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Servants of God, we commemorate these days the blessed anniversary of
the Birth of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and treasure it in our hearts. That
Birth, was a turning point for humankind, and for Earth; it is rich with many
symbols, and it reveals to us the meaning of life and the significance of our
earthly journey.
Every holy occasion reminds us
that each event that took place on Earth, points to a “message” from God to
us, which we have to decode, grasp, and turn what we have learnt into
experience, action and a code of morals in all aspects of our earthly life.
Thus we do with the blessed Birth of the Prophet; we read it as symbolizing,
first and foremost, the birth of truth, the word of truth, the messenger of
truth, and the light of truth within man. Man is himself an earth, a society, a
nation, and a whole world.
The Law of Life
that we learn about is: nor would We visit with Our Wrath until We had sent a
Messenger (to give warning)(HQ: 17: 15).
The word “Messenger” points to
a “truthful being” who becomes manifest, conveying the word of truth, and
guiding people to righteousness. Heavenly Revelations were all there to disclose
to this world knowledge about the Law of Life, telling man that his existence
and subsistence are possible because of the Divine Law. Revelations, on
different levels, have always been there; in many parts of the earth, east and
west, south and north, Teachers came forward and taught people about the Law of
Life. Similarly, an inner Teacher emerged in every human being who could discern
the primordial nature fitra [1]
that God entrusted him with, and baptized him accordingly.
..the Baptism of Allah: and who
can baptize better than Allah? (HQ: 2: 138)
Allah's handiwork according to the
pattern on which He has made mankind: no change (let there be) in the work
(wrought) by Allah: (HQ: 30: 30)
Allah, the Maker(Fatir[2])
of the heavens and the earth.. (HQ: 6: 14)
The Creator entrusted man with His Secret: the secret of Life, the secret of
eternity, and the secret of creation.
“I created thee to be devoted to
Me, and I made thee to be not other than Me”[3]
O My Servant, if you obey Me, I
shall make thee all godly devoted. You can tell a thing “Be” and it is.[4]
In the sublime
Secret that God created within man, lies the message of the Truth and the
“messenger of the Truth” to humans. Namely, man hosts within, the Secret of
Allah, the Word of Allah, the Light of Allah, the Message of Allah, and the
Messenger of Allah. In fact, he is often heedless of their existence because,
during his earthly journey, he is fully attracted to the outer realm; he is
absolutely involved in matters of the mundane life, and urgent physical needs.
As such, he does not give the chance to the divine truth within him to manifest;
he is not keen to turn his sight inwardly. Hence, revelations, religions,
Devotees to Allah, good Servants of Allah have always been there to guide man to
reflect upon his inner life, and to turn his sight inwardly:
“(Signs of the
Truth) are within you; do not you discern!” (K: 51: 21)
Soon will We show them Our Signs
in the (furthest) regions (of the earth), and in their own souls, until it
becomes manifest to them that this is the Truth. (HQ: 41:53)
The Heavenly Revelations came
to help man to listen to the sound of the Truth within, to discern the Truth
within, and to attain insight into the Truth within. They teach him how to
listen to the Messenger of God as speaking to him from within his primordial
nature fitra, his essence, and the Secret of Allah embedded deep within. Hence,
Revelations of the Truth were not there to impose on man several forms and
shapes, and impel him to fit into them without understanding or awareness!
Revelations meant to teach man how to get
connected to his Lord, how to live by his truthful existence, and how to make
himself accessible to the emanations of God.
Revelations came to teach man
how to handle everything in life that God bestowed upon him, from the
perspective that he is God’s vicegerent on Earth.
Revelations came to teach man
that he must have a Direction Quibla[5];
an ultimate goal for his existence.
Revelations came to teach man
that he was created to be devoted to the Supreme Truth, and that the Path to
realize his ultimate objective is available for him; he only has to give a
chance to the truth within him to talk to him, and to guide him, and that is not
possible unless he prepares his whole existence for the relationship between
“him” and the “truth within” to take place. He is taught that such
attachment cannot be established in case he were, up to his ears, in mundane
affairs, and caring for nothing but fulfilling his prompt physical needs. He is
taught that if he does not give a chance to the truth within to be expressed,
and to have a say, he is susceptible to be lost in this life. So, the Divine
directs man to allow what He has gifted him with, in the form of his primordial
nature fitra, to surface, and guide his existence. If man gives a chance to his
fitra, he would find the truth, and if he does not, he would not attain truth,
salvation, or fruitfulness.
When observing people now in
the East or the West, we notice that the majorities do not give a chance to the
“divine truth” within them to unfold and express itself through them, talk
to them and guide them. Some think of “religion” as seeming sticking to
forms and superficial physical actions; hence, they are devoted to what they
perceive as “religion”, and they do not attempt to turn inwardly at all.
Others are fully involved in material affairs, and they are heedless of the
truth within. However, there could be no appropriate approach unless the truth
within man is revealed to him, unless the primordial nature fitra that God
created man with, emerges and conveys to him the deep truths embedded in his
essence. Hence, man needs to prepare himself for the truth to manifest within
him, and to become himself a manifestation of the truth. The moment, in
which the truth emerges, is the moment of the birth of the messenger of truth,
and the message of truth within him. It is the message of truth that will
accomplish its purpose however time it might take. That message will invade the
darkness within and cause man’s transformation into a better being supported
by the Divine’s Power. It would be a supreme moment in a person’s life. If
he experiences that moment, he would attain Life, by the Permission of God, and
the support of God. It is man’s hope to live through such a moment of
sincerity where he discerns the truth emerging from within him, and expressing
itself through him.
To sum up, we must exert
ourselves to live the guidance of Religion truthfully, and to discern the laws
that Religion revealed to us, so that the truth and the words of truth are born
within our being. If we do, we would be worthy of receiving the Call of the
Truth, and hence attain salvation by God’s support and His bestowed success.
The meanings we have touched upon today are reflections on the blessed
anniversary of the Prophet’s Birth. His Birth on Earth points to the
revelation of truth, and its spread out from east to west; the truth survived
and it will survive until God inherits the Earth and all thereon. Survival of
the truth will not only be within keeping the Holy Book of Allah, and the
Tradition of the Prophet Sunna physically, but also through spirituality. That
is so because every word of truth that has been said on Earth will never die. It
exists in the ether of the Earth, and a righteous person receives it, and by
grasping it, distinguishes between good and evil in all what he hears. Namely,
when man prepares himself well spiritually, he listens to the word of truth as
coming from its original source, which has existed on earth. However, even
though the word of truth has not left earth, this is not enough for man to
attain spiritually. He only attains when truth manifests within his own
existence. He attains when the meaning of Life is expressed by his whole being,
and when his primordial nature fitra is expressed fully. Man does not come to
righteousness unless everything within him is transformed, and the truth within
him unfolds through his existence. The crucial point is not that you listen to
the truth as said from outside; it is when you listen to the truth from within
you. It is the listening to the words of Allah from within that gets you
transformed from a certain stage to a higher one, and from a “being” into a
more evolved one. It is true that listening to the words of Allah from an
outside source gives you support and empowers you, but they will not get you
transformed unless you have absorbed them fully, and they emerged then from the
depth of your heart turning you into a new creation.
If you know that path; the path
to your innermost part, the path to truth, the path to your primordial nature,
then, this is the birth of the word of truth within you, the light of Allah
within you, and the secret of Allah that will permeate your whole being, with
Allah’s Permission, and make of you an existence of Light; an illuminated and
truthful being who was born to survive. It is the hope of every human being on
this earth to be that transformed, and that evolved.
We pray to God to support us to
that path, and to make us ready for that (great Birth).
[1]
See “Key Words and Terms”.
[2]
The word Fatir in Arabic, has got a certain depth that cannot be conveyed in
the translation which is generally Maker, Creator, or Originator. Fatir
implies: the One who creates according to the Law. Part of that Law is that
man has got a divine essence.
[3]
Some ancient history documents wrote that God told Moses in the Torah, “O
child of Adam, I have created everything for you, and created you for Myself.
So, do not destroy what I created for Myslef, for the sake of what I
created for you.” This statement is supported by the words of the Holy
Qur’an when God addresses Moses saying, “I have prepared you for
Myself”( HQ: 20: 41), and in another verse, “I have made thee to be not
other than Me.” (HQ: 20: 39)
[4]
It is narrated in Sheikh Ibn Ageeb’a book “Iqadh Al Hemam Fi Sharh Al
Hekam”. He quotes some history books documenting that the Divine says:
I AM Allah Who says to anything “Be”, and it is. So obey Me, and I shall
make you capable of saying to anything, “Be”, and it shall be. Note:
This divine saying metaphoricall and eloquently expresses the degree of
harmony that man might reach with the Divine will. Namely, when man is totally
devoted to Allah, and he is trnsformed into pure and divine energy, he
becomes a smooth and effective tool in the Hands of the Creator. His lower
self does not exist to form a barrier between his essence as a spirit and the
divinity within and around. Hence he becomes himself part of the Divine Law of
saying to things, “Be”, and they are.
[5]
See “Key Words and Terms”.
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