Habib Umar bin Hafiz

May Allah preserve Habib Umar and guide us by him….  This is an incredible man. 

(Probably the best intro ever by Shaykh Ibrahim Osi Efa!)

 

 

Sufi and ibn Dunya

Sufi:  As salamu ‘alaykum my brother, tell me what ails ya?

ibn Dunya:  Wa ‘alaykum as salam Sufi Shaykh, I hope you have the words to heal me, but my sickness isn’t a physical one, it’s mental.

S:  Yes I did think when you came in, someone walking around in public with that haircut could not be of a sane frame of mind. Hehehehe (laughing to himself), I kid young man, please go on.

iD:  (laughs nervously) Yes erm that’s funny.  Actually my friend cut my hair.

S:  A friend?  What kind of friend would do that?  Shall I get him for you?  I am trained in Silat you know, hehehe (laughing on his own again) I kill me sometimes.

iD:  O Shaykh you are making fun of me but I’m really ill, I think I’m depressed.  Please I need you to cure me, I heard you have helped many people.

S:  No more joking my friend, sometimes a little laughter is the best cure for sadness.

By the will of Allah we will try to make you better, most physical and mental sicknesses are rooted in some sort of spiritual disease.  Didn’t our beloved Prophet, peace be upon him, say “No man fills a vessel worse than his stomach..?” And “an unbeliever eats and fills seven intestines whereas a believer uses only one” also that “Allah hates those who eat excessively.”  Yet we find people transgress and eat more than they need, and what is the root of this?  The spiritual disease of greed.

This advice should suffice if you grasp the apparent and hidden meaning behind them, if not tell me your problems.

iD:  Thank you for your advice but I actually have quite a healthy, balanced diet.  My problem is that I am unhappy with my life, I am not happy with the cards I have been dealt in my life.

S:  (Thinks to himself: “My first reply did answer him, only if he pondered more deeply)

iD: Am I an unbeliever for what I said O Shaykh?  I’m admitting I’m not happy with Allah’s will.

S: No my friend you certainly are not an unbeliever. The fact you have taken your time to come to see me, to ask for help, concerned you may be an unbeliever, proves you are a Mu’min with taqwa of Allah.  Now tell me what specifically are you unhappy with in your life?

iD:  Everything… My job - I wish I was earning more money, my body - I wish I was taller and slimmer, my house - I wish I had a bigger one, my friends - I wish I had more interesting ones, my personality - I wish I was more intelligent, more funny….

S:  Stop, stop.  Do you not see this is from the hunger of your nafs (lower self)?  It can never be satiated with more dunya.  Job - be grateful you have a job many don’t, body - be thankful you are not ill, house - you still have a house…

iD:  (interrupting the Shaykh)  I’m sorry Shaykh but I’ve heard all this before, look to those who have less than you and all that, but  all I see are people with more than me.  I meet people who are less capable than me but have better jobs, why did Allah make me smaller than others?  Why can’t I have a bigger house?  If I had these things I would be happier and more grateful to God. Please Shaykh that kind of advice may work for simple people but not for sophisticated people with complicated lives.

S:  (Silently prays: “God bless the simple folk) My friend, sophisticated person or not the problems are usually very simple and often the same.  This is love of dunya over the akhira.  Islam means to “submit”, to submit your affairs to Allah, to put your trust in Allah, your faith and hopes all in Allah.  You were not created for the dunya, you were created for the akhira, to be with Allah.

Your nafs is not a complicated thing; it only wants one thing - MORE.  You are a clever man you can see this want of the nafs will never be satiated, no matter if you give it more, it will still want.. yes you guessed it - more.  Even if you were given the whole Earth with everything in it, it would just want another planet!

iD:  Please go on Shaykh, my heart is listening to your words.

S:  My friend you need to change your world view, change it to an akhiri view!  Your purpose in this world is to know God, through worship.  Worship in prayer, your state with God, your relationships with people, your work, the way you treat the environment.  You work hard to make these things as best and beautiful as possible. 

After your hard work the condition you are placed in; your physical state, your wealth, your job all of those things are exactly what God wants you to have.  Be thankful for it and be patient during difficult predicaments.  Also know that these situations you face are all from the infinite wisdom of Allah so that you could know him.  These things are given in perfect measure for you, the best possible combination for you to know Him.  You may think you would be better off with a different job, different house, no!  This is your nafs talking again. This wisdom warrants repeating:

The share of the dunya apportioned to you is the perfect amount you need to fulfil your purpose in life.

Please ponder on this.  Whether religious or irreligious this benefits all.  If you internalise this wisdom and live by it you will find a priceless contentment in your life.  If you don’t, no matter how much dunya you amass you will never be satisfied.

iD:  Wow Shaykh, you have blown me away.  I will reflect on your words and pray my state changes to that which God will be pleased with me.

S:  Yes may Allah always guide you, and lastly get a decent haircut.

The Amazing Brain

One of my biggest vices from the “bad ol’ days” was music.  It was a large part of my everyday life since I was 9/10 years old, up to 21.  In those 10 years built up a collection of CD’s worth a small fortune.  I wonder sometimes if all that still has an effect on my state now? 

Something weird happened to me recently, I heard a song by Alicia Keys on TV; Teenage Love Affair, there is Motown sounding base sample used in the song and the instant it was played I recognised I had heard it before.  The sample was used on a Hip Hop album, I couldn’t remember the album or the group but for some odd reason I remembered it was an intermission type track on the album.  It bugged me for hours not being able to remember which album it was.

Then a few days later as I was waking up for work, still semi-conscious, the album name and group suddenly came to me!  It was from Muse-Sick-N-Hour-Message by Public Enemy, track: White Heaven/Black Hell.

This was truly freaky, kinda like my brain was working on retrieving the data stored somewhere in my long term memory all that time, then involuntarily gave me the answer, I didn’t even think about it since that day I first heard it.  And the last time I listened to that album was probably 12 years ago!  What an amazing organ the brain is.

I wish I used my time (and money!) on something more beneficial like memorising the Qur’an.  Memorising comes easy to me alhamdulillah, I can still remember many rhymes word for word.  Even now after listening to and singing some qasida’s I memorise it after a few days, maybe all that music and rhyming has improved my memorisation skills?  Still I would have loved to have the Qur’an memorised instead of all that music.

Allah knows best, I can’t change the past and there must be a divine wisdom behind my misspent youth.  Most obvious of all is that I should do tawba for all of that and thank Allah or changing my state.  No point crying over what I could have done instead, it was all meant to be.  Insha Allah I will try to make sure my kids don’t make the same mistakes. 

Studying Arabic

Sometimes studying Arabic is laborious, especially trying to study part time whilst working and along with family commitments. It can be very difficult and seems like you’re not learning fast enough. Then you reach a point where you “get” something, you understand a certain grammar rule, or become comfortable with certain verb forms, often unconsciously, as in you didn’t realise you had the vocabulary memorised, didn’t know you could apply them in a sentence. You start making up sentences that you had no idea you were able to!

Nothing can describe the feeling when reading the Quran and realise the ayat you just recited you actually understood it, understood the Arabic; the meaning of the words, the sentence structure, even sense a little of the high eloquence of the Majestic Quran. As a non-Arabic speaker this in an ecstatic moment that has you in tears, a great bounty from Allah.

Studying Arabic is hard, for me anyway I find it very difficult. It’s not as interesting as the other sciences, I remember in a grammar class once our teacher in the middle of the lesson said shut your books that’s enough of grammar, it’s getting boring, let’s read some stories of the Prophets!

It’s very humbling experience learning Arabic, you work hard, study, memorise like crazy but don’t always see the fruits (not straight away anyway). Sometimes you feel like your comprehension has been the same level for several months, may even feel you’re forgetting words! But as long you are doing it, everyday, or every other day, you are always learning. Even if it doesn’t seem so.
You really do realise it’s in Allah’s will. You work hard and feel you’re not getting anywhere then out of the blue Allah (sw) grants you a gift that blows you away.

Studying Arabic is a very good exercise in gaining tawakkul (trust) in Allah.

Centre of the Universe

Like Moths to Fire

Jabir reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“The metaphor of me and you is that of a man who lights a fire and the grasshoppers and moths begin to fall into it and he chases them away from it. I pull you by your belts back from the Fire while you are doing your best to slip from my hand.”

Muslim (from Sunnipath website)

Salutation

All exaltation is for Allah alone
You are The One with no Beginning,
The Living with no End
Nothing happens except by Your will
All good is from You
All evil is from our own doing
Forgiveness and guidance we seek from You alone
And You bestow it to whomever You please

O Allah send salutations of peace and blessings upon Your final Messenger
the Mercy to the worlds
the best of creation
the most trustworthy
the intercessor
the Prophet Muhammad
who is Your beloved

The truest love that can be experienced in this world is love for him (صلى الله عليه وسلم)
For he (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is the most beloved to You
So no one has tasted true love until they have fallen in love with him (صلى الله عليه وسلم)

O Allah purify this salutation from all negative intentions and make it one overflowing with love

Make it the most fitting salutation,
from Your knowledge of what would be most befitting for him (صلى الله عليه وسلم)

Make it a unique salutation that no angel has ever recorded
one which astounds them
and brings tranquillity to all inhabitants of this world
and all those in their graves
a salutation that lights up the heavens and the lower worlds

Then multiply the salutation O Allah
by every atom in existence
and that will ever exist
and by every part of the atom

Then make the salutation exponentially rise in greatness and keep rising for eternity

O Allah, let us be from amongst those that meet him (صلى الله عليه وسلم) in the next world and this world
let us be from those that accompany him (صلى الله عليه وسلم) in Jannah
and accompany his sunnah in every aspect of our lives in this world
make us imbibe and live by it’s inner and outer realities

O Allah favour us the way you favoured the companions of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)
the righteous and the elect saints
Accept this salutation in the way they made their salawat
bless us with what they received from their intentions

Give us a spiritual state and busy us with works that You are pleased with and which brings joy to Your Messenger Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم).

O Allah grant us from your Mercy eternal bliss to all those who read this salawat
to all our families, friends and neighbours.

And bless the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم), his family, his companions, the saliheen, the awliya and all the Muslims.

Amin.

Knowledge based Deen

The first three Surahs to be revealed were al-’Alaq (The Clot), al-Qalam (The Pen) and al-Muzammil (The Enshrouded One). 

(The chapters were not revealed in full though, for example only the first 5 ayaats of surah al-’Alaq were initially revealed)

Each Surah begins: al-’Alaq - “Read (recite) in the name of Your Lord“, al-Qalam - “Nun, By the Pen, and what they inscribe” and al-Muzammil - “O thou folded in garments! Stand (to prayer) by night..”

“Read”, “By the Pen”, Stand by night” - These early revelations convey to us that this deen is a religion of reading, writing and worship. A knowledge based deen, worship based on sound knowledge conveyed to us by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and preserved by Allah through the Scholars (may Allah be pleased with them).

Seeking Knowledge of the Deen

Abu Yusuf relates from Imam Abu Hanifa who heard from the Sahabi ‘Abdullah ibn al-Harith ibn Jaz’a (may Allah be pleased with them) that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:

 ”Whoever acquires an understanding of the religion of Allah, Allah suffices him in his matters of concern and provides him with sustenance from sources he could not expect.”

The Book of Allah & My Family

It is narrated that the Prophet (صلي الله عليه و سلم) said:

“I am leaving you something, taking hold of which will prevent you from going astray: the Book of Allah and my family, the People of my House. So take care how you follow me regarding them.”

al-Tirmidhi

Allah bless and send salutations upon Your beloved Muhammad al-Mustafa (صلي الله عليه و سلم) and bless his family and his companions, grant them gifts that please their souls and make us from amongst those that accompany them in the next life, amin.