Following Sunna & Visiting Medinah

Grand Mufti of Pakistan, Hadhrat Mufti Mohammad Shafi’i (may Allah have mercy on him) said,

In the presence of Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) while visiting the Holy mosque at Medinah e munawwara, I felt as though the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is saying,

“Being nearer to me is in following my sunna.

It is not in coming here.

As much you follow me the nearer you come (to me).”

Ahsan us Sawanih, page 157

Inquisitiveness about Shaykh’s Schedule

Shaykh al-Hadith Hadhrat Mawlana Zakariya Kandhelawi (may Allah have mercy on him) inquired about Hakim al-Umma Hadhrat Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi’s  (may Allah snctify his secret) Ramadan schedule.

Hadhrat Hakim al-Umma replied,

“The routine habits and actions which we are commanded to follow and implement in our lives are those of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace).

The habits of any ‘Ummati’ are not obligatory to follow.  In fact this practice of recording and gathering them can from certain points of view be detrimental. Therefore, to actively search for them is not advisable.

In gathering them and noting them down, there is a potential drawback. One of two things may happen. The deeds of the reader may be in excess or be less than that of the Shaykh. If his deeds are more than that of the Shaykh, he may be discouraged from increasing his acts of righteousness. He may reason that if the acts of this Shaykh are so few – fewer than mine – why should I toil and burden myself to do so much? And if the reader’s acts are less than that of the Shaykh, it is possible that he will be discouraged  (loosing the enthusiasm for doing more considering his present efforts to be negligent).”

Dhikr between each four units of Taraweeh

Hakim al-Umma Hadhrat Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said,

“There is no fixed form of dhikr in the interval between each four units of taraweeh(tarweeha) as per Shariah. I recite salutations on the Prophet of Allah (may Allah bless and give him peace).  In my personal opinion this is best. I recite it twenty five times (in a soft audible voice) so that if anyone has to do some necessary activity, like drink water, he will be able to rejoin the prayers (salah) before we restart.”

Increasing worship in Ramadan

Someone asked Hakim al-Umma Hadhrat Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi (may Allah have mercy on him) if performing extra worship and acts of devotion (ibadat) in Ramadan is not contrary to the generally accepted view that one should be constant and punctual in his routine worshipful acts (ibadat).

 Hahdrat Hakim al-Umma replied:

“Should one exceed his normal actions in worship (ibadat) in Ramadan, it will not be contrary to the rule of having constancy (that is stressed for all forms of routine worships). This is because in the first place, the intention is not made to be constant (in that worship. It is intended only for the duration of Ramadan). (In addition) The hadith tell us that Prophet of Allah (may Allah bless and give him peace) himself increased his devotions during Ramadan.”

Ramadhan al-kareem

Sayyedina Salman al-Farisi (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (Allah’s blessing and peace be on him) delivered a Khutbah on the last day of Sh’aban saying:

“O people: You are about to enter the shadow of a great blessed month.

A night therein is better than a thousand months.

Allah made fasting during this month an obligation and encouraged people to perform extra prayers during its nights.

Seeking nearness to Allah through a good deed would be considered like performing an obligatory act of worship.

In turn, performance of an obligatory act of worship during this month would be rewarded seventy times more than during any other month.

It is the month of patience, and the reward for patience is Jannah.

It is the month of comforting others, and the month during which believers would enjoy plentifulness.

The Prophet (Allah’s blessing and peace be on him) went on to say:” Make sure you frequently do four things, two of which would please your Lord and the other two are indispensable for your salvation in the Hereafter.

As for the two things that would please your Lord, they are: testifying to the oneness of Allah and seeking repentance.

And the other two are: asking Allah the favor of entering Jannah and seeking refuge in Him from the Hell Fire.”

(Ibn Khuzaima)

O Allah! Please, give us all the blessings of this month.

We acknowledge that we don’t deserve them, but we are, for sure, in need of them indeed.

Please, ignore our faults. With Your infinite mercy bless us with all the good it contains.

Overall make it a means for us in achieving Your love and Your beloved’s (Allah’s blessing and peace be on him).

Ameen!

Sunna 36

Sunna of tilwa: when reciting the Quran’s chapters 93 to 114:

It is a sunna to say takbir with recitation of each chapter from surah 93 till the end of Quran al-kareem. Shaykh Ahmad Salih al-Misri has narrated the wordings of this takbir as,

لا اله الا الله و الله اكبر

Ibn Khathir said that it a sunna to recite it at the end of every chapter and Bagwi said at the beginning. Acting on either of these will be according to sunna.

Ma’arif al-Quran (Urdu), volume 8, page 768

Leaving the tariqa

It is quite a task to get baya in Ashrafiya tariqa.

Until and unless the Shaykh is sure that there exists a mutual congeniality (munasbet) between him and the potential murid, baya is postponed.

Why?

Baya is not something trivial. It is an immense responsibility. Some compare it to marriage. So until one is absolutely sure to the best of his abilities that this is the right Shaykh and he himself is ready to take the responsibility it is best to maintain a relationship with a Shaykh for one’s religious betterment (islahi ta’luq) and wait on the baya.

This is a principle of Ashrafiya tariqa.

Violating principles always results in problems.

It is for this purpose Hadhrat Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi (may Allah have mercy on him) used to tell his disciples,

“Here we spray a repellent to cast away the pests. Only the sincere can remain here.

Whats the use of gathering a crowd? Do I need to enlist an army?

Few able murids are better than hundreds of inept ones.”

Hadhrat Mufti Rasheed Ahmad Ludhyanawi (may Allah have mercy on him) had announced that,

“If a person is able to break away any of my murids’ I will award him fifty rupees and if that murid is a scholar (‘alim) the reward will be five hundred.”

Similarly, Qutub e ‘Alam Hadhrat Mawlana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi (may Allah have mercy on him) had made a similar statement.

Shaykh is in no need of the murid’s devotion. To him Allah who is Besought of all, needing none is enough. It is the murid who is completely dependent on the Shaykh for his religious betterment.

It must be clear to the murid who secedes that in reality it is not him but the maShaykh of the tariqa who have turned away from him. This may be because of his callousness to Shariah rulings, involvement in innovations (bida) or unhealthy company of pseudo-sufis/anti-sufi individuals.

May Allah save us from this!

Blessings and three kinds of sufis

The nikah ceremony in Masjid al-Haram’s coutyard behind the rukn e yamani conducted by Hadhrat Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani ( may Allah preserve him) was simple.

In addition to numerous pilgrims and guests, Pir Zufiqar Ahmad Naqshbandi and Hadhrat Mansoor Ali Khan (may Allah preserve them) were among the audience.

Afterwards there was a reception in one of the five star hotel ballroom in front of the holy Haram. The arrangements were lavish. The food was delicious, plentiful and in variety.

Seeing this arrangement Hadhrat Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (may Allah preserve him) said,

“It is in these settings the difference between a novice sufi, a sufi who has attained ma’rifah and a sufi who is deficient can be seen.

The novice (mubtadi) sufi devours the food and enjoys the luxuries for the pleasure of his own self (nafs).

Whereas, the one who is realized (muntahi) sufi considers these luxuries to be a blessings and benevolence of the real Provider (جلا جلاله). He partakes of them feeling obliged and thanks his Lord abundantly.

The sufi who is deficient considers these to be blame-worthy extravagance and indulgence in worldly luxuries and tries to spoil them before consuming. For example adding water to dilute the most delicious curry, etc. His sight is still on the material things themselves and not on their Creator and Provider (جلا جلاله). ”

(Makkah e mukarramah, 26th Sha’ban 1428/8thSeptember 2007, After ‘esha)

Treatment for being negligent

A senior murid wrote,

“How should I treat any negligence in my daily wird (ma’molat) and delay in writing to you a letter (regarding my current spiritual state)?”

Hadhrat Mufti Rasheed Ahmad Ludhyanawi (may Allah have mercy on him) replied,

“For being negligent in any wird  pray two units (raka’h) of nafil salah and for delay in writing a letter fast for a day (as a penance).”

Sayyidi wa murshidi, page 138

P.S. Writing a letter/email to the Shaykh is essnetial in Ashrafiya tariq. Hadhrat Sayyidi wa sandi Mawlana Mohammad Taqi Usmani (may Allah preserve him) recommends to write a letter regularly, atleast once a month.

What to do & don’t in Ramadhan?

Mufti Mohammad Ibrahim Sadiqabadi, the khalifa of Hadhrat Mufti Rasheed Ahmad Ludhyanawi (may Allah have mercy on him) inquired his Shaykh regarding the special deeds to do in excess and to abstain from during the month of Ramadhan.

Hadhrat Mufti sahib replied,

“Excessive recitation of Quran and abstaining from excessive intermingling with others people (kasrat ma’ al inam).”

Sayyid wa murshidi, page 119