Rabita- Connection with the Shaykh - Mohammad Mojaddadi

Rabita – Connection with the shaykh
The practice of rābitā is one of the essential methods of spiritual learning in the Naqshbandi Order. Rābitā translates to connection or bonding with the spiritual guide, the shaykh or the Sufi master, from whom one learns the Naqshbandi tarīqah (methodology).

Here I will strive to collect the teachings and statements of the Masters of Wisdom (Khwājagān) of the Naqshbandi Order regarding this basic method of the Order.

Following is letter 187, from the first volume of Maktūbāt Imām Rabbānī Mujaddid Alf-i Sānī Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindī, quddisa sirruh. It was sent to Khwājā Muhammad Ashraf Kābulī, describing that the method of connection (rābitā) is the nearest in the methods of achieving the real goal, and describing that rābitā is more benefiting to a disciple than Zikr (remembrance of God).

“The writing (letter) that you had written to the friends, passed before the eyes and made (me) informed about the mentioned affairs. Be it known that the disciple’s attaining connection (husūl-i rābitā) with the shaykh, free from affectation and pretence, betokens perfect harmony between the shaykh and the disciple, and is a means towards imparting and receiving benefit. And none of the ways is nearer than the way of connection in attaining Arrival to Allah [Wusūl Ila Allah]. Let us see who is the fortunate one [they] bless with this honor. Hazrat Khwājā Ahrār quddisa sirruh writes in Fiqarāt:

سايه رهبر به است از ذکر

“The shade of the Guide (Sufi master) is better than zker

Calling it “better” is with regards to the gains that accrue, as the shadow of the guide is more benefiting than the disciple’s [own work of] remembrance. And this is so because the disciple has not yet attained perfect harmony with the Remembered (the God) to benefit fully through remembrance. And the peace [be there] first and last.”

[Letter 187, volume I, Maktūbāt Imām Rabbānī, adapted from the English translation by Sheykh Muhammad Wajihuddin]

Khwāja Abdu’llāh Isfahānī was one of the disciples of Khwāja Alā ad-Dīn Attār quddisa sirruh. He wrote a treatise on the Naqshbandi Order, in which he writes about the practice of rābitā in following words:

The principle rule of this Order [Tarīqa] is the following: From whichever perfect guide the seeker receives initiation, he must preserve the guide’s image in the treasury of his heart, until the time when he begins to demonstrate how his heart has been affected by the warmth and quality of that connection. As for what is necessary after that, it is not to abandon that same image, but to embrace it much more tightly than ever. The seeker must rivet that image to his heart, with his eyes, his years and all his facultiesRabita – Connection with the shaykh
The practice of rābitā is one of the essential methods of spiritual learning in the Naqshbandi Order. Rābitā translates to connection or bonding with the spiritual guide, the shaykh or the Sufi master, from whom one learns the Naqshbandi tarīqah (methodology).

Here I will strive to collect the teachings and statements of the Masters of Wisdom (Khwājagān) of the Naqshbandi Order regarding this basic method of the Order.

Following is letter 187, from the first volume of Maktūbāt Imām Rabbānī Mujaddid Alf-i Sānī Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindī, quddisa sirruh. It was sent to Khwājā Muhammad Ashraf Kābulī, describing that the method of connection (rābitā) is the nearest in the methods of achieving the real goal, and describing that rābitā is more benefiting to a disciple than Zikr (remembrance of God).

“The writing (letter) that you had written to the friends, passed before the eyes and made (me) informed about the mentioned affairs. Be it known that the disciple’s attaining connection (husūl-i rābitā) with the shaykh, free from affectation and pretence, betokens perfect harmony between the shaykh and the disciple, and is a means towards imparting and receiving benefit. And none of the ways is nearer than the way of connection in attaining Arrival to Allah [Wusūl Ila Allah]. Let us see who is the fortunate one [they] bless with this honor. Hazrat Khwājā Ahrār quddisa sirruh writes in Fiqarāt:

سايه رهبر به است از ذکر

“The shade of the Guide (Sufi master) is better than zker

Calling it “better” is with regards to the gains that accrue, as the shadow of the guide is more benefiting than the disciple’s [own work of] remembrance. And this is so because the disciple has not yet attained perfect harmony with the Remembered (the God) to benefit fully through remembrance. And the peace [be there] first and last.”

[Letter 187, volume I, Maktūbāt Imām Rabbānī, adapted from the English translation by Sheykh Muhammad Wajihuddin]

Khwāja Abdu’llāh Isfahānī was one of the disciples of Khwāja Alā ad-Dīn Attār quddisa sirruh. He wrote a treatise on the Naqshbandi Order, in which he writes about the practice of rābitā in following words:

The principle rule of this Order [Tarīqa] is the following: From whichever perfect guide the seeker receives initiation, he must preserve the guide’s image in the treasury of his heart, until the time when he begins to demonstrate how his heart has been affected by the warmth and quality of that connection. As for what is necessary after that, it is not to abandon that same image, but to embrace it much more tightly than ever. The seeker must rivet that image to his heart, with his eyes, his years and all his faculties

الرابطة

Rabita – Connection with the shaykh
The practice of rābitā is one of the essential methods of spiritual learning in the Naqshbandi Order. Rābitā translates to connection or bonding with the spiritual guide, the shaykh or the Sufi master, from whom one learns the Naqshbandi tarīqah (methodology).

Here I will strive to collect the teachings and statements of the Masters of Wisdom (Khwājagān) of the Naqshbandi Order regarding this basic method of the Order.

Following is letter 187, from the first volume of Maktūbāt Imām Rabbānī Mujaddid Alf-i Sānī Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindī, quddisa sirruh. It was sent to Khwājā Muhammad Ashraf Kābulī, describing that the method of connection (rābitā) is the nearest in the methods of achieving the real goal, and describing that rābitā is more benefiting to a disciple than Zikr (remembrance of God).

“The writing (letter) that you had written to the friends, passed before the eyes and made (me) informed about the mentioned affairs. Be it known that the disciple’s attaining connection (husūl-i rābitā) with the shaykh, free from affectation and pretence, betokens perfect harmony between the shaykh and the disciple, and is a means towards imparting and receiving benefit. And none of the ways is nearer than the way of connection in attaining Arrival to Allah [Wusūl Ila Allah]. Let us see who is the fortunate one [they] bless with this honor. Hazrat Khwājā Ahrār quddisa sirruh writes in Fiqarāt:

سايه رهبر به است از ذکر

“The shade of the Guide (Sufi master) is better than zker

Calling it “better” is with regards to the gains that accrue, as the shadow of the guide is more benefiting than the disciple’s [own work of] remembrance. And this is so because the disciple has not yet attained perfect harmony with the Remembered (the God) to benefit fully through remembrance. And the peace [be there] first and last.”

[Letter 187, volume I, Maktūbāt Imām Rabbānī, adapted from the English translation by Sheykh Muhammad Wajihuddin]

Khwāja Abdu’llāh Isfahānī was one of the disciples of Khwāja Alā ad-Dīn Attār quddisa sirruh. He wrote a treatise on the Naqshbandi Order, in which he writes about the practice of rābitā in following words:

The principle rule of this Order [Tarīqa] is the following: From whichever perfect guide the seeker receives initiation, he must preserve the guide’s image in the treasury of his heart, until the time when he begins to demonstrate how his heart has been affected by the warmth and quality of that connection. As for what is necessary after that, it is not to abandon that same image, but to embrace it much more tightly than ever. The seeker must rivet that image to his heart, with his eyes, his years and all his faculties