Shaykh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi on Purification of the Heart

Bismillah.

Subhanallah walhamdulillah wa la ilaha illallah wallahu akbar. A true Sufi master is one who does not only preach about purification, but is one who purifies as he speaks. As he speaks! MashaAllah. I have witnessed that in Shaykh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi. I have experienced that, Alhamdulillah. Listening to him could make all black clouds which have been hovering a murky mind dissipate just like that. Like having his palm wipe off the dust on the heart with a single stroke. May Allah preserve him and make us benefit from him even more. Ameen.

I have summarized Shaykh Al-Yaqoubi's tausiyah into five main points. His counsel could bring about a realignment to a crooked mental rail track. It is also an effective reboot button to a lost soul anytime, bi-iznillah.

1. First and foremost, to imagine that you see Rasulullah s.a.w. That is to make a conscious effort in feeling his presence. This is similar to the principle of ehsan. If you can't see him, try to imagine that he sees you. For one to be able to imagine his presence, one must know his attributes and his characters. "If you can't picture him then at least visualize his maqam or the letters of his name mim ha mim dal" said Shaykh Al Yaqoubi. Surely, he said, Rasulullah s.a.w can hear us too. Once he was walking with sahabah and he asked them, "Did you hear what I hear?". "No," they said. The Prophet s.a.w then said, "I hear the cracking of the heavens." So, he can hear and also see us because his hearing and sight are nothing like ours. Many people wrongly think that he is like us. No, said Shaykh Al-Yaqoubi, "he is only the same as us in that he is a human being, we are the same as him only in one aspect, bashar. Rasulullah s.a.w is the center of our life. Without a connection with Rasulullah s.a.w, we cannot enjoy our ibadah and relationship with Allah. He is the channel up and down. Any favors bestowed from Allah comes through him. The key point is Al-Bisharah, the good news coming always at the words and the hands of Rasulullah s.a.w."

2. To have the ultimate goal of seeking knowledge of Allah and to be close to Him. And knowing that by having this goal, one shall continue acquiring more knowledge even after death and thus have one's soul be continuously fed. Whereas if one's goals are merely for bodily pleasures i.e. food, woman, money, etc. then know that after one's death, one will not be able to feed on those pleasures anymore.  

3. To seek for and to stick by a shaykh, a Sufi shaykh, who is an heir of Rasulullah s.a.w, one who can not only show you the way but more importantly, one who has traveled the path and can take your hand, walk with you through the way and present you: "Here you are with the Lord!" The heir of Rasulullah s.a.w is not one who merely carries a torch (light) showing you the way but is himself light, like the sun, so you could see better. Sufi masters are ulama of the akhira and not of dunya as affirmed by Imam Al-Ghazali. The Sufi masters not only have the knowledge, but they also practice their knowledge, they have undergone strict training on matters such as yaqin, ikhlas, mahabbah, ridha, shukur, fana and so on and they have died to their whims. And they have also been trained to guide others. For example, an ordinary guide would advise a young man to lower his gaze. "You can tell this to him a hundred times but he won't be able to do it because you are just telling him and treating the symptoms. A Sufi shaykh, on the other hand, will prescribe him something to treat the root cause of the disease, not the symptoms, e.g. read Yaasin once a day or read a page of the Qur'an once a day. By following such a prescription the young man would be able to lower his gaze without him realizing his own effort" because Shaykh Al Yaqoubi said "Light expels darkness. When Qur'an comes into the heart, darkness goes away."

4. To realize that this life is ending, whereas the next life is endless. Therefore, we should not be lured by this world. Instead, make our worries be the hereafter.

5. Last but never the least, to have in our hearts none but Allah, to empty the heart of everything other than Allah and achieve the reality of tawhid - la ilaha ilallah.

Wallahu a'lam. May I be forgiven for any errors in my summary above.
Listen to the full recording of Shaykh Al-Yaqoubi's tausiyah here:
http://www.sacredknowledge.co.uk/seekers-of-knowledge/audio/260-shaykh-muhammad-al-yaqoubi-purification-of-the-heart-

Jumaah Mubarrak!