Connection with Allah Ta’ala
Connection with Allah Ta’ala
Author:
Shaikh-ul-Arab Wal-Ajam Arifbillah
Hazrat-e-Aqdas Maulana Shah Hakeem
Muhammad Akhtar Saheb ◵
Dedicated to:
All the writings of this humble servant are in reality due to the combined blessings of the company of our spiritual guides:
- Muhyius-Sunnah Hazrat-e-Aqdas
Maulana Shah Abrarul-Haq Saheb ⊑ࢫ ڬ and
- Hazrat-e-Aqdas Maulana Shah
Abdul Ghani Saheb Phoulpoori ⊑ࢫ ڬ and
- Hazrat-e-Aqdas Maulana Shah
Muhammad Ahmad Saheb ⊑ࢫ ڬ
Muhammad Akhtar
ࢫ ≋
Important Details:
Name of the lecture: Connection with Allah Ta’ala
Lecturer:
Shaikh-ul-Arab Wal-Ajam Arifbillah Hazrat-e-Aqdas
Maulana Shah Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Saheb ◵
(May his shadow remain over us for a hundred and twenty years)
Date: Muharam ul Harram 25, 1401 AH.
Day & Time: (FRIDAY) After Asr Salah till Maghrib
Place: Madrasa Solatia (Makkah tul Mukarrama)
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Connection with Allah Ta’ala
Table of Contents
Degree of Love...................................................................................................5
Love of Worldly Things.......................................................................................5
Allah’s Beloved Ones..........................................................................................6
Attainment of Intense Love for Allah...................................................................7
An Incident of Intense Love.................................................................................8
The Value of Love for Allah Ta'ala.......................................................................9
Diminishing Beauty.............................................................................................10
Deceptive Garden...............................................................................................12
Decomposition of Body into Dust........................................................................13
Ahl-e-Dil.............................................................................................................14
Reality of This World...........................................................................................16
Salvation............................................................................................................17
Holding the Hands of Pious Person......................................................................19
Link with Allah Ta’ala..........................................................................................20
Closeness to Allah Ta’ala.....................................................................................20
The Heart is Allah's House...................................................................................21
Link with the Ahlullah.........................................................................................22
Presence of the Auliya........................................................................................23
Sahib-e-Nisbat....................................................................................................23
Basic requirement of a Sahib-e-Nisbat................................................................23
Wilaayat (the special friendship of Allah Ta’ala)..................................................24
Saddiqiyyat.........................................................................................................25
Auliya-Allah........................................................................................................25
Mureeds.............................................................................................................25
Link with a Wali..................................................................................................26
The Power of Love for Allah Ta’ala .....................................................................29
The Ashiqeen......................................................................................................29
Conversion to Dust.............................................................................................30
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Connection with Allah Ta’ala
Attachment to Allah Ta’ala..................................................................................31
Contentment......................................................................................................33
Downfall.............................................................................................................35
Importance of Suhbat for the Ulama...................................................................36
Tazkiah (Purification of the Nafs)........................................................................38
Reformation and Purification..............................................................................39
Shamsuddeen Tabrezi.........................................................................................40
Formula for Becoming a Waliullah......................................................................41
Linage of Maulana Rumi.....................................................................................42
Amaanat............................................................................................................43
The Transformation of Love................................................................................44
Khaleel...............................................................................................................45
Attainment of Allah through Hardship.................................................................46
Importance of the Company of a Shaikh for an Alim............................................47
Mathnawi Shareef..............................................................................................48
Recognition of Allah Ta’ala..................................................................................50
Condition of the Heart........................................................................................52
A Secret Bond.....................................................................................................52
Imaan and Taqwa...............................................................................................53
The Method of gaining a link with Allah..............................................................54
Connection with Allah.........................................................................................54
Company of the Auliya........................................................................................55
Mujahada...........................................................................................................56
Rights of the Shaikh............................................................................................56
An example of the love of Allah..........................................................................57
The Price of Love................................................................................................59
The Essence of Tasawwuf...................................................................................63
Zikrullah.............................................................................................................64
Prerequisites for the love of Allah.......................................................................64
Conclusion..........................................................................................................66
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Connection with Allah Ta’ala
(Sura Baqara; Ayat 165, Juz 2)
Degree of Love
Respected friends and elders, the essence of the Ayat and Hadith that I have recited before you indicates the amount of love that the servants ought to have for Allah Ta'ala. The Ayat and the Hadith indicate how much of love Allah Ta'ala requires his servants to have for Him, and what degree of love is necessary for the servant to enable him to be totally obedient to Allah.
Undoubtedly, it is permissible for one to have an intense love for the material things of this world, such as one's parents, children, business, wealth, etc. because Allah has described the nature of man in the following words:
“And his love for wealth is indeed intense.”
(Sura Aadiyaat; Ayat 8, Juz 30)
Love of Worldly Things
In the time of Hazrat Umar ࢫ
, the booty from a certain war was brought and
piled in Masjidun Nabawi. On seeing it Hazrat Umar remarked:
5
Connection with Allah Ta’ala
“O Allah! It pleases me to see this booty and I love it,
but let my love for You be greater than all the worldly things!”
The above incident shows that it is permissible for one to have intense love for worldly things or to regard them beloved.
Allah’s Beloved Ones
Rasulullah
referred to us as his beloved ones when he once addressed the
Companions. He asked:
When will I meet my Beloved Ones?
The Companions asked,
Are we not your Beloved Ones?
Rasulullah
said:
۔
You are my Companions, while those who will believe in me after me (after my demise) without having seen me, are my beloved ones and I eagerly await to meet them.
(Kanzul Ummaal; Vol 14, Page 51, 52)
In other words, we are the ones who have brought faith in him without having seen him. May the eternal blessings and salutations of Allah be upon our Beloved Nabi
, who referred to us as his beloved ones and expressed the desire to meet us.
Generally, the term 'beloved' is used when expressing love for the creation and
when we express love for Allah Ta'ala then the term intense love should be used in addition to beloved. In other words, Allah is our Beloved whom we love more than anything else.
If these two factors are absent from our love for Him, then we shall fail to obey Him wholly and totally. Our love for Allah should outweigh our love for our relatives, our 6
Connection with Allah Ta’ala
family, our lives and our hearts. Rasulullah
asked for that love in the following
words:
O Allah Ta'ala! Let me love you more than my life, my family and cold water.
(Tirmidhi Shareef; Vol 2, Page 187)
Just as cold water is extremely beloved to a very thirsty person, let my love for you be more than that. From this we learn what the limits and boundaries of love are, as taught to us by Rasulullah
.
Hazrat Haji Imdaadullah Muhajir Makki ⊑ࢫ ڬ composed some couplets along
the same lines and recited them us he clung to the ghilaaf (cloth) of the Ka'bah: Ɠ ᮃ ᑜ ᙺᒎ ૪
Ɠஒ⚮
ẵ
૪ ཋ
Just as a thirsty person loves (desires) water,
Let my thirst for You O Allah, be greater!
A thirsty person experiences great pleasure and satisfaction when the cold water quenches his thirst and flows down his parched and dry throat. Similarly, the lovers of Allah experience great pleasure when they utter the name of Allah.
Maulana Jalaluddeen Rumi ⊑ࢫ ڬ said in his Mathnawi:
ဲᐉ
ᚩ
ῇᠻጶ∎
When my tongue utters the name of Allah,
Then every hair on my body is turned into an ocean of honey.
Attainment of Intense Love for Allah
So my dear friends, how do we attain that rank where our hearts can be brimming
with intense love for Allah so that we may become totally obedient to Him?
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Connection with Allah Ta’ala
Remember that we can never be totally obedient to Him until we develop intense
love for Him. Why? Because if we love our hearts more than we love Him, then we
will not hesitate in the least to break His commands should we experience any
difficulty to our hearts.
Consider the following example: A beautiful woman passes by. Our heart is inclined to look at her. If we love Allah intensely (more than our heart) then we will
displease our heart and please Allah by not looking at her. If, on the other hand, we love our heart more, then we will go ahead and sin by casting a lustful glance at her, thereby pleasing the heart and at the same time displeasing Allah. Thus in order to stay away from sins, it is necessary that the love of Allah be more than anything else.
An Incident of Intense Love
Maulana Rumi ⊑ࢫ ڬ narrated that Sultan Mahmood once summoned his sixty-
five ministers and ordered them to crush the most valuable gemstone in his
treasury. They all declined on the grounds that they could not bring themselves to destroy the most valuable and celebrated piece of gemstone in the treasury. He
then ordered Ayaaz, his closest vizier, to destroy the same gemstone. Ayaaz obeyed and soon the unique gemstone lay crushed into a thousand fragments. The
ministers on seeing this expressed shock and anger at Ayaaz for breaking the most priceless gemstone. The Sultan also responded:
◵ࢫ
ʮ ᚪᨨ
O Ayaaz, you are indeed audacious and ungrateful! Answer these ministers now and tell them why you broke the gemstone.
Ayaaz turned to the ministers and said:
Ϫ
Ғ
Ὲ
Which is more important,
The royal decree or the gemstone?
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Connection with Allah Ta’ala
From this incident Maulana Rumi ⊑ࢫ ڬ is advising us that if our heart breaks in obeying the command of Allah Ta'ala then let it break. But the order and command of Allah Ta'ala should not break. These desires of lust that lurk in our hearts can be likened to the gemstones that appear very beautiful and pleasing to look at.
Nevertheless, we should boldly crush them and uphold the commands of Allah
Ta'ala Who has ordered us to control our gazes. We should not look at beautiful
women or handsome young lads, regardless of the compulsion that drives us to look at them. In front of the Divine Command of Allah Ta'ala, the heart has no value.
The Value of Love for Allah Ta'ala
My friends, intense love for Allah Ta'ala requires this from us. Hazrat Maulana Shah Abdul Ghani Saheb ⊑ࢫ ڬ mentioned that a Buzurg (a very pious servant of Allah
Ta’ala) once asked: "O Allah what is your price (value)? What should one give in order to attain You?" A voice from the unseen called out: "Give Me both the worlds (this world and the hereafter)." He said:
ࢳ⇘
᨞◤
ᘦᑴ
You have declared Your price to be both the worlds,
Increase the price! For this is indeed an inferior bargain for You!
Concerning this, Khawajah Azizul Hasan Saheb ⊑ࢫ ڬ has a couplet:
ჹ ᖞ ࢳ⇘ ᑊ
Տᠻᆽ ʯẵฐჹ
ᨪ
O People of the world! I have sacrificed both worlds,
Thus, what you are offering me is insignificant in my sight.
Once Hazrat Shah Waliullah Muhaddith Dehlawi ⊑ࢫ ڬ addressed the Mughal
rulers from the pulpit of Delhi's famous Jama Masjid:
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Connection with Allah Ta’ala
ౌ ∧
ጶ આ
༗ ᓥઈ ႍ
O People! Waliullah has a heart in his bosom that is beautified with the pearls of the love of Allah. If there is anyone wealthier than me on the face of the earth, then come forward! When you die you will be beneath the ground, wrapped in a few sheets, while your power and position will be left behind, above the ground. Only then will you realize the reality of this material world.
My couplet concerning the reality of this material world is:
༠
᨞ ┌⚯ ᥠ ᑵ ᨩ
ՌȬᣐʮᑵ ᘳྂᆽ ⓚ
The world appeared to be glamorous,
Its reality dawned upon me only when I went to the grave.
One Buzurg has said:
ຮᑋ᥏ჹ
༠ჹ ຮ◊ ຮ ᆽ
ຮᑋ⎷ ጶᥚ ⚙ጶຮ ᨞
There was the goblet, the cup-bearer, the-wine, and the tavern,
That what I had seen all along was but a dream, What I had heard all along was but a tale.
Diminishing Beauty
In 1976, the Head Mufti of Darul Uloom Deoband, Hazrat Mufti Mahmudul Hasan
Saheb Gangohi ⊑ࢫ ڬ visited us. I informed him that I had just compiled a couplet.
I then went on to explain to him the background of the couplet as follows:
A young man or woman eventually has to reach old age, during which they lose all their teeth and their backs become bent. Their beautiful features simply whither away. Just as Maulana Rumi ⊑ࢫ ڬ has mentioned:
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Connection with Allah Ta’ala
≛ സ ቔߖ
O young people! A sixteen-year-old girl fascinates you with her beauty, spoiling your gaze and spoiling your Imaan.
We admit that her beautiful hair, which fails in locks, emanates a musky fragrance and possesses your mind. Just as Rasulullah
has said:
۔
I have not seen such deficient of intellect and Deen who are more possessing of a man's intellect than women.
(Mishkaat: Kitabul Imaan, Page 13)
Maulana Rumi ⊑ࢫ ڬ further explains:
But when she turns eighty, she wears extremely thick glasses, and hobbles along
supported by a stick. Her back is bent over and she does not have a single tooth left in her mouth. At that time, when you see her, then think over these words of mine:
≛ സ ቔߖ
ଠ
That long hair of hers which emanated musky fragrance, causing your mind to be
possessed, now appears like the tail of an old donkey.
Ponder over Maulana Rumi’s words (May Allah fill his grave with Noor). He
compares the hair of the old lady to that of an old donkey’s tail and not a young donkey, or else someone would have regarded the comparison of a young donkey
as a positive feature.
Through the comparison of an old donkey, Maulana Rumi ⊑ࢫ ڬ has created a
further hatred and aversion in the mind and the heart. These people were true
psychologists! I informed Hazrat Mufti Saheb that all the glamorous things of this world are definitely bound to perish one day. Childhood will be replaced by
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Connection with Allah Ta’ala
adolescence. Adolescence will be replaced by old age, and old age will be replaced by death.
The rising and setting of the sun steals away our beauty, causing our hair to turn white, and our teeth to fall out. Our cheeks become wrinkled and sunken. Had it not been for this rising and setting of the sun, nothing would have snatched our beauty away.
It is only in Jannah that we will retain our beauty and youth, never to be taken over by old age, because in Jannah there will be no rising and setting of the sun. In Jannah there are no days, dates, weeks, months or years. There will therefore be no change or deterioration in Jannah. After explaining this background of the couplet, I proceeded to tell him my poem, which follows:
Ɠ ᥑᨪ͛
‹ᙢᨪ
⚮
⚮ ᶰƓՏ ভ
Inform the nightingale that garden will, One day become a desert,
So that it may ponder over his life, and then render sacrifice.
The nightingale must not out of stupidity waste its life amidst the beautiful flowers of the garden. These flowers will one day definitely whither away. Likewise only at the time of death will the realization dawn that this world (this flower) was but a place of temporary pleasures. The time for the reckoning before Allah Ta'ala has finally arrived. Mufti Saheb enjoyed this couplet very much.
Deceptive Garden
The following poem was published in the al-Haq magazine that is printed in Akhora Khattak:
ẵ
Ʀᨪ “
ẵᙢጶ
ẵ Ɠ ࡻᑋ ᙴ
͚
O Morning Breeze! When passing through the garden, inform the nightingale,
Do not attach your heart to the spring, for the days of autumn are yet to come!
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Connection with Allah Ta’ala
Hazrat Khawajah Azizul Hasan Saheb Majzoob ⊑ࢫ ڬ who was the deputy tax
collector of Lucknow and also the khalifa of Hazrat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi ڬ
⊑ࢫ on seeing the streets decorated with flags and trimmings in honor of the arrival of the viceroy said to Hazrat Maulana Abdul Ghani Saheb ⊑ࢫ ڬ , Hazrat! A couplet has just formed in my mind:
ᆽᑋʮᓥઈ স
ᙺ
ጶᙺ
ᨪ
O Heart! Do not go towards the glitter and glamour of time,
This is merely an autumn that has come in the form of a spring.
This world is a deceptive garden. If we spend our youth, our bodies, which are
actually dust, in the obedience of Allah Ta'ala and Rasulullah
then this dust of
ours shall become valuable and have the added honor of being in the company of
Allah Ta’ala and Rasulullah
on the Day of Judgment.
Decomposition of Body into Dust
If this body, which is made from dust, is solely for eating, drinking, urinating and defecating then we have in actual fact sacrificed dust on dust, Why? Well, if we were to ponder a little, then we shall realize these shaami kababs (roasted
meatballs), roasted chicken, foodstuff, etc. are all dust.
If these things are buried in the ground and uncovered a little while later, we find that they have turned to dust. Likewise, these beautiful women and these luxurious homes are all dust. If we have sacrificed our lives and our bodies made of dust over these blessings and ignored the Bestower of these blessings, then we have done
nothing except sacrificed dust over dust. Our bodies of dust have been sacrificed over these worldly objects of dust.
If on the other hand, we have pleased Allah Ta'ala and Rasulullah
, and we have
fulfilled the rights of our families, and our own rights as well, and we have earned our livelihood according to the commands of Allah Ta'ala, not displeasing Him in any way, then on the Day of Judgment, our bodies which are made of dust will find a
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Connection with Allah Ta’ala
positive affinity with Allah and his Rasul
, thus making our bodies valuable.
Therefore, do not sacrifice this dust (body) on dust (worldly, perishable things), but rather sacrifice it on the Creator of the heavens, I have compiled a verse in this regard:
Ɠᑴ͛ ভ ᥏⚮ সʮ᥏⛨
Ɠᑴ ጶ ᓥሱ
⎳⚮ᑴ ጶ
Do not waste your life on any object of dust,
Sacrifice your life upon Him who Bestowed upon you your youthfulness.
ᙺᓦ স ও ᓥ ᙺᓦ ⚮↺ʯᨪ
ᙺ ዏ
ᙺᓦ ◵ ᢉ ጶ
O what oppression are you committing by dying over those who themselves will die!
He who is obsessed with the beautiful women of this world, Is oblivious of the higher pleasures.
Hazrat Khawajah Saheb ⊑ࢫ ڬ says: Do not devote your heart to these bodies
which will one day perish and decompose. He who has granted you youth, could
have, if He so willed, snatched it away from you during childhood. Give your heart to Him only, who truly deserves it, Who has placed that heart in your bosom.
Ahl-e-Dil
When this servant presented his Ma'arif-e-Mathnawi to Hazrat Maulana Yusuf
Binauri Saheb ⊑ࢫ ڬ , he opened the book and his gaze fell upon one of the verses which I had compiled.
The essence of the couplet was: Why are the Ahl-e-Dil (people of the heart) referred to as Ahl-e-Dil, whereas in actual fact everyone has a heart, be he Muslim or Kaafir?
In fact, even dogs and cats have hearts. Then why are only the Buzurgs (poised elders) referred to as Ahl-e-Dil? In reply to this question composed a Persian couplet:
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Connection with Allah Ta’ala
ᕄ
ᣆ ፖ ᖗ
ᕄ ဲ
ᕄ
The Ahl-e-Dil are those who give and devote their hearts to Allah, who placed the heart in their little bosoms while they were still in the womb of their mothers. They have paid the price for that heart. Allah Ta'ala is very valuable and by devoting their hearts to Him they have made their hearts valuable. They are therefore referred to as Ahi-e-Dil.
Maulana Saheb became ecstatic at reading this couplet and complimented me with
some Arabic words that I shall repeat here for the sake of barakah, though I do not consider myself worthy of these compliments. The noble thoughts and words of the pious people are a source of blessing, honor and a good omen. He said:
I do not perceive any difference between your words and those of Maulana Rumi.
He even wrote a remarkable foreword for the book. May Allah Ta’ala make me as the Auliya have considered me to be, whereas I feel ashamed to even repeat their words h