Question:
Salam,
During daily awraad or Khatm e Khwajgan, there are many occurrences of Kalima “La ilaha ilAllah“. When saying Kalima, can a mureed strike his heart with “il-Allah” as seen in Qadriyya silsila?
Jazakallah.
Answer:
wa alaikum salam,
Yes.
See the explanation of the Dhikr by Khawaja ‘Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q) cited by Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani in the book Classical Islam and the Naqshbandi Sufi Tradition (partially excerpted here):
Essential Remembrance
Abd al-Khaliq’s term was yad kard. Yad (remembrance) is dhikr and kard is the doing of the dhikr. It is the doing of dhikr, which is the essence, or heart of remembrance. The seeker must recite dhikr by negation and affirmation on his tongue until he reaches the state of the contemplation of his heart. That state will be achieved by reciting every day the negation (la ilaha) and affirmation (ill-Allah) on the tongue, between 5,000 and 10,000 times, removing from his heart the elements that rust and tarnish it. This dhikr polishes the heart and takes the seeker into the state of manifestation. He must keep that daily dhikr, either by heart or by tongue, repeating “Allah,” the Name of God’s Essence that encompasses all other names and Attributes, or by negation and affirmation through the saying of “la ilaha ill-Allah.” This daily dhikr will bring the seeker into the perfect presence of the One who is glorified.
The dhikr by negation and affirmation, in the manner of the Naqshbandi Sufi masters, demands that the seeker close his eyes, close his mouth, clench his teeth, press his tongue to the roof of his mouth, and hold his breath. He must recite the dhikr through the heart, by negation and affirmation, beginning with the word “la” (no). He lifts this “la” from under his navel up to his brain. Upon reaching his brain the word “la” brings out the word “ilaha” (God), moves from the brain to the left shoulder, and hits the heart with “ill-Allah” (except God). When that word hits the heart its energy and heat spreads to all the parts of the body.
The seeker who has denied all that exists in this world with the words “la ilaha,” affirms with the words “ill-Allah” that all that exists has been annihilated in the Divine Presence. The seeker repeats this with every breath, inhaling and exhaling, always making it come to the heart, according to the number of times prescribed to him by his shaykh. The seeker will eventually reach the state where in one breath he can repeat “la ilaha ill-Allah” twenty-three times…The meaning of this practice is that the only goal is God and that there is no other goal for us. The understanding of the Divine Presence as the Only Existence awakens in the heart of the disciple the love of the Prophet (s), and at that time he says, “Muhammadun Rasul Allah” (“Muhammad is the Prophet of God”), which is the heart of the Divine Presence.
Taher Siddiqui
