By Muhammad Aalif Tan

We intend this article for the sake of Allah SWT.

Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah for Iman & Islam.

This is the 4th spiritual retreat that we have been on with our teacher in the last 1 year.

Alhamdulillah it gets better after each retreat.

Such spiritual retreat gives us a taste of what it really means to fulfil our life mission, where Allah SWT mentioned in the Holy Quran:

وَمَا خَلَقۡتُ ٱلۡجِنَّ وَٱلۡإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعۡبُدُونِ

And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship [know] Me.

Adh-Dhariyat 51:56

From this verse, AllahSWT is telling us that the sole purpose of our creation, is to know Him and to worship Him.

Which means, by right, we need to be in a state of worship, 24/7.

But to reduce worship (ibahah), to only solat, fasting, zakat, hajj, reading Quran, is the wrong understanding. Because we can’t be doing solat 24 hours, we can’t fast 24 hours.

We can’t perform any of this acts while we are in the bathroom.

So to say that worship is only limited to these acts, then all of us would have failed to fulfil our sole purpose, due to our bodily needs & limitation.

Hence, the corect understanding of 24/7 worship is to be in a state of ubudiyyah (slave hood), to be in a state of worship.

To remember Him, to see and to be aware of what He is doing for you.

To feel the neediness before Him, which is one of the pre-requisites to worship (Maufumeh ibadah – is to have zilla, itihaj and faqir).

To debase ourselves, to be in a lowly & destitute state.

To know that we are nothing without the help of Allah.

To feel & be in a state of neediness for Allah. These retreats helps to remind ourselves that this is the state we need to be in.

By constantly being around our teachers, where just the mere sight of their faces reminds us of Allah, reminds us of the ta’lim (teaching), reminds us of us and the state we should be in.

As we khidmat (serve) our teachers, the elders & the Jemaah during the trip, this act of putting others’ wellbeing & welfare ahead of ours, helps us to be closer in achieving the state of ubudiyyah.

However, being in this state alone is not enough to fulfil the true meaning of this ayat (51:56).

Because this is only the pre-requisite. How can we worship Allah SWT properly, if we do not know anything about Him or why we need to worship Him?

That is why ibn Abbas RA says in this verse (51:56), illa liya’ budun can be understood as illa liya’ rifun. Which means to know.

To know Allah SWT with certainty, with clarity and with affirmation. In order to attain certainty on anything, we need to study about it, seek knowledge about it.

That is why the first step into worship, is to seek knowledge. In fact, seeking knowledge is the highest form of worship.

In an authenticated Hadith, Anas ibn Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said,

عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ طَلَبُ الْعِلْمِ فَرِيضَةٌ عَلَى كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ
“Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every
Muslim.”

Source: Sunan Ibn Mājah 224

But what is the knowledge that we need to seek? It’s not knowledge about making money, or sports, or holiday. The real knowledge we need to seek is marifat, the knowledge of Allah.

Awaluddin ma’rifatullah – The beginning of deen, is to know Allah. To know who He is, what He is doing for us and how He is sustaining us.

And that is the purpose of our life.

Being on such spiritual retreats, allows us to spend more time with our teachers.

Our teachers are able to breakdown lessons into greater details and deeper levels, topics which a 1 to 2 hour class won’t do it justice.

But the greatest injustice is to not put the knowledge into practice after receiving it. This is a journey of learning and practise, giving life to the knowledge.

Being able to travel during the last 10 days of Ramadan, secluding ourselves, being in majlis in the kangkar set up for our teacher’s teacher’s teacher, made this trip extra meaningful and memorable for us.

May Allah SWT accept our intentions to reach Him. May He allow us to reach Him. Ameen Ya Rabbal Alamin.

Do You Believe in One God
& Ready to [Re]start your Journey of Faith & Gratitude as a Muslim?