Advices for Those Involved in the Various Efforts of Deen

Hazrat Mawlana Abrar ul Haq (RA) says that any Muslim involved in work of Deen should have these particular qualities within themselves at all times so that it becomes a means of mutual benefit for themselves and for those they are interacting with, who they are making da’wat and tableegh to. Remember the presence of a true Muslim is dawah in itself. If a person cannot tell that you are a Muslim then there are some real problems there.

1. From the bottom of one’s heart, make tawbah from all sins and make a firm resolve to not do anything contrary to the shari’ah and the Sunnah.

2. If ever due to human error one falls into sin, then make tawbah and repent to Allah.

3. Specifically for men, they should try to pray salat with jamaat as much as possible. Even if your imam is involved in fisq ‘amali, meaning sin that is done by the limbs, that’s okay. You can pray behind that individual if he’s the appointed imam. But if there is something wrong with their aqeedah then don’t pray behind them. For women they should pray in a secluded portion in their house.

4. Pray salat with a level of peace and tranquility, calmly. Salat is not a race, take your time and develop concentration and devotion within salah. The easy method of doing this is:

• Learn the meaning of the surahs often recited and the things said within salat.
• Until a person cannot memorize all those things then that person should remember that Allah ta’ala is watching me.
• Or if that’s not possible then to utter every word consciously, not just because you have it memorized.
• And at the time of salat a person should realize that perhaps this is going to be my last prayer, we don’t know what’s going to happen.

5. Make it mandatory upon oneself to regularly, in whatever is in reasonable means, give sadaqah for the sake of Allah ta’ala. There are other ways to give sadaqah besides monetarily.

6.  Apart from the fardh fasts, a person should try to keep those fasts which are sunnah, depending on a person’s health and energy. The benefit of keeping the sunnah fasts is that other works of Deen become easier.

7.  Take out time and make it a point to learn to recite the Quran correctly. If not the entire Quran, then at least those portions that are often recited in Quran so that when one prays, they pray correctly. Learn the rules of tajweed and practice with those who know it.

8. One’s appearance and demeanor, how one deals with people socially and financially, should remain within the confines of the shari’ah. There is not one particular dress that we can say is the Islamic dress, but there are guidelines. Our dress should not resemble the kuffar in anyway. Men should have fist length beards and women should have proper hijab.

9. A person should be very mindful that they do not cause another person any trouble with their tongues or their hands. If this happens they should ask for forgiveness and feel some sort of shame.

10. In every action that we do, we should make an intention that we are doing this for the sake of gaining the pleasure of Allah. This is basically what ikhlaas is. Without ikhlaas, no action is accepted.

11. Think of one’s self as the lowest of all creation. Whatever good we are able to do, consider them as bounties that are given from Allah ta’ala. And every bad action that we abstain from consider that a bounty from Allah also. If it were not for the tawfeeq of Allah we would not be able to do anything good. That is why a person should read, “la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah” There is no power (to do good) or might (to abstain from evil) except in (the aid of) Allah.

12. After doing whatever good deed a person does, they should make dua’ that “O Allah, to the best of my ability I’ve tried to do these good things and tried to obey Your commands, but I haven’t done them the way they should have been done, and there must be many deficiencies within them, so please forgive me.”

13. Those matters which coincide with what we like, meaning our natural disposition and temperament, we should consider this solely the grace and bounty of Allah. We should not think that we are entitled to this and we should not think that we deserve this because we don’t. As a result, we should make shukr to Allah Ta’ala. And the definition of shukr is to use the ni’mat of Allah ta’ala in the way that He tells you to. And when a servant is grateful for something, Allah ta’ala increases them in that.

14. Those things that are not according to our temperament, those things that seem a little bitter and sour to us, we should swallow and adopt sabr. That will be best for an individual. And when a person is patient in times of difficulties then they get the ma’iyyat of Allah ta’ala. So when things are going good, make shukr and you have a ni’mat of Allah. And when things are going bad, make sabr, and you get ma’iyyat of Allah.

15. Along with having sabr, there is nothing wrong with making dua’ for Allah to change those things. You should say, “Ya Allah the ni’mat of difficulty that you have given me is too strong for me to bear, so grant me the ni’mat of ‘aafiyat because that I can handle.”

16.

• Adopt an abundance of dhikr when walking, sitting, standing, in your free time, make dhikr. There is no count for this, this doesn’t count as your ma’mulaat. But it should be done nonetheless.
• Stipulate a particular time to make one tasbeeh of kalimah tayyibah, one tasbeeh of salawaat, and one tasbeeh of istighfar. A person should have this niyyat in their heart that we are making zikr to increase the love of Rasulullah (Sallallahu ‘Alayhi Wa Sallam) in our hearts and decrease the love of the duniya.
• Whenever you do any work of the Deen, for example, making wudu, shaking hands, fasting in the month of Ramadan, then before doing it have the intention that by doing this I am going to gain reward and the love of Allah through this.
• A person should for at least 5-10 minutes ponder over the ni’mats one has been given, and say it out loud so that you hear it because that is more effective than thinking it. When a person has shukr, then they cannot have takabbur, because these are two opposites and opposites cannot occur at the same time.

17. To have ones islah done and the islah of those connected to one done is fardh. There are certain things which are necessary in deen to know. For example, everyone should know that to pray five times is fardh. In order to do that, one should know how to pray properly. And to pray properly, a person should know how to recite Quran properly. They should learn these things and take time out to teach them to those that are connected to them. To admonish or remind one’s neighboring area and to make time for tabligh is also a great act of virtue. Anyone who has ta’luq with me, should go out for 40 days in the path of Allah ta’ala, minimum. If one sees someone else doing wrong, then if he feels certain that this person is going to listen to me, he should correct those things. When something wajib is being done incorrectly, then it is wajib to correct it. When something mustahabb is done incorrectly, then it is mustahabb to correct it. And if you don’t think the person is going to listen to you, then let him be.

18. When some particular condition befalls a person, whether it is to do with happiness or sadness, one should find out what the law of shari’ah is regarding that situation. Most of these situations can be found in Hazrat Thanwi’s kitaab, Islaah ur Rusoom. What we should do and what we shouldn’t do depends on what pleases Allah ta’ala.

19. Right before going to bed at night, make muhasaba of oneself and those you have interacted with. Replay it in your head. Be concerned about your islah and the islah of those who are connected to you. Look for deficiencies and try to fix them. And if you can’t think of any deficiencies, then make shukr because you probably had not done anything serious.

20. Those who actually do lecture and speak to people regarding deen, then before they go out to meet people, make dua’. Nabi (Sallallahu ‘Alayhi Wa Sallam) would make dua’ before going to the kuffar that “O Allah, soften their hearts to what I have to say, make them accept what I have to tell them.” So before we go meet them and after you are done meeting them, make dua’ that whatever we did and said was beneficial. That whatever I’ve said hopefully is a means of goodness for me and for the listeners.

21. When a person is speaking they shouldn’t be condescending. They should consider themselves like a royal worker, someone who works for the King. It doesn’t make me better than anyone else. It just makes me someone who is connected to the King by virtue of the work, not because I’m somebody special. It’s not like the policemen are better than us, it’s just that they are doing their job. We as workers of the Deen are not doing others a favor, they are doing us a favor by allowing us an opportunity to give them da’wah.

22. The fruit and result of serving the Deen is salvation in the hereafter and to have the pleasure of Allah. Do not think an effect to be the purpose of what you are doing. Benefiting and affecting someone is in the hands of Allah ta’ala, it is not in our control. If someone thinks “I’ve spoken and it’s not really doing anything,” then one should not become disheartened. Because again, the benefit and effect is in Allah’s control. Sometimes we say something in one place and Allah shows its effect in another person. For example, you’re talking to X person and Y gets hidayat, and Y is not even there. So there is no reason to get disheartened, one should just carry on with their work. For a person to accept and execute what you say is not in your control. Hazrat Thanwi’s principle is that to go after those matters that are ghayr ikhtiyaari, those matters in which a person has no control over, is pointless. Realize you have no control over it and you can’t do anything about it and you’re going to put yourself in a state of frustration for no reason. There is simple reward for just doing whatever work you did for the deen. You are doing it for the pleasure of Allah ta’ala, not for results. And however firm a person becomes in this point, then that’s how much stronger and more consistent their effort will become.

23. When one goes out and meets others, they should consider themselves as visiting the sick. You don’t yell at a sick person. One of the mashaaikh went to a king and started to admonish and give naseehat to him in a powerful method. So at the end the king said, “You can at least accept that I am not worse than Fir’awn, and that you are not any better than Musa (AS) So if Allah told Musa to speak to Fir’awn in a soft manner, then why are you screaming at me?” So naseehat should be done in a soft manner. If someone is sick then it is like you are administering medicine to them. Sometimes the bitter taste of medicine is masked with better flavors.

24. One should keep in mind and make it known to others also, what our purpose is. I have no other purpose talking to you except that I want to teach deen or learn deen. Hazratwala (DB) says, “Be helpers of each other in Deen, and do not be those who cause friction in deen.” So whichever effort you feel more munasabat with you should do that. But that method should not be contrary to the deen. For example, there should be proper hijab because that comes first. Again, if a person isn’t focused on what they have themselves, then they can’t put anything good in someone else. Someone who does not have the candle of the love of Allah burning their heart, they cannot light that candle in another person’s heart. So if one doesn’t have it themselves, then they need to develop it. That doesn’t mean that “Just because I don’t have anything I’m not going to try,” no, you should try. And if you have some doubt regarding a particular method then ask a scholar you have reliance in.

25. Deen par chalo, deen ka kaam karo, apne aap ko deendar na samjho. A person should follow deen themselves, do the work of deen themselves, but do not consider yourself religious. The moment one considers himself religious, that’s the biggest problem.

Allah ta’ala grant all of us the tawfeeq to do these things in a manner which is most befitting to us. These are really, really important things. If Allah Ta’ala does not give a person tawfeeq to do these things, then we will just be lost. Most of us dress Islamically, most of our actions revolve around deen. So whether we like it or not, we are daai’s to the deen, we are always giving dawah. So these are very important things to keep in mind.

 

– Ashraf-un Nasaaih pg. 27-30

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