Establishing the Goal

In response to a question by a spiritual aspirant Arifbillah Dr. Abdul Hayy ra said;

“First find out of what is this yearning of yours for and how will? your thirst? be quenched.
Also, find out what deen (religion) is and why do you want it?

Establishing the goal is essential.
If the goal is attainment of pleasure (ridha) of Allah swt then understanding what is meant by it is necessary. May be the aspirant might have a different understanding of attainment of pleasure of Allah swt. He may consider it to be the recitation of special formulas and litanies (award o wazaif), renouncing the worldly (tark-e-dunya), abandoning the pleasures (tark-e-lazaat), or unveiling (kashef) & performing supernatural acts(karamat).

Life has many up and downs and no one knows which major hurdles (crises) one may pass through. What are you going to do if at any point in this life’s course you are unable to ascertain whether Allah swt is pleased with you or not?

The safest way is to consider obeying the commands of Allah swt as the goal.

Once you know this is the goal then persist on performing actions as per Shariah.

Ya bum aw ra ya na yabum aarzooay mekuniem
Hasil aayad ya na aayad justoojoay mekuniem

Sawanih wa ta’lemat e Hazrat Arifi ra pg 529