Many of us have had the good fortune to have reached big ages or rather, to put it more accurately, that Allah Almighty has granted big ages to. Perhaps there are advantages in this, because one can continue, in one’s own humble way, to make ibadat to one’s Lord. Of course, when one also reaches a certain age then the burden of punishment for certain transgressions is removed. And so becoming old, is a very special blessing for many of us; that is why Nabi Muhammad (ﷺ) stated that blessings are with the old people. On many occasions I have had experiences of extreme rudeness and disrespect to senior people. I’ve seen these in homes and I see this in the community. I ask myself on these occasions: “What is wrong with us that we have no idea of the deference with which we are supposed to regard all human

One of the weaknesses in our faith is the fact that we see ourselves as central to our activities and that in the way we talk and the expressions we use, Allah Almighty has very little to do with us. We use the phrases “insha Allah” and “masha Allah” but in many cases these phrases are just parts of our speeches. We do not in fact mean them. As I’ve always said in the past, it is mainly with elderly that these statements have some meaning. One worries because for many years one’s discourse was secular; a discourse without Allah Almighty in it. Although we mentioned His Name, we saw ourselves as active agents and as the first cause of what we did. Today, many of us have to seek repentance for the many secular statements we made and the many secular ideas that floated through our minds. Alhamdu lillah,

Sometimes as we grow in our religion, or, to put it more accurately, as we are made to grow in our religion, we either appear to have a better understanding of the Divine Teachings or our understanding of those teachings appear to change. It must be understood that when we talk about understandings especially what has to do with Allah Almighty – His Essence, His Names, His Attributes and His Workings – we might know about them but we have very little understanding of them. It is an illusion to think that one can obtain an understanding of these matters by perusing countless books. I’ve tried it all, and if you should ask me today what I’ve learnt about my Lord from the many books I’ve read, I would say quite honestly: “Very little” or “Nothing”. In fact the opinions of scholars on the matters to do with our Lord

Sometimes when I look around me and I see what is going on, or when I hear what is going on, I shake my head in sheer amazement or shock. I cannot believe what I see or what I hear. I ask myself at these moments, how it is that after so many talks, so many letters and the reading of so many books, people still do not understand the importance of good character in Islam, or what we call Futuwwah. We all know that Allah Almighty in one of His many praises of His beloved Prophet (ﷺ) mentions the excellence of his character. We also know how Sayyidatuna A’ishah (r.a.) described the character of her husband as being a reflection of the Qur’an. And then on a much, much lower level I have sent to you many letters on the importance of good character and to treat people with

If somebody should ask me what I have found to be the most difficult Islamic principle to implement in my life, and to implement in the lives of the murids, I would say it is to work solely for the sake of Allah Almighty. This principle is difficult to implement not only in our day-to-day religious activities (like the salah) but also those activities which have to do with working in the Cause of Allah Almighty. In one of the more well-known Traditions, Nabi Muhammad (ﷺ) said that the religious service in which there is even a grain of riya’ is rejected by Allah Almighty. Riya’ means to do things for other people’s eyes, ears, personal knowledge, and also to satisfy one’s own personal desires. All of these are extremely difficult, for each one of us. It is already difficult to be able to carry out one’s day-to-day religious activities

Many of us consider our personal life on the planet to be eternal. When we consider all the things people do and the disregard they have for Divine Instructions, then it is quite clear that they do not consider that their lives are ever going to end. Humanity has a strange belief in its immortality. In fact the belief here is not strange, it is false. We can see how false this belief is by visiting any of the graveyards. These graveyards have their own stories to tell, on the personal histories of all its inmates. On numerous occasions people come to me, especially women, and describe to me the abuse they have to undergo on almost a daily basis, and the violence they have to suffer. I know, that according to available statistics most violence is perpetrated against men, what we call men-on-men violence. You see women and children

During these holidays (2012 – 2013) I employed one of the ladies from Blikkiesdorp to do some domestic duties in our home. This was not because our home required any special attention, but rather because I wanted her to have some extra income during this time of the year. Sometimes we come across very ordinary people; people with very little to their name, but they teach us very valuable lessons in Islam about ourselves and about them. When she started working here, she refused to eat our food. Because of her poverty, she only has one meal a day and for the rest of the time she just drinks coffee or tea. She also refused our food, because her stomach was not used to food like that. Today I feel embarrassed to have a person in my home who refuses to eat even if food is available, because of her

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.1″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” text_font_size=”16px” text_orientation=”justified” sticky_enabled=”0″] I think that with regard to many of us, our original entry into Tasawwuf consisted primarily of “dabbling in the Unseen”. Our major interest at the time was what we could see or hear or smell, and long discussions were held by many of us on these matters. We learnt nothing and we achieved very little or nothing, because this discourse took us nowhere. There are still many groups whose primary concern is with what they think is Tasawwuf. It is very sad but in many groups this discourse is encouraged. Fortunately, for many of us this has all come to an end. We are now in a serious Tariqah under the guidance of an authorized shaykh and what we can see, hear and smell are definitely

Sometimes during our lives, we were primarily concerned about ourselves and perhaps our immediate family. When we look back at those years, in some cases decades, that have passed, we find that we have done very little for our own spiritual benefit and very little for others. Today as a senior person I have come to realize that what our Lord wants from us is not a selfish concern with ourselves but an open-hearted concern for others. Especially in the last few years the way of thinking of many Muslims has centred around their material possessions and because of tight budgets they have very little to spare for others. I know we cannot change our whole community but the few of us who are in Tariqah can set different examples. When I look back at my own life I sometimes ask: To what degree have I used my allotted time

Especially during the holy month of Ramadan, if undisturbed, one’s heart is overwhelmed with peace and satisfaction or rather with contentment. It is difficult to say whether this is as a result of one’s intensive approach to one’s Lord through fasting, or on account of the fasting and other additional forms of ibadat that one makes; but the contentment is there. So we do not know why. We only guess. Sometimes the curiosity makes us ask questions on matters we do not understand. Perhaps the contentment is a spiritual station at which our Lord has placed us. Again, we do not know, because we have no access to the workings of our Lord. Despite all of this, the human and jinn agents of Shaytan are especially active during this month working to get one’s mind involved in matters, which disturb this contentment. Many times they succeed and one has to