Reflections on the Birth of Holy Prophet Muhammad (asws)

A couple years ago, i have a speech on this topic to an organization im part of, ISRA (Islamic Studies and Research Association… www.israinternational.com) during the occasion of the Mawlid.

Here is an excerpt:

Allah says that He taught (‘allama) Adam all the Names (Q2:30), but the word ‘allama also means “to make a mark,” and so in this teaching of the Names, (which was not didactic), He marked Adam with all the Divine Names and Qualities, reflecting the traces of each of them in the Adamic form. Our servitude to Him means exactly our returning our qualities to Him – their origin – and relinquishing any power or strength (hawl wa quwwa), for Allah is ‘ala kulli shay’in qadir (over all things powerful).

This process is the return arch of the circle back to Him. He ends, “and a lamp giving light.” Here we have arrived at the true reality of the Muhammadan presence (Haqiqa Muhammadiyya), for the light that reflects from his face to us is the same light that Allah shines on his face. From him comes the essential light-mercy that keeps the creation living in tasbih and hamd. As long as it abides in the life of its essential tasbih and hamd, it is able to return the Trust of the Divine Qualities back to its owner. That is its true life.

Consider the meaning of the statement of the Prophet (salla allahu alayhi wa sallam) when he said: “the difference between the one who invokes Allah and the one who is heedless of Him is as the difference between the living and the dead.” Shaykh al-Akbar Muhammad Muhyiddeen ibn ‘Arabi wrote about the Haqiqa Muhammadiya in his books and said, “from the niche of his prophet-hood, all of the prophets received their prophet-hood thru his light-emanation.” 

To read the whole speech, go here. Please leave your comments and insights…

http://www.israinternational.com/library/topics/2004/june.php

Seeing the Prophet (asws) in your sleep

Below is a link to some posts i placed in another webgroup i belong to,the Haba’ib, which details not only some things you can do to gain this noble vision, but also the interpretations of the different ways you see him in the dream (e.g., if you see him young, if you see him with grey hair, if you see him giving you this or that, if you see yourself kissing his hand, etc… around 80 of these!). so pls check it out…

The Noble Vision 

A touching story

i read this story in the Tabaqat al-Kubra of he Qutb Abdul Wahhab al-Sha’rani….it refers to Shaykh Shamsuddin Muhammad l-Hanafi, who was the successor of Sidi Nasir ad-Din bn al-Mablaq, the successor of Sidi Shihab ad-Din ibn l-Mablaq, the successor of Sidi Yaqut al-’Arshi l-Habashi, the successor of Sidi Ahmad Abu’l Abbas l-Mursi, the successor of Sidi Ali Abu’l Hasan sh-Shadhuli (may Allah sanctify all their secrets!).

Imam Sha’rani writes, because of this, that Imam sh-Shadhdhuli said:

“there will appear in Egypt a man by the name of Muhammad al-Hanafi, who will “open this door” (of the
Tariqa) wide, and become well-known in his time, and he will have an immense rank”
and in another narration:
“there will appear in Egypt a youth who will be known as “the repentant youth” (this refers to one of the 7
categories of people shaded in Allah’s Throne on the ay of Rising), who will follow the Hanafi madhhab
(while Egypt is mostly Shafi’i), whose name will be Muhammad ibn Hasan, and he will have a mark on his
right cheek, and he will have white skin with a touch of red in it, and he will be raised as a poor orphan.”

and he also used to say: “al-Hanafi is the fifth successor after me.”

The Story

ash-Sharif an-Nu’mani, one of the murids of Sidi
Muhammad al-Hanafi, narrates that he had a dream,
“wherein i saw my grandfather the Messenger of Allah
(saws) in a great wide tent, and the Awliya were
coming to him and greeting him one by one, while one
person next to him would introduce them and say, “this
is so-and-so,” and then they would sit next to him
(alayhi salat wa salam). And then i saw a great group
of people, and that person called out, “this is
Muhammad al-Hanafi,” and when he reached the Messenger
(asws) he sat him down next to him, then turned to
Sayyidina Abi Bakr (radiyallahu anhu) and said, “i
love this man, except for his turban (‘imamah),” and
Abu Bakr replied, “ya Rasul Allah, do u give me
permission to dress him with a turban?” and the
Messenger (asws) gave him permission. So Abu Bakr took
off his own turban and placed it on the head of Sidi
Muhammad al-Hanafi, and let loose from it an extension and
hung it on his left shoulder.”

So after he told this to Sidi Muhammad Hanafi, he
cried, and the people in the group with them cried
too, and Shaykh Muhammad said to him, “if you see your
grandfather (asws) again in a dream, then ask him by
what specific action of mine he came to know me and i
became connected to him.” So a couple days later, he
saw the Prophet (asws) again in his dream, and he
asked him that question, and the Prophet (asws) said:

“It is because of his salawat he sends to me every day
before maghrib in his cell/room of devotion (khalwa),
which is:

“Allahumma Salli ‘ala Sayyidina Muhammadin
an-Nabiyy al-Ummiyy wa ‘ala aalihi wa sahbihi wa
Sallim, ‘adada ma ‘alimta wa zinata ma ‘alimta wa
mil’a ma ‘alimta”

(which translated means: “O Allah,
send your benedictions of blessing upon our liege-lord
Muhammad, the Unlettered Prophet, and upon his
household and companions, and greetings of peace,
according to the number of things You have knowledge
of, and the weight of things You have knowledge of,
and the amount of things You have knowledge of”).

So after hearing this Shaykh Muhammad said, “the
Messenger of Allah (asws) spoke the truth,” and he
re-adjusted his turban and hung down a tassel/extension on his
left shoulder, and so did everyone else in the group
(majlis), and he continued to wear his turban that way
until his passing – may Allah be pleased with him!

May Allah connect us to the Prophet (asws) and make
our connection to him firm and unbreakable, ameen…!

On the Day of Friday and its Preceding Night…

SALAWAT

 

You must do salawat upon Sayyid al-Wujud al-Habib al-Kamil Rasul-Allah (alayhi salat wa salam) frequently and super-abundantly. It is literally the best act of ‘ibada you can do, no exceptions.

 

(What about Salat? What about Sadaqa? What about Jihad?)

 

Imam Shafi’i said in some poetry of his, “Is it not enough of an honor for you (i.e. the Rasul and his Ahl al-Bayt) that the Salat is invalid unless the person makes salawat upon you?”

Allah Himself said (Q29:45) that the dhikr of Allah is greater than the Salat, and that the whole purpose of the Salat is dhikr (Q20:14), and the Prophet (asws) said that you retain from your salat only those parts in which you were aware and present (i.e. dhakir), and salat is limited (you cant pray in certain times or places) but dhikr is unlimited as such. So dhikr is better than salat.

 

Abu Darda’ related that he (asws) said: “Shall i not inform you of the best of your deeds,  the purest in the estimation of your King, and the loftiest in your degrees, and better for you than spending gold or silver in charity, and better for you than meeting your enemy in combat, striking their necks and your necks being struck?”

“It is the Dhikr of Allah!”

[recorded by Imam Malik, Imam Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Hakim in the Mustadrak, Tabarani, Ibn Abi Shayba, Bayhaqi in his Shu'ab al-Iman, Ibn Shahin in his Targhib, Ibn Mubarak in his Kitab az-Zuhd, 'Abd ibn Humayd in his Musnad, and others.]

 

Abu Sa’id al-Khudri also related that he was asked, “which slave of Allah will have the loftiest rank on Qiyama?” and in his inspired wisdom he (asws) answered: “those who invoke and remember Allah frequently.”

“Even better than the mujahid in the Way of Allah?”

“Even if he fights the disbelievers and idolators with his sword until it breaks, and becomes covered with blood, those who invoke Allah frequently would still occupy a higher station than he.”

[recorded by Tirmidhi and Ahmad with weak chains, but it has supporting narrations which are Sahih, recorded by Tabarani in his Mu'jam as-Saghir and al-Awsat, Ibn Abi Shayba in his Musannaf, and others.]

 

Salawat upon the Prophet (asws) and his household is even better than reading the Qur’an. Think about it. if you do some bad deeds, especially do something hurtful or oppressive to another creature, and then you read the Qur’an, the Qur’an curses you because your actions contravene its commands. but when the rebellious person does Salawat, Allah looks at him with mercy and favor (and he would not have done salawat were it not for His merciful support), and forgives him and strengthens him to do good and repent.

 

So there you have it, dhikr is the best ‘ibada. And i say with certainty that salawat is the best dhikr. it is also the only ‘ibada you can do which Allah Himself also does perpetually (Q33:56), and which results in multiplied salawat from Allah, His Angels, and the Prophets upon you in grateful return.

 

Ubayy ibn Ka’b said, “ya Rasul Allah! I make much salawat upon you as a personal habit. I have a daily portion of dhikr which i do, so how much of it should i devote to you in salawat and du’a?”

“As much as you please, ya Ubayy!”

“A quarter?”

“This is good, and if you increase it would be even better”

“A third?”
“This is good, and if you increase it would be even better”

“Half?” … “Two-thirds?”

(same response)

“then i shall devote my entire daily ‘ibada to you and make it all salawat”

“In this case, ya Ubayy, Allah will suffice you your needs in this world and the next, and forgive you your sins.”

[recorded by Tirmidhi, Imam Ahmad, Hakim in his Mustadrak, Tabarani in Mu'jam al-Kabir, Abdur-Razzaq and Ibn Abi Shayba in their Musannafs, Diya' al-Maqdisi in his Mukhtara (which is mostly Sahih hadiths), Bayhaqi in his Shu'ab al-Iman, and in the Musnad collections of Bazzar, Ruyani, and 'Abd ibn Humayd, and it is Hadith Hasan].

 

You must understand (and when you do abundant salawat you will realize this for yourself) that every blessing and ni’ma that Allah gives to creation in general, comes to Rasul-Allah first, and then he (alayhi salat wa salam) distributes it. “Allah is the Giver, and i am the distributor (qasim),” as Bukhari and others recorded. Until, some people do so much salawat that they become inheritors of him, and receive an abundant share from the overflowing oceans of the blessings and madad Allah sends the creation thru him.

 

Some of the scholars have said that the meaning of asking salawat upon the Prophet (asws) is that you ask Allah’s mercy to descend upon him. But how can this be the meaning, when Allah himself already made him the spring of mercy, and said, “I have not sent you except as a mercy to all the worlds and domains” (Q21:107), and he (asws) said, “I was sent as a gifted mercy to you”… in other words, he already has that from Allah.

 

no, the nature and reality of Salawat is something much more greater and sublime.  i will post on that in the future.

 

in the rest of this post, i will just quote various hadiths he stated to encourage myself and you the reader to make it a habit – especially on fridays – to offer abundant salawat.

 

Ibn Mas’ud related that he (asws) said: “the person most deserving of me (my closeness, intercession, kindness, etc) on the Qiyama is the one who sent the most salawat upon me.”

[recorded by Bukhari in his Tarikh al-Kabir, Tirmidhi, Ibn Hibban in his Sahih collection, Tabarani in M. Kabir, Bayhaqi in his Shu'ab al-Iman, and in the Musnads of Abu Ya'la and Bazzar. Sahih according to Suyuti].

 

“None of you will believe until I am more beloved to him than his family, his children, and all of mankind” (Bukhari and Muslim), and then add to that, “those who love something/someone mention it frequently” (Daylami in Musnad al-Firdaws, Da’if acc. to Suyuti), and you see that the mark of the true believer is frequent mention and salawat upon the one he loves the most.

 

Aws ibn Aws al-Thaqafi related that the Prophet (asws) said: “the best of your days is the day of Friday, so increase your prayers of benediction (salawat) upon me, for your prayers are shown before me,” and in other narrations, “your prayers reach me from wherever you are.” They asked him, “How could our prayers be shown to you when you have decomposed in your grave?” He answered, “Verily Allah has forbidden the earth to consume the bodies of the Prophets.” Some narrations add: “Therefore, the Prophet of Allah is alive and sustained.”

[recorded by Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, Nasa'i, and Darimi in their Sunan, Ibn Khuzayma, Ibn HIbban, and Hakim in their Sahih collections, Tabarani in his Mu'jam al-Kabir and Awsat, Bayhaqi in his Sunan al-Kubra and Shu'ab al-Iman, Ibn Abi Shayba, Imam Ahmad, Abu Ya'la, and Musaddad in their Musnads, Hakim Tirmidhi in Nawadir al-Usul, and others. Sahih according to Nawawi].

 

“Make frequent salawat upon me on the night preceding Friday, for indeed your salawat are presented to me” (Tabarani in M. Awsat, Bayhaqi in Shu’ab and Hayat al-Anbiya); “…for the salawat of my Ummah are shown to me every Friday, so whoever makes more salawat upon me will have a closer station to me” (Bayhaqi in Sunan and Hayat al-Anbiya, Hasan acc. to Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari), and in the narration of Anas, “…the day of Jum’a and its night, and whoever does this i will be his intercessor (shafi’) in Qiyama”.

 

Abu Hurayra related that he said: “Whoever sends salawat upon me at my grave, i hear him directly, and whoever sends salawat upon me at a distance, it is delivered to me and i am made to know of it” [recorded by Abu'l Shaykh ibn Hayyan in his Kitab al-Thawab, with a strong chain acc. to Ibn Hajar and his student Sakhawi].

 

‘Ammar ibn Yasir related that he (asws) said: “Allah has a special angel stationed at my grave, who has ears the number of the creatures, and if someone sends salawat upon me, he hears it and delivers it to me.”

[recorded by Bazzar and Harith ibn abi Usama in their Musnads, Abu'l Shaykh in Kitab al-'Adhama, and also by Daylami with a different chain from Abu Bakr. Hadith Hasan, and it has supporting narrations recorded by Bayhaqi in his Hayat al-Anbiya, Ishaq ibn Rahawayh in his Musnad, Isma'il al-Qadi in Fadl as-Salat 'ala-n Nabi, Ibn Bashkuwal in his Qurba, and others].

 

Similar to this is the other hadith from Ibn Mas’ud:

“Allah has angels who roam the earth, with the sole duty of conveying the salawat of my Ummah to me (in my grave)”

[Sahih hadith recorded by: Imam Ahmad, Nasa'i, Darimi, Hakim, Ibn Hibban, Bayhaqi, Tabarani, Abu Ya'la, Abdur-Razzaq, Ibn Abi Shayba, Bazzar, Qadi Isma'il, Ibn Mubarak, Abu'l Shaykh, Abu Nu'aym, al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Ibn 'Asakir, al-Baghawi, Daylami and others].

 

Mujahid stated that the Prophet (asws) said, “Indeed, you are presented to me (in my grave) with your names and your identifying marks, so beautify your salawat upon me” (Abdur-Razzaq in his Musannaf with a Sahih mursal chain).

 

more later…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

My mom’s (Layla M. Hakim) birthday is Aug 1st

My youngest brother Bilaal’s birthday is Aug 3rd

Happy Birthday Mama and Bilaal!!

Dr. “Batman” and Water

this is the order of importance of things you’re body needs to remain alive and healthy:

1) air/oxygen

2) water

3) salt

if you really understand that, you can pretty much avoid succuming to probably 70% of the things people are sick with these days. oh, and add to that list, DETOX.

anyway, on to my post.

Dr. Batmanghelidj (call him “Batman” for short lol) was originally from Iran (Allah have mercy on him), and obtained his M. D. from London. his story is really fascinating and reveals so many things about the body people are ignorant about today.

during the iranian revolution in the ’70s, they decided to put alot of the scientists/doctors/ etc in the prisons in Iran, and Dr. Batman was one of them. unfortunately, he wasnt allowed to take his basic medical equipment with him, but they allowed him to be the “jailhouse doctor” nonetheless.

anyway, because he didnt have access to his supplies, he said to himself half-heartedly the only thing i really have to help these people is water. one time while in prison, he heard a grown man crying out in what seemed unbearable pain. the guards had givenhim some antacid pills and something like pepto-bismol here in the states, but that didnt help, cuz he heard him scream with more intensity later. when they let Dr Batman examine him, he saw that he had so much stomach ulcer pain he couldnt sit or stand up straight, and the pain made him sorta half conscious. he had taken a whole bunch of antacid pills and alot of pepto too.

he decided to give the poor guy two big glasses of water, and after 30 min when he came back to him, he saw that he was better to his surprise? “plain water did this?” he gave him a third big drink of water, and after a couple of hours, he was back to normal. he was so shocked that he decided to test this “water cure” with other inmates. as the time went by, he ended up – according to his count – successfully treating around 3000 inmates/patients with water alone. in fact, when his prison sentence was over and they said he was free to go, **he voluntarily elected to stay in the prison to continue his tests with wate** (how’s that for sincerely seeking the truth?), since the prison was “an ideal testing ground for severe stress situations,” as he put it.

lemme say that again: he actually wanted to stay in prison some more months, just to see how this water cure worked…. think about that for a moment, are there doctors and scientists like that today, who are that willing to find out the truth?

when he finally came out with enough data, he became literally disgusted with himself and with the training he received as an MD, and could not believe that something so simple and logical was never taught to him in school.

as an aside, doctors (allopathic doctors, those who deal with pills and knives) are NOT what they used to be. the honor in that profession is gone for the most part. first of all, they aren’t taught to critically think and analyze anymore, but mainly to memorize pre-digested material. the way their schooling is geared is to give them incredible amounts of information in a short period of a few weeks, then test them, then move on to a completely new set of facts, only to lose what they gained before, and this all to pass tests and more tests. furthermore, a big part of ethics is lost from their profession, since even if they do want to genuinely help a patient actually get a cure (instead of just “treating them” to keep them well enough to buy medicines but still sick enough to come back again and see them, like mechanics do with cars), the HMO’s and insurance companies regulate what kind of treatments the patient gets, NOT based on what is good for them, but what earns/saves the most money.

a physicians son was himself finally becoming a physician and graduating, and got to work with his first patient, an old lady who used to see his father. her case was so simple, he had her treated successfully and she didnt need to come back anymore. when he told his father this, his father angrily responded, “you fool! that lady put you thru college” (from all the money she gave him year after year).

furthermore, what are u gonna learn about a patient by sitting with them only 10-15 minutes (after they’ve waited 150 minutes), and then only to ask them “so what do u think is wrong with you?” then going back to your office to match their comments you wrote down to some thing a book on your shelf said, and write a prescription for the medicine it recommended. this, along with incredibly expensive tests which still tell the docs little, and leave them confused and differing with eachother.

i know a hakim (traditional/natural doctor) in Afghanistan, who is able to diagnose most illnesses simply by looking at you and taking different pulses. in the west, they teach you only about one pulse, but in this system, this hakim is trained to identify 30-some odd different pulses. where do u get that kind of education here?

how is it that with such advanced medicine in this country, we still have the worst and highest cases of chronic illnesses, some of them unheard of in “those backward” countries?

it is truly a “sick-care” system, and not anymore a “health-care” system, because they keep you sick and care for you by maintaining you in that sick state.

the WORST manifestation by far of this phenomena is in the mental health-care industry. ill save my critique of that in another post.

back to Dr. Batman. he move to America and developed his studies and ideas, and began writing the different medical and health organizations to publicize his findings (such as the FDA, NIH, CDC, AMA, etc). they ignored him. after his persistence, they not only ignored him but saw to it that his ideas were suppressed and were not given the fair light of day. he gave up after seeing their hypocrisy and decided to establish his own organization called “Foundation for the Simple in Medicine” based in northern virginia, from which he published his books (i have four of them).

basically, he called for a paradigm shift in the medical field, since they taught some fundamental errors in understanding the body and how it works. the title of his first book summarizes it:

“YOU ARE NOT SICK, YOU ARE THIRSTY: dont treat your thirst with medications”

in other words, many of the chronic “sicknesses/diseases” are actually signs of advanced chronic dehydration. usually what we’re taught is that “dry mouth” is the only symptom of the body’s thirst. this blunder has been the cause of great suffering for many people, who were given dangerous medicines (the 4th leading cause of death in the states is pharmaceutical agents) when instead they should have been treated with water (and other things).

dry mouth is actually a dangerous sign that you are seriously dehydrated, and that you have neglected your body’s more subtle thirst signals (they were only subtle cuz we were too ignorant to know about them).

the other big mistake is fluids = water. in other words, you can re-hydrate your body by drinking juices, soft drinks, coffee, alcohol, etc. i mean, they already have water in them right?

is your body made of 70% pepsi?

did you know that the simple act of breathing causes body water loss? daily activities use water… you sweat, you urinate, you breath, you digest food, all of that uses water, which your body loses. and what do you do, replace it with pepsi or coffee? (which further dehydrates you?)

what happens when you’re dehydrated? why is it so dangerous?

first, when you dont have your optimum water supply in your body, your brain kicks in some hormones (mainly histamine – sound familiar) to ration your water supply to certain important organs (to the detriment of others). what do you get when you have histamine floating around your body, trying to determine which organ gets how much water? you get colds and flus. which should be classified therefore as a thirst signal, not a literal sickness. but what do the docs say? “here take an anti-histamine!” you’re blocking the action of an important hormone which is doing an important job, and your organs suffer further (who cares, good thing my nose is cleared!)

what else? when you dont have enough water, your blood becomes too thick, and as it passes along your body and “rubs against” the cells, osmosis happens and some of the water in your cells moves out of your cells into your blood. water outside of your cells means they cant function optimully and efficiently. if this is the case chronically, and you ignore your body and keep it dehydrated, your cells begin to freak out and die.

Allah did not create you stupidly. He knows what He is doing by sending that histamine in your body, since He is trying to save what water the body has.

a further complication is high blood pressure. this is mainly your body adapting to its crisis state of dehydration, (thru the renin-angiotensin hormone system) by keeping water in your body (thru working on the kidneys). also, your heart pumps with more pressure to get some of that water pushed back into the cells. but mainly, it is trying to keep water in your body, which is now a scarce commodity. this is where the salts in your body help.

but what do the doctors say? “here, take this diuretic to lower your blood pressure, and stay away from salt” no fool, the problem isnt your blood being too thick because of too much salt, but because of too little water. you need salt, salt is essential for the functioning of EVERY SINGLE CELL in your body. (in fact, the Romans used to punish their prisoners at a certain time by depriving them of salt!). your body is holding on to that salt because salt keeps water in the body. that’s what you learn in basic physiology “water goes where the salt goes”.

ok this post got long enough. if you want more info (ill be posting more details later), check out Dr Batmanghelidj’s valuable books, and/or go to www.watercure.com (also .org).

and drink your water!

Notes on Tawakkul, PT. 2

The third highest stage is that he be with Allah like the dead corpse in the hands of the washer, having absolutely no volition of its own, and being just a conduit for the irada (Will) and qudra (Power) of the “washer” (i.e., Allah the Powerful). And its difference with the second stage is that the child runs to his mother and cries for attention, and other things which show its own volition. Therefore, in this third stage, there might arise a state of not making du’a to Allah because one is already confident that Allah will take full care of him… (example of Sayyidina Ibrahim asws in the catapult with Jibril).

The question: Is there any remedy which helps in re-directing the heart away from leaning in dependence upon outward secondary causes and means, and having a good opinion in Allah in His facilitating the hidden means? I say:

It is that you know and recognize that bad opinion is inspired from the shaytan, and that good opinion is inspired from Allah Most High, who said: “Shaytan promises you poverty and commands you to vileness” (surat Baqara). The human naturally is open to listening to the fearful thoughts from shaytan and is vulnerable before his whisperings. So if you add to this the cowardice, the weakness of the heart, the constant witnessing of those who rely fully upon outward causes, then bad opinion dominates and tawakkul is erased from his inward. While good opinion is increased when provision is facilitated thru hidden causes, by the grace of Allah.

But this is all due to their weak faith, their strong avarice, and their short endurance (sabr) under difficulties in this world for the sake of the Hereafter, and to the dominance of cowardice over their hearts thru having a bad opinion and vain long hopes.

You must develop contentment and satisfaction with the daily provision which comes to you, for it will come to you without doubt, even if you flee from it like you flee from death. And if you busy yourself with taqwa, you will see and experience for yourself the realization of His Words: “and whoever has taqwa of Allah, He will make for him a way out, and provide for him from means he could not imagine, and whoever depends upon Allah, He will be sufficient for him…” (Q65:2-3).

A group of people came to Imam Junayd, who asked them “what do you seek?” and they replied, “we seek provision (rizq)”. So he told them, “if you know where to find it, then go look for it there.”

They said, “in that case, we will just ask Allah.” He replied, “if you think He will forget you, then remind Him.” They said,

“then we shall enter our houses and simply have trust and wait to see what occurs,” and he said, “having tawakkul while testing Allah is nothing but doubt.” So they asked him, “so what is the solution? What is the trick?” and he said:

“ABANDONING TRICKS AND SOLUTIONS.” (Gotta love that Imam Junayd!)

Ten Ways of Developing Tawakkul

These ten ways are mostly from Imam Ghazali, with some additions from myself…

1) In more than one place in the Qur’an, Allah asks us to “travel throughout the land, and see for yourself how…” He created this or that thing, or how He punished a certain group of people, etc. meaning, go out there and actively seek the truth, and see how Allah plans and executes His plans.

2) Imam Ghazali said one of the main problems was cowardice and unsettled sense of fear, and the opposite of that is tranquility and stillness and firmness, and these all are the promised and proven results of group dhikr. The Prophet (asws) said: “No group gathers together to make dhikr of Allah, except Allah covers them with mercy, engulfs them with tranquility (sakinah), surrounds them with angels reaching to the heavens, and boasts of them with those in His Presence.”

3) Any and every quality and branch of Iman was given in its fullness and entirety to the heart of Sayyid al-Wujud Muhammad (asws), and the closer someone is to him (asws), the greater share he obtains of the contents of his vast heart. The best means to obtain closeness to him is frequent and abundant salawat upon him, which grows into a strong bond, and the tawakkul in his heart spills over into your heart. Also, most of the opposites of tawakkul arise from fear and cowardice, and these are only based on illusions and whisperings from shaytan. So to demolish those illusions, repeat frequently the adhkar of tahlil and la hawla…

4) Another easier way to absorb states of tawakkul from the Prophet (asws) is to sit and associate with his inheritors. After having taqwa, the next thing Allah commands us to do (Q9:118) is to “be with the truthful.” Then whatever qualities they have rubs off on you, and you get to see the world around you from their point of view and clear vision, instead of having your vision tainted and skewed by the misinformed world view of those who have no tawakkul and run after the dunya.

5) Know yourself – and you will know Allah. Enough said

6) Simply ignore any whisperings of illusion which come from shaytan, such as that Allah has forgotten about you, etc. just don’t feed it with your attention, or else it will grow, but suffocate it by ignoring it.

7) Remember that Allah promised to give you what you need, not what you necessarily want. If you don’t get that roasted leg of lamb every day, that shouldn’t make you weak in your tawakkul. So also try to develop the other qualities of contentment, patient endurance, and stop being a wimp lol.

8) Related to the previous step, develop the quality of Zuhd, which means being inwardly detached from this world, and your life will be much easier. Why do you need that mansion and three cars? If you humiliate yourself by getting a loan for a million dollars to buy “what you need,” and then find you aren’t receiving from Allah enough money to pay back those loans, then you should only blame your stupidity and your nafs. Get your priorities in order, and you’ll be fine.

9) As Imam Ghazali said, busy yourself with acts of taqwa and fulfillment of Divine obligations, and take care of what is required of you, and He’ll take care of what He promised. “Perform the salat and command your family to it, We do not expect provision from you, it is We who will provide for you, and the final outcome is for those who have taqwa” (Q20:132).

10) Finally, pay no attention to your tawakkul and focus on Allah al-Wakil, so you can rise to those higher stages he talked about.

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