Lately, I have been thinking about how to develop good character (akhlaq) in my dealings and social interaction with others. I have always been a very quiet and withdrawn person who hardly socializes with anyone. I am not quite sure if this is because I have ego issues or if its shyness. However, I am leaning towards the former. When it comes to greeting peace (salam), I am always hesitant and expect the other person to the lead. Likewise, I don’t smile when I meet other brothers, or if I do, its a half-hearted smile. I know these are blameworthy traits but I am not sure what to do to overcome these. I would request you to please give me some nasiha that may help me in gaining a better insight into this problem, and perhaps changing this behavior. May Allah reward you.

Wa alaykum as salam

Make dua also in this regards.
InshaAllh you will succeed.
muhtaj e dua
‘abd

While in such situation, I never thought about the second point related to having bad opinion about another Muslim, as you mentioned.

I will InshAllah be more careful in this regard now.

I have a question in this regard, what should we do when a professional beggar asks for help? And that professional beggar is clearly visible to be not deserving.

You are correct it is not correct to give charity to professional beggars.
However, there should be enough proof of this or ortherwise there is another sin attached to this ,i.e. of having bad opinion (badgumani).
In questionalbe situation it is best to either give a very small amount or excuse your self humbly, without making any judgement.

May Allah make us one of these blessed individual’s to be burried in J. Baqi. Amin

I learned that ‘Ihtisab’ means to ponder, contemplate or remember the rewards for the Amal while doing it. For example while standing in Namaz one should remember that Allah is forgiving ones sins like the leaves fall of a tree in autumn or that there’s no curtain between onself and Allah. Allahu ‘Alam.

Wassallam

wa alaykum as salam
If your Shaykh has recommended this, then continue as you have been instructed.

I was always wondering about still living Khulafa of Hadhrat Shah Abrarul Haq Sahab (rahmatullah alayh). Can you please give details about above mentioned Shaykh Mansur ‘Ali Khan (db) or other Khulafa you know of?

Wassallam

Shaykh Mansur ‘Ali Khan sahib (may Allah preserve him) is a retired professional living in Jeddah, KSA for more than 25 years. He initially had close contact with Hahdrat Mufti Mohammad Shafi’. After his passing away he developed a vey close islahi relationship with Arif-billah Dr Abdul Hayy Arifi for a very long duration. Eventually, after Hadhrat Arifi’s wisal, he benefitted from Hadhrat Shah Abrarul Haqq (may Allah have mercy on them all) and recieved khilafet. He is a very humble and down to earth person. He holds two majalis very week. One on friday after juma’ and the other on sundays after esha salah in Jeddah.

There are many khulafa of Hadhrat Mawlana Shah Abrarul Haqq sahib (may Allah have mercy on him) al over the world. In Jeddah we have Mufti Abdur Rehaman Siharanpuri shaib who is also one of his khalifa.

Jazak’Allah khairan, but is the third point not contradicting the noble concept of ‘Ihtisab’?

Wasalam

wa alaykum as salam

No.
They are completely different things.
The ‘ihtisab’ is the process of self accountabilty. To keep check of one’s short comngs.
Whereas, here in sincerity when an individual’s focus of attention raises above himself and he is able to concentrate on Allah SWT, he can see that each and every action he does is an instant cash reward from Allah SWT, he becomes oblivious of the reward at Judgement day.
wAllahu ‘alam.
May Allah SWT give us this sincerity. Amin!

Insha’Allah, I’ll wait for more corrections and then brush up the poor translation.

JazakAllah for the translation of this beneficial extract.
It is neither poor nor incorrect at all.

Please, continue the good beneficial effort at your blog.

Some people are vehemently opposed to this, and exert a lot of efforts in order to prove that Maulana Thanwi did not consider it ja’iz. Their primary argument is that the contemporary Shadhili hadra is different from what Maulana Thanwi saw and what Maulana gave fatwa upon. What do you say to this?

The reply:
Being a Shadhilli it is best that you ignore these issue and focus on the path itself.

There are various modes of zikir done by the sufis. They consider them neither sunna nor mustahib. They use them as a medicine to remove the ghaflah/heedlessness. As no one has any issues with using paracetmaol for headache or aspirin for muscular pain, similarly, they should not fuss over sufic zikir. Personal experience or expert opinion should satisfy them. Permissibilty of use exists. No one considers it to be wajib, sunna or mustahib!

“Ziya us sulook” by Hadhrat Haji Imdadullah mohar Makki (may Allah have mercy on him) has detailed accounts of various methods of sufic zikir. One of them (zikir e Haddadi) is the recitation of ism-e-zaat or kalimah tayyiba (I forget) while standing and swaying forwards and backwards with hand movements, etc.

The thing that is troubling about the present hadra (which is quite complex than the simple one described in this post) is: Being open to all. That is, it is general public event. Most of the time with sama’accompanied by duff/drums.

Sufic zikir is only effective for the salikeen who are treading the path. And aslo for them it is a medicine. A prelude to the real zikir. It is not a sunna or mustahib form of zikir. It remains unclear that what benifit will those achieve who are not treading the path from it?

Also, there are criteria for listening to sama’, which are generally ignored in this public event. Are most of us capable enough to understand the classical sufic poetry and apply it to The Divine Reality appropriately? Senior well-versed saliks may but general layman may lose his eman in this feat!

Also, use of instruments is a fiqhi issue differed upon.

Hadhrat Hakim al-umma ra’a “Haq us Sama” is a remarkable read in this context. It draws information form senior Shuyukh, like Suharwardi, Ghazali, Mehboob-e Illahi (may Allah have mercy on them). Please, read it. It is available freely online somewhere.

Please, do not be offended on this rambling thoughts. Ignore them. They are from someone inept in this field. However, please, do try to make dua for this lowly writer.
JazakAllah.

‘abd