Farooqi’s Guide to Sufism: The interpretation of Lateefa (Energy-Point)

Allama Muhammad Saeed Ahmad Mujaddadi (RA) in his book “Albayyinaat Sharah e Maktoobaat” has mentioned the ten commandments which are termed as Ten Energy Centers (Latayif e Ashra). Five out of these ten commandments are referred as realm of command (Aalam e Amr) and the other five to realm of creation (Aalam e Khalq): these co-relate to a human’s spiritual and physical existence. If we talk about the ten Energy Points (Latayif e Ashra), a question arises “what is Lateefa”?

Energy Point (Lateefa)

The physical attribute of a person comprises of a very energy point (lateef), “Mahal e Noor”, which could also be termed as rational soul (Nafs e Natiqa).

                         “And it is a spiritual energy that is matter-free”(Book of Definitions) 

The literal meaning of energy point as per Hazrat Saheb, is ‘Palace of Lights’ (Mahal e Noor).

The abode to all these energy points lies above the skies, but they have a very phenomenal connection with humans. With the purification of all these energy points, the spiritual seeker evolves in the Aalam Amr( Realm of Command) 

The home to all this light (noor) is Aalam e Amr, but when a person consistently keeps remembering Allah (zikr), and gets connected to the heavens above, it gives birth to these places. These places are always blessed with Allah’s blessings and are called, “lataayif”.

We can quote the example of a Cell Phone, where if a person, let’s say from America dials the number of a person from Pakistan, the dialed number rings a bell on the phone number of the person living in Pakistan: and thus, a connection is established.

Lateefa e Qalb( Energy point in Heart) 

Each organ of the body has its own functions, but when there’s a message from the Realm of Command, the place where the blessing finds refuge, is called the energy center (lateefa), and to a certain extent correlates with the heart. So, the heart indeed is the core of the energy center.

There is clear guidance in sayings and deeds of Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) with reference to this point. He (PBUH) made statement in this regard:

“During revelation of the Holy Quran on my heart I would listen: sound of ringing/jingling bells, sometimes blowing of windstorm and buzzing of bees, my forehead would get sweaty and I would be totally under control of some heavenly intuition”.

Hazrat Ali (RA) demonstrated that Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) was thoroughly influenced physically as well as spiritually during those moments of revelation. He further added: “Once, in company of Alllah’s Messenger, my thigh was under Prophet’s knee while sitting that the Holy Quran started revealing/ I observed that the Holy Prophet’s face got reded, drops of perspiration appeared on his forehead, and I fold unbearable burden and load on my strong thigh which seemed to be cracked but the condition suddenly changed as revelation process was completed and I got relief”. 

Would the Companions (RA) also got sound of jingling bells etc? “No… Not at all.” They were unable to listen but the face-expression and body-language of the Holy Prophet would explain the descendance of Holy Quran & Wahi (Allah’s instructions). THe Allah’s messenger would get attentive and engrossed immediately and spontaneously to receive and conceive the “Divine Message” and by this he acquired Allah’s words.

Internet and Heart

The example of internet technology can be quoted. A message is sent from the sender’s screen and is received at the receiver’s end. A message can not be delivered, without either, the sender and the receiver. In order to receive the message, it is important to turn your heart’s computer on, and tune into the frequency of the energy center and be focused completely. Practice your Shaykh’s prescribed zikr (remembrance of Allah). The moment frequencies of both the screens get tuned with each other, a connection is formed and blessings are transferred silently. 

Take the five energy centers (realm of commands) of a human as a computer, and the body as software, its true residence is above the sky. And when someone gets connected to this system, the data gets in sync with the universal receiver, and on that very instant, the faiz (blessings) get downloaded and the heart feels anxious, and if the faiz lands on the soul, then the soul feels anxious. In the similar way, crown/head is the example of khafi or akhfa (hidden secret point and the most hidden secret point respectively). The home to these five energy points are the skies above.

The way computers are connected to Hong Kong, Singapore via satellites, the main server is in America, in the similar manner the central point of the realm of commands is in the heavens. In order to grace the Sufi with courage and blessings on his path, or to upgrade their database, Allah’s zikr is recommended to them.

For instance, the data (faiz in this case) receiving capacity for the case of a P-IV is limited, if the data is more, then the hard disk and RAM should have more capacity, with that, the processor should have more receiving capacity to cater all the faiz. The more a Sufi keeps at practicing the zikr of Almighty, his capacity to receive and give faiz also enhance, thus his energy centers (latayif) also enhance.

Base of Blessings Beyond Heavens

Initially the Sufi is asked to not impure his heart, recite the zikr “Allah” from your gut as you inhale, and exhale “Hoo” and strike it on your heart. Strike it on your soul, then your crown, then khafi, down to akhfa, keep striking all the five energy points at the same time. When all these energy points are awakened, then the Sufi is asked to embrace Allah not from your heart, but from the harnessing point, and strike Hoo at the core of the universe. Strike Hoo at your rooh (soul), then the crown, then khafi, and then at the core of akhfa (the central core of the universe) and deduce faiz from it, afterwards.

Sometimes, the faiz occurs to the Sufi, and the other many times, the Sufi has to pave way for it, by handing out his receiving email address and sometimes the access is granted to the Sufi by his Shaykh. Some are granted access to Naqashbandi, Chishti to some, Qadri to others, and Suharwardi to another, and a password is given. All these connections are connected to Madina, and then to the omnipresent source.

Peer nagar ko jaa kar Nabi nagar ko jaa

Nabi nagar mein beth kar yaar ka darshan paa

(Seek way to your spiritual guide first then Prophet’s abode and to Allah Almighty to attain endless bliss)

Virus and Anti-Virus

When a Sufi meditates, and strikes Hoo at his heart, faiz auto-syncs with the universal core. Keep striking Hoo in order to retrieve the data, so that you can transude your heart from the worldly affairs, and install a firewall protection – an anti-virus against all the material viruses. So that more of faiz can be retrieved, which indeed is any Momin’s (Believer) life possession. Keep the spirit alive and the soul could sustain, so that it could get to more people.

Blend of Bodily Existence & Heavenly Abode

These energy centers are the five core points inside the human, which are connected to the central core of the universe. There comes a time when all these energy centers travel the universe before even the Sufi meditates. And with time, his wisdom would travel as it flows. Then there comes a time, when meditation takes over the human to the point that the Sufi’s humanness (bashreeat) takes the shape of the vessel (of faiz) containing it. And that, is termed as, Fear of Allah (khasheeat e Ilahi). The Holy Prophet said:

“Worship God as if you were seeing Him.” (Bukhari)

Enjoyment of Allah’s Engrossment/Nearness

Humans cannot see, hear, smell or touch God. For He is not seeable, hearable, feeble. The more a person’s energy centers awake, the more he gets aligned to his God. The more he is aligned with his God, the more he can observe Allah in the micro-details of the universe. The more his energy centers are connected to the central core of the universe, the more his heart, soul, crown, khafi and akhfa get attached to Him: The Almighty, and even one’s wisdom and one’s existence.

The Flower from Heaven and The Holy Prophet (PBUH)

It is narrated from a Hadith, once the Prophet (PBUH) was going to offer his prayer. He moved his hand in a forward direction, hold something, left it, and took his hand backward direction. He repeated the act twice or thrice. After the prayer, his companions asked him, “O Holy Prophet! Today you performed something other than routine”. To which The Holy Prophet responded, “I was reciting the Holy Quran, the verses were regarding paradise, I felt heaven in my heart, and I started visioning paradise. I saw the views of Jannah (paradise), after seeing the fruits and (some) other seeds (of paradise), I wanted to eat (those) fruits. I lifted my hand above than the seven skies to hold it. I was about to pick one, (at that moment) it occurred (to me) that Allah has preserved these (fruits as rewards), (they should remain) in disguise, they should remain veiled, and hence I receded. But, then I again wanted, and then again thought the same, and receded.”

It implies, that these energy centers of a person can get awakened to the point, that we can travel the unknown.

Close Intimation with God & Hazrat Ali

Hazrat Ali said “I cannot bow (in sujood) without seeing Allah”. This level is one step above ilm ul yaqeen and could be termed as haqq ul yaqeen. This whole process initiates by practicing zikr (of Allah) in the realm of command and a connection is a must. When we chant zikr of Allah, we connect with our spiritual guide (murshad), i.e., The Holy Prophet.

How to Get the Password?

Think of this example as, someone gets an admission in a university, for the admission we need to get ourselves registered in the said university, that is the real way of doing it. But if someone says, to not get admission, and being enrolled, and being considered as a regular student at the university, and to be able to enjoy all the privileges of a regular student of the university, which however is not possible. For this, the person has to get registered via admission form, and universities do not give away an admission just like that. They tell you a way out, which is, they send you to an affiliated university, college or institute: to get admission in that institute, they will connect you with us. In this way you can enjoy all the privileges of a regular student.

What is Reference (waseela)

In the same way people, who do not believe in the concept of reference (waseela) have to wait or find another way of getting somewhere. But people who do believe in a reference, tend to get easier access, for instance, a person with a reference for the same case of getting admission in a university, will have an easier access to work things out in a better way. So, a person with a reference of his Shaykh will have an easier access to the Holy Prophet.

True Instance of Murshad

Once my Shaykh shared this with us, I visited Roza e Rasul once, I meditated, prayed for quite a while, to seek a connection. Waited for an hour but nothing happened. Then I saw a long queue, it felt like the queue started from Madina and extended till Gujranwala. Heard a voice that instructed me to get in the line. He added, erstwhile, a feeling struck my heart, and I referred to Khwaajgaan (elders), with their reference I sent the message inside, and within a few moments, all the doors opened, and I met the Prophet (PBUH).

Huzur said (PBUH) to Hazrat Bilal once, “O Bilal! You would enter paradise before me”. Bilal responded, “O Apostle of Allah! Why so?” Replied, “Because you will be forward, holding the halter of my carriage”

In the similar manner, one holding the file, or the bag, i.e., the assistant: goes along with the master.

“O believers! Be mindful of Allah and seek what brings you closer to Him and struggle in His Way, so you may be successful.”

(Al-Maidah: 35)