Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera – Sufism The Path of the Pious
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
Bismillah al Rahman al Rahim Al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alameen wa
salatu salam ala Murthy Rahmatullah line Amina was early
he was r&b he of ARCA was seldom at the Sleeman Kathira de la Yomi.
Dean Amma Bard
Hamdulillah. We're all here. for one purpose we all here
because we want to
follow the path of Allah subhanho wa Taala the path of Salut
the path that has been designated by the Allama
to make us closer to Allah subhana wa Tada and the path that leads to
Allah subhanaw taala.
Now, this path has been described in various different ways by the
different people who have taken to this path.
Many, many people over the centuries have taken to this path,
we have a very long heritage and a very long history. And each one of
them based on their experience, they would describe it in
different ways. And you could see that this is sometimes very
personal to each individual because of the perspective they
were coming from, and what they were on the path for what their
motivations were, and what their achievements in the pathless. So
for example, you had one of the some of the greatest orlimar of
the subcontinent. One that comes to mind is Sayid, so a man that we
say it's really one that he was a prolific writer, he was considered
to be one of the one of the star students of Shibley, not money,
who was considered to be one of the great thinkers and writers of
the subcontinent as well. And they may have been seen initially as a
bit modernist, a bit
liberal, they may have been seen like that, but by certain
individuals.
Say it's a man that was originally from Bihar, from Bihar in India.
And Shibli nominee, I believe he was from up, but this was the
Western, the eastern side of the up, that's the up is very long,
it's a very long state. You have the eastern side of it, where some
great automa that's where another darlin natrual, Allah Ma is based.
That's where natural anima is based. Basically, when we say
Lucknow, and salami,
and Banaras, and all of these, there's been a number of onomah
from that side. And then there's the western part of up where you
have Muzaffarnagar, Darwin, the urban Sahara and poor
Moradabad, and so on, which is closer to Delhi. So you have these
two sides of up, but up has probably been one of the most
prolific states in the last century and a half in terms of
producing ordermark and Solahart as well.
So, say it's a monad, we, he finally came to Hakimullah met
valonna Shefali, Tonry
Rahima, hula. And he asked him what this episode was all about.
Now, this was towards the end of his life or end of his career. So
he asked Hakimullah, Matt, what is this the so on about because he
noticed that there's lots of the Great Other great orlimar of the
subcontinent. They're all into tasawwuf. They're all on the path.
So he decided he became curious, Allah gave him the trophy. So he's
a very accomplished worldly scholar of the deen. So he's very
prolific, his his lectures were amazing. He was sent to he he went
to Madras, which is South India, where there's a Christian hub,
because a number of the great priests were coming there and
converting many, many Muslims. So he went and gave a series of hot
buzz Bionz, which are now published as hot about in Madras.
And the way he's been explained, been able to explain the position
of Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam and the deen of Islam in comparison to
the other deeds and the real position of SRT Salaam. I haven't
seen any better work than that. So a really prolific author in that
sense and a writer and a speaker, but he wasn't on the path of the
source. So when he came to Monash Valeton, we he said, What is this
all about? So, monitor return, we look at his response, you may have
heard many response and definitions of dissolve, but he
said in this case, he said, the self is self effacement self
effacement self annihilation, basically, that a person not do
anything for themselves, but do everything for Allah.
So a person does everything for the sake of Allah subhanaw taala
because they recognize that the value is all for Allah. He is the
only one that will remain forever. Were transient beings. So self
effacement so anything that we do from the work that we do, it's all
that's basically a level of a bar that are booty that we're servants
here. We're supposed to do everything for the master, because
that's the way even sir
Master relationships in this world work as the servant, he makes no
money
unless he's a paid servant. But at the end of the day, whatever he
does is not to his profit, it's for the Masters profit. When it
comes to Allah subhanaw taala, we are His servants more than they
could be any other servants in this world. Because in this world,
when there's a servant, they're actually captured or captivated.
They're done under force and obligation and compulsion. Whereas
with Allah subhanaw taala, he is definitely our master, in every
sense of the word because we owe everything to him. So the soul is
self-effacement, which is that one always wants to place Allah before
himself. And anybody who cannot do that will never attain Allah
subhanaw taala. So this is one concept of to solve, but it is so
perfectly, a description of the path. Because if a person doesn't
put Allah for the for in everything that they do, then
clearly there's no way that we can reach Allah subhanaw taala because
Allah wants to be the biggest in our life, because he is the
biggest in reality. So why should we try to change and obscure that
reality? Anybody who puts the reality as the reality that Allah
is the Greatest, he is the most majestic, he is the one who's owed
everything. I am only a servant, then we're doing exactly what
Allah is, and what's your reality is, and because we're in
conformance with that, Allah subhanho, wa Taala will begin to
love us, and he'll begin to assist us. So it's essentially all about
self effacement. In that sense, self effacement means if I'm doing
an act, I'm doing it for Allah, I'm not doing it for myself. And
even when we do things for ourselves, we're doing it for the
sake of Allah. So when we're eating, we're doing it because of
Allah subhanaw taala. When we're doing something, we're doing it
for the sake of Allah. So when we're eating, I'm eating because
Allah subhanaw taala has made this a system where we eat. Now, of
course, you don't have to sit each time and make that kind of
intention. But it will be the intention if we've trained
ourselves to be like that. So every time we sit to eat, that's
the way we will think. So,
for example,
I want to buy a car, for example. And then I became busy in my life.
So I forgot about the car. Then I drove out. So I stayed at home in
the local community for a while, then one day, I drove out to the
motor. And then suddenly I started, I saw that Corrigan said,
Oh, it reminded me I need to buy the car.
So where if we train ourselves and we have a real serious desire,
then we will see Allah subhanaw taala everywhere, then we will
have the right kind of intention for that. So the objective of this
path is to bring change in our life. That's the whole objective.
And one thing we have to remember, there's lots of people when they
start doing the thicker.
The, so many of them will write back in their first or second
arbiter, and the third one, and so on sometimes, that we're doing
everything that this B is fine, you know, the Quran Tilawat, I can
do I missed it one day or something like that. But the
maraca, but I'm just not getting any concentration in there yet.
Well, I can concentrate for one minute or two minutes. And then
after that, I can't do it anymore. And nobody said it was going to be
easy. You know, nobody promised it would be easy. If that was the
case, then
you just sit down and start doing it. It's a training where if you
keep doing it for a few weeks, and finally it will come. But there
are also other conditions of that, which is that we abstain from sin
committing sins, is going to affect our Morocco. It's literally
like a fight that's taking place, the more since we do it's going to
affect our Morocco, but then we're going to have to do that much
Morocco, but to overcome the desire for the sin that we commit.
So it's this one thing or the other. Now, if we've been sending
for many, many years, it's going to take some time for that sin to
be totally eradicated. Because the knifes just still has that desire
for it. He knows the taste of it, he knows the pleasure of it. And
so whenever there's even a spark of that, whenever we see anything
similar to it, there's always going to be
there's always going to be something that will effect that
there's no doubt about that. So
the objective of this path is to change our lives. And what you
have to realize is that the longest journey in this world, or
the shortest journey in this world, longest journey I want to
go to Omaha. So long journey, short journey, I want to go to the
masjid if I set up my house and I say I want to go to the masjid I
have this desire to go and pray in the masjid. But I don't put my
shoes on and get out. It's not going to happen.
I want to go to the machinists. But I don't put my shoes on. And I
don't go out what's going to happen nothing. journeys. We know
from the rule of this world that journeys can only be done by
taking a step towards it. Only by steps can you take a journey? So
if we think that okay, we become better to a che, and we become
connected and associated, and he's given us a prescription. He's
given us a regimen of nickel, etcetera. And we're gonna just sit
there thinking, Oh, that's all great, great. I've got a great
idea in my mind that I want I've got this desire, but I'm not doing
anything about it. It's not going to happen.
And so
the longest or the shortest journey, it can't be accomplished
without setting out for it without taking the steps without moving
oneself. That is, that's just the normal thing of the world. I mean,
if anybody thinks otherwise they're misguided. Yes, exceptions
happen, miracles take place where Allah subhanaw taala just changes
somebody just like that. But this world is not a place of magic. So
if that happens, that's, that's an anomaly. When that happens, Allah
has that ability. But otherwise, it is us who are going to have to
try. And remember, when we miss a vicar, when we miss something,
then what's going to happen is, the next day is going to become
easier to miss it until it becomes a habit. And many people they you
know that when they don't send you a rabbit, you know that they're
waiting for a good week? You literally you know that otherwise,
why wouldn't they send it to you, if everything is going well, you
can tell the people who it's going well with, because they send you
something, people who are not sending, you just expect that
they've just had a downfall, and they waiting to pick up.
It's like, for example, if you have diabetes, you have to go to
the
the hospital for checkups, blood sugar checkup, so the doctor, and
then when he looks at your result, then he will mean modify your
medicine. So what happens sometimes is that if you haven't
been taking a lot of precaution, and your blood sugar's been high,
you don't want to go then for your next checkup, because he's going
to show Hi, and he's gonna want you to eat more medicine. So what
you think to yourself is, let me have a good two, three weeks or a
month, where I take care of myself, then when I go, my low
blood, my blood sugar will show lower, so then he won't adjust the
medicine too much. I want him to eat more medicine, you know,
whatever. But then he never happens. Do you understand? It's
just one of those things. That's the matter of self discipline. So
the whole purpose of having a Sheikh is to inform him whether
you've been good or bad, there's no problem. The Sheikh is not
there just to hear Basharat. The Sheikh is not there just to hear
about the good side of things. He's here to hear the bad look,
I've been very bad this week, I'm really honest, you know, even if
you have to say that 10 times in a row, say that, that is better than
not contacting the shake. Because every time you do say that 10
times, I mean, eventually, you're going to feel bad yourself that
look what's happening. I mean, every week, I'm giving him the
same bird report that I haven't done anything last week. But
otherwise, he will then stretch on for months and months and months.
And eventually it will be lost until some big event happens in
your life, right in our life. And then we'll think, oh, we need to
get back. Right, and then we'll overcome that. So the raw data is
extremely important. It's extremely important. You know,
before it used to be where you have to go to the shake, you have
to sit down, get a much less be among, you know, 100 people 200
people that are trying to tell him the same thing, wait your turn. So
sometimes wait hours, you're gonna have to really sit down sometimes
for two days to wait to see him. Right. But nowadays, the Rabbitohs
is very easy, you just write a letter and send it or you just
send an email. It's simple, you don't even have to take paper or
anything, you just literally just send an email that, unfortunately,
I've just been very lacks this week, and we haven't been able to
do it. So that is very important is to keep it up every two weeks,
at least every two weeks at least. And if you think you can every one
week, then that's also fine. Just don't expect to return a response
each time. So the other thing then, is that the only reason
we're sitting here is because the machines have placed this
responsibility on us that we need to do this. We know our own
benefits in this regard. We're all weak in this regard. But we all we
all want to try we all want to get closer to Allah subhanaw taala.
The beta has its benefits, because you then become associated and you
get the baraka. We get the baraka of the path and all the Maasai,
and the Sunnah of this transmission up to Rasulullah
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam of making Toba in this way,
literally, the beta is a Tober that's all we read. We read some
salawat and the Prophet salallahu Alaihe Salam, we we read the
shahada time we read the Imani just to reaffirm our faith. That's
all we do. And then after that, we say StuffIt Allah, Robin colada,
Musa to LA and then that's it. That's the whole thing is just the
Sunnah of the transmission that the sheikh did to the Sheikh and
his shakey Shake until the Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam.
But although that will provide a certain type of benefit, warm the
heart slightly, the real benefit is going to come when you act on
it and move forward with it. You can't expect to just take medicine
and you stuff yourself with all the harmful things. That's
basically what it is. Staying away from sins is the highest objective
of the soul.
Inscribed that in our minds that the highest
the highest objective of the soul, and this path is nothing but
staying away from sins. Because when a person stays away from
sins, all the Barakatuh will come anyway. If you're chasing after
Baraka, Cara Mertz unveilings miracles, and not worried about
the sins we commit, then we lost
Because Kurama, etc. They are not an objective anyway, flying around
and doing weird things and strange things that you hear that that's
not the objective. Those are side things that Allah subhanaw taala
indulges certain people in, right to become famous, none of this is
the objective, the objective is that we can live a life that is
without sin, because that is more difficult to do than to actually
do good deeds, to stay away from sin is a higher achievement than
to do extra Now often, as long as the person is fulfilling the
follow up, obviously. So that is the highest,
highest objective of the soul. And
that means that whether we're with people or we're alone, wherever we
are, at home, or abroad, wherever we are, we are,
we have a companion, which is Allah subhanaw taala, who we are
fearful of. So whether we're on holiday, whether we are when
nobody is going to see us that, that it matters for us to look
good in front of, it doesn't matter.
If we have that presence of mind, and that consciousness that we're
not even going to sit here, we're not going to set a foot wrong
here, then that means we are really on the path. That is the
main objective of this.
What helps in this regard, of course, is the thicker. As I said,
it's the two enemies the vicar is that it's like vicar is the enemy
of the shaytaan of since the more thicker you do, the more you push
out the possibility of sin from our heart. The more sin we do, the
more the heart becomes filled with it, and it pushes the thicker and
the light out of it. So we have to do as much all the bad deeds we
may have done in the world before. We have to do that much thicker,
to be able to really be steadfast if we think that we do some vicar
and then it benefits that somewhat but then after that we lose. Well,
obviously, we've been accustomed to a particular way for such a
long time. We haven't been accustomed to doing seriously the
current connection with Allah subhanho wa taala. Allah hasn't
been in our life, meaning from our perspective for such a long time.
So how is that going to be possible? So when the heart
becomes illuminated by the vicar of Allah subhanaw taala, then it
becomes easier to abstain from sin but that liquor has to be kept up
so that the strength in the heart is kept up. We have to keep making
dua to Allah subhanho wa Taala that Allah keep us away from the
sin and we keep doing the vicar so DUA and thicker, so when we do
thicker, but then we also do dua, because we're then confessing our
weakness to Allah, Allah loves it when the seven confesses his
weakness. That's where he said that is a bad because that's when
a person in his dua although he's asking something, apparently for
himself. It's like a selfish move. But it's considered worship,
because we're doing what what what Allah wants us to do, which is to
remember him, to ask him to make him the one that you ask
everything from. So it's a bothered, although it's selfish,
it seems. So.
Eventually, when he person continues to do thicker, and
continues to ask Allah subhanaw taala A time will come. When Allah
who will become his protector directly, when he becomes a Willie
of Allah, he becomes the hands with which he touches. Allah
subhanho wa Taala helps him in terms of everything, his sight,
his ears, his hearing, and everything, Allah subhanaw taala
becomes close to him, he becomes more in control in his okay fine,
this guy, this, this, this servant of Mine, this, the you know, this
servant of Mine has proven themselves that they really want
me and they've got nobody else I will become theirs. Now. Allah is
very jealous in that in that, in that sense of it, Allah is very
has a lot of self dignity, that if somebody is going to call on to
someone else, okay, fine, you go with that person. But when a
person has shown that, no, I just want you I am yours. I've, I'm
declaring and trying to prove my faith, fullness to you, then Allah
subhanaw taala will make that person or when he, when you try to
when we try to make Allah, when we try to become the willy of Allah
that it's only you that we want to be friend, then Allah will be
friend us. And that's what you call Wilaya. So there is a
struggle in the beginning, but it's supposed to get easy
afterwards. It's just about hitting that mark and crossing
that threshold.
So the objective of the kicker is not that we gain unveilings and
cash and Kurama and miracles and so on. But if all we overcome our
enemies, or we become stronger, or people respect us, it opens doors
for us in this world. That's not the objective of it. The objective
of it is that we gain purity in our heart and connect ourselves to
Allah subhanho wa Taala and we stop committing a sin. That is the
most important thing here.
Now, we don't believe in any sort of
any measure this any sort of in which
There is no discussion of abstaining from sin, where it's
all about amazing stories. It's all about extraordinary
accomplishments. That's not what the sofa is all about. If there is
no discussion about refraining from sin, and becoming full
adherence of the Sharia, and that's not to solve, that is what
the solve is supposed to be. People can
call any set of laws or rules or practices in whatever they want,
they can call it whatever they want. Some people may call certain
types of practices, there's a wolf, they may consider certain
types of exegete. So but if they do not include remembrance of
Allah
and abstain abstinence from sins, and sins are not encouraged to be
abstain from then that is not so that is something else. Once
a Sufi
said to a very wealthy landowner with a massive Villa or palace or
whatever you want to call it. They had a meeting. And this Sufi
dervish he says to him, said, you know,
your truth ahead?
Zahid is a concept of abstaining from the world focus on the
hereafter. abstinence from the world. When he said this made the
statement to this wealthy person, he didn't mean it in abstinence
from the world, the dunya, sorry, focus on the hereafter. He took
the other meaning of abstinence from something. So he said, You're
the chooser head. He said, How can you call me as the head when I've
got all of these Dooney around me? And you are sufficing on the
smallest thing? He said, No, no, you are designed. He says, How can
I be designed, I've got this palace, I've got all of these
lands, I eat the best foods, I don't stay away from the dunya
you're the one who's staying away from the dunya. So how can I be
desired. Instead, I'll tell you the reason why you are desired is
because
you have sufficed with all of this, which is actually very
insignificant, very small, extremely small, compared to the
bounties of the hereafter. So you are doing Zuid of something much
greater by sufficing with something very little. Whereas my
focus is the hereafter all that abundance of Jana Jana till fifth
dose,
which expands the heavens and earth. And
that's my focus. That's my focus, how can I be as I had, when that's
what I want. So he twisted the term around to give a lesson to
the person that your zoo heard, is that although you think you have
all of this, but it's insignificant compared to the
abundance of the Hereafter, so you are doing zoom out from the
hereafter of the greater amount of riches and wealth, and you're
focusing on this small amount. So that Zoom, this is this is just
the term at the end of the day, the focus at the end of the day,
you can call whatever you want whatever you want, but at the end
of the day, it's a substance that matters. So if the focus is on
Allah subhanaw taala and we use the dunya we use means we have
dunya all around us today is not a time of Zod is very difficult. But
it there is still a level of zoom that can be practiced today, which
obviously is a topic for another time. But the main thing that we
have to realize is that Allah subhanho wa Taala is very
generous. His favors are abundant, and a person should in order to
get close to Allah subhanaw taala in this difficulty in this
constant failing that we have, we do good for a few days, a few
weeks and then after that we lose it again.
We have to keep asking Allah subhanaw taala because He is
Generous, we know that he's generous, because he we know that
He is the God and He is the king. He is the ruler, he is the Turner
of the hearts and he is the same one who was the load of Junaid Al
Baghdadi. He was the same load of all of these great people that we
know of the past abou Earthman led by as either be stormy, and all of
these great great people of the past. He is the same load that
still stays today. He can still turn somebody into a Gilani Razali
and that's why what we have to constantly do with and think about
is Wilma tofi at Villa La he Torkel to La he will need this is
a verse of the Quran or Mirto Fiocchi in Billa mitofit My Divine
guidance my Providence Tofik means for Allah subhanaw taala to make a
servant's actions, in conformance to what Allah wants and what Allah
is pleased with. That tofi can only come from Allah because it
needs divine intervention. We can try ourselves but if there is no
tofi Then we won't be divinely inspired to do the right thing. So
we constantly pray to Allah subhanaw taala wema tofi de la
Vela, we confess Oh Allah may Tofik is only with Allah
I eat our culture. It is him that I have relied upon. This is what
you call the Soviet self effacement I have no dependence on
myself. It's all about Allah, Allah hid our culture, we're in a
need. On him Do I rely unto Him do I turn for refuge?
In orbit means to turn to somebody for refuge, cutting away from
everything else. So my Tofik is only with Allah wanna tow 50 illa
Billah are they hit our kill to we're in a unique, this is what
Allah subhanaw taala says in the Quran, this is what Allah reveals
in the Quran, this is the kind of dua we need to add this is the
state of we don't have even said in the same words. But this should
be our state, Oh Allah, I have nothing, I can only rely on you
you're told mitofit can only come from you. This is a state we need
to develop within us.
And one thing that we have to remember is that the soul is not
the number of is not the name of terms, and words and descriptions.
That's not what the sofas if you go and do an in depth study of the
stuff, you learn all of these things. They say that sometimes
somebody holds a, you know, there was some some time some time ago,
somebody held a course on the soul for two weeks. Now, we also held a
course on the soul. But that was an an academic, we made it very
clear, you're not going to become a Sufi at the end of this. This
was an academic exposition of what the history of the soul of was,
and is, and what happened and how it developed and where it is. And
what it is. Though it was not to say that you will come here and
you will become a willy of Allah,
it's here so that you can understand the reality of this way
so that inshallah you will become inspired to do something. So the
soul is not a collection of words or concepts or terms, it is
practice, it's que fiyat it's a state that you get into through
exertion, the so if you can't get there just nothing, the fact that
you've come, we've all attended a Mejlis, that is exertion, we're
going to get benefit from that the fact that we sit down to do
thicker, then that same exertion, the fact that sometimes you know
we every few days, sometimes we don't have a modulus or whatever,
then you should listen to, you should listen to a machinist, you
should listen to show you speaking about this, this is exertion to
take time out and do something that is exertion. Through
exertions, it will change our hearts slowly, slowly. It's a
state that we become in just knowing lots of words, that's just
an academic study. The real thing of this is that we begin to change
there is some state that comes into our heart. That's what makes
a difference. So to solve cannot be done as a course to two weeks,
three weeks, even a month course, right? Or a weekend course the
only course here is where you the only course if you can call it a
course is that you associate yourself with a shake. If there's
a hunger, you sit in there for a very long time, then you get some
caveats. But again, it's just the
one of the the steps towards the right direction. At the end of the
day, we will try our best inshallah until our depth and we
make this a way of our life. It is not a course we take and come back
from it is not something we do part time. It is something that we
have to do full time that becomes our state. And may Allah subhanho
wa Taala then make that the state of our hearts and make it not just
that we have knowledge of it, but through Amyl and practice upon it.
So it has to be something of an experience as opposed to just a
study and may Allah subhanaw taala give us the reality of it. May
Allah make it easy for us to do this in this time and age and may
Allah keep us steadfast on this Jazak Allah here for listening May
Allah subhanho wa Taala bless you and if you're finding this useful,
you know
as they say to that like button and subscribe button and forwarded
on to others to local law here and as Salaam Alaikum Warahmatullahi
Wabarakatuh