Grand Mawlid and Haul of Shaykh Abdul Qadir Al-Gaylani - 9 April 2011

Bismillah.

May Allah invite us to this grand annual event organized by the honorable descendant of Shaykh Abdul Qadir Al-Gaylani, Shaykh Afeefuddin Al-Gaylani.

Bi-iznillah



Shaykh Afeefuddin Al-Gaylani
is the 18th direct descendant
of Shaykh Abdul Qadir Al-Gaylani
and 33rd direct descendant
of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w



Majlis Mawlidur Rasul

& Haul of Shaykh Abdul Qadir Al-Gaylani 

9 April 2011 (Saturday)

5 pm - 9 pm

Masjid Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin

Putrajaya

Malaysia

Masjid Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin

Sollu alan Nabi!

Madad Al-Haddad

Bismillah.

Imagine if he's here in our times, if there's someone like him, a guide, a learned, a gnostic, a loving father figure, there will be fewer restless souls InshaAllah. We would not have ended at the wrong places ever so often. We would not have fallen so many times, the walk might not have been as lonely or treacherous. It would have been very clear where to head and on whose door to knock. Allahu Allah. But you left us more than 300 years ago.

Madad Al-Haddad! If you were here, we ask for your spiritual secret of blessings and assistance, madad. We can only imagine what it would have been like to pay you a visit, to submit ourselves to you  because we know we would be in the best of hands.

Oh how we envy those who had sat before you, knowing that:

'The madad of the imam carried his disciples on their ascend despite the weakness in their souls. He protected them from their own imperfections, humored them, and maintained his solicitude for them despite their sometimes straying off the path, which led to a setback corresponding in magnitude to their devotion. "Some of our companions may suffer a halt, " he said, "but they mostly end up returning to the straight path." And he also said, "Those whom we come to know, we abandon neither to shame nor to the flame." He strove to correct even relatively minor dismeanors...'

Look at us now Oh Imam Al-Haddad. We have got the ugliest of misdemeanors. We are in such a sorry state. We are so needy of a true guiding light. We are not exactly sure where we are and we need help. Madad Al-Haddad! We know you are with us, what is 300 years of separation, we don't care. We are calling on you, here and now, help us while we wait for Al-Mahdi none other. At least we know we could look back and there you are. And we could look ahead and there he will be - one who will not abandon us, not to shame, not to the flame. Bi-iznillah.

Credit: Fons Vitae 

Shahadah on Perak Gold Dinar

Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah washukrulillah. Mabruk to the state government of Perak for the historic launch of the state's Gold Dinar & Silver Dirham on 28 February 2011.

We also wish to personally congratulate our friend Prof Dr Ahamed Kameel for being an instrumental figure behind this achievement. This is a fact acknowledged by the head of the state government, Datuk Seri Dr Zambry. We are blessed to know a brave and dedicated dinarist like Prof Kameel. We have seen how hard he has been striving to promote gold dinar and we have every reason to believe that he is strongly driven by the hadith of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w that:

"A time is certainly coming over mankind in which there will be nothing (left) that will be of use (or benefit) save a Dinar and a Dirham." - From Imam Ahmad ibn Hambal

We pray Allah will make us firm believers and followers of Rasulullah s.a.w and take heed of his prophecies. We pray for heavenly support for the triumph of Islam. Bi-iznillah.

Victory is with Allah!

The classical design minted by Caliph Abd al-Malik Ibn Marwan
is replicated on the reverse of the newly launched Perak Gold Dinar,
1,357 lunar years since the
well educated and celebrated Caliph Abd al-Malik (646-705 CE)
decided to engrave the shahadah on Islamic dinar
replacing the Roman and Persian inscriptions.

The crest of the state of Perak
on obverse of the Perak Silver Dirham & Gold Dinar.
The state government has written history not just for itself
but also the Muslim world.



Prof Dr Ahamed Kameel, Maher Zain
and Perak Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Zambry
at the launching of Perak Gold Dinar & Silver Dirham
on 28 February 2011.
Maher Zain was one of the first five persons
to have in their possession the Perak Gold Dinar.

Al-Jilani on sincerity and deeds

Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah, we keep turning to Ghawth al-Azam who said in Malfuzat "If you wish for success [falah] you must stick close to me. When you see a person running away from me, you must know that he is a hypocrite."

Alhamdulillah, we learned from the honorable Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani this morning an analogy that explains the relationship between one's sincerity (ikhlas) and deeds (amal). We have always thought of these two as being con-current like one should be sincere while performing deeds. Then we read this profound explanation from Malfuzat:
"Sincerity [ikhlas] is the believer's plot of land, while his deeds [a'mal] are its surrounding walls. The walls are subject to alteration and change, but not so the ground. Only upon dutiful devotion [taqwa] can a building be firmly based."

Indeed, we remembered one of our guides saying about amal not being firm in quality, that it may not always be good, let alone perfect, while the niyyah (intention) may be better due to one's sincerity in making the intention in the first place. As what Al-Jilani had said above, the ground of sincerity is not subject to change as much as the building blocks of one's actions. He also said that the structures of our actions should be built on the foundations of taqwa  (dutiful devotion) towards Allah. I think as long as we keep devoting our efforts, we keep being dedicated and we keep moving forward to deliver what is required of us (with fear and hope for Allah), we will eventually build a strong fortress surrounding the courtyard of sincerity, bi-iznillah.

If we may also relate to one quote by Conrad Hilton which we quote from Jack Canfield: "Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes but they don't quit."

There is a story of one man who was in the audience of Al-Jilani to whom the shaykh had scolded. Al Jilani said: "You say you would travel for a thousand years just to hear one word from me? But why, when the distance between me and you is only a few steps? You are lazy. You are a little ignoramus, a silly little fool. You think you have something to give. How many like you in this world has fattened and then devoured! It made them plump with fame and fortune, then ate them up. If we had seen any good in it, you would not have beaten us to it. Do not all things come home to Allah? (Quran 42:53). As for what we are involved in, it all comes from Allah (Exalted is He).'

When the Shaikh had stepped down from the lectern, one of his pupils [talamidha] said to him: "You were quite extreme in your admonition, and you spoke to him very harshly!" But the Shaikh replied: "If my words have had any effect upon him, he will surely come back for more."

(The man did in fact attend the meeting [majlis] regularly from then on. He would also visit the Shaikh at other times, outside the formal session, and always behaved with the utmost humility and modesty in his presence. May Allah the Exalted bestow His mercy upon him.)

O Allah [grant us] patience and pardon! O Allah, help us!"

Reference: www.al-baz.com
Pic: Courtyard at Masjid Umayyad, Damascus

Remembering Shaykh Ahmad al-Alawi

Bismillah.

We recalled the first time we learned about Lisan al-Din being one of the two publications founded by Shaykh Ahmad al-Alawi (1869 - 1934) and how deeply attracted we were to its name that we immediately decided to revive the name virtually despite knowing that we could never do justice to the honor and authority of its original publisher. Furthermore, we had initiated this even though we do not belong with the Ad-Darqawiya Alawiya tariqa (wallahu a'lam). We apologize to Shaykh al-Alawi's mureed and muqaddim if we have in any way shown lack of adab. We simply love and respect all mashaikh past and present no matter which tariqa they belong to.

Alhamdulillah, we are approaching our second anniversary InshaAllah. We seek the barakah of Shaykh Ahmad al-Alawi as we strive to be istiqamah in our learning, our practices and sharing, especially in times like these when we are weak and in need of support.

In order to remind ourselves of our original intention, vision and mission, we would like to borrow some of these great photos from http://www.tasawuf.info/ - a sacred space dedicated to the spiritual teaching, the path and the legacy of Sidi Shaykh Ahmad ibn Mustafa al-Alawi.

The mausoleum/Dharih of Shaykh Ahmad al-Alawi

Shaykh Ahmad al-Alawi mosque next to his zawiya in Mostaghanem

Outside view of the zawiya at Mostaghanem

Mihrab of zawiya

We sincerely pray Allah will one day invite us to Mostaghanem, Algeria to visit these holy sites so we could pay our respect at the mausoleum and to establish a good relationship with the residents of the zawiya, InshaAllah. In the mean time, we humbly ask for their du'a.

Lastly, we pray so that Allah make our hearts incline towards those who love Him and His Beloved Prophet s.a.w; and those He loves of the awliya and solehin.

Beyond the face value

Bismillah.

O son, if we truly understood and accepted that everything is from God we would be equally satisfied and grateful if we had 1 dinar or 100 dinar. What makes a difference is the blessings in them.

We learned from Mawlana Jalaludin Rumi who said in his Fihi ma fihi (In it is what is in it):

"It is said that for one who knows, a danaq and a dinar or a lion and a cat are the same. If God gives His blessings one danaq will do what a thousand dinars can do and even more. If He withdraws His blessing from those thousand dinars, they will not be able to do what one danaq can...For those who realize that everything is from God, everything is the same."

So we should be grateful whether we have little or plenty if we could see with the eyes of the heart the 'hands' of the Giver who could actually grant more beyond the face value. Do not see what is given but see the Giver in whose hands lie endless richness. So that even he who has none has Allah and is not Allah sufficient as our trustee?

Sufficient is Allah as my wakil.

Sufficient is Allah as my trustee. 

"Allah is sufficient for me. None has the right to be worshipped but He, in Him I put my trust and He is the Lord of the Mighty Throne." (Quran 9:129)

If I was blind

Bismillah.

There I was sitting comfortably at Tony Roma's, enjoying the beautiful lights of KLCC, the ears soothed by the water features next to our table, thinking mashaAllah how sumptuous the food. The fried mushroom reminded me of those I had at 'Red Lobster' California 20 years ago. They tasted as good mashaAllah, how could He let me have a surreal repeated experience. How generous! The beef ribs were beyond delicious. Oh, the rosemary chicken, oh even the brocolli and the pasta, mashaAllah it was like a merriment of taste buds.

But then came two ladies. One of them looked like she was in her mid-20s, pretty and well dressed.  They seemed unfazed by the surroundings as they stepped into the al fresco dining area. Clinging tightly onto her arm was a woman who looked mature enough to be her mother. This lady was blind. They stopped at the table in front of ours trying to sell a pocket of tissue but sadly none of the three gentlemen responded.

The two ladies then hurriedly moved away and walked towards our table...

After they had left, I was left with mixed feelings which ironically 'tasted' better than anything I had just eaten. I tasted gratitude, sadness, guilt, humility all in one taste of  nearness to Allah. Subhanallah.

If I was blind, if I were in their shoes, oh my legs would have felt very tired walking from one table to another, hopping from one restaurant to another, crossing the busy street, I would have felt a little sleepy and most probably hungry. Yet those two ladies didn't appear tired or hopeless.

After they had left, I was left with one question. What if I was blind? If I had been blind, I would not have gone to universities, I would not be able to blog, I would not be in a position to do things that could make my parents proud. If I was blind...Allahu Allah...

If the blind lady could be me for one day, what would she be doing? She would definitely do and achieve more than I. She would surely be more grateful than I, one simple meal would be enough for her. She would be more generous than I, she would offer more to the blind than what I had given her.

Astaghfirullah...May Allah forgive me. May Allah forgive us all. May Allah make us use our senses and limbs in the way that would please Him more.

Pic credit: Pakislam.com