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  

Cognizant sinner

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Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) said  something smilar to the following in one of his discourses,

The minimum  benefits of maintaining regular correspondence with  a Shaykh ( in form of islahi-ta’luq) is that it makes an individual a cognizant sinner (baydar gunahgar).

That is, if God-forbid he commits a sin he will be aware of this mistake. He will have remorse. This will evetually lead him to turn to Allah in form of repentance and supplication for forgiveness, protection and improvement.

 

Blood relationships

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The blessed Companion Abu Huraira(Allah be pleased with him) narrated: 
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: Allah created His creation and when He finished it, the womb said: This is the place for him who seeks Your refuge from severing blood relationship.

He said:  Yes. Are you not satisfied that I should keep relationship with one who joins your ties (of relationship) and sever it with one who sever your ties.

It said: Yes, O my Lord!

He said: That is done for you.

Allah’s Messenger (Allah’s blessing and peace be upon him) said: Recite, if you wish, this verse:

”Would you then, if you were given the authority, do mischief in the  land and sever your ties of kinship? Those it is whom Allah has cursed, so He has made them deaf and blinded their eyes. Do they not reflect on the Qur’an? Or, are there locks on their hearts?”.” (47:22)

(Bukhari and Muslim)

Our Mother A’isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported Allah’s Messenger (Allah’s blessing and peace be upon him) as saying: The tie of kinship is suspended to the Throne and says: He who unites me Allah would unite him and he who severed me Allah would sever him.

(Sahih Muslim)

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

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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

Differentiation between hatred for the sake of Allah SWT vs hatred for nafs

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Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) said commenting on the verse 4 of surah al-Mumtahana:

There is for you an excellent example (to follow) in Abraham and those with him, when they said to their people: “We are clear of you and of whatever ye worship besides Allah. We have rejected you, and there has arisen, between us and you, enmity and hatred for ever, unless ye believe in Allah and Him alone”: But not when Abraham said to his father: “I will pray for forgiveness for thee, though I have no power (to get) aught on thy behalf from Allah.” (They prayed): “Our Lord! in Thee do we trust, and to Thee do we turn in repentance: to Thee is (our) Final Goal.

‘There is explicit evidence in this that the hatred that is for the sake of Allah (bugz fil Allah) does not lead to abandoning of kindness and consideration (for that individual), as compared to the hatred that is due to one’s self (nafs).’

Masail us Sulook min Kalam Malik ul Mulook, page 508

47th IDSA, Philadelphia, PA

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

Our benefactor: Nafs & Shaytan?

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

“My respected Shaykh (Hakim al-Umma) used to say with much amusement,

‘Don’t always quibble about the inner-self (nafs) and Shaytan.

In a sense they are also our benefactor. That is, if there was no sinful ideation by them how could we progress spiritually?

See it for yourself. They instigate us to sin but with firm determination we avoid it. This leads to registering of reward for not sinning in our records.

God forbid, if we slip and commit sin, then immediately we feel remorse and repent making supplication for forgiveness.  The feeling of inadequacy and incompetence arises. The pride of sanctimony and self-righteousness vanishes.  Moreover in the heart the feeling of spiritual collapse and humility is born. This is the servitude (abdiyet) that Allah likes the most. 

Now deduce from all of this how our innerself (nafs) and Shaytan are becoming a source of bringing us close to Allah, Most High.

The only essential condition (to achieve this benefit) is that one should not be negligent of their tricks.”

Ta’lemat e “Arifi, page 62

Washington DC