Category Archives: L. Books

Reading: Be careful

Hakim Al Umma Moulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi (Allah have mercy on him) once mentioned the following:

If an irreligious person speaks of something relating to deen, then his speech will contain some darkness in it. Similarly, his writings will also contain some type of darkness in it. On the converse, if a righteous person speaks of something relating to the dunya, his speech will contain noor in it.

The reason is that in reality, a person’s speech originates from his heart. Hence, a person’s speech will definitely contain the effect of his heart. (If his heart is pure, the effect of the purity will be seen in his speech and writings, and if his heart is impure, then the effect of the impurity will similarly be seen in his speech and writings.)

When this is the situation, that the speaker’s inner condition is reflected in his speech, and the writer’s inner condition is reflected in his writing, then one should understand that it is extremely important for one to refrain from sitting in the company of irreligious people (those who are not committed to deen) and nor should one ever read their writings.

Reading the writings of an author is akin to sitting in his company. Thus, the very same ill-effects which one will experience through sitting in the company of an irreligious person will be found through reading his books or writings.

(Malfoozaat Hakeemul Ummat 23/117)

Via: Ihyaaudden.co.za

How Islah is done?

Hakim al Umma Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi (Allah have mercy on him) said,

The treatment of spiritual ailments (blameworthy moral characteristics) is not possible without disclosing information about them. Some of them are so hidden and complicated that the one who is seeking the remedy is unaware of them. This is can be seen in books about the path (Sulook) and Moral reformation. 

Therefore’ an individual is needed to diagnose and discern about these spiritual ailments. He is the Perfect Spiritual mentor (Shakyh e kamil).  Most of the time for a Shaykh e kamil to make a diagnosis it is required that the patient himself informs him about the illness as much as possible and does not hide any information.

This is exactly like the medical Doctor (-patient encounter).  Some information for diagnosing the illness he gets from pulse, appearance (physical examination), urine (laboratory test) and for the rest it is necessary that the patient himself gives him information (history).

In this special situation sometimes the (patient’s) nafs dislikes disclosing his spiritual illness to the (spiritual doctor). ………..

However, one should not be ashamed of telling him.

In this world this disclosure is to a single individual, in Here-after everyone will know it.

Here this single disclosure is beneficial in all aspects that it will lead to a cure, whereas the public disclosure in Hereafter will be nothing but explicit humility.

Kaleed e masnavi, volume 2, page 192-3

Refuting Orientalist

Someone asked him: “How can the Orientalists be refuted?”

Shaykh Mustafa Azami (Allah have mercy on him) advised us not to spend our time refuting the Orientalists.

He said that he had spent all his life refuting them, but their objective was not to find the truth, rather to create wrong comments. After you work on displacing the doubts created by them, they’re not going to apologize and mend their ways. Rather, they’ll manufacture a new falsehood. And so, your life will pass in cleaning up the dirt created by them. You should instead work on putting forward the truth. This was the advice he gave us.

Learning from Orientalist

Once he was asked: “What can we learn from the Orientalists?”

Shaykh Mustafa Azami (Allah have mercy on him) said:

“Learn nothing from the Orientalists.

Rather, the Orientalists should learn from you.

The people who call your Prophet ﷺ a liar, the people who consider the Book you believe in to be fabricated (naʿūdhu bilLāh!), what can you learn of the religion from them?”

Imam Hussain’s Message

Read the details of martyrdom from beginning till end, reflect on the correspondence and sermons of honorable (Imam) Hussain (Allah be pleased with him). You will find that his goals were,

1. Implementation of the rulings of Quran and Sunna in the truest sense

2. Reinstating the Islamic system of justice again 

3. Continuous struggle (Jihad) against the innovation of monarchy and dictatorship which replaced Islam’s way of khilafet e nabuwat.

4. Not being intimidated by power and wealth when defending the truth (Haqq)

5. Sacrifice one’s life, family and all possessions when defending the truth (Haqq)

6. Not to be distressed in situation of fear and hardship by remembering Allah all the time, having complete trust (tawakul) in Him and being thankful to Him in all situations. 

Is there anyone who listens to this message of beloved of Prophet of Allah (Allah bless him & grant him peace), the victim of Karbala, the persecuted martyr?

Is there (someone) ready to fulfill his mission? Follow his footsteps, making his noble morals and praiseworthy actions the goal of his own life? 

O Allah! Grant us Your’s , Your Prophet’s (Allah bless him & grant him peace), his noble Companions’ and his perfect families’ comprehensive love and exhaustive following. Ameen!

Shaheed e Karbala, p 6-7

Makateeb e Rasheediya

One of the special deputies (khulafa) of Hakim al Umma Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi, Maulana Shah Wasiullah Allahabadi (Allah have mercy on them) said,

‘In traversing the path (tareeq e sulook) I benefited a lot from Maktubaat e Qudoosiya and Makatabeeb e Rasheediya*.’

Hayat Musleh al Ummat ra, p 134

* Recently a new edition of Makatabeeb e Rasheediya has been published.

It has additional letters, explanatory foot notes, translations of Persian and Arabic quotes, high quality paper and computerized print settings. It is one volume with 520 pages.

May Allah make it beneficial for all of us. Ameen!

First Things First

It is a principle of Tasawwuf: There must be NO haste in making bayiat.

Firstly you have to understand why do you want it in first place?

What expectations do you have?


Then you have to look for an appropriate Shaykh with whom you have munasibet (congeniality). That is, you feel comfortable taking instructions from him and do not feel negatively about his method, instruction etc.
Then Shaykh also needs to have munasbet with you.
You have to make consultation with scholars and other shuykh about this shaykh in particular. Only after all this you make istekhara and then make the pledge.

However, bayiat is neither essential prerequisite nor a condition to make effort for islah (reformation). This is wajib all the time. Start this right away.

The best things do now will be,

  1. Make special dua for finding a Shaykh. Especially after each esha salat for at least 5 mins.
  2. Try your best to abstain from all sinful activities. Especially those related to eyes, ears and tongue. Internet misuse is a big issue. Be careful. Bad habits once developed are very hard to rectify.
  3. Get organized. Have a daily time table. Set time for recitation of Quran sharif, few azkar and reading from a Islamic text, even a single page daily is enough.
  4. Keep good company. In people, books, websites, etc. Avoid corrupt company.
  5. Focus on your studies seriously. They are like a wajib for you.
  6. Keep looking for a Shaykh. InshaAllah, you will be successful. Till then please, feel free to contact this lowly writer for any questions. The benefit is mutual. JazakAllah

Islahi emails:ZA

Memorizing

A seeker wrote, The rest of the mamoolaat are going good but memorising duas from the book Uswae Rasul e Akram is going weak. I always find it very hard to memorize the Quran and duas (and remember them). Please make dua in this regard.

Ashrafiya replied,
Amin!
I usually take a picture of the dua in my mobile phone and recite it (reading the text at appropriate times). Eventually it is memorized.

Islahi emails:TA

Balance in reading

Alhamdulillah I got the Aasan Tarjumae Quran (MashaAllah what a beautiful print) and Ashrafus Sawaneh (the new computer composed edition). Besides this (I just can’t control myself at that bookstore mainly because the shipping cost of the books is so high, might as well get what I like) I got 9 volumes of Hazrat Hakeem ul Ummah RA’s khutbaat (selected topics) and first 10 volumes of Hazrat RA’s Malfoozats. A few books by Hazrat Abdul Hai Aarifi RA (Ma’asir-e-Hakeem ul ummah), Hazrat Hakeem Akhtar db and Hazrat Mufti Shafi RA (Majalis-e-Hakeem ul Ummah and Makateeb e Hakeem ul ummah).

Ashrafiya replied,

Books by all of our akabir are very beneficial. However, one has to exercise balance by giving priority to the essentials and making sure that other wajib activities are not affected by it.

Islahi emails:TA

Reviewed and approved by sanadi wa sanadi Mufti Mohammed Taqi Usmani (Allah protect & preserve him)