Tasawwuf and Character Building
SECTION 2
CHAPTER 10
AHADIYYAT - MEDITATION OF DIVINE UNITY
After learning in detail the verbal meanings of meditation, we come to our first lesson, that is the meditation of Ahadiyyat (The Oneness of ALLAH).During this meditation, there are certain words which are recited verbally or quietly in the heart. The first is ‘Faidh ALLAH’ which means that I am now waiting for the Divine blessing come to me, a person is helpless in front of ALLAH Almighty but ALLAH is All Giving and All Loving and free from any needs. The next word thus is ‘munazza’. He is such that no one can visualise Him and no one can coin any similitude for Him, but how do we see Him rid, how do we address Him, and how do we know He is there? The next words are, ‘wa ilahokum’ that He is the worshipped and adored and the only one worthy of worship, and he is not only my Creator but the Creator of the whole universe. A person may go astray while worshipping, so remember to say, ‘Ilahun Wahid’ that He is the only Deity and no one else. Now we, know there is one ALLAH, who is the Creator and He is the only one worthy of worship, so start by saying ‘wahda Hu la sharika laka ya ALLAH!’Now you can address Him directly, saying ‘O ALLAH ! There is none like You, You are the creator of the whole universe and You are not dependent on anyone for help but everything in the universe is dependent on You. The universe works according to Your Will.’ The devotee should now absorb himself in meditating this fact with deep concentration so that the results start to penetrate his inner being.
What are the results we are looking for? That the devotee shall practically worship only ALLAH and follow His Commands and also the commands of those who teach him the Commands of ALLAH and convey His Message. That way our very existence would be an example of worship. We know that ALLAH is the Creator of the universe and He is the only One. He is All Powerful and can do whatever He desires. He can bless some with daughters and others with sons. He can create twins for some and to some He may not give anything at all as He is the only One Who is our Creator, we have trust in Him and shall accept whatever He has for us and shall always be satisfied. Our share of worldly treasure is also decided by ALLAH. To some He gives abundantly and to others He gives less than what they desire. Therefore, we are satisfied by whatever You have given us, and this satisfaction would save us from avarice, embezzlement, bribe and fraud. These feelings of trust in ALLAH Almighty would stop us from desiring something which is not ours or from comparing ourselves to those who are better off. On the contrary, we shall thank ALLAH for all that He has given us and shall endure any calamity with patience and be content that it could have been worse, but ALLAH is All-Kind and Merciful and has saved us from the worse. We shall not be among those who say, “If only you gave us all the wealth you gave to Qarun ,but we would rather say, “Isn’t it the greatest treasure that you have granted us?” Whatever misery or disaster we come across is according to the Divine Will and when we find courage to face these calamities, we should know that ALLAH gives us the strength to do so.
In short, the main purpose of this meditation is that feeling of love and trust in ALLAH should be so strong that every part of his being cries out in earnest, O ALLAH ,“We are content and happy with all that You have given me.” In other words, the devotee has resigned to the Will of ALLAH and this is what the main achievement is. To know about a certain subject is one thing, to experience it is something totally different. The latter is the real goal. There are a few guidelines and principles concerning the etiquettes to exhibit emotions of pain and distress according to human nature. When a person faces distressing circumstances, he usually expresses it in four different ways. First of all he feels the pain and sorrow, secondly tears well up in his eyes. These expressions are very natural and involuntary. Hence, a person will not be answerable for this act as he is helpless. But the next two ways of expressing pain and sorrow are voluntary, such as complaining that what took place was not right and it should not have happened. Shouting and raising the voice to undesired levels, abusing oneself physically and other such outbursts are very much undesirable and a person will have to answer for such an impatient attitude.
Such acts have been forbidden by our beloved Prophet
. On the other hand, the Holy Prophet has prescribed a meditation for such circumstances. When you come across distressing circumstances, do not say your planning was wrong and if you had used another way the results would have been different. This means that you only trust your planning and have forgotten ALLAH ,Who is the Greatest Planner, and it is in His power to do anything He desires. So the best phrase would be that whatever has happened was according to ALLAH’s Will and what He never Willed did not take place. If a person adopts the latter way, he will not only find peace and tranquillity but will always feel an inner satisfaction within himself, otherwise the former way invites conflict and trouble within oneself and a person is never at peace with himself and with ALLAH.
Thenthis meditation saturates the inner being of a person, strange things happen. The following is a true incident. This meditation had become a reality for Hadhrat lmdadullah Mohajir Makki. Once a very sick man approached him and begged him to pray to ALLAH for his health. All the devotees who were present at that time, wondered what Hadhrat would do now. They knew that whatever took place, good or bad, Hadhrat always called it a blessing. How would he now pray to ALLAH to remove the pain when pain itself was a blessing for him. How can he ask ALLAH to take away a blessing, and if he refuses, the sick man would be very disappointed? The devotees wondered what would happen now. Hadhrat finally raised his hands prayer, “O ALLAH!Illness is a blessing from You and health is also a blessing. A person cannot endure every kind of blessing. This man is weak. Please change the blessing of illness to the blessing of health as, O ALLAH! You are All Powerful and can do everything.”
May ALLAH give us the strength and insight to grasp the reality of the meditation of oneness of ALLAH ,and may this meditation become a practical example for us in our everyday life. Ameen.