spiritualhosein

A lecture delivered by Maulana Imran Nazar Hosein at the Maulana Abd al-Aleem Siddiqui t Masjid

Allah Y tells us in the Holy Qur'aan in the 29^th Sura, al-Ankabuut (The Spider): in Verse69:

And those who strive in Our path, We will certainly guide them to Our Paths: for verily Allah Y is with the righteous

We begin in Allah Y’s Blessed Name, we praise Him, we glorify Him and we beseech Him this night for His guidance, blessings and protection as we attempt to address the subject, Islamic Spirituality, the Forgotten Path. We pray for peace and blessings for all His Noble Messengers and in particular, on the last of them all the Blessed Prophet Muhammad e.

Our subject tonight is Spirituality and our subject tomorrow night; Insha Allah will be Dajjal, The False Messiah. Yet we begin tonight with Dajjal to show the link between tonight’s talk and tomorrow night. The Prophet e said,’ Every prophet of Allah Y has warned his people about Dajjal but I am going to tell you something about him which none has said before me. Dajjal sees with his left eye. He is blind in the right eye. It looks like a bulging grape. But your Lord is not one-eyed. Between Dajjal’s eyes on his forehead is written ‘kafir’ – kaaf; fa; ra. Every Mu’min (every believer whose heart Islam has entered and so becoming imaan) will be able to read - recognize kafir. [Whether that Mu’min is khatib i.e. he can read or write or ghair katib i.e. he cannot read or write]. This is by far the most important hadith on Dajjal, since this information was saved until the very last. No more prophets after Muhammad e. What is the implication? If the mu’min can read it means that Abu Lahab can’t read. Abu Lahab has eyes, so how come he cannot read but Hazrath Ali t, can read? Is Ali t reading with these (physical) eyes? Do we have any other eyes besides these eyes? The University of Singapore , The United Nations says and Governments around the world say, No! We have no other eyes, besides these (physical) eyes. We have no other ears, besides these (physical) ears. We have no other means of acquiring knowledge other than through the senses; through observation and through the rational faculties. But, the Holy Qur’aan says, yes! In addition to these eyes we have internal eyes. In addition to these ears we have internal ears. In addition to our external faculties for acquiring knowledge, we can also acquire knowledge internally. E.g. In Sura Hajj [Sura 22, Verse 46], Allah Y addresses a people who are like Uncle Sam, are internally dead. He Y says,

So that perhaps, perchance, (by traveling through the earth) their dead hearts might come alive

They have PhD’s from Harvard but their hearts are dead. Multi-millionaire, with a dozen Mercedes Benz, but the heart is dead. Travel through the earth and see the signs of Allah Y on the earth. Perchance by seeing the signs of Allah Y, your dead heart might come alive. When the dead heart comes alive, then the heart can understand what the intellect and reason could not understand.

So the heart can see. In addition to this (physical) eye, we also have this (internal) eye. Now it is possible for us to understand the hadith.

Dajjal see with one eye, his left eye. The left eye symbolizes his external capacity for sight. Dajjal is blind in the right eye; indicating that Dajjal is internally blind. Therefore all those that follow Dajjal will all be internally blind. What is the price that we pay if we are internally blind? PhD from university of Singapore ! But inside, blind. What is the price that we pay? Allah Y declares that huge numbers of people are condemned for the hellfire. What did they do that they are condemned for the hellfire?

They have hearts but rthey cannot understand. They have eyes but they cannot see. They have ears but they cannot hear.

The people who are internally blind are a people who in the age of Dajjal are destined for the hellfire. How does Allah Y describe such people? He Y says: [The 7^th Sura, al-Araaf [The Heights], Verse 179]

This is our introduction to Spirituality in Islam. Spirituality is the path through which the heart comes alive. When the heart comes alive, then it can see; and hear; and understand that which rationality can never penetrate. Allah Y sent down in the Holy Qur’aan the 18^th Sura, Kahf (The Cave). The Holy Prophet e identified this Sura as the only Sura in the Holy Qur’aan which protects from Dajjal. Recite the first ten verses of Sura, Kahf over Dajjal and he won’t be able to harm you. He also said something else about Sura, Kahf. You know these (physical) eyes can’t see unless there is light. Similarly this eye (spiritual eye of the heart) cant see without Nur. You can’t buy nur in the stock market. Where does the Nur come from?

Allah Y encompasses the totality of the Nur in the Heaven and the Earth

You cannot get nur other than from Allah Y. Not even from the Security Council of the UN. So we need nur, if we are to be protected from Dajjal; and therefore to be able to see with the internal eye, -because he does not see with the internal eye-. He e said recite Sura Kahf on a Friday[1] and it will deliver to you nur from the heavens to the earth and that nur will stay with you until the next Friday. So now I ask you to raise your hands. Let me see how many people have recited Sura al-Kahf last Friday. What happened to your hands? Something wrong? This is the dearest Masjid in the whole of Singapore for me. Fourteen years ago when I came to Singapore for the first time I came as a guest of this Masjid. I lectured here first and I slept at the room at the back. So this Masjid is the dearest of all. It is named after Maulana Abd al-Aleem Siddiqui t. Do you know who he was? My teacher, my shaykh, my murshid was Maulana Dr. Muhammad Fazlur Rahman Ansari t whose masterpiece, the two volumes The Qur’aanic Foundations and Structure of Muslim Society is now available. His teacher, his shaykh, his murshid was Maulana Abd al-Aleem Siddiqui t. So I am the second generation from him. So next time I come I want to see your hands raised that you are now reciting Sura al-Kahf every Friday without failure.

In Sura al-Kahf Allah Y gives us wonderful instruction on the consequences of not having the capacity to see with the internal eye. He takes Musa u the Nabi who was sent to Bani Israel, those who say that they are the chosen people of Allah Y, the elite, the select whilst the rest of mankind is gentile. According to Sahih Bukhari, Musa u has delivered a Khutbah at Sinai. Someone came to him and said, ‘O Musa! What a wonderful Khutbah. You must be the most learned man in the world.’ What Musa u should have replied was, ‘Praise is due to Allah Y!’ What Musa u should have replied was, ‘Beyond any man is He who is all learned.’ But he didn’t say that. He said what the PhD From the university says, ‘yes, I am the most learned man in the world.’ This is what happens when you secularize knowledge. You take Allah Y out of the process of learning. ‘He has nothing to do with it. I am the expert in my field. I am the top scholar in my field.’ He says, ‘yes, I am the most learned man in the world.’ When you do that and don’t recognize Allah Y as the source of all knowledge, then He cuts off your internal sight. So Musa u temporarily is without internal sight. Allah Y then says to him, ‘There is a servant of mine more learned than you are, Musa.’ So Musa u, says, ‘I would like to meet him.’ Then Allah Y gives him instructions to take a fish, put it in a basket and travel in the direction where the two seas meet- majmaul bahrain . ‘When the fish jumps out of the basket, there you shall meet him.’ This is a rather humiliating thing for the most learned man in the world to do. Allah Y cuts him down. ‘Learn humility if you really are learned. The sign of knowledge is humility.’ So he goes and eventually, he meets him. He is called Khidr u, which means ‘green’. This is a man more learned than Musa u. There is a difference between his knowledge and this knowledge. This knowledge can grow old and stale and be superseded by other knowledge and so become obsolete. Like the computer you had ten years ago, obsolete now. But this knowledge does not grow obsolete, always green always relevant, always fresh. Like a fresh breeze, this is the knowledge of Khidr u that’s why he is Mr. Green.

Musa u asks, ‘Can I accompany you so that I may learn from you?’ Very difficult! Really difficult for a one eyed man to learn from a two eyed man. The on-eyed man has a PhD, so he believes he knows all. Hazrath Khidr u says, ‘You are not going to be able to show patience with me.’ How correct is that answer; unto this day; but he keeps on insisting, ‘I want to go with you.’ He is allowed to accompany Khidr u, on condition he does not ask questions unless Khidr u explains. He is cut down. So they travel and come to the sea or the water and there they board a boat. Sahih Bukhari tells us a nice story about what happened on the boat. A little bird came and sat on the sail of the boat and then flew down dipped its beak into the water and flew back up with one drop of water inside the mouth. Khidr u points to the bird and says, ‘Musa u, the knowledge that you have plus the knowledge that I have when compared to Allah Y‘s knowledge is like the one drop of water in the beak of the bird. That is the first lesson to teach a one eyed man. Then three events occur:

What is important about these three events is that on each occasion Hazrath Musa u formed his judgment based on external observation and rational analysis. And yet on all three occasions he was wrong. Suratul Kahf is knocking at your hearts. Warning you! That in the age of Dajjal if you depend only on your external observation and rational investigations to formulate your judgment, you will be wrong because Dajjal comes with two things: a river and a fire. His river is a fire and his fire is the cool waters of the river. In other words, appearance and reality will be completely different from each other in the age of Dajjal. It looks good but it’s dangerous. It looks bad but the reality is different it is good. In the age of Dajjal appearance and reality are going to be completely different from each other so if judgment is based on external observation and rational enquiry alone you are going to be wrong and will pay a terrible price for your wrong judgment. Hazrath Khidr u explains saying, “What I did with this boat appeared to you to be bad but was actually good. There is a king, a government that is coming seizing people’s property and they are going to be seizing this boat, thus by damaging the boat, I saved the boat so when the king is gone the poor fishermen can repair their boat. It looked bad to you but actually I did them a favour. This little boy! You sometimes plant a seed and you get a rose. Sometimes you plant a seed and you get a scorpion. So when you sleep with your wife make dua, ‘O Allah Y ! This seed which I plant I pray it may grow into something good and beautiful.’ So this child was destined to grow into such a Devil that his parent’s faith would have been threatened. By killing the child and praying to Allah Y to send them another child who would be coolness for their eyes (kurratu aiyun) I did something good for them but you couldn’t see that. As regards the wall: In this town there was a believer (mu’min), who had two little children, he was dying he had some money and he couldn’t find a single person he could trust to keep the money until his children grow. So he had to dig a hole and bury the money. Having buried the money he then built a wall and prayed to Allah Y that He would guide them to the money. When I found the wall crumbling, Allah Y instructed me to rebuild it.’

So knowledge, instructions and guidance can come from above. What we are introduced to here is a branch of knowledge that is called epistemology. What is knowledge? Is it possible for us to acquire knowledge and how is it acquired? The Holy Qur’aan teaches us: Did you acquire knowledge? That knowledge wherein there is no doubt never becomes obsolete like the computer from ten years ago. [The Holy Qur’aan says in the 102^nd Sura, Takaathur (The Piling up):

Knowledge is possible, but it does not only come this way (learned by the brain), it also comes this way (revealed to the heart). Remember that in addition to knowledge externally derived, it is also internally, intuitively, spiritually acquired.

The companions were sitting; talking amongst themselves in the Masjid and the Holy Prophet e came and sat with them. This was after the farewell Hajj when they had returned to Madinah and so he has only 81 days left in his blessed life. This is the last part of his life. Suddenly a stranger entered into the Masjid dressed all in white spotlessly clean with no dust upon him, with black hair. He was not a traveler, yet no-one could recognize who he was. This is mystery, suspense as to who is this man. He came and sat directly opposite the Holy Prophet e and asked five questions as if he is a school-master and the Holy Prophet e replies. Every time the Holy Prophet e would reply, this man would say, ‘Your answer is correct.’ Thereafter he got up and left as suddenly and as strangely as he had come. The Holy Prophet e then asked, ‘Do you know who he was?’ They answered, ‘We don’t! Allah Y and His Messenger know best.’ The Holy Prophet e said, ‘This was Jibraeel u.’ the Angel Jibraeel u appeared in front of everybody as a human being, for all to see. The first time, the only time, the last time in history that It never happened before and it will not happen again. This is history, if you forget this you pay a price for it. The questions were: What is Islam? What is Imaan? And then came, What is al-Ihsaan? I wish that they had not invented the word Sufism. Really! There was no need for it. I wish that the term Tasawwuf had never been invented. My life would have been easier. Whoever did it, whatever the reason why he did it, did something which should not have been done. Because Allah Y has Himself given us the word and the Holy Qur’aan tells us [in the 29^th Sura, al-Ankabuut (The Spider): in Verse69]:

And the Holy Prophet e is asked as to what al-Ihsaan. It is there in the hadith and it is there in the Holy Qur’aan. Al-Ihsaan is Tasawwuf. There is no difference between the two. Why then did we need the term tasawwuf? So that people could accuse us of bid’ah and haraam? I agree with Dr. Israar Ahmad of Pakistan , the ameer of Tanzeem e Islami who has argued that we should use the terminology given by Allah Y and His Messenger.

Al-Ihsaan: The Holy Prophet e replied and he said of al-ihsaan: ‘An tahbudallaha ka annaka tara .’ [That you should worship Allah Y: That you should serve Allah Y as though you are seeing Him]. Fa illam takun tara [For if you cannot see Him] fa innahu yara [surely He is seeing you]. When Musa u went up the mountain, Mount Sinai , did he not ask? I told you last night, the test of true love in the heart; if you say you have love in your heart, then you would long, with a great, great, great longing to see the face of the one you love. If you had to wait a thousand years, you will wait even for a glimpse of the one you love. If you had to walk a thousand miles, you would do it gladly just even for a glimpse of the face of the one you love. This is love. So Musa u, says: [the 7^th Sura, al-Araaf, Verse 143]

But the companions of the Holy Prophet e they asked, ‘O Messenger! Will we be able to see Allah Y on the last day, the Day of Judgment?’ He responded and he asked, ‘Do you have any difficulty in seeing the sun when it is mid-day?’ They said, ‘No problem we can see it.’ He asked, ‘Do you have any difficulty in seeing the moon when it is full moon?’ They said, ‘No!’ He said, ‘that’s how you are going to see your Lord on the Last Day.’ Allah Y says, ‘You can’t see Me’ and the Holy Prophet e says you will see Him. Now we can understand that there is no contradiction here. The meaning is, ‘You can’t see Me with these (physical) eyes.’ Do we have any other eyes besides these eyes? The Holy Qur’aan says, ‘Yes! The heart can see’ So it is with the heart that we will see Allah Y on the last day. How can the heart see? In order for the heart to see it must first embrace Islam, the truth. Only the truth will deliver internal sight. After you have embraced the truth; the truth must travel from your lips and enter the heart. Then it is called imaan. In order for it to enter into the heart, we have to live the truth with sincerity. We will be tested, we must pass the test. The only way I can buy a house, or flat is to take a bank loan on interest. There is no other way. You lie. You should be ashamed of yourself for lying, when you say there is no other way. When the angels are taking such people into the hell-fire and the angels ask[4^th Sura, an-Nisaa, verse 97], ‘Fi ma kuntum.’ ‘What went wrong? How come you landed in this mess? We are taking you into the hell-fire.’ Then you reply, ‘There was no other choice for us. There was no other way we could buy a flat except with a bank loan on interest.’ Then the angels ask as mentioned in the 4^th Sura, an-Nisaa in verse 97:

Was Allah Y's earth not wide that you could have searched somewhere on Allah Y’s earth where you could live without disgracing Him and betraying Him? Into the hell-fire! So you will be tested. Only when you pass the test will Allah Y put the truth in the heart.

In order for the heart to accommodate the truth, the heart must now be cleansed and purified. This is called, Tazkiyah or internal purification. After the heart has been purified and the heart is turned to Allah Y then Allah Y will put nur into the heart. Now you can see what other wise you could never see. The 24^th Sura, an-Nur [The Light], verse 35 is the most important verse of the Holy Qur’aan teaching us the methodology for spiritual growth. Teaching us the way through which we can learn to see with the internal eye when we are spiritually mobilized.

The example by which you could understand His light is that of a niche in the wall where you used to put a lamp before the electricity came.

In that niche in the wall there is a lamp. Abdullah ibn Abbas t said that the Holy Prophet e said that that mishkaat or niche is not in the wall. Its here in the chest and in that space within the chest there is a lamp. I can’t do it now but when you teach this lesson, you turn off the lights and you light an oil lamp. All the children will look at the lamp and they will never forget that lesson for the rest of their lives. This is the way to teach it.

So the process of internal purification is to look to see the stains on the glass within your own heart and start to cleanse them, purify them and wash them out. The process of washing away the stains on the glass is first of all to recognize that we have committed sin. Secondly, to turn away from the sin; this is called tauba. When you turn you must turn with sincerity. Don’t turn in the day and turn back at night. [The 66^th Sura, at-Tahreem (the Prohibition, verse 8]:

Having turned away from this sin, there must be regret in your heart for what you did. [Nafsul lawwama reproaching]: ‘How could I ever have done that? I am ashamed of myself. O My Lord! Kindly put a cover over the sins I have committed because I am ashamed of them.’ Weep for the things you did yesterday. Now you must commit yourself, never again to return to them. When you give your word, keep it. Then one last thing remains. You must spend the rest of your life teaching others, helping others, guiding others, warning others, that they do not walk on that path of sin. If you do that, then Allah Y is prepared to forgive all sins. He wipes it away and the glass becomes clean. Sometimes we think the stain is gone, like in the case of lust. In fact it is not gone and still more work remains. How will I know that the stain remains? Dreams! In my dream I will commit the sin again. So that dream is telling me that the stain is still there so go back and wash. After the glass has been cleaned and the stains have been removed then the Holy Prophet e said that these hearts they catch rust. The dust accumulates. So in addition to cleaning you also have to keep on constantly polishing. What is the polish for the glass? The Holy Prophet e said the polish is zikr. What is zikr? Zikr has its external forms in which you recite mechanically. The real zikr is internal. Zikr is remembrance. Remembrance is most of all, remembrance of the one you love. When you truly love someone, then that love will go with you wherever you go. Yes! That love is there in your heart at all times. You were standing and its there. You sit down its there. You lie down its still there. Whenever the memory of the beloved enters into the heart, it’s like a fragrance (khushbu) coming into the heart. Whenever the memory of the beloved enters into the heart you are transported into another world. This is zikr. ‘Do you love Me?’ Allah Y asks. ‘Do you love Me as much as your dog loves you? Are you as faithful to Me as your horse is faithful to you? Do you serve Me as well as they serve you? Do you show as much courage doing My work as they do in doing your work? [The 100^th Sura, al-aadiyaat (Those That Run), verses 1-6]:

The horses that you love so much; they run so fast they’re panting. When they run at night their hooves hit on the stone and sparks fly. When the morning comes and the fresh breeze enters into their lungs, they run with a new spurt of speed. When they face the enemy they dash into the very center of the ranks of the enemy

‘Do you love Me as much as much as they love you? Do you serve Me the way they serve you? Are you as loyal to Me as they are loyal to you?

‘No you don’t! You are ever negligent of your relationship with Me’ Allah Y is saying. ‘Your dog loves you more than you love Me and your horse is more faithful to you than you are to Me. ’ Who are those that will live for Allah Y tonight. Only those that live for Allah Y, only they will die for Allah Y. They call that fundamentalism and terrorism. As the love for Allah Y enters into the heart and the servant sets his sight, saying, ‘This is my goal. I am twenty years of age, come back and see me after forty years and you will still see me walking on this same road, going in the same direction.’ Consistency in his life! This is my goal and mission. Zikr is what delivers that. The zikr polishes the glass. The verse of the Holy Qur’aan continues that this lamp has oil which comes from the blessed olive tree which is [The 24^th Sura, an-Nur [The Light], verse 35}:

It belongs neither to the east nor to the west for it stands firmly for Allah Y.

Say: "Truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death, are (all) for Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds;

When you have a person who lives for Allah Y like that and who works, struggles and sacrifices in the way of Allah Y then you produce oil. That oil is pure oil. [The 24^th Sura, an-Nur [The Light], verse 35}:

This is different from the oil you put in your motor vehicle. This one glows without fire touching it. Can you imagine what is going to happen when fire touches it? You will not grow spiritually until fire touches you. When fire touches you and the oil is already there inside of you, then you attain light.

Allah Y is presenting these lessons to mankind that they may reflect over it

Therefore the nur is for ilm. Thus the essential goal of the spiritual quest is knowledge which comes directly from Allah Y. When you have that knowledge or the capacity for internal, intuitive, spiritual knowledge; what do you use it for? How important is it? Where do you apply it? This is the last part of the epistemological[2] lesson.

The stranger asked question four. When will the last day come? The Holy Prophet e replied, ‘The one who is being questioned has no more knowledge than the one who is questioning.’ Next question please! That’s the way to respond to anybody who wants to engage us on this subject. Only Allah Y knows when the world will come to an end. None of us knows. I said in my previous lectures that by my calculation using the hadith and external observation that I expect sometime within the next fifty years. The Muslim army will come and destroy the state of

Israel

. One fellow responded to me from Pakistan saying, ‘Shaykh, I can’t wait for fifty years that is too long.’ This next fifty years is going to be the worst in our history. The greatest suffering and oppression will come this next fifty years. The wickedest of the wickedest of the people will be the rulers of the people. Mercilessly and shamelessly they will be attacking Islam whilst hiding behind a curtain called terrorism. So watch it! If you want to be a part time Muslim, no problem, but the minute you want to be a true servant of Allah Y they’re coming after you. When they come after you, you had better have protection from Allah Y. If you are not reciting Suratul Kahf every Friday they are going to cut you down. While it is only Allah Y who knows when the Last Day will come, the Holy Qur’aan tells us that the heart of the believer always feels that it is close while the disbeliever always thinks its far away.

Then came question five which teaches us the application of spirituality of al-ihsaan. How do you apply it? What is its practical utility? The stranger asked, ‘What are the signs of the Last Day?’ The Holy Prophet e replied and he said:

I have the tallest building in the world. They have the intellectual acumen naked, barefooted shepherds because they measure progress in this way. Hen we have built the tallest building, the grandest airport in the world and all these PR projects that make our place look like heaven we have achieved progress. So they measure progress with PR projects. Allah Y says [in the 49^th Sura, al-Hujeraat [The Inner Chambers] in verse 13]:

Indeed the more honourable among you, in the sight of Allah, is one who is more pious among you

You shouldn’t measure progress with high rise buildings but rather measure progress with how much fear of Allah Y is there in the heart. You have made no progress. You may have built the tallest building but you have no fear of Allah Y in your heart. So you and all those that stand with you represent no progress at all. He is underneath a mango tree, a shoemaker making shoes but in his heart there is the fear of his Lord, so he is superior to you. When you see a world acclaiming those who build these high rise buildings, the tallest building in the world and the world considers that to be progress and the world looks down upon his one who has the fear of Allah Y in his heart, you know that is a major sign of the Last Day. How many can see it today and how many are fooled? Then he came to the last one:

How can a slave woman give birth to her mistress? Shall I leave you to think about it until tomorrow night? The only one who will be able to see that sign of Allah Y, when it comes true in the world- a major sign of the Last Day- is not the one who has a PhD from al-Azhar University but inside has nothing. It is the one who sees with two eyes, who has knowledge externally derived and internally derived. This is the most learned of all men. So when Musa u asked, ‘where can I meet him?’ and Allah Y said, ‘Go and you will find him at the place at which the two oceans meet- majmaul Bahrain - . The commentator of the Holy Qur’aan, Baidawi[3], is the only one who has penetrated the meaning of it. He said that the two oceans are: the ocean of knowledge externally acquired and the ocean of knowledge internally acquired. When these two oceans of knowledge combine together in one man, harmoniously, is integrated together, you have the most learned of all men. Such a man was Maulana Muhammad Abd al-Aleem Siddiqui t, after whom this Masjid was named, and such a man was his student, and my teacher, Maulana Dr. Muhammad Fazlur Rahman Ansari t. We are just little candles glowing from the light which came from these great scholars of Islam. It is when you use these two oceans to combine together that you can crack it, ‘a slave woman giving birth to her mistress.’

It is already 10 pm so I am going to be very brief. In order to understand this you need to recognize two things which come from Dajjal and with which he attacks to try and take control of mankind. One, the Holy Prophet e said that, ‘The Age of Dajjal would be the age [Kasaratul riba]-when riba (interest and usury) will take control of the world. What happens when riba takes control of an economy is that the rich will remain permanently rich and the poor will remain permanently poor. Wealth will no longer circulate. The rich will grow richer and the poor will reach to the depths of destitution. In other words another age of slavery descends upon mankind. That has already come. The Ulama of Islam have been eating halva; it has already come upon us. Nobody teaches the subject about the prohibition of riba. I had the good fortune to live in New York , the capital city of riba, and there I was able to put book knowledge to bear upon the real economy in the world today. In addition I was blessed to study western economics; International Monetary Economics for example in Europe . This was how Allah Y blessed me with some understanding of the subject; that’s why you will find my book outside, The Prohibition of Riba in the Qur’aan and Sunnah. It took me four years to write that book. When an economy is based on Riba then wealth will no longer circulate. Its like mankind traveling on a ship with 15 % of the population of the world traveling first class, with permanent first class tickets having the best drinking water, food, servants and luxury. The other 85 % are down in the hold of the ship living in squalor, misery, suffering and destitution, falling ill and dying like flies. So they are slaves down there. That’s Indonesia today. That woman therefore is a slave woman down in the hold of the ship. She is the one we are talking about.

In the age of Dajjal, not only do we have riba, but something else. ‘The last people to come out to Dajjal will be women,’ said the Holy Prophet e. Dajjal will weave such a web, of brainwashing of women that a man will have to return to his home and tie down his wife, daughter and sister to protect and preserve them from Dajjal. They’re brainwashed! Nothing you could say to them will change their minds. Brainwashed! This is the modern feminist movement. What does the modern feminist movement want to do? The modern feminist movement challenges the notion that men and women are functionally different. That man has different basic functions from women. The modern feminist movement wants to remove the barriers. Anything a man does a women should have the freedom to do it. So women embrace the functional role of men in the feminist revolution. The Woman down in the hold is too poor to do it, the ones who do it are the elite. They’re rich! These are the first to embrace the functional role of men, the women traveling first-class. What happens when women go out to work, the way men do. At 7 am she is dressed to go to work the way he is. She comes back home in the evening 6 to 7 pm the same way that he does. When she dresses to go to work, this is not going to a party; this is going to work so she has to dress in working clothes. So her dress becomes masculine. When she gets into a position of authority in work, has people working under her, then she has to shed her shyness and talk like a man; behave like a man; so that she can command respect. But in the Holy Qur’aan Allah Y describes women differently. Musa u, remember how he drew the water for the girls. Then one of them came back. Her father sent her to call him. Now she has to approach this man. A women approaching a man, and Allah Y describes in the Holy Qur’aan how shy and bashful she was that she has to approach a man. Uncle Sam’s daughter isn’t shy! They behave, dress and talk like men. Eventually their faces begin to look like faces of men. The softness, shyness and bashfulness is gone. As women assume the functional role of men, they begin to lose their femininity. But Allah Y describes the male and the female by using the analogy of the night and the day. Listen to Him! [The 92^nd Sura, al-Layl [The Night], verses ]

He takes an oath by the night and that which it shrouds and covers so mysteriously, so beautifully

That, in the same way that Allah Y has created the night and the day; so to, did He create the male and the female.

Allah Y wants the day to be day and He wants the night to be night. When the day is day and the night is night, do you notice the attraction? How much they are attracted to each other! When the ay is coming to an end and it is approaching the night do you notice the anxiety and the enthusiasm? How the day paints the sky in so many colours. Are you blind, don’t you see it? When the day reaches the night, the day plunges itself into the arms of the night. A rush of a plunge, into the arms of the night! It happens every sunset. Then the day spends the night with the night. There is a time for rest, sleep, love, worship and meditation; and then the time comes to say goodbye. The day must say goodbye to the night but the night doesn’t want the day to go. So the night holds on to the day and only one ray of light comes out and then a second ray and a third ray of light; slowly, slowly, slowly the light comes out in the morning. How different from sunset. So when the day is day and the night is night there will be intense attraction between the day and the night. It is because of that intense attraction there is a forbidden space between a man and a woman. The forbidden space is not just physical; but also psychological and sociological. It should not be invaded, because of the intense attraction that there is between the male and the female. But when the night tries to become day, the night will no longer be truly night. The day will no longer be attracted to the night. When the night is rivaling the day, in the workplace, it’s now an adversarial relationship not attraction. When the day is no longer attracted to the night what will happen? Its not what will happen but what is already happening. The day will now mate with the day. Wherever the modern feminist revolution and its struggle for women’s liberation have taken roots the necessary corollary has always been homosexuality. But that is not our subject tonight. The slave woman is still down there and we want to know how a slave woman will give birth to her mistress. When the night tries to become day not only does the night lose her femininity, but she loses something else. She loses her fertility. She can’t have babies. But she is traveling first class, remember! So then how will babies come? Eventually, the answer is the slave woman down there who is to poor to try and become day. So her womb is still fertile. This womb will now become a factory and she will be paid for her services. For nine months she will live like a queen. No genetically reengineered food for her but real food. No milk and meat with hormones, that’s for the rest. So for nine months she lives like a queen. When the baby is born, baby goes first class and mum goes back down in the hold. So a slave woman has given birth to her mistress and it has already started. While the scholars of Islam have been eating halva, it has already started. We are living now in the Last Age. The only ones, who can read and understand and penetrate the last age, realize the reality of the world around them today; are who see with two eyes not one. Who in addition to the effort that they make to acquire knowledge externally -that effort has to be made- they also are blessed with the capacity for internally derived knowledge. When these two oceans of knowledge come together then they can understand, and penetrate the reality of the world in which we live in today. This has been an introduction to Islamic Spirituality, The Forgotten Path of Knowledge, to you.

We pray that Allah Y may grant that tonight’s humble lecture may be a wake up call, and that we may return to this important branch of knowledge and to this effort which must be made which will realize it.

[1] The Holy Prophet e said: “Whoever would read Sura Al-Kahf on Friday it would provide him of light for the duration between the two Fridays”. It was reported by 'Al-Hakim, page 564 of volume 1 who said that it was of sound ascription.

[2] Epistemology: the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of knowledge, in particular its foundations, scope, and validity

[3] BAIDAWI ('Abdallah ibn 'Umar al-Baidawi) Muslim critic, was born in Fars , where his father was chief judge, in the time of the Atabek ruler Abu Bakr ibn Sa'd (1226-60). He himself became judge in Shiraz , and died in Tabriz about 1286. His chief work is the commentary on the Koran entitled The Secrets of Revelation and The Secrets of Interpretation (Asrar ut-tanzil wa Asrar ut-ta'wil).

International Sufi Order