This means that the seeker who is reciting dhikr must observe the exact number of repetitions entailing the silent dhikr of the heart. To keep an account of the dhikr is not for the sake of the account itself, but is for the sake of securing the heart from bad thoughts and to cause it to concentrate more in the effort to achieve the repetition prescribed by the shaikh as quickly as possible.
The pillar of dhikr through counting is to bring the heart into the presence of the One who is mentioned in that dhikr and to keep counting, one by one, in order to bring one's attention to the realization that everyone is in need of that One whose Signs are appearing in every creation.
Shah Naqshband (q) said, "Observance of the numbers in dhikr is the first step in the state of acquiring Heavenly Knowledge (ilm ul-ladunni)." This means that counting leads one to recognize that only One is necessary for life. All mathematical equations are in need of the number One. All creation is in need of the only One.
This means to direct the heart of the seeker towards the Divine Presence, where he will not see other than his Beloved One. It means to experience His Manifestation in all states. Ubaidullah al-Ahrar said, "The state of Awareness of the Heart is the state of being present in the Divine Presenece in such a way that you cannot look to anyone other than Him."
In such a state one concentrates the place of Dhikr inside the heart because this is the center of power. All thoughts and inspirations, good and bad, are felt and appear one after another, circling and alternating, moving between light and dark, in constant revolution, inside the heart. Dhikr is required in order to control and reduce that turbulence of the heart.
The Meaning of Nation of Muhammad (s)
He said,
"When the Prophet (s) said, 'The portion of my Nation destined for the Hellfire is like the portion of Ibrahim destined for the fire of Nimrod,' he was giving the good news of salvation for his nation just as Allah had written salvation for Ibrahim (s): Ya naru kana bardan wa salaman cala Ibraham ('O fire, be cool and safe for Abraham') [21:69] This is because the Prophet (s) said, 'My Nation will never agree on error,' affirming that the Ummah will never accept wrong-doing, and thus Allah will save the Nation of Muhammad (s) from the fire."
Shaikh A mad Faraqi said that Shah Naqshband said: "The Nation of Muhammad (s) includes whoever comes after the Prophet (s). It is composed of three types:
1. Ummatu-d-Dacwah: absolutely everyone who came after the Prophet (s) and simply heard his message. That the Prophet (s) came to all people without exception is clear from many verses in the Qur'an; furthermore, his Community is the Moderating Witness over all other Communities, and the Prophet (s) is the one Witness over everybody, including the other Communities and their own respective witnesses.
2. Ummatu-l-Ijaba: those who accepted the message.
3. Ummatu-l-Mutabaca: those who accepted the message and followed the footsteps of the Prophet (s).
All of these categories of the Prophet's Community are saved. If they are not saved by their deeds, then they are saved by the Intercession of the Prophet (s), according to his saying, "My intercession is from the big sinners of my Community."
On Reaching the Divine Presence
He said,
"What is meant by the hadith of the Prophet (s), as- alatu micraj ul-mu'min ("Prayer is the Ascension of the Believer"), is a clear indication of the levels of Real Prayer, in which the worshipper ascends to the Divine Presence and there is manifest in him awe and reverence and obedience and humility, such that his heart reaches a state of contemplation through his prayer. This will lead him to a vision of the Divine Secrets. That was the description of the Holy Prophet's (s) prayer. In the sirah, it is said that when the Prophet (s) would reach that state, even the people outside the city could hear coming from his chest a sound which resembled the humming of bees."
One of the scholar of Bukhara asked him, "How can a worshipper reach the Divine Presence in his prayer?" He replied, "By eating from the hard-earned sweat of your brow and by remembering Allah Almighty and Exalted inside your prayer and outside your prayer, in every ablution and in every moment of your life."
On Hidden Shirk
Shaikh Salah, his servant, reported: "Shah Naqshband said one time to his followers, 'Any connection of your heart with other than Allah is the greatest veil for the seeker,' after which he recited this verse of poetry:
"The connection with other than God
Is the strongest veil,
And to be done with it,
Is the Opening of Attainment."
Immediately, after he recited this verse, it came to my heart that he was referring to the connection between aman and islam. He looked at me and laughed and said, 'Did you not hear what Hallaj said? "I rejected the religion of God, and rejection is obligatory on me even though that is hideous to Muslims." O Shaikh Salah, what came to your heart -- that the connection is with belief and islam -- is not the important point. What is important is Real Faith, and Real Faith for the People of the Truth is to make the heart deny anything and everything other than God. That is what made Hallaj say, "I denied your religion and denial is obligatory on me, although that is hideous to Muslims." His heart wanted nothing except Allah."
"Hallaj, of course, was not denying his faith in Islam, but was emphasizing the attachment of his heart to God Alone. If Hallaj was not accepting anything except Allah, how could one say that he was actually denying the religion of God? His testimony of the reality of his Witnessing encompassed and made as child's-play the ordinary witnessing of the common Muslim."
Shaikh Salah continued, saying, Shah Naqshband said, "The people of God do not admire what they are doing; they act only out of the love of God."
Shah Naqshband said,
"Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya said, 'O Allah I didn't worship seeking the reward of Your Paradise nor fearing your punishment, but I am worshipping You for Your Love alone.' If your worship is for saving yourself or for gaining some reward for yourself, it is a hidden shirk, because you have associated something with Allah, either the reward or the punishment. This is what Hallaj meant."
Shaikh Arslan ad-Dimashqi said,
"O Allah, Your religion is nothing but hidden shirk, and to disbelieve in it is obligatory on every true servant. The people of religion are not worshipping You, but are only worshipping to attain Paradise or to escape from Hell. They are worshipping these two as idols, and that is the worst Idolatry. You have said, man yakfur bi-t- aghati wa yu'min billahi faqad istamsaka bi-l-curwati-l-wuthqa ("Whoever disbelieves in idols and believes in Allah has grasped the Firm Handhold") [2:256]. To disbelieve in those idols and to believe in You is obligatory on the people of Truth."
Shaikh Abul-Hasan ash-Shadhili (q), one of the greatest Sufi Shaikhs, was asked by his shaikh, "O my son, with what are you going to meet your Lord?" He said, "I am coming to Him with my poverty." He said,
"O my son, do not ever repeat this again. This is the biggest idol, because you are still coming to Him with something. Free yourself of everything and then come to Him.
"The people of laws and external knowledge hold fast to their deeds and on that basis they establish the concept of reward and punishment. If they are good, they find good and if they are bad they find bad; what benefits the servant is his deeds and what harms him is his deeds. To the People of the Way, this is the hidden Shirk, because one is associating something with Allah. Although it is an obligation to do (good deeds), yet the heart must not be attached to those deeds. They should only be done for His sake and for His love, without expectation of anything in return."
Shah Naqshband (q) said,
"Our Way is very rare and very precious. It is the curwati-l-wuthqa ("Firm Handhold"), the way of keeping firm and steadfast in the footsteps of the Prophet (s) and of his Companions. They brought me to this Way from the door of Favors, because at its beginning and at its end, I witnessed nothing but the Favors of God. In this Way great doors of Heavenly Knowledge will be opened up to the seeker who follows in the footsteps of the Prophet (s)."
To follow the Sunnah of the Prophet (s) is the most important means by which the door will be opened to you. He said, "Whoever is not coming to our Way, his religion is in danger." He was asked, "How does someone come to Your Way?" He replied, "By following the Sunnah of the Prophet (s)."
He said, "We have carried in this Way humiliation, and in return Allah has blessed us with His Honor."
Some people said about him that he was sometimes arrogant. He said, "We are proud because of Him, because He is our Lord, giving us His Support!"
He said,
"To reach the Secrets of Oneness is sometimes possible, but to reach the Secrets of Spiritual Knowledge (macrifat) is extremely difficult."
He said,
"Spiritual Knowledge is like water, it takes the color and shape of the cup. Allah's Knowledge is so great, that however much we take, it is like a drop of a huge ocean. It like a vast garden, however much we have cut it is as if we had cut but one flower."
Shah Naqshband was, may Allah sanctify his soul, in the highest states of the denial of desire for this world. He followed the way of piety, especially in the act of eating. He took all kinds of precautions in regard to his food. He would only eat from the barley he had grown himself. He would harvest it, grind it, make the dough, knead it and bake it himself. All the scholars and seekers of his time made their way to his house, in order to eat from his table and to partake the blessings of his food.
He reached such a perfection of austerity that in winter, he only put old and worn carpets on the floor of his house, which gave no protection from the bitter cold. In summer he put very thin woven mats on the ground. He loved the poor and the needy. He urged his followers to earn money through lawful means, that is, by the sweat of their brows. He urged them to spend that money on the poor. He cooked for the poor and invited them to his table. He served them with his own holy hands and urged them to remain always in the Presence of Allah, Almighty and Exalted. If anyone of them put a bite of food in his mouth in a heedless way, he would inform them, through his state of vision, what they had done and urge them to keep remembrance of Allah while eating.
He taught that,
"One of the most important doors to the Presence of Allah is to eat with Awareness. The food gives the body strength, and to eat with consciousness gives the body purity."
One time he was invited to a city by the name of Ghaziat where one of his followers had prepared a dinner for him. When they sat for dinner he didn't eat. His host was surprised. Shah Naqshband said, "O my son, I am wondering how you prepared this food. From the time you kneaded the dough and cooked it, until you served it, you were in a state of anger. The food is mixed with that anger. If we eat that food, shaytan will find a way to enter through it and to spread his evil throughout our bodies."
One time he was invited to the city of Herat by its king, King Hussain. King Hussain was very happy at the visit of Shah Naqshband and threw a great feast for him. He invited all his ministers, the shaikhs of his kingdom and all his noblemen. He said, "Eat from this food. It is pure food, which I made from the pure earnings which I inherited from my father." Everyone ate except Shah Naqshband, prompting the Shaikh ul-Islam of that time, Qu b ad-dan, to ask, "O our Shaikh, why are you not eating?" Shah Naqshband said, "I have a judge to whom I go for counsel. I asked him and that judge told me, 'O my son, about this food there are two possibilities. If this food is not halal (lawful) and you do not eat, when you are questioned you may say I came to the table of the king but I did not eat. Then you are safe because you did not eat. But if you eat and you are asked, then what are you going to say? Then you are not safe.' At that time, Qu b ad-Din was so overcome by these words that he began to shake. He had to ask the King's permission to stop eating. Then the King was very confused and asked, "What shall we do with all this food?" Shah Naqshband said, "If there is any doubt about the purity of the food it is better to send it to the poor. Their need will make it halal for them. If as you say, it is halal, then there is more blessing in giving it as charity to those who need than in feasting those who do not."
He used to fast most of his days. If a guest came to him and he had something to offer him, he would sit with him, break his fast and eat. He told his followers that the Companions of the Prophet (s) used to do the same. Shaikh Abul Hasan al-Kharqani (q) said in his book, The Principles of the Way and the Principles of Reaching Reality, "Keep harmony with friends, but not in sinning. This means that if you were fasting and someone came to you as a friend, you must sit with him and eat with him in order to keep proper company with him. One of the principles of fasting, or of any worship, is to conceal what one is doing. If one reveals it, for example by saying to the guest, 'I am fasting,' then pride may enter and ruin the fast. This is the reason behind the principle."
One day he was given a cooked fish as a gift. There were in his presence many poor people, among them a very pious boy who was fasting. Shah Naqshband gave the fish to the poor and told them, "Sit and eat," and he told the boy who was fasting, "Sit and eat." The boy refused. He told him again, "Break your fast and eat," but he refused. He asked him, "What if I give you one of my days of Ramadan? Will you sit and eat?" Again he refused. He told him, "What if I give you my whole Ramadan?" Still he refused. He said, "Bayazid al-Bistami was once burdened with a person similar to you." After that the boy was seen running after the worldly life, never fasting and never worshipping.
The incident to which Shah Naqshband (q) was referring occurred one day when Shaikh Abu Turab an-Naqshabi (q) visited Bayazid al-Bistami (q). His servant offered him food. Abu Turab said to the servant, "Come and sit with me and eat." The servant said, "No. I am fasting." He said, "Eat, and Allah will give you the reward of fasting for one year." He refused. He said, "Come and eat, I will pray to Allah that he give you the reward of two years of fasting." Then Hadrat Bayazid said, "Leave him. He has been dropped from Allah's care." Later his life degenerated and he became a thief.
taken from:
The Naqshbandi Sufi Way: History and Guidebook of the Saints of the Golden Chain,
KAZI, 1995
by Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani
