8 September 2010 Fenton Zawiya, Michigan
Fajr Ramadan Series 2010
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.
Nawaytu 'l-arba`een, nawaytu 'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah,
nawaytu 'r-riyaadah, nawaytu 's-sulook, lillahi ta`ala fee haadha 'l-masjid.
Awliyaullah, we have described through these 29 days or less, have different levels and knowledges they carry in their lives. They have a strong willpower and never stop until they reach their goal and then they continue more. And is said:
أوليائي تحت قبابي لا يعلمهم غيري
Awliyaee tahta qibaabee la ya`lamahum ghayree.
My awliya are under My domes; no one knows them except Me. (Hadith Qudsee)
Which saints are not known? Allah knows them, and He knows how much they have achieved and how much they are rewarded! And we described through different sessions about their levels and what they have done. There is the ghawth, and under him the five qutbs: Qutb, Qutb al-Bilaad, Qutb al-Aqtaab, Qutb al-Irshaad, Qutb al-Mutasarrif. And under them are five different awliya: Budalaa, Nujabaa, Nuqabaa, Awtaad, and Akhyaar. All are taking from Prophet (s) through their connection and their lineage, and we have mentioned that. The only one we have not described is the ghawth.
He takes from heart of Prophet (s) directly and he is fard ul-jamiya al-wahid, he is the unique one to whom Allah (swt) gave the power of keeping all awliya together. Everything goes back from him to Prophet (s). He is the one that Allah looks at seventy thousand times daily and sends on him manifestations of His Beautiful Names and Attributes, and daily these manifestations change. The ghawth is the one about whom Allah (swt) said:
ما وسعني ارضي و ل سمايئ ولاكن وسعني قلب عبدي الموءمن
maa wasi`anee ardee wa laa ardee wa laakin wasi`anee qalbi `abdee al-mu'min.
Neither Earth nor Heavens contained Me, but the heart of the believer contained Me.
The ghawth can carry al-Noor al-Ilahi, the heavenly Light that Allah sends. He can carry all the rest of the ummah and whatever they receive depends on their level, if they can pull it or not. He has four other sides to know: one, he takes from the heart of and carries the secret from (archangel) Sayyidina Azraeel (a), who is described as "amadat ul-ikhsas." Allah gave him a specialty from the "material of life and feelings", which is the secret Allah put in every Creation to appear. The appearance is in the heart of Sayyidina Israfeel (a) (Archangel Rafael). When he blows the trumpet, He will pull life out from every Creation and they will die. Then another time he will blow the trumpet and give them that sensation of the reality of life, and they come back.
The ghawth takes from that knowledge, and he also takes from Sayyidina Jibreel (as) (Archangel Gabriel), the secret of "the talking self," the ability of talking through nasha tun insaaniyya. It begins when the child or creature begins talking in his own language that Allah has given him. Human beings have a language they all know, one universal language that Allah (swt) made everyone communicate through. That language is in the reality of Sayyidina Jibreel (as), because he was the one who revealed the message to all prophets in one language that all of them understood. What he gave to Sayyidina Adam (as) was in the same language as what he gave to Sayyidina Ibrahim (as), Sayyidina Nuh (as), Sayyidina Musa (as), Sayyidina `Isa (as), and Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! It is the language that the heart understands and all human beings know it. A contemporary example is, you have many languages in technology, but all can communicate in the same language. So that is the language the heart understands, but it is veiled. The ghawth carries that reality.
Then he takes from Sayyidina Mikhaeel (a) (Archangel Michael), because Allah gave him power to shower rain on human beings.
وَجَعَلْنَا مِنَ الْمَاء كُلَّ شَيْءٍ حَيٍّ
Wa ja`alna mina 'l-maa'i kulla shayin hayy.
We have made from water every living thing. (al-Anbiya, 21:30)
Life may come through that. The ghawth knows that secret of life from the heart of Sayyidina Mikhaeel (a); he takes from that and moves them. And then he takes from Sayyidina Israfeel (a) the power of taking people from life to death; he has the power to bring back people as Allah wishes. He is always looking when Allah will order him to go and take the souls of people. It means that ghawth takes the bad characters from people and gives them good characters on their hearts without you knowing he is doing that, by the secret that Sayyidina Azraeel (as) is carrying in his heart. These are the specific functions of al-ghawthiyatu 'l-kubra, the greatest qutbiyya, also known as ghawthiya qutbiyaa.
Ghawth means "yugheeth," who gives madad and support. He is carrying from these four angels and taking from the heart of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). He is the one who is able to take whatever he needs for his job, and that is not a normal job, it is a heavenly reality that has been thrown in the heart of that ghawth. And he has lahu imaamaan, two imams or two helpers, one on the right, one on the left. The one on the right is always looking at what is needed to get from heavenly powers, and he is the center of receiving heavenly and spiritual support. And the one who is on his left looks at all Creation and supports them with heavenly sources directly. He is responsible for everything that Allah created, to send to them power so they will be feeling their existence on Earth. If that wali pulls out, everything will faint and fall down; there will be no power!
These two imams have eight characteristics: four are zaahir (apparent) and four are baatin (hidden). The apparent characteristics are: they are az-zuhaad, ascetics; they are dhu 'l-war`a, always active in doing good things and doing what Allah (swt) likes; wa 'l-amr bi 'l-m`aruf wa 'n-nahiyy `ani 'l-munkar, they call people for good, and prohibit them from doing wrong. But their hidden knowledge, that they don't reveal, is as-sidq, they keep their covenant with Allah (swt), and they don't change, they stay on their promise. They have ikhlaas, sincerity, hayaa, shyness, and they are always in muraaqaba, meditation.
Under them are al-Abdaal. They are hum ahlu 'l-fadl wa 'l-kamaal, people of honor and perfection. Wa'l-istiqaama wa 'l-`itidaal, they stay on the right path and are always in the middle, on moderation, not too much on the right or the left. Allah took away imagination and doubt from them. They are the ones mentioned by Prophet (s) in his holy hadith:
If you are in a desert or a jungle and you are feeling fear, call on rijaalAllah; they will come to you and support you.
Then there are "al-Budala." It is said they range in number from 40 to 300. Then are "al-Nujaba," they are from 40 to 70 in number. Budala support people in their fears or difficulties, and grant things to them in dunya matters, while Nujaba do things for their akhirah matters. Their work is to carry all the heaviness of bad character, asqal al-`ibaad, the burdens of people. They don't look anywhere except at the Divine Presence, through the five qutbs, to the ghawth, and then to Prophet (s). Their orders come from there directly, and that is what Muhammad al-Busayri (q) knew. He described the realities of these awliya as, wa kullum min rasoolullahi multamisun, "Everyone is taking from Prophet (s), asking for support and madad." They are well known for kathrat al-`ibaadah, they are always in worship. And they are always in muhasaba and wa tafakkur, analyzing the accounts of human beings; if low, they recite salawaat and give that to the human being. That is why human being's level rise up, and instead of remaining negative it becomes positive. If they see someone falling down on the negative side, they push them to the positive side. It is their job to keep everyone on the positive side and they don't allow anyone to go negative. One of their characters is at-tafakkur, they remain in concentration. They do not give an ear to this dunya. They are always perfect.
Then are the Nuqaba. Allah (swt) gave them a different power, that they are able to reach human beings without saying anything. They keep quiet, they don't talk except through their hearts. That is why awliyaullah have one or two hours in meditation, because the strength of the heart is more than the strength of the tongue. They are very well known for as-samt, silence, and to keep awake at nights as-sahr, and al-ju` and they are always hungry. As Prophet (s) said:
نحن قوم لا نأكل حتى نجوع، وإذا أكلنا لا نشبع
Nahnu qawman laa naakul hatta najoo`, wa idhaa akalna laa nashbi`.
"We are a people that do not eat until we are hungry and we don’t eat until we are full."
Nuqaba keep themselves hungry and their stomachs are always grumbling; that keeps them awake. They are in complete `uzlah, they seclude themselves. They have their own imaam who leads them to the presence of Prophet (s). They are qad tahaqaqu bi `ism al-baatin, certain about what is hidden, and ashrafu bi batin an-naas, able to observe what is hidden in people, and fastakhrajoo kashaaif ad-damaair, they extract the hidden aspects of the subconscious mind. For them all veils are taken away.
Today we see that with psychiatrists; you begin to speak to them and they ask you questions and through your answers they analyze your problems. Nuqaba don't need that as they go directly to the subconscious and to the heart, and pull that out of the heart. So to pull all that from people, the psychiatrists need psychiatrists! So don't go to psychiatrists, go to Nuqaba. With Allah's support, they know what is hidden and by that the people are cured, as Nuqaba are not veiled and can see.
The hidden aspects of of the subconsious have three characteristics. First is an-nufoos al-`aliyyah fa hiya haqaaiqul-amriyya, the highest level of the subconscious; when you are in a good way, you establish that high level in the subconscious and that is the certainty and reality of heavenly orders. Their eyes are on that, as it is highest level and they will come to heavenly orders. In everyday, there are 24 hours and all information is written in the Preserved Tablets. Whatever you have to do is written there, and they can see that. For everyone else that is veiled, but for them it is not veiled and they pass it to you. Then you can get this information to your heart, or your shaykh keeps it for you. That is nufoos al-`aliyyah. The second characteristic is nufoosun sufliyyah, the subconscious that is connected with evil, it is the lowest of realities. First is positive and second is connected to Iblees and Shaytan, and all that is connected to the subconscious, the inner lower conscious where all these bad gossips come to the heart. The third characteristic is nufus al-wasatiyya, the reality of human nature. It is in the middle level. In all the three levels, Allah (swt) has put a chip or implanted there all heavenly secrets that concern that person.
These heavenly secrets are 360. Why 360 secrets? Because in the body there are 360 points that you can press and activate, and every point has its secret and every point on human beings or creatures has a pressure button to activate a certain language to know what is needed in 24 hours. So these awliyaa are able to get that information and if you are on the right path with your awraad, then this information is sent to you by awliyaa. Then, if your power is strong, the power of these points is sent to you as inspiration. If you are not on the right path, then nafs as-sufliyyah will be activated, giving you bad information. If you drop both of them, then you activate an-nafs al-`ulwiyya; that higher self that is always there in presence of Prophet (s), in the Divine Presence. If you are able to connect to all three, these veils will be taken; if you are unable, then Nuqaba will bring these matters to you.
"Al-Awtaad" are not too many: they are four in the east, four in the west, four in the south, four in the north. Awtaad are like, when you want stabilize a tent, you secure it with tent pegs or stakes. The tent has four sides, so you have four stakes. Awtaad are the stakes of this world; they are the poles that keep everything strong in east and west and in north and south. They are responsible for every group in those four areas, north, south, east and west. Allah gave them eight different actions they have to do. The apparent actions are kathratu 's-siyaam, they fast excessively; qiyaamu 'l-layli wa 'n-naasu niyaam, they are awake all night and always vigilant of what is going to happen; wa kathratu 'l-imtithaal, they are always submitting and they say, sami`na wa ataa`na, "We hear and we obey," and they never say, "no" or use their minds, and whatever is sent to them, they accept; and the last fourth apparent action is, they are always in istighfaar when people are sleeping.
That is what we can see from them. What we cannot see are their hidden actions: hum al-mutawakiloon `ala Allah, they are always putting their trust in and depending on Allah and Prophet (s), they have strong trust, thiqah; and they are always in taslimiyyah, perfect submission. Then you have whatever we have described, through these lectures are many of their characters also.
"Al-Akhyaar" are the last type of aqtaab, and are those who have been honored, picked up, and selected. Not everyone can be from that group and it is very limited. Akhyaar are directly under the five qutbs and they are akmal ahlu 'l-ard, "the most perfect of the people of Earth." You see no difference from their physical appearance and their hidden appearance; they have balanced them. You see them as normal people. They don't have beads in their hands (to indicate piety). They go here and there, and people say they are not awliyaa, so why are they going there? They go for a certain reason, which you don't know. They act normally, but they are the most perfect of the people of Earth.
They never let the right hand to know what left is doing and they never put in their hearts to do any bad action or take revenge; they have no bad intent and always take everything with good intent. They know you are Allah's servant and they cannot criticize Allah's servants, they have to cover them. Their arteries are saturated with the taste of sincerity. They have no other taste, but the taste of sincerity throughout their physical and spiritual bodies. And they have love to everyone and no criticism. They don't like anyone to know about them. They move through the ummah wearing what normal people wear; they don't say, "We need a jubba;" they wear normal clothes. Physically and spiritually, they look like us, so trust them! They look normal, if they look different then you will know them.
Grandshaykh (q) said, "These type of awliyaa are there every 24 hours. Even if someone is living by himself on the peak of a mountain with no humans around, in every 24-hour period there must be one of these awliyaa visiting him or passing by, because they give their support to everyone. These are the ones who appear. Allah gave them the ability to appear to every person physically, or spiritually through dreams."
May Allah bless us! This is the conclusion of "Ramadan Series 2010". I think it is `Eid tomorrow, as many countries declared it already, the Balkan countries like Bosnia, Albania, Turkey, and Cyprus have `Eid. We will wait to see what other countries are declaring (if they saw the new moon of Shawwal). If it is a majority we will break fast with them, and I think it is going to be that.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.