Dua for steadfastness on Deen
Our master Shahr bin Jaushab (Allah be pleased with him) says:
“I asked Umme Salma (The Mother of the Believers, Allah be pleased with her) ‘What was the supplication (dua) most often made by the Prophet of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in his house?’
She replied that Prophet of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to recite,
يَا مُقَلِّبَ الْقُلُوْب ثَبِّتْ قَلْبِىْ عَلٰى دِيْنِكَ
O the Controller of hearts! Make my heart firm on Your Deen.
(Tirmizi)
Humility
Shaykh Mohammad Abdullah Gangohi (Allah have mercy on him) said,
A humble man is not a person who regards himself above the act of humility he is displaying. A humble man is a person who considers himself below the act of humility he is doing.
حاصل و منتہاۓ طریق
علامہ سید سیلمان ندوی رحمۃ اللہ علیہ نے فرمایا
ہر عمل میں طلب رضا کا شعور پیدا ہونا یہی اس طریق کا حاصل ہے۔
اور جب خدا اوربندہ کے درمیان یہ علاقہ استوار ہو جاتا ہے تو صوفیہ کی اصطلاح میں اس کو ‘نسبت’ کہتے ہیں۔
تذکرہ سلیمان رح، ص412
Beware of negligence
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
بدعت
The hierarchy
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
حقیقت حال
Perfection
Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) said,
‘Perfection (kamal) is that an individual can successfully overcome a state (hal) without the state causing any change in him.
Great insight (baseerah) is needed to recognize such an individual. His condition is similar to that of the novice aspirant. Common people can not differentiate between them.
To recognize a spiritual-graduate (muntahi) is not an easy thing. It is for this reason that people recognized those who were still traversing the path(mutawassit) but failed to recognized the perfect awilya and Prophets.’
Waaz e Meerut, Khutbat e Hakim al-Ummat, volume 8, page 394
یا الہی
نہ غرض کسی سے نہ واسطہ مجھے کام اپنے ہی کام سے
تیرےذکر سے تیری فکر سے تیری یاد سے تیرے نام سے
جگر رح
Benefits of pious company!
Mawlana Abul Hasan Ali Nadawi wrote the following regarding his first Shaykh Mawlana Ahmad Ali Lahori (Allah have mercy on them),
‘Being in Mawlana’s company created, in the least, a yearning to seek Allah, the sweetness of [uttering] Allah’s name, a love for the people of Allah, recognition of my own deficiency and the need for my rectification and perfection. And for us laypeople this is the greatest fortune and bounty.
Source: Pearls of the Elders
Rights of Fellow human beings!
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
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!
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
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.’