The Sixth Ray

[This consists of only two Points]

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

[This Sixth Ray consists of two answers to two questions about two points concerning the formulas in the ‘tashahhud’ section of the ritual prayers (salat) which begin “Salutations, blessings, benedictions and supplications, and good words—all are God’s.”(*)Postponing to another time an explanation of the other truths of the ‘tashahhud,’ here we shall explain only two points out of hundreds.]

First Question: The blessed phrases of the tashahhud were spoken by Almighty God and His Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) on the night of his Ascension, so what is the reason for their being recited in the ritual prayers?

The Answer: For all believers, the five daily prayers are a sort of Ascension. The words of the tashahhud, which were fitting for the Divine presence, were spoken during the Supreme Ascension of Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), and by reciting them, believers recall that sacred conversation. Through the recollection, the meanings of those blessed words cease being particular and become universal; their sacred, comprehensive meanings are, or may be, conceived of.Through such a conception, their value and light are enhanced and expanded.

For example, instead of giving the greeting of “peace” that night to Almighty God, the Noble Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Salutations to God” (al-tahiyyatu lillah). That is, “O my Sustainer! All the vital glorifications living beings display through their lives and the gifts they present to their Maker through the manner of their creation are Yours alone. By visualizing them and through my belief, I too offer them to You.”

Yes, with the word “salutations,” God’s Most Noble Messenger (PBUH) intentionally offered to God all the worship living creatures perform through the mode of their creation. Similarly, through the word “blessings,” (al-mubarakat) which is the summary of “salutations,” he was representing the natural blessedness, plenty, and worship of creatures, especially seeds, grains, and eggs, which are the means of blessings and abundance, and cause one to exclaim: “How great are God’s blessings!” For they are the essence of life and living beings. He said it with this broad meaning.

Through the word “benedictions” (al-salawat), which is a summary of “blessings,” he was visualizing all the particular forms of worship performed by beings with spirits, who are the essence of living beings, and offering it to the Divine Court with that comprehensive meaning.

With the word “good things,” (wa’l-tayyibat) the summary of “benedictions,” he intended the luminous, elevated worship of perfected human beings and the cherubim, who are the summaries of beings with spirits, and offered this to the One he worshipped.

Almighty God saying that night: “Peace be upon you, O Prophet!”, was an indication and indirect command that in the future, hundreds of millions of people would say at least ten times daily: “Peace be upon you, O Prophet!” The Divine greeting afforded the words an extensive light and lofty meaning.

Similarly, the Noble Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) replying to the greeting by saying: “Peace be upon us and upon all God’s righteous servants” expressed that he was requesting his Creator hopefully and beseechingly that in the future his vast community and the righteous members of it would reflect Islam, which represents the Divine greeting, and that all his community would greet each other: “Peace be upon you!” “And peace be upon you!,” which, between believers, is a universal mark of Islam.

Gabriel (Peace be upon him), who took part in the conversation, said that night at the Divine command: “I testify that there is no god but God, and I testify that Muhammad is God’s Messenger,” giving the happy news that all the Umma would testify in that way until the Last Day.

Recalling this sacred exchange, the meanings of the words gain in brilliance and comprehensiveness.

A strange state of mind that assisted in the unfolding of the above truth

One time while in a dark exile, on a dark night, and in a dark state of heedlessness, the mighty universe of the present appeared to my imagination as a lifeless, spiritless, dead, empty, desolate, ghastly corpse. The past, too, appeared to be dead, empty, deceased, and dreadful; that boundless space and limitless time took on the form of a dark wilderness. I had recourse to the prayers in order to be saved from my state of mind. When I said: “Salutations” in the tashahhud, the universe suddenly sprang to life. It was resurrected taking on a living, luminous form, and became a shining mirror of the Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent One. I saw that with all its living parts, it was continuously offering the salutations of their lives and their vital gifts to the Ever- Living and Self-Subsistent One; I understood this with ‘the knowledge of certainty,’ even with ‘absolute certainty.’

Then, when I declared: “Peace be upon you, O Prophet!,” that limitless vacant time was transformed under the leadership of God’s Noble Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) from being a desolate wilderness into a familiar place of recreation filled with living spirits.

Second Question: The comparison at the end of the tashahhud: “O God! Grant blessings to Muhammad and to the Family of Muhammad, as You granted blessings to Abraham and to the Family of Abraham,”(*)appears to be contrary to the rules of comparisons, for Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) was greater than Abraham (Peace be upon him),

and the recipient of greater mercy; so what is the reason for it?

Since early times the same supplication has been repeated in all the ritual prayers; whereas if a prayer is accepted once, that is enough. If those for whom millions of prayers have been accepted are persistently prayed for, and especially if the thing sought has been promised by God... For example, Almighty God has promised: Soon will your Sustainer raise you to a station of praise and glory!,(*)

yet always after the call to prayer and iqama the narrated prayer: “And raise him up to the station of praise and glory that You have promised him”(*) is repeated; the whole Umma pray for that promise to be fulfilled. What is the reason for this too?

The Answer: There are three aspects and three questions within this question.

First Aspect: For sure Abraham (Peace be upon him) was not equal to Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), but his family or descendants were prophets. Muhammad’s (Peace and blessings be upon him) family were saints, and saints cannot reach the level of the prophets. Evidence that this prayer for his family has been accepted in shining fashion is this:

The fact that the saints who, among three hundred and fifty million, emerged from the progeny of only two of the Family of Muhammad (PBUH), that is, Hasan (May God be pleased with him) and Husayn (May God be pleased with him), were in the great majority of cases the spiritual guides and leaders of the sufi paths of reality, was because they received the effulgence of the Hadith: “The learned of my community are like the prophets of the Children of Israel.”(*)Those who guided the greater part of the Umma to the way of truth and reality of Islam —foremost Ja‘far al-Sadiq (May God be pleased with him), Gawth al-A‘zam (May God be pleased with him), and Shah Naqshband (May God be pleased with him)— were the fruits of the acceptance of this prayer for Muhammad’s (Peace and blessings be upon him) Family.

Second Aspect: The reason for benedictions of this sort being restricted to the ritual prayers is that they recall to one that he is on the way opened up and taken by the great caravan of the prophets and saints, who are the most luminous, perfect, and righteous of mankind and its eminent members. He has joined that vast congregation, which acquires strength through its hundredfold consensus and cannot confuse its way, and is accompanying it on the straight path. By recalling this, he is saved from satanic doubts and delusions.

Evidence that the members of this caravan are the friends and acceptable creatures of the universe’s Owner, and its opponents and enemies are rejected, is that from the time of Adam, succour has always arrived from the Unseen for the caravan, while its opponents have always been visited by heavenly calamities.

Yes, just as opponents like the people of Noah, the Thamud and the ‘Ad, Pharaoh and Nimrod have all received blows from the Unseen that tell of Divine wrath and chastisement; so the sacred heroes of the mighty caravan, like Noah (Peace be upon him), Abraham (Peace be upon him), Moses (Peace be upon him), and Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), have wondrously and extraordinarily manifested miracles and received dominical bounties from the Unseen.

A single blow demonstrates anger, and a single bestowal, love, so thousands of blows being visited on opponents and thousands of favours and instances of assistance arriving for the caravan testify and prove self- evidently, as clearly as daylight, the rightfulness of the caravan and that it is on the straight path. The verse: The path of those whom You have blessed in Sura al-Fatiha looks to the caravan, while the verses: Not those on whom Your anger has been visited, nor those who have gone astray(*)looks to their opponents. The point we have explained here is clearer in the discussion about the end of Sura al-Fatiha.

Third Aspect:The reason for repeatedly asking for something which shall certainly be given is this: the thing sought, for instance the ‘Station of Praise and Glory’ is the tip of something.

It is a branch of a vast truth that comprises lofty and significant truths like thousands of Stations of Praise and Glory. It is a fruit of the most important result of the universe’s creation. To seek through prayer the tip, branch, and fruit is to seek indirectly the realization of that vast and general truth, and its finding existence, and the coming and realization of the eternal realm, the largest branch of the tree of creation, and the resurrection of the dead and Last Judgement and the opening up of the Abode of Bliss, which are the supreme results of the universe.

Ve o istemekle, dâr-ı saadetin ve cennetin en mühim bir sebeb-i vücudu olan ubudiyet-i beşeriyeye ve daavat-ı insaniyeye kendisi dahi iştirak etmektir. Ve bu kadar hadsiz derecede azîm bir maksat için bu hadsiz dualar dahi azdır.

Hem Hazret-i Muhammed aleyhissalâtü vesselâma Makam-ı Mahmud verilmesi, umum ümmete şefaat-i kübrasına işarettir. Hem o, bütün ümmetinin saadetiyle alâkadardır. Onun için hadsiz salavat ve rahmet dualarını bütün ümmetten istemesi ayn-ı hikmettir.

سُب۟حَانَكَ لَا عِل۟مَ لَنَٓا اِلَّا مَا عَلَّم۟تَنَٓا اِنَّكَ اَن۟تَ ال۟عَلٖيمُ ال۟حَكٖيمُ

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