| DAILY DHIKR DUTY Prof. Dr. Mahmud Es'ad COSAN Let us seek forgiveness from Allah subhanahû wa ta'ala: Estaghfirullàh... Estaghfirullàh... Estaghfirullàh... Estaghfirullàh... Estaghfirullàhel azîm, el karîm, elledhî lâ ilâhe illâ huwel hayyul qayyûme wa etûbu ileyh... Wa es'eluhut tewbete wal maghfirate wal hidâyete lenâ innehû huwet tew-wâbur rahîm... Tewbete abdin zâlimin linefsihî lâ yemliku linefsihî mewten wa lâ hayâten wa lâ nushûrâ... Allàhumme ente rabbî... Lâ ilâhe illâ ente khalaktenî... Wa ene abdike wa ene alâ ahdike wa wa'dik... Mesteta'tu eùzu bike min sherri mâ sana'tu ebû-uleke bini'metike aleyye wa ebû-u bizenbî faghfirlî zunûbî fe-innehû lâ yaghfiruz zunûbe illâ ent... I seek forgiveness from Allah... I seek forgiveness from Allah... I seek forgiveness from Allah... I seek forgiveness from Allah... I seek forgiveness from Allah Who is the Most High, the Most Generous; there is no deity except Him, the Living, Self-subsisting and Eternal. We turn to Him for forgiveness. I turn to him and seek forgiveness and guidance for us from Him because He is the One Who accepts repentance and He is the most merciful. I seek forgiveness as a servant who has wronged himself, who is unable to give death or life or to gather mankind as in the day of resurrection. O Allah! You are my Lord. There is no deity except You. You created me. I am your servant, and I am keeping my promise to You as much as I can. I seek refuge with You against evil deeds that I have committed. As I express my gratitude for the blessings on me, I admit my wrong deeds and shortcomings. Forgive me my wrong deeds because there is none who can forgive sins but You. This is a prayer of our beloved Prophet SAS. It is the master of the repentances; it is a hadith. We are in the blessed month of Ramadhan, in a blessed mosque building. May Allah accept our prayer, our repentance, with His grace and generosity, for He is the One Who answers prayers. May He forgive us our sins. May He cleanse our book of deeds. May He grant us a life away from the offences. May we live as His beloved servants for the rest of our lives. Repentance is a must and a good practice. Almighty Allah loves those who turn to Him in repentance. However, the repentance does not mean the mere utterance of the words "O my Lord, forgive me!" It means turning to the straight path, changing the state to the truth. The essence of the repentance is not the words, but change in the state. It is a return to Allah's path. In fact, in Arabic, tâbe-yetûbu means "returning." When the person makes that return, becomes a tâib, abandons the wrong deeds and turns to Allah, Allah turns to him more. Allah is Tawwâb; He turns to the servant excessively. Almighty Allah turns to the servant when the servant abandons the wrong path. That is the essence of the repentance, the tewbe. That is why you shall not utter the words only, but make it a true repentance. Make it a real return, turn to the truth, have a desire to be on the path of Allah with all of your might. Almighty Allah loves those who turn to Him in repentance. However, not everything is erased with the repentance. The rights of other people if we have them unjustly will not be erased. If you have somebody's property or wealth without his consent, you could not say, "I sought forgiveness from Allah with Es'ad Khawaja in Marash Ulu Jamii." It will not work! You have to return to people their due rights. If there was an unfair
division in the inheritance, for example, if somebody else's portion is
in your
possession, it must be returned. If there are spiritual rights,
one would
ask the person to waive his rights: "Forgive me! Tell me what I
can
do to have you forgive me!" Thus the peace will be established with
all. You should not leave these kinds of matters to the
hereafter.
This is the first important point. The second duty is to pay
back for the daily formal prayers and fasting of Ramadhan if there are
any. They are not erased by repentance, either. These are debts,
and they
remain as such. Either one performs the prayers in their time, or
you
realize your fault and make them up later. The third alternative
is the
punishment in the hereafter. The punishment in the hereafter will
be very
difficult. That is why we must start paying back the debts of
prayers and
fasts. Keep your wudu at
all times. The Prophet SAS
used to keep wudu at all times.
When he broke the wudu, he would make
tayammum with sand until he reached
the water. Then he would make wudu
with water. Our elderly awliyaullah and the perfect guides
maintained
that tradition. We recommend you the same practice. Pay
attention
to not being without wudu. Then do your daily dhikr
duties! As you know, the Qur'an orders something and the Prophet
SAS
showed us how the orders of Qur'an is practiced. For instance,
the Qur'an
orders: "Offer your salat! Pay your zakah!" Yet we learn
how to pray from the sunnah of the Prophet SAS.The Prophet SAS
explained the
prayer with its rukû, sujûd, subhaneke and at-tahiyyatu
supplications, selams and other details. We also learned from the
Prophet
SAS the amount of zakah for the camels, sheep, and other possessions. Also, Almighty Allah orders
in the Qur'an: يا ايها
الذين اۤمـنوا اذكــروا الله ذكرًا كــثيـرًا (الاحزاب:٤١) (Yâ eyyuhelledhîne
âmenûdhkurullâhe dhikran kathirâ) "O You who
believe! Remember Allah with much rememberance--do the dhikr in
plenty" (Qur'an 33:41). In the surah that the imam recited
in
the Tarawih prayer, Allah says: واذكر اسم
ربك بكرةً واصيلاً (الانسان:٢٥) (Wedhkurisme rabbike
bukraten wa esîlâ) "Remember the name of
your Lord morning and evening" (Qur'an 76:25). There is
information
about how these orders are to be carried out in the ahadith of the
Prophet
SAS. I will quote these ahadith. Thus you can carry out the
order
of the Qur'an and do your dhikr duty. The dhikr duty can be done
at any time of the day. There is not time that would be improper
or
disliked. In the morning, at The manners of doing the
dhikr duty is as follows: You seek a quiet and clean place and sit
towards
qibla. You would be with wudu. The [preferred] way of
sitting is
called "aqsi-tawarruk."
[One sits as in the formal prayer and turns the feet to the left.] The
companions of the Prophet SAS used to sit like that. You close
your
eyes. Start with istighfar:
Say 25 times "estaghfirullah."
Then read one Sura Fatiha and three Surah Ikhlas. Present the
reading to
the spirits of the Prophet SAS and the masters of our tariqa in the
silsilah. You will earn their love and affection. You will
benefit
from it. While your eyes are closed,
you will imagine three things: your death, your guide, and that you are
in the
presence of Allah. The imagination of the death is called "rabita-i mawt." Imagining the
spiritual guide is called "rabita-i
murshid." Imagining that you are in the presence of Allah is
called "rabita-i huzur." The prophet ordered us to
imagine about death. It has plenty of rewards, and
benefits. It
polishes the heart spiritually. It increases the spirituality and
awakens
the person from the unawareness, and corrects the nafs. That is
why you
must imagine your own death well. Imagine that you are in
your death bed. You are living your last moments. The Angel of
Death,
Azra'il AS, has appeared to you. You get excited. He pushes your chest
and
start taking your soul from your body. There is panic, sweat,
fear, and
pain. The divine help arrives, and you utter the word of the kalima: "Ash-hadu en lâ ilâhe illallah wa
ash-hadu enne muhammeden abduhû wa
rasûluhu--I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah, and I
bear
witness that Muhammed is His servant and Prophet." You submit
your
soul in that manner. Then people wash your body and wrap it in a
shroud.
Your body is brought to a mosque in a coffin. They perform the
funeral
prayer on you. You imagine all of this. Then the
congregation picks
the coffin and takes it to the cemetery. They placed you in the
grave.
The imam reminded you what to say when the angels meet you and
interrogate
you. Everybody leaves. You are in your grave with
the angel. The Angel asks: "Who is your Lord? What is your
religion? Who is your prophet? What is your
scripture? Which way
is your qibla?" Imagine that you gave the correct answers for all
of
these questions, and your chamber in the grave became a lot
larger. In
the realm of the spirits, you spend your time with our late masters
doing the
dhikr of Allah. Imagine that the life in this world comes to an
end the
day or resurrection begins. Imagine all of these
terrifying states and events. Tell your nafs: "This
is a serious matter. Each person comes to life only once.
Come to
your senses! As you live in this life, while you have the means,
save
yourself from the hellfire. Try hard to do the righteous deeds so
you may
earn The second visualization is
the râbita-i murshîd. You will
imagine us with our masters in the tariqa. This powerless brother
of
yours would be sitting with them. You make a connection form your
heart
to our hearts and wait for the flow of divine fayz
(spirituality and enlightenment) expectantly. When a person makes rabita
to a great personage from the awliyaullah, a connection is established,
and the
enlightenment fills the heart. Those who practice this know this
fact.
Thus a person becomes familiar with the secrets of the spiritual life
and
receives fayz even if his shaikh is
far away physically. This rabita leads to fenâ
fish-shaikh (annihilation within the shaikh, i.e., becoming
united), fenâ fir-rasul (annihilation
within the Prophet SAS), and other states. This is a connection love,
affection and respect. Try this the best way you can. This
practice
will develop your Tasawwuf experience and take you to better states. The third imagination is
the râbita-i huzur. Tilt your
head towards your heart and be aware that Allah is closer to you than
your
jugular vein; He is omnipresent and observant. He sees you
and hears
you. He loves a person who turns to Him in supplication
(dua). With
this awareness, you will take a humble position, turn to Him, and pray:
"My Lord! I have so many shortcomings. Forgive me my offenses and
shortcomings. I want to be a good servant for You. Grant me
Your
guidance. I want to be among the servants whom You love and are
pleased with.
Allow me to be among the servants who do Your dhikr and be thankful to
You
often. This is what I want. O Allah! Help me!" You
should turn to Allah in tears. Then with the awareness that you
are in
the presence of Allah, start your dhikr. 1. Say one hundred times
"Astaghfirullah."
This is recommended by the Prophet SAS. 2. Say one hundred times
"Lâ ilâha illallah" 3. Say one thousand times
"Allah." For every
one hundredth, add the statement "Ilâhî
ente maqsùdî wa ridàke matlûbî." This is from a Qudsî Hadith
meaning "O Allah! You are my purpose, and I seek Your consent."
4. Say one hundred times
the salawat-i sharifa. This is
also based on a Hadith. 5. Read one hundred time
surah Ikhlas (Qul huwallahu ahad...).
This is, too, based on a hadith. You will be practicing the
recommendations of the Prophet SAS. Your dhikr complies with the
ahadith
of the Prpohet SAS. After completing your dhikr
duty, raise your hands and make dua. Ask good things from Allah
for
yourself, your parents, your loved-ones, your friends, for your worldly
life,
for your hereafter, for all Muslims, for the Chechens, Bosnians, and
for all
Muslims who were subjected to injustice in all parts of the
world. Ask
goodness for them, and wish well for them. Do not forget us in
your
prayers, either. Now I am going to dictate
dhikr for you traditionally as the Prophet dictated dhikr to his
companions. You listen to me first: "Lâ ilâha illallah...
Lâ ilâha illallah... Lâ ilâha illallah..."
Now you say it all
together, and let Allah be a witness to it. "Lâ ilâha illallah...
Lâ ilâha illallah... Lâ ilâha illallah..."
"Allah..." "Allah..." "Allah..." "Allah..." "Allah..." "Allah..." Continue with he same
dhikr! "Allah... Allah...
Allah..." Now close your mouth and eyes,
and continue saying it by heart. ...... May Allah bless it.
Saying "Allah" by heart without the sound is the most virtuous dhikr
of all because nobody would know about it. It would be free of
show-off. Every tariqa has this dhikr. In every tariqa this
is
taught after a serious training. I am teaching this to you
now. At
every proper time of the day, you maintain this dhikr. No matter
where
you are--be it in the market or shopping mall, in the farm field, on
the road,
sitting, walking, even lying in bed-- do not let your time pass in
vain.
Let your heart say "Allah." Do not let anybody hear it.
Do not let it be a show-off. However, keep this in mind: Bir kez Allah dese
ashk ile lisân, If a person says "Allah"
with love and zeal, When a person says
"Allah" with love, all of his sins will be wiped. Then he
starts earning virtues. The dhikrullah has so much honor, virtue,
rewards, and effects. That is why you should try to maintain this
dhikr
at all times. This leads to the state of being with Allah among people
confirming the verse: Bismillâhir
rahmânir rahîm: رجالٌ
لاتلهيهم تجارةٌ ولابيعٌ عن ذكر الله (النور:٣٧) (Rijâlun lâ tulhîhim tijâratun wa lâ bey'un an dhikrillâh)
"Men
whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of
Allah...
" (Qur'an 24:37) Try to offer your obligatory prayers in the mosque. You can pray the voluntary ones at home. In addition to the obligatory prayers perform the following prayers: 1. After the fajr prayer, keep yourselves busy with dhikrullah. You may read the awrad, prayers, and the Qur'an. Study Islamic sciences. Then offer two or four units of ishraq prayer. That has so much reward. You will earn the rewards of a Hajj and an Umrah. Our beloved Prophet SAS recommended this prayer as stated in the collection of Imam Tirmidhî. 2. I recommend the duhâ prayer. It is offered between the fajr and the dhuhr prayers. A hadith states that those who maintain the duhâ prayer are registered among the muhsinîn. 3. There is awwâbîn prayer after maghrib prayer. Catechism books describe it. It has sound grounds. You should pray that as two, four or six units. It was reported that the awwâbîn prayer causes the sins to be erased even if they are as much as the suds of the oceans. That is why we ought to offer this prayer. 4. Make fresh wudu before going to bed at night and offer four units of tejdîd-i wudu (refreshing the wudu) prayer. Then go to bed with wudu. If a person goes to bed with wudu, the angels record that he has worshipped the whole night. They gather around him in a large crowd and pray for him: "Our Lord! Forgive and bless this servant because he went to sleep purified." This is also based on a hadith; therefore, you should make it a principle for yourself. 5. We are in Ramadhan and we are practicing getting up before dawn to eat suhur meal. Getting up for the suhur meal is a Sunnah of the Prophet SAS. He said: تسحَّروا
فان فى السحور بركة (راموزالاحاديث:٧/٢٥١) (Tesahharû fe-inne fis sahûri barakah) "Eat the suhur meal, for there is abundance in the suhur meal." Even if it is a date fruit or a cup of water, one should get up for suhur and have the suhur meal. We learn how to get up at suhur time in Ramadhan; other times, even if we do not fast, we should get up and offer the tahajjud (night vigil) prayer because the tahajjud prayer is a very rewarding prayer. The Prophet SAS said: ركعتان من
الليل خيرٌ من الدنيا وما فيها (Rak'atâni minel layl) "Two units of the prayer from the night are (khayrun mined dunyâ wa mâ fîhâ) better than this world and everything in it." People will appreciate its value in the hereafter. They will realize what they missed and regret missing it: "Why didn't we offer more? Why didn't we offer every day?" Get yourself used to the tahajjud prayer during Ramadhan. While you are taking the one-month taqwa training course, get used to the tahajjud prayer. After Ramadhan, set your clock to the time that you get up for suhur meal. Insha-Allah, we will get up at that time. Getting up at night before down is the custom of the righteous servants. Besides, the gates of the heaven are opened at night, and the prayers and supplications reach Almighty Allah without any obstacles. Almighty Allah accepts the prayers at night. One who has a desire of his heart should ask for it from Allah at night, before dawn, at the suhur time, at the tahajjud time. In addition to the voluntary salat, insha-Allah, you will fast on Mondays and Thursdays after Ramadhan. Then fast the "eyyâm-i biydh," that is the days when the moon looks full at night; i.e., the 13th, 14th and 15th days of the lunar months. These are Sunnah, and our beloved Prophet SAS persisted on these fasts. Also fast the sitte-i Shawwal--six days of fasting in Shawwal. In addition, fast on the ashr-i Dhilhijjah--the first ten days of the month Dhilhijjah when the pilgrims go for Hajj. Especially, fasting on the day of Arafa is very rewarding--it is an expiation to the sins for a year. Do not miss it. Dear Brothers and
Sisters! Try to earn rewards by fasting in the months Rajab and
Shaban,
on the special nights, by voluntary salat and by attending the
rewarding
deeds. This life is the arable filed of the hereafter. One
could
not earn It is written on the cover
of Ka'abah that Allah says: وانى
لـــغفارٌ لمن تاب واۤمن وعمل صالحًا ثم اهــتدى
(طه:٨٢) (Wa innî ghaffârun limen tâbe wa âmene wa amile amelen sàlihan thummehtedâ) "Verily, I am the Perpetual Forgiver of whoever repents and beleives and does righteous deeds and then continues in guidance" (Qur'an 20:82). Dear Brothers and Sisters! As you see, there is the condition of doing righteous deeds. You try to do the righteous deeds. I will also remind you of another verse: فاليوم
لاتظلم نفسٌ شيئًا ولا تجزون الا ماكنتم تعملون
(يس:٥٤) (Fel yewme lâ tuzlemu nefsun shey'en wa lâ tujzewne illâ mâ kuntum ta'melûn) "When the accounting ends on the Day of Judgement, no soul will be wronged at all, and you will not be recompensated except for what you had done" (Qur'an 36:54) Nobody will be mistreated on the day of Judgment. People will get what they deserve for the deeds they do in this life. If a person is rewarded with good rewards, he should be thankful to Allah! If a person is punished in the hereafter, then he should blame himself because it is stated (illâ mâ kuntum ta'melûn) "except for what you had done." Doing righteous deeds is very important. Despite this fact, all of our good deeds worth nothing in comparison to the blessings that Allah has granted us. No matter how much we worship for Allah, we could not pay back even one blessing of Allah. Yet without the righteous deeds, we would be a total loser. We have to obey the orders of Allah. It would not be befitting for a good Muslim to disobey the orders of Allah. You should compete in doing the rewarding deeds. You will acquire taqwa in Ramadhan--for Allah says (le'allekum tetteqùn) "you may learn taqwa" as a result of fasting. You are going to have taqwa and avoid the sins. There is something shameful and strange: A person fasts during the day, remains patient even towards the halal things, and does not drink water or eat food. However, when the sun goes down, he gets indulged in the offenses, prohibitions, and questionable entertainment. This is not befitting! Taqwa during the day, sinning at night--this is not acceptable. One should maintain the taqwa of the daytime during the night, too. One should also maintain the taqwa of the Ramadan after Ramadhan as well. This is the proper way. You try to do this. You should abstain from sin. Your eyes should not look at haram; your tongue should not utter haram. No haram food should go into your stomach; your hand should not reach haram; your feet should not walk to haram; none of your body organs should be indulged in a haram deed. You have to protect yourselves from haram. This is your duty. To reiterate, first, you
should do righteous deeds. Second, you should avoid sin.
The third
duty for you and for us is to acquire good manners. Good code of
conduct
can take a person to In fact, the tariqa is a way of training--training of the manners, training by a tekke. It leads a person to perfection. May Allah enable you to do all of these good things. Now each one of you should read one Surah Fatiha and three Surah Ikhlas and present the rewards to our beloved Prophet SAS, our masters and perfect guides in the tariqa. Then I will make a dua. ..... Bismillâhir rahmânir rahîm: ان الذين
يبايعونك انما يبايعون الله، يـد الله فـوق ايديهم، فمن
نكث فانما ينكث على نفسه، ومـن اوفى بما
عاهد عليه الله فسيـؤ تيـه اجـرًا عظيمًـا (الفتح:١٠) (Innelledhîne yubâyi'ûneke innemâ yubâyi'ûnallah... Yedullàhi fewqa eydîhim... Fe men nekethe wa innemâ yenkuthu alâ nefsihî... Wa men ewfâ bimâ àhede aleyhullàhe feseyu'tîhi ejran azîmâ.) Sadaqallàhul azîm. ["In deed, those who
pledge allegiance to you O Muhammed, they are actually pledging
allegiance to
Allah. The hand of Allah is over their hands. So he who breaks
his word
only breaks it to the detriment of himself. And he who fulfills
that
which he has promised Allah--he will give him a great reward" (Qur'an
48:10).] Keep your pledge and be loyal to the path of Allah. Do not deviate from the straight path. May Allah Almighty make you victorious over your nafs and Satan. May He keep you on His path and on His remembrance. May He give you means to learn about the manners of the tariqa and become a good, perfect and beloved servant who is equipped with the manners of tekke. May Allah illuminate your
hearts and erase the tarnish from your hearts. May He lift the
curtains
from your hearts. May He grant you the divine knowledge and make
you
adept and wise servants. May He grant you His love and
affection.
Serve for Allah with love and zeal. May Allah receive you as His
beloved
servants whom He is content with. May He treat you with His
beauty in His
Paradise. May He place you to the highest ranks of Bihurmeti esrâr-ý sûretil fâtiha!..
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