Tawwajjuh.

Asalaam O Alaikum....

Where have you read it if I may ask?

TAWAJJUH'UN-NAS (PEOPLE'S PRAISE AND ACCLAIM)

Present in most people is a hypocritical desire to be seen by people and hold a position in the public view, which is ambition for fame and acclaim, and self-advertisement; it is present to a lesser or greater extent in all those who seek this world. The desire to accomplish this ambition will drive a person to sacrifice his life even. Such ambition is exceedingly dangerous for those who seek the hereafter, and even for those who seek this world it is a rough road. It is also the source of many bad morals and is man’s greatest weakness. A person only has to gratify this ambition to gain control over someone and draw him to himself; it ties the man to him, and he is overcome.

My brothers and sisters in Islam! Say the following to the secret agents of the cunning ‘worldly,’ or the propagandists of the people of misguidance, or the students of Satan, for they all try to deceive you by exciting the desire for rank: “Firstly, divine pleasure, the favours of the Merciful One, and dominical acceptance are a position so high that beside them the attention and admiration of men are worth virtually nothing. To receive divine mercy is sufficient. The regard of men is acceptable in that it is the reflection and shadow of the regard of divine mercy; otherwise it is not desirable. For it is extinguished at the door of the grave, so is worth nothing!”


IF...

If the desire for rank and position cannot be silenced and eliminated, it should be directed towards something else: as in the following comparison, the emotion may have a licit side; if it is for reward in the hereafter, or with the intention of being prayed for, or for making one’s work effective.

For example, at a time Aya Sophia Mosque is filled with eminent and blessed people, virtuous and excellent, one or two idle youths and immoral loafers are hanging around the entrance, while next to the windows a few Europeans are watching for amusement. A man enters the mosque and joins the congregation, then recites a passage from the Qur’an beautifully in a fine voice; the gazes of thousands of the people of truth are turned on him and they gain reward for him through their regard and prayers. This does not please the idle youths and heretic loafers and the one or two Europeans. If when the man had entered the blessed mosque and joined the huge congregation, he had shouted out lewd songs, and danced and jumped around, it would have made the idle youths laugh, have pleased the dissolute loafers since it encouraged immorality, and made the Europeans smile mockingly, since they are gratified at seeing any faults in Islam. But it would have attracted looks of disgust and contempt from the vast and blessed congregation; in its view, the man would have fallen to the very lowest of the low.

Exactly like this example, the World of Islam and Asia is a huge mosque, and the people of belief and truth within it are the respected congregation in the mosque. The idle youths are the childish sycophants. The dissolute loafers are those villains who follow Europe and have no nation or religion. While the European spectators are the journalists who spread the ideas of the Europeans. All Muslims, especially the virtuous and perfected ones, have a place in the mosque according to their degree; they are seen and attention is paid to them. If they perform actions and works as taught by the injunctions and sacred truths the All-Wise Qur’an in accordance with the sincerity and divine pleasure which are a fundamental of Islam, and if through the tongue of disposition they recite Qur’anic verses, they will then be included in the prayer: “O Allah, grant forgiveness to all believing men and to all believing women,” which is constantly uttered by everyone in the World of Islam. They will have a share of it and will become connected to all the others in brotherly fashion. However, the value of this will not be apparent to some of the people of misguidance who are like harmful beasts and to some idiots who are like bearded children. If a man disowns all his forefathers, the source of honour, and all the past, the cause of pride, and abandons in the spirit the luminous highway of his righteous predecessors, which they considered to be their point of support, and if he follows his own whims and passions hypocritically seeking fame and following innovations, he will fall to the very lowest position in the view of all the people of truth and belief. In accordance with: “Beware the insight of the believer, for he sees with the light of Allah,” (1) however common and ignorant a believer may be, even if his mind does not realize it, his heart looks coldly and in disgust on such boastful, selfish men.

And so, the man carried away by love of position and rank and obsessed by the desire for fame – the second man, descends to the very lowest of the low in the view of that numberless congregation. And he gains a temporary, inauspicious position in the view of a few insignificant, mocking, raving loafers. In accordance with the verse,

Friends on that Day will be foes, one to another – except the righteous,(43:67)

he will find a few false friends who will be harmful in this world, torment in the Intermediate Realm, and enemies in the hereafter.

As for the first man, even if he does not expunge the desire for position from his heart, on condition he takes sincerity and divine pleasure as his guiding principles and does not make rank and position his goal, he will attain a sort of spiritual rank, and a glorious one at that, which will perfectly satisfy that desire of his. The man will lose something insignificant, very insignificant, and find in place of it many, very many, valuable and harmless things. Indeed, he will chase away a few snakes and find numerous blessed creatures; he will become close friends with them. Or he will ward off stinging wild hornets and attract blessed bees, the sherbert-sellers of mercy. He will eat honey at their hand, and through their prayers find friends from all parts of the Islamic world through whom his spirit will receive effulgences like the water of Kawthar, and these will pass to his book of good deeds.

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Dipnot-1 Tirmidhi, Tafsir Sura, 156; Abu Nu’aym, Hilyat al-Awliya, iv, 94; al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id, x, 268; al-‘Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa’, i, 42.

A Reminder

Be aware that the attention of men cannot be demanded, but only given. If it is given, one should not delight in it. If one delights in it, sincerity is lost and hypocrisy takes its place. The attention of men, if accompanied by the desire for honour and fame, is not a reward and a prize, but a reproach and chastisement for lack of sincerity. Such attention of men, such honour and fame, harm sincerity, the source of vitality for all good deeds, and even though they yield a slight pleasure as far as the gate of the tomb, on the other side of that gate they take on the form of torment. One should not therefore desire the attention of men, but flee and shy away from it.

format_quote Originally Posted by Nur Student

TAWAJJUH'UN-NAS (PEOPLE'S PRAISE AND ACCLAIM)

Thanks for the above post and the follow up (not going to quote the whole thing). I guess I didn't explain at all what I meant.

My post above might explain what I meant about being invited to 'tawwajjuh'.

format_quote Originally Posted by greenhill

I recently attended a 'tawaajjuh' (what to use here) occasion/gathering/ something like a tahlil (not sure if that is a common term) where they do recitations and offer praises and salutations to Allah (calling out all His names), his messengers (by name), the angels again by their names, etc and ask forgiveness for the deceased.

It seems a very spirited affair and I can see it can be 'trans' like if the attendees were more receptive. I hear background conversations about 'tarikat' (?) aspect(s) of it when it was over while we were eating.

Jazak Allah for explaining. Tawajjuh would basically means Turning your attention towards something in my language (Urdu).

I believe that our Bother Nur Student is actually referring to the Tawajjuh (Seeking others Attention or Tawajjuh) that one seeks to gain the praise of others and fame. That is the what our Nafs (Evil Self) calls us towards. That is soemthing we should fight against and try to humble ourselves and reject the desire to have fame as the increase of such desire would lead us to arrogance and pride, and that is exactly what Shaytan was doing, by not humbling himself against Adam (a.s) and prostrating, but his pride informed him that he was better. The best remedy to fight this type of evil is become humble and accept what Allah (swt) has decreed for you.



The Tawajjuh that you expereinced in your gathering is to turn your Tawajjuh (Attention) towards Allah (swt) and towards His remembrance.

Wajh means 'Face' or 'Self', basically one's whole being or person. Tawajjuh means to 'Turn your whole being towards someone'. Allah (Swt) has used the word Wajh in the following Verse of the Quran in Surah Rahman for His own being:

(Chapter 55 Verse 26-27) Everyone upon the earth will perish, And there will remain the Face of your Lord (Wajh), Owner of Majesty and Honor.

'Face' or 'Countenance' , a term used in Classical Arabic to denote the 'Self or 'Whole being' of a person - in this case the essential Being or Reality of God.

So we should turn our Tawajjuh (attention) from this Duniya towards the Wajh of our Allah (swt), Owner of Majesty and Honor, Who will Live when everything else perishes.

format_quote Originally Posted by greenhill

I recently attended a 'tawaajjuh' (what to use here) occasion/gathering/ something like a tahlil (not sure if that is a common term) where they do recitations and offer praises and salutations to Allah (calling out all His names), his messengers (by name), the angels again by their names, etc and ask forgiveness for the deceased.

It seems a very spirited affair and I can see it can be 'trance' like if the attendees were more receptive. I hear background conversations about 'tarikat' (?) aspect(s) of it when it was over while we were eating.

I think you were invited to "Tawajuhan" (do Tawajjuh), recite zikir in congregation. This is popular rite among Sufi Muslims from Tarikat Qadiriyah wa Naqsyabandiyah that exist in Indonesia and Malaysia.

The Hadeeth Shareef," الحياء شعبة من الإيمان" is understandable but the other part," الحياء لا ياتي" is not understandable. Please tell its meaning to make it clear.