Translated Speech of

His Eminence Ameer Muhammad Akram Awan

Shaikh Silsilah Naqshbandiah Owaisiah
7th May 2004

Gracious Allah gave the glad tidings of the deputation of the holy Prophet-saws to His
bondsmen and said, ‘A Messenger has come to you from amongst you, who feels your
every grief. If you slip, it is he who feels the pain.’ This Divine address is meant for the
whole humanity. The human race is being told a fact that in this world no one can find a
real sympathiser. Here all relationships, friendships and love are linked with personal
interests. These are established and maintained where there is hope of some benefit,
fulfilment of some need or expectation of some favour. But, if circumstances of the same
favourite person take a wrong turn and people realize that they can’t benefit from him
anymore, they instantly forget all love, forsake all friendship and sever all relationships.
This is a world where all relationships are governed by vested interests. Almighty Allah
says, ‘I have sent a slave of Mine, who feels sorry for every pain suffered by mankind; he
wants to save them and prays for them. …My this Messenger-saws is independent of
everyone in both worlds. He is absorbed in My communion only, and has no interest with
anything in this world. He wants absolutely nothing from you. If you are rich, he doesn’t
covet your riches; if you are strong, he doesn’t require your strength; if you possess some
excellence, he has no concern with it. Still, he-saws loves you, shares your grief, wants to
protect you and is spending all of his energy for it. Despite the fact that he has nothing to
do with anything in both worlds, his keenness touches the limits of anxiety to save you
from afflictions of the both worlds. And when someone believes him and believes
Almighty Allah through him, for such believers he is compassionate and merciful. These
are the exalted qualities of the holy Prophet-saws, described by Allah. Now, friendship is
not a one way relationship, that one person loves and the other responds with hate; one
wishes well and the other responds indifferently. It will be impossible to explain such
attitude on the Day of Resurrection; if it is asked that such a great personality loved you
and invited you towards Allah’s Mercy and you disregarded his affection without
realising your own lowly status. Leave alone other sins, refusal of the invitation of
Prophet Muhammad-saws is such a big crime that human race has no explanation for it.
Even those who accept also exhibit strange behaviour. We declare verbally that we accept
and we will obey; that we don’t take anyone except Allah as our God and we accept the
holy Prophet-saws as Allah’s Messenger. But, can a mere verbal claim fulfil the
obligation?

If a person tells us not to take water for half hour, let’s say a doctor advises us not to take
water for half hour after his injection or tablet, we will never drink water for that time.
But, if we start drinking water immediately, right in front of him, will this be called as
acceptance of doctor’s advice? We proclaim the Kalimah Tayyibah, accepting Allah’s
Greatness and the Prophethood of the holy Prophet-saws, but when we act, we always act
opposite to our claim. Take the case of worships, how many of us take due care of our
worships? Our relationship with worship is so weak that we forsake them at the slightest
pretext. A new malady ‘my mood is off’ has recently crept into our lives. One may have
no headache, no fever, nothing at all, but would still say, ‘my mood is off’. I really don’t

1
understand what does this mood mean and when does it go on and when does it go off.
‘My mood is off’ I couldn’t offer Salah.’ Strange indeed! You have taken your food with
this off mood, been to office with this off mood; have done all important business with
the same off mood, but the only thing you couldn’t do was to offer Salah, because your
mood was off! Hakeem Khuda Bakhsh was one of the senior members of the Order and
was a very pleasant person. He used to say, ‘if a person can go out for his necessary
errands, what excuse does he have for not going to the mosque?’ He himself went to the
mosque very regularly. He became old and his sight got weak, still he went to the mosque
at night with a lantern in his hand. Once I asked him, “Your eyesight is weak; can you see
the way with this lantern?” He answered, “No, I can’t see, but I have walked through this
street for a whole lifetime, so I can guess the way. I can see to some extent during the
day, but can’t see anything at night.” I asked, “Then what is the use of carrying this
lamp?” He replied, “It is for others to see that I am coming so that they can avoid
bumping into me.” Even in that condition, he didn’t coin any excuse to offer Salah at his
home. He used to say, ‘if I can walk and attend to other issue of life, why can’t I go to the
mosque?’

What is Faith? It is a connection, a relationship that compels a person to obedience. Faith

is love and Faith is longing. Without Faith, there is neither love nor longing. It were the
Companions who possessed real love. The holy Quran describes that they waited for new
Divine Commandments to be revealed so that they could obey with their heart and soul.
They had not got tired with already revealed Ordinances and used to observe the bright
countenance of the holy Prophet-saws waiting for Revelation containing new Orders
which they should follow with their heart and soul. Worship is a personal matter which a
person performs for his own self. He worships to cleanse his heart, seeks forgiveness for
his sins and to establish his relationship with the Lord of the worlds. In practical life,
however, he has to deal with Allah’s creation and the rights and obligations of
innumerable people. How can a person, who has such a weak relation with Allah and His
Messenger-saws that he cannot obey them for his own sake, be expected to obey Allah
and His Messenger-saws with regards to Allah’s creation?

Allah has ordained: … This Divine Command does not include any interruption. It hasn’t
been said, ‘Recite Darood ten times in the morning and six times at night; recite at Asar,
not at Maghrib.’ It means recite Darood continuously, so much that the obligation of
reciting Darood is fulfilled. We have been hearing the word ‘Darood’ since our
childhood, but no one has ever told us what is Darood and what is its meaning. The word
‘Darood’ is derived from ‘dara, yadurru’, which means an act that never stops. So Darood
denotes a continuous action without interruption. However, if a person recites only
Darood Shareef all of his time, how will he attend to his other affairs; and it is Allah’s
Command that there should be no interruption in Darood? Remember, there are three
aspects of Darood Shareef. The first aspect is that you acknowledge the greatness of the
holy Prophet-saws from the core of your heart and the strength of this acknowledgement
never decreases. It is also Darood that someone acknowledged the Messengership and the
finality of Prophethood of the holy Prophet-saws and stood firm during his whole life
with his ever increasing and never decreasing belief. This is the type of Darood which
never ended. The second and important type of Darood is our attitude in practical life.

2
When we talk to someone, why do we keep to good manners? It is because that is the
Sunnah of our holy Prophet-saws. We indulge in trade, make friends and foes, make
peace and war, marry and beget children whom we educate. If we have the greatness of
the holy Prophet-saws in our hearts, while doing anything in life and do it according to
his instructions, the whole activity becomes Darood as well as obedience, and will attract
divine mercy. The greater share in this Divine mercy shall go to the personality-saws who
taught that noble act. Therefore, when anyone follows the Sunnah anywhere on the globe
and is rewarded with Divine mercy, the personality-saws who taught that noble act will
get many times his share of Divine mercy. This will imply continuity to the recitation of
Darood. If he spent his whole day according to Shari’at, all his actions became Darood
Sharif. Divine mercy attends to him that he performed worship and all his actions
according to the Sunnah. This is the second form of Darood Sharif.

The third and last form of Darood Sharif is that we pray to Allah to shower His choicest
favours, blessings and peace on our holy Prophet-saws. This form comes at the third
place. Now, if someone leaves the first two, what will be the effect of only the third? If
you demolish the first floor of a three-floor building, what will be left? If the basic faith,
belief and relationship got affected, then nothing is left. If we break the doors, windows
or walls of the second floor, it will start getting weak and finally collapse, taking the third
floor along. But the exalted name of the holy Prophet-saws possesses strange blessings,
beyond the scope of human intellect and imagination. If someone adopts only the third
form and continues to recite Darood Sharif frequently, the lower two floors are repaired
automatically. This doesn’t happen anywhere in the world. If you start repairing only the
third floor, without paying attention to the first two, these will not be repaired
automatically. Rather, when they collapse, they will take along the third floor also. The
exalted name of the holy Prophet-saws possesses the blessing that if a sinful Muslim
starts reciting Darood Sharif frequently, sitting, standing, walking, it starts to reform his
conduct. Reformation of conduct, in turn, strengthens the Faith. He is actually repairing
the third floor, but the other two are being repaired automatically and their appearance
and strength is also improving.

It is worship to think about the holy Prophet-saws, it is worship to mention his name, it is
worship to follow him and it is worship to serve him. What is virtue? It is the servitude to
the holy Prophet-saws. What is sin? It is disobedience of the holy Prophet-saws. Very
unfortunate is the person who breathed on Allah’s earth, benefited from this sun, lived in
this atmosphere and could not know the holy Prophet-saws and could not believe in him.
There is none on this earth who is more unfortunate than him. May Allah have mercy on
the person blessed with the light of Faith to fulfil the obligation of his love! It is not
necessary to spend millions to buy his-saws kindness. It is not necessary to sacrifice the
life to draw his benevolence. It is but a feeling within the heart; a relationship of the
heart; if it becomes strong, it can defeat even death, what to speak of the worldly ordeals.
Such a person lives forever; he doesn’t die; he continues to live even after death. Real life
is that when he is buried in the grave, he illuminates the grave and grants it life. But,
where does this life come from? Just like this universe takes light from the sun, all
universes take life from the holy Prophet-saws. That beloved of Allah, on whom Allah
Himself showers His choicest favours and His angels send their salutations, and He

3
invites the believers to join Him and His angels in sending Darood! We are a handful of
dust, what is our worth! But the Creator of Eternity says ‘I am sending Darood on my
Prophet-saws, so are My angels; you should also join.’ Can a man think of any greater
honour than this? Allah added Darood in at-Tahiyat in Salah; He put in the orders to
recite Darood in the Quran; He integrated the remembrance of the holy Prophet
Muhammad-saws with each step of life. Each breath of a believer is attached with the
remembrance of the holy Prophet-saws. This work is to be done; how: as told by the holy
Prophet-saws. This is not to be done; why: because it has been forbidden by the holy
Prophet-saws. With every act of the day and night is integrated the remembrance of that
single personality! What a great honour! Even the angels attend that assembly with
respect! What is our worth? We are those whom none cares to know or recognise! We are
just dragging ourselves through the highs and lows of life. What is our value and what
can we give to others? Only that thing, which benefits others, has some value. What can
anybody get from us, we are so needy ourselves? But, if we attach ourselves to that
honourable court and serve it devotedly, a time comes when a person loses his self. The
Sufis term it as Fana fir Rasul; a person retains his self, he walks and works but his
wishes, ambitions and all actions are lost before the noble will of the holy Prophet-saws.
When someone attains to Fana fir Rasul, he also becomes beneficial for others. He is like
a mirror that starts reflecting sun’s light when placed before the sun. It is not mirror’s
own light; it takes from the sun and, instead of just absorbing it, reflects it and benefits
others. Similarly, a person who attains to Fana fir Rasul can be beneficial for humanity. If
a person is granted the meditation of Fana fir Rasul, he doesn’t actually become Fana fir
Rasul. The meditation helps him and establishes his connection with the Court of the holy
Prophet-saws. He is responsible to mould his life through that connection. If he doesn’t
redirect the course of his life, and if Allah doesn’t pardon him, he would be charged with
two offences.

The other day, someone mentioned the foolishness of a person. I said, “He is a simple
person; he may be foolish but he attends to worships and performs Zikr. If he is
unintelligent, that is his good luck. It is we, who claim to be intellectuals that will be
caught, when we will be questioned, ‘he was a fool, he didn’t know; but you knew, what
then had you been doing’?” Situation will be particularly difficult for someone who
considers himself an intellectual. Similarly, if the teacher grants a student the meditation
of Fana fir Rasul, and he still doesn’t completely obey the holy Prophet-saws, how can he
answer the question that you had a connection and strength, you should have tried to take
that colour; you should have made an effort to follow the holy Prophet-saws, you should
have eaten Halal and spoken the truth; you should have obeyed Allah on the land of
Allah. Our custom is that we follow the majority: ‘I did this because everyone was doing
it’. This is no argument. There was a time when the holy Prophet-saws was alone in his
claim of Prophethood and the whole world was opposing him. Did Hadhrat Abu Bakr-rau
and Ali-rau accept Islam for the reason that majority of people had accepted Islam. No!
They said, ‘Let the whole world refuse, we accept; this slave of Allah is true’. When the
holy Prophet-saws stated the Incident of Ascension, there was an uproar in whole
Makkah. People used to gather on the mounds of Safa and Marwah near the Bait Ullah
for tale-telling and gossip. Abu Jahal said, ‘He says he went above the heavens and
returned. Leave that claim alone. But he says he went to the Dome of Rock and led the

4
prayers of Prophets. It takes us three months on a fast and strong camel to reach there.
How did he return in the same night?’ Finally, they thought of telling Abu Bakr-rau.
They rushed to his house and said, ‘Abu Bakr, you accepted Islam. You believed your
friend to be a Prophet. Do you now believe this?’ He replied, ‘I already believe that he
receives Revelation from Allah, and that is far greater than what you are saying now. If
he has really said what you are stating, I affirm it to be true and believe it,’ although he
had not yet heard it from the holy Prophet-saws. This is Fana fir Rasul!

If Allah grants this blessing to someone, it befits him that his belief should become
Darood, his conduct should become Darood, his thoughts should become Darood and his
tongue should recite Darood continuously. It is not enough to celebrate the birthday of
the holy Prophet-saws and fire crackers. In fact the whole world and entire humanity
should celebrate his birthday and feel happy. Even the disbelievers should feel happy that
Allah has raised a personality that desires their wellbeing. The believer’s connection with
him is established from the time of his Prophethood, and we have forgotten that! The
mercy and blessings that his Prophethood brought are simply countless. He-saws taught
human beings to converse with the Lord of the Worlds. From where he picked them and
to what heights did he raise them! May Allah’s choicest favours, blessings and peace be
on him!

Our Other Sites:

• Owaisiah
• Our Sheikh
• Ghazwa tul Hind
• Zikr e Ilahi

Contact us : www.naqshbandiaowaisiah.com