Category Archives: D. Acts of Worship

Various acts of devotion to show our servitude

Useful Counsel

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Imam Abdallah ibn Alawi al-Haddad (Allah have mercy on him) said,

Scrupulously avoid every prohibited thing, whether it be significant or not.

Among the mortal sins which necessarily lead one to the (Hell) Fire are magic, murdering the life which Allah has rendered sacrosanct except in the course of justice, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, the drinking of wine and all other intoxicants, riba, expropriating the property of an orphan, and severing family ties.

You should beware exceedingly of all these things, and of everything else which Allah has prohibited.

Al-Wasaya al-Nafi’a

5th Feb 2010: Visit to Tarim, Hadramaut, Yemen

Dua requested

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Shaykh-al-’Arab wa -al-’Ajam ‘Arif Billah Hazrat Mawlana Shah Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Sahib (Allah preserve him) is very ill. Hazratwala (DB) is in critical condition for the last few days.

Please, make supplication (dua) for complete recovery with ‘afiyet.

JazakAllah!

Speech of heart.

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It is an established principle that when the tongue is busy talking the heart is quietly listening to it. Whereas, when the tongue is silent the heart starts to talk.

Therefore, hold your tongue so that the heart does not listen to its useless speech. Instead make it the organ of remembrance (of Allah). Hence, your heart will become accustomed to this remembrance. (And eventually start to speak this itself).

And tawfiq is from Allah!

Ma’arif e Sufiya, page 334

Teachings of Awliya

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Grand Mufti of Pakistan, Mufti Mohammad Shafii’, senior khalifa of Hakeem al-Umma (Allah have mercy on them) writes:

“The narratives regarding the senior Awliya Allah fall under three categories;

  1. Those regarding their kashaf & karamat (unveiling and miracles)
  2. Those related to their higher levels of ibadah (worship) and piety.
  3. Finally, their advice and instruction for improvement to general Muslims.

From all these it is this third thing that the general Muslims have to read and learn with utmost emphasis. This is because it is essence of the teachings of Awliya. It is the most effective medicine for betterment of Muslims.”

Preface, Nuzhatul Basateen (Translation of Imam Yafai’i ra’s Rawdh ur Reyaheen+) page 6. Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) supervised the translation of this book and recommended its reading for salikeen to develop and increase the love of Allah.

It is published by HM Saeed Co., Karachi, Pakistan. It is freely available at major Islamic bookstores.

Change for better!

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Advicing a couple going through a tough marital conflict sayyidi wa sanadi 

Mawlana Mohammmad Taqi Usmani (may Allah preserve him) said,

“You both need to change for better.

Do not be discouraged by past experiences.

Consider that you are starting a new life together again from scratch.

Pay close attention to each other’s rights and your own obligations.

Keep the envoirnment at home relaxed,  pleasant and lively.

Allocate some special quality time daily for each other.”

January, 2nd  2008

Salah with congregation

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Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaykh Mawlana Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him) encourages us to read the biographies of our elders (akabir).

One of the benefits of doing this is to get the motivation (hal) for our own reformation (islah).

Following incident has a great lesson for all of us.

‘Shaykh Syed Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi (Allah have mercy on him) [d.1999] was very particular about performing salâh with congregation from a young age together with waking up for the night salâh (tahajjud), reciting the Qur’ân and daily remembrance of Allâh . This continued during his old age and time of weakness as well.

On one occasion (in the forties) he went on foot from Nadwatul ‘Ulamâ’ to his house in Lucknow with this in mind that he will perform the ‘ishâ salâh at the musjid near his house. When he reached there, the salâh was already over. So he went to another musjid and found that the people had completed their salâh there as well. He was most disturbed by this until someone informed him that a third musjid has the ‘ishâ congregation a bit later. He reached this musjid and joined the congregation. He experienced unexplainable joy at this.’

Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi: Al Alimul Murrabi Wa Daiyutul Hakeem

Results of involvement in useless activities

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Shaykh Mawlana Karamat Ali Jaunpuri (Allah have mercy on him) said,

This lowly speaker has experienced it well that when an individual is engrossed in useless activities his/her previous piety wanes away. Therefore, one should repent immediately if he/she becomes involved in anything useless and not return to that activity again.

Irshad us Salikeen/Aqwal e Sufiya, page 36

Advice to reader of Sufi works!

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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

Fast of ‘Ashura

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Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaykh Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah presrve him) writes,

Abdullah ibn Musa, (Allah be pleased with him), reports that the Holy Prophet, (Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him), preferred the fast of ‘Ashura’ (10th Muharram) on the fasts of other days and preferred the fasts of Ramadhaan on the fast of ‘Ashura’. (Bukhari and Muslim)

Muharram:Albalagh

Dua for steadfastness on Deen

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Our master Shahr bin Jaushab (Allah be pleased with him) says:

“I asked Umme Salma (The Mother of the Believers, Allah be pleased with her) ‘What was the supplication (dua) most often made by the Prophet of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in his house?’

She replied that Prophet of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to recite,

يَا مُقَلِّبَ الْقُلُوْب ثَبِّتْ قَلْبِىْ عَلٰى دِيْنِكَ

O the Controller of hearts! Make my heart firm on Your Deen.

(Tirmizi)

The hierarchy

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

‘Whenever, I make prayer for forgiveness and send reward of meritorious deeds I start with my parents. Then I include my forefathers from both paternal and maternal side. After them for my teachers and Shuyukh. Then for my household members and relatives. And finally for my juniors.’

He then instructed his disciples to do similarly.

Khubaat e Arifi, ‘Amal e hasna, page 391

Perfection

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

‘Perfection (kamal) is that an individual can successfully overcome a state (hal) without the  state causing any change in him.

Great insight (baseerah) is needed to recognize such an individual. His condition is similar to that of the novice aspirant. Common people can not differentiate between them.

To recognize a spiritual-graduate (muntahi) is not an easy thing. It is for this reason that people recognized those who were still traversing the path(mutawassit) but failed to recognized the perfect awilya and Prophets.’

Waaz e Meerut, Khutbat e Hakim al-Ummat, volume 8, page 394

Benefits of pious company!

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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!

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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.

The Reality of Jihad

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Hakeem ul Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) tells an anecdote in one of his discourses:

A sufi aspirant busy with his islah (reformation) was overwhelmed with a thought of abandoning his spiritual struggle and to enlist in the Muslim Army engaged in Jihad. Being sincere he consulted his Shaykh before embarking on this holy journey.

Sheikh admonished him saying that this was the conspiracy of his nafs (lower self) to escape.

The nafs was tired of the daily jihad (struggle). That is, struggle of withholding it self from all the haram (forbidden) activities and engaging in extra (nafil) worship. For example, avoiding lustful glances, backbiting, anger, self-pride etc. and being humble, patient, pious, etc.. Tired of this daily struggle it wanted to escape by dying fighting in Jihad.

This might be the reason of calling the daily struggle of self-reformation (islah) Jihad e Akbar (The greater struggle) as compared to the holy war, Jihad e Asghar (The lesser struggle) in one of the Prophetic narrations (dha’eef).

At this point it is most appropriate to clear any misconception about Jihad in our days.
Sayyidi wa sanadi Mawlana Mohammad Taqi Usmani sahib (Allah preserve him) explains:

“Jihad is, no doubt one of the intuitions enshrined by Islam. But it does not mean a war to compel people to accept Islam, as the Holy Quran has declared that there is no compulsion in religion. Nor does it mean to occupy lands and extend territory of a Muslim state without a just cause.

Jihad is in fact means a well disciplined struggle against aggression and oppression. The struggle of jihad may be with or without arms. Armed struggle is allowed only when peaceful means have totally failed.

Apart from a just and rightful cause it is necessary that it is carried out under a competent Amir or leader in strict compliance with dictates of Shariah.

This armed struggle can never target innocent persons.
It is always a legitimate struggle against an oppressor or a tyrant and his warriors.

It has, therefore, nothing to do with terrorist activities which target innocent people and have been termed by the Quran as ‘Fasad fil-ard’ (spreading disorder in the land).”

Source:Usmani M T, Albalagh International: Vol 16 No. 8/September 2005 “Islamic vision on interfaith cooperation for peace”