IIIThe ultimate aim

The pleasure of Allah — and nothing that merely resembles it

Ask what the objective of this path is and the book gives a one-line answer. Then it spends far longer on the things that are not the objective, because that is where seekers are actually lost.

Question: What is the ultimate objective of this path?

Answer: The pleasure of Allah ﷻ — in other words, to please Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.

Whomsoever has achieved the pleasure of Allah has obtained everything; and whomsoever was not able to achieve the pleasure of Allah has lost everything.
Shaykh 'Abdul Qadir al-Jilani

A staircase of light rising through a break in towering clouds, with the name of Allah inscribed in the opening above — The plane is your heart and soul — it is through the heart that you travelp.29

The plane is your heart and soul. It is through your heart and soul that you can travel towards Allah — so you must build the love, and recognise the potential, as the plane travels towards Him.

The clouds

The four objectives

The clouds represent the objectives of the path. It is the sky and the clouds through which we fly towards the island of Allah’s pleasure. If we can reach the clouds, then Allah shall guide us towards His island of closeness. Until the permission for the opening of the heavens is granted, we continue in pursuing the pleasure of Allah.

Objective one

Preference to Allah's commands

To give complete preference to Allah’s commands by worshipping Him only, and selecting His commands over all other competing commands, false ideals, false gods, and all other false and deceiving ways.

Objective two

Honour the rights of the Messenger ﷺ

To give preference to and honour the rights of the Messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, by following his blessed lifestyle over all other ways of life — and loving him more than yourself and the rest of creation.

Objective three

Mercy upon the creation

To have mercy and compassion upon creation by respecting their rights and assisting them through wealth, property and honour — but most importantly by saving them from the torment of the hereafter, reminding them of the ways of success in the light of Qur’an and Sunnah.

Objective four

The presence of Allah

To be in the complete presence and remembrance of the Creator, with absolute feeling and belief that Allah is watching your every move, hearing your every thought, and present with you as you react to every situation.

Four gates rising into cloud above a rain-swept runway: the Kaaba, the green dome of Madinah, an ornate arched gateway, and a domed mosque — labelled as the four objectives — Cloud: the four objectives, opening as gates to the mercy of Allahp.98

A mountain peak in cloud, its four faces named: giving preference to Allah and His commands, giving preference to the Prophet and his Sunnah, compassion upon creation, and the presence of Allah — The mountain of the four objectivesp.97

The river below the bridge

The sixteen things that are not the aim

Question: What are the states and experiences that do not necessarily lead to the closeness of Allah, and are not objectives to be aimed for?

Answer: States and spiritual experiences which are not within the choice of a person do not necessarily lead to the closeness of Allah, and should never be made the objectives of the path.

A dark ravine of jagged rock beneath a distant rope bridge, with mist rising from the river below labelled visions, dreams, miracles and feelings — The river of non-objectives — visions, dreams, miracles, feelingsp.31

To see good dreams.
To see visions, and the occurrence of miracles (karamah).
Divine inspiration (ilham), or similar states.
To see lights and illuminations whilst meditating or performing the remembrance of Allah.
Having permission to blow for the sake of healing through supplication and recitation of Qur'an, and permission to give charms (ta'weez).
To control jinn and people, to benefit oneself.
Increase in wealth, or in business.
To be cured from physical and mental illness.
To claim to be able to predict the future, and to read minds.
To have success in civil matters and worldly affairs.
To reach a state where one automatically starts doing good and abandons sin without any effort of one's own.
For the teacher to take responsibility for the forgiveness of the student — believing one will enter paradise merely for having started the journey, without putting in one's own effort towards salvation.
To attain respect in the eyes of people.
For circumstances always to be in your favour.
Enjoyment in worship.
For hardship and problems to fade away, and to live an easy life.

Some of the above points and claims are contrary to Shariah, such as the prediction of the future and the reading of minds. None of the above matters are objectives or goals. Some may be praiseworthy, whereas others are condemnable.

And they were not commanded no more than to worship Allah alone, having sincerity for the upright religion.

Qur'an 98:5

Even then, with all these wonders, you would not reach one degree closer to Me.

A person attains His closeness when he performs an act for His pleasure only, in conformity with the prophetic way. By way of example, the book offers this: a person can attain a measure of proximity to Allah through an activity as ordinary as entering the toilet, if he does it according to the Sunnah. And a person who possesses supernatural inclination, but does not obey Allah by following the Shariah and Sunnah, distances himself from the closeness of Allah — and draws himself closer to the friendship of the devil.

One must always remember Iblees, who possessed many supernatural powers and is cursed; and the Dajjal, at whose hands magic tricks will be performed, and who is cursed in the sight of Allah.