Sayyidi wa sanadi Mufti Mohammed Taqi Usmani (Allah protect & preserve him) was replying to the letters of spiritual aspirants.

After reading a letter he addressed those sitting in his office,

One of my friends (Shaikh usually uses this title for those seeking spiritual reformation (islah) under his supervision) is blessed with witnessing of the Holy Prophet (Allah’s blessings & peace be upon him) frequently. Sometimes it is in sleep (dream), other times in a state between sleep and wakefulness and also in wakeful state.

A great blessing indeed!

However, few things must be clear about this phenomenon.

Firstly, it is something beyond one’s volition. It is ghair ikhteyari. It is a blessing and one should be excessively thankful to Allah for it. However, it is not a sign of spiritual proximity. One should not consider him/herself spiritually superior to others because of it.

Secondly, if one is blessed with this for a while and then it ceases to exist than also it is not a sign of spiritual decadence.

The only thing that matters in spiritual proximity are an individual’s actions. That is doing good and abstaining from sinful.

This must be explicitly clear.’

Ramadan 1442, post zohar, office, Darul Uloom Karachi