Your life in the present moment is in between the past and the future. So what has preceded can be rectified by tawbah (repentance), nadam (regret) and istighfar (seeking Allaah’s forgiveness). And this is something that will neither tire you, nor cause you to toil as you would with strenuous labour. Rather it is an action of the heart. Then as regards the future (then it can be corrected) by withholding yourself from sins. And this abandonment is merely the leaving of something and to be at ease from it. This also is not action of the limbs, which requires you to strive and toil. Rather this is a firm resolve and intention of the heart – which will give rest to your body, heart and thoughts. So as for what has preceded, then you rectify it with repentance. And as for the future – then you rectify it with firm resolve and intention. Neither of these involves any hardship or exertion of the limbs. But then your attention must be directed to your life in the present - the time between two times. If you waste it, then you have wasted the opportunity to be of the fortunate and saved ones. If you look after it, having rectified the two times – what is before and after it, as we have said – then you will be successful and achieve rest, delight and ever-lasting bliss. However, looking after it is harder than that which comes before and after it, since guarding it involves keeping to that which is most befitting and beneficial for your soul, and that which will bring it success and well-being.
Imam Ibn ul Qayyim al Jawziyyah
Over the last few days, some of us have been spending a lot of time with Mufti Taqi Usmani, as he fell rather ill during the Islamic Fiqh Academy’s annual session, here in Amman (Jordan.) [He is much better now, Alhamdulillah.]
It has been amazing how the noble shaykh has been smiling and joyous throughout his illness and subsequent weakness–and how patient he has been under the barrage of questions that has been showering down upon him.
The scholars at the conference–many of the leading scholars of our Umma–have amazing deference and respect for Mufti Taqi. Some scholars, including Shaykh Muhammad Adnan Darwish, came down from Syria just to visit him briefly, and to seek his du`a’ and ijaza of baraka. Other notable scholars, such as Shaykh Akram Abd al-Wahhab al-Mawsuli, visited him. Mufti Taqi and Shaykh Akram exchanged ijazas, after each insisted that they were unworthy of such a matter.
Questions and the Hadith of Mercy
There was a beautiful majlis in which these scholars from Syria, Jordan, and Iraq asked Mufti Taqi a number of questions on contemporary issues, and sought his guidance.
Then Shaykh Iyad al-Ghawj asked the Shaykh to transmit the “Hadith al-Musalsal bi’l Awwaliyya,” a famous Prophetic hadith transmitted (with contiguous isnad) with each narrator having heard this particular hadith first before others from the person above them in the chain. The hadith is, without the full chain, is related by Abd Allah ibn Amr (Allah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said,
“The merciful are shown mercy by the All-Merciful. Have mercy to those on earth, and the Lord of the Heavens will have mercy upon you.” [Tirmidhi]
Mufti Taqi related this from Shaykh Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda, Shaykh Hasan al-Mashshat al-Maliki, and Shaykh Yasin al-Fadani. [The previous day, Shaykh Ali Jumu`ah had narrated this hadith through his chains, including Shaykh al-Hafidh al-Tijani, and Shaykh Abd Allah ibn Siddiq al-Ghumari.]
May Allah shower His mercy upon us, and make us of those whom He loves.
Augustine writes,
"Late have I loved you, beauty so old and so new: late have I loved you.
And see, you were within and I was in the external world and sought you
there, and in my unlovely state I plunged into those lovely created
things which you made. You were with me, and I was not with you. The
lovely things kept me far from you, though if they did not have their
existence in you, they had no existence at all. You called and cried out
loud and shattered my deafness. You were radiant and resplendent, you put
to flight my blindness. You were fragrant, and I drew in my breath and now
pant after you. I tasted you, and I feel but hunger and thirst for you.
You touched me, and I am set on fire to attain the peace which is yours."
(X. XXVII(38), Chadwick trans., p. 201)
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And Allah knows best and He alone gives success (tawfiq).
[1] Muhammad Bin Muhammad al-Ghazali, Minhaj al-'Abidin Ila Jannah Rabbi al-'Alamin (Damascus, al-Dar al-Dimashqiyyah, 1422 A.H.[2002]), pp.31-32.
Sahl ibn Abd Allah al-Tustari said,
“One doesn’t attain unto the reality of faith until one has four traits:
(1) Fulfilling one’s obligations, in accordance with the sunna
(2) Eating the halal, with scrupulousness
(3) Avoiding prohibitions, both outward and inward
(4) Remaining steadfast on this, until one’s death.”
[Ghazali, Ihya `Ulum al-Din, 2.91]
وقال سهل التسترى لا يبلغ
العبد حقيقة الإيمان حتى يكون فيه أربع خصال أداء الفرائض بالسنة وأكل الحلال
بالورع واجتناب النهي من الظاهر و الباطن و الصبر على ذلك إلى الموت
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"Know that you have three friends. The first of them is your wealth,
which you shall lose at the time of death. The second of them is your
family, who shall leave you once you are in your grave. The third of
them are your actions, which shall never depart from you. So befriend
that which will accompany you in your grave, and be intimate with it.
The intelligent one is he who knows Allah, His commands and His
prohibitions."
-Ibn 'Ata' Allah (Taj al-'arus al-hawi li tahdhib al-nufus, 32).
Bring up the idea of all humanity being connected as one organism, and most people, Muslim or not, will probably look at you like you followed the Grateful Dead on tour for too long…
The Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace) said that this Ummah is like one body. When one part of it complains, the rest of it responds with fever and wakefulness. But what I was thinking about last night is simply how people are in tune with each other, outside of empathy or sympathy for pain and suffering.
Some people say that this “psychic abillity,” but I think what it is is simply human instinct. Some are more attuned to their inner voices than others. A lot of people are taught to ignore their instincts, esp. women (we talked about this last year). But when you think of all the “strange” things, those funny “coincidences” you’ve experienced…
I know I’m not the only mother out there who is doing something, say, cooking, or reading, when I suddenly have the feeling that I must go now b/c the baby is about to wake. And sure enough, as soon as I step into the room or sit down next to where he is, his eyes pop open. This must happen to me at least twice a day, maybe more.
Or how many times do you pick up the phone to call your husband and he’s there on the other end? This happens to us all the time. I also, almost all the time, know when he’s coming down the street, even though I can’t see or hear his car unless I’m standing right at the window (which I’m too busy to do). It isn’t a coincidence. It’s being part of the same body of humanity. There is some connection there, through the hearts or through blood, something that ties us together, mash’Allah.
Is this connection stronger for the Muslimeen, because our hearts are inclined a certain way? I don’t know, but so, so many people, throughout the centuries, have attested to special connections like these among the people who are close to a particular teacher or who are in a tariqa, and especially among those who are close to the Prophet (sallalahu aleyhi wa salaam) in terms of sending salawat on him and loving him as Allah commands us to, and those who are close to Allah because His Name is never far from their lips. Asra Adiba talks about this connection between the Muslimeen, between family, between students and teachers, and between the Muslim, Allah, and His Messenger in the halaqa entitled, “Boundaries of Love.”
Anyway, I just wish that we could be more conscious of this than the things that preoccupy us. We are supposed to compete in doing good works, but so often, we compete in one upmanship. Even da’wah workers are not immune to this. People get caught up in having control, authority, leadership, and exclusivity. We lose sight of the big picture; sometimes temporarily, and sometimes until it’s too late. Being aware of our human and Muslim connection would lead to things like courtesy, like a real unity… It’s a small thing, but you have to start somewhere.
