‘Arif-billah Hadhrat Dr Abdul Hayy ‘Arifi (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
“Reading or discussing something repeatedly usually results in recalling it when its need arises.
At that moment one needs spiritual determination to act according to it.
Doing such for some time eventually leads to the creation of an instinctive inclination for acting so without effort.”
Malfoozar e Arifi 167
In Sahih Muslim there is a saying of the Messenger of Allah (Allah’s blessing and peace be upon him) meaning that,
From the begining of the month of Dhul-Hijjah anyone who intends to sacrifice (on Eid al-Adha) should not cut his hair or trim nails until he has offered his sacrifice.
Commenting on it sayyidi wa sanadiHadhrat Mawlana Mohammad Taqi Usmani (may Allah preserve him) said,
‘Maybe this is to immitate the Pilgrims (hujaj) (who in the state of ihram are forbidden to do these activities) and somehow participate in the blessings of the passionate worship of Hajj.’
Masih al-quloob Mawlana Masihullah Khan (may Allah have mercy on him) instructed,
“The acquisition of praiseworthy moral traits with yearning and loss of blameworthy charactersitics with aversion will manifest as attainment of excellence in speech and character.
Excellence in speech (husne-kalam) is defined as using words that are polite, decent and said in a gentle tone.
And excellence in character (husne-khulq) is to have forbearance (hilm).
So whenever something happens against your desires and upsets you, with this forbearance condone it using excellent speech (husne-kalam). As Allah says in the Qur’an,
و اذا سمعو اللغو اعرضو عنه
“Whenever you hear such useless talk, then let it pass.”
Tazkira Hadhrat Masih al-Ummat, wasiyetnama, page 119
دل مایوس میں وہ شورشیں برپا نہیں ہوتیں
امیدیں اس قدر ٹوٹیں کہ اب پیدا نہیں ہوتیں
ہوا دل اس قدر افسردہ رنگ باغ ہستی سے
ہوائیں فصل گل کی بھی اب نشاط افزاء نہیں ہوتیں
Qutub al-Alam Shaykh Abdul Qudoos Gangohi (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
“Sanctified is Allah!
How can an intelligent individual leave the path of the masters of this path (mashaykh), which is like being the emperor of the worlds, moreover similar to having access to the Divine Throne, and prefer this wretched world (dunya)?”
Maktoobat Qudusiya, page 346
Related:
In a special ecstatic spiritual state Hadhrat Mawlana Hussain Ahmad Madni (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
“We are the essence of Imam Abu Hanifa and the strength of Imam Malik.
We are the steadfastness of Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal; the purity of heart of Hadhrat Mujaddid Alf-Thani;
the insight of Hadhrat Shah Waliullah Muhaddith Dehlawi,
and we are the heirs of those people who have died and sacrificed to bring us our religion.
So you may be able to take our lives but you will never take our Islam from our hearts.”
From:at Talib
Mawlana Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi said in regards to Shaykh Shah Wasiullah (may Allah have mercy on them),
“Those who attended his discourses not only felt the aroma of faith, the zest of worship and awareness of Here-after but also became aware of their own short comings and their unique personal spiritual ailments.
They left these gatherings not only with spiritual satisfaction but with a desire to change their present condition, feeling burdened with the previous mistakes and remorseful on the life already wasted.
This is the real benefit and result of being in presence (suhba) of and attending the spiritual discourses of the the pious (ahl Allah), the spiritual physicians (musliheen).
Halat e Muslih al-Ummat ra, page 6
نفس اژدہاست او کہ مردہ است
از غم بے آلتی پژمردہ است
Hadhrat Shah Wasiullah (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
“The Shuyukh have said that a believer is always afraid of hypocrisy (nifaq) in himself, while a definite hypocrite (munafiq) feels protected from it.”
Hayat e Muslih al-Ummat ra, page 232
The very first advice sayyidi wa sanadi Hadhrat Mawlana Mohammad Taqi Usmani (may Allah preserve him) gave to a murid while giving him permission to instruct others,
“Never be negligent of your own self’s reformation (islah) effort.”
Hedayat bara-ay mujazeen
That is, the first and foremost in importance is my own self-reformation. Do not be missed led by Shaytan and nafs that I have graduated and now my primary concern is to do reformation of others.
This is a very common mistake.
Readers of the biographies of piously elders are well aware of the fact that how deligent they were in keeping their own self on tract. At the slightests indication of a slip they would jump and make amendments.
May Allah give us the tawfiq to do this also. Amin!
Manhattan, New York
Sayyidi wa sanadi Hadhrat Mawlana Mohammad Taqi Usmani (may Allah preserve him) has instructed on multiple occasions,
“Do not be trapped in the dreamworld of fulfillment of your own desires even in the sphere of religion.
Be the son of the moment (ibn al-waqt). That is, do as each and every moment demands from you. For example, if there is a blessing be thankful to Allah, if there is a mistake repent, if there is hardship be patient and if there is fear ask refuge, etc.
This is servitude (abudiyet).”
IDSA, Washington DC
Sayyidi wa sanadi Hadhrat Mawlana Mohammad Taqi Usmani (may Allah preserve him) read aloud an excerpt from a letter of a seeker,
‘How is it possible to achieve self annihilation (fana), especially when anger and arrogance is manifested in all daily interactions?’
And then read the answer he had written,
“As per the sayings of the elders this is only possible by being in the service of the pious with extreme humility, self-negation and readiness to perform as being instructed. That is as per Urdu proverb, being the dust under his shoe (paiymal hona).
However, when this is not possible their biographies, discourse and other works can be a substitute for this to some degree.”
Malfoozat e Kamalat e Usmani, Ramadhan 1429
New York, NY
Hakim al-Umma Hadhrat Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
‘There are two categories of love,
1. The intellectual and
2. The emotional
Of these it is essential to acquire the intellectual one. That is, being obedient in following the commands of the beloved by annihilating one’s desires and determinations by giving priority to none except them.
Whereas the emotional love, that is being attracted, having fascination and yearning is beyond one’s volition and control and therefore, not an essential requirement to be accquired.
The one that we are required to have is the intellectual love that is within our control.’
Ardha e Haqq, Mawaiz Ashrafiya, volume 15, page 62
P.S. It is essential to understand that, Hakim al-Umma is not downgrading the category of emotional love. The message is to take control and acquire what is within one’s reach. InshaAllah, eventually the blessings of obedience will bring the (true) emotional component along. Also, it is reminder to us that only emotional love without obedience is deficient and unflattering.
نشود نصیب دشمن کہ شود ہلاک تیغیت
سر دوستاں سلامت کہ تو خنجر آزمائی