Hadhrat Mufti Arif Umar Daamat Barakaatuhum

An in-depth treasury of explanations from the Kitaab, By Hadhrat Mufti Arif Umar Daamat Barakaatuhum

Irshaadul Mulook- Online Class (2) Lesson 1 8th Jumaadal Ukhraa 1439 Hijri 25th February 2018 بسم هللا الرحمان الرحيم Last week, we talked about the Niyyats that we should have while coming into the class, because it is according to the Niyyat and the intention which we are going to have will be dependent on the benefit we are going to get. Inshallah today we want to start off with the actual Kitaab, we shall start off with the introduction. Introduction Once again, the Kitaab that we are doing is called, ارشاد الملوک - Irshadul Mulook. This is a Kitaab in Urdu. It is actually an Urdu translation of a Kitaab which was originally written in Farsi. The Author of this Kitaab is the great Imam e Rabbani. The striped title is Imam e Rabbani, we can even say - the great co- founder of Deoband, and that was Hadhrat Maulana Rashid Ahmed Gangohi Rahmatullahi Alayh. This Kitaab has been written by him. As we know, that he is one of our great Akaabireen, one of our great elders from the Ulamaa of Deoband. Maulana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi Rahimahullah, and the founder of Deoband - Hadhrat Maulana Qasim Nanowtwi Rahimahullah, were both class mates, they were always together, and it is through their efforts that the Madressa of Deoband came into being. The introduction does mention a bit about Hadhrat Gangohi Rahimahullah, Inshallah we will do a bit about him.

There was another Great Wali of Allah, his name was Hafidh Zaamin Shaheed Rahmatullahi Alayh, Inshallah we are going to talk a bit about his life as well in the introduction. So he was the one who requested Maulana Rashid Ahmed Gangohi Rahimahullah to write such a Kitaab which would include all the details of Tasawwuf, of Ma rifat, of this path of Sulook, of how to get to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta ala, the steps needed, the stages that a person would pass, basically write about the journey to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta ala. So upon his command, Hadhrat Gangohi Rahimahullah wrote the Kitaab in Farsi - in the Persian language, because in those days the Persian language was more widely used than Urdu. Unfortunately today, the Farsi language is slowly becoming extinct in the Madaaris of the world. In the previous times Farsi was in every Madrassa, so that is why a lot of our Kitaabs they are in that language, they are in Farsi. The original Kitaab was written by Hadhrat Gangohi Rahimahullah by the name of Imdaadus Sulook. Hadhrat Gangohi Rahmatullahi Alayh named the Kitaab Imdaadus Sulook upon the name of his Sheikh, Hadhrat Haji Imdaadullah Muhajire Makki Rahimahullah. (Hadhrat Maulana Gangohi Rahimahullah's Shaykh as we all know was Hadhrat Haji Imdaadullah Muhaajire Makki Rahimahullah), we keep hearing his name in the Saturday Majlis. After that, a very great Khalifa of Hazrat Gangohi Rahimahullah, his name was Hadhrat Maulana Aashiq Illahi Meert'hi Rahmatullahi Alayh, who was the one who wrote the biography of Hadhrat Gangohi Rahmatullahi Alayh as well, and he was the one who translated this Kitaab from Farsi into Urdu. He translated the Kitaab from the Persian language into the Urdu language, and named the translation of the Kitaab as, Irshadul Mulook." So actually Irshadul Mulook is the translation of the original which was called Imdaadus Sulook". What does the title Imdaadus Sulook mean? Imdaad means help. "Sulook is referring to the path towards Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta ala. So Imdaadus Sulook, means the help on the path towards Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta ala. In other words, this Kitaab is going to help you in getting towards Allah, in the path towards

Allah, in your Sulook. The title makes sense, and at the same time he kept the name of the Kitaab upon the name of his Sheikh. This was obviously due to the intense love that he had for his Sheikh. Generally our Akaabireen, many times they would keep the names of the Kitaab that they would write or the names of the institutions, whatever it is, upon the name of their Sheikh. This is due to the love that they had for their Sheikh. What does Irshadul Mulook mean? Irshadul Mulook means, the guidance of the Kings. Mulook - referring to kings Irshad - guidance. Irshadul Mulook- guidance of the kings. In my very deficient understanding this can have two meanings. 'Guidance from the Kings' can mean, this guidance is coming from the Kings and then it will refer to our Akaabireen. Referring our Akaabireen as the Kings of Deen, Kings of Tasawwuf etc, so that would be one meaning. And the other possible meaning could also be Irshadul Mulook - (guidance of the kings) can mean guidance for the Kings. Then it would mean in reference to the people who are going to read this Kitaab, and they are going to take guidance from this Kitaab, he is referring to them as Kings. So both ways, whichever meaning is taken, it is going to come out to be correct. The introduction to this great Kitaab is equally great, it is like a Kitaab on its own. There is so much to the introduction itself. It is no surprise because the introduction has been written by Hadhrat Maulana Zakariya Rahmatullahi Alayh. The introduction has got many beneficial things, in fact every word of the introduction is of pure benefit, pure Noor, coming from the pen of Hadhrat Maulana Zakariya Rahimahullah. Everyone is familiar with him. The introduction is considered to be part of the actual Kitaab, it is not separate from the actual Kitaab, in as far as importance is concerned. I am going to read out the Urdu, for the sake of Barkat and for the sake of hearing the actual

words of Maulana Zakariya Rahimahullah, the Musannif, the Author of the Kitaab, and then I am going to translate it into English, and then explain, wherever an explanation is needed. The English translation of this Kitaab is available, however, I do not want anyone to have the English Translation in front of them, because then there is no point of us doing this class. If you have the English translation in front, then a person is not going to concentrate on what is being said in the class, instead he is going to end up concentrating on what is written in the text and may be comparing what I am saying, to what the translation is etc, it is going to be distracting as well as it is going to basically take away from the class itself. If you want to have the original Urdu Kitaab in front of you then by all means you can, but please do not have the English translation in front of you. So Hadhrat Maulana Zakariya Rahimahullah starts off, نحمده ونص ي ل عل رسوله الكريم After Hamd and Salat he says, اس سیاہ کارکا معمول رمضان المبارک پینتیس ہجری ےس گزشتہ سال پچایس ہجری تک اکاوند سال ما ے ہ مبارک می Is siyah kaar ka Ma mul Ramzanul Mubarak pentees Hijri se guzishta saal pachaasi Hijri tak, ikaavand saal maahe Mubarak mei Maulana Zakariya Rahimahullah is talking about his Ma mul, his Amal of the month of Ramadhan. He says, that, سیاہ کار Siyahkaar... He calls himself Siyahkaar. The literal meaning of Siyahkaar. Siyah means, Black or Dark "Kaar means, a person who is doing an action. So Siyahkaar actually means, this person who only does those Amaal which are dark and black. Those Amaal which are dark and which are black refer to sins. So the English translation of the word Siyaahkaar means this sinful one. He is calling himself this sinful one. Our Akaabireen, no matter how high they would go, no matter what lofty ranks and Darajaat, they would achieve, but their gaze would always be on their sins, and even if there

were no Zaahiran sins, outwardly there would be no sins in their lives, but in their gaze, their actions would be tantamount or equal to sins. They would always consider themselves to be sinful, they would always consider themselves to be committing those Amaal which are dark and which are black. And when they would say Siyahkaar they would call themselves Sinful one, they actually meant it! It was not just lip service, it was not just empty words, there was Haqeeqat to it, Yaani ke, they actually had this Yaqeen regarding themselves, that, definitely I am a sinful one.' Today, if we say, this sinful one", as many of us do say, many people call themselves like that. We call ourselves 'this sinful one', but in reality we do not believe that we are sinful, we are just saying it on the lips. Why? So that people can feel that we are very humble, and we consider ourselves to be sinful, so this also is a show. This is also Riyaa, this also becomes Riyaa. In this fake humility, there is nothing hidden, but Pride. Where we are saying that, 'I am a sinful one', but we don t consider ourselves to be sinful, it is just for people to hear, that 'O, this person is calling himself a sinful one, such great humility', and that is what we want. We want the praises of people. But in reality what we are saying is Pride itself. But when our Akaabireen would say it, then they would be convinced, that I am a sinful one. Another question arises that, How would we know that this person is saying or I am saying that I am a sinful one and I don t really mean it, I am just saying for people to hear, and our Akaabireen would say it, and they would actually have it in their hearts, they would understand regarding themselves that, 'I am a sinful one', how can you tell the difference? So the difference, a person can know and understand, through action, and the practical life of that person. When such incidents happen, where now a person has to actually exercise his humility and control himself, that is when the difference and the reality opens up, in such cases the person who was just saying it on the lips, that 'O I am a sinful one', but when you see that person flare up in anger, if someone tells him something which he does not like, he flares up in rage, then what happens? That sinful one, sinful one speech is all gone, it evaporated, khalaas. He exposed himself through his actions. From that we get to know, Acha, this person is not sincere in what he is saying.

If he truly considered himself to be a sinful one, if he truly considered himself to be the worst of all, then in that situation of the test, he would not have reacted as he did. He would not have flared up in rage, because he would have considered himself to be nothing. When you consider yourself to be nothing, then that is not the reaction. But when we see such a reaction, then we get to know, that this person was not sincere. Whereas with regards to our Akaabireen Rahimahumullah Ta ala, when the tests would come, where now someone is saying something bad to them, or something evil to them and they are accepting it, in this way, that they are responding to that as, 'what you are saying is true, forget what you are saying, I am worse than what you are saying.' No anger. They accept what that person is saying, even though it may or may not be true. So the action - the Amal, that is what differentiates the two. 'To say words on the lips is very easy.' Remember that! There is a couplet of this Faqeer which Alhamdullilah it had come into the heart while on one of my trips, in Nairobi, actually in the house of Brother Faheem Dossani, and this reflects and conveys to the same meaning which I just mentioned. باتی کرنا تو ے ہ بہت آسان عمل ےک میدان می ے ہ اصل امتحان 'Baatein karna to hai bohot asaan... Amal ke medaan me hai asal Imtihaan...' 'To say is very easy, but when it comes down to the Medaan of Amal, that is when the true test is...' So Hadhrat Zakariya Rahmatullahi Alayh says, my Mamul, yaani ke my regular routine in Ramadhaan from the year 1335 Hijri to 1385 Hijri, he is referring to 1385 Hijri as last year. From that, we get to know that he is writing this Introduction in 1386 Hijri, as he is saying 1385 was last year. There is a total gap of 51 years between 1386 and 1335. Notice, that he is not using English dates, he is giving the Hijri dates. This is how our Akaabireen always were. Normally in their writings, they will normally always give the Hijri date. If they do provide the English date, then it will always follow the Hijri date.

Today the importance of using our calender, the Hijri calender has also gone down. Today we don't use the Hijri calender even for our personal use. Ok, it is understandable that the world is working on the English Gregorian calendar, and in that instance we have to use the English calender. But as far as our personal use is concerned, when we are talking to our fellow Muslims, or when we are conversing amongst ourselves, or discussing the date within our families, or in places we can, we should be using the Hijri date, but unfortunately we do not use it, and end up using the English date. This is another weakness of the Muslims. A glimpse of the weakness that has crept into the Muslims, I am the weakest from all, and involved in this, is that, we do not want to use what is ours, and want to use what does not belong to us. What we mean by 'given to us by others', is that - we want to use what has been given to us by the people who have been after the destruction of Islam. Haalake if you look into the Gregorian Calender, then all months from January till December are based on the names of the Gods that the Pagans used to worship, or they were named after the Roman Emperors of the past. This was how the calender came out. The Gregorian Calender in itself starts off with the initials, AD. What does AD mean? It means after death, or when using Latin, it means Ano Domini. Whose death does it refer to? They will say the Death of Jesus, and we don't believe in that. We believe that Hadhrat Isa Alayhis Salaam is still alive. This is a calender which is based on his death, haalake he never died. So then what is this calender based on? It is something which is based on Shirk. I am not saying, we cannot use this calender, what I am trying to explain is about emphasising our Islamic Calender. In other words, we should also make a habit of using the Hijri date in our personal dealings where there is no requirement of the English date. And if we do want to use the English date, then as a minimum we should use both the Hijri date as well as the English date.

Therefore when we are writing, our Akaabireen always used to write the Hijri date at the top, and the English date at the bottom. They always wrote the Hijri date first, followed by the English date. Generally speaking, we are not aware of what the Hijri date is on any given day. If we are asked what the Islamic date is, we won't know, but if you ask any Muslim about the English date, then they will immediately be able to tell you. So this just shows how much we have left of ours, and adapted to what others have given us. This was just as a side note, that Maulana Zakariya Rahmatullahi Alayh is using the Hijri date, and not the English date. Just imagine...many of us do not even know their Hijri birth date, in other words which year they were born in as far as the Hijri calender is concerned. Haalake the Assal age of a person is calculated according to the Hijri calender and not the English calender. There are ways to find out about the year of our birth according to the Hijri calender. So Inshallah, let us try and get the usage of the Hijri calender. So he is saying, 'for 51 years, in the month of Ramadhan, from the time of Asr to Maghrib, I had the Ma'mul of reciting the Quran e Kareem to someone.' He would sit in front of someone and recite his Dhor of the Quran e Kareem by heart as he was a Haafidh. He did this Ma'mul consistently in every Ramadhan for 51 years. This was the Kamaal of our Akabireen, Istiqaamat. They had unwavering Istiqaamat, and this is what we are lacking in today. The big difference between us and them is Istiqaamat. It is not easy, for 51 years without fail, he would have this Ma'mul of reciting his Dhor from Asr to Maghrib, this is what Istiqaamat is. Definitely haalaat did come up in those 51 years, but he did not change his Ma'mul. Today we have a little bit of Haalaat coming into our lives and we just leave everything. There is no Istiqaamat, no firmness, today we will do one thing and tomorrow it is gone, or this year we may do one thing, and the next year it is gone. Because Istiqaamat is missing in our lives, that is why the progress is not there. Progress in life comes when there is Istiqaamat, steadfastness, a person is doing the same thing, the same A'maal, year after year, then only slowly we start to make progress. But our Haal is, we do one thing one day, and miss a week, then resume...that is not Istiqaamat, and we will not make progress this way.

So this was his Mamul every Ramadhan for 51 continuous years. And as I said, Haalaat did come, conditions arose, it is impossible that for a period of over half a century, things stay the same. Halaat change, Dunya changes, people change, everything changes, but the A'maal of our Akaabireen never changed. Their A'maal stayed the same, no wavering at all. This is how we have to become. Do not get affected by your outward Haalaat, because that is going to continue until your Maut, it is never going to stop. This Dunya is in continuous Harkat, it is in continuous change, it is never going to stop. So if we are going to sit and wait for an opportune time where we can sit and do our A'maal and have Istiqaamat, it is never going to happen. It is never going to come, because there are always going to be ups and downs in your life, as that is what life is till your Maut. So what is the method of Istiqaamat? It is to be consistent in doing things even while Haalaat are changing. Whatever changes happen, but we have to stay firm. Why do we have to change our Ma'mulaat? Why do we have to change our routine? We don't change our routine, referring to our Deeni routine concerning our A'maal etc. If anything, we should be increasing in our A'maal and not decreasing. If for example, we sit for I'tikaaf, then let us make it a Ma'mul, that we sit for I'tikaaf every year for the full 10 days. It can be done, a person can go through those Haalaat and work around them. This is just one example. Another example can be of any Amal, the daily Dhikr that we do also, our Tilawat of the Quran etc. The same will also apply to offering our Namaz with Takbeere Oola. We can be in any place, but that should not change. Our first worry should be, 'where is the Masjid, what time is the Namaz, I must be there before the Namaaz starts, baas', that should be our Fikr, and everything else is on the side. When a person holds on to that, is when he starts making progress. Inshallah we will continue next week.

May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala give us the Tawfiq, the ability to be able to make Amal on whatever has been discussed. Questions and Answers 1) How can one achieve the quality of humility? Humility is going to come, when we remove pride. A person has to work on his pride and ego. He has to crush his ego, and for that, a person has to undergo Mujahada of the Nafs. The Nafs and ego do not like to get crushed. When a person undergoes that Mujahada, it is not easy, it opposes it in every way. But when a person stays on, and continues crushing the Nafs, then slowly slowly the quality of humility comes in. Mujahada means effort, sacrifice, going through a procedure, going through the treatment. These spiritual sicknesses are not going to come out without seeking treatment. If we are not going to have treatment come, then these sicknesses are not going to leave us. Therefore it is important for all of us to give a weekly update regarding our Haalaat, get treatment, and make Amal upon it etc so that these things can be removed from our heart. Mujahada is extremely necessary, and it needs a lot of effort. Inshallah we all try our best, we are all weak, our Nafs is still strong, we continue with our Ma'mulaat with Paabandi, the Dhikr etc is going to make our Ruh strong, and our Nafs weak. 2) What is the correct Hijri date today?.وهللا اعلم today, As far as I know, it is the 8th of Jumaadal Ukhraa Conclusion Just to put it in front of us, can you see how much is hidden in the words of our Akaabireen? So far, we have just read one line, but there is so much lesson in whatever our Akaabireen would do, each one word of our Akaabireen, it gives off lesson after lesson, we can learn so much from it. These are our Akaabireen that is why we are saying, we must follow their path... They were the ones who sacrificed themselves for us.

Every word that came out of their mouth is filled with Nur...