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Fruit of Paradise - Jama`at Khanah Part 2

Jama`at Khanah Part 2

Tags: Jama`at Khanah, Ka`bah, House of God

It has been established that the House of God is the house of the Jama`at, and it has also been established that just as the Ka`bah is the central house of religion, so the Jamā`at-khānah is the local house of religion. And this system is in accordance with the Divine law (sunnat) and the law of nature, according to which He makes the place of blessings and mercies closer to His servants both externally and internally. Just as when Hazrat Adam descended to this world, the Ka`bah was built on the earth for his and his children's sake and it has the status of the Supreme Throne here, for what the Divine Throne signifies is also signified by His House. After the hijrah (migration), the Holy Prophet built another House of God in Madinah, which we can call the first Masjid as well as the first Jamā`at-khānah, because originally they both had the same shape and reality. In any case it represented the Ancient House of God. This means that the Ka`bah represents the Supreme Throne and the Jamā`at-khānah represents the Holy Ka`bah.
You should be aware of the fact that in Islam taqwa (piety, God-fearing) is extremely important, because it is the spirit of all worship (`ibādāt). In order to attain taqwa, one has to struggle a lot. But note the compassionate nature of the Signs of God (sha`a'iri'llah) and that by respecting and revering them, one attains the piety of the heart (22:32). The pure personality of the Imam of the time, who is the speaking Qur'an and the Jamā`at-khānah, are among the Signs of God, and therefore, reverence for them results in the piety of heart and is also itself piety. For one of them is the hidden or spiritual House of God and the other is His apparent or physical House.
The ta'wilic implication of verse (22:26) is that God appointed Hazrat Ibrahim as His House so that the recognition of tawhid may be attained in the spirituality and luminosity of this rank, and nothing is associated with Him. God has also commanded this living House of His (i.e. Hazrat Ibrahim himself) to be purified ideologically, spiritually and intellectually, so that three kinds of angels may come there, and they are those who circumambulate, those who do qiyam or i`tikaf and those who bow and prostrate.
The Divine law is that the spiritual Masjid and luminous Jamā`at-khānah has continued to be forever in the pure personality of the Prophet and Imam. Hazrat Nuh has called this luminous house "my house (bayti)" (71:28) and the mu'mins who entered it were called "the people of the house (ahl-i bayt)", for as the Qur'an says: "O my Lord, forgive me, my parents, and those who enter my (spiritual) house as (perfect) believers, and the believing men and believing women" (71:28). In this wisdom-filled prayer of Hazrat Nuh, the mu'mins are in two categories: those who had entered his luminous house (i.e. the House of God) due to their perfect faith and those who have still not been able to enter it.
In his time the Holy Prophet was God's living House (22:26) and the luminous and miraculous Jamā`at-khānah, for as it is said in verse (33:33): "Verily, God intends but to keep away from you (every kind of) uncleanness, O you people of the (luminous) house, and to purify you in every respect (externally and internally)". This holy house was the light of Prophethood and Imamat and the people of the house were the Holy Five Persons, namely, Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa, Hazrat `Ali-i Murtaza, Hazrat Fatimah-i Zahra, Hazrat Hasan-i Mujtaba and Hazrat Husayn-i Sayyid-i shuhada'. This luminous house is the speaking House of God and the intellectual and spiritual Jamā`at-khānah, and it is the house of wisdom about which the Holy Prophet has said: "I am the house of wisdom and `Ali is its door." It is also the same blessed and holy house in which, according to verse (24:36), the lamp of the Divine light is lit.
In order to present this reality in an understandable way, it is asked: To whom does the straight path belong? Does it belong to God or to the Prophets? Does it belong to the Holy Prophet or the Imam? Does it not belong to the mu'mins? The answer is that, first of all, it belongs to God, for He is the goal of it. That is, all have to go to His luminous House (42:53; 2:156). It is also the path of all the Prophets, because they were the guides of the people on it (1:7; 4:68). It is the path of the Holy Prophet, the last Messenger, because he is the chief of the Prophets and Messengers (12:108); it is the path of the Imam because he is the true guide (13:7). And it is also true that the straight path is made for the guidance of the mu'mins (4:115). Thus the extremely pure and sacred House, which belongs to God, also belongs to all the above-mentioned ranks. Although God Himself is free from and above space and non-space, the recognition of His oneness is not possible outside His luminous House (24:35). This house, which is full of mercies and blessings and illumined with the light of recognition, is the light of the Prophets and Imams (24:36) and this same house also belongs to mu'min men and mu'min women when they follow them completely (57:12; 66:8).
It is the law of creation that everything is initially created in a fixed mould and that without it, its existence is not possible. The fruit of trees cannot be created without skin nor the kernel without stone, just as human existence and shape is not possible without the womb of its mother. On the other hand, there are things which do not have a specific shape and form, because they are scattered without a matrix, like for example the four elements, namely, earth, fire, water and air. Thus the Holy Prophet and Ulu'l-amr, by the command of God, built a local House of God so that every follower after being cast in this mould, may be called a true mu'min with a special form of faith and spirit.
According to the law of universal mercy when it is possible that a pattern of the Supreme Throne in the form of the Ka`bah, be brought down to earth and in the time of the Deluge to be carried to the fourth heaven and in the time of Hazrat Ibrahim, was reconstructed and in the time of the Holy Prophet, a local House of God was built, then it is also possible that the Jamā`at-khānah truly represents God's external House, the Holy Ka`bah and the Imam of the time, who is the internal House. This is true and there is no doubt about this.
Jamā`at-khānahs are of three kinds: First is the universal Jamā`at-khānah, which is the blessed personality of the Imam of the time, second is the local Jamā`at-khānah, which is the Jamā`at-khānah of the city, town, village or area, and the third is the personal Jamā`at-khānah, which is the heart of every faithful servant. But their interrelated wisdom is in the local Jamā`at-khānah. Because it is here that a mu'min gradually progresses, the door of the personal Jamā`at-khānah or the Jamā`at-khānah of the heart opens for him and he is illumined with the light of faith (nur-i iman). And it is here that the holy didar or vision of the pure Imam takes place, which is the true Jamā`at-khānah of luminosity.
In verse (10:87), God says: "And We revealed to Musa and his brother: Provide houses for your people in Misr and make your houses places of worship, and establish prayer, and give glad tidings to the mu'mins." Misr is the name of every city which has a protective wall around it and by this is meant the city of spirituality, because not only does it have a protective wall around it, but also a door. Thus in this wisdom-filled verse the spiritual progress of the personal Jamā`at-khānahs is mentioned. That is, God commanded the Prophet and Imam to make houses in the city of spirituality for the hudud-i din (religious hierarchy) of their community and to give the status of the House of God to these houses and do the work of true mission (da`wat-i haqq) and give to mu'mins the practical glad tidings of such spiritual progress and ascension.
In verse (9:18), God says: "Only those who believe in God and the Last Day, and establish prayer (salat) and give zakat, and fear no one but God, are able to make the Masajid of God prosperous, so these are they who are among the rightly guided ones." Here by "the Masajid of God" are meant the Jamā`at-khānahs or the Masajid of the entire world. How is it possible for a single person to participate in the prosperity of all of them? It is obvious that it is impossible physically and hence it necessitates a ta'wilic wisdom, which is that the Masajid, namely the Jamā`at-khānahs of God are in three levels, as has already been mentioned in paragraph No. 9, and these are the universal Jamā`at-khānah (i.e. the Imam of the time), the local Jamā`at-khānah and the personal Jamā`at-khānah or the Jamā`at-khānah of the heart. And all these three Jamā`at-khānahs can be made prosperous by the attendance of he who believes in God and the Last Day and establishes salat, i.e. he accomplishes the work of da`wat, and gives the physical and spiritual zakat. When the faithful servant goes to his local Jamā`at-khānah with devotion and love and worships God in it, then by this wisdom-filled act is made prosperous not only the local Jamā`at-khānah, but also the personal Jamā`at-khānah and the universal Jamā`at-khānah. They are united and interrelated, because the mu'min is attached to the Jamā`at-khānah and the Imam of the time is the spirit of the Jamā`at-khānah, and it is also a fact that in the case of the mu'min who firmly believes in Jamā`at-khānah, a special particle of the particles of his soul always serves the blessed and holy personality of the true Imam. You should research the reality of the soul and study the articles related to the particles of the soul, so that you understand how soul is simple (basit) and is everywhere.
It is said: "The heart of the mu'min is the Throne of God". However, it is necessary to ask and know what the real meaning of this saying is. Because the word "mu'min" is applicable to many people, but the concept of the Divine Throne is very high. You should understand that the heart of the mu'min is the Imam of the time and it is this holy personality in which the Divine light shines, for as the Wise Qur'an says: "And know that Allah comes in between the man and his heart" (8:24). That is, in the light of true knowledge, you should know the law of trial: Why does God come between man and his heart (i.e. the Imam of the time)? Indeed the wisdom-filled allusion and the secret of success in this is that one should have recourse to God with his true heart. He should return to Him and further go where his heart is. This shows that in reality, the Jamā`at-khānah of the heart is also the Imam of the time.

And I have no success except by God (11:88).

Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai,
20th December, 1984.

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