A Muslim Convert Once More

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is extracted from a transcript of a discourse delivered by Mawlana Wafi’ Muhammad.   Allah ( s.w.t. ) Says:   سُوۡرَةُ آل عِمرَان كُنتُمۡ خَيۡرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخۡرِجَتۡ لِلنَّاسِ تَأۡمُرُونَ بِٱلۡمَعۡرُوفِ وَتَنۡهَوۡنَ عَنِ ٱلۡمُنڪَرِ وَتُؤۡمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ‌ۗ … (١١٠)   You are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah. … (Surah Ali ‘Imran:110)   After Allah ( s.w.t. ) sent 124,000 Messengers, after He Gave so much Tangible Care and Blessings to the previous nations, He then Sent Prophet Muhammad ( s.a.w. ).  With his coming, we no longer see any such visible favours.  Of course, generosity flowed from his personality; but compared to how Allah ( s.w.t. ) Treated the Israelites, for example, He did not treat the Muslims like that.  The Muslims were subjected to a lot of trials in the early stage of Islam.   In s...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is extracted from a transcript of discourse delivered by Mawlana Wafi’ Muhammad ( r.a. ).   Allah ( s.w.t. ) Reminds us in so many chapters of the Qur’an of the activities of Pharaoh and Prophet Moses ( a.s. ) and the consequences of their respective actions.  These reminders are one of the qualities of the Qur’an; that is dzikr .  On one hand, we gain knowledge of Allah ( s.w.t. ), and on the other, we are Given information of the past nations and the impact on our own lives if we should follow similar courses of actions.   Allah ( s.w.t. ) Says:   سُوۡرَةُ البَقَرَة ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلۡحَىُّ ٱلۡقَيُّومُ‌ۚ لَا تَأۡخُذُهُ ۥ سِنَةٌ۬ وَلَا نَوۡمٌ۬‌ۚ … (٢٥٥)   Allah!  There is no Allah but He ― the Living, the Self-Subsisting, Eternal.  No slumber can seize him nor sleep. ... (Surah al-Baqarah:255)   And He has Knowledge of every single one of us.  ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ After coming to power, the Mughal ruler, Emperor Alamgir, immediately paid a visit to pay homage to Khwaja Mu’in ad-Din Hasan Shishty ( q.s. ), at Ajmer.  It was his routine to give salaam at the resting place of a saint.  If a reply to his salutation came from the concerned grave, he would believe that the real maqam was located there.  Otherwise, he would order the shrine to be demolished.  When he approached the shrine of Khwaja Mu’in ad-Din Hasan Shishty ( q.s. ), he gave the salaam .  There was no reply.  He did so, again, after a few moments, but again there was no response.  He said that if his salutations were not answered one more time, he would demolish the shrine.   After a pause, a reply came from the maqam, returning his salaam : “ Wa ‘Alaykum as-Salaam , Ya Alamgir.  Is a reply essential when the wali is busy in his prayer with Allah?”   Shocked, Alamgir prostrated, and begg...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi’i ( r.a. ) was born in Gaza, and moved to Makkah when he was two years old.  He went to Madina, and was as a student of Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Malik ibn Anas ( r.a. ), who was very impressed with this young student.  He was also known for writing poetry.   Imam ash-Shafi’i ( r.a. ) said, “When my heart was hardened, and my courses constrained; I made my hope a stairway to Your Forgiveness.  My sins burdened me heavily, but when I measured it by Your Forgiveness, Lord, Your Forgiveness was Greater.”   Imam ash-Shafi’i ( r.a. ) said, “Whoever slanders to you about others, will slander about you.  And whoever reports to you, will soon report about you.”   Imam ash-Shafi’i ( r.a. ) said, “Knowledge is that which benefits, not that which is memorised.”   Imam ash-Shafi’i ( r.a. ) said, “Let not your tongue mention the shame of another, for you yourself are cov...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ A Sufi poem goes:   “That which one yearns for, he loves, And this yearning makes him great, By transforming the depth of poverty, In the yearning of His slave, His need and his longing to give Him everything, What his heart truly desires.”   This himmah , yearning, is oil in the fire of God’s Passion which makes this fire in the heart of the lover grow very hot and strong and bright.  Sparks fly as the lover turns to the right and left, cooking in the fire of love, and becoming more and more tender and ready to be consumed.  The quality of Love of which we speak is such that both lover and Beloved are consumed by a single flame and whether by union or by seeming separation, by presence or absence, the flame is fanned.  The lover kills himself to live in his Beloved and destroys all his qualities; he empties the cup of his existence so that it may be filled entirely with the Qualities and Presence of his Lo...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is adapted from Signs on the Horizons by Shaykh Harun Michael Sugich.   “At that time the summer capital of Saudi Arabia was in Tha’if and all the government was in the mountain city.  My brother-in-law had a friend from Tha’if who offered to help get me to the Minister.  The friend was Bukhari, a Saudi of Central Asian extraction.  He was very friendly and well-meaning but also a little crazy, and I was completely at his mercy.  By this time, it was Ramadhan, the month of fasting, and during the day my new friend regaled me with stories about his sexual fantasies until I had to ask him to stop.  When we would get to his house in the afternoons, he would light up a cigarette and eat - just being in his company made me feel like I was breaking my fast.   A kindly Indian professor I met in Jiddah had generously lent me his car to use while he was away on his summer break, and my helper from Tha...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is a biography of Shaykh Muhammad al-Hafizh ibn al-Mukhtar ash-Shinqithi ( q.s. ), by Ustadz Zakariya Zachary Wright .   Shaykh Muhammad al-Hafizh ash-Shinqithi ( q.s. ) is credited with first introducing the Thariqa’ Tijaniyyah in Mauritania, whereby it was introduced into sub-Saharan West Africa.  He became the pre-eminent muqaddam of the Tijaniyyah in Mauritania after spending years in the company of Shaykh Abu al-‘Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad at-Tijani ( q.s. ) in Fas.  Besides his mastery of Sufism, he was a jurist and hadits scholar of great renown.   Shaykh Muhammad al-Hafizh ash-Shinqithi ( q.s. ) hailed from the noble Idaw ‘Ali people in Mauritania, who trace descent from Shaykh Muhammad ibn Hanafiyyah ( r.a. ), a son of Sayyidina ‘Ali ibn Abu Thalib ( k.w. ).  His father, Shaykh Mukhtar ibn Habib ( r.a. ) was also a Islamic scholar, and particularly distinguished for his mastery of the art of ...