A Muslim Convert Once More

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote Sharh al-Hikam ‘Atha’illah , a commentary on Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) Hikam .   Regarding Shaykh ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) statement, “Whoever’s beginning shines, his ending also shines,” Imam ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote, “This is another way of saying something similar to what has just passed.  The shining of the disciple’s beginning is through his returning to Allah ( s.w.t. ) in his important affairs and relying on Him in his misfortunes.  The shining in his ending is reaching closeness to Him and coming into His Presence.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu Zakariya Yahya ibn Sharaf an-Nawawi ( r.a. ) said that when someone greets the dzakir , the dzakir should pause to return the greeting and then continue his dzikr .  When someone sneezes in his presence, he should say “ yarhamukallah ”, and continue his dzikr .  The same is true when one hears someone making a sermon, hears someone making the call to prayer, or the call to commence.  Instead, he should repeat the words of the mu’adzin .  Additionally, when the dzakir sees a wrong, he should pause to correct it.  When he sees a good, he should pause to guide to it.  If someone asks the dzakir for something, he should pause to answer him.  In all cases, he returns to his dzikr after the event has passed.  If he is dozing off, he should stop practicing his dzikr .

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu Zakariya Yahya ibn Sharaf an-Nawawi ( r.a. ) wrote that the virtue of dzikr is not confined to saying, “ Laa ilaha illa Allah ”, “ al-Hamdulillah ”, “ Allahu Akbar ”, or other similar words.  Rather, every servant who acts according to the obedience of Allah ( s.w.t. ) is a dzakir of Allah ( s.w.t. ).  This is what Shaykh Abu Muhammad Sa’id ibn Jubayr ( r.a. ) and other scholars have said.   Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari ( q.s. ) said, “The assemblies of dzikr are the assemblies of halal and haram .”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu Zakariya Yahya ibn Sharaf an-Nawawi ( q.s. ) wrote that the main objective of dzikr is presence of heart.  It is befitting that this be the desired goal of the dzakir , and he endeavour to achieve it.  He should also ponder over what he says and try to understand its meaning.  Pondering over dzikr is desired as it is desired with recitation of the Qur’an because the significance of both of them is intertwined with their meaning.  This is why the choice correct position is for the dzakir to lengthen the statement, “ Laa ilaha illa Allah ”, so that he can ponder over it.  The sayings of the Salaf and those who followed subsequently about this subject are many.  And Allah ( s.w.t. ) knows best.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu Zakariya Yahya ibn Sharaf an-Nawawi ( r.a. ) wrote, in the introduction to his book of Prophetic dzikr , that dzikr is liked in all conditions except a few exceptional cases noted in shari’ah .  From among the exceptions when dzikr is makruh , offensive, are while one is seated to perform nature’s call, during sexual intercourse, while listening to a sermon, while standing for prayer - one should be busy with reciting the Qur’an, and while dozing off.  We note that dzikr is not offensive in the street nor in the bathhouse.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote Sharh al-Hikam ‘Atha’illah , a commentary on Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) Hikam .   Regarding Shaykh ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) statement, “Perhaps your state is bad, but appears to you to be good because your companion is even worse than you,” Imam ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote, “This hikmah notes the greatest of the calamities that can enter the heart of the person who goes against what we have previously mentioned - who goes ahead and accompanies someone whose state is lower than his.  This calamity is to find the state one is in agreeable, which causes the person to be pleased with himself by seeing its presumed well-being.  As we mentioned before, this act is the root of all evil.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote Sharh al-Hikam ‘Atha’illah , a commentary on Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) Hikam .   Regarding Shaykh ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) statement, “Light reveals, insight judges, and the heart approached or turned away,” Imam ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote, “These three differing terms are used to convey three distinct ideas.  Light helps remove the veil from unseen spiritual things until they become clear and are viewable.  Insight helps to judge the correctness of what is viewed.  Finally, the heart can approach by acting by what insight sees or it can draw back by not acting by what insight sees.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote Sharh al-Hikam ‘Atha’illah , a commentary on Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) Hikam .   Regarding Shaykh ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) statement, “He only makes spiritual experiences come over you so that with them you may come to Him,” Imam ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) explained, “A spiritual experience is what comes to the heart concerning Divine Knowledge and spiritual subtleties to purify the heart and cleanse it until it is fit for entering Allah’s Presence.  This is because the Divine Presence is unreachable by hearts made turbid by created things and stained with the filth of others.  Thus, He Only Made the spiritual experience come to you so that you may with it come.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu Zakariya Yahya ibn Sharaf an-Nawawi ( r.a. ) wrote it is befitting that the place where we perform dzikr be empty of everything that preoccupies us and causes evil thoughts, and be clean.  It is important to respect the dzikr and the One being remembered.  For this reason, dzikr in the masjid and other noble places is commendable.  Imam Jalil Abu Maysarah ( r.a. ) said, “Allah is not remembered except in fine places.”   Also, it is befitting that the mouth of the dzakir be clean.  If there is some distaste or odour in it, we should remove it with a tooth stick.  If there is some impurity in it, we remove it by washing with water.  It is makruh to perform dzikr without washing the impurity, but it is not haram .  The same rule applies to recitation of the Qur’an.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is my answer to a Quora question: “ How would we know when Laylat al-Qadr occurs if some of the signs are on multiple days, for example, there could be multiple days of rain or calm nights? ”   If you are meant to know, you will see its signs.  Laylat al-Qadr is a Divine Gift to the faithful.  It is not something that can be found by gaming the system.  Even if you were to know how to calculate it, and there are those such as Shaykh Muhyi ad-Din Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Arabi ( q.s. ), who have given us such a formula, there is still no guarantee that you will experience it.  If you want to seek Laylat al-Qadr , then you need to spend the days of your Ramadhan in physical and spiritual fasting, and the nights in prayer and contemplation.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Shaykh Abu al-Fath Ghiyats ad-Din ‘Umar ibn Ibrahim al-Khayyami an-Nishaburi ( q.s. ) wrote:   “And do you think that unto such as you, A maggot-minded, starved, fanatic crew, God gave the Secret, and denied it me? Well, well, what matters it! believe that too.   Old Khayyam, say you, is a debauchee; If only you were half so good as he! He sins no sins but gentle drunkenness, Great-hearted mirth and kind adultery.   But yours the cold heart, and the murderous tongue, The wintry soul that hates to hear a song, The close-shut fist, the mean and measuring eye, And all the little poisoned ways of wrong.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Abu Hafsw ‘Amr ibn Salma al-Haddad ( q.s. ) said, “ Taswawwuf is all adab .  Every moment has adab .  Every state has adab .  Every station has adab .  Anyone who holds to adab reaches the level of the men.  Anyone who is denied adab is far when he thinks he is near and rejected when he thinks that he is accepted.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu Zakariya Yahya ibn Sharaf an-Nawawi ( r.a. ) wrote that the scholars have come to a consensus on the permissibility of dzikr using the heart and the tongue for the person with hadats al-ashghar , minor ritual impurity, the person with junub , major ritual impurity, the woman undergoing menstruation, and women experiencing post-child-delivery discharge.  This ruling applies to saying “ Subhanallah ”, “ al-Hamdulillah ”, “ Laa ilaha illa Allah ”, “ Allahu Akbar ”, supplication, and the like.  However, recitation of the Qur’an is unlawful for the person with major ritual impurity, the woman undergoing menstruation, and the woman experiencing post-child delivery discharge.  The ruling of unlawfulness is the same whether one recites a little bit or a lot.  It is not permissible to recite even part of an ayah .  However, it is permissible for the above mentioned persons to recite the Qur’an in their heart without pronoun...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote Sharh al-Hikam ‘Atha’illah , a commentary on Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) Hikam .   Shaykh ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari ( q.s. ) wrote,   “How can it be imagined that something could veil Him while He Manifests everything? How can it be imagined that something could veil Him while He Appears through everything? How can it be imagined that something could veil Him while He is Evident in everything? How can it be imagined that something could veil Him while He is Apparent to everything? How can it be imagined that something could veil Him while He is the Manifest before the existence of everything? How can it be imagined that something could veil Him while he is more Evident than anything? How can it be imagined that something could veil Him while He is the One alongside Whom is n...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) wrote Sharh al-Hikam ‘Atha’illah , a commentary on Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari’s ( q.s. ) Hikam .   Shaykh ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari ( q.s. ) wrote, “How shall Divine Light shine upon a heart whose mirror is stamped with the impressions of Created things?  Or how shall it travel to Allah ( s.w.t. ) while chained in its lusts?  Or how shall it wish to enter the Presence of Allah ( s.w.t. ) while uncleansed from the impurity of forgetfulness of Him?  Or how shall it hope to understand subtle secrets while having not repented from its mistakes?”   Imam ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundi ( r.a. ) expounded, “It is impossible to bring two mutually exclusive opposites together.  Such as trying to unify movement and stillness or light and darkness.  These things that the author has mentioned are oppo...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is my answer to a Quora question: “ What effect does zakat have on social welfare of the community? ”   There are two types of zakat: zakat al-mal and zakat al-fithr .  Zakat al-mal is the charity tax on unused wealth.  It is incumbent upon the wealthy.  Zakat al-fithr is the obligation of every Muslim to ensure that the poor and destitute have something to eat on ‘Iyd al-Fithr .  Zakat al-mal is what you are referring to in this question.   When a portion of funds sitting in banks and other instruments are given back to the community, it causes a portion of that locked up wealth to go back into the community and circulate.  This goes a small way towards giving the poor a stake in the economy, and society.  It raises, just a tiny bit, their purchasing power.   Any society where there is institutionalised poverty, and no mechanism for people to move up socioeconomic c...