ISTIDAD – THE NUCLEUS

“Istidad is the most appreciated and secret prayer.” Ibn Arabi

Istidad, the most forgotten term of Islamic Sufism, teaches us the story of existence. It is our individual genetic code, it is our individual potential, it is the seed that is buried in us, waiting to flourish. God’s expectation from the human is to reach into this hidden treasure, activate and nourish the seed (nucleus).

According to Islamic Sufism the human is the only creature that may become a simulation of God carrying all His attributes. Each human being is a micro-cosmos, a specific summary of the macro- cosmos that s/he lives in... As Caliph Ali (هللا همحر) says: “O human, you think you are simple; you are the origin of the entire universe.”

Islamic Sufism teaches that every human is coded with the divine names, Asma’ al-Husna in a unique composition. But only a free mind and purified heart intelligence can reach its potential.

Whoever reaches that level, realizes the properties of subatomic pure energy (Angels / Melaikah), the essence of the matter. Sufism teaches that the way to reach one's truth is only through servitude and purification of the heart. Neither the five senses nor any superior mind are capable of grasping it because they are inherently locked when it comes to being conscious beyond matter. The limited five senses are not enough to understand the dimensions. The freer the mind and the more purified the heart becomes, the further the unfolding increases. Everyone deciphers the incoming information with its own capacity. The brain can relate to the universal essence in the power of energy production created by thought due to quantum mechanics. In religious terminology, this is defined as prayer. Each brain creates an invisible relationship with the environment by emitting waves with the energy it produces. The magnetic field of consciousness is nourished by negative or positive power. By this mechanism, servitude may be regarded as the purification of the heart and a higher connection is established with the being.

The code!

Why did God create you?

What is your most dominant characteristic?

In each person, a specific name or a composition of a plural of names is more dominant among all other divine names. Ibn-i Arabi school called this istidad (predisposition). This is a universal feature that is the same for all humans regardless of gender, race and religion.

Not only in Islamic Sufism but also Kabbalism, Buddhism, Hinduism’s Upanishads and Sutras follow the genetic code path to reach the Truth.

If we have to define istidad as the genetic nucleus, we can call an ability or a talent as an emerging trend from the said nucleus. Your istidad, namely your genetic code is the greatest gift that is given to you on the path to reach your higher Self, your highest consciousness level. If istidad is a universal feature for each person all around the world, how do differences still arise, you may ask. An infinite number of names-attributes (Asma) are entrusted in different combinations and degrees in each person, and this leads to a variety in human beings

What could be the purpose of your existence?

We said that we all carry the entrusted treasure, Asma’ al-Husna in each of us, but one or a few names may be dominating each person.

If the name Musawwir manifesting highly in me, I will be urged to draw or paint or shape something . If I don’t, I won’t be able to determine my existence, my ontological story. Maybe I will earn a lot of money with the talent rising from my istidad and achieve everything that we are conditioned in the modern world, but I will always keep saying:

“Something is missing.

I have everything, but something still is missing.”

The name Al-Adl of Allah Almighty is about justice. If a person is born with a dominant al-Adl characteristic, and if this person is not a lawyer or a legal expert, the universe will compulsorily direct him on all occasions into the area of laws or justice.

As an allegory we can say that an apple seed has no other chance than being an apple seed. If an apple seed tries to be a pear, then the divine system forces. If the name al-Qahhar (The All-Prevailing) is dominant in a person, s/he may be pushed to be a military or security guard as a worldly talent. The divine mechanism that Allah Almighty created pushes everybody to reveal his/her true essence! Unless s/he does that, the system may force him/her to fail at their present job to direct them to the required path. Then s/he may face unexpected failures and mistakes in her/his career. Somehow the system could throw them out of the field of medicine into agriculture through an intervention in the form of some fatal mistake, such as misdiagnosing a patient.

When istidad arises, a puzzle will be completed, a harmony prevails in the soul. Once you have mastered the dominant name of God that is encoded in you, your istidad; you find the purpose of your life, and you will never say “something is missing” again.

You may ask, “Isn’t finding our istidad a bit of a matter of fate?” In this respect, the great Creator has not given any special privileges to anyone. From Aborginal peoples to Indians, Hindus to Muslims and Christians, all human beings have the same code of creation (fitrah). In modern times, the religious rules are mostly memorized so that the essence of the religion gets out of focus.

According to Sufism a shepherd living in a mountain or even an illiterate man is able to reach his istidad only by listening to their hearts. This is a divine justice that follows God’s divine and absolute design (Sunnatullah).

However, in today’s world, we fill the divinity with unnecessary and memorized details which don’t serve our hearts.

Caliph Ali (هللا همحر) describes human beings’ essence as a dot. Fitrah is the state of purity and innocence Muslims believe all humans to be born with. It is usually translated as “original disposition”, “natural constitution”, or “innate nature”.

It is the reason for a person’s existence. Istidad is the dot, and the moment a person covers it with hundreds of details, the dot gets lost.

Imagine istidad as an apple seed; but most of us are apple seeds trying to exist as a pear. Even if we can force our codes to a pear’s, our fruits will have amorphous shapes. These fruits would be unhealthy, useless, fake and tasteless. At its simplest explanation, Sufism means to grow an apple from an apple seed. You may say that you like pears now or that you are used to being a pear, so how can you become an apple at this point? Sufis would answer, “We keep your pear characteristics and add some apples to you”. Bear both apples and pears but be on the path of your genetic code. Remember that if any religion, comprehension, or spiritual teaching advises you to abruptly change your current lifestyle and/ or tries to direct you in an opposite direction by saying that you should change your current life, there is quackery in it.

We should not be surprised that there will be obstacles in the way because istidad is our most valuable treasure. It’s like a pearl hidden in the ocean. Of course, it will have layers to protect it. Treasures are not found easily. Istidad is our reason for being, or more accurately for becoming, as it is our destiny.

Istidad has a strong measure of creative power. Istidad is like our fingerprint. Our special, divine code that comes from our heart and soul and affects our outer world

Istidad makes it possible for you to be completely present at the moment. Many of us are unconsciously experiencing the pain and suffering of our inability to find it. To relieve this pain and suffering, we work harder to earn more money. We turn to indulgences and instantaneous excitements. We desperately try to socialize in order to avoid the deep loneliness we feel at our heart, even when we are surrounded by people.

Islam says that every child’s ontology is divine, but the child evolves into something else by the influence of his/her parents or society. Every oppression leads a person towards a fanaticism in another subject.

Everything we can perceive in the world is an instrument that determines the closeness of our relationship to the divine Creator.

In this context, what is meant by servitude is to find one’s Istidad and to lead a life in accordance with it. Our life’s purpose is to be able to decipher the codes that determine our genetic code. Divine names have been included in every Sufi text, but their practical value has not been mentioned much. We all can read the signs on our road maps under the guidance of the divine names, Asma'l Husna.

One’s genetic code needs to manifest unconditionally, it must benefit the universe, because it is related to the genetic heritage, and it affects the next generations.

Although all of the divine names making up the genetic code are sacred and good, a specific name could manifest wrongly.

Professions may be covered by the codes.

In ancient times, the dervish lodges were designed for the same aim. Nowadays, since materialism and rigid rationalism shape our most important values, people do not search for the meaning because they are conditioned to wear the masks society assigns to them. Likewise, if a devout person prostrates a thousand times without finding God once, there must be something wrong with her/his code!

The code does not change. Only a software engineer like a Sufi sheik, a shaman or a spiritual guide can change the code. They look at you, solve you, and if your code bothers you or the universal system, they play with it like a genetic, spiritual engineer and change it, without you even realizing it, if you are lucky to meet one. They are software engineers of human coding, and they can change your operating system. They can make a saint out of a thief. You can find similar stories in the core of all religious traditions. Such a person can change and raise a person to his/her higher Self, even with just one glance. A Sufi, Sayyed Ahmed Badawi, was one of them.

A true name is a name of a being that is somehow identical to its true nature. Since antiquity, the notion that sacred words refer to things by their true names has been central to philosophical and religious contexts as well as religious invocation and mysticism (mantras). In the Old Testament, the names of individuals are meaningful, and a change of name indicates a change of their spiritual development. The essence of the names is “saturated with meaning”. Throughout the Bible, characters are given meaningful names correlating to God. In Islamic culture, it is very important to give names of Allah (Asma’ al-Husna) to newborns so that their subconscious is shaped in the best way. Names affect your code.

Being very successful is not a code because it does not contain any divine meaning, any specific Asma. Success and happiness are only the outcomes.

Some people can intuitively lead a life in terms of their code without realizing.

The Western world discovered the talent, but not the genetic code, istidad, which is only connected to the divine names of Allah. And the last word belongs to Abdul Qadir Gilani,RA- The Letters:

”Don’t worry about whether you have istidad or not. Don’t try to look for useless and unbeneficial ways. Measure yourself right away; if you are constantly on the right path to Allah Almighty, you have istidad. If you don’t have istidad, you don’t even think to seek, nor do you think to ask...O After you realize that you have an istidad, learn to wait. If you are showered with Allah Almighty and His mercy in the realm you expect, do not get bored and run away. Even if you get wet or surrounded by a lake, do not run away. Stop and wait. Because when He, the Exalted, wills:“Allah Almighty chooses for Himself whom He wills and guides to Himself whoever turns back [to Him]”(Qur’an, Surah Ash-Shuraa, verse 13) Keep in mind that He will definitely test before choosing. Know that you are waiting there as a trial. If you succeed, the divine power will cover you in the form of a cloud, and it will take you far beyond and beyond.”