Eid Al-Adha Of 1994 (1414 A.H.)
The truth does not necessarily come from priests, or from the superstitions of whole peoples. It come from Allah, and where there is direct revelation, there is no room for doubt." Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'an Revelation originates in God, as is indicated in verses in which God speaks in the first person: I have sent down (the Qur'an) (Q 2:41), and more often: We have sent down (the Qur'an)" (e.g., Q 44:3; 76:23; 97:1). But revelation does not come down directly to the prophets. The intermediate agents are the angels. God sends them down with the revelations, as is implied in Q 16:2: He sends down (yunazzilu) the angels and the spirit by His commandment on whom He pleases of His servants " Andrew Rippin, The Blackwell companion to the Qur'an, page 237
Was the Miraj as a physical or spiritual journey?
In order for us to have a reasonable understanding of Islam and Allah, it is important for us to have the right concept. Without the right or true concept of something or someone, it will be difficult for us to comprehend the true nature of that thing or person.
"In the case of Miraj, putting aside logic and man-coined conclusions, let us refer to those close to our Holy Prophet and see what they have reported in support to the spiritual concept of the Miraj.
It is on record that one of the closest person to the Holy Prophet was Bibi Aisha, and she held the belief that the Holy Prophet's experience of Miraj was in a vision, and not physical. (c.f. Tabari, Zamakshari and Ibn Kathir in their commentaries on 17:1). The actual phrase used that "he was transported only in spirit (bi ruhihi) while his body did not leave its place." ...
Again it is written, "And he awoke and he was in the sacred mosque" (B:98:37). In another of Bukhari's Hadith, it is written, "whilst I was in a state between that of one sleeping and one awake" (Bukhari 59:6).
These are just some of the authentic records which shows clearly that the Miraj was a spiritual experience of the Holy Prophet, and was not a physical one.
If for argument sake, we interpret the Miraj as a physical journey of the Holy Prophet, let us examine some of the ramifications of such a notion.
First and foremost, it will signal us that the Holy Prophet Muhammad was much more than a normal mortal being, something which he emphatically denied time and again. Many times he was questioned by his opponents that he was a true prophet of God, if so, then perform certain miracles and they would believe in him. His only reply was "I am an ordinary mortal just like yourself."
Secondly, mounting a physical Buraq and riding to the Heavens would defy the laws of nature. Holy Quran says, "there is no incongruity in the nature made by Allah".
Thirdly, nothing physical can enter a spiritual domain. A physical Holy Prophet, together with a physical Buraq, cannot enter a spiritual abode such as the Heavens. (Holy Quran)" [1]
Keeping in mind the last sentence that "a physical Holy Prophet, together with a physical Buraq, cannot enter a spiritual abode such as the Heavens", the Id-Adha of 1994 is explained.
Eid Al-Adha Of 1994
On that holy day of Id-Adha 1994 Kash was told to send greetings to Prophet Mohammed. This day is celebrated by Muslims worldwide to mark the culmination of the pilgrimage to Mecca, and is one of the holiest in the Islamic calendar.
Kash sat in meditation and immediately surfaced through the celestial clouds, his meditating self momentarily suspended in midair. Slowly he floated down and merged into his spirit-body.
The Clear White Light shone ever so brilliantly from behind the Eternal Throne as Al-Muntazar (The Hidden Imam Mahdi) sat in Bliss and Joy. He greeted and told Her of his desire to see Prophet Muhammad.
She agreed and immediately levitated him a few inches above the soft bed of clouds that stretched infinitely in all directions. They then voyaged across the inner spiritual universe, just as Prophet Muhammad had done on the Buraq more than 14 centuries ago.
When they reached their destination the Ruh of Allah introduced Kash to Nabi Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah.
Prophet Muhammad was invisible but Kash could feel him through vibrations flowing from his hands, as if they were 'talking' to him. He knew exactly where Prophet Muhammad was sitting and what was His form, just as he had detected the invisible Shri Buddha.
Kash bowed down to the Prophet of God Almighty and conveyed greetings of Id Al-Adha in English. The Ruh of Allah Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, who could see Prophet Muhammad, translated Kash's greetings into Arabic.
Prophet Muhammad returned the greetings in Arabic. Shri Mataji then translated the greetings into English, and replied that Prophet Muhammad also thanked him for sending the Id-Adha greetings. The three of them then raised their Kundalinis and meditated together.
When it was over Kash again bowed to Rasul Allah and paid his respects. He then left with Al-Muddaththir (The Enfolded) back to the Land of Al Nur where he asked permission for departure.
As he closed his spiritual eyes he began descending through the heavenly clouds, returning to this blind world of scriptural distortion and religious fundamentalism.
Note: The Prophet once journeyed on the Buraq within his own being, a mystery revered by Muslims as Mi'raj (The Night Journey). There is evidence that Prophet Muhammad never left his room when He experienced this journey, and His wife bears witness that at all times He was lying beside her.
"Now, it is agreed by all that Muhammad's Ascension was a matter of seconds or minutes instead of being days, months or years, and the words used for it by all biographers is Miraj, the same as used by God for the ascension of the angels or spirits who have no bodies." [2]
Prophet Muhammad did travel towards Heaven and met the prophets on the way since all these mystical journeys took place within Himself! Even the Buraq was a mystical animal of the Spirit World, not a physical beast found on Earth. This extraordinary metaphysical Truth is known as Al Isra' (The Night Journey) surah 17:1:
Glory to (Allah) who did take His Servant for a Journey by night, from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque,
Whose precincts We did bless — in order that We might show him some of Our Signs:
For He is the One Who heareth and seeth (all things).
Schuon has attempted to capture the mystery of the Qur'an in these words: "In order to understand the full scope of the Quran we must take three things into consideration: its doctrinal content, which we find made explicit in the great canonical treatises of Islam such as those of Abu Hanifah and Et-Tahawi; its narrative content, which depicts all the vicissitudes of the soul; and its divine magic or its mysterious and in a sense miraculous power; these sources of metaphysical and eschatological wisdom, of mystical psychology and theurgic power lie hidden under a veil of breathless utterances, often clashing in shock, of crystalline and fiery images, but also of passages majestic in rhythm, woven of every fibre of the human condition." [3]
WA-LAA UQSIM BI-AN-NAFSAL-LAWWAAMAH
I do call to witness the Resurrection Day;
And I do call to witness the self-reproaching Spirit.
Concerning what are they disputing?
Concerning the Great News. [5889]
About which they cannot agree.
Verily, they shall soon (come to) know!
Verily, verily they shall soon (come to) know!
surah 78:1-5 Al Naba' (The Great News)
"5889. Great News: usually understood to mean the News or Message of the Resurrection."
Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'an, Amana Corporation, 1989.
Types of Kufr (Disbelief) — Adapted from 'Tafseer ibn Katheer'
1. Kufrul-'Inaad: Disbelief out of stubbornness;
2. Kufrul-Inkaar: Disbelief out of denial;
3. Kufrul-Kibr: Disbelief out of arrogance and pride;
4. Kufrul-Juhood: Disbelief out of rejection;
5. Kufrul-Nifaaq: Disbelief out of hypocrisy;
6. Kufrul-Kurh: Disbelief out of detesting any of Allah's commands;
7. Kufrul-Istihzaha: Disbelief due to mockery and derision;
8. Kufrul-I'raadh: Disbelief due to avoidance;
In Abdullah Yusuf Ali's commentary Kufr, Kafara, Kafir, and
derivative forms of the word imply a deliberate rejection of faith, revelation and truth of the Holy Qur'an:
"The culmination of Allah's Revelation is in the Qur'an, which confirms
previous scriptures, corrects the errors which men introduced into
them, and explains many points in detail for all who seek right
worship and service to Allah—whether they inherit the previous Books
or not. It is a universal Message ... The worst and most hardened
sinner is the man to whom Allah's Signs are actually brought home and
who yet prefers Evil and turns away from the Light of Allah. The
Signs may be in the words and guidance of a great Teacher or in some
sorrow or warning, but from which he deliberately refuses to profit.
The penalty—the Nemesis—must necessary come eventually."
According to Ibn Taymiyah (1263 - 1328) "kufr is
the attribute of everyone who rejects something that God has
commanded us to believe in, after news of that has reached him,
whether he rejects it in his heart without uttering it, or he speaks
those words of rejection without believing it in his heart, or he
does both; or he does an action which is described in the texts as
putting one beyond the pale of faith."
However, this explanation of kufr is most lucid and applicable to the sheer gravity, importance, and dire consequences of this universal Message of Al-Qiyamah (The Resurrection):
"Just as faith for Muslims has to do not with believing but with knowing, so
kufr, rejection, is not a lack of belief, not an intellectual position that holds that something is
otherwise than is the case, and certainly it is not mere ignorance. Rather it, too, like its correlative iman, presupposes knowledge; for it is an active
repudiation of what one knows to be true. This is why it is a sin, and indeed a (the)
monstrous sin. It is the one final, cosmic (or some would say, the one final human) wrong;
the deliberate saying of 'no' to what one knows to be right." (Wilfred Cantwell Smith, On Understanding Islam: Selected Studies, 1981, page 154)
Therefore most of the Al-Kufr ul Akbar (major disbeliefs) are applicable to
those rejecting or disbelieving Allah's (SWT) Signs and surahs
upholding the collection, promulgation, recital, explanation and
warning of the following:
i) His Call to witness Al-Qiyamah (The Resurrection);
ii) His Call to witness His Ruh (self-reproaching Spirit);
iii) His Call to heed Al Naba (The Great News);
iv) His Call to participate in Al Qadr (The Night of Power and Destiny);
v) His Call to confirm His Revelations, Signs, and Warnings (of i-iv).
Thus kaffir (non-believer) here is applied to all humankind,
both Muslim and non-Muslim, who reject the Call that God has commanded us
to believe in after His Revelations, Signs and Warnings have reached us.
The Qur'an clearly warns that many will disbelief, even mock, the
Great News and Sure Signs of Al-Qiyamah.
So be forewarned, and in the Hereafter never deny deliverance of this clear Warning:
"O ye assembly of Jinns and men! came there not unto you
messengers from amongst you, setting forth unto you My signs, and
warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours?" Qur'an 6.130
And those still rejecting, hesitant or unable to make up their minds even after hearing the Great News and shown the Signs,
Allah (SWT) questions: "Are they waiting until the Hour comes to them
suddenly? All the Signs thereof have already come. Once the Hour
comes to them, how will they benefit from their message?" "Why do
they not study the Quran carefully? Do they have locks on their
minds?" Qur'an 47:18-24
The last paragraph is yet another warning from Allah (SWT) that
prior to the Wrath of the End (Al Qariah) humans are offered the
Mercy of the Resurrection (Al Qadr). And once the Hour of Al Qariah
comes to them, how will they benefit from their contemporary message of Al Qadr i.e., from the Great News of the messengers from amongst you? How will those reading these lines benefit if they continue to doubt and wait, and the Striking Day comes suddenly?
What use then will be the Mercy and Compassion of Al Qadr (Night of Destiny) if the morn of the Al Qariah (Striking Day) ends His Peace?
Why doesn't the Ummah then not study the Quran with painstaking effort to avoid the errors, mistranslation and ignorance of the ulema that have presently paralyzed their minds from believing the Great News? Why don't they use their own mental faculties and intelligence to understand Al- Qiyamah, the heart and soul of the living, breathing Quran? Living and breathing because God Almighty is now talking directly to you through His Holy Book! After all, it is Allah (SWT) who has now called out to all Believers with this Decree: "I do call to witness the Resurrection Day; And I do call to witness the self-reproaching Spirit." He is specifically addressing you in particular (and Believers is general) to do so!
Only now in this modern age of universal education, mass media and publishing technology—after 14 centuries and unlike the illiterate past—is it possible to own and be sufficiently
literate to "study the Quran carefully" in languages they understand
best.* And just in case the Believers start studying the entire Qur'an, it
must be stressed that Allah (SWT) is referring specifically to those
eschatological Signs and surahs upholding His Call to bear witness of the
Resurrection! They must thoroughly examine and understand the Signs that have already manifested, and
set forth by messengers from amongst themselves.
Without question, to "study the Quran carefully" means using one's own mental faculties, not those of the ulema (Muslim clergy) who have
for centuries put "locks on their minds" and are the very reason for
the Ummah's present predicament i.e., their unprecedented kaffir-like mindset,
reaction, rejection and mocking of His Call, Signs and Great News of the Resurrection. They must know that during Al Qadr no 'graves are going to open up'
as this is His Night of Compassion and Mercy. So "Peace!... This until the rise of the morn!" (Quran 97:5)
"There is so much blind faith, there is so much of wrong ideas, so much of organizational fortresses they have built. All kinds of nonsensical things are going on in this world, but they'll all be finished."
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
Vienna, Austria, 8 June 1988
"We are now in the Blossom Time, as I call it, because many flowers are born and they are to become the fruits. This is the Resurrection Time, which is described in all the scriptures. But it's not like this, the way they had described us. Something wrong with them that all the dead bodies who are in the graves will come out of the graves. I mean, how much is left out of them, God knows. Must be some bones or maybe some skulls there. So they'll come out of the graves and they will get their Resurrection!!!? This is a very wrong idea.
Once I happened to meet a fellow, a Muslim from Bosnia and he told Me, "I want to die for my religion, for God's sake." I said, "But why? Who told you to die?" He said, "Now, if I die in the name of God, I'll be resurrected." I said, "It's all wrong. That's not the way it is going to work out. Resurrection is going to work out this way that at this time, all these souls will take their birth. All these souls will take their birth and they will be resurrected. As human beings they'll have to come."
That's why we find all kinds of funny people these days, all kinds of cruel, criminal, all kinds of idiotic, stupid, I mean very queer, weird, funny ideas which find such, such a variety of people and such a tremendous population that we should understand they have to have their chance of Resurrection. But how many will come? That's the point. How many are going to come?"
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
Philadelphia, USA — October 15, 1993
So Peace to all Believers bearing witness to the Resurrection (Al-Qiyamah)! So Peace to all Believers bearing witness to His self-reproaching Spirit (Ruh)! So Peace to all Believers resurrecting themselves during this blessed Night of Power and Destiny (Al Qadr)! So Peace to all Believers of the Great News (Al Naba)! So Peace until the dreadful morn of the Great Calamity, the Striking Day (Al Qariah) against the Unbelievers (Al-Kafirun)!
Last, but not the least, the Qur'an insists that ample warning of impending calamity must be always delivered by His messengers:
"That is because thy Lord would never destroy the cities unjustly, while their inhabitants were heedless." (Quran 6.131);
"Never did We destroy a population, but had its warners - By way of reminder; and We never are unjust." (Quran 26:208-209);
"And never did Thy Lord destroy the townships, till He had raised up in their mother-town a messenger reciting unto them Our revelations." (Quran 27:59);
This cardinal rule has been expressly complied with and Warning of the impending Great Calamity repeatedly announced and fearlessly upheld by the incarnation of His Ruh for more than three decades until Her retirement in 2008 at the age of 85. (Since Jesus is the mandatory Sign of the Hour [Quran 43:61], and as the Comforter promised and sent by God Almighty in Jesus' name, She has also ceaselessly glorified Christ and His Message of the Last Judgment.)
"I should do something to bring sense to these people (humanity). Something should happen to them otherwise what I see is a
complete disaster. It is going to happen. I do not want to frighten you
like Mrs Thatcher does about the Russians. That might be imaginary. But
this is real. I am warning you that the Disaster is going to come as destruction itself."
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
London, UK, 6 June 1983
"The Last Judgment has started. We are facing the Last Judgment today. We are not aware of it. And all the satanic forces have come out like the wolves in sheep's clothes. And they are trying to attract you and you do not judge them. You only sit down and judge the Reality. It has started! It is a fact! It has started!"
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
Kingston, UK, 6 November 1980
"I have such respect for so many of them (Muslims). I wish they could accept that this is not Jihad time anymore but
Qiyamah Time, the Resurrection Time, the Blossom Time. Are they going to miss it?"
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
*
— "Muslim illiteracy worldwide stands at about 51 percent for all age
groups over fifteen. Despite a rapid increase in primary school
enrollment, only 45 percent of Muslim children aged six to eleven
attend primary school. An even larger gap exists at higher levels of
research." - Martin S. Kramer, Arab awakening and Islamic revival,
1996, page 280;
— "The vast majority of Muslims do not speak Arabic as their native
tongue" - Christine Huda Dodge, The everything understanding Islam,
2003, page 21;
— "The degree of knowledge of Arabic determines a person's
understanding of the Islamic creed. The Quran, the Hadith and Sira
traditions (Prophetic sayings and actions), and the writings of the
early Islamic scholars and jurists were in Arabic. Imam Shafei (767-
820), the founder of the Shafei School of Sunni jurisprudence,
advocated that every Muslim should learn Arabic, at least to the
point of reciting the Quran (Hourani 1991, 68). Most non-Arab Muslims
do not understand Arabic." - Elie Elhadj, The Islamic Shield, 2006, page
22;
— "If your mother tongue is not Arabic, Satan (or his troops) will
encourage you to read the Quran in Arabic. Why does he do that?
Because he knows that you will not understand enough of it. The
majority of those who learn Arabic to study the Quran do not excel
enough to understand the implication or interpretation of certain
words when used in a special way in the Arabic language. They will
have a lot of shortcomings. Many Pakistani and Indian Muslims are
forced as children to read the Quran in Arabic and still as adults
read the Quran in Arabic but they do not understand a single word of
what they read... The Quran is a message, not just another beautiful
language book. If you cannot read it in Arabic do not wait until the
day you excel in your Arabic language, because this day may never
come. Trust God and know that He is the teacher of the Quran. He will
teach in any language and to any nationality, He created all things.
Read your Quran today, (do not wait any longer,) in any language that
you can understand and master and leave the rest to God." Dr. Rashad
Khalifa, Ph.d.
NOTES
1. www.muslim.org/
2. Sarwar, Muhammad: the Holy Prophet, pp. 119, 122
3. Schuon (1976:48)
EID AL-ADHA OF 1994