For Women

Of the greatest of women was our Lady Maryam, and she had no husband. Of the greatest of women was our Lady A'ishah, and she had no children.

Don't wait for husbands and children to complete you, and don't feel deficient without them.

Be great, your self.

Lessons from Fairytales

The Turnip (by the Brothers Grimm)

There were two brothers who were both soldiers; one was rich and the other poor. The poor man thought he would try to better himself; so, pulling off his red coat, he became a gardener, and dug his ground well, and sowed turnips. When the seed came up, there was one plant bigger than all the rest; and it kept getting larger and larger, and seemed as if it would never cease growing; so that it might have been called the prince of turnips for there never was such a one seen before, and never will again. At last it was so big that it filled a cart, and two oxen could hardly draw it; and the gardener knew not what in the world to do with it, nor whether it would be a blessing or a curse to him. One day he said to himself, ‘What shall I do with it? if I sell it, it will bring no more than another; and for eating, the little turnips are better than this; the best thing perhaps is to carry it and give it to the king as a mark of respect.’

Then he yoked his oxen, and drew the turnip to the court, and gave it to the king. ‘What a wonderful thing!’ said the king; ‘I have seen many strange things, but such a monster as this I never saw. Where did you get the seed? or is it only your good luck? If so, you are a true child of fortune.’ ‘Ah, no!’ answered the gardener, ‘I am no child of fortune; I am a poor soldier, who never could get enough to live upon; so I laid aside my red coat, and set to work, tilling the ground. I have a brother, who is rich, and your majesty knows him well, and all the world knows him; but because I am poor, everybody forgets me.’ The king then took pity on him, and said, ‘You shall be poor no longer. I will give you so much that you shall be even richer than your brother.’ Then he gave him gold and lands and flocks, and made him so rich that his brother’s fortune could not at all be compared with his.

When the brother heard of all this, and how a turnip had made the gardener so rich, he envied him sorely, and bethought himself how he could contrive to get the same good fortune for himself. However, he determined to manage more cleverly than his brother, and got together a rich present of gold and fine horses for the king; and thought he must have a much larger gift in return; for if his brother had received so much for only a turnip, what must his present be worth? The king took the gift very graciously, and said he knew not what to give in return more valuable and wonderful than the great turnip; so the soldier was forced to put it into a cart, and drag it home with him. 

When he reached home, he knew not upon whom to vent his rage and spite; and at length wicked thoughts came into his head, and he resolved to kill his brother. So he hired some villains to murder him; and having shown them where to lie in ambush, he went to his brother, and said, ‘Dear brother, I have found a hidden treasure; let us go and dig it up, and share it between us.’ The other had no suspicions of his roguery: so they went out together, and as they were travelling along, the murderers rushed out upon him, bound him, and were going to hang him on a tree. But whilst they were getting all ready, they heard the trampling of a horse at a distance, which so frightened them that they pushed their prisoner neck and shoulders together into a sack, and swung him up by a cord to the tree, where they left him dangling, and ran away. 

Meantime he worked and worked away, till he made a hole large enough to put out his head. When the horseman came up, he proved to be a student, a merry fellow, who was journeying along on his nag, and singing as he went. As soon as the man in the sack saw him passing under the tree, he cried out, ‘Good morning! good morning to thee, my friend!’ The student looked about everywhere; and seeing no one, and not knowing where the voice came from, cried out, ‘Who calls me?’ Then the man in the tree answered, ‘Lift up thine eyes, for behold here I sit in the sack of wisdom; here have I, in a short time, learned great and wondrous things. Compared to this seat, all the learning of the schools is as empty air. A little longer, and I shall know all that man can know, and shall come forth wiser than the wisest of mankind. Here I discern the signs and motions of the heavens and the stars; the laws that control the winds; the number of the sands on the seashore; the healing of the sick; the virtues of all simples, of birds, and of precious stones. Wert thou but once here, my friend, though wouldst feel and own the power of knowledge.

The student listened to all this and wondered much; at last he said, ‘Blessed be the day and hour when I found you; cannot you contrive to let me into the sack for a little while?’ Then the other answered, as if very unwillingly, ‘A little space I may allow thee to sit here, if thou wilt reward me well and entreat me kindly; but thou must tarry yet an hour below, till I have learnt some little matters that are yet unknown to me.’

So the student sat himself down and waited a while; but the time hung heavy upon him, and he begged earnestly that he might ascend forthwith, for his thirst for knowledge was great. Then the other pretended to give way, and said, ‘Thou must let the sack of wisdom descend, by untying yonder cord, and then thou shalt enter.’ So the student let him down, opened the sack, and set him free. ‘Now then,’ cried he, ‘let me ascend quickly.’ As he began to put himself into the sack heels first, ‘Wait a while,’ said the gardener, ‘that is not the way.’ Then he pushed him in head first, tied up the sack, and soon swung up the searcher after wisdom dangling in the air. ‘How is it with thee, friend?’ said he, ‘dost thou not feel that wisdom comes unto thee? Rest there in peace, till thou art a wiser man than thou wert.’

So saying, he trotted off on the student’s nag, and left the poor fellow to gather wisdom till somebody should come and let him down.

ya qalbi

love: a moving sea

Let there be spaces in your togetherness,

And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other’s cup, but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread, but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow. 

(Khalil Gibran)

1434 هـ

Shaykh Abdul Hamid Kishk, Allah have mercy upon him, wrote:

 If you miss this opportunity that is it. The only time you have is now. There is no other. Anyone who puts things off until tomorrow will never be successful. Man is the child of the moment and so you should be careful not to waste it. Procrastination is the death of action and the enemy of completion. He who embarks rarely fails to arrive. Fortune favours the bold. If anyone puts his fate in time, his hands will be tied by the hands of deprivation. Profit is to be found in boldness. He who lets things slip is likely to lose.

A productive year to us all, in sha Allah.

Shaykh Adib al-Kallas

This is Shaykh Adib Kallas (Allah have mercy upon him), of the blessed land of Damascus (Allah protect it). He was the teacher of our teachers, and though his benefit has been extensive, I don't know much about him. Although there are some general biographies around, I've always wanted to know more of what he was like as a teacher. So I contacted Shaykh Gibril (Allah preserve him) asking him if he could tell me more! Below is his beautiful response:

***

Shaykh Muhammad Adib Kallas (1921-2009) (Allah have mercy on him) was a living embodiment of the Sunnah and even his casual talk was filled with its light and teachings. He had the highest energy and would teach different individuals or groups of people, men and women, from up to a dozen different books daily, all year round, in a small room in his house at the top of the Muhajirin district of Damascus on Mount Qasyoun starting after sunrise. The late Shaykh Abd al-Ghani al-Daqr (1916-2002) (Allah have mercy on him) lived in the same building.

Shaykh Adib cut a striking old-Hanafi figure but was the gentlest of all their authorities in Damascus and, although guarded, neither forbidding nor flamboyant. He was patient and soft-spoken, gave each person the benefit of good opinion and was not much given to praise in his personal interaction nor to spectacular statements although I once heard him praise Dr. Samer al-Nass to the skies. He was humble and once declared in the middle of reading the Risala Qushayriyya that he felt unqualified to read such a lofty book, echoing a similar statement by Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani (Allah sanctify his secret) in Cyprus. His phone rang constantly but he disliked to give fatwa on divorce matters and preferred to defer that task to others. His teaching style and reading manner reflected the keenest awareness of the Arabic language and grammar which he had thoroughly mastered. He had a predilection for arithmetic and logic and at times put on a display of mental gymnastics before his auditors. He was young at heart and I once saw him climb up a stairwell two by two not long before his first stroke, on a post-Jumuah visit to a sick person.

Many of Shaykh Adib’s du`as, for example his introductory and closing Jumuah du`as, were Sunni-`aqida lessons in themselves for whoever took notice. He loved to ask for firmness on belief “in life and at the time of death” and would say: O Allah, make us of those who “did not change in the least” (33:23 wa-ma baddalu tabdila). He was light-hearted and close to the people, often using deadpan humor as a means of conveyance of knowledge, even at times making vernacular jokes that are quite untranslatable. He often cited the comparative example of the Hanafi and Shafi`i madhhabs in the obligation of wiping a quarter of one’s head with one’s wet hand, or simply one bare hair with a single finger, which finger he would hold up and say: “Let’s say I am Shafi`i and I have single hair on my head…”

Shaykh Adib was a trenchant sword against heterodoxy. I heard him say upon one of his returns from Hajj that he was making wudu’ at Muzdalifa and wiped his neck, whereupon one of those in charge of spying on Muslims cried out “Ya Shaykh! Ya Haajj! Ittaqillah! Hadha bid`a!” in reference to wiping the neck. Shaykh Adib said he replied to him: “My good brother, it is clear to me that you all who say such a thing are completely deprived of fiqh (la ghawtha lakum fi ‘l-fiqh). I reject your understanding and follow that of Imam Abu Hanifa, whose School showed the evidence that wiping the neck in wudu‘ is meritorious and desirable. I advise you to reflect upon the saying of Allah Most High, {And speak not, concerning that which your own tongues qualify (as clean or unclean), the falsehood: ‘This is lawful, and this is forbidden,’ so that you invent a lie against Allah. Lo! those who invent a lie against Allah will not succeed!} (16:116).” Another time he said that he always signed and described himself as “al-Maturidi al-Ash`ari” i.e. as a mainstream Sunni as opposed to pseudo-Salafis and other extremists. He considered Abd Allah al-Harari the leader of the Lebanese Habashis as an innovator and anathemizer for declaring it wajib to deem Mu`tazilis as unbelievers.

I received from Shaykh Adib Kallas’s faithful student Dr. Amin al-Kasm ten 90-minute audio cassettes of Shaykh Adib’s talks which I passed on to a brother in South Africa on the condition he would return them to me either as is or in the form of CDs but they were never returned.

Others of Shaykh Adib’s students I benefited from are Shaykh `Abd al-Hadi Kharsa and Dr. Samer al-Nass in Damascus, and Sayyid Salah Fakhri and Sayyid Bassem Itani in Beirut.

May Allah have mercy on Shaykh Adib and grant him the highest Paradise!

Hajj Gibril Haddad

Permanence

Your perception of Allah alters you, not Allah. 

the beloved at her service

Anas b. Malik (may Allah be well pleased with him) narrates that once a woman came to the Prophet, (peace and blessings be upon him), and she had some problem in her mind. She said: "I have a need of you!" So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to her: "sit at any street of Madina you choose, and I will sit with you until I have fulfilled your need."

[Bukhari & Muslim]

the divine guarantee

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:  

“At some point you will all be [split into] standing armies: one army in Shām (greater Syria/Palestine), one in Yemen, and one in Iraq.” ‘Abd Allah ibn Hawāla said: “Choose for me, Messenger of Allah! in case I live to see that day.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “You must go to Shām (alayka bi-shām)! For it is the chosen land of Allah in all His earth (khīratullāhi min ardih). He protects, by sending them there, the chosen ones among His servants. If you do not wish to go there, then go to your Yemen and drink from your streams. For Allah has given me a guarantee concerning Shām and its people (fa’inna-l-Lāha tawakkala lī bish-Shāmi wa’ahlih).” 

Abū Idrīs al-Khawlānī would add, after narrating the above: “And whoever has Allah as his guarantor shall never suffer loss!”

[Narrated by Abu Dawud & Ahmad, with authentic chains]

eat not the heart

The parable of Pythagoras is dark, but true: Cor ne edito, 'Eat not the heart'. Certainly, if a man would give it a hard phrase, those that want friends to open themselves unto, are cannibals of their own hearts.

(sir francis bacon)

"intellectual laziness"

Shaykh Abdul Fattah Abu Ghuddah (Allah have mercy upon him) writes:

It is unfortunate that intellectual laziness has become widespread among today's students, and they have come to prefer rest and idleness over striving and struggling. Luxury and all forms of useless curiosity have become a purpose of life for them, and all pleasures have become a goal for them, such that they have no time left for studying and seeking knowledge. Their state has come to resemble that referred to by Imam Ahmad ibn Faris al-Razi (the philologist born in 329AH, died 395AH), may Allah have mercy on him, when he said:

If you are harmed by the heat of summer

And the dryness of autumn and the cold of winter

And you are distracted by the beauty of springtime

Then tell me: when will you seek knowledge?!

(the value of time)

staying engaged

We often think that by removing all the difficulties of our life we shall more quickly reach our aim, but on the contrary, my dear sir, it is only in the midst of worldly cares that we can attain our three chief aims: (1) self-knowledge – for man can only know himself by comparison, (2) self-perfecting, which can only be attained by conflict, and (3) the attainment of the chief virtue – love of death. Only the vicissitudes of life can show us its vanity, and develop our innate love of death or of rebirth to a new life.

(war & peace)

Satiation

sa·ti·ate 
1. To satisfy (an appetite or desire) fully.
2. To satisfy to excess.

The more you place in the physical, the more you inhibit the spiritual. The messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, never ate to his fill.

“Be cautious against the plots of satiation
Never has a man filled a vessel with elation
Worse than a belly of food, in times of ease.”

(Imam Bahraq, verse 8).

The city of Madinah did not need a doctor. The messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “we are a people who eat and drink, but not to excess.”

The messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “the son of Adam has never filled a vessel worse than his stomach. A few morsels of food suffice the son of Adam in order that his back be kept upright. However, if he must fill his stomach, then a third for his food, a third for his drink, and a third for air to breathe.” [Tirmidhi & Ibn Hibban]

“Spread peace, give food away, and pray while others sleep” --> Jannah!

Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, would go an entire month without food (out of abstention not fasting). The companions’ staple diet was dates and water; they were worried about Allah’s response on the Day of Judgement.

Aishah, may Allah be well pleased with her, said: “satiation was the first innovation to occur after the death of the messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.”

When we finish eating, we should still be hungry.

The 10 implications of satiation:

1. Hardens the heart, extinguishes inner light, and murders the spiritual life.

2. The arousal of limbs to act in a detrimental and corrupting manner.

3. The limitation of knowledge and understanding.

4. The promotion of sloth and disinterest in worship, such that the eyes and body become burdened.

5. The loss of ecstasy in worship, tasting no sweetness.

6. The danger of falling into the doubtful and unlawful matters.

7. An increase in one’s financial burden.

8. A proportional increase in the pangs of death.

9. A proportional decrease in the rewards of the hereafter. God says: “you wasted your good things in your life in the world, even as you relished them.”

10. A prolonging of the duration in one’s waiting and one’s reckoning, as well as a consequent increase in terror, on the Day of Judgement.

From the book Urwat ul-wathiqah of Imam Bahraq (also known as Book of Numbers), with Sh Ibrahim (2009-11). May Allah extend their benefit.

Ascension!

صلوا على النور الذي عرج السما 

 يا فوز من صلى عليه وسلما

Through the heavens they rode, from a blessed place, to a blessed place, to place beyond time and space. They arrived at the heavens and they found the gatekeeper al-Ridwan, sat by its door. They knocked.

"Who is it?" asked al-Ridwan.

"Gabriel."

"Who is with you?"

"Muhammad."

"Was he sent for?"

"Yes!"

"Welcome! What a beautiful person has now come onto us!" [Bukhari & Muslim]

And al-Ridwan, who had been created in a sitting position, and having never stood for another before, stood now for his master.

May prayers of peace be upon the light of Allah, who journeyed through the heavens and penetrated every celestial body of light, to meet with Allah, the Transcendent.

(medical update)

Bismillah.

Exam time is looming! 3 weeks from today, in sha Allah - prayers are as always, welcome. I haven't actually done much medicine this year (what's new?) but it's been a friendly enough year comparatively; we saw babies being born, met doctors who actually wanted to teach, and got to chill with brilliantly patient little kids with horrible diseases. Tabarak Allah.

If medicine has shown me one thing, it's that God's majesty and beauty are not opposing realities, but are in fact - as with all of His attributes - One. 

Syria 5.

This is what Syria means to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him & his family and grant them peace.

Let us read and weep.

And then perhaps, raise our hands.  

Syria 4.

 Imam al-Nawawi in his Tibyan:

I have seen the people of our land, Damascus (may God Most High protect it and preserve it, and all other lands of Islam), concentrating on reciting the Mighty Quran: studying, instructing, reading, and learning - in groups and individually. They spend enormous effort in this - day and night (God increase their desire for it and for all kinds of obedience), desiring thereby the pleasure of God, the Possessor of Majesty and Honour.

(Translated beautifully by Shk Musa Furber.)

 Allahumma ameen, ya Rabb!

direction & potential

From the sincerity of our teachers:

Everybody has a different wijhah or direction: some people take to worshipping constantly, others in the service of others (khidma), some take to studying, others just read; the pathways to Allah are multiple, so long as you strive in goodness. (Sh H)

When you don't know what to do:

You do very well to follow your heart and search for your niche. Ask Allah Most High to enlighten you in your choice, choose what you do best and consult for a better decision. Imam Nawawi for example studies anatomy for a while or medicine, then left it as he knew if was not for him. Similarly Imam Suyuti said he never quite took to logic or maths but shone in language, tafsir, hadith and law. (Sh GFH)

May Allah (most gracious) illuminate our hearts, and enlighten our decisions!

the prophet's counsel

The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

"Love your beloved with a little restraint for one day they may be hated by you. And hate the person you hate with a little restraint for one day they may be beloved to you."

[Narrated by Tirmidhi & others]

days of Allah

It's here, it's here! (almost.) Alhamdulillah - we've been trained (? perhaps 'nurtured' sounds better) to greet Rajab with the zeal people normally reserve for Ramadan. 

We were told that if we didn't do anything in Rajab, we wouldn't really get much in Ramadan (relative to what could be achieved). I think Ramadan with its general beauty and barakah is a very pleasant and smooth month, even with the long fasts and lengthy night prayers. But Rajab is supposed to be about putting in the hard graft, which is naturally more difficult because of all the irritating devils still hanging about, making the most of it before they're locked up. But Religion is in the struggle! And that is why we pray: "O Allah: bless us in Rajab and Sha`ban, and deliver us to Ramadan", because once we've had the good fortune of doing all of our hard work in the two preceding months, Ramadan will be easy pickings, in sha Allah - and all we have to do is turn up!

So, felicitations to us!

May Allah grant us fasting days, and Qur'an filled nights.

And may He bless our parents and our teachers.

the contract

 

It won't commit to me until I commit to it.

 O Allah, benefit me by that which You have taught me, and teach me that which will be of benefit to me.

revival

May we give life to his sunna, so that his sunna may give life to us.

the starling

“I can’t get out—I can’t get out,” said the starling.  

 I stood looking at the bird: and to every person who came through the passage it ran fluttering to the side towards which they approach’d it, with the same lamentation of its captivity.—“I can’t get out,” said the starling.—God help thee! said I, but I’ll let thee out, cost what it will; so I turn’d about the cage to get to the door; it was twisted and double twisted so fast with wire, there was no getting it open without pulling the cage to pieces.—I took both hands to it.  

The bird flew to the place where I was attempting his deliverance, and thrusting his head through the trellis, press’d his breast against it, as if impatient.—I fear, poor creature! said I, I cannot set thee at liberty.—“No,” said the starling—“I can’t get out—I can’t get out,” said the starling.

(a sentimental journey)

life

My grandmother just passed into the mercy of her Lord. Please pray that her journey is smooth, that her answers come easy, and that the beloved (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is her constant companion.

May Allah (all loving & kind) give my grandfather, their children, and all who love her, excellent patience.

Surely we belong to Allah alone, and to Him do we all return.

Al-fatihah, in sha Allah.

Prophetic Grace 2.

May Allah (most high) bless him and grant him peace, for every  person he has ever served and ever will serve, from the beginning to the end of time.

the balance

Stuttered out a painful question to the teacher, summary of the answer being:

·         Studying the likes of aqidah [theology] and fiqh [law/jurisprudence] alone can, (and most probably will), lead to arrogance.  

·         Study spirituality alongside it, to keep yourself in check.

·         Imam Ghazali (and his books) suffice for anyone who does not have a spiritual guide.

·         21st century tasawwuf - just read Shama'il.

May Allah (most wise and kind) grant us determination with gentleness, resolve with patience.

Prophetic Grace

May Allah (Most Gracious) characterise our graceless selves with a portion of his gracious character, peace & blessings be upon him.

Divine Lutf

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him & grant him peace) said:

Allah (Most High) says: "Verily from my believing slaves are those whose faith will only be sound when they are wealthy; if I were to make them poor, it will ruin them. And verily from my believing slaves are those whose faith will only be sound when they are poor; if I were to give them wealth, it will ruin them. And verily from my believing slaves are those whose faith will only be sound when they are healthy; if I were to make them ill, it will ruin them. And verily from my believing slaves are those whose faith will only be sound when they are ill; if I were to heal them, it will ruin them. I arrange the affairs of my slaves as I wish. Verily, I am the Gentle One, the Aware."

[Ibn Abi Dunya, Bayhaqi, Ibn al Jawzi]

absolute fact 1

It was bad etiquette (arrogance) that led Satan to be accursed forever, not a deficiency in worship.

a rose by any name

On the authority of Jubayr ibn Mut’im who said, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “Verily, I have names: I am Muḥammad, I am Aḥmad, I am al-Māḥī through whom disbelief will be effaced. I am al-Ḥāshir in whose footsteps humanity will be gathered, and I am al-`Āqib, after whom there is no prophet.”
[Bukhari and Muslim]

On the authority of Abu Tufayl, who said that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "Verily, I have ten names with my Lord." Abu Tufayl said, "I only memorised eight of them: Muḥammad, Aḥmad, Abu'l-Qāsim, al-Fātiḥ, al-Khātim, al-`Āqib, al-Hāshir, and al-Māhī." Abu Yahya said, that Sayf claimed, that Abu Ja`far said to him, "The other two names are Ṭā-Hā and Yā-Sīn.” 

[Ibn Abi Shaybah, and Ibn `Adi] 

Muḥammad: the best of his names, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. It is the one who is oft-praised, due to an abundance of praiseworthy qualities. The reality of Muhammad cannot be touched by fire. This is his żahir (apparent) name; of this world. 

Aḥmad: this is his peculiar, baṭin name, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. No one had previously been named Aḥmad, nor did anybody in his time take this name (although some companions did take the name Muḥammad). When Jesus (peace be upon him) prophesized the coming of the last messenger, he said: "his name will be Aḥmad" - as though he will be the only Aḥmad ever. This is his heavenly name. 

Abu'l-Qāsim: this is his kunyah (byname), may Allah bless him and grant him peace. It is narrated that he himself said, "nobody should assume my kunyah." Qasim was his eldest male child. 

al-Fātih: the conqueror, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He will conquer every land through his ummah, and his followers will bring entire cities crashing down with the dhikr (remembrance) of Allah. When the companions visited the Caesar, pillars in his palace shook every time they said “La ilaha il Allah” – and at the end of time, the Muslims will likewise conquer entire cities (such as Constantinople) with dhikr. 

al-Khātim: the seal, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He seals prophecy, messengership, and revelation from God. 

al-`Āqib: the culminator, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, after whom there is no prophet. 

al-Ḥāshir: the gatherer, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. It is in his footsteps that humanity will be gathered. He is the centre of the plains of judgement; all will gather around him. 

al-Māḥi: the effacer, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, through whom disbelief will be effaced.  

Ṭā-Hā and Yā-Sīn: may Allah bless him and grant him peace. These chapters of the Qur`an were recited 10,000 years before creation was created.

May Allah (blessed is He) bless and grant peace to His most beloved creation, equal to the number of names of everything that ever has or ever will be in existence.  

And may Allah bless our teachers and theirs, who are without doubt,
the inheritors of prophecy. 

Orphaned

Bismillah, w'alhamdulillah, wa-salat wa-salam ala Rasulillah,

Allahumma salli wa sallim ala jaami al-mahamid, man bihi tafarraj al-kurub, wa tukshaf ush-shada'id, sayyedina Muhammad, wa ala alihi wa sahbihi. Ya Hayy, ya Qayyum, ya Wahid.

O God, bestow mercy and peace upon the gatherer of praises, the one through whom difficulties are relieved and adversities removed, our master Muhammad - and upon his family and companions. O Living, O Sustainer, O One. 

Yesterday morning at Fajr (coinciding with the 12th of Rabi al-awwal), in the blessed city of Damascus, sayyedi Shaykh Abdul Razzaq al-Halabi, the grand mufti of the Hanafi school, left this lowly world.

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un.

No doubt we belong to the Creator, and He can call whomever He wishes back, whenever He wills. 

I can't count how many times in the last year I have made intention to visit Shaykh Abdul Razzaq; time and time again. But time waits for no one, and some of us just didn't get there in time. 

A friend of mine said "the hanafi madhab has been orphaned once more today" - true, but I feel each of us were orphaned individually also. Since the news, I feel less sure, less safe, less secure. Like a mighty pillar that gave us much strength has vanished, and now we're on shaky ground, and the roof may fall at any time.

May Allah preserve the knowledge of His religion; for "indeed the religion with Allah is Islam" - it belongs to Him, and His concern for it is greater than our concern. May He take us to the feet of its inheritors, and may we sit there safely until the end of time.

One of Shaykh Abdul Razzaq's main students, Shaykh Muhammad Jumua, who himself is an elderly and saintly scholar, is currently facing a lot of difficulties in Syria; this is a request that you keep him in your prayers also. He is the teacher of our teacher.

May Allah sanctify their secret states, and protect them all.

prophetic perspective

“Ya Allah, to You I complain of my weakness, my lack of resources and my lowliness before men. Oh, most Merciful of those who show mercy! You are the Lord of the weak and You are my Lord. To whom will You relinquish my fate? To one who will misuse me? Or to an enemy to whom You have given power over me? If You are not angry with me I don’t care what happens to me. Your favour is all that counts for me. I take refuge in the Light of Your Countenance, by which all darkness is illuminated, and the things of this world and next are rightly ordered. I wish to please You until You are pleased. There is no power and no might, save in You.” 

- the messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, after Ta`if.

woes of a daydreamer

An exceptional line from the Burdah, ma sha Allah. Too much daydreaming about unworthy things; not enough attention to the light – you get lost in the darkness, and arrive at nowhere. Funny how he is our everything (love, hope, guide, law bringer, interceder) and yet we give him so little of our day, so little of our focus. May we love him as he deserves to be loved; in accordance to his beautiful form, his tremendous character, and his vast benefit to us. 

May the peace, blessings, and prayers of Allah be upon His beloved, and our master - the prince of the universe.

In hope

 

On the gate of thy bounty

this sinning head leans,

he hopes for God's pardon

with you as his means.

[ibn Hajar al-Asqalani]

15th Counsel

Dear self,

Imam Ghazali says, “A fluent and quick tongue and a closed heart full of heedlessness and lust are signs of being destined for Jahannam (shaqawa). Until you annihilate your selfish lower self of desires and lusts through strict and sincere self-disciplinary exercises (mujahada), your heart will never become illuminated with the light of knowledge.”

With concern,

self.

Companionship

Our master Abu Darda the companion, said to his blessed wife, the great lady Umm al-Darda: 

"If you see that I am angry, then appease me (i.e. bring to a state of peace, calm) and if I see that you are angry, I will appease you - otherwise why should we keep company with one another?"

When this saying reached Imam Zuhri, he said: "That is how companionship should be."

Bilal's Love

The love of the companions for the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was not simply a rational love suspended in their intellects, but rather it was real and experiential.

After the flight of the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) unto his Lord, our master Bilal (radiya Allah anhu) could not remain in Madinah any longer, because all of his emotions in that city were attached to the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). So he himself took flight unto the Levant, which is of the most blessed of lands.  

Whilst in the Levant, there was not a single battle that took place, except that Bilal was in the midst of it; he had true chivalry and he always desired that Allah (exalted is He) would ennoble him with martyrdom, so he could meet his beloved (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). However, destiny protected him, and he was not martyred.

He thought that by staying away from Madinah, his deep and intense love would be brought into balance. During the time of Abu Bakr’s caliphate, Bilal returned to Madinah. Abu Bakr asked him to call the adhan once again (as he had done in the time of the Messenger), but Bilal said that he had took an oath only to call the adhan at the command of his beloved (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Due to his continuing deep emotions, Bilal returned for a second time to the Levant.

Whilst in Shaam, the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came to Bilal in a dream, gently asking: “O Bilal, what is all this distance? Why are you so harsh with me?” And so immediately Bilal returned to Madinah, and the companions were ecstatic. They asked him once again to call the adhan, but again Bilal refused. The companions replied, “we once could see the Messenger, and hear the adhan – now that the Messenger has taken flight, do not bar us from hearing the adhan also.” But Bilal saw it as too great an affair to call the adhan for someone other than the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and so he had refused the requests of Abu Bakr and Umar (radiya Allahu anhuma).

One day Bilal saw al-Hasan and al-Huseyn, and they said to him: “call the adhan in the same way you used to call the adhan for our grandfather, salallahu alayhi wa sallam.” To them Bilal replied: “as for you, I could never refuse, for you are the pieces of my beloved, salallahu alayhi wa sallam.”

So our master Bilal thereby ascended, and began to call the adhan. The people of Madinah gathered, and they began to reminisce of the times of the messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. When he reached “Ash-hadu anna Muhammad ar-rasul Allah” Bilal broke down into tears, and could not complete the adhan.

And so too the people cried; Madinah had not seen as many tears since the very day of the flight of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

Years later, when Bilal was upon his deathbed, his wife being emotionally moved (as people normally would be), would cry out: “woe, woe, how wretched this is!” But Bilal, completely oblivious to her, would call: “how beautiful this is, how ecstatic I am!” Initially his wife accepted what he was saying as something normal, but when he continued to repeat it, she questioned him. He replied, explaining his desire for death: “tomorrow I meet my beloved – Muhammad wa hizbihi (Muhammad and his people)!”

from al-Habib Kazim al-Saqqaf, translated by Shaykh Ibrahim

may Allah preserve them both.