Riyadat an-Nafs

Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf talking about the Qur’anic openings of Shaykh Ahmad ibn Idris (may God be pleased with him) on the verse, “He apportioned and then He guided.” (87:3)

Translator: Shaykh Ibrahim Osi-Efa.

To learn more see:

http://riyada.hadithuna.com/encounter-the-scholars-of-zabid/

riyada.blogspot.co.uk/2007/02/abd-al-aali-and-western-branch-of.html

Part of a lesson recorded in the late 1970′s by the imam of the noble Azhar
(May Allah be pleased with him)

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoYrRDaNMY4
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7RtVUCi9Q4

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Shaykh Salih al-Jafari. Explanation of the Hadith: “The Souls are Marshalled Soldiers.” Part 3.
Allah – most High – gave us truthful promises: “And who is truer of word than Allah?” (4:122),
“And whose statements are truer than Allah’s? (4:87), “My word shall not be changed” (50:29).

He told us that the light of Islam will not be extinguished. And He told us that this religion will be exalted
over all religions. And He told us that He has protected the Qur’an, and that is the greatest miracle.
The protection of this Book will remain until it is lifted to the Heavens. As he – peace be upon him - said: “Allah will become angry for the sake of His book, and will carry it away in one night.” It will be raised to the Heavens, with a buzzing like the buzzing of bees. From Allah it descended and to Him it will return. Not a verse will remain on any scroll or in the chest of a memoriser. And those whom Allah wants good for, He will keep in their hearts: “There is no god but Allah.”
Some scholars said: The ummah will be shown mercy as long as the Qur’an has not yet been lifted, because Allah -most high- promised them His mercy: “And when the Quran is recited, then listen to it and remain silent, that mercy may be shown to you” (7:204). So mercy will keep descending while the Qur’an is being recited, and that is the promise of Allah, and Allah does not break His promises.
“It is a reminder for you and your people” (43:44).

“We have made the Quran easy for remembrance, but is there anyone who will remember?” (54:22)

Is there anyone who will remember? Is there anyone who will recite? Is there anyone who will memorise? Here is My book, so whoever wants to memorise it, I will make it easy for him. And whoever wants to understand it, I will make it easy for him to understand, and I will open the ears of his heart. As he- peace and blessings be upon him – said, “Oh Allah, open the ears of my heart for Your Remembrance (the Qur’an).

For the heart has ears, and if they were to be opened when the Qur’an is read or heard, wonders would appear, and the heart would receive from its Lord meanings that the people of scholarship, knowledge, and wisdom are incapable of producing. That is because “It is sent down by One full of wisdom, worthy of all praise” (41:42). And because “No falsehood can approach it from before or behind it” (41:42).

So if you want to ward off falsehood from yourself: that is through the Qur’an! And if you want knowledge: that is through the Qur’an! And if you want protection: that is through the Qur’an! And if you want mercy: that is through the Qur’an! All of this is established in the Book of Allah. For the Qur’an is protected, and has been promised with protection. So if you come to it, Allah will protect you. And the Qur’an is light, so if you come to it, Allah will illuminate you! And the Qur’an is mercy, so if you come to the Qur’an, Allah will show mercy to you! And the Qur’an is healing, so if you come to the Qur’an, Allah will heal you. And the Qur’an is victory, so if you come to the Qur’an, Allah will grant you victory. And the Qur’an is remembrance, so if you come to the Qur’an, it will remind you of Allah. And the Qur’an is divine care, so if you come to the Qur’an, divine care will appear for you. And the Qur’an is safety, so if you come to the Qur’an, Allah will give you safety from fear in this world and the next.

So be not heedless of the Qur’an, for it is illuminating lamp, the shining sun, the glowing moons, the crowding lights, overflowing knowledge, the dazzling secrets, and the most beneficial sciences.

So read of the Qur’an what you want, for he who reads from the Qur’an, takes from its great ocean as much as he reads. And he who memorises nothing from the Qur’an, leaves the world empty handed. The Prophet – peace be upon him – says: “The Qur’an is the rope of Allah.” Meaning: the means to reaching the pleasure of Allah is this Qur’an.

And he – peace be upon him – says: “He who wants to converse with Allah should recite the Qur’an.” If you recite the Qur’an, you are speaking with your Lord and He is speaking to you. You recite upon your tongue, and the speech is His. He created for you a tongue with which to recite His speech, and created for you hearing with which to hear His speech. So if your tongue recites: “O you who believe! bow down and prostrate yourselves and worship your Lord, and do good that you may succeed” (22:77). Your tongue recites those words of Allah, and your ears hear them, and Allah is with you, hearing you and seeing you, so what is your state then?? The veils are lifted from you, and lights shine before you! So do not be heedless of the shining of lights during the recitation.

And do not think of any worldly matters. For when you recite the Qur’an, you speak with Allah, and so you are in the
presence of divine address. And you are in a sacred valley. Meaning: A pure and illumined valley. So do not come with filth: the needs you have in the lower world and its whispers. For this world is a trial. Do not be occupied with the ephemeral along with that which is everlasting. Allah does not accept that you remember what is lowly and ephemeral along with His great and everlasting Remembrance.
The Sufis – Allah have mercy on them – have said: The love of Allah and the love of this world cannot co-exist in one heart.
For this world is not worth the wing of a fly in the sight of Allah, so how could you love the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth and love this world at the same time?
And he – peace and blessings be upon him – says: “Beware of the world for it is more sorcerous than Harut and Marut.”
And he -peace and blessings be upon him- says: “The world is cursed, and cursed is what is in it, except for the remembrance of Allah and whatever is connected to it, and a man of knowledge or a student of knowledge.”
The path of Allah is difficult, but He has taken charge of guidance and made easy that which is difficult for those who
come to Him: “And as for those who strive hard for Us, We will most certainly guide them in Our paths” (29:69). It is He who will take charge of your guidance. He will soften that which is hard, and ease that which is difficult. So do not be heedless of this saying of mine for it will benefit you inshaAllah.
When you observe the world, you will recognise the lessons that are in it. Look at the orange for example. You eat it with your teeth and drink its sweet juice, and your body benefits by that. So where are you from its likeness to the Names of Allah and His verses?! They are full of vitamins! Full of secrets and lights and blessings!

If you mention a Name of Allah, do not be heedless of the lights, blessings, and goodness that this Name will bring!

If you say: “Ya Ghafur (Oh Forgiving One), Ya Ghafur, Ya Ghafur,” your soul and heart will necessarily feel that forgiveness, that Allah has forgiven you. When that happens, you will feel at ease, and your heart will be happy, and your state and mood will become good. That is because forgiveness brings happiness and no harm.

And if you say: “Ya Latif (Oh Gentle One), Ya Latif,” the apparent and hidden gentle kindness of Allah will descend upon you. And you will necessarily feel that. For lutf is a great thing, and the world is full of plagues, illnesses, devils, sins, and desires. But by the gentle kindness of Allah you will be protected and honoured, and by the gentle kindness of Allah, they will be prevented from afflicting you.

He called Himself al-Mani’ (The Preventer): He prevents from you the evil ones, and prevents harms from affecting your soul.
And He called Himself al-Nafi’ (The Creator of Benefit and Good): He benefits you by knowledge and by your adhkaar (litanies and remembrance). He will let your soul drink from the springs of goodness that the best of people drink from, to benefit from those springs, and to be nourished by those spiritual feasts.

He – most high and sublime – has filled the universe with goodness and light, blessings and breezes.

So if you say: “Oh Allah, shower blessings and salutations upon our master Muhammad and his family,” Allah will send ten blessings upon you, and ten mercies and types of goodness, as well as forgiveness and acceptance!

So do not be heedless of the world, for it is but tillage for the next! And know that there is no work after death. Work is only in this life!

Part of a lesson recorded in the late 1970′s by the imam of the noble Azhar
(may Allah be pleased with him)
(Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoYrRDaNMY4)

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Most great is Allah in His exaltedness! How sublime He is, a great God is He!

He sent the Prophet (peace be upon him) with dazzling signs, and He combined for him within the great Qur’an the knowledges that are in all the books that He had revealed.

And He combined for him all the miracles with which He had graced all the Prophets and Messengers, peace and blessings be upon them.

Our master Solomon peace be upon him says: “We have been taught the speech of birds” (27:16). And our Prophet (pbuh) was spoken to by the camel, and the lizard, and even inanimate things like the stone which used to greet him, and the tree trunk which cried out to him.

And if water burst out of rocks for our master Moses – (peace be upon him) – that is not strange, because Allah Most High said: “There are some rocks from which streams burst forth, and surely there are some which split so water issues out of them” (2:74).

And He brought out for our Prophet (peace be upon him) water from between his fingers, and that is not a place that water comes out from. So his miracle was higher and more elevated!

Al-Bura’i said:

 ”And if Jesus spoke to the dead,

a tree trunk cried out for this Prophet!”

A dead body had been alive and able to speak before, so if it comes back to life and speaks, that is not too strange. But what is strange is for a tree trunk, which is an inanimate object, to have understanding and to speak!

And the trees obeyed him – peace be upon him – when he called them over to him. Al-Busiri said:

“The trees came to him, responding to his call,

their trunks walking to him though they had no feet,

and they fell prostrate before him!”

How is it that inanimate objects obeyed him but the disbelievers didn’t?! In this is an admonishment for them: This is the Prophet who was recognised by the inanimate objects, so they obeyed him, so what is wrong with you that you do not hear and do not obey?!

It is like His saying Most High: “And by this city which is secure” (95:3). So this is Mecca, My city in which the fearful finds safety and refuge, so what is wrong with you that you scared My Prophet and My beloved and made him leave it and migrate from it? Where is your intellect?!

How eloquent is the Qur’an in its phrases! And how great it is in its law-making.

When  it says, for example: “And do not forget to be generous and kind to each other!” (2:237).

And when it says: “Say to people that which is good and beautiful” (2:83).

And when it says: “And when they are angered, they forgive” (42:37).

And when it says: “And those who restrain their anger and pardon all, and Allah loves those who do good to others” (3:134).

And when it says: “Do not utter in front of them the slightest expression of annoyance, and do not scold them, and say to them that which shows them honour.” (17:23)

And if some people deny miracles that is only because of a deficiency of intellect and a weakness of faith. For Allah – most high – praised the believers with His saying: “Those who believe in the ghayb” (2:3). Al-Qurtubi said: “The ghayb is that which we do not see. Like the poet said:

In the ghayb we believed, and our people used

to pray to the idols, before Muhammad.”

So Allah praised the believers for believing in the ghayb which they do not see, but are informed of by their Lord – sublime is He – and His Prophet – peace be upon him.

If someone were to say: “How did the  tree come to the Prophet (peace be upon him) ?  You say to him: It was Allah, the All-Powerful, who bought it to him. And do you want to make the power of Allah – most high and sublime – stop only at the limit of the ordinary?! Have you not seen how all the celestial objects are kept from falling down on us  without any pillars? Have you not seen women: how a living, seeing, hearing baby comes out of her? Have you not looked at yourself: how you eat, drink, sleep, and wake up?!

Do you want to make the power of Allah limited or restricted to ordinary and natural occurrences? Whereas Allah – most sublime – says: “Allah is able to do all things” (3:29).

When the lady Mary thought it impossible for a baby to come out of her without her having had a husband, our Lord – most sublime – told her that it is easy for Him. And likewise our master Zechariah, and likewise our master Abraham: miracles happened to them, and He told them that He is able to do all things.

Whydo you find it too difficult for a tree to come to the Prophet – peace be upon him – and that is an easy affair? Did it not reach you that Gabriel came to him from the Seventh Heaven? Do you want to find the coming of Gabriel – peace be upon him – too hard to believe as well? Did it not reach you that he came to him with the Revelation from Allah Most High?

Did it not reach you that he – peace and blessings be upon him – ascended the Seven Heavens? Is the coming of the tree to him harder, or the ascent above the Seven Heavens? Do you not then understand? Did it reach you that Allah – most sublime – on the Night of the Ascent, raised him in degrees and removed from him the veils, and that he saw his Lord – sublime and transcendent is He – and no one saw Him but him?

The miracles are many, as the author of Jawharat al-Tawhid – Allah have mercy on him -  said:

His miracles are great and luminous

among them is the inimitable speech of Allah

And it is the greatest miracle- and the everlasting one. As al-Busiri – Allah have mercy on him – said:

“These signs of truth from the Merciful are renewed

and yet they precede time itself, 

their quality is that of Him who is eternal

Unlinked to time, they give us news

of Judgement-Day, and of ‘Ad and Iram.

They remain with us and so surpassed every miracle

of the previous Prophets, for they came and did not last.”

He who hears the Qur’an, hears it correct, clear, and perfectly preserved, as if he is hearing it from the Messenger of Allah – peace and blessings be upon him! His Message does not deteriorate with the passing of time: it does not change or get altered. And his message is the noble and great Qur’an.

Allah – most sublime – said: “We have sent down the Reminder and We will preserve it” (15:9). If it is Allah who preserves and guards His Qur’an, His speech, then who can come near it with any change or alteration?

And if Allah will not permit the extinguishing of the light of Islam, then who can extinguish it? He – most sublime – said:

“They want to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will not permit anything but the completion (and perfection) of His light” (9:32).

And He – most sublime – says: “that He may exalt it above all religions” (48:28). And He is the truthful One in speech. So the Resurrection will not happen until this religion is exalted above all religions, and the Mahdi will come – about whom the Prophet peace be upon him spoke to us. He will come at the end of time, and fill the earth with justice, as it has been filled with injustice.

On December 20, 2007, it was the second day of Eid al-Adha. I went on an 11-hour march all over cairo, walking from maqam to maqam and reciting nasheeds all the way. It has been the habit of the Ja’fariyya tariqa for more than 30 years to go on the day after both Eids on this march.

This year I went again on the Eid al-Adha march. It took 12 hours. About 500 men and a handful or two of women who came with their husbands and walked behind. It began as usual at the maqam of Sayyida Zaynab (radi Allahu anha) at 7 am, and ended as usual at the maqam of her brother Imam al-Husayn (radi Allahu anhu) at 7 pm. We then topped it off by visiting the maqam of sayyidi Shaykh Salih al-Ja’fari (radi Allahu anhu), and ate food in the masjid of the tariqa. This year was special because I had 5 friends from the UK with me, and four others that I didnt know before, also from the UK, came and joined us somehow! It was beautiful!

You can read about the list of people that we visited in the previous post about it here: (riyada.hadithuna.com/goodbye-cairo/)

This time we also visited al-imam al-Layth (radi Allahu anhu) which I didnt get to visit the last time.

One of the UK brothers who came recorded a lot of the march alhamdulillah. This is a recording from the maqam of Sayyida Zaynab. I’ve also added it to the old post. May Allah bless the brother for uploading the video!

The poem being recited was written by sayyidi Shaykh Salih about Sayyida Zaynab herself radi Allahu anha.

What’s perfect about this poem is that it contains a most fitting line about this visit that takes place twice a year:

It says:

We have not stopped our habit (of visiting you) * For your love is a form of worship (of Allah)

When we come to you, our masters * We find His pleasure pouring down upon us!

These are the words:

Radeena, also known as Rawdat al-Qulub wal-Arwah (The Garden of the Hearts and Souls) is the longest poem of sayyidi shaykh Salih al-Ja’fari, the guide to Allah and the imam of the Azhar in the 1970′s, may Allah be pleased with him and please him. This video is a recitation of the beginning of the poem followed by the lines in praise of the famous Lady Nafeesa who is buried in Egypt, may Allah be pleased with her and please her. Including Arabic words and English translation.

An English translation of the biography of Lady Nafeesa written by Imam Metwalli al-Sha’rawi is found here: http://sunnah.org/history/Scholars/nafisa_at_tahira.htm

Most of the poem is already in YouTube with Arabic words only. You can find it in the same nuruddinzangi channel.

A PDF of the entire Arabic poem can be downloaded here: http://www.mediafire.com/?3n5sggu2su7ua3z

Is there baraka at the graves of the Prophet – salla Allahu alayhi wa alihi wa sallam-  and the righteous?

What is the legal ruling on touching the graves of the righteous?

And what are the proper etiquettes of visiting the righteous?

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This is part of a lesson called: Preserving the Unity of the Muslims.

It has been uploaded last year in full: