Speech in the Al Isra’ wal Mi’raj Asy Syarif Celebrations 1438H /2017: The Sensible Approach to Irtibat with Al Habib
My speech for you today is entitled, “The Sensible Approach to Irtibat with Al Habib.”
When we look around us, we witness many countries in civil and territorial wars. However, as soon as the wars ended, restoration and reconstruction started. It takes only several years for people in these countries to walk on the streets and in the markets again. There are no more signs of war or destruction except in people’s memories and in pictures.
Meanwhile, we also find people who are not affected in such wars but their human Takwin are trembled by the impacts of challenges in life. The elements of their self-formation are wrecked and the visual projections of their personalities are in disorder. A person may even take his entire lifetime to restore and reconstruct his destructed self. By saying this, we do not mean to measure or underrate the amount of challenges in life, especially for the generation of youths. Rather, we emphatize them for the great difficulties in life such as unemployment, inability to find a suitable job, economic crisis, inflation, social and family problems, marriage difficulties, struggles between ease and difficulty, and many others. In fact, any one of these problems by itself can be enough to tremble a human.
Due to that, we feel that we must caution people not to surrender to self-destruction, anxiety, hopelessness, negative thoughts, depression towards life, fear of everything, and the feeling that life has no value or meaning. To these people, we shall say, “If you want to improve your situation and condition in life, or to rise from the challenges of life and society, then you have to begin by building and improving yourself.”
From the Dandarawi Perspective, the building of an Insan Muslim refers to the building of one’s self with sturdiness, coherence, effectiveness and interactivity. This will ensure goodness for his self, his family, his life, his situation and his relations with others, as a result of his Irtibat with the self of Sayyidul Basyar Muhammad Solawatullahi ‘Alaih. From here, we divide our speech into five sections to explain about Al Irtibat; its meaning and necessity, its method, its principles, its steps and its effects.
The first section: Why do we have to Irtibat with the self of Sayyidul Basyar Muhammad Rasulullah ‘Alaihi Solawatullah?
This question has tens of answers. Most of these answers are due to the positive effects of Al Irtibat to the Murtabit [person who Irtibat], his life and the lives of those around him. However, we want to go even further to the origin and foundation of Al Irtibat. Due to that, we would like to pose a more precise question, “Why is it necessary for us and for every Muslim to Irtibat with the self of Sayyidul Basyar Muhammad Rasulullah ‘Alaihi Solawatullah?”
Here, I have two answers which I find are sufficient to prove that a Muslim cannot complete his religion and cannot be near to Allah Jalla wa ‘Ala except if he Irtibat with the self of Sayyidul Basyar Muhammad Al Musthafa Al Mujtaba Solawatullahi ‘Alaih.
The first answer: Although the word “Al Irtibat” is not mentioned as a term in Al Quran Al Karim or in Al Hadith An Nabawi Asy Syarif, its meaning is clearly mentioned. Its meaning is that if I Irtibat with the self of Sayyidul Basyar Muhammad Rasulullah ‘Alaihi Solawatullah, I have to perform two simultaneous actions:
The first action is to have Iman [faith] that the Prophetic self is unique, thus I emulate him when forming the elements of my self-formation; Badan, Ruh, Nafs and ‘Aql. With that, I shall attain effectiveness.
The second action is to have Intima’ [adherence] to the unique Prophetic self of the person who did not say, “Nafsi, Nafsi [myself, myself]” but, “Ummati, Ummati [my Ummah, my Ummah]”. I have to be part of his Ummah by reflecting the visual projections of my personality in any human interaction; ideological, social, racial or regional, in accordance to the methods formed by the Owner of Al Ummah, Az Za’im Al Jami’ Solawatullahi ‘Alaih.
There are many clear evidences in Al Quran Al Karim and Al Hadith Asy Syarif that Irtibat Al Iman and Al Intima’ is the only way to build a human and to unite the Ummah. There are also countless evidences of this Irtibat in the lives of the honourable Sahabah. As such, Al Irtibat with Ar Rasul Al Musthafa Waz Za’im Al Mujtaba is necessary to complete the religion.
As for the second answer: We are people who have faith in Allah Jalla wa ‘Ala, thus we listen to Al Quran Al Majid which informs us about Allah Subhanah and His Asma’ul Husna [beautiful names], hence we love Him. Here, we learn from Al Quran Al Karim that Allah Subhanah loves those with qualities which are in-built in them such as At Tawwabin [those who repent] and Al Mutathahhirin [those who purify themselves]. We also learn from Al Quran Al Karim that Allah Subhanah also loves those who attain their Takwin Muhammadi by following Al Habib Solawatullahi ‘Alaih without having those specific qualities in-built in them. Allah Ta’ala says in Surah Ali ‘Imran (verse 31):
قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّـهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّـهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللَّـهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
[Say (oh Rasulullah), “If you love Allah, thus follow me. Allah will love you and forgive you your sins, and Allah is All-Forgiving and All-Merciful.”]
Indeed, our Rasul Al Karim Solawatullahi ‘Alaih is Habibullah. No matter how much we strive to follow him, we can never be like him because no human can ever be like him Solawatullahi ‘Alaih. However, we can attain the portrayal of the characteristics of the one whom Allah loves and be the people who attain Takwin Muhammadi who are promised with the love from Allah Jalla wa ‘Ala. Therefore, Al Irtibat with the self of Habibullah is the way to gain love from Allah.
The second section: The Method of Al Irtibat (How to Irtibat?)
Indeed Al Ana [ego] exists in each one of us. It sets our focus to look within us internally and to the society externally. Throughout the time when ego controls a human’s focus, he acts within the interests of his self, his family and his assembly by staying within his fear for himself. In short, if a human is to be left with his desires, his ego will not be better and will not be concerned towards others because he only preserves the interests of his self, his group and his destiny. This person whose ego controls the capacity of his Wijdan [heart] and the distance of his Wujud [existence] is one who Irtibat with his own ego.
However, when he becomes convinced that Al Irtibat with the self of Ar Rasul Al Musthafa Waz Za’im Al Mujtaba Solawatullahi ‘Alaih is necessary to complete the religion and the way to gain love from Allah the God of the universe, he will leave his ego and his desires. He will then submit his focus and turn towards the rightful owner of As Siyadah within him internally and the rightful owner of Az Za’amah to his society externally, Solawatullahi ‘Alaih.
When he deeply submits the ownership of his focus to the self of Rasulullah Solawatullahi ‘Alaih, firstly, he will submit his desires in accordance to the teachings and contentment of Rasulullah Solawatullahi ‘Alaih. At the same time, when he interacts with the society externally, all the visual projections of his personality will contribute to raising the community and to the unity of the human structure, playing an active part in the community and the Ummah. With that, he will understand the importance of both his own interest and the interest of others. In fact, each time he is being active in the interest of the society externally, he is gaining more results for his own interest as well.
The third section: The Principles of Al Irtibat
Indeed, to leave ego is not a simple matter. It may not be fulfilled instantly in one attempt. Even when a person has decided to Irtibat and perform it, ego may quietly convince him to regard his clashes or even severing of ties with others as a kind of praiseworthy and legitimate dignity. Instead, it is in fact a despicable pride which destroys human relationships.
Due to that, it is important for a human to have clear principles that balance between the elements of his self-formation within him internally and the visual projections of his personality within his society externally. It is important for him not to fear of what he dislikes, but to be regulated by the principles of Irtibat so that he may straighten his Masirah Zatiyah and Jama’iyah.
We begin with the principle for a person’s internal self within the capacity of his Wijdan. Thus we find that this principle is As Siyadah Al Muhammadiyah Asy Syamilah [the Universal Muhammadi Mastership]. It is the reference for us to balance everything within ourselves, including our thinking, thoughts, assumptions, feelings, fears and reactions. We balance everything before they appear to the human world and before they are being translated into words and actions. Through this balance, we will not allow our internal self to show that it is being shielded with ego and that the Nafs is following its desires by committing injustice and offences.
This is because our heart is convinced that it cannot contradict the objectives of Asy Syari’ah and the objectives of Sayyidul Muwahhidin Solawatullahi ‘Alaih. Each of us should be focused that among the initial objectives of As Siyadah Al Muhammadiyah Asy Syamilah in the human’s Wijdan is to form the elements of his self-formation in a manner that results in him being clean, transparent, of good morals, enlightened, strong, active and influential to people around him.
He will not be inclined to take advantage of the legal rights of his son or relative. He will also not be in fear of any unjust situation caused by his manager at work or anyone who has authority over him. Instead, he considers this situation as a test from Allah Subhanah and accepts it with trust in Him. He will not stop from wanting to change, and he will not have any negative thinking or thoughts which may deviate the effectiveness of his self and obstruct his strife to seek a better life under the shelter of As Siyadah Al Muhammadiyah Asy Syamilah within his Wijdan.
As for the second principle for the society externally within the distance of a person’s Wujud, we find that this principle is Az Za’amah Al Muhammadiyah Al Jami’ah [the Unifying Muhammadi Guarantee]. It is the reference for us to set our interactivity in our interactions with our diverse human society, and also with the entire world consisting of humans, animals, land and natural environment. With this principle, we will not Redha that our interactions to be deviated through the visual projections of our personalities even if we can justify our actions with numerous evidences and proofs. This is because we have observed that this way of interaction opposes the objectives of Asy Syari’ah and the objectives of Za’imul Muslimin Solawatullahi ‘Alaih. From these objectives, we understand that one of its pleasant outcomes is having good relations with others. It is similar to how a Mujtahid will act in the arena of Fiqh whereby he builds his Ijtihad upon the origins by being regulated by the objectives of Asy Syari’ah. Therefore, we find that this interaction should be regulated under the objectives of Az Za’amah Al Muhammadiyah Al Jami’ah to safeguard the interest of the assembly and to preserve the unity of the Ummah, not to disintegrate the unity.
However, if we were to find that our interaction oppresses our own wife or child, causes straining of ties with our brother or family, or separates Muslim assemblies with different ideologies and causes enmity between them, we should re-examine the authenticity of our Intima’ to the unique Prophetic self. This is because Al Irtibat with the self of Rasulullah Solawatullahi ‘Alaih has to be true without any doubt because a Murtabit submits his focus only to Sayyidul Wijdan who is concerned for the human self and Za’imul Wujud who is concerned for the unity of the Ummah Solawatullahi ‘Alaih.
The fourth section: The Steps of Al Irtibat
There are four steps to Irtibat with its sequence in line with logic in any matter. However, some people may believe and say that Al Irtibat is one single step that occurs when a person leaves his ego, prevents it from controlling the capacity of his Wijdan and the distance of his Wujud, and submits his focus towards Sayyidul Basyar Muhammad Solawatullahi ‘Alaih. Hence to them, this may fulfill Al Irtibat in one single step. To us, this may be right. However, if that Murtabit stumbles or is deviated from his Irtibat, he does not have a roadmap which enables him to identify his weak points and work to overcome them.
The four steps are as follows:
The 1st step: The understanding of the ‘Aql about Irtibat
We summarize this step by saying that the human ‘Aql should understand the necessity for him to Irtibat with the self of Rasulullah ‘Alaihi Solawatullah, the meaning of Al Irtibat that it is indeed two Irtibat (Irtibat Al Iman and Irtibat Al Intima’) and the method of Irtibat. Indeed this step is a step of information to preserve his will to be determined in Irtibat.
The 2nd step: Instilling the will to Irtibat
When a person’s ‘Aql is convinced about the necessity to Irtibat, he will instill the will to execute it. When he regains his will to leave ego, he is totally prepared to offer his ‘Ahdan wa Mitsaqan [pledge and oath] to walk on the path of Al Ma’iyyah Al Muhammadiyah Al Mani’ah, under the shelter of the banner of Az Za’amah Al Muhammadiyah Al Jami’ah.
The 3rd step: Formulation of the elements of one’s self-formation
When the Murtabit submits his focus to Al Musthafa Al Mujtaba Solawatullahi ‘Alaih, he firstly turns towards his self internally to formulate the elements of his self-formation based on the portrayal of the characteristics of Saiyidul Muwahhidin.
Firstly, he begins by improving the practices of his body by preserving it with the cleanliness of the human self of Solawatullahi ‘Alaih and with the pureness of his prayers, thus his body is energetic with ‘Afiah [vigour].
Secondly, he improves the practices of his Ruh by purifying it with the abundant Dzikr of Solawatullahi ‘Alaih and with his plentiful Salawat, thus his Ruh is pure with Syafafiyah [transparency].
Thirdly, he improves the practices of his Nafs by refining it with the beautiful movements of Solawatullahi ‘Alaih and his perfect stillness, thus his Nafs is eminent with Syamailiyah [selflessness].
Fourthly, he improves the practices of his ‘Aql by educating it with the knowledge of the Quran of Solawatullahi ‘Alaih and the teachings of his sayings, thus his ‘Aql is enlightened with Nuraniyah [enlightenment].
The 4th step: Formulation of the visual projections of one’s personality
After the Murtabit has formulated the elements of his self-formation, he turns towards the visual projections of his personality that control his relationships with his society. Then, he strives to make his visual projections be tinted with the portrayal of the characteristics of the human self of Za’imul Muslimin Solawatullahi ‘Alaih.
Firstly, he begins by controlling the visual projection of his ‘Aql to comprehend the benefits of the various ideological sects without being extreme towards his ideological sect or condemning other sects, such that he participates in each ideological sect in their events, festivals and celebrations.
Secondly, he controls the visual projection of his Nafs to feel the fairness of the various social statuses, such that he integrates with them without isolating within his social status or shunning away from the other statuses.
Thirdly, he controls the visual projection of his Ruh to be accustomed to the specialty of the different racial ethnicities, such that he unites with their groups without being fanatic with his racial ethnicity or boasting over other ethnicities.
Fourthly, he controls the visual projection of his body to endure the specialness of the different geographical regions, such that he moves about to all their directions without secluding himself within his country or disuniting with other regions.
The fifth and last section: The Effects of Al Irtibat
Indeed, the effects of goodness of Al Irtibat with the self of Sayyidul Basyar Muhammad Solawatullahi ‘Alaih is not delayed. Rather, it has immediate goodness in Dunia in a manner in which the positive effects of Irtibat with the self of Sayyidul Basyar Muhammad Solawatullahi ‘Alaih are countless in its goodness. Here, it is sufficient for me to mention the effects of Irtibat in three situations.
First: The effect of Irtibat on the life of a person
When a person formulates the elements of his self-formation through his Irtibat with Sayyidul Muwahhidin Solawatullahi ‘Alaih, he is capable, effective and prepared to face the challenges in life. This is because:
•His body is far away from anything that does not please Allah and His Rasul
•His Ruh is purified through abundant Dzikr to Allah and continuous Salawat upon Rasulullah Solawatullahi ‘Alaih
•His Nafs is eminent from any type of despicability
•His ‘Aql is enlightened through the knowledge of Al Quran and the teachings of Al Hadith An Nabawi Asy Syarif
These characteristics and qualities cannot be missed from anyone’s eyes no matter how much it is being covered. If this person with Takwin Muhammadi performs trade, his Nafs avoids profit from Haram because he understands that Haram tarnishes Halal and that Haram will flow in the blood of his children. Thus, other people and traders recognize the difference between him and others such that they prefer to trade with him. If he wishes to marry a lady, he will seek acceptance from her family because everyone who lives with him or interacts with him will bear witness that he interacts positively and has good behaviours. If he works in a position where his manager or director has no choice but to reduce the workforce, he will secure his position during the time of economic depression due to his behaviours and trustworthiness at work.
In short, indeed Al Irtibat is reflected in all aspects of a person’s life and enables him to survive, as well as to maintain and preserve his interest without harming the interest of others.
Second: The effect of Irtibat on human relations
When a person formulates the visual projections of his personality through his Irtibat with Za’imul Muslimin Solawatullahi ‘Alaih, he is prepared to live in a diverse society and is capable to preserve the unity of his Ummah. This is the person with Takwin Muhammadi who accepts others regardless of diversities, and interacts with others through participation, understanding, being accustomed and being concerned to be accepted in all conditions even in times of conflict. This acceptance from everyone enables him to play an effective role in his society and create a difference in his community because people in conflict will seek help in him to become the third party to reconcile between two parties, whether two individuals or two groups.
In short, indeed this person with Takwin Muhammadi is of social stature and is the reference to connect the network of human relations in his society.
Third: The effect of Irtibat in times of challenges and crisis
Indeed, challenges are faced by everyone and cannot be avoided in life. Here, in times of challenges, the effect of Irtibat and a strong and sturdy Takwin enables him to face the crisis in a good manner. As an example, we observe a person with Takwin Muhammadi to see what he will do if he is being opposed by his manager at work:
Firstly, he will begin by studying and analyzing the issue to find the causes of the opposition. He will also be fair and responsible to examine his own mistakes which could have caused his manager to oppose him.
Secondly, he will control his words so that he does not express himself in a purposeless manner. He will not appear to be complaining about being unfairly treated and he will refrain from being controlled by his thoughts and emotions.
Thirdly, he will continue to work with dedication and sincerity. He will not cease his good works to show displeasure or anger.
Through this responsible and controlled interaction in such a situation, he will show that Takwin Muhammadi has no defects because a Murtabit with the self of Solawatullahi ‘Alaih understands with conviction that Rasulullah Sollallahu ‘Alaihi Wasallam is protecting him with his Wilayah Al Kamilah [Complete Governance] and that Allah Subhanah will choose a better outcome for him, thus he waits with a firm belief that it will come in the near future.
To conclude, some people say that the Ni’mah from Allah Jalla ‘Ulah for a person cannot be complete in Dunia. How can this be while Allah Subhanah is Al Karim Ar Rahim [the All-Generous and the All-Merciful] whose Ni’mah are countless. Indeed, one of the greatest Ni’mah is Ridha [contentment]. If a person faces challenges in his life and struggles between fear and hope, he will seek for improvement and betterment in everything with courage and perseverance. However, when he is distributed with gifts in anything and when he receives the results of these gifts, it is necessary for him to seek from Allah to grant him Ridha in which Ridha is the Ni’mah that completes all Ni’mah. With that, he is contented with himself, his condition, his family and his wealth.
This speech was addressed by Al-Amir Hashem ibn Al-Fadl ibn Al-Abbas El Dandarawy, Sumuwwul Amir of the Tribes and Familes of Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah and Head of the International Dandara Cultural Centres. To understand more about the two roles of Rasulullah ‘alaihi Solawatullah, Al Irtibat and Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah, please click here to read Translation of Al Watsiqah Al Baidha’ Formation and Model © 2013