The journey of the human soul‘adm

Everything that one can see all around oneself such as the sky, sun, moon, birds, animals, rivers and mountains were not created by themselves and nor were they created by mankind. They were not in pre‐existence and likewise Angels, paradise, hell, The Throne of Allah, The Divine Chair, The Sacred Tablet and The Pen also did not exist, and there was only Allah and nothing else. Allah created the whole of the universe including human and jinn only to know recognition and worship Him. Humans did not bring themselves into existence. That is the reason why they cannot live the kind of life they desire. Rather they should live the life according to the way their Creator wills for them. This is the only way that they can be successful forever. In Surah Mulk Allah the Exalted mentions “He has created death and life that He may test you which of you is best in deed”. (Meaning of the translation).

The Realm of spirits
Allah created all of the spirits and asked them “Am I not your Lord?” Every spirit amongst mankind replied “Yes, Oh Allah You are our Lord”. Since the spirits testified to the Oneness of Allah, they have been sent to this world and are given a body in order to prove practically for what they testified in the World of Spirits.

The temporal world (Dunya)
The spirit has been sent in this world for a short period of time as a test. It has been given a body, which has different types of needs and desires. The test being that the person either uses their body to obey the command of Allah Ta’la and follow the way of The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), or will he follow the devil and his own desires.

The Intermediate world (Barzakh ‐ life after death)
The place where a person will reside in after death until the day of judgement is known as the barzakh (grave). Here the choice of a person ends. His grave will either become a garden of bliss or a pit of fire due to the bad deeds he did in the world. This world exists in a different dimension. The human eye cannot see the other side.

The Day of judgement
This Day while be 50,000 years long according to time scale. In this one day many worldly lives can be relived. On this day every person will have to give account for each and every second. In particular his youth and where he spent his resources and how he earned his wealth and what he spent it on. He will also be most certainly asked in regards to how much he acted upon his knowledge. For the pious people this day will pass very swiftly. On this day there will be three courts.

First court: The court of faith (Iman), disbelief (Kufr) and, oneness of Allah (Tauheed) and polytheism (Shirk)
1) In the first court, questioning will take place in regards to a person’s belief In the oneness of Allah and about any partners that he ascribed to Him, in Other words what were his beliefs. Did he deny the existence of Allah and The Messenger of Allah, the supreme sent through Messengers or did he Believe.

Second court: The court in relation to Allah’s rights
2) In the second court questioning will take place in regards to the rights of Allah and His Messenger Peace be upon him, for example Prayer, Fasting, Charity, Pilgrimage and whether or not one acted in contrary to the Prophetic way of life (Sunnahs). Also in relation to the Quran, as to how much did he act upon its teachings.

Third court: The court in relation to the rights of Allah’s creation
3) The third court will be in regards to the rights of mankind and other
creation. In this court questioning will take place regarding wealth, honour, fulfilment of the rights of people, animals and environment.

The Life in Hell
If out of His Grace and Mercy Allah does not forgive the rebellious and sinful People they will be spending a very long time in the scorching heat, valleys and rivers of Hellfire which will be made out of fire and filthy discharges of the people of Hell. The nonbelievers will abide therein forever whereas the Believers will be taken out after a period of time.

The everlasting life of Paradise
Those people who believed and led a pious life and safeguarded themselves from sin, Allah Ta’la through His infinite mercy and grace will inhabit them forever in Paradise. The paradise of a normal inhabitant will be many times bigger than this world. Every dweller of paradise will have the height of Prophet Adam, beauty of Prophet Yusuf, age of Prophet Isa, voice of Prophet Daud, and the character of our Master Muhammad (Peace be upon them all). Allah the Majestic will directly speak to the people and show them his unrivalled and unmatched beauty. In paradise there will be no sickness, death or any other problems or difficulties. It will be for those people who have pleased their Lord in this World.

Summary
So that mankind can save themselves from the punishment of Hellfire and enter paradise a person is trained in this path as how to purify his body, mind and soul from the sins and then how to maintain their purity – this is known as Self-purification (Tazkiyah Nafs). After a person purifies himself he becomes the beloved of Allah and Allah the exalted becomes pleased and happy with that person, or else after death an extremely painful torment awaits him.

Some fundamental questions and their answers.
Question: What is the objective of this path?
Answer: The Pleasure of Allah in other words to please Allah, the Lord of theWorlds
Question: How can I please Allah, the Creator of all?
Answer: In order to please Allah one must do four things

1) Give preference to Allah and His command
To give preference to Allah over all falsehood and false gods and to give preference to His commands by controlling ones desires in compliance with the divine commands through practical struggle.

2) Give preference to the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and honouring His way of life and teachings.
To give preference to the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) over all leaders and role models and to give preference to His way of life (Peace be upon him) over all false and opposing ways of life and life styles by adopting the Prophetic way in all spheres of life and leaving what opposes it.

3) Compassion upon creation
To fulfil the rights of Allah’s creation and have compassion upon them according to teachings of Quran and Sunnah by protecting life, honour, wealth and the environment. Also try to save them from the punishment of hereafter by giving them good advice and warning them of the bad consequences of bad deeds.

4) Presence of Allah
To always be in the presence of Allah, with the inner self and the heart and to maintain this presence by remembering that Allah is with me, watching me, hears everything I say and as a consequence to choice to do the appropriate actions in one’s life. Question: Describe those states and experiences things that don’t necessarily lead to the closeness of Allah and neither are they objectives that need to be achieved nor should one aim for them.

Answer: States and spiritual experiences, which are not within the choice of a person
The points written below are non‐objectives and are not necessary:
1. To see good dreams
2. To see visions and occurrence of miracles (Karamat)
3. Divine inspiration (Ilham) or similar states
4. To see lights and illuminations whilst meditating or performing remembrance of Allah
5. Having permission to blow for the sake of curing and healing through supplication and recitation of Quran, to perform seemingly super‐natural arts and tricks and have permission to give charms (ta’weez)
6. To control jinns and to perform exorcism
7. Increase in wealth or business
8. To be cured from physical and mental illness
9. Claim to be able to predict the future and to be able to read minds
10. To have success in civil matters and worldly affairs
11. To achieve such a state where one will automatically start doing good and will abandon sin without having to do any effort on one’s part
12. To achieve such a state for one not to have any evil thoughts or whispers
13. Increase in offspring
14. Someone else will take the responsibility of our salvation while you do not abide by divine law (Shariah) and are still indulged in sinful life
15. Hope to reach a station where one is not even inclined at the least towards any sin
16. The movement or activation of subtle bodies (Latifa) (This is a experience in
which some people feel a pulse beat in different areas of chest similar to the heart beat but more strongly).
17. To attain respect in the eyes of people
18. Circumstances to always be in your favour
19. Enjoyment in worship
20. Some of the above things and claims are contrary to Shariah like prediction of future and mind reading. All of the above matters are not objectives or goals.
Some are praiseworthy and some are condemnable.
The true objective
The above mentioned are not the objective however the objective is to attain the pleasure of Allah and the greatest way to achieve this is by following the blessed life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) in all aspects. Some major aspects are listed below.
1) Beliefs – In other words what are the beliefs of a person in relation to Allah His Angels, His Messengers, Books and the Hereafter
2) Worship – Prayer, Fasting, Pilgrimage, Charity, Remembrance and
Recitation
3) Transaction and dealings – Financial transactions and business.
4) Social life – Normal day‐to‐day activities such as dressing, eating, drinking, and sleeping etc.
5) Character – To try and attain the inward qualities of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon be him) such as:
Patience (Sabr) (not to react in contrary to Shariah in times of calamity or happiness, neither with the tongue, heart or body)
Sincerity (Ikhlas) (To do worshipful actions purely for the pleasure of Allah and not for any worldly gain)
Gratitude (Shukr) (To understand that blessings are all from Allah and not from your own doings and not to misuse them in the disobedience of Allah)
Remembrance (To always be in the presence of Allah in mind, soul and heart by feeling that Allah is watching and to manifest this on the tongue and body through His praise and obedience)
Reliance (To employ the means by keeping the vision and thought directed towards Allah’s power and control and to leave all matters and results with Allah)
Abstinence (To discard any desires for the world in preference to the
Hereafter) Note: If other good states such as good dreams, enjoyment in worship are
obtained apart from the above mentioned then one should thank Allah and if not then there is no need to worry as there will not be any loss in attaining Allah’s closeness and proximity.
Question: What are the pre‐conditions to begin travelling on this path?
Reply: In order to become a friend of Allah before becoming a traveller on this path there are three prerequisites to fulfil otherwise this journey cannot be accomplished
Question: what are the conditions?
Answer: First condition: Correct Beliefs Aqeedah – The beliefs (Aqeedah) of a Muslim should be in accordance to the doctrine of Ahle‐Sunnah‐Wal‐Jam’ah. The Aqeedah informs a person what he should believe in and also how. Aqeedah has seven foundations. To believe in:
1) Allah: To believe in Allah’s essence and all of His attributes and not to associate anyone with Him, in His attributes or His actions. Furthermore to believe that he does not resemble any of His creation and neither do they resemble Him. In addition, to believe that neither is He a part of any creation or nor is any of His creation a part of Him. He is beyond all thoughts and imaginations.
2) Angels:
To have faith in all of the Angels and to believe that they are all
sinless. They do not disobey their Lord. They fulfil all the Commands of Allah

3) Books: 
To believe in all the heavenly Books that Allah Ta’la revealed but to
only follow the Quran, which is the final Book and the previously revealed Books have been abrogated i.e. the Gospel, Torah and psalms.
4) Messengers: 
To believe in all the Prophets and Messengers and to believe
that they are the greatest of all creation and that they are completely free from sin. However it is incumbent to only follow the footsteps of the Leader of both worlds and Imam of all the Prophets and Messengers, Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him).
5) The Day of Judgement: 
To believe in the Day of Reckoning and that all of mankind and Jinns will be assembled in the Presence of Allah, including
those that have passed away and all those that are to come. Allah with His infinite Grace and Mercy will bestow reward and with the His justice punish the wrongdoers. On that Day no one will be unjustly treated.
6) Fate and destiny: 
To hold faith that the knowledge of Allah encompasses all time and places and He has power and control over all things. Whatever He
wills He does. The actions of all people are in His knowledge, however the person acts in accordance to his own will and Allah Ta’la does not force anyone. Out of Allah’s will the freedom of choice has been given to people. He is the Creator of all things and actions. He becomes pleased with good deeds and becomes displeased with sin. Goodness and evil, or any other thing for that matter is not outside the knowledge of Allah Ta’la. And furthermore to have the belief that he is free of all deficiencies and shortcomings i.e. to oppress lie etc.
7) Life after death 
To have the belief that everyone will be resurrected after
death, after which a new chapter in a person’s life will begin lasting forever.
Finality of Prophethood of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) Our Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is the last of all Prophets and after that there will be no new Prophet to come. Whoever claims such a thing is an imposter and is out of the fold of Islam as well as those who follow him. Close to the end of time Prophet Jesus (Upon him be peace) will descend into this world as a follower of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) (not as a Prophet bringing new laws) by following the Quran and Sunnah and establishing Islamic rule on the whole of the earth.

Companions and the Family of the Prophet (Peace be upon him)
Hadrat Abu bakr Saddique, Hadrat Umar, Hadrat Othman, Hadrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with them all) are more virtous than all other companions. The Family of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), Hadrat Fatimah, Hadrat Hassan and Hussein (may Allah be pleased with them) are all leaders of the people of Paradise. All the companions are beloved to Allah Ta’la. All the wives of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) are mothers of all believers and must be respected, like Syyidah Khadeeja, Syyidah Aishah, Syyidah Hafsah (May Allah be pleased with them all) and others Whoever criticises them is cursed and whoever accuses them of disbelief himself is a disbeliever.

The Friends of Allah
The pious people who follow the sunnah and please Allah Ta’la are known as the friends of Allah (Aulia Allah) and to disrespect them is an extremely unfortunate and lowly act. The Friend of Allah is he who strictly adheres to the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) and follows the Shariah. If Allah wills miracles are performed at his hands, however this is not a condition Allah’s friendship. The greatest of all miracles is to remain steadfast on the Prophetic way of life (sunnah).

The friends of the Satan (devil)
Whoever opposes the Shariah (divine law) given by the holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and claims to be a friend of Allah (Wali) can never be a friend of Allah even though he may perform miracles such as flying, walking on water, mind‐reading or any other such acts, in fact, is a friend of satan. The abandonment of prayer and the continuous abandonment of the congregational prayer without a valid legal excuse, shaving of the beard, meeting of the opposite sex in seclusion and having physical contact with them, fortune‐telling are not qualities found in the Friend of Allah (wali). Through dreams, visions and divine inspiration there can never be any additions or omissions to the Shariah and whoever claims such a thing has become a follower of the satan and has gone astray. Included amongst them are those who outwardly do not establish the prayer and claim that their spirits are in contant worship and they we are not in any need of worship and obedience to sunnah because we have reached our destination………yes they have most surely reached it, but the question is where?
Answer: HELLFIRE and in the valleys of misguidance not closeness, pleasure and proximity of Allah.
(Aqeedah‐Tahawiyah, Sharh Fiqh al‐Akbar, and Takmeel –ul – Iman)

Beginning the journey to the Divine Presence (state of Ihsaan)
When a person fulfils the three conditions, in others words: the correctness of Belief, learning of the important Islamic Fiqh rulings, and removing any shortcoming and deficiencies in fulfilling the rights of Allah and His creation.
First and foremost he should be sincere in his intention that all this effort I am putting in is for success in the hereafter and to please Allah the Exalted, not for the sake of fame and name or any material benefits of this world.

The first stage of purification ‐ Purification of the seven organs of the body
In the first stage one tries to purify the seven organs of the body. With these organs people do good deeds or bad deeds.
1) Tongue 2) Eyes 3) Hands 4) Ears 5) Feet 6) Private parts 7) Stomach When one commits a sin with any one of these organs then a black spot appears on the heart. If that person does not repent then slowly the whole heart becomes darkened and then that person fails to differentiate between the truth, falsehood, good and bad thus the heart becomes blind. The method to purify these organs is that a person should start to purify one organ at a time. If he can simultaneously save all seven organs from committing sins then he should start the second stage of the path, which is purification of the mind. To begin the first stage of the path, one must, with the pre requisite of repentance, repent from the sins listed on the given sheet, for example the tongue sheet. The methodology for doing this is, one should put effort and strive to meet the conditions of that given sheet, until he has consecutively for thirty days abstained from the sins listed. This is achieved by protecting himself from the sins of the tongue up until night‐time, upon which he should put a tick in the box on the sheet. However if on the seventh day or any other day one intentionally commits the sin related to the sheet then he must put a cross on and then offer the prayer of repentance (2 units) and repent with the conditions of repentance and start again.
After completing the tongue sheet one starts the ears sheet. Now the person is abstaining from the sins related to the tongue and ears. Now day by day he is attaining the nearness of Allah the Exalted. In this way one completes all the sheets.

The Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said: ‘The person who indulges in bad deeds, then after that does good ones his likeness is of the person who iswearing an armour (metal war clothing) which is strangling his throat. He thendoes a good deed and one knot or button of the armour opens up then he does the second good deed which opens up the second link and as a result of this hebegins to walk freely.’ (Meaning of the hadith not exact words)
Hadrat Abdullah bin Masood mentions ‘One man came to the Holy Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) and began to say: Oh Messenger of Allah! I came across a woman in the garden – Other than having intercourse I did everything that was possible with her. I kissed her and I hugged her, other than that I did nothing – now you may do whatever you want with me. The Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) did not say anything to him. When that person went away Hadrat Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) said: ‘Allah the Exalted had veiled him, he should also have kept himself veiled. The Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) kept on looking at that person, then he said: ‘Call him to me’. When the Honourable Companions called him the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) read the following verse to him: ‘And perform As‐Salah at the two ends of the day and in some hours of the night [i.e. the five compulsory Salat (prayers)]. Verily, the good deeds remove the evil deeds (i.e. small sins). That is a reminder (an advice) for the mindful (those who accept advice). (11:114)’

Hadrat Muadh (May allah be pleased with him) then asked: ‘Oh Prophet of Allah (Peace be upon him) is this advice for him alone or is it for everyone?’ The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: ‘This concession is for everyone’.

The second stage of purification ‐ Purification of the mind
A person carries out a sin with the seven organs only when a sinful thought enters his mind and then with his heart he makes the intention to carry it out. The sin is presented in the form of a small sparkle and thought. At this point to save himself is easy however if it turns into a flame then it takes over the whole heart and mind which then leads to the organ of the person carrying out the sin. In this stage there are ten levels – In it the seeker is practically trained on a thirty day basis how to purify the mind from satanic and evil thoughts and once these thoughts do come, how to extinguish them.
In the following stages the person is taught how to remain occupied in the remembrance of Allah. In the end the person who completes these ten levels will have purified his thoughts and his mind will become firmly established in the remembrance of Allah and in the love of His Messenger (Peace be upon him). If a person does not even entertain any sinful thoughts then it will become easy to save himself from sins.

Third stage of purification – Purification of the Heart and soul
Other than the purification of the body, its organs and the mind there are certain sins that are invisible to the eye however they are extremely dangerous and they can take a person to hellfire for example envy, hatred, arrogance, ostentation, and excessive love of the world. In this stage these evil qualities are removed and in their place the good qualities such as patience, gratitude, humbleness, love of Allah, abstinence (removal of the desire of the world from the heart) are planted. A person spends his whole life in one or more of these four states only:
1) Obedience 2) Disobedience 3) Blessing 4) Calamity
In this stage a person a person is taught how to react in the right way to any one of these four states turning their current state into a blessing and in turn this will lead a person to a pure life (Hayatan Tayabah).
1) The right reactions of a person whilst being in a state of obedience:
Humility, humbleness, servant hood, and sincerity
2) The right reactions of a person whilst being in a state of disobedience: Regret, shame, forgiveness and repentance
3) The right reactions of a person whilst being in a state of blessing:
Attributing the blessing to Allah and being thankful in the heart and using the blessing according to divine commands and not in the disobedience of Allah the exalted.
4) The right reactions of a person whilst being in a state of calamity: Patience and refraining from sin and returning to Allah
In all of these there are ten levels in which the seeker is trained practically, mentally and spiritually It can be seen from the diagram that if a person chooses the right reaction whilst In any of these four states then his whole life becomes a blessing.

Fourth Stage ‐ Divine closeness and pleasure and enlightenment of the soul andheart

Respect and obedience to the Teacher
When a person rectifies his belief, learns the necessary Islamic rulings, removes any shortcomings and deficiencies in fulfilling the rights of Allah and His creation, purifies the seven organs, the thoughts of the mind, and the soul (nafs) from the evil traits and replaces them with the praiseworthy ones, then the vessel of the seeker has become clean and purified.
Now the time has come when his heart and inner self becomes enlightened with the Gnosis (the deep knowledge) of Allah and now the heavenly winds of Allah’s closeness and pleasure begin to whirl upon his soul. In this stage firstly the seeker completely follows the teachings and sayings of his Teacher and Guide and gains a portion of his states and stations. In other words he now completely follows his teacher and leaves the passions and desires of the evil self.

Obedience and love of the Messenger (Peace be upon him)
The result of following the Teacher is that the seeker now finds himself besides the blessed springs and fountains of the sayings, actions, states, stations and the essence of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and drinks from them according to his own level.

Obedience and love of Allah The Exalted (Annihilation in Allah)
When the seeker completely follows the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) to his own ability and level and his life becomes coloured in the colour of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) then Allah the Exalted makes him His beloved – After that the person wholeheartedly strives to follow the sayings and guidance’s of Allah and decorates himself with the praiseworthy attributes and then he drinks continously from the sacred rivers of Divine gnosis, closeness and pleasure.
Now his outward and inward is enlightened with the love and obedience of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) and Allah, the exalted and his heart and innerself always remain in the presence of Allah. The person begins to attain the stations of ‘Presence with Allah which is known as ‘Ihsaan’ (Perfection in servitude) in the Hadith.

Station of calling the people to Allah the Majestic (Muqaam Dawah)
When a person reaches this stage then upon him is two responsibilities:
1) Wherever he has reached in the path he remains steadfast upon it. In otherwords continuously practice and strive and not to show slackness and laziness because it is comparatively easier to rise higher but difficult to keep yourself higher. When the servant feels he is strong, at that time very time he may be weak and vulnerable to the plans of devil and ego.
2) According to the best of his abilities and power he calls the creation of Allah to Allah’s obedience and servitude beginning from one’s own nafs (ego) then family, then tribe, then locality, then city, country and then the whole world, inviting them to the obedience and Lordship of Allah and to the way of the Messenger of Allah, the Leader of the Prophets, our Master Muhammad (Peace be upon him).

Hope & Fear (Khawf wa Raja)
When a person reaches this station he should hope for the Pleasure and closeness of Allah and salvation in the hereafter. He should also have fear due to his shortcomings and deficiencies as one cannot worship Allah as He deserves to be worshiped and served. Now a person inwardly with the state of presence of Allah and outwardly with the Prophetic way of life (Sunnah) continuously flies to his goal which is the pleasure of Allah with two wings, namely hope and fear. Hope in the Mercy of Allah and fear due to shortcomings in ones deeds and worship.

Reliance on Allah (Tawakkul)
Now as the servant is doing everything to the best of his abilities, he should not rely on this effort and deeds but from the heart and inner self, he should always be in a state of need and poverty towards Allah, the Lord of the worlds. As though his inner self keeps praying from the depths of the heart and soul “I can only attain Your Pleasure with Your Grace and Mercy, not because of my effort and deeds”. And whoever hopes from Allah His Mercy and Grace and adopts the appropriate means, Allah then deals with him according to His Mercy and Grace.

The Day of Departure from the Earthy life
The servant of Allah in spite of doing his best according to his own abilities still fears as in which state he is going to leave this world in the state of faith (Iman) or
disbelief (Kufr), righteousness or sinfulness? Will angels from paradise descend to take me or angels from Hell? Will Allah be pleased with me or displeased? The devil tries to lead a person astray to the very end. The servant of Allah believes if Allah will deal with me according to my deeds, then Hell is waiting for me but if Allah deals with me from His grace and mercy then a blissful life is waiting for me. May you be one of those who are addressed with the sweet address: “O (thou) soul, in (complete) rest and satisfaction! Come back thou to thy Lord, ‐ well pleased (thyself), and well‐pleasing unto Him! Enter thou, then, among My devotees! Yea, enter thou My Heaven!” Peace and blessings be upon the Prophet and upon his family and companions.