Sayyidi wa sanadi Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him) usually instructs a novice traveller (salik) on this path to read the published lecture series ‘Islahi Khutbaat’ and ‘Islahi majalis’. After reading a substantial amount from them he should focus on the discourses and malfuzat of Hakim al Umma Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi (Allah have mercy on him) for the rest of his life.

It is essential to pay attention to this advice.

Hakim al Umma Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi (Allah have mercy on him) is the mujaddid of the path we follow. The Ashrafiya path. Reading his works in original is imperative to gain the insight for the experiential knowledge of Allah ( al marifah) sought by those on this path.

We are from the third or fourth generation after Hakim al Umma. Our Shuyukh have kindly paraphrased and simplified those teachings according to our understanding. However, these are the initial stepping stones to the original text.

Hakim al Umma Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi (Allah have mercy on him) has himself mentioned the benefit of the original text in his malfuzat. Acknowledging them as a gift from Allah, he said that these are Divinely inspired words and therefore most beneficial is one’s islah.

The most common excuse we have is that our comprehension skills for Urdu reading are poor. This is an area we need to improve. Moreover, present day Mashaikh are requested to read to their audience from the original texts of Hakim al Umma Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi (Allah have mercy on him) and explain or translate if necessary.

This is important to inherit from the spiritual legacy of Ashrafiya path.

May Allah facilitate this for all of us. Amin!