A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ When Shaykh Swalih ibn Muhammad al-Ja’fari ( q.s. ), was a student in al-Azhar, he had one teacher who was blind, and whose young son would walk him from his home to al-Azhar Mosque and back.   One time when, Shaykh Swalih ( q.s. ) was away for a few days, this scholar lost his son, and his family searched for the boy for three days without being able to find him.   When Shaykh Swalih ( q.s. ) came back to the Azhar and greeted his teacher, the teacher said, “My son, O Swalih!’   When the shaykh became aware of the situation, he took his teacher’s hand, and told him to recite with him, this ayat from the Qur’an:   سُوۡرَةُ الشّوریٰ وَمِنۡ ءَايَـٰتِهِۦ خَلۡقُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَمَا بَثَّ فِيهِمَا مِن دَآبَّةٍ۬‌ۚ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ جَمۡعِهِمۡ إِذَا يَشَآءُ قَدِيرٌ۬ (٢٩)   Wa min aayyaatihi khalqu as-samaawaati wa al-ardh wa maa batstsa fiihimaa min daabbati.  Wa Huwa ‘alaa jam’ihim idzaa yashaa’u qadiir. ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following was extracted and adapted from al-Fawa’idh al-Ja’fariyyah , by Shaykh Swalih ibn Muhammad al-Ja’fari ( q.s. ), and translated by Sidi Samir Dajani.   On the authority of Sayyidina Anas ibn Malik, the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) said, “If you pass by the gardens of Paradise, then eat from them!”   The swahabah asked, “And what are the gardens of Paradise?”   He replied, “The circles of dzikr .”   This was recorded by Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal ( r.a. ) in his Musnad , Imam Abu ‘Isa Muhammad ibn ‘Isa as-Sulami at-Tirmidzi ( r.a. ) in his Jami’ , and Imam Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Husayn al-Bayhaqi ( r.a. ) in Shu’ab al-Iman .   Shaykh Muhammad ash-Sharif ( r.a. ), the grandson of Shaykh Ahmad ibn Idris ( r.a. ) said, “It is understood from this hadits that it is desirable to come together in circles of dzikr , and that the gnostics find pleasure in the remembrance of God, as the people of Paradise find pleas...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Swalih ibn Muhammad al-Ja’fari ( r.a. ) said, “I saw, in a dream, a scholar from the dead stretched out on his bed, and to his side was what looked like a male nurse in his white uniform.  I said to him, ‘It has reached me about you that you were very eloquent in speech, and I want to hear your eloquence.’   He signaled to me in a way that I understood that he was hungry, and unable to speak.  I sat on a carpet next to him, and recited al-Fatihah for him.  When I said, ‘Amen’, what looked like a silver riyal came down from the ceiling.  The man next to him took it.  At this point, the scholar sat up cross-legged, and said to him, ‘Get some food.’   I said to him, ‘Does the Qur’an reach you this quickly?’   He said, ‘Yes, but not at this speed with which the reward of al-Fatihah arrived.’”  This meaning that Surah al-Fatihah reaches earlier than the other suwar .  “He then added, ‘You a...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Swalih ibn Muhammad al-Ja‘fari ( q.s. ) wrote in al-Fawa’idh al-Ja’fariyyah , as translated by Sidi Samir Dajani, that everyone who follows a spiritual path should consider the founder of that path, the one who composed its litanies, as his shaykh ; the founder of the path and the author of its litanies would have been authorised as a spiritual guide by the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) himself.   In most cases, that founder’s soul was now in the ‘alam al-barzakh , intermediary realm, which is connected to this physical world.  As for the living shaykh from whom one takes the path, the seeker must respect him, obey him, and think well of him, for he is the door or link to the founder of the path, and without him, arrival becomes extremely difficult.   All that is required of the living shaykh is that he is upright in acting upon the shari’ah , he does what is obligatory and abstains from what is forbidden.  If this shaykh err...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Swalih ibn Muhammad al-Ja’fari, ( q.s. ) wrote, on spending for God’s Cause, “You must, O brother in God, spend many precious breaths in beholding the Creator, in His remembrance, and in the teaching of wisdom by speaking beneficial words.   Know that the more you spend of your knowledge, the more God Gives you of it.   Our master ‘Ali was asked, ‘Is knowledge better or money?’   He replied, ‘Knowledge.’   They asked, ‘Why?’   He replied, ‘Because money decreases by spending it, and knowledge increases by it.’   Know also that your treasuries are full, for you have ears that hear, eyes that see, hands that grasp, feet that walk, a tongue that speaks, and a mind that thinks.   Spend then of your hearing on the best of speech.   He Said, ‘Those who listen to what is said and follow the best of it.’”   سُوۡرَةُ الزُّمَر ٱلَّذِينَ يَسۡتَمِعُونَ ٱلۡقَوۡلَ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ أَحۡسَنَهُ ۥۤ‌...