Content Soul

April, 2011

• 7 April

  The Spiritual Connection

  Islam is a very spiritual religion and our outward actions have a spiritual effect. For example, for congregational  salah Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم instructed “Straighten your rows [thrice]. By Allah you should indeed straighten your rows or Allah will cause your hearts to differ.” [Abu Dawood ] In addition, ilm is priceless and the journey towards it is a …

March, 2011

• 25 March

  Humbling Ourselves Before Allah

  We pray to Allah mornings and evenings, days and nights. After making our own prayers we request each other to remember us in their du’as (supplications). We yearn for the acceptance of our du’as. We have the obvious hope in Allah سبحانه وتعالى that our innermost desires, concerns and fears will be addressed and answered. We plead with Allah and …
• 11 March

  The Real Passenger

  Our whole life hangs by a thin thread and that thin thread is the spirit (ruh). It is amazing that we devote our entire attention to our body not our spirit. This body is a cage; the real spirit resides within this cage. The body is only a means of transport. It is a vehicle and the real passenger is …
• 4 March

  The Power of Du’a

  Allah سبحانه وتعالى out of love and compassion and in order to cleanse and purify a person and bring him closer to Him embroils him in tests, trials and tribulations. At such times one must not underestimate the power of du’a (supplication) since it brings out all of the qualities Allah سبحانه وتعالى loves in a person.  These include admitting …
• 4 March

  The Power of Duʿā

  Allah سبحانه وتعالى out of love and compassion and in order to cleanse and purify a person and bring him closer to Him embroils him in tests, trials and tribulations. At such times one must not underestimate the power of duʿā (supplication) since it brings out all of the qualities Allah سبحانه وتعالى loves in a person.  These include admitting to one’s …

February, 2011

• 25 February

  The Fluctuating Heart

  It is inhuman and impossible to retain a high level of spirituality, imaan and awareness of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and these things will naturally fluctuate in a person. The reason the heart is called ‘qalb‘ in Arabic is because qalb means ‘to flip and change’ and the condition of the heart is constantly flipping and changing. Even the Companions felt …

January, 2011

• 27 January

  Constancy in Remembrance of Allah and Negating Stray thoughts

  Allah  سبحانه وتعالى says in the Holy Qur’an: أَلاَ بِذِكْرِ اللّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ Verily in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find contentment [Sura al Ra’ad 13:28] A person should strive to remember Allah سبحانه وتعالى in every situation, whether in public or in private. One way to achieve this is to recite the sunnah du’as (supplications) prescribed by Rasulullah …
• 6 January

  Constancy in Purity and Fasting

  Over the next few posts, we will elaborate briefly on the points mentioned in ‘Constancy in 8 Things‘. Constancy in purity and worship means that one’s external purity is reflected in one’s inner self.  One should strive to be in a perpetual state of wudhu, especially one who seeks to reach the rank of ihsaan. Wudhu is also the weapon …

December, 2010

• 3 December

  Pie in the Sky?

  Perhaps we are very neglectful of spirituality because today even though we may profess to be Muslims we have been so affected by materialism that we devote all our attention to those things that are material. So we place trust in money instead of Allah. We rely more on material things than we rely upon tawakkul (faith in Allah). We …

November, 2010

• 18 November

  Pearls of Wisdom 2

  A few more pearls of wisdom taken from some of the majalis (gatherings for spiritual training) held by  Shaykh Riyadh ul Haq in 1998: •    Hub-e-Jaah (love of name,fame and recognition) is normally the last  thing that leaves a person’s heart even though the other spiritual ailments like love of wealth and dunya may have been removed. •    Ishraafun Nafs …
• 12 November

  Pearls of Wisdom 1

  Below are some pearls of wisdom taken from a few majalis (gatherings for spiritual training) held by  Shaykh Riyadh ul Haq in 1998: •    Part of the cure to the diseases of the heart is to realise their dangers and how they manifest themselves in a person. •    If a person does not work on purifying his inner, his external …

October, 2010

• 28 October

  Eradication of Spiritual Diseases

  قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّاهَا He who purifies the soul, he is successful. [Surah al Shams 91:9] Just as the body falls ill, the ruh (soul) also falls ill.The illnesses of the ruh include pride, jealousy, malice, hatred, love of dunya (worldly life) and suspicion. However, we are not concerned with these spiritual diseases although the health of the ruh should …
• 21 October

  Hard of Heart

  Sayyiduna Abdur Rahman bin Auf رضى الله عنه repeatedly made the dua ‘Oh Allah! Protect me from the greed of my own soul’. A person who is greedy becomes enslaved to his own nafs and not to Allah سبحانه وتعالى. Such a person becomes hard-hearted and it is very difficult to talk sense into a person who begins to follow …

September, 2010

• 17 September

  Oh Allah! Grant my soul its taqwah and purify it

  A famous du’a (supplication) of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is: اللَّهُمَّ آتِ نَفْسِي تَقْوَاهَا وَزَكِّهَا أَنْتَ خَيْرُ مَنْ زَكَّاهَا أَنْتَ وَلِيُّهَا وَ مَوْلَاهَا ‘Oh Allah! Grant my soul its taqwa and purify it, for you are the best who can purify it, for you are the Master of my soul and you are the Keeper o f my …
• 10 September

  When my nafs tells me to remain silent…

  An alim (scholar) was asked ‘How do you learn to control your tongue?’. His reply was amazing. He said ‘My way of controlling my tongue is as follows; whenever my nafs tells me to speak, I remain silent. Whenever my nafs tells me to remain silent, I speak’. There is a wealth of information in these words of wisdom. When …
• 2 September

  Oh Nafs! Isn’t it true…?

  One great scholar in a classical piece of writing addresses his nafs (soul) and says ‘Oh Soul! Admit! Isn’t it true that when I recite the Qur’an you feel fatigue, tiredness and you remind me of the need for the body to rest. You feel the desire to go away and lie down. You remind me of the obligation of …

August, 2010

• 26 August

  Why do we still sin in Ramadhan?

  Why do we still fall victim to desire and continue to sin during Ramadhan? We know that the shayateen (devils) are locked up in Ramadhan so why do we still persist in sin during this blessed month? This is not due to the shayateen misleading us but rather our own nafs. Committing certain sins has almost become second nature for …
• 19 August

  The Month of Silence

  Anas bin Malik رضى الله عنه relates that Ramadhan arrived so the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, ‘Indeed this month has come upon you, and therein is a night which is better than a thousand months. Whoever is deprived of it is deprived of all good, and none is deprived of it except one who is truly deprived’ [Reported …
• 5 August

  Spiritual Deterioration

  Man naturally deteriorates in spirituality over time. This is because no effort is required for this to happen. When a person is not doing any good, he falls into this state of decline. It is not that a person sins then a person becomes bad and only then declines in spirituality. Rather, if a person does not do anything, neither …

July, 2010

• 29 July

  Designer Spirituality

  Allah سبحانه وتعالى says in a verse of Surah Furqan: أَرَأَيْتَ مَنِ اتَّخَذَ إِلَهَهُ هَوَاهُ أَفَأَنتَ تَكُونُ عَلَيْهِ وَكِيلًا Have you not seen he who has made his nafs god? [N.B. Partial translation] [Surah al Furqan 25:43] In a hadeeth Sayyidina Shaddad ibn Aws رضى الله عنه narrated that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: عَنْ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ …