This is a reminder regarding the meaning of idhn (authorization/permission), which is in reality built upon udhn (the ear)—what the ear hears of commands, naturally from Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him), and naturally through the hands and tongue of the Shaykh and the faith that is known in this matter.

We pray to Allah that we may be worthy of this clarification and this discourse, by the grace of the luminosity of the Chosen One (peace be upon him).

Some say—and this concerns them naturally—that they see in their dreams that they are authorized in a certain matter. We say to them, by Allah's power, the Exalted and Mighty: "In houses which Allah has permitted to be raised and wherein His name is mentioned, men whom neither trade nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah" [Quran 24:36-37].

So this verse shows that authorization comes from Allah, and authorization does not come from people who desire or wish it from their own souls. The one who is truly authorized should have no personal desire for this authorization. Rather, the Lord, Glorified and Exalted, chooses him, and the Lord, Glorified and Exalted, prepares him for this matter.

When Allah chooses him and prepares him for this matter, He grants him this authorization—through His Messenger (peace be upon him), and through his imam who has taken charge of his training and care.

As long as this matter comes in this manner, we cannot doubt it or think about it according to the ego or according to desires. Rather, it is a matter from the Master, Glorified and Exalted.

The Lord, when He loves a servant, naturally causes a caller to call out in the realm of the Most Merciful—meaning He makes an angel call out in the heavens and the earth so that this beloved becomes beloved to all the heavenly angels. Then acceptance descends to him on earth, so he becomes accepted on earth by all of Allah's servants.

Therefore, authorization is built upon hearing, and hearing is calling from Allah and His Messenger.

For example, authorization in prayer—there is no comprehensive, all-encompassing authorization, but we call to prayer for each known prayer at its known time. These five prayers have the call to prayer that is heard by the ear—naturally in the first prayer which is Fajr, then the call in the second prayer which is Dhuhr, then Asr, then Maghrib, then Isha.

In this manner, we cannot say: pray a certain prayer without authorization from Allah. So how did we learn of this call to prayer? We heard this call to prayer from heaven, and we learned it through the condition of the entry of the known time for performing this religious rite which is the pillar of religion. Likewise in all matters.

Therefore, as long as your imam has not authorized you in this matter, a person should not rely on a dream vision, nor should a person rely on an idea that comes to his heart or soul, building upon it as if he were authorized by Allah and His Messenger.

Is the call to prayer heavenly or earthly? It is both heavenly and earthly at the same time. Likewise, authorization in spiritual elevation is both heavenly and earthly.

If we rely only on the vision, it is as if we see it from the heavenly realm without the earthly realm. This heavenly authorization only descends in the earthly realm through the imam.

For example, the Messenger (peace be upon him) says: "I am the first of the prophets and the seal of the prophets"—meaning he is a prophet and the first of them in prophethood and their seal in prophethood. But when did he manifest his prophethood and message to the entire Islamic community? After the authorization came to him from Allah, naturally, and from His messenger, who is our master Gabriel (peace be upon him).

It came to him in the manner of the cave of Hira—in his realm, in his senses, in his touch, in his embrace, in his command. Then he became authorized in this matter. But before the matter came in this manner, the Prophet (peace be upon him) never claimed anything of this at all.

He used to see visions like the breaking of dawn, stones and trees would greet him, but he never claimed that he was anything, nor did he claim anything.

So how can a disciple (murid), merely upon seeing a dream vision, interpret it with this interpretation?

When a vision is seen in a dream by the disciple, he presents it to his shaykh. When he presents it to his shaykh, the shaykh has the right to interpret and clarify it, as long as it has a matter related to spiritual conduct or regarding spiritual stations.

The student who comes to the path should have no desire for spiritual stations, and should have no desire except to look upon the face of the Creator, Glorified and Exalted. He should not even have desire for reward.

He should be among those concerning whom it came: "Faces that Day will be radiant, looking at their Lord" [Quran 75:22-23]. So their goal becomes looking at the Most Merciful, their goal becomes witnessing, their goal becomes that they look upon the beauty of the Master until their souls find peace that they are upon the guidance of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

But when a student begins to claim and say "I was given spiritual insight in such-and-such"—this never occurred with any of the people of elevation and the people of connection, ever. Rather, they used to flee from this responsibility because love of leadership is a defect in the soul.

The indication that a person loves leadership is that he loves a station before its time. Therefore, the righteous tell us all: "Remain where Allah has placed you."

So remain in your station and do not leave it except after authorization from Allah, His Messenger, and your shaykh. If you begin to choose for yourself a station before its time, and choose for yourself a position and elevation that has not come to you, while you know with certainty that you are lying to yourself—then do not lie about Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him) and your shaykh.

Because this is a door that remains between you and Allah. If you fall into this lying and fall into this distance, where will you flee when you want repentance and forgiveness, and when you want to face the qibla?

Leave this door pure. Leave this house as a place of return for repentance, for forgiveness, a place of return for connection —a place of return so that when you want to free yourself and when you want to save yourself from the mire, at least you can return to Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him) while you are at peace, holding fast to Allah and His Messenger.

So do not claim anything about him (peace be upon him), do not claim anything about Allah, nor about His Messenger (peace be upon him), nor about your shaykh who helps you and tries with all his effort to bring you out from the darkness of your soul to the light of your Lord - do not make any of these false claims, lest you tempt yourself and tempt your brothers.

What about when the matter goes beyond even males and reaches even females, so that females claim this matter? We in our school and in all schools know the level of women and their worth in Islam and their worth in the Islamic community and society completely.

But with certain knowledge and explicitly, for the matter to reach women to become imam and lead men in prayer, or to become a caller to prayer and call for the prayers—this has not come to her according to the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him): "Perfect among women are four: our mother Fatimah al-Zahra, our mother Khadijah (peace be upon them), our mother Asiya, and our mother Maryam (upon them the best prayers and peace) - four from among many men."

If he showed us the perfect ones among women and limited them to four women, what about when women appear in the end times claiming perfection and claiming elevation and the highest station at the level of succession, at the level of spiritual leadership, at the level of guidance in this manner which is spiritual guidance?

It is as if you are contradicting the hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and mocking what came upon the tongue of the best of creation. So at least a person should return to himself and return with complete reference to himself.

We have not gathered except for the knowledge of Allah. We have not gathered except to wash the heart from the base and from rust, so that the heart becomes sound until we meet the Master, Glorified and Exalted, with it. We want to work on the station of excellence (ihsan), which is that you worship Allah as if you see Him.

We want to worship Allah building upon witnessing His light until our hearts find peace and we arrive at the highest station, which is complete annihilation and pure non-existence. "For if you do not see Him, indeed He sees you."

So we become such that there is no existence for us, complete non-being. As long as we seek stations and seek levels and claim them—and the problem is not just that we seek them, but we claim them as if we have obtained them and as if we were among the people of choice and among the people of the known relation in this highest station.

This is difficult for us and difficult for everyone who seeks this station before its time. So remain where Allah has placed you, and if you see a vision, perhaps its interpretation and perhaps its meaning is the opposite of what you think.

Leave the station of the righteous—meaning for the people of righteousness—and work on the righteousness of your soul until you attain righteousness and are with the righteous through your righteousness, and are with the elevated through your elevation, and not before its time.

You know with certain knowledge that this level has its beloved ones and has its people. This is it. Do not fall into what does not please the Master, Glorified and Exalted, and rely on this saying: "Authorization through hearing"—until you hear it from your shaykh.

When we authorized some of the brothers outside the homeland, it was to help us gather disciples, to help us in training and solving the problems of disciples. We did not authorize them to make claims of elevation or claims of spiritual meaning or anything of this sort.

We do not claim this even for ourselves, so how can we see that someone else claims it for himself? We chose those with whom we had both earthly and heavenly connection—they entered retreat under our hands, studied the secrets, and we authorized them in readings [of the Name]. They practiced the rites with us, and we tested them much, and they succeeded in the test.

We saw in them good assumptions and good choice. When we chose them, they refused this responsibility and did not desire it. So we said to them: "It is not for anything—it is for cooperation so that the path may progress quickly forward."

This [responsibility] comes before [attaining] this station, and it is not as you imagine. Even some have begun to claim it without us meeting them, without them visiting us, without us sitting with them, without them entering retreat, and they have not obtained the first, second, third, or fourth readings.

You find them lacking even in knowledge and understanding of the etiquette of character and the etiquette of conduct and the recitation of the Name. So if you speak to him about the reading—the Ha of Identity, the Lam of Constriction, the Lam of Gnosis, and the Alif—he has no knowledge of this understanding.

So [if you are like this] how can I entrust this authorization [to you], how did you obtain this authorization, and how did Allah choose you for this authorization?