Words and Reflections – Part 4 – Hazrat Moulana Mohammad Ilyas – رحمه الله

17

Hazrat Maulana رحمه الله

said:

“A Hadeeth reports that the Holy Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam taught Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq Radiallahu Anhu to beg the following du ‘aa after completing his salaat:

O Allah! I have wronged myself a great error, and there is none to forgive sins except you. So, forgive me by Your Grace and have mercy upon me, for verily, you are the Oft forgiving, Most Merciful.

Think for a while! The Holy Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam is teaching this du ‘aa to Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq Siddiq Radiallahu Anhu, who is the best and most perfect of the whole Ummat, and whose salaat was so perfect in the sight of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam that he himself made him imam in the salaat [during his lifetime]- yet he is teaching him to beg this du ‘aa at the end of his salaat- that he should admit before Allah that he has remained weak in fulfilling the due of worship, and should beg forgiveness through His kindness and mercy! So, where do you and I stand?!”

18

Hazrat Maulana رحمه الله said:

“Man’s stay on earth is very short (i.e., not longer than the longest human life-span), whereas he will have to stay for much longer time below the earth. You may also put it this way that your earthly life is very short compared to the various places you are to stay afterwards. For example, in the grave up to the 1st sounding of the trumpet; after that, the period up to the 2nd sounding of the trumpet in a state best known to Allah alone (a span spreading for thousands of years); then thousands of years duration in the Plane on the Day of Judgement- and then, whatever be the divine decision about one’s final place in the hereafter. In short, every stage and place after death is thousands of life spans. Even then, how sad is the negligence of man that he does not make even that effort for those places which he does for his very short span of earthly life.”

19

Hazrat Maulana رحمه الله said:

“The true zikr of Allah is that: in whichever place and in whatever condition and engagement a person is, he must obey all of Allah’s commands that are relevant to that particular occasion. I press my friends more for this very zikr.”

20

Hazrat Maulana رحمه الله said:

“The tongue receives a special share in man’s mastery over the entire creation. So, if a man uses his tongue only for good speech, this will give him mastery in goodness. But if he has made his tongue an instrument of evil, for example, he uses foul language or unjustly harms others by speaking ill, then he will be distinguished in evil on account of the ill use of his tongue. Nor is this all, an evil tongue can sometimes make a man more evil than even dogs and pigs. A Hadeeth says: It is only the chatter of the tongue that throws people headlong into the fire.”   O Allah save us.

21

One day after Fajr salat, while encouraging people to help and serve deen, Hazrat Maulana started his talk with the following words:

“See that all people know and believe that Allah is not absent, but is present, and is seeing everything every moment. Now see, if the people, regardless of Allah’s all-existence and all-seeing, involve themselves in others rather than involving themselves in Him, i.e., turn away from Him and devote themselves and their attention to others- just think how unfortunate such people are and what a sad deprivation it is, and imagine how greatly would this thing be invoking Allah’s extreme anger?”

“To be indifferent to the work of Allah’s deen, and involving oneself in worldly engagements without observing His commands in worldly matters- is [the name of one’s] turning away from Allah and attaching and devoting oneself to other associations. On the other hand, being involved in the work of deen and to be obedient to Allah’s cornmands- is [the name of one’s sincere] involvement in Allah. But in this connection, care should be taken that the more important and essential a matter is, the more attention should that matter be given, [i.e., one must attend to first things first] – and this thing could be known from the perfect example of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam. It is known that the work- to which the Holy Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam exerted himself the most, and for which he suffered biggest number of hardships- was spreading the Kalimah, i.e., putting people on the path of Allah’s obedience. So, this work will then receive priority above all other works, and involving oneself in this work will be the best form of involvement in Allah.”

22

In one sitting Hazrat Maulana رحمه الله said:

“People have given much lesser importance to their obedience and service to Allah in contrast with their obedience and service to men. Therefore, when it comes to doing their employers’ work, this is the common behaviour of the servants that they consider it their duty to occupying themselves with this work all the time; and in doing their work, they [remain so busy that they do not even think about meals, and] eat whatever little comes to hand. On the other hand, what people do in discharging the due of Allah and deen is no more than cutting down some of their time from their solely personal engagements to do some religious devotion, like offering salaat or giving some money in charity, while wholly devoting themselves to the issues and events of their own interest and concern, and taking it as having fulfilled their right of service to Allah and deen. The right of Allah’s slavery means that the work of deen should be taken up as a regular job, while satisfying one’s thirst and hunger, and working for such needs, should be given secondary position.” (This does not mean that all people should give up their means of livelihood and businesses; it rather means that whatever may be the worldly business, it must be taken up with keeping the help and service of deen in view. [That is, a person should consider doing business to be the command of Allah; and considering his business to be the means of fulfilling this command of Allah, should then do his business- carrying out and fulfilling all those commands of Allah which appear in his business. In this way, his business will become deen.] One’s eating and drinking should be of an incidental nature, just as an employee’s is in the business of his employer.)