Walead Mosaad – The Journey is the Destination The way of the Arifin Class 23
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of the path of the harifin, the path of the casualty, and the path of the prior step of acknowledging one's shortcomings to reach a higher level of understanding. They emphasize the importance of intros blessed and the w VL in the mind, as well as the importance of the nafs, the w VL, and the concept of "nafs" and "nafs" in the conflict. The speakers also discuss the history of Islam, including the use of the term "na fe" to signal the beginning of a time period, and the use of the term "na fe" to signal the beginning of a time period. The speakers emphasize the importance of avoiding false assumptions and apologizing for mistakes made by people and the people of the utmost truth and reality.
AI: Summary ©
Alhamdulillah
we're reading from our sessions entitled the journey
is the destination
the path of the harifin
and as I said previously we could have
just as easily
entitled it the path of the Harifin or
the path of the Muhibbin
or the path of the salihim
or the path of mukharabeem.
So those who are near to God, those
who are righteous,
those who love
what Allah loves including our prophet salAllahu alayhi
wasalam these are all attributes of
sallam
these are all attributes of the harif.
And to prefer the Haqq, to prefer the
real of the truth over anything that is
fleeting and is
temporary of this abode
of this world that we occupy.
So we were reading from the section
looking at the adab with the f's, the
adab with oneself.
And we contrasted
what our automat
have stated
regarding this a little bit with
kind of the whole
self help,
you know life coach, guru,
love thyself sort of thing
and I think inevitably often
if it is not done from a
authoritative
tried and proven
spiritual
tradition then more often than not it descends
into not
the adab with the ego or the etiquette
with the ego but more about pampering the
ego and
letting the ego
partake in its indulgences and its pleasures
in order to achieve some sort of therapeutic
high as it were rather than seeing what's
actually best for the nefs, best for the
soul,
best for the human condition
though it may be bitter at times.
So yes sometimes we have to deal with
the bitterness of being patient with the situation
and being forbearance
with a situation.
And
that bitterness can turn into sweetness
once we realize that the one whose affair
is completely with him, namely Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala, he has the ability to change any
situation
from bitter to sweet and from difficult to
ease
and from
excruciating
to blissful.
So
we should put all of our trust
in Allah
as the
Wajid. So we talked a little bit about
khana'a yesterday about conviction as he mentioned
to be contented with one circumstances and we
went into that a little bit. The next
part which is the last section here
where he says RadiAllahu Anhu.
So,
also connected with the etiquette or the
comportment of
the nafs.
And this in of itself, books have been
written about it. It's kind of a whole
sub genre within the
genre of spiritual purification.
In other words
looking at one's shortcomings
and busying oneself
with one's shortcomings.
Perhaps most famously
Imam
sodami who was an early
spiritual doctor of
the mid
5th century if I'm not mistaken of the
Hijra and he has this book called Arubin
Naswa wadawaha,
the shortcomings of the soul and its medicine
and how to remedy it. And he has
about 68 to 70
different or you've different shortcomings of the of
the nefs
and how one would go about countering it.
So he includes things like
anger, he includes things like
hubbuljaah,
love to be
lauded and to have prestige and status
and so forth. So
one of the adab with the nafs is
Ittila another al basira. So your basira take
your spiritual insight
and use it
to
counter a yubin nafs your own shortcomings.
And that in of itself requires a prior
step which means you have to acknowledge your
shortcomings to begin with. So
even the greatest of the ODI they all
admit they have shortcomings
but what we consider to be or what
they consider to be shortcomings for us are
not shortcomings they seem to be
pinnacles of
faith and of spirituality
and of contentment with Allah's decree and so
forth but at every maqam at every level
one will find particular things that they can
always improve upon.
So if
the object of the ma'rifah in other words
Allah Subhanahu Ta'ala
so Allah is the one that we want
to know and Allah is infinite in terms
of his ata
in terms of what can give us and
what we can know about him then also
overcoming those particular shortcomings to reach a higher
level or
profound understanding of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
also can always use improvement.
So
you might also find a little bit of
this spoken about in some of the books
that talk about the
different types of
dalajat and nafus.
So the 3 souls are mentioned in the
Quran for example nafsul almaratuhvisoo
or nafsul lawwama
or nafsul mutma'ina.
And then some of them like Sayyid Abu
Khadarijilani I think was one of the first
looked at them as 7.
So they began with nafs al amal abisoo
right the one that is constantly
commanding you and trying to goad you into
doing su' into doing evil
and then it can graduate from that into
a nafsulawama.
Right?
So from the inciting soul to the blaming
soul. So sometimes it does right, sometimes it
does wrong, it feels guilty when it does
wrong but nevertheless it's kind of difficult to
get out of that.
And then from the nafsulawwama
to an nafsulmulhamma.
And they say here at nafsul mumhamah or
the inspired soul is the beginning of the
steps towards widayah.
Right? So the beginning of the steps towards
having a hussusiyyah,
having a more special relationship with Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala. So nafsallamara bissoop and nafsall
lawwama are kind of the vast majority of
people out there vacillate between those two things.
And then nafsulmulhamah
the inspired soul
is one that once you get to it
from the nafsul lawwala from the blameworthy or
the blaming soul then
it is just rafat rajat. So the veils
then that go from al nafsirulhumah
and then onto
Those 7. So going through all of those
then it becomes rather than having
veils that are opaque there are veils of
light. So the the hujab rather than being
vulmaniyah
which when you go for when you're nafs
al amarabussoop or nafs al lawwama
then you go on to nafs al
light. So
and kind of
to summarize what does that mean a veil
of light? It means kind of thinking you've
arrived when there's other things you can know
and that you can encounter and that you
can acquire.
And then going through that. So,
and the hardest step is going from lawwama
to a nafsul malhamah.
Right? We have more of a sustained
you know if I had to draw like
a a graph
that looks like where our iman goes for
most people is kind of like up, down,
valleys, hills, up, down kind of like that.
And for the nafs al Muhamma and the
others after it
and musma'ina
warraadiya war Mardia war Kamina it's kind of
like
you know a steady
increase like that I would suppose.
So
getting to the nafs almulhamah
requires that
failings
and that these failings will come out in
how you deal with people and how you
deal with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
So what it requires is introspection which is
basically what he's saying here. Nathal al basira
ala yuban nafs wazabeebamiriha
ilaqiyana.
Right, so an introspection and also to be
aware
the
subtlety
in the,
treacherous nature of the nefs. Right? Because it
doesn't want to openly admit to you oh
yeah I have shortcomings and here they are
1, 2, 3 let's go tackle them together.
No. It'll
kind of do the opposite and say no
no no you were justified in that response
that you had to that person.
They escalated it first and so you know
you were completely justified in you know publicly
outing them and humiliating them and doing whatever
that you felt justified in doing because
they certainly deserved it and they're not a
good person and you know they force you
to do it
and and
all of these justifications that
come about. So one of I'd say the
attributes also of this nafs al muhamma or
the inspired soul or the one who's acquainted
with her ayu is that you start going
from a reactive
kind
of demeanor with things around you
to a more proactive one. In other words
one that is based upon
mabaddi, one that is based upon well grounded
well rooted principles
rather than reacting in kind
to whatever is happening out there. And the
prophet he said he told the sahaba
letter kunukal ima
and they said you know so what is
this ima? What does that
mean?
Or he
explained to them
don't be like the Imma the one who
says
Or in valam nas valamna.
Right? If people are good, we'll be good.
And if people are bad, then we'll be
bad. He said rather, wathinu
If people are good you are good too.
But if also people in if
they corrupt or if they are go a
path of,
of destruction and evil, fell out of the
limo. Then do not respond in kind. It
does not give you a justification to
also be Zalim.
Right? To go beyond bounds and to put
things out of their place.
Rather
have a demeanor
and a way of dealing with the world
and with creation and with people based upon
your morality and your morals and your ethics
and your principles
rather than
a reaction. And if you think
that when there's such a situation that it
can be dire enough
that it requires a suspension
of acting upon your principles then you don't
understand the principle.
That's the very reason you have a principle
to begin with. It's quite easy to be
nice and good
you know
The nufoos
have been accustomed to loving those who are
good to it. So that's not really a
test of your character. The test of your
character comes when you're dealing with people who
are not so good,
who are not so nice
and
you on top of that, have the ability
to exact
a
response
that is not
bounded by
any limit except your own restraint.
Here then is the true measure of the
person, right? And when we see the divine
attributes, okay Allah afuwanqadira
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala he mentions
malqudra.
So the ability to pardon someone with at
the same time with the ability to exact
whatever you want upon them but nevertheless you
choose a hafu,
you choose to pardon them then is a
sign and it's a kind of a divine
attribute
that you'll slahlitahkhaluk
that we can also take for ourselves.
So
maybe you can exact a response on that
person with impunity.
No one's gonna stop you. No one's gonna
have a second thought about it and usually
this comes out in in in coordinates.
So like somebody who works for you or
someone who who you consider to be a
servant or like a, you know, a maid
or a waiter or waitress at at the
restaurant or the stewardess
or the steward
at the on the airplane.
So sometimes it comes out in things like
this in the way that we we act
with these people because we think we can
act with impunity. And
miracle of a person then will come out
there
and if you find yourself slipping in those
particular situations
and not slipping in situations where like you
know someone above you
is kind of rattling your cage and you
don't do anything in response, well that's based
upon fear, that's not character.
You can't do anything. You're not in a
position to do anything
to exact the response that you want. But
when you are but nevertheless you go beyond
bounds
then that's the true trust of the character.
So the nafs is treacherous
and he gives a nice metaphor here. He
says
So the heart, the spiritual heart it's the
house
and it has and
it
has jewels and rubies
and precious gems.
Right? Very precious
and of high value.
Wala'aklu
rabulbayt.
And the intellect here in this scenario
is the Rab of the Bayt, the master
of the house so to speak, the head
of the house.
But
But the nafs or the ego also
has a role. Haya rabbatulbayt
So here masculine and feminine doesn't mean like
husband and wife because nafs is it's feminine
in the Arabic language. So he says, Rabbatulbaytala
says that it's a co owner or a
co leader
in this house so you have 2 of
them you have the intellect
and you have the nafs
and they're both
competing or living in the heart that is
also filled with Ya Waqid and Jawahir
that's filled with jewels and rubies and precious
gems.
So if the
intellect here who is the co head of
the house,
loses interest or is remiss or is negligent
and is not paying attention,
then the nefs, who is the other part
of the house or the other leader of
the house then can steal
those treasures that are in the house.
The rubies and the
So there's no
pause or rest for the intellect as long
as the nafs is around and can steal
things like that. Always have to be on
top of things.
If the one who is stealing, namely the
nafs,
is also from the household,
then it becomes more difficult
to have hirasa. Then it becomes more difficult
to, you know, uh-uh to keep tabs and
and to keep watch. Laasiima
especially
if this thief
namely the nafs
is Mahboob,
is beloved.
That's our nafs.
Right? The nafs
it doesn't ask us to do things we
dislike
actually.
It wants us to do things we like.
So
things that taste good, things that look good,
things that sound good
and it doesn't really care about the Sharia.
It doesn't care about whether it can have
detrimental
ramifications
afterwards or not whether in the dunya, in
the ikhra or both in the dunya and
the ikhra. That's not important. The important thing
is to satiate
that appetite
and to
achieve and realize
the rahabet, right? Whatever it is
interested in.
And that's a beloved thing to to us
and it's not an easy thing to say
no to.
So this hirasa
that we can also call muraqaba
which you can also call vigilance
to be ever vigilant
and the easiest way or the best way
to be ever vigilant is to be aware
that Allah is ever vigilant of you.
So
Allah is your rakib, he's also watching you.
So you watch your nafs and be aware
that Allah is also watching you.
So, then he goes on to
Fosl, mayatafarra'u
minal adabi maal khalq.
Now we're going to look to the adab
with the khalk
with
creation.
So we need a little bit of that
I don't know how much we're going to
get through of it.
So, he says the first
thing that we understand of this adab, this
etiquette
with creation, with everything else
It would be the,
equality
of yourself and
of your family and of your children
with everybody else
when it comes to
Alhaq, right, when it comes to what's
right. When it comes even down to,
what is right and it may be a
bitter pill for you to swallow. He even
says the word bitter, right? It may be
bitter for you to swallow. Walokana morran even
if it's bitter. La yuwa fiqutaba'ainnufus.
So
you put yourself, you put your family and
you put, your children in that
same level
as everybody else. So you don't show a
preference o to them or or for them
when it contradicts what is haqq, what is
right, when it in it it includes
rights of people.
So,
if you,
you know, if you run a business and
you you you have this young person who's
working for you
and they're doing quite a great job,
but then you have a child or a
son or a daughter that is kind of
you know
not doing too much and you just want
to give them a job and you can't
pay both so you fire the person who's
doing well and you give the job to
your
your son or your daughter or your relative.
A kind of nepotism as they would call
it.
That may be a simple example
of how there was a mirara, there was
a bitterness, you don't like the situation with
the child but then you usurped the haqq,
you usurped the right
So
goes back to preference for yourself because of
their connection to you.
He said this is a very difficult
fine point
Most people run away from it, right? Very
good, difficult to implement.
And most people are not
capable of actually doing it. No one actually
alarifin not just aarif not just aarifin
mashayikh alarifin
you know the the ones who have cut
out short you know people who are well
in there on the path. So mashaikh doesn't
necessarily mean sheikh as an advanced in age
or a sheikh like a scholar but mashaikh
alarifini and it's people who are well versed
in marifa.
They understand it and understand where the priorities
are.
No one will take its shade and no
one will find pleasure in it.
This dakika,
this fine point here.
1 of the friends of Allah,
Allah, a very highly spiritual person, a
in other words someone of a high spiritual
state.
So to to put yourself and your family
and other and everyone else in other and
everyone else in Manzilah Wahida at one level
like everybody else,
this is minafaaal
muqarrabeen.
This is from the acts and the deeds
of the muqarrabeen.
Those that Allah brings closest to him.
Is
a
in terms of someone who is a Safi
or a Wali or a Siddiq. Was Safi
wal Wali almost the same. Was Safi
is a Wali of Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la
someone who has
pure
intentions. Some of them made a distinction between
a safi with wali. I think Sheikh Ahmed
Zarookf al Tawad.
He said it's Safi,
Laysalahut Tazaruf or Walidahut Tazaruf.
So the Wali is someone who has something
called Tasri or tasreef.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala kind of more readily
answers their dua. And the safi is someone
the
most
utmost
sincerity.
So he includes here,
moral lesson from the story of Noah of
Noah
alayhis salab. When he talks about faqditaswiya,
right, an example of not putting your family
and your children at the same level as
everyone else.
He says
when
the son of Noah, Ashraf
when his son was almost about to drown
and we know in the Quran
that Nuhalayhi Salaam said to his son,
iaabunayirkaab
ma'ana walatakum minagkhafili.
Iaabunayirkaab ma'ana come with us on the ark.
What did he say to him?
He said I will go to a mountain.
I will climb a mountain. It will save
me from from the flood.
And then
either Allah or Anuha said back to him
Laaasamal yawaminamrilla.
There is no protection from the command of
Allah SubhanaHu Wa Ta'la in this day.
So when he was about to drown
then Allah Nuh says to Allah Subhana Wa
Ta'la, Rabiiinna abneemin ahlih winaaadaqal
haqq
because Allah Subhana told him everyone will
will be saved from your family. So then
he responded back to Allah, Arabic in nabani
min ahari. My son is from my
family.
And then Allah,
revealed to him,
You spoke about your son
and you took interest in your son and
you didn't consider the rest of the people.
You're only asking about your son in terms
of the people who were drowning.
And your son is one of them.
This was Allah's response in the Quran.
I warn you to not be from amongst
the the jahileen those who are ignorant.
And this is the the tafsir of Al
Jaihi, his understanding.
So don't be from those ignorant
who
seek your own and individual right to be
fulfilled with Tuhmila
and then you are remiss or negligent in
the rights of all the rest of the
Ibad,
all the rest of
the servants of Allah.
Now the jayi is speaking to us, You
are miskeen 41.
Look at Nua
These are of the greatest people who ever
lived.
And he's from the 5 of the greatest
prophets.
Nasahalla
Azawajal Fiqalti,
right? He
spent many many years in dawah, actually 950
nasahall,
nasahall. In other words he was counselling people
inviting them to Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la.
And how much did he tolerate from them
all those years, all those centuries?
Right? And it said that in some of
the tafasir that no he lives so long
but not everybody lived as long as him.
And so
the grand he would be speaking in, to
the grandchildren of the grandparents who rejected him.
And then the grandchildren would say, Yeah, we
heard about you, our grandparents told us that
you're this person who talks these tales and
we're not gonna listen to you. And so
it was kind of even an intergenerational
thing one generation after another.
So he tolerated them
and he
was steadfast
in trying to guide them for 950 years.
Then he says to Allah
Then he said
my son is from my family.
For U Tiba Alaihi right and then Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala So
we say that there's a type of itab,
a type of admonition that can come from
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
to His Prophets and and messengers. And if
you recall from the session we did on
prophetology which
maybe I think was session 15 or 6
or 7 sessions ago we went into more
detail about this.
So,
review that if you have some questions about
it.
He had admonished him.
And then it said that he he wept
about it for 40 years.
And that which has been said.
And so when it got really severe, then
he said to Allah,
And if you do not forgive me and
have mercy upon me then I will be
from those of the khasiri and those who
have lost.
Then Lajai is speaking back to us, laamruka
matahatakah akhlal haqqi bil haqqi aadhu bandhu
madhaku
mirati al akhaimal haqqi walam
So La Amruka it's like almost it's like
you know by your life.
The people of Haqq, the people of the
truth and reality did not actualize it and
realize the Haqq, the truth and reality
until
that
which
in essence may taste bitter from Aqeamal Haqq
in other words the Aqeam and the Akaam
Al Haqq the rulings
of Allah SWT 2 types. There's Akaam Al
Taqifiyyah so when Allah tells you pray fast
Hajj is our Akaam
we have to do it. And then we
said
right and Nawazil
that which
Subhana Wa Ta'ala tries and is a source
of tribulation for you
loss of things
Loss of life and Prophet
and loss of things.
So
when can you have this realization that the
Haqqak
Bil Haqq.
You
are from the people of Haqq, from the
people of
the utmost truth and reality and you embody
the utmost truth and reality. How do you
know? When do you get to that? Hata'azuba.
Right? Azuba it become that which was bitter
now becomes pure
from that which Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, Yanzir'aleeka
Min Al Aqam
from those type of rulings that come down
upon you. And we said in a
Mujma Alaihi, right, that has
that is Mujma Alaihi right that has consensus
of the Ummah about it and you feel
like you don't want to practice it or
put it into practice because you're not convinced
it's right then you're not worshiping Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala you're worshiping yourself.
You're worshiping your intellect or you're worshiping your
understanding.
So you're putting your understanding as a barrier
between you and alhaqq.
That's not gonna work. And by the same
token,
if
you question every Nazila,
if you question every
difficult thing that comes down upon you in
your life
and you say why me
and you don't understand it and you feel
like you can't properly
deal with it until you understand it then
you also put a barrier between you and
alhaqq.
Then you have put your understanding, your quote
unquote understanding between you and Allah Subhana Wa
Ta'ala. But the people who are Masayikh Al
Harifin as he says here, Hata'adhu baindahum wathakumaraati
akhamalhaqq
until the bitterness of the
judgements and rulings of Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la
have now become pure
when they were before they were
bitter.
And they did not see anything in existence.
They see nothing in existence except Allah and
His acts.
So that means everything is an act of
God and if everything is an act of
God and goes back to God then why
would I have an objection to it?
Then my job then our job then is
to
accept it, is to acquiesce to it, is
to accept the decree
and then see Muradullah.
Right what is the Murad?
What is Allah seeking in this particular thing?
And right and that that we struggle and
we strive and we try to please Allah
Subhana Wa Ta'la and then
says
This is from
the shi'am
or from the
the attributes of the properties of the mashiikh
of the harifin
of the
those who are well versed in Ma'arifah.
Waitafaramin
al Adibi Malkharki Aydan tarhoma yustak
So he says, Yetafaraman al Adabmal Khalk also
included from the Adeb with the Khalk,
is
tarhu mayaustaqbahumin
akhlethahu akhlekhim an akhlekhit.
So that which is ugly from the character
traits of people,
tarhu.
To be forsaken, to be abandoned, not to
be followed.
But rather following
and emulating
those who are of knowledge and basa'ir and
of spiritual insight from amongst them. These are
the people we want to emulate
not the people that we read about on
yahoo.com
and msn.com
and you know who's dating who and
you know which celebrity is quarantining which with
other celebrity during the COVID and,
you know,
how much their new coach purse
cost and
did they wear it to Disneyland or not?
Do I say how will I?
Inama'ilukhidaa
Obi Ahlila'ilmi
walbasa'ir
to follow the people of
first type,
alimun
sahihuul talbi,
salimul basira wal basar
means rashaah with your hubid dunya.
So
a 'alim,
a knowledgeable person, a wise person,
saihal kalbi
of
a valid and
healthy spiritual heart,
and also
to have a valid and healthy Basirah spiritual
insight
especially from
what? From the darkness of the love of
the dunya. This is what will drive people
to do what they want to do. And
dunya is not just acquiring of material possessions.
Dunya also means
acquiring acquisition of hearts.
Right and this is probably the bane of
those people who seem like to be scholarly
but they have some
spiritual issues
so if they if they if they if
they like to have followers and they like
to have people following them and people
being in their circle and
people you know applauding them and lauding them
and so forth then this is a sign
maybe this is not the person to follow.
If they may have those followings that doesn't
disqualify them, but it depends on how they
feel about it, what's in their heart.
Mustaghrikun
fihub bidarilakhira.
Right? This Ahl al Sahih, his mustaghrit
or she is mustaghrit
is completely immersed in the love of the
Darilakhira
of the
to all of the good character traits not
the Danaatil Aqlaq, not the worst of them.
Mustaghifun
bi dunya fiakfari
aukatihe. Right? Doesn't think much of the dunya
most of the time.
Haribun minal mahari mashubuhat.
Forsakes and runaways from
things that are ambiguous, things of an ambiguous
nature.
Right, they take the shade of scrupulousness.
Right? They rather
be on the safe side
than be involved in something that's ambiguous.
Fahadah sinfunwaj
This type, this categories we have to follow
them, we have to emulate them,
and we have to take them as our
exemplars.
And the other type
and the other one is alm billlisan.
So they're knowledgeable with their tongue, they speak
very well, they're quite eloquent, they're charismatic,
they can, you know, talk about the final
points of many things.
But in terms of their inner spiritual knowledge
there's jahal.
Right? And jahal means that they haven't quite
overcome themselves yet.
If their nafs wins out most of the
time in that internal battle and that internal
struggle,
then they only have the how their allotment
is ilayin bil lisan
is what they have with the tongue. May
Allah protect us from the Adulullah mythirik.
So the next sections he's
ignorance
of
the
heart and he'll finish that out and we'll
probably do that
on our next session. We'll complete that, Bismillah
Ta'ala.
So we'll stop here Insha'Allah. Jazakamullah
here.