بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
و الصلاة و السلام على أشرف المرسلين
و على اله و اصحابه أجمعين
Dear sisters and brothers, we live in a period of spiritual decadence where materialistic ideologies have condemned the spirit to perpetual suffering. This era has perverted every aspect of our lives, everything has become a consumer product, drugs have become licit, sex has become an industry, man is reduced to a substrate of a Darwinian lineage that comes from a half-human half-monkey whose only purpose in life is to consume, make war, pollute, before going away.
Despite this dark portrait, monotheistic religions that have an esoteric tradition like Christianity and Islam, have long time ago spoken explicitly about the divine light and its experiencing through spiritual vision. For instance, in the Bible it says: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” [1]
“The Lord is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life — of whom shall I be afraid?” [2]
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” [3]
“Restore us, Lord God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.” [4]
Likewise, we find 36 verses in the Qu’ran that talk explicitely about light, called nur in Arabic.
Allah almighty says: “Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His light is like a niche within which is a lamp,the lamp is within glass, the glass as if it were a pearly [white] star, Lit from [the oil of] a blessed olive tree, Neither of the east nor of the west, Whose oil would almost glow even if untouched by fire. Light upon light. Allah guides to His light whom He wills. And Allah presents examples for the people, and Allah is Knowing of all things.” [5]
“Allah is the Protector of those who have faith: from the depths of darkness He will lead them forth into light. Of those who reject faith the patrons are the evil ones: from light they will lead them forth into the depths of darkness. They will be companions of the fire, to dwell therein (For ever).” [6]
“On the Day you see the believing men and believing women, their light proceeding before them and on their right.” [7]
“Alif, Lam, Ra. [This is] a Book which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], that you might bring mankind out of darknesses into the light by permission of their Lord – to the path of the Exalted in Might, the Praiseworthy.” [8]
“They want to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will perfect His light, although the disbelievers dislike it.” [9]
In fact, this light quoted everywhere in the holy books is not metaphorical. It is seen, experienced and lived through a journey to God. However, scholars have agreed upon the fact that only an accomplished living Shaykh can provide you this divine light, that he himself inherited through an interrupted chain of transmission to the Prophet ﷺ.
This experience is lived by thousands of Karkari disciples in the world like their preceding generations, who were on the path to Allah, from the dawn of Islam to these days. And this Islamic exoteric experience will continue, with the grace of Allah and like our Prophet stated, as long as mankind will be on Earth. Scholars of Sufism such as sidi Ibn ‘Arabi, Abdelkarim al-Jili, sidi Ibn ‘Ajiba, sidi Ahmed al-Bouzaidi have already agreed upon this fact. It is, indeed, only being in the continuity of the Muhammadian tradition to walk towards the Almighty. The Shaykh (Sidi Mohamed Fawzi Karkari here) is, thus, the last link in an interrupted chain of transmission of Muhammadian light that originates from the Prophet ﷺ and is transmitted through Imam ‘Ali and his spiritual successors.
This experience where the disciple starts seeing this light is called spiritual opening from the arabic word al-fath (الفتح) because it is an opening of the interior eye by the Shaykh where the disciple becomes able to see the non-physical and even see the celestial kingdoms. In the hadith, Hazrat Anas Ibn Malik – may God be pleased with him – said that, he accompanied the Prophet ﷺ, into the mosque where they saw a group of people with their hands raised, calling upon Allah. “Do you see in their hands what I see?” the Prophet asked. “What is in their hands?” Anas replied. “There is light in their hands” replied the Prophet. “Ask Allah the Exalted to show it to me” said Anas. At the Prophet’s request, Allah showed it to him. Then the Prophet ﷺ said : “Hurry up let’s join them.” So, he joined them and also raised his hands for du’a. [10]
Our Shaykh says that the moment the Messenger of Allah made the invocation for sayiduna Anas to see the light was the point where he opened him the path to esoteric knowledge of Allah. Shaykhs, who inherit the prophetic knowledge, act in the same way. They transmit to their disciples this light and accompany them in their journey to Allah. During this journey, disciples start experiencing through this light many other visions: they start seeing prophets, they also see the Heaven and the Hell and many others hidden things from the unseen world (or also called the malakut in islamic tradition) as well as getting esoteric knowledge and understanding of the deep reality of the creation and the divine.
Once a sahabi called Haritha showed up to the Prophet ﷺ. So, the Prophet ﷺ asked him : “How did you wake up, O Harithah?” He said, “I woke up as a true believer.” He said, “For every statement a reality. What is the proof of what you just said?” He said, “O Messenger of Allah, I have withdrawn myself from the underworld, I stood up my nights in prayers and fasted my days. And it’s as if I look at the throne of my Lord with the naked eyes. It’s like I see the people of paradise visiting each other in paradise. And as if I see the people of hell suffering in it. “He said,” Indeed, You have seen, so be steadfast. Here is a servant of whom Allah has illuminated the heart with His light (meaning the light of Allah).” [11]
Allah mentions in the Qu’ran that, this light which we speak about, is the way in which Allah brings us out of the darkness of this underworld into the brightness of Truth: “Is he who was dead and We gave him life and set for him a light (of belief) whereby he can walk amongst men — like him who is in the (depths of) darkness from which he can never come out.” [12]
Sisters and Brothers, whether you are Muslim or not, whether you are in North Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, The Muslim World generally speaking or in Western countries or elsewhere, all those who want to taste the Truth and the true meaning of Iman or belief, all those who want to leave the world of the dead and move to the world of those who live with the light of Allah, our Shaykh may Allah sanctify his secret, sends you an open invitation to come to al-Aroui in Morrocco. The Shaykh says in defiance to all those who deny this vision of divine light: “He who does not see the light is not my disciple and I am not his master.” That is to say, every sincere soul eager for truth will see this light, with Allah mercy, like more than thousands of disciples of the Shaykh see it at every moment of the day.
Our beloved Shaykh in his book the founding principles of the tariqa Karkariya invites you in a subtle and harmonious way choosing the deepest words: “Come… o disciple to our appointment without your own being, come to us with nothing…when you will be annihilated in our presence, subsisting by our sacredness, looking at our direction with a sight of respect, and fear in front of the beauty (jamal) and Majesty (jalal), then your name will be annihilated in our Name and shape in our shape. All your being will be mine, and a part of mine will be yours. You will find me waiting your encounter with more desire than you ever had… because you are of me while I am your All.”
Muhammad from Tunisia.
[1] Matthew 5:16.
[2] Psalm 27:1.
[3] John 1-5.
[4] Psalm 80-19.
[5] Surah an-Nur, verse 35.
[6] Surah al-Baqara, verse 257.
[7] Surah al-Qasas, verse 28.
[8] Surah al-A’raf, verse 157.
[9] Surah at-Tahrim, verse 8.
[10] Al-Bukhari, al-Tarikh al-Kabir, Bayhaqi and Abu Nu’aym.
[11] In Musnad al-Bazzar and al-Bayhaqiy in Shu’b al-Iman.
[12] Surah al-An’am, verse 122.
