I Must be Committed

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

I had meditated in the musalla in between Maghrib and 'Isya services. Just browsing our tariqah prayer book and pondering on myself also about my sins. Since I heard many people talking about eating habit and how do I look like especially my little sister, I became a bit disobedient to His commandments which is not good for me. Girls are always like that and when she tells me about how do I look like, I thought that girls are afraid of me or maybe looking at me like an ugly guy so I began to take care about what food that I eat. I tried to take lots of carbohydrate which is our South East Asian staple food, rice but it ends out that I throw everything out. I can't grow anymore. The age for growing up is around 12-20 years old. Over the age it is the time we reverse to be old men or old women.

So, today I found a Chinese Muslim stall at Restu hostel but I have to walk a bit. The owner looks like Chinese so I am using the logic that he is a Chinese who puts on a white skull-cap, hahaha. I can't take food in Indian Muslim restaurant firstly, their food is too spicy and I am not familiar with their spices. Secondly, they only have limited selection of vegetables as compared to "forbidden" meats for me and the way they cook their vegetables make me wanted to puke so I always feel very sad when I accompanied friend because I can't be like them :'( I am familiar to curry and stuffs but they are not Indian style. They are Thai and Malay style where they use cinnamon and soft spices. Indian spices are too strong. It makes our body system became slow and tired as it is heavy and we can't perform prayer services easily apart that I have doubt on the cleanliness of Indian Muslim restaurant especially the way they prepare the food. It is not only about halal meat but also about the way they handle their kitchen. I began to strictly take vegetarian food again and I found the stall also serve non-mixed vegetable as I try to avoid meat again. 

Tomorrow I think I will have to fast again as to close my 'physical eyes' and 'thinking' so I would not think so much. Those thinking actually harms me, and it began when I see new undergraduate students happy faces, hahahaha. I am not envious to them but I began to compare my poor self with them. That is not good right? I had also downloaded food lists which are prohibited for poor people and hebrews. Yea, other Muslim brothers may take foods which are allowed in the glorious Quran according to their school of jurisprudence but we can't eat all of the food even though they are halal and we must obey it as poor people should not forget their status before Allah. I wish Allah helps me and giving me strength to perform fast again. Next time I must think on how Allah looks at me and not how His slaves looking at me. Slaves have no power to save me from hell or torments but only Allah is rightful to save me. They are not important figures as Allah. 

         

I think I must take off the mattress sheet and keeping the pillows in the closet. Because I should not sleep on the bed anymore. I must sleep on the floor according to my status. If not I will forget my status. Urmm, what else to add in the list ja? I had not change my surah memorization. I am stuck in both surah Maryam and surah Ta-Ha. I should finish the memorization and begin with strengthening my juz-amma recitation and memorization. Only after I finish the parts I could begin memorize surah al-Baqarah and so forth like normal madrasah students memorize their Quran. It's a bit messy because I began to memorize surah Maryam first while I was in Mecca. It was easy because I can directly see the Ka'aba and the surah automatically implanted in my "heart". I was also close to Zamzam well so I can drink as many water as I wanted to beside reciting salawat to get the surah implanted in my "heart". When I return only I feel that I begin to be dirty and filthy by worldly matters. I pray that Allah forgives me, I feel so weak but I still having my hope on Allah and trying to fight with all sort of teachings that teachers gave me. Yea, I should try to sleep early. Maybe I should burn some incense sticks to make my eyes burn so I will sleep early and wake up early for Allah, hahahaa.

Tomorrow evening also I think I should spend some time with Allah in the masjid. I think my nephews inspired me too although I don't really feel like talking to their dad which is my cousin brother. I just feel down with them and I should respect those who are older than me. I wanted to study our jurisprudence kitabs again after I finish this studies. The experience and the torture here is more than enough I guess. I made wrong decisions last time and it is one of my sins. I should choose Allah and not "friends". Then I should also quickly translating few important kitabs like prayer books, lectures or jurisprudence books regarding prayer services as personal presents/sacrifice for East Asian brothers. I hope they can also memorize Quran, prayers and supplications and understanding them without having to google-translate as the electronic translator is not accurate and do not have to read Tabligh books in Urdu. They have their own traditions so they must keep their old traditions and not imported traditions from India or Pakistan or Arabia. It is also for Muslims in Japan and Korea as they share the sphere in Yellow Sea. I was so terrified when I was in a little masjid in Gyotoku area in Chiba prefecture during my visit to Japan and listening to Friday prayer sermon in Urdu and not in Japanese while we were in Japan. How could people reconcile the path in the geo-cultural area with a language that they don't understand or with foreign cultures? So, that is why I dip myself again into sino-sphere though I actually had already abandon Chinese tradition and culture when we moved out from majority Chinese area to Malay majority area.   

Am off to buy some fasting preparation stuffs. I would be glad to welcome the Gharbis-Sabt (the Friday evening) so I must begin very early in Thursday. I guess this is today's note for myself. May Allah forgive my sins and let me memorize the Quran in full beside implanting in my heart the traditions of prophets. Make my unworthy vessel the bearer of Quran and sacred traditions. Please forgive my grandparents sins too ya Allah. I love them no matter now they are in "souls" form and not in form of human anymore. Please protect my parents ya Allah grant them good health to know You. Please protect everyone around me and those who has sinned me. They just don't know so please be Merciful to them. Make them fortunate always and open up for them the doors of sustenance for them. Please ya Allah bless Your prophets and messengers. Tell them I miss them. I wanted to kiss their feet when I see them in the hereafter. I wanted to see You too please permit me seeing Your Holy Appearance when the universe ends :')  

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin!    

Pakistani Muslim Scholar: Muhammad Tahir al-Qadri

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

Introduction

Just relaxing while waiting for afternoon prayer service time. Now, we talk about sub-Indian continent ulama and this one is from Qadiri mission order lineage. It is our heritage since some of our ancestors also hailed from here. We have several mission orders here whether in the Sunnah or the Shi'a ones. I am also cooperating and having contacts with some progressive Shi'a brothers. There are also people known by this mission in movements of Tabligh and Barelwi. So don't scratch each other faces but try to understand each other.

I can't really join our Tabligh Jama'at brothers or those from Wahhabi movements or any visible organizations. I did tried to combine myself into groups or visible mission orders but I feel like an out-caste and myself is very filthy when I listened to their speeches. We have to leave behind our customs. Say, if a Hebrew professing his faith to Allah and to the prophethood of Muhammad s.a.w. Do he or she has to leave behind all of her customs and traditions inherited from past prophets and messengers of the God while those traditions are actually mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah again through Muhammad s.a.w prophethood? 

Those in our masjid who used Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Wahhab kitabs are not all from religious schools and fields though they speak Arabic. I am aware about the basis of their religious science once I listened to their speeches because sometimes it is exceeding the limit of humility. We emphasize the basis of the Creed and also Shari'at which is the Path. We don't like to condemn people especially our brothers unless if we join them and look at their approaches. That is why I keep repeating about the first things of the Path in this site because some might think this site is the site of a grave worshiper, lol. I am not worshiping any grave, idols, human-being, demon, angel and I never worship any teacher anymore once I repented. Teachers are just examples especially for morality and the quest for knowledge. They are not gods like what I saw in fanatics attacking each other because others are not in accordance to their teachers (can I say their god?) opinions.

It does not mean that I won't help them or I hate them and encourage people to hate them. It is a sin to hate brothers and sisters in faith or anyone. I will certainly help them, but they must train their public members first before performing da'awat because not all of the public being preached are of the same level of knowledge regarding the Path. They should always revise their method of da'awat and checking whether for example they are performing the compassionate mercy equally to everyone which also includes the disabled, animals, plants, environment, and etc. As Muslims, we are taught to always be in the Middle Path on everything. We don't exceed the boundaries withing two lines: angelic and demonic. Because we are human-being. This is what I understood about our Path.     

I had already changing my school of jurisprudence from Shafi'ie to Salafi (Hanbali) one in order to be in compliance with our mission order and trying to learn from the scratch. Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab or Ibnu Taimiyah and etc are just among Hanbali school of jurisprudence scholars. They are not the creators of any new schools but fanatics developed movements from them and expounding their ideas for new-founded ideologies. These scholars are no gods, prophets, or messengers of the God but human-being who happened to be scholars. Everyone will become scholars if they are diligent to memorize the Quran, learning the Sunnah, practicing them in daily life and checking the basis of Shari'at with diligent teachers who are doing researches.

Biography of Sheikh Muhammad Tahir

His father is Farid ad-Din Qadri. His ancestors belong to Sial ethnic group who speaks in three languages which are Punjabi, Sindhi, and Saraiki. They hailed from Jhang close to Sargodha in Pakistan.

Early Education

It mentions that he started his education at Catholic mission school, Sacred Heart in Jhang. He was educated in English and exposed to Christianity at an early age. He was taught with Islamic sciences from the age 12 in Medina al-Munawwara in Saudi Arabia at the Madrasah al-'Ulum al-Shari'yya. It is situated on the site of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari house. It was the first place where prophet Muhammad s.a.w was offered to stay when he first reached the city of Medina. 

It reminds me of my dad stories about himself. He was also educated in Sacred Heart of Singapore under a Catholic brother supervision once he was kicked out of the village in Kodiang, Kedah after my grandpa passed away. Three of my elder sisters also began their education in Cantonese Catholic pre-formal school in Central Kedah. Some of my paternal cousins were also educated in Catholic church in Malacca where they also had to join Christian's prayer services though they weren't Christian. I was quite fortunate to begin my education in masjid system, haha.

      

His early teachers in Islamic sciences among them were:

1. Mawlana Dhiyaauddin al-Madani who died in 1981 at the age 107. 

2. Al-Hijaz Sayyid 'Alawi ibn Abbas Maliki al-Makki who taught hadith sciences.

3. Sayyid Muhammad bin Alawi Maliki al-Makki who was the foremost Sunnah authority in Mid East

4. Al-'Azam of Pakistan, Sardar Ahmad al-Qadri

He also learned from other prominent classical authorities in Islamic sciences such as from:

1. Abu Barakat Ahmad al-Qadri al-Alwari. He is one of hadith narrators of the Indian sub-continent. His dad is Didar 'Ali Shah al-Alwari who studied under Ahmad Ali Muhaddith Sharanpuri and Ahmed Raza Khan Baralwi. Sheikh Qadri studied under Abu Barakat for four years and received his ijazat in hadith and jurisprudence in 1972.

2. Abdul Rashid al-Ridwi. Sheikh Qadri completed the classical Darsi Nizami course with him from 1963 to 1970 at Jami'a Qutubiyya Ridwiyya in Jhang. Lessons were conducted from pre-dawn Tahajjud prater service at three early in the morning to eleven at night with pauses between noon and afternoon. Abdul Rashid only taught Sheikh Qadri alone without any other students. While attended an event for Sheikh Qadri, Abdul Rashid mentioned in his speech about Sheikh Qadri. He never miss his Tahajjud and optional services. He never absent to all of his lessons and never think to do that. He is a loyal student and is a qualified teacher too. He still maintains his humility wherever he is and Abdul Rashid prays for him to be successful in the order mission. 

3. Tahir 'Alauddin Qadri Gilani. This is a saint who become the spiritual guide of the Qadiriyya mission in 1996. He bestowed the ijazat and certification to Sheikh Qadri in hadith sciences. He started the Minhaj University and Minhaj al-Quran Institute.

4. Ahmad Zubaydi or Abu Hanifa Saghir of Syria. He is allegedly from the family of Imam Abu Hanifa. He reports that he personally heard Tahir Alauddin al-Gilani referred to Sheikh Tahir Qadri as the reviver of our Path. 

5. Abdul Ma'bud Jilani. This teacher studied under scholars such as Imdadullah Muhajir Makki, Ahmad Rida Khan, Qutbul Arifin Ali Sulayman ibn Mustafa an-Naqib al-Baghdadi, Abdul Rahman al-Mahd an-Naqib al-baghdadi, Shah Muhammad Sulayman Tonswi and Fazli Haq Khairabadi.

6. Fariduddin Qadri. The dad of Sheikh Qadri himself was a scholar. He studied from al-Hijaz, in Lucknow, Delhi, Hyderabad in India, Baghdad, Damascus and other places. He gained knowledge of sciences from scholars such as al-Haram al-Makka 'Alawi bin 'Abbad al-Maliki, Muhammad Abdul Shakur al-Muhajir al-Madani who had once studied in Darul Ulum of Deoband before leaving for Medina al-Munawwara. Fariduddin also studied under Abdul Hadi al-Ansari of Lucknow, Abdul Baqi Ali Muhammad al-Ansar al-Muhaddith, and many others because their name is so long, haha. Fariduddin taught Sheikh Qadri everyday from 1962-1970 and periodically from 1970-1974 about the principles of hadith, tafseer, aqeeda, tasawwuf, Arabic grammar, Arabic language styles, logic, philosophy, and Arabic literature as well as other traditional classical sciences. He gave Sheikh Qadri the Dawra al-Hadith to certify him in 1970.

7. Ahmad Sa'eed Kazmi. This guy was a famous authority of Pakistan and was known as the "Ghazali of his time." He was a close friend to Sheikh Qadri's dad. Sheikh Qadri was sent under his supervision at Jami'a Islamiyya Bahawalpur as well as in his own institution in Anwar al-'Ulum in Multan. The studies he acquired included hadith, aqeeda, the knowledge of kalam, and other classical sciences. Upon completion, he was awarded with the Sanadi Hadith in 1979.

8. Hussain ibn Ahmad Usayran. He was the last living student of the Lebanese authority, Yusuf ibn Ismail Nabhani. He gave Sheikh Qadri all of his ijazats in 2004, a year before he passed away. He gained knowledge from the topmost authority of sciences regarding hadith and jurisprudence from Middle East and North Africa.

9. Muhammad Fateh al-Kattani. This guy is a specialist of Hadith in Syria. He taught Sheikh Qadri in Damascus and gave him all his ijazats.

10. Burhan Ahmad Faruqi. He was a famous student of Zafar al-Hasan Uthmani and a student of Muhammad Sulayman Ashraf Aligarhi. He supervised Sheikh Qadri on the studies of philosophical reflection of Muhammad Iqbal and bestowed him all the certification (permission) to teach others.

Later Education

Sheikh Qadri studied law at University of Punjab in Lahore. He was graduated with an LLB in 1974 with a gold medal for academic achievements. After a period of legal practice as an advocate, he taught law in the University of Punjab from 1978-1983 and gained his PhD in Islamic Law majoring in Punishments in Islam, their Classification and Philosophy from the same university in 1986. His supervisor were Bashir Ahmad Siddiqui and Javaid Iqbal. He was appointed a professor of Law at Punjab University and taught British, US and Islamic constitutional law.

Career Life

Sheikh Qadri was appointed as a Jurist Consultant or Legal Adviser on Islamic Law for the Supreme Cpurt and the Federal Shari'ah Court of Pakistan. He worked also as a specialist adviser on Islamic curricula for the Federal Ministry of Education of Pakistan. At various times between 1983-1987, he received and declined offers for various high-level posts.       

He has delivered more than 6000 lectures on various fields such as on political-economy studies, religious philosophy, law, sufism, medical sciences, material sciences and astronomy. Numerous lectures are available in Arabic, English, and Urdu at Islamic bookshops around the world. Hurmm, I wanted to find them for my readings if I have time after this.

Sheikh Qadiri himself has awarded permission or ijazat to other leading Muslim scholars which makes them his students and linking them through his lineage mission order back to prophet Muhammad s.a.w and companions of the prophet s.a.w. It brings everyone into connection.

Closing

All of the stories we posted here are just for us to reflect upon ourselves based on real life experience. About the ulamas and scholars, example of their morality could help us to lead a noble life. This one is just for us to boost up our spirit to learn from good examples. This guy is not a god and for me. I never have a strict understanding about saints. Saints for me are my brothers and sisters whom I love so much. I am serving my beloved brothers and sisters for His pleasure as possible as I can. It is for us to struggle in pursuing our ambition. What is our ambition? To see His Glorious Appearance and to be close to Him, insha Allah :')

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace, and love, amin!