Category Archives: A. Reality of Tasawwuf

The nature, definition, goals and principles of Tasawwuf

Burying the past and moving ahead

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Recently Shaykh Mawlana Mohammad Taqi Usmani (may Allah preserve him) advised a murid to bury the past and make a fresh start.

Burying the past may sound a simple thing but in reality it is a big spiritual struggle (mujahidah) with many benefits.

For all of us it is a common event to slip and commit mistakes. These mistakes may be in exoteric (dhahiri) or esoteric (batini) works. Sometimes we are cognizant of our mistakes and at others oblivious. However, a true seeker is very much disturbed by these mistakes. He is ashamed infront of Allah, disheartened on his ability to control his desires, disillusioned by the effectiveness of the path in preventing this disaster and anxious about the future similar mishaps.

These are the moments when the need of a perfect spiritual mentor – the Shaykh-e-kamil, is essential to save the seeker from falling further in to the trap of Satan and lower self (nafs).  It is he who guides the murid out of this depressive and self-destructive attitude and puts him back on the path towards Allah.

He does so by,

a.  Giving the seeker hope. That is, it is human to err and Allah is Most Merciful to those who acknowledge their short comings.

b. Instruction to forget the past. Bury it. If this is not done, its dead body will rot and the stench emanating from it will spoil the best aroma of sincere good acts done in future. Also, remembering the sins after sincere repentance is wrong and leads to decreasing relationship with Allah.

c. To be concerned with improving the present condition right now. For this today will tomorrow become yesterday. A thing of past.

If handled in this way each and every mistake and fall of the sincere seeker results in increasing relationship with Allah, enhanced humility and complete dependence on His kindness and mercy. 

A seeker should remember that these falling episodes are not uncommon and continue until a permanent spiritual serenity (tamkeen) is achieved (which usually happens after years of sincere effort by method described above). Until then he/she has to bury the past with sincere repentance and move forwards on the path with renewed vigor.

And its facilitation is surely from Allah, Most High.

Love of Allah

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Respected Dr. Nadeemul Haq (Pakistanwala) inquired,

‘How can the love of Allah be obtained?’

Sayyidi wa sanadiShaykh Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah prserve him) replied,

‘By,

1. Keeping the comapany (suhba) of those who already have this love.

2. Acknowledging the bounties and blessings of Allah.

3. Excessive remembrance (dhikr) of Allah all the time.’

Sunday, 9th December 1990, between ‘asr & maghrib. Hazret’s residence, Darul Uloom Karachi. Meeeting with Drs. SA Ahmer, Saqib ZH, Saeed Qaiser, etc.

Shaykh e Kamil

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Is the one who guides you on the path (tareeq) in such a manner that you do not even feel the hardships of the journey (sulook) and reach the destination.

He sows and cultivates qualities in your heart in such a manner that eventually from within yourself there is an urge to do more good and abstain from sins.  Even if a mistake is committed by chance the guilt, the remorse and the repentance that ensue are such that they aid your progress further.

The tip for optimum benefit is to keep in regular contact with him. Informing him about one’s condition explicitly, requesting advise and supplications.

Time Management!

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الوقت سیف فان قطعتہ و الا قطعک

و نفسک ان لم تشغلہا بالحق شغلتک بالباطل

Time is like a sword.

If you do not use it appropriately it will sever you.

And

if you do not keep yourself engaged in seeking the truth

your self will seek refuge in evil.

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

Keeping record of time and its organization is a very important thing. It is inappropriate to spend time allocated for one activity in some thing else and then use the other slot to do another thing.

An activity should be done at its scheduled time.

This results in increased barakah (blessing) in time and contentment (of heart).”

HusunulAziz,  #434 pg 412 volume 2

Method of attaining love of Allah & His messenger

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An aspirant wrote:

Please, tell me a  litany (dua), which creates overwhelming love of Allah and His messenger, ever present fear of Allah in my heart, nonexistence or a decrease in the love of the worldly and complete fearlessness from other-than Allah.

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

صوفی نہ شود صافی تا در نہ کشد جامی

بسیار سفر بایدتا پختہ شود خامی

(A sufi does not attain purity until after a toil and struggle.

A lengthy journey is required to attain perfection.)

Being firm on the zikr (remembrance), shugal (mental exercise of specific forms of remembrance), reading useful books (i.e. of Tasawwuf) and keeping company of pious (ahlulAllah) for a considerable duration of time leads to attainment of these treasures.

There is no specific dua for it.

(Tarbiyatus Salik volume 1 page 137)

The criteria for a wali!

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

‘The real criteria for being pious (buzurg) is that as one progresses  in spirituality the more he resembles the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).

This is because the friendship of Allah (wilayet) is a derivative of the Prophethood (nubuwat).’

al-Rafiq fi suwa it-Tareeq, Malfuzat e Hakim al-Ummat volume 27-28, page 89

Accountability

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Our Shaykh Ziauddin Abun Najeeb Suhrawardi (Allah have mercy on him) narrates that,

‘The virtue (khair) in the people of Tasawwuf will last only till they act with disinclination amongst themselves. They will be destroyed once they develop mutual concordance and live in harmony with each other.

Shaykh Ruaim (Allah have mercy on him) has pointed out that this means that they should keep an eye on  and hold each other accountable (that is, do their muhasaba for things that are inappropriate).’

Awarif al-Ma’arif, page 267 (Urdu translation published by  Progressive books, Lahore)

Deadliest Poisons in sulook

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Hakim al-Umma Shaykh Mawlana Shah Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) said:

“Listen and remember, I tell this for your own benefit.

In this path (tareeq) two things are the worst rogue and the deadliest poison.

Firstly, making explanations for one’s mistakes and secondly, criticizing one’s instructor (the Sheikh).”

Maasir e Hakeemul Ummat 406

Acquiring Religious Knowledge

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Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaykh Moulana Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah SWT preserve him and allow us to benefit from him abundantly. Ameen!) said:

“After professing faith (emaan) the foremost duty and obligation that befalls an individual is to acquire religious knowledge. This is because until he knows what is required essentials (faraiz & wajibat)) to do and from what things to abstain from, he will not be able to fulfill the requirements of faith.”

Ina’mul Bari (duroos-e-Bukhari shareef) volume 2, page 27

Khilafat?

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Shaykh Haji Imdadullah mohajir Makki gave khilafat to Mawlana Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi (Allah have mercy on them) after eight days and told him: ‘Moulvi Rasheed Ahmed sahib whatever favour (nimat) Allah has bestowed upon me, He has also bestowed upon you. It will be your duty to go develop that nimat and work on it.’

Mawlana Gangohi used to say: ‘I was very surprised. I could not understand what nimat he was referring to, which had been granted to him and also to me. I only managed to understand and realise what it was fifteen years later.’

[Tazkira e Khaleel vol 1]

From: Aap beeti

Shaykh Dr. Abdul Hayy Arifi (Allah have mercy on him) explicitly told his khulafa (Mufti Rafi Usmani db, Mufti Taqi Usmani db, Mufti Sehban Mehmood ra and others) to wait for spiritual puberty & maturity (of wich they will become undoubtedly aware of themselves) before taking the responsibility of being a Shaykh in spite of having recieved permission (ijazet) to guide others.

مسلمانوں کا اس وقت مرض

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مولانا سید ابوالحسن علی ندوی رحمۃ اللہ علیہ فرماتے ہیں، 

میرے نزدیک مسلمانوں کا اس وقت مرض نہ کفر ہے نہ جہل ہے

 اور نہ عمومی و عالمگیر فسق۔

ان کا مرض ظاہر و باطن کا اختلاف،

 عقیدہ و عمل کی عدم مطابقت،

 دعوے اور عمل کا تضاد،

 عبادت اور اخلاق میں نہ صرف عدم مناسبت بلکہ بعد،

 دنیا کو آخرت پر ترجیح،

 اپنے حقیر و موہوم مفاد کے لئے دوسروں کے حقوق کی پامالی اور حق تلفی،

 شریعت کو زندگی کے تمام شعبوں میں جاری و ساری نہ کرنے کی عادت،

 رسوم و مظاہر کو حقائق و جواہر پر مقدم رکھنا اور ان کی احکام الہی کی طرح تعمیل کرنا ہے۔

 

(حیات مصلح الامت رح، ص3)

The path to perfection ………

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……..sometimes passes through rough terrain

A sincere seeker wrote of his declining spiritual condition to one of his close friend. He received the following reply.  Being in sync with the teaching of sayyidi wa sanadi Shaykh Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (may Allah preserve him) it is worth sharing.

In the name of Allah,

as salam o alaykum
JazakAllah for the kind email.
I read it in detail. Be assured that these are the natural up and downs of the path. As the Friends of Allah (awliya) say,

“Truly the fortunate one is he, who is blessed with the ability to recognize his own shortcomings.”

All praise is for Allah, that you have done this. That is, recognized and acknowledged the problem.

Now the second part is at hand. That is, to overcome these short comings. This is the spiritual struggle (mujahida). This will be facilitated by asking Allah sincerely to make it easy to control these unlawful desires (to indulge in sins). At the same time you will have to put all your effort in trying to do so. That is, using self determination (himmat). There is no short cut to success without genuine determination. In absence of sincere effort the likelihood of giving up sins will only be a wishful thinking.

You have already recognized that failure to follow a daily schedule of wird, etc. and loss of regular contact with Shaykh have resulted in this. Try to overcome these. You are smart, intelligent and hardworking. You can do it.

Set your priorities.

Ask your wife or a close friend to remind you of them if they see you slipping.

Set a penalty if you do slip. Like four units (rakat) salah of repentance and/or skipping everything sweet that day, or something similar that is a burden on your self (nafs). This is to remind and ingrain that mistakes have consequences.

It is okay to slip and fall.
However, it is not okay to keep lying flat in dirt for ever.

Saturday 5th July, 2008/1st Rajab 1429