A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Habib Ahmad Mashhur ibn Thaha al-Haddad ( q.s. ) said, “They are the skillful physicians whom God has assisted with a spirit from Him, so that they treated the diseases of hearts with wisdom, and poured guidance into pleasant and permissible moulds in order to take the ordinary people along the road of their desires to the desired truth …”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The learned Habib Thaha ibn ‘Alawi al-Haddad ( q.s. ), the father of Habib Ahmad Mashhur ibn Thaha al-Haddad ( q.s. ), who passed away, in Makkah, in 1995, said, “In our opinion, the one element in the statements and actions of ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab that makes his departure from the foundations of Islam unquestionable is the fact that he, without support of any generally accepted interpretation of Qur’an or sunnah , took matters in our religion necessarily well-known to be objects of haram , agreed upon by ijma’ , and made them halal .  Furthermore, along with that, he disparaged the prophets, the Messengers, saints and the pious.  Willful disparagement of anyone failing under these categories of person is kufr according to the consensus reached by the four a’immah of the schools of Islamic law.”   Examples of him making halal that which was haram include asking Muslims to repeat their shahadah by claiming they were mushrikin , o...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is adapted from Signs on the Horizons by Shaykh Harun Michael Sugich.  Here, he speaks about his shaykh , Habib Mashhur ibn Thaha al-Haddad ( q.s. ).   “In Jeddah, he met his disciples and visitors in a small anteroom off the entrance to the large family home his eldest son, ‘Ali built in the early 1980s in the Bani Malek district.  The room was lined with books and furnished unpretentiously with Belgian carpets and plush floor cushions and bolsters.   He would descend from his living quarters in the morning and sit with visitors until the noon prayers, after which he would share the noonday meal, ghada’ , with whoever was present and retire for an afternoon rest, qaylulah .  He would return for the afternoon prayer and sit with visitors through the sunset and night prayers and the evening meal, ‘asha’ , after which he would retire.  He kept to this taxing schedule into his late 80s, until his health...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is taken from “The Effects of Various Adzkar ” by Habib Ahmad Mashhur ibn Thaha al-Haddad ( q.s. ) on 16 th October, 2010.   The effects of dzikr are immense and it is hard to fully understand them.   Often, one can feel an effect but not be too sure as to what sort of change is taking place in himself.   Perhaps there is a wisdom in that, that it keeps one focused in the dzikr and not self-aware.   Some of the effects of the adzkar mentioned explicitly in the sunnah are mentioned below, taken from Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad’s ( q.s. ) “Keys to the Garden.”   It is not easy to find literature on this but nonetheless, it is fascinating to read and gives direction and motivation for increasing one’s adzkar .   The tasbih , “ subhanallah ,” also means “Transcendent is Allah.”   It is an affirmation of the Transcendence and Holiness of the Real.   It is to believe in His Exalta...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is taken from Habib Ahmad Mashhur ibn Thaha al-Haddad’s ( q.s. ) Miftah al-Jannah , “Key to the Garden” and translated from the Arabic by Dr. Muhammad Muswthafa al-Badawi.   The meaning of this ennobling phrase, laa ilaha illa Allah , embraces all that we have set out in sum, and what the a’immah among the people of the science of tawhid have expounded in detail in their writings.   It has been elucidated and conclusively proved in the Qur’an and the ahadits of the Prophet ( s.a.w. ).   From these two sources the theologians have derived the categories of Divinity, prophecy, and doctrines received in sam‘iyyat , faith.   They have discoursed on these matters with an abundance that is a cure and an illumination of hearts, and have called it the science of tawhid , the science of beliefs and the science of uswul ad-din , the roots of religion.   This science is preeminent over all other sciences an...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is adapted from the writings of Habib Ahmad Mashhur ibn Thaha al-Haddad ( r.a. ).   Allah ( s.w.t. ) has Blessed and Honoured the lands of Yemen and given this country a status that no other place aside from the two sacred cities of Makkah and Madina enjoys.   There are many virtues mentioned in the various ahadits regarding Yemen and the people residing there.   This land has also been the abode of many prophets, companions, scholars and pious servants of Allah ( s.w.t. ).   Of the many ahadits wherein the virtues of Yemen and its inhabitants have been mentioned, some are reproduced below.   Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Bukhari ( r.a. ) relates from Sayyidina Abu Mas’ud ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Amr al-Answari ( r.a. ) that the Messenger of Allah ( s.w.t. ) gestured with his hands towards Yemen and said, “ Iman is there …”   This is also recorded in Swahih Muslim .   As recorded in ...