Mohammad Burhan via email said, ‘Sir, i want to convert to Sufism and my wish is to join [HDE] Gohar Shahi. Help me please, how can I convert to Sufism? Please reply to me.’
Shehzad Rafiq Chatta asked via Facebook messenger, ‘Raiwind Tableeghi Group look like a group of saints and use extremely soft words. But they also support Taliban, Jesh-e-Muhammad, etc. I am an eyewitness and I know many such preachers who denounced terrorism in lectures but promote Taliban in mutual gatherings. Are these preachers, and Tariq Jameel also a part of the Dajjal? Is Raiwind a nursery for the Taliban? My humble opinion is that Tableeghi Jamat Raiwind is part of Dajjal because they hate all followers of spiritualism.’
When you ask me questions about spirituality, then I speak on the subject of spirituality without hesitation, freely – because I am discussing knowledge. I am not commenting on people. It is a very difficult job to comment on individuals. You cannot comment on people that you don’t know, that you have not ever met; you cannot comment if you have no information about their character and belief system. If this is the case, then I do not comment on individuals. It is not my job. I will not be doing justice with who I am by commenting on somebody that I am not aware of, or commenting on somebody whose religious background and belief system is not known to me.
I cannot comment on a person that I do not personally know. However individuals who are famous, their creed system, belief system, religious denomination and affiliations are prominent, and what they believe is available in books, on the internet, in their lectures and videos – [I can comment on them]. I can comment on individuals who either cause to create chaos among Muslims and among people of other religions; those who promote hatred among religions.
Obviously, some of these religious seminaries are so cunning and clever that they will use soft words to attract you. They will be gently spoken, but you wouldn’t be able to see that they’re holding a dagger behind their back. Very discreetly and quietly, they will hammer into your brain some abhorred, admonishable beliefs which will eat up your trust in Prophet Mohammad and your faith in God. In no time, you will find yourself confused with the belief system that you have always practised, the belief system of your ancestral lineage.
Certain things have become prominent in the last couple of decades especially in Southeast Asia – for example India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. These are three countries where there have been a lot of saintly individuals who have acquired a higher spiritual status in the eyes of God. Who were able to communicate with God, who were able to show you the right path following divine delegation. Throughout these three countries for centuries, people would follow mystical doctrine: the doctrine of spirituality, love, Sufism.
Sufis starting from Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani to Moulana Jalaluddin Rumi, from Moulana Rumi to Khwaja Gharib un Nawaz of Ajmer Sharif. From Ajmer Sharif to Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi. From Delhi to Adjhodan, Pakpattan Sharif in Pakistan [where Baba Farid lived]. From Baba Farid to Lahore, [where Data Ali Hajweri lived]. These were the individuals who practically and perfectly secured their heart against all evil. They purgated their Carnal Self (Nafs), they introduced their Carnal Self through divine energy to practical spiritual obedience to God. When they stopped sinning, they did stop sinning because they did not have the desire to sin anymore, not because the law of Sharia did not allow them to do it. They were able to personally abhor bad deeds; they eliminated all elements of evil from themselves. This came after vigorous austerity, a lot of struggle against their own self. In order to purify themselves, they refrained from all sorts of comforts whether those comforts were allowed by the religion or not allowed by the religion.
They turned their face away from different types of comforts just to practically and perfectly find divine proximity; nearness to God.
His Divine Eminence Gohar Shahi uttered out a historical formula. He said, ‘If you want God’s nearness and are seeking God’s proximity, the only way to finding God’s nearness is through God’s love.
If you will ever find God’s nearness, that will be through God’s love. Your ultimate goal is to know how to love God. God’s love is the central idea of every divinely ordained celestial book, whether it be the Torah, the Bible or the Quran revealed upon Prophet Mohammad.
The central idea of every celestial book is God’s love and God’s love is something that will let you please God instantly.
According to the Quran, no matter how dedicated and great a sinner you are, God promises to wash away all your sins should you manage to love God.
God’s love is the central idea of any monotheistic religion.
In every religion, the dispensary of God’s love was the appointed messenger of that religion.
For example, the followers of Abraham were to find God’s love through Abraham’s divine mediumship. To the Christians, the divine dispensary of God’s love is Lord Jesus Christ. That is why the Bible says, ‘Only through me, you will go to the Father.’
Do not make an error here. This verse from the Bible that says that you will reach the Father only through Jesus is confined to Christians – not to the Jews, Muslims or any other religion. In a similar way, for Muslims, the dispensary of divine love is Prophet Mohammad.
The Quran 3:31 said, ‘Prophet Mohammad, tell them: if you want to love God, then imitate me.’
The translation is not, ‘Do as I do,’ rather the true translation and meaning of [the last words in this verse] is, ‘Be like I am.’
If offering Salat, fasting, growing a beard can be Sunnahs (Customs of the Prophet), then is being like Prophet Mohammad not a Sunnah of Prophet Mohammad? According to a beautiful Prophetic Tradition, ‘You will be like the one that you love.’
To love God is not a secret. Everybody will nod his head in positive. The problem is, they think they love God, but at the same time they love their wife, children, and mother and father also. The calamity upon calamity is that they love the [worldly luxuries] and money also.. They love being bad and being corrupt also.
It is not humanly possible to believe which acts of theirs is true. Are they true in their love for their parents, their children, their wives or their God? Which love is true when they love everybody? Then we will have to see in 24 hours of a day, where does most of their time go to – to God, their wife, children, towards earning money or towards slashing throats of innocents?
Look at these terrorists: how can one assume a murderer, a killer who is slaying innocent people will be accepted by God for paradise? Paradise not for terrorists. God has created paradise for peaceful people.
God’s love is the main theme of the religion.
Somebody asked, ‘I want to convert to Sufism.’ You don’t need conversion. Sufism is not a sect or religion.
Calling Sufism a sect or religion is a grave insult to Sufism. All regions are in need of spirituality; without spirituality no religion is valid.
Sufism is the soul of the religion and any religion in which the spiritual system has collapsed, that religion has collapsed; the followers of that religion scattered into many different groups, sects and denominations. The religion stopped rendering spiritual grace to its followers.
Sufism is enlightenment of the soul. Sufism doesn’t care whether you are a Christian, Jew, Hindu or Muslim. In order to become a Sufi you don’t need to change your religion. All you need to do is enlighten your soul and heart.
The heart is the place of love. When the seed of God’s name is transmitted into the chambers of the heart and the soul which is sitting on the heart is divinely triggered and activated, that soul will wake up. When the angel that sits on the fleshy heart – which is known as the spiritual heart (Qalb) – is awakened, that soul will do nothing else but repeat God’s name. The repetition of God’s name doesn’t stop because the heart doesn’t need to breathe.
In order to make divine energy, you have to say God’s name at least 101 times nonstop. If you do it with your tongue, you can never make divine energy. However, the heart doesn’t have to breathe; it doesn’t have kids, a wife, father or mother; it doesn’t go to a job. The heart is neither is it Punjabi, Pathan or Mahajir. The heart is the dwelling of God.
[According to famous poetry], ‘If you must, then demolish a mosque, temple or church, but you must never hurt anybody’s heart because the heart is the dwelling of God.’
When you hurt such a heart, God will be wrathful upon you.
Sufism tells you how to love God and what organ in your body should be engaged in the activity of God’s love. God’s love is not done through imagination. It is not about visualisation, concentration or meditation; it is an activity. When this activity takes place, God’s light is generated within the heart. That light will start to travel towards God. When that light reaches God, you are connected. That connection between your heart and God is actually God’s love.
God said in the Quran 2:152, ‘When you remember me, I shall remember thee.’
It is give and take. You never care about God, never want to know or love God, but when you are up against some kind of adversity, in trouble, then you cry. Then you hold a rosary and you ask religious people, ‘I’m stuck in trouble. How many times should I remember God in order for this trouble to go away?’ You’re there for a reason; you’re a selfish worshipper. You do not remember God for love; you do not remember God for the sake of remembering God. You remember God because you are in pain.
There is a saying from a Hindu saint, Sant Kabir, ‘When you are in pain, you remember God. When you are happy, you forget God. If you remembered God while you are happy, fool, the trouble would never come to you. You read all the books of the world but you did not become a saint of God. If you read two-and-a-half words of love you would have become a saint of God.’
It is all about love. Sufism teaches you how to love God genuinely.
The State of Pakistan and Its Future
If you do not know spirituality, you will just claim, ‘I love God,’ and God is not convinced. All these Muslims say that they love God, but why are they in trouble? How can it be that you love God, God loves you – yet you are crying with pain? How can it be that you love God and God loves you, yet you are dying every day; you have cancer, you don’t have clean water to drink, you don’t have gas in your stoves, you don’t have electricity and your milk is not pure. You go to a meat market, buy a lamb, eat it and find out that it was actually a donkey.
The Prime Minister of Pakistan (a Muslim-majority country) is corrupt: he is the second most corrupt man in the world. Islamic scholars are corrupt. Their politicians, teachers, and actors are corrupt. For example, Ayyan Ali was a model, a spinster for Asif Ali Zardari (a Pakistani politician); she was caught red handed at the airport carrying a huge amount of US dollars – $300 000 in cash. The businessmen in Pakistan are corrupt. [Pakistanis] are killing Shias, Sunnis and Sufis yet they all love God. There are at least 140 million Muslims in Pakistan alone and they all claim to love God.
Prophet Mohammad was leader of an army of 313 people; yet they were dominant. Why? Because their leader was Prophet Mohammad and the followers were all true believers (Momineen).
[Some Muslims today claim be to true believers but they are] raping 2-4 month old babies. They’re 40 and they want to marry 13-year-olds. This is not Islam. This is corruption.
In Pakistan, democracy is an excuse to do more and more corruption.
With what the politicians have done to Pakistan, Pakistan should have been destroyed long ago. There is a divine hand on this country, which is saving the country. The time is coming soon when this divine hand will show up his entire body and Pakistan will be the leader of God’s love.
This country will lead the world and establish peace and love all over the world. No matter what religion you practise, they will teach you how to love God. Terrorism, hatred and racism will diminish. This time is not far.