Category Archives: E. States

Haal.

Exhausted seeker

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Sayyidi wa sanadi Mufti Mohammed Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve & protect him) said in reply to the complaint of a seeker feeling dejected,

‘Dear brother, keep up with your daily (good) activities irrespective of feeling any spiritual results or affects. These activities themselves are the goal.

In Urdu verses I have conveyed this

قدم ہیں راہ الفت میں تو منزل کی ہوس کیسی

یہاں تو عین منزل ہے تھکن سے چُور ہوجانا

(When traveling on the path of love why lust for the destination,

Here exhaustion from tiredness is the destination itself).

One who continues to work diligently is eventually bestowed with Divinely grace (Allah’s fazal). ‘

As Salaam Holiday Inn, Jeddah, 7/1/2019, after esha

Veils to certitude

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Shaikh Ibraheem bin Adham (Allah have mercy on him) said,

There are three veils covering our hearts. Certitude (Yaqeen) does not develop until they are removed. They are,

1. Being happy with what we have.

2. Being sad for that which we do not have

3. Being happy when we are praised

(The reason is that) being happy with what we have is due to greed ( a blameworthy-trait) . Being sad for what we do not have is because of anger. Anger (is also a blame worthy trait that) results in punishment (from Allah). Whereas, being happy when we are praised is due to sense of high self regard (ujub). This ujub destroys the good actions.

Ahya al Uloom bab faqr o zuhd via

Making ones ba’yat effective

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Shaykh Hakim Kalimullah Aligarhi (Allah preserve & protect him) said,

Why did you make a relationship with the shaykh (spiritual mentor)?

It was done in order to correct one’s ma’amlat (dealings) and that ibadaat (worship) becomes according to sunnah (ways of the prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم)). This is what is called ba’yat.

Remember, just merely giving hand in hand to the shaykh is not enough. There is a lot of misunderstanding about this now-a-days.

Why are the effects of ba’yat not being seen now-a-days?

Before people used to be ba’yat with a shaykh and attain high levels (of spirituality) just within a few days.

The shaykh used to affirm that they have fulfilled the right of their ba’yat. Any matter used to arise, they used to inform the shaykh, the shaykh used to prescribe a remedy for it. They practiced upon it and attained high levels due to that.

Today, we don’t even inform the shaykh (ittila) about ourselves. Until we don’t have a love and yearning (ishq) for our shaykh and Mashaikh, nothing will happen.

Source: Thus Spake Hazrat

Blessed with opportunity to meet Hazrat Hakim sahib db in mataaf, Masjid al Haraam, Makkah mukarramah 23/92018 ishraaq

Hardening of Heart

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A spiritual aspirant wrote,

On the death of (my) child his mother is (extremely) disturbed. She cries repeatedly on simple matters and expresses sorrow. Compared to her despair my grief is nothing. Moreover, on hearing from people about losing a child I feel minimal sorrow in my heart. Because of this I fear that my heart has hardened (قساوت القلب) and I have no attachment with my children.

Hakim al Umma Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi (Allah have mercy on him) replied,

‘Having attachment (to children) in itself is not a requirement. Therefore, its deficiency or absence should not be worrisome. Attachment is required to fulfill their rights. There should not be any deficiency in this.

Hardening of heart entails being brave on committing sinful.

Lack of attachment and feelings is not hardening of heart. It is something that is, also, to an extent coveted.

Tarbiyet us Salik, volume 3, p174-5

Company of pious

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Grand-Mufti of Pakistan Mufti Mohammed Rafi’s (Allah protect & preserve him) book “My Shaikh Hazrat ‘Aarfi” was being read.

The passage was about when Arifbillah Dr Abdul Hayy ‘Aarfi (Allah have mercy on him) gave Ijaza of Baiyah to Mufti Rafi’, and he wrote a letter to Shaikh ‘Aarfi thereafter. The letter included how Mufti Rafi’ would feel dejected at his efforts for self-improvement but Shaikh ‘Aarfi’s letter granting Ijaza of Baiyah turned his low self-esteem into motivation to increase his efforts for self-improvement.

Hazrat Mufti Rafi’ Sahab DB commented at this passage:

“This is among the extraordinary effects of the company of a Shaikh. Dejection, lack of morale and hopelessness are converted into hope and motivation to exert one’s energies in the effort to improve oneself.”

Ramadan 1439, malfuzaat collated by Br Kaiser Nizamani

Benefit of pious companion

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Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaikh Mufti Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve & protect him) mentioned the following in Ramadan 2017 as well as Ramadan 2018:

When seekers used to ask me for permission to stay in my company, I would previously excuse myself as I used to think that I would not be able to give them their due time. However later Allah Ta’ala put in the heart that who am I to give benefit to anyone? If a sincere seeker comes then due to his sincerity and desire, Inshallah Allah Ta’ala will grant him benefit.

Ramadan 1439, malfuzaat collated by Br KaiserNizamani #13

Company of the pious

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Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaikh Mufti Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve & protect him) said,

Companionship is a great thing.

It comes in a Prophetic saying (Hadith) the gist of which is that sitting with a pious person is like sitting in the company of one who sells (the fragrance) Musk. One will smell the good fragrance just by sitting with him, even if one does not apply any perfume. And sitting in a bad company is like sitting with a blacksmith from whom either a spark will fly onto your clothes and burn them or at least you will have to smell the repugnant smell.

The effect of the companionship of pious elders could be seen in my respected father. As Shaikh Sa’di RA has said:

گِلے خوش بوئے در حمّام روزے

رسید از دستِ مخدومے بہ دستم

بدو گفتم کہ مشکی یا عبیری

کہ از بوئے دل آویزِ تو مستم

بگفتا من گِلے ناچیز بُودم

و لیکن مدّتے با گُل نشستم

جمالِ ہمنشیں در من اثَر کرد

وگرنہ من ہمہ خاکم کہ ہستم

One day, in the (communal) bath,

I received a fragrant piece of mud (used as a form of soap/abrasive) from a benevolent friend

I asked it “Are you Musk or Ambergris?”

“As I’m mesmerized by your alluring fragrance”

It said “I’m a worthless piece of mud”

“But, I’ve spent a long time in the company of (fragrant) flowers”

“The beauty of the companion affects”

“Otherwise my existence is just mud”

Ramadan 1439 malfuzaat collated by Br KaiserNizamani #12

Being human

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Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaikh Mufti Mohammed Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve & protect him) mentioned that his respected father Mufti Muhammad Shafee’ Usmani narrated that Hakim Ul Umma (Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi)(Allah have mercy on them) used to say that it is very difficult to become a (proper) human being. I could not become one but Allah showed us true human beings such that now (a beast like) a bull cannot deceive me saying that I am a human being.

Respected Mufti Shafi added that Hakim al Umma used to say this about himself (i.e. that he could not become a true human being) due to his humility, whereas this statement actually applies to me.

After looking at such people we understood how a human being should be like. If someone else comes and says that a human being should be something different, then Inshallah we would not be deceived.

He would also recite a couplet sometimes:

دل میں سما گئیں ہیں قیامت کی شوخیاں

دو چار دن رہے تھے کسی کی نگاہ میں

Unexplicable pleasures are infused in my heart,

I stayed under someone’s supervision for a few days

He also used to stay: “I have not read to many books. But I have observed men of Allah.” Like Shaikh (Rasheed Ahmed) Gangohi, Shayk al Hind, Hakim al UmmaThanvi, (Allah have mercy on them all).

Meaning I stayed in their company for a long time. Their company created a certain temperament and way of thought. After observing their outstanding demeanor, Alhamdulillah the heart does not get attracted to others.

Books give outwardly knowledge, but man is made by man, i.e. with his companionship. How to act on (and implement) on that knowledge is learnt from men.

Ramadan 1439, malfuzaat collated by Br KaiserNizamani #11

Primary concern: self improvement

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Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaikh Mufti Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve & protect him) related that a scholar of the past said:

‘إذا أحدث الله لك علما فأحدث له عبادة، لا يكن همك أن تحدث به الناس

If Allah gives you a new type of knowledge then do the new kind of worship (i.e. Shukr/being thankful). And it should not be your concern that I will narrate this to people.’

That is, your primary concern should be to act upon the new knowledge.

Ramadan 1439, malfuzaat collated by Br KaiserNizamani

Inner speech

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Makhdum Zayn ud Deen Chishti quotes from Shaikh Suhrawardi’s (Allah have mercy on them) Awarif regarding inner conversation,

“excess inner conversation hardens the heart just as excess speech does, for it is like speech without a tongue…

A seeker must take account of his inward self, just as he does for his outward self. For inner speech, and remembering past affairs, which he saw or heard, is akin to speaking with another person inside himself.

So he should bind his inward self with awareness of the divine gaze and watch over it (muraqabah wa ri’aya), just as he binds his outward self with acts of obedience and various forms of invocation.”

The Guidance for the Intelligent

The States of the Heart

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Makhdum Zayn ud Deen Malabari al Chishti (Allah have mercy on him) said in regards to fard al ayn (absolute essentials) issues of Islam,

‘The states of the heart, one should know the praiseworthy qualities which one must adopt, and the blameworthy qualities which one must avoid.

As for the praiseworthy traits, they include reliance on Allah, sincerity for Him, praise and thankfulness for His blessings, repentance from one’s sins, fear, hope, abstinence, love, patience, pleasure with His decree, and the remembrance of death.

As for the blameworthy traits, they include greed for food and drink, and a dislike of hunger (given its many benefits such as the purity and softness of the heart, humiliation of the lower self, breaking lusts, and the departure of excessive sleep which prevents worship), eagerness for speech regarding what does not benefit one (the tongue has many faults, the most severe of which are backbiting, lying, and excessive joking and praise), anger, envy, stinginess, love of rank, love of the world, arrogance, pride, and showing off.’

The Guidance for the Intelligent