Vision of Allah (Deedar e Elahi)
Foundation of Worship
Vison of Allah (Deedar e Elahi) is the Divine wisdom and is achieved through Divine love (Ishq e Haqiqi). Allah says in Qudsi Hadith:
کُنْتُ کَنْزًا مَخْفِیًا فَاَرَدۡتُ اَنْ اُعْرَفَ فَخَلَقْتُ الْخَلْقَ لِاُعۡرَفَ
Meaning: I was a hidden treasure. I desired to be recognized, thus I created all the creatures for My recognition.
Hence, recognition and vision of Allah (Deedar e Elahi) is main purpose behind the creation of universe. Specially the human beings because being the best of all creations, Allah manifested Himself the most in humans. Recognizing Allah and having His gnosis (marifat e Elahi) is only possible after achieving the blessing of vision of Allah.
In the Holy Quran Allah says:
وَ مَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَ الْاِنْسَ اِلَّا لِیَعْبُدُوْنِ.
Meaning: I have created humans and jins just for My worship. (51:56)
In the explanation of this verse Abdullah ibn Abbas writes:
وَ مَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَ الْاِنْسَ اِلَّا لِیَعْبُدُوْنِ اَیْ لِیَعْرِفُوْنِ
Meaning: In the verse “I have created humans and jins just for My worship” لِیَعۡبُدُوۡنِ , (for worship) in fact means لِیَعۡرِفُوۡنِ (for My recognition or gnosis).
For worship Allah had enough angels, He does not need fasts and prayers of man. What He really desires from His men is that they seek His proximity, vision and gnosis through worships.
Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani says;
- Allah has created man just for His gnosis and union. Hence it is essential for him to seek only that thing for which Allah has sent him in the world. He should not waste his life in useless acts. So that he is not ashamed after death for wasting his life. (Sirr al-Asrar)
- “Our Allah is Omnipresent and can be seen.” He further says مَنْ لَّمۡ یَعۡرِفُہٗ کَیۡفَ یَعۡبُدُہٗ۔ meaning: “How can a person worship Allah without seeing and recognizing Him.” (Al-Fath ar-Rabbani)
DEEDAR E ELLAHI IS THE FOUNDATION OF WORSHIPS
A common Muslim becomes Momin i.e. true believer only after having vision of Allah. Because, then he believes in Allah veritably, as is desired. In fact, it is foremost demand of Allah’s love that His slave seeks His recognition and gnosis through His vision. Furthermore, vison of Allah is the soul of all worships. Certainly, the engrossment and closeness of Allah one experiences during prayers after having His vision can never be felt otherwise. That is why Allah made devotions obligatory thirteen years after the apostleship of Prophet Mohammad sall’Allahu alayhi wa’alihi wasallam. During those thirteen years, the Prophet taught knowledge of gnosis and vision of Allah (Deedar e Elahi) to his Companions. They were set to prayers only after accomplishment in spiritual knowledge so that their prayers may not remain soulless.
The grandest blessing of vision of Allah (Deedar e Elahi) was conferred upon Prophet Mohammad on the night of Miraj. Infact, Miraj means to ascend above everything of universe to such ultimate closeness of Allah where vision of Allah is achieved. Before Prophet Mohammad, if any Prophet requested for Divine vision, Allah declined the request by saying. “You cannot see Me.” As, He had saved the blessing of vision of Allah for His beloved Mohammad and through him for his nation. Prophet Mohammad, on the night of Miraj asked Allah to bestow this blessing upon his nation as well. That is why, all Prophets prayed to be from the umma of Prophet Mohammad.
The Hadith, “Salat is Miraj for Momin” also proves that vision of Allah (Deedar e Elahi) is possible.
COMMAND TO ATTAIN VISION OF ALLAH
In many verses of Holy Quran, Allah invites mankind towards deedar e Elahi.
یٰۤاَیُّہَا الۡاِنۡسَانُ اِنَّکَ کَادِحٌ اِلٰی رَبِّکَ کَدۡحًا فَمُلٰقِیۡہِ ۚ
Meaning: O man! You sustain rigours to reach your Lord, ultimately you will see Him. (Al-Inshiqaaq 6)
فَمَنْ کَانَ یَرْجُوْا لِقَآءَ رَبِّہٖ فَلْیَعْمَلْ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا
Meaning: So, whoever hopes to see his Lord should do good deeds. (Al-Kahf 110)
وَ لِلّٰہِ الۡمَشۡرِقُ وَ الۡمَغۡرِبُ ٭ فَاَیۡنَمَا تُوَلُّوۡا فَثَمَّ وَجۡہُ اللّٰہِ ؕ
Meaning: And the east and the west (all) belong to Allah alone. So, wherever you turn, you will observe the Divine Countenance. (Al-Baqarah 115)
Forewarning for those who do not intend to have vision of Allah (Deedar e Elahi):
اِنَّ الَّذِیۡنَ لَا یَرۡجُوۡنَ لِقَآءَنَا وَ رَضُوۡا بِالۡحَیٰوۃِ الدُّنۡیَا وَ اطۡمَاَنُّوۡا بِہَا وَ الَّذِیۡنَ ہُمۡ عَنۡ اٰیٰتِنَا غٰفِلُوۡنَ. اُولٰٓئِکَ مَاۡوٰىہُمُ النَّارُ بِمَا کَانُوۡا یَکۡسِبُوۡنَ
Meaning: Verily, those who do not expect to see Us and are pleased with the worldly life and are well-contented with it and who are neglectful of Our signs, it is they whose abode is hell, a recompense for the deeds they used to earn. (Yunus 7-8)
اُولٰٓئِکَ الَّذِیْنَ کَفَرُوْ بِاٰیٰتِ رَبِّھِمْ وَ لِقَآئِہٖ فَحَبِطَتْ اَعْمَالُھُمْ فَلَا نُقِیْمُ لَھُمْ یَوْمَ الْقِیٰمَۃِ وَزْنََا
Meaning: It is those who have denied the signs of their Lord and His vision, so all their deeds are ruined. And We shall not give any weight or (even) any worth to them (and their deeds) on Day of Rising. (Al-Kahf 105)
قَدۡ خَسِرَ الَّذِیۡنَ کَذَّبُوۡا بِلِقَآءِ اللّٰہِ
Meaning: So those who belie seeing Allah incur loss. (Al-An’am 31)
وَ مَنۡ کَانَ فِیۡ ہٰذِہٖۤ اَعۡمٰی فَہُوَ فِی الۡاٰخِرَۃِ اَعۡمٰی۔
Meaning: And whoever remains blind (to have vision of Allah) in this world will be blind in hereafter as well. (Bani Israil 72)
It is important to note that in most of the above-mentioned verses Arabic word لقا ‘Liqa’ is used. It literally means vision, countenance and meeting and hence referring to vision of Allah.
HADITHS AND SAYINGS REGARDING VISION OF ALLAH
Many Hadiths and sayings of Companions also emphasize upon Deedar e Elahi:
- Jarir ibn Abdullah narrated: The Prophet said, “You will definitely see your Lord with your own eyes.” (Sahih Bukhari 7435)
- Jarir ibn Abdullah narrated: We were in the company of Holy Prophet on a fourteenth night (of moon). He looked at the (full) moon and said, ‘You will see your Lord as you see this moon. Certainly, you will have no trouble in looking at Him”. (Sahih Bukhari 4851)
-
سَتَرُوْنَ رَبَّکُمْ کَمَا تَرَوْنَ الشَّمْسَ وَ الْقَمَرَ
Meaning: Soon you will behold Allah (have vision of Allah) like you see sun and moon. (Al-Fath ar-Rabbani section 33)
- Umar ibn Khattab said, “My inward saw Allah through His light (light of Ism-e-Allah Zaat)”. (Sirr al-Asrar, section 9)
- Ali ibn Abi Talib said, “I do not pray Allah Almighty unless I see Him”. (Sirr al-Asrar, section 9)
Now the question arises that Allah does not possess any material body and is not restricted to any place. How and where can we have vision of Allah?
Al-Ghawth al-Azam Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani says;
- For every true believer who has gnosis of Allah, there are two physical eyes and two spiritual eyes. With his physical eyes he can see the world and its dwellers. While, with his spiritual eyes he can see the dwellers of the unseen world. Then, all the veils from his soul raise up and he can have vision of Allah without any doubt and material medium. Thus, he becomes closest to Allah and His beloved. (Al-Fath ar-Rabbani)
Allah says:
وَ فِیۡۤ اَنۡفُسِکُمۡ ؕ اَفَلَا تُبۡصِرُوۡنَ ۔
Meaning: And (I am) in yourselves. So do you not see? (Al-Dhariyat 21)
لَاْ یَسْعُنِیْ اَرْضِیْ وَ لَا سَمَآئِی وَلٰکِنْ یَسْعُنِی قَلْبُ عَبْدِالْمُؤ مِن
Meaning: Neither the earth nor the skies can contain Me but the inward of a true believer can. (Qudsi Hadith)
قَلْبُ الْمُؤْمِنِ عَرْشَ اللّٰہِ تَعَالیٰ۔
Meaning: Inward of a true believer is the Throne of Allah.
Hence, to find Allah one has to search inside his soul and inward. He can recognize Allah by recognizing his innerself. As told in Hadith;
مَنْ عَرَفَ نَفْسَہٗ فَقَدْ عَرَفَ رَبَّہٗ o مَنْ عَرَفَ نَفْسَہٗ بِالْفَنَآءِ فَقَدْ عَرَفَ رَبَّہٗ بِالْبَقَآءِ
Meaning: Whoever recognizes his innerself, recognizes his Lord. One who recognized his innerself by annihilating it, recognized his Holy Lord by gaining immortality with Him.
HOW TO ACHIEVE VISION OF ALLAH (Deedar e Elahi)?
Sultan Bahoo says;
- Beholding Allah and attaining to the level of Divine closeness is justified according to Quran and Hadith. A seeker can see Allah in three ways based on the Divine favour;
- Firstly, it is justified to have vision of Allah (Deedar e Elahi)in dream. The dream which is like a seclusion to have unveiled vision and closeness of Allah. Sufis call it the dream of Divine light. During it the beholder gains the blessing of Divine observations and vision of Allah (Deedar e Elahi) in the state of Divine presence.
- Secondly, seeker can have vision of Allah during meditation which is like death. It takes the meditator to the court of Allah Almighty.
- Thirdly, it is also justified to see Allah visibly in such a way that the body is in physical world. While soul is at the station of no station beyond the realm of Divinity (LaHoot Lamakan).
All these levels of Divine vision are a great blessing and beneficence. Only the perfect spiritual guide bestows this blessing upon the seeker. (Nur-ul-Huda Kalan)
- Kind attention of Allah always remains upon the men of sight. They have got the title of men of sight because they are ever in the vision of Allah (Deedar e Elahi) and remain present before Him. You must know that there are not any mountains or walls between Allah and His slave. When inward becomes alive by (noor e Elahi) kind attention of Allah, all veils remove and seeker gains vision of Allah. He beholds Allah with open eyes and his faith becomes firm absolutely. (Nur-ul-Huda Kalan)
Which spiritual order grants the blessing of Vision of Allah (Deedar e Elahi)?
Sultan Bahoo says:
- The sincere invokers and special invocation which annihilates the invokers in Allah honouring them with His vision only belong to the perfect mystic way of Sarwari Qadri. If any other order claims to have such invocation and invokers (that achieve vision of Allah) then it is surely a lie. Undoubtedly, its followers are veiled people indulged in the desire of fame. (Nur-ul-Huda Kalan)
Sayings of Sultan-ul-Faqr VI Sultan Mohammad Asghar Ali:
- There is no blessing greater than vision of Allah (Deedar e Elahi) and only the true Mystics achieve it.
- In order to attain vision of Allah the seeker needs light of insight instead of the physical sight. Attention of spiritual guide and contemplation of Ism-e-Allah Zaat are the source of this light.
- The person who does not believe in the vision of Allah (Deedar e Elahi) is not true follower of Prophet Mohammad. He is unfortunate and is unaware of his own misfortune and depravity.
- Two things are required to see anything in physical world; eye sight and light from any source. If any of the two is missing, a person cannot see anything. Similarly, a seeker requires two things to see in the inward. One is the inner eye (spiritual sight) and second is the Divine light of Ism-e-Allah Zaat (personal name of Allah).
- Divine lights and theophanies radiate from Ism-e-Allah Zaat which bless the seeker with union and vision of Allah (Deedar e Elahi). (Sultan-ul-Faqr VI Sultan Mohammad Asghar Ali-Life and Teachings)
DENIER
Sultan Bahoo warns the deniers of (Deedar e Elahi) vision of Allah;
- Allah and the Holy Prophet are disgusted of the one who denies Divine vision and does not believe in it. He is surely a hypocrite and his abode will be the lowest pit of hell. (Nur-ul-Huda Kalan)
ہر کہ منکر از خدا دیدار شد
امتِ نبویؐ نباشد خوار شد
Explanation: Whoever denies the vision of Allah is eventually debarred from the nation of Prophet Mohammad. (Nur-ul-Huda Kalan)
نور دیدارش بیابم دم ز دم
منکر از دیدار شد اہل از صنم
Explanation: I am getting the blessing of light of vision of Allah every moment. Certainly, the denier of Deedar e Elahi is an idol worshipper. (Nur-ul-Huda Kalan)
How to Achieve?
As mentioned before according to Sultan Bahoo one can achieve vision of Allah (Deedar e Elahi) only under the spiritual attention of perfect spiritual guide which grants Faqr. In the present era, Sultan ul Ashiqeen is 31st perfect spiritual guide (Murshid Kamil) of the Sarwari Qadri order and spiritual descendent of Sultan Bahoo. The perfect spiritual guide possesses all the Divine Attributes and manifests the an-Nur of Allah (noor e Elahi) with which he enlightens the society. Thus, the spiritual attention of Sultan ul Ashiqeen eliminates the love of world from the inward of the seekers. Hence, their dark inwards are turned into pellucid mirrors in which they can have vision of Allah and are blessed with the Closeness of Allah.
Undoubtedly, the seekers of Allah find the nourishment and strength for their souls from the sacred company of Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen. Therefore, Tehreek Dawat e Faqr invites all seekers of Allah to attain oath of allegiance on the hand of Sultan ul Ashiqeen and set to the journey of vision of Allah.
Read Sultan ul Faqr blogs.