زندگانی میں کیا شادمانی ملی

What great enjoyment we got out of our lives!

Hadhrat has explained this very beautifully in a poetic form. If the reality of his advices can dawn upon us we will get the value of Ramadhaan, Insha Allah. If we will value Ramadhaan, Ramadhaan will make us valuable.

زندگانی میں کیا شادمانی ملی

What great enjoyment we got out of our lives!

‘Shaadmaani’ means a great enjoyment from the heart. The condition of many people is that they prefer to die. They can’t handle the pressure of life any longer. Some even commit suicide. Hadhrat beautifully says,

گھبرا  کر سب کہتے ہیں مر جائنگے                      مر کے بھی چین نہ پائے تو کِدہر جائنگے

All become un-easy and say we will die, after death if you do not find peace then where will you go.

To escape the dunya a person says, “I’ll die. I’ll commit suicide.” Nauthubillah! If he went in the qabr and there are problems there as well, now where is he going to escape to? After death there is no death. Death is only an escape from this dunya.  

Shaytaan through his various agents has worked so hard on mankind that people don’t have even a moment to reflect over these realities. Either people are busy with business, with their lusts and desires, or with the WC. Now everyone is going to the WC. What is the WC? In simple terms it means the toilet! It is not ‘the water closet’ rather it is the waste closet. This is how Shaytaan has deceived people and got everyone busy with the waste closet. They are currently sitting in the waste closet, wasting their time and energy.

Those that have found the enjoyment of life and this worldly life has become Jannah for them, then what to say about what the enjoyment of the actual Jannah! There are two main things which I would like to discuss. The first is that Ramadhaan will be approaching soon. Ramadhaan is that super, ideal occasion to get enjoyment in our lives.

GETTING THE ENJOYMENT OF LIFE IN THE COMPANY OF THE PIOUS

The second is the Suhbat e Sheikh. Masha Allah, those who will be here this Ramadhaan (in the Khanqah) will achieve both these things, Insha Allah!

صحبت شیخ سے زندگانی ملی

By the company of the Sheikh, I got life.

A person is lying in a coma in hospital for a month; he is unable to eat, drink or even go to the toilet. He is on drips all the time and on the life support machine. That is not really called life, but no doctor can issue a death certificate either so that he may be buried. He is still alive even though that type of existence is not regarded as life. Similarly, unfortunately, for most of us, the current life that we are living is not life. ‘Real life’ is a life of enjoyment and pleasure which one acquires in the company of the Sheikh. Allah Ta'ala says,

يايّها الذين اٰمنوا استجيبوا لله وللرّسول اذا دعاكم لما يحييكم

O people of Imaan, respond to the call of Allah and His Rasool g when they call you towards that which will give you life.

Ulama have written that one form of ‘life’ is the life of this dunya. A person that is living in this world is considered by all to be a living person. Hadhrat R.A. gave an example that there is a flock of sheep, perhaps a hundred, or two, or three hundred sheep. Nearby, you find one slaughterer. The slaughterer has got that life which all the sheep don’t have. Three hundred sheep can’t do anything to him.  At the time of Qurbani he may even be slaughtering a thousand sheep at a time. This slaughterer may be regarded as one that possesses ‘life’.  If the Muslims have ‘life’ they would overturn the world immediately. We haven’t got ‘life’ therefore we are being run over and trampled upon.

زندگانی میں کیا شادمانی ملی

What enjoyment we found in this (real) life!

This true enjoyment of life can all be gained through the suhbat of the Sheikh. And now, coupled with the company of the sheikh, we have the ideal occasion of Ramadhaan which has dawned upon us. With Ramadhaan comes the Quraan Sharif, getting up for sehri, performance of Taraaweeh Salaah, and other virtuous deeds. Which ingredient is left out? Even one of those ingredients is enough to give us all this enjoyable life, which Hadhrat R.A. is referring to. All these ingredients are combined during this auspicious month.

نگہ عارف کا فیضان ہے سالکوں

This is the blessings of the eyes of the Aarif, O those treading the path (to reach Allah).

عشق کی کیفیت بے زبانی ملی

That one receives such love of Allah Ta'ala that cannot be explained

Not only did the person get the intense love of Allah, but together with that he got the kayfiyyat of it, the eminence of it.

An example is given to enable us to understand this point. A shrewd businessman had his fixed customers that purchased sugar from him. He found out that a certain customer of his had purchased sugar elsewhere. So he sent somebody to go and invite him for a cup of tea. Before the now ex- customer could arrive, he already added sugar in his tea. When he arrived, the businessman offered him his cup of tea and asked, “How much sugar will you have in your tea?” The customer replied, “Two teaspoons please.” So he added two teaspoons of sugar into the already sweetened tea. When the customer tasted the now over sweetened tea he remarked, “Ahh, how sweet!” The businessman then admonished him saying, “This is sugar. What did you go and buy from the other shop? That is not called sugar; this is what you call sugar.” One is sugar where you don’t get the sweetness, and in another you get that ‘extra’ quality, the ‘kayfiyyaat’.

So in life,  “ishq ki kafiyat” is that intense Love. If you get the enjoyment of that intense love it is so overwhelming that you can’t bring it onto your tongue. You can’t explain it to others. You tell others, “I can’t tell you what is in my heart. I can’t explain the enjoyment that I am getting.” That is the type of enjoyment which a person will get.

راہ تقوی میں کچھ رنج فانی ملا

In this path of Taqwa temporary grief will be experienced

In this path of acquiring Taqwa, through the blessings of Ramadhaan and the company of one’s Sheikh, a person gets the Taufeeq of giving up sins. He gives up going to the WC. He feels some inner sorrow because the Nafs loves sin. Nafs is from the world and likes all worldly things. Now, when a person has to give it up, he will feel sorrowful and remorseful but it is temporary. In return the life which you are going to get, as a recompense for this temporary grief, is eternal.

پر خوشی روح کو جاودانی ملی

The Rooh had received eternal happiness

The happiness of the Rooh will be eternal, its joy will be forever and forever. This worldly life is temporary, fleeting, transitory, whereas the life of the Hereafter is eternal. So here you gave away something which was temporary, that little sorrow perhaps of  looking at a woman who looks so attractive, talking to her, joking with her, all dunya’s temporary enjoyments but in return Allah Ta'ala will give you eternal happiness. So any person can make an easy mathematical calculation, or a business calculation. If a person sacrifices something which is temporary, which is little in value and in return he gets something which is eternal, then he has gained tremendously. What did he give up? The temporary sorrow and in return he received eternal happiness.

MORE BENEFITS OF THE COMPANY OF THE PIOUS

 Hadhrat Moulana Thanvi R.A said,

طبعیت پر عقل کو غالب رکہو

Your desires should be controlled and harnessed with your brains.

Keep your brains above your temperament. Let your desires be controlled by your brains; don’t let your desires control you. Let the brain control your desires. Also, don’t make your brain the end of everything.

اورعقل پرشریعت کو غالب رکہو

And Shariat (Quraan and Hadith) should be kept above your brains

Let your intellect be controlled by Quraan and Hadeeth, by the Shariah and let the brain control your temperament which is your nafs. What is nafs?

مرغوبات طبعیہ غیر شرعیہ

Natural desires that are contrary to Shariah

Men have a natural desire for women and unfortunately they have more desire for those women that are not his wife. He doesn’t have that much desire for his own wife, but for other women he has plenty of desire.

خواہشات طبعیہ غیر شرعیہ

Natural desires that are contrary to Shariah

Natural desires that are contrary to Shariah which are not according to Shariah should be controlled with the intellect,  and control your brain with Shariah, with Allah’s command and with the commands of Rasool Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam.

ان سے نسبت کا ہے فیض اے دوستو

These are the blessings of connection with Him, O friends

دل کی ہر وقت جو نگہبانی ملی

We found the heart guarded all the time

What is it that a person will get? ‘Nighebani’ is that he is guarding, he is watchful over his heart all the time. Before carrying out any action a person checks the intention in his heart. What is my inner motivation behind every deed? Outwardly a person would say, “I am just making this phone call to enquire about something,” but in his heart he wants to hear the voice of a certain woman. He just wants to talk with her or many other things like that. Outwardly a person will justify himself, but inwardly he knows the reasons behind his actions. Through the company of the Sheikh, he will be given the ability to keep a check upon his heart and control his heart.

Paas-anfaas is common practice amongst the Sufis and almost all sufis take the meaning that with every breath you take, you say “ALLAH,” with your breath when you exhale you say, “HU.” So with every breath you take whilst awake, while you are asleep, or even whilst you are talking, you train yourself to take the name of Allah.

Hadhrat R.A explained ‘Paas-anfaas’ in a different manner. Hadhrat said, “According to me, ‘Paas-anfaas’ has a different meaning. Paas means ‘to look after’ in the Urdu language, whilst anfaas is the plural of nafas which means ‘breath’. A person must guard every breath by making sure that it is not spent in Haraam or even Makrooh or in anything which Allah Ta'ala doesn’t like.  What kind of ‘paas-anfaas’ is it when a person is taking the name of Allah Ta'ala but looking at all other women or looking at tv? This in fact is the worst form of black magic that one carries out, when righteous things such as Allah’s name are mixed and contaminated with haraam. A man looks at all the haraam things on the tv, he enjoys looking at strange women, and simultaneously he takes Allah’s great name? This is what causes big problems in our lives. Many of us wonder about the problems which hit us. In the home we have a tv on which images of all the naked women appear, all types of filth and dirt appears, but hung above the tv is the frame with the Asmaa-e-Husna, written in gold. We have frames upon which Aayatul kursi is written. So it is this mixture of the two that causes us great harm. So the real ‘paas-anfaas’ is that a person looks after every breath and ensures that he is not doing anything wrong, anything undesirable, at any given moment.

سب کو نسبت ملی شیخ کے فیض سے

Everyone attained connection with Allah Ta'ala through the blessings of the Sheikh

Whoever attained nisbat (connection with Allah Ta'ala), acquired it through Suhbat. Jibraeel A.S. would bring down revelation to Rasulullah Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam from Allah. Jibraeel A.S. had instructed Rasulullah  Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam to read. Rasulullah Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam responded by saying,

ما انا بقاريء

I am not a reciter

My literacy level is such that I am not even a grade one student. I can’t even read ‘alif, baa, taa, thaa.” Then Jibraeel A.S embraced him intensely. That was suhbat. Thereafter everything was transferred to the bosom of Nabi  Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Then he g became a Qaari of par excellence, who read the whole Quraan Shareef. Nabi  Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam became such a Qaari whose Qiraat can never be matched by any other Qaari.   He became a Qaari who could recite the Quraan in the seven Qiraats and in the ten Qiraats and whose Qiraat is carrying on until today. Not only did he master the Qiraat, Nabi  Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam mastered all the subject matter contained within Quraan. He  Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam was able to explain the entire Quraan which was because of this Suhbat.

Sayyidina Abu Bakr R.A. became the greatest of all the Sahaba, the most superior in rank after the Ambiya n through suhbat. This was the result of spending all his time, during safar and hadar, during journeys or whilst at home in the suhbat of Nabi  Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam. That is the result of suhbat.

 

THE UNFORTUNATE ONES

بد گمانوں کو بس بد گمانی ملی

The ones that entertained evil thoughts only acquired evil thoughts

As for those people that are critics, those people who only pass remarks, that is unfortunately what is their share and lot in life.

Whenever a bayaan carries on, people make notes; they take notes of any points of interest. One person has the tragic habit of makes notes of all mistakes or possible mistakes. He would criticise Marhoom Haji Bhai Padia for his errors. So Haji Bhai Padia said, “What can we do? In his taqdeer, that was his share, just to find fault all the time, and note down the faults .

Some things stated should be rectified, but the unfortunate person would actually sit from the very beginning with the Niyyah of noting down all the faults. So that was his lot in life. That is all that some people have: the habit of finding faults in others. There are other people that were not critics and thus reached great heights.

THE BENEFITS OF MAKING AAKHIRAT OUR GOAL

اہل عقبی کو دونوں جہاں مل گئے

People of the Aakhirat got both the worlds

A person whose niyyah was Aakhirah, Allah Ta'ala gave them dunya in such a manner that the dunya came running after them, humbling itself before them. At the same time they got Aakhirat as well.

اہل دنیا کو دنیا ئے فانی ملی

People of the Dunya attained the temporary world

Regarding the people who are hankering after the dunya, Allah Ta'ala says,

We give of the dunya according to the amount that We want to and to whomsoever We want to. There is no guarantee as to how much of the dunya a person will get, whereas the Aakhirat is guaranteed. When a person makes his Niyyah Aakhirat, it is guaranteed that Allah Ta'ala will give him dunya also.

When you run after a person, the shadow comes with the person. When you catch the person, you get the shadow as well, and a person who runs after a shadow gets nothing.

وان الدار الاٰخرة لهى الحيوان

And verily the house of the hereafter is eternal

That is the real life. If you get that, you will get the shadow of dunya with it as well. If you only run after the shadow, you got nothing. If you got part of it, it is temporary.

نفس کو جس نے اپنے مٹایا

The person who annihilated his nafs

This is the reality of Taqwa, to control your nafs and desires. This is why we have come here to the Khanqah; this is what Ramadhaan and Suhbat of the Sheikh is for, to attain Taqwa. In simple terms, what is Taqwa? To place one step on your nafs and your next step takes you into Jannah. Buzurgs have said that there are only two steps to enter Jannah. The one is to trample upon your nafs, that is Taqwa. You are not required to trample upon all your desires. Indulge in your halaal desires by all means.

A MISCONCEPTION

Many harbour the misconception that there are three Fasts of Sha’baan. They fast on the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth of Sha’baan. Whereas there is only one fast which they need to keep, that is only the fifteenth fast. The Hadith states,

قوموا ليلها وصوموا نهارها

Stand (in Salaah) during the night and fast during the day (15th Shabaan)

It is not,

وصوموا انهارها

And fast during the days

A friend of ours, a Mufti who had just graduated, was also keeping three fasts in Shabaan. We visited him about five minutes before iftaar and explained  the ruling to him. So he asked, “Must I break my fast?” I said, “By all means, break your fast,  because today is not a day to fast.” For the virtues of nisfe- Shabaan there is no fast stipulated on the fourteenth and sixteenth of Shabaan. It is only one fast.” Many people keep three fasts. There are two fasts for Muharram. The ninth and tenth or the tenth and eleventh. But for Shabaan there is only one fast. If a person is keeping ayyaam e beedh , the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth then by all means he can keep it, but in these days it is advisable for him not to fast on the fourteenth, so that people don’t get the impression that he is keeping three fasts of Shabaan.

To clear this misconception it is better that he doesn’t keep those fasts, and he should make it known that he is not fasting, so that this incorrect ruling that has crept into people will leave and the correct understanding will come in.

 

HOW TO ATTAIN SUCCESS

راہ حق میں بڑی کامرانی ملی

In the path of truth great success was achieved

Sulook means to walk. The Saalik is the walker that is walking towards Allah.  So regarding the person who walks this path, acquires Taqwa, controls and annihilates his nafs has acquired great success.  

Allah Ta'ala says that the whole objective of Ramadhaan and fasting is,

لعلكم تتقون

So that you adopt Taqwa

ہے مبارک جو ان پر فدا ہوگئی

Blessed is the one that sacrificed his life on it

Very blessed is that person who has given his life for Allah Ta'ala. When this happens, Allah will make will make the person’s condition such that,

ان صلاتى ونسكى ومحياي ومماتي لله رب العالمين

My Salaah, my living, my dying, is for Allah.

Mubarak, blessed is such a person.

زندگانی تو بس آنی جانی ملی

Life is merely coming and going (temporary)

This life of the world is temporary and transient. Today it’s here, tomorrow it’s not here. Today a person is wealthy, tomorrow he has lost everything.  Today he has enough, tomorrow he is running short. This happens all the time. A person should sacrifice his life for Allah in all conditions, not only when he is in his comfort zone. When Allah tests a person and puts him in an uncomfortable position, then too Allah Ta'ala wants to see whether he is going to be obedient to Him or not.

جس کا دل حامل درد دل ہوگیا

That heart that became the bearer of the love of Allah Ta'ala

بندگی کی اسے راز دانی ملی

He has acquired the secrets of servitude

Due to him being a humble slave of Allah Ta'ala he has acquired the secret of life. That is what life is for. A person that acquires anyone’s secret gets happy, “I’ve got the secret code. I’ve got his private number.”  Similarly a person who finds the secret of life, and understands why Allah Ta'ala has created us will find the love of Allah.

Somebody very beautifully said, “I wish and I make Dua that Allah Ta'ala gives every person all the riches of the world and fulfils every desire of his.” Although said very beautifully and with a good intention, this is not the objective of life. A person may get everything he wants, but he must realise that this is not the object of life. We laugh at that person who looks for his gold coin under the street lamp, but we are all the same. We are all looking for the enjoyment of life where it isn’t. This is similar to that person whose nose is leaking with all filth yet laughs at someone who has a small mark. Or like a person that has cancer yet he is laughing at the person who sneezes due to a cold by saying, “Look at this sick fowl, look at how he is sneezing.” The person with cancer is dying yet he is laughing at the person who has a cold. This is our condition. We laugh at others, whilst our condition is worse. So a person who has found the love of Allah Ta'ala has found the secret of life. He has found the purpose for what we are living.

فیض مرشد کا اختر یہ احسان ہے

These are favours of the suhbat of the Sheikh.

Hadhrat Moulana Thanvi R.A (May Allah continually fill his qabr with noor), has explained so aptly that the real guide is only Allah Ta'ala.

الله ولى اللّٰه الذين يخرجهم من الظلمات الى النور

Allah is the friend of the believers, He takes them out of darkness to light.

Look at the brilliance of our Ulama and Mufassireen. The word Dhulumaat is in the plural as there are various types of sins that a person commits. So Allah Ta'ala takes one out of all that Dhulumaat.

الى النور

to light

Nur is singular. Hidaayat, Truth, Haq is only one. So Allah took you out of so many departments of darkness and He put you into Nur. So Allah is the one who guides.

Allah Ta'ala Himself says in the Quraan Shareef,

 

ولقد ارسلنا موسٰى باٰيٰتنا ان اخرج قومك من الظلمات الى النور

We sent Moosa A.S with our signs (saying to him) remove your nation from multitudes of darkness to light.

From here it can also be deduced that this is the work of the Ulama. The actual doer is Allah alone.  

وللشيخ فيه مدخل عظيم

However Allah Ta'ala has given the Sheikh a big share in this great work as well. As far as asbaab (means) is concerned he takes people out of Dhulumaat (multitudes of darkness) and puts them into Nur. That is the work of the Ambiya and those that are the true inheritors of the Ambiya. So Allah has given the Sheikh a big share in taking people out of darkness towards Nur.

اہل دل کی طرح زندگانی ملی

One acquires life like that of the friends of Allah Ta'ala

This is the barkat, the kindness of the Sheikh, and that which the Sheikh gives free of charge That is a simple, unlearned   person can also become like the Ahle dil (friends of Allah). A person wears a topi and kurta, and keeps a beard as well. Outwardly he resembles the pious. His heart is still not the heart of the ahle dil, but outwardly he has become like them. When he enters the gathering of Ulama, people address him as, “O! Moulana came” but he is not a Moulana. He has become like a Moulana. He is not a Sufi but he is like a Sufi. Allahu Akbar! Allah Ta'ala  grants him this honour. Just make a little effort to change your external appearance and Allah Ta'ala will accept you. The Malaaikah report to Allah Ta'ala,  “ O Allah, in the gathering of Zikr so and so didn’t come to engage in Zikr, rather he came because of a financial problem, or a marital problem, or he just came to deliver a message, to pick up a key.

 Allah Ta'ala says,

هم قوم لا يشقى بهم جليسهم

They are such a nation that those that sit with them will never be unfortunate

These are such people that whoever sits with them, makes musafaha and salaam with them, looks at them with love and respect, will also get their work done.

An employer hires five or six labourers and pays them hundred rand each per day. One person stands and  talks to them all the time thereby distracting them from their work. He gives them his cell phone to speak during working hours whilst the employer is watching. At five o’ clock all the employees step forward to collect their wages and the person that distracted others from their work also stands in the queue, in fact he stands first in the queue. You will want to kick him, but you won’t kick him thinking, “Why must I even waste my energy in kicking him?” How angry you will be with him!

THE MERCY OF ALLAH

Allah Ta'ala will say, “You are also with the group so you may also collect a portion.” We can’t imagine who Allah is and What is His mercy. All the kind people of the world together haven’t got an iota of the mercy and kindness of Allah Ta'ala. This is in this dunya, what about the Aakhirat?

Explaining His great Mercy (and this is only for us to understand, Allah’s mercy is not limited to numbers) Allah Ta'ala says, “One layer of my mercy I put in this dunya, whilst ninety nine have been reserved for the Aakhirat.” Allah’s mercy has got nothing to do with numbers, or with measurements. Allah’s mercy is unlimited. Our minds work with measurement and with numbers, so it was for our understanding that this figure was stated. Furthermore, this explanation also shows us Allah’s love, how He makes matters simple and easy for us, the weak minded creation, otherwise where are we capable of understanding these matters?

Allah Ta'ala says, I have placed one layer of my mercy in this world. The love of all the mothers of the world, be they human beings, jinnaat, animals, is encompassed in this only one layer of Allah’s mercy which He has placed on earth. What love a lioness has for her cubs. It is said ‘interfere with the lion, but not with the cub of the lion.’ If someone interferes with the cub, the lioness won’t spare the person. How vast is Allah’s mercy in total? Allahu Akbar!

INCIDENTS DEPICTING HOW ALLAH AVENGES THE HARM DONE TO HIS BELOVEDS

A Buzurg was walking during the rainy season when it was muddy. Another person, newly –wed, with his bride was coming from the opposite direction. When they passed the Buzurg some mud splattered on her, perhaps on her leg, or shoe, or dress. Although it wasn’t really the fault of the Allah Waala, the husband became enraged and slapped him. The Buzurg didn’t say anything. There is another great lesson in this incident. Here we are taught that we should, occasionally, take a little revenge. If we don’t take revenge, Allah takes revenge on our behalf, and Allah’s revenge is very severe. He didn’t say anything. The next moment the groom fell down dead. The people accused him, “Because he hit you, you must have done something to him.” He replied, “I didn’t do anything.” They said, “How did he die then?” He said, “Because of his beloved, he slapped me. In retaliation, Allah ‘slapped’ him taking revenge for His beloved.” One heart attack and someone falls down dead. So that is Allah’s system. This is how Allah protects His beloveds.

Another buzurg went with his mureed to draw water. While they were drawing water, a young woman started verbally abusing the buzurg. So he told his khaadim, “Give her a slap.” The khaadim was surprised. “Normally, our buzurg never takes revenge.” Not only did he hesitate, he didn’t slap her. The next moment, she fell down dead. The buzurg said, “Had you taken revenge on my behalf, the matter would have ended differently.” If we don’t take revenge, then Allah Ta'ala takes revenge. Our revenge is small.

Sometimes when a buzurg says something harsh to anyone then we think, “What kind of Buzurg is this? He is also talking bad about the person.” But he is taking his little revenge to save the person from bigger trouble. We don’t understand these issues and we find fault with the buzurg. We take offence that the buzurg is talking about a certain person, or he is telling someone, “Take revenge.”  He is just settling the matter with small change. Otherwise, if Allah Ta'ala has to take revenge on his behalf, how serious won’t the consequences be? May Allah give us the understanding. Ameen!