Category Archives: C. Blame worthy Morals

The bad moral characteristics that have to be removed from within ourselves

Advice to reader of Sufi works!

old-book-shelf

Sayyidi wa sanadi Mawlana Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him and allow us to benefit from him a lot. Ameen!) gives the following invaluable advice to those interested in classic Sufi works:

“A point never to be forgotten when reading the books of venerable Sufi masters is that the things to acquire from them are;

– the special relationship with Allah (ta’aluq ma’Allah),

– remembrance and contemplation of hereafter,

– turning to Allah with humility (inabat),

– recognizing the plots & deceptions of nafs and methods to prevent them,

– methods of cleansing the heart and

– love of Allah and His messenger صلی اللہ علیہ و الہ وسلم.

As far as the fiqh (Shariah juristic rulings) and kalam (science of logic and art of reasoning) issues, historic events and narrations (rewayat) are concerned these are neither their (i.e. Sufi masters) field of specialization nor one can rely on them solely in these matters.

لکل فن رجال”

Tabseray 476

Fundraising!

fundraising

Commenting on verse 29 of surah al-Hud (And, O my people, I do not demand from you any wealth for it) Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) said:

“Spiritual leaders (Shuyukh) should adopt the same demeanor.

Seeking monetary gain is one of the strongest impediments in imparting religious instructions. In my opinion, it is grossly inappropriate for the Shuyukh to raise charitable funds by asking for donations.

(In general) intelligence is scarce (among people). Stinginess and greed overwhelms (most individuals). They become distrustful (of the individual raising funds) of love of the worldly (hubb-e-duniya) by slightest suspicion. And (it must be remembered that) Allah is the sponsor of (all) charities (in reality). They are not dependent on our appeals of donation and fund raising.”

Masail e sulook min Kalam Malik ul mulook, page 259, Idara-e-Islamiyat, Lahore

Busy life!

time22

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

‘People often complain that there is no free time and no tranquility in life because of the increasing commitments (at offices and businesses).

I ask them,

 If you get this free time and opportunity what are you going to do with it?  Have you ever thought about this?

If you waste this free time in inappropriate things and sink more deep into immorality then this being busy is best for you.

When this is the case then continue with your work (in present conditions).’

Islah e Hal o sukoon e qalb, page 45

Benefits of pious company!

rose5

Mawlana Abul Hasan Ali Nadawi wrote the following regarding his first Shaykh Mawlana Ahmad Ali Lahori (Allah have mercy on them),

‘Being in Mawlana’s company created, in the least, a yearning to seek Allah, the sweetness of [uttering] Allah’s name, a love for the people of Allah, recognition of my own deficiency and the need for my rectification and perfection. And for us laypeople this is the greatest fortune and bounty.

Source: Pearls of the Elders

Rights of Fellow human beings!

IlahiAqibat_001

Sayyidi wa sanadiMawlana Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him and allow us to benefit from him a lot. Ameen!) said:

“If someone drank alcohol, he can repent by asking forgiveness from Allah.
If he commits zina (adultery), he can repent by asking forgiveness from Allah.
If he were to eat pork, he can repent by asking Allah’s forgiveness.

BUT,
if he is rude,
arrogant,
hurts some-one’s feeling,
does ghibah (backbiting) or
inflicts material loss on an individual

then the scenario for repentance is different.
He can not repent by asking forgiveness from Allah alone.

He has to ask forgiveness from the  person he has wronged first.
Apologise for the mistake committed.
Compensate for the material loss, if any.
Only then he can fulfill the criteria for tawabah (true repentance).
(And remember Tawbah is the first step of tareeq!)

So be very, very careful with the rights of others!”

Allah SWT give me the taufeeq.
Ameen bi haq e Sayyidul mursaleen.

Cognizant sinner

nur2

Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) said  something smilar to the following in one of his discourses,

The minimum  benefits of maintaining regular correspondence with  a Shaykh ( in form of islahi-ta’luq) is that it makes an individual a cognizant sinner (baydar gunahgar).

That is, if God-forbid he commits a sin he will be aware of this mistake. He will have remorse. This will evetually lead him to turn to Allah in form of repentance and supplication for forgiveness, protection and improvement.

 

Tasawwuf summarized


Mawlana Wasiullah Allah have mercy on him) said;

“Three things are the sum up of Tasawwuf;

1. Shunning the heedlessness (ghaflah),

2. Getting rid of blame worthy moral traits (razail/muhlekat e nafs). (For example: anger, arrogance, envy, hatred, etc)

3. Being on alert of the various in coming thoughts/ideas (that may be either useless or leading to transgression).”

Halaat e Muslehul Ummat 379

Bridgeport, WV

Differentiation between hatred for the sake of Allah SWT vs hatred for nafs

BleedingHeart

Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) said commenting on the verse 4 of surah al-Mumtahana:

There is for you an excellent example (to follow) in Abraham and those with him, when they said to their people: “We are clear of you and of whatever ye worship besides Allah. We have rejected you, and there has arisen, between us and you, enmity and hatred for ever, unless ye believe in Allah and Him alone”: But not when Abraham said to his father: “I will pray for forgiveness for thee, though I have no power (to get) aught on thy behalf from Allah.” (They prayed): “Our Lord! in Thee do we trust, and to Thee do we turn in repentance: to Thee is (our) Final Goal.

‘There is explicit evidence in this that the hatred that is for the sake of Allah (bugz fil Allah) does not lead to abandoning of kindness and consideration (for that individual), as compared to the hatred that is due to one’s self (nafs).’

Masail us Sulook min Kalam Malik ul Mulook, page 508

47th IDSA, Philadelphia, PA

Do Not Despise The Sinners

sins_1

Sayyidi wa sanadi Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him) said,

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: “That person who taunts and ridicules his Muslim brother over a sin from which he has repented, will not die until he himself commits that same sin.” For example, you come to know that a certain person committed or was involved in a particular sin and you also know that this person has repented from it. To think low of him or to taunt or ridicule him because of that sin, by saying something like: “You are the one who was involved in certain evil actions”, is in itself a sin.

Through repentance a person has corrected his relationship with Allah Most High. Through repentance not only has the sin been forgiven, it has also been erased from his book of deeds! Allah Most High has erased it from his book of deeds but you, because of that sin, are thinking low of him and treating him with contempt. You are taunting and ridiculing him. This action is extremely despised by Allah Most High.

Read more_ _ _ _ _ _

Source: Deoband.org

Salik’s mistake

manarafa

The genuine remorse, sadness and humiliation on realization of committing sins acts as a catalyst in spiritual progress of a salik.

It makes him aware of his deficiencies. The self-praise (ujub) and arrogance (kibr) are wiped off. A stronger feeling of dependency on Allah’s mercy and grace develops. He make more supplications and turning to Allah (ruju illAllah) with humility asking for forgiveness and protection from future such calamities.

In summary the mistakes of those on the path become a stepping stone for them in their progress.

(This is true only for the sincere salik who is trying his best and occasionally slips because of his ba-shar-iyat (humanness). This discussion can not be used to justify sinning by those who intentionally plan and commit sins.)

Burying the past and moving ahead

grave 21

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.

Those at loss in middle Night of Sha’ban

Page_14S

Our master Prophet Muhammad, (Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him) said,

“This is the middle Night of Sha’ban. Allah frees in it a large number of the people from Fire, more than the number of the hair growing on the sheep of the tribe, Kalb. But He does not even look at an individual who

– associates partners with Allah, or

– who nourishes malice in his heart (against someone), or

– who cuts off the ties of kinship (qata’ rehmi), or

– who leaves his clothes extending beyond his ankles (as a sign of pride), or

– who disobeys his parents, or

– who has a habit of drinking wine.”

Allah save us from being among these individuals. Amin!

Please, save your mind!

schizophrenia

Shaykh Sayyid Wahajuddin Ahmed (Allah preserve him)* said,

“These days following three things make individuals increasingly susceptible to mental ailments, such as depression, mania, etc.,

1. Severing relationships (qata rehmi). That is, to abandon ties with close relatives. The point we have to remember in this regard is that these relationships should not be based on reciprocal friendliness. We should maintain good relations even if the other is pushing us away.

2. Consumption of unlawful (haram). Especially, interest (sood) money.

3. Immodesty. Particularly, related to wearing indecent clothing and watching television. etc.”

16th February 2008

*The youngest son and khalifa e khas of  Shaykh Sayyid Raziuddin Ahmed Fakhiri (may Allah have mercy on him) .

Hypocrisy

Imam al-awliya SayidinaHasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) said,

‘A person who is not afraid of hypocrisy (nifaq) (hidden in his character) is a hypocrite (munafiq) indeed.’

Hayat e muslih al-Umma ra, page 232

Hypocrisy: a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess.