. We are revising our lessons here; this is not some new point that I am coming up with. The reason for us coming together is nothing other than this, not to talk about Fiqh or jurisprudence. No, we come here to go over our Asbaq, to revise what we have learned so that we can assess whether we are coming onto this playing field comprehensively, to see where we stand and realise which level of the Deen we are on. We are here to strengthen ourselves – that is what this is about. There is no other objective for us being sat here. May Allah ta’ala instill Barakah into this – Ameen. This is the objective of Insan, and the Dunya doesn’t give us the time or the opportunity which we get here, where we can sit for a few minutes to think about ourselves and the condition of our Deen, and ask ourselves ‘What is my situation in respect of the Deen? How can I correct myself?’ That is what we have come here to do; that is what we are here for. We need to think ‘Which group am I in? Which description fits me best? If I recite the Kalimah, then I have this differentiating factor. But am I at the next level of that group which protect the Kalimah?’
The difference between the one who does protect it and the one who doesn’t is like the difference between the heavens and the earth. So the objective of the human being is this - and this should be the biggest point for us – that we need to protect the Kalimah. Allah ta’ala has bestowed this Kalimah upon us – He has given it to us! It is not some minor thing, my brothers - it is not a minor thing at all. This is what Mujahidah means. Mujahidah means protecting the Kalimah, and a human being attains everything from this. If you work hard at protecting the Kalimah in the right manner, this is called {ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ}, travelling upon the Straight Path.
But we must not protect the Kalimah in the wrong way – and I will give you an example. If a person wants to take a screw out and he turns the screwdriver in the wrong direction, he will sweat and strain, but the screw will not come out, will it? If somebody comes to help and says ‘What is the problem?’, he will reply ‘I can’t get this screw to come out.’ He is then asked ‘How are you trying to get it out?’ so he shows him what he has been doing. The helper says ‘You just need to use the right method and turn in in the right direction.’ So then he does so and the screw comes out! In the same way, if our Mujahidah is applied with the right method and we are on the right track, then when we work hard to protect the Kalimah, we will start to see the positive results in the Dunya, in this world, alhamdulillah. Those who do this Mujahidah properly, with the Fadhl of Allah, there is nothing lacking in their lives. Allah ta’ala says ‘I am going to fill up Jannah with the people of Iman’ – so we need to do this inshaAllah. We are sitting and listening to these words for this purpose, which is to strengthen ourselves in respect of these points and to travel, to make progress. Those are the people who, alhamdulillah, have done Mujahidaat and are working hard on Islah.
I will give you an example. A very great pious elder from our Akabireen, who had knowledge of both the external and internal Islamic sciences, was called Sheikh Shafiq al-Balkhi rahmatullah alayh. You can take the example of anybody who is on the right path, so there are many places where such examples can be found – and all those examples will be right. From all of these, I have selected this person whose example has come into my mind – he was a great Sheikh, a great pious elder. Look at how he was selected: he was a normal human being, but he had Fikr and concern and he wanted to attain the right path somehow – those same points that I have discussed here. So he started to do Mujahidaat and working hard, and he was a great Alim from among the respected scholars and was also great in his rank among the Sufis. In respect of Tasawwuf, his Maqam is such that he was one of the Khalifahs of Hadhrat Ibrahim Bin Adam rahmatullah alayh – what a great Maqam he must have had, just think. And as regards Ilm-e-Dhahir, external knowledge, he studied with 1,700 teachers to acquire knowledge! This was in those days in the region of Balkh; he studied with 1,700 Sheikhs of Hadith - and imagine the strength of the scholars of that era from whom he acquired knowledge.
Understand from this example the nature of Mujahidah at that second level which we defined. This is the Mujahidah that takes a person towards the reality of Iman. It is one thing to recite the Kalimah Shahadah, but when a person protects the Kalimah Shahadah, then he attains the reality of Iman – he acquires the reality of the Shahadah and what it means. There were more than 100,000 Companions of the noble Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam in his day, and they too gave this example to the whole of humanity. Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam explained that every Companion is like a star in the sky. He said that every Sahabi is like a star, and whichever star you follow, the light of that star will take you to the Siraat al-Mustaqim, and you will not be deviated. What did they have? They had this same point – the Kalimah Shahadah of the Sahaba was strong, alhamdulillah. They had nothing else, but their Kalimah Shahadah was very strong. Whatever success they attained through their heart was due to the strength of their Kalimah Shahadah. That is how strong their Kalimah Shahadah was, and so Allah ta’ala made the Sahaba-e-Kiram into an example. Take any Companion of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and you will see that they all had one quality in common, which was that their Kalimah was strong.
Abu Bakr as-Siddique radhiAllahu anh did not always have that title of Siddique, did he? The event of Me’raj which occurred during this month is what made him Siddique, SubhanAllah – he became Siddique. Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam attained three factors on Me’raj, SubhanAllah. He attained the nearness to Allah - and what did the Ummah get? SubhanAllah, they attained the Me’raj in Sajdah. And see the conviction of Abu Bakr as-Siddique when Abu Jahl came to him to give Da’wah to his disbelief in the story, saying to himself ‘Look at this event that his friend is relating – we will definitely win him over now. What he is saying is impossible, that in such a short time he went to Bait-ul-Maqdis and then visited the heavens and passed through every stage, and yet his mattress was still warm when he returned, and the handle of the door was still moving, and everything was the same as when he left. Who can believe this? Let us see what Abu Bakr says when he hears this story.’ So he went and related the story to Abu Bakr, who then asked ‘Who is saying this?’ Abu Jahl replied ‘It is your friend who is saying this – Muhammad’ - sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Abu Bakr radhiAllahu anh then said ‘If it is he who is saying this, then listen to me. I believe in facts about this man that are more extraordinary than this - I see myself that Hadhrat Gibraeel alayhi salam comes to him with Revelation, morning and evening. There is no reason for me to doubt this – I have total conviction in it.’ When he made this Tasdiq and confirmed the truth of this event, Allah subhana wa ta'ala gave him the title of as-Siddique in the heavens, SubhanAllah. This became his Laqab – Abu Bakr as-Siddique.
Hadhrat Ali karamAllahu wajh stated ‘The Iman that Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam gave to us and which we acquired through him is such that even if the heavens and the Arsh and the earth were all opened up and unravelled so that we could see Jannah and hell, the amount of Iman that we attained via the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam would not be added to by even one percent.’ That is how firm and strong the Iman of the Sahaba was. ‘Our belief would not be strengthened by having it confirmed through seeing it – we had no need whatsoever for any enhancement of our Iman after hearing about these things from the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam’ he said. Whichever Companion you take, that was their style – they did not need confirmation. They would say ‘Did Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam say this? Then it is the Haq – it is the truth.’ End of story. No need for Daleel or proofs or elaboration or discussion. This is confirmed by Hadhrat Ali karamAllahu wajh – and this is Iman. This is what it means to testify and confirm the Kalimah Shahadah with strength.
To go back to the example given by Hadhrat Shafiq rahmatullah alayh, he said that when a human being testifies and declares the Kalimah Shahadah, he has to work hard on it. He said ‘How did I work hard on the Kalimah? I selected four thousand Hadith to attain this, and then chose four of them; and then I selected one Hadith out of those four and did Amal upon it, certain that I would attain the strength of the Kalimah Shahadah through that Hadith.’ SubhanAllah – this is the hard work that he put in. How easy it is for us today! Those pious elders worked hard and look how easy it is for us today – and yet we sit down and cross our legs and dream of Paradise. My brothers, you cannot attain the path without working hard. No, the mother would not give milk to her child, though she loves him - {رَّبِّ ٱرۡحَمۡهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِى صَغِيرً۬ا} – for although Allah has instilled great love for the child into her heart, if the child did not cry, he would not get his milk, the poor soul. Allah has instilled the quality in the child that when he is hungry, he should cry and scream, for then his mother will give him milk. Even though she loves him greatly, it is his Rabb who has enabled the baby to shriek and cry so that he can be given food. SubhanAllah. Allah says ‘Do you want Rizq without asking?’ We tremble and cry and say ‘Where is our Rizq and money going to come from?’, but Allah says ‘I have made your wealth run after you, so there is no need for you to ask. How can I leave you hungry? How can I let you go to sleep hungry? I am your Rabb, your Creator.’ So the mother, whose love for her offspring is a limitless love – Allah has prepared for her as well. But Allah says ‘You will have to set the alarm as well – don’t have Yaqeen in the love of the mother, oh child, because the true love of Allah is incomparable.’
So coming back - how can we imagine that we will get Paradise and be saved from hell and from the punishments of the grave without working hard? These are great Maqams - they are challenging objectives. We make so much effort, we struggle so much and work so hard just to get a house in the world – all this just for a house, for a place to live. And when he gets it, he finds fault with it and says ‘If only it had a garage or a long garden’ - and his heart is not satisfied. But how long will the house be with him? How long? Tell me. A person leaves everything when he leaves this world, whereas the permanent homes are not houses - they are mansions, mashaAllah. They are fully furnished and decorated, needing no improvements whatsoever. And you don’t even need to get married because so many Hoors are waiting for you there! After you enter, you will see what the situation is. And this is a permanent place which will not decay or disappear. So this is why we have been sent to this world. Allah ta’ala has sent us to this world and Allah ta’ala says ‘This is why you have been sent into this world, and as long as you are here, you will be tested, just like a boat in the sea. After it sets off for its destination, it will have to cope with storms and tides and waves and ups and downs and being tossed and turned, but despite these ups and downs and being buffeted, it will eventually reach its destination. Your Hal is the same in this world, oh human being. Tests will come, distress will come, ups and downs will come, but don’t leave the boat of life which will take you to your destination!’ SubhanAllah. If you stop working hard and think ‘Oh I can’t steer this boat; I can’t get through this ocean’, how will you reach the destination? The boat won’t arrive, and the traveller won’t arrive.
We are like this boat, so never sit down and give up, thinking ‘That’s enough.’ It’s never enough. Keep seeking that straight path {ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ} and once you are on it, work hard. And remember – the life of a human being passes by very quickly. Today’s day has gone, and it won’t come back. How much effort could we have made? If we did make an effort in the day, then the reward is there, and we will get it - Allah will not let it go to waste, because we are working hard to attain our objective. If you work hard for chapatis or for bread or for clothes or for a house, there is no reward for that. We do all this for our Nafs, even though Allah has promised that he will give us our Rizq. And Allah has also promised that He will reward us for our proper effort. A person says ‘Oh, I am so happy today – I worked hard in my shop today and brought stock in and had a turnover of £1000 or £2000!’ And he lies down that night, intoxicated with happiness, and then Malik-ul-Mawt comes knocking at the door and says ‘Come along, your time is up.’ So where can he run to at that time? He can’t go anywhere, and where has that intoxication gone? How much time he wasted from morning to evening – there was no genuineness in his enjoyment.
The first action every morning should be to prepare for the Akhirah, for the destination. From the morning and onwards throughout the day, when considering every action that you do, say ‘Is this taking me towards my permanent destination to which I am heading? Am I aiming for that permanent home which Allah ta’ala is preparing, where mansions and levels and Hoors have been created for us?’ Prepare for that. We have to change our direction.
So Hadhrat Shafiq rahmatullah alayh said, ‘I selected one Hadith from the mass of Hadiths that I had chosen, and did Amal upon it. I made it part of my practice, and I then attained the reality of the Kalimah!’ SubhanAllah – what was that my brothers? What was this Hadith which he put into practice and through which he attained the reality of the Kalimah? He said ‘The meaning of this Hadith is such that when I did Mujahidah upon it and worked hard, look what happened!’ So when a human being works hard and makes effort, then when that improvement in Iman comes and his Shahadah is strengthened, he is changed by this. Just as the Sahabah did, he comes to a platform of strength in the Kalimah Shahadah such that nothing in the world can alter or change that. He becomes solid and firm upon the Kalimah. And how does that position come? He said ‘The sign of this firmness of Iman is that the heart of the Mu’min becomes such that, SubhanAllah, when Haram is nearby, he is afraid, and when something is Halal, he derives Sukoon and peace from that thing, and if there is doubt, then he trembles.’
I swear by Allah, this is the condition of the true human being. Your heart comes into this state after working hard; when you work hard, this becomes the reality of you heart. Hadith tells us this! If there is Haram in front of him, what happens to his heart? He sweats and starts to tremble when Haram comes into view. When he is invited to accept something Haram, or when it looks like Haram will become entangled with his life, he experiences a feeling of fear and becomes extremely afraid. He feels totally desperate, and his inner state is pricked with pangs of discomfort; he is not satisfied or content with Haram. On the other hand, as regards Halal, he does things for the Pleasure of Allah and does actions which are lawful, and he gets Sakeenah and contentment from them. Even if he has only a few possessions and is hungry and has little wealth, you will see that such a person is content and happy with is life - he will always be smiling. If you ask him ‘How many days have you gone without food?’ he will smile and say ‘Only two days!’ We talk about friends of Allah – apart from this, what have they got to their name? Their hearts are strong on the Kalimah Shahadah due to their efforts – they have attained the reality of the Kalimah, which is so powerful, alhamdulillah. There is nothing greater than this Kalimah.
As I said, there is nothing greater for a person than this Kalimah. When a person recites ‘La ilaha illa-llah’, then the pillar of the Arsh starts to shake due to this recitation of the Mu’min. The pillar of the Arsh shakes – this is the reality of the Kalimah. So the definition of the Wali of Allah is that his very body becomes like this. How did the Walis of Allah become like that? What did they do? I have given you the example of Hadhrat Shafiq rahmatullah alayh – he did Mujahidah; he worked hard. He said ‘I saw this change come into my Kalimah Shahadah such that my heart, when it was confronted with Haram, could not accept it. I could not raise one finger towards it.’ And if anything Haram is touched upon, then there is no Sakeenah and such a person says ‘Oh no! I have made a mistake’ and feels desperate. By contrast, when he goes towards Halal and embraces it, then nothing in the world can give him distress; he has no sadness or fear, and nothing makes him tremble. The biggest tests are not a test for that person because Allah ta’ala will automatically instil Sakeenah into that person’s heart when he goes towards Halal. And the third effect is in respect of the Mutashabbihaat - doubtful matters. When a person thinks ‘Should I do this or not?’, there is a unique sign which is that his heart starts to shake, and so he tells himself in his heart ‘This is Mutashabbihaat – it is better if I leave it.’ Look at this sign relating to doubtful matters.
How many of us who recite the Kalima, have these signs inside us? Do we have any of these signs? When our eyes or hands incline towards something wrong, or when our tongue says something wrong, do we take it lightly and think ‘Oh no, no, no – I have prayed Salah; I have recited plenty of Qur’an’? My brothers, do all of these things – fine. But if you collect all those things together, do they amount to the real Kalimah Shahadah, or has not one percent of the reality come into you? This will be the question, remember. Remember Abu Bakr. You will be asked ‘Who is your Rabb? Who was your Rasool?’ If we have worked hard on this, then ‘La ilaha illa-llah, Muhammadur-Rasoolullah’ will come out – but only if we have worked hard. We have to work hard on this and have Yaqeen in this. Allah ta’ala has put dirt and impurities in this world and Nafs and shaytan and difficult conditions and environments and bad situations, but that is not an excuse. At the same time, Allah ta’ala has put the Siraat al-Mustaqim. {ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيم}. Allah says ‘Walk on that path, and My help will descend to you and assist you; My Rahmah will come and protect you.’ SubhanAllah.
Now the situation is that we are in the world, and we are not Walis of Allah, so what we need to do is work hard and make effort. So let’s ask Hadhrat Shafiq rahmatullah alayh how he became so strong by choosing 4,000 Hadith and then narrowing them down to four Hadith, and then from these, selecting just one Hadith from them and then doing Amal upon that one Hadith; it was due to this that Allah gave him such a great Maqam and status among the Awliya. He was so great that one day, while he was sitting, the army of the enemies came. He was in his garden in his orchard, and he had great love for flowers, so he was smelling the fragrance of his flowers. The friends of Allah love all the creatures and the creation of Allah. Everything that Allah has created leads a Wali to Allah – they love Allah, and they love Allah’s Creation to get to Allah. So their love is not for the Makhluq itself, but rather it is for Allah the Creator. The love for Allah is unique and beautiful, and because he has attained the reality of life, alhamdulillah, everything that he casts his gaze upon reminds him that Allah is the Creator of that thing - everything that Allah has created takes him to Allah.
The Wali of Allah is taken to Allah by everything that He creates, whether it is a fragrance or a physical object – everything is a sign of Allah. Remember this - when the Wali of Allah sees anything that Allah has created in the world, he remembers his Lord, his Rabb. His heart beats with this level of Ishq. Is this some normal Ishq? This is not a minor point. For example, if you love your child, everything will remind you of your love for that child. If you are in the shopping centre, you will say ‘Let me buy some sweets that I can take for him, because he likes sweets.’ Don’t you think like this? When mothers go shopping, they see something that their son or daughter would like and they buy it, thinking ‘She will really like this.’ She went shopping for herself, but where do her thoughts go? Towards the love that is in her heart. In the same way, when a human being does Mujahidah and travels to Allah, his heart becomes strong and his direction changes – and then everything in the world is a sign that takes him where? Say it loudly! Towards Allah – that’s right! When he is shopping, he is thinking about Allah; when he is about to sleep, he is thinking about Allah; whatever he is doing, he is thinking about Allah. He is living in the Dunya, but SubhanAllah, he is thinking about Allah always.
SubhanAllah – the hands are in the Dunya but the heart is attached to the Friend. This is a sign of the Naqshbandis. Of all the Silsilas, the order of Naqshbandia from Hadhrat Abu Bakr as-Siddique radhiAllahu anh has the attribute that if you do Mujahidah on this path, you reach this condition, SubhanAllah. This is because the Silsila comes from Hadhrat Abu Bakr as-Siddique, in the same way that you get a mango from a mango tree. If you grow a mango tree, you will get mangos – and there are different types of mango, so if you grow a particular variety, you will get mangos with the unique taste of that variety. SubhanAllah, as from all the Sahaba-e-Kiram, if you take the fruit of Abu Bakr as-Siddique, that will connect you back to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. We have taken the fruit of Hadhrat Abu Bakr as-Siddique, so we will get that taste until Qiyamah. The fruit of every one of the Sahaba is unique and different, but they all take you back to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. SubhanAllah, through Allah’s Karam, He has given us Iman, and Allah has further given us the Silsila to take us to Him – and He gave us the Silsila of Siddique-e-Akbar, SubhanAllah.
How Allah ta’ala changed our direction and course – there are thousands of ways we could have gone, here and there and everywhere. All of the Sahaba-e-Kiram are great and worthy of respect, SubhanAllah, but Hadhrat Siddique-e-Akbar was unique. The other three Silsilas of Tasawwuf go back to Bab ul-Ilm, Hadhrat Ali karamAllahu wajh; all of the other Silsilas derive their taste from Hadhrat Ali karamAllahu wajh because that is where their chain leads to. The Chishti, Suhrawardi, Qadiri or Shadhili all go back to where? To Hadhrat Ali karamAllahu wajh – that is where they end; that is where they flow into the ocean. But, oh Naqshbandis, our Hal is Ajeeb and unique – say SubhanAllah! Our situation is such that we get both tastes, because Wilaya cannot be attained without the seal and the stamp of Hadhrat Ali – hence the Faidh of Wilaya is received via Hadhrat Ali karamAllahu wajh. But after that, where do we have to go? Towards Hadhrat Abu Bakr as-Siddique radhiAllahu anh; then all of our efforts are directed to the path of Hadhrat Abu Bakr as-Siddiqu radhiAllahu anh .
Therefore, the Naqshbandi gets both - in other words, the enjoyment of the teachings of Hadhrat Ali radhiAllahu anh and also the enjoyment of the teachings of Hadhrat Abu Bakr as-Siddique radhiAllahu anh. Say SubhanAllah! May we give everything for Hadhrat Ali karamAllahu wajh. We took the hand of Hadhrat Sahib rahmatullah alayh and derived enjoyments from both, alhamdulillah. It is not that we just take from one – no. That path stops where it stops, but we go beyond that; everyone else stops there, but we say ‘No, our journey progresses beyond this, beyond Hadhrat Ali karamAllahu wajh. We are Naqshbandi, so we will go further and will get both streams at the same time.’ SubhanAllah.
So my brothers, Hadhrat Shafiq rahmatullah alayh, who I was speaking about, did Mujahidah, worked hard and strengthened his Kalimah. How did he do Mujahidah? ‘Tell us what you did, Hadhrat, when you did Mujahidah on that one Hadith. How did you do that?’ He said ‘Mujahidah was just on one thing: {يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَكُونُواْ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰدِقِينَ}.’ SubhanAllah! He said ‘This is Mujahidah. To strengthen the Kalimah and keep to the Straight Path, there is one way: Dhikr in abundance and company of the Awliya-llah.’ SubhanAllah! He said ‘When you come to this path and want to strengthen this Kalimah and get the result - what will the result be? If you want to strengthen the Kalimah and strengthen your belief through the practice of the Sahaba, through the line of those about whom Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said “They are my stars, and if you follow their light, it will take you to my guidance” - if you want to follow in their footsteps and make your Kalimah strong and solid and firm when walking and travelling on that path, two things are needed to be worked hard at and to do Mujahidah on: Dhikr Katheer, and secondly, the company of the Awliya-llah. Keep the company of a Wali of Allah – {وَكُونُواْ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰدِقِينَ}. What will the effect be of doing both of these things? It will be that your heart will become such that when confronted with Haram, it will be afraid, while Halal will make it content and at peace, and Mutashabbihaat, doubtful matters, will make it tremble and shake.’ Say SubhanAllah. That is the definition.
When you have this condition and feeling and emotion, then SubhanAllah, you will understand events such as the one to which I referred, when Hadhrat Shafiq rahmatullah alayh was smelling the flowers and the enemies attacked. The army of the enemies attacked while he was sitting and smelling the flowers, and they came towards where he was sitting but before they got close, they suddenly retreated. They couldn’t get near to him, and instead they made a sudden U-turn as if there was a current pushing them away - they stopped and ran off. A person nearby said ‘Hadhrat, you are an Ajeeb man – the enemies were attacking and heading towards you, and you just sat there smelling the fragrance of the flowers!’ He gave a beautiful reply - and this is a heart which is content, full of the true, solid Kalimah Shahadah. He said ‘Oh man, you were watching me smelling the flowers, but did you not also see how Allah’s help from the Ghaib took them away?’ SubhanAllah! ‘Did you not understand how Allah’s help came from the Unseen? You saw me smelling the flowers, but didn’t you see that my heart was content while smelling the fragrance? This was the action needed to make them go away, because Allah’s help came which turned them away and sent them into the distance.’ SubhanAllah. ‘Didn’t you see Allah’s help? How could I have been content without the help and assistance of Allah?’
This is what we need to remember. A person’s heart needs to become strong on the Kalimah Shahadah so that he rejects Haram and walks on the Halal path and leaves Mutashabbihaat matters. His heart becomes strong on this platform through what? Through Dhikr of Allah and the company of the Awliya-llah. This is the Straight Path – {ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيم} – remember this. The person who follows this path, then congratulations to that person, for he has adopted the Straight Path – Mubarak! Then he has to work extra hard. He has attained the path – he is absolutely on the right path, one hundred percent. If he has accepted and adopted Dhikr of Allah and the Sohbat of the Friend of Allah with a sincere heart and is travelling on this basis, then he has nothing to fear. According to the Qur’an, he has attained the right path, the Straight Path. He has totally attained the right path and just needs to do one thing – to have Istaqamat, steadfastness, on this right path. The enemy won’t leave you – remember that. The enemy will not leave you, but you have adopted the right path and are on the right path.
I will explain to you the summary of my address here, the real message that I want to give to you. We need to adopt the Straight Path – and what is the Straight Path? It is to do Dhikr of Allah and to make the connection with a Friend of Allah. Make an Islahi, spiritual connection with a Friend of Allah. A person should have this spiritual connection and should strengthen it and have Istaqamat upon it; be steadfast upon it and don’t shake and wilt, even though you may be weak. You can be weak, no doubt, but your Yaqeen should be firm, and you should follow the path strongly and work hard, thinking ‘My enemy is not weak; he has a lot of power and can deviate me any time and attack me any time. Therefore, I have to be alert all the time and keep on following this path even when he tries to deviate me.’ When we see the enemy attack and come towards us, then identify straight away that our enemy is trying to destroy us and know that this is the path that we need to follow. Say to yourself ‘I will not accept any message from my enemy, and even if thousands of people of the world are on one side and I am standing against them on my own, this is the path, and I am not going to leave it.’
These tests come in a person’s life. This has happened to me – I am telling you this. When I adopted and set out on this path, I did not have the hours of guidance and explanation that I give to you – I did not have this environment. SubhanAllah, I have told you that Hadhrat Shafiq al-Balkhi rahmatullah alayh was smelling flowers, so he didn’t see when Allah ta’ala’s assistance and help came. This is Allah ta’ala’s assistance and Fadhl and grace and bounty that He protects His servants - so you shouldn’t wilt or shake. Yes, storms will come, and tests will come – distresses and problems come to men and to women – but be strong! My brothers and sisters, you have attained this Straight Path of the Naqshbandi Silsila, so if you work hard and make effort and you meet death going through your problems and difficulties, then you will die with the Shahadah. Don’t run away from this Mujahidah – there is no Mujahidah greater than this. I tell you this now – this is not an insignificant path; rather, this is a great path that we are following.
We need to strengthen the affirmation of faith, this Kalimah that we have been given, and raise it to the level of the Sahaba-e-Kiram radhiAllahu anhum. Testify in the way that Siddique testified regarding the Night of Me’raj. He said to Abu Jahl ‘Are you trying to deceive me? You are saying that my friend could not have done this, but what you have told me is nothing. I am prepared to believe greater things than what you are telling me about, so do you think this will make me scared and that my Iman will wilt?’ Allah showed us here the value and appreciation he had through his testifying of the truth in this way, and Allah made him Siddique and gave him the status of Siddiquiat that no other Companion had. Did anyone else have this rank? No, just him. They all had their portion, but he was Siddique-e-Akbar. The Sahaba were all Siddique, but he was Siddique-e-Akbar, the greatest Siddique, SubhanAllah. It is not that the Sahaba were not Siddique – they would all testify to the truth – but he was Siddique-e-Akbar. Why? Due to the strength of his Kalimah which Allah ta’ala illustrated.
Oh people of Iman, you have to work hard on this Iman in the same way. So it doesn’t matter what part of the world you are in, what society you are in, what condition you are in, what country you are in, what environment you are in, what people you sit with, what you hear, what Fitnahs surround you, what groups surround you, how many people curse you and reject you – stick to Dhikr of Allah and keep the company of the Awliya. If you have the company of the Wali of Allah, there is nothing to be scared of. This is the path which will take you to the destination – and this is the path of Siddique-e-Akbar, SubhanAllah. So should we make this effort or not, my brothers? Yes!
Allah has given us this already, so at least work hard. Hard work means that we should stick to this, adhere to this and never leave it. Even if we are broken down, just keep moving. Say SubhanAllah! Allah ta’ala has promised that if you go on the right path and have determination, don’t worry – {إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّقَواْ وَّٱلَّذِينَ هُم مُّحۡسِنُونَ}. Allah is saying ‘Don’t worry – I appreciate your efforts.’ There is a condition – {ٱلَّذِينَ هُم مُّحۡسِنُونَ }. Allah is saying ‘Don’t worry at all about every distress and problem. Even if your boat is about to sink, I will assist you.’ SubhanAllah. Tests will come – family members, illness, inside, outside, distress – but keep looking at your heart and keep analysing your heart. Keep looking to see whether you have the right conditions and emotions in respect to Halal, Haram and Mutashabbihaat. If those emotions are present in your heart, then alhamdulillah, good news - even if it is a small feeling, just an inkling that you don’t want to do Haram. And if your hand does incline towards it, still don’t let your heart accept it and make your tongue admit that what you are doing is Haram. Say ‘Haram is Haram, brothers. I am doing this, but it is Haram’ – even this acceptance is a good sign.
This is the generation when people say ‘What Haram are you talking about? No, that’s not Haram! Are you mad? Why are you saying that it is Haram? How dare you say this to me? I’ll close your mouth for you if you carry on! I’ll do this to you and that to you, so don’t tell me that this is Haram!’ Isn’t this the generation we are in? Tell me. So if a person in this generation says ‘No, this is Haram. One hundred percent, this action is Haram. I am doing this wrong thing, but I accept that this is Haram’, this is a very great status. If you do this, it means that this path is having a positive effect on you. If you do this, one day you will get scared and think ‘What’s the point of doing this Haram action – I am not getting any peace due to this. Half a chapati earned by Halal means would be better than two chapatis earned from Haram.’ Say SubhanAllah! That is the condition to acquire; this is the feeling and emotion to aim for. What points Allah ta’ala has given to us! Allah has given us the points and the signs of the heart, and He has defined the path and told us the Tariqa – what else do we need as guidance in this life? What else do we need? So if we don’t implement after this, what else can you say? There is nothing left to say about that person – there is no accounting for this.
Let us make Dua that Allah ta’ala allows us to be saved from Nafs and shaytan - and may Allah ta’ala give us the Tawfeeq to do Amal on what we have discussed. Ameen
Recite the Kalimah practice upon it and have faith/yaqeen just like Hazrat Shafiq and then be content because Allah will take control of all your affairs
The first step is connection with the sheikh and then steadfastness
May Allah grant us the Tawfeeq Ameen