It's the Preparation That Counts for a Proper Salat

As Salam Alaikum!

Continuing on the topic of how best to make our Ibadat khalis (pure) for Allah SWT,  through this article I would like to briefly present how preparation is the most important aspect. 

In our day to day life, we always try to be at our best behavior but we are more particular when we have to meet someone really important. We try and prepare ourselves as best as possible. We try to ensure that we are thorough with our answers and are aware of whom we are meeting. We remind ourselves again and again that we need to be careful with how we are going to behave, how we are going to perform and how we are going to say and what we are going to say. We know that our small mistake can be really questioned and has the potential of spoiling our chances of recognition or reward or whatever we are expecting. Similar is the case when we are going to face any interview. This is how we behave when we have to present ourselves in front of a mortal boss, dignitary, potential employer or some VVIP. 

Now observe, ponder and reflect how we behave when we go before Allah SWT. He Who is the Supreme Power and the Sustainer, Giver, Benevolent and Merciful. We, at least most of us, are very casual in our attitude, action, behavior and our presentation our own self. We go before Him 5 times a day {according to Prophet Mohammed SAWS Salat is the Momin's Mairaj (Mairaj is the blessed night when our beloved Prophet SAWS was able to meet Allah and saw Him i.e. he had His Deedar)} and we are not at the best of our behavior or presentation or preparation. 

Proper prayer of a Momin is that prayer where he is able to see Allah SWT and if that is not possible then at least he has to be aware that Allah is watching him. Here again the kind of Salat which will give us the sweetness, satisfaction and is counted as our vehicle for redemption is only possible once we have done Tark e Duniya the way Prophet Mohammed SAWS and Imam Mahdi Maoud AS has shown us through their own personal example and taught us to do. But we, even before we do Tark e Duniya, can try and perform Salat in the best possible way. And that is to prepare properly whenever we are going to perform our Salat. How?

As discussed in my previous article we need to avoid overcrowding our mind with issues which have no bearing on us and to do that we need to ensure that we avoid spending our time in frivolous, useless and silly activities. Practice the following method and you will feel the difference in your concentration levels during Salat and will taste the unique taste which only comes when we feel satisfied with our Salat. That experience is ethereal and addictive. The method is (are):

If possible, 30 minutes before you are supposed to pray start getting into the prayer mode and mood. Do proper ablution (wudu), wear proper clothes, and keep on doing Zikrullah (one can even recite the Holy Quran). Try to reach the mosque at least 10-15 minutes in advance if you are not doing the ablution in the mosque. The best is to do Zikrullah. So when call for prayer is given you will be standing before Allah for Salat in the state of mind which is already conditioned with the remembrance of Allah and that frame of mind is best. This way when we go before Allah SWT we are prepared to do so. We will  only then truly appreciate the value of every chance we get to present ourselves before Him. And whence our heart is so conditioned and our mind is attuned to Allah SWT we will taste the beauty of Allah's benevolence, mercy and vision. Therefore, preparation does matter. And is the key to proper Salat. 

May Allah make all of us live a life of a Momin and make us all die a life of a Momin. Ameen Summameen Ya Rabb ul Aalameen.

Khudahafiz O Nasir

The Way to Live.

As Salam Alaikum!

The simpler we live the easier it is to reach the spiritual heights which ensures our life is lived the way it is desired by Allah SWT. Ourbeloved Prophet Mohammed SAWS used to live a life which was devoid of any frills and ostentation and his conduct was above reproach or vile comments or which had the potential of creating trouble for others or that of hurting others. In this regard there are some beautiful lines penned by a Allah loving person about 70-80 years ago. His name was Peer O Murshid Hzt. Syed Abdul Kareem Noor RH, great grandfather of Peer O Murshid Syed Ejaz Miyan Sahab, resident of Kachiguda, Hyderabad. 

Aye dil tu chahta hai bhali zindagi agar

Shikwa kisi ka sun na shikayat kisi ki kar

Achcha agar tu hai to buron ko bura na jaan

Tujhko agar bura kahe to tu hargiz bura na maan

Rahey apni kartabon ki nadamat mein raat din

Kho umar ghair e haq ki chahat mein na raat din

Badley buraiyon key burai sey tu na ley

Pesh aa mudaraton sey dua nek usko dey

Mudarat means and comes from the common term we use "Khatir O Mudarat" i. e. how we entertain and welcome those we love and whoever comes to meet us. 

Now if we try to live a life the way it is expressed above then we will have lesser enemies, lesser issues to trouble our mind, higher satisfaction level and greater chance to perform our prayers with a highly focused mind. 

May Allah make all of us live a life of a Momin and make us all die a life of a Momin. Ameen Summameen Ya Rabb ul Aalameen.

 

Khudahafiz O Nasir.

What Disturbs Ibadat!!!

As Salam Alaikum!!!

All of us desire and intend to do prayers with utmost concentration but find it difficult to really concentrate and do full justice to our prayers or Ibadat. There are many factors which create nuisance in our mind and always have the potential to harm our Ibadat. And so it becomes imperative on us to avoid all those things which have such nuisance value. Because we cannot get the proper concentration unless and until we do Tark e Duniya and do it the way it is meant to be done.

Getting back to the point of discussion or the topic of my article - what are the factors which have the potential of disturbing our Ibadat. Today I will try and discuss only one aspect and which I feel is pretty common and is the one of the factors with most disturbing value. Plus it has the potential to create Fitna, if spread and appears as a rumour,  which again is a highly reprehensible act in the eyes of Allah SWT. 

Many of us are very interested in knowing things which does not have any bearing on our own self - whether good or bad. Suppose there is a conversation among two persons or among a group which is absolutely private in nature but many of us would still want to know what has transpired there? We are interested in knowing the salary of others, about what a person is doing, about what kind of relationship a husband and wife are having or discussing about someone else when it has no bearing on our worldly or spiritual life. 

We forget that if a private affair is private then there is absolutely no point in making it public. How can one - who is not present when a particular conversation has taken place or is unaware of what transpired between 2 persons - understand the true import of the whole conversation. and therefore, how can he or she be in a position to do justice to the whole thing. Neither he/she can add any positive to it or reduce if there is negativity in it. 

And everyone is aware that all of us have many issues which disturb our concentration in remembering Allah (either during Zikr or Salat) so it really does not make any sense that we try to get involved or spending useful time in find out what happened even though that particular incident has no bearing (good or bad) on us. If  we have nothing to gain or lose from a particular information then it is better not to be curious (intentionally or unintentionally) to find out and add more disturbing factors to our already overburdened mind and further disturb our Ibadat. 

Ibadat requires ultimate concentration. It is already difficult to attain that level  and bring the kind of Khushu and Khuzu that is enjoined upon us by Allah without doing Tark-e-Duniya. So why unnecessary add up issues which have the  potential of disturbing our mind and consequently our Ibadat. Ibadat is supreme to everything else. So we should always try to minimize our involvement in the worldly affairs in order to make it easier to do our prayers that much more peacefully and beautifully. 

The best preparation for the life after Tark e Duniya is to practice Uzlat uz Khalq in our Kasabi life. We should try and minimize, as much as possible, our involvement in worldly affairs and keep it to bare minimum and to the point where it is absolutely necessary. That way we will be able to practice the kind of lifestyle which Allah SWT loves and appreciates.  We should avoid Kaifiyat-e-Izterab, Confusion, and develop Qana'at Pasandi, Taqwa, Abstinence and Shukr  in each and every action plus in every situation we come across and not question Allah SWT why He did this or cry about our fate. We should try to have total faith in Allah SWT.

May Allah make all of us live a life of a Momin and make us all die a life of a Momin. 

Ameen Summameen Ya Rabb ul Aalameen.

Khudahafiz O Nasir.

Iqlas-Fid-Deen

What do we need to do to keep fighting evil forces, what should be our reaction to attacks on our faith and spiritual stability? As we all know this monster will keep raising its head every now and then. And this will keep happening till the Doomsday. So what should be our Amal that can keep us on the Sirat-e-Mustaqeem and allow us to die a death befetting a Momin?

Whatever little I have heard from my Murshid, from my elders and whatever I keep reading and gaining through the articles and notes which are printed and published online, I have realised that the answer is in only one word - IQLAS-FID-DEEN i.e. PURITY IN FAITH or better still EXCLUSIVITY IN FAITH; in other words, your practices are exclusively for Allah e.g. when you pray then prayer only for Allah and not for any material gain or even to get Jannat. Pray so that you can have His Deedar.

Our compulsory duty (farz) is to practice our RELIGION only for ALLAH and our each and every action should be in conformity with IQLAS-FID-DEEN. In other words, our every single action has to be measured against it. This is the LITMUS TEST of SPIRITUALITY. We can test and understand each and every action of ours against this. If we pass then we are on the RIGHT track.

Differences do happen because our EGO blinds us to the REALITY as well as to the ALLAH'S CHOSEN PATH. It is very simple to understand -  our chosen RELIGION is Islam, the final BOOK from Allah is the Holy Quran and our main guides are KHATAMAIN AS i.e. Prophet Mohammed SAWS and Khaleefatullah Syed Mohammed Jaunpuri Mahdi Al Maoud AS. It is we who are confused because we deliberately do not want to see and accept the reality. Our Desires, Our Nafs, Our Ego make us believe in things which are disruptive, disrespecting and digressing. Allah's beloved Prophet Mohammed SAWS and Khalifatullah Imamuna Mahdi Maoud AS have clearly explained to us how we should be conducting our lives and what is the MOST PREFERRED WAY then why are we so confused. Why do we have divisions? Why! Why! Why!

The root of all the problems faced by a Momin can be explained by only one thing - LACK of IQLAS in our SPIRITUAL PRACTICES. Our every action, which also includes our IBADAT, is supposed to be based on IQLAS. We are so deeply entrenched in world - most of us have king-size egos, we are deeply enamoured of the worldly life and its comforts and almost everyone has forgotten or is unaware of Hudood-e-Kasab. When our Ibadat lacks Iqlas, when our conduct of day-to-day life lacks Iqlas, when our conduct of our relationships lacks Iqlas, when our overall life lacks Iqlas then deterioration and degradation is bound to occur. When purity of action and intention is not there then how can we expect that more and more persons may not go astray or the problem of Nifaq and re-emergence of Murtids and Munafiqeens may not arise. We cannot just wish it all away. It will keep hurting us where it hurts the most. And we have only ourselves to blame for this sorry state of affairs.

It will be a classic case of running away from the reality if we blame all our problems on the Murtids and Munafiqeens. It is indeed a very easy thing to do. And if we do this and reach this conclusion then it will only reflect our collective cowardice. Its human to blame others than our own self. So before I tell my brothers and sisters, I am trying to follow this principle as best as I can. It is really a tough act to follow if we are not ready to sacrifice our NAFS. And every single moment I fight with my conscience. One's Zameer is always alive and kicking. Its we who try to suppress it and gag it. Once try to let it loose and see the changes you will see inside yourself. Weeding out does hurt but the pain that one endures is only temporary. Imagine our fear of this pain will lead us astray and we have to endure far greater pain of burning in Hell forever and ever. The choice is clear. It has been clear from the time Allah made this KAYNAT. Its we who ignore it.

All of us are comfortable in the thought that we are not going to die the next moment. We still have time to do what Allah has asked us to do. Plus Allah is Most Merciful so he will pardon our indiscretions, transgressions, misdemeanours, mistakes and gross violations of Shariat and Vilayat hudoods. The paradox is: we expect Allah to do what He has promised and we also believe that Allah's Benevolence and Mercy will always score over His Punishment; but how easily we forget our Duties and Responsibilites. Isn't that beautiful? It is this complacency and arrogance that we have to seriously guard against if we do not want ourselves to be counted among the unfaithful.

Let us do INTROSPECTION and see where we actually stand today in our lives. Are we at the Crossroads? Which Path should we take? What Advice should we follow? Who should be our Guide? And this INTROSPECTION needs to be constant and continuous. If we do it then we will avoid making mistakes. Yes I agree, we are not Masoom-anil-Khata but atleast we can try not to follow the Route to Disaster willfully with both our eyes open.

The TIME is NOW. Act NOW to safeguard your AAKHIRAT. Bring IQLAS in everything you do. Our every action should be for and only for ALLAH. Once we follow this simple rule in everything we do or attempt to do or even think of doing then we have taken a very big step forward. Indeed then, and only then, can we truly call ourselves a MAHDAVI.

May Allah make us Live like a MOMIN and make us Die like a MOMIN.

Ameen Summameen Ya Rabb ul Aalameen.