musaafir-e dasht

Answers to the questions that keep bugging our minds come from strange places. I have been a little worried about certain things lately, and today I stumbled upon these verses by Imam al-Shafa'i rahimahullah on this blog . The verses have left me speechless. They clarify many confusions and pave way for some clarity, at least, at this point in time. Alhamdulillah. “The intelligent and refined find no rest in dwelling in one place, So leave your homeland and travel far away! Travel and you will meet new people replacing those left behind, And tire yourself out, because it makes life worth living! I have seen that water stagnates when it stands still, Yet when it runs it is sweet and pure. And if the lion left not its land, it would not catch its prey And if the arrow left not the bow, it would not hit its aim And if the sun moved not across the horizon, People the world over would have tired of the sky.” - Imam Shafi

Some students, in the last week's session of History of Ideas, were tempted to chalk out comparisons between certain philosophical ideas propounded by the Greeks and some teachings of Islam. Dr Shafi, however, asked us to be on our guard against making such comparisons. He said that we need to keep the two traditions apart as they were essentially different from each other as far as their epistemological sources were concerned. Here, what he meant was that one tradition originated in human reason, and the source of the other was wahi (revelation). Conflating the two could lead to serious error of judgement and thought. The most beautiful thought that he put across was that our tradition was regulated by the paradigm of muhabbah (Love). Being lovers, we do not question the Beloved with a 'why' of inquiry. All we have to do is to carry out the command of the Beloved ... I wonder how our problems would have vanished altogether had we realised this seemingly simple p...

  Posted at An Noor Once my Shaykh Hazrat Shah Abdul Ghani Phoolpuri (RA) said to me, “Hakeem Akhtar [DB], when you are able to cry during your supplication then realize that your prayers have been accepted.  These tears are a receipt of the acceptance of your prayers. It's such an amazing coincidence that I mentioned this very quote by Hakeem Akhtar Sahab da'mat barakaatuhum to someone yesterday only when I myself was feeling low about something. Seeing it posted on An-Noor today made me instantly say SubhaanAllah! Allah has His ways of reminding us of things we become heedless of. May Allah bless our akaabireen with the best of duniya and aakhirah.

Just read this excellent defining of the difference between 'needs' and 'desires' here Allah (Most Exalted) says; ‘whereas for the one who feared to stand before his Lord, and restrained his self from the (evil) desire,[79:40] the Paradise will be the abode.[79:41] So, have you seen him who has taken his desires as his god, and Allah has let him go astray, despite having knowledge, and has sealed his ear and his heart, and put a cover on his eye? Now who will guide him after Allah? Still, do you not take lesson? (45:23) ———————————————————————- A need is something that is necessary for an individual to live a healthy life. Needs are distinguished from desires because a deficiency would cause a clear negative outcome, such as dysfunction or death. Desire is a sense of longing for a person or object or hoping for an outcome. ————————————————————————— These desires may be permissible or impermissible. The Shariah decides these limits and their rulings. ...

From ashrafiya.com Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaikh Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him) said, ‘These days most of us are preoccupied by the past events or future apprehensions. In doing so we neglect the present.’ An individual inquired, ‘In our era due to technological advances every day chores are done relatively quickly. Hence we have extra time available to us. This usually results in preoccupation with useless involvements including those you mention. How can we utilize time more effectively?’ Sayyidi wa sanadi replied, ‘I repeatedly tell the people the same and ask them what are they doing with the time they save by using these new technologies. An individual has to develop the importance of value of time. Once this importance is developed then it will be impossible for him to waste a single second. Moreover, Allah will give barakah in his time and he will be able to do more work effectively in the same amount of time.’

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.

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...

Contemplating Chishti  is one blog which surely deserves a special mention here. I have benefited greatly from this blog over the period of years. Ironically, I came across this only after its author had stopped writing and had bade farewell to it. So I do not know who exactly used to run the site. That does not matter anyway. Yesterday I was rereading a few posts from this blog and I thought I should share it on my site. I am extremely grateful to the author for not taking off the content despite discontinuing to write the blog anymore. May Allah guide all of us onto the straight path. aameen

Just came across a wonderful description of what the following of the sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam actually means. A post on ashrafiya.com quotes Allama Syed Sulaiman Nadwi rahimahullah: "The following of Sunna (itaba’ e Sunnat) is not limited to changing the external appearance and attire only.The complete (kamil) following of Sunna entails that the thoughts, aspirations, emotional feelings and desires all become subservient to the Prophet’s (Allah bless him and grant him peace) taste (zauq). Tazkerah e Suleman, page 334" Is it not the case that when we truly love someone, we almost unconsciously become like them in all possible ways of conducting our lives? Our actions and thoughts begin reflecting our deep sense of association with the beloved. Love is probably the most inexplicable of all phenomena related to the lives of human beings...

سینے سے مرے زہر اترنے نہیں دیتے زندہ رہیں وہ لوگ جو مرنے نہیں دیتے - میر احمد نوید

“ The slave is not afflicted with a punishment greater than the hardening of the heart and being distant from Allah. For the Fire was created to melt the hardened heart. The most distant heart from Allah is the heart which is hardened. If the heart becomes hardened, the eye becomes dry.” ~ Ibn Al-Qayyim (rahimahullah) source

The hearts of the Knowers have eyes  That can see what onlookers cannot see -Sahl ibn al Tustari Just read this profound verse on Drops of Wisdom , and now wondering as to what real knowledge is... Practically all of us claim to "know" but how can we know anything at all unless our hearts have "eyes that can see what the onlookers cannot?" Aren't we all just onlookers in this wilderness called World? At least that is something I can claim for myself...

SubhaanAllah, I just came across this amazing post at At-Talib : Why does speaking the Truth causes problems By Shaykh Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani (db) Hazrat Maulana [Shabbir Ahmad Usmani] (ra) used to say that if Haqq [a truthful word], in a truthful [proper] manner [of conveying], with a truthful [sincere] intention, is said, then it will never cause fitna . But there are these three conditions, first is that what is being said is the truth, second is that the intention is correct, and the third is that the manner [of conveying the message] is proper. So if you happen to see anywhere that due to speaking the truth some fitna is arising, or any dispute or argument, then know that from amongst these 3 conditions a condition was unfulfilled: either the message was not the truth; or the niyyah was improper, as the message was the truth but was said with a wrong intention. [For example] the purpose was to show-off or to make oneself be seen as higher, or to lower another; so the ni...

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

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...

Only Iqbal could have made a claim like that and quite rightly so... :) This is what he had to say to Nietzsche who he considered as hakeem! Hareef-e nukta-e Tawheed ho saka na Hakeem Nigaah chahiye israar-e laa ilaaha ke liye **** Agar hota vo majzoob-e firangi iss zamaane mein Iqbal uss ko samjhata muqaam-e Kibriya kya hai despite feeling the need for translating these verses, I do not feel like translating them, lest the essence gets lost!

In the name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate Becoming Muslim © Nuh Ha Mim Keller Born in 1954 in the farm country of the northwestern United States , I was raised in a religious family as a Roman Catholic. The Church provided a spiritual world that was unquestionable in my childhood, if anything more real than the physical world around me, but as I grew older, and especially after I entered a Catholic university and read more, my relation to the religion became increasingly called into question, in belief and practice. One reason was the frequent changes in Catholic liturgy and ritual that occurred in the wake of the Second Vatican Council of 1963, suggesting to laymen that the Church had no firm standards. To one another, the clergy spoke about flexibility and liturgical relevance, but to ordinary Catholics they seemed to be groping in the dark. God does not ch...

"Ilaahi! ... nazr bay-soo'ay ma farma keh nazr-e-ma bay-soo'ay tuu'st" -Khwaja Abdullah Ansari Harvi (RA) From: Rumi (RA) ka payaam-e ishq by Professor Lateefullah