musaafir-e dasht

Read the following post on Ashrafiya and was compelled to wonder as to what great people we as a nation have had in the past. Given our present state of affairs, who could say we once had such people amongst us as our rulers. Someone has rightly put it: aae ushhaaq gae vaada-e farda le kar ab unhe~ dhuu~d charaaGh-e ruKh-e zeba le kar Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) narrates the following incident in one of his discourses: Khawaja Bakhtiyar Kaki quddus sirahu’s janazah was ready for the salah . The khadim-e-khas came forward and announced that according to the will of  Khawaja the funeral prayer ( salat-ul-janazah ) is to be led by the person who fulfills these 3 requirements: 1. He should have never laid eyes on any unrelated women (non- mehram ) after reaching puberty. 2. He should have never missed the 4 rakat of sunnah-prayer ( ghair-muakkidah ) before asr salah. 3. Because of the fear and awe of Allah, he neve...

The most unpredictable thing in life is Life itself.

In the intricate paths of life when difficulties and hardships confront a man, and the darkness of difficulty and suffering becomes long, it is patience only that acts like a light for a Muslim, that keeps him safe from wandering here and there, and saves him from the muddy marsh of disappointment, desperation and frustration. - Imaam Ghazali

So today I realised how difficult it is to recite your own poetry when everybody's eyes  are glued to you. And since I wanted to avoid being in the spotlight so I made an even bigger mistake. When my name was called out, I flatly refused that I won't do it! Could not believe I did that! In front of so many people of my department. But it came so impulsively that I did not even think for a moment without doing that. In order to keep things in order, a very very respected teacher of mine got up and recited it on my behalf. And later on when I walked up to him all embarrassed, he mildly scolded me for not having recited it myself. And I learnt a lesson for life. He said, that it was not a mushaira or something on a big scale so I should not have refused like this. And most importantly, one should never ever be so self-conscious . Just cannot get this line out of my head. And as soon as he said those words, I felt a strong desire to free myself of the burden ob consciousness. Thi...

Was just going through Umer Toor's blog and read about his confusion as to the meaning of the term 'epistemology' being resolved :) Just one single phrase, " Sunnah is our epistemology" resolved all his confusion. MashaAllah! Now, I am quoting this here because it reminded me of how our life-long queries are resolved in a matter of seconds. And at times we don't even realize that there was a query hidden in some remote corner of our minds. We realise it was there, present and very much bothering us unconsciously, once it is answered. That happened with me a few years back when one of our teachers was explaining to us various concepts related to "differences" and "opposites". We are able to see and make sense of things because their opposites exists. And then he suddenly said, " Khuda kyu~ nazar nahi aata? Because He does not have an opposite!" And something in me said, "I am answered!" And then he recited the following...

   The more we live, more brief appear Our life's succeeding stages; A day to childhood seems a year, And years like passing ages. The gladsome current of our youth, Ere passion yet disorders, Steals lingering like a river smooth Along its grassy borders. But as the careworn cheek grows wan, And sorrow's shafts fly thicker, Ye stars, that measure life to man, Why seem your courses quicker? When joys have lost their bloom and breath, And life itself is vapid, Why, as we reach the Falls of Death Feel we its tide more rapid? It may be strange—yet who would change Time's course to slower speeding, When one by one our friends have gone, And left our bosoms bleeding? Heaven gives our years of fading strength Indemnifying fleetness; And those of youth, a seeming length, Proportion'd to their sweetness. ...

Read this enlightening post at ashrafiya ... Hakim al-Umma Shaykh Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) wrote, ‘From the impediments of the path two are specially so prevalent that it is rare if any of the travelers has escaped not being involved in them. Even the learned scholars are involved in them. One of them is striving to acquire some non volitional ( ghair ikhtiyari ) things. That are, things like engrossment, enthusiasm, intense & deep concentration, ecstasy, serenity, blocking of disturbing thoughts, burning desire, overwhelming attraction, emotional love, etc. It is assumed that these are the results of remembrance ( dhikr ), concentration exercises ( shugal ) and spiritual struggle ( mujahidah ). Moreover they consider themselves to be at loss when these things are not achieved. The other impediment is striving to remove some non volitional ( ghair ikhtiyari ) thing. For example, spiritual constriction ( qabd ), overwhelming thoughts, not developing i...

... bohat se marhale he~ subh ke hingaam se pehle Just came across this article on Dr Aafia Siddiqui in Weekly Pulse , Islamabad. Thought of sharing it on my blog.