How To – Conscious Breathing is a Sunnah and Principle of our Naqshbandi Way

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

This is an addendum to Mawlana`s Suhbah titled “Even Breathing Is Sunnah“.

The Sunnah, is to breathe in and out, with remembrance/Zikir. These are the deeds of the pious Seekers.

Breathe with ‘Allah’ and ‘Hu’. Either with ‘Allah’ or ‘Hu’ when you breathe in and out. Eg breathe in with ‘Allah’, breathe out with ‘Hu’. Or vice-versa.

It is a Zikir with the highest rewards as it is a secret Zikir called Zikir Khafi, that is hidden even from the recording angels. In a Hadeeth, it is recorded that Zikir Khafi is rewarded 70 times that of verbal Zikir.

When these Angels present your deeds before Allahﷻ on Judgement Day, Allahﷻ Almighty will show these Angels mountains of deeds that the Angels didn’t record for you. They will immediately seek forgiveness from Allah for not knowing of these deeds and say to Allahﷻ – “We were with this servant of yours all his life, but we did not witness these deeds, oh our Lord!”

And Allahﷻ will say to them, “There are deeds done by my servant that only I am aware of.”

So this silent Zikir is very powerful, as it is very sincere – no one but Allahﷻ knows it is being done. And it keeps you constantly with Allahﷻ.

It is done 24/7. Even if you in the toilet, eating, chatting with friends or even during intimacy with your spouse, this Zikir never stops.

It takes a lot of practice and we will keep forgetting. Each time you remember, restart this silent Zikir.

Sheikh Nazimق said that a breath without Zikir is a breath in heedlessness. So be aware of and be with Allahﷻ, every moment of our lives with this silent, secret, sincere Zikir!

The image below further explains the wisdom behind breathing.

The Principles of the Naqshbandi Way

There are 11 principles.

This is one of them. And Mawlana spoke about this in his last Suhbah about ‘breathing is Sunnah’ – the Prophetﷺ was present with Allahﷻ, in every breath. We must practice this Sunnah too.

Conscious Breathing
(“Hosh dar dam”)

Hosh means “mind.” Dar means “in.” Dam means “breath.”

It means, according to Abdul Khaliq al-Ghujdawaniق, that “the wise seeker must safeguard his breath from heedlessness, coming in and going out, thereby keeping his heart always in the Divine Presence; and he must revive his breath with worship and servitude and dispatch this worship to His Lord full of life, for every breath which is inhaled and exhaled with Presence is alive and connected with the Divine Presence. Every breath inhaled and exhaled with heedlessness is dead, disconnected from the Divine Presence.”

Ubaidullah al-Ahrarق said:
“The most important mission for the seeker in this Order is to safeguard his breath, and he who cannot safeguard his breath, it would be said of him, ‘he lost himself.’”

Shah Naqshbandق said:
“This Order is built on breath. So it is a must for everyone to safeguard his breath in the time of his inhalation and exhalation and further, to safeguard his breath in the interval between the inhalation and exhalation.”

Shaikh Abul Janab Najmuddin al-Kubraق said in his book, Fawatih al-Jamal:
“Dhikr is flowing in the body of every single living creatures by the necessity of their breath — even without will — as a sign of obedience, which is part of their creation. Through their breathing, the sound of the letter “Ha” of the Divine Name Allah is made with every exhalation and inhalation and it is a sign of the Unseen Essence serving to emphasize the Uniqueness of God. Therefore it is necessary to be present with that breathing, in order to realize the Essence of the Creator.”

Safeguarding your breath from heedlessness will lead you to complete Presence, and complete Presence will lead you to complete Vision, and complete Vision will lead you to complete Manifestation of Allahﷻ’s Ninety-Nine Names and Attributes. Allahﷻ leads you to the Manifestation of His Ninety-Nine Names and Attributes and all His other Attributes, because it is said, “Allahﷻ’s Attributes are as numerous as the breaths of human beings.”

It must be known by everyone that securing the breath from heedlessness is difficult for seekers. Therefore they must safeguard it by seeking forgiveness (istighfar) because seeking forgiveness will purify it and sanctify it and prepare the seeker for the Real Manifestation of Allahﷻ everywhere.

Once a 120 year old Saint came to visit our 90 year old Grandshaykh Abdullahق. Grandshaykhق asked Shaykh Nazimق to hug this old Saint and Shaykh Nazimق found this Saint’s breath to be of rose 🌹perfume fragrance – the result of a lifetime of training of breath Zikir – every breath with remembrance and connection to the Divine!

Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq. Al-Fatiha.

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