The Hierarchy of Wasilah

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The following is adapted from a swuhbah from Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani (q.s.) on the 14^th March 2010. 

Rasulullah (s.a.w.) brought perfect advice to the whole of his ummah to save them from darkness.  He opened the way to salvation for them.  The Qur’an is a Command from Allah (s.w.t.), to His Beloved, Muhammad (s.a.w.).  It is initially directed at Rasulullah (s.a.w.), not to anyone else because the rest of Creation was Created for his sake.  From Rasulullah (s.a.w.), such knowledge was taught to the rest of Creation, including other prophets and to their respective umam.  Hence, even other prophets in the past had to link themselves to Rasulullah (s.a.w.) in order to understand their scripture for only Rasulullah (s.a.w.) is in the Divine Presence, the Lahut, while the whole of Creation is in Naswut, and while the angels and spiritual beings are in the heavenly realms.  There is only one in the Divine Presence, the Lahut, and that is Rasulullah (s.a.w.). 

The Prophet (s.a.w.) was directly responsible for imparting knowledge to each prophet who came to him.  All those who want to learn, must come to the Prophet (s.a.w.), as a wasilah, an asbab, as a means of approach to Allah (s.w.t.).  One cannot simply come directly to Allah (s.w.t.).  No prophet was Allowed into the Divine Court, Lahut, for a direct discourse with Allah (s.w.t.).  Only Rasulullah (s.a.w.) was in His Presence.  When Jibril (a.s.) accompanied Rasulullah (s.a.w.) on the Mi’raj, he stopped at the border of Naswut and Lahut, and said to Rasulullah (s.a.w.), “I can go no further.”  Even were he to proceed by a hair's breadth beyond that line, he would have been burnt to ashes.  Even Musa (a.s.), who spoke directly to Allah (s.w.t.) and appeared to by-pass the need for a wasilah, was only able to do so at Mount Thursina, where he was in an area of Haqiqat al-Muhammadiyyah, the Reality of Muhammad.  That was the means by which he was able speak directly to Allah (s.a.w.).  No prophet conversed with Allah (s.w.t.) except by the Reality of Muhammad (s.a.w.) as his wasilah. 

It is shocking that Wahhabi scholars disallow respect to be shown to Rasulullah (s.a.w.) when Allah (s.w.t.) Bestowed such a status and elevation on him.  We must all ask for knowledge, guidance and understanding, for we know nothing in reality.  We are so proud of our technological advances, we attribute them to our minds' abilities, yet our minds are Gifts of Allah (s.w.t.) to us, in order that we may understand our mission here. We must find a connection to our Creator, in order to understand our objective in life, and we can only do so, by connecting ourselves to the wasilah for there is a means for every angel and person in Creation. 

Allah (s.w.t.) is Fully Aware of the needs of all His Creation, so why must we ask for what we need?  It is to establish a hierarchy, where we ask from the authorised guides.  They are our wasilah.  And these guides ask from Rasulullah (s.a.w.).  He is their wasilah.  And Rasulullah (s.a.w.) asks from Allah (s.w.t.).  This establishes Rasulullah’s (s.a.w.) position, as the Sole Representative of Allah (s.w.t.) for the entire Creation.  Allah (s.w.t.) Bestowed upon him, an ocean of spiritual knowledge for Creation, and he distributes it to all those who seek of it, according to their needs and maqamat.  If Rasulullah (s.a.w.) was not brought into existence, then no one would have been Created. 

We must seek knowledge from the authorised ones, knowledge about the reality of our existence.  On Judgement Day, when all have been resurrected, the angels will question us, then the prophets will question their umam, then Rasulullah (s.a.w.) will question these prophets, and finally Allah (s.w.t.) will Question Rasulullah (s.a.w.).  This is the hierarchy.  All of us must reach Allah (s.w.t.) via our wasilah.  We must be careful from whom we take as our wasilah.  It must be someone who can take us to the Presence of the Prophet (s.a.w.).  Only the appointed ones can connect us, just as only someone intimately connected with a king, can bring our message to him. 

Today, almost no one bothers to seek out the connected ones.  No one is interested to learn about their true selves.  No one seeks out those with greater knowledge than themselves.  We need a guide when we ask the question, “Who am I?”  How are we to unlock that secret?  Staring at the mirror merely shows us an image of ourselves.  We need someone who will be our witness to our true selves, who can answer the questions we ask, because they have that prophetic connection.  They are speaking with faith, from the reality of witnessing.  We need a guide who will witness our true personality, our true existence.  Only then will we develop true faith, and only then is our own witnessing of Oneness, valid.