Realizing the Legacy of our elders

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أَلَا إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاءَ اللَّهِ لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

[10:62]

Unquestionably, the friends of Allah shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve

سُبْحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ

وَسَلَامٌ عَلَى الْمُرْسَلِينَ

وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

[37:180-182]

Wilayah

There is a word in the Arabic language called “Wilayah” and that word is used by Allah swt in the Qur’an in different ways. And the truth is the whole reason why we have been created is to attain the Wilayah of Allah swt – that is the mission, the maqsad, the purpose of our life as human beings on earth.

There can be no greater purpose and there can be no greater achievement than this. And, the more and more that we digress/diversify from this or the more and more we become the wali of the Dunya, that we become wali of Ghair-ullah, the more we become wali of sin, the less and less chance we have of becoming the wali of Allah swt.

This word is so fascinating that, first of all, Allah swt has used this Wilayat to refer to the relationship He has with the believers. A very famous Shaykh, Shaykh Bayazid Bustami rahimahullahu ta’ala was telling his audiance once that:

“Allah swt Loves the mo’mineen”

So, one person asked him that, “O Shaykh! What is your daleel, what is your proof that Allah swt Loves the mo’mineen?”

So, he responded by reciting this verse of the Qur’an-ul-Karim:

اللَّهُ وَلِيُّ الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا

[2:257]

That Allah swt is the wali of “الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا” ; That Allah swt is the Wali of those who have professed iman.

He said that Allah swt should have said it the other way round, “that those who profess iman become the Wali, the friends of Allah swt”

But rather Allah swt with our initial offering of iman, Allah swt was so Pleased with that initial offering of iman, Allah swt Loved that offering of iman that He Gave His Wilayat to the “الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا; He Gifted His Friendship; His Intimate Companionship to those who believe!

After iman comes wilayat

In other words, when you enter iman, then Allah swt Says in the Quran that I am your Wali! The rest of the life of a mo’min is geared at reciprocating that wilayat and becoming themselves the waliullah

So, our hearts should be saying that, o Allah swt! you said in Qur’an,

اللَّهُ وَلِيُّ الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا

I’m going to make myself waliullah .

Every person has some level of wilayah with Allah swt

Wilayat-e-Aama

The first Level of Wilayat that a person has is just by virtue if being a mo’min. Just by this virtue of being a mo’min a person has some love, some ta’luq, some nisbat with Allah swt – that is what wilayat means that to have some love, some relation, some connection with Allah swt! And just by being a mo’min you have it, whether you have it everyday, or you are distant from Allah swt and you think about Him once a week – you have that in the bottom of your heart, some type of connection with Allah swt – this is called in Arabic, “Wilayat-e-Aama” i.e. the wilayat of generality

Wilayat-e-Khasa

Then, when a person moves closer[to Allah swt], he gets something known as the Wilayat-e-Khasa. We can understand this as everybody has iman but different people have different intensities of iman within them.

For e.g. Water

There is room temperature water; there is luke warm water; there is hot water; there is boiling water – they are all water but the thermal energy in all of those waters is different

Just like that the thermal energy of the Muhabbat of Allah swt can ignite and heat up the iman of a person’s heart. Somebody may have zero thermal energy, somebody may have one  or two joules, somebody may have more, somebody may have even more

…and that is this path of wilayat; this path of tasawwuf – to make a person increase in their love for Allah swt and move further & further more and more towards that wilayat…such that a person becomes an ashiq of Allah swt; a person becomes an intoxicated lover of Allahs swt and is ready to accept any and every command Allah swt Sends upon him, ready to sacrifice anything and everything to follow the Sunnah of Allah swt’s habib, His mehboob Sayyidina Mustafa صلى الله عليه وسلم – that is what wilayat is.

Nisbat

Another word that is used to explain this [Wilayat] is the word, “Nisbat”.

Nisbat in the Arabic language means: “to have a relation; to have a connection”. And it is a rule in nisbat that: “When two things or two parties are joined the hukm or the ruling of that thing which is higher gets transferred to that thing which is lower i.e. if two things are connected and one thing is higher in value and the other thing is lower in value – the don’t meet in the middle nor does the higher one descend to meet the lower one but because of this nisbat, that thing which has  lower value is raised up to the one with the higher value”

For E.g. Tile: Masjid’s tile as opposed to a bathroom’s tile.

Consider a Tile, just a simple piece of ceramic tile,  that has a particular value and then if i say “Masjid” that has a much higher value associated with. If I say to you “Bait-ul-Khala” or “Bathroom” that has a very low value. Now when you take that tile and when you make its nisbat with the bathroom, the tile is going to have that same lowly value as the bathroom. But, if you take that  tile and you put it in the Masjid and it has nisbat with the Masjid, now its going to have the same value as the Masjid!

Brand new Masjid, Brand New Bathroom, Exact same tile – The first tile you’re willing to put even your barefoot on and that bathroom tile you wont be willing to put your barefoot on and you’d wear a sandal.

Why? because of Nisbat!

This is an incredible Blessing and Mercy of Allah swt that He has Chosen to Make the Nisbat of those human beings towards Himself by calling you ‘abdullah – the servant of Allah! And, because of that nisbat your value goes up in Allah swt’s eyes so much that nothing less than a timeless eternity; nothing less than a timeless life can pay for that value! – that is the attribute of Allah swt! He is that being who is so valuable that He should live forever! Who are me and you that we should live forever, but no if your nisbat is with Allah swt; of you adopt the nisbat of iman, ita’at, ibadat etc then your value in Allah swt’s eyes is increased eternally; infinitely – you become priceless in Allah swt’s eyes – there is no finite price that He can Give for iman; therefore He Gives a limitless, priceless, infiite eternity as a return of this iman. Allahu akbar!

This is Ar-hamar-Rahimeen; This is your Rabb-e-Karim, This is that Lord Allah swt and That is what He Created you for.

أَوْلِيَاءَ اللَّهِ

Awliya-ullah – this is a word in the Qur’an-ul-Karim. This is a group of people who connected their nisbat with Allah swt, who were His true ibaad, who were the Siddiqeen and Saadiqeen, who were the Muttaqin and Mohsineen – who joined themselves to Allah swt truly.

Its after this nisbat that they became great

Imam Bukhari rah was not the smartest Muhaddis that ever lived, that is a misconception in your mind – it was his ta’luq, his nisbat with Allah swt that gave him that qubooliyyat; that gave him that brilliance – the brilliance that he had, that comes from above, that cannot come from within!

Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Shafi, Imam Malik, Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal rahimahumullah had a nisbat with Allah swt. You read the lives of all of the great Muhaddiseen, you will see – their taqwa, their ibadat, their Sunnat, their Wilayat, the noor-e-wilayat will lift from the pages – you will see it in their lives! You will read their lives and you will think that you are reading the lives of some angels! – that was their real accomplishment!

Today, this world has filtered their lives through Harvard and Princeton until the best of you  view them as Ullama! And you have forgotten that their asal haqeeqat was that they were awliyah!

Same thing for any work of Jihad, any work of tabligh – that can only come from Wilayat. Today the world remembers them as dai’ees, mujahideen actually they were awliyaullah! And, Allah swt took the work of Deen that was requirement at that time in the Ummat from them!

So, the Real Goal, The Real Maqsad is Wilayah – that should be your aim. And the reason I am saying this is that: that young man for whom just being Muslim is an aim – generally falls short of  his goals – you generally fall short of your target – you say I am going to gun for a B grade, you end up getting a C grade. If you gun  for just basic level Islam, there is a danger that you’re going to end up in nifaq or even worse, kufr

So, Allah swt in His infinite Wisdom, being Ahkam-ul-Hakimeen has set the target at Wilayat.

Which Wilayat?

Is it the wilayat of Khwaja Moin-ud-din Chishti? No. Is it the wilayat of  Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani rah? No.

What is the Wilayat that is your target?

لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ

[33:21]

It is the Wilayat of Syeddina RasoolAllahi صلى الله عليه وسلم – that is your target in Qur’an. Allahu akbar!

Allah swt’s saying that you must make yourself as big a wali as the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. You cannot be a nabi, but you must make yourself as big – atleast you must spend your life trying to become as big – a wali as the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.

That is the Qur’anic vision for Humanity!

That is the Qur’anic purpose of sending Rehmat-ul-lil’alameen.

وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ

[21:107]

Allah swt Says in Qur’an that We did not Send you except as a Mercy for the Worlds! Because this was a Mercy or the human beings! It is a Mercy for us that Allah swt Gave us such a noble, pure, pristine, exalted Example; such a  noble target! – that is what Allah swt is really saying that bring to Me the Wilayat of RasoolAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم – bring to Me that level of tawakkul; that level of taqwa; that level of taharat; that level of ibadat – thats your target!

Now, that young man who starts to think like that I’ve not been created for these girls; I’ve not been created for these societies; I’ve not been created for this music; I’ve not been created for this fashion – I have been created for Wilayah, then he will start thinking differently, he will start viewing his whole life differently; he will start viewing his outer appearance differently; he will view his inner reality differently; he will view his actions, his statements, his feelings, his thoughts – everything differently! He will assess it in a different paimana [scale]

aap toh paimana-e-iman mey apney aap ko toltey hain, kion? Paimana-e-taqwa; Paimana-e-wilayat mey apne aap ko tolein; Paimana-e-Rasool صلى الله عليه وسلم mey apney aap ko tolein !

أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ

compare yourself literally to him صلى الله عليه وسلم – that’s what Allah swt wants you to do! He wants you to assess yourself not even with the wilayah of Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani rah, even more than that, Assess yourself in the light of the wilayat of Syeddina RasoolAllahi صلى الله عليه وسلم! – that is what you should be looking at!

Allahu akbar kabira! How far are we off from the mark? Even though, nobody can make that claim that they are on that mark, but the question is: do we even have our concepts right? have we even tried to orient ourselves according to this goal? Have we even set the goal where its supposed to be set – and are we leading a life that is oriented towards that goal? – thats what Allah swt Wants to See!

Obviously success in its literal sense is not possible here – you will never become as big a wali as Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. The question is, have you made it your goal? And have you oriented your entire life in that direction?

And, if you do orient your entire life – entire life here means this fraction of a second that you call “dunya” – then Allah swt will give you nisbat with the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in the Aakhira – you will be with him صلى الله عليه وسلم in Jannat-ul-firdaus for all of eternity! Thats what Allah swt is saying. Success, Allah swt will Give you in Jannat-ul-firdaus that you will be with him – your job is to orient your whole life towards him on this earth!

What more motivation could a person want?

People don’t understand. When the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is asking you to do a Sunnah, he’s not just asking you like that! He’s saying follow this Sunnah and you will be with me together for all of eternity!

If somebody was to come to you and say that if you wear this little jacket called “the blazer”, i will give you a million dollars – you will put the blazer on!

And, If I were to tell you if you live this lifestyle, you will live an eternity with Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, will you still stare at it..like it’s some stranger to you?! Allahu akbar kabira

What is it that you think you are rejecting?

Do you think you are rejecting 80 years of a Sunnah life? NO. You are rejecting an eternity of companionship with the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم  – thats what you’re rejecting! You should open up the magnitude of what you’re doing!

So, what do you have to show for it? Whose company did you get? What can she offer you for 80 years of your life? What can she offer you compared to that?! What in the world?! What can that career offer you? What can that feeling of being a modern enlightened man offer you? What is it? Allahu akbar kabira

This life – every day, every night, every moment that you spend is of massive value! Its Priceless – because its the opportunity to gain something that is priceless!

If I were to ask you that I will let you visit Madina Munawwara for one week, what are you ready to do for it? You’d be ready to do anything! You’d say “bus mujhe puhancha dein Madina Munawwara, baqi aap jo cheez chahein mey kerdonga” – [and that is] for one week in Madina Munawwara! And, Allah swt is offerering you eternity in Jannat-ul-firdaus with the companionship of Syeddina RasoolAllahi صلى الله عليه وسلم and you’re not ready! Allahuakbar

So, you cannot establish the big nisbat directly – you must establish the big nisbat indirectly! [Just like] when you don’t have access to the Professor, you go to the TA; You cannot meet Marx right now, you go to the Marxist Scholar! Just like that you must attach yourself with those links that will link you back to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم – that is our Deen.

Our Deen is not a Deen in which you orphan yourself and you isolate yourself and you run a one-man-show! Every single thing in our Deen comes from Sanad[lineage] – E.g. you study hadith, you must do so from a line of Scholars that go back to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. And similarly, if you want to follow the path of Wilayah, you must do so from the line of people who have followed this path of Wilayat and go back to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.

You must connect yourself with those who connected themselves with those who connected themselves back upto the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم – otherwise, you will remain disconnected! That person who remains disconnected on this earth, is not going to be connected on the Day of Judgment…

If you are disconnected on earth, you will be disconnected on that Day. If you are disconnected on that Day, Allahu akbar – there is no greater sorrow!

Sorrow is such a pathetic word to explain this. There is no greater travesty, tragedy, sorrow, grief, sadness, depression, misery, absolute – just imagine the most absolute utter loss that a person can imagine. People say “my whole life was taken away in front of me” that is nothing!  Imagine when something really bad happens to someone then they say:’i felt like my whole life was taken away in front of me!” Allah key bunday! You are going to stand on the Day of Judgment and your whole eternity will be taken away from you! Can you imagine the grief and sorrow of such a person, that their whole eternity is taken away from them?! Allahu akbar

That is infinitely more terrifying than fire or hell-fire and some of the Scholars have said that: More than the physical azab will be that spiritual, emotional azab of knowing that you lost! And for all of eternity, feeling that loss and that emptiness and that vaccum of failure…me and you can’t even handle failure for a few minutes! You get an “F-grade” on a midterm, and you become so sad, Imagine getting an F on that Day! Allahu akbar kabira, may Allah swt Save all of us from such a thing

may Allah Ta’ala Send His hidaya upon us, may He Open upon us the haqeeqat of life, so that we live a life that is Accepted to Him. We are deluded, we are veiled, we are living frivolous lives! Just day after day after day as if there is nothing to be accounted for!

Wouldn’t you be amazed at your friend or room-mate, who never comes to class, never attends any quiz, wouldn’t you ask him, “dude, what are you doing, don’t you realize you will be graded on it?!” you’re amazed! you’re stupefied at such a person and that maybe for one little course at a University! What about spending your whole life in a Deeni sense like that? As if theres no grave, no examination coming, no possibility for reward and no danger of punishment – just living day after day! thats the philosophy they teach you : Live Day by Day! – thappar martey hain apko

Live Day by Day? You will live for eternity, how can you live day by day? How can you not see past a day?! We don’t look at today? We don’t even spare a glance for today, our whole gaze is focussed on the Aakhirah! The complete opposite of what the Western Psyche has convinced you of!

[Students are told that]  you just focus on graduating now, don’t think about big things now. When are you  going to think about it? You think it will automatically happen once you graduate? I can show you thousands, who even then haven’t done anything about it! You think you will do something  when you get your Masters degree? I can show you thousands, they still haven’t figured it out! You think you will know it once you are married and settled, I’ll show you thousands, who are married and settled but still haven’t done anything. None of that is going to make any difference

Its your ta’luq with Allah Ta’la, thats going to decide! One Day you make a decision; one moment – thats it. “I have lived my life according to my wishes up till now, this is the changing moment! Now I want to live for Allah, Now I want to submit to Allah swt…now I want to attain His Pleasure..now I also want to seek out that Wilayah! I’m tired of living just for fun or laziness or for sleep or for some fancy idea that I had in my mind or for some girl, I’m sick of it! – That is the moment you must make in your life and theres nothing about getting it easily later, it  gets more difficult to make that decision..

to give up everything for Allah, you think that is difficult now? Its gonna be harder when you graduate, its going to be harder when you do your Masters, its going to be harder when you have your career – you’ll have more and more distractions, you’ll be more and more attached to ghair-Allah

As a free spirit, as a university student, you are relatively unattached people, you are unfettered – attach yourself to Allah swt! Accept the fetters of slavehood to Allah swt, adorn yourself with the chains of being his bondsmen – that is what you should do..no need to be timid, no need to test the waters, its time to plunge, its time to dive into the Deen of Islam..

thats what Allah swt says,

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱدۡخُلُواْ فِى ٱلسِّلۡمِ ڪَآفَّةً۬

[2:208]

That you must enter totally, utterly, absolutely, completely! – NOT tentatively, gradually, skeptically, half-heartedly!

Is there anyone [amongst you] who can say that I have tentative, skeptical, half-hearted love for her?…You have complete, absolute, overwhelming love for her!! Who is she?

Allahu akbar.

And, if a person does this…agar woh yeh ‘sauda’ [deal] ker ley na Allah Ta’ala se, “Allah Ta’ala aaj ke baad bus mey aapka bunna chahta hun” – asal sauda yeh hai! is ko naqd kehtey hain – ke apnay aapko Allah swt ke hawaley kerdo, buss. Thats it. Don’t think twice, don’t look twice, don’t second guess – just give yourself to Allah swt, absolutely entirely – then you will see…Allahu akbar, I personally guarantee you, your life will change…

Don’t fool yourself about changing the life of others, change your own life. Change your own life.

Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said in a hadith:

man kaana lillahi kaan Allahu lahu

‘that person who gives themselves to Allah swt, Allah swt becomes theirs.’

Its instant. Theres no delay in it! If you are sincere in your heart and make sincere, pure taubah from your heart, from everything that was against His Pleasure and you make a true sincere deep niyyat and pledge in your heart that from this moment on Ya Allah, i just want to live for you, there is nothing that this world has to offer me! I don’t need to wait to be hurt by someone, i don’t need to wait to be deceived by the world, I’m not going to wait to learn it the hard way, I’m going to voluntarily, pleasingly in my youth give myself upto you..like the Sahaba-e-karaam radiyallahu anhum ajmaeeen. Like Sayyidina Amaar ibn yasir radiyallahu anhu, Like Sayyidina Ali radiyallu anhu wa karamallu wajhu – absolute [submission], absolute.

Hum kub tak aapko partial Islam per chalayein ge? aur aap kub tak partial Islam per chaleinge, batao? kub tak ho sakta hai yeh? How long can you do it? Its not sustainable…not sustainable. I can dhakka-start you every Thursday night, but will you keep a car like that? Batao? Aap aisi gaari rukhtey ho that needs to be dhakka started every time? Hum ne aise shagird ko rakha hai, hum rukhtey hain…Allah ta’ala bhi rukhtey hain. But, you should also think, you should start thinking now, start moving. Dont think, just move! Move towards Allah swt, then Allah swt Says in a Hadith Qudsi, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said that Allah swt Says:

that I am with My servant when he draws nearer to Me, if he comes to Me a hand-span [just a little bit], I come to him an arms length. If he comes to Me walking, I come to him running

Allahu akbar! That is your Rabb. That is Rabb-e-karim

Is there anything left to keep you from walking, when Allah swt Says He will Come to you Running! you will go to Him running, He will Come to you Fleeing…you will not understand what that means until you do it. You will be overwhelmed by that. That person towards whom Allah swt Runs! Allahu akbar! That human being’s life is totally different. Totally different : Barakah; Itminaan; Sukoon; Halawat – an incredible Life. Its like you’d be embraced by Allah swt, you will belong, where you were meant to belong. You will have a feeling of belonging, where you were supposed to belong…

لِمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ

[40:16] Whose will be the dominion that Day?

you will be owned by the one who is the True Owner, you will be possessed by the  Being who is the True Possessor – it will be like nothing else likened in the world. No other experience can touch it. Then, you will look back and you will laugh at the pleasure that you had in this world.

…to be continued, iA

[A few highlights from the Super Awesome talk by Shaykh Kamaluddin Ahmed db on 12th March, 2009]

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