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:
No comments:
Post a Comment