Category Archives: E. States

Haal.

Become intelligent!

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Observing the prevalent Muslim attitude of not being wise and intelligent, Shaikh Shah Wasiullah Allahabadi repeatedly quoted this advice of Shah Ahlullah brother of Shah Waliullah muhadith Dehlavi (Allah have mercy on them all) from his book Chahar Bab,

‘Although, Intelligence, wisdom, understanding acumen and intellectual foresight are innate capabilities, but they can be improved further with acquiring vast experiential knowledge, keeping company of the wise, readings intellectual texts, listening to the beneficial advices and biographies of the (successful) predecessors.

Therefore, it imperative that everyday we try to improve our intellectual abilities.

We should be vigilant in making conscious and extra effort to be in the category of intelligent and not in that of stupid people. ‘

Halaat e Muslih al Ummat ra, volume 4, page 338

Admit the wrong and ask forgiveness

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Shaikh Mufti Ebrahim Desai (Allah preserve him) the Ameer, Darul Iftaa said,

“When you have done something wrong, be ready to admit it and ask for forgiveness”

Click the above link to the new website.

Signs of sincerity

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‘There are three signs of sincerity (ikhlas),
1. The praise and censuring of people becomes immaterial.
2. The action being done is not looked upon (as something extraordinary).
3. Becoming oblivious of the reward of this action in hereafter.’

Ahzab tahzeeb un nafus, page2

Remembrance of death

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Shaikh Mohammed al Daqqaq (Allah have mercy on him) said,

‘A person who reminds himself of death often is honored with three gifts,
1. Early facilitation of repentance
2. Being content with one’s provision
3. Having the desire to and delight in worship’

Ebrat ka saman, page 25, Urdu translation of Imam Sha’rani (Allah have mercy on him)’s Mukhtaser Tazkirah al Qurtubi,

Tip: Repentance from disobedience

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Shaikh Muhammad ibn Ahmed al Mawahib al Tunisi (Allah have mercy on him) said,

‘The prerequisite for repentance according to the masters of this path (sulook) is to break from the company of the disobedient.’

‘Warning: Take care not to return to the place you deserted and to the spot where you parted (with disobedience), for there you might immediately suffer a relapse.’

Qawanin Hikam al Ishraq, page 38

This company, place or spot may include individuals, specific venues and materials that are heard, read or seen. This is, especially so for the indiscriminate use of Internet in our days.

Wishful desires

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Our master Shaikh Abdul Qadir Raipuri (Allah have mercy on him) repeatedly mentioned this warid from his Hajj journey,

I saw individuals clinging to the house of Allah, holding it’s cover and crying profusely. They were supplicating for things for which they had done nothing at all in this world of taking means to achieve objectives (that is from the possible means within their reach).

Seeing their state it bolted out of my heart that these supplications (that are without taking the necessary means of achieving a goal within one’s reach) can not make a car run without fuel or a driver than how can they bring a drastic change in the affairs of our world.’

Sawanih, page 18

These are wishful desires (tamanna). They have to be differentiated from aspirations that are accompanied by effort within one’s means.

The stages of nafs: Nafs e mulhimah / part 3

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The Inspired Nafs

Allah Almighty says,

(9)ونفس وما سواها ( 7 ) فألهمها فجورها وتقواها ( 8 ) قد أفلح من زكاها

[91:7]
and by the soul, and the One who made it well,

[91:8]
then inspired it with its (instincts of) evil and piety,

[91:9]
success is really attained by him who purifies it,

In this stage of development the nafs is gifted with the ability to distinguish between good and evil. Moreover,the performance of good actions and abstinence from evil is facilitated for him by the Grace of Allah.

This Grace is manifested as immense desire to please Allah. And at this stage nafs remains drowned in intense love of Allah (‘ishq illahi).

This is possible by following the recommendations of the Shaikh and excessive remembrance of Allah as instructed by him. In fact it is mandatory (wajib) to follow the recommendations of the Shaikh at this stage to be successful.

This is both a phenomenal and a challenging stage.

Any heedlessness here will pull the nafs to its initial stage. (May Allah protect us all from this disaster. Amin!)

Its characteristics include; self restraint (hilm), philanthropy, contentment, humility, repentance, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, maintaining a good opinion about others, acceptance of others’ excuses, etc.

In addition to the excessive remembrance of Allah and following the instructions of Shaikh meticulously one has to repeatedly remind himself of meeting Allah and His perfections. He has to be vigilant in following the Shariah and be compliant to his daily wird. He must efface his ego by purposefully doing permissible humble actions.

Here the individual observes that everything is from Allah (tawhid e afa’li). He abandons all criticism. He cries often and is deeply effected by the crying of others. He withdraws from all the creation and finds solace with Allah. He is attracted to beautiful audition.

In short this stage is marked by intense love, lofty desires and high aspirations to please Allah.

Change

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Being unsatisfied with our present condition we contemplate about a change, for example in career, environment or relationships, etc. We assume that the change will be better for us.

Shaikh Abdullah Gangohi (Allah have mercy on him) explained,

Whoever desired for a condition other than the condition in which Allah has created him at any given time, has left no stone unturned in the demonstration of his ignorance and imbecility.

It is imperative for the Believer to confront every situation which is not in conflict with the Shariah, with acceptance (radha) and submission (tasleem), whether the situation is a calamity pertaining to life and property or whether it is a state (emotional or spiritual) of the heart. The attitude of radha and tasleem is the demand of Allah’s esteemed status, comprehensive knowledge, Gnosis and being The Lord.

If a person wishes that the condition which Allah has imposed on him be substituted with another condition, e.g., adversity with prosperity or despondency with elation, then he displays complete ignorance and imbecility of the mind. The basis of such wishes and regrets is the ignorance of his nafs. If he had truly possessed the ma’rifat of Allah, he would have understood that these predestined conditions can never be displaced, hence regret and wish would not have occurred to him. He would have been contented with every circumstance and have observed respect. Now by these wishes he is clashing with the pre-ordained Divine Decree.

Ikmal us Shiyam
———————-
Kissimmee, Florida

The stages of the nafs: Nafs al Lawwamah / part 2

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lauqsemu

The Self-reproaching nafs

لا أقسم بيوم القيامة ولا أقسم بالنفس اللوامة 

[75:1]
I swear by the Day of Resurrection,

[75:2]
and I swear by the self-reproaching conscience, (that Resurrection is a reality.)

This is the stage where the conscience is awakened and the self reproaches one for listening to one’s ego. That is, in committing the evil acts or omitting the virtuous or doing them in a sloppy manner.

Its characteristics include; reproaching, greed, coveting, self praise, show-off, cruelty, back-bitting, lying and heedlessness, love of fame and status. In sharing many characteristics of nafs al ammarah it maintains the ability to differentiate between the good and evil. However, it is not proficient, as yet, to fully follow the good commands and abstain from sinful. Moreover, if it does do some good acts  it develops desires of self-praise (ujub) or showing-off or expecting praise from others. In this stage it is imperative that he acknowledges and exposes these blame worthy desires to his fellow-brethren (as per the instruction of his Shaikh). Otherwise these blame-worthy morals will cut-off his journey on this path.

It is essential that in this phase he makes excessive remembrance of Allah and exerts in the struggle (to do good and abstain from evil).

Here he is inflicted will excessive abstract, useless ideas, and random, bizarre  thoughts. He has to fight them off with assistance of excessive remembrance of Allah and supplications, asking Allah for assistance in doing so effectively.

If he does so, he passes to the third stage.

The stages of the nafs: Nafs al ammara part 1

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نفس امارہ

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Shaikh Abdul Ghani at Tarablusi al Khalwati (Allah have mercy on him) said,

‘It is your lower self (nafs) that veils you from Allah.

The scholars of Reality (al haqiqa) have mentioned seven stages of the nafs according to its changing states, the ammara, lawamah, mulhema, mutmainah, radhiya, mardhiya and kamilah.’

Al-Ifadaat al Wasiya,(Urdu translation of Tarsih al Jawahir al Makkiyah fi Tazkiya tul Aklaq al mardhiyah)

Following is a summary of Shaikh’s discussion.

1. The inciting nafs (nafs-i-ammara)

إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لأَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ إِلاَّ مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّيَ‎

Surely, man’s inner self often incites to evil, unless my Lord shows mercy.”[12:53]

In its primitive stage the nafs incites us to commit evil: this is the corrupt nafs as the lower self, the base instincts. Its characteristics include; stinginess, greed, envy, ignorance, arrogance, lust, anger, heedlessness, coveting, bad manners, involvement in useless, making others’ fun, having malice for them and harming them with speech or hand.

It becomes the instrument of Satan’s seduction (to sin). It the most lethal enemy. Therefore extreme caution is needed in not listening to its insolent commands. (In a Prophetic saying the struggle against it has been mentioned as the highest level of righteous effort : jihad al akbar).

Being steadfast on the commandments of Shariah is essential. Keeping constant vigilance (muhasba) is required. It is imperative to have extreme humility and engagement in supererogatory  deeds. This is facilitated by giving up (after consultation with Shaikh) the excessive permissible pleasures and all useless activities. By routinely crying in front of Allah asking for help and making remembrance of Allah as instructed by the Shaikh.

‘Never leave supplication because of being depressed and frustrated (by frequent slips) or lose hope by considering the goal to be unrealistic. This will severe the determination altogether.’

If one persists then Allah will spiritually enlighten the heart of the seeker that will make it possible to see the diseases that inflicts the nafs.

Then comes the second stage.

continued.

Abdiyet

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Imam Abdul Wahab al Sha’rani (Allah have mercy on him) quoted,

‘No level of servant hood (abdiyet) can be applied to an individual who does not consider all his good deeds to be ostentatious and all his states and conditions to be pretentious.’

Adurar al mandhood, (Hum say ‘ahd liyay giya) page 58