musaafir-e dasht

From An-Noor : A Connection With Allah Cannot Be Established Merely From Books   Hazratwala (RA) mentioned:   Many things are are not acquired merely from books but rather they are acquired through listening.  For example, a mother teaches her infant the proper way of addressing its father by telling the child, “Say dad, say dad.”  Similarly when one sits with the Ahlullah, their ears secretly steal.  They listen to the nice things told to them and take it all in.  Then the ears of their soul hear and this enables their souls to proclaim the zikr of Allah by saying “Allah, Allah!”  The mother wants that her child learn to say “dad” quickly so that when the child lifts its small hands up and says “dad”, then that will stir up a great sense of mercy within the father.  Likewise, the Prophets (AS) and awliyaa’ desire that the servants of Allah quickly learn to say “Rabba” so that their Rabba enshrouds them with His mercy.  In a simil...

... give good tidings to the patient, who, when a suffering visits them, say: "We certainly belong to Allah, and to Him we are bound to return." Those are the ones upon whom there are blessings from their Lord, and mercy as well; and those are the ones who are on the right path. - Al-Baqarah , 156-157 Yesterday's sunset brought with it the grim news of the setting of yet another shining star of this Ummah.   A star - that's what his name in Urdu meant - indeed he was. Arif Billah Maulana Shah Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Saheb passed away last night in Karachi. This insignificant is way too devastated to write anything about him at this moment. Last night, however, when I opened up Ruh ki biimaariyaa~ aur un ka ilaaj  - a classic manual for getting rid of spiritual maladies, which Hazratwala recommended to all of his disciples and anybody who had any kind of connection of with him - I came across this poignant poem penned down by Hazrat rahimahullah himself when his ...

گناہوں پر جسارت بھی بری ہے  مگر مایوسیاں کفر عیاں ہے  (مولانا حکیم محمّد اختر صاحب (دامت برکاتہم -   May Allah SWT bless Hazrat DB with complete and lasting shifa. aameen

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...

After the History of Ideas session today, we gathered in Iftikhar Saheb's office for some post-session chit chat, which usually involves gems of wisdom coming from a teacher who we all hold in great esteem. Today, alhamdulillah, he looked elated at the success of these sessions being held. He was happy that  finally the department was displaying some signs of liveliness and intellectual vigour. He said that paraphernalia was not as important as the presence of (good) people around. Further, there was always a possibility of finding good and sincere people even in dilapidated environments (such as that of our department =D)! Then he recited the following couplet by Ahmad Faraz, ڈھونڈ اجڑے ہوئے لوگوں میں وفا کے موتی یہ خزانے تجھے ممکن ہیں خرابوں میں ملیں   What an apt saying to motivate people like us, who tend to lose heart when faced with even the minutest of difficulties! Then he recounted his first journey on which he was accompanied by another teacher of mine to Ha...

  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.

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 ...

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 Yesterday I told one of my teachers that I was not being able to do anything nowadays. Everything in life seems to have come to a halt. I could neither read, nor write (IMAGINE! Reading and writing have become such essentials for me that whenever I am unable to do that it appears as if life has come to a stop. SubhaanAllah!). He appeared a little taken aback on hearing this, but immediately he said that these are just phases that overwhelm a person for a short period and then pass away. His words reminded me of another thing he once said long ago... I do not remember the exact words but the approximate meaning was: Feelings have an illusion of permanence attached to them. In reality, they are just bound to change and pass away...  

  source Today something happened which I would like to keep a record of. I know I have lately become very lazy in updating my blog and this laziness has reasons behind it. I am becoming more and more self-reflective with every passing day. Trying to decipher the purpose behind every act of yours is a painful act in itself. And yet this pain is imbued with a certain kind of wholesomeness. Before I go on with my usual rant, let me get back to what I wanted to record... We, five people in all, were sitting in our 'research communication skills' class. The (female) Professor in-charge was discussing the checklist according to which we will be evaluated in the  upcoming paper-reading sessions. One of the pointers in the checklist was about 'looking presentable' during the event. Why? I asked myself? While I was trying to figure out the answer to the question in my head only, the professor  carried on, "how would the audience feel if someone standing before them is cla...

Today, Dr I.S. said something that simply shook me from within. He said, Learning is not fun. Learning is labour! And then he quoted and incident in which a person came to Mawlana Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi rahimahullah , saying that he did not 'enjoy' doing dhikr . Mawlana rahimahullah responded by saying that this was an area where one should not even seek after the acquisition of pleasure. If enjoyment is the goal then one should do other things like playing (here, Dr I.S. mentioned a name of some game, which I am unable to recall at the moment, but I hope the meaning has been communicated, insha'Allah )... What actually made me shudder was the thought of my own approach towards learning and the ideas that we as teachers pass on to our students. Do not we always focus on making learning 'fun' so as not to 'bore' our students? Who decides what is boring and what is fun? What sensibility are we creating in young minds? Will it not urge them to go only afte...

On Wednesday, at the end of our Postcolonial Studies class, our teacher, Mr Tayyab Zaidi, asked all of us as to how exactly we "faced the book." A unique way of putting it, indeed. The question was followed by a brief discussion as to what did we do in response to the entire facebook episode. The teacher then remained quiet for sometime while we - the students - indulged in a brief conversation about various issues such as the advantage or uselessness of forwarding text messages about the issue etc. The discussion ended when I rephrased a statement given by a religious scholar when the Danish cartoons were published. I won't repeat what I said, but will copy here what he actually said before I write down the response of my teacher. So here goes, Our beloved shaykh (DB) mentioned about 5 years ago when the Denmark issue occurred, “When the world wants to boycott this country or these products for their wrongs, then that is in its own place.  However, if you really want to ...

I just returned home after a long, hectic day. I was not able to sleep last night since I had to complete an assignment which was due for submission today. So my day actually started at 11 p.m. yesterday! The first news I got was that of Hadhrat Khawaja Khan Muhammad Sahab's visaal.  We had been listening his name since childhood for his khanqah  is situated in a neighbouring village of my father's hometown. Hadhrat was 98 years old and was a shaykh in the Naqshbandi silsilah.  Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raaj'iuun. May Allah keep his spirit alive in his followers and may we continue to benefit from Shaykh's teachings. Aameen.  "ہم روح سفر ہیں ہمیں ناموں سے نہ پہچان کل  کسی  اور نام سے آجاییں گے ہم لوگ" Such people never die. They are the chosen ones whose stations remain elevated in both the worlds... **** Finally, it was time to set out for the university. I took my last class in the social work department, motivated (or at...

source Dr Iftikhar Shafi in his history of English Literature class (January 19, 2009): "kabhi kabhi andar ki bechenii psychiatrist ki goliyon se nahi jaati balke mathnavi maulana rum (rahimahullah) paRh ke bhi chali jaati he"

Time never fails to fascinate me. At times it seems heavily impregnated with pain and sorrow. And times, make one feel as light as a cloud. At times you think as to how exactly it would pass. You try to look into the future with bleary eyes and all you see is mist. And yet there is always the hope that someday the mist would clear itself and the future would materialise...  I was just listening to an audio of a lecture delivered by one of our respected teachers almost a month back. A lecture that was delivered to mark our position as graduates of the Department; standing at the threshold of completely new lives ahead. In that lecture, I came across something said by him with which so aptly seems to mark today - December 20, 2009. While discussing death, he said: Every parting is a little death! And I could not agree more... SubhaanAllah! What amazing wisdom Allah grants to some people!   

The following interview of Maulana Da'mat Barakaatuhum was published in the latest issue of The Intellect magazine. I am posting it here on my blog verbatim. Each and every word is worth reading and reflecting upon. Do spare some time to read it and enlighten yourself. A Rendezvous with Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani (Hafizahullah) Sheikhul Hadeeth, reviver of faith and spiritual sciences in Islam, a personality who needs no introduction as the most revered scholar of the Muslim world, is who else but Hazrat Mufti Taqi Usmani Hafizahullah. So here we have Baber Zubairi bringing us an engaging interview with Hazrat and indeed, The Intellect is highly obliged to Hazrat for taking out time from his immensely busy and demanding schedule and give us this interview. The Intellect: Our country is going through very turbulent and trying times. Please enlighten us with your insightful views on our country’s dismal state of affairs. Mufti Taqi Usmani: Bismillah-i-Rehman-i-Raheem;...

image source We need to make DEATH the subject of our conversations - something that we deliberately avoid doing!

Today was undoubtedly one of the best days of my life. A day of great learning. A day when a teacher made me realise how much I need to unlearn before I begin learning. A day of enlightenment, it was. Yet another day when I felt as if I have been blessed with what I never deserved in the first place. A day that brings with it a sense of great responsibilities that are to be discharged before departing from this world. A day when a teacher almost made us see what death was... Mentors are strange people. They are strangely amazing people. You sit in their company and you feel like being a speck of dust. A speck that is proud to be what it is. A speck that wants to become something which has an even more downtrodden status than that of a speck! Mentors make us realise how transient our beings are. How "every second counts" and how "time is the only resource we have. THE ONLY RESOURCE that no one can steal from us."  Who else but mentors can prove to be the link betw...

Knock, and he’ll open the door. Vanish, and he’ll make you shine like the sun. Fall, and he’ll raise you to the heavens. Become nothing, and he’ll turn you into everything.   - Maulana Rumi And I have often heard my mentors say: یہ ہے میرا اعزاز کہ میں کچھ بھی نہیں ہوں کچھ ہونا میری ذلّت و خواری کا سبب ہے What accomplishment, indeed! To become nothing. And be everything...

  One of my teachers once said during a lecture: ...خود احتسابی خود شناسی سے قریب تر ہے Roughly, the translation would be: "self-accountability is highly in proximity with self-knowledge, i.e. knowing thyself ..."