Gracious Allah gave the glad tidings of the deputation of the holy Prophet-saws to His bondsmen and said, ‘A Messenger has come to you from amongst you, who feels every grief of you. If you slip, it is he who feels the pain.’ This Divine address is meant for the whole humanity. The human race is being told a fact that in this world no one can find a real sympathizer. Here all relationships, friendships and love are linked with personal interests. These are established and maintained where there is hope of some benefit, fulfilment of some need or expectation of some favor. But, if circumstances of the same favorite person take a wrong turn and people realize that they can’t benefit from him anymore, they instantly forget all love, forsake all friendship and sever all relationships. This is a world where all relationships are governed by vested interests. Almighty Allah says, ‘I have sent a slave of mine, who feels sorry for every pain suffered by mankind; he wants to save them and prays for them. My Messenger-saws is independent of everyone in both worlds. He is absorbed in my communion only, and has no interest with anything in this world. He wants absolutely nothing from you. If you are rich, he doesn’t covet your riches; if you are strong, he doesn’t require your strength; if you possess some excellence, he has no concern with it. Still, he-saws loves you, shares your grief, wants to protect you and is spending all of his energy for it. Despite the fact that he has nothing to do with anything in both worlds, his keenness touches the limits of anxiety to save you from afflictions of the both worlds. And when someone believes him and believes Almighty Allah through him, for such believers he is compassionate and merciful. These are the exalted qualities of the holy Prophet-saws, described by Allah. Now, friendship is not a one way relationship, that one person loves and the other responds with hate; one wishes well and the other responds indifferently. It will be impossible to explain such attitude on the Day of Resurrection; if it is asked that such a great personality loved you and invited you towards Allah’s Mercy and you disregarded his affection without realizing your own lowly status. Leave alone other sins, refusal of the invitation of Prophet Muhammad-saws is such a big crime that human race has no explanation for it. Even those who accept also exhibit strange behavior. We declare verbally that we accept and we will obey; that we don’t take anyone except Allah as our God and we accept the holy Prophet-saws as Allah’s Messenger. But, can a mere verbal claim fulfil the obligation?
If a person tells us not to take water for half hour, let’s say a doctor advises us not to take water for half hour after his injection or tablet, we will never drink water for that time. But, if we start drinking water immediately, right in front of him, will this be called as acceptance of doctor’s advice? We proclaim the Kalimah Tayyibah, accepting Allah’s Greatness and the Prophet Hood of the holy Prophet-saws, but when we act, we always act opposite to our claim. Take the case of worships, how many of us take due care of our worships? Our relationship with worship is so weak that we forsake them at the slightest pretext. A new malady ‘my mood is off’ has recently crept into our lives. One may have no headache, no fever, nothing at all, but would still say, ‘my mood is off’. I really don’t understand what does this mood mean and when does it go on and when does it go off. ‘My mood is off’ I couldn’t offer Salah.’ Strange indeed! You have taken your food with this off mood, been to office with this off mood; have done all important business with the same off mood, but the only thing you couldn’t do was to offer Salah, because your mood was off! Hakeem Khuda Bakhsh was one of the senior members of the Order and was a very pleasant person. He used to say, ‘if a person can go out for his necessary errands, what excuse does he have for not going to the mosque?’ He himself went to the mosque very regularly. He became old and his sight got weak, still he went to the mosque at night with a lantern in his hand. Once I asked him, “Your eyesight is weak; can you see the way with this lantern?” He answered, “No, I can’t see, but I have walked through this street for a whole lifetime, so I can guess the way. I can see to some extent during the day, but can’t see anything at night.” I asked, “Then what is the use of carrying this lamp?” He replied, “It is for others to see that I am coming so that they can avoid bumping into me.” Even in that condition, he didn’t coin any excuse to offer Salah at his home. He used to say, ‘if I can walk and attend to other issue of life, why can’t I go to the mosque?’
What is Faith? It is a connection, a relationship that compels a person to obedience. Faith is love and Faith is longing. Without Faith, there is neither love nor longing. It were the Companions who possessed real love. The holy Quran describes that they waited for new Divine Commandments to be revealed so that they could obey with their heart and soul. They had not got tired with already revealed Ordinances and used to observe the bright countenance of the holy Prophet-saws waiting for Revelation containing new Orders which they should follow with their heart and soul. Worship is a personal matter which a person performs for his own self. He worships to cleanse his heart, seeks forgiveness for his sins and to establish his relationship with the Lord of the worlds. In practical life, however, he has to deal with Allah’s creation and the rights and obligations of innumerable people. How can a person, who has such a weak relation with Allah and His Messenger-saws that he cannot obey them for his own sake, be expected to obey Allah and His Messenger-saws with regards to Allah’s creation?
Allah has ordained: … This Divine Command does not include any interruption. It hasn’t been said, ‘Recite Darood ten times in the morning and six times at night; recite at Asar, not at Maghrib.’ It means recite Darood continuously, so much that the obligation of reciting Darood is fulfilled. We have been hearing the word ‘Darood’ since our childhood, but no one has ever told us what is Darood and what is its meaning. The word ‘Darood’ is derived from ‘dara, yadurru’, which means an act that never stops. So Darood denotes a continuous action without interruption. However, if a person recites only Darood Shareef all of his time, how will he attend to his other affairs; and it is Allah’s Command that there should be no interruption in Darood? Remember, there are three aspects of Darood Shareef. The first aspect is that you acknowledge the greatness of the holy Prophet-saws from the core of your heart and the strength of this acknowledgement never decreases. It is also Darood that someone acknowledged the Messenger ship and the finality of Prophethood of the holy Prophet-saws and stood firm during his whole life with his ever increasing and never decreasing belief. This is the type of Darood which never ended. The second and important type of Darood is our attitude in practical life. When we talk to someone, why do we keep to good manners? It is because that is the Sunnah of our holy Prophet-saws. We indulge in trade, make friends and foes, make peace and war, marry and beget children whom we educate. If we have the greatness of the holy Prophet-saws in our hearts, while doing anything in life and do it according to his instructions, the whole activity becomes Darood as well as obedience, and will attract divine mercy. The greater share in this Divine mercy shall go to the personality-saws who taught that noble act. Therefore, when anyone follows the Sunnah anywhere on the globe and is rewarded with Divine mercy, the personality-saws who taught that noble act will get many times his share of Divine mercy. This will imply continuity to the recitation of Darood. If he spent his whole day according to Shari’at, all his actions became Darood Sharif. Divine mercy attends to him that he performed worship and all his actions according to the Sunnah. This is the second form of Darood Sharif.
The third and last form of Darood Sharif is that we pray to Allah to shower His choicest favors, blessings and peace on our holy Prophet-saws. This form comes at the third place. Now, if someone leaves the first two, what will be the effect of only the third? If you demolish the first floor of a three-floor building, what will be left? If the basic faith, belief and relationship got affected, then nothing is left. If we break the doors, windows or walls of the second floor, it will start getting weak and finally collapse, taking the third floor along. But the exalted name of the holy Prophet-saws possesses strange blessings, beyond the scope of human intellect and imagination. If someone adopts only the third form and continues to recite Darood Sharif frequently, the lower two floors are repaired automatically. This doesn’t happen anywhere in the world. If you start repairing only the third floor, without paying attention to the first two, these will not be repaired automatically. Rather, when they collapse, they will take along the third floor also. The exalted name of the holy Prophet-saws possesses the blessing that if a sinful Muslim starts reciting Darood Sharif frequently, sitting, standing, walking, it starts to reform his conduct. Reformation of conduct, in turn, strengthens the Faith. He is actually repairing the third floor, but the other two are being repaired automatically and their appearance and strength is also improving.
It is worship to think about the holy Prophet-saws, it is worship to mention his name, it is worship to follow him and it is worship to serve him. What is virtue? It is the servitude to the holy Prophet-saws. What is sin? It is disobedience of the holy Prophet-saws. Very unfortunate is the person who breathed on Allah’s earth, benefited from this sun, lived in this atmosphere and could not know the holy Prophet-saws and could not believe in him. There is none on this earth who is more unfortunate than him. May Allah have mercy on the person blessed with the light of Faith to fulfil the obligation of his love! It is not necessary to spend millions to buy his-saws kindness. It is not necessary to sacrifice the life to draw his benevolence. It is but a feeling within the heart; a relationship of the heart; if it becomes strong, it can defeat even death, what to speak of the worldly ordeals. Such a person lives forever; he doesn’t die; he continues to live even after death. Real life is that when he is buried in the grave, he illuminates the grave and grants it life. But, where does this life come from? Just like this universe takes light from the sun, all universes take life from the holy Prophet-saws. That beloved of Allah, on whom Allah Himself showers His choicest favors and His angels send their salutations, and He invites the believers to join Him and His angels in sending Darood! We are a handful of dust, what is our worth! But the Creator of Eternity says ‘I am sending Darood on my Prophet-saws, so are My angels; you should also join.’ Can a man think of any greater honor than this? Allah added Darood in at-Tahiyat in Salah; He put in the orders to recite Darood in the Quran; He integrated the remembrance of the holy Prophet Muhammad-saws with each step of life. Each breath of a believer is attached with the remembrance of the holy Prophet-saws. This work is to be done; how: as told by the holy Prophet-saws. This is not to be done; why: because it has been forbidden by the holy Prophet-saws. With every act of the day and night is integrated the remembrance of that single personality! What a great honor! Even the angels attend that assembly with respect! What is our worth? We are those whom none cares to know or recognize! We are just dragging ourselves through the highs and lows of life. What is our value and what can we give to others? Only that thing, which benefits others, has some value. What can anybody get from us, we are so needy ourselves? But, if we attach ourselves to that honorable court and serve it devotedly, a time comes when a person loses his self. The Sufis term it as Fana fir Rasul; a person retains his self, he walks and works but his wishes, ambitions and all actions are lost before the noble will of the holy Prophet-saws. When someone attains to Fana fir Rasul, he also becomes beneficial for others. He is like a mirror that starts reflecting sun’s light when placed before the sun. It is not mirror’s own light; it takes from the sun and, instead of just absorbing it, reflects it and benefits others. Similarly, a person who attains to Fana fir Rasul can be beneficial for humanity. If a person is granted the meditation of Fana fir Rasul, he doesn’t actually become Fana fir Rasul. The meditation helps him and establishes his connection with the Court of the holy Prophet-saws. He is responsible to mould his life through that connection. If he doesn’t redirect the course of his life, and if Allah doesn’t pardon him, he would be charged with two offences.
The other day, someone mentioned the foolishness of a person. I said, “He is a simple person; he may be foolish but he attends to worships and performs Zikr. If he is unintelligent, that is his good luck. It is we, who claim to be intellectuals that will be caught, when we will be questioned, ‘he was a fool, he didn’t know; but you knew, what then had you been doing’?” Situation will be particularly difficult for someone who considers himself an intellectual. Similarly, if the teacher grants a student the meditation of Fana fir Rasul, and he still doesn’t completely obey the holy Prophet-saws, how can he answer the question that you had a connection and strength, you should have tried to take that colour; you should have made an effort to follow the holy Prophet-saws, you should have eaten Halal and spoken the truth; you should have obeyed Allah on the land of Allah. Our custom is that we follow the majority: ‘I did this because everyone was doing it’. This is no argument. There was a time when the holy Prophet-saws was alone in his claim of Prophethood and the whole world was opposing him. Did Hadhrat Abu Bakr-rau and Ali-rau accept Islam for the reason that majority of people had accepted Islam. No! They said, ‘Let the whole world refuse, we accept; this slave of Allah is true’. When the holy Prophet-saws stated the Incident of Ascension, there was an uproar in whole Makkah. People used to gather on the mounds of Safa and Marwah near the Bait Ullah for tale-telling and gossip. Abu Jahal said, ‘He says he went above the heavens and returned. Leave that claim alone. But he says he went to the Dome of Rock and led the prayers of Prophets. It takes us three months on a fast and strong camel to reach there. How did he return in the same night?’ Finally, they thought of telling Abu Bakr-rau. They rushed to his house and said, ‘Abu Bakr, you accepted Islam. You believed your friend to be a Prophet. Do you now believe this?’ He replied, ‘I already believe that he receives Revelation from Allah, and that is far greater than what you are saying now. If he has really said what you are stating, I affirm it to be true and believe it,’ although he had not yet heard it from the holy Prophet-saws. This is Fana fir Rasul!
If Allah grants this blessing to someone, it befits him that his belief should become Darood, his conduct should become Darood, his thoughts should become Darood and his tongue should recite Darood continuously. It is not enough to celebrate the birthday of the holy Prophet-saws and fire crackers. In fact the whole world and entire humanity should celebrate his birthday and feel happy. Even the disbelievers should feel happy that Allah has raised a personality that desires their wellbeing. The believer’s connection with him is established from the time of his Prophet Hood, and we have forgotten that! The mercy and blessings that his Prophet Hood brought are simply countless. He-saws taught human beings to converse with the Lord of the Worlds. From where he picked them and to what heights did he raise them! May Allah’s choicest favors, blessings and peace be on him!
If a person tells us not to take water for half hour, let’s say a doctor advises us not to take water for half hour after his injection or tablet, we will never drink water for that time. But, if we start drinking water immediately, right in front of him, will this be called as acceptance of doctor’s advice? We proclaim the Kalimah Tayyibah, accepting Allah’s Greatness and the Prophet Hood of the holy Prophet-saws, but when we act, we always act opposite to our claim. Take the case of worships, how many of us take due care of our worships? Our relationship with worship is so weak that we forsake them at the slightest pretext. A new malady ‘my mood is off’ has recently crept into our lives. One may have no headache, no fever, nothing at all, but would still say, ‘my mood is off’. I really don’t understand what does this mood mean and when does it go on and when does it go off. ‘My mood is off’ I couldn’t offer Salah.’ Strange indeed! You have taken your food with this off mood, been to office with this off mood; have done all important business with the same off mood, but the only thing you couldn’t do was to offer Salah, because your mood was off! Hakeem Khuda Bakhsh was one of the senior members of the Order and was a very pleasant person. He used to say, ‘if a person can go out for his necessary errands, what excuse does he have for not going to the mosque?’ He himself went to the mosque very regularly. He became old and his sight got weak, still he went to the mosque at night with a lantern in his hand. Once I asked him, “Your eyesight is weak; can you see the way with this lantern?” He answered, “No, I can’t see, but I have walked through this street for a whole lifetime, so I can guess the way. I can see to some extent during the day, but can’t see anything at night.” I asked, “Then what is the use of carrying this lamp?” He replied, “It is for others to see that I am coming so that they can avoid bumping into me.” Even in that condition, he didn’t coin any excuse to offer Salah at his home. He used to say, ‘if I can walk and attend to other issue of life, why can’t I go to the mosque?’
What is Faith? It is a connection, a relationship that compels a person to obedience. Faith is love and Faith is longing. Without Faith, there is neither love nor longing. It were the Companions who possessed real love. The holy Quran describes that they waited for new Divine Commandments to be revealed so that they could obey with their heart and soul. They had not got tired with already revealed Ordinances and used to observe the bright countenance of the holy Prophet-saws waiting for Revelation containing new Orders which they should follow with their heart and soul. Worship is a personal matter which a person performs for his own self. He worships to cleanse his heart, seeks forgiveness for his sins and to establish his relationship with the Lord of the worlds. In practical life, however, he has to deal with Allah’s creation and the rights and obligations of innumerable people. How can a person, who has such a weak relation with Allah and His Messenger-saws that he cannot obey them for his own sake, be expected to obey Allah and His Messenger-saws with regards to Allah’s creation?
Allah has ordained: … This Divine Command does not include any interruption. It hasn’t been said, ‘Recite Darood ten times in the morning and six times at night; recite at Asar, not at Maghrib.’ It means recite Darood continuously, so much that the obligation of reciting Darood is fulfilled. We have been hearing the word ‘Darood’ since our childhood, but no one has ever told us what is Darood and what is its meaning. The word ‘Darood’ is derived from ‘dara, yadurru’, which means an act that never stops. So Darood denotes a continuous action without interruption. However, if a person recites only Darood Shareef all of his time, how will he attend to his other affairs; and it is Allah’s Command that there should be no interruption in Darood? Remember, there are three aspects of Darood Shareef. The first aspect is that you acknowledge the greatness of the holy Prophet-saws from the core of your heart and the strength of this acknowledgement never decreases. It is also Darood that someone acknowledged the Messenger ship and the finality of Prophethood of the holy Prophet-saws and stood firm during his whole life with his ever increasing and never decreasing belief. This is the type of Darood which never ended. The second and important type of Darood is our attitude in practical life. When we talk to someone, why do we keep to good manners? It is because that is the Sunnah of our holy Prophet-saws. We indulge in trade, make friends and foes, make peace and war, marry and beget children whom we educate. If we have the greatness of the holy Prophet-saws in our hearts, while doing anything in life and do it according to his instructions, the whole activity becomes Darood as well as obedience, and will attract divine mercy. The greater share in this Divine mercy shall go to the personality-saws who taught that noble act. Therefore, when anyone follows the Sunnah anywhere on the globe and is rewarded with Divine mercy, the personality-saws who taught that noble act will get many times his share of Divine mercy. This will imply continuity to the recitation of Darood. If he spent his whole day according to Shari’at, all his actions became Darood Sharif. Divine mercy attends to him that he performed worship and all his actions according to the Sunnah. This is the second form of Darood Sharif.
The third and last form of Darood Sharif is that we pray to Allah to shower His choicest favors, blessings and peace on our holy Prophet-saws. This form comes at the third place. Now, if someone leaves the first two, what will be the effect of only the third? If you demolish the first floor of a three-floor building, what will be left? If the basic faith, belief and relationship got affected, then nothing is left. If we break the doors, windows or walls of the second floor, it will start getting weak and finally collapse, taking the third floor along. But the exalted name of the holy Prophet-saws possesses strange blessings, beyond the scope of human intellect and imagination. If someone adopts only the third form and continues to recite Darood Sharif frequently, the lower two floors are repaired automatically. This doesn’t happen anywhere in the world. If you start repairing only the third floor, without paying attention to the first two, these will not be repaired automatically. Rather, when they collapse, they will take along the third floor also. The exalted name of the holy Prophet-saws possesses the blessing that if a sinful Muslim starts reciting Darood Sharif frequently, sitting, standing, walking, it starts to reform his conduct. Reformation of conduct, in turn, strengthens the Faith. He is actually repairing the third floor, but the other two are being repaired automatically and their appearance and strength is also improving.
It is worship to think about the holy Prophet-saws, it is worship to mention his name, it is worship to follow him and it is worship to serve him. What is virtue? It is the servitude to the holy Prophet-saws. What is sin? It is disobedience of the holy Prophet-saws. Very unfortunate is the person who breathed on Allah’s earth, benefited from this sun, lived in this atmosphere and could not know the holy Prophet-saws and could not believe in him. There is none on this earth who is more unfortunate than him. May Allah have mercy on the person blessed with the light of Faith to fulfil the obligation of his love! It is not necessary to spend millions to buy his-saws kindness. It is not necessary to sacrifice the life to draw his benevolence. It is but a feeling within the heart; a relationship of the heart; if it becomes strong, it can defeat even death, what to speak of the worldly ordeals. Such a person lives forever; he doesn’t die; he continues to live even after death. Real life is that when he is buried in the grave, he illuminates the grave and grants it life. But, where does this life come from? Just like this universe takes light from the sun, all universes take life from the holy Prophet-saws. That beloved of Allah, on whom Allah Himself showers His choicest favors and His angels send their salutations, and He invites the believers to join Him and His angels in sending Darood! We are a handful of dust, what is our worth! But the Creator of Eternity says ‘I am sending Darood on my Prophet-saws, so are My angels; you should also join.’ Can a man think of any greater honor than this? Allah added Darood in at-Tahiyat in Salah; He put in the orders to recite Darood in the Quran; He integrated the remembrance of the holy Prophet Muhammad-saws with each step of life. Each breath of a believer is attached with the remembrance of the holy Prophet-saws. This work is to be done; how: as told by the holy Prophet-saws. This is not to be done; why: because it has been forbidden by the holy Prophet-saws. With every act of the day and night is integrated the remembrance of that single personality! What a great honor! Even the angels attend that assembly with respect! What is our worth? We are those whom none cares to know or recognize! We are just dragging ourselves through the highs and lows of life. What is our value and what can we give to others? Only that thing, which benefits others, has some value. What can anybody get from us, we are so needy ourselves? But, if we attach ourselves to that honorable court and serve it devotedly, a time comes when a person loses his self. The Sufis term it as Fana fir Rasul; a person retains his self, he walks and works but his wishes, ambitions and all actions are lost before the noble will of the holy Prophet-saws. When someone attains to Fana fir Rasul, he also becomes beneficial for others. He is like a mirror that starts reflecting sun’s light when placed before the sun. It is not mirror’s own light; it takes from the sun and, instead of just absorbing it, reflects it and benefits others. Similarly, a person who attains to Fana fir Rasul can be beneficial for humanity. If a person is granted the meditation of Fana fir Rasul, he doesn’t actually become Fana fir Rasul. The meditation helps him and establishes his connection with the Court of the holy Prophet-saws. He is responsible to mould his life through that connection. If he doesn’t redirect the course of his life, and if Allah doesn’t pardon him, he would be charged with two offences.
The other day, someone mentioned the foolishness of a person. I said, “He is a simple person; he may be foolish but he attends to worships and performs Zikr. If he is unintelligent, that is his good luck. It is we, who claim to be intellectuals that will be caught, when we will be questioned, ‘he was a fool, he didn’t know; but you knew, what then had you been doing’?” Situation will be particularly difficult for someone who considers himself an intellectual. Similarly, if the teacher grants a student the meditation of Fana fir Rasul, and he still doesn’t completely obey the holy Prophet-saws, how can he answer the question that you had a connection and strength, you should have tried to take that colour; you should have made an effort to follow the holy Prophet-saws, you should have eaten Halal and spoken the truth; you should have obeyed Allah on the land of Allah. Our custom is that we follow the majority: ‘I did this because everyone was doing it’. This is no argument. There was a time when the holy Prophet-saws was alone in his claim of Prophethood and the whole world was opposing him. Did Hadhrat Abu Bakr-rau and Ali-rau accept Islam for the reason that majority of people had accepted Islam. No! They said, ‘Let the whole world refuse, we accept; this slave of Allah is true’. When the holy Prophet-saws stated the Incident of Ascension, there was an uproar in whole Makkah. People used to gather on the mounds of Safa and Marwah near the Bait Ullah for tale-telling and gossip. Abu Jahal said, ‘He says he went above the heavens and returned. Leave that claim alone. But he says he went to the Dome of Rock and led the prayers of Prophets. It takes us three months on a fast and strong camel to reach there. How did he return in the same night?’ Finally, they thought of telling Abu Bakr-rau. They rushed to his house and said, ‘Abu Bakr, you accepted Islam. You believed your friend to be a Prophet. Do you now believe this?’ He replied, ‘I already believe that he receives Revelation from Allah, and that is far greater than what you are saying now. If he has really said what you are stating, I affirm it to be true and believe it,’ although he had not yet heard it from the holy Prophet-saws. This is Fana fir Rasul!
If Allah grants this blessing to someone, it befits him that his belief should become Darood, his conduct should become Darood, his thoughts should become Darood and his tongue should recite Darood continuously. It is not enough to celebrate the birthday of the holy Prophet-saws and fire crackers. In fact the whole world and entire humanity should celebrate his birthday and feel happy. Even the disbelievers should feel happy that Allah has raised a personality that desires their wellbeing. The believer’s connection with him is established from the time of his Prophet Hood, and we have forgotten that! The mercy and blessings that his Prophet Hood brought are simply countless. He-saws taught human beings to converse with the Lord of the Worlds. From where he picked them and to what heights did he raise them! May Allah’s choicest favors, blessings and peace be on him!
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