Ya Ghaffar! Ya Ghaffur!

In Allah’s Great Love which manifests as this Creation, illumined by the lamp of the human heart

Dearest Precious Circle Guides and Dervish Companions,

Thank you for you. Thank you for being the vessels of light and forgiveness.

Zikrullah, prayer, prostration, contemplation, listening to the Beloved, pleading with the Beloved, singing the ilahis of the Friends, reaching out, gathering, making bridges to new places, feeding, loving, forgiving, speaking softly, walking gently, tending the communities of the earth, honoring our parents, helping neighbors, weeping and drying the tears of the weeping, hugging, consoling…these are the actions we have received from the heart of our Prophet, peace be upon him, and the Mothers of the faithful through Effendi and Nur, r.a. This is the adab of love.

This is what we continue offering, in easy times and more challenging times. Through the recent election the unhappiness and illnesses of the people of this nation have been exposed for all to see. Some are justified. Some are reprehensible. But we are not here as judges. We have been sent to heal and to invite to the Healer of all of our hearts. And we must never overlook our own illnesses and shortcomings, which are the primary ones for ourself. As dervishes we must never take our gaze off from our own heart, continually praying that it be cleared by the All Merciful of the burdens of the limited self.

We cannot identify with a political party even though we vote through one of them, as they are not paths to the Truth. Each party tries to serve certain groups of people for specified and also undeclared purposes. Democrats seem to stand more for justice and fairness, but underneath we still have the same corporate oligarchy which is creating havoc, injustice and extreme distress on the earth.  We are of the new party, the party of Allah, the people of heart, the ones who confirm all the sacred revelations, the ones located in the trunk of the tree of revelation, the friends of humanity, the new humanity. We are also muslims, insha’allah, those who submit their tiny wills and fraction of knowledge to the Blessed One Who truly knows. To this we can say, “We are muslims, insha’allah” as Shaykha Amina al Jerrahi reminded us in our recent gathering. We need not declare it if we do not think it is appropriate in certain social contexts, but I actually feel that it would be good to convey to our society the deeper meaning and blessedness of this name. That is part of our work, which is exploring and conveying the universality of our tradition. Here is how the name ‘muslim’ appears in some passages of Quran.

وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ قَوْلًا مِّمَّن دَعَا إِلَى اللَّهِ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا وَقَالَ إِنَّنِي مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ

And who is better in speech than one who invites to Allah and works righteousness and says, "Indeed, I am of the Muslims." [Fussilat: 33] 

وَجَاهِدُوا فِي اللَّهِ حَقَّ جِهَادِهِ ۚ هُوَ اجْتَبَاكُمْ وَمَا جَعَلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ مِنْ حَرَجٍ ۚ مِّلَّةَ أَبِيكُمْإِبْرَاهِيمَ ۚ هُوَ سَمَّاكُمُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ مِن قَبْلُ وَفِي هَٰذَا لِيَكُونَ الرَّسُولُ شَهِيدًا عَلَيْكُمْ وَتَكُونُوا شُهَدَاءَعَلَى النَّاسِ ۚ فَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِاللَّهِ هُوَ مَوْلَاكُمْ ۖ فَنِعْمَ الْمَوْلَىٰ وَنِعْمَالنَّصِيرُ

And strive for Allah with the striving due to Him. He has chosen you and has not placed upon you in the religion any difficulty. It is the way of your father, Abraham. Allah named you Muslims before [in former scriptures] and in this revelation that the Messenger may be a witness over you and you may be witnesses over the people. So establish prayer and give zakah and hold fast to Allah . He is your protector; and excellent is the protector, and excellent is the helper. [Al-Haj: 78]

وَقَالَ مُوسَىٰ يَا قَوْمِ إِن كُنتُمْ آمَنتُم بِاللَّهِ فَعَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلُوا إِن كُنتُم مُّسْلِمِينَ

And Moses said, "O my people, if you have believed in Allah , then rely upon Him, if you would be Muslims." [ Yunus: 84]

وَإِذْ أَوْحَيْتُ إِلَى الْحَوَارِيِّينَ أَنْ آمِنُوا بِي وَبِرَسُولِي قَالُوا آمَنَّا وَاشْهَدْ بِأَنَّنَا مُسْلِمُونَ

And [remember] when I inspired to the disciples, "Believe in Me and in My messenger Jesus." They said, "We have believed, so bear witness that indeed we are Muslims." [Al-Ma'idah: 111]

When we say we are muslims insha’allah we mean this. A muslim is one who confirms truth. Who submits to truth. Who acts and speaks truthfully. Who ultimately becomes truth. Such deeper meaning might not be always understood even by those born muslim, and certainly not by the wider society in which we live. We must look into our own hearts to see if we truly trust Allah and if we can act from the higher level of spiritual responsibility given to those who desire to be completely merged into the truth.

In some ways it is not necessary to declare anything outwardly about ourselves with a name. Rather speak of what we believe – we believe in Allah, we believe in the spiritual beings who serve humanity and bring revelations, we believe in all of the revelations and messengers sent by Allah to humanity, we believe that everything  comes from Allah and that it is guidance and mercy to humanity whether it appears to us as good or not good, we believe in the Day of Awakening of all souls into the Source of Love.

Filled with these illuminations how can we fear? Guided by this wisdom we can help those who justifiably are afraid for their lives and well-being. And embodying the universal consciousness and adab of Rasulallah, pbuh, we can reach out to the ‘other’, the one who voted differently from ourself. We can strive to see their point of view and their fears and their anger and hatred, and seek to understand where this comes from. We should pray for them also and pray for all those who are entering the new government role. Insha’allah Allah will bring about much good through these painful and negative events. Contemplate the lives of the Prophets and Friends. Great things happen in difficult times. Insha’allah the adversities will cause the ferment in the hearts to bind the dough together and make it rise.

Ya Nur, Ya Effendi, Ya Amina Taslima, Ya Hazreti Pir Nuredin Jerrahi, Ya Mevlana, Ya Rabia Adawiya, Ya Ibn Arabi, Ya Musa, Ya Miriam, Ya Ibrahim, Ya Hajjar, Ya Maryam Siddiqullhah, Ya Issa Ruhullah, Ya Rasulallah Habibullah, sas, Ya Khadija al Kubra, Ya Aisha Alimullah, Ya Fatimah Zahra, Ya Allah Huuuuuuu!

Humanity has so many helpers!

Fariha al Jerrahi