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

Major sins (kabair)

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Shaykh Abu Taleb Makki (Allah have mercy on him) said that I complied the Prophetic sayings related to major sins and found out that there are 17 mentioned explicitly. They include,
Four related to heart,
1. Associating partners with Allah (shirk)
2. Intention of persisting on a sin
3. Being hopeless of Allah’s mercy
4. Being heedless of Allah’s wrath

Four related to tongue,
1. Bearing false witness
2. Allegation of adultery on innocent
3. Swearing falsely
4. Doing magic

Three related to stomach,
1. Drinking alcoholic beverages
2. Consuming the wealth of orphans
3. Taking unlawful tax/rent for agricultural land

Two related to genitalia,
1. Illicit sexual relations
2. Homosexuality

Two related to hands,
1. Killing someone unjustly
2. Stealing

One related to feet,
1. Fleeing from the battlefield in jihad

One related to the whole body,
1. Being disobedient to the parents

May Allah save us from all of these by His mercy. Amin!

Adab e Shaykh wal murid, page 16

Worship

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Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) wrote in reply to a salik’s letter who had complained of decreasing interest and engrossment,

‘There are various ways of worshipping. Contemplation is also worship, remembrance without counting is also worship, and considering one’s self to be unprivileged, undeserving, deficient and imperfect is also worship. Hence, the objective is always achievable.

However, there are two undesired states, disobedience (ma’asiyet) and heedlessness (gaflah). And all praise is to Allah, you do not have them.

The overwhelming rapture (ghalba) and engrossing interest (shauq) are from the transitional states. The lack of them is not detrimental for the salik. Moreover, these states can not stay at the same level for ever.’

Tarbiyet us Salik, volume 1, page 592

Treatment of skepticism

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An aspirant wrote,

Respected Sir,
I have certain degree of skepticism in my personality. Listening to the criticism of the opponents greatly perturbs me. For this reason I only read your books. All praise is to Allah, whenever this kind of skepticism arises there is no effect on my acts of worship. However, the interest in worship that already existed is lost and I feel sad and depressed.  At the same time I dislike and hate these doubts and suspicions. But they persist. I feel as if I have become a hypocrite. Please, inform me how to get rid of this ailment.

Hakim al-Umma Shaykh Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) replied,
Do not read anything that will create doubts and suspicions.
If inadvertently you hear something of this category and this state (mentioned above) arises then there is no need to take any special measures to rectify it. This is because this effort will result in increasing distress and a permanent involvement (that is, seeking explanation & clarification) will afflict you. Therefore, instead of this effort ignore it actively. Do be bothered at all in spite of recurring random thoughts. However, continue making supplications and showing humility (to Allah).

Consider this to be enough.

InshaAllah, very soon the state (described) will be cleansed.

Once this habit is formed such power will develop in the heart that it will not be perturbed by such things.

This is a hikami (Divinely inspired wisdom) prescription. Bestowed  by Allah’s grace recently and is very significant information.

And all praise is for Allah!

Tarbiyet us Salik, volume 3, page 135

Salik’s Unlimited progress

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Hakim ul Umma Shaykh Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) said commenting on the verse 83 of surah Shu’raa:

“O my Lord! bestow wisdom on me, and join me with the righteous”,

“A salik must not stop at any stage (during his spiritual quest).

He should always strive and aspire for more progress.”

Masail us Sulook min Kalam Malik ul Mulook, page 397

After Ramadhan

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Shaykh Wasiullah (Allah have mercy on him) said,

‘The effect of real acts of obedience is that an individual does not observe any virtue (kamal) in him/herself at all.

If there in no development of  humility, abasement, feeling of inability and lowliness after an act of worship then one should consider that this worship lacked sincerity.’

‘Iteraf e zunoob, page 99

The reason is that true worship illuminates the inner-self which in turn reveals the actual state within.

For example, it is like switching on the light bulb in a dark room. The illumination will reveal all the defects that were concealed by the darkness.

Cognizant of all the deficiencies an individual is now better equipped for attempting their rectification.

Similar should be our condition after Ramadhan.

Eid mubarak

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Our master the Prophet (Allah’s blessing and peace be on him) said;

“On the day of eid (when people gather to offer eid prayers) Allah speaks to the Angels,

‘Have these people fulfilled the obligation (of fasting) and are now gathered for prayers?

I swear by My pride, magnificence, majesty, mercy and elevated status that

I will fulfill their prayers (and supplications).

Tell them to return, I have forgiven them all and furthermore

I have replaced their sins with virtuous deeds.’

Hence they return completely forgiven.”

(Mishkat/Bahaiqi:Hayat al-Muslimeen)

An unimaginable joy!

Burying the past and moving ahead

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Recently Shaykh Mawlana Mohammad Taqi Usmani (may Allah preserve him) advised a murid to bury the past and make a fresh start.

Burying the past may sound a simple thing but in reality it is a big spiritual struggle (mujahidah) with many benefits.

For all of us it is a common event to slip and commit mistakes. These mistakes may be in exoteric (dhahiri) or esoteric (batini) works. Sometimes we are cognizant of our mistakes and at others oblivious. However, a true seeker is very much disturbed by these mistakes. He is ashamed infront of Allah, disheartened on his ability to control his desires, disillusioned by the effectiveness of the path in preventing this disaster and anxious about the future similar mishaps.

These are the moments when the need of a perfect spiritual mentor – the Shaykh-e-kamil, is essential to save the seeker from falling further in to the trap of Satan and lower self (nafs).  It is he who guides the murid out of this depressive and self-destructive attitude and puts him back on the path towards Allah.

He does so by,

a.  Giving the seeker hope. That is, it is human to err and Allah is Most Merciful to those who acknowledge their short comings.

b. Instruction to forget the past. Bury it. If this is not done, its dead body will rot and the stench emanating from it will spoil the best aroma of sincere good acts done in future. Also, remembering the sins after sincere repentance is wrong and leads to decreasing relationship with Allah.

c. To be concerned with improving the present condition right now. For this today will tomorrow become yesterday. A thing of past.

If handled in this way each and every mistake and fall of the sincere seeker results in increasing relationship with Allah, enhanced humility and complete dependence on His kindness and mercy. 

A seeker should remember that these falling episodes are not uncommon and continue until a permanent spiritual serenity (tamkeen) is achieved (which usually happens after years of sincere effort by method described above). Until then he/she has to bury the past with sincere repentance and move forwards on the path with renewed vigor.

And its facilitation is surely from Allah, Most High.