Bismillahi Rahmani Raheem, Assalmau Alaikum.
Among the Awliyah through history only a handful have had the honour of being taught by Rasul Allah (saws), it was Rasul Allah (saws) himself (saws) who told us it was only a handful, our likeness as a group is the likeness of Sayidinah Uwais al Qarni (as) who the prophet (saws) said was the best of the Tabiin, the best person after the best of the companions.
This honour is bestowed upon only a few people because of its hardship, it results in the near loss of the self because the entirety of ghayb is laid bare for the person to experience, and because that is a thing witnessed inside the self, the self’s identity melts away until you become selfless, in simpler words you lose all sense of privacy in yourself as you persistently are aware of Jinn, Angels and the souls of Allah’s elect throughout your life.
This is why Allah will only lift the veils for the rest of mankind after death, after they have matured as much as possible and formed their identity as much as possible because from that they will come to lead in the Akhira, not through loss of the self but through what they have gained of identity.
Therefor the strongest in the Ummah are chosen for this in this life because they are strong enough to become selfless and then regain it without hurting themselves, after they regain their self they have now become masters over the spiritual creatures of Ghayb who they now guide.
Insha Allah we will paraphrase a hadith we have been looking for but were unable to find it, if we remember the sahabi correctly; sayidinah Bilal (as) one day went up to the prophet (saws) and said He (as) wants to be with him (saws) in Jannah, so He (as) requested that He (as) become the prophets scribe in Jannah (to stay as close as possible to him (saws) because the scribe follows the prophet (as)). Rasul Allah (saws) said to Him (as) you cannot do that it is a very high position in Jannah.
In our youth after Allah elevated us to wilayah and placed knowledge (light) in our heart we were in the habit of making dua for everything we read in the Sahih sitta, if the companions asked for it we asked for it, and so after reading this hadith we asked Allah for that position with Rasul Allah (saws) not hoping to ever receive it.
After continued hardship over the next 17 years (and what we related of it) Allah granted us what we asked for and Rasul Allah (saws) came and informed us of it explaining its significance. This position is a matter of fate like the light of Allah hitting you at the beginning of universe and then manifesting its guidance and actions in your life so you are known by them for that position;
Imam Ahmad from `Abdullah bin `Amr, who said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah say:
«إِنَّ اللهَ تَعَالَى خَلَقَ خَلْقَهُ فِي ظُلْمَةٍ ثُمَّ أَلْقَى عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ نُورِهِ يَوْمَئِذٍ، فَمَنْ أَصَابَ مِنْ نُورِهِ يَوْمَئِذٍ اهْتَدَى وَمَنْ أَخْطَأَ ضَلَّ فَلِذَلِكَ أَقُولُ: جَفَّ الْقَلَمُ عَلَى عِلْمِ اللهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ»
“Allah created His creation in darkness, then on the same day He sent (cast) His Light upon them. Whoever was touched by His Light on that day will be guided (in life) and whoever was missed will be led astray. Hence I say: the pens have dried in accordance with the knowledge of Allah, may He be glorified.”
Rasul Allah (saws) explained this to us with the following analogy regarding the similar fate of all the companions and saints of this Ummah.
We are paraphrasing His (saws) blessed words because we saw this in a vision; He (saws) said we gave a speech and whoever of the Ummah heard it responded to whatever his nature was upon responded to in it, and then they did the work of that knowledge (their souls heard) in this life.
(So you saw Abu Bakr (as) do the work of Abu Bakr (as), and He (as) achieved for the Ummah what He (as) achieved, and Umar (as) do the work of Umar (as) and He (as) achieved for the Ummah what He (as) achieved, and Shaykh Abdul Qadir al Jilani (as) do the work of Shaykh Abdul Qadir al Gilani (as) and He (as) achieved for the ummah what He (as) achieved, this is the likeness of all the companions and Awliya).
Your place in this is like a person who listened to the inner concerns of the prophet (saws) and responded to what He (saws) concerned Himself (saws) over the most, will Allah forgive the people who have become the most lost in the Ummah and return them back to Islam after their grave sins, and so you heard that from us and “did that work and that is what Rasul Allah (saws) loves the most”, that is the Maqam of the prophets scribe (to listen and act on what the prophet is concerned with the most).
This is our role in the akhira among the companions and Awliyah, this is why Allah placed us on earth with the people he placed us with at this point in time during the greatest oppression it will ever face, you will see from what we have related of our life in our work the issues and people we have dealt with.
مَا زَاغَ الْبَصَرُ وَمَا طَغَىٰ
وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ
After He (saws) placed the light of our Maqam in us, every Maqam is given its light from Allah by which the Angels recognize the person is of that station and act accordingly with him, the last thing Rasul Allah (saws) taught us about our maqam was the secret of these two verses, “ Nor doth he speak of (his own) desire.” (53:32), “ (His) sight never swerved, nor did it go wrong!” (53:17).
He (saws) taught us their secret in the form of a dua He (saws) made us ask Allah, Ya Allah “My life is your opinion”, Rasul Allah (saws) placed these exact words in our mouth to speak to Allah because the two verses above have been a cornerstone to our character and He (saws) after seeing us struggle for many years taught us their perfection.
This dua is a mirror to the dua of the mother of Marriam (as) to Allah before Mary (as) was even born, that is how soon she (as) was dedicated to Allah; “When a woman of (the family of) ‘Imran said, My Lord! Surely I vow to Thee what is in my womb, to be devoted (to thy service); accept therefore from me, surely Thou art the Hearing, the knowing.” (3:35) we know this because this was one of our dua on this path and it was His (saws) intention in teaching us those words to best it, He (saws) wanted to achieve more than the mother of Sayyidah Marriam in Her (as) dua.
“My life is your opinion” is not “I am struggling to make my life your opinion”, you don’t know what Allah’s opinion is in every moment of your life, it is only said by those who can see Allah and means “my life has become your opinion”, Rasul Allah (saws) perfected this and Aisha (ra) said He (saws) was a walking Quran.
His (saws) reality was completely governed by it, meaning if your interact with Him (saws) in life what results from that, the karma of it from the universe is only according to the Quran.
Khair Insha Allah,
Shaykh Rami Al Rifai.
“O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you.” (4:59)