“Alif Laam Meem – Huda lil Muttaqeen” (2:1-2) Who are Muttaqeen?

From the Realities of Mawlana Shaykh As Taught by Shaykh Nurjan MirAhmadi

A’udhu Billahi Minash Shaitanir Rajeem
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the rejected one
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

﴾الم ﴿١﴾ ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَ‌يْبَ ۛ فِيهِ ۛ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ ﴿٢

2:1-2 – “Alif, Laam, Meem. Dhaalikal kitaabu laa rayba feeh, huda lil muttaqeen.” (Surat Al-Baqarah)

“Alif, Laam, Meem (1). This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah (2).” (The Cow, 2:1-2)

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem “Alif, Laam, Meem. Dhaalikal kitaabu laa rayba fee, huda lil muttaqeen. Huda lil muttaqeen.” (Holy Qur’an, 2:1-2) This means, alhamdulillah, that all guidance is coming from Holy Qur’an. And to reach towards the realities that Allah (AJ), after Surat Al-Fatiha, means ‘The Opening’ of Holy Qur’an, then Allah (AJ) is giving us a code: Alif, Laam, Meem, muqatta, these are a code for Holy Qur’an. “Dhaalikal kitaabu laa rayba fee” (Holy Qur’an, 2:2), means a revelation of a Book in which there is no crookedness, no doubt. And huda lil muttaqeen is then a secret of that opening.

It means then we ask ourselves, why do people have so much crookedness? Why is the understanding so crooked in the Last Days? That they read the same kitab (book) and they quote the same verses, but their understanding is crooked, their understanding is warped, their understanding is incorrect, aggressive and violent. A reminder for ourselves that its reality has to open. When that reality opens within the heart, the oceans of guidance open within the heart, that is then the barakah (blessing) of Holy Qur’an.

It means there must be a light from Sayyidina Muhammad ﷺ that begins to emanate, so the understanding, the verses, and the quality of life is a dressing and a secret. We understand that many people don’t have that love and their understandings are very warped. Alhamdulillah, Allah (AJ) guides us towards the oceans of love of Sayyidina Muhammad ﷺ. And huda lil muttaqeen is for us to understand that the oceans of guidance are through the attribute of taqwa and yaqeen. It means to open that reality because the secret of that, and one of the secrets of that understanding, is to accompany the muttaqeen.

﴾يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ وَكُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِينَ ﴿١١٩

9:119 – “Ya ayyuhal ladheena amanoo ittaqollaha wa kono ma’as sadiqeen.” (Surat At-Tawba)

“O you who have believed, fear Allah and be with those who are true.” (The Repentance, 9:119)

Because Allah (AJ) grants the muttaqeen a guidance and a light. That light is a tremendous blessing. So, all our life is about finding the muttaqeen! That they have a tremendous amount of taqwa, consciousness, and they have been granted from Allah (AJ) and from Prophet ﷺ yaqeen, certainty.

How to Reach Hidayat (Guidance)Then it means how to reach towards that hidayat (guidance) and to open those realities so that the Holy Qur’an becomes a way of life for us. That the dress of Holy Qur’an becomes a blessing upon us. Then the huda is the reality of guidance.That we have to use the five senses. And they begin to teach that taqwa, and consciousness, has to be through all the five senses. Because most people, they take a word and they translate from Arabic into English and say, ‘you have to have taqwa and then you become muttaqeen.’ No, no, taqwa is a state in which the five senses have to become conscious of Allah (AJ). It is not just a word that you use and say, ‘okay this is taqwa, you have taqwa and we have taqwa.’ No, they are teaching that huda and hidayat and guidance is from the five senses.

Consciousness of Hearing

It means then your hearing has to have a higher level of consciousness. It means you have to be able to hear the reality, hear ourselves, because they are teaching how to reach towards the reality of taqwa. The reality of taqwa means that we have to train ourselves on how to hear. Not just the physical hearing but to hear with the soul. To train the self to hear, to contemplate, tafakkur and to meditate; ya Rabbi, I want that consciousness to open within me. And they begin to teach that the true reality of consciousness is when all senses are conscious of Allah (AJ), that you are hearing with your innermost hearing from the level of your soul and consciousness. You begin to hear your conscious. It means that at night when we meditate, and we begin to contemplate, I have to be able to hear myself. Ya Rabbi, what did I do? What were my actions? Make a hisaab and an accounting of myself and that level of consciousness begins to open.

Consciousness of the Sight

Then I have to, through my sight, be conscious of what my eyes are looking at, what my eyes are seeing, and that these eyes are hungry for dunya (material world). And if I don’t take a path in which I constantly close my eyes, and let my eyes become conscious of Allah’s (AJ) surrounding. It means Allah’s (AJ) Qudra (Power) is everywhere, but it is not only going to see it with the physical eyes but the spiritual eyes. It means every sense has to be trained by spiritual guides. That your hearing has to be conscious of Allah (AJ), not just the hearing on the physical, but the hearing of the soul. You have to begin to see, not only with the eyes of your head but the eyes of the heart.

If that hearing is becoming more conscious and that I close my eyes to the material world, and become more conscious of the energy and the subtle energies all around me. Then they begin to teach that if the hearing, and the seeing, then is the state of touching.

Consciousness of Touch

It means if I put too much emphasis on my physical pleasure that my spiritual touch won’t become subtle. So then, the life of Prophet ﷺ always put hardship on the physicality. It means even the sense of touch has to be put through difficulty. Either we have physical difficulty, ailments in knees, pain in the legs and back, and all of those brings us to a higher level of understanding of consciousness, of taqwa. As soon as you have pain you become very conscious of Allah (AJ), you become very conscious of azaab and punishment of the grave. Anybody in pain believes there is punishment of the grave because you have punishment in your bed, you have punishment walking around in this dunya if you are in pain.

It means the sense of touch and all of them become conscious. The hearing is becoming conscious listening to the self. The vision is becoming conscious of what I am searching for is not through the physical eyes, I’m searching for something through my heart, ya Rabbi. My touch and my sense of touch, I begin to become tough with my self. You sit in positions that may be uncomfortable for your self so that the subtlety of your desire begins to drop.

Prophet ﷺ would sleep on a hard surface so that the sleep wouldn’t go too deep and he could wake for Fajr (dawn prayer). Anybody with difficulty for waking for Fajr, sleep on the hard floor. Put a bamboo mat and sleep and the whole night you are in pain from the wood all over your body.

Consciousness Through the Smell and Breath

So, if my hearing, my seeing, and my touch, now to be conscious with the smell. Every sense has to have a sense of taqwa. If now my smell becomes subtle, it means you become trained in the fragrance of smell, so you seek out good smells, and you seek a refuge from bad smells and dirtiness. That becomes now an angelic reality, that you surround yourself with fragrance, you surround yourself with that which is clean and has a sense of purity. And you seek refuge away from everything that has a noxious and toxic smell because it doesn’t bring a happiness to the soul and doesn’t elevate your level of consciousness.

It means that if now the hearing is in taqwa, the eyes are moving into taqwa, the sense of touch is entering into taqwa, the sense of the breath and what you are breathing of smells and fragrance. It means your nafas (breath) becomes so significant to you. They say that Grandshaykh and many pious people, they smell the cigarettes hundreds of feet away because they are very sensitive to that noxious smell. They don’t like that smell and they understand what type of energy is coming with that, because you are breathing through that energy. At even higher levels, they take the secret out of that breath as an energy for the soul. So, it means you become in taqwa and consciousness of the breath through the tarbiya and the training.

Consciousness Through Taste

So what opens? Zawq, the level of taste, where your taste is now conscious of Allah (AJ). It means through your tafakkur, your training and contemplation, you begin to hear what people don’t hear. That is the holy hadith because you are doing this out of love; we are doing this not as an obligation, but we are doing it out of love for Allah (AJ).

عَنْ أَبِيِ هُرَيْرَةِ رَضِّيَّ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ‏،‏ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ ‏:‏‏‏ إِنَّ اللهَ تَعَالَىٰ قَالَ‏:”‏… وَلَا يَزَالُ عَبْدِي يَتَقَرَّبُ إلَيَّ بِالنَّوَافِلِ حَتَّى أُحِبَّهُ، فَإِذَا أَحْبَبْتُهُ كُنْت سَمْعَهُ الَّذِي يَسْمَعُ بِهِ، وَبَصَرَهُ الَّذِي يُبْصِرُ بِهِ، وَيَدَهُ الَّتِي يَبْطِشُ بِهَا، وَرِجْلَهُ الَّتِي يَمْشِي بِهَا، وَلَئِنْ سَأَلَنِي لَأُعْطِيَنَّهُ،…”  
[حَدِيثْ اَلْقُدْسِي – اَلمَصْدَرْ: صَحِيحْ الْبُخَارِي – رقم:٦٥٠٢] 

‘An Abi Hurairah (ra) qala, Qala Rasulullahi ﷺ : InnAllaha ta’ala qala: “ …, wa la yazaalu ‘Abdi yataqarrabu ilayya bin nawafile hatta ahebahu, fa idha ahbabtuhu kunta Sam’ahul ladhi yasma’u behi, wa Basarahul ladhi yubsiru behi, wa Yadahul lati yabTeshu beha, wa Rejlahul lati yamshi beha, wa la in sa alani la a’Teyannahu, …”  
[Hadith Qudsi, Sahih al Bukhari, Raqam: 6502) 

Narrated by Abu Hurairah (ra) that: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said that: Allah the Almighty said: “…My servant continues to draw near to Me with voluntary acts of worship so that I shall love him. When I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him…” [Holy Hadith, Authentic by al-Bukhari, # 6502] 

Allah’s (AJ) promise was that any servant who approaches through love I become the hearing in which you hear, it means now that hearing has a taqwa, it hears from realities; I become the seeing in which you see, I become the touch in which you touch, I become the breath which you breathe, I become the tongue in which you speak; because you guarded your taste, you took away the taste of the forbidden. You took your whole life now into siyam (fasting) because this is the reality of the siyam; that everything is fasting for Allah (AJ), for the love of Allah (AJ), then those are the people of true taqwa.

If somebody is not hearing anything, what does he care to cheat and lie? He is already behind a metal door. It means the way of ascension, the way of huda lil muttaqeen, because they have laa rayba fee, they are not living a life of crookedness; their understanding is correct from Holy Qur’an and Holy Qur’an is dressing them of every reality.

It means their hidayat and their guidance, they entered into the real oceans of taqwa. If their Shaykh is taking them through the oceans of taqwa, then begins for them, they are now entering into being muttaqeen. Why? Because they have the perfection of yaqeen.

﴾كَلَّا لَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ عِلْمَ الْيَقِينِ ﴿٥

102:5 – “Kalla law t’alamoona ‘ilm al y’aqeen.” (Surat At-Takathur)

“No! If you only knew with knowledge of certainty.” (The Rivalry in World Increase, 102:5)

Yaqeen means perfection; it is a perfected state of taqwa. When you are conscious, it means you have a yaqeen of your hearing. Your hearing is very fine tuned; you hear through your soul, you hear through your body because your taqwa reached such a level Allah (AJ) grants it to be yaqeen, to be certain. You are hearing from the oceans of certainty of the heavens. You are seeing with the ocean of certainty, and these are in darajats (degrees).

﴾ثُمَّ لَتَرَوُنَّهَا عَيْنَ الْيَقِينِ ﴿٧

102:7 – “Thum ma la tara wun naha ‘ayn al y’aqeen.” (Surat At-Takathur)

“Then you will surely see it with the eye of certainty.” (The Rivalry in World Increase, 102:7)

If you are hearing from certainty, and begin to see from certainty, because all your senses are under Allah’s (AJ)  taqwa, you are hearing from certainty, you begin to see from certainty. That hearing of certainty, the seeing of certainty, opens from the haqq (truth) of certainty because it is no longer imagination. It’s real.

﴾إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَهُوَ حَقُّ الْيَقِينِ ﴿٩٥

56:95 – “Inna hatha la huwa haqqul y’aqeen.” (Surat Al-Waqi’ah)

“Indeed, this is the true certainty.” (The Event, 56:95)

People of Consciousness Taste the Lailatul Qadr (Night of Power)

It is said that Ahl at taqwa, the people of consciousness, they hear the tajallis (manifestations) beginning; on Lailatul Qadr and holy nights, and Allah (AJ) is dressing with these realities, it is described, I am sending all the angels, all the Ruh.

﴾لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ ﴿٣﴾ تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ فِيهَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِم مِّن كُلِّ أَمْرٍ ﴿٤

97:3-4 – “Lailatul qadri khairum min alfee shahr. (3) Tanaz zalul malaa-ikatu war roohu feeha bi izni-rab bihim min kulli amr. (4)” (Surat Al-Qadr)

“The angels and the Spirit descend therein by permission of their Lord for every Command/affair. (4) ” (The Power, 97:3-4)

It means all the oceans of qudra are moving and then to their darajats, every knower there is a knower above them. It means they hear the tajallis (manifestations). They see the tajallis.

They begin to touch and sense and feel the tajallis. They begin to smell the tajallis and then they begin to taste. They taste Lailatul Qadr; they taste all these realities, because Allah (AJ) dressed them from taqwa, made them to be from Ahlul Yaqeen, al muttaqeen.

It means that they don’t guess when holy events are taking place, they are living them, dressing, breathing and tasting them. They are in those oceans. That is why Allah (AJ) describes, all the opening of Holy Qur’an is a huda for the muttaqeen. They are not people who make all sorts of crazy jurisprudence and lies about Islam. Their belief, istiqaam is on Sirat al-Mustaqeem (straight path).

﴾إِنَّ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّـهُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا فَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ ﴿١٣

46:13 – “Innal ladheena qalo rabbuna Allahu thumma Istaqamo, fala khawfun ‘alayhim wa la hum yahzanon.” (Surat Al-Ahqaf)

“Indeed, those who have said, “Our Lord is Allah,” and then remained on a right course – there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve.” (The Sandhills, 46:13)

Allah (AJ) describes that all of Holy Qur’an is a guidance for the muttaqeen. And the finale, why Allah (AJ) put Alif, Laam, Meem? Because this was a description of how to have taqwa. Taqwa must be from all the senses. And if you are really from the Ahlat taqwa, you are now from the Ahlul Yaqeen. If you are from Ahlul Yaqeen then you are from Muttaqeen.

Muttaqeen Must Be Able to Describe – Alif, Laam, Meem

Then Allah (AJ) says this huda lil muttaqeen, they have to at least be able to describe Alif, Laam, Meem. So how many tafsirs (interpretation) are on the internet where people say, there is no Alif, Laam, Meem. It is a secret nobody knows. Okay, the person just revealed that they are not from the muttaqeen? Otherwise, why would Allah (AJ) say, “hudan al-muttaqeen”?

What is “huda of the muttaqeen? Alif, Laam, Meem! It means the opening of that kitab is the key. If they don’t have the key then what they are reading is not Holy Qur’an, they are reading furqaan. They are reading a book of right and wrong, right and wrong, right and wrong. The reality of Holy Qur’an means it has from Nur Muhammad ﷺ. That you have to have the love of Prophet ﷺ, where your faith is reaching its completion, where you begin to love Sayyidina Muhammad ﷺ more than you love yourself.

عَنْ أَنَسِ بْن مَالِكٍ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ، قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ” لاَ يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى أَكُونَ أَحَبَّ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ وَالِدِهِ وَوَلَدِهِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ ‏”‏‏.‏ 
[صَحِيِحْ مُسْلِمْ، حديث ٤٤، واَلْبُخَارِي، كِتَابُ الْإيْمَانْ، حديث ١٥] 

‘An Anas ibn Malik (ra) qala, qala Rasulullahi ﷺ “La yuminu ahadukum hatta akona ahabba ilayhi min walidihi wa waladihi wan nasi ajma’yeen.” 
[Sahih Muslim, Hadith 44, wa Al Bukhari, Kitabul Iman, Hadith 15] 

Narrated by Anas son of Malik (ra) that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: “None of you will have faith till he loves me more than his father, his children, and all mankind.”  [Authentic by Muslim, Hadith 44 & by Al Bukhari, Book of Faith, Hadith 15] 

It means Nur Muhammadi ﷺ is encompassing your soul and you have been granted from oceans of guidance. You become from the muttaqeen, under the guidance of muttaqeen, and no doubt they describe to you, “Alif, Laam, Meem!”

﴾وَالَّذِي جَاءَ بِالصِّدْقِ وَصَدَّقَ بِهِ ۙ أُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُتَّقُونَ ﴿٣٣

39:33 – “Wal ladhee jaa a bisSidqi wa Saddaqa bihi Olayika humul Muttaqon.” (Surat Az-Zumar)

“And he who brings the Truth and he who confirms (and supports) it – such are the men who do right/Muttaqeen.” (The Troops, 39:33)

What is Contained in Alif, Laam, Meem?

Alif – Izzatullah

One understanding, Alif = ‘Izzatullah’, Laam = ‘Lisanul Haq’. This is the story of the whole unfolding of Holy Qur’an. Why is it at the beginning? It is the story of the unfolding of Creation and all of Creation is contained in Holy Qur’an!

Alif, Allah’s (AJ) telling before anything was Izzatullah. When Allah (AJ), a Hidden Treasure wanting to be known, to be known through Lisanul Haq, means

قَال رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ، قَالْ اللَّه عَزَ وَجَلْ: ” كُنْت كَنْزاً مخفيا فَأَحْبَبْت أَنْ أُعْرَفَ؛ فَخَلَقْت خَلْقاً فَعَرَّفْتهمْ بِي فَعَرَفُونِي.” 
[حَدِيثْ اَلْقُدْسِي – بِحَارْ اَلْأنْوَارْ، اَلْعَلَامَةْ اَلْمَجْلِسِيْ، جُزْء ٨٤، صَفْحَة ١٩٩] 

Qala Rasulallahi ﷺ, Qala Allah (AJ): “Kuntu kanzan makhfiyya, fa ahbabtu an a’rafa, fa khalaqtu khalqan, fa ‘arraftahum bi fa ‘arafonee.”  
[Hadith al Qudsi – Behar al Anwar, Al ‘Alama al Majlisi, Juz’ 84, Safha 199] 

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, that Allah (AJ) said: “I was a hidden Treasure then I desired to be known, so I created a creation to which I made Myself known; then they knew Me.”  
[Holy Hadith – Bihar al Anwar, by Al ‘Alama al Majlisi, Volume 84, Page 199]

Laam – Lisanul Haq

Laam is now the unfolding. It means the Power of Allah (AJ), ‘I am a Hidden Treasure, wanting to be known.’ Allah (AJ) will eternally be known only through that Laam because nobody can approach Allah (AJ). Then Allah (AJ) describes the Laam, as who? As Muhammadun RasulAllah ﷺ. It means never outstrip your imam, never go ahead of him. Never think that you have a relationship directly with Allah (AJ) without Sayyidina Muhammad ﷺ. Otherwise where are you coming?

These are the knowledges of the arifeen, that they are reaching towards these realities, asking their souls to ascend to these realities. And Allah (AJ) begins to unfold the story of Creation, that My Izzat, never you can come to, never can you approach Me. You come to My Laam, you come to the tongue of My Truth. That Tongue of Truth in the oceans of akhirah (hereafter) is RasulAllah ﷺ.

Al-hadith al-awwal, ‘What was the first thing created, Ya Sayyidi, ya RasulAllah?’ The Light of your Prophet ﷺ, ya Jabir .

أَوَّلُ مَا خَلَقَ اللهُ نُوْرِ نَبِيِّكَ يَا جَابِرْ

“Awwalu ma khalaqAllahu nuri Nabyika, Ya Jabir.”

“The first thing that Allah created was your prophet`s light (referring to himself (pbuh)) O Jabir.” (Prophet Muhammad ﷺ)

Meem – Muhammad ﷺ

It means the prophetic light of Prophet ﷺ has eternally been “Muhammadun RasulAllah ﷺ”. It’s the unfolding, and begins to describe the Meem of Muhammad ﷺ.

Breakdown of the Letters of Alif, Laam, Meem

Then they begin to teach, but they don’t give permission to talk, is that from that Alif, Laam, Meem, they can open. How they talk about each huroof (letter) they can bring up to 12,000 levels of knowledge. And the unfolding of knowledge, means that from this Alif [Shaykh points to Alif of the Alif, Laam, Meem on whiteboard] they begin their tafakkur again, their consciousness, the yaqeen, and begins to open Alif, Laam, Faa.

It means they took from three (3 letters – Alif, Lam, Meem) and brought it to nine (each of the 3 letters are made up of 3 letters). So immediately unfolded it into nine levels down of reality. From that, again we are showing just an example, they can open that into twenty-three levels down of realities; and each one a different reality from the one above. Each one more descriptive of that reality. It means it goes into the form, and from the form to the molecule, from the molecule to the atoms of that reality. And now they are finding even smaller realities within that atom. It means that the knowledge is infinite. As much as Allah (AJ) wants to expand, nothing can end whatever Allah (AJ) wants to expand.

This for us is an understanding that to keep the company of the people of taqwa, keep the company of people of yaqeen and that they are the true muttaqeen. They have been granted a guidance by Allah (AJ), by Sayyidina Muhammad ﷺ, and by awliyaullah. We pray that Allah (AJ) always keep us in their company to be blessed by them, dressed by them, and be under their nazar (gaze).

Subhana rabbika rabbal ‘izzati ‘amma yasifoon, wa salaamun ‘alal mursaleen, walhamdulillahi rabbil ‘aalameen. Bi hurmati Muhammad al-Mustafa wa bi siri Surat al-Fatiha.