To Change Things and Talk To Macma Students

Discourse by Sidi Umar Vadillo (2002)

To change things in society by the action of the limbs is limited, but everything starts from the heart. This is basic sufic teaching. It is the most powerful instrument in man. The heart can make reality near or far. Can make little things big or big obstacles become small or disappear. This is marifatullah. Knowledge bring changes. The heart bring certainty. It bring out actions. We are not dependent on our limbs, our strength but goes back to the dhikr of La haula wa la quwwata illa bi’Llah. Muslims when they obey the command of Allah become strong. Use of the dinar and dirham, then the US dollar will weaken. Trade the halal way, the amal of madinah the existential way, not the kuffar monopolistic ways. Maulana Rumi placed a big burden on man- he is the khalifa. To be khalifa means to realize the full potential of inner and outer dimension of man. Or fulfilling the shariat and illumination of the heart-haqiqat.

Modern man does not think. They react. He trapped himself as an observer. We muslim say that Allah is al-Haqq, the Truth. We cannot measure him by our existence. It is He measure us and give us the means to recognize Him. When we annihilate our attributes then we recognize His attributes. Now we live in a strange age of Islam where there is no khalifah or single Muslim ruler who really upholding the full authority of sharia. They do not bother. They accept the kuffar are strong. So we are weak and hapless to deal with them.

This is not true. Our teaching is the opposite. The moment we go forward to Allah, we are gaining strength. What hamper us are the illusions we created around us. We are murabitun because we go forward in this great matters of the deen. This is fi sabilillah.

Talk To Macma students

14 January 2002 Kuala Lumpur

Tonight I want to share with you parts of my experience in becoming a muslim. I am Spanish, a Basque a region north of spain. My family was staunchly catholic. Many of my relatives and uncles are Christian priests. In fact I was sent to a catholic school. The story begin in the university. I am a rebel. Oppose all the establishment things. A young atheist, free thinker and did not believe in anything. Christianity is superficial, has no value with me.

Unexpectedly one day I met a man in the library. We talked on many things. Economics, philosophy etc. this man is interesting. I don’t know at all he was a muslim. He invited me to have tea and dinner with him. In a moment he excused himself . Now only I know he going to take wudu and do the salat. Then he returned. After a few meetings, I discover he was praying at certain times, making this strange movements, standing, bowing, prostrating and reciting Quran. So I asked him, can I join you at prayer ? I do 2 rakaat of prayer without being a muslim or knowing what islam is. This is somewhere in 1981 or 1982.

Then there was university holiday, with a group of my friends, we went holiday in Tunis as young hippies or tourists. Suddenly I hear the azan-call of prayer from a mosque. It shot into my heart. I told my friends, excuse me , I want to pray with the muslims. They say are you crazy ? After the prayer,they surrounded me and looked at me – a foreigner in the mosque, what ? There almost a quarrel . I told the Imam, I was muslim and the they let me go.

Several weeks after that I became a muslim at my Shaykh presence. After that I entered another phase of my life which is beyond my expectations. This is for another lecture. We thanks Allah for the gift of Islam. We ask Allah to give you strong iman, guidance and knowledge.

AlFatihah.