The Account of My Second Meeting...

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 such person for whom I knew that a “short” while did mean a very short one. I settled myself into a relatively simple sofa seat, and started discovering my ‘gadgets’ form my handbag. These included the white transparent data holder, which contained a document that I had to share with him, a pencil, a pen, and a small pink notebook which I knew I would be endlessly scribbling into while listening to him. I just can never get rid of this habit of mine! Whenever a person of his stature is speaking I am just too obsessed with penning down each and every word they say, which I know is practically impossible but it always gives me a strange sense of satisfaction, as if I am capturing the moment; although the moment once passed, can never be relived in its pristine state.

Clad in his usual simplistic attire – a white shalwar kameez, with a Topi resting on his head – he entered the waiting area after about five minutes and after saying salaam, kindly gestured towards me to keep sitting as I had tried to gotten up from my seat. Another gentleman, who was waiting before I came in, was attended to first by the Professor. It took about another two minutes before I could say what I wanted to. He then turned towards me, with his usual lowered gaze, and started in a very soft voice. He handed me a book that he had got photocopied for me and explained which sections I was supposed to focus on. Then I asked him a question which I won’t mention here because it is absolutely unnecessary. What is important, however, is what he said in response. Once he started speaking, there was hardly any room for contradicting or questioning him because he explained every point in such great detail that I left the place sated, intellectually and spiritually! Now I will mention all those points he covered in his talk. The source, of course, is my memory and that aforementioned pink, little notebook.

asbaab (Means)

He said we, nowadays, have a very faulty understanding of asbaab. Yes, they are to be employed in achieving what one wishes for in life, but they are in no way responsible for making things materialise. Then he quoted three examples from the Quran: That of Prophet Ibrahim alaihissalaam, who was given the glad tidings of Prophet Ishaq and Prophet Ismaail alaihemussalaam despite the fact that he had become too old to bear children. A similar incident took place with Mariam alaihessalaam who bore Prophet Eesa alaihessalaam without any apparent asbaab (as she was unmarried). And then how, on witnessing the birth of Prophet Eesa, Prophet Zakariyyah alaihessalaam too prayed to Allah that he be granted an offspring – a prayer that meterialised in the form of the birth of Prophet Yahya alaihessalaam! So where were the means? Means are only those that Allah has. Striving for a goal surely does not mean relying on the asbaab. The reliance is solely upon Allah, who is able to grant victory to a number of 313 in an encounter with a thousand fully armed men! Hence, we must not think that something cannot happen at all without the asbaab. [This reminds me of the beautiful verse from surah-e talaaq: Whoever fears Allah, He brings forth a way out for him, and provides him (with what he needs) from where he does not even imagine. And whoever places his trust in Allah, He is sufficient for him. Surely Allah is to accomplish His purpose. (Verse 2-3)]

Time management

I asked him a question on how should I be managing my time. I have always been such a failure at it! He gave the following crisp advices:

-          Go to sleep right after Isha salaat and wake up in tahajjud. Complete all your reading and writing tasks at that time. That has been the routine of our akaabireen.

-          Never attend any gatherings after 9 pm. If there is a gathering at your place, make sure its ends before 9! He further said that nowadays most of the gatherings are not segregated so one can easily apologise the host beforehand for not being able to attend it. Secondly, one could very well visit earlier, give a present and politely inform the host why they needed to leave. The biggest ‘calamity’ that has befallen the urbanites in this day and age is that they have stopped sleeping early, and the be-barkati this produces in one’s life, and time, is clearly evident in our messed up daily routines.

-          Keep away from mobile phones! Only answer text messages and keep a separate time slot for this activity. Do not let your cellphone’s message beep distract you when you are at work. Let your acquaintances know politely that you do not attend to phone calls because if you simply stop answering the phone without letting them know beforehand, that would be a very rude gesture. [This is a very important tip for all those teachers out there who are constantly being contacted (read: bugged) by their students for one reason or the other. Attend to their queries, but do not let your time get washed down the drain!]

General Advice

He asked me to always keep with myself the volume of ma’ariful hadith (the one by Mawlana Manzur Naumani rahimahullah), which contains kitaab ur riqaaq, and to keep on reading it repeatedly as long as I was alive. The best time to read it was before or after fajr. He said this book was very effective in taking away the love of duniya from one’s heart.

He also emphasised the fact that there is surely something lacking in our lives! We, who boast of belonging to the internet generation lack far behind our spiritual predecessors. Our akaabiriin, he pointed out, lacked the digital paraphernalia – the laptops, iPhones, iPads, etc. – and yet they were able to produce voluminous works of great intellectual depth. Today, we have all these thing to apparently make our work and life ‘efficient’ but we still have remained unable to produce any such works that would merit appreciation! [Sigh!  Here I was reminded of works by Mawlana Thanwi, Mawlana Ali Miyan Nadwi, Mawlana Kashmiri and many others (rahimahumullah) which amount to hundreds and thousands!]

After all this talk, I took my leave of him telling him that I would visit again soon with some other queries! Of course, I was speechless for a long time, and to tell you the truth I enjoyed the very-very-long walk to the main gate from that department, under the scorching sun – I was, after all, in a dialogue with myself…

Indeed, blessed are those people who make us discover ourselves in their presence.