MOUNTAINS OF LIFE

Sometimes we find ourselves at the bottom of mountains: a mountain of sins that need to be corrected; a mountain of things that need to be achieved; or even a mountain of self-refinement that needs to occur. At first, we may attempt to jump over the mega-mountains of life, but this only causes us to fall back to where we started, with nothing more than skinned knees and hurt palms. This leaves us at the bottom of the mountain, staring upward through tear-blurred eyes, trying to figure out how we are going to make it to the out-of-sight peak. The keys to this reoccurring dilemma are submission and patience.

A giant of our past, Imam Al-Ghazali (rahimahullah, may God be pleased with him), faced mountains just as we all do. It is narrated that he found himself in a major life crisis, being pulled at by the dunya (this world) and doubting his own intentions. This scholar was afflicted with some kind of impediment that prevented him from speaking in his classes. He desired strongly to please his students, and attempted to continue teaching, but his mouth became numb and he was forced into silence. This was not an easy thing on Imam Al-Ghazali (ra). He found himself in a violent state of despair, unable to even swallow a morsel of bread or drink a single drop of water. He became physically weak and was sent to doctors in hopes of a diagnosis that could be treated and bring him back to his normal state. The doctors, however, despaired of saving him and said, “The mischief is in the heart, and has communicated itself to the whole organism; there is no hope unless the cause of grievous sadness be arrested.”

It was at this point that Imam Al-Ghazali (ra) admitted his weakness. He became conscious of the weakness of his soul and turned completely to Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala (exalted is He). Describing his state he says, “I took refuge in God as a man at the end of himself and without resources.” It was only then that he was cured, and all his affairs were made easy on him. From his experience we can take away a very valuable lesson: internal peace will not be reached until we submit, utterly and completely, and admit that we are powerless and Allah (swt) is the All-Powerful.

Once we submit, utterly and completely, we must be sure to have patience—not only with the affairs that are occurring around us—but also with ourselves. Such is a lesson that we can learn from the creation of the fetus in the mother’s womb. Allah (swt) has described to us the steps that one goes through in development. In the mother’s womb each one of us begins as nutfah (a drop of fluid) then proceeds to become `alaqah (a clinging clot of blood) and finally becomes a mudghah (a lump that looks as if it has been chewed). All of these stages occur even before the rooh, or spirit, is blown into the creation. Al-Qaari sheds light upon a lesson that can be derived from these stages. He says that Allah (swt), without a doubt, has the ability to create anything in one moment but this was not the path that He, subhanahu wa ta`ala, chose. Instead, as a mercy upon the mother and as a sign for those who ponder, He caused us to be created step-by-step and made us aware of this. We should try and understand the wisdom behind this and realize that to accomplish things correctly and properly they must be done in the proper manner, with the proper stages. Just as Kert Lewin, a German-American psychologist, said, “A successful individual typically sets his next goal somewhat but not too much above his last achievement. In this way he steadily raises his level of aspiration.”

It is through these two techniques that we can begin to climb the mountains of life. If one of these two elements is missing, the mountains before us will only grow larger, and our state more lowly. Without full submission to Allah (swt), nothing is successfully possible. Any results we achieve will be temporary and fleeting. Without patience, we’ll continuously end up back at the beginning, staring upward, soaking heavily in our own despair. Take things a step at a time, constantly turning to Him along the way, and remember: “If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick up one of those pieces and begin again.”

Article Source: http://www.suhaibwebb.com/relationships/withthedivine/mega-mountains-of-life/

Filed under: Emotions, Goals, Life, Motivation, Personal Development Tagged: allah, Ghazali, God, Imam Al-Ghazali, life, Religion and Spirituality, Subhanahu wa ta’ala

Love recognizes no shackles of society or conventions. Thus it was in the case of a mistress and her slave. When Zulaikha could no longer resist the base urges of her love for Yusuf (AS), she lured him to a room in the viziers palace. But before her attempted seduction there, she covered the face of the idol that she worshipped with a piece of cloth. When Yusuf (AS) asked her the reason for doing so she replied that it was in order for the idol not to witness her profanity. This, she explained, would be against good manners and decorum.

The rest of the episode is well known to all of us as to how Allah (SWT) kept Yusuf (AS) safe from this greatest of temptations.

The above incident has been quoted in Kashf Al Mahjoob by Ali bin Usman Hajveri (Data Ganj Baksh), as an example of preserving good manners towards that which is held sacred. Zulaikha may have been guilty of transgress in love, but was immaculate in observing deference to her deity. Typical of the Ahlae Tasawaf, he separates the good from the vile. The inference he draws is that if we feel the same reverence towards our creator, Allah almighty, the all-seeing, then it would be impossible for us to indulge in acts which would bring shame on us.

A beautiful parable used by a great spiritual individual to make a very fine point. But does require a bit on introspection, does it not ? Same with trying to understand the way of the Sufi’s.

Think of the term Sufi and it instantly brings images of whirling dervishes floating around in our imagination. Champions of faith to many, heretics to some, Sufi’s have come to symbolize the unorthodox and unconventional aspect of Islamic faith. One of the reasons for many of the misconceptions is that there are many paths to ultimate truth which an adherent to Islamic mysticism can follow. It also does not help that Sufi’s are not noted for discussing their creed publicly.

The damaging part of the above perception is that Sufism is perceived to be almost some sort of pseudo religion. This perception is incorrect. Though, admittedly, some overzealous individuals lose self control and create doubts about Sufism.

Organized Sufism was most probably a reaction to the growing materialism which gradually took over the Muslim world and was also a rebellion against strict and legalistic views of the orthodox religious leadership. There are different opinions about the origin of the name “Sufi”. The one which seems the most logical is that its derived from “safa” purity. The creed of Sufism is thus called Tasawaf. Tasawaf is based on the concept of the heart being empty of any worldly desire, and towards this end the only love seeked is that of the creator.

Not everyone is destined to be able to follow this path. The first step is choosing the Silsila, the Sufi school of thought, which one would follow. The Silsila’s are not sects but rather specific methodologies or paths towards attaining self realization. There are numerous Silsila’s but among the most well know are Chistia, Naqshbandia, Suharwardia and Qadaria.

The Sheikh or Murshid (wise master) of the Silsila assesses the capabilities of each individual aspiring to walk on the path of Tasawaf. If the Murshid thinks that the individual has sufficient promise he accepts him as a Murid (disciple). The Murshid’s role is of gentle guidance, the Murid has to make all the effort, and there are no guarantees.

The path of Tasawaf has four stages. The first and the foundation is strict observance of Sharia’a. All the religious tenets have to be strictly observed. It’s a fallacy that Sufi’s are exempt from prayers etc. If the life of renowned Sufi’s is studied, it will be seen that they were very passionate about following the basic tenets of Islam. In fact, in order to control their base self they would go through intense periods of solitary worship.

Once the Sheikh assesses that the individual has enough control on his base soul, it’s time to guide him to deeper inner contemplation about his existence. If Sharia’a is about the exterior, then Tariqat is about the deep recesses of ones being. This esoteric stage involves repentance, abstinence from all sins, control of desires and, above all, learning to be patient and understanding. The aim is to attain spiritual serenity by absolute acceptance of the divine will.

Then come the last two, and much more difficult stage’s of Haqiqat (truth) and Marafat (meditative cognition of God), reached by very few. These involve, among others, intense and continuous Muraqaba (mediation) meant to heighten awareness of the multi dimensions of space and time, and the illusiveness of the material world. The attribute of personal wisdom is further strengthened. Ultimately the self becomes totally subservient to the will of the Almighty.

In essence the first two parts relate to understanding the true spirit of Islam and putting it in practice. The latter two parts focus on purifying the Nafs (soul) to an extent that from a base stage Nafs e Ammara (depraved, commanding) it reaches the stage of height of purity Nafs e Safiyya Kamila (purified, complete).

The spiritual elevation of the Nafs from the base to the height of purity has another five stages in between. The second stage, Nafs e Lawwama (accusing) is reached when the shortcomings are realized. The third stage, Nafs e Mulhama (inspired) , is the realization that adherence to religion is to be out of the love of the creator, and not out of fear. This realization leads to Nafs E Mutmainna (serene, assured), the fourth stage, as inner perception has been achieved. This inner perception coupled with self confidence leads to the fifth stage, Nafs e Radiyya (fulfilled) where it is pleased with the will of Allah (SWT), as fate is a reflection of divine intention. The second last stage is then Nafs e Mardiyya (fulfilling), where there is complete submission to this will.

Thus is the journey of the purification of soul completed. Starting from being subservient to worldly desires it reaches a stage where any concept of self disappears and only divine will rules.

There are a number of rituals, rules, etiquette’s, conventions and practices which facilitate this journey, but they are incidental to the main aim.

Love is the bond which holds all of the structure together. And for a very simple reason. Which lover would tolerate not adhering absolutely to the wishes of the beloved?

Let me start off by saying I apologize for putting this aside for a day, in which I could have maybe conveyed this message to maybe a few more people. I also want you to know this blog post comes in response to a recent conversation I had with a few people on twitter. Since 140 characters is sometimes a lot less space to convey everything, I’ll use this space to answer as much as I can.

Whats the issue

Two weeks back me and my friends made a trip to Do Dariya (a location if you head west of Sea View, Karachi), only to realize that this place has pages of the Holy Qura’an and other religious documents scattered on and under the stones like it was garbage. Needless to say we were shocked at how religious and pious we may seem yet we look the other way when actual religious matters are brought to our attention. People walked around these pages, over the stones.. Minding their own business and pretending this issue didn’t exist, all they cared for was their picnic and catching fish.

We found complete set of Qura’an Shareef’s not only on the rocks and underneath it, but in bags and sacks near the water, we also found a huge dump of the sacred pages on the very end of Do Dariya, where usually the gutter lines open up in the sea, it’s not only immoral, disrespectful but also a view into how much we value our very own religion. We also found a huge load of Praying mats (Ja’a Namaz), Prayer beads (Tasbih), Praying caps, religious flags (with Ayah’s printed on them) and alot of stuff from Mazaa’rs.

Our prediction

We’re suspecting we’ll be finding alot more of these right after 12th Rabi-ul-Awal. It’s sad to see all these religious items going into the trash instead of being used again, or recycled.

Who does this sort of stuff?

There are actually two main characters to this. Us the general public, and small madarsas.

It’s a general opinion that Shaheed Qura’an Pages should be fed to the sea, and that is one way of taking care of it.. What people donot know is that it is one of the few ways, and each method has it’s requirement. People generally throw these off the “Neti Jeti” Bridge & fly overs.. Except these pages end up floating around places like Do dariya and sea view.

On the other hand, we’ve been told truck loads of these Shaheed Qura’an Shareef pages have been dumped near Do dariya and other such places, without any proper checks or laws.. It’s actually not even the madarsa’s fault sometimes, these low budget madarsa’s give their load of Shaheed Qura’an Shareef to truck drivers, who in the end dump it in the sea, needless to say it’s not the deep sea, where it actually should be.

Whats the proper method?

1. If a page or part of a page of the Qura’an Shareef or any other religious document is considered Shaheed, the best way is to bury it, this way the page decomposes naturally.
2. If you find a Shaheed page or part of a page of the Qura’an Shareef that is barely readable and not in a condition that it could be restored, it’s supposed to be dropped into the deep sea, my focus here is the deep sea, so that the paper either decomposes or is consumed by the creatures of Allah, as the Almighty wishes.
3. The third and the last resort is burning the Shaheed pages, this is mind you the very last resort and should only be practiced if the Shaheed pages are beyond the stage where they could be restored or in a state that they would scatter even more if dropped in the sea.

How can I help?

First of all, try to use the methods I’ve mentioned above to take care of a Shaheed Qura’an Shareef or its pages. Secondly if you can, please do volunteer to help clean the shores, or any other places possible that you find may contain Shaheed Qura’an or it’s pages/parts. Form a team and clean this up. Indeed Allah as our witness we would be trying to do the best in our ability to prevent any azaab or the wrath of Allah.

Try to educate people about disrespectful behavior and tell them of their responsibility.

There’s a whole bunch of contact methods you can use to know more of what we found there, and if you’d like to join me and my friends on our next trip to this cleaning, you can find all of them below.

We’re planning to visit Do Dariya or sea view or any other location we might come to know of, every first and last Sunday of the month, Inshallah.

Jazak Allah for taking the time to read through this, drop me a line if you have any more question, I’ll answer them to the best of my knowledge and ability.

If you find any errors in this post, please do let me know so I can fix them, I m only a human and it’s only natural that I might make a mistake.