Breezes of Intimacy 21-35

BREEZES OF INTIMACY- 21

THANKS

The sign of increasing nearness to Allah is increasing thanks to Him. Our spiritual lives are a mixture of complaints and thanks. The more thanks giving and the less complaints making-like we feel nearer we are from our thanks- and praise-worthy Lord.

This does not mean that mere suppression of complaints and mere forcing out of thanks mean much. True, the two are better than their unbridled opposites- 

but not quite enough. 

Increasing and deepening gnosis (marifa) of Allah means increasing glorified appreciation of His wisdom and goodness which appreciation breaks our resistance to and resentment of His choices and rushes us into their whole-hearted approval. Our hopes are then inspired and sustained by Him while our fears allayed and evil turned away from us by His loving mercy for us.

Of course these are easier said than done but please work with these ideas with patience and respect and see for yourself what gates and doors of deeper and

vaster perceptions will open to and what loving mercy oceans will engulf you. 

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UNDERSTANDING JEHAD

Self, when small, is self-absorbed

By every oppostion very disturbed

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Wants to get its way, always at all cost

Cost to others I mean; and then boast

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Watch around, read history, compare, ponder

See the lies, hypocrisy and ruefully wonder

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All adventures of the same hero ad nauseatum

From Casanova's filth to killing by atom

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Far and near, in and out, examples abound

Ego travel is no travel but a merry-go-round

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Atheist or Muslim, Chrisian or Jew

Self-conquerors have always been few

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It is the most demanding jehad, that is because;

The most rewarding however and worthiest cause

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There is no happiness except in selflessness

Get absorbed in Allah and stop restlessness

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Losing the self in fact is biggest gain

It is winning Allah; no regrets again

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C'mon, make the big move with a big heart

Join battle, shed cowardice, make big start

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BREEZES OF INTIMACY- 22

NOTHING &EVERYTHING

If we want to find Everything we must acknowledge the fact that we are nothing. One who believes that he is something and enjoys his “somethingness” will eventually find out that he is nothing and will find nothing other than his own nothingness; that will be his last, lasting and most bitter experience. 

On the contrary, one who wisely listens to awlia and assumes as an act of faith that he is nothing and then tries to see clearly that he is indeed nothing will begin to ENJOY his new-found nothingness more than he would enjoy having everything. His joyful realization of being nothing will enable him to see the One Who is or has everything, watch that One, Him Almighty doing all miraculous things to Mr nothing's spellbound and flat-out delighted admiration and approval. He shall swim in the Divine Oceans.

Let's go all our way to realize and claim the prize of our most delightful and completely unburdening nothingness which realization is instant as well as eternal salvation. This is a freshly minted arrival from the masters of the Naqshibandi oceans in which others cannot swim.

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BREEZES OF INTIMACY - 23

ORIGINAL SIN

Christianity defines an Original Sin supposedly committed by our archetypal parents Adam and Eve and it is even sex-related. But in the Qur'an we find that when challenged by the Lord the two repented and were forgiven although that did not stop their being sent down to a harder life. If there is an Original Sin in fact it should be another sin committed even before then which proved unforgivable. That could only be the sin committed not by man but by 'Iblis', the pseudo-angel living and bossing among the real angels. When he realized that it was Man and not him the ultimate Chosen One of God (khalifat Allah) Iblis burst into a rage which is the basis of hell itself. He was too proud to recognize God's Choice as just, and rebelled against the Almighty's command to bow to Adam. When challenged he was unrepentant. Instead he challenged God back: 

" I will show You how bad has been Your choice if you let me" 

Iblis said to the Almighty. He was expelled but allowed to test and tempt us. And he has been persecuting us like hell since. In no other scripture is there such a wonderful and insightful spiritual story which explains the source of all evil.

It is the Iblis-Devil streak in a human-being's heart which grows in the cursed soil of self-pride and burning ambition which makes man be only too jealous and hating of anybody being preferred over him by fate (God). A sincere and realistic person's happy option is accepting God's choice as a favour and helping himself to the benefits to be given by such a bright friend. Then he would share in the blessings the friend was to attract or produce. Let's see how. 

Once in a university there were three classmates. One was the star of the whole class. He learnt fast and well and always passed tests and exams with flying colours. The other was not as good but so puffed up with pride and ambition that he resented the bright one's good fortune from God and tried to subvert him at every turn. He also kept falsely reporting against him. The bright one felt constantly watched by a pair of jealous eyes in which fires of hell sent out occasional sparks. Whatever he did he could not make the envious fellow happy with him. As a result of the enemy's false provocative reportings he nearly broke up with the professor which then could ruin his future. The last one of the trio was the jolly good guy with a realistic and appreciative frame of mind. He admired and shadowed the bright one and with mutual appreciation and respect the two became good friends sharing many social activities and exchanging many gifts. As a result the bright one greatly benefited from the superior social skills of the jolly friend who in turn benefited from the superior academic skills of the bright one. So they had a very pleasant and profitable 'symbiotic' relationship during which one coached the other in lessons and for exams while the other made the first a social success like him. The lesson:

HAD IBLIS ACCEPTED GOD'S CHOICE AND SUBMITTED TO ADAM HE WOULD SHARE IN ALL ADAM'S BLESSINGS AND NEITHER HIM NOR ADAM WOULD BE THROWN OUT! 

This parable is CRUCIAL in understanding deep religion (tasawwuf, sufism). If you want to succeed in tasawwuf watch out against envy in your heart against any other murid who seems more in favour with the murshid. The relation between murids is potentially another theatre stage where the archetypal story of God-Angels Adam-Iblis drama can be re-enacted. Avoid playing the Iblis. All troubles and scandals and disasters among sufi groups (and indeed ALL human groups) are caused by this very same Original Sin- that hating envy of the jealous underdog who ends up as the unrepentant outcast to burn in his own inner hell and trying desperately to ignite the same hell in others as well. Instead, play the obedient angel and share in the blessings of the Chosen One. If you do that one day you may play 'god'- a just and all-loving, all- benefit giving soul, a true friend of God.

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BREEZES OF INTIMACY- 24

TORMENT IS FROM SATAN

Sometimes we are tormented with knotted thoughts and confused and turbulent emotions. We begin to doubt everything including our sanity and even the sanctity of the sacred. We are restless and we cannot be comforted. We want to run to somewhere but don't know where, want do things but don't know what. If and when you find yourself in these no-win straits, know that you are under psychic attack from evil spirits, the hosts of Iblis. Psychic torments are Satan's work, always. The evil spirits he commands have somehow displaced the stabilizing and soothing faith in you and are running amok in your psychic house. Normally as a mu'min your heart must be at rest and drenched in cooling light and blessed with understanding and sweetened by love. All these favours proceed from your playing host to Allah in your heart and in fact this is the ZIKR about which Allah the Most Gracious says:

" Alaa bizikrillaahi tatma'innal quloob" (Surat al Ra'd 28);

" Beware, hearts are only settled and contented by the remembrance of Allah". 

If you lose this Presence you become a fair game for all evil spirits and at no time they take you over. The rescue is saying the auzu basmala with anxious faith and REPENTENCE in general terms, as the said condition cannot be other than caused by a lapse in your attention to Allah and committing of some wrong.

Say "La ilaha illa anta innee kuntu minaz zalimeen":

" There is no god but Allah, I have been guilty (of something)" 

as many times as you need until light and sweetness flow back into your heart and like dawn Allah's light begins all over again to illuminate and inform it. As soon as you notice this happy forgiveness switch to many ALHAMDULILLAHS until a voice in your hearts tells you "Enough, well done and welcome back". 

Then send salawat on Rasulullah (sws) for he has interceded for you without you being aware.

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BREEZES OF INTIMACY- 25

ONLY BY ALLAH

Do you know why we cannot be proud? Why, for example, even when we conquer the whole word and revolutionize the human civilization for the better and win everybody's undiluted gratitude we should not be proud? In fact our and all humanity's greatest master Muhammmad (sws) nearly did all that- He has been the greatest ever benefactor of mankind. Yet he was never proud. How could he remain so humble in heart and simple in living? How can and why should WE our little selves remain humble whatever we achieve? Here I believe is the secret:

If we already don't know, we should know that every single atom or wave of thought emerges, moves and submerges by Allah's Singular Will and Permission and nobody else's. 

When a victory is won, it is the fruit of millions of years of creations of things and movements cooperating in and converging towards that result which leaves you standing on your battlefield flag and sword in hand and the enemy and his world at your feet. Your contribution to this earth-shaking victory is almost NIL. Even the wind whiff which sent a particle of dust into your enemy's eye at the crucial moment enabling you to land your sword on his neck rather than he landing his on yours was arranged by Allah! You see, our nothingness whatever we or other people think about us is only too painfully plain to see. A humorous example of this lesson can be found in those classic lovely movie cartoon series Tom and Jerry. Tom is a cat and by definition the winner of all battles against Jerry the tiny mouse. But every time Tom tries to capture and finish Jerry, something goes wrong because other circumstances and events always conspire to help Jerry and not only frustrate but also punish Tom. This moment the mouse trap set by the landlady shuts on Tom's nose instead of capturing Jerry while at the next the neighbour's fierce dog is accidentally disturbed by Jerry but it is Tom which happens to be at the place when the dog wakes up and looks for the culprit. So the mouse always wins out of no power of its own. 

It is like that in real life as well. People succeed in anything because Allah has arranged for them many things to go their way from eternity or they fail because Allah did the opposite- both alternatives out of His mercy and in His great wisdom. So, not only don't be proud of your successes but do not RESENT any failures on your part or any wins on the part of others. When you attain this vision you are all-victorious no matter what, in a very special sense. This is another way at looking at Wahdat al Wujud whose gnosis is the greatest success.

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BREEZES OF INTIMACY- 26 

FACE OF ALLAH

The sign that you are eligible to see the Face of Allah eventually is that you enjoy or begin to enjoy being generous to others in every sense, material and moral. That is the heavenward direction. 

The sign that you are barred from that greatest of blessings is that you are or are becoming ungenerous to others but enjoy or beginning to enjoy receiving from others. That is the hellward direction. 

Judge yourself and if necessary take measures accordingly

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BREEZES OF INTIMACY- 27

SINCERITY

Nothing saves and builds up a man or woman more than being sincere towards the Truth-in looking for it, embracing it and never taking leave of it. This person is an essential winner even when he or she looks like a loser from the outside. Be as it may, this person is sure to win in every sense in the long run, in senses and dimensions the less sincere cannot even suspect let alone dream of.

Only sincerity can provide the light to see any deeper truths and the motivation for embracing and living from those truths. It is only this kind of life which provides unreserved glory through unaffected humility, continuous innocence of action and therefore a clear conscience which is another name for paradise. Even the cries and tears of the sincere are borne of loving mercy and are sweetened by it. His or her 'defeats' are victories in a more significant and fundamental way than the rest. Providence favours and protects the sincere in special ways and all Sacred Scriptures are in fact for and about him or her. He or she has no part in the cheating and 'winning' contests fought by the unawakened and the unenlightened; for he or she is busier with and rewarded by inner struggles which however do not impede outer success if it is worthy of being called a success. 

He or she is charity embodied and personified and all good from Heaven flows into him or her first in a timeless sense before it flows out in distribution to the rest.

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BREEZES OF INTIMACY- 28 

CRITICISM AS MEDICINE

We often resent criticism and become defensive. But that is a self-defeating immature reaction. Criticism is that rare pure gold from which nothing must go to waste. Any category of criticism is useful in its own way.

At the worst we have the criticism of a person who is venting his intense malice. This criticism is useful in two ways. Firstly it both exposes and defuses the adversary. If you had any doubts about the person now you have none. You must also be charitably happy for him that he has relieved his painful tension. If you receive his malicious outburst with calm and graceful forgiveness you may have cured him and even shamed him into friendship- I mean real friendship because intense people are also unstable and can swing from one extreme position to the other. If the criticism is right than you have a doctor telling you what is wrong for you for free. Thank him and look for a cure. Right your wrong and avoid disaster. If he is partially right then you have the chance of both making another friend by graceful calm and forgiveness and also correcting something which, if left uncorrected, could lead you to trouble later on.

Lastly remember that everything is from God one way or another. And also that God is only charitable and helpful. In a case of a criticism His charitable wisdom couldn't be more obvious: 

He is saving both the critic and criticised from certain negative things in their lives and if the two can handle the situation likewise, i.e., wisely and charitably, both win in more than one way. Read if you wish from the Book of God:

" Good and evil is not the same. Return evil with good and you will see that the one between whom and you there is hostility becomes like a warm friend. None can attain this (maturity) but the forbearing, none can attain this but those with a big share (from Heaven) (Al Qur'an, 41:35)

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BREEZES OF INTIMACY- 29

" INNI INDA ABDI BI"

In a Holy Hadith (Qudsi) the Prophet (sws) reports Allah saying the above. It means:

" I am as My servants thinks of Me.” 

Interpreted a bit it means:

" I deal with My servant according to his opinion about Me.”

For example, if you think that Allah is Just, Gracious and Wise He then treats you in a way (makes such things happen to you in such a way) that your good opinion of Him is vindicated. 

Instead and unfortunately for you if you think that He is unjust and not merciful enough then He turns around and makes things APPEAR to you in ways confirming your poor opinion about Him. 

In fact every impression we get other than Allah's Merciful and Wise treatment of His servants is a false or illusory impression and must be repented from. Why is that so?

Because perhaps as high as 90% of a person's experience of his life is lived within his head in the form of beliefs, desires, hopes, fears, prejudices etc. and only as little as 10% is based on factual data. That is why an extremely well-provided person may commit suicide on a matter which to us look may look trifling and silly. They are not suffering from physical pain or poverty or lack of loving friends but from certain largely interpretative or imaginary grievances (like a rich and pampered young girl killing herself because her acne is not responding to any treatment- while others are just giggling and playing despite their acne).

Demagogues and conmen instinctively and professional propagandists consciously know and exploit this 90% inside-the-head nature of life experience. To make people do what they want these crooks choose and gauge their words in such ways as to stimulate the imagination of their victim to painfully or deliciously daydream the ideas they are peddling, taking especial care to exploit their victims yearnings and prejudices. Same goes for sexual seduction where the praise of the victim's 'beauty' and the seducer's unbearable sufferings because of that beauty are the twin trump cards. All pretence stops as soon as the trap closes.

If we go back to the problem of people's conflicting opinions about God we find people's opinions about Him work like self-fulfilling prophecies.

A head full of prejudices AGAINST God and religion are full of piteous complaints about everything and is aching from the self-inflicted blows from his past prejudiced impressions of God's character (if we may say so). He is so anxious to justify his hatred or regret about God that his hearts secretly prays for another disaster to confirm his prejudices towards God. In other words he is more interested in confirming with a sick satisfaction of his prejudice than looking for the facts themselves let alone admitting them. In fact all prejudices work the same way. Notorious and ordinary forms of Arab-Jewish, Indian-Pakistani, Arsenal-Manchester United, Tribe A vs. Tribe B, or Mother-in-Law etc. prejudiced relations never improve but run in vicious circles because of the same reasons- the root reason being each party is more interested in confirming his bad opinion of the other than looking for and admitting the facts or doing something constructive. The sufferings prejudices maintain become the addicted flavour of life for the self-glorifying sufferers like mouth and gut blistering hottest chilli enables the addicted to eat almost anything with pleasure flavoured with it. The Godless savour Godlessness as nothing else and everytime something unpleasant occurs they feel they are triumphant- “you see, had God existed....” they say.

The most pleasurable as well as beneficial reverse works for the loving believers of God. In their unshakeable optimism they look for and discern some good more than any loss in any and every situation and they find it. What is more, for a reason we better not try to explain (because each personally discovering the reason is more useful) a loving believer of God finds that he is like a dignitary in God's Kingdom carried on the shoulders of all of God's servants towards a great destiny. Doors and gates simply seem to open to them on approach (like today's automatic glass doors) and whatever tumults fate throws at them they somehow always fall on all fours like a pussy cat. Read if you wish from The Book of Allah:

" Whoever works good, whether male or female, and he or she is a believer, We shall make them live a good life and pay their wages (for all their deeds whatever their individual merits) at the pay rate of the very best they had been doing." (16: 97)

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BREEZES OF INTIMACY- 30

ADMIRING ALLAH IN ALL

Men are often jealous of each other. Is the other one more handsome? Is he more intelligent? Does he have a skill which is more in demand? Did he do better at his job or became more renowned for his knowledge and- can you imagine- PIETY (a concern for the religious 'rivals')?

People sometimes worry themselves to death or work themselves up to an outburst of aggression out of such vain and foolish jealousies. Like religion, which should be all sincerity and fairness, even the so-called lovers do not escape this butcher's attention of jealousy. If the man or woman one desires ends up accepting the proposal of another then even murder may be considered. A Turkish song says:

" If you dare to love another I won't let you live.”

Have no doubt whatsoever- in all the above examples the jealous person is in the palm of his or her archenemy the Satan. Jealousy (and not sex as some would have it) was the first sin (the real 'Original Sin' if we may call it so) ever to be committed under the Throne of God. The reason why the Satan was so heedless and men or women become so blind with jealousy is that THEY LACK SELF-UNDERSTANDING which is the only gateway to Divine Gnosis. For example they don't know that each and every man or woman is a full-fledged spiritual universe far vaster and more precious than the physical universe and in actual fact people NEED NOTHING other than themselves (except basic survival) to be fully happy. In other words, provided a person has enough to eat or shelter under to survive, then HIS OR HER MIND can supply all the rest needed to make him or her feel great. Remember how we momentarily become very happy when some happy thought pass through our mind and makes us forget all the rest, which may add up to an awful situation. Consider the possibility of being able to maintain more such happy moods, where does it take you?

Not that such power of mind is easy to attain. In fact it is the most difficult aim to achieve by any standards. People may climb the Everest or walk and paddle around the globe single-handedly but cannot get rid of a grudge or spite they nurture towards their brother. But that is all faith, religion, Sufism- call it what you will- is about: 

Exorcising ourselves from all such demons haunting and plaguing our psychic house! This many-named single attitude of mind that true faith is, is the greatest capital jewel to have for a person's happiness.

Please do not misunderstand me. I do not mean that any man can ever achieve the aim of surviving in happiness by the mere and sheer application of his mind to his experiences of life. Only Allah has such self-sufficiency (Samadiyya). But man can ADVANCE towards that worthiest and mightiest of goals as much as he persistently and sincerely tries with faith as his guide. Read if you wish:

" Those who live from faith and do good Allah guides them through their faith" (10: 9). His success can only be partial but the goal is so worthy and powerful that a single step taken towards it gives man such great power over himself that neither he nor others can believe it. Those with a few steps to their credit stand among fellow men as mountains unaffected by any floods or storms reducing the rest to panic and tears. More especial to our subject, they become more and more immune to jealousy and attain more and more insight to the reality that every single man or woman is just doing what Allah is intending him or her do and since Allah's work can only be perfect then the doings of every doer should be seen as perfect in the special sense that it is another brick in the building MY OWN HAPPINESS in eternity. So I watch Allah build up my house in paradise when He employs all His creatures with that in mind and I can only give thanks. But listen to this as well: 

This does not mean that I need do nothing. 

On the contrary, I must do everything to play MY part in my salvation which at times may include PUNISHING some acts of others. But this shall not be by blind impulse but insightful inspiration- Allah will inspire me when to kindly forgive as well as when to kindly punish. When to add my contribution, when to let others do their part without me. That is part of the meaning of the verse quoted above.

So let us admire the Lord in all His doings through His creatures from angels and men down to the winds and floods and flowers and rest assured that all shall be fine, just fine in the end. Amen.

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BREEZES OF INTIMACY- 31

CURIOSITY

"Curiosity killed the cat" is the saying. Certainly too much or idle curiosity is meant. Babies learn about the world and themselves by being curious about everything. For one thing they compulsively mouth everything they can reach and in rare instances they may be killed by their curiosity- like drinking from the bleach bottle forgotten in some corner. As we grow older we become more discriminating and learn to be suspicious of and begin to avoid too unfamiliar things- you see, we had burnt our fingers in the past!

The most useful curiosity is the scientific one and when followed properly and responsibly it helps us to explore and discover many things, although some dangers

remain on the cards. What about the worst kind of curiosity?

It is the spiritual curiosity. Many otherwise spiritually talented people mislead and even burn themselves by probing into suspected or supposed spiritual secrets. They may ask many bizarre questions and come up with even more bizarre answers whose strangeness are mistaken for spiritual depth. They are nothing of the sort. And they achieve nothing good for either the questioner or the answerer. In other words theirs is idle curiosity and their motivation is secret pomposity.

The fact is that spiritual truths are simplicities themselves. Even a young child may understand them, sometimes even better than an adult. We fail to notice and understand them because we are too full of wrong definitions and preconceptions of them. How can a man discover a coal deposit if he wrongly believes that coal should be a green mineral with streaks of marble in it? This is why sheikhs preach truths, but many people shrug off their descriptions and look elsewhere.

The true mine of spiritual truths is our hearts. Spiritual truths are formless simply because form is a property of matter and not of spirit. Spirit is mostly about that kind of emotion which comes from- UNDERSTANDING! It is not a natural animal emotion like lust or titillation. Real understanding is purest light and the greatest pacifier and most infallible guide of a person attaining it. Its preconditions are two: 

First we must have full sincerity (ikhlas) towards and respect for truth- so much respect that even the man we most hate utters a truth we grab and embrace it whole-heartedly. Second, once an authority on truth is discovered it should be treasured and consulted. Such an authority is the Qur';an and in fact it is the supreme authority available to ANY man. These two preconditions are inseparable though. Without ikhlas (the first condition) the source of truth we are given cannot be properly and adequately utilized. That is why Allah said:

" When you recite the Qur'an ask for Allah's refuge from the accursed Satan" (16: 98), because so long as you are host to the Satan's prejudices you are like the man above who is looking for and collecting the wrong coals if at all collecting anything. Your heart must first be purified of all prejudices and misconceptions. That is why Allah says:

" None can touch it (the Qur'an) except the purified" (56: 79).

Incidentally, why do you think, we have so many badly preaching and behaving Muslims? 

It is because such people are approaching the Qur'an with their prejudices (like a political ambition) still on them and therefore they end up having their prejudices supposedly confirmed by it.

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BREEZES OF INTIMACY- 32

GREATEST POSSIBLE BOAST

When a person begins boasting, what he is in fact doing is exposing himself as a self-disillusioned and disappointed failure. When a man is truly successful he feels that his acts are enough testimony to his competence and accomplishment and that words of boast are both unnecessary and can only rock his boat. In fact boasting is a sign of desperation indicating that the man is becoming aware that he is not what he thought or hoped he was and he needs to reassure himself and others that he indeed is what he would like to claim to be.

The mature man on the other hand knows better than that. He knows that IT IS ENOUGH THAT ALLAH IS EVERYTHING AND WORTHY OF EVERY PRAISE AND CAPABLE OF DELIVERING ALL WORTHY NEEDS AND DESIRES; that no man including himself is anybody or anything except a servant of Allah, absolutely disposable by Divine Will. What Allah grants to anybody is a sheer act of Divine Mercy and result of no need or obligation on the part of Allah. I heard Maulana many times singing the now little-known phrase when presiding over a funeral and the coffin is picked up and carried on shoulders towards the graveyard:

" Alhamdu lillajillazi qahharal ibada bil mawti wal fana"

" Praise be to Allah Who destroys the servants by death and dissolution". 

Who are we if not mere disposable servants of Allah, disposable like paper cups and plates at a picnic or party meal? And you know what? Saying that

" I am only a humble servant of Allah" may be the greatest boasting we may do?

Are we really serving Allah well to deserve the title of 'His servant' and are we really HUMBLE in our hearts?

But let us not be depressed or hopeless. It is enough glory that Allah is there over us and enough good fortune that He revealed Himself to us and enough guarantee that He said "O My servants who went far in wronging themselves- do not despair of Allah's mercy. Indeed Allah forgives all sins, for He is the Merciful Forgiver" (39: 53). Amen

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BREEZES OF INTIMACY- 33

IHSAN (BEATIFICATION)

Life's greatest discovery may only be that one understands, at long last, not only that he really is a nothing and God is all- but also he THANKS THAT GOD IS ALL. 

Then the man is like a passenger in a mighty, unsinkable ship taking him to a destination than which no more wonderful destination exists. He becomes a constant guest of honour of the Captain of the Universe with all on board doting on him in a very special sense. That is because his realization of his nothingness and God's 'allness' releases him from the oppression of his ego and lands him with the priorities of God which he now makes his own. Only now he becomes able to wish well for all fellow creatures and use every opportunity which comes his way as a new command from God to help the welfare of another creature or group of creatures as best as he can. Just one example: 

He is like a mother who does not mind to clean up the mess her babies leave around and adds to that service the service of also admonishing the babies and motivating them towards cleaning up their own mess. The man of God is prepared to contribute more than his own share to the general welfare of all and adding to it his good advice.

What this boils down to? It boils down to attaining the level of beatification (ihsan) at which level a man begins to enjoy giving more than receiving. But that is not all. IHSAN is that state of mind in which the man makes his specialty doing his best towards everybody else and what is more God helps him to see who needs what and also enables him to meet the need. Again that is not all. A man with ihsan is the most effective exemplar of Islam whether he preaches it in words or demonstrates it by example. In fact 'Ihsan' is the far better name for tasawwuf for real deep Islam and additionally it avoids the mistakes and misunderstandings the latter sometimes causes or breeds. With 'ihsan' as the definition of nearness to God no room remains for constant myth-making, abstruse word-play and miracle-mongering and magic-dabbling or repulsive boastings and bossing over others. What is more Allah uses the word ihsan and its chief derivative 'muhsin' (one endowed with ihsan) to define and praise his beloveds and never the word 'sufi' (though the word has its uses and need be retained). He Almighty, says severally: 

" Allahu yuhibbul muhsineen": Allah loves those with ihsan.

Amen.

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LOVE OF TRUTH

Until and unless the truths that can save and liberate us from our prejudices and selfish inclinations become our greatest desire we have no truck with Sufism. We can only pretend being Sufis and as such we are our very first and greatest victim. The Buddha had said that the source of all suffering was desire. He of course meant selfish desires. Desire for truth is different and kills all profane desires all prophets and saints detest. The Holy Prophet's (sws) saying "Hubbud dunya ra'si kulli khatiah":

“ worldly lust is the fountainhead of all wrongdoings” is more precise.

A man or woman with selfish desires like wealth, status, influence, exploitation or domination of others, is doomed to commit wrongs and do whatever it takes to get or keep the objects of his or her desires. He or she feels offended or sees blood or both when somebody crosses his or her desires and cannot stop doing, however wrong and unjust, anything which promises him or her to get his or her way- and if possible get it completely.

All sin and crime issues comes from such an immature self who feels a desperate need for external props and perks to feel safe and fulfilled. The proneness to compulsive if secretive wrongdoing ceases only if and when the self obtains enlightenment and it is this sin and crime stopping enlightenment which all true prophets and virtuous sages mean by salvation.

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BREEZES OF INTIMACY-    35           

BEST ARGUMENT FOR ISLAM

A Muslim instantly and then consistently lovable by others is the best argument for Islam.

A Muslim who arouses resentment and hatred in others is the most effective refutation of Islam. 

How come? 

Because Islam is not an abstact principle but a reality living with the believer as interpreted and implemented in his good or bad lights.

The Prophet (sws ) said: I have not been sent for anything but for me to build up in full the noblest of morals and loveliest of manners.” Let fire and brimstone spewers beware.