Shaykh-al-Akbar Ibn Arabi ( RAH)s wisdom in Fazael-e-Amal of Tabligh Jamat

http://sanctuaryofserenity.wordpress.com/ Shaykh Muhyi al-Din Ibn Arabi (RAH) was a saint of a lofty spiritual station. He is called Shaykhal-Akbar. His biography is available in this link http://sulook.org/jsp/biographies/Shaykh_Ibn_Arabi.pdf One of his wise sayings is mentioned in Fazael-e-Amal written by a great Deobandi scholar, Mawlana Zakariya (RAH) as shown below. Taken from chapter 7 ,Keeping company with the Righteous , Fazael-e-Tablig http://www.islamibayanaat.com/EnglishLiterature/English-VirtuesOfTabligh-FazailEAmal.pdf A Companion asked the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) Who can be the best companion for us? He answered: Such a person that. when you see him. you remember Allah; when you listen to him, your knowledge of Islam is increased; when you see his actions. you are reminded of the life Hereafter. (Targheeb) Again, The most devoted servants of Allah are such that. when you see them you remember Allah. Says Allah in the Holy Quran: O those who believe! Fear Allah, and be with the truthful (faithful) people! The commentators have written that by truthful are meant the mystics and the true lovers of Allah, for whoever attaches himself to them and listens to their sermons, he attains very high standards of spirituality. Sheikh Akbar (Rah) has written: You cannot get rid of the evil wishes of yourself, though you may strive for it for your whole life unless your desires are subjected to the commandments of Allah and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam). So, when you find a true lover of Allah, serve him well and follow his instructions as though you have no will of your own; obey him in all your spiritual, religious and personal problems. even those concerning your occupation, so that he may lead you to the right path and take you nearer to Allah. Says the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) When a group of people remember Allah in a meeting. then the angels surround that gathering, Allahs mercy descends on them and Allah remembers them in the assembly of Angels. What honour can be greater for the believers than that Allah remembers and appreciates them? Says the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam): An angel is sent to those who remember Allah sincerely, and he says Allah has forgiven your past sins,and has converted your bad deeds into good ones. In the above paragraphs ,the pious people called as the true lovers of Allah are known as Sufi in the Islamic world. They are called Pir in the Indian subcontinent and KHWAAJAH in some other parts of Muslim world . In Arabic , they are called AULIYA ALLAH , that is , FRIENDS OF ALLAH. There is an interesting history behind the word Sufi . You can find more information about these lovers of Allah in the book Mashaikh-e-Chist written by Mawlana Zakariya (RAH). This book is

also available online in this link. http://books.themajlis.net/node/449 There are some subtle secrets behind the companionship of a Sufi. However, since Fazael-e-Amal is meant for the ordinary muslim people, the technical terms like spiritual heat ( Nur ) , Tawajjuh ( spiritual attention ) etc are not mentioned. However , Mawlana Zakariya (RAH) has discussed those subtle issues in the book Shariah and Tariqat which can be downloaded from this link. http://www.sufizikr.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Shariat__Tariqat.pdf Now I would like to mention some examples which show clearly the benefits of companionship with a sufi shaykh (Pir). The spiriutal heat radiating from a Sufi Shaykh can be very powerful. Some examples from a famous Nakhsbandi saint are given below. Hadrat Khuwaja Muhammad Fazal Ali Qureshi (rahmatullahi alaihi) at Miskeenpur Sharif , Pakistan. His name can be found at number 37 in the spiritual chain shown here. http://www.tasawwuf.org/shaykh/silsilah.htm Ref. Salaar-e- Naqshbandia Mujaddidia , page 193 -194 , written by HAzrat Asif Hussain Faruqi (DB) as mentioned in the following website. http://www.beautyofislam.org/ once, the shaykh was travelling by train and a fellow passenger on the train, who was a drunkard, a drug addict and a fornicator who neglected salaah, happened to sit in his company. Before the journey was over, this person had become a dhaakir and was drowned in the rememberence of Allah and ism-e-Dhaat. The shaykh often mentioned this story and would say, This is how the dhikr of Allah purifies a person. Once the shaykh was riding on a horse. As the horse was walking along, his hoof knocked against someone who was lying on the ground. At this, the shaykh stopped, dismounted and said to the person, Please forgive me; I am sorry that my horse has hurt you. The person replied, No I should be grateful to you, because when the hoof of your horse touched me, my heart began to busy itself in Allahs dhikr. I regard meself very fortunate indeed. When the shaykh use to do dhikr in a gathering on hard land that needed ploughing, many large and hard stones would just crumble and become fine earth. Hadhrat shaykh would smile and say, Allah has saved this old man from ploughing the fields and has made my work easy for me! He also said , Four things elevate a person: First, abundance of dhikr; second, adherence to the sunnah; thirdly, refraining from sins; and fourthly, connection with his shaykh.

 Once a person asked Hakim al-Umma (Allah have mercy on him), that the famous verse; Yak zamana suhbat ba awliya Behter az sed sala taet e bay-riya (Momentary companionship of Friends of Allah is better than hundred years of sincere worship) seems to be an exaggeration. How can this be possible? Hakim al-Umma replied, It was no exaggeration at all. Moreover, the message was still not completely conveyed. If the poet had said; Yak zamana suhbat ba awliya behter az sed lekh sala taet e bay-riya (Momentary company of Friends of Allah is better than million years of sincere worship), it would not have been an exaggeration. This is because in the company of pious/awliya you get more than the sincerity. You get the tauluq maAllah/love of Allah swt. This is the master key for all the further good actions. http://shaykh.wordpress.com/2006/06/30/in-pious-company/ Once during one of his weekly Majalis Shaykh touched on the effects of company. This is an approximate translation to the nearest meaning. Because our hearts are unclean we do not feel the effects of impious company. The similitude is like that of a person who is wearing clean, white clothing. Such a person will immediately notice the appearance of even a small spot of dirt on his clothes. We however are like the person who is wearing clothing which is so dirty that he would not notice even if 2-3 new dirt marks were to appear on his clothes. This is why we do not notice the evil marks appearing on our heart as a result of impious company. Even the most pious and greatest person is affected by impious company. In the same way that impious company causes a cloudiness to settle on the heart, pious company serves to remove this cloudiness. Impious company is also a reason for not being inclined towards Deen. Unfortunately we allocate no space in our daily timetable for adopting pious company and thus allocate no time to revive our hearts. The importance of Spiritual Heat in Madrasah The issue of Spiritual heat is also mentioned in the following article in a different way http://deoband.org/2009/06/tasawwuf/dhikr/gatherings-of-dhikr-in-madrasahs/ In short , the article shows the importance of the presence of Spiritually powerful people in the madrasah. For quick understanding, I have given below some important extracts.

 . Our Akabir who were the embodiment of sincerity and connecting to Allah (taalluq maa Allah) are in no need of introductions. One would subconsciously receive such tarbiyah from their lecturing and teaching, and their strength of nisbah would have such an effect that after lessons it would feel that a dhakir had just left itikaf. The example of this powerful effect has been found in many individuals within the Ummah. Hence, there are many among the people associated with Hadrat Sayyid saheb (may Allah have mercy on him) who were granted ijazah when they gave bayah. You are probably more aware of this than me. At the gathering of Mawlana Miyan (may Allah enlighten his grave) many stages would be traversed during the recitation of the Quran. However, those things are in need of one being able to powerfully make effect and the other to be able to be completely affected traits that cannot be found at every place. If this is found at a place then there is no need for dhikr and shughal. These tariqahs etc. are various types of remedy, just like allopathic medicine, Unani medicine, homeopathic medicine etc., which the physicians of the body have developed through experience.