Furu Ul Iman the Branches Of Iman By Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi

7/27/2019 Furu Ul Iman the Branches Of Iman By Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi

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FURU-UL IMRN( The Branches of [man )Moulana Rshraf R l i Thonvi (R.R.)(Urdu : arough-ul Irnon)


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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTIONCHAPTER 1.

Thirty branches of Iman are related to QalbSection-1

Unity Or Oneness of Existence of AllahTypes of ShirkAscertainment About Taqdeer

Section- 11Love With Allah And His Messenger MoreThan Every Other ThmgLove Should Be Only For AllahReverence And Obedience of Rasulullah (SAW)IkhlasTo leave(Riya) Hypocrisy And Nifaq


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To Leave Backb iting And M aliceTo Leave JealousyTo Leave AngerRemedy of AngerTo Leave EnmityTo Leave Duniya(Wor1d)Shukr

ZHAPTERnSection-ITilawah Of Quran Majeed

Dua (Supplication)Z i l l a hIstigafarCHAPTERm

Taharah And All kinds of CleanlinessSalahSadqaRozah (Saum)Hajj And UmrahAetikafHijrahQurbaniFuneral CeremoniesPayments of DebtsChartity With NikahService of ParentsTraining of ChddrenMediation For Mutual PeaceIqaarnat-e-Hadood

from the above cited Ayat of Qur'an, a generalis drawn that Iman has some Usul (basic princi-ples) and some Cfarough) branches and in the above mentionedHadith there number has also been fixed, some over seventy. Inorder to sp eciQ them and describe them in detail, they have beenclassified into three groups:-(i) Inferior(ii) Medium and(iii) Superior,so that research scholars (of Islam ) Ulema-e-Mustambiteenand Mustakhrijeen could derive the remaining groups by theirAllah given capability and tell the same to others. Ulema likeMuhadditheen and M uhaqiqueen have assembled these all


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Bruncnes of Zman 3.have written many books on this topic. May Allah give them 1better reward.

For quite some time I wanted to write these all branches ofw a n in easy urdu language for the information of Muslimbrothers of this country so that they will come to know that theIman, which they are claiming, has so many branches and will tryto think that out of these, how many things they are not having, sothat they can assess the inadequacy or perfection in their Imanand will also try to achieve those things which they find lackingin their Iman and will also feel asham ed of claiming to have per-fect Iman unless they achieve all these things. Thoug h one getsinferior degree of Iman by only believing in the basic principlesof Deen but that Iman is as good as a lame, b lind, deaf, dumb anddisabled person is called a man, every one know s that, of whatuse is such a person.

Second intention in narrating these branches of Iman is totell the non-Muslims that th e teachings o f Islam are complete andperfect and Islam recognises only that person as perfect who hasall these qualities of Iman. On seeing these imperfect Muslim s,non-Muslims should not think that the teachings of Islam areinadequate and useless, since the purpose of Islam is to tell (thetruth) not to make somebody forcibly Muslim . This is our faultand not the fault of Islam.Brothers: be ready to listen the branches of Iman, and keepyour courage strong so that you get all these things in order tobecome a p erfect Mumin.There are seventy-seven branches of Iman, of which thirty arerelated to Qalb, seven are related to tongu e and other forty arerelated to other parts of the body. We will discuss these threetypes in three chapters.

G h a p fer----]I:Thirty branches of Iman are related to QalbTo believe in A llah.To believe that everything other than Allah is crea ted andMakhlooq.To believe in Angels.To believe in all His books.To believe in all H is Prophets.To believe in Taqdeer (predestination).To believe in the day of judgment (Al-Qiyamah).To believe in Jannat.To believe in Jahannam.To love Allah.To love somebody because of Allah and to hate somebod)because of Allah.To love Prophet Muhamm ad (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam).Ikhlas (Sincerity)Toaba (Repentance)Khouf (Fear)Rija (Hope)Haya (Modesty)Shukr (Gratitude, Thank s giving)To fulfill1 the prom ise.Sabv (Patience)Tawadhu (Humility)Kindness to mankind.To be happy w ith (Qadha-Ilahi) predestination.To make Tawakkul (Trust in Allah).To leave Ujub (self-conceit, vanity)To leave Keena (hatred).To leave Hassad (Jealousy).


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Branches of Iman c

29. To leave evil-wishing30. To leave love of the world.

Now we will mention the excellence (Fadeelat) and somedescription of each of the above mentioned things in brief in dif-ferent sections.S e c t i o n - - XRasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasa llam) said,

"Iman means to believe in Allah, His all angels,His allProphets, His all books, the day of judgment (Aakhirc h),and Taq deer (predestination) and that all virtues and evils(are under His divine power).

(Bukhari and M uslim)To believe also in Jannat , Jahannum and revival afterdeath have been, mentioned in a Hadith narrated in Muslim-

Shareef (A famous book of Ahadith) , in addition to the abovethings.

In another Hadith quoted in Tirmizi (Another famous bookof Ahadith) it is narrated that:None can become a Mumin (one who has Iman) until h ebelieves in Taqdeer in such a way that he believes withoutslightest doubt that whatever has to com e, can never beavoided and whatever has not happened, would have neverhappened.

For having faith (Iman) in Allah, it is necessary to believein His essence, His attributes and in His oneness i.e., to believethat He is one and only one./

Admonition No.1It should be know n that as Allah Ta'ala is unique and unparalleledin His essence, so is He unparalleled and unique in His attributes.Therefore, it is very dangerous to talk about His attributes byusing imagination and specify their different states and causations.In this regard the Aqaids (beliefs) of majority o f common M US-lims are safe as they believe in the Sifaat (attributes) of Allah Ta'alain general and do not bother to go in their finer details. Suhaba-Al-Kirnm and Say-i-Saaliheen also used to believe in the sameway. Later on, when innovators [(Ahle-Bid'at) those who incor-porated new things in Islam, which were not in Islam] in-creased in number, Scholastic philosophy (Ilm-e-Kalam) cameinto being. At this stage people talked more about the attributes ofAllah which in turn led to carelessness in the law suits and otherAhkaam of Shari 'ah.For instance, Allah Ta'ala says in Qur'an:

"The most Gracious is firmly established on th e throne. "Now to try to make inquiries about the word "Istawa", what

is meant by it? and what are its different interpretations? Isreally a job o f great courage when on e does not know the realityof one's own attributes, how can he know the attributes of theCreator (of all worlds).

One should, simply believe that whatever has been said [byAllah and His messenger, R asulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam )]is the absolute reality and that His "Istawa" will be like Hisessence, His existence (As His existence, essence is unique andunparalleled and impossib le to appreciate in this world, as is Hisessence unique, so is His "Istawa " also unique, unparalleled and


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Branches of Iman 7,impossible to appreciate as it is). What is the need to make inauir-ies about i t when it is neither our entrusted duty nor will we beasked about it . Of course, one should certainly believe that His"lstawa"will not be like o ur "Istawa ", as Allah Ta'ala says:

"There is nothing whatever like Him "Now Question rem ains that how is this 'Ystawa ",one shouldnot argue about it. It should be left to Allah.

Similarly, In a Hadith it is narrated:&dlL.JI UJJ.S- w 3A ~ QJ~3

"Our cherislzer (Allah Ta 'ala) descends towards the sky,which is immediately above the world, every night.Now one will start thinking what is meant by this descent

INnzool) (as Allah Ta'ala is everywhere)' how does it take place?The purpose of Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) in inform-ing the Ummat about this is first to make the people to getengaged in thikr and Ibadaat of Allah Ta'ala with eagerness,fervour and presence of mind durin g this time. One should try to Ido the same du ring this time (in which Allah Ta'ala makes adescent towards the Asman-e-Duniya), otherwise one will wastehis whole life and will never be able to know the reality of thesethings. ,J&p1 J L . 2No one knows this reality.

Everyone is dying without knowing it.

Allah Ta'ala says:

"But those in whose hearts is perversity follow the partthereof that is not entirely clear, seeking discord andsearching for its interpretation ". (3:7)

Admonition No.2Two meanings of oneness of Allah or monotheism (Tawheed)have been proved from the legislator of law of Shari'ah i.e.,Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi W asallam)

1 . No one is worth wor'shipping except Allah.

2. No one is the purpose (of worship) except Allah .First meaning is quite clear.Allah Ta'ala says in Qur'an:

"0my companions of the prison! (I ask you): Are manylords differing among themselves better, or Allah, the One,Supreme and Irresistible?


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Branches of Zman 9.

"What ever ye worship apart from Him is nothing butnames which ye have named-ye and your fathers-forwhich Allah hath sent down No authority: the Commandis or none but Allah: He hath commanded that ye wor-ship none but Him: that is the right religion, but Mostmen understand not..

(12:40)Ailah Ta'ala says:

"And they have been commanded no more than this:to worship Allah, offering Him sincere devotion, beingTrue (in aith); to establish regular Prayer; and to prac-tice regular Charity; and that is the Religion Right andStraight. "

(98:s)Holy Qur'an is full of such verses and this is the Tawheed,by its deficiency or loss one becom es KaJir or Mush rik (polythe-ist) and has to stay in hell forever. This is never forgiven .

Allah Ta'ala says:

"Allah forgiveth not (the sin ofl joining other gods withHim: but He forgiveth whom He pleaseth other sins thanthis: one who joins other gods with Allah, hath strayedfar, far away Cfrnm the right)."

(4:116)The proof of the second mean ing is like this that Rasulullah

(Salallahu Alaihi W asallant) described hypocrisy (Riya) as Shirk-e-Asgha r (Infidelity of smaller degree). It is obvious that in hy-pocrisy things other than Allah are not being worsh ipped butthey are the purpose of the worship.(For example a person is not offering Salaat regularly but

when he sees someb ody else, he starts offering Sa laa t just toimpress him that he is regularly offering Sala at. This is hypoc-risy-In this situation though he worships Allah in Salaat but hisintention is not to please Allah but somebody else). When any-thing else other than Allah is made the purpose of worship, it iscalled Shirk, then Tawheed which is the opposite of Shirk, willmean that the worship sho uld be done solely fo r the sake of Allah(only to please Allah ) and there should not be slightest intentionto please anybody else by one's worsh ip. This is the meaning of

1 , .,L'~A..+**L~"No one is the purpose of worship except Allah".


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Branches of Iman 11.

Now we quote that Hadith in which Hypocrisy has beenlabelled as Shirk.It is narrated from M ehmood -Bin-Lubaid (RA) thatRasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:"Most dangerous thing, of which I am afraid about you, isShirk-e-Asghar (smaller d egree of Infidelity or polythe-ism). People asked a s t o what was Shirk-e-Asghar.

Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:"Hypocrisy (Riya) is the Shirk-e-Asghar. "

(It has been narrated by Ahmad).I

There are so many other Ahadith in this regard, quoted inTa feer Mazhari at the end of commentry of Sura-KahaJ:We arenot quoting them here.

Ikhlas (Sincerity) is lost if this second meaning o f Tawheed( 3 I , ~ / U ) is not achieved, on thebasis of which (i.e., not having Ikhlas) one will deserve punish-ment but will not stay in Hell eternally.

In nutshell, we can say that Tawheed means that we shouldnot only worship Allah but the purpose of our worship should alsobe only to please Allah . If we have the first thing and not thesecond, we are liable to be punished in A akhirah.

UNITY OR ONENESS OFEXISTENCE OF flLlflH[WAHDAT-UL-WUJUD]

In this terminology o f sofi sect, there is third meaning of Tawheedas well.

PI.1 r s y Y"No one is existing excep t Allah."

This is called unity of existence (Wahdat-ul- Wujud). ToI prove this meaning from Qur'an and Hadith is useless andwastage of time. It is sufficient to describe this in such a way thatit does not contradict Qur'an and Hadith. This has become a prob-lem these days. Since the issue is very delicate and the basis ofits proof is only on Zoaq (spiritual taste) and Kashf (divine mani-

festation), so it is very difficult to get the proper words to expressthis thing and secondly whatever little or mor e interpretation ispossible, it needs spiritual taste or Zoaq, congeniality with divineI manifestation or Kashf and great depth in religious know ledge sothat one can understand it.

These days one gets extremely pained to see the most of theso called claimants of Wahdat-ul-Wujud o f today, They haveneither know ledge nor the spiritual fervour. Their job is justvainful talk of pseudom ystics without bothering to u nderstandthat these heretic and atheistic words which they are talkingabout will deprive one of his Iman. Neither they understand thatother people who will follow them blindly will also start c laiming the same, and will lose their Imaan, whatever, little they willbe having, they will stop offering Salaat and observing fasts,

I thinking that they have become god, then what for Salaat an dSaum-Allah forbid.tI Unity of existence of Allah (Wah dat-ul-Wujud )never meantI this, in fact it is a state understood b y only thos e who experienceit. It should neither be uttered purposely by tongue nor can otherpeople understand it.


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Branches of l m a n 7 zA d .

When this ecstasy dominates a p erson, his condition states: 'Accommodated as you are in my eyesWherever I see, there only you and you.

Sometimes this state remains permanent and sometimes itvanishes, Insha Allah at some other time, we will discuss thisissue in some detail,. here I stop with this sincere advice that forAllah's sake have mercy at your own life and at the Umm at-e-Muslima and do not indulge in excessive exaggerations about thisissue.

To be very safe one should not believe it with certaintyeven after Kashf because there always remains a chance to err s ofar as the Kashf is concerned. On e should remain busy with thatthing which is needed and that is servitude. One sh ould forget alltalks with no substance.

Go on workingForget talking!Deeds not strength ma tters in mystic way

Strength does not com e without deeds!

TYPES OF SHIRK(Infidelity-Polytheism)Shirk is of two types:1 . Shirk-fi-Aqueeda (Shirk as regards beliefs)2 . Shirk--1-Amal (Shirk as regards deeds)Shirk-fil-Aqueeda (Shirk in beliefs):-To think that any-thing other than Allah deserves worship. This is the Shirk.

AllahTa'ala says about it in the Qur'an.

Allah forgiveth not (the sin ofjoining otherg ods with Him;)but He forgiveth whom H eplea seth other sins than this.(4 :86)

Shirk-fil-Amal (Shirk in deeds):- To deal with other thingsI in the same way as one should deal with Allah. Most of the peo-

ple particularly women are involved in this kind of Shirk. For ex-I ample to take oath on the name of anything else other than Allah,to acknowledge the favour (Minnat) of somebody else other

I than Allah, to think that some thing is effective by itself (i.e., theeffect produced by this thing is its own), to prostrate or to makesajda infront of som ebody in h is honour (Sajda-Ta iem a), to makecircumabulation (Tawwaj around anything or som e grave think-ing that this will cause him to be near (and dear) to the person who

I is buried in that grave, to tell somebody that Allah is above andbelow are you. There are thousands of such examples. They aregrave sins. It is obligatory for every Muslim to see an end to allthese things in his hom e.Allah Ta'ala says in the Qur'an:

I "0 hose who believe protect yourself and your familyfro111 fire (of He ll)".TO LABEL ANGELS AS MALES OR FEMALES: SinceQus'an and Hndith has not specified any sex for Angels, whetherthey are male or female, so one should neither condsider them as


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Branches of Iman .13.males nor as females and leave it to the knowledge of Allah. The

- . -same thlng is meant by following statem ent of scholastic scholars(Ahle-Kalam)

"They are not attributed with male o r female characteris-tics- Thus understand".NOT TO FIX THE NUMBER OF PROPHETS ANDBOOKS: Since the exact number of P rophets is not moved hv

I - - - - -Jany argument (from Qur'an and Hadith), therefore, a Muslimshould not believe in a fixed number, may be number is fixed up,may be less or more. S ame way you should not fix up the numberof divine books (which have been revealed by Allah to His Proph-ets), their number is also not definitely mentioned.N.B. :-In believing in Aa khirah, follow ing things are automati-cally included in this beliefiI. To believe in rewards and punishments in grave.11. To believe in resurrection and resuscitation.111. To believe in Pul-i-Sirat, a narrow bridge over the Hellproviding the only way to Jannat.IV. To believe in Haudh-Al-Kauthar.V To believe in weighing o f deeds and all other such thingsmentioned in Qur'an and Ahadith about Qiyamah

ASCJI~'AINI1INT BOUT TAUDB1IllThe fact that the man definitely has some authority, power oroption is unquestionable. It is because of this that the man feelsvery sony, naturally or by constraint, on doing some odd job, oth-erwise his heart does not feel satisfied. A person hav ing a tremor (aphysical ailment) does not feel sorry or ashamed on his tremors,

Funi ' Al-lmin 16 .and does not apologise to others for his tremors, from this it is-very much clear that the existence of authority or option (of man)is self evident truth but at the same time it is also clear that thisattribute of his authority is created (Makhlooq) and every chain ofall created things reaches to their Creator. Therefore, the author-ity of man will be compulsorily in the authority of some otherthing and thus proves the state of powerlessness or helplessness

, or authoritylessness. So a man is neither completely helpless noris he completely empowered or authorised having free will.This is the summary of the issue of Taqdeer. There is no

difficulty in un derstanding this much and we have also beenordered to know this much on ly about Taqdeer. M ore details thanthis were neither understandable for us nor have we been o rdainedto understand them. On the contrary we have been forbidden tomake inquiries about the more details of this issue of Taqdeer,because great deal of knowledge both bookish as well as inspiredincluding the fervour of divine manifestations or Kashf, isneeded to understand this issue. Even after having these things,we still remain doubtful many a times. The answer to the ques-tions which usually arise in the minds of people about this issueare given in a booklet named Jaza-ul-A mal at its end. They shouldbe seen.

Shaikhain have narrated from H adhrat Anas (RA) that Rasulullah(Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:"Three things are such, which $found in somebody, he willtaste the sweetness of lma n viz:Allah and His Messenger are dearest to him.He loves anybody or the sake of Allah and he hates any-body for the sake of Allah.


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Branchesof man 7 7a .

And Abu Dawood and Tinnizi narrated that to love for Allahand to hate for Allah is from Im an.

I,OV11 WITH ALIAII ANID HISll\q%ltlrOTNIZIt 'I'HIN4;.Perhaps someon e may get surprised as to how is it possible tohave the love of Allah and His Rasul (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam)more than every other thing and even if it is possible then onlythree four persons in the world mus t be having it, which in turnmeans that whole world is without Imaan. Research scholars (ofIslam) have answered this question differently, but I say that thiswealth (of this grade of Iman) is in the possession of every muslim,even those having low est grade of Iman. Test for it is that if the son

or wife etc.,of a person [ a person usually loves most (app arently)his son, wife etc.,] abuses Allah or His Messenger (SalallahuAlaihi Wasallam) in his presence, he will never tolerate it and w illtry to take revenge from them with whatever means available tohim. If this person was not having love with Allah and His Mes-senger (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) of such grade then from wherewas this effervescence generated and how that love of his beloved(son, wife etc) got weakened or subdued. Thus it became clearthat love of Allah and His Messenger (Salallahu Alaihi W as ~l la m)of such grade is found in every muslim. T hanks to Alm ighty Allahfor the sam e.Then question remains that why does disobedience of Al-lah then take place. Its reason i s that this love of Allah is settled atthe core of heart and it does not remain always present in mind(goes out of mind though being present in heart). When some stimu-lus comes, its light (Nur) spreads from top to toe. After the stumulusis gone it again remains hidden inside.

Love for Allah means that there should be no worldly motive orinterest and according to Ahle-Zoaq there should not even be themotive of reward (Thawab) .Don't b e surprised at this as well.You can understand it throug h routine dealings, you take a gift toyour teacher or your Shaikh, that time your aim is neither anyworldly thing nor any reward but just to please these people. Ac-cording to me love for Allah with this meaning is existing (inpeople) in plenty, there is nothin g surprising in it.

RB\T1111BNC13 flN1D O1lI1IDIl3NCI1 OFlUISIJIAULIAH(SAIAIAI~lHIJAIAII1I \\TASflIAI~lllI)Love of Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) also includes fol-lowing things viz.,1. To believe in the reverence of Rasulullah (Salallahu AlaihiWasallam).2. To send Durood Sharief to Rasulullah (Salallahu AlaihiWasallam).3. To follow path of Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam).Allah Ta'ala say s:

"O'ye who believe! Raise not your voices above the voiceof the Prophet, nor speak aloud to him in talk".


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Branches of Iman 7 0In this there is a lesson for reverence. Resea rch scholars

said that the sam e respect is to be given to the saying s ofRasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam ) called Hadith i.e., whenHadith are being narrated one sho uld keep his voice low.Allah Ta'ala says:

. L&d"And Allah Ta 'ala sends blessings on the Prophet! Ohye that believe! Send ye blessings on him and salute withrespect".

(3356)And Allah Ta'ala says:

"Whatever (Allah's) Messenger gives you, take that andwhatever he forbids you, leave that. "

(5 9 : )In this Ayat there is comm andmen t for th e o bedience o f

Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam). Further Rasulullah~Salallahu laihi Wasallam) said in a Hadith:"Never can any of you a ttain perfect Iman u ntil your pas-

sions become obedient to my order. ,,(Narrated by Asfahani in Targeeb and Tarheeb)

And Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam ) said:"Hold on f i rmly t o my pa th and the pa th o f Khu l fa i-

FuIG' Al-I'm5n 20.Raashideen w ith your teeth and keep your self aw ay fromevery innovation (B id'at) and every innovation is mislead-ing " (Tirmizi)

X x K X x ~ S(Sincerity in worship)Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam ) said:

"Thre e things are such that muslim's heart ,never hesi-tates in accepting them viz.,1. Making o f the deeds pure, unadulterated.2. Obedience of the rulers.3. Clinging to organisation (of muslims i.e., Jama 'at)(Ahmad)'I'O lAI%fl\T1%RIYfl) IIYI~OCHISYAND NIF1lO

Ibn Majah has narrated from H adhrat Shadad-bin-Oas that Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:"The thing which I fear most about my U mmat is to con-sider partner to Allah".

Remember that I don't say that they will worship either sunor moon or some idol but they will be doing some (good) deedsfor the sake of Ghair-Ullah (Some other than Allah) and forhidden lusts of Nafs." In this Hadith th e Tafseer of Shirk has beendone by the word H ypocrisy (Riya).N.B: The fact that hypocrisy is Shirk has been described in thesection on Tawheed. It should be seen there. Nifaq means to ex-press Islam by tongue when Ku fr is hidden in the heart.


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Branches of Iman 21.KINDS OF NIFflQ.Nifaq is of two kind s:Nifaq as regard s the belief (Nifaq-i-Aetiqadi).Its defini-tion has been mentioned abo ve (To express Islam by tongue whenthe Kuf? is hidden in he art).It is about this kind of Nifaq that following threat (Va-eed)has come.

"Indeed the Munaf ig (Hypocrite ) wi ll be in the lo~ves tdepths o f f r e ( 0 H ell) . "

Second kind of Nifaq:Nifaq-e-Amali: It me ans that the beliefs are correct like thatof a (true) muslim but so me deed s are performed which resemblethe deeds of hypocrite (Munafiqs). As is narrated in Hadith fromHadhrat Abdullah bin U r n RA) that Rasulullah (Salallahu AlaihiWasallam) said:

"There are ou r qualities, the person in whom all the fourwill be found is a complete munafiq and in whom one ofthese qualities will be ou nd , this will be his one quality ofN fa q until he leaves that qualiiy. "These our qualities are:

I . When something is entrusted t o him h e breaches the trust.2. Whenever he talks, tells a lie.3. Wh enev er he makes a promise, he does not fulfrN it.

Furil' .41-Im5n 22.4. When ever he quarrels, he starts us ing foul languag e andabuses. (B uk har i& Musl im)

In this Hadith, Nifaq means this second kind of Nifaq-e-Amali is meant. As, when some person fiom a noble andhonorable family does the uncivilised deeds (much) below hisdignity and status) he is called a scavenger i.e., he does the deedslike those of a scavenger

'l'0 lAEA\l%SIII IBEEIBS INJE 'l'0 'SIIE 1'EAlt01' RI\TA (IIYI'OCRISY)

The catastrophies of Riya are great.One shou ld exert much tosave one's self from these calamities. But this should be remem-bered that this is also one o f the ways of shaitan kidnapping andmaking one to leave the good deeds (Aamal-e-Saliha) by puttingan apprehension (waswasa) in his mind that he should not do a

1 (particular) deed otherwise he will com mit the (sin of) Riya. AtI this time one should reply the shaitan (while taking the note ofE[ this apprehension w hich shaitan has put in his mind) that theI Riya takes place only when our aim is to show our deeds toMakhlooq so that they becom e pleased and when w e enjoy thisidea (that p eople are seeing our good deeds and they are be-coming pleased with us). O n the contrary, our con dition is such1 that we consider this thing bad an d wan t to get rid of it (whether

it goes or not), then how is it Riya. After saying this one shouldengage oneself with good deeds (Aamal-e-Saliha), one should notcare even least about these apprehe nsions and evil suggebtions(of shaitan). You will experience these apprehension s few timeshut then shaitan will get tired and w ill run away shamefully.Hadhrat Peer-wa-Murshid, Qibla wa Ka'ba of devoted

9 Maulana Alhaj Alhaafiz Imdad-Ullah used to say:"Riya does not remain always Riya, firstly it is Riya, then


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< - - - - 23.it becomes a habit, and from habit it becomes Ibaadat andIkhlas. "It m eans that we should not bother about the Riya whichgets committed without any purpose and should not leave theAamal-e-Saliha because of this.

(REPENTANCE)Allah Ta'ala says:

"And have recourse towards Allah, all, Oh ye believers sothat you may get prosperify. '"

Many Ahaadith have been narrated regarding this topic.Method of RepentanceOne saint has defined repentan ce in very concise words:

r'Developmentof burning sensation in heart on committingn sin. "

The saying of Hadhrat ibn-Maso od (RA)

"To regret (byh e a q is the (Toaba) repentance"supports the above mentioned definition.There are so many Aadaab (etiquettes or rules) o f Toaba.

F u r t~ ' l - 1 n 1 9 n 24.Rrieflv und erstand that whe n a fault is co mm itted ab out som egreat man, then how one apologises to him, folding hands drop-ping cap on his feet, using all sorts of words of praise and inakinga weeping facial pose i.e., one apologises with different methods.Similarlv. w hen one is apologising in fiont of Allah, then at least---- 4 ,one should do the same things, such, a Toaba, as per the promiseof Allah, is definitely accepted by Allah.

I iIIOAl'(FEAR)

Asfahani has narrated in Targeeb from Hadhrat Ma'az (RA) that:" The heart of a Mumin (believer) does not remain earless(of Allah) and his fear does not get tran quility by anymeans.

The method of developingfear (Khoaf)Its method is that one should alwa ys think that Allah Ta'ala isalways knowing his every word or deed (external as well asinternal) and He will call me to account.Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:

" The excellence of a bondsman (of Allah) regarding hisIman is that he should be lieve irmly that Allah is with him9,wherever he is. (Bahiqi,Tabrani)


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(HOPE)Allah Ta'ala says:

"Truly no one despairs of Allah's soothing Mercy ex ceptthose who have n o faith."(12:87)From this it is understood that to keep hope is the part ofIman.

Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:"To have good impression (Husn-e-zun) about Allah is romHusne-Ibadaat. "

(Abu-Dawood, Tirmizi)N i ce m e t h o d of k e e p i n g H u s n - e - Z oa n (goods m p r e s s i o n )a b o u t Allah:-You should remember that method ofkeepingHusne-Zoan (good impression) and hope is to be His obedient fully. It isnatural phenomenon that all hopes remain pinned on him, the onewho is being followed and by whose disobedience one usually feelsfear in heart and becom es a little hopeless. To keep hop e after Toabameans that one should believe f irm la after keeping in view Hisvast mercy, that my plea will definitely accepted.

It seems that the legislator of Shari 'ah,Rasulullah (SalallahuAlaihi Wasallam) meant two things by 'Rija" hope)1. Reformation o f deeds.2. Repentance.

- - .U . X I l , , l ' L ' ,

These days majority of people w hile remaining busy in sins-oldddayitqT & b a s p u t ~ ~ a dhe sm e ex- o f ~ u s n e - ~ o a nand Rija (good opinion abou t Allah and good hope). These peoplehave done completely opposite to the purpose of Rasulullah

(Salallahu Alaihi W asallam ). May A llah give them proper sense.On the contrary, one should feel more humility and shame keep-ing in view the vastness of Mercy of Allah Ta'ala, Allahu Akbar.bd&Lptl

"From here are sins constant""From there is k indness constant"When the sham e or humility will become dom inant, one will

never dare for disobedience.

DIO1)ES'I'Y(HAYA)

Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:"Modesty is a branch of Iman. " (Bukhari & Muslim)

Method of achieving Modesty (Haya)Haya is a wonderful thing. If there is Haya from creatures (Makh-looq) no such dee d will be there which is not liked by the creatures(Makhlooq) and if there is Haya from Creator (Khaliq) then onewill keep one's self away from such deeds which are not liked bythe Creator. To have Haya of the Makhlooq is a natural phenom-enon but one has to know the method of achieving Haya of theCreator. Method of achieving the Haya is as follows: One shouldfix up a time o f loneliness (Khalwat) while sitting in the solitude,


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one should start remembering one's disobediences and the boun-ties of Allah, In a few days the state of Haya will develop in theheart automatically and one will achieve a great field.

(SHUKR)Shukr is of two kinds:1. To be gratehl of the Creator (Allah) who is the true benefac-

tor. Allah Ta,ala says:

"Be grateful to Me and reject not faith."2. Second kind of Shukr is to be grateful to the creatures(Makhlooq) who are the medium or intermediary of divineblessings.Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam ) said:

"One who is not grateful to people is not grateful to Allah. "Abu Dawood has narrated a Hadith that the person who has

got a thing should pay in return, if he cannot pay in return, then heshould at least praise the person who has given him that thing. Thus,one who says some praiseworthy words, he has shown the grate-fulness and who has hid the praise (for that person) he has shownungratefulness.

THE TRUE VflWE OF BLESSINGS (NI'Mm)The reality of the gratitude is to appreciate the true value of

the blessings. When one will honour the blessings, he will alsohonour the benefactor (one who gives the blessings)andwill alsohonour the medium through which that blessing has reachedhim,that medium will also get honour and appreciation. In this waygratitude of the both Creator and the creatures will be paid.

Now understand that the thing whose great value is presentin somebody's heart, that thing is loved and respected by him aswell. Heart also feels compulsion to accept his word. Thereforethe utmost gratefulness of the Creator (Allah) will be as follows:1. Heart should be full of His honour and reverence.2. His praises should be always on tongue. The different parts

of the body should try to follow His commandments fully.(Amal-i-Saliha)This is the secret of this meaning of Shukr that it should be

accomplished with heart, tongue and other parts of body.Second thing which should be necessarily understood here

is that when gratefulness of the medium has been supposed to benecessary, from this it should be understood the rights of teacherand Shaikh (Spiritual teacher). These people (Spiritual teacher)became the medium or intermediary of true blessings of Islam,Irfian and Yaqeen. As great the blessings will be so will be theright of the medium of that blessing.

From this can be understood that how great are the rights ofteacher andShaikh. Alas! these days both fields have become weak


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Branches o f Iman qn., lY.so much so that no body recognises their value.Now we are writing separately the rights of both briefly, ofcourse, guidance is from A llah:-

RIGHTS OF TEflCHEROne should go to him with clean clothes and after havingcleaned the teeth with Miswaak.Face him politely.See him with a look o f sanctity and honour.Listen carefully whatever he says.Try to remember what he says nicely.Take it as one's own fault, If any thing is not understoodwell.Do not quote somebody else's contrary statement in his pres-ence .If somebody is s aying bad about the teacher, try to defendhim as much as possible, otherwise get up from thereand leave that place.On reaching near his audience say Salam to all those presentand then say Sa-lam to the teacher in particular but if he isbusy in speech etc, do not say Salam that time.Neither laugh nor talk more in his presence.Do not look here and there.Remain attentive towards him only.Tolerate his rude behaviou r.Do not leave going to him because of his harsh tongue and 1do not lose faith in h is excellence but try to interpret nicely 1Ihis words and deeds. IDo not read when teacher is busy, hungry, thirsty, sleeping Ior is not having presence of mind o r is having some otherproblem.

- - ....-..16. Take care of his rights in his absence as well.17. Occasionally please him w ith gifts and by writing letters tohim.

There are other so many rights, bu t for intelligent people,these are enough, he can understand other rights from these.

RIGHTS OF SHflIKH (SPIRlTUflL TEIICHER)Also those rights which hav e been described for the teacher arethe rights of the Shaikh as well. Som e more are written here:1. Believe that my p urpose w ill be served through this Shaikhonly and if I incline towards some other side then, that willdeprive me of the blessings and favours o f Murshid (Spir-itual teacher).2. Be obedient of the Shaikh in all respects and s erve him with

vigour and wealth because without the love of the Shaikh,nothing happens and this is the sign o f the love.3. Whatever Murshid says, obey that immediately, and do notfollow any of h is deeds without his permission because s ometimes he is doing his job as per his status and level and thes a m e m a y b e d a n g e r o u s f o r t h e s t u d e n t (Mu r e e d ) .4. Whatever Durood an d Wazifah is advised by the Murshid,that should be read on ly and leave the rest wh ether theyhave been started on the somebody else's advice or one had

started himself.5 . Be fully attentive towards him in his presence so much sothat one should not get eng aged in any thing other than Fardh- and Sunnat, without h is permission.6. Try one's best not to stand at such a place where one's shadowwill fall on the shad ow of the Murshid or his clothes.7. Do not place your feet on his Musalla.8. Do not perform Wadhu on that place where he performsWadhu.


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Neither take meals nor drink water nor pe rf om Wadhu inhis presence, of course after permission there is n o problem.Do not talk to any on e else in his presence and do not payattention to any other side.Do not spread your feet towards him.Do not spit towards him.Do not object whatever he says since whatever he says ordoes, it is in the light of the div ine manifestation and if onedoes not understand anything, then remember the incidentof the Hadhrat Musa (AS) an d Hadhrat Khadhir (AS).Do not expect any miracle from him.If any doubt arises in heart, tell him immediately and if thatdoubt does not get solved, attribute it to your own defectivethinking and if the Murshid does not give any reply thenthink that you are not worth it.Tell him w hatever you see in the dream and also tell him itsinterpretation if any, you have understood abo ut it.Do not part from the Murshid unnecessarily or without hispermission.Do not raise your voice over his voice and d o not talk to himin a loud voice. Talk to him briefly and remain attentive to-wards his answer.Do not reject his state men ts even if the student is apparantlyugent but should believe that the error of the Shaikh isbetter than student's correction.Whatever will be the state of the student (Mureed), good orbad, shou ld be told to Murshid only as, he is the spiritualdoctor. He will correct that after getting the information. D onot think that Murshid is having Kashf (hence I need notinform him about my condition).Do not engage yourself in any Wuzifah in his presence. It isvery much necessary to read something, read it in such a

-F u S LAl-Imgn 32.

way that he is not seeing you.23. Whatever favours or blessings are obtained, think that it isdue to him even if it is seen in the dream or meditation that it

has reached from some other Buzarg, thinking that it is someform of Lateefa of that Buzarg which has got manifested inthe form of this other Buzarg.(Kazae F i Irshadi-Rehmani)

when you have selected some spiritual teacher, hand your-self to him. Be under him same way as Musa (AS) underKhadhir (AS ). Be patient with Khadhir (AS) who is withouthypocrisy, so that he may not tell you, g o awa y,

Another An f Hadhrat Ataar (RA) said:


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Branches of Iman -

These are the Adaab of an accomplished (Kamil) Shaikh.Now w e will write some of the signs by w hich you can recognisehim and the student of the reformation (Islah) may not get misled:-1. He (the Shaikh) should be more famous (and more honour-able) in the eyes of top U1ema.yand Faqirs than in the eyesof the common people.-2. In his company on e should get inclined more towards Allahand mundane thoughts and passions should be seen decreas-

ing.3. His conversation should resemble the conversation o f theformerBuzargs.-4. He should have pot permission for reformation of people(Islah-i-Khalq) from some Kami2 Shaikh.5. He should be pious (Mutaqi) and should not be insistant onany such deed wh ic bs against the Shun' 'ah. If any such deed

happens occasion ally, that is not against the Kamaal. If anyword or deed from him is such that is apparently against theShad 'ah, there should be som e suitable explanation for that.If you find somebo dy of these qu alities, take it as a blessingand remain as his slave from the core of your heart otherwise (ifh eis not having such qualities) leave him particularly if he is doinganything against Qur'an and Hadith, never adopt his company ashis companv will ruin your Din and Iman.

F U I ~ J 'l-Im2n 34 .Arif ~ u m iaid: 6,!L ~ J I k

J , L d dl&lJ,YMany a Shaitaan are having human aces, s o do not give

your hand in everbody's hand. If some body is doing thedeeds of the Shaitaan and he is called a Wali, then curseshould be on such a Wali.

Arif Sheerazi Said: ~ ; j p i L J l d J ~ i

N.B: Same way the other things w hich are included in Shukr are:To do justice with Ahle-Haqooq, i.e., parents, children, uncle, hus-band, wife, neighbour, comm on muslim, com mon man, animalsetc. On this topic the book "Haqiqat-ul-Islam" written by Qazi-!

I Sannaullah Panipati should be read.1 \t7l1Ff\(Faithfulness, loyalty, constancy)

Allah Ta'ala says :(o:?).;$~\>>i\~$t;$\G$

"Oh, believersfulf ll your promises. " ( 9 1 )


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36.ranches of Iman 35. Fur4' Al-IminAllah Ta'ala further says: Allah Ta'ala says:

"Fulfi l l thepromises o f Al lah when you m ake apromise. "(16:91 )

And He says:

* Fulfill th e promise, verily, th e promises will be asked. "(1 7:34)i.e., In Qiyamah there will be this question that whether you h l -

filled the promise or not? and it has been mentioned earlier in theHadith that not to fulfill the promise is the sign of the N f a q (hy-pocrisy).Regret: Unfortunately in our time very few people fulfill theirpromises. They make disappoint others after making the promiseand after giving the assurance. This needs high carefulness, oneshould make promise after thinking nicely and then should try tofulfill t in whatever possible way. Of course, if the promise is againstthe Sunnat, then to fulfill it is not permissible.

SABH(PATIGNCE)Hadith states (narrated by Hadhrat Ibne Masood (RA):

"Sabr s half of the irnan. "(Baihaqi)

M O 6 ,> 6.i ( Y \ o ~ ) . * j .,a 41!

"Indeed , Allah is with thos e who patiently persevere".(2:153)

'r1.lL\tT1.lLl)U(HUMILITY)

(opposite of Takabbur)One who thinks that every other person is better than him andbehaves in humility, is said to have tawadh u.Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:

One who adopts hu&lity for the sake of Allah, Allah el-evates him to higher status. Thus such ape rso n is smaller inhis own eyes but is bigger in the eyes of the people and onewho has Takabbur (pride), Allah Ta'ala disgraces him."Thus he becomes smaller in the eyes of the people andbinaer in his own eyes, till he becomes as disgraceful as a-dog or a pig in the eyes of the people ". (Baihaqi)

Hadhrat Ibne Masood (RA)narrated that Rasulullah (SalallahuAlaihi Wasallam) said:

" Neither will enter a person in Jahannum in whose heartwill be Iman even as little as mustard seed, an d no r w illenter a person in Jannat in whose heart will be Takabbur aslittle as a mustard seed ", in some narrations, it is written aslittle as a speck or an atom (Zarrah).


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Branches of Iman37.One person asked Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam)that man's heart likes that he shou ld have good clothes and goodshoes, (are all these included in Takabbur).

Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) replied,'!Allah is graceful (Jameel) and loves the grace (Jamaa o.Takabbur is to reject the right things (Hag) and to look downupon the people. "

(Muslim)That means, to have good disposition and cheerfulness in notTakabbur.

N.B.:- In humility (Tawadhu) to respect the elders is also in-cluded. Ahmad has narrated that Rasulullah (Salallahu AlaihiWasallam) said:"One who does no t respect our elders and is not kind to ouryoungesters, is not included in our U mmat. "

COMPASSION AND AFFBCTION(Rehmat and Shafaqat)Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (RA)narrated that he heard from Rasu-lullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) :

" The qual ig of kindness is not taken away from any oneexcept from unfortunate one. ,,

Hadhrat Abdullah Ibne Umar (RA) narrated that Rasulullah,(Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:

"Rehman (ALLAH)-shows kindness to those who show kind-ness. You be kind to tho se who are on earth, Master of skies(Allah) will be kind to you. "(AbuDawood)

F u 6 ' Al-Imgn 38.Nu'min bin Bashir narrated that Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi

1 Wasallam) said:" You wiNfind the Muslims in sympathy, love and kindnesslike the parts of the body, if any part pains, the whole bodybecom es restless (and feels the pain) ". (Bukhari,Muslim)

Pleasure over divine decree,fate or predestination(Radha Bil Qadha)Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:

" The auspiciousness or good fortune (Sa-aadat) of manlies in asking Allah th e virtues and remaining pleased(Raadhi) with the decrees of Allah and the misfortune(Shiqawat) of the man lies in abandoning the asking ofvirtues from Allah and in remainin g unhapp y over his de-

,Crees. (Tirmizi)

N.B.:- For Raadha bil Qaadha it is not necessary that there should1 not be even a discomfort in the heart as this is a natural invol-1 untary phenomenon, it c m o t be controlled (being involuntary),1 but it means that the heart should like it as a person having anI abscess, happily allows the surgeon to m ake an incision over it,despite the fact that he definitely feels pain of the incision. Yes, attimes it is possible that one may not feel pain when over come byecstasy but o n the contrary at times these people (those overcomeL by ecstasy) may feel joy (instead of pain on getting the Nishter(incision)). This state (Haul) is experienced by those who are mid-way on the path of the Salook.


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Branches ofZman 2oJ I.

[Salook is the path described by the Kamil Mashaaikh (theexcellent spiritual teachers) to their students (Mureed) which leadsthem to nearness of Allah after purifying their hearts from all ani-mal and Shitaani instincts so that their hearts remain exclusivelyinclined towards Allah. T he will of Allah be comes their will, hencethey get the treasure of Raadha-bil-Qaadha, in the real sense ofthe word. Only those who walk on this path of Salook, can achievethese treasures and others just can't understand it.]AHLE KAMAAL AN D TAMKEEN

(Those people who have com pleted their journey o n this path ofSalook and have attained maturity) do experience the grief andagony as common people do, as compared to the people of Salookmentioned above who feel happiness in getting grief), but thesepeople (Ahle Kamaal) do not utter a single word of com plaint nei-ther they do any such deed which is against the wishes of the realruler (Allah). This thing is of mo re excellence that despite feelinggrief and agony they control their feelings and when there is nogrief and anguish, what difficult is it to control the feelings and thevery existence of Sabr (patience) without grief and agony is im-possible. Who can doubt the excellence of the state of the Sabrand Raadha of Hadhrat Yaqoob (AS). Every body knows as towhat was his condition durin g the period in which Hadhrat Yusuf(AS) was separated from him. When his sons consoled him, hereplied

" I only complain o f my distraction and an guish to Allah,and I know from Allah that which ye know n ot. "

(12:86)

Funi' A!-Imgn 40.When Hadhrat Ibrahim son of our Prophet (Salallahu AlaihiWasallam) died, tears appeared in the eyes of Holy Prophet(Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam). Hadhrat Abdul Rehrnan Bin Auf(RA) asked with surprise

"Oh Messenger of Allah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam), youalso weep. Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) replied,"Oh Ibne Auf (RA)! this is a Rehmat, then he again weptand said "Indeed, eyes weep and he art becomes sad andwith the tongue we will say the same words w ith which ourMaster will be pleased and verily we are sad in your sepa-ration-Oh Ibrahim. " (Bukhari & Muslim)

And Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:" Sabr is only when some fresh grief comes"(Bukhari and Muslim)

There must have remained least doubt in our these claimsafter listening to these Ahadith.

TA\\rAWIJI,(Trust in Allah)

Allah Ta'ala says:

"Believers should trust only in Allah."Hadhrat Ibne Abbas (RA)narrated that Rasulullah (SalallahuAlaihi Wasallam) said:

" Seventy thousand person s of my Um mat will enter Jannatwithout Hisaab (accountability). These are thosepeople w ho


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Branches of lman 4 1T * .

do not indulge in incantation (magical ormulas-mantar etc.)and do not take ill omen and trust in their Cherisher (Al-lah). "

(Bukhari and Muslim)From this is meant that they d o not do that incantation whichis forbidden. Others have said that every kind of incantation should

be avoided. And to take ill-omen means to get lurking fear whensome body sneezes or feels unlucky if som e animal passes from infront. Allah Ta'ala is the real effective (effect of any thing is aspe rHis wish and will, nothing else is effective in itself), one should notget such lurking fear. Of cour se, to take good omen is nice thoughthis also is in no way effective, but it becomes a me ans of develop-ing hope of Mercy of Allah as compared to ill-omen which makesone hgpeless from the m ercy o f Allah.

REflLlTY OF TBWCIKUUL BND CORRECTION OF MISTCIKESThese days Tawakkul is generally believed to mean that, you sitdown (in isolation) after leaving all the efforts (Asbaab).This mean-ing is completely wrong. All the Aayat of the Qur'an and theAhaadith are full of affirmations in fav our of endeavour and exer-tion (Tadbeerand Asbaab) instead Tawakkul can never have thismeaning. Ok, if you don't get something to eat from somewhere,then will you not even exert to put it into the mouth and chew it,you wouldn't even swallow it. These all are also Asbaabs andTadbeers of obtaining food, then where is the Tawakkul.With this(meaning), this inference becomes mandatory that uptill now noNab1 or Wali has had Tawakkul. Who can believe such an infer-ence! instead the reality of the Tawakkul is same as that of Tawkeel1.e.. to engage a lawyer in a court case. Then does the petitionerleave altogether to follow the case, but despite this he thinks thathis success in the court case depends upon the capability , elo-quence and the efforts of his lawyer, he does not attribute it to hisown efforts and endeavours.

Exactly same should be thought in this case of Tawakkulthat one should undertake all Asbaab and T adbeer, on this condi-tion that they are not against the Shari 'ah,but should not considerthem as effective.

One should believe that his job can get accomplished onlyby the order and the grace of A llah and infact the effectiveness ofany endeavor is only due to the order (and w ill) of Allah. Bandah(man) has not even least concern with it. For example, the seedhas been sown in the field. This is its Tadbeer. Now to get rains attime, the growth of seedling and its protection from natural ca-lamities, when are all these in his (man's) authority? So it is ob-ligatory to believe that the suc cess is the fruit of grace of Allah andthis is the Tawakkul. From this it must have been understood thatmajority of muslims have Ni 'matof this Tawakkul.Of course, somepeople need reformation of their thinking and whenever peopleface some natural anxiety as regards to obtaining of their subsist-ence, its cause is not in the promise o f Allah but the cause of thisanxiety is only this that the methods and the time of success arenot defined. Undefined situation naturally begets anxiety. Somepeop1-e of Tawakkul (Muta- Wakkileen)have got some things with-out putting any effort (without asba ab). This is Karamat (Miracle)which is not from mandatory m anifestation of Tawakkul and is notincluded in the Haqiqat (reality) of Tawakkul.Understand it prop-erly.

(Vanity, Silly pride on one'sbeauty, health and wealth)

Tibraani has narrated a Hadith:"Three things are such which ruin viz,i. Greed which is followed.


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Branches of Zman A?

iii. Vanity and selfcomplacenc e, t o praise one 's own self byone's own tongue and to describe on e's own excellence isalso included in vanity.

Allah Ta'ala says:

"Therefore hold not yourselfpurcjZed. "(53:32)

Difference between Riyal Takabbur. and UjubThe evils of Takabbur have been described in th e section on hum il-1ty.

It should be understood that these are three separate things,Rijja, Takabbur an d Ujub. This difference is not appreciatedamongst them when seen s uperficially but they are different. Sum-mary of their difference is that Riya (Hypocrisy) is always foundassociated with ritual Ibaadat and Deeni affairs only as comparedto the other two, Takabbur an d Ujub, are found associated withboth Deeni affairs as well as wo rldly affairs. In Takabur one looksdown upon others as compared to the Ujub in which one is in selfpraise and self concerted, though h e may not look dow n upon oth-ers.

Removal of doubt about UjabAt this stage there is one doubt, that if Allah Ta'ala bestows on -somebody the quality of some excellence, then not to know thisquality is ungratefulness and to know this quality of excellence isCj'ub.Then what should on e do?

The solution ofth is problem is that one should definitely con-sider i t the quality of excellen ce but should not think hims elf to be

deserving it and to be its real owner (Mausoof-i-Haqiqi) and shouldnot boast upon it but should take it as a heavenly Ni 'mat, gift ofAllah, while thinking so he should be thankful and believe that it[the quality of Kamal or (excellence)] is an Amaanat (entrustedthing) with him and when ever He (A llah) wishes can snatch it from

1[ me. This gift is with me in the same way as som e generous kingkeeps a very precious diamond with some ordinary cobbler as anI1 Amaanat and take it back whenever He likes or He may neveri take it back through o ut his life time because of the generosity andmay give him the permission to use for his benefit, making himextra ordinary in his colleagues. This (cobbler) does not boast upo nit (and does not become proud) but remains in constant fear thatthere may not be any negligence (o n his part) about the great valueof this precious thing and that it may not get wasted or becomelusterless. One who thinks his excellence like that is among thepeople of gratitude (Shaakireen) and not among the people of van-

ity.'I'O IA1Z1\WZ Bl\Q:IiBITING AN11 NI11LICB(Kewena)

Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi W asallam ) said:"Backbiting and malice (Keena are the things which takeone to Jahannum. Both these things cannot get collected ini! the hearts of Mumin. " (Tabrani)

TO IAII1\\Tll JIIBLOIJSY(Hasad)Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:

"Jealousy (hasad) eats the good deeds as the fire eats thewood. " (Abu Dawood)


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Branches of Zman 45 .TO LllAVIZ 1lN61111

(Gussa)Allah Ta'ala revealed (the quality of good muslim) as fol-lows:

"The y are such people who suppress anger."Hadhrat Abu Huriarah ( R A ) narrated that one person re-quested Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) to say him fewwords of advice. Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) advisedhim not to have anger or wrath, this person repeated his questionfew times and every time Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam)

replied the same, not to have anger.(Bukhari)

Although the suppression of anger m ay seemehat time quitecumbersome but its end result is always good, even enemy be-comes friend."Allah Ta'ala says in the Qur'an:

"B e equal. Repel (evil) with wh at is better: Th en will hebetween whom and thee was hatred become as it were Thyfriend and intimate!"(3541)

~ ~ . .

And Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said," (Great) wrestler is not that who overpo wers the others inwrestling but great wrestler is one who keeps himself unlder control during anger. " \(Bukh ari and Muslim)

In the following lines Shaikh Saudi has translated the sameHadith as follows: P>~J>&~~&~,,&

An d Hadhrat Anas (RA) narrated that Rasulullah (SalallahuAlaihi Wasallam) said: -

"Onew ho keeps anger away rom himself: Allah Ta 'ala will .keep away His chastisement from him on the Day of theQiyyamah." (Baihaqi)

Maulana Rumi (RA) says the same thing as:


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Branches of Zman 1.7-Anger amongst other things is one of the great ruinous things, i fseen minutely malice (Keena) and jealousy are also the signs ofAnger because when one cannot fulfill the wishes of the anger,

then this anger gets reduced in heart to malice and jealousy. It isimportant to cure it from its inception.Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) has stated its remedy in aa Hadith like this:

"Anger is from Shaitaan and Shaitaan has been createdfrom jire and fire gets extinguished by water , so f a n y oneof you gets anger, he should perform the W adhu with wa-ter."

(Abu Dawood)And second remedy has been stated by Rasulullah (Salallahu AlaihiWasallam)as:

" l fanyo ne ofy ou gets anger , i fh e is s tanding, he should s i tdown, if anger goes away, well and good, if not then heshould lie down . "

(Ahmad, Tirmizi)In view of these Ahadith, som e saints have stated som e more rem-edies.1. One should believe that on whom he is becoming angry, he ,is from Allah, so on whom to have anger.2. Secondly, one sho uld think that I am show ering wrath cnsomebody, Allah Ta'ala has more power on me, if He show-ers anger on me, then in whose protection should I go .

FLIKI.AI-It~lijn 48.3. Thirdly, one should immediately leave the place, should neverstav there and if after anger, malice and jealousy have devel-oped, their remedy is that one should mak e it a point to meetthat person even unwillingly and try to behave nicely withhim till he develops love for that perso n and accepts his

kindness. This is natural that one who loves you and is kindto you, then malice and jealousy about him do es not persist.'I'O IA1l\\T1 EN II'I1'

(Evil wishing)Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:

" One who is involved in evil wishing (enmity), he got sepa-,rated from me. (Muslim)And Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:

"Deen is the name of well wishing and sincerify. "With bad wishing, suspicion or distrust also gets associated,

that is also Haram .Allah Ta'ala says:

"0 e who believe! Avoid suspicion as m uch (a spossible):for suspicion in some cases is a sin:"

I


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1 ', Branches of Iman I,,4Y.Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:"Save yourselffrom y us pic ion (Bndh-Guman) as to be sus-picious is the biggest lie."

(Bukhari,Muslim)Evils of suspicion and thebehaviour with backbiting.These days, among many factors, one of the strongest factor re-sponsible for disunity and problems among muslims, is strongsuspicion (Badh-Guman), as one sees his muslim brother withsuspicion which is based on very weak doubt and false reports.Then with trivial reasons they go on suppo rting that false belieftill that suspicion reaches th e stage of firm belief. From this, thesebad problems develo p:

1. To look down upon others.2. To hate him and to be jealous o n him.3. To attribute his good actions to some passion and lust o f nafs.4. To do his backbiting.5 . To be happy on his loses and dishonour and many other badthings are the result of this suspicion.

Muslims should try their best not to become suspicious of(the fellow muslims) even in the presence of strong evidences butshould try to throw away this susp icion from their hearts by attrib-uting it to som ething good. Hadhrat Eisa (AS) nce admonished aperson after seeing him stealing som ething, that person swore byAllah that he was not a thief. Then Hadhrat Eisa (AS) said:

" The name of my Allah is true, my eyes see false. "Of course, if it (suspicion) does not get away even aftertrying for it, then one will not b e accountab le for that, but to makea mention of it and to act upon as per its wishes is definitely a sin,

F u ~ ' l-1m~n 50.~articularlvo becom e suspicious of som ebody because of his back-biting. ~ h ktraight remedy of backbiter is that firstly one shouldplainly prohibit him from backbiting, tell him that do not tell usbackbiting of any body. If he does not agree, then catch the back-biter by hand and take him to the person about whom he wasbackbiting. Most likely this backbiter will prove a liar and then hewill never indulge in backbiting and if this backbiter turns out tobe true then that person will feel ashamed and will offer apologyfor that and in this way the m utual relations will be im proved. Thetwo persons who talk face to face, the chances of their backbitingare reduced.

To leave DuniyaIt is narratedfrom Ha dhm t Jabir (RA) that once Rasulullah(Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) passed by a dead youngme ofa goat who had cut ears. Rasulullah (Salallahu AlaihiWasallam) asked (his Suhaba) that who amongst them willlike to buy this deadyoungme body of th egoat in one Dirham,Suhaba replied that they would not like to purchase it evenfor the lower thing (for less than a Dirham). Rasulullah(Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) told them, afrer swearing by

i Allah, that the Duniya (world) is more worthless near AllahI than this dead goat baby is near you. (Muslim)

Umar Ibne Auf (RA) narrated that Rasulullah (SalallahuAlaihi Wasallam) said:

"By Allah, I am not afrnid about you ofpo verty and hun-I ger but I am afraid that you will be given plenty of Duniyaas was given to earlier people, then you w ill start incliningtowards it as these earlier people had inclined towards it


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Branches oJZman -.31.and that (plentiness) of Duniya will destroy you as it had- 7destroyed those earlier people. "

(Bukhari & Muslim)Abdullah Bin Umar (RA) narrated that Rasulullah (Salallahu AlaihiWasallam)said:

" Indeed, he succeeded who became muslim and got thenecessary subsistence and remained con tented on that whatAllah gave him. "(Muslim)

Allah Ta'ala says in the Hadith Qudsi," Oh son of Adam, keep (yo urself) ree for my worship, Iwillfi ll your chest with riches and will close down yoti- in-d ig en ce ( p o v er ~ ) nd i fy ou don't do like that (ke ep your-

self fre e for My worship) then I will keep your hand busywith work (i.e., you will not get any time free in world torelax) and will not close down your indigence. "

(Ahmad, Ibne Majah)Suhail Ibne Asad (RA) narrates that R asulullah (Salallahu AlaihiWasallam)said:

" ( f t h e world would have been worth even the wing of amosquito near Allah, then non -believers would have not goteven a single sip of water to drink. "

(Ahmad, Trimizi, Ibne- Majah)Abu Musa Ashiari (RA) narrated that Rasulullah (SalallahuAlaihiWasallam) said:

" One who keeps friendship with world, he damages hisAkhirah and on e who keeps friendship with Akhairah, he

damages his world. Thus prefer that which will persist ov erthat which will perish. " (Ahm ad, Baihaqi in Shoubul Iman)Ka'ab bin Malik (RA) narrates that Rasulullah (Salallahu AlaihiWasallam)said:

" f two hungry wolves ar e let free in a herd of goats, theywill not cause so much havoc a s is caused to one's Deen bygreed of w ealth and greed of grandeur ." (Tirmizi, Dirami)Ibne Massood (RA) narrates that Rasulullah (Salallahu

Alaihi Wasallam) was lying down on a mat and when he gotup from the mat, the marks of this (roughmat) were seen onhis body. Ibne Massood (RA), on seeing this, requested, "Ya, Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) ify ou allow us,we will get some mattress for you ." Rasulullah (SalallahuAlaihi Wasallam)said: " What is my relation with this world?The example of this world and mine is like that traveler,who stands under the shade of a tree (fo r a whi le) and thenleaves the tree there or onwa rdjourne y. "(Ahm ad, Tirmizi, Ibne Majah)

Ibne Umamah (RA) narrates that Rasulullah (Salallahu AlaihiWasallam)said:

-''Allah Ta 'ala told me that he will make the land ofMak kahgolden for me. I requested, " oh Allah, I want that I shouldget one day stomach full and should remain hungry theother day. So that on being hungry, I will make suplication

II and lamentations to you and will remember you and when ,,will get stomach ull, I will thank you and say your praises.(Ahmad)


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Branches ef lman e m33.And besides these, the Ahadith in the condemnation of world.- - .greed, Distant hopes, love of wealth and grandeur and in favour ofAakhirah and solitude, are so numerous, that it is impossible tocount them all here.

Reformation of thoughts of progressmongers of world and the explanation of thefavoured progress and condemned progressThese days there is a lot of noise about progress. When it wasscrutinised, then the same distant hopes and greed of w ealth andgrandeur were found to be its reasons. Therefore, a person withIman can never doubt this thing that motivation about this progressis a clear cut opposition of his Savant and kind Prophet (SalallahuAlaihi Wasallam), though the same people m ake such a fascinat-ing speech in favour of this progress that innocent people c an getdeceived. (they give reasons that they want Islamic progress but

the time is such that the respect and the glory of Islam cannot beelevated without external splendour, therefore, worldly progressis also needed).Friends! this argume nt is mere super ficial colourin g. Firstlythis very fact is wrong that nobod y has esteem of Islam withoutthis external pomp and show. Islam has such Allah given beautythat it looks fascinating even in simp licity, Instead its beauty looksmore charm ing in simplicity and external decoration conceals itsnatural beauty. Search from the time of Suhaba-al-Kiram, (you

will see) that whosoever has attained perfection in Islam, all sup-porters and opponents of Islam have accepted his greatness andfear. We don't have respect without pomp and sh ow, its reason isthat our Islam has not reached perfection. We try to cover its de-fects (in our Islam) by external pomp and show. You should goand see those savants of Allah, even these days, who have at-tained perfection in Islam. W ho does not remem ber, how rich per-sons and high officials used to show extreme respect for Hadhra t-

c?~rir'Al-ImBn 54.Maulana S hah Muhammad Fazal-u-Rehman Sahib, when they sedto go to see him. Wha t kind of exte rnal pomp and show was there'!There was Islam in the form of simplicity and it was the attractionof the same simplicity.

Arif Sheerazi says the sam e thing in these words:

-Even if, for instance, this causation and sequence (thatIworldly progress is impo rtant for restoring esteem of Islam) is ac-cepted and their sayings that their prime aim is the progress of theIslam and the progress of the world is just a means for it, thenthese claimants of such thing should have been trying forDeen inthe same way as they are trying to attain worldly ga ins, even halfor one-fourth, then we could under stand that they are true in theirclaim and their real aim is Deen and world ly gains are just a neces-sity near them. Now w e see most of them are so much engaged inworldly affairs, that they have neither consideration of Allah, norremember His Rasool, nor are wor ried about beliefs and cornrnand-ments. They are worth :

How can we accept their claim. Som e of them present theprogress of Suhaba-al-kiram as an exam ple in their favour. Let ushave debate on this.

See with the eyes of justice and depth that in which fieldSuhaba-al-kiram made progress, Deen or Duniya. If they made,.-..-progress in conquering land, with this, had they meant progress otbusiness, agriculture and industries or their aim was establishment


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Branches of Iman F eJJ .of Salah, Saum, Tilawah of Qur'an and Thikrullah. Islamic law

-ordinances and justice? Qur'a n A l-Kareem which is the truest his-tory, testifies it. It says about Suhaba-M uhajireen.

"They are those who if we establish them in the land, theywill establish regular Salah and will give regular Zakat,enjoin the right and forbid the wrong and with Allah reststhe end (and decision) of (all) affairs."

And see from the Ahadith and the life history of these peo-ple, inspite of their great victories, they never ate stomac h full,never slept full night and their days and nights we re being spent infear of Allah and His remembrance but on the other hand, onseeing these worldly plenty gains, they used to fear and weep.Whither progress of Suhaba-Al-Kiram and whither reversedprogress of today.

Real fact is that greed and lust has surrounded from everyside. temperame nt has becom e indolent on e wishes to have all theluxurious things while the name o f Islam should remain attachedjust as a sign of distinction and national sym bol, Otherwise whoseSalah and whose Saum (fast). Instead majority of them treat thesethings with contemption and ridicule.

Friends! W hat type of Deen is this?

"Were filled (with the love) of the calf because of theirfaithlessness. Say: "Vile ndeed are the behests ofj~ouraithif Ye have any faith!" (2:93)

Clarification of a doubtNobody should get this doubt that I am forbidding from achievingworldly gains or I declare its mea ns like learning of Englishlanguage or invention of mo dem industries etc as haram. Howcan I become slanderer of Allah by calling it Haram without anyreasoning of Shari 'ah, just because of prejudice only. I nevermean this. Earn as much worldly gains as you can, do the govern-ment service and provide their means, of course, external peace isoften cause of internal peace as well.

But do not waste your Deen. Don't think (Deen) as worth-less. In earning worldly gains try to stick to the commandmentsand laws of Allah. Do not prefer world over Deen. Whenever thetwo cannot go together, throw wo rldly gains in hearth. Do not for-ge t Salah and Saum while you are busy in getting worldly educa-tion. Remain steadfast on Islamic beliefs.

Avoid bad company. If it is unavoidable, minimise unneces-sary friendship and amalgamation with them. Do not hate thecompany of Ulema and pious men, go on improving your beliefsand deeds by remaining in their company . When you get somedoubt, ask them. Do not keep your eyes on that which is not truth.Alway s think that Allah Ta'ala is seeing and knowing your words


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Branches of Iman c74 , .

and deeds. Be afraid of accountability and punishment. In vour, ---dress and living style, keep Shar i'at in consideration. Do not lookdown upon the poor people. Feel proud in serving and treztingthem well. Keep yourse lfwith hum ility and austerity. Respect yourelders. Do not show your wrath and tyranny on any one. Makeyour heart soft. Do not become stone hearted and careless. What

ever you get with Halal mea ns, be contented w ith that. Do not feelgreedy in seeing people wealthier than you. Live with austerityso that you can avoid extravagance, then you will not have greedof more income. In the same way behave asper other Islamic codesof conduct. If with correct Islamic beliefs and strict performanceof good deeds and manners, you go to London and become bar-rister, magistrate, deputy collector with distinction, my eyes willget brightened and my heart will be very happy.

All thanks to Allah that all these thirty branches about the Qalbalong with their Fadhail (excellences) and related things havebeen written. If you see som e quality of Qalb, if you ponder, onthat you will see that that qu ality is included in an y of these thirstybranches.Oh ! Seekers of truth, try your best to reform your Qalbwith those qualities. If Qalb gets corrected, the correction of tongueand other parts of the bod y is easy, as is stated in Hadith.

But don't do like this unless Qalb gets corrected and youwill leave the Aamal o f other parts of body. They are also obliga-tory in themselves. So me times interior gets refo'imed by the ref-ormation of exterior. Now listen those branches which are aboutthe tongue.

C-ER-XXThis chapter is about those branches of Iman which areabout tongue and they are seven.

1. To recite kalima Tawh eed.2. Tilawah of Qur'an Al-Kareem.3. ' To learn knowledge.4. To teach knowledge.5. To make Dua.6. TomakeThikr.7. To avoid forbidden and useless talks.

Like related things about branche s of Qalb, the excellencesand other related things about these branches are also brieflymentioned here in few sections.

Hadhrat Abu Dhar Giffari (RA) narrates that Rasulullah(Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:

" There is no servant of Allah wh o has recited Kalima La-Ilaha-Illa Allah and tha t he ha s not entered Jannat. I (AbuDhar(RA)) asked Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam)even i f that person indulges in adul tery and steal ing.Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Was allam) replied, if he in-dulges in adultery and stealing. The, same question and thesame answer got repeated thrice. (Bukhari , Musl im)

Abu Saeed and Abu Huriarah (RAA) narrates that Rasulullah(Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam ) said:

" Persuade your dying ones to repeat Kalima La-Zlaha-IllAllah ". (Musl im)

Branches of Iman co


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d, .

Hadhrat Umar (RA) ays that Rasululiah (Salallahu AlaihiWasallam) said:" have been ordered to ight with the people till they sayKalima La-Ilaha-Illa Allah. "

Thus a person says kalima La-Ilaha-Illa Allah, h e saveshis life and property from me- except what is due to him(i.e., $he causes some harm to anybody's l i fe andp roper ty,that compensation will be taken from him) and his account-ability is handed over t o Allah.(Bukha ri, Muslim)

Imam Ahmad narrates a Hadith as:" F re sh e n y o u r I m a n . R a su l u l la h ( S a l a l l a h u A l a i h iWasallam) was asked as to how should Iman befre shene d?he said, by often repeating Kalima La-Ilaha-llla Allah. "

(Ahmad)N.B:- The excellence of La-Ilah-Illa Allah has been proved bythese Ahadith. Hazraat Sofi Al-Kiram have taught many methodsof its exercise, here som e points need consideration.

flscertainment of the fact whetherdeckration of lman by tongue i sprecondition or part of lmanExistence of ascertainment in Islam is important near Ahle-hag, while worth discussion here is declaration (iqrar by tongue) anddeeds (by parts of body). In verbal declaration the point of discus-sion is whether it is a part of Iman o r it is precondition i.e., whetherit is included in it or not. When seen minutely, this controversyseems to be just d ue to difference in the headings, as every bodyagrees that the existence of Iman is impossible withou t verbal dec-

laration, therefore it is k nown that part or precondition are not meantas their conventional meaning indicates, otherwise existence ofnothing could have been possible w ithout the ex istence of that partor precondition. But whosoever has said it to be a precondition, hehas said so that external (Islamic) laws could be implemented andwhosoever has said it to be a part, he has explained that this extrapart is worth consideration. So both groups are in agreement in themeaning that verbal declaration is not essential for reality of Iman,but Islamic laws cannot be implemented without verbal declara-tion. To the same, some have said precondition and some havetermed it part, hence no d ifference.

Bscertainment about the Bamal(good deeds) as part orprecondition for lmanThe point of discussion in Aamal is that whether they are includedin Iman or excluded. When this is also seen minutely, the differ-ence seems to be in words o nly because those, who have said thatAamal are included in Iman , also believe that by not doing piousdeeds (Aamal-e-Saliha), Iman is not snatched, those who have in-cluded Aamal in Iman, they have meant by it perfect Iman (Iman-e-kamil i.e., connected with Aamal). And tho se who have excludedAamal from Iman, they have meant by Iman- the existence of af-firmation. Thus Iman has two m eanings, Salvation from enteringjahannum and Iman with second meaning which will save fromremaining in jahannum eternally.

Bscertainment of increase or decrease of lmanDoes Iman increase or decrease?In fact this difference of opinion is also in words only. As theIman connected with Aarnal increases or decreases with the in-crease or decrease of Aamal and as the essence of affirmation isfrom ecstasy (kayfiyaat), there is no increase or decrease in it which


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Branches ofZman L TU1.

takes place in quantities. Sometimes increase or decrease wordsare used for high intensity or weakness, with this (la tter) meaning,there can be increase or decre ase in affirmation (Tasdeeq) as well.In Qur'an Sharif, where eve r the words of increase (regarding Imanhave been used, there increa se in intensity is me ant. As per Ahle-Lugat, the word increase (as regards Iman) is common w hile asconventional- phraseologists believe that increase and intensity aredifferent, thus doubt has been cleared.

Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:" Recite Qur 'an. Indeed Qur'an w ill come on the day ofQiyammah as interceding or its readers. "

(Muslim)Baihaqi has quoted a Hadith:

" Out of all Ibadaat in my Umm at, the best Ibadaat is reci-tation of Q ur 'an."Imam Ahrnad has quoted a Hadith as:

"People of Qu r 'an are people of Allah and are His specialservants. "

There are other Ahadith in favour of excellence of Tilawah ofQur'an Majeed.Etiquettes ((Bedab) necessary forrecitation of Qur'an

Tilawah of Qur'an has some external and some internal orspiritual manners.

External manners are:1. Recite Qur'an always when you are with Wadhu.2. Clothes should be clean.3. The place should be clean.4. There should be no bad smell.

15 . Better is to recite Qur'an while your face is towards Qibla.6 . Recite the words very clearly.7. Don't recite when you d o not feel interested.8. keep your mind present while reciting Qur'an.

The easy method for that is to think before recitation that asif Allah Ta'ala has asked me to ma ke Him listen some part of theQur'an and I am reciting this time only to hlf ill His wish and amtelling it to Him. With this m editation (for a while before com-mencement of recitation) all other Aadab of Tilawah will be auto-matically followed.Behaviour with Qur'an

Alas! unfortunately these days not only comm on people but eventhe special (religious people) have also become ignorant aboutQur'an. Some people, Allah forbid, even think its learning and teach-ing useless. Others who have learnt under compulsion, do not tryto remember it and those who always recite it, do not try to im-prove their short comings. Som e students read Q ur'an as:

Those who correct their mistakes in wordings do not try tounderstand it, even if they read some translation or commentary,they do not read it with attention and interest and if they do thatalso but do not try to practise it by their deeds. This mistake iscommon that the majority of religious scholars are ignorant aboutseven types of Qirat- as if only one Q irat is proved from the Holy

Branches of Iman rs 1"U .


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Prophet (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam). In short Qur'an Maieed hasbeen left-back. One should be afraid of the fact that ~ k u l u l l a h(Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) may not tell us on the day of Qiyamahas:

Then th e Messenger (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) willsay:" Oh my Lord! Truly my people treated this Qur'an withneglect." -

( 2530 )To learn knowledge

Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:" With whom soever Allah Ta 'ala wishes betterment, Hegiveshim knowledge of Deen. "

(Bukhari, Muslim)And Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:

" learning of Knowledge is obligatory Cfardh) on every,tmuslim.

(Ibne Majah)To teach knowledge

Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:" One who is asked a thing about Ilrn and he conceals it(after knowing it), Allah Ta 'ala will bridle him with a bridle

fire on the day of Qiyammah. "(Tirmizi)

-

Rasulullah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:" ndeed Allah Ta 'ala and His angels and all those in skiesand in earth even the ants in their holes and fish make duafor that person who teaches people virtue i.e., Deen. "(Tirmizi)

Excellence of IlmeDeen and thetypes of obligatory llmThese excellences which have been mentioned above in favour oflearning and teaching, they are all about Uloom-e-Deeni (knowl-edge of Deen) and their groups. And those branches of knowledgewhich are neither related to Deen nor are used for a Deeni pur-pose, have nothing to do with these Fadhail (excellences), aboutthese types of knowledge, it is said that some of them are mereignorance.Shaikh Says:

" knowledge which does not lead to Allah is ignorance".This Deeni Knowledge is of two types:1. Fardh-Ain.2. Fardh-kifaya.1.Fard h Ain (Absolutely obligatory Ilm fo r every muslim):- Itis that Ilm, the need of which has already taken place, e.g., Salah,it is obligatory for every one to know its rules and regulations.Zakah is Fardh on rich people, to know its rules is obligatory torich people only. In the same way wh atever condition is faced byone, to know the rules of that particular condition is Fardh forhim.


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Branches oflman x c

Bkme on Uluma for not earningsubsistence and its answerFardh Kifaya is that in every locality there should be one or twosuch persons who can fulfill theDeeni needs of the people of thatlocality and can answer the doubts and accusations of opponentsof Islam.

This thing has got proved with experience that one cannotget excellence in anything without completely devoting himself toit and complete devotion in a particular thing is not possible with-out shunning out other engagements. Therefore, to masterUloom-e-Deeni and to do Deeni-service is not possible while remainingassociated with other engagements. So the blame, of majority offoolish people of these days, on the Ulema that they are of no otheruse, is a proof of their narrow mindedness.

Methods of obtaining Uloom+DeenFor learning the fardh Ain Ilm, knowing of Arabic is not essential,to learn the Ahkam in Urdu or Persian is enough.people shouldteach their children so much knowledgeo f D e e n hat, otherwise, itmay not happen so,that after three or four generations they willfeel ashamed even on revealing their connection with Islam. ForAllah's sake, try to stop this storm of disgrace before it comes. Ifsome body cannot read Urdu or Persian, he should sit in the com-pany of Ulema and get his beliefs and masaail corrected and shouldadvise his children to sit in the company of some pious Aalim.Their company has strange benefits:

LJ L d ' l b JLH~~$"Jfyouwant comp any of Allah, sit in the comDany ofAul iya a

--for one moment is better than hundredyears o fworsh ip with-out hypocrisy. "

IBUA (SUIBIBIAI(~nl'ION)Hadhrat Anas (RA) narrates that Rasulullah (Salallahu AlaihiWasallam) said:

"Dua is the kind of Ibadaat". (Tirmizi)Hadhrat Abu Huriarah (RA) narrates that Rasulullah (SalallahuAlaihi Wasallam) said:

" That no other thing is as worthy a s Dua near Allah."(Tirmizi)

Ibne Umar (RA) narrates a Hadith,"Dua beneJits against that misfortune which has come downand against that which has no t yet com e down (that misfor-tune ends which has descended and that misfortune getsavoided which has not descended.) make it obligatory onyourself to make Dua, Oh, servants of Allah ". (Tirmizi)

Hadhrat Jabir (RA) narrates that Rasulullah (Salallahu AlaihiWasallam)said:

"No one is like this that he makes a Dua but Allah does noteither give him the same thing as asked by him or stopssome misfortune rom him unless he makes a Dua of a sin orseverance of relation. " (Tirmizi)

Branches of l m a n r~ 7V /. .-.- 2 . . &. ,,..,,


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Abu Huriarah (RA) narrates that Rasulullah (Salallahu AlaihiWasallam)said:

" Make Dua to Allah Ta 'ala with strong confidence of ac-ceptance and remember that Allah Ta'ala does not acceptthe Dua made by unmindful Qalb. "(Tirmizi)

N.B:-From these Ahadith, quite a few things are learnt. First isthe excellence of Dua and its effectiveness. Many people try manythings when in trouble but they don't even think of Dua, when Duais the best way out.

Second thing which we learnt is that Dua never goes waste,either some thing is got or some coming misfortune gets avoided orremains stored for him in Akhirah, as is narrated in a similar othernarration. In any case Dua gets accepted. These days there is astrong doubt that our Dua is not accepted, so this doubt has gone.

Third thing which we learnt is that Dua should not be madeagainst the (principles of) ShariYat.It hould be made with thefirmbelief of acceptance and with the mind present (not absentmindedly).

These days there is carelessness about all these pre-requistes.Usually this thing is not thought that the thing we are asking for,may not be cause of Allah's displeasure. Neither Dua is made withpresence of mind. But the condition is like :

"On tongue is Tasbeeh and in heart are cows and donkeys.H c v ~ an such Tasbeeh make an y effect. "

Since Allah Ta'ala sees the Qalb, the example of such inten-tion of Qalb is like that application which is presented to someauthority while standing with back towards him. The effect of (suchnonsense) act is obvious. The biggest problem is that acceptanceof Dua (by Allah) is doubted, it is not firm;y believed whether ithas been acceptance or not. It can be understood with an exampleof a person who submits an application for some job to some au-thority. First he writes the words of flattery and in the en

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Furu Ul Iman the Branches Of Iman By Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi

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