Muraqabah & Tawajjuh in Naqshbandi Tariqah
In the pre-Mujaddidī Naqshbandī Order, tawajjuḥ (effacing) and murāqabah (controlling) were nearly used as identical terms. ʿAlā al-Dīn al-ʿAṭṭār told his student ʿAbdullāh Imām-ī Iṣfahānī, that tawajjuh is an issue of the heart and that everyone experiences different unveilings/manifestations (ẕuhūrāt) according to their abilities. Then he mentioned five methods of tawajjuh:
The seeker reflects about Allah, Him knowing everything occurring to the seeker’s heart and so the seeker protects his heart from all evil thoughts and all that which is not Allah.
The seeker reflects about himself and the world as non-existent and ponders about Allah as the one and only real existence,
The seeker reflects about the existence of everything which is inside and outside the cosmos and that all existence coming forth in both realms is in reality the existence of Allah himself.
He only sees the Essence of only the real existing and nothing else. [2]
Aḥmad Kāsānī describes tawajjuh as “that you do see God in every place existing and present and watching you.” [3]
Tawajjuh to the heart
The Murīd effacing (tawajjuh) his Shaykh,
The Shaykh effacing (tawajjuh) his Murīd.
The seeker shows effort to direct his heart and his thoughts towards Allāh subḥānahū wa taʿālā. He repeats the Supreme Name “Allāh” in full concentration, ponders about Him being ominpresent while being transcendent of directions and so the rapture (jazbah) of Allāh finds a place in his heart, because real tawajjuh without jazbah is impossible. [6] He ponders about The Real One, transcendent above all similarities and everything. [7]
This tawajjuh is applied in two different forms. The Seeker imagines the name “Allāh” written on his heart and he focuses on this writing and effaces it and he reaches the consciousness of being in His divine presence. [8]
This tawajjuh means to efface a living or a deceased Shaykh and the main purpose of this is to reach spiritual divine outpouring (fayd) or spiritual support (istimdād). Bāqībillāh said, that while doing Rābīṭa or Tawajjuh, one of the dhikrs from the many dhikrs is going from the heart of the Shaykh to the heart of the Seeker. This happens through reverberation. [12] ʿAbdullāh Imām-i Iṣfahānī, one of the students of ʿAlā ad-Dīn ʿAṭṭār, describes the method of tawajjuh in the ʿAlāiyya branch of the Path, which includes the effacing of the Shaykh and the heart:
Shaykh Muhammad Tahir Bakhshi Naqshbandi Mujaddidi teaching the dhikr to a new seeker
Shaykh Muhammad Tāhir Bakhshi Naqshbandi Mujaddidi inducing the dhikr into the heart of a new seeker by placing his index finger on the seeker’s Laṭīfa Qalb (the heart subtlety). The shaykh induces divine fayḍ into the heart of the seeker, by which the heart immediately starts proclaiming the God’s name “Allah” automatically, and divine attraction (jazba) is induced into the inner self.
Effacing the students means that a spiritual guide effaces his seeker to forward him divine spiritual outpouring (fayḍ) and to grant him perfection. According to a narration, ʿAlī al-Rāmītanī was once visited by a very important guest, but there was no food left at home. Rāmītanī left his house in despair and being outside he saw one of his students approaching his house with food. He was very happy and when he dismissed his guest, he called this student and offered him to ask whatever he wishes. This seeker said that he wants to become a perfect human being as ʿAlī al-Rāmītanī himself is. So al-Rāmītanī effaced the student and in a very short time the student reached perfection. [17] Muḥammad Bābā Samāsī glanced upon Amīr al-Kulāl who was wrestling in the Arena and effaced him. At that moment, a fire fell on the heart of Amīr Kulāl and he was drawn (jazba). He followed the Shaykh and pledged him the oath of allegiance (bayʿa). [18] Bahāuddīn Naqshband also effaced the son of his Shaykh Amīr Kulāl, Amīr Burhān and forwarded divine spiritual outpouring (fayḍ) to him and helped in ripening Amīr Burhān in taṣawwuf. [19] ʿAlāʾuddīn ʿAṭṭār said, that for the effects of the effacement to last, the seeker has to be eager and has to keep the orders of his Shaykh, or several days later this effect will vanish. [20] All these examples show us the effacement of the seeker to forward him divine spiritual outpouring (fayḍ) so he can grow. But in the Mujaddidī Era of the Path, the way of effacing the student became much more detailed and was renewed. Now the spiritual guide took the Seeker in front of him and focused on and effaced the Laṭāʾif (subtleties of the body and soul) one by one and forwarded divine spiritual outpouring to them. This procedure resulted in the Laṭāʾif starting to do dhikr.
In the first period of the Naqshbandī path, murāqabah was a term which was used nearly identically to tawajjuh. We can see that in this period murāqabah meant to efface ones heart and control it. In tawajjuh the object of the effacement can differ, but in murāqabah the object is always the heart.
A Naqshbandi dervish in Muraqabah. It is common to cover one’s head during meditation.
Murāqabah of the heart means that the seeker realizes that God is watching over him all the time and is seeing the seeker and his heart. So the seeker controls his outer and inner states, secures his heart so that worldly thoughts (khawāṭir) don’t overcome it (nigāh-dāsht). He ponders about the Supreme Name (Allāh) and effaces his heart. He reviews his deeds and past time and tries to not waste his time in vain and tries to avoid heedlessness in every breath he takes. All that means Murāqabah. [21] It is advised to review ones deeds, called Muḥāsabah, which is part of the Murāqabah, after the Morning Prayer (fajr) and after the afternoon prayer (aṣr) – totally twice a day. [22]