Hazrat Ali

 Ali ('Ali ibn Abi Talib) (Hazrat Ali) 600-661 

Cousin and adopted son of the Prophet Mohammad, husband and companion of Fatima, and father of Hassan and Hussein. Regarded as the first Iman by the Shi'as (lit: followers of Ali).

The Nahjul Balagha (Peak of Eloquence) contains sermons, letters and sayings attributed to Ali, and is regarded by many Shi'a Muslims as being second only to the Qur'an. His breath-taking poetic description of the Creation reflects the aspect of God the Creator:

"When Almighty created the openings of atmosphere, expanse of firmament and strata of winds, He flowed into it water whose waves were stormy and whose surges leapt one over the other. He loaded it on dashing winds and breaking typhoons, ordered them to shed it back as rain, gave the wind control over the vigour of the rain and acquainted it with its limitations. The wind blew under it while water flowed furiously over it… The Divine dimensions of his personality and mission are also clearly visible in his sermons: Act constantly, set yourself an objective, persevere in your action, be patient and fear the Lord. You already have an objective; dedicate yourself to its achievement. You have a point of reference to which you have to refer. Islam has a goal, try to reach it. Accomplish your duties towards the Lord, and fulfil the obligations He has set upon you. On the Day of Judgment, I will be the Witness for the prosecution and the defense and I shall bring the proofs." 

During the ministry of Mohammad, Ali served as commander of the Prophet’s armies and was always at the forefront of battles. The Prophet himself praised Ali as the greatest of all heroes. His impressive sword Dhulfikar can still to be seen in the Topkapi museum in Istanbul and is an untarnished testament to his military prowess. As a statesman, Ali was the archetype of a benevolent leader, demonstrating fairness and generosity in all circumstances yet chastising bad conduct wherever it manifested itself. Above all, Ali was known for his uncompromising morals and the transparent and fair use of collective money and state assets. While Islamic scripture is full of accounts relating the praise Mohammed bestowed upon Ali, the most memorable has to be:

“I am the City of Knowledge and Ali is its Gate.”

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi has stated that Ali was an incarnation of Brahmadeva (1977-0222, 1977-0321, 1988- 0814) and later incarnated as the thirteenth century Maratha saint, Sopandev, brother of Jnaneshwara:

Ali came on this earth, he was the incarnation of Brahmadeva, and his other incarnation was Sopandev. You can go to Pune, you can see the temple of Sopandev there. (1988-0814)

Bibliography
Peak of eloquence (Nahjul balagha): sermons, letters and sayings of Imam Ali, translated by Askari Jafery (USA: Islamic Seminary for World Shia Muslim Organization, 1977)
http://www.al-islam.org/nahj
Barnaby Rogerson, The heirs of the prophet Muhammad, and the roots of the Sunni-Schia schism (London: Little, Brown, 2006)
'Hazrat Ali material on the Ismaili Web'
https://www.amaana.org/ali/hazratali2.htm

from John Noyce, Saints, Sufis and Yogis, 3rd ed, Vol.1 (Lulu Press, 2015)

The Dervish Path

Whoever is given the dervish path 

may his posturing cease and may he shine. 

May his breath become musk and amber. 

May whole cities and homelands 

gather fruit from his branches. 

May his leaves be healing herbs for the sick. 

May much good work be done in his shadow. 

May his tears become a clear lake. 

May reeds sprout between his toes.

 

And among all the poets and nightingales 

in the Friend's garden, 

may Yunus hop like a partridge.

Yunus Emre 

thanks to Andrew Perusco for the text.

Hazrat Inayat Khan

Born into a noble Indian Muslim family, Inayat Khan (1882-1927) became a Sufi in the Nizamiyya sub-branch of the Chishti order. With the encouragement of his shaykh, he left India in 1910 to go to the West, travelling first as a touring musician and then as a teacher of Sufism, visiting Europe and North America, and eventually settling in Paris. 

His message of divine unity through love and wisdom was attractive to many seekers in the West, and he founded the Sufi Order in the West, now known as the Sufi Order International.

Inayat Khan expressed the view that:

There is no line of work or study which woman in the West does not undertake and does not accomplish as well as man. Even in social and political activities, in religion, in spiritual ideas, she excels man. … I can see as clear as daylight that the hour is coming when woman will lead humanity to a higher evolution.


Bibliography
The Sufi message of Hazrat Inayat Khan (London: Barrie and Rockliff, 1960-1969. 12v)
The heart of Sufism: essential writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan (Boston: Shambhala/ Random House, 1999)
'Quotes – Hazrat Inayat Khan on Music and Sound' https://www.dougberch.com/quotes-hazrat-inayat-khan-on-music-and-sound/
Marcia Hermansen, ‘Two Sufis on molding the new Muslim woman: Khwaja Hasan Nizami (1878-1955) and Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882-1927)’ in Islam in South Asia in practice, edited by Barbara D.Metcalf (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009), chapter 25

Qawwali

Bulleh Shah

Not a believer inside the mosque, am I
Nor a pagan disciple of false rites
Not the pure amongst the impure
Neither Moses, nor the Pharoh

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

Not in the holy Vedas, am I
Nor in opium, neither in wine
Not in the drunkard`s craze
Niether awake, nor in a sleeping daze

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

In happiness nor in sorrow, am I
Neither clean, nor a filthy mire
Not from water, nor from earth
Neither fire, nor from air, is my birth

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

Not an Arab, nor Lahori
Neither Hindi, nor Nagauri
Hindu, Turk (Muslim), nor Peshawari
Nor do I live in Nadaun

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

Secrets of religion, I have not known
From Adam and Eve, I am not born
I am not the name I assume
Not in stillness, nor on the move

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

I am the first, I am the last
None other, have I ever known
I am the wisest of them all
Bulleh! do I stand alone?

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

Bulleh Shah (1680-1758), Punjabi Sufi

Vishivanath

An 18th century yogi who lived on the Hindukush mountain in northwest Sind (now Pakistan). Said to be the guru of the Sufi, Sachal Sarmast (1739-1829) who composed the following verse:

I recognised the yogi who of his own accord entered my abode.
He had dressed himself in the garb of an ascetic as an artful device.
He had long yogic tresses and his body was smeared with ash.
His flute’s melody entranced my soul.
God had brought about this union between me and the yogi.
For him I have now sprinked perfume and musk:
It was he who revealed to me the entire mystery.

Bibliography
Kalyan B.Advani, Sachal (New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1971):24-26

from the biographical dictionary, Saints, Sufis and Yogis, available through lulu.com

Shri Mataji Visits Nizamuddin Shrine 1993

1993-0320 Visit to Nizamuddin Shrine Delhi from Sahaja Library

Another video, with Arrival

So many things you have seen get organized because also this Paramchaitanya has come into Kruta Yuga where it is working it out. It’s acting. And this activity, also, is absolutely supportive to you. For example, the police people told us that there are Muslims living here and you might have some danger from them. They might do some harm to you. I said, “Which Muslims are they?” So they said, “Nizamuddin Aulia people are here.” I said, “They’ll never harm us.”
I said, "Why? Because he was a Sufi and he was a great realized soul and the people who are around there, must be, most of them are, at least, believers of Sufism. How can they harm us?” So I said, “Tomorrow, early in the morning, you go and put a chador, as they call it, all of you,” and they were so impressed that you saw in the evening they came here all the way, morning time, and they were so respectful, then they called me, they gave me another chador, this, that and they said that we are yours and this and that, all kinds of things.
And his disciple was Amir Kousrow, was another very, very great Sufi gentleman and I always have admired his poetry and also the way Nizamuddin led his life of dignity and divinity.

All these Muslims who were there put hands towards me like this and they said, “We are feeling the cool breeze”, I said, “This is Ruh.” “Ah, this is Ruh.”
Once these people start getting Ruh, they will all become Sahaja Yogis very soon and you may have to have…..(unfinished sentence due to clapping)

H.H.Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, extract from Birthday Puja Talk, Delhi, 1993


poetry by Amir Khusro

The Chakras in Islam

"These Chakras are known as Alam or Latifa in Islam and in Sufism respectively.
One of the names of Allah is Al-Latif, which means the subtle one or the one who knows all subtleties.
Hence the word for Chakras used is Latifa which means subtle centre.
Chakras are indeed subtle centres which when awakened give a person his self-realisation."

Mooladhara Chakra / Alam-e-Fa'ani / Latifa Kalabiyah
Swadhistana Chakra / Alam-e-Masout / Latifa Nafsiyah
Nabhi Chakra / Alam-e-Lahoot / Latifa Kalhbiyah
Anahata Chakra / Alam-e-Sahoot / Latifa Sirriyah
Vishuddhi Chakra / Alam-e-Malkoot / Latifa Ruhiyah
Agnya Chakra / Alam-e-Jabroot / Latifa Khafiyah
Sahastrara Chakra / Alam-e-Lahoot / Latifa Haqqiyah

Source: Javed Khan, Islam Enlightened (New Delhi: Ritana Books, 1998), p63

In Sufism the Lataif are sometimes associated with the physical body.

Whilst attributions of Lataif to specific parts of the physical body can be found in Sufi writings, not all Sufis who use the lataif compare them to the chakras of the yogic subtle body. Lizzio (2007) maintains that the Naqshbandi sufis regard the lataif as having no fixed location and could be anywhere in the physical body, with the possible exception of the lataif for the heart. Harvat (1988) however gives six lataif and their locations in the physical body as used in the Mujaddidiyya branch of the Naqshbandi, named after the seventeenth century Sufi, Ahmad Sirhindi Mujaddid.

Harvat (1988) proposes that the Lataif are first found in the writings of the Turkestani Sufi, Najmuddin Kubra (1145-1220), founder of the Kubrawiyya order; and developed more fully in the writings of the Persian Sufi, Alaoddawleb Semnani (thirteenth - fourteenth century).

In India the lataif become associated with the chakras of the Nath yogis, as noted above. An early practitioner of this integration was Mohammad Ghawth (sixteenth century), a master of the Shattari order. (Harvat 1988).

A theory of the lataif as subtle spiritual centers is to be found in the writings of the Indian Sufi, Shah Waliullah of Delhi (1703-1762) (Hermansen 1988).


from John Noyce, The Inner Ascent (2018).

The Mother in the Islamic Tradition

Paradise is at the feet of the Mother.

Allah, The Most High, is pleased when Fatimah is pleased.
He is angered, whenever Fatimah is angered!

(Two Hadith (Sayings) of the Prophet Mohammed)


On the face of the earth there is no one more beautiful than You.
Wherever I go I wear Your image in my heart.
Whenever I fall in a despondent mood I remember your image
And my spirit rises thousand fold.
Your advent is the blossom time of the universe.
O Mother you have showered Your choicest blessings upon me.
Also remember me on the Day of Judgement.
I don’t know if I will go to heaven or hell,
But wherever I go, please always abide in me.

(Unknown Sufi)


On Resurrection Day, the sun and moon are released from service:
and the eye beholds the Source of their radiance,
then it discerns the permanent possession from the loan,
and this passing caravan from the abiding home.
If for a while a wet nurse is needed,
Mother, return us to your breast.
I don’t want a nurse; my Mother is more fair.
I am like Moses whose nurse and Mother were the same.

(Jalal al-Din Rumi, Masnavi)

Nizamuddin and Amir Khusro

Nizamuddin "was a Sufi and he was a great realized soul ... and his disciple was Amir Khusro, was another very, very great Sufi gentleman and I always have admired his poetry and also the way Nizamuddin led his life of dignity and divinity."
(H.H.Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, Delhi, 21/3/93)


Some poetry by Amir Khusro (1253-1325):

Khusro! the river of love has a reverse flow
He who enters will drown, he who drowns will get across.


How lovely is winter in India
that makes the home and outside look like a garden.
Neither the road becomes a frozen back of the snow,
Nor the hands remain fixed in fists due to cold.
The wide fields are never short of greenery,
The trees never look naked of leaves.
The air is not empty of the chirping of birds,
Nor the garden is deserted of sounds.
Any one can embark on a journey
carrying one or two layers of clothes only.
(extract from the Mathnavi Noh Sipihr)

Whenever he visits my place, wakes me up from the sleep,
he sings the song of separation;
Is it the Beloved, oh friend? No, its mosquito!

illustration: a meeting of Nizamuddin and Amir Khusro

The Sufis of Turkey

"Turkey has one very great blessing. It has had so many sufis. And if you read them, it is a description of Sahaja Yogis. They didn't call them Sahaja Yogis but they were because they are described to be like this or that and when they tell about their own experiences in poetry you are amazed to see they are talking like Sahaja Yogis."
(H.H.Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, 2001)

There is a Water that flows down from Heaven
To cleanse the world of sin by grace Divine.
At last, its whole stock spent, its virtue gone,
Dark with pollution not its own, it speeds
Back to the Fountain of all purities;
Whence, freshly bathed, earthward it sweeps again,
Trailing a role of glory bright and pure.
This Water is the Spirit of the Saints.
Which ever sheds, until itself is beggared,
God’s balm on the sick soul; and then returns
To Him who made the purest light of Heaven.
(Jalaludin Rumi, 1207-1273)

I am before, I am after –
The soul for all souls all the way.
I’m the one with a helping hand
Ready for those gone wild, astray.
(Yusuf Emre, 1238-1321)

I tie up greed, and release generosity.
I shackle anger, and liberate meekness.
I bind consumerism, and unbind piety.
I tie up ignorance, and unfetter respect for the Absolute.
I restrain passion, and release the love of the Absolute.
I tie up desire, and free fulfilment.
I bind commodification, and liberate awareness.
(Haji Bektash Veli, 1248-1337)

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep.
(Jalaludin Rumi)

God permeates the whole wide world,
Yet His truth is revealed to none.
You better seek Him in yourself,
You and He aren't apart - you're one.
(Yusuf Emre)

Find in yourself all that you seek.
(Haji Bektash Veli)

This is how it always is
when I finish a poem.
A great silence overcomes me,
and I wonder why I ever thought
to use language.
(Jalaludin Rumi)

Sufism

Interviewer: Is Sahaja Yoga like Sufism? Islamic spiritualism?

Shri Mataji: Not 'ism'. That's the difference between the two. Anyone can call himself a sufi. It's not an 'ism'. 'Ism' means a kind of theory or a kind of group who believes in something. It's not like that. Sahaja Yoga makes you a sufi. Sufi means 'cleansed'. It cleanses you and you get rid of all these horrible things and you become a transformed person. Most of the sufis didn't know how they became sufis. They were born like that. And the others who talk about that, like Tao. You must have heard about the Chinese thing, Tao; when they describe a sage, they say a sage is like this, like that. But how does he become like that? So that part is missing, even in the sufi theories. How you become a sufi? Just by going round and round, you don't become a sufi. By following a certain code of life, you don't become a sufi. What does it, is Kundalini. That has to rise.

...

Interviewer: Turkey is located in the middle of several volatile regions. For example, the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Middle East with its present Israel and the Palestinians. Can Turkey and or Turkish Yogis play a role in bringing peace to these regions?

Shri Mataji: Of course. Why not. Of course. Turkey has one very great blessing. It has had so many sufis. And if you read them, it is a description of Sahaja Yogis. They didn't call them Sahaja Yogis but they were because they are described to be like this or that and when they tell about their own experiences in poetry you are amazed to see they are talking like Sahaja Yogis. That's the reason. Because of that blessing, Turkey has become very important for me also. That spirituality will definitely take a shape here and maybe, I almost feel, that Islam will be, really be shown in Turkey very well and maybe it will help people to correct their ideas about Islam.

Turkish Daily News, 27 April 2001

for the full interview, click the button: