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Sometimes when you are given things, you are not given them a second time, so cherish what you have!
- You have to manage your time. You have to reflect on what you have missed.
- If you are person who reflects, be sincere in that.
- Guard your heart against anything other than Allah.
- Make your heart the dergah/house of Allah, make the name Allah the sultan of your heart.
- Guard your tongue from excessive speech.
- Always be the person who makes tawba and istagfir.
- Understand the value of every moment. You are only born with a number of breaths!
- Let not any moment be wasted, make every moment be beneficial.
- Afflictions are many, but the greatest affliction is the passage of time without any benefit.
- You have to have thirst for knowledge as a means for your salvation. What are you going to do in that moment Allah has given you?
- Take your cup and fill it with beneficial knowledge, and also for others who are in this stage- others can benefit from.
- Your intention should be that you want to revive the deen when seeking knowledge.
- Books are not the same as people who carry knowledge.
- You want to be a means of knowledge through your tongue and actions.
- If there is place of ‘Rida’, (Contentmemt), it’s al-Jaanah (paradise) where death does not even enter.
- By saying Bismillah in front of everything, you attach it to the Eternal! Allah is the All-Living. The simplest things can go far so intend to say Bismillah before you begin or do anything.
- Missing prayer is a big thing, it’s like missing an appointment with Allah! Would you miss an appointment for a job interview?
- You yourself will become a source of guidance to other people.
- There is an inward and outward aspect of knowledge.
- Sometimes ignorance is a good thing; sometimes knowledge is a curse for people because they acquire it and then don’t implement.
- Knowledge is as the tree, and worship is the fruit of knowledge.
- The beginning of your knowledge has Shariah and Tariqa. Shariah is what the Law giver gives you. Shariah is there to align you with Paradise!
- The best good you’ll ever have is Allah’s contentment with you, so obtain it through implementing the shariah.
- Cling to the Qur’an and Sunnah, instead of being like a cheap post it note that, before you know it, has fallen off.
- The best thing you want is Rida of Allah!
- Adab is everything; the meaning of ‘Adab’ is how you carry yourself.
- You must never lose expectation or hope that you can be someone you are not in terms of adab.
- Ikhlaaq is about transforming yourself.
- Your nafs is there to be trained. Nafs wants to be like spilled water and pour over everything, but you need to channel it through Shariah.
- Your whole life is about renewing character traits and molding yourself. Look at the character of the Prophet sallaAllahu alayhi waslam and mold yourself.
- Don’t be like a candle whose light benefits all yet it does not benefit itself from its own light. Work on yourself first!
- A companion never leaves you.
- An imtihaan (test) is a moment of exposure from Allah. He wants us to see our fracture points in our life. As long as we are in the realms of brokenness, there’s potential for completeness.
- When you are alone, in solitude you know your relationship with Allah. When you are alone, there should be a state you are in with Allah, if you are bored, it shows your relationship with Allah.
- Be a positive, optimistic kind of a person; don’t be one of those “doom and gloom waiting for the Mahdi” kind of a Muslim.
- All organs are passageways to the heart.
- Be humble.
- Focus attention on Allah, make one objective and that is Allah!
- What is inside you comes out. If there is stillness of Allah in you, it will come out! If you are agitated inside, it will come out in your speech.
- Don’t put all your trust on things or people, they’re no more reliable than you are. Rather, rely upon Allah!
- If there is a divine command, you fulfill it.
- The more you avoid harm, the higher you rise.
- Success is getting through the door of al-Jaanah (Paradise).
- Don’t justify your sins by blaming it on Divine Decree.
- You have to have constant remembrance of Allah.
- Every thorn thrown by the Beloved becomes a rose in the eye of the lover.
- Marriage reveals who you really are and it’s up to you if you accept that truth and grow. And if you never grow you never bear fruit.
~ Shaykh Naeem Abdul Wali – ‘The Beginning of Guidance’ lesson, Rihla 2011, Bursa, Turkey (Paraphrased)
More gems to follow inshaAllah ta’Ala……
(Photos courtesy- Rihla Student Please keep them in your prayers. Please do not re-use or save the photo without permission. )
Gems from Rihla 2011- Shaykh Hamza Yusuf (Part 2)
- Imam al-Ghazali is a giant; he is a mountain. And the more you learn about him, the bigger the mountain becomes.
- The Iyha was Imam al-Ghazali’s magnum opus. He wrote it with the intention of giving the Ummah the book that besides the Qur’an will be enough for the educated Muslims. Some argue that the Ihya is all you need as your guide back to Allah.
- The Ihya has immense impact. First thing tells us that the Ihya is in 4 parts. In each section/part Imam al-Ghazali put 10 books. There are 40 books in the Ihya. 40 is a special number.
- The Qur’an is central to Imam al-Ghazali’s teaching.
- If God can make a house holy, you don’t think He can make a heart holy? If He can sanctify stones, He can sanctify a human heart.
- If you’re knocking at the door, the knocking is itself the opening of the door; if you are journeying, your start is your beginning, don’t worry if you don’t get there. Stop wasting time. Death is waiting for you. This was the key message of Imam al-Ghazali
- Only thing that reduces anxiety is by certainty (Yaqeen), and knowing that everything that happens is only because of Allah, and you’re in good hands.
- Wudu is ibadah. It’s independent worship. You can do wudu just as a form of worship. If you are not doing any practices to prepare for prayer, you will probably not feel anything in prayer. Sidi Ahmed Zarruq said “The degree of your presence in prayer is dependent on your wudu”
- Wudu comes from Wada’a which means to make bright. The wudu is how the Prophet sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam recognises his Ummah on the day of judgement, i.e by the light of their limbs.
- Don’t let shaitaan take the light away from your prayer.
- You have to have time between you and your Lord.
- The greatness of the creation of the mosquito is no less than the greatness of the creation of the elephant. Everything that happens is a cause for marvel.
- The whole world is a metaphor; we are all travellers in this world.
- The world can reject you, but Allah will never reject us. His door is always open.
- Allah created a world of expansion and contraction. The heart contracts and expands. Natural state of human is that he is in-between contraction and expansion.
- Allah creates death and life to try us to see which of us is best in virtue and action.
- If you are in blessing, you have to be very grateful.
- The easiest thing in this world is not very beneficial. The hardest thing is very beneficial. The struggle is what makes us stronger and gets us closer to Allah.
- In the lifting up of our feet, even the act of walking is indicative of our fitra desire to yearn for a return to al-Jannah.
- The Van Allen belt is formed by Earth’s rotation and serves as a protection barrier from radiation. This is the secret behind the power and protection of making tawba and our turning to towards Allah.
- The recording Angel on the left doesn’t record our sins until the end of the day. So hasten to make tawba.
- Our aspirations should always be in the celestial. That’s why almost all of the early scholars of Islam were astronomers.
- Every civilization in power has been obsessed with astronomy and law. Astronomy equals law of the heavens; Law equals law of the land.
- If the stars ever go out in the night sky, how will men come to know God?
- Just as the sun rises bit by bit, it’s the sunnah of God for openings from Him to also come bit by bit. So, be patient
Allah created the stars:
1. As a way to ornament the sky with the lamps- stars so we would marvel at them.
2. To strike down the shaitan.
3. Signs that we are guided by.
4 Levels of patience:
1. Patience with ibada (worship).
2. Patience with avoiding sins.
3. Patience with tribulations and we show this by being content with the decree of Allah.
4. Patience with blessings, we show this by thanking Allah for all the blessings He has given us.
- When things get really bad, know that things will get better. The Sahaba (companions) of the Prophet sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam used to say that when they were in trepidation, they knew bad/hard things will be coming their way, and when bad things happened, they knew that good things will be coming their way.
- If someone commits to the practice of surrendering and sabr (patience), over time the tribulations become easy and they no longer feel the tribulation. You are in paradise whilst in duniya then!
- ‘We will test you until we see who is patient’- to see what you are made out of. The struggle and patience go together. The best attitude to have is patience.
- Patience takes time and effort. Over time you can acquire this natural state.
Don’t attach to dunya because:
1. It’ not permanent
2. It is the tests you will go through due to it
- ‘With hardship comes ease’ The ease will overwhelm the hardship!
- In tribulations, things come slowly. The night is peeled away. Just as the night is peeled away slowly, tribulations move away slowly.
- The opening is there, but will only come when the time is right!
- The clouds of goodness contain rain; when the time comes, it will pour. Allah sends down rain to dead lands; He does it at the appropriate time. When the appropriate time for openings come, it will come. He does things in His time, not our time. This is part of being content with the Qadr and what happen has been apportioned for you.
- A person is not a Sufi until the angel does not record a sin for 20 years!!
- A person on a path will change 40 times in a day where as those who do not have a path stay in the same state for 40 years!
- Your spiritual life is not curvier linear; it should be constantly moving up!
- A life is made up of building blocks and how you move through the knowledge block.
- Every believer is a wali.
- Shariah = outward path to Allah, Tariqah= inward path to Allah and only joining the both together will give you Haqiqa- reality.
- Seeing the Creator in all of creation and seeing the Provider in all provision is Tawheed in a nutshell.
- When doors of guidance open for you, hasten up. Don’t try to get to the end before the beginning.
- ‘Practice makes perfect…’ no it doesn’t, it makes permanent. If you practice wrong, it doesn’t make perfect. You need a Teacher.
- Don’t follow books; follow the people who know the books.
- Often times people are deficient in one area, but are made up for it in another area. Historically, Muslims recognised this.
- One of the great mysteries of the Qur’an is that no matter how often you read it, you always find something new in it.
- So many verses in the Qur’an relate to being patient. Being patient with people in Iman/faith. Some are naturally born more tolerant, but you can change that.
- Patience is a sign of sincerity and its from Taqwa you show patience.
- Even the Prophet sallaAllahu alayhi wasalm was commanded to be patient!
- Allah loves the patient; part of the reason the tribulation comes is to draw the quality of patience out of them- He loves this quality. Allah is with the patient one.
- When tribulations hit you, patience (sabr) is actually when you are accepting something. This also relates to having a good opinion of Allah. When you have a good opinion of Allah, the tribulation you know happen for a reason, although it might not seem so at the time.
- The one who submits their entire being. This means that the future is not a concern for them, and the past is not a worry for them. They are living in the present. There are people of good and those who do good; they are not in fear and nor do they grieve.
- Children are very much in the moment, they do not worry or care about their past or future. The Arifs’ (Gnostic) heart is like the child. Childrens hearts are in submission. They are in Tawhid.
- Trusting the past is over, and doing Tawba that its over. If you truly made tawba, you don’t remember your sin as it obliterates the past. Tawba is like editing a video. You go and edit the parts of the video you do not like so on the day of Judgement, you can see the film without any blunders. Just say Astagfirullah, the angels will cut the bad thing!
- Hold onto Allah! He is your Lord, He is the One who takes care of your affairs.
- Some people focus on reliance on Allah, others only focus on means; but a balance of both is all that will save the ship of humanity.
- If you make all of your concerns of the akhira (afterlife), Allah will take care of everything for you.
- The benefits of your Lord are many; all the benefits of your Lord are for your nourishment. It has a beautiful fragrance- seek it out.
- The blessings of Allah are countless.
- Sometimes there is a fail that comes that brings you to life; there are great waves/ocean that come to you. Creation is all in the hands of Allah; some are being elevated, some being debased; some are being difficult or tested in blessing.
- Media is one of the tribulations of our life, they make things worse!
- Single most difficult limb is the tongue. Its one of the great wonders of Allah. You have to discipline the tongue. The tongue is a great tribulation.
- The world is not cursed. The world is also the cosmos. When we talk about the blameworthy aspects, we mean the duniya. This mountain (Uludag) is not cursed, it’s an incredible testimony of Allah.
- You should worship Allah because He is worthy of worship!
- Allah is Wahid- al-Qahr. Everything in the heaven and earth are acknowledging this at some level. He is calling us to reflect on this. The events that happen in our lives are purposeful; there is always a reason behind it.
- The best sleep is immediately after Isha and the Prophet sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam said not to engage in too much entertainment at night.
- Nawafil night prayers protect the body from diseases and wrong actions. But you won’t be able to get up if you sin a lot.
- Contentment with the decree of Allah is appropriate- this should be your reliance. The Contentment with Allah’s decree is a very high Maqam. Rabia al-Adawiya was asked how do you know if someone is content with Allah’s decree. She replied by saying ‘ When you feel the same joy in periods of tribulation as you do during periods of blessing’
~ Shaykh Hamza Yusuf – Jewels and Pearls of the Qur’an lesson, Rihla 2011, Bursa, Turkey (Paraphrased)
More gems to follow inshaAllah ta’Ala……
(Photos courtesy- Rihla Student Please keep them in your prayers. Please do not re-use or save the photo without permission. )
- Path to Allah is through struggle. That struggle brings its own reward and bliss.
- Seeing Allah in al-Janaah is better then anything else in this world.
- A person who arrogates themselves won’t go much higher but the one who humbles himself before Allah, Allah elevates him.
- Allah has power over all things; He does whatever He does. Don’t limit the Qudra (power) of Allah. If Allah wants to give you that gift, He will give you that gift. We should have good etiquette with Allah.
- Increase the love for the Messenger salla’Allahu ‘alayhi wasalm through knowledge, Seerah and the Shamail. Learn about his struggles and tribulations, and the knowledge he brought to us. Salla’Allahu ‘alayhi wasalam.
- A Muslim’s compassion is a form of dhikr.
- Human have aspects of beasts and angels within themselves. The more we pray, the closer we get to angels.
- Salah bequeath light to us.
- Expose yourself with the gentle breezes of Allah; Allah blesses the night with His gentle breezes and in the early hours in the morning. What Allah gives through Gentleness, He doesn’t give through harshness.
- Allah is good and pure and only accepts that which is good and pure.
- Fasting has an internal and external reality. It’s a powerful form of Ibadah, and it’s reward is unlimited. Fasting is a manifestation of patience, and the reward for patient people is unlimited.
- Greatest act of taqwa is fasting. We give up things which are lawful and pure, therefore we cannot manifest insincerity in fasting.
- The prophet salla’Allahu ‘alayhi wasalam was asked why he fasted on Monday, he salla’Allahu alayhi wasalam replied because it’s the day I was born. So fasting is a mawlid!
- Always ask Allah for sincerity. Once you have done the act, move on, don’t let shaitan whisper to you.
- Struggle in the way of your Lord. Hardship brings ease. The one who does not struggle, does not get ease.
~ Imam Zaid Shakir– ‘Forty Foundations of the Religion’ Class, Rihla 2011, Bursa, Turkey (Quotes above are paraphrased)
More gems to follow inshaAllah ta’Ala……
(Photos courtesy- Ibrahim Varachia. Please keep him in your prayers. Please do not re-use or save the photo without permission. )
Since it’s Ramadan, I thought I’d share some notes relating to the benefits of fasting, eating less etc, from “Breaking the Two Desires” class we had with Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad on the Rihla this year.
- The way of the fitra is to keep things in balance.
- The 2 main desires are: gluttony (obsession with food) and lust (sexual desires)
- The dangerous of sins is gluttony, for by means of this desire, Allah expelled Adam and Hawa from the abode of permanence to the abode of humiliation and neediness. In so far they had been forbidden the tree, but their desires overcame them and they ate from the tree. Desire for food is the primal desire which kick starts the whole process of what expelled Adam out of al-Jaanah in the first place.
- The belly is the fountainhead of desire and the seabed of sickness and defect. It is followed by the desire by sexual relations. The desire for food and physical relations is followed by strong desire for status and wealth, as these provide more opportunities for sexual enjoyment and gluttony. Once we have stuffed ourselves with food, we fill ourselves with other desires. By acquiring wealth and prestige, the vice of ostentation, boasting, pride and arrogance then follows. This then leads to hatred, rancor, envy and other things; which then leads the person who has these vices into oppression and other ugly acts. All of this comes from not paying attention to the stomach and what goes in it.
- The halal we eat, the adab and attitude towards food is very important. We need to get our attitude right towards food and then the other things will all fall into place.
- Get two things right:
1. Eat what is in front of you and be less fussy
2. Don’t be obsessed by food and desire less
If you get these two things right, you will find the rest of the deen will become a lot easier.
- Imam al-Ghazali talks about the sunnah of food and eating in the Ihya, but its something which we do not want to think about.
- We are not designed biologically to eat in a 5 star hotel! We are designed to eat less…
- The holy Prophet salla’Allahu ‘alayhi wasalam shows us the alternative. His way is a way of zuhd, and not being very interested in a whole lot of food.
- Fasting helps, eating not too much helps, and not being inwardly attached to food helps overcome the beast within us.
- We need to be less interested in what is provided, and more grateful for what Allah ahs provided us, i.e being in that maqam of shukr.
- Allah created our bodies in balance, but we have eating disorders and dieting disorders. People over-eat for many reasons, such as anxiety, fear. The disorder in this world is to do with gluttony.
- Allah created enough for us to eat but due to greed, we are destroying the planet by eating too much!
- The holy Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasalams’ hunger was so great that he would tie stones to his belly. The sacrifices he made when he could have been the lord of the Queresh are unimaginable, and he only made those sacrifices for us. Where as we can be in this hotel and all we do is complain about the buffet!
- The lives of the awliya have always been focused on the principle of eating less. It’s the quality of the awliya.
- Through fasting, we are constantly knocking on the door of paradise.
Imam al-Ghazali talks about the benefits of fasting/eating less and making the stomach hurt (Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad went through these benefits in detail but I have summarised only a few below)
1. Purification of the heart and helping one’s perception to be more penetrating. If you don’t eat so much, you will be more perceptive; your basira (insight) will go much further. Ramadan is hard work, but towards the end of it, we do feel that things in deen are coming to us with more ease. We can feel we are detached from duniya and the hunger you feel, you get used to it so you don’t even notice it much or think about it. You are no longer distracted by hunger, and are in a state of greater purity.
2. Brokenness, humbleness and ending of pride and exuberance. The pride we get into after eating good food, if we are hungry our pride is broken. We experience this in Ramadan. In Ramadan if you have been fasting for 10-12 hours, it is harder to be proud, we are broken a little bit. Pride is deadly of the deadly sins and hunger helps suppress that.
3. Through hunger we do not forget Allah’s trials and tribulations. The one who is always full ignores the one who is hungry and ignores the reality of hunger. However, when we fast, we empathise with those who are hungry.
4. Breaks everyone of the desire for sins, and helps control the nafs- the beast that is within us.
5. Helps us worship more.
6. No need to earn so much if we eat less. If you eat less, you can spend less, and that extra money you are saving can go towards sadaqa.
- Imam al-Ghazali talks about rejecting the imbalance, he doesn’t say abandon food completely but instead watch what we eat.
- Ramadan is all about sabr- patience.
- To be in a maqam of aboodiya (servanthood) shows us that we are always in need of Allah.
- Allah is active in every moment. He is constantly creating and re-creating. Everything is the unique consequence of Him.
- Allah didn’t just wind the clock at the beginning of the time and sat back to see everything unwind; our needs which we are not even aware of, He fulfills them.
- The benefits of physical discomfort like eating less is that we are in a constant state of absolute need, absolute dependence on Allah. He doesn’t need us, but we need Him for everything!
- When we start to recognise everything is from Allah and He is al-Wakil, we will find tranquillity. People who have always been in hardship will always be in a state of calmness and ease, then those who always have things their way.
- Sometimes to be woken up, we need to be slapped!
~ Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad, ‘Breaking the Two Desires’ class, Rihla 2011, Bursa, Turkey (Paraphrased)
More gems to follow inshaAllah ta’Ala……
(Photos courtesy- Ibrahim Varachia. Please keep him in your prayers. Please do not re-use or save the photo without permission. )
“Wait for the work of your Lord, for it will bring you what you desire in the form of relief near at hand, and do not despair if nothing special has yet occurred, for there are so many wondrous marvels in the unseen”
A poet
As the beautiful month of Ramadan approaches, I would like to take the opportunity to wish you all a very blessed month ahead!
May we all be blessed with His gaze on the first night of this month, may He forgive all of our sins, accept all of our fasts and worship, and may this month be a means of gaining nearness to Him and His beloved salla’Allahu ‘alayhi wasalam. Amin ya Rabb! Please keep me and my loved ones in your blessed prayers.
(Picture by Peter Gould)
Some very useful and beneficial links about Ramadan below:
Moonsighting
The Moon sighting papers from Zaytuna. Very important as it teaches one the basics of usul al-fiqh (legal methodology).
Shaykh Hamza Yusuf on Moonsighting- audio
Imam Zaid on the Crescentwatch Policy change
Articles:
Inner Dimensions of Fasting by Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, trans. from the Ihya’ by Mukhtar Holland
Ramadan Mubarak! A Message From Imam Zaid
Ramadan Address by Habib Ali Jifri
Approaching Ramadan By Imam Zaid Shakir
Chapter from al-Imam al-Ghazali’s Ihya
Chapter from al-Imam al-Haddad’s Nasa’ih ad-Diniyyah
Blessings Exclusive to Ramadan
Seeking His gaze in Ramadan by Shaykh Abdulkarim Yahya
Pre-Ramadan reminder :: Sheikh Ibrahim Osi-Efa(You need a Facebook account to access these notes by sister Fadhila Bux)
Fiqh:
The Fiqh Of Fasting In the Hanafi Madhhab
Maliki Fiqh on Ramadan (click on the relevant links)
Audio:
Ramadan advice by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf
What do we do in Ramadan Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller
Ramadan by Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad
Imam Al-Haddad On Fasting By Shaykh Abdul Aziz Ahmed.
Khutba: Ramadan: The Month of Seeking Closeness to Allah by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ramadan Advice – Where is Your Heart? by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf
Ramadan lectures by Shaykh Faisal Abdur-Razak
Ramadan and Charity by Imam Zaid Shakir
The Fast of Ramadan & the Furious Shaitan by Imam Zaid Shakir
Ramadan Resolutions by Imam Suhaib Webb
Many thanks to A.Tariq, S.Aslam and S. AlMuslim for their assistance in helping me collate the list above. May Allah reward them in abundance. Please keep them and their families in your blessed du’as also in this month.
Yours in peace,
Sidra
” If you see God withholding this world from you, and inflicting more and more hardships and suffering upon you, you must therefore know that you are noble in His sight, that you hold a lofty rank in His presence, and that He is making you tread the path of His saintly friends, for He sees you and He does not need that (withholding of this world…). You have surely heard His saying: “So wait patiently for your Lord’s decree, for you are surely in Our sight” (52:48)”
~ Imam al-Ghazali (May Allah increase his rank)
( The Path of the Worshipful Servants to the Garden of the Lord of all the Worlds)
Please be aware that these are my notes; I was unable to write down everything, but what I have, I pray it’s of some benefit to the readers. Any mistakes, errors or misinterpretations of words are from me alone, so please do forgive and overlook my shortcomings!
May Allah reward all those who were involved in organising and facilitating this blessed course, and may Allah elevate the rank of Shaykh Yahya, bless his family are teachers. Amin!
“The Wonders of the Heart” by Imam al- Ghazali
Taught by Shaykh Yahya Rhodus (USA/Yemen) on 19th December 2009, Woodlands Road Mosque, Birmingham (UK)
Shaykh Yahya began by introducing the Ihya’ ‘ulum al-din (Revival of Religious Sciences). He said that it’s the most important text Imam al-Ghazali wrote. The Ihya is divided into 4 parts, each part consisting of 10 chapters thus 40 parts in total. Shaykh Yahya briefly spoke about how 40 is a special number for various reasons. For example, each Prophet received prophecy at the age of 40; if you do something for 40 days, it becomes a habit and so on. That is one of the reasons why the Ihya is divided into 40 parts.
- If Allah is remembered, shaytan is withdrawn from that gathering- prophetic hadith.
- Shaytan can only have power as much as you give him power.
- People have lost the ability to see things holistically like the scholars did.
- Every single verse in the Qur’an has 60,000 ways to understand it!
- Any knowledge that doesn’t lead you to the presence of Allah has no benefit in it.
- Allah is Infinite, anything you put over infinity is zero!
- Who knows what is hidden in the hearts? Who knows what the human beings conceal in their hearts? Allah sees everything in your heart!
- The “Wonders of the Heart”- its something internal without our hearts. If you deny there is such a thing as a ‘heart’, how will you experience these wonders? Experience these jewels?
- Anyone can build outwardly- but what about building the inner?
- The outward heart is a vascular system, spreading the blood around the body etc- that’s the outward ‘wonders’ of the heart. The inward wonders of the heart is the spiritual heart, which has more ‘wonders’ but you might not even know what is there! For example, when you clean the house, you might clean it well, but may not see the dust. Then you might do a ‘deep clean’ of the house and see things you do not normally see, like the dust. This is the case of the heart, you need a deep cleansing of it. We have regular cleansing of it like in Ramadan when we fast, pray tarawih etc. The ‘deep cleansing’ is like hajj- when you come back, you are all purified and ready to meet your Lord.
- The Prophet sallaAllahi ‘alayhi wasalam said that religion started strange and will end strange. If you are considered as ‘strange’, then that is a good sign. Nowadays, if you have a beard, don’t drink alcohol etc, you are considered as ‘strange’. The Prophet sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam said glad tidings to the strangers- you are entering the ‘bisharah’ (glad tidings)
- The honour and excellence of man (humankind) which he surpasses all other creatures is to know Allah- ability to have Marifah. This knowledge is man’s duty.
- Every human being wants glory, perfection, beauty etc. Despite how you look outwardly, it doesn’t really matter, it all depends on your ability to know your Lord. Your knowledge of Allah is storing up your provision in the next world.
- The way that you prepare yourself to have this knowledge is through your heart. It is the heart that knows Allah, the heart that works, strives for Allah, and it’s the heart that has secrets unveiled to it.
- We get distinguished from the rest of creation because of the heart.
- Its at the level of the heart that received unveiling, and feels the intimacy with Allah.
- It is the heart that is accepted in the presence of Allah.
- There are people in this world who can be walking outwardly in this world, but their hearts are connected to the celestial realm. It is important that you are mentioned in the higher realm.
- There is a hadith which goes along the lines that if Allah comes to love a servant, He calls Gibreel alayhi salam to love them. When you are beloved to Allah, Allah announces it to Gibreel alayhi salam, who then announces it to the rest of the angels and then the creation becomes inclined to you.
- If you are sincere, you will always be tested by Allah.
- It is the heart that is veiled from Allah.
- Every container pours out what is in it. If your heart is good, it will only pour out khair- goodness.
- If the human being comes to know the heart, he comes to know who he is, and then he comes to know his Lord. If they are ignorant about themselves, then they are ignorant about their Lord. If you are ignorant of yourself, how can you know anything else? Allah says in the Qur’an how those who have forgotten Allah, He has caused them to forget themselves. These are the people who will not be able to do anything good.
- The human being must know their place in the hierarchy of existence. If we don’t know where we are, how will we get to where we want?
- The intellect is never enough; knowledge, information is not enough itself. You need belief in Allah and the love for RasulAllah sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam
- If you forget Allah, He will make you forget yourself. If you forget yourself, how can you know anything?
- The knowledge of the heart, its true nature, its qualities is the foundation of the deen. If you want to be firm, you need to know this!
- To speak about the ‘Wonders of the Heart’ is from the unseen, most peoples’ hearts can’t comprehend this. There is a whole realm with the heart which we do not perceive.
Qalb- Heart
2 meanings:
1. The pine shaped organ located in the left; it’s a flesh of a particular sort. This is the physical heart. It’s a piece of flesh which is from the seen world and doesn’t have much worth.
2. The spiritual heart, it’s a latifa, subtlety. The spiritual heart can be killed, can die, just like the physical heart. The spiritual heart is from the unseen, but has a connection to the physical heart. Majority of people are bewildered in perceiving its connection.
Ruh- Spirit
This also has 2 meanings:
1. The subtle body- connection to the physical heart.
2. The subtle thing which knows and perceives.
As long as the spirit in your body is there, you are alive
Nafs- Soul
It’s essentially who you are.
Aql- Intellect
2 types:
1. Lower intellect, which is the brain
2. Higher intellect, which is located in the heart
In summary:
Heart- Place which we know Allah
Soul- Who we are
Spirit- The tool in which we love Allah
Aql- That what we know
All actions come from the heart, and all actions come from thought:
Thought- Heart- Action
1. The first thing that comes to the heart is a thought.
2. The second thing that comes to the heart is the natural inclination towards that particular thing.
3. The third thing is the judgement of the heart- if you should do it or not
4. The fourth is having firm resolution and actually having the intention of doing it.
In the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd stages, you are not taken into account for it, its only when you get to the 4th stage, you are taken into account for. For example, a thought of stealing something comes to your heart, it then moves onto the next stage which is the inclination of the heart about stealing, then it moves onto the 3rd stage where you judge whether to steal or not, then the last stage is when you actually intend to steal, or don’t intend to steal. And its only at the 4th stage, when you have made that intention to do it, you are held accountable. You can’t control the thoughts that come to your heart. Sometimes they come even if you do not want them to. No matter how many thoughts that come to your heart, you are not accountable as long as you do not intend to do it. With the stealing example, you will only be held accountable if you actually reach the 4th stage and intend on stealing. You can have all the thoughts and inclinations, but its only when you actually intend on stealing, you are held accountable for it.
- If you want strong ‘Yakeen’ (Certainty), then give charity, give your wealth.
- The people who were around the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasalam were saturated, wrapped in his light. The Prophet sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam is your door to Allah.
- People have forgotten Rahma. Where is the Rahma in your heart? The Prophet sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam had Rahma in his heart for everyone, even when he made du’a against people, it was out of Rahma for them.
- Different people get tested in different ways- Allah is Just, He will only try you with what you can bear.
- Allow people to better themselves- we should want people to change, better themselves and get out of these lower stages.
- You get certainty if you open your heart to it- polish it, and you will get certainty, Yakeen!
- The heart has a homeland, you are either travelling to your destination or away from it.
- The heart is the place of knowledge.
- Every known thing has a reality.
- We have to remove obstacles from our heart to obtain what we set to obtain.
Jaza ‘Llahu anna Sayyidina Muhammadan sallaAllahu alayhi wasalam ma huwa ahluhu
Jaza ‘Llahu anna Sayyidina Muhammadan sallaAllahu alayhi wasalam ma huwa ahluhu
Jaza ‘Llahu anna Sayyidina Muhammadan sallaAllahu alayhi wasalam ma huwa ahluhu
Subhana Rabbika Rabbi l’izzati amma yasifun, wa salamun ala l’mursalin, wal-humdulillahi Rabbi l’alamin.
![n508422202_2346591_6878753[1]](http://sidramushtaq.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/n508422202_2346591_687875313.jpg?w=160&h=300 "n508422202_2346591_6878753[1]")
As-salamu’alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!
By the grace of Allah ta’ala, I was fortunate enough to attend the “Love & Marriage: a journey to improve our relations” retreat with Sayyidi ash-Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi and Shaykh Faisal Abdur-Razak. The retreat was organised bySacred Knowledge , and held in the midst of the hills of Shropshire- a perfect and serene location for a retreat!
![Lv%26Mrg_127[1]](http://sidramushtaq.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/lv26mrg_12712.jpg?w=300&h=200 "Lv%26Mrg_127[1]")
This retreat was very unique and special in so many ways, and I cannot express my experience in words. Both Shaykh Muhammad and Shaykh Faisal’s presence was illuminating, and brought much comfort, peace and serenity to the hearts. One of the astonishing things we witnessed during this retreat was how all the questions we had in our hearts and minds were addressed and answered, without any of us even raising those questions to the shayukh! It really makes you wonder how the awliya are aware of what is in the hearts, subhan’Allah….. ![Lv%26Mrg_069[1]](http://sidramushtaq.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/lv26mrg_06913.jpg?w=490 "Lv%26Mrg_069[1]")
I have typed up my notes in order to share with all of those who were unable to attend this retreat. Please bear in mind that these are my notes and most likely not a good reflection of what Sayyidi ash-Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi and Shaykh Faisal (may Allah elevate their ranks) said. Therefore, any mistakes, errors and misinterpretation of words are from me alone, so please do forgive me and correct if possible.
My heartfelt gratitude goes out to the Sacred Knowledge team who did an exceptional job organising this amazing retreat, and for bringing Sayyidi ash-Shaykh Muhammad and Shaykh Faisal to our shores. May Allah reward them in abundance, Amin!
Notes from Sayyidi Shaykh Muhammad’s sessions
Notes from Shaykh Faisal Abdur Razak’s sessions
Acknowledgements:
I would like to thank Sacred Knowledge for providing, and allowing me to use the photographs above. In addition, I would like to thank the kind and beautiful soul who proof read my notes for me, and my little friend who spent time formatting and then producing my notes on PDF for me. May Allah reward you all in abundance!
Jaza ‘Llahu anna Sayyidina Muhammadan sallaAllahu alayhi wasalam ma huwa ahluhu
Jaza ‘Llahu anna Sayyidina Muhammadan sallaAllahu alayhi wasalam ma huwa ahluhu
Jaza ‘Llahu anna Sayyidina Muhammadan sallaAllahu alayhi wasalam ma huwa ahluhu
Subhana Rabbika Rabbi l’izzati amma yasifun, wa salamun ala l’mursalin, wal-humdulillahi Rabbi l’alamin.
Imam Ghazali (rahmatullahi alayh) woke up one early morning and as usual offered his prayers and then enquired what day it was, to which his younger brother, Ahmad Ghazali replied, “Monday.” He asked Ahmed to bring his white shroud, kissed it, stretched himself full length and saying “Lord, I obey willingly,”
“Say to my friends, when they look upon me, dead
Weeping for me and mourning me in sorrow
Do not believe that this corpse you see is myself
In the name of God, I tell you, it is not I,
I am a spirit, and this is naught but flesh
It was my abode and my garment for a time.
I am a treasure, by a talisman kept hid,
Fashioned of dust, which served me as a shrine,
I am a pearl, which has left it’s shell deserted,
I am a bird, and this body was my cage
Whence I have now flown forth and it is left as a token
Praise to God, who hath now set me free
And prepared for me my place in the highest of the heaven,
Until today I was dead, though alive in your midst.
Now I live in truth, with the grave – clothes discarded.
Today I hold converse with the saints above,
With no veil between, I see God face to face.
I look upon “Loh-i-Mahfuz” and there in I read
Whatever was and is and all that is to be.
Let my house fall in ruins, lay my cage in the ground,
Cast away the talisman, it is a token, no more
Lay aside my cloak, it was but my outer garment.
Place them all in the grave, let them be forgotten,
I have passed on my way and you are left behind
Your place of abode was no dwelling place for me.
Think not that death is death, nay, it is life,
A life that surpasses all we could dream of here,
While in this world, here we are granted sleep,
Death is but sleep, sleep that shall be prolonged
Be not frightened when death draweth night,
It is but the departure for this blessed home
Think of the mercy and love of your Lord,
Give thanks for His Grace and come without fear.
What I am now, even so shall you be
For I know that you are even as I am
The souls of all men come forth from God
The bodies of all are compounded alike
Good and evil, alike it was ours
I give you now a message of good cheer
May God’s peace and joy for evermore be yours.”
Source:The Winds of Mercy
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