Lisan al-Din (Language of Faith)

Reading Martin Lings' Biography of Muhammad (Part 3)

2012-01-27T03:17:00.000+08:00

Bismillah.

My summaries of Martin Lings' chapters of 'Muhammad - His Life Based on the Earliest Sources'. Dr. Lings who was also known as Abu Bakr Siraj Ad-Din, was born a Protestant. Born on 24th January, 103 years ago, he died an accomplished Muslim in 2005. One whose body was buried in his England rose garden, whose spirit remained a fragrant flower among prominent Islamic scholars.

7. The Year of the Elephant

Abrahah a viceregent of Abyssinian had ruled Yemen
adorned Sana'a with cathedral so grand
to rival Mecca that was his intent

Kinanah of Quraysh trespassed his church
made Abrahah furious hence fixed a revenge
attack Mecca with a great army
with an elephant leading the men

Arabs of north Sana'a resisted him
failed miserably and lost their leader
Nufayl captured but offered himself a ransom
guide the enemy against his own tribesmen
A man of Tai'f offered a helping hand too
though he died in Mughammis, a blameworthy man

Abrahah sent a messenger to Mecca
Wished not to fight except to destroy Ka'bah
Abd al-Muttalib took the challenge and confronted the foe,
demanded his stolen camels
200 of them altogether
'I am the lord of the camels' said he
'and the temple has a lord who will defend it'
But Abrahah doubted it, so "we shall see"

Abd al-Muttalib ordered the Quraysh to head for the hills
as he and a select few prayed at the Ka'bah
Abrahah was getting ready to fight
but Nufayl took control of the elephant
made it kneel instead of charge
much to Unays' dismay, the animal refused to obey his guide

Then Abrahah's troop got swarmed by birds too many
each had 3 pebbles killing his army
some survived and retreated to Sana'a
but many died afterwards including Abrahah

Elephant and Unays however, escaped
While Nufayl fled to the Meccan hills
Quraysh became even more prominent
'the people of God' they came to be known
God honored their Ka'bah with His protection

AbdAllah had missed the whole event
as he was busy travelling with a trade caravan
fallen ill while in Yathrib,
died when Harith came to meet
the entire Mecca terribly grieved

Pregnant Aminah was in deep sorrow
found solace in her unborn child
beaming light as far as Syria
for 'thou carriest in thy womb the lord of this people'
some voices whispered to AbdAllah's widow

Muhammad was born a few weeks later
a name suggested by the whisperer
She was also asked to say:
'I place him beneath the protection of the One,
from the evil of every envier'

Abd al-Muttalib came to fetch his grandson
took him to the Holy House in his arms
let his son Abbas kiss the sweet newborn
before sending him back to his mom

8. The Desert

Arabs customarily sent their babies to the desert
escape the town's epidemics
for fresher air and quieter time
let them suckle and wean among the Bedouin

Preferring nomadic life to fixed settlement
tent dwellers they were, free to move
unlike the townsman prisoned by permanency
nobler is one who is lord of his own space
desert life makes one more eloquent

Aminah wanted the same for her child
searched for a nurse of Bani Sa'd ibn Bakar
a tribe reputed for nursing and child rearing
Halimah binti Abu Dhu'ayb was one of them
came to Mecca looking for a nurseling

Halimah was feeling unlucky
a weak ass for travel and her breasts were dry
an old camel deprived of milk was all she had
a poor nurse she was desperate for a rich baby

None was on offer except an orphan
Halimah was initially reluctant
Muhammad's family didn't meet her expectation
no choice she had but to take him home

Her fate suddenly changed with that decision
her ass travelled faster unlike before
breasts overflowed to her son's delight
who shared feeding with Muhammad so both were full
her old camel's udders were milking too

Halimah and husband Harith were very pleased
baby orphan brought them some great gifts
enjoyed bounties for two full years
as Muhammad grew unmatched by others

Boy was taken to her mother
to whom Halimah begged to keep him longer
Aminah agreed to let them go
back to the desert with feelings of wonder

Muhammad was playing with her brothers
when two men in white appeared from nowhere
onto Muhammad they did cut
the brothers all testified

Halimah & Harith searched everywhere
but the men disappeared sooner
leaving neither scar nor traces of blood
found nothing save the boy's birthmark
an oval shape between his shoulders

Three years later Muhammad remembered better
two men in white came with a gold-basin of snow
split his chest and opened his heart
removed a black clot therefrom
then washed them with snow
the men uttered some words he did hear:
"Satan touches every son of Adam
the day he is born
except Mary and her son"

9. Two Bereavements

Halimah and Harith got afraid of that incident
they took him back to Aminah in Mecca
feared for his safety they wanted the boy returned
but Aminah believed her baby was extraordinary

Muhammad lived in Mecca happily
loved by grandfather, uncles and aunts
played with cousins Hamzah and Safiyyah
Mother then took him to Yathrib to visit family
a slave girl Barakah was to accompany

Ill Aminah passed away in Ahwa'
at the tender age of six
poor-fated Muhammad
orphaned yet once more

Barakah took him back to be with Abd al-Muttalib
grandfather loved him very dearly
Young Muhammad given special attention
was even brought to the chief men's Assembly

Doting grandfather left him too
only 2 years after his own mother
in the care of Abu Talib he was entrusted
despite two bereavements
Muhammad continued to be loved
with pride and merriment

[To be continued InshaAllah]

Reading Martin Ling's Biography of Muhammad (Part 2)

2012-01-26T22:22:00.005+08:00

Bismillah.

4. The Recovery of a Loss

Abd al-Muttalib loved being in the Hijir
sitting and sleeping on the tomb of Ishmael & Hagar
once upon a time he chanced upon a figure
"dig sweet clarity" he was told by the speaker

The second night it came again
"Dig beneficence"
then disappeared yet again
On the third night the thing showed up
"Dig the treasured hoard" it called out
On the fourth night Abd al-Muttalib heard it at last
"Dig Zamzam, dig her, thou shalt not regret..."

Abd al-Muttalib finally got the clues so clear
Got up and went about the Ka'bah
in search of her
From north to east to west to south
circumambulating around each and every corner
Black Stone - Iraqi - Syrian and Yemeni
going round opposite the sun
7 times until the lights shone brighter

Took the lock on Ka'bah door and said a prayer
when two birds perched on 2 statues a 100 yards yonder
there all the signs laid on the ground
of blood, ants' nest and dung

Abd al-Muttalib began the task
one axe for him and one for Harith
side by side, digging
some people protested, others surprised
Isaf & Na'ilah, two idols had to give way

Allah! He hit the well's covering
loads of treasures the Jurhum did bury
crowd started to gather and be merry
draw lots they did to divide
between Ka'bah and Abd al-Muttalib
none Quraysh to keep despite

5. The Vow to Sacrifice a Son

Abd al-Muttalib was a man so blessed
handsome, wealthy,
generous and wise
restored Zamzam all by himself

but deep down he was despondent
wish he had ten sons
prayed to Allah to make it happen
sacrifice one of them he secretly planned

the boys came along
one after another until the tenth
all grown up but he favored none
save 'AbdAllah the youngest one

Oh, was it time to fulfill the vow?
Abd al-Muttalib's word was his bond
Gathered the young men
and revealed his oath

father and sons headed for the Ka'bah
and the lots were cast as they stood patient
alas it was the one he loved the most
apple of his eye, little Abdullah

Fatimah, the mother came to witness
a pillar of strength for all grief-stricken
"Wherefore that knife?" yelled one after another
Abd al-Muttalib made to explain his intention

Mughirah, the chief of Makhzum
broke his silence
offered everything he owned
so 'AbdAllah would escape from doom

The 9 brothers finally speak up
defending 'AbdAllah, begged for ransom
consult a woman of Yathrib was one solution
hear her say about expiation

Abd al-Muttalib, set the journey
'AbdAllah and other sons kept his company
from Yathrib to Khaybar
in search of that lady

Ten camels against 'AbdAllah
cast lots again, the woman told
so they did, add ten camels each time the boy got hit
until the number increased to hundred camels
at last 'AbdAllah could be freed

But Abd al-Muttalib was still not certain
repeated the process two times more
arrow fell against the camels
hence sealed the score
animals were sacrificed
not 'AbdAllah, for sure!

6. The Need for a Prophet

Abd al-Muttalib never bowed to Hubal
To Allah he prayed
no matter how powerful the idols had become
Three "daughters of God"
al-Lat, al-Uzzah and Manat
Though he revered the Manat somewhat

But his devotion was always in Mecca
hosting pilgrims as best his ability
regardless of who they worshipped
to him God was the great reality

The Hunafa - devoid of innovation
only a few they were
Waraqah most prominent of the four he knew
a Christian, the son of Nawfal, his second cousin

Idols were abound,
in Mecca and houses all around
Christians, soothsayers and astrologers
agreed that a Prophet would soon to come

Waraqah was a learned theologian
with sister Qutaylah he often shared
anxiously waiting for the honorable figure
"he shall not speak of himself,
but whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he speak"

Abd al-Muttalib intended to marry AbdAllah off
with Aminah daughter of Wahab, chief of Zuhrah
while he married Halah daughter of Wuhayb
who cared for Aminah since her father died

Father and son journeyed to Bani Zuhrah
for the double wedding full of joy
Passing by Bani Asad dwellings, Qutaylah stood by
Immediately she saw the signs in AbdAllah

Having heard so much from Waraqah
'could this charming man be the prophet
or might he be the father of the prophet?'
she quietly thought before speaking out loud

"Take me here and now as thy wife!"
she offered AbdAllah
but how could the man act silly
the two weddings came true as they should be

The day after the big day
AbdAllah crossed path with Qutaylah once more
but she was indifferent unlike before
"The light hath left thee that was with thee yesterday"
So AbdAllah could not offer that which Qutaylah fell for

The marriages took place in 569 CE
the following year was known
as the Year of Elephant
significant and historically weighty

(to be continued InshaAllah)

Reading Martin Lings' Biography of Muhammad (Part 1)

2012-01-25T20:31:00.007+08:00

Bismillah.

My summaries of Martin Lings' chapters of Muhammad - His Life Based on the Earliest Sources. Dr. Lings who was also known as Abu Bakr Siraj Ad-Din, was born a Protestant. Born yesterday 24th January, 103 years ago, he died an accomplished Muslim in 2005. One whose body was buried in his England rose garden, whose spirit remained a fragrant flower among prominent Islamic scholars.

1. The House of God

One night,
childless Abraham was called out of his tent
and unto him God gave glad tidings
that his seeds would be as numerous as the brilliant stars,
shining

The first seed it seemed, would come from Hagar
the handmaid of the two - Abraham & Sarah
who fled to seek solace from her Lord
for she had incurred Sarah's wrath and envy

God heard Hagar's plea
An angel comforted her
that a son she will bear
one she must name Ishmael
meaning 'God shall hear'

Thirteen years later
it was Sarah's turn
a second son of Abraham she bore
Isaac was the chosen name by God who destined
that Ismael shall remain blessed still

Sarah made Hagar & Ishmael leave
Mother and son in grief
So was Abraham, who was told by the Lord - let it be
From the two sons
Two great nations would come to be

Down the valley of Becca so barren
on the 'incense route'
Hagar and Ishmael left the caravan
overcame with thirst and without ration
Hagar went back and forth 7 times,
until an angel said:
"Stand up, carry the lad, for I will make him a great nation."

Great it was that water spring forth
from Ishmael's tiny feet, aplenty
making Zamzam well
earmarked for a site of The sanctuary

Ka'bah, a cubic it is
4 corners pointing to compass directions
with a heavenly stone on the East
one that was white and pristine
kept in Abu Qubays hill
blackened by our sins

God summoned Ibrahim:
"And proclaim unto men the pilgrimage,
that they may come
unto thee on foot
and on every lean camel
out of every deep ravine."

Two sites where Hagar had wandered
became a pilgrimage rite
of Safa & Marwah
when she told him of her past plight

And Abraham prayed in Canaan
amidst His bounties plentiful
of rich pastures of wheat and corn
"...incline unto them men's hearts,
and sustain them with fruits
that they may be thankful."

2. A Great Loss

From Arabia and beyond
great gifts were taken to Mecca
through pilgrims who kept coming by
for greater and lesser pilgrimage
honoring the Ka'bah

Ishmael's clans grew so many
some left Mecca taking stones from the holy sanctuary
performed rites over them
which later evolved into idols, one too many

God became remote and truth blurry
in His place were idols as mediators
The Jurhumites led the idolaters
controlling Mecca and Zamzam
eventually with sand they did bury

Then came Khuza'ah
forgetting the Holy Well too
no better he was than Jurhum
made Hubal a new Meccan idol

3. Quraysh of the Hollow

The chief of Khuza'ah
married his daughther to Qusay,
a Qurayshi
leader and guardian of Ka'bah

Quraish of the Hollow
were his close relatives
resided near the Sanctuary
Quraish of the Outskirts
his distant families
stayed in the outer rings
far from Qusay the new king
living in his grand House of Assembly

His first born was made to inherit
all privileges and entitlement
'Abd ad-Dar - the least promising of all four
leaving Abdul Manaf the pre-eminent
and son Hashim, who had more merit

But majority of the Qurayshi
soon gathered devising a plan
for Hashim to contest the ad-Dars
claiming rights for the stronger clan

The women of the Abdul Manaf
thought of a unique pact
in a perfume bowl, family and allies dipped their hands
marking the stones of Ka'bah
the Scented Ones thus pledged unity
against Abd ad-Dar - the Confederates of minority

The two almost fought a battle
forego enmity and settled
Abdul Manaf got hold of the tax levy
and food & drinks for pilgrims
The ad-Dars retained the Ka'bah's key
and remained in the House of Assembly

Hashim became increasingly popular
established the Caravan of Winter
and the Caravan of Summer

An oasis of Yathrib
in the north of Mecca
was a major stopover in the summer
where the Jews co-existed in harmony
alongside the Arabs - the children of Qaylah
Aws & Khazraj none other

Hashim married Salma
an influential Khazraj woman
who insisted that she kept her controls over Yathrib
together with their son, Shaybah
while Hashim was occupied with his travels
until he died in Gaza

Muttalib - Hashim's younger brother
had been managing the clan's duties in Mecca
made Shaybah his young nephew, a protege
groomed to be the next Quraysh leader
'Abd al-Muttalib as he was now known
surpassed both uncle and father

(To be continued with His tawfeek, bi-iznillah)

Welcoming Rabi' al Awal

2012-01-24T19:15:00.005+08:00

Bismillah.

Rabi' we learned, means the beginning of Spring. It is undoubtedly the spring of mercy on account of the birth of the special creation upon whom Allah and the Angels send salutation - Muhammad Rasulullah s.a.w. The one whose name comes right next to the testimony of faith - There is no God but Allah. We learned and by the grace of Allah, He made us profess Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. So we know about the existence of Allah who has a messenger, who lived between 570 to 632 CE.

He whose maqam is in Madinatul Munawarah is in fact alive among us. He is 'living' with us, omnipresence with us, through his sunnah (his acts and words and other acts which he endorsed). One thing we heard Habib Ali Zainal Abidin said which impressed upon us: 'He is close to you. He is with you, if you upon leaving home carry his sunnah with you. He is with you as you leave your house when you recite Bismillahi tawakkaltu 'alallah....So carry his sunnah with you" said Habib Ali Zainal Abidin once upon a time.

May we, in this special month of Rabi' al-Awal, make an intention and resolution to increase our salutation to Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. If we were among those with high himmah (spiritual resolve), Habib Umar bin Hafiz has recommended that we recite this salawat 10, 000 times within this blessed month.

"O Allah,

Bestow Your prayers and peace

upon the possessor of all praiseworthy attributes,

the one through whom

tribulations are removed

and hardships relieved;

our master

Sayyidina Muhammad

wa 'ala alihi wa soh bihi

Ya Hayyu

Ya Qayyum

Ya Wahid"

__________________________________________

May it be a beautiful and refreshing Spring for us all.

Reference:
http://abdulkarimyahya.com/2012/01/24/note-the-rabi-al-awwal-letter-and-salawat/

Al-Yaqoubi on the realities of His Unity

2012-01-23T21:57:00.003+08:00

Bismillah.

O Lord,
Let me drink from his cup of love, again
Shaykh al-Yaquobi, the sweet musk of Damascus
my heart veins would rupture
unless You take me to his chamber
so he could bring me to the Quarter!
_______________________________________________

THE REALITIES OF HIS UNITY
"Take the drink of love
It is indeed your medicine and cure
And walk through the way to be nearer
To the people of this Quarter

Be absent from all the universe
And fold in your absence the distance
Protect this secret from all
Save the people of this Quarter

Negate the other oh man!
And annihilate to all forms
Witness the transparency of wine
You will then enter this Quarter

Our words are divine gifts
Our silence is merely a cover
Our door is open for anyone
Who is heading for this Quarter

Our tastes are delicacies
Our secrets are attributed to the Essence
Our moves when we shake
May wake the dead in this Quarter

The Lord made us stand
At His Door for only a year
He then said, who is more entitled
other than you to this Quarter!

When we entered the house
And the cup went around
And all worries were removed
No one of us remained alive in that Quarter

Indeed all other than Him
Are perishing no doubt
There is not anyone there but Allah
Loved by the people of this Quarter

Witness His Unity
In the Unity of the Existence
And do not see existent beings
Other than Him but shadows

In the Hadith of the Shadow
There is indeed a secret that should not be averted
By Allah I swear
Nothing alongside Allah will ever last

See His Unity with no incarnation
And stand by at the remains
Act upon what I have said
To witness the beauty of the All-Living

And in the station of separation
He will bring you back to your senses after annihilation
As East is different from the West
As the dead is not like the living

This is the reality of Tawhid
A distinct unmatched meaning of it
There is no way but to grasp it
If you are heading to this Quarter"

- Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi
3.1.2012

Rain of mercy | Love is messy?

2012-01-22T18:43:00.012+08:00

KL Sunday 5.35 pm

Bismillah.

Allahumma soyyiban nafi'a. May Allah pour that which is beneficial.

It's Sunday, it's been hot and humid and suddenly He pours His generosity. Subhanallah.

It's weekend, it's a long weekend in Malaysia as the country celebrates the Chinese Lunar New Year. To me, it's time to enjoy some quiet time after several hectic weeks at work, and it's a good opportunity to catch up with this blog. Alhamdulillah, I am grateful to have received words of support from some righteous personalities. I am humbled and ashamed to be honest with you because I am not what many of you think I am. Still I pray Allah will make me better than what you may perceive. And that Allah will reward you for having an excellent opinion of others.

While busy with work and running around, I seeked comfort in, among others, Garrett's popcorn of Chicago. I kinda like their tagline printed on their brown serviette - "Love is messy." Love is perhaps like a corn kernel popping in the hot oven, so full of energy, and you'll never know which direction it would make you go. You just let it overcome you and it doesn't matter what happens, it cannot matter because it's so overpowering, you just have to go with it.

I think love is not messy to those enraptured by it, as in the case of Layla & Majnun, it could be messy to those who do not experience it, those who are outside looking in. I read a tweet by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and it put a smile on my face - "Majnun would stare at the full moon. When asked why, he said, maybe Layla might look too, and our glances meet."

Does that sound like messy to you?
To each his own.

Practices for Rabi'ul Awal by Habib Umar bin Hafiz

2012-01-21T10:08:00.002+08:00

Bismillah.

Something special to memorize in anticipation of the coming Rabi'ul Awal, from Habib Umar bin Hafiz. This salawat was taught by Prophet Muhammad s.a.w to Habib Ali bin Salim al-Ada'j bin Shaykh Abu Bakar bin Salim when the latter had an encounter with the Prophet s.a.w at his maqam.

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ على سَيِّدِنا مُحَمَّدٍ حَبِيبِ الرَّحْمَنْ

عَدَدَ ما يَكوُن و ما قَدْ كَانْ

Allahumma salli `ala sayyidina Muhammad Habib al-Rahman

`adada ma yakun wa ma qad kan

“O Allah, bestow Your prayers upon our Master Muhammad,

the Beloved of the Most Compassionate

to the number of things that will be and that were.”

In his lesson, Habib Umar enlisted several things that we could do that would please the Messenger of Allah s.a.w. Not that anything we do could benefit him, rather he would be pleased if we do something that is beneficial to ourself.

That we understand his speech and his teachings.
That we become the source of guidance to other people.
That we establish the Sunnah in our homes and teach the children.
That we do good to the creation, the believers and the elite of the believers.
That we stengthen our love for the believers, ahlul bayt and the companions.
That we make intention to gather and attend lessons.

Habib Umar also urged us to keep inspiring people to long for the Messenger of Allah s.a.w by "mentioning the Prophet's virtues, qualities and life; by embodying the Prophet's character and dealings; and by deepening our love, longing and veneration for Him."

Reference:
http://abdulkarimyahya.com/2012/01/21/advice-preparing-for-rabi-al-awwal/
________________________________________________

May Allah, with the shafaat from Rasulullah s.a.w make it easy for us to memorize and practise the above salawat. We do not have the capacity to embody the Prophet's character and emulate him in his dealings, for we are constantly sinning and lacking adab. In fact our mouths and lips are too dirty and unworthy to be speaking about and mentioning the most honorable of creation, and to be quoting lessons from the elite of his servants, alas...may it suffice that Allah knows that we have got a heart and there in our heart is a spot where we acknowledge Muhammad Rasulullah s.a.w. that we know his mercy for his ummah encompasses all, not just for the righteous among us but for the weak ones among us too! And who says the wrong-doers and sinners cannot have affection for him too?

Weak one,

"What is this forgetting?" - Habib Umar bin Hafiz

2012-01-20T01:12:00.000+08:00

Habib Umar bin Hafiz
19 Safar 1433 H

Bismillah.

"There is no one greater to you. There's no one greater to you than your Orginator. Those who are near to you, your friends, the people of your house, who knows what the soul whispers to you? He knows that prior to you being created, prior to your spirit being made, prior to the semenal fluid entering the womb of your mother. He is nearer to you than yourself. No particular occurs except in accordance to what He knows. He cared for you when you were in the womb. He cared for you in the realm of sipirit. Who is to care for you and nourish you when you are still a foetus - through the various phases? When you were at the phase of alaqah, who developed you? Who moved you? Who transformed you to the next foetal phase? So who is nearer to you than Him?

...However, we are heedless, we forget! We close our eyes. We deny this radiant Sun. We forget Allah's power. We forget the One who makes us move. He is the One who makes us move in the land and in the sea. What is this forgetting?!"

- Habib Umar bin Hafiz

Watch the full video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z7AYC9b5JI

The writings of the venerated persons

2012-01-19T13:32:00.000+08:00

Bismillah.

This is a reminder to ourself as is each and every posting. It is Allah who makes our hearts inclined towards the names and the sayings of the venerated persons. These great people are alive, they are able to come to us and make themselves known. We were heedless yet they appeared to us, somehow. They are real. "There are people just by saying their names, your heart becomes alive. There are also people, by mentioning their names your heart becomes dead" said Shaykh Ninowy in one of his lectures. It is true. Sometimes I think we are so pathetic that the great venerable people from the past had to come to our rescue even if it's through their simple sayings. Imagine if they had been self-centered with accumulating knowledge and keeping it to themselves? Imgine if they had been silent and let their wisdoms unheard?

Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah for the righteous and the pious of His servants from the past and present whose very beings and sayings are able to save, inspire and illuminate us to a certain degree.

We learned from Tarbiatul Ushaq (The Training of Divine Lovers) by Maulana Syed Mohammad Zauqi Shah (1877 - 1951) about the etiquette while reading the writings of venerated persons. He said: "The reader should have done his wudhu, should not be reclining and what is most important, he should tune himself with the soul of the writer and should make himself receptive as the words of such persons are a result of their ecstacies (hal). If these writings are read under such conditions they reproduce the same ecstacy or state. If you tune yourself to the spirituality of these great people, they too turn towards you. This is what happens in the soul world, just as it happens in this very world. If you call out to a person at a distance, he will at once turn towards you. If that person says he is busy, even then he will have turned towards you. These great persons have an eye with the glance from which one gains."

May Allah forgive us, we do not simply quote these venerated people for show or to indicate that we know something. We know nothing. We are not worthy enough to be associated with these great people. All we have is respect, awe and love for them. We only wish to be good and do good by learning from them although we are not able to do as much or reach their state, at least Allah knows of our intention of wanting to be good and that we try. All we can do is to keep trying. InshaAllah.

Refrerence: page 109 of Tarbiatul Ushaq

Publisher credit: A.S Noordeen

What choice have we got?

2012-01-18T14:13:00.003+08:00

Bismillah.

I wish I had done what I thought would have been better for me to do. I wish I had gone to many more majlis ta'lim and was able to learn, practise and blog about what I learned, as usual. But lately I have been busy with other worldly duties and not to mention my own laghah (heedlessness). Whether I liked it or not, that was decreed for me.

Several years ago I fell into a severe spiritual dilemma, that I did not even want to work so that I could just go to the zawiya and do zikr and suluk. But apparently that was not good for me. We often have rigid ideas how Allah can be attained, how knowledge can be acquired, but in truth Allah teaches us in the way He knows best and sometimes it's not through the perceived "obedience" but through lack of it.

I learned from the wonderful and credible Ashrafiya website about Shaykh Ibrahim bin Adham being conscious of his worship and anxious about missing his supererogatory and obligatory duties. It was related that he then heard a voice from within himself: "O Ibrahim! Become Our slave (abd). By doing so you will find spiritual serenity. When We make you to oversleep then sleep. And when We command you to get up then rise. Between these two extremes you have no choice of your own."

Glory be to Allah who creates us and our actions. Subhanallahi 'amma yushrikun.

Poster credit: Reza Jamshidi/www.todayposters.com

Shaykh Ninowy on Aqidah Tahawiyyah (Lesson 1)

2012-01-17T12:59:00.007+08:00

Al Ahad
Artist: Hamid Iqbal Khan

Bismillah.

For 11 days in Ramadhan of 2011, the much adored Shaykh Sayyid Muhammad Bin Yahya Al-Husayni Al-Ninowy had given lectures on Aqidah Tahawiyyah - lessons of tawhid based on the teachings of Imam Abu Jaafar Al Tahawiy who was born in the southern desert village of Egypt in 229 Hijri. Shaykh Ninowy's lectures took place at the Islamic Peace Varsity of South Africa.

At outset of his first lesson, Shaykh Ninowy asked the audience to be free thinkers, to be as critical as they can be on who is Allah and why He is worthy of being worshipped. The shaykh's lesson was based on two textual evidences namely the Qur'an and Sunnah, both of which "are shuyukh and imam of everybody. The lesson was about aqidah, a definitive subject and not something that can be based on 'maybe' or 'maybe not'."

Aqidah, said Shaykh Ninowy was a created terminology. It is not a term that you could find in the Book or Sunnah. It means a set of belief that you tie your heart on. It comes from the word aqadah or uqdah meaning to tie something using a rope. In reference to the same term, Shaykh Ninowy said he preferred to use imaniyat as iman is a more common phrase.

Then he went on to elucidate the meaning of key terms such as iktikad ahlul sunnah wal jamaah. Iktikad refers to articles of iman. Sunnah means what the Prophet s.a.w said, did and approved of. Ahlul sunnah refers to people who embody the Prophet's sunnah and follow it. It is a term that was crystalized around the 3rd century. Al jama'ah means a group that follows the haq even if it be one man alone by himself as was Prophet Ibrahim. In the Quran Allah has referred to Ibrahim an ummah by himself. Therefore Jama'ah does not necessarily mean the majority. And haq is not determined by the number of people who follow it. Haq is bigger than all.

Shaykh Ninowy then talked about the significance of learning tawhid. The usul or foundation/origin of tawhid is Allah's saying fa'lam 'annahu la ilaha illAllah. Fa'lam means to acquire knowledge. He didn't say faqul [say]. Quoting Imam Ghazali, he said, "ibadah is not valid until you know who you worship and worship is not valid until you know who you are worshipping." Ilm of Allah is obligatory on mukallaf, those who are accountable in the sight of shariah (those are sane, who have reached puberty and who has heard the dakwah of Islam). The usul (foundation) of deen is knowing who Allah is i.e. knowledge of tawhid. Rasulullah s.a.w had spent 13 years in Makkah focusing on tawhid. The most honorable of ulum is ilm tawhid. And how do we know Allah? We know Him through His attributes.

What does tawhid mean? Many people think of tawhid as oneness or unity but what tawhid really mean is the absolute uniqueness of the Creator. That nothing is the same as Allah. He is the One that nothing else is like Him. Al Ahad is often translated as the One but Ahad means nothing is like Him. Nothing you can or cannot imagine is like Him. It is not the mathematical number one. Al Wahid is also one of His Beautiful Names, but Allah is not like the number one which is subject to division. Nor is he matter that occupies space. Allah is the creator of matter. Qul huwallahu Ahad is the most often repeated surah and we should know its meaning properly. So Al Ahad is the One that nothing else is like Him.

Allahu Samad. What is Samad? Is it eternal? No. As Samad is the one not in need of anything for anything yet every thing is in need of Him for everything. Everybody knows lam yalid walam yulad. Walam yaqul lahu kufuwan Ahad. Take note of the term 'kufu' it means nothing is simlar to Him as in the pharse laisa kamislihi syai'. The surah is called Al Ikhlas. It has got two other names i.e. Surah Tawbah and Tawhid. Tawhid means ikhlas, having absolute sincerity and transparency in believing that nothing is like Him. People who associate other things which have similarity to Allah has no ikhlas and no tawhid.

Again, the shaykh reiterated on knowing Allah through His attributes Ar Rahim and so on and so forth. Still the creation is incapacitated to comprehend the Creator in a way that is encompassing, yet knows that He is the only Creator, the only one worthy of being worshipped. How can we know the Creator when we cannot even know the creation? Do you know how Jibril looks like? Do you know what is going to hapen to Cape Town 300 years from now? We don't know. We are incapacitated in knowing the creation. We are limited by what we know. Your knowledge is limited. We are subject to change and anything that is subject to change is imperfect. It is Allah who subjugate change. And He has no partners.

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Allahu 'alam. May I be forgiven for any errors or omissions. The abve is not a verbatim transcript. It is based on my sketchy notes of the video produced by Omar Esack Digital Productions. Credit: Sister N for bringing the valuable DVDs all the way from Cape Town. Jazakillahu khair.

You may purchase the above art piece here:
http://hamidsart.redbubble.com/sets/155690/works/5694131-al-ahad

"Have good opinion of others" - Habib Umar bin Hafiz

2012-01-16T23:09:00.004+08:00

Bismillah.

"Raise your tongue and heart from attacking Muslims and from having bad opinion of them. If you dislike someone and if you are able to give them sincere advice then do so. Purify your heart and tongue, stop them from attacking Muslims, by mentioning their faults. And in your heart by thinking bad of others. Beware of having a bad opinion of a Muslim even if he disobeys Allah because you don't know how his ending will be. Backbiting and bad opinion is not the deen of Allah, nor it is the deen of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w, but the deen of devil. The deen of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w is that believers are all brothers. Avoid backbiting and do not mix with people who backbite."

"Don't make fun of others. Avoid suspicion as much as possible for it is a sin. Would you like to eat the flesh of your brothers? What tells you that he is going to die in the state of disbelief? Have etiquette with Allah concerning His creations. If you backbite then you will have committed two sins. Firstly, you are guilty for not sincerely advising them, secondly, you are guilty of attacking them."

"Have good opinion of others. You are not responsible for them. Don't make judgments of people. You are a reminder and not a controller."

Habib Umar then quoted Imam Al-Haddad's teachings:

"Do not see yourself as superior to any Muslims. Reflect upon how your ending would be. Don't be proud or arrogant. Think about how your ending will be. You cannot be certain about other people's misdeeds but you can be certain about yourself and your sickness in the heart. Why leave this certainty about yourself in favor of assumptions on other people? Don't be happy about people's praise when you know your own true state with certainty. The more increase in knowledge you may have, the more you should feel conscious about your ignorance. No one can be certain about other people's faults but one can be certain of one's own faults. You have to take yourself to account. As for your brothers, you should excuse them thinking maybe they do this/that for this/that reason. Do not be judging or attacking other people. Have etiquette with the One who hides people's ending. Have etiquette with Allah concerning His creations."

- Extracts of Habib Umar's lesson as translated by Ustaz Amjad Tarsin
Reference: http://abdulkarimyahya.com/

p/s
I remembered reading a tweet by Samah Al-Nachawati: "I don't like what you are doing but I respect who you are. Because maybe who you are tomorrow will be better than who I am today."

Be not judgemental

2012-01-15T13:05:00.003+08:00

Al Hakam by Hamid Iqbal Khan

Bismillah.

Have we been too judgemental? That's why all the lessons that came our way lately were mostly about being judgemental. We live in a society that judges one another, maybe. We all like to play judge maybe because we think we are better than others. Even if we are shy about judging others, we often feel that we are being judged for this and for that. And those who judge other people, perhaps they are seeking conformity. They expect people to conform to their way because their way is the only correct way. And that does not necessarily mean they know better.

In relation to this matter, we heard Shaykh Ninowy quoting Sayyid Alawi Al Abbas (father of Abuya/Sayyid Muhammad Alawi Al-Maliki, Rahimallahu ta'ala) and we cannot let it slip from our notes without posting it here:

Sayyid Alawi Al Abbas said:

"Those who know less, judge more.

Those who know more, judge less."

And Shaykh Ninowy said: "Unity does not mean conformity, The imam mahzab didn't conform to each other but they were united. Today we strive for conformity instead of unity."

Let's think about it.

____________________________________________

Purchase above art piece here:

http://hamidsart.redbubble.com/sets/155690/works/5730017-al-hakam

Faithful Slaves of South Africa | Mausoluem of the Western Cape

2012-01-10T22:10:00.006+08:00

Bismillah

First and foremost, I would like to bid welcome to one respected reader of Lisan al-Din. Sister N, welcome to Kuala Lumpur! She, (gorgeous she) is from Cape Town and when a faithful Muslim travels she/he tends to bring along her/his faith along. Because of that I got to learn more about Islam in South Africa. Because faithful believers who were forced to come to South Africa in the 17th century had brought along and defended their faith, Islam got firmly established as solid as Table Mountain.

They had been brought to the southern tip of the African continent as slaves or prisoners, but in reality they were devouts slaves of Allah and their faith escaped all physical imprisonment. Certainly, no matter what the circumstances they were thrown in, the awliya Allah neither feared nor grieved. And surely Allah fulfills His words, He has honored them, they who honored His deen, by making us aware of their presence, so many of them in a relatively concentrated location in beautiful Cape Town.

If I may have the honor of stating their names and in so doing, let's pray for their barakah, and may Allah make us hold strong to Islam as they did.

Al Fatihah

Sayed Abduraghman Motura (Tuan Matarah)
Sheikh Yusuf (1626 - 1699)
Tuan Dea Koasa (Indonesian origin)
Tuan Ismail Dea Malela (Indonesian origin)
Sayed Abdul Aziz
Sheikh Abdurahman Matebe Shah (a Malaccan Sultan)
Sayed Mahmud (Malay of the West Coast Sumatera)
Sheikh Abdul Mutaleb
Sheikh Noorul Mubeen
Sayed Jaffer
Sheikh Ali Sayed Bassier
Sheikh Mohamed Hassen Ghainie Shah
Tuan Kaape-ti-Low
Imam Abdullah ibn Kadi Abdus Salaam (Tuan Guru)
Tuan Sayed Alawie (Yemen origin)
Tuan Numruman (a slave)
Sayed Abdul Malik (a slave from Batavia)
Sayed Abdul Haq (a descendant of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w)
Sayed Moegsien bin Alawie (a descendant of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w)
Sheikh Abdurahman ibn Muhammad al Iraqi (from Basra Iraq)
Sheikh Abdul Kader
Moulana Abdul Latief (from India)
Shaykh Hazrat Khwaja Sayed Mehboob Ali Shah Chishti Nizami Habibi Faqiri (d. 2005)
Tuan Masud
Sayed Abdul Kader
Sheikh Suleiman

The above mentioned saints formed the 'Ring of Islam' - an imaginary ring of mausoleum (kramats) surrounding Cape Town. For those of you who could afford it, visit spiritual South Africa!

Reference:

'Guide to the Kramats of the Western Cape'

- a publication by the Cape Mazaar (Kramat) Society

http://www.capemazaarsociety.com/

Habib Munzir Al-Musawa at Darul Murtadza

2012-01-07T23:32:00.033+08:00

Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah, it was my first time to sit in Habib Munzir's majlis. It was a majlis organized by Darul Murtadza under the tutelage of Habib Ali Zainal Abidin.

Habib Munzir counselled the audience on the functions of our senses. The eye's function is to witness the source of blessings. In a hadith of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w we learned about one of the seven groups of people who would be granted mercy is those who remember Allah with tears in their eyes. And make the tongues honorable through recitations of holy verses. Again in a hadith of Rasulullah s.a.w we learned about the virtues of reciting Subhanallah wabihamdih Subhanallahil Azeem 100 times a day. One's sins shall be made to vanish even if one's sins is as plenty as the sea foam. But in truth Allah needs no purification. It all goes back to ourself. It is Allah who purifies us from sins. It is He who purifies us from abasement. It is Allah who purifies us from shameful characters. So people, purify your heart from having evil intentions. Be of those who are inclined to make glorifications, to honor Allah as in the zikr SubhanAllah.

Recite Al-Ikhlas 100 times a day and praiseworthy attributes shall spring forth from you. Allah will thereby lift any hijab (veils) and He will open the doors of mercy to you. In each moment He reserves the light of His mercy for those who call upon Him. Make du'a: "O Allah in each moment make me nearer to you." Who among us, make such a petition? Verily Allah may convert one's wrong-doing into a good reward. He is All-forgiving and He even forgive us without us begging for mercy. Know that between each prayer lies His pardon. He forgives us more than we could ever ask Him.

The heavens are of less meaning compared to being in His presence - maiyyah. The context of presence here is not one which is zahir (physical) nor it is zatiyah (in essence). It is about being conscious of His presence through His love and His gentleness. It [the station of maiyyah] is for those who constantly remember Allah and make much mention of His Name. La ilaha illAllah is our pledge of allegiance towards Allah. It is also the pledge of allegiance of Allah towards His servant. O people, say it with sincerity and you shall be saved from the torments of the Fire.

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Allahu a'lam. The above is neither verbatim notes nor it is a full transcript of Habib Munzir's speech at Darul Murtadza. May I be forgiven for any unintentinal errors and omissions. Please take note that from 20th January 2012 onwards Darul Murtadza's majlis will be conducted at a new location - Masjid Mu'adz bin Jabal at Setiawangsa KL. I ask for your prayer so that Allah grant the tawfik to attend many more majlis ta'lim and benefit from them. InshaAllah.

Omnipresence vs secularization

2012-01-06T23:47:00.083+08:00

Bismillah.

I have been extremely busy since the start of the new year, and will continue to be burdened with office workload until the end of January. So that explains my absence from this space. I apologize to those who have been checking this blog regularly yet got turned down.

A couple of days ago I had been working for 36 hours non-stop, Alhamdulillah ala kulli hal. A part of me doubted myself and to a certain extent regretted, that due to work demands, I have slacked in the "religious" department. It is as though my job has nothing to do with my religion or religion in the general sense of the word. But why should we secularize ourself i.e. separate religious matters (Islam) from our working life. We often hear people lament about a secular world, but it dawned upon me that we are actually guilty of secularizing our faith from our daily worldly duties. When we work for very long hours, it is He who makes it possible, it is He who gives the strength, it is He who allows and enables us to finish our project/task/assignment on time. He is with us all the while. He is present with us and He is omni-present. So I think it's wrong to say that He only exists whenever we do something "religious", else we are distant from Him. Surely, in each and every circumstances, He is near and is ever present.

_________________________________

Purchase the above artpiece here:

Art Credit: Sumbal Qureshi in Digital Arts, Grafix, Typography

Shaykh Fahmi Zamzam on Kitab al-Hikam (Lesson 1)

2012-01-02T22:26:00.002+08:00

Bismillah.

The jemaah of Ba'alawi KL was blessed to have started the new year with a majlis ta'lim, not just another majlis but one where its resident mu'aleem Shaykh Fahmi Zamzam al-Maliki has begun a series of lesson expounding the gems from Kitab al-Hikam by Ibn Atha'illah As-Sakandari.

I had arrived late at the majlis and only managed to jot these points below. He said:

Those who worship Allah with any other intentions i.e. of wanting the reward of Paradise; those who perform Salaat Hajat in order to get their wishes fulfilled; those who recite Surah Yaasin for a specific purpose; those who perform prayers out of fear of the hellfire, verily he/she lacks adab towards Allah!

Those who perform the obligatory duties while aiming for the rewards of Heavens are like those who are still in Primary School. Know the difference between them and students who are in High School/Secondary School. Know the difference between abrar and muqarabeen in relation to the phrase: Hasanatul abrar, sayyiatul muqarabeen. A good deed performed by a righteous may well be a sin for those who are near to Allah. Makrifatullah (gnosis) is given to His chosen people. It's an honor only given to a select few.

Those who are sincere, the mukhliseen may conduct very few good deeds, yet the quality of their worship easily surpass the value of the deeds performed by the ordinary folks. Similarly, a contemplation of an arifbillah is worth a lot more than a thousand years of worship.

Concerning the aphorism on 'tasting', Shaykh Fahmi said Allah enables us to taste a variety of experience rather to experience a variety of taste. When He destined us a misfortune, we are able to taste the virtue of patience. Whenever He grants us a blessing, we are able to enjoy such blessings. Hence, we get to know Allah through various means such as obligatory prayers, fasting, misfortune, Asmaul Husna and so on and so forth.

Allah reveals Himself in myriad ways through Asmaul Husna. In each and every action of His, He makes us understand Him better so we gradually become cognizant of His aspects of Jabbar, Qahar, Jalal etc. As such, those who know Allah are sensitive to taste. Those who are able to discern His actions tend to have positive thoughts about Him. The taste that one experiences or feel in the heart is priceless for it is a sign of a heart that recognizes His af'al (actions).

When Allah witholds, He manifests His Qahar, that He is the ultimate Planner and He does not subscribe to our plans or wishes. When we are afflicted with calamities, we make du'a but that does not mean that we are telling Allah what needs to be done. He tests us with a purpose to acquaint Himself to us. We make du'a as a sign of servanthood that we must be asking from our God, our Master noneother. Allah is khairul raziqin, He is the best of Providers, He will fulfill our petition, but according to His terms and plans. Verily His giving and witholding are both a blessing.
__________________________________________
Wallahu a'lam. May I be forgiven for any errors or omissions.
The majlis was hosted by:

2012 - Begin with the end in mind

2012-01-01T01:00:00.007+08:00

Bismillah.

Love whomever you wish to love, someday you'll be leaving him/her. No it's not an entirely negative statement. I think if we enter into a relationship with the end in mind, that we are going to part someday, by right we should be giving more of our love. If we enter a new year as though it's going to be our last year or the last year ever, what should we do? What would you do? We would be doing a whole lot more, won't we?

I wish we could do more good deeds as we begin this brand new day 1/1/2012. I wish Allah would enable us to do more good deeds. I quote from Habib Omar bin Hafiz's Facebook, what looks like his first lesson for us in this new year: "Of the reward of a good deed is being enabled to perform another good deed, and from the misfortune of an evil deed is being left to perform another evil deed."

I wish Allah would open the eyes of our heart even wider so we could see Him before, after and in anything. I wish Allah would open our hearts to see the Truth, knowing that we will end as we have begun. We were nothing, we came to the world with nothing and we shall go back with nothing while hoping to leave some love, hope and inspiration behind.

Let's begin with the end in mind.

Huwal Awwalu wal Akhiru.

Wrap up the past | Unwrap the present

2011-12-30T01:03:00.008+08:00

Bismillah.

We observe the arrival of the new Islamic Hijri year, no doubt. And some of us shy away from celebrating the other new year. I think that's perfectly alright because we are all unanimously against any ghaflah and evil acts associated with the new year celebration. Alhamdulillah, Allah has granted us the consciousness of what's right and what's wrong.

Alhamdulillah, He has saved me from being one of those who celebrates the new year in a jahiliyah manner. Because I used to walk that path, I have become tolerant and understanding towards those who party to the max on new year's eve. May Allah guide them as He has guided me. Mistakes are good if we learn from them. And I quote these comforting words of Shaykh Muhammad Sa’id al-Jamal ar-Rafa’i ash-Shaduli of the Sufi University.

He said: "Mistakes are part of the master plan and bring us closer because we realize we need God.' For that reason he does not regret mistakes because "Allah, (God) says, ‘Oh My People! If you did not make mistakes, how could you know me? I am the Forgiver. I want to hear your voice calling me for Forgiveness, Mercy and Guidance. The mistake is a gate to righteousness. Through the gate of the mistake, most of my beloveds come to reach me.”

As we welcome 2012, let's wrap up the past and put it aside. Just wrap up all the heartaches and failures of 2011, although I don't agree with the word failure because it's not a finite thing, it's just another experience, another action of Allah.

As we welcome 2012, let's unwrap the gifts of the present, in each moment. For in every moment He reveals Himself to us in His infinite manifestations, with infinite beauty and mercy. So let's just smile for verily He is with us.

La ilaha illAllah Muhammad Rasulullah

fi kulli lamhatin

wa nafasin

'adadama wasi'ahu ilmullah.

May we live the reality of witnessing Allah and Rasulullah s.a.w in every vision, with every breath, far and wide as is His knowledge.

p/s See ya in 2012, InshaAllah.

Reference: http://sufiuniversity.org/2011/12/how-to-make-a-fresh-start-in-2012/

Pic credit:
http://hamidsart.redbubble.com/sets/155696/works/8210446-allah-name-and-ornaments-2

How will history remember you?

2011-12-27T22:12:00.004+08:00

Bismillah.

Three things experienced over the weekend had brought about this post:

"The Emperor's Club" movie;

a visit to Maqam Habib Noh - the grand saint of the region;

and a hearty lunch at the Islamic Restaurant near Arab Street, Singapore.

What do they have in common? History.

One line from the movie made me think to the core of my heart. Kevin Kline who played Professor Hundert, an excellent history teacher, asked his students: "Great ambition and conquest without contribution is without significance. What will your contribution be? How will history remember you?”

You know I am not a movie person. I hardly watch any movies but I was glad I saw this one by chance and as always I am not ashamed to admit that it made me shed tears. The following day, I went to Singapore and I kept hearing the words of Prof. Hundert - What will your contribution be? How will history remember you?

Habib Noh bin Muhammad Al Habshi (1788 - 1866) was a man who made an extraordinary mark in history. In a few months' time people from all over the region will be gathering for his 150th Haul (death anniversary) InshaAllah. During the haul held last April, I learned about Habib Noh walking on water from a small island where the British had attempted to quarantine him together with those deemed to be suffering from infectious diseases. Habib Noh was neither a politician nor a conqueror. He was only a man who had extraordinary belief in his religion. He was a man known to have had a deep sympathy and love towards children and the less fortunate. That's how he is remembered to this day.

In front of the chamber where the maqam is housed

Fifty nine years after the demise of this much-talked-about saint, another exciting history got recorded in Singapore. In 1921, the Islamic Restaurant established itself as the place to go for absolutely delicious briyani. When someone (a non-Muslim) introduced me to the restaurant, I thought he was just referring to a 'halal' restaurant. I never expected a restauranteur would boldly use such an exclusive sounding name. It turned out to be not just a halal place but one with an impressive history.

Many heads of state and Sultans from Malaysia have frequented the Islamic Restaurant. Perhaps the founder M. Abdul Rahman didn't start the business with a purpose to make his mark on history. He was probably just focused on using his talents and contributing to society in his own unique way but somehow he too made history.

Now, what about us? What will our contribution be? How will history remember us?

Savouring history at the Islamic Restaurant
- A travelogue of a nobody -

Where is your destination?

2011-12-23T00:10:00.009+08:00

Bismillah.

Where is your destination this holiday season?

I am excited about both my journey and destination. Because in my journey to my destination I have got my favorite nieces and nephews, sister and of course my beloved mother. Oh...let me digress a little and mention my niece because she has been complaining about not getting featured in this blog. So, below is my interview with her.

Name: N. Atikah Binti A. Aziz
Age: I'm 22 btw -_-"
Profession: Kindergarten Principal - a qualified one, if you ask.
Country of residence: Malaysia, but I wish to stay somewhere cold but come to think of it, I can't stand too much coldness or I may just break into pieces, I'm kinda fragile.
Ethnic background: Malay but my aunt [that's me] said that we have got Arabic, Indian, and Indonesian blood. I don't know where she got that idea.
Describe yourself in one line: I'm busy, busy, busy!
A fun fact about yourself: I don't squash bugs, I'd advise them to run away fast before I decide to call for help.
Hobbies: Talking to HRs [family members], and I just developed a skill to communicate with them using brain waves.
Share some of your greatest achievements: Came back via the railway successfully babeyhhh! [she once travelled alone by train with some scary passengers].
What inspire you: Rasulullah s.a.w, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim and ever since I've been to Singapore, I haven't forgotten Habib Noh. And of course HRs - for their oh-so-bright smiles; MakTok [her granny/my mother] - she has great humor especially when it comes to money and Aunty Jaja [that's me] - a fan of Shinzui soap [a Japanese body soap/one of my 'beauty' secrets].
Brief advice to Muslims on achieving great things: When you fall down, pick something while getting back up.
Brief advice to yourself on achieving great things: You know your strength, work with it and everything will be just fine.

She is cool, isn't she? Anyway, our destination this weekend will be Johor & Singapore, and the highlight has got to be Maqam Habib Noh, InshaAllah. But before we make that journey, here's one more time, a lesson from Maulana Syed Mohammad Zauqi Shah (1877-1951).

What is the destination?

There is just one destination for man and that is Allah. The rest, like minor miracles and knowledge through kashf [unveiling] are but child's play. One should be trying to obtain His pleasure all the time, do everything only for Him and keep His remembrance always in the heart. This is the stage of submission (taslim) and resignation (ridha) to His Will. This is the highest stage. Even if He places one in Hell, that too should be welcomed. After all, Hell and Paradise too are relative. The real thing is Zat (Divine Essence). Let all relativities get lost in Zat.

Quoted from: Tarbiatul Ushaq/The Training of Divine Lovers
Publisher credit: AS Noorden

Zikrullah at all times | Dast dhakar dil bayar

2011-12-22T22:33:00.004+08:00

Bismillah.

Tarbiatul Ushaq - 'The Training of Divine Lovers' is a collection of discourses by a Pakistani Chistiya Sufi, Maulana Syed Mohammad Zauqi Shah (1877 - 1951).

It's one of the lovely items that ended up in my shopping bag this week which contained mostly M & S biscuits, tea, chocolates and candies : ) Alhamdulillah. Yes, it's very easy to lose ourself when we are at the malls but we could still be in zikrullah no matter where we are. That's what Maulana Syed Mohammad Zauqi Shah said in the book:

_______________________________

How to establish zikrullah at all times

The salik should attune himself to Allah all the time. While he should busy himself with affairs of the world that must not make him neglectful of the zikr of Allah. If a person suffers from a toothache, he continues to feel it even while he is busy with his everyday duties. Similarly, if a dear one dies, he keeps depressed with the thoughts of his dear one all the time while he, again, is busy with his duties. In the same way, the salik must always be mindful of Allah, whatever else he may be busy in:

Dast dhakar

Dil bayar

Which means:

"Your hand in your work and

Your heart with the Beloved"

_______________________________

Publisher credit: A.SNoorden

Season's Greetings

2011-12-20T20:49:00.008+08:00

Bismillah.

Regardless of your religion, I think you will agree with this saying:

Live in each season as it passes;
breathe the air,
drink the drink,
taste the fruit,
and resign yourself to the influences of each.
~Thoreau

Someone tweeted that and I liked it. If you are an Islamist, you might have the tendency to Islamicize things and you might say oh yes there's an Islamic teaching in that saying - "resign yourself to the influences of each" because, resign yourself means submitting to the qada and qadar of the season. Islam is about submitting to the Divine's decree. It's true, is it not?

And I will admit that I really like this season. It's got a joyous aura because it's year end and many will go on a holiday with their loved ones since it's school holiday and those who have been busy working throughout the year will take a long leave from work.

I like this season because it's colorful and I love the color red and that's why I like Poinsettia which happens to be a plant associated with the Christmas celebration. I will also admit that I enjoy eating Mince Pies which is also linked to Christmas. So what, it's just a fruit pie/tart, and it's yummy! Just be sure to buy those that comes with a V label (for vegetarian). So I am ok about Dr. Tahir al-Qudri saying it's ok to celebrate Christmas to a certain extent. But of course some may not agree with him.

I don't intend to debate about that. I just want to express my happiness about this season. It's a happy season for many and let's be tolerant and respect our Christian friends and those who celebrate Xmas, Ho Ho Ho! Let's appreciate our similarities and acknowledge our differences. Let's not forget, we love Prophet Isa alaihisalam too.

Oh, I also like this season because this is the only time you get to see so many things in red and green combo and it's such a beautiful color combination. I also like Christmas trees because they are simply pretty. And I do sing along to Mariah Carey's - "All I want this Christmas is you!"

You may think I am "liberal" in that sense. I think what I am trying to say here is that we must be mature enough to know when to be liberal, conservative or even orthodox.

To all our Christian friends, Merry Christmas! All I want this Christmas is for you and your family to be happy and to be merry!

Know Islam | Love Islam

2011-12-18T11:03:00.011+08:00

Bismillah.

What do controversies regarding Islamophobia mean to you? What does interfaith intolerance mean to you? I believe we don't have so much of this problem in Malaysia Alhamdulillah but that does not mean we should not be sensitive to what our fellow Muslims in America are facing.

It's ironic but heartwarming that a non-Muslim friend from America has brought our attention to an issue faced by our Muslim brothers and sisters in [supposedly] "melting-pot" USA. She is making us speak-up on this matter. She works with 'My Fellow American' project which focuses on addressing and minimizing unfriendly gestures towards Islam in America.

Please read her message below:

Hello again,

I thought that you and the readers of Lisan al-Din would be interested to know that last week Lowe’s Home Improvement pulled its ads from the TLC show All-American Muslim in response to an organization claiming the show "falsely humanized Muslims in America.” The Lowe’s controversy has exposed more Islamophobia in America. This issue falls directly in line with what the My Fellow American project is trying to prevent and overcome in America.

As a supporter of the project, would you please visit www.myfellowamerican.us to share what this controversy means to you? I encourage you to ask your readers to do the same to help spread the message of tolerance to fight back against intolerance and fear-mongering. We've just posted a host of new content from various entertainers and faith leaders on this topic.

When you post or tweet about this important issue, please send me the link so I can share it with my team. Thank you for your continued support!

Elizabeth

_____________________________

Well, I am yet to watch the 'All-American Muslim' TV show but I think I can still try to answer Ms. Elizabeth's question on what such a controversy means to me. I think Lowe's, just like many people out there, could learn from a Malay saying: Tak kenal maka tak cinta. What it means is that one cannot possibly love something or someone if one does not know it/him/her well enough. It's a simple maxim, it's full of common sense yet it's hard to do if one is not willing to open one's heart to get to know something or someone truthfully.

Whatever it is, Lowe's must be credited for wanting to advertise/support the pro-Islam TV show, initially, albeit for a short while. They must be thinking:

Life is about supporting

One another regardless of creed, color and faith

With kind thoughts for humanity if not heart-felt compassion and knowing that

Each community deserves the right to coexist in harmony in

Support of the divine plan no matter how different our approach is towards the One Divinity.

They later pulled out probably because they suddenly realized that:

Life is not about standing up for tolerance and humanity but

One that is driven by personal profit at all costs hence one must align oneself

With likeminded, narrow minded people

Even if their views are considered as distorted by the majority, but

Such an attitude will not make much improvement for the greater good of this shared home.

Let's remind ourself to keep our level of intolerance on low. Let's make an effort to get to know something for eventually we'll come to love it. Or at least respect it. Let's not support any kind of lowe-ly attitude.

Watch this unique video published by 'My Fellow American' featuring Rabbi Jack Bemporad and Sheikh Yasir Qadhi on Lowe's and Islamophobia.

http://www.myfellowamerican.us/videos/rabbi_jack_bemporad_and_sheik_yasir_qadhi.htm

They who died for the love of the Truth

2011-12-17T05:46:00.012+08:00

Bismillah.

Today is the 17th of December, so we remember once again the demise of a great Persian Sufi mystic, Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi who died on this day 738 years ago, in the year 1273. Great people are often remembered for their good deeds and inspiring words, both which moved people to act in the way of truth, simply because their very being is for the love of the Truth.

For the same reason, we remember the demise of a prominent Al-Azhar scholar, Shaykh Emad Effat who yesterday died as martyr, at riotous Tahrir Square in Cairo. His remarkable final roles were as cleric at a religious authority on Islamic fatwa - Dar al-Ifta, and fighter of haq together with Egypt's brave young men.

An AFP Pic of the Shaykh's last passage from Al-Azhar Mosque

Al Fatihah
Shaykh Emad Effat died on a Friday, a blessed day;
died amidst a sacred fight for truth.

We Are In His Hands In Anger And In Peace
If we come to (a state of) ignorance,
that is His prison.
And if we come to (a state of) knowledge,
that is His (lofty) balcony.
If we come to (a state of) sleep,
we are His drowsy-drunken ones.
And if we come to (a state of) wakeful alertness,
we are in His Hands.

If we come to (a state of) weeping,
we are His cloud full of glistening (raindrops).
And if we come to (a state of) laughing,
we are His lightning in that moment.
If we come to (a state of) anger and battle,
it is the reflection of His Wrath.
And if we come to (a state of) peace and pardon,
it is the reflection of His Love.

The above are couplets attributed to Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi, translated from the Persian by our brother Dr. Ibrahim Gamard of Darul Masnavi, the co-translator of 'The Quatrains of Rumi'.

_______________________________________
Purchase 'The Quatrains of Rumi' here:
http://www.amazon.com/Quatrains-Rumi-Jalaluddin-Muhammad-Balkhi-Rumi/dp/1597314501
Reference: http://www.dar-al-masnavi.org/n.a-I-1510.html
Pic Credit: Rumi Tomb by Jens Helmstedt

Praying for increased knowledge

2011-12-16T01:08:00.003+08:00

Bismillah.

Rabbi zidni 'ilma

"O Allah increase me in knowledge."

The type of knowledge according to
Prophet Muhammad's standard.

That which beautifies our character.
Allahumma salli 'ala Sayyidina Muhammad.
Ameen.

Jumaah Mubarrak to all!

____________________________________________

Poster credit: Hamid Iqbal Khan

Purchase this art here:

http://hamidsart.redbubble.com/sets/155696/works/5800095-rabbey-zidni-ilma

The psychology of prayers

2011-12-15T23:26:00.012+08:00

Bismillah.

We are approaching the end of the solar year. Let's take stock of the prayers we should have performed in a given year. If I may ask, what were you thinking as you performed the 1,825 obligatory salat in a year, that is if you are a man? And probably around 1,741 salat, if you are a woman.

What was I thinking? Well...I am now thinking about how I have prayed, how many times I have prayed, how many times I was late in my prayer, how many times I have missed my prayer. I, I, I it's all about me. That's where I went wrong. That, I discovered just last night, upon watching a video of Shaykh Muhammad bin Yahya al-Ninowy giving tausiyah at a masjid in Singapore last weekend.

He was talking about ihsan - that you worship Allah as if you see Him. The shaykh stressed the importance of realizing the object of one's prayer which is Him; Him; Him and not you. He said, "it's about seeing Him, not seeing you, not seeing your ibadah, your qiyam, etc. but seeing Him. If you see you, how can you see Him?"

Astaghfirullah!

About 20 hours ago, I noticed Sidi Farraz Rabbani tweeting on the same point. He said:

'In prayer, some focus on praying;

others, on praying to God;

others, on God.

"Establish prayer in My Remembrance." [Qur'an]'

Yes indeed, Allah says in the Qur'an: "Establish prayer to remember Me." Yet so many of us are remembering 'me', in our prayer.

Later, Farraz Rabbani tweeted again to emphasize the point. He said, "The highest sincerity is to forget yourself in beholding Him."

Allahu Akbar. Hence, I am reminded of this weighty phrase I learned from somewhere:
La ilaha ilAllah qabla kulli ahada
La ilaha ilAllah baqda kulli ahada
La ilaha ilAllah hu yabqa Rabbana
wayafna kullu ahada

There is no God but Allah before and after everything, while Allah is baqa (everlasting) and everything else is perished.

And Shaykh Ninowy ended his tausiyah on ihsan by quoting the Qur'anic phrase:

kullu man alaiha faan

"All that is on earth will perish."

So let's think about it. Let's make our 1,825 +/- prayers next year be how it should be InshAllah. May Allah forgive us for not worshipping Him as He should be worshipped.

__________________________________________

Listen to Shaykh Ninowy's tausiyah by clicking on the link below,
courtesy of Masjid Ba'lawi Singapore

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150421672102732

Habib Ali Al-Jifri on knowledge according to the standards of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w

2011-12-14T21:07:00.012+08:00

Bismillah.

Allahu Akbar, just yesterday I heard with my own ears Shaykh Habib Yusuf Bakhour Al-Hassani saying: "I do not judge people. Only Allah can judge. I only judge myself." He said that to me when I told him I was afraid he was going to point out my wrongdoings. I thought he would be judging me on some inappropriate things he might have noticed about this blog or if I had wrongly quoted him. Astaghfirullah. Pardon me Shaykh!

And today I heard Habib Ali Al-Jifri conveying the same message - that we should not be judgemental towards others. Habib Ali asked, what would our reaction be if after leaving the masjid we saw some youth misbehaving in public? How would we perceive them while we, having just left a religious gathering and feeling good about ourself that our level of piety has increased a notch? Would we dismiss them saying Astaghfirullah, this is shaytan? Saying astaghfirullah in such instances is not seeking refuge from wrongdoing, said Habib Ali.

Would we look at them with compassion and make du'a so that Allah grant them hidayah? Would we care to smile and say Assalamualaikum? Think about the effects of our behavior on them.

Over time people progress in their level of understanding and practice of the religion. We may over time adopt a certain Islamic image. But in truth, the measurement of deen and piety is never about image, rather our character and how we interact with others. Worse still if the more we practise the religion the more rude, angry and intolerant we become towards our family, community and those who are 'less religious'. This is due to lack of sincerity in seeking knowledge and in practising the religion. We would not behave in such a manner if we truly understand our interaction with Allah and if we truly recognize Allah bounties.

So be cognizant of the difference between the standards of Iblees knowledge and that of Prophet Muhammad's knowledge (s.a.w). The former makes one proud and judgemental while the latter beautifies one's character. Habib Ali advised those seeking piety to look at themselves and find the truthfulness in their hearts, and to remember that "Wherever fine and pure character is present, religion is present. Wherever fine and pure character is present, pure knowledge is present." But "Let us not take this that we should judge other people. Let us judge ourselves!"

Subhanallah! Such amazing gems from Habib Ali Al-Jifri. We are grateful for this lesson and we are humbled that this is our first time quoting the venerated Habib Ali Al-Jifri. May Allah preserve him and may we continue to benefit from all the habaib we admire and love.

_________________________________________

The above is not a verbatim transcript. Watch the full lecture here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO1FkDTBT9g&feature=player_embedded

Allah judges all | You judge yourself

2011-12-13T21:44:00.009+08:00

Bismillah.

Astaghfirullah, it's my fault. When I heard about a venerable shaykh wanting to speak to me, I was petrified. Oh, did I do something wrong? I am always worried that I might have misrepresented or misquoted the honorable people whom I often mention and quote here; always fearful if I lacked adab in my speech. But you see the fact that I thought I would be judged only proved that I'm the one who is guilty of judging people of being judgemental. Astaghfirullah. At the same time I was hopeful that it would be for a good thing. It's amazing how a shaykh can evoke the feelings of khauf and raja' (fear & hope) in us. But the moment I heard his gentle voice uttering such kind words, my fears dissolved, like rain washing off polluted air.

Alhamdulillah, today is like Eid for us because the honorable Shaykh Habib Yusuf Bakhour al-Hassani has personally conveyed his words of support and du'a. Indeed, this space is our space, we are here together so Alhamdulillah wa shukru lillah.

May Allah preserve Shaykh Habib Yusuf Bakhour al-Hassani. May Allah grant him the best of what He may have reserved for His elite servant. Ameen.

May Allah keep our hearts bonded with the solehin and 'ariffin. May Allah keep nurturing the love we have for the Ahlul Bayt. May Allah open the hearts of those who are yet to recognize the true worth of the noble descendants of Rasulullah s.a.w.

We hereby quote a hadith from 'Al-Arba'in - On the Duty of Loving the Noble Family of the Prophet Muhammad' by Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Jaffar al-Kattani:

At-Tabarani also reported in al-Aswat on the authority of al-Hasan ibn 'Ali as a marfu' that [the Prophet s.a.w said]:

"You must have love for us the Ahl al-Bayt. Indeed someone who meets Allah [on the Day of Judgement] with love for us will enter the Garden by our intercession. By Him in Whose hand is my soul, a slave's actions will not benefit him unless he has real knowledge of our worth."

"I don't judge people. Only Allah can judge. I only judge myself!"
- Shaykh Habib Yusuf Bakhour al-Hassani

Marhaban Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

2011-12-12T01:34:00.002+08:00

Bismillah.

We are pleased to share this news.
Shaykh Hisham Kabbani will be in KL
from Tuesday 13 Dec 2011 until Monday 19 Dec 2011.
The shaykh is listed among
'The 500 Most Influential Muslims in 2011'
under the category of
'Preachers & Spiritual Guides'.

Below text is quoted from the said publication:

"Preachers rely on charisma to inspire millions through multimedia while spiritual guides traditionally teach through live study circles and individualized directives to their disciples."

"Shaykh Kabbani established the American branch of the Haqqani Educational Foundation, dedicated to the promotion of the fundamental Islamic teachings of tolerance, respect and peace. Since Shaykh Muhammad Nizam Adil’s retirement, Kabbani has become the leader of the Naqshbandi Haqqani Sufi Order. In 1991, Kabbani moved to the United States and has since founded 23 study and meeting centers in the United States and Canada as well as an Islamic retreat center in Michigan focusing on spreading Sufi teachings."

Credit: The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre of Jordan

Reference:

http://www.rissc.jo/index.php/english-publications.html

Upholding the skies above the land one stands

2011-12-11T22:01:00.002+08:00

Bismillah.

MashaAllah! Never had I imagined Shaykh Muhammad bin Yahya al-Husayni al-Ninowy wearing a traditional Malay dress! The honorable shaykh was in this region (in Singapore) this weekend (10 - 11 December 2011) for 'The Sacred Path of Love' event.

Unfortunately, I wasn't there. But subhanallah, I could smell the bakhur upon seeing a picture of the shuyukh paying respect at Habib Noh's maqam - speaking of the miracle of Habib Noh!

There is a Malay saying: 'Di mana bumi dipijak, di situ langit di junjung'. It roughly means we should uphold the skies above the land on which we stand. I think that reflects the gesture of Shaykh Ninowy wearing a Baju Melayu (Malay outfit for men) and looking very charming!

The theme for this year's event was 'Gateway to Gratitude'. And we quote from the organizer's Facebook, Shaykh Ninowy's saying:

"Don't think if you are healthy, you are not tested but when you are sick you are tested."

I think in essence what he was saying is that we must recognize Allah's presence in all circumstances. Just like what Habib Umar is quoted as saying on his Facebook today:

"To the extent that you love God, you hope for His closeness, pleasure, reward and nearness. You also fear being distant from Him, His rejection, chastisement, punishment and wrath to the degree you love God."

And both this "hope and awe relate to true love".

Shaykh Ninowy at Maqam Habib Noh
Singapore, Dec 2011

Photo credit: www.sacredpath.sg

Habib Ali Zaenal Abidin on degree of taqwa

2011-12-10T09:34:00.013+08:00

Bismillah.

Know that, and we quote Habib Ali Zaenal Abidin Al Hamid who was speaking to Ba'alawi KL jemaah last weekend:

"The lowest degree of taqwa is when you drop all things forbidden and do all that is obligatory (wajib)."

He said, the highest degree of taqwa is limitless. It's something one may strive even beyond one's last breath because Allah the Almighty is Al 'Azim (Great) and Al 'Ali (Exalted). The people of tazkiyah understood that a good deed performed by the abrar (the righteous) may well be a sin for the muqarrabin (those who are near to Allah) - hassanatul abrar, sayyiatul muqarrabin.

To illustrate this point, Habib Ali narrated the story of Ahmad bin Muhammad's meeting with Shaykh Ahmad Syaibani.

Ahmad asked the shaykh what his opinion was about someone who forgot the number of rakaat he was praying. The shaykh then asked Ahmad: "Would you like an answer according to your mazhab or my mazhab? The answer for your mazhab is that the man should go with the least number of rakaat he has performed. But according to my mazhab he should be caned, for how could one who faces Allah be forgetful of Him?"

Ahmad bin Muhammad asked again. "What is the zakat for 40 sheep?" Shaykh Ahmad Syaibani asked him back: "Would you like an answer according to your mazhab or my mazhab? The answer for your mazhab is 1 sheep. But according to my mazhab, all our possessions belong to Allah, hence all must be given back to Allah."

So there! We know where we stand with regard to this taqwa yardstick. Astaghfirullah hal 'azeem! May Allah grant us tawfiq and bring us near Him though we are not able to worship Him as He ought to be worshipped. May He bring us near Him, not based on something that comes from us, but out of His vast mercy and bounty. Ameen.

_______________________________________________

Photo credit: Darul Murtadza.blogspot.
Habib Ali Zaenal Abidin is the murshid for Darul Murtadza which is based at
Al-Hidayah Musolla @ AU3 Keramat KL.
Check out his live streaming on Fridays at:
http://www.darulmurtadza.com/p/live-streaming.html

Content credit:

When my heart hums | As the curtain falls

2011-12-09T00:19:00.008+08:00

Bismillah.

How I wish you could hear the hummings in my heart tonight. I wish I could sing out loud beautifully, for you. Thankfully, certain things need not be articulated yet we could convey a message, like the words people say in between the lines. Certain things need not be spoken yet we could relate good feelings to the recipient, like a smile. Mother Theresa said "everytime you smile at someone, it's an action of love, a gift, a beautiful thing."

My heart hums the songs of life we have sung this year. So many months have passed. Tears fell. And those burst of laughters. Alhamdulillah ala kulli hal. Praise be to Allah in all circumstances, He is Time after all.

And my heart hums...
O Lord,
I know of my sins
seek You while in pain
stray in times of joy
I am not saying I know You
a sinner seeking redemption
begging Your glance of mercy
lest I hum melodies of agony

O Lord,
forgive my fingers
for composing lines unbecoming of me
let the curtain falls
so I may put the pen down
and come to You, done!

O Lord,
when my heart hums
only You could hear
let them judge
let them whisper
into Your arms I surrender

-E-

Disclaimer:
The guitar is not mine.
I am not a musician.

Loving 8 or loving 1?

2011-12-08T01:18:00.003+08:00

Bismillah.

We all roughly know that we should be loving Prophet Muhammad s.a.w above our family etc. What's the etc.? It's good to be specific. We've got to be specific in this case so that we can internalize the true meaning of loving the Messenger of Allah s.a.w. InshAllah Bi-iznillah.

That, we learned from Habib Ali Zainal Abidin last week. That we are NOT supposed to be loving 8 things more than we love the one Rasul of Allah s.a.w. That's his right over us. And what about our rights on him? Well, he had fulfilled those rights. He did his part. He spread the words of Allah. He was (and still is) the conduit of our Lord's hidayah for us. We love him but we also love these 8 objects of love.

Parents
Wife/spouse
Children
Siblings
Relatives
Job/business
Home
Property/wealth

So, what are we to do about it?

We can be loving all 8, but the shaykh said our faith will not be considered complete.

Hmm...we sure have a long way to go!

Allahumma salli 'ala Sayyidina Muhammad

wa 'ala ali Sayyidina Muhammad

_____________________________

Poster credit: Hamid Iqbal Khan

To purchase his art:

http://hamidsart.redbubble.com/sets/155696/works/5764871-muhammad-rasoolu-allah-ali-wali-ullah

Tawakal vs. tawakkal

2011-12-07T23:06:00.008+08:00

Bismillah.

AlHamdulillah, last sunday we learned from Habib Ali Zainal Abidin (may Allah preserve him) that we should mind our spelling, that tawakal is not the same as tawakkal. Ahah! You thought they mean the same thing? No they don't.

He said:

Tawakal is depending completely on Allah without investing on any means e.g. one who lets his camel loose upon entering a masjid. Whereas, tawakkal is to tie up one's camel and then enter the masjid. By the same token tawakkal means to abandon one's dependency on the means (e.g. tying up the camel) as well as to depend on the Musabbib (Allah). [That the camel will be safe not because one has secured it but because Allah will protect it]. Therefore, Habib Ali said, do not depend on the cause.

There is a verse in the Qur'an where Allah asked Saydatina Maryam a.s.(who was on the verge of giving birth) to shake a date palm tree. Obviously a heavily pregnant woman will not have enough strength to shake a tree. But Saydatina Maryam's attitude was that she would resort to a "cause" (shake the tree) while not depending on it (not depending on her effort). Logically speaking, no amount of shaking could make the dates fall off the tree, but she did it anyway. Habib Ali Zainal Abidin said, "that's the kind of attitude we should have". In other words, put in the effort but do not depend on the effort; depend on Allah instead.

Habib Ali Zainal Abidin

That's what we learned last sunday. Interestingly enough, Habib Ali Al Jifri had on saturday tweet about the same issue, he said: "Taking the means is worship. Depending on means is sin!"

So people, lock your car, keep your purse safe, and go seize the day!

_________________________________________

Habib Ali's majlis ta'alim was hosted by KL Ba'alawi

On the duty of loving

2011-12-06T00:34:00.006+08:00

Bismillah.

This is to record my appreciation for the wonderful friendships Allah has granted through this virtual space. Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah. A special thanks to Brother WF and his lovely siblings and family in Singapore for their kind gesture. Whenever I read the precious booklet, I would surely be reminded of our shared experience, of being in the same majlis together, countless majlis, Alhamdulillah. And that we all share the same warm feelings towards the habaib in concordance to the title of the book by Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Jaafar al-Kattani 'On the Duty of Loving the Noble Family of the Prophet Muhammad'. And that we all received the same ijaza for his collection of 40 hadith on the same subject. Alhamdulillah wa shukru lillah.

Your generous gesture came at the time when I needed it most, I needed the reassurance that I actually have many well mannered and respectable friends whom I should be grateful for and upon whom I should be making du'a as a sign of my gratitude for this blessing from Allah. Indeed, it is a duty of loving people who are of good influence to us. In fact there was a relevant lesson learned in the majlis we both attended tonight. Habib Ali Zainal Abidin said we should make istighfar 27 times for mukminin and mukminat, twice a day, once before dawn and once before dusk - Astaghfirullah lil mukminina wal mukminat.

I think someone who truly understands her/his duty of loving her/his brethren in religion would do that without fail. Surely we can imagine Habib Ali doing that without fail. Oh...the things mashaikh and habaib do which we take for granted! But I must say lessons coming from Habib Ali always find their place in the heart and stay there, Insh'Allah. And when I practise that, I will have you, your siblings and family, and all the other good friends of mine, in my mind Insh'Allah.

Once again, thank you for reminding me on the duty of loving all those who deserve to be loved.

Yours respectfully,
E

Al-Arba'in - Collection of Forty Hadith by Muhammad Ibn Jaafar al-Kattani is published by Turath Publishing

www.turath.co.uk

Majlis Taa'lim by Habib Ali Zainal Abidin was hosted by Sis Ina & Bro. Ben of Ba'alawi KL

Reflections on 'Ashura Day

2011-12-05T10:55:00.009+08:00

Bismillah.

It's the time of the year when we talk about 'Ashura day. Most people already know the virtues of the day and most people would be fasting on this day InshAllah. May Allah continue to give us the tawfik to observe all the days deemed auspicious by sunnah.

Personally, I wish our scholars would elaborate more on the reason behind 'Ashura celebration, particularly on the victory granted to Prophet Musa a.s. and his people. Their illustrious victory over Fir'aun should offer plenty of lessons for us as we encounter the modern day "Fir'auns" quite frequently. Dealing with the Fir'auns of our times can be suffocating. They tend to complicate things and make our chest tight. Their ability to articulate their viewpoints eloquently (although in error), make us feel inhibited. And we are often tongue-tied and lost for words when trying to counter these smart Fir'auns. But as believers we do not intend to argue unnecessarily or win an argument for the sake of winning an argument. We just want people to understand our stand. So Prophet Musa said: “O God open my chest, make my task easy for me and untie the knot in my tongue so that they may understand me.”

Well if they still don't understand us and when it's beyond us, we'll have to leave it to the powers that be. In any case, I think we have to be braver in our beliefs, that we have got a divine power behind us, one that is always going to back us up even when we think that no help is coming our way, and suddenly we look behind us, lo and behold, He drowns the enemies!

On a lighter note, on this 'Ashura occasion, I wish to be living in Tarim, Yemen where the spirits of 'Ashura could be felt in a deeper sense. I learned from Habib Umar's notes on 'Ashura that people would "gather in Masjid Ba`Alawi on the eve of `Ashura to read the merits of the day and to make du`a. The day itself is a day of Eid. Children wear their best clothes, amusements are provided for them and gifts are given to them."

It would be nice if we could show the children a clip on Prophet Musa's triumph. Imagine a scene where tonnes of water sinking the enemies; picture the Red Sea at the peak of its might and the good feeling that believers always win!

Reference: Shaykh Abdul Karim Yahya's blog
Poster credit: Hamid Iqbal Khan
To purchase his art:
http://hamidsart.redbubble.com/sets/155696/works/5770211-hasbun-allaho-wa-nemal-wakil

Tashu'a Day - 9th Muharram

2011-12-04T10:47:00.004+08:00

Bismillah.

We learned this last year that 9th Muharram is known as Tashu'a Day, the day before the big day - A'shura Day (10th Muharram) - which was a day of celebration historically, in conjunction with Prophet Musa's victory over Fir'aun.

Let's remind ourselves of the virtues of these auspicious days from excerpts in Al-Futtuhat Al-Haqqaniyah by Shaykh Adnan Kabbani as translated by Bro. Abdul Shakur.

The Prophet said, "Whoever fasts the 'Ashura (10th Muharram), Allah will write for him 1000 wishes and 1000 years of age, and will grant him the reward of 1000 martyrs and will write for him the reward of Ismail a.s., and writes for him 70 palaces in paradise, and makes his flesh forbidden from the hellfire."
In another Hadith the Prophet s.a.w. said, "Whoever fasts the 'Ashura, he will be granted the reward of 1000 angels. And whoever recites Qul Huwa Allahu Ahad 1000 times on the day of 'Ashura, Allah will glance at him with the Eyes of Mercy, and will write him from amongst the Siddiqqin [The Truthful]."
In another Hadith the Prophet s.a.w. said, "Distinguish yourselves from the Jews by fasting either the day before 'Ashura or the day after it as well."
Whoever prays in 'Ashura 4 sunnah rak'at on the day of 'Ashura, where after the Fatihah in each rak'ah recites Qul Huwa Allahu Ahad 11 times Allah will forgive his sins of fifty years, and will build for him a pulpit from light. And whoever takes the sunnah shower on 'Ashura he will not suffer sickness in that year except the illness of death, and whoever wears the Kuhl on his eyes on 'Ashura he will not suffer sickness on that year.
Du'a of 'Ashura: Recite:

Hasbun Allahu wa ni'mal wakil ni'mal Maula wa ni'man Nasir [70x]
Hasbun Allahu mil-al Mizan wa muntahal 'ilma, wa mablaghal rida, wa zinatul 'arsh, la malja-a wa la manja min Allahi illa ilaihi. Subhan Allahi 'adada-sh- shaf`i wal 'arshi, wa 'adada kalimati Rabbinat taamma! ti kulliha. As-alukas Salamata bi Rahmatika Ya Arham Ar-Rahimin, wa la hawla wala quwwata illa billahil 'Aliyyil 'Azhim. Wa huwa hasbii wa ni'mal wakil, ni'mal Mawla wa ni'man Nasir. Wa Sallallahu 'ala Sayyidina Muhammadin wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'in. [7x]

Wallahu a'lam.

Content Credit: superdervish.blogspot.com/Bro Shamsul
Poster credit: Hamid Iqbal Khan
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Prophetic healing potion | The essence of salawat

2011-12-02T14:11:00.016+08:00

Bismillah.

One who joined the rank of the heedless, who got distracted by the outside noise, whose heart became rustic and restless now needs a qulub hayya' balm, a healing potion that could make her/him have a living heart again - qulub hayya' [a term borrowed from Shaykh Hamza Yusof].

One who is sick who frantically looks around for cure will soon realize that the cure resides under this one unique green dome, underneath which resides an eternal source for healing. Remembering the soul underneath it, is all it takes. He is the gatekeeper to the Essence, hence believers and his followers seek all there is to seek for, through mawlid and salawat for him, Rasulullah s.a.w.

The potion as the sick one will also realize, comes in different degrees of concentration like Eau de Parfum or Eau de Cologne, if you will. One uniquely fragrant essence came into my sphere and I will let it permeate here for the sake of asking you for a return favor, if I may, that you please make a special du'a for this faqir who is in need of healing.

Ironically but Al Hamdu lillah wa shukru lillah, this Salawat Zaatiyah was the potion hidden behind the pains, heartache and humiliation that He had decreed for me recently. But it was all worth it! Here it is bismillah.

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى الذَّاتِ الْمُحَمَّدِيَّةِ
اللَّطِيفَةِ الأَحَدِيَّةِ شَمْسِ سَمَاءِ الأَسْرَارِ وَمَظْهَرِ الأَنْوَارِ
وَمَرْكَزِ مَدَارِ الْجَلاَلِ وَقُطْبِ فَلَكِ الْجَمَال

اللَّهُمَّ بِسِرِّهِ لَدَيْكَ
وَبِسَيْرِهِ إِلَيْكَ أمِّنْ خَوْفِي
وَأقِلْ عَثْرَتِي
وَأذْهِبْ حُزْنِي
وَحِرْصِي وَكُنْ لِي وَخُذْنِي إِلَيْكَ مِنِّي
وَارْزُقْنِيَ الفَنَاءَ عَنِّي
وَلاَ تَجْعَلْنِي مَفْتُوناً بِنَفْسِي
مَحْجُوباً بِحِسِّي
وَاكْشِفْ لِي عَنْ كُلِّ سِرٍّ مَكْتُومٍ
يَا حَيُّ يَا قَيُّومُ

Allahumma salli 'alaz zaatil Muhammadiya
al latifatil ahadiyya shamsi sama'il asrar wa mazharil anwar
wa markazi madaril jalal wa qutbi falakil jamal
Allahumma bisirrihi ladayka
wa sairrihi 'ilayka aamin khaufi
wa aqil athrati
wa azhib huzni
wa hirsi wakun li wa khuzni ilayka minni
warzuqnil fanaa a'anni
wala taj'alni maftunan bi nafsi
mahjuban bi hissi
wak shifli kulli sirrin maktumin
Ya Hayyu Ya Qayyum

O Allah, send blessings upon the Muhammadian essence

which is both subtle and unique,

sun of the sky of secrets,

the made visible of the luminescences,

the majestic centre around which all revolves,

the beautiful axis of the firmament.

O Allah, by His secret with You,

and by His journey to You,

quieten my fears,

decrease my faults,

remove my afflictions

and miserliness.

Exist for me and take me to You from me.

Grant me annihilation from myself.

Do not make me lead astray by my nafs,

nor make me veiled by my senses,

reveal to all of the hidden secrets.

O Alive! O Self-Existing!

What do we complain? | What the Prophet complained?

2011-12-01T14:29:00.002+08:00

Bismillah.

If I dare complain to the Lord, I complain that He didn't let us live during the times of the Prophet s.a.w. Imagine if he were to live among us, we would have a definite source of reference, a trustworthy and approachable counsellor who could clear any doubts we might have. He would be all that and so much more. We could just make a short trip to meet him in person knowing that he will never let us down, no protocol whatsoever. We will never ever feel helpless.

Yes we may still visit the Prophet s.a.w now. We may greet him. We may even get other people to convey our salam to him. A close friend of mine just did that for me today. Alhamdulillah. May Allah bless her for it means the world to me.

Now what do we complain to the Lord? What did he complain to the Lord? Did you know?

You will cry like I did if you heard the things the Prophet (s.a.w) complained to the Lord, as narrated by Habib Umar in this lachrymose clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZKFbYgdMGw&feature=player_embedded

Allah...I needed those tears to end the drought in my heart. It's amazing the effect the Prophet s.a.w could have on us. Sallu 'alan Nabi!

He, peace be upon him, had his feet injured. People threw stones at him making his feet bleed badly that he had to stop three times, and finally upon reaching a tree, he stopped to complain to the Lord. But he didn't complain to the Lord about the bad treatment he received from the Taif or Makkah people, or about the stoning, no! He (s.a.w) said:
"I complain to You my lack of weakness
and my lack of means
and my weakness in front of people.
You are the Lord of the Oppressed,
who will You leave me to?"

And when he was offered a chance for redemption, he could have accepted it, he could get those people crushed by the mountains, but no! Instead he said: "I wish that God will bring forth from their loins those who will take on this affair."

Habib Umar said, those people were not his friends for him to make such a good prayer. They showed enmity towards him, yet he prayed for them like he would for his children and friends.

Imagine the Prophet (s.a.w) praying for us every night the way he did for Saydatina Aishah (r.a.):
"Forgive Aishah the daughter of Abu Bakar,
for what she has done privately
and for what she has done publicly,
what she has brought forward
and what she has delayed."

Allahumma salli 'ala Sayyidina Muhammad
wa 'ala ali Muhammad

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ عَلَى آلَ مُحَمَّدٍ،

New Hijri Year Resolutions - 1433H

2011-11-27T22:12:00.016+08:00

Al Awwal

Bismillah.

What becomes of a bygone year? What has gone into the annual report?

I pray Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Al Awwal, the First, the One whose existence is without a beginning, the One who created us with His Mercy, just as He has created us in the beginning with His mercy, may He not withdraw His mercy after having seen our transgressions, our misdeeds, our mistakes, our carelessness committed in the previous year and which are bound to recur in this new year.

La ilaha illa anta subhanaka inni kuntu minaz zalimin.

"If the previous year has ended and the new year begun, and someone has not thought about increasing his fatih, establishing the Sared Law of His Lord - if he has not sought a meaning of nearness to his Creator; then he is heedless and has joined the ranks of the heedless who are unaware of the passing of days, months and years."

- Habib Umar bin Hafiz, 1st Muharram 1433H

"May Allah make 1433 a season for closeness to Allah, a season of brightness and softness of our hearts, for better relations with Al-Khaliq the Creator and with al-khaluq, the creation. May Allah s.w.t make our days better than yesterday."

- Shaykh Ahmad Saad, 1st Muharram 1433H

_______________________________________________

Al Awwal poster by Hamid Iqbal Khan
You may purchase it here:

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New Hijri Year Prayer by Habib Ali bin Muhammad al-Habshi

2011-11-26T17:14:00.019+08:00

Bismillah.

Knocking at Allah’s door
Habib Ali bin Muhammad al-Habshi’s supplication for the beginning of the year

In his book, "A Breath of Fragrance", al-Habib Umar bin Ahmad bin Abi Bakr bin Sumeit refers to Habib Ali in the following terms: ‘He is an Imam about whose sublime sainthood there is unanimity, as there was universal witness to the fact he was the rising sun of the horizons, the vicegerent of the master of all Envoys and the incumbent of an exalted station in the ranks of those drawn nigh to Allah, the blessing of existence and the ka’ba of munificence’. Come and share with us the oratory of his soul.

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah the All-Merciful the All-Compassionate.
All praise is Allah’s, Lord of all creations.
O Lord, with all beauteous names (Allahuma),
bestow blessings and peace upon our master Muhammad,
our supreme access to You,
in the answer to what we supplicate for,
the achievement of what we aspire to,
and the forgiving of such wrongdoings as we have committed,
and upon members of his household and his companions
and those who support him.
Indeed, elapsed in our span of life is a whole year.
You have garlanded us in it with Your bounties
for which we are unable to offer gratitude,
and You have protected us in it
from evils and unpleasant things
from which we could not have protected ourselves,
and we have put into it works
of which You are All-Knowing.
Such good deeds which You have enabled us to do in it,
may You please accept that from us,
and may You record them in Your presence as virtuous works,
and may You forgive us the blemishes
of ostentation, and self-glory, and self-embellishment,
and other things as have interfered with them,
and may You make them a means through which
we are led to Your good pleasure and drawn near to You.
And such evil deeds and errors as we have committed.
and actions unpleasing in Your sight,
and intentions which are unrighteous
[such of these that we may have committed]
with our limbs and our hearts
we ask You, Allahuma,
by virtue of Your essence
and Your names and Your attributes,
and by virtue of the sublime Qur'an
and Your revealed books,
and by virtue of our master Muhammad,
Allah bless him and bestow peace upon him
as well as members of his household,
and by virtue of whosoever has rank before You
amongst all Your created beings,
that You will forgive all those wrongdoings
and cover all those defects,
and that You will favour us
from Your ample, magnificent, generosity
with all that we aspire to,
and that You will exchange our evils actions for good ones,
and that You will enable us to attain Your good pleasure
at the highest level of our aspirations
and the uppermost limit of our wishes.
And we, as You know us,
have our forelocks in Your hands
and our entire affair, in all our states, come back to You,
and whatever good opinion we cherish regarding You,
You are well aware of it,
and our absolute dependence upon You,
and extreme need of You,
are not concealed from You,
and here are our hands
stretched out towards You
and our hearts are focused upon You,
do not therefore, turn us away empty handed,
O, the Hope of all aspirers!
And the Refuge of all refuge seekers!
Show mercy unto he who calls You
when he believes that You are his Lord
and comes exclusively to You, when indeed,
You are his sufficiency.
After the outgoing year
a new year has come upon us
while we do not know
what has been pre-ordained in Your knowledge regarding us.
And our hope is
that You will open for us, in this new year,
a door of sincere, genuine, repentance
from which we shall not renege,
and that You will grace us in it
with the ability for virtuous works,
acceptable to You, that will in turn grace us
with Your good pleasure towards us,
and that You will employ our limbs in obedience
that is well-pleasing in Your sight,
and our hearts with love for You,
and love for whomsoever You love,
and love for whatsoever You love,
and that You will expand our hearts
and grant them the capacity
for Your special knowledge,
with which You have ennobled such of Your servants
that are possessed of knowledge about You
and virtuous saints,
and that You will sustain us with taqwawith which You have ennobled servants of Yours
who are endowed with taqwa[that You will sustain us] with its essence,
its fruit, its main roots and its branches
and may You lodge us in the highest stations of rectitude,
and raise us to certainty at the highest levels of certainty,
and that You may grant us entry to the path of following,
in words, deeds, intentions, and works,
Your beloved,
the most honoured of created beings in your presence,
namely our master Muhammad, may Allah bless him
and bestow peace upon him,
as well as his household,
and that You may make ample our share of love
for this beloved and of following him
in all our states
and that You make us, O our Lord,
among the happiest of people by virtue of him,
and those closest to him,
and among those who cherish the greatest lasting love for him,
and may You honour us with the vision of his honoured face,
Allah bless him and bestow peace upon him and his household
whilst he is well pleased with us,
in sleep and our wakeful moments,
in this world, the world in between and the hereafter,
and may You honour us, O our Lord,
with complete and copious blessing in our works,
our intentions, and our sustenance
and in our movements and stillness,
and may You make the coming years of our lives
rotate around firmness in our religion
and dedication to Your service,
and may You protect us in all this from the evil of Satan,
and his works,
and from the evil of the evil-commanding soul, and its work,
and from the evil of worldly temptation,
and may You protect us from plunging into its gewgaws,
and its decorations,
and from such tests as derive from it
in the area of wealth and dependents
and things other than these,
and from yielding to ruinous passions,
and may You protect us from being overwhelmed
in the domain of ephemeral desires,
and from evil companions and their companionship,
and may You make our renewed spans of life
all employed in what is well pleasing to You,
and such bounties as You have generously bestowed upon us,
may You enable us to offer gratitude for that,
and may You make us, O our Lord,
among those who hold firm to the firm handhold
of sincerity towards You, in all our pursuits,
and may You embrace in all these supplications
our children and our parents,
and our friends and our brethren in religion,
and endow us with an immense strength
which will [further] strengthen us in obedience to You,
and in the discharge of Your obligation upon us,
in the manner that You like,
and with which You are well pleased,
and may You grant us a plentiful share with which
to strive vigorously in Your service,
and in the constancy of such works as will earn
Your good pleasure,
and may You open for us, a manifest opening,
in the reflection of the magnificent Qur'an,
and in the access to its secrets,
and in the excellent manners at the time of reciting its verses,
and when listening to them,
and may You grant us, O our Lord,
the memorisation of its words
and the fulfilling of its obligations,
and the response to its call,
and the hastening to abide by its commands
and the avoidance of its prohibitions,
and may You make us amongst a people
who are loyally wedded to its rights,
and may You appoint it for us, in Your presence,
a witness of sincerity through fulfilling what it calls us to,
O Most Merciful of the Merciful,
[since every merciful one receives the gift of mercy from You],
and may Allah bestow blessings on our master Muhammad
and his household, and upon his companions in their entirety,
and the praise is Allah’s, Lord of all universes.
________________________________________________
Those deserving our warm gratitude for their help in this work are quite a few. They include Sayyidina al-Habib Abd al-Qadir bin A’bd ar-Rahman bin U’mar al-Junayd for his guidance, Bibi Zainab Ali Foum, Shaikh Nassor bin Maalim Abdalla bin Maalim Mohammed Abu Bakr, Mohammed Ahmed bin Himid Mbaye, Rashid A. Saleh, Maalim Ibrahim Ahmad Musa, Ali & Arif S. Dahoma, Fatima Issa Kara, Ahmad Ibrahim Khalid, A.R., Nuru Adam, Shaikh Abdalla Miraja Othman, Alawi bin Shams az-Zaman al-Haddad – they all look forward to duas for their various connections to this modest contribution.

Quoted from:

Shaykh Abdul Karim Yahya's blog

http://abdulkarimyahya.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Dua_of_habib_Ali-AlHabshi.pdf

Wishing all of you an excellent year ahead.

Your brethren in religion,

Ezza

1st Muharram 1433 Hijri

On being forgiving

2011-11-25T11:04:00.001+08:00

Bismillah.

We all apologize and seek forgiveness in many ways. We try to redeem ourselves in our own unique ways. Someone from a distant place sent a bouquet to admit a mistake and apologize. Who am I not to forgive? AlHamdulillah Allah make our heart soft enough and our mind sane enough to realize when we have inadvertently transgressed in our speech and actions and hurt people's feelings.

We should know that there's no point in being super-religious in our relation with Allah yet careless about our relationship with people. Many are overly focused on hablum minallah but lukewarm about hablum minannas. I think that stems from one being self-centered on attaining the paradise, of doing something and expecting a reward.

We are all the same, we are all weak. Indeed if Allah reveals our shortcomings, not a single soul would want to be near us. I heard Imam Suhaib Webb said something very frank and candid as you would expect of him. He said everyone has got issues. "The imams too have problems", he said. Yes, I know some shaykhs do too. We are the same in that we all have our own problems. But I think it's not a problem so long as we don't involve people, avoid stepping on people's toes and if we do, just say sorry.

There's one munajat I learned from Al Hikam which really humbles me every time, because I know my past, I know my flaws, I know my warts. I discovered it during my early days of returning to Islam.

Ilahi kam 'asika wa anta tas turuni.

O Lord, I have transgressed yet you cover up my flaws.

I want my Lord to forgive me, so I will forgive those who have wronged me.

Al Afuw

http://hamidsart.redbubble.com/works/5671270-al-afuww

"Remember who you really are." - Habib Umar

2011-11-24T14:52:00.004+08:00

Bismillah.

Let's sit down and reflect on who we really are. We are nothing and we started off with nothing. Along the way we pick up all sorts of things and carry with us until we come to the destination. Eventually, we will have to declare our baggage to the rightful Owner cum Accountant who will audit every single thing. If that is the case then we have nothing to be proud of. And those things we amass along the way are ours not because we deserve them or because we are so smart in acquiring them, but they are given solely out of the Lord's generosity. So what's there to be so proud?

That's roughly what the honorable Habib Umar bin Hafiz was saying to a question on how we can purify our lower selves from pride (`ujub)[1]

Sayyid al-Habib `Umar bin Hafiz (may Allah preserve him) answered: “By remembering who you really are. Your reality is nothingness and your ending is being taken to account by Allah. So what is there to be proud of between nothingness and being taken to account?

Allah says: You have not received any blessing except that it is from Allah.[2] All bounty belongs to Allah; you possess nothing. So witness your Lord’s generosity, and beware: were He to take you to account for your best actions He would punish you. However, out of His bounty He rewards you, shows you His generosity and multiplies your good deeds. Reflecting on this will remove your pride.”

[1] `ujub can be defined as being content with your own actions and states and seeing them as great, while forgetting that Allah is the One who bestowed them upon you.

[2] Al-Nahl, 16.53

Source:
http://abdulkarimyahya.com/2011/11/15/advice-a-cure-for-pride/
Translated from the Arabic by Ustadh Amin Buxton
Al Mutakabbir poster credit: Hamid Iqbal Khan
Purchase here: http://hamidsart.redbubble.com/works/5741274-al-mutakabbir

Al Mumit | The One who renders the living dead

2011-11-23T18:41:00.023+08:00

Bismillah.

We all know the one Name of His which really none make zikr on. It's one Name which we never repeat over our tasbeeh. We just don't do it. So when do we remember Al Mumit then? How exactly are we supposed to remember the One who renders the living dead, the Creator of death? When do we remember death - the thing that cuts off all pleasures? In a hadith by Tirmidhi the Prophet s.a.w said: "remember frequently the thing that cuts off all pleasures" i.e. death.

I think it's ironic. You might think it's weird. But it's true that I am inspired to reflect on Al Mumit after reading the eulogy for Steve Jobs [THE man behind Apple, in case you didn't know]. His last words, according to his sister, were: "Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow."

I know as Muslims, surely we hope our last words would be la ilaha illAllah. We want to die in tawhid, while proclaiming His Oneness. Remember the one unforgiveable sin is shirik (polytheism). Who knows if indeed we truly proclaim His Divinity, that we are a believer of One God, none other than Allah? Allah is the name of His Essence. There is no God but Allah, that's our belief. Steve had probably called his God by some other name but who knows if Steve might have actually believed in one God?

If you watched Shaykh Hamza's lecture, the one recorded in Makkah and Madina ('Rihla 2008' produced by Sandala), you will see how open Shaykh Hamza Yusuf's thinking is towards "non-believers". I can appreciate his perspective and I completely agree with him that we should not be too quick to label the non-Muslims as kuffar in that we should not easily judge them or make a holier-than-thou verdict, 'oh he is kaffir!' Really we know not! Shaykh Hamza also said that we should appreciate the presence of the non-Muslims because they are part of the Divine plan. They co-exist with the 'believers' for a reason.

Just yesterday, a friend of mine was telling me about a book he read. It's about an experiment where a group of 'religious' people and 'non-religious but good samaritans' being given a certain test to ascertain their true values, so to speak. And the outcome was that not all of those who were 'religious' actually passed the test. The results were in fact quite balanced.

Of course, this reminded me of my own negative experiences with at least four 'shaykhs'. They all had some kind of followings (i.e. students), all carried a religious persona, all had a good degree of Islamic knowledge, Allahu a'lam. But they projected enough negative traits to make people doubt their calibre. So I could relate to Shakyh Hamza when he mentioned spiritual pathologies and people who become victims of their own imbalanced spiritual devotion and/or extremism.

In any case, Allahu a'lam, but I think when we die, we would want people to remember us for our good actions, not so much our preaching, our image, not our long jubbah etc. You may or may not agree. I think it would be nice if we are remembered at least as someone who heals, who loves, who gives, who helps, who smiles, who spread happiness, who contributes in a good way.

Many of you have all those traits, I know. So perhaps I should take this opportunity before death comes to me, and you, I say thank you for being you, for being one who heals, who gives, who helps, who smiles and who spread happiness. You have contributed in a good way, in your own way InshAllah. For that I say, O wow, O wow, O wow!

By the way, do you reckon Allah only see your acts and not Steve's acts? Remember, we are just human; death is inevitable; and we all want a good ending, don't we?

_________________________________
Al Mumit poster credit: Hamid Iqbal Khan
To purchase his art:
http://hamidsart.redbubble.com/works/5705525-al-mumeet

Shaykh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi on how to supplicate to Allah

2011-11-22T15:38:00.009+08:00

O my Lord! I seek refuge with You from asking You
what is Yours lest I misbehave.

O my Lord! I seek refuge with You from asking for what
You did not decree to happen;
lest I transgress my boundaries.

O my Lord! I seek refuge with You from supplicating You
while I am in a state that is unpleasant to You
lest I be rejected.

O my Lord! I seek refuge with You from calling upon You
in a time when You do not allow it,
lest I be prevented.

O my Lord! I seek refuge with You from asking You
for what You did not predestined for me.

O my Lord! I seek refuge with You from asking You
for what You predestined for others.

O my Lord! I seek refuge with You from asking You
for what has already been decreed to happen
from pre-eternity and has been determined
regardless of my actions.

If I do, it is only in obedience to You,
and for supplicating and beseeching You;
not to object or suggest, and not to hasten
the execution of Your decree
or make it happen.

O my Lord! I supplicate You only to show
my state of powerlessness
and to remind myself of its inherent flaws;
as You my Lord love the servant who supplicates
in a state of humility and need,
but do not love the servant showing sufficiency and will.

O my Lord! I ask You while I am aware
that You predestined my supplication,
just like You predestined Your grants.

O my Lord! I ask You while I am aware
that You made it appear that my supplication
is the cause of Your grants,
only to allow me to witness the course of Your action
in what is being done;
and to allow me to see with my heart
the transcendence of Your Attributes in motion and stillness.

O my Lord! I ask You while I am aware
that You predestined my supplication
inasmuch as I am aware that You predestined not to grant it
in order for me to come back to You with full submission;
and to acknowledge that You are
the Omniscient and the Wise;
and to witness the oneness of Your Authority
and Dominance over the world of things
and the world of spirits;
and to allow my heart to witness all Your Attributes.

O my Lord! I ask You and call upon You
to obtain the honor of being included amongst
the ones You call to You;
and to attain the quality of servitude
when You call me "O my Servant" when I am before You;
and to get the pleasure of hearing Your address to me
when You say, "I am answering your call."

So, my Lord, make all my supplications to You
a door for me to get to You,
and a key for bringing me close to You,
and a ladder for me to climb the steps of servitude to You.

O my Lord! I ask You for guidance in all my affairs,
as You have recommended;
and ask You of Your boundless Bounties as You commanded
while I am aware that the Pens have been put aside,
and the books have been closed.

My aim is to bring my intellect
out of reflecting upon what it wants
to reflecting upon what You want;
and in hope of changing the course of my actions
from what You do not like to what You like;
so that time is saved and I stand
in full submission before You.

Since bringing about what You do not want
belongs to the realm of impossibility,
thinking about it brings exhaustion and busying with it
is a cause of distress.

Out of Your wisdom and justice, You hid the secrets
of the inaccessible knowledge from most people;
and out of Your Mercy and out of Your Bounty,
You revealed signs of the inaccessible knowledge
to an elite group of Your servants;
yet You revealed the secrets of Divinity in what You hid,
and concealed the Lights of Lordship in what You revealed.

O my Lord! make me, when, upon supplication,
I receive the grants, rejoice that Allah guided me
to ask for what was decreed;
and do not make me when seeing the grants
rejoice that Allah answered my call
and gave me what I asked for.

Make us rejoice for being guided to ask of You
what You have permitted to happen from pre-eternity;
and do not make our rejoicing limited
to the favours You just granted us.

The guidance You grant to Your servant,
to direct him to ask for what You like is a bounty
that You bestow only upon those You select,
while others become attached
only to the gifts given to them
upon their supplications,
which makes the gifts a veil
detaching them from You
and pulling them towards the created beings.

Our Lord! Pour on us the various aspects
of Your bounties and mercy;
and make us a target of the manifestations of Your Wisdom;
and include us in the people You love,
regardless of what You decree upon us;
and of the people who are attached to You,
whatever You bring to us.

As he who knows You does not need others;
and he who seeks You will travel through all orbits.

The above is quoted from:
Shaykh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi's Facebook - 9 Nov 2011.
I will die with regrets if I didn't
copy and share this amazingly profound du'a.
________________________________________________
Bismillah poster credit: Hamid Iqbal Khan
To purchase his art:
http://hamidsart.redbubble.com/works/4311190-bismillah-hirrah-man-irrahim

No room for created things

2011-11-21T14:37:00.008+08:00

"If the heart and its consciousness

—which is the inner sight (basira)—

is filled with images of created things,

its attention is focused on them

and it is dependent on them,

from where will spiritual lights dawn

in the midst of this heart

that is occupied with

spiritually opaque forms?"

- Habib Umar bin Hafiz

Bismillah

Allahu Akbar! This hit me hard. Very often our hearts are filled with created things, creations, creatures, lower nafs and the like. Things which could make one confused and lost to the bottom of one's soul. Created things, creatures all can be extremely deceiving. Opaque forms they are, said Habib Umar. They can make the heart very murky. Recently, I discovered, sadly, even creatures who have just performed hajj can deceive you! Astaghfirullah, what can we count on then? So what remains as a sane, acceptable, basic yardstick in dealing with people? Seriously, I don't know anymore.

Still, in Allah we find the strengths to move on and to keep our hopes.

To all the wonderful visitors/readers/friends (you know who you are), thank you for your kind words and du'a. May Allah keep us in the company of good people who bring out the best in us. May Allah protect our hearts from unbefitting attention.

Ameen.

It's Friday! Something to smile about.

2011-11-18T12:51:00.004+08:00

Bismillah.

A day to feel shukur and smile.

"Smile for smiling is a sunna, not an artificial business smile but with the intention of following the beloved (peace be upon him)."

- Mufti Muhammad's tweet

There is a fine lesson hidden in that tweet, that we should not just simply smile but to smile with a good intention. I think that's important because we often smile very naturally without thinking and oftentimes, without thinking means without a conscious intention.

Jumaah Mubarrak!

_______________________________
Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari
is a teacher and lecturer of the Islamic sciences,
author of several books, and Director of Darul Iftaa, UK.
http://daruliftaa.com/
https://twitter.com/#!/Mufti_Muhammad_

Habib Umar on muraqaba

2011-11-17T20:38:00.002+08:00

Bismillah.

We cannot avoid but quote the venerable habib again, subhanallah his succinct definition of muraqaba seems like a phrase one should consider memorizing and have it engraved in one's heart so that its meaning reverberates with each heart beat and breath. Because it is very easy to be absent from such consciousness as one tends to lose one's awareness of Him in a split second. Astaghfirullah! We are putting it here for our own good and for the benefit of our loved ones. May we remain close-knit in our common concern - Allah s.w.t.

"Being mindful of Allah (muraqaba) is feeling His observation of you, His encompassing you, His seeing your innermost soul, His knowledge of what flows in the depth your being, and that you are before Him—every part of you exposed to Him, Glorious and exalted is He. Mindfulness causes constant presence [with Allah] as well as the realization of humility (khushu') in worship."

- Habib Umar bin Hafiz

via his Facebook

Allah is fair and all-knowing

2011-11-16T21:22:00.036+08:00

Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah, I just wanted to record my witnessing of how fair Allah is and all-knowing. This is a bit personal but it's worth sharing as we reflect upon life's drama and Allah's af'al.

Alhamdulillah, my parents trained me to respect guests especially if they are spiritually learned, InshAllah. One ustadh once offered and promised to bring a renowned shaykh to my house for a majlis. Needless to say I got very excited so for weeks I spent time and energy cleaning the house, moved the furniture around, polished the glasswares, rearranged some heavy plant pots and what not, and even stood in the hot sun to paint the front gate and fence all by myself. Alas, the shaykh didn't turn up, but he was not to blame. I later learned that the ustadh was actually known for being careless and unreliable in his words. That was in fact my third experience being misled by a 'pious' man.

Then recently a shaykh said he would visit our family on a specified date. So I baked some cakes, decorated the house and bought a bouquet of lillies and his favorite tea etc. Alas he didn't turn up. I excused him the first time. Then he set a date again, so I baked cakes and bought some lillies again. But he failed to turn up! But I gave him the benefit of the doubt because he's a shaykh. Then he promised to come for the third and fourth time, so I baked cakes and bought lillies yet again. But again for the third and fourth time he broke his promise! I finally let go!

For several days my mind boggled why a shaykh would do such a thing. Alhamdulillah, Allah gave the strength to move on. Alhamdulillah amidst the thorns, Allah gives us some beautiful roses - genuine friends whose prayers and support we could benefit from. Friends whose very being simply soothe our heart.

Today, a friend who has just got back from hajj, a hafiz who never boasted about his spiritual knowledge but whose actions speak louder (volunteers as imam and teaches Quran to children in his spare time) one who lives 10,000 miles away, today, this friend of mine surprised me with a bouquet of lillies! Allahu Akbar!

I have witnessed repeatedly how Allah is fair, for every wound He inflicts on you, He sends a cure.

SubhanAllah!

Prophet Muhammad's lineage (s.a.w)

2011-11-15T19:17:00.006+08:00

Bismillah.

"Ma'in shahin 'aqin kamin kalaghfa min
Kakhmin ‘amin ma'in, to here they are known."

Ma - mim - Sayyidina Muhammad s.a.w
'In - 'ain - Abdullah
Sha - shin - Shaybah
Hin - ha - Hashim
'Aq - alif - Abdul Manaf
Qin - qaf - Qusay
Ka - kaf - Khilab
Min - mim - Murrah

The above are lines from Qurrat al-Absar by Shaykh Abdul Aziz al-Lamti, a Morrocan scholar born in 1475 CE. Translated into English by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf in "The Discerning Eyes' Delights", it consists of 397 lines of poems on the life and virtues of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.

They are mnemonics crafted by Shaykh Abdul Aziz to aid the memorization of the Prophet's (s.a.w) ancestors.

(to be continued InshAllah)

Credit: Sandala.org

Habib Umar bin Hafiz on being present and near with Allah

2011-11-14T09:42:00.001+08:00

Art by Hamid Iqbal Khan

Bismillah

"I counsel you to have a present heart and submissive limbs in all your acts of worship for that is how you attain the fruits of those acts of worships and become invalid in their lights."

"I counsel you to be conscious of Allah or mindful of Allah in every state. Your heart should be unceasingly aware that he is watching you and near to you."

"Remind and admonish your lower self/nafs and call it to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good teaching. Acquaint it with the reward eternal bliss, honor and elevation and great fortune it will gain through obedience. Acquaint it with the painful torment and great shame that it will receive by abandoning obedience and committing the acts of disobedience."

"I counsel you not to spend any portions of your time or a single breath except in doing something which will benefit you in the hereafter or in your life here, which will assist you in the hereafter or in your place of return."

"So this beneficial counsel that bear fruit, that of are beneficial and they can produce the result of turning to Allah and exposing oneself to forthpouring of divine grace."

"I counsel you to have a present heart. The meaning of presence is that its feeling some meanings of Allah's Attributes or the meanings of His Name Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and the attributes of His Greatness. When the heart reflects upon Allah's beautiful Names and Allah's sublime attributes and the meanings of His greatness and magnificence. Then at that point, the heart is present and for this reason presence with Allah only occurs in the various types of worship and acts of obedience."

"The cause of distant from Allah is heedlessness or unawareness."

"The cause of nearness is presence. As long as the heart is present with Allah, that person is increased in nearness and whenever a person is unaware of Allah, heedless of Allah, that person is severed and distant."

"Presence of heart then is its feeling the greatness of Allah, the meanings of His Names and Attributes and its reflectiing the sign of Allah, the magnificence and pondering on that which has been narrated from Allah and His Messenger."

"I advise you to have a present heart. The presence of heart and the submissiveness of limbs in all of your acts of worship. It means tranquility of the limbs."

"Submissiveness, khushuq means both presence, magnificence, reflecting on the meaning and pondering on the meaning and also the meaning implies fear, hope and shyness."

- Habib Umar bin Hafiz
As interpreted by Shaykh Abdul Karim Yahya

Click at the link below to watch the full video:
http://abdulkarimyahya.com/2011/10/11/lesson-beneficial-counsels-lesson-4/
To purchase above art:
http://hamidsart.redbubble.com/sets/155690/works/6503178-allah-art

Shaykh Hamza's tears of love

2011-11-13T14:48:00.004+08:00

Bismillah.

SubhanAllah. He is simply a beautiful being, a beautiful soul - Shaykh Hamza Yusuf. Listening to his beautiful voice, watching his beautiful gestures, articulating his vast knowledge of the deen with great eloquence, that is a common sight to many of us who follow him. But, SubhanAllah to see such a beautiful being trying to hold back his tears as he spoke about love and love of Rasulullah s.a.w, mashaAllah!

Watch and listen to Shaykh Hamza Yusuf's lecture on Qurrat al-Absar, courtesy of Sandala here:

http://sandala.org/multimedia/video/qurrat-al-absar-introduction-1/

A recording done in 2008 in Madinah al-Munawwarah.

I have witnessed some very rare and beautiful moments in the video when Shaykh Hamza tried to hold back his tears as he talked about people weeping over places where the beloved Prophet s.a.w used to be, quoting a poem 'I passed the houses of Layla and kissed the walls of the houses....' he paused and as tears welled up in his eyes, he said - "It's just so beautiful!...You kiss the walls of the houses...but it's not the walls...have enraptured my heart...but love...the one that lives between those walls..."

MashaAllah. TabarakAllah!

O Light upon lights

2011-11-12T07:52:00.006+08:00

Jabal Nur - Nov 2, 2011
Credit: AP Photo/Hassan Ammar

Bismillah.

O Allah, I beseech You
Just as You had honored me with the tawfiq
to walk up the mountain
to walk into the holy chamber of Hira'
honor me with moments of peace, nearness, gratitude
and amazement at Your Beauty
again and again....
as breathtaking as it was
atop Jabal Nur

O Allah, I implore You
that the gravels, the dust, the sand, the rocks
and the sheeps
all those that once witnessed
my footsteps on the mountain
my lonely presence
my standing still
the string of Al-Ikhlas recited
the fond remembrance of Ummul Mukminin
the mountain of hope for Al-Amin
the trust in Your promise for the Reunion
O Allah, I beg You
make me hold firm to Your deen

O Light,
I am contented with the dark
though in fear and despair
lest I yearn not for Your lights
O You who teach by opposites
so long as I see You
with it, before and after...

O Mui'zz
still I beseech You
don't keep me long at the bottom
raise me to the top
So I could marvel at Your lights again
O Nur,
Majestically beautiful You are
O Nur!

-E-

Zikr for hard times - by Habib Umar bin Hafiz

2011-11-11T07:04:00.010+08:00

Al-Latif
by Hamid Iqbal Khan

Bismillah.

This was taken from the Interpreter's Path blog by Shaykh Abdul Karim Yahya. It was like a glass of cold water for thirsty me. It's very simple to do yet with barakah of Habib Umar bin Hafiz the effects will be tremendous bi-iznillah. I sure hope you would find it useful and benefit from it too InshAllah.

"At the Question and Answer session of Red Sulfur tazkiya lesson 7 (May 9), a couple of beneficial questions were raised regarding trials and tribulations to which Sayyidi Habib Umar (may Allah preserve him and spread his benefit among us) responded with the following Prophetic prescriptions:

One should read:
يَا لَطِيف
Ya Latif
129 times in the morning and evening.
Increase the number to 133 in times of difficulty.

(Al-Latif is one of Allah’s names and is sometimes translated as “gentle” or “subtle.” Habib Kadhim as-Saqqaf (may Allah preserve him) said it encompasses all the names of Allah which express His beauty. By reading this name morning and evening one will be constantly in the realm of Allah’s care and gentleness. The meaning of “lutf” is Allah bringing benefit and deflecting harm from an individual in a manner that that individual is unaware of)."

Click here
http://abdulkarimyahya.com/hu-tazkiya-lessons-red-sulfur-and-the-greatest-elixir/dhikr-in-times-of-hardship/
for another zikr prescribed by Habib Umar
for times of great distress.
To purchase above poster: Hamidsart at gmail dot com
http://hamidsart.redbubble.com/sets/155690/works/5729845-al-latif

Jumaah Mubarrak!

They who ignite the light of our hearts

2011-11-10T22:33:00.007+08:00

Bismillah.

Al-Hamdu lillah, to be present at the recent 300th Haul of Imam Al-Haddad held in Shah Alam, Malaysia, but my heart felt an awkward void from that day until today, feeling guilty for not being able to record anything from such a grand majlis. I was choked with frustration hearing the voice of Habib Ali Zainal Abidin making some brilliant speech, yet the ears could not register a single word due to bad echo. I thought circumstances might be different if the honorable Habib Umar bin Hafiz was present. He was the guest of honor at last year's haul and it was amazing, SubhanAllah!

But today the heart suddenly got re-ignited upon discovering this spark of brilliance at the Interpreter's Path, thanks to Shaykh Abdul Karim Yahya. Someone asked Habib Umar 'What is the best way to give life to the heart if its light has been extinguished?' And here is the answer given by Habib Umar, quoting Imam al-Haddad the Haddad al-qulub, the purifier of hearts.

"What Imam al-Haddad mentioned about taking knowledge from the Qur'an and Sunnah (Prophetic Way), with the attributes he mentioned, is the path to giving life to the heart. These attributes are: performing acts of obedience without influence of the ego and caprice, and not having expectations from people and having presence with Allah and remaining in a constant state of dhikr (remembrance)."

"In the text Imam al-Haddad summarises how we should prepare ourselves for the Divine forth-pouring. He says it is through spiritual struggle which cuts off the roots of desire, while maintaining unceasing directedness towards Allāh in the outward forms of worship. This is expressed in one’s consistency and keenness in reading one’s regular litanies (adhkar) and praying one’s prayers and reciting the Qur’an with presence of heart. The Imam mentions in this counsel and in the counsels that come after it, many means through which the hearts are brought to life."

"Another important foundation in bringing the heart to life is having a strong attachment to Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) who Allah chose to be our Prophet and was sent to teach us and purify us and take us to Him. We must nurture our longing to meet him and accompany him and we must invoke abundant blessings (salawat) upon him."

"May Allah bring your heart and ours to life and the hearts of all of those watching and attending, and all of those connected to us and all the believing men and women seeking this goodness. May Allah give life to our hearts by the sanctity of the one who was sent to give life to the hearts. You said to us: answer the call of Allah and His Messenger when He calls you to that which gives you life."

Ameen Allahumma ameen.

Timeless and precious hajj advice by Shaykh Sohail Hanif

2011-11-09T23:40:00.015+08:00

Bismillah.

Today, 13th DhulHijjah is the last of Tashrik days. One thing I learned to appreciate about Eidul Adha is that we get to recite the tahmid/takbir not just on the Eid day but for four days altogether, from the 10th to the 13th of DhulHijjah. I only realized this fact quite late in life, thanks to my late father for trying to impress it upon me year after year.

AlHamdu lillah, Eidul Adha is becoming more meaningful than it used to be. Thanks to the advent of technology, those who are not performing hajj could still get a feel of the ritual and many could fantasize how their own hajj might be like: I would do this here, I would do that with my partner, I will see this and I might feel that. But Shaikh Sohail Hamid said "the hajj is not a romantic picture," it is going to be loaded with things which are beyond our control. Our submission to the Will of Allah and our claim of slavehood will be put to the test. So no matter what happens, the shaykh said we must be pleased with whatever Allah chooses for us, over any romantic pictures we might have chosen for ourselves.

http://qibla.com/resources/hajj-advice-from-shaykh-sohail-hanif

Shaykh Sohail has for many years been giving talks on hajj and the one most important advice that he would give is not about action but of attitude. He said it's something that we need to sprinkle over everything we do on hajj. This attitude is taken from the attitude of the person who inaugurated the rite of pilgrimage, the one who sacrificed his family, whose voice spread over the land. People have been responding to his call for hajj for thousands of years already. It is the attitude of Prophet Ibrahim a.s.

Shaykh Sohail asked, what was the state of Prophet Ibrahim's attitude? What did it represent? In a verse in Surah Baqarah, Allah said whoever turns away from the way of Ibrahim makes himself a fool. And Allah has selected him for this world and will grant Ibrahim an equally good ranking in the next world. So what is the secret of his way? When the Lord said to him, submit, he said "aslamtu li Rabbil 'Alamin" I have surrendered to the Lord of the world. The state of Prophet Ibrahim a.s is in fact identical to Islam. His name is the only name that is conjoined to the word Islam. Throughout the Qur'an he was referred to as a Muslim. Islam is the secret.

What is Islam? There is a lower level and a higher level to the meaning of Islam. The lower level is when one enters the religion to become a Muslim. The upper level of the meaning Islam is one who is in total surrender to the will of God. Prophet Ibrahim a.s. in many occurences have submitted to the will of Allah. He was willing to slaughter his son Ismail, he was willing to leave the baby in the dessert, he left his people and was thrown into the fire unperturbed, said Shaykh Sohail. This is Islam - surrender. It is the highest station for a person to attain. Again there is an inner and outer manifestation of Islam. Outwardly, we follow the religion's instruction such as solat, fasting etc. Inwardly, we are supposed to taslim or surrender to the will of Allah. To perform the hajj successfully, we are required to do both.

Imam Ghazali said the rites of hajj contain actions that the mind can't quite figure out. Why do we do the tawaf 7 times; why do we throw 7 pebbles at the Jamarah on diferent days, why do we wear three pieces of clothing; why do we have to go to different locations to do certain things. In this regard, hajj is powerful. We need to do the rites, deeming it sacred. We feel honored to do it for Allah even though the mind may not be so familiar with it. We feel blessed to do because those are the rites of hajj.

Hajj requires our submission to circumstances that are outside of our control. Hajj is not just about doing the tawaf, sai'e etc., it is the entire journey. We might have to face a rude immigration officer; maybe we will be made to wait very long; our accomodation may not be as what we expect it to be for the price we have paid. We must realize that all of these is the worship of hajj. Therefore, we can't be angry, upset or miserable, else we will waste the opportunity.

Why do we go for hajj? We go for hajj for Allah to forgive our sins; because we are slave of Allah; we go with the realization that we are not important, we are nobody, we go to lose our identity in the sea of everyone, we are not important to ourselves - I am a slave so who am I to be complaining when I am here to be slave of Allah? Allah will test our claim of servanthood. We may have a romantic picture of what we are going to do on hajj. We may have our doa book for tawaf but we might get pushed and end up not being able to read, so are we going to be frustrated about it? We should be feeling, 'This is what Allah wants from me.'

The day of Arafah is real hajj. It is a sacred moment. It is a real day of mercy so you may plan in your mind what to do on that special day. But you may get a headache and feel feverish so you can't concentrate. If Allah chooses you to be sick on that day, be happy with His choice for you. If you get sick then that is your nature of worship that moment. Worship him with your headache. You must think, 'I am not important. What You want from me is better than what I want for myself. I am Your slave.' So really the hajj is not a romantic picture. Hajj is the example of this life, a life for the sake of God.

What does the Qur'an tells us about hajj? The Qur'an says no arguing. The sunnah tells us other requirements about hair etc. In hajj we have to deal with people and this is where Allah will test our servanthood. Therefore, Shaykh Sohail advised us to be patient, relaxed, content and calm, and to surrender to what Allah gives us, and to be pleased with it. This is not to scare us but things do happen. Hajj is not a holiday.

Concluding his talk, Shaykh Sohail quoted a poetry about surrendering to 'Salma' or the Divine Will. It says 'go wherever she goes, follow the winds of destiny and turn however they turn.' So, go with what Allah gives you and be content. But the shaykh is not telling us to be passive, we can do something to fix a situation but we must not do it with passionate anger and bitterness.

__________________________________________

Wallahu a'lam.

The above is a sketchy transcript of Shayk Sohail's lecture.

Please click on the link Qibla.com to view his video.

Tashrik Days 1432 Hijri

2011-11-08T08:57:00.005+08:00

Bismillah.

Some of our more fortunate and blessed brothers and sisters, though wheelchair-bound were praying at the best of all masajid, some of them, both young and old were seen reading the Qur'an, some were stoning away their bad attributes at the Jamrah, some with every step they took circumambulating the Kaaba, purified their souls and uplifted their spirits. And here we are waiting for the Divine invitation, longing for the much awaited call, for the golden opportunity to be hujjaj, someday bi-iznillah, Insh'Allah. Allah hears, Allah answers, at His appointed time and at His Will.

Pic Credit: http://www.youtube.com/hajjlive

p/s Subhanallah, I was overjoyed and overcome with emotions
when my best friend who is on Hajj
texted me saying
she was almost done with the Jamrah
and that she had dreamed of me twice!
Al Hamdu lillah.

Allah hears | Allah answers

2011-11-07T09:43:00.004+08:00

Bismillah.

Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar

La ilaha illAllah

Allahu Akbar

Allahu Akbar walillah hil Hamd

_________________________________________

Pic Credit: http://www.youtube.com/hajjlive

Eidul Adha 1432 Hijri | Eid Mubarrak!

2011-11-06T12:59:00.001+08:00

Imam Masjidil Haram
Solat Eidul Adha 1432H

Eid Khutbah

Bismillah.

Wishing all of you a blessed Eid. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala keep you and your family in His mercy and protect you from bala' and fitnah. May He grant you much joy and happiness.

The Imam at KLCC mosque where I attended this morning spoke about Prophet Ibrahim a.s. as a role model for all hujjaj. Towards the end of his khutbah he mentioned a du'a attributed to the Friend of Allah:

“O our Lord, in You alone we trust,

and to You alone we turn for help,

and to You is the final return."

Rabbana 'alaika tawakkalna
wa ilaika anabna
wa ilaikal masir

A du'a many of us are familiar with but it's most meaningful when the heart has become really tired and hopeless and only wants to turn for help from Him alone. And du'a becomes very meaningful when it's uttered with tears as did the Imam at Masjidil Haram when delivering the Eid Khutbah today.

WaSalamu 'alaykum warahmatullah,

Yours sincerely
E

Kaaba Kiswah | Gone with the old | In with the new

2011-11-05T18:30:00.006+08:00

Bismillah.

5.25 am Fajr Prayer 9 ZulHijjah 1432H
Before the Kiswah change

6.26 am - New Kiswah about to be rolled down

6.27 am - First glimpse of the new beautiful piece

6.29 am

7.03 am Close up of the new piece

7.12 am Stitching the final touches

After Zuhur - In with the new

Just as Allah has beautified the Kaaba
with a new covering,

may He replace everything that is old, worn out

and less attractive about us;

May He garb us with a fresher, cleaner
and more beautiful adornments

zahir and batin.

Ameen.

Pilgrims of life

2011-11-05T08:54:00.009+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/hajjlive

Bismillah.

We are all pilgrims. All kinds of pilgrims we are - a wanderer, a traveller, a wayfarer, towards a distant place which is purer, holier, a more promising and tranquil place; towards a clearer consciousness of our existence and that of our Creator's. As we make the journey we walk alongside many other pilgrims. As selfish as we may become in taking steps toward our destination we cannot deny the other equation of life. It is not just about our relationship with the object of our journey, our Creator, there is also the other aspect of our relationship with fellow creatures. Can a pilgrim so self-centered and focused on getting a better view of the Light trample upon others along the way? No, one cannot simply push people aside and hurt them, no one, not anyone from any sections of the society, especially if he has some degree of knowledge above others.

I wish to expose a story of a pilgrim who was in Madinah last Ramadhan. He supposedly have mingled with renowned shuyukh because he himself is a 'sheikh'. This learned 'sheikh' while in Madinah had approached a handful of women on the internet with the intention to marry. But Allah knows best his true intention. Picture this: a good looking 30-something bearded Caucasian male, with blue eyes, wearing white jubbah and imamah and carrying a stick, so very sunnah in outer appearance, wandering about the world meeting other 'shuyukh' and 'mureed' while actively pursuing women on the internet only to mislead and cheat them.

Imagine if your sister were to cross path with such a pilgrim? One who claimed to be living on constant consultation with his guru - a Qadiri Tariqa guru based in Chechnya, a guru who emphatised with his obedient mureed thus 'allowed' the lonely mureed to sleep with woman prior to nikah. Imagine the pilgrimage of such a 'guru'? Allah Hu Allah. Imagine the many kinds of pilgrims of life! Sisters around the world, especially those in England, beware! If he was a true 'sheikh' the other shuyukh in the U.K would surely know him, but unfortunately no.

In the lesser pilgrimages I was privileged to make, the pilgrims who had touched my heart didn't appear overly religious at all. I cherished an old Indian lady pilgrim who prayed next to me, who out of the blue leaned over to kiss my cheek. I cherished a Bangladeshi woman who patted on my head like I was her daughter. I cherished a Malaysian brother who conversed with me very politely and we have remained friends for 6 years now. Al-Hamdu lillah.

In this blissful season of hajj, let's ask ourselves what sort of pilgrims are we? Do we put a smile on people's face or do we plant a thorn in their hearts?

May Allah let us mingle with beautiful men and women. May Allah protect us from evil pilgrims.

Ameen.

Wukuf | Arafah | Ma'rifah

2011-11-04T18:05:00.008+08:00

Bismillah.

I remembered one most-often repeated advice given to me by one tariqa murshid - "be in wukuf". What that meant was to theoretically forget oneself (annihilate) and focus one's mind on Allah and get on with zikr.

Just about now as our friends are getting ready to make their way to Arafah, we can only imagine what's playing in their minds and hearts as they approach the area. And here we are.

Here I am on the eve of Eidul Adha weekend, feeling emotionally slaughtered by one recent event. My pride and dignity may have been slaughtered but does it really matter if or when I "be in wukuf". Things only matter when there is "I". In Arafah there shouldn't be anymore "I-s" but Thou O Allah. As depicted in the photo above, the "I-s" become blurry and insignificant.

That brings me to this du'a as practised by Sheikh al-Akbar Sheikh Muhyiddin Ibn al-'Arabi. O friends, if you knew the price I have had to pay to be given this du'a, you would be crying with me...wallahi!

Nas 'alukallahumma

bi nuuri wajhikallazii
mal 'a-arkaana arshika

an tazra'a fii-qalbi ma'rifatika
hatta a'rifaka haqqa ma'rifatika
kamaa yambaghii 'an tu'rafa
Ya Allah.

I ask You (O Allah)
by the light of Your Countenance
which fills every corners of Your Throne,
that You cause to grow in my heart knowledge of You
until I know You, with true gnosis,
in what should be known about You,
O Allah.

Imam Zaid Shakir on successful days of Dzul Hijjah and beyond

2011-11-02T19:03:00.000+08:00

Bismillah.

Al-Hamdu lillah, we are still lingering in the first ten blessed days of Dzul Hijjah. On a personal level the days have been very challenging. But that is the nature of our world says Imam Zaid Shakir in his Dzul Hijjah address. He said, "Imam Ali said, 'whoever knows the nature of this world, trials become easy to deal with.' So we should not be surprised by it. Nor should we be waylaid by it. We should just "take it on with patience and dignity because there is tremendous reward in it."

Earlier today, we learned from the booklet gifted at the recent Haul of Imam al-Haddad that there are four weapons for a mukmin to face the Iblis (shayatin): seek solace in a masjid, read the Qur'an, perform solah and gaze the countenance of the 'aleem and zahid.

And yes, al-Hamdu lillah, we felt a little better after watching Imam Zaid Shakir spoke very succinctly, reminding us on the fundamentals of our existence and doing the basics to make the Dzul Hijjah days as successful days, InshAllah.

He said, "we should continue to do the work we are here for that is striving to attain Jannah and to behold our Lord and to serve others. We should be asking ourselves, am I serving Allah? Am I depositing my trust in Allah? Am I serving humanity? Am I doing anything to push people to become better?" He encouraged us to take advantage of the first ten days of Dzul Hijjah because scholars have agreed that the days of Dzul Hijjah are better, while the nights of the last ten days of Ramadhan are better.

"We should be reading the Qur'an with the same himmah (enthusiasm) we may have in Ramadhan. A day where the Qur'an is left untouched on the shelf is not a successful day. Make the days successful by saying a kind word to people, by removing a harmful thing from the path, by smiling and meeting people with a cheerful countenance. If we could do all that, then that's a good day."

Imam Zaid Shakir further said that "a successful life is merely a succession of successful days. So worry not about having a successful life. Instead, let's worry about our days and let it be successful because we take the time to remember Allah, to read the Book of Allah, to counsel our brothers and sisters and to extend a helping hand to someone in need of assistance. If we could do all that day after day, we'll have a successful life. May our lives, may our days, may our hours, our moments be successful. And may they be filled with remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala..."

Wallahu a'lam. The above is not a verbatim/complete transcript. Please watch the full video here.

1st - 10th DzulHijjah 1432 Hijri

2011-10-27T20:34:00.001+08:00

Bismillah.

A reminder to myself and all, to fast and observe the first ten days of Dzul Hijjah InshAllah. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give us the tawfik to perform our ibadah to the best of our abilities and sincerely. Our thoughts are with our friends who are performing the hajj. May Allah facilitate their pilgrimage and accept their deeds. Someday, it will be our turn to accept His invite InshAllah.

Labbaik Allah humma labbaik

Labbaik kala shari kala kalabbaik

Innal hamda wal nikmata

lakawal mulk la shari kalak

________________________________________

Pic credit: Mohammadreza Abdolali

Muhaqqiq vs muqallid

2011-10-26T17:14:00.009+08:00

Bismillah.

The path for those who choose to follow a muhaqqiq is not easy. That's the reality I am facing. A muhaqqiq is a realizer who has esoteric knowledge. Upon revisiting an old Lisan al-Din post on the distinction of knowledge according to Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi I learned that "a man who has inward or esoteric knowledge (ilm-i batin) which is Divine ilm and thus comprehend the mysteries of the invisible existence is a muhaqqiq (realizer)."

Their path is clearly very different from a muqallid (imitator). And I am like one imitator who has just embarked on a convoy with the muhaqqiq. The journey is bumpy as it requires lots of hardwork, dedication and patience, that is to state the obvious but when you walk and start to sweat, you'll know what I mean. So this muqallid plan and plan and then suddenly the lesson knocks on the head that her plans would eventually go down the drain. That there is actually a higher planner, those with upper hand, those who may be hidden but are managing this world for real - the Qutub, the awliya...the elitist.

Oh what am I to do? What is a receptacle to do other than wait and receive whatever may be given, if given at all? I am dumbfounded to say the least. And the quest for purification and obedience continues. The quest that will eventually takes us to the Truth so we may in the end realize the Truth and hopefully become a muhaqqiq ourselves bi-iznillah.

I came across a relevant quote this morning:

"Follow Sayyidina Salman (ra) in finding the truth.

He started with pure love towards it."

________________________________________

Poster credit: Hadi Moeza/www.todayposters.com
Related Lisan al-Din post: "Knowledge according to Rumi School of Thought"

Hajjah | Hairun Nisa'

2011-10-25T09:06:00.007+08:00

Bismillah.

Al-Hamdu lillah wa shukru lilah, a very close friend of mine is leaving for Makkatul Mukarramah tonight. She is a very good friend of mine. Without a doubt, if there was only one ticket left between us, I would surely want her to take it. She deserves it. She is just like her name - Hairun Nisa', a good woman. And she has been chosen to be in the Divine Presence, al-Hamdu lillah.

I recalled telling her early this year that a certain mu'aleem said we should try our best to perform hajj this year. She said, 'yes let's just make a niyyat' though neither of us were prepared. But in my heart I knew she was more ready than I.

Glad I encouraged her to appeal to the hajj agency. Thought it was timely for her to go having been married for just over a year, she has her loving muhram to accompany her. Thought it would be beautiful if this newlywed could go for hajj together and yes, they made it al-Hamdu lillah.

She was the one who stood by me with enormous patience during my Jahiliyah days. She endured my ignorance and misbehaviors, not for a month, not for a year but for many years. Allah Hu Allah! She is a friend dunya wal akhirah. May Allah preserve our friendship for His sake alone.

Tonight when she leaves for her pilgrimage, I hope she will take a piece of my heart with her. I pray for hajj mabrurah for her. I pray she will taste the sweetness of being nearest to Allah at Arafah both shari'ah and haqiqah-wise.

She is Hairun Nisa', indeed.

The 300th Haul of Imam Al-Haddad at Masjid Sultan Abdul Aziz, Shah Alam | 8 October 2011

2011-10-08T12:35:00.001+08:00

May Allah favor us with presence at such auspicious occasion and grant us knowledge and wisdom and obtain plenty of barakah from the Imam who lives on though 300 years have separated us from him.

May Allah grant us the ability and opportunity to share with more people what we'll be hearing tonight Insh'Allah.

Shaykh Dr. Saad Ghawish on 'ain haqiqah' and 'tarbiyah ruh'

2011-10-02T07:56:00.013+08:00

Shaykh Dr. Saad Ghawish Al-Hussaini
KL 1st Oct 2011

Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah, Shaykh Dr. Saad Ghawish Al-Hussaini was at KL Ba'alawi on 1st and 2nd October 2011. In the presence of Shaykh Yusuf Bakhour Al-Hassani, he began to address the jemaah with words of praise for Shaykh Yusuf, and that proved the degree of humility, respect, affection and sufi chivalry he had towards Shaykh Yusuf who was his junior.

He said:

"Allah having gathered us here with Shaykh Yusuf is indeed a blessing from Him. Shaykh Yusuf is one who is actively involved in dakwah. He is responsible in the management of many madrasah tarbiyah in Mesir and [across the Middle East] which deals with 'tarbiyah ruh'. He has travelled a great deal to many countries including Europe and the US. I have benefited much from him while I was in Mesir. His visit here is clearly a blessing from Allah. The real tarbiyah is in fact from Shaykh Yusuf and not from the kitab, tables, chairs in the classroom. It is the true understanding (tahqiq) as what have been taught and practised during the times of Rasulullah s.a.w. Shaykh Yusuf's manhaj is about al junun ('craziness about Allah'), ma'rifah (gnosis) and ubudiyah (servitude).

Ubudiyah is a high ranking stature, even above a PhD or doctorate qualification. Allah says in the Qur'an regarding the Isra' event - "asra bi abdihi..." The maqam of ubudiyah, of a servant is a high maqam in the sight of Allah.

In the beginning, we were far from Allah, we were heedless until came the inayah (guidance) of Allah. Maqam ubudiyah is undoubtedly a high maqam. There is a story about Bisyirin al-Haqq who used to sit with the noblemen. One day a stranger came knocking on his door. Bisyirin's servant opened the door. The stranger then asked, "Is Bisyirin a servant or is he a sayyid?" Bisyirin's servant was taken aback by this remark. The stranger said further, "If he is a servant then he should not be sitting with evil men." Afterwards, upon hearing about the incident from his qadam, Bisyirin nervously went looking for the stranger. Bisyirin was then blessed with Allah's guidance and became a waliullah.

Ahlillah is one who is close to Allah. Ahlul Hubb is one who loves Allah. Ahlul ma'rifah is one who knows Allah. All of these people, they see things with the eyes of the heart, they look at things with 'ain haqiqah.

Bisyirin was one of them. One day while walking in a market, he stopped by a fruit stall and stood there admiring the variety of fruits, looking at all kinds of fruits on display. The fruit seller asked Bisyirin if he wanted anything in particular. Bisyirin said: "I don't want to get any fruits. I am just amazed to see so many types of fruits and I wondered if Allah gave all these wonderful fruits to His disobedient servant, who makes munkar, what would He give to His obedient servant?!"

Bisyirin was one person who viewed things with 'ain haqiqah because his heart was full of lights. Nowadays people understood things differently. One who fears Allah is considered stupid and backward. Whereas, a liar is thought to be clever. In Mesir those who study usul i.e. usuluddin and usul fikh are heavily criticized by the media. By right, we should be condemning people who are ignorant of usul."

Shaykh Dr. Saad Ghawish then narrated the story of Abdul Rahman Ibn Muhazzab who bought a 'defect' qadam. Abdul Rahman got to purchase the qadam at a bargain because the seller thought he was crazy. When Abdul Rahman took the qadam home, he realized that the qadam was not insane, he was instead crazy about worshipping Allah.

Shaykh Dr. Saad Ghawish reminded the jemaah on two types of servanthood. One is that of those who seek benefits and heavenly rewards. The other group is those who wanted only Allah. The latter is of higher degree because their intention is solely to gain Allah's mercy.

Concluding his tausiyah, Shaykh Dr. Saad Ghawish spoke excitedly and animatedly about his experience being in Kedah [a state in the north of Peninsula Malaysia]. "I was at Masjid Al-Bukhari and I saw in front of me a large group of people all wearing white hats and imamah (turban). I thought this was what Al-Azhar must have been like 200 years ago! I thought, is Al-Azhar in Mesir or could it be in Malaysia? Then I heard people reciting the Burdah Al-Busiri. I thought it's amazing that the Burdah was written in Mesir but it's being recited here in Malaysia. Then I heard people doing the mawlid. We need this type of food for our ruh. Enliven your hearts by sitting in majalis where people recite salawat, a majlis that is loved by Rasulullah s.a.w. -majlis zikr - this is essential. I also learned that the Kedah state is known as Darul Aman. I think that is so true because people are free to present themselves at majlis 'ilm, zikr and salawat. Remember that tarbiyah ruh is crucial; tarbiyah jasad is not."

______________________________

Wallahu a'lam.

May I be forgiven for any errors or omissions.

My apology for being late in posting these notes.

The majlis was graciously hosted by:

"It is He who creates our actions" - Shaykh Yusuf Bakhour

2011-10-01T08:33:00.012+08:00

Shaykh Yusuf Bakhour Al-Hassani & Shaykh Dr. Saad Ghawish Al-Hussaini
1 October 2011

Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah, we were indeed delighted and grateful for the opportunity to sit before As-Shaykh Yusuf Bakhour Al-Hassani and Shaykh Dr. Saad Ghawish Al-Hussaini at KL Ba'alawi tonight. It's amazing to see one Al-Hassani and one Al-Hussaini sitting next to each other, and to see one showing much respect and humility toward the other, and one praising the other with much love. MashaAllah what a wonderful display of praiseworthy akhlaq and affection between them. Shaykh Yusuf was the first to speak. In his opening remarks he said:

"I am not worthy to speak in front of my elder, a great ulama, my guru, one who loves people of knowledge, the one before whom I grew up. Therefore, I must mention his special attributes both in his presence and absence. I shall not speak except that he ordered me to, so I speak out of adab.

Let me begin by reminding us all on the importance of having taqwa for Allah. We speak with the language of love and not just mere oratory. Muslims now busy themselves with making eloquent speech (lafaz) yet ignoring the meanings (makna). They occupy themselves with the outer aspect of speech but their hearts are shut toward its beautiful meanings.

We know that people have aqal (intelligence). [To have] aqal actually means to obey Allah's orders. That is what it really means in terms of sharaq. But people nowadays have defined it differently. In today's world, one who has aqal is one who is clever at amassing wealth, who cheats, who robs other people's rights for the sake of obtaining worldly pleasures. We see how a person who is a hypocrite, who speaks lies are thought to be 'clever'. In contrast, one who is honest and sincere is considered as 'stupid'. If we were to ask people, 'Why did you cheat?' He will say, 'Oh it's a business trick.'

In today's world, one who busies himself with the love of Allah and ibadah is considered insane. He is thought to be losing and backward as far as dunya is concerned. While I was travelling from Penang to KL, I realized that I am 'crazy' and I love friends who are also 'crazy'. If I wanted myself to be considered as having aqal, I must lie. Suffice that we know Allah even if people labeled us crazy.

I say, the love for Allah is a kind of 'craziness'. It is like one losing his aqal when he is faced with the one he loves. I do not mind that people think I am 'crazy' rather than have aqal but one is distant from Allah. But surely we interact with Allah using aqal. Yet if you were to ask for rewards of heavens then you are not speaking the language of love. Let me ask you, are we servant or are we God? Of course you will say servant. Indeed we are a servant of Allah in every state (hal). Leave everything to Him. This is majlis aqidah. And I seek help from my Shaykh (madad), that we are talking about af'al [His actions]. He is the one who creates our actions. It is He who causes effects to take place. We don't do anything, we are merely the medium through which He takes actions.

Do you really think people create their own actions? No, it is Allah who creates our actions. If one were to create his own actions, then he might as well prostrate to himself! Allah knows since time immemorial and beyond (since azali) that our aqal is incompetent so He creates our actions. If you understood the verb (fi'il) of the Arabic language you would know the difference between 'to do' and 'to get done'. In ilm haqiqah, the one who does, is Allah. His sifat is that of maf'ul.

Love is in fact junun (insanity). In today's world, people define cleverness as one who involves with crime and all sorts of immoralities. We need to redefine this. We have to admit that we are crazy or else we would be committing crimes like those who are 'clever'. People have lost their way in finding the correct definition. One who is clever at cheating is smart. So can we say one who is trustworthy is smart too? How can we build a civilisation with such a misconception?

We are different from you. In these times when the values of akhlaq are being traded with materialistic judgement, we insist that we are different from you. If we defined having a relationship with Allah as crazy, then I want to be crazy.

The basis of aqal is that one does something with understanding. Let me then ask you, do you know Allah? Know that knowledge ('ilm) is the way/medium (wasilah). And the aim is Allah. Your deeds is wasilah and your destination is Allah.

Imam as-Shadzili once reminded Ibn Abbas that Adam was sent down from the Heaven so that he would become complete/perfect and not to trouble him. No doubt the heaven is a perfect place but dunya is a place for responsibility and only with responsibility can Adam become complete.

O you lovers, whom I love, know that the door to Allah is being honest with Him. Allah does not interact with us except that He loves us. He loves us before we could even begin to love him. And our love for Him only serves to prove His love for us. How can we claim to love Him first, when it was Him who created us? O friend, when do you reckon He created love? He created love before He created anything else. Allah has created us out of pure bounty. There is a difference between creating something for a purpose and creating something as a bounty. Our ruh were roaming freely before. That which were manifest became hidden. We are now searching for that beauty we had experienced in the realm of spirits (alam arwah). If love is within us, then our physique will follow Love.

Once a sahabi confessed his love to Rasulullah s.a.w, to which the Prophet grimaced. He then said to his companion, 'if that be the case, have a special jubbah to face calamities.' So know that to love something/someone has a price. If the ibadah you make for Allah is merely for the sake of obtaining rewards, then know that it is shirk khafi (hidden polytheism). Allah wants us to worship Him out of pure servitude, we as servants while He is the Lord.

Before I end my speech, I wish to remind everyone that this world is a place for test and not a place to collect wealth. We will be leaving this dunya for a place of eternal happiness. We will work towards that with ibadah and by knowing Allah, and that is the ultimate happiness of this world. Allah mentions in the Qur'an that akhira is the everlasting place. Lastly, I pray that you will be protected by Allah and that Allah will help us dunya wal akhirah."

_______________________________

Wallahu a'lam. May I be forgiven for any errors or omissions.
The tazkirah by Shaykh Dr. Saad Ghawish will be posted separately InshaAllah.

The majlis was hosted by:

Garment of the heart

2011-09-25T22:30:00.004+08:00

Bismillah.

Ibn Atha'illah said in the Hikam: "All speech emerges wearing the garment of the heart from which it emerged."

So we imagine with amazement, the speech that wears the garment of the heart which has traces of the great Shaykh Abdul Qadir Al-Jailani, MashaAllah.

For that reason, we are delighted that after a long break, KL Ba'alawi is organizing majlis ilm again and what a way to start off, a majlis with Sheikh Affefuddin Al Jailani, the 18th descendant of Ghawth Al Azam.

And next week, we shall be basking in the sweet presence of Sheikh Yusuf Bakhour Al-Hassani and Sheikh Dr. Saad Ghawish Al-Husaini InshaAllah.

Credit:

Reference: 'The Darqawi Way' by Moulay al-'Arabi ad-Darqawi

In absence

2011-09-20T08:22:00.005+08:00

Bismillah.

O friends, I am away, again; away from my little resource center. I am missing that private space of mine and missing this space too.

Let's keep one another in our du'a as we traverse this challenging dunya and juggle our akhira commitment at the same time.

May Allah make us stronger in embracing His af'al.

I miss you and you know I have never been shy about expressing my heart's contents : )

Take care.

-E-

Seeing Him

2011-09-18T12:21:00.004+08:00

Bismillah.

O friends, we apologize for being quiet, cos we were travelling. Alhamdulillah, over the last few days we saw His Attributes Al-Wali, Al-Hadi, Al-Wadud, Al-Khaliq, Ar-Razzaq, Al-Kareem, to name a few. We just got home and immediately thought of posting a little something for you.

During our trip to Melaka we also saw a rare species of plant from Indonesia which had flowers that looked like miniature male and female birds! Subhanallah! Sorry the pictures didn't do them justice at all.

Will catch up with you soon, InshaAllah.

'Female-bird' flower

'Male-bird' flower

The Agony of Love | The Wine of love

2011-09-14T11:20:00.010+08:00

Bismillah.

Which one would you choose, the agony of love or the wine of love?

No we are not being mushy (excessively sentimental) here. It's just about sweet desserts called "tourments d'amour" or the agony of love. Hahaha that's what brought about this posting. (Gotcha!)

We saw on telly a couple of days ago, some women, wives of the fishermen on Les Saintes island near Guadeloupe, making yummy looking cakes with coconut filling, at little stalls along the beaches of that beautiful French island. The sweet cakes were traditionally made by the women while waiting for their husbands to come home. Yes that's what they are called - the agony of love, tourments d'amour. Only women would understand such a thing, don't you think so?

Now on a more serious note, let's chew these lines of poetry by Imam Khomeini, called 'The Wine of Love'.

I am a hunter of taverns,

don't ask me about the Beloved.

I am dumb, so from the dumb,
and distracted don't ask for an oration.

I'm preoccupied with my own blindness and wretchedness,
So from the blind don't ask for sight and vision.
Your languid eyes have brought on my own languor,
So don't ask from one so smitten for aught
but delirious ravings.

Don't consort with a wandering dervish,
but if ever you do,
Never ask him about wisdom, philosophy, scripture,
or of the sayings of the Prophet.

I am drunk with the wine of Thy love,
so from such a drunkard
Don't ask for the sober counsel
of a man of the world.
_____________________________

Credit: National Geographic & alislam.org

p/s Sorry, no sober counsel from this drunkard today!

Believe, and then witness

2011-09-13T03:18:00.008+08:00

Bismillah.

We shall today look at the teachings of Shaykh Ahmad Al-Alawi, again, who said we should support our belief with witnessing.

This was his response to a question from his mureed on the meaning of verse 260 of Surah Al Baqarah where Prophet Ibrahim alaihisalam, asked Allah how He gave life to the dead. The student was curious that a prophet, seemingly contradicting his spiritual station, could question the Lord's capabilities on resurrection.

(Remember) when Ibrāhīm said: “My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead.” He said: “Is it that you do not believe?’’ He said: “Of course, I do, but it is just to make my heart at peace.’’ He said: “Then take four birds and tame them to your call, then put on every mountain a part from them, then give them a call, and they shall come to you rushing, and know that Allah is Mighty, Wise.’’
(Translation by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Uthmani)

Shaykh Ahmad Al-Alawi's reply:

"Our master Abraham (peace be upon him) intended with his question to link the highest level of his belief with the beginning of his state of witnessing [Shuhud, in Arabic. To witness something is to perceive it with convincing evidence that the eye/heart experiences] and this is indeed part of traveling the path of Allah [Islamic Sufism], and it is incumbent upon us to take this verse as a lesson for us, so that we do not gain satisfaction with only belief [without witnessing the truth], and it is available to us to do so, because the degree of what has been brought to us and that of evidential arguments do not attain the degree of witnessing whatever the degree of argument and authenticated sources might be. It is from this angle that our master Moses (may peace be upon him) had asked: "O my Sustainer, Show [Thyself] unto me." (Qur'an)

And the summary of what we have said above is that reassurance [rest of heart] in creed/belief does not occur unless it is supported with something from the realm of witnessing [the truth with the heart]."

And we echo the du'a made by the remarkable translator of this particular work by Shaykh Ahmad Al-Alawi: "May Allah shower your heart with the delights of His witnessing and cause you to be foremost among those who are conscious of Him and His Signs. Ameen."

Reference:

"The Freshest Pool in Questions & Answers"
Translated by Sidi Abdelkarim Belaid

Credit: Sidi Muhammad Issa & Altafsir.com

Remember Him and you shall be remembered

2011-09-12T05:55:00.005+08:00

Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah. We are honored and thankful to be shown partials of the translation of Shaykh Ahmad Al-Alawi's teachings called 'The Freshest Pools in Question & Answers'.

In one of the sections of the original book in Arabic which contains 231 pages, As-Shaykh Ahmad Al-Alawi answered a question which in my opinion, was rarely asked. I think it's a query which only a deep inquisitive mind who regularly contemplates God, would ponder.

Yes we often heard the Qur'anic verse where Allah says: "Remember Me and I shall remember you." It is from Verse 152 of the Surah Al Baqarah. The full ayah as translated by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Uthmani is as follows: "So Remember Me, and I will remember you, and be thankful to Me, and be not ungrateful to Me."

With reference to this verse, a student of Shaykh Ahmad Al-Alawi asked his venerated master, "How does Allah remember His servants?"

The master answered: "As for our remembrance of our Lord it is so by saying أﷲ,أﷲ‬ Allah, Allah or with any of Allah’s beautiful names, and it is well understood like this with no complexity. As for Allah’s remembrance of the one doing the act of remembrance, it is here with the ambiguity lies with respect to ‘how’ and by which method, so how would this be? [He asked this question to the audience of his disciples-and when he knew they found some difficulty answering the question, he proceeded to answer it]:-

Allah Has drawn our attention in this verse to that which will make us remembered by people throughout history [future generations]; it is as though Allah is saying: If you would like to be respectfully remembered by future generations, so remember Me, and I will have you remembered by their future generation peoples’ tongues. It is this fact that makes the ‘Dhakeerina’ [folks of Allah] very well remembered by the general masses and the elect among Allah’s folks, and it is this the remembrance of Allah of the ones who remembered Him in past generations, as a meet requital, because reward stems from the act of performing good deeds and Allah knows best."

Therefore, we can deduce from the above that those names - the awliya', who have left us, some left us 78 years ago (i.e. Shaykh Al-Alawi), some over 300 years ago (i.e. Imam Al-Haddad), and others over 800 years ago (i.e. Shaykh Abdul Qadir Al-Jilani), we can imagine how much these people of Allah had been remembering Allah, that they are so very alive on our tongues and in our hearts to this day. MashaAllah!

With the barakah of the awliya' who are ahlillah, past and present, all of them, known and hidden, we pray with their barakah, we are able to remember Allah with much remembrance, InshaAllah.

We also pray as practised by Prophet Ibrahim a.s.:

Rabbi habli hukman wa alhiqni bis solehin

waj 'alli lisaana sidqin fil akhirin

waj 'alni min warasati jannatin naeem

"O Lord, bestow hikmah on me and join me with the righteous and grant me a reputation of honor amongst later generations, and make me an inheritor of the paradise Jannatun Naeem."

Ameen.

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Credit: Sidi Muhammad Issa & Sidi Abdelkarim Belaid

Thank God for men of certainty

2011-09-11T22:06:00.002+08:00

Bismillah.

We shall state yet again that the miracles and barakah of Imam Al-Haddad are true because we have seen it a couple of times. Feeling grateful for His recent gifts we picked up from our little book shelf, Imam Al-Haddad's 'Gifts for the Seeker.' And as though, he could read our state, the page we had turned to randomly, in fact the first paragraph we read actually described our state, Subhanallah!

May we continue to benefit from the barakah of Imam Al Haddad who quoted from 'Nourishment for Hearts' or Qut al-Qulub by Abu Talib al-Makki [d. 996 CE]:

"The author of the book, Nourishment for Hearts, may God show him His mercy, and bring benefit to him, said; 'If you find, to receive a favour of yours, a man of certainty who sees nothing but God, seize the opportunity to do him a favour! Even if his state forces him neither to thank you nor to pray for you, since he does not even see you, his certainty will be profitable, and weigh more in your balance, than the prayers and thanks of someone else.'

Indeed, we are grateful and thankful for men of certainty who are men of tawhid. While we may think that we are doing a favour to them, we are actually doing a favour to ourself. And obviously it is Allah who does a favour to us, to let us cross path with them in the first place.

Praise be to Allah for creating those "stars" in the night skies so that we benefit therewith. Alhamdulillah.

Poster credit: Reza Mahboobi
Publisher credit: Fons Vitae

12th Syawal - my Father's Day

2011-09-10T10:59:00.005+08:00

Bismillah.

Sixteen years ago, on this day, the 12th of Syawal, my Ismail, my beloved father, passed on to the realm of barzakh. I was by his side. Alhamdulillah.

About five hours before his last breath, his weak hands scribbled these words on an Eid greeting card: "I am being called to Rahmatullah." A couple of hours later he wrote again: "Second calling to Rahmatullah" and not long after, he left us.

His last words to me:
"You will be fine!"

Al Fatihah

Allahyarham Ismail

(1935 - 1995)

A grateful daughter

Perplexed at His Beauty

2011-09-09T16:24:00.007+08:00

Bismillah.

Aaaalllaaahh....I don't know where to start. I am just perplexed at the manifestation of Al Jamil. You know they say a picture is worth a thousand words, I wished I could just show you some photos which to me depict the beauty of His deen. It's hard to translate it into words. It's like saying I love you while knowing it's more than those words you feel.

Islam is beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Imagine tariqa thriving in cities such as Sao Paulo. Imagine a thirty something handsome man living a harmonious life with his two gorgeous wives and three angelical daughters. Imagine them living in their own self-sustained farm. Imagine them spending a few days of the week in khalwa doing zikr. Imagine them starting to see the fruits of their dakwah as they slowly begin to spread the deen to the Brazilians. Imagine such traditional and genuine Islamic living, in a country known for her endless fiesta, beach babes and sultry female soccer fans.

I don't think any Muslims having a PhD in theology, students of the orientalist gurus, can do something like that. Something as commendable as that is only possible with the barakah of a tariqa guru whose lineage traces back to Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. That beautiful slice of the kernel of Islam, to me, is one sweet fruit of the trees planted by the great Shaykh Ahmad Al-Alawi (1869 - 1934).

May Allah make the Al-Alawi community in Sao Paulo prosper further. May Allah unite the various tariqa and tha'ifah around the world and make us cling strongly onto His rope.
Ameen.

AL FATIHAH on the demise of an Indonesian saintly figure - Tajul Ariffin | Abah Anom

2011-09-05T21:02:00.005+08:00

Hj Ahmad Sohibul Wafa Tajul Ariffin
(Abah Anom)

Murshid of Tariqa Qadiriah wa Naqshabandiah

Leader of Pesantren Suryalaya, Indonesia

1 January 1915 - 5 September 2011

Bismillah.

We are saddened to hear the news from one of his mureed. Although we do not know much of this saintly figure, suffice to see the traces of his syafaat and barakah in his mureed whom we know and respect - a youth with excellent akhlak and adab.

Tajul Ariffin or Abah Anom as he is fondly known among mureed and muhibbin was the murshid for Tariqa Qadiriah wa Naqshabandiah since 1956 when he took over from his father Abah Sepuh.

We are supporters of all tariqa and thus we share the sorrows felt by those who mourn the passing of Abah Anom. We all know what it is like to lose a guru, a guide, a mentor, a father.

Al Fatihah.

Note:
Mas Taj - thanks for sharing and keep your guru's teachings alive within you. I am proud of you!

Reference: www.suryalaya.org