In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
Peace and blessings be upon Muhammad the Final Messenger of Allah (swt), his Family and his Companions.
Assalamoualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh
I have recently been inspired by various episodes of the Auliyaa-Allah (Friends of Allah(swt)), and through the blessings and du'aa of the pious (namely; Hadhrat Maulana Asif Ebrahim(Db) (Batley), Hadhrate Aqdas Maulana Muhammad Akhtar Saheb (Db) (Karachi) and Sheikh Ahmed Ali (Db) (Bradford) and many more), I have Inshallah made a firm intention to at least try and live a life of a
true Muslim.
Having said that, I just decided to compile a little think-piece of my own, including little extracts from literature/lectures by the above persons.
How to attain the Love of Allah (swt) and from whom ??
Everyone on this earth wants peace and contentment of the heart. The worldly minded people find peace in accumulating wealth, some find it in cars, some find it in chasing after women/men, and it seems that some even find peace in displeasing Allah (swt) and ridiculing the deen(religion) of Islam (naudhobillah), that deen which in itself is the meaning of peace.
Then there are some people who find peace by obeying the commands of Allah (swt) and being righteous -
this is what true peace is about. Such people actually derive pleasure in taking the name of Allah (swt) and actually understand the meaning of the words of Allah(swt):
"Those who believe, and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah. for without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction. (Holy Qur'an: 13:28). These people have full confidence in the words of Allah (swt), and are never content without taking His Holy name. Not just that, but to gain closeness to Allah(swt), they also at the same time, cleanse their souls from the spiritual illnesses of the heart. The spiritual illnesses which slowly but surely eat away at a persons good deeds and eventually ruin a persons Imaan, and could also put a person on the verge of kufr. Allah (swt) save us all.
In order for us to
truly attach ourselves to Allah (swt) and to acquire His blessings and His Infinite mercy, we need to also eradicate ourselves from the most effective of spiritual illnesses including; pride, vanity (showing off), back-biting, lying, jealousy, swearing, adultery, love for this world and the most common and mother of all - casting of evil glances.
Only when a person goes through hardships and shows patience in not sinning, tolerates the sorrow experienced in avoiding sins, and bears the pain in the heart, so as to not displease Allah (swt) by sinning and allowing haraam pleasures to enter the heart. Only then does that person see the fruits of his grievances, for Allah (swt) doesn't let any good deed or hardship with forbearance, go wasted. Only then will that person actually receive
enjoyment in
not sinning and shall actually
enjoy carrying out the different acts of ibaadat(worship), by performing the compulsory
and the voluntary acts of ibaadat.
Narrated Abu Musa: The Prophet said, "The example of the one who glorifies the Praises of his Lord (Allah) in comparison to the one who does not glorify the Praises of his Lord, is that of a living creature compared to a dead one." (Sahih Bukhari - Volume 8, Book 75, Number 416)
Today we see it as a burden to even pray our salaah or do any act of ibaadat for that matter. Only when we are afflicted with hardships and sorrows, only then do we remember our Creator, the Solver of all problems; by becoming righteous all of a sudden. We perform all the necessary acts of ibaadat, give in charity, keep voluntary fasts etc, and then as soon as our problems are over, we're at it again by indulging ourselves back into a life of disobedience to Allah (swt).
We are very ungrateful, as Allah (swt) Himself says:
"When trouble toucheth a man, He crieth unto Us (in all postures)- lying down on his side, or sitting, or standing. But when We have solved his trouble, he passeth on his way as if he had never cried to Us for a trouble that touched him! thus do the deeds of transgressors seem fair in their eyes!" (Holy Qur'an: 10:12)
"As for man, when his Lord tries him by giving him honour and gifts, then he says (puffed up): "My Lord has honoured me." But when He tries him, by straitening his means of life, he says: "My Lord has humiliated me!" (Holy Qur'an: 89:15/16)
Days after days, weeks after weeks, months after months and sometimes even years after years pass by, where we become so engrossed in this temporary deceitful world, that not
once do we stop to think that Allah (swt) is watching us and we shall be accountable on the Day of Judgement for what we have done in this short life, we dont think about the bounties He (swt) has bestowed upon us and never even think about expressing gratitude to Him.
Allah (swt) says:
"Truly man is, to his Lord, ungrateful; And to that (fact) he bears witness (by his deeds);" (Holy Qur'an: 100:6/7)
"And when We show favour to man, he turns aside and withdraws himself; and when evil touches him, he makes lengthy supplications." (Holy Qur'an: 41:51)
"It is He Who gave you life, will cause you to die, and will again give you life: Truly man is a most ungrateful creature!" (Holy Qur'an: 22:66)
This is one of the reasons why we are afflicted with hardships in the first place, because we are ungrateful to Allah (swt), and so He takes away that which we have. Whereas if we were more grateful to Him, then Allah (swt) may bless us in the little that we have and either increase it or He(swt) may make us content with what we have. We shall only see the reality of what we had gained from our worldly pursuits (nothing), once we are buried 6ft under the earth, in our dark, lonely graves.
What need is there for anything else, when you have the Owner and Creator of everything??
This just goes to show, that we are not true lovers of Allah (swt), we merely fulfill the commands of Allah (swt) not because they are Fardh (compulsory), but we do them because we have a need from Allah (swt). How arrogant have we become?... When we need something "Ya Allah, give me this, give me that" and then once we are blessed with it, then its like "errrrr.....Yeh.... Alhamdulillah". Such a person suddenly forgets the name of Allah(swt)..... until next time of course.
Whereas a true lover of Allah (swt) is he who is content with what he has and expresses gratitude to Allah (swt) with any little thing that he possesses, and he takes the name of Allah(swt) whether he's in difficulty or not, whether he's walking, sitting, lying down, eating, drinking etc.
Today, we are very neglectful of the compulsory duties we need to be carrying out as true Muslims, but I swear by Allah(swt), once we make an effort and perform our daily Islamic practices, keeping with the Sunnah of Rasulullah (saw) and the laws of Shari'ah, and gain that connection with Allah (swt) -
only then shall we realise as to why and how our pious ancestors like Imam Abu Hanifa (rah) used to recite the
whole of the Holy Qur'an in just
1 rakaah of salaah for
thirty years and how he used to complete the recitation of the Holy Qur'an
sixty times during most Ramadhans (Subhaan-Allah), how they could live for days without food, how Hadhrat Zainul Aabideen would pray
one thousand rakaahs of salaah
every night, how they used to go on for hours and hours taking the name of Allah (swt), how much yaqeen(confidence) they had in Allah(swt), how they used to distance themselves from the world to acquire the love of Allah (swt).
Such aashiqs (lovers) of Allah (swt) didn't abstain from sins out of the fear of Jahannam(Hell) or desire for Jannah (Heaven), they rather withheld from sinning and carried out acts of obedience out of their love for Allah (swt), so as to not displease Him and in order to secure His pleasure.
The amount of pleasure these saints received cannot be experienced by dark-hearted (no offence) people like us until we actually make an effort and tread on that very path that they took to reach Allah (swt), and to
find that path, we need to sit in the company of the righteous and pious (Auliyaa-Allah).
Like evil company will make one evil, likewise, pious company will make one pious providing ones intention is correct (to reach Allah (swt)). Like the saying goes "You get mithai from a mithai-wala, choosa from a choosay-wala, kapre from a kapre-wala, ittar from a ittar-wala -
and you get Allah from?? An ALLAH-WALA !!
Now, the question arises as to whom do we actually class as righteous and pious?? Seen as the Ummah is increasingly dividing itself into more and more sects and confusing us all, and all claiming to be on the Right Path -
It is pretty simple - A true Allah-wala is he who guides a person to their desired objective (to reach Allah (swt)), by teaching them how to live a life of piety by following the Sunnah of Rasulullah (saw) and by strictly abiding by the laws of Shari'ah, advising them of certain actions to avoid, listening to their problems and advising them as to how to go about cleansing their hearts of their spiritual illnesses - this is a Spiritual guide on the Right Path. Such guides are few, but once you find one, then never let slip away from his company.
Maulana Anwar Shah Kashmiri (rah) once said: "O students of Bukhari Sharif!!(Book of Ahadith).
The dust that settles on the bottom of the shoes of the Auliya is more valuable than the jewels that are embedded in the crowns of kings". This is the respect that we should have for the Auliya-Allah, but on the condition that the Allah-Wala is a true Wali (Friend) of Allah (swt), and not some dim-witted, crafty milksheikh who boasts about his "connection" with Allah (swt) and cunningly dupes his mureeds and loots their pockets. (which is very common nowadays)
Never expect to be guided nor seek guidance from someone who himself is not on the Right Path, for a guide who is lost himself can
never guide others to their destination.
The peer/mureed (spiritual guide/guidance seeker) relationship which has been so commonly misunderstood nowadays, is due to fake peers, who for the sake of mere worldly gain, teach a few wazifa's (practices), but do not teach their mureeds how to live a life of piety. The mureeds of such peers always remain deviated, and get absorbed into fake states of spiritual ecstasy, and so they remain deprived from experiencing the True love of Allah (swt).
For further reading and to truly understand the definition of Bay'at, its advantages, its source and its results.... please visit >>>>
http://www.alinaam.org.za/tasawwuf/bayat.htm
WHAT TO DO BEFORE GIVING BAY'AT (Pledging allegiance) >>>
So in a nutshell, from my experience, before giving bay'at to any Spiritual guide, or just seeking advice form him, remember the following points >>>
- Sit in his gatherings for at least a few months, and see if you are actually gaining any benefit from his lectures/advice, listen to some of his audio, read some literature. See if that person is compatible with your nature and if you enjoy his company.
- Observe his actions and see if he is in accordance with the Sunnah and Shari'ah (whether it be his way of talking, eating, drinking, praying, his clothing, etc)
- Most importantly, pray Salaatul-Istikhara, do mashwara with Allah (swt), seek His Guidance in the matter. Your intention should be to simply find out if the guide in question is good for you or bad for you - and who better is there to ask from than Allah (swt) ??
May Allah (swt) give me and everyone the ability to act upon what has been said, and may He guide us all. Ameen