Tableegh (Noble Da'wah) - A Guide to Happiness and Peace

7. Some more on Tasavvuf

CLARIFICATION

Some of the readers have expressed their desire to throw more light on Tasavvuf which I have given in brief.

There is a book in Urdu by Shaikul Islam Hazrath Moulana Husain Ahmed Madani (Rah) called "Tasavvuf ki haqeeqath aur uskey masa'il"

It is said in the book "A man should strive hard to keep the connection with the Creator; the love should increase step by step which should result in disconnection with the Creations" "So, a man should always be in the thought of his Creator. He should think of the existence or the characters of Allah. Moreover, he should upkeep the Salah and no laziness should be shown.

Of course, there are mistakes committed by us but we should take full efforts to discard them.

Prophet Mohammed (Sal) prayed, "Ya Allah, we have not understood You as we should understand and we have not prayed as we should have prayed.

The ultimate result is, we should ensure that there are no flaw in our Deeds and should leave no stone unturned to preserve the purity of heart. Permanent efforts should be taken to seek pardon for our mistakes from Allah. We should hope that Allah will accept our prayers but at the same time, fear the anger of Allah (SWT).

As mentioned by Moulana Zackariah Alaihi Rahma, "the difference between a person whose connection is with the Ahlullah (people who are close to Allah (SWT) and an ordinary man is like a sick man without appetite and a healthy man with appetite"

"A sick man, as per the advice of Doctor eats to prevent weakness whereas a healthy man likes to eat and with interest.

Similarly, an ordinary man worships on compulsion whereas a person whose connection is with a Shaikh worships through the desire to worship from the heart. Shariath means to worship with interest of heart and with a healthy body."

I am giving here some more details taken from "Introduction to Tazkiyah Nafs" - Dr.Maulana Syed Aleem Ashraf Jaisi, Dept of Arabic, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, India.

"Believer is a Mirror of another Believer

The attributes of Lower Self (Nafs) draw human beings towards Evil.Everyone is susceptible to the hidden illnesses and weaknesses of the heart. Man himself is not able to understand the symptoms. He may think that he is morally perfect and that his practices are of high level. This is sheer, ridiculous ignorance and erroneous orientation. Allah Almighty says:

"Say: Do you want Me to show you those whose work will have been the most insignificant, those whose effort will have been futile in this world, who thought they have lived a noble life." ►{Surah Al Kahf; Chapter 18 : Verse 103-104}

Just as a human being cannot see his face without a mirror, the Believer needs his fellow Believer brother who has a higher spiritual status, who knows his inner shortcomings and who will ensure that he is corrected through his high level of spirituality and wise words. This explains these words from the Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him) :

"A Mu'min is a mirror for another Mu'min." ►{Sunan Abu Dawud, narrated by Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah & Al Adab ul Mufrad by Imam Bukhari}

It goes without saying that the Believer has to take certain precautions to this effect, for all mirrors are not of the same nature. Some are perfectly leveled whereas others warp the image. The latter do not reflect reality but either enlarge or reduce the person standing before them. This is the case with the company of peers who do not reveal the true state of our Nafs. One will flatter us, causing pride and vanity to crop up in our selves; another will criticize us, causing anguish and despair in our minds. In both cases, we will move far from reality. The perfect Mu'min is a perfect mirror that has, in the past, been polished by another true and perfect Mu'min; this is a link that goes back to the Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him) .