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Shaykh Ahmed Abdur Rashid December 7, 2011 www.circlegroup.orgWednesday Suhbat

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Muraqabah: The Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi Practice of Meditation

A Dynamic Motion toward Allah through the Heart

Dinner blessing: O Allah, You are showering us with so many blessings with the rain.

We ask that each one of those drops be a blessing for spiritual growth and development,

that You fill us full of confidence and trust in you and love for You. We ask You, Allah,

(swt) to send Your Blessing upon those in our community who are not well, and who are

seeking Your Shifat. We ask You, Allah (swt), to strengthen our imanso that in the

decisions we make, and the work we do, we spread the blessings of Your Divine Love

and Your Divine Presence.Amin.

Suhbat: Some of our predecessors divided the practices into three topics. One is

concentration, one is meditation, and one is contemplation. They said that the first stage,

concentration, is like sharpening a pencil. The second stage, which they would call

meditation, but I would call contemplation,is like learning the forms of the letters ofthe alphabetthe means. Then the third stage, which I would call meditation,but others

call contemplation, is likemaking sentences. So for Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidi, these

stages correspond to dhikr qalbiand nafi wa-ithbat, and muraqabah. The real difference

between meditation and contemplation I like to use the Arabic because these words

confuse me the difference between tafakkurorfikr (contemplation) and muraqabahis

a difference in dynamic. That is to say that in muraqabah, there is motion toward Allah.

The door is opened, so to speak. Fikris unlocking the door.

That dynamic is characterized by the different transmission. Each transmission is like a

force compelling you forward through different experiences and capabilities, like seeing

through different prisms. Its aquestion of time, making the time; submission, which is
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being receptive, and overcoming the resistances of the nafs ammraand nafs lawwama

that hold you back from moving forward. You have this gift coming to you from Allah,

from theshuyukh, which are the transmissions. The methods have come before, and you

have been given an instruction. Now you have this gift, sort of like rockets being attachedto your rocket ship, but you are also still tethered by your nafsand by how you use your

time, or misuse it, and by your habits. You can have these opposing forces, because there

is no rule that says just because you qualify for the path you will succeed, unless you

contribute what is necessary.

It would be like if I said, From now on, if you want to come to the dars, you have to pay

$100 a month. Then you would have to put a value on the dars. Up until now, you

could put any value on it that you want. You choose the value of the dars! But if I value

the darsat $100 a month.lets see thirty people or so. I could be making three

grand a month. Hey, what a good idea! That will pay off my mortgage. Up until that

point, you are putting the value on the dars. You are determining it. Some of you might

ask yourselves, since I have been determining the value of the darsand the practices

Oh, maybe I should also charge for meditation. I wont charge for the khutbah, because

that is ordained by Allah. But 5 times a week I have to raise the price. Im only

working for $5 bucks a lecture [at $100 a month]. Dont you think Im worth more than

$5 a talk? I have to raise the price! Ill be generous and say $300 a month. Thats only

$15 a talk. Up until that point, you are putting the value on it.

The reason Im adding the meditation to that is because thats the real key. If you

understood you had to pay for the meditation (though mypoint wasnt to earn money,

its not a bad idea) you are the ones putting the value on it. So if you ask yourself,

Why have I not made progress in my transmissions? Why have I not, after all these

years, finished all the Orders? Even if you had done three out of the five orders, it would

make sense after twenty or thirty years. Maybe if you paid for it, you would be done with

it. Because when you get into a whole thing: you take class number one, then number

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two, and you get to level four of whatever. If you wanted it, you would say, Thats the

value of it, and Im going to pay for that. Its a very materialistic way of looking at

things, which is why I never did look at it that way. There areshaykhswho do charge.

They just call it retreats and they speak once a month, and charge a lot of money for theretreat. They give three hours of lectures once a month, and thats it. You get 4, 5, 6

hours a week, for nothing, basicallybut not for nothing. You have to look at yourself

and ask, How do you value things? How do you place value on what Allah (swt) has

given to you?

The muraqabahis a dynamic process. Why would one not want to continue with a

dynamic process that is guaranteed to be leading you toward something profound? Why

do I say it is guaranteed? It is a science, a repeatable phenomena. If it wasnt, just from a

Newtonian point of view, it would have died out a long time ago and we wouldnt even

know about it today. Many of the murdsbefore you and many of theshuyukhbefore me

had the efficacy of this path proven to them. Proven! It was proven because different

people had similar experiences and similar capacities were developed, whether kashfor

they attained tofana, however you want to define it. It was articulated and written, and

people achieved those states. From a Newtonian point of view, it was a repeatable

phenomena. It was something that could be reconstructed through certain practices and

experimentation.

Collectively, this process of muraqabah, all these latifand transmissions lift the veils

from within your eyes and take you from one state to another. Its interestinghow it

happens. It happens by sitting, not by running. It happens by not moving. All the rest of

life is this movement in the outer: Im busy. My mind is running. I have to do this; I

have to do that. I have a deadline here. I have to go to work. Or, I have this halkahI have

to go to, and I have this thing to go to; I have to go here and there. All these things are

done outwardly, even if you are making a hundred extra prayers. Dont forget the

quotation: one hour of meditation is equal to a hundred years of prayer.Its very

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interesting that this dynamic movement takes place through sitting still. It is described as

waiting for the latifto attract the Divine Energy/ Fayd. You put your attention on the

latfa, and you wait for it to attract that Divine Energy/ Fayd.

Hazrat Khwaja Khurd, who was one of the sons of Khwaja Bqbillah (ra), said,

Muraqabah is leaving behind ones power and strength, turning from all states and

attributes, waiting in expectation of the encounter, while longing for its beauty and being

immersed in its desire and love. Sounds like love to me! Sounds like the state of a

lover. You sit and you wait. Isnt it interesting, in the world we live in today, people feel

that sitting and waiting is a waste of time. They dont see that running around and doing

all these things, even the spiritual things, could be a waste of time. Hazrat Shaykh

Saduddn Kshghar, talking about Junayd Baghdadi, said he was taught how to perform

muraqabahby a cat who would wait with complete focus and undivided attention for the

mouse to come to pounce on the mouse. There is something to say about that, that is a

little more mystical. Did you ever think of the odds of a cat sitting in one place, and a

mouse coming to her? Even if you know generally where the mouse is, what are the

chances of the mouse coming there? You could say that the cats niyyatis working.

Youve seen that in other animals. Ive watched animals many times, and you wonder,

How are they in the right place at the right time?Its not like insects. There are 2

billion insects for every cubic foot of space, and chances pretty good that if you stick

your leg out in summer time a mosquito will bite it. But [in muraqabah,] you leave

behind your power and strength and turn away from everything and wait in expectation.

In our way of looking at things, we have these kinds of intersecting circles between the

world of essence and the physical world, the btinand the dhhir. They are

interconnecting circles. We then have a series of niyyats/ intentions in each of the

different transmissions of muraqabah, which act like a kind of road map in that spiritual

dynamic continuum.

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You cant tell where the road goes unless you have some distance from it. You know its

a road and its on a map. You have two points, and you are goingbetween point A and

point B, but you are trying to get to point M. This spiritual terrain that we are traversing

is really a series of different expressions and manifestations between the lam al-amrand the lam al-khalq, the world of command and the physical world. Along with it,

there are instructions on how you negotiate that terrain, most of which is up hill. From the

physical world to the essence is an ascent, urj. Urjcomes from the same word as

mirj, the ascension of the Prophet (sal) in his Night Journey to Allah (swt).

Remember that before the Prophet (sal) embarks on this journey, which is really a

journey of muraqabahas well as physical journey, the heart had to be cleansed. Why? I

have this little habit: before I travel, I wash my car and try to clean it out and make it

nice. The vehicle for this journey is the heart of Raslullh(sal). He cleans the heart

because it is the vehicle, the nafi wa-ithbat (dhikr), the dhikrin the heart of Raslullh

(sal), l ilha illa-Llh. Thats how you warm up the engine of the car, so to speak. That

nafi wa-ithbat can also be included in the preliminary practices, before you get to the

circles and the transmissions. The preliminary practicesthe dhikr, awakening the

latif, paying attention to where the latifare, preceding it by Surah al-Fatiha, by our

wazifa, the preparationcan also be considered nafi wa-ithbat, because its all

remembrance of Allah. Everyone is prepared by theshaykh.

When the murdis ready to begin the first of the contemplations, the first niyyat, one

should contemplate or concentrate on ahadiyyat/ oneness, unity. This is the

contemplation of the five subtle centers (the latif) in muraqabah. Each time you sit in

meditation, it is to guide that Fayd / Divine Effulgence from the essence to the qalb, from

the essence to the rh, from the essence to qalb, rh, sirr, khaf, akhf andnafs; building

on it. Qalb,thenqalband rh; then qalb, rhandsir; then qalb, rh,sirr, and khaf, etc.

How? Its done by the means of Raslullh(sal) through the mahashaykhsof our line,

whatever line you are sitting in. Lets say you are sitting in the NaqshbandiMujaddidi

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are in companionship with Raslullh(sal). As the murdsits in meditation, and you sit

with me in front of you and Hazrat in front of me, etc. etc. up to Raslullh(sal), you

visualize yourself in front of the Prophet Mohammed (sal) receiving that Divine Fayd via

the chain of the mahashaykh.

You are looking through my heart, and then through Hazrats heart, and on and on like

[you are looking through] a telescope. If you align yourself just right (and there is no

curvature because there is no mirror) you see at the end of this line Raslullas nr/

light. Even the yogis say, you close your eyes and look through your third eye, which is

to us the nafsor akhfah(in the Naqshbandi line) and you see this golden light. That is

Raslullh(sal). Eventually, some of ourshuyukhconcentrated, during these

contemplations, on different ambiy/ prophets and they saw the prophets in different

latif. Now, there was some controversy over that. Hazrat Khwaja Shah Abu Ghulm

Dehlawi said that it wasnt acceptable for people to do that. That you shouldnt

concentrate on other prophets, through you can get imanfrom them.

He recommended that focus on Mohammed (sal) and Allah (swt), using ourshaykhsas

the mirror or the lens through which we do that. You focus on theshaykhwith the right

adabin your meditation. You cant show your adabto Hazrat, he is no longer here. He

cantshow it to Mohammed Sayed Khan; he is no longer here. So you show it through

your adabto yourshaykh,who is still with you, and then from that you focus on the

attributes and any knowledge you have of the othershuyukhthrough to Raslullh(sal),

and you receive thatfayd. Each of your latifreceives that divine grace from its asal,

from the origin. The goal of each latfais to go to its origin and to become annihilated in

its origin. So qalbbecomes annihilated in the origin of qalb, Raslullh(sal); rh, in the

essence of spirit;sirr, in the place of the secret, etc.

Well, its a long journey, and there are not a lot of travelers who make the whole journey.

Its sort of like climbing theHimalayas. And very few people can do that in rapid

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succession. Most people take their whole lives to go through the five orders. (Ill leave

you to interpret the letter Hazrat wrote.) Most people associate themselves with certain

latif. Therefore, thats how you get people to associate themselves as being under the

feet of a certain prophet. They stay there until thats annihilated, and you progress to thenext latfaand the next prophet. But the minimum requirement for making progress on

this path is to return the heart to its origin. Thats the most important thingto purify the

heart. In fact, the children asked me a question tonight about the heart and the mind.

What does it mean to see things through the heart and not through the mind?

When you cleanse the heart, and return the latfaqalbto its originthat is to say, when

you understand and the heart is really attracting the Divine Essence, then the murdcan

move out of what we call the daira incan the circle of contingent existence, into the

realm of the names and attributes. What does that mean? Moving into the realm of

names and attributes is different than contemplating the names and attributes. You move

into the realm where the names and attributes emerge from the unseen world. You see the

efficacy of those names and attributes as they manifest. Hazrat Adam (as) we say is the

prophet who governs the first niyyat. The active attributes are concentrated in him since

he knew the names of everything. Our predecessors described thesaliks,who are in the

station of the heart in the presence of the remembrance of Allah (swt), to be under the

foot of Hazrat Adam. And it goes on: different latifwith different ambiy.

In the station of the rh, you look at Allah (swt) and you negate the creation of Allah.

You are only looking at the rh/ spirit. You want the rhto return to its origin in what is

called the eight immutable Divine Attributes, thesifat subutiyya. Thats not important for

you to get into technically. Then there is the contemplation of Hazrat Ibrahim, and Hazrat

Nh, who have certain physical things. Like fire didnt hurt Sidna Ibrahim, and the flood

didnt drown Sidna Nh. You get the ability for the physical things of life not to harm

you. Some people stop there and they get these capabilities of walking on water, for

example, or walking through fire. Certain karamatcome.

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Then you travel in thesirr. This is the domain of Sidna Musa (as), who was the first to

speak to Allah, and the secret (the commandments) was revealed to him. He is the

prophet of thesiri/ secret. Then you go to the attribute of thesifat tanziyya, khaf, whichis a mirror of other qualities. Hazrat Isa (as) is associated with that because he

transcended the physical laws. He negated what was hidden: he was born without a

father; he revived the dead; he rose from the dead. All these concepts are that he

transcended the physical realm. He knew the secret or the hidden mystery of that. Then

of course Prophet Muhammed (sal) is associated with the highest realm, and is the source

of prophethood and walayatfor all of the other prophets and theshuyukhto come. Just

like Hazrat Isa established the laor negation of the physical, Prophet Mohammed (sal)

established the illa-Llh,the ithbat/affirmation.

When you synthesize all this, it is the transition from the essence and Divine Qualities

associated with the Prophet Mohammed (sal), the source through which this grace comes,

and the bridge/barzakh al kubrathat leads to Allah (swt).This synthesis takes place when

you are sitting in meditation. You see the world differently because you see that you go

through these different attributes and realms, and they take on another perspective. You

see them from a totally different perspective. Eventually, an individual experiences the

fana/ annihilation, at least in the heart, when the heart becomes absorbed in Allah (swt).

Because for it to happen in each latfa, it means each latfahas to be turned toward its

Source. When you go through each latfain all these circles, the door is open for you to

travel there in this life or in the Hereafter. But from this life, you have to try to

accomplish thisfanain the heart.

You become totally submitted in the heart. For that, you exit the reflections /zilland

you contemplate the relationships that these prophets have with you and what they

represent. (I told you what each one represents.) In the NaqshbandiMujaddidi path,

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some people contemplated nearness to Allah as being within Allah,sayr-maiAllah

(accompaniment with Allah). We do that. We say maiyyator maiyaat al hubbi,

accompaniment or accompaniment with love. Mujaddid al-alf ath-thn ShaykhAhmad

Farq Sirhind (ra)added certain contemplations. The contemplations that were reachedby him were reached through certain exercises, certain practices that could only be taught

by a livingshaykh. By that time, the sojourner is out of the circle of contingent existence,

daira incam, and now is traveling to Allah: sayr-f-Allah(journey in Allah),sayr-bi-

Allah(journey by Allah) andsayr-ma-Allah(journey with Allah), adaniyya. Thats what

follows the circles.

Though most Sufishaykhsgave permission to teach at the point of finishing one Order,

some even gave it for finishing an Order in qalb, we dont do that because of two

reasons: one is, if you see the person is still subject to intensejedhbah/ attraction to the

material and physical world, or attraction to ecstasyeither one. At this point, a person

enters into another dimension, another maqam, which is the walayat kubra, the greater

intimacy with Allah (swt). Now this person is really what you would no longer call a

seeker: this person is an adept. The person has developed capability in his or her travels

in the nafs. Why the nafs? You travel in the nafsin this stage of spiritual developmentsince it is the only subtle center that spans the spiritual heights in the world of creation.

Nafsgoes from the highest point of self-absorbed in Allah, to the lowest point of

creation. Thats why we end in nafs.

When you are done with the circles and all the latif, you will come to nafsand say,

What do I do next? And I will say, Now yousit only in nafs. But I like qalb!

Everybody likes qalb. Qalbis like the favorite uncle, but you sit in nafs. This is the

realm of the walayat ambiy; nearness / closeness / intimacy to the prophets. You return

from the spiritual heights, and you convey the message of the prophets to humanity.

What is the message of Noah, and Ibrahim? What is the message of Sidna Isa? Do you

remember? I told you tonight. This is what you are conveying. The maqamis called

sayd sadr the expansion of the breast.That points to the perfection of the latfaakhfah,

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which expands to fill the entire chest until the whole chest is filled with light. As Allah

(swt) says in the Holy Quran,

Those whom Allah in His plan wills to guide, He opens their breast to Islam.

And those whom He wills to leave straying, He makes their breast closed and

constricted/qabdas if he had to climb up to the skies. Thus does Allah heap

the penalty on those who refuse to believe.

Then He also says in anothersurah, Expand my breast.This is what it means: akhf,

filled with light. It is one whose heart Allah has opened to Islam. [Does this mean] the

religion of Islam? No, it means to submission, to the safety and security, the purification

and the refinement, of character. One has received the enlightenment from Allah (swt)

and no longer has that hard heart, so to speak. He says, Woe to those whose hearts are

hardened against celebrating the praises of Allah. They are manifestly wandering

in error. And also, Have We not expanded thy breast and lifted a weight from off

thy chest?

What is the emphasis on? The emphasis is onfayd, the effusive light, going to the nafsinthese contemplations. Beyond that point, you have the latif hayat wahdani. That is, the

subtle goodness of the unity or oneness, living in unity/oneness. At this stage, the ten

latif(including the nafs ammraand nafs mutmaina) have become purified in rida/

contentment. The circle of intimacy is represented by three smaller circles in a bow.

Aqribiyat/ nearness is the first of the circles. It is a barzakh, which contains the names

and the attributes in its lower half, and the Divine Qualities in its upper half. This is also a

description of the heart. Think of it as the chambers of the heart. In the two higher circles

you find muhabbat/ love, which corresponds tosifat salbiyat/ the attributes of negation,

and the synthesis of all the different attributes. The bow is associated with the nearness

to Allahs Throne, the knowledge and satisfaction one has from knowing.

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Then what? You stop for dinner, go out for a nice Italian dinner, and come back and

finish the journey. The last contemplation of the dhhirinvolves nuzul/ returning,

descending, back to this created world, which you have negated and now you are

included in as you travel toward Allah in intimation of the Prophet (sal) and hiscompanions. One returns to the world and the spiritual journey in order to guide others.

In our Mujaddidi line there is one more degree, called walayat awliy. This degree of

closeness of the highest angel/al mla al Allahinvolves earth, fire, water, and air. You

contemplate the inner / btin I dont know how to talk about it. I have permission to

teach it, but I dont know how to discuss it. It is said that in these three transmissions,

even the angels cannot go, because the most subtle body of light can only reach this level.

For a human being to reach this is really a blessing by Allah. You dont even know you

reach it, so I dont know why we talk about it. It is, however, discussed in the Quran

when Allah said, And behold, We said to the angels, Bow down to Adam,and they

bowed down. That is the state where the angels cannot even look. They have to bow

down. But Iblis rejected doing that, and the whole drama of life began.

It is this contemplation that is associated with the distance of the two bows length [from

the throne]. It alludes to the fact that Prophet Muhammed (sal) was at this exalted station,

being only two bows length or even nearer to the throne. Some people have distinguished

that as meaning the two eyebrows on your head are the two bows, and between them is

where the Prophet (sal) bowed down.

It was discovered, as we discover also in the times we are living in, that this is a very

long journey, and you need shortcuts. In the early days, it was said that a person had to

achieve a very high state of haqiqahbefore they could even begin this journey, but there

was a short cut. On was called the path of the qayyums(like we recite al hayyu al

qayyum). It is there for certain very special travelers. For special travelers, theshaykh

would recognize in someone the ability to receive many transmissions, and the person

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would achieve very quickly a deep opening or understanding. I think I told someone the

other day that just because the door is open doesnt mean you walk through it. You have

to understand this. You have this gift from Allah that opened the door, but it doesnt

mean you are going to walk through it. You have to create the discipline to do that.Mujaddid al-alf ath-thn ShaykhAhmad Farq Sirhind (ra)focused people on Quran.

He created a bit of a ruckus, I should say. He declared the reality of the Quran and the

Kaba, what he called the haqiqat kaba rabbani tobe above that of the Prophet

Muhammed (sal). It caused a lot of problems, especially among the ulemaand certain

Sufis of the Hejaz, who objected to the Kaba having a higher exalted state than

Rasulallah (sal), which the Wahabis have taken as a level.

The principle contenders in this argument were Hazrat Khwaja Adam Banri (ra) who

was one of ourshaykhs. He was the khalifaof Alif Thani Shaykh Ahmed Farooqi Sirhind

al-alf ath-thnShaykhAhmad Farq Sirhind (ra)i. And one of Imam Rabbanis major

successors, Kishashi, took the other part. Al-alf ath-thnShaykhAhmad Farq Sirhind

(ra) argued that the reality of the Prophet (sal) is superior to any other creature. The real

Kaba you can prostrate to. It was not created. It is covered with a veil of non-existence.

It is this Kaba that comes from the essence of Allah. It has no physicality. Hazrat Imam

Rabbani was referring to the Reality of the Kaba, not the physical cube sitting in Mecca.

He was talking about from where it came and what it represented. It is a black stone cube,

emptied out to be filled with nothing to represent the undefinable of Allah (swt).

These contemplations led to the contemplations of the perfections of the prophetic lines

and Hazrat Khwaja Abdullah Wahadat Sirhindi (ra) acknowledged that among the Sufis,

when you sit in muraqabahand meditation and surrender to Allah (swt), you go past all

of these associations with the material world, even if it is just for a moment. You dont

get caught up in the interpretation, even of the letters of ShaykhAhmad Farq Sirhind

(ra). You have the experience yourself.

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One aspect of the Mujaddidi practice always remains in the oral /mental tradition: that

the transmission is given by theshaykhto the murd. It is not written in a letter. You

cant get it from any other way. You can only get it through that transmission. We only

know that livingshaykhs, using Khwaja ShhNaqshbands methods, trained people to asfar as maiyyat/ accompaniment. In some of the khanaqah, after the asrprayer, the

shaykhswould gather before maghrib(from asrto maghrib) and sit in a circle and

perform the contemplation. The individual contemplations were recommended to be done

then and in the morning, right after thefajrprayer. Each of these intentions, which all of

you know, were given to us so that you and I, individually, can make the choice to follow

the path through the open doorways, and be able to see the origin of the Sifat/ Attributes

of Allah, to sit and receive the effulgence and that light, and bring it into your day to day

life.

We went through a lot tonight to tell you this. Im not going to do it again, maybe in my

whole life time. At least you have heard it. (Recites an yatin Arabic): Remember

Me and I will remember you.What does it mean? It has another part: And thank

Me and dont reject Me. It says, Remember Mekeep saying dhikr;and as you

keep making dhikr, Im going to remember you while you are doing that. Dont

remember Me and stop and wait. Keep making the dhikr. You remember Me, and Ill be

remembering you. What do you think is the inner meaning of that? You will hear it

through your own voice, your own memory, your own mind, His reply. And thank Me

and dont reject Me. What is rejecting Allah? Well, you go home and dont make a

prayer before you go to bed. You dont say, Shukran Allah.You dont pray on time.

You dont pray at all. You dont do this or that;you make excuses for yourself and you

live with those excuses. And because the sky doesnt open up and the lightning bolt

doesnt come and kill you, everythings fine. So I leave you with a question: Who are

you? Asalaam aleikum.

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