Part 3 -The Prophetic Guidance towards the Divine Presence
-BY MOULANA SHEIKH NAZIM
The Prophet (sal)’s return back to the World
Do you suppose that the Prophet left that Ocean in the Divine Presence and came back down to earth, when Allah Almighty had taken him up to the highest place in His Presence? If he had come from the Divine Presence, it would have been to the whole earth like its sun. What do you think - if that sun were to come on the earth, could you find the earth? But the sun shines in the skies and the sun also shines on earth. That is from Allah Almighty's mercy, that the sun is in the skies and its rays are on the earth. We say the sun is on earth but the sun is still there, not on earth.
The reality was that the Prophet Muhammad, p.b.u.h., was here; at the same time he was in the Divine Presence, as he was during the night of Me'raj, the Night Journey, never leaving that Presence. I have asked scholars, "What about the Prophet - when he went to the Divine Presence, did he come down? No answer. The Prophet is still in that Divine Presence but a shadow or a ray from the Prophet's sun came here in his body and people saw that. He was from Allah Almighty's nur, light; nur-Muhammad, p.b.u.h. - the light of Muhammad from Allah Almighty. When he walked in the sun he had no shadow. There is still now in existence a hair from the Prophet, p.b.u.h., and it is well-known that when you put your hair in the light it makes a shadow. But his hair does not make a shadow.
I am asking scholars if he came back—if, even after he had reached the end of all the universes, he came back in that dress? Allah ordered one ray from his real being to come on earth to his physical body and created a new physical body, going and coming and being with people. The essence of Prophet (sal) was there in that Divine Presence, never moving.
Allah Almighty gave our Master (sas) on that night, thousands of divine favours, and to his nation He granted countless favours. Allah Almighty said "O my Beloved! I assign you to announce to My servants, what I told you and give them good tidings with My endless blessings. Go and wake them up! Tell them what you have seen. Make them Divine Lovers. Put My love in their hearts. Let their hearts be filled with My love. Invite them to Me. Give them the good tidings that whoever loves Me and wants Me will be in this station." Allah sent Prophet (sal) back. Yes, it is such a marvelous night. If we tell all the details we will spend days, weeks, months, years. Allah Almighty's grant to our Prophet is important. The honor and blessings that reach us with that grant are important.
Allah Almighty honored the Prophet (sal) by giving him the biggest miracle, the Night Journey. When he returned in the morning time, he informed the people of Mecca about that journey-by-night and the unbelievers were astonished. Even the sahabah were too astonished. From Mecca to Jerusalem was forty days’ journey by camel, but he claimed that during one night he had gone and come to Jerusalem, and after that to the Heavens and beyond the Heavens! Believers must use their hearts for believing, not their minds.
When Sayyidina Omar received this news, he said "I will go and see what S. Abu Bakr says". They met on the way. "Where are you going with this majesty, ya Omar?" "I'm coming to you ya Abu Bakr, your Master alaihi s-salatu wa s-salam says this and this. What do you think?" "I accept even more than that ya Omar" he said. "Did he say this?" "Yes, he has said it." "If he has said, that means there was more but he only told you your share. There is even much more than what he told. So, I accept beyond what he said. What he told you is a simple thing. I accept more than that" Sayyidina Abu Bakr said. So, Sayyidina Omar sat down.
That is why Sayyidina Abu Bakr took the trust of the Naqshbandis from the Prophet (sas). The Prophet (sas) said; "Whatever Allah Almighty poured into my heart, all the reality I pour it into Abu Bakr's heart. I poured all of it in his heart." When He (sas) says "I poured all of it" what is the meaning? S. Abu Bakr narrated 15- 20 hadith. Are those the only 15-20 hadith that were poured into S. Abu Bakr's heart? What is the meaning?
There are realities in Islam for which language is not enough. You cannot tell by saying or finish by writing. So, it can only be transmitted from heart to heart. There is no limit to the extent of the heart. The heart is so big. From heart to heart that trust will be transmitted until the Judgment Day and that trust will be given to people, who are being prepared for this. The realities poured into the heart of S. Abu Bakr that night were transmitted to all the Awliya up to our Shaykh. It will reach until Mahdi (as).
These words may be too big for scholars. They are thinking that their knowledge is the limit of knowledge and there is no more. And they are correct up to their limit, but after their limit, they must leave it to someone else. If Allah’s lights enter into a heart, that heart gets wider and wider and wider.
Did the Prophet’s Night Journey, happen spiritually or physically?
Some people in (the) Islamic world, some learned people, they were discussing about the Prophet’s Night Journey, if it happened spiritually or physically. Some people were claiming that it happened spiritually, not physically, (and) that is a wrong answer to say for (the) Prophet’s Night Journey; to make (the) Prophet’s personality two personalities: one personality represented by his soul, honored soul, and (the) second part (to be) represented by his nafs, ego. No! (The) Night Journey happened to Muhammad- peace be upon him- and his personality, with his soul and nafs.
The first step from Haramu-l Mecca- Jerusalem he was rising on the Buraq, then he left the Buraq that belongs to and represents our physical being, and then he was getting into the divine Presence. Anyone asking to reach Divinely Presence is using his nafs as a horse and it is making him to reach to that station; but if you are asking to come your Lord’s Divinely Presence, The Lord is saying, “O My servant, leave your horse outside and come.” And your horse - that is your nafs. You can’t come inside the Palace, into the Royal Presence, to the Royal King, with your horse. No! Therefore, nafs and shaytan, if you can be able to use them (by fighting them), they are going to be your servants up to Divinely Presence. When they are reaching you to Divinely Presence, their importance is finished.
How did our Prophet (sal) travel to the Heavens in a such a small span of time? (during a single night)
How did our Prophet (sal) travel to the Heavens in a such a small span of time? Was the Seal of Prophets (s) using technology? Was he using aircraft? Was he using missiles? How you are claiming that technology is over the power of Man's spiritual being, how you are saying? Why you are not reminding people that Man has been granted such a specialty through himself that all technology is going to be under his feet?! The Seal of Prophets (s) is not using aircraft or a rocket to go up; no rocket could reach in billions of years what he reached through a second or the blink of an eye, passing through seven levels of heavens!
The truth is we are created for the whole universe, not for being on earth only; the whole universe is to be for us. As our Prophet, p.b.u.h., looked at all the universes on the Night Journey, we may move from the same path. If our hearts are connected perfectly, we can reach from earth to the Heavens by our spiritual powers in less than the blink of an eye. You may be in safety at the farthest point that you can see in the skies from the earth. Nothing will harm you, as much as the distances may be or as much as there may be heat; even if it is millions of degrees, that will never give you trouble. There may be thousands of times more light than the sun's light but it will never affect your light because you have been given from divine lights; your spirit is composed of divine lights. Yes; we have been given from our Lord's divine lights, and if the light that everyone has been given appears, all the darkness throughout 'space up to the stars will be filled with lights. You will not be able to see any dark spot in space if the lights of one spirit appears.
Everyone has miraculous powers in himself; but where is that connection, the thing which will connect everything? In order to put a connection within everyone, Allah Almighty sent the prophets to teach people how they may be able to do it. All the prophets are examples for mankind, and the final one is the Last Prophet, p.b.u.h. During the Night Journey, Isra wal-Me'raj, he demonstrated to all people that they all have such miraculous powers. The one who follows him may acquire that; he may be able to connect with those miraculous powers and go and look at the Heavens.
You must keep the Prophet's way completely, and the first step is that you must look after the purification of your heart. The way that leads to miraculous powers passes through our hearts; if you can grasp that power, you can grasp it through your heart. Then everything, by divine support, will be easy. If divine support does not come, it is impossible, and divine support comes through the Prophet, p.b.u.h. A transformer gives power, and the transformer for divine powers is the heart of the Prophet, p.b.u.h.; it comes through his heart. Whoever is ready to take it may take.
We must take more care of our spiritual life. Now we give most of our care for our bodies, for our physical bodies' pleasures, but it is not pleasure indeed. It is only suffering, not pleasure but suffering. You can reach pleasure by way of your spiritual life that is pleasure! If you can connect with heavenly pleasures, if you make a relationship from your heart to Heaven, it is endless pleasure, coming from Heaven to your heart.
Was the Mihraj only Once?
I am asking our Salafi `ulamas, kam Isra'a, how many Night Journeys happened? Only once? What happened? Was Allah Almighty inviting only once? Do you think that a King invites the honorable members of His Kingdom only once, no second time? Even if a sultan is weak, he will not invite only once, but several times, or you may say countless times! Then how can it happen that the Lord of Heavens invites His most beloved one only once and not more? Allah Almighty is "Maalik al-Mulk"!
Yes, He sent one with his name as a representative for His servants. But the real being (essence) of Rasoolullah (s) had never been sent to people, no. That invitation was to take him to Allah Almighty's Divine Presence and keep him there with Allah, Who sent one representative on behalf of His most beloved one; what we were seeing and hearing was only one representative. How many representatives are there? Countless! The real being is with Allah Almighty and there are countless representatives of that real being!
Can we also reach to the honor of the Mihraj?
The Prophet (sal) went on the Mihraj (Ascent). For what purpose did he go on this Mihraj? For what purpose was this miraculous mihraj? The purpose was to show to the whole nation of Muhmmed that by following the Prophet (sal) that they also should be able to reach to it. When Jibril (alai) brought Buraq u Sheriff to the Prophet (sal), the Prophet asked him “Is this only for me or also for my Ummah (nation)”. Jibril answered “It is for you and also for your nation and the only condition is that they should follow in your steps, and they should also be able to reach to this.”
To the Prophet’s (sal) question as to whether Mihraj (the ascension) was only for him, Jibril answered “It is for your Ummah also and there are Buraqs waiting for them also. Those who are following you may also join after you. If they do not follow you they shall always remain on earth and under the ground.” When all the Sahaba reached to their destinations through the heavens everyone else also reached to their heavenly stations.
The main purpose that you have been given is for ascension; They are waiting to put on your crown to be in the Divine Presence. Grandshaykh said that whoever reaches that, if all the treasures of this world or all the universe were given to him, he would give everything for the pleasure that he will reach in one second of time—all treasures! But we are heedless people, never taking care, occupying twenty-four hours with collecting rubbish, and leaving jewels and divine pleasures, that honor for which you can’t give any description!
And Allah said, “O My habib, My beloved, I am not leaving you alone here. I am clothing your ummah’s sincere ones in the same dress, and they are going to be with you,” those who are following the Prophet (sal). Grandshaykh informed me about a group of people whom the Prophet (sal) passed during the (Night Journey) after leaving Gabriel—five levels, with 500,000 years between each one and the next. At one of them, he stood and looked, because there were endless Muhammads! Then Allah Almighty said to him, “O Muhammad, I am not making you sit down with people different from yourself, but I am clothing them all like you.” No one is going to be sorry that he did not reach the Prophet (sal), to give them absolute pleasure. Everyone will look at him, at the Prophet (sal) and will be given. You should be clothed!
We are happy to believe in endless Oceans of power, mercy, wisdoms—endless attributes, each reaching to endless Oceans, endless Beauty Oceans, endless Peace Oceans. Only one drop of those Beauty Oceans is enough for eight Paradises. Therefore, weekly, on Friday, Allah gives a feast for the people of Paradise. When He opens something from those Beauty Oceans of his Divine Presence, they forget everything they were given and come to it.