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Q&A Session #6 with Ahmed Hulusi & Mustafa Ceceli What is worship?
There’s a question I think we all frequently ask ourselves: “What is the purpose of my existence? Why am I living?”
We try to answer these questions as we learn things from our families and school environment. Most importantly though, we make goals for ourselves, which are usually related to things we’ll be leaving behind in this world.
We have careers, families, children, and possessions... But on the other hand, as you said earlier, death is an absolute reality, the death of the body is inevitable, and if you haven’t engaged in certain practices then Hell is the consequence...
We’ve been told these practices are called ‘worship’ so we try to practice them, but what does it actually mean to ‘experience’ these practices of worship?
Some call worship a ritual but it’s actually a ritual. So what is the purpose of worship and is it beneficial for our life after death, does worship also benefit us in this world?
How should we understand the topic of worship in light of the ‘quantum brain’?
Now when we use the term ‘quantum brain’ we’re actually referring to the primary potential, our inherent qualities.
These qualities, or different compositions of these qualities, go through various stages to form what we perceive as the ‘physical brain’.
Note that I’m saying ‘what we perceive’ as the physical brain this part is very important! The brain perceives and interprets that way based on the data it receives from the organs of perception.
If the incoming data to the brain were a little different or a little more our perception of matter would be completely different. Therefore there is no fixed form of matter.
Essentially what exists is entirely a structure of data, an ocean of data. The brain defines things according to what it receives from this ocean. So by means of this mechanism the brain is able to manifest its various potential qualities.
Some of these qualities include abilities such as ‘knowing one’s self’, ‘understanding the mechanics of the system’, ‘understanding why and how things work’ etc.
This is why it is possible to stimulate specific functions of the brain to enhance and develop it in specific areas.
For example in ‘Mystery of Man’, which I wrote in 1985, I had talked about the importance of repetitions or dhikr. I had said, “Dhikr is the most important practice one can engage in, in this world.” Why?
Let me give a simple and brief explanation.
When you repeat a specific word in your brain in a specific way and a specific number of times,
a current of electricity forms in certain cell groups in your brain which reverberates to surrounding cells causing an increase in the electrical current
current which then leads to an increase in the cells that function at that wavelength, to serve that specific meaning.
I wrote this in 1985.
I had no empirical evidence to back my claim up with then. This was just knowledge given to me by Allah.
Then 5 or 6 years after I wrote this, Scientific America published an article by John Horgan.
Based on some scientific experiments it was found that the repetition of certain words led to an increase in particular cells in the brain, which increased brain activity in that particular area.
This is the pivotal point: When you repeat the Names of Allah you are not invoking a god up in the heavens. You are activating His Names that are the very constituents of your existence.
If Allah wills to reveal Himself through you, He will enable you to know Himself by making you engage in certain brain exercises.
These brain exercises activate and manifest His Names, therefore you get to know Allah better.
When you recognize and know Him in yourself you also recognize Him in others, because it is the same essence.
This is why dhikr is the first step in knowing Allah, knowing yourself, knowing the qualities of the Names within you.
Hence it is said, ‘Wala dhikrullahu akbar’ not to denote a ‘Great One’ who’s far and beyond! Wala dhikrullahu akbar!
Now if we come to the daily prayers (generally called ‘namaz’ in Turkish)... its actually quite striking, because it is not ‘namaz’.
We’ve taken the word ‘namaz’ from the Iranians and Persians, we think bending back and forth 5 times a day like doing gymnastics is praying.
This is not namaz!
It’s ‘salat’! Salat means to turn. To who?
To your Rabb. Where is your Rabb?
The Names that comprise your being.
The Rasul of Allah (saw) has called this turning ‘uruj’. He said “Salat is the ascension of the believer” that is, when you stand to perform salat and you read the Subhanaka’ you say ‘wela gayruHU’.
Which means, ‘there is no other’! Only Allah! If you can really say ‘GayruHU’ your sense of self, your identity will be removed. “I don’t exist, only He exists!”
It is He who reads the Fatiha through you! Before you recite the Fatiha you say the Basmalah, “B ismi Allah, ar-Rahman, ar-Rahim” This means, “The One whose name is Allah, is Rahman and Rahim, and comprises the essence of my being.”
“B ismi Allah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim” is the equivalent of, “Remove yourself so that the Creator may reveal Himself”. The Basmalah is not something to recite, it is something to experience! And the experiencer is Himself!
Salat is the experience of this reality. That is, in order to duly perform salat, you must feel and contemplate upon the meanings of the words that you recite.
If it was about merely reciting the words without any contemplation then I can program a robot to do this too, Honda had designed a robot that performed all the actions of salat, it read the Fatiha, in fact a parrot can also recite the Fatiha.
It’s not about moving to and fro while reciting these words. It’s all about living it!
There is a video on my site called “Salat of the Ahlul Bayt.” Whoever wills may watch it from www.ahmedhulusi.org/en/. When you bow down in salat you say “Subhana Rabbiyal Azim”.
When you say “Subhana Rabbiyal Azim” you are actually expressing the “magnificence of your Rabb, the Names that comprise your being”, not deifying a god up in the heavens.
It is the potential of those names that compose your being. The infinite ‘power’, ‘knowledge’ and all other qualities of Allah form your being. If you can’t feel this then you’re not really saying “Subhana Rabbiyal Azim” or “Subhana Rabbiyal Ala”.
If you can really say this then “Sami Allahu liman hamidah” Allah is Sami -all hearing, all-perceiving- of the one who expresses hamd (evaluates His universal perfection on worldly forms manifested by His Names).
In other words, salat is from the Self, to the Self, and can only be truly experienced by removing the self. If you can experience this your perspective and evaluation of existence will be totally different.
To be continued...