What Are the Two Noblest Qualities That Lead to Freedom?

■ What Are the Two Noblest Qualities That Lead to Freedom?

If you’re locked in a cage, and you’re looking for the two special keys that can set you free—not just physically, but spiritually. Sidi Ali al-Jamal Shadhili (ق), a great Wali Allah, said he found those two keys. And there is nothing more noble in all creation than these two qualities.

1. Abasement of the Self Before Allah ﷻ

This means you humble yourself completely in front of Allah ﷻ. You accept that you’re weak, powerless, and that everything—both good and bad—is from Him. You surrender to His plan, even if you don’t understand it.

Sidi Ali says this is the highest and most noble trait. Why? Because Allah ﷻ Himself said in the Qur’an:

وَأَن نُّمَنَّ عَلَى الَّذِينَ اسْتُضْعِفُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَنَجْعَلَهُمْ أَئِمَّةً وَنَجْعَلَهُمُ الْوَارِثِينَ

(القرآن 28:5)

❝We wanted to be kind to those who were humble and weak in the land, and to make them leaders, and to make them the inheritors❞

(Qur’an 28:5)

So when you lower yourself before Allah ﷻ, He raises you in ranks.

2. Dhikr (Remembrance) of Allah ﷻ

The second great quality is dhikr, the constant remembrance of Allah ﷻ. And this, too, is the greatest action according to the Qur’an:

❝And the remembrance of Allah is greater❞

(Qur’an 29:45)

Sidi Ali al-Jamal ق says when you remember Allah ﷻ, everything else disappears. Dhikr wipes away all distractions, all worries, and brings only Allah ﷻ into your heart. It doesn’t just get you close to Him—it removes everything else that was between you and Him.

Sidi Ali al-Jamal says that these two qualities—humility and dhikr—don’t often come together in one person. But when they do, that person is truly special Servant. These are the people who strive (called mujahids) not with swords, but with their hearts and souls.

These were the traits found in the great masters of Sufism—like Abul-Hasan ash-Shadhili, Abu’l-‘Abbas al-Mursi and Ibn ‘Ata’Illah, Mawlana ‘Abdu’s-Salam b. Mashish, Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani, Ibn Wafa’, Abu Madyan al-Ghawth, Sayyidi Ahmad b. Yusuf Madani, Mawlana ‘Abdullah al-Ghazwani, ash-Shiba’, al-Jazuli, Sayyiduna ‘Abdu ’r-Rahman al-Majdhub, Sayyidi Yusuf al-Fasi, Shaykh al-Ghazali, the Imam ash-Shitri, and Imam al-Junayd and many more. Their secret power wasn’t in their words or Karamah. It was in how deeply they humbled themselves before Allah ﷻ and remembered Him constantly.

If you want true freedom and closeness to Allah ﷻ, do two things:

1. Be humble—know you’re small, and Allah ﷻ is in control.

2. Remember Allah ﷻ—again and again, until He’s all you feel in your heart.

These two keys open the door to everything good, both in this world and the next.

اَللّٰهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدٍ وَّعَلَىٰ اٰلِ مُحَمَّدٍ