/August Message 2026
Beloved Family, Greetings of Love, Protection and Gratitude as so much of the world experiences the effects of global warming! Making aspirations for each of you and your community’s safety and wellbeing! We had a beautiful Mendocino Sufi Camp with some 180 folks joining in. Gitanjali and Amina were wonderful Spiritual Directors. The handoff to the next generation of guides and managers for the camp is just about complete, Alhamdulillah! Most of you know that when I turn 81 on September 3, 2028, I will pass on the responsibility of being the Pir. I have read people saying I was retiring, which to me feels incorrect. I will continue to do my best to serve the Message as a guide, friend and messenger without the responsibility of being the Head Administrator for the Ruhaniat lineage and organization. This past Sunday we had a Naqib (caretaker) empowerment and initiation Ceremony at the Mentorgarten, Murshid SAM’s home, for Shakti and Khusrau as Naqib(a)s of Khankah SAM and Amina as Naqiba for the Mentorgarten. Yasmin Spiegel and Iqbal joined me in telling stories of our interactions with Murshid at the Mentorgarten, tales of the beginning of Khankah SAM were invoked, along with further stories of the many incarnations of the Khankah. As a practice for the Naqibs to carry we invoked YA VAKIL (YA WAKIL) - YA FATTAH. These sacred phrases were chosen to support their ability to be “Guardians” of the Message, especially as these central locations are the physical roots of our lineage, and to open the way for the Message to reach Far and Wide from these precious centers. Let us all join in this month with the same wazifa pair and apply it to our own lives and situations. No travel in August. September brings me to the 30th Annual Southwest Sufi Camp teaching along with Murshidas Darvesha and Baqia, and our master drummer teacher Sheikh Gayan. October takes me to teach for the first time in Japan, a 600 year old Zen Monastery as our retreat location! Save the date for our 22nd Annual Northern California Sufi Sesshin at the Bishops Ranch in Healdsburg Jan 17-22, 2027, details to follow soon! And lastly there are still openings to join our Pilgrimage to Hazrat Inayat Khan's 100th URS celebration, Jan 31-Feb 11, 2027. Much love, Shabda |
Wazifa Practice Recite 101x YA WAKIL ~ YA FATTAH 52. Ya Wakil (yaa wa-KEEL) Al-Wakil is the only one who is worthy of complete trust in every affair. It is said that the person who trusts completely in Allah is like an infant who knows nothing but to resort to the mother’s breast. For Sufis, tawakkul means complete trust in Allah. It is a station of realization, not a passing state. There are stages in the development of this kind of trust that correspond to abandoning the qualities of the lower self and at the same time embracing and embodying divine qualities. Recitation of Ya Wakil calls forth a protection that is full of reliability. It is steadfastness along with resilience and lack of defensiveness. It has cohesiveness. It brings solidity without rigidity. Invocation of Ya Wakil is a remedy for those of us who have deep issues with being able to trust. See Ya Muhaimin(7), Ya Hafiz (38), Ya Muqit (39), Ya Wali (76), and Ya Mani' (89). See Chapter 11, Divine Protection. 18. Ya Fattah (yaa fat-TAAḤ) Al-Fattah means both to begin and to open. Through it you begin to open your heart to the infinite possibilities of the divine presence. With al-Fattah, the opening is continuous. It is an enlightenment that keeps happening. Al-Fattah brings great power to clear the way of obstacles and open the path of your life for success. It is the one who opens the heart to love and ecstasy. Al-Fattah means to open something with something else, a key. It is the key to opening the heart to Allah, the key to finding the God within. Reciting Ya Fattah is a very powerful practice because, even in the midst of despair, it brings the possibility of awakening to love and ecstasy. Its activity in us is opening up the veils of darkness over the heart to uncover the light within. Al-Fattah is the continuous action of all that will be accomplished. Invocation of Ya Fattah sets up the dynamic of going deeper and deeper in the process of opening. See Ya Wahhab (16) and Ya Razzaq (17). See also Chapters 16, 18, and 19 on divine abundance. In Arabic, Ya Wakil and Ya Vakil are essentially the same phrase, but the difference is in transliteration and pronunciation. Both refer to one of the names or attributes of God in Islamic tradition, Al-Wakil, meaning The Trustee, The Disposer of Affairs, The Dependable Guardian. Ya Wakil: This is the standard transliteration from Arabic, directly reflecting the pronunciation in most dialects. Ya Vakil: This is a variant spelling often used in Persian, Urdu, or South Asian contexts where the Arabic “W” sound is sometimes rendered as “V.” So, they are the same invocation, just represented differently depending on language and regional usage. To hear the pronunciation: Ya Wakil ~ Ya Fattah |
Text and Commentary to Study This month we continue studying the The Bestowal of Blessing by Murshid Samuel Lewis. Read and contemplate Chapters 8 - 10, pages 29 - 40 Click below to download |
