There are four practical aspects of cleansing the heart the first one being:
KHALWAH: To decrease intermingling we are offered the concept of Khalwah as a practical method to begin the journey to cleanse our hearts in order to find the path to Allah.
Khalwah is defined as “being with one self”
Khalwah is beneficial for the one who secludes himself in Khalwah as well as for the people he or she is secluded from.
The Holy Quran, the Hadith, and the examples of the lives of all the known Prophets of Allah illustrate this habit. Allah SWT rewarded Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him, with the embrace of Gabriel (AS) who brought him His (SWT) message after he (PBUH) had sought khalwah in the Cave of Hira for a long and consistent period.
Khalwah has a purpose: For the Khalwee it is to detach from people, relationships, virtual or actual, habit of reliance on others, in order to evaluate oneself in the light of our Deen and the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah.
Khalwah is getting off the treadmill of life’s activities to evaluate the health of ones mind, body in it s service to the Qalb (heart).
In Khalwah one cuts the cable for incoming data (temporarily for a specific period) and explores and evaluates what has been saved on the hard drive of the brain. After one has sorted the trash from the treasures on this hard drive, one then purges the corrupted and irrelevant data along with the trash. After restoring the integrity of the hard drive and making space for new data one then puts in this new data through salaat and sawm and seeks the help of Allah via Istighfaar and Dhikr e Elahi.
Khalwah or being along without the purpose and focus of cleansing ones inner self and subjugating the lower Nafs and without closing the doors to incoming data generated by the nafs may further cloud the lens of the heart;
Thus being in Khalwah with the Internet, TV, movies or other methods in which one is still in contact with all the possible venues of the disobedience of Allah defeats the purpose.
While in Khalwah one evaluates:
1. The status of our level of subjugation by our lower Nafs.
2. Our past mistakes or disobediences to Allah SWT
3. The extent to which ones heart is clouded due to the excess of the above two forces.
One then, while still in a state of Khalwah sets about to cleanse the heart with removal of all thoughts, actions, past and present from ones daily living. One then plans for the life outside khalwah to be modulated in a manner that it embodies the purpose of continuing to cleanse the heart.
Khalwah is not just a one time happening in the life of the student who is learning the basics of the purification of the Heart for the purpose to see and follow the path of happiness to Allah with his heart.
It is an ongoing process in which from time to time the Khalwee plans a period of khalwah to take stock of life events and directions and to reorient his or her life in the right direction.
Khalwah can be as brief as the salaat and the ensuing Dhikr afterwards occurring five times a day, or as long as a retreat somewhere, or even just a day at home cutting of all incoming data.
Khalwah is a circle of safety in which when we place ourselves we not only protect ourselves from being covered with the grime of disobedience, but in doing so we may also protect others from our base Nafs which may be on the loose.
In summary Khalwah is being with ourselves to clean out our insides and start a rejuvenating program to walk the path of Happiness to Allah guided by the cleansed lens of our pure Heart. It involves keeping the wild horse of our lower Nafs strictly in control and pointed in the direction of Siraat e Mustaqeem, while we are seeking guidance from Allah SWT
Khalwah is a practical process that is needed by every student or Moreed who wishes, yearns and struggles to stay on the path that will eventually lead him to Allah (SWT) giving him or her bursts of immeasurable happiness enroute and at his or her destination.
(Excerpted from the lectures of Sheikh Magroubi at the retreat on Tazkiyah e Nafs 08, for details CDS are available on Purification of the Heart at www. Zawiyah.net)
4 responses so far ↓
To Remove Stress & Anxiety……… « Siraat-e-Mustaqeem // July 10, 2008 at 10:51 am |
[...] He or she who desire that their heart and body find rest in the safety of Deen, and those who desire to remove stress and anxiety from their life……….let them practice khalwah! [...]
Suffy Ibrahim // December 18, 2008 at 8:58 am |
insha Allah by December 24 to 31, 2008 i want to perform Khalwa.
all i need is that materials support from you before the stipulated time.
maa salam
suffy Ibrahim
Suffy Ibrahim // December 18, 2008 at 9:04 am |
As a mureed in toriqa Tijaniya which supplcation do you wish me to do. simply because it is my first time in life i want to do khalwah
asqfish // December 18, 2008 at 11:45 am |
Alhamdollillah! Inshallah your Khalwah will bring you closer to Allah.
I am not a Sufi and thus cannot advise you on a Tariqa.
But the best Khalwah that I have experienced is comprised of a mixture of:
Tahajjud, Morning Dhikr after Fajr, walk for an hour, breakfast, nap, wake up and write what you learned, Dhuhr, rest, read the life of the Prophet (PBUH) followed by reflections.
till Asr . ASr evening Dhikr and Maghrib salat and then listen to one of the tafseer lectures or tazkiyah nafs lectures from Shaikh Magroubi.
My experience is limited.
May ALlah reward you!