Letter of recommendation

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Baba Fareed ud Deen Masud Ganjshakar (Allah have mercy on him) usually avoided writing letters of recommendation. However, a person insisted repeatedly. 

So Baba sahib wrote,

‘I refer his mater first to Allah and then to you. If you will grant anything to him, the real Giver is Allah and you will get credit for it. If you do not give him anything, the real preventer is Allah and you are helpless in this matter. ‘

K Nizami’s ‘The life and times of Shaikh Fareed ud Deen Ganjshakar’ rehmatullah aleh

Vivanta Taj, Langkawi, Malaysia 

Khanqah or shop?

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Khawaja Badr ud Deen Ghaznawi (Allah have mercy on him) wrote to his pir-bhai,

One of the servants of diwan (treasurer) had built a khanqah for me and arranged for the boarding and lodging of derwishes. Now a charge of embezzlement has been brought against him I am much worried and disturbed. Kindly pray for his release and welfare of the derwishes. 

Baba Fareed ud Deen Masud Ganjshakar (Allah have mercy on him) replied,

‘He who does not follow the principle of his master is confronted with such troubles and worries that his heart gets no peace. Who among our masters did ever construct a khanqah for himself and reside there as you have done. It was not the practice of Shaikh Qutub ud Deen or his master Shaikh Moin ud Deen (Allah have mercy on them) to construct a khanqah and set up a shop. Wherever they went or sojourned, they tried to conceal themselves from the people. ‘

K Nizami’s ‘The life and times of Shaikh Fareed ud Deen Ganjshakar’ rehmatullah aleh, page 35

Baba Fareed Ganjshakar: Sayings

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Baba Fareed ud Deen Masud Ganjshakar (Allah have mercy on him) (d:664H/1266CE) is one of the Masters of our path (tareeq). 

Following are some of his blessed sayings, 

1.  Do not fulfill the desires of your nafs. The more you comply greater it will still demand. 

2. Whenever an affliction strikes you consider it to be the retribution of your wrongdoings. 

3.  Groom your inner-self (batin) more than your outward appearance. 

4.  Aspire for more spiritual progress every day. 

5.  Do good to others considering that you are doing good to yourself. 

6.  Whatever your heart dislikes (in permissible things) leave it immediately. 

7. Be in search of excuses to do good actions. 

8. Be afraid of the individual who fears you. 

9. From all the spiritual struggles controlling one’s sexual desires is the most required 

10.  If you are rich then be a philanthropist

11.  There is nothing more valuable than time. 

12.  Be critical of your own deficiencies 

13. If you want to avoid humiliation then do not ask for anything 

14.  If you want to turn whole mankind against yourself then become arrogant 

15. Defeat the planning of your enemy by consulting him

Shaikh Fareedudeen Masud Ganjshakar rehmatullah: Prof Kalique Nizami, p 535-537

Being Considerate regarding the Ease of Others

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A person once sneezed and thereafter loudly recited, “Alhamdulillah!” 

Hakim al Umma Moulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi (Allah have mercy on him) was engaged in writing his correspondences at the time. When he heard this person recite “Alhamdulillah”, Moulana Thanwi replied, “Yarhamukallah,” and thereafter said, “A considerate person will recite ‘Alhamdulillah’ in very low volume voice. On account of you reciting it aloud, I was forced to leave the work that I was engaged in to fulfil the obligation of replying to the duaa that you recited after sneezing.” 

Hakim al Umma then added, “In such situations, when people are engaged in some work, then ‘Alhamdulillah’ should be recited in barely audible voice after sneezing. When I am in public, I always recite Alhamdulillah softly so that I will not inconvenience them by making it waajib upon them to reply”.

 Similarly, Hakim al Umma Moulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi (Allah have mercy on him) would recite the verses of Sajdah Tilaawah in the Holy Qur’aan  softly so that he would not inconvenience others by causing the Sajdah to become waajib on them. 

(Malfoozaat Husnul Azeez pg.485)

Via: Ihya ad Deen co za 

Changing Shaikh

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Qazi Sanaullah Panipati (Allah have mercy on him) said,

‘If an individual stayed in the company of a Shaikh with best intentions (husn e eitiqaad) for a duration but did not find it effective (in bringing him closer to Allah) then it is essential (wajib) for him to leave this Shaikh and seek another one. Otherwise it will be (like) his object of worship and goal is Shaikh and not Allah. This is shirk (associating partners with Allah). ‘

Talifaat e Musleh al Umma, volume 2, page 381

Recently a sincere individual inquired regarding his Shaikh who has broken his pledge with his own Shaikh due to some serious issues, like inappropriate interactions with opposite sex and financial fraud. He wanted to know on how to proceed with this new development. 

It should be explicitly clear upfront that Tasawwuf is totally subservient to Shariah. Any negligence in observance of Shariah ruling can not be tolerated in Tasawwuf. 

In this scenario people fall into two categories,

1. Mureedeen 

2.  Mujazeen 

The most appropriate thing for mureedeen is to seek a new Shaikh. However, they must not hurry and should be more careful in making sure that they have the true Shaikh this time. Also, they must do it with extreme adab. They must continue their daily routine recitations and dhikr etc. as previously. They must not start a movement against the Shaikh at all. Sayyidi wa sanadi Mufti Mohammed Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve and protect him) emphasized on this last point. They should make dua for Islah of the Shaikh they left. 

The mujazeen (who have permission to initiate others) have to declare openly that they are no more mujaaz. They have broken their baiyet (pledge). They must try for islah (reformation) of the Shaikh. However, their mureedeen and mujazeen must be told that they are now free to seek someone appropriate. They have to recognize that this step is a bigger test for them (in testing their sincerity) than the first one (faltering of their Shaikh).  They should then seek another Shaikh and do as stated above for the mureedeen.  They must remember that Allah does not waste those who are sincere in seeking His pleasure. 

May Allah protect us all from calamities of this path. 

Amin!

Clarification about Ijaza

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Ijaza (permission) to initiate mureed is not synonymous with mashikhyet (being a Shaikh). 

Not all mujazeen are Shaikh!

This is especially true for the present day young very fresh mujaazeen (permission holders). 

Both the mujaaz and mureed are confused about this. 

This is because of not understanding the concept of Ijaza. 

Hakimul al Umma Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi (Allah have mercy on him) has explicitly stated that Ijaza is like graduation certificate. It indicates that the individual has completed the very basic course. It does not mean that this individual is a certified expert in this field. However, if continues his efforts to study further he has the capacity to excel. 

Mujaazeen these days consider Ijaza a certificate of excellence (mashaikhiyet) and are eager to initiate mureed to the extent of shamelessly having agents who act like pimps. 

This is in stark contrast to the example of our pious elders (akabir). On receiving ijaza they felt extreme humility and sense of worthlessness. They wished and tried to keep it secret. Even if someone approached them for initiation they would refer him to someone reliable. Only when forced by elders they would take mureed. And even then with the same feelings of humility and worthlessness and usually not within their Shaikh’s lifetime. 

The hallmark of our akabir is extreme humility in addition to the firm adherence to Sunna. 

A fresh mujaaz of sayyidi wa sanadi Mufti Taqi Usmani (Allah protect and preserve him) was instructed in year 2002 by a pious elder in the blessed city of Makkah that the real time to put effort and struggle has just started now. 

We must remind ourselves that graduates working for masters or doctorates can not even think of taking full time jobs or establishing their own setups. Similarly fresh mujazeen should not delve into setting up of khaqahs and enlisting an army of mureedeen.  They should focus on their own self for the time being. 

The naive seekers unaware of these details can not be blamed. However, the awareness of reality has to be highlighted. 

Some of the pious masters of this path (Tasawwuf) have mentioned that an individual should only take up initiating mureed after receiving an explicit  ijaza from Allah and His Prophet (Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him). (And Allah knows its real meaning and may He by His benevolence make us knowledgeable. Ameen!). 

Karachi 

The signs of good overcoming the evil

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Shaykh Al-Shabrawi (Allah have mercy on him) said,

The sign that the good is overcoming the evil is that you see yourself inwardly alive with the reality of faith (eman) and outwardly alive with the sharia of Islam.  This is to have the inner certainty that everything in existence moves according to the Divine will and by the Divine ability, and yet to remain outwardly active in obedience and far removed from all major sins and most minor ones, whether when amongst people or in solitude. 

Degrees of the Soul, p40

Eid: an unimaginable occasion of joy

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

“On the day of eid (when people gather to offer eid prayers)

Allah says to the Angels,

‘Have these people fulfilled the obligation (of fasting) and are now gathered for prayers?

I swear by My pride, magnificence, majesty, mercy and elevated status that I will fulfill their prayers.

Tell them to return,

I have forgiven them all and furthermore

I have replaced their sins with virtuous deeds.

Hence they return completely forgiven.

(Mishkat/Bahaiqi)

On our eid visit to Sayyidi wa sanadi Mawlana Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him) we always found him to be extremely happy and cheerful, repeatedly telling usArifbillah Dr Abdul Hayy Arifi (Allah have mercy on him)’s saying regarding Eidul fitr

“We are excessively blessed individuals today.

All our sins have been forgiven.

They have been bartered with good deeds.

We are completely clean and tidy.”

An unimaginable joy!