A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   In some parts of the Muslim world, too many Muslims are enamoured with the cult of the haba’ib .   Just because someone claims to be a descendant of the Prophet (s.a.w.), dresses appropriately, and says the right things, they are automatically beacons and whatever they say must be followed.   If they can claim to have studied in Tarim and mix with the right people, they must automatically be awliya’ .   If they are all like Habib ‘Ali Zayn al-‘Abidin ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahman al-Jifri, that may be plausible.   But they are not.   After the Battle of Khandaq, the Muhajirin and the Answar both approached the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) and both laid claim to Sayyidina Abu ‘Abdullah Salman al-Farisi ( r.a. ).   The Muhajirin said he was one of them since he was born in Persia and emigrated   to Madina.   The Answar said he was one of them because he was in Madina before the hijrah of the Prophet ( s.a.w. ). ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The Wahhabis tell us that the use of the tasbih is a bid’ah , and it is haram .  They need to be reminded that there are swahih ahadits where Sayyidina Abu ‘Abdullah Salman al-Farisi ( r.a. ) used pebbles to count, and other swahabah counted the grove lines of their fingers when engaged in dzikr .  According to this Wahhabi reasoning then, the object which makes this a bid’ah is the implementation of the string used to hold the beads together.   So, we ask these Wahhabis, what makes string so impure that it can be used to hold things together, tie up and secure animals and property, even one’s attire, but cannot hold a few beads together to assist one in his enumerations of the remembrance of Allah ( s.w.t. )?  What is so special about the string that makes it kufr ?   When we break down the objections of the Wahhabi sect to the established practices of Sunni Islam, they are always incongruent.  That is because...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ In this season of Christmas, we should not allow some Muslims to convince us that it is haram to receive gifts from our non-Muslim family and friends.  That is not the sunnah .  There are many ahadits that demonstrate that the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) accepted gifts from non-Muslims.  These ahadits are swahih .   For example, it is recorded that the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) sent Sayyidina Hathib ibn Abu Balta’ah ( r.a. ) to the Christian ruler of Alexandria with a message for him, and the Patriarch accepted the letter, honoured Sayyidina Hathib ( r.a. ), and made his stay comfortable.  The Patriarch then sent him back with a garment for the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), a mule with its saddle, and two slave girls as gifts.  One slave girl was Sayyidatina Umm Ibrahim Mariyah bint Sham’un al-Qibthiyyah ( r.a. ), and the other one, the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) gave as a gift to Sayyidina Jahm ibn Qays al-‘Abdari ( r.a. ).  The slave girls ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ During the time when Sayyidina Abu ‘Abdullah Salman al-Farisi ( r.a. ) was not yet a Muslim, he went to the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), when he first entered Madina, with a platter of dates.  He placed this in the hands of the Prophet ( s.a.w. ).  He had read that one of the signs of a prophet is that he does not take from charity.   The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) asked him, “What is this, Salman?”   He replied, “Charity for your companions and you.”   The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) said, “Take it since we do not eat from charity.”   Sayyidina Salman ( r.a. ) took it and returned the next day with a similar platter and gave it to the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) who asked him again, “What is this, Salman?”   And Sayyidina Salman ( r.a. ) replied, “Charity for your companions and you.”   Again, the Messenger of Allah ( s.a.w. ) told him, “Take it since we do not eat from charity.”   So, Sayyidina Salman ( r.a. ) took it and ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ It was narrated that Sayyidina ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas ( r.a. ) said, “Salman al-Farisi told me his story from his own lips.”  And this is Sayyidina Abu ‘Abdullah Salman al-Farisi’s ( r.a. ) story of his search for the Truth.   He said, “I was a Persian man, one of the people of Isfahan, from a village thereof called Jayy.  My father was the chieftain of his village, and I was the dearest of Allah’s ( s.w.t. ) Creation to him.  He loved me so much that he kept me in his house near the fire, as girls are kept in.  I strove hard in the Magian religion until I became the Keeper of the Fire, which I tended and did not let go out for a moment.  My father had a huge garden, and he was busy one day with some construction work, so he said, ‘O my son, I am too busy with this building today, go and check my garden,’ and he told me some of the things he wanted done.  I went out, heading towards his garden, and I passed by one...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is adapted from “ Shuyukh of the Golden Chain - Salman al-Farisi ( r.a. ) .  Shaykh Muhyi ad-Din Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Arabi ( q.s. ) wrote, in his Tarjuman al-Ashwaq :   “My heart has become able to wear all forms: A pasture for gazelles, a monastery for monks, A temple for idols, the Ka’bah of the pilgrims, The tablets of Torah, the Book of Qur'an. I profess the religion of Love. Whatever direction its mount may take, Love is my Religion and my Belief.”   Sayyidina Abu ‘Abdullah Salman al-Farisi ( r.a. ) is known as the Imam , the Flag of Flags, the Inheritor of Islam, the Wise Judge, the Knowledgeable Scholar, and One of the House of the Prophet ( s.a.w. ).  These were all titles the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) gave him.  He stood fast in the face of extreme difficulties and hardships to carry the Light of Lights and to spread the Secrets of Hearts to lift people from darkness to light...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Sayyidina Abu ‘Abdullah Salman al-Farisi, ( r.a. ) is second in line in the Golden Chain of the Naqshbandi Haqqani, after Sayyidina Abu Bakr ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Utsman asw-Swiddiq ( r.a. ).  His behaviour is the exemplar of the hadits on the authority of Sayyidina Anas ibn Malik ( r.a. ) where the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) said, “No one truly believes until he loves for the people what he loves for himself.”  This was recorded in Musnad Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal .   There was a time when Salman al-Farisi ( r.a. ) was considering marrying a pious and noble lady of the answar with whom he knew, and had fallen in love with.  He was new to Madinah, a stranger in a strange land and unfamiliar with the customs as he sought the hand of the local lady.  And so he turned to his answar brother, Sayyidina Abu Darda’ Uwaymir ibn Zayd ( r.a. ) and expressed his wish.   “ Subhanallah wa al-Hamdulillah !” cried Abu Darda’ ( r.a. ).  He ...