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The Risala of Shaikh Wali Raslan (ra) on the Affirmation of Oneness (Tawhid)
The Risala of Shaikh Wali Raslan
In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate!
Praise be to Allah.
Now then, know that the whole of you is covert polytheism [shirkun khafiyyun] and your realization-and-affirmation-of- Oneness [tawhid] will not become evident to you until you exit from you[rself]. Provided you are sincere, it will be disclosed to you that it is He, not you, so you must ask forgiveness for you. And whenever you encounter [any form of it], your own polytheism [shirk] will be evident to you. You must therefore renew, in every hour and at every moment, an affirmation-of-Oneness [tawhid] and a faith [iman]. And whenever you become detached from them your faith will increase; and whenever you become detached from you, your certitude [yaqin] will increase.
O prisoner of desires and formal acts of worship, O prisoner of stations and revelations! You are deluded and you are preoccupied with you. Where is your preoccupation with Him to the exclusion of you? He is Present and Attentive, “and He is with you wherever you may be,†in this world and the hereafter. When you are with Him, He screens you from you, and when you are with you, He screens you from Him. Faith is your separating from them, and certitude is your separating from you. When your faith has increased, you will be transported from state to state; and when your certitude has increased, you will be transported from station to station.
The Sacred Law [Shari’a] is for you, until you seek Him from Him for you; and the Reality [Haqiqa] belongs to Him, until you seek Him through Him for Him, beyond when and beyond where, for the Sacred Law does have limits [hudud] and modes [jihat], but the Reality has neither limit nor mode. One who lives with the Sacred Law [alone] is given the privilege of striving [mujahada] and one who lives with the Reality is given the privilege of grace [minna]. How great is the contrast between striving and grace! One who lives with striving is existent [mawjud], while one who lives with grace is extinct [mafqud]. Practices are linked to the noble Law [Shar’]. As for total trust in the Lord [tawakkul], this is linked to faith [iman], and the realization-and-affirmation-of-Oneness [tawhid] is linked to illuminating disclosure [kashf].
People wander astray from the Lord of Truth because of the mind, and from the hereafter because of passion. For, when you seek the Lord of Truth with the mind, you lose the way, and when you seek the hereafter with passion, you stumble and slip. The believer sees by the light of Allah, and one who has direct knowledge [al-’arif] beholds Him by it. “As long as you are with you, We command you. Then, once you have been rendered extinct to you, We take charge of you.†For He does not take charge of them until after their annihilation [in Him]. As long as you continue, you are a seeker [murid]. Then, when He has made you extinct to you, you are one who is sought [murad]. The most lasting certainty is your absence from you and your presence with Him. What a big difference there is between what is at His command and what is because of Him! If you are at His command, worldly means will be subservient to you. And if you are because of Him, the whole universe will be submissive to you.
The first of the stations is patience in obedience to His will (Exalted is He). The one in the middle is contentment with His wishes (Exalted is He), and the last is that you come to be in accordance with His purpose. [Practical] knowledge [‘ilm] is the way of action, and action is [the way of] knowledge. And knowledge is the way of experience [ma’rifa]. And experience [of Allah] is the way of unveiling [kashf]. And unveiling is the way of extinction [fana’]. “You have not become fit for Us as long as there is still within you any remnant of anything apart from Us, so when you have set everything else aside, We shall render you extinct. You have now become fit for Us, and We have entrusted you with Our secret.†When there does not remain with you any self-motivation, your certitude will be perfected, and when there does not remain any existence of yours, your realization-and-affirmation-of-Oneness [tawhid] will be perfected.
The people of the inner are with certainty [yaqin], and the people of the outer are with faith [iman]. So when the heart of the master of certainty is stimulated in response to anything other than Allah, his certainty is deficient, and when no notion ever occurs to him, his certainty is perfect. And when the heart of the master of faith is stimulated in response to anything other than the divine command, his faith is defective, and when it is stirred by the divine command, his faith is complete. The sin of the people of certainty is unbelief [kufr], and the sin of the people of faith is falling short. The dutiful servant is diligent, and the lover is totally trusting, and he who knows by direct experience [al-’arif] is calm and serene, and he who is found is lost.
There is no rest for a dutiful servant, and no movement for a lover, and no resolve for one who knows by direct experience, and no being found for one who is lost. Love is experienced only after certainty, and when the lover is sincere in his love, his heart must be empty of all that is apart from Him. And as long as it retains any trace of love for anything but Him, he must be lacking in love.
One who takes delight in misfortune, co-exists therewith, and one who takes delight and rejoices in prosperity co-exists with it, so when He makes them extinct to them, the enjoyment of misfortune and prosperity departs. As for the lover, his breath is wisdom [hikma], and as for the loved one, his breath is power [qudra]. Formal acts of worship are for the compensations, and love is for the nearnesses. [In the words of Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He)]: “I have prepared for My righteous servants that which no eye has ever seen, of which no ear has ever heard, and which has never occurred to any human heart. When they wish for Me, I give them that which no eye has ever seen and of which no ear has ever heard.â€
When He has made you extinct to your passion by decree, and to your self-will through knowledge, you will become a servant with undivided loyalty, with neither passion nor will of your own. Then the veil will be lifted for your benefit, so that servitude will vanish away into Oneness, for the servant will be annihilated and the Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He) will remain. The whole of the Sacred Law [Shari’a] is constriction, and the whole of knowledge [‘ilm] is expansion, and the whole of direct experience [ma’rifa] is dalliance and playful teasing. Our method is love, not labor, and annihilation, not perpetuity. When you enter into work, you belong to you, and when you enter into love, you belong to Him. The worshipper looks to his worship, while the lover looks to his love. When you have come to acknowledge Him, your breathing will be through Him, and your movements will belong to Him, but if you are ignorant of Him, your movements will be your own.
The formal worshipper [‘abid] has no rest; and the ascetic [zahid] has no appetite; and the champion of truth [siddiq] has no dependent reliance; and he who is endowed with direct experience [‘arif] has neither might nor strength, neither choice nor will, neither movement nor rest; and he who is existent [mawjud] has no existence. When you have come to be on familiar terms with Him, you will be estranged from you. “If someone is preoccupied with Us for his own sake, We shall make him blind. But if someone is preoccupied with Us for Our sake, We shall give him sight.†When your passion has faded away, the door of the Reality [Haqiqa] will be unveiled for your benefit, so that your own will is annihilated and Oneness [Wahdaniyya] is unveiled to you and then you will realize that it is He, not you.
If you surrender to Him, He will draw you close, but if you argue with Him, He will keep you at a distance. If you draw near through Him, He will bring you close, but if you draw near through you, He will keep you at a distance. If you seek Him for your own sake, He will burden you, but if you seek Him for His sake, He will pamper you. Your nearness to Him is your separation from you, while your distance is your sticking with you. If you come without you, He will accept you, but if you come through you, He will exclude you.
The worker is hardly likely to be free of attachment to his labor. So be one of the sort disposed toward grace [minna], not one of the sort disposed toward work [‘amal]. If you know Him, you will come to rest, but if you are ignorant of Him, you will be agitated. So the point is that He should be and you should not be. As for the common folk, their works are suspect, and as for the élite, their works are good deeds, and as for the élite of the élite, their works are degrees of spiritual progress. Whenever you shun your passion, your faith is reinforced, and whenever you shun your own essence, your realization-and-affirmation- of-Oneness [tawhid] is reinforced.
Creatures are a screen and you are a screen, but the Lord of Truth is not one to be secluded, and He is concealed from you because of you, and you are concealed from you because of you. So separate from you, and you shall witness Him.
—-
Shaikh Wali Raslan ad-Dimashqi (raa) was a contemporary of Shaikh ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, may Allah be well pleased with them both, and is said to be one of the Shaikhs who bowed his head when the Ghawth made his famous pronouncement (my foot…).
This posting was shared by Ruslan Moore (Al-Baz Publishers).
This is his Rislala, called the ‘Risala f’it-Tawhid’ and deals with both shirk khafi (hidden shirk) and the Oneness of Allah (tawhid) as it pertains to the suluk. It is actually very short, only 5 pages, though in the book there are two lengthy commentaries, one of the by Shaikh al-Islam Zakariyya al-Ansari (d. 926 AH).
The Love of Allah: An act of free choice or an involuntary compulsion?
Shaikh ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, rehmatullahi ta’aala alayhe on the love of Allah – part of a discourse given in AH 545 in Baghdad sharif – 888 years ago shared by Ruslan Moore and translated by the late Muhtar Holland (may Allah have mercy upon his soul):
At this point someone asked: “Do you see love [mahabba] as being experienced in the first instance because of an involuntary compulsion [idtiraran], or by an act of free choice [ikhtiyaran] ?â€
By way of reply, the Shaikh (may Allah be well pleased with him) went on to say:
In the case of a few isolated individuals, the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He) simply casts His gaze upon them and He loves them. He shifts them from one thing to another in a single instant. He does not
come to love them gradually, more and more as the years go by. He loves them in a single moment, so they love Him too, of necessity. They notice that all the blessings they have received have come from Him, not from any other. They notice all His kindness and tender loving care, and all the gifts He bestows upon them, so they love Him promptly and immediately, without any gradual process or passage of time.
In the case of the vast majority, however, it is a matter of choice. Lovers begin to choose Allah (Exalted is He) in preference to His creatures, then they start choosing Him in preference not only to this world, but also to the hereafter. They start giving up things that are either strictly unlawful [haram] or merely of dubious legality [shubha], then they cut back on their consumption of things that are lawful [halal]. They prefer to lead a very simple life, making do with basic things that are readily available. They shun bed and blankets, sleep and rest.
Their sides shun their couches [as they call on their Lord in fear and hope]. (32:16)
Their night is no longer an ordinary night, and their day is no longer an ordinary day. They say: “Our God [Ilahana], we have left everything behind the backs of our hearts, and we have hastened toward You, so that
You might be well pleased.†They journey toward Him on the feet of their hearts [qulub], sometimes on the feet of their innermost beings [asrar], sometimes on the feet of their earnest intention [irada], sometimes
on the feet of their aspiration [himma], sometimes on the feet of their genuine sincerity [sidq], sometimes on the feet of their love [hubb], sometimes on the feet of their ardent longing [shawq], sometimes on the feet of their meekness [dhull] and their modest humility [tawadu’], sometimes on the feet of their fear [khawf], sometimes on the feet of their hope [raja ‘], and all of this out of love for Him and eager yearning to meet with Him.
In your own case, O questioner, you belong to the group consisting of those who love Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) both through involuntary compulsion [idtiraran] and through a process of free choice
[ikhtiyaran]. So, since your question cannot be answered simply, either this way or that, you had better hold your tongue and concentrate on practicing Islam as it ought to be practiced!
If only you could experience all that Islam and faith [iman] can mean! If only you would leave the company of the unbelievers [kafirin] and the hypocrites [munafiqin] today, and stay away from them tomorrow. If only you would get up and walk away from meetings held by those who idolize their fellow creatures and material means [al-mushrikin bi ’l-khalq wa ’l-asbab], and who quarrel with the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He)! You must repent and mend your ways. Do not meddle with the treasuries of worldly kings, and do not pry into their secrets.
Shaikh Hammad (may Allah the Exalted be well pleased with him) would often say: “If a person does not acknowledge his own worth, the decrees of destiny will teach him to acknowledge his own worth [man lam
ya’raf qadrahu ‘arrafat-hu ’l-aqdaru qadrah].†To recognize your own worth is better than refusing to acknowledge your own worth, because an ignorant person is someone who knows neither his own worth nor the worth of other people.
O Allah, do not include us among the ignorant, lying pretenders!
O Allah, include us among those of Your creatures who enjoy Your special favor, and:
Give us in this world good, and good in the hereafter, and guard us against
the torment of the fire! (2:201)
Ahmed Raza Khan (ra) – The 20th Century Reviver of the Faith
The Reviver (Mujaddid) of the 14th Century AlaHadrat Imam Ahmad Rida Khan Alaihir raHmah
He restored the deen to its original state in India when falsehood was being mixed with the truth and people were confused about Sunni beliefs and practices. Such a person is known as a “Mujaddidâ€. Hadrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) said:
Hadrat Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates the Noble Prophet (upon him peace and blessings) said:
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He wrote his first ever fatwa on 14th Sha’ban 1286h on an issue of fostering (when he was only 13 years, 10 months and 4 days old!)
Imam Ahmed Rida took his spiritual pledge (bay’ah/ahd) and received khilafah in various Sufi pathways from his spiritual teacher , Sayyid Shah Aal-e-Rasul Ahmadi from Marehrah, India, in 1296H.
Travels to Hajj
First Hajj:Â In 1295h (1878 CE), at the age of 22, the great Imam traveled to perform Hajj with his father where he received Ijazahs (licenses to teach) in the traditional sciences from the great scholars of Makkah such as Sayyid Ahmad Zayni Dahlan and Mufti Abdullah bin Abd ar-Rahman Siraaj.
Event: It is narrated that Imam Ahmed Rida was near Maqam Ibrahim after Maghrib salah one evening that the Shafi’I Imam of Masjid al-Haraam Shaykh Salih Jamal al-Layl Makki (d.1320h/1884) greeted him and said: “I swear by Allah, I can see the light of Allah shine in your foreheadâ€Â and presented Ijazahs to him.
Second Hajj:Â In 1323h (1906 CE), Imam Ahmed Rida travelled to the Two Holy sanctuaries for the second time in company of his brother, Mawlana Hassan Raza Khan and son, Mawlana Hamid Raza Khan.
Event: He wrote a book called “Al-Dawlah al-Makkiyyah†in Arabic in this journey in just over eight hours without using any books on a question proposed to him by the Sharif of Makkah on the Noble Prophet ‘s (may Allah give him peace and blessings) knowledge of the unseen (ilm al-gayb). This work received a tremendous acceptance in its recital gathering in the presence of the Sharif which was attended by the prominent scholars of the time.
In the same journey, he had numerous meetings of knowledge and circles with the great Ulama who were either teaching, living or traveling in Hijaz. He produced a number of books in Arabic due to these sittings and circles …