Sufi Prayer and Love

By Ahmad Javid (Sarwari Qaderi) MD FAAP

No matter our spiritual path, we all search for light in the darkness and a more meaningful relationship with God. Living in harmony with Him means we are able to transcend our earthly bodies and connect with His love. Learn why prayer, divine love, and spiritual virtues are the three essential building blocks to achieving a fulfilling and

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rustik Haws LLC
• Release date: Apr 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9781952617102

Ahmad Javid (Sarwari Qaderi) MD FAAP

Born in Pakistan, author Dr. Ahmad javid Sarwari Qaderi is a twelfth generation Sufi with ancestral lineage going back to Syed Muhammad al-Hussaini Gisudiraz, the saint of Decan. He spent seventeen years in Iran extensively studying Sufi literature and poetry before coming to the United States to complete his residency training in pediatrics from Columbia University. He is the author of Sufi Light: The Secret of Meditation, Sufi Prayer and Love, Sufi Experience of God, and The Life of a Sufi available on Amazon.com.

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Sufi Prayer

and Love

Dr. Ahmad Javid (Sarwari Qaderi) FAAP

Sufi Prayer and Love by Ahmad Javid (Sarwari Qaderi) MD, FAAP

This book is written to provide information and motivation to readers. Its purpose is not render any type of psychological, legal, or professional advice of any kind. The content is the sole opinion and expression of the author, and not necessarily that of the publisher.

Copyright © 2020 by Ahmad Javid (Sarwari Qaderi) MD, FAAP

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or distributed in any form by any means, including, but not limited to, recording, photocopying, or taking screenshots of parts of the book, without prior written permission from the author or the publisher. Brief quotations for noncommercial purposes, such as book reviews, permitted by Fair Use of the U.S. Copyright Law, are allowed without written permissions, as long as such quotations do not cause damage to the book’s commercial value. For permissions, write to the publisher, whose address is stated below.

ISBN: 978-1-951147-16-7 (Paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-952617-10-2 (eBook)

Printed in the United States of America.

Rustik Haws LLC

100 S. Ashley Drive, Suite 600

Tampa, FL 33602

https://www.rustikhaws.com/

Dedication

To my beloved parents, Faqir Abdul Hamid Sarwari Qaderi and Zarina Gul Sarwari, I will never be able to repay you for all what you have given and taught me.

To Sara, my wife, my love, and my best friend, you are so much more than I could hope for.

To my son, Cyrus Javid, you are truly a gift from Allah.

A

cknowledgments

Once again, it is with great joy that I honor people who helped, supported, and believed in me throughout this amazing journey.

I am infinitely grateful to the following people:

Khalifa Ismail Kasoodji of Lenasia, my brother and friend, for your deep insight and generous help.

Mushtaq Salee and Riaz Casim, for your financial support that has been invaluable in bringing this book to publication.

Khalifa Saeed Ali Chopdat of Sultan Bahu Center, Johannesburg, for your amazing support and wisdom.

Muhamad Zubair, my editor, for your suggestions and comments. You are not only a fabulous editor but a wonderful person.

It is with great pleasure that I send my love and gratitude out to my brothers and sisters in the silsila. Thank you.

Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part One Prayer

Chapter One

Intimate Conversation With Allah

Chapter Two

Spiritual Beauty

Chapter Three

Prayer of Love: Coming Home

Chapter Four

Presence of God

Chapter Five

Servanthood

Chapter Six

Prayer of Petition

Chapter Seven

Prayer of Intercession

Chapter Eight

Prayer of Tears

Chapter Nine

Never Abandon hope

Part Two Divine Love

Chapter Ten

God Is Love and the Source of All Love

Chapter Eleven

How to Attain Divine Love

Chapter Twelve

Spiritual Tools

Chapter Thirteen

The Constant Remebrance

Chapter Fourteen Quran:

Reminder and Remembrance

Part Three Spiritual Virtues of a Seeker

Chapter Fifteen

Spiritual Virtues

Chapter Sixteen

The Illumined Heart

Glossary of Terms

Bibliography

Also, by Ahmad Javid MD, Sarwari Qaderi

In the name of Allah, the infinitely good, the

boundlessly merciful.

O God,

You are merciful in your might,

You are glorious in your beauty,

You are not needful of space,

You require not time,

No one resembles you;

You resemble no one,

It is evident that you are in the soul,

Nay, rather the soul lives by something which you are.

—Khawaja Abdullah Ansari

Introduction

Allah has graciously allowed me to catch a glimpse into the deepest mysteries of faith and prayer. In the coming pages, I want to share with you what I have learned and experienced over time. Years have come and gone, and yet I am still a novice in the ways of devotion to Allah. Admittedly, I had much more to learn, to experience

Today, a great many Muslims, especially young adults, are fascinated by ideas and writings originating in the West. Perhaps this interest comes only after one has given up one’s faith, without ever really knowing anything about the Islamic spiritual tradition. We are all led by the Divine, the One, the True. We seek heaven, but we play with the things of this world, which ultimately lead us downward and away from our eternal destiny.

One night, in a deep meditation, I was invaded to the depths by an overwhelming experience of the love of God. I was so overcome by Allah’s loving presence that I got up and lay prostrate, when for hours, wave after wave of Allah’s ravishing love swept over me. At that moment I experienced a flaming vision of light that left me forever blinded to all competing loyalties. I felt such an indescribable peace that I stayed in wordless adoration, wonder, and glory. At that moment many dormeny memories of the sweet days of Alast (Day of Creation) awakened in my heart. He filled my heart with a deep longing to know Him intimately. I noticed that my room was filled with the vibrations of profound bliss and intense divine love, which is the salvation of the world. His unconditional love took complete possession of me, and it seemed that, through me, He was sending out waves of love to embrace all His creation. I was wondering how I could impart divine love and shed His light on others. Then, suddenly, I remembered God’s words: "Nothing is more pleasant to Me, as a means for My slave to draw nigh unto Me, than the prayer (worship) that I have made binding upon him; and My slave ceaseth not to draw near unto Me by devotions of his free will until I love him…" It was then that He put a book idea in my heart, and as a result this book, Sufi Prayer and Love, was born.

Allah has placed in salat (prayer) the secrets and the splendors of His own light. Salat is an intimate talk with Allah, so that those who attempt to perform it, when they realize what the fruits of such an encounter truly are, will be utterly amazed. But Allah has disguised these divine treasures in such a manner that only those who have true longing in their hearts can discover it. For others God has put a seal on their hearts and their ears and a veil on their eyes (Quran 2:27) such that they are unable to perceive the subtleties of the divine truths. Allah reveals His secrets only to those who are submissive. Therefore, Quran and salat open their treasures only to those who apply the established divine law to themselves. In short there is no illumination without obedience.

Every religion and faith on earth has some form of prayer and rituals. Ancient tribes presented offerings to gods and held elaborate ceremonies for their daily needs and issues such as food, health, children, and power. Early civilizations such as the Incas and the Aztec tribes even scarified humans (mostly their enemies) in order to attract their gods’ attention. Even those who do not believe in God somehow find ways to pray. Prayer is therefore universal because it addresses some basic human need. As someone has put it, Prayer is an expression of who we are. We are a living incompleteness. We are a gap, an emptiness that calls for fulfillment. What is a prayer? Prayer comes from the Latin precarious, obtained by begging, and precari, to entreat—to ask earnestly, beseech, implore. The two commonest forms of prayers are the prayer of petition, asking something for oneself, and prayer of intercession, asking something for others. There also are prayers of confession (tawbah), the repentance of wrongdoing and asking for forgiveness; prayers of lamentation, crying in times of distress and asking for vindication; prayers of adoration, giving honor and praise; prayers of invocation, summoning the presence of Almighty Allah; and prayers of thanksgiving, offering gratitude. Like the many names of Allah in Islam, the classifications of prayers can seem endless.

The word prayer is commonly used to denote at least four different activities in Islamic spirituality:

Ritual prayer (salat).

Prayer of petition (personal entreaties) to Allah.

Dhikr (meditation or remembrance), in which Quranic verses, shahadah, or divine names are continually invoked aloud or silently.

Munajat, devotional conversation between the lover and the beloved.

Generally, when the word prayer is used by Muslims, it is most often the ritual prayer that is meant. The ritual prayer is an obligatory act that enacts the orientation of the worshipper—body and spirit—toward the source of being.

Prayer manifests in complex ways in the human psyche. It is the most fundamental, primordial, and important language humans speak—primary speech. It starts without words and often ends without them.

Prayer forms the most fundamental and deeply rewarding aspect of our relationship with God. Prayer is therefore an act of communication—an act of language. It is positioning oneself. In fact, prayer is to focus and pay attention to all that is. It requires a greater effort to attain sublime faith, to believe that God is indeed exalted among all.

Perhaps you have never prayed before except in anguish or fear. It may be that the only time the divine name has been on your lips has been in times of tribulation. Perhaps you do not believe in prayer. You may have tried to pray and were profoundly disappointed and disillusioned. Perhaps you may have little or no faith. Perhaps you are buried in pressures of life, and others have wronged you. You may have a painful past. You may avoid prayer because you feel too distant, too unworthy, or too defiled. Perhaps you have prayed for many years, but God seems remote and inaccessible.

You may think that if God knows everything about us, why pray? Is God really listening? Why should God care about us? Why do many prayers go unanswered? Why does God let the world go on as it does and not intervene? Why does Almighty Allah seem close and sometimes far away? If you are pondering over these questions, then surprisingly you are not alone. It is in our desperate and darkest hour that we cry out countless questions to Allah, when we ask if Allah is doing anything in our lives. But for all the questions we have for God, He has questions for us too—and as our heart pours out tears to Him, the answer from Allah sometimes comes in the form of a question: Where is your faith (Iman)?

We all, at any given point in time, find ourselves waiting on something. It may be something very small, or we could be waiting on something that will change the course of our lives. This waiting period is the most difficult time. We can easily get consumed with despair and helplessness during this time—uncertainty and lack of control can get the best of us. This waiting time is precisely the time Allah uses to examine our faith and see if it is genuine. The waiting period is the time that purifies us, allowing the impurities of soul to come to the surface. If we trust in Allah, He will not allow us to remain in the waiting one moment longer than it takes to accomplish His purpose for us.

He would not refine us if He did not know He was purifying gold. But it is when He is holding us to fire to remove the dross (impurity), when the pain and suffering is more than we can bear, that our heart cries out with questions: Is there any real meaning in the universe? Does Allah really love us? We may not see the end from the beginning, but we must keep on doing what we know to do. We adore, praise, and worship Allah and carry the duty of the servitude. What we learned to do in the light of Allah’s love we also continue to do in the dark of Allah’s silence. We ask and continue to ask even though there is no answer. We seek and continue to seek even though we do not find. We knock and continue to knock even though the door remains shut.

It is this constant longing love that produces a firmness of faith in us. Because we should love Allah for more than the gifts He brings.

The Sufis really knew how to complain. Their words of anguish and frustration can guide our lips into prayer.

O God

When you brand a heart with your love,

You scatter its heap of being to the winds of

non-existence.

Whosoever comes to you,

And raises the banner of your love,

Will cast off all that is other than you.

What use has he of his soul who has known you?

What use has he of offspring and family?

When you drive one mad,

You give him both this world and the next:

What use has the mad man for the world or the next? (Khawaja Abdullah Ansari)

The desire to pray must flow spontaneously from within, like water from the spring. If it does not well up from our inmost being, this will be untrue and unnatural. Undoubtedly, there is prayer that comes unprompted from within. For example, unexpected good news may move a person to give thanks and praise to Allah, or when in great distress, a person may turn to Him for comfort and help. There are times when a person suddenly becomes aware of the work of divine providence behind some event and is amazed, overawed. Or a person sometimes experiences Allah’s presence so vividly that he or she speaks to Him spontaneously.

The way prayer is conceived by most people is far different. God is usually installed outside us, high above as if in a stationary orbit, functioning as some sort of master communication satellite. We humans send prayers upward to God, Who may or may not choose to function as a relay station to the object of our prayer. This view with God up there and us down here allows us to maintain a quiet local version of who we are.

In today’s world skeptics taint prayer. Is anyone really listening? Or it is just a spasm of words lost in cosmic indifference? Prayer is a waste or a most important use of time. Psychiatrist Gerald C. May observed, After twenty years of listening to the yearnings of people’s hearts, I am convinced that human beings have an inborn desire for God. Whether we are consciously religious or not, this desire is our deepest longing and most precious treasure. Surely if we are made in God’s own image (form), God will find a way to fulfill that deepest longing—prayer is that way.

Today the heart of God aches over our distance and preoccupation. He grieves that we do not draw near Him and that we have forgotten Him. He is inviting you and me to come home, to where we belong, to that for which we were created. His arms are stretched out wide to receive us. His heart is enlarged to take us in. The key to this home, this heart of God, is prayer.

In this book I will explore the many ways of prayer. It is not about the definition, nor is it about the methods and techniques; however, I will explain both. This book is mainly about a love relationship—an enduring and continuing relationship with Allah, the great God of the universe. Prayer is nothing more than an ongoing and growing love relationship with Allah. This way of prayer—this relationship to the eternal beloved—requires one thing: love.

At the heart of all reality is God, who is an unimaginable source of power and love. It requires a daily act of will to remember (pray) that God is not far from each one of us. He is closer than ourselves; He lives in our very essence.

Most of the time, we pray about our problems and bring them to Allah. We try to inform Allah as if He did not already know. We beg and plead with Allah in the hope of changing His mind and overcoming divine reluctance. We should know and realize that Allah already cares about our concerns—our financial crises, broken families, illnesses, and rebellious children—more than we do. His grace descends like rain, and His mercy embraces all creation. It is primarily Allah Who bears responsibility for what happens on earth.

In prayer we admit our weaknesses, failures, and limitations to the One Who responds to human vulnerability with infinite mercy. Thanksgiving and praise should surge up as a natural response and not an obligation. Prayer is an unmistakable way for those who believe in the secret and manifest hand of an omnipotent God and His unfailing response, in His own way, to every petition that is according to His will.

Part one

Prayer

I want a heart for choosing only You,

A spirit for breathing the pain of Your passion.

A body for desiring only Your love,

An eye for seeing You and only You.

When He loosens your tongue with a request,

Then know that He wants to give you something.

Chapter One

Intimate Conversation With

A

llah

In the agony suffered for you,

The wounded find the scent of balm:

Thousands in every corner, seeking a glimpse of you,

Cry out like Moses, Lord, show me yourself.

Wandering aimlessly and saying hopefully,

O God! O God!

—Ansari

The central reality of Islam is the one God, referred to as Allah, and attestation to His oneness is known as the unity of being, or tawhid, that forms the basis of faith. Therefore, the first step on the path (to Allah) is to bear witness to the unity of God. The doctrine of divine unity (tawhid) requires that this witnessing should be a heartfelt act and not a verbal attestation. Islam is founded on this witnessing that there is no god but God. All mystical teachings derive from shahadah, which implies a substantial identity between the creator and the created or Real and unreal because there is no reality except the one Reality. All the ninety-nine names of Allah can and should be recited in the shahadah because Allah is the all-comprehensive name (al-ism al-jami), since it contains in itself all other divine names.

Therefore, when we profess, There is no god but one God, we also mean, There is no reality but one Reality, There is no truth but one Truth, There is none merciful but the Most Merciful, There is none compassionate but the Most Compassionate, There is none powerful but the Most Powerful, There is none knowledgeable but the All-Knowing. Once tawhid is acknowledged, it is obvious that all attributes and qualities must be tracked back to the One, directly or indirectly.

Anything other than God does not possess these attributes. Everything receives its reality and existence from God. Allah’s reality is such that nothing can stand up to it. He is the unique possessor of all that is real and all that provides reality to others, meaning that the others are in fact nonexistent.

Thus, shahadah asserts that God is the Reality beyond all, acknowledges the existence of humanity, and adds that the Reality communicates itself by means of the Messenger.

As Frithjof Schuon puts it, If there is God and if there are men, there must necessarily be messengers of God as well. Likewise, if there is a God and if there are men, there is necessarily a message and a dialogue.

Shahadah is called Kalimat al-tawhid, the sentence voicing God’s unity. Tawhid (unity of God) makes the foundation of religion. Tawhid is commonly described as having levels. Al-Ghazali speaks of four levels. The first is saying the words of the formula, the second believing in the words, the third seeing the One, and the fourth being alone with the One. The lowest level is uttering the formula, no god but God, and the highest is oneness with the Real. At the final stage of tawhid, nothing remains but the One.

At the heart of Islam stands the reality of God, the One, the Absolute and the Infinite. The One who is at once transcendent and immanent. For Him everything impossible is possible, whether small or big. His mercy encompasses everything in the universe. He is merciful, kind, and loving to us even if we are unbelievers and sinners, because mercy and kindness, love, forgiveness, and all other attribute are in His essence, and He cannot be other than His attributes.

My mercy encompasses everything (Quran 7:156).

Allah is the source of all existence as well as the end to Whom all things return. The formula of faith, La ilaha ilallah, expresses the timeless truth that there is no god but God. God’s reality is mercy and compassion. The existence that He spreads out in the universe is nothing but mercy for all created things. The second part of testimony of faith, Muhammadan Rasool Allah (Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah), is equally important. This double testimony is the basis of Islamic mysticism:

The doctrine of unity of being (tawhid) stated in La Ilaha Ilallah.

The universal man (the perfect human being)—as defined in the second part of the testimony of faith.

The prophet Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the perfect or universal human (Insan-e-Kamil) in whom all the possibilities of cosmic existence are realized. For Muslims this human is the perfect mirror reflecting and emanating all God’s names and attributes in his inner reality—which in Sufi terminology is called the Muhammadan Reality. For believers, this human is the most perfect model in all respects, to be imitated even in the minutest details.

The divine tradition—I was a hidden treasure also implies to the appearance of the perfect man, who is the first creation. The perfect man is absolute (mutlaq) in the sense that the totality of existences is comprehended by him. In other words, the attributes of God that are each manifested through an entity are altogether manifested in the concept of the perfect man. In reality, the idea of the perfect man is the first and perfect manifestation of God with all His attributes and names, which takes place within His own consciousness.

Aside from the aspect of the perfect man, the prophet Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) is totally one with God. It signifies the divine emanation, which is the initial manifestation of the essence of God, which is also called the the second ocean, the first ocean being Allah’s essence itself. The emanation comes directly from beyond the beyond. The prophet Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the manifestation of God’s essence. It may, therefore, not be improper to state that the first creation by or manifestation of God in the form of the perfect man or divine emanation or reality of being Muhammad took place in His essence itself. In short, this manifestation appeared in the consciousness of God.

The following Quranic verse gives credibility to this unique, and paradoxical, nature of the relationship that exists between the Prophet and God: Whosoever obeys the Prophet, obeys God. If we look at this from another angle, we can conclude that Allah manifested Himself in three ways: From One (Ahad) He revealed Himself to the most praiseworthy (Ahmad) and then to the praised one (Muhammad). The letter m in Ahmad is a veil over Ahad. This explanation in itself is significant because it presumably shows the three aspects of the issue. Ahad, then, points to the transcendental God, Ahmad indicates the perfect man or divine emanation as macrocosm, and Muhammad signify the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as the microcosm. It also maintains the distance between the perfect man and God; as the Quranic verse says, A distance of two bow lengths or nearer, also called the mim of Ahmad.

The two aspects of the prophet Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) are that esoterically he is macrocosm and exoterically he is microcosm. Thus, the macrocosmic aspect signifies saintship, whereas the microcosmic qualifies prophethood. Prophethood and saintship (perfect man) merge in one complete being, namely Prophet Hazrat Muhammad, and in reality, are one. Due to this superiority of Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) to all beings both exoterically and esoterically, he is taken as the archetype. He is to be followed in both respects. Thus, externally, the Sufi has to abide by the laws and codes of conduct laid down by him, and internally, he being the perfect man, is the farthest one should ascend in the mystic journey. Thus in Islam the dual testimony of faith,—that there is no god but God and Muhammad is His messenger—has a primary place. This provides the key to understanding the Islamic perspective in all domains. Therefore, submission or Islam is only possible by first verbally acknowledging the reality of God and the prophetic role of Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) and thus making the other four pillars and the divine law (shariah) incumbent upon oneself. The shahadah defines the contents of faith, whose primary element is faith in One God, Allah (tawhid), while all the objects of faith are conceptualized in terms