May Allah swt accept for the sake of Chaadar e Butool Ameen
22nd Apr, 2020
Nabi ﷺ had great love for Sayidina Abu Hurayrah رضي and It is Mentioned in a hadith (the meaning of the hadith is as follows) Nabi ﷺ once said to Sayidina Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه, "Shall I not inform you of such a deed or such an act of worship with which you may become a complete believer?"
What a beautiful statement. Our attempts and efforts in life are upon this basis. In other words, this is something we strive for day and night - keeping in mind that Jannah is prepared for the believers.
Nabi ﷺ has stated about the blessed Sahabah رضي الله عنهم - "My Companions are like the stars, whichever of them you follow you will be rightly guided”
Allah swt made them perfect believers through the blessed companionship of the prophet ﷺ.
So as his Ummah, we should learn form this - to strive to perfect our imaan and become perfect believers.
Whilst doing so, we should compare our efforts with the Quran and hadith.
Are we striving to become a perfect believer in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah? What kind of striving has been mention therein?
This must be considered as shaytan and one's own nafs can deceive a person and make him believe that he is doing the correct thing, striving in the correct way and treading on the right path.
But in reality, one who acts and strives according to the quran and sunnah, is the one who has adopted the correct path.
We engage in extra worship and pray tahajjud which is beneficial indeed, BUT something that our beloved Nabi ﷺ has ordered us to do, carries a special benefit.
So Nabi ﷺ answered Sayidina Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه (in the above hadith) by commanding that he should like/prefer for others what he liked for himself. And this message is for all of us - his entire Ummah.
This is such a great means for a believer to perfect his faith with. In this day and age, we belittle this deed and think nothing of it. Rather, we should analyse ourselves to see if we possess this beautiful quality.
21st Apr, 2020
When it comes to gifting others, we become so stingy. We hesitate in gifting new items and things of good quality and we avoid gifting what we would chose for ourselves.
A story comes to mind. There was a truly pious person whom everyone recognised to be pious in the community. So the people would serve him and seek duas from him, as is sought from pious people.
In the same city was another person and he would speak highly of himself saying he loves the pious people etc. His habit was that when he would have his dinner at night, he would eat first and then afterwards he would give the leftovers to that pious person of the city.
One day Allah showed him a dream that people have reached Jannah alongside himself. Everyone is eating and enjoying in Jannah amidst tablespreads but he is sitting separate from them, weeping and he was not served any food.
So he asked Allah why am I not enjoying like the others, why do I have no food like the others although I can smell it?
So Allah replied to him "in the world there was a friend of mine and you used to make it a point that you were serving him but he used to eat the leftover that you used to serve to him. So today you are in Jannah but you will only recieve the leftovers once the people of Jannah have finished eating. And you will not receive the fresh food."
So this is why imaan is a huge asset for a believer and good character and conduct MUST be developed in our lives. This quality cannot be attained by great worships or even tahajjud. This quality may not even be present amongst the great worshippers. Not everyone may receive it and the reason for this is ; to gain this deed you do not require a prayer mat but you require islaah Qalb - which is the Rectification of the Heart.
Good morals and conduct are not developed through ones physical actions but rather when one reforms his heart, his character is developed. And due to this reformation of the heart the physical effects take place - good character comes in to your life.
Our heart was created for rectification. We perform the faraaidh actions Hajj salah etc so that we may not become heedless of our lord. After this the greatest action is to mend the heart and to reform it. Nafl deeds are considered beneath this.
Just like Hadrath Thanwi رحمه الله said islaah qalb is fard ayn!
We should deem islahi qalb at the rank of a fard because our hearts are filthy with miserliness. Whatever we like for ourselves we should give to others and even our enemies so that they may recieve our gifts with happiness.
This shows that you have gifted someone willingly and wholeheartedly with love.
All these feelings are produced by the heart. And until they aren't created within us we wont recieve any good conduct within us. For the rest of our lives we MUST always strive to achieve good character. If your interior (heart) is beautiful, then your entire self is beautiful.
Now how is reformation of the heart done?
To cure a flu or any illness one visits the doctor for prescribed medicines.
So we should go to the pious to cure our hearts.
21st Apr, 2020
Whenever someone new would go to my beloved Hadhrat Sheikh Damaat barakatuhum, after greeting them he would kindly and gently ask them, "for what purpose have you come to me?"
How beautiful was his style.
(In order words inform me what your purpose of coming is, as I do not possess dunyawi material to benefit you with).
Those people that visit the pious are selected by Allah Allah thier habit is such that when they are asked upon arrival as to why they have come. They say "we have come to seek Allah." This is how islaah qalb is done
So in conclusion ,
Nabiﷺ mentioned this small deed to Sayidina Abu hurayrah رضي الله عنه -to prefer for others what one prefers for himself and this only achieved when the hearts are purified and rectified.
We may have bad habits present within us so we should at least acknowledge that they are wrong because it takes an entire lifetime for one to purify his heart. It isnt a momentary task.
When you go to a pious person for a certain motive, even if you do not receive what you wish, you'll still be rewarded for going.
We need to do make an effort with our hearts because only through our efforts will our hearts become pure.
If a doctor prescribed you with a medicine to take 3 times a day and you only take it once a day, it will not cure you efficiently. So just as one adheres to the doctors advice, he should take the advice of his Shaykh in the same way. If he gives 3 tasbih you must do 3. If he tells you to do zikr in the morning you must do it because why would one go to a doctor if he will not act upon what he orders.
If you select your Shaykh, you must also obey him and if you seek to find loopholes or leeways through your nafs, you will not be successful.
You could possess a 40 year connection with your Shaykh, but nafs can still attack you and all your previous years efforts may go down the drain. So we must always be cautious and focus on our hearts.
Allah grant us all taufeeq that we implement all the nasihah (advise) we recieve from the pious. Ameen
May Allah swt accept for the sake of Chaadar e Butool Ameen