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| Adab to the Believers! |
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| AyeshaZ |
| 12/23/04 at 13:52:42 |
Adab to the Believers by Sidi Hajj Alawi Adab, the respect we have for the Believers is very important. Shaykh Alawi said, "you must have adab with the Believers to receive the divine drink (Marifah = to know, to realize, to comprehend the message that ALLAH has sent us and is continuously giving us)." The Believers are cups, very fragile crystal glasses. If we break these glasses how can we expect to drink from them. When we feel a believer is not worthy, then we are in disagreement with the choice of Allah. If we feel that a believer is a wrong choice of Allah, then we are saying Allah has made a mistake. If you feel that a Believer does not bring you nearer to Allah, then leave him alone, but do not search out his faults. As long as he remains in the company (Brotherhood) there is a chance that he will change. Remain polite with him. Do not attack him. Pray for that Believer. You do not have to show his faults. When you see a Believer who does not love you, try to love him yourself. The nafs try to show us the vices of the other Believers only to hide our own vices. If you love very strongly, if you are humble and sincere with another Believer, you will not expose his vices but rather try to remove or erase them. If you see something on his hands you do not say you are dirty, you wash his hands. When you cover the vices of your brother, Allah will cover your vices. When you point a finger at a brother, three fingers are pointed at you. A Believer once said to Shaykh Alawi, "Some of the Believers are not so good and need to be sorted out." Shaykh Alawi replied, "do you really want me to sort out the Fuqura? If I sort out the Believers, I will begin with you." Bayazid Bistami used to say, "do you want to see a real hypocrite, then look at me." They do like this because they are close to Allah. The ones who are close to Allah only see vices in themselves. This is humility. Sayyidna Umar (may ALLAH be pleased with him) would say, "may Allah forgive in his Mercy those who show me my vices." He saw this as a blessing. If my vices are shown to me, it is a present, a gift. If we show faults between ourselves with love it is a gift. This work must happen in the Brotherhood. There is a Hadeeth; "the believer is the mirror of the believer. If I really love my brother, we become one. By this love, my brother will wash my vices. The first thing the Prophet (may the peace and blessings of ALLAH be upon him) did after the Hijra was to create this mirror by giving the companions each a brother. This is the foundation of Islam. Because the real brother does not speak with hate, but with love, he touches the heart. When I am approached like this from my brother who is washing my vice, it is really a gift for my heart because his himma is added to mine in order to clean that vice. There were two brothers who loved each other very strongly for Allah and one of them made a big sin. His brother told him, "my brother whom I love, why did you do that?" But the one who had sinned did not change. Then his brother prayed to Allah and fasted for six months asking that the vices of the brother who had sinned be removed. He was weeping and asking all the time for Allah to remove the vice from his brother. If on the strength of our love, we can remove something dirty from our brother, it is a very high form of worship of Allah. If there is no one to show my faults, I will be lost. My worth is less than the one who shows my dirtiness. If Allah gives us a brother who is able to remove our vices, it is really a wonderful gift. This is the real love. This is the food of love. And this love must not be based on a bounty or receiving favors. Shibli threw stones at the Believers. As they turned away he said, "You do not love Shibli, you love the bounty of Shibli." Sayyidna Isa (may the peace and blessings of ALLAH be upon him) said to his companions, "I will give you the knowledge if you can wash the feet of your brother." Adab = Spiritual courtesy, etiquettes, and manners. But in this context the example of the giving and being generous in light of the Prophetic way (may the peace and blessings of ALLAH be upon them). Nafs = The self. But in this context, that aspect which calls us to our desires passions. The one that prevents or impedes us from moving toward ALLAH. Please send your comments and thoughts. The Messenger of Allaah (Salla Allaahu 'Alayhi Was Sallam) is reported to have said, "The Merciful is kind to those who are merciful. If you show compassion to your fellow creatures in this world, then the One in heaven shall be compassionate to you." |
| Re: Adab to the Believers! |
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| anon |
| 12/24/04 at 23:32:41 |
| [slm] Just for the interest of readers I wanted to add that Shakyh Alawi mentioned in the above post is the same Shakyh about whom Martin Lings wrote the following book: A Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century: Shaikh Ahmad Al-Alawi : His Spiritual Heritage and Legacy (Golden Palm Series) by Martin Lings His autobiography is available online at: [url]http://www.tasawuf.ws/biography/autobiography.html[/url] |
| Re: Adab to the Believers! |
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| AyeshaZ |
| 12/25/04 at 13:44:49 |
| [wlm] JazakAllah khyran.. yess this book is definitely on my list of books to read for this winter break insha'Allah :)!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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