A few weeks ago I took my family on a holiday trip to Marrakech and by some twist of fate we wound up with the tremendous blessing of taking a trip with one of the greatest Islamic scholars and spiritual teachers of the region.
Many fascinating things happened on this trip. And I was blessed to be in the company of some deeply spiritual people over the next couple of days. At one point, I was in the car with my wife, twin boys and the Shaykh, and we were engaging in everyday chit chat and conversation.
“How is the “Zikr” in Manchester?” the Shaykh asked.
(Zikr is the spiritual practice of bringing God to mind).
I said it was somewhat lacking, to the extent that I was asked by Sheikh Babikir to hold a zikr gathering in my own home once a month.
The Shaykh then looked up at the sky and said:
“Do you see that beautiful full moon? It’s not always like that. On the first day of the month, you can hardly see it. And then each day it grows and grows and grows. And eventually by the middle of the month, it’s a full moon.
That’s just like Zikr. It’s good that you’re doing it once a month. But the best way is to do it every day, very consistently, so that by the middle of the month, the gathering that you have with your community shines like the full moon.”
He then went on to say that zikr is something that must be consistent and continuous.
Why?
Because the devils are like flies. They’re always getting up in your face. And he pointed to the windscreen wipers. “We have to treat them just like the windscreen wipers” and then he made a weaving motion in front of his face.
And the way we do this is through Zikr – through bringing Allah to mind.
Two things struck me about the conversation.
Firstly, he was speaking from pure inspiration, as indicated by the fact that the objects around him were the source of the metaphors that he was sharing to impart his divinely guided wisdom upon me.
Secondly, he really gets it. He truly understands that spiritual growth comes through presence, which is the psychological state of ‘zikr’.
The moment your mind goes wandering into the past and into the future, you are no longer present.
And as a result, your mind goes into a state of heedlessness and you stop bringing Allah to mind.
If you want to get rid of the buzzing flies of devilish impulses and the psychological illusions and distractions that cloud the mind from the clear reality of Allah’s constant presence… then you’ll probably like our coaching programme.
The only way to find out is to have a one to one session with me.
To apply for a “Session” with me, the first step is to sign up for the Switch Masterclass and watch it carefully:
