Ahmad Kutty – Spiritual Ascent – Stages on the Path of Ihsan

AI: Summary ©
The segment discusses the importance of achieving spiritual success through cultivating a spiritual path and aligning actions with sincerity. It also touches on the worship of Jesus and the supreme miracles holding in Rajab miracle. The segment provides examples of experiencing spiritual experiences and gifts to achieve growth and success, including seeking ahead in pursuing spiritual growth and avoiding regret. The segment also emphasizes the importance of testing one's ability to receive forgiveness and returning to spiritual growth.
AI: Summary ©
Okay, Shaykh go ahead inshallah.
Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen
Wasalatu wasalamu ala Sayyidil anbiya wal mursaleen Muhammadin
wa alihi wa sahbihi ajma'een Rabbi ishra
li sadri wa yassir li amri wa ahlil
uqdatan min lisani yafqahu qawli Once again we
turn to Allah subhana wa ta'ala in
humble supplication Allahumma allimna ma yanfa'una bima
allamtana wa zidna ilma Ya Allah teach us
that which is beneficial for us and bless
us in the knowledge you have granted us
and increase our knowledge.
It's my pleasure and honour to welcome you
to a very very interesting course I have
designed for my own personal benefit and then
for each one of you this is extremely
important the spiritual upliftment the spiritual purification the
spiritual development how do we strive on the
path the spiritual journey so that we can
realize the goal of Ihsan as much as
possible within the limitations Allah subhana wa ta
'ala has given each one of us this
is extremely important because no matter how long
we live ultimately we will be called by
Allah subhana wa ta'ala so when we
appear before him we want to appear in
the best of shapes with a heart that
is purged of the vices and presentable to
Allah subhana wa ta'ala before I go
into my presentation I would urge each and
every one of us to continue to pray
for our brothers in Gaza and Palestine and
all over the world wherever they are oppressed
including Sudan Myanmar everywhere we don't need to
mention all of the names but let's pray
for all of them that Allah subhana wa
ta'ala bring relief to them and give
them that freedom and dignity that Allah has
bestowed on them.
The course is called spiritual ascent the maqamat
stages on the journey to realizing Ihsan which
is the highest stage you know Islam is
a journey of a thousand steps the first
step is Islam the second is Iman the
third is Ihsan so how do we progress
towards that pinnacle the climax the culmination of
that spiritual journey so first I would talk
about this is introduction to Ihsan Ihsan, what
is Ihsan?
Ihsan is spiritual excellence of course I will
go into the details definition is excellence in
worship as explained in the Hadith Jibreel Hadith
Jibreel is called the mother of the Sunnah
even as Fatiha is called Ummul Kitab the
mother of the book why?
because this Hadith is fundamental in understanding the
nature of Islam not as a static thing
but as a dynamic it's a process it's
a journey so we need to look at
Islam our practice of Islam everyday we are
journeying so let us not journey backwards but
forward the goal is to reach the state
of Ihsan which is excellence in worship in
the Hadith Jibreel because I don't have time
to narrate that entire tradition I am going
to narrate only that part that touches on
Ihsan Ihsan Jibreel A.S. asked Rasul A
.S. in that great moment, teaching moment because
Jibreel appears before Rasul A.S. when he
is assembled with his companions he comes all
of a sudden he suddenly appears immaculately dressed
you know there is no trace of travel
and he goes straight and sits close to
the Prophet, his knee touching his knee and
he places his hand on the knee of
the Prophet, on the thigh of the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and then puts questions on
you know this three dimensional Islam he asks
about Islam and final question is tell me
about Ihsan and the Prophet says Al Ihsanu
an ta'budu Allah ka annaka taraah fa
illam takum taraahu fa innahu iraq Ihsan is
to worship Allah as though you see him
in front of you even though you don't
see Allah, you cannot see Allah but remember
he does see you so visualize that you
are seeing Allah and Allah is watching you
so this is the pinnacle, this is the
culmination of faith the end of the journey
integrating Ihsan and Islam into a state of
total spiritual awareness.
Now Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam you know
I am you know instead of just using
the terminology of Tasawwuf I want to harmonize
you know the materials from the Quran and
the Sunnah with the insights from the works
of Tasawwuf.
In this way we can facilitate the practice
of Tasawwuf or Ihsan Tasawwuf is the science
of Ihsan of course the word Tasawwuf itself
you know when people hear that you know
immediately it brings up in their mind somebody
dressing up in green turban and walking with
the staff and of course people kissing his
hand and even sometimes bowing down to him
and things like that.
This is cult This Surah Tasawwuf It's not
real Tasawwuf Real Tasawwuf is emulating Rasulullah Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam because he is the perfect exemplar
of Ihsan Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala describes
him You have indeed the best exemplar in
the messenger of Allah for those who look
forward to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and
look forward to the hereafter and for those
who want to celebrate the remembrance of Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala so the heart of
Ihsan and the heart of Ihsan is constancy
in Zikr Allah it's always a person is
a state of communion with Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala that direct awareness and remembrance of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala so the perfect
model for that is none other than messenger
of Allah no Sufi Sheikh no Alim can
compete with him in that because Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala My Lord has mentored me
and he mentored me very well so look
up if you want to achieve the state
of Ihsan look nowhere else but the example
of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam Ihsan is of
course in another Hadith Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
describes it because we have to look at
it from various angles drawing near to Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in a beautiful Hadith
Qudsi we read Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
saying the Prophet is narrating from Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala so Hadith Qudsi is not
a standard Hadith but it is a sacred
saying where Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is narrating
from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala of course
this is not Quran, Quran is of course
you read it in the Salah in the
case of Hadith Qudsi you don't read Hadith
Qudsi in Salah because the words are words
of Rasulullah but the idea is suggested to
him by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Allah
says My servant does not draw near me
to me anything more than the obligations I
have enjoined upon him so in other words
if you want to come near Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala you have to follow the
prescription the commandments and the prohibitions that Allah
has revealed you know people cannot make up
we are in the age of new age
where you know pseudo-spirituality all kinds of
cults flourishing leading to great exploitation this is
Ramban all around us millions have destroyed their
souls, corrupted their souls by following this pseudo
-spirituality and the cultic practices which is pure
inventions innovations but as believers we should stick
to the revealed you know so Allah is
in this Hadith Qudsi we are told first
carry out the obligatory duties that Allah has
prescribed for us and after having done so
this is the beginning only My servant continues
to draw near me to me the super
-obligatory acts of worship taqarrabu ilayya bin nawafil
taqarrabu ilayya bin nawafil he continues to perform
optional voluntary acts good deeds, righteous deeds of
course there are no limitations it's not limited
to simply salah or fasting guiding someone it
is volunteering it is all kinds of good
deeds you know there is no comprehensive definition
provided by Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam so when
a person after having performed the farail goes
performing the nawafil super-obligatory acts of worship
then what happens?
he attains that stage when I love him
I love him until I love him so
he attains the state of muhabba this is
muhabbatullah that is the station he has reached
there but when I love him I become
his hearing with which he hears his sight
with which he sees his hand with which
he strikes and his foot with which he
walks this is the greatest thing because this
person doesn't become God as some religious you
know cultic religions you know this he becomes
an instrument of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
just as Isa said in the gospel I
do this by the will of God not
by himself he is acting on behalf of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with the power
and the grace of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala is simply an instrument a slave of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala doing his will
so this is the stage ultimate closeness to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala ultimate goal is
to achieve closeness to Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala through sincere acts of devotion and we
do so always remember that our way of
spiritual path on the spiritual journey is following
the example of Rasulullah at every step of
the way Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala honored
his messenger with that miracle of many many
miracles one of the supreme miracles we are
in the month of Rajab miracle of Isra
and Miraj where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
takes him in a fraction of night to
Jerusalem where he gathers with the messengers previous
prophets and leads them in prayer because he
is the seal of the month and then
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala takes him to
the higher heavens ultimately preparing before Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala where Allah communicates to him
directly so he is gifted with that miracle
of Miraj ascension now believers can have also
this kind an ascension that gift of ascension
which is that ultimate closeness with Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala and the prophet sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam said when you are in a
state of perfect Sujood Sujood involving the body
and the soul this is a kind of
Miraj which of course this is the position
that we are closest to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala because we are showing that utter
dependence on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala humbling
ourselves before the lord of the worlds as
we are utterly dependent on Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala Ihsan
as a goal of journey Ihsan as a
path of self purification so it's very important
for us to know that Ihsan is not
a static state it's the culmination on the
path of spiritual journey how do we journey
to that how we can reach that state
the journey is it starts it involves cultivating
that awareness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
Taqwa Allah Taqwa is protection for us and
it is coming from Biqaya which is prevention
you know it prevents us when we have
this consciousness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
it saves us from trespassing from deviating from
acts of disobedience and also we will be
reminded that we are being watched by Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala so we will take
the steps carefully and Umayyuna Ka'b defined
Taqwa by asking Umar Umar Khattab radiallahu anhu
did you pass through a thorny bush Umar
said yes, how did you pass through that,
he said I was extra careful so that
I don't get hurt with the thorn or
stone so he said that is the Taqwa
that is the way to conduct oneself in
life because we are not without purpose here
we have existence we lead and examine life
and aligning our actions with sincerity actions must
be always with a sincere intention of obeying
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and pleasing Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala another next thing is
emulating the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam because
Rasulullah's life itself was a journey towards Ihsan
and we are called to follow his path
of devotion and sincerity there are stages on
the path of the spiritual journey towards that
ultimate goal of Ihsan to reach the pinnacle
of the spiritual attainment there are many stations
you know I would first emphasize on key
stations of course there are different textbooks in
Tasawwuf just like there are many textbooks in
Fiqh unfortunately people don't read the text of
Tasawwuf they only read the text of Fiqh
Fiqh is the outward laws as somebody simply
following the Fiqh of Salah he cannot expect
that his Salah is acceptable Alhamdulillah subhanahu wa
ta'ala so the soul of Salah is
more important of course form is important because
Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said pray as
you have seen me praying but he also
Allah already said that successful indeed are the
believers who have Khushu in their prayer Khushu
is that soul of Salah so where do
they discuss this it is in the textbook
of Tasawwuf there are many many textbooks like
that so I am relying I am giving
you I cannot cover all the stages and
stations that that various you know all those
expound and explicate we will focus on the
main and then we will bring some auxiliary
ones later on Inshallah so focus on seven
Maqamat stations in the science of Ihsan or
Tasawwuf the spiritual seekers achieves on the path
to closeness with Allah they do so through
their own effort perseverance and devotion and why
because they are intended to align our actions
with the actions and examples of Rasulullah so
that we arrive at the level of Ihsan
and spiritual excellence what are the seven stations
Tawbah is the first one Tawbah is recognizing
sin that you know our sin becoming aware
that we have sinned and then committing to
avoid the sin refrain from it and repent
next is Wara piety we will go into
explanation of this each stage in detail Inshallah
piety which is avoiding the doubtful matters avoiding
sins and doubtful matters actually avoiding that which
is prohibited and doubtful and that which is
not just the prohibited but also the doubtful
it is very very important we will explain
it in great detail Zuhud, letting go of
worldly desires asceticism means that you don't become
preoccupied obsessed with Duniya and wealth and possessions
and you know health and things like that
but of course let go of worldly desires
so that you are restrained you become focused
on spiritual growth we become focused on spiritual
growth next is poverty which is letting go
of materialism we are in a world surrounded
commercialism materialism extreme greed so Fakr is that
real you know letting go of materialism relying
entirely on Allah it doesn't mean that you
don't work, you don't acquire wealth no, you
can still be rich and Fakir Fakir means
you don't, you have possessed wealth but the
wealth doesn't possess you.
Sabr patience facing trials with perseverance for Allah's
sake and Tawakkul which is trusting in Allah
because there is a difference between Tawakkul and
Tawakkul Tawakkul is resignation, it's fatalism, Islam is
against that Tawakkul is you strive hard and
put your trust in Allah Subhan Allah and
the seventh one is Rida of course there
are other stations that others have we will
cover some of them later on after having
covered this of course Rasulullah once again is
the one who walked on this you know
followed them in great detail followed all of
these stations and exemplified for us gave us
examples of how to integrate them in our
life you know defining the stations according to
Sufi scholars I already mentioned that we are
we have to base it because this is
Tasawwuf so we have to base it on
the standard text of Tasawwuf first is Imam
Qushayri one of the great Risalah it's available
in English for those who want to delve
deeper I would urge them to get this
source and study it read it carefully and
study it and study it and study it
define maqamat he defined maqamat stages of spiritual
growth through personal struggle so we need to
expand our efforts to purify the self and
they represent an ongoing inner transformation towards Allah's
monotheism we are journeying towards Allah's monotheism our
heart our soul Qushayri highlighted the importance of
course we have to do that by emulating
the examples of Rasulullah according to Qushayri another
scholar maqamat stages where seeker overcomes negative traits
like pride and greed replacing them with virtues
such as humility and patience once again emulating
the beautiful examples of Rasulullah Ghazali another great
scholar of course Hujjatul Islam is the proof
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala look at
the the way Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
preserved the form and spirit of his religion
he is a great theologian, a great jurist
a great mujaddid also he is a mujaddid
and he is a perfect he is a
spiritual master actually and his book Ihya ul
-Ubuddin is the classic work and of course
it has to be studied carefully because there
are some questionable traditions in there I have
given detailed lectures on Ihya maybe it's available
for you but inshallah I will be putting
them out into treatises or manuals inshallah for
the benefit of all of you inshallah so
Imam Ghazali looks at refining inner qualities of
course there is a different way of approaching
this, the same thing actually aligning actions with
intentions and in living Islam teaching sincerely, once
again emulating the Prophet's personal transformation focus, who
his life was focused mirroring the Prophet's examples
of piety, humility and spiritual growth tasawwuf
in tasawwuf maqamat or spiritual station the seekers
attain through effort of course we have already
mentioned it in a different way so effort,
discipline spiritual purification tawbah, shukr tawakkul are required
through struggle and worship once attained they become
a permanent part of the seeker's spiritual state
and afford the growth in ihsan you know
and of course there is another thing which
is ahwal, you know maqamat and ahwal maqamat
are the stations that we step by step
we take towards that pinnacle of spiritual excellence
but then when we do so there are
gifts from Allah gracious of Allah flowing into
us these are spiritual experiences gifts that Allah
bestows on the seekers we can we should
have them we should have spiritual experiences if
we are practicing Islam authentically it should be
sometimes we feel that a prayer is heard
this is a hal this is suddenly we
are in a state of ecstasy at peace
this is a hal so these states are
transient, they are spontaneous and you cannot earn
it it is a gift from Allah so
may Allah bestow on us this kind of
graces baqa, constant awareness of Allah have that
constant awareness of Allah, it is a hal
but of course it may not last because
sometimes we are all occupied with the world
and then wajid, ecstasy and khashiya this of
Allah and reverence, you know you stand on
the seashore and look at that vast immense
ocean or you are in the desert expanse
of the desert you feel that tremendous wow,
and you look at that high mountain mountain
Himalayas and you have that sense of wow
this is a hal the spiritual gift, grace
that Allah grants so key differences, how do
we distinguish maqamat and ahwal what are the
key differences maqamat entails effort source of maqamat
is effort you have to put forth the
effort and the nature of maqamat they are
permanent, of course they are not transient they
don't pass and of course we have the
control over the maqamat and they should progress
sequentially you know start with tauba, which is
the first and then of course zuhud and
wara, go step by step and the purpose,
why do we do that why do we
do it consciously because spiritual development, we need
to attain the stage of ihsan, culminate our
journey in ihsan whereas ahwal source is divine
grace it's not our effort Allah bestows this
on us it's a grace from Allah, it
is temporary, ecstasy may not last, but of
course Imam Ibn Uthaymiyya said you know when
you are in a constant state of zikr
nahnu fee laddha, he quoted lau alimahal muluk
lajjaladuna aliyah you know we are enjoying such
ecstasy if the feeling that we have, the
experience of paradise we have if the secular
monarchs or rulers were to know about it
the value of it, they would fight with
swords to * it from us if they
can and of course Ibn Uthaymiyya was placed
in a dungeon, but he said ayah means
paradise he was in a state of ecstasy
so this is a higher gifted by Allah
so it's not within our control and it
occurs spontaneously and it's a reminder of Allah's
nearness so when you have that gift from
Allah, it shows that you know there is
an interconnection between maqam and hari ahbar can
inspire when we have this kind of experience,
this awareness that our prayer is heard or
we feel that state of utter peace and
tranquility or we see a taste of paradise
experience that kind of thing of course it
motivates us to go further and further the
person who has attained a maqam may experience
circling ahbar like zuhud that deepens their spiritual
connection both are part of spiritual journey you
know they go hand in hand you know
that is why aiming to realize the ultimate
truth we read everyday in prayer Fatiha Fatiha
on to the straight path so the truth
that is we have this when we have
that haal and maqam and haal combined harmonized
we are ultimate truth surat al mustaqim you
know let us try to understand it maqam
steps on a ladder you have a ladder
you climb and you have to put forth
your effort to climb and while ahwal are
more like refreshing breezes you know when you
climb to that peak the burst of light
or breezes you experience momentarily when you climb
towards that pinnacle or peak the steps remain
firm but the breezes come and go encouraging
the sea those who reach to keep ascending
harmonizing the two we have to strive how
do we grace and effort the grace from
Allah subhana wa ta'ala and effort we
put forth the striving in worship to ascend
maqamat, experience divine gift through ahwal Imam Rabbani,
Sheikha Masri Hindi is considered a mujaddid deviation
from the sharia is a sign of incomplete
journey so it may give us satanic experience
not really the spiritual haal.
Emulating the prophet.
So how do we combine harmoniously maqam and
haal we cannot, we have to adhere to
the sharia not like some so-called pseudo
-sufis say when you are already in a
state of zikr you don't need to pray
because prayer is aqm-e-salat al-dhikr
when you are already there when you are
already in Toronto there is no need for
you to take a bus to get to
Toronto, we are already in it this is
what pseudo-sufis say no, sharia we must
adhere to it always, there is no way
suqootu taqleef, taqleef we are not, will not
be we are not allowed to shun you
know not to abide by the rules of
sharia we must follow the sharia, the heart
of sharia is tasawwuf and the professor perfectly
harmonized his efforts with the grace of Allah
so he established that balance actually now Quran
and hadith are full of it because I
have to we have to finish this course
on time so I am bringing here a
few quotations, key central quotations from the Quran
because as I mentioned, I cannot simply give
you what I find in the text because
the text of course they caught these Quranic
verses so let us see some of those
quotations or maqamat Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
says li man khaafa maqama rabbihi for he
who fears the station of my station maqam
for he who fears my station and my
threat maqami wa khaafa wa eed this is
surah 14 verse number 14 there is no
one among us except with a known station
lahu maqamun maloom whereas ahwal their skies skins
shiver when their skins and hearts soften to
Allah's remembrance you know these are verses from
the Quran and of course Prophet sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam highlights the states and stations of
course he used to tremble he used to
always aware of standing before Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala and he was in a state
of fear of the aware of the threats
and warnings of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
stay away so that from all those things
that are displacing to Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala and he used to tremble in fear
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he used
to cry, shed tears in fear of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala of
course foundational hadith okay foundational hadith of course
we already mentioned hadith Jibreel and of course
the hadith that about the closeness, hadith Qudsi
we have mentioned so I am not going
to repeat that once again now the first
maqam is tawbah as we mentioned now let
us explore this further tawbah is a central
concept in Islamic spirituality it refers to sincere
return because tawbah yatubu the original meaning is
return in a beautiful hadith which Rasulullah s
.a.w. said that Allah is so happy
when his servant who has walked away from
the path like that of a traveller in
the desert he loses his camel on which
his baggage is there his food is there,
his drink is there loses it and then
suddenly and he is in despair he is
asleep and then he wakes up and his
camel is right waiting for him by his
side how joyous how happy he would be
he would rejoice this is how Allah rejoices
when his servant returns to him after having
strayed away so this is tawbah Allah is
so joyous happy with the more than that
of a traveller in the desert who has
lost his camel and then found it again
tawbah in the Quran of course very important
tawbah is a critical concept in the Quran
in surah 39 verse 53 O
my servants who have transgressed against themselves the
sinning do not despair of the mercy of
Allah Allah forgives our sins He is forgiving
and merciful is a beauty another ayah is
indeed Allah loves those who are constantly Allah
loves those who are constantly repenting
and turning to him in repentance and acts
of purification another
ayah is but those who committed evil deeds
and then repented after them and believed indeed
your Lord thereafter is forgiving and merciful Allah
is forgiving this was a surah that sinners
no matter how no matter
how the verses are sinners all of us
who have sinned we always constantly sin so
Allah gives us the hope that Allah once
we turn to Allah in sincere repentance Allah
will forgive us you know it is this
is a hope is a reassurance from Allah
your Lord has decreed that anyone of you
who does wrong out of ignorance and then
repents after that and correct himself indeed Allah
is forgiving and merciful Allah assures humans that
no matter how enormous our sins Allah's mercy
is greater we should not despair of the
mercy of Allah remember in surah al buruj
Allah says those who killed you know they
burned them alive group of believers steadfast on
their Iman they put them in the fire
pit and burned them alive yet although they
committed the most enormous of sins the gravest
of sins those who returned to Allah in
repentance Allah has forgiven Allah will forgive them
and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam narrated
the story of a man who killed 99
people and then finished and killed another one
who said there is no way Allah forgives
you you can finish him too and then
he is on his path to find someone
who is more knowledgeable to see whether Allah
will forgive him and half way through he
died and then of course the angels of
mercy took his soul because he had already
taken the steps to his repentance so this
is the mercy this is the effect of
tawbah Allah commands us to repent in the
Quran Allah wants us orders us to
repent sincerely O believers all of you together
turn to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in
repentance so tawbah is a condition for success
and of course it is urgent we should
not delay the tawbah because nobody knows when
death will come upon us but when we
are in the throes of death tawbah is
not valid it doesn't work so do that
before Allah will accept the repentance of a
slave as long as death did not reach
his qurban when death comes to one of
them he says indeed I have repented now
there is no repentance accepted in that state
conditions of repentance of course we will discuss
this in detail inshallah examples of course we
have now what are the examples of acceptance
of repentance of course we have the sin
of Adam alayhis salam the father of us
all Adam and he sinned they disobeyed the
order of Allah and ate of the forbidden
tree but Allah forgave them so it is
not passed on to his progeny as Christianity
teaches that because Adam sinned all of us
are born sinners so we need to be
redeemed ourselves by believing that Jesus died for
us astaghfirullah Quran tells us in categorical terms
that Allah forgave him taab alayhi Allah has
received talaqa mi rabbihi kalimatim fa taab alayhi
Allah taught him how to seek repentance and
Adam alayhis salam turned to Allah using those
words and then Allah forgave him now let's
explore the details of tawbah as explained by
the spiritual masters who have ordered I will
limit myself to two, the Risalah of Imam
Qushayri and Ihya just briefly mentioned scholars Qasim
al-Qushayri in his Risalah I mentioned and
Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali in Ihya, Qushayri
described tawbah as the foundation of the spiritual
journey the foundation and it is a requirement
for all other stations so tawbah is not
just finished one thing, you have to continue
with that so returning from what is blameworthy
to what is praiseworthy it involves outward actions
stopping sits and inward stays remorse and sincere
resolve and of course, Imam Qushayri said there
are levels of tawbah of course ordinary believers
repent from sins and outward misdeeds but of
course, those who are salihin among them dependence
from neglect in worship and those who are
higher, you know Quran also tells us مُقَرَّبُونَ
السَّابِقُونَ السَّابِقُونَ so he is not making up
this thing so the station of sabiqoon dependence
from distractions everything that distracts from Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala including occupation with the permissible
actions if it distracts from Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala then it is you know Rasulullah
salallahu alayhi wa sallam nothing distracts him from
remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as
Aisha r.a and his beloved wife said
everything he did he did it with sincerity
of intention to praise Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala of course conditions of regret sincere remorse
and stopping sins immediately and of course firm
commitment not to repeat and then make amends
compensate in the case practical implications of
this regular introspection how do we do that?
we have to examine where we are in
tawbah tawbah is ongoing Rasulullah himself said يَا
أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ وَاسْتَغْفِرُوا فَإِنِّي أَتُوبُ
إِلَى اللَّهِ فِي الْيَوْمِ وَيَا تَمَرَّى people make
repentance and turn to Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala I do so 100 times a day
not once 100 times a day Imam Ghazali
Imam Ghazali in his masterpiece describes it as
an emotional reaction to sin tawbah is our
response how do we respond to sin emotionally,
psychologically spiritually it's a transformative process that leads
to spiritual growth he is more of a
scientific psychologist he defines tawbah as the first
stage of the journey to Allah and the
key to our success so severing ties what
it involves?
severing ties you know, disobedience and of course
returning to Allah Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
deep love for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
three stages Imam Ghazali tells us there are
three stages on the Imam Ghazali in every
maqam there are three stages to it knowledge,
which is recognizing the seriousness of sin and
its impact in both this world and the
next world of course this is, you know,
behavioral psychologists tell us that if you want
to break a bad habit why do you
indulge in this bad habit?
because you have associated pleasure with that now
you want to skip it?
you need to cut this association and associate
this bad habit with pain and suffering so
in the case of those who smoke if
they want to quit smoking because they have
associated smoking with pleasure, the only way they
can cut off this habit is by linking
it cutting that association and linking smoking with
cancer and maybe it's a good idea to
go to the hospital and look at those
who are suffering from cancer because of smoking
and look at the thing of the money
they have wasted and think of some of
the risks they have, because sometimes this person
put this cigarette it's not extinguished and the
house is burned so associated with pain and
suffering instead of pleasure cut that, the same
thing Imam Ghazali tells us you cut off
the sin fornication, adultery and all those sins
we have been associating with pleasure, that's why
we are indulging in that, so cut off
that association and link it with pain and
suffering of course pain in this world and
pain in the next world so and then
of course acknowledging Allah's majesty and mercy understanding
how it affects the soul harms the soul
and corrupts the soul and make it dead,
the spiritual soul will be dead when we
indulge in sins the emotional response, this is
hard we need to also feeling during response
remorse for disobeying Allah Subhanaw Taala and driven
by love and reverence for Allah Subhanaw Taala
and the third thing is steps, action, taking
steps to reform immediately stopping the sin seeking
forgiveness and making amends and correcting harm done
to others, because the sins may involve the
rights of human beings or rights of Allah,
in the case of rights, violation of the
rights of human beings it is not enough
to feel remorse and stop doing it but
we also may compensate for the mass forgiveness
of them, if we can otherwise compensate for
them so these are three stages practical method
rectification, correcting wrongs like returning stolen goods or
apologizing and devotion, performing acts of worship like
prayer fasting and charity, these are atonement, breaking
bad habits, avoiding situations or companions that lead
to sin, it's very very important for us
I need to stop here we will continue
with this, I didn't finish my whole presentation
today, I will take it resume it next
week Inshallah, so before I proceed I would
urge you to think of istighfar, tawbah Ya
ayyuhan nas tawbu ila Allah wa istaghfiru fa
inni atubu ila Allah atamara, O people with
tawbah and istighfar and I would urge you
you know, sayyid al istighfar practice sayyid al
istighfar as you wake up in the morning
and before you retire to bed, because Rasulullah
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said sayyid al istighfar
means master dua for seeking repentance and forgiveness
the messenger of mercy said if you supplicate
to Allah sincerely using this dua of sayyid
al istighfar master, key supplication if you do
it in the morning and if you do
to die during the day you are reassured
of paradise, if you do it before retiring
to bed and you were to die in
your sleep, paradise is guaranteed because sincere repentance
allows Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to forgive
your sins inshallah, but with that condition that
sins involving the rights of human beings we
need to make amends compensate for them and
ask forgiveness of them so with this I
congrue I pray to Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala to inspire me and you to be
steadfast we walk in the path was journey
towards that spiritual excellence the path of ihsan
by taking these steps towards ihsan consistently and
consciously and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
bless me and you, honor me and you
to do that, there is nothing in this
world greater than ma'rifatullah because as Ibn
al Mubarak Abdullah ibn Mubarak said if you
pass through this life and you did not
have that gnosis knowledge of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala experience knowledge of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala you miss everything you may have
all of the riches of the world you
may possess the best treasures the whole dunya
you may be the biggest richest man on
earth having the best mansion driving the best
car but if you did not you are
not gifted with that ma'rifatullah experience feeling
and communion and tranquility the remembrance of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala you miss everything so
subhanaka allahumma wa bihamdik nashadu wa la ilaha
illa ant nastaghfiru kawlan utubu ilayk glory be
to Allah and praise be to you we
testify there is no god but you we
ask forgiveness of you and return to you
in repentance glory be to Allah and praise
be to you we testify there is no
god but you we ask forgiveness of you
and return to you in repentance glory be
to Allah and praise be to you we
testify there is no god but you we
ask forgiveness of you and return to you
in repentance we testify there is no god
but you we ask forgiveness of you and
return to you in repentance we testify there
is no god but you wa rahmatullahi wa
barakatuhu