Four ways of reaching Allah

Among the Naqshbandi elders there are four ways of reaching Allah (wusul ila Allah): remembrance of Allah (dhikr), the bond with the shaykh (rabita), meditation (muraqaba), and the company of a perfect spiritual guide (suhbat-e shaykh-e kamil).

The Importance of Dhikr

The manifestation of the perfections of Ahmad ﷺ, Hazrat Khwaja Muhammad Masum Sirhindi (may his secret be sanctified), says: “As long as a person is held captive by what is other than the Truth, and his breast is not cleansed of the imprints of what is other than Allah, he remains captive to the sickness of the inner self and is far and estranged from the nearness of the Truth, Glorified be He,

In this short span of time, removing this sickness is the most important task, and in this brief respite the cure of this inward illness is the greatest aim. The removal of this sickness has been made dependent on abundant remembrance, and the purification and cleansing of the inner self from the filth of all that is other than Allah is bound up with the remembrance of Allah Most High.

یٰۤاَیُّہَا الَّذِیۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا اذْکُرُوا اللہَ ذِکْرًا کَثِیۡرًاوَّ سَبِّحُوۡہُ بُکْرَۃً وَّ اَصِیۡلًا

O you who believe, remember Allah with much remembrance, and glorify Him morning and evening.

Abundant remembrance is truly realised only when it is not followed by heedlessness, which on this path is a deadly poison and a helper of the sickness of the inner self. One of the elders has said:

If someone turned towards Allah for the whole length of his life and then turned away from Him for a single moment, what he lost would be more than what he gained.

That is, if someone remained turned towards Allah Most High for his whole life and then became heedless for a single moment, what he lost (in that one moment of heedlessness) would be more than what he gained (by spending his whole life in remembrance).”

The perfection of this remembrance is attained when everything other than the One remembered departs from the breast, and the breast becomes pure and clear of all attachments, so that one is neither gladdened by the joys of the world nor saddened by its sorrows — to the point that even if he tried with effort to bring what is other than Allah to mind, he would not be able to, because of the forgetfulness of everything besides the Truth that the inner self has attained. As long as there is no such forgetting and oblivion, the remembrance of Allah Most High remains mixed with the remembrance of other things, and a remembrance in which something other than the Truth has a share is not worthy of that pure Court.

اَلَا لِلہِ الدِّیۡنُ الْخَالِصُ

Behold, to Allah alone belongs pure devotion.

And Allah Most High says: “And remember your Lord when you forget.”

The Kinds of Dhikr

It should be known that dhikr is done with the tongue and also with the heart. The best is that which is done with both tongue and heart at the same time, and if one limits oneself to only one of them, then dhikr of the heart is better. Both spoken dhikr and dhikr of the heart are practised among the people of the path (tariqa), but among the Naqshbandi masters the dhikr that counts is the silent dhikr of the heart (dhikr-e khafi qalbi). This means that it is this dhikr that counts as part of the regular practices (ma'mulat) of the order; otherwise these elders too recite the Sunnah supplications and the like with the tongue.

Silent Dhikr of the Heart, Quiet Dhikr and Loud Dhikr

I have seen in some books that the silent dhikr of the heart is that which even the angels who are always with a person cannot hear. Hazrat Khwaja Naqshband (may his secret be sanctified) says that the reality of silent dhikr can be attained through awareness of the heart (wuquf-e qalbi), and that station is reached in which the heart itself does not know that it is engaged in dhikr. The great masters of the path have said that if the heart still retains the knowledge that it is doing dhikr (that is, if it is not veiled from this), then know that it is still heedless.

Bear in mind that dhikr of the heart is always silent, that is, not aloud. Dhikr done softly and in a low voice is called quiet dhikr (dhikr-e sirri), and if it is done in a loud voice it is loud dhikr (dhikr-e jahri).

Before Hazrat Khwaja Abdul Khaliq Ghijduvani (may his secret be sanctified), the masters of this order used to do loud dhikr. Hazrat Khizr (peace be upon him) taught Hazrat Khwaja (may his secret be sanctified) the silent dhikr. After Hazrat Khwaja (may his secret be sanctified), silent dhikr alone remained in this order, until Hazrat Khwaja Mahmud Faghnawi (may his secret be sanctified), for certain considerations of benefit, instructed seekers to do loud dhikr.

Some people objected to Hazrat Khwaja Mahmud (may his secret be sanctified) that he did not do dhikr in the manner of his shaykh, and he replied that his shaykh, Muhammad Arif Riwgari (may his secret be sanctified), had granted him permission for loud dhikr in his final days. A group of the scholars of the time asked him why he did loud dhikr. He replied: “So that the sleeper may wake, the heedless may become alert and come onto the path, attain steadfastness in the Shari'ah and the tariqa, and develop a longing for the reality of repentance (tawba) and turning back to Allah (inabat), which is the root of every good deed and of all felicity.”

After Hazrat Khwaja Mahmud (may his secret be sanctified), the masters of the order practised loud dhikr alongside silent dhikr, until the Imam of the path, the great Khwaja, Hazrat Baha-ud-Din Naqshband (may Allah Most High sanctify his secrets), appeared in the world. Since in matters of practice he had been commanded, on behalf of Hazrat Khwaja Abdul Khaliq Ghijduvani (may his secret be sanctified), to act upon the stricter way (azimat), he adopted silent dhikr, and that has remained the practice to this day.

Dhikr of the Heart

The absolute verifier, Hazrat Shaykh Abdul Haq Muhaddith Dehlvi (may his secret be sanctified), says in Sharh Safar al-Sa'adat: Dhikr of the heart means turning one's attention towards the Truth, exalted be His majesty, and being present with Him, without pronouncing the dhikr, and holding Him in one's mind in such a way that the imprints of all others are wiped completely from the page of the heart, and nothing remains as the qibla of the inner self except the Oneness of the Truth. This is what the noble Sufis have called the true and pure dhikr, and in the exalted Naqshbandi order it is called silent dhikr (dhikr-e khafi), awareness of the heart (wuquf-e qalbi), special attention (tawajjuh ba-wajh-e khass), witnessing (shuhud), arrival (wusul) and finding (wujud). (He goes on to say:) When this affiliation (nisbat) is attained, then, even if it lasts for only a moment or an hour, when

the servant is cut off from all that is other than the Truth — that is, while he is in the early stages — in such a case, whenever that state is attained, at that time he is united with Allah; and when this same affiliation takes the form of a settled disposition (malaka) and becomes permanent, the seeker (salik) reaches the station of annihilation (fana).

Two Kinds of Dhikr

The dhikr that is practised among the Naqshbandi masters is of two kinds: first, dhikr of the Name of the Essence (ism-e dhat); second, dhikr of negation and affirmation (nafi wa ithbat). Their details will come in the section on the Mujaddidi path (suluk).

Why Dhikr of the Heart Comes First

It should be known that, according to most of the noble Sufis (may Allah Most High have mercy on them), the seeker does not reach the rank of perfection and of perfecting others until he has covered the journey of knowledge by both routes, that of wayfaring (suluk) and that of divine attraction (jadhba). Suluk means going, and jadhba means being drawn. Suluk is the province of the seeker and jadhba that of the shaykh. Through suluk the body (qalib) is purified, and through jadhba the heart and the other subtle centres (lata'if) are illumined. Since in the Naqshbandi path attraction comes before wayfaring, as has already been mentioned, while in other paths wayfaring comes before attraction, the Naqshbandi masters begin dhikr with the heart and the other subtle centres, which belong to the World of Command (alam-e amr). And since the tongue is one of the parts of the body, in those paths in which wayfaring comes first, spoken dhikr comes before dhikr of the heart. The source of jadhba is Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), and the source of suluk is Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him).

Rabita

That is, binding one's heart to the perfect shaykh and having complete faith in him. The condition for rabita is that the shaykh be so perfect and of so high a rank that he has arrived at the station of witnessing (mushahada), is illumined by the essential

self-disclosures (tajalliyat-e dhatiyya), possesses a very strong spiritual attention (tawajjuh), and is constantly practised in recollection (yad dasht), so that merely seeing him brings the benefit of dhikr. When the company of such a shaykh is granted, the disciple should consider it a great blessing. The disciple (murid) should empty himself of the thought and imagination of everything except the company of the shaykh, and wait for the grace (fayz) that is coming from the shaykh, whether he keeps his eyes closed or not. Then, when something is attained, he should guard it. This way of reaching Allah is nearer and more effective in bringing one to Him than all other ways, and better than dhikr and muraqaba, because in the company of a shaykh possessing the qualities mentioned above, the disciple's inner self is cleansed of the imprints of all else, and through the shaykh's spiritual resolve (himmat) the heart turns towards the Court of the Almighty. Yes, the effect appears in proportion to one's effort and sincerity.

The disciple should develop such a capacity in this matter that whenever he wishes and turns his attention, the form of the shaykh becomes present to him. In this way, when rabita becomes dominant, the disciple sees himself as the very shaykh and finds himself clothed in his garment and qualities; wherever he looks, he sees nothing but the shaykh. This is what is called annihilation in the shaykh (fana fi al-shaykh).

Hazrat Khwaja Muhammad Masum Sirhindi (may his secret be sanctified) says that when the form of the shaykh stays with the disciple in this way, it is called the affiliation of rabita (nisbat-e rabita). Our elders have said:

The shadow of the guide is better than the remembrance of the Truth.

This points to that very affiliation, that is, to guarding the affiliation of rabita. What is meant is that since the beginner seeker does not yet have much affinity with the Truth, Glorified be He,

..............

The guide's shadow is better than dhikr.

visualising the shaykh (tasawwur-e shaykh) is therefore more beneficial for him than dhikr. For the disciple, visualising the shaykh is more beneficial and profitable than dhikr and the like, and its constancy is a supreme blessing for him; it is as if the disciple is in the presence of the shaykh at all times. Through this affiliation it becomes very easy to receive spiritual graces, and attaining it is also a sign of complete affinity with the shaykh.

The appearance of effect (receiving influence) depends on affinity: the greater the affinity with the shaykh, the greater the effect. Bear in mind that what counts in this effect is the attainment of inner collectedness (jam'iyyat), turning towards the Divine Court, and the heart being drawn to Him. Yes, the appearance of warmth and heat, although beneficial and enhancing to spiritual taste, did not exist in the first generation.

Bear in mind that the shaykh is like a spout (mizab) through which grace descends from the encompassing ocean onto the heart of the disciple. Therefore, if there is any deficiency in rabita, arriving at Allah is very difficult. Hazrat Khwaja Muhammad Masum (may his secret be sanctified) was asked whether annihilation in Allah (fana fi Allah) can be attained without annihilation in the shaykh. He replied: “The shaykh is the intermediary for the graces; as long as the intermediary is not set right, one will not reach the One sought. Therefore annihilation in Allah without annihilation in the shaykh is difficult.”

The disciple should keep his own will subordinate to the will of the shaykh and hand himself over to the shaykh completely, just as a dead body is in the hands of the one who washes it. This is extremely necessary in all paths, especially the Naqshbandi path, because in it the giving and receiving of benefit takes place by reflection (in'ikas) and by being dyed in the shaykh's colour (insibagh), and everything depends on companionship (suhbat). Thus, the greater the affinity with the shaykh who is followed, the greater the effect of companionship and the wider the way to receiving graces.

It should be known that if, while bringing to mind (ihzar) the form of the shaykh, intoxication (sukr) and absence (ghaybat) come over the disciple, he should stop paying attention to the form and turn towards that state

itself.

The Kinds of Calling Up the Rabita

It should be known that in the Naqshbandi path the Uwaysi mode (uwaysiyyat) predominates, so the seeker can benefit from the elders while sitting at home, whether the shaykh and the elders from whom he is receiving grace are alive in this world or have passed away. Rabita has several forms and kinds; for the general benefit, we set out in detail all the ways of receiving grace through each of them:

The First Kind

The disciple imagines the form of the perfect shaykh between his two eyes and, in that form, turns towards the spirituality (ruhaniyyat) of the shaykh, remaining steadily in that state until the effect of absence (ghaybat) or attraction (jadhba) is attained.

The Second Kind

The disciple imagines the form of the shaykh to his right or left, and then in it turns towards his spirituality, until the state mentioned above is attained.

In both the kinds of rabita mentioned above, once absence or the effect of attraction has been attained, he should leave the rabita and turn towards the state that has been attained, that is, absence and the effect of attraction. And whenever this thing attained through rabita fades, he should again occupy himself with rabita until that same state returns. In this way he should persist in rabita until he annihilates his own self and attributes in the form of the shaykh. When this treasure is attained, he will witness the spirituality of the shaykh, with all its perfections, in that form, because the perfections are not separate from the spirituality. Then the training given by the spirituality of the shaykh will bring him to Allah Most High, and he will become one of

those who have arrived and are perfect (wasilin-e kamilin). Through rabita the disciple will continue to be trained by the shaykh, even if the shaykh is in the West and he is in the East.

The Third Kind

The third form of calling up the rabita is that he imagines the form of the shaykh in his forehead and fixes the form in the middle of the forehead. Compared with the first two kinds, this kind is stronger and more beneficial in putting away stray thoughts.

The Fourth Kind

He imagines the form of the shaykh in the middle of the heart. This method is more beneficial in repelling the passing thoughts (khatarat) of the heart.

The Fifth Kind

He should imagine this same form of the shaykh in his forehead, then let the form descend into the middle of the heart, and imagine that his heart is a wide threshold, and remove passing thoughts entirely as far as he can. This form is more beneficial and profitable than all the kinds mentioned above, and also harder.

The Sixth Kind

The disciple negates himself and affirms the shaykh. This kind is very beneficial for warding off afflictions.

How Rabita Is Made with Elders Who Have Passed Away

The method of my master, my support, my spiritual guide and my patron, Hazrat Maulana Ahmad Raza Khan Sahib — may Allah let the Muslims benefit from his long life — is that when he seeks benefit from the spirituality of an elder,

he first recites Surah al-Ikhlas a few times, with Durood Sharif at the beginning and end, and conveys the reward (isal-e thawab) to the court of that elder, and then turns his attention to him. The method is that the seeker should empty himself of all natural and bodily attachments and cleanse his heart of all passing thoughts, knowledge and imprints. Then he should imagine the spirituality of that elder as a light free of all sensory qualities, and then hold that light in his heart until some grace from among that elder's graces, or some state from among his states, is attained. For the spirituality of the perfect ones is a source of graces, so whoever brings the source into his heart will inevitably receive grace.

Bear in mind that this method applies when one is far from the grave of that elder. If the rabita with the one in the grave is made near the grave, then he should first greet the one in the grave, then stand respectfully at the feet or on the right side, recite al-Fatiha and convey its reward. After that he should sit a little distance from the grave — our Hazrat (may his shadow endure) usually sits facing the chest — and then turn towards the spirituality of the one in the grave, imagining that grace is coming from him into his heart, according to the method described above.

In short, rabita is so excellent a way of obtaining graces that, wherever the source of grace may be and wherever the seeker may be, he can receive grace anywhere. So if anyone, from anywhere, turns in the manner described towards the Master of the Universe ﷺ, he will receive grace; and likewise from the noble friends of Allah (awliya). Thus rabita, even without the shaykh's attention (tawajjuh), is sufficient for receiving benefit, and if there is attention as well, then it is light upon light. Yes, everything depends on the strength of the rabita. So whoever persists in it attains all the states of the path and the perfections of the reality, and whoever's rabita is not sound, his link of receiving benefit will remain severed: he will neither attain the stages of wayfaring

nor will the secrets of arrival be disclosed to him. (Al-Bahjat al-Saniyya)

The Etiquette of Rabita

It is this: the disciple should believe that the perfections of the shaykh are not separate from his spirituality, and that his spirituality is not confined to any particular place, so that wherever he imagines it, the spirituality will be present. He should also believe that the disposals (tasarrufat) of the shaykh's spirituality are in reality the disposals of Allah, the Truth, Most High. He should guard the company of the shaykh and observe its etiquette in every situation. Further, as long as the rabita has not become complete, even if some states have come about, he should not leave the rabita, because if he leaves it, that state will depart from him, since the shaykh's state is with him only as if on loan. Moreover, persisting in rabita at all times is very necessary.

A Caution

It is very important to know that the shaykh with whom rabita is valid is one who has attained the most complete annihilation (fana) and the most perfect subsistence (baqa), and in this age such people are rare, indeed almost non-existent. Because in the Naqshbandi order the end is included in the beginning, some seekers attain those states in the early stages before annihilation, take them to be perfection of the highest degree, and instruct their own disciples to practise rabita. In this lies a great danger for both the spiritual guide (pir) and the disciple.

A Benefit

The disciple needs rabita only so long as he is not able to receive grace from Allah Most High without an intermediary. So if he becomes worthy of that, he will leave rabita, because to occupy himself with rabita at that time would be to descend from progress to decline and to prefer the level of the veil

over witnessing. That is turning away from Allah Most High. Yes, he should not abandon the company and affiliation of the perfect shaykh, because guarding that company and affiliation increases witnessing and brings one closer to the station of intimacy (uns) and intimate converse (muhadatha).

Muraqaba

Linguistically, this word is derived either from riqaba, meaning guarding, or from ruquba, meaning waiting. Gathering all the outer and inner senses and sitting in expectation of the One sought is called muraqaba. In the exalted Naqshbandi order its method is that one closes the eyes and turns towards one of the ten subtle centres (lata'if-e ashara), waits for grace to come to that subtle centre from the Source of grace, and remains absorbed in this.

According to the explanation of the Imam of India, Hazrat Shah Waliullah Sahib Muhaddith Dehlvi (may Allah have mercy on him), a definition of muraqaba that covers all its kinds is this:

“To turn, by means of the faculty of perception, with complete attention towards the attributes of Allah Most High, or towards the state of the spirit's separation from the body, or something similar, until intellect, understanding, imagination and all the senses become subordinate to this attention, and what is not perceptible by the senses comes to be as if it were perceptible.”

Ghawth-e Alam, Sayyiduna Shah Ghulam Ali Dehlvi (may his secret be sanctified), says: “Muraqaba is guarding the heart against passing thoughts and whisperings, and watching for divine grace without the medium of dhikr or rabita. This state comes about when one remains turned towards the Divine Essence with complete humility and complete brokenness, until turning towards Allah without the interference of passing thoughts becomes a settled disposition of the heart.”

Hazrat Khwaja-e Jahan Muhammad Baha-ud-Din Naqshband (may his secret be sanctified) says that muraqaba

means “forgetting the sight of the creation through constantly gazing at the Creator,” that is, completely forgetting the sight of created things because of looking at the Creator at all times. He says: “Persistence in muraqaba is a rare thing which very few of this group have found. I have discovered the way to it, and it is opposing the commanding self (nafs-e ammara) and following the radiant Sunnah.”

The way to constant muraqaba that Hazrat Khwaja (may his secret be sanctified) has pointed out is certainly based on great depth of insight. If one who reflects (muta'ammil) ponders it, he will find great meaning in these words of his. In any case, if constant attention and muraqaba can be achieved, it can be achieved only by acting upon the Sunnahs of our Master (peace be upon him).