Content Soul

A collection of words of wisdom and excerpts from the spiritual gatherings of Shaykh Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …
8 July
A Spiritual Death

The spirit is divine in origin. Thus, its nourishment and means of keeping it healthy are also divine; that nourishment is the Qur’an and dhikr of Allah. As Muslims we should pay more attention to the spirit than the body. Materialism is about denying spirituality; anything beyond the tangible is denied. Even if this denial is not by tongue then …

10 June
Nafsun Mutma’innah

We are not humans because of the physical body but rather due to the soul. We need to focus on the soul on its entire journey from its origin till the final destination that Allah has designated it. By focussing on the soul and fulfilling its requirements, Allah will make us amongst those who are successful as they have purified …

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