Rabita

Rabita in the Qur’an

O you who believe, be patient and persevere, and surpass others in patience and perseverance, and make rabita [purposeful and heartfelt spiritual connection], keep your connection, and have taqwa [self-vigilance], as Allah has prescribed, so that you may reach salvation. (Aal-e Imran:200)

All power belongs to Allah so may Allah be praised as He deserves.

Flashback

Would you like to refresh your memory with the previous parts about the relationship with Allah before proceeding with today’s post?

Part 1: Closeness to Allah

Part 2: Maqam of Love

Part 2 & 3 (combined): How to live in this world with Allah and How does Allah work

Part 4: FREE WILL

Part 5: ADAPTATION

Part 6: CONNECTION

Now you are ready to read ahead!

Make Rabita, Be with Allah

When you make rabita, it is time for receiving messages from your heart. And the only thing you should be concentrating on, if you need a focus point, is love. Try to feel Allah’s love and make rabita and see what you get. But the idea is not to even get anything, the idea is just to be with Allah. And the practice is about learning how to be with Allah in your heart because as Sufis, remember, our job is to learn how to be with Allah at all times. And to be what Allah wants to be at all times.

Seeing Allah’s Love outwardly and inwardly

It is easier for us because our eyes look outwardly to see Allah in nature, to see Allah in the love that maybe a mother feels for the child, animal or otherwise or parents, but we have to learn that Allah has also given that to our hearts, especially most strongly, to our hearts. And this is the practice, as Sufis, we have to develop. We have to learn how to connect to Allah in our hearts. There are a couple of advantages of this, one being that you do not need an outside something to awaken the love in your heart to connect to Allah. So remember as Sufis, our path to Allah is through love and connecting to your heart and making rabita to your heart with love is the practice of this. Because that is where we want to end up.

The outcome of Rabita

Try it. Some of the experiences I have heard of this is that even if you get no messages, sometimes I have gotten a list of things to do and other times, I have heard that you just feel peace. You get your connection with Allah. Your day, it feels complete because you are living your day with Allah.

This is an edited excerpt of the Online Saturday Sohbet by Shaykha Muzeyyen Vargonen Ansari and published on sufiview.com on March 22, 2021. The other parts of the same Sohbet given on October 31, 2009 and the translation of the Qur’an verse is from Murshid Shaykh Taner Vargonen Ansari.

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