as-Sadiq

Below is the fifth part of notes from Shaykh Hamza Yusuf’s lecture series entitled “The Poor Man’s Book of Assistance.” The lecture series is named after a book written by  ninth century Moroccan scholar Sidi Ahmed Zarruq. Shaykh Hamza translates and gives commentary on this book in this series of 16 CDs.

3 types of hearts
3 types of sick hearts
3 reasons we can come to understand why a heart is sick
3 ways of treating a sick heart – regime, good company, using the treatment (which involves 3 reminders = the alienation of the world, the moment of death, the fact that you will one day face your Lord)

When he spoke about the `azeema (self-discipline), he was talking about the fact that it’s necessary to have resolution, to be resolute in this endeavor. The way to realize resolution in your actions and also to utilize the means by which you realize your goal is done through 3 mawaaqif, the first of which is the rank of taqwa and the last of which is the carpetspread of the revealings of knowledge.

Al mawqif al awwal – the rank of taqwa

-to realize tawbah through realization, and this revolves around 3 axes, and it’s like the pole holding up and the doors into it.

1. the realization of the intention with absolute resolution to never return to what you’re leaving behind, in its totality at the outset. At the outset of your tawbah, you make a tawbah from the past. When you’re beginning your sulook to Allah swt, you make a tawbah from the past because usually before this you were in ghaflah and now you realize that to Allah is your end. And the realization is the definition of intelligence; idiotic people are those who waste their lives in idiotic endeavors.The world is dar ul fanaa, you’re here for a short moment of time, and once you realize that your life can be taken from you at any moment, then if you’re intelligent you’ll start preparing for infinity, instead of always preparing for what is finite and what is, really, intangible/an illusion. The world is not an illusion, the `aalam, like if you look at the mountains, people 800 years ago looked at those same mountains. The mountain is still there, but all those people are gone. The mountain is `aalam, but hayat ad-dunya is our experience of the world. The world stays here until Yawm al-Qiyaamah, but we pass through for a brief time.

   Now this would be like if you decided you wanted a house, and a real estate agent tells you that he has 2 types of houses: one that looks nice and can be sold now for a cheap price, but the problem with this house is that it can disappear at any moment and there’s no guarantee that even right after the contract that it’ll still be there, but it could stick around for 50-60 years, and the other house is very expensive but there’s a guarantee that this is a permanent house, built on sand, and it will be with you for infinity. So anyone with intellect will choose the second house, and that’s why the Prophet saws said that the dunya is an abode for the one who’s homeless and the one who gathers for it has no intellect. You have intellect if you’re wasting your time on dunya, you’re ah7muk, and that’s why the Prophet saws said that the man of intelligence is the one who disciplines his soul and works for what comes after death. The incapacitated one is the one who lets his nafs follow its caprice and he has vain hopes about Allah swt. Once you realize this in a deep deep way, you make tawbah in which you say that you’re turning away from the path of dunya, and you’re setting foot onto the path of akhirah. And this is a choice that the intelligent person will make once in their life. This is a path, the path to Allah swt. If you decide to path that choice, then at its outset, the first thing that you do is that you make tawbah for the past, jumlatan, in its totality. You don’t have to go through every single thing you did because that would be too difficult, you were in ghaflah for a long long time, and it would be too difficult to do that, so you just make tawbah for the past. But thereafter, you have to make muhaasabah because setting out on this path now means you have to rectify your soul for Allah swt and therefore you have to discipline your soul (idaanat an-nafs).

   So you have to discipline the soul, so after you make this tawbah, you begin to actually take this soul into account. So you look into all of them with tafaseel. Those things that engender this firm resolution and this steadfastness (in your resolution) are 3 things (dawa`i – impetuses, call you to what you do) – i.e. these are the 3 things that will keep you resolute in your tawbah:

   1) flee from that place that you fear going back into your wrong action, so if your wrong action was a kaba’ir and you had relations with the opposite sex (whether its zinah or what comes before zinah) then you must avoid the places where those things occurred, or if it’s alcohol then you avoid the company in which you drank and don’t spend any time with them, don’t go anywhere near where that tempation occurred, and this can get more and more subtle like if you’re trying to relinquish backbiting and you know there are certain people who you tend to backbite with, then you can either make a contract with that person that you’re not going to backbite anymore or you can avoid them altogether if they’re not capable of doing that,

   2) to suspect the soul/ego/self that remnants of its inclinations toward that thing that you’re trying to remove is still there in order that you can maintain your vigilance against it. So you’ve made tawbah for the thing you’re trying to avoid, changing yourself, and you look at yourself and figure out what are the things you want to remove from yourself. Although you feel contempt for those things, they’re appetites, and that’s the nature of wrong actions, they’re appetites or we wouldn’t keep doing them, so suspect yourself. Even though you’ve made tawbah, still consider yourself that it has inclinations toward these things so don’t trust the self, suspect the self. Or else the same thing is gonna happen and you won’t even be prepared for it, you won’t even be aware of it because you’ve gone back into your heedlessness,

   3) to preoccupy yourself from those things you want to remove. If it’s a sensory thing you want to remove, then preoccupy yourself with other sensory things; if it’s a meaningful thing, then do it with other meaningful things. And this should be without doing this in stages or steps because the means by which you get out of something, in order to get out of it, this precedes what you’re getting out of – in other words, that thing you’re trying to get out of, once you’re out of it, that’s the most important thing, to be completely out of it, that should be your priority, and for that reason, it’s an obligation that every time you remember your wrong action to renew your remorse about it.

   The reasons you fall back into wrong actions are three:

   1) that you forget your remorse, go into a heedlessness about your remorse, or you forget to recollect it, and because of that, the picture/form of that wrong action will become fixed in the self and then it will sneak in through heedlessness because of its deeply rooted nature in the heart, because of the heart’s preoccupation with it. A lot of the wrongs we do are rooted in the self like envy, `ujb, kibr, gheebah, lust – all these things are very common in human beings and are part of human nature. Because of the fixed nature of these things in yourself, if you’re not resolute about this, it creeps back in and we’re not even aware of it,

   2) that you allow your eye to go back to that thing, either the place, the reason, or the time that that wrong action occurred, there’s a revisitation, even if it’s just a moment, and even if it’s just thinking about it for taking some lesson from it. Unless you repeat the remorse and you have contempt for it and look down on it (more than remorse because you belittle the wrong action) because if you don’t have that contempt for it then you might actually remember the wrong action with some sweetness and pleasure if it was an experience that was pleasureable at the time, especially if it’s in the same place where it occurred and the same action,

   3) that you trust the soul in its resolution to not go back to wrong actions and also to have a good opinion of the soul in the state that you’re in now. So you’ve made tawbah and now you’re feeling good about yourself because you’re in a better state than you were in before, and also going back to the same place that caused the wrong action as a way to test the self. So you say to yourself that you can handle this now, you feel secure and strong and no longer weak. Even if it’s just to bring it back to your attention without really contemplate it and you have a reoccurrence of thought about it because it’s likeness is like the likeness of a light water that is sprinkling over a fire that’s diminished, and although the fire is low and there’s just coal, when you put light water on it, it actually increases and the fire starts crackling and coming back to life again because the ego, the soul is like a hidden fire when the truth manifests over it so he should never feel safe with it, unless he is an idiot.
   And no one is vigilant is guarding himself from it except a man of intellect. Never incline towards your self even if your self is always in a state of obediance to your Lord. Don’t ever incline towards your self. Protect yourself from your nafs, and never feel safe from its machinations because the nafs is more foul than 70 shaytans.

   Your tawbah might not have included all your wrong actions, so the ruling of it is in accordance with those things that it covered. So there could be some mixing if you do some wrongs that weren’t included. Tawbah is really supposed to be for specific actions. So your initial tawbah was jumlah, and then after that it was tafseel. So if there’s a mixing of that, then the hukm follows that that follows, meaning that if it’s for the same wrong, then you make tawbah for the same wrong, and if it’s a wrong that you didn’t include in your initial tawbah, then that necessitates another tawbah as well.

   And also, it’s necessary to be more vigilant now than before, and it’s also necessary to look into how you fell back into your wrong action. Look at how this occurred in order so that you can seal this in road and can stop this from happening again because the ideology of the wrong shouldn’t be concealed to you anymore after you’ve fallen into it again unless it’s a type of hawaa (passionate caprice) that is firmly rooted in the soul, and in the language of modern psychology, it’s been established with rationalization, that you’re rationalizing your wrongs because once you go into rationalization of wrongs, then it’s difficult for you to see the reasons because you’ve rationalized them, it’s what they call cognitive dissonance, people will actually begin to justify their wrongs.

   So if Shaytan objects and says to you that what’s the benefit of a tawbah that’s followed by your returning to the same wrong that you just made tawbah from, cause this is what Shaytan will do, he’ll try to make the nafs feel that I can’t do this, I keep going back and Shaytan will say that just give up because you’re hopeless, this is what the salik will hear when he’s trying to remove these vices from his soul, then say to him just like we took the wrong action as our profession/occupation, we take our tawbah as our occupation. And perhaps the death comes and you’re in a good situation, when you’re in a state of tawbah and not at a time when you’re in a state of a wrong action. So if he (Shaytan) uses the excuse that your resolution is too weak, he’s refuted by saying that what is sought after us is the manifestation of these devotional forms, not what’s impossible for human beings to perform. In other words, this tawbah is a devotional act, and all of us will make mistakes, and the best of those that make mistakes are those that make tawbah to Allah. So if he tells you that you’re weak, you respond by saying that what is sought after me is that I’m in this state of devotion to Allah swt, not what’s not within my capacity which is to free myself completely from wrongs. And if he says to you that no, you’re just making excuses for yourself, then leave him and turn away from that type of talk because you have to act and this type of internal conversation with the self, it just takes somebody to despair, and you have the ability to act! Leaving wrong actions is easier than returning to tawbah, so just keep leaving your wrong actions, wa Allahu `alam.

   The heart is the place of human weakness, and there’s nothing more helpful to the heart than continuously seeking refuge in Allah swt in its purification. Allah is Mutahhir al-Quloob, and the heart is the place of human weakness, so seek refuge in Allah swt in first the purifying of it, and then in the steadfastness of it towards the end of the affair, once you’ve gone through the takhliyya (the removal of the negative aspects of the self) and entered into the ta7liyya (ornamentation of the self), that’s when you have steadfastness.

   So in the beginning, you’re purifying, and once you reach a stage of purification, then you maintain the purity. And for that reason, the Prophet saws used to make much mention that Ya Muqallib al-Quloob, thabbit qalbi `ala deeniKa (O Turner over of the Hearts/Revolver of the Hearts, make steadfast my heart on your deen). Allah is Muqallib al-Quloob, so we’re asking Him to help us in being steadfast in our hearts. And this first kuTub that he’s talking about, this is the dhikr of this stage in your path of sulook, to make this above du`a often, as well as la ilaha illa Ant, subhanaKa inni kuntu min ath-thalimeen. Do this in an odd number of times after every sajdah and also when you make istighfar with Allah. This is dawa`, this is medicine, and that’s to seek help in Allah (isti`aana bilLah) and the dhikr of this stage is the above du`as. With Allah is tawfeeq, and with Him is the best of help

2. Returning those things that you wronged others with and also redressing what was lost in the first place, and this is an obligation in order to realize your resolution and also in order to repel this defeat of the self (so you stop the losing battle with the self). And the recourse in this is reflection in those things that you were lax in, by reflecting on those things where there was resolution and steadfastness in and those things where there wasn’t.So know that what occurs from the wrongs revolves around 3 aspects/milestones:

   1) wrongs as a result of things that we caused to be lost and also wrongs done, and there’s no expiation of this except in this resoluteness, only in being absolutely resolute and having remorse about what’s past because everything in the past could have been used for something beneficial and we lost those opportunities and the darknesses that follow for all of that, and there’s no expiation except to have resolution, go back to this, be firm in what we’re trying to repeal for this as opposed to the neglect of the past. This is what we’re replacing it with, what we neglected in the past of changing our conditions, now we’re replacing it with this hazm (firmness).

   The signs of one’s sincerity in this is 3 things, and these are 3 things they know in those who have living hearts:

   1) the experience of the sweetness of leaving those things rather than the enjoyment of reflecting on them. So what happens here is that the people who do wrong actions, when they remember them, they remember them as a way of trying to bring back the enjoyment of their wrongs, but if the heart’s alive when you do wrong, the effect afterwards is the opposite and you feel terrible because at the time you did wrong, you were in a state of heedlessness and then when you go back, when you think about it, you feel terrible that your nafs overcame you, and the opposite is true is that you feel a sweetness when you do good actions, you feel imbisaat, you feel alhamdulilLah, feel good about that. With wrongs, you feel inqibaat – only if your heart is alive,

   2) forgetting creation because of that wrong action and also their subjugation as a reminder of the blessings of the Lord, and

   3) actions in accordance with those things that engender steadfastness in this path, and also being vigilant about regressing from all these different directions, and the signs of these remnants in the self is three.

   The reason you fall back (regression) is three:

   1) you gain some intimate joy with remembering, even if it’s for the sake of blaming and tanfeer,

   2) uncomfortable state with the stations of the self and their result as a way of procrastinating, putting off what you’re supposed to be doing in realizing ta`ah to Allah, even if it’s just being a little bit forgiving in allowing a thought about a wrong to reoccur or a haajis (a kind of hadith an-nafs, stronger than a khatir which is just a fleeting thought but less than a hadith an-nafs), and

   3) seeking out those who have the same tribulation even if it’s to feel compassion to them because if you seek out people who have the same tribulation in this sickness, you’re going to feel more comfortable with it, and this engenders more compassion to the self, and also when you need to reflect on these things, you don’t reflect on these things, you don’t continue.

   The inheritance of leaving these wrongs is 3 things, and all of them are good during your life and after your death. So there are basically 3 reasons as to why you should leave wrong actions,

   1) because of the delights of the devotion to Allah swt, the Prophet saws talked about the sweetness of iman, of munajat (the intimate discourse with Allah), and in tilawah. All these things – `ibaadah has a halawah, and if you’re deprived of it because sometimes your eye rejects the light of the sun because of alphalmia, i.e. sometimes your mouth rejects the sweetness of water because it’s sick. So by leaving wrong actions, Allah will allow you to taste that halawah, and that halawah is not just in this world but also in the next, and the Prophet saws said whoever lowers his eyes for the sake of Allah swt, Allah will provide him with a devotion and he will taste its delight,

   2) also the realization of will and this is the carpetspread of mercy and of benefit from Allah swt, this is what the mureed is, the mureed is someone who has irada, you desire Allah swt, and so your realizing irada, by leaving wrong actions you are becoming a mureed, this is what human beings are, we have the ability to move mountains, look at what humans can do, they can build bridges that span oceans, can climb moutains, build skyscrapers, and it’s extraordinary what the human being can do when he puts his mind to it. The human being has massive power. Allah has given him great ability, and one of these attributes is irada, which Allah himself is described with, and He says to use this irada for His sake, and this is how you get rahma from Allah, and Allah will benefit you by these things, that if the souls believe this leaving of wrongs, then the souls will explore the malakoot, and they will return to the saahib of the nafs with wonders of wisdom, that wasn’t a knowledge that was taught, this is something that Allah swt gives because if you act according to what you know, Allah swt gives you knowledge that you didn’t know, and this is one of the wonders, and

   3) the existence of salvation that is accompanied by a good life, because whoever has taqwa of Allah, Allah will give him a way out and will provide him from a way in which he didn’t expect. So basically if you do this, you’re going to have a good life – you’re going to have salvation in the next life, and you’re going to have a good life in this world, and that’s the inheritance of leaving wrongs and doing rights.

   And there are 3 inheritances of wrong actions,

   1) humiliation of the soul, the soul will live in humiliation, and that’s why some said to remove them from the humiliation of disobedience to the dignity and exaltedness of obedience,

   2) that you’ll be exposed and your regression to these wrongs will be seen by others. There was a man that Omar RA saw doing a wrong action, and the man went to the Omar and said, Amir al-Mu’mineen this is the first time I ever did this, and Omar RA said you’re a liar because Allah is more merciful than that he would expose someone the first time they ever did a wrong action. In other words, Omar RA knew that wrong had been done before by that man, and Allah will only expose you after you’ve done that wrong thing more than once. The first time Allah will veil you, and

   3) you’ll have a small portion of good, and Allah swt said that wrongdoers will never succeed. Khalas. So you won’t have success, and whoever doesn’t make tawbah, those are the wrongdoers, and turn to Allah all of you believers in order to have success, and Ali RA said whoever wants riches without wealth and dignity/strength without a clan, then let him change from the humiliation of wrong actions to the dignity of obedience.