The Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship

Questioner (age 7): Can Bawa give me a special prayer to say?

Bawa Muhaiyaddeen: We cannot give you the highest prayer now because you are still young. There is a lot more you need to learn. You have to start slowly, and as you progress you will go higher.

The first prayer is: La ilaha illallah, Muhammadur-Rasulullah. Write it down for her. (Bawa Muhaiyaddeen then repeats it slowly and in parts so the child can repeat it after him.) Take this as your special prayer.

La ilaha means: There is none other than You. Illallah means: You are Allah. There is no god that can be compared to You or is equal to You. You have all power. You are the only One. You are the One who is alone. You are the One who made all of creation. You are the One who gives food to everything. You are the Father who protects all lives, the One who created everything, protects everything, and sustains everything. You are the One who causes lives to die and the One who revives those lives after death. You are the One who will ask the questions tomorrow [on the Day of Reckoning] about the right and wrong we have done. You are the One who gives judgment tomorrow. You are the only One; there is no god other than You. This is a small meaning of this prayer.

Illallah. You are Allah. Muhammadur-Rasulullah, Muhammad (SAL.) is Your representative. He is the Messenger from Your kingdom. He is the representative for Your entire kingdom of grace. He is the Rasul (SAL.) the wise man, for all the creations who are under Your gaze. You made him the Rasul (SAL.) through Your wisdom, You sent Your wisdom to his form. The Rasul (SAL.) is the form of Your wisdom and that is the light to iman, to faith, certitude, and determination. For those who have faith in You, for those who have iman, the Rasul (SAL.) exists as light. Through that light, he makes us know You and see You. Muhammad, the Rasul (SAL.), is Your slave, Your representative, Your wisdom, and Your power.

La ilaha illallah, Muhammadur-Rasulullah. I follow and trust the Messenger that You have sent. I accept this truth of iman and the truth of purity, just as I accepted You, I accept Your representative, and I am setting out to reach You.

Give a copy of this explanation of this word to this child. There are many more explanations for this one word. There is so much meaning within it, but this is just one explanation for your iman, your faith, certitude, and determination. Amin.

November 13, 1983