Shaykh Mawlana Wasiullah (Allah have mercy on him) said,
‘If someone rebukes another individual without a reason and he remains silent. That is, not saying anything in return. This leads to extreme annihilation of the lower self (nafs).
Allah likes this quality very much.
This is also called patience (sabr), an unique quality of a believer.’
Shaykhan: Ainan e tajriyan, page 54
_____________________
‘O Ahmad!
When Allah loves a servant (abd) He facilitates His obedience for him.
And when He dislikes him He leaves him engaged in His disobedience.’
Mulhemat of Shaykh Jamaluddin Ahmad Hansvi (Allah have mercy on him), page 6
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‘O Ahmad!
Be from those who remain silent (most of the time) and
not from those who are excessively talkative.
There is peace and comfort in silence.
Whereas, in speech there is distress and dissection.’
Mulhemat, page 44-5
‘Arif billah Dr. Abdul Hayy ‘Arifi (Allah have mercy on him) told the following incident while discussing the effacement and annihilation of self ego (nafs),
‘The status of Allamah Sayyid Suleman Nadvi (Allah have mercy on him) is well known. He was an established scholar (expert in Arabic, Urdu, Persian and Hebrew with numerous publications). However, after his relationship with Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) his humility and self effacement was remarkable.
There was an illiterate individual in Thana Bhawan named Reham Ali. He provided some services to Hakim al-Umma, such as delivering milk at his home, etc. He later migrated to Karachi.
On one occasion in Karachi I saw Allamah Sayyid Suleman Nadvi (Allah have mercy on him) carrying the shoes of Reham Ali. I was shocked and inquired him regarding this. He humbly replied that he was doing this because he had seen Reham Ali carrying the shoes of Hakim al-Umma.’
Majlis e matab 1980s on CD
Shaykh Abu Saeed (Allah have mercy on him) said,
‘The reality of ubudiyet has two components.
First is acknowledgment of absolute neediness to Allah (iftiqar ilAllah). This is the real servitude (abdiyet) and the essential part.
The second is meticulous following of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace). This should be with exemplary elegance. (That is, its goal must be to follow and emulate the Sunna). The pleasure and comfort of one’s lower self (nafs) should not be the objective to do so.’
Shaykhan: Ainan e tajriyan, page 48
Picture: Secret underground mosque in Bor, Hadramaut, Yemen
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‘O Ahmad! act (virtuously) before you die, and
annihilate yourself (i.e. your sinful and blame worthy desires and actions) before your death.’
___________________
Mulhemat of Shaykh Jamaluddin Ahmad Hansvi (Allah have mercy on him), page 46.
Picture is of the Manuscript Library in Tareem Hadramout, Yemen. 2011
مجذوب رح
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A reader wrote,
Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.
I need some clarifications:-
I always have doubts about the akabir of Deoband. That is, I want to know regarding the negative words that Barelwis spread about Moulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi.(rahmatullah alaih) and other akabir ulema. I respect the akabir of Deoband very much for their knowledge but after hearing the negative things about Deobandis, my heart is always in suspicion about the honesty of Deobandis.
Please,Please…. help!
And sorry for asking such questions.
Jazakallah hu khairaa.
Following reply was sent. (InshaAllah it will be beneficial to all of us.)
Bismillah
Respected brother
as salam o alaykum wrwb
JazakAllah.
There are two answers for your question.
First is the ilzami (accusatory) and other islahi (reformative).
The ilzami answer is that why don’t you have doubts and suspicions about the Baraelwi comments being corrupt, false, dishonest, thimblerig & politically motivated. If you can give me some reason then we might have a discussion. The upshot of this answer is how do you as an individual lay person can judge between the two groups?
Our akabir have taught us this, “A murid complained that when people talk negatively about you it hurts me and my heart aches.
Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Shah Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) replied;
‘There are a multitude of people who talk badly about Allah, His messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and the scholars (mujtahideen). Have you done any thing to stop that?
If not, then why does it hurt you when poor Ashraf Ali is censured. And you feel concerned about stopping this?
There is nothing in this attitude except kibir (arrogance).
It annoys you when your seniors are censured. You feel humiliated at this. This is a hidden deception of nafs (ego/lower self).
Suppose, even if it is not kibir (arrogance). Then I ask, why did you feel concerned about anyone saying any thing good or bad (regarding my seniors).
What harm did it cause to you?
If you had focused on the goal (of tareeq, i.e. seeking perpetual pleasure of Allah ) you could not have time to waste on these petty issues.
Hakeemul Ummat ra kay hayret-angez waqiyat, page 81
The islahi answer is for the truth seeking sincere individual. May Allah make us both from them.Amin!
(Your openness to come forward and ask this is itself a sign of seeking the truth. MashaAllah.)
First it must be very clear that we are bound to follow Sunnah meticulously. Following Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) or Molvi Ahmad Raza Khan sahib is not an obligation. We won’t be questioned in here-after regarding this. If the following of Sunnah(both, external and inner) is facilitated through their teachings well and good. If not then you have to look somewhere else.
(Alhumdulliah, I have personally benefited a lot from the teachings of Hakim al-Umma in bringing deen into my life to a degree. May Allah allow me to benefit more. Amin! Similarly I have read about and seen personally lot of people who changed their life for better by following his teachings.)
Having doubts is natural phenomenon. However, being affected to the degree to actively suspect and consider another Muslim (irrespective of him being a pious, learned scholar/sufi) to be intentionally dishonest is blame-worthy condition (bad-gumani, keyna, etc.) . There should be explicit proof for this.
It is usually a result of keeping company with people who have this already in them and are lax on issue of ghibet/bad-gumani/hifazet-e-lisan/etc., and/or lack of knowledge and being involved in useless.
Being sins their darkness clouds the perception of truth. This can only be lifted by repentance and resulting Divine enlightenment.
The teaching of our pious master is,
کفر است در طریقت ما کینہ داشتن
آئین ما است سینہ چوں آئینہ داشتن
Please, make excessive supplication, keep your focus on the following of Sunna and consult your Shaykh for the cure of these potentially fatal spiritual ailments.
For the time being the best things to do will be,
1. Avoid all useless discussions.
2. Try your best to follow Sunnah meticulously in each and every aspect of your life.
3. Make dua excessively. Ask Allah SWT for guidance. Especially set 10 minutes daily after ‘esha salat and make dua for your own islah, isteqamat and correct understanding of deen.
4.If you lack information then please, read the book ‘Aqaid e Ulemae Deoband aur Hassam ul Haramain’. It is in Urdu and available online.
5. Even after all these measure if the doubt and suspicion persist then the best thing will be to ignore both the groups and follow the Sunnah and scholars who affiliate with none of these groups. It is best to remind ourselves that it is a fitnah by definition when truth can not be distinguished and things become suspicious. The best strategy as per Prophet (Allah bless and grant him peace) is to keep ourselves completely aloof from it.
I pray and hope that my rambling makes sense to you. If there are any question, please, do not hesitate to ask. The benefit is mutual. JazakAllah.
Take care.
Please, do try to make dua for me.
muhtaj
In spiritual diseases (muhlekat e nafs) the rule of thumb is;
If one considers him/herself to be free from a specific disease, e.g. arrogance (kibr), hasad (envy) etc. it is for sure that he/she is afflicted with it.
That might be the reason that many of the noble companions ridhwanullah ta’ala ajmaeen considered themselves to be hypocrite (munafiq) and most of the pious (awliya) consider themselves to be worse than unbelievers (kafir-e-farang).
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Shaykh Ibn Ata’illah al-Iskandari (Allah have mercy on him [d. 1309CE]) said,
‘It is only an ignoramus who regards constancy of acts of worship and remembrance (adhkar) as insignificant.
The Divinely epiphanies (waridat) will occur even in the Hereafter while acts of worships (award) will end with this world. It is, therefore, of greater importance to maintain something which has no substitute.
Your Lord demands wird from you while you expect waarid from Him.
What relationship is there between your desire and His demand?’ (al-Hikam, #112)
Explaining it Shaykh Abdullah Gangohi (Allah have mercy on him) said,
‘It is only an ignorant individual who regards steadfastness in acts of worship and remembrance to be insignificant.
There are two reasons for this misconception,
Firstly – The occurrence of Divinely epiphanies (waridat) will be even in the Here-after. In fact, they will be more there because here on Earth there is contaminations of human temperament and the material bodies that causes impediment in acknowledgment of these Divine epiphanies. But, in the Here-after these impediments will no longer exist. On the other hand, the acts of worship, remembrance and recitation which are rendered with the physical body are possible only here on Earth. Thus, after death there is no substitute for them. Whereas Divine epiphanies exist here and will exist in the Here-after as well, even in greater measure (both in quantity and quality). Hence, it is of greater importance to guard the acts of worship performed physically. That is, the daily routine called wird (or ma’amolaat).
Secondly– The wird is Allah’s demands while it is the seeker who desires waaridaat. There is no comparison between what we desire and the demand of Allah. It is best for us to attach greatest importance to Allah’s demand.
It is, therefore, essential for the seeker to be steadfast in the observance of the acts of worship and the wird which has been imposed on him. He should not regard these to be inferior to waarid. This is because the normal cause of waaridaat is also the wird. As a result of the seeker’s wird, he is blessed with the occurrence of waaridaat.’
Ikmal ush Shiyam, 21st chapter (edited)
ہر زرہ تیرے کوچہ کا آنکھوں سے لگا لوں
ممکن– ہے– کسی پر ترا نقش کف پا – ہو
(حضرت مولانا شعیب اللہ خان صاحب مدظلہ(بنگلور،
خلیفہ مجاز ہیں حضرت مفتی مظفر حسین رحمۃ اللہ علیہ کے
جو حضرت حکیم الامت رحمۃ اللہ علیہ کے مجاز حضرت اسعداللہ رحمۃ اللہ علیہ کے خلیفہ تھے۔
Replying to a salik’s letter Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanwi (Allah have mercy on him) said,
‘All praise is for Allah. You are aware that the objective of this path (of tasawwuf) is to gain Allah’s acceptance (raza). Now there are two things to be pursued one is the knowledge of the path (tareeq) and the other is to act accordingly.
Surely the path is only one. That is, meticulously carrying out the actions prescribed by Shariah both in physical (zahiri) and spiritual (batini) domain.
Two things are helpful in this effort. Firstly, remembrance of Allah (dhikr) as much is within one’s capability. (This you are already doing and is included in this exposition.) The other is abundant company (suhba) of pious as much as practically is possible. If you can not spare time for this then reading about the pious or their works is its substitute.
Two things are impediment in achieving the goal. The first of them is involvement in sins and other is engrossment in useless activities.
And the thing that is a prerequisite for all this to be beneficial is diligently keeping the Shaykh informed about one’s condition.
After this depending on one’s capabilities the objective is achieved sooner or later.
I said it all.’
Tarbiyet us Salik, volume 2, page 1261
