Thursday, January 28, 2010

Behold God in your heart

Bismillah.

The Sufis lead their lives outwardly in accordance with the sacred law of the shariat,
but inwardly they are entirely independent of everything,
except the beholding of God.
- Abu Bakar al-Kattani
From: The Reflections of the Mystics of Islam


O son, listen to me. Never compromise on matters of shariat. Never fall into error of some pseudo-Sufis who are quick to jump into conclusion that "people of haqiqah" who supposedly understand tasawwuf, can be lenient on the duties of shariat. I was once fooled by this, as I had mixed with a wrong group of people. What is the difference between you and the others, if you want to mimmick the Sufis, follow their footsteps? That, outwardly you are just like everybody else, like any other devout Muslims who hold fast to the religion. But inwardly you are free of all limitations because your spirit is free to roam to your Lord and be close with Him always. Bi-iznillah.

But more than that, everytime you look at something, in your heart, inwardly, you witness Him manifesting Himself in a myriad of reflections, all pointing to His Holy Names and Attributes, Asma'ul Husna. Then again His manifestations is vast beyond a limited known Names. This is what one of our gurus, Baba Aziz keeps stressing - to always be in the state of shuhud - witnessing of Allah. I wish to caution you not to make the mistakes I made. This shuhud is not a far-fetched concept or philosophy or whatever idea you may conceive. This is an everyday thing which you should train yourself to do. Look hard. Observe His presence. Feel in your heart. Do all these while you mingle about people, doing your daily activities. I know it is not an easy thing to master, but at least be aware of this need to behold God inwardly, in our hearts. Certainly, it's not something that is only applicable during salat.

This, I remind myself as we plod on this path. The path that would take us to a state which is devoid of shirik khafi so that we live the true meaning of la ilaha illAllah and  li wajhillah (Nothing exist save His Face).

We are veiled by 70,000 veils, say our gurus. Therefore, slowly, every day we pray that these veils are removed bit by bit by the grace of Allah. We pray a'uzubillah min shirikil khafi. We seek refuge in Allah from having shirik khafi - the most minute, the finest kind of shirik which most people take for granted. Beware of this. Ask the learned about this.

O son, may Allah grant you and I better understanding. May He improve our understanding each day. May He grant us gnosis for us to have the ability to see Him here and now, so that we are not blind of Him. Because if we are not able to see Him here and now, we are going to be blind in the hereafter. Na'uzubillah.

With the blessings of Rasulullah s.a.w. we pray for success dunya wal akhirah.
Ameen Allahumma Ameen.

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