These are notes from Sheikh Abdul Mun’im Burkhes halaqa taken by my friend. The Shaikh explained Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya's (rahimahullah) book al-Wabil as-Sayyib min Kalim at-Tayyib (Abundant Showers from the Good Word). This session was on the chapter: 'The 'Effects (and need) of Dhikr'.
From the Hadith of Al-Harith al-Ashari in which Prophet Yahya AS ordered the Children of Israel five words. In the Hadith, the Prophet SAW explains that the one upon Tawhid as opposed to the one on Shirk is like the slave who works and gives the fruits of his work to his work while the latter, is the one who works in the lands of the Master but gives the profits to those other than the master. This shows how a Mushrik enjoys the favors yet worships other than Allah SWT. This was the first order and this is the worst sin (Shirk) without repentance in this life. Also, another type of sins is the type one commits against others-one can’t free us from the guilt except by given back their rights and getting their pardon. As for the third type, it is the ones between a person and His Lord-these can be erased by several ways such as seeking Istigfar, doing good, going through tests, etc.
Al-Salah is the second order wherein Allah SWT ordered us to pray and act upon them. One should not turn their attention/faces away from Allah SWT as He will do the same if the servant does and He won’t care about the servant. This ‘turning away’ is of two types-the first type is for the heart to turn away from Allah SWT and the second is the physical turning of the eyesight towards something else-both of which are forbidden. Allah SWT continues to care for his servant and attend to his servant as long as the servant is attending to his Salat. The Prophet SAW was asked about the turning that one does during his Salat. He replied that this turning away is a snatching that Shaytan does of the Salat - an embezzlement. It is like one is turning to one who is turning to one who is better than Allah - of which, there is none. This example is like one going up to a sultan/king who he went to meet. It is like he turns away from the sultan/king and doesn’t pay attention. What do you think the sultan will think; won’t the sultan expel him and have no care for him whatsoever?
Therefore the one who turns away can’t be equal to the one whose heart is attending the Salat and has Khushoo-the one who is filled with fear and is humbled before his Lord and even shy to even turn to someone else. The difference/excellence between these two, related by Hassan al Atiya is that of the excellence/difference between the Heavens and the Earth. This is because one is turning with his heart to Allah SWT while the other is unaware and almost mindless of Allah. It is like a barrier is placed between you, filled with misconceptions, lusts, evil whisperings and the soul will be busy with these thoughts-filled with nothing of the remembrance of the Greatness of Allah SWT. If he stands in the Salat, the Shayatn becomes very jealous of him because he stands in the greatest position-the closest position where Shaytan gets most upset. It is the most severe condition and Shaytan is very careful and strives as much as possible to not allow the person attain such a station. He makes him wish, hope, forget and tries to attack the human with all types of soldiers and makes the person belittle the Salat. And as a result, the person is unable to pray and makes the person remember things of no value or of forgotten things in order to busy his heart away from that thing and the servant stands without a heart and will not achieve the honoring, attention or closeness to Allah SWT. This servant who’s heart wanders everywhere will exit the Salat with his sins and disobediences and the heavy scales of wrongdoing wouldn’t be reduced.
The Salat only washes away sins for the one who completes it’s requirements and focus. If a person stood before Allah with his heart and body, then this person would feel the relief and as if the burdens are taken off and would feel rest and piece. This would give him a repose, a ‘coolness to his eyes’ and the Paradise of his heart-the place of rest for him in this worldly life. As a result, he will feel as if he is under stress and grief, in a narrow place till he enters Salat-giving him comfort and tranquility. The ones who love Allah SWT say ‘we pray so we gain comfort in our hearts’ and this is following of the Prophet SAW as he would say to Bilal RA that ‘let us pray to get us comfort’-he didn’t say ‘let us get comfort by simply finishing it’. Thus, the main source of comfort has been made through prayer and the one who finds this comfort would never want to leave it, making him want to pray on time and prolong his prayer duration. This will give the person Noor until Allah SWT will see it and the Salat will say ‘may Allah guard and protect you like how you guarded and protected me’. As for the other one who doesn’t pray properly, the Salat will be rolled up and thrown at him saying ‘may Allah destroy you like how you destroyed me’.
Also, there is no believing person who perfects Wudhu’ in each and every place and he stands on prayer on time, not diminishing any of it’s (Salat’s) tenets. The light of the prayer will shine forth East and West and the light will reach Ar-Rahman while the other person, who steals from the parts of the Salat will go towards Allah SWT black and it will say ‘may Allah destroy you’.
The first type of good deed is when someone who remembers Allah always and the actions are presented till the deeds face Allah and the person sees that they are done pleasing, intiated from a sound heart that is loving and seeking the Nearness to Allah SWT-then, Allah SWT will love and accept these deeds. As for the second, the person would do the deeds as to his habit and negligence and he intends to seek obedience with his actions being made but his intentions not put in the Book of Intentions. Thus, Allah SWT will only reward for what is done for and the rest of no sincerity will be rejected. When heedlessness sets in to someone who does try to good, he will get some of the reward Bi ‘idn Allah while the one who works for the Pleasure of Allah, Allah SWT will be pleased with the actions and will love him, bringing him closer to him and raise his degree and level, giving him without count. Thus, the rewards are not the same.
Regarding the use of Siwak, it is meant to be much higher in value-the acceptance of the deeds is of different types as the one who works for the best, then Allah will boast to the Angels of the person’s greatness. The other option is that Allah will reward the person but the degree will not be the same. The third type of acceptance may lead the punishment to be dropped and no reward is brought. Just like the Salat of the one whose heart has no remembrance, then there is no reward-that person still fulfilled the mark but the value is much lower.
In a Hadith it says the prayer of the one who runs away from his master and the one who goes to a fortune teller is like the one who has not prayed even though they have. Their Salat will not be accepted as the reward is not fulfilled and the deeds vary in degrees according to what is in the heart of faith, love and glorifying Allah and in terms of sincerity and according to how much the person follows the Sunnah of the Prophet SAW.
The people are on five degrees in their Salat. The first one is the one who wrongs himself from falling short-taking away from the Wudu, from the time of Salat, from it’s pillars. The second person is the one who guards his Salat and guards it’s pillars and outward limits but he didn’t strive against Waswasa (whisperings) and the physical actions doesn’t have Khushoo. The third type is the one who strives and tries to push away the thoughts from his enemy such that he guards his Salat through Jihad an-Nafs. The fourth type is wherein the person stands for Salat and completely fulfills it’s pillars such that the obligations of Salat and there is great dedication-such that the person is completely indulged in remembrance. The fifth person stands like the fourth person with focus, Khushoo and everything but along with this, he took his heart and he put it between the hands of his Lord, his heart is filled with the love for his Lord as if he sees and witnesses his Lord-such that all the whispers have vanished and as if the veils have been removed to a point that there is excellence which is like the difference between the Heavens and Earth.
From the Hadith of Al-Harith al-Ashari in which Prophet Yahya AS ordered the Children of Israel five words. In the Hadith, the Prophet SAW explains that the one upon Tawhid as opposed to the one on Shirk is like the slave who works and gives the fruits of his work to his work while the latter, is the one who works in the lands of the Master but gives the profits to those other than the master. This shows how a Mushrik enjoys the favors yet worships other than Allah SWT. This was the first order and this is the worst sin (Shirk) without repentance in this life. Also, another type of sins is the type one commits against others-one can’t free us from the guilt except by given back their rights and getting their pardon. As for the third type, it is the ones between a person and His Lord-these can be erased by several ways such as seeking Istigfar, doing good, going through tests, etc.
Al-Salah is the second order wherein Allah SWT ordered us to pray and act upon them. One should not turn their attention/faces away from Allah SWT as He will do the same if the servant does and He won’t care about the servant. This ‘turning away’ is of two types-the first type is for the heart to turn away from Allah SWT and the second is the physical turning of the eyesight towards something else-both of which are forbidden. Allah SWT continues to care for his servant and attend to his servant as long as the servant is attending to his Salat. The Prophet SAW was asked about the turning that one does during his Salat. He replied that this turning away is a snatching that Shaytan does of the Salat - an embezzlement. It is like one is turning to one who is turning to one who is better than Allah - of which, there is none. This example is like one going up to a sultan/king who he went to meet. It is like he turns away from the sultan/king and doesn’t pay attention. What do you think the sultan will think; won’t the sultan expel him and have no care for him whatsoever?
Therefore the one who turns away can’t be equal to the one whose heart is attending the Salat and has Khushoo-the one who is filled with fear and is humbled before his Lord and even shy to even turn to someone else. The difference/excellence between these two, related by Hassan al Atiya is that of the excellence/difference between the Heavens and the Earth. This is because one is turning with his heart to Allah SWT while the other is unaware and almost mindless of Allah. It is like a barrier is placed between you, filled with misconceptions, lusts, evil whisperings and the soul will be busy with these thoughts-filled with nothing of the remembrance of the Greatness of Allah SWT. If he stands in the Salat, the Shayatn becomes very jealous of him because he stands in the greatest position-the closest position where Shaytan gets most upset. It is the most severe condition and Shaytan is very careful and strives as much as possible to not allow the person attain such a station. He makes him wish, hope, forget and tries to attack the human with all types of soldiers and makes the person belittle the Salat. And as a result, the person is unable to pray and makes the person remember things of no value or of forgotten things in order to busy his heart away from that thing and the servant stands without a heart and will not achieve the honoring, attention or closeness to Allah SWT. This servant who’s heart wanders everywhere will exit the Salat with his sins and disobediences and the heavy scales of wrongdoing wouldn’t be reduced.
The Salat only washes away sins for the one who completes it’s requirements and focus. If a person stood before Allah with his heart and body, then this person would feel the relief and as if the burdens are taken off and would feel rest and piece. This would give him a repose, a ‘coolness to his eyes’ and the Paradise of his heart-the place of rest for him in this worldly life. As a result, he will feel as if he is under stress and grief, in a narrow place till he enters Salat-giving him comfort and tranquility. The ones who love Allah SWT say ‘we pray so we gain comfort in our hearts’ and this is following of the Prophet SAW as he would say to Bilal RA that ‘let us pray to get us comfort’-he didn’t say ‘let us get comfort by simply finishing it’. Thus, the main source of comfort has been made through prayer and the one who finds this comfort would never want to leave it, making him want to pray on time and prolong his prayer duration. This will give the person Noor until Allah SWT will see it and the Salat will say ‘may Allah guard and protect you like how you guarded and protected me’. As for the other one who doesn’t pray properly, the Salat will be rolled up and thrown at him saying ‘may Allah destroy you like how you destroyed me’.
Also, there is no believing person who perfects Wudhu’ in each and every place and he stands on prayer on time, not diminishing any of it’s (Salat’s) tenets. The light of the prayer will shine forth East and West and the light will reach Ar-Rahman while the other person, who steals from the parts of the Salat will go towards Allah SWT black and it will say ‘may Allah destroy you’.
The first type of good deed is when someone who remembers Allah always and the actions are presented till the deeds face Allah and the person sees that they are done pleasing, intiated from a sound heart that is loving and seeking the Nearness to Allah SWT-then, Allah SWT will love and accept these deeds. As for the second, the person would do the deeds as to his habit and negligence and he intends to seek obedience with his actions being made but his intentions not put in the Book of Intentions. Thus, Allah SWT will only reward for what is done for and the rest of no sincerity will be rejected. When heedlessness sets in to someone who does try to good, he will get some of the reward Bi ‘idn Allah while the one who works for the Pleasure of Allah, Allah SWT will be pleased with the actions and will love him, bringing him closer to him and raise his degree and level, giving him without count. Thus, the rewards are not the same.
Regarding the use of Siwak, it is meant to be much higher in value-the acceptance of the deeds is of different types as the one who works for the best, then Allah will boast to the Angels of the person’s greatness. The other option is that Allah will reward the person but the degree will not be the same. The third type of acceptance may lead the punishment to be dropped and no reward is brought. Just like the Salat of the one whose heart has no remembrance, then there is no reward-that person still fulfilled the mark but the value is much lower.
In a Hadith it says the prayer of the one who runs away from his master and the one who goes to a fortune teller is like the one who has not prayed even though they have. Their Salat will not be accepted as the reward is not fulfilled and the deeds vary in degrees according to what is in the heart of faith, love and glorifying Allah and in terms of sincerity and according to how much the person follows the Sunnah of the Prophet SAW.
The people are on five degrees in their Salat. The first one is the one who wrongs himself from falling short-taking away from the Wudu, from the time of Salat, from it’s pillars. The second person is the one who guards his Salat and guards it’s pillars and outward limits but he didn’t strive against Waswasa (whisperings) and the physical actions doesn’t have Khushoo. The third type is the one who strives and tries to push away the thoughts from his enemy such that he guards his Salat through Jihad an-Nafs. The fourth type is wherein the person stands for Salat and completely fulfills it’s pillars such that the obligations of Salat and there is great dedication-such that the person is completely indulged in remembrance. The fifth person stands like the fourth person with focus, Khushoo and everything but along with this, he took his heart and he put it between the hands of his Lord, his heart is filled with the love for his Lord as if he sees and witnesses his Lord-such that all the whispers have vanished and as if the veils have been removed to a point that there is excellence which is like the difference between the Heavens and Earth.
But how about the method of dhikr? Dr Umar Faruq, for one, mentions at the Zaytuna event recently, to practise it, you need izin (permission) from someone who has the authority to transmit the wirid (a shaykh).
ReplyDeleteuhuk.. We shall talk about this over the table with a sip of coffee - not here ;)
ReplyDelete