The Power of The Pledge:
by Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmed (db)

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The Force of Change

Allah has put extraordinary power in the pledge of allegiance (bayah) that a seeker (salik) gives to his shaykh. This faqir was sitting at the train station in a foreign country when a young man passed by. He had a bottle of alcohol in his hand, and it was clear that he had been drinking.

Shortly thereafter, he came back and stared at me, finally saying, "I want to be like you." This faqir failed to fully understand him since he had been drinking, so this faqir assumed that my white robes and turban fascinated him. This faqir asked, "You like my white clothes and my turban?" This young man smiled and said, "No, I want to be like you because I see light on your face."

This faqir was astonished and said to him, "It is very easy for Allah to change people's hearts. You can be even better than me." This young man looked at me in disbelief and said, "Are you sure?" When this faqir said "Yes", the man asked this faqir to wait while he went to the washroom. There he threw away the bottle he had been drinking from, rinsed his mouth, and freshened himself. He returned and asked, "Ok, now tell me how I can be like you."

The young man was very handsome, and he introduced himself as a Masters graduate in Computer Science from Tokyo University currently managing a computer firm. He explained that it was impossible at his age and in the profession that he was in to save himself from sin; almost every business meeting would invite him towards evil. He asked me how he could protect himself from evil when the society around him was inviting him to sin every moment. This faqir explained that this may be difficult for us human beings, but it is very easy for Allah to protect us if we only submit to Him.

He again asked me what he should do, so I explained to him the process of taking bayah. This faqir said to him, "Connect your heart with our great elders in Islam, and then see your heart and condition change." This young man agreed and pledged fealty with this faqir, who then went back home on the next train.

Three months went by and this faqir received a letter from him in which he had written two things: he had become regular not only in his five prayers but also in tahajjud, and that he had adopted the white sunnah dress and turban and grown a beard. Hearts transform if one has a sincere intention to change and connect to the elders in Islam. The prayers of our elders surround and protect us, and it is written in stone that Allah will protect from sin whoever enters into this Naqshbandi Path (silsala). People do not become Abdal or Qutb overnight but one begins to see obvious changes within oneself.

The Police Chief

After a scheduled speech in a Multan colony, this faqir noticed that one person was being overly insistent that the man sitting next to him give bayah, but that person was being very evasive. This faqir said that one should not be so forceful, and the man replied, "This is my younger brother, and this is why I am being slightly forceful." His brother in turn said, "Hadrat, I am too old and have spent all my life in rebellion. What possibility is there of change now?" This faqir smiled at him and said, "Why don't you just try and see what happens, even as you say it is toward the end."

The man sighed and said, "Hadrat, I am the Chief of Police here. You know our income, and you know our livelihood, and sitting in the mosque, I am telling you that I have committed every sin that you can possibly imagine. So if this is my life, then what good is a pledge?" This faqir replied, "Taking bayah will certainly benefit you, because you have nothing to lose and only to gain. By all means break your bayah if you do not see any benefit."

This faqir says this to everyone, so pay attention. If you sincerely give bayah and carry out your daily duties (mam'ulat) as instructed, and yet do not note any progress or benefit, by all means break the bayah and join with someone else. The mashaikh are not after votes in this world, nor favors but only the pleasure of Allah. If anyone does not act righteously, then he is an ingrate and spits in the face of this blessing. If you disrespect this blessing, then there is only hardship and depression. On the contrary, it is a guarantee that those who carry out their duties sincerely will notice a difference.

So this faqir placed his finger on the man's breast and pronounced the words "Allah! Allah! Allah!" This finger and these powerful words join the person's heart to Allah like a welder's torch bonds the two pieces of metal that he is welding.

Roots of the Naqshband

Hadrat Bahauddin Naqshband i is a famous and blessed shaykh from our tariqah . His name was Bahauddin but he became known as Naqshband and listen to the reason. Look at your hands and you will see that they form the letters of the word Allah. Hence, he used to outline the name of Allah whenever taking someone's bayah and, putting his fingers on his chest, would say the words with so much emotion that it would seem to the salik that someone had engraved the name of Allah upon his heart.

The word naqsh in the Urdu language is engraving, and the word band is enclose. Hence, it would seem that Hadrat Bahauddin would engrave Allah's Name and enclose it in the heart with his spiritual power. Our silsala was named Siddiquia before this, after Hadrat Abu Bakr Siddique, but then took on the name Naqshbandia. One of our previous mashaikh, Hadrat Khwaja Fazal Ali Qureshi i of Miskeenpur Sharif used to say, "That heart upon which the finger has been placed cannot die without reciting the affirmation of faith (Kalimah shahadah)."

An Elegant Transformation

So this faqir accepted bayah from the police chief and left Multan. It so happened that there was another program in the same mosque after a few months. After the program, we prayed the Asr prayer and got up to leave, at which time a man came up and hugged this faqir. This faqir was a bit surprised because he did not know of anyone so close to him in Multan that would come up and hug so familiarly. He loosened his grip and this faqir was pleasantly amazed that this man, now with a beard, was the same person who had been hesitant to pledge a few months earlier. He said to me, "Hadrat, I am your servant. The day that you said the words Allah! Allah! Allah!' upon my heart changed my life. Now I regularly pray tahajjud and come into this mosque to give the prayer call (adhan) of Fajr."

This faqir has not only seen this but also seen thousands of such examples where people's lives have been changed. This faqir believes that Allah will change a person's life if he keeps to his prescribed lessons and duties the way he believe that two plus two is four. This faqir firmly believes this and is steadfast upon it.

Innumerable Blessings

This faqir has seen people change even in filthy and evil places like the streets of Manhattan in New York, America. People walk naked in the streets, and every day from every direction, women and girls are inviting men to sin. In this unholy environment, people are coming together by the blessing of this tariqah, and Allah grants them the blessing of becoming scholars.

A friend that this faqir knew since kindergarten was dying. His son was telling people in the mosque that all his father's children gathered by the bedside and started reciting the kalimah so that the father would also recite this in his last moments.

The son said that he sat by his father's head and started reciting very loudly, but his father's lips would not move. His sister indicated that their father's legs had gone completely limp, so they knew that the time of death was upon him. The father's lips still would not move and were as if sewn. The son dreaded lest his father should pass from this world without having recited the affirmation. He beseeched Allah in tears, "O Allah, my father has bayah with a great individual, and he in turn with those above him, and this chain continues to Your Prophet. If this noble connection holds any status in Your Eyes, then please make my father recite the kalimah through the blessings of this silsala." This young man continued, and his father's lips opened at almost that very instant, and he recited the kalimah loudly five times and went to Allah on his fifth uttering.

Saving Ourselves

Today we are hypocrites in every thing we do. Even the noble scholars have been infested with those who chase this world greedily. However, not every shaykh is such a hypocrite and thief, and this does not mean that one should judge all mashaikh based on this. There are still honest and sincere people who are doing and spreading the work of this noble tariqah and will continue doing so until the Day of Judgment. We need to seek out such people and join our hearts with them.

Today we are in the last days and are surrounded by evil and darkness. If we are able to find such an individual in these times, then we should consider this a blessing and value it. Treasure this blessing from Allah and do your lessons and duties diligently. These duties are six in all.

 One should conceptualize throughout the day that Allah is watching him in every condition, whether he is standing, sitting, or lying down. We focus on several different things during our day so we should be able to train ourselves to be attentive to Allah also. Throughout the day we should be aware of our heart and have our heart's focus on Allah. This is called wuquf al-qalbi.

 The second is muraqaba, where one sits secluded with head bowed and eyes shut, focusing on the light of Allah descending on his heart. In this state one should conceptualize that this light is cleansing the heart of all filth and sin, and the heart is saying "Allah! Allah! Allah!" in gratitude for His Mercy. There is no movement of the limbs or tongue in this, but one is merely listening to his heart.

 The third is to send salutations, Durood Sharif, upon the Prophet two hundred times within a day: one hundred in the morning and one hundred in the evening.

 The fourth is to recite istaghfar and beg repentance two hundred times a day: one hundred in the morning and one hundred in the evening.

 The fifth is daily recital of the Holy Quran.

 The sixth is to keep in contact with the shaykh and keep him informed of your condition, whether by letter or telephone.

This spiritual connection is to be treasured and valued. It changes a person's direction and leads him to Allah. May Allah give us the wisdom to value this blessing and change our hearts, amin.