Forgiving Those Who Trespass

Written by: Mikhayah

‫بسم ال الرحن الرحيم‬

"Has not the time yet come for those who believe that their hearts should be
submissive when remembering Allah and what has come down of the Truth?" Al-
Qur'aan, Soorah 57:16

In this modern age the Mu'minoon have seen a fulfillment of signs and prophecies
with exponential acceleration and unfolding. With any such signs come great
expectations from those who see them. With this comes increasing speculation on
"what will come next." Each culture and religious tradition holds their own
expectations of prophets and figures from the past who will return to usher in an
era of peace and Messianic Consciousness.

No matter what cultural or religious tradition, the outcome is relatively the

same: Jews in many cases living in hypocrisy and opulence, whilst setting a place
at the table for Ilyas, Christians in many cases living in hypocrisy, yet praying
for the return of Christ (who they imagine will warmly embrace them), to magically
wisp them away into the clouds to their "home in the sky," Muslimoon also living
in hypocrisy in many cases, and inaction in the face of brutality and injustice
facing their brothers and sisters. Instead of rising to the defense of the
oppressed, of the raped, of the tortured and murdered (at the hands of both their
own regimes and others), they raise their arms to the sky and wail for the return
of the Mahdiy to save them from the oppressors; a job which we are ALL charged
with. As it is written in the Book of Allah:

"Fighting is prescribed upon you, and you dislike it. And it may happen that you
dislike a thing which is good for you, and it may happen that you love a thing
which is bad for you. And Allah knows and you know not." Al-Qur'aan, Soorah 2:216

In Truth, all any of us know there are lots of lesser "A'mmah" - some have said as
much about Ayatullaah Khumayniy, Moosaa-s-Sadr, like so many who have come and
gone before - and the 12th Imaam is guiding from the Realm of Hurqaliyyah, from
the Barzakh; manifesting his actions in accordance with the Will of Allah THROUGH
these lesser "a'mmah." So people are not the focus, for we see the Imaam through
peoples actions. Thus, because we see the Mahdiy and the Maseeh through peoples
actions we do not need to worry about how Allah chooses to manifest them to
fulfill prophecy. We are told time and time again through Ahadeeth that various
A'mmah were charged with the mission of rising to political power, of BEING the
Imaam al-Qaa'im, but because of certain occurrences in accordance with freewill,
on the behalf of their disciples, this did not happen in their life time. Many of
their disciples undoubtedly got discouraged and lost faith, falling away like
chaff. This proved an indication of their motivation in the first place. They were
originally so committed to their Imaam because they believed that "their"
expectations would be met shortly. Their intentions, while pure in some regards,
were tainted by the rijs of the nafs. Once hope was lost for immediate victory,
then their commitment staggered.

Similarly, with regards to the followers of Imaam al-Husayn, when he faced certain
PHYSICAL defeat (yet spiritual victory) on the battlefield of Karbalaa', so many
fell away and refused to join him. Only 72 true Mystic Warriors (Mujaahideena
..Aarifeen), remained true to the Struggle and faced the enemy head on no matter
what. These were the true ..urafa, these who were not disillusioned with promises
of easy victory within their immediate grasps. Instead, they focused on the long
term spiritual vision (shuhood) for victory, and because of this they saved the
core of Islaam to be passed down and remembered for generations to come.

To focus on the short term hypothetical victory, to focus on those who you believe
or expect will be able to offer you this short term victory on a silver-platter,
is the height of istidraaj. To focus on these things makes us focus on that which
is not important if we are truly doing what we need to do. Such things primarily
becomes important, even central, to people when they cannot make up there minds
whether to choose action or inaction, resistance or complicity: "Should i join
this group or should i just sit at home chatting online, or going to the masjid
and never getting involved in the local or global community to bring about the
conditions that are necessary for the Rise to take place? If this individual
leading it is so and so, then i will join. If not then i will not." Their action
becomes contingent upon their speculation and their hopes and desires to see
prophecy fulfilled through the people they see the Mahdiy and Maseeh working
through. But this is Istidraaj and that is why they cannot decide to join and work
together without having their short sighted speculations confirmed.

To the Palestinians, to the Iraqis, to the Chechens, to the people in the barrios,
ghettos, refugee camps and shanty towns, no one cares who the Mahdiy is or Maseeh
is. This is simply not part of their reality; they cannot afford for it to be.
Suffering and poverty is their reality and it is a product of comfort that affords
people the luxury of speculating on the identity of people who they do not need to
worry about, as this is in Allah's hands. The Hadeeth tells us that when our Imaam
disappears from sight, then expect relief to come from beneath our own feet. That
is all we need to focus on: relief, faraj. The masses speak of faraj coming in
their 'ad..iyyah through the Imaam but we are not to expect this. We are told by
the tenth Imaam al-Haadiy to expect faraj to come from beneath our own feet, not
from beneath his.

"If your Imaam goes into occultation, expect freedom from grief (to come from)
beneath your feet."

Bihaaru-l-'Anwaar, 51, p. 161

It is istidraaj for people to fixate on an individual and to try to correlate them

with their expectations. For ultimately we are to fixate on Nothing, and the
Mahdiy, ..Iysaa or anyone else is equally nothing as much nothing as the computer
which this is being typed on or whatever "you" think you are looking at this on.
Thus, to focus on any of these things as "real" or important in and of themselves
is the epitome of distraction.

Even in the case of Aayatullaah Khumayniy there were people who suspected that he
was the Mahdiy. Many will virtually attack you if you don't call him "Imaam"
thought it is an acknowledged reality that he was only a lesser imaam, an Imaam of
the Islamic Revolution in Iran. But what he was or wasn't is not the point. What
people saw was the Primordial Imaam manifesting through his ACTIONS, and for that
reason, speculation emerged regarding his identity. Regardless of this, he should
not be the focus for the true ..Urafa. For them, it is the Truth manifest THROUGH
him that should be the focus ALONE. That was the focus of both his teachings and
his actions in a regional manifestation of the Eternal Revolution of the Mahdiy.
To the ..Urafa the objective is to be aware of "our" Existence as Nothing. It is
not to "become Nothing" as we are already Nothing regardless of whether we are
awakened to this realization (tahaqquq), or asleep within the illusion of duality.
Our objective and only desire is to stop this charade of "self-hood;" to stop
pretending that "you" or "i" am anyone. This is what our focus has to be, not
because it is "our" desire of the nufoos, but because it is THE WILL OF ALLAH
alone, and for that reason the desire is pure and stems from the Divine.
This realization is the objective. Neither the Mahdiy nor ..Iysaa can force this
upon us. They cannot force our eyes open. For when one is slumbering in a deep
sleep and someone turns on the light, this light, this noor is blinding due to the
suddenness of it. The sleeper will shut his eyes tighter than ever, or cover his
head with a pillow. He will not gain any more interest in waking up, getting up
and living. He will still want to sleep and he will do whatever it takes to block
out the Nooru-l-Haqeeqah, the Light of Reality, that is being shined upon him.
The Light on its own will not suffice to wake someone up if they are sleeping
within darkness. For although Aayatu-l-Kursiy tells us that the Truth is MANIFEST
from falsehood, there are still plenty who refuse to see this clear manifestation.
No, rather the Light will have to permeate the entire region until the very
particles of the sleepers body are energized, with his testosterone rising with
the sun itself, causing his internal circadian rhythms to provoke his awakening,
naturally and in accordance with the Way. This will not need to be forced, it will
happen as a matter of Nature. When we tire we sleep. When we are rested and ready,
we awaken. If we awaken prematurely then it is not true awakeness, but sluggish,
drunkenness of mind. We are told not to approach Salaah in such a manner, for this
very reason.
If one awakens in sluggish drunkenness then their awakeness will be short lived.
They will seem awake for a while, but then will return to sleep as a matter of the
course of Nature; for they were never truly awake. It is for this reason that the
eleventh Imaam al-..Askariy is reported to have said: "When the hearts are active,
confide in them; and when they are reluctant, bid them farewell."

Brothers and sisters, this Revolution is not a revolution of guns, knives and
bombs, but guns, knives and bombs will be found in any modern battle. The weapons
employed are incidental to our Revolution. We are not a Revolution of the gun. The
gun is a tool. If you want to eat food that has been sealed within a can, do you
focus on the can opener? If you want the milk from a coconut, do you focus on the
hammer or blade with which you open it? Of course not, because these things are
incidental.

Our Revolution is the Revolution of the Mind, the Evolution of the perfected human
being, the insaan al-kamil; an evolution to unending awakenness. This Revolution
will not be won in 7 years, nor in 9 years, nor in 19 years, nor in 40 years, nor
in 309 years. This Revolution is a perpetual journey that is unrelated to
individual manifestations of that Revolution in the course of battle with the
forces of evil, both internal and external.

When a murderer charges towards us with a gun or a knife to kill or harm us or

someone else, we do not seek to kill him, we seek to STOP him. The means which we
use are the means that are necessary to stop him. If that requires merely shouting
to him authoritatively then al-hamdulillah, so be it. If that requires fighting
him or shooting him, then al-hamdulillah, so be it. The objective, however, is not
to focus on the means. The objective is what is the focus at hand. The objective
in such a case, is to STOP him. If he stops after an authoritative shout, then so
do you. You do not then fight or kill him. If you are forced to punch or kick this
man and he falls down, then you have stopped him. You do not then kick him and
kick him and kick him until he is dead or severely injured. Your objective was to
stop him by any means necessary. Once he stops, so do you. If you are forced to
shoot him, then you shoot him and if after a few shots he stops but is still
alive, then you too stop. You do not unload your magazine into his wounded body.
What kind of hatred is that to be found within the heart of a Mu'min?

You stopped this man out of love; love for whoever he was going to harm, love for
him so that he did not incur the consequences of the actions he intended (and in
so doing sink deeper into the torment of Jahannam), and most importantly love for
the Will of Allah. Your love which provoked the defense was pure. However, if in
that defense you become engrossed in the means, engrossed in the means you are
employing to stop the attack, then you have become distracted from the initial
Love which caused you to defend so righteously to begin with. May those with eyes
to see, see and those with ears to hear, hear the meaning of this. For our
Revolution is not a revolution of the means. It is not a revolution of guns,
knives and bombs. It is not a revolution of spokesmen and leaders, of A'mmah and
shuyookh. Ultimately, it is neither a Revolution of the Mahdiy or ..Iysaa. It is a
Revolution of awakening to the Roohullah within us ALL; the Rooh which Emmanuel
awoke to, and just as Emmanuel awoke to it we ALL need to awaken to it because we
are ALL this Rooh. That is the ONLY reality of "Self-hood."

For this reason it is written that on the Day of Judgment (Yawmu-d-Deen), ..Iysaa
will say to those on his right hand, "Come, enter the Kingdom. For I was hungry
and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was sick and you
visited me." Then ..Iysaa will turn to those on his left hand and say, "Depart
from me because I was hungry and you did not feed me, I was thirsty and you did
not give me to drink, I was sick and you did not visit me." These will ask him,
"When did we see You hungry, or thirsty or sick and did not come to Your help?"
And ..Iysaa will answer them, "Whatever you neglected to do unto one of these
least of these, you neglected to do unto Me!"

Oh brothers and sisters, can this be any more clear? Will you then turn away after
Truth has already come to you? These words are not new, but old. What we wish for
our brother should be that which we wish for ourselves. For the very least of
these are ultimately the same "self" as us ALL; with the same undivided Rooh
within them all. To disdain our brother is to disdain our-Self. To harbor a grudge
against our brother is to harbor a grudge against our-Self. Our anger should not
stem from personal feelings, but from objective Truth. When we know someone has
done something wrong, then the wrongness by nature upsets us just the same as an
incorrect magnetic combination will repel, just the same as incorrect circuitry
will short out and blow a fuse. Our anger is not at a "person" who does not exist,
but rather at the actions manifesting through the particular thoughts within the
Construct of Allah's Universal Divine Mind. For this reason it is narrated that
Zurareh narrated that Imaam al-Baaqir said: "The closest thing to become a kafir
is to remember your believing brother's with the intention of blaming him in the
future."

Mishkaatu-l-'Anwaar fee Ghuraari-l-'Akhbar The Lamp Ninche for the

best Traditions Page 262 Hadeeth Number 499

For the closest thing to kufr itself is to harbor such animosity towards your
brother when he has sought rectification, and to keep account of his wrongs. Allah
is Love itself in its purest form, and as ..Iysaa al-Maseeh said, Love keeps no
account of wrongs.

It is written that Muhammad prayed: "O Allah, show me the things as they are."

Mirsaadu-l-..Ibaad, p. 309
And it is narrated that Imaam Ja'faru-s-Sadiq has said: "Live and act as if you
can see the hereafter with your own eyes."

Mishkat at ul-Anwar fi Ghurar il-Akhbar Page 282 Hadeeth Number 556

So let us pray that we see things as they truly are. Let us pray that we live and
act as though the Akheerah is observable with our own eyes. Let us stop focusing
on the means, and focus on the objective, the goal. Let us stop docking our boats
at this port and that, tying the boat up, and searching through the town for men
who do not exist any more than "we" do, anymore than the boat, dock or water does.
Nothing alone is real. There is NO Reality but Allah, La Haqeeqaha-illaa-llah.
Do you not consider the words of ..Iysaa al-Maseeh? When his own Hawaariyyoon came
to him, one by one, and asked him if he was the foretold Mashiach, what did he
say? Did he say "Yes 'I' am?" Did he say "'You' are very smart to realize this,
and that is why i called you to this work?" No, of course not.

"Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the
way he asked them, 'Who do people say I am?' They replied, 'Some say John the
Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.' 'But what
about you?' he asked. 'Who do you say I am?' Peter answered, 'You are the
Messiah.' Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him." Mark 8:27-30

When he miraculously healed the sick through the sciences which the people had
little knowledge of, what did he say? Did he say "Tell your friends 'who' did this
for 'you'?" Did he say "These are signs of Allah for you to know who 'i' am, so go
and tell others?" No, to the contrary, he said: "Go your way, and show yourself to
the priest, and offer for your cleansing according to what Moses commanded, for a
testimony to them."

The testimony was a testimony of the Truth having changed the lives of those
healed; that they not just be healed in body, but healed in soul, transformed in
spirit. Through this transformation a testimony would be offered, not of the
"identity" of al-Maseeh, but rather of the transformation that Allah, al-Haqq, had
in their lives. All the while they were told NOT to focus on, or tell others that
they might focus on, the means by which this spiritual transformation had taken
place. This is the epitome of humility, and awakeness in the life and actions of
the Roohullah 2,000 years ago.

It is because of this realization of the futility of focusing on the non-existent

identities of this thought or that within the Construct of the Divine Mind that
Yahyaa said the "i am NOT" or "Ani AYN" when asked if he was the return or raja..
of the prophet Ilyaas: "And they asked him, What then? Are you Elijah? And he
said, 'I am Not.'"

This was a double-edge answer. For on one hand he was negating any identification
with the nafs as "this" thought or "that" within this realm of Dunyaa, this
Universal Construct of the Divine Mind, and at the same time he was affirming his
Existence as Nothing alone. This can be our only approach if we are to avoid
istidraaj at all costs. This is essential if we truly wish to awaken from the
dream. For though Yahyaa denied any such identification of his nafs with "this"
figure or "that," it is written thrice that ..Iysaa claimed Yahyaa was in fact
this raja..

"For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive
it, this is Eliyahu, which was for to come." Matthew 11:13-14

"But I say unto you, That Eliyahu has come already.... then the disciples
understood that he spoke unto them of John the Baptist." Matthew 17:12-13

"But I say unto you, That Eliyahu has indeed come, and they have done unto him
whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him." Mark 9:13

For Shee..ah this becomes particularly relevant since the doctrine of raja.. of
certain persons, including those who have physically died in this Thought-Realm of
the Dunyaa is considered a part of the Shee..iy ..aqeedah. Consequently, as
certain signs and prophesies are fulfilled at an ever increasing rate, many will
become side tracked with the fulfillment of these signs, will dock their boats,
enter into port cities and seek to identify the figures which they anticipate.
Miracles and signs are the same thing in Islaam. They are Ayaat. A miracle in
Islaam does not denote that the Natural Order has been ripped apart at the seems.
It means that we have been given signs, probabilities, and according to the 12
A'mmah, these signs are often themselves subject to the Badaa' of Allah's Will in
its natural ebb and flow within the Construct of Allah's Infinite Mind.

..Aliy ibn Muhammad has narrated from Ishaaq ibn Muhammad from Aboo Haashim al-
Ja..fariy who has said the following. "I was in the presence of Aboo-l-Hasan after
the death of his son, Aboo Ja..far. I thought to my self like wanting to say, 'The
two; Aboo Ja..far and Aboo Muhammad at this time are like Aboo-l-Hasan Moosaa and
'Isma..eel, the sons of Ja..far ibn Muhammad.' At such time Aboo-l-Hasan turned to
me before I would say anything and said, 'Yes, O Aboo Hashim, Allah applied Badaa'
in the case of Aboo Muhammad after Aboo Ja..far, a fact that was not known for
him. In the same He applied Badaa' in the case of Moosaa after the death of
'Isma..eel as an issue that through which his condition came to light. That is
what you thought to yourself. Even though people of falsehood may dislike, Aboo
Muhammad, my son will be the succeeding Imaam after me. With him is the knowledge
that he will need and with him is the means of Immaamah (Leadership with Divine
Authority)."
'Usoolu-l-Kaafiy H 856, Ch. 75, h 10

As freewill exists, so too does Badaa', which is ultimately the Freewill of Allah.
Thus, signs are for us to take notice of, but not for us to become distracted by.
When we are on a journey there are signs placed to mark the way for us. These
signs are to be noticed, but not focused on. If we focus on them while we continue
on our journey then we will endanger ourselves and others. We will bend our necks
backwards, always focusing on the past, and never the present. Nothing could be
more of a hazard.

Similarly, if we are not to wreck then the only other solution is for us to pull
off to the side of the road, to look at the sign and then flag down those who are
also on their journey, get them to pull over and merely focus on the signs.
Brothers and sisters, how then will we continue our journey?

No matter what we see, no matter what happens, our focus is to be on the Infinite
Nothingness of the Reality, and the Reality is Allah alone. There is no Reality
save Allah. If our focus diverts elsewhere, then we have grown tired and returned
to bed to go back to sleep in the dream world of duality and illusion that tells
us that "we" are "this" and "that" and seeks to delude us with the insanity of
identifying the non-existent with titles and names, coded to fit our cultural and
religious expectations.

Imaam al-Mahdiy is NOTHING, ..Iysaa al-Maseeh is NOTHING, everything that you see
is NOTHING, so then focus upon NOTHING and not the illusion of "something." It is
only when we do this that we can truly be considered awakened. And when we do this
we will realize that it does not matter if Al-Mahdiy or ..Iysaa EVER return, for
"they" never existed in the first place. It is only then that the words of Imaam
al-Haadiy will truly be understood by the ..Urafa, that: "If your Imaam goes into
occultation, expect freedom from grief (to come from) beneath your feet."