Advise

Hazrat Mohammad Noorul Amin It is a major blessing from Allah Ta’ala that He has given us birth in the Blessed Ummat of Hazrat Mohammad sallalahu alayhi wasallam. Hazrat Musa alayhis salaam begged, “Ya Allah! I have read in the Torah of an Ummat whose hearts will be filled with Your Love and whose hearts will possess the treasure of the Quran. Ya Allah! Make this my Ummat!” Allah replied, “No! This is the Ummat of my Love, my Habib Mohammad Mustafa sallalahu alayhi wasallam.” Hazrat Musa alayhis salaam begged, “Ya Allah, in the Torah I have read of an Ummat whose two rakaats of fard is of greater acceptance in your eyes than 500 years of worship from my Ummat. Ya Allah make this my Ummat!” Haqq Ta’ala responded, “No! This is the Ummat of my Beloved Ahmad sallalahu alayhi wasallam”. Then Hazrat Musa alayhis salaam begged, “Ya Allah, I read in the Torah of an Ummat whose fard rakaats will have so many blessings in it, upon performing them, sins filled from the ground to the Heavens will be forgiven. And yet from simply saying ‘Ya Allah forgive me!’ all their sins will also be forgiven, their repentance will be accepted. The memory of the angels will be cleared and the records will be burned regarding their sins. Ya Allah make this my Ummat! Make the acceptance of my Ummat’s taubah of such value in Your eyes. Such repentance, which when asked with sincerity and with an intention never to sin again, 100 years of sin can be forgiven.” So Musa alayhis salaam begged, “Ya Allah! Make this my Ummat!” Allah Ta’ala responded, “No this is the Ummat of My Ahmad sallalahu alayhi wasallam. Then Hazrat Musa alayhis salaam said, “Ya Allah I read in the Torah of an Ummat who will do tableegh and dawaat, although this is the work of the Prophets.” Those who do tableegh and call people to Islam, Allah’s complete blessings are with them. Hazrat Musa alayhis salaam continued, “I read in the Torah of an Ummat who will do the work of Deen, they will do the work of Prophets! Oh Allah! Make this my Ummat.” Allah again responded, “No! This is the Ummat of my Habib Ahmad sallalahu alayhi wasallam”. Then Hazrat Musa alayhis salaam then made dua, “Ya Allah at least do this, make me of this Ummat!” To this day not even this dua has been accepted. Hazrat Isa alayhis salaam who has not died as of yet, however, will be of this Ummat. Ambiya alayhimus salaam used to be in the condition of begging and crying to be of this Ummat and we, who have been born into this Ummat without any desire or dua or any special characteristic, through Allah’s blessing have been made of the progeny of Mohammad sallalahu alayhi wasallam. No matter how grateful you are, it will never be enough. How ever much gratitude you show, it can never be enough. With so much of Allah Ta’ala’s affection towards us, we must stay away from that which is prohibited and additionally to that which is disliked. We have to be heedful of these things as well. With parental love for example, when a son asks his father for one dollar, the father gives him five dollars. A son asks for something small and the father provides something much greater. In every step there is so much love. Now in return, it doesn’t make sense to return this love with suffering and pain. One should refrain from things that even have a chance of upsetting them. Whatever they truly want in their hearts should be given preference over what they apparently give permission for. There are two things in Deen known as taqwa and fatwa. Fatwa is the Shar’ee law; what is allowed and what is prohibited. The rulings of what is or is not allowed and thereafter not to cross these limits, this is fatwa. There is taqwa, which is the preferred path in Shariat. Taqwa defines that which Shar’iat truly desires. When there are so many blessings from Allah without even asking for them, we should stay away from those things which are even disliked by Allah Ta’ala. At every step blessings are raining in front of us. In the Quran it states, “Which of Allah’s blessings can you possibly deny?” If someone remains standing all night in worship and keeps fasts in the day, and is still sent to Hell, this is the blessing of Allah, not oppression. Look at all the blessings we are given! We have no right, these are His blessings. If your whole life you remain in worship and never commit any sin, if you never commit any action against Allah’s desire, if you stay awake in the night and keep fasts in the daytime and Allah sends you into the Hellfire, this is Azal (justice). I will relate a story about justice, or azal. Two men presented themselves in front of Hazrat Yusef alayhis salaam. One man was in fact a murderer and the other was innocent. The following day the final decision was to be made of the two men’s fate. The guilty man came to Hazrat Yousef alayhis salaam and asked for him to make dua to Allah that He blesses him, or does fazal. Hazrat Yusef alayhis salaam made dua for this man. The innocent man presented himself and asked to make dua that Allah does azal, or justice with him. The dua was indeed made. The following day the murderer was set free and the innocent man received the death sentence. So, Hazrat Yusef alayhis salaam inquired, “Ya Allah, this was not the murderer who received the death sentence, and the one who was set free was in fact guilty.” He received an answer from Allah Ta’ala, “The murderer asked for a blessing, so I did bless him with freedom and hid his crime. The other man asked for justice, so I did justice with him. He was in fact a criminal who at one point in his life committed a murder, so he received his punishment.” In our cases, is this azal or fazal? His blessings are such that we have no right over them. This is why great buzurghs have said, “I ask for Jannat not because I have any right to it. In my whole life if I stay away from sin even then I have no right to it. Even then I will get Jannat out of a blessing from Allah Ta’ala. But I ask for it because I am too weak to take the fire of Hell. In reality I deserve Hell.” Great saints, who never sinned, made such duas. My friends, this is why when Allah has given us so many blessings, we must save ourselves not only from sins, but those things which are disliked and are against the preference of Allah. If there is not direct prohibition from a certain act but it is doubtful or disliked, we must also refrain from such things.

How Hazrat Amr bin Al-As Radhiyallahu Anhu was aware of the Quran's Miracle due to Surah Asr

They have mentioned that Hazrat Amr bin Al-As Radhiyallahu Anhu went to visit Musaylamah Al-Kazzab after the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasalam was commisioned(as a Prophet)and before Hazrat Amr Radhiyallahu Anhu had accepted Islam.Upon his arrival,Musaylamah said to him:"What has been revealed to your friend(Muhammad)during this time?".Hazrat Amr Radhiyallahu Anhu said:"A short and concise Surah has been revealed to him".Musaylamah then said:"What is it?".Hazrat Amr Radhiyallahu Anhu replied:"(By Al-Asr.Verily,man is loss.Except those who believe and do righteous deeds,and recommend one another to the truth,and recommend one another to patience)".So Musaylamah thought for a while.Then he said:"Indeed something similar has also been revealed to me".Hazrat Amr Radhiyallahu Anhu asked him:"What is it?".He replied:"Oh Wabr(a small,furry mammal;hyrax),Oh Wabr!You are only have two ears and a chest,and the rest of you is digging and burrowing".Then he said:"What do you think,Oh Amr?".So Hazrat Amr Radhiyallahu Anhu said to him:"By Allah!Verily,you know that I know you are lying".
I saw that Abu Bakr Al-Khara'iti Rahimahullah mentioned a chain of narration for part of this story,or what was close to its meaning,in volume two of his famous book Masawi' ul-Akhlaq.The Wabr is a small animal that resembles a cat,and the largest thing on it is its eard and its torso,while the rest of it is ugly.Musaylamah intended by the composition of these nonsensical verses to produce something which would oppose the Quran.Yet,it was not even convicing to the idol worshipper of that time.Imam At-Tabrani Rahimahullah recorded from Abdullah bin Hisn Abi Madinah Rahimahullah that he said:"Whenever two men from the Companions of the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasalam used to meet,they would not part until  one of them had recited Surah Al-Asr in its entirety to the other,and one of them had given the greetings of peace to the other".Imam As-Shafie Rahimahullah said:"If the people were to ponder on this Surah,it would be sufficient for them"(Ibnu Kathir)

Taunting one's sins

The Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasalam has said that if anyone taunts his Muslim brother on his sun;then he will not die till he himself has committed that sin.It means that it is very bad to remind one's sin or taunt him when he is already repented for the same.But if he has repented,then it is permissible to admonish him as an advice(Bahishti Zewar by Hazrat Thanvi Rahimahullah)

Some Exceedingly Harmful Actions

In this sub-section certain evil pursuits are explained,by avoiding which one is saved from falling into all other evils.
1.Backbitting:First and foremost,backbitting gives rise to various evils,both in this world and the next world.Unfortunately,most of us are today addicted to it.To my mind,the simplest way ti avoid backbitting is not to discuss the character or personality of any person unless one is compelled to do so by dire necessity i.e.one should neither praise nor disparage any obe needlessly.One should rather keep oneself busy in one's own affairs.If at all you feel inclined to talk ill of somebody,better talk of yourself and none else;if you try to fulfil your own obligation conscientiously,there will be little time left for idle talk or backbitting.
2.Injustice:Another sin with far-reaching harmful effects is cruelty and injustice to others,which includes:
a.Depriving any one mony matters of his right
b.Causing physical or mental harms to others
c.Disgracing anyone
3.Vanity:Another sin is vanity and pride in oneself and disdain for others.Wrongdoing,injustice,backbitting,maliciousness,jealously,wrathfulness,and a host of other evils are born of this sin of pride and vanity.
4.Anger:Still another evil is anger.Remorse invariably follows the fits of anger.Since in a fit of passion,one's reason is overpowered by anger,whatever is done in this state is irrational.Such regrettable words escape one's lips as sound horrible after the passion has subsided,and many evil deeds are committed in the frenzy of anger.A feeling of remorse later haunts one's mind,causing life-long torture,but it is always too late to make amends.
5.Relationship with Ghair Mahram:Another such evil is developing relations(of any description)with 'ghair mahram'(unrelated)men and women of the opposite sex.'Ghair Mahram' men or women are those whom it is lawful to marry according to the Islamic Law(Shariat);the term,related men or women(Mahram)applies to the closest blood relations whom it is unlawful to marry according to the  Shariat.This evil including gazing sinfully at their faces,holding familiar conversation and taking liberties with members of the opposite sex,sitting together with them in private,dressing up or framing one's style of conversation to win their admiration.As a matter of fact,all this brings in its wake hosts of calamities which lie beyond the scope of this brief discourse
6.Consuming Doubtful or 'Haraam Food':Another expectionally harmful sin is taking food of unlawful nature or one procured from doubtful sources.Taking 'Haraam'food causes one's soul to be darkened and tarnished with evil.When 'Haraam' food is assimilated through arteries and veins,and all parts of the body are nourished by Haraam food,they will,of necessity,be contaminated by evil and they be more inclibed to commit sins
To sum up,they are six most abominable sins which,wgen commited,drag one into hosts of other misdeeds.It can be hoped that,by avoiding these sins,the rest of them can be warded off without making much effort.May Allah help us to avoid sins!Ameen(Jazaa Ul A'maal)

Misconception

Still another misconception is expressed thus:"We are the descendents(or a followers)of a great Shaikh,or the admirers of a righteous divine,or the admirers of a great 'Sufi'(living or dead).We therefore,think we are free from accountability and,whatever deeds we commit,we shall be accorded forgiveness and favours of Allah'
To such person,I would say:"If these relationship and affinities had been sure means to Salvation,Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Salam would never have warned his own daughter,Fatimah Radhiyallahu Anha thus:"Oh Fatimah,ptotect yourself against Hell-Fire;for I shall not be able to defend you in the court of Allah Ta'ala on the day of judgement".The Hadith implies that,unless a man possesses Imaan and sufficient number of virtues to his credit,mere relationship and affinities with Great 'Shaikhs' or 'Sufis' will be of no avail on the day of judgement.However,if someone possesses Imaan and abundance of virtues and,at the same time,is fortunate enough to have such affinities,then he is invested with two-fold blessings and illumined by light upon light(Noor)and these affinities will be beneficial for him on the day of judgement.Allah Ta'ala says:"And they who believe and whose seed follow them in faith,We cause their seed to join them(there),and We deprive them of naught of their life's work"(At-Tur:21)
This verse means that,through their righteousness,the descendents of the virtous persons will be raised to higher positions of favour attained by their ancestors in Paradise;and this will not decrease the bounties vouchsafed to their forefathers(Jazaa Ul A'maal)

Double Facedness

The Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasalam said that anyone who has two faces here,shall have two tongues of fire on the Day of Judgement.Having two faces means to say one thing to one and another thing to the other to please them(Bahishti Zewar)

Hell

The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasalam said that Hell was fanned for one thousand years till it became quite red,then it was fanned for one thousand years more till it became white and again it was fanned for one thousand years till it became dark and now it is quite black and dark.He further said that the fire that the human beings burn is twenty times less hot than the fire of Hell and it is seventy times hotter than that.If a larger stone be thrown into the hell,it will take seventy years to reach it.The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasalam said that when Hell will be brought down,it shall have seventy thousand reins and each will be held and pulled by seventy thousand angels.The person who will subjected to leasr punishment in the Hell,shall have two shoes of fire in his feet and by their heat,his brain will be boiling like a kettle on fire and he will feel that his punishment is the severest and no one else is under such torture and punishment(Bahishti Zewar)