Return Our Amanah

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

The following is adapted from a swuhbah from Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani (q.s.). 

People come to thariqa’ expecting to receive their amanah, their spiritual trust, but it is actually the reverse.  We have to return our Amanah to them for our reality to open; otherwise we are just in this for ourselves and what we can get out of it.  If we want these realities, what are we doing for Prophet (s.a.w.)? 

When we take our last breath, we will witness Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.), but we have to be mindful of the condition we meet him.  We put so much effort and so much focus on our material life.  We must not live a life where we will be disappointed on that last breath.  When you greet the Prophet (s.a.w.), it must be with glad tidings, with love, with an understanding that we did our best, that we prepared our best and now, we cannot wait to run into his loving embrace.  It must not be with a sense of shame and disappointment, where we said we believed, but did not believe because nothing was done to cement that belief.  The Qur’an Describes people on the Day of Judgement who say: 

سُوۡرَةُ السَّجدَة

… رَبَّنَآ أَبۡصَرۡنَا وَسَمِعۡنَا فَٱرۡجِعۡنَا نَعۡمَلۡ صَـٰلِحًا إِنَّا مُوقِنُونَ (١٢) 

… “Our Lord!  We have seen and we have heard: now then Send us back (to the world): we will work righteousness: for we do indeed (now) believe.” (Surah as-Sajdah:12) 

They did not fulfill the promise they made on the Day of Promises, and when their souls return to that Ocean of Light they are filled with remorse.  That is why the Lord Says: 

سُوۡرَةُ النِّسَاء

يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ ءَامِنُواْ بِٱللَّهِ ... (١٣٦) 

O you who believe!  Believe in Allah ... (Surah an-Nisa’:136) 

It means provide an action to support our belief, and when we give in the way of the Prophet (s.a.w.), we provide an action which supports our belief.  But there is a difference between giving a gift and returning our trust.  Some people wonder why we use the word, “trust” to describe giving to the shaykh, instead of calling it a gift.  They teach us that at our level of belief, we give something and think it is a gift because there is a lot of “us” in that.  But at their level of teaching for us, if we reach a level of perfection, then it was not ours to give.  That takes the “us” out of the gift.  We are returning to Allah (s.w.t.) His Trust upon us, His Amanah. 

People say they want all these spiritual realities.  But the Lord Gave us many Trusts and most of us have given none of them back.  For us to move towards our trust and our reality, we must return the Trust that our Creator has Given to us.  Only then will we have the opportunity to become ar-Rashidin wa al-Mahdiyyin.  Those who are Granted the titles ar-Rashidin wa al-Mahdiyyin are mature because they are trustworthy servants. 

سُوۡرَةُ التّوبَة

۞ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ ٱشۡتَرَىٰ مِنَ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ أَنفُسَهُمۡ وَأَمۡوَٲلَهُم بِأَنَّ لَهُمُ ٱلۡجَنَّةَ‌ۚ ... (١١١) 

Allah has Purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the Garden (of Paradise): … (Surah at-Tawbah:111) 

They gave back the material or physical gifts that were placed in their custody as a Trust, and in exchange, Allah (s.w.t.) Gave them their Heavenly Trust.  We must give our material Trust to receive our Heavenly Trust. We are holding onto one, and wanting to receive the other, but we cannot Receive Gifts until we give back our Trust. 

In thariqa’, there are three levels of giving.  The first level is to think that we are giving something to the shaykh.  The second level is to realise that we are giving in the way of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.), and the third and highest level is to realise that what we are giving does not actually belong to us.  It was given to us as a Trust with the understanding that we are to be a custodian over that Trust until the day it is to be returned to its true Owner. 

Everybody’s Trust is Perfectly Balanced by the Creator, and He will not call us to account for what we do not have.  Some people may say, “O, well I do not have money to give,” but then, their trust was not that.  Everybody has to give a pound of gold.  It might be a pound service, a pound food, a pound of actual gold, or a skill that we have but everyone has something that they promised on the Day of Promises. 

Then notice how Allah (s.w.t.) Takes it from us anyway - an appliance breaks suddenly and has to be fixed, or we get a traffic ticket or some other unexpected expense.  Either way that Trust must be given back, but to have it Taken from us is a much lower level than to give it freely.  If we want to receive our spiritual Trusts, we must give.  The awliya’ teach us how to reach Allah’s (s.w.t.) Satisfaction, and those who have reached that reality.  Those who have achieved the stations of ar-Rashidin wa al-Mahdiyyin, achieved them because they gave everything that came to them.  We pray that they inspire us to leave the material world behind and move towards our eternal reality, our real being in that world of light in the presence of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.), in the presence of all the prophets and all the awliya’.