Monday 30 April 2012

Gems 6-10


Bismihi Ta’ala

Selected and concise advices / sayings of 
Hazrat Maulana Yunus Patel 
(Rahmatullahi ‘alayh)


6.

‘Do for Allah’s Pleasure,
Allah will give you from His Treasure…’

7.

‘I always say don’t court before marriage. Most couples court, court and court, and after marriage, they end up in divorce courts.’

8.

‘I often say : We get instant tea, and instant coffee, and instant pudding and instant cereal, and so many other things have become ‘instant’. …We are living in such a time, when death too has become just as instant. We don’t know where, when and how.’

9.

‘When giving a talk in Bolton (UK), I mentioned that the name of their suburb tendered noble advice:
That we place a bolt on the doors of our hearts – to shut nafs and shaytaan out of our hearts, and to protect the treasure of Allah Ta’ala in our hearts.

10.

‘Ghaflat (negligence/heedlessness) is the HEN which lays the EGGS of all other sins. This is what happens when we become negligent and forgetful of Allah Ta’ala, of Aakhirah and of Accountability: We get caught up in sins.’



Friday 20 April 2012

Gems 1 - 5


Bismihi Ta’ala

Selected and concise advices / sayings 
of Hazrat Maulana Yunus Patel (Rahmatullahi ‘alayh)

1.

‘The sooner you connect yourself to Allah Ta’ala and  Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi waSallam),  the sooner you get on ‘track’, then the first thing Allah Ta’ala blesses you with is 
peace of mind and satisfaction.’


2.

 ‘The brake of the remembrance of death restrains the vehicle of life 
from the accidents of sin.’


3.

‘If you want peace, if you want contentment and if you want tranquility, then chalk out this goal in  life : Make ONE ALLAH happy. …What a beautiful religion Islam is!’


4.

          ‘If the heart has “rust”, then bring the “t” back : Trust in Allah Ta’ala, “Turn” to Allah Ta’ala, make sincere “Taubah” to Allah Ta’ala.’


5.


‘Where you don’t find Allah Ta’ala*, DISTANCE YOURSELF.

*       i.e. His Pleasure





Wednesday 18 April 2012

Durood Shareef



During a visit to Madina Munawwarah[1], I was sitting in the courtyard, on the marble floor outside Masjidun Nabawi[2] (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam), near the Raudha Mubarak[3]. I was looking at the Green Dome, and in deep thought. A doctor, from Johannesburg, walked by. After greeting me with Salaam, he asked me as to what I was watching.


I replied : ‘The flights coming into Madina Shareef.’


He replied : ‘No planes are permitted to fly in the vicinity of the Haram Shareef.’


I explained : ‘The flights are the flights of the angels, who have collected the Durood[4] and Salaam[5] of millions of Muslims, throughout the world, and who are now conveying these to Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam).’


The Hadeeth Shareef mentions : ‘Verily Allah has certain angels wandering all over the earth. They convey to me the Salaat of my Ummah.’[6]


…This should not be difficult to understand in this day and age of advanced technology. Thousands of people are making phone calls to people in different cities and countries of the world. Within seconds, there is a connection and the person is able to speak.


Rasulullah’s (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) Ihsaan (favour) upon us is tremendous. Durood Shareef should therefore become our daily practice as it develops that connection with Nabi (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam).


Using the remarkable gift of imagination, one should imagine the angels conveying one’s Durood Shareef in the court of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam), or imagine standing before the Raudha Mubarak and personally presenting Salaat and Salaam to the Master of all men, the Seal of all the Prophets, the Crown of the Believers, the Illuminator of the universe, the Leader of the pious, the Protector and Guide of the Believers and the Beloved of Allah Ta’ala, Sayyidina[7] Muhammad (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam).

This noble and lofty Ibaadah[8] of conveying Salaat and Salaam with sincerity, attention and meditation will create a ‘kaifiyyat’ or special feeling within the heart as well as gain one the Qurb[9] of Allah Ta’ala, since Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) is the Beloved of Allah Ta’ala.


Moreover, the person who conveys Salaat and Salaam becomes the beneficiary to many, many bounties, in this world and the next. Some of these are :

-          Sins are forgiven,
-          Stages elevated in the hereafter,
-          Protection from Jahannum,
-          Protection from harm,
-          Intercession of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam),
-          Securing the pleasure of Allah Ta’ala,
-          Attracting blessings in wealth,
-          Dispelling poverty


Durood Shareef also draws the Rahmah (mercy) of Allah Ta’ala and invites Barakah (blessings) into our homes, businesses, and lives, as well as grants relief from various anxieties.

Through the recitation of Durood Shareef, our duas (supplications) are also accepted, Insha-Allah.


By Hazrat Maulana Yunus Patel Saheb
(Rahmatullahi ‘Alayh)








[1] Madina Munawwarah : The Enlightened City
[2] Masjidun Nabawi: The Sacred Mosque of the Messenger  (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam).
[3] Raudha Mubarak : Blessed garden (in reference to Nabi’s (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam)  grave)
[4] Durood/Salaat : Seeking Allah’s Blessings on Nabi (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam).
[5] Salaam : Salutation to the Messenger (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam).
[6] Nasa’ee
[7] Sayyidina : Our Leader
[8] Ibaadah : Worship
[9] Qurb : proximity, nearness.



Sunday 15 April 2012

Avoiding the Ash Clouds of Sins



By Hazrat Maulana Yunus Patel Saheb
(Rahmatullah ‘Alayh)

WEBSITE : YunusPatel.co.za

One young friend of mine, who is a pilot, recently flew to Australia. Due to the ash clouds, they were told they would not be able to take off. They were thus delayed a few days.

When he returned, I asked him : “There was still a lot of ash …What did you’ll do?”

He said : ‘They gave us a flight path whereby we could bypass the ash clouds. We took this route and we avoided the ash.’

I then asked him : “Did you take any lesson from that?”

He, in turn, asked : “What lesson?”

I explained :

“The lesson is this : When there was a lot of ash, then there was danger that the ash cloud would damage the engine of the Boeing you were flying. Your life was in danger and the lives of all the passengers were in danger. If you were caught in such an ash-cloud, you could have gone and the passengers could have gone. …So they gave you a ‘round about’ route, to avoid the ash clouds and reach your destination.

The lesson we take is that when there is temptation to sin, or some fitnah approaching, we must avoid it. We must take a ‘round about’ route. If that plane crashed, the lives would have gone. However, here, if there is a crash – i.e. the person falls into sin – the spiritual life – Imaan - can go.

…Some of those crashes take the person’s Imaan away. Some pretty face takes away the Imaan of a person, or some other temptation or invitation to Haraam leads to a spiritual crash. The environment of drugs, pornography, fornication and adultery, gambling, music, etc. are like those ash-clouds.

The Muslim avoids all areas of sins – whether the cinemas, clubs, theatres or other venues of vice. To whatever extent he can avoid, he avoids. He takes a ‘round about’ route so that he can reach his destination safely. And the destination of a Muslim is Jannat. 

If there is a group of young girls dressed indecently and the gaze falls on them accidentally, then try and avoid an encounter with them. Don’t even look again. Think that the ash clouds are approaching. …If the person cannot lower his gaze and quickly walk pass, then he must move in another direction. Cross the street. Go over to the other side. Take another route lest he gets caught in the ash cloud of fitnah and loses his Imaan and Aakhirah.

I told this pilot friend : ‘When you are flying the plane, then you avoid the ash clouds. Avoid those clouds of fitnah as well. …On the plane itself, there will be encounters with the air-hostesses and female passengers. At that time, guard the gaze. You must be an example. You must show to others that I am a Muslim. …That you don’t behave like the other pilots behave.’

And the same applies to all of us. We too face different ‘ash-clouds’ of fitnah – whether on the plane or train, whether at work or in the bazaars and market places, whether at school or college. How do we respond ? Do we adopt Taqwa? Do we fear Allah Ta’ala? Do we take the opportunity to prove our sincere and deep love for Allah Ta’ala?  Do we subscribe to “Fafirroo Ilallaah’ – i.e. we flee to Allah Ta’ala? Or do we recklessly ‘fly’ into the ash clouds of sins, unconcerned that we may be meeting our spiritual death?

There is no doubt that the environment around us is hazardous, dangerous and high-risk for our Imaan. Despite the scenario, a Muslim must be courageous. We do have the courage. We need to only make use of that courage.

Steer the heart and body away from those ash-clouds of fitnah if we want to reach the Hereafter safely, if we want to enter Jannat without delay; and above this, if we want to earn the Pleasure of Allah Ta’ala.

How do we build up this spiritual strength, whereby we avoid sins like how the pilot avoids the ash clouds, or like how we would avoid the plague… ? 

We work on developing the quality of Ihsaan.

Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'alayhi waSallam)   explained the quality of Ihsaan as :
“That you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him, And if you cannot see Him, then He sees you (anyway).”

The understanding and knowledge has to be deeply impressed in the heart and mind : “Wherever I am, my Allah is watching.”

My Shaykh, Hazrat Maulana Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Saheb (Daamat Barakaatuhum) says in poetry :  

“If you hide and commit sins,
Someone is watching from above (Allah Ta’ala)…”

A Muslim works towards developing the sifat (attribute) of Ihsaan in all aspects of his life. It is not confined to the different forms of Ibaadah (worship), like Salaah, Fasting, etc.; rather it is a reality which should be found across the spectrum of our lives.

Unfortunately, this quality of Ihsaan – this Conscious Awareness of Allah Ta’ala - is something which is lacking in our lives. As such, we very quickly and easily lose sight of Deen and Shariah, we lose sight of that khauf and khashiyat of Allah Ta’ala, or muhabbat and love of Allah Ta’ala.

The moment we are occupied in the mundane activities of life, we incline towards negligence. We forget Allah Ta’ala is watching. And this ‘ghaflat’ (negligence) is the stepping stone to spoiling the harmony of life. This ‘ghaflat’ is the HEN which lays the eggs of sins.

However, if this attribute is cultivated and nurtured in all aspects of life. ...“That you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him, and if you cannot see Him, then He sees you (anyway).” …then this is opening the doors  of success in both worlds.

The person who has developed within himself the beautiful state of “ihsaan” will lead a very balanced life. …Temptations will come his way, but he will not fall for those temptations. The quality of Ihsaan does not mean that Shaytaan will then leave him (or her) alone. Shaytaan will work harder and will continue to tempt. However, due to this Muslim’s conscious awareness of Allah Ta’ala, he will not fall for the temptations. He will resist them. And in this manner, he will also secure the noor of Taqwa. In this way, he becomes the friend of Allah Ta’ala.

“…Verily none are the Auliya (Friends of Allah) except those who refrain from His disobedience…”
[Surah Al-Anfal 8 : 34]

That Conscious Awareness of Allah Ta’ala makes us apply brakes and resist the temptation to sin. If we are faced with temptation, we will move away. Wherever we feel we will be tempted, then we will keep far from such areas. If an invitation to sin is extended to us, we will refuse and reject it.

Our dua is, as my Shaykh says, in poetry :

‘(O Allah) wherever I am – whether on earth or in the skies – my Taqwa must always remain safe.’

Saturday 14 April 2012

The Rose Garden




Bismillahir Rahmaanir Raheem

One of my uncles is an artist. Amongst his paintings, he had a picture of a rose held in a hand. The thorn from that rose flower had injured the person’s thumb and blood trickled down that thumb.


In 1969, when I returned home, after 7 years in India, he asked me to choose any painting. I chose this particular one, since it conveyed a message with deep meaning. …What is the message?


Don’t think that there is no danger in the rose garden. That garden may be filled with all kinds of charming, colourful and fragrant rose flowers, but don’t go in, thinking that there is no danger.

Beneath the petals of those beautiful, fragrant and sweet smelling flowers are thorns. Safeguard yourself and your garments when you walk through that garden, for those thorns cannot be trusted. They could cause you injury.


This world is like that beautiful garden. Smell the fragrance – i.e. make use of the things of the world. Use and enjoy everything Halaal[1], but beware of sins... the thorns of sins. These cannot be trusted, for these will definitely cause harm and injury. So don’t fall for the temptation to touch, see, hear, speak or walk towards Haraam.


The thorns of sins not only scratch and wound our bodies, they also pierce, damage and mar our delicate Imaan. The detrimental consequence of these thorns can even lead to ruin in the Hereafter. How many have lost their health, to Aids and other such diseases? How many have forsaken their religion for a beautiful or handsome face, or some wealth, power, name – at the great cost of their salvation in the Hereafter ?


The message conveyed by this picture is that we need to take the walk of life, through the garden of this world, with caution and care. This caution and care is what is termed Taqwa (Piety).


It has been mentioned that once Hazrat ‘Umar (Radhiyallahu 'Anhu) asked Hazrat Ubayy bin Ka’b (Radhiyallahu 'Anhu): ‘What is Taqwa?’


He, in turn, asked: ‘Did you have the experience of walking through thorny shrub?’


Hazrat ‘Umar (Radhiyallahu 'Anhu) replied: ‘Yes.’


Hazrat Ubayy bin Ka’b (Radhiyallahu 'Anhu) asked: ‘How did you walk ?’


Hazrat ‘Umar (Radhiyallahu 'Anhu) replied: ‘I rolled up my garment and walked very carefully and cautiously, so as not to be harmed by the thorns.’


Hazrat Ubayy bin Ka’b (Radhiyallahu 'Anhu) responded: ‘That is Taqwa.’


By Hazrat Maulana Yunus Patel Saheb (Rahmatullahi ‘alay) 



[1] Halaal : Lawful