Life is full of hardships. Every human being is tested. It is our responsibility to focus on Allah so that we are able to handle the hardships. When we focus on Allah and make abundant zikr, Allah takes special care of us. This is an amazing and ideal stage to reach and I hope that Insha’Allah Allah will grant us the tawfeeq to reach such a stage. The goal of tasawwuf is to rid the heart of ghayrullah and to fill it with the love of Allah.

It’s easy to get caught up in the mess of our daily lives and to blame our problems on others. Especially when we feel ghayrah, we shouldn’t take it to heart; instead we should see that as an opportunity to connect our self to our Lord. We  shouldn’t think “He did that, she said this to me, she’s like that, etc.” rather we should think that everyone is a puppet in the mirage of life and we should think, “Alhamdulillah, Allah has decreed this to happen, I am content with it.” It’s like the ayah of Surah Inshirah, “Verily with every hardship comes ease.”

We should make an effort to wake up for tahajjud. There is a coolness, calmness, and wonderful feeling that comes into one’s heart when they we focus on Allah. That feeling comes at tahajjud time. There are even moments when praying at that time when one would feel really closely connected to Allah, and they would feel as if they are speaking to Allah.

(Edited from a letter sent in by a student)

Despondency is a characteristic of the Kuffaar. Why? Because, the fact of the matter is there’s no need for us to feel despondent. Allah has promised His love to those who adopt taqwa, but also those who repent frequently. That’s not a green light to sin, but it means that if, at times of weakness, we do, we can always turn back to Allah.

The method of tawbah is simple: 1) stop doing that sin immediately, 2) regret doing it, 3) make the firm intention never to return to it again, and lastly, if that sin imposes on the rights of another, than ask him for forgiveness, and make sure that anything that must be done to make it up to him is taken care of.

Even the greatest amount of sins, even the most despicable of sins cannot compare to Allah’s infinite forgiveness. We are reminded of that when we read the du’a for Salat-ut-Tawbah:
اللهم مغفرتك اوسع من ذنوبى و رحمتك ارجى عندى من عملى

Translation: O Allah! Your forgiveness is wider than my sins and I have more hope in your mercy than in my own deeds.

We cannot exhaust Allah’s forgiveness and mercy, so never feel that you cannot turn to Allah and beg Him for forgiveness. He is always listening, and He will always be there for us, as long as we put in the effort. How do we know?

It is reported in the Sahihain, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (RA) that the Messenger of Allah (s) said, “Allah Almighty says, ‘I am in My slave’s opinion of Me and I am with Him when He remembers Me. When he remembers Me by himself, I mention him by Myself. If he mentions Me in a gathering, I mention him in a better gathering….When he comes to me walking, I come to him running.” Subhanallah! If we walk towards Him, then He runs towards us.

So what are we waiting for? Let’s get to walking.

- Amatullah

Hazratwala while commenting the verse below (DB) said:

All Muslims are brothers to one another.

انما المؤمنون اخوة
The Believers are but a single brotherhood
(Surah Hujurat; verse 10)

Some have come from Africa and others are here from London, some from Baluchistan, another is from Punjab, and another from Sindh. Everyone is from some place but all consider everyone here my brother.

Allah Ta’ala says: “And among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations in your language and colors; verily in that are signs for those who know.”

If someone happens to look down upon the sign of Allah and disrespect it, then this is a very grave sin and the person who does this is an extremely foolish individual.

A lot of prominent, so-called “educated” people have hatred in their hearts for others due to differences in race & languages.

People do not understand the reality of SIN! If someone does not accept a sign of Allah, then this is disbelief.

If someone happens to speak Punjabi or Sindhi language, then an Urdu speaking person will start laughing and ridiculing them for that.

Urdu is a good language but to consider it superior and more virtuous than every other language is not permissible. Neither is it permissible to look down on any language.

One should not look down upon the English language either. If a person from England accepts Islam then what language will he speak? Obviously he will be speaking the English language. Therefore, consider all languages and dialects to be good and a manifestation of Allah’s greatness.

If you were born in England, you would have grown up speaking English. If you were born in Punjab, you would have spoken Punjabi, and if you were born in Sindh then you would have spoken Sindhi. So would you look down on the language you were born with? Thus, we should not discriminate against any language.

When we had traveled to Bangladesh, we never disrespected or looked-down upon any Bangladeshi person. It is for this reason that all the Bangladeshis fell in love with me. I don’t have nationalism and racial pride in me, and finding a person who does not have nationalism and racism in his heart is very difficult. Look at how many Punjabi friends I have. I get enjoyment from listening to their Punjabi language.