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Transcription of a lecture delivered by Maulana Imran N Hosein at Maulana Ansari dhikr group gathering, Abd-al-Aleem House, Cape Town, South Africa.
Lecture transcribed by Irshad Soofie (http://www.sufi.co.za)
We begin with Allah's Blessed name; we praise Him and we glorify Him as He aught to be glorified and we pray for peace and blessings on all His noble messengers and in particular the last of them all, the blessed Prophet Muhammad. Nabi Muhammad warned; he warned of an age that is to come, which would be a terrible age, more terrible than any age that mankind would ever had experienced since Adam came on earth. Very few would survive that age. A terrible, evil, mastermind will attempt to take control of the world. And that terrible, evil, mastermind of whom Allah had hinted when He said:
قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ {1}
مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ {2}
That terrible, evil mastermind will attempt to impose his evil, oppressive dictatorship over the whole world and mislead mankind' and deceive mankind. That evil mastermind will have a PhD in deception. That in that age things will not be what they appear to be. That appearance and reality would be completely opposite to each other. That he would take the road to heaven and make it look like the road to hell; and he would take the road to jahannam and make it look like the road to heaven. Those who see with only external knowledge; that's all; the PhD from the University of Cape Town will be unable to penetrate his deception. Will form judgment on the basis of external knowledge; of external observation and would be deceived; would believe that they are on the road to heaven; when in fact they are on the road to hell and they don't know it. The purpose of the spiritual quest' the ultimate purpose, in this world, of the halaqatul zikr, is to be able to see what otherwise cannot be seen. The ultimate purpose in this life of the spiritual quest is therefore spiritual knowledge. Spiritual knowledge comes when external knowledge and internal knowledge are harmoniously integrated with each other. Allah ? speaks in the Holy Qur'aan about a people who have no internal knowledge; who do not pursue the spiritual quest or who pursue the spiritual quest but are not conscious of what is the goal of the spiritual quest. Who believe perhaps that the spiritual quest is ultimately for the purpose of being able to perform karamah; actions which look like what the Prophets performed as miracles; and who do not understand that the spiritual quest is ultimately, for the purpose of acquiring internal knowledge. And He says of such people who are spiritually blind. He says [in the Holy Qur'aan in the 7th Sura, al-Araaf [The Heights], Verse 179:]
لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ لاَّ يَفْقَهُونَ بِهَا
They have hearts but they do not understand
وَلَهُمْ أَعْيُنٌ لاَّ يُبْصِرُونَ بِهَا
They have eyes but they do not see
وَلَهُمْ آذَانٌ لاَّ يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا
They have ears but they do not hear
أُوْلَـئِكَ كَالأَنْعَامِ
[They are like cattle]
These people, who would be the multitudes in that last age, they have a status equivalent to cattle. Even with a PhD from the University of Cape Town! Yes! They have a status equivalent to cattle.
Islamic Spirituality 
