Tariqah is a spiritual haven for us from the onslaughts of this world. By onslaught I am not referring to physical attacks on one, but onslaughts that are mainly in the form of egoistic and satanic whisperings. So, when I speak of a haven, that the structure of Tariqah within which we function provides for us, through our shaykh, then I am speaking about a very special protection against these whisperings. So, one can still be assaulted or killed, but satanic whisperings will find it very difficult to penetrate the hearts of those within the structures. We must understand that as murids, in relation to our shaykh, we are all under an umbrella of Divine protective love.
When we are primarily involved in the affairs of the world, we are outside the dome of His protection. I want to say that our Lord’s protection flourishes best where His obedience flourishes. I do not know whether this is absolutely correct. I just feel that way. I feel that when we “listen” to Him and to His Messenger (ﷺ) and we absorb into our personalities those things that we listen to, this establishes around us a dome of His protective love. He speaks about His Awliya’ as being under His dome. Perhaps it is my “envy” of their being so special to their Lord, because of what they had achieved, that I imagine that those of us who genuinely seek His protective love, are also under domes. Perhaps it is like that, because, when groups come together to plead to Him to send peace and greetings to His Messenger (ﷺ), Allah Almighty sends a large number of angels to provide an angelic dome over them, because of the kind of religious service they are busy with. Perhaps this concept of a dome can also be extended to our other religious activities. Perhaps …
When the servant runs to his Lord for protection, through the recital of the Isti’adhah, for example, and he believes truly that that protection is available for him, I believe that our Lord provides for that servant a form of impenetrable spiritual protection; perhaps in the form of a dome, or whatever the case might be. I just know that under this kind of protection, whatever the spiritual structure, Allah Almighty grants us or grants our hearts so much contentment. We might not be of His Awliya’ or we might even be, but we are of His servants, protected in a Divine structure within which we have been placed. I think this is what is meant when people on a Friday after Jumu’ah salah recite Salawat on His Messenger (ﷺ) and the angels come down to cover them with an angelic structure, pleading for forgiveness for them. And so, on Fridays, if one could look from above, one would see, in some mosques, angelic domes from which pleas of forgiveness ascend to the heavenly domain for those who are busy with the Salawat.
Perhaps it is true that those of us in Tariqah, when this world becomes too much for us, we plead to our Lord with hearts and tongues for protection. Perhaps He also places over us domes within which we are under His Security. Even if this description is not totally accurate, there is something similar, but there is something for each one of His servants or for groups of them.
We do not always understand the Workings of our Lord, but sometimes we see in certain Workings what might be happening in others. And just as our Lord is to us as we wish Him to be, perhaps His workings are also for us as we wish them to be. So, when we see our Lord as Most Merciful, Most Generous, and the Solver of our problems, we desire to fall under the protection of these Names with regard to His Workings. Perhaps our desire that His Workings should be a certain way for us, are also implemented by our Lord. If our hearts desire domes of protection, and we ask Him for those domes, I believe that He will grant that to us. I cannot see His Generosity working in any other way. Although when we speak of this Generosity, it may sometimes refer to material acquisitions. I am not speaking about this, because such acquisitions will eventually disappear or are brought to an end. It is the spiritual acquisitions that last, and it is with regard to these lasting spiritual acquisitions that we ask for domes of protection. This is a most amazing thing. The more I think of the Grants of our Lord, Grants which are without limits; the more my Lord’s Generosity becomes overwhelming for me. I have spoken to you about this so many times, because it is through His Generosity that we see His Workings. If He were not so Absolutely Generous, what would have happened to us?
Let me come back to where I started the letter. At the beginning I told you about the very special function that Tariqahs have at present on this planet. Other than the fact that they are the structures within which we function under the guidance of a shaykh to attain darajat by Allah Almighty, they also have an extremely important function that transcends all national boundaries. If we take the Naqshbandi Tariqah, for example, all the murids through their shaykh, have very special spiritual protection under what I call a dome. This is my formulation just to give meaning to what I am talking about; meaning in the form of an image of a dome because our minds work with images. And so, we see all the Naqshbandis, wherever they might be, under the protection of their Lord through a spiritual dome that covers all of them. This makes us all feel so safe; safe from the ravages of a world that has turned into a carcass. We ask Allah Almighty for His Protection and Safety, amin
[Letters to Seekers on the Spiritual Path Vol 2 – Unpublished 2012]
.