The Believer is a Prisoner in This World; Some Notes From a Lecture by Shaykh Nuh Keller
الدُّنْيَا سِجْنُ الْمُؤْمِنِ وَجَنَّةُ الْكَافِرِ
“The World is a Prison for the Mu’min and paradise for the Kafir.”
In Lata’if Al-Minan (subtleties of the divine gifts) Ibn Ataa’illah said Abul-‘Abbas al Mursi said, Abul Hasan Ash-Shadhili said: ‘The believer in this world is a prisoner, and there is no release for a prisoner except by one of three ways:
1) Through trick and stratagem.
2) Fidya (ransom) – ransoming the self. Allah says, “Allah has bought their own selves so that they may have paradise.” One for The One, exchanging your lowly vile self for The One for whom there is no second. The goal being the presence of the Divine.
The Shadhili Tariqah – Some Material of Benefit
I have been asked several times and by many individuals what the Shadhili Tariqah is about. Firstly, I am not a spokesman for this tariqah, nor do I have any legitimacy teaching it. Secondly, because I am not authorized in teaching it, I will not do so. What I will do, however, is share with you the articles of Shaykh Nuh H.M. Keller, May Allah bless and keep him upright amin. The site Shadhili Tariqa, has some very good articles that were taken from a book that is now not published, though soon will be insha’allah. Their website is horridly unorganized; it seems due to their poor numbering system being used. So I have decided to organize it a little better for those interested in this Tariqah:
Don't Procrastinate
By Abul Layth
The time arrives. “I’ll make it in a few minutes,” you say to yourself. One thing after another overcomes you. At first, time is measured in moments, then moments quickly, unknowingly, turn into hours. Before you realize your state, the time for it is nearly gone. Deceived you were! As your enemy crept upon you, so heedless, unaware, was your person. He took pride in his victory over you, boasting to his cohorts, ‘how easy it was defeating this person, he was heedless of his state as it ever worsened!’
Or have we forgotten The Real’s words, “So woe unto those performers of Salat (prayers), Who delay their Salat (prayer) from their stated fixed times…” Salah did you miss just as it missed you. In wise words spoken by Al-Ghawth Abu Madyan (radhiya allāhu ‘anhu), he warns us all of procrastination. He says,
The 'Alamaat (Signs) of the Faqir (The One in Need of Allah)
Thoughts Compiled by Abul Layth
To clarify the term “Faqir فقير “, Allah uses it to describe all of mankind. He says,
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ أَنتُمُ الْفُقَرَاء إِلَى اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ
“O ye men! It is ye that (Fuqaraa’) have need of Allah: but Allah is the One Free of all wants, worthy of all praise.”
Allah ta’alaa, as Imam As-Suyuti says in his tafsir (Qur’anic exegesis), is telling mankind that they are in need of Allah in every situation, in every state, and in every place. “Need” denotes dependence. Whereas Allah has no dependence or “need”, thus He is Al-Ghaniy – The Self-Subsisting, one free of all needs.
So the faqir is the one dependent, in utter and complete need of Allah ta’alaa. The faqir in the nomenclature of tasawwuf, however, has the same root meaning but expands on what the faqir should be. The following is the definition of the great Sufi Wali, Al-Ghawth Abu Madyan:
The Shuroot of Tasawwuf
Al-Ghawth Abu Madyan (radhiya allahu ‘Anhu wa Rahmatullah ‘Alayh – born 509 A.H) said,
“The Shuroot (conditions, preconditions, rules etc) of Tasawwuf are eight: