On many occasions I think of the massive potential that each one of us has to help in the spread of Islam in this country, especially the spread of congregational adhkar. Alhamdu lillah, wherever we have gone, Allah (ﷻ) has granted us success. It is seldom that we receive negative reports with regard to our work. There should be in each one of us the deepest gratitude that Allah (ﷻ) is using very ordinary citizens to spread the celebration of His Praises. So many times I express gratitude, and I want us to push aside our ailments and our ages to spread this work. I also have a dream or perhaps it is a very deep desire that Allah (ﷻ) should provide for us the means of drawing every single Muslim in this country into the celebration of His Praises. We should get away from all those things that we

We are all striving very hard to become servants of Allah (ﷻ), and to leave all those matters that make us “something” in the world, that give us status. Nothing else is going to matter in the long run; not our offspring or our bank accounts or our titles and qualifications. Eventually the only thing that is going to matter is the extent of our servitude. Part of this striving has to do with Truth – living in terms of the Truth of Islam, striving in the implementation of this Truth, and associating with those who personify this Truth. Allah (ﷻ) says in the Qur’an: يَأَيُّهَا الَّذِيْنَ ءَامَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللهَ وَ كُوْنُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِيْنَ O you who believe, fear Allah and be with those who are truthful (9:119). At a very simple level we should all try, at least, to speak the truth in our daily association with others. Many

As one walks the spiritual path, there are times when there is a deep desire to be on one’s own or to be alone, as we say. This desire to be on one’s own flows from the desire to have a special connection with Allah (ﷻ). And one feels that the connection can only be special if it is in the form of a very private communication between oneself and one’s Lord. This is referred to as munajat in Islam. We have to understand that it does not matter what is in one’s heart, it is the Will of Allah (ﷻ) that operates with us. It is Allah (ﷻ) that places the desire of munajat in our hearts. In all cases of one’s relationship with one’s Lord, we have to remember, that this relationship is established by one’s Lord through His Will. Our actions are very minor or small contributions

One of the difficulties that many of us face is how to get our relationship with our Lord to function at the highest possible level that we are capable of. Many of us are, of course, also concerned with our position with Allah (ﷻ). Is He satisfied with us? Do we put enough effort and sincerity in our ibadat? Do we work intensely in His Cause? Or are we just “sit-back” Muslims? There are so many things that concern us as Muslims, and especially concern us with regard to the spiritual path that we are on. Because of the path that we are on, many of our concerns become worries. This is naturally so, because one cannot tell one’s mind: “Stop worrying!” Of course, the Qur’an and the Prophetic Practice provide us with so many assurances in our religious quest. We strive and we strive but there is nothing tangible

On many occasions I have explained to you that perhaps the most difficult thing on this path is to be able to obey. In fact, I think that the extent of one’s obedience is to a large degree related to the extent of one’s spiritual development. The more the soul is purified, the less the garbage in the heart, and the more the obedience. There are many variables that impact on our incapability to obey. It might be one’s personal status, one’s relation to one’s shaykh, the size of one’s cheque book and, amongst other things, the titles we have or the positions we hold. There are so many other variables that come into play when one is faced with a decision to obey something, which under normal circumstances we would not obey. In many cases, the above variables have strong links with one’s ego. The presence of the ego

Many persons have been on the path of spiritual purification of their souls for a very long time. In most cases, if not in all, they have had no indication as to their spiritual progress or, to put it in another way, at what station their Lord has placed them. Of course, one of the first lessons that they have learnt is that their Lord grants and their Lord places. They have no say in all of this, because it has to do with the Divine Workings. All of them understand this but there is always the curiosity of wanting to know. However, they have no access to what is only in their Lord’s knowledge. Under certain very special circumstances, a very small section of the knowledge concerning spiritual stations is granted to certain people. And so, they come to know about it. Sometimes others become aware of this knowledge

During the last few years [2012], we have noticed how, in many mosques, the usual adhkar, supplications and recitations that we used to do after the obligatory salah, have been slowly disappearing. Today, in many of these mosques, only short supplications or one of those endless supplications that tire everybody, are made. We have also found that this happens predominantly in those mosques in which the religious teacher is an adherent of or has leanings towards the Wahabi discourse in Islam. What is so sad about all this is that in many of the Sunni mosques, this practice is also starting. We suppose, in a few years time, despite what the Prophetic Traditions instruct us, nothing will be recited after the obligatory salahs anymore. But this is not all. The usual respect this community had for the intensely pious people is also disappearing. Previously, when anyone went on pilgrimage to

Perhaps the most difficult thing on the path of Tasawwuf is to be able to listen and obey. I have written to you previously about this but I suppose, through the course of many months, we have forgotten the importance of listening and obeying and not saying: “No” or asking: “Why?” in our relationship with our Shaykh. Allah (ﷻ) in describing one of the qualities of His Prophets (a.s.), says in the Holy Qur’an: وَ قَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَ أَطَعْنَا غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَ إِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيْرُ And they say: We hear and we obey: (We seek) Thy forgiveness, Our Lord, and to Thee is the end (ii: 285). Allah (ﷻ) brings together a number of qualities that are exhibited, by what I always call “the cream of the believers”, i.e. the Prophets (a.s.). When it comes to the relationship with their Lord, they are always in obedience of listening and obeying, and

On many occasions, especially during periods of intense distress, we turn to our Lord and appeal passionately to Him for relief. We know that nobody else can help us. If a person, for example, suffers from some kind of chronic illness, that person knows that his/her only help can come from his/her Lord. We have come across so many examples of people who have undergone what we call miraculous cures after intensive worship. Whether we believe this or not, is not the problem. I am talking about the fact that when we are at our most weak and at our most distressed, we call on Allah (ﷻ) for help. It is almost a natural reaction to our state of affairs. You see, we do not always look at things properly. We are believers. We say so but the “prime source” of assistance for us, we tend to ignore. We know