The Language of the Future
Sufi Terminology
by Murshid F.A. Ali ElSenossi
majalis
Gatherings
(Majalis). The gatherings of the people of the Spiritual Path for the performance of the collective Remembrance and for the spiritual audition (sama').
(Halqa). This is the spiritual gathering in which the members of a tariqa devote themselves to the Remembrance of Allah (Dhikrullah). Each 'one who remembers' becomes like a link in a circular chain. Immense spiritual energy (Barakah) can be attracted to the circle during such a collective dhikr. Allah says in a Hadith Qudsi "I am in My slave's opinion of Me. I am with him when he remembers Me. If he remembers Me in himself, I remember him in Myself; if he remembers me in a gathering (assembly), I remember him in a higher gathering". Individual dhikr is inconceivably powerful, containing as it does all that is necessary to transform the lower self of the dhakir into his Higher Self. When Lovers of Allah gather with the sole intention of Remembering Allah, then the spiritual energy emanating from the vocalised dhikr can have astounding reverberations in the physical and spiritual domains. An outsider entering such a gathering can experience near-suffocation due to the change in the atmosphere under the influence of the dhikr. Healing can take place also. The spirits of earlier Masters of the Path may join such a gathering. The vibrations, set up by the mention of one of the Beautiful Names of Allah, echo inwardly towards the Heart and outwardly towards the manifest realm. The spiritual energy emanating from the Circle is great when it is being 'directed' by one of the Inheritors of the Prophet Muhammad (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace). The Pure Heart of such a Man attracts to itself a highly concentrated spiritual energy of the most blessed nature.
(Dhikrullah). Invocation of Allah through one of His Names or through His Words. The perfect dhikrullah, in which Allah becomes the seeing, the hearing, the speaking, the grasping of the one who remembers, is attained when every atom of the dhakir's being is absorbed and annihilated in the Remembrance of Allah. The dhakir becomes internally unified with the Absolute. Only then does Allah sit totally with the one who remembers Allah.
(Sama'). The spiritual concert or 'audition' or 'listening'. This term refers specifically to the Sufi gatherings where music and song are employed as a means of opening the heart to inrushes of knowledge and awareness. During the spritual concert, the listener may experience ecstasy and find Allah, The Real within that ecstasy. However, before true ecstasy can be experienced the listener must be spiritually mature, having been prepared through discipline and perpetual Remembrance of Allah. Without this initial contraction of spiritual endeavour the expansion of ecstasy will not be real. The Spiritual Concert is not suitable for the novice. True Sama' is a bird which flies from Allah to Allah. Allah is the singer and Allah is the hearer. At this Divine Feast the singer and the hearer become One.
