In this picture, a straight white line is drawn from Damascus to the Qadian to show that Qadian is situated exactly to the East of Damascus.

 

“The Holy Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has said that the Messiah will be raised in the East.” (Ibn Majah).

 

The Holy Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“The Mahdi will descend near a white minaret in the east of Damascus.” (Muslim).

 

Read about White Minaret here.

 

The second coming of Jesus is predicted in the Bible from the East:

“For as the lightening cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." (Matt. 24:27).

 

Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, the Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi Alaihsalam says in his book Kitabul Bariyya:

“And this too is laid down in as many words that the Promised Messiah will appear to the East of Damascus. And is not Qadian in fact to the East of Damascus?”

Detail of Islamic architectural decoration from the Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan. It was built in 1634 during the rule of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, a period acknowledged as the golden age of Mughal architecture in the subcontinent. It was during this period Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal in memory of his wife Mumtaz.

 

This detail is from the ceiling of the mosque. All the three elements of Islamic art are on display: geometric patterns, Arabic calligraphy, and vegetal/floral patterns. There are two types of Arabic writing styles shown and the central one is the Islamic declaration of faith about the oneness of God and the prophethood of Muhammad.

 

This was taken during my last holiday in Pakistan and brief visit to Lahore, which is a fantastic city in terms of history and art. For history I was with Prof. KK Aziz (I always stay with him in Lahore), one of Pakistan's top historians, and for art I had a session with Dr Ajaz Anwar, the Curator of the National College of Arts, Lahore, a great place to see contemporary artwork. Ajaz, an accomplished painter, is a great proponent for the preservation of old Lahore.

A short movie by Fanelli Photography

 

Filmed in "step one" mode, 459 shots made using Canon 40D with Canon 10mm objective plus one Canon 430ex flash @ 1/8 power with white umbrella.

Assembled in 1080p, 25 fps with Adobe Premiere.

 

Music by John Zorn, "Prophethood of Chaos" from "50th Birthday Celebration Volume 12"

 

An immense gratitude to my wife Paola who clicked the shutter button 459 times and helped me in the improvised storyboard.

Al-Isra

 

İsra Suresi

سورة الإسراء

    

(( وقل ربي ادخلني مدخل صدق واخرجني مخرج صدق واجعل لى من لدنك سلطانا نصيراً ))

 

Say: "O my Lord! Let my entry be by the Gate of Truth and Honour, and likewise my exit by the Gate of Truth and Honour; and grant me from Thy Presence an authority to aid (me)."

 

((واجعل لى لسان صدق في الآخرين ))

 

((وبشر الذين آمنوا ان لهم قدم صدق عند ربهم ))

 

((إن المتقين في جنات ونهر في مقعد صدق عند مليك مقتدر ))

 

تمر بنا من تفكر بها وسعى الى تحقيقها

  

قال الإمام ابن القيم (رحمه الله) فهذه خمسة أشياء: مُدخل الصدق، و مخرج الصدق، و لسان الصدق، و قدم الصدق، و مقعد الصدق، و حقيقة الصدق في هذه الاشياء هو الحق الثابت المتصل بالله الموصل إلى الله و هو ما كان به وله من الأقوال و الأعمال و جزاء ذلك في الدنيا و الآخرة فـ( مدخل الصدق، ومخرج الصدق) أن يكون دخوله وخروجه حقاً ثابتاً بالله وفي مرضاته بالظفر بالبغية وحصول المطلوب ضد مخرج الكذب ومدخله الذي لا غاية له يوصل إليها، ولا له ساق ثابتة يقوم عليها كمخرج أعدائه يوم بدر ومخرج الصدق كمخرجه هو وأصحابه في تلك الغزوة، وكذلك مدخله المدينة كان مدخل صدق بالله، ولله وابتغاء مرضاة الله فاتصل به التأييد والظفر والنصر وإدراك ما طلبه في الدنيا والآخرة بخلاف مدخل الكذب الذي رام أعداؤه أن يدخلوا به المدينة يوم الأحزاب فإنه لم يكن بالله، ولا لله بل كان محادة لله ورسوله؛ فلم يتصل به إلاّ الخذلان والبوار، وكذلك مدخل من دخل من اليهود المحاربين لرسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم حصن بني قريظة فإنه لما كان مدخل كذب أصابه معهم ما أصابهم فكل مدخل معهم، ومخرج كان بالله ولله وصاحبه ضامن على الله فهو مدخل صدق ومخرج صدق، وكان بعض السلف إذا خرج من داره رفع رأسه إلى السماء وقال: اللهم إني أعوذ بك أن أخرج مخرجاً لا أكون فيه ضامناً عليك يريد أن لا يكون المخرج مخرج صدق، ولذلك فسر مدخل الصدق ومخرجه بخروجه من مكة ودخوله المدينة، ولا ريب أن هذا على سبيل التمثيل فإن هذا المدخل والمخرج من أجل مداخله ومخارجه وإلاّ فمداخله كلها مداخل صدق ومخارجه مخارج صدق إذ هي لله وبالله وبأمره ولابتغاء مرضاته وما خرج أحد من بيته ودخل سوقه أو مدخلاً آخر إلا بصدق أو بكذب فمخرج كل واحد ومدخله لا يعدو الصدق والكذب .

    

مدارج السالكين لابن القيم

2-270

[ ص: 111 ] ( وقل رب أدخلني مدخل صدق وأخرجني مخرج صدق واجعل لي من لدنك سلطانا نصيرا ( 80 ) وقل جاء الحق وزهق الباطل الباطل كان زهوقا إن ( 81 ) ) .

 

قال الإمام أحمد : حدثنا جرير ، عن قابوس بن أبي ظبيان ، عن أبيه ، عن ابن عباس قال : كان النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم بمكة ثم أمر بالهجرة ، فأنزل الله : ( وقل رب أدخلني مدخل صدق وأخرجني مخرج صدق واجعل لي من لدنك سلطانا نصيرا ) .

 

وقال الحسن البصري في تفسير هذه الآية : إن كفار أهل مكة لما ائتمروا برسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ليقتلوه أو يطردوه أو يوثقوه ، وأراد الله قتال أهل مكة ، فأمره أن يخرج إلى المدينة ، فهو الذي قال الله عز وجل : : ( وقل رب أدخلني مدخل صدق وأخرجني مخرج صدق )

 

وقال قتادة : ( وقل رب أدخلني مدخل صدق ) يعني المدينة ( وأخرجني مخرج صدق ) يعني مكة .

 

وكذا قال عبد الرحمن بن زيد بن أسلم . وهذا القول هو أشهر الأقوال .

 

وقال : العوفي عن ابن عباس : ( أدخلني مدخل صدق ) يعني الموت ( وأخرجني مخرج صدق ) يعني الحياة بعد الموت . وقيل غير ذلك من الأقوال . والأول أصح ، وهو اختيار ابن جرير .

 

وقوله : ( واجعل لي من لدنك سلطانا نصيرا ) قال الحسن البصري في تفسيرها : وعده ربه لينزعن ملك فارس ، وعز فارس ، وليجعلنه له ، وملك الروم ، وعز الروم ، وليجعلنه له .

 

وقال قتادة فيها إن نبي الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ، علم ألا طاقة له بهذا الأمر إلا بسلطان ، فسأل سلطانا نصيرا لكتاب الله ، ولحدود الله ، ولفرائض الله ، ولإقامة دين الله ؛ فإن السلطان رحمة من الله جعله بين أظهر عباده ، ولولا ذلك لأغار بعضهم على بعض ، فأكل شديدهم ضعيفهم .

 

قال مجاهد : ( سلطانا نصيرا ) حجة بينة .

 

واختار ابن جرير قول الحسن وقتادة ، وهو الأرجح ؛ لأنه لا بد مع الحق من قهر لمن عاداه وناوأه ؛ ولهذا قال [ سبحانه ] وتعالى : ( لقد أرسلنا رسلنا بالبينات وأنزلنا معهم الكتاب والميزان ليقوم الناس بالقسط وأنزلنا الحديد فيه بأس شديد ومنافع للناس وليعلم الله من ينصره ورسله بالغيب ) [ الحديد : 25 ] وفي الحديث : " إن الله ليزع بالسلطان ما لا يزع بالقرآن " أي : ليمنع بالسلطان عن ارتكاب الفواحش والآثام ، ما لا يمتنع كثير من الناس بالقرآن ، وما فيه من الوعيد الأكيد ، والتهديد الشديد ، وهذا هو الواقع .

 

وقوله : ( وقل جاء الحق وزهق الباطل إن الباطل كان زهوقا ) تهديد ووعيد لكفار قريش ؛ فإنه قد [ ص: 112 ] جاءهم من الله الحق الذي لا مرية فيه ولا قبل لهم به ، وهو ما بعثه الله به من القرآن والإيمان والعلم النافع . وزهق باطلهم ، أي اضمحل وهلك ، فإن الباطل لا ثبات له مع الحق ولا بقاء ( بل نقذف بالحق على الباطل فيدمغه فإذا هو زاهق ) [ الأنبياء : 18 ] .

 

وقال البخاري : حدثنا الحميدي ، حدثنا سفيان ، عن ابن أبي نجيح ، عن مجاهد ، عن أبي معمر ، عن عبد الله بن مسعود قال : دخل النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم مكة وحول البيت ستون وثلاثمائة نصب ، فجعل يطعنها بعود في يده ، ويقول : ( جاء الحق وزهق الباطل إن الباطل كان زهوقا ) ، جاء الحق وما يبدئ الباطل وما يعيد " .

 

وكذا رواه البخاري أيضا في غير هذا الموضع ، ومسلم ، والترمذي ، والنسائي ، كلهم من طرق عن سفيان بن عيينة به . [ وكذا رواه عبد الرزاق عن الثوري عن ابن أبي نجيح ] .

 

وكذا رواه الحافظ أبو يعلى : حدثنا زهير ، حدثنا شبابة ، حدثنا المغيرة ، حدثنا أبو الزبير ، عن جابر رضي الله عنه ، قال : دخلنا مع رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم مكة ، وحول البيت ثلاثمائة وستون صنما يعبدون من دون الله . فأمر بها رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فأكبت لوجهها ، وقال : " جاء الحق وزهق الباطل ، إن الباطل كان زهوقا " .

{ 78-81 } { أَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ إِلَى غَسَقِ اللَّيْلِ وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا * وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَتَهَجَّدْ بِهِ نَافِلَةً لَكَ عَسَى أَنْ يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا * وَقُلْ رَبِّ أَدْخِلْنِي مُدْخَلَ صِدْقٍ وَأَخْرِجْنِي مُخْرَجَ صِدْقٍ وَاجْعَلْ لِي مِنْ لَدُنْكَ سُلْطَانًا نَصِيرًا * وَقُلْ جَاءَ الْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الْبَاطِلُ إِنَّ الْبَاطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا }

يأمر تعالى نبيه محمدًا صلى الله عليه وسلم بإقامة الصلاة تامة، ظاهرًا وباطنًا، في أوقاتها. { لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ } أي: ميلانها إلى الأفق الغربي بعد الزوال، فيدخل في ذلك صلاة الظهر وصلاة العصر.

{ إِلَى غَسَقِ اللَّيْلِ } أي: ظلمته، فدخل في ذلك صلاة المغرب وصلاة العشاء. { وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ } أي: صلاة الفجر، وسميت قرآنا، لمشروعية إطالة القرآن فيها أطول من غيرها، ولفضل القراءة فيها حيث شهدها الله، وملائكة الليل وملائكة والنهار.

ففي هذه الآية، ذكر الأوقات الخمسة، للصلوات المكتوبات، وأن الصلوات الموقعة فيه فرائض لتخصيصها بالأمر.

وفيها: أن الوقت شرط لصحة الصلاة، وأنه سبب لوجوبها، لأن الله أمر بإقامتها لهذه الأوقات.

وأن الظهر والعصر يجمعان، والمغرب والعشاء كذلك، للعذر، لأن الله جمع وقتهما جميعًا.

وفيه: فضيلة صلاة الفجر، وفضيلة إطالة القراءة فيها، وأن القراءة فيها، ركن لأن العبادة إذا سميت ببعض أجزائها، دل على فرضية ذلك.

وقوله: { وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَتَهَجَّدْ بِهِ } أي: صل به في سائر أوقاته. { نَافِلَةً لَكَ } أي: لتكون صلاة الليل زيادة لك في علو القدر، ورفع الدرجات، بخلاف غيرك، فإنها تكون كفارة لسيئاته.

ويحتمل أن يكون المعنى: أن الصلوات الخمس فرض عليك وعلى المؤمنين، بخلاف صلاة الليل، فإنها فرض عليك بالخصوص، ولكرامتك على الله، أن جعل وظيفتك أكثر من غيرك، وليكثر ثوابك، وتنال بذلك المقام المحمود، وهو المقام الذي يحمده فيه الأولون والآخرون، مقام الشفاعة العظمى، حين يتشفع الخلائق بآدم، ثم بنوح، ثم إبراهيم، ثم موسى، ثم عيسى، وكلهم يعتذر ويتأخر عنها، حتى يستشفعوا بسيد ولد آدم، ليرحمهم الله من هول الموقف وكربه، فيشفع عند ربه فيشفعه، ويقيمه مقامًا يغبطه به الأولون والآخرون، وتكون له المنة على جميع الخلق.

وقوله: { وَقُلْ رَبِّ أَدْخِلْنِي مُدْخَلَ صِدْقٍ وَأَخْرِجْنِي مُخْرَجَ صِدْقٍ } أي: اجعل مداخلي ومخارجي كلها في طاعتك وعلى مرضاتك، وذلك لتضمنها الإخلاص وموافقتها الأمر.

{ وَاجْعَلْ لِي مِنْ لَدُنْكَ سُلْطَانًا نَصِيرًا } أي: حجة ظاهرة، وبرهانًا قاطعًا على جميع ما آتيه وما أذره.

وهذا أعلى حالة ينزلها الله العبد، أن تكون أحواله كلها خيرًا ومقربة له إلى ربه، وأن يكون له -على كل حالة من أحواله- دليلاً ظاهرًا، وذلك متضمن للعلم النافع، والعمل الصالح، للعلم بالمسائل والدلائل.

وقوله: { وَقُلْ جَاءَ الْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الْبَاطِلُ } والحق هو ما أوحاه الله إلى رسوله محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم، فأمره الله أن يقول ويعلن، قد جاء الحق الذي لا يقوم له شيء، وزهق الباطل أي: اضمحل وتلاشى.

{ إِنَّ الْبَاطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا } أي: هذا وصف الباطل، ولكنه قد يكون له صولة وروجان إذا لم يقابله الحق فعند مجيء الحق يضمحل الباطل، فلا يبقى له حراك.

ولهذا لا يروج الباطل إلا في الأزمان والأمكنه الخالية من العلم بآيات الله وبيناته.

 

THE HOLY QUR'AAN

 

17. Al.Israa سورة الإسراء

No of verses: 111 Revealed in Makkah

 

NAME:

This Surah takes its name (Bani Isra'il) from v. 4. But this name is merely a distinctive appellation like the names of many other surahs and not a descriptive title. It does not mean that "Bani Isra'il" is the theme of this Surah.

  

PERIOD OF REVELATION:

The very first verse indicates that this Surah was revealed on the occasion of Mi'raj (Ascension). According to the Traditions and books on the life of the Holy Pro-phet, this event happened one year before Hijrah. Thus, this Surah is one of those which were revealed in the last stage of Prophethood at Makkah.

  

BACKGROUND:

The Holy Prophet had been propagating Tauhid for the previous twelve years and his opponents had been doing all they could to make his Mission a failure. In spite of all their opposition, Islam had spread to every corner of Arabia and there was hardly any clan which had not been influenced by his invitation. In Makkah itself the true Believers had formed themselves into a small community and were ready and willing to face every danger to make Islam a success. Besides them, a very large number of the people of Aus and Khazraj (two influential clans of Al-Madinah) had accepted Islam. Thus the time had come for the Holy Prophet to emigrate from Makkah to Al-Madinah and there gather together the scattered Muslims and establish a state based on the principles of Islam.

 

These were the conditions when Mi'raj took place and on his return the Holy Prophet brought down the Message contained in this Surah.

  

THEME AND TOPICS:

This Surah is a wonderful combination of warning,. admonition and instruction, which have been blended together in a balanced proportion.

 

The disbelievers of Makkah had been admonished to take a lesson from the miserable end of the Israelites and other communities - and to mend their ways within the period of respite given by Allah, which was about to expire. They should, therefore, accept the invitation that was being extended by Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him) and the Qur'an; otherwise they shall be annihilated and replaced by other people. Incidentally, the Israelites, with whom Islam was going to come in direct contact in the near future at Al-Madinah have also been warned that they should learn a lesson from the chastisements that have already been inflicted on them. They were warned, "Take advantage of the Prophethood of Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him) because that is the last opportunity which is being given to you. If even now you behave as you have been behaving, you shall meet with a painful torment."

 

As regards the education of mankind, it has been impressed that human success or failure, gain or loss, depends upon the right understanding of Tauhid, life-after-death and Prophethood. Accordingly, convincing argu-ments have been put forward to prove that the Qur'an is the Book of Allah and its teachings are true and genuine; the doubts of the disbelievers about these basic realities have been removed and on suitable occasions they have been admonished and rebuked in regard to their ways of ignorance.

 

In this connection, those fundamental principles of morality and civilisation on which the Islamic System of life is meant to be established have been put forward. Thus this was a sort of the Manifesto of the intended Islamic State which had been proclaimed a year before its actual establishment. It has been explicitly stated that that was the sketch of the system on which Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him) intended to build human life first in his own country and then in the outside world.

 

Besides these, the Holy Prophet has been instructed to stick firmly to his stand without minding the opposition and difficulties which he was encountering. He should never think of making a compromise with unbelief. The Muslims who sometimes showed signs of impatience, when they met with persecution, calumny, and crooked argu-ments, have also been instructed to face adverse circumstances with patience and fortitude and keep full control over their feelings and passions. Moreover, Salaat was prescribed in order to reform and purify their souls, as if to say, "This is the thing which will produce in you those high qualities of character which are essential for everyone who intends to struggle in the righteous way". Incidentally, we learn from Traditions that Mi'raj was the first occasion on which the five daily Prayers were prescribed to be offered at fixed times.

 

Al-Isra

 

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Al-Isra

الإسراء Classification Makkan

Meaning of the name The Night Journey

Other names Bani Israel (Children of Israel)

Statistics

Sura number 17 106

Number of verses 111

Juz' number 15

Hizb number 29 to 30

Number of Sajdahs 1 (verse 109)

Previous Sura An-Nahl

Next Sura Al-Kahf

Listen to Surah Al - Israa

  

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Sura Al-Isra (Arabic: سورة الإسراء, Sūratu al-Isrā, "The Night Journey"), also called Sura Bani Isra'il (ie Children of Israel), is the 17th chapter of the Qur'an, with 111 verses.

 

Contents

1 Content

1.1 [Qur'an 17:26]

2 See also

3 External links

   

Content

 

This Surah takes its name from the first verse, which tells the story of the Isra and Mi'raj, the transportation of Muhammad during the night to what is referred to as "the farthest Mosque". The exact location is not specified, although in Islamic Hadith this is commonly taken to be the Noble Sanctuary (Temple Mount) in Jerusalem. Some scholars disagree about this (see Isra and Mi'raj). While the city of Jerusalem (or al Quds) is not mentioned by name anywhere in the Qur'an, it is identified in various Hadith.

 

This Meccan surah was revealed in the last year before the Hijra. Like all the Meccan surah it stresses the oneness of Allah, the authority of the prophets. However, the primary theme of the Surah is salah (daily prayers), whose number is said to have been fixed at five during the Miraj which it alludes to. In addition, the Surah forbids adultery, calls for respect for father and mother, and calls for patience and control in the face of the persecutions the Muslim community was facing at the time.

 

Ayat 71 contains a reference to the Qiyamah, the Day of Judgement.

  

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İsra Suresi

سورة الإسراء [[Resim:|175px|]]

 

Sınıfı : Mekki

İsmin Anlamı geceleyin yürütmek

Başka isimleri Beni İsrail Suresi

Sure numarası 17

Geliş Zamanı

İstatistikleri

Ayet Sayısı 111

Kelime Sayısı 1559

Harf Sayısı 6480

Konuya göre

ayet dağılımı

 

İsra Suresi, Kur'an'da bir sure.

 

111 ayetten oluşan sure ismini konu aldığı isra olayından almaktadır. 26, 32, 33 ve 57. ayetler ile 73-80. ayetler Medine döneminde, diğerleri Mekke döneminde inmiştir. Surenin diğer bir adı da "Beni İsrail Suresi"dir.

   

DUBOURG-NOVES, P. (1964). Guyenne Romane. Zodiaque - La Nuit des Temps 31.

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Habakkuk, who was active around 612 BC, was a prophet whose oracles and prayer are recorded in the Book of Habakkuk, the eighth of the collected twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. He is revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

 

Almost all the information we have about Habakkuk is drawn from the book of the Bible bearing his name, with no biographical details provided other than his title, "the prophet". Outside the Bible, he is mentioned over the centuries in the forms of Christian and Rabbinic traditions, but these are dismissed by modern mainstream scholars as speculative and apocryphal.

 

Almost nothing is known about Habakkuk, aside from what few facts are stated within the book of the Bible bearing his name, or those inferences that may be drawn from that book. His name appears in the Bible only in Habakkuk 1:1 and 3:1, with no biographical details provided other than his title "the prophet." Even the origin of his name is uncertain.

 

For almost every other prophet, more information is given, such as the name of the prophet's hometown, his occupation, or information concerning his parentage or tribe. For Habakkuk, however, there is no reliable account of any of these. Although his home is not identified, scholars conclude that Habakkuk lived in Jerusalem at the time he wrote his prophecy. Further analysis has provided an approximate date for his prophecy and possibilities concerning his activities and background.

 

Beyond the Bible, considerable conjecture has been put forward over the centuries in the form of Christian and Rabbinic tradition, but such accounts are dismissed by modern scholars as speculative and apocryphal.

 

Because the book of Habakkuk consists of five oracles about the Chaldeans (Babylonians), and the Chaldean rise to power is dated circa 612 BC, it is assumed he was active about that time, making him an early contemporary of Jeremiah and Zephaniah. Jewish sources, however, do not group him with those two prophets, who are often placed together, so it is possible that he was slightly earlier than these prophets.

 

Because the final chapter of his book is a song, it is sometimes assumed that he was a member of the tribe of Levi, which served as musicians in Solomon's Temple.

 

The name Habakkuk, or Habacuc,[b] appears in the Hebrew Bible only in Habakkuk 1:1 and 3:1. In the Masoretic Text, it is written in Hebrew: חֲבַקּוּק‎ (Standard Ḥavaqquq Tiberian Ḥăḇaqqûq).[ This name does not occur elsewhere. The Septuagint transcribes his name into Greek as Ἀμβακοὺμ (Ambakoum), and the Vulgate transcribes it into Latin as Abacuc.

 

The etymology of the name is not clear, and its form has no parallel in Hebrew. The name is possibly related to the Akkadian khabbaququ, the name of a fragrant plant, or the Hebrew root חבק, meaning "embrace".

 

Tradition

 

Habakkuk appears in Bel and the Dragon, which is part of the deuterocanonical Additions to Daniel. Verses 33–39 state that Habakkuk is in Judea; after making some stew, he is instructed by an angel of the Lord to take the stew to Daniel, who is in the lion's den in Babylon. After proclaiming that he is unaware of both the den and Babylon, the angel transports Habakkuk to the lion's den. Habakkuk gives Daniel the food to sustain him, and is immediately taken back to "his own place".

 

Habakkuk is also mentioned in the Lives of the Prophets, which also mentions his time in Babylon.

 

According to the Zohar (Volume 1, page 8b) Habakkuk is the boy born to the Shunamite woman through Elisha's blessing:

 

And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace (חבקת – hoveket, therefore Habakkuk) a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, [thou] man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid.

 

The only work attributed to Habakkuk is the short book of the Bible that bears his name. The book of Habakkuk consists of five oracles about the Chaldeans (Babylonians) and a song of praise to God.

 

The style of the book has been praised by many scholars,suggesting that its author was a man of great literary talent. The entire book follows the structure of a chiasmus in which parallelism of thought is used to bracket sections of the text.

 

Habakkuk is unusual among the prophets in that he openly questions the working of God (1:3a, 1:13b). In the first part of the first chapter, the Prophet sees the injustice among his people and asks why God does not take action: "O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?" (1:2, ESV).

 

Tombs

 

The final resting place of Habakkuk has been claimed at multiple locations. The fifth-century Christian historian Sozomen claimed that the relics of Habakkuk were found at Cela, when God revealed their location to Zebennus, bishop of Eleutheropolis, in a dream. Currently, one location in Israel and one in Iran lay claim to being the burial site of the prophet.

 

The burial place of Habakkuk is identified by Jewish tradition as a hillside in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel, close to the villages Kadarim and Hukok, about six miles southwest of Safed and twelve miles north of Mount Tabor. A small stone building, erected during the 20th century, protects the tomb. Tradition dating as early as the 12th century AD holds that Habakkuk's tomb is at this location, but the tomb may also be of a local sheikh of Yaquq, a name related to the biblical place named "Hukkok", whose pronunciation and spelling in Hebrew are close to "Habakkuk". Archaeological findings in this location include several burial places dated to the Second Temple period.

 

A mausoleum southeast of the city of Tuyserkan in the west of Iran is also believed to be Habakkuk's burial place. It is protected by Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts and Tourism Organization. The Organization's guide to the Hamadan Province states that Habakkuk was believed to be a guardian to Solomon's Temple, and that he was captured by the Babylonians and remained in their prison for some years. After being freed by Cyrus the Great, he went to Ecbatana and remained there until he died, and was buried somewhere nearby, in what is today Tuyserkan. Habakkuk is called both Habaghugh and Hayaghugh by the Muslim locals.

 

The surrounding shrine may date to the period of the Seljuq Empire (11–12th century); it consists of an octagonal wall and conical dome. Underneath the shrine is a hidden basement with three floors. In the center of the shrine's courtyard is the grave where Habakkuk is said to be buried. A stone upon the grave is inscribed in both Hebrew and Persian stating that the prophet's father was Shioua Lovit, and his mother was Lesho Namit. Both Muslims and Jews visit it to pay their respects.

 

On the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar, his feast day is December 2. In the Roman Catholic Church, the twelve minor prophets are read in the Roman Breviary during the fourth and fifth weeks of November, which are the last two weeks of the liturgical year, and his feast day is January 15. This day is also celebrated as his feast by the Greek Orthodox Church. In 2011, he was commemorated with the other Minor Prophets in the calendar of saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church on February 8.

 

Habakkuk has also been commemorated in sculpture. In 1435, the Florentine artist Donatello created a sculpture of the prophet for the bell tower of Florence. This statue, nicknamed Zuccone ("Big Pumpkin") because of the shape of the head, now resides in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. The Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome contains a Baroque sculpture of Habakkuk by the 17th-century artist Bernini. Between 1800 and 1805, the Brazilian sculptor Aleijadinho completed a soapstone sculpture of Habakkuk as part of his Twelve Prophets. The figures are arranged around the forecourt and monumental stairway in front of the Santuário do Bom Jesus do Matosinhos at Congonhas.

 

Although not mentioned by name in the Qu'ran, Habakkuk is recognized as an Islamic prophet because he is believed to herald the coming of Muhammad and the Qu'ran in the Book of Habakkuk.

 

In the court of Al-Ma'mun, Imam Ali al-Ridha, a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and chief Islamic scholar in the time of the Abbasid Caliphs, was asked by the Exilarch to prove that Muhammad was a prophet through the Torah. Among his many proofs, Imam Ridha asks "Do you know the prophet Habakkuk?" He said, “Yes. I know of him.” al-Ridha said, “and this is narrated in your book, ‘Allah brought down speech on Mount Faran, and the heavens were filled with the glorification of Muhammad and his community. His horse carries him over water as it carries him over land. He will bring a new book to us after the ruin of the holy house [the temple in Jerusalem].’ What is meant by this book is the Qur'an. Do you know this and believe in it?” The Exilarch said, “Habakkuk the prophet has said this and we do not deny what he said.”

 

Further Evidence of Prophethood

 

Although the Quran only mentions around twenty-five prophets by name, and alludes to a few others, it has been a cardinal doctrine of Islam that many more prophets were sent by God who are not mentioned in the scripture. Thus, Muslims have traditionally had no problem accepting those other Hebrew prophets not mentioned in the Quran or hadith as legitimate prophets of God, especially as the Quran itself states: "Surely We sent down the Torah (to Moses), wherein is guidance and light; thereby the Prophets (who followed him), who had surrendered themselves, gave judgment for those who were Jewish, as did the masters and the rabbis, following such portion of God's Book as they were given to keep and were witnesses to," with this passage having often been interpreted by Muslims to include within the phrase "prophets" an allusion to all the prophetic figures of the Jewish scriptural portion of the nevi'im, that is to say all the prophets of Israel after Moses and Aaron. Thus, Islamic authors have often alluded to Habakkuk as a prophet in their works, and followed the pronunciation of his name with the traditional salutations of peace bestowed by Muslims onto prophets after the utterance of their names.

 

Some medieval Muslim scholars even provided commentaries on the biblical Book of Habakkuk, with the primary purpose of showing that the prophet had predicted the coming of Muhammad in Habakkuk 3:2–6, in a manner akin to the earlier Christian tradition of seeing in the book's prophecies allusions to the advent of Christ. For example, the medieval exegete Najm al-Dīn al-Ṭūfī (d. 716 AH/1316 CE) provided a commentary on select verses from the book of Habakkuk, saying the prophet's words "for his rays become light" (Habakkuk 3:4) alluded to the spread of Islam; that his words "his glory comes to town, his power appears in his courts" (Habakkuk 3:4) referred to Muhammad's stay in the town of Yathrib and the help he received there from the ansar; and that his words "death goes before him" (Habakkuk 3:5) was a prophecy about the fear of the Muslim armies during the military campaigns of Muhammad and his companions. Likewise, Habakkuk 3:5–6 also received similar commentaries from medieval Islamic thinkers.

 

The famous and revered Persian Islamic scholar and polymath Ibn Qutaybah, who served as a judge during the Abbasid Caliphate, said of the prophet Habakkuk: "Among the words of Habakkuk, who prophesied in the days of Daniel, Habakkuk says: 'God came from Teman, and the holy one from the mountains of Paran and the earth was filled with the sanctification of the praiseworthy one (aḥmad, which is a name of Muhammad in Islam), and with his right hand he exercised power over the earth and the necks of the nations,' which has been interpreted by scholars to be a clear allusion to Habakkuk 3:3-4. Elsewhere, the same scholar glossed Habakkuk 3:4, 15 as follows: "The earth shines with his light, and his horses launched into the sea," again interpreting the prophecy to be an allusion to the coming of Muhammad. One further prophecy of Habakkuk which Ibn Qutaybah cited, from extra-canonical Hebraic literature, was "You shall be exceedingly filled in your bows ... o Praised One (muḥammad)," which he read as being "a clear statement of ... [Muhammad's] name ... [and] his characteristics." This final prophecy attributed to Habakkuk was also referred to by later scholars like Ibn al-Jawzi and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (Wikipedia).

Kaaba

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  

Pilgrims circumambulating the Kaaba during the HajjThe Kaaba (Arabic: الكعبة al-Kaʿbah, IPA: [ˈkɑʕbɐ]: "Cube")[1] is a cuboidal building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is the most sacred site in Islam.[2] The building predates Islam, and, according to Islamic tradition, the first building at the site was built by Abraham. The building has a mosque built around it, the Masjid al-Haram. All Muslims around the world face the Kaaba during prayers, no matter where they are.

 

One of the Five Pillars of Islam requires every capable Muslim to perform the Hajj pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime. Multiple parts of the Hajj require pilgrims to walk several times around the Kaaba in a counter-clockwise direction (as viewed from above). This circumambulation, the Tawaf, is also performed by pilgrims during the Umrah (lesser pilgrimage).[2] However, the most dramatic times are during the Hajj, when two million pilgrims simultaneously gather to circle the building on the same day.

 

Contents

1 Location and physical attributes

2 Black Stone

3 History

3.1 Before Islam

3.2 Islamic tradition

3.2.1 At the time of Muhammad

3.3 Since Muhammad's time

4 Cleaning

5 Qibla and prayer

6 Notes

7 References

8 External links

    

Technical drawing of the Kaaba showing dimensions and elements

Left: Conceptual representation of the Kaaba, as built by Abraham; Right: Representation of the Kaaba as it stands todayThe Kaaba is a large masonry structure roughly the shape of a cube. It is made of granite from the hills near Mecca, and stands upon a 25 cm (10 in) marble base, which projects outwards about 35 cm (14 in).[2] It is approximately 13.1 m (43 ft) high, with sides measuring 11.03 m (36.2 ft) by 12.86 m (42.2 ft).[3][4] The four corners of the Kaaba roughly face the four cardinal directions of the compass.[2] In the eastern corner of the Kaaba is the Ruknu l-Aswad "the Black Corner"" or al-Ħajaru l-Aswad "the Black Stone", possibly a meteorite remnant; at the northern corner is the Ruknu l-ˤĪrāqī "the Iraqi corner". The western corner is the Ruknu sh-Shāmī "the Levantine corner" and the southern is Ruknu l-Yamanī "the Yemeni corner".[2][4]

 

The Kaaba is covered by a black silk and gold curtain known as the kiswah, which is replaced yearly.[5][6] About two-thirds of the way up runs a band of gold-embroidered calligraphy with Qur'anic text, including the Islamic declaration of faith, the Shahada.

 

In modern times, entry to the Kaaba's interior is generally not permitted except for certain rare occasions and for a limited number of guests. The entrance is a door set 2 m (7 ft) above the ground on the north-eastern wall of the Kaaba, which acts as the façade.[2] There is a wooden staircase on wheels, usually stored in the mosque between the arch-shaped gate of Banū Shaybah and the well of Zamzam. Inside the Kaaba, there is a marble and limestone floor. The interior walls are clad with marble halfway to the roof; tablets with Qur'anic inscriptions are inset in the marble. The top part of the walls are covered with a green cloth decorated with gold embroidered Qur'anic verses. Caretakers perfume the marble cladding with scented oil, the same oil used to anoint the Black Stone outside.

 

There is also a semi-circular wall opposite, but unconnected to, the north-west wall of the Kaaba known as the hatīm. This is 90 cm (35 in) in height and 1.5 m (4.9 ft) in width, and is composed of white marble. At one time the space lying between the hatīm and the Kaaba belonged to the Kaaba itself, and for this reason it is not entered during the tawaf (ritual circumambulation). Some believe that the graves of Abu Simbel, prophet Ishmael and his mother Hagar[2] are located in this space.

 

Muslims throughout the world face the Kaaba during prayers, which occur five times a day. For most places around the world, coordinates for Mecca suffice. Worshippers in the Sacred Mosque pray in concentric circles around the Kaaba.

 

Black Stone

Main article: Black Stone

The Black Stone is a significant feature of the Kaaba, believed by Muslims to date back to the time of Adam and Eve.[7] Located on the eastern corner of the Kaaba, it is about 30 cm (12 in) in diameter and surrounded by a silver frame. All Hajj pilgrims must attempt to kiss the Stone as Muhammad once did. If they cannot then a flying kiss would be sufficient [8] Because of the large crowds, this is not always possible, and so as pilgrims walk around the Kaaba, they are to point to the Stone on each circuit.[9]

 

History

Before Islam

 

'King Fahad' gate of the Grand Masjid (Masjid al Haram) in Mecca.

'King Fahad' gate of the Grand Masjid at night in Mecca.As little is known of the history of the Kaaba, there are various opinions regarding its formation and significance.

 

The early Arabian population consisted primarily of warring nomadic tribes. When they did converge peacefully, it was usually under the protection of religious practices.[10] Writing in the Encyclopedia of Islam, Wensinck identifies Mecca with a place called Macoraba mentioned by Ptolemy. His text is believed to date from the second century AD, before the rise of Islam,[11] and described it as a foundation in southern Arabia, built around a sanctuary. The area probably did not start becoming an area of religious pilgrimage until around the year AD 500. It was around then that the Quraysh tribe (into which Muhammad was later born) took control of it, and made an agreement with the local Kinana Bedouins for control.[12] The sanctuary itself, located in a barren valley surrounded by mountains, was probably built at the location of the water source today known as the Zamzam Well, an area of considerable religious significance.

 

In her book, Islam: A Short History, Karen Armstrong asserts that the Kaaba was dedicated to Hubal, a Nabatean deity, and contained 360 idols which either represented the days of the year,[13] or were effigies of the Arabian pantheon. Once a year, tribes from all around the Arabian peninsula, be they Christian or pagan, would converge on Mecca to perform the Hajj.

 

Imoti[14] contends that there were multiple such "Kaaba" sanctuaries in Arabia at one time, but this is the only one built of stone. The others also allegedly had counterparts to the Black Stone. There was a "red stone", the deity of the south Arabian city of Ghaiman, and the "white stone" in the Kaaba of al-Abalat (near the city of Tabala, south of Mecca). Grunebaum in Classical Islam points out that the experience of divinity of that time period was often associated with stone fetishes, mountains, special rock formations, or "trees of strange growth."[15] The Kaaba was thought to be at the center of the world with the Gate of Heaven directly above it. The Kaaba marked the location where the sacred world intersected with the profane, and the embedded Black Stone was a further symbol of this as a meteorite that had fallen from the sky and linked heaven and earth.[16] According to the Boston Globe, the Kaaba was a shrine for the Daughters of God (al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat) and Hubal.[17]

 

According to Sarwar,[18] about four hundred years before the birth of Muhammad, a man named "Amr bin Lahyo bin Harath bin Amr ul-Qais bin Thalaba bin Azd bin Khalan bin Babalyun bin Saba", who was descended from Qahtan and king of Hijaz (the northwestern section of Saudi Arabia, which encompassed the cities of Mecca and Medina), had placed a Hubal idol onto the roof of the Kaaba, and this idol was one of the chief deities of the ruling Quraysh tribe. The idol was made of red agate, and shaped like a human, but with the right hand broken off and replaced with a golden hand. When the idol was moved inside the Kaaba, it had seven arrows in front of it, which were used for divination.[19]

 

To keep the peace among the perpetually warring tribes, Mecca was declared a sanctuary where no violence was allowed within 20 miles (32 km) of the Kaaba. This combat-free zone allowed Mecca to thrive not only as a place of pilgrimage, but also as a trading center.[20]

 

Patricia Crone disagrees with most academic historians on most issues concerning the history of early Islam, including the history of the Kaaba. In Makkan Trade and the Rise of Islam, Crone writes that she believes that the identification of Macoraba with the Kaaba is false, and that Macoraba was a town in southern Arabia in what was then known as Arabia Felix.[21]

 

Many accounts[which?], including Muslim accounts, and some accounts written by academic historians, stress the power and importance of the pre-Islamic Mecca.[weasel words] They depict it as a city grown rich on the proceeds of the spice trade. Crone believes that this is an exaggeration and that Makkan may only have been an outpost trading with nomads for leather, cloth, and camel butter. Crone argues that if Mecca had been a well-known center of trade, it would have been mentioned by later authors such as Procopius, Nonnosus, and the Syrian church chroniclers writing in Syriac. However, the town is absent from any geographies or histories written in the last three centuries before the rise of Islam.[22]

 

According to The Encyclopaedia Britannica, "before the rise of Islam it was revered as a sacred sanctuary and was a site of pilgrimage."[23] According to the German historian Eduard Glaser, the name "Kaaba" may have been related to the southern Arabian or Ethiopian word "mikrab", signifying a temple.[11] Again, Crone disputes this etymology.

 

Islamic tradition

Part of a series on

Eschatology

Christian eschatology[show]

Bibical texts

 

Picture of the Kaaba taken in 1880According to the Qur'an, the Kaaba was first built by Ibrahim (Abraham) and his son Ismāʿīl (Ishmael).[24] Islamic traditions assert that the Kaaba "reflects" a house in heaven called al-Baytu l-Maʿmur[25] (Arabic: البيت المعمور‎) and that it was first built by the first man, Adam. Ibrahim and Ismail rebuilt the Kaaba on the old foundations. [26]

 

At the time of Muhammad

At the time of Muhammad (CE 570-632), his tribe the Quraysh was in charge of the Kaaba, which was at that time a shrine containing hundreds of idols representing Arabian tribal gods and other religious figures, including Jesus and Mary. Muhammad earned the enmity of his tribe by claiming the shrine for the new religion of Islam that he preached. He wanted the Kaaba to be dedicated to the worship of the one God alone, and all the idols evicted. The Quraysh persecuted and harassed him continuously[27], and he and his followers eventually migrated to Medina in 622.

 

After this pivotal migration, or Hijra, the Muslim community became a political and military force. In 630, Muhammad and his followers returned to Mecca as conquerors, and he destroyed the 360 idols in and around the Kaaba.[28][29] While destroying each idol, Muhammad recited [Qur'an 17:81] which says "Truth has arrived and falsehood has perished for falsehood is by its nature bound to perish."[28][29]

  

A 1315 illustration from the Persian Jami al-Tawarikh, inspired by the story of Muhammad and the Meccan clan elders lifting the Black Stone into place when the Kaaba was rebuilt in the early 600s.[30]The Kaaba was re-dedicated as an Islamic house of worship, and henceforth, the annual pilgrimage was to be a Muslim rite, the Hajj, which visits the Kaaba and other sacred sites around Mecca.[31] Islamic histories also mention a reconstruction of the Kaaba around 600. A story found in Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasūl Allāh, one of the biographies of Muhammad (as reconstructed and translated by Guillaume), describes Muhammad settling a quarrel between Meccan clans as to which clan should set the Black Stone cornerstone in place. According to Ishaq's biography, Muhammad's solution was to have all the clan elders raise the cornerstone on a cloak, and then Muhammad set the stone into its final place with his own hands.[30][32][33] Ibn Ishaq says that the timber for the reconstruction of the Kaaba came from a Greek ship that had been wrecked on the Red Sea coast at Shu'ayba, and the work was undertaken by a Coptic carpenter called Baqum.[34]

 

It is also claimed by the Shīʿa that the Kaaba is the birth place of ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālib, the fourth caliph and cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.[31]

 

Since Muhammad's time

The Kaaba has been repaired and reconstructed many times since Muhammad's day.

 

Abd-Allah ibn al-Zubayr, an early Muslim who ruled Mecca for many years between the death of ʿAli and the consolidation of Ummayad power, is said to have demolished the old Kaaba and rebuilt it to include the hatīm, a semi-circular wall now outside the Kaaba. He did so on the basis of a tradition (found in several hadith collections[35]) that the hatīm was a remnant of the foundations of the Abrahamic Kaaba, and that Muhammad himself had wished to rebuild so as to include it.

 

This structure was destroyed (or partially destroyed) in 683, during the war between al-Zubayr and Umayyad forces commanded by Al-Hajjaj bin Yousef. Al-Hajjaj used stone-throwing catapults against the Meccans.

 

The Ummayads under ʿAbdu l-Malik ibn Marwan finally reunited all the former Islamic possessions and ended the long civil war. In 693 he had the remnants of al-Zubayr's Kaaba razed, and rebuilt on the foundations set by the Quraysh.[36] The Kaaba returned to the cube shape it had taken during Muhammad's lifetime.

 

During the Hajj of 930, the Qarmatians attacked Mecca, defiled the Zamzam Well with the bodies of pilgrims and stole the Black Stone, removing it to the oasis region of Eastern Arabia known as al-Aḥsāʾ, where it remained until the Abbasids ransomed it back in 952 CE.

 

Apart from repair work, the basic shape and structure of the Kaaba have not changed since then.[37]

 

The Kaaba is depicted on the reverse of 500 Saudi Riyal, and the Iranian 2000 rials banknotes.[38]

 

Cleaning

The building is opened twice a year for a ceremony known as "the cleaning of the Kaaba." This ceremony takes place roughly fifteen days before the start of the month of Ramadan and the same period of time before the start of the annual pilgrimage.

 

The keys to the Kaaba are held by the Banī Shaybat (بني شيبة) tribe. Members of the tribe greet visitors to the inside of the Kaaba on the occasion of the cleaning ceremony. A small number of dignitaries and foreign diplomats are invited to participate in the ceremony.[39] The governor of Mecca leads the honored guests who ritually clean the structure, using simple brooms. Washing of the Kaaba is done with a mixture of Zamzam and Persian rosewater.[40]

 

Qibla and prayer

Main article: Qibla

 

Supplicating pilgrim at Masjid al-HaramThe Qibla is the Muslim name for the direction faced during prayer[Qur'an 2:143–144] While it may appear to some non-Muslims that Muslims worship the Kaaba, it is simply the focal point for prayer. The qibla has changed at least twice.

 

Notes

^ Also known as al-Kaʿbatu l-Mušarrafah (الكعبة المشرًّفة "The Noble Kaʿbah), al-Baytu l-ʿAtīq (البيت العتيق "The Primordial House"), or al-Baytu l-Ḥarām (البيت الحرام "The Sacred House")

^ a b c d e f g Wensinck, A. J; Ka`ba. Encyclopaedia of Islam IV p. 317

^ Peterson, Andrew (1996). Dictionary of Islamic Architecture.. London: Routledge. archnet.org/library/dictionary/.

^ a b Hawting, G.R; Ka`ba. Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an p. 76

^ "'House of God' Kaaba gets new cloth". The Age Company Ltd.. 2003. www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/02/11/1044725746252.html. Retrieved 2006-08-17.

^ "The Kiswa - (Kaaba Covering)". Al-Islaah Publications. members.tripod.com/worldupdates/newupdates10/id43.htm. Retrieved 2006-08-17.

^ SaudiCities - The Saudi Experience. "Makkah - The Holy Mosque:The Black Stone". www.saudicities.com/mmosque.htm. Retrieved August 13 2006.

^ Elliott, Jeri (1992). Your Door to Arabia. ISBN 0-473-01546-3.

^ Mohamed, Mamdouh N. (1996). Hajj to Umrah: From A to Z. Amana Publications. ISBN 0-915957-54-x.

^ Grunebaum, p. 18

^ a b Wensinck, A. J; Ka`ba. Encyclopaedia of Islam IV p. 318 (1927, 1978)

^ Grunebaum, p. 19

^ Karen Armstrong (2000,2002). Islam: A Short History. pp. 11. ISBN 0-8129-6618-x.

^ Imoti, Eiichi. "The Ka'ba-i Zardušt", Orient, XV (1979), The Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan, pp. 65-69.

^ Grunebaum, p. 24

^ Armstrong, Jerusalem, p. 221

^ "Ask the Globe". Boston Globe. April 23, 1999.

^ Hafiz Ghulam Sarwar. Muhammad the Holy Prophet. pp. 18–19.

^ Brother Andrew. "Hubal, the moon god of the Kaba". bible.ca. www.bible.ca/islam/islam-moon-god-hubal.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-04.

^ Armstrong, Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths, p. 221-222

^ Crone, Patricia (2004). Makkan Trade and the Rise of Islam. Piscataway, New Jersey: Gorgias. pp. 134-137

^ Crone, Patricia (2004). Makkan Trade and the Rise of Islam. Piscataway, New Jersey: Gorgias. p. 137

^ Britannica 2002 Deluxe Edition CD-ROM, "Ka'bah."

^ "AL-BAQARA (THE COW)". Online Quran Project. al-quran.info/#&&sura=2&aya=127&trans=en-.... Retrieved 2009-04-08.

^ Hajj-e-Baytullah. "Baytullah - The House of Allah". www.ezsoftech.com/hajj/hajj_article1.asp. Retrieved August 13 2006.

^ Azraqi, Akhbar Makkah, vol. 1, pp. 58-66

^ www.mocaz.com/essays/Persecution in Mecca.pdf

^ a b Hamali, Mohamed Hashim (31 My - 6 June 2001). "Islam, iconography and the Taliban". Al-Ahram Weekly Online (536). weekly.ahram.org.eg/2001/536/in7.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-05.

^ a b "Conquest of Makkah". Compendium of Muslim Texts. University of Southern California. www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/pillars/fasting/tajuddi.... Retrieved 2008-10-05.

^ a b University of Southern California. "The Prophet of Islam - His Biography". www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/prophet/profbio.html. Retrieved August 12 2006.

^ a b The Book of History, a History of All Nations From the Earliest Times to the Present. Viscount Bryce (Introduction). The Grolier Society.

^ Guillaume, A. (1955). The Life of Muhammad. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 84-87

^ Saifur Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, translated by Issam Diab (1979). "Muhammad's Birth and Forty Years prior to Prophethood". Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar): Memoirs of the Noble Prophet. www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Books/SM_tsn/ch1s6.html. Retrieved 2007-05-04.

^ Cyril Glasse, New Encyclopedia of Islam, p. 245. Rowman Altamira, 2001. ISBN 0759101906

^ Sahih Bukhari 1506, 1508;Sahih Muslim 1333

^ Sahih Bukhari 1509; Sahih Muslim 1333

^ Javed Ahmad Ghamidi. The Rituals of Hajj and ‘Umrah, Mizan, Al-Mawrid

^ Central Bank of Iran. Banknotes & Coins: 2000 Rials. – Retrieved on 24 March 2009.

^ enc.slider.com/Enc/Kaaba

^ Islam Online.net - Saudi Arabia Readies for Hajj Emergencies (December 29 2005), Retrieved November 30 2006.

References

Peterson, Andrew (1996). Dictionary of Islamic Architecture London: Routledge.

Hawting, G.R; Ka`ba. Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an

Elliott, Jeri (1992). Your Door to Arabia. ISBN 0-473-01546-3.

Mohamed, Mamdouh N. (1996). Hajj to Umrah: From A to Z. Amana Publications. ISBN 0-915957-54-x.

Wensinck, A. J; Ka`ba. Encyclopaedia of Islam IV

Karen Armstrong (2000,2002). Islam: A Short History. ISBN 0-8129-6618-x.

Crone, Patricia (2004). Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam. Piscataway, New Jersey: Gorgias.

[1915] The Book of History, a History of All Nations From the Earliest Times to the Present, Viscount Bryce (Introduction), The Grolier Society.

Guillaume, A. (1955). The Life of Muhammad. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Grunebaum, G. E. von (1970). Classical Islam: A History 600 A.D. - 1258 A.D.. Aldine Publishing Company. ISBN 202-15016-

Salafi bintou Khan s.khan2@bol.com.br

  

Assalamu alaykum

Greetings to you and your family in good faith.

I want you to read this letter very carefully because I know you will be surprise on receiving my letter but as a servant of the living Allah you should known that our ways is not his ways he work in many ways and all things work out for good to those that believe in him.

I am Mrs. Salafi Bintou Khan from London (United Kingdom) I am married to Mr. Tijani A. Khan before he died from heat attack that last for only 1 day.

My late husband was very wealthy business man and after his death, I inherited all his business and wealth.

Recently, my doctor made it clear to me that I can not live for more than one month due to my cancer sickness, so now I decided to share part of our wealth, to contribute to the development of orphanages in AFRICA, ASIA, AMERICA and EUROPE for almighty Allah to have mercy upon my soul and my husband soul whenever it may occur.

 

I chose you, after v isiting the site directory and I prayed about it before I decided to donate part of the funds through you to help the less privileged and improvement of our good Muslim, I am willing to donate the sum of $ 750,000 (Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand United State dollars) I want this fund to be used in Muslim Activities like, Orphanages, Islamic schools, and Mosque for propagating the word of Allah and to endeavour that the house of Allah is maintained. Al-Ma'un 107:1. (PBUH) Saids in Holy Qur'an(Fathalika allathee yaduAAAAu alyateema).

The Qur'an made us to understand that "Blessed is the hand that gives". I took this decision because I discovered that wealth without charity is vanity.

Al-'Asr 103:2.(PBUH) (Save those who believe and do good works, and exhort one another to truth and exhort one another to endurance)

Please I want you to know that the fund is lying in a bank here in London, United Kingdom, Once I hear from you, I will write a cheque on your name to enable you cash the fund in any bank of your choice in your country.

I sincerely I pray that this fund when it is in your possession that you will use it for the purpose as I said because I came to discover that the acquisition of wealth without charity is vanity. If you are willing to help me handle this project kindly send to me with the below information, as listed below for I officially write a cheque on your name.

Your full name

Your occupation

Your Country

As soon as I receive this information from you I shall instruct my bank to issue you the fund on a cheque to enable you cash the fund in any bank of your choice in your country for the expansion of our good Muslim.

Al-Ahzab 33:21.(PBUH) (And when the true believers saw the clans, they said: This is that which Allah and his messenger promised us. Allah and his messenger are true. it did but confirm them in their faith and resignation

I am willing to offer you 35% of the total fun d for your kind assistant in this project for the improvement of our good Muslim, the rest of the fund should be use as I instructed on this message.

May Allah (SWT) bless you as you do your work

Please if you can not be able to handle this project kindly let me know urgently to enable me look for some one else that can handle this project immediately because I can not figure what to happen to me for the next minutes and it is not good to abandon this fund in the bank while there are many children suffering, homeless children are uncountable.

I await your urgent reply soon.

 

salafibintoukhan@yahoo.com

Yours Islamic Sister.

Mrs. Salafi Bintou Khan

 

Great Kind words indeed

Mrs Salafi Bintou Khan for your

kindness generosity

May Gods Will Be Done,.decreed

.let our people free ..as bomb after bomb

destroys humanity ,, this is the

new message of Islam hijacked

by terrorists jehadis ..pay heed

.suicide bombers nonchalantly

breed .. killing those at Karbala

who come to pay tribute to

Imam Hussain..upholder of

our creed ..but sadly Muslims

love killing Muslims ..satanic

reality of hate propagated

by an evil seed .. children

of Yazid..everywhere in

the Islamic world,,,chaos

turbulence as the Message

of the Holy Messenger distorted

misinterpreted...is what they make

others read creating sectarian

violence strife peace that money

cant buy is what we need ...Afghanistan

Bangladesh Egypt Syria Pakistan Africa

as the Minaret bleeds ...

Man Kunto Maulaa

Fahaaza Aliun Maulaa

To Whom I am the Master

Ali is the master...a Kutbah

at Ghadeer .....

  

“Ali b. Abi Talib is my brother, successor and the Imam after me… he enjoys mastership over your selves after Allah and His Messenger.” (Khutbah al-Ghadeer, 71; Al-Ehtejaaj, vol. 1, pg. 66; Behaarul Anwaar, vol. 37, pg. 201)

 

Undoubtedly, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) made this declaration on the day of Ghadeer. Ghadeer-e-Khumm is an event, the celebration of which instills the Mastership and love of Ameerul Momineen Ali b. Abi Talib (a.s.) in the hearts and minds of people. Just as the Prophethood of Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) is definite and conclusive, similarly, the incident of Ghadeer is also certain and irrefutable, the origin and source of which can be found in the books of history.

What is the difference between messengerhood and prophethood, and why is it important to know in the case of Prophet Mohammad?

 

Read the Urdu transcript here: www.mehdifoundation.com/latest/articles/martaba-e-risalat...

 

Watch the live recordings of these lectures every day at 22:00 GMT at: www.younusalgohar.com

 

Can't access this video? Watch it on Daily Motion:

www.dailymotion.com/mehdifound...

 

Listen to this speech on the go with SoundCloud:

soundcloud.com/younusalgohar/

The Black Stone (called الحجر الأسود al-Hajr e Aswad in Arabic) is a Muslim relic, which according to Islamic tradition dates back to the time of Adam and Eve. Historical research claims that the Black Stone marked the Kaaba as a place of worship during pre-Islamic pagan times.[1] It is the eastern cornerstone of the Kaaba, the ancient stone building towards which Muslims pray, in the center of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.[2] The Stone is a dark rock, polished smooth by the hands of millions of pilgrims, that has been broken into a number of fragments cemented into a silver frame in the side of the Kaaba. Although it has often been described as a meteorite, this hypothesis is still under consideration.[3]

 

Muslim pilgrims circle the Kaaba as part of the Tawaf ritual of the Hajj. Many of them try, if possible, to stop and kiss the Black Stone, emulating the kiss that Islamic tradition records that it received from the Prophet Muhammad.[4] If they cannot reach it, they point to it on each of their seven circuits around the Kaaba.[5]

 

Contents [hide]

1 Physical description

2 History and tradition

3 Ritual role

4 Scientific origins

5 Notes

6 References

7 External links

 

[edit] Physical description

The Black Stone, surrounded by its silver frame and the black cloth kiswah on the Kaaba in Mecca.The Black Stone consists of a number of fragments held together by a silver frame, which is fastened by silver nails to the Stone.[6] Some of the smaller fragments have been cemented together to form the seven or eight fragments visible today. The Stone's exposed face measures about 20 centimetres (7.9 in) by 16 centimetres (6.3 in). Its original size is unclear; its recorded dimensions have changed considerably over time, as the stone has been remodelled. In the 10th century, an observer described it as being one cubit (slightly over 2 feet (0.61 m) long). By the early 17th century, it was recorded as measuring 1.5 yards (1.4 m) by 1.33 yards (1.22 m). According to Ali Bey in the 18th century, it was 42 inches (110 cm) high, and Muhammad Ali reported it as being 2.5 feet (0.76 m) long by 1.5 feet (0.46 m) wide.[3]

 

The Black Stone was first described in Western literature in the 19th and early 20th centuries by European travelers in Arabia, who visited the Kaaba in the guise of pilgrims. Swiss traveler Johann Ludwig Burckhardt visited Mecca in 1814, and provided a detailed description in his 1829 book Travels in Arabia:

 

It is an irregular oval, about seven inches in diameter, with an undulating surface, composed of about a dozen smaller stones of different sizes and shapes, well joined together with a small quantity of cement, and perfectly well smoothed; it looks as if the whole had been broken into as many pieces by a violent blow, and then united again. It is very difficult to determine accurately the quality of this stone which has been worn to its present surface by the millions of touches and kisses it has received. It appeared to me like a lava, containing several small extraneous particles of a whitish and of a yellow substance. Its colour is now a deep reddish brown approaching to black. It is surrounded on all sides by a border composed of a substance which I took to be a close cement of pitch and gravel of a similar, but not quite the same, brownish colour. This border serves to support its detached pieces; it is two or three inches in breadth, and rises a little above the surface of the stone. Both the border and the stone itself are encircled by a silver band, broader below than above, and on the two sides, with a considerable swelling below, as if a part of the stone were hidden under it. The lower part of the border is studded with silver nails.[7]

 

Visiting the Kaaba in 1853, Sir Richard Francis Burton noted that:

 

The colour appeared to me black and metallic, and the centre of the stone was sunk about two inches below the metallic circle. Round the sides was a reddish brown cement, almost level with the metal, and sloping down to the middle of the stone. The band is now a massive arch of gold or silver gilt. I found the aperture in which the stone is, one span and three fingers broad.[7]

 

Ritter von Laurin, the Austrian consul-general in Egypt, was able to inspect a fragment of the Stone removed by Muhammad Ali in 1817 and reported that it had a pitch-black exterior and a silver-grey, fine-grained interior in which tiny cubes of a bottle-green material were embedded. There are reportedly a few white or yellow spots on the face of the Stone, and it is officially described as being white with the exception of the face.[3]

 

[edit] History and tradition

A 1315 illustration from the Jami al-Tawarikh, inspired by the Sirah Rasul Allah story of Muhammad and the Meccan clan elders lifting the Black Stone into place.[8]The Black Stone, in Muslim belief, has its origins since the time of Adam. According to the Hadith, "it descended from Paradise whiter than milk, but the sins of the sons of Adam made it black".[9] According to belief, an angel spoke to the great prophet Abraham, and told him to institute the rite of the stone in the Pilgrimage at Mecca.[10]

 

The Black Stone was revered well before the preaching of Islam by Muhammad. By the time of Muhammad, it was already associated with the Kaaba, a pre-Islamic shrine that was revered as a sacred sanctuary and a site of pilgrimage. In her book, Islam: A Short History, Karen Armstrong asserts that the Kaaba was dedicated to Hubal, a Nabatean deity, and contained 360 idols which either represented the days of the year, or were effigies of the Arabian pantheon. The Semitic cultures of the Middle East had a tradition of using unusual stones to mark places of worship, a phenomenon which is reflected in the Hebrew Bible as well as the Qur'an.[11] A "red stone" was for the deity of the south Arabian city of Ghaiman, and there was a "white stone" in the Ka'ba of al-Abalat (near the city of Tabala, south of Mecca). Worship at that time period was often associated with stone reverence, mountains, special rock formations, or distinctive trees.[12] The Kaaba marked the location where the sacred world intersected with the profane, and the embedded Black Stone was a further symbol of this as an object that linked heaven and earth.[13]

 

Islamic tradition holds that the Stone fell from Heaven to show Adam and Eve where to build an altar, which became the first temple on Earth. Muslims believe that the stone was originally pure and dazzling white, but has since turned black because of the sins of the people.[14] Adam's altar and the stone were said to have been lost during Noah's Flood and forgotten. Ibrahim was said to have later found the Black Stone at the original site of Adam's altar when the angel Jibrail revealed it to him.[11] Ibrahim ordered his son Ismael - who was an ancestor of Muhammad - to build a new temple, the Kaaba, in which to embed the Stone.

 

Muhammad is credited with setting the Black Stone in place in the wall of the Kaaba. A story found in Ibn Ishaq's Sirah Rasul Allah tells how the clans of Mecca renovated the Kaaba following a major fire which had partly destroyed the structure. The Black Stone had been temporarily removed to facilitate the rebuilding work. The clans could not agree on which one of them should have the honour of setting the Black Stone back in its place. They decided to wait for the next man to come through the gate and ask him to make the decision. That individual happened to be the 35-year-old Muhammad, five years before his prophethood. He asked the elders of the clans to bring him a cloth and put the Black Stone in its centre. Each of the clan leaders held the corners of the cloth and carried the Black Stone to the right spot. Then Muhammad himself set the stone in place, satisfying the honour of all of the clans.[15]

 

The Stone has suffered desecrations and significant damage over the centuries. It is said to have been struck and smashed to pieces by a stone fired from a catapult during the Umayyad siege of Mecca in 756. The fragments were rejoined by 'Abd Allah ibn Zubayr using a silver ligament.[15] In January 930 it was stolen by the Qarmatians, who carried the Black Stone away to their base in Hajar (modern Bahrain). According to Ottoman historian Qutb al-Din, writing in 1857, Qarmatian leader Abu Tahir al-Qarmati set the Black Stone up in his own mosque, the Masjid al-Dirar, with the intention of redirecting the Hajj away from Mecca. However, this failed, and pilgrims continued to venerate the spot where the Black Stone had been.[16]

 

According to historian Al-Juwayni, the Stone was returned twenty-three years later, in 952. The Qarmatians held the Black Stone for ransom, and forced the Abbasids to pay a huge sum for its return. It was wrapped in a sack and thrown into the Friday Mosque of Kufa, accompanied by a note saying "By command we took it, and by command we have brought it back." Its abduction and removal caused further damage, breaking the stone into seven pieces.[11][17][18] Its abductor, Abu Tahir, is said to have met a terrible fate; according to Qutb al-Din, "the filthy Abu Tahir was afflicted with a gangrenous sore, his flesh was eaten away by worms, and he died a most terrible death."[16]

 

The Stone has been subjected to other indignities during its history. In the 11th century, a man allegedly sent by the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah attempted to smash the Black Stone, but was killed on the spot, having caused only slight damage.[16] In 1674, according to Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, someone smeared the Black Stone with excrement so that "every one who kissed it retired with a sullied beard". The Shi'ite Persians were suspected of being responsible and were the target of curses from other Muslims for centuries afterwards, though explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton doubted that they were the culprits; he attributed the act to "some Jew or Greek, who risked his life to gratify a furious bigotry."[19]

 

[edit] Ritual role

Muslim pilgrims jostle for a chance to kiss the Black Stone; if they are unable to kiss the stone because of the crowds, they can point towards the stone on each circuit with their right hand. In each complete circuit a person says "In the name of God, God is Great, God is Great, God is Great and praise be to God". Once people have kissed the stone a guard stands ready to push them away.The Black Stone plays an important role in the central ritual of the Hajj, when pilgrims must walk seven times around the Kaaba in a counter-clockwise direction. They attempt to kiss the Black Stone seven times, once for each circumambulation of the Kaaba, emulating the actions of Muhammad. In modern times, large crowds make it practically impossible for everyone to kiss the stone, so it is currently acceptable for pilgrims to simply point in the direction of the Stone on each of their circuits around the building. Some even say that the Stone is best considered simply as a marker, useful in keeping count of the ritual circumambulations (tawaf) that one has performed.[20] Its black color is deemed to symbolize the essential spiritual virtue of detachment and poverty for God (faqr) and the extinction of ego required to progress towards God (qalb).[11]

 

Islam strictly prohibits idolatry. Muslims believe that the Stone's role in hajj is simply representative and symbolic nature, not related to belief in the stone itself as having any special power. A well-known hadith records that, when second Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab (580-644) came to kiss the Stone, he said in front of all assembled: "No doubt, I know that you are a stone and can neither harm anyone nor benefit anyone. Had I not seen Allah's Messenger [Muhammad] kissing you, I would not have kissed you."[21] Most Muslims follow the example of Umar: they pay their respects to the Stone in a spirit of trust in Muhammad, not with any inherent belief in the Stone. This, however, does not indicate their disrespect to the Black Stone, but their belief that harm and benefit are in the hands of God, and nothing else. Muhammad Labib al-Batanuni, writing in 1911, commented that the pre-Islamic practice of venerating stones (including the Black Stone) arose not because such stones are "sacred for their own sake, but because of their relation to something holy and respected." [22]

 

In recent years, however, literalist views of the Black Stone have emerged. A small minority accepts as literally true an allegorical hadith which asserts that "the Stone will appear on the Day of Judgement (Qiyamah) with eyes to see and a tongue to speak, and give evidence in favor of all who kissed it in true devotion, but speak out against whoever indulged in gossip or profane conversations during his circumambulation of the Kaaba".[22]

 

Writing in Dawn in Madinah: A Pilgrim's Progress, Muzaffar Iqbal described his experience of venerating the Black Stone during a pilgrimage to Mecca:

 

At the end of the second [circumabulation of the Kaaba], I was granted one of those extraordinary moments which sometimes occur around the Black Stone. As I approached the Corner the large crowd was suddenly pushed back by a strong man who had just kissed the Black Stone. This push generated a backward current, creating a momentary opening around the Black Stone as I came to it; I swiftly accepted the opportunity reciting, Bismillahi Allahu akbar wa lillahi-hamd ["In the name of God, God is great, all praise to God"], put my hands on the Black Stone and kissed it. Thousands of silver lines sparkled, the Stone glistened, and something stirred deep inside me. A few seconds passed. Then I was pushed away by the guard.[23]

[edit] Scientific originsThe nature of the Black Stone has been much debated. It has been described variously as basalt stone, an agate, a piece of natural glass or — most popularly — a stony meteorite. Paul Partsch, the curator of the Austro-Hungarian imperial collection of minerals, published the first comprehensive history of the Black Stone in 1857 in which he favoured a meteoritic origin for the Stone. Robert Dietz and John McHone proposed in 1974 that the Black Stone was actually an agate, judging from its physical attributes and a report by an Arab geologist that the Stone contained clearly discernable diffusion banding characteristic of agates.[3] A significant clue to its nature is provided by an account of the Stone's recovery in 951 AD after it had been stolen 21 years earlier; according to a chronicler, the Stone was identified by its ability to float in water. If this account is accurate, it would rule out the Black Stone being an agate, basalt lava or stony meteorite, though it would be compatible with it being glass or pumice.[6]

 

Elsebeth Thomsen of the University of Copenhagen proposed a different hypothesis in 1980. She suggested that the Black Stone may be a glass fragment from the impact of a fragmented meteorite that fell some 6,000 years ago at Wabar, a site in the Rub' al Khali desert some 1,100 km east of Mecca. The craters at Wabar are notable for the presence of blocks of silica glass, fused by the heat of the impact and impregnated by beads of nickel-iron alloy from the meteorite (most of which was destroyed in the impact). Some of the glass blocks are made of shiny black glass with a white or yellow interior and gas-filled hollows, which allow them to float on water. Although scientists did not become aware of the Wabar craters until 1932, they were located near a caravan route from Oman and were very likely known to the inhabitants of the desert. The wider area was certainly well-known; in ancient Arabic poetry, Wabar or Ubar (also known as "Iram of the Pillars") was the site of a fabulous city that was destroyed by fire from the heavens because of the wickedness of its king. If the estimated age of the crater is accurate, it would have been well within the period of human habitation in Arabia and the impact itself may have been witnessed.[6] However, a recent (2004) scientific analysis of the Wabar site suggests that the impact event happened much more recently than first thought and might have occurred only within the last 200–300 years.[24] The meteoritic hypothesis is now seen as doubtful, and the British Natural History Museum suggests that it may be a pseudometeorite, i.e., a terrestrial rock mistakenly attributed to a meteoritic origin.[25]

  

The Quran (English pronunciation: /kɔrˈɑːn/ kor-AHN , Arabic: القرآن‎ al-qur'ān, IPA: [qurˈʔaːn], literally meaning "the recitation", also romanised Qur'an or Koran) is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God (Arabic: الله‎, Allah). Its scriptural status among a world-spanning religious community, and its major place within world literature generally, has led to a great deal of secondary literature on the Quran. Quranic chapters are called suras and verses are called ayahs.

 

Muslims believe that the Quran was verbally revealed by God to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel (Jibril), gradually over a period of approximately 23 years, beginning on 22 December 609 CE, when Muhammad was 40, and concluding in 632 CE, the year of his death. Muslims regard the Quran as the most important miracle of Muhammad, a proof of his prophethood, and the culmination of a series of divine messages that started with the messages revealed to Adam and ended with Muhammad. They consider the Quran to be the only revealed book that has been protected by God from distortion or corruption.

 

According to the traditional narrative, several companions of Muhammad served as scribes and were responsible for writing down the revelations. Shortly after Muhammad's death, the Quran was compiled by his companions who wrote down and memorized parts of it. These codices had differences that motivated the Caliph Uthman to establish a standard version now known as Uthman's codex, which is generally considered the archetype of the Quran we have today. However, the existence of variant readings, with mostly minor and some significant variations, and the early unvocalized Arabic script mean the relationship between Uthman's codex to both the text of today's Quran and to the revelations of Muhammad's time is still unclear.

 

The Quran assumes familiarity with major narratives recounted in the Jewish and Christian scriptures. It summarizes some, dwells at length on others and, in some cases, presents alternative accounts and interpretations of events. The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance. It sometimes offers detailed accounts of specific historical events, and it often emphasizes the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence. The Quran is used along with the hadith to interpret sharia law. During prayers, the Quran is recited only in Arabic.

 

Someone who has memorized the entire Quran is called a hafiz. Some Muslims read Quranic ayahs (verses) with elocution, which is often called tajwīd. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims typically complete the recitation of the whole Quran during tarawih prayers. In order to extrapolate the meaning of a particular Quranic verse, most Muslims rely on the tafsir.

 

ETYMOLOGY & MEANING

The word qurʼān appears about 70 times in the Quran itself, assuming various meanings. It is a verbal noun (maṣdar) of the Arabic verb qaraʼa (قرأ), meaning "he read" or "he recited". The Syriac equivalent is (ܩܪܝܢܐ) qeryānā, which refers to "scripture reading" or "lesson". While some Western scholars consider the word to be derived from the Syriac, the majority of Muslim authorities hold the origin of the word is qaraʼa itself. Regardless, it had become an Arabic term by Muhammad's lifetime. An important meaning of the word is the "act of reciting", as reflected in an early Quranic passage: "It is for Us to collect it and to recite it (qurʼānahu)."

 

In other verses, the word refers to "an individual passage recited [by Muhammad]". Its liturgical context is seen in a number of passages, for example: "So when al-qurʼān is recited, listen to it and keep silent." The word may also assume the meaning of a codified scripture when mentioned with other scriptures such as the Torah and Gospel.

 

The term also has closely related synonyms that are employed throughout the Quran. Each synonym possesses its own distinct meaning, but its use may converge with that of qurʼān in certain contexts. Such terms include kitāb (book); āyah (sign); and sūrah (scripture). The latter two terms also denote units of revelation. In the large majority of contexts, usually with a definite article (al-), the word is referred to as the "revelation" (waḥy), that which has been "sent down" (tanzīl) at intervals. Other related words are: dhikr (remembrance), used to refer to the Quran in the sense of a reminder and warning, and ḥikmah (wisdom), sometimes referring to the revelation or part of it.

 

The Quran describes itself as "the discernment or the criterion between truth and falsehood" (al-furqān), "the mother book" (umm al-kitāb), "the guide" (huda), "the wisdom" (hikmah), "the remembrance" (dhikr) and "the revelation" (tanzīl; something sent down, signifying the descent of an object from a higher place to lower place). Another term is al-kitāb (the book), though it is also used in the Arabic language for other scriptures, such as the Torah and the Gospels. The adjective of "Quran" has multiple transliterations including "quranic," "koranic" and "qur'anic," or capitalised as "Qur'anic," "Koranic" and "Quranic." The term muṣḥaf ('written work') is often used to refer to particular Quranic manuscripts but is also used in the Quran to identify earlier revealed books. Other transliterations of "Quran" include "al-Coran", "Coran", "Kuran" and "al-Qurʼan".

 

HISTORY

PROPHETIC ERA

Islamic tradition relates that Muhammad received his first revelation in the Cave of Hira during one of his isolated retreats to the mountains. Thereafter, he received revelations over a period of 23 years. According to hadith and Muslim history, after Muhammad emigrated to Medina and formed an independent Muslim community, he ordered many of his companions to recite the Quran and to learn and teach the laws, which were revealed daily. It is related that some of the Quraish who were taken prisoners at the battle of Badr regained their freedom after they had taught some of the Muslims the simple writing of the time. Thus a group of Muslims gradually became literate. As it was initially spoken, the Quran was recorded on tablets, bones, and the wide, flat ends of date palm fronds. Most suras were in use amongst early Muslims since they are mentioned in numerous sayings by both Sunni and Shia sources, relating Muhammad's use of the Quran as a call to Islam, the making of prayer and the manner of recitation. However, the Quran did not exist in book form at the time of Muhammad's death in 632 CE. There is agreement among scholars that Muhammad himself did not write down the revelation.

 

Sahih al-Bukhari narrates Muhammad describing the revelations as, "Sometimes it is (revealed) like the ringing of a bell" and Aisha reported, "I saw the Prophet being inspired Divinely on a very cold day and noticed the sweat dropping from his forehead (as the Inspiration was over)." Muhammad's first revelation, according to the Quran, was accompanied with a vision. The agent of revelation is mentioned as the "one mighty in power", the one who "grew clear to view when he was on the uppermost horizon. Then he drew nigh and came down till he was (distant) two bows' length or even nearer." The Islamic studies scholar Welch states in the Encyclopaedia of Islam that he believes the graphic descriptions of Muhammad's condition at these moments may be regarded as genuine, because he was severely disturbed after these revelations. According to Welch, these seizures would have been seen by those around him as convincing evidence for the superhuman origin of Muhammad's inspirations. However, Muhammad's critics accused him of being a possessed man, a soothsayer or a magician since his experiences were similar to those claimed by such figures well known in ancient Arabia. Welch additionally states that it remains uncertain whether these experiences occurred before or after Muhammad's initial claim of prophethood. The Quran describes Muhammad as "ummi", which is traditionally interpreted as "illiterate," but the meaning is rather more complex. The medieval commentators such as Al-Tabari maintained that the term induced two meanings: first, the inability to read or write in general; second, the inexperience or ignorance of the previous books or scriptures (but they gave priority to the first meaning). Besides, Muhammad's illiteracy was taken as a sign of the genuineness of his prophethood. For example, according to Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, if Muhammad had mastered writing and reading he possibly would have been suspected of having studied the books of the ancestors. Some scholars such as Watt prefer the second meaning.

 

COMPILATION

Based on earlier transmitted reports, in the year 632 CE, after Muhammad died and a number of his companions who knew the Quran by heart were killed in a battle by Musaylimah, the first caliph Abu Bakr (d. 634CE) decided to collect the book in one volume so that it could be preserved. Zayd ibn Thabit (d. 655CE) was the person to collect the Quran since "he used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah's Apostle". Thus, a group of scribes, most importantly Zayd, collected the verses and produced a hand-written manuscript of the complete book. The manuscript according to Zayd remained with Abu Bakr until he died. Zayd's reaction to the task and the difficulties in collecting the Quranic material from parchments, palm-leaf stalks, thin stones and from men who knew it by heart is recorded in earlier narratives. After Abu Bakr, Hafsa bint Umar, Muhammad's widow, was entrusted with the manuscript. In about 650 CE, the third Caliph Uthman ibn Affan (d. 656CE) began noticing slight differences in pronunciation of the Quran as Islam expanded beyond the Arabian peninsula into Persia, the Levant, and North Africa. In order to preserve the sanctity of the text, he ordered a committee headed by Zayd to use Abu Bakr's copy and prepare a standard copy of the Quran. Thus, within 20 years of Muhammad's death, the Quran was committed to written form. That text became the model from which copies were made and promulgated throughout the urban centers of the Muslim world, and other versions are believed to have been destroyed. The present form of the Quran text is accepted by Muslim scholars to be the original version compiled by Abu Bakr.

 

According to Shia and some Sunni scholars, Ali ibn Abi Talib (d. 661CE) compiled a complete version of the Quran shortly after Muhammad's death. The order of this text differed from that gathered later during Uthman's era in that this version had been collected in chronological order. Despite this, he made no objection against the standardized Quran and accepted the Quran in circulation. Other personal copies of the Quran might have existed including Ibn Mas'ud's and Ubayy ibn Kab's codex, none of which exist today.

 

The Quran most likely existed in scattered written form during Muhammad's lifetime. Several sources indicate that during Muhammad's lifetime a large number of his companions had memorized the revelations. Early commentaries and Islamic historical sources support the above-mentioned understanding of the Quran's early development. The Quran in its present form is generally considered by academic scholars to record the words spoken by Muhammad because the search for variants has not yielded any differences of great significance. Although most variant readings of the text of the Quran have ceased to be transmitted, some still are. There has been no critical text produced on which a scholarly reconstruction of the Quranic text could be based. Historically, controversy over the Quran's content has rarely become an issue, although debates continue on the subject.

 

In 1972, in a mosque in the city of Sana'a, Yemen, manuscripts were discovered that were later proved to be the most ancient Quranic text known to exist. The Sana'a manuscripts contain palimpsests, a manuscript page from which the text has been washed off to make the parchment reusable again - a practice which was common in ancient times due to scarcity of writing material. However, the faint washed-off underlying text (scriptio inferior) is still barely visible and believed to be "pre-Uthmanic" Quranic content, while the text written on top (scriptio superior) is believed to belong to Uthmanic time. Studies using radiocarbon dating indicate that the parchments are dated to the period before 671 AD with a 99 percent probability.

 

SIGNIFICANCE IN ISLAM

WORSHIP

Muslims believe the Quran to be the book of divine guidance revealed from God to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel over a period of 23 years and view the Quran as God's final revelation to humanity. They also believe that the Quran has solutions to all the problems of humanity irrespective of how complex they may be and in what age they occur.

 

Revelation in Islamic and Quranic concept means the act of God addressing an individual, conveying a message for a greater number of recipients. The process by which the divine message comes to the heart of a messenger of God is tanzil (to send down) or nuzūl (to come down). As the Quran says, "With the truth we (God) have sent it down and with the truth it has come down."

 

The Quran frequently asserts in its text that it is divinely ordained. Some verses in the Quran seem to imply that even those who do not speak Arabic would understand the Quran if it were recited to them. The Quran refers to a written pre-text, "the preserved tablet", that records God's speech even before it was sent down.

 

The issue of whether the Quran is eternal or created became a theological debate (Quran's createdness) in the ninth century. Mu'tazilas, an Islamic school of theology based on reason and rational thought, held that the Quran was created while the most widespread varieties of Muslim theologians considered the Quran to be co-eternal with God and therefore uncreated. Sufi philosophers view the question as artificial or wrongly framed.

 

Muslims believe that the present wording of the Quran corresponds to that revealed to Muhammad, and according to their interpretation of Quran 15:9, it is protected from corruption ("Indeed, it is We who sent down the Quran and indeed, We will be its guardian."). Muslims consider the Quran to be a guide, a sign of the prophethood of Muhammad and the truth of the religion. They argue it is not possible for a human to produce a book like the Quran, as the Quran itself maintains.

 

Muslims commemorate annually the beginning of Quran's revelation on the Night of Destiny (Laylat al-Qadr), during the last 10 days of Ramadan, the month during which they fast from sunrise until sunset.

 

The first sura of the Quran is repeated in daily prayers and in other occasions. This sura, which consists of seven verses, is the most often recited sura of the Quran:

 

"All praise belongs to God, Lord of the Universe, the Beneficent, the Merciful and Master of the Day of Judgment, You alone We do worship and from You alone we do seek assistance, guide us to the right path, the path of those to whom You have granted blessings, those who are neither subject to Your anger nor have gone astray."

 

Respect for the written text of the Quran is an important element of religious faith by many Muslims, and the Quran is treated with reverence. Based on tradition and a literal interpretation of Quran 56:79 ("none shall touch but those who are clean"), some Muslims believe that they must perform a ritual cleansing with water before touching a copy of the Quran, although this view is not universal. Worn-out copies of the Quran are wrapped in a cloth and stored indefinitely in a safe place, buried in a mosque or a Muslim cemetery, or burned and the ashes buried or scattered over water.

 

In Islam, most intellectual disciplines, including Islamic theology, philosophy, mysticism and Jurisprudence, have been concerned with the Quran or have their foundation in its teachings. Muslims believe that the preaching or reading of the Quran is rewarded with divine rewards variously called ajr, thawab or hasanat.

 

IN ISLAMIC ART

The Quran also inspired Islamic arts and specifically the so-called Quranic arts of calligraphy and illumination.[1] The Quran is never decorated with figurative images, but many Qurans have been highly decorated with decorative patterns in the margins of the page, or between the lines or at the start of suras. Islamic verses appear in many other media, on buildings and on objects of all sizes, such as mosque lamps, metal work, pottery and single pages of calligraphy for muraqqas or albums.

 

INIMITABILITY

Inimitability of the Quran (or "I'jaz") is the belief that no human speech can match the Quran in its content and form. The Quran is considered an inimitable miracle by Muslims, effective until the Day of Resurrection - and, thereby, the central proof granted to Muhammad in authentication of his prophetic status. The concept of inimitability originates in the Quran where in five different verses opponents are challenged to produce something like the Quran: "If men and sprites banded together to produce the like of this Quran they would never produce its like not though they backed one another."[61] So the suggestion is that if there are doubts concerning the divine authorship of the Quran, come forward and create something like it. From the ninth century, numerous works appeared which studied the Quran and examined its style and content. Medieval Muslim scholars including al-Jurjani (d. 1078CE) and al-Baqillani (d. 1013CE) have written treatises on the subject, discussed its various aspects, and used linguistic approaches to study the Quran. Others argue that the Quran contains noble ideas, has inner meanings, maintained its freshness through the ages and has caused great transformations in individual level and in the history. Some scholars state that the Quran contains scientific information that agrees with modern science. The doctrine of miraculousness of the Quran is further emphasized by Muhammad's illiteracy since the unlettered prophet could not have been suspected of composing the Quran.

 

TEXT & ARRANGEMENT

The Quran consists of 114 chapters of varying lengths, each known as a sura. Suras are classified as Meccan or Medinan, depending on whether the verses were revealed before or after the migration of Muhammad to the city of Medina. However, a sura classified as Medinan may contain Meccan verses in it and vice versa. Sura titles are derived from a name or quality discussed in the text, or from the first letters or words of the surah. Suras are arranged roughly in order of decreasing size. The sura arrangement is thus not connected to the sequence of revelation. Each sura except the ninth starts with the Bismillah (بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم) an Arabic phrase meaning 'In the name of God.' There are, however, still 114 occurrences of the Bismillah in the Quran, due to its presence in Quran 27:30 as the opening of Solomon's letter to the Queen of Sheba.

 

Each sura consists of several verses, known as ayat, which originally means a 'sign' or 'evidence' sent by God. The number of verses differs from sura to sura. An individual verse may be just a few letters or several lines. The total number of verses in the Quran is 6236, however, the number varies if the bismillahs are counted separately.

 

In addition to and independent of the division into suras, there are various ways of dividing the Quran into parts of approximately equal length for convenience in reading. The 30 juz' (plural ajzāʼ) can be used to read through the entire Quran in a month. Some of these parts are known by names - which are the first few words by which the juzʼ starts. A juz' is sometimes further divided into two ḥizb (plural aḥzāb), and each hizb subdivided into four rubʻ al-ahzab. The Quran is also divided into seven approximately equal parts, manzil (plural manāzil), for it to be recited in a week.

 

Muqatta'at, or the Quranic initials, are 14 different letter combinations of 14 Arabic letters that appear in the beginning of 29 suras of the Quran. The meanings of these initials remain unclear.

 

According to one estimate the Quran consists of 77,430 words, 18,994 unique words, 12,183 stems, 3,382 lemmas and 1,685 roots.

 

CONTENTS

The Quranic content is concerned with the basic beliefs of Islam which include the existence of God and the resurrection. Narratives of the early prophets, ethical and legal subjects, historical events of Muhammad's time, charity and prayer also appear in the Quran. The Quranic verses contain general exhortations regarding right and wrong and the historical events are related to outline general moral lessons. Verses pertaining to natural phenomena have been interpreted by Muslims as an indication of the authenticity of the Quranic message.

 

MONOTHEISM

The central theme of the Quran is monotheism. God is depicted as living, eternal, omniscient and omnipotent (see, e.g., Quran 2:20, 2:29, 2:255). God's omnipotence appears above all in his power to create. He is the creator of everything, of the heavens and the earth and what is between them (see, e.g., Quran 13:16, 50:38, etc.). All human beings are equal in their utter dependence upon God, and their well-being depends upon their acknowledging that fact and living accordingly.

 

The Quran uses cosmological and contingency arguments in various verses without referring to the terms to prove the existence of God. Therefore, the universe is originated and needs an originator, and whatever exists must have a sufficient cause for its existence. Besides, the design of the universe, is frequently referred to as a point of contemplation: "It is He who has created seven heavens in harmony. You cannot see any fault in God's creation; then look again: Can you see any flaw?"

 

ESCHATOLOGY

The doctrine of the last day and eschatology (the final fate of the universe) may be reckoned as the second great doctrine of the Quran. It is estimated that around a full one-third of the Quran is eschatological, dealing with the afterlife in the next world and with the day of judgment at the end of time. There is a reference of the afterlife on most pages of the Quran and the belief in the afterlife is often referred to in conjunction with belief in God as in the common expression: "Believe in God and the last day". A number of suras such as 44, 56, 75, 78, 81 and 101 are directly related to the afterlife and its preparations. Some of the suras indicate the closeness of the event and warn people to be prepared for the imminent day. For instance, the first verses of Sura 22, which deal with the mighty earthquake and the situations of people on that day, represent this style of divine address: "O People! Be respectful to your Lord. The earthquake of the Hour is a mighty thing."

 

The Quran is often vivid in its depiction of what will happen at the end time. Watt describes the Quranic view of End Time:

 

"The climax of history, when the present world comes to an end, is referred to in various ways. It is 'the Day of Judgment,' 'the Last Day,' 'the Day of Resurrection,' or simply 'the Hour.' Less frequently it is 'the Day of Distinction' (when the good are separated from the evil), 'the Day of the Gathering' (of men to the presence of God) or 'the Day of the Meeting' (of men with God). The Hour comes suddenly. It is heralded by a shout, by a thunderclap, or by the blast of a trumpet. A cosmic upheaval then takes place. The mountains dissolve into dust, the seas boil up, the sun is darkened, the stars fall and the sky is rolled up. God appears as Judge, but his presence is hinted at rather than described. [...] The central interest, of course, is in the gathering of all mankind before the Judge. Human beings of all ages, restored to life, join the throng. To the scoffing objection of the unbelievers that former generations had been dead a long time and were now dust and mouldering bones, the reply is that God is nevertheless able to restore them to life."

 

The Quran does not assert a natural immortality of the human soul, since man's existence is dependent on the will of God: when he wills, he causes man to die; and when he wills, he raises him to life again in a bodily resurrection.[68]

 

PROPHETS

According to the Quran, God communicated with man and made his will known through signs and revelations. Prophets, or 'Messengers of God', received revelations and delivered them to humanity. The message has been identical and for all humankind. "Nothing is said to you that was not said to the messengers before you, that your lord has at his Command forgiveness as well as a most Grievous Penalty." The revelation does not come directly from God to the prophets. Angels acting as God's messengers deliver the divine revelation to them. This comes out in Quran 42:51, in which it is stated: "It is not for any mortal that God should speak to them, except by revelation, or from behind a veil, or by sending a messenger to reveal by his permission whatsoever He will."

 

ETHICO-RELIGIOUS CONCEPTS

Belief is the center of the sphere of positive moral properties in the Quran. A number of scholars have tried to determine the semantic contents of the words meaning 'belief' and 'believer' in the Quran [70] The Ethico-legal concepts and exhortations dealing with righteous conduct are linked to a profound awareness of God, thereby emphasizing the importance of faith, accountability and the belief in each human's ultimate encounter with God. People are invited to perform acts of charity, especially for the needy. Believers who "spend of their wealth by night and by day, in secret and in public" are promised that they "shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve" It also affirms family life by legislating on matters of marriage, divorce and inheritance. A number of practices such as usury and gambling are prohibited. The Quran is one of the fundamental sources of the Islamic law, or sharia. Some formal religious practices receive significant attention in the Quran including the formal prayers and fasting in the month of Ramadan. As for the manner in which the prayer is to be conducted, the Quran refers to prostration. The term used for charity, Zakat, actually means purification. Charity, according to the Quran, is a means of self-purification.

 

LITERARY STYLE

The Quran's message is conveyed with various literary structures and devices. In the original Arabic, the suras and verses employ phonetic and thematic structures that assist the audience's efforts to recall the message of the text. Muslims[who?] assert (according to the Quran itself) that the Quranic content and style is inimitable.

 

The language of the Quran has been described as "rhymed prose" as it partakes of both poetry and prose, however, this description runs the risk of compromising the rhythmic quality of Quranic language, which is certainly more poetic in some parts and more prose-like in others. Rhyme, while found throughout the Quran, is conspicuous in many of the earlier Meccan suras, in which relatively short verses throw the rhyming words into prominence. The effectiveness of such a form is evident for instance in Sura 81, and there can be no doubt that these passages impressed the conscience of the hearers. Frequently a change of rhyme from one set of verses to another signals a change in the subject of discussion. Later sections also preserve this form but the style is more expository.

 

The Quranic text seems to have no beginning, middle, or end, its nonlinear structure being akin to a web or net. The textual arrangement is sometimes considered to have lack of continuity, absence of any chronological or thematic order and presence of repetition. Michael Sells, citing the work of the critic Norman O. Brown, acknowledges Brown's observation that the seeming disorganization of Quranic literary expression – its scattered or fragmented mode of composition in Sells's phrase – is in fact a literary device capable of delivering profound effects as if the intensity of the prophetic message were shattering the vehicle of human language in which it was being communicated. Sells also addresses the much-discussed repetitiveness of the Quran, seeing this, too, as a literary device.

 

A text is self-referential when it speaks about itself and makes reference to itself. According to Stefan Wild the Quran demonstrates this meta-textuality by explaining, classifying, interpreting and justifying the words to be transmitted. Self-referentiality is evident in those passages when the Quran refers to itself as revelation (tanzil), remembrance (dhikr), news (naba'), criterion (furqan) in a self-designating manner (explicitly asserting its Divinity, "And this is a blessed Remembrance that We have sent down; so are you now denying it?"), or in the frequent appearance of the 'Say' tags, when Muhammad is commanded to speak (e.g. "Say: 'God's guidance is the true guidance' ", "Say: 'Would you then dispute with us concerning God?' "). According to Wild the Quran is highly self-referential. The feature is more evident in early Meccan suras.

 

INTERPRETATION

The Quran has sparked a huge body of commentary and explication (tafsīr), aimed at explaining the "meanings of the Quranic verses, clarifying their import and finding out their significance".

 

Tafsir is one of the earliest academic activities of Muslims. According to the Quran, Muhammad was the first person who described the meanings of verses for early Muslims. Other early exegetes included a few Companions of Muhammad, like ʻAli ibn Abi Talib, ʻAbdullah ibn Abbas, ʻAbdullah ibn Umar and Ubayy ibn Kaʻb. Exegesis in those days was confined to the explanation of literary aspects of the verse, the background of its revelation and, occasionally, interpretation of one verse with the help of the other. If the verse was about a historical event, then sometimes a few traditions (hadith) of Muhammad were narrated to make its meaning clear.

 

Because the Quran is spoken in classical Arabic, many of the later converts to Islam (mostly non-Arabs) did not always understand the Quranic Arabic, they did not catch allusions that were clear to early Muslims fluent in Arabic and they were concerned with reconciling apparent conflict of themes in the Quran. Commentators erudite in Arabic explained the allusions, and perhaps most importantly, explained which Quranic verses had been revealed early in Muhammad's prophetic career, as being appropriate to the very earliest Muslim community, and which had been revealed later, canceling out or "abrogating" (nāsikh) the earlier text (mansūkh). Other scholars, however, maintain that no abrogation has taken place in the Quran. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has published a 10-volume Urdu commentary on the Quran, with the name Tafseer e Kabir.

 

ESOTERIC INTERPRETATION

Esoteric or Sufi interpretation attempts to unveil the inner meanings of the Quran. Sufism moves beyond the apparent (zahir) point of the verses and instead relates Quranic verses to the inner or esoteric (batin) and metaphysical dimensions of consciousness and existence. According to Sands, esoteric interpretations are more suggestive than declarative, they are 'allusions' (isharat) rather than explanations (tafsir). They indicate possibilities as much as they demonstrate the insights of each writer.

 

Sufi interpretation, according to Annabel Keeler, also exemplifies the use of the theme of love, as for instance can seen in Qushayri's interpretation of the Quran. Quran 7:143 says:

 

"when Moses came at the time we appointed, and his Lord spoke to him, he said, 'My Lord, show yourself to me! Let me see you!' He said, 'you shall not see me but look at that mountain, if it remains standing firm you will see me.' When his Lord revealed Himself to the mountain, He made it crumble. Moses fell down unconscious. When he recovered, he said, 'Glory be to you! I repent to you! I am the first to believe!'"

 

Moses, in 7:143, comes the way of those who are in love, he asks for a vision but his desire is denied, he is made to suffer by being commanded to look at other than the Beloved while the mountain is able to see God. The mountain crumbles and Moses faints at the sight of God's manifestation upon the mountain. In Qushayri's words, Moses came like thousands of men who traveled great distances, and there was nothing left to Moses of Moses. In that state of annihilation from himself, Moses was granted the unveiling of the realities. From the Sufi point of view, God is the always the beloved and the wayfarer's longing and suffering lead to realization of the truths.[90]

 

Muhammad Husayn Tabatabaei says that according to the popular explanation among the later exegetes, ta'wil indicates the particular meaning a verse is directed towards. The meaning of revelation (tanzil), as opposed to ta'wil, is clear in its accordance to the obvious meaning of the words as they were revealed. But this explanation has become so widespread that, at present, it has become the primary meaning of ta'wil, which originally meant "to return" or "the returning place". In Tabatabaei's view, what has been rightly called ta'wil, or hermeneutic interpretation of the Quran, is not concerned simply with the denotation of words. Rather, it is concerned with certain truths and realities that transcend the comprehension of the common run of men; yet it is from these truths and realities that the principles of doctrine and the practical injunctions of the Quran issue forth. Interpretation is not the meaning of the verse - rather it transpires through that meaning, in a special sort of transpiration. There is a spiritual reality - which is the main objective of ordaining a law, or the basic aim in describing a divine attribute - and then there is an actual significance that a Quranic story refers to.

 

According to Shia beliefs, those who are firmly rooted in knowledge like Muhammad and the imams know the secrets of the Quran. According to Tabatabaei, the statement "none knows its interpretation except God" remains valid, without any opposing or qualifying clause. Therefore, so far as this verse is concerned, the knowledge of the Quran's interpretation is reserved for God. But Tabatabaei uses other verses and concludes that those who are purified by God know the interpretation of the Quran to a certain extent.

 

According to Tabatabaei, there are acceptable and unacceptable esoteric interpretations. Acceptable ta'wil refers to the meaning of a verse beyond its literal meaning; rather the implicit meaning, which ultimately is known only to God and can't be comprehended directly through human thought alone. The verses in question here refer to the human qualities of coming, going, sitting, satisfaction, anger and sorrow, which are apparently attributed to God. Unacceptable ta'wil is where one "transfers" the apparent meaning of a verse to a different meaning by means of a proof; this method is not without obvious inconsistencies. Although this unacceptable ta'wil has gained considerable acceptance, it is incorrect and cannot be applied to the Quranic verses. The correct interpretation is that reality a verse refers to. It is found in all verses, the decisive and the ambiguous alike; it is not a sort of a meaning of the word; it is a fact that is too sublime for words. God has dressed them with words to bring them a bit nearer to our minds; in this respect they are like proverbs that are used to create a picture in the mind, and thus help the hearer to clearly grasp the intended idea.

 

HISTORY OF SUFI COMMENTARIES

One of the notable authors of esoteric interpretation prior to the 12th century is Sulami (d. 1021 CE) without whose work the majority of very early Sufi commentaries would not have been preserved. Sulami's major commentary is a book named haqaiq al-tafsir ("Truths of Exegesis") which is a compilation of commentaries of earlier Sufis. From the 11th century onwards several other works appear, including commentaries by Qushayri (d. 1074), Daylami (d. 1193), Shirazi (d. 1209) and Suhrawardi (d. 1234). These works include material from Sulami's books plus the author's contributions. Many works are written in Persian such as the works of Maybudi (d. 1135) kash al-asrar ("the unveiling of the secrets"). Rumi (d. 1273) wrote a vast amount of mystical poetry in his book Mathnawi. Rumi makes heavy use of the Quran in his poetry, a feature that is sometimes omitted in translations of Rumi's work. A large number of Quranic passages can be found in Mathnawi, which some consider a kind of Sufi interpretation of the Quran. Rumi's book is not exceptional for containing citations from and elaboration on the Quran, however, Rumi does mention Quran more frequently. Simnani (d. 1336) wrote two influential works of esoteric exegesis on the Quran. He reconciled notions of God's manifestation through and in the physical world with the sentiments of Sunni Islam. Comprehensive Sufi commentaries appears in the 18th century such as the work of Ismail Hakki Bursevi (d. 1725). His work ruh al-Bayan (the Spirit of Elucidation) is a voluminous exegesis. Written in Arabic, it combines the author's own ideas with those of his predecessors (notably Ibn Arabi and Ghazali), all woven together in Hafiz, a Persian poetry form.

 

LEVELS OF MEANING

Unlike the Salafis and Zahiri, Shias and Sufis as well as some other Muslim philosophers believe the meaning of the Quran is not restricted to the literal aspect. For them, it is an essential idea that the Quran also has inward aspects. Henry Corbin narrates a hadith that goes back to Muhammad:

 

"The Quran possesses an external appearance and a hidden depth, an exoteric meaning and an esoteric meaning. This esoteric meaning in turn conceals an esoteric meaning (this depth possesses a depth, after the image of the celestial Spheres, which are enclosed within each other). So it goes on for seven esoteric meanings (seven depths of hidden depth)."

 

According to this view, it has also become evident that the inner meaning of the Quran does not eradicate or invalidate its outward meaning. Rather, it is like the soul, which gives life to the body. Corbin considers the Quran to play a part in Islamic philosophy, because gnosiology itself goes hand in hand with prophetology.

 

Commentaries dealing with the zahir (outward aspects) of the text are called tafsir, and hermeneutic and esoteric commentaries dealing with the batin are called ta'wil ("interpretation" or "explanation"), which involves taking the text back to its beginning. Commentators with an esoteric slant believe that the ultimate meaning of the Quran is known only to God. In contrast, Quranic literalism, followed by Salafis and Zahiris, is the belief that the Quran should only be taken at its apparent meaning.

 

TRANSLATIONS

Translation of the Quran has always been a problematic and difficult issue. Many argue that the Quranic text cannot be reproduced in another language or form. Furthermore, an Arabic word may have a range of meanings depending on the context, making an accurate translation even more difficult.

 

Nevertheless, the Quran has been translated into most African, Asian and European languages. The first translator of the Quran was Salman the Persian, who translated surat al-Fatiha into Persian during the seventh century. Another translation of the Quran was completed in 884 CE in Alwar (Sindh, India now Pakistan) by the orders of Abdullah bin Umar bin Abdul Aziz on the request of the Hindu Raja Mehruk.

 

The first fully attested complete translations of the Quran were done between the 10th and 12th centuries in Persian language. The Samanid king, Mansur I (961-976), ordered a group of scholars from Khorasan to translate the Tafsir al-Tabari, originally in Arabic, into Persian. Later in the 11th century, one of the students of Abu Mansur Abdullah al-Ansari wrote a complete tafsir of the Quran in Persian. In the 12th century, Najm al-Din Abu Hafs al-Nasafi translated the Quran into Persian. The manuscripts of all three books have survived and have been published several times.

 

Islamic tradition also holds that translations were made for Emperor Negus of Abyssinia and Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, as both received letters by Muhammad containing verses from the Quran. In early centuries, the permissibility of translations was not an issue, but whether one could use translations in prayer.

 

In 1936, translations in 102 languages were known. In 2010, the Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review reported that the Quran was presented in 112 languages at the 18th International Quran Exhibition in Tehran.

   

From Ajmer Urus I had come down to visit my friend in Sikkar Rajasthan.. as I could not get a ticket from Jaipur to Mumbai I decided to take a bus from Jaipur to Ahmedabad ,but my daughter who lives in Delhi asked me to come to Delhi and she would send me by flight to Mumbai she also sponsored my trip to the Dargah of Bu Shah Ali Qalandar Panipat Haryana

  

About Bu Ali Shah Qalandar

 

Sharafuddeen Abu Ali Qalandar Panipati also called Bu Ali Qalandar (1209-1324 CE probably born at Panipat, Haryana) in India[1] was a Sufi saint of the Chishtī Order who lived and taught in India. His dargah (mausoleum) in the town of Panipat is a place of pilgrimage.

 

His real name was Shaykh Sharfuddin but he is famous by the title Bu Ali Shah. His father, Shaykh Fakhar Uddin was a great scholar and saint of his time. He completed his studies at an early age and subsequently taught near the Qutub Minar in Delhi for 20 years. He published a collection of Persian poetry by the name of " Diwan Hazrat Sharafuddeen Bu Ali Qalandar"[2] which was later translated by Khawaja Shahudin in Punjabi. It's a great Sufi work in Persian language.[3][4] Some other famous Qalandars include Lal Shahbaz Qalandar and Shams Ali Qalandar.

 

Birthplace[edit]

One account says he was born in early 1209 and lived till 1324 in Panipat, India. However an epitaph on his tomb in Persian gives his birthplace as Ganja in present-day Azerbaijan[citation needed]; while some scholars opien that in fact, he was born near Ganjah, once a small suburb of Lahore city but now integrated in the main old city complex[citation needed]. He supposedly traced his descent from Numan Ibn Thabit , Abu Hanifa. His father, Sheikh Fakhar Uddin was a famous scholar of his time. His mother was Hafiza Jamal, the daughter of Maulana Nemat Ullah Hamdani. Some people also claim his father actually came from Iraq and settled down in Panipat.[5]

 

Tomb[edit]

The dargah (mausoleum or shrine), mosque and enclosure at the Qalandar Chowk in Panipat were constructed by Mahabat Khan, a general in the service of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. Mahabat Khan's own tomb in red sandstone is adjacent to the saint's mausoleum. The tombs of Hakim Mukaram Khan and the Urdu poet Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali are also located within the enclosure. A nearby structure is the tomb of the last Lodi dynasty ruler of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi, killed in the First Battle of Panipat (1526).[6]

 

The left wall of the mausoleum has a qasida (panegyric) embossed and painted in blue and gold, written by Zahuri Neishabouri who visited India during the reign of Akbar.

 

A large number of people from all walks of life - Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians - visit the tomb and offer prayers there each Thursday and during the annual Urs Mela.[7]

 

Legends[edit]

Shah Sharaf bu ali qalander Chiniot pakistan.jpg

Various legends exist about the saint. One legend says after the ibadah (act of obedience and submission) of 36 years standing in the water in River Chenab near Chiniot pakistan, he was awarded the status of "Bu Ali" (Fragrance of Ali). After achieving this Rutba (rank) he was visited by many other Sufi saints. An alternative legend to explain his name says that Muhammad appeared to him in a dream and offered him a wish. The Qalandar asked for prophethood and was told that all positions have been filled and Muhammad was the last one. He asked to be Ali and was told that position was also filled. He then asked for at least the fragrance of Ali and that wish was granted. A scholarly view of his name is that Bu Ali is simply another form of Kuniyyat Abu Ali.

 

Tomb of Bu Ali Shah Qalandar

One day, after coming back from his school, Bu Ali Shah threw away all of his books, and then went to look for a dervish who had given him a written note. On the third day he found him, the dervish was actually the Sufi saint Hazrat Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, the spiritual master of Hazrat Shaykh Baba Fariduddin Ganjshakar[citation needed]. Bu Ali requested him to accept him as his disciple[citation needed]. Bakhtiyar Kaki declined his request saying that he was not authorized to do so. He then said that all he could do is to take him to his spiritual teacher (murshid). After saying that, Bakhtiyar Kaki took his hand and put it on the hand of Amirul Momineen Ali. Through Ali Murtaza, he received the required spiritual training, and after finishing Bu Ali Shah became a dervish. From then on, he became famous with the title of "Bu Ali", although his real name was Sharfuddin[citation needed].

  

On the top of the hill there is The Cave of Hira where prophet Muhammad spent most of his time before prophethood and here The Angel Jibrael first time met and gave Him the message of Allah and it was the beginning of ISLAM. I took this picture in November 2003.

I showered got dressed and left barefeet to shoot the Bakra Eid Namaz at Bandra Station at 7 am .Last time I shot the Eid Ul Zuha namaz from down below as over the years I had been shooting from the Bandra skywalk..

This time I thought of using my 55 -250 lens from above the skywalk.

 

When I reached the skywalk there was just one photographer , he said Hello to me and he was from Girish Mistrys Shari Academy .. His name was Amit , I told him that I had made Girish Mistrys wedding wardrobe and we shared a great relationship.. I told Amit if the cops hassled him to tell them he was with me as all the Bandra cops know me and I always carry my Press Card.It was Amit who took this shot of the iconoclastic Beggar Poet Of Bandra .

 

As soon as the Namaz was to end we both came down below , my good friend Satish Malavade was there too..After shooting the namaz the beggars I cut through the Bandra Slaughter House slums and took shots of the Eid Namaz in the slum lane.

 

Normally I shoot the slaughter of goats bulls etc but this time I have decided to cut own on my blood shots ..I shall make up for it shooting Moharam Ashura in Hyderabad .

 

This is my new set at Flickr.

 

About Eid Ul Adha

From Wikipedia

Eid al-Adha (Arabic: عيد الأضحى‎ ʿīd al-aḍḥā [ʕiːd ælˈʔɑdˤħæ] meaning "Festival of the sacrifice"), also called the Feast of the Sacrifice (Turkish: Kurban Bayramı; Bosnian: Kurban Bajram; Persian: عید قربان‎, Eid-e qorban), the "Major Festival",[1] the "Greater Eid", Baqr'Eid (Urdu: بقر عید‎), or Tabaski (West Africa), is the second of two religious holidays celebrated by Muslims worldwide each year. It honors the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his promised son. Ishmael (Ismail)a as an act of submission to God's command, before God then intervened to provide Abraham with a lamb to sacrifice instead.[2] The meat from the sacrificed animal is preferred to be divided into three parts. The family retains one third of the share; another third is given to relatives, friends and neighbors; and the remaining third is given to the poor and needy.

 

In the lunar-based Islamic calendar, Eid al-Adha falls on the 10th day of Dhu al-Hijjah and lasts for three days.[3] In the international Gregorian calendar, the dates vary from year to year, drifting approximately 11 days earlier each year.

 

Eid al-Adha is the latter of the two Eid holidays, the former being Eid al-Fitr. The basis for the observance comes from the 196th ayah (verse) of Al-Baqara, the second sura of the Quran.[4] The word "Eid" appears once in Al-Ma'ida, the fifth sura of the Quran, with the meaning "solemn festival".[5]

 

Like Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha begins with a Sunnah prayer of two rakats followed by a sermon (khutbah). Eid al-Adha celebrations start after the descent of the Hujjaj from Mount Arafat, a hill east of Mecca. Eid sacrifice may take place until sunset on the 13th day of Dhu al-Hijjah.[6] The days of Eid have been singled out in the Hadith as "days of remembrance". The takbir (days) of Tashriq are from the Fajr prayer of the 9th of Dhul Hijjah up to the Asr prayer of the 13th of Dhul Hijjah (5 days and 4 nights). This equals 23 prayers: 5 on the 9th–12th, which equals 20, and 3 on the 13th.[7]

 

The Arabic term "festival of the sacrifice]", ʿīd al-aḍḥā/ʿīd ul-aḍḥā is borrowed into Indo-Aryan languages such as Hindi, Bengali, and Gujarati, Urdu and Austronesian languages, such as Malay and Indonesian (the last often spelling it as Aidiladha or Iduladha).[citation needed] Another Arabic word for "sacrifice" is Qurbani (Arabic: قربان‎), which is borrowed into Dari Persian and Standard Persian as عید قربان (Eyd-e Ghorbân), or in Urdu as قربانی کی عید (Qorbani ki Eid) Tajik Persian as Иди Қурбон (Idi Qurbon), Kazakh as Құрбан айт (Qurban ayt), Uyghur as Qurban Heyit, and also into various Indo-Aryan languages such as Bengali as কোরবানির ঈদ (Korbanir Eid). Other languages combined the Arabic word qurbān with local terms for "festival", as in Kurdish (Cejna Qurbanê),[8] Pashto (د قربانۍ اختر da Qurbānəi Axtar), Turkish (Kurban Bayramı), Turkmen (Gurban Baýramy), Azeri (Qurban Bayramı), Tatar (Qorban Bäyräme), Albanian (Kurban Bajrami), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian and Macedonian (Kurban bajram, Курбан бајрам), Russian (Курбан-байрам), Bulgarian (Курбан Байрам), Mandarin Chinese (古尔邦节 Gúěrbāng Jié), and Malaysian and Indonesian (Hari Raya Korban, Qurbani).[citation needed]

 

Eid al-Kabir, an Arabic term meaning "the Greater Eid" (the "Lesser Eid" being Eid al-Fitr),[9] is used in Yemen, Syria, and North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt). The term was borrowed directly into French as Aïd el-Kebir. Translations of "Big Eid" or "Greater Eid" are used in Pashto (لوی اختر Loy Axtar), Kashmiri (Baed Eid),Pakistani(Baṛī Īd), Hindustani (Baṛī Īd), Tamil (Peru Nāl, "Great Day") and Malayalam (Bali Perunnal, "Great Day of Sacrifice"). Albanian, on the other hand, uses Bajram(i) i vogël or "the Lesser Eid" (as opposed to Bajram i Madh, the "Greater Eid", for Eid al-Fitr) as an alternative reference to Eid al-Adha.[citation needed] Some names refer to the fact that the holiday occurs after the culmination of the annual Hajj. Such names are used in Malaysian and Indonesian (Hari Raya Haji "Hajj celebration day", Lebaran Haji, Lebaran Kaji), and Tamil (Hajji Peru Nāl).[citation needed] In Urdu- and Hindi-speaking areas, the festival is also called Bakr Īd,[10] stemming from the Hindustani word bakrī, "goat", because of the tradition of sacrificing a goat in South Asia. This term is also borrowed into other languages, such as Tamil Bakr Īd Peru Nāl.[citation needed]

 

Other local names include Mandarin Chinese 宰牲节 Zǎishēng Jié ("Slaughter-livestock Festival") as well as Tfaska Tamoqqart in the Berber language of Djerba, Tabaski or Tobaski in Wolof,[11][12] Babbar Sallah in Nigerian languages, Pagdiriwang ng Sakripisyo in Filipino and ciida gawraca in Somali.[citation needed] Eid al-Adha has had other names outside the Muslim world. The name is often simply translated into the local language, such as English Feast of the Sacrifice, German Opferfest, Dutch Offerfeest, Romanian Sărbătoarea Sacrificiului, and Hungarian Áldozati ünnep. In Spanish it is known as Fiesta del Cordero ("festival of the lamb").[citation

 

According to Islamic tradition, approximately four thousand years ago, the valley of Mecca (in present-day Saudi Arabia) was a dry, rocky and uninhabited place. God instructed Abraham to bring Hagar (Hājar), his Arabian (Adnan) wife, and Ishmael, his only child at the time, to Arabia from the land of Canaan.[citation needed]

 

As Abraham was preparing for his return journey back to Canaan, Hagar asked him, "Did God order you to leave us here? Or are you leaving us here to die." Abraham didn't even look back. He just nodded, afraid that he would be too sad and that he would disobey God. Hagar said, "Then God will not waste us; you can go". Though Abraham had left a large quantity of food and water with Hagar and Ishmael, the supplies quickly ran out, and within a few days the two began to feel the pangs of hunger and dehydration.

 

Hagar ran up and down between two hills called Al-Safa and Al-Marwah seven times, in her desperate quest for water. Exhausted, she finally collapsed beside her baby Ishmael and prayed to God for deliverance. Miraculously, a spring of water gushed forth from the earth at the feet of baby Ishmael. Other accounts have the angel Gabriel (Jibrail) striking the earth and causing the spring to flow in abundance. With this secure water supply, known as the Zamzam Well, they were not only able to provide for their own needs, but were also able to trade water with passing nomads for food and supplies.

 

Years later, Abraham was instructed by God to return from Canaan to build a place of worship adjacent to Hagar's well (the Zamzam Well). Abraham and Ishmael constructed a stone and mortar structure – known as the Kaaba – which was to be the gathering place for all who wished to strengthen their faith in God. As the years passed, Ishmael was blessed with prophethood (Nubuwwah) and gave the nomads of the desert his message of submission to God. After many centuries, Mecca became a thriving desert city and a major center for trade, thanks to its reliable water source, the well of Zamzam.

 

One of the main trials of Abraham's life was to face the command of God to sacrifice his dearest possession, his only son. Upon hearing this command, he prepared to submit to God's will. During this preparation, Satan (Shaitan) tempted Abraham and his family by trying to dissuade them from carrying out God's commandment, and Ibrahim drove Satan away by throwing pebbles at him. In commemoration of their rejection of Satan, stones are thrown at symbolic pillars signifying Satan during the Hajj rites.

 

When Ishmael was about 13 (Abraham being 99), God decided to test their faith in public. Abraham had a recurring dream, in which God was commanding him to offer up for sacrifice – an unimaginable act – his son, whom God had granted him after many years of deep prayer. Abraham knew that the dreams of the prophets were divinely inspired, and one of the ways in which God communicated with his prophets. When the intent of the dreams became clear to him, Abraham decided to fulfill God's command and offer Ishmael for sacrifice.

 

Although Abraham was ready to sacrifice his dearest for God's sake, he could not just bring his son to the place of sacrifice without his consent. Ishmael had to be consulted as to whether he was willing to give up his life in fulfillment of God's command. This consultation would be a major test of Ishmael's maturity in faith; love and commitment for God; willingness to obey his father; and readiness to sacrifice his own life for the sake of God.

 

Abraham presented the matter to his son and asked for his opinion about the dreams of slaughtering him. Ishmael did not show any hesitation or reservation even for a moment. He said, "Father, do what you have been commanded. You will find me, Insha'Allah (God willing), to be very patient." His mature response, his deep insight into the nature of his father’s dreams, his commitment to God, and ultimately his willingness to sacrifice his own life for the sake of God were all unprecedented.

 

When Abraham attempted to cut Ishmael's throat, he was astonished to see that Ishmael was unharmed and instead, he found a dead ram which was slaughtered. Abraham had passed the test by his willingness to carry out God's command.[1][13]

 

This is mentioned in the Quran as follows:

 

100 "O my Lord! Grant me a righteous (son)!"

101 So We gave him the good news of a boy ready to suffer and forbear.

102 Then, when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him, he said: "O my son! I see in vision that I offer thee in sacrifice: Now see what is thy view!" (The son) said: "O my father! Do as thou art commanded: thou will find me, if Allah so wills one practising Patience and Constancy!"

103 So when they had both submitted their wills (to Allah), and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice),

104 We called out to him "O Abraham!

105 "Thou hast already fulfilled the vision!" – thus indeed do We reward those who do right.

106 For this was obviously a trial–

107 And We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice:

108 And We left (this blessing) for him among generations (to come) in later times:

109 "Peace and salutation to Abraham!"

110 Thus indeed do We reward those who do right.

111 For he was one of our believing Servants.

112 And We gave him the good news of Isaac – a prophet – one of the Righteous.

 

—Quran, sura 37 (As-Saaffat), ayat 100–112[14]

Abraham had shown that his love for God superseded all others: that he would lay down his own life or the lives of those dearest to him in submission to God's command. Muslims commemorate this ultimate act of sacrifice every year during Eid al-Adha.

 

While Eid al-Adha is always on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year since the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar. The lunar calendar is approximately eleven days shorter than the solar calendar. Each year, Eid al-Adha (like other Islamic holidays) falls on one of about 2–4 different Gregorian dates in different parts of the world, because the boundary of crescent visibility is different from the International Date Line.

 

The following list shows the official dates of Eid al-Adha for Saudi Arabia as announced by the Supreme Judicial Council. Future dates are estimated according to the Umm al-Qura calendar of Saudi Arabia.[22] However, it should be noted that the Umm al-Qura is just a guide for planning purposes and not the absolute determinant or fixer of dates. Confirmations of actual dates by moon sighting are applied to announce the specific dates for both Hajj rituals and the subsequent Eid festival. The three days after the listed date are also part of the festival. The time before the listed date the pilgrims visit the Mount Arafat and descend from it after sunrise of the listed day.

 

Future dates of Eid al-Adha might face correction 10 days before the festivity, in case of deviant lunar sighting in Saudi Arabia for the start of the month Dhul Hijja. In many countries, the start of any lunar Hijri month varies based on the observation of new moon by local religious authorities, so the exact day of celebration varies by locality.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_al-Adha

 

Happy Eid Mubarak to all my Muslim Friends ..Let there be Peace in the World and Tolerance too.

   

The Mosque of Ahmad Ibn Ţūlūn, located in Cairo, is arguably the oldest mosque in the city surviving in its original form, and is the largest mosque in Cairo in terms of land area.

 

The mosque was commissioned by Ahmad ibn Ţūlūn, the Turkic Abbassid governor of Egypt from 868–884 whose rule was characterized by de facto independence. The historian al-Maqrizi lists the mosque's construction start date as 876 AD, and the mosque's original inscription slab identifies the date of completion as 265 AH, or 879 AD.

 

The mosque was constructed on a small hill called Gebel Yashkur, "The Hill of Thanksgiving." One local legend says that it is here that Noah's Ark came to rest after the Deluge, instead of at Mount Ararat.

 

The grand ceremonial mosque was intended as the focal point of Ibn Ţūlūn's capital, al-Qata'i, which served as the center of administration for the Tulunid dynasty. The mosque originally was backed by ibn Ţūlūn's palace, and a door adjacent to the minbar allowed him direct entry to the mosque. Al-Qata'i was razed in the early 10th century, AD, and the mosque is the only surviving structure. The mosque was constructed in the Samarran style common with Abbasid constructions. The mosque is constructed around a courtyard, with one covered hall on each of the four sides, the largest being on the side of the qibla, or direction to Mecca. The original mosque had its ablution fountain (sabil) in the area between the inner and outer walls. A distinctive sabil with a high drum dome was added in the central courtyard at the end of the thirteenth century by the Sultan Lajīn.

 

There is significant controversy over the date of construction of the minaret, which features a helical outer staircase similar to that of the famous minaret in Samarra. It is also told that using these stairs one can climb up on a horse. Legend has it that ibn Ţūlūn himself was accidentally responsible for the design of the structure: supposedly while sitting with his officials, he absentmindedly wound a piece of parchment around his finger. When someone asked him what he was doing, he responded, embarrassed, that he was designing his minaret. Many of the architectural features, however, point to a later construction, in particular the way in which the minaret does not connect well with the main mosque structure, something that would have been averted had the minaret and mosque been built at the same time. Architectural historian Doris Behrens-Abouseif asserts that Sultan Lajīn, who restored the mosque in 1296, was responsible for the construction of the current minaret.

 

The mosque has been restored several times. The first known restoration was in 1177 under orders of the Fatimid wazir Badr al-Jamālī, who left a second inscription slab on the mosque, which is noted for containing the Shī'ī version of the shahada, adding the phrase "And Ali is the wali of God" after acknowledging the oneness of God and the prophethood of Muhammad. Sultan Lajīn's restoration of 1296 added several improvements. The mosque was most recently restored by the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities in 2004.

 

During the medieval period, several houses were built up against the outside walls of the mosque. Most were demolished in 1928 by the Committee for the Conservation of Arab Monuments, however, two of the oldest and best-preserved homes were left intact. The "house of the Cretan woman" (Bayt al-Kritliyya) and the Beit Amna bint Salim, were originally two separate structures, but a bridge at the third floor level was added at some point, combining them into a single structure. The house, accessible through the outer walls of the mosque, is open to the public as the Gayer-Anderson Museum, named after the British general R.G. 'John' Gayer-Anderson, who lived there until 1942.

This photo is for the Islamic poet reciter Bassim AlKarbalaie while mourning Imam Hussain (A) and his companions.

 

View My Most Interesting Photos on Flickriver

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In these days of the Islamic calender, the whole Shiate Muslim community live the sorrow of Imam Hussain (A) martyrdom. The event, in which Imam Hussain was killed, was a tragedy of different aspects.

 

In the month of Muharram 61 AH in Iraq at a place known as Karbala, a large army which had been mobilised by the Umayyad regime besieged a group of persons numbering less than a hundred and put them under pressure to pay allegiance to the Caliph of the time and submit to his authority. The small group resisted and a severe battle took place in which they were all killed. It appeared at that time that like hundreds of similar events, this battle would be recorded in history and forgotten in time. However, the events that occurred on the 10th day of Muharram in Kerbala were to become a beacon and an inspiration for future generations. Imam Hussain (A) was the leader of the small band of men who were martyred in Karbala. He is the son of Ali bin Abi Talib (A) and Fatima AlZahra'a (A) the daughter of the Holy Prophet Muhammed (S). Living in this holy family with its well known Islamic knowledge, there is no wonder why people recognized him before the event of Ashura for their religious needs. An example of the depth of his perception can be seen in his beautiful du'a on the day of Arafat, wherein he begins by explaining the qualities of Allah, saying:

"(Oh Allah) How could an argument be given about Your Existence by a being whose total and complete existence is in need of you? When did you ever disappear so that you might need an evidence and logic to lead (the people) towards You? And when did You ever become away and distant so that your signs and effects made the people get in touch with you? Blind be the eye which does not see You (whereas) You are observing him. What did the one who missed You find? And what does the one who finds You lack? Certainly, the one who got pleased and inclined toward other than You, came to nothingness (failed)."

 

On the other hand, we have Yazid, whose father (Muawiya) and grandfather (Abu Sufyan - the arch-enemy of the Prophet) had always tried to sabotage the mission of the Holy Prophet, and who showed his true colour by stating in a poem, "Bani Hashim had staged a play to obtain kingdom, there was neither any news from God nor any revelation." Thus, it is no wonder that Husain's response to Yazid's governor, when asked to pay allegiance to Yazid was, "We are the household of the prophethood, the source of messengership, the descending-place of the angels, through us Allah had began (showering His favours) and with us He has perfected (His favours), whereas Yazid is a sinful person, a drunkard, the killer of innocent people and one who openly indulges in sinful acts. A person like me can never pledge allegiance to a person like him ..."

 

The revolution of Imam Husain (A) was an Islamic movement spearheaded by one of the great leaders of Islam. The principles and laws of Islam demanded that Imam Husain (A) act to warn the Ummah of the evil situation which it was in, and to stand in the way of the deviating ruler. As Imam Husain (A) himself remarked when he left Madina for the last time, "I am not rising (against Yazid) as an insolent or an arrogant person, or a mischief-monger or tyrant. I have risen (against Yazid) as I seek to reform the Ummah of my grandfather. I wish to bid the good and forbid the evil."

 

Imam Hussain (A) was killed on the battlefield. His head was removed from his body on the plains of Karbala, mounted on a spear, and paraded through villages and towns as it was taken to Damascus and presented at the feet of Yazid.

 

Check also www.flickr.com/photos/dr-hani/3163300556/

Reference: www.ashura.com/

 

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Camera: Nikon D80

Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)

Aperture: f/2

Focal Length: 50 mm

Lens: Nikkor 50mm AF f/1.8

ISO Speed: 200

Exposure Bias: 0/6 EV

Flash: Flash fired, auto mode

Software: Adobe Lightroom 2 & Adobe Photoshop CS Windows

Exposure Program: Manual

 

210,091 items / 1,735,600 views

 

I shot most of my pictures from the road , I did not feel like going to the skywalk, I wanted proximity of spiritual peace and later much later I went up and shot a few frames from the sky walk..I did not shoot much ,and I shot the children Idd hugging picture that the parents generously give of the kids for for the next days lucky to be there in the newspapers.. The kids too have learnt the task of posing for the cameras , these kids are the best along with the sole girl.. they are the most wanted by the camera folks even bloggers like me..

 

I shoot the namaz barefeet as I do not want to disrespect the sanctity of the namaz with footwear..

 

About Eid Al Addha or Bakra Idd

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Eid al-Adha (Arabic: عيد الأضحى‎ ‘Īd al-’Aḍḥá, IPA: [ʕiːd al ʔadˁˈħaː], "feast of sacrifice") or "Festival of Sacrifice" or "Greater Eid" is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his son Ishmael (Isma'il) as an act of obedience to God, before God intervened to provide him with a sheep— to sacrifice instead.[1]

 

Eid al-Adha is the latter of two Eid festivals celebrated by Muslims, whose basis comes from Sura 2 (Al-Baqara) Ayah 196 in the Qur'an.[2] Like Eid ul-Fitr, Eid al-Adha begins with a Sunnah prayer of two Raka'ah (units) followed by a sermon (khuṭbah).

 

The word "Eid" appears in Sura al-Mai'da ("The Table Spread," Chapter 5) of the Qur'an, meaning 'solemn festival'.[3]

 

Eid al-Adha is celebrated annually on the 10th day of the 12th and the last Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah (ذو الحجة) of the lunar Islamic calendar.[4] Eid al-Adha celebrations start after the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia by Muslims worldwide, descend from Mount Arafat. The date is approximately 70 days (2 Months & 10 days) after the end of the month of Ramadan, i.e. Eid-ul-Fitr. Ritual observance of the holiday lasts until sunset of the 13th day of Dhu al-Hijjah.[5]

  

The Arabic term "Festival of Sacrifice", ‘Eid ul-’Aḍḥā, is similar to the Semitic roots that evolved into Indic languages such as Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati and Bengali and Austronesian languages such as Malay and Indonesian (the last often spelling it as Idul Adha or Iduladha).

 

Another Semitic word for "sacrifice" is the Arabic Qurbān (Arabic: قربان‎), which is used in Dari Persian and Standard Persian as Eyde Ghorbân عید قربان, and in Tajik Persian as Иди Қурбон (Idi Qurbon), into Kazakh as Құрбан айт (Qurban ayt), into Uyghur as Qurban Heyit, and also into various Indic languages. Other languages combined the Arabic word qurbān with local terms for "festival", as in Kurdish (Cejna Qurbanê[6]), Pashto (Kurbaneyy Akhtar), Chinese (古尔邦节 Gúěrbāng Jié), Malay and Indonesian (Hari Raya Korban, Qurbani), and Turkish (Kurban Bayramı).Azeri (Qurban Bayramı), Tatar (Qorban Bäyräme), Bosnian (Kurban bajram), Albanian(Bajramin e Kurbanit) Croatian (Kurban-bajram), Serbian (Курбан бајрам), Russian (Курбан-байрам), (Eid Kurbani Wari) in Sindhi.

Eid al-Kabir, "the Greater Eid" (the "Lesser Eid" being Eid ul-Fitr[7]), is used in Yemen, Syria, and North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt). The term was borrowed directly into French as Aïd el-Kebir. Translations of "Big Eid" or "Greater Eid" are used in Pashto لوی اختر Loy Akhtar, Kashmiri Baed Eid, Hindi and Urdu Baṛā Īd, Malayalam Bali Perunnal, and Tamil Peru Nāl.

 

Another name refers to the fact that the holiday occurs after the culmination of the Hajj (حج), or pilgrimage to Mecca (Makka). Such names are used in Malay and Indonesian (Hari Raya Haji "Hajj celebration day", Lebaran Haji), and in Tamil Hajji Peru Nāl.

 

In Urdu-speaking areas, the festival is also called بقرعید Baqra Īd or Baqrī Īd, stemming either from the Arabic baqarah "heifer" or the Urdu word baqrī for "goat", as cows and goats are among the traditionally sacrificed animals. That term was also borrowed into other languages, such as Tamil Bakr Eid Peru Nāl.

 

Other local names include 宰牲节 Zǎishēng Jié ("Slaughter-livestock Festival") in Chinese, Tfaska Tamoqqart in the Berber language of Djerba, Tabaski or Tobaski in West African languages,[8][9] Babbar Sallah in Nigerian languages, and ciida gawraca in Somali.

 

Eid-al-Adha has had other names outside the Muslim world. The name is often simply translated into the local language, such as English Festival of Sacrifice, German Opferfest, Dutch Offerfeest, Romanian Sărbătoarea Sacrificiului and Hungarian Áldozati ünnep. In Spanish, it is known as the Fiesta del Cordero, the Festival of the Lamb.

 

In Bangladesh and West Bengal it is known as Korbanir Eid কোরবানির ঈদ.

  

According to Islamic tradition, approximately four thousand years ago, the valley of Mecca (in what is now Saudi Arabia) was a dry, rocky and uninhabited place. Abraham ('Ibraheem in Arabic) was instructed to bring his Egyptian wife Hajra (Hāǧar) and Ishmael, his only child at the time (Ismā'īl), to Arabia from the land of Canaan by God's command.[citation needed]

 

As Abraham was preparing for his return journey back to Canaan, Hajra asked him, "Did Allah (God) order you to leave us here? or are you leaving us here to die." Abraham turned around to face his wife. He was so sad that he couldn't say anything. he pointed to the sky showing that God commanded him to do so. Hagar said, "Then Allah will not waste us; you can go". Though Abraham had left a large quantity of food and water with Hajra and Ishmael, the supplies quickly ran out, and within a few days the two began to feel the pangs of hunger and dehydration.

 

Hajra ran up and down between two hills called Al-Safa and Al-Marwah seven times, in her desperate quest for water. Exhausted, she finally collapsed beside her baby Ishmael and prayed to God for deliverance. Miraculously, a spring of water gushed forth from the earth at the feet of baby Ishmael. Other accounts have the angel Gabriel (Jibrail) striking the earth and causing the spring to flow in abundance. With this secure water supply, known as the Zamzam Well, they were not only able to provide for their own needs, but were also able to trade water with passing nomads for food and supplies.

 

Years later, Abraham was instructed by God to return from Canaan to build a place of worship adjacent to Hagar's well (the Zamzam Well). Abraham and Ishmael constructed a stone and mortar structure —known as the Kaaba— which was to be the gathering place for all who wished to strengthen their faith in God. As the years passed, Ishmael was blessed with Prophethood (Nubuwwah) and gave the nomads of the desert his message of submission to God. After many centuries, Mecca became a thriving desert city and a major center for trade, thanks to its reliable water source, the well of Zamzam.

 

One of the main trials of Abraham's life was to face the command of God to devote his dearest possession, his only son. Upon hearing this command, he prepared to submit to God's will. During this preparation, Satan (Shaitan) tempted Abraham and his family by trying to dissuade them from carrying out God's commandment, and Ibrahim drove Satan away by throwing pebbles at him. In commemoration of their rejection of Satan, stones are thrown at symbolic pillars signifying Satan during the Hajj rites.

 

hen Ishmael was about 13 (Ibrahim being 99), Allah (God) decided to test their faith in public. Abraham had a recurring dream, in which God was commanding him to offer his son as a sacrifice – an unimaginable act – sacrificing his son, which God had granted him after many years of deep prayer. Abraham knew that the dreams of the prophets were divinely inspired, and one of the ways in which God communicated with his prophets. When the intent of the dreams became clear to him, Abraham decided to fulfill God's command and offer Ishmael for sacrifice.

 

Although Abraham was ready to sacrifice his dearest for Allah's sake, he could not just go and drag his son to the place of sacrifice without his consent. Isma'el had to be consulted as to whether he was willing to give up his life as fulfillment to God's command. This consultation would be a major test of Isma'el's maturity in faith, love and commitment for Allah, willingness to obey his father and sacrifice his own life for the sake of Allah.

 

Abraham presented the matter to his son and asked for his opinion about the dreams of slaughtering him. Ishmael did not show any hesitation or reservation even for a moment. He said, "Father, do what you have been commanded. You will find me, Insha'Allah (God willing), to be very patient." His mature response, his deep insight into the nature of his father’s dreams, his commitment to Allah, and ultimately his willingness to sacrifice his own life for the sake of Allah were all unprecedented.

 

When both father and son had shown their perfect obedience to Allah and they had practically demonstrated their willingness to sacrifice their most precious possessions for His sake — Abraham by laying down his son for sacrifice and Ishmael by lying patiently under the knife – Allah called out to them stating that his sincere intentions had been accepted, and that he need not carry out the killing of Ishmael. Instead, Abraham was told to replace his son with a ram to sacrifice instead. Allah also told them that they had passed the test imposed upon them by his willingness to carry out God's command.[10]

 

This is mentioned in the Qur'an as follows:

 

"O my Lord! Grant me a righteous (son)!" So We gave him the good news of a boy, possessing forbearance. And when (his son) was old enough to walk and work with him, (Abraham) said: O my dear son, I see in vision that I offer you in sacrifice: Now see what is your view!" (The son) said: "O my father! Do what you are commanded; if Allah wills, you will find me one practising patience and steadfastness!" So when they both submitted and he threw him down upon his forehead, We called out to him saying: O Ibraheem! You have indeed fulfilled the vision; surely thus do We reward those who do good. Most surely this was a manifest trial. And We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice. And We perpetuated (praise) to him among the later generations. "Peace and salutation to Abraham!" Thus indeed do We reward those who do right. Surely he was one of Our believing servants.[11]

 

As a reward for this sacrifice, Allah then granted Abraham the good news of the birth of his second son, Is-haaq (Isaac):

 

And We gave him the good news of Is-haaq, a prophet from among the righteous.[12]

 

Abraham had shown that his love for God superseded all others: that he would lay down his own life or the lives of those dearest to him in submission to God's command. Muslims commemorate this ultimate act of sacrifice every year during Eid al-Adha.

[edit] The Sunnah of Eid al-Adha

 

n keeping with the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, Muslims are encouraged to prepare themselves for the occasion of Eid. Below is a list of things Muslims are recommended to do in preparation for the Eid al-Adha festival:

 

Make wudu (ablution) and offer Salat al-Fajr (the pre-sunrise prayer).

Prepare for personal cleanliness - take care of details of clothing, etc.

Dress up, putting on new or best clothes available.

 

[edit] Salat al-Eid (Eid prayer)

 

Salat al-Eid is a Wajib, not a fard kafaya. Fard kafaya meaning that if performed by some, the obligation falls from the rest congregational prayer. Eid prayer must be offered in congregation. It consists of two Raka'ah (units) with seven Takbirs in the first Raka'ah and five Takbirs in the second Raka'ah. For Sunni Muslims, Salat al-Eid differs from the five daily canonical prayers in that no adhan (Call to Prayer) or iqama (call) is pronounced for the two Eid prayers.[13] However, Shi'ite Muslims may begin Salat al-Eid with adhan (Call to Prayer)—with a third repetition of the line "Hayya ala salah" ("Come to prayer")—and iqama (call).[14] The Salaat (prayer) is then followed by the Khutbah, or sermon, by the Imam.

 

At the conclusion of the prayers and sermon, the Muslims embrace and exchange greetings with one other (Eid Mubarak), give gifts (Eidi) to children, and visit one another. Many Muslims also take this opportunity to invite their non-Muslims friends, neighbours, co-workers and classmates to their Eid festivities to better acquaint them about Islam and Muslim culture.[15]

  

Men, women, and children are expected to dress in their finest clothing to perform Eid prayer (ṣalātu l-`Īdi) in a large congregation is an open waqf field called Eidgah or mosque. Those Muslims who can afford, i.e Malik-e-Nisaab; sacrifice their best domestic animals (usually a cow, but can also be a camel, goat, sheep or ram depending on the region) as a symbol of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his only son. The sacrificed animals, called Uḍhiyyah (Arabic: أضحية‎, also known by its Persian term, "al-Qurbāni"), have to meet certain age and quality standards or else the animal is considered an unacceptable sacrifice. This tradition accounts for more than 100 million slaughtering of animals in only 2 days of Eid. In Pakistan alone nearly 10 million animals are slaughtered on Eid days costing over US$ 3 billion.[17]

 

The meat from the sacrificed animal is divided into three parts. The family retains one third of the share; another third is given to relatives, friends and neighbors; and the other third is given to the poor and needy. The regular charitable practices of the Muslim community are demonstrated during Eid al-Adha by concerted efforts to see that no impoverished person is left without an opportunity to partake in the sacrificial meal during these days.

 

During Eid al-Adha, distributing meat amongst the people, chanting the Takbir out loud before the Eid prayer on the first day and after prayers throughout the three days of Eid, are considered essential parts of this important Islamic festival. In some countries, families that do not own livestock can make a contribution to a charity that will provide meat to those who are in need.

Link: youtu.be/NJn4Ru6SkbE

 

#AskYounusAlGohar - How many times has His Divine Eminence Gohar Shahi appeared in this world and how did His parents name Him?

 

Main Points:

 

- We have heard from His Divine Eminence Himself that if we were to ask our grandparents and great grandparents about His Divine Eminence and show them His image, they would recognise Him immediately.

 

- His Divine Eminence Gohar Shahi has appeared at the very least 3 times in the past 400 years. He was present in the Kaaba during the al-Khurma dispute in ‎1918-1921. Although, His Divine Eminence was born in 1941.

 

- When His Divine Eminence was present during 1921, Prophet Mohammad instructed Ali to travel to Dhok Gohar Shah and prostrate to the land there. Ali travelled on foot all the way to Chittral, he could not go further. This is written in the books.

 

- Before the birth of Prophet Mohammad, Adam Safi Allah saw his name written in the Higher Realms. When a special personality is born, God either sends a Divine Inspiration or Gabriel to the parents in order to name the child.

 

- His Divine Eminence's real name is Riaz. "Ahmed" is affixed in tribute to the name of Prophet Mohammad's soul. We add "Ra" to make it "Ra Riaz" for the invocation.

Link: youtu.be/IIgXRw_g51w

 

His Holiness Younus AlGohar's reveals the secret to practically unifying the humanity into a single Global Nation, unveils the reality of Nasrullah, mentioned in the Holy Koran and God's desire to implement a military rule upon the world.

 

Main Points:

 

- It is time to become One United Nation and this concept comes from the Koran. Koran: Had God not awaited the Foremost Kalima, humanity would not be divided into many religions, groups and nations; all human beings would be One United Nation. The future of the entire humanity is becoming united as one Global Nation.

 

- Koran: You will see flocks upon flocks of human beings entering into the Religion of God. Here, God is trying to paint a picture of the future. And this invitation to spectate is for Prophet Mohammad; which clearly indicates to the fact that he is present.

 

- And when the Nasrullah arrives, all that which is hidden; the secrets shall be revealed. 'Nasrullah' means God's Helper. Prophethood may have terminated but God's Being is still present and he will continue to be in contact with man through His Divine Eminence Imam Mehdi Gohar Shahi.

 

- Previously, small nations were created and different messengers of God descended to establish the religion in order for human beings to reach God. However, now God wants a military rule. God wants to replace all the religions with his love.

Minarets in the Glow of Sunset

 

They are seen against the late glow of the sunset over the city of Bosra.

 

Bosra (Arabic: بصرى‎, also Bostra, Busrana, Bozrah, Bozra, Busra Eski Şam, Busra ash-Sham, Nova Trajana Bostra) is an ancient city administratively belonging to the Daraa Governorate in southern Syria. It is a major archaeological site and has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The settlement was first mentioned in the documents of Tutmose III and Akhenaton (14th century BC). Bosra was the first Nabatean city in the 2nd century BC. The Nabatean Kingdom was conquered by Cornelius Palma, a general of Trajan, in 106.

Under the Roman Empire, Bosra was renamed Nova Trajana Bostra, and was the residence of the legio III Cyrenaica and capital of the Roman province Arabia Petraea. The city flourished and became a major metropolis at the juncture of several trade routes, including the Roman road to the Red Sea. The two Councils of Arabia were held at Bostra in 246 and 247 AD. The city was conquered by the Sassanid Persians in the early 7th century, and, after a short Byzantine reconquest, was finally captured by the forces of the Rashidun Caliphate under Khalid ibn Walid in the Battle of Bosra (634). Thereafter it was an Islamic possession.

Bosra played an important part in the early life of the Prophet of Islam, Mohammed as described in the entry for the Christian Monk, Bahira. Bahira was witnessing to Muhammad in the prophethood.

Today, Bosra is a major archaeological site, containing ruins from Roman, Byzantine, and Muslim times, its main feature being the well preserved Roman theatre. Every year there is a national music festival hosted in the main theater.

Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosra

 

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The Quran (English pronunciation: /kɔrˈɑːn/ kor-AHN , Arabic: القرآن‎ al-qur'ān, IPA: [qurˈʔaːn], literally meaning "the recitation", also romanised Qur'an or Koran) is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God (Arabic: الله‎, Allah). Its scriptural status among a world-spanning religious community, and its major place within world literature generally, has led to a great deal of secondary literature on the Quran. Quranic chapters are called suras and verses are called ayahs.

 

Muslims believe that the Quran was verbally revealed by God to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel (Jibril), gradually over a period of approximately 23 years, beginning on 22 December 609 CE, when Muhammad was 40, and concluding in 632 CE, the year of his death. Muslims regard the Quran as the most important miracle of Muhammad, a proof of his prophethood, and the culmination of a series of divine messages that started with the messages revealed to Adam and ended with Muhammad. They consider the Quran to be the only revealed book that has been protected by God from distortion or corruption.

 

According to the traditional narrative, several companions of Muhammad served as scribes and were responsible for writing down the revelations. Shortly after Muhammad's death, the Quran was compiled by his companions who wrote down and memorized parts of it. These codices had differences that motivated the Caliph Uthman to establish a standard version now known as Uthman's codex, which is generally considered the archetype of the Quran we have today. However, the existence of variant readings, with mostly minor and some significant variations, and the early unvocalized Arabic script mean the relationship between Uthman's codex to both the text of today's Quran and to the revelations of Muhammad's time is still unclear.

 

The Quran assumes familiarity with major narratives recounted in the Jewish and Christian scriptures. It summarizes some, dwells at length on others and, in some cases, presents alternative accounts and interpretations of events. The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance. It sometimes offers detailed accounts of specific historical events, and it often emphasizes the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence. The Quran is used along with the hadith to interpret sharia law. During prayers, the Quran is recited only in Arabic.

 

Someone who has memorized the entire Quran is called a hafiz. Some Muslims read Quranic ayahs (verses) with elocution, which is often called tajwīd. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims typically complete the recitation of the whole Quran during tarawih prayers. In order to extrapolate the meaning of a particular Quranic verse, most Muslims rely on the tafsir.

 

ETYMOLOGY & MEANING

The word qurʼān appears about 70 times in the Quran itself, assuming various meanings. It is a verbal noun (maṣdar) of the Arabic verb qaraʼa (قرأ), meaning "he read" or "he recited". The Syriac equivalent is (ܩܪܝܢܐ) qeryānā, which refers to "scripture reading" or "lesson". While some Western scholars consider the word to be derived from the Syriac, the majority of Muslim authorities hold the origin of the word is qaraʼa itself. Regardless, it had become an Arabic term by Muhammad's lifetime. An important meaning of the word is the "act of reciting", as reflected in an early Quranic passage: "It is for Us to collect it and to recite it (qurʼānahu)."

 

In other verses, the word refers to "an individual passage recited [by Muhammad]". Its liturgical context is seen in a number of passages, for example: "So when al-qurʼān is recited, listen to it and keep silent." The word may also assume the meaning of a codified scripture when mentioned with other scriptures such as the Torah and Gospel.

 

The term also has closely related synonyms that are employed throughout the Quran. Each synonym possesses its own distinct meaning, but its use may converge with that of qurʼān in certain contexts. Such terms include kitāb (book); āyah (sign); and sūrah (scripture). The latter two terms also denote units of revelation. In the large majority of contexts, usually with a definite article (al-), the word is referred to as the "revelation" (waḥy), that which has been "sent down" (tanzīl) at intervals. Other related words are: dhikr (remembrance), used to refer to the Quran in the sense of a reminder and warning, and ḥikmah (wisdom), sometimes referring to the revelation or part of it.

 

The Quran describes itself as "the discernment or the criterion between truth and falsehood" (al-furqān), "the mother book" (umm al-kitāb), "the guide" (huda), "the wisdom" (hikmah), "the remembrance" (dhikr) and "the revelation" (tanzīl; something sent down, signifying the descent of an object from a higher place to lower place). Another term is al-kitāb (the book), though it is also used in the Arabic language for other scriptures, such as the Torah and the Gospels. The adjective of "Quran" has multiple transliterations including "quranic," "koranic" and "qur'anic," or capitalised as "Qur'anic," "Koranic" and "Quranic." The term muṣḥaf ('written work') is often used to refer to particular Quranic manuscripts but is also used in the Quran to identify earlier revealed books. Other transliterations of "Quran" include "al-Coran", "Coran", "Kuran" and "al-Qurʼan".

 

HISTORY

PROPHETIC ERA

Islamic tradition relates that Muhammad received his first revelation in the Cave of Hira during one of his isolated retreats to the mountains. Thereafter, he received revelations over a period of 23 years. According to hadith and Muslim history, after Muhammad emigrated to Medina and formed an independent Muslim community, he ordered many of his companions to recite the Quran and to learn and teach the laws, which were revealed daily. It is related that some of the Quraish who were taken prisoners at the battle of Badr regained their freedom after they had taught some of the Muslims the simple writing of the time. Thus a group of Muslims gradually became literate. As it was initially spoken, the Quran was recorded on tablets, bones, and the wide, flat ends of date palm fronds. Most suras were in use amongst early Muslims since they are mentioned in numerous sayings by both Sunni and Shia sources, relating Muhammad's use of the Quran as a call to Islam, the making of prayer and the manner of recitation. However, the Quran did not exist in book form at the time of Muhammad's death in 632 CE. There is agreement among scholars that Muhammad himself did not write down the revelation.

 

Sahih al-Bukhari narrates Muhammad describing the revelations as, "Sometimes it is (revealed) like the ringing of a bell" and Aisha reported, "I saw the Prophet being inspired Divinely on a very cold day and noticed the sweat dropping from his forehead (as the Inspiration was over)." Muhammad's first revelation, according to the Quran, was accompanied with a vision. The agent of revelation is mentioned as the "one mighty in power", the one who "grew clear to view when he was on the uppermost horizon. Then he drew nigh and came down till he was (distant) two bows' length or even nearer." The Islamic studies scholar Welch states in the Encyclopaedia of Islam that he believes the graphic descriptions of Muhammad's condition at these moments may be regarded as genuine, because he was severely disturbed after these revelations. According to Welch, these seizures would have been seen by those around him as convincing evidence for the superhuman origin of Muhammad's inspirations. However, Muhammad's critics accused him of being a possessed man, a soothsayer or a magician since his experiences were similar to those claimed by such figures well known in ancient Arabia. Welch additionally states that it remains uncertain whether these experiences occurred before or after Muhammad's initial claim of prophethood. The Quran describes Muhammad as "ummi", which is traditionally interpreted as "illiterate," but the meaning is rather more complex. The medieval commentators such as Al-Tabari maintained that the term induced two meanings: first, the inability to read or write in general; second, the inexperience or ignorance of the previous books or scriptures (but they gave priority to the first meaning). Besides, Muhammad's illiteracy was taken as a sign of the genuineness of his prophethood. For example, according to Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, if Muhammad had mastered writing and reading he possibly would have been suspected of having studied the books of the ancestors. Some scholars such as Watt prefer the second meaning.

 

COMPILATION

Based on earlier transmitted reports, in the year 632 CE, after Muhammad died and a number of his companions who knew the Quran by heart were killed in a battle by Musaylimah, the first caliph Abu Bakr (d. 634CE) decided to collect the book in one volume so that it could be preserved. Zayd ibn Thabit (d. 655CE) was the person to collect the Quran since "he used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah's Apostle". Thus, a group of scribes, most importantly Zayd, collected the verses and produced a hand-written manuscript of the complete book. The manuscript according to Zayd remained with Abu Bakr until he died. Zayd's reaction to the task and the difficulties in collecting the Quranic material from parchments, palm-leaf stalks, thin stones and from men who knew it by heart is recorded in earlier narratives. After Abu Bakr, Hafsa bint Umar, Muhammad's widow, was entrusted with the manuscript. In about 650 CE, the third Caliph Uthman ibn Affan (d. 656CE) began noticing slight differences in pronunciation of the Quran as Islam expanded beyond the Arabian peninsula into Persia, the Levant, and North Africa. In order to preserve the sanctity of the text, he ordered a committee headed by Zayd to use Abu Bakr's copy and prepare a standard copy of the Quran. Thus, within 20 years of Muhammad's death, the Quran was committed to written form. That text became the model from which copies were made and promulgated throughout the urban centers of the Muslim world, and other versions are believed to have been destroyed. The present form of the Quran text is accepted by Muslim scholars to be the original version compiled by Abu Bakr.

 

According to Shia and some Sunni scholars, Ali ibn Abi Talib (d. 661CE) compiled a complete version of the Quran shortly after Muhammad's death. The order of this text differed from that gathered later during Uthman's era in that this version had been collected in chronological order. Despite this, he made no objection against the standardized Quran and accepted the Quran in circulation. Other personal copies of the Quran might have existed including Ibn Mas'ud's and Ubayy ibn Kab's codex, none of which exist today.

 

The Quran most likely existed in scattered written form during Muhammad's lifetime. Several sources indicate that during Muhammad's lifetime a large number of his companions had memorized the revelations. Early commentaries and Islamic historical sources support the above-mentioned understanding of the Quran's early development. The Quran in its present form is generally considered by academic scholars to record the words spoken by Muhammad because the search for variants has not yielded any differences of great significance. Although most variant readings of the text of the Quran have ceased to be transmitted, some still are. There has been no critical text produced on which a scholarly reconstruction of the Quranic text could be based. Historically, controversy over the Quran's content has rarely become an issue, although debates continue on the subject.

 

In 1972, in a mosque in the city of Sana'a, Yemen, manuscripts were discovered that were later proved to be the most ancient Quranic text known to exist. The Sana'a manuscripts contain palimpsests, a manuscript page from which the text has been washed off to make the parchment reusable again - a practice which was common in ancient times due to scarcity of writing material. However, the faint washed-off underlying text (scriptio inferior) is still barely visible and believed to be "pre-Uthmanic" Quranic content, while the text written on top (scriptio superior) is believed to belong to Uthmanic time. Studies using radiocarbon dating indicate that the parchments are dated to the period before 671 AD with a 99 percent probability.

 

SIGNIFICANCE IN ISLAM

WORSHIP

Muslims believe the Quran to be the book of divine guidance revealed from God to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel over a period of 23 years and view the Quran as God's final revelation to humanity. They also believe that the Quran has solutions to all the problems of humanity irrespective of how complex they may be and in what age they occur.

 

Revelation in Islamic and Quranic concept means the act of God addressing an individual, conveying a message for a greater number of recipients. The process by which the divine message comes to the heart of a messenger of God is tanzil (to send down) or nuzūl (to come down). As the Quran says, "With the truth we (God) have sent it down and with the truth it has come down."

 

The Quran frequently asserts in its text that it is divinely ordained. Some verses in the Quran seem to imply that even those who do not speak Arabic would understand the Quran if it were recited to them. The Quran refers to a written pre-text, "the preserved tablet", that records God's speech even before it was sent down.

 

The issue of whether the Quran is eternal or created became a theological debate (Quran's createdness) in the ninth century. Mu'tazilas, an Islamic school of theology based on reason and rational thought, held that the Quran was created while the most widespread varieties of Muslim theologians considered the Quran to be co-eternal with God and therefore uncreated. Sufi philosophers view the question as artificial or wrongly framed.

 

Muslims believe that the present wording of the Quran corresponds to that revealed to Muhammad, and according to their interpretation of Quran 15:9, it is protected from corruption ("Indeed, it is We who sent down the Quran and indeed, We will be its guardian."). Muslims consider the Quran to be a guide, a sign of the prophethood of Muhammad and the truth of the religion. They argue it is not possible for a human to produce a book like the Quran, as the Quran itself maintains.

 

Muslims commemorate annually the beginning of Quran's revelation on the Night of Destiny (Laylat al-Qadr), during the last 10 days of Ramadan, the month during which they fast from sunrise until sunset.

 

The first sura of the Quran is repeated in daily prayers and in other occasions. This sura, which consists of seven verses, is the most often recited sura of the Quran:

 

"All praise belongs to God, Lord of the Universe, the Beneficent, the Merciful and Master of the Day of Judgment, You alone We do worship and from You alone we do seek assistance, guide us to the right path, the path of those to whom You have granted blessings, those who are neither subject to Your anger nor have gone astray."

 

Respect for the written text of the Quran is an important element of religious faith by many Muslims, and the Quran is treated with reverence. Based on tradition and a literal interpretation of Quran 56:79 ("none shall touch but those who are clean"), some Muslims believe that they must perform a ritual cleansing with water before touching a copy of the Quran, although this view is not universal. Worn-out copies of the Quran are wrapped in a cloth and stored indefinitely in a safe place, buried in a mosque or a Muslim cemetery, or burned and the ashes buried or scattered over water.

 

In Islam, most intellectual disciplines, including Islamic theology, philosophy, mysticism and Jurisprudence, have been concerned with the Quran or have their foundation in its teachings. Muslims believe that the preaching or reading of the Quran is rewarded with divine rewards variously called ajr, thawab or hasanat.

 

IN ISLAMIC ART

The Quran also inspired Islamic arts and specifically the so-called Quranic arts of calligraphy and illumination.[1] The Quran is never decorated with figurative images, but many Qurans have been highly decorated with decorative patterns in the margins of the page, or between the lines or at the start of suras. Islamic verses appear in many other media, on buildings and on objects of all sizes, such as mosque lamps, metal work, pottery and single pages of calligraphy for muraqqas or albums.

 

INIMITABILITY

Inimitability of the Quran (or "I'jaz") is the belief that no human speech can match the Quran in its content and form. The Quran is considered an inimitable miracle by Muslims, effective until the Day of Resurrection - and, thereby, the central proof granted to Muhammad in authentication of his prophetic status. The concept of inimitability originates in the Quran where in five different verses opponents are challenged to produce something like the Quran: "If men and sprites banded together to produce the like of this Quran they would never produce its like not though they backed one another."[61] So the suggestion is that if there are doubts concerning the divine authorship of the Quran, come forward and create something like it. From the ninth century, numerous works appeared which studied the Quran and examined its style and content. Medieval Muslim scholars including al-Jurjani (d. 1078CE) and al-Baqillani (d. 1013CE) have written treatises on the subject, discussed its various aspects, and used linguistic approaches to study the Quran. Others argue that the Quran contains noble ideas, has inner meanings, maintained its freshness through the ages and has caused great transformations in individual level and in the history. Some scholars state that the Quran contains scientific information that agrees with modern science. The doctrine of miraculousness of the Quran is further emphasized by Muhammad's illiteracy since the unlettered prophet could not have been suspected of composing the Quran.

 

TEXT & ARRANGEMENT

The Quran consists of 114 chapters of varying lengths, each known as a sura. Suras are classified as Meccan or Medinan, depending on whether the verses were revealed before or after the migration of Muhammad to the city of Medina. However, a sura classified as Medinan may contain Meccan verses in it and vice versa. Sura titles are derived from a name or quality discussed in the text, or from the first letters or words of the surah. Suras are arranged roughly in order of decreasing size. The sura arrangement is thus not connected to the sequence of revelation. Each sura except the ninth starts with the Bismillah (بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم) an Arabic phrase meaning 'In the name of God.' There are, however, still 114 occurrences of the Bismillah in the Quran, due to its presence in Quran 27:30 as the opening of Solomon's letter to the Queen of Sheba.

 

Each sura consists of several verses, known as ayat, which originally means a 'sign' or 'evidence' sent by God. The number of verses differs from sura to sura. An individual verse may be just a few letters or several lines. The total number of verses in the Quran is 6236, however, the number varies if the bismillahs are counted separately.

 

In addition to and independent of the division into suras, there are various ways of dividing the Quran into parts of approximately equal length for convenience in reading. The 30 juz' (plural ajzāʼ) can be used to read through the entire Quran in a month. Some of these parts are known by names - which are the first few words by which the juzʼ starts. A juz' is sometimes further divided into two ḥizb (plural aḥzāb), and each hizb subdivided into four rubʻ al-ahzab. The Quran is also divided into seven approximately equal parts, manzil (plural manāzil), for it to be recited in a week.

 

Muqatta'at, or the Quranic initials, are 14 different letter combinations of 14 Arabic letters that appear in the beginning of 29 suras of the Quran. The meanings of these initials remain unclear.

 

According to one estimate the Quran consists of 77,430 words, 18,994 unique words, 12,183 stems, 3,382 lemmas and 1,685 roots.

 

CONTENTS

The Quranic content is concerned with the basic beliefs of Islam which include the existence of God and the resurrection. Narratives of the early prophets, ethical and legal subjects, historical events of Muhammad's time, charity and prayer also appear in the Quran. The Quranic verses contain general exhortations regarding right and wrong and the historical events are related to outline general moral lessons. Verses pertaining to natural phenomena have been interpreted by Muslims as an indication of the authenticity of the Quranic message.

 

MONOTHEISM

The central theme of the Quran is monotheism. God is depicted as living, eternal, omniscient and omnipotent (see, e.g., Quran 2:20, 2:29, 2:255). God's omnipotence appears above all in his power to create. He is the creator of everything, of the heavens and the earth and what is between them (see, e.g., Quran 13:16, 50:38, etc.). All human beings are equal in their utter dependence upon God, and their well-being depends upon their acknowledging that fact and living accordingly.

 

The Quran uses cosmological and contingency arguments in various verses without referring to the terms to prove the existence of God. Therefore, the universe is originated and needs an originator, and whatever exists must have a sufficient cause for its existence. Besides, the design of the universe, is frequently referred to as a point of contemplation: "It is He who has created seven heavens in harmony. You cannot see any fault in God's creation; then look again: Can you see any flaw?"

 

ESCHATOLOGY

The doctrine of the last day and eschatology (the final fate of the universe) may be reckoned as the second great doctrine of the Quran. It is estimated that around a full one-third of the Quran is eschatological, dealing with the afterlife in the next world and with the day of judgment at the end of time. There is a reference of the afterlife on most pages of the Quran and the belief in the afterlife is often referred to in conjunction with belief in God as in the common expression: "Believe in God and the last day". A number of suras such as 44, 56, 75, 78, 81 and 101 are directly related to the afterlife and its preparations. Some of the suras indicate the closeness of the event and warn people to be prepared for the imminent day. For instance, the first verses of Sura 22, which deal with the mighty earthquake and the situations of people on that day, represent this style of divine address: "O People! Be respectful to your Lord. The earthquake of the Hour is a mighty thing."

 

The Quran is often vivid in its depiction of what will happen at the end time. Watt describes the Quranic view of End Time:

 

"The climax of history, when the present world comes to an end, is referred to in various ways. It is 'the Day of Judgment,' 'the Last Day,' 'the Day of Resurrection,' or simply 'the Hour.' Less frequently it is 'the Day of Distinction' (when the good are separated from the evil), 'the Day of the Gathering' (of men to the presence of God) or 'the Day of the Meeting' (of men with God). The Hour comes suddenly. It is heralded by a shout, by a thunderclap, or by the blast of a trumpet. A cosmic upheaval then takes place. The mountains dissolve into dust, the seas boil up, the sun is darkened, the stars fall and the sky is rolled up. God appears as Judge, but his presence is hinted at rather than described. [...] The central interest, of course, is in the gathering of all mankind before the Judge. Human beings of all ages, restored to life, join the throng. To the scoffing objection of the unbelievers that former generations had been dead a long time and were now dust and mouldering bones, the reply is that God is nevertheless able to restore them to life."

 

The Quran does not assert a natural immortality of the human soul, since man's existence is dependent on the will of God: when he wills, he causes man to die; and when he wills, he raises him to life again in a bodily resurrection.[68]

 

PROPHETS

According to the Quran, God communicated with man and made his will known through signs and revelations. Prophets, or 'Messengers of God', received revelations and delivered them to humanity. The message has been identical and for all humankind. "Nothing is said to you that was not said to the messengers before you, that your lord has at his Command forgiveness as well as a most Grievous Penalty." The revelation does not come directly from God to the prophets. Angels acting as God's messengers deliver the divine revelation to them. This comes out in Quran 42:51, in which it is stated: "It is not for any mortal that God should speak to them, except by revelation, or from behind a veil, or by sending a messenger to reveal by his permission whatsoever He will."

 

ETHICO-RELIGIOUS CONCEPTS

Belief is the center of the sphere of positive moral properties in the Quran. A number of scholars have tried to determine the semantic contents of the words meaning 'belief' and 'believer' in the Quran [70] The Ethico-legal concepts and exhortations dealing with righteous conduct are linked to a profound awareness of God, thereby emphasizing the importance of faith, accountability and the belief in each human's ultimate encounter with God. People are invited to perform acts of charity, especially for the needy. Believers who "spend of their wealth by night and by day, in secret and in public" are promised that they "shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve" It also affirms family life by legislating on matters of marriage, divorce and inheritance. A number of practices such as usury and gambling are prohibited. The Quran is one of the fundamental sources of the Islamic law, or sharia. Some formal religious practices receive significant attention in the Quran including the formal prayers and fasting in the month of Ramadan. As for the manner in which the prayer is to be conducted, the Quran refers to prostration. The term used for charity, Zakat, actually means purification. Charity, according to the Quran, is a means of self-purification.

 

LITERARY STYLE

The Quran's message is conveyed with various literary structures and devices. In the original Arabic, the suras and verses employ phonetic and thematic structures that assist the audience's efforts to recall the message of the text. Muslims[who?] assert (according to the Quran itself) that the Quranic content and style is inimitable.

 

The language of the Quran has been described as "rhymed prose" as it partakes of both poetry and prose, however, this description runs the risk of compromising the rhythmic quality of Quranic language, which is certainly more poetic in some parts and more prose-like in others. Rhyme, while found throughout the Quran, is conspicuous in many of the earlier Meccan suras, in which relatively short verses throw the rhyming words into prominence. The effectiveness of such a form is evident for instance in Sura 81, and there can be no doubt that these passages impressed the conscience of the hearers. Frequently a change of rhyme from one set of verses to another signals a change in the subject of discussion. Later sections also preserve this form but the style is more expository.

 

The Quranic text seems to have no beginning, middle, or end, its nonlinear structure being akin to a web or net. The textual arrangement is sometimes considered to have lack of continuity, absence of any chronological or thematic order and presence of repetition. Michael Sells, citing the work of the critic Norman O. Brown, acknowledges Brown's observation that the seeming disorganization of Quranic literary expression – its scattered or fragmented mode of composition in Sells's phrase – is in fact a literary device capable of delivering profound effects as if the intensity of the prophetic message were shattering the vehicle of human language in which it was being communicated. Sells also addresses the much-discussed repetitiveness of the Quran, seeing this, too, as a literary device.

 

A text is self-referential when it speaks about itself and makes reference to itself. According to Stefan Wild the Quran demonstrates this meta-textuality by explaining, classifying, interpreting and justifying the words to be transmitted. Self-referentiality is evident in those passages when the Quran refers to itself as revelation (tanzil), remembrance (dhikr), news (naba'), criterion (furqan) in a self-designating manner (explicitly asserting its Divinity, "And this is a blessed Remembrance that We have sent down; so are you now denying it?"), or in the frequent appearance of the 'Say' tags, when Muhammad is commanded to speak (e.g. "Say: 'God's guidance is the true guidance' ", "Say: 'Would you then dispute with us concerning God?' "). According to Wild the Quran is highly self-referential. The feature is more evident in early Meccan suras.

 

INTERPRETATION

The Quran has sparked a huge body of commentary and explication (tafsīr), aimed at explaining the "meanings of the Quranic verses, clarifying their import and finding out their significance".

 

Tafsir is one of the earliest academic activities of Muslims. According to the Quran, Muhammad was the first person who described the meanings of verses for early Muslims. Other early exegetes included a few Companions of Muhammad, like ʻAli ibn Abi Talib, ʻAbdullah ibn Abbas, ʻAbdullah ibn Umar and Ubayy ibn Kaʻb. Exegesis in those days was confined to the explanation of literary aspects of the verse, the background of its revelation and, occasionally, interpretation of one verse with the help of the other. If the verse was about a historical event, then sometimes a few traditions (hadith) of Muhammad were narrated to make its meaning clear.

 

Because the Quran is spoken in classical Arabic, many of the later converts to Islam (mostly non-Arabs) did not always understand the Quranic Arabic, they did not catch allusions that were clear to early Muslims fluent in Arabic and they were concerned with reconciling apparent conflict of themes in the Quran. Commentators erudite in Arabic explained the allusions, and perhaps most importantly, explained which Quranic verses had been revealed early in Muhammad's prophetic career, as being appropriate to the very earliest Muslim community, and which had been revealed later, canceling out or "abrogating" (nāsikh) the earlier text (mansūkh). Other scholars, however, maintain that no abrogation has taken place in the Quran. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has published a 10-volume Urdu commentary on the Quran, with the name Tafseer e Kabir.

 

ESOTERIC INTERPRETATION

Esoteric or Sufi interpretation attempts to unveil the inner meanings of the Quran. Sufism moves beyond the apparent (zahir) point of the verses and instead relates Quranic verses to the inner or esoteric (batin) and metaphysical dimensions of consciousness and existence. According to Sands, esoteric interpretations are more suggestive than declarative, they are 'allusions' (isharat) rather than explanations (tafsir). They indicate possibilities as much as they demonstrate the insights of each writer.

 

Sufi interpretation, according to Annabel Keeler, also exemplifies the use of the theme of love, as for instance can seen in Qushayri's interpretation of the Quran. Quran 7:143 says:

 

"when Moses came at the time we appointed, and his Lord spoke to him, he said, 'My Lord, show yourself to me! Let me see you!' He said, 'you shall not see me but look at that mountain, if it remains standing firm you will see me.' When his Lord revealed Himself to the mountain, He made it crumble. Moses fell down unconscious. When he recovered, he said, 'Glory be to you! I repent to you! I am the first to believe!'"

 

Moses, in 7:143, comes the way of those who are in love, he asks for a vision but his desire is denied, he is made to suffer by being commanded to look at other than the Beloved while the mountain is able to see God. The mountain crumbles and Moses faints at the sight of God's manifestation upon the mountain. In Qushayri's words, Moses came like thousands of men who traveled great distances, and there was nothing left to Moses of Moses. In that state of annihilation from himself, Moses was granted the unveiling of the realities. From the Sufi point of view, God is the always the beloved and the wayfarer's longing and suffering lead to realization of the truths.[90]

 

Muhammad Husayn Tabatabaei says that according to the popular explanation among the later exegetes, ta'wil indicates the particular meaning a verse is directed towards. The meaning of revelation (tanzil), as opposed to ta'wil, is clear in its accordance to the obvious meaning of the words as they were revealed. But this explanation has become so widespread that, at present, it has become the primary meaning of ta'wil, which originally meant "to return" or "the returning place". In Tabatabaei's view, what has been rightly called ta'wil, or hermeneutic interpretation of the Quran, is not concerned simply with the denotation of words. Rather, it is concerned with certain truths and realities that transcend the comprehension of the common run of men; yet it is from these truths and realities that the principles of doctrine and the practical injunctions of the Quran issue forth. Interpretation is not the meaning of the verse - rather it transpires through that meaning, in a special sort of transpiration. There is a spiritual reality - which is the main objective of ordaining a law, or the basic aim in describing a divine attribute - and then there is an actual significance that a Quranic story refers to.

 

According to Shia beliefs, those who are firmly rooted in knowledge like Muhammad and the imams know the secrets of the Quran. According to Tabatabaei, the statement "none knows its interpretation except God" remains valid, without any opposing or qualifying clause. Therefore, so far as this verse is concerned, the knowledge of the Quran's interpretation is reserved for God. But Tabatabaei uses other verses and concludes that those who are purified by God know the interpretation of the Quran to a certain extent.

 

According to Tabatabaei, there are acceptable and unacceptable esoteric interpretations. Acceptable ta'wil refers to the meaning of a verse beyond its literal meaning; rather the implicit meaning, which ultimately is known only to God and can't be comprehended directly through human thought alone. The verses in question here refer to the human qualities of coming, going, sitting, satisfaction, anger and sorrow, which are apparently attributed to God. Unacceptable ta'wil is where one "transfers" the apparent meaning of a verse to a different meaning by means of a proof; this method is not without obvious inconsistencies. Although this unacceptable ta'wil has gained considerable acceptance, it is incorrect and cannot be applied to the Quranic verses. The correct interpretation is that reality a verse refers to. It is found in all verses, the decisive and the ambiguous alike; it is not a sort of a meaning of the word; it is a fact that is too sublime for words. God has dressed them with words to bring them a bit nearer to our minds; in this respect they are like proverbs that are used to create a picture in the mind, and thus help the hearer to clearly grasp the intended idea.

 

HISTORY OF SUFI COMMENTARIES

One of the notable authors of esoteric interpretation prior to the 12th century is Sulami (d. 1021 CE) without whose work the majority of very early Sufi commentaries would not have been preserved. Sulami's major commentary is a book named haqaiq al-tafsir ("Truths of Exegesis") which is a compilation of commentaries of earlier Sufis. From the 11th century onwards several other works appear, including commentaries by Qushayri (d. 1074), Daylami (d. 1193), Shirazi (d. 1209) and Suhrawardi (d. 1234). These works include material from Sulami's books plus the author's contributions. Many works are written in Persian such as the works of Maybudi (d. 1135) kash al-asrar ("the unveiling of the secrets"). Rumi (d. 1273) wrote a vast amount of mystical poetry in his book Mathnawi. Rumi makes heavy use of the Quran in his poetry, a feature that is sometimes omitted in translations of Rumi's work. A large number of Quranic passages can be found in Mathnawi, which some consider a kind of Sufi interpretation of the Quran. Rumi's book is not exceptional for containing citations from and elaboration on the Quran, however, Rumi does mention Quran more frequently. Simnani (d. 1336) wrote two influential works of esoteric exegesis on the Quran. He reconciled notions of God's manifestation through and in the physical world with the sentiments of Sunni Islam. Comprehensive Sufi commentaries appears in the 18th century such as the work of Ismail Hakki Bursevi (d. 1725). His work ruh al-Bayan (the Spirit of Elucidation) is a voluminous exegesis. Written in Arabic, it combines the author's own ideas with those of his predecessors (notably Ibn Arabi and Ghazali), all woven together in Hafiz, a Persian poetry form.

 

LEVELS OF MEANING

Unlike the Salafis and Zahiri, Shias and Sufis as well as some other Muslim philosophers believe the meaning of the Quran is not restricted to the literal aspect. For them, it is an essential idea that the Quran also has inward aspects. Henry Corbin narrates a hadith that goes back to Muhammad:

 

"The Quran possesses an external appearance and a hidden depth, an exoteric meaning and an esoteric meaning. This esoteric meaning in turn conceals an esoteric meaning (this depth possesses a depth, after the image of the celestial Spheres, which are enclosed within each other). So it goes on for seven esoteric meanings (seven depths of hidden depth)."

 

According to this view, it has also become evident that the inner meaning of the Quran does not eradicate or invalidate its outward meaning. Rather, it is like the soul, which gives life to the body. Corbin considers the Quran to play a part in Islamic philosophy, because gnosiology itself goes hand in hand with prophetology.

 

Commentaries dealing with the zahir (outward aspects) of the text are called tafsir, and hermeneutic and esoteric commentaries dealing with the batin are called ta'wil ("interpretation" or "explanation"), which involves taking the text back to its beginning. Commentators with an esoteric slant believe that the ultimate meaning of the Quran is known only to God. In contrast, Quranic literalism, followed by Salafis and Zahiris, is the belief that the Quran should only be taken at its apparent meaning.

 

TRANSLATIONS

Translation of the Quran has always been a problematic and difficult issue. Many argue that the Quranic text cannot be reproduced in another language or form. Furthermore, an Arabic word may have a range of meanings depending on the context, making an accurate translation even more difficult.

 

Nevertheless, the Quran has been translated into most African, Asian and European languages. The first translator of the Quran was Salman the Persian, who translated surat al-Fatiha into Persian during the seventh century. Another translation of the Quran was completed in 884 CE in Alwar (Sindh, India now Pakistan) by the orders of Abdullah bin Umar bin Abdul Aziz on the request of the Hindu Raja Mehruk.

 

The first fully attested complete translations of the Quran were done between the 10th and 12th centuries in Persian language. The Samanid king, Mansur I (961-976), ordered a group of scholars from Khorasan to translate the Tafsir al-Tabari, originally in Arabic, into Persian. Later in the 11th century, one of the students of Abu Mansur Abdullah al-Ansari wrote a complete tafsir of the Quran in Persian. In the 12th century, Najm al-Din Abu Hafs al-Nasafi translated the Quran into Persian. The manuscripts of all three books have survived and have been published several times.

 

Islamic tradition also holds that translations were made for Emperor Negus of Abyssinia and Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, as both received letters by Muhammad containing verses from the Quran. In early centuries, the permissibility of translations was not an issue, but whether one could use translations in prayer.

 

In 1936, translations in 102 languages were known. In 2010, the Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review reported that the Quran was presented in 112 languages at the 18th International Quran Exhibition in Tehran.

   

Abu Bakr

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

For other people named Abu Bakr, see Abu Bakr (name).

Abu Bakr

 

Caliph Abu Bakr's Empire at its greatest extent.

Born c. 573 CE Mecca, Arabia or present-day Saudi Arabia

Died 23 August 634 Medina, Saudi Arabia

Reign 8 June 632–23 August 634

Title(s) as-Siddeeq, as-Sadiq, Sadiq al-Akbar, Khalifa-tul-Rasool (Successor of messenger of Allah)

Buried Al-Masjid al-Nabawi

Predecessor Muhammad

Successor Umar

Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Abi Quhafa As-Siddiq (Arabic: أبو بكر الصديق or عبد الله بن أبي قحافة; Transliteration: Abū Bakr as-Siddīq or 'Abdallah bin Abī Quhāfah, c. 573 CE – 23 August 634/13 AH)[1] was an early person to convert to Islam and a senior companion (Sahaba) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.[2] Throughout his life, Abu Bakr remained a friend and confidante of Muhammad. Upon Muhammad's death he became the first Muslim ruler (632–634), regarded in Sunni Islam as the first of the Rashidun (righteously guided Caliphs).[3] His caliphate lasted two years and three months, during which time he consolidated the Muslim state. Upon the death of Muhammad, some tribes rebelled, and in return he fought the Ridda wars against these Arab tribes to establish Islamic rule over all of Arabia. He also conquered the lands of Syria and Iraq.[4]

 

Lineage

Full name 'Abd Allah ibn 'Uthman ibn Amir ibn Amru ibn Ka'ab ibn Sa'ad ibn Taim ibn Murrah ibn Ka'ab ibn Lu'ai ibn Ghalib ibn Fihr al-Quraishi at-Taimi [5][6].

  

Early life

Abu Bakr was born in Mecca some time in the year 573 CE, in the Banu Taym branch of the Quraysh tribe. Abu Bakr's father's name was Uthman Abu Qahafa nicknamed Abu Qahafa, and his mother was Salma Umm-ul-Khair nicknamed Umm-ul-Khair. The birth name of Abu Bakr was Abdul Kaaba (servant of Kaaba) and when he accepted Islam in 610 he was named Abdullah (servant of Allah) by Muhammad. Abu Bakr was a thin man with white skin [7]. Tabari relates (Suyuti also relates the same through Ibn Sa'd al-Baghdadi's report) from Aisha her description of Abu Bakr:

 

He was a man with fair skin, thin, emaciated, with a sparse beard, a slightly hunched frame, sunken eyes and protruding forehead, and the bases of his fingers were hairless. [8]

 

By most reports he was very handsome,[citation needed] and for his beauty he earned the nickname of Atiq. He was born in a rich family. He spent his early childhood like other Arab children of the time among the Bedouins who called themselves Ahl-i-Ba'eer- the people of the camel, he developed a particular fondness for camels.

  

Wazir Khan Mosque, in Pakistan, (16th century) sayings of the companions of Muhammad on the northern wall of the arched gateway of the central prayer chamber.In his early years he played with the camel foals and goats, and his love for camels earned him the nickname of Abu Bakr, the father of the foal of the camel.[9] It is said that he didn't worship idols since his youth. When Abu Bakr was 10 years old he went to Syria along with his father with the merchants' caravan. Muhammad who was 12 years old at the time, was also with the caravan. Like other children of the rich Meccan merchant families, he was literate and developed a fondness for poetry. He used to attend the annual fair at Ukaz, and participate in poetical symposia. He had a very good memory. In 591 at the age of 18, Abu Bakr went into trade and adopted the profession of a cloth merchant which was the family's business. In the coming years Abu Bakr traveled extensively with caravans. Business trips took him to Yemen, Syria, and elsewhere. These travels brought him wealth and added to his experience. His business flourished and he rose in the scale of social importance. Though his father Uthman Abu Qahafa was still alive, he came to be recognized as chief of his tribe. Abu Bakr was assigned the office of awarding blood money in cases of murder. His office was something like the office of an honorary magistrate.[10] Abu Bakr was an expert in genealogical lore and he knew intimately who was who in Mecca, and what his ancestry was.

  

During Muhammad's times

When Muhammad married Khadijah bint Khuwaylid and moved to her house, he became a neighbor of Abu Bakr who lived in the same locality. That was the quarter of Meccan aristocracy. Like the house of Khadija, the house of Abu Bakr was double storied and palatial in structure.

 

As neighbors, Muhammad and Abu Bakr came in contact with each other. Both of them were of the same age, traders and good managers.

  

Acceptance of Islam

On his return from a business trip from Yemen, he was informed by some of his friends that in his absence Muhammad had declared himself as the Messenger of God, and proclaimed a new religion. Abu Bakr was the first akhir baligh (post-puberty) free male to accept Muhammad's Prophethood. Scholars, as well as other Sunnis and all Shi'a Muslims maintain that the second person (and first male) to accept Muhammed as the messenger of Allah was Ali ibn Abi Talib.[11] However, 'Ali was still a pre-pubescent child when he accepted Islam, and therefore excluded from the duties of a Muslim. Also he was the first person outside the family of Muhammad to become a Muslim.

  

Life after accepting Islam

Part of a series on

Sunni Islam

    

Beliefs

 

Monotheism

Prophethood & Messengership

Holy Books • Angels

Judgement Day • Predestination

 

Pillars

 

Declaration of Faith • Prayer

Charity • Fasting • Pilgrimage

 

Rightly Guided Caliphs

 

Abu Bakr • Umar ibn al-Khattab

Uthman ibn Affan • Ali ibn Abi Talib

 

Schools of Law (Shariah)

 

Hanafi • Shafi`i • Maliki • Hanbali

 

Schools of Theology

 

Maturidi • Ash'ari • Athari

 

Modern Movements

 

Al-Ikhwan Al-Muslimoon • Deobandi • Barelwi • Salafi • Wahhabi • Tablighi Jamaat

 

Hadith Collections

  

Sahih Bukhari • Sahih Muslim

Al-Sunan al-Sughra

Sunan Abu Dawood

Sunan al-Tirmidhi

Sunan ibn Maja • Al-Muwatta

Sunan al-Darami

  

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His birth name Abdul Kaaba was changed to Abdullah, because the former was indicative of paganism. His wife Qutaylah bint Abd-al-Uzza did not accept Islam and he divorced her. His other wife, Um Ruman, became a Muslim at his insistence. All his children except ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr accepted Islam, and Abu Bakr separated from his son Abdur Rahman.

 

His conversion brought the most benefit to Islam. Abu Bakr's dawah brought many people to Islam. He persuaded his intimate friends to convert to Islam. [12][13] He presented Islam to others in such a way that many of his friends opted for Islam. Those who converted to Islam at the instance of Abu Bakr were:

 

Uthman Ibn Affan (who would became the 3rd Caliph)

Al-Zubayr (part of the Muslim conquest of Egypt)

Talhah

Abdur Rahman bin Awf (who would remain an important part of the Rashidun Empire)

Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas (part of the Islamic conquest of Persia)

Umar ibb Masoan

Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah (who remained commander in chief of the Rashidun army in Syria )

Abdullah bin Abdul Asad

Abu Salma

Khalid ibn Sa`id

Abu Hudhaifah ibn al-Mughirah

Abu Bakr's acceptance proved to be a milestone in Muhammad's mission. Slavery was common in Mecca, and many slaves accepted Islam. When an ordinary free man accepted Islam, despite opposition, he would enjoy the protection of his tribe. For slaves however, there was no such protection, and were subjected to persecution. He gave 40.000 dinar for the sake of Islam. [14][15] Abu Bakr felt for these slaves, so he purchased them and set them free. Abu Bakr purchased the freedom of eight slaves, four men and four women.

 

The men were:

 

Bilal ibn Ribah

Abu Fakih

Ammar ibn Yasir

Abu Fuhayra

The women were:

 

Lubaynah

Al-Nahdiah

Umm Ubays

Harithah bint al-Muammil

Most of the slaves liberated by Abu Bakr were either women or old and frail men.[16] The father of Abu Bakr asked him to for why doesn't he liberate strong and young slaves who could be a source of strength for him, Abu Bakr replied that he was freeing the slaves for the sake of Allah, and not for his own sake. According to Sunni tradition the following verses of the Qur'an were revealed due to this:

 

He who gives in charity and fears Allah And in all sincerity testifies to the Truth; We shall indeed make smooth for him the path of Bliss {92:5-7}.

 

Those who spend their wealth for increase in self-purification; And have in their minds no favor from any one For which a reward is expected in return, But only the desire to seek the Countenance, Of their Lord, Most High; And soon they shall attain complete satisfaction {92:8-21}.

  

Persecution by the Quraysh

Main article: Persecution of Muslims by the Meccans

For three years after the advent of Islam, Muslims kept secret their faith, and prayed in secret. In 613 Muhammad received a revelation to call people to Islam openly. The first public address inviting people to offer allegiance to Muhammad was delivered by Abu Bakr. In a fit of fury the young men of the Quraysh tribe rushed at Abu Bakr, and beat him mercilessly till he lost consciousness.[17] Following this incident Abu Bakr's mother converted to Islam. Abu Bakr was persecuted many times by the Quraysh.

  

Last years in Mecca

In 617, the Quraysh enforced a boycott against the Banu Hashim. Muhammad along with his supporters from Banu Hashim, were shut up in a pass away from Mecca. All social relations with the Banu Hashim were cut off and their state was that of imprisonment. Before it many Muslims migrated to Abyssinia (now Ethiopia). Abu Bakr, feeling distress, set out for Yemen and then to Abyssinia from there. He met a friend of his named Ad-Dughna (chief of the Qarah tribe) outside Mecca, who invited Abu Bakr to seek his protection against the Quraysh. Abu Bakr went back to Mecca, it was a relief for him, but soon due to the pressure of Quraysh, Ad-Dughna was forced to renounce his protection. Once again the Quraysh were free to persecute Abu Bakr. In the year 620 Muhammad's wife and uncle died. Abu Bakr's daughter Aisha was engaged to Muhammad, however it was decided that the actual marriage ceremony would be held later. In the year 620 Abu Bakr was the first person to testify to Muhammad's Isra and Mi'raj (night Journey).[18] According to Sunni traditions, he was given title al-Siddîq, meaning "the truthful," "the upright," or "the one who counts true," due to his immediate belief of the journey. During the Roman-Persian Wars, the sympathies of the Quraysh of Mecca was with the Persians who were Zoroastrian. The Muslims on the other hand had their sympathies for the Byzantines who were Christians and were the People of the Book with a belief in the Abrahamic God. After the Persian victories over Byzantine, verses of the Qur'an revealed of Surah rum with the prophesy that Byzantine (Romans) will regain what they lost and the Persians will be defeated within few years. Over this Abu Bakr had a wager with Ubaiy bin Khalf, it was decided that one who lost the wager will pay one hundred camels. With a decisive Byzantine victory in 627 against the Persians, Abu Bakr won the wager, though Ubaiy bin Khalf was not alive but his heirs honored the agreement and gave Abu Bakr one hundred camels. Abu Bakr gave away all the camels as charity..

  

Migration to Medina

Main article: Hijra (Islam)

In 622 on the invitation of the Muslims of Medina, Muhammad ordered Muslims to migrate to Medina. The migration began in batches. Abu Bakr accompanied Muhammad in his migration for Medina. Due to the danger of the Quraysh, they did not take the road to Medina. They moved in the opposite direction, and took refuge in a cave in Mount Thaur some five miles south of Mecca. `Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr the son of Abu Bakr would listen to the plans and talks of the Quraysh, and at night he would carry the news to the fugitives in the cave. Asma bint Abi Bakr the daughter of Abu Bakr brought them meals every day.[19] Aamir a servant of Abu Bakr would bring a flock of goats to the mouth of the cave every night where they were milked. The Quraysh sent search parties in all directions. One party came close to the entrance to the cave, but was unable to sight them. Due to this the following verse of the Qur'an was revealed:

 

If ye help not (your Leader) (it is no matter): for Allah did indeed help him; when the unbelievers drove him out: he had no more than one companion: they two were in the cave, and he said to his companion "Have no Fear, for Allah is with us": then Allah sent down His peace upon him, and strengthened him with forces which ye saw not, and humbled to the depths the word of the Unbelievers. But the word of Allah is exalted to the heights: for Allah is Exalted in might, Wise. [Qur'an 9:40]

 

'Aa'ishah, Abu Sa`eed al-Khudri and ibn 'Abbaas in interpreting this verse said

 

Abu Bakr was the one who stayed with the Prophet in that cave

 

It is narrated from al-Barra' ibn 'Azib, he said,

 

Once Abu Bakr bought a ride from 'Azib for 10 Dirham, then Abu Bakr said to 'Azib, "Tell your son the Barra to deliver that beast." Then 'Azib said, "No, until you tell us how yourjourney with the Messenger of Allah when he went out of Makkah while the Mushrikeen were busy looking for you." Abu Bakr said, "We set out from Makkah, walking day and night, until it came the time of Zuhr, so I was looking for a place to so that we can rest under it, it came to be that I saw a big rock, so I came to it and there was the place, so I spread a matress for the Prophet, then I said to him, " Rest O' Prophet of Allah." So he rested, while I surveyed the area around me, are there people looking for us coming here to spy. Suddenly I saw there was a shepherd herding his sheep to the direction of the place under the rock wanting to shade himself like us, so I asked, "Who is your master O' slave?" He answered, "Slave of the fulan, someone of the Quraish." He mentioned the name of his master and I knew him, then I asked, "Does your sheep have milk?" He answered, "Yes!" So he took one of the sheep, after that I ordered him to clean the breasts of the sheep first from dirt and dust, then I ordered him to blow his hand from dust, so he pat his two hands and he started milking, while I prepared a vessel with its mouth wrapped with cloth to contain the milk, so I poured the milk that was milked to the vessel and I waited until the bottom was cold, then I brought to the Prophet and it was that he had waken up, instantly I told him him, "Drink O' Messenger of Allah." So he started to drink until I saw that he was full, then I told him, "Are we not going to continue walking O' Messenger of Allah?" He answered, "Yes!" At last we continued the journey while the mushrikeen keep looking for us, not one one that could pursue us except Suraqah ibn Malik ibn Ju'sham who rode his horse, so I said to the Messenger of Allah, "This man has succeded in pursuing us O' Messenger of Allah," but he answered, "ﻻ ﺗﺤﺰ ﻥ ﺇ ﻥ ﺍﷲ ﻣﻌﻨﺎ" (Do not worry, verily Allah is with us).

 

It is narrated from Anas from Abu Bakr he said,

 

I said to the Prophet when were in the cave, "If only they had looked under their feet we would assuredly be seen" The Messenger answered, "ﻣﺎ ﻇﻨﻚ ﻳﺎ ﺃ ﺑﺎ ﺑﻜﺮ ﺑﺎ ﺛﻨﻴﻦ ﺍﷲ ﺛﺎ ﻟﺘﻬﻤﺎ" (What do you think O' Abu Bakr with two people while Allah is the third)[20]

 

After staying at the cave for three days and three nights, Abu Bakr and Muhammad proceed to Medina, staying for some time at Quba, a suburb of Medina.

 

Life in Medina

In Medina, Muhammad decided to construct a mosque. A piece of land was chosen and the price of the land was paid for by Abu Bakr. Muslims constructed a mosque named Al-Masjid al-Nabawi at the site and Abu Bakr also took part in construction. Abu Bakr was paired with Khaarij ah bin Zaid Ansari as a brother in faith. Abu Bakr's relationship with his brother-in-Islam was most cordial, which was further strengthened when Abu Bakr married Habiba, a daughter of Khaarijah.

 

Khaarij ah bin Zaid Ansari used to live at Sukh, a suburb of Medina, and Abu Bakr also settled there. After Abu Bakr's family arrived in Medina he bought another house near Muhammad's.[21]

 

The climate of Mecca was dry, but the climate of Medina was damp and this adversely affected the health of the immigrants, so that on arrival most of them fell sick. Abu Bakr also suffered from fever for several days and during this time he was attended to by Khaarijah and his family. At Mecca, Abu Bakr was a trader in cloth and he started the same business in Medina. He was a wholesaler, and had his store at Sukh, and from there cloth was supplied to the market at Medina. Soon his business flourished at Medina. Early in 623, Abu Bakr's daughter Aisha, who was already engaged to Muhammad, was handed over to Muhammad in a simple marriage ceremony, and this further strengthen the relation between Abu Bakr and Muhammad.

 

In 624 Abu Bakr participated in the first battle between the Muslims and the Quraysh of Mecca known as the Battle of Badr. In 625 he participated in the Battle of Uhud. Before the battle begun, Abu Bakr's son ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr who was still non-Muslim and was fighting from the side of the Quraysh, came forward and threw down a challenge for a duel. Abu Bakr accepted the challenge but was stopped by Muhammad. His son later converted to Islam and gained fame during the Muslim conquest of Syria as a fierce warrior. In the second phase of the battle, Khalid ibn al-Walid’s cavalry attacked the Muslims from behind, changing a Muslim victory to defeat. Many Muslim warriors were routed from the battle field but Abu Bakr remained, guarding Muhammad from the attacks of the Quraysh soldiers. During one such attack, two discs from Muhammad’s shield penetrated into Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah's cheeks. Abu Bakr went forward with the intention of extracting these discs but Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah requested he leave the matter to him, losing his two incisors during the process. Subsequently, Abu Bakr, along with other companions, led Muhammad to a place of safety. Later in the year Abu Bakr was a part of campaign again the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir.

 

Later, in 627 he participated in the Battle of the Trench and also in the Battle of Banu Qurayza.[22] In 628 he participated in Treaty of Hudaybiyyah and was made one of the witnesses over the pact.[22]

 

In the year 628 he was a part of the Muslim campaign to Khaybar. In 629 Muhammad sent 'Amr ibn al-'As to Zaat-ul-Sallasal from where he called for reinforcements and Muhammad sent Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah. Commanding an army under him were Abu Bakr and Umar and they attacked and defeated the enemy.[23]

 

In 630 when Muslim armies rushed for the Conquest of Mecca, Abu Bakr was a part of the army. Before the conquest of Mecca his father Uthman Abu Qahafa converted to Islam. In 630 he was part of Battle of Hunayn and Siege of Ta'if. He was part of the Muslim army in the campaign of Tabuk under Muhammad's command and he was reported to have given all his wealth for the preparation of this expedition.

 

In 631, Muhammad sent from Medina a delegation of three hundred Muslims to perform the Hajj according to the new Islamic way. Abu Bakr was appointed as the leader of the delegates. Abu Bakr had thus the honor of being the first Amir-ul-Haj in the history of Islam. In the year 632 Abu Bakr followed Muhammad to Mecca for the farewell Hajj.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Bakr

  

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Eid al-Adha (Arabic: عيد الأضحى‎ ‘Īdu l-’Aḍḥā) or "Eid-u'z-Zuha" "Festival of Sacrifice" or "Greater Eid" is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his son Ishmael (Isma'il) as an act of obedience to God, before God intervened to provide him with a ram to sacrifice instead.[1] The meat is divided into three equal parts to be distributed to others. The family retains one third of the share, another third is given to relatives, friends and neighbors, and the other third is given to the poor & needy.

 

Eid al-Adha is the latter of two Eid festivals celebrated by Muslims, whose basis comes from Sura 2 (Al-Baqara) ayah 196 in the Qur'an.[2] Like Eid ul-Fitr, Eid al-Adha begins with a Wajib prayer of two Raka'ah followed by a sermon (khuṭbah).

 

The word "Eid" appears in Sura al-Mai'da ("The Table Spread," Chapter 5) of the Qur'an, meaning 'solemn festival'.[3]

 

Eid al-Adha is celebrated annually on the 10th day of the 12th and the last Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah (ذو الحجة) of the lunar Islamic calendar.[4] Eid al-Adha celebrations start after the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia by Muslims worldwide, descend from Mount Arafat. The date is approximately 70 days (2 Months & 10 days) after the end of the month of Ramadan, i.e. Eid-ul-Fitr. Ritual observance of the holiday lasts until sunset of the 13th day of Dhu al-Hijjah.[5]

 

The Arabic term "Festival of Sacrifice", ‘Eid ul-’Aḍḥā, was borrowed as a unit from Semitic roots that evolved into Indic languages such as Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati and Bengali and Austronesian languages such as Malay and Indonesian.

 

Another Semitic word for "sacrifice" is the Arabic Qurbān (Arabic: قربان‎), which is used in Dari Persian - Afghanistan and Iranian dialect of Persian as Eyde Ghorbân عید قربان, and in Tajik Persian as Иди Қурбон (Idi Qurbon), into Kazakh as Құрбан айт (Qurban ayt), into Uyghur as Qurban Heyit, and also into various Indic languages. Other languages combined the Arabic word qurbān with local terms for "festival", as in Kurdish (Cejna Qurbanê[6]), Pashto (Kurbaneyy Akhtar), Chinese (古尔邦节 Gúěrbāng Jié), Malay and Indonesian (Hari Raya Korban, Qurbani), and Turkish (Kurban Bayramı). The Turkish term was later used in other languages such as Azeri (Qurban Bayramı), Tatar (Qorban Bäyräme), Bosnian and Croatian (Kurban-bajram), Serbian (Курбан бајрам), Russian (Курбан байрам).

 

Another Arabic name, ‘Īd ul-Kabīr (عيد الكبير `Īd al-Kabīr), meaning "Greater Eid/Festival" (the "Lesser Eid" being Eid ul-Fitr[7]), is used in Yemen, Syria, and North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt). The term was borrowed directly into French as Aïd el-Kebir. Translations of "Big Eid" or "Greater Eid" are used in Pashto لوی اختر Loy Akhtar, Kashmiri Baed Eid, Hindi and Urdu Baṛā Īd, Malayalam Bali Perunnal, and Tamil Peru Nāl.

 

Another name refers to the fact that the holiday occurs after the culmination of the Hajj (حج), or pilgrimage to Mecca (Makka). Such names are used in Malay and Indonesian (Hari Raya Haji "Hajj celebration day", Lebaran Haji), and in Tamil Hajji Peru Nāl.

 

In Urdu-speaking areas, the festival is also called بقرعید Baqra Īd or Baqrī Īd, stemming either from the Arabic baqarah "heifer" or the Urdu word baqrī for "goat", as cows and goats are among the traditionally sacrificed animals. That term was also borrowed into other languages, such as Tamil Bakr Eid Peru Nāl.

 

Other local names include 宰牲节 Zǎishēng Jié ("Slaughter-livestock Festival") in Chinese, Tfaska Tamoqqart in the Berber language of Djerba, Tabaski or Tobaski in West African languages,[8]Babbar Sallah in Nigerian languages, and ciida gawraca in Somali.

 

Eid-al-Adha has other popular names across the Muslim world. The name is often simply translated into the local language, such as English Festival of Sacrifice, German Opferfest, Dutch Offerfeest, Romanian Sărbătoarea Sacrificiului and Hungarian Áldozati ünnep.

[edit] Background

 

According to Muslims, approximately four thousand years ago, the valley of Mecca (in what is now Saudi Arabia) was a dry, rocky and uninhabited place. According to Islam, the Prophet Abraham ('Ibraheem in Arabic) was instructed to bring his Egyptian wife Hagar (Hāǧar) and Ishmael, his only child at the time (Ismā'īl), to Arabia from the land of Canaan (currently Palestine and also parts of Lebanon,Jordan,Syria and Sinai) by God's command.

 

As Abraham was ready to return to Canaan, Hagar asked him, "Did "Allah" (God) order you to leave us here"? When Abraham replied: "Yes, I was directed by Allah" (God), Hagar said, "then Allah will not forget us; you can go". Although Abraham had left a large quantity of food and water with Hagar and Ishmael, the supplies quickly ran out, and within a few days the two began to feel the pangs of hunger and dehydration.

 

According to Islamic tradition, Hagar ran up and down between two hills called Al-Safa and Al-Marwah seven times, in her desperate quest for water. Finally, she collapsed beside her baby Ishmael and prayed to God for deliverance. Miraculously, a spring of water gushed forth from the earth at the feet of baby Ishmael. Other accounts have the angel Gabriel (Jibril) striking the earth and causing the spring to flow in abundance. With this secure water supply, known as the Zamzam Well, they were not only able to provide for their own needs, but were also able to trade water with passing nomads for food and supplies.

 

Years later, Abraham was instructed by God to return from Palestine to build a place of worship dedicated to Him adjacent to Hagar's well (the Zamzam Well). Abraham and Ishmael constructed a stone and mortar structure —known as the Kaaba— which was to be the gathering place for all who wished to strengthen their faith in God. As the years passed, Ishmael was blessed with Prophethood (Nubuwwah) and gave the nomads of the desert his message of submission to God. After many centuries, Mecca became a thriving desert city and a major center for trade, thanks to its reliable water source, the well of Zamzam.

 

One of the main trials of Abraham's life was to face the command of God to devote his dearest possession, his only son. Upon hearing this command, he prepared to submit to God's will. During this preparation, Satan (Shaitan) tempted Abraham and his family by trying to dissuade them from carrying out God's commandment, and Ibrahim and Ishmael drove Satan away by throwing pebbles at him. In commemoration of their rejection of Satan, stones are thrown during Hajj.

 

When Ishmael was about 13 (Ibrahim being 99), Allah (God) decided to test their faith in and submission to Allah in public. Both father and son were put through the most difficult test of their love for Allah. Abraham had a recurring dream, in which God was commanding him to offer his son as a sacrifice – an unimaginable act – sacrificing his son, which God had granted him after many years of deep prayer, the one who had been the centre of his affection and love for all these years. Abraham knew that the dreams of the prophets were inspired by Allah, and one of the ways in which God communicated with his prophets. This must be what Allah had wanted him to do. When the intent of the dreams became clear to him, Abraham decided to fulfil God's command and offer his beloved son in sacrifice.

 

Although Abraham was ready to sacrifice his dearest for Allah’s sake, he could not just go and drag his son to the place of sacrifice without his consent. Isma'el had to be consulted as to whether he was willing to give up his life as fulfillment to God's command. This consultation would be a major test of Isma'el’s maturity in faith, love and commitment for Allah, willingness to obey his father and sacrifice his own life for the sake of Allah.

 

Abraham presented the matter to his son and asked for his opinion about the dreams of slaughtering him. Ishmael’s reaction was absolutely astounding. He did not show any hesitation or reservation even for a moment. He said, “Father, do what you have been commanded. You will find me, Insha'Allah (God willing), to be very patient.” His mature response, his deep insight into the nature of dad’s dreams, his commitment to Allah, and ultimately his willingness to sacrifice his own life for the sake of Allah were all unprecedented.

 

When both father and son had shown their perfect obedience to Allah and they had practically demonstrated their willingness to sacrifice their most precious possessions for His sake—Abraham by laying down his son for sacrifice and Ishmael by lying patiently under the knife – Allah called out to them stating that his sincere intentions had been accepted, and that he need not carry out the killing of Ishmael. Instead, Abraham was told to replace his son with a ram to sacrifice instead. Allah also told them that they had passed the test imposed upon them by his willingness to carry out God's command.[9]

 

This is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an as follows:

 

"O my Lord! Grant me a righteous (son)!" So We gave him the good news of a boy, possessing forbearance. And when (his son) was old enough to walk and work with him, (Abraham) said: O my dear son, I see in vision that I offer you in sacrifice: Now see what is your view!" (The son) said: "O my father! Do what you are commanded; if Allah wills, you will find me one practising patience and steadfastness!" So when they both submitted and he threw him down upon his forehead, We called out to him saying: O Ibraheem! You have indeed fulfilled the vision; surely thus do We reward those who do good. Most surely this was a manifest trial. And We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice. And We perpetuated (praise) to him among the later generations. "Peace and salutation to Abraham!" Thus indeed do We reward those who do right. Surely he was one of Our believing servants.[10]

 

As a reward for this sacrifice, Allah then granted Abraham the good news of the birth of his second son, Is-haaq (Isaac):

 

And We gave him the good news of Is-haaq, a prophet from among the righteous. [11]

 

Abraham had shown that his love for his Lord superseded all others: that he would lay down his own life or the lives of those dearest to him in submission to God's command. Muslims commemorate this ultimate act of sacrifice every year during Eid al-Adha.

 

In keeping with the tradition of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Muslims are encouraged to prepare themselves for the occasion of Eid. Below is a list of things Muslims are recommended to do in preparation for the Eid al-Adha festival:

 

1. Wake up early (before sunrise). 2. Make wudu (ablution) and offer Salat al-Fajr (the pre-sunrise prayer). 3. Prepare for personal cleanliness - take care of details of clothing, etc. 4. Take a Ghusl (bath) after Fajr prayer. 5. Brush teeth (preferably with a miswak, or tooth-stick). 6. Dress up, putting on new or best clothes available (White, when available, is optimal[12]). 7. Apply (alcohol free) perfume (attar) (men only). 8. It is customary to eat dates preferably or something before going to Eid prayers but you can't eat sacrificed meat as Sacrifice must be done after Eid prayers to be accepted as Sacrifice otherwise it becomes just normal meat and no reward for sacrifice. [13] 9. Go to the prayer grounds (known as an 'Eidgah') early. 10. Offer Salat al-Eid (the congregational Eid prayer) in an open place, weather permitting, or in mosque. 11. Use two separate routes when travelling to and from the Eid prayer location. 12. Recite the following Takbir which starts at Maghrib (sunset) on the 9th of Dhu al-hijah and last until the Asr on the 12th Dhu al-ilhijah: Allahu-Akbar, Allahu-Akbar, Allahu-Akbar. La ilaha illa-lah wallahu-Akbar. Allahu-Akbar wa-lillahil-hamd, which translates to: "Allah (God) is the Greatest (3 times); there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and Allah is the Greatest. Allah is the Greatest and to Him are due all praises."

[edit] Salat al-Eid

 

Salat al-Eid is Wajib (strongly recommended, but just short of obligatory). It consists of two Raka'ah (units) with six additional Takbirs. No adhan (Call to Prayer) or iqama (call) is to be pronounced for this Eid prayer.[14] It must be offered in congregation. The Salaat (prayer) is followed by the Khutbah, or sermon, by the Imam. The Khutbah is part of the worship and listening to it is Wajib. During the Khutbah, the Imam reminds the Muslim community about its responsibilities and obligations towards Allah, and good works, kindness, mercy and generosity towards their fellow Muslims and humanity as a whole.

 

At the conclusion of the prayers and sermon, the Muslims embrace and exchange greetings with one other (Eid Mubarak), give gifts (Eidi) to children, and visit one another. Many Muslims also take this opportunity to invite their non-Muslims friends, neighbours, co-workers and classmates to their Eid festivities to better acquaint them about Islam and Muslim culture.[15]

[edit] Rules Regarding the Animal to be Sacrificed

 

1. The animal has to be one of the cattle approved by the Sharia (Cow, Camel, Goat, Sheep etc.) 2. The animal has reached the required age. The adult age is: (a) One year for a goat, sheep, lamb (b) Two years for a cow (c) Five years for a camel. 3. The animal is free from an obvious defect like a one-eyed animal whose defect is obvious, a sick animal whose sickness is obvious, a lame animal whose limp is obvious and an emaciated animal that has no marrow in its bones 4. The animal is in full possession of the one who is offering the sacrifice; i.e. it is not stolen or taken by force, not of joint possession or held in pledge 5. The animal can not be sold or given away once selected or bought for sacrifice, unless exchanging for something better.[16]

[edit] Rules Related to the Person offering the Sacrifice

 

1. Being a Muslim 2. It is necessary for the one who intends to offer the sacrifice that he does not remove any hair or nail from the sunset on last day of Zhul-Qa’dah until the sacrifice is done on the Eid day 3. Doing the slaughter with one’s own hands. If one is not able to do so then he can appoint some one else to do the slaughter on his behalf. In such case one should witness his slaughter if at all possible. 4. It is a necessary condition of the sacrifice that the animal be slaughtered with the intention of offering a sacrifice (udhiyah). The intention must be in the heart, and should not be spoken out loud. 5. Taking the Name of Allah at the time of slaughter.

 

Men, women, and children are expected to dress in their finest clothing to perform Eid prayer (ṣalātu l-`Īdi) in a large congregation is an open waqf field called Eidgah or mosque. Those Muslims who can afford, i.e Malik-e-Nisaab; sacrifice their best domestic animals (usually a cow, but can also be a camel, goat, sheep or ram depending on the region) as a symbol of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his only son. The sacrificed animals, called Uḍhiyyah (Arabic: أضحية‎, also known by its Persian term, "al-Qurbāni"), have to meet certain age and quality standards or else the animal is considered an unacceptable sacrifice.

 

The regular charitable practices of the Muslim community are demonstrated during Eid al-Adha by concerted efforts to see that no impoverished person is left without an opportunity to partake in the sacrificial meal during these days.

 

During Eid al-Adha, distributing meat amongst the people, chanting the Takbir out loud before the Eid prayer on the first day and after prayers throughout the three days of Eid, are considered essential parts of this important Islamic festival. In some countries, families that do not own livestock can make a contribution to a charity that will provide meat to those who are in need.

Link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=atIqrr5-Wzs

 

Who is His Divine Eminence Gohar Shahi? The true and complete detailed introduction of His Divine Eminence Gohar Shahi by Younus AlGohar.

 

Main Points:

 

- There has not yet been a detailed introduction to His Divine Eminence, one of the reasons for which is due to the negative propaganda spread by the clerics, there is a distance between us and the common public.

 

- When HDE Gohar Shahi shunned the world to go on a spiritual retreat in the jungle, Prophet Mohammad visited and told Him, 'You will be the Imam Mehdi of my nation'. HDE Gohar Shahi took this great burden from God and returned to the world with His mission and call to humanity. He brought with Him the secrets of God, how to bring God's Light and love into your heart.

 

- His message was a live threat to the mischief mongers in the religion. They objected that HDE Gohar Shahi worked in a steel-stove factory, but how can you judge the personality of anybody depending on their place of employment? Even Prophet Mohammad used to herd sheep, should we reject his prophethood?

 

- People who know about HDE Gohar Shahi are split into two groups: those who received Spiritual Benevolence from Him and those who heard the negative propaganda through the media and the clerics, without knowing Him personally; everything they know about Him is based on rumours and to believe in hearsay is a great sin in itself.

 

- His Divine Eminence Gohar Shahi rendered common and exclusive Spiritual Benevolence to His followers. Those who received common Spiritual Benevolence were granted the gift of Deedar-e-Ilahi (Seeing God). This is a very small attribute of HDE Gohar Shahi, one cannot come to know who HDE Gohar Shahi is by obtaining God because it is not related to HDE Gohar Shahi. Those who obtained exclusive Spiritual Benevolence were able to know who HDE Gohar Shahi is.

 

- If you obtain Deedar-e-Ilahi you cannot know HDE Gohar Shahi because once the Subtlety of Ana witnesses the beauty of God, it becomes lost in God. However, if HDE Gohar Shahi places one of His reflections in your Ana, it becomes imprinted within you and thereafter you know nothing for except Gohar Shahi. Therefore, in order to understand Gohar Shahi your intellect must be familiar with His beauty.

 

- In the entire human history the reflection of HDE Gohar Shahi's beauty has never entered the Ana, it is a gift from HDE Gohar Shahi and it is solely upon Him whom He wishes to grant it to. Although it has not happened as of yet, it does not mean that it will not happen.

 

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ سَبَّحَ لِلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۖ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ (1) Whatever is in the heavens and on earth,- let it declare the Praises and Glory of Allah: for He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.

لَهُ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۖ يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُ ۖ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ (2) To Him belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth: It is He Who gives Life and Death; and He has Power over all things.

هُوَ الْأَوَّلُ وَالْآخِرُ وَالظَّاهِرُ وَالْبَاطِنُ ۖ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ (3) He is the First and the Last, the Evident and the Immanent: and He has full knowledge of all things.

هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ ثُمَّ اسْتَوَىٰ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا يَلِجُ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَمَا يَخْرُجُ مِنْهَا وَمَا يَنزِلُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ وَمَا يَعْرُجُ فِيهَا ۖ وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ ۚ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ (4) He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in Six Days, and is moreover firmly established on the Throne (of Authority). He knows what enters within the earth and what comes forth out of it, what comes down from heaven and what mounts up to it. And He is with you wheresoever ye may be. And Allah sees well all that ye do.

لَّهُ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۚ وَإِلَى اللَّهِ تُرْجَعُ الْأُمُورُ (5) To Him belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth: and all affairs are referred back to Allah.

يُولِجُ اللَّيْلَ فِي النَّهَارِ وَيُولِجُ النَّهَارَ فِي اللَّيْلِ ۚ وَهُوَ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ (6) He merges Night into Day, and He merges Day into Night; and He has full knowledge of the secrets of (all) hearts.

آمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَأَنفِقُوا مِمَّا جَعَلَكُم مُّسْتَخْلَفِينَ فِيهِ ۖ فَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنكُمْ وَأَنفَقُوا لَهُمْ أَجْرٌ كَبِيرٌ (7) Believe in Allah and His messenger, and spend (in charity) out of the (substance) whereof He has made you heirs. For, those of you who believe and spend (in charity),- for them is a great Reward.

وَمَا لَكُمْ لَا تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ ۙ وَالرَّسُولُ يَدْعُوكُمْ لِتُؤْمِنُوا بِرَبِّكُمْ وَقَدْ أَخَذَ مِيثَاقَكُمْ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ (8) What cause have ye why ye should not believe in Allah?- and the Messenger invites you to believe in your Lord, and has indeed taken your Covenant, if ye are men of Faith.

هُوَ الَّذِي يُنَزِّلُ عَلَىٰ عَبْدِهِ آيَاتٍ بَيِّنَاتٍ لِّيُخْرِجَكُم مِّنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ ۚ وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ بِكُمْ لَرَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ (9) He is the One Who sends to His Servant Manifest Signs, that He may lead you from the depths of Darkness into the Light and verily Allah is to you most kind and Merciful.

وَمَا لَكُمْ أَلَّا تُنفِقُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَلِلَّهِ مِيرَاثُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۚ لَا يَسْتَوِي مِنكُم مَّنْ أَنفَقَ مِن قَبْلِ الْفَتْحِ وَقَاتَلَ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ أَعْظَمُ دَرَجَةً مِّنَ الَّذِينَ أَنفَقُوا مِن بَعْدُ وَقَاتَلُوا ۚ وَكُلًّا وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الْحُسْنَىٰ ۚ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ (10) And what cause have ye why ye should not spend in the cause of Allah?- For to Allah belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth. Not equal among you are those who spent (freely) and fought, before the Victory, (with those who did so later). Those are higher in rank than those who spent (freely) and fought afterwards. But to all has Allah promised a goodly (reward). And Allah is well acquainted with all that ye do.

مَّن ذَا الَّذِي يُقْرِضُ اللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا فَيُضَاعِفَهُ لَهُ وَلَهُ أَجْرٌ كَرِيمٌ (11) Who is he that will Loan to Allah a beautiful loan? for (Allah) will increase it manifold to his credit, and he will have (besides) a liberal Reward.

يَوْمَ تَرَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ يَسْعَىٰ نُورُهُم بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَبِأَيْمَانِهِم بُشْرَاكُمُ الْيَوْمَ جَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ هُوَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ (12) One Day shalt thou see the believing men and the believing women- how their Light runs forward before them and by their right hands: (their greeting will be): "Good News for you this Day! Gardens beneath which flow rivers! to dwell therein for aye! This is indeed the highest Achievement!"

يَوْمَ يَقُولُ الْمُنَافِقُونَ وَالْمُنَافِقَاتُ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا انظُرُونَا نَقْتَبِسْ مِن نُّورِكُمْ قِيلَ ارْجِعُوا وَرَاءَكُمْ فَالْتَمِسُوا نُورًا فَضُرِبَ بَيْنَهُم بِسُورٍ لَّهُ بَابٌ بَاطِنُهُ فِيهِ الرَّحْمَةُ وَظَاهِرُهُ مِن قِبَلِهِ الْعَذَابُ (13) One Day will the Hypocrites- men and women - say to the Believers: "Wait for us! Let us borrow (a Light) from your Light!" It will be said: "Turn ye back to your rear! then seek a Light (where ye can)!" So a wall will be put up betwixt them, with a gate therein. Within it will be Mercy throughout, and without it, all alongside, will be (Wrath and) Punishment!

يُنَادُونَهُمْ أَلَمْ نَكُن مَّعَكُمْ ۖ قَالُوا بَلَىٰ وَلَٰكِنَّكُمْ فَتَنتُمْ أَنفُسَكُمْ وَتَرَبَّصْتُمْ وَارْتَبْتُمْ وَغَرَّتْكُمُ الْأَمَانِيُّ حَتَّىٰ جَاءَ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ وَغَرَّكُم بِاللَّهِ الْغَرُورُ (14) (Those without) will call out, "Were we not with you?" (The others) will reply, "True! but ye led yourselves into temptation; ye looked forward (to our ruin); ye doubted (Allah´s Promise); and (your false) desires deceived you; until there issued the Command of Allah. And the Deceiver deceived you in respect of Allah.

فَالْيَوْمَ لَا يُؤْخَذُ مِنكُمْ فِدْيَةٌ وَلَا مِنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا ۚ مَأْوَاكُمُ النَّارُ ۖ هِيَ مَوْلَاكُمْ ۖ وَبِئْسَ الْمَصِيرُ (15) "This Day shall no ransom be accepted of you, nor of those who rejected Allah." Your abode is the Fire: that is the proper place to claim you: and an evil refuge it is!"

۞ أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَن تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَمَا نَزَلَ مِنَ الْحَقِّ وَلَا يَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِن قَبْلُ فَطَالَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْأَمَدُ فَقَسَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ ۖ وَكَثِيرٌ مِّنْهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ (16) Has not the Time arrived for the Believers that their hearts in all humility should engage in the remembrance of Allah and of the Truth which has been revealed (to them), and that they should not become like those to whom was given Revelation aforetime, but long ages passed over them and their hearts grew hard? For many among them are rebellious transgressors.

اعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ يُحْيِي الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا ۚ قَدْ بَيَّنَّا لَكُمُ الْآيَاتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ (17) Know ye (all) that Allah giveth life to the earth after its death! already have We shown the Signs plainly to you, that ye may learn wisdom.

إِنَّ الْمُصَّدِّقِينَ وَالْمُصَّدِّقَاتِ وَأَقْرَضُوا اللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا يُضَاعَفُ لَهُمْ وَلَهُمْ أَجْرٌ كَرِيمٌ (18) For those who give in Charity, men and women, and loan to Allah a Beautiful Loan, it shall be increased manifold (to their credit), and they shall have (besides) a liberal reward.

وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الصِّدِّيقُونَ ۖ وَالشُّهَدَاءُ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ لَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ وَنُورُهُمْ ۖ وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَكَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا أُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ الْجَحِيمِ (19) And those who believe in Allah and His messengers- they are the Sincere (lovers of Truth), and the witnesses (who testify), in the eyes of their Lord: They shall have their Reward and their Light. But those who reject Allah and deny Our Signs,- they are the Companions of Hell-Fire.

اعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ وَزِينَةٌ وَتَفَاخُرٌ بَيْنَكُمْ وَتَكَاثُرٌ فِي الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَوْلَادِ ۖ كَمَثَلِ غَيْثٍ أَعْجَبَ الْكُفَّارَ نَبَاتُهُ ثُمَّ يَهِيجُ فَتَرَاهُ مُصْفَرًّا ثُمَّ يَكُونُ حُطَامًا ۖ وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانٌ ۚ وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا مَتَاعُ الْغُرُورِ (20) Know ye (all), that the life of this world is but play and amusement, pomp and mutual boasting and multiplying, (in rivalry) among yourselves, riches and children. Here is a similitude: How rain and the growth which it brings forth, delight (the hearts of) the tillers; soon it withers; thou wilt see it grow yellow; then it becomes dry and crumbles away. But in the Hereafter is a Penalty severe (for the devotees of wrong). And Forgiveness from Allah and (His) Good Pleasure (for the devotees of Allah). And what is the life of this world, but goods and chattels of deception?

سَابِقُوا إِلَىٰ مَغْفِرَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا كَعَرْضِ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ أُعِدَّتْ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَن يَشَاءُ ۚ وَاللَّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ (21) Be ye foremost (in seeking) Forgiveness from your Lord, and a Garden (of Bliss), the width whereof is as the width of heaven and earth, prepared for those who believe in Allah and His messengers: that is the Grace of Allah, which He bestows on whom he pleases: and Allah is the Lord of Grace abounding.

مَا أَصَابَ مِن مُّصِيبَةٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا فِي أَنفُسِكُمْ إِلَّا فِي كِتَابٍ مِّن قَبْلِ أَن نَّبْرَأَهَا ۚ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ (22) No misfortune can happen on earth or in your souls but is recorded in a decree before We bring it into existence: That is truly easy for Allah:

لِّكَيْلَا تَأْسَوْا عَلَىٰ مَا فَاتَكُمْ وَلَا تَفْرَحُوا بِمَا آتَاكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ كُلَّ مُخْتَالٍ فَخُورٍ (23) In order that ye may not despair over matters that pass you by, nor exult over favours bestowed upon you. For Allah loveth not any vainglorious boaster,-

الَّذِينَ يَبْخَلُونَ وَيَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبُخْلِ ۗ وَمَن يَتَوَلَّ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ (24) Such persons as are covetous and commend covetousness to men. And if any turn back (from Allah´s Way), verily Allah is Free of all Needs, Worthy of all Praise.

لَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا رُسُلَنَا بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ وَأَنزَلْنَا مَعَهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْمِيزَانَ لِيَقُومَ النَّاسُ بِالْقِسْطِ ۖ وَأَنزَلْنَا الْحَدِيدَ فِيهِ بَأْسٌ شَدِيدٌ وَمَنَافِعُ لِلنَّاسِ وَلِيَعْلَمَ اللَّهُ مَن يَنصُرُهُ وَرُسُلَهُ بِالْغَيْبِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَوِيٌّ عَزِيزٌ (25) We sent aforetime our messengers with Clear Signs and sent down with them the Book and the Balance (of Right and Wrong), that men may stand forth in justice; and We sent down Iron, in which is (material for) mighty war, as well as many benefits for mankind, that Allah may test who it is that will help, Unseen, Him and His messengers: For Allah is Full of Strength, Exalted in Might (and able to enforce His Will).

وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا نُوحًا وَإِبْرَاهِيمَ وَجَعَلْنَا فِي ذُرِّيَّتِهِمَا النُّبُوَّةَ وَالْكِتَابَ ۖ فَمِنْهُم مُّهْتَدٍ ۖ وَكَثِيرٌ مِّنْهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ (26) And We sent Noah and Abraham, and established in their line Prophethood and Revelation: and some of them were on right guidance. But many of them became rebellious transgressors.

ثُمَّ قَفَّيْنَا عَلَىٰ آثَارِهِم بِرُسُلِنَا وَقَفَّيْنَا بِعِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ وَآتَيْنَاهُ الْإِنجِيلَ وَجَعَلْنَا فِي قُلُوبِ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوهُ رَأْفَةً وَرَحْمَةً وَرَهْبَانِيَّةً ابْتَدَعُوهَا مَا كَتَبْنَاهَا عَلَيْهِمْ إِلَّا ابْتِغَاءَ رِضْوَانِ اللَّهِ فَمَا رَعَوْهَا حَقَّ رِعَايَتِهَا ۖ فَآتَيْنَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْهُمْ أَجْرَهُمْ ۖ وَكَثِيرٌ مِّنْهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ (27) Then, in their wake, We followed them up with (others of) Our messengers: We sent after them Jesus the son of Mary, and bestowed on him the Gospel; and We ordained in the hearts of those who followed him Compassion and Mercy. But the Monasticism which they invented for themselves, We did not prescribe for them: (We commanded) only the seeking for the Good Pleasure of Allah; but that they did not foster as they should have done. Yet We bestowed, on those among them who believed, their (due) reward, but many of them are rebellious transgressors.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَآمِنُوا بِرَسُولِهِ يُؤْتِكُمْ كِفْلَيْنِ مِن رَّحْمَتِهِ وَيَجْعَل لَّكُمْ نُورًا تَمْشُونَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ۚ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ (28) O ye that believe! Fear Allah, and believe in His Messenger, and He will bestow on you a double portion of His Mercy: He will provide for you a Light by which ye shall walk (straight in your path), and He will forgive you (your past): for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

لِّئَلَّا يَعْلَمَ أَهْلُ الْكِتَابِ أَلَّا يَقْدِرُونَ عَلَىٰ شَيْءٍ مِّن فَضْلِ اللَّهِ ۙ وَأَنَّ الْفَضْلَ بِيَدِ اللَّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَن يَشَاءُ ۚ وَاللَّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ (29) That the People of the Book may know that they have no power whatever over the Grace of Allah, that (His) Grace is (entirely) in His Hand, to bestow it on whomsoever He wills. For Allah is the Lord of Grace abounding.

 

Al-Hadid

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

← Sura 57 of the Qur'an →

سورة الحديد

Sūrat al-Ḥadīd

The Iron

 

Surat Al-Ḥadīd (Arabic: سورة الحديد‎ ) (Iron) is the 57th sura of the Qur'an, with 29 ayat.

Iron in the Qur'an

 

Surat Al-Hadid is the 57th Surah of the Qur'an prefixed by the Basmala (the 9th. sura is not - see also Sunnan Abu Dawood a hadith 785-787). This sura is the only one named for a chemical element. (And We also sent down iron in which there lies great force and which has many uses for mankind)… (Qur'an, 57:25) The reference to iron is in verse 25 of this Surah, which states: "...We sent down Iron, in which is (material for) mighty power, as well as many benefits for mankind...".

Other chemical elements mentioned in the Qur'an include gold and silver as valuables (e.g. Sura 3, 14 & Sura 9, 34), copper (Sura 55, 35) and copper in the context of molten brass or bronze (e.g. Sura 34, 12).

Classification of Believers

57:10 وَمَا لَكُمْ أَلَّا تُنفِقُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَلِلَّهِ مِيرَاثُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ لَا يَسْتَوِي مِنكُم مَّنْ أَنفَقَ مِن قَبْلِ الْفَتْحِ وَقَاتَلَ أُوْلَئِكَ أَعْظَمُ دَرَجَةً مِّنَ الَّذِينَ أَنفَقُوا مِن بَعْدُ وَقَاتَلُوا وَكُلًّا وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الْحُسْنَى وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ

Moreover, what could be the matter-rationale for you people that you might not spend in the Path of Allah the Exalted? While the reality is that the domain of the Skies and the Earth is eternally the belonging for Allah the Exalted.

Those, who had spent before the event of the Conquest of Mecca and confronted war, do not and will never equal-equate with any one from amongst you, the living people.

They are the people who are comparatively great. Their greatness is in elevated rank-position and status in contrast to all the people who did the same act of spending and confronting war in time and space in time-line after the Conquest.

However/though Allah the Exalted has promised, for all an appropriate/proportionate reward. Remain mindful that Allah the Exalted is perpetually informed/aware of all those acts which you people keep doing. [57:10]

Allah, the Exalted has classified the Believers of Mohammad Sal'lallaa'hoalaih'wa'salam and the Grand Qur'an in two groups. The classification is with reference to the Event of the Conquest of the Sanctified City of Mecca. The Believers, men and women, of the period immediately before this Event are the First Group and are declared as the great over all others, the other Group, who became or become believers after that Event. This greatness is with reference to their elevated Rank and position over all other believers of Mohammad Sal'lallaa'hoalaih'wa'salam and the Grand Qur'an, in time and space. [For detailed study please see (1) Surat Fateha-"Word by Word Analysis"]

أَعُوْذُ بِاللّٰهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطٰانِ الرَّجِيْمِ

 

I seek refuge in Allah from Shaitaan, Al Mudill, the one who misleads with his whispers, Al Maghwi, who seduces with his deception.

 

بِسۡمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِیمِ

 

In the Name of Allah,

The First without a first before Him, The Last without a last behind Him,

The Entirely Merciful, The Especiall Merciful

 

ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِینَ

 

all kinds of praise and appreciation,

encompassing all types of the characteristics of all kinds of those utterings of praise in words, in deeds, in states and dialogues,

are only and only for Allah Worthy in His Own Essence and His Attributes,

who is The Lord of all the worlds,

 

ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ

 

The One whose Essence is All Encompassing of all things in existence with Grace Ever- Expansive and according to the Vastness of His Mercy and the Abundance of His Lutf, Affection and His Ra’fat, Gentleness.

 

ٱلرَّحِیمِ

 

The One who raises compassionately,

who nourishes according to the expansiveness of His Limitless Mercy based on the nature of Tauheed

and makes one reach towards the Abode of the One-ness of His Essence

after one lifts the preoccupations (and concerns) that created hurdles from the focus on His One-ness

and after one rejects the connections that prevent steadfastness in His One-ness and absorbing the adornment in it.

 

مَـٰلِكِ یَوۡمِ ٱلدِّینِ

 

The Master of the Day of Resurrection which is prepared for reward or punishment,

 

إِیَّاكَ نَعۡبُدُ

 

You Alone we worship without the idols of hopes and expectations of others in our hearts

 

وَإِیَّاكَ نَسۡتَعِینُ

 

and You Alone we ask for help without which there is no power to endure.

 

ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِیمَ

 

Guide us to the Straight Path which brings us to Your One-ness,

 

صِرَٰطَ ٱلَّذِینَ أَنۡعَمۡتَ عَلَیۡهِمۡ

 

the path of those You have bestowed (Your) Favors upon

from the Prophets and the truthful one and the martyrs and the ones who rise to battle with their desires and the ones who ready their nafs, selves, to reform and make up for the deficiencies of their previous state,

 

غَیۡرِ ٱلۡمَغۡضُوبِ عَلَیۡهِمۡ

 

not of those who earned Your Wrath upon themselves

 

وَلَا ٱلضَّاۤلِّینَ

 

and not of those who refuse to accept guidance.

 

آمين

 

May Allah make us of those whose burdens are light and whose wishes are few by His Special Favour and His Special Bounty, Ameen!

  

‏وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلْإِنسَنَ وَنَعْلَمُ مَا تُوَسْوِسُ بِهِۦ نَفْسُهُۥ ۖ

 

And certainly We created man and We know what his self whispers to him

Surah Qaf, Verse 16

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wa: And overall…

 

Laqad khalaqna al insaana: indeed we created Man and We made him appear from the hidden-ness of nothingness.

 

Wa: And We…

 

Na’alamu: We know him from that point…

 

Ma tuwaswisu: (as to) what whispers and makes up a rambling story…

 

Bihi nafsohu: from his own self and sways his heart (from that point) until now from those kinds of delusions and false imaginings and those things that descend upon him as animalistic desires and those thoughts that are imprisoned by the chains of rituals and shackles of inherent habits that are inherited as a result of useless ponderings which are mixed with unthinking paranoia.

 

Contents

 

Preface 13 Begin! 17 The Push and the Pull 19 Shaitaan and Me 23 The Nafs Mutma’inna 27 The Ones who know their Lord 33 The First Jolt 37 The Diseases of the Heart 41 The Nature of Blessings and Trials 47 Shaan 53 The Belly of the Whale 65 The Façade of my Obedience 69 The Shirrk in my Heart 75 The Fire of Possibilities 81 My Master’s Wrath and Mercy 89 The Necessity of Fear 103 Patience is Beautiful 121 What is a Dua 131 They Feel no Fear or Grief 143 The Layering of Generosity 151 Akhlaq and Imam Ghazali 161 The Seed of Tauba 169 Forgiveness 183

 

يَقُولُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى:

ابْنَ آدَمَ،

اطْلُبْنِي تَجدني، فَإِنْ وَجَدْتَنِي وجَدْتَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ،

وَإِنْ فُتُّكَ فَاتَكَ كُلُّ شَيْءٍ،

وَأَنَا أَحَبُّ إِلَيْكَ مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ

 

Says Allah Ta’ala:

“O Children of Adam (as)!

Seek me and you will find me.

So if you find Me, you will find everything.

And if you miss this seeking, you will lose everything.

And I should be most beloved to you of all things.”

 

Preface

 

فَإِذَا قَرَأۡتَ ٱلۡقُرۡءَانَ فَٱسۡتَعِذۡ بِٱللَّهِ مِنَ ٱلشَّیۡطَـٰنِ ٱلرَّجِیمِ

 

So when you recite the Quran, seek refuge in Allah from the Shaitaan, the accursed.

Surah An Nahl, Verse 98

 

Exegesis of all verses from the Tafseer e Jilani by the Master of all Masters, Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani (ra):

 

And overall good deeds give fruit to a life beautiful and meaningful. In fact the most superb of these deeds is the recitation of the Quran, full of of Ma’arif, Divine Recognitions and Haqaiq, Divine Realities and Mukashafaat, Divine Unveilings and Mushahadaat, Divine Witnessing, resulting from the traveling on the Path of Tauheed, the One-ness of Allah and Irfaan, knowing His Essence.

 

Fa ida qara’at al Quran: So when you read the Quran i.e. you made the intention of reading it, O Qari, O reciter, seeker of the unveiling of the depth of its secrets and its ambiguous signs…

 

Fasta’id: then seek refuge and invoke, first of all…

 

Billahi: Allah, Al Mutajalli, The One who unveils, by the attribute of speech, which makes others helpless before it, Al Hafeed, The Protector of His Sincere Servants from everything in useless sins and disobedience…

 

Min: (which occur) due to doubts and paranoia…

 

Ash Shaitaan ar rajeem: from Shaitaan the accursed one, Al Matrood, the one expelled and the one made distant from the court of the Presence of Allah Azzo Jal with the stoning of the effects of the attributes of Allah’s Wrath and (seek refuge) from his misconceptions and rationalizations which are the armies of desire and forgetfulness and false imaginings and hallucinations thrilling which persuade different kinds of hopes and lust.

 

A Question of Truth

 

I’ve been thinking about this piece in starts and stops for months. To escape the coldest month in Lahore I headed to Karachi to give it readable form at the end of December. I was writing it to mark the month of Rajab in which Maula Ali (as) is born, which would begin on the 23rd of January if the new moon appeared.

 

I included this section, a preface, for the first time to make a single suggestion to my reader. To answer a question that Ghaus Pak (ra) continually asks his readers in his magnificent exegesis of the Quran, the Tafseer e Jilani. Although most scholars yield that it is but a translation.

 

For an exegesis by him, if it were to include all Divine Secrets that have been unveiled for him, might take up all the pages of all the trees only in describing what just the first Surah, Al Fateha, contains, which, incidentally, is also a preface. For the Quran.

 

The question being; Where do you lie in this? For truth is not on a spectrum, he says. It is absolute. We, however, as infallible beings exist in shades of darkness and pendulum between it and falsehood. Whether a single line or thought or image is retained or everything is entirely forgotten, the intention of the read must be singular, fulfilled with a simple question: Where do I lie in this?

 

For the time, the Quran attests, in this world that seems so absolute is not only short. It isn’t even an hour!

 

فَٱصۡبِرۡ كَمَا صَبَرَ أُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلۡعَزۡمِ مِنَ ٱلرُّسُلِ وَلَا تَسۡتَعۡجِل لَّهُمۡۚ

كَأَنَّهُمۡ یَوۡمَ یَرَوۡنَ مَا یُوعَدُونَ لَمۡ یَلۡبَثُوۤا۟ إِلَّا سَاعَةࣰ مِّن نَّهَارِۭۚ

 

So be patient, as had patience those of determination of the Messengers, and (do) not seek to hasten for them punishment.

On the Day when they see what they are promised, it will seem they remained not except an hour of a day (in the world).

Surah Ahqaf, Verse 35

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

And after that you heard O Akmal Ar Rusul, O Messenger who perfects Messenger-hood (salutations and greetings upon you who is entrusted with The Revelation by your Lord and Master), the outcome of the state of denial of truth by the ones who are insistent upon their insolence and stubborn-ness…

 

Fasbir: then be patient, O Akmal Ar Rusul (salutations and greetings upon you and your family by your Lord who makes you His Nur), upon bearing the charge of the message and the exhaustion of preaching and the sufferings from the people, strayed and the misguided…

 

Kama sabara: the way they were patient upon these types of hurdles…

 

Ulol azmi mir Rasool: the Messengers, with unwavering determination, Al Azimeena, the ones resolute upon these things and upon the preaching of the Message with steadfastness, sincere and with solid firmness, so that they make clear for the people the Path of Tauheed, Allah’s One-ness and instruct towards the way of steadfastness and guidance.

 

Wa la tasta’jil lahum: And do not hasten to seek the torment for these deniers i.e. the stubborn ones from the Quresh, with the coming of punishment which is promised to them. For indeed, it will come upon them certainly in its own time…

 

Ka annahum youma yarouna ma yu’adoona: on the Day they will see in the Hereafter which they are being promised of, this punishment from the heights of intensity and scariness and the extreme-ness of its duration so they will recall…

Lab yalbathu: they didn’t stay in the world…

 

Illa sa’atan: for more than an hour…

 

Min naharin: of a day meaning that they will think of the time they stayed in this world as less and they will imagine that compared to the length of the Day of Judgement, it was only an hour or even less than that.

 

The question I ask now is not if I am a Mo’min, a believer or a Kafir, a denier of truth or ungrateful but when?

 

When do I remember my Lord and His Beloved (salutations and greetings upon him who is distinguished among creatures by His Lord) and become a zakir and when am I ghafil, the one who forgets them completely? And most importantly, why?

  

Begin!

 

‏قَالَا رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَآ أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ ٱلْخَسِرِينَ ‎

 

Both of them, Hazrat Adam (as) and Amma Hawwa (as)) said,

"Our Lord we have wronged ourselves, and if not You forgive [for] us and have mercy (on) us, surely, we will be among the losers."

Surah Al Araaf, Verse 23

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Qalaa: They both invoked, beseeching in humility, admitting that lapse from them…

 

Rabbana: O One who raised us upon grace according to Your Fazl, Bounty and Jood, Generosity…

 

Dallamnaa anfusana: we transgressed upon our own selves by following the enemy (Shaitaan)…

 

Wa illam taghfir lana: and if You do not forgive us and the excesses from us…

 

Wa: and do not…

 

Tarhamna: have mercy upon us by Your Fazl, Favour…

 

Lanaku nanna min al khasireen: we will become amongst the losers, the ones in the greatest loss.

 

Woe upon you!

 

You claim to have knowledge and (yet) find happiness the way the ignorant find happiness and are angry like they are angry.

Your happiness with the world and your inclination towards Creation will make you forget wisdom and harden your heart.

The Mo’min is only happy with Allah and nobody except Him.

 

Ghaus Pak (ra) in Al Fath Ar Rabbani

 

Al Mulhim – The Only One who inspires!

 

Recently in my reading of the Tafseer e Jilani I came across new Asma al Husna, the Beautiful Names of Allah Subhanahu from Ghaus Pak (ra). I was swayed by the effect of the sound itself. Mulhim.

 

Allah Al Haqq, The Only Truth, inspires and His Beloved (O my Lord who raises only kindly, send blessings and salutations upon him and his family) is the Mulham, the one upon whose heart came the inspiration of the Quran. Then as Al Qasim, he distributed them and he distributes them even today.

  

The Push and the Pull

 

أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ الضُّرُّ وَأَنتَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ

 

Prayed the Prophet Ayub (as);

“Indeed, adversity has touched me, and you are the Most Merciful of the merciful.”

Surah Al Anbiya, Verse 83

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Anni massani ad durru: Indeed adversity has touched me, O Lord, far away have gone those close to me and my relatives and all the ones who were affectionate with me…

 

Wa anta: and You are The One remaining who is still for me Merciful and Affectionate for indeed You are…

 

Arham ar Rahimeen: the Most Merciful of the merciful so come to me suddenly with Your Lutf, Kindness because I have no strength and no patience after this and surely his suffering had reached its heights.

 

In my most recent trip to Damascus I had not been reading any of my books on Tasawuff, Islamic Spirituality. Only New Yorkers. That was a first. Whenever I had gone to Medina Sharif or Iraq or India for ziaraat, I had taken books with me specifically to read there in particular places. Here my state was swoon-like. I had brought the books but I never opened them. In the first few days of my being in Sham an experience began to stand out.

 

Each day I would have breakfast on the balcony outside my room. It was quiet and after I ate, I went to the roof-top terrace to lie or sit on a couch that was also a swing. Mostly I would listen to music and stare at the sky. The colours had captivated my heart the first time and it clearly remained besotted.

 

One thing was always the same; the shade would be darkest above me, the blues in their range from powder to midnight, getting lighter and lighter, until my eyes came upon Qasiyoun. It was like only one mountain existed in the world. The one where 123,000 Prophets were buried. I would climb to no-go areas of the hotel to capture it from new vantage points. In the end I just started closing my eyes mid-stare, making them my camera. Everything about Damascus felt intense for me.

 

After the third day, I had started doing something that initially seemed like it was inadvertent. A specific memory would pop into my head and then I would replay it. It was recent, not remarkable but not insignificant either. Like a Youtube or Tiktok video, I would watch the memory in my head at almost exactly the same time.

 

Then for the rest of the day I forgot it along with my entire existence, becoming only a visitor in Paradise. Damascus has been titled such originally by Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon his every utterance that comes only through His Lord God). Therefore it does not allow for lost moments. It’s Paradise! There was no before or after. I was only present.

On the 6th or 7th day I was made to realize something. It was as if someone asked me, “Why do you think this exact same thing every morning?”

 

I thought about it. The replay didn’t evoke any emotion in me. There was no sadness which normally the past carries. There was no joy attached to it in the future. Certainly no anxiety. I had just created a habit for no reason. In a matter of a week that habit was like a shackle in that the new found ritual had its grip on me.

 

At first I thought the awareness of my act came to me because for no reason I was losing the moment. Albeit willingly. But it turned out to be more than that.

 

A month later in Lahore, I would read a paragraph and Ghaus Pak (ra) would explain to me what was happening in Sham. The push and the pull that a human being creates:

 

“The Sahib e Imaan, the person of faith, and iqaan, certainty, and ma’rifat, recognition of the Divine, is in unity with people in their qalb, the station of that Divine Recognition in the heart and in their batin, the inner being, Allah’s Secret within Man.

He reaches a state (through that unity) such that he cannot push away any harm from his being and he cannot pull any benefit towards it. He lies before Allah such that he is powerless with no strength. When this state is made correct for him, then everything becomes goodness as it comes towards Him (no matter what it is).”

 

The words were not applicable to me and perhaps never would be in that I was the furthest thing away from being a Sahib e Imaan. Still, they shed light for me on what I had been doing in Damascus. I was pulling in a memory myself. The only reason I had even able to come to that conclusion was that no emotion had been attached to it.

 

If there were, the emotion would have formed the usual trap of justification for the thought to exist, for my being allowed it. For me to dwell in it, repeat it. I would have felt entitled to think about it. But there wasn’t a feeling that it evoked. There wasn’t a feeling that was its root. Or its consequence for that matter. It was simply a pull into my present from my world. My own pull!

 

Obviously then I was forced to consider the inverse. I must also be pushing out what naturally was in my present. If I didn’t like it, if it made me feel badly, then I pushed emotions and people attached to those emotions attached to my heart away. It was always and only at the insistence of the nafs, the base self, the ego, which in its haste for fulfillment of desire never knew what the correct desire for it was.

 

‏وَيَدْعُ ٱلْإِنسَنُ بِٱلشَّرِّ دُعَآءَهُۥ بِٱلْخَيْرِ ۖ

وَكَانَ ٱلْإِنسَنُ عَجُولًۭا ‎

 

And human beings pray for things that are wrong (as often) as they pray for things that (they think) are good. And human beings are ever hasty.

Surah Al Isra’a, Verse 17

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Wa: And overall, amongst the behaviour that is disliked, worldly and ugly…

 

Yad ul insaana: Man prays, being hasty (in his inner and outer being)…

 

Bi sharre: for that which is not good for him, so comes along, with that (prayer), that which he does not know about its evilness and its harmful consequences.

 

Dua’ahu bilkhair: (while he is) liking that which he is asking for as if it is good for him, due to his hastiness.

 

Wa kanal insaano: In Man’s nature is created haste (for himself) and he demands haste from others about that which he is inclined towards, even though it is detrimental for him.

What I did do in Damascus every time I went to the hallowed shrines of Bibi Ruqayya (as) or Sheikh ul Akbar (ra) or to the section in the Ommayyad Mosque where the Ras Mubarik of Imam Hassan (as) was placed, was to open the Quran to a random page and read the two that faced me, side by side. I don’t know when I starting doing that. I had never done it anywhere else before. Translating the Tafseer e Jilani for two years now had created a nisbat, an association, for me with the Divine Book. If I didn’t read it I missed it.

 

I would take a picture of the pages for safe-keeping. Before I opened the Quran, I would also recite a prayer. It was the prayer I had learnt for when one did an istakhara, asking a question from the Quran for guidance in a state of confusion. The prayer was the same but I didn’t move to the 7th page and the 7th verse to seek any answer. Still each time it felt like I was being told something. When nine times out of 10, one similarity started to appear in the text I was taken aback.

  

Shaitaan and Me

 

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ

الدُّنْيَا سِجْنُ الْمُؤْمِنِ

 

Said the Messenger of Allah (salutations and greetings upon made the Imam of mercy by His Lord),

“The world is a prison for the believer.”

 

Al Fath Ar Rabbani: “The world is a prison for the Mo’min. Thus when he will forget that prison, only then will he gain freedom for it.”

 

The common denominator had become a reference to Shaitaan. To him not bowing, to him refusing Allah’s Command, to him being the only one going against His Order to prostrate before the Prophet Adam (as) when all the angels submitted to it. I had heard in a lecture once that Hazrat Gibrael (as) who was chosen as the Arch Angel and the one who brought the revelations to all the Messengers, that was his jaza, reward, for having been the first one to fulfill that Divine Command.

 

The text reappearing was along these lines and therefore naturally disturbing:

 

قَالَ مَا مَنَعَكَ أَلَّا تَسۡجُدَ إِذۡ أَمَرۡتُكَۖ

قَالَ أَنَا۠ خَیۡرࣱ مِّنۡهُ خَلَقۡتَنِی مِن نَّارࣲ وَخَلَقۡتَهُۥ مِن طِینࣲ

 

Allah said, "What prevented you that you didn’t prostrate when I commanded you?"

 

Shaitaan said, "I am better than him.

You created me from fire and You created him from clay."

Surah Al Araaf, Verse 12

 

I ended up calling Qari Sahib from there. He sent me the tafseer of Ghaus Pak (ra) and we read it. On my return to Lahore, it was the first verse we translated.

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Qala: Allah Subhanahu said, revealing what was always true in His Knowledge and which was being hidden by Iblis, his wicked nature…

 

Ma mana’ka: what prevented you O Iblis…

 

Alla tasjuda: that you didn’t prostrate before My Khalifa, Vice-Regent…

 

Id amartuka: when I commanded you with your companions (the angels)?

 

Qala: Iblis replied in his answer in accordance with his false essence and corrupt desires…

 

Ana khairun minhu: I am better than him and superior.

Khalaqtani min naar: You created me from fire, lit…

 

Wa khalaqtahu min teen: and you created him from clay, dark, dirty. And it is not good to humiliate the superior before the one made worthy (just a little while ago).

 

The same notion had appeared in another verse as well. The meaning, as I discovered, had an entirely different implication. Hence it made me realize something I had never thought as a possibility for myself. Even though it’s the trap that most of us, supposedly seeking to better ourselves, fall in.

 

A trap entered precisely because of “goodness.”

 

قَالَ یَـٰۤإِبۡلِیسُ مَا مَنَعَكَ أَن تَسۡجُدَ لِمَا خَلَقۡتُ بِیَدَیَّۖ

أَسۡتَكۡبَرۡتَ أَمۡ كُنتَ مِنَ ٱلۡعَالِی

 

He said, "O Iblis! What prevented you from prostrating before the one whom I created with My Hands?

Are you too arrogant or are you of the exalted ones?"

He said, "I am better than him. You created me from fire and You created him from clay."

Surah Sad, Verse 76

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Then when at the time Iblis refused his, the Prophet Adam’s (as) obedience and his honouring, even though the Command came from Allah and was compulsory…

 

Qala: He, Subhanahu, said, with anger at him, calling out to him, asking him the reason for his refusal…

 

Ya Iblis: O Iblis, Al Mustakbir, the one whose desire for pride overcame the Command, the one who turned away from Our Order…

 

Ma manaka an tasjud: what prevented you for prostrating i.e. what was the thing that stopped you from the prostration of honouring…

 

Lama khalaqtu bi yadihi: the one who I created by My Hand and to whom I gave form by My Authority in accordance with My Form and with the perfection of My Strength and Control so he could be My Mirror and be able for My Friendship and My Vice-regency?

 

Astakbarta: Did you desire to become arrogant against the obedience of Our Command and following Our Order…

 

Am kunta: or you considered yourself…

 

Min A’lieen: of the exalted ones, Al Mutafawwaqeena, the ones made higher than you, so much so that your nafs, egoistic self, has made you such that you cannot surrender before Allah and be obedient to Him?

 

Here Qari Sahib paused to point out two things. One, understanding the verb astakbara. Form 7. It wasn’t just pride. It was a false sense of pride that didn’t even exist in reality. It was a farce and a façade. It was in fact a delusion of pride. The arrogant person thought they were better than others and it was a false belief. For indeed in every case, they weren’t better.

 

Two, the question was being posed in multiple choice. Are you in an assumed state of arrogance? Or do you think you belong to the ones that I, Subhanahu, have chosen as the exalted? The difference was tremendous and I feared Iblis’ answer.

 

قَالَ أَنَا۠ خَیۡرࣱ مِّنۡهُ خَلَقۡتَنِی مِن نَّارࣲ وَخَلَقۡتَهُۥ مِن طِینࣲ

 

He said, "I am better than him. You created me from fire and You created him from clay."

Surah Sad, Verse 76

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

And after the accursed one heard this from Subhanahu, such an address, consisting of all kinds of wrath…

 

Qala: he said, the accursed one, after choosing the second option for the refusal…

 

Ana khairun minhu: I am better than him in form and physical element because…

 

Khalaqtani: You created me by the Perfection of Your Authority…

 

Min naar: from fire and it is the better particle and it is higher in value and place…

 

Wa khalaqtahu min teen: and You created him from clay and it is the lower particle and it is not valuable and it is of a lower place. And the command of prostration for the higher and better before the lower and worthless is not suitable and not according to Your Solid Wisdom.

 

In Damascus I couldn’t wholly ignore the repeat appearances of the mention of Shaitaan but I did forget about them. Once back home I was forced to consider the nightmarish possibility; Could Iblis and I have something in common? I always thought he was the misguider, I the misguided. He was the perpetrator, I was the victim. How could we be the same?

The answer started to come slowly. In Sham I was all alone.

 

Life was blissful. When I reached Lahore, I had to start meeting others. The humans! This time though I became acutely aware of the push and the pull and what was governing them. Feelings of affection for them caused me to reach out and search for them. The pull. If I found them to be absent, my disappointment turned into heartache leaving me wishing I would never see them again. The push!

 

In neither scenario did I even say or do anything outright in terms of expressing myself to the other. The whole thing was happening in my head but unlike Damascus, the feelings invoked were not neutral. They were undeniably sharp.

I had started re-reading Ghaus Pak’s (ra) sermons. He explained where my hypocrisy lay thus bringing the matter away from the “other” and squarely back upon my own self.

  

The Nafs Mutma’inna

 

رَبَّنَآ أَتْمِمْ لَنَا نُورَنَا وَٱغْفِرْ لَنَآ ۖ

إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ قَدِيرٌۭ

 

"Our Lord Perfect for us our light and grant forgiveness to us.

Indeed, You are over every thing All-Powerful."

Surah At Tahreem , Verse 8

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Then when the people of faith who have different kind of noor, light, according to what is clear and what is hidden depending upon their deeds and their natural capabilities…

 

Yaquloona: they say, calling out in prayer…

 

Rabbana: O Our Lord who raised us upon guidance and consciousness!

 

Atmim lana noorana: Perfect for us our light by gracing us and by bestowing additional favour upon us…

 

Waghfir lana: and forgive us our sins i.e. hide our selves from the flaws that our eyes will see (of our own selves so we don’t see them).

 

Innaka: Indeed, you, according to Your Generosity…

 

Ala kulle shay’an Qadeer: over everything, which enters in the encompassing of Your Great Knowledge and Your Will…

 

The words in Al Fath Ar Rabbani applied to me in the context of my living life alone, cut off from the world in a mainstream sense. Hours of each day passed with two teachers. One for study, the other for play. I went to see my Aunt in the afternoon. My day started around 8am and ended close to 4pm. That was it. I hardly saw anyone else.

 

Hence I was under the illusion that my hermit-like life was rendering me zuhd, spiritual detachment, from the world. I was about to find out that it was not.

 

Al Fath Ar Rabbani:

 

“Your seclusion is not correct because seclusion has to be empty of everything as far as the qalb, the heart within the heart, is concerned. The batin, the inner self, Allah’s Secret within you, has to be empty so that it can be free, without the world and the Hereafter and nothing except Allah Al Haqq Azzo Jal.

 

And this has been the only way for the Prophets and Messengers and the Auliya, the Friends of God and the Saliheen, the ones who try to reform themselves, from before. Persuading towards good deeds and stopping people from what is forbidden is better than a thousand worshippers in seclusion.

 

Lower the gaze of the eyes of your nafs, the base self, control it and make it return so this eye does not become the reason for its destruction. Until the time that the nafs becomes obedient to the qalb, the station of Divine Recognition and the batin, surrendering in unity to the two, not disobeying their instructions and agreeing with them and there should not be any difference between it and them.

 

The nafs should command what they command and forbid what they both forbid and choose what they chose. So at that point then, the nafs becomes Mutmainna, contented, and in agreement upon a single requirement and a single goal. When the nafs reaches this state, then it becomes deserving of some relief from its striving.

 

So don’t find fault with Allah about what He decides…”

 

I read each word carefully and I read the paragraphs again and again. My self-proclaimed zuhd was a lie. I got that. But it was another line that captivated me. My Master had revealed what would allow for “relief in the striving” for the nafs. It would come from an alignment with the qalb and the batin. The cherry on the cake that he had thrown on so casually was in fact an extraordinary revelation:

 

An ordinary person, could in moments, in this world, and not just in the Hereafter or on the Day of Judgement, but in this world, feel what it is like for the nafs to be Mutma’inna. The third and most exalted state of the nafs, one that I had learnt only the Prophets and the Friends of God were in. My revolting nafs could also be Mutma’inna!

 

That is when I realized why Damascus was in reality Paradise. Why I felt a state of elation there that never subsided. Not for a split second. I never felt tired, there was no exhaustion. In that land called Sham, my nafs would naturally and effortlessly become perfectly aligned with my qalb and batin. Hence, I didn’t read. There was no need. The reading was a seeking. I had already arrived! I barely prayed. There is no sala’t in Paradise. I just walked in streets all day long, listening to house pounding in my head, feeding the hungry.

 

At the shrines I would just look at people and stare at the walls and ceilings, reading the ahadith and verses written on them. I gave money to whoever I could. It was the exact opposite experience of ritualistic worship that occupied me in any other place I visited. No wonder I couldn’t get enough of it. Barely would I be checking out of the hotel that I would be planning my return.

 

It was no coincidence that dome after venerate dome had the verse inscribed in them that attested to my state.

 

یَـٰۤأَیَّتُهَا ٱلنَّفۡسُ ٱلۡمُطۡمَىِٕنَّةُ

 

"O soul! who is satisfied,

 

ٱرۡجِعِیۤ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكِ رَاضِیَةࣰ مَّرۡضِیَّةࣰ

 

Return to your Lord well pleased, and pleasing.

Surah Al Fajr, Verse 89-90

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Then pointed Subhanahu towards the beautiful states of the people of bestowing and blessings on the Day i.e. the Mo’mineen, the believers who are the Mu’qineen, those who possess inner certainty, who collect the provisions from this world for the Hereafter and are attributed with taqwa, the mindfulness of Allah.

 

And they did not go against the Command of their Lord their whole lives and did not follow their desires and they remained steadfast and they purified their nafs, selves, by what happened to them from the Commands of the Divine.

And overall they were never restless in happiness or in adversity and they did not care about difficulty or ease so then on that Day it will be said to them:

 

Ya ayyatuhan nafsu mutmainna: O contented self, which is set upon, steadfast on the station of Raza, the Pleasure of Allah and tasleem, surrender to Him…

 

Irja’i ila Rabbik: return to your Lord and ascend upon the way which you came down from…

 

Radiyatan: contented, being characterized by pleasure the way you were pleased upon Allah’s Commands in the life in this world…

 

Mardiyatan: well pleased, accepted, most honoured in the sight of Allah.

 

And after that you returned to this mentioned way…

 

Fadkhuli fi: then enter in the group…

 

I’badi: of My Servants who reached towards the Kunf Jawari, My Enclosure and Protection and were able to attain the Maqad Sidqin, the Seat of Special Nearness to the Sovereign Lord of Truth. And overall:

 

Udkhuli Jannati: Enter My Heaven i.e. the Paradise of My One-ness and rest in the seclusion of the Lahoot, the Realm of Nur, Divine Light.

 

Prayer by Ghaus Pak (ra): May Allah make us of the ones addressed by this address, this address which is pure. Indeed, He is Al Mulhim, the One who is the Only Inspirer, towards good and He has the Best Abode.

 

Al Mulhim!

 

A month later, the Quran itself attested to Damascus being the place where the possibility of that nafs existed and was promised. For it was where Allah Subhanahu sent His Khaleel, the Prophet Ibrahim (as) when he was exiled from his family, his clan, his country. When he was all alone, the only believer on Earth.

 

The verse was a personal favourite. I had loved reciting it in Mecca when I walked from the hotel to the haram. I looked it up recently only because I was curious about what the tafseer of yahdeeni, My Lord, He will guide me, was. The last thing I expected was what it revealed.

 

وَقَالَ إِنِّی ذَاهِبٌ إِلَىٰ رَبِّی سَیَهۡدِینِ

 

And he said, "Indeed, I am going to my Lord, He will guide me.

Surah As Saffat, Verse 99

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

And after he left, His Close Friend, the Prophet Ibrahim (as) (the blessings of Ar Rahman upon him and His Salam), when he chose exile and exit from them by the Inspiration and Revelation of Allah upon him…

 

Wa: so that is why…

 

Qala: he declared when he left…

 

Inni dahibun illa Rabbi: indeed, I am going to my Lord and towards His Kunf, Guardianship, His Protection and His Jawar, Safeguarding and his Expansive Mercy…

 

Sayahdini: so He guides me by His Lutf, Kindness, towards the place that makes it possible for me to focus on Him in it and where my heart will feel contentment so he went to Sham by the inspiration of Allah to him and he made his home in that place Al Muqadissa, pure.

 

When I was translating the tafseer of the verse and the word Sham appeared, I had looked up at Qari Sahib with astonishment unprecedented. Then I had gotten up from my chair and gone down in sajda on the floor. Damascus was where the heart felt contentment and where Allah Subhanahu inspired His Beloved Servant to go and that is where he was promised focus on Him. Effortlessly!

 

Subhan Allah times a billion doesn’t cut it in terms of how the verse makes me feel in terms of boundless joy!

 

It is what made me start paying close attention to what my nafs was doing in Lahore. I discovered that it listened to the qalb and batin at least, thank Heavens. Probably just staring at them. Previously it would sprint in the other direction before they could get a word out. Maybe it was deaf and didn’t even hear their call. Maybe it was blind so it didn’t even see them.

 

For eons before that, I’m certain it forgot they even existed.

But I knew one thing with certainty. I was no longer turning my back to them. If I didn’t move towards them, I didn’t move away either. Lucky for me they possessed the Attributes of the Divine. They were Sabir, patient and Lateef, subtle, Barr, kind and Haleem, extremely sensitive and understanding of the state of the other, not hasty to punish.

 

And yet for most of my life, my nafs had turned its back to them!

  

The Ones who know their Lord

 

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ

الدُّنْيَا سِجْنُ الْمُؤْمِنِ

 

Said the Messenger of Allah (salutations and greetings upon him and his family who are the key to blessings from their Lord),

 

“The world is a prison for the believer.”

 

“The world is a prison for the Mo’min. Thus when he will forget that prison, only then will he gain freedom for it.”

 

Those who attain to faith are in that prison (of the world) while those who gain Ma’rifa, Recognition of Allah Subhanahu, are in a state of intoxication.

 

Therefore they are entirely unaware of that prison because indeed, their Lord has made them sip the Drink of His Love for Him, and the Drink of His Affection for Him, and the Drink of His Desire for Him and the Drink of obliviousness from Creation and they are only mindful of Him so they became detached from the prison and its inmates.”

 

Ghaus Pak (ra)

 

The qalb and the batin, they were like the Arif, the one who knows his Lord. He is different from the Mo’min. He only believes in Him.

 

Al Fath Ar Rabbani:

 

“It is narrated by some Friends of Allah who say, ‘No one laughs at the Fasiq, the defiantly disobedient, except the Arif.’

Yes it is true, the Arif enjoins towards goodness and forbids evil and bears his pain and no one has power to do this except the Arifoon of Allah Azzo Jal, where as the Zahid, the ones detached from the world and its occupants and Ubaad, the worshippers and Muridoon, the followers, cannot do this – (they cannot) enjoin towards goodness, forbid the evil and (they cannot) bear the pain of the Fasiq, the one who sins openly.”

 

I paused. The Zahid and Abid and Mureed were all highly evolved states. But in any given point, they could lose their patience and temper with the Fasiq. They could be judgemental and vengeful. I was about to be told why. It was related to deficiency in akhlaq!

 

“And why would they not have mercy on the disobedient when they are in actual, upon the place of rahma, mercy and the station of tauba, repentance and uzr, pardon (so they are able to accept that repentance and pardon them).

 

The Arif, his akhlaq, manners, are the Ettiquettes of Allah Azzo Jal so the Arif strives in freeing the neck of the sinner from the grip of Satan and his nafs and desires. When one of you sees their child imprisoned in the hand of the kafir, the denier of truth, does he not struggle to free him? Such is the Arif.

All of Creation is like a family of children. The Arif addresses them by a tongue full of wisdom…”

 

Then Ghaus Pak (ra) quoted the following verse and I translated his tafseer of it:

 

‏ٱدْعُ إِلَىٰ سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِٱلْحِكْمَةِ وَٱلْمَوْعِظَةِ ٱلْحَسَنَةِ ۖ

 

Call to the Way of your Lord with the wisdom and the instruction that is beautiful.

Surah An Nahl, Verse 125

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Then pointed Allah Subhanahu towards the perfecting of honouring His Beloved (salutations of peace be upon the one given the highest station by his Lord) and the majesty of his rank and the discipline of his etiquette and completing his wisdom and Messengerhood and 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.

 

And when this becomes clear, the Essence of One-ness, Tauheed e Zaati, is completed and perfected, so that’s why He revealed the verse in his honour, ٱلۡیَوۡمَ أَكۡمَلۡتُ لَكُمۡ دِینَكُمۡ, Today I have perfected your religion for you, Surah Al Maidah - Verse 3 and this is almost the last verse revealed in the Quran and Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him and his family) said: بُعِثْتُ لِاُتَمِّمَ مَکَارِمَ الْاَخْلَاق “I have been sent to perfect good character.”

 

So Subhanahu said addressing him giving him a special rank close to Him and honouring him:

 

Udu’: Call, Ya Akmal Ar Rusul, O Messenger who perfects the Messengers (salutations and greetings upon your ranks and the ranks bestowed upon your blessed family by your Lord)…

 

Ila sabeeli Rabbika: to the Way of your Lord i.e. towards the Way of the Tauheed, the One-ness of your Lord, who instructed you to the ascension of His Blessings and guided you to the perfection of His Dignity, (call) all Creation and all worshippers…

 

Bil hikmati: with wisdom, utmost which is for their hearts which are hard from following, (the following) which is inherited and unchanging for them from their previous generations,

1.(it is a wisdom) which cleanses their selves from the conceited stubbornness of egoism of ignorance lodged in them,

2.which (that wisdom) will empty them from the idea of fully controlling (others) and overpowering them,

3. (it will remove) the ignorance which invokes in them different kinds of symptoms of the nafs, ego, layered in them from their being human,

4.(this wisdom) removes all kinds of doubts and imaginations that arise from the (everyday) sources of our routines,

5. (a wisdom) convincing and suitable for the real nature which Mankind has been set upon the hope that they will consider and become aware of the demands of their foundation and nature…

 

Wal mauwadatil hasana: and (call all Creation and all worshippers) with a refined exaltation which they have inherited to awaken them from the nodding off of heedlessness and the sleep of forgetfulness.

The outcome for them (from this wisdom and refined exaltation) is love and bliss towards their Lord who gave them origin and created them.

1.It propels them towards the tastes of spirituality everlasting and forever, continuing eternally without disappearance and disconnect,

 

2.making them feel repelled from that which is upon them as disability

 

3.and (repelled from) the shackles of incapacity which have the taste of paranoia, vanishing and ending, resulting in different kinds of sufferings and sadness and regret.

 

Al Fath Ar Rabbani (cont’d):

 

… All of Creation is like a family of children. The Arif addresses them by a tongue full of wisdom, then has mercy upon them because they are informed of certain knowledge so he sees the work of Allah Al Haqq Azzol Jal in them. He sees through the door of wisdom and knowledge, how destiny and fate are unfolding, but he keeps it hidden.

 

The Arif talks to them, Creation, with wisdom which is what is either commanded (by Allah Azzo Jal) and (what is) forbidden. He does not mention the knowledge because it is a secret.”

I had never before read the qualities of the Arif. My heart ached with the envy that they possessed softness and mercy at all times for all people, regardless of why they were and what they did. 24/7 – only kindness emerged from them.

 

The reasons were two: One, their manners and character were perfect, perfected for them by their Lord, for they were set upon His Own Akhlaq. That standard was first bestowed to His Beloved (salutations and greetings upon his blessed being and his family by The One who gives them the highest rank in Creation). Two, they could see the destiny of the person, where they were going to crash and why they were going to burn.

 

Subhan Allah!

 

All I felt was ill-will in the false imaginings that were the root of possibilities. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

 

Continued on: www.flickr.com/photos/42093313@N00/52652388955/in/datepos...

 

MUHAMMAD (PBUH) IN BUDDHIST SCRIPTURES:

 

Ref: www.irf.net/budhism_Muhammad.html

  

1. Buddha prophesised the advent of a Maitreya:

 

A) Almost all Buddhist books contain this prophecy. It is in Chakkavatti Sinhnad Suttanta D. III, 76:

 

"There will arise in the world a Buddha named Maitreya (the benevolent one) a holy one, a supreme one, an enlightened one, endowed with wisdom in conduct, auspicious, knowing the universe:

 

"What he has realized by his own supernatural knowledge he will publish to this universe. He will preach his religion, glorious in its origin, glorious at its climax, glorious at the goal, in the spirit and the letter. He will proclaim a religious life, wholly perfect and thoroughly pure; even as I now preach my religion and a like life do proclaim. He will keep up the society of monks numbering many thousands, even as now I keep up a society of monks numbering many hundreds".

 

B) According to Sacred Books of the East volume 35 pg. 225:

 

"It is said that I am not an only Buddha upon whom the leadership and order is dependent. After me another Buddha maitreya of such and such virtues will come. I am now the leader of hundreds, he will be the leader of thousands."

 

C) According to the Gospel of Buddha by Carus pg. 217 and 218 (From Ceylon sources):

 

"Ananda said to the Blessed One, ‘Who shall teach us when thou art gone?'

 

And the Blessed one replied, 'I am not the first Buddha who came upon the earth nor shall I be the last. In due time another Buddha will arise in the world, a holy one, a supremely enlightened one, endowed with wisdom in conduct, auspicious, knowing the universe, an incomparable leader of men, a master of angels and mortals. He will reveal to you the same eternal truths, which I have taught you. He will preach his religion, glorious in its origin, glorious at the climax and glorious at the goal. He will proclaim a religious life, wholly perfect and pure such as I now proclaim. His disciples will number many thousands while mine number many hundreds.'

 

Ananda said, 'How shall we know him?'

 

The Blessed one replied, 'He will be known as Maitreya'."

 

(i) The Sanskrit word ‘Maitreya’ or its equivalent in Pali ‘Metteyya’ means loving, compassionate, merciful and benevolent. It also means kindness and friendliness, sympathy, etc. One Arabic word which is equivalent to all these words is ‘Rahmat’. In Surah Al-Anbiya:

 

"We sent thee not, but as a mercy for all creatures."

[Al-Qur’an 21:107]

 

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was called the merciful, which is ‘Maitri’.

 

(ii) The words Mercy and Merciful are mentioned in the Holy Qur’an no less than 409 times.

 

(iii) Every chapter of the Glorious Qur’an, except Chapter 9, i.e. Surah Taubah begins with the beautiful formula, 'Bismillah Hir-Rahman Nir-Rahim', which means 'In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful'.

 

(iv) The Word Muhammad is also spelt as ‘Mahamet’ or ‘Mahomet’ and in various other ways in different languages. The word ‘Maho’ or ‘Maha’ in Pali and Sanskrit mean Great and Illustrious and ‘Metta’ means mercy. Therefore ‘Mahomet’ means ‘Great Mercy’.

 

2. Buddha’s doctrine was Esoteric and Exoteric:

 

According to Sacred Books of the East, volume 11, pg. 36 Maha-Parinibbana Sutta chapter 2 verse 32:

 

"I have preached the truth without making any distinction between exoteric and esoteric doctrine, for in respect of truths, Ananda, the Tathagata has no such thing as the closed fist of a teacher, who keeps something back".

 

Muhammad (pbuh) on the commandment of Almighty God delivered the message and doctrine without making any distinction between esoteric and exoteric. The Qur'an was recited in public in the days of the Prophet and is being done so till date. The Prophet had strictly forbidden the Muslims from hiding the doctrine

 

3. Devoted Servitors of the Buddhas:

 

According to Sacred Books of the East volume 11 pg. 97 Maha-Parinibbana Sutta Chapter 5 verse 36:

 

"Then the Blessed one addressed the brethren, and said, ‘Whosoever, brethren have been Arahat-Buddhas through the long ages of the past, they were servitors just as devoted to those Blessed ones as Ananda has been to me. And whosoever brethren shall be the Arahat-Buddhas of the future, there shall be servitors as devoted to those Blessed ones as Ananda has been to me’."

 

The Servitor of Buddha was Ananda. Muhammad (pbuh) also had a servitor by the name Anas (r.a.) who was the son of Malik. Anas (r.a...) was presented to the Prophet by his parents. Anas (r.a...) relates: "My mother said to him, 'Oh Messenger of God, here is your little servant'." Further Anas relates, "I served him from the time I was 8 years old and the Prophet called me his son and his little beloved". Anas (r.a...) stayed by the Prophet in peace and in war, in safety as well as in danger till the end of his life.

 

i) Anas (r.a.), even though he was only 11 years old stayed beside the Prophet during the battle of Uhud where the Prophet’s life was in great danger.

 

ii) Even during the battle of Honain when the Prophet was surrounded by the enemies who were archers, Anas (r.a...) who was only 16 years old stood by the Prophet.

 

Anas (R) can surely be compared with Ananda who stood by Gautam Buddha when the mad elephant approached him

 

4. Six Criteria for Identifying Buddha:

 

According to the Gospel of Buddha by Carus pg. 214:

 

"The Blessed one said, ‘There are two occasions on which a Tathagata’s appearance becomes clear and exceedingly bright. In the night Ananda, in which a Tathagata attains to the supreme and perfect insight, and in the night in which he passes finally away in that ultra passing which leaves nothing whatever of his earthly existence to remain.’ "

 

According to Gautam Buddha, following are the six criteria for identifying a Buddha.

 

i) A Buddha attains supreme and perfect insight at night-time.

 

ii) On the occasion of his complete enlightenment he looks exceedingly bright

 

iii) A Buddha dies a natural death.

 

iv) He dies at night-time.

 

v) He looks exceedingly bright before his death.

 

vi) After his death a Buddha ceases to exist on earth.

 

i) Muhammad (pbuh) attained supreme insight and Prophethood at night-time.

 

According to Surah Dukhan:

 

"By the books that makes thing clear – We sent it down during a blessed night."

[Al-Qur'an 44:2-3]

 

According to Surah Al-Qadar:

 

"We have indeed revealed this (message) in the night of power."

[Al-Qur'an 97:1]

 

ii) Muhammad (pbuh) instantly felt his understanding illumined with celestial light.

 

iii) Muhammad (pbuh) died a natural death.

 

iv) According to Ayesha (r.a.), Muhammad (pbuh) expired at night-time. When he was dying there was no oil in the lamp and his wife Ayesha (r.a.) had to borrow oil for the lamp.

 

v) According to Anas (r.a.), Muhammad (pbuh) looked exceedingly bright in the night of his death.

 

vi) After the burial of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) he was never seen again in his bodily form on this earth.

 

5. Buddhas are only Preachers:

 

According to Dhammapada, Sacred Books of East volume 10 pg., 67:

 

"The Jathagatas (Buddhas) are only Preachers."

 

The Qur’an says in Surah Ghashiya:

 

"Therefore do thou give admonition, for thou art one to admonish. Thou art not one to manage (men's) affairs." [Al-Qur'an 88:21-22]

 

6. Identification of Maitreya by Buddha:

 

According to Dhammapada, Mattaya Sutta, 151:

 

"The promised one will be:

 

i) Compassionate for the whole creation

 

ii) A messenger of peace, a peace-maker

 

iii) The most successful in the world.

 

The Maitreya as a Preacher of morals will be:

 

i) Truthful

 

ii) Self-respecting

 

iii) Gentle and noble

 

iv) Not proud

 

v) As a king to creatures

 

vi) An example to others in deeds and in words".

  

Continued: A Love Non-Distracting

 

“The advice from Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) to Hazrat Ali (ratu) that every man seeks closeness to Allah through some form of obedience. And that he should seek His Closeness through the company of the wise and special friend of His so that he reaches his goal quickly and leave all others behind.

 

یا علی از جمله‌‌ی طاعات راه

بر گزین تو سایه‌‌ی خاص اله‌‌

 

O Ali, above all devotional acts in the Way (of God) do choose the shadow of protection of the chosen Favourite of God.

 

هر کسی در طاعتی بگریختند

خویشتن را مخلصی انگیختند

 

Every one took refuge in some act of devotion and discovered for themselves some means of deliverance.

 

تر برو در سایه‌‌ی عاقل گریز

تا رهی ز آن دشمن پنهان ستیز

 

Go ahead, take refuge in the shadow of the Sage, that thou may escape from the Enemy that opposes you in secret.

 

از همه طاعات اینت بهتر است

سبق یابی بر هر آن سابق که هست‌‌

 

Of all acts of devotion this is the best for you and you will gain precedence over every one that has outrun others.

 

چون گرفتت پیر هین تسلیم شو

همچو موسی زیر حکم خضر رو

 

When you give yourself to a Spiritual Master, surrender yourself to him like the Prophet Moses (as) walked with Khizr (as).

 

صبر کن بر کار خضـری بی نفاق

تـا نـگـویـد خـضـر رو هـذا فـراق

 

O sincere one! Be patient with Khizr then so he does not say, “Leave. Now we separate.”

 

گرچه کـشتی بشکـند تو دم مزن

گرچه طفلی را کُشَد تو مو مَکَن

 

If he breaks the boat, do not protest. If he kills the child, do not be sad.

 

دست او را حق چو دستِ خویش خواند

تـا یَــــدُ الله فــــوقَ اَیْـــــدِیـهـم بــــرانـد

 

Now that God has named his hand to be His Own by even saying, “The Hand of God is upon theirs.”

 

دستِ حق میـراندش زنده‌ش کند

زنده چـه بود جـانِ پـاینده‌ش کند

 

You are in need of a guide in this jungle, don’t go alone. In this jungle don’t go alone.

 

هـرکـه تـنها نادِرا این ره بُـرید

هـم بـعونِ هـمّت پــیران رسـید

 

It is unlikely that this place is successfully traversed alone.

The one who reached their goal did so only by the inner attention of the Friends of God.

 

دستِ پیر از غایبان کوتاه نـیست

دست او جـز قَــبـضـهٔ الله نـیست

 

The hand of the Spiritual Master is even attentive to those absent.

His hand is undoubtedly the Hand of God.

 

غـایبان را چون نواله می‌دهند

پیش مهمان تا چه نـعمتها نهند

 

When the inattentive can receive such blessings extraordinary,

imagine what you will receive as the one present willingly.

 

Subhan Allah!

 

I went back to Uzair’s lecture: “In the 18 verses, the background is quite spectacular. Maulana Rum is the scholar of his time. And all scholars have an element of pride in them because of the effect their words have on others which is evident before them. He is also a teacher, he is the “mufti,” the Islamic jurist, of the city. Konya is a city of wealth and he is known and respected throughout it. In those days a faqeer enters the city and takes up residence in an inn in the bazaar where sugar is sold. And this is Maulana Shams Tabrez (ra).

 

Now the incident of the “bay’at” of Maulana Rum (ra) on the hands of Shams Tabrez is very well known and has 6-7 variations. I will share with you the one that drew me to the Masnavi:

 

A class on hadith is taking place in the courtyard. Before Maulana Rum (ra) sit 50-100 students. Nearby is a fountain on the edge of which lie a few books on the subject. In the time the books were hand written since there were no printing presses. It took several years for a single one to be completed so they were of immense value and extremely precious.

 

Maulana (ra) is instructing the class while Maulana Shams Tabrez (ra) scales the wall and sneaks into the courtyard. He comes close to where Maulana (ra) is sitting who turns to look at him wondering from his appearance who this man was. He certainly didn’t look like one of his students with his tattered clothes and torn shoes, matted hair and disheveled look.

 

Having caught his attention, Maulana Shams(ra) asked him, “Een che kardi?” What are you doing?

 

Maulana Rum (ra) turned his face dismissively and replied condescendingly, “Aan che to nami dani.” You don’t know (anything) about it.

 

Maulana Shams (ra) retreated and went to sit by the edge of the fountain and one by one starting to push the ancient texts into the water. Upon hearing the splash, Maulana Rum (ra) noticed that the books had disappeared. He leapt up and shouted for him to stop.

 

Walking over to where Maulana Shams (ra) was sitting, now he asked him, ““Een che kardi?” What are you doing?

 

And received the reply, “Aan che to nami dani.” You don’t know (anything) about it.

 

The story goes that Maulana Rum (ra) starts hitting him and his students rush to join him. Maulana Shams (ra) held up his hands in protest asking why they were beating him. Maulana Rum (ra) answered, “Because these books are books of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) ahadith and you have destroyed them all.”

 

Maulana Shams (ra) said in response, “Oh the books! Wait then for a moment” and saying that he jumped into the water. One by one he started to take the books out. Once the book was out of the water, he slapped it as if to clean it and dust blew off it. He placed it on the edge and said, “Take a look.”

 

Maulana Rum (ra) picked up the book and found it to be dry as a bone. Then Maulana Shams (ra) took out another book and did the same. Bewildered, Maulana Rum (ra) looked at Shams and asked, “Will they come out dry by my hand as well or only yours?”

 

Maulana Shams (ra) answered, “While I am in the water, they will come out dry by your hand as well.”

 

Subhan Allah! It was my favourite line of the story.

 

Maulana Rum (ra) picked up a book from the water and dusted it. It was completely dry. He called his students over. They started picking out books too. Now Maulana Shams (ra) had thrown in 10-12 books sitting on the side of the fountain but 300 or so emerged from the water.

 

Maulana Rum (ra) was elated. He pointed towards the piles and said to his students, “Take these into the library and place them there carefully.”

 

Maulana Shams (ra) stopped him. “What are you doing?”

Maulana Rum (ra) explained he wanted to keep the books in the library for they were precious.

 

On hearing that Maulana Shams (ra) admonished him, “This is the hadith you are teaching your students? 10 of the books were yours. 300 plus have come out from the water that don’t belong to you and you are taking them all? This is the morality they are learning from you? This is the knowledge you are imparting to them?”

 

In that moment Maulana Rum (ra) fell to his feet and exclaimed, “Then give me the “ilm,” the knowledge, you have that you have been bestowed by The Divine.” And this is the start.”

 

Then Uzair went back to the first couplet of the Masnavi and explained the instrument that Maulana references in it; the ney.

 

“The ney is different from the flute. It is held by the teeth not the lips. It is breathed out from not in to. As the fingers press on some notes and leave others, so the placement and movement of the fingers create the melodies. So what Maulana is saying this; the ney, the instrument itself, has nothing to it. It is a piece of dead wood. The sound is coming from the player of the instrument, his hands are creating the melody. And Allah is The Breather.”

 

Then he cited the verse.

 

فَإِذَا سَوَّيْتُهُۥ وَنَفَخْتُ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِى فَقَعُوا۟ لَهُۥ سَـٰجِدِينَ

 

And when I have formed him fully and breathed into him of My Spirit,

fall down before him in prostration!”

 

Surah Sad, Verse 72

 

“And the fingers are the training of the guide.

 

The ney was nothing until it was separated from the tree, from the forest. If it had remained there, as a piece of bark it would have eventually fallen to the ground and become dust. Now though it is a conveyer of notes.

 

What Maulana is saying here is that the suffering in the world, the guide is the one who makes you go through different stages and trials, he plays you like the flautist, so that the melodic sounds you emit reverberate in the entire world. The blower is Allah, the player is the Spiritual Master. The separation from the jungle is what has rendered the wood an instrument. It is what it is only because it is separated.

 

Remember, two people have had the deepest impact and influence on Maulana Rum; Hazrat Abdul Qadir Jilani (ra), Ghaus ul Azam and Hazrat Muhuyddin Ibn e Arabi (ra). He has restated their philosophies in the Masnavi. And where do these philosophies in turn come from? Maula Ali (ratu).

 

Ghaus ul Azam (ra) was asked by Allah Almighty, “Do you want My Closeness?”

 

He answered, “I do.”

 

So Allah said, “Come near. And then He said to him,

 

إنقطع ثم اتصل واتصل ثم أوصل

 

Disconnect (from all others)

then connect (to Me)

and keep connecting

then communicate (with all others through Me).”

 

I was not expecting Uzair to say these lines. Since I had heard them in one of his lectures years ago, I had written the words in so many pieces, spoken the words in so many gatherings, whispered them to myself and my loved ones. But Uzair bringing it up in this context of the ney and its separation from its source was something else altogether.

 

“Maulana is taking the concept of the ney from here actually. From what Ghaus ul Azam is saying as told by Allah. ‘Separate from all others. And connect to Me. And I will connect with you, And then you will rejoin the others. But before you were joined to them through your own self. This time around, you will join with them through Me.’”

 

I let out a deep sigh.

 

I am a sigher by nature. I didn’t notice it till those around me commented on it. “You sigh a lot,” someone first said to me in college. I was surprised to hear the words. Then I forgot about them. Over the years when I was alone I noticed them myself, those long-winded sighs. Then I started noticing them in others, especially children.

 

It was such an unexpected sound from a child. It seems to hold such a deep sadness. A sadness that a soul holds within it, that the “batin” possesses and the overt self, the “zahir,” is totally unaware of. Maybe the sigh is the first sound of the ney awaiting the fingers of the Master. So that the Hand of God will one day will transform the sound of that sigh into melodious notes that intoxicate another soul.

 

On an afternoon in Karachi while sitting with my friend’s friends from Karachi a topic came up I knew nothing about; the vagus nerve. I wasn’t paying much attention to the conversation. It was some important nerve in the body blah blah and the ways that the nerve was activated that they were discussing were not of interest to me; cold showers, a lot of exercise, deep breathing, meditation.

 

Then one of them said, “And humming.”

 

“Humming?” I echoed. I hummed and sang the words of the kalam for my videos all day long when I was working on them.

 

“Yup,” she said.

 

When I went home I looked it up.

 

“What is the vagus nerve? The ”wandering” or vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve in the body. Leaving the brain stem, the vagus nerve branches off in different directions and extends as far down as the abdomen. It connects the brain and the gut, lungs, and heart. And it plays a critical role in helping us “rest and digest.” Increasing the tone of the vagus nerve enables our body to relax faster after experiencing stress.

 

Traveling down past the neck and into the body, the vagus nerve performs some of its most vital tasks. Its main function is to regulate the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), a special part of the nervous system that maintains the homeostasis of body functions, such as heart rate, respiration rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and digestion.

 

When homeostasis is disrupted through exercise, illness, or stress, a subsystem of the ANS, the Sympathetic Nervous System, kicks in and prepares the body to move, respond, or adapt to the change. This state of readiness is also known as the Fight or Flight System. When the stress is over, the Parasympathetic Nervous System down-regulates the body, bringing its functions back to baseline. Working in opposition to the Fight or Flight System, the Parasympathetic Nervous System is known as the Rest and Digest System.

 

We can thank the vagus nerve for keeping the heart rate from elevating too high for too long, maintaining blood vessel constriction (which regulates blood pressure) during activity, reactivating the digestive system after being shut down, and stabilizing the respiration rate and making sure it coordinates with the heart.

 

Because of its communication between the viscera and the brain, the vagus nerve plays an important role in body/brain interactions. Recently, neuroscientists have found a link between the presence of good gut bacteria (probiotics) and elevated mood and improved cognition. Apparently, good bacteria produce approximately 95 percent of the body’s serotonin, a neurotransmitter responsible for improved mood.

 

The vagus nerve appears to also assist in regulation of inflammatory responses from the body. Vagal communication between inflammatory responses and the brain can also allow the brain to regulate this inflammation and promote adaptations to acute injury and chronic irritation. The vagus nerve passes through by the vocal cords and the inner ear and the vibrations of humming is a free and easy way to influence your nervous system states.”

 

Unreal!

 

From my classes on “tajweed” in Fes, the rules of recitation of the Quran, I had learnt that the sound of the “shadda” on a letter, which means it is said with a double emphasis, gave it a longer stretch of two beats. Of the different levels of recitation, when it is “in a slow-paced manner with clarity, clearly distinguished letter by letter and with tranquility,” it is called “tarteela.”

 

وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ لَوْلَا نُزِّلَ عَلَيْهِ ٱلْقُرْءَانُ جُمْلَةًۭ وَٰحِدَةًۭ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ لِنُثَبِّتَ بِهِۦ

فُؤَادَكَ ۖ

وَرَتَّلْنَـٰهُ تَرْتِيلًۭا

 

And said those who disbelieve ask, "Why not was revealed to him the Quran all at once?"

 

(It is so) in this manner that We may strengthen thereby your heart.

 

And We have recited it ‘tarteela,’ with a distinct recitation.

 

Surah Al-Furqan, Verse 32

 

The name of the Prophet (peace be upon him) has two “meem.” There is one in the beginning and the one in the middle has a “shadda” on it. The application of the rule then to it creates a natural hum. Muhammmmmmad! When I learnt about humming activating the vagas nerve that day, I could not help but think, all I was doing when I hummed was saying the “meem” of his name endlessly. No matter the song. The thought was having such swooning effect on my overt being, I could only imagine what it was doing to my nervous system.

 

In the same days I came upon Maulana’s (ra) words about musicality in the Universe. The essence of sound as its form, any form, our own included, was known me to when I discovered from Sheikh Nurjan, the Naqshbandi Master, that we are energy beings first that then gain form through sound.

 

But Maulana’s (ra) revelations about it opened another dimension altogether. How music was heard differently by the extraordinary and therefore the effect it had upon them of “wajd,” a state of spiritual ecstasy.

 

The Masnavi: “The sound of the rubaab played in the court of the King. But for the lovers of God, the “ushaaq,” the rubaab’s sound is a reminder of the promise they made in the Realm of the Souls to God, the Ahd e Alast (when He asked, ‘Am I not your Lord?’ and we answered, ‘Indeed You are.’

 

The sound of the dhol, the drum, for the lovers of God holds similarity to the sound of the Nufikha As-Saur, the trumpet of Israfeel. (Even though for the rest of humanity it is the sound of the Day of Judgement, which invokes fear. But for those whose nafs is “mutmainna,” content with God, even that sound is the sound of happiness for it will bring reunion).

 

The scholars say that the different raag, with their particular combination of notes, have been taken from the movement of the orbits of the skies. And the 12 notes of the chromatic scales of music draw a parallel with the 12 constellations.

 

وَلَقَدْ جَعَلْنَا فِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ بُرُوجًۭا وَزَيَّنَّـٰهَا لِلنَّـٰظِرِينَ

 

And indeed in the Heavens we have set up great constellations and beautified it for the observers.

 

Surah Al-Hijr, Verse 16

 

The seven notes of music, the major scale, are taken from seven of the planets. The air that is between the Earth and the sky creates all the sounds in the world. These sounds are then imitated by the voice and the Tanbura.

 

The believers, the Momin, know that all these raag, these songs, they come from the singing of the heavenly “Hoors”, the heavenly maidens, and from the running waters of the rivers of Jannat, and the movement of the trees of Heaven. The melodies of the raag create the thought of reunion with The Creator for those who are His Lovers. When the listener holds within them these feelings, the music intensifies this burning love for the Divine.”

 

In my readings, in particular of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya (ra) and in general the Chisti silsila, that I myself belong to, I had heard of the effect of the “sama’a,” in their case the qawali, upon their souls. In his case for he is “Mehboob e Ilahi,” “The one who Allah holds a beloved,” I had read of instance after instance where the effect of music transported his soul in a moment from the world to an audience before His Lord during a sama’a.

 

Since I had heard Uzair’s lecture on Maulana, I was fixated on the stations of the spiritual path. I thought the be all and end all was love. Yet it was the third station of seven. “Ikhlaas” had come next. I had been praying for sincerity in my prayer but I had not known what I was even asking for. I had heard so many lectures in which Uzair and others cited the words of Auliya Karaam who stressed feeling the presence of Allah, focusing on the nearness of Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) during the saying of the namaz.

 

I had tried different ways to do that. Mostly the images of the Ka’aba and the Green Dome were as far as I got. My speed of recitation had slowed considerably over the years. I took my time. The verse I connected with most often was “As Salam o Alayka Ayyuha Nabiyyu wa Rahmutallah e wa Barakatahu.” That was because of the hadith that when one sent a “salam” upon his blessed person, he always returned it. Mostly, I was just happy I wasn’t blazing through it anymore.

 

Then while writing this piece, Maulana blew my heart wide open. I was perusing my book on the stories in the Masnavi when a title caught my eye; “Ibadat ka haqeeqi mafhoom,” the original meaning of worship.

 

The prayer of the people behind Daqooqi (ra)

 

One day a wali Allah, (a Friend of God), Hazrat Daqooqi (ra) stood as the Imam to lead the prayer. A few of his contemporaries, whose hearts were soft as silk, stood behind him to say it. As soon as the “takbeer” was uttered (Allah u Akbar – Allah is The Greatest), they departed from this transient world like the sacrificed animal.

 

The meaning of that “takbeer” became this; “We sacrifice ourselves for you, O Lord, in the way that the “takbeer” is said before the slaughter of animals for food.” So they said Allah u Akbar and sacrificed their nafs, the ego, cutting its head off so that the soul is saved from its evil deeds.

 

Be like the body of Hazrat Ismail (as) when he surrendered to his father after he told him about his dream. Like his body, become free, liberated from desire and greed. Through the utterance of Bismillah, (In the Name of Allah), the contemporaries starting shivering in remembrance of their God.

 

After that moment, they stood before God shedding tears as if on the Day of Judgment where Allah, Exalted is He, will ask; “What have you brought for Me in this time that I gave you? I granted you an age of living, I gave you livelihood, you were given strength and power. So what did you do with them? The ability to see, the ability to hear, what did you use it for? I bestowed you the blessings of the other senses. What did you do with them? You had hands and feet, the means and tools given to work, what work did you perform with them?”

 

Qari Sahib had told me that Nabi Pak (ra) had described this scene to the Sahaba;

 

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:‏‏‏‏ لَا تَزُولُ قَدَمَا عَبْدٍ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ حَتَّى يُسْأَلَ عَنْ عُمُرِهِ فِيمَا أَفْنَاهُ،

‏‏‏‏‏‏وَعَنْ عِلْمِهِ فِيمَ فَعَلَ،

‏‏‏‏‏‏وَعَنْ مَالِهِ مِنْ أَيْنَ اكْتَسَبَهُ وَفِيمَ أَنْفَقَهُ،

‏‏‏‏‏‏وَعَنْ جِسْمِهِ فِيمَ أَبْلَاهُ

 

The Prophet of God (peace be upon him) said, “The feet of no person will move until he has been asked (by God) about what works did he do in his life,

about his knowledge and his deeds as a result of it,

and his livelihood and how he earned it and how he spent it,

and about his body and how he sinned with it.”

 

The Masnavi: “Standing before God, in “qayam,” these questions were asked of Mankind from God. But because they are in a state of awe and ashamed because of the inability to answer, they immediately went into “ruku’” (the act of touching the hands on the knees), a state of humility.

 

Feeling ashamed they uttered the words for the greatness of God in that position (Subhan a Rabbi Al-Azeem). Allah commanded them, “Rise from your ‘ruku’’ and answer Me.” They raised their heads and stood up for a moment. Then losing strength again, they fell into prostration. Then they was ordered again to raise their heads.

 

They raise themselves only for a second to fall back into prostration a second time. Then again Allah says “Raise your head.”

 

After the second “raka’t,” they cannot bring himself to stand again, so they sit and Allah says to them again, “I bestowed you countless blessings, how were you grateful for them? I gave you wealth, where is the profit of that?”

 

Since they have nothing to offer, Mankind is unable to answer. Now they want an intercessor so they can be excused from this accountability. They turn to their right shoulder and says “salam” and call upon the Prophets and the Friends of God to come to their help, to aid them knowing they are stuck in a place from which there is no escape. The Prophets will say, “There is no help for you today from us. The time given to you has passed.”

 

Then they turn to their left shoulder and says “salam” and ask for their family and friends to come to their side. They too will say, “We cannot help you today.” Disappointed by all of them, their hearts will be shattered into a thousand pieces.

 

Finally they will raise their hands before their Merciful Lord and shed tears of repentance saying He is the First One and He is the Last One, so that they save themselves from their punishment. Learn from the actions of namaz that this is what will happen to you one day. Say to Him that He is The One who guides and we are the one who wish to be guided.”

 

بچه بیرون آر از بیضه نماز

سر مزن چون مرغ بی تعظیم و ساز

 

So you come out of your namaz like a chick leaves the egg, new born, pure.

And not like the chicken who wanders everywhere aimlessly.

 

The first time I read the story it was late at night. I went to sleep thinking nothing of it. The next morning when I woke it was for Fajr. I started my prayer and out of nowhere, burst into tears. Then I cried non-stop through it. For the first time in my life I pictured myself standing before God, Him asking me questions and I felt scared. Never before had I thought of myself in any moment with God that had held in it fear.

 

I wanted the namaz to end so badly the thought only made me cry more. The whole thing was so unexpected. How could Maulana Rum (ra) of all of Allah’s Friends, the one whose words are so full of love, so deeply romantic with the most exquisite expression that only softened the heart undeniably, how could he be the one who instills fear in my heart that never before existed? I had previously only concentrated on the Softness, the Mercy, the Forgiveness of Allah, because it was all I experienced. Even in the hardest of times.

 

In that morning prayer, for the first time in my life, I uttered verses in parallel. In my overt being, the verses of the namaz, and in my heart, my “qalb” whispered “Astaghfiruallah,” “I seek the forgiveness of Allah.” By the time I finished just the first two “raka’t” I was drained. But lifting the hands for a prayer was a must. It was how the story ended. My dua that day was only one and it was not to God. It was to His Beloved (peace be upon him). “Please ya Rasool Allah,” I begged, “ask Allah not to ask me anything.”

 

I went to bed weeping with a tasbeeh in my hand that I couldn’t even bring myself to read upon. I only clutched it close to my heart as I cried. I woke up the next morning fearing the hours to Zuhr. For three days the experience repeated itself in every prayer. Then like all things of beauty, it tapered off and when it did, what I had been anxious about, I wished and longed for.

 

A day or so later I went to the beach by myself. I tried to read my New Yorker but I was distracted and couldn’t focus on anything. Different thoughts interrupted me. I kept pondering about what had happened and one hadith kept coming to my mind. I have used it so many times in my writing in a particular context, it surprised me that it was the one I was reminded of.

 

إِنَّ هَذِهِ الْقُلُوبَ تَصْدَأُ كَمَا يَصْدَأُ الْحَدِيدُ

قِيلَ يَارَسُولَ اللَّهِ فَمَا جَلاؤُهَا

وذِكرُ الموت تِلاوَةُ الْقُرْآنِ كثرةُ ذِكرِ اللَّهِ قَالَ

 

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Indeed, the hearts rust like iron rusts.”

 

They said, “So what will polish them?”

 

He said, “The abundance of remembrance of Allah, recitation of the Quran and remembering death.”

 

Remembering death!

 

I had never feared death. It wasn’t unusual. Many people who have close family, especially a parent, die when they are young, become oblivious to it. At first they become indifferent to life and when it keeps going, death, more and more, becomes the reason there will be union.

 

As Hazrat Khwaja Moineenuddin Chisti Ajmer (ra) says most beautifully:

 

الموت جسرا يوصل الحبيب الى الحبيب

 

Death is the bridge that joins the beloved with the beloved.

 

But I realized that in my lovey dovey relationship with God, I had never really thought of the Afterlife. I always knew someone would save me. I had imagined our meeting, even written about it but my thought had always been child-like, if not outright childish. It was all about me of course. What I would ask Him. I never once thought about what God might ask me.

 

Uzair says the role of the Prophets, all of them was the same. They asked for belief in Tauheed (the One-ness of God), Risalat (prophethood), Aakhirat (the Day of Judgment). I believed in the Day of Judgment but I never considered it. Until now. The hadith about the Last Day when people would go from Prophet to Prophet asking them to intercede for them, until they were eventually sent by them all to Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) held a new meaning for me.

 

Each Prophet had declined the ask to appear before God for a single sin they had committed over their entire lives. Just one! That one sin made them feel so deeply ashamed, they declined to go before their Lord and ask something of Him. My list of sins was exhaustive and it was still in play, yet I had never thought of it as anything.

 

Over the next few days I realized the story was a gift from Maulana to me. He didn’t want me to be of the “ghafileen,” by not thinking of the Day of Judgment the way God wanted me to think of it. And it was not lost on me that the prayer had the effect it had because a Friend of God was leading it.

 

قُلْ مَن يَرْزُقُكُم مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ أَمَّن يَمْلِكُ ٱلسَّمْعَ وَٱلْأَبْصَـٰرَ

وَمَن يُخْرِجُ ٱلْحَىَّ مِنَ ٱلْمَيِّتِ وَيُخْرِجُ ٱلْمَيِّتَ مِنَ ٱلْحَىِّ وَمَن يُدَبِّرُ ٱلْأَمْرَ ۚ

فَسَيَقُولُونَ ٱللَّهُ ۚ

فَقُلْ أَفَلَا تَتَّقُونَ

 

Say O Prophet, “Who provides you with sustenance out of Heaven and Earth, or who has full power over hearing and sight? Who brings forward the living and the dead, and the dead from the living? Who administers all matters?

 

They will say, “Allah.”

 

Then say, “Will you not then be mindful of Him?”

 

Surah Yunus, Verse 31

 

I wanted to know what Ghaus Pak (ra) said about the last word of the verse, “tattaqoon,” as in O you who practice taqwa: “They are the ones try to prepare with precaution to avoid the fallout from Allah’s Grip and His Reckoning. You associate others with Him who give you no benefit and can bring upon you no harm and you will not spared from Him because of them at all.”

 

I was meant to read the story to feel fear for once, which I did intensely in the beginning. But more than that it was so I could continue to mindfully polish my heart. A heart whose rust never wanes. Like the dust in Karachi that is wiped one day and appears as the same the next! It was so I could understand why Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) is asked to say in the Quran by his Lord:

 

قُلْ إِنَّ صَلَاتِى وَنُسُكِى وَمَحْيَاىَ وَمَمَاتِى لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ

 

Say (O Blessed Prophet (peace be upon you)), “Indeed my prayer, my acts of worship, my living and my dying, are for Allah alone, the Lord of the worlds.

 

Surah Al-Anam, Verse 162

 

I had to look up the verse in the Tafseer e Jilani by Ghaus Pak (ra) because of the word “salat-i,” my prayer:

 

“Say, you who is the most perfect of all Prophets, who is the reflection of the One-ness of the Allah Almighty’s Essence, whilst surrendering all your affairs and that which has happened to you as well as that have emanated from you to your Lord!

 

Say, “The heart-felt inclinations of my body and my soul, and my worship, which is the means for closeness and connection with my Lord, and the necessities for my living and dying, all, are sincerely for Allah alone, The One who does as He wills in the overt and inward existence of the Universe forever and by His Choice alone.”

 

Over time, slowly, prayer by prayer, I realized my tears were of repentance. The same note in the stories in this piece, in the story for my video, had entered my life, piercing my heart. It was like I had invited them. Because I had not even chosen the story for the video except by reading the Fateha and opening the book blindly to a page.

 

The Masnavi has hundreds of stories. It was impossible for me to choose one arbitrarily. To make sure it was the right story, I had opened it a second time to see what else appeared and then try to to decide between them but it had opened to the same story, settling the matter.

 

I thought of my weeping in my namaz for those days. I had shed my tears in silence thinking about when He would ask what I brought for Him. I had nothing. I had shed them in regret imagining if He asked what had I done with that which He bestowed me. It was nothing. And for the first time in my life, I realized the heart wrenching emotion that tears of repentance actually express: “Why did it take me so long to get here?”

 

After every Quran class that I have been going to for years now, a prayer is said by Dannu at the end. I had always uttered it fleetingly. Now I understood why she shed such heartfelt tears every single time. Finally I understood her ask. I didn’t want to be asked anything, whether we were front of others and even if we were all alone.

 

It was unsurprising of course that my Prophet (peace be upon him), who taught me about the Afterlife, is the one who I invoked before my heart began to feel calm again. He would be the only reason Allah might spare me in that moment I had experienced only in my imagination in the last few days with such intensity, it had ripped my soul apart.

 

He would be the one who would save me and everyone else that day. When everybody else would decline, he would invoke the intercession he was promised on the night he was brought to the Heavens, on the Night of Ascension.

 

‏‏‏‏‏‏فَيَأْتُونِي، ‏‏‏‏‏‏فَأَنْطَلِقُ حَتَّى أَسْتَأْذِنَ عَلَى رَبِّي، ‏‏‏‏‏‏فَيُؤْذَنَ لِي، ‏‏‏‏‏‏فَإِذَا رَأَيْتُ رَبِّي وَقَعْتُ سَاجِدًا، ‏‏‏‏‏‏فَيَدَعُنِي مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ،

 

‏‏‏‏‏‏ثُمَّ يُقَالُ:‏‏‏‏ ارْفَعْ رَأْسَكَ وَسَلْ تُعْطَهْ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏وَقُلْ يُسْمَعْ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏وَاشْفَعْ تُشَفَّعْ،

‏‏‏‏‏‏فَأَرْفَعُ رَأْسِي فَأَحْمَدُهُ بِتَحْمِيدٍ يُعَلِّمُنِيهِ،

‏‏‏‏‏‏ثُمَّ أَشْفَعُ فَيَحُدُّ لِي حَدًّا، ‏‏‏‏‏‏فَأُدْخِلُهُمُ الْجَنَّةَ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏ثُمَّ أَعُودُ إِلَيْهِ فَإِذَا رَأَيْتُ رَبِّي مِثْلَهُ،

‏‏‏‏‏‏ثُمَّ أَشْفَعُ فَيَحُدُّ لِي حَدًّا، ‏‏‏‏‏‏فَأُدْخِلُهُمُ الْجَنَّةَ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏ثُمَّ أَعُودُ الرَّابِعَةَ،

 

‏‏‏‏‏‏فَأَقُولُ:‏‏‏‏ مَا بَقِيَ فِي النَّارِ إِلَّا مَنْ حَبَسَهُ الْقُرْآنُ وَوَجَبَ عَلَيْهِ الْخُلُودُ،

 

Then people will come to me and I will go with them and ask to see God. Then I will be granted audience and as soon I will see Him, I will go into prostration and until He calls me, I will remain in prostration.

 

Then He will say, “Raise your head O Muhammad! Intercede and your intercession will be granted.”

 

I will raise my head and speak in His praise that which God Almighty Himself taught me. Then I will begin my intercession and there will be a limit set for me and I will make them enter Heaven.

 

When I will come back for the fourth time, then I will say “There are no more people left in Hell except those who are destined to remain in it forever (by You).”

 

And it was him who had made the point of Maulana’s (ra) story crystal clear. A single namaz said with sincerity, would render a person pure of all sin, like a new born, like the Haj did. The incident, like all of his life, had a different meaning for me every time I cited it. This time it was simply in his reason for God’s forgiveness towards a man who was literally hounding him for punishment for a sin that was making him guilty and distressed.

 

Hazrat Abu Umama (ratu) narrates:

 

We were sitting in the mosque in the company of Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him).

 

A person came there and said, “O Messenger ‌of God (peace be upon you)! I have committed an offence which deserves the imposition of Hadd (punishment for a transgression) upon me, so impose it upon me.”

 

Allah's Messenger ‌(peace be upon him) kept silent.

 

He repeated it and said, “O Messenger ‌of God (peace be upon you), I have committed an offence which deserves the imposition of Hadd upon me, so impose it upon me.”

 

He (the Holy Prophet ‌(peace be upon him)) kept silent, and it was at this time that Iqama was pronounced for prayer (and the prayer was observed).

 

And when Allah's Apostle (‌peace be upon him) had concluded the prayer, the person followed Allah's Messenger ‌(peace be upon him). Hazrat Abu Umama continues:

 

I too followed Allah's Messenger ‌(peace be upon him) after he had concluded the prayer, so that I should know what answer he would give to that person.

 

That person remained attached to Allah's Messenger ‌(peace be upon him) and said, “O Messenger ‌of God (peace be upon you), I have committed an offence which deserves imposition of Hadd upon me so impose it upon me.”

 

Hazrat Abu Umama (ratu) reported that Allah's Messenger ‌(peace be upon him) said to him, “Didn't you see that as you got out of the house, you performed ablution perfectly well.”

 

He said, “O Messenger ‌of God (peace be upon you)! of course. I did it.”

 

He again said to him, “Then you observed prayer along with us.”

 

He said, “O Messenger ‌of God (peace be upon you)! Yes, it is so.”

 

Thereupon the Messenger of Allah ‌(peace be upon him) said to him, “Verily, Allah has exempted you from the imposition of Hadd or he said, ‘From your sin.’”

 

“You performed ablution well, you observed prayer along with us.” The blessings of a prayer behind the Master of of the Universe!

 

Another hadith came to my mind, one that I had never previously understood. In fact, I could never relate to the lectures in which I had heard that the “haqq,” the right of uttering the prayer is fulfilled, when one can see God or at least when God sees them.

 

“Use imagery,” I heard the scholars say but I didn’t know how to apply that. The thought itself did bring focus on the act for me more so than before but my mind still constantly wandered. Sadly I confess, I had spent so much time in that endless wandering, I actually had been able to identify where it was languishing.

 

It was always one of two things; either I was thinking about my to-dos, immediately or otherwise pending or I was broiling over something someone had done to upset me and I had held on to it instead of letting it go.

 

The hadith that I was thinking of now with a new zeal was the one in which Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) defines “ehsaan” when Hazrat Gibrael once appears before him to ask him some questions.

 

As narrated by Hazrat Omar Farouq (ratu):

 

One day while we were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) there appeared before us a man whose clothes were exceedingly white and whose hair was exceedingly black; no signs of journeying were to be seen on him and none of us knew him. He walked up and sat down by the Prophet (peace be upon him).

 

Resting his knees against his and placing the palms of his hands on his thighs, he said: "O Muhammed, tell me about islam."

 

The messenger of Allah said: "Islam is to testify that there is no god but Allah and Muhammed is the messenger of Allah, to perform the prayers, to pay the zakat, to fast in Ramadhan, and to make the pilgrimage to the House, if you are able to do so." `

 

He said:"You have spoken rightly," and we were amazed at him asking him and saying that he had spoken rightly.

 

He said: "Then tell me about imaan."

 

He said:"It is to believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day, and to believe in divine destiny, both the good and the evil thereof."

 

He said:"You have spoken rightly."

 

He said, " Then tell me about ehsaan."

 

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "It is to worship Allah as though you are seeing Him, and while you see Him not yet truly He sees you".

 

He said: "Then tell me about the Hour". He said: "The one questioned about it knows no better than the questioner."

 

He said: "Then tell me about its signs."

 

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "That the slave-girl will give birth to her mistress and that you will see the barefooted, naked, destitute herdsman competing in constructing lofty buildings."

 

Then he took himself off and I stayed for a time. Then he said: "O Omar, do you know who the questioner was?" I said: "Allah and His messenger know best". He said: "He was Jebreel (Gabriel), who came to you to teach you your religion."

 

گفت پيغامبر که حق فرموده است

قصد من از خلق احسان بوده است

 

The Prophet (peace be upon him) of God said that Allah says, “The purpose of My creating you was to bestow you with ehsaan (My Bounty).”

 

I called Qari Sahib to ask him one question only. In the story of those who followed Daqooqi (ra) in prayer, the Prophets had all turned away, the friends and family had turned away. Yet everything Maulana Rum (ra) says is about the need of the guide, a “murshid,” is that it is beyond essential. That the way to gain knowledge of God, closeness with him is not only accelerated through connection to His Favourites, it is impossible without them. He was the savior in the world and the Hereafter, so wasn’t there a mixed message?

 

Qari Sahib smiled. “The beauty of the Masnavi is that it is a reflection of the Quran. Maulana himself calls it "the marrow of the Quran." So everything that is said in it is in fact inspired by Allah and His Verses and then of course the ahadith.

 

In this story, or that matter any story in it, anyone who has knowledge of the Quran can connect every single thought Maulana (ra) expresses to a verse from The Book.”

 

Then he gave me the example:

 

“We will all be standing before God.”

 

يَوْمَ يَقُومُ ٱلنَّاسُ لِرَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ

 

The Day that Humankind will stand before God, The Lord of the Worlds.

 

Surah Al-Mutaffifeen, Surah 6

 

“Everyone will be asked about the blessing they received.”

 

ثُمَّ لَتُسْـَٔلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ ٱلنَّعِيمِ

 

Then surely you will be asked that Day about what you did with the pleasures of life.

 

Surah At-Takathur, Verse 9

 

“No one will ask about another Maulana (ra) says.”

 

فَإِذَا نُفِخَ فِى ٱلصُّورِ فَلَآ أَنسَابَ بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍۢ وَلَا يَتَسَآءَلُونَ

 

Then when the trumpet of Ressurection is blown, no ties of kinship will bind them on that Day, neither will they ask about one another.

 

Surah Al-Mumineen, Verse 101

 

“No one will be able to say a single word on their part.”

 

يَوْمَئِذٍۢ يَتَّبِعُونَ ٱلدَّاعِىَ لَا عِوَجَ لَهُۥ ۖ وَخَشَعَتِ ٱلْأَصْوَاتُ لِلرَّحْمَـٰنِ فَلَا تَسْمَعُ إِلَّا هَمْسًۭا

 

And on that Day everyone will follow the summoning Voice from which there will be no escape.

Then all voices will be hushed before the Most Gracious and only faint whispers will be heard.

 

Surah Taha, Verse 108

 

“But then there is also the exception. Because there is always an exception.

 

ٱلْأَخِلَّآءُ يَوْمَئِذٍۭ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ إِلَّا ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ

 

On that Day, close friends will be enemies to each other, except for those who are mindful of God.

 

Surah Al-Zukhruf, Verse 67”

 

“So you see,” Qari Sahib ended on this note, “the Quran itself says that the “Muttaqeen” will be friends and they will also be intercessors. Maulana (ra) is talking to the ordinary to warn them and to encourage them to prepare for that meeting with their Lord. To not be oblivious to it and disregard it. That is why he ends the way he does. And yet it is uplifting because he also says that the prayer, each and every prayer holds in it, for the reader, the possibility of absolute renewal.”

 

The journey of the seeker is “ma’rifat,” knowing God. Ghaus Pak (ra) says that without surrender (islam), there is no “imaan” (faith) and without “imaan,” there is no “iqaan” (certainty) and without “iqaan,” there is no “ma’rifat.” And each time I learn the same thing. The acts of my own life never reveal anything to me about my God.

 

As Hazrat Shahabuddin Suhrawardi (ra) says, Allah is not found by those who search for Him. He’s a non-material Being. But the ‘bay’at,’ a pledge of allegiance to a Spiritual Master, is a thing that if you take it, you can find the Hand of God.”

 

The first hand Allah called His Own was the hand of His Beloved, Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him). Then those who pledged their allegiance to him, in deep devotion and perfect emulation, placing their hand in his, also received the same blessing; through their hand could also be found the Hand of God. The “hand” is figurative but it was clear from Ghaus Pak’s (ra) tafseer of the pledge at Hudaibiah that Allah promises His Own Power and Authority to them.

 

It’s funny how one learns in life. When the “influencers” who actually cause change, in thought and in action, are no longer around, two possibilities remain. Traversing the path alone and going around in circles or turning to someone else, someone in the know.

 

My interests, some intensely passionate when they were shared with my loved ones, simply died when they died. It was then that I made Allah my Rabbi, my Lord who raises me, and my journey resumed. From being someone with intense attachment issues, I learnt to become detached.

 

My feelings became engaged with the Realm of the Unseen and its “makeen,” the ones who live there. In the world I gained a Spiritual Master at 16. Stage two! But I didn’t know then I had the Hand of God so close to my own. I wish I had.

 

Maulana Rum (ra) says that when Allah takes an oath countless times in different ayaat in the Quran, no object of an oath taken by God can be temporary or transient. In their “zahir,” the overt, they range from the skies that have been lifted and the Earth that has been laid, to the first star that appears in the dawn of the night, to the oceans and their waves that break into each other.

 

The specificity of the choices are spell-binding. Allah swears by the sun but not by the sun that is out all day. The Knower of Subtleties swears by the sun when it is at its peak. By the moon but not any moon. The moon that trails the sun and is revealed in its presence so both can be seen. He swears by the day when all is visible, and the night when nothing can be seen and the things we see and the things we are unable to see. He even swears by colours: the light of the dawn, the glow of the sunset, the blackness of the night and what it shrouds, the moon when it is full. The list goes on and on.

 

Maulana (ra) says that anything that is fleeting is not worthy of being sworn upon by Allah who is Al-Baaqi, The Everlasting. Therefore, according to him, almost always the oath taken is upon a facet of His Beloved (peace be upon him) for everything reflects the light of his heart.

 

عکس راز مرد حق دانيدروز

عکس ستاريش شام چشم دوذ

 

Think of the light of the day as the inner being of The Truthful One (Nabi Kareem (saw)),

the evening that closes the eyes is the reflection of his concealing (the flaws of others).

 

زاں سببفرمويزداں و الضحی

و الضحی نور ضمير مصطفی

 

This is the reason that Allah swears upon Ad-Duha (the dawnlight),

for Ad-Duha is the light of the heart of Mustafa (peace be upon him).

 

The meaning of the word, qalb, is also that which forever changes.

 

Hence the invocation by Nabi Kareem, “Ya Muqallib ul Qaloob, thabit qalbi ala deenik,” “O Changer of hearts forever changing, make my heart steadfast, unchanging, upon the state of being pious/conscious/consistent/obedient/fearful in Your Faith.”

 

When entrenched in the world, no doubt, the heart lands on one person and one thing, then another and another. It is certainly the opposite of “thabit,” steadfast. Maybe that’s why it’s so hard to find a love that intensifies focus on anything, much less God.

 

But one day it tires of the endless change. One vision becomes longed for which can take up the heart’s entire space forever. Filling it with the love of The Divine is the ask of all asks. For then it is a love that is in its manner God-like, that is infinite, that allows for increased giving, widening its embrace to everyone, a Universe, while all other expressions and reasons for loving ultimately exhaust and even become exhausting.

 

Qari Sahib said to me years ago, “Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) takes us towards Allah and Allah sends us back to him. Thus our soul’s journey proceeds back and forth between the two and we find our way forward.”

 

Never did his words resonate with my heart as they do now. In those days of fear filled prayers before God, I only called out to the Prophet (peace be upon him). And now in my prayers full of yearning, I plead before God to make my heart a space worthy for His Beloved to occupy.

 

I want to grovel before God and find the apples of Heaven falling in my lap in the name of His Favoured. Like the man who one day awoke and found the cow strolling in his front door, I pray for my “nafs” to die, my “aql” to be free after a lifelong of captivity. I found it at long last, my love non-distracting. Now I await it entering my heart and making it still forever.

 

وَلِكُلٍّ وِجْهَةٌ هُوَ مُوَلِّيهَا

 

And for everyone is a direction - he turns towards it.

 

Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse 128

 

It was said (by the Mufassiroon) for the verse:

 

قِیْلَ اَلْمُرَادُ بِھَا لِکُلِّ اَحَدٍ قِبْلَةٌ

فَقِبْلَةُ الْمُقَرَّبِيْنَ الْعَرْشُ وَالرُّوْحَانِيِّيْنَ الْكُرْسِيُّ وَالْكَرُّوْبِیْنَ الْبَیْتُ الْمَعْمُوْرُ وَالْاَنْبِیَاءُ قَبْلَکَ بَیْتُ المُقَدَّسِ

وَ قِبْلَتُكَ الْکَعْبَةُ وَ ھِیَ قِبْلَةُ جَسَدِکَ،

وَ أَمَّا قِبْلَةُ رُوْحِکَ فَأَنَا

وَ قِبْلَتِیْ أَنْتَ

 

“There is a Qibla, direction, for everyone.

 

For those brought nearer to Allah (Muqarabeen), their Qibla is Al-Arsh, The Throne.

 

For the Spirits it is the Kursi, The Chair (of Knowledge).

 

For the Karrubeen, the angels, it is Beit ul Ma’moor (a mosque in Heaven).

 

And for the Prophets before you (O Muhammad (peace be upon you), it is Beit ul Muqaddas.

 

And for you O Beloved, your Qibla is the Ka’aba and it is the Qibla of your physical being, whereas the Qibla of your soul is Me.

 

And My Qibla (Focus) is you.”

 

وَاصْبِرْ لِحُكْمِ رَبِّكَ فَإِنَّكَ بِأَعْيُنِنَا

 

So be patient with your Lord’s Judgment, for indeed, you are in Our Eyes.

 

Surah At-Tur, Verse 48

 

www.youtube.com/channel/UCqb01bB-J3kyiu-HKIX2MKw

The Qur’an[1] (Arabic: القرآن‎ al-qur’ān, literally “the recitation”; also sometimes transliterated as Quran, Qur’ān, Koran, Alcoran or Al-Qur’ān) is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe the Qur’an to be the book of divine guidance and direction for mankind, and consider the original Arabic text to be the final revelation of God.

 

Islam holds that the Qur’an was revealed to Muhammad by the angel Jibrīl (Gabriel) from 610 CE to his death in 632 CE. The Qur’an was written down by Muhammad's companions while he was alive, although the prime method of transmission was oral. In 633 CE, the written text was compiled, and in 653 CE it was standardized, distributed in the Islamic empire and produced in large numbers. The present form of the Qur’an is regarded as God's revelation to Muhammad by Muslim believers. Academic scholars often consider it the original version authored or dictated by Muhammad.Muslim tradition agrees that it was fixed in writing shortly after Muhammad's death by order of Umar and Abu Bakr.

 

Muslims regard the Qur’an as the culmination of a series of divine messages that started with those revealed to Adam, regarded in Islam as the first prophet, and continued with the Suhuf Ibrahim (Scrolls of Abraham), the Tawrat (Torah), the Zabur (Psalms), and the Injeel (Gospel).The aforementioned books are not explicitly included in the Qur’an, but are recognized therein. The Qur’an also refers to many events from Jewish and Christian scriptures, some of which are retold in comparatively distinctive ways from the Bible and the Torah, while obliquely referring to other events described explicitly in those texts.

 

The Qur'an itself expresses that it is the book of guidance. Therefore it rarely offers detailed accounts of historical events; the text instead typically placing emphasis on the moral significance of an event rather than its narrative sequence.Muslims believe the Qur'an itself to be the main miracle of Muhammad and a proof of his prophethood.

The Idols in my Heart

 

The beauty, zeenat, of the heart comes from Tauheed (the

One-ness of God)

ikhlas (sincerity),

trusting Allah,

it comes from His Remembrance

and in forgetting others.

Ghaus Pak (ra)

 

Writing truthfully comes naturally to me. Writing about my dark side, easily. I can see it in the light of others, the contrast striking. I can see it in their darkness, we are always only shades apart. My esteemed Spiritual Master Babu ji (ra) says countless times in Musafir Chand Roza; “Think of yourself as the worst. Think of everyone else as better than you.”

 

I was never able to do that, think of myself as the worst. And it was without discussing those who made everyone feel they were better than them. After all, some souls had made no promises. They had not reached out and been embraced. Hence, they were yoked, captive themselves. If they behaved badly it was not surprising. But I hailed myself as a keeper of promises. Regressing once in a while was one thing. Breaking a foundational rule, entirely another.

 

So over four weeks on a summer holiday I finally came to reach the point of honestly thinking I was undoubtedly the worst. This is that story that in fact should not be told. And if it is, I have wondered while writing it, can it ever be told truthfully?

 

Begin.

 

When you have one person left that is family that person is important. You have seen good times and bad together. Each of you has changed in their own ways, marking their footsteps with imprints, scars and wounds to show for their paths on their spiritual journey. You part ways often but you will always meet again. If not joy, life and if not pain, death creates reunion forever.

 

In the interim sometimes one sinks in mistrust wondering, are they sincere to me? The dimmest of light in the heart dying to be heard screams yes. The darkness simply whispers no. Yet prevails.

 

This summer after two years I returned to what was my home for years. Simply because it was my brother’s home. Portland, Oregon. A city that felt divine because of its beauty and its food, both simple yet overwhelming, in a good way. My cousin happened to be there too. That was a stroke of luck. He is gentle and calm, chilled. The opposite of me even though we were both born on the same day four years apart. I was glad he was there. I had really gotten to know him only on a trip once years ago because he was outside of Lahore. In the city we both lived in, he was usually depressed, languishing in fantasies that would never come true.

 

My niece was now ten. She was and always will be my heart’s greatest delight. The second person I loved without expectation, negotiation, calculation. I recently added a third and fourth to that list. I hope it grows. I feel it so starkly now what Maulana Shams Tabrez (ra) means when he says that love with those three aspects in it is hell. And without it, heaven. It was so strange to realize in all my interactions of love once the 40’s began, all of which I felt so intensely, bliss had always been absent.

 

Even now when I regress, say something, do something and think of how or whether it might be reciprocated, I feel that fire of hell and wonder; how did I burn in it for these last 10 years? Burn…in...it...

 

I was prepared for the trip in advance. As in spiritually trained for it in Lahore. By my Masters from the Realm of the Unseen and my friends on this Earth. There were two simple rule to follow; first, exercise silence. And two, understand and accept that nothing you want will happen.

 

Both rules were next to impossible for me to execute without lapse for the former and reaction to the latter. Still I buckled down and took a deep breath. I joked with a cousin of mine before leaving; If I can pull it off Cuz, I’m coming back with a halo around my head!

 

Day 15 was when I faced my failure dead in the face. My tongue finally lashed out. My temper raged. My brother reacted somewhat calmly because he always says the same thing; drink a glass of cold water. He must have read it somewhere in tips for anger management. Of course that was infuriating. I left the room in a huff and the sick part was as I entered mine, where my niece was brushing her teeth, I felt elated.

 

A volcano had finally burst so pressure was released. A molten lava erupted leaving me unscathed. A few minutes later I re-entered his room sickened by my pleasure at taking someone out. I apologized. He kept saying he didn’t understand why I reacted the way I did. I had no answer to that because I felt he should have known it was coming. But I gave no explanation because every single one I had would have only served to provoke him and hence me. I apologized again. He accepted it gracefully.

 

That afternoon I chose to stay behind while the three of them went shopping to the city. We were spending most of the five weeks in a beach town on the coast. I grabbed my book & drove to a restaurant where I loved the food. I stared out the window at dense fog, and then found a beach to walk on.

 

I saw a few cars parked on the side of a road. I could see the sand from where I stopped so I knew it wasn’t going to be far. I put on my headphone and the track that was my summer pick – Sultan + Shepherd, Run to you – grabbed my camera and made my way down. The beach was lovely. It was a cliff on one side that was laid on a bed of rocks. I decided to climb over them and walk to the edge so I could sit right near the water.

 

It was around 4 that I realized I hadn’t prayed Zuhr. I would not get back into town in time to say it so I decided to pray on the rocks. During the prayer I thought about the moment I had experienced with my brother that morning. The moment I had successfully avoided for 15 days. The moment that had made me feel victorious when it was really nothing but defeat. Nonetheless it was also a moment which allowed me to see him for where he was standing in his life.

 

Overtly he appeared strong, financially independent, capable, seemingly in no need of anything, emotional or otherwise. But it was a false bravado. Because bravado is always false. His aggression, which seemed to manifest itself instantly, was in fact just the opposite. It was intense fragility. As if a shattering was just a hair’s breadth away and he was skirting it every single moment all the time.

 

There was in fact no confidence. There was never any confidence. My father had never allowed it. Its false appearance was a mask that over time had become worn out so now it kept peeling off. That part he was aware of. It was what caused the tension inside him to repeat one exercise in repeat; plastering that mask back on again and again. That is why seclusion was preferred. Everything else must have felt taxing.

 

I replayed the morning’s incident in my mind over and over. I wanted to see my role in it. I had not even really lost my temper. I had just expressed irritation. At being slighted. At being ignored. At being out of bounds really as far as any consideration or sensitivity was concerned. I had been annoyed at best. I had expressed it by being dismissive and condescending. That was the trigger!

 

It was my making him feel insignificant, the hinting that his behaviour was abnormal. It was me being my father! The truth was that he was also being my father. As far as triggering me was concerned. But there was a big difference. I knew what was happening. I could exercise control over my reaction. All I had to do was be quiet.

 

He didn’t know anything. He was getting through life hour by hour, minute by minute, hoping his world didn’t crash, hoping he didn’t crash. And not even for his own sake. For his daughter’s. Who already knows what he’s like. Like all children learn their parent’s flaws at the youngest age. And love them anyway. Ignore them anyway.

 

During my prayer I thought about how I was one of those ordinary people who learnt only through failure. Who always had to be bad in order to be good. And I thought of my beloved Nabi Kareem (saw) who was only and always good. Kind. Gentle. Soft. I had read a new story recently where he was walking and some man came up behind him and pulled him back by his shirt so roughly that he tore it.

 

“Give me something,” he demanded.

 

A war had been won. The spoils were being distributed.

 

Nabi Kareem (saw) simply turned around and smiled.

 

“Give him what he wants,” he said.

 

Just like that!

 

But I was never good. To be good I had to always first face my evil. I hated that so much. It disappointed me so deeply I would just cry. That day sitting on the rocks I wept and asked my Lord for the first time, Ya Rabbi! When will I just be good? Would it ever happen? Could it even happen? I heard the waves crash on the rocks around me and waited for an answer. It didn’t come.

 

The wind blew hard carrying birds I had never seen before gliding away in lines. I packed my stuff and headed back towards the car. For 14 days I had been praying fervently, ardently, eagerly, passionately, fanatically. How can I express love to someone, I would ask Allah, who has an impenetrable barrier around them? A new barrier that I had never seen before, that I was not used to. And then I knew.

 

Perhaps there was no way around it. Maybe I was not going to be able to go through it and find myself on the inside. Ever! If the shield made another feel safe, then it was not for me to undo that for them. The only thing I could do was express my love. Which I had not been doing with my brother. In practicing my muteness, I had not said anything kind to him either. I had just been mirroring him, the only difference between us being my silence.

 

On good days I had felt hopeful. On bad, I felt like I visited someone who had jailed themselves. I sat across a glass door. I picked up a phone. I waited for a Hello! If I was lucky, we spoke. Otherwise he disappeared leaving me, the one who is “free” bound, wondering if the next interaction would be better. It made me realize he wasn't the only person in my life like that.

 

In the first few days when I couldn’t figure anything out I called Qari Sahib just to say hello. He gave me a prayer to say. Since I have never uttered verses before in certain number to bring about change in another person, I was dejected by his advice. But then the Surah turned out to one of my favourites, Al-Nasr, so I started saying it. I recited it a lot anyway.

 

I even set up a time to understand the tafseer of it by Ghaus Pak (ra).

 

إِذَا جَآءَ نَصْرُ ٱللَّهِ وَٱلْفَتْحُ

وَرَأَيْتَ ٱلنَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِى دِينِ ٱللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا

فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَٱسْتَغْفِرْهُ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ تَوَّابًۢا

 

When comes the Help of Allah and the Victory,

and you see the people entering into the religion of Allah in multitudes.

Then glorify with the praises of your Lord and ask His Forgiveness.

Indeed, He is Oft-Returning

Surah Al-Fath, Verses 1-3

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Ida ja’a nasurallah: When it will come to you, O Messenger who completes Prophethood (peace be upon you), the Promise of Allah which He promised you, that He will help you against all your enemies. And make your religion dominate all other religions…

 

Wal fath: …which Allah already informed you of with his verse

“Inna fathana laka fath han mubeenan - ‏إِنَّا فَتَحْنَا لَكَ فَتْحًۭا مُّبِينًۭا ‎- Indeed, We have given victory, to you a victory clear. 48/1”

 

Wa: Now it has come; that victory and the help that you were promised, completing your control and overcoming all your enemies and dominating your religion over all other religions…

 

Rait an Naas a yadkhulna fi deen Allah I afwaja: …troop by troop and group by group, after which they will come individual by individual.

 

Fa sabbih bi hamdi Rabbika: O Messenger who completes Prophethood (peace be upon you)! Be thankful that He has granted you all that He promised you. And He gave you victory upon all the Universe. And perfected your excellence in manner and honorable etiquette by raising you, then unveiling your appearance for all people.

 

Wa astahfir-hu: So ask Him to let go of everything and forgive from His Majesty, for the benefit of your person and your transgressions (in love).

 

Inna hu kana Tawwaba: He forgives all who ask for forgiveness from Him and also accepts the repentance of those who turn towards Him again. If those feelings come dipped in sincerity.

 

It was the last line that resonated for me the most. I turned in repentance again and again. But it also made me wonder about the last line. Were my feelings always dipped in sincerity?

 

I even studied what is the Khatim as Surah, a note at the end of each Surah, concluding it, that Ghaus Pak (ra) writes for the reader:

 

O You who seeks success on the Last Day and is interested in the spiritual blessings from Allah Himself which have been promised that come from asking forgiveness from Him! And in focusing your attention towards Him in all your states all the time and entrusting your matters in their entirety to Him! And making Him your Disposer of Affairs! And making Him the One who takes care of you and becomes your Guarantor!

 

For you the duty is to be steadfast in obedience and worship. And stay away from that which has been made forbidden and evil for you. May Allah protect you from sins and bring you to the place of culminating your purpose by His Bounty (Fazl) and His Kindness (Lutf).

 

In saying the Surah by count for the first time, I realized that prayers that are supposedly to alter another’s heart are amazing because whether they impact the other person or not, they definitely alter one’s own. It’s the Quran after all. Ease of the heart is promised.

 

ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ أَلَا بِذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ ٱلْقُلُوبُ

 

Those who believed and whose hearts find comfort in the remembrance of Allah.

No doubt, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find their rest.

Surah Ar-Rad, Verse 28

 

But it was early days. Half the trip remained. I felt ease because I was successful in exercising silence but I was seriously lacking something which I had taken for granted on my end; the entrusting of matters in their entirety to Him, and making Him the only Disposer of Affairs, and making Him the

One who takes care of me and thus becoming my Guarantor!

 

In Lahore, I always felt my reliance singularly, doubtlessly because I was alone. There was no one except God for me there. When I made mistakes, erring constantly, they had to do with my own person. The regret came naturally and the repentance was doused in sincerity.

 

Patterns were recognized and broken quickly. Here I was repeating the mistake without recognizing it and therefore without addressing it. I noted the difference was coming from the relationship that was woven into my life inextricably. The others I could walk away from. This I could not escape.

 

I knew that because the whole trip had got me thinking about friends of mine who had spouses who were difficult. Who can fly off the handle without provocation. Be verbally abusive or just distant, indifferent. Then cycle to some sweetness and become hard again. Endlessly. For decades. I often tried to share with them what I learnt but I was not married and I have never had experience, long-term living in the same space with someone who was like that. I shared what worked for me in difficulty of shaking off looping thoughts. That was about it. I didn’t have to face the people creating those thoughts all day long.

 

I had found my brother to be was more closed off than usual. Perhaps it was because his marriage was on fragile grounds. Maybe it was from living alone for the last two years. Then my father had died only a few months before. He was always veiled anyway but the veils seemed thicker.

 

Day in and day out I wondered how to reach him. I felt like it was an exercise in vain like scaling walls put up by the other only to reach the top and find, the walls were in fact higher. The rope wasn’t enough. You could only stay suspended.

 

On one of my alone days while reading Al-Fath Ar-Rabbani, I finally understood why Ghaus Pak (ra) defined the last and highest state of sabr, patience, to be that which is not waited for to be over. It was something that had always truly perplexed me. Why wouldn’t someone want a trial of difficulty to end?

 

“Once I was faced with a trial and it left me in a state of pain for a few days. I requested Allah to make it end. And He intensified my pain through another trial. In that moment, I was left mutahayyar, bewildered.

 

Then I heard a voice from the Unseen, ‘Did you not in your initial stages say that, in all my states, I surrender to my Lord?’

 

Thus I was taught adab regard, and I became still.”

 

I loved that last line. How the extraordinary were taught something through a single line and in a single moment becoming “still” for eternity!

 

I already knew that what lay at the heart of badly broken people; shame and abandonment. It’s what lay behind the dysfunction we all have. But theirs seemed to be different. I recently discovered the major one to be that a time comes when they cannot take any chances.

 

They refuse to put themselves in a position of vulnerability. Not with any relation. Not for any reason. They seem to be minimizing risk of hurt and disappointment to zero but in that singular pursuit they don’t see that they will have to reject all love.

 

All of it!

 

How barren would life be then?

 

It made me sigh deeper than usual.

 

On day 21, my trip was coming to a close in two weeks. My cousin was leaving in one. In that moment when the end appeared on the horizon, clarity came with it. What I have not mentioned thus far, primarily out of disappointment and embarrassment, was my financial dependence on my brother. He had given me his credit card. He had done that many times before. But this time he seemed to do it, not begrudgingly, but not quite as generously either.

 

I had brought a substantial amount of money to cover my expenses but I had spent it all on my ticket, renting weekend apartments and hiring cars over the 6 weeks. I expected him to cover the cost of my being there otherwise. And it was again during my prayers that I was made to see myself relying on him when my pockets were not empty. I just didn’t want to spend my money on incidentals because I thought I shouldn’t have to. But I ignored those revelations that came. That was a colossal mistake!

 

Day after day my prayers were distracted from morning till night. I would hear a voice inside my heart saying words like ghair mukhlis, insincere, munafiq, hypocrite. I listened to the words over and over feeling my chest tighten and yet, I didn’t change anything. Till the end appeared.

 

The tragic fact was I was not even buying anything I really wanted on his card. He was not going to end up spending half as much money on me than I would spend on myself. Still I felt entitled to it and instead, I ignored my soul that was burning. And I let it burn.

 

Then on another day while I was reading Ghaus Pak (ra) spoke to me;

 

“O you who seeks ilm, knowledge! Without amal, deed, there is no trust upon your knowledge and without ikhlaas, sincerity, there is no trust upon your deed. For it is like a body without a soul.

 

The symbol of your sincerity is that you don’t turn your attention towards people when they praise you nor when they are critical of you and – this was the line especially for me – the symbol of your sincerity is that you don’t turn your attention towards people or the wealth that is in their hands.”

 

The symbol of your sincerity!

 

Then he continued, “For how will you deliver on your promises to Allah that (1) only He is your Lord (2) you were created to gain His Recognition and (3) make your deeds to please the Giver of all Blessings instead of the overt giver of it who is just the medium.”

 

Whilst translating the text with Qari Sahib he told me the verses Ghaus Pak (ra) was referring to in the Quran. That is when I knew, I was amongst those who said, “Bala! Indeed, You are.”

 

وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِنۢ بَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ ۖ

قَالُوا۟ بَلَىٰ ۛ شَهِدْنَآ ۛ أَن تَقُولُوا۟ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَـٰذَا غَـٰفِلِينَ

 

And recall when Your Lord summoned the offspring of the children of Adam from their loins and made them testify about themselves, “Am I not your Lord?”

They said, “Yes, we do testify.”

Thus you cannot say on the Day of Resurrection, “We were oblivious of this.”

Surah Al Araaf, Verse 172

 

Also reminding me that according to Ghaus Pak (ra) worshipping Allah is in fact gaining His Recognition:

 

‏وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ ‎

 

And not I have created the jinn and the mankind except that they worship Me.

Surah Ad-Dhariyat, Verse 56

 

But it was the third promise I had forgotten; Make your deeds to please the Giver of all Blessings instead of the overt giver of it, for they are just the medium.

 

Then Ghaus Pak (ra) explained why the medium didn’t matter;

“What people have is the shell, the marrow only lies with God. Thus only when your faith in God and your sincerity towards Him will you become what He expects from you, will you stand before Him forever mindful.

 

Then He will bestow upon you His Recognition and you will come to know the marrow of The Marrow and the inner of The Inner and the meaning of The Meaning.

 

So eat from the left-overs of the Friends of God and drink from what they leave behind for they are fed spirituality and meaning as a reward of their obedience to His Beloved (peace be upon him).”

 

The realization of my insincerity blew a hole in my heart. I walked around in a daze for a few days at what I had done, how I had ignored it. I had transported myself to the darkest of darkness and then planted myself there while seeing the light at the edges of my surrounding. And for what? I shudder typing the word as to what a ghatiya person (lowlife) it made me; money. But at least finally the spell was broken.

 

In those same days while driving around for long periods of time, something I never do in Lahore, I heard a lecture by Uzair from years ago. Perhaps it was when he first started speaking at Hast o Neest. In it he mentioned something Sheikh ul Akbar, Hazrat Mohyuddin Ibn e Arabi (ra), Ghaus Pak’s (ra) son by spiritual lineage, said about Tauheed, the One-ness of God. And he spoke of it in the context of the first line of the Quran;

 

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

 

Alhamdolillah e Rab il Alameen!

 

All praise is due to God alone, the Sustainer of all the worlds.

Surah Fateha, Verse 1

 

Uzair: “All praise is Allah’s alone, who is the Lord of all the worlds. I would like to explain why in the Arabic language, the word alimeen is used here, as opposed to alimoon, both being plural. The difference in which word is to be used is a function of the context. If it is being used for beings that have the ability to reflect, aaqil, the word alimeen is used. If it is being used for the non-thinking, ghair aaqil, then alimoon is used.

 

But if we ponder on the split between reflecting and non-reflecting matter in the Universe, there is much more of the latter. For instance, most of the world, our world, is made of water. There are more plants and there are more animals than there are human beings. And of them, how many reflect? (Uzair smiles). But Allah still is using the word alimeen because of those few thinking ones, so why does He do that?

 

Here Sheikh ul Akbar (ra) says; ‘Look at the line before Alhamdolillah e Rabil Alimeen. The line is Bismillah Ar Rahman Ar Rahim. Allah is showing the epitome of the Magnificence of His Mercy by using the two Names, Rahman and Rahim together. So what Allah is saying here is that He loves those who reflect, even if they are just a handful, the tiniest number, He loves them so much that for their sake, He is raising the status of the rest, the non-reflecting human beings, and the rest of creation whatever it is, by calling them as being of the alimeen.

 

So don’t miss the lesson here by the Sheikh which is, connect yourself, join yourself with the good, the truthful, the sincere, the ones chosen by Allah as His Friends, as His Favourites. For no matter how base you think you are and how imperfect, it is Allah’s Sunnah, as I have just described above, that for the sake of just a few, when He is making all the worlds and all the Universe alimeen, He will give you what you need and much more to elevate you from your state to an entirely different state. A higher state of prosperity, both spiritual and worldly. More than you expected, more than you thought you deserved.”

 

Subhan Allah!

 

Then he came to the part that struck my heart.

 

“So Sheikh ul Akbar (ra) says make the standard of your life Tauheed. Which by the way is not ‘being one’ as people all assume. It is to make something one or say that something is one. So how does one do that, make the standard of one’s life purely Allah? Sheikh (ra) says that unless your belief, aqeeda, does not exhibit itself in deed, your amal, it is not a part of your imaan, faith.

 

He is saying that if you want to understand yourself, which is the only way you will understand God, given the hadith

 

مَن عَرَفَ نَفسَہُ فَقَد عَرَفَ رَبَۤہُ

 

The one who knows himself is verily the one who knows his Lord God.

then you have to understand the Kalima Tayyaba that you recite.

 

La ilaha Illa Allah – (translated as There is no god but Allah)

 

Four words!

 

But the words have to permeate your being, in your breath, in your standing and sitting, in your speech, your character and your morality, your essence. So how does the kalima enter my life like that, in every single thing I experience? Here the Sufis give the answer very simply for everyone.

 

They say the Universe is made for a reason so understand that reason. They say that every experience and every situation that we face comes under one of Allah’s Names. Find that Name in the Quran, for they are pearls strewn before you and string it in your Kalima. Replace the “ila” with the Divine Attribute and replace the word “Allah” with His Name which is the Divine Attribute.

 

For example, when you see something beautiful like some calligraphy and you admire it, direct yourself to saying La Khaaliq Illa al Khaaliq – There is no creator except Allah is The Creator. When you meet someone rich and you think, ‘O so and so is so wealthy, direct yourself to the Kalima and say.’La Ghani illa al Ghani – There is no generous one other than Allah is The Generous One. This is what will bring you closer to Tauheed, connect you with it. When you see someone beautiful and you are drawn to them and you think, ‘so and so is so beautiful’ bring yourself to the Kalima and say, ‘la jameel illah al Jameel – There is no beautiful one other than Allah is The Beautiful One.’

 

Then you will never fixate on anything or anyone. You will always be directed to God. And that is how you will know why the world came into being. Why was it created at all. Then you will understand the Hadith Qudsi

 

كُنتُ كنزاً مَخفياً فأحببتُ أن أُعْرَف فخَلَقتُ الخَلْقَ لكي أُعرف

 

I, Allah, was a Treasure Hidden so I loved to be known

Therefore I created Creation so that I will be known.

 

Ahbabtu – “Loved” to be known, not wanted to be known!

 

This is why the Sufis say love was the first movement.”

 

I sighed. Love was the first movement!

 

While listening to the lecture, I wondered for a second about the moments we experience that are not beautiful. That are difficult or unpleasant, destructive. But then I knew my answer all too well already.

 

‏مَّآ أَصَابَكَ مِنْ حَسَنَةٍۢ فَمِنَ ٱللَّهِ ۖ وَمَآ أَصَابَكَ مِن سَيِّئَةٍۢ فَمِن نَّفْسِكَ ۚ

وَأَرْسَلْنَكَ لِلنَّاسِ رَسُولًۭا ۚ

وَكَفَىٰ بِٱللَّهِ شَهِيدًۭا

 

Whatever befalls you that is good comes from Allah,

and whatever befalls you of evil is from yourself.

And We have sent you for all people as a Messenger,

and sufficient is Allah as a Witness.

Surah An-Nisa, Verse 79

 

Again an-naas, for Mankind, humanity, everyone, as a Messenger!

 

To this day I don’t know why or even how I ignored those voices for three weeks living in my body without a soul. Why? I know one reason was that I was repeating a pattern I had with someone else in the family which was automatically being triggered. That part happened subconsciously.

 

During those same days, the surahs I recited the most in my prayers, where surahs are interchanged with Ikhlaas, were Al-Falaq and An-Naas. They were amongst my favourites and even though I had been told to read others as well, as Allah does not like the same Surahs being repeated over and over, for some reason I recited these the most.

 

In Lahore on random days before our class, I had once asked Qari Sahib what he was studying with other groups of his Quran class. One day he told me about one of them that especially intrigued me.

 

“I spoke to my class about Surah Al-Falaq and Surah An-Naas.”

 

Both are also two of the four Surah that are called the “Quls” because they start with that word, “Qul - Say, O Beloved (peace be upon you),…”

 

“Oh, I love reciting both Surahs Sir. Please tell me as well,” I requested.

 

“Ok,” said Qari Sahib, “Let’s take a deeper look at the structure of Surah Al-Falaq;

 

قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ ٱلْفَلَقِ

مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ

وَمِن شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ

وَمِن شَرِّ ٱلنَّفَّـٰثَـٰتِ فِى ٱلْعُقَدِ

وَمِن شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ

 

Say, O Beloved (peace be upon you),

“I seek refuge in the Lord of the rising dawn,

From the evil of what He has created,

And the evil of darkness when it spreads,

And the evil from the blowers on the knots (black magic),

And from the evil of the envier when he envies.”

Surah Al-Falaq, Verses 1-5

 

So if you look at the design of the Surah, Allah asks us to

seek refuge from Him once, I seek refuge from the Lord of the rising dawn. But the prayer of refuge is from four evils; the evil of creation, the evil of darkness, the evil of black magic and the evil of envy.

 

Now let’s look at Surah An-Naas;

 

قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ

مَلِكِ النَّاسِ

إِلَٰهِ النَّاسِ

مِن شَرِّ الْوَسْوَاسِ الْخَنَّاسِ

الَّذِي يُوَسْوِسُ فِي صُدُورِ النَّاسِ

مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ

 

Say (O Beloved (peace be upon you)),

“I seek refuge in the Lord of Mankind,

The King of Mankind,

The God of Mankind,

from the evil of The Whisperer, the one who withdraws (after his whisper),

who whispers in the hearts of Mankind,

from the Jinn and Mankind.”

Surah An-Nas, Verses 1-6

 

In contrast in this Surah, Allah asks Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) to seek refuge invoking Allah’s Name three time; Rab-in Naas, Malik-in Naas, Ilahi-in Naas, the Lord of Mankind, the King of Mankind, The God of Mankind. And from what? From the evil of The Whisperer, the one who withdraws (after his whisper). One thing; Iblis. Three invocations to safeguard ourselves from one being. Do you notice the difference?

So why is that?

 

It is so we understand that Iblis has the strongest hold over us, the greatest power to propel us towards misguidance, towards our destruction. Our nafs listens to him constantly, is influenced by him constantly, is obedient to him constantly.

In order to protect ourselves from this evil, we have to turn towards Allah as our Rab, the one who raises us from when we are small, to our Malik, The One who teaches us how to be when we are mid-life and our Ilahi, who is The One we worship with increased intensity when we are old. Meaning that throughout our existence, we cannot be safe from Iblis for even a single moment, without invoking Allah’s Help and Mercy upon us.”

 

I felt blown away.

 

On that day in Portland I remembered Qari Sahib’s words. It was so clear and disturbing to realize how Iblis had attacked so silently and I had let him ravage me. I thought hard about it, my behaviour, specifically why I took money from someone when I had my own. Why did I think it was owed to me? Was it my ujrat, price, for the silence? I never quite reached an answer but at least I knew now it was wrong. In that silence, I had not even said anything to my brother regarding other people in Lahore who were relying on him.

 

Finally I broke the silence and wrote him a letter.

 

In it I said everything I wanted to say on Day One. But I said it kindly, not condescendingly, not authoritatively. I said it gently, not harshly. I said it humbly because I had been no different from him. I could not get over that for the life of me. He had been tense so I had been tense. He had been curt so I had been cold. He had been tightly wound so I had not relaxed. And almost all of the trip was over.

 

Then something happened that broke the spell. Everything shattered because by chance he felt a moment of happiness.

It was a regular morning. I was hanging out with my niece in our room. Suddenly he walked in beaming. It was something work related, I didn’t even ask what. He just announced that something “great” happened and then he hugged me. He had only done that at the airport when he seemed genuinely happy to see me.

 

I had not been able to get a second hug in on my own. I would think about it all the time, every single day in fact but it just didn’t happen. I literally couldn’t get physically close to him. He didn’t allow it. When I went to his room hoping to hang out, he always said he had a call to make or shower or change. He always wanted other people around.

 

But the real shift that came to me, for me, that was the sign that I was under someone’s nazar, eye, that someone on the other side knew I was struggling and wanted to be forgiven, came from the skies. And it came in the shape of a moon.

 

The first moon and not just any first moon either. It was the moon of the first of Muharram, the new year, the one that comes marking pain and sadness.

 

I had been on the patio trying to catch the color of the skies after the sunset which I almost always missed because it set after 9. I was always home by then. Then my eyes wandered and I saw it. I almost didn’t believe my eyes. That perfect sliver, bright, low, staring at me like it waited for me. I never catch the first moon in Lahore no matter how long I spend driving around looking for it.

 

That night at Isha’ I was euphoric. And then I saw even more clearly what I had been doing wrong.

 

فَإِذَا قَرَأْتَ ٱلْقُرْءَانَ فَٱسْتَعِذْ بِٱللَّهِ مِنَ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنِ ٱلرَّجِيمِ

إِنَّهُۥ لَيْسَ لَهُۥ سُلْطَـٰنٌ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ

إِنَّمَا سُلْطَـٰنُهُۥ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ يَتَوَلَّوْنَهُۥ وَٱلَّذِينَ هُم بِهِۦ مُشْرِكُونَ

 

So when you recite the Quran, seek refuge in Allah from the Shaitaan, the accursed.

Indeed not for him is any authority over those who attain to faith

and upon their Lord they put their trust.

He has power only over those who ally themselves with him following him.

And those who because of him associate others with God.

Surah An Nahl, Verse 98-100

 

I was checking the list on everything wrong. I was not relying on God and Iblis was dancing all over my heart like it was a grave. The grave of my soul because it was dead and I had killed it! But now finally I relaxed. I accepted my reprieve with joy and I shed my sin. I didn’t know the next few days I would be made to learn only more about it so it would be ingrained in me what I had done wrong so perhaps I would not repeat the mistake again.

 

Muharram began and I tried to listen to Uzair’s lectures which were happening on a daily basis. In one of them, he recited the following verse;

 

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ

قَدْ جَآءَتْكُم مَّوْعِظَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَشِفَآءٌ لِّمَا فِى ٱلصُّدُور

وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

 

O Mankind!

 

Verily has come to you an instruction from your Lord, and a healing for what (ill) is in your breasts, and guidance and mercy for the believers.

Surah Yunus, Verse 57

 

I called Qari Sahib from the States to understand the verse. How could I not? The verse was not for me, it was for all of Mankind. And the shifa’, cure, I needed to know what the effect of it was because it was promised.

 

Every word spoke to me. I was the one who had forgotten, was asleep, unaware!

 

Ya Ayyuhan Naas: O you who have forgotten your original purpose and your true abode i.e. Heaven.

 

Qad Ja’akum: the Quran has come to awaken you and make you aware

 

Muwaddatun: and admonish you

 

Min Rabbikum wa shifa ul lima fi sadoor: and cure you of your grudges and heal you of your unhealthy thoughts that are resident in your hearts.

 

Wa huda-n: And it guides even those who are of exalted status and have arrived before Tauheed.

 

Wa Rahmatun: And it consists of abundance of mercy which includes specifically

 

Lil Momineen: the people who are righteous and mindful. So it is upon you to take warning and obey its commands. And ponder upon its secrets and its signs and deeply consider its keys and how it dawns upon you, until you unveil from it according to your capacity and capability to explore it. And Allah is The True Guide towards His Essence for whom He wills from His Servants. He prevails over everything and He is Dominant and Wise.

 

From the beginning of my arrival, I was trying to get my niece to read some books I had brought on different prophets written especially for children. They focused on their stories as specifically mentioned in the Quran.

 

Sometimes I would sit with her and other times, I would read my own book and have her read out loud. One day when she was reading the story about Hazrat Musa (as), she came to a part of Pharoah which I knew nothing about; his background. Everyone I knew only spoke of his days as King of Egypt. But who was he before that?

 

“Pharoah was a poor, jobless and unsuccessful individual living in the city of Isphan in Iran. He had borrowed a lot of money from different people and was unable to pay his debt. The money lenders would demand payment but he had nothing to give them. Thus he was living a miserable life.”

 

OMG!

 

“Pharaoh had a keen interest in palmistry and astrology and would often consult about his fate and future. One of the astrologers advised him to migrate to Egypt as it would bring him honour, luck and fortune. He decided to follow the advice with the meager amount he had. He found that the people of Egypt loved melons.

 

From a village he bought some melons to start a profitable business. As he entered Egypt, he was confronted by corrupt officials who demanded illegal taxes on the melons. Pharoah had no money to pay the taxes so all the melons were confiscated. He submitted a complaint to the Emperor’s court but it was not forwarded.

 

At that time a deadly plague broke out in the city resulting in many deaths. Pharoah chalked out a plan. He reached the graveyard and demanded tax of the dead bodies. Thinking it to be official, people paid the tax as corruption was rampant in the country. As luck would have it, one of the bodies was that of a relative of a high official in the court.

 

Pharoah was taken to the King’s court for demanding illegal taxes. He informed the King about the corrupt practices in his kingdom. The King punished the officials and appointed Pharoah as a courtier. Pharoah’s treatment of the people was exemplary and with his intellect, he rose to the highest position. Soon he became all powerful and proclaimed himself king and insisted that the people prostrate before him.”

 

The ego is the python that can even swallow itself whole! And this is exactly where I was at;

 

لَهُم مِّن جَهَنَّمَ مِهَادٌ وَمِن فَوْقِهِمْ غَوَاشٍ ۚ

وَكَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِى ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ

 

Hell will be their resting place and their covering as well.

And this is how we recompense the wrong doers.

Surah Al-Araaf, Ayaat 41

 

And of course the hell was right here in this world!

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Lahum min jahannama: Hell is the torture of Imkaan, possibility which is doubt

 

Mihaad: and they will burn in these fires of their false desires.

 

Wa min fauqihim ghiwash: They will be covered with the fires of their power and wealth and claims of being great and possessing abundance.

 

Wa ka daalika najzi ad-dualimeen: And the zalimeen, the ones who transgress the boundaries of Allah due to their nafs, who are unjust, will drown in the addiction of their senses, their paranoia and their delusion.

 

All that time I ignored my heart’s call, I had turned away from love from my soul. It answered my question of how others turn their backs to love? Those wonderings I used to have; do they even feel badly about it? In those thoughts I was judging them and so I had been made to stand exactly where they stood. It definitely ended the inquisitiveness that seemed so natural. My nafs was no different from their nafs in being punishing. My torture no different from theirs when it created doubt.

 

I thought about the moon and why it I saw its shortest of appearance marking the start of the most honored of months. There was a prayer I had started saying recently in Lahore after every Namaz. Three times! I had read that a Companion used to recite it three times after every prayer and Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) liked that so much, he kissed him on his forehead.

 

I had even studied it with Qari Sahib before leaving just to understand it more deeply. It began to dawn on me, it was this prayer that I never stopped uttering throughout my debacle, that had come to save me.

 

لَقَدْ جَآءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ

عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ حَرِيصٌ عَلَيْكُم بِٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ

فَإِن تَوَلَّوْا۟ فَقُلْ حَسْبِىَ ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ

عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ ۖ

وَهُوَ رَبُّ ٱلْعَرْشِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ

 

Certainly, has come to you a Messenger from yourselves.

Grievous to him is what you suffer,

he is concerned over you,

to the believers he is kind and merciful.

Surah At-Tauba – Verse 128

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Laqad Ja’akum: O bedouins!

 

Rasoolun: the Messenger has come with miracles open and signs clear, that will be created.

 

Min An fusakum: Raised from amongst you is he who has intense love and mercy for you.

 

Aziz-un: Heavy is the burden

 

Alyihi: upon him (peace be upon him)

 

Ma annit-tum: of that which pains you and brings you suffering.

 

And when you come across that which he did not find favourable for you because it was from the signs of kufr, ingratitude

 

and shirk, fears and hopes associated with others.

 

And the absence of obedience and the absence of submission to the Commands of Allah and that which was forbidden to you.

 

Despite this;

 

Harsees un: Surely he is eager for your faith and submission and correction of your state because he is

 

Bil Momineen: with the the ones with certainty, the ones who believe in the One-ness of Allah and the ones who are sincere,

 

Rauf-un: Most kind and full of affection,

 

Raheem-un: he feels mercy for them and is well pleased with them due to their coming out from the darkness of the denial of Truth and ingratitude towards the light of faith and submission.

 

I read the translation of one word over and over;

 

Ma annit-tum: of that which pains you and brings you suffering.

 

And when you come across that which he did not find favourable for you because it was from the signs of kufr, ingratitude

 

and shirk, fears and hopes associated with others.

And the absence of obedience and the absence of submission to the Commands of Allah and that which was forbidden to you.

 

On one of my last days on the coast when I was by myself, I went to the beach and just sat on a rock in the sand. I dug my heels into it and stretched and then picking up a pebble, I wrote the words; “Please forget I did it all, Ya Rabbi!”

 

It made me think of the movie Hollywood made in 2004 about the erasing of disturbing memories; Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. It was prophetic of course. The idea of erasing that which is regretful is now a scientific possibility, yet another to perverse the nature of things. Mistakes are made and can be forgotten but not erased by like they never happened except by God who changes them to good deeds for whom He wills. Without the acknowledgment on our end, there is no reformation, only a repeat of patterns.

 

Still, on that day, in the sand, I wished for things to be erased.

 

Starting at zero is not a problem in spirituality. Hitting the reset button as many times as possible is actually a good thing. It’s not a moment of despair. It’s not a moment of jubilance either but it still marks movement and the trajectory slopes upwards.

 

But sometimes the acts are disappointing to one’s own self because the consequences of it were seen. They were known. They were told. When despite that, the step is taken, the disobedience marked with such terrible willfulness, that there is a deepness of regret and disappointment that cannot be fathomed.

 

And still, the Mercy of Allah and His Friends is deeper so that even such a dark moment is pierced by light.

 

‘So Iblis said to God Almighty, “Oh my Lord, you wrote in my destiny that I not prostrate and now you order me to do so.”

 

And he was told, “When did you know that I didn’t want you to bow down, after I ordered it or before?

 

For if it was before My Command then even your refusal will not harm you but if it was after, then you and an animal are one and the same.”

 

…The whole span of the soul’s spiritual itinerary is contained within this exchange...’

 

And one sentence let me unhook myself from a place where I wanted to be castigated to no end.

 

For if it was before My Command then even your refusal will not harm you…for I knew what I was doing wrong before I was doing it!

 

Then my trip got delayed. It was a blessing in disguise. I was left alone for a week and I got a chance to write this piece which I otherwise might have never written. I was so ashamed. I was alone for all of seven days. I read. I discovered a river. I took in the sun, dipped my feet in water and stared at rocks beneath it.

 

There was a homeless guy living there that I had met already in town. That was surprising, to run into him there. It gave me the chance to take him fresh food a few times. His name was Sam. Which is short for my niece’s name Sameena and the name I use when waiting in line for something. He was the third homeless man we had met that summer whose name was Sam. My niece was counting.

 

We had met one of them, a young man in his 20s, at a pizza joint in the Pearl. It was a sure spot to find someone to feed. On one such day when we got there I saw a man standing next to a cart the homeless use for their stuff.

 

He was in a lousy mood. He looked surly and kept shouting at this woman with him. She had a cart too. I was a little hesitant to approach him in case he yelled at me too but then walked up to him.

 

“Hey man,” I said softly. “Can I get you something to eat? From this pizza joint?”

 

He paused for a second then said, “Sure.”

 

“What would you like?” I asked, relieved.

 

It’s always pepperoni which always makes me wince but then he wasn’t Muslim. I asked him if the woman who was now on the other side of the street might want something too. She said yes.

 

My niece and I got the food and some drinks and took them over. He smiled and thanked me. He seemed calmer. He gave the other box to the woman even speaking to her nicely. As my niece and I walked away, I said to her, “See Lou, sometimes people just need a break from their hard lives. And when someone is kind to them, they soften just like the man did. In an instant. He was even nice to his friend.”

 

She listened seriously and nodded. I love that about her. I can’t get her to listen to me when I want her to open a book or sleep but when I speak to her about other people and she sees them up close, their reactions, she observes them keenly. I know she observes me keenly.

 

A few times while we were on the coast and in the city, I would tell her to come with me while I looked for someone to give food to. She always said yes. A few times in a row, as I pulled up towards a homeless person I would have to give money to because there was no food around, I would say out loud whilst thinking to myself, “Oh man, I hope they won’t use it for drugs.”

 

On every occasion that I did that, it must have happened at least four times, the person was stone cold sober and super nice. Friendly, grateful, gracious, almost innocent.

 

After the third time she said to me with a chiding tone, “Mony, you keep thinking bad things about the people and they’re always not like that.”

 

I smiled embarrassed, actually glad that she called me out on it.

 

“I know,” I said looking at her in the rear view mirror. “I know Lulu. It’s not nice of me to do that. I don’t even know why I’m doing it.”

 

Then I turned around and with a huge grin on my finger pointing at my skull, I said, “Actually, I do know. I’m sick in the head!”

 

She burst out laughing.

 

Almost always I try to have her carry the food and give it. Take the money from my hand and place it in theirs. I want her to hear the way they express such deep gratitude for the tiniest act. How they always bless us. How they always invoke God. How they never want anything specific. How they never ask for more than is offered. How they express such surprise the offer is made at all. These will be the reasons she will do it all her life when she is older. If there ever was something that will bring her God’s Pleasure at the earliest age possible, it will be this act; pleasing a needy person.

 

In that last week of solitude, I had left my Ipod in Portland in a jacket so I was without music. That meant for drives, I listened to Uzair’s lectures. In one of them he spoke about how no one knew the essence of Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) except Allah Alone. It was expressed in a hadith to Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (ratu).

 

لم یعلمنی حقیقۃ غیر ربی

 

There is no one who knows my reality except my Lord.

 

Like Allah, he too was a secret that only love for him could unveil.

 

In the lecture, Uzair said that the Companions would eagerly await the Sharia’. They wanted to know what the rules and laws were going to be so they could follow them and become maqbool, those accepted by Allah. But the Sufis say that it was the Sharia’ that waited for Akmal Ar-Rasool, the Prophet who completed Prophet-hood (peace be upon him), to do something so that the act would allow it to take form.

 

Subhan Allah!

 

In those days, I read in Al-Fath Ar Rabbani that there are two types of Masters; the Masters of Jurisprudence (Mashaikh e Sharia’) and the Masters of Recognition of God (Mashakih e Marifat).

 

“The first will bring you to the door of Creation. The second will show you the way towards Allah. You will need to enter both doors; the door of Creation and the door of The Creator. Without going through the first one, you will not even see the second.

 

Take the world out of your heart so entry into the Afterlife is bestowed to you. These are ranks one after the other and they are diametrically opposite to each other. Dependence on creation is the opposite of Recognition of God. They will never co-exist and you will get neither. Unless the heart is empty of all, you are leaving an idol in it. Break the idols, purify the heart and then you will see that which you have never seen.”

 

Uzair explained the exact same thing in a lecture in a single sentence by Imam Malik, one of the four Masters of Jurisprudence, Fiqh which is “the science of understanding and ascertaining the precise terms and practices of the Sharia’ in Islam.”

 

من تفقه ولم يتصوف فقد تفسق

ومن تصوف ولم يتفقه فقد تزندق

ومن جمع بينهما فقد تحقق

 

The one who follows Fiqh, Islamic Jurisprudence, but does not purify the heart,

so indeed he becomes of the defiantly disobedient.

The one who purifies the heart and ignores the laws of Jurisprudence,

he becomes a disbeliever.

And the one who gathers them both, indeed he attains certainty and arrives at the truth.

 

As someone who knows little about Islamic Jurisprudence and only hears negative things about it in Pakistan because they are all not do-able for the mod squad, I was amazed at the words the Imam used. Without Sharia’, I would become a heretic? It was stunning. And the one who thought they were following every law to the tee but left tasawuff, spirituality as taught by the Sufis who taught one how to purify the heart, out was in fact the one who would become disobedient. A fasiq, like Iblis!

 

The curve balls that life throws at you will never end. I guess if they did then where would the growth come from. Only in my regression do I remember how deeply imperfect I am. Otherwise to be honest, my life in Lahore, is like I live in a cave. I wish it was a cave. And I was like the Ashab e Kahf.

 

“Make yourself like a corpse before your Lord,” Ghaus Pak (ra) says. “Like a corpse is in the hands of the one who bathes it.

Turns it left and turns it right. Without existence, without planning, without choice. Stand with faith and certainty before that which comes to you from Him. The only thing that remains in the face of taqdeer, that which has been ordained for you, is Imaan, faith.

 

Close the doors of asking people and open the door of only asking God. Remember that if Allah wants creation to being harm upon you, they will bring you harm. And if He wants them to bring you benefit, only then will they benefit you. For their hearts are working according to His Will and He will make them hard or soft. He gives life and gives death. He gives or not gives. He grants you respect and He gives to you humiliation. He gives you illness and He gives you health. He gives you nourishment and He leaves you to be hungry. He is The First and The Last and The Overt and The Hidden!”

 

Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) says that there is a way to everything and the way to Paradise is ilm, knowledge. The Sufis say that the only Paradise is proximity to his person. It is what every single thing in creation asked for of him when they had the opportunity to present that ask; mountains, trees, animals (of this realm and the others), humans. And when it comes to the pursuit of knowledge, in the Quran lie the keys that Allah refers to in the verse;

 

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ

قَدْ جَآءَتْكُم مَّوْعِظَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَشِفَآءٌ لِّمَا فِى ٱلصُّدُور

وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

 

O Mankind!

Verily has come to you an instruction from your Lord, and a healing for what (ill) is in your breasts, and guidance and mercy for the believers.

Surah Yunus, Verse 57

 

“So it is upon you to take warning and obey its commands. And ponder upon its secrets and its signs and deeply consider its keys and how it dawns upon you, until you unveil from it according to your capacity and capability to explore it.”

 

Nabi Pak (peace be upon him) said in the most well known hadith;

 

اَنَا مَدِيْنَةُ الْعِلْمِ وَ عَلِيٌ بَابُهَا

فَمَنْ اَرَادَ الْعِلْمَ فَلْیَاْتِهَا مِنْ بَابِهَا

 

“I am the city of knowledge and Ali is the door to enter it

so the one who desires knowledge should come through this door.”

 

The Imam is the door that all Spiritual Masters and spirituality stands at the foot of!

 

In that last week, I went to the river I had found again and again. The second time I went, even Sam wasn’t there. I had seen him cycling into town on the highway and turned the car around to get to the other side to say hi. I had gotten him a sandwich and it was meat so if I hadn’t seen him, it would have gone to waste. Or at least eaten cold by someone hours later.

 

On the way to the river, I saw a man with an extremely old truck pulled over on the side of the one lane highway that went towards Portland. He had jumper cables in his hand so clearly his battery was dead. As I zipped passed him I wondered if someone would actually stop to help him. It was a sunny Sunday. People were either coming to the coast in droves or leaving to get back to the city early.

 

I turned the car around and went back to where he was. I brought the car to face him so my engine was in front of his.

 

Stepping out of the car I said, “Hey man! I don’t know anything about how to do it but if you want to use my battery,” and I opened the hood, “here it is.”

 

He lifted it but neither of us could find the lever that would hold the bonnet up. He asked me to start his car while he fiddled with something in his engine but it didn’t start. There was a little dog running around and the truck was filled with bags. It looked like he was living in it.

 

“It’s ok,” he said finally giving up and instead asked, “Can you give me a lift to my camp site?”

 

“Ummmm,” the usual thought emerged from my mental head, my germophobe OCD kicking in. I just stared him for long enough that he said, not begrudgingly at all. “It’s alright.

Someone else will come along.”

 

“Will they?” my heart asked me. It was like I froze and just stood there.

 

“I got the shot,” he said possibly thinking my hesitation was rooted in being scared because of COVID.

 

“Shot?” I echoed, then thought Oh, Pfizer!

 

“Yeah,” I remarked. “I don’t really care about that man.”

It was true. I was still sailing on the “jiss to hona hai uss to hona hai” boat because that’s exactly how I was seeing it play out. Totally randomly! Plus he seemed more concerned about my well-being than some of my friends who were vaccinated & had clearly lost their minds living in seclusion for too many months in their homes.

 

I went and sat in my car but didn’t turn the engine on to leave. After a couple of minutes of working my way through my paranoia, knowing I was being an ass, I spoke.

 

“You know what,” finally the words came out, “I’ll drop you at your site. Where did you say it was again?”

 

“Four miles down the road,” he said. “I just have my bags and food and ice-box,” he said walking to the back of his truck.

 

I piled his stuff in the trunk of the jeep. The man got into the car and we started speaking. He told me he lived in South East Portland but was thinking of coming to the coast. He camped there every summer for a couple of months. It wasn’t the first time he had car trouble.

 

Then for some reason he mentioned he had been in and out of jail his whole life.

 

“Oh,” I said with deep sympathy. “Why?”

 

“DUIs,” he said. And I realized he was a little inebriated even now.

 

Exactly four miles out came his spot. He got out and I helped him with the bags. I even offered to take them to the site but he declined. He was probably in his 50s. My age. But he looked older as poor people do.

 

I went back to the river and walked over to where Sam lived. There was a campfire, a sleeping bag, a log that served as a pillow and to lean his back on. There was a jar of coffee, some cocoa, some other bag that looked like it had ziplocks in it. That’s it.

 

The log that was the pillow reminded me of Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him). He had a rock that was a pillow. He chose to rest his head on it.

 

On the coast the day could be very sunny but the nights were always cold. And it was still August. What did Sam do in the winter, I thought? What did any homeless person do?

 

The whole thing reminded me of Huzoor Nizam Pak (ra) again, who was bestowed the title Mehbooh e Ilahi, the one beloved to God. I had quoted the story often in my writings. His not eating any delicious and being asked about it.

 

Mehboob e Ilahi (ra) had softly replied, “I do and I know I can whenever I want. But then when such food is placed before me, I can’t stop thinking about the ones who roam the Earth hungry and homeless, forgotten by the world and I can’t bring myself to swallow a single bite.”

 

Luckily I was able to see Sam one more time. I got everything I could think he might need and brought my niece. She had met him once and loved talking to him. He was so gentle.

 

That last afternoon we sat and talked a lot together. He told us he liked drawing the pictures he saw in stars. One of them he called The King of Angels.

 

"Maybe its Gabriel (as)," I said.

 

He nodded. "Maybe it is."

 

Then he told us how he had been picking nails and pointy stones off roads so that they would not hurt anyone.

 

"I think I got lucky because of that," he said thoughtfully looking at the ground. "Cause I have been eating some good food lately."

 

I was dying to tell him of the hadith of Nabi Kareem (saw) about the exact act - “While a man was walking in the road, he found a thorny branch in the road and he moved it aside. Allah appreciated his deed and forgave him” - but just looked at him. Then when we got up to leave, he got up too and hugged us both.

 

"Thank you for being my friends," he said.

 

As I turned away, i started crying. I was so sad to say bye. My niece followed me. Seeing my wipe my eyes, she placed her little hand softly on my shoulder, "It's ok Mony," she said her eyes wet. "Maybe you'll see him again soon."

 

We waded in the water some more then went home. That was how the coast trip ended.

 

In the end I left my brother with nothing really changed between us but on the last day he was soft too. But I already knew, the ordinary never really change anyone anyway, except perhaps momentarily. What they do is make an offering of love. If accepted it is light that penetrates darkness for as long as the other wants it to. That’s about it. But love is the only opening. That opening came for me this summer in a verse, in my silence, in some tears and in the moon.

 

The truth is it comes for anyone who longs for it. All kinds of prayers can be denied or remain unanswered, almost always because, for some reason or another, they’re the wrong ask anyway, but I have found that love from those connected to God is an absolute sure thing. They never abandon you.

 

I will be ending the trip without that halo on my head, that’s for sure. Instead I leave reaching a different goal that my ego never even imagined; being the worst of all. It doesn’t sound like something to be happy about per se but it is. For it ensures one thing; the silence that was so hard for me to practice might become easier. On the Day of Judgment, all the Prophets will decline the people’s requests to intercede for them before Allah because of a single mistake they made in a lifetime. And they didn’t even have free will!

 

I didn’t know I had idols in my heart in Lahore. I had to come to another country to see them. As disturbing as that vision was, it presented an opportunity for me to shatter them. With them, I had to shatter too. Deeds will have to begin from zero again. And who knows maybe this time round, they will finally be soaked in sincerity.

 

“Strive to attain certainty for verily you have attained to faith,

repent and express that you are sorry and regret,

and weep tears that stream down your cheeks,

for this crying in the fear of disappointing Allah douses the fires of your sins

and extinguishes His Wrath.

When your heart truly atones, then without doubt,

the nur, light, of the sincere repentance will appear upon your face

making it lit!

Ghaus Pak

A Night of Ascension

 

When I was a child, Shab e Mairaj was one of the two nights when we, the kids, prayed extra. Not that we were praying the five prayers regularly but these two nights, we all prayed nawafil, the voluntary prayers. When I left home for the States to go to Oberlin, my mother would continue to call me for these two nights, tell me which one it was and say three words;

 

“Pray nafal tonight.”

 

I was stuck on 10 for years. I didn’t know much about it except that there was a meeting in the heavens. Allah brought His Beloved (peace be upon him) to Him to see Him. That’s what it was, a meeting sought. In a lecture I one heard someone ask why Allah did that when He was always with him anyway in the world.

`

The clear as day example of His Presence being in the cave of Thaur when the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to his companion, Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (ratu), who became afraid that they would be seen by the infidels who were looking for them fervently with the intent to kill;

 

لَا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَا

 

Do not grieve. Indeed, Allah is with us.

Surah At-Taubah, Verse 40

 

This year as the Night of Ascension approached, actually two days before it to be exact, I decided to write about it. Get into the detail of what its significance means. For myself and those who might be interested in knowing why they celebrate something. I began by looking for lectures from my friend and most favoured scholar, Uzair, on the subject. Finally I found one I had in fact been physically present for in Lahore in 2019.

 

He was doing a stellar series then called The Grammar of Love where he would spend an hour analyzing a single word of the Quran in a verse and unveil its nuances through a variety of lenses; the Sufis, the scholars, the mufassareen. Always the mighty names in the scholarship of Islam. He had been instructed on all of them. Peeling each layer revealed the boundless love it held by Allah for His Last Messenger (peace be upon him). The lectures had a dizzying effect on my entire being.

 

I also called Qari Sahib. I had one day to research and one day to write the piece. The Night was falling at Maghrib, sunset, on March 11th, and I did not know the backdrop as to why it happened. Why was Nabi Kareem brought before His Creator in the first place? The incident happened in the last year before the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) migration to Medina. Two main events in his life had occurred then.

 

The first was the extremely hard living conditions imposed on his family and his followers by the infidels who had placed a three year blockade on him. “They drew up a pact to boycott and sever all social and commercial relations with the Muslims and the Banu Hashim and Banu Abdul Muttalib, who refused to abandon their tradition of protection of one of their own.”

 

The blockade was then lifted but as a result of the difficulties, both, his guardian and doting uncle, Hazrat Abi Talib (ratu) passed away soon after, followed by his beloved wife, both of whom he had cared for deeply. Both were a tremendous source of love and support. His pain after their loss was so intense, the year was given a title, Aam al Huzn, the Year of Grief.

 

That was followed by the incident of Taif.

 

Begin excerpt “The Softest Heart”

 

Ibn e Katheer describes the event as follows:

 

Taif is where the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) decided to first spread the faith outside Mecca. The main tribe of the area was Bani Thaqeef and they were well-off, their earnings coming from agriculture, predominantly fruit. Unlike the rest of the region, the people of Taif took great interest in sending their sons to Faris (Iran) to be educated. The Prophet (peace be upon him) also had some relatives in the area.

 

It was after ten years of the prophethood that Rasool Allah (peace be upon him) left Mecca for Taif to invite the people towards Islam. He took with his adopted son, Zaid Bin Harisa (ratu). They traveled by foot. It was a 120 km journey. As the car climbed up the mountains to arrive in just two hours, I wondered how many days it would have taken them.

 

Upon his arrival there, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) began meeting the chieftains of different tribes. He invited them to come see him so he could inform them about the tenets of the faith. On top of that, he also went door to door to speak to the locals. Sadly, not one person answered the call of his invitation. Finally, he went to the three main chiefs of the Bani Thaqeef who were all brothers.

 

He asked them for their help promising them the blessings of God as reward, in this world and the Hereafter, for their acceptance of the faith. But they were rude with him, demeaning him and rebuking his call. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was deeply saddened by their response. He had hoped that the people of Taif would be less vicious and full of enmity than the Meccans.

 

Yet he requested to the three brothers, “What you did (with me) you did. But don’t reveal what happened between us to others.”

 

He did not want the Meccans to revel in the behavior of the leaders of Taif and accelerate their attitude of extreme harshness towards the Muslims.

 

The leaders ignored his request and spread word of their rejection through the whole city. They ordered some young men to abuse him, call him names, and pelt him with rocks. Soon his feet, even his shins started to bleed. And when he sat down because he could not walk further, they forced him to stand and walk again, then continued to throw rocks.

 

Hazrat Zaid bin Harisa (ratu) tried to shield him from the rocks as much as he could, but soon he was covered in blood too.

It was in this deeply injured state that the Prophet (peace be upon him) reached the outskirts of the city and took refuge in an orchard of grapes. The Blessed Messenger (peace be upon him) prayed two nafal and then said to Allah:

 

اللَّهُمَّ إِلَيْكَ أَشْكُو ضَعْفَ قُوَّتِي, وَقِلَّةَ حِيلَتِي, وَهَوَانِي عَلَى النَّاسِ,

يَا أَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِينَ, أَنْتَ أَرْحَمُ بِي مِنْ أَنْ تَكِلَنِي إِلَى عَدُوٍّ يَتَجَهَّمُنِي،

أَوْ إِلَى قَرِيبٍ مَلَّكْتَهُ أَمْرِي, إِنْ لَمْ تَكُنْ عَلَيَّ غَضْبَانًا فَلَا أُبَالِي,

إِنَّ عَافِيَتَكَ هِيَ أَوْسَعُ لِي،

أَعُوذُ بِنُورِ وَجْهِكَ الَّذِي أَشْرَقَتْ لَهُ الظُّلُمَاتُ

وَصَلُحَ عَلَيْهِ أَمْرُ الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ أَنْ يَنْزِلَ بِي غَضَبُكَ،

أَوْ تُحِلَّ عَلَيَّ سُخْطَكَ، لَكَ الْعُتْبَى حَتَّى تَرْضَى وَلَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِكَ

 

O Allah! I complain to You of my weakness, my scarcity of resources and the humiliation I have been subjected to by the people.

 

O Most Merciful of those who are merciful, O Lord of the weak and my Lord too to whom have you entrusted me, to a distant person who receives me with hostility? Or to an enemy to whom you have granted authority over my affair? So long as You are not angry with me, I do not care. Your favor is of a more expansive relief to me.

 

I seek refuge in the light of Your Face by which all darkness is dispelled and every affair of this world and the next is set right, lest Your Anger or Your Displeasure descends upon me. I desire Your Pleasure and Satisfaction until You are pleased.

 

And there is no Power and no Might except by You.

 

When the Prophet (peace be upon him) left Taif, he noticed a shade above him.

 

On looking up, he saw that it was the angel Gibrael (as), who said, “Allah has seen how you have been treated by the people of Taif and the Angel of Mountains has been sent to ask you that if you would like, he will crush them between his wings, obliterating from the Earth as if they never were.”

 

The Messenger of Mercy (peace be upon him) replied:

 

بل أرجو أن يخرجَ اللهُ من أصلابِهم من يعبدُ اللهَ وحدَه،

لا يشركُ به شيئًا

 

But I hope that Allah will produce from their lineage, those who will worship Allah and not associate anything else with him.

 

The Angel of Mountains responded, “The way that your Lord God has named you Ra’uf and Rahim, so are you the manifestation of those attributes.”

 

لَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ

مَا عَنِتُّمْ حَرِيصٌ عَلَيْكُم بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ

 

Indeed, there has come unto you (O Mankind) an Apostle from among yourselves. Heavily weighs upon him (the thought) that you might suffer (in the life to come). Full of concern for you is he, and full of compassion (Rau’f) and mercy (Rahim) towards those who attained faith (Imaan).

Surab At-Tawbah, Verse 128

 

End Excerpt “The Softest Heart”

 

So the reason turned out to be the most sensitive of all. The one whom Allah created first, loved first, then created everything else for, was feeling sad and alone so He brought him to see Him. My morning started with a lot of weeping. I wasn’t even sure why. Mostly I couldn’t stop thinking of how I wished I could see the people I know to be sad.

 

Plunged into their inextricable grief for so long, that state had rendered them obstinate about it. It had become like quicksand. You could call out to them with concern or extend a hand as they went in deeper, yet they turned their face.

 

The night is called Al-Isra’ by the Arabs and Mairaj by the South Asian Muslims because that is what the Auliya, (Friends of God), here called it. The event is referenced in the Quran in multiple Surahs. Qari Sahib told me he had found 53 ayaat about it. For this piece I focus on one verse; the first verse of Surah Al-Isra’.

 

The first part of the journey, which is in this world up to Sidrat ul Muntaha, is physical. The second part of it which takes beyond is the metaphysical.

 

Uzair:

 

سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلًا مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الْأَقْصَى الَّذِي بَارَكْنَا حَوْلَهُ لِنُرِيَهُ مِنْ آيَاتِنَا إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِير

 

Exalted is the One Who took His Servant by night from Al-Masjid Al-Haraam, to Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, which We blessed its surroundings, that We may show him of Our Signs.

 

Indeed He, He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.

Surah Al-Isra’, Verse 1

 

“Let me begin by first saying that in the Quran, from a single verse sprout thousands of meanings that cannot be captured even till the Day of Judgement. A single ayat unveils several thousand paths to Ma’rifat, the Recognition of God. From each verse, thousands of fountains of knowledge gush forth.”

 

Then he started with the first three words;

 

سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَىٰ

 

Exalted is the One Who took...

Subhan allazi asra’

 

“To be clear the verb means to travel, to do something relaxing, like a vacation. It is the form of the verb being used that is significant; Allah uses Asra’, ‘he was made to travel at night,’ as in it was Allah’s Intent and Wish to make him come, not that of the Blessed Prophet (peace be upon him).

 

The first part of that travel is from Masjid al Haram in Mecca to Masjid al Aqsa in Palestine. The first word is ‘Subhan,’ ‘glory be’. In our world, it is the expression of the heart when something beautiful is witnessed. It is uttered uncontrollably almost when one is blown away or bewildered by something. ‘Subhan Allah,’ is what we say when we are moved. Glory be to God!

 

The surahs of the Quran open in 10 different styles. One of those styles is hamd and tasbeeh. The first is the affirmation of Allah’s Beauty, Al-hamd. It is only and only attributed to Allah because hamd means that which derives its beauty from itself alone. Nothing about is borrowed. That is why the word is used only for God. For everything else derives its existence as a result of something else and eventually from Him.

 

The tasbeeh, from which is derived the word Subhan, is the nullification of anything negative from something. That is whatever a person might think or associate with Allah which is adverse as a result of one’s own mind, something harmful or contrary. Tasbeeh is the praise of God that states that Allah is free of anything which takes away from His Essence.

 

The most intense expression of that is the word Subhan and that is the word the surah begins with.”

 

In another place in the Quran, Allah explains it Himself.

 

سُبْحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُون

 

Glory be to God, the Lord of Honour, above what people attribute by way of definition.

Surah As-Saffat, Verse 180

 

Uzair: “So, one might ask, if the journey is of the Prophet (peace be upon him), why begin with the word Subhan? This is because Allah knows that there will be people that will negate the possibility of such a journey, not only of it happening in the world but also the heavens and beyond. He knows there will those who will say ‘How can it be possible? It cannot be so.’ There were Sahaba, companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him), who insisted that the journey was a dream so why wouldn’t others.

 

So instead of using the word ‘Qul,’ ‘You tell them,’ which is one of Allah’s most Favoured Mode of transmitting the Quran, asking His Beloved (peace be upon him) to state something, He takes it entirely upon Himself so that those who wish to disbelieve do so knowing that they disbelieve Him directly. Which is not a small thing, being in a state of declared defiance of God.”

 

I looked at the time. 33 minutes into the lecture Uzair had only deconstructed two words.

 

“Let’s move on to the next word; ‘abd,’ ‘His Servant.’

 

سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِ

 

Subhan allazi asr’a bi-abdi-hi…

Glory be to Him Who took His Servant on a journey…

 

Before that let me clarify that in the line ‘I took My Servant on a journey,’ the second nuance the Arabic grammar is pointing to is this; He is saying that ‘only the one who accepts that I, Allah, took him on a journey, will be the one who will know Me, who will know My Essence that is pure of any defect, fault, shortcoming.” Alternatively, the one who doesn’t believe this will never gain recognition of His Being either.

 

Let’s move on. How do we know the ‘abd’ here is the Prophet (peace be upon him) and not someone else? There is much controversy about that. There are many Prophets who are abd. So are many Auliya. We are abd. But the rule of the Quran is that when Allah calls someone else an abd in the Book, he mentions them by their name.

 

The Prophet Dawood (as).

 

وَاذْكُرْ عَبْدَنَا دَاوُودَ ذَا الْأَيْدِ إِنَّهُ أَوَّاب

 

And remember Our Servant, Prophet Dawood (as), the possessor of strength.

Indeed, he was repeatedly turning to Us.

Surah As-Sad, Verse 17

 

The Prophet Zakariya (as).

 

ذِكْرُ رَحْمَتِ رَبِّكَ عَبْدَهُ زَكَرِيَّ

 

Recount your Lord’s Mercy upon His Servant Zakariya (as).

Surah Maryam, Verse 1

 

The Prophet Ayub (as).

 

وَاذْكُرْ عَبْدَنَا أَيُّوبَ إِذْ نَادَىٰ رَبَّهُ أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ الشَّيْطَانُ بِنُصْبٍ وَعَذَاب

 

And remember Our Servant, Prophet Ayub (as), when he called his Lord,

"Satan has touched me with distress and suffering."

Surah As- Sad, Verse 41

 

Why does Allah do that? Because when an attribute is shared, as it is among other Prophets, the name is used. But what happens when it comes to His Beloved (peace be upon him)? He never uses his name.

 

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَنزَلَ عَلَىٰ عَبْدِهِ الْكِتَابَ وَلَمْ يَجْعَل لَّهُ عِوَجً

 

All Praise is for Allah, the One Who has revealed to His Servant the Book,

and not has made in it any twisting.

Surah Al-Kahf, Verse 1

 

No name!

 

تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي نَزَّلَ الْفُرْقَانَ عَلَىٰ عَبْدِهِ لِيَكُونَ لِلْعَالَمِينَ نَذِيرً

 

Blessed is He Who sent down the Criterion upon His Servant that he may be to the worlds a warner.

Surah Al-Furqan, Verse 1

 

No name!

 

وَإِن كُنتُمْ فِي رَيْبٍ مِّمَّا نَزَّلْنَا عَلَىٰ عَبْدِنَا فَأْتُوا بِسُورَةٍ مِّن مِّثْلِهِ

 

And if you are in doubt about what We have revealed to Our Servant,

then produce a chapter of like it and call your witnesses from other than Allah if you are truthful.

 

No name!”

 

In my first book, Ali is to me as I am to God, I had pointed that Allah hardly ever used Nabi Kareem’s (peace be upon him) name.

 

“To illustrate His Love, in the entire Quran, Allah Al-Qudoos, The Most Sacred, Himself does not address His Beloved (peace be upon him) by even his name. Nowhere does He call him O Muhammad! (peace be upon you) as he does all his other prophets, O Moses! O Adam! O Lot! O Jesus! so on and so forth.

 

Always he uses a title or a term of endearment; O Mudassir! (the cloaked one), O Muzammil! (the one wrapped in piety), O Herald of the Hidden! O Messenger! His name, Muhammad (peace be upon him), is mentioned in the Quran but 4 times and in each of those times he is referred to in the third person.”

 

Uzair: “In the whole Quran, Allah calls Mustafa (peace be upon him) abd but for everyone else their names. So the ‘abdiyat,’ the state of being a Servant of God, for the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), it is an exclusive status, one that is his alone, while for the rest it’s shared.”

 

The crowd burst into ‘Subhan Allahs!’ and Uzair beamed. “This is linguistics. Nothing beats the study of this knowledge.

 

He continued: "The other Prophets partake in the same attribute but Mustafa (peace be upon him) is being treated as especially unique. And let us understand that ‘abdiyat,’ in and of itself, is not even a huge attribute compared to Prophet-hood. It’s not even amongst the highest ranks before God.

 

Huzoor (peace be upon him) is also the Khatim un Nabiyeen, the Last Prophet. He is also Rahmat ul Alimeen, The Blessing for the Universe. He is the Imam ul Nabiyeen, The Leader of the Prophets. So just in the smallest of attributes, being an abd, the other Prophets are being excluded from his stature.”

 

Many have recognized this particular fact. Uzair then recited two of Iqbal's couplets marking that point exactly;

 

عبد دیگر، عبدہُ چیزے دگر

ما سراپا انتظار، او منتظَر

 

Abd, the servant, is one, Abdu-hu, His Servant, that is quite another.

We wait to meet our Lord while His Servant is awaited by Him.

 

عبدہُ چند و چگونِ کائنات

عبدہُ رازِ درونِ کائنات

 

Abdu-hu, His Servant, is the Totality of Creation,

Abdu-hu, His Servant, is the Secret of Creation.

 

‘You, me, anyone else,’ Iqbal says, ‘wait for Allah, to be accepted by Him, to see Him, and He, Allah, waits for Mustafa (peace be upon him). So the word abd encloses in itself the hidden and heavy implication that in the absence of recognizing the Prophet (peace be upon him), you can never recognize nor gain any understanding of God.

 

I will tell you a little something from Imam Ghazali’s Ahya ul Uloom, in the chapter on ‘The Hidden Secrets of the Salat (prayer).’ He quotes the sahih hadith;

 

الصَّلٰوةُ هِيَ مِعْرَاجُ الْمُؤْمِنِ

 

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “The namaz is the ascension (Mairaj) of the Mo’min, the one who has attained to faith.”

 

You have been given the possibility of Mairaj (ascension) through prayer. But Ghazali asks, ‘Do you ever intend for a Mairaj? No! Your intention is all about counting rakats and establishing timings. Therefore you will never see God. You have to transcend space and time to see Him. You are tightly bound by your worldly states.’

 

So, he says, ‘I will give you a tip; When you sit in your prayer and say “Attahaytu lillah e…” and reach the part ‘As Salam o Alaika Ayyuha Nabiyyo, I send prayers upon you, O Prophet (peace be upon you), in that moment think of your heart, which is the purest masjid, or any place of worship, in the world, which is the most holy Khanqah, the place of a spiritual retreat, in this Universe. Think of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and you will find yourself opening the doors of reaching Mairaj too.’

 

For there were those, like Abul Abbas Mursi, whose way of prayer was famous. He writes in his book that when he would reach the part of “As Salam o Alaika Ayyuha Nabi,” he would start repeating the line endlessly.

 

Once a man sitting next to him looked at him with annoyance and said, “What are you doing? Saying it 500 times! Your prayer is not valid, re-read it.”

 

Abul Abbas Mursi responded, ‘I don’t know about mine but yours is surely broken. For when I say “As Salam o Alaika Ayyuha Nabi,” I keep saying it until my ears hear the words, ‘Wa alaikum as Salam Ya Ummati, ‘And Peace be upon you, O one of my nation! Your Rasool sends salam upon you.’”

 

The first time I had heard the lecture I too had started saying the verse in repeat when I prayed. But of course I only did it for a few days and then stopped. I also said it a lot in whole time in Medina on my last Umra. That was an joyously intense experience because I was so close to the Rauza Mubarik. I used to feel like he hears me, which he does anyway wherever I am but being in proximity to him was entirely different.

 

There was one difference that it made in my life that changed everything forever. I understood the depthless significance of the fact that whenever I do send a salam upon my Prophet (peace be upon him), he sends it back upon me. As a sheer result of that, I send salam upon him in all random times of the day. It makes me feel happy and my being relaxed.

 

Sometimes I think Pakistan survives the virus, and all other catastrophes that devastate many because not only tongues and hearts, but buildings send the salutation upon this most blessed person. Every few yards in every city and every wilderness I have been in there is a mosque in Pakistan. Makeshift or otherwise, it is there. And on almost every single one is the line ““As Salat o wa Salam o Alaika Ya Rasool Allah.” Bricks and mortar send salam on him here.

 

If exceptions are made amongst Prophets, all of whom are near and dear to their Creator, why wouldn’t special treatment be meted out to the ordinary, giving them distinction, protection, over each other. It seemed like Uzair was saying that without the Prophet (peace be upon him) being in one’s heart, the heart was just like a desolate space. It didn’t matter what else it held within it.

 

After I finished translating the first lecture, I moved on to a second one by Uzair also on the first verse of Surah Al-Isra.’ I wondered what he was going to say next.

 

The preface of his lecture was explaining the topic; The secrets of Isra’ according to Ilm e Qawaid, the Knowledge of Rules of the Quran. He made it clear that the technical side of exploring the linguistics of the Quran itself requires the possession of at a minimum, 14 uloom, the plural of knowledge. Each ilm reveals a different side of a word, or a verse.

 

Uzair: “That is why I am doing a second lecture on the same verse. The first was exploring the linguistics. Today I will discuss the words through Qawaid, the Knowledge of Rules. It is the hardest of the subjects. But once you learn the rule, the application of the rule is infinite. When a verse comes in the domain of a rule, anyone can apply it. The only thing to be mindful of is that the Qawaid, the rules, are the same for everyone.

 

They are tightly knit around a whole series of other things; mantaq (logic), grammar, which includes syntax (sarf) and morphology (nahw), bayan (analytics) etc. So when people think all kinds of perceptions are allowed that is incorrect. You cannot take out concepts of your choice. Ignoring the rules and devising one’s own interpretations can alter the status of the faith of the person and make them lose it, corrupt it.

 

So I choose the same ayat, verse, so you can see how a totally different dimension from it emerges.

 

So as you know, the verse beginning with 'Subhan,' Hazrat Abdul Haq Muhaddas Delhvai (ra), the only scholar of his kind in South Asia, says that whenever Allah starts a verse with Subhan, the use of the word is deliberate. Allah expects that what He is going to say next, people will be bewildered by and therefore not believe it. Coming from their own narrow definitions of rationality, their initial reaction will be of negation. The verse will not be grasped easily.

 

The verse thus begins;

 

Subhan allazi asra’ bi abdi-hi laylun

 

He highlighted the repetition of a single point from the previous lecture before moving on to the next word; laylun, by night.

 

“Asr’a: ‘was made to travel.’ So Allah clarifies that Mustafa (peace be upon him) did not do the Mairaj. Allah made him do it, thus taking it upon Himself as in, ‘We made Our Servant travel.’ The next word, laylun. Layl is night, the “un” sound is coming from the accent, tanween, on it.

 

Tanween is used for five reasons in Arabic. One of them is that it denotes the smallness of something. So Allah is saying He took His Servant for only one or two moments of the night. Meaning He needs but only a few moments to show whatever He wills of the entire Universe to whomever He wants.

 

Now Beit ul Maqdas, where the Masjid al Aqsa is located, is two thousand miles away from Mecca. But the Mairaj, as you all know, is not just the journey between two physical points. It is also the journey to the heavens and then to the Alim e La Makaan, the Realm where time and space do not exist.

 

However, Allah chooses to starts with that which has been seen by the people of the time. That again is deliberate. Allah begins with the place which is known to the people who will hear the verse and recognize the places, therefore know them as real.

 

For the last part of the Mairaj, the Quran goes to the La Makaan but it starts with the rule that is the rule of

Tableegh, the dissemination of the faith; speak in a manner which people will relate to.

 

Hence, since the places physically exist, circumstantial evidence can be asked of the Rasool (peace be upon him) by those who disbelieve him.

 

The next part of the verse is even stranger; He takes him from…

 

مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الْأَقْصَى الَّذِي بَارَكْنَا حَوْلَهُ لِنُرِيَهُ مِنْ آيَاتِنَا

 

…from Al-Masjid Al-Haraam, to Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, which We blessed its surroundings,

that We may show him of Our Signs.

 

Now the most blessed physical place in this world is always the mosque.”

 

I remembered I had a hadith about that fact in my book.

 

وَعَن أبي أُمَامَة قَالَ: إِنَّ حَبْرًا مِنَ الْيَهُودِ سَأَلَ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:

أَيُّ الْبِقَاعِ خَيْرٌ؟

فَسَكَتَ عَنْهُ وَقَالَ: أَسْكُتُ حَتَّى يَجِيءَ جِبْرِيلُ

فَسَكَتَ وَجَاءَ جِبْرِيلُ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ فَسَأَلَ فَقَالَ:

مَا المسؤول عَنْهَا بِأَعْلَمَ مِنَ السَّائِلِ وَلَكِنْ أَسْأَلُ رَبِّيَ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى

ثُمَّ قَالَ جِبْرِيلُ: يَا مُحَمَّدُ إِنِّي دَنَوْتُ مِنَ اللَّهِ دُنُوًّا مَا دَنَوْتُ مِنْهُ قطّ

قَالَ: وَكَيف كَانَ ياجبريل؟ قَالَ: كَانَ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَهُ سَبْعُونَ أَلْفَ حِجَابٍ مِنْ نُورٍ

فَقَالَ: شَرُّ الْبِقَاعِ أَسْوَاقُهَا وَخَيْرُ الْبِقَاع مساجده

 

A scholar amongst the Jews asked the Prophet (peace be upon him) “Which is the best place?”

 

The Prophet (peace be upon him) was silent and said, “I will be quiet until Gibrael (as) comes.”

 

So he remained silent and Gibarel (as) came so he asked him and he said, “The one asked about this is not more knowledgeable than the asker but I will ask my Lord Exalted and Great.”

 

Then said Gibrael (as), “O Muhammad (peace be upon you)! I was close to Allah the closest I have ever been.”

 

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “And how was that Gibrael (as)?”

 

He said, “There were between me and him 70,000 veils of light and my Lord said, ‘The worst places are the markets and the best places the mosques.’”

 

Uzair: “Inside the mosque, the most blessed spot is the mehrab, the prayer niche of the Imam. In the mehrab, it is the place where the Imam prostrates. But here Allah Ta’ala is saying that He has blessed the ‘surroundings,’ thus making them, the surroundings, even more esteemed than the Masjid Al-Aqsa. Why does he do that? What surrounds Masjid Al-Aqsa?

 

In front of the gate of the Mosque is the biggest church of Jerusalem where, to celebrate the birth of Hazrat Isa, the Prophet Jesus (as), candles are lit every night. A little further away is the grave of the Prophet Younus (as), a little further that of the Prophet Ibrahim (as), a little further the Prophet Musa (as), a little further the Prophet Idrees (as). Almost all the Quranic Prophets are buried there. So what lies in the ‘surrounding’ are the graves of the Prophets.

 

The Sufis give a most beautiful explanation for why the surroundings are therefore named as blessed and not Al-Haram and not Al-Aqsa. They say that the places the beloveds inhabit are always more loved than one’s own. Therefore, Allah is not saying His Mosque in Mecca is dearer to Him. He is saying that where the mazar, the shrines of His Prophets are, that is what is more valued to Him.

 

By extension, the Sufis say that the most pure place, not only on this Earth, but also the Universe is not the Ka’aba and not any mosque. It is the earth that touches the kafan, the shroud, of the Prophet of God (peace be upon him) because the shroud touches his blessed body. That earth is more honoured than the heavens and the Tablet and the Pen and anything else in existence in any realm.”

 

I had heard stories about how Imam Maalik (ra) used to walk in Medina without shoes. In the streets, everywhere. When he was asked why he did that, he simply said, “Why would I not allow the earth of where my beloved (peace be upon him) lies always touch the soles of my feet?”

 

When I was on my first Umra, I was initially following the crowd. I was just walking with my shoes inside the courtyard of the Masjid e Nabawi, all the way, till the entrance to the building of the Mosque. I have inexplicable and strange hyper concerns around cleanliness, especially when it came to my feet. But after the first ziyarat I noticed that the very poor people took their shoes off outside the courtyard of the Blessed Mosque.

 

It had me recall all the shrines I went to in Pakistan where, no matter how large or small the courtyard, case in point Daata Sahib (ra), the shoes were removed at the very entrance. At Mian Mir Sahib’s (ra), shoes have to be taken off such that one has to walk in the street barefoot before reaching the entrance of the shrine. That had been a first for me!

 

But that was the adab, the regard of appearing there. It made me question why wasn’t I doing that there, by far The Holiest of holy shrines? I had thought to myself then that when I leave Medina everything I wore here would become special to me. I would never want anything to happen to those things.

 

Here I was worrying about my feet being unclean when this surface, its dust, touching my skin probably made it pure like nothing else would. The concept of earth as being blessed is prevalent in Islam. When I went to Iraq, I brought back little bags of earth from Karbala because people had asked me for them. And they weren’t Shia’.

 

Uzair: “Allah is saying, ‘I blessed this surrounding and brought him to Al-Aqsa, to see, a little, from amongst My Signs.’ Let’s quickly go down the list of what all there was that Huzoor (peace be upon him) saw that night; he met 124,000 prophets, he led them in prayer in Masjid Al-Aqsa.”

 

In another lecture I had heard that that prayer, where Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) stood in front of 124,000 prophets, revealed another aspect of his distinction. He was there in physical form, body and soul. They, having already passed away, were only souls. Generally the rule is that the soul is superior to the body. It is lateef, elegant, subtle.

 

124,000 souls stood behind his body and said the namaz. Therefore, the body of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was granted a higher honour than all the souls of all of the Prophets sent to the world.

 

But then it was also not an ordinary physical form.

 

عَنْ ذَکْوَانَ رضی الله عنه أَنَّ رَسُوْلَ اﷲِ صلی الله عليه وآله وسلم

لَمْ يَکُنْ يُرَی لَهُ ظِلٌّ فِي شَمْسٍ وَلَا قَمَرٍ

 

Hazrat Zakwaan Tabi'ee (ratu) narrates that no shadow could be seen for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in sunlight nor (could it be seen) in moonlight.

 

Uzair: “He led them in prayer in Masjid Al-Aqsa. He sat on Buraaq, the horse-like creature that transported him. He met all the angels. He roamed around the seven heavens. Then he reached Sidrat ul Muntaha, ‘the large enigmatic lote tree or Sidr tree that marks the end of the seventh heaven, the boundary which no creation can pass.’ This is where even Gibrael (as) has to leave him for he cannot cross the line without being burnt to ashes.’

 

Poets have written verse about this juncture when Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) was asked to continue alone. That Hazrat Gibrael (as) the Archangel felt a pang of envy in that moment where he could not traverse the boundary set upon him and all other angels. That he felt envy for the first time for not being created as a human.

 

Uzair: “Thus traversing through the 70,000 veils that veil Allah, he reaches the Arsh e Ilahi, the Throne of Allah and reaches the La Makaan.

 

This is where the philosophers become charged. ‘Don’t say he crossed into the Realm of no time and space,’ they say. ‘For the Quran itself called him an abd, which means he was in a body with a physical form. No body, no physical form, can exist there because it takes up space, by definition. Therefore he could not have been in the La Makaan.’

 

That is then countered by scholars with this hadith:

 

عن ابْن عَبَّاس يَقُول الله عز وَجل وَعِزَّتِي وَجَلَالِي لولاك مَا خلقت الْجنَّة ولولاك مَا خلقت الدُّنْيَا

 

As narrated by Ibn e Abbas (ratu) that Allah says, “I swear by my Honour and Majesty and Exaltedness,

if it were not for you (O Beloved (peace be upon you)), I would not have created the heavens

and if it were not for you, I would not have created the world.

 

They say to one who argues this point; ‘There is, in fact, one scenario in which a body can exist without space. The being for whom the world and everything in it is created. For it no rules of ordinary existence apply. This is the person of the Prophet (peace be upon him). The Universe only exists because of him. Therefore he is not subject to the Universe and its laws. They are only there as a consequence of him.

 

In the grammar, there is a conditional, lau, 'if' and then a consequence of that ‘if.’

 

if it were not for you (O Beloved (peace be upon you)), I would not have created the heavens

and

if it were not for you, I would not have created the world.

 

The consequence, jaza’, is as a rule inferior to the condition. The heavens exist because of Mustafa (peace be upon him). He doesn’t exist to enter them. Similarly the world exists because of him. It does not hold any power over him.

 

The next part of the verse explains this by starting with the word inna-hu;

 

إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِير

 

Indeed He, He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.

 

Inna, Only and only. So no one else listens and sees. Now all translations turn the pronoun, in inna-hu, indeed he, to God. But the Sufis have another interpretation. They say, ‘pay attention to where it points. And the hu is there twice, ‘only he, he.’ They say the ‘hu’ can go both ways. So if it is talking about Allah what does it mean and if the ‘he’ is referring to Mustafa (peace be upon him), what does it mean.

 

Allama Badruddin Zarqashi (ra) gives this interpretation and only a Sufi can say this; ‘Mairaj is the meeting between Allah and the Rasool (peace be upon him) without any veils between them. Imam Qastalani also writes that Huzoor (peace be upon him) was himself sent in veils because his beauty could not have been borne by anything if revealed.

 

So when the hu turns to Allah, it means that Allah is saying, ‘I am the only one who can see you, O Beloved. No one else has the ability to even look at you in your true form because your beauty is overwhelming.

 

And when the hu turns to the Prophet (peace be upon him), it means that Allah is saying that only Huzoor (peace be upon you) can see Him without any veils. No one else! That point is already made clearly in the Quran with the incident of Hazrat Musa (as) who asked God to show Himself to him. And what happened? Allah told him to look at the mountain. When he showed but a tajalli, the appearance of God in a concrete form, the mountain turned to ashes and the Prophet Moses (as) fainted.

 

Allah is saying, ‘If there is one who can hear My Kalam, without the veils of words, when I remove the veils, it is only he, the Beloved (peace be upon him), who can see Me and hear Me.’

 

This, the Sufis say, is Mairaj!

 

And Zarqashi gives another interpretation. He says Allah is saying to those who doubt and debate the Mairaj as being a dream or real, the experience of a body or soul, its limitations of where it begins and ends, He is saying ‘I am listening to you and seeing you.’ As in this will be something you will be held accountable for.”

 

I knew from Surah An-Najm that part was also stated clearly in a verse.

 

أَفَتُمَارُونَهُ عَلَىٰ مَا يَرَى

 

Then will you dispute with him about what he saw?

Surah An-Najm, Verse 12

 

Uzair: “Now listen to the verse is full and understand the layering of what I have said today:

 

سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلًا مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الْأَقْصَى الَّذِي بَارَكْنَا حَوْلَهُ لِنُرِيَهُ مِنْ آيَاتِنَا إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِير

 

Exalted is the One Who took His Servant by night from Al-Masjid Al-Haraam, to Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, which We blessed its surroundings, that We may show him of Our Signs.

Indeed He, He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.

Surah Al-Isra’, Verse 1

 

Then Uzair went to the part of exactly that denial by the infidels. I had recorded that in my book.

 

Begin excerpt The Softest Heart

 

After the Mairaj, the next morning when the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) awoke, he told his cousin Umm ul Baneen about the incident. She suggested to him that he not mention it to the Quraish as they would surely deny its happening.

 

The Prophet of God (peace be upon him) said, “I will surely speak the truth. My Lord God is The Truth and what I have seen, that is the Truth.”

 

Later in the day he went to the Ka’aba. Near it the elite of the Quraish were gathered. The Prophet (peace be upon him) sat near the Maqam e Hijr and started telling the people about the event of the Mairaj. The Kuffar upon hearing his words started laughing and mocking him.

 

Abu Jahal spoke first, “Are you willing to repeat that which you have said before all the tribes?”

 

The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied, “Undoubtedly I am.”

 

Abu Jahal sent for the Kuffar of Mecca and when all the tribes were gathered, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) repeated his experience. The Kuffar started clapping their hands and making fun of him. Amongst them were also present the traders of Syria who had seen the Beit ul Muqaddas many times.

 

They said to him, “We know you have never been to the Beit ul Muqaddas. Tell us! How many pillars and doors does it have?”

 

The Messenger of God said that just then, the whole building of the Beit ul Muqaddas appeared before his eyes and whatever questions they asked him, he kept answering. But still, they did not believe the event of Mairaj to be true.”

 

End excerpt The Softest Heart

 

Uzair: “When the Kuffar started asking the Prophet (peace be upon him) questions about the details of the arches and the windows of the Masjid Al-Aqsa, knowing that he had not been there, trying to corner him into making a mistake, and he answers all of them correctly, Allah is reminding them and eradicating doubt by the single word Asra’, “I, Allah, have made him take this journey.” Therefore nothing you will try to do will disprove that.

 

So when all the questions in painstaking detail are answered correctly, Abu Jahal goes a step further. He says he has a caravan traveling on the same route for trade. He asks the Prophet (peace be upon him) to tell him about the people in his caravan. “Where are they now?”

 

So now he’s asking for circumstantial evidence. This means he is in advertently admitting the Mairaj is real. There is no such thing as asking for evidence for a dream.

 

Abu Lahab excitedly joined him. “I, too have a caravan there.

Where is it?”

 

Now they want him to validate his physical presence.

 

The Prophet (peace be upon him) replies and tells them that when he passed Abu Jahal’s caravan, it had stopped because a camel had fallen and its ankle was hurt so it could not walk. They were trying to make the camel stand. He then told Abu Lahab that his caravan, because of this accident, had been lagging behind but then passed and went on ahead.

 

The second question from them was then about Ilm e Ghaib, the Knowledge of the Unseen. So basically saying, ‘If you are Prophet, prove it by giving evidence that you possess such knowledge.’

 

“When will they arrive then?” they asked him.

 

The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied to one that when the sun would set, his caravan would appear and to the other that when the sun would rise the next morning, his would appear. Now two sides became firmly established. Abu Jahal, Abu Lahab, Utba, Muhira, they went to their god Laat and prayed fervently that he be wrong.

 

On the other side, Hazrat Umar (ratu), Hazrat Bilal (ratu), Abu Bakr (ratu), they’re all praying for the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) prediction to be true. It’s a war of egos now. They want his Ilm e Ghaib to be correct.

 

At one point when the sun could no longer be seen, Abu Lahab exclaimed victoriously, “It has set!”

 

Hazrat Abu Bakr (ratu) ran to a higher vantage point and said, “No, I see it. It still remains.” Abu Lahab rushed to join him. As soon as the sun sets, Abu Lahab shouts, “Look! It has set.” In the same moment, Hazrat Abu Bakr (ratu) points in the other direction and say, “Look! There comes the caravan.”

 

So it is also then established that it is the Sunnah of the Kafir, the denier of Truth, to disclaim the Ilm e Ghaib of a Prophet and it is the Sunnah of the believer, the who has faith, to know he possesses it.’”

 

The last thing Uzair reiterated was this; “The heart is the greatest of the places, more so than anything physical place in the Universe. And the zikr of Muhammad (peace be upon him) is what makes that heart feel delight.”

 

Volumes have been written about the Mairaj by different Auliya and Mufassareen. Thousands of pages. Promises were made that were only between the two.

 

فَأَوْحَىٰ إِلَىٰ عَبْدِهِ مَا أَوْحَى

 

So He revealed to His Servant what he revealed.

Surah Al-Najm, Verse 10

 

I love that verse. The deliberate declaration of the sharing and then no hint as to what that sharing might have been.

 

There were gifts exchanged. The Prophet (peace be upon him) when asked by Allah what he brought for Him offered the one thing that Allah does not possess; humility.

 

As I have tried to attain that attribute in my nature, where it is not present naturally, I have discovered that for me it is only achievable as a function of control of the Free Will. If you are gentle, you are humble. If you are quiet, you are humble. If you are sensitive to the state of another’s heart, you are humble. For most of my life I was none of those things. I wasn’t loud but I was angry and cruelly insensitive.

 

I have only tread the waters of humility of late, pausing at every step, because my nafs of course directs me towards the opposite of where the goal lies. Being humble requires what is perceived in the world as weakness. For me it has to be opted for. Strength and power, that are my domain, have to be relinquished, abdicated. I have only started those practices. It’s a long way for me still.

 

I did have in my first book, an anthology called The Intercessor, a story about the Mairaj, when Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) reaches Allah. When I read it this time, I got something new from it. Holding the earth that surrounds the Prophet (peace be upon him) in the highest of honour is the Sunnah of God.

 

…Then said the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), “I tried to remove my sandals, but this time a call came to me from The Divine saying, “O My Beloved, do not remove your sandals so that My Throne might be honoured and blessed with the dust from the soles of your sandals.”

 

I then entreated my Lord saying, “When You called the Prophet Moses (as) to come to the mountain of Tur, you ordered him to remove his sandals.”

 

Again this word came to me from The Divine, “In My View, you are more cherished and honoured than he; Moses was My Word, Kalimullah, whereas you are My Beloved, Habibullah. Look ahead and see what you will see!”

 

I looked and I saw a great sea, so great that there was no end to it and no shore in sight. On its near side there was a tree, and upon that tree, there was a bird the size of a dove. In its beak this bird bore a piece of clay as big as a lentil.

 

“Do you know what that is?” I was asked.

 

I answered, “My Lord knows best.”

 

And The Almighty told me, “You are forever entreating Me to forgive your Ummah their sins. This sea is the likeness of the Sea of Mercy. That tree signifies the world, the dove-like bird is the likeness of your Ummah and that bit of clay is the likeness of their sins. Now you have seen the relation of your Ummah’s sins to the vastness of My Mercy, so let your heart be at rest.”

 

Let your heart be at rest.

 

Sigh!

 

The most special gift for Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) from Allah was intercession. He chose it because he knew without him, there were many of his Ummah who would never reach Heaven. When no one will own up anyone else in their lives, not parents their children, nor friends their friends, nor anyone anyone, only one voice will speak up:

 

عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏قَالَ:‏‏‏‏ شَفَاعَتِي لِأَهْلِ الْكَبَائِرِ مِنْ أُمَّتِي

 

“My intercession is for the grave sinners of my nation.”

 

Qari Sahib once told me the story that Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) said to Amma Ayesha (ratu), “Ask of me anything.”

In the few instances when he said that to someone, the person took their time to decide their query. It was their chance to literally know the answer to anything in the Universe. She went to her father, Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (ratu) and told him what he had said.

 

He in turn told her to ask him about Mairaj, to disclose something that was in the conversation that he had with God.

And He revealed to His Servant what He revealed.

 

When Hazrat Bibi Ayesha (ratu) returned and put her request forward, he smiled.

 

“If I tell you then it would no longer be secret. But I will tell you anyway. Allah Subhan Ta’ala said to me, ‘The one who mends other’s broken hearts, I will let them into Heaven without asking them any question.’”

 

The softness of Allah Subhan Ta’ala, His Mercy encompassing all other things, as He says in the Quran is spellbinding to me. The other aspect about His Essence that blows me away is what He holds as most important; Hiding the flaws of others over even truth, justice and generosity.

 

Firstly because I find it is more doable, in the reach of anyone, than speaking the truth always, being fair always, giving away money always. Second because it is innately and intrinsically the kinder act. More so than being truthful, just and generous, all of which can be meted out but easily with harshness.

 

And thirdly because it injects the most coveted prize in one's character, humility, naturally without having to strive and struggle for it. In hiding another's flaws, one automatically becomes aware of one's own and wishes for the same. In that same hiding is a hidden forgiveness of the act as well. There is an absence of judgement of it. The effects are probably endless and all of them deepen the softness of one's heart.

 

It certainly gives an inkling as to why Maula Ali (ratu) said,

"90 percent of wisdom attained is bestowed upon a person as a result of their husn e akhlaq, excellence in behaviour, towards other people."

 

Begin excerpt “Ali is to me as I am to God”

 

The tradition of a kharqa (mantle) worn by the faithful was started by God. On the Night of Ascension (Mairaj), the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was given a kharqa as a gift and was told to give it to one of his companions. He was given a question to ask them as well as the answer to that question.

 

Upon his return, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) asked his closest companions to come to him and asked each of them the same thing, that if they were given this kharqa, what would they do with it. He first called upon Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra).

 

Said Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (ratu), " If I am bestowed it, I will use it to be the mark of truthfulness. I will be obedient to God and whatever wealth I have that remains, I will spend it in His name and His way."

 

Then the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) addressed the same question to Hazrat Omar Farouq (ratu).

 

Replied Hazrat Omar Farouq (ratu), "With this kharqa, I will endeavour to provide justice to all and rescue those caught in the hands of the cruel and the corrupt."

 

Hazrat Usman Ghani (ratu) reply to the same question was this; "I will use it to spread generosity and do what is right while working in unison with others."

 

Lastly, Hazrat Ali (ratu) responded, "If I am blessed with it, I will hide the flaws (weaknesses) of Mankind."

 

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) gave the kharqa to Hazrat Ali (ratu) saying, "I bestow this to you as I was told to give it to the one who gives me this answer."

 

The real gift for the Ummah for this world from Allah was the salat, the namaz, the 5 prayers of each day. It is a favourite incident amongst the Muslims that during Mairaj, The Night of Ascension, when the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was returning from his meeting with Allah Al-Qadir, The Omnipotent One, he met the Prophet Moses (as) who asked him how many prayers were required of his people by their Lord.

 

قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:‏‏‏‏ فَفَرَضَ اللَّهُ عَلَى أُمَّتِي خَمْسِينَ صَلَاةً،

‏‏‏‏‏‏فَرَجَعْتُ بِذَلِكَ حَتَّى مَرَرْتُ عَلَى مُوسَى،

‏‏‏‏‏‏فَقَالَ:‏‏‏‏ مَا فَرَضَ اللَّهُ لَكَ عَلَى أُمَّتِكَ؟

قُلْتُ:‏‏‏‏ فَرَضَ خَمْسِينَ صَلَاةً،

‏‏‏‏‏‏قَالَ:‏‏‏‏ فَارْجِعْ إِلَى رَبِّكَ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏فَإِنَّ أُمَّتَكَ لَا تُطِيقُ ذَلِكَ،

‏‏‏‏‏‏فَرَاجَعْتُ فَوَضَعَ شَطْرَهَا، ‏‏‏‏‏‏فَرَجَعْتُ إِلَى مُوسَى،

‏‏‏‏‏‏قُلْتُ:‏‏‏‏ وَضَعَ شَطْرَهَا، ‏‏‏‏‏‏فَقَالَ:‏‏‏‏ رَاجِعْ رَبَّكَ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏فَإِنَّ أُمَّتَكَ لَا تُطِيقُ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏فَرَاجَعْتُ:‏‏‏‏ فَوَضَعَ شَطْرَهَا،

‏‏‏‏‏‏فَرَجَعْتُ إِلَيْهِ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏فَقَالَ:‏‏‏‏ ارْجِعْ إِلَى رَبِّكَ فَإِنَّ أُمَّتَكَ لَا تُطِيقُ ذَلِكَ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏فَرَاجَعْتُهُ،

‏‏‏‏‏‏فَقَالَ:‏‏‏‏ هِيَ خَمْسٌ وَهِيَ خَمْسُونَ لَا يُبَدَّلُ الْقَوْلُ لَدَيَّ، ‏‏

‏‏‏‏فَرَجَعْتُ إِلَى مُوسَى، ‏‏‏‏‏‏فَقَالَ:‏‏‏‏ رَاجِعْ رَبَّكَ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏فَقُلْتُ:‏‏‏‏ اسْتَحْيَيْتُ مِنْ رَبِّي،

 

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “My Lord dutied upon my Ummah 50 prayers (a day).”

 

I was returning with this when I passed by the Prophet Moses (as).

 

He said, “What did Allah duty upon your Ummah?”

 

I replied, “He dutied fifty prayers.”

 

Hazrat Musa (as) said, “Return to your Lord for verily, your Ummah does not have the strength for this.”

 

So I returned and He (Allah) reduced a part of it so I came back to Musa (as).

 

I said, “He reduced a part of it,” and Hazrat Musa (as) said,

 

““Return to your Lord for verily, your Ummah does not have the strength for this.”

 

So I returned and He (Allah) reduced a part of it so I came back to him (Hazrat Musa (as)).

 

He said, ““Return to your Lord for verily, your Ummah does not have the strength for this,” so I returned to Him.

 

Allah said, “It is five (and) in blessings fifty. My Word does not change.”

 

So I returned to Musa (as) and he said, Go back again to your Lord.”

 

And I said, “I feel embarrassed before my Lord.”

 

The blessings of 50 for reciting five! But that wasn’t really it. The Mairaj was for one, abdi-hi, His Servant. So what did the Mercy of the Universe do? He made is a possibility for every single one of those in his nation, his Ummati. It’s like every single time Allah would hand him a fruit from the heavens, he would take a bite and hold it out for everyone else; “Here, you try it too.”

 

So he said to the Muslims, “The Mairaj of the Momin is in the prayer, salat.” The he says to everyone alive, “The Momin is the house of love.” I say my prayer five times a day these days. I hear the Azaan and go to do it immediately, except if I have guests.

 

That too is a recent phenomenon, a lesson in grace, which I learnt from the Naqshbandi Master, Sheikh Nurjan; “Say your lengthy prayers when you are by yourself. So you can be safeguarded from showing off in front of others about how long you take in prayer.”

 

In that Mairaj of the salat, the possibility exists that one can see God. As Imam Ali (ratu) did in each prayer. No wonder the Ahl e Beit, the family of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and then the Auliya Allah prayed a 1,000 nafal every night. In Karbala, when the family of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was being brutally killed, day after day, till all of them were martyred, only a a single male member remained, no one missed a single raka’t of those nawafil.

 

In Shaam, Damascus, Bibi Zainab (ratu) was asked, mockingly, if she felt abandoned by her Lord God who had let Yazid’s army martyr her entire family. What did she think of Him now given her state of being alone without anything, without anyone to come to her aid.

 

She had answered, “Indeed, never have I seen my Lord to be so Beautiful.”

 

They were always seeing God!

 

Sadly, I am stuck in my worldly state. All I think of when I wonder about them praying a 1,000 nawafil, as deeply impressed as I am, is how could I ever be able to do that? Won’t I get tired? How will I wake up in the morning? And I don’t even have anything to do. Still, I love that it is within my reach if I do reach for it. That what was a miracle for one, The Beloved (peace be upon him), made a possibility for all.

 

I don’t know how many nawafil I will be praying tonight. What I do know is that at Maghrib, I will celebrate. For Allah said, “Rejoice! When Bounty is bestowed upon you, Rejoice!” And He made His Beloved (peace be upon him) be the one to announce the glad tiding.

 

قُلْ بِفَضْلِ اللَّهِ وَبِرَحْمَتِهِ فَبِذَٰلِكَ فَلْيَفْرَحُوا هُوَ خَيْرٌ مِّمَّا يَجْمَعُون

 

Say, "It is Bounty of Allah and His Mercy so let them rejoice."

It is better than what they accumulate (in wealth).

Surah Yunus, Verse 58

 

In turn I announce it to all I know, texting and emailing my friends and family everywhere. Even their kids who I know or even don’t know that well. For myself, I will drive around Karachi and distribute kheer, a rice pudding, I ordered from some special place on Burns Road. I will do it by my hand saying to each person, “Shab e Mairaj Mubarik!” I wish you happiness on this Night of Ascension.

 

Shab e Mairaj is like each word of the Quran, it cannot ever be described completely. Each person who celebrates it does it for a different reason, in a different way. For me the best part of it is the beginning. Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) was sad. To alleviate his sadness, Allah brought him before Himself.

 

That leads me to believe that knowing how deeply Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) feels the sadness of each of his Ummati, something the Quran testifies to, Allah will alleviate our sadness as well. Thus a thousand springs of hope gush forth and lift my heart.

 

لَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ

مَا عَنِتُّمْ حَرِيصٌ عَلَيْكُم بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ

 

Certainly, there has come unto you, (O Mankind), an Apostle from among yourselves.

Heavily weighs upon him that you might suffer.

Full of concern for you is he,

and full of compassion (Rau’f) and mercy (Rahim) towards those who attained faith (Imaan).

Surab At-Tawbah, Verse 128

 

As someone who recently experienced the death of a parent with whom the relationship was far from normal, I know that anger, which in any case is the flip side of grief, becomes extinguished when the parent dies. The only thing that remains is pain, except it is now doubled. There is no more penduluming between the two states. Only one stands tall, overwhelming!

 

In that state, when the eternal hope of healing in a broken relationship has died along with the person, another hope still remains. One can’t descend into a grave and wake the dead but one can ascend from a state and at least try to leave it behind. Say goodbye to that as well.

 

The Auliya Karaam said the most hallowed ground is the heart. The only guarantee of experiencing joy in that heart lies for every single being in the Universe in remembering, thinking of, even just wondering about one person alone; the Beloved of God (peace be upon him). If just the existence of the possibility of loving him remains and nothing else and no one else does, that in itself, is cause enough for celebration!

 

جہاں روشن است از جمالِ محمد

دلم تازہ گشت از وصالِ محمد

 

The entire Universe is lit by the beauty of Muhammad (saw).

My heart becames renewed only when it loves him.

Maulana Jami (ra)

 

Uzair lecture – The Linguistic Miracles of Ayat e Isra’:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLzr-BtrcJs

 

Uzair lecture – Secrets of Isra’ according to Ilm e Qawaid: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sH420Dqrg0

 

Min al Jinnati wa Naas

(From the Jinn and Mankind)

 

Part II – The Cure

 

And what did it encompass; a warning!

 

قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ

مَلِكِ النَّاسِ

إِلَٰهِ النَّاسِ

مِن شَرِّ الْوَسْوَاسِ الْخَنَّاسِ

الَّذِي يُوَسْوِسُ فِي صُدُورِ النَّاسِ

مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ

 

Say, O Beloved (peace be upon you), "I seek refuge in (the) Lord (of) Mankind,

 

The King of Mankind,

 

The God of Mankind,

 

from the evil (of) The Whisperer, the one who withdraws (after his whisper),

 

who whispers in the hearts of Mankind,

 

from the Jinn and Mankind.” – Surah An-Naas, Verse 1-6

 

“Introduction: Let it not be hidden upon the one for whom the secrets and Oneness have been opened. And for whom have been disclosed the world of the secrets of faith and Sirat e Mustaqeem (The Right Path), the one who holds on to the rope of ability from God and remains steadfast with his grip; It is necessary tha protect his nafs from the satanic fitna (temptations which causes adversity, affliction, ordeal) of Nafs e Ammara, which always inserts doubt (waswase) in the heart of Man.

 

The Nafs e Ammara traps him in different states of tightness and false thoughts (waham), until the hearts become crooked and then astray. That is why Allah has given advice by providing training to the Mo’min so that they can be warned and granted to them guidance.”

 

Uzair said once told me that nothing in the Quran repeats itself. Even when the words are the same the meaning is different. The Tafseer e Jilani was the most spectacular evidence of that fact. For each surah in the Quran, Ghaus Pak (ra) gives a completely different tafseer (exegesis) for the repeating verse, Bismillah Ar Rahman Ar Rahim, which was entirely related to the content and context of the specific body of text that was to follow. 114 different meanings of the words, “In the Name of Allah, The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful!”

 

Bismillah: In the name of Allah who is the Planner of the rightness of His Servants because His Blessings and Forgiveness warrant that.

 

Ar-Rahman: He protects them with the most special veils of His Protection.

 

Ar-Rahim: He warns them against the one, Satan, which gives them pain and tempts them as a well-wisher so that they may remain steadfast on the Right Path.

 

Min Sharr al-Waswase: From the doubts that rise in the hearts of Mankind and cause them to feel strife.

 

Al-Khannas: The one who runs away and then returns to the people because he sits in the hearts of Man. When they are conscious of God (in zikr Allah), he runs away and feels base.

And when Man is ghaafil (forgetful of God), he takes possession of their heart.

 

Thus the adversity, the unrest, the turmoil, the strife leaves and returns to the heart. For that is the nature of Iblis, to enter and leave and enter and leave.

 

Ghaus Pak (ra) continues:

 

Between the zikr of Allah and the doubts from Satan lies a veil such as there is between light and darkness. When one appears, the other disappears, like waham about that which is about to happen. When the result comes and it actually happens, the fear, the paranoia disappears. In the state of remembrance of God there is light. In its absence, there is darkness. So goes back and forth, the heart of man.

 

And then the last line:

 

Min al Jinnate wa Naas: The waswase, the doubts from Khannas want us to believe that Jinn and Man have the ability to affect by giving benefit or harm and that their effect is independent of God’s Will. So we place our hopes and wants with them, Jinn and Man, instead of Allah. And if we do that we fall into a state of eternal regret and an abyss of loss.

 

At the end of the Surah he closes with: “Be warned, be warned, O desirer of sincerity! Don’t run after desires and temptation. Satan’s tactic is to heighten the heart’s consciousness of the world, zikr ad-duniya, and the ways to attain it. That is what gives him the opportunity to enter the waswase that results in hell right here. But when a person stays away from desire to the best of their ability and is obedient to Allah to the best of their ability, angels whisper into their hearts and guide them away from the traps.”

 

(End Excerpt “The Softest Heart”)

 

And finally all the pieces of puzzle fit!

 

قَالُوا سُبْحَانَكَ أَنتَ وَلِيُّنَا مِن دُونِهِم ۖ بَلْ كَانُوا يَعْبُدُونَ الْجِنَّ ۖ أَكْثَرُهُم بِهِم مُّؤْمِنُونَ

 

When asked by God on the Day of Judgement if they were worshipped by Man, the angels replied, “They, in fact, worshiped the Jinns, not us. It was in them that most of them believed – Surah As-Saba, Verse 41

 

I decided to look up a more recent video of Sheikh Nurjan post virus. Technology wasn’t going anywhere. People had already established that their first love was their phone. It used to make me laugh how the Shiekh would, in the middle of his speech, sometimes with a smile, raise his own smart phone and wave it around, as if pointing to the demon in his device. The other noticeable element about his speech was that, unlike me who was jumping and down name calling, he never named any human, any organization or corporation. Nothing and no one!

 

I guess I knew why. For people like him the world holds zero significance. What others are doing and why was immaterial. He was following the Sunnah of the Prophets. No judgement of another, no matter who they are and what they do! That was left only to God. I made a mental note to be clearer about my own intention behind calling people out in my writing. I think I was telling myself it was to inform others but really it was contempt.

 

Funnily enough he did mention movies, Viper for one which I have not seen. Throughout his videos there were flashes of clips from various Hollywood flicks of the summer blockbuster variety. He was totally unfazed by demonic presence of Jinns anywhere. And why not? He knew exactly what they were up to and why. What was their mode of attack and how it could be repelled.

 

وَقَدْ مَكَرُوا مَكْرَهُمْ وَعِندَ اللَّهِ مَكْرُهُمْ وَإِن كَانَ مَكْرُهُمْ لِتَزُولَ مِنْهُ الْجِبَالُ

 

And they devise that false imagery of theirs - and all their false imagery is within God's knowledge, even if their false imagery were so (well devised and so powerful] that mountains could be moved thereby – Surah Ibrahim, Verse 46

 

Sheikh Nurjan’s message only reiterated Surah An-Naas. Taking anyone other than Allah as a helper only lead to inevitable suffering. The Quran spoke of it endlessly, from the day the rebellion began.

 

وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لِآدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ كَانَ مِنَ الْجِنِّ فَفَسَقَ عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِ ۗ

أَفَتَتَّخِذُونَهُ وَذُرِّيَّتَهُ أَوْلِيَاءَ مِن دُونِي وَهُمْ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ ۚ بِئْسَ لِلظَّالِمِينَ بَدَلًا

 

And when We said to the Angels, "Prostrate to Adam," so they prostrated except Iblis. (He) was of the Jinn, and he rebelled against the Command of his Lord. Will you then take him and his partners (as) protectors other than Me, while they are to you enemies? Wretched for the wrongdoers is the exchange – Surah Al-Kahf, Verse 50

 

فَلَوْلَا إِذْ جَاءَهُم بَأْسُنَا تَضَرَّعُوا وَلَٰكِن قَسَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ

 

Yet when the misfortune decreed by Us befell them, they did not humble themselves. But rather their hearts grew hard, for Satan had made all their doings seem goodly to them – Surah Al-Anam, Verse 43

 

What was bad appeared as good. And the hearts grew hard. Who else but the Prophet (saw) gave the cure.

 

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Indeed, the hearts rust like iron rusts.”

 

They said, “So what will polish them?”

 

He replied, “The abundance of remembrance of Allah, recitation of the Quran and remembering death.

 

I used to think when I was reciting the Quran I was remembering Allah. From the hadith I learnt the abundance of remembering God was different and I realized remembrance was about mindfulness. It was about being aware of my deeds, my thoughts, my intentions. The effect they had on others and me. It was about acknowledging wrongfulness as it came about then repenting, praying to be instilled with ability to change. It was living within oneself in a state of truthfulness. For it was the Quran that affirmed that, at all times, I knew what I was doing anyway. Be it right or wrong.

 

So often in life I had heard the explanation given for those who were self absorbed that they “were not self-aware” even though when it came to anything inflicted upon them, the state of sensitivity was sky high. Surah Ash-Shams states that everyone is aware, that the self is programmed to differ between its right and wrongfulness. That meant I was in control of my behaviour at all times. If I relinquished control to Iblis or caved to my own decisions to do wrong, I knew it all times. I had just gotten used to living in a state of self-deceit and blaming others.

 

فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَاهَا

وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّاهَا قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّاهَا

 

And Allah inspired it (to distinguish) between its wickedness and its righteousness. Indeed he succeeds who purifies it. And indeed he fails who buries it – Surah Ash-Shams, Verse 4-5

 

The mindfulness part was true because just this Ramadan I had started the practice of asking for forgiveness every morning and night. Sometimes I felt remorse for my acts, especially my tongue, all day long. I had started asking Nabi Kareem (saw) to pray for me and ask God to forgive me so that He would be the Acceptor of my repentance and grant me ability to be better the next day. The forgiveness came so quickly I felt overwhelmed. Describing it as relief is an understatement. Shedding the unbearable weight of anxiety and disturbance within minutes, that’s nothing short of a miracle. In repeat no less!

 

Even remembering death, I used to think it meant being conscious of the Day of Judgment and therefore my actions in light of that. And I’m sure it is but in this world, that Day was easily forgotten by me most of the time. Everyone takes life for granted and assumes they will live well into their 70s, if not longer. My cousin, who I once, told the hadith to said that beyond the Last Day, she thought it was about not taking others for granted. It was about valuing them and loving them while they are around remembering that death would one day take them away, who knows when. But only those who lose loved ones early in life think like that.

 

“What you have to understand,” says Sheikh Nurjan, “is that you can battle this negative energy and defend yourself… Our life was to copy one reality which is the Prophet (saw), whose one side faces Allah and the other faces humanity. The Auliya Allah, the Friends of God, they want us to connect back to the Prophet (saw) who connects us to God. Those who are fusing with that reality are being blessed by that reality.”

 

حَقًّا عَلَيْنَا نُنجِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ

 

Thus, it is an obligation upon Us (Allah) that We save the ones who believe in Us – Surah Yunus, Verse 103

 

I felt the deepest sense of reassurance from that verse the first time I heard it. If I had an iota of faith in my heart and only God judges faith, then He was obligated to take care of me. It was a certainty!

 

One thing was crystal clear. Technology was here to stay. It could not be avoided and was no doubt useful. I would not have been able to write this piece without king Jinn Google for one, if for no other reason than the speed with which I can include the Arabic. Like any other addiction however, if it became one, it just had to be admitted. I had read articles about those who had made break-through contributions in terms of innovations in their 20s only to deeply regret them later and admit it publicly.

 

Oct 6th, 2017, The Independent: “The man who invented the Facebook ‘Like’ button has removed the app from his mobile phone. Justin Rosenstein was the engineer who created the ‘awesome’ feature in 2007, but now fears the psychological effects apps are having on people around the world. “It is very common for humans to develop things with the best of intentions and for them to have unintended, negative consequences,” Mr Rosenstein told the paper.”

 

And that wasn’t the worst of it!

 

“As well as making users addicted and effecting their mental health, there is growing concern social media makes people more stupid. Known as ‘continuous partial attention,’ it is feared apps limit the ability to focus and potentially lower IQ.”

But these are lost battles. I have friends who say that being physically away from their phone brings on a panic attack. I don’t think they’re kidding. How can they possibly discipline their children? Nor can they police them. Especially now that many schools require iPads to do assignments. I found unsurprisingly that the elite had mainstreamed a thing for others and then sidestepped it for their own children.

 

Feb 18th, 2018 Business Insider: “The Koduris' life is that of the quintessential Silicon Valley family, except for one thing. The technology developed by Koduri and Shahi's employers (Google) is all but banned at the family's home.

 

There are no video game systems inside the Koduri household, and neither child, 10-year-old Saurav and 12-year-old Roshni, has their own cell phone yet. Saurav and Roshni can play games on their parents' phones, but only for 10 minutes per week. (There are no limits to using the family's vast library of board games.) Awhile back the family bought an iPad 2, but for the last five years it's lived on the highest shelf in a linen closet.

 

“We know at some point they will need to get their own phones,” Koduri, 44, told Business Insider. “But we are prolonging it as long as possible.”

 

Koduri and Shahi represent a new kind of Silicon Valley parent. Instead of tricking out their homes with all the latest technology, many of today's parents working or living in the tech world are limiting — and sometimes outright banning — how much screen time their kids get.

 

“You can't put your face in a device and expect to develop a long-term attention span,” Taewoo Kim, chief AI engineer at the machine-learning startup One Smart Lab. A practicing Buddhist, Kim is teaching his nieces and nephews, ages 4 to 11, to meditate and appreciate screen-free games and puzzles. Once a year he takes them on tech-free silent retreats at nearby Buddhist temples.

 

In 2007, Gates, the former CEO of Microsoft, implemented a cap on screen time when his daughter started developing an unhealthy attachment to a video game. Later it became family policy not to allow kids to have their own phones until they turned 14.

 

Jobs, the CEO of Apple until his death in 2012, revealed that he prohibited his kids from using the newly-released iPad. "We limit how much technology our kids use at home," Jobs told reporter Nick Bilton.

 

Around Silicon Valley, a number of low-tech schools have popped up in an effort to reintroduce the basics. At the Waldorf School of the Peninsula, a private school in Los Altos, California, kids use chalkboards and No. 2 pencils. Faculty don't introduce kids to screen-based devices until they reach the eighth grade.”

 

The Eighth Grade! That’s age 13-14. No video games, no

phone, no iPad! But increasingly for most and their infants, the possibility of a life without a chip in it, which for some is already in their fridge and toilet, doesn’t exist. Still, if the cure becomes known, at least a choice presents itself. Then it was about exercising it. The infamous free will that humans possess could finally come into play for some good!

 

Sheikh Nurjan’s words about protecting one’s self, the choice to do so, echoed the sentiment; “The energy you radiate around you becomes your shield of protection. The Sunnah is our insulation. When you make wudu (ablution) you seal this energy. It doesn’t escape. This energy is your safety and it emanates in your home and protects your home and your loved ones around you. If you don’t have the shield, ask the one who has it to come to help you.”

 

The one who has it is the Friend of God. Like Asif Bin Barkhia who was chosen over the Jinn. Many Muslims have difficulty getting their head around this category of chosen ones, the Auliya. Certain influences have programmed them in a way that causes confusion for them if they attach themselves to someone other than God. Even the Prophet (saw). Despite that the Quran specifically instructs to connect with them in order to attain to faith.

 

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَكُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِينَ

 

O you who believe! Consciously revere Allah and be with those who are truthful – Surah At-Tauba, Verse 119

 

Then it illuminates the exact placing of these “truthful ones,” obedient to the Commands of Allah and in strict emulation of the Prophet (saw), as enjoying a status just one under the Prophets, higher than the martyrs.

 

وَمَن يُطِعِ اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ فَأُولَٰئِكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِم مِّنَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالصِّدِّيقِينَ وَالشُّهَدَاءِ وَالصَّالِحِينَ ۚ وَحَسُنَ أُولَٰئِكَ رَفِيقًا

 

And whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger then they will be with those whom Allah has bestowed His Favor - of the Prophets, and the truthful, and the martyrs, and the righteous. And excellent (are) those companion(s) – Surah An-Nisa, Verse 69

 

My personal bond with the Auliya Karaam was most strengthened by a single verse in the Quran.

 

أَلَا إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاءَ اللَّهِ لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

 

No doubt! Indeed, the Friends of Allah, no fear will be upon them and nor will they grieve – Surah Yunus, Verse 62

No fear, no grief, what a life that would be! If there was a reason to seek them for someone like me who can’t seem to do anything without an ulterior motive, it was for a life devoid of fear and sadness.

 

In my 30’s I started reading the writings of many Auliya Karaam given to me by my Mamu and fell in love with them. Everything about them was imbued in grace and softness. Their reactions to pain and suffering left me bewildered. But nothing about my actions changed until I arrived at the Door of Wisdom, Imam Ali (ratu). For no one enters the City of Knowledge without entering the Door.

 

اَنَا مَدِيْنَةُ الْعِلْمِ وَ عَلِيٌ بَابُهَا فَمَنْ اَرَادَ الْعِلْمَ فَلْیَاْتِهَا مِنْ بَابِهَا

 

Said the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) “I am the City of Knowledge and Ali is the Door to enter it so the one who desires knowledge should come through this door.”

 

Otherwise all of my life I had felt I had a connection to God. Since my teens, on and off, I prayed, I fasted, I even read the Quran. The rituals disciplined me because it inculcated refraining in my sub-conscience but it was rote nonetheless so I didn’t change at all. Not until I loved His Beloved (saw). An excellent example; before him I never paid attention to my zaka’t, the only ritual I conveniently ignored.

 

Till I studied his person, I didn’t understand the exalted status of sadqa (voluntary alms) either, which is much higher than zaka’t because voluntary acts of love far surpass those dutied. Feeding the hungry is the best of those voluntary deeds which today forms a significant focus of my life. It changed me in ways I can barely count. I learnt that from Ghaus Pak (ra) because he said it was one of two things he focused on in his life. The other was excellence in behaviour.

 

God had made clear something I never knew until I wrote my book. Not only did I have to love His Beloved (saw), I had to love him more than everything else that mattered to me in the world. A rule was set.

 

قُلْ إِن كَانَ آبَاؤُكُمْ وَأَبْنَاؤُكُمْ وَإِخْوَانُكُمْ وَأَزْوَاجُكُمْ وَعَشِيرَتُكُمْ

وَأَمْوَالٌ اقْتَرَفْتُمُوهَا وَتِجَارَةٌ تَخْشَوْنَ كَسَادَهَا وَمَسَاكِنُ تَرْضَوْنَهَا أَحَبَّ إِلَيْكُم مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَجِهَادٍ فِي سَبِيلِهِ فَتَرَبَّصُوا حَتَّىٰ يَأْتِيَ اللَّهُ بِأَمْرِهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْفَاسِقِينَ

 

Say, (O Beloved), "If your fathers and your sons and your brothers and your spouses and your clan, and the worldly goods which you have acquired, and the commerce whereof you fear a decline, and the dwellings in which you take pleasure – (if all these) are dearer to you than God and His Apostle and the struggle in His cause, then wait until God makes manifest His will; and (know that) God does not grace iniquitous folk with His Guidance.” – Surah At-Tauba, Verse 24

 

The ask is sky high. From a hadith I knew that each person in the world as a rule loves themselves more than anyone else.

 

That is the nature of the nafs, the ego.

 

We were with the Prophet (peace be upon him) and he was holding the hand of Hazrat Umar bin Al-Khattab (ratu). Hazrat Umar (ratu) said to Him, "O Allah's Apostle! You are dearer to me than everything except my own self."

 

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "No, by Him in Whose Hand my soul is, you will not have complete faith till I am dearer to you than your own self."

 

Then Hazrat Umar (ratu) said to him, "Now, by Allah, you are dearer to me than my own self."

 

And the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Now, O Umar, now you are a Believer."

 

Anybody who has followed any Command of God, any instruction of His Last Prophet (saw) knows it has a guaranteed self-benefit. The asking to follow, to emulate Rasool Allah (saw), begins the journey to explore capacity as a human being in terms of elevating manners and morality, acquire that which does not previously exist.

 

The Order to love him more than myself, however, is something else. Loving ourselves the most means we are naturally inclined to be obedient to our desires and our demons. But when a person loves someone else more than themselves, then the desires of that person become more important. They take precedence over our own and we find ourselves becoming obedient to them, we do things for their sake. In the world, if people don’t experience this with parents, they certainly do in friendship and if not then, at some point in romantic love. In that love comes the sacrifice of one’s own needs and lust, desire and wants, both emotional and physical.

 

So if I wanted to love the Prophet (saw) more than myself, the evidence of that love would lie in my obedience to his wishes over my own.

 

When Hazrat Umar (ra) was asked what he had done to increase his love for the Prophet (saw) in such a short period of time, he said, “I asked myself who did I need more, myself or the Prophet of Allah (saw)? I found that I needed the Prophet (saw) more. I will not intercede for myself on the Day of Judgment, but the Prophet of Allah (saw) will. My deeds will not place me at the highest of levels, but my love for the Prophet (saw) will. I did not take myself from the darkness to the light, but the Prophet of Allah (saw) did. Accordingly, the love of the Prophet (saw) deepened in my heart as compared to my love for myself.”

 

After that love sprouted in my heart, every time I tried to inculcate a rule or a principle of behavior, the Friend of God who taught it to me became my helper. Since they had learnt the practice from Nabi Kareem (saw) I kept getting closer to him. All of them had passed centuries ago which meant that the help always came from the World of the Unseen, Aalim al Ghaib. If I didn’t understand anything, I ask them to help me, to even explain it to me.

 

When I felt distressed they showed me why. They lent me their eyes to see myself because my justifications rendered me blind. Who would have thought actually being in the right could also nail one to the ground? But it wasn’t so surprising when I peeled the layers behind it. There stood either self-pity or judgement and both converged at one point; pride. The cardinal sin! But that too is another story.

 

Imam Ali (ratu), Bibi Fatima (ratu), Imam hassan (ratu), Imam Hussain (ratu), Ghaus Pak (ra), Hazrat Muhuyddin Ibn e Arabi (ra), Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya (ra), Hazrat Rabia Basra (ra), Baba Farid Ganj Shakar (ra), Hazrat Bayzaid Bastami (ra), Maulana Rum (ra), the list went on and on. When I regressed in bringing their teaching to action, I found them dislodging me from my stuckness. They rendered my relapses short and infrequent. They had received God’s Love like no one else.

 

قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ

وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

 

Say, O Beloved, (peace be upon you), “If you love God, follow me and God will love you and forgive you your sins for God is Much-Forgiving, a Dispenser of Grace.” - Surah Aal e Imran, Verse 31

 

It was an incredible promise; …God will love you…

 

Did He not love me otherwise? Of course He did. One of His Names is Al-Wadood, The Loving One, my favourite of them. My heart was just veiled in darkness so nothing pure reached it.

 

Without a “healer,” as Maulana Rum (ra) calls them, there in once again reliance on the self. The self that even a Prophet declares in only willful of that which is wrong and that which is forbidden. The Prophet Yousuf (as):

 

وَمَا أُبَرِّئُ نَفْسِي ۚ إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ إِلَّا مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّي ۚ إِنَّ رَبِّي غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

 

And yet, I am not trying to absolve myself. For, indeed, the inner self does incite to evil, and saved are only they upon whom my Sustainer bestows His Mercy. Behold, my Sustainer is much forgiving, a Dispenser of Grace! – Surah Yusuf, Verse 53

 

For someone like me who seems to be a Luddite of the times, I began to realize that the problem was going to be less about Jinn or Iblis. My own likes and dislikes, my biases were so cemented, I was beyond rigid. Perhaps the time for new overtly forbidden sins was behind me but in the end it boiled down to my behaviour, my character, my sense of defining myself as a human being, “the best of Creation.” The most dangerous trap was set my own nafs.

 

أَفَرَأَيْتَ مَنِ اتَّخَذَ إِلَٰهَهُ هَوَاهُ وَأَضَلَّهُ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍ وَخَتَمَ عَلَىٰ سَمْعِهِ وَقَلْبِهِ

وَجَعَلَ عَلَىٰ بَصَرِهِ غِشَاوَةً فَمَن يَهْدِيهِ مِن بَعْدِ اللَّهِ ۚ أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ

 

Have you ever considered the one who makes his own desires his deity, and whom God has let go astray, knowing (that his mind is closed to all guidance), and whose hearing and heart He has sealed, and upon whose sight He has placed a veil? Who, then, could guide him after God (has abandoned him)? Will you not, then, reflect upon yourselves? – Surah Al-Jathiya, Verse 23

 

Could I become my own god?

 

In one of his lectures, the Sheikh made an interesting comparison of the lockdown we all experience to the Surah Yousaf. “Allah trains us in many ways and He points to the Surah Yousaf as the path of the seeker. First the Prophet is thrown in a well by his brothers. Then in the second phase of his life to save himself from that which the world wanted him to become, impure, he asked God to send him to prison where he remained for many years.”

 

“Today you are confined to your home. Use this time to contemplate and meditate. Use the apps that are for your benefit instead of being like where do I find this and that prayer, the zikr, the auraad? They are tools for you that are useful, they support you. Hear the talks that motivate you and take you away from the fear. Hear the heavenly channels that are broadcasting. Faith and fear don’t co-exist. Faith conquers fear. Focus on your love for Sayaadna Muhammad (saw).”

 

Then he came to the scary part ringing all kinds of bells in my head from my own past.

 

“Anger is the door in which Iblis will come to kill you. Your anger will be your death. It is the door that Shaitan is coming through. It’s the black spot on your heart. The worst fire of all the fires is anger. When it comes there’s no justification, it just brings disbelief. And when that happens Iblis over-rides the person. Through meditation focus on why you have it. With your wudu the fire goes down.”

 

The Sheikh was recounting the words of the Prophet (saw);

“Anger comes from the devil, the devil was created of fire, and fire is extinguished only with water; so when one of you becomes angry, they should perform ablution.”

 

On another occasion he told a man who asked him for advice;

 

أَنَّ رَجُلاً، قَالَ لِلنَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَوْصِنِي‏.‏ قَالَ ‏"‏ لاَ تَغْضَبْ ‏"‏‏.‏ فَرَدَّدَ مِرَارًا، قَالَ ‏"‏

لاَ تَغْضَبْ ‏"‏‏.

 

The Prophet ﷺ said, “Do not become angry.” The man asked (the same question) again and again, and each the Prophet ﷺ gave the same answer, “Do not become angry.”

 

Once Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (ratu) was sitting with Nabi Kareem (saw). A man in their midst started attacking Hazrat Abu Bakr (ratu), maligning him. He listened to him quietly and did not react. When the man went overboard, Hazrat Abu Bakr (ratu) gave him a sharp reply. Upon this the Prophet (saw) left.

Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (ratu) went after him.

 

“Ya Rasool Allah!” he said. “When the man was saying things against me you stayed and when I responded to his words, you left. Why?”

 

Nabi Kareem (saw) replied, “When you were silent and exercised patience and restraint, I saw an angel sitting next to you who was responding on your behalf. When you started replying the angel left and a shaitaan, (evil Jinn), came and I don’t sit in the company of shayateen.”

 

“Identify your sickness,” said Sheikh Nurjan, “Because when Shaitan comes he will ravage you and destroy everything about you. We have been thrown into the fire of Sayaadna Ibrahim (as). We are asking God to make the fire cool for us. Who do you think is bardan wa salaman, coolness and safety? Sayyadna Muhammad (saw)! The coolness of Sayyadna Muhammad (saw) came to save Sayyadna Ibrahim (as). His light encompasses his soul to be in a state of ecstasy even in the fire. How will we seek refuge? Sayyadna Muhammad (saw) is the master of that reality. If you were heedless before don’t be heedless now.”

 

From darkness into light or from light into darkness?

 

Everything was a choice. If machines were false deities or my nafs was a god, both were pushing me into an abyss.

 

اللَّهُ وَلِيُّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا يُخْرِجُهُم مِّنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ ۖ

وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَوْلِيَاؤُهُمُ الطَّاغُوتُ يُخْرِجُونَهُم مِّنَ النُّورِ إِلَى الظُّلُمَاتِ ۗ

 

Allah is the Protecting Guardian of those who believe. He brings them out of darkness into light. As for those who disbelieve, their patrons are false deities. They bring them out of light into darkness. Such are rightful owners of the Fire. They will abide therein – Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse 257

 

The rightful owners of fire! It was Iqbal who shed a brilliant insight to what the fire of Hell actually is. For unlike whatever people imagine in their heads and then easily dismiss as over the top, it is entirely different for it lies within one’s own self.

 

“Heaven and Hell are states, not localities. Their descriptions in the Qur’an are visual representations of an inner fact, i.e. character. Hell, in the words of the Qur’an, is ‘God’s kindled fire which mounts above the hearts’ - the painful realization of one’s failure as a person. Heaven is the joy of triumph over the forces of disintegration. There is no such thing as eternal damnation in Islam. The word ‘eternity’ used in certain verses, relating to Hell, is explained by the Qur’an itself to mean only a period of time (78:23). Time cannot be wholly irrelevant to the development of personality.

 

Character tends to become permanent; its reshaping must require time. Hell, therefore, as conceived by the Qur’an, is not a pit of everlasting torture inflicted by a revengeful God; it is a corrective experience, which may make a hardened ego once more sensitive to the living breeze of Divine Grace.

 

Nor is heaven a holiday. Life is one and continuous. Man marches always onward to receive ever fresh illuminations from an Infinite Reality in which every moment appears in a new glory. And the recipient of Divine Illumination is not merely a passive recipient. Every act of a free ego creates a new situation and thus offers further opportunities of creative unfolding.”

 

وَمَن جَاهَدَ فَإِنَّمَا يُجَاهِدُ لِنَفْسِهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَغَنِيٌّ عَنِ الْعَالَمِينَ

 

And whoever strives then only he strives for himself. Indeed, Allah (is) Free from need of the worlds – Surah Al-Ankabut, Verse 6

 

The coming of the Beloved of God (saw) is most beautifully marked in the Quran as the coming of truth. It’s destiny is only one; to prevail.

 

وَقُلْ جَاءَ الْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الْبَاطِلُ ۚ إِنَّ الْبَاطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا

 

And say, "The truth has come and perished the falsehood. Indeed, the falsehood is (bound) to perish." – Surah Al-Isra’, Verse 17

 

Sheikh Nurjan: “The false cannot obliterate the truth but are we on the truth? The best power, the most powerful presence is the presence of Sayyadna Muhammad (saw). The focus is to bring his light on your soul. The Darood shareef, the salawat. As soon as this Haqq enters your heart, your soul, your energies this is what is frightening for devils.”

 

When Iblis vowed to making all things worldly that are in fact harmful appear beautiful and get us hooked on them he himself made an exception himself of those who he would not be able to deceive.

 

قَالَ رَبِّ بِمَا أَغْوَيْتَنِي لَأُزَيِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَأُغْوِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ

إِلَّا عِبَادَكَ مِنْهُمُ الْمُخْلَصِينَ

 

Iblis said: "O my Sustainer! Since You have mislead me, I shall indeed make (all that is evil) on Earth seem goodly to them and shall most certainly beguile them-into grievous error.

Except, Your slaves among them the ones who are sincere – Surah Al-Hijr, Verse 39-40

 

Those Mukhliseen are the ones God says are the ones on the Straight Path, the Sirat e Mustaqeem. In an extraordinary lecture by Uzair, I had learnt that there are only three beings in the Universe on the Straight Path, ala Sirat e Mustaqeem. Everyone else, be they Prophets, the Auliya Karaam or ordinary individuals ask to be lead to it, ila Sirat e Mustaqeem.

 

The first is God;

 

إِنَّ رَبِّي عَلَىٰ صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيم

 

Indeed, my Lord (is) on a path straight - Surah Hud, Verse 56

 

The second is Rasool Allah (peace be upon him):

 

فَاسْتَمْسِكْ بِالَّذِي أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكَ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ

 

So hold fast to that which is revealed to you (O Beloved (peace be upon you)). Indeed, you (are) on a Straight Path - Surah Az-Zukhruf, Verse 43

 

The third, Iblis.

 

قَالَ فَبِمَا أَغْوَيْتَنِي لَأَقْعُدَنَّ لَهُمْ صِرَاطَكَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ

 

Whereupon Iblis said, "Now that You have thwarted me, I shall most certainly lie in ambush for them all along Your Sirat e Mustaqeem (the Straight Way).” - Surah Al-A’raf, Verse 16

 

It made sense. The Sheikh was saying was that the fastest way to repel Iblis’ efforts was reciting the Darood. “As soon as this Haqq (Truth) enters your heart, your soul, your energies its frightening for devils.”

 

I guess that must be because reciting the prayer of the Darood is not an ordinary thing. It is a Sunnah of Allah, a prayer recited by God;

 

(Begin excerpt “The Softest Heart”)

 

إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ۚ

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا

 

Indeed Allah sends prayers on the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the angels send prayers on him as well. So O ye who believed, send prayers on the Prophet (peace be upon him) and give yourselves up to his guidance in utter self-surrender.” - Surah Al-Ahzaab, Verse 56

 

Uzair once asked me, “Without getting into the double emphasis of the order to “surrender” to his guidance (sallimu tasleeman), let me ask you this. When we do send prayers and blessings upon His Blessed Messenger’s (peace be upon him) being, what exactly do we say?”

 

I started reciting the prayer to send blessings upon the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his Blessed Family, the Darood Shareef. For in all of its variations, the beginning is the same. He stopped me at the first word:

 

Allahuma!

 

Dear God!

 

“Do you see?” he said smiling, “When we want to send blessings upon the being of His Beloved (saw), in fact in our utterance, we are asking God, in turn, to send the blessing even though He tells us to. Our own tongues are not deemed worthy by Him to send the prayers upon His Beloved (saw) directly. God wants only God to do it! To praise someone you need to realize the merits of the one being praised. We are not capable of comprehending Rasool Allah’s (saw) merits, hence the utterance of the Darood belongs only to God Himself.”

 

The prayer sent upon the Prophet (saw) is unlike the five sala’t which are obligatory for the Muslims. This is an act of love for the would-be Believers. It is not limited to any particular time of the day. Or night. For Himself and the angels, Allah uses the present tense in the Quran: a state of constant continuation in terms of its happening. Never ending! In the same vein, following the instruction becomes a following of Allah Ash-Shaheed, The All Witnessing One’s Sunnah, for it is His Act. How many acts in my life were going to hold such a direct sharing with my God? The thought itself had a dizzying effect.

 

(End excerpt The Softest Heart)

 

In another lecture, Uzair made a different point of the verse, stellar again of course.

 

“(In the verse) why is Allah using the word “an-Nabi”? He could say Muhammad or Abdullah or Ar-Rasool. Why not one of those?”

 

إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ۚ

 

Indeed Allah and His Angels send prayers on the Prophet (peace be upon him).

 

“Because,” he said smiling in anticipation of the reaction of the listeners, “Muhammad is his birth name. That would mean Allah is sending the prayers upon him since he was born. And Abdullah is the name he was bestowed on the Night of Ascension. Meaning it would have started then. If He had said Ar-Rasool then it would mean He began sending prayers upon him when he was 40 and announced his prophethood.

 

But He is saying “An-Nabi” and the Prophet (saw) said ‘I was a Nabi (Prophet) when Adam was between clay and water.’ So even when there was nothing, there was Allah’s Darood upon His Beloved (saw). There was no Adam, no earth, no heaven, no hell, no time, no space, no Jinn and no Man.”

 

The Sheikh had said the prayer dispelled demons. I believe it takes care of everything else as well. Whether read out of fear of something or the need of something or purely love, I believe the words take care of everything. No wonder we are asked to recite the Darood in every raka’t of every prayer all day long. It’s a gift of kindness for even the one who doesn’t appreciate it.

 

According to Ghaus Pak (ra), the second prayer that Allah sends upon His Beloved (saw) is the salam, also an utterance in the namaz. Tradition states that it was how the Prophet (saw) was greeted by God on the Night of Ascension.

 

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكَ أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

 

(As-Salam o alayka ayyoha nabiyyo wa rahmatullah e wa barakata hu)

 

Upon this greeting, God Almighty said to His Prophet (saw), “Peace, the Mercy of Allah and His Blessings be on you, O Prophet!”

 

The effect of the words was intense. It certainly changed my prayer which for many years I performed so quickly it was as if I had a gun to my head. As I learnt the context for each word and each word was so carefully placed, it blew my mind and my pace slowed. The Quran is a book of intense imagery and I was told (by Uzair) to ignite imagery in my head when I said the Darood at least if nothing else. Mine was of a Universe swimming in light!

 

But there was something else. A blessing unlike any other was received each time this second prayer of God was recited. The salam was returned!

 

‏‏‏‏‏‏ ‏‏‏‏‏‏أَنّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏قَالَ:‏‏‏‏

مَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ يُسَلِّمُ عَلَيَّ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏إِلَّا رَدَّ اللَّهُ عَلَيَّ رُوحِي حَتَّى أَرُدَّ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامَ

 

The Prophet of Allah (saw) said, “No one sends salam upon me without that Allah has returned my soul to me, so that I can return his salam.”

 

Subhan Allah!

 

In writing this piece, I asked Qari Sahib to explain the picking process on Iblis’ end. Who does he target and why?

 

“Let’s ask God,” he said.

 

هَلْ أُنَبِّئُكُمْ عَلَىٰ مَن تَنَزَّلُ الشَّيَاطِينُ

تَنَزَّلُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ أَفَّاكٍ أَثِيمٍ

يُلْقُونَ السَّمْعَ وَأَكْثَرُهُمْ كَاذِبُونَ

 

Shall I inform you upon whom descend the devils?

They descend upon the slanderer and the sinner.

They pass on (what is) heard, and most of them (are) liars - – Surah Ash-Shu’ra, Verse 221-223

 

Again my mind went to the control of information. What went up and what was taken down. Those who controlled what we read and what we saw and therefore what we thought. Even the billionaires in Pakistan bought a tv channel and a newspaper as soon as they hit it big.

 

For the human being caught in this web the key lay in creating a balance. Or perhaps returning to the balance we were created in originally that made us worthy of “preference” over all else.

 

Uzair explained in one of his lectures that according to wisdom, there are five main motivators of actions for a human being: need, desire, lust, emotion and finally, the soul. They lie in a pyramid-like structure and the layering begins with need forming the base of the pyramid. Then comes desire which dominates need. Then is lust which over-rides desire. Fourth is emotion which prevails over the other three: lust, desire and need. Atop all of them is the soul. If one gains access to it, and it’s a big if, the soul over-rides everything else. That is nirvana!

 

All humans experienced all four states of need, desire, lust and emotion while alive. Suppressing them entirely was not possible. On top of that I read that ending a desire was itself a desire, hence desire could never be gotten rid of entirely by one’s own self! What was needed was for the four variables to be in a state of balance, to exist within limits, a hadd.

 

I was reminded again of the verses in the Quran endlessly pointing to the ones who only indulge every whim and emotion and remain stuck in a perpetual state of darkness. The punishment was severe: obedience of indulgence rendered one undeserving of aid from where it was essential, God.

 

وَكَذَٰلِكَ أَنزَلْنَاهُ حُكْمًا عَرَبِيًّا ۚ

وَلَئِنِ اتَّبَعْتَ أَهْوَاءَهُم بَعْدَمَا جَاءَكَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ مَا لَكَ مِنَ اللَّهِ مِن وَلِيٍّ وَلَا وَاقٍ

 

Thus have We revealed it, a decisive utterance in Arabic, and if you should follow their desires after that which has come unto you of knowledge, then truly would you have from Allah no protecting friend nor defender - Surah Ar-Ra’d, Verse 37

 

Hence was made clear that the one who made their likes and dislikes their master, their gods, became incapable of receiving guidance.

 

فَإِن لَّمْ يَسْتَجِيبُوا لَكَ فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّمَا يَتَّبِعُونَ أَهْوَاءَهُمْ

 

If they do not respond to you, O Beloved (peace be upon you), then know that they follow only their own desires – Surah Al-Qassas, Verse 50

 

For anyone who was on a path of spirituality, the dominance of the soul over the rest was the ultimate goal. Listening to the soul, doing what it says, what it wants, that was the way to live in order to be close to Allah Al-Haqq, The One who is the Truth. For the soul was in a permanent state of attachment to Him.

 

I thought about what would become the reason to abandon one’s own will for God’s? Over the years I had discovered that it would be the awareness, the ability, to be informed about the source of one’s own wellbeing. The only sustainable cause to give up that which was a source of pleasure once, despite being harmful, despite being forbidden, was to differentiate between one’s state of peace and calm versus one of anxiety and distress as result of it. Only when the source of the restlessness was known could it be abandoned.

 

إِيَّاكُمْ وَحَزَّازَ الْقُلُوبِ وَمَا حَزَّ فِي قَلْبِكِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ فَدَعْهُ

 

The Prophet (saw) said, “Beware of what disturbs the hearts. If something unsettles your heart, then abandon it.”

 

A friend of mine asked me if I don’t own a tv and I don’t use a smart phone, if connect to the internet via my laptop twice a day with its camera covered with a piece of paper, why I write a 50 page piece on Jinn. I thought about it. It started out as curiosity of something unknown to me but then it became more about the future. A future that I will not be in and therefore endure but my niece, Sameena, who is only 9 will. I leave it for her like a love letter, an atypical one but still, its inspiration lies in heeding her and perhaps someone else as I have been heeded.

 

Ghaus Pak (ra) says the goal of the blessed human being is singular; awaiting a meeting with their Creator. Not going to Heaven and escaping Hell which is fear and need driven but to be worthy of meeting Allah zul Jalal e wal Ikram out of love.

 

يَا أَيُّهَا الْإِنسَانُ إِنَّكَ كَادِحٌ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ كَدْحًا فَمُلَاقِيهِ

 

O Mankind! Indeed, you are laboring to your Lord with exertion and you will meet Him – Surah Al-Inshiqaq, Verse 6

 

The call is to every human being, insaan! He says it is a warning as well as meant to be an awakening. “You, who is formed in the manner of Allah, are the one chosen from all Creation to be His Vicegerent. You are the one who will be granted recognition of your Lord. So know yourself, your stature and don’t be forgetful of God’s Reality.”

 

“The one who strives for nearness of Allah, the striving ends in the dissolution of your self in His Essence. You are the one who will meet Him as a function of your striving. It is obligated upon you to not separate yourself from that which is the cause of your connection to Him. The longing will come to you from God, the ability will come through Him, and render you of the honoured.”

 

In the absence of that connection darkness prevails.

 

أَوْ كَظُلُمَاتٍ فِي بَحْرٍ لُّجِّيٍّ يَغْشَاهُ مَوْجٌ مِّن فَوْقِهِ مَوْجٌ مِّن فَوْقِهِ سَحَابٌ ۚ

ظُلُمَاتٌ بَعْضُهَا فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ إِذَا أَخْرَجَ يَدَهُ لَمْ يَكَدْ يَرَاهَا ۗ

وَمَن لَّمْ يَجْعَلِ اللَّهُ لَهُ نُورًا فَمَا لَهُ مِن نُّورٍ

 

Or like the depths of darkness upon an abysmal sea, made yet more dark by wave billowing over wave, with clouds above it all, depths of darkness, layer upon layer, (so that) when one holds up his hand, he can hardly see it.

For he to whom God gives no light, no light whatever has he! – Surah An-Nur, Verse 40

 

Tafseer e Jilani: The depths of darkness is a drowning in forgetfulness of God. The waves upon it come from turning away from God in rebellion and self-deceit. The clouds are veils from refuting God’s existence. The blindness is to the signs of the One-ness of God, deliberate ignoring of His Attributes and refusal to see His astonishing Creation, new and ever changing. The problem lies in a deep fixation on one’s worldly self in vanity and conceit. There is no room left for anything else. Therefore there is no possibility of receiving His Light.

 

According to Ghaus Pak (ra) the real tragedy and source of deepening torment for the human being was a state of self-imposed deprivation.

 

وَذَٰلِكُمْ ظَنُّكُمُ الَّذِي ظَنَنتُم بِرَبِّكُمْ أَرْدَاكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم مِّنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ

 

And that (was) your assumption which you assumed about your Lord. It has ruined you, and you have become of the lost – Surah Al-Fussilat, Verse 23

 

A state of mahroomi, a state of loss, vis-à-vis God. Not being able to see His Signs in the world and not being able to see Him in the Afterlife. That was the real azaab, the punishment that wreaked havoc in this world and that would last an eternity on the Last of Days. The real darkness was selfishness and adherence to the ego that rendered one unable to alter.

 

In this world, my actions had deprived me of the company of some that I would have liked to have had in my life. Sometimes I prayed for love and then received it within days, only to kick it hard in the face also within days for no reason other than rage and restlessness. I was out of control and I learnt that people aren’t as kind as God. Not as forgiving. Most have a one strike rule. God was different. He gives chance after chance for a return to Him.

 

قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ ۚ

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ۚ

إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

 

Say, O Beloved (saw), "O those who have transgressed against themselves! Do not despair of the Mercy (of) Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives the sins all. Indeed He, He (is) the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful – Surah Az-Zumar, Verse 53

And Allah says that knowing of course that many will not return except for on that Day of Regret when nothing but remorse will drown them.

 

وَيَوْمَ يَعَضُّ الظَّالِمُ عَلَىٰ يَدَيْهِ يَقُولُ يَا لَيْتَنِي اتَّخَذْتُ مَعَ الرَّسُولِ سَبِيلًا

 

And a Day on which the wrongdoer will bite his hands (in despair), exclaiming: “Oh, would that I had followed the path shown to me by the Apostle! – Surah Az-Zumar, Verse 27

 

Sometime I think my favourite word in the Quran is “Qul” (Say). Throughout the Book the word starts a verse. It is a bestowing of honour and the clear indication that the Book was revealed upon one heart. I only see in it an intense expression of love. Even when it came to informing us about even His Own Self, Allah says to the Prophet (saw), “You say, you tell them, O Beloved (saw), because I allowed only you to know Me as no other, tell them that I am One. You tell them what I am and what I am not.”

 

قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ - اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ

لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ - وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ

 

Say (O Prophet (saw)), "He is Allah, the One (God). Allah, the Eternal, the Absolute. He begets not and neither is He begotten. And there is nothing that can be compared to Him. – Surah Ikhlas, Verses 1-3

 

In a lecture Uzair magnificently highlights the mission and universality of Nabi Kareem’s (saw) distinguished being through just two verses of Surah Juma’.

 

هُوَ الَّذِي بَعَثَ فِي الْأُمِّيِّينَ رَسُولًا مِّنْهُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ

وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَإِن كَانُوا مِن قَبْلُ لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ

 

He it is who has sent unto the unlettered people an apostle from among themselves, to convey unto them His Messages, and to cause them to grow in purity, and to impart unto them the divine writ as well as wisdom - whereas before that they were indeed, most obviously, lost in error – Surah Juma’, Verse 2

 

وَآخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ لَمَّا يَلْحَقُوا بِهِمْ ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ

 

And others among them who have not yet joined them and He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise – Surah Juma’, Verse 3

 

For all peoples of all of the Universes, this Prophet (saw) brings the conveyance of a message. He is the purifier for everyone. He imparts wisdom to all. He discloses the secrets veiled in the Quran. He is marked as a warner for everyone (from everyone and everything that will be harmful) for all times, his era and all the ones to follow till the end of the world. He is the bringer of good news to all of humanity. He releases all to be released of shackles (of society) and burdens (of other people). He knows all societies and the means of enslaving people.

 

He is the light!

 

Tafseer e Tustari; “He (God) made the gushing forth of the wellsprings of the heart of Muhammad (saw) with the lights of knowledge of different kinds, a sign of Mercy for his nation because God, Exalted is He, honoured him with this honour. For the light of the Prophets is from his (Muhammad’s (saw)) light, the light of heavenly dominions is from his light, and the light of the world and the Hereafter is from his light.”

 

Subhan Allah!

 

يَأْمُرُهُم بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَاهُمْ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَيُحِلُّ لَهُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْخَبَائِثَ

وَيَضَعُ عَنْهُمْ إِصْرَهُمْ وَالْأَغْلَالَ الَّتِي كَانَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ ف

الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِهِ وَعَزَّرُوهُ وَنَصَرُوهُ وَاتَّبَعُوا النُّورَ الَّذِي أُنزِلَ مَعَهُ ۙ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ

 

Who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the Successful - Surah Al-A’raaf, Verse 157

 

Then came the revelation from Uzair; “When he ‘who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil,’ it isn’t random. It is in line with the intrinsic fitrat, nature, of all people.” As in each and every individual.

 

وَآخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ

 

Including those who have not been born yet!

 

If he has to guide all of Mankind, then he also is given the knowledge of all people’s natures before him and after him to provide that guidance. What he forbids only contradicts the welfare of the body and makes it diseased. What he prohibits is what corrupts the soul causing it anxiety, anger and despair.”

 

Tradition states that the following revelation came to certain Prophets from God; O Children of Adam! Where is your gratitude for that which I bestowed you? If there is no gratitude then how will there be acceptance and contentment of that which has been destined for you? If you will not surrender and be content, how will you practice patience when troubles befall you? Without patience how will you deny your nafs, your eg0? And if there is no negation of the ego, how will you be able to become one of the faithful?

 

I was struck by how the process began. Gratitude. The first line of the Quran in the first Surah, Fateha, was just that; the expression of gratitude.

 

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

 

Alhamdolillah e Rab il Alameen!

 

All praise is due to God alone, the Sustainer of all the worlds – Surah Fateha, Verse 1

 

A secret became unveiled in more ways than one for in the Quran the order of the verses is also their significance before God. It’s the perfect expression of His Munificence that God starts His Book with gratitude for it is the only source of peace of mind for a human being. The only one!

 

It is also the only thing Iblis is interested in not making humans practice. For on the day he rebelled, throwing down his gauntlet, his parting words to his Creator were;

 

وَلَا تَجِدُ أَكْثَرَهُمْ شَاكِرِينَ

 

“And You will not find most of them grateful” - Surah Al-A’raf, Verse 17

 

Not, “I will not let them worship you, pray to you, fast for you, perform Umra/Haj for you. Nothing to do with ritual, nothing to do with worship. He doesn’t care about either. Most people miss the fact that Iblis never had a problem with God, in believing in Him. What he did wrong was refuse to accept the one Allah chose to be his His Khalifa on Earth. He denied His Appointees, us. Many don’t realize that when they downplay the significance of Allah’s favoured, especially His Beloved (saw) they follow him inadvertently.

 

But gratitude requisites a unique expression before God. For one, it isn’t about words, thank you for this and that, as Uzair taught me. It was about deed. Allah wants gratitude towards him expressed through an act of kindness for another being. Ghaus Pak (ra) defines it as sharing the blessings which God has bestowed upon one. That act of goodness for another was what counted as the expression of my gratefulness before Him. But even that was only half of it. The other part was even more significant.

 

The gratitude is expressed for taufeeq to do the act, for ability, which is only and only granted by God. There is no “I.” There can be no “me.” Therefore there is no, “Look, I’m so good,” either. I once went through the typical chain of my thoughts behind a benevolent act; if I would look at a needy person, then I would think about whether I would like to give them anything or not, do something for them or not. Then I would likely decide to help them, thus giving them some money or emotional assistance. Then I would think that I did a good thing and feel happy about it for exactly how long that thought

was. I counted the “I”s. In that one act, there were five.

 

Every act of goodness that I was committing was so overly filled with pride it was killing any joy, which is defined by the Greeks as peacefulness, I could receive. My self-glorification was decimating it entirely. Frequency of acts of kindness was not the issue. I learnt through practice that my raising those numbers was pointless. The problem was being supremely conscious of my own self-importance connected to the act and entirely missing The One who made it possible for me to even be generous by giving me wealth yes, which I certainly did absolutely nothing to deserve, but infinitely more important than that, endowing me with the ability to do the right thing, God!

 

I once asked Qari Sahib what is worse, shirk, making another a partner with Allah in one’s worship or being a worshipper of one’s own ego, the nafs. He pointed me to a hadith that surprised me.

 

ما أبغض اله أبغض على الله من الهوى

 

Allah dislikes even more than someone worshipping another than Him is the one who worships his own bias and vain desires.

 

He told me why as well.

 

Tafseer e Jilani. “When Allah says ‘Aqtalu anfosakum – kill yourselves,’ it is meant in the context of your nafs. It was his own prejudice that made Pharoah declare himself as a god not someone else, that made the people of Bani Israel worship the calf. It was his own ego that made Iblis refuse Allah’s Command and become proud.”

 

Bulleh Shah says it most beautifully in verse. Till the “I” dies is there even a beginning?

 

(Recitation by Imran Jafri @the.softest.heart)

 

مکے گیاں گل مکدی ناہیں پاویں سو سو جمعے پڑہائیے

گنگا گیاں گل مکدی ناہیں پاویں سو سو غوطے کھائیے

بلھے شاہ گل تائیوں مکدی جے "میں" نوں منوں مکائیے

 

Visiting Mecca will not give you the final answer,

even if we offer hundreds of Friday prayers.

 

Visiting the Ganges is no culmination,

even if we take hundreds of dives.

 

Bulleh Shah! You will only unveil The Secret,

if, from your heart, you erase the “I.”

 

(End of Part II in link below)

 

www.flickr.com/photos/42093313@N00/49918994051/in/datepos...

 

www.youtube.com/channel/UCqb01bB-J3kyiu-HKIX2MKw

"The Wīlāyāt of ‘Alī has been written in all of the books of the Prophets and Allah did not appoint a single Messenger except with a (pledge to the) Prophethood of Muhammad and the successorship of ‘Alī."

 

Imām Alī ibn Mūsā al-Rezā (a.s.)

Safīnātul Bīhār v. 2, p. 691

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  

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Anti-Shi'ism is the prejudice against or hatred of Shia Muslims based on their religion and heritage. The term was first defined by Shia Rights Watch in 2011, but has been used in formal research and scholarly articles for decades.[1][2]

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The dispute over the right successor to Muhammad resulted in the formation of two main sects, the Sunni, and the Shia. The Sunni, or followers of the way, followed the caliphate and maintained the premise that any devout Muslim could potentially become the successor to the Prophet if accepted by his peers. The Shia however, maintain that only the person selected by God and announced by the Prophet could become his successor, thus Imam Ali became the religious authority for the Shia people. Militarily established and holding control over the Umayyad (pronounced and spelled more like "Umayya" in Arabic) government, many Sunni rulers perceived the Shia as a threat – both to their political and religious authority.[3]

The Sunni rulers under the Umayyads sought to marginalize the Shia minority and later the Abbasids turned on their Shia allies and further imprisoned, persecuted, and killed Shias. The persecution of Shias throughout history by Sunni co-coreligionists has often been characterized by brutal and genocidal acts. Comprising only around 10-15% of the entire Muslim population, to this day, the Shia remain a marginalized community in many Sunni Arab dominant countries without the rights to practice their religion and organize.[4]

 

Umayyads[edit]

The grandson of Muhammad, Imam Hussein, refused to give in to Yazid's rule. Soon after in 680 C.E., Yazid sent thousands of Umayyad troops to lay siege to Hussein’s caravan.During the Battle of Karbala, after holding off the Umayyad troops for six grueling days, Hussein and his seventy-two companions were massacred, beheaded, and their heads were sent back to the caliph in Damascus. While Imam Hussein’s martydom ended the prospect of a direct challenge to the Umayyad caliphate, it also made it easier for Shiism to gain ground as a form of moral resistance to the Umayyads and their demands.[5]

"Under the peaceful conditions of life at Alexandria, the Greek philosophers certainty could continue their work. The political ferment in the eastern regions, however, was something else. Muawiyah had appointed al-Mughirah ibn-Shuvah as governor of al-Basrah, and when Mughirah died,Yazid became ruler of Arabia, Iraq, and Persia, ruling through a secret service of 4,000 men. The main purpose of these 4,000 was to unmask the Shiites, and bring them to justice, which in this case meant death. So while peace seems to reign in Damascus, the western half of the empire was soon bathed in blood."[6]

Abbasids (750-1258)[edit]

The Abbasid caliphs who ruled from Baghdad imprisoned and killed Shia Imams and encouraged Sunni ulama to define Sunni power and contain the appeal of Shiism. The last decades of the tenth century witnessed anti-Shia campaigns in and around Baghdad. Shias were attacked in their mosques and during the day of Ashura processions often being killed or burned alive. In 971 C.E., when Byzantine forces attacked the Abbasid empire, the first response of the caliph’s forces and angry Sunnis was to blame the Shia. Shia homes in Al-Karkh (Modern-day Iraq) were torched. This pattern of behavior became repetitive and was repeated throughout the centuries to present day. The Shia bore the forefront of popular frustrations with the failures of the Sunni rulers. They were usually treated as the enemy within and were the first to come under suspicion if there was a threat to the Sunni establishment. By the middle of the eleventh-century, it became custom for Sunni mobs to loot the Shia town of al-Khakh every Saturday. These anti-Shia attitudes were further propagated by Sunni jurists of the Hanbali school of thought. Hanbalis labeled Shias as rejectors of the truth.[7]

Siege of Baghdad[edit]

After the Mongol sack of Baghdad in 1258, prejudice against Shias became more frequent, reminiscent of blaming Shias for every problem.[8]

Persecution under Seljuk/Ottoman Empire[edit]

Main article: Ottoman persecution of Alevis

In response to the growth of Shiism and the growing influence of the Safavids, the Ottoman Empire put Shias to the sword in Anatolia. Thousands of Shias were massacred in the Ottoman Empire, including the Alevis in Turkey, the Alawis in Syria and the Shi'a of Lebanon.[9]

India[edit]

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Shias in India faced persecution by some Sunni rulers and Mughal Emperors, resulting in the martyrdom of Indian Shia scholars like Qazi Nurullah Shustari (also known as Shaheed-e-Thaalis, the third Martyr) and Mirza Muhammad Kamil Dehlavi (also known as Shaheed-e- Rabay, the fourth Martyr) who are two of the five martyrs of Shia Islam. Shias also faced persecution in India in Kashmir for centuries, by the Sunni invaders of the region which resulted in massacre of many Shias and as a result most of them had to flee the region.[10]

Shias in Kashmir in subsequent years had to pass through the most atrocious period of their history. Plunder, loot and massacres which came to be known as ‘Taarajs’ virtually devastated the community. History records 10 such Taarajs also known as ‘Taraj-e-Shia’ between 15th to 19th century in 1548, 1585, 1635, 1686, 1719, 1741, 1762, 1801, 1830, 1872 during which the Shia habitations were plundered, people slaughtered, libraries burnt and their sacred sites desecrated. Such was the reign of terror during this period that the community widely went into the practice of Taqya in order to preserve their lives and the honor of their womenfolk.[11]

Village after village disappeared, with community members either migrating to safety further north or dissolving in the majority faith. The persecution suffered by Shias in Kashmir during the successive foreign rules was not new for the community. Many of the standard bearers of Shia’ism, like Sa’adaat or the descendants of the Prophet Mohammad and other missionaries who played a key role in spread of the faith in Kashmir, had left their home lands forced by similar situations.

China[edit]

Most foreign slaves in Xinjiang were Shia Ismaili Mountain Tajiks of China. They were referred to by Sunni Turkic Muslims as Ghalcha, and subjected to enslavement because they were different from the Sunni Turkic inhabitants.[12] Shia Muslims were sold as slaves in Khotan. The Muslims of Xinjiang traded Shias as slaves.[13]

 

Modern Times

 

Egypt[edit]

Shia are 2% of the population. The rise of Salafi belief has increased hostilities towards Shia, Sufi and Coptic minorities. Four Shia Muslims were killed in the village of Zawyat Abu Musalam "after hardline preaches goaded townspeople into a mob attack."[14]

Malaysia[edit]

Malaysia bans Shias from promoting their faith.[15] 16 Shias were arrested on the 24th of September 2013, for "spreading" their faith.[16]

Bahrain[edit]

Further information: Human rights in Bahrain

Over two thirds of the citizen population of Bahrain are Shia Muslims. The ruling Al Khalifa family, who are Sunni Muslim, arrived in Bahrain from Qatar at the end of the eighteenth century. Shiites alleged that the Al Khalifa failed to gain legitimacy in Bahrain and established a system of "political apartheid based on racial, sectarian, and tribal discrimination."[17] Vali Nasr, a leading Iranian expert on Middle East and Islamic world said "For Shi'ites, Sunni rule has been like living under apartheid".[18]

2011 uprising[edit]

An estimated 1000 Bahrainis have been detained since the 2011 uprising and Bahraini and international human rights groups have documented hundreds of cases of torture and abuse of Shia detainees.[19] According to csmonitor.org, the government has gone beyond the crushing of political dissent to what "appears" to be an attempt to "psychologically humiliating the island’s Shiite majority into silent submission."[19]

Apartheid[edit]

Discrimination against Shia Muslims in Bahrain is severe and systematic enough for a number of sources (Time magazine,[20] Vali Nasr, Yitzhak Nakash, Counterpunch,[21] Bahrain Centre for Human Rights,[22] etc.) to have used the term “apartheid” in describing it.

Ameen Izzadeen writing in the Daily Mirror asserts that

after the dismantling of the apartheid regime in South Africa, Bahrain remained the only country where a minority dictated terms to a majority. More than 70 percent of the Bahrainis are Shiite Muslims, but they have little or no say in the government.[23]

 

The Christian Science Monitor describes Bahrain as practicing

a form of sectarian apartheid by not allowing Shiites to hold key government posts or serve in the police or military. In fact, the security forces are staffed by Sunnis from Syria, Pakistan, and Baluchistan who also get fast-tracked to Bahraini citizenship, much to the displeasure of the indigenous Shiite population.[24]

 

Indonesia[edit]

On December 29, 2011 in Nangkrenang, Sampang, Madura Island a Shia Islamic boarding school, a school adviser house and a school's principal house have been burned by local villagers and people from outside. Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world which is dominated by Sunni. A day after the persecution, a Jakarta Sunni preacher said:"It was their own fault. They have established a pesantren (Islamic school) in a Sunni area. Besides, being a Shiite is a big mistake. The true teaching is Sunni and God will only accept Sunni Muslims. If the shiites want to live in peace, they have to repent and convert."[25][26] Amnesty International had recorded many cases of intimidation and violence against religious minorities in Indonesia by Radical Islamic groups and urged the Indonesian government to provide protection for hundred of Shiites who have been forced to return to their village in East Java.[27]

Pakistan[edit]

See also: Sectarian violence in Pakistan

Pakistan has been seeing a surge in violence against Shia Muslims in the country in recent years. The violence has claimed lives of thousands of men, women and children. Shia make up at least 20% of the total population in Pakistan and come from different ethnic backgrounds. Doctors, businessmen and other professionals have been targeted in Karachi by Sunni Muslim militants on a regular basis. Hazara people in Quetta, have lost nearly 800 community members. Most of them have fallen victim to terrorist attacks by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan which is a Sunni Muslim militant organization affiliated with Al-Qaeda and Taliban. In the northern areas of Pakistan, such as Parachinar and Gilgit-Baltistan, Muslim mitants have continuously been attacking and killing Shiites. In the most recent incident on August 16, 2012, some 25 Shia passengers were pulled out of four buses on Babusar road, when they were going home to celebrate Eid with their families. They were summarily executed by Al-Qaeda affiliated Sunni Muslim militants. On the same day, three Hazara community members were shot dead in Pakistan's southwestern town of Quetta. It is genocide, massacre of shias in Pakistan in a systematic way. Sunni extremists, aligned with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, are killing Shias by the hundreds in Pakistan. Now It is continue in other parts of country widely in especially in Karachi, Lahore, Bhakkar etc.

Saudi Arabia[edit]

See also: 2011–2012 Saudi Arabian protests

In modern day Saudi Arabia, the Salafi rulers limit Shia political participation to a game of notables. These notables benefit from their ties to power and in turn, are expected to control their community.[28] Saudi Shias comprise roughly 15% of the 28 million Saudis (estimate 2012).[29][30] Although some live in Medina (known as the Nakhawila), Mecca, and even Riyadh, the majority are concentrated in the oases of al-Hasa and Qatif in the oil-rich areas of the Eastern Province. For years, they have faced religious and economic discrimination. They have usually been denounced as heretics, traitors, and non-Muslims. Shias were accused of sabotage, most notably for bombing oil pipelines in 1988. A number of Shias were even executed. In response to Iran’s militancy, the Saudi government collectively punished the Shia community in Saudi Arabia by placing restrictions on their freedoms and marginalizing them economically. Wahabi ulama were given the green light to sanction violence against the Shia. What followed were fatwas passed by the country’s leading cleric, Abdul-Aziz ibn Baz which denounced the Shias as apostates. Another by Adul-Rahman al-Jibrin, a member of the Higher Council of Ulama even sanctioned the killing of Shias. This call was reiterated in Wahabi religious literature as late as 2002.[30]

Unlike Iraq and Lebanon which have a sizable number of wealthy Shia, Saudi Arabia has nothing resembling Shia elite of any kind. There have been no Shia cabinet ministers. They are kept out of critical jobs in the armed forces and the security services. There are no Shia mayors or police chiefs, and not one of the three hundred Shia girls’ schools in the Eastern Province has a Shia principal.[30]

The government has restricted the names that Shias can use for their children in an attempt to discourage them from showing their identity. Saudi textbooks, criticized for their anti-Semitism, are equally hostile to Shiism often characterizing the faith as a form of heresy worse than Christianity and Judaism. Wahabi teachers frequently tell classrooms full of young Shia schoolchildren that they are heretics.[31]

In the town of Dammam, a quarter of whose residents are Shia Ashura is banned, and there is no distinctly Shia call to prayer. There is no Shia cemetery for the nearly quarter of the 600,000 Shias that live there. There is only one mosque for the town’s 150,000 Shias. The Saudi government has often been viewed as an active oppressor of Shias because of the funding of the Wahabi ideology which denounces the Shia faith.[32]

In March 2011, police opened fire on protesters in Qatif, and after Shia unrest in October 2011 the Saudi government promised to crushed any further trouble in the eastern province with "an iron fist."[33]

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are spearheading an anti-Shia campaign that threatens to inflame the whole Islamic world in the Middle East and beyond. According to the Independent, "Satellite television, internet, YouTube and Twitter content, frequently emanating from or financed by oil states in the Arabian peninsula, are at the centre of a campaign to spread sectarian hatred to every corner of the Muslim world, including places where Shia are a vulnerable minority, such as Libya, Tunisia, Egypt and Malaysia."[34]

Apartheid[edit]

Saudi Arabia is often accused of practicing apartheid against its Shia citizens.[35] Mohammad Taqi writes that

The Saudi regime is also acutely aware that, in the final analysis, the Shiite grievances are not merely doctrinal issues but stem from socioeconomic deprivation, as a result of religious repression and political marginalization bordering on apartheid.[36]

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Shia_Muslims

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Eid al-Adha (Arabic: عيد الأضحى‎ ‘Īdu l-’Aḍḥā) or "Eid-u'z-Zuha" "Festival of Sacrifice" or "Greater Eid" is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his son Ishmael (Isma'il) as an act of obedience to God, before God intervened to provide him with a ram to sacrifice instead.[1] The meat is divided into three equal parts to be distributed to others. The family retains one third of the share, another third is given to relatives, friends and neighbors, and the other third is given to the poor & needy.

 

Eid al-Adha is the latter of two Eid festivals celebrated by Muslims, whose basis comes from Sura 2 (Al-Baqara) ayah 196 in the Qur'an.[2] Like Eid ul-Fitr, Eid al-Adha begins with a Wajib prayer of two Raka'ah followed by a sermon (khuṭbah).

 

The word "Eid" appears in Sura al-Mai'da ("The Table Spread," Chapter 5) of the Qur'an, meaning 'solemn festival'.[3]

 

Eid al-Adha is celebrated annually on the 10th day of the 12th and the last Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah (ذو الحجة) of the lunar Islamic calendar.[4] Eid al-Adha celebrations start after the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia by Muslims worldwide, descend from Mount Arafat. The date is approximately 70 days (2 Months & 10 days) after the end of the month of Ramadan, i.e. Eid-ul-Fitr. Ritual observance of the holiday lasts until sunset of the 13th day of Dhu al-Hijjah.[5]

 

The Arabic term "Festival of Sacrifice", ‘Eid ul-’Aḍḥā, was borrowed as a unit from Semitic roots that evolved into Indic languages such as Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati and Bengali and Austronesian languages such as Malay and Indonesian.

 

Another Semitic word for "sacrifice" is the Arabic Qurbān (Arabic: قربان‎), which is used in Dari Persian - Afghanistan and Iranian dialect of Persian as Eyde Ghorbân عید قربان, and in Tajik Persian as Иди Қурбон (Idi Qurbon), into Kazakh as Құрбан айт (Qurban ayt), into Uyghur as Qurban Heyit, and also into various Indic languages. Other languages combined the Arabic word qurbān with local terms for "festival", as in Kurdish (Cejna Qurbanê[6]), Pashto (Kurbaneyy Akhtar), Chinese (古尔邦节 Gúěrbāng Jié), Malay and Indonesian (Hari Raya Korban, Qurbani), and Turkish (Kurban Bayramı). The Turkish term was later used in other languages such as Azeri (Qurban Bayramı), Tatar (Qorban Bäyräme), Bosnian and Croatian (Kurban-bajram), Serbian (Курбан бајрам), Russian (Курбан байрам).

 

Another Arabic name, ‘Īd ul-Kabīr (عيد الكبير `Īd al-Kabīr), meaning "Greater Eid/Festival" (the "Lesser Eid" being Eid ul-Fitr[7]), is used in Yemen, Syria, and North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt). The term was borrowed directly into French as Aïd el-Kebir. Translations of "Big Eid" or "Greater Eid" are used in Pashto لوی اختر Loy Akhtar, Kashmiri Baed Eid, Hindi and Urdu Baṛā Īd, Malayalam Bali Perunnal, and Tamil Peru Nāl.

 

Another name refers to the fact that the holiday occurs after the culmination of the Hajj (حج), or pilgrimage to Mecca (Makka). Such names are used in Malay and Indonesian (Hari Raya Haji "Hajj celebration day", Lebaran Haji), and in Tamil Hajji Peru Nāl.

 

In Urdu-speaking areas, the festival is also called بقرعید Baqra Īd or Baqrī Īd, stemming either from the Arabic baqarah "heifer" or the Urdu word baqrī for "goat", as cows and goats are among the traditionally sacrificed animals. That term was also borrowed into other languages, such as Tamil Bakr Eid Peru Nāl.

 

Other local names include 宰牲节 Zǎishēng Jié ("Slaughter-livestock Festival") in Chinese, Tfaska Tamoqqart in the Berber language of Djerba, Tabaski or Tobaski in West African languages,[8]Babbar Sallah in Nigerian languages, and ciida gawraca in Somali.

 

Eid-al-Adha has other popular names across the Muslim world. The name is often simply translated into the local language, such as English Festival of Sacrifice, German Opferfest, Dutch Offerfeest, Romanian Sărbătoarea Sacrificiului and Hungarian Áldozati ünnep.

[edit] Background

 

According to Muslims, approximately four thousand years ago, the valley of Mecca (in what is now Saudi Arabia) was a dry, rocky and uninhabited place. According to Islam, the Prophet Abraham ('Ibraheem in Arabic) was instructed to bring his Egyptian wife Hagar (Hāǧar) and Ishmael, his only child at the time (Ismā'īl), to Arabia from the land of Canaan (currently Palestine and also parts of Lebanon,Jordan,Syria and Sinai) by God's command.

 

As Abraham was ready to return to Canaan, Hagar asked him, "Did "Allah" (God) order you to leave us here"? When Abraham replied: "Yes, I was directed by Allah" (God), Hagar said, "then Allah will not forget us; you can go". Although Abraham had left a large quantity of food and water with Hagar and Ishmael, the supplies quickly ran out, and within a few days the two began to feel the pangs of hunger and dehydration.

 

According to Islamic tradition, Hagar ran up and down between two hills called Al-Safa and Al-Marwah seven times, in her desperate quest for water. Finally, she collapsed beside her baby Ishmael and prayed to God for deliverance. Miraculously, a spring of water gushed forth from the earth at the feet of baby Ishmael. Other accounts have the angel Gabriel (Jibril) striking the earth and causing the spring to flow in abundance. With this secure water supply, known as the Zamzam Well, they were not only able to provide for their own needs, but were also able to trade water with passing nomads for food and supplies.

 

Years later, Abraham was instructed by God to return from Palestine to build a place of worship dedicated to Him adjacent to Hagar's well (the Zamzam Well). Abraham and Ishmael constructed a stone and mortar structure —known as the Kaaba— which was to be the gathering place for all who wished to strengthen their faith in God. As the years passed, Ishmael was blessed with Prophethood (Nubuwwah) and gave the nomads of the desert his message of submission to God. After many centuries, Mecca became a thriving desert city and a major center for trade, thanks to its reliable water source, the well of Zamzam.

 

One of the main trials of Abraham's life was to face the command of God to devote his dearest possession, his only son. Upon hearing this command, he prepared to submit to God's will. During this preparation, Satan (Shaitan) tempted Abraham and his family by trying to dissuade them from carrying out God's commandment, and Ibrahim and Ishmael drove Satan away by throwing pebbles at him. In commemoration of their rejection of Satan, stones are thrown during Hajj.

 

When Ishmael was about 13 (Ibrahim being 99), Allah (God) decided to test their faith in and submission to Allah in public. Both father and son were put through the most difficult test of their love for Allah. Abraham had a recurring dream, in which God was commanding him to offer his son as a sacrifice – an unimaginable act – sacrificing his son, which God had granted him after many years of deep prayer, the one who had been the centre of his affection and love for all these years. Abraham knew that the dreams of the prophets were inspired by Allah, and one of the ways in which God communicated with his prophets. This must be what Allah had wanted him to do. When the intent of the dreams became clear to him, Abraham decided to fulfil God's command and offer his beloved son in sacrifice.

 

Although Abraham was ready to sacrifice his dearest for Allah’s sake, he could not just go and drag his son to the place of sacrifice without his consent. Isma'el had to be consulted as to whether he was willing to give up his life as fulfillment to God's command. This consultation would be a major test of Isma'el’s maturity in faith, love and commitment for Allah, willingness to obey his father and sacrifice his own life for the sake of Allah.

 

Abraham presented the matter to his son and asked for his opinion about the dreams of slaughtering him. Ishmael’s reaction was absolutely astounding. He did not show any hesitation or reservation even for a moment. He said, “Father, do what you have been commanded. You will find me, Insha'Allah (God willing), to be very patient.” His mature response, his deep insight into the nature of dad’s dreams, his commitment to Allah, and ultimately his willingness to sacrifice his own life for the sake of Allah were all unprecedented.

 

When both father and son had shown their perfect obedience to Allah and they had practically demonstrated their willingness to sacrifice their most precious possessions for His sake—Abraham by laying down his son for sacrifice and Ishmael by lying patiently under the knife – Allah called out to them stating that his sincere intentions had been accepted, and that he need not carry out the killing of Ishmael. Instead, Abraham was told to replace his son with a ram to sacrifice instead. Allah also told them that they had passed the test imposed upon them by his willingness to carry out God's command.[9]

 

This is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an as follows:

 

"O my Lord! Grant me a righteous (son)!" So We gave him the good news of a boy, possessing forbearance. And when (his son) was old enough to walk and work with him, (Abraham) said: O my dear son, I see in vision that I offer you in sacrifice: Now see what is your view!" (The son) said: "O my father! Do what you are commanded; if Allah wills, you will find me one practising patience and steadfastness!" So when they both submitted and he threw him down upon his forehead, We called out to him saying: O Ibraheem! You have indeed fulfilled the vision; surely thus do We reward those who do good. Most surely this was a manifest trial. And We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice. And We perpetuated (praise) to him among the later generations. "Peace and salutation to Abraham!" Thus indeed do We reward those who do right. Surely he was one of Our believing servants.[10]

 

As a reward for this sacrifice, Allah then granted Abraham the good news of the birth of his second son, Is-haaq (Isaac):

 

And We gave him the good news of Is-haaq, a prophet from among the righteous. [11]

 

Abraham had shown that his love for his Lord superseded all others: that he would lay down his own life or the lives of those dearest to him in submission to God's command. Muslims commemorate this ultimate act of sacrifice every year during Eid al-Adha.

 

In keeping with the tradition of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Muslims are encouraged to prepare themselves for the occasion of Eid. Below is a list of things Muslims are recommended to do in preparation for the Eid al-Adha festival:

 

1. Wake up early (before sunrise). 2. Make wudu (ablution) and offer Salat al-Fajr (the pre-sunrise prayer). 3. Prepare for personal cleanliness - take care of details of clothing, etc. 4. Take a Ghusl (bath) after Fajr prayer. 5. Brush teeth (preferably with a miswak, or tooth-stick). 6. Dress up, putting on new or best clothes available (White, when available, is optimal[12]). 7. Apply (alcohol free) perfume (attar) (men only). 8. It is customary to eat dates preferably or something before going to Eid prayers but you can't eat sacrificed meat as Sacrifice must be done after Eid prayers to be accepted as Sacrifice otherwise it becomes just normal meat and no reward for sacrifice. [13] 9. Go to the prayer grounds (known as an 'Eidgah') early. 10. Offer Salat al-Eid (the congregational Eid prayer) in an open place, weather permitting, or in mosque. 11. Use two separate routes when travelling to and from the Eid prayer location. 12. Recite the following Takbir which starts at Maghrib (sunset) on the 9th of Dhu al-hijah and last until the Asr on the 12th Dhu al-ilhijah: Allahu-Akbar, Allahu-Akbar, Allahu-Akbar. La ilaha illa-lah wallahu-Akbar. Allahu-Akbar wa-lillahil-hamd, which translates to: "Allah (God) is the Greatest (3 times); there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and Allah is the Greatest. Allah is the Greatest and to Him are due all praises."

[edit] Salat al-Eid

 

Salat al-Eid is Wajib (strongly recommended, but just short of obligatory). It consists of two Raka'ah (units) with six additional Takbirs. No adhan (Call to Prayer) or iqama (call) is to be pronounced for this Eid prayer.[14] It must be offered in congregation. The Salaat (prayer) is followed by the Khutbah, or sermon, by the Imam. The Khutbah is part of the worship and listening to it is Wajib. During the Khutbah, the Imam reminds the Muslim community about its responsibilities and obligations towards Allah, and good works, kindness, mercy and generosity towards their fellow Muslims and humanity as a whole.

 

At the conclusion of the prayers and sermon, the Muslims embrace and exchange greetings with one other (Eid Mubarak), give gifts (Eidi) to children, and visit one another. Many Muslims also take this opportunity to invite their non-Muslims friends, neighbours, co-workers and classmates to their Eid festivities to better acquaint them about Islam and Muslim culture.[15]

[edit] Rules Regarding the Animal to be Sacrificed

 

1. The animal has to be one of the cattle approved by the Sharia (Cow, Camel, Goat, Sheep etc.) 2. The animal has reached the required age. The adult age is: (a) One year for a goat, sheep, lamb (b) Two years for a cow (c) Five years for a camel. 3. The animal is free from an obvious defect like a one-eyed animal whose defect is obvious, a sick animal whose sickness is obvious, a lame animal whose limp is obvious and an emaciated animal that has no marrow in its bones 4. The animal is in full possession of the one who is offering the sacrifice; i.e. it is not stolen or taken by force, not of joint possession or held in pledge 5. The animal can not be sold or given away once selected or bought for sacrifice, unless exchanging for something better.[16]

[edit] Rules Related to the Person offering the Sacrifice

 

1. Being a Muslim 2. It is necessary for the one who intends to offer the sacrifice that he does not remove any hair or nail from the sunset on last day of Zhul-Qa’dah until the sacrifice is done on the Eid day 3. Doing the slaughter with one’s own hands. If one is not able to do so then he can appoint some one else to do the slaughter on his behalf. In such case one should witness his slaughter if at all possible. 4. It is a necessary condition of the sacrifice that the animal be slaughtered with the intention of offering a sacrifice (udhiyah). The intention must be in the heart, and should not be spoken out loud. 5. Taking the Name of Allah at the time of slaughter.

 

Men, women, and children are expected to dress in their finest clothing to perform Eid prayer (ṣalātu l-`Īdi) in a large congregation is an open waqf field called Eidgah or mosque. Those Muslims who can afford, i.e Malik-e-Nisaab; sacrifice their best domestic animals (usually a cow, but can also be a camel, goat, sheep or ram depending on the region) as a symbol of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his only son. The sacrificed animals, called Uḍhiyyah (Arabic: أضحية‎, also known by its Persian term, "al-Qurbāni"), have to meet certain age and quality standards or else the animal is considered an unacceptable sacrifice.

 

The regular charitable practices of the Muslim community are demonstrated during Eid al-Adha by concerted efforts to see that no impoverished person is left without an opportunity to partake in the sacrificial meal during these days.

 

During Eid al-Adha, distributing meat amongst the people, chanting the Takbir out loud before the Eid prayer on the first day and after prayers throughout the three days of Eid, are considered essential parts of this important Islamic festival. In some countries, families that do not own livestock can make a contribution to a charity that will provide meat to those who are in need.

 

from wikipedia

 

The Mourning of Muharram is an important period of mourning in Shia Islam, taking place in Muharram which is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is also called the Remembrance of Muharram (Arabic: ذكرى محرم or مناسبة محرم‎). Many of the events associated with the remembrance take place in congregation halls known as Hussainia.

The event marks the anniversary of the Battle of Karbala when Imam Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and a Shia Imam, was killed by the forces of the second Umayyad caliph Yazid I. The event is marked by arranging 'majalis' (gatherings) to review Islamic teachings and to commemorate Imam Hussain's sacrifice. The mourning reaches its climax on the tenth day, known as Ashura, on which the forces of Yazid killed the 72 individuals who fought, including Imam Hussain, his family and supporters. The women and children left living were made prisoners and transported to Yazid's court in Damascus.

Contents [hide]

1 Etymology

2 Background

2.1 History of commemoration

2.1.1 Azadari in Lucknow

3 Types of mourning

3.1 Ziarat Imam Husayn Shrine

3.2 Matam

3.3 Taziya

4 Shia Hadiths

5 Reason for Mourning

6 See also

7 Notes

8 Further reading

9 External links

[edit]Etymology

  

Majlis in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

The words Azadari (عزاداری) which mean mourning and lamentation; and Majalis-e Aza have been exclusively used in connection with the remembrance ceremonies for the martyrdom of Imam Hussain. Majalis-e Aza, also known as Aza-e Husayn, includes mourning congregations, lamentations, matam and all such actions which express the emotions of grief and above all, repulsion against what Yazid stood for.

The term majalis has both a grammatical meaning and a meaning which relates to Aza-e-Husayn. In its technical sense, a majalis is a meeting, a session or a gathering..

  

Shia Muslims in Amroha Uttar Pradesh, India Children on camels in front of Azakhana or Hosania Juloos as part of the commemoration of Muharram

[edit]Background

  

Shi'a Muslims in Bahrain strike their chests during the Remembrance of Muharram.

According to Shia sources, The Azadari of Muharram was started by the family of Muhammad (the Ahl-ul-Bayt) after the death of Muhammad's grandson Husayn ibn Ali at the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD. Following the battle of Karbala, Muhammad's granddaughter Zaynab bint Ali and sister of Husayn, began mourning for the fallen and making speeches against Husayn ibn Ali's opponents: Ibn Ziyad and Yazid I. News of Husayn ibn Ali's death was also spread by Imam Zain-ul-Abideen, who succeeded Husayn as the Shia Imam, via sermons and speeches throughout Iraq, Syria and Hejaz.

Zainab and Zain-ul-Abideen informed the people that Yazid had martyred Imam Husayn and seventy-two of his companions including his six month old son Ali Asghar, and that their women and children were taken as prisoners to Syria. When word of mourning reached Yazid he decided to release the captive women and children from the prison in Damascus, out of fear of public revolt against his rule. He sent for Zain-ul-Abideen, informed him of the impending release and asked if he wished for anything further. Zain-ul-Abideen said he would consult with Zainab. She asked Yazid to provide a place where the people could mourn for Imam Husayn and others of Muhammad's household. A house was provided, and here Zaynab binte Ali held the first Majlis-e Aza of Husayn and started the Mourning of Muharram.[citation needed]

[edit]History of commemoration

[hide]

Part of a series on

Shīa Islam

Beliefs and practices

Monotheism

Holy Books

Prophethood

Succession to Muhammad

Imamate of the Family

Angels

Judgement Day

Mourning of Muharram

Intercession · Ismah

The Occultation · Clergy

Views

The Qur'an · Sahaba

Holy days

Ashura · Arba'een · Mawlid

Eid ul-Fitr · Eid al-Adha

Eid al-Ghadeer

Eid al-Mubahila

History

Twelver

Two things

· Ismāʿīlī · Zaidi

The verse of purification

Mubahala · Two things

Khumm · Fatimah's house

First Fitna · Second Fitna

The Battle of Karbala

Ahl al-Kisa

Muhammad · Ali · Fatimah

Hasan · Hussein

List of Shia companions

Holy ladies

Fatimah · Khadijah · Zaynab bint Ali · Fatimah bint al-Hasan · Sukayna bint Husayn · Rubab · Shahrbanu · Nijmah · Fātimah bint Mūsā · Hakimah Khātūn · Narjis · Fatimah bint Asad · Farwah bint al-Qasim ·

v t e

The mourning and commemoration for Husayn ibn Ali originated in Iraq, as this is where Husayn was martyred. However, they were held in Iran as early as the twelfth century, when both Sunnis and Shias participated in them. In the Safavid period, the annual mourning ceremonies for Imam Hosayn, combined with the ritual cursing of his enemies, acquired the status of a national institution. Expressions of grief such as sine-zani (beating the chest), zangir-zani (beating oneself with chains), and tage-zani or Qama Zani also known as Tatbeer (hitting oneself with swords or knives) emerged as common features of the proliferating mourning-processions (dasta-gardani). Mourning for the martyred Imam also takes place in assemblies held in buildings erected especially for the purpose, known either as Hussainia or takia, as well as in mosques and private houses.

[edit]Azadari in Lucknow

Main article: Azadari in Lucknow

  

The Muharram, 1795: Asaf al-Daula, Nawab of Oudh, listening at night to the maulvi reading from the scriptures during Muharram, c.1795.

In Lucknow, India, the Muharram processions and rituals are known as Azadari. The processions, including the Chup Tazia, have been observed since the sixteenth century or earlier, when Lucknow was capital of the state of Awadh.

In the 20th century, beginning in 1906, Azadari became a focus of communal tension in Lucknow. In 1977, after riots broke out for the fourth time since 1968, the government of Uttar Pradesh banned the Azadari processions. Shia leaders protested the ban, and many Shia Muslims courted arrest by defying the ban each year.

In 1997 a hunger strike was launched to protest the Azadari ban. In April three Shia youths committed self-immolation and died. A noted Shia scholar called for a peace march on 18 April 1997 that reportedly drew more than 200,000 Shias.[citation needed]

Late in the year, after months of arrests and clashes between police and protesters, the government granted limited permission for Shias in Lucknow to hold Azadari processions.

[edit]Types of mourning

 

Main articles: Marsia, Noha, and Soaz

  

Shia Muslims take out a Alam procession on day of Ashura in Barabanki, India, Jan, 2009.

How the event is mourned differs between different branches of Shia and different ethnic groups. The event is also observed by many Sunnis, but to a lesser extent, and as a time of remembrance, rather than mourning[citation needed].

In the Twelver three traditional schools (Usooli, Akhbari, and Shaykhi), mourners, both male and female, congregate (in separate sections) for sorrowful, poetic recitations performed in memory of the death of Husayn, lamenting and grieving to the tune of beating drums and chants of "Ya Husayn." Passion plays are also performed, reenacting the Battle of Karbala and the suffering and death of Husayn at the hands of Yazid. They offer condolences to Imam-e-Zamana also known as Imam al-Mahdi whom they believe will avenge the blood of Husayn and bring justice to the world.

Bektashis and Alevis also mourn, and they keep themselves from eating and drinking ("fasting") the first 10–12 days of Muharram. In this period, the Alevis wear black clothes, do not shave themselves and avoid any type of entertainment and pleasure. Originally, it was also forbidden to bathe and change clothes during this period, but today most Alevis do not follow this rule. This is called "Muharrem Matemi", "Yas-i Muharrem" or "Muharrem orucu". But because it is also called "fasting", many people falsely think that Alevis celebrate the Muharram. The definition of the "fast" in this connection is different from the normal type of "fasting". Bektashis also greet each other by saying "Ya Imam! Ya Husayn."

The only Ismaili group which mourns are the Mustaali, who mourn similarly to the majority of Twelvers. Although, Nizari Ismaili commemorate Muharram through the tradition of not celebrating marriages, birthdays, and other religious celebrations during this time to show respect to there other Muslim brothers who are mourning.

  

Tabuiks (funeral biers) being lowered into the sea at a Muharram procession in West Sumatra, Indonesia

For the duration of the remembrance, it is customary for mosques to provide free meals (nazar) on certain nights of the month to all people. These meals are viewed as being special and holy, as they have been consecrated in the name of Imam Husayn, and thus partaking of them is considered an act of communion with Allah, Imam Husayn, and humanity.

  

Muharram procession: Shia Muslims in Malir, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan flagellated themselves during the Moharram procession to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, grandson of Muhammad.

In South Asia, a number of literary and musical genres, produced by both Shias and Sunnis, that have been inspired by the Battle of Karbala are performed during the month, such as marsiya, noha and soaz. This is meant to increase the peoples understanding of how the enemies fought The Battle of Karbala against Husayn and his followers. In Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica all ethnic and religious communities participate in the event, locally known as "Hosay" or "Hussay"[citation needed]. In Indonesia, the event is known as Tabuik (Minangkabau language) or Tabut (Indonesian).

[edit]Ziarat Imam Husayn Shrine

Main articles: Imam Husayn Shrine and Ziarat

Many Shia also tend to embark on a pilgrimage to the Imam Husayn Shrine in Karbala itself, as it is one of the holiest places for Shias outside of Mecca and Medina. Up to one million pilgrims a year visit the city to observe the anniversary of Husayn ibn Ali's death. [1] The shrine is located opposite that of Abbas ibn Ali.

[edit]Matam

  

Zanjir(Chain) used for 'Zanjir matam'

Many of the male and female participants congregate in public for ceremonial chest beating (matam) as a display of their devotion to Imam Husayn and in remembrance of his suffering. In some Shi'a societies, such as those in Bahrain, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and Iraq, some male participants incorporate knives or razors swung upon chains into their matam.

[edit]Taziya

Main article: Ta'zieh

  

Indian Shia Muslims take out a Ta'ziya procession on day of Ashura in Barabanki, India, Jan, 2009.

One form of mourning is the theatrical re-enactment of the Battle of Karbala. In Iran this is called taziya or taziyeh. Theatrical groups that specialize in taziya are called taziya groups.[1] Taziyas were popular through the Qajar dynasty until the early twentieth century, but the re-enactments slowly declined until they were mostly abandoned in the large cities by the early 1940s. Nonetheless, taziyas continued to exist in Iran on a smaller scale especially in more rural and traditional areas. Reza Shah, the first of the Pahlavi dynasty, had outlawed taziyas. Despite some attempts since 1979, Muharram processions and various forms of the rawza khani are still more common.[2]

In South Asia where dramatic commemorations are less significant, ta'zīya came to refer specifically to the miniature mausoleums used in processions held in Muharram. It all started from the fact that the great distance of India from Karbala prevented Indian Shi'is being buried near the tomb of Imam Husayn or making frequent pilgrimages(ziyarat) to the tomb. This is the reason why Indian Shi'is established local karbalas on the subcontinent by bringing soil from Karbala and sprinkling it on lots designated as future cemeteries. Once the karbalas were established on the subcontinent, the next step was to bring Husayn's tomb-shrine to India. This was established by building replicas of Husayn's mausoleum called ta'zīya to be carried in Muharram processions. Thousands of ta'zīyas in various shapes and sizes are fashioned every year for the months of mourning of Muharram and Safar; and are carried in processions and may be buried at the end of Ashura or Arbain.[3]

[edit]Shia Hadiths

  

A banner (alam) being carried in a procession during the Remembrance of Muharram in Bahrain.

A series of articles on

  

Imam of Islam

Husayn

Life

Family tree · Battle of Karbala

 

Remembrance

Maqtal Al-Husayn · Mourning of Muharram · Day of Ashura · Arba'een · Imam Husayn Shrine · Hussainia · Majlis-e-Aza · Marsia · Noha · Soaz · Ta'zieh · Tabuik · Hosay · Chehel Minbari · Chup Tazia · Tatbeer

 

Perspectives

The Twelve Imams · The Fourteen Infallibles

 

v t e

Muhammad said:

Surely, there exists in the hearts of the Mu' mineen, with respect to the martyrdom of Husayn, a heat that never subsides.[4]

Muhammad said:

O Fatimah! Every eye shall be weeping on the Day of Judgment except the eye which has shed tears over the tragedy of Husayn for surely, that eye shall be laughing and shall be given the glad tidings of the bounties and comforts of Paradise.[5]

Ali ibn Hussein said:

Every Mu'min, whose eyes shed tears upon the killing of Husayn ibn' Ali and his companions, such that the tears roll down his cheeks, God shall accommodate him in the elevated rooms of paradise.[6]

Ali said to Ibn Abbas:

(Once when he happened to pass by Karbala), Isa (Jesus) sat down and began to weep. His disciples who were observing him, followed suit and began weeping too, but not comprehending the reason for this behaviour, they asked him: "O' Spirit of God! What is it that makes you weep?" Isa (Jesus) said: "Do you know what land this is?" The disciples replied: "No." He then said: "This is the land on which the son of the Prophet Muhammad shall be killed.[7]

[edit]Reason for Mourning

 

Zaynab binte Ali Sister of Imam Hussain after Karbala vowed that as long as the people do not recognise the actual cause of Karbala, the followers of Hussain will continue to protest on the streets and in the dwellings as to what happened in Karbala. Though besides Sunnis several Shias do not know that it's a protest and invitation to people to come and listen to mourners as to what happened in Karbala. It is believed by many[who?] that Hussain's journey to Karbala was to claim his Imamat over the people of Kufa who had written letters inviting him to Kufa. Whereas per Shia's belief Husain knew he was to be killed there. He undertook this journey to deny his approval or Bait to Yazid becoming Caliph because he considered Yazid to be a danger to the Muslim Ummah and a threat to Islam. His sacrifice and revolution were to preserve Islam and his Grandfather's Ummah against the innovation, hypocrisy, wickedness as well as the attempts to destroy and alter Islam and the quest for worldly pleasures and worldly gains by Yazid and his people. It was a matter of right and wrong, just and unjust and Hussain chose what is just, despite the consequences.[citation needed]

[edit]See also

 

Tatbeer

Azadari

Marsia

Noha

Qama Zani

Talwar

Soaz

Ta'zieh

Hussainia

Carpet Washing Ceremony

Hosay

Markazi Imambargah Shah e Najaf

Al-Fatiha

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  

This article is about Sura al-fatiha. For other uses, see Al-Fatiha (disambiguation).

Quraysh

{{{Name_of_Surah}}}

Classification Makkan

Meaning of the name The Opening

Other names Umm al-Kitab (Mother of the Book)

Umm al-Qur'an (Mother of the Qur'an)

The Key

Surah al-Hamd (The Praise)

Time of revelation Early years of prophethood

Statistics

Sura number 1 106

Number of verses 7

Juz' number 1

Hizb number 1

Number of Rukus 1

Number of Sajdahs None

Harf-e-Mukatta'at No

Number of Ayats on particular subjects Praise of God: 3

Relation between Creator and creatures: 1

Prayer of the humankind: 3

Previous Sura —

Next Sura Al-Baqara

Listen to Surah Fatiha

  

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Sura Al-Fatiha (Arabic: سورة الفاتحة‎, Sūratu al-Fātihah, "The Opening") is the first chapter of the Muslim holy book, the Qur'an. Its seven verses are a prayer for God's guidance and stress the lordship and mercy of God. This chapter has a special role in daily prayers, being recited at the start of each unit of prayer.

 

Contents

1 Interpretation of the Meaning of Sura Al-Fatiha

2 Notes

3 Revelation

4 Alternate names

5 Statistics

6 Translations, interpretations and commentaries on Surah Al-Fatiha

7 See also

8 External links

   

Interpretation of the Meaning of Sura Al-Fatiha

Muslims believe that the Qur'an is a revelation from God in the Arabic language. Translations into other languages are considered by many to be merely superficial "interpretations" of the meanings and not authentic versions of the Qur'an. Although some Qur'an alone and liberal Muslims use translations as part of their daily prayers, they are used mainly for personal spiritual use by non-Arabic speakers.

 

The Arabic text with transliteration and translation in English is as follows: [Qur'an 1:1].

 

1:1 بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيم

 

Bismillāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:

1:2 الْحَمْدُ للّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِين

 

Al ḥamdu lillāhi rabbi l-'ālamīn

All Praise is due to God, Lord of the Universe.

1:3 الرَّحْمـنِ الرَّحِيم

 

Ar raḥmāni r-raḥīm

The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

1:4 مَـالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّين

 

Māliki yawmi d-dīn

Sovereign of the Day of Judgment.

1:5 إِيَّاك نَعْبُدُ وإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِين

 

Iyyāka na'budu wa iyyāka nasta'īn

You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help

1:6 اهدِنَــــا الصِّرَاطَ المُستَقِيمَ

 

Ihdinā ṣ-ṣirāṭ al mustaqīm

Guide us to the straight path;

1:7 صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنعَمتَ عَلَيهِمْ غَيرِ المَغضُوبِ عَلَيهِمْ وَلاَ الضَّالِّين

 

Ṣirāṭ al-laḏīna an'amta 'alayhim ġayril maġḍūbi 'alayhim walāḍ ḍāllīn

The path of those on whom You have bestowed your grace, not of those who have earned Your anger, nor of those who go astray.

When recited during daily prayers, some schools of thought follow Al-Fatihah by the word Amin.

   

The first verse, transliterated as "bismillāhir rahmānir rahīm", may be familiar to non-Arabic speakers and non-Muslims because of its ubiquity in Arabic and Muslim societies. This verse appears at the start of every chapter in the Qur'an with the exception of the ninth chapter. The verse is normally said before reciting a chapter or part of a chapter during daily prayer, and also before public proclamations and indeed before many personal and everyday activities in many Arabic and Muslim societies as a way to invoke God's blessing and proclaim one's motives before an undertaking.

 

The two words "ar rahmān" and "ar rahīm" are often translated in English as "the beneficent" and "the merciful" or "the generous" and "the merciful." They are often also translated as superlatives, for example, "the most generous" and "the most merciful". Grammatically the two words "rahmaan" and "raheem" are different linguistic forms of the triconsonantal root R-H-M, connoting "mercy". (For more information, see the section on root forms in Semitic languages). The form "rahmaan" denotes degree or extent, i.e., "most merciful," while "raheem" denotes time permanence, i.e., "ever merciful".

 

The reading of the first word of the fourth verse, translated as "master/king" above, has been the subject of debate. The two main recitations, of the Qur'an, Warsh and Hafs, differ on whether it should be "maliki" with a short "a," which means "king" (Warsh, from Nafi'; Ibn Kathir; Ibn Amir; Abu 'Amr; Hamza), or "māliki" with a long "a," which means "master" or "owner" (Hafs, from Asim, and al-Kisa'i). Both "maliki" and "māliki" derive from the same triconsonantal root in Arabic, M-L-K. Both readings are considered valid by many practitioners, since both can be seen as describing God.

 

In some Muslim societies, Al-Fatiha is traditionally read together by a couple to seal their engagement, however this act is not recorded in the sunnah and is seen by many to be an innovation.

  

Revelation

Islamic scholarly tradition is concerned, amongst other things, with when and where verses and chapters of the Qur'an were revealed to Muhammad - for example, whether a verse was revealed while Muhammad was in Mecca or Medina. According to Ibn Abbas and others, Sura Al-Fatiha is a Meccan surah; according to Abu Hurayrah and others, it is a Madinan surah. The former view is more widely accepted, although some believe that it was revealed in both Mecca and Medina.

  

Alternate names

This surah is sometimes known in English as "the Exordium". In various Hadith it is described as "the mother of the Book" (Umm al-Kitab) and "the mother of the Qur'an" (Umm al-Qur'an), and "the cure of diseases" ("Sura-tul-shifa") and said to be the seven verses alluded to in Al-Hijr [Qur'an 15:87].

  

Statistics

This sura contains 7 verses, 29 words and 139 letters (or 25 and 120, not counting the first verse), although Ibn Kathir says "The scholars say that Al-Fatiha consists of 25 words, and that it contains 113 letters." It falls in the first hizb, and hence the first juz', which are sections of the Qur'an.

 

Al-Fatiha

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Il titolo di questa voce non è corretto per via delle caratteristiche del software MediaWiki. Il titolo corretto è al-Fātiḥa.

La Fatiha arabo: الفاتحة , 'al-fātiḥa' costituisce la prima Sura del Corano (al-Fātiḥa vuol dire infatti "la Aprente").

 

Secondo i musulmani essa racchiude l'essenza dell'intero Libro Sacro dell'Islam ed è spesso usata come preghiera (specie nella salāt) e come formula rituale per sottolineare la pietas islamica di chi la recita.

 

In particolari cerimonie, in particolare la stipula di contratti che comportano l'assunzione di diritti e doveri (ad esempio, il matrimonio, che nell'islam non è altro che un contratto), la recitazione della Fatiha costituisce il momento essenziale.

 

Indice

1 Testo

2 Contenuto

3 Bibliografia

4 Note

5 Voci correlate

   

Testo

Il suo testo è il seguente:

 

1. Nel nome di Allah, il Clemente il Misericordioso

 

2. Lode ad Allah il Signore dei mondi

 

3. Il Clemente, il Misericordioso

 

4. Signore del Giorno del Giudizio

 

5. Te noi adoriamo ed a Te ci rivolgiamo per aiuto

 

6. Mostraci la retta via

 

7. La via di coloro cui hai concesso la Tua grazia, di coloro che non suscitano la Tua ira e che non vagano nell'errore. Amen

  

La traslitterazione in caratteri latini del testo arabo della Fātiha è la seguente:

 

1. Bi-smi llāhi al-Rahmāni al-Rahīm

 

2. Al-hamdu li-llāhi Rabbi l-ˁālamīn

 

3. Al-Rahmāni al-rahīm

 

4. Maliki yawmi al-dīn

 

5. Iyya-Ka naˁbudu wa iyya-Ka nastaˁīn

 

6. Ihdi-nā al-Sirāta al-Mustaqīm

 

7. Sirāta alladhīna anˁamta ˁalay-him ghayra al-maghdūbi ˁalay-him wa lā al-dāllīn. Amīn

  

Contenuto

Questa sura è per molti versi "anomala" rispetto a tutte le altre che compongono il Corano, e questa sua condizione particolare è evidenziata già dal solo fatto di essere posta al principio del Libro, nonostante la sua brevità (le altre sure, infatti, sono collocate in ordine di grandezza decrescente, con le più lunghe al principio e le più brevi alla fine).

 

La maggiore diversità rispetto alle altre sure sta nel fatto che, mentre le altre sono espressione della parola di Dio, e quindi Dio è in prima persona e si rivolge a Maometto, usando di solito la terza persona per gli altri uomini (spesso con una formula introduttiva: "di' (loro): ..."), la Fatiha si presenta con l'aspetto di una preghiera rivolta a Dio dagli uomini (in questo senso, è stata da molti avvicinata al Padre Nostro dei cristiani, in quanto preghiera fornita ai fedeli dalla stessa divinità)[1].

 

Da osservare che la formula iniziale "Nel nome di Iddio, il Clemente il Misericordioso", la cosiddetta basmala, presente all'inizio di tutte le sure (ad eccezione della IX), viene qui considerata un versetto a pieno titolo, e computata quindi nel numero totale dei versetti, contrariamente a quanto avviene in tutte la altre sure, in cui la basmala è un incipit che sta "al di fuori" dei versetti veri e propri.

 

Riguardo al contenuto, molti punti hanno suscitato perplessità nell'interpretazione, in particolar modo l'identificazione di coloro cui si fa riferimento quando si parla di quelli che "suscitano la Tua ira" e quelli che "vagano nell'errore". Le interpretazioni tradizionali vogliono che nei primi siano adombrati gli ebrei e nei secondi i cristiani[2].

 

Un'ultima osservazione interessante riguarda il Sirāt al-Mustaqīm cui si fa cenno in questa sura. L'interpretazione più immediata è quella di "la via diritta", con evidente significato spirituale, ma questo elemento è ben presto stato interpretato, in chiave escatologica, come qualcosa di reale, una sorta di immenso ponte, arcuato e sottile come il filo di una spada, che i defunti dovranno attraversare per giungere al paradiso. I beati non troveranno difficoltà nell'impresa (per essi sarà una vera e propria "strada"), mentre i malvagi non riusciranno ad attraversarlo e precipiteranno nell'inferno[3].

  

Bibliografia

H. Winkler, "Fatiha und Vaterunser", Zeitschrift für Semitistik und verwandte Gebiete Bd. 6 (1928) 238-246

Hasan al-Banna, Tafsir Fatihat al-Kitab, Tunis, matba'a al-shahsi, 1396h/1976

B.H. Stricker, "Sirāt al-Mustaqīm", in A la croisée des études libyco-berbères. Mélanges offerts à Paulette et Lionel Galand, Paris, Geuthner, 1993, pp. 419-428

  

^ Si veda, tra gli altri, Winkler 1928

^ Si veda al-Banna 1976: 46 "al-maghdūb ˁalay-him hum al-yahud (...) al-dāllūn hum al-nasara"

^ Sull'evoluzione di questa concezione, v. Stricker 1993.

 

Voci correlate

Pilastri dell'Islam

sharī‘a

 

سورة الفاتحة

من ويكيبيديا، الموسوعة الحرة

 

سورة الفاتحة هي أول سورة في القرآن الكريم، و حسب العقيدة الإسلامية لا تصح صلاة المسلم بدونها، إذ أن قراءتها ركن من أركان الصلاة. وقد سمى نبي الله محمد (صلى الله عليه و سلم) هذه السورة بـأم الكتاب وأم القرآن في عدة أحاديث. ولا تصح الصلاة دون قراءتها.

 

محتويات

1 نبذة عن سورة الفاتحة

2 سورة الفاتحة والصلاة

3 نص سورة الفاتحة (بالكامل)

4 أحاديث في فضل سورة الفاتحة

5 وصلات خارجية اِسلامية

   

[عدل] نبذة عن سورة الفاتحة

 

فاتحة الكتابسورة الفاتحة هي سورة مكية يبلغ عدد أياتها 7 آيات. وقد سميت هذه السورة بالفاتحة لانها تفتتح القرآن أي أنها أول سورة فيه. ولسورة الفاتحة كما ذكر السيوطي في كتابه "الاتقان في علون القرآن" أكثر من عشرين أسم، وهذا يدل على شرفها لان كثرة الأسماء تدل على شرف المسمى. ومن أسمائها: أم الكتاب والشافية والوافية والكافية والحمد والسبع المثاني وغيرها الكثير .

 

عن أبي هريرة قال : قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: (أم القرآن هي السبع المثاني والقرآن العظيم) .

 

وسورة الفاتحة تشمل جميع معاني القرآن الكريم ومقاصده فهي كمقدمة للقرآن ككل. فقد تحدثت عن العقيدة، والعبادة والاعتقاد باليوم الآخر والإيمان بالله عز وجل وصفاته، وأفردت الله عز وجل بالعبادة والدعاء وطلب الهداية إلى الطريق المستقيم.

 

و يؤمن المسلمون أن سورة الفاتحة تعلمهم كيفية التعامل مع الله فأولها ثناء على الله (الحمد لله رب العالمين) وآخرها دعاء لله بالهداية (إهدنا الصراط المستقيم).

  

[] سورة الفاتحة والصلاة

من أهمية سورة الفاتحة انه لا تصح أي صلاة بدونها فعن عائشة قالت: سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول: (كل صلاة لم يُقرأ فيها بفاتحة الكتاب فهو خداج) أي أن كل صلاة من دونها غير كاملة. ويمكن للمصلي أن يكتفي بقراءة الفاتحة فقط في كل ركعة وهي أقل مقدار مسموح به.

 

[نص اقتباس][[عنوان وصلة[[عنوان وصلة'نص مائل'نص مائل== ملف:نص عنوان رئيسي

 

ملف:اسم الصورة

تعليق==']]]]

وقد أخبر النبي محمد أن سورة الفاتحة المقروءة في الصلاة مقسمة بين العبد وربه، كلما ذكر العبد منها آية رد الله عليه... ففي الحديث عن أبي هريرة قال:

 

«سمعت رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم - يقول: قال الله: (قسمت الصلاة بيني وبين عبدي نصفين ولعبدي ما سأل، فإذا قال العبد: الحمد لله رب العالمين، قال الله: حمدني عبدي، وإذا قال: الرحمن الرحيم، قال الله: أثنى علي عبدي، وإذا قال: مالك يوم الدين، قال: مجدني عبدي، فإذا قال: إياك نعبد وإياك نستعين، قال: هذا بيني وبين عبدي ولعبدي ما سأل، فإذا قال: اهدنا الصراط المستقيم، صراط الذين أنعمت عليهم، غير المغضوب عليهم ولا الضالين، قال: هذا لعبدي ولعبدي ما سأل). »

 

[] نص سورة الفاتحة (بالكامل)

{{{ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ (1) الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (2) الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ (3) مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ (4) إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ (5) اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ (6) صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ (7) }}}

 

عنوان وصلة== للاستماع للسوره == esnips.com/doc/a4c93432-b02a-48ff-b65b-1b142aff360c/ال

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgAvTsSLCRk

There is a popular lecture that Sh. Suhaib Webb (ha) gave on Sura Fatiha a while ago that gives us a taste from the overflowing waters of knowledge and purity of the Qur’an. Insha’Allah for my own and other peoples benefit I provide these notes to his lectures.

 

Sura Fatiha or (Chapter 1: The Opener)

 

“Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds

Most Gracious, Most Merciful; Master of the Day of Judgment.

Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek. Show us the straight way,

The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray.” (Chapter 1: The Opener)

 

Sh. Suhaib started this lecture by stating that he relied on certain books:

Madarij As’Salikeen-”The Stations of those going to Allah,” Ibn Qayyim

Ihya Uluum Ad’Deen- “The Renewal of the Religious Sciences,” Imam Ghazzali

Mukhtasas fi Tazkiyat-ul-Anfus- “Specilization in Purification of the Souls,” Syed Howa

And the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir, Tabari, Qurtobi.

 

These are giant works in both exegesis and purification of the soul that can lead one to develop a relationship with the Quran and the One who brought it down.

 

Hasan Al-Basari (ra), stated that: “God Almighty sent hundreds of books and condensed them into four books, and those four books are all condensed into the Qur’an, and the Qur’an is condensed into Mufassil or the 49th chapter to the final chapter, and that is condensed into the chapter of Fatiha, which is condensed into the verse, “To You alone do we turn in worship, and to You alone do we seek all help.”

 

When we approach anything in life we should know its names and its definitions so we may have a clearer understanding of it. Sura Fatiha has 33 names which signify its importance and comprehensiveness.

Some of the names of Fatiha that were mentioned:

1. Umm al-Kitab-”The Mother of the Book” for its central role in Qur’an.

2. Shifa’- A “Healing” for the sick in heart and physical body.

3. Kafiya- The “Sufficient” sura.

4. Wafiya- The “Complete” sura.

5. Salah- “Connection” because it connects you with the Creator and helps you create a relationship with Him.

6. Dua’- “Prayer” because this Sura is also a prayer, and is “oft recited.”

7. Aa’dham al-Sura- “The Greatest Sura” for all its immense qualities and attributes.

 

The Fatiha is comprehensive because in this short Sura one finds all the goals of Qur’an condensed and encompassed.

1. Tawheed: Reflected in verse 1-3. He is the Rabb(Lord), His attributes are Rahman-er-Raheem(Most Compassionate, Most Beneficient), and He is the Owner of the Day of Recompense.

2. A promise and a warning

3. Correct concept of worship

4. How to purify the soul

5. Story and news

i. Those who Allah Favored

ii. Those who earned His anger

iii. Those who went Astray

 

Scope of Fatiha Regarding Worship

 

Regarding when Fatiha was revealed there is some dispute. Some say it was revealed in Mecca and some say it was revealed in Medina and both bring their evidences.

 

- The Salaf stated that Fatiha was revealed in Mecca. Surat al-Hijr, speaks of the 7 oft repeated verses, “And We have bestowed upon thee the Seven Oft-repeated (verses) and the Grand Qur’an”(15:87)

- Hadith in Sahih Muslim relates on the authority of Ibn Abbas (ra), “While Jibril (as) was sitting with the Prophet (p.b.u.h) a sound was heard from above. He raised his head and Jibril said: “This is a door in heaven opened today, it was never opened before, and an angel descended from it. This is an angel coming to the earth who never descended before.” Then he greeted and said : “Be happy, for two lights have been given to no other Prophet before you. The Opening Sura and the last ayat of Sura Baqarah. Every letter you read of it you will be rewarded for it.”

 

Ibn ‘Atiya (ra) resolves this by stating that Fatiha has the distinction of being revealed twice.

 

The question is why, for what purpose or wisdom was Fatiha revealed twice?

 

It was sent twice to show the comprehensiveness of worship. This becomes clearer when we see the transitions and growth of this deen from the Meccan to the Medinan periods. In Mecca we have only one ritual practice and when it was revealed again in Medina, He is talking about Jihad, Laws, and other additional acts of worship that were not present in Mecca.

Meccan Suras Medinan Suras

1. Tawheed Contains same six points but adds a few more laws

2. Revelation concerning Ahl-Kitab, Jihad, etc.

3. Prophethood

4. HereAfter

5. Sacrifice

6. Emotions

 

Essentially ‘Ibada (worship) is a term that comprises everything Allah loves (Jaami’ li-Kulli maa yuhibu-Allah).

 

Explanation of Fatiha and it’s Effects on the Soul

 

In Islam we don’t have an abstract idea of spirituality. It is something very real and concrete. It is tangible.

The evidence for tazkiyatul nafs (purification of the soul) is found in the Sharia (Islamic Law).

 

Ibrahim (as) makes his dua’ (prayer) for the children of Isma’el and that region from which we can deduce four points,

“Our Lord! and raise up in them a Messenger from among them who shall recite to them Thy signs and teach them the Book and the wisdom, and purify them; surely Thou art the Mighty, the Wise.” (2:129)

1. Read Your verses

2. Book

3. Wisdom (Sunna)

4. Purify them

 

In the same Sura we see the realization and manifestation of this dua’,

“Even as We have sent among you a Messenger from among you who recites to you Our signs and purifies you and teaches you the Book and the wisdom and teaches you that which you did not know.” (2:151)

Here we see that Allah has taken tazkiyah from #4 to #2 in the order of the verse, this is repeated in Sura Jumua and Al-e Imran. The purpose for this elevation in the order is to highlight the importance of tazkiyah.

 

The Sura Shams also relates the importance of tazkiya. In this Sura Allah swears by many things of His creation. Whenever Allah swears by something it is always to emphasize a point, there is always a Jawab al-Qasim or answer to His swearing. In this Sura Allah swears eight times in order to mention and highlight the soul and the importance of purifying it. “By the Sun and his (glorious) splendour; By the Moon as she follows him; By the Day as it shows up (the Sun’s) glory; By the Night as it conceals it; By the Firmament and its (wonderful) structure; By the Earth and its (wide) expanse: By the Soul, and the proportion and order given to it; And its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right;- Truly he succeeds that purifies it, And he fails that corrupts it!” (91:1-10)

 

The tazkiyah of the nafs is intricately related to the tazkiya of the heart. As the Prophet (pbuh) related to us that, “There is a piece of flesh that if it is clean the whole body is clean. That is the heart.”

 

In Sura Ibrahim Allah gives us a parable,

“Seest thou not how Allah sets forth a parable? – A goodly word like a goodly tree, whose root is firmly fixed, and its branches (reach) to the heavens,- of its Lord. So Allah sets forth parables for men, in order that they may receive admonition.” (14:24)

According to Ibn Abbas (ra), this is a simile of a believer. The foundation, the “root” is the heart and the branches that reach up to heavens are the actions, i.e. the fruit, of the believer whose heart is “saleem.”

 

All the true Tariqas of Tasawwuf (Paths of Sufism) are based upon Sharia’. It is important to guard the Sharia’ and the leaving of it is a form of corrupting the soul. As both Shakyh Abdul Qadir Jilani and Junaid Baghdadi (ra) stated that, “Our Path is built upon the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger” (“Tariqatuna mabniyun ‘ala Kitab-ul-Allah wa ‘ala Sunnat-ir-Rasool”).

 

Sura Fatiha, the title itself is indicative of purification of the heart. As the word Fatiha, is an Ism Fa’il which indicates that it means more than just “Opening” as it is usually translated and actually means the “Opener.” It is the Sura that Opens up the hearts.

 

Sura Fatiha begins in the 3rd person, from verse 1-3, then switches to the 1st person. This is a very interesting aspect of the Sura and Ibn Kathir mentions this.

Verse 1-3, mentions Tawheed and the three aspects of Tawheed:

V.1-Lordship/Power

V.2-Names and Attributes

V.3-His Actions, no one can judge like Him.

Ibn Kathir says, when you recite “Alhamdu” (All praise…) you have taken a step closer to Allah as you have approached Him by His Lordship, and when you recite “Ar’Rahman-er-Raheem” (The Beneficient, The Compassionate) you have taken another step towards Allah as you have approached Him by His names and attributes. Some Ulema have said regarding this verse and the attribute of Rahman that it is in fact a synonym for Allah and not an attribute. It is an actual name.

So then you recite “Maliki Yawm-e-Deen” (Owner of the Day of Recompense) and you have approached Him through His actions and taken a step closer to Him and then the next verse it switches from third person to first person and it is as if you are in front of the Most High and Glorious and you are speaking and asking of Him directly.

 

You approached Allah through His Oneness and in verse four the door of dua’ is opened. This is also a teaching on the adab and correct way of making dua’.

 

These were the gems I gleamed from these lectures as pertaining to Surah Fatiha, but there was a lot more ground that Sh. Suhaib Webb covered and I would recommend you listen to the actual lectures to get the full taste. He covers: How to Approach the Qur’an, The attacks of Shaytan, the disease of arrogance and many other things.

 

Continued from Part 1; www.flickr.com/photos/42093313@N00/50981745732/in/datepos...

 

When Patience Appeared

 

Hazrat Ali (ratu) was the same person whose poem about death is what I chose to place on the last page of “The Softest Heart.” Never had I heard such words related to an experience most deeply feared.

 

جزى الله عنا الموت خيرا فإنه

أبر بنا من كل بر و أرأف

 

May Allah reward death with only goodness from us,

For it was more kind and merciful than anything else.

 

Enmity, it seemed, had appeared to restore me. I became profoundly aware of that. How it was going to change my reaction I still did not know. But my door was now open and even I was not laughing I was now standing to welcome the trials. One element of the story above echoed in my mind constantly; the ability to forgive someone before they did something wrong, knowing that they would do it.

 

I always forgive after. I’m happy to do it most when there is an apology but of course that is beyond rare. I never get an apology. Still, if someone acts crazy, then starts acting normal, I forgive them even though they never asked for it.

 

I do it cleanly without holding a grudge. I love having them back in my life. Part of that is my resistance to change. I like things to be the same. Even when that’s never possible because people always become different. The trauma of life changes them forever. Still I manager to harbor hope that they can again be the same.

 

I asked Qari Sahib about Maula Ali’s (ratu) ability to forgive for an act yet to be committed. I knew each person’s reaction to be a function of the cause of the difficulty. In fact it was almost always directly related to that cause. Who was forgiven and who was punished? Who was allowed to stay in one’s life and who was banished forever?

 

For the same acts, the reactions were always a function of the instigator. That is what determined their fate. So how could one separate myself from that cause like Ghaus Pak (ra) instructed? That would dictate that the reaction would have to be the exact same for all. There could be no bias.

 

Qari Sahib reminded me that the answer had been given to me already.

 

مَا أَصَابَ مِن مُّصِيبَةٍ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ وَمَن يُؤْمِن بِاللَّهِ يَهْدِ قَلْبَهُ وَاللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيم

 

No calamity can ever befall someone unless it is by God’s leave.

Hence whoever believes in God guides his own heart towards this Truth.

And God has full knowledge of everything.

Surah At-Taghabun, Verse 11

 

“You have to remember this verse. And when you forget it and react to the person, then you have to remember it again. Everything is coming from God alone. The person is the means for delivery and deliverance. But it is true. For most of us, everything happens after the event. Then we have a choice. To forgive or not we leave it up to us. That is why reactions vary according to the person.

 

In the state of forgiving someone before they do something wrong, there is in fact no forgiving because there is nothing to forgive. The crime has not yet been committed. So then it means it is not about forgiveness. It is about not keeping bughs, grudge, hate, in the heart. Hazrat Ali (ratu) exemplifies that perfectly in this incident.

 

What the other person is doing that appears wrong to you is pre-destined. For them and for you. Like the slave is going to kill Maula e Kayinaat (ratu). That is what he is saying. He accepts what that man will do willingly and does not begrudge him for it because it is Allah’s Wish that He does it. So he has no difficulty in allowing him to continue working for him, seeing him day in an day out. It has no effect.

 

Only God makes such a reaction possible in a person. You cannot attain it except through Him. And your Spiritual Master, the one who is His true Khalifa, Vice-regent, in this world, whose ‘hand is His Hand’.”

 

I looked up the verse with him in the Tafseer e Jilani to understand the word “asaba,” the hardship. The first line itself was bewildering;

 

“Then said Allah Subhan Ta’ala to those who are steadfast in His Ma’rifat, Recognition, and Iqaan, lodging themselves firmly in certainty related to Him, who have surrendered in utmost submission and placed themselves in the field of trust entirely and only upon Allah, ‘Whoever it is that something comes upon and whatever it is, be it an incident of happiness or grief, it is according to His Will and what He has destined.’”

 

So for starters not just hardship; happiness and grief.

 

“The one who has Imaan, (inadequately translated in the English as merely ‘believes in God,’) is in fact the one who entrusts his matters to Allah, the one who accepts Him as the Disposer of his affairs and makes Him for himself sufficient and his only Caretaker. This person is the one who will then receive light in his heart, (guidance) and will then be made to see the signs of Oneness and surety (Truth).”

 

Again Imaan. That is what Hazrat Ali (ratu) possessed.

 

Qari Sahib continued, “So you might ask why should I exercise sabr? Why should I be patient? Why shouldn’t I feel badly for what is happening to me, especially when I don’t deserve it, when I didn’t do anything wrong? There is only one reason and one reason alone to do anything for the one who claims love for God. To seek His Pleasure!”

 

وَٱلَّذِينَ صَبَرُوا۟ ٱبْتِغَآءَ وَجْهِ رَبِّهِمْ وَأَقَامُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَأَنفَقُوا۟ مِمَّا رَزَقْنَـٰهُمْ سِرًّۭا وَعَلَانِيَةًۭ

وَيَدْرَءُونَ بِٱلْحَسَنَةِ ٱلسَّيِّئَةَ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ لَهُمْ عُقْبَى ٱلدَّارِ

 

And those who observe patience in order to seek the pleasure of their Lord and establish prayer and spend secretly and openly from what We have given to them,

and respond to evil with good.

Those are the ones for whom there is fulfillment in the Hereafter,

Surah Ar-Rad, Verse 22

 

We moved to the next verse.

 

جَنَّـٰتُ عَدْنٍۢ يَدْخُلُونَهَا وَمَن صَلَحَ مِنْ ءَابَآئِهِمْ وَأَزْوَٰجِهِمْ وَذُرِّيَّـٰتِهِمْ ۖ وَٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ يَدْخُلُونَ عَلَيْهِم مِّن كُلِّ بَابٍۢ

سَلَـٰمٌ عَلَيْكُم بِمَا صَبَرْتُمْ ۚ فَنِعْمَ عُقْبَى ٱلدَّارِ

 

the eternal gardens they enter, and those as well who are righteous from their fathers, spouses, and progeny. The angels will enter onto them from every gate and say,

“Peace on you for the patience you observed. So, how excellent is the ultimate abode.”

Surah Ar-Rad, Verse 23

 

Qari Sahib pointed out an amazing subtlety. “When a hardship appears the Quran directs one to be patient and pray and give charity and respond with goodness to harshness. But what is it that the angels present their “salam” upon the person for. It is not for the prayers or the spending or the reaction, responding in a goodly manner to evil. It is for the patience. ‘Peace on you for the patience you observed.’”

 

Every day after the condoling for my father began I whined about how I hated the ritual. And in every word I saw my pride and judgment. People came in casually and then left. They didn’t speak about him. How could they, they didn’t know him. They didn’t even really know me. My nafs was so fired up with righteous indignation, I was actually ashamed.

 

During those nights, every night I asked Allah to forgive me, prayed before Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) to please ask His Lord to forgive me so I was certain that He had and pledged to not be crazy the next day. Day after day I found myself in a holding pattern and I knew why. I couldn’t control my tongue.

 

And Maulana Rum (ra) was saying even that was a gift. What I perceived as indifference in the others who visited me. It was a test. That I failed every single day. For the life of me, I could not escape it.

 

عَنْ عُقْبَةَ بْنِ عَامِرٍ، قَالَ:‏‏‏‏ قُلْتُ:‏‏‏‏ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ،‏‏‏‏ مَا النَّجَاةُ؟

قَالَ:‏‏‏‏ أَمْسِكْ عَلَيْكَ لِسَانَكَ وَلْيَسَعْكَ بَيْتُكَ وَابْكِ عَلَى خَطِيئَتِكَ

 

As narrated by Hazrat Uqba Bin Amir (ratu):

I asked, ”Ya Rasool Allah (peace be upon you)! Where lies salvation?”

He replied, “Keep your tongue in control, have your home capable of holding you

and shed tears upon your mistakes.”

 

My aql, power of reflection, would tell me to be silence. My base self would tell me to keep speaking and I would acquiesce to the latter, only to regret it, sometimes while I did it. The words would leave my mouth and as I heard them I admonished myself but I kept speaking. It made me think of an incident from Ghaus Pak’s (ra) life from the Masnavi. It highlighted magnificently how the Chosen reacted to the same prompts of the nafs, crushing it.

 

“Hazrat Sheikh Abul Abbas (ra) narrates: ‘I heard from Ghaus Pak (ra) that for 40 years he prayed the morning prayer, Fajr, with the ablution from the night before at Isha’ and for 15 years, he stood on one foot and finished the Quran before the morning dawned.

 

One night he was climbing a ladder when his nafs, ego, said to him, “How I wish you would sleep for just a moment and then worship after.”

 

As soon as the thought entered his heart, Ghaus Pak (ra) stood on one foot and started reciting the Quran and stayed in that state till he finished it.”

 

I had also read of the wali Allah who jumped in an icy cold river when his nafs suggested perhaps a wudu, ablution, with warm water one day might be nice. Or the Friend of God who chose the longer, abandoned route to his destination over the shorter one with cities and places of rest and food when his nafs suggested the latter. These were one time suggestions.

 

The suggestions were not even evil or propelling towards “wrongdoing” yet their reactions were so swift and severe.

At least thing was clear. To discipline my nafs I had to do the exact opposite of everything it wanted. Was that ever going to be possible? Starting with the tongue, would it embrace silence?

 

I thought of a line from my video for Maulana Rum (ra);

 

"My staying awake was better than sleeping."

 

And made up one for myself;

 

Meri khamoshi merey bolney se behtar thi

 

My silence was always better than my speaking.

 

I realized that the tongue speaks when it shouldn’t out of pride, a sheer lack of humility. Those who are humble never react. Some may simply not like confrontation, that could be their reason. But the fact that they control their tongue or their tongue controls them, in this case, by forcing silence made them lucky compared to me.

 

Sometimes when I speak the truth in terms of warning someone, a universal truth that I myself was taught by others, I hear the pride in my voice. But when I ask a person to do something good, a deed that again I learnt through others, I sound gentle and people always thank me. It’s because in the former I invoke fear. That makes them withdraw.

 

In the latter I come from a place of softness, love, joy. They embrace me. The difference was so stark I stopped the former altogether. It is the mark of a Sufi that they never point out any person’s flaw. They just change hearts with a glance.

 

Subhan Allah!

 

I decided to study humility from the Quran. I had been seeking it as a gift for God from myself. It was the only thing Allah Ta’ala didn’t possess because He was Al-Mutakabbir, The Possessor of All Greatness. Perhaps that’s what made it His favourite quality in Mankind. On the Night of Ascension, when Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) was asked by His Lord,

“What did you bring for Me?” he had answered, “My humility.” I knew then there was only one gift possible.

 

I found there are many verbs for the attribute in the verses; taddarra’, istaka’nu, haunan, leen, ruhamma. The ahadith were filled with the notion. I read many and my eyes lodged on one.

 

قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:

عَرَضَ عَلَيَّ رَبِّي لِيَجْعَلَ لِي يطحاء مَكَّة ذَهَبا

فَقلت: لَا يارب وَلَكِنْ أَشْبَعُ يَوْمًا وَأَجُوعُ يَوْمًا

فَإِذَا جُعْتُ تَضَرَّعْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَذَكَرْتُكَ وَإِذَا شَبِعَتُ حَمِدْتُكَ وَشَكَرْتُكَ

 

Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) said, “My Lord - the Mighty and Majestic - gave me the choice that the valley of Mecca be filled with gold,

but I said: No, O Lord,

but, grant food to me one day, and hunger one day.

So when I am hungry, I humble myself before You and remember You,

and when I am full, I am grateful to You."

 

Hazrat Ali’s (ratu) words of wisdom that stunned me the first time I heard them were coming from his beloved master. “There are only two kinds of days in life; a day of sabr, patience and a day of shukr, gratitude.”

 

When I had heard the words I was left amazed that there wasn’t even a third kind of day. And I had also learnt through his qaul, saying, that all the other attributes that existed in the Universe therefore came under the umbrella of sabr and shukr. For there was no day of generosity and no day of forgiveness, only patience or gratitude. One or the other!

 

Maula Ali’s (ratu) expression of gratitude was as unique as they came. So much so that one particular incident of his giving revealed a verse of the Quran solely because of it.

 

One day the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came to the Mosque. Some of the companions were standing and some were bowing down in ruku’ (bending so as to touch their knees with their hands).

 

There he saw a poor person and asked him, “Did someone give you anything?”

 

He replied, “Yes. A silver ring.”

 

The Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) asked, “Who gave it to you?”

 

He pointed towards Maula Ali (ratu) and said, “That man who is now standing.”

 

The Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) asked, “How did he give it to you?”

 

The man replied, “He was in ruku’.”

 

The Prophet (peace be upon him) smiled and recited the following verse:

 

إِنَّمَا وَلِيُّكُمُ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا الَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ

وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَهُمْ رَاكِعُونَ

 

Only are your true helpers Allah and His Messenger (saw)

and those who have attained to faith,

the ones who are firmly immersed in their prayers,

who give the charity that purifies,

while they bow in worship.

Surah Al-Maidah, Verse 55

 

For days after I read the story, when I bent in ruku’ in my prayers I played with my finger as if there was a ring in it and wondered how I might give it to someone. Fulfilling someone’s need we all have done. But doing it while praying was something else. Especially for someone who said,

 

لم اعبد ربا لم اره

 

Never did I pray before my Lord without seeing Him.

Who else was ever going to be giving charity while being in ruku’ in the Universe?

 

Qari Sahib said of the verse; “When the verse is revealed upon the incident, then the word “innama”, only and only, confirms that there are three wali for us, translated any way you like, guardian, patron, ally, helper, protector, friend; Allah, the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the one who have Imaan in their hearts, the Mo’mineen, of whom Maula e Kayinaat (ratu) is the perfect personification.”

 

It is not the only time a verse was connected to Hazrat Ali (ratu). Imam Abu Bakr Ahmed Bin Musa Al Asfahany also known as Ibn e Mardaway wrote a book, Manaqab Ali Ibn e Abi Talib, in which he associates 300 verses in the Quran with his person.

 

“300!” I made a mental note to study the book.

 

The words of Nabi Pak’s (peace be upon him) hadith declining the gold and asking for hunger instead revealed a most extraordinary jewel, previously unknown to me. All I had heard in every lecture of my life was that humility was only and only a consequence of the practice of gratitude. But here the words of Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) were saying, that the hunger, the trial, its acceptance, the reaction of patience when an essential need was not met, made one humble.

 

I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Gratitude is practiced for the blessings one is bestowed. The thanks for the blessing is expressed by an act of goodness for another. Feeding the hungry is the best of those deeds. It was my chosen deed because it was Ghaus Pak’s (ra) chosen deed. So when I practiced gratitude, I was happy about something I had received from God, always undeservedly, and in turn I spread happiness by making someone else’s day. In a minor or major way. It was the easiest thing in the world.

 

But patience was much harder. Being on the receiving end of

pain and forgiving everyone everything, then not holding a grudge, not dying for the ordeal to end, not thinking of it as difficult. All of it was difficult and the fruit of it was humility. Gratitude made me humble in relation to my material possessions. It made me more generous, again only because I saw myself as the primary beneficiary from the peace of mind I derived. But patience, if I could practice patience, it would finally render me humble in my speech and therefore all of my behaviour.

 

Perhaps that is why, on the eve of Maula Ali’s (ratu) birthday, Allah Subhan Ta’ala sent me a gift because of him. It was as if someone whispered softly in my ear, “Learn patience!”

 

Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) said,

 

العقل اصل دینی

 

Aql, the power to reflect, is the essence of my religion.

And the Sufi Hazrat Haris al Muhasabi (ra) says,

 

لکلِّ شيئٍ جَوْهَرٌ،

وجَوْهَرُ الإنسانِ العقلُ،

وجَوْهَر العقل الصَّبْرُ

 

Everything has a core and the gist of the Insaan is the Aql,

and the essence of the Aql is sabr, patience.

 

I found the verbs for humility in many verses and then chose two to study the tafaseer from the Tafseer e Jilani with Qari Sahib. The first verse only because it was a personal favourite mainly due to its specificity of the mark of gentleness; walking on the ground softly. It was a personal trait I was told I inherited from my Uncle.

 

وَعِبَادُ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلَّذِينَ يَمْشُونَ عَلَى ٱلْأَرْضِ هَوْنًۭا وَإِذَا خَاطَبَهُمُ ٱلْجَـٰهِلُونَ قَالُوا۟ سَلَـٰمًۭا

 

For the (true) servants of Allah are they who walk gently on the Earth

and who whenever the foolish address them, reply only with (words of) peace.

Surah Al-Furqan, Verse 63

 

Tafseer e Jilani: “Those who are going to be fortunate so as to be successful in their meeting with God and reaching the state of pleasing God, in this world which is a place of difficulty and trial and misfortune, they are humble in the physical being and inside their heart. They avoid unnecessary arguing with others, and are without pride and arrogance.”

 

But the action of humility on my part here was limited to the walking alone. I was not humble in my heart. The second verse confirmed exactly how far I was from attaining that state.

 

فَإِلَـٰهُكُمْ إِلَـٰهٌۭ وَٰحِدٌۭ فَلَهُۥٓ أَسْلِمُوا۟ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلْمُخْبِتِينَ

 

Your God is the one God so submit to Him.

And give good news to the humble of heart.

Surah Al-Hajj, Verse 34

 

Tafseer e Jilani: “Give glad tidings to them of great reward and higher ranks and success and the honour of Our meeting. To the ones who are obedient in their overt being and are humble in their inner being, i.e. those whose fire of their lusts and desires has been extinguished and has become ash because of the Awe of Allah.”

 

“Those whose fire of their lusts and desires has been extinguished and has become ash!”

 

The disappointment on my face must have been visible for Qari Sahib made me study a third verse. It didn’t make me feel much better but it did clearly highlight how difficult humility was to achieve for everyone.

 

وَاسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلَاةِ وَإِنَّهَا لَكَبِيرَةٌ إِلَّا عَلَى الْخَاشِعِين

 

Seek help through patience and prayer.

Indeed it is difficult, except for the humbles ones.

Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 45

 

Tafseer e Jilani: “For the sake of nearness to God and attention from Him, stay away from the pleasures physical and all things lustful that are alluring. And seek detachment from everything except God through prayer. And do not think it easy or take it lightly. It is difficult for everyone except the khashiyeen, the ones whose hearts are humbly in surrender.”

 

But the exception also provided the first step. Surrender allowed for everything to become possible. I decided to come at my nafs from the opposite angle. Face the issue head-on so to speak and understand my pride instead. Luckily Qari Sahib was doing a series of lectures on Surah Luqman. One of those happened to focus on the element of pride.

 

“There are four main sources of pride, that make it appear in a human being; wealth, fame, power and lineage.”

 

I breathed a sigh of relief. I possessed none of those.

 

“And what are the causes that make pride exist? In whom does it appear? The denier of truth, the ungrateful, the one obedient only to their desire, the ones who deny the Afterlife, the envious.”

 

إِلَٰهُكُمْ إِلَٰهٌ وَاحِدٌ فَالَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْآخِرَةِ قُلُوبُهُم مُّنكِرَةٌ وَهُم مُّسْتَكْبِرُون

 

Your God is the One God but, because of their arrogance, the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter refuse to admit the truth.

Surah An-Nahl, Verse 22

 

He gave the example of the verse of the deniers of the Afterlife but my focus was elsewhere; “the one obedient to their desire,” caving to the nafs, being led by it.

 

“And lastly, how does one know that pride will come to exist in them for sure? They will leave the laws of the Sharia’ (Islamic Jurisprudence), they will give up worship, they will deny the ayaat, the Signs of Allah on this Earth, they will think of others as lowly. They will think what others received should have come instead to them.”

 

When he started listing the examples of the various expressions of pride in the Quran, I felt aghast at the words the disbelievers used in front of their Prophets. I imagined if I was there what I would do.

 

فَقَالَ ٱلْمَلَأُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مِن قَوْمِهِۦ

مَا نَرَىٰكَ إِلَّا بَشَرًۭا مِّثْلَنَا وَمَا نَرَىٰكَ ٱتَّبَعَكَ إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ أَرَاذِلُنَا بَادِىَ ٱلرَّأْىِ

وَمَا نَرَىٰ لَكُمْ عَلَيْنَا مِن فَضْلٍۭ بَلْ نَظُنُّكُمْ كَـٰذِبِينَ

 

So said the chiefs of those who disbelieved from his people,

"We do not see in you anything but a mortal man like us,

and not we see you followed, except by those who they are the most lowly amongst us.

We do not think you could be superior to us in any way. On the contrary we think you are liars."

Surah Hud, Verse 27

 

Then others going on to say, “It should have been anyone but you.”

 

وَقَالُوا۟ لَوْلَا نُزِّلَ هَـٰذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانُ عَلَىٰ رَجُلٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْقَرْيَتَيْنِ عَظِيمٍ

 

They also said, “If only this Quran was sent down to a great man from one of the two cities.”

Surah Az-Zukhruf, Verse 31

 

Or daring them to do things to prove themselves.

 

وَقَالُوا لَن نُّؤْمِنَ لَكَ حَتَّىٰ تَفْجُرَ لَنَا مِنَ الْأَرْضِ يَنبُوعً

أَوْ تَكُونَ لَكَ جَنَّةٌ مِّن نَّخِيلٍ وَعِنَبٍ فَتُفَجِّرَ الْأَنْهَارَ خِلَالَهَا تَفْجِيرً

أَوْ تُسْقِطَ السَّمَاءَ كَمَا زَعَمْتَ عَلَيْنَا كِسَفًا أَوْ تَأْتِيَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةِ قَبِيلً

 

And so they say, “O Prophet of God, until you cause a spring to gush up from the earth,

Or unless you have a garden of date-palms and grapes and you cause rivers to gush through it abundantly.

Surah Al-Isra’, Verse 90

 

It reminded me of the incident of the Suleh Hudaibiya when the treaty was being signed between Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) and the polytheists of Mecca.

 

“When the terms of the agreement were set, they were written down so that there would not be any room for denial after. Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) asked Maula Ali (ratu) to pen the agreement. Maula Ali (ratu) wrote below on behalf of the Prophet (peace be upon him) “Muhammad, the Messenger of God.”

 

From the infidels Urwa Bin Masood raised an objection that if they had been willing to accept him as the Messenger of God then what would remain the contention between them. Hence he insisted that the words, “Messenger of God” be removed. Maula Ali (ratu) refused.

 

Finally the Prophet of God (peace be upon him) asked Hazrat Ali (ratu) himself to remove the words declaring his prophethood. “Write instead, Muhammad Bin Adullah.” Imam Ali (ratu) quietly responded, “I am not able to erase the words.” So Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) said, “Show me where you have written it.” Then he erased the words himself.

 

“They are humble in the physical and in the heart. They avoid unnecessary arguing with others, and are without pride and arrogance.”

 

Of course it was Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) again who showed me, in their entirety, all the aspects of the nafs.

 

بحديث رسول الله ( صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم ) إذ دخل على رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وآله) رجل اسمه مجاشع،

فقال: يا رسول الله ! كيف الطريق إلى معرفة الحق ؟ فقال (صلى الله عليه وآله) : معرفة النفس ،

فقال: يا رسول الله ! فكيف الطريق إلى موافقة الحق ؟ قال: مخالفة النفس،

فقال: يا رسول الله ! فكيف الطريق إلى رضا الحق ؟ قال: سخط النفس،

فقال : يا رسول الله ! فكيف الطريق إلى وصل الحق ؟ قال: هجر النفس ،

فقال: يا رسول الله ! فكيف الطريق إلى طاعة الحق ؟ قال: عصيان النفس،

فقال: يا رسول الله ! فكيف الطريق إلى ذكر الحق ؟ قال: نسيان النفس،

فقال: يا رسول الله ! فكيف الطريق إلى قرب الحق ؟ قال: التباعد من النفس،

فقال: يا رسول الله ! فكيف الطريق إلى انس الحق ؟ قال: الوحشة من النفس،

فقال: يا رسول الله ! فكيف الطريق إلى ذلك ؟ قال: الاستعانة بالحق على النفس

 

“How will I find the way to recognize God?” So he said, “Know your self.”

 

“How will one find the way to God?” “Oppose your nafs.”

 

“How can I find the pleasure of God?” “Make your nafs angry and Allah will become pleased.”

 

“How do I join with God?” “Separate yourself from your nafs.”

 

“How do I become obedient to God?” “Become disobedient to your nafs.”

 

“How do I find the way to remember God?” “Forget your nafs and you will remember God.”

 

“How do I find closeness to God?” Distance yourself from your nafs and you will become close to God.

 

Diametric opposites!

 

In these days I was listening to a series of lectures by Uzair and a hadith that I had used more than once in my writing came up so I was intrigued. Where would Uzair take it and what would he take away from it?

 

It was a hadith Qudsi. He began with the definition; “When Allah speaks from His Infinite Wisdom it is the Quran and when the words are His, infinite in their meaning, but it is the Prophet (peace the upon him) who chooses the words to express it so as to make it understandable, it is a hadith Qudsi.”

 

Allah (Mighty and Sublime be He) said: Whosoever shows

enmity to someone devoted to Me, I shall be at war with him. My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him.

 

And My Servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him.

 

When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks.

 

Uzair spoke about his being shook by the hadith because in all the monotheistic religions, Islam placed an emphasis on Tauheed, the One-ness of God, like nothing else. There were no images, there were no representations of Allah in any form.

 

“So when Allah says ‘I become his eyes and his ears and his tongue,’ I felt shocked. Is this the same God who otherwise says in the Quran, quite literally, that He can be compared to nothing.”

 

لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ

 

There is nothing like Him.

Surah Ash-Shura’a, Verse 11

 

“The hadith is established as authentic and of course also the most studied and debated. But then these were scholars. They were people who also never felt this hadith as in they were never in the haal, the state, themselves where God took over their being. All they could do is discuss it. They could not shed a light upon it from personal experience. So I studied what those have to say about it that actually experienced this state.”

 

Uzair started with Hazrat Haris Al Muhasabi (ra): “The great Sufi speaks to the hadith Qudsi in his own particular way. He comes at it from two sides; tazkiya a nafs, the purification of the nafs, the self and tasfiya e qalb, the cleansing of the heart. How does he describe that that means in layman’s terms?

 

Tazkiya is the cleaning of the overt. Tasfiya is the cleaning of the inner. Let me try to explain with this example. When you wipe something dirty with a cloth, the dirt then becomes a part of the cloth once the thing is cleaned. When you now clean the cloth, you will immerse it in water and squeeze it. This squeezing of the cloth that had absorbed the dirt is tasfiya.

 

Muhasabi says that this hadith gives the seeker the tool to purify his nafs as well as his qalb through prayer; the nawafil and the faraiz. Without the supplication of both prayers, a Sufi cannot become a Sufi. This is how his argument starts. Allah has placed responsibility on the physical body as well as the heart. It is not just the heart and certainly never just the body. In fact, He has chosen the body to manifest the purity of the heart, to represent it.”

 

I was instantly reminded of a story from the Masnavi about Hazrat Ali (ratu) which manifested his purity in both, the body

and the heart:

 

از علی آموزِ اخلاصِ عمل

شیرِ حق را داں مطہر از دغل

 

Learn sincerity in deed from Maula Ali (ratu)

The Lion of God is free of all grudge.

 

“Once in a battle, Hazrat Ali (ratu) overpowered a wrestler. He pulled out his sword and pinned him with it. The man spat on his face, the countenance which is a source of honour for every Prophet and every Friend of God and before which even the moon fades.

 

Hazrat Maula Ali (ratu) extinguished the flames of his anger. He threw his sword to the ground and paused his attack. The wrestler was amazed by the unexpected forgiveness and mercy of the action.

 

He said, “You raised Zulfiqar, your sword, on me. Then why did you throw it and let me go? What did you think of that was better than fighting me? What has happened that your anger leaves you?

 

O Eagle of Paradise! You who is the best of hunters!

Tell me, what did you receive from God in that moment?”

 

Out of four pages on his response, I chose two couplets by Maulana (ra) to capture Maula Ali’s (ratu) response to his opponent.

 

گفت من از تیغ پئے حق میزنم

بندۂ حقم نہ مامورِ تنم

 

Maula Ali (ratu) replied, “I use my sword in the Way of God for God.

I am a slave of Allah, not of my body.

 

شیرِ حقم ، نیستم شیر ھوا

فعل من بر دین من باشد گوا

 

“I am the Lion of Allah, I do not cave to the desires of the self.

And my deeds will bear witness to my faith.”

I chose the couplet because of the last line; My deeds will bear witness to my faith.”

 

It was like Ghaus Pak (ra) summarized the one incident in his direction of how to be counted amongst those with Imaan:

“Follow the guidance of the Quran and the Sunnah and bring it into deed. Being sincere in the execution of that act is what makes that act become the witness of the claim of being of the faithful.”

 

Uzair says that purification is the foundation of faith. If deen, religion has to be summarized in a single word, it is tazkiya. Only the one who is pure, will be able to even touch the Quran. Touch here meaning understand, be guided by. Not just pure of body but also pure of heart!

 

لَّا يَمَسُّهُ إِلَّا الْمُطَهَّرُون

 

Which none but the pure of heart can touch.

Surah Al-Waqiyah, Verse 79

 

And there is only one that makes us pure.

 

لَقَدْ مَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذْ بَعَثَ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِّنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ

وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ

وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ

وَإِن كَانُوا مِن قَبْلُ لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِين

 

Allah was gracious to the believers by sending them a Messenger from amongst them, reciting to them His Verses, purifying them and teaching them the Book and Wisdom, though they were previously in clear error.

Surah Aal e Imran, Verse 164

 

I looked up just the word “Yukazzikihim, he purifies you.”

 

Tafseer e Jilani: “He is the one who will purify you from the wayward desires that come from the whisperings of Iblis and his followers. It is those desires that make you astray from the Path of God.”

 

The distinction in the tafseer was made clear. Iblis encourages the deeds forbidden but it is the choice of the Insaan to follow that command that then comes from the nafs to commit the act or to resist.

 

Hazrat Ali (ratu):

 

دواؤك فيه وما تشعر

وداؤك منك وما تبصر

 

Your cure lies within you but you don’t feel it.

And what ails you comes from you but you don’t see it.

 

For me it was a relief that there was no purifying one’s own self. In any case, those who claimed it were only exhibiting pride. For the intent behind the claim of purity, which had to be spoken again via the tongue, was showing off before others and likely lacked deed.

 

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ يُزَكُّونَ أَنفُسَهُم بَلِ اللَّهُ يُزَكِّي مَن يَشَاءُ وَلَا يُظْلَمُونَ فَتِيلً

 

O Beloved (peace be upon you), have you not seen the ones who consider themselves pure?

Nay, but it is God who purifies whomever He wills.

Surah An-Nisa’, Verse 49

 

Uzair returned to the hadith Qudsi via Imaan. “The pivot of everything is having faith. Imaan is what allows for everything to happen for a human being. So it is important to understand what Imaan is.

 

The Fuqaha, Islamic jurists, define Imaan as this:

 

حقيقة الايمان هو تصديق بالجنان،

وإقرار باللسان،

وعمل بالأركان

 

Imaan is based on three elements; the tongue utters the Shahada; There is no God but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is His Messenger. The heart testifies to it and the body then acts in accordance to it.

 

Many take the hadith Qudsi literally, that Allah takes control of the people physically, their eyes and ears and tongue. But Muhasabi (ra) says it is not that. “La yaskunu Allahu fi abdihi” Allah does not take residence in them. It is in fact the epitome of obedience, with utmost willingness on their part towards their Lord, which makes God take control of their being.

 

Then their eyes only see what Allah wants them to see, their hands only touch that which Allah wishes, their legs only take them there where Allah desires them to be. The same for the tongue. It is the safeguarding of the Friend by his God, his “hifazat.” There is no independence of the person anymore, no choice. Allah is not residing in them, He is controlling them.

 

Zulnoon Misry (ra) says that this hadith is the highest aspiration of tasawuff, spirituality for the Sufi. It is the final frontier for them. In order to arrive there the Free Will, the choices granted by God, exactly those have to be sacrificed for God. It is an act of volition, it is not imposed upon one. Not everyone wants it so they don’t have to do it but those who do want their seeing and hearing to become God’s, they

willingly sacrifice their will for Allah’s Will.

 

And Hazrat Bayazid Bastami (ra) places the cherry on this same thought.

 

فشاء بي من شأت

 

Meaning, ‘This person is the one who can only and only wants that which Allah wants.’ Then he quotes the verse:

 

God said to Hazrat Bayazid Bastami (ra), ‘Leave your nafs and then come closer to Me. If you come with it, you cannot reach this rank (of becoming My Attributes).’

 

Every single Sufi has gone deeply into this hadith Qudsi. It has a central importance in spirituality. It is kind of a pivot upon which stands the structure of saintliness. To summarize, there are three elements in common in all; the important of farz and nafl in our worship, the purification of the nafs and the cleansing of the heart and lastly, the placement of a Khalifa, a Successor by Allah on this Earth. The Vice-regency of God is that the all the senses come into the control of God. The person becomes the property of God.”

 

I love knowing as much as I can about the highest states. The exalted ranks that are so far out of my reach that just the knowing of their existence itself makes me feel euphoria. That it happens for others makes me ecstatic. That it’s a possibility for all makes me weep.

 

The thing popping out for me at my kindergarten level was just the ratio of doing what the nafs wants to do versus what God wanted me to do. Zero to 100% was the beginning of course. What I didn’t do that He forbade was more a consequence of my environment that being consciously mindful of Him. But then as the ratio shifted or rather was made to shift, I knew now with certainty it came about for one reason alone; willing obedience! So that which was not happening for me was coming about as a result of its opposite; willing disobedience!

 

The ones who strive with sincerity are the ones who are shown the way.

 

وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِين

 

And those who strive hard in Our Cause, We will surely, guide them in Our Ways. And indeed, Allah is with those who do good.

Surah Al-Ankabut, Verse 69

 

I couldn’t help smiling to myself that I had ended up including the two times in the Quran, Allah uses the word ma’a, with: Allah is with the Sabireen, the patient. Allah is with the Muhsineen, the ones who do good.

 

Over the years I have come to understand what the Quran says in one of my most favourite Surahs, Al-Inshishira.

 

فَإِنَّ مَعَ ٱلْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا

 

For surely, with hardship comes ease.

 

Each trial is a means to test reaction, calibrate behaviour and strive for excellence in it. Evolve. Change reaction. Forgive one own self for being unforgiving, albeit unknowingly. Escape the trap by justification. Be free, start over!

 

After my father’s death one form of that ease, as it turns out, bizarrely appeared in the flip of how, me, the child was suddenly in control of their parent’s destiny where it mattered most because it was eternal; the Afterlife.

 

أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ إِذَا مَاتَ الْإِنْسَانُ انْقَطَعَ عَمَلُهُ

إِلَّا مِنْ ثَلَاثَةٍ مِنْ صَدَقَةٍ جَارِيَةٍ وَعِلْمٍ يُنْتَفَعُ بِهِ وَوَلَدٍ صَالِحٍ يَدْعُو لَهُ

 

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “When a human being dies, all of his deeds are terminated except for three types:

an ongoing sadaqah (the alms given voluntarily),

a knowledge (of Islam) from which others benefit,

and a righteous child who makes du'a for him."

 

And the line repeats itself.

 

فَإِنَّ مَعَ ٱلْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا

 

For surely, with hardship comes ease.

 

Tafseer e Jilani: “The pain and hardship that has come to you from people, with it is the ease from Allah, in parallel to the difficulty i.e. both come at the same time. It is just that you are focused on the difficulty and you do not consider the ease. First it only pricked you. Now that the pain has been increased from it, now the ease has come from Us, waiting behind it, following it. The way I want to join them.”

 

Then came the part I loved.

 

“Each time the word “usr,” hardship appears, it is with “al” as in specific, “the hardship.” But the word “yusr” appears without the “al” so it is not specific. Which means that the paths that bring difficulty are few and far between. And the paths that bring the ease and guidance are many more. Meaning, don’t become full of despair and hopelessness because of the difficulty that overshadows you sometimes. It has been destined so it will happen but only for a short time as compared to the ease. Which comes frequently and is attached to you at all times throughout all your states.”

 

Subhan Allah!

 

Qari Sahib said this about the verse to me; “We see things are either/or i.e. either we are happy or sad, distressed or calm. But Allah is saying look how I make them joined.”

 

“Everything returns to its origin.”

 

Quite literally when a person dies; earth to earth, soul to God. But even the world, I started noticing in my 40s as lives unraveled around me, that each person, who previously had little to do with their family, started to cling to them with dear life. And why not? It’s their origin.

 

Those of us who do not have families but want to be of the ones who possess Imaan, we return to God faster. We leave the world earlier for worldliness has to do with people. In my life I have learnt the purpose of the mirror in the other person.

 

When I asked them for something, big or small, I saw my reliance on them. In their answer to me, yes or no, I saw my expectation of them. In my reaction to them, especially when I was disappointed, I saw my judgment of them. The only ones who remain around the ones alone are those we are striving to be of service to. Relatively they are strangers. So we lose everything in this world and return to our asl, God!

 

“Indeed, in every hardship there is ease. In every hardship there is ease.”

 

Hazrat Muhyuddin Ibn e Arabi (ra) says that the relationship with God is one dimensional, one-way. He is ma’bood, the One worshipped. He is masjood, the One prostrated before. He is the Bestower of all things. But if there is one thing where the relationship with God is actually two ways, it is only in love. Only then is sometimes He the Lover and sometimes The Beloved.

 

I had to mark the moment I heard that thought as the most deeply romantic I had ever heard in my life. And one hadith about the one who possessed Imaan became my most favourite; for then they became a “house of love.”

 

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ :

الْمُؤْمِنُ آلِفٌ مَأْلُوفٌ وَلا خَيْرَ فِيمَنْ لا يَأْلَفُ وَلا يُؤْلَفُ ، خَيْرُ النَّاسِ أَنْفَعُهُمْ لِلنَّاسِ

 

The Mo’min is the one who loves and is loved.

And there is no goodness for the one who does not give love and receive love.

 

The best amongst people is the one who gives others benefit.

 

Whenever I marked the days and occasions in the lives of God’s Favoured, the birth, the death, for which I wrote pieces and made videos as gifts, I was acutely aware at all time, how the gifts were not really gifts for them. The words in my narrations were chosen from their words, from their books, their poetry, their prose. My imagery was almost always nature so it belonged to God.

 

The singing was not me and even Ustad Sahib’s voice was a bestowing. The putting together of each one, which no doubt took days and effort, was still, at the end of it, a consequence of taufeeq, ability. The same was true for my generosity. I was always only giving back that which I had been bestowed. The only thing that was from me was my love.

 

Sheikh ul Akbar (ra) says that everything is a reflection of Allah alone.

لا ملك سليمان ولا بلقيس ... لا آدم فى الكون ولا إبليس

 

صورة وأنت المعنى ... يا من هو للقلوب مقناطيس والكل في

 

There is no kingdom of Solomon (as) and none of Bilquis,

There is no Adam in in the Universe and no Iblis,

All are in shapes and forms and only You are their meaning,

O Being! who is the Magnet that attracts the hearts.

 

Thus in my life it dawned upon me that the path of purification has to go through sabr, patience. Which meant that it could only happen through hardship. Also for the first time in my life I understood why Hazrat Rabia Basri (ra) used to cry on the days she didn’t face a difficulty. She said on those days she felt like her Lord God forgot her.

 

I used to find that strange. I loved my days free of trial. They were happy, carefree. But now I understand why she was sad when she didn’t face a situation that tested her nature, her character, her behavior, her claim of love. For the tests were the reason the veils of which there are 70,000 dropped one by one for her, till they were all gone.

 

Uzair once spoke in a lecture that the potential of becoming a Vice-regent of Allah on Earth, “being in manner as the Attributes of Allah” was exactly where the infamous Free Will came to play. For there were in fact only two states of existence possible for all human beings;

 

“Either I will strive to acquire the Attributes of God and if I do not want to do that or try to do that, then I will automatically acquire the attributes of Iblis, Satan. For the reality of Man is always that he is fighting against non-existence, consciously or sub-consciously. Whatever I do is to negate the state of not being. The knowledge I acquire, the wealth I accumulate is to give myself validation. But there are only two states to be a part of, either God or Iblis.”

 

It was so strange to hear that. It meant that every single decision I made, that in fact defined my attitude, my behaviour, my manners, my being was either good or bad, right or wrong. Didn’t leave a lot of gray. So in that two way relationship only possible through love, the verse I have adored since the day I first heard it shed a new light on how Allah tested that claim of my love for Him.

 

قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ ٱللَّهَ فَٱتَّبِعُونِى يُحْبِبْكُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ ۗ

وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۭ

 

Say (O Prophet (peace be upon you)), “If you love Allah, then follow me,

and Allah shall love you and forgive you your sins.

Allah is Most-Forgiving, Very-Merciful.”

Surah Aal e Imran, Verse 31

 

Tafseer e Jilani: Allah says, “O Beloved! Tell these people who are the ones that have been given the capability to be the Vice-regent of Allah and to be His Naib, Successor, but are drowning in waywardness and darkness, that if you claim love for God, the one who brought you in existence from nothing, if you want to walk on His Straight Path and reach His Doorstep, then His Command is that you follow me. If you are obedient to me, His will bestow you His Qurb, Closeness, and you will have the honour of meeting Him.”

 

Sheikh Nurjan said of the verse. “There is no opinion when it comes to obedience. How can you follow while holding onto your own opinion?”

 

Looking up the word “asaba”, hardship, also brought me to the following verse of the Quran often read mostly simply for what it states overtly; Anything good that happens, Allah says, comes from Him. And all things bad, come from me or any individual. But Ghaus Pak (ra) explains what the Sufis have always spoken of; there is no such thing as evil created by God. That everything is intrinsically only good.

 

مَّآ أَصَابَكَ مِنْ حَسَنَةٍۢ فَمِنَ ٱللَّهِ ۖ

وَمَآ أَصَابَكَ مِن سَيِّئَةٍۢ فَمِن نَّفْسِكَ ۚ

وَأَرْسَلْنَـٰكَ لِلنَّاسِ رَسُولًۭا ۚ

وَكَفَىٰ بِٱللَّهِ شَهِيدًۭا

 

Anything good that happens to you is from God and whatever evil happens to you is from yourself.

We have sent you as a Prophet to all people and it is good enough that God is your witness.

Surah An-Nisa’, Verse 79

 

Tafseer e Jilani: “The addressee here is Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him). These kinds of addresses are full of wisdom because they are only worthy of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) personality and then through him, his tufail, this wisdom is passed on to his Ummah, nation.

 

Everything that is manifested in the Universe which is the reflection of Allah is by nature only good, khair. That goodness has then spread to everything and everyone through the medium of Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him). Whereas evil or wickedness, sharr, is the effect and result of the deeds of the self, nafs.

 

So Allah says, “When goodness comes to you that gives your heart peace and happiness, it is from Me. It is the Sunnah and Habit of Allah that He only appears in everything that exists with goodness and perfection. In the same way, when difficulty comes upon you, that makes you sad and full of pain, the cause of it is your self, your nafs, for in actuality, evil does not exist. In every single thing, there is only goodness.”

 

Then addressing His Beloved (peace be upon him), Allah says, “O Prophet (peace be upon you), We have sent you as a Messenger for all people. Therefore, all that you have been alerted to and blessed with, inform them of it. Allah is indeed Sufficient as the Witness to your spreading this Message.”

 

I already knew how true it was for me. When I did something wrong, raise my voice and get angry, become stingy for no reason, find excuses to be lazy in worship, I could feel it was my own nafs. Or it was Iblis. But to be brutally honest, for me it’s always more my own self than him. He whispered and left, stalking his next victim, and my nafs did what he suggested.

 

In those moments, if I peeled the layers of what was causing the behaviour, of leaning towards him rather than God, there was really just one word behind all of it; disobedience. I had been told to react a certain way and I chose not to or inadvertently ignored that direction because I wanted to do what I felt like doing.

 

“When one’s own desire and wishes are given up, only then the Attributes of God begin to enter that person’s being.”

The surrender is therefore of the Free Will. Hazrat Muhuyddin Ibn e Arabi (ra) says that the one who surrenders their Free Will is the most liberated person. Something all ordinary people think of in only the exact reverse manner.

 

That is how the West is indoctrinated. And the East can’t stop mimicking the West. The idea is singulrar; doing whatever one wants, being able to say whatever one wants is the definition of freedom. But Sheikh ul Akbar (ra) says, as Uzair explains it, is that is the opposite of it. For it’s an act of freedom, to give up freedom freely.

 

Hazrat Bayazid Bastami (ra), the King of the Gnostics said he polished his heart and fought his nafs for 23 long years. I can’t take that route. Not because I’m old but because I could live for 230 years and my nafs would still overcome me. My way can only be one as taught to me by my Spiritual Masters who learnt it from Allah’s Nur (peace be upon him) and all of relies on taufeeq, ability bestowed by The Creator.

 

Al Fath Ar Rabbani: “An incident goes that the people of Bani Israel once were faced with a suffering. They gathered and went to the Prophet of their time. ‘What can we do, O Nabi (as)?’ they asked him. “What is the deed that will please Allah and it becomes the means to deliver us from our hardship?”

 

The Prophet (as) prayed to Allah to unveil to him what that deed would be.

 

Allah Subhan a Ta’ala revealed to his Prophet (as), “Tell them! If you seek My Pleasure, become a cause to bring happiness to the needy. Thus if you bring ease to them, in their happiness I will become pleased with you. And if you displease them, I will remain displeased with you.”

 

Hazrat Ali (ratu) said, "90 percent of wisdom attained is bestowed upon a person as a result of their husn e akhlaq, excellence in behaviour towards other people."

 

Things are difficult and things are hard. Only the one in the state knows what it feels like. The rest is conjecture. The generosity of sharing the knowing of being in the Presence of God, that is the most extraordinary revelation a human being can make to another. For it is the epitome of love and beyond.

For us there is only source of that sharing when it was absolute.

 

وَمَا هُوَ عَلَى الْغَيْبِ بِضَنِين

 

And he, The Beloved of God, does not withhold what is revealed to him from beyond.

Surah Al-Takwir, Verse 24

 

In my last piece or perhaps the one before that I wrote about the woman who throw garbage upon the Prophet (peace be upon him) every single day. I wrote about how he never changed his route, went another way, prayed for her to not do that. Now I know why. He was sabr personified as Allah’s Essence of the attribute.

 

He never complained about her. He didn’t focus on her at all. He knew it was coming from His Lord and he surrendered to that Will. He didn’t think of it as a burden, he didn’t wish it to end. And it wasn’t just her. The mean uncles, the assassins, the countless who mocked and berated him, threw stones and him and rejected him, caused the deaths of his loved ones, were hypocrites till the end. He had nothing but concern for them. So much so that God finally had to say;

 

فَلَعَلَّكَ بَاخِعٌ نَّفْسَكَ عَلَىٰ آثَارِهِمْ إِن لَّمْ يُؤْمِنُوا بِهَٰذَا الْحَدِيثِ أَسَفً

 

So perhaps you will grieve yourself to death over their denial,

if they are not willing to believe in this Message.

Surah Al-Kahf, Verse 6

 

One of my favourite examples of that immeasurable depth of his sensitivity was his relationship with his uncle Abu Lahab, the one mentioned by name in the Quran as being cursed by God forever for his rudeness towards the Prophet (peace be upon him). Perhaps he was one of the ones for whom he still prayed so much so that Allah had to finally send the verse;

 

وْ لَا تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ إِن تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّةً

فَلَن يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَفَرُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ

وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْفَاسِقِين

 

Praying or not praying for their forgiveness will not make a difference.

Even if you, O Beloved, were to pray 70 times for their forgiveness, Allah will not forgive them because they reject God and His Messenger (peace be upon him).

Allah does not guide those who are defiantly disobedient.

Surah At-Taubah, Verse 80

 

It was extraordinary, the love between Allah and His Beloved (peace be upon him). The Prophet (peace be upon him) won’t stop worrying and praying for the worst of humanity and The Creator won’t forgive them for rejecting His Nur (peace be upon him).

 

Once I was scared of the ones who throw garbage upon me in my life. I made up reasons to bear it and not say anything but all my reasons were false. The truth was I let them mistreat me and then just felt badly for years on end. Once when they approached me, my anxiety sky rocketed. But now when I hear from them and they pelt abuse at me, I feel calm.

 

I watch myself react with no reaction as if I am someone else outside myself. It is how I know that nothing about this new reaction is in fact my doing. I can’t even say when or why it happened. Then when they disappear I even wonder when they’ll return. I think about what might have happened to them. Mostly I just pray for the light of Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) to enter their hearts for I know the sadness that is inside them. I had the same sadness inside mine.

 

I don’t knock on their door like my Prophet (peace be upon him) did although I would like to. Or clean their home, cook a meal for them, ask them if they’re ok. I don’t do that. I just pray for them, grateful that I have been given the ability to no longer be controlled by them. That in and of itself has placed

me in control.

 

And it was Hazrat Ali (ratu) who taught me how to be in that state;

 

إِذَا قَدَرْتَ عَلَى عَدُوِّكَ

فَاجْعَلِ الْعَفْوَ عَنْهُ شُكْراً لِلْقُدْرَةِ عَلَيْهِ

 

Whenever you gain power over your adversary,

be forgiving,

out of gratitude (to God), for the control you gained over them.

 

Sometimes Qari Sahib tells us things in class that he prefaces by saying, “This is a secret. But I am going to share it with you.” On one of these occasions, which was the Urs Mubarik of Khawaja Moieenuddin Chisiti Ajmeri (ra) earlier this month, he said this;

 

“The Chishti order gives faiz, the spiritual share, hissa, naseeb, to its followers in a most particular way. The disciple receives it in the first meeting, in the first sight, of their Spiritual Master. It happens at the time of the bayah’, the becoming of a disciple, placing their hand in the hand of the Master.

 

When the disciple realizes what that sharing is, how it happens, sooner or later, that is a different matter unique to each individual. But the granting is done in the first meeting.”

 

It was a comforting thought for those of us that belong to the Chishti silsila. Who knows what one was granted and when it would unveil itself. At least there was always something to look forward to. Since at the beginning of the path stands Hazrat Ali (ratu), there can only ascension.

 

إِنَّمَا وَلِيُّكُمُ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا

 

Only are your true helpers Allah and His Messenger (saw)

and those who have attained to faith.

 

The journey of becoming one who wants to know Allah turns everything on its head. Everything from before becomes obsolete. Whatever I thought I knew was plain wrong. One might think that would be confusing, even debilitating but it is only calming. It’s how surrender begins. Be free, start over!

 

Then that utterance of the tongue, the heart finally begins to attest to it. Who knows, my deeds might just become witness to my claim of the Shahada, “the key to Paradise;” “There is no God except Allah and Muhammad (peace be upon him) is His Messenger.” Till then I notice all the forms my sighs and tears take. Of sadness, of joy, of hope, of gratitude, of patience and most of all, of longing.

 

گفتَم، چشمَم، گفت، بہ راہَش می دار

گفتم، جگرم، گفت، پُر آہَش می دار

گفتم، کہ دِلَم، گفت، چہ داری در دل

گفتم، غمِ تو، گفت، نگاہَش می دار

 

I said, “My eyes.” He said, “Keep them on the way.”

I said, “My liver.” He said, “Keep it filled with sighs.”

I said, “That my heart.” He said, “What is in your heart?

I said, “Only grief (from your separation and love).”

He said, “Look after this.”

 

Continued from Part 1; www.flickr.com/photos/42093313@N00/50981745732/in/datepos...

 

Uzair's lecture: Quran Ka Insaan www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7ChaVixlCQ

 

Uzair's lecture: What is worship: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCbXtXlUlfM

 

article courtesy

 

www.almuntazar.com/?section=Moharram&source=84

  

Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) and the Infallible Imams (a.s.)

 

There can be little debate that the catastrophe that engulfed the Islamic nation on the demise of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) was of a staggering magnitude. For the beloved progeny - Ahle Bait (a.s.) of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) the sorrow was two-fold. On one hand, they were permanently separated from the beloved Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and on the other hand, this proved to be the trigger for the deluge of tragedies and oppressions that befell them. Hazrat Ali's (a.s.) right to caliphate and successorship to the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) was usurped in a most scheming manner. Few could have imagined that there would come a day when Ali (a.s.) - the victor of Khaiber and Khandaq would be dragged from his house for allegiance. Janabe Fatima Zahra (s.a.), the beloved daughter of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.), had to appeal to the caliph of the nation, in the mosque of her own father, to demand her inheritance and financial dues. Her appeals fell on deaf ears and instead she was recompensed with oppression that first took the life of her unborn son and ultimately her own.

   

The demise of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and his dearest daughter in a span of a few months left an indelible mark on Hazrat Ali's (a.s.) persona. His grief was uncontrollable and his sorrow was beyond description. Allah, the Almighty, alleviated his mourning and distress through a newborn son. This son had the desired effect on all the grieving members of Hazrat Ali's (a.s.) household. Imam Hasan (a.s.) rejoiced because his arms were strengthened through the infant. Imam Husain (a.s.) saw in him his most trusted aide and standard-bearer. Janabe Zainab (a.s.) got a younger brother who would protect her. Hazrat Ali (a.s.) held the newborn close to himself and saw in him the nobility of martyrdom and christened him - Abbas, which means a lion.

   

Hazrat Abbas' (a.s.) personality

 

Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) is one individual whose advent was awaited with great fervor and anticipation. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) prophesied his unparalleled bravery. Hazrat Ali (a.s.), a man of few wants and needs, nonetheless desired him. Janabe Zahra (s.a.) referred to him as her own son. Imam Hasan (a.s.) introduced him as his helper and supporter. Imam Husain (a.s.) proclaimed about him, 'may my life be sacrificed upon you'. And once Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) was born the Ahle Bait (a.s.) took great pride in him and his unique traits.

   

Apart from the five infallibles (a.s.) from the 'Incident of the Cloak', even the Imams (a.s.) spoke of Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) in a most venerating manner. Imam Zainul Abedeen (a.s.) gave testimony to his elevated status. Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s.) acquainted him as ‘Abdus Saleh and one with vision and foresight and Imam Mahdi (a.t.f.s.) has sent his salutations upon him.

   

Hazrat Ali's (a.s.) desire

 

Hazrat Ali (a.s.) was well-aware that there would come a distressing time upon his younger son - Imam Husain (a.s.) when the trials and tribulations would engulf him and he would be all alone without a helper and supporter. What was particularly painful for Hazrat Ali (a.s.) was his own absence at that delicate moment in history when his son would need him the most. Hazrat Ali (a.s.) was seized with a desire to raise a son who would represent him at that moment of Imam Husain's (a.s.) anguish. It was with this objective that Hazrat Ali (a.s.) requested his brother - Aqeel:

 

'Search for a lady from the Arab tribes with a pedigree of brave warriors so that I may marry her. She will beget a brave son who will be a helper for my son - Husain in Karbala.'

 

(Tanqeehul Maqaal Chapter of Abbas pg. 28, Asraarush Shahaadat, pg 319, Umdatul Mataalib, pg. 352)

   

Janabe Aqeel's quest led him to the personality of Janabe Fatima Kelabiyya (r.a.) who Hazrat Ali (a.s.) finally married. This union resulted in the birth of Hazrat Abbas (a.s.), who gained the titled.

   

Ameerul Momineen (a.s.) was blessed with two sons who had no equal in the heavens and the earth. For him to desire another son like Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) tells us something about the latter's glorious personality. For not only was Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) just his son, but he was his emissary in the battle of Karbala, one of Islam's greatest struggle against falsehood and tyranny. Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) was to be the defendant of Imam Husain's (a.s.) right, which is why Hazrat Ali (a.s.) put everyone under the care of his eldest son and successor - Imam Hasan (a.s.); but when it came to Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) he directed him under the supervision of Imam Husain (a.s.).

   

Imam Husain (a.s.) and Hazrat Abbas (a.s.)

 

Imam Husain (a.s.) tended the gift of Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) entrusted to him by his father with great care. He always kept Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) with himself and did not like being separated from him. When on 9th Muharram 61 AH at Karbala, Umar-e-Saad's army ventured towards Imam Husain's (a.s.) tent, he requested Hazrat Abbas (a.s.):

 

'May my life be sacrificed for you, O my brother, go and ask them the purpose of their visit.'

 

(Tarikh-e-Tabari vol. 6, pg. 237)

   

Indeed, this statement highlights the affection that Imam (a.s.) had for Hazrat Abbas (a.s.). An Imam of the time uttering a statement of such gravity - 'may my life be sacrificed upon you' for someone highlights the latter's position and status. It is not merely one brother's sentiment for his sibling. In any case, the Imam does not make a proclamation out of mere sentiment; his love and hatred are purely for the sake of Allah, not for his own self. This statement underlines the importance of Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) in the eyes of Allah and Imam Husain (a.s.).

   

On the Day of Aashoora, Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) was given Imam's (a.s.) consent to fight the enemies after much deliberation. And when after some time, Imam (a.s.) heard Hazrat Abbas' (a.s.) plea for help, he clutched his back and cried - 'O my brother, with this (tragedy) my back is now broken.' It is for this reason we find Imam Husain (a.s.) calling out to Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) for help whenever his body was struck by the enemy.

 

(Maqtal-e-Abi Mikhnaf pg. 377)

   

Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) in Ziarat-e-Nahiyah

 

We find Imam Zamana (a.t.f.s.) reminiscing about Hazrat Abbas' (a.s.) indomitable bravery in Ziarat-e-Nahiyah,

 

'Peace be upon Abul Fazlil Abbas, the son of Ameerul Momineen (a.s.), who sacrificed his life for his brother. He protected him through his soul and in his struggle to fetch water, lost his arms. May Allah curse his killers - Yazid b. Riqaad Al-Haibi and Hakeem b. Tufail Al-Mataaiee.'

   

Imam Jafar al-Sadiq (a.s.) on his uncle Abbas (a.s.)

 

In Umdatul Mataalib, the great scholar - Abu Nasr Bukhaari records Imam Jafar Sadiq's (a.s.) narration:

 

'Our uncle Abbas Ibne Ameeril Momineen (a.s.) had sharp foresight and firm faith. He fought alongside Husain (a.s.) and gave ample evidence of his bravery and courage until he was martyred.'

 

(Umdatul Mataalib pg. 323, Maqatilut Taalibeen)

   

Allamah Kinturi writes that ‘Baseerat’ means in-depth understanding of and reflection on religious beliefs. ‘Na’fiz’ means to distinguish clearly between truth and falsehood. ‘Na’fizul Baseerat’ means Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) had amazing vision and foresight about religious beliefs and could clearly discern between truth and falsehood. He had scaled all the levels of faith and this is what Imam Sadiq (a.s.) is referring to in the above tradition.

 

(Miatain fi Maqtalil Husain, Pg. 444)

   

Then Allamah elaborates that Imam's (a.s.) at tribute ‘Na’fizul Baseerat’ underscores the reality that Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) was at an elevated stage of recognition and action.

 

(Miatain fi Maqtalil Husain, Pg. 463).

   

It was this recognition with which Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) was stationed at a lofty level of faith and certainty and achieved such proximity with Imam Husain (a.s.), so much so that ultimately he submitted his life in the obedience of his master culminating in his martyrdom.

   

The Virtuous (Al-Abd Al Saleh)

 

In the special Ziarat of Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) narrated on the authority of Abi Hamza-e-Somali from Imam Sadiq (a.s.), the latter declares,

 

'Salutations upon you O virtuous worshipper who was obedient to Allah, His Messenger, Ameerul Momineen, Hasan and Husain (peace be upon all of them)'

   

In Arabic literature, ‘Aabid’ means a worshipper or a sincere worshipper.

   

'The worshipper who has devoted his entire life for the service of his master and has never separated from him.'

 

(Al-Munjid, pg. 316)

   

Over here ‘Abd’ means Allah's worshipper. At one level we are all Allah's worshippers because Allah has created man to worship Him.

 

(Surah Zaariyaat: 56)

   

However, there are some worshippers who have excelled in worship so much so that Allah is proud of their worship and considers them as His worshippers. Allah has mentioned many Prophets by name in the Quran. However, not all of them are referred to as ‘Abd’. There are only a few Prophets referred to as ‘Abd’ in the Quran by Allah - Hazrat Nuh (a.s.) in Surah Israa: Verse: 3, Hazrat Dawood (a.s.) in Surah Swaad: Verse: 17, Hazrat Zakariyya (a.s.) in Surah Maryam: Verse: 2, Hazrat Isa (a.s.) in Surah Nisa: Verse: 20, Hazrat Ayyub (a.s.) in Surah Swaad: Verse: 41 and our beloved Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) in Surah Israa: Verse: 1 for whom in particular, this word has been used on more than one occasion.

   

The position of servitude (being a slave or worshipper of Allah) is a status that is much sought after and only a handful of Allah's most beloved creatures can attain it. One day Hazrat Jibraeel (a.s.) descended on the earth to convey the divine message to the Prophet, he informed, 'Allah has conveyed His greetings and salutations to you. He has given you a choice, either you can choose to be His slave or you can be the king of the world.' Expectedly the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) selected the position of servitude and relinquished the right to rule over the world. That is why in every obligatory and recommended prayers, we first give testimony to the Prophet being Allah's slave and then testify to his prophethood.

   

On many an occasion Ameerul Momineen (a.s.) has expressed his satisfaction and pleasure at being Allah's slave.

   

Indeed Hazrat Ali (a.s.) was granted the good fortune of serving Allah and His Messenger (s.a.w.a.). According to Imam Sadiq's (a.s.) tradition Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) was granted the opportunity (taufeeq) of serving the five immaculate ones of 'The Cloak' in addition to serving Allah. This shows the status of Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) in the eyes of Allah, His Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and the infallibles (a.s.).

   

Salutations recited just before the conclusion of namaz is an important pillar of namaz. The worshipper recites three salutations at the end. Of these salutations, the second and the third are imperative and omitting either or both will make the prayers void.

 

In the first salutation we recite:

 

'Salutations upon us and Allah's virtuous slaves.'

   

Over here we recite ‘Allah’s virtuous slaves’ which is the plural of ‘Allah’s virtuous slave’. Now if we take the aforementioned words of the Ziarat and weigh it alongside the salutations in namaz, we can appreciate that Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) is among those included within the ambit of ‘Allah’s virtuous slave’ in prayers. If one does not recite this salutation and declines from paying tributes to the ‘Allah’s virtuous slave’, his prayers will not be worthy of acceptance in the divine court.

   

The Guardian of Islam

 

In the salutation for the entry in the shrine of Hazrat Abbas (a.s.), Imam Sadiq (a.s.) recites

 

'I bear witness and take Allah as a witness that you tread on the path of warriors of the Battle of Badr.'

   

As is well known, the Battle of Badr was the premier battle of Islam fought under the direct leadership of Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.). Then, Islam was only finding its feet and was slowly coming into its own. A defeat at that stage with the martyrdom of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) would have obliterated Islam and the divine message along with it. Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) and Islam would have been nothing but obscure specks in the pages of history.

 

The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) was not prepared for the battle. However, the infidels of Mecca had intensified their efforts against the Muslims and matters reached a head when battle was the only way out. Divine decree commanded as much and the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) began mobilizing men and weapons for Islam's first battle. The infidels, numbering over a thousand, also prepared themselves for battle and came out armed with the best of weapons and mounts. They had all the means necessary for a resounding victory. The Muslim army on the other hand were puny in size - a little over 300, which was less than 1/3rd the size of the infidels. They had a mere two horses, one was with Murtadd Ibne Abi Murtadd and the other with Miqdad, and only seven camels. Despite their poor numbers and lack of resources, their enthusiasm and spirit of faith was at a high. They entered the battlefield with a clear objective to protect Islam with their lives. Quran says that on that day, Allah helped them with 3,000 angels.

   

A fierce battle waged between the unequal parties. The Muslims with their small numbers but fierce loyalty and strong faith overcame the more powerful infidels. Islam got a new lease of life and Muslims got strengthened with this victory.

   

The situation in 60 AH was similar to the pre-Badr days. In fact, if anything, it was even more dismal. Islamic laws were given mere lip service; they did not exist in the hearts of the Muslims. Slow by but steadily, the soul of Islam was being strangulated. The line between truth and falsehood had vanished and Muslims were no longer discerning between the two. Conditions conspired to propel the successor and grandson of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.), to rise against the polytheistic and hypocritical forces of society. The groundwork for battle was laid down and both parties were prepared for it. Imam Husain (a.s.) arrived at Karbala with a small band of family members, companions and loyalists. The situation resembled closely that of Badr. On one side, there was a large army of rabid warriors armed to the teeth and on the other side, there was a small group of devout Muslims, interested only in protecting the grandson of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and through it, Islam. Like Badr, this was a battle between the pure tree and the accursed tree. Like the Muslim army in Badr, Imam Husain's (a.s.) army was small in number, but there was no dearth of certainty and self-sacrifice to protect Islam. Only difference was unlike in Badr, Imam Husain's (a.s.) army did not accept the help of angels to fight the enemy. In Badr, the enemy was vanquished to save Islam; in Karbala, the Muslims offered their souls in a supreme sacrifice. This resulted in Islam getting lease of life till the Day of Judgment.

   

The credit of marshalling this small army to an unqualified, moral victory over the enemies goes to the standard bearer of the army. Maybe that is why Imam Sadiq (a.s.) reminisces about Hazrat Abbas' (a.s.) supreme sacrifice in his salutation at the threshold of his shrine at Karbala

 

‘Surely you walked on what the people of Badr walked’

   

Obedience of the Imam of the era

 

Imam Sadiq (a.s.) continues further in this Ziarat,

 

Then may Allah reward you with the most elect reward, the most numerous reward, the most abundant reward, the most faithful reward, that He has given to one who was loyal in his allegiance, responded to his call and obeyed the master of his affair.'

 

Undoubtedly, Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) till the end of his life served and submitted to the wishes of his Master - Sayyedush Shohada (a.s.). He endeavoured to fulfill the smallest desire of Imam Husain (a.s.) with all eagerness and promptness. For instance, one day in the mosque, Imam Husain (a.s.) expressed his desire for water. Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) rushed to get the water because he did not like his Master's wish to remain unfulfilled even for a moment. (Chehl Majlis pg. 282) Hazrat Abbas' (a.s.) promptness in fulfilling Imam's (a.s.) wish to the extent of a glass of water underlines that he did not like anyone to supersede him in answering to Imam's (a.s.) call. It is famous that Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) used to trace Imam's (a.s.) footsteps and apply the dust of his feet to his eyes as a measure of his love and submission to the Imam.

 

(Zikrul Abbas pg. 24).

   

This is the level of obedience, compliance and recognition that Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) had for Imam Husain (a.s.) and carried with him to Karbala. Over there he attended to Imam (a.s.) as a slave. And more importantly, experienced great satisfaction and pride in fulfilling his role as a slave and helper of Imam (a.s.). At a time in Karbala when his own children were grappling with intense thirst, hunger and searing heat, he submitted to the wishes of his master - Imam Husain (a.s.) without sparing a thought for his own condition and that of his family.

   

Normally, a brave man does not easily accept circumstances that are incompatible with his nature and mental makeup. But Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) reconciled himself to the difficulties of Karbala. Despite his courage and valor, to witness the painful and miserable condition of Imam Husain (a.s.) and his family, was in itself an achievement for him. Else in Hazrat Abbas' (a.s.) presence, it was not possible for anyone to get even a mile within Imam Husain (a.s.) and his family, let alone harass them and ultimately martyr Imam Husain (a.s.). For Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) to witness this as a mute spectator was in many ways more difficult than sacrificing both his arms and his life in the way of Islam. This was because he was capable of warding off the difficulties and tribulations from Imam Husain (a.s.) and his family, but circumstances compelled him to adopt a stance incompatible to his natural disposition.

   

In line with the divine command and the explicit instructions of his Master - Imam Husain (a.s.), Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) chose to embrace martyrdom rather than take the enemy to task in a fitting manner, which was what he wished to do. To act against his own temperament was the most striking trait of Hazrat Abbas' (a.s.) personality in Karbala and earned him the reputation of being the most fierce and self-sacrificing warrior in Karbala, reserving for himself a special niche among the companions of Imam Husain (a.s.). That is why Imam Zainul Abedeen (a.s.) informs,

   

'May Allah have mercy on my uncle - Abbas b. Ali (a.s.). He fought valiantly and ransomed himself upon his brother until both his arms were severed. Then Allah granted him wings in place of his arms due to his love for us (Ahle Bait). He now soars with his wings along with the angels in Paradise just like Jafar b. Abi Talib (his own uncle). Surely Abbas (a.s.) is placed at such an elevated rank and position in front of Allah, the Almighty, that all the martyrs shall envy him on the Day of Judgment.

 

(Khesaal, vol. 1, pg. 36)

   

Hazrat Abbas' (a.s.) sacrifice is an intercession for the nation

 

Aga Darbandi writes, 'When the Day of Judgement shall dawn, the people shall be gathered in a state of intense anxiety and apprehension. Under these circumstances, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) will request Hazrat Ali (a.s.) to ask Janabe Zahra (s.a.) what she had in store to rescue the nation from chastisement. Janabe Zahra (s.a.) will say,

 

'The severed hands of Abbas are sufficient for salvaging the nation.'

 

(Asraarush Shahadat pg. 325, Jawaherul Ayqaan pg. 194, Qamare Bani Hashim pg. 51)

   

In this brief statement Janabe Zahra highlights the eminent rank of Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) near Allah, which shall result in the intercession of the Islamic nation as a result of his supreme sacrifice, the proof of which are his severed hands.

   

Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) served the successor of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) till the last breath of his life under the most trying circumstances. Near his Lord he was a virtuous slave and near the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) he was a submissive and obedient Muslim. He submitted completely to the wishes of the Imam of his era and eventually sacrificed his life to safeguard the Imam and thus, earned the latter's satisfaction and approval. Therefore we find the infallibles (a.s.) speaking of Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) with such high regard and respect. As devotees of this personality and his ardent lovers, we must strive to emulate the actions of our Master - Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) by supporting the Imam of our era till the dying moments of our lives.

   

‏بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ‎

Translated from the Arabic, the exegesis of 55 Verses from the Tafseer e Jilani by the Saint of Saints, Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani (ra),

the Master of all Spiritual Masters.

 

The Night of Ascension

 

From Al Yawaqeet Wal Jawahir by Imam Abdul Wahab Shuhrani (ra);

 

The Journey of Ascension from Sidrat ul Muntaha to the meeting with Allah is the climax of the travels that night. From this point on a new state comes about. Before him was a Realm of Nur, Divine Light, which were revealed everywhere. The manifestations of Allah’s Attributes and Essence had made alight the Realm of the Unseen. The guest of the Throne, the Mercy of the Universe (peace be upon him), Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) was made to enter this Realm alone.

 

First, one by one, he was made to pass through each of the veils of Allah’s Names and with each passing, he was soaked in the essence of each Name. In a state of wakefulness, as he absorbed the quality of each name, Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) felt slightly dazed as one might expect to feel in a moment of aloneness.

 

As soon as this state came upon his blessed heart, he heard a voice;

 

قف یا محمد ان ربک یصلی

 

“Stop O Muhammad (peace be upon you)! Indeed, your Lord will approach you (to welcome you).”

 

The Journey of Ascension up to this moment was a journey of love and honour. From this point onwards began the the journey of union. This is where the guest of the Throne reached Qaba Qausayn;

‏

1. and 2.

 

ثُمَّ دَنَا فَتَدَلَّىٰ ‎

 

Then he approached and He came down.

 

‏فَكَانَ قَابَ قَوْسَيْنِ أَوْ أَدْنَىٰ ‎

 

Until He was at a distance of two bow-lengths away or nearer.

Surah An-Najm, Verse 8-9

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Summa dana: Then he, Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him), went nearer to His Lord…

 

Fatadalla: And He, Allah, came towards him with an inseparable attachment through love, the type of attachment being like an embrace, such that…

 

Fakana: it became, that nearness …

 

Qaba Qausayn: like the distance between two bows, which were the bows of Al Wujoob, The One who is since forever and Al Imkaan, the one who exists because of Him, both preserving the dignity of being The Worshipped and the worshipper.

 

Au adna: Or even less than that (distance of two bows) because the Nasoot, all things that have to do with the world, of Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) became fana, dissolved, in the Lahoot, the Realm of Nur, Divine Light. And after that whatever happened to the person of Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) is whatever happened, or however close he came, he came (no one knows).

 

Qari Sahib: Note two things; First the verse plays out the Hadith Qudsi, “When a person walks towards me, I run towards them.” Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) approached, Allah came nearer. Two and most magnificent of all, the words in the Quran are not the same for to show that approach towards each other. For the Prophet (peace be upon him), it is dana – coming close. For Allah it is tadallah, which Ghaus Pak (ra) is translating as ta’allaqa – an inseparable attachment through love.

 

Hence it was revealed;

 

3.

 

‏فَأَوْحَىٰٓ إِلَىٰ عَبْدِهِۦ مَآ أَوْحَىٰ ‎

 

So He (Allah) revealed to His Servant what He revealed.

Surah An-Najm, Verse 10

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Fa auha: So He, Allah Glory is to Him, revealed and inspired directly upon the heart…

 

Ila abdi hi: of His Servant, as The One who is closer to His Beloved that his own nafs, self.

 

Ma auha: what He revealed from Divine Recognition and Realities and unveilings and witnessing, poured upon him from His Own Self, Glory is to Him. All of which was pure from the methods of (hearing and seeing) for a human being in the world. So he (peace be upon him) saw what he saw and Allah Subhan Ta’ala unveiled what He unveiled.

 

Subhan Allah!

 

Al Yawaqeet Wal Jawahir: The point of that demands attention here is the distance is not specified exactly to two bows but in fact, the ambiguities around distance and nearness were all dissolved and made to disappear by the word adna, or less. The only distinction that remained was that one was Allah, there is no deity except Him, and the other was His Beloved Servant, Huzoor Pak (peace be upon him). One was the Creator, Khaliq and the other the created, makhlooq.

 

It is to be noted that the conversation then between Love and His Beloved (saw) in those moments of aloneness were not revealed to anyone. No one knows anything about anything of the words exchanged between them then. Except that which Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) himself shared that when he met his Lord of the Universe, His Lord said to him, “

 

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكَ أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ،

 

Peace, the Mercy of Allah and His Blessings be on you, O Prophet (peace be upon you).

 

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَى عِبَادِ اللَّهِ الصَّالِحِينَ

 

Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said,

“Peace be upon us and the Righteous Servants of Allah.”

 

Pir Mehr Ali Shah Sahib (ra) speaks to the meeting at the Night of Ascension in his most famed na’at Kithay Mehr Ali Kithey Teri Sana;

 

بے رنگ دسے اس مورت تھیں

وچ وحدت پھٹیاں جد گھڑیاں

 

The One without form and colour appeared in his (the Prophet’s (peace be upon him)) being,

when in their union, they became united.

 

دسے صورت راہ بے صورت دا

توبہ راہ کی عین حقیقت دا

 

This being (of Nabi Kareem) guides the Way towards the One-ness of Allah.

No, in fact, he guides towards His True Reality.

 

پر کم نہیں بے سوجھت دا

کوئی ورلیاں موتی لے تریاں

 

But this is not comprehensible for those without inner eyes,

so only the fewest amongst the few imbue such meaning.

  

4. Amongst countless bestowings, the only Favour

 

لَقَدْ مَنَّ ٱللَّهُ عَلَى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذْ بَعَثَ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًۭا مِّنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ

يَتْلُوا۟ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَتِهِۦ

وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ

وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ ٱلْكِتَبَ

وَٱلْحِكْمَةَ

وَإِن كَانُوا۟ مِن قَبْلُ لَفِى ضَلَلٍۢ مُّبِينٍ ‎

 

Indeed, Allah has bestowed a favour upon the believers, when he raised in their midst an apostle from among themselves,

to convery His Messages unto them,

and to cause them to grow in purity,

and to impart unto them the Divine Writ as well as wisdom,

where as before that they were, indeed, most obviously, lost in error.

Surah Aal e Imran, Verse 164

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Laqad Mannallahu: By the Name of Allah, He bestowed a great Favour…

 

Ala al Mo’mineen: upon the ones who are sincere…

 

Id ba’atha fi-him: when he raised him, the Prophet (peace be upon him)), from amongst them for their guidance…

 

Rasool an: as a Messenger to be their Murshid, guide, who was brought up…

 

Min Anfusihim: in them to guide them with different types of guidance.

 

Yatlu alihim: First of all, he recites to them (the Quran) and makes them listen…

 

Ayati hi: to Allah’s Verses, which indicate towards the One-ness of His Essence.

 

Wa Yuzzakihim: Secondly, he purifies them from the evils whisperings of Satan and those desires that lead one astray from the Path of Allah’s One-ness.

 

Wa Yuallimuhim: And thirdly, he teaches them…

 

Al Kitab: the Book, which explains and clarifies to them the means to cleanse the overt, the zahir, as well as everything which is related to the apparent world.

 

Wa: Then fourthly he teaches them…

 

Al hikmat; the wisdom that purifies their inner being, the batin, from the inclination towards anything other than Allah, (both people and things), and which connects them to Sidrat al Muntaha, the Lote Tree, near which is Jannat ul Mawa, Heaven.

 

Wa in Kanu Min Qablu: And they were before the unveiling of these four stations…

 

Lafi Dalalin Mubeen: in clear waywardness and severe humiliation.

 

At the end then Ghaus Pak (ra) prays: “Ya Allah! By Your Bounty, save us from the sleep of those who are heedless.

Ameen!

 

Forgiveness and Mercy

 

5.

 

‏خُذِ ٱلْعَفْوَ وَأْمُرْ بِٱلْعُرْفِ وَأَعْرِضْ عَنِ ٱلْجَهِلِينَ ‎

 

Keep to forgiveness (O Beloved (peace be upon you) and enjoin the good,

and turn away from the ignorant.

Surah Al Araaf, Verse 199

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

And when their state is such and their insistence upon this purpose (of denial and being wayward);

 

Khud il afwa: Choose always (and make your habit), O Messenger who completes the Message (peace be upon you), the path of forgiveness and softness. And turn away from anger (of the type of being upset with someone when you can exercise ability to do something about it) and becoming hard, because this is in line with the affection of the status of Prophet-hood.

 

Wa’mur bil urf: And enjoin them with good deeds, calling them to the Way of Allah, with wisdom and softness of words, that nation in which you see the possibility of being guided, with the light of Prophet-hood and Closeness (with Allah).

 

Wa aa’rid ana jahileen: And avoid the ignorant, who are stubborn. And if they argue with you, argue with the in the best way. Indeed your Lord knows well which of them is astray from His Path and He knows well also who is guided among them.

 

The First Hadith taught to Would-be Scholars:

 

الرَّاحِمُونَ يَرْحَمُهُمُ الرَّحْمَنُ،

‏‏‏‏‏‏ارْحَمُوا أَهْلَ الْأَرْضِ يَرْحَمْكُمْ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاءِ

 

‏‏‏‏The Prophet صلی ‌اللہ ‌علیہ ‌وسلم said:

Allah, The Compassionate One has mercy on those who are merciful.

Show mercy to those who are on the earth, He Who is in the Heaven will show mercy to you.

 

Man is a creature of haste

 

6.

 

‏خُلِقَ ٱلْإِنسَنُ مِنْ عَجَلٍۢ ۚ

 

Man is a creature of haste.

Surah Al Anbiya, Verse 37

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Khuliqal Insaan: Man was created, amongst all living creatures,…

 

Min ajl: as the one who craves the most haste in goodness and badness as if he was made from impulsiveness.

 

7.

  

‏وَيَدْعُ ٱلْإِنسَنُ بِٱلشَّرِّ دُعَآءَهُۥ بِٱلْخَيْرِ ۖ وَكَانَ ٱلْإِنسَنُ عَجُولًۭا ‎

 

And human beings pray for things that are wrong (as often) as they pray for things that are good. And human beings are ever hasty.

Surah Al Isra’a, Verse 17

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Wa: And overall, amongst the behaviour that is disliked, worldly and ugly…

 

Yad ul insaana: Man prays, being hasty (in his inner and outer being)…

 

Bi sharre: for that which is not good for him, so comes along, with that (prayer), that which he does not know about its evilness and its harmful consequences.

 

Dua’ahu bilkhair: (while he is) liking that which he is asking for as if it is good for him, due to his hastiness.

 

Wa kanal insaano: In Man’s nature is created haste (for himself) and he demands haste from others about that which he is inclined towards, even though it is detrimental for him.

  

The Marriage Equation

 

8.

 

وَمِنْ ءَايَـٰتِهِۦٓ أَنْ خَلَقَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَٰجًا لِّتَسْكُنُوٓا۟ إِلَيْهَا وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَكُم مَّوَدَّةً وَرَحْمَةً ۚ

إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَـَٔايَـٰتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

 

And among His Signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates so that you may find tranquility in them.

And He placed between you love and mercy.

Indeed, in that surely are Messages for a people who reflect.

Surah Ar-Rum, Verse 21

 

And it was necessary to go deep into the meaning of a word for an institution that most in the world now regarded as “failed.”

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Wa min ayati-hi: And one of the Signs that show His Majestic Authority (is)…

 

An khalaqa: that He gives to you in your control…

 

lakum man anfusikum: from your species and like you…

azwajaa: spouses, so that you do more than them in affection and inclination and give them regard to create the love. In fact, Allah has given you control over your spouses…

 

li-taskunu ilayha: so that they are your home and your refuge and you love them completely and you increase your offspring.

 

Wa: And like this is another wisdom…

 

ja’ala bainakum: He placed between you…

 

muwadda-tan: which is special and pure, love, that which arises only and only because of Allah’s Secrets, in a manner that cannot be comprehended what that love is and what its state is, why it exists and how it came about.

 

Wa: And His Perfect Wisdom which created from the zygote a child and it comes from the love.

 

Rahma-tan: A child like you who will keep your name and faith alive.

 

8. Commentary on the same verse by Hazrat Muhyuddin Ibn e Arabi (ra) for all people.

 

وَمِنْ ءَايَـٰتِهِۦٓ أَنْ خَلَقَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَٰجًا لِّتَسْكُنُوٓا۟ إِلَيْهَا وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَكُم مَّوَدَّةً وَرَحْمَةً ۚ

إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَـَٔايَـٰتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

 

And among His Signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates so that you may find tranquility in them.

And He placed between you love and mercy.

Indeed, in that surely are Messages for a people who reflect.

Surah Ar-Rum, Verse 21

 

Wa min ayati-hi: From Allah’s Actions and His Attributes, which cause to join towards His Essence by recognizing and traveling the paths of spirituality…

 

An khalaqa lakum min anfusikum azwajaa: He created for the souls, the arwah, the nafs, the self, as their spouses…

 

Li-taskunu ilayha: so that the soul is inclined towards the nafs with muwaddat, (a special and pure love, that which rises only and only because of Allah’s Secrets, in a manner that cannot be comprehended what that love is and what its state is, why it exists and how it came about), and the soul takes effect from it and effects the nafs in turn.

 

Wa ja’ala bainakum muwadda-tan wa rahma-tan: And between them is unconditional love and tenderness so that the nafs loves the light of the ruh, the soul, and its effect upon it with acceptance, embracing its influence. Which makes the nafs remains calm from anger and become purified.

 

Then Allah sends His Mercy upon the nafs in the shape of the qalb, the Seat of Recognition of Allah, according to capability and capacity resulting from obedience. The nafs becomes guided by the blessing of this merciful qalb, learning its etiquettes and becoming joyous.

 

In turn, the soul loves the nafs by leaving its effect in it and shines its light upon it. Then Allah gives it the blessing of the qalb, soft and affectionate. The soul gains exalted ranks by the blessing of this qalb, because of which the soul gains perfection.

 

Inna fi dalika al la-Ayaat: In all of this are the Divine Attributes and Perfection

 

Li qaumi yatafakkaroon: for those who reflect, in their selves and in their souls and upon that which is their intrinsic nature, (the nafs), and that which is sent down upon them, (the ruh).

It was the part of the verse with the word muwaddat in it that was most captivating. Both the nafs and the ruh, the base self and the soul, communicated and understood each other though the qalb. So without the knowing, the recognition of God, the two would always remain alienated. Anger would eventually turn into rage. Calm would transform into ever increasing restlessness;

 

Wa ja’ala bainakum muwadda-tan wa rahma-tan: And between them is unconditional love and tenderness so that the nafs loves the light of the ruh and its effect upon it with acceptance, embracing its influence. Which makes the nafs remains calm from anger and become purified.

 

Then Allah sends His Mercy upon the nafs in the shape of the qalb, according to capability and capacity resulting from obedience. The nafs becomes guided by the blessing of this merciful qalb, learning its etiquettes and becoming joyous.

 

In turn, the soul loves the nafs by leaving its effect in it and shines its light upon it. Then Allah gives it the blessing of the qalb, soft and affectionate. The soul gains exalted ranks by the blessing of this qalb, because of which the soul gains perfection.

 

Subhan Allah! 

 

Iblis throws down the gauntlet

 

9.

 

قَالَ رَبِّ بِمَآ أَغْوَيْتَنِى لَأُزَيِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَلَأُغْوِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ

 

Iblis said, "My Lord!

Because You misled me, surely, I will make evil seem goodly to them in the earth and I will mislead them all.

Surah Al-Hijr, Verse 39

 

I studied the verse with my teacher;

 

“Let’s go back a little,” said Qari Sahib.

 

The context of the verse is that Iblis said the line above after he was given the leeway to do what he wants by God. Which he asked for.

 

‏قَالَ رَبِّ فَأَنظِرْنِىٓ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ ‎

 

He said, "O my Lord! Then give me respite till the Day they are raised."

Surah Al-Hijr, Verse 36

 

Thus he is granted time to do what he wants. Now let’s look at what Ghaus Pak (ra) says about the exegesis of verse 39 where he vows revenge by misleading and making evil seem good;

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Qala: Iblis said, taking an oath to exaggerate his point…

 

Rabbi bima Aghwaytani: I swear upon the Truthfulness of your Authority, which has been the way through which You have mislead me and made me wayward, and made me fall from those high exalted ranks I possessed, and made me exit from between my beloved ones and my brothers (the angels)…

 

La uzzayanna lahum: I will beautify their deeds which are illegitimate and make them appear as good all their negative actions.

 

Fil Ard: and I will make them deluded so they will pursue all kinds of wrongful deeds and all types of crimes and those sins that their nature is inclined towards naturally.

 

Li Ughwayannahum: and I will mislead them, all of them collectively, so that none of them will be safe from me, anyone who has nafs Ammara.

 

Basically everyone!

 

Hazrat Najmuddin Kubra (ra) in the Tafseer e Jilani:

 

“You had made the behaviour of your nafs overpower the attributes of your qalb, which is the Seat of Recognition of Allah. This is because your good deeds were only for display and to claim good repute. Your purpose in following in the footsteps of the nafs was to receive things from this world that you thought would benefit you and showing truthful regard for your Lord was not your intention.

 

Still, he delivered you from painful punishment (for such acts) so that you would only desire to seek the Pleasure of Allah and occupy yourself only with His worship (by being mindful of Him at all times). If you were thus granted, due to His Mercy, advances in your spiritual ranks, don’t become stuck in them. Instead, move forward and continue to seek union with the Status and Stations of Allah’s Essence until you achieve success in reaching them.”

 

Ghaus Pak (ra) in Al Fath Ar Rabbani:

 

“What I say to you, listen to it through the ears of your qalb, the Station of Recognition of Allah in the heart, and remember it and bring it into practice. I want you to speak to me through the tongue of your qalb and be sincere in your deeds, such that you reach a point that I look at your state and say to you, ‘Well done!’”

 

“Remember! Makhlooq, creation, is the veil over your nafs, ego.

And your ego is the veil over your qalb that prevents you from recognizing your Lord.

And your qalb is the veil over your batin, the inner being.

So as long as you remain stuck with people, you will not be able to see your nafs.”

 

10. Iblis as attached as an associate

 

وَمَن يَعْشُ عَن ذِكْرِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ نُقَيِّضْ لَهُۥ شَيْطَـٰنًا فَهُوَ لَهُۥ قَرِينٌ

 

And whoever turns a blind eye to the Reminder of the Most Compassionate,

We place at the disposal of each one from the party of Iblis as their close associate,

Surah Az-Zukruf, Verse 36

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Wa mayya’shu: and the one who turns away physically as well as from the heart…

 

An dikr Ar Rahman: from the Quran, which explains for this person the way to imaan, faith and irfaan, Recognition of Allah, due to excessive lustful desires and attractions for the senses which are worldly…

 

Nuqayyad lahu: We give control and power over him to…

 

Shaytan an: Iblis and his party, who misguides him, and seduces him and whispers doubts into his heart, and destroys him.

 

Fa huwa: Shaitaan then becomes…

 

Lahu Qareen: attached to him forever, beautifying for him that which is sinful and that which is wrong and makes him deluded into believing those things until he makes him enter into the fire which cuts and deprives him from Allah’s Mercy.

 

11. Following in the Footsteps of Satan

 

‏ يَٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تَتَّبِعُوا۟ خُطُوَتِ ٱلشَّيْطَنِ ۚ

وَمَن يَتَّبِعْ خُطُوَتِ ٱلشَّيْطَنِ فَإِنَّهُۥ يَأْمُرُ بِٱلْفَحْشَآءِ وَٱلْمُنكَرِ ۚ

وَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُۥ مَا زَكَىٰ مِنكُم مِّنْ أَحَدٍ أَبَدًۭا وَلَكِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُزَكِّى مَن يَشَآءُ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌۭ

 

O you who believe!

Do not follow in the footsteps of Shaitaan,

and whoever follows in the footsteps of the Shaitaan then indeed, he commands the immorality and wrongdoing.

And if it were not for the Grace of Allah upon you and His Mercy, not one of you would have been pure,

but Allah purifies whom He wills.

And Allah is The Hearer of all things, The Knower of all things.

Surah An-Nur, Verse 21

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Ya ayyohalladina amino: O ye who believed in in the One-ness of the Maker and His Attributes and in Prophethood and all the Messengers and in the Shari’a which is for everyone and beneficial for all in terms of creating moderation in manners and rituals among Mankind, the reason behind you having faith, imaan, is that you go against your nafs, the base self, and your desires, both of which are from the force of Satan, the one who misleads and the one who takes away from the Path of Truth.

 

La tattibi’u khutowaat e Shaitan: Don’t walk in the footsteps of Satan and don’t follow his lead in the distribution of vulgarity and your love of sins.

 

Wa manyattabi: And who so ever amongst you, O believers, follows…

 

Khutuwaat e Shaitan: in the footsteps of Satan, the one who leads astray and entraps, he becomes astray and trapped.

 

Fa innahu: So indeed he, Satan…

 

Ya’mur: commands the one who follows him and considers him his leader…

 

Bil Fahsha: to be lewd and immoral in ways that go against nature and the laws of the faith…

 

Wal munkir: and to become a refuser of modesty and the Quran and the hadith.

 

Wa lau la fadullahi alaikum: And were it not for the Bounty of Allah upon you, who is the Protector for the correction of your states…

 

Wa Rahmatu hu: And His Mercy, which is in abundance and encompasses all His Servants…

 

Ma zaka: there would be no one saved or purified or made sincere…

 

Minkum ahadun: from amongst any of you from following in the footsteps of Satan…

 

Abadan: ever, for as long as you live, because following him has been placed in your nature (just as goodness has been placed in it), and following him appears beautified for you and readily accepted by your nafs…

 

Wa lakinn Allah: But Allah Ta’ala, the One who manages the affairs of His Servants…

 

Yuzzaki: inserts sincerity and purifies them from the traps of Satan and his evil promptings…

 

Mayysha: whom so ever He wills, by virtue of His Wisdom and His Control by which He forms the human being…

 

Wallahu: and He is fully Aware of what is in the overt and what in in the hidden…

 

Sami’un: He the Hearer of the words (of everyone)…

 

Aleemun: and the Knower of all backgrounds and all intentions.

 

The Hadith:

 

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ

مَا مِنْكُمْ مِنْ أَحَدٍ إِلَّا وَقَدْ وُكِّلَ بِهِ قَرِينُهُ مِنْ الْجِنِّ

قَالُوا وَإِيَّاكَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ

قَالَ وَإِيَّايَ إِلَّا أَنَّ اللَّهَ أَعَانَنِي عَلَيْهِ فَأَسْلَمَ فَلَا يَأْمُرُنِي إِلَّا بِخَيْرٍ

 

The Prophet of God (peace be upon him) said, “There is no one amongst you except that next to him is an associate from the Jinn (who propels him towards sin.)

 

The Companions asked, “O Messenger of Allah! Even with you?”

 

He replied, “And even with me except that Allah helped me against him and he surrendered so (now) he doesn’t say order me towards anything except goodness.

 

Sheikh Nurjan, one of the most important living Masters of the Naqshbandi Silsila:

 

“The Auliya Allah – the Friends of God – and their disciples receiving training from them teaching this, ‘Live a life because someone wants to know if they are Mukhlis, sincere. Are they just Muslim and they accepted religion, any religion because whether you are Jews or Christians or Muslims, these are all titles, are you one who submits your will to the Will of The Almighty? For then you become Muslim, the one who submits their will to the Will of the Divine.

 

Then you come to the next maqam, station, which is to be a Mo’min, a believer. And Allah says, ‘Don’t say you believe, just say you accepted.’”

 

Iblis spares no one:

 

Imam Raazi (ra) was a Persian polymath, Islamic scholar and a pioneer of inductive logic. He wrote various works in the fields of medicine, chemistry, physics, astronomy, cosmology, literature, theology, ontology, philosophy, history and jurisprudence.

 

He was one of the earliest proponents and skeptics that came up with the concept of Multiverse, and compared it with the astronomical teachings of Quran. A rejector of the geocentric model and the Aristotelian notions of a single universe revolving around a single world, Al-Raazi argued about the existence of the outer space beyond the known world.

 

“When he was on his deathbed, Iblis came to the Imam (ra) to give his last best effort to make break his faith, take it away from him.

 

With this in mind, Iblis asked him a question, “You spent your entire life in seeing the Signs of Allah and loving Him. Did you ever recognize God?”

 

The Imam (ra) replied, “Without doubt Allah is One.”

 

Iblis said, “Where is your proof for it?”

 

Imam Fakhar al Din al Raazi (ra) gave him a daleel (an argument as evidence). Iblis, once the Ustad of the Angels, dismissed the argument. The Imam (ra) presented a second case. He defeated that as well. The conversation continued until the Imam (ra) had given 360 arguments and Iblis had dispelled all of them. The Imam (ra) became gravely perplexed and started to lose hope.

 

Imam Fakhar al Din al Raazi (ra) was the disciple of Hazrat Najmuddin Kubra (ra), one of the most favoured disciples of Ghaus Pak (ra). Hazrat Najmuddin Kubra (ra) could see the whole incident unfolding before him from afar.

 

He was performing ablution and during it, he called out to his disciple, “Why don’t you just say, ‘I have brought faith upon God without any argument.’”

  

Who is the one saved from Iblis

 

12. The ones who rely solely on Allah

 

إِنَّهُۥ لَيْسَ لَهُۥ سُلْطَـٰنٌ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ

 

Indeed, there is for him (Iblis) no authority over those who have believed and rely upon their Lord.

Surah An-Nahl, Verse 99

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Inna hu laysa hu sultan an: Indeed he, Iblis, has no ability to capture and overcome…

 

A’la lladina a’mino: the ones who believe in the One-ness of Allah and have certainty in the truthfulness of Allah’s Books and His Messengers and the Day promised and that which will be given in reward that Day.

 

Wa; And along with this

 

Al’a Rabbi-him: they rely on their Lord and no one else from the sources and means of day to day life and…

 

Yatawakkaluna: they surrender and they entrust all their matters to Him for sure.

 

And also:

 

13. Iblis admits his helplessness before the Sincere

 

‏إِلَّا عِبَادَكَ مِنْهُمُ ٱلْمُخْلَصِينَ ‎

Except the sincere among your worshippers.

Surah Al-Hijr, Verse 40

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Al Mukhliseen: The Sincere are the ones who have saved their necks from the noose of the nafs e Ammara (the lowest self of three). They are the ones who are content and steadfast, standing firmly on the Station of seeking the Pleasure of Allah and surrendering.”

 

Tauba - Repentance

 

14. Except he who repents

 

‏إِلَّا مَن تَابَ وَءَامَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًۭا صَلِحًۭا فَأُو۟لَٓئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ ٱللَّهُ سَيِّـَٔاتِهِمْ حَسَنَتٍۢ ۗ

وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ غَفُورًۭا رَّحِيمًۭا

 

Except he who repents and believes and does deeds righteous,

then for those will replace Allah their evil deeds with good ones.

And is Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Surah Al-Furqan: Verse 70

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Illa man taba: The one who repents over his wrongful deeds made by wrong decisions, and return to Allah regretful for them these deeds which rendered him in a state of loss and harmfulness. When he returns to Allah ashamed, in fear of His Punishment, declaring his nafs to be the liar, making it feel ashamed, sighing and feeling sad about that which has passed in his life...

 

Wa: and along with all this…

 

Aamana: he believes in Allah’s One-ness and strengthens his repentance by renewing his faith, imaan, enjoining it with sincerity, and keeping other believers safe from committing sins against the faith, (so overall; He renews his faith, believing, sighing regretfully, for the times when he was committing sins and not being a Mo’min)...

 

Wa: (again) with repentance and renewing of his imaan…

 

Amila amilan salihan: he does good deeds, based on sincerity in that faith and that repentance, knowing of its certainty and recognition of those good deeds.

 

Fa ulaika: So these are the fortunate ones who repent and return and are accepted by Allah. Only these are the ones who…

 

Yubadilullahu: Allah, Al Hakeem, The Wise One, Al Muslihu, The Reformer, changes the states of His Servants, after He gives them the ability for sincere repentance and a truthful return…

 

Sayyatihim: (He changes) their bad deeds committed before their tauba, repentance, into…

 

Hasanatin: good deeds afterwards. This is such that Allah, by His Bounty, erases their sins which have been written on their records before their repentance (before Him), and in exchange he writes for those sins, good deeds.

 

Wa Kana Allahu: And Allah is The One Well Informed of the secrets of His Servant and of his sincerity.

 

Ghafoor-an: He is The Forgiver, the One who lets go their sins no matter how major they are after they have come with sincere repentance.

 

Rahim-an: He accepts with His Mercy their tauba and forgives them their sins.

 

It took us two classes to translate the verse and I saw myself in only the first three words; illa man tab - except he who repents.

 

15. The one who repents is extended forgiveness

 

‏فَمَن تَابَ مِنۢ بَعْدِ ظُلْمِهِۦ وَأَصْلَحَ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَتُوبُ عَلَيْهِ ۗ

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌ

 

But whoever repented from after his wrongdoing and reforms, then indeed,

Allah will turn in forgiveness to him. Indeed, Allah (is) Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Surah Al Maidah, Verse 39

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Faman ta’aba: So the one who repents and returns towards Allah sincere (in heart), in fear (of reckoning)…

 

Min ba’ada dulmihi: after he transgressed boundaries set by Him …

 

Wa aslaha: and reformed themselves with repentance (by returning towards Allah with sincerity) for the corruption that they have brought upon their own nafs (self) by disobeying Allah’s Orders.

 

Fa innallaha: Indeed, Allah is Al Musleh, The Reformer of all states of His Servant.

 

Yatubu alaihi: And Allah also turns towards Him and accepts his tauba, repentance, after giving him the ability for that repentance.

 

Innallaha: Without doubt, Allah is the One who is Al Muyassir, the One who gives ease in all matter for His Servants…

 

Ghafur an: He is the Forgiver of all their sins.

 

16. Repent and reform

 

‏إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ تَابُوا۟ مِنۢ بَعْدِ ذَلِكَ وَأَصْلَحُوا۟ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌ ‎

 

Except those who repent from after that, and reform[ed] themselves.

Then indeed, Allah (is) Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Surah Aal e Imran, Verse 3

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Illaladina taabu: Except for the ones who were repentant amongst them in this life.

 

Min ba’ada dalika: then after this, they who had turned away from the faith and become astray…

 

Waslahu: then reformed their state with repentance and sincerity of the heart, seeking forgiveness, expressing regret upon that which they did…

 

Fa Innallaha: Indeed, Allah is Al Muwwafiq, the One who gives the ability for the tauba,

 

Ghafur-an: concealing their crimes…

 

Rahim-an: Affectionate, letting go of their mistakes.

  

17. From Darkness into Light

 

‏ٱللَّهُ وَلِىُّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ يُخْرِجُهُم مِّنَ ٱلظُّلُمَتِ إِلَى ٱلنُّورِ ۖ

 

Allah is the Protecting Guardian of those who believed.

He brings them out from the darkness towards the light.

Surah Al Baqarah, Verse 257

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Allahu: The One who is the Gatherer of All Attributes and All Names…

 

Walliulladina Aamino: He is the Friend of those who bring faith upon Him. He raises them, according to His Qualities and all that He encompasses (which is everything)…

 

Yukhrijjuhum min adulumaat: and brings them out of the darkness, which is the darkness of their nature and darkness of their doubts (of possibilities) and all other darkness…

 

Ilan Noor: towards the Light, crystal clear, His Pure One-ness, free of dust and all other associations.

 

18. The strategy of Satan is weak

 

إِنَّ كَيْدَ ٱلشَّيْطَنِ كَانَ ضَعِيفًا

 

Indeed, the strategy of the Shaitaan is weak.

Surah An-Nisa’, Verse 76

 

Inna kayda Ash Shaitan: Indeed the plotting of Shaitan, as compared to the planning of Allah and His Response to his cunningness…

 

Kana daeefan: is insignificant and without influence.

  

The Delusion of the World

 

الدنيا ظل زائل

The world is a shadow, disappearing.

Maula e Kayinaat, Hazrat Ali (ratu)

 

19. It is all that it is

 

وَمَا ٱلْحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنْيَآ إِلَّا مَتَعُ ٱلْغُرُورِ

But is not the life of the world anything except the enjoyment of delusion.

Surah Al-Hadeed, Verse 20

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Mal Hayatud duniya illa: In the eyes of those who are ahraar, free before their Lord, who are detached and not bound by their desire or will or need or anything else, who have reached the rank of ae’tabar, certainty and istibsaar, witnessing by the eye…

 

Illa Mata ul ghurror: according to these ahraar, the life in the world is an illusion that deludes and is false like a mirage. And the one who is caught in that deception and starts indulging in whatever is in the world, then indeed, he become deserving of destruction and ruin. And is rendered deprived of the Peace in Allah’s Closeness and the Tranquility of His Presence.

 

20. Wealth and children are trials

 

‏إِنَّمَآ أَمْوَلُكُمْ وَأَوْلَدُكُمْ فِتْنَةٌۭ ۚ

وَٱللَّهُ عِندَهُۥٓ أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌۭ ‎

 

Verily, your wealth and your children are a trial, and Allah - with Him is a reward great.

Surah At-Taghabun, Verse 15

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Innama amawalkum wa auladakum fitna: Without doubt, your wealth and your children are a trial great and an intense test for you. So it is incumbent upon you to not show-off because of them. For they are both a web of Satan’s party and ropes by which they (appear to) entangle you because the party of Satan and their ropes, (both of these), want to stop you from Allah’s Path by beautifying your wealth and children for you and making them beloved for your hearts so you become occupied by them both, so you are withdrawn from the company of the Mukhliseen, the sincere.

 

Wa Allahu inda hu ajrun azeem: Allah has the greatest reward for those who are sincere, who keep away from focusing on anything other than Him at all.

 

21. All is an adornment

 

إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا مَا عَلَى ٱلْأَرْضِ زِينَةً لَّهَا لِنَبْلُوَهُمْ أَيُّهُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا

 

(Truly we have made all that is on Earth as an adornment for it)

that We may try them, as to which of them is best in their deed.

Surah Al-Kahf, Verse 7

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Inna ja’alne ma ala alardi: Without doubt We created upon this Earth three basic things; animals and humans, vegetation, and buried treasures. And Ee created whatever else comes from this Earth; different tastes and different lusts, which are physical or fantasy.

 

Zeenatal laha: These are adornments for it that make it (the world) beautiful and attractive…

 

Ayyuhum ahsan amlan: to see which of them (Mankind) has the best deeds and these deeds are the ones which are completed with true guidance and reflection by detachment from the world. And the absence of focus towards it and staying away from its enjoyment which is an illusion. And staying away from the distraction it creates and its lusts which bring with them all kinds of pain and difficulties and desires. It is these wishes which in turn cause different sins and crimes.

 

It is then imperative that in this world then one lives in a single room and wears a single outfit and eats simply, for everything else is just debris which is transient, which inherits sinfulness and trials.

 

22. Listen, obey, spend

 

‏فَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ مَا ٱسْتَطَعْتُمْ وَٱسْمَعُوا۟ وَأَطِيعُوا۟ وَأَنفِقُوا۟ خَيْرًۭا لِأَنفُسِكُمْ ۗ

وَمَن يُوقَ شُحَّ نَفْسِهِۦ فَأُو۟لَٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُفْلِحُونَ ‎

 

So be mindful of Allah as much as you can and listen (to Him) and obey and spend,

it is better for your selves.

And whoever is saved from their own greed, those are the successful ones.

Surah At-Taghabun, Verse 16

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Fattaqu Allah ma astata’tum: So be conscious of Allah as much as you can and make Him your Protector for yourselves from the delusions Satan inserts and the trials that come due to him…

 

Wasma’u: and listen carefully the Words of Allah with the ears of surrender and acceptance…

 

Wa ati’u: and obey His Commands and stay away from what He forbids and don’t become disobedient from His Orders at all.

 

Wanfiqu: and spend from that which Allah has given you. Allah has made you His Vice-regent so obey His Order (to be obedient) and to seek His Pleasure and do all that He Commands, especially sacrifice and spending…

 

Khairallakum: is best for you, in this world and will be a treasure for you in the next life. And the greatest benefit of this spending is that it will save your nafs, self, from the dishonor and humiliation of miserliness.

 

Wa mayyuqa shu’ha nafsihi: And the one who was saved from stinginess of the nafs by giving and spending…

 

Fa ulaika: these are the ones who are fortunate and the ones who personify the attributes of large heartedness and generosity…

 

Hum ul muflihoon: and they are the ones who are rendered successful by Allah with great rewards and the highest ranks.

 

Subhan Allah!

 

23. The ones who spread vulgarity

 

‏إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يُحِبُّونَ أَن تَشِيعَ ٱلْفَحِشَةُ فِى ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌۭ فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱلْءَاخِرَةِ ۚ

 

Indeed, those who like that immorality should spread among those who believe, will have a punishment painful in the world and the Hereafter.

Surah An-Nur, Verse 19

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Then said Allah as a warning to all peoples;

 

Inna: Indeed the mufsideen, the ones who spread harm and those who transgress His Boundaries…

 

Alladina Yuhibbuna: they are the ones who love, from the wickedness of their inner beings (the batin)…

 

An Tasheeh’: and they exhibit and spread…

 

Al Fashiha: vulgarity that is considered ugly by the reflecting mind as well as the Sharia’ (Islamic Law)…

 

Filladina Amano: amongst those who have belief i.e. amongst the Mo’mineen.

 

Lahum: For them is the punishment for the publishing and distributing (of such material)…

 

Azabun Aleem: which is painful and scary…

 

Fi Duniya: in the world physically

 

Wal akhira: and in the Hereafter with flames of fire.

 

24. Man is a Transgressor

 

‏كَلَّآ إِنَّ ٱلْإِنسَنَ لَيَطْغَىٰٓ ‎

‏أَن رَّءَاهُ ٱسْتَغْنَىٰٓ ‎

 

Indeed, Man surely transgresses all bounds,

whenever he sees himself to be self-sufficient.

Surah Al-Alaq, Verse 6-7

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

And so Allah says admonishingly;

 

Kalla inna al insaana: Surely Man, who has been born from the lowest of the matter (smelly earth, sperm) and then given the highest ranks which reach the zenith of dignity and praise…

 

Layatgha: he transgresses all the limits set by Allah and assumes arrogance before Him, forgetting the original lowly materials of his creation.

 

Ar ra’ahu: For he thinks he is all in all, assuming that on his own…

 

Astaghna: he is self-sufficient and becomes careless about Allah and thinks that he needs nothing from Him. He becomes prideful with His Servants, and walks on this Earth arrogantly because of the debris which he has collected from this world and its transient attractions.

  

The End of Al-Araaf – from the Tafseer e Jilani

 

In those days, I was reading Surah Al-Araaf from the Tafseer e Jilani. Ghaus Pak (ra) starts and ends each Surah with an address. The first, the beginning, is for the ones Chosen by Allah, the extraordinary. The end is for the rest of us, the ordinary. When I reached it and read what Ghaus Pak (ra) said to me, the reader, I was struck by how it was always all about Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him);

 

“O one who turns their direction towards the Qibla of Ahmed (peace be upon him) and who intends to reach the destination of the One-ness of Allah through Muhammad (peace be upon him)! It is imperative for you to…

 

May Allah give you guidance towards the the Straight Path and enjoins you to the Station of Tauheed.

 

…turn your attention towards the states of your qalb, the seat of recognition of God, and remember what is in it from your Lord’s as gifts, through investigation and quest for these treasures, whilst avoiding that which places you in doubt from the dust of obscurity of others, so that you reach the standard of receiving admonition and trust.

 

That you do it in a way that the evil prompting of the plotter, Satan, does not come into your heart. Nor the betrayals of the world with their deceit and unfaithfulness. None of this will be achieved by you except with remembrance through Allah’s Book which has advice and information and history. So obey the commands it orders and forbids and reflect on its overt secrets and the unveiling of its wisdom and its hidden secrets.

 

It is incumbent upon you that if you want to receive true guidance from the Book, you have to enjoin yourself with the ahadith of Rasool Allah (peace be upon him). Because the ahadith are meant to explain it, reveal the secrets and signs in it, and make clear that which is ambiguous in it. The ahadith will give you the security you need to have true belief and secure you from slipping and turning away from guidance. It is the ahadith that which take you, according to your capacity, to the path of One-ness.”

 

25. The Guiding Friend

 

مَن يَهْدِ ٱللَّهُ فَهُوَ ٱلْمُهْتَدِ ۖ

وَمَن يُضْلِلْ فَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُۥ وَلِيًّا مُّرْشِدًا

 

Whoever guides Allah and he is the guided one,

and whoever He lets go astray then never you will find for him a protector,

or a guiding friend.

Surah Al-Kahf, Verse 17

 

I studied the verse form the tafseer of Ghaus Pak (ra) to see what he meant by “guiding friend.”

 

Waliyan: A friend, who helps him in his affairs by interceding for him, so that the friend can save him from the waywardness that is naturally present (in all people in the nafs). And he delivers him from the punitive consequences of what the nafs will bring upon him.

 

Murshid an: The friend is the one who shows him (the way of the Sharia’) and guides him (through the path of spirituality) towards the Straight Path.

 

Imam Maalik (ra) said;

 

من تفقه ولم يتصوف فقد تفسق

ومن تصوف ولم يتفقه فقد تزندق

ومن جمع بينهما فقد تحقق

The one who follows Fiqh, Islamic Jurisprudence, but does

not purify the heart,

so indeed he becomes a fasiq, defiantly disobedient.

 

The one who purifies the heart and ignores the laws of Jurisprudence,

he becomes a zindeeq, of the disbelievers.

 

And the one who gathers them both, indeed he attains

certainty and arrives at the truth.

 

As someone who tends to pay little attention to the Sharia, I was amazed; I could become a zindeeq, a heretic!

 

26. Those who are Mindful – the Muttaqi – are reminded

 

‏إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّقَوْا۟ إِذَا مَسَّهُمْ طَٓئِفٌۭ مِّنَ ٱلشَّيْطَنِ تَذَكَّرُوا۟ فَإِذَا هُم مُّبْصِرُونَ

 

Indeed, those who are mindful and conscious of Allah, when touches them an evil thought from the Shaitaan,

they remember Allah and then they are those who begin to see things clearly.

Surah Al-Araaf, Verse 201

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Then said Allah reminding His Beloved (peace be upon him);

 

Innalladina ittaqau: Those who are conscious and mindful of Me amongst My Servants, they are in a routine such that…

 

Ida massahum: whenever touches them and tries to overcome them…

 

Taifun: the sender from Satan who awaits and encircles their hearts…

 

Min Ash-Shaitan tadakkaru: they remind themselves of what they been commanded to do and what is forbidden for them from Allah…

 

Fa idahum: so in the same moment, due to the remembrance of what has been commanded and that which is forbidden…

 

Mubsiroon: they become able to differentiate the placement of the sins and therefore become careful of them and come into the Refuge of Allah from those things that put them into false illusions about Him.

 

27. When anger is stirred

 

وَإِمَّا يَنزَغَنَّكَ مِنَ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنِ نَزْغٌ فَٱسْتَعِذْ بِٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ

 

If an evil suggestion come to you from Satan stirring you (to blind anger),

then seek refuge with Allah. Surely He is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

Surah Al-A’raf, Verse 200

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Wa Imma Yanazaghannaka: So if reaches you whispers which then disappear, thus placing you in a state of disruption…

 

Min Shaitaan: it is from Shaitaan, who influences you physically through the organs which cause anger and stokes the ego in a way that is only ignorant creating a false sense of dignity…

 

Nazghun: causing doubts and delusions that persuade you to become angry and take you out of the state that you have been ordered to stay in, which is tolerance and softness of behaviour.

 

Fasta’iz billah: So come into the Refuge of Allah from these entrapments and return to Him from these doubts and this plotting. He is with His Glory Enough to protect you from his evil and treachery.

 

Inna hu: Indeed, Allah is Pure from everything that is negative…

 

Sami’un: and is the Acceptor of your prayers,

 

Aleem: and the Fulfiller of your needs.

 

Said Maula e Kayinaat, Hazrat Ali (ratu);

 

إِذَا قَدَرْتَ عَلَى عَدُوِّكَ

فَاجْعَلِ الْعَفْوَ عَنْهُ شُكْراً لِلْقُدْرَةِ عَلَيْهِ

 

Whenever you gain power over your adversary,

keep practicing forgiveness,

out of gratitude (to God), for the control you gained over them .

 

28. The Wickedness and Goodness in Us

 

‏وَنَفْسٍۢ وَمَا سَوَّىٰهَا ‎

 

Consider the human spirit and who perfected it.

Surah Ash Shams, Verse 7

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Wa nafsin: Allah takes an oath upon the spirit that receives nourishment from His Names and Attributes, which is revealed in all forms which are named (by Him). The spirit comes into the organs (in these bodies), both higher (the angels) and lower (Mankind) so that everything can gain benefit from the remembrance of their origin and their true purpose of existence.

 

Wa ma sawaaha: And He takes an oath on Himself who made this spirit, meaning He made it moderate and created it as a compound fitted with the influences of the higher (heavenly) and the lower (earthly) elements.

 

29-31: To succeed or fail

 

فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَىٰهَا

‏قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّىٰهَا ‎

‏وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّىٰهَا ‎

 

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 the one who is truthful can be differentiated from the one who is false, and the astray from the guided, and 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 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.

 

Maqam al Ummiya – The Station of being an Ummi

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

“Amongst the 124,000 Prophets and 313 Messengers, the maqam, station, of being Ummi is specific to only the Last Messenger (peace be upon him). Never before has the word been used previously for any Prophet or Messenger.

 

The Meaning of Ummi: The word Ummi is derived from the word umm which means origin or source or root. So Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) is Ummi because he is the origin of everything. For example, Mecca is called Umm ul Qura because it is the origin and first of the cities. The Quran is called Umm ul Kitab because it is the base and source of all the books.”

 

32. Those who deny the Afterlife

 

‏إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱلْءَاخِرَةِ زَيَّنَّا لَهُمْ أَعْمَلَهُمْ فَهُمْ يَعْمَهُونَ ‎

 

As for those who will not believe in the life to come – behold, We made their own doings appear goodly have unto them, and so they stumble blindly to and fro.

Surah An-Naml, Verse 4

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Then said Allah according to His Sunnah everlasting in His Book:

 

Innaladeena la yu’minoon: Those who do not affirm and testify that…

 

Bil akhirati: there is an Afterlife, out of pride and out of stubbornness…

 

Zayyana: We make good…

 

Lahum a’malahum: the ugly, the evil and the worldly acts for them and we give them time for a while, such that they become deserving of the worst punishment and the worst end.

 

Fahum: So these people because of Us giving them this time, they are intoxicated in their addictions and their waywardness…

 

Ya’mahoona: wandering in a state of bewilderment, proud, showing off of their luxurious lives and their blessings.

 

33. The Guided and the Astray

 

‏أَفَمَن زُيِّنَ لَهُۥ سُوٓءُ عَمَلِهِۦ فَرَءَاهُ حَسَنًۭاۖ

فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُضِلُّ مَن يَشَآءُ وَيَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُۖ

فَلَا تَذْهَبْ نَفْسُكَ عَلَيْهِمْ حَسَرَتٍۚ

 

Is, then, he to whom the evil of how own doings so alluring that he regards it as good?

For verily, Allah lets him go astray who wills to go astray, just as he guides him that wills to be guided.

Hence, O Allah’s Habeeb (peace be upon you), don’t let your sorrow over them destroy you.

Surah Fatir, Verse 8

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

A faman zuyyana lahu soo’u amalihi faraahu hasanan: Does the human being think that Shaitaan, Satan, has made his sinful deeds for him attractive, when in fact they are entirely wrong. This happens because of his false beliefs and wicked thoughts, so how can he be like the one who is in fact good in his matters and his faith? Can it be that the two become equal and deserving of the same reward? Never ever!

 

Fa Innallaha: The One who possess all Honour (Al-Mutazziz), who has Supreme Authority and Majesty, who controls all He wants…

 

Yudillu: He makes (some) wayward from the Path of Tauheed, according to His Wrath and according to His Majesty…

 

Mayya sha’: those of His Creation who are disobedient, sinking them in waywardness and making them lost…

 

Wa yahdi maayya sha’: and He guides and gives guidance (to others), for indeed, this is what is asked for as help by them first of all. This (Decision) is a function only and only of Allah’s Will and His Choice. Nothing is allowed to interrupt that or become involved in it in any way whatsoever.

 

Fa la tadhab nafsuka: So don’t exhaust yourself, O Beloved (peace be upon him), and don’t be a cause of your own extreme anguish and torment…

 

Alaihim: over the ones who are astray, though you love for them guidance and wish it for them…

 

Hasaraat: feeling sad for them and sorry for them, pining over this wish of yours for them again and again feeling that sorrow for them, layering grief upon grief because of their waywardness and refusal to accept guidance.

 

Then in repeating the meaning again Ghaus Pak (ra) says for emphasis:

 

“For that person who thinks his sin is goodness and thinks the deed is good for his nafs and believes it to be correct, all the time being unaware that it is in fact falsehood. This is the reason he has turned from the Right Path, thus totally distancing himself from guidance.

 

And you, O Beloved Messenger (peace be upon him) who completes The Message, will you torture yourself over them in sorrow wondering all the whole; “Why don’t they accept guidance and why don’t they bring faith?” Indeed, Allah makes astray those He wishes to make astray and guides those He wishes to guide. So don’t feel badly for them.”

 

34. Allah has full knowledge

 

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلِيمٌۢ بِمَا يَصْنَعُونَ

 

Indeed, Allah has full knowledge of what they do.

Surah Fatir, Verse 8

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

In Allaha: No doubt, Allah is The One is watching all states…

Aleemun bima yasnaoon: And He knows everything that they do. He will give them the result of their evil and wrongful deeds, so don’t belabor yourself for them over that which they are missing in instruction and guidance.

 

35. The Reward of Amil Saleh – Good deeds

 

‏مَنْ عَمِلَ صَلِحًۭا مِّن ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنثَىٰ وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌۭ فَلَنُحْيِيَنَّهُۥ حَيَوٰةًۭ طَيِّبَةًۭ ۖ

وَلَنَجْزِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْرَهُم بِأَحْسَنِ مَا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ ‎

 

Whoever does righteous deeds whether male or female while he is a believer, then surely We will give him life, a good life,

and We will pay them their reward to the best of what they used to do.

Surah An-Nahl, Verse 97

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Man amila: The one amongst you who does deeds…

 

Salihan: the deeds that We accept and that make you accepted by Us…

 

Min zakiran: by the men amongst you…

 

Au unthawa: or the females, in the state that they are…

 

Huwa: during the performance of the deed…

 

Mo’min: (if they are) believers in the One-ness of Allah, testifying to His Books sent upon them and His Messengers, obedient to all that which The Last Messenger (peace be upon him) brings, wanting increase in their ranks from Ilm ul Yaqeen, Knowledge of the Truth, to Ayn ul Yaqeen, Witnessing of the Truth, towards Haq ul yaqeen the Truth of the Truth…

 

Falanuh ya yanna hu: We, Allah, surely give them life after the death of their worldly needs and lusts and when they withdraw and become detached from their animalistic instincts by their will and choice,

 

Hayatan tayyaba: We give them a pure life with actual purity which is eternal, without the stain of death (for it is everlasting) and loss, which is devoid of the ill of expiry and finality, which is cleansed of all grudges and ills (of the heart) which are connected to the overt life (in the world).

 

Wa lanajzeeyannahum ajrahum: and We will give them the reward of their deeds and their patience which they exercised against fulfilling the demands of their base self in their overt life…

 

Bi ahsana ma kanu yamuloon: with the best and most abundant of rewards for their deeds which they performed when they traveled towards Us, wanting of the union with Our Pure One-ness.

 

36. Each soul earns its doing

 

‏لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا ۚ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا ٱكْتَسَبَتْ ۗ

 

Allah does not burden Allah any soul with more than its capacity to bear.

For it is every good that it earned, and against is every evil it what it has incurred.

Surah Al Baqarah, Verse 286

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

La Yukallifullaha: The Allah who guides towards Him does not place any burden…

 

Nafsan illa Wusaha: upon any soul more than it can bear i.e. except that which it can bear, according to its capacity and strength and capability, which He set in His Ever-Present Knowledge for this purpose. So this makes clear…

 

Laha Ma Kasabat: that the soul will only be rewarded for its virtues and good deeds according to the capability of its nature.

 

Wa Aliyha Maktasabat: and it will be held accountable for that which it earns from its wrongful deeds, due to following the powers of the nafs, self, as much as follows it because it is the abode of all degeneration.

 

37. Allah is the Protector

 

وَٱللَّهُ يَعْصِمُكَ مِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ ۗ

 

And Allah will protect you from the people.

Surah Al Maidah – Verse 67

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Wallahu: The One who safeguards every state of yours (O Beloved (peace be upon you))…

 

Ya’simuka: and protects you…

 

Min: from the harm of…

 

An-naas: people and that which they plot to kill you and hurt you. And Allah will defend you against the injuries they want to inflict upon you with His Power and His Majesty.

 

38. So be patient, O Beloved (peace be upon you), for you are in Our Eyes

 

وَٱصْبِرْ لِحُكْمِ رَبِّكَ فَإِنَّكَ بِأَعْيُنِنَا ۖ

 

So be patient with your Lord’s Judgement for you are, indeed, in Our Eyes.

Surah At-Tur, Verse 48

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wasbir: O Messenger who completes The Message (peace be upon him)!

 

Li Hukmi Rabbika: By the Order of your Lord, be patient with these people who are malevolent. Since He gave them time till the Day of Judgement and you will be amongst them, He gave you the strength to be steadfast on the different forms of vexation from the pain and difficulties they create in you. So don’t become hasty in inciting His Anger towards them so that He may destroy them and don’t fear their plotting and betrayal towards you.

 

Fa innaka: For indeed...

 

Bi A’yunina: You are in Our Special Safeguarding and Our Surrounding and Our Fortress. We are Enough for you and your grief and difficulty that comes because of others’ malice, We are Enough for you. And don’t pay any heed to them and don’t care about their wickedness and their deceit. And don’t move away from Us because of them and their enmity towards you.

 

39. What is a spouse for Ghaus Pak (ra)?

 

قُلْ أَؤُنَبِّئُكُم بِخَيْرٍ مِّن ذَٰلِكُمْ ۚ

لِلَّذِينَ ٱتَّقَوْا۟ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ جَنَّـٰتٌ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا وَأَزْوَٰجٌ مُّطَهَّرَةٌ وَرِضْوَٰنٌ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ ۗ

وَٱللَّهُ بَصِيرٌۢ بِٱلْعِبَادِ

 

Say, O Prophet (peace be upon you), “Shall I inform you of what is better than all of this?

(‘This” being he enjoyment of ˹worldly˺ desires—women, children,1 treasures of gold and silver, fine horses, cattle, and fertile land.)

Those mindful ˹of Allah˺ will have Gardens with their Lord under which rivers flow, to stay there forever, and pure spouses, along with Allah’s pleasure.”

And Allah is All-Seeing of ˹His˺ servants,

Surah Aal e Imran, Verse 15

 

As a single person I looked up the word azwaaj specifically. I knew Ghaus Pak’s (ra) tafseer of the word would have something for me as well.

 

Wa azwaaj: Deeds and states

 

Verses 40-55 continued on flickr.com/photos/42093313@N00/51684479886/in/dateposted-...

 

رفتن اسکندر به ظلمات

نظامی - خمسه - شرف نامه

1579 میلادی، سیاوش گرجی (گرجیان) و کارگاهش، قزوین

Khiżr żand Ilyās at the Fountain of Life

Niẓāmī Ganjavī (ca. 1141–1209), Khamsa (Quintet), in Persian. Persia, Qazvin, written 1549–51, illustrated ca. 1579 by Siyāvush the Georgian and his workshop for ˓Alī Khān. 180 x 186 mm

Iskandar (Alexander the Great) and Khiżr, his vizier, set out to reach the end of the world in order to find the Water of Life. They took different paths, however, and only Khiżr found it, achieving immortality. Here he is shown with Ilyās (Elijah). Their dried fish, which accidentally fell into the water, has been miraculously revived. Witnessing the miracle, they achieve prophethood, symbolized by their flaming gold halos. The Prophet Muḥammad reportedly said that Khiżr and Ilyās spend every month of Ramadan in Jerusalem. Khiżr may be the figure on the left, as his name in Arabic means "the green one."

This episode appears in the Iskandarnāma (1194), the fourth poem of the Persian poet Niẓāmī's Khamsa (Quintet).

Persian poetry

The Persians loved their poetry and their poets, though the Qur˒an warned against believing their words (sura 69.41) and "those straying in evil who follow them" (sura 26.224). While Arabic was the first language of Islam and the language of the Qur˒an, Persian was favored by poets. Even Firdausī's (940–1020) celebrated Shāhnāma (Book of Kings), the national epic of Persian, was written in verse—some 50,000 couplets! Rūmī (1207–1273), the best known of the Sufi poets, put poetry in perspective when he wrote, "A hundred thousand books of poetry existed / Before the word of the illiterate [Prophet] they were put to shame!" (Masnavī I, 529). Presented here are illustrations of Firdausī's Shāhnāma as well as works by Sa˓ dī (ca.1184–1292), Hāfiz (ca. 1320–1389), and Jāmī (1414–1492), regarded as the last of the great Sufi poets. Also featured are illustrations from each of the five poems of the Khamsa (Quintet), by Niẓāmī (ca. 1141–1209), especially Lailā and Majnūn (The Persian Romeo and Juliet) and Bahrām Gūr's Seven Princesses.

رفتن اسکندر به ظلمات

...

بخورد آب حیوان به فرخندگی

بقای ابد یافت در زندگی

همان یار خود را خبردار کرد

که او نیز خورد آب ازان آب خورد

شگفتی نشد کاب حیوان گهر

کند ماهی مرده را جانور

شگفتی در آن ماهی مرده بود

که بر چشمهٔ زندگی ره نمود

...

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...

 

Continued from:

www.flickr.com/photos/42093313@N00/52650032173/in/datepos...

 

Patience is Beautiful

 

وَلَمَّا بَرَزُوا۟ لِجَالُوتَ وَجُنُودِهِۦ قَالُوا۟

رَبَّنَاۤ أَفۡرِغۡ عَلَیۡنَا صَبۡرࣰا وَثَبِّتۡ أَقۡدَامَنَا وَٱنصُرۡنَا عَلَى ٱلۡقَوۡمِ ٱلۡكَـٰفِرِینَ

 

And when they went forth to (face) Jalut and his troops they said,

 

“Our Lord! Pour on us patience and make firm our steps and help us against the people (who are) disbelieving.”

Surah Al Baqarah, Verse 250

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wa lamma barazu: And when they went forth to face him and came in front of them…

 

Li jalouta wa junudi-hi: Jalut and his army and came near them…

 

Qalu: they said, as the ones focusing towards their Lord, the ones beseeching Him, asking for His Help…

 

Rabba afrigh: O Our Lord, pour, with Your Favour…

 

Alayna sabr-an: and shower upon us patience so we are patient when descend upon us trials from You…

 

Wa sabbit aqdaamana: and make firm our footing in that affliction, seeking Your Raza, Pleasure, upon what You have decreed as fate…

 

Wansurna: and help us in being abiding in Your Command and its fulfillment…

 

Al-al qaum il kafireen: against the people who disbelieve and are ungrateful, who deny Your Favour and Your Blessings. Indeed, You are Aziz ul Hakeem!

 

It was in a class on Surah Yusuf that the verse on patience first appeared. The word associated with it was Jameelun. It is meant to be beautiful:

 

فَصَبۡرࣱ جَمِیلࣱۖ

وَٱللَّهُ ٱلۡمُسۡتَعَانُ عَلَىٰ مَا تَصِفُونَ

 

O patience (is) beautiful. And Allah (is) the One sought for help against what you describe.

Surah Yusuf, Verse 18

 

My cousin Sanya raised a point.

 

“I have never ever experienced patience as beautiful Qari Sahib. It is bitter and it is difficult. It is agonizing.”

 

Then she turned towards us, the others in the class and went down the line.

 

“Who here has experienced sabr as beautiful or practiced it beautifully? Have you?” she asked us, calling us by our names individually as if tallying the score.

 

The nays had it. Maybe one person answered in the affirmative. I was just silent. I was just wondering when I even practiced patience at all?

 

I looked up the verse in my class with Qari Sahib the next day.

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Fa sabrun jameel-un: So be patient beautifully, most beautiful (in your patience), over what you face as a trial.

 

Wallahu al Musta’anu ala: And I only seek help from Allah Al

 

Musta’aan, The One who gives help, against…

 

Ala Ma tasifoon: what you narrate with your tongues, O Al Musrifoona, O Transgressors from His Boundaries, because there is no power to bear what you say without the help of Allah and His Power.

 

I stared at the new Name of Allah Subhanahu that appeared.

 

Al Must’aan. The Only One who gives help. And when? In the verse it said, when they say, who are ignoring of all limits, knowingly or unknowingly, when what they say is hurtful, “because there is no power to bear what you say without the help of Allah and His Power.”

 

A few days later at the shrine, I came across the exact same words sabr-an jameel-an. This time it was in the context of the one who was the perfect manifestation of the Divine Attribute, Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon him and his manner of being patient by his Lord). In the tafseer, Ghaus Pak (ra) described exactly what that patience entailed.

 

فَٱصۡبِرۡ صَبۡرࣰا جَمِیلًا

 

So be patient with gracious patience.

Surah Al Ma’arij, Verse 5

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

And after the revealing of the matter for you:

 

Fasbir: Be patient, O Akmal Ar Rusul, O Messenger who completes Messenger-hood (salutations and greetings upon you and your family by As Saboor Himself), upon the different kinds of pain from your enemies and their mockery…

 

Sabran jameel-an: with a patience beautiful, without the mix of unease and distress and dissatisfaction and displeasure and a haste for revenge, expecting to punish them due to their disrespecting you. For indeed, the one who is your enemy, soon will reach them a punishment promised.

 

Despite having quoted a hadith endlessly, for the first time in my life it made sense to me why patience was one of the two pillars upon which the religion stood. Why exercising it beautifully only meant one thing; a surrender to what was destined to happen. That surrender is what made it only a boon.

 

Just like the blessing was a trial, surrender made the trial a blessing!

 

And most remarkably, why the word used by Nabi Kareem (Subhanahu sends salutations and greetings upon as As Saboor) for the person who would be successful in the endeavor was “amazing!”

 

Ajban!

 

عن صهيب قال رسولُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم:

عَجَبًا لأمرِ المؤمنِ إِنَّ أمْرَه كُلَّهُ لهُ خَيرٌ

وليسَ ذلكَ لأحَدٍ إلا للمُؤْمنِ

إِنْ أصَابتهُ سَرَّاءُ شَكَرَ فكانتْ خَيرًا لهُ

وإنْ أصَابتهُ ضَرَّاءُ صَبرَ فكانتْ خَيرًا لهُ

 

Said the Prophet of God (salutations and greetings be upon him and his family),

“Amazing is the state of the Believer (Mo’min).

In all his matters is goodness and this is for no one except the Believer.

If happiness reaches him, he expresses gratitude so that is good for him.

And if comes to him adversity, he is patient so that is good for him.”

 

I looked up Allah Subhanahu’s Name – As Saboor: “The One who is most patient and enduring. He does not act hastily but rather waits until the proper time. He does not punish the disobedient and those who didn’t believe in Him. He allows time for them to repent or an opportunity to take the right path.”

 

And what did it mean for me?

 

From the root, suad, be, ra which has the following classical Arabic connotations: to be patience, to be enduring, to endure trial or affliction with good manner, to be contented in trial or affliction without show of complaint, to make no distinction between comfort and affliction, to bear calmly, to persevere cheerfully, to be steadfast, constant, to restrain.

 

The first time the opportunity presented itself for me to exercise that patience and to do so beautifully was whilst writing this piece in Karachi. In a house that I had visited for 35 years and therefore considered my own. A young staff member, who had been working there for a couple of years and was clearly in full possession of Shaitaan, had lost control of his tongue and therefore his tone.

 

The first time I noticed it I didn’t get a chance to react because the owner of the house, my friend, was in the room. She didn’t react so neither did I. The second time though I had asked him for something and he was giving me monosyllabic answers in a voice that reaching the absolute pinnacle of rudeness.

 

In my surprise I said to him on the phone, as we were on the home intercom, “Please control your tone and watch the manner in which you speak to me.”

 

Instead of saying what I expected, which was either denial or that I had misunderstood etc., he turned around and repeated his words with an even more adamant voice.

 

On the verse of losing my temper, I started to say, “Come upstairs…” when my friend’s therapist, who was also in the room, grabbed the phone from me saying, “Don’t! It’s not worth it.”

 

I went to my room in more bewilderment than rage and started thinking about how best to blast him to hell and back. But then a lecture I had heard recently kept coming to my head which kept negating my fury against the young man.

 

I had begun listening to an elderly gentleman called Ahmed Javaid Sahib. He spoke only in Urdu and it was the most refined and therefore difficult Urdu I had ever heard in my life. I had been introduced to him by my mother’s friend Ahad a few years ago.

 

I had tried to hear his talks then but felt I couldn’t comprehend anything so abandoned it. The other deterrent at the time was also that Ahmed Javaid Sahib’s lectures had extremely complicated titles. He was heavy into philosophy and they would start with words like epistemology of this and that. I avoided those completely.

 

His other favourite topic was poetry. He could spend an hour and a half dissecting a single couplet of Ghalib or Maulana Rum (ra). I didn’t hear those either. My vocabulary, tragically minimal in Urdu, prevented it. He was clearly brilliant though so I kept listening.

 

His sentences would be long. We had that in common but it wasn’t working in my favour. When I decided I wanted a few lines for this piece, translating them with Qari Sahib would take ages. It made me realize Urdu wasn’t like Arabic. In Arabic thoughts were expressed such that the words would sequentially describe the thought. In Urdu it was the reverse. The last part of the thought would appear first so going word by word didn’t work. In any case, I began.

 

Once he said about Nabi Kareem that it was not possible for the ordinary to know the realities of the person of the one who was second to Allah Subhanahu in the Universe (salutations and greetings upon him and his family by Al Wudood and His Angels). However, certain characteristics were identified as steadfastly placed in the core of his exalted nature:

 

1.Haya – modesty

2.Sakha – generosity

3.Murrawwat - affection

 

And this was the one that had floored me. The description of the virtue was given in this manner:

 

“Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon him and his family by Ar Raheem, uniquely Merciful for him) refrained at all times from embarrassing anyone. Such that even if he was upset with someone, he only expressed it as a signal. He never criticized anyone by name in front of others, always generalizing the admonition. ‘Why are people doing such and such things?’ he would say and the ones doing it would realize it was them. But he never took names…”

 

4.Tawadda’a – humility

 

Murrawwat!

 

In Karachi because of the incident, I noticed how I was different in my nature. 10 years ago I would have yelled at my friend, blasted the kid, packed my bags and left for Lahore. Instead I slept on it.

 

The verse returned to me and I saw what lay ahead. The possibility of patience being sweet instead of bitter!

 

فَصَبۡرࣱ جَمِیلࣱۖ

وَٱللَّهُ ٱلۡمُسۡتَعَانُ عَلَىٰ مَا تَصِفُونَ

 

O patience (is) beautiful. And Allah (is) the One sought for help against what you describe.

Surah Yusuf, Verse 18

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Fa sabrun jameel-un: So be patient beautifully, most beautiful (in your patience), over what you face as a trial.

 

Wallahu al Musta’anu ala: And I only seek help from Allah Al Musta’aan, The One who gives help, in…

Ala Ma tasifoon: what you narrate with your tongues, O Al Musrifoona, O transgressors from His Boundaries, because there is no power to bear what you say without the help of Allah and His Power.

 

What did I really want anyway, I asked myself. For a poor person to get fired? No. For him to be publicly reprimanded. Perhaps yes. But then was that murrawwat? Definitely not. All I was feeling was a false sense of dignity. Undeniably courtesy of Shaitaan. It was his preferred modus operandi.

 

So I let it go. I surrendered the matter, telling myself that I guess the worst case scenario was that I might not come back to the house.

 

One thing I did, at the advice of an elder in Lahore, was to avoid the person. So as not to put myself in a situation where he might be rude again because it was clearly no longer in his control. I knew what was going on in his head. He was taking care of the person who was most important person in the house. Who was also unwell. Even though he wasn’t doing anything that any other person couldn’t have done easily, Satan had whispered to him what he whispers to everyone who has an “important” job in a house.

 

“You are indispensable, indisposable. Do what you want. No one can do anything to you!”

 

There was a verse in the Quran that attested to it.

 

وَإِذۡ زَیَّنَ لَهُمُ ٱلشَّیۡطَـٰنُ أَعۡمَـٰلَهُمۡ وَقَالَ لَا غَالِبَ لَكُمُ ٱلۡیَوۡمَ مِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ وَإِنِّی جَارࣱ لَّكُمۡۖ

 

And when made attractive to them the Shaitaan their deeds and he said, "No (one) (can) overcome you today from the people and indeed, I am a neighbor for you.

 

Surah Al Anfal, Verse 48

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wa: And overall what help comes against you all (O Believers) and aid comes against you all (i.e. to harm you), that is only the deception of Shaitaan with vain hopes and his allurement towards your enemies (the opponents i.e. the deniers of truth), (supposedly) to help you by that misleading becoming a curse for them. Remember (O Mo’mineen)…

 

Id zayyana: when it was made beautiful and appealing…

 

Lahum Ash Shaitaan amaalahum: for them (the deniers of truth) their deeds by Shaitaan i.e. their enemity with you and their warfare with you.

 

Wa qala: And he said, Shaitaan, in fighting you, inspiring their mind with seduction in their state of fear and discouragement through his way of waswasa, paranoia, until they imagined that, certainly, nobody could prevail over them at all, with confidence in the excess of their numbers and their preparation…

 

La ghaliba lakum al youm min an naas: (he whispered), “No one can prevail upon you today from the people and for you all is the controlling and the victory…

 

Wa inni jaarullakum: and indeed, I am certainly your protector, the giver of refuge for you.”

 

It was literally that. His whole aura was so distorted it couldn’t have been anything else. So I let it go. Two days later I noticed a change. He started doing my work without my asking for it so I started thanking him. He started greeting me every time he saw me so I returned his greeting. And just like that, without reaction on my part, everything normalized.

Thus the Quran promises, that indeed, Allah Subhanahu is with the one who are the Sabireen who seek His Help through prayer.

 

یَـٰۤأَیُّهَا ٱلَّذِینَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱسۡتَعِینُوا۟ بِٱلصَّبۡرِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِۚ

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِینَ

 

O you who believed! Seek help through patience and the prayer.

Indeed, Allah (is) with the patient ones.

Surah Al Baqarah, Verse 153

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Then indeed, He, at the time when Allah Subhanahu placed extreme emphasis on admonition and instruction and called out to them in hope that they would become aware, even though their original nature is based upon the Essence of Tauheed, One-ness so He said:

 

Ya ayyahalladina aamano: O ye who attained to faith with the Essence of Tauheed…

 

Ista’eenu: seek help, the true reality of which and its unveiling…

 

Bis sabr: is with patience upon that which came to you from the repulsive mishaps of your nafs, selves…

 

Wa sala’t: and prayer i.e. the inclination towards the focus upon His Essence with all of your organs and parts.

 

Innallaha: Indeed Allah is Al Mu’abbir, The One who is expressed as being the Only One who is…

 

Ma’a as Sabireen: with the ones who practice patience, Al Mutahammileena, the ones who bear the burdens of their trials until they are delivered from them.

 

Then Ghaus Pak (ra) prays: “O Lord! Make us of them by Your Fazl, Bounty and your Karam, Generosity!”

 

That was the thing about the prayers of the Chosen. They were always about asking Subhanahu to just make us the way He wanted us to be. Without the striving, without the toiling. Like Kun Fayakun. Be and so it was!

 

Kun lana kama kunta lahum – Make us how You made them!

  

What is a Dua – The Secret of the Supplication

 

وَقُل رَّبِّ أَدْخِلْنِى مُدْخَلَ صِدْقٍۢ

وَأَخْرِجْنِى مُخْرَجَ صِدْقٍۢ

وَٱجْعَل لِّى مِن لَّدُنكَ سُلْطَـٰنًۭا نَّصِيرًۭا

 

And say (in your prayer O Beloved), “O my Sustainer!

Cause me to enter (in whatever I do) in a manner, true and sincere,

and cause me to leave it in a manner true and sincere.

And grant me of from Your Presence, a sustaining support.

Surah Al-Isra’, Verse 80

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

O one who is on the path of Allah, O worshipper, and after that you reached towards it, (the station of Maqam e Mahmood), there will not be remaining for you a (higher) rank of completion and guidance but instead you are now completed and are the guided one.

 

When revelations come to you and permission is granted to you by Subhanahu, you will become a perfect Murshid, guide, for the people with shortcomings, incomplete, interceding for them by the Permission of Allah, for their deliverance from the compulsions of imkaan, possibilities, that lead one to the pitfalls of fire and you will make even them reach the atmosphere of heavens with the ability granted by Allah to you and to them.

 

Wa: And after your reaching from your striving and your struggling and the different times of waking up at night and your praying during the nights by the ability granted by Allah and the ease He gave you so that you reached the stations exalted and the ranks high …

 

Qul: say, beseechingly, to your Lord, seeking refuge from Him, focusing towards him as the desirer of the highest standard of capability and being firmly placed in the station which you have reached by His granted ability and His Help…

 

Rabbi: O my Lord who raises me by different types of Lutf, Kindnesses and Karam, Mercy…

 

Adkhilni: Make me enter by Your Fazl, Bounty and Jood, Generosity…

 

Modkhala sidq-in: the entrance of truth and the destination of being settled and it is the Place of Tauheed, One-ness, free of all kinds of additions and excesses and make me be in it forever without fluctuation and without staining…

 

Wa akhrij-ni: and make me exit the demands of my selfishness and my identity for the atmosphere of dissolution which connects to the honour of ever-lastingness and meeting (The Divine)…

 

Mukhraja sidq-in: the exit of truth without hesitation and shaking…

 

Waj’al-i: and assign for me in the moment of my ego quarreling with me, overcoming me with wrongdoing…

 

Mil ladunka sultan-an: from Your Authority i.e. proven in a way that nothing can overrule it, clearly revealed, witnessed in totality, so it becomes…

 

Naseera: a helper who helps me against my enemies and frees me from their grip in the moment that they attack me.

 

The reality of the supplication also came to me via one of Ahmed Javaid Sahib’s lectures. I had clicked upon a talk by him on the Imam Zain ul Abideen (as), the blessed son of Imam Hussain (as) and the sole male survivor of Karbala. He had spent the rest of his life, until her passing, with his aunt, Hazrat Bibi Zainab (as). My relationship with her formed the essence of my entire spiritual and worldly existence.

 

Unknowingly after my first visit to Damascus in 2010 and in totality since the second in 2022!

 

In the lecture, Javaid Sahib spoke at length about the blessed Imam’s (as) supplications and because of that he defined what it, a dua, is. It was something that I had never paid much attention to at all mostly because I didn’t ask for things in my prayers. I had memorized certain ones from the Quran that Allah Subhanahu had taught His Beloved (salutations and greetings upon him and his family and the words they are taught to speak by their Lord).

 

I connected with the words here and there but not with much emphasis. I just picked a few, learnt them and it became a habit to recite them at some point once a day. I didn’t know until now that even those inattentive utterances had been having an impact. That every single word of the Quran and every sentence of Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon his speech and that of his blessed family) holds in it a ta’seer, an effect.

 

Just recently the dua that had come my way from Ghaus Pak (ra) had transformed my life. Even that was putting it mildly. Hence I was acutely interested in understanding more about what it really was.

 

Javaid Sahib said that the supplication was the core of worship and there was nothing more powerful than it. The ask, when one’s need, was in synchronicity in its words with those most beloved to Allah Subhanahu, fulfilled the demands of worship like no other act would or could. More so it raised the possibility of its being answered and there was nothing more extraordinary.

 

Subhan Allah!

 

“Dua, (and the supplications of those especially loved and favoured by Allah Subhanahu especially the Ahle Beit), offered in a daily routine, is what opens the door towards the path which leads to the essence of the way of worship of Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon him and his family by The Only One who answers prayers).

 

Imam Zain ul Abedin’s (as) prayers are the saplings for nisbat, association, with the duas Nabi Pak’s (salutations and greetings upon him and his family by Allah Al Wudood), with his invocations before His Lord, who raised him like He raised no other.”

 

Then he defined what a dua is:

 

“What is a dua? Dua is the jauhar e bandagi, the jewel of the act of worship, that is felt in its entirety and expressed in totality.

 

The jauhar e bandagi, the jewel of worship, its essence is felt in perfection in the asking for help and it is expressed in perfection as worship by the tongue in words. So both elements required are present and fulfilled (in the Surah Fatiha which is also recited in the beginning of each rak’at of the five prayers):

 

إِیَّاكَ نَعۡبُدُ وَإِیَّاكَ نَسۡتَعِینُ

 

You Alone we worship and You Alone we ask for help.

Surah Fatiha, Verse 5

 

(Iyyaka na’budu and Iyyaka nasta-een)

 

The essence of that act of worship, the way that it is felt when it is uttered, this feeling and its expression on that level does not exist in in any other routine of zikr azkaar, ways of remembering Allah and tasbeehat, His Praise.

 

So if we learn how to make the dua correctly i.e.

1.we begin to learn the reason that the dua is needed by us

2.and then express that need with the utmost humility

3.and with the certainty of Subhanahu’s Mercy before His Presence,

4.if we express it beautifully,

 

then we have been successfully able to internalize the act of worship from its foundation to its perfection.

 

That is how important a dua is. There is nothing else in the Universe that is equal to the dua, the supplication, in terms of encompassing within it in totality the jauhar e bandagi, the jewel of the act of worship. Through it one receives the ma’rifat, the recognition of its haqeeqat. Through the dua one recognizes the reality of worship. It is what opens the way which creates a nisbat, connection, of one’s appearance directly before The Divine.

 

Otherwise all other forms of worship, other than the dua, have the element of the intellect and the mind prevailing upon them (nisbat e zehni). While in the dua is the nisbat e wujoodi, the connection of the essence of the being.”

 

“One’s appearance directly before The Divine!” It was Javaid Sahib again who had told me what there were different chariots that Allah Subhanahu had created Himself to allow closeness with Him. One was shukr, gratitude. One was sabr, patience. Another was ilm, the pursuit of knowledge. There was charity etc. But the chariot that was the fastest, that brought a person, anyone, before their Lord, instantly, was tauba. Repentance! Ikhlas, sincerity, was the pre-requisite for all the chariots to move at all.

 

It made me wonder: was repentance then just a kind of supplication? It was! Because when a person admitted fault and wept over it, recognized the transgression with deep remorse, it was in fact a supplication. Because the repentance, inherently and intrinsically, held within its expression the ask of forgiveness.

 

On my way to Damascus in November, I had come across a dua of Syeda Bibi Fatima Az Zahra (as). I had been perusing a book on the bedside table of my friend’s house in Karachi. It was a book of supplications. Then I didn’t know anything about the power prayer held in it. The page had opened to a dua that was hers. I came across anything related to her person so rarely I had just stared at it. Then I took a picture of the page and memorized the words.

 

اللهم إني أسألك بوجهك الكريم واسمك العظيم ، أن تصلّي على محمدٍ وآل محمد ،

وأن تغفر لي ذنبي العظيم

 

O my Lord! Indeed I ask you for the sake of Your Most Merciful Essence and Your Exalted Name to send your salutations and greetings and praise upon Muhammad (saw) and his blessed family (as)

and to forgive me my greatest sin.

 

That was before my debacle. Every time I would recite the words, I thought two things. Why was there a plea for Subhanahu to send blessings upon Nabi Pak (salutations and greetings upon him) and the Ahl e Beit when He was already doing it continuously? And what was the danb-i adeem, my gravest sin?

 

I asked Qari Sahib the first.

 

He said, “This is because they know that Subhanahu is The Only One who fulfills the right of the sending of those salutations upon His Beloved and their family because He is the Only One who knows His Beloved’s reality and by extention theirs. Many scholars including Abu Muhammad Marjani says in his tafseer that the benefit of sending the salutation only returns upon one’s own self. Thus it becomes as if you are praying for your self. That is why it is considered the afdal prayer, the best one.”

 

Subhan Allah!

 

My gravest sin changed every single day to something new. But I had just discovered the one that had existed in continuum, coating all the other layerings; shirrk. Those hopes I had of others that melted into the fire of possibilities in my head, poisoning my heart with expectations, was what had always been my greatest sin. I was so deeply sorry about it that weeping over it from now till the day I died couldn’t express that regret.

 

But Allah is Al Barro, Kind, so He would let me forget that sin, even that gravest one of all!

 

إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْبَرُّ ٱلرَّحِيمُ

 

He, He, is the Most Kind, the Most Merciful.

Surah At Tur, Verse 28

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Indeed, Allah Subhanahu…

 

Huwal Barro: He is Al Mohsin, Kind, Al Makhsoos, The Only Benefactor, Al Munhasir, The Only One who exclusively possesses this quality of Ehsaan, Kindness and Inaam, bestowing blessings…

 

Ar Rahim: The Most Abundantly Merciful and giving of bounty to the Saileen, the ones who ask, the Mo’mineen, the believers, the Al Mustahiqqeen, the ones deserving, so Allah responds and answers, by His Kindness, our asks of Him. And He fulfills our hopes according to His Immense Generosity and Mercy.

 

I started thinking about the two kinds of forgetting. There was a forgetting that Allah Subhanahu Himself created for a human being. Then there was the forgetting that Shaitaan made a person do. What was the difference between them?

 

One thing was certain. When Subhanahu allowed a person to forget a wrong, it only created more mindfulness. Taqwa became raised out of the gratitude that the sin became forgotten. Forgotten by the mind, the heart and erased in the recording of deeds that held consequence in both places; the world and the Hereafter. Its result was tranquility because the expression of gratitude became intensified. Charity increased. Sensitivity and thoughtfulness for others heightened.

 

Shaitaan’s forgetfulness was ghaflat. It was neglectfulness and unawareness. Its consequence was of veils thick and curtains heavy. Over the heart as well as the ears and the eyes. It accentuated restlessness. It worsened behaviour because it was layered upon an attitude of persistent stubborn-ness and arrogance.

 

Since time immemorial, Shaitaan was in a constant, never-ending race against himself in trying to emulate what was ordained by Subhanahu for the Children of Adam with a singular goal; to see how he could warp Divine Structures and Commands sent for Mankind.

 

A verse in the Quran that said that about him. Whatever Allah made he would alter and corrupt and never stop doing it.

 

وَلَأُضِلَّنَّهُمۡ وَلَأُمَنِّیَنَّهُمۡ وَلَءَامُرَنَّهُمۡ فَلَیُبَتِّكُنَّ ءَاذَانَ ٱلۡأَنۡعَـٰمِ وَلَءَامُرَنَّهُمۡ فَلَیُغَیِّرُنَّ خَلۡقَ ٱللَّهِۚ

 

And I will surely mislead them and surely arouse desires in them, and surely I will order them so they will surely cut off (the) ears (of) the cattle

and surely I will order them so they will surely change (the) Creation (of) Allah."

Surah An Nisa, Verse 119

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wala udillannahum: And I will surely mislead them with different kinds of deceit and whisperings of paranoia from the Path of Your Tauheed, One-ness…

 

Wala ummanniyannahum: and arouse false aspirations in them which relate to their livelihood in the abode of deception (the world), amongst them being greed and never ending hopes and all kinds of wishes of the nafs, the base self, and what is attractive for it…

 

Wala umarannahum: and I will command them with the changing of that which You have generated and (command them to) find faults in what You created and the breaking down of what You have invented…

 

Fala yubattikunna: so surely they will cut off and definitely tear…

 

A’adanal anaam: the ears of cattle and the nose of the horses (for their gods) and other such deeds which they will do with Your Creation without the permission (necessary) of Jurisprudence…

 

Wala aamorannahum falayughayyarunna khalqallah-i: and I will order them to change the Creation of Allah with my control over them and my consoling and sympathy with them until they change what was created upon the demands of the Wisdom of Divine Commands, which is made to arise upon the nature set by Allah and (as a result of my order) they will deviate from the path of balance and stability.

 

Endless examples came to my mind. The one that was appearing again and again on Drudge the week I wrote this was about living endlessly. The obsession of the billionaire was to never die. They were pouring a portion of their wealth into start-ups to make that happen. That had started years ago. I had written about it years ago.

 

Now even the ordinary had started believing it might happen. And rightly enough were terrified by the possibility (futurism.com/elderly-billionaires-immortal-compounding-we...).

 

Yet that same evil, conniving, hypocrite that Shaitaan was, when push came to shove and he saw defeat in front of him in the moment that it was about to appear, he turned and ran the other way. The betrayal was expected but even then the manner of it was unbelievable. As he ran abandoning his followers, he even declared loudly and clearly his separation from them:

 

Unlike them, he feared Allah!

 

إِنِّیۤ أَخَافُ ٱللَّهَۚ

 

Indeed, I [I] fear Allah.

Surah Al Anfal, Verse 48

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Inni akhaafullah: Indeed I am fearful of Allah, of His Qahr Wrath and His Ghadab, Anger.

 

I can’t help but wonder if asking for that forgiveness of my most serious sin invoking the exact words of the person who Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon him and his family who are purified by Subhanahu Himself) said was a part of him, what pleased her pleased him, that she would enter Paradise first, his beloved daughter, brought everything to unfold as it did.

 

When I was translating Ahmed Javaid Sahib’s lecture into English Qari Sahib remarked:

 

“In other forms of worship, no one knows whether one is fasting or reading the Darood or giving charity or not. But in making the dua, the hands being held up towards one’s Lord, that simple act itself creates a connection of the physical being with Allah.”

 

Javaid Sahib’s lecture continued: “No wonder Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon him and his beloved family which reverberate in the Universe) said:

 

عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ عَنْ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ

الدُّعَاءُ مُخُّ الْعِبَادَةِ

 

Anas ibn Malik reported: The Prophet, (peace and blessings be upon him and his family who witnessed their Lord in each prayer) said,

“Supplication is the essence of worship.”

 

Subhan Allah!

 

“Dua is the only reason for the state of what is born in the heart of worship and what is needed as the fundamental strength for the cause of perfection in the expression of worship. In the whole life cycle of worship, dua is the deed which creates the greatest ability to cause self-contentment for the nafs.

 

No person can, with all of their qalb, their heart within the heart, with complete intention, with the totality of the nafs and everything in words, learn anything through worship unless he creates a connection with Nabi Pak’s (saw) supplications emotionally, needfully, and his words.

 

It is imperative that one makes the level of that connection with him so strong that the need mentioned in his prayer is also their need. The needs have to be the same.”

 

Even the “Ameen” was necessary. I had read once that Shaitaan tried hard to prevent a worshipper from say the word. The one inserted at the end of Surah Fatiha in each ruk’u. For Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon him and his blessed family) said that the angels also said it.

 

عن أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏أَنّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏قَالَ:

‏‏‏‏ إِذَا أَمَّنَ الْإِمَامُ فَأَمِّنُوا،

‏‏‏‏‏‏فَإِنَّهُ مَنْ وَافَقَ تَأْمِينُهُ تَأْمِينَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهِ

 

As narrated by Hazrat Abu Huraira (ratu) that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said,

“When the Imam says ‘Ameen’ say ‘Ameen’. Verily it is that the one whose ‘Ameen’ is in resonance with that of the angels, he will be forgiven that which had preceded in his sins.”

 

If the one in harmony with an angel was forgiven preceding sins, what lay in store for the one in synchronicity with those beloved to Allah!

 

The notion brought another prayer to my mind. It was also a prayer I had come across by chance. In the words of the blessed Imam Ali (as).

 

It was a long prayer. There were parts of it that struck my heart. One of those that I then memorized was this:

 

وَافْتَحِ اللّـهُمَّ لَنا مَصاريعَ الصَّباحِ بِمَفاتيحِ الرَّحْمَةِ وَالْفَلاحِ

 

O my Lord!

 

Open for us the doors of the morning with the keys of Mercy and Success.

 

My friend Amir had told me some time last year that he never used to pray the two ra’kat of Sunnah in the dawn prayer, Fajr. Until, that is, he read that those two raka’t were considered the most important.

 

I looked up the hadith related by Hazrat Bibi Aisha (ratu) who said that the concentration with which Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon him and his blessed family) prayed the two Sunnah of Fajr exceeded that of all his other prayers:

 

وعنها عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال‏:‏

‏ "‏ركعتا الفجر خير من الدنيا وما فيها‏"‏

‏ وفي رواية لهما لأحب إلي من الدنيا جميعًا‏.‏

 

Hazrat Aishah (ratu) reported:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The two Rak'ah before the dawn (Fajr) prayer are better than this world and all it contains."

 

Another narration goes: "The two Rak'ah before the dawn (Fajr) prayer are dearer to me than the whole world."

 

I had been praying the Fajr prayer for a while but my concentration upon the two Sunnah because of the hadith began to exceed all my other prayers. In that prayer then, in my sajda, I would recite Bibi’s (as) prayer for forgiveness of my greatest sin and the Imam’s (as) prayer for Rahma and Falah as well. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

 

I would be alone. It would be quiet. The doors of the morning would literally be about to open. I wanted them to open for me with the Mercy of the Divine, good fortune and prosperity. I knew those keys were His Beloved (salutations and greetings upon him and his family who are the reason all goodness is gifted to this world by their Lord). They were the keys to everything!

 

As I uttered each word with the entire focus of my heart, it would make the beginning of each day extraordinary!

  

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.

 

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

 

Four remaining pillars in the Byzantine section of the ruins of Bosra in Southern Syria.

The settlement was first mentioned in the documents of Tutmose III and Akhenaton (14th century BC). Bosra was the first Nabatean city in the 2nd century BC. The Nabatean Kingdom was conquered by Cornelius Palma, a general of Trajan, in 106.

 

Under the Roman Empire, Bosra was renamed Nova Trajana Bostra, and was the residence of the legio III Cyrenaica and capital of the Roman province Arabia Petraea. The city flourished and became a major metropolis at the juncture of several trade routes, including the Roman road to the Red Sea. The two Councils of Arabia were held at Bostra in 246 and 247 AD. The city was conquered by the Sassanid Persians in the early 7th century, and, after a short Byzantine reconquest, was finally captured by the forces of the Rashidun Caliphate under Khalid ibn Walid in the Battle of Bosra (634). Thereafter it was an Islamic possession.

 

Bosra played an important part in the early life of the Prophet of Islam, Mohammed as described in the entry for the Christian Monk, Bahira. Bahira was witnessing to Muhammad in the prophethood.

 

Today, Bosra is a major archaeological site, containing ruins from Roman, Byzantine, and Muslim times, its main feature being the well preserved Roman theatre. Every year there is a national music festival hosted in the main theater.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosra

 

The Ancient City of Bosra is a UNESCO world heritage site.

 

  

Twelve Proofs that Muhammad is a True Prophet

Shaykh `Abdul Rahman `Abdul Khaliq

Originally published by IANA

 

My brothers and sisters everywhere! With this essay, I am not singling out the adherents of Islam - to which I ascribe - but rather I am writing this essay to every man and woman throughout the whole world.

 

I ask Allah that He facilitates tat this essay reaches every ear, falls under the sight of every eye, and is understood by every heart...

 

Muhammad the son of `Abdullah is Allah's Prophet and the Final Messenger Sent by Allah to the Inhabitants of Earth.

 

My brothers and sisters everywhere! You should know that the Messenger, Muhammad the son of `Abdullah (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) is Allah's Messenger in reality and truth. The evidences that show his veracity are abundant. None but an infidel, who out of arrogance alone, could deny these signs.

 

Among these proofs:

 

1. Muhammad (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) was raised illiterate, unable to read or write, and remained like that till his death. Among all his people, he was known as being truthful and trustworthy. Before receiving revelation, he had no prior knowledge of Religion or any previously sent Message. He remained like that for his first forty years. Revelation then came to Muhammad with the Koran that we now have between our hands. This Koran mentioned most of the accounts found in the previous scriptures, telling us about these events in the greatest detail as if he witnessed them. These accounts came precisely as they were found in the Torah sent down to Moses and in the Gospel sent down to Jesus. Neither the Jews or Christians were able to belie him regarding anything that he said.

 

2. Muhammad (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) also foretold of everything that would occur to him and his community after him, pertaining to victory, the removal of the tyrannical kingdoms of Chosroes [the royal title for the Zoroastrian kings of Persia] and Caesar, and the establishment of the religion of Islam throughout the earth. These events occurred exactly as Muhammad foretold, as if he was reading the future from an open book.

 

3. Muhammad (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) also brought an Arabic Koran that is the peak of eloquence and clarity. The Koran challenged those eloquent and fluent Arabs of his time, who initially belied him, to bring forth a single chapter like the Koran. The eloquent Arabs of his day were unable to contest this Koran.

 

Indeed, till our day, none has ever dared to claim that he has been able to compose words that equal-or even approach-the order, grace, beauty, and splendor of this Glorious Koran.

 

4. The life history of this Noble Prophet was a perfect example of being upright, merciful, compassionate, truthful, brave, generous, distant from all evil character, and ascetic in all worldly matters, while striving solely for the reward of the Hereafter. Moreover, in all his actions and dealings, he was ever mindful and fearful of Allah.

 

5. Allah instilled great love for Muhammad (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) in the hearts of all who believed in and met him. This love reached such a degree that any of his companions would willingly sacrifice his (or her) self, mother or father for him.

 

Till today, those who believe in Muhammad honor and love him. Anyone of those who believe in him would ransom his own family and wealth to see him, even if but once.

 

6. All of history has not preserved the biography of any person in the manner it has preserved the life of Muhammad, who is the most influential human in history.

 

Nor has the entire earth known of anyone whom every morning and evening, and many times thereafter throughout the day, is thought of by those who believe in him. Upon remembering Muhammad, the believers in him will greet him and ask Allah to bless him. They do such with full hearts and true love for him.

 

7. Nor has there every been a man on earth whom is still followed in all his doings by those who believe in him.

 

Those who believe in Muhammad, sleep in the manner he slept; purify themselves (through ablution and ritual washing) in the manner he purified himself; and adhere to his practice in the way they eat, drink, and clothe themselves.

 

Indeed in all aspects of their lives, the believers in Muhammad adhere to the teachings he spread among them and the path that he traveled upon during his life.

 

During every generation, from his day till our time, the believers in this Noble Prophet have fully adhered to his teachings. With some, this has reached the degree that they desire to follow and adhere to the Prophet's way in his personal matters regarding which Allah has not sought of them to adhere to in worship. For example, some will only eat those specific foods or only wear those specific garments that the Messenger liked.

 

Let alone all that, all those who believe in Muhammad repeat those praises of Allah, special prayers, and invocations that he would say during each of his actions during day and night, like: what he would say when he greeted people, upon entering and leaving the house, entering and leaving the mosque, entering and leaving the bathroom, going to sleep and awaking from sleep, observing the new crescent, observing the new fruit on trees, eating, drinking, dressing, riding, traveling and returning from travel, etc.

 

Let alone all that, all those who believe in Muhammad fully perform-even to the minute detail-every act of worship-like prayer, fasting, charity, and pilgrimage-as this Noble Messenger (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) taught and as he himself performed.

 

All of this allows those who believe in him, to live their lives in all aspects with this Noble Messenger as their example, as if he was standing before them, for them to follow in all their doings.

 

8. There has never been nor will there ever be a man anywhere upon this earth who has received such love, respect, honor, and obedience in all matters-small and large alike-as has this Noble Prophet.

 

9. Since his day, in every region of the earth and during every period, this Noble Prophet has been followed by individuals from all races, colors and peoples. Many of those who followed him were previously Christians, Jews, pagans, idolaters, or without any religion. Among those who chose to follow him, were those who were known for their sound judgment, wisdom, reflection, and foresight. They chose to follow this Noble Prophet after they witnessed the signs of his truthfulness and the evidences of his miracles. They did not choose to follow Muhammad out of compulsion or coercion or because they had adopted the ways of their fathers and mothers.

 

Indeed many of the followers of this Prophet (may Allah's blessings peace be upon him), chose to follow him during the time when Islam was weak, when there were few Muslims, and when there was severe persecution of his followers on earth. Most people who have followed this Prophet (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) have done so not to acquire some material benefits. Indeed many of his followers have suffered the greatest forms of harm and persecution as a result of following this Prophet. Despite all this harm and persecution, this did not turn them back from his religion.

 

My brethren! All of this clearly indicates to anyone possessing any sense, that this Prophet was truly and really Allah's messenger and that he was not just a man who claimed prophethood or spoke about Allah without knowledge.

 

10. With all this, Muhammad came with a great religion in its credal and legal make-up.

 

Muhammad described Allah with qualities of complete perfection, and at the same time in a manner that is free of ascribing to Him any imperfection. Neither the philosophers or the wise could ever describe Allah like such. Indeed it is impossible to imagine that any human mind could conceive of an existing being that possesses such complete ability, knowledge, and greatness; Who has subdued the creation; Who has encompassed everything in the universe, small or large; and Who possesses such perfect mercy.

 

Nor is it in the ability of any human being to place a perfect law based upon justice, equality, mercy and objectivity for all human activity on earth like the laws that Muhammad brought for all spheres of human activity - like buying and selling, marriage and divorce, renting, testimony, custody, and all other contracts that are necessary to uphold life and civilization on earth.

 

11. It is impossible that any person conceive wisdom,, morals, good manners, nobleness of characters as what this honorable Prophet (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) brought.

 

In a full and complete manner, Muhammad spread a teaching regarding character and manners toward one' parents, relatives, fiends, family, humanity, animals, plants and inanimate objects. It is impossible for the human mind alone to grasp all of that teaching or come with a similar teaching.

 

All of that unequivocally indicates that this Messenger did not bring an) of this religion from his own accord, but that it was rather a teaching and inspiration that he received from the One Who created the earth and the high heavens above and created this universe in its miraculous architecture and perfection.

 

12. The legal and credal make-up of the religion that the Messenger, Muhammad, (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) brought resembles the engineering of the heavens and the earth. All of that indicates that He who created the heavens and the earth is the One Who sent down this great law and upright religion.

 

The degree of inimitability of the Divine law that was sent down upon Muhammad is to the same degree of inimitability of the Divine creation of the heavens and earth. For just as humanity cannot create this universe, in the same manner humanity cannot bring forth a law like Allah's law that He sent down upon His servant and messenger Muhammad (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him).

 

Yes He is the Messenger of Allah and the last one among all the Prophets. (Surah Ahzab, Parah 22, Verse 40)

 

www.dawateislami.net

  

Twelve Proofs that Muhammad is a True Prophet

Shaykh `Abdul Rahman `Abdul Khaliq

Originally published by IANA

 

My brothers and sisters everywhere! With this essay, I am not singling out the adherents of Islam - to which I ascribe - but rather I am writing this essay to every man and woman throughout the whole world.

 

I ask Allah that He facilitates tat this essay reaches every ear, falls under the sight of every eye, and is understood by every heart...

 

Muhammad the son of `Abdullah is Allah's Prophet and the Final Messenger Sent by Allah to the Inhabitants of Earth.

 

My brothers and sisters everywhere! You should know that the Messenger, Muhammad the son of `Abdullah (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) is Allah's Messenger in reality and truth. The evidences that show his veracity are abundant. None but an infidel, who out of arrogance alone, could deny these signs.

 

Among these proofs:

 

1. Muhammad (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) was raised illiterate, unable to read or write, and remained like that till his death. Among all his people, he was known as being truthful and trustworthy. Before receiving revelation, he had no prior knowledge of Religion or any previously sent Message. He remained like that for his first forty years. Revelation then came to Muhammad with the Koran that we now have between our hands. This Koran mentioned most of the accounts found in the previous scriptures, telling us about these events in the greatest detail as if he witnessed them. These accounts came precisely as they were found in the Torah sent down to Moses and in the Gospel sent down to Jesus. Neither the Jews or Christians were able to belie him regarding anything that he said.

 

2. Muhammad (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) also foretold of everything that would occur to him and his community after him, pertaining to victory, the removal of the tyrannical kingdoms of Chosroes [the royal title for the Zoroastrian kings of Persia] and Caesar, and the establishment of the religion of Islam throughout the earth. These events occurred exactly as Muhammad foretold, as if he was reading the future from an open book.

 

3. Muhammad (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) also brought an Arabic Koran that is the peak of eloquence and clarity. The Koran challenged those eloquent and fluent Arabs of his time, who initially belied him, to bring forth a single chapter like the Koran. The eloquent Arabs of his day were unable to contest this Koran.

 

Indeed, till our day, none has ever dared to claim that he has been able to compose words that equal-or even approach-the order, grace, beauty, and splendor of this Glorious Koran.

 

4. The life history of this Noble Prophet was a perfect example of being upright, merciful, compassionate, truthful, brave, generous, distant from all evil character, and ascetic in all worldly matters, while striving solely for the reward of the Hereafter. Moreover, in all his actions and dealings, he was ever mindful and fearful of Allah.

 

5. Allah instilled great love for Muhammad (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) in the hearts of all who believed in and met him. This love reached such a degree that any of his companions would willingly sacrifice his (or her) self, mother or father for him.

 

Till today, those who believe in Muhammad honor and love him. Anyone of those who believe in him would ransom his own family and wealth to see him, even if but once.

 

6. All of history has not preserved the biography of any person in the manner it has preserved the life of Muhammad, who is the most influential human in history.

 

Nor has the entire earth known of anyone whom every morning and evening, and many times thereafter throughout the day, is thought of by those who believe in him. Upon remembering Muhammad, the believers in him will greet him and ask Allah to bless him. They do such with full hearts and true love for him.

 

7. Nor has there every been a man on earth whom is still followed in all his doings by those who believe in him.

 

Those who believe in Muhammad, sleep in the manner he slept; purify themselves (through ablution and ritual washing) in the manner he purified himself; and adhere to his practice in the way they eat, drink, and clothe themselves.

 

Indeed in all aspects of their lives, the believers in Muhammad adhere to the teachings he spread among them and the path that he traveled upon during his life.

 

During every generation, from his day till our time, the believers in this Noble Prophet have fully adhered to his teachings. With some, this has reached the degree that they desire to follow and adhere to the Prophet's way in his personal matters regarding which Allah has not sought of them to adhere to in worship. For example, some will only eat those specific foods or only wear those specific garments that the Messenger liked.

 

Let alone all that, all those who believe in Muhammad repeat those praises of Allah, special prayers, and invocations that he would say during each of his actions during day and night, like: what he would say when he greeted people, upon entering and leaving the house, entering and leaving the mosque, entering and leaving the bathroom, going to sleep and awaking from sleep, observing the new crescent, observing the new fruit on trees, eating, drinking, dressing, riding, traveling and returning from travel, etc.

 

Let alone all that, all those who believe in Muhammad fully perform-even to the minute detail-every act of worship-like prayer, fasting, charity, and pilgrimage-as this Noble Messenger (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) taught and as he himself performed.

 

All of this allows those who believe in him, to live their lives in all aspects with this Noble Messenger as their example, as if he was standing before them, for them to follow in all their doings.

 

8. There has never been nor will there ever be a man anywhere upon this earth who has received such love, respect, honor, and obedience in all matters-small and large alike-as has this Noble Prophet.

 

9. Since his day, in every region of the earth and during every period, this Noble Prophet has been followed by individuals from all races, colors and peoples. Many of those who followed him were previously Christians, Jews, pagans, idolaters, or without any religion. Among those who chose to follow him, were those who were known for their sound judgment, wisdom, reflection, and foresight. They chose to follow this Noble Prophet after they witnessed the signs of his truthfulness and the evidences of his miracles. They did not choose to follow Muhammad out of compulsion or coercion or because they had adopted the ways of their fathers and mothers.

 

Indeed many of the followers of this Prophet (may Allah's blessings peace be upon him), chose to follow him during the time when Islam was weak, when there were few Muslims, and when there was severe persecution of his followers on earth. Most people who have followed this Prophet (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) have done so not to acquire some material benefits. Indeed many of his followers have suffered the greatest forms of harm and persecution as a result of following this Prophet. Despite all this harm and persecution, this did not turn them back from his religion.

 

My brethren! All of this clearly indicates to anyone possessing any sense, that this Prophet was truly and really Allah's messenger and that he was not just a man who claimed prophethood or spoke about Allah without knowledge.

 

10. With all this, Muhammad came with a great religion in its credal and legal make-up.

 

Muhammad described Allah with qualities of complete perfection, and at the same time in a manner that is free of ascribing to Him any imperfection. Neither the philosophers or the wise could ever describe Allah like such. Indeed it is impossible to imagine that any human mind could conceive of an existing being that possesses such complete ability, knowledge, and greatness; Who has subdued the creation; Who has encompassed everything in the universe, small or large; and Who possesses such perfect mercy.

 

Nor is it in the ability of any human being to place a perfect law based upon justice, equality, mercy and objectivity for all human activity on earth like the laws that Muhammad brought for all spheres of human activity - like buying and selling, marriage and divorce, renting, testimony, custody, and all other contracts that are necessary to uphold life and civilization on earth.

 

11. It is impossible that any person conceive wisdom,, morals, good manners, nobleness of characters as what this honorable Prophet (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) brought.

 

In a full and complete manner, Muhammad spread a teaching regarding character and manners toward one' parents, relatives, fiends, family, humanity, animals, plants and inanimate objects. It is impossible for the human mind alone to grasp all of that teaching or come with a similar teaching.

 

All of that unequivocally indicates that this Messenger did not bring an) of this religion from his own accord, but that it was rather a teaching and inspiration that he received from the One Who created the earth and the high heavens above and created this universe in its miraculous architecture and perfection.

 

12. The legal and credal make-up of the religion that the Messenger, Muhammad, (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) brought resembles the engineering of the heavens and the earth. All of that indicates that He who created the heavens and the earth is the One Who sent down this great law and upright religion.

 

The degree of inimitability of the Divine law that was sent down upon Muhammad is to the same degree of inimitability of the Divine creation of the heavens and earth. For just as humanity cannot create this universe, in the same manner humanity cannot bring forth a law like Allah's law that He sent down upon His servant and messenger Muhammad (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him).