Category Archives: H. Whispering & random thoughts

wasawis and khatrat

Lustful glances

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

Nothing happens without determination.
The real treatment to prevent lustful glances is to think at that moment:

“Allah SWT is watching me now and on the Day of Judgment I will be questioned regarding this. And if Allah SWT condemns me for punishment what will happen of me?”

By recalling this repeatedly again and again one will attain success.

Therefore, make strong determination.
This is the only treatment.

Initially for few days there will be some hardship indeed, but eventually, inshaAllah, it will become a habit. And then the gratification and peace you find in it can only be imagined of.

(Basair-e-Hakeemul-e-Ummat, page 369)

Sins: Dreadful

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

Committing a sin is a very wretched, ghastly and fatal thing.
It is essential to abstain from it completely.
That very moment when a slave in acting against his Lord’s command, is a very ominous and detesting. If he had the capabilities for differentiating between various feelings, he could have felt the darkening effect of sin.

Some wrong actions have the effect of causing the capability of performing good works in future to be taken away. This is a thing to be dreaded.

Another effect of sin is that the individuals under your command start disobeying your instructions.

The worst effect of committing sin is that due to the casual and careless attitude (of a sinner) a minor (saghirah) sin leads to a major (kabirah) sin and eventually to rejecting the truth (kufr).

Thus an individual should never become carefree after committing a sin. He should repent and make amendments.

Basa’ir-e-Hakeemul Ummat 532

Committing a sin thinking

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

Committing a sin thinking it will decrease (or eliminate) the desire for that sin (in the future) is a deception of Shaytan. Yes, the desire will be decreased temporarily but the faculty and power of committing sin will be strengthened (long term) resulting in the eradication of sin becoming beyond ones power and strength.

From: Advices of Hakim al-Umma: Part One

Calling onto others beside Allah for help

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Shaykh Mawlana Qadi Hamid-ud-deen Nagori al-Chishti [d:673H] was one of the foremost khalifas of Gharib Nawaz Khawaja Muin al-Deen al-Chishti [may Allah have mercy on them], founder of Chishti silsila. He was first Chishti shaykh to write a book and one of his book was on the usools of Chishti tariqah. It is mentioned in Gulzaar-e-Abrar p.47 that he reached the status of ijtihad in traditional sciences. He writes regarding calling onto others beside Allah for help:

ومنهم الذين يدعون الأنبياء والأولياء عند الحوائج والمصائب
باعتقاد ان أرواحهم حاضرة تسمع النداء وتعلم
الحوائج وذلك شرك قبيح وجهل صريح

“And there are those who call upon the Prophets and awliya for help in the time of distress with the belief that their souls are ever present, listening [hadhir nadhir] and aware of our needs. This is from the worst type of shirk and clear ignorance.”

[Tafheem al-Masail ba-hawala Tausheeh from Jawahir al-Tauheed, p.272. Courtesy Khanbaba. JazakAllah]

Taunts, allegations & name calling

 

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Remember that taunts, allegations and name calling in the path of Allah are our ‘medals’ and certificates of honor.

The best of creation, our blessed Prophet (Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him) was taunted and called a magician, possessed, mentally ill and misguided. Similarly his noble Companions were humiliated and teased.

So be at ease for  sharing this prize with very noble individuals.

The fundamental principles

 

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Understanding these principles thoroughly will remove all the confusion, doubts and abstruseness regarding the spiritual path.

1.  The demands of the religion should be given preference over worldly benefits.

2. The intellect should always remain subservient to the Divine Law (Shariah).

3.  Do not to be negligent in volitional (ikhteyari) actions (that is, within one’s determination and control)[e.g. essential daily worship, recitations, wird, etc.]. Similarly, do not be in pursuit of things that are beyond one’s control (ghair-ikhteyari)[e.g. spiritual states, dreams, uneveiling, etc.].

4.  Abandon all your own planning and schemes (tajwiz), delegate (tafwidh) all this to Allah.

5.  Keep focused on the goals of Shariah and not to be distracted by other things.

6. Consider spiritual states (kayfiyat-e-batiniyah) to be a good and desired phenomenon but do not regard them as the primary goal and objective  of the path.

7.  Do not to be overwhelmed by emotional factors and desires. Act as per the verdict of intellect and remember to keep it subservient to Shariah at all the times.

Ma-asir e Hakim al-Umma ra, page 166

Wahabi-ish?

In answer to one person’s question Hadhrat Hakim all-Umma Mawlana Shah Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi(may Allah have mercy on him) replied:

I don’t know how these innovators (bid’ati) link us to the Wahhabi’s?

First of all, the one whose name they are slandering is not even Abdul Wahab. For no reason they have slandered the poor guy. The actual person is Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab who took to extremes in certain matters, but not to the extent that these people slander him for.

Moreover, our aqaa’id are not even similar to his. If they argue that some of our beliefs are similar to his, then the answer to that is: your beliefs are similar to his also. For example, ‘Muhammd ibn Abdul Wahab believes that Islam is the truth, and so do you. He believes in the prophet hood of Muhammad (Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him) and so do you.’ So what is so bad about that?

And in so many issues (masa’il) we have major differences with him. So how can we be considered his followers? For example, he considers traveling for the visitation of Prophet’s (Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him)) blessed grave to be forbidden, whereas we say that it is praise-worthy (mustahab), rather emphasized to do so. Even some of our scholars gone to the extent of having the opinion that it is essential (wajib).

How then are we Wahhabis?

If they consider us Wahhabis due to the fact that we also don’t send curses on him like they do, then it should be known that Hazrat Rabi’ah Basriah (may Allah have mercy on her) would not even like to curse Satan (shaytan). In reality, this type of cursing and absolving oneself from others is the practice of the Shia (rawaafidh), and has no basis according to Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah.

So, how is it then that we are labeled as Wahhabis?”

Malfuzat-e-Hakim al-Umma ra; 8/253
Translated by Hadhrat Mawlana Tameem Ahmadi مدظله

Categories of love

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

‘There are two categories of love,

1. The intellectual and

2. The emotional

Of these it is essential to acquire the intellectual one. That is, being obedient in following the commands of the beloved by annihilating one’s desires and determinations by giving priority to none except them.

Whereas the emotional love, that is being attracted, having fascination and yearning is beyond one’s volition and control and therefore, not an essential requirement to be accquired.

The one that we are required to have is the intellectual love that is within our control.’

Ardha e Haqq, Mawaiz Ashrafiya, volume 15, page 62

P.S. It is essential to understand that, Hakim al-Umma is not downgrading the category of emotional love. The message is to take control and acquire what is within one’s reach. InshaAllah, eventually the blessings of obedience will bring the (true) emotional component along. Also, it is reminder to us that only emotional love without obedience is deficient and unflattering.

TV & VCR/DVD

Giving instructions to a newly appointed mujaz Hadhrat Dr. Ismail Memon (may Allah preserve him) said,

‘In the Prophetic sayings ingestion of intoxicating beverages has been pointed out to be the source of all the sins (umm al-khabayis), similar is the status of viewing television and video cassette recordings (VCR and these days DVDs). They are the root cause of most of the immoral actions (abb ul-munkerat).

Refrain from them completely.

Many individuals fail intellectually to recognize the evil effects of these things.

Even if one does not understand, it is essential to abstain from them.”

Maqalat wa shuzrat, Mawlana Yusuf Ludhyanawi shaheed (may Allah have mercy on him), page 8

Wife!

Masih al-Quloob Mawlana MasihUllah Khan (may Allah Have mercy on him) said,

“Wife is most the unpredictable relative.  A parent or a child, both of whom are closely related, will draw a line in their attitude and behaviour. But a wife draws no lines. She has no regard for any etiquette. Therefore, no matter what her attitude, no matter what words she utters, no matter what unbecoming language she uses, do not take offence. ”

For the friends

Advice on condolence 5

 

Sayyidi wa sanadi Hadhrat Mawlana Mohammad Taqi Usmani (may Allah preserve him) consoled the widow of his departed murid/khalifa and said,

“Do not worry excessively. Be assured that when Allah, Most High, takes away any means of our worldly sustenance then it is His way (sunna) to directly provide for those things, without any intermediaries.”

 

DHA, residence, 26th Sha’ban 1429/29th August 2008, around maghrib