As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh. Since Hijrah of the Prophet (s) from Mecca to Madinat al-Munawwarah, 1436 years have passed and these 1436 years are not empty, not in a vacuum, every moment of these years has a significant meaning that Awliyaullah take from the heart of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). That is why it is said, kullu man yada`ee fi 'l-`ilm falsafatan `arafta shay’an wa ghaabat `anka ashyaa’u. Say to the one who thinks he knows philosophy, who thinks he dived into knowledge and brought something out, tell that person, "You knew something, a very small thing, wa ghaabat `anka ashyaa’u, but most of the knowledge disappeared from you." And this is a saying that all of us we have to put in front of our heads, that we must not claim we know something.
Every day technology is improving, but heavenly technology does not improve every day because it is perfect, up-to-date; if one moment comes more by itself it upgrades itself according to the moment. For Allah every moment has a significance and Awliyaullah can see it and understand it and that is why not all of them are on the same level; some may be able to dive in the ocean and pull out understandings and meanings, and some can still be on the beach but they can put their feet in the ocean. There is a big difference, but still you are in need for those feet, you are in need for everyone. Don't minimize people, don’t underestimate them. It might be someone is sitting here in this place and he is a wali, you don't know. There might be an angel sitting in this association; that is for sure, because angels come to such associations.
So in every moment of our lives there is something happening and I said to myself that I will continue to speak on what came last Thursday, but then this book came in my hand and I said it is better to speak from what the shaykh is saying. One of the greatest shaykhs said, "You must know and establish within yourself to believe and to accept that scholars and mashaykh (meaning here Awliyaullah), look at their followers with the eyes of their hearts."
وَقُلِ اعْمَلُواْ فَسَيَرَى اللّهُ عَمَلَكُمْ وَرَسُولُهُ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ
And say, "Work (righteousness); soon will Allah observe your work and His Messenger and the Believers. (Surat at-Tawbah, 9:105)
Allah said in Holy Qur’an, “Say to them, yaa Muhammad, “Act!” Act not only by tongue, but by action: `amaloo is the verb, `amal is the noun. He says “Do, act!” There is qawl, a statement, and there is `amal, an action. The action is what is important, not the statement. You can make hundreds of statements and declarations, but what is important for us is to see what you are doing, as the ayah is saying, “Do whatever you can,” because Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s) and the Believers are going to watch you!
The Power Given to Awliyaullah to See
In the previous ayah He stopped there, He said Allah and His Prophet (s) will see your `amal and then on the same page, where He said, “Do, and Allah and His Prophet will see your `amal and al-mu’minoon,” He added wal-mu'minoon, “And the Believers.” Who are these that are able to see? “Do, act,” it means Allah is going to look at your `amal, wa Rasooluh, and His Prophet (s) is going to look at your `amal, then He added wal-mu'minoon, “and the Believers.” That is why Awliyaullah...Allah added them to the ayah to say that mu’min are going to see what you are doing. And they are going, if you are with them they will look, He said “by the eyes of their heart”. What does that mean? Does the heart have eyes? Every single tissue and every single cell in the heart has an eye! That a wali can send his power through that cell to see!
I don't know what doctors say about the heart, but it is always working. For them it has to work, always moving, or if it doesn't work you die, so it is the most important organ in the body. If others organs stop you might not die, but if the heart stops you might. So the heart of the shaykh is always in movement looking at his mureeds, observing what they are doing, and this is not just any statement, but this is an ayah in the Holy Qur'an, where Allah says, “Do! Allah is looking at you, His Prophet (s) is looking at you and the mu’mineen are looking at you.” Those Awliya are looking at you: wherever you are, if you are in China and the shaykh is in South Africa he sees you.
Shari`ah is Foremost
Wa yuraaqiboona bi-quloobihim ahwaal al-mureedeen, “He observes what the followers are doing.” Are they doing according to Shari`ah, according to Tariqah? No one can do according to Tariqah if they are not following Shari`ah. Let us be clear: we are people who do things according to Shari`ah and Tariqah comes to support it in order that you can fly. It is like something that you use everyday, every one of us has a telephone and sometimes someone sends you a video clip and you cannot open it. It says, “The file is too big,” and if you try to open it, it does not open but it shows a circle turning. Did you see that? Why is it turning? I am asking you, doctor. [It is indicating time.] It indicates that it is going to open up. It turns until at the end it reaches a very small space and if that does not touch the other side you cannot open the video clip. Is it not? When it begins to turn, the right side of the circle and the left side of circle have to meet in order for the video to come out. The majority of the circle is Shari`ah and that one percent is Tariqah. What is Shari`ah?
وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانتَهُوا
Leave what Prophet (s) forbade and take what he ordered. (Surat al-Hashr, 59:7)
This is what you have to do, Tariqah comes later. When you take baya` with the shaykh it means you are that short distance from connecting the circle. The shaykh’s duty is to connect you to that one percent; ninety-nine percent is Shari`ah and one percent is Tariqah. Some might say to you, “O shaykh, but Tariqah is more important than Shari`ah.” No, because if Tariqah were more important than Shari`ah then we would not fast or pray. SubhaanAllah wa bihamdihi. No, ninety-nine percent is Shari`ah and one percent is Haqiqah, Tariqah and ma`rifah. When it connects, the Light opens up for you, a gate opens to show what is inside. At that time you can see because that missing part is connected. So the duty of the shaykh is to connect the one percent of the circle, of that ‘app’ that is turning in order that when they touch each other, what comes out? The picture or video clip. When the sperm catches the egg, what happens? A child comes, an image comes, a life comes, a soul comes. That is why Allah says, “Yaa Muhammad! Say to them…” Allah is looking at them, Allah will be happy with those who are doing what Prophet (s) is giving them in order to achieve the Reality. He begins with Himself: qul `imaloo wa sayarallahu `amalakum, “Do and Allah will see your work.” It is not finished, you have to follow what Prophet (s) has explained to you, and:
إني قد تركت فيكم شيئين لن تضلوا بعدهما ؛ كتاب الله وسنتي
I left behind two things for you of which you will not be misguided: the Holy Qur’an and my Sunnah.
(Mustadrak al-Haakim)
Three Steps Connect the Circle
That means you have to obey the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah of Prophet (s). The first step is at`eeoollah, “obey Allah.” The second step is at`eeoo rasool, “obey the Prophet (s).” And then wa oolil-amri minkum, “obey the Believers among you.” So it is three steps. That is why when you say, “Allahu Akbar!” you are obeying Allah (swt) in prayer until sitting at the end, which will clean you completely when you send salawaat on Prophet (s) and salaam to mu’mineen, and then you say, “Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llaah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadu ‘r-Rasoolullah.” That is the key to connect the two sides of the circle and if you do it in the right way, you are connected to Allah through your `amal, then to the Prophet (s), to mu’min and then to the mashaykh who will look at what you have done and they fix it for you.
When do they do that? The best time for a wali to look at what their followers have done throughout the day are the awqaat ash-shareefa, the holy, honorable times, which are: one hour before Fajr, which is the best time to sit by yourself and do the awraad and prayers; after Fajr, after Subh up to Ishraaq. That is two times Sahr al-Qiyaam: when you wake up an houir or 90 minutes before Fajr, or even ten minutes before Fajr and do your prayers, then after Fajr. Then they llok at you between `Asr and Maghrib, and between Maghrib and `Isha. In these honorable, holy times, the wali has permission to look at what good and bad his mureeds have done during the day.
That is why the Prophet (s) said:
تعرض علي أعمال لكم فإن وجدت خيراً حمدت الله وما وجدت غير ذلك استغفرت لكم.
I observe the `amal of my Ummah. If I find good I thank Allah, and if I see other than that, bad, I ask forgiveness for you. (al-Bazzaar in his Musnad)
It means, “Not only do I observe but, tu`radoo `alayya `amal ummatee, they display for me the `amal of my Ummah.” How many people are here, 100, 200, 300, 500? Everyone's deeds are being displayed. If we are 500 it means 500 books are opened in front of the Prophet (s). How? What kind of power did Allah give to the Prophet (s) to look at these 500 simultaneously, then he cleans them and makes istighfaar for them all at the same time! That is an example of 500, but the Muslim Ummah is one or two billion. That means every night tu`radoo `alayya `amal ummatee, “They display in front of me the `amal of my Ummah,” of two billion people, that’s if we want to take the example of Ummat al-Ijaabah, those who accepted Prophet (s) and accepted Shahadah, and the others are still from Ummat an-Nabi (s) but they did not accept the Shahadah; they are Ummat al-Da`wah. Nevertheless, Prophet (s) sees what they are doing until they make Shahadah, then he adds them to his Ummat al-Ijaabah! So what kind of power Allah gave to him that he can see two billion people in front of him at the same time and, “If I see good I praise Allah and thank Him and if I see bad I ask Allah forgiveness on their behalf.”
And when he asks forgiveness on their behalf, he will not stop until he gets forgiveness for them from Allah:
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ
(O Muhammad!) We have sent you not except as a Mercy for all the Worlds. (Surat al-Anbiyaa, 21:107)
That is one of the secrets of “We have sent the Prophet as a Mercy.” That means mercy for everyone in his life, before his life and after his life. That is an ayah of the Holy Qur’an. So imagine the power of Awliyaullah. Many times I heard Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, say that there are 124,000 Awliya on the feet of 124,000 Anbiyaa. Where are they? They are there. They are in the video clip, but you cannot bring them out, you need a connection, the last one percent, to connect the circle in order that you can see the 124,000 Awliya.
Unfortunately, we don't have that power in our eyes. Some people are happy with what they have and some people are upset with what they have, because it is not enough. Allah (swt) said for us to be happy in everything! Look at the meanings of the Holy Qur'an: Alif. Laam. Meem; Kaaf. Haa. Yaa. `Ayn. Saad; Haa. Meem. `Ayn. Seen. Qaaf; Alif. Laam. Meem. Raa; Alif. Laam. Raa. We call them al-muqata`at, but they are ayahs by themselves. Ibn `Abbas (r) spent seven years learning Surat al-Baqarah, the chapter after the opening of the Holy Qur'an. He was not memorizing, but learned the meanings. You can memorize the entire Qur'an, but if you do not act on what you are memorizing, you will lose it. It took him seven years!
It is said that there are ten-thousand rules in Surat al-Baqarah alone. That means ten-thousand judgments, ten-thousand informations in Surat al-Baqarah alone. All of Surat al-Baqarah is within “Alif. Laam. Meem.” It is the heavenly video clip, if we can say that for young people to understand. We spoke about the deep meaning of ‘Alif. Laam. Meem.’ Alif is the beginning of the Holy Qur’an, Al-Fatihah, and then saba` mathaanee, because the entire Holy Qur'an is contained in Surat al-Fatihah and Surat al-Baqarah; then one step more, as it is also in ‘Alif. Laam. Meem.’ After praising Himself to Himself in Surat al-Fatihah, why did Allah say, “Alif. Laam.Meem.”” That is for the Prophet (s), it is not for us. Awliyaullah can take from the Prophet (s) and that is why the tafseer of that is so deep, it stuns you.
Alif represents the first letter of the Name, ‘Allah’, The One Owner, al-Wujood, Owner of All Existence. He is The Owner and from Him the Knowledge descended to the Prophet (s), through Jibreel (a). So the Laam represents Jibreel (a), the Meem represents the Prophet (s). Allah, with two letters, Laam and Laam. Mulk wa Malakoot, Allah is The Owner of the Kingdom and Heavens with all that is inside, and the meanings have been explained by Awliyaullah, by Grandshaykh `AbdAllah and Mawlana Shaykh Naim (q). We will go into the meanings next time.
The Haa of “Allah” represent Huwa, the Hidden Treasure, Allah sent the Knowledge that is in there to Jibreel (a) to send to the Prophet (s). So the Meem represents “Muhammad” (s) and when you pronounce “Meem”, it is two Meems, not one. What is in-between them? Yaa. “Meem, Yaa, Meem.” It means the first Meem is the one that takes directly from Jibreel (a), who takes from Allah and hides it in the Yaa, the Meem that is facing Jibreel (a) will hide the knowledge in the Yaa, because the Yaa in Arabic grammar is Alif, so he puts it back in the Alif to be Unseen; he cannot show it to humanity as they cannot carry it. So it will be descending in the second Meem, which is facing dunya. So the first Meem is facing the Reality of the Divine Presence and Jibreel (a), and the second Meem is facing the Creation. So whatever is between the two Meems is the knowledge that has to be sent out to Creation, to humanity. They are preserved in the Yaa. That is why the beginning of the alphabet is the Alif and the end of the alphabet is Yaa. Yaa is “Yaa Seen”, which is the heart of the Holy Qur'an.
Next time, inshaa-Allah we will explain it in more detail..
Wa wa min Allahi ‘t-tawfeeq bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
http://sufilive.com/The-Shaykhs-Look-at-the-Mureeds-with-Their-Inner-Eye--5812.html
© Copyright 2015 Sufilive. All rights reserved. This transcript is protected
by international copyright law. Please attribute Sufilive when sharing it. JazakAllahu khayr.