The Effect We Have

Everyday we affect our environments, positively or negatively. How? Very easy, the exact same way I am doing right now. We have contact with people, be they people we know or strangers. We do things, say words, type on our computers. Easily we type long messages, or chat with our friends on the phone. Easily we drive in our cars or wander in and out of shops.

But, do we really pause and think, "What effect am I having?"

Take these two sentences, each consisting of three words.

1) I love you.
2) I hate you.

The two sentences have not only the exact amount of words, but the exact amount of letters. Yet the implications and effect they have on the one who hears them are immense. One sentence can make a someone the happiest person in the world. The other sentence can forever tear someone's heart apart.

Not only what we do has an effect on others, but it has an effect on ourselves. Everything thing we do is recorded, waiting to be shown to us on that Day when all secrets will be told. The time when you made your mother proud, the time when you embarassed your classmate, the time when you wrote a soothing reply on a forum, the time you wrongly accused a person... even the time you kicked a rock to the side of the road.

So think and then act. Allah has not given us a brain so that we do not make use of it. Use it for the pleasure of Allah. When you are being kind to others, when you are taking care not to cause others pain, then that brings the pleasure of Allah. And when Allah is pleased with you, then there is nothing else in the world that you need or could wish for.

Tawfeeq of Tawbah- Moulana Yunus Patel Saheb

"This imagination which Allah Ta’aala has given, make use of it correctly. Letters upon letters, haraam fantasizing… haraam fantasizing… cannot give up porn sites, cannot give up this, cannot give up that. Obviously when the person is going to watch all the filth, what else is he going to do for the rest of the day except haraam fantasizing? After watching the filth on the internet, or in magazines, or on cell phones… dirty pictures… then people are coming, ‘Allahu Akbar’, and then they say, ‘We are getting the same pictures in our ruku and our sajdah.’ Imagine making sajdah with the picture of the naked woman in front, or in the heart.

"Make tawbah, make tawbah, Allah Tabaaraka wa Ta’aala is very forgiving, very merciful, and He accepts tawbah. But sometimes the tawfeeq of tawbah is taken away. The person just doesn’t know when the tawfeeq of tawbah can be taken away.

"My Shaykh, Moulana Shah Hakeem Akhtar saheb Damat Barakatuhum mentioned of a person in Karachi. He said they used to always tell him that, ‘Make tawbah, make tawbah from your sins’; he was a person of loose morals… so ‘Make tawbah from sins’, but he never used to pay any kind of heed.  He said, ‘Before death, we’ll see’.

"Then at the time of his death, when he was close to dying, very sick and coming close to his last laps, he could say everything, ‘Call the doctor’, ‘Give me this medication’, ‘Call so and so’, ‘Turn me around’, everything, he could say. But, ‘Oh Allah, forgive me!’ was never coming on his lips. No matter how much they were trying...

"… because he was not yet in the state of sakaraat, he was just coming close to it, otherwise at that time talqeen means that we read ‘La Ilaaha Illa Allah’, we musn’t tell the person, ‘You read, you read’. Some people got the habit at the time, ‘You read, you read’. And if sometimes the person passes away and we didn’t hear the person read kalimah, then too we must not have a bad opinion of the person. Sometimes the person is silent, and he has been going on and on reciting ‘La Ilaaha Illa Allah’, we don’t know...

"...So he could say everything, but tawfeeq of tawbah had been taken away. And, if Allah Ta’aala takes away that tawfeeq of tawbah then death can come in that haraam state. If that tawbah is taken away, if the tawfeeq is taken away (Allah protect us all) then that person can die in that state of zinaa, adultery, fornication, watching the porn sites, engaging in other kinds of haraam. He can be in the disco and he can die; he can be in the cinema and he can die; he can be in the theatre and he can die. The person can be in the dance clue, in the night club, and he can go. We just don’t know…

"Jo aaya hai yahaan aaj kal jayega

Koi dum mein ye dum nikal jayega

'He who has come here today will leave tomorrow

In any moment this breath will be taken away'"

Taken from Zikr Majlis, Thurday 4th November 2010 at Musjid Nur, Asherville.

Link to Bayaan

Tafweez, it's Yours They Say

Tafweez.... what a wonderful thing... Confused by the title? Read on.

So today I was all ready to go to Moulana Yunus Patel saheb’s majlis, even left a little early, because last time I got there five minutes late. Well, we plan, and Allah plans, and obviously it was not Allah’s plan that I should attend and even listen to the live majlis today.

Basically, this is what happened. We got halfway there, but then our car’s clutch went kaput, and a safety feature on our car is that the car cannot start unless you press the clutch. The car was literally hiccupping when my husband was trying to get it to move. Alhamdu Lillah we had managed to stop not in the middle of the road, but by the side in safety; Durban drivers are maniacs, and I am sure the maniac drivers also agree with me.

Alhamdu Lillah, we had stopped right across from a Halal Pakistani restaurant, Silver Chimney. So I stayed in the car while my husband went inside, hoping to call someone, as we had not brought our cell phones because we had no airtime. I kept reciting Inna Lillahi wa Inna Ilayhi Raji’oon, as that is what Allah Ta’aala mentions what the believers say when they are afflicted with some trouble. I also recited that which gets me through any tough time… Aayatul Kursi.

So my husband came back. Apparently he did not know any number except one, and that person’s phone was busy. We finally managed to get the car working, but only in first gear, he wasn't able to get into any other gear. Slowly, slowly we drove home, the car shutting down every time we had to stop for a red light, hiccupping as we tried to start it. Well it took us about 45 mins to get back home from a place that was a ten minutes drive away.

Back at home, there was literally no cooked food, as we had planned to buy some pizza. We called the pizza store, they don’t deliver. We called a burger store, their delivery man already left for home. We called another pizza store, they didn’t deliver. Now here is what is funny. We ended up ordering from the same restaurant we had been parked in front of, the one my husband tried to call his contact from.

Now that I think about it (while waiting for the food to come), I had been so sure I would be going to majlis, that I was going to eat pizza and chips for supper. Shows how haughty I was, that even though I said Insha Allah, I still expected things to go my way.

I was upset and frightened in the car, to be sure. Anyone who knows me knows I have a kind of car phobia. But you know, Allah took us and brought us back safely. I’m sitting safely in my flat and typing at my computer. Anything could have happened, the car could have completely stopped, we could have been stranded with no cell phones and no money. But, Allah brought us back home.

So I reckon it’s time I stop whining and start making istighfaar and shukr. Things can always be worse than they are; whatever situation Allah puts us in, there’s a worse situation that we can be put in. It was not in my taqdeer to go to majlis, Allah was keeping me away from there for a reason, the wisdom of which He knows and I don’t.

Tafweez… that’s the key to satisfaction. Once you try to apply it in your life, things become clear, and life becomes easy. Resigning to the will of Allah and being happy with what occurs, that is where true happiness lies. Ridhaa bil Qadaa.

To read more about Tafweez, check out my favorite book here: --> Tafweez by Moulana Yunus Patel saheb

The Creator of Creations

The Greatness of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'aala is impossible to describe. One can make all the trees of the world into pens and all the waters in the world into ink, yet the praises of Allah are infinite; we will tire before even reaching 1% of His praises.

Look around at the creation of Allah, look at the sun, moon, stars. Look at the plants, trees, flowers, water. Look at yourself. Look at your fingers, your nails, your fingertips. Look at the beauty all around you. Contemplate and realize that if the creation can be so beautiful, then how Awesome must the Creator be? 

Give thanks to Allah, praise Allah, and keep seeing His signs across the globe. One does not have to see Allah written in the skies with clouds. One simply has to see the clouds themselves to realize the Superb Magnificence of Allah, and how only He can be the Creator of all creations.

My Field is Better than Yours! Or is it?

This is something we see a lot nowadays. A person will be involved in tableegh, so now he will shun everyone who is not spreading the word of Allah the same way he is. A person is involved in ta'leem, and he will look down upon those who are having difficulty seeking knowledge. A person is involved in tasawwuf, he will look down upon those who are not sitting in a khanqah.

But this is just silly. All these three branches are interlinked. It's as if the limbs, brain and lungs are competing with each other, each saying it is the most important in the body, while the fact is that each of these organs have their own important role to play in the body.

In any formula you put the three 'T' words makes no difference. Each needs the other to enhance the person, to make the person a complete Muslim.

Who was the greatest Sufi?
Who was the greatest Muballigh?
Who was the greatest 'Aalim?

None other than Rasulullah Salla Allahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam! Then how can we say one is better than the other?

Take the example of a candle.

Tasawwuf is the wick of a candle.

Ta’leem is the wax.

Tableegh is the flame which gives out light.

Without the wax, the wick will not hold.

Without the wick, the candle will not burn.

Without the flame, the candle is of no use.

Make Shukr to Allah

Allah Ta'aala  has given us so much. Just pause a moment and try to count on your fingers what He has given you. Actually, better not. It is in vain, you do not have enough fingers. We cannot count the blessings of Allah upon us. 

Human beings get charged for using almost everything. Electricity, petrol, food, water etc etc. Now think. Has Allah Ta'aala ever charged us for using the light of the sun? Has He charged us for how much we walk using the feet He granted us? Does He charge us for the land that we use to grow food on and live on? If Allah Ta'aala were to charge us for all the things He granted us, would we ever be able to pay? In fact, we would have to spend more than a lifetime first to make a list of all the things we have been bestowed.

But one things really comes to mind...

At times, when I see what kinds of things other people believe in, the wrong aqaaid they have, the false beliefs they hold on fast to, I feel a sense of extreme gratefulness to Allah Ta'aala, that Alhamdu Lillah, He guided me onto the straight path.

So, let's never forget to make shukr to Allah... and if at times there is a little pain and loss, think about those necessities that Allah has left for us... and how life would be even more painful with them. And never ever forget how He has blessed you with the most precious gift of all, Emaan!

فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوا لِي وَلَا تَكْفُرُونِ

And remember Me, I will remember you, and be thankful to Me and do not be ungrateful to Me.

 Surah 2:153

On Tears- Moulana Yunus Patel Saheb

"If any tear comes out with the fazl of Allah Ta'aala, then don't wipe it with a handkerchief; rub it on your face. That portion which is touched with that tear will not go into Jahannam. So then, if Allah Ta'aala will save that face on which the tears rolled, then can He put the rest of the body in Jahannam and save the face? What it means is that Insha Allah, Allah Ta'aala will create the conditions for this person's entry into Jannat by his sincere tawbah, istighfaar, etc. 

"It is like the person who reads a hundred times per day 'La Ilaaha Illa Allah', so then his face will shine like the full moon on the Day of Judgement. So now people say that, 'That person reads "La Ilaaha Illa Allah" but he does a lot of other things that are wrong. So how will he then go into Jannat and how will his face shine?'

"So, we have to understand every hadeeth shareef properly. It means that Allah Ta'aalah will give this person towards his latter life or whenever Allah Ta'aala gives him, tawfeeq and hidaayat, that he will make sincere tawbah from all his sins and he will become worthy of entry, with Allah Ta'aala's fazl, to Jannat. And then before he leaves from here he will become taa'ib, and then he'll go.

"Mera har khataa par rona, yahi hai meri talaafi

Tere rahmaton ka sadqah, mera jurm o 'afw karna

(To cry upon every mistake, that is my only recompense

The charity of your mercy is to forgive my sins)

"Agar che pur khataa hai par kahan jaye tera banda?

Tere dar par Tera banda ba umeed-e-karam aaya"

(Even though he is amassed with sins, where else can Your slave go?

To Your house Your slave has come with hopes of Grace)

After du'aa, taken from Informal Majlis, Sunday 19th February 2010 at Musjid Nur, Asherville.

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