Islamic Sufism Spirituality

Is it right to use word GOD for ALLAH?

Posted by: Sohail Ahmed Shaikh on: August 8, 2009

Saying Oh, Allah! Forgive Me if You Will…

Posted by: Sohail Ahmed Shaikh on: February 10, 2010

It is authentically reported on the authority of Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (may Peace Be Upon Him) said: “None of you should say: “Oh, Allah , Forgive me if You will,” or: “Oh, Allah , Have mercy upon me if You Will.” Rather he should always appeal to Allah firmly, for nobody can force Allah to do something against His Will.”1 According to Muslim’s report, He (may Peace Be Upon Him) said: “One should appeal to Allah with firm determination for nothing is too much or too great for Allah to give it.”

Because all of us are wretched and humble before Allah , Most High, and He is Self-sufficient, Most Praiseworthy, Allah’s Messenger (may Peace Be Upon Him) forbade anyone who supplicates Allah from adding to his request: “…if You will,” as this suggests a lack of interest on Allah’s part in the needs of His slaves, nor is it befitting the true spirit of humility in which the Muslim is supposed to approach his Rabb. Nor is it fitting to suggest that Allah treats His slaves in such a fickle manner, acceding to some requests, while rejecting others on a whim – Allah , Most High, is far above that. In fact He has informed us that he answers the supplication of everyone who asks Him:

And when My slaves ask you about Me, I am indeed near: I answer the supplication of the suppliant when he asks Me” (Qur’an 2:185).

Then He , Most Glorified, Most High, commands us that when we ask Him, we should do so imploringly, beseechingly, whether the request is big or small since no request is difficult for Him, Most High, to grant, for He is the Owner of all things in the heavens and the earth, the absolute Disposer of all affairs therein and He is Able to do all things.

Benefits Derived From This Hadith

1. The prohibition of saying: “…if You will,” when supplicating Allah .

2. The lawfulness of supplication and confirmation of its effectiveness.

3. Confirmation of Allah’s Completeness and Perfection.

4. That imploring Allah firmly, rather than timidly and apologetically, is to think well of Him, Most Glorified, Most High.

5. Allah’s freedom from all imperfection.

Relevance of This Hadith to the Subject of the Chapter

That the Hadith proves the prohibition of saying: “…if You will,” when making supplication to Allah .

Relevance of This Hadith to the Subject of Tawheed

That it proves that it is forbidden to say: “…if You will,” when supplicating Allah , as this suggests some lack or imperfection in Allah , as if He might answer us or not according to His whim, and such an idea is incompatible with correct Tawheed.

Footnotes

1. Narrated by Bukhari.

Hadiath about Butparsti (idols)

Posted by: Sohail Ahmed Shaikh on: January 28, 2010

Dreams in Islam

Posted by: Sohail Ahmed Shaikh on: January 25, 2010

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Preface

This book on the subject, ‘Dreams in Islam’, is published in the Ansari Memorial Series in honor of my teacher and Shaikh of blessed memory, Maulana Dr. Muhammad Fadlur Rahman Ansari Al-Qaderi (1914-1974). Had we not acquired the authentic Sufi epistemology from that great teacher at the Aleemiyah Institute of Islamic Studies in Karachi, Pakistan, we could not have written this book. Let me at the very outset hasten to make an important distinction, which Iqbal also made, between authentic Sufism and the many forms of pseudo-Sufism that have lately emerged. In all our references in this book to Sufism we identify with the Sufism of men like Ghous al-‘Azam, Shaikh ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi (who was Iqbal’s mentor), Shaikh al-Akbar, Muhiuddin Ibn ‘Arabi, Imam al- Ghazzali, Imam Ibn Taimiyyah and others.

‘Dreams in Islam’ is a subject whose supreme importance for the believer continues to increase as the world becomes increasingly godless and as the historical process draws to a close. The Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam said:

“When the time (of the end of the world) draws close, the dreams of a believer will hardly fail to come true, and a dream of a believer is one of the forty-six parts of prophethood.” (Bukhari)

We pray that Allah (st) may make it possible for a Muslim psychologist of the caliber and competence of my dear friend, Dr. Malik Badri, to write a comprehensive work on the subject in the English language at some time in the future Insha Allah. (Cf. his masterly work entitled, ‘The Dilemma of the Muslim Psychologist’). If a comprehensive work on Dreams in Islam were to be written now it would, I believe, be the first work on the subject ever to be written in the English language.

One of the signs of the last age, i.e., before the end of the world, is the absence of knowledge (of Truth and, therefore of Islam). Our widespread ignorance of the subject of ‘Dreams’ and the important place which ‘Dreams’ occupy in Islam, (as well as the widespread ignorance of the subject of the Prohibition of Riba in Islam), is yet another indication that the last age has arrived! I was myself largely ignorant of the subject and, as a consequence, Satan attacked me through dreams for ten long miserable years.

I did not have the basic knowledge of the subject that the reader can now easily obtain by reading this booklet, and which could have protected me from those dangerous attacks and from the grievous damage that they inflicted on me and my family.

Dreams are sometimes classified as of three kinds, ‘good and true’ dreams – which come from Allah (st), ‘evil’ dreams or ‘nightmares’ – which come from Satan, and dreams that emanate from our own ‘self’. The minimum knowledge of the subject which every believer should have is the knowledge with which to be able to classify his or her own dreams and thus to be able to recognize a dream which has come from Satan. That is indispensable since protective action from such a dream must be taken immediately after one wakes from sleep.

When the same dream has been repeated at different places in the text it is because the dream has a multidimensional application.

There are many who will read this booklet and who can add to its importance by allowing us to include in a future edition some of the important dreams that they have had. There may even be a reader or two who has been blessed by Allah (st) with the capacity to interpret dreams. Some thirty years ago I dreamt Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi lifting me in his arms and taking me up into the sky.

It was surely a good dream. And it may be that someone who reads this book may be able to interpret that dream for me. This book was written at great speed because of time constraints. I did not have the time to devote to the study and analysis of the dreams that the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam and his companions saw. And that was such a great pity. Basit Bilal Koshul was the only one close to me to whom I could turn for a critical review of the MS, and he kindly put aside his doctoral research work to respond to my call. The brothers, Shaheed and Husman Bacchus, also assisted in proof-reading. May Allah bless them. Ameen.

I pray to Allah (st) to bless this humble effort in the cause of Truth and forgive me my sins. And I pray that this booklet may be of benefit to the reader and may make such a positive contribution to his/`her inner purification and growth that he/she may be blessed with a nur (light) with which to see and recognize the godless world which is today all around us, and the ‘dregs’ of humanity which today control it.

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Whoever Curses Time Wrongs Allah

Posted by: Sohail Ahmed Shaikh on: January 20, 2010

Allah , says:

And they say: There is nothing but our life in this world: We die and we live and nothing destroys us except time. And they have no knowledge of it, they only conjecture” (Qur’an 45:24)

Allah , Most Glorified, Most High, informs us in this verse about the disbelieving dahris1 from among the Arabs and others, who do not believe in any life, save the life of this world, nor in the Rabb and Creator, Allah , Most High. They believe that nothing causes death except the passage of time. Then Allah , Most Glorified, Most High, refutes their claims, saying that they have absolutely no evidence for what they claim, but instead, depend upon surmise and their own vain opinions.

Benefits Derived From This Verse

1. That attributing good or evil to the passage of time is a sign of atheism.

2. Confirmation of a life after death for mankind.

3. That ad-dahr (time) is not one of Allah’s Names.

Relevance of This Verse to the Subject of the Chapter

That the verse rejects those who attribute events to time, for they commit a great wrong against Allah .

Relevance of This Verse to the Subject of Tawheed

That it rejects those who attribute events to time, because in so doing, they are ascribing a partner to Allah , for it is He, Alone Who decrees what will be and what will not be.

..ooOOoo..

It is authentically reported on the authority of Abu Hurairah (ra) that the Prophet (may Peace Be Upon Him) said: “Allah , Most Blessed, Most High, says: “The son of Adam wrongs Me: He curses time, though I am time: In My Hands are all things and I cause the night to follow the day.” 2 In another narration, He (may Peace Be Upon Him) says: “Do not curse time, for verily, time is Allah .”

Allah , Most Glorified, Most High informs us in this Hadith Qudsi, that man commits a great wrong against Allah when he curses time and attributes the occurrence of events to it, for Allah is the Rabb of time and the Disposer of affairs and it is by His Qadr that events take place. Therefore to curse time is to curse the Owner of time.

In the second narration, the Prophet (may Peace Be Upon Him) forbids us from cursing time, saying that Allah is the Owner of time and the Disposer of it and all events and affairs, and this is confirmation of what was reported in the preceding Hadith Qudsi.

Benefits Derived From This Hadith

1. The forbiddance of cursing time.

2. That no actions may be attributed to time.

Relevance of This Hadith to the Subject of the Chapter

That it proves that to curse time is to commit a great wrong against Allah .

Relevance of This Hadith to the Subject of Tawheed

That the Hadith proves that cursing time is a great wrong against Allah , because those who do so believe that it is time which causes events to take place and this is shirk in Tawheed Ar-Ruboobiyyah, for it is Allah , Alone Who determines events.

Footnotes

1. Dahris: An atheistic sect among the Arabs, their views are widely held in the West today: There is no God, no Resurrection, no punishment, no reward etc., etc.
2. Narrated by Bukhari.

Hadiath about Jews and Christians

Posted by: Sohail Ahmed Shaikh on: December 14, 2009

Yajooj Majooj and Dajjal

Posted by: Sohail Ahmed Shaikh on: December 1, 2009

Hadiath About Dreams

Posted by: Sohail Ahmed Shaikh on: November 30, 2009

Help Animals Suffering in University of Utah Laboratories

Posted by: Sohail Ahmed Shaikh on: November 11, 2009

An eight-month PETA undercover investigation at the University of Utah has documented the daily suffering of dogs, cats, monkeys, rats, mice, rabbits, and other animals in the school’s laboratories.

Homeless dogs and cats—who were bought for $15 to $25 from local animal shelters through a Utah state “pound-seizure” law, which requires government-run shelters to turn animals over to laboratories that request them—were used in cruel, invasive experiments. In one study, a litter of kittens born to a cat bought from an animal shelter died after they had a chemical injected into their brains to cause fluid to build up.

In other experiments
, mice whose back legs were paralyzed, rats suffering epileptic seizures, and mice with huge, ulcerated tumors covering their bodies were left to suffer without adequate veterinary care. Many animals died and were left for days before anyone noticed.

Please be a voice for the animals suffering in labs at the University of Utah. Take a minute of your time to urge the university to stop taking advantage of the animal overpopulation crisis and stop acquiring animals from shelters, which are supposed to protect animals from harm. Also, please call on administrators to release to the public complete records on all the animal experiments at the University of Utah funded by tax dollars, including grant proposals, experimental protocols, veterinary records, and minutes of oversight committee meetings.

Please take a little time and sign this petition.. at this link

https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2673

Peaceable Kingdom

Posted by: Sohail Ahmed Shaikh on: October 29, 2009

 

Award-Winning Films
that awaken compassion and deepen each individual’s understanding of the interconnectedness of all life.

A Charitable Organization
that empowers caring people everywhere to become agents of peaceful social change.

A Global Community
of people from all walks of life dedicated to living with kindness and respect for all living beings.

A Commitment
to actions guided by publicly stated values, ever mindful that the means are the end.

A Vision
of a world free of violence and full of beauty.

The Dark Side of the Turkey Industry

Posted by: Sohail Ahmed Shaikh on: October 29, 2009

 

Update: Following our investigation inside Aviagen Turkeys, Inc., 19 indictments for cruelty to animals were filed against former employees. Now, for the first time in U.S. history, two ex-employees have been convicted of abusing factory-farmed turkeys, and one has been jailed. Learn more on our blog.

More than 72 million of the nearly 270 million turkeys killed for food every year in the U.S. are slaughtered for holiday meals. In 2008, just prior to the flesh-focused Thanksgiving holiday, PETA conducted an undercover investigation lasting more than two months at the factory farms of Aviagen Turkeys, Inc., the self-proclaimed “world’s leading poultry breeding company.”

While working at a series of Aviagen factory farms in West Virginia, PETA’s investigator documented that workers tortured, mutilated, and maliciously killed turkeys. The following are just a few of the documented offenses:

  • Employees stomped on turkeys’ heads, punched turkeys, hit them on the head with a can of spray paint and pliers, and struck turkeys’ heads against metal scaffolding.
  • Men shoved feces and feed into turkeys’ mouths and held turkeys’ heads under water. Another bragged about jamming a broom stick 2 feet down a turkey’s throat.
  • A supervisor said he saw workers kill 450 turkeys with 2-by-4s.
  • One man said he saw a coworker fatally inject turkey semen and sulfuric acid into turkeys’ heads.

To learn more, please read the investigator’s log notes, view our photo gallery, and visit our blog.

PETA’s investigator repeatedly brought abuses to a supervisor’s attention. The supervisor responded, “Every once in a while, everybody gets agitated and has to kill a bird.” PETA also brought the abuse to the attention of Aviagen, and although the company made assurances and instituted some new rules, the cruelty did not stop.

The suffering typically found on factory farms was also routine in Aviagen’s sheds: Hens’ beaks were cut with pliers, massive birds collapsed and died of exhaustion or heart attacks, and turkeys were thrown into transport cages.

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