Category Archives: Z. Mustahebbat

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

The permissible mawlid

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Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah ahve mercy on him) said regarding this,

The first type of gathering is that which does not contain any of the prevalent and customary restrictions (quyud). Neither [does it contain] mubah (permissible) restrictions nor makruh (prohibitively disliked) ones, i.e., it is free from all [sorts of] restrictions. For instance, a few people gathered by coincidence, no one had invited them with any extraordinary effort; rather they were gathered for some other permissible event. In this gathering, either by reading from a book or by delivering a lecture, the blessed event of the birth and the characteristics, habits, miracles and virtues of our Radiant Master (Allah bless him and give him peace), the Lord of the Universe, the Source of Pride for the Prophet Adam (may Allah’s peace be upon him), were narrated based on sound sources.

During this narration, if the need was felt to enjoin good actions and discuss religious rulings and one proceeded in doing so without hesitation or this gathering was held to listen to a religious discourse and within it these blessed events and virtues were narrated, then this is the type [of mawlid] that is permissible without any objection. Moreover, it is sunnah and mustahabb (recommended).

The Honorable Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) narrated his personal events and virtues in a similar way and later his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) narrated them, the chain of which continues through the hadith scholars of present with the blessings of Allah Most High and it will continue until the end of time.

Read the rest of article………………………Mawlid, Deoband and Hanafi fiqh

Source: Deoband.org

Levels of following Sunna

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Shaykh Sayyid Zawwar Hussain Shah (Allah have mercy on him) said,

‘Shaykh Mujaddid Alif Thani (Allah have mercy on him) has described seven levels of following the Sunna. (It is in his  maktubat, letter number 54, volume 2).

What the general public and scholars of the outward (ashab e zawahir)consider following of the Sunna is the very first level.’

 

Mahnama Tamir e ifkar, eshaet khas bayad Shaykh Syed Zawwar Hussain Shah (Allah have mercy on him), page 608

 

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

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

Fast of ‘Ashura

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Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaykh Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah presrve him) writes,

Abdullah ibn Musa, (Allah be pleased with him), reports that the Holy Prophet, (Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him), preferred the fast of ‘Ashura’ (10th Muharram) on the fasts of other days and preferred the fasts of Ramadhaan on the fast of ‘Ashura’. (Bukhari and Muslim)

Muharram:Albalagh

The hierarchy

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Arif billah Dr. Abdul Hayy (Allah have mercy on him) said,

‘Whenever, I make prayer for forgiveness and send reward of meritorious deeds I start with my parents. Then I include my forefathers from both paternal and maternal side. After them for my teachers and Shuyukh. Then for my household members and relatives. And finally for my juniors.’

He then instructed his disciples to do similarly.

Khubaat e Arifi, ‘Amal e hasna, page 391

Giving gifts!

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

‘Keep up with the custom of exchanging gifts.

This practice cleanses the hearts (from misunderstandings and suspicions) and increases mutual love.

Do not consider any gift to be unworthy of being a present. Exchange whatever is available without any formalities.

Taleem ud deen, quoted via Zad us Salikeen, page 359

Karachi

The first ten days of Zulhijjah

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

The first ten days of Zulhijjah are among the most magnificent days in Islamic calendar.

The Holy Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) has said,

“One fast during these days is equal to the fasting of one complete year, and the worship of one night during this period is equal to the worship in the “Lailatul-Qadr“.

Every Muslim should avail of this wonderful opportunity by performing during this period as much Iba’dah (acts of worship) to Allah as he or she can.

Islamic months

Teaching of the Awliya!

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Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) narrates the following incident in one of his discourses:

Khawaja Bakhtiyar Kaki quddus sirahu’s janazah was ready for the salah. The khadim-e-khas came forward and announced that according to the will of  Khawaja the funeral prayer (salat-ul-janazah) is to be led by the person who fulfills these 3 requirements:

1. He should have never laid eyes on any unrelated women (non-mehram) after reaching puberty.

2. He should have never missed the 4 rakat of sunnah-prayer (ghair-muakkidah) before asr salah.

3. Because of the fear and awe of Allah, he never looked upwards towards heavens.

The huge crowd stood still. All the awliya of Dehli and Shaykh’s senior khulafa were there. No one came forward. Khadim repeatedly announced the requirements. But there was no response. A sense of impatience was being felt.

Finally, Sultan Shamusddin Altamash (Allah have mercy on him) stepped forwards. He remarked, “No one knew my secret, the respected Khawaja  disclosed it. All praise is for Allah, I fullfil these criteria”. He then led the prayers.

Even after his demise Khawaja Bakhtiyar Kaki  (Allah have mercy on him) taught a tremendous message:

To his khulafa and mureedeen he taught the lesson of humility (tawadhu’) and saved them from self admiration (u’jub). He motivated them to perform and be consistent with the  supererogatory (mustehibat) acts of worship. Also, he taught them to never under estimate others and have a high opinion for them.

To the public who always complain that they are too busily involved in acquiring means for survival and can not spare time for essential worship lest for nawafil, he showed them the example of the king. Their ruler who had a huge responsibity, numerous tasks and varied commitments to attend to, but still he was steadfast even in praying the pre-asr ghair-muakkidah sunna. His modesty did not allow him to look at the unlawful. His fear of accountability to Allah was so pervasive that he did not dare look towards the heaven. Leaving us pondering:If a monarch can be like this why can not it be us?

ہرگز نہ میرد آنکہ دلش زندہ شد زعشق
ثبت ازبر جریدہء عالم  دوام  ما

Worship on 15th of Sha’ban

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Sayyidi wa sanadi Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (may Allah preserve him) wrote the following regarding the worship in the night of 15th of Sha’ban,

“This night is meant for worshiping Allah in solitude. It is the time to enjoy the direct contact with the Lord of the Universe, and to devote one’s attention to Him and Him alone. These are the precious hours of the night in which nobody should intervene between one and his Lord, and one should turn to Allah with total concentration, not disturbed or interrupted by any one else.”

From: Sha’ban: Merits, Do’s and Don’ts

The absolute following of the Shaykh

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The issue of complete and unquestionable following of the Shaykh is usually described in such a dreadful manner that makes most of the listeners wary of Tasawwuf in general. This is very detrimental especially in this era of religious ignorance and arrogance. Below is an extract explaining the reality of this following.

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

“This following is neither in beliefs (aqaid) nor in unveiling (kashafiyat), other collective issues (masail) and economic matters. It is only in methods of approach, diagnosis, instructions and treatment of spiritual diseases and issues related to spiritual reformation. Moreover,this following is further restricted to the mutual agreement of murid and the Shaykh on the permissibility of the issue. If there is a difference of opinion then it is against the way of people of the path (tareeq) to indulge in a debate with the Shaykh, when following his advice will be against the Shariah ruling. In this situation the best etiquette (adab) between the two proprieties (adab of Shariah and Shaykh) is to consult the scholars or do research of his own (if he is capable of it) and establish a ruling. He should then inform the Shaykh that I do not consider this particular action to be permissible and it is from the teaching of our path (silsila), what should I do? If the Shaykh still instructs him to do the same then it is best to abandon this Shaykh. However, if he gives the permission to forgo this action then this is also following his instruction in proxy.

This is the meaning of absolute following (itiba’ e kamil).

That is, complete following (of the Shaykh) must be done in whatever diseases of the lower self (nafs) he has diagnosed, the prescription he has provided and the permissible actions he has instructed to carry out, the permissibility of which Shaykh and murid agree mutually upon. Murid should not interfere in these issues at all with his opinions. It does not entail following in matters beside these issues.

Mawlana Abdul Majid Dayabadi ra’s book, Hakim al-Umma ra, page 304, quote taken from Al-‘Itedal fi matba’t ar-Rijal

Tahajjud prayers

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Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaykh Mohammad Taqi Usmani (may Allah preserve him) instructed a seeker who complained of missing the tahajjud salah,

‘Pray four units (rakah) of optional (nafl) prayers (salah) between the sunna and witr of esha with the intention of tahajjud. If you are able to wake up in the last part of the night pray tahajjud again.’

On another occasion he instructed,

‘Special effort should be made to wake up for tahajjud in the last part of the night.  It will be completely fine to make up for the lost sleep after fajr prayers. However, until this habit is established make a routine of offering four units of nafl salah between the sunna and witr of esha.’

Islahi khutoot

Saliks involved in completing their missed (qaza) prayers should also act accordingly. However, they should keep nafil to the minimum (2 rakah) and focus more on their qaza at this time also.