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Tasawwar Rasul

It is imperative for a qualified Sufi Master to have gained the spiritu­al link (nisbat) with the Prophet Muhammad and have gained his perceptivity (tart-e-fikr).

When a student achieves fana fi shaykh" (as described in chapter-29) then his perceptivity and traits of personality mirror those of his Spiritual Master (shaykh) and he starts to assimilate the essence of the Prophet Muhammad. To improve this link, the student is given the Muraqaba of tasawwar rasul (visualization of the Prophet) so their spiritual connection improve and they could receive the blessings of the Light of Prophethood (nur nabu'wat). Depending on the prophet Muhammad's intercession, the students see the Light of Prophethood based on their ability, which is subject to his approval. When the Light of Prophethood fills the inner self of the students, they achieve the sta­tion of ' fana fi rasul."

There are different methods of tassawar rasul:

In the Muraqaba, the student imagines the Mosque of Medina (masjid nabawi) or its green dome. The students imagine the lights from the city of Medina are being absorbed in their inner. In the heart of the student, the word Muhammad is written in luminescent form and his heart lit because of it. The Prophet Muhammad is sitting in the crown of Prophethood and from his heart the lights are falling into the student's heart. The student imagines that he or she is sitting with the Prophet and that he is watching them.

Just as Muslims consider the Prophet Muhammad to be their medi­ator or medium to God, members of other faiths consider other person­alities to he their medium between them and God. Jews regard Moses as such while Christian mystics consider Jesus, Hindus consider Krishna or Ram, and Zoroastrians consider Zoroaster to be their medium. Buddhists believe in redemption through Buddha. Based on this belief, in these religions the Muraqaba of these personalities is given after the Muraqaba of the guru. 


MURAQABA

KHWAJA SHAMS-UD-DEEN AZEEMI

In the current information age, the very question of what Man is, and to what extent his abilities go, has gained prominence. Metaphysical knowledge tells us that Man is not just a mass of muscles and bones but in fact is a living universe or microcosm (a'lam asghar) itself. His life is primarily relying on information. As a matter of fact his life is nothing but a collection of thoughts and imagination. His every movement is influenced by information and thoughts. Every human achievement is circled around the unseen world of cognition, imagination and creative thoughts. By giving new meaning to this idea, Man creates and invents new things out of nothing.