The Language of the Future
Sufi Terminology
by Murshid F.A. Ali ElSenossi

warith
Inheritor

(Waarith). The perfect inheritor of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace). Among the friends of Allah the warith is the one who dedicates himself exclusively to Allah through the Sacred Law. Such sincere following of Allah's Law eventually leads to great openings within the heart. Allah opens up for His friend the understanding of what He sent down upon His Messenger and Prophet, Muhammad al Mustapha. Allah discloses Himself within the inward dimensions of His truthful friend. This is the entire structure of the Science of the higher teaching. Through honouring and respecting everything which Allah Almighty has sent to His humanity, and by sincerely following, obeying and loving Allah and His Beloved, the seeker, the 'one who desires Allah' (murid) is transformed into the 'one whom Allah desires' (murad). Allah showers His Infinite Grace and Mercy upon the 'one whom He Himself desires'.


See also: Annihilation in the Messenger Boy Discrimination Follower Islam (B) Law Life transaction Messenger Object of desire Opening People of the Practice Practice of the Holy Prophet Prophet Qur'an Scale Spiritual courtesy
(Fana fi Rasul). Annihilation in the Messenger, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace). 'No one will meet Allah before meeting the Prophet'. After annihilation into the Self of the Murshid, the seeker journeys, through the Infinite Grace of Allah, to the next annihilation, which is Fana fi Rasul - annihilation in the Messenger. At this point the seeker is pervaded by an overwhelming love for the Holy Prophet Muhammad. This is a love which is greater than anything he has yet experienced. The Holy Prophet becomes dearer to him than life itself.
(Furqan). Discrimination or separation. The Qur'an is 'that which brings together' (The Qur'an), and it is also 'that which differentiates' (furqan). Seeing only its furqan aspect without seeing its Qur'an aspect is seeing only multiplicity. This is associating other gods with Allah. Seeing only its Qur'an aspect without seeing its furqan aspect is denying the secondary causes. This is limiting Allah.
(Tabi'). This term refers to the one who is a follower of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace). A follower strives to emulate his perfect and beautiful character. A friend of Allah is always a follower (tabi') of the Prophet Muhammad and is never independent of his guidance. To be a true tabi' is to be greatly blessed. To be utterly dependent upon our Master, Sayyiduna Muhammad, is a gift from Allah.
The Surrender. The Journey of Return to Allah is from the first Islam which is merely verbal submission, through the levels of ascent to the second and Real Islam, which is total and unconditional surrender with knowledge and love to the Will of Allah. The seven levels of knowledge through which the traveller must pass are Surrender; Faith; Perfection; Knowledge of Certainty; Eye of Certainty; Truth of Certainty and Surrender.
(Deen). The word deen indicates the 'life transaction' between Allah and Man. It is not merely religion in the constricted and limited sense which the word has assumed in these times. This 'life transaction' is between Allah and man, between the Creator and the created, the Limitless and the limited, the One and the many. 'Life transaction' means every facet, every aspect of life - from the smallest detail to the greatest action. Every moment of a man's life should be impregnated with the awareness of Allah - life is meaningless and futile without such an awareness. Islam, the Perfect and Final Revelation, is the Straight Path to this awareness of the Source. And the higher teaching is the Living Heart of Islam - the Heart from which flows the life-giving nourishment to every soul in the manifested world.
(Rasul). A Messenger (of Allah). The rasul is the one sent by Allah. Allah is the Principle and the rasul is a radiation from Allah. The Way back to Allah, the Principle is via His Messenger (rasul), the radiation.
(Murad). The object of desire. For the seeker on the Spiritual Journey the Object of desire (Murad) is Allah. As he journeys, purifying his heart through the remembrance of Allah, he experiences numerous lesser annihilations. After the first of the three greater annihilations (Fana fi Murshid) he may be graced with annihilation in the Holy Prophet Muhammad himself (Fana' fi Rasul). His entire being is then transformed from that of the lover into that of the Beloved. He is no longer the seeker, the one who desires Allah (Murid, but now he is the one whom Allah desires (Murad). The one who is overpowered by the Divine Attraction and is drawn away from his own will becomes the one desired by Allah.
(Fath). This is one of the forms of direct knowledge by which Allah 'opens the door' to the Unseen World. It is the direct knowledge of Allah disclosing Himself to the heart. This 'opening through tasting' is a knowledge which belongs exclusively to the People and the Elect of Allah.
(Ahl al Sunna). These are the sincere and truthful followers of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace). They endeavour to apply the Prophet's Practice to each moment of their existence. In knowing that he is their 'Beautiful Model' and their 'means of approach to Allah'. The Ahl al Sunna strive to follow not only the outward form of his profound Practice but also to penetrate the inward meanings.
(Sunnah). The profound Science of Beautiful Moral Behaviour based upon the beautiful model of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace). Following the form of, and contemplating the meaning within, the sunna are the most profound ways in which man can prepare himself to receive Divine Knowledge.
(Nabi). A Prophet is a friend of Allah (Wali) who possesses unique knowledge of the Unseen Worlds. Allah has sent 124,000 Prophets to humanity to show them the Way of Returning to Allah. The Prophets are under the Command of Allah to invite people to their particular way (or religion). The teachings of these religions are varied in keeping with the different peoples to whom they were directed, yet the Source of all is One, Allah. Each Prophet and each religion reveals a specific Face of the Absolute. Muhammad the Chosen One is the Final Prophet of Allah - May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace. The universal message which he delivered is the perfect and complete religion. It is for all of humanity, not being limited exclusively to one group of people.
The Recitation or The Reading. The Qur'an is the Final Revelation from Allah to humanity. This Sacred Book contains all the keys with which to open the endless unfolding of Knowledge of Allah. The Qur'an is that which brings together (qur'an), and it is also that which differentiates (furqan). Seeing furqan without qur'an is seeing only multiplicity and is therefore associating other gods with Allah. Seeing only qur'an without furqan is denying the secondary causes (asbab) and therefore limiting Allah. The First Word, 'Iqra' , of the Final Revelation, which descended upon the Holy Prophet Muhammad (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace) through Jibril, the Archangel of Revelation, (Peace be upon him), opened for mankind the Perfect and Complete Way of Return to Allah.
(Mizan). The scale or the balance. The Sacred Law is the scale in which must be weighed everything pertaining to Allah, to knowledge, to spiritual realization, to love and to the human state. The traveller on the Path of Return is required to purify himself, through spiritual endeavour, in order to achieve this balance which Allah has established.
(Adab) is spiritual courtesy and gracious behaviour of the Path and perfect refinement of words and deeds. Adab is giving each thing and each moment its proper due. The science of the higher teaching is based upon adab, which encompasses all of human life. It extends from right behaviour with regard to the Sacred Law (Shari'a), right behaviour with one's fellow travellers, proper conduct towards the teaching and one's teacher, and reaches to unceasing spiritual courtesy to Allah Himself. The proper courtesy towards the Law is to stay within its boundaries, the proper conduct with regards to good actions is to complete the action and disconnect from it. Adab with regard to the Real is knowing what belongs to oneself and what belongs to Allah. Each moment and each situation has it's own adab. It has been said that the higher teaching is all adab and the greater your understanding and implementation of proper conduct is, the higher you are in the teaching.

Islam means peace and the person who follows this peace is called the Muslim. From another root meaning of the word, Islam means complete submission and surrender, and the person who submits and surrenders himself to the will of his Lord is the person who has accepted Allah as his Creator, Sustainer, Lord and the Master of the Day of Judgement.

So from both the definitions Islam means a way of life for people who have opted to follow peace as opposed to chaos, order as opposed to disorder, discipline as opposed to indiscipline, submission as opposed to refusal, surrender as opposed to insolence, obedience as opposed to disobedience etc. All these things combined together to define Islam as away of life by which a person becomes a follower of peace and not a follower of chaos. And the followers of peace are the Muslims whose duty it is: "to establish peace and what is good, and to prevent chaos and what is evil, and they are the best people." (Al-Qur'an 3:110)



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