Wayfaring – ‘Journeying to Allah (Swt)’

Salam and welcome … To The First of our weekly reminders.

We pray that these will serve as great benefits to all who read; inspiring and motivating you to seek nearness towards The Beloved - Allah (Swt). This week’s reminder is the first of many, insha’Allah; on the beautiful topic of ‘Journeying to Allah (Swt)’, by means of ‘purifying our souls’ .

What does it mean to journey to Allah(Swt)?’

Journeying to Allah (Swt) is something that every servant partakes in, though, the nature of each of our journey differs from servant to servant. We are all journeying towards The Master; The Creator of the Heavens and the earth, whether we acknowledge this fact or not. This journey is one that is real and yet ironically surreal. Do you feel your body physically moving towards your Lord (Swt)? No. As that will only occur when the Angels (as) claim our souls. So, what exactly is journeying, if not our bodies?

Our souls; spiritual-self; inner-self; true self-being continues to travel towards our Lord (Swt) every single second of our lives. Our soul is the entity that gives life to our body, hence when a person is considered deceased, it is when the Angel of Death (as) has extracted their soul from their body. Our soul is a spiritual entity that needs to be nurtured, just as our physical entity (or body) needs nourishment. However, the nourishment or lack of it will ultimately affect our relationship with our Lord (Swt); our happiness or destruction in this world and ultimately our success (gain) or downfall (loss) in the Aakhira (Afterlife).

Thus, when we speak of spirituality, it is the extent to which one seeks nearness towards Allah (Swt). By merely ‘internalising’ concepts known in our Aqeedah (belief). One example of this is: it is a common and agreed upon concept that a servant must utter the words “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is Greater) at the beginning of every prayer (and rakah – standing). Saying these words plant in our hearts that fact that there is absolutely nothing as great as Allah (Swt) – our Creator and Sustainer; thus nothing else and no one else is worthy of our attention and focus during our salah (prayer). Thus our salah is only worthy of acceptance when devoted solely to Allah (Swt), seeking His Pleasure Alone.

Spirituality is to observe a deep understanding of the concepts (aspects) of our belief, to the extent that one is able to make a beautiful connection between the heart and the limbs which, as a result, enables an unimaginable nearness towards Allah (Swt).

A spiritual journey to Allah (Swt) is to travel with our inner-selves, from state to state and station to station, until the ultimate station of stations has been achieved: Ihsan. 

 What is the difference between a state and a station?

A State: is when we feel, behave and react in a particular manner, though, the manner has not yet settled in our hearts. So one may feel ‘patient’  or ‘grateful’  at times, without having permanently arrived at these stations. Thus, a servant may continue to move from state to state with Islamic qualities clearly evident in their lives, however, impermanent qualities still remain within the heart.

A Station: is when our character or self-being arrives at a particular ‘place’. Without wavering between states, a servant at a particular station lives the desired quality inwardly and outwardly. They have settled there; so as opposed to it being a ’fleeting state’, it becomes a permanent quality of the heart, clearly evident in their lives.

These concepts are crucial for us to understand in order to know whether we are moving from state to state or station to station. Ask yourself these question: “Do I feel like this sometimes (on and off)?” or “Do I feel like this most of the time (consistantly)? Asking yourself these question will enable you to decipher what characteristics you need to purify within yourself in order to be strengthened along this journey; striving with complete devotion, to gain nothing but The Pleasure of your Lord (Swt). 

The pleasure of Allah (Swt) should be the epitamy of our lives; the reason for why we live and do as we do. Remember that It is His love that we yearn for, to carry us through, what will at times be, the loneliest and yet enriching journey we’ll ever make.

He (Swt) is our Supporter, our Protector and our Guide (Swt). May our lives be witnesses for us and not against us and may our hearts strive, not merely to love Allah (Swt)… to be completely in-love with Him (Swt), ameen Allahumma, ameen.