Category Archives: E. States

Haal.

Wishful desires

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Our master Shaikh Abdul Qadir Raipuri (Allah have mercy on him) repeatedly mentioned this warid from his Hajj journey,

I saw individuals clinging to the house of Allah, holding it’s cover and crying profusely. They were supplicating for things for which they had done nothing at all in this world of taking means to achieve objectives (that is from the possible means within their reach).

Seeing their state it bolted out of my heart that these supplications (that are without taking the necessary means of achieving a goal within one’s reach) can not make a car run without fuel or a driver than how can they bring a drastic change in the affairs of our world.’

Sawanih, page 18

These are wishful desires (tamanna). They have to be differentiated from aspirations that are accompanied by effort within one’s means.

The stages of nafs: Nafs e mulhimah / part 3

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The Inspired Nafs

Allah Almighty says,

(9)ونفس وما سواها ( 7 ) فألهمها فجورها وتقواها ( 8 ) قد أفلح من زكاها

[91:7]
and by the soul, and the One who made it well,

[91:8]
then inspired it with its (instincts of) evil and piety,

[91:9]
success is really attained by him who purifies it,

In this stage of development the nafs is gifted with the ability to distinguish between good and evil. Moreover,the performance of good actions and abstinence from evil is facilitated for him by the Grace of Allah.

This Grace is manifested as immense desire to please Allah. And at this stage nafs remains drowned in intense love of Allah (‘ishq illahi).

This is possible by following the recommendations of the Shaikh and excessive remembrance of Allah as instructed by him. In fact it is mandatory (wajib) to follow the recommendations of the Shaikh at this stage to be successful.

This is both a phenomenal and a challenging stage.

Any heedlessness here will pull the nafs to its initial stage. (May Allah protect us all from this disaster. Amin!)

Its characteristics include; self restraint (hilm), philanthropy, contentment, humility, repentance, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, maintaining a good opinion about others, acceptance of others’ excuses, etc.

In addition to the excessive remembrance of Allah and following the instructions of Shaikh meticulously one has to repeatedly remind himself of meeting Allah and His perfections. He has to be vigilant in following the Shariah and be compliant to his daily wird. He must efface his ego by purposefully doing permissible humble actions.

Here the individual observes that everything is from Allah (tawhid e afa’li). He abandons all criticism. He cries often and is deeply effected by the crying of others. He withdraws from all the creation and finds solace with Allah. He is attracted to beautiful audition.

In short this stage is marked by intense love, lofty desires and high aspirations to please Allah.

Change

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Being unsatisfied with our present condition we contemplate about a change, for example in career, environment or relationships, etc. We assume that the change will be better for us.

Shaikh Abdullah Gangohi (Allah have mercy on him) explained,

Whoever desired for a condition other than the condition in which Allah has created him at any given time, has left no stone unturned in the demonstration of his ignorance and imbecility.

It is imperative for the Believer to confront every situation which is not in conflict with the Shariah, with acceptance (radha) and submission (tasleem), whether the situation is a calamity pertaining to life and property or whether it is a state (emotional or spiritual) of the heart. The attitude of radha and tasleem is the demand of Allah’s esteemed status, comprehensive knowledge, Gnosis and being The Lord.

If a person wishes that the condition which Allah has imposed on him be substituted with another condition, e.g., adversity with prosperity or despondency with elation, then he displays complete ignorance and imbecility of the mind. The basis of such wishes and regrets is the ignorance of his nafs. If he had truly possessed the ma’rifat of Allah, he would have understood that these predestined conditions can never be displaced, hence regret and wish would not have occurred to him. He would have been contented with every circumstance and have observed respect. Now by these wishes he is clashing with the pre-ordained Divine Decree.

Ikmal us Shiyam
———————-
Kissimmee, Florida

The stages of the nafs: Nafs al Lawwamah / part 2

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lauqsemu

The Self-reproaching nafs

لا أقسم بيوم القيامة ولا أقسم بالنفس اللوامة 

[75:1]
I swear by the Day of Resurrection,

[75:2]
and I swear by the self-reproaching conscience, (that Resurrection is a reality.)

This is the stage where the conscience is awakened and the self reproaches one for listening to one’s ego. That is, in committing the evil acts or omitting the virtuous or doing them in a sloppy manner.

Its characteristics include; reproaching, greed, coveting, self praise, show-off, cruelty, back-bitting, lying and heedlessness, love of fame and status. In sharing many characteristics of nafs al ammarah it maintains the ability to differentiate between the good and evil. However, it is not proficient, as yet, to fully follow the good commands and abstain from sinful. Moreover, if it does do some good acts  it develops desires of self-praise (ujub) or showing-off or expecting praise from others. In this stage it is imperative that he acknowledges and exposes these blame worthy desires to his fellow-brethren (as per the instruction of his Shaikh). Otherwise these blame-worthy morals will cut-off his journey on this path.

It is essential that in this phase he makes excessive remembrance of Allah and exerts in the struggle (to do good and abstain from evil).

Here he is inflicted will excessive abstract, useless ideas, and random, bizarre  thoughts. He has to fight them off with assistance of excessive remembrance of Allah and supplications, asking Allah for assistance in doing so effectively.

If he does so, he passes to the third stage.

The stages of the nafs: Nafs al ammara part 1

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نفس امارہ

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Shaikh Abdul Ghani at Tarablusi al Khalwati (Allah have mercy on him) said,

‘It is your lower self (nafs) that veils you from Allah.

The scholars of Reality (al haqiqa) have mentioned seven stages of the nafs according to its changing states, the ammara, lawamah, mulhema, mutmainah, radhiya, mardhiya and kamilah.’

Following is a summary of Shaikh’s discussion.

1. The inciting nafs (nafs-i-ammara)

إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لأَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ إِلاَّ مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّيَ‎

Surely, man’s inner self often incites to evil, unless my Lord shows mercy.”[12:53]

In its primitive stage the nafs incites us to commit evil: this is the corrupt nafs as the lower self, the base instincts. Its characteristics include; stinginess, greed, envy, ignorance, arrogance, lust, anger, heedlessness, coveting, mad manners, involvement in useless, making others’ fun, having malice for them and harming them with speech or hand.

It becomes the instrument of Satan’s seduction (to sin). It the most lethal enemy. Therefore extreme caution is needed in not listening to its insolent commands. In Prophetic saying the struggle against it has been mentioned as highest level of righteous effort (jihad al akbar).

Being steadfast on the commandments of Shariah is essential. Keeping constant vigilance (muhasba) is required. It is imperative to have extreme humility and engagement in supererogatory deeds. This is facilitated by giving up (after consultation with Shaikh) the excessive permissible pleasures and all useless activities. By routinely crying in front of Allah asking for help and making remembrance of Allah as instructed by the Shaikh.

‘Never leave supplication because of being depressed and frustrated (by frequent slips) or lose hope by considering the goal to be unrealistic. This will severe the determination altogether.’

If one persists then Allah will spiritually enlighten the heart of the seeker that will make it possible to see the diseases that inflicts the nafs.

The comes the second stage.

continued.

Abdiyet

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Imam Abdul Wahab al Sha’rani (Allah have mercy on him) quoted,

‘No level of servant hood (abdiyet) can be applied to an individual who does not consider all his good deeds to be ostentatious and all his states and conditions to be pretentious.’

Adurar al mandhood, (Hum say ‘ahd liyay giya) page 58

The curriculum of Tasawwuf

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Hakim al Ummah Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) recommended a curriculum for the seekers to develop a clear understanding of the path of Tasawwuf.

The text included are arranged in particular order. They start with the simple basic books of Hakim al Ummah and move to Imam Ghazali’s Arbaeen and then to more advanced text such as Mathnawi of Mawlana Rumi, Adaab al Uboodiyah of Imam Sharani and Akmal ush Sheyam explanation of Al Hikam of Shaikh Ibn e AtaAllah al Iskanderi (Allah have mercy on them).

In addition to clearing concepts, the reading of these texts motivates the seeker to be firm on the path and to progress further.

Senior Shuyuk of our path used to complete the reading and explanation of this curriculum in special sessions reserved only for the serious seekers.

Individual seekers must read these books diligently like textbooks. They should mark the outstanding passages and take notes for later review.

Nisab e Tasawwuf

Muraqaba: Allah loves me

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Hakim al Ummah Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) said,

Contemplate (make muraqaba) that I love Allah and Allah also loves me.

This muraqaba is extremely beneficial.

When an individual afflicted with extremes of worries and anxieties does this muraqaba, all of them vanish completely. This is because there is conviction that Allah loves me and therefore there must be some benefit for me in this affliction. In love, who will hurt the loved one?

Shariat wa Tariqat , page 278

The sequence of events in sulook

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Hakim al Ummah Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) said,

The sequence of events in the suook according to the people of this path are,

Firstly, there is development of determination (to traverse the path). At this time one should entrust one’s self to a perfect (kamil) Shaykh. In our era this is described as baiyah (or islahi ta’aluq).

Then the Shaykh e kamil will train the seeker either via general or comprehensive methods. This will create nisbet (experiential strong mutually friendly relationship with Allah) to an extent.

Alternatively, the Shaykh may initially bestow and transfer the nisbet and then proceed for training.

When the heart (qalb) is emptied from all the connections then the Shaykh may give khilafa (ijaza to instruct) to the seeker or wait till the down pouring of states and marifa. If they are destined then their knowledge and affects will descend on qalb (of the seeker). Their overwhelming is known as ascension (urooj ) and their peak is manifested as a indescribable effulgence (tajjali e bay kaif).

Then some are drowned in this forever while others recuperate. This recuperation is called descending (nuzool). The perfect viceregency (khilafat) and being a advanced level Shaykh is achieved at this level. ‘

Shariat wa Tariqat, page 51-2

Khatir

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Hakim al Ummah Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) said,

‘Khatir is the thought that descends on the heart (qalb).

It has four categories. First is from Allah, the next from angel, another from the lower self (nafs) and the fourth from the Satan.

The first is known as khatir-e-Haq, the second as ilham, the third as hawajas and the fourth as wasawes.

Following is the way to distinguish them.
If the incoming thought is of virtuous nature and one can act against it, then it is a ilham. If one can not act against it then it is a katir-e-Haq.
If the incoming thought is of immoral nature and incites the blame worthy morals of the lower self, like lust, anger, etc. then it is from hawajes. If it lead to desires of sinful activities (in general) then it is from wasawes.

Shariat wa tariqat, page 355