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| Tazkiya 101 |
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| se7en |
| 08/13/03 at 01:41:19 |
| as salaamu alaykum wa rahmatullah, Insha'Allah, this thread will be dedicated to posting notes written by participants from the Tazkiya Retreat earlier this summer. As always, please feel free to post corrections/comments/questions... May Allah reward the author/s and grant benefit through these posts, ameen. wasalaamu alaykum :-) |
| Re: Tazkiya 101 |
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| se7en |
| 08/13/03 at 01:43:12 |
Qana3a: Contentment: - “Whosoever acts in righteousness – be they male or female – and were faithful, such a person We will grant a life that is tayyiba.” – many mufassireen say that in this verse ‘tayyiba’ is in reference to Qana3a in the life of this world. -Contentment is an inner quality/virtue. -To be content with whatever one has and does not require to ask for more of whatever bounties of this dunya are. - Hadith related by Imam Bayhaqi "Practice Wara'a (devotional Abstinence, i.e. avoiding doubtful matters or even debatable issues) and you will become a person who is most serving to Allah, And be content and you will become the most grateful of men, And love for others what you love for yourself, and you will be faithful; and behave beautifully to those next to you (neighbors, kin, etc) and you will become A Muslim. And laugh less for laughter is the death of the Qalb". - Qana’3a is the haqeeqiy level, the ultimate expression of shukr. -Qana3a is a treasure that never ends. -Imam Shafi said:”wa idh kunta da qalbin qanu’3in / fa anta wa malik ud-dunyaa sawaau” "If you have a qalb that is content / then you and the one who owns all the treasures of the world are the same". -One may actually have all the treasures of the world but lack contentment and that person will feel they need more, they will be perpetually in fear of poverty (the presence of poverty in their minds is a punishment). -Qana3a is a king who resides only inside the Qalb of a Mu'umin. -Qana3a is important because it is the gate to Ridha (which is a high station in front of Allah). Ridha is to be fully pleased with Allah in good and bad and under all circumstances. -Abu Sulayman ad-Daraani relates "The gate to Ridhaa is qana3a and the wara'a is the gate to zuhud" -If we have no Ridha, Allah will not be pleased with us. -"The person who has aql (a'aqil-the sight of the Qalb) is the one who manages his affairs of dunya with contentment and tasweef (procrastination), and he manages the affairs of Akhera with insistence and hastiness (tajzeel)". Affairs of the dunya is reffered to the excesses of this world and not the basic rights of the nafs. -Allah made 5 things in 5 other things: a)Izz (dignity) in His obedience. b)Dhull (abasement) in His disobedience c)Reverence (hayba) in Qiyamul Layl d)Wisdom (Hikma) in an empty stomach. e)Richness in Qana3a (Contentment). A shaykh with Ma3rifa was asked "Who amongst people is most content?" he replied "the one who is most serving to others and least burdensome on others". -One man (who had a high post with the sultan) was walking by and he saw this poor humble wise man eating from the ground. The affluent man said "If you took a position with the king you won't have to eat this". Whereby the wise poor man replied "If you were content with this, you won't have to serve the king". Abu Yazeed was asked "How did you get where you are?" He replied "I picked the means of this world and tied them with the rope of Qana3a, and I put them in the catapult of truthfulness and shot it into the sea of despair. Then I got where I am". Sh. Al Junayd in one of his visits to the House of Allah was sitting in a Majlis with many poor people seeking ilm and barakah from him. Then this rich man walked in with a bag filled with 500 gold coins (a fortune back then), the rich man said "Please distribute as you see fit to the poor/needy people". The Shaykh asked him "Do you have more of this?" the man replied "oh yes!" The shaykh asked again "Do you want more of this?" The man replied "yes!" the Shaykh then said "Take it you are more needy than we are". -The rich man needed to learn qana3a, while those poorer than him were already content. -The challenges of modernity are powerful and have always been around in a relative sense. The people living "back in the day" faced with similar issues although different contexts, yet they achieved great heights such as Hassan Al Basri, Sh. Junayd etc. It is not the environment that is at fault but the weakness of our nafs. [i]Reflection on Contentment: I am ashamed to be put in the same species as these great people that have succeeded me in their path to Allah. The awliyaa who despite similar challenges I am faced with, successfully disengaged their Quloob from everyone and thing except Allah. I feel humiliated at the sheer wantonness of my nafs. How much is exactly enough? Too much. For the more I hanker over things, the stronger my nafs gets, and starts demanding even more. The more I feed it, the weaker I get. Like a baby who is spoilt rotten, my nafs has it's temper tantrums within, for the slightest inconvenience to it. I am ashamed that I have stood in front of Allah for many decades, with all the baggages of dunya firmly strapped around me, weighing me down, yet I still wanted more. I stand in front of Allah, a void in my heart, yearning to fill it with just the right mixture of material successes, recognition and worse than all love from the creation of Allah. Yet Subhana Allah even with all of those my nafs still wants, it will continue pushing me until I am severely broken and I become the beast with which my nafs rides on for it's pleasure, wal Iyadhu Billah Min Dhalik. Contentment is a skill I need to understand and apply in my life. How? I have started little exercizes that I have integrated. Like when I see someone more blessed than me and I feel this familiar twinge I immediately make duah for them (Sh. Hamza Yusuf suggested this). Since I have no job, buying less material things has become a necessity and a blessing for me Alhamdullillah. For in less there is more. The Rasul (SAW) said that the son of Adam will never be satisfied till the dust of his grave enters his mouth. It's really scary! I ant to channel this yearning to Allah such taht I am never content in seeking more closeness to Him, and less for His Ibaad. The two have a direct correlation: for Attachment to Allah = Disengagement to others and stuff. It's really tough, especially living in a society that propells people to become mindless consumers ( I live right next, literally parking lots are connected, to an outlet mall). Inshaallah though, with the Grace and Rahma of Allah, just like He gave His awliyaa and our predecessors tawfiq, He will grant us too Inshaallah. (Amin). That maybe this nafs can be weaned off all the extras it doesn't need. Another point that got me thinking is that the more you have, the more the Ibaad actually hate you for it. Hasad is rampant and real. It's actually not nice to tantalize others with our many shortcomings creating misplaced priorities in people's hearts. I pray and pray for Qana3a. (amin).[/i] |
| 08/13/03 at 01:43:41 |
| se7en |
| Re: Tazkiya 101 |
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| timbuktu |
| 08/13/03 at 02:55:56 |
| [slm] my daughter said to me: "papa, our old house was better, let us go back there" i asked: "but why? daughter. that was a rented house. you lived with us in the same room, & so did your brother. & there was no TV lounge in there. This house is all ours. No rent to pay, only the loans. & it is a large house. & you children have your own rooms." she said: "but papa, it was the best house. We all lived in the same room. There was so much more love in that house." she was very young then, & closer to the fitrah Allah has created us all in. Now she is grown up, & thinks she needs more private space. but she was right when she was young. With larger houses, & more material things, come separation of souls, & weakening of love. |
| 08/13/03 at 03:10:46 |
| timbuktu |
| Re: Tazkiya 101 |
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| BrKhalid |
| 08/19/03 at 09:14:46 |
| Asalaamu Alaikum ;-) [quote]Attachment to Allah = Disengagement to others and stuff[/quote] [i]You know I’ve been thinking about this post for over a week and in particular the sentence above. I can understand what is trying to be conveyed but converting that to something more tangible is a lot more difficult. The closest thing I could come up with is a traveler being faced with a fork in the road. Only in this scenario, there aren’t two options but many, thousands in fact but only one is the correct path. What does he do? How does he know which one to take? There’s a saying in England about being “ led down the garden path” which basically means being conned or fooled. And to me, this is what all these multitude of paths do: deceive you and trick you away from the one true path. Hence to keep yourself from straying, you shut down these avenues of deception and firmly nail a “Keep out” sign at its entrance. Thus when you go back to your fork you don’t have a problem because all the paths are closed except one and that’s the one you continue walking down. See the difference between a man who closes the avenues before he reaches them and the man who has to figure out which path to choose, is peace of mind and contentment. And that is what the natural consequence of disengagement means to me.[/i] [hr] Keep the notes from the retreat coming ;-) |
| Re: Tazkiya 101 |
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| Nawawi |
| 09/07/03 at 12:48:27 |
| [size=5]On Divine Love and Contentment[/size] By Imaam Al Haddad You must love God until He becomes (Transcendent is He!) dearer to you than all else, and until you have no other beloved but Him. The cause for the presence of love is either a perfection existing in the beloved or something that one receives from him. If you are one in whom love is caused by perfection, then [know] that perfection, majesty, and beauty are God’s alone, and that He has no associates in them. Any perfection or beauty seen in any existing thing comes from God’s perfecting or beautifying it, for He has created and designed it, and had He not favoured it with existence it would have been unperceived, non-existent; and but for the effusion of the lights of the beauty of His making upon it it would have been a thing inauspicious indeed.7’ If, however, you are one who loves because of what you receive, then [know that] there is no graciousness, favour, honour, or provision bestowed upon you or any other creature but that God the Exalted has favoured you with it purely through His generosity and liberality. How many a good thing has He given you! How many a favour has He granted you! He is your Lord and Guardian, Who created and guided you, to whom your life and your death belong, Who gives you to eat and drink, Who provides and looks after you, Who shelters you and gives you refuge. He sees your ugly behaviour and conceals it; you ask Him to forgive you and He does so, arid He sees your righteous behaviour and increases and manifests it. You obey Him byHis providence and aid and He mentions your name in the Unseen,76 and casts respect and love for you into the bearts of others. You disobey Him using His favours, yet disobedience does not make Him withhold His favours, How can you love other than this Generous God? Or how could you disobey this Compassionate Lord? Know that the basis of love is knowledge, and that its fruit is contemplation [mushdhada]. Its lowest degree is that the love of God should be supreme in your heart, and the test of sincerity here is to disobey the person whom you love should he invite you to that which would incur God’s anger such as sins or the neglect of acts of obedience. Its uppermost degree is that there remain in your heart not the slightest love for other than God. This is a rare and precious thing, and to persist therein is even more so. When it persists the human attributes fade away completely and an absorption in God obtains which leaves no room for any awareness of the existent universe and its people. Know that love for the Messenger of God, and all of God’s other Prophets, angels, and virtuous servants, and all who assist in His obedience, is part of one’s love for Him. The Prophet has said, may blessings and peace be upon him: ‘Love God for the favours He grants you, and love me for the love of God, and love the people of my house for my love.’ And: ‘God has said: “My love is due to those who love each other for My sake, who sit with each other for My sake, who visit each other for My sake, and who give to each other for My sake.”’ Sincere love has signs, the greatest and highest of which is perfection in one’s following the Messenger in his speech, acts, and attributes. God the Exalted has said: Say: If you love God, then follow me and God will love you. [111:31]. Following God’s Beloved is in proportion to one’s love for God; if the latter is abundant then the former will be abundant likewise, while if the latter is little, the former will be little also. And God is witness to what we say. [XXVIII:28] You must be content with God’s decrees, for this content-. ment is among the most noble consequences of love and gnosis. It is the attribute of the lover to be pleased with the acts of his Beloved, whether they be sweet or bitter. The prophet has said, may blessings and peace be upon him, that God says: ‘Anyone who is not content with My decrees and cannot patiently endure My trials, let him seek a lord other than I!’ And the Prophet said: ‘When God loves a people He afflicts them, the one who is content receives [His] contentment and the one who is angry receives [His] anger.’ Your duty, 0 believer, is to know and believe that God the Exalted is the One Who causes guidance and misguidance, misery and happiness, and nearness and remoteness; He gives and withholds, abases and exalts, and causes harm and benefit. Having known and believed in this your duty is never to object, whether outwardly or inwardly, to any of His acts. To object means to say: ‘Why was that?’ and ‘What for?’ ‘Why was it not like this or that? What did so-and-so do to deserve this?’ There can be none more ignorant than he who raises objections to the way God deals with His kingdom or disputes His sovereignty, while remaining aware that God the Exalted is the Unique Creator, Authority, Sovereign, and Manager, Who does what He wills and decides what He wishes, Who cannot be asked to account for what He does, while they [i.e. His creatures] can. [XXI:23.] On the contrary, you must believe that everything that God does cannot be done in a wiser, more equitable, better, or more perfect way. Such is, in general terms, contentment with God’s acts. To be more specific, matters which concern you are of two kinds: [Firstly,] those which suit you, such as good health and prosperity. Resentment is inconceivable here except through looking at those who possess more of these things than you do; your duty then is to be content with what God has allotted you because His is the right to do as He pleases in His kingdom, or better still because He has chosen what is best and most suitable for your circumstances. [Secondly,] that which does not suit you, such as misfortunes, illnesses, and infirmities. It is then forbidden that you be discontented and restless in this regard; it is better to accept these things contentedly and surrender [to God’s will]. If you cannot, then patiently endure Prophet: Say: Have you any knowledge that you can exhibit for us? You follow nothing but conjectures; you only guess. [VI:48] And even the idolaters when they return to God will not be able to use such an unten2ble argument; on the contrary they will say: Our Lord! Our evil frrtune overwhelmed us and we were people astray. [XXIII:106] Our Lord! We have now seen and heard, send us back and we will do right, we are now convinced! [XXXII:12] Know that supplication even with insistence does not compromise contentment; on the contrary, it is a part of it. How can it not be so when prayer expresses true faith in God’s unity, is the language of servitude, and the hallmark of the realization of helplessness, neediness, humility, and poverty? Anyone who has realized these attributes has attained to knowledge and arrival, and to the utmost nearness to God. It has been related that the Messenger of God, may blessings and peace be upon him, said that prayer is the marrow of worship, the weapon of the believer, and the light of the heavens and earth; and that those who do not ask God incur His wrath. Our Lord (Majestic is His power!) has said: To God belong the most beaut Jul Names; thus call on Him by them! [VII:180] And: Your Lord has said: Pray to Me and I will answer you. [XL:60] That which happened to the Intimate Friend, peace be on him, who was cast into the fire and refrained from praying,78 was due to a secret concerning the particular state he was in. God has related many of his prayers in numerous passages of His Book; in fact He has related more from him than from any other Prophet. Thus study the Book of God and extract the sciences from it, for they have all been set within it, whether minute or immense, manifest or hidden. God the Exalted has said: We have neglected nothing in the Book. [VI:38] And: We revealed the Book to you as an exposition of all things, a guidance a mercy, and good tidings for the believers. [XVI:90] |
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