The Internal Journey o Emaan
In the name of Allah most Beneficient ever Merciful
In our journey to attaining emaan or knowing Allah SWT we must know that Allah SWT is not only everywhere but most importantly, the Holy Quraan teaches that, Allah SWT is closer to us than our jugular vein, Al Quran surah 50 verse 16.
So, one of the most important things that we need to take into account when it comes to attaining ‘Emaan’ is that it is also an internal journey. It’s about knowing ourselves, it’s about purifying our thoughts and feelings.
Think of it this way; because our bodies host our Lord we must make sure that we are clean physically and more importantly, we must be clean in thoughts.
Imagine getting home, the place is in a mess, it’s dark, there is no food, no water and the toilet is overflowing and the servant is busy looking at himself in the mirror and smiling.
Now imagine, going to a home that’s sparkling clean, brightly lit, the keeper of my house is eagerly waiting outside for me and as soon as he sees me, he rushes out to welcome me.
We have to be like the second slave in relation to our Creator. We have to clean up our inner beings and one of the most important aspect is to get rid of this greed to be on top. Instead of looking at the mirror and admiring our beings we must turn our faces towards our Maker.
Instead of striving for entertainment and making ourselves comfortable we should strive towards serving our Creator by serving His creation and not hurting anyone.
Islam is therefore not only about outer ritualistic acts of prayer, but it is more importantly about cleansing our intentions and curbing our passions.
In the presence of His Glory keep close watch over your hearts, lest you be put to shame by thinking evil.. For He sees conscience and thought and quest (desire) as (plainly) as a thread of hair in pure milk. He whose clear breast has become devoid of (any) image (impression) has become a mirror for the impressions of the Invisible..Matnawi
Remember, Allah SWT will judge our deeds by our intentions. No matter how perfectly we pray or how accurately we read the Holy Quraan it will all boil down to our intentions.
Know that, most certainly, everyone of us, from time to time is going to feel proud of our good deeds. This is how we humans are, we all want to stand out, we all want to be on top.
Allah SWT is the only one that’s on top of it all. We are just His slaves. Our lives and our bodies are entrusted to us.
So it makes perfect sense to know ourselves, to learn to control our passions and overcome this desire to be on top.
Our Pir-o-Murshid, Dr Hakim Hazrath Khwaja Sayed Shareef Ahmed Ali Shah RA (lovingly known as Hazrath Poona Wale Shah Saab RA) said: “Kar paychanath app ki aur jaan ki, thab ho thuje paychanath Subhaan ki.” Strive to recognize yourself and life then you would recognize Allah.
He also said: “Sub kuch hamie meh hae ” (Everything is within us) .
So it is for us to harness our full potential and become the spiritually enlightened beings that we created to be. Inshallah. END