والصلاة والسلام على رسول النبي الكريم أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Heartfelt Dhikr & Salawat: A Loud Assembly of Remembrance

This episode presents a full session of dhikr (remembrance of Allah) and Salat al-Nabi (sending blessings on the Prophet ﷺ), performed loudly in congregational style across many centers. It includes a special, heartfelt du'a at the end and offers listeners the option to request written copies of the dhikr and supplication.

The recording explains the virtues of loud (jahr) zikr and Salat al-Nabi ﷺ, citing hadiths and examples: multiplied rewards, angels bearing witness, increased barakah, spiritual healing, and communal benefits. It highlights recitations such as Bismillahirrahmanirrahim, Surah Al-Fatihah, Surah Al-Ikhlas, and the powerful names Ya Hayy Ya Qayyum.

The episode also shares stories and practical examples demonstrating spiritual and physical benefits—healing, protection, and steadfastness—encouraging regular practice, sincerity, and joining communal remembrance for greater reward.

Listeners are invited to seek tawfiq (divine help) to keep up consistent dhikr, to make use of these practices at home and in gatherings, and to pray for the community and those in need.

Pleasing Allah, Not People: Family Life & Spiritual Tests

This episode is a Saturday morning Ta'alim talk (March 23, 1996) that explores how Allah tests believers through wealth, health, spouses, and children, and emphasizes the need for purification and surrender to Allah.

The speaker explains the difference between seeking one's haq (right) and seeking satisfaction for the ego, urging listeners to pursue the pleasure of Allah and the Prophet ﷺ rather than trying to satisfy people.

Using the Prophet's ﷺ endurance during the Meccan boycott as an example, the lecture highlights patience (sabr), the limits of human responsibility for others' salvation, and the concept of tawfiq — that guidance and success come from Allah.

The talk also outlines basic obligations (salah, fasting, zakat, hajj) as minimums, stresses that spiritual guidance and community practices should not be enforced by force, and encourages attachment to Allah and sincere following of the shaykh for clarity and mercy in family life.

Beyond the Illusion of "I": Embracing the Witness

In this episode (July 25, 1996), the teacher explores how to transcend the false self or ego through the practice of dhikr. He explains three states of consciousness: deep sleep, dreaming, and waking, and contrasts the fleeting, changeable waking state dominated by the illusion of "I" with an unchanging, blissful no-awareness witness that always remains.

Using examples from sleep, dream, and spiritual practice, the talk shows how sincere remembrance (Ya Raheem and La ilaha illa Allah) can return attention to the inner witness and to the eternal reality beyond the body and mind. The witness watches thoughts and desires without identifying with them, allowing inner states to surface without struggle.

The speaker emphasizes negating the illusion of ownership and control—recognizing that everything belongs to Allah—and cautions against result-orientation while practicing dhikr. Practical guidance includes watching thoughts as a witness, returning to the no-awareness state through regular zikr, and trusting that when one is established in remembrance, Allah’s mercy guides the rest.

Beyond the Self: Transcending "I"-ness to Find Allah

This episode records a Friday/Saturday gathering with the blessings of our Shaykh Hazret Abu Anees Muhammad Barkat Ali قَدَّسَ اللّهُ سِرَّه الْعَزِيز , focusing on spiritual purification and the transcendence of ego (the "I"-ness). The Shaykh explains that believing in a separate inner entity causes suffering and prevents total submission and peace.

He teaches that the body and mind are a psychosomatic machine and that true realization is recognizing Allah as the only source of power and action. When the purified intellect (aql) surrenders, one sees that all energy and deeds come from Allah, and the individual is a witness rather than the doer.

The talk introduces the idea of collective consciousness, contrasts temporal life with Allah’s eternity, and emphasizes practical guidance: divide one’s day, pursue lawful (halal) earning, and repeatedly remind oneself that Allah is the doer. With patience and sincere belief, the Shaykh says, Allah will "ripen" the believer and grant deeper realization.

Awaken from the Dream: Understanding the Ego and True Self

This episode—recorded at a Friday night meeting—explores the Islamic understanding of the ego (nafs) and the heart’s diseases, stressing that insight must become practice. The speaker explains that our true identity is the eternal soul, not the changing body, mind, or social labels.

Key ideas include the distinction between soul, mind and body: the soul is changeless, formless, and rooted in love and compassion, while the mind stores memories that create the illusion of a personal identity. Memories and habitual thinking project past and future into the present and trap us in an unreal dream-like life.

The talk offers practical tools: witness your thoughts without reacting, use zikr and stillness to quiet the mind, distinguish work (service) from mere activity driven by desire and fear, and practice detachment by repeatedly reminding yourself who you are and who you are not.

The speaker highlights obstacles—desire and fear—as the main hijab between us and our true nature. Pain belongs to the body; suffering to the mind. Freedom and contentment come from relinquishing cravings, trusting Allah’s provision, and reducing emotional attachment to memories and outcomes.

Ultimately, waking up from the dream means restoring harmony among soul, mind, and body: living in mindful awareness, free from clinging, experiencing peace, love without possessiveness, and a steady, practical path of purification.

Transcending the Ego: A Mystic's Journey in the Jungle of the Heart

This episode (Friday evening meeting, October 19, 1995) explores the Sufi path of transcending the ego through extracts from Shaykh ul Azzam Abu Anees Muhammad Barkat Ali قَدَّسَ اللّهُ سِرَّه الْعَزِيز Words of Wisdom, Manifestations of the Stages of Blessing (Vol. 2). Using the symbolic account of a journey through a dark jungle, the Shaykh unfolds stages of spiritual practice: constant zikr (remembrance of Allah), complete seclusion, patient silence, dignified non-engagement, truthfulness, and freedom from jealousy.

Guided by metaphors and Qur’anic injunctions, the narrator emphasizes total reliance (tawakkul) on Allah, the dissolution of the false ‘I’, and the realization that all causes ultimately belong to Allah alone. The episode connects classical Sufi stories and teachings—on sainthood, repentance, and annihilation of self—with practical guidance for inner transformation, culminating in an invitation to persist in these practices to attain true tawhid (unity of God).

Transcending the False Self: From Witnessing to Divine Presence

This recording from a Friday evening gathering (October 12, 1995) explores the spiritual process of transcending the false self. The speaker explains the real nature as a receptive mind, body, and a silent soul, and describes "witnessing" as a transitional practice used to see the ego from outside and begin letting it go.

The talk emphasizes that the ego-driven self is an illusion that pushes and motivates action; once transcended, the soul remains as a peaceful witness while all movement and guidance come from Allah. True realization is not scholarship or external knowledge alone but the inner surrender where the word "I" fades and Allah acts through the servant.

The episode outlines practical landmarks: avoiding attachment, learning to relinquish desires ("die before sensory death"), and recognizing that holding on prevents spiritual freedom. Using vivid analogies (a stick in the ocean, a monkey with peanuts), the speaker urges wholehearted letting go so the seeker becomes a passive instrument in Allah’s hands and attains spiritual immortality.

The Benign Watcher: Unmasking the False Self

In this episode a spiritual teacher explains the difference between the real Self (the benign, non-judging witness) and the false self (the illusion of an independent “I”), and why that illusion causes suffering.

He describes the natural state of mind and body as submissive to the Divine, how the false self hijacks that nature through desire and fear, and how this leads to sin, anger, and destruction when pleasure is pursued and pain avoided.

The speaker emphasizes acceptance and awareness as the cure: accepting pain without resistance, watching the mind without judgment, and uncovering the roots of fear and desire. This process dissolves the false self and restores access to true, abiding joy and compassion.

Finally, the episode reminds listeners that genuine help for others begins with inner purification: a balanced, purified presence radiates healing more powerfully than words or actions alone.