Divine Oneness (Tawhid) is the Key to Heaven

God has forbidden Heaven to those who commit shirk, it being the worst of the three kinds of injustice. None who associate partners with God will enter into Heaven. The people of tawhid [‘Divine Oneness’] will do so, because tawhid is the key. The door shall not open for anyone without this key, or for anyone who comes with a key that lacks its teeth. The teeth of this key are prayer, fasting, alms, pilgrimage and sacred combat. They enjoin justice upon people and prohibit wrong; they speak truth and honour trusts; maintain family relations and treat parents well.

Anyone who acquires the right key in this life, the key of tawhid, and then gives it teeth by [keeping God’s] commandments, will come on the Day of Judgment to the door of Heaven with the only key that opens it. He will not be kept out unless sins, errors and burdens remain with him, the traces of which had not been removed through repentance and the search for forgiveness [while] in the world. These will bar him from Heaven until they have been cleansed away. If standing before God with all its terrors and distress will not accomplish this, hell cannot be avoided if the person is to be rid of what foulness remains in him, if his defilement is to be cleansed—until he is brought out and placed in Heaven. For Heaven is the abode of the pure, and none shall enter it except they. God says, ‘The pure ones whose souls the angels take, to them it will be said, “Peace be upon you. Enter Heaven”’(XVI:32); and, ‘Those who revere their Lord are conducted to Heaven in ranks, until they come unto it and its doors are opened, and its guardian say to them, “Peace be upon you, you who are pure. So enter herein forever…”’(XXXIX:73)

Hell is the abode of [all] that is corrupt in word and deed, food and drink; it is the abode of the two impurities, ‘That God may separate the corrupt from the pure. The corrupt He shall place one upon the other, heaping them all together and consigning them to hell. Such are the losers’—in the words of God (VIII:37). He will gather the corrupt and heap them high, as if to be carried away; He will place them in hell along with its denizens, and there will be nothing therein except what is corrupt.

Just as people will be of three levels—the pure [al-tayyib] with nothing corrupt in them, the corrupt [al-khabith] with nothing pure and those in whom both are mixed—so, too, will their abodes be three. There will be the abode of the fully pure and the abode for the fully corrupt—both eternal. But there will be the abode of those in whom purity and corruption are mixed. That abode, which will not last for them, will be a house of correction. But no one who believes in God’s oneness and has undergone punishment will remain in hell. Rather, after they have been punished to the measure earned, they will be taken out and placed in Heaven. And then naught will remain save the abodes of the fully pure and the fully corrupt.

- Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, The Invocation of God (Al-Wabil al-Sayyib min al-Kalim al-Tayib)

Some of the Merits of the Month of Ramadan

Believers, fasting is ordained for you -- as it was ordained for those before you, so that you may practice self-restraint -- for a certain number of days; and for those among you who are sick or on a journey, a number of other days, while incumbent upon those who can afford it is expiation by feeding a needy person. To do good willingly is better for one, and to fast is better for you if you did but know. [2:183-184]

Some of the Merits of the Month of Ramadan

The greatest bounty, the highest degree in this lower world of ours, is the faith we owe to the assistance, favor and kindness of Allah. Upon us has been conferred the unique honor of being made His servants and the Community of His dearly beloved, and of being addressed by Him and given a place in the Qur'an.

Now let us count another blessing: Once every year comes the month of Ramadan, of which "the beginning is mercy; the middle, forgiveness; the end, deliverance from the Fire."

When Ramadan comes, appreciate it! It passes very quickly. Life itself passes very quickly too, as does the time for prayer. Do not say: "Ramadan will come again," because a Ramadan that has gone will never come again. Next Ramadan is a different Ramadan. Maybe Ramadan will keep coming around until the Resurrection, but this Ramadan may be your last. Do not say: "I missed that prayer but another will come." Perhaps this prayer will be your last.

Do not say: "Let me retire and draw my pension, then I shall devote myself to worship!" Perhaps you will take your last ride before you draw your pension. They will dress you in a shroud, tying you up with rope or chain; so gird yourself for action right away. Make copious lamentation for your sins. Spend sleepless nights with heart aflame. Keep vigil for your Lord, reciting the Qur'an. Pay homage in His Presence. Ponder your own transitory nature, remembering that He is everlasting... Ponder your own weakness, remembering that He is strong...

What a beautiful thing, to meet with the Lord! How can I get the taste of it across to you? One may speak to the blind about color, to the deaf about music and to the impotent about the joys of sexual intercourse, but can they be made to understand these experiences? Since the blind man cannot see, how can color be described to him in words? How can one show an unseeing eye the many-colored flowers, trees, sun and sky, and fish dancing in the stream? To one who has no smell, how can we describe the scent of the rose, the fragrance of the hyacinth or the jonquil's perfume? How can we tell the deaf about the chirping of the birds, the gurgling of running waters or the cadeness of the Qur'an and the call to prayer?

If you spend time alone with your Lord, one day the veil will be lifted from your eyes and you will see the colors. You will acquire the sense of smell and detect the fragrance of roses, hyacinths, jonquils and narcissi. You deafness will disappear and you will hear the constant remembrance of Allah. The ear of your heart will open and you will delight in recitation of the Qur'an. Beneath the songs of the nightingales and the gurgling of the waters, you will hear the sound of the affirmation of Divine Unity.

These are the bounties you will be able to attain in this world and one day they will come to an end. As for the bounties you will achieve in the Hereafter, they have no end, but are everlasting...

When Ramadan came, could you hear the Voice calling nightly: "Does no one want Us, does no one love Us? We would love him, too!" This call is given every evening and every night in our lives. This is another divine bounty peculiar to the noble month of Ramadan. See what conversations the Prophet Moses enjoyed. Moses, the converser with Allah, used to go to Mount Sinai. You have your own Mount Sinai at the time of breaking fast, when you can hold a thousand and one conversations. When Moses said: "O my Lord, You speak with me, You address me. Will You not show me the beauty of Your countenance? Let me see Your beauty!" he received the reply: "You shall not see Me." [7:143]

"Moses, how can you see My beauty when there are seventy-thousand curtains between us? You are incapable of seeing Me. But near the Resurrection I shall give a month as a gift to the Community of My beloved Muhammad. That month shall be called Ramadan. To the Community of Muhammad that fasts during that month, I shall so manifest Myself at the time of breaking fast that, whereas between you and Me there are now seventy-thousand veils, there will be no veil at all between Us and the fasting Community of Muhammad at the time of breaking fast."

In a Sacred Tradition, the Exalted One says: "The fast is for Me and it is I who reward it."
The reward of the fast is the vision of Divine Beauty. The emblem of Ramadan is forgiveness. Fasting should be done with sincerity and ardent affection. Our blessed Master said: "If my Community knew what success and salvation reside in Ramadan, they would beg Allah to let them spend their whole lives in that month!"

-Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak al-Jerrahi, Irshad (Wisdom of a Sufi Master)

Blemishes of the Soul

Imam Zaid Shakir translated this wonderful work of the great Shaykh Ahmad ar-Rifa’i, may Allah bless his soul and grant us benefit from his knowledge, lights and secrets.

And may Allah greatly reward Imam Zaid Shakir for this invaluable contribution.

Blemishes of the Soul

Shaykh Ahmad ar-Rifa’i mentioned in his al-Burhan al-Mu’ayyad:

“Gentlemen! Beware of looking to the satisfaction of your soul! Beware of self-deception! Similarly, beware of false pride! All of those things are ruinous. One who belittles others while exalting himself has never attained nearness to God. Just who are you and I? My Brother! You and I are lowly wretchedness whose beginning is an indistinguishable lump of flesh, whose end is a corpse.

The ennoblement of this indistinguishable contingent creature is [his] essential intellect. The intellect is that quality that restrains the soul and causes it to know its place. If a person’s intellect is not restraining his soul, whether that soul is taking or giving, then [in reality] he has no intellect.

When a person is denied this humanizing essence, ennoblement escapes him, and he remains an indistinguishable contingent creature, unfit for neither a mighty station, nor a precious calling. When his intellect is mature and complete, his absolute essence comes to control [his soul] and he is fit to be elevated over worldly kings and rulers.

The first rank for the soul is to be divested of mendacious egoism, false claims [of spiritual excellence], and the tyranny of believing oneself to be in control of ones spiritual progress. Even when he becomes established in a respectable spiritual station, possessing lofty attributes, it is incumbent on him that he remembers that he began as clay and his end is to dirt. Hence, while he exists between this beginning and that end, he must remain appropriately humble in his speech and actions. A preacher keeping one aware of God is in the heart of every Muslim. One who lacks [such] a preacher warning him against his soul will never benefit from the preaching of others. How can one whose heart is heedless ever benefit [from others]?

Sahl [at-Tustari] said, “Heedlessness is the darkness of the heart.” The Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, mentioned, “Is there not in the body a lump of flesh, if it is sound the entire body is sound, and if it is corrupt, the entire body is corrupt. Is it not the heart?”

My brother! You will benefit from my admonition and I will benefit from your admonition, if we are both sincere. You are better than me. You have come to me in humility desiring to learn, while I have been moved to arrogance by the drunken delusion arising from teaching others. When I conquered my wretched soul, I said to it, “God has taught you and made it incumbent on you to teach others. ‘The concealer of knowledge will be reined with a bridle of fire [on the Day of Judgment],’ so your fatigue [due to teaching] is for your own benefit. Observe your limits! Perhaps amongst the students is one who is better than you. He has been hidden from you in order to test you.” Thereafter, its virulent agitation settled down, it realized its place, observed its limit, and maximized its fortune. Such can be your lot [if you conquer your soul].

My brother! If you conquer your soul and force it to learn; if you slaughter your caprice with the knife of adhering to the prophetic way; if you take wisdom while lowering your gaze from the honor and knowledge associated with learning; if you turn away from the status afforded you by your lineage, your father, your wealth, and your state; you have indeed achieved the great victory.

Finally, you should know that whomsoever fails to take his soul to account for every breath, and similarly fails to suspect its motives, will not be recorded as a follower of this way.”