یا الہی!
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رحمۃ اللہ علیہ
Category Archives: Q. Akabir
The adab of the path
A young brother requested to be initiated in the path.
Shaykh Mawalana Abdul Hafeez al-Makki (may Allah preserve him) one of the senior khulafa of Shaykh al-Hadith Mawlana Zakariyah (may Allah have mercy on him) inquired,
‘Have you ever previously entered the path via any of the living genuine Shuyukh?’
The aspirant hesitantly replied in negative.
Shaykh repeated his question again.
This time the seeker answered more confidently and only then Shaykh proceeded to initiate him.
It was a lesson to all present in the Makkah mukaramah khanqah.
‘Do not consider this initiation (baiyah) to be a trivial thing.’
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Related:
Chishti, Qadri, Naqshabandi & Suharwardy!
چشتیہ = قادریہ = نقشبندیہ = سہروردیہ
‘Following the usual practice of his Shaykh Haji (Imdadullah mohajir Makki) sahib, Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi (may Allah have mercy on them) used to initiate the seekers in the four major Sufi lineages (that is, Chishtiya, Qadiriya, Naqshbandiya and Suharwardiya).
This was to establish a connection with all the pious predecessors and gain their spiritual blessings.
Moreover, this was also to maintain an equivalent reverence for all pious predecessors and not to give preference to a saint over another. The latter is not allowed because it usually results in denigration of other saints. This is impermissible and very dangerous. Holding a bad opinion (su-e-dhan) about the pious sometimes results in a bad ending (of life, su-e-khatama, i.e. without faith), whereas it surely results in being bereft of their spiritual blessings.
Ashraf us-Sawanaih, part 3, page 185
Become blind, deaf, mute and paralyzed!
Baba Fariduddin Masood Ganj Shakar (may Allah have mercy on him)(d. 5th Muharram 611H/1262CE) said,
“A spiritual aspirant must do the following four things,
1. Become blind from seeing anyones’ mistakes.
2. Become deaf from hearing anything useless and petty.
3. Become mute, so there is no idle talking and his speech remains pure.
4. Paralyze his legs, so that he does not walk towards anything that is impermissible.
Only if these qualities are found in an individual then he is eligible to be called an aspirant otherwise he is a liar and a boastful charlatan. ”
Baba Farid ra ka roznamcha, page 11-12
Qutub e ‘Alam Hadhrat Gangohi ra!
Hakim al-Umma Hadhrat Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
“Essentially in every era there exist one or two such pious people that having no connection with them whatsoever, leaving aside open opposition and confrontation, leads to (Divine) displeasure and great loss of blessing. Though, no punishment results.
I consider Hadhrat Mawlana (Rashid Ahmad) Gangohi (may Allah have mercy on him), to be one of them.”
Waaz: Arza al-Haq, Khutbat e Hakim al-Ummat, volume 15, page 88
مواعظ اشرفیہ
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
حکیم الامت رحمۃ اللہ علیہ کا معذرت نامہ
Thanawi sulook
Outlining the strategy of spiritual path (sulook) employed by Hadhrat Mawlana Shah Mohammad Asadullah, a khalifa of Hakim al-Umma (may Allah have mercy on them) it is mentioned,
“His emphasis was more on taqwa(piety, awareness of accountability to Allah and abstaining from all that is sinful) then involvement in recitations of litanies (wird) and excessive remembrance (dhikir).
He used to say that taqwa is easy. This is because it is a passive thing, and it is established that abstaining from a act is easier than performing any activity.
Then he stressed on the vigilance in abiding to the Prophetic ways of doing things (Sunna)
The third thing in this hierarchy were the daily recitations of litanies and excessive remembrance (wird). “
Aks-e-Jameel, the biography of Mufti Mohammad Jameel Ahmad Thanawi (may Allah have mercy on him), page 202
In general, this is the manner in which most of our Mashaykh guide the spiritual aspirants.
Outcome of tazkiyah:Excellence in speech and character
Masih al-quloob Mawlana Masihullah Khan (may Allah have mercy on him) instructed,
“The acquisition of praiseworthy moral traits with yearning and loss of blameworthy charactersitics with aversion will manifest as attainment of excellence in speech and character.
Excellence in speech (husne-kalam) is defined as using words that are polite, decent and said in a gentle tone.
And excellence in character (husne-khulq) is to have forbearance (hilm).
So whenever something happens against your desires and upsets you, with this forbearance condone it using excellent speech (husne-kalam). As Allah says in the Qur’an,
و اذا سمعو اللغو اعرضو عنه
“Whenever you hear such useless talk, then let it pass.”
Tazkira Hadhrat Masih al-Ummat, wasiyetnama, page 119
Preferences!
Qutub al-Alam Shaykh Abdul Qudoos Gangohi (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
“Sanctified is Allah!
How can an intelligent individual leave the path of the masters of this path (mashaykh), which is like being the emperor of the worlds, moreover similar to having access to the Divine Throne, and prefer this wretched world (dunya)?”
Maktoobat Qudusiya, page 346
Related:
Tasawwuf: The rennovations!
Sayyidi wa sanadi Hadhrat Mawlana Mohammad Taqi Usmani (may Allah preserve him) said explaining the hadith,
The act of “renovation of the religion” mentioned in this hadith has been referred to by the word “Tajdeed”. It means the restoration of the original beliefs and practices after their being changed, distorted or forgotten.
The hadith indicates to the fact that some circles from within the Ummah may forget the original teachings of the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah, and some foreign elements may creep into the original beliefs and practices. But the distorted version of Shari‘ah, based on such foreign elements will not achieve the universal acceptance among the Muslims, and even if it succeeds in attracting a large number of people, Allah will send a person or a number of persons who will correct the error, restore the original beliefs and practices and explain the true intent of Shari‘ah.
This act of renovation is called “Tajdeed”, and those who carry out this remarkable work are named as “Mujaddid” (renovator).
From: at Talib
Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi (may Allah have mercy on him) is considered to be the “mujaddid” of the last (Hijri) century. His contributions are in almost each and every section of the religion. However, tasawwuf, which is the soul of the religion, was his favorite topic .
The contemporary tasawwuf in his era (and still in many places) had become a constellation of innovative rituals, ceremonies and cultural traditions. The emphasis on a very intimate, personal and overwhelming relationship of love and obidience with Allah, Most High, by the meticulous following of His messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) had faded away.
All praise is for Allah, Hakim al-Umma clarified the reality of Tasawwuf and exemplified by his life-syle, teachings and writings that how is it practiced in the every day life of any Muslim individual, irrespective of his social, economic, educational or professional background.
Allah reward him abundantly. Amin!
Our Akabir
In a special ecstatic spiritual state Hadhrat Mawlana Hussain Ahmad Madni (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
“We are the essence of Imam Abu Hanifa and the strength of Imam Malik.
We are the steadfastness of Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal; the purity of heart of Hadhrat Mujaddid Alf-Thani;
the insight of Hadhrat Shah Waliullah Muhaddith Dehlawi,
and we are the heirs of those people who have died and sacrificed to bring us our religion.
So you may be able to take our lives but you will never take our Islam from our hearts.”
From:at Talib
The real benefit of suhba!
Mawlana Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi said in regards to Shaykh Shah Wasiullah (may Allah have mercy on them),
“Those who attended his discourses not only felt the aroma of faith, the zest of worship and awareness of Here-after but also became aware of their own short comings and their unique personal spiritual ailments.
They left these gatherings not only with spiritual satisfaction but with a desire to change their present condition, feeling burdened with the previous mistakes and remorseful on the life already wasted.
This is the real benefit and result of being in presence (suhba) of and attending the spiritual discourses of the the pious (ahl Allah), the spiritual physicians (musliheen).
Halat e Muslih al-Ummat ra, page 6
Hypocrisy
Hadhrat Shah Wasiullah (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
“The Shuyukh have said that a believer is always afraid of hypocrisy (nifaq) in himself, while a definite hypocrite (munafiq) feels protected from it.”
Hayat e Muslih al-Ummat ra, page 232