So that we may feel the Muhammadan Light
The noble khatmah (collective dhikr) is performed at least once a week, on the night of Jumu‘ah (Friday), that is, on the night connecting Thursday to Friday, after the ‘Ishā’ prayer. Whoever is unable to perform it at that time may do so until forty-five minutes after the Fajr prayer.
Whoever has ample time should perform this dhikr in this manner every day. In fact, whoever wishes may perform it twice a day: once after the ‘Asr prayer and once after the ‘Ishā’ prayer.
The Muhammadan light that flows from heart to heart cannot be received from the last heart from which it has flowed except by opening one’s own heart. When the servant makes his heart receptive in the presence of the people of Allah, the light flowing from their hearts will naturally and automatically flow into the heart that has opened itself to them.
When gathering to perform the khatmah in congregation, if the number of attendees is less than ten, Sūrat al-Fātiha is recited at least seven times, then the other assigned numbers (of dhikr) are distributed equally among them. But if the number of attendees is more than ten, each person recites Sūrat al-Fātiha once, and the other adhkār are recited ten times by each person, until the total number of the adhkār required for the khatmah is completed.
Then we move on to the supplication (du‘ā) for the multiplied reward that has been obtained through this khatmah. During the du‘ā or the recitation of the adhkār, if we do not have the phrases memorized by heart, it is permissible for us to open our eyes and look at the written text so that we can mention the names to whom the reward will be gifted.
While gifting the reward of this noble khatmah, we mention the name of each friend (walī) of Allah as if he were present before us. We pronounce his name with respect and reverence, then we supplicate for him as it is written after his name, and then we move on to the next name.
In this way, the doors of our hearts will be opened, and our faces will be turned toward the stream of light.
LET US SAY FROM THE DEPTHS OF OUR HEARTS:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
“All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and blessings and peace be upon our master Muhammad and upon his family and all of his companions.”
“O Allah, O Opener of doors, O Causer of means, O Turner of hearts and eyes, O Guide of the bewildered, O Rescuer of those who seek rescue, grant me rescue! I have placed my trust in You, O my Lord, and I have consigned my affair to You. O Fattāh (The Opener), O Wahhāb (The Bestower), O Bāsit (The Expander). And may Allah’s blessings be upon the best of His creation, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and his companions, all together.”
O my Lord, O Lord of the worlds, I turn to You in repentance from all the sins I have committed up to this day, regretful for them, resolved – if Allah wills – not to return to them. I present my repentance to You, so make me firm upon it, and grant me strength and support to remain steadfast in it.
O my Lord, O Lord of the worlds, as one of Your servants, I send loving greetings and respectful salutations to the spirits of all the people of Truth who had a role in the arrival of the Muhammadan light—from our master Muhammad, Your Chosen One (peace and blessings be upon him), to us. I salute them with love, and I accept their spiritual aspiration (himmah) and their support with reverence.
O my Lord, O Lord of the worlds, I—Your servant—have taken the Muhammadan light from the last hand of bay‘ah (spiritual pledge) that reached me, and I have clothed my entire outward and inward being with it. So preserve me by Your Hand of Power, take charge of me with Your care, and do not leave me to my own self even for the blink of an eye.
Then we incline our left cheek slightly onto our left shoulder, close our eyes, and turn with our hearts inward:
33 times: “Astaghfirullāh” (I seek Allah’s forgiveness).
7 times: Recitation of Sūrat al-Fātiha.
100 times: Sending salāt upon the Prophet
“Allāhumma salli ‘alā Sayyidinā Muhammad wa ‘alā āli Sayyidinā Muhammad.”
500 times:
“Lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā billāh” (There is no power and no strength except through Allah).
7 times: Recitation of Sūrat al-Fātiha again.
100 times: Sending salāt upon the Prophet again
“Allāhumma salli ‘alā Sayyidinā Muhammad wa ‘alā āli Sayyidinā Muhammad.”
Then we say:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
“All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and blessings and peace be upon our master Muhammad and upon his family and his companions, all together.”
“O Allah, O our Lord, O Lord of the worlds, after You accept from us this noble khatmah by Your grace and generosity, make its multiplied reward a gift that we present to:
- The spirit of the Master of all worlds, the honor of the children of Adam, the Imam of the Prophets, the leader of the elect, our master Muhammad al-Muṣṭafā (peace and blessings be upon him).
And to the spirits of all the Prophets and Messengers, and likewise to the spirits of all their noble families and companions.
- The spirit of our master Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him).
The spirit of our master ‘Umar al-Fārūq (may Allah be pleased with him).
The spirit of our master ‘Uthmān Dhū al-Nūrayn (may Allah be pleased with him).
The spirit of our master ‘Alī al-Murtaḍā (may Allah honor his face).
The spirit of our master al-Ḥasan (may Allah be pleased with him).
The spirit of our master al-Ḥusayn (may Allah be pleased with him).
And to the spirits of the pure wives of the Prophet and all of his Household (Ahl al-Bayt),
And to the spirits of all the family and companions of our master, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him),
And to the spirit of our master Uways al-Qaranī (may Allah be pleased with him). - The spirit of our master Salmān al-Fārisī (may Allah be pleased with him).
- The spirit of our master Qāsim ibn Muhammad (may Allah be pleased with him).
- The spirit of our master Ja‘far al-Ṣādiq (may Allah be pleased with him).
- The spirit of our master Bāyazīd al-Bisṭāmī (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of our master, the shaykh Abū al-Ḥasan ‘Alī ibn Ja‘far al-Kharaqānī (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of our master, the shaykh Abū ‘Alī Faḍl ibn Muhammad al-Fārmadī (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of our master, the shaykh Yūsuf al-Hamadānī (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of the great Pole (al-Qutb al-Kabīr), our master, the shaykh ‘Abd al-Khāliq al-Ghujduwānī (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of our master, the shaykh ‘Ārif al-Riwkarī (or al-Riwgarī) (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of our master, the shaykh Maḥmūd Injir Faghnavī (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of our master, the shaykh ‘Alī al-Rāmitinī (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of our master, the shaykh Muhammad Bābā al-Sammāsī (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of our master, the shaykh, the sayyid Amīr Kulāl (may Allah sanctify his secret).
And to the spirit of the Master of the Friends (Sayyid al-Awliyā’), the Greatest Helper (al-Ghawth al-A‘ẓam), our master, the shaykh, the sayyid ‘Abd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī (may Allah sanctify his secret).
And to the spirits of the masters of the true paths who conveyed the Muhammadan light to the Ummah: from the Naqshbandiyyah, the Suhrawardiyyah, the Qādiriyyah, the Kubrawiyyah, the Rifā‘iyyah, the Chishtiyyah, the Khalwatiyyah, and all other true paths; and to the spirits of their shaykhs, their followers, and those devoted to them in belief—all of them—may Allah sanctify their secrets.
- The spirit of the Imam of the ṭarīqah, the Helper (Ghawth) of mankind, the possessor of the out-pouring grace and the flowing light, our master, the shaykh, the sayyid Muhammad Bahā’ al-Dīn al-Uwaysī al-Bukhārī, known as Shāh Naqshband (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of our master, the shaykh ‘Alā’ al-Dīn al-‘Aṭṭār (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of our master, the shaykh Ya‘qūb al-Jarakhī (or al-Jarakhī / al-Jarakhī) (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of our master, the shaykh ‘Ubaydullāh al-Aḥrār (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of our master, the shaykh Muhammad Zāhid Qāḍī Samarqandī (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of our master, the shaykh Darwīsh Muhammad al-Samarqandī (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of our master, the shaykh Muhammad Khwājah Imkānaki (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of our master, the shaykh Muhammad Bāqī Billāh (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of our master, the Imām al-Rabbānī, the Renewer of the second millennium, the shaykh Aḥmad al-Fārūqī al-Sirhindī (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of our master, the shaykh Muhammad Ma‘ṣūm, “the Firmest Handhold” (ʿUrwat al-Wuthqā) (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of our master, the shaykh Muhammad Sayf al-Dīn (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of our master, the shaykh, the sayyid Nūr Muhammad al-Badā’ūnī (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of our master, the shaykh Shams al-Dīn Ḥabībullāh, Mirzā Mazhar Jān-i Jānān (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of the one who gathers the spiritual secret, our master, the shaykh, the sayyid ‘Abdullāh al-Dihlawī (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of the “bowed, prostrating one of two wings” (i.e., lofty in rank), our master, the shaykh Khālid al-Baghdādī (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of Sirāj al-Dīn, the light of the people of faith, our master, the shaykh ‘Uthmān al-Ṭawīlayn (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of the guide of Islam and the Muslims, our master, the shaykh Abū Bakr Ghiyāth al-Dīn (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of the source of spiritual taste and purity, the crown of Arbīl, our master, the shaykh Muṣṭafā Kamāl al-Dīn (may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of the shaykh of this world and the next, our master, the shaykh Musharraf—may Allah honor him in both abodes—(may Allah sanctify his secret).
- The spirit of the healer of the diseases of hearts, our master, the shaykh Muhammad Nūrī—he is a diver in the knowledge of Allah—(may Allah sanctify his secret).
O Allah, deliver all of that (reward) to them, O our Lord.
Present these gifts from us to them, and make their spirits aware of them.
O my Lord, make us affiliated, attached, and firmly devoted in belief to Your chosen and elect friends. Turn away from us the evil of Satan and the lower self, and show us the Straight Path in all of our states and actions.
Āmīn, and all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
Then we recite “Āmana r-Rasūlu…” (the end of Sūrat al-Baqarah) or Sūrat al-Ikhlās.
Then we say thirty-three times: “Astaghfirullāh” (I seek Allah’s forgiveness), and then we open our eyes.