Closer to our Creator

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

وَهُوَ بِالْأُفُقِ الْأَعْلَىٰ، ثُمَّ دَنَا فَتَدَلَّىٰ، فَكَانَ قَابَ قَوْسَيْنِ أَوْ أَدْنَىٰ*

'When he was on the uppermost horizon. Then he drew near and drew closer still, until he was within the length of two bows away or [even] nearer...'

(Surat al-Najm: 7-10)

This article was written by Ra'sul Hududil Mayameen Janab Syedi Aziz Bhaisaheb Qutbuddin in 2015.

In Me’raj, Rasulullah SA ascended the seven heavens and he, as the Quran describes it, “drew near and drew closer still, until he was within the length of two bows away or [even] nearer.” Syedna Taher Saifuddin RA expressed this closeness in Dawat-ni-Zaban,“khuda ye aankho ma wasaawi dida.” Rasulullah SA, although a human being, was so elevated in ruhaaniyyat and spirituality that he was as near as possible to Allah Ta’ala. No other Prophet or Messenger attained this nearness.

Our awliyaa’ are near to Allah Ta’ala, and because we are near to them, and because of our imaan and amal (beliefs and deeds), we attain closeness to Allah Ta’ala. After every Farizat Namaz we pray “Taqarrub” doa in which we seek closeness and nearness to Allah Ta’ala through his awliya’ – Panjetan and the Imams in their progeny.

In the time of the Imam’s seclusion, though the Dai is far away physically, in ruhaniyyat he is ever so close. When Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin RA prayed the Sadaqalla doa in Syedna Taher Saifuddin’s Urus Mubarak, he often quoted from the Ayat above to describe Syedna Taher Saifuddin’s closeness to the Imam. Syedna Qutbuddin TUS used similar phrases to describe Syedna Burhanuddin RA in Sadaqalla doa.

Our closeness to our Imam and to Allah Ta’ala, in this time of satr (seclusion), is through our closeness to our Dai. In this world that is full of impurities, emulating the example of our awliya’ – believing in the Almighty and His awliya’, dedicating time to his worship, seeking knowledge, serving Dawat, being good human beings, helping our brothers in humanity – that is what elevates our souls and brings us closer to our mawali tahereen and, through them, closer to Allah Ta’ala. Our purity and sincerity in all this truly brings us closer to Him.

Me’raj refers to Rasulullah’s ascension to the Heavens. It is our walaayat, and the deeds that accompany it, that ensure our ascension to higher plains of purity and spirituality in this world and the ascension to the Heavens in the Hereafter (Ma’arij al-su’ud).

We offer praise to Allah Ta’ala and thanks that we are close to Him and close to His awliya’ through closeness to His Dai, Syedna Khuzaima Qutbuddin TUS. May Allah Ta’ala grant us the tawfeeq and guidance to emulate Syedna’s example so that we may become ever closer to Him.