Leaving Evilness & Migrating to Sainthood

Muraqabah Series by: Shaykh Hisham Kabbani 10 Steps to Sainthood Leaving Evilness PDF file

Step 1 Migration   Obey Allah, obey the Prophet (s) and those in authority [4:59]  

What is the real meaning of hijrah?

  The real meaning of migration?  Is the real meaning that you are migrating from one city to another or one country to another or one nationality to another?   This is not hijrah; in the physical meaning it is the meaning leaving one place to another place. But in a scientific meaning today, the whole world become like a global village. You can be anywhere with everywhere. You can be on top of the mountain, in the moon, but in reality you are still connected with every part of the world with tech.   You can run your business from a cave even, or from the himalaya mountains, thru a computer and thru a satellite that connects you everywhere.  

So dunya became now so small that people has to expand. And that is why they are trying to reach mars. They think they can go there and live there. Might be that is a real hijrah, migration. Because if they go there they never return back.   Hijrah means you leave one place but you must not go back to it or else it is not considered hijrah. This whole world, but still you are in the world.

The real hijrah that spiritual people and what the Prophet (s) gave to his sahaba, the real hijrah is his teachings. His teachings are the highest level of understanding of hijrah, of migration.   Because the Prophet (s) gave us the best and perfect principles of hijrah. And these principles if we do them, or if we observe them, experience them and act on them, we will achieve the real hijrah that everyone is longing for. Not hijrah from earth to mars. Not hijrah from earth to the moon. This still a dunya hijrah.   What the Prophet (s) gave to us is the hijrah, migration from al-akhlaq al-dhameema to al-akhlaq al-hameeda, from the worst manners and desires to the best desires and to achieve moral values and by doing this and achieving this we achieve rida-ullah, Allah’s satisfaction or happiness from us.  

Then they carry you to the real hijrah when you achieve these principles, migrating from bad desires and chars, to good chars and manners you will achieve the highest level of moral values, then you will achieve the power of spiritual ascension and self-realization of the ego, where it stands and knows its limits, then when you know your limits, if they will open the eyes of your heart and the vision that you can see with it you will not pretend like a blind person, that oh this is mine, when it is really from Allah, and it has been opened to you because you achieved that. And you will be rendering everything back to its reality and it source which is something from Allah’s divine names and attributes. At that time the real hijrah will open for you the highest level of understanding thru meditation; meditation that people are longing for it and people are trying today to practice it in every possible way and they might achieve they might think that they have achieved a spiritual ascension thru meditation wherever they are trying to reach and think that they have achieved there is still higher and higher. Because meditation is something that people say, “we are meditation” meditation on what.

We are trying to connect with energy, with the highest of the universal energy, which is the cosmos. We are trying to reach the divine presence.   Meditation is not something that you hold. Meditation is something like a dua, like a prayer. It is thru meditation, Muraqabah, is equal to what you are doing, you are requesting something, istalab, asking something from someone. So realty meditation has no structure. Meditation has no form. Meditation is universal. Because everyone is asking something. Because everyone is thinking and meditation is a thought, it is not more than a thought. It might be you are thinking, and the thought came to you to be a bus. Or to be an engineer that is a mediation; or to study medicine that is a mediation; or to study carpentry that is a meditation; or to study philosophy that is a meditation; or to study spirituality that is a meditation.

So it is an asking request. It is not something that you have acquired.   So when you are asking, it means you are asking something to get it. When you get it it is no more meditation, it is something else. At that time you own something. So meditation is only a step, one step toward enabling you, when you put that step, to reach like a ladder. The ladder is a ladder. If you take it away you fall down. But if you take a ladder and go to the roof, then take the ladder away you have achieved something.   So meditation is a spiritual step that you are stepping and reaching thru it something that you will own it later.  

And that is why the Prophet (s)said, tafakarru sa`atin khayrun min `ibadati sabaeen sannah. “To meditate/ponder for an hour is better than 70 years of worship.”  

It is more effective than and you will move quicker than a rocket relatively speaking to a car, in difference to a car, it will make you to speed up issues and to get higher reward as if you have worshipped

70 years{ [70years x24= 1680 yrs of perfect worship, 30 days times 1680 47000 years of Heavenly worship ness.] x 365  per days  = 630,000 years of Divine worship in One Years}.

See how much importance the Prophet (s) gave to meditation  but it is only to reach a certain level. And when you reach that there is no more need for that kind of meditation. It becomes something different. Today the word might not like it. The meaning of that word, people might say, what is that word. But that is the reality of that word and it is in the holy Quran, when you meditate and meditate and leave good chars and go to good chars when you decide to leave and begin to leave, then mediation like climbing a ladder, going to a higher and higher position, you will become, as Allah said, alladheena jaahadoo feena lanahdiyanahum subula.

Those who have struggled in us we will guide them in our ways. It means to what they are longing for.   Here jihad, many people speak of jihad an nafs. Jihad al-akbar is jihad an nafs. The Prophet (s) told the sahaba now we are returning from the greater jihad, jihad an nafs   And Allah said, those who struggle in our ways we will guide them . what is Allah’s ways/|   Jihad is by coming against that desire doesn’t like. Ti means coming struggling with the ego, whatever your ego ask, do differently.   So in meditation you are still happy with what you are doing, because in meditation it makes you to feel happy because the ego is relaxed. That is still not struggle, because that is not jihad. That is not the higher level.

Muraqabah it gives you sweetness. When he does it he is happy. It gives you, it makes your ego proud.  That you are doing muraqabah I am meditation and achieving. When you think of achievement and reward that is not a pure way or a pure meditation to Allah swt. You are still asking something in return   AwliyAllah never asked anything in return. Why?   Because they understood that Allah created them with his will, brought them in dunya with his will so whatever they have to do, it is up to his will where he takes them. They are not asking paradise or asking, give us divine presence then as if trading. You give us this and we give you that.   That is trading.

That is not accepted in the higher level of spirituality. In higher level of sp. You are like a leaf in fall the wind takes it right or left. The leaf does not say why are you throwing me right or left.   Like a sailing ship in the ocean wherever the wind takes it, it goes.   Don’t think everything you like to get you will get. The vessels in the ocean sail according to the wind. The wind is not in your hand it is in Allah’s hand.   So anything that you expect out of your meditation that ladder will never end. It means steps are endless. But when you say, O Allah, |I am coming to you, asking nothing.

Then meditation takes less time when you are not asking anything. Whatever you want to do with me you do ya rabb. Ad-deenu deen al-hubbi. My religion is the religion of love. That is my religion. To love you. You sent your messenger say. Muhammad and so I love you I follow.   It is as in western world unconditional love. What is unconditional love. Universal love. You see everyone in your eyes is equal because they are human beings, Allah created them the same. You have ears they have ears, you have eyes, you have eyes, they have mouth they have mouth. They are not different. They are the same.   Seven layers [holds up both hands one finger pointing up]. Allah gave us 7 focal points that we have to realize and observe and Allah gave us 4 important point also and nine important points.

So it is 4 and 7 and 9. these 4, 7 and 9 will give you the real arithmetic of the body. And the real composition of your body.  

If we keep these 4 points, 7 points and 9 points always clean then we achieve something. 

• 4 points Levels of the Heart secret, secret of secret, hidden and most hidden. These 4 levels in heart.

This Will Open This Reality of :

These 4 levels are been given to us as the Prophet (s) said, ‘as long as my servant approaches me thru voluntary worship I will love him, if I love him I will be his ears that he can see with and I will be his eyes that he can see with. These are four points.   Then what|: he said then I will be his tongue with and I will be his hand that he can sense with and I will be his feet that he can walk with; these are seven.  

Then the 7 Holy Openings of the Head:

This will lead you to walking at the end. Begin with ears, eyes, tongue and hand. Then when you establish this, when you hear and see what people do not hear and see, you will get a guidance, then you can speak. Then you will be given a power in the hand that you can change power in dunya. You can change whatever you like   Whoever sees something wrong, he should try to change it with his hands. If you sign a paper it changes everything.   When you sign a paper and change everything then you will be walking on the sirat al-mustaqeem. These 7 points are very important for us.  

The 9 points we will not discuss it is on the enneagram. Later we will discuss that.  

But what I like to say that very important for us is when we have . when you want to activate these points in the body, in order to achieve a higher level of meditation, Allah ordered us as Muslims to make ablution. why thru ablution.   Because in ablution the first thing we are doing is to take water in our hands and to wash our hands. How do we wash hands in ablution. Washing and then passing the fingers between each other. If you look at your hand you see a similar image to the left hand .you see number 18 in Arabic and in the left hand 81. that is total 99. 99 names of Allah. Then you begin to activate that divine code that is entered.   And if you add 1 and 8 you get 9 and 8 and 1 is 9 so 9 and 9 is 99. 9+9 = 18. 8+1 = 9   9 in numerology is zero. It means you are nothing. It is enough for now,  

Step 2 Awareness & Repentance  

It is a long journey because it is full of obstacles, whenever you see something as long it is because it is full of difficulties; whereas sometimes you see something short because time is passing quickly because you are entertaining yourself and you are happy.

While someone busy with his work sees it as a long time to reach his vacation.   Also in this journey of self-realization that it is a long journey but when you reach you begin to entertain and to feel the pleasure of dhikrullah. But until you reach, then you feel the pleasure. But it is a long go. When you do dhikr you feel pleasure an you feel the tie is running. But until you reach there you have to be aware that there are obstacles that will face you in your life.   So we said, that when you want to make tawbah you will be taken away from the group of oppressors, as Allah said, fa man lam yatub fa ula’ika hum adh-dhaalimoon. 49:11 

• So it means if you ask for repentance, they will take you out of that dhulm that group; you will no longer be called dhaalim, oppressor.

• It means they are willing to audit themselves, to make an account. So they come to ask forgiveness. How do you do it. You say I did this wrong, istaghfirullah. Then the Prophet (s) is obliged to ask forgiveness for them. Then they will find Allah forgiving merciful.
• That is the 2nd level you have to have Tawba and you cannot have tawbah without going to the Prophet.

 wa ma arsalnaaka… 

• Ya ayyuhalladheena amanaoo ittaqullah wal tandhur nafsun ma qadamat li-ghad.

  Fear Allah and let every soul look to what the provision he has sent forth for the morrow.   It means what every soul has prepared of provision for tomorrow. Not the body - the soul has to prepare provision.   When the Bedouin came and asked when is judgment day. And it is long hadith. The Prophet (s) did not answer he was giving Jummah.   He asked 2nd time. The prophet did not answer. Then he asked again, mata as-sa`at ya rasulullah, but he asked with compassion, with passion.   So Jibreel came and said, tell him something, he is sincere.   He said, It is a long way, a long ride, a long way to the day of judgment. But why are you asking. What kind of provision have you put for that day. That way is full of difficulties, full of problems. Every step you take you are stepping with your ego. You are stepping with full confidence of your shaytan, trusting him. wherever he tells you, with your bad desires you are walking. This is what happens to us. What are you expecting what are you preparing.   Fal-tandhur nafsun ma qadamat li-ghad. Auditing, muhasabah in Arabic.

After you decide to repent and after you begin to audit yourself and what are the bad desires, then is the real journey. Is your repentance real or it is not real.

Audit Before Auditing of the Grave Starts:  

• Are you going to say I made the auditing and this is what I did wrong.
• Then you have to repent from everything that you have written counted in your journal.
• That is the day to put every forbidden you have committed, are you going to go back to it another time or you are going to move forward.

But the Bedouin was a sincere one, a pure one, a lover. He was someone that understands wisdom. What did he say? Mahabatik Ya rasulullah. I don’t have anything. What am I gong to find. How am I going to solve my problem.

• How am I going to go on my journey without your love.
• Your love is my beacon, my flashlight my spotlight, my sun my moon, all the stars in this universe, guiding me like the north pole star, guiding everyone to the direction of north.

• One of them is a girl or boy raised in Allah’s obedience. That means if you kept the covenant that you promised Allah on the day of promises and kept what Allah asked you to do in your lifetime then you will be saved. Else you are a loser. So what do you have to do now?

Now that you know you have to repent you must provide for your soul. You repent of what your body has done of sins, you ask for fear of Allah. It is not fear, it is taqwa. It mean sincerity, piety. When you have sincerity and piety, then Allah says I will teach you.  

wattaqullah wa yu`allimakumullah.

When you have love to Muhammad and you are moving with your guide thru that big jungle to that love of Muhammad and you show that love, then Allah will tell you that is enough. That is enough sincerity for Me. I know you are weak. If know Iblees is after you I know he was after adam, is he not going to be after you? But I need that love. Before you come to my love you have to come to love of the Prophet (s).   As the Bedouin said, Your love ya rasulullah. He didn’t go in the masjid even, he went. He was so happy so overwhelmed that the prophet spoke to him. as when you are walking and the king speaks to you.   You see the president on tv. Sometimes he says hello or salaams if he is muslim. to someone in the crowd, that person will be very happy.  The best of creation telling him it is enough. It overwhelmed he didn’t know what to do. He left. He was an innocent person, no impurities in his heart,  it is clean. So when the Prophet said it is enough he left. Alhamdulillah, that is nice.  

So when you love me that is a sign of sincerity. There are many people who don’t love Allah swt. They are falling into so many, they don’t know. But there are some people who love Allah  and

Allah said, wattaqullah wa yu`allimakumullah. What will he teach us.   And he said, wa fawqa kulli dhi `ilmin` aleem.

It means he will keep raising you in Gnostic levels. Knowledge after knowledge, infinite.   Wattaqullah wa yu`allimakumullah. When he teaches you never you have HEARD When he teaches thru the heart, thru inspiration, never you can learn thru books it is impossible that is why traditional scholars,

Allah gave to their hearts. Like imam ghazzali, like ibn Arabi, like shah naqshband, like ahmad al faruqi, like jani-janan. Like … sahaba. The four imams were able to write and explain. how? because Allah inspired their hearts. That ilm coming from top, from higher level to down.   Or he said wattaqullah wa yu`allaimakumulah. Then you can learn more and more.   Or else you will still be in that jungle. Not able to cross. Sometimes the jungle is very close together you will not be able to move. That way is a very difficult way, the cross section in their life.   People take their beads and they do dhikr.

• They do dhikr. It  is not to do dhikr first.
• It is to eliminate the mistakes first.
• You do 5000 Allah Allah it takes 15 minutes.
• To do 1000 la ilaha illa Allah takes seven minutes.
• That is simple but not to look on forbidden is difficult.

Grandshaykh said, if you saw something wrong, it is not written against him. 2nd look is forbidden. He says ya Rabbee that is prohibited to look on it, it is far better than if he does 500 obligations but leaving one forbidden is more valuable to Allah swt because he is stepping on his ego and leaving it for Allahs’ sake. It is very tough to leave something that you desire and the ego wants it.   That is what we need to do. Not to leave the dhikr, but you have to daily eliminate what you have counted, from your decision to repent. For each one that you have done, you have to say istaghfirullah for that. I am repenting and not gong back to it.  

That is the level of muhasabah.

That is the level of reaching every soul has to check what it has provided for the future. That is the way to reach the 3rd level on the way to becoming a mureed.   They don’t block these whispers. They want you to block it yourself. When you reach the level of mureed they block it. But before it they want you to.    When you become a mureed, thru you they don’t want you to get darkened, they want to keep the light there.

That person is like a receiver for the Shaykh, they see thru his eyes, they hear with his ears, they do with his hands.  

• When you are in the presence of the Shaykh, too many waswas comes.
• When you are in his presence he is causing that gossip to ‘upload’. All those bad gossips are being uplifted from the heart to bring it out.

Even if you don’t take bayah, if you are written to be in his group, he will test you, but you will not be aware. They might not physically take bayah. They were assigned on the day of promises to be in his group.   Some people saw the Shaykh in the dream and they never met Mawlana Shaykh. And they go to him. 

Step 3   

This way, our journey, seeking the way of awliya-ullah, the way that they have tried their best thru their lies to reach a higher level of enlightenment and a higher level of spiritual intellectuality and the highest degree of the unseen reality by achieving the power of Gnosticism, of Gnostics.  

Push Away Resist All Evilness:

That power is highest and higher than every power you can imagine. They went all their lives, they tried their best to seek that way and they have laid the foundations for us to follow and learn what they have inherited from the Prophet (s) thru their spiritual journey.   And as they laid for us the foundation, we try our best to imitate, because they are the real fruit and we are the plastic fruit. Plastic fruit look like real fruit but they are not real. And we hope that Allah the Qadir al-Muqtadir will change us as He changed them from plastic to real.   So the foundations that they laid for us, we have mentioned 4 of these levels in the previous associations. And the one that we have finished in the last association, wa the turning point, the

tareeq al-inaaba, which Allah mentioned in the holy verse,

Holy Quran Zumar {39: 53,54} {Allah’s Order to Rasul to teach Creation} Say: "O my Servants, who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of God: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful. {Then Allah Orders}
Ayah 54 "Turn ye to your Lord (in repentance) and bow to His (Will) before the Penalty comes on you: after that ye shall not be helped.  

So that is a turning point in our life after the 3 different levels which we have explained: the 2nd is awareness, the 2nd is to think we have to repent, the 3rd is to audit ourselves and the

4th one is after having audited ourselves the turning point, 180 degrees.  

That will be one of the main levels; these 4 levels are considered one division.  

• After the fourth we are going to the fifth and then to the sixth seventh eighth ninth and tenth.
• The fifth level is what Allah swt said in the holy Qur’an:

  Hu Alladhee yureekum ayaatihi wa yatanazalu ilayk …wa yatanazalu ilayk al-dhikr.

He is the One who shows you his sings an sent down sustenance down to you fro the sky and only those receive admonition who… We send them with clear signs and books of dark prophecies…and that they may give thought.  

Allah swt said, wa anzalna ilayka adh-dhikra li-tubayyina lin-naas la`alahum yatafakaroon.  

We have sent down to them the dhikra the holy Qur’an, after providing for them their lives and all that they want. And we have sent down to you o Muhammad the holy Qur’an, why? In order that they may give thought.

  The fifth level is to think.{ Taffakur} 

• He sends the holy Qur’an in order to give thought.
• He did not send the holy Qur’an to play or to read like a storyteller with out thing.
• He wants us to think on every word we are reading.
• And whoever gives it a thought, he will understand in the 5th level, as the Prophet (s) said, tafakkaru sa`atin khayrun min `ibaadati saba`een  sannah. To give one hours thought is more rewarded than 70 years of worship.

• Alladheena yadhkuroona Allah qiyaaman,

• They have to think on the creation of heavens and earth.
• Why do they have to think of creation of heavens and earth?
• Why Allah wants them to think of creation of heavens and earth.
• To see His greatness.
• To know there is a god, as Sayyidina Ibrahim, he looked and said this is my lord.
• Then the star was gone. Then he saw the moon. He was going to worship, then oh it is gone.
• Then oh the sun but then oh it is gone. Allah wants us to think in order that you can believe.

He doesn’t want you to believe because you go that from your parent. He wants you to have qana` to believe because you are thinking, yes there is that reality there.  

That is the 5th level.

Seekers of the way, after reaching the 5th level, after repenting and turning to Allah, then they think what do we have to do, to prepare for the 2nd station, or if we want to call it the 5th and 6th station as the first

4 levels are in reality steps of one station.  

In order to achieve. wa maa yatadhakaru illa man yuneeb. 

• The explanation, I am looking: it means no one in the first ayah in the 5th level is the dhikr.
• You have to give the holy Qur’an a thought, yatafakar. { Ponder To Know Yourself is to Know Your Lord}

The 6th level is yatadhakar.

You have to remember. Remembrance is higher than giving a thought.

{ Remember  implies you were already taught the information, Surah Rahman "Alama Quran, Khaliqal Insan." it was already taught to you !"

• Remembrance will bring you in the presence of Allah swt. In remembrance you can understand why the water is coming from up on the mountain to down. If there is a fire you can understand why fire gives heat and power.
• You begin to remember every smallest created element that Allah created in earth and heavens and to give it a thought why it happened to them.

At that time the Shaykh orders you for seclusion in the way of murids on the 6th level,

because in seclusion every wisdom of every plant or every living species allah will open to you the wisdom of its benefit and what kind of benefit it can benefit you.  That is why awliya-ullah in their seclusion, highly Awliya, and we know from sultan al-Awliya and Grandshaykh Nazim. Everything comes to them in their long seclusions of years and years; everything that is of benefit to every human being. You can know what kind of plants for this sickness, what is for that sickness. You can understand when you look at people what kind of problems they are carrying, what kind of problems they are in and you can give them the right medication in order to take them out from what they are in.  

In that level, that is the level of reality of issues.

You will achieve enlightenment of what is around you in this universe. When you reach that you are going to be as it is said, good tidings to you, for you have override your self. Good tidings to you because you have found the truth. The truth, which is noble and beautiful that truth will take you away and save you from devils and evil.  

You will trust that truth because at that time you will achieve `ilm al-yaqeen, `ayn al-yaqeen haqq al-yaqeen.

1Ilm al-yaqeen the reality of hearing.

`Ayn al-yaqeen, the reality of seeing.

Haqq al-yaqeen, the certainty of reality.

You have to trust that reality that is opened to you at that time. You cannot step back.   Some seekers of the way, when they beginning to feel that reality at the 6th level, they see how difficult is, they taste the sour of it. When you cut the flower, you get these thorns, it will hurt you so people don’t like to cut the flower. To cut it you will get the sweetness, the honey, the smell.

But when the seeker is reaching to the maqam al-muridiyya is the beginning of wilaya,

they begin to draw back from the sourness of that maqam. When you are seeking the way to reach mureed, you are reaching the first level of wilaya sainthood. That is why at the need of the ten levels, we will explain the first six levels that open to the person.  

Some people back up because it is sour. You cannot run away. You have to keep tasting the sour, because if you get it, it is the best you can get in this life here and hereafter. The one who will be able to enter and penetrate and enter the shore of that reality and will become a Gnostic in the way of the Divine Presence.   And to get that you have to have a strong faith. Because it is a beautiful experience that you will achieve after you are tasting the sour and reaching that reality, it will be the best of what can happen to you.  

So when you are ending up in that giving that remembrance and reaching that reality in the 6th level, then you don’t want to leave anymore.

• You want to hold tight to what Allah said in the holy Qur’an, w`atasimu bi-hablillahi jami`yyan.
• That is the reality there, `ilm al-yaqeen, `ayn al-yaqeen,  haqq al-yaqeen.
• They move in parallel, with mahabat ash-shaykh, mahabat al-Nabi, mahabat-Allah.
• In parallel to it is ilm al-yaqeen. You are hearing about your shaykh you are hearing too much about he Prophet (s), you are hearing too much about Allah.
• When you keep hearing, hearing, hearing the shaykhs take you to a higher level, which is when you have established the full love of the Shaykh, the Prophet (s) and Allah, you will become like in their presence, you will feel them. When you love someone too much always he is in your mind. When this gentleman loved his wife too much he was not seeing except his wife. Going left seeing his wife. Going right, seeing his wife. Going forward, seeing his wife. What do you think when that love is for innocent love for the Prophet (s) and the Shaykh? When you have that it will take you to hudur Allah hudur al-Habib, hudur ash-Shaykh.

• That will take you to the reality of vision and reality of hearing.
• Haqq al-yaqeen. That will lead you to reality of reality, the real reality where there are no changes anymore.
• At that time you want to “hold tight to the rope of Allah and not separate.”
• Not to people, as they literally translate today, which is ok, to hold tight and not to have divisions. But the spiritual meaning is to hold tight to the real reality and don’t separate from Allah presence from the Prophet's presence and from the presence of Awliya-ullah.

Hold to them and keep in their presence leave the whole dunya and keep in their presence. That is the good tiding for the one who was able to enter that reality and ride over his ego and reach the peaceful and tranquil self, which will take him forward, that will be able to being with him the people who are his followers, into that presence  

That looks like a dream, a beautiful dream but it is not a dream.

For those ware seeking that journey. Those who are not seeking that are like a child who try to climb the first step and cannot, try and cannot try and cannot. Those who really try, they will reach a level they can see and the shaykhs treasures will be open to you, the Prophet (s) treasures will be opened to you Allah’s treasures will be opened to you. 

• So holding the rope of Allah swt is like a tree, that tree is a strong tree.
• Very huge. And you are climbing on it. And that tree when you are climbing on it, reaching its top, at that place you can see everything under you down, like a mountain. And nothing can move that tree.
• Fall comes leaves are gone. Spring comes and new leaves come. When you reach that tree and become a tree, it means every cycle of your life, there is a spiritual cycle in that realty that Allah swt has given it in the divine presence, those who are seeking the divine presence and want to enter in, will regenerate like leaves, old knowledge goes and new knowledge comes, just like old leaves go and new leaves come.
• As much as you are climbing you will be given more and more.

• Wa fawqa kulli dhi `ilmin `Aleem.

• Above every knower is a knower and you can go up and go up until you reach Sa`adat, that happiness.
• Then you will reach awliya and reach the presences of Muhammad. The association of awliya and don’t separate from them because if you separate from them you are separating form those
• alladheena an`am Allahu `alayhim min al-anbiya, was-siddiqeen, wash-shuhada'i was-saliheen wa hasuna ula'ika rafeeqa.

  Don’t separate us and you will be in their association and you will never be separated from them. By this way when you hold tight and don’t separate from the association of awliya, never you will be falling. Because when you are falling they pull you out and since they don’t let you to fall they give you the level of muridiyya.

That is al-maqam al-`itisam.  

That means `itisam, in a mosque, like `itikaaf. `Itisam means you try to hold yourself from falling into sins and mistakes. When you hold tight to the association of awliya then you will reach the

8 Eighth level

firru il-allah.

That is the eighth level.  

Fa firru ila allah innee lakum minhu nadheerun mubeen.  

Go quickly ye at once to Allah. Go quickly, run to reach the divine presence. You are already inside; you are in that association of awliya, in the divine presence. Fa firru illallah. Now I realized the truth. You people who are coming still seeking the way, run to Allah this is the real way, the way of happiness.   That is why he will be asking his follower to run with him. That is why when we are in the presence of our shuyukhs they are speaking of akhira. All their talk is of akhira; they are dropping dunya from their eyes.  

Step 9  

We left last time that the eighth level is to run away, to where? To Allah, as Allah said, fa firru il-Allah, innee lakum min hu nadheerun mubeen.   Running to Allah is very important and this will take

you to the level of riyaada.

• What is physical education (riyaada).
• What is physical education?
• Riyaada is sports in Arabic.
• Riyaada is anything that you keep doing in order to tamrind,
• to exercise and to make yourself adjusted to that kind of exercise, in order you get used to doing that.
• Some people lift weights, 10 or 15 or 20 or 30 lbs.
• That is tamrind, training. Like you do: you said you do tennis, table tennis, swimming, soccer, basketball, women riding [only one Shaykh ].

What do you do more? Sports training, training, training… so when you are training you are making your body more stronger and in this sense here where we are focusing, the mureed keeps training, when you say you are training a wild horse to become domesticated, you have to train to make your ego tamed.

That is the ninth level, the full control now,

as we described the ninth level, to have control of your ego and to ride your ego.

• When you ride your ego, that is before the highest level, where the awliyaullah are looking at you, and you can ride it and it no longer can ride you, you tamed your ego.
• Allah said, walladheena … those who dispense their charity with their hearts full of fear because they will return to their Lord.
• They are feeling fear of Allah swt and they are returning to him and they are taming their egos not to disobey their Lord, according to what Allah said, 51:50, and according to the verse ati` Allaha wa ati` ar-rasula… so when you attain to train the ego, to listen.
• Now your ego doesn’t listen.
• You might spend more time to make your ego happy than you are spending time to make Allah with you.
• The ego is happy with anything of dunya and is not happy with anything of akhira.
• That is why tricks of ego will trick you, the prophet said, allamoo awlaadakum as-sibaha wa rukub al-khayl.

  So we have permission to do that and that is part of sport so now we have permission to do cricket and ping pong table and domino table and basketball table and what other table. They might bring out table cloth also, anything table. So that is some kind of ego’s tricks that says no problem this is sports, you have to train yourself.   But on the other hand it delays us, though there is no sin in it, to make your body strong and play sport, but it is taking your time from training your ego to pray more or do dhikrullah more or read Quran more ore read hadith more and it is giving permission to the ego to do what it likes under the title sports.   That is one of the tricks that the ego will play with us.

It doesn’t know Shaykh, it doesn’t know Alim, it doesn’t know anyone.   Sow what we have to do? We have to fight it. How? By training to do anything that needs to be done. There is no sin in it but it delays in doing what you need to do.   So we begin to train the ego and train it to accept to say the truth. Because what I most important. To say the truth. If you don’t say the truth then you are lost.  

Yahay bin Yahya, said to Imam Malik, give me advice. He said I advise you three advices if you do them you will be safe.     1.. the whole knowledge that ulama inherited and wrote about and I as Imam Malik, had 600 teachers teaching me tasawwuf, and 300 teachers that taught me fiqh – a total of 900 teachers, all these ulama that have taught me, and all the `ulama I will put together and give it to you in one sentence. He said what is it. If you are asked about something and you don’t know, say I don’t know.” The truth. That is what we are discussing on the ninth level – to train the ego to say the truth.  

Now when you are an alim and between ulama everyone wants to show they know more.   Once I was with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim with my uncle and he was considered a murja in `ilm teaching Maliki, Shafii, Hanafi fiqh. And we were sitting with `ulama. And I asked my uncle to let Shaykh Nazim to speak. And my uncle looked at Mawlana  and Mawlana looked at my uncle and he did not speak.   Mawlana did not speak. Later he said never throw diamonds between the feet of ? it is meaningless because everyone wants to show his ego and his pride and no one will listen to what I have to say. It is not necessary to speak.  

He said I am giving you khulasat al-`ilm,

when you are asked and you don’t know, say I don’t know. Bring yourself down. Train the ego it is very important to train the ego to say the truth.    

2.. I will put together what all the medicine of the physicians, the whole fruit of the knowledge of medicine I will give to you in one sentence. He said, pull out your hand from eating as long as you have desire to eat. An tarfa` yadak `ani’tam. It means don’t eat to your nose, very full. Though you have desire to eat it back up. That is the hadith of the Prophet: the stomach is the house of illness. And he said, we are a people that don’t eat until we get hungry and we don’t eat until we are full. I am giving you the fruit of all medicine and then you will never see sickness in your life.

That is training the ego to listen and to accept to say the truth.  

3..  tu’ajma`u laka hikmat al-hukama’. If they put all the wisdom of the wise together I will give it to you. If you are among a people keep most silent of them, so if they reach the point when they give a decision, it is as if it was your decision and as if you said what was necessary, fi they make a mistake and you kept quiet, no one will blame you. Three wisdoms he gave him in 3 sentences: to say the truth, to say if don’t know if I don’t know. 2nd not to eat too much.

3rd to be silent, not to talk.   This will make you train the ego, to ride the ego. Then when you ride the ego, then the ego cannot control you. When you say I am not eating, it will say sam`an wa ata`an. Then if you are not trained you will be overcome by your ego.   That is why if I give you more soup, then it is going with the ego’s desires to not eat. In tariqat there is nothing with the ego’s desires. Even if the Shaykh says eat the whole pot then you eat the whole pot and..  

How many times the Shaykh made us to eat and eat and eat  until you have to extend yourself to open space.   Even in smallest you say enough and he is making it with du`a and salawat and you are showing your disobedience, struggling saying no, I cannot eat anymore, it is enough. That is for something that is not gong to kill you. What do you think if he orders you for a bigger order. If he says to eat, then eat, don’t say “no.”   I never forgot this meat that Grandshaykh gave to me to eat, me and my brother. In old times there were no refrigerators they used to cut the meat and hang in the sun and hang in cabinets. When they want to eat they boil it. So one time we were there and he said, you don’t go until you eat. We used to come late and pray tahajjud and go back. He said eat and go. Then he told his wife, go and get that meat. Oh, that whole house and kitchen was smelling from that meat. You can raise your head? No. you can say something. Then they broth that pot in front of Grand Shaykh Abdullah al-Faiz ad-Daghestani.

Then he took all this meat in big chunks and put in the bowl, smelly smelly smelly, who knows how many years it was sitting in the closet. Test. That was a test they are giving something to poison you. Then he said eat. We looked we cannot eat. Looking we see thousands of white worms coming from the meat and from the bones. Eat.   And Mawlana shaykh looking and says eat. How can you eat.

Bismillah ir rahman ir-raheem but almost vomiting , everything in front of you is going to come out. If you vomit you will be thrown out of the tariqat. And preparing the water on one side and trying. And Mawlana taking one big chunk in his mouth and gone., another chunk gone.   So as soon as we put in our mouth the smell is gone, the worms are gone. They want to check you. They make the entire scene in front of your eyes. That is how they train you. Then they perfect you, then they give you what they want of your trust.   So now we come to the last one.

When your ego is trained to obey how do you obey? Thru listening. Al-istima`.  

Wa law `alimAllahu feehim khayran la-asma`ahum wa law asma`ahum…  

If Allah had found in them any good, He would have made them to listen if they had  listened they would have turned back and then decline.   It means if the ego is good it would have listened. But Allah knows that the bad ego will never listen until you train it to control it. Always when the ego is riding you there is no way it will listen. You leave your husband you leave your children and only because you are listening to your ego. You don’ t hear anyone else.

That is why wa law` alim Allahu feehim khayran la-asma`ahum. Allah knows they are not going to listen, since the ego is riding on them. It means you are not going to listen, because you are under the control of the go.   But the last level, when you have left everything and reached the

level of hearing, sami`na wa at`ana.

When you trained your ego to ride on it, then you say, sami`na wa ata`na ghufranaka rabbana wa ilayk al-maseer.

Then you are under the power of listening. That is the highest level to be under the level of listening. The prophet is under two levels. Listening and obeying. Listening to Jibreel who brings the message and then delivering the message.   So the message of islam which is the highest level is in tariqah.

The highest level is listening and that is after all the 9 levels we described.

At that time we are listening and obeying and repenting and going to our lord.   So when you listen you accept everything.   When you listen you are under 4 different issues: you leave kufr to go to iman. You are listening and obeying.

• That is first level in the 10th station or first subtitle to go from kufr to iman.
• From unbelief to faith. That is the highest not to make shirk and to believe in Allah swt.

• So they went from kufr to iman,
• from ma`siyyat to ta`at from
• bida` to Sunnah from heedlessness to awareness.

That is why the Prophet said, an-nadm at-tawbah. Regret is to repent.

And this all goes under sami`na wa ata`na.   In the previous ummahs before that of the Prophet allah never accepted the tawbah of Bani Isra’eel unless they killed themselves.    Al-wasiti at-tawbat bi bani isra’eel qatl an-nafs.  

That is why when Sayyidina Musa came from his seclusion and found them worshipping the calf following as-Samiri,

he ordered them to kill themselves. Repent to Allah by killing themselves.  

For the Ummah of Sayyidina Muhammad, he said no. he said according to the quran and Sunnah and Ijma` he said, wa tooboo ila-Allahi jami`an Ayyuhal muminoona la`alakum tuflihoon.

O believers go back and repent and ask forgiveness that perchance ye may be successful.   Tooboo, fa innee atooboo fee kulli yawmin saba`een marra.

And in some riwaya 100 times. That is why in awraad we do 70 times.   And the prophet said, at-taibi min adh-dhanbi ka-anna la dhanba lah.   Wajiban ala kulli …

Repentance Burns Away Evilness and Clears Bad Actions.  

Repentance is obligatory on every muslim, or non-muslim, a male or female, sick or healthy, staying or traveling, there is no question about it that there it is obligated on everyone.   That is very important that we are trying to know what Allah swt is guiding us to. still they are ten levels, but you might work on some at the same time, but you must complete the first and then the 2nd and so on. You can do part of all but in reality your. That is why awliya order seclusion to mureeds. That is because they can go from 1 to 10. they don’t jump up and down. Because if you jump up and down we might break a leg.