Category Archives: T. Tarbiyet

Contains principle and guidelines on training and disciplining of the morals (ikhlaq) of murid

Knowledge derived from kashaf

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Hadhrat Hakim al-Ummah Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (may Allah sanctify his secret) said,

“Since I now consider the knowledge derived from kashf unworthy of notice, I forbid people from discussing this with me, either orally or by way of writing. Although there was a time when I was engrossed in this knowledge, [so much so that] I would remain absorbed in this night and day, I now consider it (the knowledge derived from kashf) to be an impediment in reaching the goal.”

Bawadir al-Nawadir, page 589.

This is a salient feature of tarbiyet in the Ashrafiya path.

(Translation & editing by Shaykh Mawlana Ismaeel Nakhuda db.)

علوم مکاشفہ

ilabizikr

حضرت حکیم الامت مولانا اشرف علی تھانوی قدس اللہ سرہ نے فرمایا

چونکہ علوم مکاشفہ میرے نزدیک اب بالکل ناقابل التفات ہیں۔

اس لئے میں ممانعت کرتا ہوں کہ کوئی صاحب اس کے متعلق مجھ سے تقریرا” یا تحریرا”  مکالمہ نہ کریں

 گو مجھ پر ایک زمانہ ایسا بھی گذرا کہ ان علوم سے بہت شغف تھا شب و روز انھیں میں منہمک رہتا تھا

 مگر اب تو ان کو مخل مقصود سمجھتا ہوں۔ 

بوادر النوادر، صفحہ 589

تصوف میں مسلک اشرفیہ کا یہ ایک رہنما بنیادی اصول ہے۔

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

Tasawwuf summarized


Mawlana Wasiullah Allah have mercy on him) said;

“Three things are the sum up of Tasawwuf;

1. Shunning the heedlessness (ghaflah),

2. Getting rid of blame worthy moral traits (razail/muhlekat e nafs). (For example: anger, arrogance, envy, hatred, etc)

3. Being on alert of the various in coming thoughts/ideas (that may be either useless or leading to transgression).”

Halaat e Muslehul Ummat 379

Bridgeport, WV

تلوین

07

حكیم الامت مجدد الملت مولانا اشرف علی تھانوی رحمة اللہ علیہ نے فرمایا

سالك كے قلب كے حالات كا مختلف ھونا كبھی قبض ھونا،كبھی بسط ، كبھی سُكر، كبھی صحو، بالخصوص مبتدی كہ اس كو بھت تغیر پیش آتا ھے۔ اس كو تلوین كھتے ھیں۔

یہ لوازم سلوك میں سے ھے۔ مضر نھیں۔ اس سے پریشان نہ ھونا چاھیے كہ وہ پریشانی البتہ مضر ھے۔

التكشف ص ٣٢١ْ

صحبت شیخ

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فرمایا کہ اس طریق میں اصل چیز صحبت شیخ او رمحبت شیخ ہے ۔

 تعلیم وتلقین اس کے بغیر کا رگر نہیں ہوتی اور صحبت بلا تعلیم وتلقین کے بھی مفید ہوتی ہے.

پہلے بزرگوں کی عام عادت زیادہ تعلیم وتلقین کی نہ تھی، ان کی صحبت کی برکت ہی سے اصلاح ہو جاتی تھی ۔

غالباً حضرت مولانا محمد اسماعیل شہید نے منصب امامت میں لکھا ہے کہ بزرگوں کا فیض صحبت آفتاب کے مشابہ ہوتا ہے کہ اس کا فائدہ سب کو پہنچتا ہے، خواہ استفادہ کرنے والے کو اس کی خبر بھی نہ ہو اور قصد استفادہ کرے یا نہ کرے آفتاب کا فائدہ سب کو برابر ملتا ہے، اسی طرح خاص خاص بزرگوں کا فیض صحبت بھی ایسا ہی عام ہوتا ہے اور علامت ایسے بزرگوں کی یہ ہوتی ہے کہ ان کی وفات کے وقت عام قلوب میں ایک ظلمت وکدورت محسوس ہونے لگتی ہے۔

 حضرت نے فرمایا کہ اس کی تائید اس جملہ سے ہوتی ہے، جو صحابہ کرام نے رسول الله صلی الله علیہ وسلم کی وفات پر فرمایا تھا :” والله ما انفضنا ایدینا من التراب حتی انکرنا قلوبنا“

یعنی خدا کی قسم ! ہم نے رسول الله صلی الله علیہ وسلم کو دفن کرنے کے بعد اپنے ہاتھ بھی مٹھی سے نہیں جھاڑے تھے کہ ہمارے قلوب میں تغیرمحسوس ہونے لگا۔

فرمایا مشائخ کی صحبت میں رہنے والا ہر وقت اُس سے نفع حاصل کرتا رہتا ہے، خواہ اس کو نفع کا احساس اور استحضار ہو یا نہ ہو۔

مجالس حکیم الامت رح

Teaching of the Awliya!

Sultan ra mazar

Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) narrates the following incident in one of his discourses:

Khawaja Bakhtiyar Kaki quddus sirahu’s janazah was ready for the salah. The khadim-e-khas came forward and announced that according to the will of  Khawaja the funeral prayer (salat-ul-janazah) is to be led by the person who fulfills these 3 requirements:

1. He should have never laid eyes on any unrelated women (non-mehram) after reaching puberty.

2. He should have never missed the 4 rakat of sunnah-prayer (ghair-muakkidah) before asr salah.

3. Because of the fear and awe of Allah, he never looked upwards towards heavens.

The huge crowd stood still. All the awliya of Dehli and Shaykh’s senior khulafa were there. No one came forward. Khadim repeatedly announced the requirements. But there was no response. A sense of impatience was being felt.

Finally, Sultan Shamusddin Altamash (Allah have mercy on him) stepped forwards. He remarked, “No one knew my secret, the respected Khawaja  disclosed it. All praise is for Allah, I fullfil these criteria”. He then led the prayers.

Even after his demise Khawaja Bakhtiyar Kaki  (Allah have mercy on him) taught a tremendous message:

To his khulafa and mureedeen he taught the lesson of humility (tawadhu’) and saved them from self admiration (u’jub). He motivated them to perform and be consistent with the  supererogatory (mustehibat) acts of worship. Also, he taught them to never under estimate others and have a high opinion for them.

To the public who always complain that they are too busily involved in acquiring means for survival and can not spare time for essential worship lest for nawafil, he showed them the example of the king. Their ruler who had a huge responsibity, numerous tasks and varied commitments to attend to, but still he was steadfast even in praying the pre-asr ghair-muakkidah sunna. His modesty did not allow him to look at the unlawful. His fear of accountability to Allah was so pervasive that he did not dare look towards the heaven. Leaving us pondering:If a monarch can be like this why can not it be us?

ہرگز نہ میرد آنکہ دلش زندہ شد زعشق
ثبت ازبر جریدہء عالم  دوام  ما

Harms of being involved in non volitional issues!

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In regards to the effort of acquisition and elimination of non volitional things (umur e ghair ikhtiyariyah) Hakim al-Umma Shaykh Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) said,

‘Failure by the aspirants to achieve this produces progressive frustration. The potential consequences of this frustration are:

1.  Physical illness may develop as a result of constant worry. This in turn results in the omission of many devotional practices.

2.  Frustration sometimes results in ill-temper. Others are then inconvenienced by one’s display of ill-manners.

3.  Overwhelming worry and frustration at times causes one to neglect the rights of one’s family as well as those of others. Such neglect becomes sinful.

4.  Sometimes this frustration reaches to such a level that the aspirant becomes hopeless and commits suicide. Thus, both his dunya and his here-after (aakhirah) are destroyed.

5.  Sometimes the frustration causes him to lose all hope  and he starts considering acts of obedience and righteousness to be useless. In consequence he ends all his righteous activities and his spiritual affairs reaches an abrupt halt.

6.  Sometimes he becomes disillusioned with his Shaikh, losing confidence in him. He then labors under the notion that his Shaikh is not aware of the Path of Sulook.

7.  Sometimes the frustration becomes so extreme that one becomes displeased with Allah that I am trying so hard and still I remain unsuccessful. There is no mercy and attention on me. He  then doubts and denies  Allah’s promises (of guiding whoever so wishes to be guided, etc.)

Al-Usool al-wusool, page 22

May Allah Ta’ala protect us from such a disastrous end. Amin!

Most frequent impediments in the path

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

‘From the impediments of the path two are specially so prevalent that it is rare if any of the travelers has escaped not being involved in them. Even the learned scholars are involved in them.

One of them is striving to acquire some non volitional (ghair ikhtiyari) things. That are, things like engrossment, enthusiasm, intense & deep concentration, ecstasy, serenity, blocking of disturbing thoughts, burning desire, overwhelming attraction, emotional love, etc. It is assumed that these are the results of remembrance (dhikr), concentration exercises (shugal) and spiritual struggle (mujahidah). Moreover they consider themselves to be at loss when these things are not achieved.

The other impediment is striving to remove some non volitional (ghair ikhtiyari) thing. For example, spiritual constriction (qabd), overwhelming thoughts, not developing interest, love of an individual, innate love of wealth, sexual desires, excessive natural anger, not having softness of heart, not being able to cry, overwhelming worldly sorrow or fear, etc. It is assumed that theses things are detrimental for the path and are an impediment in achievement of the goal.’

Al-Usool al-wusool, page 20

Salik’s mistake

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The genuine remorse, sadness and humiliation on realization of committing sins acts as a catalyst in spiritual progress of a salik.

It makes him aware of his deficiencies. The self-praise (ujub) and arrogance (kibr) are wiped off. A stronger feeling of dependency on Allah’s mercy and grace develops. He make more supplications and turning to Allah (ruju illAllah) with humility asking for forgiveness and protection from future such calamities.

In summary the mistakes of those on the path become a stepping stone for them in their progress.

(This is true only for the sincere salik who is trying his best and occasionally slips because of his ba-shar-iyat (humanness). This discussion can not be used to justify sinning by those who intentionally plan and commit sins.)

Combating Immodesty on Internet

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A dear friend wrote,
‘I am sad to say that I have been involved in some very immodest activities (on the internet). I wish to repent from these activities through the mercy of Allah ta’ala. However, I wanted to ask a way through which to divert the mind from thinking about certain things, for example, if the mind is thinking about women etc., how do I force it stop and think about something else?

Also, how do I reverse the effects of the immodesty on me? I am sure the immodesty has had an effect on my mind as well as nafs, so how do I return back?

Answers to these questions will inshallah be very beneficial to me.

I appreciate all your help.’

The following reply was sent by Allah’s tawfiq,

‘Respected brother,

as salam o alaykum wrwb

JazakAllah for the email. It is reflective of your desire and yearning for Allah’s pleasure. May Allah increase it more with afiyet. Amin!

Life is full of ups and downs. It is very natural that in spite of all the care we sometimes slip and fall down. However, it is unnatural to keep lying down in the dirt. A normal person will get up. Brush away the dirt and move on. Staying down, not removing the dirt and not moving on is abnormal.

Thank Allah that He made you realize your mistake. Thank Him further that He allowed you to repent. Thank Him more that He put in your heart the desire to seek help to gain back His pleasure.

A very important thing that we all overlook is that in ikhteyari umoor there is no other way of achieving success except from using one’s determination (himmat) and will power. This must be coupled with supplication for Allah’s help.
To develop this determination we associate with the pious (ahlulAllah), listen and read their discourses, books and do the remembrance (zikr), etc.

I will again remind myself that there is no zikr, shugal, tawajjah, taweez or potion that will force me to abstain from sins. I will have to use my determination.

Please, do the following,
1. Inform your Shaykh explicitly of this thing in detail. This is essential, without it all measures will be futile. Shaykh will direct you to the most appropriate effective means for you in particular.

2. For the time being fix a penalty of 10 nafil rakats whenever you slip PLUS skipping the breakfast the following day. You can only take coffee or tea.

3. Use internet wisely. Keep a schedule. Use it in a public space. etc. If you can not do this then abandon using it completely for the time being.

4. Be very particular about your daily recitations (wird). No multitasking is allowed in performing them.

5. Manage your time well. Do not leave wide gaps for futile surfing, etc. Develop a hobby. People complain about Bahishti Zewar having all the recipes and methods of cooking and making various stuff. May be one of the purpose was to give individuals ideas to occupy themselves with some permissible activity.

6. If thoughts about the past return, make istegfar and immediately divert your attention towards something else. It is a trap of nafs and Shaytan to keep one ruminating about the past, becoming depressed and loosing hope. May Allah save us from them. Amin!

7. Feel free to communicate with this lowly writer as needed in this regards.

For undoing the effect of this, activity I remind my self of the similitude of burning my own finger in a flame intentionally. Even after removing it from the proximity of fire and applying medicine it takes days for the pain to go away and weeks and months for the scar to heal. This is true, especially, if I do not make the stupid mistake of burning the same finger again and again. If I continue doing this the nerve endings will be damaged permanently and the sensation of feeling pain will be lost for ever. Allah save us all from this!

Take care.
InshaAllah, everything will be fine, eventually.

muhtaj e dua’

No new state!

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An aspirant wrote that,

‘At this time there is no new state (hal) that I want to mention. It is only to inquire about your well being that I am writing to you.’

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

‘Not having a new state is also a state (hal). This is, because it means that the condition is stable. Moreover, it is for sure reflective that there is no deterioration. ‘

Tarbiyat us Salik, volume 1, page 570

Audio: Latest bayans of sayyidi wa sanadi Mufti Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him)

Ijaza & khilafa

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Shaykh Shah Wasiullah (Allah have mercy on him) said,

The objective of imparting ijaza and khilafa by the Shuyukh is that the people may consider these individuals trustworthy and develop a good opinion about them in order to benefit from them in their reformation (islah). It is not meant by it that the the person who has recieved this ijaza and khilafa to consider himself fully accomplished (kamil) and become negligent of his own reformation and start being independent of the pious Elders (akabir).’

Tuhfa-tush-Shuyukh, page 37