I want to begin with a quote from Music of the Soul pages 177-178. This quote was not part of Sa’id’s talk, but I think quite applicable.
“The work of the student is to receive the mantle, the transmission of the way, from his guide as his guide ascends to God. You only know the guide when you see him return to God with your own eyes. But he does not leave you empty handed. He leaves you with his mantle – the path, the tariqa, and the way to follow him and to drink from his cup. There are three qualities which must be awakened in the beloved through which he is prepared to receive the mantle of his guide. The first is deep politeness (al-adab). The second is the purity or faultlessness (at-taslim), like the purity and sanctity of Ibrahim as he stands in the garden where he receives esoteric knowledge through the chain of transmission (al-‘irfan) and travels, with all the dimensions of his being purified, to the presence of God. …The third quality which must be awakened is righteousness, trueness and integrity (as-sidq). By virtue of this quality, the murid keeps every promise with Allah in his guide.
Sa’id bin Yunus, the imam of the mosque on the Land, gave a teaching in March 2016 on how to stay connected with Sidi now that Sidi has passed.
This is just a brief summary of what he shared.
Sa’id began his talk with a reminder that Sidi was usually only in the United States 3 months out of each year. The rest of the time, Sidi was in Jerusalem. So we were used to times that Sidi wasn’t physically with us, yet we were still connected. And for people who thought they needed to call Sidi on the phone in order to feel connected or to receive his guidance, Sa’id reminded us that Sidi did not encourage people to do that. Some people have also picked up the habit to call in Sidi’s spirit when giving or receiving a healing. Sa’id said that he heard Sidi say at least 3 times, not to do that.
The reason why it is not the highest to call Sidi on the phone or to call in his spirit in a healing, is that only Allah is the Guide. Only Allah is the healer. Any guidance that Sidi gave came from Allah. When you ask for Sidi’s spirit in a healing, you are putting up a veil. Sidi’s presence is a veil to the Truth of Allah. Don’t stay with Sidi’s presence. Go beyond that only to Allah. Trust that when you call upon Allah for guidance in healings or in everyday life, that Allah will send you what you need. That may or may not mean sending you Sidi’s spirit.
From Music of the Soul, page 289, “When the follower goes through the picture of his shaykh, and he sees him in the Muhammadan picture, then he reaches and is prepared for seeing the high rank of lordship in him. If Allah gives him success and guides him, and reveals the truth to him in the image of his shaykh (as a shaykh), then he reaches his ultimate destination. This is the meaning of their words that the annihilation (al-fana’) is in three stages: The first one is in the shaykh (as a shaykh). The second one is in the Muhammadan reality. The third one is in Allah, Mighty and Sublime is He.
It is not, as the ignorant Sufis (al-mutasawwifa) imagine, that as soon as the realities, either the Muhammadan or the divine, are revealed to him, that the link between the follower and his shaykh is severed. It is not so at all; but he is the fortunate follower who does not forget his shaykh and is not separated from him no matter in whatever station or state he may be.”
Having fana’ in the shaykh is what connecting to Sidi is all about. We must surrender our will in order to focus on what Allah wants for us. The prophet (saws) said that what you migrate to is where you end. Seek Sidi and you will end with him. Don’t stop with that limitation. Seek only Allah.
We received gifts from our guide in the form of spiritual practices. Using those practices is how we can stay connected to Sidi. Specific practices to connect to Allah includes doing the salah, the 5 times a day prayer. You cannot be a Sufi if you are not praying because you are not surrendered to Allah. Sidi recommended that we do the Wird twice a dayas well as an hour of Remembrance. Other practices that Sa’id recommended that Sidi taught us are: the Istikhara Prayer (the Guidance Prayer), salah, writing Sidi’s books, and salawat. The guidance that we receive when doing these practices is still connected to Sidi, the prophet (saws) and Allah.
Sa’id mentioned that he has personally received a lot of guidance by using the Istikhara Prayer. Sa’id then asked for any questions. I asked the only question. My question was, “I pray for Sidi’s spirit everyday. Given his high station, what is the polite way to pray for Sidi’s traveling in the next world?”
Sa’id replied that everyone needs prayers when in the next world. Things that we can pray for are:
- pray for forgiveness and mercy
- pray that his grave is expansive
- pray for complete absolution for any wrongs he may have committed
- pray to magnify his good deeds
- pray that he has a place close to the prophet
- pray that he is like a free bird that can go anywhere in the garden
Here is the recording of his talk:
If you would like to download this talk, click right and choose save link as:Said Bin Yunus Connecting with Sidi 2016