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Its narrated by Hazrat Umar (R.A) that
"One day suddenly Hazrat Jibrail (A.S)
came in the guise of a man in the service of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.), sat
respectfully and asked a few questions from Hazrat Muhanm1ad (S.A.W),
1- what
is Islam? The Holy Prophet said :-
"Islam means that a person should give
evidence that there is no God but Allah and Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W) is the
Prophet of Allah. Moreover, he should offer prayer, give "Zakat",
keep the fast of” Ramzan" and Perform "Haj" of
"Bait-Ullah" if he can afford." Upon which Hazrat Jibrail (A.S.)
said, "you have described it properly."
2. Then
Hazrat Jibrail (A.S.) asked; What is belief?
The Holy Prophet (S.A.W) said: "Have
belief in Allah, His angles, His books, His prophets, in the day of Judgment
and in the fate whether it is good or bad."
Hazrat Jibrail said “you have put it
aptly."
3. Finally,
Hazrat Jibrail (A.S) said; what is gratitude? The Holy Prophet (S.A.W) replied;
Gratitude is that man should worship God in a way as if he were seeing Allah
and if man can't do so he should worship in a way as if Allah was seeing
him."
Hazrat Jibrail (A.S.) said, "you have
correctly answered."
In these questions of Hazrat Jibrail (A.S.),
three things are noteworthy:-
i. What
is Islam? (ii) What is belief?
(iii) What is gratitude?
'To believe that there is only one God and hat
He is worthy of worship' is Islam. The path of peace and security lies in
following the holy Shariah (the deeds) of Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W).
Eeman (faith) is that one has such a belief as
a result of one's deeds and acts in which there is no iota of doubt. Eeman is
belief and belief is linked with observation. No court accepts evidence without
eye-witness.
Gratitude means that man should think during
worship either he is seeing Allah or Allah is seeing him. This stage of belief
is known as the stage of gratitude in Sufi'ism. If man does not embrace Islam,
he can't be a Muslim and if a Muslim has no wealth of belief, he can't be a
believer and the believer's worth is that either he sees Allah or he observes
that Allah is watching him. The Ullemas (religious scholars) explain this
hadith (sayings of Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H) in this way. Islam means the
knowledge of manners and injunctions of Shariah and a person acts upon them.
Eeman means have a belief in Allah, in His attributes and qualities and in His
angels.
Angles are obedient to Allah and we believe in
His books because it is an ancient Kalam which He revealed to his prophets and
Allah has sent prophets for the betterment of mankind. Prophets are infallible
and we believe in the doomsday, the punishment of hell and the reward of
heaven.
The sufis explain this hadith in this way:-
"The acceptance of Islam, the observance
of the commands of Shariaha, the belief in the angles means total
self-surrender to Allah. We should know that this is the stage of observation
and God is seeing me." This is the stage of meditation during which man
gets awareness of the knowledge of God.
Anfas and Afaq
Allah Taala says : -
"Sooner we'll reveal our sings in Afaq and
in their own Nafoos (Selves)"
Hazrat Rabia Basri beseeched in the service of
Allah
"Oh, Allah! If I worship you because of
the punishment of hell, shove me into it and if I bow and kneel in front of you
due to the greed of paradise, deprive me of that paradise. And if I worship you
for your own sake, then grace me with your vision.
The pious and stoics worship to avoid hell and
enjoying eternal pleasures of paradise. Worship is compulsory for the sufis but
during their worship they are constantly immersed in the thoughts of Allah.
They are in contact with Allah because they have no other aim except Allah.
They demand from Allah His own love and recognition.
The importance of sufism in man's wisdom and
spiritual life can be judged from famous philosopher, Bertrand Russell's this
piece of writing:-
"'All the great philosophers ·who have
been in the world have admitted the necessity of Sufism along with philosophy.
They have argued that great status in the world of thoughts can only be
achieved due to the union of science and Sufism and best human qualities can
only be expressed through sufism."
Bettrand Russell has presented the names of a
few of philosophers to prove his point e.g. Percletos, Parmenides, Plato,
Spinosa, Bruno, Hegal, Bergson and White Beed and so on. These philosophers
have written theses on the importance of sufism ________what is Sufism and proved
that sufism is a means of introduction between creator and creature.
Sufism reveals this reality to the salik (a
novice in sufism) that physical body and the claims of body are governed by
spirit. Without spirit material body is a dead body.
Sufism is the essence of religion. What is
religion? Religion gives this belief to its followers that God is everywhere
and seeing them. Religion gives awareness that Allah gives Rizk (food) and
whatsoever one spends is given by Allah. Religion asks man to follow the right
path. When a man performs all the religious "Arkan" (deeds), he
becomes aware of the reality of spirit and enters the zone of ''Uminoon-a
bilghaib ".
Religion gives the lesson of equality and
creates this belief in the followers that Allah is omnipresent.
A true man does not exploit the rights of other
people. Religion is a platform to hold collectively the rope of Allah and to
avoid the quarrels.
The religious scholar says:-
"Oh Muslim be God fearing." The Sufi
says:- "Oh Muslim ! Don't only utter the name of Allah outwardly. Don't
display hypocrisy. Enter the world of belief through your heart. Love
Allah.Avoid sins to please Allah."
Everybody has some creed because one needs
belief in one's entity for the security of unseen future. It is a famous
saying: one lamp brightens another lamp. This lamp is those monotheist men and
women who try to get the closeness of Allah with the help of piety and
purification of self (nafs ).
A God loving and God-fearing man loves all
mankind. He values all branches of knowledge and arts. He follows the commands
of Allah and the teachings of The Holy Prophet (S.W.A) willingly. He himself
lives happy and keeps other people happy. He is purified of all evils. If he is
not so, he is not a sufi.
Recognition can't be achieved without good
deeds. So a man, who does not practice good deeds, is not a Sufi. He can be a
philosopher and a debater. A sufi knows his inner self. He observes the
attributes of Allah and the hidden world dawns upon him. He does not only
preach the purification of self rather he tells his disciples that there is a
world within man. The world is not outside but within one's self. Allah has promised
his believers that those people who struggle for the recognition of Allah,
Allah illumines and enlightens them.
If man struggles with belief and perseverance
and with the sincerity of heart, he will have the vision of Allah.
Sufism is the essence of religion and spirit is
a source of observation in the depth of inner-self.
A Sufi loves a believer and a non believer, a
Hindu and a Muslim _ everybody_ because all are Allah's creatures. He does not
compel anybody. People embrace Islam because they get impressed by his
character and his deeds.
There is the saying of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W):-
" Creature is the Allah's family"
Wali Ullahs also think themselves the members
of Allah's
family. They believe
that Allah's light is manifest everywhere and everything is his manifestation.
He rules the whole world.
He creates, keeps alive and distributes death.
Nobody else can control birth, death, and immortality.
Allah Taala dawns this reality upon man that
there are more worlds than one. Worlds are uncountable and there are m2ny other
worlds like our world. And Allah gives sustenance to all the worlds.
He supplies continuous "Rizk" (food)
for their drinking and
eating, dress, home, livelihood, balance in
their generations and Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W) distributes all these things with
kindness and benignity.
It is impossible to see uncountable worlds
besides one world, to
understand them and to be aware of their days
and nights with the help of common consciousness.
Everybody has superior consciousness. Sufism is
the name of getting familiarity with this superior consciousness. The person
who recognizes his superior consciousness, he ultimately recognizes his Allah.
Among all the mankind, Allah invited the most
blessed person, Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W) to him and brought Himself so close to
Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W) that there was only a distance of two bows or less than
it.
"I (Allah) talked secret things with
Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W) and whatsoever he saw, was not falsehood."
( Surah Najam 10-11)
The Holy Prophet (S.A.W) has given the
manifesto of the oneness of Allah to his Ummah after experiencing great trials
and tribulations. These are the sayings of the Prophet (S.A.W):-
"Whatsoever you wish for yourself, wish
for your brother."
I.
Knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim man and woman.
II.
Where there are four people, fifth is Allah Taala Allah Taala is
closer to you than your life.
III.
Allah Taala encompasses everything.
IV.
Respect the scholars of other religions. Don't scold them. If you
scold them, they will scold your scholars.
Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W) doesn't repay evil with
evil rather he forgive.
There is explicit message in the Holy Quran:
"So don't quarrel with each other"
(Surah Al-e- Imran 103)
KHWAJA SHAMS-UD-DEEN AZEEMI
Many a scholar has written a lot about
spiritualism and pantheism. One school of thought is of the view that as saints
often used to wear wooly dresses therefore people would call them sufis. Wool
is called sauf in Arabic. They used to wear such a dress, for it had been the
habit of many a prophet, saints and pious people. According to some people, as
they have been associated with the Ashaab-e-suffa that is why they are called sufis;
whereas according to yet another school of thought the word sufi is linked with
suf a.... but all these explanations are not satisfactory.
In fact, the terminological meaning of Sufi'ism
(tasawaf) is self cleansing. It is the name of a true spirit that is related
to conscience and the light of conscience is always inherent. A sufi always
thinks in the context of Allah. His talk moves around Allah. He lives with
Allah and dies in the name of Allah. He recites His words and always praises
Him and remains enmeshed in His love. He sacrifices everything in order to see
and meet Allah.
