Saturday, June 30, 2012

Have You Known Love?




Ms. Ra'ana Khan
30-6-2012


Love – The most redundant word on this planet. It has been used so oft that it has in all entirety lost its essence and intensity. A casualness has evolved into its core essence with every use and every betrayal. “Though a love betrayed, in essence, never really was!”

Love – there is no betrayal when there is love! Blessed are those who have known love and who have the capacity to love. Love is unconditional, and those who have loved with condition have never really loved. Majority of us today, have never known love. Moreover, thus left to believe that whatever of the feelings of affection, attraction and want that we have felt were in fact feelings of love, nevertheless the tragedy of it is, that these conditional feelings of affection, attraction, desire, longing or want that we have felt were never really “love”. These in fact, when receive no reciprocation break our heart such that we become hardened of heart, scarred and damaged in ways that hinder us from ever truly experiencing love in its entirety and in its purest of nature. It is a catch 22 situation, very rarely have people lived to overcome it and truly experience Love irrespective of what may or may not have preceded.

Love – They say the feeling that the mother has for her babies. Unfortunately, we live in a world where every now and again we hear of mothers who kill their babies. We hear of mothers who betray their children. Then how can we find love? How can we know love? And how can we experience love, when even the examples to describe the word or feeling or its essence have become perverted and are lost?

Love – Bear with me, and my attempt to allow you to feel something. From here on, before you read my words, clear your mind of all negativity and all your past and everything you know holds you down. Forget about the reality of you as you know it, your job, your life, your friends and family, just for these few moments allow yourself to think and be what you most naturally were meant to feel.

You are walking in a thick green forest, dark with foliage and tiny sparkles of light seeping through. You are alone and lost. You have no memory of who you are or what you are doing here, and what your purpose is. You do not have a penny to your name. You are walking along, avoiding thorns, looking for a path. It is humid and hot and you are straining to breathe. You are walking in a direction, it’s random, you do not know what to think, your mind blank and your body working on reflex.

Suddenly you stumble and fall, and you hear a shriek and crying. Sprawled on all fours, you turn to see what it is that you tripped over. You see a baby, crying, looking tired, dirty, and weak. You instinctively pick it up and see if it is hurt. If YOU hurt it? It looks unhurt, but you are reflexively worried. You try to calm it down and look around for anyone who it might belong to. You look around and call out “HEY! anyone here?” in all directions. You get no response. You place it against your chest and cradling its head in your palm you gently pat its back with your other hand until it stops crying. You start walking again. Now you are looking for something. Now you have thoughts. You are no longer blank. Without even noticing you have a purpose, a direction. You want to find water. You need to clean this child. You need to find who it belongs to.

You move along noticing the foliage and forest in a different way. Trying to find signs or any remote suggestion where you might find water. Your eyes are open wider and your ears are straining to hear. In a distance, you hear some movement. You are apprehensive; could it be a person, maybe the parent of the child? Or is it an animal, perhaps a dangerous one? You are cautious with your steps; you call out once again “Hey! Anyone there?” you hear movement again, this time it sounds like footsteps and they are slowly moving away. You start moving in that direction. Calling out again “Anyone there?” and the footsteps break into a run away from you. You begin to reflexively run after it, cradling and holding the child closer to your chest. The footsteps stop abruptly. You stop. You are panting. You keep walking slowly in the direction you were running. After a few minutes, you find yourself in an opening within the forest.

 It is beautiful. A well-hidden spot of utter beauty, surrounded by the forest. Trees acting like a boundary wall around this big open patch of clean rocks, greenery and a blue lagoon. It looks like heaven, something truly God-sent. You take the baby and move towards the water. You think about what to do first and how to go about it. You want to clean the baby. You take your shirt off, place it on a patch of grass near the water, and safely place the baby on it. You remove the clothes of the baby and realize it’s a girl. You feel an even greater urge to protect her. The child grabs your finger with her tiny hand and smiles at you. You feel immense affection and a strange gratification at the smile. You smile back. You wait until it releases your finger, then you go to the edge of the lagoon and dip your hands inside to wash them. You feel stinging and pain. You pull your hands out and for the first time notice scratches and thorns on the outer side of them. You caught them while protecting the baby when running, oddly enough you never felt the pain or even noticed it at the time. You remove the thorns and once again dip your hands in, washing them properly bearing the pain and the stinging.

You wash the baby clothes as best as you can and place them on a rock to dry. You go to the baby, slowly lifting it up, you take it to the water. Realizing that the temperature of the water is perfect you decide to dip the baby into the water. She is not very happy. The baby starts crying because she is feeling insecure. You decide to hold her against you once again and decide to go into the water yourself cradling it against you. This time the baby is happy and comfortable. Her tiny hands garb on to you as best as they can, while you cradle its head cleaning it with your spare hand. You both thoroughly enjoy the water and after a while step out. You place her on your shirt again and go to check if the baby clothes are dry by now. Luckily enough they are, so you cloth her again. You feel hungry by now and realize the baby must be hungry too.

You look around and find some grape vines. You reach out and grab some grapes. You come back to find the baby asleep, her mouth ajar, you’re worried, you check her breathing, realizing it’s normal you smile to yourself. You take the grape and lightly squeeze the juice into her mouth tilted to the side. You see her licking the juice even in her sleep. You squeeze a number of grapes into her mouth, then decide to rub her gums with your finger to check if she has any teeth. You feel two tiny sharp things trying to poke out of her lower jaw. You smile. Suddenly you hear your own stomach growling and you realize how hungry you are. You then devour some grapes yourself and go to find some other fruit to eat. You find some banana trees full of ripe bananas. You grab some for yourself and the baby. You go back to the baby and decide to take a nap along with it. You wake up to baby crying. You realize the baby must be hungry so you mash up a banana in your palm and slowly scoop bits of it with your finger, placing it in her mouth. She hungrily enjoys each mouthful. There is a strange feeling of gratification you receive at seeing her hunger being satisfied.

Sometime later, you notice she has soiled her clothes and you need to clean her. You begin taking care of her as if it is the most natural thing. As evening sets in you realize you will need to make some shelter for the night. You begin to look for branches and twigs, leaves and other foliage to create some sort of a shed or shelter. You suddenly notice a semi broken hut; you hurriedly walk to it, excited and nervous. You look around it seems safe enough.

You run back to get the baby girl, you grab her and holding her against yourself bring her back to the hut. You try to fix the broken bits as best as you can and bring in some foliage to make a soft bed for resting at night. Night befalls; you and the baby fall asleep.

In the morning, you wake up and find the baby gone. You freak out and jump out of the shed. Your heart pumping hard, your thoughts running hay wire. You look around in search. You see a woman seated near the lagoon with her back towards you, holding the baby girl. You find yourself a little confused. You feel mixed emotions, you are happy at the thought that the baby girl’s mother has been found, yet apprehensive about the situation. You walk up to her, and you call out “Hey”, she looks up and you feel this sudden shock, fear, anxiety and you snatch the baby girl from her hands and rush away. The woman calls behind you “She’s mine, I’m her mother!” You holler back “I don’t care, you have leprosy, do you realize how contagious that is, even if she were yours you have no right to expose her to the disease like that!” She shouts back “she might have contracted it already, she might give it to you” … “I don’t care! We’ll see about that!” You scream back in retort!

This is love! When you are willing to lose all you have for the purpose of your existence: protecting and keeping alive “your beloved”, nourishing it and cherishing it, without caring what you will eventually get in return. “Your beloved”: the center of your focus, your world, the object of your affections. Because the gratification you are receiving every moment from that unconditional love, does not require the waiting of “a final outcome”! No doubt, if after the child grew up, she left you with absolute and complete indifference; stating something like “you’re not my real parent”. It would hurt you to bits and cause immense pain, yet it would never make you love her any less. Furthermore, when and if in life she were to return, she would find you with open arms, a wide smile and tear filled eyes. Moreover, the happiness that she would bring you, nothing else can; for she was your love, the meaning to your life, the purpose, when all else was lost and you knew not even your own self.

Now imagine that the child grows up to love you unconditionally back. Addedly, she feels the inherent need to try and honour your parental unconditional love with every ounce of life in her. This is our relationship with Allah-SWT, the Prophet Muhammad-SAAW and Islam. Unconditional love!

Muslims, is another name for people who still have the capacity to love in its purest of essence. We Love the Prophet Muhammad-SAAW for he guided us and showed us the path when we were absolutely lost and had completely forgotten our purpose and direction. We love Allah-SWT for HE has loved us unconditionally. We feel that love, at whatever level depending on our own level of spiritual purity; nonetheless, we feel it all the same and in turn recognize His right to be loved back, thus feeling the intense need to reciprocate it. HE has created us to experience the joys of life and further more experience the joys of love, most intensely HIS OWN LOVE. We Love Islam for it is the perfect guide in all matters, teaching us the easiest and shortest ways to reach our goals, perfection, success and most of all experience happiness, not only in this life, but also in the hereafter. The intensity of what we feel towards Allah-SWT and Prophet Muhammad-SAAW is unimaginable. We lose all bookish logical reasoning when it comes to them. We put them before our own selves. Not only that, we put them before our own children, parents, siblings and spouses. In fact, besides our Love for Allah-SWT and the Prophet Muhammad-SAAW, no other love is unconditional, all the rest of our love and affection is pre-condition to the persons mutual love (and intensity thereof) of Allah-SWT and His Messenger-SAAW. We love Allah-SWT and the Prophet-SAAW with such intensity that for a disbeliever it might even seem unreasonable, ridiculous or self-harming. Nonetheless, for us our unconditional love compels us such that we would do anything at all within or even beyond our reach, to uphold Allah-SWT’s and His Messenger-SAAW’s honour and Love, even if it meant jeopardizing our own lives! Therefore, if you cannot understand us Muslims and what it is that makes us react the way it does when it comes to the matter of Allah-SWT’s and His Messenger Muhammad-SAAW’s honour, evidently - you haven’t known love!

Love is: Intense, fierce, earth-moving, passionate, pure, immense affection, earnest caring, harmonious, peaceful, placid, calm, severe, serene, hopeful, supportive, honourable, sincere, earnest, driving, compelling,  loyal, unconditional, it is these emotions and much more, all at once!

May Allah-SWT allow us all to experience and reciprocate His-SWT’s and His Messenger-SAAW’s Love in the most pure and intense of its form. Aameen!




For those of you who wish to experience a glimpse of Allah’s everlasting love, I am sharing here the easiest and the quickest way, I know how.

Basic method of Meditation for calling out to Allah-SWT (zikr-Allah) (to be done for at least 5-10 min twice a day, the longer you do this the better it is for you, in the morning and evening): Before you proceed further, clear your mind of all thoughts, preconceived ideas, beliefs and expectations:

  1. Sit in a comfortable relaxed position. 
  2. Close your eyes. 
  3. Concentrate on your breathing. Inhale deeply and exhale with deliberate force. 
  4. When you inhale recite the word ‘Allah’ in your heart. 
  5. Visualize the word ‘Allah’, descending on you in the form of light and penetrating into your soul, going straight into your heart (Qalb). 
  6. When you exhale, recite the word ‘Hoo’ in your heart. 
  7. Visualize the light that seeped into your heart now coming out of your heart and flowing out with your breath, only to come back and strike at/jolt your heart again. 
  8. Continue this exercise until you feel that you want to stop. 
  9. Now you may stop the deliberate breathing, and come back to your natural pace. 
  10. Continue the exercise for a few minutes in shallow, passive normal breathing.


Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Adamantly Invoking Allah’s Wrath - IS IT REALLY WORTH IT?



Ms. Ra’ana Khan
Dated: 26 June 2012

As we continue with our Godless lives, we do not even stop to consider how, with each step and turn, we are adamantly invoking Allah’s Wrath! The gravity of this never hits us until (i.e. if at all), (Allah-Forbid) it finally seizes us!

The wrath of Allah has manifested itself time and again; in the form of various natural disasters or calamities, such as an Earthquake, leaving mountains upturned and thousands perished. Alternatively, Storms like “Katrina” leaving hundreds dead and abandoned, left to rot. Then again, worse still in the form of Tsunamis destroying hundreds of kilometers of land devastated and damaged, swiping clean most of the human and animal life. It has happened many a times before and as of late, it has become far more frequent. Yet we, so absolutely absorbed in our worldly lives (ripe with defiance of Allah), all in the name of fun and entertainment, we never stop to think when in those moments or planning for them, IS IT REALLY WORTH IT?

I often wonder; what is it that stops us from relating to or contemplating the real value and worth of those precious moments that we choose to spend in Allah’s defiance? It escapes me how we could have cried buckets for the pain that we feel for people who suffered during the Tsunami in Japan or Phuket, or the Earthquake and then floods in Pakistan, for the victims of Katrina. It escapes me how we could have longed to know, how we could reach and help them. It escapes me, how we could yearn for finding a way to turn back time, to somehow stop the calamity from coming about at all. It escapes me, how after witnessing and wanting all this, we can yet continue so haplessly, so callously, so indifferently and so adamantly Invoking Allah’s Wrath? What is it that stops us from realizing the gravity of our actions while we pursue them? How come it escapes us to ask ourselves, at least while in the act if not before; IS IT REALLY WORTH IT?

I see so many of us so called Muslims, who apparently know at least somewhat of the TRUTH (as we may never even have bothered to read the entire Word of Allah-SWT, i.e. the Qur’an, with understanding and meaning), continuing in the same pursuit of defiant fun, without paying an ounce of heed to Allah’s Command. It shakes the very ground beneath me with horror to see this, because of the realization that to know and spread the Truth, Allah’s Word, His Command, His Guidance and the Art of Living, was our responsibility. When we not only shun our responsibility to learn the Truth, let alone spreading it or upholding it, the intensity with which we become a part of the adamant invocation of Allah’s Wrath is far beyond that of the non-believers denial and perseverance towards the defiant fun! In effect instead of helping them any, we are a further or more intense reason for the calamity to come and strike or enfold them. If I were amongst those non-believers, I would sift out any so-called Muslim and throw them out of the gathering; for that would provide the non-believers an amount of protection from Allah’s Wrath than to allow these claimants of belief, to blaspheme against Allah’s Commands invoking His utmost Wrath to be allowed in their vicinity. It should be clear-cut, that these are “non-Muslim events”, and only non-believers are allowed to pursue this form of entertainment, for otherwise the presence of those hypocritical believers might end up being the biggest party pooper they live to witness!

It is a question I would like to put forth to those of us Muslims, who are planning to participate in or carry out or be part of these FUN events, be it a rock concert, or clubbing, or partying or beach concert or any other prevalent form of “BEING MERRY”, so to say; Why is it that we are pursuing this activity? Is it for fun? What if I were to choke on my spit and die right in the moment of this defiant fun? How would Allah-SWT receive me? How much of His Love would I have invoked? How much of His Mercy would meet and welcome me? Would all the fun that I have in this moment suffice me or satisfy me for all times to come (in the hereafter)? If doomed to hell, would I be reminiscing these moments of fun and finding pleasure and gratification in them? If a calamity like a Tsunami were to seize every one of us amidst the defiant fun and we all be raised together on the Day of Judgment, would I be glad to be amongst these people as my companions and comrades?

I wonder sometimes that all those who tragically lost their lives in the calamities amidst the defiant fun they were so adamantly pursuing, did they even get a chance to reflect, WAS IT REALLY WORTH IT?

So here I am, making an attempt to help my dear dear dear fellow Muslims realize, we still have time, ask ourselves the needful and wakeup to the gravity of our choices and actions. When making the attempt and efforts to seek and pursue the defiant fun, stop for a moment and think. In today’s world there are all sorts of choices and opportunities before us. While there are opportunities to participate in defiant fun and adamantly invoke Allah’s Wrath, there too are endless opportunities to seek and pursue companions and gatherings, full of contentment of heart and everlasting peace, aggressively invoking Allah’s Love and Pleasure. Now let us ask ourselves, “which gathering do we wish to be a conscious part of and which companions do we wish to be raised with on the Day of Reckoning?” The moment is now, for the present is all we have, let us not let it go by in vain. May we all make the right choices and May we all with absolute earnestness spend the rest of the moments left of our lives in the pursuit of adamantly invoking Allah’s Love and Pleasure. Aameen!

For life is short and then we die! so let’s make peace before we say good bye!

Quran, Surah 30: ayat 41 - Mischief [Corruption, Evil, Turmoil, Destruction] has appeared on land and sea because of (the meed) that the hands of men have earned (by oppression and evil deeds, defiance, disobedience of Allah, etc.),  that Allah may make them taste a part of that which they have done, in order that they may return [or turn back] (from Evil by repenting to Allah, and begging His Pardon).

Friday, June 1, 2012

Constant Zikr and the Taste of Association


Translated Speech of
His Eminence Ameer Muhammad Akram Awan
Shaikh Silsilah Naqshbandiah Owaisiah
3rd May 2002
Indeed in the creation of the heavens and the earth and in the alternation of the night and day are signs for men of understanding. Those who remember Allah standing and sitting and lying on their sides and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth; our Lord! You have not created all this in vain. Hallowed be You! Save us You from the torment of the Fire. (3:190-191)
Apparently, the world is touching the zenith of advancement, but does material progress, beautification of the body, abundance in food and wealth represent the pinnacle of human excellence? Is man just the name of a body alone? No, not at all! Man is a mag­nificent creation of Almighty Allah. The human body has a role in worldly affairs only, while the reality lies within this visible form. It permeates every cell of the body and is called the Ruh (spirit) - a wonder of Divine creation. When the holy Prophet‑saws was questioned about it, the reply was given by Almighty Allah, Say:
the Ruh is by my Lord’s Command. (17:85)
Command is an Attribute of Allah. How then was the Ruh created from this Sublime Divine Attribute? Was it created through its image or reflection? In response, it was said,
And of knowledge you have been given but a little. - 17:80.
It is beyond human intellect to comprehend this point, you haven’t been granted the ability to understand it.
The real human dwells inside this body, a body which is made from the earth and its clothing, food and medicines all come from the earth. It can sustain itself even with the minimum of provisions and can live on ordinary food, cheap clothes and cheap shelter. But can it survive if its connection with the earth is totally severed? The Ruh is a creature of the Realm of Command. When its connection with the Realm of Command breaks, it resembles a body whose connection with the earth is severed; it cannot remain alive. When the Ruh of a person is not alive...what is the life of the Ruh? The body gets its life when the Ruh flows into it. Similarly, the Ruh gets its life when the light of Faith flows into the Qalb. The Ruh of a person is dead whose heart is without this light or is filled with Kufr. If you watch a Kafir, he would be more like an animal and less like a human being. He would be selfish, immoral, wicked and be inclined, like a snake, to bite and destroy fellow creatures. If we look at our society the question becomes, ‘Why has everybody turned against each other, why is it that everyone is out to harm others?’ The basic reason is that the Ruh has died.
Prophets were sent to teach human qualities to the children of Adam-as. The word insan (human) is derived from uns (love). When life flows into Ruh, it generates love and kindness. One starts thinking about the good of Allah’s creation: how can I help a human being, how can I benefit others? This is the difference between the life and death of the Ruh. When the Ruh is given life, a special consciousness develops, the thought process is modified, horizons of perception are broadened and one’s conduct is reformed. This extended perception does not remain confined to this world only, even the Last Day can be perceived. When the Ruh becomes unconcerned with the apparent form of deeds and instead envisions their consequences in the Hereafter and on the Day of Judgement, it certainly reforms its conduct. But what keeps the Ruh alive, healthy and strong? The holy Quran has emphasised on numerous occasions that your most common action in life should be Allah’s Zikr:
Perform Allah’s Zikr most frequently. - 33:41.
Now taking food is an act, earning livelihood is an act, going about is an act, maintaining relations and doing business are also acts, but there are other actions that we keep on doing throughout our lives. We breathe without interruption and our hearts beat without a break - life halts when these stop. If we have to perform ‘most frequent Zikr’, we will have to do it more than our breathing and more than our heartbeats - but how is this possible?
It is a living miracle of the holy Prophet-saws that he made possible this ‘impossibility’. When those people who attended his blessed company and came to be known as the Companions went to him, the light reflected by his blessed Qalb instantly illuminated each cell of their bodies –
Then mellowed their skins and hearts towards Allah’s Zikr. - 39:23.
The reflection of Prophetic lights infused them, from the outermost to the innermost parts of their bodies, with Allah’s Zikr and each cell of their bodies began performing Allah’s Zikr. Now, one can only breathe once at any given moment, but at that same moment, there would be billions of cells performing Allah’s Zikr. This way, Allah’s Zikr would accordingly exceed respiration. Similarly, the heart may beat only once in a moment, but the bil­lions of cells that it is made of, alongwith the countless cells of the rest of the body, would be performing Allah’s Zikr. Within that one heartbeat, the body would perform Allah’s Zikr zillions of time. But there is only one way - only one: attain those blessings from the holy Prophet Muhammad-saws! Allah says there are signs in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of days and nights, for a person with the Light of Faith, the one whose nature is still pure, who hasn’t yet turned into an animal and still retains some human qualities.
The creation of the heavens and earth, the days and nights, the unending process of creation that produces innumerable forms of life on earth every moment, fruits that ripen, trees that bloom, crops that grow and the blades of grass that take root, all of these con­tain visible signs. Nobody can count the things that are being created or destroyed each moment. The continuous process of change, creation and extinction contain magnificent signs of Allah’s Greatness for the wise. Who are these wise men? The holy Quran explains, ‘Wise are … those who remember Allah standing, sitting and reclining’; that is, they remember Allah at all times, in all the states, not even a moment is spent without Allah’s Zikr - they are the wise! When this constant Zikr is achieved, the vision is broad­ened ‘and they reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth.’ They acquire wis­dom and reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth, the systems supporting the universe, life and death, and the phenomenon of ‘rise and fall’. The sun rises pale, turns into a fireball at noon and turns pale again as it sets. Similarly, the seeds sprout, grow into huge trees and finally fall to become firewood. Crops grow and sway in the fields like waves, to finally dry and perish. It is a cycle, permanent and continuous, with­out the slightest bit of devia­tion. The world has been in existence since time immemorial, yet if only a single ray of sunlight had been extinguished everyday, by now the sun would have become cold and the solar system frozen; if only one ray (of sunlight) had been increased each day, the solar system would have been incinerated by now. But there is someone…someone who has kept in check everything under His Command, so that nothing happens before or after its appointed time. These are signs for the wise, they will reflect, they will understand; the faculty of contemplation would develop with them; but how… ‘those who remember Allah standing, sitting and reclining.’ Zikr is a vast term and in plain words it means ‘to remember’. All of our actions that are in accordance with Shari’ah comprise Allah’s Zikr. That is Zikr by deeds or practical Zikr, whether it be earning a livelihood, doing business, maintaining relationships, carrying out Jihad, fighting on the battlefield or living within the family. If our verbal communication is in accordance with the Shari’ah, it is oral Zikr. We may read Darud Sharif, engage in Allah’s Tasbeeh, recite His Book, worship or may talk about Him, etc, all of this is included in oral Zikr. But there are times when all deeds get suspended. Man is a strange machine, he requires as much time to rest as he does to work. He works during the day and rests at night for the natural maintenance of his body. A loss of energy due to work is recouped; bones, flesh, veins and nerves are refreshed and toned up again and when he gets up in the morning, he is ready to work again. Now during this period of rest, he has not done any Zikr by way of deeds. Therefore, practically, constant Zikr by deeds is not possible. Even for oral Zikr, it is not possible that all of his talking during the day comprises Allah’s Zikr. If we write down all that we say during the day and review it in the evening, we would realize how we have wasted our day because there may be only a few sentences of any worth or value. Then, when we go to sleep, oral Zikr also stops but the breathing continues and so does the heartbeat. Simi­larly, if one gets sick or falls uncon­scious, the tongue may get tied, eyes may close, hands and feet may stop working but even then, the breathing would continue and so would the heartbeat.
The Prophetic way of beneficence was that, anyone who went to the holy Prophet‑saws with the light of Faith was immersed in an ocean of light, each organ and cell of his body started performing Zikr. These blessings were there during the time of the Companions and anyone who went to them became a Tab‘i. They were distributed in a similar manner during the time of the Taba‘in and anyone who attended their company came to be known as a Taba‘ Tab‘i. These three periods are known as Khair ul-Quroon - the best of all times. The holy Prophet-saws said, ‘My time, the time that follows it and the time after that are, respectively, the best of all times.’ After Khair ul-Quroon, religious knowl­edge was categorised, righteous scholars compiled and then organised the traditions of the holy Prophet‑saws - the Ahadith, and the Book of Allah was translated into the native languages of the countries that it reached. Scholars fulfilled their duty of spreading religious knowl­edge to the masses in a most befitting manner and are discharging their blessed duty even today - may Allah forevermore keep this nation under their patronage! It is their favour that they expound Allah’s Message and the holy Prophet’s‑saws traditions to people. There was another category that also came into being which, alongwith knowledge, strove to acquire Prophetic blessings and spent a lifetime in absorbing Prophetic lights, radiated by the blessed bosom of the holy Prophet-saws into their bosoms. They came to be known as Sufis and Mashaikh. Such people were rare because the commodity they possessed was extraordinarily precious. You can find a grocery store around the corner of every street but if you want to buy diamonds, you won’t find them at every store, even in big towns there won’t be many jewellers. These Prophetic lights and blessings that radiated from the blessed bosom of the holy Prophet‑saws were incomparably more precious than diamonds and therefore were very rare. Fortunate were those who searched across the globe for their bearers and acquired these blessings from them.
How much did people strive for these blessings…this you can comprehend from a small incident. There is a tomb of a saint near our lands here and in the 6th century he travelled to Baghdad on foot, as no other means of transport were available then. There, he became a student of the grandson of Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani-rua. He stayed there for many years, learnt Allah’s Zikr, initiated his Qalb and body with Zikr and finally returned after an arduous journey of an indefinite period. During that time there were no telephones, telexes or televisions, it was impossible to know where to find such a person. People would set out in their pursuit from village to village and if they found someone they would stay, else they would carry on to the next village and then the next. He went from here to Baghdad on foot and returned on foot - isn’t it strange? But these people are somewhat different. He had built a small mosque near here and though centuries have passed by, nearby inhabitations have vanished and generations have gone by, nobody knows who had ever lived there, since there is no one to tell, yet the mosque still stands. Someone would just come and repair it. The mosque in which he remembered Allah is still there.
So my brother, Zikr is important for the reason that without Zikr, without constancy in Zikr, it is not easy to reform one’s conduct and deeds. It is not easy to keep the Ruh alive and retain the spiritual qualities that make a human being humane and generate humanity. You were enemies (of each other), and he (My Prophet) joined you hearts together. - 3:103. We who beg door to door for a piece of bread and endure insults while seeking a livelihood; shouldn’t we try to knock on a door where this Divine favour is available - the blessings of the holy Prophet Muhammad-saws? Shouldn’t we look for someone who gives us Allah’s Zikr, suffusing us in the same way as water saturates each particle of a flowerbed? These blessings should not only illuminate the Qalb and the whole bosom, but also initiate Allah’s Zikr in every cell of the body, in every piece of flesh, skin and bones and in every drop of blood. If one gets to this level of Zikr, it is only then that he starts to understand the reality of human life and humanity. Vision is diverted to­wards the creation of the heavens and contemplation is stimulated. One starts recognising Allah, according to one’s capacity, and feels like prostrating before Him and starts enjoying worship, one likes being in the Divine Presence and starts enjoying it. One feels like undertaking Jihad in His Cause and takes pleasure in getting his throat slit and his chest slashed. Such pleasure is the lot of a believer only and has shaken the Western world, they cannot understand why a Muslim sets out of his home only to die. It is strange. People join wars to capture booty, to get a salary and to earn money, for as the saying goes, ‘It is better to die rich than a pauper.’ But this army is strange, they say, ‘Take everything from us, just let us fight and let us die, our goal is to die.” What do they get in death? The West cannot understand this philosophy, because they don’t believe in Allah, they don’t know His beloved Prophet-saws. Allah says, ‘It is not death, it is the death of death! It is eternal life for the dead.’
Do not call those slain in Allah’s Cause as dead. - 2:154.
The interpreters have explained that those ‘people of God’, whose hearts and bodies get saturated with Allah’s Zikr, those who achieve continual Zikr, may meet death in any form but they are granted the status of Shahadat (martyrdom) and they achieve eternal life. This is because their total effort in life is devoted to Allah, seeking His Good Pleasure. They are the ones who have lost their lives during life. They can lay down their lives, but they cannot neglect Allah’s Zikr. They can die but cannot leave His Zikr.
Someone asked a question through an email the other night, ‘Doesn’t one practically remain in Allah’s Zikr all of the time? One utters His Name every now and then, during work one would say, ‘God willing, this would be done’, one would remember Allah when meeting friends or parting with them. That way, one always remains engaged in Allah’ Zikr in some form or the other.’ Basically the contention is correct; belief in Allah is also a form of Zikr. All deeds within the framework of Shari’ah also constitute Zikr, but per­forming Zikr that gives a taste of acquaintance is something totally different. Spending one’s life is one thing, but to enjoy the pleasures of life is something else. Reciting Allah’s Name every now and then is one thing, but the simultaneous vibration of billions of cells with His Zikr, that transform a human being into an ocean of Divine Refulgence is something absolutely different - it is an experience in itself! The one who tastes this does not differentiate between life and death, wealth and affluence lose their charm. The con­cept of union or separation loses its meaning and each moment of his life remains in the Divine Presence; every breath whispers a saga of Divine Greatness. This pleasure is known only to him who has tasted it- by Divine Grace.
So in my opinion, my brother, from what I have understood from the Book of Allah, the traditions of the holy Prophet-saws and the knowledge of a lifetime granted by Allah, life without Zikr is no life, it is only a pastime. The real taste and pleasure of life is in Allah’s Zikr. My suggestion, for the one who wants to know more, is that he should start performing Zikr himself. The Mashaikh have defined numerous ways of performing Zikr, and all of the methods that are not contradictory to the Shari’ah are permitted. Neverthe­less, being permitted is one thing, the method that draws more lights, blessings and beneficence is another matter. When someone asks us, naturally we would talk about and teach him our method that we have adopted for a lifetime, but he may perform Zikr by any other method that he likes - performing Zikr is mandatory. However, no restric­tion has been laid on the method of Zikr either by Allah or by His holy Prophet‑saws. There­fore, no one can impose any such restriction by one’s own opinion. Learn it from any Shaikh, learn it from any ‘man of God’, but my earnest recommendation is that if you really want to enjoy life, you must learn Allah’s Zikr. You will be able to taste its pleas­ure once it gets absorbed into your being and you would also understand how taste­less life is without Zikr.
May Allah favour everybody to do His Zikr. May He illuminate our hearts, bosoms and bodies, and forgive us our mistakes and sins.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

In Reply To The Salafi Beliefs


key: In blue itallics you will find the references and/or point of view of the Salafis (usually with reference links provided below; mainly the following: http://ahnazeer19.arabblogs.com/archive/2008/4/519791.html & http://www.muftisays.com/viewarticle.php?article=zntaqleed). In green Itallics you will find the references or quotes that I have provided with their respective links provided with them.

The Holy Prophet-SAAW brought us one deen and that is Islam, and that is one which brings ease for everyone. All four Fiqh's are accepted as authentic Islam, with very slight variations in the do's and dont's all agree on the exact same beliefs, there is no variation there. And the do's and don'ts are all such that the Prophet-SAAW taught on different times and occasions and all are considered valid and authentic.

My question to the Salafis is that do they believe that they or anyone else today has more knowledge and authority regarding Islam than a Taba’ee (Imam Abu Hanifa) who met atleast four Sahabis-RAU during his life time, which include Hazrat Anas-RAU?

Are the Salafis attempting to or trying to claim that the Prophet-SAAW never offered his-SAAW salah according to the Hanafi Fiqh? ... yet all the other 3 Fiqh's have no issues with the Hanafi Fiqh or vice versa ...

A direction from the Hadith informs us:

"Also perform your prayer just as you see me perform my prayer." (Bukhari Vol. 1, p. 1076)

It is not said: "Perform your prayer in the manner you may infer from the Holy Qurãn."


Masa'il or precepts are of four kinds:-

1Clear instructions from the Holy Qurãn and Ahadith. No Qiyas is allowed nor Taqlid permissible. The order is to practice on the clear injunction.

2In such propositions where there are two injunctions, one earlier, and one later, and through historical evidence both renown, then the earlier proposition is abrogated (Mansukh), whilst the latter command is ordered. Here too Qiyas and Taqlid ~ not permitted.

3Those propositions that have two clear injunctions but it is not known which is earlier and which later, i.e. no historical evidence.

4Those propositions of which there exist no clear injunctions.


(http://reformationofheart.blogspot.com/2012/04/what-is-taqleed-taqlid-falsification-of.html)

The Taba’een visually saw the Sahabah-RAU performing the Salah in manners they learnt from visually seeing the Holy Prophet-SAAW performing the Salah in person, live in front of them. Now how can one expect us to accept the statements and rulings of those random common Muslims (who have no knowledge of Islamic Jurisprudence, who casually come across one Sahih Hadith and base their entire understanding of the complete matter on the basis of that one Hadith) over that of a Taba’ee like Hadhrat Imam Abu Hanifa-RUA?

 With all due respect are all Salafis Muftis? Or masters of Islamic Jurisprudence? or these points are not infact their own learnings and deductions but are the learnings of those whom they consider a valid scholar?

The mentioned four schools are derived from the Sunnah and the Hadith and the practical demonstration of how and where they are applied; First taught directly by the Prophet-SAAW to the Sahabi-RAU and then from the Sahabi-RAU to the Tabaee-RUA. Thus yes their interpretation of the Islamic Law's and rituals of worships will be considered more accurate and authentic as compared to one who got up today studied some Hadith and decided as per his understanding and imagination how they should apply to our practical lives and rituals of worship.

Also in regard to the matter concerning the slight differences in the manner of offering Salah, that is because the Prophet-SAAW at different time periods in his-SAAW used all of the prescribed methods and none of them were specifically asked to be abandoned. Therefore all four are correct. The Fiqhs have been derived bearing different era's of the Prophet-SAAW's life, Imam Abu Hanifa followed the teachings and methods of the last era of the Prophet-SAAW's life (I believe, I'm not 100% sure on this one, I will have to validate the time period), thus the Hanafi Fiqh is derived from the rules of Islamic Jurisprudence according to the Hadith and Sunnah of that time.

“quote from the Holy Quran is from Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse 59: O you who believe, obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those entrusted with authority amongst you. Then if there arises any dispute about anything, refer the dispute to Allah and the Messenger, if you truly believe in Allah and the Last Day. That would be the best way and most suitable for final determination.
The Arabic word 'ati' means obey.. In the above aayah, Allah commands the believers to obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those entrusted with authority (olil-amr) amongst you. The above verse is extremely clear whereby Allah says:
'Ati-Allah' meaning 'obey Allah'
'wa ati-ar Rasool' meaning 'obey the Messenger'
'wa olil-amr minkum' meaning 'and those entrusted with authority amongst you.'
Allah does not say 'wa ati olil amr minkum'. The command 'ati' (obey) is not placed independently before the 'olil-amr'. And anyone who knows even basic Arabic grammar will confirm with you that because the word 'ati' (obey) is not placed before 'olil-amr' (those entrusted with authority), then it becomes a 'mashroot' (condition), that you have to obey those entrusted with authority amongst you, ONLY IF THEY OBEY ALLAH AND THE MESSENGER!
Then Allah states in the same aayah, that if there arises a dispute about anything, refer the dispute back to Allah (the Quran) and the Messenger (His Sunnah or Way).... If you truly believe in Allah and the Last Day.”



Before I delve any further, into this discussion, I would like to reply to their above comment. The insinuation of “ONLY IF THEY OBEY ALLAH AND THE MESSENGER!” as per the context of this discussion and their point of view or rather the salafi point of view is, that (na’uzubillah) they did not obey Allah-SWT and the Messenger, and therefore we (the ones who believe in the Taqleed of either of the 4 Aimah-e-Fiqh) are wrong in doing their Taqleed.

Whereas our stance is this that according to the above mentioned ayat, after Allah-SWT and the Prophet-SAAW if we are to do anyone’s Taqleed it is of “those entrusted with authority amongst us” and in the order of precedence they would be as follows Sahabah-RAU, Tabaee-RUA, Taba Tabaee-RUA and the learned Fuqaha (Mufti or masters of Islamic Jurisprudence). 

We take as further reference of this, the famous Hadith (which I will not be surprised if the salafi conveniently declare unauthentic) in which the Prophet-SAAW clearly stated that if only one Sahabi-RAU from the Ghazwa of Badr were to remain alive amongst all other Sahabis-RAU. And a conflict arose over a matter and all the other Sahabis-RAU were unanimously agreeing upon one stance while the Sahabi-RAU of Badr was the only one upholding the conflicting stance. Thereupon it would be incumbent upon them all to do the Taqleed of the Sahabi-RAU of Badr, as his-RAU understanding of the Quran and Sunnah would be considered superior in authenticity and his spiritual connection with the Holy Prophet-SAAW and Love for Allah-SWT would far supersede them all.

Thus when the matter arises of conflict today and we have the clear teachings of a Tabaee. Whom we believe to be an ardent and obedient follower of the Quran and Sunnah, we believe that there is no question regarding whose teachings we should adhere to: a Tabaee’s or some random scholars of today (no matter how qualified they claim to be or how many medals they may have hanging around their necks)?

For us the matter is of no conflict at all, for we shall abide by the Quran and the Sunnah and we believe that the four respective Imams did an immaculate job of doing the Taqleed of the Quran and Sunnah and deriving the Fiqh thereof. May Allah-SWT be pleased with them all, and rightly guide those who are audacious enough to get up centuries later under various pretexts and justifications pointing fingers at them and proclaiming themselves to be more authentic then them (nau’zubillah). Aameen! (The act itself seems nothing but replicating that of Ibn Muljam and the khwarij and this has always been the way of satan, to confuse people with a play of words and then secretly fill their hearts with self-love and the belief of their own superiority of beliefs and ideology etc. Truly it is them, who are the misguided and they know not. They have harboured arrogance in their hearts and blasphemed through their actions and their beliefs such that they do not even know and all their acts are lost. For such only the Judgment Day will be proof enough of who was right and who was wrong, and they might be shocked to find the four blessed Imam-e-Fiqh standing amongst the Muqaraboon in the plain of Arafat while they are standing on the left side wondering what happened.)

May Allah-SWT protect us from such an end and such a fate and allow our hearts to be opened to the truth and cleansed and purified such that every heartbeat of ours, every pulse, every breath is engaged in zikr-Allah. And our hearts are softened with love for Allah-SWT, His-SWT’s beloved Prophet-SAAW, the Prophets-AS, the Khulfa-e-Rashidoon-RAU, the Ahl-e-Bayt-RAU, the Sahabi-RAU, the khair-ul-Quroon-RUA, the Aulia-e-Ikram-RUA, and the rest of the Ummah and all of humanity and all of the creation of Allah-SWT. Aameen!

… Now in an attempt to only provide clarity to those who might get mislead after this debate, if I leave some matters unanswered and unsubstantiated. Therefore, I will make my utmost effort in replying with all earnestness regarding the links and references provided.

the reference salafi comment from the link provided below are given in quotes and italics: whereas my reply is provided in black font without italics.

http://ahnazeer19.jeeran.com/archive/2008/4/519791.html -

“No doubt these imams were very high in their knowledge and deeds,and there were lot of others of similar caliber and even of higher than these imams in rank and caliber. And beside these four scholars, three other scholars were also followed by people similar to "Hanafi" "Maliki" "Shafaee" and "Hanbali" as we find today people only following them. There are some important points to be kept in mind here.”



What is the reference of the comment in bold and who are they to randomly get up today and make claims in regard to which imam supersedes which in rank and caliber, especially when one of the Imam’s under discussion was a Tabaee?

“v Whatever Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) had given us that is intact and not lost, and can not be lost as Allah Himself is its Guardian.”



No doubt about that. Islam is preserved in its most authentic form through the four duties of the Prophet-SAAW being upheld todate by the four respective fields: i) Hufaaz-e-Quran; who learn each and every word (with its perfect pronunciation) and punctuation of the Quran by heart. ii) Sufia-e-ikram; tassawwuf /tazkeeyah for the purification of the heart and the spirit. iii) the Ulema-e-Ikram: the Muhadith and the Mufasir, iv) the Fuqaha; masters of Islamic Jurisprudence who tell us how the Quran and Sunnah apply to our practical lives.

“v Secondly that very religion was in practice in the time of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and after him, even till the time of imams who were born in the 2nd and 3rd century Hijri. Then they compiled their books. It is very clear here that a lot of time of Ummat al Muslima had passed practicing the same religion of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) without following any sect and Prophet said about those people who followed his way (other than any sect). "Khair al-qaroon qarnee thummalazeena yalonahum thummalazeena yalonahum"

Means, the best period is of mine, then that which is adjacent to the period of mine then which is connected to that and so on. All these three spans of time which are said to be the best by Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) had passed before these 4 imams came in this world. Therefore the best people of this umma had gone before the "Hanafi" "Maliki" "Shafaee" and "Hanbali" periods. Whose followers were these best people of umma and to whom they never followed? The period of imams came long after the period of the best followers of Prophet.”



What lies do they go around stating. They should atleast authenticate their nonsense with some reference and not their unqualified opinions.

Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn Zūṭā ibn Marzubān[4] (Persian:نعمان بن ثابت بن زوطا بن مرزبان), better known as Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, (699 — 767 CE / 80 — 148 AH) was the founder of the Sunni Hanafi school of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). Status as a Tabi‘i.
Imām Abū Ḥanīfah was born 67 years after the death of Muhammad, but during the time of the Sahaba of Muhammad, some of whom lived on until Abū Ḥanīfah's youth. Anas bin Malik, Muhammad's personal attendant, died in 93 AH and another companion, Abul Tufail Amir bin Wathilah, died in 100 AH, when Abū Ḥanīfah was 20 years old.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ab%C5%AB_%E1%B8%A4an%C4%ABfa


Mālik ibn Anas ibn Mālik ibn Abī 'Āmir al-Asbahī (Arabic مالك بن أنس) (c. 711 – 795) (93 AH – 179 AH ) is known as "Imam Malik, Malik took advantage of the fact that he was contemporary to many of the Tabi‘in to formulate his school of thought, which gave precedence to the acts of the people of Medina over the Hadith if they were in conflict. This was done due to the sizeable amount of scholars, and companions of Muhammad residing in the city where Malik's reputation grew immensely. Imam Malik died at the age of 86 in Medina in 795 and is buried in the famous Jannat ul-Baqi cemetery across from the Masjid al Nabawi.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malik_ibn_Anas)


Abū ʿAbdullāh Muhammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfi‘ī (Arabic: ابو عبدالله محمد بن إدريس الشافعيّ) was a Muslim jurist, who lived from 767 CE to 820 CE. He was active in juridical matters and his teaching eventually led to the Shafi'i school of fiqh (or Madh'hab) named after him. Hence he is often called Imam al-Shafi'i. He is considered the founder of Islamic jurisprudence.[2]:1 al-Shāfi‘ī belonged to the Qurayshi clan Banu Muttalib which was the sister clan of the Banu Hashim to which Muhammad and the Abbasidcaliphs belonged.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_ibn_Idris_ash-Shafi%27i)


Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Hanbal Abu `Abd Allah al-Shaybani (Arabic: احمد بن محمد بن حنبل ابو عبد الله الشيباني) was an important Muslim scholarand theologian. He is considered the founder of the Hanbali school of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). Imam Ahmad is one of the most celebratedSunni theologians, often referred to as "Sheikh ul-Islam"[8] or the "Imam of Ahl al-Sunnah," honorifics given to the most esteemed doctrinal authorities in the Sunni tradition. Imam Ahmad personified the theological views of the early orthodox scholars, including the founders of the other extant schools of Sunni fiqh, Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik ibn Anas, and Imam ash-Shafi`i. Born 780 CE/164 AH- died 855 CE/241 AH (aged 77) On Friday, the 12 of Rabi' al-Awwal 241 AH, the legendary Imam breathed his last.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Hanbal)


Muhammad Ibn Ismail Ibn Ibrahim Ibn al-Mughirah Ibn Bardizbah al-Bukhari (Persian/Arabic: محمد بن اسماعيل بن ابراهيم بن مغيره بن بردزبه بخاری), popularly known as Bukhari or Imam Bukhari, (196-256AH / 810-870AD), was a Sunni Islamic scholar of Persia.[3][4] He authored the hadith collection named Sahih Bukhari, a collection which Sunni Muslims regard as the most authentic of all hadith compilations.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_al-Bukhari)

provided above with the clear references are the time periods of these respective Imams. Which clearly shows Imam Abu Hanifa to be a respected Tabaee, and Imam Malik I believe was a Taba Tabaeen. Thus they were both from the Khair-ul-Quroon to say the least! I also added the details and reference of Imam Bukhari who is famous for his compilation of Sahi Hadith and as one can see that he and Imam Hanbal had an over lapping era.

“v In so many issues these scholars had used their rational power, as the collection work of Aadeeths (Tradition of our Prophet) could not be done in their period, as now easily available to every Muslim. So these imams had used their rational power and later on it is found Ahadeeths were there on those issues.”



If one were to go over the various links provided above under each Imam’s details, one  would see that they themselves were well versed in Hadith and are used as authentic sources of compiled Hadith. They were the Muhadith, the Mufasir and the Fuqaha of their respective eras. So this nonsense regarding their knowledge of Hadith being less authentic then those of today is preposterous. Our knowledge of our religion especially the Hadith and the Sunnah has survived through their sacrifices and their efforts to begin with. It is unbelievable and unacceptable to anyone with any amount of religious devotion and sense that a Tabaees understanding of the Quran and Sunnah would be less authentic to some scholar of today!

“Now I give you an example. Suppose you are traveling in the night, at the time of Isha' prayer you were not certain of the side of Qibla. You seriously ponder and decided to pray choosing one, same you did in Fajr prayer. After the dawn, you realized that your selection of Qibla side was wrong. Your Isha' and Fajr which you have prayed are correct in absence of any authentic source of correction, so no need to repeat those prayers. But which side would you choose for your Zuhar prayer in the open light of sun? Obviously towards the true Qibla side, as it is now day light to guide you. Your Zuhar prayer would not be accepted by Allah (SWT) if prayed toward the same side you prayed Isha.

Similarly whatever decision imams have taken, as well as their followers did, in the light of their best knowledge, in absence of Hadeeth, was correct. As it is obligatory to decide after proper consultation (Ijtihad) in absence of any Hadeeth on any particular problem, so their act was quite correct. But when all the Ahadeeth have been collected and it is found that some of the decisions were against the Ahadeeth of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), then there is no room to follow imams' decision which contradicts with Hadeeth of Prophet Mohammad.

It is similar to your Zuhar prayer which can not be prayed towards the wrong side of Qibla you had chosen previous night, for your Isha prayer and followed the same for your Fajr prayer, because you are now in daylight.”


I think with the provided references I have already refuted these preposterous claims and twisted beliefs and logic of these salafis. I would like here to provide three links below which clearly provide evidences of the forgeries, tampering and tehreef done by the salafis in their Darussalam printed editions of various (previously authentic and pure works of renowned Ulema-e-Haq).

(http://www.marifah.net/forums/topic/3246-examples-of-salafis-salafi-publishing-houses-tamperingalteringforging-texts/)
(http://www.marifah.net/forums/topic/3246-examples-of-salafis-salafi-publishing-houses-tamperingalteringforging-texts/page__st__15)
(http://www.marifah.net/forums/topic/3246-examples-of-salafis-salafi-publishing-houses-tamperingalteringforging-texts/page__st__30)

You will find this:_“Translated and abridged by a group of scholars under the supervision of Sheikh Safiur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri. Written and complied by Hafiz Ibn Kathir - The Qur'an is the revelation of Allah's Own Words for the guidance of His creatures. Since the Qur'an is the primary source of Islamic teachings, the correct understanding for the Qur'an is necessary for every Muslim. The Tafsir of Ibn Kathir is the most renowned and accepted explanation of the Qur'an in the entire world. In it one finds the best presentation of Ahadith, history, and scholarly commentary. - Dar-us-Salam is proud to present for the first time this abridged version of Tafsir Ibn Kathir, which is free from unauthentic Ahadith.”_ On the link provided : (http://www.meccabooks.com/quran-tafsir-commentary/418-tafsir-ibn-kathir-10-volume-set-9781591440208.html)

And my question would be that who has given any one of them the authority to tamper with the authentic works of Ibn-Kathir? If they actually believed that his Tafseer contained supposed unauthentic Hadith they should take the matter up in Sharaee court with dalail and make their own learned scholars write their own Tafseer rather than confusing other Muslims that their abridged version is infact the authentic Tafsir Ibn-Kathir. Which true to God person needs to do such devious acts as tampering with renowned religious works of others to promote their own wicked concepts and ideologies? Which man of Allah-SWT needs to tamper with the authentic works of renowned scholars and pass them of as the originals in order to prove or spread his own point of view. If one disagrees with the works or some parts thereof, of renowned scholars, he should clearly provide his chain of knowledge and religious background, point of difference and write his own works and spread them under his own name, leaving it to the people if they choose to read or agree with his point of view. This stance of attempting to mislead people into believing that the edited versions of the authentic works are the original works themselves is in fact not the way of a Muslim, let alone a man posing to be a religious authority or scholar or cleric etc.

“About twelve centuries have passed to the period of imams while the period of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is of more 225 years older. Suppose Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) comes to you alive and asks you to do any deed and tells you the way how to do that, same time imam also comes to you alive and ask you to do the same task in different way, who would be obeyed. Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) or imam?

There is no confusion in its answer that imam's way would be rejected and Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) would be followed. Yes, you are ordered to follow and obey the right path of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and not the path of contradiction. While a clear path is in front of us lead by our Prophet, why to accept the wrong one.”

“Neither the prophet is alive now, nor the imams but their paths are in front of us. Since there is no doubt that the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) would be obeyed and imams' contradictory path would be rejected if they come alive, there must not be any hesitation to follow the path of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in the light of his Ahadeeth rest all would be rejected.”



The above is a clear example of the hypothetical nonsense they come up with in order to confuse those with little or even less knowledge. These are weapons of satan to cause a rift and confusion amongst the Ummah. These questions are exactly like the one’s the atheists put forth saying “can GOD create a rock that HE cannot break? And if there would be a rock that HE cannot break than HE would not be GOD and if HE cannot make such a rock, then HE is not GOD because HE cannot make anything and everything!” All this is rubbish and a ploy of satan. The respective Imams followed the Quran and Sunnah immaculately and would continue to do so, if all were to come alive even today. We follow the Quran and Sunnah in doing their respective Taqleed, as was the way taught to us through the times of the Khulfa-e-Rashideen-RAU. All did the Taqleed of the Khaleefa of the time, irrespective of the fact that the rest of the people might also have been Sahabi-RAU.

“Interestingly the same is taught by these four imams in their teachings. None of them said whatever I adopt you have to follow. Imam Shafaee (RA) said " Iza saha al-hadeeth fa hua mazhabee"means "when there is authentic hadeeth available that is my religion". Imam Abu Hanifa said " when you find a Hadeeth contradicting my mandate, throw my decision on wall, means DO NOT FOLLOW MY SAYINGS.”

Please show me an authentic reference whereby I know that Imam Abu Hanifa-RUA said what they claim he has stated about throwing his ruling against the wall... secondly what my understanding of this matter is - that if he did state this it was because of his surety that there is no contradiction between his qiyas and understanding of the Quran and Sunnah, therefore no such issue will arise. The above statement of Imam Abu Hanifa-RUA (if true) only goes to show how sure he was of his qiyas being in absolute adherence to the Quran and Sunnah that he would say "when you find a Hadeeth contradicting my mandate, throw my decision on wall, means DO NOT FOLLOW MY SAYINGS.” Because he knew there was no such issue whatsoever. It is exactly as when the Prophet-SAAW proposed the Mubahala challenge with the Arab Christians (Al-Quran 3:61), that whichever one is wrong may the wrath of Allah-SWT seize him, because he-SAAW was absolutely sure of his-SAAW validity. Just like in the case of the proposed Mubahala challenge by the Prophet-SAAW, whereby he-SAAW wanted to invoke Allah-SWT's curse on the liar/the deviant, because he-SAAW was certain that he-SAAW was absolutely TRUTHFUL!

Hazrat Abu Hurairah (RAU), reported that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said:
"Allah the Almighty has said: 'Whosoever acts with enmity towards a Wali (of Allah), I will indeed declare war against him. Nothing endears My servant to Me than doing of what I have made obligatory upon him to do. And My servant continues to draw nearer to Me with nawafil prayers so that I shall love him. When I love him, I shall be his hearing with which he shall hear, his sight with which he shall see, his hands with which he shall hold, and his feet with which he shall walk. And if he asks (something) of Me, I shall surely give it to him, and if he takes refuge in Me, I shall certainly grant him it.”

Our belief regarding the Aimah-e-Fiqh. We believe them to be devout followers of the Quran and Sunnah. We believe them to be fully adept in Islamic Jurisprudence thereby their understanding and interpretation would be considered to be correct and authentic one, even if we seemingly came across a hadith that apparently seemed contradictory; however, recognizing the fact that we are not masters in Tafseer-e-Quran or Tafseer-e-Hadith and neither Islamic Jurisprudence. We have no knowledge of when and where and under which circumstances that hadith took place and how it was meant to apply to our practical lives unless first the Prophet-SAAW enacted it or approved it in the actions of the Sahabi-RAU who in turn taught the pristine actions, meanings, and message to the Tabaee-RUA. We would still go by with the understanding or verdict provided by the Aimah-e-Fiqh - especially Imam Abu Hanifa as he himself was a Tabaee. Because we believe that he is immaculate in his understanding and depiction of the Quran and Sunnah. Thus in emulating his Law, we are infact attempting to authentically emulate the Quran and Sunnah and not deviate as per our convenient understanding or lack therefof.


When imams (RAA) in absence of Hadeeth did "Ijtehad" and instructed that do not follow this path if Hadeeth is available on this subject, REJECT US PLUNTLY. They got free with this expression, in the sight of Allah. Those who systematically follow the way of their imams rigidly are introducing a new thing which was never introduced before in Islamic Sharia.”



just imagine that during the time of the Imam the Hadith was absent and its suddenly present now, yet those who do taqleed are introducing new things into Islamic Sharia! Unbelievable! What can one say to such absurdity?

Also to further explain this point I would like to recommend the reading of the following book “The Status of Imam Abu Haneefah in the Science of Hadith” By Shaykh Abu ‘Umar ‘Irfan Kabeeruddin, on the below provided link. I think it will clarify the misconceptions of many an individual and many an ignoramous who questions Imam Abu Hanifa’s authority in regards to Islamic Jurisprudence and his knowledge of the Ahadith.
http://www.muhammadiyah.info/Books/The%20Status%20of%20Imam%20Abu%20Hanifa%20in%20Hadees.pdf

please read the following:http://reformationofheart.blogspot.com/2012/04/aqeedah-tahawiyyah-aqaidbeliefs-of.html ...


"73. We follow the Sunna of the Prophet-SAAW and the Congregation of the Muslims (Khair-ul-Quroon), and avoid deviation, differences and divisions."


"97. The learned men of the Predecessors, both the first community and those who immediately followed (Khair-ul-Quroon: Sahabah, Tabaee, Taba Tabaeen): the people of virtue, the narrators of hadith, the jurists, and the analysts-- they must only be spoken of in the best way, and anyone who says anything bad about them is not on the right path."


"101. We do not accept as true what soothsayers and fortune-tellers say, nor do we accept the claims of those who affirm anything which goes against the Book, the Sunna, and the consensus of the Muslim Community (Khair-ul-Quroon, Fuqaha, the learned scholars, and Aulia)."

... I think as Muslims we really need to be very clear about our Aqeedah/Aqaid in depth.

May Allah-SWT guide us all to the right path and choose us to become His-SWT Muqariboon, and on the Day of Judgement may we be amongst those who receive salvation without accountability and May He-SWT make us a source of pride and pleasure for the Prophet-SAAW, the Sahabah-RAU, the Khair-ul-Quroon and the Aulia-e-ikraam. Aameen!

I believe in the Quran and Sunnah and Authentic Hadith books (in their original prints), I believe in the authenticity of the four Fiqhs, I believe the pious Predecessors (the Khair-ul-Quroon) as the authority for upholding the most authentic and correct Islam. I believe they were living examples / embodiment of the teachings of the Holy Prophet-SAAW. I take their word over any later scholars any day. I believe in their Taqleed as tantamounting to being the closest to the correct Sunnah. I believe deviations and sects would not have arisen had everyone simply done Taqleed of the four Aimah-e-Fiqh in the most sincere way. The day we stopped doing that and started issuing our own ideas and logic as means of acceptance of Hadith and Sunnah and Fiqh, we fell prey to satan and his attacks and divided into endless sects.

below is a abstract from the post(article)
Taqlîd or Ittibâ in essence, simply refers to the practice of an unqualified, lay person (in a specific field of specialisation) submitting to and accepting the authority of an expert in that field, without demanding proof and justification for every view, opinion or verdict expressed by such an expert authority

will you agree with the above blindly?
how came ?you go to shop and just blindly purchase something without investigating and search ?

I was asked the above and my reply is YES! I would believe it and yes when I go shopping and a box of eatables is stamped with the halaal seal, I just pick it up blindly and eat it without further investigating who and how and when and where and why was this stamped as halaal. The stamp of Imam Abu Hanifa-RUA on a verdict or ruling or teaching is more authentic to me than the present day stamp of “halaal” on the eatables world over.

_"Narrated Aisha
The Prophet (may peace be upon him) kissed one of his wives and went out for saying prayer. He did not perform ablution. (Sunan Abu Dawood Vol. 1 Chapter No. 70 Hadith No. 179)_

Thus this particular teaching of Imam Shafi contradicts the authentic saying of the Prophet. So I reject this specific ruling of Imam Shafi who himself said , “ If I say something, then compare it to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His messenger and if it agrees to them, then accept it and that which goes against them, then reject it and throw my saying against the wall” – This is a saying of ash-Shafi’ee-rahimaullah. See Al-Majmoo’ of an-Nawawee (1/63).

Thus by rejecting this particular teaching of Imam Shafi which contradicts the authentic Hadith, I am practically a better follower of Imam Shafi than those who call themselves ‘Shafi’."

(http://www.muftisays.com/viewarticle.php?article=zntaqleed)

A strange tragedy of today is that whereas we do have the exact chain of transmission of the knowledge and education that the Aimah-e-Fiqah received and how it traces back to the Prophet-SAAW. Today random scholars make absurd claims regarding these Aimah-e-Fiqh and we have no knowledge of the chain of education or transmission of knowledge that they have received and how it traces back to the Prophet-SAAW. Yet we are ever so willing to believe them over these Aimah-e-Fiqh solely because their beliefs and ideologies suit our fancy and give way and room for our own desires and change of Fiqh as per our own likes and preferences. For example: We want to kiss our wives and not bother to do wuzu again, so let’s completely deny the authenticity of the Islamic Jurisprudence of Imam Shafee

The teachings of 4 imams are within the parameters of ahadith! and we just cannot interpret the meaning of a hadees with our own understanding.

Have these people never heard of the fact that the Fiqh of the Prophets-AS is different to those of the masses? The Prophet-SAAW had more than 4 wives at a given time. Then as per the Ayat and the Hadith mentioning that should all Muslim men be allowed more than 4 wives? Please understand that the matter of Islamic Jurisprudence is not a joke. People of great Eemaan and spiritual enlightenment and purification, dedicated their entire lives, sacrificing all their energies, efforts, money etc for achieving perfection of Islamic Jurisprudence. We today, who dare to question their works and are audacious enough to believe that our knowledge is more enduring than theirs, must be certain that we have devolped such an illness and hardness in our hearts that can only be cured through constant zikr-Allah. And May Allah-SWT grant us the taufeeq to do it (Aameen), for otherwise we are cetainly doomed in our arrogance, the stench of which will never allow us to come close to the gardens of Allah-SWT's beloveds.

in whole of the Christian world Pope is the last word, why shouldn't in Islam every one just consult Imam-e-Kabah

Also regarding the matter of doing taqleed of the Imam-e-Kaba. Well the Imam-e-Kaba himself is ghair Muqalid, then how come he would accept that others should do his Taqleed, when he considers even the Taqleed of a Tabaee an unnecessary bidah? Besides that everyone should consult the Ameer-ul-Momineen - for that the revival of Khilafat is required. Which as per the prophecy of Prophet Muhammad-SAAW will now be at the hands of Hazrat Imam Mehdi. Until then we have the Sunnah and we have the four valid and authentic Fiqhs which are good enough for us Muslims. - We do not emulate the Christians and their Pope in any which way.

How abnormal or normal would I be considered if I had a bunch of law books lying in my shelf and even after never having formally studied Law, I began to claim that I was equipped in matters of law because now I had the authentic books????

And just for the record I would like to clarify: Taqleed of the four Imam-e-Fiqh is not obligatory if one is himself well equipped with the formal knowledge of Islamic Jurisprudence, and is a master of the Tafseer and the Hadith (Muffasir-e-Quran and Muhadith), thereupon one may derive one’s own Islamic law and practice it. But he will still not be considered authentic enough that others should do his Taqleed.

And Allah-SWT knows best!


...
In conclusion:
I read a book that a friend shared with me sometime back, called "the devils deception" there was a part in there which I want to mention here ...

page 9:

Any comprehensive study of Shi'ism has to include the Khawaarij, because to a large degree the Shi'ite deviation represents an extreme reaction to the extremes of the Khawaarij. The Khawaarij declared 'Alee(RAU) ibn Abee Taalib to be a Coffer (disbeliever) and the Shi'ite elevated him and some of his descendants to the leval of demi-gods. Meanwhile mainstream Islaam, often referred to as Sunni Islaam, considers him to be neither a coffer nor a demi-god, but one of the greatest companions of the Prophet (SAAW), and the fourth of the Righteous Caliphs (RAU). No serious historical study of the Shee'ah could be considered complete without a look at what it gave birth to, the ultra-deviant sects of the Baatineeyah.

page 26:

The arbitration was subsequently delayed till the month of Ramadaan.During this period, the very validity of men deciding something which lay in Allaah's jurisdiction, was questioned by one of 'Alee's followers by the name of 'Urwah ibn Uthainah39 who said, "Judgement belongs only to Allaah." When 'Alee turned his army away from the plain of Siffeen and entered Kufah, about twelve thousand of his followers did not enter the city with him. Instead, they camped at the town of Harooraa4 0 and raised their voices in unison reciting the slogan, 'Judgement belongs only to Allaah!'This incident marks the first appearance of the Khawaarij as a sectarian movement. They subsequently appointed Shuaib4 1 ibn Rib'ee at-Tameemee as their Ameer for battle, and 'Abdullaah ibn al-Kawwaa al-Yashkaree as their Ameer for Salaah. These Khawaarij were initially very pious and meticulous about the performance of the various acts of worship. *However, their belief that they were more knowledgeable than the Prophet's (SAAW) companion (RAU), 'Alee (RAU) ibn Abee Taalib, became the basis of a terrible sickness which afflicted them and led them astray.

you can read the rest of it yourself, however I shall share you the catastrophic and detrimental result of this blaphemous audaciousness of these cursed men:

page 34:

“Muhammad ibn Sa'd reported from his teachers that three Khaarijites, 'Abdur-Rahmaan ibn Muljam, al-Burak ibn 'Abdillaah and 'Amr ibn Bakr at-Tameemee, gathered in Makkah and pledged to kill 'Alee-RAU,65 Mu'aawiyah and 'Amr ibn al-'Aas respectively and not betray one another.

Ibn Muljam went to Kufah and on the appointed night when 'Alee left his house to lead the early morning prayers (Salaah al-Fajr), he struck him a vicious blow on the forehead which penetrated to his brain. 66

'Alee-RAU cried out to the people not to let him escape and they caught him. When Umm Kulthoom-RAU 67 screamed at him, 'Oh enemy of Allaah, you have killed the Ameer al-Mumineen-RAU wrongly, he replied, 'Cry then.' He then went on to say, 'I poisoned my sword, so if he survives me, I pray that Allaah banishes him and destroys him.' So when 'Alee-RAU died, Ibn Muljam was brought out to be executed and even though Abdullaah ibn Ja'far cut off both of his hands and feet, he did not cry out or speak. Next both of his eyes were pierced by red hot nails, but he still did not cry out. Instead he began to recite Soorah al-'Alaq: “Read in the name of your Lord who created mankind from a leach-like clot” - and he finished it while blood flowed from his eye-sockets. However, when a section of his tongue was burned, he cried out and when asked why he did so at this point, he replied, 'I hate to die in this world with other than Allaah's remembrance on my tongue.'

Looking at the skin on his forehead one could see brownness; the effects of constant prostration in prayer - may Allaah curse him!”

....

my point here is this ... during those times, after the Holy Prophet-SAAW, the pious Sahabi-RAU and that too the Khulfa-e-Rashideen, faced people such who decide to go against them and declare themselves as being more authentic. And in their actions, they were very staunch in their worships and presentation. Yet the arrogance they harboured inside their hearts was such that they were audacious enough to declare their knowledge superior to that of the Sahabi-RAU. Nowadays we do that with the Khair-ul-Quroon. But the fact remains that this act is the one that made Satan become the accursed one. It was his arrogance in his own knowledge that made him undermine the status of Hazrat Adam-AS, to the extent of defying Allah-SWT's Command. The fact of the matter is that the Quran clearly states the reason for satan's defiance to prostrate before Adam-AS, however had his reason been solely that no-one other than Allah-SWT should be prostrated before, even then he would have been the accursed one, since no one has the right to pick and choose the commands of Allah-SWT and decide as per his own whim and will how and where they apply! When Allah-SWT commands us to do something, we look at the Prophet-SAAW (and his-SAAW's Companions-RAU and their Companions-RUA and their Companions-RUA) as to how and where that  Command is applied and we comply and adhere to it as immaculately as we can, with utmost sincerity in our hearts.

Allah-SWT knows best ... and may He-SWT rightly guide us, even if we have the slightest sincerity towards Allah-SWT, the Prophet-SAAW, the Sahaba-RAU, the Khulfa-e-Rashideen-RUA and Islam, in our hearts. Aameen (for Islam would have never survived in its pure and pristine form if it were not for the efforts, sacrifices and dedication of the khair-ul-Quroon) May Allah-SWT bless them all. Aameen

I have more or less read the claims made by these salafis on the provided links. They are preposterous to say the least and exceptionally audacious at most. I have found similarity in their behavior, debates and their beliefs with those of Jews, Khwarij and the Shi’ites. The Jews disregarded and undermined the Prophet-AS. The Khwarij and Shi’ites did the same with the Sahaba-RAU, the Salafi’s do the same with the Khair-ul-Quroon-RUA and the pious predecesors. All of them claim to be more authentic and more ardent followers of Allah-SWT and uphold themselves as the chosen authentic true beloveds of Allah-SWT. I find in my dealing over the years with them, the same two-faced bigotry.

I find them focusing mainly on their outward following and practices of their religions and that too more so publically. I find that privately or in their homes they live dual lives, with their main focus being on creating public impressions of authenticity. For example one would not find TV’s in their lounge, but one would find them hidden away in their bedrooms. I find many of them running dual internet accounts on public platforms, either a fake one for their un-Islamic activities or a fake one for preaching. I have found them to lie at their convenience, even in matters pertaining to deen just to uphold their arguments. They make light to undermining the khair-ul-Quroon, yet when anyone of the scholars they accept as authentic is undermined, they would cut throat. What is OK for them, is not OK for others. I find them judgmental and hardened of heart. They are quick to point fingers at others and engage in long extensive arguments and almost invariably redundantly repeating over and over again the same lines they have been brain washed / indoctrinated with. They are quick to assume everyone else is bound for hell whereas they are the only ones worthy of receiving Allah-SWT’s mercy. I find in their beliefs, behaviour and arguments like those of the Qadiyani's or any of these similar people or groups who wish to distort the teachings and interpretation of the Quran and Sunnah to propagate their own heretic beliefs for vested interests. May Allah-SWT protect us from these ever forming new fitnas. Aameen!

The matter of these salafis is similar to:
'A serious doubt of pharmacists' - if a poison has an expiry date, would it become more poisonous or less?

I would like to highlight and anyone can go and look this up, the salafis tamper with religious texts and books in matters of Tassawuff and Taqleed. The two things which, if one removes, there is no way left to keep a Muslim safe from the satanic whispering of self-love, arrogance and conceit!


Surah Az-Zumar (39:22-23)
Is one whose breast Allah has opened [wide with willingness] to Islam, so that he is illumined by a light [that flows] from his Sustainer [follows a Light from Allah], [no better than or be likened to the blind and deaf of heart, one hardened of heart]? Woe to those whose hearts are hardened against the [dhikr] remembrance of Allah. They are manifestly wandering [in error]! Allah bestows [Light, inspiration, revelation] from on high the best of all teachings [manifest] in the shape of a divine writ [the Quran] fully consistent within itself, repeating each statement [of the truth] in manifold forms [a divine writ] whereat shiver [tremble, vibrate] the skins of all, who stand in awe of their Sustainer: Then their skins and their hearts do soften with the remembrance [dhikr] of Allah. Such is Allah’s guidance: HE guides therewith him that wills [to be guided] whereas he whom Allah lets go astray can never find any guide.

I know the teachings of the Salafis and their redundant arguments,  all I can say is, that May Allah-SWT protect all earnest and sincere Muslims from falling victim to them and falling into their trap. Aameen! If there is an iota of truth and khuloos in us may Allah-SWT guide us to the true and authentic Islam and bless us with the taufeeq to engage in constant zikr-Allah. Aameen!

“Your (Muhammad's s.a.w) duty is only to convey (the Message) ..." [3:20]

" The Messenger's (Muhammad's s.a.w) duty is nothing but to convey ..." [5:99]

"... Your (Muhammad's s.a.w) duty is nothing but to convey (the Message) ..." [42:48]

I have done my duty ... you may believe what you wish.

JazakAllah Khair