Most people try to establish meditation without awakening and spiritually strengthening their souls. Either the Satan traps them or they fail to establish the meditation at all. Meditation is suitable for the advanced-level seekers only, who have purified their hearts and mortified their Lower Self (Nafs). Trying to establish Muraqibah is an act of folly for the beginners of the path, regardless of the nature of worship used therewith. Gathering the strength of the souls with God’s Light, and arriving at their concerned station is Muraqibah. Sainthood is one-fortieth part of Prophet-hood.

All dreams, all Muraqibah, all Ilhaam, and Wahee (Revelation through Gabriel) of a Prophet are correct. Therefore, it does not need verification. However, only forty out of a hundred dreams, Muraqibah and Ilhaam (Revelation direct from God) of the Saints are correct, and the rest are wrong. Hence, it needs esoteric knowledge for its verification. ‘Identification of God is not possible without the required knowledge’.

The lowest level of Muraqibah is established only after the awakening of the subtlety of Qalb. It is not possible without the opening of the heart. One shock brings the person back into consciousness. Istikharah (seeking divine help) also relates to the subtlety of the heart (Qalb). The next stage of Muraqibah is with the subtlety of the human soul. It takes three shocks to return to consciousness. The third Muraqibah is established together with the subtleties of the human soul and Ana. The human soul travels up to the Realm of Jabrut along with the subtlety of Ana, just as Gabriel travelled along with Mohammad up to the Realm of Jabrut. Whilst in Muraqibah, such people are so deeply lost in that state that they remain unaware of their surroundings even if they are buried in graves. ‘Companions of the Cave’ were in similar Muraqibah, because of which they remained in a sleeping state for over a period of 300 years. Whenever Abdul Qadir Jilani, a Saint from Baghdad, would occupy with such a Muraqibah in the jungle, the thieves from the jungle would bury him in a grave considering him dead. The Muraqibah would always break just before the burial.

God created different types of souls in different time frames. Upon creation of each category of souls, there was a specific divine mindset. God must have had some idea of what he wanted. 

A Sufi must understand that God does not create anything without a purpose. The purpose is not about a common person’s notion of their purpose of life. This purpose is about the groups of souls God created. 

Phase 1 of Creation: the Foremost Ones (Sabiqoon)

God created souls in two phases. In the first phase, he created souls of three types. 

He created souls who would stay in his very close proximity and vicinity; they are called Muqaribeen. Their purpose of creation was to stay close to God. This is their nature. Then he created yet another group of souls who would have the ability to forbear his majesty and remain attached to his different manifestations as he manifests one of his attributes. Those souls would flock around his different manifestations. The third group of souls were created for his love.

The souls of these categories are like experts in their field. 

Some of the messengers, prophets and saints of God would lay more emphasis on acquiring nearness to God because this is their field. Since they are experts in that field, hence, they invite others also to adopt God’s close proximity.

All these three categories of souls are the elite of the elite. It is said that God is before the before and after the after. Similarly, these souls are 'before the before and after the after'.

Perhaps this is why Jesus said, ‘I am the alpha and omega'. Revelation 22:13

Bulleh Shah, one of the saintly figures in Pakistan, said, ‘When God created souls with the Command Be, to me it looks like it was done yesterday. My relationship with God is based on love. It is way beyond the creation of the souls with the power of the Command Be.’

Bulleh is revealing that he was from among the souls of love. 

All the prophets, messengers and elite saints of God are from among the three above-mentioned categories of the Foremost Souls. None of the souls created with the Command Be became great saints of God (however, some were granted minor sainthood where they did not witness the divine splendour). 

We tend to think that ‘Sabiqa’ means ‘former’ but this is wrong. This word comes from Arabic and it means ‘the foremost’. So Sabiqoon means ‘the Foremost Ones’. The ones who were created first. There are three categories of the Foremost Ones: Qurb (proximity), Mohabbat (love) and Jalwa (manifestation). 124,000 prophets came from among these souls. Many saints from among the Foremost Souls are given the title of Muraqibeen or Sauliheen.

People like Sultan Haq Bahu, Bulleh Shah, Sayin Saheli Sarkar, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jillani (ra) and his Spiritual Mediator, Usman Harwani (ra); Ghareeb Nawaz, Baba Farid, Nizamuddin Auliya, Chiraghuddin Dehlwi, Khwaja Bakhtiyar Kaki (ra) and Sabir Piya Kalyari are examples of souls from the Foremost Ones. 

Phase 2 of Creation: Souls Created with Command Be

The ordinary souls have divided into three categories automatically when God showed them the scenes in the Primordial Times. First, God showed the modelled luxuries of the world. 

For example, if there is a car auction, the clever bidders would go around the back to check out the car before they bid

This chapter is an exploration of the mysteries of the Nafs (Lower Self). For the Western orientalists who want to understand it, Sufi Master Younus AlGohar has coined another term for Nafs: the Negative Psyche of Human Beings.

Those who are unfamiliar with Sufism and spirituality - who, due to not having the required knowledge and, based on their sectarian biases, reject Sufism, they say that this is just a story made up by Sufis and it is not mentioned in the Quran and Prophetic Traditions. 

However, in the light of the Quran, there are four sub-spirits of the Lower Self:

Nafs e Ammarah (The Commanding Self) - Quran 12:53

Nafs e Lawamma (The Blameworthy Self) - Quran 75:2

Nafs e Mulhima (The Inspired Self) - Quran 91:8

Nafs e Mutmaina (The Contented Self) Quran 89:27

Does every ordinary human being have a Lower Self? Is the Lower Self present in the saints, messengers, prophets and within the members of the Household of the Prophet also? 

The sects within Islam have fabricated stories in regards to prominent figures in the religion. As a result, the common Muslim has developed an inferiority complex. When they are told to become as sublime and spiritually elevated as the prominent personalities, they say, 'Nobody can become like them.'

Yes, that is true. Nobody can be like them - but they can become greater.

To follow the religion, one must have the true concept of it. It should be like a road map which tells the practitioners what will be achieved based on their efforts and endeavours. There should be guidance every step of the way. 

The scholars of the religions have adulterated and corrupted the tenets so much so that they have changed the entire belief system and destroyed the aspirations of potential seekers. When it comes to the Customary Practices of the Prophet Mohammad (saw), they only regard the acts done by the body of the Prophet to qualify; they are unaware of the deeds of the Lower Self, Spiritual Heart and Main Soul of the Prophet Mohammad (saw).

They think only those who sat in the physical company of the Prophet are Companions of the Prophet. They do not consider those who acquired access to the spiritual gathers of Prophet Mohammad (saw)'s Spiritual Heart as Companions of the Prophet. Similarly, they don't consider one who obtained the companionship and spiritual benevolence of Prophet Mohammad (saw)’s Main Soul to be a Companion. This is because spiritual knowledge has been out of the reach for the public. The people who secretly obtained spiritual knowledge would exhibit miracles, but they would hide them. They would have disciples but they never explained how to become a saint of God.

Today, the Muslim Nation is at a point where they do not have the correct interpretation of the Quran or Prophetic Traditions nor are they in the position to obtain the spiritual benevolence from the Prophet Mohammad (saw). They have developed a conjecture that all the Companions of the Prophet were pure and never sinned. They have removed any wrongdoings of the Companions from the books. They conjecture that the prophets could never make a mistake. 

One must recognise how to live life according to his/her religion and how to remove the hurdles that come along the way. One’s tenet should be based on the facts from the Quran rather than fabricated stories. That is when the Customary Practices of the Prophet will be beneficial in every turn of life.

When poverty strikes and they cannot feed or clothe themselves or their families, rather than following the Customary Practices of the Prophet, a common Muslim doesn’t waste a second in turning to unlawful means of earning. Later, with that unlawfully earned wealth, he will build a mosque and go for pilgrimage. He forgets that God does not permit him to perform these great deeds with unlawfully earned wealth. He will be quick to ask the religious clerics about the relatively trivial matters - whether the water cup should be made of clay or whether he should

Just as there is a repellent for insects, there is a deterrent against anything unlawful, It is to cure the roots of evil so that the heart is not inclined towards the unlawful. Someone may appear polished; however, because they have accumulated impurities within them, the Devil engages them in all kinds of mischief even when they go to holy places. 

There was a saint from Sindh by the name of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. When he went to pray in a mosque, he tied his dog outside at the gates of the mosque. The religious cleric in the mosque told him, ‘The house of God is pure. You should not have tied your dog, an unclean animal, to its gates'.

Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai replied, ‘I have tied my dog at the gate but you are sitting with the dog of your Lower Self inside the mosque'.

Bulleh Shah said, ‘The Lower Self had made me impure, for I was not impure, to begin with.’

When the souls were before God, they were pure. The Lower Self was attached to human beings in this world and because of it, impurity spread throughout the body.

In light of Quran 12:53, the Lower Self compels one to do bad. 

People find it difficult to recognise why there is an overwhelming desire to sin, why the temptation to do bad is sometimes irresistible. It is a common misconception that it is the eye which is tempted; however, greater temptations stem from within the Lower Self.  

To purify this Lower Self is Islam. Some people say that Islam means peace, however, the true meaning of Islam is total submission and surrender. It means to give in oneself to the will of their Lord; to surrender to love.

The Prophets and Saints Sought Refuge from the Lower Self

The Lower Self is the representation of the Devil within human beings. The question arises: does it only give ordinary human beings a hard time? Did it not bother Adam the Eminent One, Abraham, Moses or Joseph? Did it not bother saints like Shaykh Abdul Qadir (ra)? Of course, it did. It gave all prophets and saints a hard time, including Ali (ra) and Imam Hussain (ra).

God said, ‘O' Muslims do not exaggerate in your religion as the Jews and Christians did’. Quran 4:171

However, exaggeration is a common practice among every Islamic sect. 

The Wahhabis and Salafis completely nullify the eminence of the Prophet Mohammad (saw). The Barevlis exaggerate the eminence of the Prophet (saw)more than what God has granted him, so much so that it becomes difficult for them to differentiate between God and the Prophet (saw). 

On the other hand, the Shiites give Ali (ra) ranks that are far from reality - ranks that neither God nor Prophet Mohammad (saw) spoke of. They glorify Ali (ra) so much so that this exaggeration turned them against their own religion. According to their tenets, it seems as if the rest of the prophets and saints had been overshadowed by Ali (ra) and they just wasted their time in this world. 

This adulteration in the religion is the result of crossing the boundaries that had been established by God. If God has said that Prophet Mohammad (saw) is both man and light, it is necessary to believe in both. One's understanding of the religion cannot be opinionated.