Ministering to the Muslim Heart
An
individual felt called to minister to the Muslim heart but was uncertain of what this
entailed or what was the best way of going about it. In addition, there were questions
concerning the nature of a spiritual teacher. The issue was further complicated by a
relationship with an individual who was not drawn to, or interested in, Muslims or Islam.
In reality
there is only one spiritual teacher and that is Allah. However, for reasons best known to
Divinity, and as Divinity has indicated in the Qur'an, Allah does not deal with human
beings except through veils.
Thus, the
importance of the two facets of the Shahada. Not only are we invited to bear witness to
the reality of God's Oneness, but, seemingly, in a contradictory move, we are asked to
bear witness that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the Rasul or Messenger of Allah.
The latter
invitation is only apparently contradictory to the initial statement of exclusive tawhid
because the Prophet, as is true of the other 124,000 prophets and the community of awliya
who follow them, are but so many loci of manifestation of the Names and Attributes of
Allah. This is not pantheism, since the Sufi masters are very clear that although in
essence, we humans are Divine, we are not Divinity in Essence, and, thus, a distinction of
mystery is made between the Creator and the created.
Sometimes
these veils which give expression to "Guidance" and the Teacher come in the form
of spiritual experiences. Sometimes these veils come in the form of the nisbath, or
spiritual connection and relationship, one has with a spiritual guide.
Ultimately,
all guidance -- whether in the form of revelation, dreams, kashf (unveiling), hal (state),
maqam (station), or the teacher/seeker dynamic -- gives expression to the truth of the
Shahada. All teaching flows to humankind, by Allah's leave, through the spiritual
lineages, or loci of spiritual manifestation, set in motion by Allah's Rasul - Muhammad
(peace be upon him).
To know and
experience the Muslim heart one does not have to go to Muslims, per se, one merely has to
look within. The one who knows oneself knows one's Lord, and in knowing one's Lord, one
sees the reflection of the Muslim heart, for the Muslim heart is the one which
acknowledges the powerful gravitational attraction that is possessed within the call by
Allah to our internal fitra or nature: 'Alastu bi-rubikm' -- Am I not your Lord?
To minister
to the Muslim heart, one must first learn to minister to one's own heart. Through
sincerity to the covenant of love between one's heart and Allah, one, God willing, derives
the tawfiq, or enabling power, to help others - again, as a locus of manifestation of
veiled guidance and mercy which comes from Allah to those for whom it is intended.
One can
minister to the suffering of Muslims through acts of compassion, zakat, kindness and love
in various places of conflict and deprivation around the world. One also can minister to
the suffering of Muslims through helping them, in Buddha-like fashion, to come to
understand what the real source of their suffering is - namely, themselves, or, more
exactly, the influence which the nafs - one's own and that of others - has on our lives.
After all, the miseries of the world are merely the life of the nafs writ large on the
scale of history.
I remember
something my first spiritual guide told me. There was a conversation about miraculous
deeds and how different awliya or friends of Allah could, by Allah's leave, heal the sick
and even raise the dead as Jesus (peace be upon him) had done with Lazarus.
My Shaykh
listened to the conversation for a while. Finally, he said words similar to the following:
'Tell me, what good is it to the raise the dead, if one does not raise their spiritual
condition as well? What is the worth of an extended life if it does not achieve the
spiritual purpose for which it was created in the first place?'
He was not
being critical of Jesus (peace be upon him). Rather, he was trying to direct people's
attention away from that which is superficially miraculous (the raising of people from the
dead or the healing of people's physical maladies) to that which is truly miraculous and
this is the healing of a diseased heart. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the
king of all those, along with Jesus (peace be upon him) and the other 124,000 Prophetic
emissaries of God, who specialized in curing, by Allah's leave, the diseases of the mind,
soul, heart, and sirr.
With respect
to your concerns about the individual with whom you have a relationship being non-Muslim,
do not worry. As Hafiz of Shiraz has said: "The One Who is looking after your affairs
is already busy looking after your affairs. Your worry adds nothing but worry to your
affair."
As my first
Shaykh told me: "The purpose of Islam is to bring hearts together, not to separate
them." I believe, insha' Allah, there may be something of Omar ibn Kittab in your
friend, and given that Omar (may Allah be pleased with him) went through a spiritual
transformation while on a mission to kill the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), one
should not suppose that an individual's initial indifference to, or hostility toward,
Islam, will be, God willing, a permanent condition.
These things
take time. If we accept the fact that it took twenty-three years for the Arabs who
converted to Islam at the hand of the Prophet to become fully practicing Muslims, then we
ought to give people in today's chaotic times as many degrees of freedom as are possible
in order for them to come to understand, if Allah wishes, where their true, essential
freedom lies.
If you love
the individual to whom you refer in your letter and if that person loves you, then, realize
that this is a reflection of Allah's love for you both. Love is a very powerful force, but
it follows its own course to our individual hearts.
If you are
concerned that your desire to commit yourself to Islam full time will create problems
within your possible future family life, then one should begin to contemplate on such
matters with hikmat and gentleness, as the Prophet has counseled us to do, in order to try
to find a way of doing that to which your heart is calling you without creating tensions
in your relationship with your companion. This may take patience, sacrifice and
compromise, but it need not be a hopeless challenge.
To
paraphrase an old saying: "God also serves those who only stand and wait." But,
I do not think Allah would be opposed to your taking a few baby steps in the direction of
service and submission to Divinity, and there may be blessings in this not only for you
but for your friend as well.
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