Ahmad Arshad – Discourse At Khanqah #23
AI: Summary ©
The importance of fasting and the need for a connection with one's heart for achieving success in achieving the Mad Madness is emphasized. The combination of different elements for success, including being in the company of people who have it, is crucial. It is also important to find influencers and aesthetic graduates to be inspired by their sharia and benefit from their fragrance. The importance of personal and emotions in the deen is emphasized, and the speaker suggests that individuals should be inspired by their aesthetic sense and internalize their fragrance to create a sense of being loved.
AI: Summary ©
The
purpose, the makshat of
fasting in the month of Ramadan,
as elucidated
in Quran itself is.
It's that this month
is a practice
for self restraint.
It's, an exercise in controlling ourselves
and developing
this
batri hal which is known as tatwa,
which we can call Allah consciousness, being conscious
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Having hatred of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
And taqwa
is an essential element of being an abdukullah,
because without it,
it becomes very difficult to stay away from
a life of sin.
Because the nafs itself will keep on attracting
us towards the pleasures of the duniya,
And so in order to
control ourselves,
we need to develop
this within our heart that Allah
is watching us,
and Allah is with us,
and we are going to be held accountable.
And other attributes, Subhanahu wa ta'ala, subhanahu wa
ta'ala, please.
Now so
this is what we hope to accomplish inshallah,
that is the hope.
But the good thing is that
this is not the only
subhanahu wa ta'ala, says in the Quran, that
will help us attain taqumah.
Imagine if somebody could not fast, if somebody
was sick,
if somebody
was naive,
and they could not fast in this month,
then what about that? How do you develop
taqwa then?
Allah
has opened the doors
to develop this heart, this condition, this state.
And so in another ayah, Allah
mentions that, oh, you hope all those who
you believe,
Again,
develop
and attach yourselves
and be with those people who are.
Is, again, an an essential element of just
being a Muslim, a movement,
being a truthful person,
a person who
there is no tadaad and opposition in what
they say and what they feel
and what's in their heart and what they
do.
Right? So this lahir and batin are completely
in sync.
And as we know, the siddirtieth is the
highest
form of,
something that
was
amply, alhamdulillah,
familiar with.
So this is, you know, something we make
dua too, that include
us amongst the siddiqeen
and make us amongst those,
you know, who have
that that bud of ilay with Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala as well. So here in this
ayah, again, Allah Allah wants us to develop
taqwa and that
the hint is given.
There are 2 ways of looking at this
ayah. 1 is
that
that in order to really benefit from the
company of the siddiqeen,
you have to have taqwa. You have to
be God conscious. Otherwise,
you're going to just be stuck in the
lahil,
and you will not be able to benefit
from their company, from their sahabah,
the nul that they have in their hearts.
The other is if you want to attend
taqwa, then go to mas adi fein,
then you need to attach yourself with those
people who are people
of of of siddiqiyyah, people of taqwa themselves.
And the second one makes a lot of
sense just because
it is very much aligned with human psychology.
Because
as we know
that nakush,
you know,
nakush
can leave an influence, but more than the
nafus,
nafs leaves influence.
In our language, they say,
k?
So when a person
has this
connection, has this taluk
with those, you know, who have a taluk
with Allah
this taluk actually
rubs off on them as well.
And so this is essential that, you know,
we are
combining
different things to attain taqwa.
I would argue that one of the easiest
way is to attain taqwa is to,
be in the company of those people who
have taqwa as in. And so if you
look at our own tradition,
Allah
has emphasized
the suhba of the salihin
very much, you know, right from the get
go,
1400 years ago,
the greatest
jama'ah
that ever lived was the jama'at
of the Sahabaqram is manu lahi jama'i.
And just in the name itself,
we know that
they had the sahabah of Allah Allah Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
And that is why they were called Sahabi
companions. Somebody who had companionship with
Rasoolullah And so here lies
the the secret that the companionship
and hirafaqat
or being a siddiq,
right,
is something that is going to really elevate
a person. So if you look at their
lives before Islam
and if you look at their lives after
Islam and after the soba of of Surula
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, you know, it's it's
amazing.
Amazing how much change and transformation happened.
And so every generation followed the suit, you
know, the successors and, you know, the Falbaeen
and Tabatabaeen,
all of them.
They took it upon themselves to,
again, bring this suhba within their lives.
What you know, so for the 2nd generation,
it was the suhba of the suhba kram
and their mizaj, their temperament developed
according to the mizaj or differences of mizaj
in Sahabaqram.
So
they were able to benefit
not only as far as the
are concerned,
but they were able to develop, do their
own terbiyyah.
They were able to be motivated. They were
able to be inspired
by Sahaba Glamiswani,
and then in return, the next generation, and
the next generation, and the next generation.
So this is something that is has been
very key,
and this is something that is probably getting
weaker now. And
people don't have that kind of taaal look
of kunum mas adikeen
that was essential to develop certain
ahuwal and kef
i'at,
within ourselves.
In an increasingly individualistic society,
you know, where we are
told that, you know, it's me, myself, and
I. You know, you just have to believe
in yourself.
You have to believe in yourself, and you
just have to stand apart. You don't need
anybody else.
We sometimes use this kind of mindset
in matters of deen as well, to our
own detriment.
Because then we lose that connection,
and
the connection lost means that a lot of
the akhwad and qayfiyahat,
are lost as well.
And a person
is only stuck in the intellectual tradition, if
if if even that, in the intellectual tradition
of the of the deen, and not necessarily
the spiritual,
the the batni aspect of the deen.
So, you know, Alhamdulillah, we should try to
make sure that there are vessels of guidance
in our lives as well.
Somebody that we can
ourselves feel,
that our is attracted to,
we ourselves can be inspired from and motivated
from to be
better. Right? To be better. You know, this
is something that they use
in
in, you know, in secular world all the
time. You you know, thought leaders, you know,
influencers, you know, these are people who are
supposed to be influencing others. You know, for
us, we already have role models. We don't
need anybody else to
get influenced for from or any other thought
leaders. These are
of Ahlul Sunnah wal Jamah who have spent
their lifetime in
gaining this ill. But not only just gaining
this ill, but
taking this color of sharia and applying it
upon themselves. And what that is essential that
they've been able
to make the cells fragrant
from the color of the sharia.
And just like that saying that, you know,
the example of good companies like that of
a perfume seller,
That when you go in the company of
a perfume seller, even if you have no
intention of buying the perfume,
you still benefit from it. You benefit from
the beautiful fragrance. You benefit if it makes
you feel good.
Your own aesthetic sense develops because of that.
Even though you haven't done anything, just being
in the company of a perfume seller does
that to you.
So we need to look for those perfume
sellers in our lives too,
and we need to benefit from that.
And Sheikh Sadi rahmatullahi writes that one time
I went into hamam
and I
I smelled something really good and I looked
around and there was
a clump of clay and dirt on the
ground
And I asked it I addressed it and
I said, are you
musk or are you amber? Because
your fragrance is driving me crazy.
It's so beautiful.
And he said, I'm neither.
And I am just mere dirt and clay.
And
the flower from the tree,
it fell down upon me.
And I was in its sangat, its in
its companionship for a little while, and I
internalized
its smell.
And so this is why you think that
I am
Muscat Umber.
So that's exactly we are dirty. That's okay.
But, you know, we have to look for
the flower that we can attach ourselves to
and internalize the fragrance ourselves, the nur from
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Right? The hearts of these masha'ikh, they are
like magnets.
Right?
A real magnet, you don't see the the
rays.
Right? But all you need to do is
bring something metallic, and you will see how
it gets attracted to it.
And so
the the hearts, the qulub of the mashaikh
are exactly like that. The hearts feel this
just this pull.
But the heart has to be focused correctly.
The antenna has to be focused correctly to
be able to receive it.
Alhamdulillah,
this has been the case again for
1400 years, and I'm sure before that as
well,
you know, like the Ashab of other Ambiya
benefited from them,
and and the generations learned from from their,
you know, from the Ashab of other Ambiya
as well. And so this is the case.
This is how Allah
has created.
The sentence is the Kitab is the Rijal
as well.
Kitab is one aspect of guidance,
rijal is the other aspect of guidance.
And, you know,
Right? That you need to do itaba of
those people who have this Inaba
Right? And we covered with Tawba, Inaba, and
Awaab, right,
these terminologies mean.
Right? So people who turn back to who
devote themselves to
Allah, you need to do the ittaba.
And do not become amongst those
who are,
amongst the the, you know, the ghafilin, the
heedless people.
And not only should you not become amongst
those who are amongst the ghafilin,
but you should not follow those people
whose hearts we have made
ghafil from Anzikrullah, from the zikr of Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
I mean, the Quran is replete with this.
I mean, we just have to look at
it from that perspective. This message is very
clear.
Alrahman fasalbihi
kabira. You know, you need to ask those
who have this Chabir,
people of of Niles, people of Ma'rifa,
you know, you need to ask them.
So
Insha'Allah, while we
are fastly approaching the end of Ramadan,
and, you know, this blessed month
will be gone soon.
We should make sure that as long as
far as our connection with our elders, with
our masha'ikh is concerned, is a strong one
and that's not something that we lose. So
Insha'Allah
this haal and this kafir of taqwa can
become us.
We can become engrossed in it.
May Allah make it easy for all of
us.