Excerpts from Beads of Dew:
With every breath a person breathes, a treasure is wasted and lost. It is necessary to recognize, with every breath, that Allah is Present and Watchful. When this awareness takes control, the sense of humble modesty is felt in Allah’s presence, and heedlessness departs.
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The devil [shaitan] is twofold: concrete and abstract. The concrete devil is the one known as Iblis, while the abstract devil is the lower self [nafs]. The abstract devil does certain things the concrete devil cannot do. For instance, while the concrete devil teaches good deeds to the human being, intending to make him renounce them later, the abstract devil resorts directly to the greatest evil, using goodness as a pretext. He acknowledges the Prophetic tradition concerning the reward due to those who observe the fine practices of Allah’s Messenger, and to those who disseminate them, then he plays the trick of citing invented traditions. Satan himself is not capable of going to this length. To give another example, the concrete devil teaches the human being to recite the Quran in a loud voice, and envisages various pitfalls in this. As for the lower self, which is the abstract devil, it converts this teaching into the bad morality of the hypocrite, who makes a public show of his Quranic recitation, in his passionate desire to gain a good repuation. And so on, and so forth….
Taken from SeekersDigest.org
A brand new edition of Dalail al-Khayrat has been published and it seems extraordinary. This is another one of those must-have books. What a rare opportunity! Get it now from:
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Dalail al-Khayrat, the most celebrated manual of Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in history, was composed by the Sufi, wali, Muslim scholar of prophetic descent, and baraka of Marrakesh Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Jazuli (d. 870/1465).
Millions of Muslims from East to West tried it and found its good, its baraka, and its benefit for centuries and over generations, and witnessed its unbelievable spiritual blessings and light. Muslims avidly recited it, alone and in groups, in homes and mosques, utterly spending themselves in the Blessings on the Most Beloved and praising himuntil Wahhabi ideas came to spread among them, suborning them and creating confused fears based on the opinions of Ibn Taymiya and the reviver of his path Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab of Najd. After this, Muslims slackened from reciting the Dalail al-Khayrat, falling away from the Blessings upon the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in particular, and from the remembrance of Allah in general (al-Mutrib fi awliya al-Maghrib, 14344). Sheykh Nuh Keller
The beginning of this book does place into context much of the rest of the text, as Imam Zafar Uthmani says,
“As the object of this book [I'la' al-Sunan] is to counter the charges of the literalists against the Hanafi scholars, we chose to close with something in reply to their accusations against Sufi scholars as well.”
The “I’la’ al-Sunan” referenced above is the work of which this is the final chapter. This translated work of that chapter, along with additional commentary and notes is 57 pages long.
The relationship of Sufism to the development of that good character is established up front. From this point onward many textual evidences and explanations of hadith which involve the development of good character are described and commented on.
Sheykh Faraz, as the translator, also takes the liberty to add commentary on these hadith from two classical jurists , Mulla ‘Ali al-Qari and Mawlana Ahmad Diya al-Din al-Kumushkhawani.
Also, over 5 pages (10%) is devoted to the notes from the translator which are properly referenced from within the text itself. The notes are very helpful in terms of understanding the text itself. One of the interesting aspects is that they hint at subtleties which only come from awareness from being trained in classical texts, such as when reading simple sentence “So, understand this.”
Sheykh Faraz notes,
“At the end of noteworthy investigations, or after making a strong argument, it is the habit of scholars to say, “So understand” [fa 'fham]. Out of good manners, if such texts are read to scholars, it is better to read, “So let it be understood” [fa lyufham], as the student must not command the teacher.”
The text itself goes into fabulous discussions of the many positive qualities in Sufism. This is impressive since although its objective is to answer detractors, it retains the same benefit to those who not being faced with opposition to Sufism, but seeking understanding. Also this provides a nice consolidated list of some of the most relevant hadith used to develop the sciences of tassawuf. Indeed, there is much benefit to clarify one’s own understanding of spirituality and how to take these hadiths in context as a whole.
The discussion over the changing of character traits, such as anger, is really quite eye opening. The meaning of suppressing/controlling anger versus the impossible effort to eliminate it seemed something I could contemplate on for some time.
All in all a must have for everyones collection, this is one of those few books whose benefit far outweighs its thickness.
Price: $6.95 at Al-Rashad Bookstore
Thought I throw a little tip out there that I’ve learned from all my local friends.
When in New York city, and hungry, don’t forget to stop by 53rd St. and 6th Ave for the little known “Platters”. Open all week, unless I am wrong, from 7:00PM to 4:00AM (Perfect after a night of studying and Naqshibandi Dhikr)
Don’t expect a fancy restaurant, but just a small cart / grease truck type setup, typical for the city. The only thing that is untypical is the line, which is almost always half a block long. You might think you are walking by people waiting to watch a TV show taping, but you would be wrong. All these people are waiting on line for one of the most calorie rich meals you can get for $5.00 USD.
Expect to wait on line for about 20 minutes to a potential of 40+ minutes.
Funny thing is, there is no variety here. They specialize in one thing. Gyro and Chicken Platters (though some strange folks sometimes get the sandwich).
Your only two menu choices are beef and chicken.
Expect hurried service (hey, they have a long line) and curt questions (so prepare your answers to: “beef or chicken?” and “sauce?”), but a cheap and delicious meal.
Ask for both sauces, unless you can’t handle a little hot sauce. Though, if my wife can handle it, so can you.
This little operation even has their own fan-website: http://www.53rdand6th.com/
Must buy.. Translated by our very own Sheykh Faraz Rabbani. Only $6.95
http://whitethreadpress.com/sufism.htm
Sufism & Good Character
by Sheykh Imam Zafar Ahmad Uthmani
Translated by Faraz Rabbani
The Messenger Muhammad (saw) said, “On the Day of Resurrection, nothing will weigh heavier upon the Scales than good character” (Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi). The scholars of the science of Sufism explained the way to live the guidance of the beloved Messenger of Allah (saw), outwardly and inwardly, and guided people toward the perfection of good character and spiritual realization.
In this work, Imam Zafar Uthmani presents key Prophetic sayings related to good character and explains their implications for those seeking the spiritual way. To further the benefit of the book, commentary on many of the adiths has been added from the classic works of Mulla Ali al-Qari and Mawlana Ahmad Diya’ al-Din al-Kumushkhanawi.
About the Author
Imam Zafar Ahmad Uthmani was one of the greatest hadith experts of the 20th Century. His 18-volume work I’la’ al-Sunan, of which this work is the final chapter, is widely regarded as one of the very best presentations of the legal reasoning and proofs of the Hanafi school of Islamic law.
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