A seeker inquired,
Should I do the daily mamoolat spread over the day? I try to do them first thing in the morning so that I don’t miss them.
Ashrafiya replied,
The best is to do them first thing is the morning. Spreading them over a day can be done in special circumstances, like travelling etc.
Islahi emails:TA
A seeker wrote,
Alhamdulillah the I am trying to act on the Faraidh and Mamoolat. Waise sacchi baat tau ye he ke band eke a’amaal intihai naqis hain, Allah SWT ma’af farmaaen.
Ashrafiya replied,
MashaAllah. apnay a’mal kay nuqus ka ahsas kamal aur kamyabi ki tarf safar ki a’lamet hay. Jaisa bun pa raha hay us pay shukr aur kotahi par istegfar kartey rahna hay.
Islahi emails:TA
Reviewed and approved by sanadi wa sanadi Mufti Mohammed Taqi Usmani (Allah protect & preserve him)
A seeker wrote,
– I try to focus on the words and meanings in Salah but the train of thought derails very frequently. Please recommend something in this regard.
Ashrafiya replied,
No problem at all.
Invoulantary derailment does not cause damage to khushu.
Whenever, you recognize the derailment come back on the track.
InshaAllah, with persisitence and practice the frequency of this will decrease.
Islahi emails:TA
Reviewed and approved by sanadi wa sanadi Mufti Mohammed Taqi Usmani (Allah protect & preserve him)
A seeker wrote,
– Fajr salah is going very weak, may Allah forgive me. I haven’t prayed with Jamah in ages and even at home I am missing some of them in the past 2 weeks. One thing or the other delays going to bed and even though I put an alarm, sometimes I just can’t wake up in time. I should make more effort to correct this laziness (“susti”). Yes something needs to be done for this right away.
Ashrafiya replied,
Praying fajr on time is essential. Moreover, eventually one has to aim for tahajjud prior to fajr.
Read thoroughly the book: Namaz e fajr aur hamari kotahi, on this topic. Then do the following,
1. Go to sleep early.
2.Eat dinner early.
3. Make dua prior to going to sleep for waking up at fajr
4. Make a firm determination. Tell yourself in a audible voice to wake up at ____am
5. Recite the last 4 ayah of sura kahaf (18th sura)
6. Set two or three alarms. (I usually use 2- 3 alarms on my mobile phone and one on a clock kept at a far distance from the bed, so I have to get up and switch it off.)
7. Ask a family member or a friend who gets up regularly to wake you up or call you to do so.
8. Even after these measures if salah is missed then skip breakfast for that day. (Only take tea, coffee or milk)
Islahi emails:TA
Reviewed and approved by sanadi wa sanadi Mufti Mohammed Taqi Usmani (Allah protect & preserve him)
A novice seeker wrote,
I would like to seek for permission for Tablighi Jama’at activity.
Ashrafiya replied,
For time being postpone this for a while.
It is essential to firmly root yourself in the daily ma’moolat, reading, islah,etc. before you proceed to activities that are going to change your routine drastically.
Do assist them (nusrat) for few hours and sit in their book–reading sessions (ta’leem only. Not lectures) for the time being.
Islahi emails:TA
The following is in response to a novice seeker’s many religious daily activities.
‘MashaAllah.
It is great to know about your activities. They are all fine.
However, I want to stress the importance of giving daily quality time to your spouse, daughter, parents and other very close relatives. This is essential and more beneficial then all other nafil activities.
Also, it must be clear that the knowledge of religion that you require for daily practice is essential and a must. Beyond this religious education is not for all. It is for scholars. For lay people like me it is more necessary to be involved in my own islah.
Also, a general advice akabir give to novice in religion is that,
“Walk slow and steady. Do not rush and run.”
Otherwise soon the enthusiasm will be over and a ‘burnt out state’ will come.
It is for this reason having a Shaykh is essential. He directs and tells how much to do
Ishai emails:TA
Abū Bakr al-Kattānī (Allah have mercy on him) said, “were it not that recollection of Him was required of me as a religious duty, I could not mention Him out of awe for Him. How can one like me recollect Him without washing out his mouth a thousand times as a required penance, so great is His recollection and so awesome His name!
The Principles of Tasawwuf, p 83
I read about the zikr of the chishti tareeqa i.e. the dowazdah tasbeeh. I have doubts in my mind regarding this. The thought comes to my mind that this is not established by sunnah. I have tried to read many books to clarify this but am not satisfied yet. Although I am ashamed to even think about the likes of Hakeem ul ummah RA or Mufti Taqi Usmani DB involved in any bidah. But I guess the very non-sufi environment that I have been in, gives me these doubts. Any clarification regarding this would be sincerely appreciated. Please forgive me if I offended with this question.
Ashrafiya replied,
There is no offence at all in asking this question.
However, there is a misunderstanding that needs to be clarified.
That is, every one acknowledges that dowazadeh tashib is not a masnun zikr, but it is a prelude or an excercise to develop interest, concentration and sincerity in the real zikr. This is by experience of the past mashaykh. Just like the physicians treating with different medicine. Sayyidi wa sanadi Mufti Mohammed Taqi Usmani (Allah protect & preserve him) tells us that, ‘is is medicine’, ‘you do not need a proof from Quran and hadith to use Tylenol for headche’,.
Similarly the sufic zikr is a medicine.This is clarified to each and every murid at the time of instruction of this tasbih. Not all murid or talibs are instructed to do it.
Also, the daily masnun tasbihat are in addition to this zikr.
I hope it is a bit clearer now.
Islahi emails:TA
One of the Gnostics said,
‘(True) Remembrance drives away heedlessness.
So if your heedlessness disappears, you are remembering, even if you are silent.’
The Principles of Tasawwuf, p81
Muʿādh ibn Jabal (God be pleased with him) said,
“An act requires four things to be safe from hypocrisy:
-knowledge before beginning it,
-proper intention at its start,
-patience during it, and
-sincerity at its conclusion.”
The Principles of Tasawwuf (A Ba’yuniah ra), p53
Our master Muʿādh ibn Jabal (God be pleased with him) said,
“An act requires four things to be safe from hypocrisy:
-knowledge before beginning it,
-proper intention at its start,
-patience during it, and
-sincerity at its conclusion.”
The Principles of Tasawwuf (A Ba’yuniah ra), p53
Our master Muʿādh ibn Jabal (God be pleased with him) said,
“An act requires four things to be safe from hypocrisy:
-knowledge before beginning it,
-proper intention at its start,
-patience during it, and
-sincerity at its conclusion.”
The Principles of Tasawwuf (A Ba’yuniah ra), p53
A spiritual aspirant wrote:
“I try to perform the fardh salah and mostly with jamat Allhamdullilah. However, sometime I miss the jamat or qadah salah and then I try to perform that as soon as possible. The question is in such case, I feel bad for a very short moment and then move on to other things very quickly. I believe the lose is much more than feeling bad for a very short time. Should I do something specific at such time? Please advise.”
Shaykh (Allah SWT preserve him and allow us to benefit from him abundantly. Ameen) response:
“It fine to acknowledge the mistake, make correction and move on. Holding on to a loss and grieving for long duration are distraction. Each moment has a right that needs to be fulfilled. It will be wasting another moment for a past loss. Be reassured.”
Meraj us Salikeen: Islahi Makateeb #2
Following is a list of common prevalent sinful activities.
Most of us are knowingly or unknowingly involved in them.
Sadly we are neither acknowledging our mistake in this involvement, nor repenting sincerely and making concrete efforts for improvement.
The present Pandemic should be an eye-opener for us.
It is extremely dangerous to belittle a sinful activity. It is spiritually lethal. Emaan is lost by considering it to be okay and continue doing it.
May Allah protect us all. Ameen!
(The list includes the most common and serious ones. There are many others.)
1. Associating partners with Allah. This is not by worshiping idols, but by believing Divinely attributes in created beings.
2. Performing black magic.
3. Free intermingling of opposite sexes.
4. Illicit sexual relationships.
5. Homosexuality.
6. Watching pornography.
7. Masturbation.
8. Listening music.
9. Insolent behavior with parents
10. Breaking blood-relationship ties.
11. Habitual lying.
12. Back-biting.
13. Deceiving another fellow human being.
14. Demanding bribes.
15. Use of intoxicants.
16. Watching movies, dramas and other types of videos.
17. Disregarding the rules of hijab and not covering what needs to be covered.
True Repentance means that we,
1. Acknowledge our mistake and are remorseful
2. We stop doing it immediately
3. We make a firm determination never to do it again
4. In case of negligence in fulfilling the rights of other fellow human beings, we either reimburse them or ask their forgiveness
May Allah facilitate it for us to abstain from all that is sinful. Ameen!
The Prophet of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said,
“On the day of eid (when people gather to offer eid prayers)
Allah says to the Angels,
‘Have these people fulfilled the obligation (of fasting)
and are now gathered for prayers?
I swear by My pride, magnificence, majesty, mercy and elevated status that I will fulfill their prayers.
Tell them to return,
I have forgiven them all
and furthermore
I have replaced their sins with virtuous deeds.
Hence they return completely forgiven.
(Mishkat/Bahaiqi)
On our eid visit to Sayyidi wa sanadi Mawlana Mohammad Taqi Usmani(Allah preserve him) we always found him to be extremely happy and cheerful, repeatedly telling us that Arifbillah Dr Abdul Hayy Arifi’s (Allah have mercy on him) statement regarding Eidul fitr
“We are excessively blessed individuals today.
All our sins have been forgiven.
They have been bartered with good deeds.
We are completely clean and tidy.”
An unimaginable joy!