Category Archives: N. Advice

Fundraising!

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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!

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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

Beware of negligence

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Masih al-quloob Mawlana Masihullah Khan (Allah have mercy on him) said,

Stay among people, but remain aloof.

Your body should be among creation, but your heart with the Creator. This will ensure that negligence does not overtake you. Beware of such negligence lest you conform with people in a way which entails opposition to Allah and His displeasure.

The Path to Perfection, page 130

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

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”

Giving gifts!

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

‘Keep up with the custom of exchanging gifts.

This practice cleanses the hearts (from misunderstandings and suspicions) and increases mutual love.

Do not consider any gift to be unworthy of being a present. Exchange whatever is available without any formalities.

Taleem ud deen, quoted via Zad us Salikeen, page 359

Karachi

Company of awliya

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

‘Once a person asked Hakim al-Umma (Allah have mercy on him), that the famous verse;
Yak zamana suhbat ba awliya
Behter az sed sala ta’et e bay-riya
(Momentary companionship of Friends of Allah is better than hundred years of sincere worship) seems to be an exaggeration. How can this be possible?

Hakim al-Umma replied,

‘It was no exaggeration at all. Moreover, the message was still not completely conveyed. If the poet had said;
Yak zamana suhbat ba awliya
behter az sed lekh sala ta’et e bay-riya
(Momentary company of Friends of Allah is better than million years of sincere worship), it would not have been an exaggeration.”

This is because in the company of pious/awliya you get more than the sincerity. You get the ta’uluq ma’Allah/love of Allah swt. This is the master key for all the further good actions.’

The first ten days of Zulhijjah

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

The first ten days of Zulhijjah are among the most magnificent days in Islamic calendar.

The Holy Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) has said,

“One fast during these days is equal to the fasting of one complete year, and the worship of one night during this period is equal to the worship in the “Lailatul-Qadr“.

Every Muslim should avail of this wonderful opportunity by performing during this period as much Iba’dah (acts of worship) to Allah as he or she can.

Islamic months

The love & company of awliya

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Shaykh Abu Taleb Makki (Allah have mercy on him) reported this in Quwwat al-Quloob,

A seeker approached a Gnostic of Allah (‘arif billah) and said,

‘ I am heedless of Allah’s remembrance, usually procrastinating good deeds and extremely lazy. Please, advice me on how can I overcome these things.

The Gnostic replied,

 ‘O brother!

If it is possible for you to love the friends of Allah (awliya) and keep their close company then immediately do so.

Perhaps they will keep you in their heart. And remember every day seventy times Allah’s special mercy is focused on these hearts. Maybe someday because of the love you have for them this mercy of Allah will be focused on you to. This will indeed take care of all your problems of this world and here-after.’

Ahl-e-sulook par achi buri Sohbet kay asaraat, page10  

Knowledge and pious company

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

‘Ilm (knowledge) without suhba (company of the pious) is not beneficial.

The islah (reformation) of a person with suhba and‘ ilm is easier compared to the person with ‘ilm but without suhba.

All the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) were not scholars. Whatever they achieved they achieved through suhba. The people of Allah (Ahl Allah) have always taken care with regard to suhba. They concentrated more on suhba than ‘ilm.’

Advices of Hakim al-Umma, part 6

The fear of becoming pious

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

If someone fears that if he becomes pious (muttaqi), he will lose out on the worldly pleasures, then I say; “Make the intention that I do not want to become pious. However, for the sake of Allah spend some time in the company of the ‘ulama and the masha’ikh and understand the din. The result of this will be that you will not experience any difficulty in becoming pious. On your own accord you will build up the interest to practice (on the din) and you will experience such joy and pleasure in practicing on the din that you will forget about all the worldly pleasures.”

Advices of Hakim al-Umma: Part Six

Hagerstown, MD

An Essential Principle

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Hakim ul Umma Shaykh Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him)  said:

“My (that is, the Shaykh’s) primary responsibility is to cultivate the desired moral characteristics in a murid (i.e. thankfulness, patience, love of Allah SWT and His messenger, humility, khushoo, fear, etc.) and not the rectification of his (outwards) actions (a’mal).

This is so because, once these moral characteristics are successfully developed the outward actions are rectified automatically.”

Aspirant/Salik needs to understand and assimilate this principle very clearly upfront.

Maasir e Hakeemul Ummat ra 163

Bridgeport, WV

The gold standard!

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

‘Perfect (kamil) and fully qualified (mukamal) individual is the one who is exactly following the footsteps of Allah’s approved Messenger (Muhammad, Allah bless him and grant him peace). His exterior appearance should be like the exterior appearance of the Messenger. And his inner condition (batin) must be like that of the inner condition of the  Messenger to.

That is, he should be following the Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) in every command and state (hal).’

Waaz: Tariq e qalander, Mawaiz e Hakim al-Ummat ra, page 246

Rockville, MD