Ya Hazreti Pir Muhammad Nureddin al-Jerrahi
In the following page we present two texts of succinct teachings on the path by our two great guides, Shaykh Nur Hixon and Shaykh Muzaffer Ozak. You will observe differences of style and approach, for every shaykh has a unique interpretation within the fundamental unity of the Muhammadan way.
Levels of Mystic Embrace
Notes on the Path by Shaykh Nur al-Jerrahi
The following text is based on the teachings which Shaykh Nur gave in a seminar at Naropa Institute in 1989. He edited the notes to create a compact outline of our dervish path. We have decided to keep it in the informal, shorthand style of the notes, therefore the wording does not always reflect the diamond-like precision that Shaykh Nur brings to his formally published texts. Nevertheless, this is a precious jewel-box of some of his inspired interpretations. Several of these ideas are further discussed and elaborated in the introduction of his book, Atom from the Sun of Knowledge.
Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim
In the Name of Allah The Tenderly Compassionate,
The Infinitely Merciful
I. Structures of Consciousness:
The seven levels shared by all human beings without exception
1. Survival instinct: Domineering or aggressive self—self perpetuating—uncivilized—in its extreme form, destructive, criminal behavior—biological self—natural, not evil in itself, although it easily becomes a channel for evil or negativity—not to be destroyed, but made transparent to the higher levels.
2. The Seeker: Seeking genuine structures of value (love, harmony, beauty)—shariat begins (whether it is the shariat of Islam, shariat of Christianity, etc.)
3. True Human Being: Fullness of shariat—genuine fulfillment for self and others
4. Divine Attributes manifesting: Divine Splendor manifesting through human context—the steep part of the mystic path begins
5. Mystic union: Blending with the Essence: Luminous darkness—beyond Divine Attributes—hidden treasure—Hu, Hu, Hu
6. Humanity as the Crown of Creation: The Divine Attributes consciously expressed in the world by the practitioner coming forth as these Attributes—zikr gives a glimpse of this level—highest region of Paradise
7. Infinite Fecundity: Radiant—luminous—green—no sense of separate self can exist on this level—Divine Consciousness alone exists as the eyes by which we see and the hands with which we serve (from an oral tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace)
II. The Mystic Path:
A movement from inner to outer, transcendental to earthly
A. Four Steps/Taking Hand; Traversing the Seven Levels
Hand-taking correlates to Mary being crowned Queen of Heaven; represents a vision of complete spiritual evolution.
Step 1, the spirit of Shariat (or five pillars of Islam): Serving God—making honey—two or three levels of the seven levels of consciousness are traversed—journey to God
Step 2, Tariqat: The steep path—intimacy with God—all mystic orders of Islam—tasting honey—journey in God as the Divine Names—four of the seven levels of consciousness have now been traversed
Step 3, Haqiqat: Truth—Haqq—only Essence of Divinity exists—being honey—maturity—peak of the mountain of Light—ocean of Love with no shores—only God—fifth level of consciousness is reached
Step 4, Marifat: God’s journey in humanity—feeding honey to the universe—entering the marketplace with bliss-bestowing hands—being Divine Compassion—servant, abdallah (servanthood is higher than prophethood)—with recognition of all facets of reality and all responsibilities, yet transparent to the Divine Light—servant’s hands are Rahman and Rahim—breath is Ya Hayy—mature of the mature—the sixth and seventh levels of consciousness are now traversed.
Shariat: Making honey
Tariqat: Tasting honey
Haqiqat: Becoming honey
Marifat: Feeding honey to the universe
Shariat: Humanity’s journey to God
Tariqat: Humanity’s journey in God
Haqiqat: God’s journey to God
Marifat: God’s journey in humanity
Shariat: Service
Tariqat: Intimacy
Haqiqat: Maturity
Marifat: The mature of the mature
Shariat: Believer
Tariqat: Dervish
Haqiqat: Sufi
Marifat: Shaykh
Shariat: Levels 2-3
Tariqat: Level 4
Haqiqat: Level 5
Marifat: Level 6-7
B. Embracing Universal Islam: Shahada
1. Witnessing to the unity of Existence; the unity of Reality; the unity of God
2. Witnessing to the prophethood of all prophets sent by this Reality, by which It sends Itself to Itself (Ibn al-Arabi)
3. Witnessing to the veracity of all holy books and of all revealed scriptures that come forth from this Reality
4. Witnessing to the existence of angelic beings emanating from the One Reality, healing and guiding humanity, although the human being is higher in spiritual stature than angelic beings
5. Witnessing that everything which happens, whether it appears good or bad, comes forth from the perfectly merciful will of this Reality
6. Witnessing that the entire universe is waiting for the call to return into its Original Source
7. Witnessing that after the return to the Source, after physical death, God will recreate every structure of value on a non-physical plane of being called Paradise
C. Practicing Universal Islam: The Five Pillars
Process of outwardly manifesting the shahada:
1. La ilaha Ilallah, Muhammadan Rasulallah—central pillar that subtly contains and supports the other four
2. Prayers—five times a day, as an ideal, even if we don’t fully actualize it
3. Charitable giving—minimum of one-fortieth of liquid assets per year to anyone in need (in practice, more is usually given)
4. Pilgrimage (Hajj)—at least once in a lifetime if permitted by Allah; a longing, not a requirement
5. Ramadan—thirty day fast between sunrise and sunset celebrating the holy descent of the glorious Quran into the heart of the Prophet and re-manifesting once a year
D. Practicing the Way of the Prophet Muhammad: Sunna
Interpretable guidelines from the holy Sunna, the way of life of the Prophet:
Make Islam easy. Rasulallah, upon him be peace
My yoke is easy, my burden is light. Jesus, upon him be peace
There is no compulsion in Islam. Holy Quran
These are matters between the soul and its Lord.
Spiritual authority remains essentially decentralized in its human expression.
All dimensions of human life are sanctified and harmonized by abiding by various properly interpreted Quranic injunctions and Hadith (oral tradition of the Prophet). Here is a partial list:
• Ablutions before formal prayer and certain other times
• Special clothing for men and women during prayer, such as removing shoes, covering head
• Abstaining from various kinds of food and drink, such as pork and intoxicants of various kinds
• Sacrament and responsibilities of marriage (including the right of either partner to initiate divorce)
• Responsibility to study all fields of knowledge, but particularly Quran
• Ceremonies for newborn children and physical death transition
• Proper regard for true religious scholars of Islam as well as for authentic shaykhs and shaykhas who inherit on various levels the spiritual wealth of the Prophet
• Praying for the peace of the Prophet whenever mentioning his name and thus participating with angelic beings who do this
• Being a merciful caretaker of all creatures and the courageous advocate of justice founded on the equality before Allah of all human beings and especially the equality of men and women
• Always saying and really meaning, Inshallah (God-willing), Alhamdulillah (God alone deserves praise and gratitude), and Allahu Akbar, (God is always greater than any possible conception or description)
• Not making any distinction in essence between the prophets or any distinction in essence between their teachings
• Honoring parents
• Revering the Holy Quran (not keeping it in a low place), and greeting it with a holy kiss
• Assuming that the Quran always contains more levels of meaning than we can understand
• Various structures of governance must acknowledge the One God and are accountable to the One God.
• Respect for the integrity of personal property and personal space
• Respect for all the noble religious traditions and complete freedom and protection for their practice
• Universal brotherhood and sisterhood; greeting each other at all times with As-salam alaykum, and meaning it
• Regarding women as a special embodiment of spirituality, and understanding in this light various customs and practices such as the veil, the configuration of public prayer, the protection of women, and customs concerning monthly periods
• Permission to engage in essentially defensive warfare for the protection of spiritual values
• Regarding wealth and property as essentially God-given, to be used selflessly for the greater good of the community
• Mutual acceptance and cooperation in Truth between different dimensions of a society, such as different economic and social levels
• Natural resources belong to the Creator, the human being is simply the sensitive caretaker; this is not merely a material universe but a spiritual creation.
• The only legitimate income is from honorable physical or mental labor, which benefits the community in some real way. Inheritance and various abstract investments are legitimate if kept in harmony with all Islamic principles, mainly generosity; various levels of gambling are not authentically Islamic.
• Not risking ones own or others’ lives gratuitously—this would include observing the most refined standards of healthy living
• Respect for civil law
• Longing for world peace and harmonious world civilization
III. Commentary
Al-Nur- The One Light
In the Ashki-Jerrahi Order of Islamic Sufism, the aspirant can begin with Taking Hand and remain there, because Taking Hand contains the entire mystic path. He or she can also consciously affirm Universal Islam as part of the Hand Taking. Or the aspirant can move into tradition by accepting the Five Pillars and the Sunna, which go together, but which do not have a special ceremony connected with them as Taking Hand and Shahada do. Some persons who are already involved in Islam will ascend to the Mystic Path through joining the Order, and through this the atmosphere of Shahada, the Five Pillars, and Sunna will distinctly change for them. Other persons will come to the Mystic Path from another noble tradition such as Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, or an indigenous tradition. They need not embrace the Shariat of Islam. The aspirant who remains simply with the initiation of Hand Taking is a full dervish of the Order. Members of other Islamic or non-Islamic mystic orders may Take Hand as a blessing, confirmation, and spiritual acceleration.
The Four Gates and the Forty Stages
on the Way of Truth
By Shaykh Muzaffer Ozak al-Jerrahi
First Gate: The Gate of the Sharia
To enter, one must satisfy ten conditions. The first five are the familiar Pillars of Islam, namely:
The Testimony of Faith (Shahada)
Ritual Prayer
Almsgiving
Fasting
Pilgrimage
To these, the Masters of the Mystical Path have added the following five:
Lawful earning and lawful spending
Abstaining from unlawful things, both material and spiritual
Marriage
Constant battle with the lower self and occasional battle with external conditions
Promoting the complete fulfillment of Allah’s commandments, and preventing their violation
The Second Gate: The Gate of Tariqa
Here again we meet with ten conditions, namely:
Sincere repentance and seeking forgiveness
Transformation of character
Devoted service to a perfect guide
Fear of Allah without despair of His mercy
Renunciation of worldly pleasures for love of the Truth alone Self-sacrifice in Allah’s cause, striving to keep the approval of Allah
Ensuring that one is always pleasing to the Founding Saint of the Order of the Tariqa to which one belongs, or to the Shaykh
Exact performance of the litanies (wirds) and remembrances (tasbih) set for one by the Shaykh
Following the Shaykh’s advice, and avoiding contradictory behavior
Emptying one’s heart of all obsession with wealth or possessions, and filling it instead with the love of Allah and His Messenger
Al-Haqq-The True,
Allah, the Supreme Truth
Third Gate: The Gate of Haqiqa
Again there are ten conditions, namely:
Utter humility
Religious tolerance
Few expectations
Causing no harm to any creature
Hurting no person’s feelings
Kind and generous treatment of the poor
Traveling the prescribed way of Allah
Learning from all one sees
Constant and heart-felt supplication to Allah
Approaching as close as one is able to the knowledge of Allah and His mystery
Fourth Gate: The Gate of Marifa
This final gate also presents ten conditions:
Propriety in controlling one’s hands, tongue and sexuality
Struggling with the self to the point where it becomes compliant
Observing solitude
Complete and confident acceptance of the teachings of Allah’s saints
Modesty. As the blessed Prophet said, “Modesty is part of true faith.”
Generosity and hospitality
Distinguishing Truth from falsehood
Forbearance, with anger and wrath toward no one
Self-knowledge
Attaining closeness to the Truth
From The Garden of Dervishes