1 Surat-Ul-Kahf: Seeking and Finding a Murshid With

Shaykh Ahmed abdur Rashid September 19, 2013 www.circlegroup.org Thursday Suhbat

Surat-ul-Kahf: Seeking and Finding a Murshid With Comments of Shaykh Hazrat Azad Rasool (ar)

Comments before the dars: What was the half life of last night’s talk? It didn’t last until tonight, did it? It’s dying. Do you know why? Because attitudes of people like you come out of the sixties and seventies. You think everything's free, and you can have anything you want. You can be an individual, and do it anyway you want, and the grand result of doing everything the way you want? You have nothing. At the end of your life, you have nothing. And for some stupid reason, Allah only knows why, we were chosen to keep the tradition. How are you doing? Better take it seriously, folks. This is a tradition that is worth keeping, because if it isn't kept, you can say goodbye to Islam. It's gone. The name will be here, and everything else will be gone. If you don't believe me, read the Hadith, where it said at the end of time, the only thing left will be the ink on the page. That's all. No meaning will be left, nothing. It may die with you, but at least it should stay alive while you are alive.

So don't talk back to me. If you don't like it, give it up. That's what everybody does anyway. They have all the good reasons. But once you give this up, you have to give everything up. You have to give it all up. You've heard me say it 100 times, and I'll say it again. There is no way of justifying giving this up. If you ever understand the role of the murīd and the murshid, then once you start deciding for yourself, without the blessing and permission of the murshid, then you have to eventually give up everything. I don't care how many times you put your head on the ground, you give up Islam. And, believe me: I know that there are people in this room who don't care. You just as soon be Buddhists, or anything else.

Shaykh Ahmed abdur Rashid September 19, 2013 www.circlegroup.org Thursday Suhbat

Suhbat: Bismi-Llāhi-r-Rahmāni-r-Rahīm. In Holy Qur’an, Allah (swt) reveals in the Suratul Kahf, in the story of Prophet Musa (as) and Khdir: “’That was the place we were looking for.’ So they retraced their steps and there they found one of Our worshippers on whom We had given mercy from Ourselves, and We had taught him knowledge directly from Our Presence.” Musa says, “May I follow you on condition that you teach me out of what you have been given of right guidance?” Then they find Khdir.

The ta’wil of this is really the foundation of the seeking and the finding of murshid. And it describes in detail, when you think about the story of Khdir and Musa, the separation between the murshid and the murīd, the shaykh and the murīd. Or should you say the separation between shaykhood and murīdhood, the station or the state. “So they found one of Our servants from whom We had bestowed mercy from Ourselves, on whom We had taught the knowledge from Our own Presence.” This is the historical description. The ta’wil of this is of the shaykh and the murīd. Not just a story.

The introduction of this principle has been attributed to Abdul Khalaq Ghujduwani (ra) one of the Khwajagan, the great Khwajagan murshid who is said to have closed and opened two doors, dar. He closed the door of shaykhi (mastership), and he opened the door of khidma (servitude). He closed the door of khalvat (isolation), and he opened the door of suhbat (companionship). This is both figurative and actual. What this implies is that the separation between the master and the murīd, the murshid and the murīd, corresponds, in a way, to the distinction between being in solitude, khilwa, and being in community.

Shaykh Ahmed abdur Rashid September 19, 2013 www.circlegroup.org Thursday Suhbat

This is an ongoing challenge. I was having a discussion with one of the shuyukh recently, who was saying, “Well, really…(these are my own words, but basically saying)…why at my old age should I be bothering with murīds. They don’t listen anyway. I should just be preparing myself for death and studying, diving into the pursuit of the meeting of the elevated ones.” Because if the shaykh is not able, for whatever reason, to follow the tariqat, the Sufic path by himself, but only with the constant support of Allah (swt), that makes sense, doesn’t it? Then the talib / student cannot follow the path except within tariqat, within a Sufi order, and without the constant and direct support of the guide to guide him. It doesn’t mean that the murīd is not allowed to transition to become a murshid, obviously. Indeed, the aliqat dhahiri/exoteric interests and the aliqat batani/ esoteric interests don’t contradict each other.

Certainly, a talib can achieve the level of being able to guide others, but the reality is that when you look at the teachings of our Order (and our Order is the oldest Order of the Khwajagan), even in the old days, the Khwaja Khwajagan was said that access to spiritual direction or spiritual authorization cannot occur as long as the master is alive. That is not the way that everybody thinks, but that is the original way of thinking. On the eve of the death of Bahaudin Naqshband (ra), his companions were waiting to see who would be his khalifa, and he opened his eyes and said, “Why do you disturb me now. The person will be revealed dhahir khawanshood (will be revealed in the outer, later.”

The other thing is that a person who enters a Sufic circle should have no wish, no desire for this world nor for the Hereafter, we say. Mohammed Khawzi (ra) said,

When I was a talib at the Jahariya Madrasa, there was a member of the Khwajagan Order named Mullah Zia, who was dressing as a mullah to become

Shaykh Ahmed abdur Rashid September 19, 2013 www.circlegroup.org Thursday Suhbat

my confident. He was teaching me mathnawi at night. He told me, “I see in you the desire for tariqah. You must go see Khwaja Ahrar (ra).” He taught me the rules of discipleship. (You know those. You have them all memorized, right?) and told me about Khwaja Ahrar’s (ra) suhbat. There must be nothing worldly or other worldly in your mind in his suhbat. This is unruly. Neither ask for miracles/karamat, nor even makamat/stations, nor more than what is permitted/halal or zururi/what is necessary.

The rules of the followers in the Khwajagan Order ends with specific rules, specific rituals. It is not some kind of rhetorical expression, because it takes you from the esoteric back to the exoteric. It ends with religious action, because you have moved through a very esoteric period, and now you have to come back to the more dhahiri, back to what most refer to as the shari’ah. For example, it ends with instructions like this:

One must never avoid the wudu, and at each ablution, one must give thanks. After one gives thanks, one must ask what Allah wants since the prayer, as the du’a after giving thanks always receives an answer. In the early hours when one gets up for the night prayer, the tahajjud, (you should remember this tonight when you get up for the night prayer) after giving thanks, one must ask for forgiveness 100 times. Then one must complete the night prayer with twelve ra’kas and six salaams and then two other ra’kah while sitting for the last nafle prayer (witr). If he is able, he should read Surah Taha and Surah Ya Seen.

I should stop there lest you feel you are being overburdened. Well, don’t worry about doing it tonight. You have plenty of time in the grave. I will get to that. In this, I want to pepper my talks with different things. Tonight, I want to talk about the practices and the circles from my yet unwritten book on the circles in tariqah

Shaykh Ahmed abdur Rashid September 19, 2013 www.circlegroup.org Thursday Suhbat and I want to share with you some of the comments from my Shaykh, Hazrat Azad Rasool (ar) in private conversations with me over 35 years. I want to draw your attention to once again see beyond the specific technical understandings of these terms, and try to expand your thinking to the overall reality. To those of you who have over the years felt no need for notes because you have a photographic memory, or your arthritis does not allow you to take notes, I know that you will rush to listen to this again and again until you realize the depth of it. Of course, you might realize it without having to write it down immediately.

For example, when Shaykh is speaking about dhikr, note that he is not only referring to a specific practice, but also includes any state where one is reminded of Allah and Allah’s attributes. This is Hazrat speaking: “He emphasizes practice over form that provides the historical ‘idhn/ permission for us to proceed within the madad/ assistance of Allah (swt).” In other words, when you sit in the niyyat and you are seeking to remember Allah, you are only doing it with the ‘idhn of the Shaykh. I set that up with the Ghujdwani quote, remember? In case you don’t have it in your notes.

The Prophet Mohammed (sal) and our shuyukh, our lines of teachers, are there to help us. When he speaks of counting, he reminds us that it is the pure state of attention. Counting is the pure state of attention, along with purity and consistency that counts as we count. Durūd sharīf, albeit it is a specific recitation, [which recitation] depends on which Order. When we change Orders, the durūd changes. It is a means to create more ease in a demanding and difficult journey. So if you imagine someone who takes the journey very seriously and realizes how difficult the journey is just—like doing the wudu at tahajjud prayer—the durūd sharīf brings the ease of a breath of fresh air on the journey. Hazrat said to me,

Shaykh Ahmed abdur Rashid September 19, 2013 www.circlegroup.org Thursday Suhbat

Try to do the exercises in the Mujaddidi Order, unless someone is interested in other Orders. Before starting each Order, pray two rakas, and make tawba, and make dhikr. It is done for increasing the light and for durūd sirajamuneeri. If you feel that you lack light, then the Shaykh is asked to increase your light. And you should increase the number or the amount of time that you spend in dhikru-Llāh. For example, you begin with 1500.

When do you do 1500? (Tahajjud…) And then 1700 and 1900, 2100 then 3000, then 5000, 7000, up to 150,000 times. The median, he said, was around 5,000. Then after dhikr, make your muraqabah. The wazifa starts from Maghrib [and goes] up to Asr. He said in every Order, there are the Names of Allah (swt) mentioned. Some of the names have delineated certain qualities like in the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi line we say, “Ya Allahu, Ya Rahman, Ya Raheem, Ya Hayyu-l-Qayyum, wa Dhul Jalali wa-l-Ikram.” And the Shaykh has been taught that after saying that, you should say the following: “Through the barakat of these names and attributes I may overcome (and name the difficulty you want to overcome).” Say it seven times, and make your intention, and do durūd sharīf.

Those of you who are not taking any notes will, of course, remember this next time you have any difficulties, which never happens. But on occasion, some of you have difficulty.

Whatever is recited at the time of maghrib, we call it the fatihah. Whatever is recited at the time of fajr is called the khatam – Khatam Shareef or Khatam Khawajagan. Some people do not recite any wazifa, only the Khatam Khawajagan. It is used for healing purposes and to overcome certain difficulties. So in other words there is a purpose for each sitting and each

Shaykh Ahmed abdur Rashid September 19, 2013 www.circlegroup.org Thursday Suhbat

recitation. At every dhikr jahri aloud, try to visualize a circle of light. An inner circle will be formed. It is not seeing or hearing the words but seeing light on the latā’if. In the beginning you will see a circle and then you will see more light. Do not move the tongue when reciting. You do not hear it. You only see light and you move your fingers. You are training the heart. It is all taking place in the heart. You are speaking it in the heart. It is not like meditation when you are making an intention and do nothing. In the dhikr, you are doing it in the heart. Not with the mind and not with the tongue. This is called dhikr qalbi.

The student should recite the khatam in the morning and then ask for blessing—one hundred durūd sharīf, 100 times lā haulā wa lā quwwata illā billahi-l-adhim, 100 times again durūd sharīf, and then offer it to Abdu Bari Shah (ra), and ask for blessings to overcome difficulties. The Khatam Khwajagan is also recited when you think you are going to the grave and you want to help the deceased. You can give transmission, when you are a Shaykh (he is talking to me, you realize) on the Rahmat, like to a family member.

Abdu Bari Shah went to a place in Aota, near Allahabad (a very famous place for the Hindus, Khrisna), and there was Abdur Rahman Mari there. And Hazrat said, “My Grand Shaykh (Hamid Hasan al-Alawi (ra)) was with him, and he gave transmission of rahmat to Abdur Rahman Mari who was in the tomb. The effect was so strong, that even though it was such a hot summer, my Grand Shaykh began to.” He asked Sayed Abdu Bari Shah (ra), “Why am I shaking?” He was told that it was the effect of his niyyat (recites the niyyat for rahmat). When the Shaykh does this, all the bounties come to the deceased person. Anyone can help with the recitation for the deceased person if you go up to the grave and you recite Qur’an at the grave. These transmissions and

Shaykh Ahmed abdur Rashid September 19, 2013 www.circlegroup.org Thursday Suhbat

recitations by anyone when a man or woman has passed will help them perfect their transmissions that they already had when they were alive. And the process will go on, even after death.

But there are two things. One is to get the transmission in your life, and the second is to perfect the transmission you have received. You can receive a new transmission in the grave; but it is not appropriate to give it to a deceased, unless it is given by one who has permission and the authority to do that. Only the shaykh can do that.

Now this is a dialogue. I said to him, “Why not? Is he referring to a specific individual in the rūh?” And Hazrat said, “Only in exceptional cases.” I said, “Is he in Paradise?” He said, “He is in the barzakh. Only in special cases can a shaykh give it, not just to anyone. Not just to anyone.” I said, “If I die today, and you decided that I had some promise as a student, so could you continue to give me transmissions?” Hazrat said, “Yes, but only in a special case.”

“Is this the path of the person through the barzakh?” I asked. He said, “Yes.” “So you are saying that the salik’s journey continues after death? This is why it is said in Qur’an that one should not hunger for Paradise or fear hell. So my journey continues after death and can lead me to the baqa after death? Is it possible to attain the insānu-l-kāmil after death?” Hazrat said, “Yes.” I said, “So if I die, will all the saints receive me somewhere after my death? Are they also helping? Are you helping to bring me up, and the Shaykh knows?” And Hazrat said, “I want to make it clear. The transmission a disciple gets if he is not able to perfect them during his life, then in a special case he can perfect them after death. But he or she has to be in the circles, and be a sincere student, and have high character and trust.”

Shaykh Ahmed abdur Rashid September 19, 2013 www.circlegroup.org Thursday Suhbat

We were talking about sitting and practices and the attitude of students, and Hazrat said that we should sit as I sit. And I said, “If I am not there, some do not sit as much.” I am talking about you. He said, “They should sit because there is suhbat. Even if you are not there, there is mayyat. The most important thing in the Naqshbandi Order is nisbat/relationship. It is like a seed given to a student. In our Order to visualize tasawwur of the shaykh was practiced up to Sayyid Rahman, the disciple of Shah Waliullah (ra). But after that, when he was given this instruction, he hesitated because of the tendency of people to become idolatrous. So Shah Abdul Aziz (ra) told them, “Don’t do it anymore.” After that, we don’t usually visualize or make tasawwur of the shaykh. But if the shaykh is there, it is all right to make tasawwur of the shaykh.

This is called a special point of our Order. The technical word is tasawwur of the shaykh, and another word is fana fī shaykh and fana fī Rasūl and fana fī Allah. This was an earlier technique. But in Mujaddidi today, we do not have to do it. Now only with certain students, and when the shaykh is present, the station of fana is reached anyway. You will have to have complete surrender to the shaykh anyway for that to happen. Then they will wash your feet with love. If the student is really sincere, it will come automatically.

I came to my Grand Shaykh. It was hot. It was very hot. He was dying. (Who was his Grand Shaykh? Hamid Hasan al-Alawi (ra).) He asked me to put some water on his face. So I put some water on his face and I put a lota (water pot) under his feet, and put water on his feet. I kept the water and I drank this water. Nobody asked me to do that, but when I did that, the Shaykh got up and he didn’t say anything. He knew what I had done. He looked at me and I saw light in his body. Then I began to kiss his hands. You see light on his hands, and you want to automatically kiss it.

Shaykh Ahmed abdur Rashid September 19, 2013 www.circlegroup.org Thursday Suhbat

One man came to me and he had a vision. He went mad. He wanted to kiss everything because he saw light on everything. If you have some students, then certainly they will kiss your hands and even your feet. It looks very nice when it comes automatically from the heart, not as a rule. But when a student comes, he should remain standing. If the Shaykh asks him to sit, he should sit. In our Order this is not done in the beginning, but later; they will see what is going on by seeing others doing it. They will not dare to sit. If someone is sitting with me, how can he sit or another student sit? The murīd comes and keeps quiet. Only when the shaykh asks him does he speak. This happens automatically from the heart.

How does it automatically happen from the heart? Obviously it doesn’t. What is the prerequisite for it to happen automatically from the heart? Should I give you a rule for it to happen automatically in the heart? What do you think is the prerequisite for these things to happen automatically from the heart?

(I was thinking sincerity). Yes, sincerity, right. Oh, I am sincere. But I don’t see the light on the hand of the Shaykh. Yes? (Perhaps that sincerity must also lead to intense practice to increase one’s capacity to see that light.) You mean ujub? You mean humility? We don’t live in a world where humility is highly valued. Arrogance is valued.

I was going to tell you something before. What are the special circumstances of one being able to be given a transmission in the grave? That the person in their life practiced their practices with sincerity, and did them fully, and did them diligently. If you know that, then you can give them their next transmission in the grave;

Shaykh Ahmed abdur Rashid September 19, 2013 www.circlegroup.org Thursday Suhbat otherwise, they will only perfect the transmissions that they have had up until that point—maybe. Hazrat goes on.

The most important saints are the Prophet Mohammed (sal), Imam Jafar Sadiq (ra), Abu Bakr, Abdu Khalil Munjani, Shāh Bahā’uddīn Naqshband (ra), Khawaji Mohamed Farsi, Khwajā ‘Ubaydullāh Ahrār (ra), Shaykh Ahmad Farūqī Sirhindī (ra), Sayed Abdul Bari Shāh. And to the Naqhsbandiyya, the most important thing is jedhb / attraction. In our Order, there are certain people who try to combine suluk with ecstasy, but only certain people can do that. Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (ra) was told by his shaykh that jedhb is related to Abu Bakr, but the paths are the same. They all lead to Ali.

Why? Because Ali was, what did the Prophet (sal) say Ali was? (He was the gate). He was the gate.

And the path of jedhb is the path of Abu Bakr and the path of Ali is suluk, and we combine the two. That is why Ali is called the path of knowledge and Abu Bakr is called the path of friendship of Rasūlu-Llāh (sal). So it depends on your inclination. Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (ra) was a disciple of Abu Bakr, but at the same time he was related to Ali, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed (sal). So these paths are combined in Imam Jafar as-Sadiq, which is why he is head of our line.

After centuries, a man, by the Grace of Allah, is given the ability to combine these two again. The founders of Khwaja Ghujduwani gave to Shāh Bahā’uddīn Naqshband (ra), then from Khalil to Mohammed Parsi, and this continued. It is like the queen bee who takes time to lay the eggs, and to develop, and the line keeps going.

Shaykh Ahmed abdur Rashid September 19, 2013 www.circlegroup.org Thursday Suhbat

I asked, “Is this why the bee is the symbol of the Naqshbandiyya?” “The queen is not always there. It takes time to become a queen. You need to eat special food.” Hazrat smiled, paused, and asked me for more honey to put in his lemon tea. You see why it is important to keep these notes about the Shaykh?

Khwaji Baqibillah, in Old Dehli, there was an old monastery, a former khanaqah. (Now there is only a tomb there, and a mosque.) At the time of Khwaji Baqibillah, within two months, Shaykh Ahmad Farūqī Sirhindī (ra) was able to receive transmissions. He had already been initiated by his father into the other Orders, in the Chishti Order, but he was not initiated into the Naqshbandi Order. When he came there, he was able to receive Naqshbandi nisbat and he was surprised; and he surprised Shaykh Baqibillah by his knowledge. The next time he came to Dehli, Khawja Baqibillah had his students sit behind Shaykh Ahmad Farūqī Sirhindī (ra). And he is like the sun and I am like the star before him. He asked Shaykh Ahmad Farūqī Sirhindī (ra) to transmit the transmissions Baqibillah (ra) to his own two sons.”

Do you find this interesting? You will remember it all, right?

Maulana Yaqub Charki (ra) in the description of the Names of Allah, said “Hazrat Khwaja Quddus in a state of qabd used to command himself to ask for forgiveness. And in bast / expansion, he would speak about gratitude.” When you are in a state of constriction, and your mind is gone, or when you have fallen like in the sema, and you lose your center, you're in a state of constriction. When you hit the ground, you are in a state of bast. You are focused and constricted; then all of a sudden, you expand. (That's what happens when people fall, or spin around. It's a very quick constriction, and

Shaykh Ahmed abdur Rashid September 19, 2013 www.circlegroup.org Thursday Suhbat

then expansion.) When you're in a state of constriction, or dhikru-Llāh, or in the state of emotional or mental constriction, you should be asking for forgiveness. When you are in an expanded state, you should be thanking Allah.

How do you know? You have to train yourself to do that. Don't just have the experience of the movement, or the transmission of the energy. Train yourself to do that.

When you follow these two states in this way, this is called wuqufi zamani. In the Naqshbandi Tariqah, it's equal to the expression of muhasabat in other tariqahs. One of the ways we train ourselves to do wuqufi zamani is by making muhasabat. You see what you have done that is no good, or the limitations and problems of the day are there; and you ask Allah for forgiveness. Then you thank Allah.

The moment of constriction is like muhasabat. You ask Allah for forgiveness, and then you thank Allah.

When you see what you have done in a correct way (meaning you have done it in the spirit or the essence of Islam), you thank Allah for that. This is called wuqufi zamani, time pause in the Mujaddidi-Naqshbandi, Khwaja Khwajagan teaching. In the Rusalat Nuriyya, Jami says, “Wuqufi zamani means muhasabat of the times, whether it is spent in disunion, dispersion, discord, or in community.”

What that means is a very big story. You can contemplate it.

Shaykh Ahmed abdur Rashid September 19, 2013 www.circlegroup.org Thursday Suhbat

The people who discuss the 11 principles can tell you more. It has to do with how you relate yourself in your waking, in your walking, and in your working state, not just in meditation – a time pause. We don't do dhikr jahri enough during the day, so this is why it is compulsory for us to make wuqufi qalbi. (Then he gave an instruction on how to make the dhikru-Llāh.) And when you do this you can be completely lost in your work, and then you make wuqufi qalbi. You get lost in your work, and something reminds you. Then another 10 minutes goes by, and you do it again. Later, through this practice, you will be doing continuous wuqufi qalbi. While you are working, while you're doing your household tasks, you will be paying attention to your heart. This becomes solitude amidst the crowd.

And you should always be aware of your heart. There are many techniques with Sayed Abdul Bari Shāh that made it easier, and made the changes that were necessary for us. Up until the time of Ahmad Farūqī Sirhindī (ra), all those other transmissions came either directly or uways. After Ahmad Farūqī Sirhindī (ra), 18 other transmissions were established that could be taught by the shaykh and given through tawajjuh. When you get to the point in maiyyat in the second circle, you can know that this is as far as Bahā’uddīn Naqshband (ra) gave verbally. (That's where it stopped at the time of Bahā’uddīn Naqshband (ra).)

From that point on, they were given through uways. The student at that point was considered to be out of the circle of existence, and was able then able to travel sayr-i-Llah and receive transmissions directly. The salik at that time should be aware of his states. At that time, the circles were considered to be two: the world of existence, the ‘ālam al-khalq; and the world of command, ‘ālam al-amr. It is those two inter-related concentric circles that define our

Shaykh Ahmed abdur Rashid September 19, 2013 www.circlegroup.org Thursday Suhbat

manifest existence. Traveling within and between the two at will necessitates becoming facile and conscious of a number of specific transmissions, which reflect the ‘ālam of the ‘āyāt of Qur’an as they interface with our consciousness, as well as having doors of the latā’if opened.

When you're traveling, and you receive these āyāt of Qur’an to contemplate, this is traveling between these two worlds of command and creation. This permits us to have a series of distinct and unique perceptions of both the outer reality, and the inner reality, the organs of our latā’if. In this sense there are circles within circles, each with its own facet or view of the aspects of the existence of the creator. Latā’if refers to Allah, All Subtle, All Gentle. It carries the meaning of tenderness and graciousness, and reflects in each human being (he says) the Divine Potential of the One Who is above all comprehension, Who understands the most subtle mysteries.

It is through these different transmissions, wazifa, khatam, fatihah, that the sincere seeker develops more and more subtle means of perception and understanding; qualities of the divine, and is able to implement them consciously into their life here, and carry them into the Hereafter. Each latifa has its own unique perspective and a prophet associated with it. But more important, each latifa and each Order, if contemplated and meditated upon correctly, will develop a special adab necessary for progress to the next step. This will develop one's character, and qualify the seeker for subsequent levels of development.

Your adab changes and gets refined. Unless it's refined enough, you can't travel to the next level of the past because you can't see it; you can't hear. You cannot relate to it.

Shaykh Ahmed abdur Rashid September 19, 2013 www.circlegroup.org Thursday Suhbat

It's critically important that one reflects on what is said in the Qur’an. “Let him be courteous and let no one be aware of you.” The warning to the Sufi, or the one who refines the latā’if, is to make progress. There must be concealment. There must be some subtlety, and the true seeker will find them through the traces, and will know that the promise of Allah is true. Read Surah al-Kahf carefully with this in mind, about the sleepers, about recitations, about adab in one's life, about purpose in life, about will, about effort, about performing wholesome deeds, beliefs and the rewards of this journey. And then you will realize that another understanding of the circles is a metaphor for the layers and layers of benefit, and insights available to one who walks this path.

Study carefully the beginning of this surah, and then see the greater and greater picture of one's own life, here and Hereafter as it unfolds, in a point (and I say point-counterpoint) in the rest of the surah, which covers so much about the interlinked circles of practice, behavior, actions, results, and admonitions.

Do you see why I tape recorded every conversation I had with him? I changed some of the language, but it's what he said. You can count on it. Too bad all those people who never liked me will not hear the stuff. They very rarely recorded him, and they only recorded his formal dars, but I recorded everything he said to me.

Queston: (Raheel) I wanted to thank you for the beautiful discourse. In the Hizb ul Shaykh we were reading tonight, everything takes on a different meaning now. There was a part in it that talked about concealment, and I had no idea what was meant by that. Now it's somewhat clear.

Shaykh Ahmed abdur Rashid September 19, 2013 www.circlegroup.org Thursday Suhbat

Shaykh: Actually, this is a subject I am going to have to talk about if I can get my head wrapped around the talk on the Mahdi that's coming up, because I really don't want to talk about the personality of the Mahdi. I want to talk about inclusion, and concealment. But it's like talking about not talking. Giving a long talk am not talking. Asalaam aleikum.