In the Mystic Footsteps of Saints, VOLUME 1 (Shaykh Nazim, 153 pages, 8/10)
https://www.nvrislam.net/index.php?j=eng&post=6027
e universe without actually traveling the distance, bat rather by “rolling it up” The a parchment. Such a thing ts unattainable except for those who have subdued the physical body absolutely. Presently our souls are eacased in our phy The secret of this power is, by bringing the physical body under control it beeomes encased in the spiritual body, and the movement of the spietual body is net cumbersome like that of this
cal hacties.
98 Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani body. What is the speed of a donkey compared to the speed of
ight? The speed of light is like a donkey compared to the speed of the spiritual body.
99 Mystic Footsteps
*§ The Station of Unity
“Oh my Lard, Pack Yor te grant me xnderstandine, and io enable me, Ob wy Lord, ta make ethers underctand.” (A prayer of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him)
iivery ume | address people [ silently make this supplication, as ] know that only he who himself understands can teach people anything useful, A visitor recently told me about a spiritual teacher whose lecturcs and writings were so difficult that no one uriderstood what he was saying. Ie is not a sign of a tian’s waderstanding that his teachings be incomprehensible: a man of understandmge will ahvays try to make himself well understood by using clear and straightforward speech, adjusting to the level of his audience, and he will ey to address as broad an audience ag possible, otherwise his words will be scattered with the winds.
Even Allah Almighty, the Lord of all creatures, the Master of custence, ts all Glis glory and greatness candescends to the level of Fis creatures. This is called “Tanazzulat Subham” or, as close ag it can be translated, “the Condescension of Glory” (or “the Condescension of the Glorious One”) You may find Him Almighty with His ceeatutes on every level.
If He were gor with an ant and knew not the conditions in which that ant lives and what are its needs, He could not — by definition — be the Lord of that ant. We, the Lord of all, in His knowledge, made mankind the most distinguished of Fis creatuics. Is at, therefore, too much to say that He is with us? “Does the Creator not know what He created?” asks the Lord, that we may understand His Ommiscience, and that bemg the Lord of all
100 Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
creation does aot detract from Him being with each indivicual creature,
The holy prophets and their Inherttors in every age have been endowed with knowledge of divine cealities which is hidden from the rest of humanity, and it is their main duty to make these realities comprehensible to mankind in peneral, and to individual people in whatever way possible, in accordance with the respective levels and capabilities of those people. As the teachers of humanity they have been granted the abihty to communicate in this manner to speaks directly to people's hearts. This they have been granted trem the attributes of their Lord. Bet only prophets and their true inheritors may find such flesibility available to them; for others it is very difficult to address anyone other than those who share with them a similar background and manner of perception. But divine teachers may be to every people what they need, may say what they need to heat; that is why people of varying backgrounds ahd ranks in life may all find peace with the sanie man and follow hin.
A. Concorde could never land on the roof of this building, but a helicopter could. Most scholats are like Concordes; so proud of their immense wingspans, streamlined form and speed. Only a few statesmen and tycoons — men and women of distinction and endowed with great wealth — may enter and ride Concordes. So scholars may speak and weite for the appreciation of other scholars. Coneordes tly at tremendous specds and require huge runways at international airports to land, but a helicopter can land anywhere, even sometimes at sea, and can always hover in mid air while lowering a lifeline to people trapped by a fee. So divine teachers ate accessible to everyone in every situation, whereas Concordes might crash in a place where only helicopters can reach to rescue the survivors. Therefore, 1 am not jeaving them on the tops of the Himalayan Mountains, but bringing them to safety.
Seekers of Truth must look for those qualities im a teacher who purports to be addressing subjects related to the divine. Otherwise they will be pursuing useless studies, and, according to the holy Prophet, a sign of a person’s perfection in Islam is his
TOT Mystic Footsteps
abandormient of useless activities (“thar which doesn’t concern hinr?),
Que guest mentioned that this scholar was addressing the topic of “fana and baqa”, or “annihilation and permanence in the divine.” T think that no one except those who have arrived at these stations is qualified to speak of them, otherwise his description will be like that of a persan who has aever tasted honey trying to describe its taste from what he has read about it to others who have been deprived of honey. Or et will be like asking a little boy about the pleasures of a honeymoon... useless.
These topics are oceans, When you melt, dissolving in the Unity Ocean of Allah Almighty, then you may understand the meaning of “ana Gllah” (Aunihilation in Allah). When you abandon your position as a being in existence, when you become as a drop of rain falling from the sky and are immersed, united i that ocean of divine unity, then no one can ask where that drop has gone: the drop became an ocean.
As Jeng as the drop is falling, it continues to say: “L am something", but when it reaches that ocean, it looks and says: “Where am iP i ac finished. | am with Him. ] am here, but sot here; only He is here, bet lam now with Him. lamin His Ocean. 1 feel this, but no more can it be said that lam a drop, this drop has became an ocean.” That is only a very simple description of anmhilation mm Gocl.
“Baga” or permancnee, is to be with Him always. In such a station your personality does sot appear; what appears is only divine existence. You have been dressed in divine Unity. That is the “station of Unity”, “Maqam at Tawhid”. What Baga means is that you will never lose sight, hearmey, feeling, knowimnp, understanding, but these stations will be without limits. We must try to attain these stations, but the Way is difficult and requires severe training.
One of the aspects of that training is to try and see everything as proceeding from Him Alone. This is the sixth pillar of faith in Islam: the belief that everything that happens in this world, the
12 Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
good aud the bad alike, are from God. This is referred to as “Tawhid al Afal” or “The Unity of Actions.” The way to begin to tealize this point is to remember the Source of all events, Allah Almighty, when events occur, and aot to occupy one’s self with blaming or lauding those who are net really the causes of events, only the instruments to their occurrence. This means thataf Ahmed comes and gives you a pound coin and then Mulan comes and slaps you and takes it away, you don’t think of Abmed as the giver of the inoney, nor of Fulan as a thief. If you think like this you have fallen from that high level of faith. You must percerve the hand of Allah behiad both hands — taat which giveth and that which taketh away as He is the creator of the actions of people.
When someone is generous or kid to you, vou must remember that it was your Lord who sent him with that favor, and you oust thank your Lord. But at the same time you are going to say: “Thank you” to that person, as without giving thanks to the varrier of Chat blessing your thanks to its origin is not pom tO be vompicts Therefore the holy Prophet said: “Who thanks not people thanks not Allah.” Oue Prophet, upon whom be peace, is advising us strongly that we should not allow our vision of unity to cistract us from perfecting our politeness with our fellow men. But you kaow that it is your Lord who sent him, and you are not forgetting that under any circumstances. And when you see. that Abmed has filed your hands with gold, you must say to him: “Oh thanks to veur Lord, who sent you with favors for me, and thank you for faithfully delivering what was entrusted to you.”
And when that cobber Pulan comes, hits you and takes all the money, don’t be angry with him! Yes, the divine law, the Shart’ah, permits you to retrieve thar money if you can, and prescribes a punishment to be meted out by the society as well, but if you are on the way of Unity, then you naust regard that action as coming to you from Allah Almighty too. He Alone sent that man to rob you, because the Creator of every action is only One: Allah Almighty.
Because it is not possible for all people to aspire to this high level of faith in which God's Hand ts seen behind every event, in
103 Mystic Footsteps
one ve "
se of the holy Quran Allah Almighty condones “a life for a life’ in the case Of murder, and goes on to call those who are capable of it to “turn the other cheek.’ These are the levels, respectively, of Sharrah, the Law, and Tarigah, the Path. Based on this verse, therefore, the Islamic Law concerning muntler is balanced, making concession for the normal human fechnps for vengeance in the face of such an abominable came. Islam allows for execution of the duly convicted nyurderer, and m this way agsuages the feelmgs of the close relatives, thus preventing extended Blood feuds. The law also allows for the payment of blood money in licu of execution, to be paid to the victim’s close relatives. Lastly the verse calls those who are secking forgiveness, saying: “And whose forives and promotes understanding, his reward is incembent on his Lord.”
What Allah is saying ie seckers of Absolute Truth is: “Now forgive him, because | sent bim to do that action.” Then you realize that, m realty, there is no question of guilt nor need for revenge. But that is aot the common level, That is the level to be striven. for, and it is beyond us to forgive ia such a manner because our egos ace ike volcanoes.
Now people may be very polite in ther everyday dealings, as long as everyone behaves in accordance with their expectations and ev
orything falls into place according to plan; but should, God forbid, the smallest thing go wrong - for example a small error in driving, even one that causes no accident — for such a small reason one may hear the ugliest obscentttes pour from their mouths like a lava eruption, That ego makes pe ople dangerously ill, and now that people are totally nader theit egas’ command, where can you find the colerance described in that holy verse of the Quran?
So much hate and frustration ts pent wp in people — T see it in then looks — and so often a scapegoat is sought upon whom to telease that torrent, and the best, the tec) and truce scapegoat throughout the world is always the “forener”; so Tam quick to assure people here in the West: “We are just here as your guests. ‘This is your homeland.” But is a? You can’t stay here etther except
104 Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
in your graves. Your homeland is the erave, not above ground. Thank God, no one is begrudging us cemetery plots; no one is trying to prevent our being buried. The grav edigger wipes the dirt off his hands and goes away, and the carth accepts us indiscriminately; but people on the earth are busy making distinctions, and therefore, chat high level of acceptance of actions as coming from Grad is rarely found. But He teaches us the lessan nonetheless, saying: “You must nuderstand who 1 am; | am the Creator of people and their works, understand this, that you may attain peace and Gaally leave behind your quarrelsomencss.”
Once IT was in Mecca with our grandshaykh making Tawaf (circumambulating) the House of Allah, the Kaba. Grandshaykh said to me: “Look upl? When [looked wp T saw above the beads of the people another group of worshippers performing their Tawaf: but these people were of a different class: calm, peaceful and gracefal. They too were of mankiad, not Angels, but they were the ones who had reached the level of seen every action as issuing from Allah Almighty, therefore they left the level of earthly struggle.
But, meanwhile, back on the ground, amidst the throng, with those who lack such certainty, we were being pushed, shoved and trampled upon. Some groups locked arms and shoved straight through the crowd, full speed ahead, sending all who were unfortnnate encugh to fallin their path flying through the air, ke discarded banana peels. Elbows in my ribs, heels on iy toes...but above us, the ones who concur with God’s will have no need for earth under their feet. Now, perhaps, you ate thinking that such a thing is impossible, that T am telling a “tall tale”, but yet, when you are told that airplanes fly you think nothing of it. Tf man can make metal fly, cannot God make man five They are at peace with their Lord and with everythimg in creation, therefore, everything carries them.
dnd so, we have been shown a higher way, the vision of Unity, and we have been asked to be patient with those events that are not to our liking, remembering their source, This ts the best training for
105 Mystic Footsteps
our egos. Linderge this trating or sou will struggle fruitlessly — up to the grave. We are being trained by our Lord to recognize the Unity of Actions, so that we can come to understand the Unity of His holy names, which leads us to the knowledge of the Unity of Fis holy attributes. That knowledge will prepare us for that witimate dive into the Unity Ocean of Allah Almighty’s essence. That is the final goal. That raindrop falls, and it will not emerge again ever ~ and it ts content because it has just gained everything eternally, forever.
Therefore, Allah Almighty addresses mankind, saying. “Oh HEUL, verdy you ate striving towards your Lord, and you will meet Him.” He Almighty j is teaching us that all our sttiving on earth, out tunning from Hast to West, here and there, night and day, is, unwittingly, nothing else than our race towards our Lord’s endless Unity Ocean, but we can’t now understand. Our souls long for our Lord; therefore we move, and therc is aowhere to move save towards the One.
706 Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
®g No One is Retused
Today, as | was praying, an tnportant poist appeared in the mirror of my heart, a subject that needs to be addressed. What is the position of every single person toward the rest of humanity and the rest of creation in general? Fach person, each being, is by nature self centered, though consrantly interacting with others in his surroundings. Everybody divides his fellow beings into distinct categories: those having mere in common with himself and others morte in opposition ~ and the less in common the more critical the questions become, So as a follower of a certain religion, you sruist ask yourself, what your atutede towards members of other religions will be. As a man, what kind of attitude do you have towards women, Of as a woman towards men? As an elderly person towards the young, or us a youth towards the elderly? As a wealthy person towards the poor, or aa a poor man towards the wealthy? As a iterate person towards the illiterate? What is your attitude as a human being towards animals, plants, inanimate objects, everything in existence
The holy Prophet, Muhammad, upon whom be peace, gave guidance to mankind in this matter when he said: “My Lord has taught me to show respect to all, to nmintam a high level of good manners, and my Lord bas perfected His teaching.” Now we need to know what those beat manners are, and how they help us to show respect to all creatures in accordance with their respective levels, for, while Allah Almighty has mace all creatures worthy of respect, Le has especially honored mankind. We are iied to realize the full potential of that honor by perfecting our relations with all that surrounds us.
10? Mystic Footsteps
This perfection calls for a balance in our relations, along with the pereeption of the differences between beings and an ability to adjust our behavior aceording to those distinctions. This is because Allah's creatures, most especially men, are not factory productions, ease produced and cut out of the same mold. Each person has his own unique form, characteristies and capabilities — you can’t Gnd two exactly identical people; even identical twins may differ ctastically 19 character. Everyone catrics something distinct, and we must observe these varying and distinguishing marks, that thereby we may receive divine wisdom, and marvel at the power of our Lord, tor who else could create such diversity? Whether you look around you at yout fellow men, or at the stars in the sky, you will know, by their infinite variations that only God could have created the universe.
Human beings, the “Crown of Creation”, are cansidates for the honorable rank of “Deputy of Allah on earth.” We are beings whe have been endowed with the potential for uneovering a reat secret within ourselves. If in heedlessness we do not strive for it, it will cemain deeply hidden within ourselves. What is the great secret within man that he must discover to attain this rank? It is to understand that you are a manifestation of one of our Lord's endless divine attribures. Hach person manifests a distinct attribute, no matter how many billions of people appear and disappear from this earth; cach one manifests a unique aspect of the divine reality Each divine attribute is distinct and, when fully unveiled, equally divine, Therefore, our Lord is obtrvious to ovr outward forms but is always mindful of the states of ow hearts, as the heart of each man is a throne from among the endiess thrones of Allah Alenighty. That heart is not the organ in our chests; it is only represented by it as a Ggure of speech. In your real heart, your “heart of hearts”, there is a throne and He Almighty appears on that throme through a distinct ateribute that manilests in you, and nowhere else in creation.
Therefore, you must respect everyone in existence, as in reality that respect is the respect for vour Lord within him. That is the way out Prophet treated people, the way taught by real Islam: a
708 Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
deviatice from this “Way of best manner” is a dangerous innovation (bid’a) of high degree. The respect that we must show towards our fellow human beings is such that, should a baby be bora, take thrce breaths and dic, we must name him, wash his body and pray over him the funeral prayers; and af there is no one else to perform: those rites, even the Sultan himself is required to do so, even if that baby is born to the lowest class of his subjects.
And what if the living or the dead be of another tchgion or without rchigion, do we show them less respect? One day the holy Prophet was sitting with his companions when a funeral procession passed by. ‘The holy Prophet stood up ina sign of respect to that departed soul. One of the companions said: “Oh messenger of God, that ts the body of one of the heathens. Ave you showing respect to such people?” Tt was a sign of bad inanners for that companion to say this, and he immediately regretted #. Does the Prophet sot know whether that dead person and those of the procession are Muslims or idol worshippers? If not, how can he be a prophet? But as the companions wete at different levels of uaderstanding and manners, building gradually towards perfection, the Prophet was always patient with those who showed such a challenging attitude; he explained his actions to that companion according to the level of his understanding — which was the commen level.
And how diffieult for the common believer, whose human fechngs arc caught in the chb and flow of daily events to understand Low the Prophet gave this respect for people who were actively engaged in oppressing the Muslims — killing and boycotting them, ‘and generally showing abominable qualities! How difGoule for the common people to make a distinction between people’s bad actions ard the divine realities hidden and veiled, yet present and untouched, in their heart of hearts, and im this way to understand why you must not hate your enemies! Such understanding makes a person cligible to receive divine secrets, and a category of kuowledge the holy Prophet was imstructed to reveal only to Miftiates.
Therefore, to guide that companion in the general direction of this ceality while not revealing to him that which he could not
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comprehend, the holy Prophet told him: “Yes, these are unbelievers, but you must know that each one has Angels accompanying him, recording his good and bad deeds, and the Angel of Death, Azrail, is accompanying the dead man as well I am, standing out of respect for those Angels.” In this way the holy Prophet instructed all Muslims to show respect to all people living and dead, ne matter how terrible theis actions might be.
Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi, an islaniuc saint known throughout East and West (and the author of the epic Sufi poem, the Mathnawi) was once crossing a marketplace when a priest passed by and bowed his head in respect. Mawlana returned this 2 gesture, bowing even lower, from the waist. The people asked him: “How is it that you bowed in front of that priest (who represents a religion that failed to recognize the holy Prophet of Islam)?” In Islam, bowing is a gesture generally reserved for the worship of God, other signs of respect beiag used more commonly.
Then Mawlana answered them, on a level that accorded with thar understanding: “That priest was humbling himself in front of
He is Chistian, we ate Muslim; and Islam represents the completion of every goodness found in Christianity. Pherefore, if he is humble we must strive to be ever more humble.”
This explanation fs true, but on a deeper level, this reciprocation may be understood as respect to the real personality, the divine personality of that priest ~ and iis only He Almighty who dresses His servants in differing outward forms and predisposes them for different kinds of actions, Mawlana recognized that it was his Lord who dressed him as a Shaykh and deessed that man as a priest; and if He wills, Me can cause them to chatige roles, for each of thelr hearts co cling to the other’s religion in the blink of an eve: and who can say what Allah will do? What is beneath all these clothes but the throne of Allah, in a unique personality manifestation?
Tn the holy Charan it is related that, when Allah Alenighey created Adam, He ordered all the angels to prostrate in front of bim. Do you think Allah Almighty was ordering them to worship
Hd Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Hagqani
other than Himself? Al of the Angels were able to perceive that divine manifestation in Adam, and bowed down to theirs Lerd by prostrating in front of Adam. But also in attendance was Satan, who was veiled by envy, and said: “What is he that I should worship him: [ worship God alone.” But Satan could not see what was inside of Adam: all the holy Names of Allah that were to be manifested by all of his descendents. Were those veils of envy to be fted, he would have been the fest to obey. bnvy blinds us to this vision, and unhappily, it prevented many of those who represented earlier revealed religions from fecogniare the Prophet Muhammad when he came, the veritable brother of the prophets they vencrate.
Ti we can remember that the presence of this divine secret is in people’s hearts, and look past their ontward forms and actions, we may learn from everything and everyone and increase in wisdom. Only with this vision can we aspire fo a magnanimity that will cause good actions to appear from people, for a ray of their divine essence co shine through and encourage the veils of epo to be iifted, Respect of the divine nature in man leads to familiarity benween people, and familiarity opens the way to love, and all love belongs to our Lord.
Our main responsibility im life is this: to clean off the bad characteristics that cover our divine personalities, and once we have accomplished this to help others free themselves of that heavy burden. We oust always remember the sacrosanct nature of souls. Look, Sayyidina Umar, who was to become the second Khalfah of Islam, came to the holy Prophet with the metention of killing him, but left that meeting with a heart full of love and ¢ goodness. He was the same man, the essence of his being never changed, only his attitude did. So, we must always beware of saving: “So and so is a bad person.” You can’t say that of his real essence, no.
Although we regard the essences of people, we don’t accept their bad actions, but “fire upon” them the same way that a surpeon removes a tumor from a patient and leaves healthy tissue imside of him; he knows to distinguish healthy tissue from cancerous tissuc and removes only what is dangerous.
Tit Mystic Footsteps
That is the method pra
Link: https://www.nvrislam.net/index.php?j=eng&post=6027
e universe without actually traveling the distance, bat rather by “rolling it up” The a parchment. Such a thing ts unattainable except for those who have subdued the physical body absolutely. Presently our souls are eacased in our phy The secret of this power is, by bringing the physical body under control it beeomes encased in the spiritual body, and the movement of the spietual body is net cumbersome like that of this
cal hacties.
98 Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani body. What is the speed of a donkey compared to the speed of
ight? The speed of light is like a donkey compared to the speed of the spiritual body.
99 Mystic Footsteps
*§ The Station of Unity
“Oh my Lard, Pack Yor te grant me xnderstandine, and io enable me, Ob wy Lord, ta make ethers underctand.” (A prayer of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him)
iivery ume | address people [ silently make this supplication, as ] know that only he who himself understands can teach people anything useful, A visitor recently told me about a spiritual teacher whose lecturcs and writings were so difficult that no one uriderstood what he was saying. Ie is not a sign of a tian’s waderstanding that his teachings be incomprehensible: a man of understandmge will ahvays try to make himself well understood by using clear and straightforward speech, adjusting to the level of his audience, and he will ey to address as broad an audience ag possible, otherwise his words will be scattered with the winds.
Even Allah Almighty, the Lord of all creatures, the Master of custence, ts all Glis glory and greatness candescends to the level of Fis creatures. This is called “Tanazzulat Subham” or, as close ag it can be translated, “the Condescension of Glory” (or “the Condescension of the Glorious One”) You may find Him Almighty with His ceeatutes on every level.
If He were gor with an ant and knew not the conditions in which that ant lives and what are its needs, He could not — by definition — be the Lord of that ant. We, the Lord of all, in His knowledge, made mankind the most distinguished of Fis creatuics. Is at, therefore, too much to say that He is with us? “Does the Creator not know what He created?” asks the Lord, that we may understand His Ommiscience, and that bemg the Lord of all
100 Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
creation does aot detract from Him being with each indivicual creature,
The holy prophets and their Inherttors in every age have been endowed with knowledge of divine cealities which is hidden from the rest of humanity, and it is their main duty to make these realities comprehensible to mankind in peneral, and to individual people in whatever way possible, in accordance with the respective levels and capabilities of those people. As the teachers of humanity they have been granted the abihty to communicate in this manner to speaks directly to people's hearts. This they have been granted trem the attributes of their Lord. Bet only prophets and their true inheritors may find such flesibility available to them; for others it is very difficult to address anyone other than those who share with them a similar background and manner of perception. But divine teachers may be to every people what they need, may say what they need to heat; that is why people of varying backgrounds ahd ranks in life may all find peace with the sanie man and follow hin.
A. Concorde could never land on the roof of this building, but a helicopter could. Most scholats are like Concordes; so proud of their immense wingspans, streamlined form and speed. Only a few statesmen and tycoons — men and women of distinction and endowed with great wealth — may enter and ride Concordes. So scholars may speak and weite for the appreciation of other scholars. Coneordes tly at tremendous specds and require huge runways at international airports to land, but a helicopter can land anywhere, even sometimes at sea, and can always hover in mid air while lowering a lifeline to people trapped by a fee. So divine teachers ate accessible to everyone in every situation, whereas Concordes might crash in a place where only helicopters can reach to rescue the survivors. Therefore, 1 am not jeaving them on the tops of the Himalayan Mountains, but bringing them to safety.
Seekers of Truth must look for those qualities im a teacher who purports to be addressing subjects related to the divine. Otherwise they will be pursuing useless studies, and, according to the holy Prophet, a sign of a person’s perfection in Islam is his
TOT Mystic Footsteps
abandormient of useless activities (“thar which doesn’t concern hinr?),
Que guest mentioned that this scholar was addressing the topic of “fana and baqa”, or “annihilation and permanence in the divine.” T think that no one except those who have arrived at these stations is qualified to speak of them, otherwise his description will be like that of a persan who has aever tasted honey trying to describe its taste from what he has read about it to others who have been deprived of honey. Or et will be like asking a little boy about the pleasures of a honeymoon... useless.
These topics are oceans, When you melt, dissolving in the Unity Ocean of Allah Almighty, then you may understand the meaning of “ana Gllah” (Aunihilation in Allah). When you abandon your position as a being in existence, when you become as a drop of rain falling from the sky and are immersed, united i that ocean of divine unity, then no one can ask where that drop has gone: the drop became an ocean.
As Jeng as the drop is falling, it continues to say: “L am something", but when it reaches that ocean, it looks and says: “Where am iP i ac finished. | am with Him. ] am here, but sot here; only He is here, bet lam now with Him. lamin His Ocean. 1 feel this, but no more can it be said that lam a drop, this drop has became an ocean.” That is only a very simple description of anmhilation mm Gocl.
“Baga” or permancnee, is to be with Him always. In such a station your personality does sot appear; what appears is only divine existence. You have been dressed in divine Unity. That is the “station of Unity”, “Maqam at Tawhid”. What Baga means is that you will never lose sight, hearmey, feeling, knowimnp, understanding, but these stations will be without limits. We must try to attain these stations, but the Way is difficult and requires severe training.
One of the aspects of that training is to try and see everything as proceeding from Him Alone. This is the sixth pillar of faith in Islam: the belief that everything that happens in this world, the
12 Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
good aud the bad alike, are from God. This is referred to as “Tawhid al Afal” or “The Unity of Actions.” The way to begin to tealize this point is to remember the Source of all events, Allah Almighty, when events occur, and aot to occupy one’s self with blaming or lauding those who are net really the causes of events, only the instruments to their occurrence. This means thataf Ahmed comes and gives you a pound coin and then Mulan comes and slaps you and takes it away, you don’t think of Abmed as the giver of the inoney, nor of Fulan as a thief. If you think like this you have fallen from that high level of faith. You must percerve the hand of Allah behiad both hands — taat which giveth and that which taketh away as He is the creator of the actions of people.
When someone is generous or kid to you, vou must remember that it was your Lord who sent him with that favor, and you oust thank your Lord. But at the same time you are going to say: “Thank you” to that person, as without giving thanks to the varrier of Chat blessing your thanks to its origin is not pom tO be vompicts Therefore the holy Prophet said: “Who thanks not people thanks not Allah.” Oue Prophet, upon whom be peace, is advising us strongly that we should not allow our vision of unity to cistract us from perfecting our politeness with our fellow men. But you kaow that it is your Lord who sent him, and you are not forgetting that under any circumstances. And when you see. that Abmed has filed your hands with gold, you must say to him: “Oh thanks to veur Lord, who sent you with favors for me, and thank you for faithfully delivering what was entrusted to you.”
And when that cobber Pulan comes, hits you and takes all the money, don’t be angry with him! Yes, the divine law, the Shart’ah, permits you to retrieve thar money if you can, and prescribes a punishment to be meted out by the society as well, but if you are on the way of Unity, then you naust regard that action as coming to you from Allah Almighty too. He Alone sent that man to rob you, because the Creator of every action is only One: Allah Almighty.
Because it is not possible for all people to aspire to this high level of faith in which God's Hand ts seen behind every event, in
103 Mystic Footsteps
one ve "
se of the holy Quran Allah Almighty condones “a life for a life’ in the case Of murder, and goes on to call those who are capable of it to “turn the other cheek.’ These are the levels, respectively, of Sharrah, the Law, and Tarigah, the Path. Based on this verse, therefore, the Islamic Law concerning muntler is balanced, making concession for the normal human fechnps for vengeance in the face of such an abominable came. Islam allows for execution of the duly convicted nyurderer, and m this way agsuages the feelmgs of the close relatives, thus preventing extended Blood feuds. The law also allows for the payment of blood money in licu of execution, to be paid to the victim’s close relatives. Lastly the verse calls those who are secking forgiveness, saying: “And whose forives and promotes understanding, his reward is incembent on his Lord.”
What Allah is saying ie seckers of Absolute Truth is: “Now forgive him, because | sent bim to do that action.” Then you realize that, m realty, there is no question of guilt nor need for revenge. But that is aot the common level, That is the level to be striven. for, and it is beyond us to forgive ia such a manner because our egos ace ike volcanoes.
Now people may be very polite in ther everyday dealings, as long as everyone behaves in accordance with their expectations and ev
orything falls into place according to plan; but should, God forbid, the smallest thing go wrong - for example a small error in driving, even one that causes no accident — for such a small reason one may hear the ugliest obscentttes pour from their mouths like a lava eruption, That ego makes pe ople dangerously ill, and now that people are totally nader theit egas’ command, where can you find the colerance described in that holy verse of the Quran?
So much hate and frustration ts pent wp in people — T see it in then looks — and so often a scapegoat is sought upon whom to telease that torrent, and the best, the tec) and truce scapegoat throughout the world is always the “forener”; so Tam quick to assure people here in the West: “We are just here as your guests. ‘This is your homeland.” But is a? You can’t stay here etther except
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in your graves. Your homeland is the erave, not above ground. Thank God, no one is begrudging us cemetery plots; no one is trying to prevent our being buried. The grav edigger wipes the dirt off his hands and goes away, and the carth accepts us indiscriminately; but people on the earth are busy making distinctions, and therefore, chat high level of acceptance of actions as coming from Grad is rarely found. But He teaches us the lessan nonetheless, saying: “You must nuderstand who 1 am; | am the Creator of people and their works, understand this, that you may attain peace and Gaally leave behind your quarrelsomencss.”
Once IT was in Mecca with our grandshaykh making Tawaf (circumambulating) the House of Allah, the Kaba. Grandshaykh said to me: “Look upl? When [looked wp T saw above the beads of the people another group of worshippers performing their Tawaf: but these people were of a different class: calm, peaceful and gracefal. They too were of mankiad, not Angels, but they were the ones who had reached the level of seen every action as issuing from Allah Almighty, therefore they left the level of earthly struggle.
But, meanwhile, back on the ground, amidst the throng, with those who lack such certainty, we were being pushed, shoved and trampled upon. Some groups locked arms and shoved straight through the crowd, full speed ahead, sending all who were unfortnnate encugh to fallin their path flying through the air, ke discarded banana peels. Elbows in my ribs, heels on iy toes...but above us, the ones who concur with God’s will have no need for earth under their feet. Now, perhaps, you ate thinking that such a thing is impossible, that T am telling a “tall tale”, but yet, when you are told that airplanes fly you think nothing of it. Tf man can make metal fly, cannot God make man five They are at peace with their Lord and with everythimg in creation, therefore, everything carries them.
dnd so, we have been shown a higher way, the vision of Unity, and we have been asked to be patient with those events that are not to our liking, remembering their source, This ts the best training for
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our egos. Linderge this trating or sou will struggle fruitlessly — up to the grave. We are being trained by our Lord to recognize the Unity of Actions, so that we can come to understand the Unity of His holy names, which leads us to the knowledge of the Unity of Fis holy attributes. That knowledge will prepare us for that witimate dive into the Unity Ocean of Allah Almighty’s essence. That is the final goal. That raindrop falls, and it will not emerge again ever ~ and it ts content because it has just gained everything eternally, forever.
Therefore, Allah Almighty addresses mankind, saying. “Oh HEUL, verdy you ate striving towards your Lord, and you will meet Him.” He Almighty j is teaching us that all our sttiving on earth, out tunning from Hast to West, here and there, night and day, is, unwittingly, nothing else than our race towards our Lord’s endless Unity Ocean, but we can’t now understand. Our souls long for our Lord; therefore we move, and therc is aowhere to move save towards the One.
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®g No One is Retused
Today, as | was praying, an tnportant poist appeared in the mirror of my heart, a subject that needs to be addressed. What is the position of every single person toward the rest of humanity and the rest of creation in general? Fach person, each being, is by nature self centered, though consrantly interacting with others in his surroundings. Everybody divides his fellow beings into distinct categories: those having mere in common with himself and others morte in opposition ~ and the less in common the more critical the questions become, So as a follower of a certain religion, you sruist ask yourself, what your atutede towards members of other religions will be. As a man, what kind of attitude do you have towards women, Of as a woman towards men? As an elderly person towards the young, or us a youth towards the elderly? As a wealthy person towards the poor, or aa a poor man towards the wealthy? As a iterate person towards the illiterate? What is your attitude as a human being towards animals, plants, inanimate objects, everything in existence
The holy Prophet, Muhammad, upon whom be peace, gave guidance to mankind in this matter when he said: “My Lord has taught me to show respect to all, to nmintam a high level of good manners, and my Lord bas perfected His teaching.” Now we need to know what those beat manners are, and how they help us to show respect to all creatures in accordance with their respective levels, for, while Allah Almighty has mace all creatures worthy of respect, Le has especially honored mankind. We are iied to realize the full potential of that honor by perfecting our relations with all that surrounds us.
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This perfection calls for a balance in our relations, along with the pereeption of the differences between beings and an ability to adjust our behavior aceording to those distinctions. This is because Allah's creatures, most especially men, are not factory productions, ease produced and cut out of the same mold. Each person has his own unique form, characteristies and capabilities — you can’t Gnd two exactly identical people; even identical twins may differ ctastically 19 character. Everyone catrics something distinct, and we must observe these varying and distinguishing marks, that thereby we may receive divine wisdom, and marvel at the power of our Lord, tor who else could create such diversity? Whether you look around you at yout fellow men, or at the stars in the sky, you will know, by their infinite variations that only God could have created the universe.
Human beings, the “Crown of Creation”, are cansidates for the honorable rank of “Deputy of Allah on earth.” We are beings whe have been endowed with the potential for uneovering a reat secret within ourselves. If in heedlessness we do not strive for it, it will cemain deeply hidden within ourselves. What is the great secret within man that he must discover to attain this rank? It is to understand that you are a manifestation of one of our Lord's endless divine attribures. Hach person manifests a distinct attribute, no matter how many billions of people appear and disappear from this earth; cach one manifests a unique aspect of the divine reality Each divine attribute is distinct and, when fully unveiled, equally divine, Therefore, our Lord is obtrvious to ovr outward forms but is always mindful of the states of ow hearts, as the heart of each man is a throne from among the endiess thrones of Allah Alenighty. That heart is not the organ in our chests; it is only represented by it as a Ggure of speech. In your real heart, your “heart of hearts”, there is a throne and He Almighty appears on that throme through a distinct ateribute that manilests in you, and nowhere else in creation.
Therefore, you must respect everyone in existence, as in reality that respect is the respect for vour Lord within him. That is the way out Prophet treated people, the way taught by real Islam: a
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deviatice from this “Way of best manner” is a dangerous innovation (bid’a) of high degree. The respect that we must show towards our fellow human beings is such that, should a baby be bora, take thrce breaths and dic, we must name him, wash his body and pray over him the funeral prayers; and af there is no one else to perform: those rites, even the Sultan himself is required to do so, even if that baby is born to the lowest class of his subjects.
And what if the living or the dead be of another tchgion or without rchigion, do we show them less respect? One day the holy Prophet was sitting with his companions when a funeral procession passed by. ‘The holy Prophet stood up ina sign of respect to that departed soul. One of the companions said: “Oh messenger of God, that ts the body of one of the heathens. Ave you showing respect to such people?” Tt was a sign of bad inanners for that companion to say this, and he immediately regretted #. Does the Prophet sot know whether that dead person and those of the procession are Muslims or idol worshippers? If not, how can he be a prophet? But as the companions wete at different levels of uaderstanding and manners, building gradually towards perfection, the Prophet was always patient with those who showed such a challenging attitude; he explained his actions to that companion according to the level of his understanding — which was the commen level.
And how diffieult for the common believer, whose human fechngs arc caught in the chb and flow of daily events to understand Low the Prophet gave this respect for people who were actively engaged in oppressing the Muslims — killing and boycotting them, ‘and generally showing abominable qualities! How difGoule for the common people to make a distinction between people’s bad actions ard the divine realities hidden and veiled, yet present and untouched, in their heart of hearts, and im this way to understand why you must not hate your enemies! Such understanding makes a person cligible to receive divine secrets, and a category of kuowledge the holy Prophet was imstructed to reveal only to Miftiates.
Therefore, to guide that companion in the general direction of this ceality while not revealing to him that which he could not
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comprehend, the holy Prophet told him: “Yes, these are unbelievers, but you must know that each one has Angels accompanying him, recording his good and bad deeds, and the Angel of Death, Azrail, is accompanying the dead man as well I am, standing out of respect for those Angels.” In this way the holy Prophet instructed all Muslims to show respect to all people living and dead, ne matter how terrible theis actions might be.
Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi, an islaniuc saint known throughout East and West (and the author of the epic Sufi poem, the Mathnawi) was once crossing a marketplace when a priest passed by and bowed his head in respect. Mawlana returned this 2 gesture, bowing even lower, from the waist. The people asked him: “How is it that you bowed in front of that priest (who represents a religion that failed to recognize the holy Prophet of Islam)?” In Islam, bowing is a gesture generally reserved for the worship of God, other signs of respect beiag used more commonly.
Then Mawlana answered them, on a level that accorded with thar understanding: “That priest was humbling himself in front of
He is Chistian, we ate Muslim; and Islam represents the completion of every goodness found in Christianity. Pherefore, if he is humble we must strive to be ever more humble.”
This explanation fs true, but on a deeper level, this reciprocation may be understood as respect to the real personality, the divine personality of that priest ~ and iis only He Almighty who dresses His servants in differing outward forms and predisposes them for different kinds of actions, Mawlana recognized that it was his Lord who dressed him as a Shaykh and deessed that man as a priest; and if He wills, Me can cause them to chatige roles, for each of thelr hearts co cling to the other’s religion in the blink of an eve: and who can say what Allah will do? What is beneath all these clothes but the throne of Allah, in a unique personality manifestation?
Tn the holy Charan it is related that, when Allah Alenighey created Adam, He ordered all the angels to prostrate in front of bim. Do you think Allah Almighty was ordering them to worship
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other than Himself? Al of the Angels were able to perceive that divine manifestation in Adam, and bowed down to theirs Lerd by prostrating in front of Adam. But also in attendance was Satan, who was veiled by envy, and said: “What is he that I should worship him: [ worship God alone.” But Satan could not see what was inside of Adam: all the holy Names of Allah that were to be manifested by all of his descendents. Were those veils of envy to be fted, he would have been the fest to obey. bnvy blinds us to this vision, and unhappily, it prevented many of those who represented earlier revealed religions from fecogniare the Prophet Muhammad when he came, the veritable brother of the prophets they vencrate.
Ti we can remember that the presence of this divine secret is in people’s hearts, and look past their ontward forms and actions, we may learn from everything and everyone and increase in wisdom. Only with this vision can we aspire fo a magnanimity that will cause good actions to appear from people, for a ray of their divine essence co shine through and encourage the veils of epo to be iifted, Respect of the divine nature in man leads to familiarity benween people, and familiarity opens the way to love, and all love belongs to our Lord.
Our main responsibility im life is this: to clean off the bad characteristics that cover our divine personalities, and once we have accomplished this to help others free themselves of that heavy burden. We oust always remember the sacrosanct nature of souls. Look, Sayyidina Umar, who was to become the second Khalfah of Islam, came to the holy Prophet with the metention of killing him, but left that meeting with a heart full of love and ¢ goodness. He was the same man, the essence of his being never changed, only his attitude did. So, we must always beware of saving: “So and so is a bad person.” You can’t say that of his real essence, no.
Although we regard the essences of people, we don’t accept their bad actions, but “fire upon” them the same way that a surpeon removes a tumor from a patient and leaves healthy tissue imside of him; he knows to distinguish healthy tissue from cancerous tissuc and removes only what is dangerous.
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That is the method pra
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