Category Archives: J. Rights

Advice

Addressing a gathering of female seekers Hakim al Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) said (from behind a barrier),

‘Being submissive to husband is considered to be a shameful thing.

Yo do not consider this to be from the rulings of Shariah.

If anyone of you gets enthusiastic about religion then she will recite litanies and award in huge numbers. I tell you that the level of these award (that are supererogatory,i.e.nafil) is (spiritually) far below in (religious quest). The most superior thing is to act against one’s (nafs) desires. Having reverence and respect for and being submissive to husband is against one’s desire and therefore more superior (mujahida:spiritual struggle).

Tohfa-e-zojain, page 51

Signs of opening of heart

Once Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) read the verse of Holy Quran:

“So, whomsoever Allah wills to guide, He makes his heart wide open for Islam,….”

[Surah- An’aam : [6:125]

Thereafter, Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: “When the Light of Islam enters a person’s heart, it opens up for it.”

Someone said: “O Prophet! Is there a sign which indicates this opening of the heart?”

Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:

‘The aversion of this pretentious worldly life,

the fondness of the everlasting life (Here-after) and

preparation before the coming of death.”‘

[Mishkaat] Maut ki Yaad Hazrat Shaikhul Hadith ra

Prioritizing

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

‘It is heedlessness (ghaflat) to waste the moments of one’s life in useless activities that are beneficial neither for this worldly life nor in hereafter.

Ponder! The stuff you are doing now: is it urgent and essential or something more important needs to be done now?

What are your prioritizing?

What are you procrastinating?

How are you going to compensate for the  ten minutes you (just) wasted (in useless activities)?

Why did you wasted them (in the first place)?

Come and sit in the company of the friends of Allah (ahlullah) and only then you will learn to prioritize your activities. ‘

Sawanih wa talemaat Hazrat Arifi ra, page 638

اصل مزار

بعد از وفات تربتِ ما در زمیں مَجو
در سینہ ہائے مردمِ عارف مزارِ ما

(سعدی شیرازی)

وفات کے بعد میری قبر زمین میں تلاش مت کرنا، کہ عارف لوگوں کہ سینوں میں میرا مزار ہے۔

Obeying the biggest enemy!

Shaikh Qari Amir Hasan (Allah have mercy on him) said,

Nowadays we do not listen to and obey anyone. Neither to our father nor mother nor our spiritual mentor.

We only listen to and obey our nafs who is our biggest enemy.

Shaikh Haji Imdadullah muhajir Makki (Allah have mercy on him) used to say,

‘The thing I fear the most is my nafs.’

O spiritual aspirant: Be a mullah!

و الذ کر اسم ربک و تبتل الیہ تبتیلا۔مزمل۔۸

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

‘In brief it is essential to disassociate completely from all that is created and focus towards the Creator.

It is clear that thorough disassociation is not at all possible without limiting the relations (with others) (Obviously non-wajib).

The Shuyukh and salikeen should be vigilant in decreasing these associations. They should be perturbed by the gathering of people around them and the respect they show, etc..

Develop this disposition, because the achievement of perfect state of harmony (with the Divine:wusool) is not possible without it.

Based on experience my opinion is that one must live like a blunt mullah. There should not be expression of overwhelming emotions or distribution of amulets & charms (ta’weez, ganday). Do not emulate the lifestyle of the (contemporary) dervishes. All these thing lead to gathering of people.

Live like a mullah, so that others get an impression that you are a vapid mullah.

Instruct your associated to do the same. Bestow them spiritually whatever you want to confidentially in such a manner that none is suspicious that you possess something (spiritual wealth). Keep the external means afar and hide yourself as much as possible.’

Waaz: al-wasal al-fasal,Tasleem o raza, Khutbaat e Hakimul Ummat ra, volume 15, page 203

The most difficult task!

Shaikh Mawlana Shah Wasiullah Allahabadi (Allah have mercy on him) said,

‘The most difficult task is to follow (itiba’) someone.

This is not possible without,

1. Cognizance of the knowledge and Gnosis (ma’arifa) held by the one who is being followed,

2. Annihilation (fana) of the self (nafs), moreover absolute annihilation (fana e taam). (That is, abrogation of self direction, opinion, assumptions and expectations.)

Nowadays this type of following is becoming extinct.

Individuals feel repugnance and humiliation in following someone.’

Halaat e Muslih al-Ummat ra, volume 4, page 103

Differentiate between needs & desires


Allah (Most Exalted) says;

‘whereas for the one who feared to stand before his Lord,

and restrained his self from the (evil) desire,[79:40]

the Paradise will be the abode.[79:41]

So, have you seen him who has taken his desires as his god, and

Allah has let him go astray, despite having knowledge, and has sealed his ear and his heart, and put a cover on his eye?

Now who will guide him after Allah? Still, do you not take lesson? (45:23)

———————————————————————-

A need is something that is necessary for an individual to live a healthy life.

Needs are distinguished from desires because a deficiency would cause a clear negative outcome, such as dysfunction or death.

Desire is a sense of longing for a person or object or hoping for an outcome.

—————————————————————————

These desires may be permissible or impermissible.

The Shariah decides these limits and their rulings. The way of Sunna delineates how to safeguard these limits. Finally, the tariqat ensures how these limits are effectively implemented in one’s life practically.  Hence, a faithful believer is ensured salvation from the above mentioned Quranic admonition.

 

Three basic rights of every Muslim

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‘It is essential that you provide the following three things to every Muslim;

1. If you can not provide any benefit to him, do not harm him.

2. If you can not make him happy, do not make him sad.

3. If you can not praise him, do not condemn him.

Ahzab tahzib un nafus,  Munajat e maqbool, (zamimajat, Saeedi), page 312

Searching for a Shaikh

chirag chishtian

In his youth the renowned journalist, and scholar Maulana Abdul Majid Daryabadi [d1977] (Allah have mercy on him) had turned from a believer to a heretic, an atheist and nonbeliever  under the influence of reading books written by agnostics Philosophers. He was skeptical of religion and called himself a “rationalist”. For almost nine years, he remained away from religion.

However, later in life after reading the translation of the Holy Quran he became a practicing Muslim again.  Moreover, study of ‘Mathnawi e manawi‘ of Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi (Allah have mercy on him) had profound influence on him.

He wrote,

‘For some duration I had been searching for a Shaikh. I had devoured all the literature about Tasawwuf and sulook in Persian, Urdu and Arabic languages available to me. After reading so many books and sayings (malfuzat) of the pious the only desire I had was to meet a living saint.

In addition to the spiritual centers at major cities in Hyderabad, Delhi and Lucknow, I visited numerous centers at smaller towns like Ajmer, Kalyer, Dewa, Bansah, Radowli, Safipur, etc. in this search. I did not hesitate to visit any pious Shaikh I came to know about. I met individuals with overwhelming states (hal) and prolific orations (qal). Some of them excelled in worshipful activities while others were deep ascetics. Some of them were mere businessmen in disguise, with long hairs (& sufi attire).

In the end of this search my heart told me that the truth is limited to those of Deobandi affiliation. Therefore, you should limit your search and look specifically within them.

Furthermore, I limited this search  to those affiliated with the individual (Shaikh al-Arab wal-‘Ajam Haji Imdadullah mohajir Makki, Allah have mercy on him) who wrote the best exegesis of the most beneficial work of Tasawwuf (Mathnawi e manawi).’

Halaat e Muslih al-Ummat ra, volume 3, page 618

 

Missing the daily wird

Spiritual seekers often complain these days about missing the daily tasbihat and recitations instructed to them. They want an easy solution.

Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaikh Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani ( Allah preserve him) has repeatedly reminded us that there is no magical potion or incantation or amulet that the Shaikh can prescribe for this. One has to use his determination and do it.

Moreover, laxity in performance of daily wird is a sign of taking it lightly. An individual does not miss something that he considers to be important.

The daily wird provides the soul nutrition required for performance of good actions and staying away from all that is corrupting. Hence, the spiritual progress is dependent on it.

Missing it is spiritually detrimental.

The daily recitation prescribed these days (especially in Ashrafiya tariqa) are minimal. They are adjusted to each and every individual’s capacity, enthusiasm and time availability.

The following narrations shows the demeanor of the pious elders in this regards.

Shaikh Fazal ur Rehman Ganjmuradabadi writes about the daily wird of his Shaikh Shah Mohammad Afaq (Allah have mercy on them),

‘Every day he used to recite salutations (durood) on the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) 10,000 times, tahleel (kalimah e taiyaba) 50,000 time and read ten juz of Holy Quran. The recitation of these ten juz was completed in an interval of time that appeared to an unaware observer to be suitable for a single juz’s recitation. Moreover, with all the five fardh salah he used to offer salah at-tasbih.’ Tazkirah, page 198

In recent past repetition of ism e dhat (Allah!) 24,000 times a day was a normal routine for  most of the spiritual seekers.

If we can not be consistent with the minimum wird prescribed, then how can we expect for spiritual progress?

Munasbet

Shaikh Sharf-uddin Ahmed Yayha al-Muneri (d:786 Hijri/1384CE) in his search for a Shaikh visited Shaikh Nizam uddin Auliya (d:1325CE) (Allah have mercy on them) in Delhi. He was the most famous Shaikh of India at that time and people from all over the Islamic world came to benefit from him. He was known as Mehboob-e-Ilahi, the beloved of Allah. However, Shaikh al-Muneri did not find munasbet with this great wali and continued his search.

Eventually he found munasbet with a less famous al Suharwardi-al Kubrawi Shaikh Najib-uddin al-Firdausi (Allah have mercy on him) and became his disciple.

Maktubaat e Sadi: Introduction

It is from the basic principles of the tariq that munasbet with Shaikh is essential for spiritual benefit.

A common mistake is to overlook this principle and be hasty, go for famous Shuyukh and give in to peer-pressure.

 

Path to Allah

Shaikh Mufti Mohammad Rafi’ Usmani (Allah preserve him) said,

‘I received a letter from a medical student regarding the fiqhi ruling of a dilemma he was facing.

He wrote that previously he had been a carefree youth, however, in medical college he met some individuals active in the work of Dawah & Tabligh. He benefited a lot from their company and became very active in the work himself. For the previous few years he participated in the taleem everyday, made the weekly gasht, spend the Friday night at the markaz, went out for 3 days each month and forty days a year meticulously. However, the schedule, curriculum and activities at the medical college were always an obstacle in doing all these works in the path of Allah. He had been using excuses to be absent from the college to do all these activities and his learning was being neglected. He wanted to know if it was permissible as per Shariah rulings to do so.

It was explained to him that lies and fraud are impermissible in Islamic Shariah.

It is to be understood that the working on a path to Allah in not restricted to the work of Dawah & Tabligh per se. The studying to adopt a profession with an intention to earn lawful income, sustain a family and help the needy in also working on a path to Allah.  With this intention your medical studies will also become an act of worship.

On admission to the medical college you made a contract that you will abide by the rules and regulations of the institute. They included that sufficient attendance to learning activities is essential.  This contract is morally and legally (as per Shariah) binding. Breaching it will be sinful. The lies and deception to do so will further increase the severity of sin.

Moreover, without thorough knowledge, supervised training and extensive practice of medical sciences it will be impermissible for you to treat patients. It will be tantamount to playing with an individual’s life.

(Addressing the audience Mufti sahib added:)

We must not restrict Deen to certain activities according to our perceptions.

Also, it must be clear that I am not against the movement of Dawah & Tabligh. None can depreciate the significant work being done by this movement worldwide.

It is necessary that we have clear understanding: How to practice and implement the Deen in our life?

The pious expert tell us that the most effective way of doing this is to have a islahi relationship with a pious Shaikh. One has to consult him for all his religious issues, ask for guidance and supplications and do what he prescribes. Only then true Deen comes into one’s life. ‘

Qari Rafeeq’s residence, Safa distt, Jeddah, bayan after maghrib, 20th January 2012