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Category Archives: F. Zikir & fikr
Who is a disciple?
Shaikh Sharafuddin Yahya al Maneri (Allah have mercy on him) said,
‘A disciple is a person who submits himself to his guide in word, deed, heart and body.’
He went on to explain:
” ‘In words’ means that his speech is in conformity with what his guide says regarding the essential principles and derived teaching of religion.
‘In deeds’ means that he does nothing, whether in a religious or worldly matter, contrary to what has been sanctioned by his guide, even if it be an act of devotion!
‘In heart’ means keeping his heart unstained by any blameworthy quality, just as his guide does.
‘In body’ means keeping his senses and bodily members pure and without any stain of sin, just as his guide has done.
When he has conformed himself in all these ways, then he can be called a disciple.”
A Mine of Meaning (Ma’din ul–Ma’ani), page 165
The objective
A seeker wrote: These days due to the illness of my wife, being busy with taking care of her and because of the the disruption of the household affairs most of the (routine virtuous) actions (wird) are missed. Only prayers (salah) is done. In this situation a thought troubles me that why did this happen to me and my routine works have been disrupted? This is adding to my distress.
Hakim al Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) replied,
‘There is no reason to be distressed.
The real objective is the reward (thawab). Allah bestows this sometimes via (voluntary virtuous) actions and on other occasions through hardships and sufferings. (Thus) the objective is achieved in both the situations.’
Tarbiyet us Salik, volume 3, page 57
#2: Turn to Allah
Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaikh Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah bless him with a long, healthy and productive life, Amin!) continued,
The second thing is to be vigilant in turning to Allah (asking for assistance) all the time. That is, while walking or being busy in something or resting, in short whenever there is any need one should turn towards Allah and ask for assistance. One has to develop this habit.
For example, right now when we depart the masjid we should ask Allah for an appropriate ride. Once in the ride we should ask Allah that we reach our destination safely without any traffic problems. If feeling hot we should ask Allah to alleviate it. If feeling cold we should ask Allah to provide warmth. On entering our home we should ask Allah that we find all the family members safe and sound. In summary we should persist in turning towards Allah asking for assistance in all our activities.
Be vigilant in being thankful to Allah for all the blessings you have, however, small they might be. Repeat it verbally, ‘all praise is for Allah’ (Alhumdulillah).
If one does these things then every moment of his time is accounted as being in the remembrance of Allah.
May Allah facilitate this for all of us by His mercy and benevolence. Amin!
Attending Fiqh Academy session, Riyadh, KSA after Friday prayers, 11/22/2013
Utilize time effectively
A group of seekers requested for some advice.
Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaikh Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah bless him with a long, healthy and productive life, Amin!) said,
‘Firstly, try to utilize the time effectively.
Each and every moment must be spent in actions that lead to Allah’s pleasure. These include in addition to the acts of worships, the mutual dealings (muamlaat), social etiquette (adaab ul ma’asheret), fulfilling the rights of one’s own self (nafs), the rights of the children, spouses and parents. etc.
Not a single moment of a believer’s life should be in anything that displeases Allah.
In fact a believer can make all his activities a form of worship, like eating and drinking. That is by performing it with the pure intention and correct method as per the commandments of Allah.
Therefore, it must be ensured that the time is not wasted at all. One should be involved in any of the good actions as mentioned above.’
Attending Fiqh Academy session, Riyadh, KSA after Friday prayers
Abundant remembrance of Allah
O you who believe, remember Allah abundantly, [33:41]
and proclaim His purity at morn and eve.[33:42]
Sayyidi wa sanadi Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah bless him with a long, healthy and productive life with ‘afiyet, Amin!) said,
‘It must be remembered that if the tongue is not immersed in vocalization of remembrance of Allah the heart (qalb) will never be habitable (to the remembrance of Allah).
This is because the remembrance of Allah by vocalization via tongue is like the first step. If an individual does not climb it, then how can he reach the (real) remembrance, (that is) with the heart.
Therefore, the first step in developing a sustainable relationship with Allah is the remembrance with tongue (dhikr e lisani). This must never be abandoned.
Dhikrullah kay fadhail, page 11
In this discourse Shaikh mentions the various methods of remembrance prescribed by the Sufis, including the dowazdah tasbih that is staple dhikr of Ashrafiya path.
It usually takes 30 plus minus 5 minutes . It is preferably done after tahajjud or fajr salah in solitude with as much concentration as possible.
This is the kickoff.
Sparing time for islah
In the booklet ‘Manual for those seeking islah‘, sayyidi wa sanadi Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah grant him a long, healthy and productive life with ‘afiyet, Amin!) wrote,
‘For the above mentioned tasks one will have to spare at least an hour daily, though it may be in multiple sittings. If one feels mentally ready for them and can ensure that insha Allah I will do them then only request should be made to this lowly writer for service (of guidance in islah). Otherwise, please excuse me.’ Page 4
It is common practice nowadays that individuals attend the spiritual discourses of a Shaikh and read his books or those recommended by him.They improve somewhat in their outwardly actions and following of Sunna. They consider themselves seekers (talibeen e islah) and pride themselves to be associated with a particular Shaikh.
However, they rarely ask the Shaikh individualized spiritual advice for betterment of their morals and remembrance of Allah. Even if they do this than it is mostly random, disorganized and poorly abided with. Similarly those who are associated with a Shaikh for years are content with the initial tasbihats for remembrance of Allah. They do not yearn for more. As a result they do not progress spiritually. That is, they lack good moral characteristics, persist with the blame worthy ones and do not achieve the state of perpetual remembrance of Allah.
As instructed above one has to take islah seriously and spare time for it. The above mentioned hour is for a beginner, a novice. So what about the intermediate and advanced salik?
مراقبه موت
Importance of daily recitations
Shaikh Wasiullah Allahabadi (Allah have mercy on him) said,
‘The pious elders have said, تارك الورد ملعون
It means that the individual who (intentionally) leaves his daily recitations (wird) is accursed.
This is because offering extra (nafil) salah or recitations (awrad) in the beginning (of sulook) is not as detrimental than to initiate and then stop them.
This is extremely bad. Allah’s alienation is for such an individual. This results in the individual becoming absolutely incompetent. He can neither follow the Deen properly nor achieve any worldly success.
Therefore, one should not initiate extra (routine) pious actions, like tahajjud or recitations. If he does initiate them then he should have a firm intention of doing them all his life. Otherwise misfortune will engulf him.
It is mentioned in Tabqat e Kubra (page 142) that on the day the murid leaves his wird the Divine help is cut off from him.’
Wasiyet ul ehsan, Talifat e Musleh al Ummat ra, volume 5, page 56-7
Shara’iah,near Jara’nah, Makkah al mukarramah
Passing on rewards of good deeds to pious
An individual wrote about his daily routine of reciting some verses of Holy Quran and passing on the reward (esal e thawab) to pious predecessors.
Hakim al Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) appreciated the practice but made it clear that this must not be with the expectation that in return there will be spiritual benefit from their souls. This would be against sincerity. The passing on of rewards must be solely for Allah’s pleasure in appreciation of the services they provided in spreading the Deen.
Paraphrased from Tarbiyet us Salik,
Moreover, some people who do esal e thawab routinely are afraid that if they stop it, even for a genuine reason (poor health or lack of finances, etc.) there will wrath of these pious predecessors and some disaster will strike them. This is shirk. May Allah protect us all from this. Amin!
Vallejo, CA
The ‘elite’ Sufis
The second result of introduction of aristocratic class in Tasawwuf was to consider the non-goals to be the objectives (of the path) and absolute negligence of the goals. As a result, ‘the perfected sates’ (kamalat) that were the secondary offsprings of successful achievement of the objective were considered to be the goals themself. Spiritual pleasures and states, material unveiling, powers to do supernatural feats and perform miracles, spiritual ecstasy, true dreams, etc. became the sole objective of a spiritual seeker. They were considered to the salient features of piety (taqwa) and being a pious individual (buzurg).
In order to achieve these ‘perfected states’ means and methods that are not prescribed by Sunna were adopted. In doing so instructions were taken from (non-Muslim) ascetics and philosophers. As a result a complex potpourri of Indian customs and Greek philosophy was born. It was named the Islamic Tasawwuf.
The objective of this was to be an individual with spiritual powers and be able to perform super natural feats.
The purpose of having these superhuman powers could not be anything else other than to establish one’s superiority over other fellow men in order to influence and control their hearts (& minds).
How can the real Islamic Tasawwuf (as has been explained earlier), that teaches deliverance from the trap of lower self (nafs), establishing the vision of Truth (shuhood e Haqq) [ihsan], annihilation (fana) from the creation and being existent (baqa) with the Truth be compared to this pseudo Islamic Tasawwuf?’
Quran aur Tasawwuf, page 23-4
IDSA 2013, San Francisco, CA
Tasawwuf
‘Quran and Tasawwuf’ is a famous book written by Dr Mir Waliuddin (Allah have mercy on him). In the introduction he mentions all the various definitions of Tasawwuf by the masters of this path and concludes,
‘In view of all these various definitions by the people of the path it is known that Tasawwuf is the purification of the lower self (from all that is impermissible) and acquisition of (good) morals characteristics.’
Quran and Tasawwuf, page 14
People nowadays confuse Tasawwuf with special methods of remembrance, meditations, particular garments, dancing, trance and celebrations, etc..
It has to be made vividly clear upfront to an spiritual aspirant before he embarks on this path what Tasawwuf is and what it is not.
Frankfurt airport, to IDSA 2013
Deliberation on punished nations
Scholar Ibne Kathir (Allah have mercy on him) narrated that on the occasion of the battle of Tabuk, when the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) passed Hijr (Madain e Saleh), the Companions drew water from the well of Thamud and began kneading the flour dough to make bread.
When the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) came to know of this, he gave the order to throw the water away, empty the pots and to discard the dough. He said, “This is the village on which the punishment of Allah descended. Do not alight here nor use the things of this place. Go further and alight, otherwise you will also be afflicted by a calamity.”
“When the Prophet (sa) passed by Hijr, he warned his companions: ‘Do not enter the dwelling-places of those who wronged themselves except with tears in your eyes lest you are afflicted by the same affliction.’ Thereupon he covered up his head and hastened the pace of his mount until he had crossed the valley.’”
Some stray random thoughts on seeing these ruins,
The rich aristocrat with sophisticated skills and tools had carved these tombs
They sought eternal glory, but in vain.
All has perished, Nothing remains.
None knows of their name or fame.
Take heed O Nafs!
Do not be lazy and negligent
Plan and do what is required of you
Remember the fate of these who fooled themselves.
Glory to be Allah alone!
He is as He was.
Annihilates your desires for His pleasure alone.
Remember that from them we only know of His slave, Saleh alone
Peace and salutations from Allah be upon him and his followers. Amin!
Madain e Saleh, 28th September 2013
Etiquette of Haramain Sharifain
Every Muslim desires to visit the blessed and radiant cities of Makkah and Medinah (Haramain sharifain: the noble sanctuaries). At least once in his lifetime.
For many this opportunity comes with the performance of Hajj. Others get this chance when they visit for Umrah. Sometimes repeatedly. Few individuals are blessed to get jobs in these cities and earn their living there.
All of these moments spend in the noble sanctuaries are extremely precious. A virtuous deed done in these precincts can earn a reward of 50,000 to 100,000 times performed elsewhere. An unimaginable bonus!
Each and very second has to be utilized effectively to reap maximum benefit. A challenging task indeed. Especially, for individuals like us who are not organized and motivated. Laziness, apathy and negligence become the major barriers. Moreover, committing sinful acts in these sanctuaries are reciprocally or extra-reprehensible and blameworthy.
It is for these reasons some pious scholars have advised against taking permanent or prolonged residence in these noble sanctuaries. They include our Imam Abu Hanifa (Allah have mercy on him).
Shaikh Haji Imdadullah mohajir Makki (Allah have mercy on him) advised an Indian nawwab planning to migrate to Hijaz,
‘Staying in Hindustan and having a desire to live in noble sanctuaries is better than living here and being occupied in your stately affairs in Hindustan.’
Shaikhul Hadith Mawlana Zakariya mohajir Madani (Allah have mercy on him) use to tell those expressing their desire to migrate to Medinah e munawwarah,
‘Do not make such a decision of migration by observing my example. I have come here (towards the end of my life) to die (and be buried in Baqi).’
In short, the etiquette of the noble sanctuaries are significant and have to be taken very seriously.
The interview: Medinah e munawwarah 19th Ziqada 1434
Love of Prophet
Sayyidina Abdur Rehman bin abi Qerad (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that one day the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) performed wudhu. The blessed Companions (Allah be pleased with them) took that water and rubbed it on their body and faces.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) inquired, ‘What makes you do this and what emotion drives it?’
They replied,’The love of Allah and His Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).’
On hearing this answer the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ‘An individual who desires and aspires to really love Allah and His Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and that Allah and His Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) love him then he should always speak the truth, safely return the things placed in his trust without a bit of embezzlement and treat his neighbor kindly.’
Sh’ubul eman, via Uswa e Rasool e Akram (Allah bless him and give him peace), page 608