Make your Intentions for Allah's Sake

Make your Intentions for Allah's Sake
Shaikh Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqani (Naqshbandi-Haqqani Sufi Order)
Sohbat, Tashkent, 4/14/2001

May Allah grant us His Blessings here and hereafter, [amin].

May Allah forgive our sins and change our bad characteristics into good characteristics and take away our sins and instead of our sins change them into good deeds. We hope as we have been gathered here through this life, we hope that we shall meet on the Day of Resurrection under the Holy Flag of Rasulullah (s), liwa'il hamd.

Keep your way. If your heart is in satisfaction, if you can find contentment through yourself that means you are on the right path. If all people say to you, "You are on the wrong way," but your heart is saying to you, "You are on the right way," keep what your heart is saying and try to continue on that way. If your heart is in contentment that contentment will take away doubts and hesitation from you. Real faith prevents something of hesitation or doubt to enter the heart.

If you reached the point that you never feel doubt and hesitation through your heart that means you are on the right steps to Allah.

Also you may look after your intention. Because intention it is like the wheel of the car, giving direction to people. If not this wheel on the car, can you use that car? What are you calling this wheel? [steering wheel] hearing? Hearing? You understand what I mean to say?!

If you lost it that car is useless. It is dangerous! You can't use it. You can't reach anywhere. Therefore intention is the most important factor for our actions. And Allah Almighty is looking... more than to your actions, to what is your intention when you are doing something.

A person may do something either for his ego's pleasure or for his Lord's pleasure. There is not a third factor. No! You may act either for Your Lord's pleasure - trying to make your Lord pleased with you; or you are trying to make your ego pleased with you. There is no third factor, no. Either right or left.
You are always in a crossway. You must choose one of two ways: one taking you to the Pleasure of Allah Almighty; and the second taking you to your ego's pleasure, as well as to shaytan's pleasure. Through every action therefore, intention is an obligation for everyone seeking to do something.

When you are going to pray you must say, "I am praying for the pleasure of my Lord as He ordered me. To be His obedient servant." When you are making wudu` you must say or you must intend, "I am washing, I am making ablution for my Lord's pleasure. I am trying to follow His Holy commands as I am a sincere servant for Him."

And [for] everything in such a way you must make an intention. If your intention is correct, Allah Almighty may forgive if there is anything wrong in your acting, He may say, "Doesn't matter, because My servant's intention was to make Me pleased and he was intending to keep My Order."

That gives honor to you, that you are intending to keep His Divine Order. To keep Heavenly Orders. That is important. You must intend for everything you do, because of His Holy Commands. We are sitting here for His Holy Commands. Say to yourself, "I intend this because He is pleased for us to come to jama`at, to pray in jama`at, as well as to hear something from heavenly teachings that are correcting my actions to be good efforts and actions to be suitable or acceptable towards His Divinely Presence."

It is enough. It must be clear for everyone. Not for anyone else's, only for His Pleasure. And the Prophet's (s) pleasure - when you are keeping his (s) sunnah, you are making him (s) pleased, and his (s) pleasure is from His Lord's pleasure.
And also awliya's orders or advice, when you are going to keep their orders and advice that makes awliya happy with you, and it is also for the pleasure of Rasulullah (s), and that is the pleasure of Allah Almighty.

May Allah forgive us.

We were together with you since 12 or 13 or 14 days, about two weeks. And I was addressing our hosts, the Uzbek people, trying to speak to them to give them something of the reality of Sufi orders. Because this place is the most important place for Sufi orders and the most distinguished Naqshbandi Order grew up through this holy land. I was busy with them, because up to today I was only here a short time with them and according to our Grandshaykhs
[Khawajagan Grandshaykhs buried in Uzbekistan] I was speaking to them, and my speech was giving something to their empty hearts - planting through their empty hearts something of Divine Love, something of the Prophet's love - that is the Lord's love, heavenly love. I was occupied for that purpose. Now I found a short time with you [to speak in English] in just the several times you have been with me, though you heard so many times association from me where I am only a translator for the transmission coming from our grandshaykhs.

I only found this short time for addressing you and it is a summary to you [from what I was speaking to our Uzbek hosts]. As long as you can hold to it, you are never going to fail, here or hereafter. Because it is a summary of all holy books.

May Allah forgive me and bless you. Allah Allah...

His Sovereignty is through His Eternity. Try to be His honored servants, not dishonored ones. Try to be only for Him, an honored servant. that is your most high reward, your most high honor.

Bi-hurmatil habib, allahuma zid habibika `izzan wa sharafan wa nuran wa sururan wa ridwanan wa sultanan bi-hurmatil habib, bi-hurmatil fatiha.

The ways of the Lovers

The Lovers of Allah Walk in One of the Three Paths
by Sheik Taner Ansari (Qadiri Rifai Sufi Order)

Bismillah er Rahman er Rahim

Path of Ahyar (virtuous people):
The wayfarers of this path want to reach Allah by praying a lot, making tasbih, fasting, and going to Hajj. For these people it takes a long time to reach Allah.

Path of Abrar (righteous people):
The ones in this catagory fight against their nafs. They try to convert their bad manners into good manners by dieting. There are more people who reach Allah this way than by Ahyar. The people who follow the path of Abrar want to tame their nafs and rule their souls.

Path of Shattariya (distinct people):
The people in this path neither concentrate on dieting, nor converse much with the awam (general people). They have no business but joy, thankfulness, and zikr. There are more people who reach Allah this way than through Ahyar and Abrar. The wayfarers (salik) of this path are busy with burning their nafs, cleaning their hearts, and polishing their souls (ruh):

Tazkiyay-i-nafs (burning the nafs):
To save nafs from bad habits, e.g., lying, lust, gossip, greed, passion, abusive behavior, etc.

Tasviyay-i-qalb (heart being pure):
Cleaning the heart so that the light of the truth enters there. The person can then see Haqq's wisdom.

Tajliyay-i-ruh (shining of the soul):
Shining of the ruh with the divine light. The people who are on this path don't pay attention to karama (miracles). They have no direction other than "die before you die."

The Qadiri path is the Shattariya path.

It is divided into ten sections.

The Ten Sections of Shattariya

Tawba (repentance):
To leave desires, as in the state of death, because they look to other than Allah and create duality in the heart. The people who are closer to Haqq stay away from bad deeds. When a person wants to repent, he has to remove the intention of sinning from his nafs, and then he must wipe the sin off his heart. The repentance of the innocent is superior to others' repentance, because they don't sin, but at the same time they repent.

Zuhd (highest asceticism):
As it is visualized in the state of death, to distance yourself from the world, the love of the world, the material of the world, and lust.

Tawakkul (trust in Allah, giving oneself over to His care):
As in the state of death, to ignore seemingly worldly causes and reasons, and be with Allah. You mustn't say this was like this and that was like that, but know that all is from Haqq.

Kana'a (contentment):
As in the state of death, to distance yourself from the lust and pleasure of the world, and be happy with your situation, whether you have less or more. Our Prophet (saws) says, "Kana'a is a treasure that cannot be depleted."

Uzlat (devotional seclusion):
As in the state of death, to cut your relation with the created, and living in seclusion, to find wahdet (oneness) in the outpost of kasret (multiplicity). It is contemplating Haqq with your inner, and being with the created with your outer.

Tawajjuh (turning towards):
As in the state of death, to turn your face to Allah, leaving other than Allah behind you. It is to fall in love with Haqq and His messenger, and to be annihilated in Allah. Whoever turns to the Messenger (saws) will be happy in both worlds.

Sabur (patience):
To be patient against the desires and pleasures of nafs. To be as in the state of death. In the state of death, a lot of animals and bugs eat a person's corpse, but he doesn't get up and say, "What are you doing?" He can't even move, because his soul has cut its relation with his corpse. You have to be patient with all adversities and afflictions, as in the state of that corpse. The Prophet Job's (saws) patience is an example for this. Allah tests human beings in this world for patience and endurance. To them, and especially the ones whom He loves, He gives loss of property and children. He puts them into a variety of hardships to see if the servant of Allah will say, "Eyvallah, it's all right, these hardships come from Haqq." If a person is patient in the face of all such adversities, he will attain higher degrees.

Ridza (cheerful acceptance):
To leave your nafs, accept Allah's decrees, to surrender to things that have been decided from the beginning, and not to object to Allah's doings.

Zikr (remembrance of Allah):
To distance yourself from mentioning the maasiwah (other than Allah), and to say "Wana hayti qalbi an maasiwallah" ("O my Lord, take maasiwah out of my heart, may my tongue not make zikr of other than You"). Allah the Most High says, " I am closer to the person who makes zikr of Me much." Making zikr of Allah is like a blacksmith shaping iron with a hammer. The only thing is that you have to do it in the proper way.

Muraqaba (vigilant contemplation):
To leave your supposed power, strength, and what you know behind, to be in the presence of the divine, where there is no trace of you in you, and contemplate Haqq, as you are annihilated in It. The state between the archangelic world and the divine world is the state of Haqqiqa. Whoever reaches to that degree will attain the secret of the universe.

Reaffirming Intention

Assalamualaikum wr. wb.

This blog serves as a reminder to myself as I tread the path of a seeker. This post serves as a re-affirmation of my intention. A mirror of my journey to discover the hidden treasure within. Many postings here are extracted from wise seekers and murshids to help me documented important lessons in life.

God has loaned us a limited number of breaths for us to choose how best to use it. It is said that the inhabitant of the hereafter regretted not of what they did but of lost opportunities.

God reminds us in the Quran : "I have created Jinns and Men so that they worship Me (alone) " (Sura 51:56)

Our time on Earth is limited by the number of breaths we are assigned to and for these, God reminds us again in Surah Asr :

By Al-'Asr (the time)
Verily! Man is in loss,
Except those who believe and do righteous good deeds,
and recommend one another to the truth, and recommend one another to patience.

Believe + Righteous good deeds + Truth + Patience.

The Eight Benefits

The below article is taken from a book written by Imam Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali (may Allah have Mercy on his soul).

Here is a good story to meditate and reflect over.

Hatim Al-Asam was among the friends of Shaqiq Al-Balkhi. One day Shaqiq asked Hatim "You have kept my company for thirty years, what have you gained in the course of these years?"

Hatim replied: "I have gained eight benefits. I hope my salvation and safety are embodied in them. Shaqiq asked Hatim to mention them.Hatim Al-Asam said

The first benefit: I observed the creation and saw that everyone had loved one another and passionately desired whom he loved and longed for. Some of the beloved accompany the lover up to the brink of sickness and death and others to the gate of the graveyard. All of them return and leave them alone. No one goes into the coffin with them. I looked into the matter and said to myself: 'The best beloved is that which would enter the tomb with the lover to console him'. I found it to be nothing else then good works, so I took this as my beloved, to illuminate my grave for me and to comfort me in it and not leave me alone.

The second benefit: I saw people were following their lusts and hastening towards the desires of their souls; I meditated on the saying of Allah (God) "But as for whoever has feared the majesty of his Lord and has refrained his soul from lust, truly the Garden shall be his dwelling place". Convinced that the Quran was true and right, I began to deny my soul (its pleasures) and hurried to combat it and refuse it its passionate desires, until it enjoyed real satisfaction in obedience to Allah the Exhalted.

The third benefit: I saw that every human being is trying their best to accumulate as much as they can from this world and then holding onto it strongly. I meditated on the Quranic verse "What is with you must vanish; what is with Allah must endure". So I gave freely my worldly possessions for His sake by distributing them among the poor so that it would be my provision in the future with Him the Exalted.

The fourth benefit: Some people I observed think that their dignity and honour lie with their family and large clans. Others claimed honour and dignity in abundance of wealth and children and they are proud of it. Some believe in honour and power lies by appropriating the wealth of others, doing injustice to them and shedding their blood. Others consider dignity by spending wealth extravagently and in a foolish manner. I meditated on the saying of Allah: "The most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is he who is the most righteous of you". I chose righteousness for myself, convinced that the Quran is right and true and the claims and opinions of those people (at the time) are false and temporary.

The fifth benefit: I found people slandering each other and speaking ill of one another out of envy of fortune, power and knowledge. I meditated on the saying of Allah: "It is We Who divide their livelihood among them in the life of this world". I realised that the dividing of livelihood is entirely in the hands of Allah since the beginning of time. Therefore I never envied anyone and was satisfied with what Allah had given me.

The sixth benefit: I saw people becoming enemies of one another for different reasons. I meditated upon the saying of Allah: "Verily Satan is an enemy to you, so treat him as a enemy". I become aware that enmity with anyone but Satan was not permissible.

The seventh benefit: I saw everyone working hard exhausting themselves in obtaining food and sustenance, tempted by doubts and forbidden things. They degrade themselves in humiliation. I pondered over the saying of Allah: "There is no creature on earth but its sustenance is dependent on Allah". I knew that my livelihood is guaranteed by Allah.

The eigth benefit: I saw everyone relied on a created thing, some on currency, some on wealth and property, some on trade and craft and some on creatures like themselves. I meditated on the saying of Allah: "And whosoever places his reliance on Allah sufficient is Allah for him. Allah will surely accomplish His purpose. Verily for all things has Allah appointed a due proportion. I therefore placed full trust in Allah (We should all try to do the same). He is sufficient for me and He is the best Disposer of affairs.

At this point Shaqiq said: "May Allah bless you and grant you success. I looked into the Old and New Testament, the Zabur (Psalms of David) and the Quran and have found that the four books revolve around these eight benefits. Whoever works according to them is working according to these four books".

A wish is just a foolish illusion unless...

A wish is just a foolish illusion unless accompanied by intention and action

Love Prose

Oh my beloved, how often do I say
I love thee with all my heart
Yet with ease the words play on my lips
But in fact, the song in the heart
plays a different tune.
For alas, the love is but a shadow replaced.