DETAILED REPENTANCE (TAUBAH)

When a disciple requested Hazrat for bai't (formally becoming a religious disciple) Hazrat said, "Bait is neither necessary, nor a goal in itself. The primary goal is Taubah (repentance) and self-improvement. As far as bai't while it is a sunnah but one should not rush in making that commitment."

About doing Taubah Hazrat said, "First pray two nawafil (non-obligatory prayers), then recite these two tasbeehat;

ربّنا ظلمنا انفسنا و ان لم تغفر لنا۔۔۔

استغفرالّٰلہ ربّی من کلِّ ذنب۔۔۔

After that pray to Allah Ta'alah in your own language, "Ya Allah! I have committed a lot of sins. Now I want do Taubah and I intend never to commit a sin again. I am very weak and that is why I pray to you to please grant me strength and steadfastness."

This is superficial Taubah. Then do the detailed Taubah which goes like this. There are two kinds of Huqooq (rights), Huqooq-Ullah ( rights of Allah Ta'alah) and Huqooq-ul-Iba'd (rights of human beings). 

For Huqooq-Ullah calculate that how many Salah have you not prayed since attaining puberty (which is when Salah becomes Farz). Make a chart and then with daily prayers instead of nawafil (non-obligatory prayers) start praying a Qaza (missed) Salah. Also make a will that if you die before praying all Qaza Salah then fidya (financial atonement) should be given for the remaining Salah. Similarly you will have to keep all the fasts that you have not kept in Ramadan or pay fidya against them.

For Huqooq-ul-Iba'd, you will have to ask forgiveness from all those whose people whose rights you breached, or you will have to atone in some other way. 

Then Hazrat advised to read four Tasbeehat every day which are;

سبحان الّٰلہ و بحمدہ سبحان الّٰلہ العظیم

سبحان الّٰلہ والحمد الّٰلہ و لا الہ الا الّٰلہ و الّٰلہ اکبر

استغفرالّٰلہ ربّی من کلِّ ذنب و اتوب علیہ

درود شریف

Set up a regular time after Fajr Salah. In that time read a little bit of Quran Karim every day, then Munajat-e-Maqbool ( book of prayers by Hazrat Thanvi RA, and then the four Tasbeehat. Set the amount of Quran and number of Tasbeehat as low as you can do consistently but then do it regularly. Try not to miss these. It is very important that you do these daily even if you commit that you will recite only one Ruku of Quran every day but then do it daily. It is much better to set a small number to begin with that a person can continue to do regularly than set a big target and then not to be able to stick to it."

About the same matter on another occasion Hazrat said the number of Tasbeehat should be set realistically. If you feel that you won't be able to recite each tasbeeh a 100 times each day then set a target of 33. If you feel that even 33 is too much then set a goal of 11 each. If some day you are very busy then try to recite each Tasbeeh three times only that day but try not to miss it altogether.

During a conversation Hazrat said smilingly, "Whenever you start feeling hopeless (regarding what you are doing from the point of view of religion) look at your past, whenever you start feeling good about yourself look at your present."

A disciple said, "Hazrat! Since I have developed a timetable like you had told me and started sticking to it I have seen a lot of Barakah in my time and now I manage to accomplish a lot in a short time." Hazrat was very pleased to hear this and then told about a personal experience. He said, "There is a booklet that I used to write daily in the 10-15 minutes before Asr Azan (call for prayers) and five minutes after the Azan before doing Wudu (ablution). This way I managed to finish the whole booklet in a short while."

Answering a question Hazrat said, "It is human nature that we feel hesitant when we start doing anything new. But the solution is to start doing it regularly by forcing oneself and ignoring the hesitation. Once a person starts doing something regularly in a short while the hesitation goes away."

In response to a question Hazrat said, "when reading a book don't worry too much about whether you are memorising what you are reading, or whether you would remember in the future what you have just read. Just try to make sure that you have thoroughly understood what you have read. If you read topic a topic two or three times making sure that you have understood it well, you will InshaAllah memorise it."

Then Hazrat smiled and said, "That is our problem. We either keep worrying about the past, or the future. We do not worry enough about the present. If we correct our present then InshaAllah both our past and future will become bright."

Hazrat once said the relationship of heart and money can be understood from the analogy of boat and water. As long as the water stays outside the boat and underneath it it is a blessing, but if it enters the boat then it brings death.

In a conversation Hazrat once said, "Women who observe Purdah get distressed if they are forced to attend a mixed gathering, but why should women who do not observe Purdah get distressed if asked to sit in a women-only gathering? There is no violation of their rights in that."

A person once requested Hazrat to become his disciple. Hazrat advised him to start doing the following things;

• It is Farz (obligatory) to offer Salah five times a day regardless a person is sick or has some other excuse. Therefore, immediately start praying five times a day and if you can't pray it on time for some genuine reason offer it as a Qaza (late) Salah as soon as you can.

• Try to avoid committing sins as much as you can.

• Every night, after Isha prayer, pray to Allah Ta'alah to forgive you for all the sins you have committed that day.

• Starr regularly reading Quran Karim every day, even if it is only a little.

The same person said to Hazrat, "I feel like I am leaving one life and entering into another life." Hazrat replied, "Tell me when does a child reach puberty? Can anyone tell if this child reached puberty precisely on this day, at this time, at this age? A child is born, then he keeps growing gradually and some day he reaches puberty and no one notices precisely at what moment did he reach puberty. People attain maturity in religion exactly the same way."

A disciple asked, "Hazrat! Can I find out if Allah Ta'alah is happy or unhappy with me.?" Hazrat replied, "There is a specific time destined for this and before that time nobody can know for sure whether Allah Ta'alah is happy or unhappy with him. It is like when someone writes an exam, then he has to wait till the result is announced and he gets the good news. This is the same thing. However, if someone feels bad when committing a sin and feels happy when performing a good deed it means he has Iman (faith) in his heart."

A disciple said, "Hazrat! A friend of mine asked me 'did you not get any benefit from Hazrat's suhbat (companionship)?" Hazrat was very amused and said, while smiling, "You should have said, this is exactly the benefit of suhbat."

When a person requested to become Hazrat's disciple one of the first advices hazrat gave him was, "Maintain the same kind of relationship with your friends as you have always had. They should not feel that you have become too dry, or too rigid, or that you don't talk about anything except that one topic (religion). However, if there is an occasion when they are engaging in something which is a sin then get away from them and do not care who gets upset."

Hazrat once said, "It is a sign of the level of moral decay of a society if a patient can't trust whether the advice his doctor is giving him is in the patient's best interest, or the doctor's best interest."

In response to a question Hazrat said, "It is not acceptable to argue with one's parents. There can be an exchange of ideas but it should never descend into an argument."

A disciple, who was studying medicine, asked, "Hazrat! I feel like doing Allah Ta'alah's zikr all the time and don't feel like studying medicine." Hazrat replied, "If you study medicine with the right intention then all your studying will become Allah Ta'alah's zikr."

Hazrat once said that there is no cure for laziness and tardiness except for hard work. He then told a story that once a person came to the Caliph Haroon Rasheed's Court and asked for permission to show his talent. After receiving permission he stuck a needle standing straight on the floor of the court. Standing several metres away he then threw another needle with such accuracy that it passed through the pinhole of the first needle. He threw several more needles all of which passed through the pinhole of the first needle. After seeing this strange demonstration Haroon Rasheed ordered that the man be given 100 Dinars and have ten lashes applied to his back as a reward. When the courtesans asked the reason for such a strange "reward" he said, "The 100 Dinars are for the fact that the trick he showed is truly incredible and amazing. And the ten lashes are for the fact that he applied all his energies to a task which is completely useless and wouldn't benefit anyone. If he had invested these energies and efforts in some fruitful activity how much benefit it would have brought to him and others."

After telling this story Hazrat said, "Allah Ta'alah has given human being such incredible energy that he can achieve incredible feats. The condition is that he should harness that energy and apply it."

Hazrat once said that if a person takes an interest-based loan from a a bank and then conducts a Halal business with it, then even though he would be incurring the sin of paying interest, his income would be halal and it would be permissible to eat at his home. However, if a person loans money to others and charges interest on it, and majority of his income comes from that source, then his income is Hara'am and one should avoid eating at such a person's home.

A disciple once asked, "Hazrat! Sometimes in the mosque when some labourer is standing next to me their clothes are drenched in sweat and there is a strong smell of sweat coming from them. Sometimes I stand apart from them and find it difficult to stand close to them. But then I started wondering whether I was doing this because of Takabbur (تکبّر، thinking of oneself as superior to everyone else)?" Hazrat said, "There are two factors to consider in this. The first is that they are smelling strongly of sweat and that is why you stand apart from them. That my be due to your nature and may not be a sin. The other is that you think they are inferior and worthless, and that is why it distresses you that these poor labourers are standing next to you, and that is why you move away from them. That would be Takabbur and if that is the case you need to treat it vigorously. Its treatment is that you stand as close to them as you can, regardless of how distasteful it is for your Nafs."

Once Hazrat said smiling, "I don't now why people have associated distributing only goat meat in Sadaqah. A poor person may be wanting to eat fish some day."

In a conversation Hazrat once said, "Hazrat Doctor sahib (Dr Abdul Hai Arfi RA) Qadas Sarah used to say a human being's Nafs seeks pleasure. It makes a person do the activities it derives pleasure from, over and over again. That is why it makes a person repeat sinful activities. You re-train your Nafs by repeated effort so that it starts deriving pleasure from abstention from sins. It will then start forcing you to abstain from sins."

A person who had visited Hazrat once became very religiously motivated and started becoming very religiously active. When Hazrat heard about this he said, "Tell him to start walking first and not to start running straight away."

Hazrat once said that Muslims who do not have full knowledge of religion should not engage in religious discourse with non-Muslims. Instead they should invite them to talk to the Ulema (religious scholars). 

Hazrat once said that Moulana Shabbir Ahmed Usmani RA used to say that that time still has not come when people would stop resounding to Tableegh (preaching). Even these days if someone says the right thing, in the right manner, with the right intention, InshaAllah it will produce an effect.

Eating Kosher

A person asked whether eating Kosher meat (Zabeeha of Jews) is Halal. Hazrat said, "Jews generally follow their religion rigorously and do Zabeeha observing their own religious practices by taking Allah's name on it and and letting blood bleed out. As long as they keep sticking to these practices eating Kosher meat would remain Halal."

In response to a question Hazrat said, "Some things are Hara'am and forbidden because of their own nature but some things are declared hara'am for a specific reason and if that reason doesn't exist anymore then they cease to be Hara'am. Wearing trousers had been declared Hara'am at a particular time because some Muslims in that era were very impressed with the English occupiers and dressed like them to be and look like them and to follow their practices. This fell under the category of 'developing likeness of non-Muslims' and was therefore declared Hara'am. However, as people these days generally do not wear trousers for that reason it is, therefore, not Hara'am for them to wear it. What they should still take care about is that their ankles should not be covered, and it should be loose, the shape of the body should not be too obvious."

WHAT CAN AND CAN NOT BE EATEN IN A NON-MUSLIM COUNTRY

A person who was about to move to a Western country for further education asked about Hara'am and Halal foods in that country. Hazrat said, "In a non-Muslim country meat should be considered Hara'am until you are absolutely certain that it is Halal, and all other edible items should be considered Halal until you are absolutely certain that they are Hara'am." Hazrat then further said, "Do not get too preoccupied about every single edible item being Hara'am or Halal unless there is a strong reason to suspect that it may not be Halal."

He then told a story about this, "Hazrat Omar RAA once went outside the city with a Sahabi (companion of Rasool Allah SAW). When they became thirsty they went to a pond. A local appeared at that time. The Sahabi asked him whether wild animals came to that pond to drink water. Before he could reply Hazrat Omar RAA raised his hand and told him not to answer that question." Hazrat then said that what it meant was that in such a situation if you don't see wild animals' footprints or any other obvious signs of their coming or going then that water should be considered clean and drinkable and one should not get too preoccupied with unnecessary investigation. The same principle should be applied to items of food, other than meat, that they should be considered Halal unless there is a clear reason not to do so.

PRAYING NAMAZ (SALAH) FOR FORTY DAYS

For someone who didn't pray Namaz regularly previously Hazrat said, "One should form a strong intention that I will not miss any Namaz for the next forty days and he should stick to it no matter how hard it is. It has been a lot of people's experience that once they go through those forty days without missing a Namaz then it becomes easier for them to pray Namaz regularly."

PRAYING NAMAZ (SALAH) WITHOUT ENJOYING IT

In answer to a question Hazrat once said that Moulana Gangohi RA used to say, "There is very good news for that person who never got enjoyment in Namaz (but still kept praying it)." Further elaborating upon it Hazrat said that there can be no doubt about the Ikhla's (doing something with the pre intention of pleasing Allah Ta'alah) of the person who never got pleasure out of namaz but forced himself to keep praying it because Allah SWT has ordered us to do so. That is why one should keep praying Namaz regardless of whether we are getting pleasure in it or not.

NOT HURTING ANYONE

Hazrat RA once said, "Ibadat (prayers) are undoubtedly a very important part of religion but there is one thing even more important than Ibadat. That is ensuring that we do not cause hurt to anyone, either by what we say, or by what we do."

AVOID THREE KINDS OF SINS

A buzurg once said, "Especially try to avoid three kinds of sins, sins of eyes (eyes must not see forbidden things), sins of ears (do not hear things which are hara'am like backbiting), sins of the tongue (do not do backbiting, do not tell a lie).

FOLLOWING THE SUNNAH OF RASOOL ALLAH ﷺ

A buzurg once said, "As much as possible a Muslim must try to follow the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ in every day activities like sitting, standing, eating and drinking, etc."

ACHIEVING BALANCE IN LIFE

Some students once asked  about how to achieve balance between worldly affairs and religious matters and said that when they got involved in studying professional education they got so preoccupied that they forgot completely about Allah SWT, and when they started reading the Quran they enjoyed it so much that they wanted to read Quran all the time and did not want to do their studies at all. Hazrat RA said, "The true spirit of Islam is that a person balances everything in life. Praying doesn't mean that a person gets so preoccupied with it that he starts neglecting his other duties and responsibilities. In fact if a person studies medicine with an intention that he will serve Allah's creation then every moment he is spending in studying medicine is being spent in prayers. The correct way is that a person develops a routine that for example after Fajar prayer he will pray for a specific time like would read a certain amount of Quran every morning, and then he would go to his educational institution and will give as much time to his studies as required. If he keeps practicing this then slowly and gradually he will achieve balance in life."

DOUBTS ABOUT RELIGION

A buzurg once said that getting doubts about religion is actually an indicator of presence of Iman (faith) and it is a good indicator as a thief only goes where he expects to get something of value. If there is nothing of value in a place why would a thief go there. Similarly only puts doubts in a heart where there is Iman. So stop worrying about the doubts and keep going about what you need to do.

TAKABBUR AND SHUKR

A buzurg once said that whenever you get a thought which makes you think that you may have Takabbur (believing that one is superior to other human beings) immediately say Shukr (thanks) to Allah Ta'alah on all the blessings He has bestowed upon you as Takabbur and Shukr can never occur together.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INFERIORITY COMPLEX AND TAWAZU (CONSIDERING OTHERS BETTER THAN ONESELF)

A person once asked a buzurg about difference between inferiority complex and Tawazu (considering others better than oneself). The buzurg said, "Inferiority complex means that a person considers himself inferior and gets hopeless that he can not do anything, and for that reason is unhappy with and starts blaming his Taqdeer (fate). Tawazu means that on seeing another person one thinks that maybe this other person is closer to Allah Ta'alah than I am and for that reason doesn't consider anyone else inferior to himself. When a person starts thinking like this he believes that every naimat (blessing) he gets is beyond what he deserved so he is not unhappy with fate, in fact he is grateful to Allah Ta'alah for every naimat he gets."

OFFERING SALAH (NAMAZ) REGULARLY

A buzurg once said, "Praying Salah five times a day is Fardh (obligatory), whether one can concentrate during it or not, or whether one gets a tranquil feeling in heart after offering it or not. It is obligatory to attend Allah Ta'alah's court five times a day."

IMAN (FAITH) AND ITMEENAN (PEACE OF MIND)

A person said to a buzurg that when I think about it I do feel that there must be someone who has created this entire universe and and must be running it, even a small factory cannot run on its own forever, let alone the entire universe, but I do not have Itmeenan (peace of mind) about it. The buzurg smiled and said, "Hazrat Ibrahim AS requested Allah Ta'alah that I want to see how you will bring living beings back to life after they have died. Allah Ta'alah said, 'Do you not have Iman (faith) on my powers?' Hazrat Ibrahim AS said, 'I do have Iman but I want Itmeenan (peace of mind).'" The buzurg then said, "It means Iman and Itmeenan are two separate things. Those people who have Iman shouldn't worry too much about Itmeenan. They should keep doing good deeds. InshaAllah these good deeds will one day bring Itmeenan as well."

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SADAQAH AND KHAIRAT

A person once asked a buzurg about difference between Sadaqah and Khairat. The buzurg said that "to give Sadaqah the ownership of the money has to be transferred, but Khairat can also be spent in situations where ownership of the money cannot be transferred for example building of a masjid or a school." The person then asked, "which one brings more thawab (reward)?" The buzurg replied, "It depends on the needs of the people at the time."

SPENDING IN ALLAH'S WAY

A buzurg once said that when people are asked to spend in Allah's way they usually come back with an excuse that they have no money. I usually ask them, "Do you not have even one rupee?" If a person has 100 rupees and he spends one rupee from it in Allah's way he will InshaAllah (God willing) get the same thawab (reward) as the person who spends a 1000 rupees from his 100,000 rupees. What will be valued in Allah's court is not amount, but niyyat (intention) and Ikhlas (performing a good deed solely to please Allah SWT).

CURE FOR HUBBE DUNIYA (LOVE FOR THE MATERIAL WORLD)

A buzurg said that an effective treatment for Hubbe Duniya (love of material world) is that set a time either in the morning after namaz or at night before going to sleep, and in that time try to imagine that "I have died, my relatives are taking me to the graveyard, they have buried me, and then i am being questioned for what I did right or wrong during my worldly life." InshaAllah that will weaken the love of this material world.

HARA'M AND HALAL IN A NON-MUSLIM COUNTRY

A person once asked a buzurg about hara'm (impermissible) and halal (permissible) foods in a non-Muslim country. The buzurg said, "Until you can absolutely confirm that the meat is halal, the meat should be considered hara'm.  The other edible items should be considered halal unless you are certain for some reason that they are hara'm." He then further said, "Do not get too preoccupied with investigating every food item being halal or hara'm unless there is a reason for suspecting that it might be hara'm.

On another occasion the buzurg told this story about the same topic, "Once Hazrat Omer Farooq RAA went out of the city with another companion. When they got thirsty they went to a pond. A local came towards them. Hazrat Omer's RAA companion asked him, "Do wild animals come to this pond?" Before he could answer Hazrat Omer RAA raised his hand and told him not to answer that question. The buzurg said that what it meant was that where there are no foot marks or any other signs of wild animals visiting a body of water the water should be considered clean and a person should not get into unnecessary investigation. One should adopt the same attitude about other edible items besides meat that they should be considered halal unless there is some strong reason to suspect that they may not be.

HUBBE MA'AL (LOVE OF MATERIAL THINGS)

Hazrat once said that not having Hubbe Ma'al (love of material things) does not mean that a person stops working and earning an income, and distributes all his belongings among other people. If a person acts on the following InshaAllah he will be able to control his Hubbe Ma'al.

• He should make a firm commitment that he will never earn another cent from non-Halal sources.
• He should make a firm commitment that he will never spend another cent in non-Halal activities. 
• He should keep thanking Allah SWT for the blessings Allah SWT has bestowed upon him.
• In addition to the wajib (obligatory) sadaqah (alms) like zakat a person must spend some money in the name of Allah Ta'alah. It has been a practice of  our elders that as soon as an income came they took a fixed percentage like 5 % or 10 % out and put it separately in an envelope to spend on charity. That way when the time for spending on charity comes one doesn't have to force oneself to take some money out but that envelope keeps reminding one to find a use for it.

Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB

TELLING THE TRUTH SOFTLY

Hazrat once said that even when telling the truth a person must take care not to hurt anyone's feelings. A truth is not a stick that you use to bash other people's head with.

Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB