Those at loss in middle Night of Sha’ban

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Our master Prophet Muhammad, (Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him) said,

“This is the middle Night of Sha’ban. Allah frees in it a large number of the people from Fire, more than the number of the hair growing on the sheep of the tribe, Kalb. But He does not even look at an individual who

– associates partners with Allah, or

– who nourishes malice in his heart (against someone), or

– who cuts off the ties of kinship (qata’ rehmi), or

– who leaves his clothes extending beyond his ankles (as a sign of pride), or

– who disobeys his parents, or

– who has a habit of drinking wine.”

Allah save us from being among these individuals. Amin!

Worship on 15th of Sha’ban

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Sayyidi wa sanadi Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (may Allah preserve him) wrote the following regarding the worship in the night of 15th of Sha’ban,

“This night is meant for worshiping Allah in solitude. It is the time to enjoy the direct contact with the Lord of the Universe, and to devote one’s attention to Him and Him alone. These are the precious hours of the night in which nobody should intervene between one and his Lord, and one should turn to Allah with total concentration, not disturbed or interrupted by any one else.”

From: Sha’ban: Merits, Do’s and Don’ts

Love of Allah

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Respected Dr. Nadeemul Haq (Pakistanwala) inquired,

‘How can the love of Allah be obtained?’

Sayyidi wa sanadiShaykh Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah prserve him) replied,

‘By,

1. Keeping the comapany (suhba) of those who already have this love.

2. Acknowledging the bounties and blessings of Allah.

3. Excessive remembrance (dhikr) of Allah all the time.’

Sunday, 9th December 1990, between ‘asr & maghrib. Hazret’s residence, Darul Uloom Karachi. Meeeting with Drs. SA Ahmer, Saqib ZH, Saeed Qaiser, etc.

Best worship

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Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaykh Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him)adviced us on eid al-adha (1426 H):

“Parents are a blessing.

Take advantage of their presence by serving them abundantly. The services rendered to them are most superior to all other nafil forms of worships, like salat, tasbeeh, zikr, etc.

Be excessively humble in dealing with them. Especially so when they are aged, short tempered and even openly absurd.”

Darul Uloom, Karachi 11th January 2006

Obedience to parents

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Arif billah Dr. Abdul HayyArifi (Allah have mercy on him) wrote in his will,

“Obedience to parents is a magnanimous investment for a blessed fortune.

Following faith in and practice of Islam, having love and fulfilling the rights of Allah and His beloved Prophet (may Allah’s blessing and peace be on him) the most important obligation is the fulfillment of the rights of parents.

It is essential (wajib) to keep them content and acquire their approval by providing assistance (kidhmat) to them in their lifetime.

And (it is also essential that) after their death, one makes supplications of forgiveness (magfirah) and passes on the reward of good deeds to them (esale thawab).”

Albalagh, monthly magazine of Darul Uloom Karachi, special Arifi issue

Please, save your mind!

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Shaykh Sayyid Wahajuddin Ahmed (Allah preserve him)* said,

“These days following three things make individuals increasingly susceptible to mental ailments, such as depression, mania, etc.,

1. Severing relationships (qata rehmi). That is, to abandon ties with close relatives. The point we have to remember in this regard is that these relationships should not be based on reciprocal friendliness. We should maintain good relations even if the other is pushing us away.

2. Consumption of unlawful (haram). Especially, interest (sood) money.

3. Immodesty. Particularly, related to wearing indecent clothing and watching television. etc.”

16th February 2008

*The youngest son and khalifa e khas of  Shaykh Sayyid Raziuddin Ahmed Fakhiri (may Allah have mercy on him) .

Hypocrisy

Imam al-awliya SayidinaHasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) said,

‘A person who is not afraid of hypocrisy (nifaq) (hidden in his character) is a hypocrite (munafiq) indeed.’

Hayat e muslih al-Umma ra, page 232

Hypocrisy: a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess.

Divine plans

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

A junior policeman was doing his daily rounds. He saw a dervish humbly walking by. Just to make a point and assert his rank on the people surrounding him the policeman slapped the dervish telling him to be watchful and not to mess around.

Rubbing his cheek, the dervish supplicated “O Allah! Make him a Sheriff.”

The policeman felt reassured that this person is insane. I slapped him and he is praying for my promotion.

It so happened that the Governor of the state came for visit and being pleased with this policeman promoted him directly to the post of a sheriff.

This reminded him of the dervish. He thought to himself, ‘I should go and ask forgiveness from him for my mistake and also present some gift to him.’ So he went with the sweets and said, “’Sir, from your supplication I actually got that exact position which you prayed for and due to this good news I have brought these sweets for you. I am ashamed of  my behavior. I made a big mistake. I was not aware of your exalted position. And you still prayed in my favor. I apologize and offer my services to you. Please, ask for something specific and I will get it for you.’

Initially the dervish refused. There was nothing that he wanted. However, the constable continued to pester him. The dervish told him, “Okay! Bring me some scorpions. But make sure that they are black in color and each one is the size of human hand.”

The sheriff searched in despair for such scorpions. He even involved his whole police department and they failed. All the scorpions they found were of smaller size.

Eventually he returned to the dervish saying, “Sir, these kinds of scorpions are nowhere to be found.”

The dervish replied, “Come with me, I will show you.” He led him to the graveyard. Digging at a particular grave, he told him to look inside. There were thousands of black and human hand sized scorpions gripping onto a skeleton. The sheriff was horrified.

The dervish asked him, ‘Would you care to know whose grave is it? This is the grave of a Sheriff.
You thought I prayed in favor of you but that was not the case.”

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Not all progress and promotion is guaranteed to be a blessing. Sometimes it may be a Divine plan to punish us for our wrong doings.

May Allah save us. Amin!

Reminder:Parents & relatives!

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Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him, and do good to parents. If any one of them or both of them reach old age, do not say to them: uff (a word or expression of anger or contempt) and do not scold them, and address them with respectful words,

and submit yourself before them in humility out of compassion, and say, “My Lord, be merciful to them as they have brought me up in my childhood.”

Your Lord knows best what is in your hearts. If you are righteous, then He is Most-Forgiving for those who turn to Him in repentance.

Give the relative his right, and the needy and the wayfarer. And do not squander recklessly.

Surely, squanderers are brothers of satans, and the Satan is very ungrateful to his Lord.

[Quran, 17:23 – 27]

Action required:Turning to Allah SWT

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Addressing the audience sayyidi wa sanadi Hazrat Mawlana Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him) said :

“These things (that are being told) are to be acted upon.

Mere listening (or reading) is of no use.

Develop the habit of turning to Allah and asking His refuge immediately, whenever a worrisome or disturbing thought occurs.

Once this habit is developed not a single moment passes without one being in contact with Allah.”

Ina’mul bari volume 2 page 248

Shaykh e Kamil

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Is the one who guides you on the path (tareeq) in such a manner that you do not even feel the hardships of the journey (sulook) and reach the destination.

He sows and cultivates qualities in your heart in such a manner that eventually from within yourself there is an urge to do more good and abstain from sins.  Even if a mistake is committed by chance the guilt, the remorse and the repentance that ensue are such that they aid your progress further.

The tip for optimum benefit is to keep in regular contact with him. Informing him about one’s condition explicitly, requesting advise and supplications.

Time Management!

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الوقت سیف فان قطعتہ و الا قطعک

و نفسک ان لم تشغلہا بالحق شغلتک بالباطل

Time is like a sword.

If you do not use it appropriately it will sever you.

And

if you do not keep yourself engaged in seeking the truth

your self will seek refuge in evil.

Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) said:

Keeping record of time and its organization is a very important thing. It is inappropriate to spend time allocated for one activity in some thing else and then use the other slot to do another thing.

An activity should be done at its scheduled time.

This results in increased barakah (blessing) in time and contentment (of heart).”

HusunulAziz,  #434 pg 412 volume 2

Method of attaining love of Allah & His messenger

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An aspirant wrote:

Please, tell me a  litany (dua), which creates overwhelming love of Allah and His messenger, ever present fear of Allah in my heart, nonexistence or a decrease in the love of the worldly and complete fearlessness from other-than Allah.

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

صوفی نہ شود صافی تا در نہ کشد جامی

بسیار سفر بایدتا پختہ شود خامی

(A sufi does not attain purity until after a toil and struggle.

A lengthy journey is required to attain perfection.)

Being firm on the zikr (remembrance), shugal (mental exercise of specific forms of remembrance), reading useful books (i.e. of Tasawwuf) and keeping company of pious (ahlulAllah) for a considerable duration of time leads to attainment of these treasures.

There is no specific dua for it.

(Tarbiyatus Salik volume 1 page 137)