A seeker informed sayyidi wa sanadi Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him) about the extra time he had available daily and requested for advice on how to utilize it appropriately.

Sayyidi wa sanadi said,

‘Do two things in this time.

Firstly, perform excessive remembrance of Allah.

On request for further elaboration on what specific form of remembrance would be appropriate for him.  Sayyidi said,

‘Perform the ‘dowazdah tasbih‘. And if you already do this in morning (as the usual daily routine prescribed for seekers) then repeat it again in this spare time.’

The second thing to do is to read the biographies of the pious predecessors meticulously. High light and mark the beneficial passages for future review.

Start with the Sawanih e Qasimi of Shaikh Mawlana Qasim Nanotawi  written by Professor Mawalan Anwarul Hasan Sheirkoti (Allah have mercy on them) if you can get hold of it. It is difficult to keep focused in the one written by Mawlana Manazir Hasan Gillani (Allah have mercy on him).  Then read Tazkirat ur Raheed, Tazkirat ul Khalil,  Ashraf us sawanih and Arwah e salasa.’

Holiday Inn Salam, Jeddah, 15th May 2012, after esha

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

‘Torch your desires!

Burn your opinions!

Adopt absolute annihilation. And consign your affairs to Allah completely.

Try your best to please Allah.

Who are you to aspire for perfection?

I swear by Allah. If an individual is aware of his own reality than all claims of aspiring self perfection would collapse and flee from his mind.’

Waaz: al Wael wal Fazel, Khutbat e Hakim al Ummat ra, volume 15, page 204

ما پروریم دشمن و ما می کشیم دوست

کس را چرا و چوں نہ رسد در قضاء ما

مولانا رومی رح

Shaikh Shah Wasiullah Allahabadi (Allah have mercy on him) mentioned few principles regarding effectively balancing the personal finance,

‘First Principle:

Save some amount from your income irrespective of how low your earnings may be. The individual who spends more than his earning is stupid.

Second Principle:

Buy the essential goods in cash. Do not stay in debt.

Third Principle;

Do not spend the entire cash in hand on expectation of future earnings. This is because of futility of relying on something that is not present or guaranteed. The person who spends on expectations of future earnings becomes involved in debt and poverty.

Fourth Principle:

Protect your earnings from being wasted.  It will neither benefit you nor others.

Fifth Principle:

Be responsible for your (financial) affairs yourself. (That is, do not delegate it to others).

Sixth Principle;

Do not buy anything you do not need even if you are getting it at low price. This is because, a useless thing even if it is free is a liability.

Seventh Principle:

Plan for the future. Make sure you are prepared financially if there was any crisis.’

Tazkirah e Muslih al Ummat, page, 226-7

Shaikh Abu Abd al-Rehman al-Sulami (Allah have mercy on him) said,

‘The Sufi must abandon self-direction and self-willing.’

Jawami Adab al-Sufiya, page 13

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

‘Wasting time in the hobby of reading newspaper & unimportant books, attending ceremonious gatherings,  or participating in useless entertainments results in failure to accomplish the essential things to be done. This (eventually) creates commotion and anxiety in one’s mind.’

Talemaat e Arifi ki roshini mein: Islah e haal aur Sukoon e qalb, page 41

Unfortunately we live in an era where the distinction between real and fake is sometimes very difficult to make. Even in religious issues. Marketing tactics, boastful false claims, slick presentation skills and mass propaganda can be misleading.

We often fall prey to these schemes. This is mainly because we are not aware of the gold standard to assess these issues. Making the correct decision is almost impossible.

Similar is the case in selecting a Shaikh for spiritual improvement.

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

‘I can not claim any perfections for myself.

All praise is to Allah. I have seen the real perfect men (the pious predecessors Shuyukh and scholars). No imposter can fool me by claiming to be human whereas in reality he is a buffalo.’

Malfuzat e Ashrafiya

The gold standard to make this distinction is the meticulous following of Sunna. This following should be comprehensive and perpetual in outward appearance, morals, behavior and dealings.

‘Arif-billah Dr Abdul Hayy ‘Arifi (Allah Have mercy on him) said,

‘People wrongly assume that by observance of excessive worship, like supererogatory salah, excessive remembrance or recitation of Holy Quran,  they will gain pleasure and proximity of Allah.

In our everyday life the pleasure and proximity of Allah is obtained by being patient and responding with humility and good character when unexpected comes from those who are dear and near.

The real examination is when the curt comments and the sarcastic attitude of friends and family break your heart or make your blood boil.

Being patient, controlling one’s anger and responding with humility and good character will make you move closer to pleasure of Allah.

Only an individual who is cognizant that he/she will be accountable before Allah for his/her actions can do this.

This is taqwa.’

Audio:Mp3 CD # 2

Shaikh Shahab uddeen Suharwardi (Allah have mercy on him) wrote,

‘For a slave of Allah there is no spiritual station or state or enlightenment that waives from him the observance of decorum (a’adab) of Shariah.’

Awarif al-Ma’arif (Urdu translation), page 455