Riyadat an-Nafs

Ya Muslimeen!

If you have the Hizb al-Nasr of sayyidi Abul Hasan al-Shadhili, then repeat it as much as possible, asking Allah to give victory to the people of Palestine. Try to bring people together, and recite it together. There were times in Muslim history where that du’a was recited in every city from East to West of the Muslim World, so much so that it shook  the invading and colonizing armies, who made it a policy to stop its recitation by any means necessary.

And know that the mujahideen of the great Battle of Badr are still with us, and I mean here the Angels of Badr, for Allah ta’ala has kept them in this world, to fight along side the true mujahideen who fight for the sake of Allah, until the end of the world. So ask Allah to send them to repel the Israeli army.

That’s the least we can do, those of us who have been deprived of martyrdom on the blessed land of Palestine.

I’m spending ten days in Cairo. The last time I was here was some three months ago, maybe four. But no one seems to be recognizing me right away- especially those who last saw me back in February. My hair used to be really short, as I used to keep it shaven. But that is the way of the Kharijites, as many hadiths testify. Now i’m trying to grow it long, like the Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam. I also only had a goatee, but now my (short) beard covers the whole face.

But most of all, people don’t recognize me because I’ve lost a lot of weight. Since February, I’ve lost some twenty kgs! Ten of them within the last 3 months I spent in London! When people see me, instead of the usual greetings, they usually begin with a remark either about my beard or my weight. Mostly the weight.

But yesterday in particular, one of my close friends here said, “You used to be bulging with muscle. You used to fill out your clothes, and when you wore a backpack, your bench (Egyptian for pectorals or chest muscles. They call them “bench” because of the bench press exercise) used to show. Now you look like a weak geek! Are you turning into some sort of sufi geek?”

Ouch. I was happy that I was losing a lot of weight. I always told people, the body is made of earth, and wants to drag you to the earth. The more you fed it, the more it dragged you down towards the earth. But the soul comes from the Heavens, the more you fed the soul, and liberated it from a heavy body, the more it can fly, and take you up toward the Heavens.

So when that remark hurt me yesterday, I realized that I wasn’t sincere. It was my ego again, making feel like I was becoming some sort of ascetic. If I was sincere, what he said wouldn’t have made me feel bad. Because the ego just wants to feel good about itself one way or another, and when it was attacked for something it was happy about, it no longer felt good about it.

Then my friend began talking about how strength is important, and how I should be a man of the sword, not a man of the pen. He said that sayyidna Umar ibn al-Khattab, radi Allahu anhu, used to lift rocks to become strong.

Yes a strong body is important, but I do think that if you strengthen your soul, you don’t need to strengthen your body.

Think about sayyidna Ali ibn Abi Talib, radi Allahu anhu, when he broke the gate of Khaybar. Raging in battle, he broke and lifted a gate that after the battle 40 men couldn’t lift. Do you think he did that through his muscles or body?

Think about sayyidna Rasool Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, in the battle of Uhud, in his mid-fifties. When a man tried to kill him, the Messenger swept aside all the Sahaba surrounding him (including Umar) with a single movement of his arm, in order to confront that man. Do you think he did that through the strength of his body?

And think of Imam Shamyl, when the mountain village of Ghimri was stormed by the Russian army, wiping out the Murid army and killing the leader of the resistance, Ghazi Mullah.

As a Russian officer described the incident:

It was dark: by the light of the burning thatch we saw a man standing in the doorway of the house, which stood on raised ground, rather above us. This man, who was very tall and powerfully built, stood quite still, as if giving us time to take aim. Then, suddenly, with the spring of a wild beast, he leapt clean over the heads of the very line of soldiers about to fire on him, and landing behind them, whirling his sword in his left hand, he cut down three of them, but was bayoneted by the fourth, the steel plunging deep into his chest. His face still extraordinary in its immobility, he seized the bayonet, pulled it out of his own flesh, cut down the man and, with another superhuman leap, cleared the wall and vanished into the darkness. We were left absolutely dumbfounded.

Was that also possible because of physical strength?

It was the strength of their souls. When the soul is strong, it gives strength to the body. If your body is stronger than your soul, then your relationship with the world is based on your body’s characteristics (including its weaknesses). But when your soul takes over the body, then the way you interact with the world around you is based on the soul’s characteristics.

The great scholar Ahmad ibn al-Mubarak al-Lamati, whose contemporaries gave him the title Shaykhul Islam, asked his sufi shaykh, the great qutb, the unlearned imam, sayyidi Abd al-Aziz al-Dabbagh the following question:

He says,

I asked him, radi Allahu anhu, about what is in the hadith,

That at the first period of revelation, when Gabriel alayhi assalam would not appear to the Sayyid of Creation salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam for a long time, he would go up to a mountain cliff and would want to throw himself off, out of yearning to meet him. But then Gabriel alayhi assalam would appear to him and say: You are the Messenger of the Lord of the Worlds, and then he would be at peace, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam.

So I said: Throwing the self from the cliff necessitates killing it, and that is one of the major sins, and wanting to do it, with determination, is disobedience to Allah; and the Prophets, upon them be Peace, and especially the Sayyid of Creation, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, are infallible to all disobedience, before their Prophethood and after.

So he said, radi Allahu anhu: I know a man, who at the beginning of his spiritual openings, threw himself from the balcony of his home to the ground 90 times in one day and it didn’t harm him at all, just as sleeping on a bed wouldn’t harm him. That is because in the beginnings (of spiritual openings), the soul has power over the body, and for the soul, all the worlds are the same. It can sit in the air just like it could sit on the floor, and sleep in the air just as a person sleeps on his bed. And the stone and silk and wool and water, are all equal to it, in their quality of harmlessness. And so he would not have felt any pain, salla Allahu alalyhi wa sallam, let alone death, and therefore there would not have been any wrong-doing on his part.

I say: And the like of this is what is seen from the people of spiritual states, for you see one of them, if a certain state came upon him, might hit his head against the wall as hard as he could, and it wouldn’t even make a scratch, let alone something worse.

And I say: The man who threw himself 90 times is our shaykh himself, radi Allahu anhu. I heard it from him when he answered the question.

And he said, radi Allahu anhu: And they (who are overcome by a spiritual state) know that this throwing of themselves and the like does not harm them or remove something that came upon them, but it is something from the nature of the body, so it does it according to the demands of its nature and custom.

So he knows that it does not benefit him but does it out of nature.

And so, when one strengthens his soul, and his will power, his body acts stronger than the body of he who has more muscles, because his actions are based on the characteristics of the soul, which interacts differently with the world of matter, and which can achieve great things through will power.

Hazrat Inayat Khan says,

Power is necessary and should be developed; but when man is anxious to develop power, either of body or of mind, he ought to remember that the will power is behind it all; that if the will is developed, the physical and mental power can easily be developed. The will power governs the body and the mind. – Hazrat Inayat Khan, Mastery, p. 211

In the East I have seen a man lifting a heavy stone on one finger. One might wonder how that can be possible, but it is the power of the will alone which sustains the heavy stone; the finger is only an excuse. – Ibid, p. 170

And remember shaykh Ahmad Sahirty, who told us about his experiences in the Chamber of the Prophet, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam. Being in the presence of the Prophet, and being covered in his lights, his illnesses disappeared, his vision improved, and he carried at his old age what five younger men couldn’t carry. That is because his soul was strong in the presence of the Prophet so that it overpowered his body while he was there.

And so I say, it is more important for one to develop the power of their soul and willpower, than to focus on the power of the body. And since maintaining big muscles requires a lot of food, and food makes your body heavy, and increases the burden on your soul, and ties it down to the earth, then who wants big muscles? Yes sayyidna Umar ibn al-Khattab was large and strong, but I don’t think he was bulging with muscle.

And Allah knows best.

I continue my effort to translate and save some stories that are related about Shaykh Saleh al-Jaafari on internet forums about him, and this one is posted by someone who calls himself “Lover of Aalul Bayt”. He says:

By Allah, my brothers, this narration teaches us that the awliya are connected to each other spiritually, whether close to each other or far away, and how much they’re connected to their murids.

My father – who was previously a deputy of the Zahidiyya Ahmadiyya tariqa, and used to to attend the Friday lesson of sayyidi Saleh in the Azhar- told me that he used to give (money) every month to a man who lives in the area.

One day my father went to this man to give him Allah’s right, and the man made him sit down, when the postman knocked on the door and entered and said to the man: Your son has sent you 1000 dinars. So my father’s nafs spoke to him and said, “This man is richer than I am. By Allah I will not give him anything!”

So my father left and headed towards the Noble Azhar to attend the lesson of sayyidi Saleh, and when he entered the halaqa (circle of students around the shaykh), sayyidi Saleh shouted out to him and said, “come to me.” So my father went to him, and kissed his hand and sat, so sayyidi al-qutb al-ghawth said to him, “Do you know that the man that you didn’t give what is Allah’s right upon you, is in charge of feeding 135 families?” And he hit him on the chest and said, “Go and give what is Allah’s right upon you!”

So my father went back to the man, who said upon seeing him, “Do you people not come unless you are hit?”

I swear by Allah, my brothers, that the blessed palm of sayyidi Saleh is still engraved in my father’s chest until this day, and it was an opening/beginning of good for my father. And may Allah have mercy upon sayyidi Saleh al-Jaafari, and make us benefit from his knowledge and guidance, and honor us with his love and acceptance.

Taken from the Bughya of Muhammad al-Arabi ibn al-Saa’ih.

1) Performing Wudu after the Isha Salaat. And many of the shaykhs used to do Ghusl at that time, and they said that Wudu and Ghusl after the Isha Salaat has a visible (zaahir) effect on making Qiyam al-Layl easy.

2) To do dhikr until one falls asleep, for that will help one wake up more easily in the middle of the night for Qiyam al-Layl.

3) The lightness of the stomach from food. Should one’s stomach become heavy from food, they should not sleep until they melt it with dhikr and recitation of the Quran and istighfar (asking Allah’s forgiveness).  See the related post: http://riyada.hadithuna.com/fat-burning-dhikr

but most important of all:

4) Avoidance of committing any sins in the daytime. For sins keep one from being able to do Qiyam al-Layl, and being wary of committing sins assists it.

A man once said to one of the shaykhs: I am strong and healthy, I love to do Qiyam al-Layl, and  I prepare my purification for it (i.e. Wudu or Ghusl). So what is wrong with me that I do not stay up in Qiyam?

The shaykh said to him, “Your sins have restricted you.”

And al-Hasan al-Basri radi Allahu anhu used to say: No one ever left Qiyam al-Layl except because of a sin he has committed. So check yourselves every night at sunset and repent to Allah, in order to do Qiyam al-Layl.

A man said to Ibrahim ibn Adham: I am not able to do Qiyam al-Layl, so prescribe for me a cure. He said: Do not disobey Him in the day, and he will let you stand before Him in the night, for standing (Qiyam) before Him at night is one of the greatest of honors, and the sinner does not deserve that honor.

And it was related that Sufyan al-Thawri said, “I was deprived of Qiyam al-Layl for seven months because of a sin that I committed.” When he was asked what is the sin he said, “I saw a man crying and I said to myself: That is just riyaa’ (hypocrisy/showing off).”

Shaykhs have written much about this, and he who wants more, let him read al-Suhrawardi’s Awarif al-Ma’aarif and Abu Talib al-Makki’s Qoot al-Quloob and others.

And all praise is due to Allah, and we ask Him to whelm in Salaat and Salaam His Messenger and his family, our role models in Qiyam al-Layl, and may Allah help us be more wary of committing sins in the daytime, in order for us to receive the honor of standing before Him at night.

We need all our non-Arab Muslims to roll up their sleeves, increase their himma, their determination and will, and learn Arabic so that they speak it just as well as their first language.

We need Arabic to become the international language of the world in the future, not English, and not Mandarin.

Stop relying on translations to know your deen, and start  reading the actual Book of Allah.

And we need all Arabic-speaking brothers to start offering their time to teach it to others. InshaAllah I will find a way to help teach it to people around me.

Let’s get working!

The Day of Arafat. It is the greatest day on Earth. The sun never rose on a day better than the day of Arafa, said the Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam.

No actions, no good deeds, no supplications, can ever equal those done on the day of Arafa.

And so it has passed. Just like that. Gone. Astaghfirullah!!!!

Today the little mosque and educational center in Wembley that I have been going to on a weekly basis for dhikr, etc, was full of people who understood the importance of that day. It was the first time I ever saw it that full, completely packed. They spent the last, and most important hour of the day, the hour before Maghreb, asking Allah’s forgiveness. Then, they broke their fast, then prayed Maghreb. After that, the shaykh spoke about the importance of Arafa, and then about the importance of the night of Eid, and how to spend it all in prayer, in order to have all of one’s past sins forgiven. Then they began their night of Eid in worship, by remembrance of Allah and invocation of His name. Then, they prayed Isha and its sunna prayers, followed by Tahajjud or Qiyam al-Layl prayer for 8 rak’aats, in which one juz’ of the Qur’an was completed.

MashaAllah! From 2 pm until 9 pm they worshiped Allah, seeking his bounties. I only say all this in praise of BIASA (www.biasa.org.uk/) for the great service they do to Muslims. May Allah protect the shaykh its founder.

Among them was the main munshid who sings on Thursday nights, and I said to him, “are we going to hear your voice tonight?” And he said, jokingly, “give me your name and I will make you hear it in your dreams.”

And then later, as he was leaving, I said, “I expect to hear your voice in my dreams tonight!”, and he replied by singing a line of poetry which said, “You have missed out on the spoils!”

But when I think about the Day of Arafa, all those hours before that last hour. From morning until 2 p.m…. I can only bow my head in shame, ask Allah’s forgiveness, and say to myself: “Oh fool! You have missed out on the spoils!” The most important spoils of all.

There is a brother from my tariqa, who has been posting on an unofficial forum for the tariqa a series of stories called “I Was Told by a Relative”. Each one of these stories begins with, “I was told by a relative of mine who was one of those who were close to sayyidi Saleh al-Jaafari, radi Allahu anhu…”

I decided to translate them and save them on my blog in case anything happens to the forum, and so that I could refer back to them with more ease. And so with the name of Allah, and by invoking Allah’s blessings on Rasool Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, I begin.

For Part 1: riyada.hadithuna.com/i-was-told-by-a-relative-1/

For Part 2: riyada.hadithuna.com/i-was-told-by-a-relative-pt-2/

11) The Secret of the ” ‘Adhaba“

I was told by a relative of mine who was one of those who were close to sayyidi Saleh al-Jaafari, radi Allahu anhu,

that when sayyidi Saleh radi Allahu anhu wa ardaahu was still young, he talked to my relative and other brothers who were there and told them that he used to see in his lessons at the Azhar, the attacks by the shaykhs on the Wahhabis, so he liked to learn about their way and read their works. In those days, he used to regularly visit sayyidna Al-Husayn radi Allahu anhu and pray on the right side behind the imam, and would see the Messenger, salla Allahu alayhi wa aalihi wa sahbihi wa sallam in continuous visions.

So (because of his interest in the Wahhabi way) he decided to take off the Azhari clothes and cover his head according to the same way the Wahhabis did, with the presence of the ‘Adhaba, which was a wide piece of cloth that descended from the head cover to cover the back of the neck. It is supposed to have been used in the days of the Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, to protect the back of the neck from the sands of the desert. But for every time there is what suits it, and these days those who live in the desert are rare. And the Wahhabis wore it wrong anyway, and without any function, for they used to knot it at the top and the bottom. And sayyidi shaykh Abd Rabbuh Suleiman radi Allahu anhu wa ardaah – who was one of the great imams of the Azhar Mosque and was known as al-Qalyoubi- used to give it the nickname: the rat’s tail! And since then and until now, they have been leaving a narrow band that descended from the head covering, and the following picture will clarify the different ways of the ‘Adhaba:

(Left: “The Rat’s Tail”: The old Wahhabi way of wearing the ‘Adhaba.

Center: The new Wahhabi way of wearing the ‘Adhaba.

Right: The way it was worn in the days of the Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, to protect the back of the neck from the desert sands.)

The shaykh also wore a short jilbab and short pants as well. But now, he stopped having any visions of Rasool Allah salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam in his dreams! So he went to the maqam of imam sayyidna al-Husayn, asking for his forgiveness and that of his grandfather the Messenger of Allah. After that he saw the Messenger of Allah in his dream saying to him,

“O Saleh! They do not like my Aal al-Bayt (my family and descendants) and so I do not like them! Leave what you are doing so that you would see me again,” or something of that meaning. And so after that he immediately removed that head covering and the ‘Adhaba and put on his Azhari dress once again, and his visions of the sayyid of creation, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, returned.

And Allah and His Messenger know better, and May Allah be pleased with shaykh Saleh, and make him pleased, and make us benefit from his knowledge and guidance.

صلى الله على طــــــه *** خير الخلق و أحلاها
و على الكرار أبو الكرمـا *** و الزهراء و أبناهــــا

Note by NZ: See Pt. 1 for more about shaykh Abd Rabbuh and the Wahhabis

12) My Provision is With Allah

I was told by a relative of mine who was one of those who were close to sayyidi Saleh al-Jaafari, radi Allahu anhu,

that he once went sayyidna Saleh radi Allahu anhu wa ardaah, and he (my relative) used to hold a position back then in the Ministry of Provisions. He offered to sayyidna Saleh radi Allahu anhu wa ardaah to bring him provisions so that he could offer food to the murids of the tariqa. So sayyidi Saleh radi Allahu anhu wa ardaah smiled to this relative of mine and said, “My provision is with Allah.”

Then he took out from his wallet an amount of money and gave it to one of the brothers and said to him, buy such and such a thing. And it was as if sayyidna Saleh radi Allahu anhu wa ardaah was giving my relative a lesson. At that moment my relative remembered the say of Allah the Mighty,

“God will find a way out for those who are mindful of Him, and will provide for them from an unexpected source ” (65:2-3).

And Allah and His Messenger know better, and May Allah be pleased with shaykh Saleh, and make him pleased, and make us benefit from his knowledge and guidance.

There is a brother from my tariqa, who has been posting on an unofficial forum for the tariqa a series of stories called “I Was Told by a Relative”. Each one of these stories begins with, “I was told by a relative of mine who was one of those who were close to sayyidi Saleh al-Jaafari, radi Allahu anhu…”

I decided to translate them and save them on my blog in case anything happens to the forum, and so that I could refer back to them with more ease. And so with the name of Allah, and by invoking Allah’s blessings on Rasool Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, I begin. For Part 1: riyada.hadithuna.com/i-was-told-by-a-relative-1/

6) Made Alive by Allah.

I was told by a relative of mine who was one of those who were close to sayyidi Saleh al-Jaafari, radi Allahu anhu,

that a rumor once spread about sayyidna Saleh al-Jaafari, radi Allahu anhu wa ardaah, that he died, because he was absent from his lessons for a long time. I don’t remember what I was told the reason what, but most likely it was the Umra. So after he came back to his lessons, the people present were overjoyed, and one of them stood up to ask the shaykh about his absence and told him what was said about him, that he had died. So he replied with his sentence of many implications, “A man killed by the people, and made alive by Allah.”

And Allah and His Messenger know better, and May Allah be pleased with shaykh Saleh, and make him pleased, and make us benefit from his knowledge and guidance.

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7) Had You Not Been Brown

I was told by a relative of mine who was one of those who were close to sayyidi Saleh al-Jaafari, radi Allahu anhu,

that sayyidna Saleh, radi Allahu anhu wa ardaah, while he was relaxing in the Maghrebi Hall of the Azhar Mosque in which he used to do i’tikaaf, my relative’s father was waiting for him outside, not wanting to bother him. But then sayyidna Saleh radi Allahu anhu wa ardaah came out of the hall, happy and with a big smile on his face. so my relative’s father asked him about the cause of his happiness. So he said that he saw a vision: In it he saw sayyida Aisha radi Allahu anha (whose famous maqam is in the Sayyida Aisha Square in Cairo, and who is the daughter of sayyidna Jaafar al-Sadiq radi Allahu anhu).

She greeted him in the vision and then said, “Had you not been brown, I would have said that you are the Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa aala aalihi wa sahbihi wa sallam ajma’een.” So with that he came out, happy and smiling. So may Allah’s Salaat and Salaam be upon the family of Rasool Allah and their pure progeny until the Day of Resurrection.

And here is a clarification, so that none of those with sick hearts would utter anything, that this likeness has been explained as a physical likeness.

And Allah and His Messenger know better, and May Allah be pleased with shaykh Saleh, and make him pleased, and make us benefit from his knowledge and guidance.

His Dome Open to the Sky

I was told by a relative of mine who was one of those who were close to sayyidi Saleh al-Jaafari, radi Allahu anhu,

that the father of this relative had a vision in which he saw under each of the domes on the roof of the Masjid al-Haram mosque in Mecca, one of the righteous awliya of Allah. And under one of these domes was sayyidna Saleh radi Allahu anhu wa ardah. And perhaps what made his dome special that it was open to the sky, and from it was emitted a beam of light.

(The Domes)

And we know that for each maqam (tomb of a shaykh) there is a dome on top of it, and perhaps that is related to the vision.

And Allah and His Messenger know better, and May Allah be pleased with shaykh Saleh, and make him pleased, and make us benefit from his knowledge and guidance.

9) The Meat

I was told by a relative of mine who was one of those who were close to sayyidi Saleh al-Jaafari, radi Allahu anhu,

that sayyidna Saleh radi Allahu anhu wa ardaah was in the Maghrebi Hall of the Azhar Mosque, where he used to do i’tikaaf, and with him was my relative, and they were eating along with others who were there. The food had been prepared according to the number of people present, and so my relative was surprised when great groups of people came and sayyidna Saleh radi Allahu anhu wa ardaah made them sit and join them, even though no more food was brought for the big groups. My relative noticed sayyidna Saleh radi Allahu anhu wa ardaah putting his hand on the plate of meat and praying to Allah in secret. And then shaykh Saleh radi Allahu anhu wa ardaah noticed my relative watching him and said to him, “Oh so-an-so, engage in the dhikr of Allah!” And the food ended up sufficing those who were already present and the groups of visitors, and they all left fully satiated. So may Allah be pleased with you, sayyidi Saleh al-Jaafari, and make you pleased.

And Allah and His Messenger know better, and May Allah be pleased with shaykh Saleh, and make him pleased, and make us benefit from his knowledge and guidance.

10) The Lion

I was told by a relative of mine who was one of those who were close to sayyidi Saleh al-Jaafari, radi Allahu anhu,

that sayyidna Saleh radi Allahu anhu wa ardaah was talking to him and other brothers with him. So he told him about a tribe that lives in the jungles of Africa, and in that tribe lived one of the awliya of Allah, radi Allahu anhu wa ardaah. One day a lion attacked the tribe and caused several deaths, so the wali walked up to the lion without fear or shaking and said to him, “If you do not go back I will complain about you to the Messenger of Allah salla allahu alayhi wa aalihi wa sahbihi wa sallam.” So the lion put his head down in a strange manner, wrapped his tail, then turned around with his body and left the tribe.

And Allah and His Messenger know better, and May Allah be pleased with shaykh Saleh, and make him pleased, and make us benefit from his knowledge and guidance.

There is a brother from my tariqa, who has been posting on an unofficial forum for the tariqa a series of stories called “I Was Told by a Relative”. Each one of these stories begins with, “I was told by a relative of mine who was one of those who were close to sayyidi Saleh al-Jaafari, radi Allahu anhu…”

I decided to translate them and save them on my blog in case anything happens to the forum, and so that I could refer back to them with more ease. And so with the name of Allah, and by invoking Allah’s blessings on Rasool Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, I begin.

1) The Crossing

I was told by a relative of mine who was one of those who were close to sayyidi Saleh al-Jaafari, radi Allahu anhu,

about a karaama for sayyidna (Saleh), in that sayyidi Saleh radi Allahu anhu came to shaykh Abd al-Haleem Mahmoud rahimahullah before the (start of the) October War and told him that he saw the Messenger salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, and with him Khalid ibn al-Walid radi Allahu anhu, leading the Egyptian army across the (Suez) Canal. So shaykh Abd al-Haleem Mahmoud declared it on the radio, that one of the righteous men (rijaal saliheen) told him about that dream vision. And indeed, it came true, and the Egyptian army crossed the Canal.

And Allah and His Messenger know better, and May Allah be pleased with shaykh Saleh, and make him pleased, and make us benefit from his knowledge and guidance.

Notes by NZ:

1) On the surprise crossing that began the war, see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crossing

2) On shaykh Saleh and shaykh Abd al-Haleem Mahmoud see: riyada.hadithuna.com/two-qutbs-sitting-side-by-side/

2) The Cat!

I was told by a relative of mine who was one of those who were close to sayyidi Saleh al-Jaafari, radi Allahu anhu,

about a karaama for sayyidna (Saleh), in that a cat used to come during the hadra to the Maghrebi Hall of the Azhar Mosque in which sayyidna Saleh al-Jaafari radi Allahu anhu used to do i’tikaaf. Sayyidna Saleh used to sit on his chair with the brothers around him. The cat used to stand up on its hind legs, and sayyidi Saleh would say to him, “Have you eaten?” And he (the cat) would reply with a movement of its head and a meow. Then sayyidna Saleh would say to him, “go over there”. There was a cupboard, the last shelf of which was covered by a piece of cloth, behind which there would be a plate of fatteh (rice with bread), and so the cat would go there quickly and eat from it.

And Allah and His Messenger know better, and May Allah be pleased with shaykh Saleh, and make him pleased, and make us benefit from his knowledge and guidance.

3) The Corruptivision

I was told by a relative of mine who was one of those who were close to sayyidi Saleh al-Jaafari, radi Allahu anhu,

that sayyidna Saleh radi Allahu anhu does not like the television at all. He used to hear the news from the radio, or the Quran radio channel, or to read the newspapers as well for the news. Shaykh Abd Rabbuh radi Allahu anhu (known as al-Qalyoubi, and who used to give a lesson after shaykh Saleh radi Allahu anhu in the Azhar Mosque, and with whom he had a big friendship and brotherhood) used to call the television: corruptivision. And with the passing of time, and the appearance of satellite channels, it seems that he was right, for instead of being a medium for spreading knowledge, it has become a medium for play and spreading corruption.

And Allah and His Messenger know better, and May Allah be pleased with shaykh Saleh, and make him pleased, and make us benefit from his knowledge and guidance.

4) The Major General

I was told by a relative of mine who was one of those who were close to sayyidi Saleh al-Jaafari, radi Allahu anhu,

that a man with the rank of major general in the armed forces, and held the position of commander of the second field army, came to sayyidna Saleh radi Allahu anhu in one of his lessons in the Azhar Mosque. He said to him: I am a major general. Shaykh Saleh radi Allahu anhu replied to him saying, “I want you to be a general in Islam and in raising the deen“. After that, the major general, rahimahullah, committed himself to attending the lessons of sayyidna Saleh, radi Allahu anhu. And this major general, rahimahullah, saw in a dream vision, after that, that the Muslims were entering the Prophetic Mosque in al-Madina al-Munawwara on their feet, while those who attend the lesson of shaykh Saleh radi Allahu anhu entered it on horses, because of the elevation of their rank.

And Allah and His Messenger know better, and May Allah be pleased with shaykh Saleh, and make him pleased, and make us benefit from his knowledge and guidance.

5) The Illness of shaykh Abd Rabbuh

I was told by a relative of mine who was one of those who were close to sayyidi Saleh al-Jaafari, radi Allahu anhu,

that the great scholar, shaykh Abd Rabbuh Suleiman, radi Allahu anhu, who was known as al-Qalyoubi, used to give a lesson after the lesson of shaykh Saleh radi Allahu anhu in the Azhar Mosque. And a brotherhood and friendship united them. Shaykh Saleh radi Allahu anhu used to give a lesson until Asr time, then he would gather all those present together in two lines near the Qibla and and they would recite poems of praise of the Prophet and his family, salla Allahu alayhi wa aalihi wa ashaabihi wa sallam. Then imam Abd Rabbuh radi Allahu anhu would come to give his lesson after him. And the lesson of imam Abd Rabbuh radi Allahu anhu would be attended by great masses of his lovers, so that the Azhar Mosque would be packed.

At one time, shaykh Abd Rabbuh, radi Allahu anhu, did not come to his lesson for a period between one and two months. He had fallen extremely ill, and was being treated by the famous surgeon, Dr. Badran. A surgical operation was necessary, but the shaykh Abd Rabbuh radi Allahu anhu did not like surgical operations. So he went to the maqam of sayyida Zainab radi Allahu anha and made a du’a there. Then he went to Dr. Badran who asked him to get an x-ray for the operation. (After the results came) Dr. Badran was shocked at the disappearance of the tumor that shaykh Abd Rabbuh radi Allahu anhu suffered from. Dr. Badran said to him: How did this happen?!?! Shaykh Abd Rabbuh radi Allahu anhu said, “sayyida Zainab performed the operation for me.” Allahu Akbar! And after that, Dr. Badran, ghafar Allahu lahu, began following the tariqa that shaykh Abd Rabbuh radi Allahu anhu followed, which was the Khalwatiyya tariqa of the imam al-Dardir. When shaykh Abd Rabbuh radi Allahu anhu returned to his lessons, Shaykh Saleh radi Allahu anhu was so happy that he scattered sweets at the people attending the lesson of shaykh Abd Rabbuh, radi Allahu anhu.

And shaykh Abd Rabbuh radi Allahu anhu used to fight the Wahhabis very strongly: He used to set up a large tent in Abdeen Square in Cairo at the headquarters of the Jam’iyya Shar’iyya, and used to say in the microphone that he dared any of them to debate him. And the Wahhabis used to fear him for the height of his knowledge, and their knowledge that they are in falsehood, in their forbidding of the remembrance of Allah and the love of the Aal al-Bayt and their declaring good words and actions as innovations.

And my relative saw shaykh Abd Rabbuh radi Allahu anhu in a dream vision, fighting the Wahhabis, and he said to him that what raised him in rank in the eyes of Allah was his fight against those Wahhabi people, and that he will fight them until the Day of Judgment. And shaykh Abd Rabbuh radi Allahu anhu had been close to my relative’s father, and would come to his house and eat a certain type of dessert that he liked there. He has many books in which he fought against and criticized the Wahhabis, like his book Fayd al-Wahhab fi Bayaan Ahl al-Haqq wa man Dalla ‘an as-Sawaab, which consists of five volumes (Dar al-Qawmiyya al-Arabiyya for Publishing, 1383 A.H., 1964 C.E.).

And shaykh Abd Rabbuh radi Allahu anhu was buried in the Mujawireen area in the Azhar area, behind the Mosque of al-Husayn, the grandson of the Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa aalihi wa sahbihi wa sallam.

And Allah and His Messenger know better, and May Allah be pleased with shaykh Saleh, and make him pleased, and make us benefit from his knowledge and guidance.

Notes by NZ:

1) Info about sayyida Zainab and shaykh al-Dardir: riyada.hadithuna.com/farewell-visits-1/

2) Shaykh al-Dardir was a shaykh of the Khalwatiyya but not its founder.

With the name of Allah,

and by asking Allah Most Generous to whelm in blessings and Salaat our Messenger Muhammad and his family, and our father and mother Adam and Eve and their family, and all the Prophets and Messengers that came in between them, and their families, as many times as the number of people that have stood on Mt. Arafa and will stand on it, until the day we stand before our Lord.

Tonight I went to listen to a talk on the blessed days of Dhul-Hijja by a Naqshbandi shaykh. He was talking about where Mt Arafa takes its name from: Arafa in arabic means “recognized”, and that is where Adam and Eve, upon them be peace, are said to have met after having been cast out of Paradise.

It is said that when they were sent to Earth, Eve descended in an area near modern day Jedda, Saudi Arabia, while Adam descended in modern day Sri Lanka. So Eve only had to walk a relatively short distance to Mt. Arafa, while Adam had to walk all the way from Sri Lanka.

In that, said the shaykh, is a hint at the role of man who has to work hard to provide for the family. The Holy Qur’an says,

So We said, ‘Adam, this is your enemy, yours and your wife’s: do not let him drive you out of the garden and make you miserable.’ (20:117)

Now in the Arabic, the word “make you miserable” is in the singular form: it is addressed only to Adam. So the shaykh said: “of course women too will suffer from not being in Paradise, but not as much as men. Men have to suffer more because they have to work, and they must keep their wives living comfortably.” It is only man who should suffer much from the descent to Earth: they are obliged to work hard to provide women with housing, and food, and money.

In other words, you could say that it is man’s obligation to make sure that women are still living as close to Paradise on this Earth as possible.