Seeing Allah in Dreams

“What is the position of Islamic scholarship on seeing Allah in dreams, waking, and the afterlife?”

Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari (Darul Iftaa, Leicester, UK) gave a detailed answer to this on SunniPath.com. Especially interesting to me was the question of seeing Allah Ta’ala in dreams or not.

I was quite sure about the rest already, but usually when I tell anecdotes like that of Imam Ahmed bin Hambal, which gets mentioned in the answer below, I get scolded or interrupted by various people. Why? Because according to their highly opinion none is able to see Allah Ta’ala awake or asleep whatsoever, which created doubts in my mind as well.

Alhamdulillah, this Fatwa helped me to fully understand this issue.

Filed under: 1. 'Aqaid

Munasabat with the Shaikh

Experience has proven that for gaining spiritual benefit (fuyudh-e-batini), mutual munasabat (congeniality) between the Shaikh and Mureed is a natural condition. Normally benefit is dependant on affection which is the reality of natural congeniality (munasabat-e-fitri). Sometimes a Shaikh will refer a mureed to another Shaikh because of the lack of such munasabat between them. In doing so the Shaikh establishes either by deduction or kashf (inspiration from Allah Ta’ala) that the mureed has munasabat with a certain Shaikh. In this Path it is essential that munasabat exists between the Shaikh and Mureed otherwise the latter will not benefit. Such munasabat is the basis for the acquisition of benefit and passing on faidh (spiritual grace) to the mureed. Munasabat envisages that there exists between the Shaikh and Mureed compatibility and harmony to such a degree that the mureed discerns no rejection in his heart for any word or act of the Shaikh although he (the mureed) may be afflicted by mental disagreement with any word or act of the Shaikh.Nevertheless such mental disagreement will not countenance any rejection for the Shaikh in the heart of the mureed. In short, harmony and compatibility are conditional for bay’t. It is therefore essential to first inculcate munasabat. This need is imperative. In the absence of this essential condition, mujahadat (strivings), riyadhat (certain forms of exercises designed to subdue the nafs), muraqabat (meditations) and mukashafat (intuitive revelations) are all futile. In the absence of natural munasabat (tab’i munasabat), the mureed should endeavour to inculcate intellectual (aqli) munasabat, because benefit is dependant on it. For this reason, one should refrain from entering into the bay’t contract until total munasabat has been inculcated.

[by Maseehul Ummat Hadhrat Maseehullah Khan Sahib (Rahimullah) in "Shariat and Tasawwuf"]

Filed under: 5. Tasawwuf

14 Mischiefs of Lustful Glances

Hadhrat Shah Hakeem Akhtar Sahab (db) sacrifices much time of his life and effort on warning people from one of the widest-spread spiritual diseases in today’s world. It’s not only a common habit of the non-Muslims to star at beauties of the other gender, but unfortunately became one of many Muslims, too.

Hadhratwala describes the 14 physical and spiritual mischiefs, that lustful glances come with, detailed in this Urdu book. I have listed them briefly in the rest of this entry.

Download!

May Allah Ta’ala keep on curing us and others from this serious disease through the admonitions, the efforts, the du’as and the dard-e-dil of Hadhratwala (damat barkatuhum). Ameen!

Filed under: Bad Qualities, Books

Benefits of a Shaikh-e-Kamil

The benefits of association with a Shaikh-e-Kamil are manifold. Among such benefits are:

1. The noble and lofty qualities of the Shaikh slowly develop in the mureed.
2. Even if one is not totally reformed, one will have gained the ability to discern and recognize one’s faults.
3. The mureed follows the Shaikh in character and habit.
4. Attainment of joy and pleasure in Thikr and ibaadat.
5. Enhancement of courage.

Filed under: 5. Tasawwuf

Raiwind Ijtima’ 2007

Though all the chaos and tribulations right now in Pakistan, the Raiwind Ijtima’ took place again through the grace of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala.

This time the 2nd largest gathering of the world took place even twice: first weekend from the 8th till the 11th November and the second from the 15th till the 18th Novemeber. It was split by the elders so to speak into South and North Pakistan. But which on the other side means for us at least twice as much for our ears as last year.

As soon as I have more detailed insights on this years’ Ijtima’ I’ll update this post.

I don’t want to bore you, here you go to the Bayanaat: Presented by DarseQuran.com

Filed under: Audio

Islah-e-Nafs is Fardh

Once Hadhrat Shah Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Sahab (db) explained, that just being connected to an elder and acting upon his consultation regarding religious and spiritual issues can be enough for ones Islah (rectification or purification) - to make baya’t is not necessary.

Then Hadhratwala gave the following example:

Hadhrat Maulana Abdur-Rahman Kimalapuri Sahab, who was Shaikhul Hadith, didn’t become a Mureed yet. He established an Islahi (remedial) relationship with Hadhrat Hakeemul Ummat Mujaddidul Millat Thanvi and after a while when Hadhrat Shaikh Thanvi saw his heart was polished and his nafs (ego) was rectified he gave him Khalifat.

Maulana Kimalapuri said, “Hadhrat, I’m not even your mureed (disciple) and you’re giving me Khalifat.” He replied, “Islah-e-Nafs (rectifying oneself) is Fardh and bay’at is Sunnah.You have done the obligatory work. Come, now you can make bay’at as well.”

So, he became a disciple later on but got Khalifat first. We learn that Islah-e-Nafs is Fardh, just as Namaz is Fardh, Sawm is Fardh and Zakat is Fardh. And it’s obvious that the importance of Fardh is more than that of Sunnat.

[from the Mawaiz "Taluq ma Allah", pg. 21]

Filed under: 5. Tasawwuf, Malfoozat

Allah’s Promises of Rizq

First off all let’s agree on the meaning of Rizq by the help of what Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmed (damat barkatuhum) mentioned in one of his lectures:

“All aspects of a person’s subsistence and livelihood fall under the definition of rizq, including but not restricted to wealth, status, business and children.”

We see in this capitalist scoiety, everyone will do anything that is possible to gain their Rizq. People think they are expanding their rizq by doing haram, opening liquor shops, but they aren’t. Islam tells us the rizq is assigned at our birth and on top of that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala made five promises of Rizq. Exactly on these I’ll try to shed some light on in this topic.

Filed under: Audio, Good Qualities, Qur'an, Salaah, Sunnah & Hadith, Zikr & Du'a

Masah on Jurabain

A new and quite detailed booklet on this topic:
“Masah on Socks” by Maulana Zakariyya Makda

Jurabain are non-leather socks of wool, cotton or any other cloth. There are some narrations which mention masah on jurabain. [...]

In Ahkaamul Qur’aan, Jassaas says:

“They (the Fuqaha) differed on the question of masal alah jurabain.

According to Imaam Abu Hanifah and Imaam Shaafi (rahmatullah alayhima) masah on jurabain is not permissible except if they are mujallad (i.e. leather sewn over them).

Tahaawi narrates from Imaam Maalik (rahmatullah alayh) that masah on jurabain is not valid even if they are mujalladain (on which leather has been sewn). Some of the Companions of Imaam Maalik narrate that according to him, masah on jurabain is not permissible except that they be mujalladain like khuffain.

Thauri, Abu Yusuf, Muhammad and Hasan Ibn Saalih (rahmatullah alayhim) said that if the jurabain are thakheenain, then masah on them is valid even if they are not mujalladain.”

[from the booklet "Masah alal Khuffain" by the Majlisul Ulama of South Africa]

Filed under: 2. Fiqh, Books