The Lataif Of Islam

[O Muhammad,] he might perhaps have grown in spirit”(80:3).

According to Allah in the Qur’an the “soul” has two universal dimensions it can turn to. The first dimension is called “fujoor” (Immorality) and the second one is called “taqwa” (morality);

– Immorality is the lower reality of the “Nafs” (self) which the soul is attached to through the body, “Man has been created weak” (4:28)

– Morality is the higher reality of the “Soul” because it witnesses the Angelic (subatomic) realm and is always influenced by it,  “And how He inspired it (the soul) with its Fujoor (Immorality) and its Ta’qwa (morality)” (91:8)

In relation to this Allah said “To a happy state shall indeed attain he who causes it (the soul) to grow, and truly lost is he who buries it [in evil]”(91:9-10), in the verse Allah uses the word nafs (self or ego) in arabic, but because this word can also refer to the soul in specific contexts, scholars understood Allah meant the soul in this verse because the evil self (nafs) is from our actions in life while only good comes from Allah, the soul of man knows good through Allah and knows evil through the self (nafs), Allah inspired the soul to recognize what is evil in life but it doesn’t do evil.

When Allah does this in the Quran, calls one thing by another name He is connecting the two things together, Allah was referring to soul’s higher morality and the human selfs immorality as they function together in the same body, because even though we are referring to them here separately in the body they work together as a part of a whole and the aim of the verse is to purify the entire body.

“IS THEN -HE who was dead [in spirit] and whom We thereupon gave (his soul) life (through morality), and for whom We set up a (literal) light whereby he might see his way among men – [is then he] like one [who is lost] in darkness deep, out of which he cannot emerge?” (Al-Anam: 122), the prophet (saws) said “The similitude of someone who remembers his Lord and someone who does not is like that of the living and the dead”(Bukhari) the body is a system that needs nourishment in every respect, the comparison between the living and dead is made because the soul is receiving a tremendous amount during this time while the person heedless is going deeper into loss with out replenishing himself, this is why we pray five times a day, this is the minimum the body requires to maintain our standard of morality.

Allah says in surah al Asr man is always in a state of loss unless he does good which refers directly to the body.

Morality isn’t simply a matter of will you need to nourish the soul so it’s acts become easier to perform otherwise as Allah said; “Whomsoever Allah desires to guide, He expands his breast (heart) to Islam (so it is easily nourished); whomsoever He desires to lead astray, He makes his breast narrow, tight, (so performing good is) as if he were climbing to heaven (it becomes difficult to nourish the soul and morality becomes like an uphill climb while evil becomes easy). So Allah lays abomination upon those who believe not.” (6:15)

This is why Allah said “Whoever turns away from my remembrance will have a wretched life”, because his body won’t be capable of living life to it’s fullest, his heart is narrow in what it is experiencing from life. Allah said, “Whosoever turns away from my message, verily for him is a life narrowed down, and we shall raise him up blind on the day of judgment (as a consequence)”(20:124), Allah also says “And whoever turns away from (the) remembrance (of) the Most Gracious, We appoint for him a devil, then he (is) to him a companion.”(43:36)  all this occurs because we deprive the heart from the moral life and this is what nourishes it so it grows, bad actions bury it in darkness so the devils become attracted to the person.

The part of us connected with the spiritual world are called Lataif (singular Latifah) meaning subtlety, they are also called Lataif al sita meaning the six subtle points in the body. Scholars of various Sufi Orders (tariqah’s) have identified the Lataif points in specific areas of the human body and there are five major Lataif points that Islamic scholars work with (even though the body contains more), they serve to open up the heart to the depths of the unseen world which will result in a person gaining wisdom and becoming sagacious in his nature, the depth of the unseen world ends with the persons heart receiving (knowledge, guidance, wisdom) from the Arsh (throne) of Allah as the prophet (saws) did.

This is a path (Tariqa) a person takes through life because it requires work to achieve it, before the prophet (saws) reached this depth in his heart, even as a prophet, he had to first gain prerequisite knowledge to understand the deeper knowledge that is with Allah. The Prophet (saws) said “My Lord came to me in the best form” – the narrator said: “I think he said: `in my sleep’” – “and asked me over what did the Highest Assembly (al-mala’u al-a`la) vie [i.e. “the angels brought near” according to Ibn al-Athir in al-Nihaya and others, these are the Angels closest to the Arsh (throne)]; I said I did not know, so He put His hand between my shoulders (meaning in his chest so the heart could benefit), and I felt its coolness in my innermost, and knowledge of all things between the East and the West came to me.” (this knowledge was required to understand the Angels around the Arsh) (Sahih, Tirmidhi)

The opening of the heart can occur to any person not just a prophet, this is how Harithah (ra) could see Heaven and Hell, the opening of his heart reached the depth of the Arsh hence he could see it with his inner vision, as the prophet (saws) said, Allah illuminated his heart so it could see these things.

But before this occurred Harithah (ra) placed the knowledge of all these things in his heart with his faith in them, this was the first step in directing his inner vision to the existence of something he knew nothing about before Islam, only then did Allah iluminate his faith so he could see.

The Prophet (saws) asked, “Harithah, how are you this morning?” He said, “This morning I have become a true mu’min” (A person who has believed). He said, “Think about what you are saying! Because every statement has a reality” (every statement shapes your reality). He said, “Messenger of Allah, my self dislikes the world, so that it is sleepless at night and thirsty in the day, and it is as if I am gazing upon the Throne of my Lord appearing (he sees them with his inner vision rather than his eyes), and it is as if I am gazing upon the people of the Garden in the Garden and how they visit each other in it, and it is as if I am gazing upon the people of the Fire and how they howl in it” (the words as if are used because it isn’t the vision of the eyes it’s his inner vision, “it’s as if my eyes are looking at these things”). He said, “You have seen, so remain firm. [You are] a slave whom Allah has illuminated the iman (faith) in your heart”.

Meaning Allah gave his heart a light so it can see the depths of the unseen world, his depth reached right up to the Arsh (throne) with his light. Our faith is the light we place in our heart through our own selfs, “every statement has a reality” or creates the light of faith in the heart. Allah gave him another light to guide this iman (light) to what it should see, all because of his practices in life which Harithah (ra) mentions at the beginning of the hadith. (Tabarani, Suyuti, al-Haythami, al-Askari, Ibn al-Mubarak, Abd al-Razzaq, Bayhaqi and Imam Abu Hanifa, Ibn Rajab, among others.)

Imam Ali (ra) was once asked what is creation ? (referring to Ghayb) he (ra) said “It is like the dust in the air, it only becomes visible when the light of Allah strikes it”, in other words the universe is created from subatomic particles (dust) and the subatomic world (Ghayb) is only seen when Allah places a light (an electromagnetic field) in a persons heart so His inner sight can see the unseen world with his own electromagnetic field (light).

Large electrical towers generate a strong electromagnetic field which affects the area around it, this is why it isn’t safe for children to live under strong power lines, they can develop cancer and other nervous system related illness later in life as a consequence. Through it’s own “electrical wiring” the nervous system of the Human body also generates an electromagnetic field that is safe for us which surrounds the entire body, this is the non physical (or spiritual) part of our body, the pre-modern term for this field is the human bodies aura or light and scientifically this is absolutely accurate because light is an electromagnetic field.

In Chinese this energy is called Chi, in Japanese it is called Ki, in Hindi it is called Prana and in Arabic it is called Qudra, many scholars have written about the human bodies light which the prophet (saws) often spoke of, asking Allah to regulate the light in his body for him and to increase it for him.

Ibn Abbas (r.a) related that the Prophet would say while in prostration: “O Allah, place light in my heart, light in my hearing, light in my sight, light on my right, light on my left, light in front of me, light behind me, light above me, light below me, and make light for me,” or he said: “Make me light” (Muslim) meaning the entire body, Allah answered Him (saws) and made Him an illuminating lamp for people, a clear reference to His Chi energy that was guiding other people, “O Prophet! We have sent you as a witness, a bearer of good tidings and of warning, And as a summoner unto Allah by His permission, and as a lamp that giveth light.”(33:45-46)

To aid him in this task as a lamp for people Allah gave Him the most special light of all, the light of prophethood, which is the light Allah created the entire universe from and is the oldest light in creation, so the light coming from the prophets body was even stronger than any other person who ever lived, all of this tells us light and chi have a very significant role in Islam and guiding people; Abd Al Razzaq narrates, from Jabir bin Abdullah (r), that he said, “Oh, Messenger of Allah, may my father and my mother be sacrificed to you, tell me about the first thing that Allah (swt) created, before all other things.” He said, “Oh, Jabir, Allah created, before anything else, the light of your Prophet (saw) from His Light.”

This was the light that Allah gave to each prophet as proof of their prophethood, hence light is central to the tenants of Islam; “O you who believe! Have Taqwa (fear) of Allah and believe in His Messenger; and He will provide you with a light by which you will walk.” (57: 28), “Those Allah gives no light to, they have no light.” (24:40) the scholars of Islam have never understood these verses as other than literal because traditionally they understood the physiological role of light in the body, if this wasn’t the case Imam Malik (as) wouldn’t have said “Knowledge does not consist in narrating much. Knowledge is but a light which Allah places in the heart” He was one of Islam’s four greatest scholars, the founder of the Maliki school of Law, hence he can’t be accused of inventing anything, his famous book al Muawata was given such a title because when the imam finished it He (ra) presented it to 80 prominent scholars in Madinah seeking their opinion before he released it, every single one accepted it from Him so He called it al Muwatta, the Approved.

This is the extent to which He sought the correct path on matters, the Imam was not afraid to say I don’t know if he did not know the answer to something  Al-Haytham said: “I heard Malik being asked forty eight questions, to thirty-two of which he replied: ‘I do not know.’” Because we have a clearer scientific understanding of the human body we can answer questions about the role of light (photons) than any previous generation in Islam, and it is the Ummah’s responsibility to do so.

The light of prophethood was shown to the other prophets and by it they became prophets, indicating the depth of it’s ability to guide man through his physiology; Imam Qastallani said “It has been narrated that (relatively speaking) when Allah created the light of our Prophet Muhammad (saws), He ordered him to look at the lights of the other Prophets. His light covered them, and Allah had them talk and they said, Oh, our Lord, who is covering us with his light? Allah replied, This is the light of Muhammad Ibn Abdullah (saws); if you believe in him I will make you Prophets. They said, We believe in him and in his Prophethood.” Allah said, Shall I be your witness? They said, Yes. Allah said, Do you agree, and take this My covenant as binding on you? They said, We agree. He said, Then bear witness, and I am with you among the witnesses (3:81). This is the meaning of Allah’s saying. Behold, Allah took the covenant of the Prophets, saying, I give you a book and wisdom, then comes to you a Messenger (Muhammad), confirming what is with you (your own lights); believe in him and render him help.” (3:81)

Allah clearly states the Quran, like the light of prophethood, provides an inner light to people so they can see as Haditha saw and be guided, Allah said “We have made it a light whereby We guide whom We will of Our bondmen” (42:52) this simply means that their are physiological process’s in the Human body that rely on light and Allah provides it to His servants through the Quran so they have the ability to walk the path of Islam.

All of this clearly shows the prophets (saws) understanding of how light or the electromagnetic field surrounding the body plays an important role in mans perception through his senses, He (saws) asked often for light in specific areas of the body and for Allah to increase the light that surrounds the body.

He (saws) clearly knew about the electromagnetic field of the body (or Chi), this is one of the reasons He (saws) said “seek knowledge even unto China” because China was famous for how it healed the body through acupuncture, a knowledge it discovered thousands of years ago and developed over the ages as scientific discoveries increased, while China was advanced in many areas historically Islamic society would not need to rely on this knowledge because they developed it themselves but the science behind Chi and the flow of energy, the electromagnetic field, in the body was theirs uniquely.

Many scholars through history similarly made the connection between light and the human body from the prophets (saws) prayers for light, these prayers are many and amongst the most famous and often repeated prayers by muslims today.

Light by definition in physics is energy because it is the carrier of the electromagnetic force in the universe. Light is a form radiation and it is Electromagnetic energy, this type of energy can take the form of visible light, like the light from a candle or a light bulb, or invisible waves, like radio waves, microwaves, x-rays and gamma rays, each of these is a type of light the difference being their wave length, some have longer wave lengths and less energy while others have shorter wave lengths and more energy but each is a form of light.

“Sometimes physicists describe electromagnetic radiation as being composed of particles – tiny packets of energy called photons. Each photon has a characteristic frequency, wavelength, and energy, but all photons travel at the same speed, the speed of light.”

Electromagnetic energy can be converted to chemical energy, this is one way the human body uses it, in fact this is how the eye sees when light (photons) hits it, a chemical reaction is generated by the energy in the photon which the body uses.

“Light is also produced by our own cells and forms a major component of man’s inner environment and a non-material part of our bodies connecting us with the outer environment. Scientifically this was discovered in the late 1920’s and  conclusively demonstrated by modern biophysicists since the late 1960’s.  All living organisms, including humans, emit a low-intensity glow that cannot be seen by the naked eye, but can be measured by photomultipliers that amplify the weak signals several million times and enable researchers to register it in the form of a diagram. As long as they live, cells and whole organisms give off a pulsating glow with a mean intensity of several up to a few ten thousand photons per second and square centimeter, this corresponds to a candle-light seen from a 15 mile distance.”

Scientists in Japan employed extraordinarily sensitive cameras capable of detecting single photons. The researchers found the body glow rose and fell over the day, with its lowest point at 10 AM and its peak at 4 PM, dropping gradually after that. These findings suggest there is light emission linked to the body clock, most likely due to how metabolic rhythms fluctuate over the course of the day, they also found faces glowed more than the rest of the body.

Allah says in the Quran “[Some] faces, that Day, will be radiant, looking at their Lord”(75:22-23) it is becoming increasingly clear to scientists that their is a far more powerful approach to healing that is based on physics and not chemistry, because physics is the foundation of every chemical reaction and man can access the laws of physics more easily through the electromagnetic fields of the body.

[Schematic illustration of experimental setup that found the human body, especially the face, emits visible light in small quantities that vary during the day. B is one of the test subjects. The other images show the weak emissions of visible light during totally dark conditions. The chart corresponds to the images and shows how the emissions varied during the day. The last image (I) is an infrared image of the subject showing heat emissions. Credit: Kyoto University; Tohoku Institute of Technology; PLoS ONE]

What is interesting about this study is that the light emissions appear to be linked to our body clock and the rhythmic fluctuations of our metabolism over the course of the day. This suggests that you could detect medical conditions with the use of highly light-sensitive cameras. “If you can see the glimmer from the body’s surface, you could see the whole body condition”. There are other devices that can accomplish a similar feat already, such as electrodermal screening, which measures our electrical skin resistance.

“The DNA inside each cell of our body vibrates at a frequency of several billion hertz, which is unfortunately the same range at which modern cell phone communication systems also work. This vibration is created through the coil-like contraction and extension of our DNA — which occurs several billion times per second — and every time it contracts, it squeezes out one single biophoton (a biologically produced photon); a light particle.”

“That photon contains all the information on everything going on in our DNA at that moment. One single biophoton can carry more than four megabytes of information, and relays this information to other biophotons it crosses in the biophoton field (electromagnetic field) outside our body. All the photons that are emitted from our body communicate with each other in this highly structured light field that surrounds our body.”

“This light field also regulates the activity of our metabolic enzymes. This corresponds with the findings in the study that shows our light field ebbs and flows along with our metabolic rhythm. The information transfer on biophotons is bidirectional, which means your DNA sends information out on a photon, and on the same photon the information of all the biophotons from our body is broadcast back to our cells, and to our tubulin, which are light conductive molecules in our connective tissue. The tubulin, in turn, receives the information-carrying light impulse and conducts it at the speed of light throughout our body, where it is translated inside each cell into activating or inactivating certain metabolic enzymes.”

The electromagnetic field of the heart, brain and other organs communicate with the field produced by the body from each of it’s cells, they compound with each other to make the total electromagnetic field of each person and just like our senses compound with each other to shape our perception of the world the electromagnetic field of the body is our instinct which compounds with our physical senses. Because we understand the structures of the nervous system and biological feelings researchers around the world are already proposing a scientific framework for understanding consciousness based on biology and physics.

Since there are different fields produced from different areas of the body the coherence of waves is essential for man’s religion, this is the tawhid of physics when man is one with the forces of the universe that Allah is communicating to him through, “Allah guides to His light whome He wills”(24:35), what we do in religion is to purify the heart so nothing blocks it from connecting with these forces external to our body.

It’s because of these facts we can better understand what Allah said in surah al Shams (91); Allah says: “BY the sun and its radiant brightness, By the moon as it reflects the sun! (It reflects the suns solar activity at night) BY the day as it reveals the (sun to the) world, By the night as it veils it darkly! (The day and night cycle is the period of increased and decreased solar activity) BY the sky and its wondrous make (the atmosphere is created because of the earth’s magnetic field shielding it from the sun and space creating it’s own independent cycles that affect us), By the earth and all its expanse! (The expanse of the earth is affected by gravity, it creates the atmosphere and different weather patterns that exist around the world) BY the Soul (which is made from subatomic particles, as all things are), and how it is formed (from these particles) in accordance with what it is meant to be (it is subject to the Laws of physics and because it is subatomic…and Allah tied this subject to the previous verses…it is affected by the ecosystem and fields in space and on earth), And inspired it (through the subatomic universe, the particles and forces that exist there, all of which are the context of this surah because it begins with suns solar activity) with what is wrong for it and right for it. To a happy state shall indeed attain he who causes this [soul] to grow in purity (human flourishing and creativity is part of this process), and truly lost is he who buries it [in darkness] (91:1-10).

“Without the sun it is virtually impossible for most life forms to exist. For example, we now know that without appropriate sun exposure, we will become deficient in vitamin D, which will have very far ranging consequences for our health. Vitamin D influences at least 2,000-3,000 genes (that we know of), and without sufficient amounts of vitamin D, our body becomes susceptible to a staggering amount of diseases. The greater our store of light energy, the greater the power of our overall electromagnetic field, and consequently the more energy is available for healing and maintenance of optimal health and performance.”

When the flow of energy in the body is disturbed or insufficient this affects a persons health adversely because light is directly connected with the nervous system which is connected with all our organs, so maintaining a positive energy flow in the body is essential to a persons health because it allows the body to heal itself. If we don’t maintain the balance of our body this will create problems, hence dealing with the source of disease is the focal point of Lataif treatment.

While the body generates it’s own energy it also takes it in from it’s surroundings at the same time, Allah spoke about this in Surah al Shams (91) and said he guides man through the fields generated by the sun, moon and earth and are present in earths atmosphere (sky). The human body requires light from the sun to survive which each cell in our body uses to drive the chemical reactions in us that in turn drive the reactions in the rest of the body.

The Lataif are the points of maximum energy intake in the body and are very important focal points of balance within the bodies energy system, they also serve as an important part of mans perception through his heart which the prophet (saws) was careful to look after because this was vital to his role as a prophet (saws) charged with reading Allah’s signs in the Universe.

Through prayer and meditation these focal points generate energy as well as take in more energy from earths atmosphere and other sources in the universe, so then depending on the illness a person focuses on a specific Lataif point needed to cure that sickness.

Allah in many places in the Quran affirms man can be physically healed through his spiritual faculties, “And (Allah) shall heal the breast of the believers” (9:14) meaning He will directly heal them through these process’s we just mentioned.

“We send down (through) the Qur’an that which is a healing and a mercy to those who believe: to the unjust it causes nothing but loss after loss.”(17:82), the proclamation “send down” is a direct reference to the unseen world, which is the subatomic universe, this healing is sent down through the Quran because Allah made the Quran a source of light for people when it is recited and this light can heal.

“Mankind, a teaching from your Lord has now come to you, (it is) a healing for (the diseases) in [your] hearts (because the heart receives the light from the Quran first), and guidance and mercy for the believers.”(10:57), This is why the Lataif of Islam focus on the points in and near the heart because the heart is the first point Allah gives light to. The Quran is called a healing for mankind because through it’s recitation and contemplation a person generates energy and receives energy, in these verses Allah is saying a specific type of energy or light from him that heals the believers and causes oppressors loss, “And when I am ill, it is He Who cures me.”(26:80)

“(Declare O Muhammad) It (the Quran) is a Guidance and a Healing to those who believe.” (41:44) here again the Quran, a book, is called a healing for the physical and spiritual illness of man, this is because the human body is a complete system connected and interwoven together from our physical organs to our spiritual systems to our psychological self.

It was narrated that Abu Sa’eed (r.a) said: “A group of the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) set out on a journey and traveled until they stopped in (the land of) one of the Arab tribes. They asked them for hospitality but they refused to welcome them. The chief of that tribe was stung by a scorpion and they tried everything but nothing helped them. Some of them said, ‘Why don’t you go to those people who are camped (near us), maybe you will find something with them.’ So they went to them and said, ‘O people, our chief has been stung by a scorpion and we have tried everything but nothing helped him. Can any of you do anything?’ One of them said, ‘Yes, by Allaah, I will recite ruqyah (spiritual healing) for him, but by Allaah we asked you for hospitality and you did not welcome us, so I will not recite ruqyah for you until you give us something in return.’ Then they agreed upon a flock of sheep.’ Then he went and spat drily and recited over him Al-hamdu Lillaahi Rabb il-‘Aalameen [Surah al-Fatihah].

(The chief) got up as if he was released from a chain and started walking, and there were no signs of sickness on him. They paid them what they agreed to pay. Some of them (i.e. the companions) then suggested to divide their earnings among themselves, but the one who performed the ruqyah said, ‘Do not divide them until we go to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and tell him what happened, then wait and see what he tells us to do.’ So they went to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and told him what had happened.

The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) asked, ‘How did you know that it (al-Fatiha) is a ruqyah? (Contained spiritual healing) ’ Then he added, ‘You have done the right thing. Share out (the flock of sheep) and give me a share too.’ And the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) smiled.” (Bukhari, Muslim)

The fact the human body literally glows, emitting light at levels that rise and fall with the day was something Islamic scholars discovered and understood about the Human body a thousand years ago and the science of the Lataif revolve around this very fact. Each Lataif point corresponds to one of the five daily prayers because that is when that point is most active, beginning with the prayer just after sunset (Maghreb), then going to the prayer between sunset and midnight (Isha), then to the dawn prayer (Fajr), then the midday prayer (Dhur) and lastly the late afternoon prayer (Asr).

The prophet (saws) understood this himself and mentioned it in the vocabulary of the Arabs of his time, because He (saws) often described the power or benefit of each prayer and the strength of it’s merits in peoples lives, the benefit and power is based on what Allah placed for it in the universe through the systems He created, this is the only way man receives anything in the universe through it’s many systems, the exception to this are miracles but no scholar ever claimed each prayer is creating a miracle by providing benefit in each persons life hence the benefits the prophet (saws) was describing are through the subatomic and physiological systems Allah created.

No two prayers are ever the same and each offers a unique benefit in peoples lives, this benefit comes through mans physiology and these are the systems that bring this benefit about in each persons.

The prophet (saws) exlained this science in the language of the Arabs living 1400 years ago, prayer is light, He (saws) said every act of worship has an impact on the human body and the human body is owed it’s light because it needs it; The Messenger of Allah (saws) said, “Every morning charity is due from every joint bone of the body of every one of you. Every utterance of Allah’s Glorification (i.e. Subhan-Allah) is an act of charity, and every utterance of praise of Him (i.e. Al-hamdu lillah) is an act of charity, and every utterance of profession of Faith (i.e. La ilaha illallah) is an act of charity, and every utterance of His Greatness (i.e. Allahu Akbar) is an act of charity; and enjoining good is an act of charity and forbidding what is disreputable is an act of charity; and two Rak’ah prayer which one offers in the forenoon (Ad- Duha) will suffice for all this.” (Muslim).

This was the language used by the prophet (saws) to bring an illiterate people living in the desert out of ignorance (Jahaliya) and ground them in science, He expressed science in words they could understand, His method was amazing and effective because it resulted in these illiterate people defeating the worlds greatest superpowers in a little over 30 years, the Romans and Persians, and founding a world empire based on knowledge, science and wisdom.

The Prophet understood the importance of purifying the body and opening the heart so Allah could guide his perception through the body by taking hold of all the senses, like his hearing and sight, which is why He (saws) asked for increased light in his faculties, “O Allah, place light in my heart, light in my hearing, light in my sight, light on my right, light on my left, light in front of me, light behind me, light above me, light below me, and make light for me,”(Bukhari) in other words strengthen the instincts of my faculties by increasing the electromagnetic field in the body and surrounding it so that ‘i am always in a perfect state’.

The First Latifah Point Is Called Qalb (Heart): The prophet (saws) said “O Allah, place light in my heart”, this spiritual faculty is located to left side of the chest, the bulk of the heart is in the centre of the chest and the remainder is towards the left side stretching towards the nipple where this point is located above.

The first latifah involves the power of imprisoning the ego, its main function is knowledge and Dhikr, the remembrance and knowledge of Allah. Its strength increases one’s capacity for Allah’s Zikr (remembrance) and opens up ones spiritual hearing. When man first begins to work on himself, this latifah opens and he begins to contemplate his own actions and gain understanding of the world of Jinn, the lowest spiritual being, because there existence is the lowest spiritual existence just above our physical one on earth.

The surah associated with the first level (or depth of the heart) is surah al Shams (91), Allah inspires the soul to know what is right and wrong for it, this is the foundation of man’s spiritual reality and the lataif, through them the body is equipped to receive spiritual guidance.

The Lataif points are very important because they shape a persons reality, how we perceive the world. Allah in a hadith Qudsi said “I am as my servant thinks I am, I am with him whenever He remembers me: If He thinks of Me, I think of Him; if He mentions Me in a gathering, I mention him in a gathering even better than it. If He draws near to Me a hand’s span, I draw near to him an arm’s length; If he draws near to Me an arm’s length, I draw closer to him by two arms length; and if he comes to Me walking, I go to him running.” (Bukhari, Muslim)

This hadith tells us the speed at which Allah changes a person’s reality as He remembers him. Because Allah has no need of travel, He doesn’t have a body and isn’t in creation, when He says “I go to Him running” this refers to mans perception of Him, meaning ‘I shape his reality quickly’, the more a person comes to Allah by remembering Him the faster Allah changes his perception.

The prophet (saws) said Ihsan (human perfection) is to worship Allah as if you see Him which is the highest form of worship and the end of this path. Allah says “He is with you, wherever you are” (57:4), “And we are nearer to him than his jugular vein”(50:16) Allah in the second verse is saying you will find my nearness in you already.

The muslim day begins at Maghreb which is the prayer just after sunset, hence we move from the Latifah most active at maghreb to the next at Isha then to the next at Fajr which is the deepest spiritual point and is at night time, then we continue to the Dhur latifah and then to the Asr which is the end of the Islamic day, if we trace this pattern in the diagram below it makes an hourglass shape and is a daily cycle that influences each human.

The colours below associated with each point represent the four seasons and black represents death and the next life it is deepest spiritual point in man, in the centre of his heart. The light (energy) in our body fluctuates throughout the day, we receive the least at night when there is little light, this is the cycle of influence the body goes through, Allah put us on earth and subjected us to the four seasons of the earth, which are also cycles of increased and decreased light (energy) in earths atmosphere and they shape who we are, this is alluded to in surah al shams where Allah teaches man about what shapes his soul in the subatomic world, He begins with the suns solar activity, then the moon then the earth and it’s atmosphere which are the four seasons, the scholars understood all this and developed the science of the Lataif around this knowledge.

The Second Latifah Is Called Sir (secret) or Ruh (Soul): The site of this Latifah, which is a faculty of the human soul, is on the right side of the chest at the same level as the Qalb (heart) latifah. Imam Ali said the soul is located or centered in the lungs which these points work through. The primary function of this latifah is concentration towards Allah, when man opens his heart to this depth, he gains knowledge of Alam al Araf (The Unseen world, surah al Araf which means ‘the heights’ has a similar name), this is at the depth of the unseen (subatomic) world that the soul begins to work at, when a person has reached (opened) this depth in his heart it then becomes easier to see those who have died in our dreams and visions, like the prophets or relatives.

Allah opens mans spiritual vision and he is able to see things from the unseen world, like the Jinn or visions in his sleep, “We have stripped from thee the Veil that covered thee and thy (inner) vision, this day is iron” (50:22) we sometimes have dreams but don’t see them clearly or remember them when we wake up, when a person opens his heart those visions are easier to see and remember, the key to the second latifah is Dhikr with la ilaha illallah, focusing the self on Allah focuses our inner vision so it sees better.

The Third Latifah Is Called Sir al Sir (secret of the secret) or just Sirri (Secret): This is located below the Qalb (heart) latifah and functions to make possible Kashf (unveiling) from the unseen world, unveiling means the person’s ability to see through the veil (Barzakh) that hinders man’s sight of the unseen world. The prophets had clear vision of the unseen world because nothing hindered the sight of their heart, “And He (Allah) revealed unto His slave that which He revealed. The heart lied not (in seeing) what it saw.” (53:10-11)

This depth of the heart is where Allah records His commands for the individual in similitude (at the same time) as it is recorded for him in Lawh al Mahfouz (the preserved tablet) which Angels take mans fate from.

At this depth of the unseen (subatomic) world man is aquatinted with ‘Alam al misl’, the Allegorical realm (realm here just refers to a depth and not another world), dreams are allegorical representations of what is occurring in the unseen world, the subatomic universe, events in life take on forms in the unseen world this is the subatomic world beyond the particles that just float around because other things beside us exist which shape that part of the universe, sometimes we see them in our dreams or visions.

A perfect example of this is the prophet’s (saws) night journey as He (saws) travelled from makkah to madinah Allah showed the prophet the reality of people on earth, as their actions took on form in the spiritual world. One example, as He (saws) was traveling with Jibril (as), the prophet (saws) saw people who in front of them had excellent meats disposed in pots and also putrid, foul meat, and they would eat from the foul meat and not touch the good meat. He (saws) said What is this O Jibril? He replied: These are the men from your community (who are still alive) who had an excellent, lawful wife at home and who would go and see a foul woman and spend the night with her; and the women who would leave her excellent, lawful husband to go and see a foul man and spend the night with him. (The connection between the physical world and the unseen world and it’s literal relationship within dreams which are allegory is discussed in the next section, Imam Ibn Arabi also explains this in detail in works, of which we have quoted in our book Imam Ibn Arabi On Imagination and The Creation Of The Universe).

The Soul latifah is sometimes instead called Sir (secret) and this Lataif is instead called Sir as Sir (the secret of the secret) by different sufi tariqah’s. Allah says the soul is a Sir (secret) from him, and the Quran is were much of the terminology originated from, it is an encompassing term that relays both it’s name and function at the same time, that Sir al Sir is a greater depth, than the Sir Latifah because sir means hidden knowledge and refers to depth of knowledge one is gaining from the unseen world, “Allah has encompassed (in ghayb) all things in knowledge” (65:12) hence sir al sir is a greater subatomic depth, this is also why the last latifah point which is the deepest is called Akhfa (the most Hidden).

This Latifah point allows a person to properly see the unseen world and receive knowledge and experience from it, dreams are one type of Kashf (unveiling) from the unseen world, through dreams we gain both knowledge, experience and feelings because the soul is giving information to the heart and the heart is giving information to the body which it is physically reacting to, this is how dreams have physical consequences on the body, we live out the dream just like we live out real life.

The prophets and saintly men (Awliya) experience other kinds of unveilings (Kashf) such as visions whilst they are awake, Imam Kubra who first developed the science of the Lataif wrote books to help explain the meaning of these visions, which come from deeper within the unseen quantum universe rather than our immediate surroundings that influence normal dreams.

The prophet (saws) said “who ever sees me in a dream will see me whilst awake; the Shaytan (devil) can not take on my form” (Bukhari) this means if a person saw the prophet (saws) in a dream the prophets (saws) soul will visit that person when he is a wake, some people are able to see Him when He visits them most can not. The hadith was meant for people after His (saws) death because the reassurance that shaytan can not imitate Him was not for the companions  He (saws) was protected whilst alive, the reassurance was for the time when people would come to see his soul whilst awake because people are not certain if what they saw was real or a trick. Most people can’t see the unseen world but their soul will see the prophet (saws) regardless and benefit from his presence, like the Quran He (saws) is a Lamp for the soul.

This is a role Allah gave his prophet (saws), many scholars who had been given visions of the unseen world reported seeing Him (saws) whilst awake because they had purified their hearts enough to see that world, “O Prophet! We have sent you as a witness, a bearer of good tidings and of warning, And as a summoner unto Allah by His permission, and as a lamp that giveth light.” (33:45-46).

As the majority of scholars throughout history believe, the prophet’s (saws) are alive in their graves, just like the Quran says martyrs are alive in Jannah (heaven), and they can travel because when the prophet (saws) went on His (saws) night journey (Isra wal Miraj) He (saws) visited them and saw them in their graves on earth, then when He (saws) travelled to Jannah (heaven) He (saws) again saw the prophets, who had left their graves and were in different levels of Jannah having different roles in each level.

The scholars deduced they had roles after death from the fact that each level of Jannah corresponds to a nearness to Allah (and a deeper depth in the subatomic universe) until we reach the Arsh (throne) of Allah (which is the furthest limit or depth in subatomic space), so these levels of Jannah where not their final destination (or reward) because each prophet (as) is deserving of the highest part of Jannah (Heaven).

This is why each Latifah point corresponds to a different prophet, “Latifat al-qalb, the stage of the Heart, is under the authority of Sayyidina Adam , because it represents the physical aspect of the heart and this is the beginning of mans journey in this physical life.

Latifat as-sirr, the station of the Secret, is under Sayyidina Nuh, because it is the Vessel which is saved from the Ocean of Darkness, salvation from the flood of ignorance because it is the beginning of the real opening of the spiritual world and He as) is mankind’s second father, it is a point in history when all mankind would no longer become animals deserving of death.

Latifat Sirr as-Sirr, the station of the Secret of the Secret, is under two Prophets: Ibraham and Musa (as), who represent Allah’s Divine Presence on Earth, for man this is the real opening towards Allah. Allah made Ibraham the symbol of all His Khalifs on this Earth, as mentioned in the verse of the creation of mankind, “I will create a vicegerent on earth.” [2:30]. Musa was blessed with hearing and speaking to Allah which are the two essential attributes of knowledge.”

Latifat al-khafa, the Hidden Station, is under Sayyidina Isa (Jesus). Because of his relationship with Hidden Knowledge, he represents spiritual understanding, Allah increased Him in spirituality “We gave Jesus the son of Mary Clear (Signs) and strengthened him with the holy spirit” (2:87) He moved towards the Angelic nature which is the most spiritual.

Latifat al-Akhfa, the Most Hidden Station, is under the Reality of Sayyidina Muhammad (saws), because he was granted a station high above that of all other Prophets and messengers. He was the one who was raised up, in the Night of Ascension to the Divine Presence. This is represented by the Kalima (Sacred Phrase), because there is no la ilaha illallah without Muhammadun Rasulullah and Allah wrote this on His throne so all creation would know this, there is no knowing Allah without Muhammad Rasul Allah.

The Fourth Latifah Is Called Khaffi (Hidden): This is located below the soul Latifah and functions to perceive the presence of Allah and the beginning of perfecting the soul, it also represents intuition.

“Behold he cried to his lord in secret (Khafiya)”(19:3), the names for these points refer to the unseen world and the deeper a person can sense into it, what is hidden by Allah is deeper than what is secret, as He mentioned in the Qruan.

The end of the unseen world and the created universe in the Quran is called “Sidrat al Muntaha”, the furthest limit (depth), this is were Allah’s Arsh (throne) is, no being can pass the Arsh or know what is there, this is the significance of the prophet (saws) reaching Sidrat al Muntaha on the night of His ascension into Jannah (al Isra wal Miraj).

If we can imagine looking into the atom that is one type of depth in front of us, another is going into Jannah (heaven) it’s the same depths that exist in each atom but this is spread out in the entire universe, each of it’s levels exists at a deeper subatomic depth in space. Each level of Jannah (heaven) requires that the heart is connected to a deeper level of the subatomic world so it can experience what is there otherwise it will be blind to it, Allah placed different prophets in charge of guiding people at each depth of the heart, it is one reason why people are visited by different prophet (as).

“So did (Allah) convey the inspiration to His Servant- (Allah conveyed) what He (meant) to convey. The (Prophet’s) heart in no way falsified that which he saw.” (53:10-11) The prophets heart was capable of seeing the deepest part of the unseen world and Allah said this was significant, had the prophet (saws) not been able to see, His (saws) heart would have wavered from it’s vision and the imagination would have made up something because it was overwhelmed, “Near the Lote-tree (of furthest limit) beyond which none may pass…(His) sight never swerved, nor did it go wrong! For truly did he see, of the Signs of his Lord, (He saw) the Greatest!” (53:14,17-18)

In the Quran Allah praises the quality of His heart for being capable of seeing what Allah created at this subatomic depth of creation. The night Journey was a journey of the heart, the prophet (saws) saw the physical world and unseen world with his inner sight.

It was from everything that was recorded about this Journey, which can’t be related here, that the scholars understood the significance of the Lataif in Islam, uneducated people will simply say Allah gave the prophet (saws) “something” to be capable of going on this Journey, but “something” isn’t a scientific explanation, on the other hand the scholars deduced the science behind the human body that allowed Him (saws) to see on this night, this is the science behind the Lataif. (The complete account of the night journey can be read in the article entitled “The Collated Ahadith Of Isra Wal Miraj” at my blog).

The scholars understood the events of the night journey along with the verses relating to it deeper than us and took from it knowledge about the human soul and self, things occur because of (Asbab) laws Allah placed in the Universe, it is just a matter of knowing them and the science behind them.

“Your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and earth in six Aeons (periods), then established Himself on the throne; He makes the night cover the day in swift pursuit; He created the sun, moon, and stars to be subservient to His command (the laws of the Universe, e.g. physics); all creation and command (Laws) belong to Him. Exalted is Allah, Lord of all the worlds!” (we see in space) (7:54).

The Fifth Latifah Is Called Akhfa (The Most Hidden): This is located in the middle of the heart and makes it possible for the Ruh (soul) to perceive the closeness of Allah, “And we are nearer to him than his jugular vein”(50:16) .

The naming convention used for the Lataif is in line with how people in the old world often named things, using simple and descriptive terms, for example the old name for Syria is Sham which simply means the land to the north, while Yemen means the land on the right.

The name comes from the verse “What is secret and what is more hidden (Akhfa)”(20:7), to hide something in the unseen world is to take it deeper into it, from verse 20:7 we can see why many of the Lataif where named this way because they refer to deeper levels of the heart as it penetrates deeper into the unseen world, “What is secret and what is more hidden (Akhfa)”(20:7).

This is also mentioned in the story of Adam, Allah “said, “O Adam, convey unto them (Angels) the names of these [things]” So, when he (Adam) informed them of their names, He said (to the Angels), “Did I not say to you (that) surely I know the Unseen (subatomic) of the heavens (space) and the earth and I know whatever you (Angels) reveal (bring forward towards the physical world) and whatever you used to keep back (Keep deeper in the subatomic world)” (2:33), Allah created the Angels to do His will and they choose what to bring forward and to keep deep in the unseen, this is clear from the context of Allah saying He knows the subatomic (unseen) of both space and earth before mentioning the work of the Angels.

Imam Tustari said in his Tafsir “the nafs (self) has seven celestial veils (hujub samawiyyah) and seven earthly veils (hujub ardiyyah)”, things that cover the nafs, in relation to mans character a veil is something that covers our inner perception about things, it makes us in varying degrees delusional, the imam then explained “when ever man buries his nafs (self) in earth upon earth (ardan ardan), (lowers his esteem and ego), his heart (qalb) is raised up heaven upon Heaven (sama’an sama’an). And when he (completely) buries the nafs (ego) under the ground (tahta at tara), the heart reaches the throne” (Arsh, in it’s perception and the sustenance it receives).

When all the lataif points become receptive we gather information from greater depths and can understand a more complex picture of life.

This is the meaning behind the hadith in which Allah places His hand in the prophets (saws) chest to allow his heart to know all knowledge on earth so He can understand the conversation of the Angels near the Arsh (throne), a wide array of knowledge was required so He (saws) could put together the more complex picture of life needed to understand the conversation of the highest Angels.

By reaching this Latifah point the person begins to understand how the universe works, from it’s hidden realties to it’s manifest laws and can complete the picture of how things exist, He understands the meaning of “for you we have revealed whatever is in the earth and the heavens”, this centre is associated with deep perception and is only accessible to a person who has developed the others, at this point a person is called a sage.

In the Quran Allah says He established Himself on the Arsh (throne), which is an allusion to something because Allah has no form or body and isn’t in creation, but the Arsh (throne) is, so if we consider the Arsh (throne) we know it has a location and it is at the furthest limit of subatomic space at the end of all the levels of Jannah, in Allah saying He established himself on the Arsh means He is associating it with His qualities directly and in a complete manner, hence this Latifah point which puts the greater picture of life together is called the most Hidden, the deepest.

These five Lataif points are the basis for the Tariqa (path of tassawwuf) and it’s teachings, which scholars use to purify a person, they are the levels of the heart as it penetrates (perceives) deeper into the unseen world (ghayb) through it’s connection to the soul. The inner sight of the prophet Muhammad (saws) penetrated the deepest of any prophet into that world, Allah then connected this feat with the perfection of His (saws) heart by praising it in the Quran.

Unlike acupuncture points which deal with energy as it flows through the body then connects to the heart and soul, the lataif begin with the heart and deal with how it penetrates into the body, this is the most top down approach to healing and helping the body.

The word quantum comes from the latin word quantus which means quantity or “how much”, today it is used to refer to a universe filled with small subatomic particles in space that are created from even smaller particles, this smallness doesn’t end except at the Arsh (throne) of Allah.

What Allah is teaching man is that space isn’t empty He has created an entire universe of things from quantum particles which we can’t see, Human’s are unique in that they are physical creatures with intelligence, while other intelligent creatures are not physical, like the Jinn made from thermal energy (fire) and Angels made from photons (Light) and the Buraq which the prophet (saws) rode on in his night journey, (the article at my blog “The Ahadith Regarding Life On Other Worlds” elaborates on this subject further).

The prophet (saws) spoke about the depths of the Unseen world (quantum world) directly and likewise gave names for each depth, but they where descriptive of their role in space (and physics) not the heart, Imam Tabari records them in the first volume of his Tarikh (history) which deals with the creation of the universe. (Insha Allah we will write about the prophets (saws) knowledge of space in a future work, my book Ibn Arabi On Imagination and The Creation Of The Universe covers much of these ahadith).

Each Lataif point is associated with the perfection of one of our senses, the Heart Latifah is associated with hearing, the Soul (or Sir) Latifah with vision, the Sir (or Sir al Sir) is associated with touch, the Khafa Latifah smell and the Akhfa Latifah with taste. Allah mentions this in a hadith Qudsi were He takes hold of mans senses, literally saying they become His senses, in order to shape the persons perception of the universe so he can know Him and love him, when He loves him that is when He grants him miracles;

Th prophet (saws) said “Allah (mighty and sublime be He) said: Whosoever shows enmity to someone devoted to Me, I shall be at war with him. My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory (extra) works so that I shall love him. When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it. I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about [seizing] the soul of My faithful servant: he hates death and I hate hurting him.” (Bukhari).

The heart’s depth into the unseen world reaches the deepest subatomic level, we can do this because the soul id made from the particles that exist at the deepest subatomic depth, hence perfecting the self and becoming a complete person (Insan Kamel or Bashran Sawiya in the Quran) is a matter of following the path Allah already placed in us.

“Say, “The spirit (rooh) is from the command (amr) of my Lord” (17:85) literally the soul is one of the laws of the universe, the particles at the deepest subatomic depths are given this kind of description because they are responsible for creating the laws of physics, the Higgs field is responsible for giving particle Mass without it most of the laws of physics would not exist, the Kursi which is an even deeper subatomic field is responsible for Allah’s knowledge, this relates to quantum entanglement which surrounds all things in knowledge deciding how they form and the creation of time in the universe, Allah says He is Time, while the Arsh is responsible for all creation being able to know Allah and His qualities, it brings everything together so the bigger picture can be seen.

Allah “the most gracious “Istawa” (is established) on the Throne (Arsh)” (20:5), “He fashioned him (man) in due proportion, and breathed into him something of His (own) spirit. And He gave you (the faculties of) hearing and sight and feeling (meaning because it is from Allah’s own spirit we are able to experience life as we know it, while other creatures like Angels experience life differently): little thanks do ye give!”(32:9)

“When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of My spirit, fall ye (Angels) down in obeisance unto him.” Imam Suyuti said regarding this verse in his tafsir “So, when I have proportioned him, completed him, and breathed, caused to flow, of My Spirit in him, so that he becomes a living thing — the annexation of ‘the Spirit’ to him is a conferring of honor upon Adam” (15:29)

We honour things in ourself by having a high regard for them, in the unseen world Honor is given literally, things are raised and lowered and clothed in special qualities, this is part of the role of Angels, “I know whatever you (Angels) reveal (bring forward towards the physical world) and whatever you used to keep back (deeper in the subatomic world)” (2:33) in the Unseen world the honor befitting Allah and the human soul is represented by a location and that is the Arsh which He established Himself upon, so Allah honouring something by saying it is from Him self is to bring it to Himself, hence the soul is originated from the Arsh.

‘The heart of man is called the “true essence of a human being” (al Jurjani), containing “all levels of inner being” (al Hakeem al Tirmidhi), and for the prophets (saws) it is the place of revelation. Concerning mans ability to perceive and know Allah (Taqwa) the prophet (saws) said while pointing to his heart “God-wariness is right here” (al taqwa hahuna), this is it’s function to have the ability of knowing Allah fully, the only other thing Allah said knows Him properly is the Arsh which He established Him self upon.

These are the five Lataif points of Islam, there are more in the body but scholars focus on these, the following two lataif points exist elsewhere in the body and have separate roles indirectly relating to the heart and soul.

The Sixth Latifah Is Called Nafs (self or ego): This Latifah is located at the centre of the forehead, below the starting of the hair (some place it slightly lower), and functions to purify the human soul. Man’s struggle against his ego purifies the soul from being buried in darkness and helps it grow, Imam Rumi said “Allah turns you from one feeling to another and teaches by means of opposites so that you will have two wings to fly, not one”.

Allah’s universe and what He created is vast man could dedicate his life to learning and knowing anything in it, this struggle to know and it’s results help give the soul direction, and by the end of man’s life each person’s soul is unique because his life was unique, this will then decide what his after life will look like. Man will be given according to the light Allah grants the soul and the next creation will revolve around the human soul and what it knows, wants and achieved, this is the Jannah (Heaven) Allah promised.

The prophet (saws) said about the people of Jannah “Their Lord will say to them, ‘I have removed from you the provision of worship (your bodies need), and I have made your bodies to rest (they no longer need to work in any way). Long it is that you have tired your bodies for Me and now you have come to My Mercy and Generosity, so ask me whatever you please and hope from Me: I will give you all of your wishes, for I will not reward you today in proportion to your deeds, but rather in proportion to My Mercy, My Generosity My Exaltedness, My High Place, and the Greatness of My Affair.’” (The Greatness of his existence and nature, in relation to us) (Ibn kathir)

In this life the laws of physics govern how things work and how people receive things, while in this hadith Allah has removed many of these laws and replaced it with a Universe that is governed by a different set of laws were man’s body no longer needs to work to get anything he wants, Allah called worship a provision because of what it produces in the human body from the subatomic to the physical, because man’s body and self are no longer in need of worshiping Allah the machine will no longer need oil to run and stay conditioned. What Allah said in surah al Asr about man, his body and the Laws of this universe, “Lo! man is in a state of loss” (103:2), will no longer exist in the next one.

Very literally the second law of thermodynamics and entropy of the universe will no longer exist, the next universe will be created to last and won’t head towards a big chill or big crunch or have any kind of end, so there won’t be any systems in the universe that waste energy or take it towards a finality the laws of the universe will be self sustaining for eternity.

Everything will be granted to man according to what we have earned in this life, the extent of it is according to Allah’s greatness, and the soul is key to what we are and what we will be, we shape our soul in this life and live according to what we achieved in the next.

Allah mentions this Lataif point in the Quran in relation to Abu Jahl who was trying to stop the prophet (saws) from praying at the Kaaba, “No! If he does not stop, We shall drag him by his forehead, his lying, sinful forehead.” (96:15-16), the ego (nafs) is the centre of sin and lying in the body, and Allah located it here. Physiological in the brain this is the centre of aggression and planning in man any sin or act of lying he commits is done by this portion of the brain hence it is the seat of the ego, when man is cut of from his spiritual heart his ego begins to dominate his personality, he begins to think in a heartless dry rational manner that is devoid of substance, peoples lives are like a number on a piece of paper and it is easier to treat others as faceless masses.

Some sufi Tariqa’s place this point below the naval, they say because below the naval is the birth canal of life for man but this is limited to women, or because they state that food is the source of evil for the ego the fact is food is not part of mans physiology so it isn’t the ego and man doesn’t think from below the naval, and the part of the brain behind the forehead is responsible for lying and sin (wrong acts) in the body as well as man’s sense of direction in life, in religious terms this is called his fate, the nafs has a higher role to play in mans consiousness than the place were food is stored.

These tariqa’s are correct in that below the naval is a source for evil, even in modern terms we have the saying “gut feeling”, “what does your gut tell you” etc, which is a reference to waswasa (whispering) of the Jinn, and evil Jinn deriving influence and power over a person from what he ate, but these are not part of man’s physiology they are external things influencing man, because this is a matter of science there are different opinions on the subject but today we have a better undressing of mans physiology.

Together with the five previous Lataif these are commonly known as the Lataif al Sita (the six Lataif). The following latifah point is another that some Sufi Tariqa’s use as well.

The Seventh Latifah Is Called Sultan al-Azkar (the leader of remembrance): This Latifah is located at the top centre of the head and serves to absorb the Barakah (blessing) from Allah into the entire body, so that every cell resonates with Zikr (barakah of remembrance), in some tariqa’s this Latifa is also called latifa Qalbiyah.

Allah sends down light into a persons heart, as well as other things we call barakah like peace (Salam) and tranquility (Sakina), when it descends this Lataif benefits from Allah’s blessings, “He it is who sent down tranquility into the hearts of the faithful” (48:4)

“Surely the hearing, the sight and the heart, all of those shall be questioned” (17:36), “when the heart is illuminated, the whole personality is affected. When the inside is purified, the outside displays it. When a battery becomes charged it illuminates light bulbs and makes motors work.” Every single cell in the body produces photons (light) and through it sends and receives information that the body needs to regulate itself, prayer is light and light interacts with other light.

“The training of Sultan al ­Azkar is such that while, doing the Zikr of ALLAH’s Name, its influence flows throughout and envelops the whole person. It is like touching an electric wire when the current flows through the whole body and every single cell feels its effect (every cell produces photons and uses photons). Similarly, through Sultan al ­Azkar the whole body, all the limbs, every single strand of hair and every single drop of blood is suffused by the remembrance of ALLAH (which is a source of light). The strength that it gives to the mind diverts the direction of its thoughts to the Will of ALLAH (making it easy to perform right actions, Allah expands the breast). If a hand is to rise it will rise for the welfare of all creations and to aid justice. The eyes will refuse to witness injustice. The ears are only prepared to hear truth. In short, every limb in the body is engaged in the exaltation of justice and the welfare of all creations.”

“When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks.”

“Since the seat of acquiring the nearness of ALLAH, rests in actions and the instruments of these actions are the limbs, the questions concerning the execution of the Divine injunctions will be directed towards the limbs. The ordinance of the Creator is: Surely the hearing, the sight and the heart, all of those shall be questioned. (17:36)

“That Day shall We set a seal on their mouths. But their hands will speak to Us, and their feet will bear witness to all that they did.” (36:65) a thing can only speak about what it knows, hence the hands will speak about the actions of the hands and the feet about the actions of the feet.

“At length when they reach it (the Fire) their hearing, their sight and their skins will bear witness against them, as to all their deeds. They will say to their skins, “Why bear you witness against us. They will say: ALLAH has given us speech; He gives speech to everything.” (41:20-21) this is a unique type of speech we know in science, every atom, cell and organ in the body records the history of what it experiences, just like a scar on the arm is testament to the fact the arm was injured or the diseased liver is a witness to alcohol abuse.

“The influence of the illumination of latifa Qalbiyah and its demand (on the body) is that, a human should keep a strict eye on his practical life. In the use of his ears, eyes and all other organs he should keep in mind the approval of the beloved. His ears are not ready to hear anything improper. His eyes cannot lift up to see any obscenity, no matter how attractive it may be. His tongue cannot utter anything improper. His feet refuse to walk in the wrong direction and his hands can never be a source of pain to others. The centre of his thoughts and reflections is nothing but the pleasure of ALLAH and the ways and means to achieve this goal.”

“The main base for the spiritual journey are the lataif, that is why a devotee is taught the lataif as the first chapter of Tasawwuf or the spiritual Journey. Therefore, in every chain of the Sufi Order whether it is Qadriah, Naqshbandiah, Chishtiah, or Suharwardiah, the lataif are accepted as the basis of Sulook. In Naqshbandiah the training and education of these lataif are through Zikr ALLAH. After all the lataif are illuminated, the Ruh finds strength to direct the body in the right direction. Secondly, it becomes strong enough for its flight to its native land (the spiritual world). In other words, the thoughts and reflections are in the right direction and a firm belief in ALLAH is created. A change is brought about in the character and conduct of person and he becomes an obedient servant of ALLAH in the true sense, in order to live a perfect life in this world and in the Hereafter.”

After practising Zikr ALLAH upon all the seven lataif individually, the devotee is directed back to the first latifa that is the latifa Qalb, because it is the beginning and centre of all inward and outward qualities in the heart.

Contained in the hadith of Jibril where He asked the prophet (saws), what is islam, iman, the hour and ihsan, are two names. The answer concerning Ihsan- excellence, is that we should worship Allah as if we saw Him, because if we do not see Him, He sees us. These names are the description of two main practices:  mushahada- witnessing, to be as if you see Him, and if Allah grants it, it will be as if we actually see Him, this is witnessing or mushahada.  The second is Muraqaba and refers to the second part of the prophets (saws) answer: to always be aware that He sees you.  It comes from the word al-Raqib- The Watchful, referring to the ayat-Signs Allah mentions in the Qur’an and means we always see the signs of Allah in creation because seeing them is to be aware of Him and how He is watching us.

“And know that Allah knows what is in your minds, so fear Him.”(2:235), “And Allah is Ever a Watcher over all things.”(33:52), “And He is with you wherever you may be.”(57:4) Allah would not say this if we could not know it, hence as the prophet (saws) answered Jibril, through Ihsan there is a way of seeing Allah and Allah is seen through creation, in the process one will come to know creation through the eyes of the creator, “I am His Eyes when he sees”.

All that we have explained in this article shouldn’t insha allah be understood as something unique or happens to other people, this is the physiology of every person, this is the science behind what think is the chaos in our life, why we experience and feel things randomly or unexpectedly, it is only chaos if we can’t understand the reasons (asbab) behind it. This is why when a person trains spiritually one of the main states or stations he achieves is the station of muraqaba, meaning he begins to see the causes behind why things occur to him in life, and their origin, this is so he can fix them and correct the source of harm that is coming to him.

When an entire community achieves muraqaba and is correcting the sources of harm in the world, this was the community in Madinah during the time of the prophet (saws), this is the real Islamic Ummah.

There are many things in the unseen world we don’t know about yet but which the scholars have considered with depth, so there is a side to us that is influenced by these creations whose basis is light and subatomic particles. It is clear that this world and the unseen world (ghahb) are one and the same universe, we live in the physical world while most of Allah’s creation lives in the subatomic depths of the universe, the vastness of space attests to this, we only think it’s empty while Allah has filled it with creatures of a different nature, it’s more reasonable to assume that because most matter in the universe is subatomic not physical most creatures in the universe would be created from them, and in the prophets (saws) words we live in the universe while they live on it.

The prophet (saws) said about the creation on the day of judgment “The earth will be changed to another earth and so will be the heavens. Then He will unfold, even out, spread, and then extend it (the universe), like the extending of tanned leather… You will see therein nothing crooked or curved. Then Allah will drive out (resurrect) the creation with one driving, and they will be like they were the first time: whoever was inside of it will be inside of it, and whoever was on it will be on it.” (Ibn Kathir).

It’s significant to know that subatomic particles are small, much smaller than atoms, and like we are made from atoms but are 6ft tall, subatomic creatures are created from these small particles but their size can be greater than planets, many Angels have been reported to be these sizes. Subatomic particles pass through everything in space including the earth itself like it wasn’t even there, in fact there are about 60 billion neutrinos passing through a persons fingernail every single second.

Usayd bin Hudayr narrated:…that while he was reciting ‘al-Baqarah’ at night, and his horse was tied beside him, the horse was suddenly startled and troubled. When he stopped reciting, the horse became quiet, and when he started again, the horse was startled again. Then, he stopped reciting, and the horse became quiet, too. He started reciting again, and the horse was startled and troubled once again. Then, he stopped reciting, and his son, Yahya, was beside the horse. He was afraid that the horse might trample him. When he took the boy away and looked towards the sky, he could not see it (any longer, the thing that startled the horse). The next morning he informed the Prophet who said: “Recite, O Ibn Hudayr! Recite, O Ibn Hudayr!” Ibn Hudayr replied: “O Messenger of Allah! My son, Yahya, was near the horse, and I was afraid that it might trample him, so, I looked towards the sky, and went to him. When I looked at the sky, I saw something like a cloud containing what looked like lamps (lights), and I went out in order not to see it.” The Prophet said: “Do you know what that was?” Ibn Hudayr replied: “No.” The Prophet said: “Those were Angels who came near you for your voice, and if you had kept on reciting till dawn, it would have remained there till morning for the people to have seen it, as it would not have disappeared.”(‘Sahih al-Bukhari’; # 5018)

The hue of light from a light bulb can be described as a cloud, and similarly Angels are made from photons, the subatomic part of the universe is all around us and we are connected to it through our body.