XIConveying the message
The end of the journey is the beginning of someone else's
Upon completing the four stages the seeker's inward becomes enlightened with the friendship and presence of Allah — and he begins to invite others to travel the path upon which he walked.
The book does not treat this as an optional postscript for the advanced. It is the last of the four objectives, stated at the very opening as one of the four qualities a person must develop: to fulfil the rights of creation by having compassion upon them, honouring their rights, not inconveniencing them, and trying to better their lives in this world and the Hereafter by conveying to them the message.
And in the allegory it is given the largest image in the book — not one aircraft, but a sky full of them.
Conveying the message to all creation
Through one journey, many have boarded
Through this journey many have travelled to many places, through dawah and tabligh. Through one journey many have boarded the plane of Allah’s closeness. Many have been saved through the path towards Allah.
Conveying the message of the Prophet ﷺ is as though people have boarded your plane of closeness.
How it is done
Enjoining good, and the balance
The horizontal stabilisers of the aircraft are the enjoining of good and the forbidding of evil, and the book insists on a balance between them.
Enjoin good — but not to the extent of becoming forgetful of Allah’s presence, and not so as to enjoy your stay in this world rather than remaining mindful of Him.
And do not be harsh with people when forbidding evil. Every situation should be assessed, so that it becomes the Sunnah of your action — not the way of those who fix on one thing and become weak on everything else. Keep the balance, so that people take the lesson and learn.
This is how people learn: it is through explanation and advice, not by rudeness and shouting.
And if a person dies in this state
The company he arrives in
If a person dies in this state, then he will be, through the grace of Allah, successful in this life — and gifted in the Hereafter with the company of the prophets, the truthful ones, the martyrs, and the friends of Allah.
May Allah ﷻ grant us His true love, the true love of His Beloved ﷺ, His obedience and His pleasure — in this world and the Hereafter.
That supplication is the author’s, from the opening pages of the book. About Ahmad Dabbagh, the book, and the chain this teaching arrives through →