The Beginning of Surrender - Part VII

Continued from:

www.flickr.com/photos/42093313@N00/52649553016/in/datepos...

 

They feel no Fear or Grief

 

“The one who was loved by Allah from the beginning, He makes them pure in the world from that which might distract him even for a single moment from His Being.

So indeed, the true lover does not abandon his beloved in any situation that might harm him.”

Ghaus Pak (ra)

 

أَلَآ إِنَّ أَوْلِيَآءَ ٱللَّهِ لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

 

Verily, the Friends of Allah, there will be no fear upon them and not they will grieve.

Surah Yunus, Verse 62

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Ala Inna auliya Allah e: Verily, the Friends of Allah, the Al Munkhala’eena, the ones who are detached from the demands of being human in total, Al Munsalekheena, the one who are far from the requirements of desires of their selves in totality...

 

La khauf-un alayhim wa la hum yahzanoon: there is no fear upon them nor do they feel grief because fear and sadness, they only come from the effects of the tabyat, (the secondary nature that is acquired from outside), and the pursuit of that which fulfills it.

 

Fear is an escapable feeling for a human being. Sadness is another. The Quran mentions both emotions together and repeatedly. More in its absence than its presence. As in His Friends do not feel either. I pride myself on not being scared by much in the world. Back in the day, my anger propelled that assumed arrogance to its heights. But anger cannot be exhibited in front of everyone.

 

There were times my relationship with my father was so badly ruptured that we didn’t see each other for months. That usually happened at the heel of an unpleasant incident. When I did have to see him again after that hiatus, I would feel fear. It would be so intense that I would not be able to stop crying for days before.

 

I was never alone in that interim. I remember on one occasion in particular that my friend Asma was with me. She would comfort me all day, tell me it would be fine, that she wouldn’t leave me alone with him. But it wouldn’t matter. That wouldn’t stem my tears because I would be scared of what would happen. It’s not like I thought it would be loud or violent. It was just the unknown of how he would react and would I be able to bear it.

 

My mother was dead. My sister had passed. I was the eldest. Moving from being the middle child till 26 and onwards to the eldest was the worst. It was strange that fact. With my sister alive, even though her father was different from mine, I wasn’t the eldest in my family because both husbands had been absent. But for him, in his eyes, in some form I must have been the eldest. I was his first child. Playing out both roles exactly like they are stereotyped was a drama and a half.

 

Woe upon me! How I wish I had known him then. My Prophet (salutations and greetings upon the one called Ar Rauf, the most kind and affectionate by His Lord Allah Ar Rauf) that I belonged to, the reason behind the Creation of everything, who worried for me, who felt my pain, who prayed for my suffering, of any kind, to end.

 

An Nahl, Verse 125: “Then pointed Allah Subhanahu towards the perfecting of honouring His Beloved (peace be upon and his family) and the majesty of his rank and the discipline of his etiquette and completing his wisdom and Messengerhood and making for everyone his kindness and his mercy as the gathering of kindness for all and sufficient for all Creation because he is sent in totality as mercy, Rahma, and he is the seal of the Prophethood and Messengerhood and the completer of the matter of religion and its perfection because the reason behind making the religion and the descent of the Books of Revelation and sending the Messengers, it is only to manifest his rank and his station, which is the inviting to the Essence of Tauheed, Tauheed Az Zaati.”

 

No one cared for me more than he did or even the way he did. If I had only known him then, he would have said to me too like he said to his best friend when he once felt fear, “Allah is with us.”

 

For me it was one of the most extraordinary incidents related in the Quran. Of course it was in At Tauba!

 

إِلَّا تَنصُرُوهُ فَقَدۡ نَصَرَهُ ٱللَّهُ إِذۡ أَخۡرَجَهُ ٱلَّذِینَ كَفَرُوا۟ ثَانِیَ ٱثۡنَیۡنِ إِذۡ هُمَا فِی ٱلۡغَارِ إِذۡ یَقُولُ لِصَـٰحِبِهِۦ لَا تَحۡزَنۡ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَنَاۖ

فَأَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ سَكِینَتَهُۥ عَلَیۡهِ وَأَیَّدَهُۥ بِجُنُودࣲ لَّمۡ تَرَوۡهَا وَجَعَلَ كَلِمَةَ ٱلَّذِینَ كَفَرُوا۟ ٱلسُّفۡلَىٰۗ وَكَلِمَةُ ٱللَّهِ هِیَ ٱلۡعُلۡیَاۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَزِیزٌ حَكِیمٌ

 

If you didn’t help him, certainly, Allah helped him when drove him out those who disbelieved, the second (of) the two, when they both (were) in the cave, when he said to his companion,

"Do not grieve, indeed, Allah (is) with us."

Then sent down Allah His Tranquility upon him, and supported him with forces which you did not see, and made (the) word (of) those who disbelieved the lowest, while (the) Word (of) Allah it (is) the highest.

 

And Allah (is) All-Mighty, All-Wise.

 

Surah At Tauba, Verse 40

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Illa tansuruhu: If you didn’t help him i.e. his Prophet, (Nabi Kareem (peace and salutations upon him and his family by his Lord who loves him)), the one who was helped from Him…

 

Faqad nasarahullahu: then certainly help came from Allah, Ar Raqeeb, The Only One who watches over him. Remember the Help of Allah, O Beloved (peace and salutations upon him and his family by his Lord who loves him), at that time…

 

Id akhrajahu alladina kafaru: when he was driven out by those who denied the truth i.e. the people of Mecca from Mecca whilst he was…

 

Thani Ithnayn: the second of the two i.e. there was no one with him except one man and he was Hazrat Abu Bakr (ratu) so they went towards the mountain and entered the cave and the enemy, they followed the tracks of their traces and reached that cave…

 

Id huma: when they were, hiding…

 

Fil ghar: in the cave so his companion, Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (ratu) became distraught from being found out by the enemy, remember…

 

Id yaqoolu: when he was saying (salutations and greetings upon him and his family by His Exalted Lord) in that situation…

 

Li sahibi-hi la tahzan: to his companion, “Do not grieve on their knowing (about us) and do not despair of Allah’s Help and His Guardianship.

 

Inallaha: Indeed, Allah Ar Raqeeb, The One who is the Watcher, upon us, present (as a Companion)…

 

Ma’ana: is with us, He is Sufficient for us in help from their harm…

 

Fa anzala Allahu: so He desended, Allah Subhanahu, just as he spoke his words, Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon you and your family by His Own Self)…

 

Sakeenatahu: His Serenity i.e. His Contentment and His Calmness…

 

Alayhi: upon him i.e. his companion…

 

Wa ayyadahu bi junood-in: and strengthened him with such armies i.e. the angels, safeguarding and fortressing (them), as guards for him…

 

Lam taroha: you cannot see with your eyes, such is that army.

Wa ja’ala: and He made, Subhanahu, by His Help and His strengthening, for Nabi Pak (salutations and greetings upon him and his family eternally)…

 

Kalimata alladeena kafaru: the word of the one who disbelieves i.e. that which they claimed and argued with him, the word they wanted to make their tradition…

 

As sufla: the lowest i.e. the lowermost in descent. It is not important and it is not paid attention to at all.

 

Wa kalimatullah: And the Word of Allah i.e. the Word of His Tauheed, One-ness, which He made appear through His Beloved (salutations and greetings upon him and his family by the angels and their Creator)…

 

Hiya al-uliya: this is the uppermost, most exalted because Al Haqq is Exalted and no one else is exalted over Him...

 

Wallahu: And Allah is Al Qadir, The Dominant, Al Muqtadir, The Only One with Authority, upon whatsoever He wills…

 

Aziz-un: The One with all Power, Ghalib, The Only One who prevails in the helping of His Friends upon their enemies…

Hakeem-un: The Most Wise in all His Actions and His Planning.

 

But I didn’t know it then. That if one believed Allah was with them at all times, all fear and all sadness was dispelled!

 

At the random opening of pages in the shrines, sometimes I had come across the same page again and again. Sometimes the same Surahs. Never did I come across Yaseen, except once. On that day as I read what my heart knew in words alone, I chose the verses from the famous story of the village where three Prophets were sent, only to be mocked and rejected by its residents.

 

One man in the village who had brought faith speaks to the others. His name was Habeeb. I translated a few verses of his call to the others and this verse in particular sparked my interest. What did it mean for the ordinary to be told to enter Heaven? What did it mean to be forgiven? Not promised it but in fact be forgiven? What did it mean to be made of the honored?

 

قِیلَ ٱدۡخُلِ ٱلۡجَنَّةَۖ قَالَ یَـٰلَیۡتَ قَوۡمِی یَعۡلَمُونَ

بِمَا غَفَرَ لِی رَبِّی وَجَعَلَنِی مِنَ ٱلۡمُكۡرَمِینَ

 

It was said, "Enter Paradise." He said, "I wish my people knew.

Of how has forgiven me my Lord and placed me among the honored ones."

Surah Yaseen, Verse 26-27

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

So when they heard from Habeeb his advice and his admonition, they decided to kill him and destroy him so they trampled him by feet to the extent that his intestines came out from his back and he was in that state, that the unveiling of His Lord increased.

 

And Allah took possession of him, The King of One-ness and the special Favour of Allah drew him towards Him and the Sanctity of His Generosity surrounded him, such that…

 

Qeela: it was said by Him from Al Haqq: Leave your nature and shed your egoistic self…

 

Udkhulil Jannah: Enter Paradise i.e. the Atmosphere of One-ness which has not in it hardship or illness and no pain and tiredness and leave it and shed it and enter instantly union. After that union towards what he became united with…

 

Qala: Habeeb said, hoping and feeling sad for them after he received the breezes of Divine Union…

 

Ya’layta qaumi ya’maloon: alas, I wish my people knew...

 

Bima ghafara-li: of how He has forgiven me and revealed upon me and pulled me towards Him after that He hid from me by my egoistic self and erased from me my nature…

 

Wa ja’alani minal mukrameen: and He made me of the honoured ones. The Mukrameen, honoured ones, of the Al Amineen, the ones in peace, Al Fa’izeen, the ones successful, Al Mustabshireen, the ones who are receiver of glad tidings which are, and Ghaus Pak (ra) pointed to the verse:

 

لَا خَوۡفٌ عَلَیۡهِمۡ وَلَا هُمۡ یَحۡزَنُونَ

There will be no fear upon then and not they will grieve.

Surah Yunus, Verse 62

 

Something of the extraordinary existed for the ordinary!

 

I had seen multiple instances of the appearance of the verse of no grief and no sadness with other verses. I was intrigued by the possibility. For the Friends of God it was easy. No aspect of their tabyat, secondary nature acquired in this world, ever prevailed over their fitrat, the original nature bestowed by Subhanahu. What about the rest of us whose tabyat ruled?

What appeared sequentially in the next verse (10/63) after La khaufan alayhim… for the Auliya was indeed a revelation. The secret was held in taqwa!

 

ٱلَّذِینَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَكَانُوا۟ یَتَّقُونَ

 

Those who believe and are conscious (of Allah),

Surah Yunus, Verse 63

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

And after that they detached from its fulfillment and freedom from its demands and they annihilated themselves in Allah’s Essence and they became what they became thereafter. There was nothing remaining in them which was the generator of (the feelings of) fear and unhappiness and peace and tranquility. That person then is not characterized by the example of these opposites and they are…

 

Alladina aamano: the ones who attained to faith in the beginning of their spiritual journey i.e. they were steadfast in the place of the Knowledge of Certainty.

 

Wa: And after they established their abode and were steadfast upon it…

 

Kanu yattaqoon: they were mindful of Allah and safeguarded themselves from the control of Power of Allah’s Attributes which create awe (Jalali) due to their occupation with the attraction of their desires and they were conscious of their bonds with the selection (of their choices).

 

There it was again. Allah’s Jalal, being fearful of Him. The “occupation with the attraction of desires and the selection of those choices.” Choices which most often never even took on any form of reality and almost always just remained fire and poison of possibilities!

 

It was up to the nafs to pick its path.

 

فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَىٰهَا

‏قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّىٰهَا ‎

‏وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّىٰها ‎

 

And He inspired it (to distinguish) its wickedness and its righteousness.

Indeed, he succeeds who purifies it,

And indeed, he fails who buries it (in darkness).

Surah Ash Shams, Verse 8-10

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Fa alhamaha fujuraha wa taqwaha: So He inspired it (the nafs) to both, wickedness and mindfulness, according to that which is placed in it from the forces of heavens as well as of the Earth.

 

Then He burdened it according to what it can bear so that

1.the one who is truthful can be differentiated from the one who is false and

2.the astray from the guided and

3.the denier of Truth from the believer, completing the wisdom, which is rooted in certainty, which reaches the Essence of Allah and which reflects the Dominance of His Power.

 

Qad aflaha man zakkaha: Indeed he was successful and prosperous due to the success He prospered from by receiving from Allah the highest ranks…

 

Man zakkaha: the one who cleansed his nafs from the vileness of the world and from the possibilities of the demands of its desires and its lusts.

 

Wa qad khaba: And he was in a loss and ruined himself…

 

Man dassaha: the one who prevented the nafs from reaching its higher level (from Ammara, corrupt to Mutma’inna, content) and made it wayward. He did this by persuading it to be disobedient and sinful, which was done due to the demands of its base nature, its lustful desires and the wickedness of the world. This persuasion is what makes it deserving of different kinds of losses and deprivation and humiliation.

 

Again possibilities! Again losses, deprivation, humiliation!

 

Subhanahu had defined Paradise for Habeeb as “the Atmosphere of One-ness which has not in it hardship or illness and no pain and tiredness” if he left his egoistic self and shed it. Then union was instant. Then there was no pain and sadness.

 

In my egoistic nafs, the root of pain and sadness was for two reasons. Lack of reliance and lack of gratitude. For every time I wasn’t grateful for a blessing, it was taken from me.

 

 

The Layering of Generosity

 

خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَلِهِمْ صَدَقَةًۭ تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَتُزَكِّيهِم بِهَا وَصَلِّ عَلَيْهِمْ ۖ

إِنَّ صَلَوٰتَكَ سَكَنٌۭ لَّهُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ

 

Take from their wealth a sadqa, charity, purifying them and cause them increase in it and bless them.

Indeed, your prayers are a comfort for them.

And Allah is The Hearer of All, The Knower of Everything.

Surah Tauba, Verse 103

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Khud: Accept, O Messenger who completes Messenger-hood (peace be upon you)…

 

Min amwalihim: from their possessions of those who are Al Mudnibeen, sinners and Al Tai’been, the repenters and Al Nadimeen the ones who are regretful, of that which has happened from them because of their going against you, when they asked for your permission that you leave this matter…

 

Sadqatan tuttahirruhum: (Accept) sadqa, the alms above what is obligated, so you purify them from the filth of their nature that they are crazy about, which is love of possessions and the greed of gathering them and increasing them…

 

Wa tuzzakihim biha: by which you cleanse their batin, inner beings, from distractions that hinder them from the taste of spirituality…

 

Wa salle alaihim: and pray for them and ask for their maghfirat, forgiveness for their sins, and pray for them the prayer of all goodness.

 

Inna salaataka: Indeed your prayer and your caring for their states…

 

Sakana al lahum: brings inner peace for their hearts and dignity and calmness and the means of their being steadfast and firmly footed in the Realm of Allah’s Tauheed, His One-ness and Imaan, faith.

 

Wallahu: And Allah, Al Muraqib, The One who watches over them in all their states is…

 

Samee-un: All Hearing of their sincerity and their secret conversations with him…

 

Aleem-un: All Knowing of their intentions and their needs.

After the story of Habeeb in Surah Yaseen, I came across the verse of “no fear no grief” in another instance. It was for the ordinary. It was a promise for the generous!

 

The requisites were two; they were sincere in their certainty that the wealth was never theirs to begin with and their manner, the akhlaq, of the spending. It could not ever hurt the feelings of the recipient.

 

‏ٱلَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَلَهُمْ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ثُمَّ لَا يُتْبِعُونَ مَآ أَنفَقُوا۟ مَنًّۭا وَلَآ أَذًۭى ۙ لَّهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ

وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ ‎

 

Those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah then they don’t follow what they spend with reminders of generosity and not hurt (the recipient) - for them their reward (is) with their Lord, and (there will be) no fear on them and not they will grieve.

Surah Al Baqarah, Verse 263

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

And give them glad tidings, O Akmal Ar Rusul, O Messenger who completes the Messengers (peace be upon you and your family)

 

Alladina yunfiqoona amwaalahum fi Sabeel illah: to those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah Subhanahu, Mu’taqaydeena, believing that they have been, indeed, given the Vice-regency of Allah in wealth, (knowing) they are not actually the possessors of it…

 

Summa la yutmi’oona maa anfaqu manna-oun wa la adan: then don’t follow up the spending with reminders of their kindness and not hurting them (the recipients) because it is their faith that they are Allah’s Khalifas and His Successors…

Lahum ajrun aynda Rabbihim: for them is a reward with their Lord, The One who chose them as a Vice-regent, of which no one from His Creation comprehends how much exactly that (reward) will be and of what type.

 

Wa: After that they spent in the way mentioned (above)…

 

La khaufan alayhim: there will be no fear upon them of accountability or the punishment of the Hereafter…

 

Wa la hum yahzanoon: and nor will they grieve of the missing of the reward. Indeed, for them with their Lord is that reward such that no eye has seen and no ear has heard and no heart of a human being has any inkling of it.

 

This verse in Al Baqarah was the reason it was believed that the generous would be forgiven anything and everything in the Afterlife. “There was fear of accountability upon them” on that Day.

 

If done right, again dictated by manner, Allah Subhanahu, Al Mughni, would consider it a loan. Again it was for a sadqa, after the giving of obligatory Zakat.

 

وَأَقْرِضُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًۭا ۚ‎

 

An lend Allah a good loan

Surah Al Muzzammil, Verse 20

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wa: And after the giving of Zakat, charity which is obligated…

 

Aqridu Allaha: give Allah a loan, who is Al Qadir, All Powerful, Al Muqtadir, The Omnipotent, upon the giving of different kinds of blessings and favours because He counts the additional charity and different types of giving like the construction of mosques and inns for travelers and apart from this, whatever is related to that which benefits the Muslims which is only related to spending of wealth…

 

Qardan hasana: a good loan, without mixing in it reminders of your generosity or causing them pain (while giving it or after) and telling others about it and showing off and feeling proud and such kinds of wishes.

 

Becoming generous, though, seemed to be the greatest challenge for the nafs. I had seen people give up alcohol even though there were long phases in their life that they were dependent on it. I saw them give up zina, adultery, even though it had become second nature. I saw them give up all overt sins and never return to them.

 

But they could not make themselves generous!

 

The word kufr, appeared in the Quran as much, if not more, in the context of the ungrateful. The one who was the denier of The Bestower of the blessings. Even though gratitude was most easily expressed in generosity. Everything else required time and effort, scarce commodities for even loved ones.

It had nothing to do with wealth. That’s why the poor were the most generous. They gave of what they needed. Anything I ever gave, no matter what it was, never impacted my life. What I did, how I did it. It made no different to my life style. I cut back on things late in life. But only after I got tired of them because I had my fill.

 

The one who gave of what they needed for themselves, they, however, were in a category of the people for whom verses were revealed; the Ahl e Beit being the most honoured of them all!

 

وَیُطۡعِمُونَ ٱلطَّعَامَ عَلَىٰ حُبِّهِۦ مِسۡكِینࣰا وَیَتِیمࣰا وَأَسِیرًا

إِنَّمَا نُطۡعِمُكُمۡ لِوَجۡهِ ٱللَّهِ لَا نُرِیدُ مِنكُمۡ جَزَاۤءࣰ وَلَا شُكُورًا

 

And they feed the food in spite of their desire for it, to the needy, and the orphan and the captive,

(saying in their hearts)

"We only feed you for the sake (of) Allah. We desire no reward from you and no thanks.”

Surah Al Insan, Verse 8-9

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wa: And by the extreme drowning of their deep occupation with the seeing of His Honourable Essence…

 

Yuti’moona at’ta’ama: they give their own food i.e. the rizq, sustenance, superficial and spiritual, which is being given from Subhanahu for strength and to sustain, and in heartily welcoming and honouring…

 

Ala hubbihi: in deep love of Allah, desiring His Pleasure…

 

Miskeena: to the poor, he lives in poverty which has distressed from to asking for help and for a need…

 

Wa yateeman: and the orphan for whom has come weakness and it has made him obliged towards insufficiency…

 

Wa aseeran: and the prisoner, whose being brought down to his knees has made him submissive and disgraced and has made him needful of being taken care of and mercy upon him.

Ghaus Pak’s (ra) definitions of the there in need, the miskeen, the yateem, the aseer were spell-binding. Each expression was the epitome of sensitivity and softness.

 

The incident as narrated by Hazrat Ibn e Abbas (ratu) from the Tasfeer e Jilani:

 

Indeed, Imam Hassan (as) and Hussain (as) (Allah’s Prayers and Salutations upon their grandfather and their parents and them) became sick from an terrible sickness so Rasool Allah (peace and salutations upon him by His Lord) came to call upon them with his companions.

 

So they said, “Ya Abal Hassan (as)! If you keep a mannat, (a promise to Subhanahu that if so and so happens, I will do so and so) for the health of your children,” hence Imam Ali and Bibi Fatima (salutations and prayers upon them and Nabi Kareem and their sons) made the promise, as well as Fidda, the servant of Bibi Fatima (as) to fast for three days if they become well. Then they became healthy and they fasted and they had nothing with them so Imam Ali (as) took a loan from Shamoon Al Khaibri of three cups of barley.

 

Hazrat Bibi Fatima (as) kneaded the barley and made bread, five as per the count of their family, so they took them in their hands so they could break the fast. Then came to the door a maskeen, a poor person, so they gave him the bread and preferred him over themselves and spent the night tasting nothing except water and they remained in a state of fasting.

 

So this continued and came upon them a yateem, an orphan, so they preferred him as they did (before) and they fasted again and did the third day what they did before. So came an aseer, a prisoner, so they gave him (the bread) and spent the night without food.

 

Then descended Gibrael (as) with this verse and he said, “This is from Allah for your Ahl e Bait, (members of your household), Ya Nabi Allah, O Prophet of God (salutations and greetings upon you from Him constantly). Then they hid this amongst themselves and they prayed after they performed such a virtuous act, desiring Allah’s Pleasure and being steadfast upon His Religion and His obedience and in loving to meet him. Thus descended (the verse) about them according to what they intended:

 

Innama nut’imukum: We did not give you to eat, O Al Muhtaajoon, those in need, except…

 

Li wajhillah: for the love of Allah Al Kareem, The Most Generous, desiring His Pleasure because…

 

La nureedu minkum jaza’an: we don’t want a reward from you for this exchange …

 

Wa la shakooran: and no thanks. We are not concerned with either doing a favour or receiving gratitude.

 

Subhan Allah!

 

It made me happy to read the verse just as it made me cry. My mother used to give to the poor what she needed. I used to resent it as a child. As a grown up I see how it was the most extraordinary of blessings to witness it. Her sigh of regret when someone on the road asked her for alms and she had no change. That sigh that I would learn later could be exchanged for “the best of life!” She would raise her hand to her head, like Jinnah Sahib, lowering it to express her heart-felt apology. And I would just stare at her…

 

Just as the Quran emphatically dispels the delusion of Man that in wealth lies honour and in poverty humiliation. For one reason; the insatiable love for money!

 

كَلَّاۖ

بَل لَّا تُكۡرِمُونَ ٱلۡیَتِیمَ

وَلَا تَحَـٰۤضُّونَ عَلَىٰ طَعَامِ ٱلۡمِسۡكِینِ

وَتَأۡكُلُونَ ٱلتُّرَاثَ أَكۡلࣰا لَّمࣰّا

وَتُحِبُّونَ ٱلۡمَالَ حُبࣰّا جَمࣰّا

 

Nay! But you do not honor the orphan.

And you don’t feel the urge to feed the poor.

And you consume heritances (of others) with devouring greed.

And you love wealth with boundless love.

Surah Al Fajr, Verse 17-20

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Then said Subhanahu:

 

Kalla: Nay, denying what Man thinks about this belief of his that honour is in ease and abundance and humiliation is in lack of something and poverty…

 

Bal: instead, honour is with spending and with feeding the poor of Allah, desiring His Pleasure, and you, who consider yourselves rich…

 

La tukrimoona al yateem: you do not honour the orphan and you do not look for him to feed him and to clothe him.

 

Wa la tahaa’addoona: And you do not inspire each other i.e. you do not urge others…

 

Ala ta’amil miskeen: upon feeding the needy and doing it continuously.

 

Wa: And you, those who consider yourselves rich…

 

Ta’kaloona at turaath: you devour the inheritance i.e. especially the inheritance of orphans…

 

Akalan lamma: with devouring greed i.e. eating it upon the way of gathering your share and their share such that you take and become the caretaker of their wealth so that you can become the guardians of their wealth and you promote that to gain more of them and you eat from it and from their accounts forever.

 

Wa: And this is because you all…

 

Tuhibboona al maala hubban: love money with boundless love, a lot, with a greed intense and a hope extreme and you do not feed the needy and the destitute, fearful that it (your wealth) will decrease.

 

Peace of mind was only a consequence of gratitude. The first line of the Quran is a testament to that. A secret is unveiled. The only other guarantor of it was humility. Even harder and entirely elusive! If I ever wanted to know the state of a person’s heart, I could see it within a day of being around them. Sometimes just on the phone through their voice.

 

For as soon as one is unhappy, the first thing to go is generosity.

 

The day he declared his enemity towards Mankind, Shaitaan promised Subhanahu one thing that he knew would render him victor. The ordinary would never reach a state of la khaufun alayhim wa la yahzanoon, they feel no fear and upon them is no grief, because they would never be generous. Hence they would forever be sad.

 

وَلَا تَجِدُ أَكْثَرَهُمْ شَكِرِينَ ‎

And You will not find most of them grateful - Surah Al Araaf, Verse 17

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

La tajidu: You will not find, Ya Muizzu, O You who is The Bestower of Honour to everybody else in in humiliation and The One directing the astray to the Right Path…

 

Aksarahim Shakireen: most of them to be grateful when they will return towards, (they will be not be) the grateful ones, spending from what You bestowed them of blessings on what You commanded them not to do.

 

Except the few; the Mukhliseen!

 

Ghaus Pak (ra) had defined to the tee the layering behind that ingratitude. It was not about not spending on those who needed assistance. It was spending on that which was commanded against.

 

For those Mubazzirreen, the wasteful, were whom the Quran called the “brothers of Shaitaan.”

 

إِنَّ ٱلۡمُبَذِّرِینَ كَانُوۤا۟ إِخۡوَنَ ٱلشَّیَـٰطِینِۖ

وَكَانَ ٱلشَّیۡطَـٰنُ لِرَبِّهِۦ كَفُورࣰا

 

Indeed, the squanderers are brothers of the devils.

And Shaitaan is to his Lord ungrateful.

Surah Al Isra, Verse 27

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Then said Subhanahu:

 

Innal mubazzireena: Indeed, the spendthrifts, the ones who spend of their wealth to show off and to like being spoken of by others or tell them personally…

 

Kanu ikhwana ash shayateen: they are the brothers of the Shaitaan i.e. they are similar to them and followers of them in the spending of possessions bestowed by Allah towards on the things which it should not have been spent and on those undeserving of spending it on and instead, they spend it on what has been forbidden and that which is disliked by the Shaiteen which are alluring them and placing them in delusions.

 

Wa kana ash Shaitaan: And Shaitaan is the one who misleads and the wayward one…

 

Li rabbihi kafoora: for His Lord ungrateful of Allah’s Blessings and he misleads his followers also.

 

Ghaus Pak (ra) would sometimes add the verse of la khaufan alayhim below his tafseer of other verses. It was how he indicated for me that the category could be entered. Another time I found it below for the faithful who were in that constant striving to reform themselves. They were rendered the state so desperately sought of the Saliheen.

 

The only category of believers that Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon him and his family) sends salam, salutations of peace upon, in the sala’t.

 

Perhaps that is why the deeds that cause self-correction are “branches and necessities of faith.”

 

وَٱلَّذِینَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ لَنُدۡخِلَنَّهُمۡ فِی ٱلصَّـٰلِحِینَ

 

And those who believe and do righteous deeds We will surely admit them among the righteous.

Surah Al Ankaboot, Verse 9

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Walladina aamano: And those who attained to faith from them in the Abode of Testing, (this world), while they are sincere…

 

Wa amilo salihaat: and they do good deeds to complete their faith and to perfect it because doing good deeds are imaan, faith’s, necessities and its branches…

 

Lanudkhilannahum: surely We enter them when the will return towards Us…

 

Fi: in the group of the fortunate ones…

 

As Saliheen: Al Maqboleen, the accepted ones, Al Amineen, the ones who are given peace, Al Mustabshireen, the ones who received glad tidings.

 

Then the verse appeared below:

 

لَا خَوۡفٌ عَلَیۡهِمۡ وَلَا هُمۡ یَحۡزَنُونَ

 

There will be no fear upon then and not they will grieve.

Surah Yunus, Verse 62

 

It made sense why Shaitaan had pledged we would not be grateful. Not that we would not be worshipping and fasting and running off to pilgrimages several times a year. He could intrude and corrupt all of that. Most of the time worship was imbued in distraction, in entire disconnect with the heart anyway.

 

On top of that ugliness of manner, unawareness around behaviour, carelessness in approach was making all that “worship” only harden hearts. All one had to do to reverse that sadness was to be generous. Not even like the blessed Imam (as) and his beloved family who gave what they needed.

 

But perhaps gratitude and generosity were also difficult because deeds were inherently governed by akhlaq, manner, morality, behaviour. Goodness ultimately was a function of character.

 

 

Akhlaq and Imam Ghazali

 

وَعَنْهُ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ كَانَ يَقُولُ:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الشِّقَاقِ وَالنِّفَاقِ وَسُوءِ الْأَخْلَاقِ

 

Said the Messenger of Allah (salutations and greetings upon him by his Lord),

O my Lord,

I seek refuge from You from hypocricy and the worst of manners.

 

Again it was through Ahmed Javaid Sahib that I heard another reason I ended up in the belly of the whale again and again. I was drawn to the title, “An advice,” (www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O2y9YgJ16E&t=2964s)

 

It unveiled to me the greatest reason for a human being’s stuckness, regression and failure on a spiritual journey.

 

In a nut-shell he said that all humans are a composite of weaknesses and shortcomings. They could be intellectual or otherwise but that was ok. We tried to address them, we acknowledged them, we were sincere in wanting them to disappear from us. Often we were also successful in weakening them but getting rid of them entirely was unlikely.

 

The lack of success, the failure of the effort, was not necessarily a bad thing. The reason that leeway was allowed was that such weaknesses did not influence one’s relationship with God to the extent that they could create intense despair and hopelessness in regard to Him. Or that they would create a doubt for us in our worship and our level of faith, whatever it is. They posed a problem but to a lesser degree.

 

Then came the kicker!

 

“There is one weakness though, one shortcoming, that can challenge the entire idea and expression of bandagi, being a Servant of Allah, of worship, that can make it entirely meaningless and can prove that it is nothing but false.”

 

Obviously he had me holding my breath.

 

“And that weakness is of akhlaq, behaviour, character, morality. The person who does not, in a state of urgency, keep an eye on the shortcomings of their manners and character, that person should, at the very least, take themselves out of the delusion that they are a Servant of God. This element is what requires supreme focus.”

 

Yikes, I thought. What was he saying? If a person’s behaviour was ugly, they were not even in the category of being a worshipper?

 

“One should have acute awareness of their akhlaqi, behavioural, shortcomings and be vigilant that if they cannot be erased, then they must at least not come in to deed. Because the misfortunate one, the who allows the nafs, who grants their ego those opportunities, thinking nothing of them, to play out those shortcomings in deeds, is, at all times in reality, willing and ready to abandon their relationship with God.”

 

It was in fact much worse than not being a worshipper. It meant that every time my behaviour was insensitive to another, I was in a disconnected state with Subhanahu. But it was the warning that there was a willingness on my part to be in that state which disturbed me the most.

 

“If such shortcomings remain unnoticed or unchecked, then even the Name, Allah, becomes burdensome to hear. Then the sala’t, obligatory prayer, will become a source of increasing wickedness not checking it. Recitation will cause a growing of wrongdoing instead of curbing it.”

 

The lines floored me. It was me, that person who was praying and reading the Quran and “refusing to be guided.” That was why the verses of Shaitaan were appearing in every opening of the Book in Damascus. The shortcomings of akhlaq were many; stubborn-ness was foremost. Beauty was appearing ugly and ugliness was looking beautiful to my nafs.

 

“A person with a weak intellect can be close to Allah. A person who is not able to discern between beauty and ugliness can become His Friend. But a person whose manners are ugly, who is uninterested in being aware of their effect on others, will only face the consequence of being harshly rejected by Him.

 

Playing roles, wearing masks, carrying on a façade for a long period of time creates pressure on the nafs. That is what creates hopelessness and depression. That is what creates paranoia. As soon as the balance of the nafs is disturbed, please be alerted that you are in some sort of akhlaqi disease of in your character. Treat it and everything will be fine.”

 

Being truthful in your relationship with Allah is a channel of joy and peace of mind that is unfathomable. Whatever else my circumstance, if my heart is soaked in love for Him, nothing else is of consequence in terms of my happiness. I will never feel depression, whatever else my shortcomings, because I am bathing in the Fountain of Contentment.”

 

I loved that he gave the solution as he described the dilemma. If the emotional state was unhappy, angry, jittery, held in it fear and sadness, the root was behavioral. Identify that root, he was saying and you would be in the clear.

 

In another lecture of his that I decided to hear, only because I knew nothing about Imam Ghazali, expanded on why akhlaq was the essential element for a human being’s spiritual evolution. (www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiXVMVqNRBM)

 

“At only 22 Imam Ghazali (ra) was appointed the Dean of the most important educational institute of its era, the Madrassa e Nizamiyya in Baghdad. This was a tremendous feat for a young man that age because it was a time when 200 plus scholars deservedly held the title of Imam before their names.

Upon his joining Imam Ghazli (ra) realized something which forms the foundation of the Sunnat e Anbiya, the practice of the Prophets i.e. to not be satisfied with a given situation. Only the inheritors of Nabi Pak (as) have this attribute in commonality.

 

At the height of his worldly achievement, the young Imam realized that the reality of the faith has been left outside of the study of the religion. Therefore the teaching of the religion had become false. So he left the Madrassa and went to the blessed grave of Syedna Ibrahim (as). There he pledged that he would not use the faith for any worldly reason ever. After that he went to a village and taught children the Quran.

 

Two years later, at the age of 24, he returned again to Baghdad with this principal goal: ‘My shaoor, my state of consciousness, should be not of the intellect and the mind, but of my presence and being.’

 

Why?

 

‘Because,’ he said, ‘the fulfillment of the rights of Allah cannot ever be through the mind but only by way of excellence of one’s akhlaq, behaviour, morality, character.’

 

Javaid Sahib then expounded on the Imam’s thought exactly, emphasizing emphatically that the concept was so alien for the time that he, Javaid Sahib, couldn’t stop wondering how it might have been received in that day by anyone expressing it, much less a 24 year old kid:

 

‘This is what the Imam declared: That because I had come to know that - Haqaiq ki banawat aqli nahi hai, akhlaqi hai – the construction of truth is not intellectual, it is behavioral, therefore I have made it compulsory upon myself that I will take my consciousness of the truth out of the prison of the mind and I will make it the jewel of my being.

 

Of my behavioural being. I will evaluate, reform and correct the essence of my being with this consciousness of the truth.’

He then became the first person to introduce the Khanqahi nizam in education thereby bringing the teachings of the Sufis into the mainstream. Within a span of two years he transformed and elevated the standards of education in that Madrassa to a point where all the needs of a religious education came to be met; the akhlaqi needs, of morality, the knowledge based needs, the spiritual needs.

 

The most extraordinary thing he introduced was that the condition for graduating from the institute was made to be on the basis of the character, the akhlaq, of the student and not their intellect.

 

So even if a child received 100 out of a 100 in all the examinations, they could not progress to the next class. Neither could they graduate based on their numerical performance. It would be a result of their occupation with their morality and behaviour.”

 

That meant someone like me would have to go back to Kindergarten!

 

I came across an incident of the teaching of that character in that Madrassa by chance. The Persian poet Sa'di who studied there recalls clearly his days:

 

“A fellow-student at Nizamiah displayed malevolence towards me, and I informed my tutor, saying: 'Whenever I give more proper answers than he, the envious fellow, becomes offended.’

 

The professor replied: ‘The envy of thy friend is not agreeable to thee, but I know not who told thee that back-biting was commendable. If he seek perdition through the path of envy, thou wilt join him by the path of slander.’”

 

Subhan Allah!

 

At any age, the student was directed back to his own self. Regardless of who was doing what. The child was being trained to focus on their own thought and what those “possibilities” held in them. They were being taught to reflect on their reaction and understand its connection with character. It was beyond amazing!

 

Javaid Sahib then ended: “To summarize the Imam’s (ra) outlook, a sentence was uttered by the young Dean which became inscribed outside the Madrassa, the translation of which is this.”

 

‘Amr ke ilm ko tarjeeh nahin di jaye gi aamir ke zauq par…knowledge of deed will not be given precedence over the gracefulness of manners and behaviour of the doer’

meaning: possession of knowledge of the Shari’a, Islamic Jurisprudence, would not be given preference and importance over one’s presence before The One who was the Owner and the Creator of those laws.

 

Hence the student who would deserve to graduate from Nizamiyya would only be the one who is in huzoor e Haqq i.e. at all times conscious of his own presence before his Lord God. The single evidence of that presence would be in the student’s akhlaq, character. It would not be subject to his thought and states.”

 

For myself who studied in all kinds of schools the idea was astonishing. Imam Ghazali (ra) was astonishing! Only at Oberlin did I witness an emphasis on the ethics of the student.

 

The examination system was on what was called “the honour code.” Professors left the class during the tests, sitting in their offices to take questions. Take home exams, open book or closed, the student was trusted to not cheat. That was pretty incredible.

 

While writing this I looked it up:

 

“At Oberlin, the Honor Code provides the foundation for the intellectual freedom that is encouraged and shared by all members of the academic community and embodies the belief that true academic freedom and discourse can only exist within a framework of honesty, integrity, and responsibility.”

 

Princeton is the only Ivy League with an honour code.

 

Javaid Sahib suggested that reading his autobiography al-Munqidh min al-dalal, (The Deliverer from Waywardness), was a must-read for anyone on the path of purifying the nafs. (ghazali.org/books/md/gz101.htm)

 

Was it any wonder that Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon his perfection and that of his family) said about himself: I was sent to perfect excellence of manners.

The Quran attests to the same in the most ma’roof, well known, verse:

 

‏وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍۢ ‎

 

And truly you possess the most outstanding manners.

Surah Al Qalm, Verse 4

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Wa Innaka: Indeed you, O beloved (peace be upon you), who are the personification of the most perfected adoption of Allah’s Akhlaq, Etiquette and Attributes, and proved to be the most truthful and steadfast in fulfilling your friendship with Allah and in being the most exemplary Vice-regent,…

 

La’ala khuliqin azeem: possess the most excellent of manners. No one’s akhlaq, behavior, is better than yours because you have gathered and brought together the etiquettes of all the ones before and all the ones after, in line with the ranks you were granted, which are the most exalted (of anyone in existence).

 

Just like the words of The Beloved and his family (salutations and greetings upon them by their Lord who raised them with His Lutf, Affection and Karam, Mercy) perfected supplication and made it the jewel of the act of worship, it was the emulation of their behaviour that purified akhlaq, character.

 

Ghaus Pak (ra) described the steps that were required in the striving.

 

Al Fath Ar Rabbani: “The purification of ‘asraar,’ (the plural of sirr, that which is nourished by the Bounty of Allah), come from the absence of thoughts (which are doubts and paranoia).

 

The purification of the souls, arwah, comes from shedding thoughtlessness.

 

The purification of the quloob, (the station in the heart which is the Seat of Recognition of Allah), comes from giving up desires that are forbidden.

 

The purification of the aqool, the power to reflect, lies in the disappearance of ignorance.

 

The purification of the nafoos, the base self, is to abstain from ingratitude and the denial of truth.

 

And the purification of the physical self comes from the avoidance of sins.”

 

I had only come as far as becoming aware and regretful. That regret caused seeking of knowledge to emulate those blessed. There was the path of walking on rocks and thorns, one hand clasping the ego, the other whatever worldly object could be grabbed, slow and painful. Or there was the path of those who felt no fear or grief.

 

I noticed how purification as defined by my Master was all about what not to do; shedding, giving up, disappearance, abstinence, avoidance.

 

Continued on: www.flickr.com/photos/42093313@N00/52649555276/in/datepos...

 

Done