Category Archives: W. Wird & wazaif

Seeker’s affliction

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Sidi Ahmad Zarruq al-Barnusi al-Fasi (Allah have mercy on him) [1442 – 1493 CE] said,

I have also seen that the seekers of this age are afflicted with five things:

1.The preference of ignorance over knowledge

2. Being deluded by every spiritual impostor

3. The inability to prioritize important matters

4. Using the spiritual path as a means to inflate the selfish soul

5. Attempting to expedite a spiritual opening without fulfilling its prerequisite conditions.

This has resulted in five other afflictions:

1. Preferring innovations as opposed to the tried and true prophetic practice (Sunna)

2. Following the people of claims and conceit as opposed to the truth

3. Acting on capricious desires in all of their affairs, even the most celestial

4. Preferring fantasies to realities

5. The manifestation of claims without sincerity.

Foundations of the Spiritual Path Translated by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson

Teaching by example

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Sayyidi wa sanadiShaykh Mufti Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him) is in the blessed Medinah these days.

With the Saudi school mid year vacations there is a huge crowd of pilgrims.

Going for the Friday prayers an individual inquired the Shaykh where could he find him in the Haram.  The Shaykh replied that  usually he tries to be in the first row of the mosque.  To do so he left two and half hours before the juma salah time.

This apparently ‘ordinary thing’ is a teaching for all of us who are trying to improve their condition.

The excellence of praying in the first row, coming early for Friday prayers, sitting with the intention of e’itkaf, reading Holy Quran, reciting tasbih & salawat, offering salat at-tasbih, waiting for salah, etc. are things with numerous rewards mentioned in the Prophetic sayings.

Setting our priorities appropriately and useful utilization of time is the key to implementing these things in our practical life.

May Allah facilitate this for us. Amin!

Friday, 12th Feburary 2010, Medinah e munawwarah

The daily wird & Sunna!

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Stepping out of Masjid al-Haram, Makkah sayyidi wa sanadi  Shaykh Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him) replied to an individual’s question regarding the daily wird,

‘Keep the amount of the daily wird at the level which you can complete easily.  However, if on some day you have extra time and desire then go ahead and do more. ‘

He further instructed,

‘Read the book ‘Uswa e Rasool e Akram’ conscientiously and check which Sunna actions you are missing and then include them in your life.’

After esha, Monday 8 Feb 2010

Bab Abdul-Aziz, Masjid al-Haraam, Makkah e mukarramah

The aim and spirit of awrād

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Imam Abdallah ibn Alawi al-Haddad (Allah have mercy on him) (d.1132 Hijri) said,

‘The aim and spirit of awrād is presence with Allah.

Aim for it; you will reach it only if you travel the road that leads to it, which is performing the external activities and striving to be present with Allah during them. When you persevere in this you become immersed in the lights of Proximity, and the sciences of gnosis emanate upon you, at which your heart becomes wholly intent on God and presence becomes its nature and well-established quality.’

Risalat ul-Mu‘awanah

Tarim, Hadramaut, Yemen

Speech of heart.

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It is an established principle that when the tongue is busy talking the heart is quietly listening to it. Whereas, when the tongue is silent the heart starts to talk.

Therefore, hold your tongue so that the heart does not listen to its useless speech. Instead make it the organ of remembrance (of Allah). Hence, your heart will become accustomed to this remembrance. (And eventually start to speak this itself).

And tawfiq is from Allah!

Ma’arif e Sufiya, page 334

Dua for steadfastness on Deen

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Our master Shahr bin Jaushab (Allah be pleased with him) says:

“I asked Umme Salma (The Mother of the Believers, Allah be pleased with her) ‘What was the supplication (dua) most often made by the Prophet of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in his house?’

She replied that Prophet of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to recite,

يَا مُقَلِّبَ الْقُلُوْب ثَبِّتْ قَلْبِىْ عَلٰى دِيْنِكَ

O the Controller of hearts! Make my heart firm on Your Deen.

(Tirmizi)

جامع دعا

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عارف باللہ ڈاکٹر عبدالحئی عارفی رحمۃ اللہ علیہ نے فرمایا

بہتر یہ ہے کے صبح کے معمولات کے بعد اس طرح دعا بھی کرلیا کریں

یا اللہ

اپنا فضل و کرم فرمایئے

مجھے اور میرے متعلقین کو ہر طرح کی ظاہری و باطنی پریشانیوں سے محفوظ رکھیۓ،

ہر طرح کی فواحش و منکرات سے، نفس و شیطان کے مکائد سے،

 ارضی و سماوی آفات و سانحات سے، ہر طرح کے سنگین حالات اور بیماریوں سے

 اور لوگوں کی ہر طرح کی ایذا رسانی سے بچا کر اپنی حفاظت عطا فرمایئے، آمین

معمولات یومیہ، ص 23

Love of Allah

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Respected Dr. Nadeemul Haq (Pakistanwala) inquired,

‘How can the love of Allah be obtained?’

Sayyidi wa sanadiShaykh Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah prserve him) replied,

‘By,

1. Keeping the comapany (suhba) of those who already have this love.

2. Acknowledging the bounties and blessings of Allah.

3. Excessive remembrance (dhikr) of Allah all the time.’

Sunday, 9th December 1990, between ‘asr & maghrib. Hazret’s residence, Darul Uloom Karachi. Meeeting with Drs. SA Ahmer, Saqib ZH, Saeed Qaiser, etc.

Method of attaining love of Allah & His messenger

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An aspirant wrote:

Please, tell me a  litany (dua), which creates overwhelming love of Allah and His messenger, ever present fear of Allah in my heart, nonexistence or a decrease in the love of the worldly and complete fearlessness from other-than Allah.

Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him)  replied,

صوفی نہ شود صافی تا در نہ کشد جامی

بسیار سفر بایدتا پختہ شود خامی

(A sufi does not attain purity until after a toil and struggle.

A lengthy journey is required to attain perfection.)

Being firm on the zikr (remembrance), shugal (mental exercise of specific forms of remembrance), reading useful books (i.e. of Tasawwuf) and keeping company of pious (ahlulAllah) for a considerable duration of time leads to attainment of these treasures.

There is no specific dua for it.

(Tarbiyatus Salik volume 1 page 137)

Humility of the Prophet

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 Following is an extract from the supplications of our master, the mercy to the Universe Prophet Mohammad (Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him). It is very much reflective of his slavehood (abdiyet).

 

اللهم إنك تسمع كلامي

وترى مكاني وتعلم سري وعلانيتي

لا يخفى عليك شيء من أمري و

أنا البائس الفقير

المستغيث المستجير , الوجل المشفق

المقر المعترف بذنبه

أسألك مسألة المسكين

وأبتهل إليك ابتهال المذنب الذليل

وأدعوك دعاء الخائف الضرير

دعاء منخضعت لك رقبته 

وذل لك جسمه , ورغم لك أنفه

 

O Allah! You hear my speech and behold my situation.
You know my secret and open matters.
None of my affairs is concealed from You!
And I am the miserable, needy, suppliant, succor seeking,
fearful and anxious person who confesses and recognizes his sins.
I beg you – the begging of a destitute.
I implore you – the imploring of an abased sinner.
And I make dua to You – the dua of the fearful afflicted person,
whose neck is bowed down before You,
whose eyes pour out tears before You,
whose body is humbled before You and
whose nose touches the ground for You repeatedly.

(Munajat-e-Maqbul, manzil #3 (Monday) , Supplication #108)

May Allah bless us with some degree of this humility. Amin!

Permission

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A brother inquired about the need of ‘ijazah‘ (permission) to recite from ‘Hisn-haseen’ (a collection of Sunna azkar).

As per the teachings of sayyidi wa sanadi Shaykh Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him) following reply was given.

There is some detail to this ‘ijazah’ issue.

For the azkar mentioned in Quran and hadith no specific permission is required. The mentioning of it by Allah and His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) is enough ijazah for all to recite.

However, if a person has a Shaykh who is doing his spiritual tarbiyah then it is essential etiquette (adab) to get his permission for all recitations one is going to include in his daily routine. This brings blessings (barakah) in this recitation.

The reasons for this barakah are,
1. There may be some other higher priority things pending (like completing his many years of qaza salah, earning a halal living, etc.) and the Shaykh will redirect his focus on these essential things.
2. Breaking the habit of doing whatever comes to mind
3. Developing the Sunna habit of consultation.
4. Keeping the Shaykh informed of one’s condition. For advanced murid this calling may be a sign of spiritual progress
5. Informing the Shaykh will also enforce persistence in daily recitation. That is, after getting the permission it is extremely bad to not do it. Also Shaykh will inquire about the previous recitations if in future another similar request is made.

It is a misconception that the barakah of ‘ijazah’ is somewhat similar to a nur or an electric current that passes on from the Shaykh to whom the ijazah is given. It is assumed that without this the recitation will be invalid or less effective or even spiritually or mentally detrimental. This is incorrect.

May Allah guide us all. Amin!

(P.S. All this discussion is in regards to awrad and azkar and do not apply to a’maliyat)

Related:

1. Ijaza for masnoon azkar

2.  Ijaza for Sufi dhikr

Why dhikr alone isn’t sufficient to give up sins?

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Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaykh Mawlana Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him) said,

‘Recently a person inquired that is it beyond the capacity and effects of remembrance of Allah (dhikr) that sins are abandoned automatically and no additional determination and effort be required to do so?

I told him that my Shaykh (Arif-billah Dr Abdul Hayy Arifi, Allah have mercy on him) used to tell us that the remembrance (dhikr) and tasbihat (wird) provides a form of energy that makes it easy to give up sins and creates a desire to do good actions.  It facilitates these two provided one uses his determination to act accordingly.

Understand this by an  example.  Suppose there is a student suffering from mental debility. A physician prescribes a tonic for him and instructs him to drink it daily to energize his brain. Now if this student assumes that after taking this medicine he does not have to study the textbooks and only taking the tonic will be sufficient to pass the exam then this is an explicit proof of his stupidity. This is because the medicine was prescribed to cure the mental weakness and lead to facilitation of studying and remembering the course material.

Similar is the condition of these dhikr, tasbihat and other awrad.  One has to use his determination to abandon sins even after doing these activities.’

Bait al-mukkaram masjid, Karachi, Friday waaz 30th November 1990