“The Etiquette of Companionship with Awliya” Part 1
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
12 September 2009 Fenton, MI
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.
Ati`oollaha wa ati`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)
After `Ubaydullah al-Amawi finished his questions, Sayyidina `Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q) said to him, “Oh my son, awliyaullah who are reaching perfection, never speak on the unseen.” Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur`an,
يَمْحُو اللّهُ مَا يَشَاء وَيُثْبِتُ وَعِندَهُ أُمُّ الْكِتَابِ “Yamhoollahu maa yasha'u wa yuthbitu wa `indahu ummu 'l-kitaab - Allah doth blot out or confirm what He pleaseth: with Him is the Mother of the Book. (13:39)
Allah will erase or confirm whatever He likes. So if a wali can’t see what’s going to be confirmed or erased, and then speaks about the future, whatever he says might not be real; because Allah will it change if He wants. So, they try their best not to speak about what people cannot understand or about something that might be changed. That’s why awliyaullah always like to speak in a common and normal way instead of giving theories, because they are preparing their students to be in the presence of Prophet (s) and awliyaullah. That is the work of those who are giving theories and not confirming a reality. They don’t reach reality, so they don’t know about it. They have to give a theory because they want to make an argument; and it might be correct, but most of the times it’s not correct. We can see today many of these who consider themselves to be speaking through their connections, from their hearts. But in reality their hearts are not connected to a wali, they are connected to their egos. They think that awliyaullah are speaking to them. They mislead themselves and mislead their viewers and listeners.
He said, “Ya waladi (O my son), first of all what you need to do in order for me to give you and show you what you have promised Allah (swt) in the Day of Promises and what happened there, you have to attend my suhbah just as everyone else. They are not at your level, you have to descend to their level; you have to come down. You have to look at yourself as the same or less than them. All your visions don’t mean anything to me, in one moment you will be thrown out.” A big example awliyaullah use is of Adam (as), a prophet, the father of human race. He turned his ear for a moment and Allah (swt) took him out of paradise, took him out of heavenly visions. It means, “Oh my son, one mistake from your ego will make all you are seeing of your greatness and knowledge, to be taken away in one moment from your heart. So what you need to do is to attend associations with me and with the others. You are not better than them, you have to see yourself as less than them.”
Because our way is: "tariqatuna as-suhba wa 'l-khayru fi'l-jami`ah - our way is association and the greatest good is in the group." To sit with a perfect wali so that he will reflect on you the blessings that are coming from heavens on him and then distributed to everyone sitting in his association. So first of all, you have to sit in such associations in order to clean yourself and improve yourself. Or else you are not able to receive the heavenly blessings. He said, “To many in this time, in this century cannot reach their realities; reality that was present in the Day of Promises. They cannot connect with it to understand it, because there they were with the company of the Prophet (s).” In dunya, you are not with Prophet (s), only sahabah were with Prophet (s). You need the company of the shuyukh because they are inheriting from the Prophet (s). You need their company so that you will be considered as someone accompanying a wali who is inheriting from the Prophet (s); he will get for you these blessings to come on you. By this way, you will become perfect, and you will be dressed day by day, day by day. It’s not your ego now that’s dressing you, it’s me through the blessings that Prophet (s) is giving us, so it is coming all they way to you. It’s not that you are achieving it, whatever you achieve through your ego is null; not considered. Whatever you achieve from them, is considered well.
`Ubaydullah al-Amawi said, “Oh my teacher, what I have to do?” He said “You have to be generous.” He said, “What do you mean?” He said “You have to be generous,” similarly of Sayyidina Ahmad al-Badawi’s story, “you have to give your wealth; because you have gained it by yourself, you have to give it to me. What you have achieved in dunya of wealth you have to give it to me and what you have achieved in dunya from akhira, heavenly knowledge, you have to give it to me; because it is built on a cliff. Allah said,
“Who built his building on a cliff without a strong infrastructure it will fall in hell fire.”
It means what you have built by yourself through your ego and are proud of it you, you have to be generous to give it all. Don’t hold it, if you do, you will not get what I am going to give you. What I am giving will enable you, in just three hours to understand your realities that are embedded in the reality of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). Your zarrah (atom) is dressed with the light of Prophet (s). Everyone of human beings’ essence is embedded in the real essence of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). That‘s why Allah said,
وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ فِيكُمْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ - "w`alamoo anna feekum Rasulullah - You have to know that Prophet is in you.” (49:7)
If He (s) is not in you, you cannot appear or exist. Allah made every person to appear because the existence of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) is always in the Divine Presence, or else you could not appear nor be created. When you see yourself sitting here, it is an indication that you are in the presence of Prophet (s), therefore you are in the Divine Presence. That’s why Prophet (s) was always happy when he was called a “servant” of Allah, abadi. So if you are not understanding that, you can never see your reality; because there is no existence for you if you are not are existing by the existence of Prophet (s). You have to surrender, if you don’t, you are nothing. How to surrender? If you have a cup of water and you take a drop out by putting your finger inside the water, you’ll see that the drop has a form. But when it goes back in the cup, there is no form. It goes back in the ocean of water. So you have to decline your form, you must throw it and swim in the ocean of Prophet (s).
This is the key for you. How to do that is to be in the suhbah of the Shaykh; surrendering and submitting completely to his orders. You have to come with an empty container, your heart has to be empty; don’t come with full container. Can you show someone that is coming and sitting in the association of his Shaykh with an empty container, empty heart? It might be that with his Shaykh he is empty, saying “O my Shaykh knows better.” But do you say “O my brother and sister know better” or “I know better?” Can you accept that they know better than you? You think you are the best, that’s why you sing everywhere. People like to sing. That’s why Mawlana sings for them “Dome, Dome, Dome, Dome,” to make them happy.
So you cannot come and say, “I am coming.” Be nothing; like the leaf of the tree, it goes wherever the wind throws it, right or left. You have to be like a leaf up on the mountain, going all the way down to the deep valley, being completely finished. Meaning, bring yourself all the way down from a high mountain. All of us think that we are on Himalaya Mountain, the highest. We want to think we are something. He said, “O my son, you have to enter the demolition project, demolition room.” You have to go in that room. To be like people do now, burn or cremate; make them into ashes, which is completely against the Islamic shariah (law) and any other religion. But in spirituality, you have to enter the demolition room where you have to be demolished. You have to go into powder or dust so that you might be able to then be dressed and appear another time to speak to people.
So in the language of awliyaullah, that is what’s called the Qahhaar tajjali, the manifestation of The Subduer, the One that demolishes or overpowers everything; awliyaullah like it. It is the process of annihilation in which you destroy your ego completely. Then you can never raise your head and say, “I am here.” Their language never has the word “I,” it’s gone. They use plural, not singular. With plural they will not be asked for it, they will be excused. Singular means speaking about yourself. That’s why they speak in plural meaning “All of us are the same.”
He said “You have to go into that demolition room for Allah (swt). His beautiful name Al-Qahhaar, The Subduer will shatter you into dust and annihilate you completely, complete fana. Then they will take you to the level of complete baqa (existence) because at that time, you can exist in the existence of Prophet (s). You cannot say at that time “I am here,” or “He is here.” Your form is gone just like the drop of the water; it has a form, when it goes in the cup of the water it disappears. So you disappear at that time with the existence of the Prophet (s). You will be speaking like a television or a radio, there is nothing from you it’s coming from them. When you reach that level, then Allah (swt) will open for you through his Prophet (s) and awliyaullah what you need to know from the Day of Promises in order to act on it and do your award accordingly.
He said, “But I have to tell you, O my son, that Shah Naqshband...” Shah Naqshband (q) came after Sayyidina `Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghudjwani (q). He is telling him what is going to be in future. He can (do that) because he is of the Kummal, the perfect one (for whom) that reality never changes. He said, “Ya waladee! (O my son) We are speaking after we entered that demolition room and we were shattered into dust completely, no existence for us; we came in the presence of Prophet's existence. I am talking to you from that. But Sayyidina Shah Naqshband (q) is coming. He will never talk to his followers and give them what I am giving you. He will not accept to speak unless he enters the demolition room; not one time, but 51 times!” Meaning he goes in, he will be completely annihilated. He comes out, then goes back in to assure himself again that he is completely annihilated; there are no traces of ego. He goes in, comes out, goes in, comes out, goes in, and comes out. He is going to do it 51 times to be in Fee maqaamu 'l-fanaa fillah `azza wa jall wa fi 'l-habeebi 'l-Mustafa (s) and fee awliyaullah, the Divine Presence, the presence of Prophet (s) and presence of awliyaullah - until it happens to him 51 times. At that time he is going to say, “Yaa Rabbee,” his dharrah at that time is able to speak there before his atom will speak, he is being granted to speak. It’s not going to speak in dunya until he reaches that level. Then whatever he is able to speak, his words will be coming directly from the dharrah of Prophet (s), from the reality of the existence and the creation of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). “Be happy that I am accepting you with one time. In the future they cannot accept you unless you go 51 times as Sayyidina Shah Naqshband (q) did.”
"Man tashabbaha bi-qawmin fa huwa minhum -Who imitate or follow a group of people, that saint will be with them.” So now in our time, once is enough. In Sayyidina Shah Naqshband’s (q) time, he will go higher in levels. He will never accept less than 51 times for himself and for his mureeds (students); it’s going to be tough. That’s why you see now no one is able to reach that, except for few awliyaullah. That’s why we call them Sultan ul-Awliya, because they went into a process of being demolished 51 times. They have been crushed over, and over, and over again. And it’s 51 times for Sayyidina Shah Naqshband (q), for them it might be more. That time Allah (swt) will send them back from the ocean of annihilation to the ocean of existence. So he said, “Ya waladi, if you go into that process, in three hours I will take you to your trust; to that reality of alastu bi-rabbikum, to know who is on your right and who is on your left. What you have promised and how you can achieve it.” `Ubaydullah al-Amawi said, “Ya Sayyidi, I am ready. I give you all my wealth, all my knowledge.” He pulled everything from him, made him zero, nazzal; absolute zero. So when he threw him in that demolition room, in three hours he was able to perfect him into the reality of existence of the Day of alastu bi-rabbikum, he was able to go all the way there.
We are asking Allah (swt) through our Shuyukh and through our Prophet (s) that we are weak servants. We cannot do that by ourselves, we are asking them without looking at our shortcomings. We are asking them, “Ya Rabbi, we are weak servants, helpless and hopeless. Open from the ocean of generosity to us without looking at our shortcomings. Dress us with that reality of alastu bi-rabbikum,” ameen. Allah tests his servants and there are some of them who have been tested. They were like thunder, they never doubted nor questioned. I was speaking with one of them yesterday by phone at Maghrib time, he know himself he is hearing, Allah gave him such a reality in his heart that it cannot be described with his openness and generosity. He never had any doubt in his heart. He is saying “yes” for everything immediately, without any delay. May Allah (swt) give that person from endless blessing oceans and wealth in dunya and in akhira and keeps us all under the wings of or arms of our Shaykh Sultan al-Awliya, Sayyidi Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil Al-Haqqani and keep us all together, ameen.
Wa min-Allahi 't-tawfeeq bi hurmati 'l-Fatiha.
That will end the questions and the story of `Ubaydullah al-Amawi with Sayyidina `Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghudjwani (q). May Allah forgive us, ameen.
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