ASHURA AND THE 5 LEVELS OF THE HEART

by Ali Diallo

786
The holy day of Ashura has a spiritual meaning.
Each Prophet experienced a significant event that took place on the
day of Ashura and if you look back in the history, all prophets except
Seydina Muhammad {SAW} had a very positive event on that day. In fact
the most positive event of their lives happened on Ashura. If we take
a look at the 5 main prophets:
Seydina Adam was forgiven by Allah {swt} on that Day
Seydina Nuh’s ship landed on the Mountain after 40 days of flood
Seydina Musa was saved from Pharaoh
Seydina Ibrahim was saved from the fire
Seydina Jesus was raised up in the Heavens

Then when we come to Seydina Muhammad {SAW} we see that on that day,
his Grandson was murdered along with his family. They were not only
murdered, they were completely obliterated. Completely destroyed in a
very barbaric way. So it is interesting to see that that Day is a day
of rejoice for all the other communities because their prophets were
saved.

But for Prophet {SAW}, for his community, that day is not necessarily
a day of rejoicing. Rather, it is a day of mourning. Clearly, there
is a contract here in the sense that all communities are rejoicing on
that day while the community of Prophet {SAW} is mourning. This
contrast must mean something spiritually. There must be a secret in
the fact that we mourn and they rejoice.

One of the meanings is the fact that Ashura is related to the secret
given to each prophet and to their communities,

So if we take a look at Seydina Adam, he was forgiven on that day. It
means that the secret that was given to the community of Seydina Adam
is the secret of Forgiveness. This is why our Shaykh said that this
community (meaning Insan) is a community that is forgiven. This is
the secret of Rajabun Sharullah, Shabane Shari, Ramadan Ummati.

Another meaning is the fact that Ashura is related to the secret
given to the communities of the 5 levels of the heart.

There are 5 levels of the heart:

Qalb is under the authority of Seydina Adam who was forgiven. Seydina
Adam is the father of humanity so the secret he passed on to his
community, i.e., the human beings in general, is the secret of
Forgiveness. This is the wisdom of the creation of bani Adam.

Sirr is under the authority of Seydina Nuh who was saved from the
flood and rescued on the ship. He passed this secret to his
community, i.e., Ahlul Tariqa, the people of Tariqa. Thus, the
reality of being saved from the flood of ignorance and rescued by the
ship of Tariqa is made manifest through the secret of Ashura.

Sirr as-Sirr is under the authority of Seydina Musa, who was saved
from Pharaoh, and Seydina Ibrahim, who was saved from the fire. They
both passed their secrets to the dwellers of the White station: the
followers of the Naqshbandi Path. Seydina Musa passed the secret of
being saved from hidden shirk (the hidden pharaoh) and of opening the
two rivers when he walked through them with his people. Thus the
Naqshbandis are at the nexus where the two oceans meet and they
inherit this secret from Ashura. Seydina Ibrahim passed the secret of
safety from the fire. Thus, the Naqshbandis who are inheritors of the
Siddiq reality cannot be burned by the fire as it is mentioned in the
tradition of Seydina Abu Bakr whose skin and flesh were protected from
the fire due to his sincerity.

Khafa is under the authority of Seydina Isa who was raised up in the
Heavens. He passed this secret to the inheritors of this station who
are raised in the Heavens. Thus they inherit the secret of the first
part of the Miraj, which ends at the station of the Holy Spirit where
Gabriel stopped. It has to end at that stage because the Holy Spirit
is under the command of Seydina Isa.

Then Seydina Muhammad {SAW} pushes them past this station through the
true secret of Ashura and complete obliteration at the Akhfa station.
On the day of Ashura, the family of the Prophet {SAW} attained true
annihilation trough the ultimate sacrifice. They took on them all the
burdens of their oppressors and all the darkness of their sins and
modulated this dark energy through the ocean of Barhul Qudra appearing
as its highest manifested in Akhfa.

Similarly, each hue carries the secret of Ashura:
Yellow (Qalb) is the color of the honor Insan Kamil reached by being
forgiven.
Red (Sirr) is the color of the ego from which the Sufis were saved by
boarding the ship of Tariqa.
White (Sirr as-Sirr) is the color of purity, which protects from fire
and opens the 2 oceans.
Green (Akhfa) is the color of spiritual knowledge that is gained
through the initial miraj of Seydina Isa.
Black (Akhfa) is the color of annihilation and of the black hole which
can absorb every sin, suffering, smoke, blackness and tribulation
inside, then connecting with the white hole (wormhole) and giving off
all positive energy (dynamics of IN/OUT relation in the Naqshbandi
reality between Seydina Ali and Seydina Abu Bakr, the dual nature of
Light)

So who is taking all this suffering on behalf of the sinners? It is
Seydina Ali through his children. This is one of the reasons why he
is the inheritor of the Prophetic Station as all prophets were
prosecuted and oppressed by their own communities. Seydina Ali {AS}
understood this secret, which he passed on to his children, one taking
the Siddiq face with creation (Hassan inheriting “I have one face with
creation”) and the other taking the annihilated face with the Creator
(Hussayn inheriting “I have one face with the Creator”). This is due
to the fact that the Prophetic Light has two faces or characteristics,
as scientists discovered (wave/particle properties).

The secret of the Akhfa station Hussayn inherited through his
martyrdom is the secret Seydina Musa asked Allah {SWT} to reveal to
him when he asked to “see” Him, that is, to reach the station of His
True Manifestation (Ashura of Akhfa). Allah {SWT} told him: “You will
not see Me, but look at the mountain. If it remains firm in its place,
then you will see Me." But when His Lord manifested Himself to the
mountain, He crushed it flat and Musa fell unconscious to the
ground.” (7:143).

Here the 5 stations of the Heart are mentioned as an answer to Musa’s
question to “see” Allah {SWT}. The Lord was teaching him about the
levels of Hu.

“You will not see Me”:
Qalb – station of humanity. Insan cannot see Allah {SWT} but believe
in the Unseen.

“But Look at the Mountain”:
Sirr – the Amr is to direct ourselves to the Wali, the Mountain who
represents the reality of Tariqa, which is the station of Sirr.

“If it remains firm in its place”:
Sirr as-Sirr – the stable and unshakable station of the Siddiqiyun.
The Siddiq Awliya are the balance of this creation and they are firm
on the Way of Prophet {SAW}. In this station dwell two prophets who
are famous for their unshakable Faiths (the Fiery Musa and the
determined Ibrahim). They are 2 because they represent the reality of
“If it remains firm in its place”. Nothing is more firm in its place
than 2 pillars or 2 legs.

“Then you will see Me”:
Khafa – the hidden knowledge of spirituality alludes to the reality of
seeing the Divine Presence with the eyes of the heart. The fact that
seeing is mentioned here as a certainty is an indication that it
relates to the Khafa station because this station is only concerns
with the spiritual eyes and not with the material ones.

“But when His Lord manifested Himself to the mountain, He crushed it
flat”.
The martyrdom of Hussayn at the Akhfa station. When the Lord
manifested His Divine Presence in the glory of this station, the
physicality of the representative and son of Prophet {SAW} was
obliterated.

So Allah {SWT} answered Seydina Musa by referring him to the 5 levels
of the Heart as an indication that His Vision and Presence are related
to the Heart as mentioned in the tradition “the heart is the House of
the Lord”. He {SWT} also opened for him the secret of the 5 initial
stages of the Unknown Presence (Hu). All these secrets are contained
in Ashura, which symbolizes the direct manifestation of the Divine
Presence according to the level of each prophet.

Then Seydina Musa understood this secret was for the Ummah of Seydina
Muhammad {SAW}.

Then the question remains: is Ashura a day of mourning or a rejoicing?
Perhaps it is a day of mourning since the community of Prophet {SAW},
which is closer to the Truth, deeply suffered. But perhaps it is a
day of rejoicing because their suffering meant hidden good tidings as
Seydina Musa discovered when he said “"Glory be to You! I apologize to
You and I am the first of the believers!" (7-144).

Allah knows best.