Weeping

Due to the sorrow of my sins, I wept during the salah at jumaah.

Then I committed a sin which was then my other sins: I developed pride that I wept and my nafs began praising me and my mind started imagining that I was the only one who was weeping out of hundreds.

And then I heard someone who was weeping much louder than I . . . a little baby who was crying at the top of his lungs . . .

My Ego was humiliated for it was put to shame by a newborn . . .

RasulAllah (saw) said: He who has a mustard seed of pride will not enter jannah.

Desires

Flee from your desires like Yusuf (as) fled from Zulaikha.

When you see yourself submitting to your desires, strike down hard upon your nafs. Do not open the gate of fitnah, but keep it shut with all of your might as if wolves were attacking you. After all, one's nafs is more vicious and destructive than a pack of wild dogs.

"Allah (swt) will give shade to seven, on the Day when there will be no shade but His. (These seven persons are). . . . . . .a man who refuses the call of a charming woman of noble birth for illegal sexual intercourse with her and says: I am afraid of Allah! . . . . "
(Sahih Bukhari)

RasulAllah (saw) said: "None of you (truly) believes until his desire or inclination is in accordance with what I have brought or subservient to what I came with."

If we have true faith, then obedience will follow.

Thus, when it comes to disobeying Allah, one should run.
Thus, when it comes to obeying Allah, one should remain firm.

On the path, we are all expected to make mistakes and slip and fall. We should try our best to pick ourselves up again.

Know that one cannot fulfill aspirations except by the Mercy and Guidance of Allah (swt) so make sincere du'a to him.

The Path

On the Path, aspire to be a runner, a walker, a crawler, but not one who stands still.

Run, walk, or crawl in order to please your Lord, but whatever you do, don't stop.

The Essence of Knowledge

Imam Abu Hamid al Ghazali says:

The essence of knowledge is to know what obedience and worship are.
"Dear Beloved Son"

What type of nafs do you have?

Read the following descriptions of the different types of nafs and ask yourself "what type of Nafs do I have?" If it is the first one, make dua to Allah (swt) to guide you to the Haqq.

*****
1. Nafs al-Ammara Bissu' (The Soul which Commands):This is the Nafs that brings punishment itself. By its very nature it directs its owner towards every wrong action. No one can get rid of its evil without the help from Allah. As Allah refers to this Nafs in the story of the wife of al-Aziz (Zulaikha) and Prophet Yusuf (s):
"The (human) soul is certainly prone to evil" (12:53).

Allah also says:

"And had it not been for the grace of Allah and His Mercy on you, not one of you would ever have been pure; but Allah purifies whomever He wishes, and Allah is Hearing, Knowing." (24:21)

This Nafs resides in the world of the senses and is dominated by earthly desires (Shahwat) and passions….

Evil lies hidden in the Nafs and it is this that leads it on to do wrong. If Allah were to leave the servant alone with his self, the servant would be destroyed between its evil and the evil that it craves; but if Allah grants him success and help, then he will survive. We seek refuge in Allah the Almighty, both from the evil in ourselves and from the evil of our actions.

***

2. Nafs al-Lawwama (the Soul that Blames):
Allah refers to this Nafs,

"And I do call to witness the Nafs that blames" (75:2).

This Nafs is conscious of its own imperfections.

Hasan al-Basri said, "You always see the believer blaming himself and saying things like 'Did I want this? Why did I do that? Was this better than that?"….

***

3. Nafs al-Mutma`inna (the Soul at Peace):
Allah refers to this Nafs,

"O Self, in complete rest and satisfaction!" (89:27).

This Nafs is tranquil as it rests on the certitude of Allah.

Ibn Abbas (r) said, "It is the tranquil and believing soul".

Al-Qatadah (r) said, "It is the soul of the believer, made calm by what Allah has promised. Its owner is at rest and content with his knowledge of Allah's Names and Attributes, and with what He has said about Himself and His Messenger , and with what He has said about what awaits the soul after death: about the departure of the soul, the life in the Barzakh, and the events of the Day of Qiyamah which will follow. So much so that a believer such as this can almost see them with his own eyes. So he submits to the will of Allah and surrenders to Him contentedly, never dissatisfied or complaining, and with his faith never wavering. He does not rejoice at his gains, nor do his afflictions make him despair - for he knows that they were decreed long before they happened to him, even before he was created…."….

(Al-Tabari: Jami' al-Bayan fi Tafsir al-Qur'an, vol. 13, Bulaq 1323)

Imam Baghawi says,

"The Nafs al-Mutma`inna has an angel to help it, who assists and guides it. The angel casts good into the Nafs so that it desires what is good and is aware of the excellence of good actions. The angel also keeps the self away from wrong action and shows it the ugliness of bad deeds. All in all, whatever is for Allah and by him, always comes from the Soul which is at Peace.

The Nafs al-Ammara Bissu' has Shaytan as its ally. He promises it great rewards and gains, but casts falsehood into it. He invites it and entices the soul to do evil. He leads it on with hope after hope and presents falsehood to the soul in a form that it will accept and admire."

Ibn al-Qayyim also mentioned the states of Nafs:

"The Nafs is a single entity, although its state may change: from the Nafs al-Ammara, to the Nafs al-Lawwama, to the Nafs al-Mutma`inna, which is the final aim of perfection….

It has been said that the Nafs al-Lawwama is the one, which cannot rest in any one state. It often changes, remembers and forgets, submits and evades, loves and hates, rejoices and become sad, accepts and rejects, obeys and rebels.

Nafs al-Lawwama is also the Nafs of the believer….It has also been mentioned that the Nafs blames itself on the Day of Qiyamah - for every one blames himself for his actions, either his bad deeds, if he was one who had many wrong actions, or for his shortcomings, if he was one who did good deeds. All of this is accurate.

(Madarij as-Salikin fi Manazili Iyyaka Na'budu wa Iyyaka Nasta'in, vol. 1 pg. 308)

http://www.livingislam.org/nafs.html

Distractions

"There are two kinds of distraction: those which come through the senses, including the hearing and vision, which are dispelled through seculsion, and, secondly, those which arise from the whisperings of the ego [nafs], which distract the heart with various insinuations and passing thoughts, which are dispelled by ignoring them and keeping the heart occupied, either by echoing in the heart the same word that the mouth is uttering, whether it be Qur'an or invocation, or by listening to and hearing what proceeds from the mouth."
pg 21 of "Gifts for the Seekers" by Imam al-Haddad


May Allah (swt) rid our bodies and hearts of distractions.

"Verily, in the Remembrance of Allah do hearts find tranquility."

"La Ilaha Il Allah"

Some say that our Ummah is dying.

Every night our TV screens show us images of the dead and dying.

But there is something worse than death: a dead soul.

There are masajid that are dead . . .

There are homes that are dead . . .

There are hearts that are dead . . .

The dead heart is the one that is devoid of the remembrance of Allah (swt).

Do you have a dead heart, one that is full of darkness?

Or do you have a live heart, one that is full of light?

If your heart is dead, the question is what are you going to do about it?

You can do three things:
1. Do nothing at all and allow yourself to degenerate.
2. Procrastinate.
3. Do something NOW.

If you chose one, may Allah (swt) guide you.

If you chose two, then ponder over the words of Imam Shafi'i (ra) "The world is but a moment, so make it a moment of obedience."

If you do not ponder NOW over your own salvation, then when will you? For how long will you continue to oppress your own soul? Until you are thrown in the Fire? No. You can stop right now and do something about it.


Make Salah 5 times on time.

Read the Quran.

Seek knowledge.

Make sincere dua.

Grab a Tasbeeh. . . .

"Those who believe, and their hearts find satisfaction in the rememberance of Allah: By remembering Allah, truly satisfaction comes to the heart"
(13:28).

"Those men and women who engage much in Allah's praise. For them has Allah prepared forgiveness and a great reward." (3:191, 33:35)

Remember Me, and I shall remember you" (2:152).

Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet said: "When a servant of Allah utters the words la ilaha illallah (there is no god except Allah) sincerely, the doors of heaven open up for these words until they reach the Throne of Allah, so long as its utterer keeps away from the major sins." (Narrated by Tirmidhi, who says it is hasan gharib. al-Mundhiri included in al-Targhib 2:414)

Al Bayhaqi relates from ibn Umar (radiallahu 'anhu) that Allah's Messenger said: "For everything there is a polish, and the polish for the hearts is the dhikr (remembrance) of Allah. There is nothing more potent in saving a person from the punishment of Allah than the dhikr of Allah." It was said: Not even Jihad in the path of Allah. So he replied: "Not even if you were to continue striking with your sword until it breaks."
There is no doubt that hearts becomes rusty just as copper and silver coins become rusty. The polish for [this rust] is the dhikr of Allah. This is because [dhikr] is like a polish [which polishes the heart] like a shiny mirror. When dhikr is left, the rust returns. But when dhikr resumes, then the heart is [again] polished. And hearts become rusty due to two things:-

[i] neglecting remembering Allah, and
[ii] committing sins.
The polish for these two things is:-
[i] seeking Allah's forgiveness and
[ii] dhikr.

Iman, Islam, and Ihsan: "Do not be deficient in your deen for deficiency leads to the hellfire."

Iman:
Linguistically – ‘amaana’ – ‘having safety’ or ‘accepting and confirming a certain manner.’
Shariah – ‘accepting and confirming everything that the Prophet (saw) came with of that which is necessarily known to be part of the religion.’ Not limited to just the basics of beliefs but everything that comes in the religion that everybody knows about.

Islam:
Linguistically – ‘al inqiyaadh’ – ‘submitting to something’
Shariah – ‘one submits to everything that the Prophet (saw) came with of that which is necessarily known about the religion.

***

Many of us, if asked "do you believe in God?", would answer in the affirmative. Some of us might try and give some proofs. For example, we might cite nature (the trees, the clouds, the mountains, etc) as a proof or go about using other methods to prove the existence of the creator.

These proofs in and of themselves are of no benefit if they do not lead to submission to that Creator. In other words, if we do not implement the Rules that the Creator has laid down, then we are not truly believing in His existence because if we believe in His existence and everything that entails than we would realize that this world is an Illusion and there is nothing real about it.

We would realize that the time we spend on this earth is very short and after this life, we will either have eternal joy or eternal damnation.

Reflect on the Quran, brothers and sisters, where Allah (swt) says that the people when resurrected will think that they spent only a day, or an evening, or a few hours on Earth.

The Hereafter is ETERNAL.

That is something that cannot be explained in words, one can only experience it.

Imagine the most pain and torment you've felt in you're life. Now imagine increasing that pain to a level of infinity in both duration and depth.

Imagine the most pleasurable thing you've enjoyed in you're life. Now imagine increasing that pleasure to a level of infinity in both duration and depth.

The former is a description of hellfire and the latter is a description of paradise.

How does one attain jannah?

It is not only through Iman (affirming and confirming the religion) and Islam (submitting to the religion) but also Ihsan (attaining perfection in the religion).

How does one attain Ihsan?
1. Stop committing major sins and seek repentance for the one's you've done.
2. Keep firm to your prayers.
3. Establish a relationship with the Quran. At least one juz a day.
4. Do dhikr of Allah (swt) constantly.
5. Seek knowledge from trustworthy people.
6. Keep the company of the righteous.

The last point is the most important. A person is with whom He loves on the Day of judgement. If you keep the company of murderers in this life, they will be your company in the hereafter. If you keep the company of fornicators in this life, they will be your company in the hereafter. If you keep the company of people of the dunya who follow their desires, they will be your company in the hereafter.

If you keep the company of the people who seem to be headed towards hellfire, then that is a good estaimate of what your destination will be as well.

Instead of allowing yourself to slowly slip into utter destruction by refusing to do absolutely nothing and causing yourself to stagnate, grab ahold the Rope of Allah (swt)!

The path of spiritual ascension begins with making sincere dua.

If you are a sinner, then make sincere d'ua to Allah (swt) and invoke his name "Al Rahman" or "Al-Raheem" and beg for His Mercy and vow never to do it again.

If you think that you are not a sinner, then you are deluded.

Allah (swt) is closer to you than your jugular vein. He is aware of when you sin, so that should stop you from sinning. However, should you slip into sin, recall His proximity and be quick to make istighfar and do a good deed for a good deed wipes away a bad deed.

What is ihsan? "To worship Allah as though you see Him and if you cannot, then know he sees you."

If you do not worship Allah in this manner, then you may have iman and islam, but you do not have ihsan and therefore, you are deficient.

Do not be deficient in your deen for deficiency leads to the hellfire.

Iman Begins with Disobedience

Iman begins with disobedience for in order to obey Allah (swt) one must disobey all else.

Tempations and Hardship

We should reflect upon the nature of the human being.

The human being is either in a state of progress or of degeneration.

Either a man is moving towards Allah (swt) or he is moving away from Him. (may Allah (swt) aid us in the former and save us from the latter! ameen!).

Thus, there is no moment for relaxation.

In our lives, there are moments when we sincerely seek the guidance of Allah (swt) and we realize the hardship involved in coming close to him. At other moments we realize that we have closeness to Allah (swt) but we choose to go the lesser route and fall into weaknesses.

The human being is thus constantly bombarded by tempatation and hardships.

Temptation is easy to succumb to and hard to resist.

Hardships (developing closeness to Allah (swt)) is difficult to attain and even more difficult to maintain.

But brothers and sisters, when we are in moments of weakness and we seek to engage in the hardships to become closer to Allah (swt) or if we are in moments of strength and are tempted to relax for a moment and enjoy the worldly pleasure, we should ponder over this:

Where do tempations lead one and where does bearing hardships lead one?

The former leads to the hellfire while the latter leads to jannah.

RasulAllah (saw) said "The hellfire is surrounded by tempations and the paradise is surrounded by hardships."

So when we are stuck in a moment where we desire laxity in the implementation of our religion, we should ask ourselves whether this moment is a moment of succumbing to temptation or of bearing hardship.

If it is tempation, avoid it.
If it is hardship, embrace it.

Excerpts from Wisdom for the Seekers

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"knowledge knocks on the door of action: it enters if the door is opened, but leaves if it does not recieve a reply. He who fails to act upon knowledge that he has gained is forever deprived of the ecstasy of supplications."
pg 12-13 "Wisdom for the Seeker: Volume 1" By Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmad

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"There was a time when wealth was spent to acquire knowledge. Today, knowledge is spent and squandered to acquire wealth."
p 13 'ibid'.

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"Abstinence means leaving anything that may produce a negative effect on one's relationship with Allah (swt). Our elders have said taht abstinence is perfected when nothing shameful would be revealed should the heart's desires be openly displayed in the marketplace."

p 31 "Wisdom For the Seeker" By Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmad

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To conquer the desire is to acquire the characteristics of the angels, and to be conquered is to fall to the characteristics of animals."

pg 50 "Wisdom for the Seeker" By Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmad

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". . . remember taht staying away from sin is equivalent to prevention, and prevention is better than a cure."

pg 50 "Wisdom for the Seeker" By Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmad

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"Just like stagnant, standing water becomes a breeding ground for filth, an empty and carefree mind becomes a hive for useless and scorned thoughts."

p 82 "Wisdom for the Seekers" by Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmad

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"it is sadly amazing that man only realizes the value of life when more than half of it has expired."

p 83 "Wisdom for the Seekers" by Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmad.