Afkaar

No One Can Escape Their Test

2007-03-31T14:32:00.000-07:00

When my deceased son, Habib Ismaeel (r.a.) was in my wife's womb, Shaykh Zulfiqar (db) and Shaykh Husain (db) gave me advice I don't think I'll forget.

Habib (r.a.) lived for about 19 days last year. We found out about 6 months into the pregnancy that he had a cleft palate which can be an indication of a genetic problem. That was enough to freak us out, so I let Shaykh Husain (db) know. He contacted Shaykh Zulfiqar (db) who sent us this advice:

Everyone has a test, and no one can escape their test. This may be your test.

My wife and I felt an immediate sense of calm when we heard that. Later, the geneticist told us that based on the tests, the baby did indeed have a fatal genetic abnormality, Trisomy 13. In this context, Shaykh Husain (db) mentioned that sometimes Allah (swt) does these things to make an excuse to put people in jannah.

I humbly request your dua for this sinner (me), Habib (r.a.) and the rest of my family.

The Sunnah and Barakah

2005-11-17T15:15:00.000-08:00

One wonderful concept I learned from Shaykh Hussain Abdul Sattar regards attracting barakah from Allah.

If you follow the Sunnah of the Beloved of Allah (salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam), you will attract Allah's barakah, inshaAllah.

Planning

2005-11-17T15:12:00.000-08:00

Rehan Jalali, my teacher in diet and fitness, taught me this very useful idea:

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

He said this in relation to planning your meals when following his diet plan. Obviously, it is general, and can apply to much more.

May Allah protect him.

Here is an article that summarizes a lot of his stuff:

http://www.labrada.com/index.php?section=160

Body and Mind

2005-11-08T16:30:00.000-08:00

A sound body houses a sound mind.

Silent Dhikr

2005-07-18T06:50:00.000-07:00

Salam, just testing my mobile blogging abilities. I heard from a khalifah of shaykh zulfiqar (db) that silent dhikr is better than dhikr with the tongue.

Mufti Abdurrahman

2005-04-20T23:45:00.000-07:00

salamu alaikum,

I don't normally want to give my own personal advice. But here is some, anyway:

If you are a brother and ever get the opportunity to spend time with Mufti Abdurrahman Mangera, do it.

wassalam,
yousuf

the youth

2005-04-16T20:32:00.000-07:00

subhanAllah.

I met Shaykh Husain Abdul Sattar before I met Shaykh Zulfiqar.

The first time I met Shaykh Husain I asked him for advice in dealing with the youth in our community. I explained that many of them are good, but that they need guidance. He said he did not have experience with this and remained quiet. Though I was surprised, I did not press him.

Later, he said he did have something he wanted to say about the question. SubhanAllah.

He mentioned the hadith regarding what happens when Allah loves someone...that He orders the angels to love the same person and eventually, they also announce this.

So, he mentioned that if we straighten ourselves out, others can't help but love us and that will be the best way to affect them. He gave examples of people he knew that had caused changes for the better in the lives of their family members - not by directly telling them to change, but by changing themselves for the better.

This answer settled in my heart. May Allah reward him and love me and him.

Talbeenah

2005-04-16T20:27:00.000-07:00

My good friend asked Shaykh Zulfiqar about a dua to help him with his back ache.

Sh. Zulfiqar replied that there is dua and 'dawa'.

He explained that the Prophet (salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) complained to Jibreel (alaihi salaam) that he gets tired. So, Jibreel (alaihi salaam) told him (salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) told him to use "talbeenah".

Sh. Zulfiqar said they did some research and found that talbeenah may be made from cooking three ingredients together: barley, milk and either dates or honey.

I found that I usually need to cook the barley in water first to make it soft. Anyway, I found it to be so powerful that I don't drink coffee on the mornings that I take talbeenah.

Eating

2005-04-16T20:22:00.000-07:00

salam,

I was with Shaykh Muhammad al-Yacoubi (yahfidhahu Allah). He was taking me around Damascus showing me various important locations. We passed by the graves of some auliyaa' and got on the topic of Sufism. He mentioned that there are three principles: eating less, sleeping less and talking less.

He told me a good trick to eat less. First, count how many bites you take at a meal. Then, decrease the number of bites by one for a week. For example, if you take 40 bites in a meal, decrease it to 39 bites. Then, decrease the number of bites by 1 each week. That way your body does not even notice.

He said there were some auliyaa' that needed to eat only very very little.

May Allah give us taufiq.
Ameen.

wassalam.

Barakah in Time and Rizq

2004-12-20T01:41:00.000-08:00

My friend and I asked Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmad Naqshabandi what we can do to increase the barakah in our time and rizq.

He said to have taqwah. Then, Allah not only showers His barakah on your rizq and time, but on everything.

Studying books

2004-09-05T20:23:00.000-07:00

"It is better to read one book twice than to read two books."

and

"Fear the man of one book."

I heard both of these from Shaykh Muhammad al-Youkoubi who heard them from his father, Shaykh Ibrahim al-Yakoubi (r.a.).

Shaykh Abdurrahman ash-Shaghouri

2004-07-27T23:06:00.000-07:00

We went twice to Shaykh Abdurrahman ash-Shaghouri's (rahimahu Allah) home on Jabl Qasyoon with Shaykh Muhammad al-Yakoubi.

On the first occasion, he looked at us as we walked into his room to greet him and have a seat . He pointed to the heavens and said: "Laa taufiqa illa billah!" ("There is no Taufiq, except through Allah!")

When I think back, I can't remember how loud his voice was when he said it. That is because he had difficulty speaking (I assume due to his age at the time). But, the intensity with which he said it erased my memory of his volume - since it does not matter. Now, those words are chiseled deep into my heart.

The second time we went was when he invited us for dinner. That was amazing. SubhanAllah, even at his age I saw him struggling to eat his own food himself, not wanting any assistance. He was close to 100 years old, I think.

His face was one of those faces you could look at all day - but wouldn't out of awe. I can tell you that his face had an illumination that you have to see to believe.

May Allah forgive him, and enter him into jannat-i-firdaus. Ameen.

Knowledge is what is Taken from the Mouths of Men

2004-07-27T13:42:00.000-07:00

Knowledge is what is taken from the mouths of men. Because they memorize the best of what they hear, and they say the best of what they memorize.

Paraphrased from Ta'leem al-Muta'allim by Imam Zarnuji

Damascus

2004-07-27T12:37:00.000-07:00

bismillah

I had the honor of visiting Damascus from 2001 to 2002 to study Arabic for about 11 months.

Sh. Muhammad al-Yakoubi helped me study there.

Bismillah

2004-07-24T22:28:00.000-07:00

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem

I don't plan to write too much useless stuff, inshaAllah (God-willing).

I just have a few things in mind.

1) Relating an experience of something I think will benefit others in this world or the aakhirah.

2) Any bits of wisdom I have been fortunate to gather.