The Two Categories of People

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

The following is adapted from a swuhbah by Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani (q.s.) on the 13^th December 2009. 

The awliya’ have attained a Blessed position.  They have one part of their being always facing Allah (s.w.t.) and the other face of their being facing the Creation.  Their honour lies in the fact that their devotion to Allah (s.w.t.) is unwavering, unaffected by the worldly distractions that surround them.  They never falter in their remembrance of Allah (s.w.t.).  In a hadits qudsi, Allah (s.w.t.) Says, “The heart of a mu’min is the ‘Arsh of Allah”.  Such are the hearts of the awliya’ where Allah (s.w.t.) is always Present in their intentions and actions. 

Has it never occurred to us about how meticulously precise our body functions are?  The heart pumps blood to all parts of the body, yet the blood that flows to the scalp is different from the blood that flows to the eye.  The rate of flow of the blood, the contents of the blood that is sent to every cell, is different.  Who arranges this precise mechanism for each and every cell in your body?  Allah (s.w.t.) Assigned holy beings to remain in the physical heart of humans, to govern the actions of every cell in the human body.  These beings themselves take instructions from the quthb of this Earth, so no human is outside the realm of Divine Control, and no human can determine what disease will strike him and when death will come.  It is easy to Allah (s.w.t.) to bring illness and death to us. 

Has it never stuck you how an atom can exist?  Is it conceivable that an atom, with its whirling electrons and intense energies stored within its orbit, can create itself and the energy within it, and cause its own electrons to whirl around it?  An atom cannot even determine for itself if it is to be an oxygen atom, a hydrogen atom or an iron atom.  This is just like us, who have no say what race and gender we are Created as.  Each atom exists upon Allah’s (s.w.t.) Will and Command.  Our Periodic Table, based on Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev’s model, has today about 118 elements.  Only ninety-nine of those elements are naturally occurring; the others exist only momentarily and under laboratory conditions.  They are unstable and are unable to exist long naturally.  Despite our valiant efforts to “create” new atoms, only those atoms that Allah (s.w.t.) has ordained, the ninety-nine elements, exist in nature.  If Allah (s.w.t.) Removes the power of any one atom, it ceases to exist. 

Our bodies’ complexities and the creation of atoms are just some of the signs of Allah’s (s.w.t.) Immense Power and Knowledge.  Pondering on such things increases our faith and rewards, as conveyed by Rasulullah (s.a.w.) when he said, “One hour of meditation [upon Allah’s (s.w.t.) Greatness] is better than seventy years of worship.”  It is possible to be heedless during our prayers but it is impossible to be heedless while thinking about Allah’s (s.w.t.) Greatness.  We concentrate during meditation on Allah’s (s.w.t.) Greatness though we may be day-dreaming during our prayers. 

The true path to servanthood is the acquire ma’rifah, knowledge of Allah’s (s.w.t.) Names and Attributes.  That is the most important Ocean of Knowledge that is open to us.  When we know Allah’s (s.w.t.) Names and Attributes and we glorify Him, we are different from the lowest of creation, the animals.  Such knowledge is not available through books; it is acquired through seeking out a guide.  Knowledge about the Names and Attributes of Allah (s.w.t.) does not teach us about the Real Being or Essence of Allah (s.w.t.).  That is beyond human intellect to grasp.  We must know there is a Sulthan, we must glorify and praise the Sulthan, but the true identity of the Sulthan is beyond all Creation. 

Allah (s.w.t.) Says: 

سُوۡرَةُ الرَّحمٰن

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنُ (١) عَلَّمَ ٱلۡقُرۡءَانَ (٢) 

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

(Allah) Most Gracious!  It is He Who has Taught the Qur’an. (Surah ar-Rahman:1-2) 

This means, it is the Lord Most Compassionate Who Taught the knowledge of the Qur’an.  Jibril (a.s.) merely conveyed the message to Rasulullah (s.a.w.) but the real Guide and Teacher to Rasulullah (s.a.w.), was Allah (s.w.t.).  Allah (s.w.t.) Taught the Best of Creation and we must learn from Rasulullah (s.a.w.) and his inheritors.  Allah (s.w.t.) did not teach such Divine Knowledge to animals.  The worst label than can be placed on a person is “ignorant”.  Millions have that label today.  Despite paying so much money and going to so many higher institutes of learning, they have remained ignorant of their purpose and mission in life, ignorant of their Lord, and ignorant of the hereafter.  What they have studied has merely inflated their egos, nothing else.  Even every cell in our body is aware of its purpose and responsibilities, yet we are blissfully ignorant of ours.  All of mankind is being divided into these two groups: the ones who possess Divine Knowledge and the ones who are ignorant.  Which one will we be?