musaafir-e dasht

A comment, by Muhammad Umer Toor on the post below (Music and Voters), that deserves to be published as a post. It gives me great pleasure to see that we still have thinking beings left in our society. May Allah have mercy on us, and knock some 'seriousness' into all of us. Solution is needed when there's a problem. It's a disease. Reason why they have music is because they think they need to entertain people who have come such long a distance. You need music for non-serious people on non-serious occasions. If you're talking about something as serious about Pakistan's issues, who needs music?   Someone asked an ex-base commander (F-16 pilot) of Sargodha that do you listen to music, and he said that the roar of jet engine was music to him. Iqbal said:  Shamsheer o sana awwal, ta'oos o rubab akhir

As I write these lines, I can hear some newscaster giving live coverage to PTI's gathering in Karachi... It is so weird that now these so called political leaders have resorted to actually arrange for musical concerts in order to entertain the public of Islamic Republic of Pakistan for winning their votes. Or their hearts, perhaps? How receptive our hearts are to the beating of these musical instruments that we will be lured in to vote on the basis of such electioneering tactics!? Probably now Allah will impose on us someone who suits our degenerated 'taste'.  This is so very frustrating. 

Just came across this post on the Thus Spake Hazrat Shaykh blog: Miskeen is the one with a broken heart. Today we have reduced this thing to a mere proverb.  (Sitting (Majlis) on Wednesday, July 6, 2011) The words of the pious mend hearts.

My imagination recreates the scene for me. Mawlana Ali Miyan Nadwi (Syed Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi, may Allah sanctify his secret) is invited to meet King Faisal (may Allah have mercy on him). The guards show Mawlana Ali Miyan in, and he enters the meeting area in the palace to meet the king. Mawlana looks around, not cursorily, but closely, as if in wonderment. The king inquires as to why he was looking around with such amazement. Mawlana answers, "We too once had a king who ruled over the (present) India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma, Nepal and other places, and out of the fifty-two years of his rule he spent twenty on the horseback. Muslims, in his time, enjoyed freedom and happiness. Life was easy for them. Yet, the king was such that he wore patched clothes. He scribed the Qur'an and knitted caps to earn his living, and used to stand crying before his Lord in night vigils. Those were the times when simplicity and poverty characterised the lives of the rulers, and content...

An inspiring account of Mawlana's daily management of his routine tasks. Excerpted from suhbate ba awliya - malfuzat e hazrat Shaykh ul Hadith Mawlana Zakariyya Kandhelvi (rahimahullah)  

Countless moments in life go unrecorded. Had it been in my power, I would have wanted to record, hold on to, live with every inspirational moment that comes my way. Alas, time does not stop. Moments, in this world, indeed remain fleeting. Man continues on his journey towards his Lord... This morning, while browsing through a book by Shahnawaz Farooqi, I was reminded of my first meeting with him. The meeting took place a day before my grandfather passed away. We were all gathered in the department for a small scale mushaira that we had arranged and it was around asr prayers when one of my teachers introduced me to Farooqi saheb. One of the things that he said during that meeting is something that I will remember forever. InshaAllah. It gives me hope, but it also gives me a chance to look into my ownself and review my aspirations in life. He said that if, for example, one wishes to conquer the world, Allah blesses him with the capability that would help him achieve his goals. On the...

During my walk from the Science to the Arts faculty this morning, the tree in the picture made me halt for a few good moments. It seemed so much like life these days...

Abbaji, my paternal grandfather, Hakeem Muhammad Idrees Khan, passed away on 24 Ziqa’ad, 1432 AH (October 23, 2011). He was 88 years old - the last grandparent I had. He studied at the famous Tibyya College , Delhi, and remained a practicing Hakeem throughout his life. Allah had blessed him with so much shifa in his medicine that people used to come from far away places to get themselves treated. He lived an extremely humble life in a small town, Kaloor Kot, situated at approximately 4-5 hours drive from Multan. He was a disciple of his father-in-law, who we all lovingly remember as nanaji – another pious friend of God, Hafiz Abdul Ghafoor rahimahullah, who was given the khilafat by Hazrat Shah Abdul Raheem Raipuri, Hazrat Shah Abdul Qadir Raipuri, and Hazrat Munshi Rahmat Ali Jaalandhari (May Allah have mercy on all of them). Towards the end of Abbaji’s life, we often used to ask him if he was also given the khilafat by his Shaykh ( nanaji ) and he always evaded the question… It w...

After a long time I am spending a Friday at home... Feels great, alhamdulillah! Right now I am reading Muhammad Hasan Askari's critique of Existentialist philosophy. Indeed we have had (and still do, mashaAllah) some wonderful intellectual stalwarts in the field of literary criticism who blatantly refused to give in to the Western modes of critical thought. Their greatness lies all the more in taking justified pride in their own religious and intellectual tradition, and hence coming up with excellent comparative studies between the Eastern (more specifically, the Muslim) and Western intellectual traditions. Askari Sahab's work is essential for the students of literature in this day and age when globalisation is on the verge of divesting us of the Centre we once cherished and probably also took for granted. P.S. Askari Sahab is also the translator of the first volume of Mufti Shafi Saheb's (rahimahullah) magnanimous ma'ariful Qur'an . He did not live to tr...

I had my research meeting with my supervisor today. While commenting on the writing I had submitted to him earlier on, he made a very point which, I hope, will stay with me forever. While asking me to remove certain generalised claims and statements I had made in my paper, he quoted Maulana Shah Abdul Qadir Raipuri (may Allah have mercy on him). Hazrat once said about tasawwuf that according to his knowledge , it was the way through which people have always been reaching Allah. He said he wondered what people think taswwuf was! It was simply a path that led to Allah SWT and His servants have always been treading it to find Him. He further said that he, at least, did not know of any other way that could help one reach Allah SWT. If there was one, he too would have wanted to know about it! The point my supervisor was trying to make was that one should learn humbleness form our elders – he didn’t say this explicitly; this is my understanding of his quoting Hazrat Raipuri’s example at ...

Just came across this article by Orya Maqbool Jan on Uni-aza's blog. Tempted to share on mine too. Very thought provoking! SOURCE

Extremely heart-wrenching! Death, indeed, takes us by surprise…

27.09.11, 10.16 am Just a usual morning. I am sitting in my office right now, and my mind is a hotchpotch of so many ideas. The weather is pleasant today alhamdulillah. It’s cloudy and breezy! Don’t know if it would rain today… There are so many things on my mind, that I seriously feel the need to unclutter it. Just a while ago a student came for some counselling. Now this is something I myself am in great need of all the time :D … Okay, I am not revealing any details of that matter here because it was her personal problem :) I am thinking of doing many things right now! I am thinking of getting up and make myself some tea. I am thinking of going home by the public bus and not keep on waiting for the van which is going to leave at 2 pm! I am thinking of pulling something out of the reading stack which is increasing in size with every passing day. But this is all in my head right now and due to the extreme laziness that I am feeling at the moment, I don’t think any of my mental pl...

A blogger shared the Ghazal which gives the correct version of the verse entitling the previous post. I am extremely thankful. The poet is AGHA HASHAR. تعجب ٹھوکروں سے کیوں سرِ فغفور ہوتا ہے غرورِ زور ور اس گھر سے یو نہی دور ہوتا ہے  جوانی میں عدم کے واسطے سامان کر غافل  مسافر شب سے اٹھتے ہیں جو جانا دور ہوتا ہے  ہماری زندگانی حشرؔ مٹی کا کھلونا ہے  اجل کی ایک ٹھوکر سے جو چکنا چور ہوتا ہے

A friend of mine was generous enough to lend her ‘Islamic Studies’ reading pack, which she had got from her teacher who was a student of Shaykh Kamaluddin at LUMS a couple of years back. It is probably one of the best assortments of writings that I have ever laid my hands on. Feel blessed. Alhamdulillah. Here I wish to refer to an excerpt in that pack from Imam Al Haddad’s book Knowledge and Wisdom , translated by Mostafa al-Badawi, entitled, ‘Structuring Time’. This excerpt further refers to a very moving excerpt from Imam al Ghazzali’s Bidaayat al Hidaaya (The Beginning of Guidance), which I want to share with the readers of this blog. I personally found it to be an extremely useful reminder. Imam al Ghazzali rahimahullah says, You should not neglect your time or use it haphazardly; on the contrary, you should bring yourself to account, structure your litanies and other practices during each day and night, and assign to each period a fixed and specific function. This is how you...

Excellent advice by Mr Suleman Ahmer, CEO, Timelenders. I so wish we paid heed! By Suleman Ahmer, 24 January 2010 Addressing the energy crisis of Pakistan through modifying the national behavior Pakistan is facing a severe energy crisis the negative impact of which is being felt at all levels of the society whether it is economic, social or unfortunately on the level of the national integrity by contributing to the elements that fuel terrorism like unemployment and severe financial deprivation. The government has embarked on an awareness campaign which I believe will have only limited success as it hinges a lot on legal enforcement like clamping down on late marriage events in Karachi to forcing businesses to shut down by 8:00 pm. The issue of legal enforcement in Pakistan is marred by the presence of massive corruption in our legal and enforcement frameworks and the high ingenuity of Pakistanis to find creative ways to go around laws which they believe are hurdles. The alternative ...

  May Allah forgive our sins and purify our hearts in this blessed month that has dawned upon us. aameen

Is it not just LOVELY? What a sight, indeed! Imagine how Allah SWT provides sustenance to a being as helpless as this little kitten who was sometime left in this corner by its 'mother' ... It was unable to make any movement besides that caused by breathing, which displayed signs of life in it. Sometime we too were just like it ... On growing up no matter how much we feel that the world is at our feet, the reality remains that we are always as helpless as this little kitten in our journey of life... May Allah give all of us an opportunity to taste the pleasure of surrendering ultimately to His will. Whether we like it or not, the Will, after all, is always His. May He make our nature pliant enough to fully comply with His Will in all matters of life.

SOURCE So yesterday I found out that one of my greatest teachers was on a short visit to Pakistan. Met him in the department today and there are a number of things that I would like to record here - the words of wisdom - from the conversation some students (including me) had with him. I shall not be quoting the context in which these words were uttered by him because as always all his discourse is meaningful in itself, mashaAllah... So here I go...   جب ملاح یہ سمجھنے لگے کہ  کشتی کو وہ خود چلا رہا ہے تو یہ صورت حال خطرناک ہے... تمام معاملات خود بخود ٹھیک ہو جاتے ہیں جب ملاح یہ سوچے کہ کشتی، پانی اور ہوا سب الله کی طرف سے ہے... Another one... ہمارے ہاں مسئلہ صرف مقصد اور vision کا ہے ... وسائل کا نہیں... جب مقصد مل جائے تو وسائل خود بخود پیدا ہو جاتے ہیں ...

It is in their noble deaths that Allah SWT proves the sincerity and truthfulness of our Ulama and Mashaaikh to those who doubt!

Another one of our dear akaabireen unites with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala . The news brought with an overwhelming sense of grief when it reached me through a text message this morning from someone who I call my 'khanqah friend' ... Although I never used to listen to Mawlana regularly (my own weakness and shortcomings kept me from doing so!), but yesterday only I was thinking of an incident that took place years ago... I was going through a trying period in life back then. On a hot afternoon while travelling to home from the university, I switched on my mp3 player and started listening to one of Mawlana Patel sb rahimahullah's bayaans. During the dua at the end of it, he prayed to Allah to delete all the files of our sins just as we delete files from our computer. I am rephrasing his thought here and not quoting them verbatim because I am unable to recall his exact words. This mere thought was so inspiring that it stuck to my memory even after the passage of so many ye...

04 July, 2011 You, reader, must be wondering as to where is the preceding account to the one that shall follow. The answer is that I am way too awed to recount the first one. SIGH. InshaAllah, I will try posting snippets from it on and off. Right now I am tempted to record my latest meeting with the Professor J. Yes, that’s what I am going to call him during the course of this post… So, at around 11.30 am, I walked that pebbled path, surrounded with lush green plants on both its side, leading to that comparatively secluded department in the University. Climbed the staircase, which led me to a small waiting area, and told the PA to the Professor that I needed to see him. He handed me a short slip on which I was supposed to write my name and the department I was from. I did. In fact, I additionally mentioned in parenthesis the name of the magazine I was associated with. The PA returned almost after a minute telling me that the Professor J would see me in a short while. Now, he is one s...

Now here is something for which the Urdu expression, lamha e fikriya, suits best! Please visit THIS extremely thought-provoking post at Al-Miskeenah .

Centre has to be just one. It could be anything but it is one thing around which a man's entire life revolves; it could be wealth, (love of a) woman, or God! Two centres cannot coexist in one heart!

دل کی دنیا کو کہاں حاصل دنیا کہتے تم نہ ہوتے تو جہاں میں کسے اپنا کہتے یہ جہاں ایک تماشا ہے سبھی کہتے ہیں تم نہ ہوتے تو اسے ہم بھی تماشا کہتے حرمت دامن یوسف کے سوا کچھ بھی نہیں لوگ پھرتے ہیں جسے دام زلیخا کہتے یہ جو صحرا ہے سلگتا ہوا صحرا ہر سو آنکھ میں اشک جو ہوتا اسے دریا کہتے حال ہی دل کا عجب ہو گیا رفتہ رفتہ ورنہ ممکن تھا کہاں اشک کو سجدہ کہتے - شاہنواز فاروقی

  SOURCE A strange observation: I conducted an exam at my university last week. There was a test item in one of the questions which required the students to match the given meanings with their corresponding words present in the reading passage handed out to them. One of the given meanings was 'outcomes' which corresponded to the word 'consequences' in the passage. Interestingly, ninety percent of the class chose the word 'progress' as their answer! Since then I am constantly wondering as to the ways in which our mentality has been conditioned in the present day materialistic world. Were not we the ones who struggled till the last breath without even being bothered about the 'consequences', for we used to put our trust in the Supreme Being and enter the sea of Love without thinking if we had any swimming aids!? Nowadays, however, it is the thought of 'progress' that propels us to struggle so we could achieve the 'consequences' of our c...

... was an important day for many personal reasons. I can feel there are "infinite spaces (within), the eternal silence of which frightens me." At times circumstances demand us we choose between actions - our very own actions. It is clear that one act is wrong and we refuse to perform it. This refusal demands that we also pay the price. And well, we do that! No matter how heavy the price is, we are inclined to pay it in the hope of good that shall follow. A 'good' that shall materialise itself someday and stand before us in flesh and blood... One day. Yes, it will... انشاءاللہ! 

I am literally too stupefied to say anything at all regarding what's going on around us these days. Probably it was that fateful day (read: dreadful!) - 9/11 - which had us on our way down the slope! It would become this worse, however, we did not imagine in the wildest of our dreams. Some people might have envisioned this fate at that time only, but sadly they seem to be in a very small number. Or is it that we have stopped 'seeing'? Could be both ways... We are indeed living in trying times. May Allah save us from the fitnah that has started pouring into our shelters like heavy shower ... I am reminded of a couplet by Shahnawaz Farooqi: ہمارا دور اک دکھ کی گلی ہے جس کے آخر میں  خوشی کا پیڑ ہے جس پر بلائیں رقص کرتی ہیں 

From Ashrafiya Shaykh Shah Wasiullah Allahabadi (Allah have mercy on him) said that, ‘The author of Ruh al-Ma’ani has explained the meaning of ‘good of this world’ as sound health and serenity (‘afiyet).’ What is ‘afiyet? Our master Shaykh Ahmad Kabir Rifai (Allah have mercy on him) said, ‘Be considerate of the blessing of serenity. The reality of which is that the process of breathing continues without discomfort, the daily sustains is achieved without (much) hardship and the good actions are done without ostentation.” Mujmua e talifat e Muslih al-ummat ra, volume 2, page 12-13

A small part of the last message I received from one of my teachers-cum-mentors: P.S. Copyrights Notice: The title of this post has also been extracted from one of his audio lectures.

Image Source ... life should be all about being able to prioritise - 'to put first things first'. P.S. Inspired by something I read yesterday in a friend's autograph book!