بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الحمد لله رب العالمين
والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله
- Whats the meaning of building ones foundation upon Taqwa? What’s the process of establishing these things?
- In reality its related to Ikhlas.
- Taqwa has many definitions but basically it’s about living up to what Allah has call us to become and leaving & restraining actively what He has call to abstain from.
- Allah will perpetuate this building of our foundation in this life and the next upon the kalimah La illaha ilallah if we are sincere in our path towards that One Purpose, the Audience of On
- So now how do we make the bulk of our time wasted in the Mubah Realm-the period where we are spiritually plateauing, we are not building on the foundation- and transform those into place of Ascension & Transformation
- The scholar say the activation of Intention is the compound that transform this Neutral period into a spiritual ascension.
- It’s very important in writing it down on paper and looking at it. The scholars say there is something about it that helps a lot in figuring oneself out and also keeping it real.. also the importance of reviewing and reminding one to the intention.
- The maintenance of making intentions is like watering the tree from the metaphor used from the Quran. So the first activation of the intention is like putting the seed in the ground. You can only see the results in the future depending on the consistency of the intentions and its maintenance in the form of growing the number of those intentions and keeping its meaning behind it more rooted and profound. But also to take note is that we need to irrigate it to make sure the soil is fertile. (purifying the heart)
- One of the most important thing to observe in making this kind of intentions daily is that the intention should be growing gradually.
- So outwardly since what I’m doing is somewhat the same each day, so is it needed to reinstate the intentions daily? The scholars say yes it’s important. Hence, the example is that each day the intentions that is vocalized and used, will probably be the SAME. What it also means by growing (watering the plant) is the experience making and meaning of those same intentions gets deeper and more heartfelt. Similarly how the roots of the tree also grow. Thus eventually fruits will start to grow.
- So what happens now is you get more refined by editing and filtering the intentions and have deeper experience to it.. and all we have to do is once we place it in is to keep doing the intentions and have tawakkal for it to grow by Allah.
- One of the component of Muhasabah is to reflect and meditate on our pass deeds that was realized that it wasn’t intentional and put in the intention then.
- Now what we are doing is not only do we get rewarded by putting in the intention but the impact of that mubah deed will also be more powerful bcs of the light of intention.
- That’s why the Smile that is rooted in goodness is very different.
If it comes from a place of social awkwardness in the heart then that is what it will project and ripple out. But if it’s rooted in confidence and goodness then that will have a positive effect. - Ultimately if we maintained and cultivate this adab of the heart in having good intention to do good and be with Allah, we are essentially holding out the spiritual bowl. Waiting for the Giver to nourish us.
- Thats the mode of being that we should be. The yearning & Adab to want and hope from Allah, of standing at the door, is ultimately only from Allah. The recognition that the feeling of emptiness and desire to be filled is from Allah and becomes a means to contemplate and a drive to stay at the door. who is that from? (He’s about to Give)
- This is an indicative of a person’s heart, the healthier it is, the easier to be in a state of having intentions. Is like a self-diagnosis. The lower the desire, the mindfulness to have intentions is running dry, it means our spiritual well is drying up, so we need to do something in order to dig (for intentions) a little deeper.
- Sometimes these things (the mindfulness for intentions) can be taken away or reduced because Allah wants you to go deeper, in that space of reflection and introspection so you don’t plateau.
Part of the beauty of this concept of intentions is that its related to this mystical realm of no time and space, its located in the heart. - That’s why Allah looks to your heart; it’s the place where the reality of being is at. Your movement in this world can be read in heart. Where youre orienting towards. Intentions ultimately is the Compass of that journey. It shows what I am aiming for truthfully.
- The scholars say if you cant find any more ideas for intentions, even after many intentions, always conceal or end it with I intent that which the Soliheen and Auliya intended in this particular act. Ultimately there is no such thing as intentions of the Righteous except it goes back to our Master, the Prophet Saw. The one that thought as the science of intentionality.
- It is said “The one that makes (open oneself, actively seeks) a good Intention for oneself. Allah opens up 70 doors of Success(Taufiq)”
- The practice of actively making intentions is directly related to the science of Ikhlas, being sincere for Allah. It’s not only making intentions but scrutinizing those intentions.
- So in our practice of Muhassabah (taking oneself into account), we should start to now in looking towards those things that we did and scrutinizing the intentions behind it
why did I do/say/act the way I did? To go really deep in reflection. - What happens here is we are tending to the root (of the action). There is a principle that we look to the root and not the fruit. Cos the roots can be decaying but seemingly not the fruits, it takes a while for the decay to reach to the fruits. (thus the importance of always rechecking and renewing intentions to keep sincerity in place)
- The essential nature of the intention is that it may be that a person is in a state which what they are doing outwardly is in obedience to Allah but the heart, the reality, is in Sin. Because they are not focus and rooting their intentions in to what they are doing like studies, work, daily habits etc. What starts to happen is if you just going through the motion (the act) w/o fuel (intention) it will eventually burn out and stop, due to spiritual burn out. Now it doesn’t necessarily mean that person’s intentions are foul. It could just mean that the intention is absent.
- Part of the beauty of Islam is this culmination of form and reality. Now this analogy of when you keep drinking from a glass and there is nothing from the glass. There’s only so long that you can keep pretending that there is something and it taste good. So there must be something in the glass for everything that we do.
The glass is the Form/Outward Acts. The Form of what we do in our worships and even our daily practice and habits. But the Reality (intentions), or the Ruh, of that Form/Act is the water in the glass that nourishes our faith, our journey to Allah. That is how we quench our thirst. - We ask Allah that all of our thirst are quench. And may Allah allow that which we are building, the foundations, to be established and founded upon Taqwa, True consciousness. To root that which we are establishing and that which is being grown within us in the realities of Taqwa. Through the channels of irrigation, and the greatest of which is our Intentions.
- To this they say the Light coming from Abstinence, is more penetrating and more powerful than the Light that is coming from doing something. And for that they also say anybody can do righteous acts be it from a righteous or foul servant. But the true sign of Taqwa, is to abstain that which we are told to abstain from.
- Many people of Allah, their primary focus is not being merely on doing lots of extra stuff. That is where they dont burn out. But the focus is on weeding out those weeds within the heart through examining, Muhassabah, and re-rooting righteous intentions. Even in the small things that they did.
- That’s why we have said many times, they are people(righteous people) of few words, ‘kalimatin toyyiba’, only goodly words. They are rooted in fertile soil that is why they have an effect not on them but also people around them.
- With many things in engaging this process, in this journey to Him with all this renewed and good intentions, essentially what it does its youre changing your Soil. Your spiritual make-up! It could be a border line dead soil, but this practice of intention will bring back it the soil back to life, back to light.
If it seems boring say even after 3 months, the intentions that youre going to work is still the same – so I can provide for my famiy – at least what it does is keeps you from being diverted from the path and still rooted to good intentions.
Part of keeping your intentions firm is that the roots will start to go deeper and deeper and you start to take in ‘nutrients’ from place you didn’t know existed. This is a sign of growth and movement up towards Allah Swt,
Some of this there are no words to explain, so we ask Allah to keep us rooted to what is real.
Seedlings 