Living Guidance
Khutba of Shaykha Fariha al-Jerrahi,
Yonkers, New York, October 29th 1999
Praise on the
Beloved Prophet, the Messenger of Love from the highest realms of
Love to every human heart, transforming every heart into a loving
heart. O Beloved One of Love. O Child of Love, O Master of Love,
O Caretaker of the Infinite Ocean of Love, O Bismillah
ir-Rahman ir-Rahim, may you pour down your love upon us, may
you call Allah’s Love down upon us. On this blessed day, may all
the Juma gatherings be in your Light, under your cloak, on your
mount of Revelation. O Allah, may all the communities of worship
and all the beautiful communities of return be blessed and
exalted and may they each stand on their mountain of Revelation
and receive the down-pouring of Allah’s Grace and Mystery and
Love and Forgiveness. Amin. Alhamdulillah.
Let us see from Holy Quran what awaits us on
this blessed day. Maybe we will pick from the actual day of Juma
that Nur has selected from the three days of prayer…. What he has
chosen for the Friday Noon Prayer is the beginning of Sura Baqara:
"Alif Lam Mim. This is the Universal Book of Reality." O
Allah we take refuge from all negativity all limitation, all
darkness, with your infinite Mercy and Compassion. Amin.
Alif Lam Mim. This
is the Universal Book of Reality. The Divine Guidance, the
Science of Certainty, open to those who live in total awe of
Allah Most High, who constantly acknowledge the Divine Mystery,
who are ceaselessly engaged in prayer and acts of generosity.
Freely sharing whatever abundance we have divinely provided for
them. These lovers respond wholeheartedly to the revelation
streaming through you my Beloved, which is precisely the same
message that flowed through all my previous messengers. The
persons who in this way assimilate Divine Guidance directly
from their Lord are the fully realized ones, the true human
beings.
Interpretation of Quranic
verses 2.1-5 in Atom From the Sun of Knowledge by Shaykh
Nur al-Jerrahi Lex Hixon
What power, what clarity and what mercy shines
forth here in this second chapter of Holy Quran! The first
chapter is the Fatiha, the Opening. The key to the Book is the
Fatiha, and the key to the mystic path, the key to all paths of
return is the Fatiha. When I say the Fatiha, I mean
every essential prayer in all the traditions, every prayer of the
heart, calling upon the Divine Reality. Here in the second sura,
Baqara, is the unfolding of the Fatiha, the unfolding of the
Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim. Allah’s Mercy to humanity is
explained here in some facets, in some detail.
First come the mystic letters, "Alif Lam Mim",
which have been interpreted in the heart of every mystic, as well
as by some of the great interpreters of Quran. As we know, one of
the interpretations is that the Alif represents the Single
and Unique Reality transmitting the Revelation to the angel
messenger Gabriel, the Lam, who is bringing it to the
heart of Mim, Muhammad, peace be upon him. This is the
flow of the Divine Revelation out into creation. A deeper
mystical understanding sees the Prophet himself as the original
vessel of revelation in pre-eternity who then transmitted it to
Gabriel who in turn brings the ayats to the consciousness of the
embodied Prophet Muhammad, may divine peace always illumine him.
Mim is also interpreted as the ummet, humanity.
Alif Lam Mim is thus the entire unfolding of creation from
the Source of Love and its return back to the Source along the
paths of guidance.
The first words that come after this are: "This
is the Universal Book". The divine drama of creation is here
manifest in the form of a book of truth. It is both the book of
pages and the letters of ink, and it is beyond that. It is the
Book that is creation itself. Creation is a great book or mirror
containing all the forms and letters through which to approach
Reality. Within creation is Divine Guidance. Creation is
structured by Divine Guidance. Creation is manifested to
be a path of return to the Divine Beloved Protector of
humanity and all living creatures. Every single atom that has
emerged is loved by the Creator, is loved and created in Love and
is desired. Divine Guidance is the desire of Allah Most High for
the return of being into Himself.
"This is the Universal Book of Reality"—that
is, for all creatures, for all human beings. There is no one,
nothing created, that is excluded from this Book or from Allah’s
Mercy, for this Book is Allah’s Mercy. It is the Mercy of
Allah to manifest humanity, and it is the Mercy of Allah to call
humanity back.
Then come the inspired words: "…The Science of
Certainty open to those who live in total awe of Allah Most
High". Within this creation is the Science. Science
is knowledge and Science is based on Divine Knowledge of
Allah. This is what we are to seek within creation—His Knowledge.
Who are we? Who is our Lord? What is the path of return? What are
the qualities of Allah? What is pleasing to Allah? What are the
qualities of a human being?
Then the Quran goes on to explain: "… those who
live in total awe". This is the first qualification of the human
being, the believer, the lover of Allah – this one lives in awe,
simply in awe of Allah, with open heart and constant expectation
in the Presence of one’s Lord. This is the awe, the not
knowing, of the ones who await Allah’s Manifestation in
Revelation, moment by moment. These are the ones who hold and
feel the Presence of Allah in their heart.
"Who constantly acknowledge the Divine
Mystery…" This is the unknowing. The followers of many of the
great paths are in this essential state of unknowing, as we see
in Christian mysticism and in all the other mystic traditions as
well. We don’t know—the Divine Mystery knows. Allah knows,
and yet Allah fills us moment by moment with knowing, but we
don’t know the next moment. We don’t know how Allah will Be, how
Allah will Manifest. Part of this acknowledging the Divine
Mystery is to refrain from judgment. Here comes one of the great
counsels to humanity—to not judge, because to judge means we
know. As we are of those who don’t know, we cannot
judge—we can only pray for Allah’s Mercy upon all humanity. We
cannot even judge ourselves, much less other beings.
The next quality that emerges is, "…who are
ceaselessly engaged in prayer and acts of generosity." The
believer is ceaselessly engaged in prayer and prayerful
action—not only the five daily prayers, or those prayers enjoined
on people by their spiritual tradition, but ceaseless prayer and
acts of generosity. There is no separation between prayer and
generosity. As we pray, we are praying to the Generous One.
Implicit in the prayer is the belief that Allah is Generous, that
Allah will be present to our prayer, and will shower Mercy upon
us through our prayer. The prayer is simply the act of witnessing
the Beloved who is All Generous, All Merciful, and then flowing
with that generosity of love: "…Freely sharing whatever abundance
We have Divinely Provided for them." A prayer is not a real
prayer if it is not surrounded by acts of generosity.
"…These lovers responded wholeheartedly to the
revelation streaming through you my Beloved, which is precisely
the same message that flowed through all my previous messengers".
Here is the great statement of Universal Islam, coming through
the diamond heart of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.
Here is the healing for humanity. All of the Messages of Love,
all of the Messengers are one. It is essentially one Message that
flows in many beautiful forms. Belief in universality is a
quality of the believer. At the end of Sura Baqara Allah
affirms that if we do not confirm all the traditions, then we
cannot truly call ourselves completed and mature believers. Only
by affirming all the prophets, all the books, and all the
messengers are we believers in the full sense.
The persons who in this way assimilate the
Divine Guidance directly from their Lord are the fully realized
ones, the true human beings." So here traced by these ayats is
Revelation from the beginning, the Alif, all the way into
the great realms of the unfolding of creation into manifestation.
At the peak of this manifestation stands the True Human Being,
the Insan Kamil. The one who wholeheartedly embraces the
Revelation and lives it entirely and completely, fully dedicated
to this Revelation, is the Insan Kamil. The fulfillment of
Prophecy is the Insan Kamil. This is the one who embodies all the
Divine Names, the one who embodies Divine Revelation in subtle
form, and the one who, as Sheykh Nur says, is "poised on the
threshold of this world and the next", who is poised on the
barzak of humanity and divinity, who is poised between the
community and the Lord, who is this doorway, this
threshold. As we know, "darvish" means threshold—the one who is
on the threshold. Ya Insan Kamil, Ya Insan Kamil, Ya Insan Kamil.
Grace us with your completion, with your perfection, so that we
may also become complete and perfected.
We might say that the nature of the Insan Kamil
is to bring about Insan Kamil in other beings. Insan Kamil is the
divine form, the perfect Divine Form, the perfect mirror. The
Insan Kamil of all Insan Kamils is the Prophet Muhammad, peace be
upon him, and he is called the Perfect Mirror of Truth. So the
dedication of the perfected human being is to awaken and to bring
about the perfection in all human beings. This is what our
tariqat is about.
Now let us turn to Hadith to further Illumine
our Quranic verse. (Opening the book...)
"Reports the non-violent warrior of Divine
Love, upon him be peace: I have been ordered and ordained by
Allah Most High to wage spiritual warfare with my people until
they clearly witness that there is no reality apart from Allah,
and that Muhammad, peace be upon him, is a messenger of Allah,
until they perform pure prayer and give selflessly in charity.
Then only will they have gained true protection."
Interpretation of Hadith in
Atom from the Sun of Knowledge
Sadaqa-r-Rasulullah—and
the Messenger of Allah speaks the Truth to hearts waiting and
hungry for the Truth.
So this is a sword—this Hadith is a sword of
Light. Only the perfected ones, the humble ones, could wield such
a sword as this, because in the hands of anyone else, it becomes
oppression and pain upon other human beings. The great mystics,
and among them Ibn Arabi, have stated that they themselves waged
warfare against those Imams and ‘ulama who made life
difficult for people, who with their religion stood on top of
people, imposing difficulties upon them. It was the way of the
great sheykhs and mystics to offer the easy path, for this
is what Allah Most High has given us.
Spiritual warfare is not against
humanity; it is against the negation of humanity and it is
supremely against the enemy of humanity, the one whose very
purpose in being is to lie in wait for humanity, to deceive
humanity and to pull humanity down in any way possible. From
above he waits in the form of spiritual arrogance, subtle pride.
When believers have fought the battle against the lower self,
have become firm on the path, are established in salat, and
follow the beautiful Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad as perfectly
as they can, then that one waits for them in the form of subtle
pride. As dervishes we have to be most careful of pride. This is
spiritual warfare.
It takes a master such as our lineage masters
to distinguish the subtle appearance of the deceiver within us.
May that principle of protection continue to operate in our
tariqat, as we are under the gaze of the Pirs. Once we take the
hand of the shaykh, the sword of holy warfare will not cease to
operate until we are in our grave, because we are not free from
the deceiver until we are in our grave. It is closer to humility
to think that there is never a time when we can afford not
to be heedful.
"I have been ordered and ordained by Allah Most
High to wage spiritual warfare with my people…" This is what is
happening in every tariqat and every community of Islam, in every
spiritual community.
"…Until they clearly witness that there is no
reality apart from Allah". This is what shines forth when the
deceiver is removed. Then the great cry from the human heart
comes forth, knowing and affirming what it always knew, that
Allah alone is the Reality, and that Muhammad, peace be upon him,
as the mirror of perfect humanity, is the Messenger of Allah.
This is confirming both Allah’s Reality, the Sole Reality, and
the exalted place of humanity within that Reality.
"…And until they perform pure prayer…" which is
the natural state of the human heart.
"…And gives selflessly in charity." When we
affirm the Truth with our entire being in praise we ourselves
become charity, love.
"…Then only will they have gained true
protection." This is the prayer of the Prophet al-Amin,
from the time he cried out for humanity as an infant until the
Day of Resurrection when he will be interceding for humanity at
the Throne of Mercy. Throughout all our lives he is praying for
our protection, our salvation and our victory. Amin. Hu.
O Rose in the Garden of
Revelation
Peace and Blessings be upon you
O Chosen One,
O Specially Selected for the
Message of Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim
Peace and Blessings be upon you
O Praiseworthy, O Most Praising
Peace and Blessings be upon you
Perfect Mirror of Truth,
Ahmed, Mahmud, Mustafa, Mujtaba,
Muhammad
Peace and Blessings be upon your
Radiant Family
Your daughter Fatima,
Aysha, Khadija and all your
blessed wives and consorts,
Your mother Amina the Pure and
Abdullah the Entrusted,
And all your progeny, physical
and spiritual
Your Blessed Spiritual Progeny,
Your Mystic Inheritors,
Peace and Blessings be upon you,
Dressed in the Green Cloak and
bearing the Banner of Praise
Peace and Blessings be upon
every Prophet who came to humanity,
And their communities and their
families
Peace and Blessings be upon all
humanity
Peace and Blessings be upon
Sheykh Nur al-Anwar al-Jerrahi
Sheykh Muzzafer al Aziz al-Jerrahi,
Pir Nurreddin al-Latif al
Jerrahi
Peace and blessings be upon all
of the dervishes,
And upon all humanity.
Al Fatiha…Amin.