The Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship

A short talk given by Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen in September 28, 1986.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

I will relate the story of a sheikh. There was once a great sheikh. He was a very evolved person, filled with light. For a long time Satan repeatedly assumed different forms, trying his hardest to spoil this sheikh and lead him astray. But Satan failed. Eventually, the sheikh's disciples all received gnanam and were even able to fly in the skies. They had all left and he was alone.

It was at this time that the great sheikh developed a desire. He thought, "I wish I could go straight to heaven to see God, while I am in this body itself, while I am still alive. After all, I am a great sheikh. There is no one greater than I. I must go to heaven."

Satan rubbed his hands gleefully. "Now I have a way to enter!" he thought. "Now he has turned toward my path. This is my opportunity!"

Quickly, Satan took the form of an angel. He approached the sheikh and said, "O great one, as-salamu 'alaikum. May the peace of God be upon you."

The sheikh replied, "Wa 'alaikumus-salam. And God's peace be with you too. Where are you coming from?"

"God sent me especially to you, to escort you to Him. He sends His greetings, His salams. He sent me to find out what your intention is. That is why I came. It seems that you have a desire to see heaven while you are in this body itself. God has sent me to escort you to Him in order to fulfill your desire."

The sheikh was very happy. "Oh, has God heard my thoughts? Has He sought to fulfill my prayers? I did have this great thought, I am ready anytime to go and see God."

"All right, be prepared. I will return after maghrib (the sunset prayer) and bring you," instructed the angel who was Satan

The sheikh was very happy. "Oh, I'll be ready!" he exclaimed.

Satan left and then clapped his hands. All the other satans came and said, "O Satan what is troubling you now? Why are you bothering us like this? What do you want?"

"Today we have a chance to destroy the world," Satan told them. "There is someone I have been trying to corrupt for so long but have never had a chance. Now the time has come. I need a donkey. Who will turn into a donkey?"

"I'll be a donkey," one of the satans answered.

"Good. Now get some pigs' blood," Satan ordered. "Soak a black cloth in that blood and bring it to me." The satans went to work, butchering some pigs, soaking a cloth in their blood, and bringing it to Satan

"It is time for maghrib. We can go now," Satan announced. Then he took the donkey and returned to the sheikh. The sheikh was eagerly waiting. Again Satan appeared in the form of an angel and said, "As-salamu 'alaikum. We must go to heaven now."

"Wa 'alaikumus-salam," replied the sheikh. "We have brought you a horse." It was really a donkey. "Climb onto the horse. We are going to heaven and must travel far. You may be frightened along the way so it is best that I blindfold you."

The sheikh was so excited that he said, "All right, blindfold me. I am willing to do anything you ask." Then Satan blindfolded him with that black cloth dipped in pigs' blood, and immediately all the sheikh's gnanam and wisdom left. All the good things flew away. As they were going along, the angel who was Satan asked the sheikh, "You say you want to go to heaven, but have you seen hell?"

"No, I have not seen hell," the sheikh replied.

Then Satan asked, "Isn't it better for you to take a look at hell before you go to heaven? Only then can you know the difference."

"Ah, what you say is quite true," the sheikh agreed. "I have never seen hell."

"Hell is on our way," Satan said, "so perhaps you can take a look. We don't have to stay too long. Shall we go and see it?" And the sheikh agreed.

Then Satan summoned all the satans and told them to magically decorate the seven hells with the most beautiful things possible: gold, precious gems, tasty fruits, and lights. Then Satan took the sheikh to the first hell and removed the blindfold. When the sheikh opened his eyes, the sand looked like milk. There were so many different kinds of fragrant flowers and fruits. Satan offered him one of the fruits. "Oh, this is a wonderful, delicious fruit!" the sheikh exclaimed.

"This is hell," Satan told him.

"Who said this is hell?" demanded the sheikh. "This looks like heaven to me."

Satan showed him wonder after wonder, one after another. At each sight, the sheikh exclaimed, "Oh, they must be crazy to call this hell."

Finally, Satan made a throne for him in the seventh hell. The platform and throne were made from the bones and skulls of dead people. Ghosts came to dance like celestial maidens. There was music, dancing, and many fancy things. The food was delicious. Everything was adorned with various types of precious stones, flowers, and fruits. "This is the seventh hell. Now that you have seen this, do you really think this is hell?" Satan asked.

"Who is the fool who called this hell?" exclaimed the sheikh. "This is really heaven. They are all crazy!"

"Let's talk about that later," Satan suggested. "Now let's rest for a while." Then the music began and celestial maidens danced before the sheikh. He was reclining on a beautiful couch. There were jewels and ornaments everywhere. The women's teeth dazzled like precious gems. But in truth, those women were demons and ghosts.

Soon they brought food. What was the food really? It was worms and maggots from the graves and blood from dead bodies. This is what they brought to him. But the sheikh was not aware of what was happening. He had lost all awareness. He ate what was placed before him. He really enjoyed the meal. He found it delicious. Then Satan asked, "What do you think of this hell? How was the food? Was it tasty? Did you enjoy it?"

"Oh, I have never had any food as tasty as this," answered the sheikh. "I have never tasted fruits as delicious as these. This is really heaven. Who is the fool who gave the name hell to this place?"

"This is how fools talk, you know," Satan told him. "They go on shouting and saying, "Hell, hell is so horrible." They frighten people, preventing them from coming here, but they can only really know about this place if they do come here."

"Who are you?" asked the sheikh. "I am the chief angel in charge of hell," Satan replied. "Someone else has to take over from here if you wish to go further. But now you have seen this place that you think is heaven, would you like to stay here for a few days?"

"Oh, yes! I would like to stay here for a few days," the sheikh quickly replied.

But Satan said, "You cannot stay here without God's permission. That is the one prerequisite. Each person must agree to stay here, and God must give permission. So, sign this book saying that you are willing to stay here for a few days."

The sheikh signed the book. Instantly, all the lights vanished, and it became pitch black. Then he saw ghosts and demons dancing and singing. Snakes and scorpions were crawling over him, stinging and biting him. "You wretched being," they hissed. "You deceived all our people, took them away from us, and sent them to God. You would not let them stay with us." They continued to attack him. "Where is the angel who brought me here?" cried the sheikh.

"Where is the light? It is dark. They are biting and tugging me."

Then a voice came, "I am right here. This is hell, the real hell."

"Is this hell?" he asked. "What did I see before?"

"That was just our advertisement," Satan explained. "That was the billboard we display, because no one would ever want to come here, if they saw what it is really like. From the time a child is born, this kind of advertisement is used to entice them to come. What you see in the world are our advertisements. All that you saw here earlier are merely the billboards that we erected to lure people. But what you see now is the real hell."

"Oh!" the sheikh wailed. "Have I come to hell?"

Satan said, "Now your chapter is closed. We only display these billboards until people actually get here."

Continue to Part 3