A few hadiths

In what age is there a need for distance from people, avoidance of them and keeping away from their company, that is, for seclusion (uzlat)? This can easily be learnt from the noble hadiths themselves. Consider a few sayings.

1. "When you see that their covenants have come to an end (faithfulness has gone), their trusts have become light, and they have become like this" — and he interlaced his fingers, that is, put the fingers of one hand between those of the other. Hazrat Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As said to him ﷺ: "O Messenger of Allah! May Allah make me your ransom, what should we do at that time?" He said: "Keep to your home, restrain your tongue over yourself, hold fast to the religion that you recognise, leave whatever does not belong to the religion, and attend to your own particular affair and leave the affair of the common people."

2. In one narration he said that there will be a time when a man will not be safe from the one who sits with him: "Hina la ya'manu al-rajulu jalisahu" (when a man will not feel safe from his companion). In another hadith he said that this will be the time when preachers and speakers will be many and their scholars few, those who ask will be many and those who give to them few. The leaders of every branch of knowledge will be followers of desire. It was asked of him (peace and blessings be upon him): "When will this be?" He said: "When prayers are made dead, that is, not offered or offered after their time has passed, when bribes are accepted, and when religion is sold in exchange for a little of the goods of this world. Then seek salvation! Alas! Seek salvation!"

Regarding what has been said in the hadiths, Hazrat Sayyid Bakri Makki (may his secret be sanctified) says

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Kifayat al-Atqiya, p. 38.

Kifayah, p. 39.

Kifayat al-Atqiya, p. 39.

that you may see all of this in this age with your own eyes! (ibid.)

Hazrat Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Inna fi al-'uzlati rahatan min khulata' al-su'" — in solitude there is relief from mixing and mingling with bad people. (ibid.)

Hazrat Sufyan Thawri (may his secret be sanctified) said in his own time: "By Allah, in this age seclusion has become lawful." (ibid.)

Hazrat Imam Ghazali (may his secret be sanctified) says: "If seclusion had become lawful in the time of Sufyan, then in our time it has become necessary and obligatory." (ibid.)

Hazrat Sufyan ibn Uyaynah said to Hazrat Sufyan Thawri (may Allah be pleased with them both): "Give us some counsel!" He said: "Lessen your acquaintance with people, for getting free of them is hard."

Hazrat Fudayl (may his secret be sanctified) said: "This is the time to guard your tongue, keep your place hidden and treat your heart; take up (act upon) the matters that you know belong to the religion, and leave those that are not known to belong to the religion." For further detail see Kifayat al-Atqiya and other works.

If you live in a place where Islam and the Sunni way are in danger — for example, where the Wahhabis, Qadianis and the like are dominant, and there is a danger that you yourself, your children, your friends and others may be influenced by them if you mix with them and may fall into their snare of deception — then, if possible, leave that place altogether; otherwise, in every situation avoid their company, spend your free time at home in reading religious books and the like, and constantly warn your family and friends of the harms of the company of false sects and of mixing with them, urge them to remain bound to the true beliefs, and keep reminding them of its importance. Likewise, with those people who pose no danger to Islam and the Sunni way but whose company may lead to bad

deeds, still protect yourself from their company in every situation. If you must sit with them out of need and necessity, sit only as long as is needed, and spend the rest of your times of seclusion and solitude with your family. When you do mix with them, never, ever be influenced by their bad words. If you can, try to bring them onto the straight path; otherwise stay away. In the situations mentioned, seclusion alone is what is required.

The elders have said that likewise, when such an age comes that by mixing with people one may fall into unlawful or doubtful wealth, then too seclusion is preferable.

9. Guarding One's Time:

Among the nine counsels, a most important counsel is guarding the moments of one's life. Every moment of life is precious; it is the field of this world and the Hereafter — what you sow here you will reap. No moment returns once it has passed. We should therefore spend every moment in obedience. Here are a few easy and very important ways of spending it in obedience:

1. Correct your beliefs according to those of the Ahl al-Sunnah, so that there is not the slightest deficiency anywhere.

2. Keep good feelings, righteous desires and fine intentions in your heart; develop a boundless love, greater than for anything else, for the Master of the Worlds ﷺ and for his Lord, Allah, Mighty and Majestic; and thoroughly purify the heart and the self (nafs) of all evils — rancour, envy, malice, mutual enmity and hatred, love of the world and the like. In short, attain purity and cleanliness of the inner self, even if only gradually.

3. Always keep your outward conduct bound to the pure Shari'ah. Strive in every word and deed to act in accordance with the Sunnah. Take the utmost care in fulfilling the obligatory (fard), the necessary (wajib) and the Sunnah acts, and follow the Master (peace and blessings be upon him) in whatever of his words, deeds and states can be followed.

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Kifayat al-Atqiya, p. 41.

4. In permissible matters (mubahat), strive to carry them out with good intention. Among the great favours of our Prophet ﷺ is that he turned our worldly life into religion. The gist of his ﷺ saying is that the believer is rewarded for every deed done with good intention, even for the morsel he places in his wife's mouth. If our eating, drinking, sleeping, waking, speaking, walking and the like are all done with good intention, then there is reward in all of them and all of them count as obedience. Trade and earning, serving one's family, helping friends, giving good counsel, meeting people with a cheerful face, acquiring excellence in knowledge and practice and then teaching it, spreading and promoting it, preaching and admonition, speaking and writing — in short, everything lawful and permissible becomes good through good intention.

Benefit:

The noble scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) say that one and the same deed becomes multiplied by making several intentions. For example, when sitting in the mosque you made the intention of spiritual retreat (i'tikaf), of waiting for the prayer, of withdrawal and solitude from the distractions of the heart, of seclusion from people, of remembrance of Allah (dhikr), of reciting the Quran, of refraining from idle talk, of guarding the eye, ear and tongue, and of keeping the mosque alive through dhikr — then from a single deed you will receive the many rewards of all these intentions, and such a person is not like one who made a single intention. This is a very important matter; neglect of it has deprived people of thousands of good deeds.

5. Avoid pointless deeds and pointless talk. By knowing all of these, a great many good deeds can be gained and every moment of life can pass in obedience.

A Few Hadiths and Anecdotes

1. The Most Noble Messenger ﷺ says: "Innama al-a'malu bi al-niyyat" — the reward of deeds is only according to intentions. (Bukhari)

2. "Min husni islami al-mar'i tarkuhu ma la ya'nih" — part of the excellence of a man's Islam is leaving

what does not concern him.

3. It is related that on the Day of Resurrection a servant will come with good deeds like mountains. A caller will call out: "Whoever has a right against so-and-so, let him come and take his right." So people will come and take his good deeds until not a single good deed remains, and he will be bewildered. Allah Most High will say: "O My servant! I have a treasure for you with Me of which none of My creation is aware." The servant will ask: "What is it?" He will say: "Your intentions through which you used to intend good; I have recorded them for you seventy times over." (Kifayah)

4. Some eminent Sufis (may Allah have mercy on them) have related that one of them was ill, and some people came in to visit him. That eminent Sufi elder said: "Make the intention of taking me on Hajj, make the intention of having a khanqah built for me," and so on, telling them of various good deeds of this kind. They said: "How can this be, when your condition is like this?" He said: "If we live, we will fulfil these intentions, and if we die, we will receive the reward of the intention."

5. In the same way, one of the eminent Sufis (may Allah have mercy on them) was seen in a dream after his death and was asked: "How did Allah Most High deal with you?" He said: "He forgave me and raised my ranks." He was asked: "Because of which deed?" He said: "Hahuna yu'amaluna bi al-jud la bi al-ruku' wa al-sujud, wa yu'tawna bi al-niyyah la bi al-khidmah, wa yughfaru lahum bi al-fadl la bi al-fi'l" — that is, here the dealing is by generosity and bestowal, not by bowing and prostration; they give according to intention, not according to service; and they forgive people by grace, not by deeds.

The Division of Time

Since perfection lies in spending all one's time in acts of obedience and worship, while the self (nafs) by its nature cannot remain in a single state and a single manner, there is in the various rulings of the Shari'ah this

wisdom: that the self should not fall into weariness and become burdened. It is for this reason that the elders divided the various litanies (awrad) and devotions (wazaif) and acts of obedience and worship over different times. Let it be known that a person passes through different phases. There is a period for acquiring perfections, such as acquiring the religious sciences from the scholars and the sciences of the path (tariqah), gnosis (ma'rifah) and reality (haqiqah) from the shaykhs, traversing the stages of the path (suluk) and of divine attraction (jadhb), and attaining lofty spiritual stations (maqamat) by acquiring perfections. Although the outward and inward sciences have no limit or end, and their lovers are never sated with them till their last moment, there is nonetheless a degree of completion in them at which a person can bestow these scholarly and spiritual benefits and graces (fuyud) upon others. Likewise, there is a period of receiving benefit and grace (istifada and istifaza) and a period of giving benefit and grace (ifada and ifaza), and all of these are good, important and most beneficial works for the Hereafter, since they contain good and benefit for others. The elders have said: acquiring knowledge and attending gatherings of knowledge is better than litanies and supererogatory prayers (nawafil); likewise, being occupied with teaching students and others is, after the obligatory and Sunnah acts, the most excellent of all. When such is the station of occupation with the outward sciences, then how great a source of virtue it is to build and perfect the inner self, purify it of base traits, adorn it with good character and prepare it to soar in the lofty heights of nearness to Allah. In short, every servant should value his precious life and set up such an order that not a single moment is wasted. In the period of receiving benefit and grace he should thoroughly acquire the sciences of the Shari'ah and the path, develop whatever ability and capacity he can, and keep in view the matters we have just described above on how one can remain absorbed in acts of obedience.

Hazrat Allama Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) says in Salalim al-Fudala: It is fitting that you spend your time in bringing people the benefit of knowledge, that is, in teaching and instruction and the study of books, if you are a scholar; and if you are a student, occupy yourself in seeking beneficial knowledge of the religion. Then spend your remaining time in devotions and acts of worship such as supererogatory prayers, recitation of the Quran, remembrance (dhikr) and glorification (tasbih), and in helping and assisting the Muslims

and so gladdening their hearts. Then spend the rest in earning a livelihood, together with recitation of the Quran or dhikr and tasbih, with the intention of giving in charity whatever is left over. Such lawful earning together with dhikr is better than dhikr alone, because earning with this intention is in itself an act of worship for you that will bring you near to Allah Most High, and because of helping and assisting the Muslims the reward will be multiplied; for even the permissible becomes obedience through good intention, just as obedience becomes sin through bad intention.

The author of Kifayat al-Atqiya says: Divide your time and spend each time in a specific act of obedience. Fix litanies and devotions upon yourself, and appoint for each time an occupation that is not to be overstepped. The reason for the command to divide one's time among acts of obedience is that when the self remains on a single pattern of obedience, it falls into weariness and becomes burdened, because it is created and disposed towards weariness. So it is a kindness and gentleness that it should move from one kind of act and deed to another according to the time, so that its delight increases, through delight its eagerness grows, and through the constancy of eagerness perseverance and permanence in deeds will arise. That is why the litanies are divided in various ways. As for remembrance and contemplation (dhikr and fikr), it is fitting that all or most of one's time be absorbed in them, because the self is by nature inclined towards the pleasures of the world. Hazrat Imam Ghazali (may his secret be sanctified) says in the Ihya' al-Ulum: Whoever wishes to enter Paradise without reckoning should keep all his time occupied in obedience; and whoever wishes that the scale of his good deeds be heavy and his good works weigh heavily in the Balance should keep most of his time absorbed in obedience. If some bad deeds are mixed with the good, his case is open to consideration, but there is hope of pardon; it may be that Allah Most High forgives him out of His generosity and grace.

Benefit:

In this humble Mujaddidi's (may he be pardoned) treatise 'The Naqshbandi Order and Its Path (Suluk)', a comprehensive timetable of remembrance and worship for disciples (murids)

has been set out at the beginning, and at the end the types of people and something of their training has also been described. In the same book the Naqshbandi practices (ashghal) and litanies (awrad) have been given. Besides this, in the book 'Ashghal-e-Tariqat' the practices and remembrances of the remaining three orders — the Qadiri, Chishti and Suhrawardi — have been committed to writing. The elders have counselled that one should adopt different remembrances after different prayers. The two books mentioned are ones in which the remembrances and practices of the path of all four well-known orders can easily be learnt. Apart from them, the book 'Dhikr-o-Fikr', which contains general remembrances and Sunnah supplications and remembrances, is immensely beneficial.

Important Caution:

Offer prayer in congregation with presence of heart and with the utmost humility and submission (khushu' and khudu'); let there be sincerity and the intention of Allah's pleasure in every word and deed; moreover, act only in following the Sunnah; keep receiving the spiritual attention (tawajjuhat) of a perfect spiritual guide (murshid); eat pure and lawful food; and strive for perpetual remembrance. This is sufficient for progress.

Now we commit to writing some miscellaneous matters that are useful for every traveller on the path (salik), whatever order he may belong to.

The Virtue of the Morning Time

Hazrat Imam Ghazali (may his secret be sanctified) says that the time from the break of dawn to sunrise is a precious and noble time, whose nobility and excellence are indicated by Allah's oaths. Allah Most High said, swearing an oath: (1) "Wa al-subhi idha tanaffas" — by the morning when it brightens. (2) Also, Allah Most High said in His own praise: "Faliqu al-isbah" — the Cleaver of the daybreak. (3) He guided His servants to declare Allah's purity and glorify Him in the morning time; He says: "Wa sabbih bi hamdi rabbika qabla tulu'i al-shamsi wa qabla ghurubiha" — glorify your Lord with His praise before the rising of the sun and before

its setting. (4) Allah, Blessed and Exalted, says: "Wa min ana'i al-layli fa sabbih wa atrafa al-nahari la'allaka tarda" — and in the hours of the night glorify Him, and at the ends of the day, in the hope that you may be well pleased. (5) Allah, Majestic and Exalted, says: "Wa udhkuri isma rabbika bukratan wa asila" — remember the name of your Lord morning and evening.

From verse no. 3 the virtue of the time before sunset is known. It is in a hadith that whoever remains occupied in remembrance from Asr to Maghrib will receive the reward of freeing four slaves. As for the time from Fajr to Ishraq, great reward for it is reported in the noble hadiths. Likewise, the beginning of Zuhr has been likened to tahajjud; the people of Allah mostly become occupied in worship at the very beginning of Zuhr time, having eaten something before it and taken a midday rest (qaylulah). In short, all these are most blessed and auspicious times — and then, what can be said of tahajjud! We have described some of its virtues in the book 'The Naqshbandi Order and Its Path (Suluk)'.

Some Remembrances

Hazrat Imam Ghazali (may his secret be sanctified) says that once the excellence of the morning time is known, the servant should sit and not speak until sunrise; rather, until sunrise his devotion (wazifa) should consist of four things: (1) supplications; (2) remembrances, repeating them with the rosary (tasbih); (3) the third is recitation of the Quran; and (4) the fourth is contemplation (tafakkur). Its manner comes down to two kinds. The first is to reflect on what will benefit him, in such a way that he takes his self to account for the shortcomings it has committed, then arranges the devotions of the present day, thinks of how to ward off the matters that could hinder and disturb his turning towards Allah and his doing good, recalls his shortcomings and also the defects that have occurred in his deeds so that he may correct them, and brings to mind in his heart good and righteous intentions relating both to the deeds that concern his own self in particular and to those connected with the Muslims.

The second is to reflect on matters that serve the knowledge of unveiling (ilm al-mukashafah). Its form is that sometimes he reflects on the blessings of Allah

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Kifayat al-Atqiya, p. 46.

Most High, and on their continual reaching His servants, whether the blessings are outward or inward; through this contemplation his knowledge of the blessings will increase, and then he will give abundant thanks for them. And sometimes he reflects on the punishments and torments of Allah Most High, so that his knowledge of the power of the Real (al-Haqq) and of His self-sufficiency increases and fear overcomes the servant. When contemplation is attained, it is the noblest worship, because it contains the meaning of the remembrance of Allah and two additional things as well: first, an increase in gnosis (ma'rifah), because contemplation is the key to unveiling (kashf) and gnosis; and second, an increase in love, because the heart loves only one whose greatness it is convinced of, and the greatness of Allah is disclosed through knowledge of the attributes of Allah Most High, His power and His wondrous acts; for through contemplation gnosis increases, through gnosis reverence, and through reverence love.

The manner of occupying oneself with dhikr and blessings on the Prophet (durood) is that at this time too he should not speak, should face the Qibla and be in meditation (muraqaba). Here meditation means that the heart should be aware that the Most Holy Lord is watching us. Some have said: the heart should always remember that Allah is watching. The remaining remembrances can be sought from our books mentioned above, or from other books of the shaykhs.

Remedy for the Heart:

Love of other than Allah is the greatest disease of the heart. For the soundness of the heart the elders have prescribed five remedies: (1) recitation of the Quran; (2) keeping the stomach empty (ikhla' al-batn); (3) staying awake at night; (4) humble entreaty and weeping, that is, sighing and lamenting and the like, at the time before dawn (sahar); (5) sitting with the righteous and keeping their company and fellowship. Some have also counted eating lawful food.