ONLINE CLASSES OF

HADHRAT MAULANA ARIF UMAR DB

MALFOOZAAT OF OUR AKAABIREEN

RAMADHAN 2017

2 June 2017

Alhamdulillah today is the day of Jumu'ah and it's the first Jumu'ah of Ramadhan. As we

had mentioned two days ago that let us take the full benefit of the added Fazilat, the

added virtue of it being the day of Jumu'ah as well as being the month of Ramadan and

specifically at the Mubarak and accepted times in the day. Similar to what we discussed

two days ago regarding the whole discussion of dua and the importance of dua in Ramadan

and the fact that it is the most overlooked amal.

Today is the day we need to capitalize even more, every Friday. It should be everyday but

Friday it should be even more. You can even add this to your Duas today. Normally I add

this to my duas. Perhaps you would also want to add it and make Dua in that way. I do it in

Arabic. I will just mention it to you in English so that you can say it in English or whichever

language you want. Perhaps Arabic will be difficult for you to remember. You can make Dua

in this way,

Ya Allah, I am making Dua to you in the best of

all months and in the best of all the days and

in the best of all the times in the day through

the Waseelah and through the Barkat of the

best of all the creations, Sallallahu Alaihi

Wasallam.

Ya Allah through the Barkat of this month and

through the Barkat of this day and through the Barkat of this Mubarak time and through the

Barkat of Nabi-e- Kareem Sallallahu Alaihi

Wasallam, Ya Allah accept my duas.

If you think about it that to make Dua on a Friday, either at Tahajjud time or before

Iftar, it is actually combining three things. You are combining the best month of the year,

the best day of the year, the best day of the week and the best time of the day and then

make Waseelah of the best of all the creation. Therefore, you have combined four things.

Any dua which is asked in such a manner, Inshallah there is a great hope that Allah is going

to accept it.

In Arabic, it will be like this:

, في أفضل اللهم إن ي أسألك/أدعوك في أفضل الشهر

, في أفضل الس اليام طة أفضل الخلق صلی الل اعات بواسي عليه و سلم أنت تقبل دعاء

You can use any one you want. أسألك means 'I ask you', أدعوك means 'I call out to you'.

This is what we can say in Arabic. This is just an added bonus for today.

Today's subject is the Malfoozaat of our Akabireen. Malfoozaat is the plural of Malfooz,

which means 'saying'. Here, we are going to discuss the sayings of our Akabireen, of our

great Ulama. Just like how the actions of our Akabireen serve as examples and guidance

for us, in the same way, or perhaps even more than the actions, it is their words and

sayings which will give us the true understanding and guidance in Deen.

As we always mention, the true understanding of Deen comes from our Akabireen, from

the Ahlullah. A person cannot get the understanding (Samaj) of Deen on his own, through

his own Ibadaat. A person has to go to those people who have the understanding of Deen.

Their words and actions are all literally dipped in Noor. They are the ones which illuminate

the Sahih and true path. What we are supposed to do, what we are not supposed to do and

how we are supposed to do. We get to learn all of these things from them.

The best thing is obviously that a person himself physically spends time in the

companionship of the Akabireen. If that is not possible and it is difficult, then our Ulama

have mentioned that discussing, reading and listening to their Malfoozaat and sayings is

going to fill in, in place of the physical companionship. This is especially for women, because

they are unable to really be in physical companionship.

This is the second best, which is an extremely important thing as well to discuss and read

their Malfoozaat, so as to get that guidance and understanding. This is the whole reason

why we are doing this here. This is the Maqsad besides the first two Maqaasid. The third

one which is specific to just this period is what I just mentioned.

Inshaallah, today we are going to discuss a few of the Malfoozaat of our great grand

Sheikh, Hadhrat Muhyi us Sunnah Maulana Shah Abraarul Haq Hardoi Rahmatullahi Alayhi,

who was the Sheikh of Hadhrat Maulana Hakim Akhtar Saheb Rahmatullahi Alayhi, and it is

in that way that he becomes our Par Dada Sheikh (great grand Sheikh).

He was one of our Buzurgaane Deen whose spiritual benefit literally spread in the entire

world. He literally had hundreds of thousands of Mureeds all over the world.

Through his effort the Sunnat lifestyle was revived in the entire world. That is why he got

the title of ‘Muhyi us Sunnah’ - The Reviver of Sunnah’. His Bayanat, Malfoozat and

writings are words reviving the Sunnat lifestyle in the lives of Muslims all over the world.

All the benefits we are getting today in our Majalis etc. go back to him because our chain

leads back to him. He was one of our great Buzurgaani Deen. He did not pass away too long

ago. He passed away in 2005. He was the last living Khalifa of Hadhrat Thanvi Rahmatullah

Alaihi. It was only 12 years ago.

First Malfooz

Specifically the proper and correct position of the hands in Dua, this is something very

important. This is also something to learn. This is something so basic to learn from the

Ahlullah.

(Alhamdulillah our Qaari Sab Rahmatullah Alaihi practically taught and showed us how to

place the hands)

Otherwise if we are not going to learn these things from them, as that is the case with

the majority of the Ummat then we will make Dua in whichever way we feel is correct or

whichever way we have seen others placing the hands in making Dua. We will not even think

of asking. We think that there is nothing to learn in this but it is something which we do

not know, something which every Muslim is supposed to be knowing. They have their own

different style of placing and raising the hands in making Dua.

During Dua both the hands must be in line with the chest. There must be a slight gap

between the palms. It is clearly explained in the Kitab which is called ‘Fatawa Alamgiri’.

Three aspects of placing the hands in Dua:

1. Where to raise the hands?

The hands should be raised In line with the chest, not higher or lower than that.

We are not to raise the hands above the shoulders in Dua. That is something which is

Makrooh/ not permissible to do. The only Dua in which this is permissible is the Dua that is

made after Salatul Istisqa, to ask for rain. That is the only Dua where the hands will be

raised up to the sky.

2. How to place the palms?

The palms should be placed facing up. Almost parallel to the sky. Flat and totally

facing up. Many people make Dua in such a way where the hands are not horizontally flat.

They are either diagonal or vertical.

3. How should the hands be in relation with each other (gaps)?

A. What should the gap be between the two hands?

There should be a very slight gap. The nature of this gap is such that the hands should be

close together. The small/ pinky fingers of both hands should touch. The rest of the hands

will not touch. The hands although they are flat, they are very slightly placed diagonally, so

that the small fingers touch. The ring fingers also touch slightly. Between the small and

ring fingers, there will be sort of like an opened triangle or diamond which will be formed.

B. What is the gap between the fingers of each hands?

There should be a very slight gap between the fingers. They should not be tightly

together.

The gap between the fingers of each hand should be very slight. The image which has been posted is close but not entirely correct as the thumbs are far

from the index fingers. The thumbs should be next to the index fingers which is the

actual natural position of the thumb. The palms are mostly flat except for a slight folding inwards. The palms are not touching

each other.

The wisdom behind placing of our hands in the above manner during Dua. One of our Ustaads has explained very beautifully. In Dua we are begging Allah. Our hands

are the begging bowl like the begging bowls of the beggars on the streets who have their

bowls stretched out for people to put money in it. We are extending our ‘bowls’ before

Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala so that the Rahmat, Barkat, Inaa’maat and the Fadhl of Allah

can come into the ‘begging bowl’. By leaving a gap between the palms is to show, Ya Allah, we are very Faqeer and Aajiz that

our ‘begging bowl’ is broken as well. This how needy we are. It is showing our extreme

Aajizi, helplessness towards Allah. The more Aajizi and humility we show Allah, it can make

Allah’s Rahmat come into Josh thereby making it likely for the Dua to get accepted.

By keeping the above concept in mind will change the whole experience and Amal of making

Dua.

Second Malfooz

Hadhrat Rahmatullahi Alaih said, ‘’When a car does not start due to a problem with the

battery, one will have it charged.’’ The battery got depleted probably due to something

which was not switched off, for example the lights of the car were left on the entire

night. Therefore the battery of the car will have to be charged so that the person can

switch on the car again.

Similarly, when the battery of Deen, the reserve within the heart or the resolve the

determination, the courage in the heart, to follow Deen becomes weak, that is to make

Amal on every command of Allah and to stay away from every sin, then you need to have it

charged. Hadhrat says, ‘’have it charged by an Allah-Wala (a man of Allah, a saint) then see

how well it works.’’

The battery of our heart goes down as well just like the battery of the car which gets

depleted, or of any other appliance that works on battery. Similarly the battery or the

charge of your phone gets depleted during usage and you have to charge it. If you do not

charge it then the power of the phone will simply turn off and you cannot use it anymore.

When a person starts to feel the charge in his battery, the battery of his heart, is going

down, then he has to connect to the charger, and that is the Ahlullah or the Auliya - the

Wali of Allah, one's spiritual guide, one's Sheikh. That is how a person has his battery of

his heart charged. After connecting you will be able to do such things which you were not

able to do before. Things you were not managing. Sins which you were not managing to

leave. Aamaal which you did not have the Himmat, the courage, the strength to do or there

was laziness.

We connect to the Ahlullah and we get the power from them, which is going to transfer

into our hearts. We connect our heart to their heart. Their heart is like a charger and the

connection must be strong. The connection must be without any barriers and interruptions

in between. If we are connected and there are interruptions in between, then there will be

no charge coming through. Similarly when plugging the charger into the socket, what can happen is the charger might

not have been inserted properly. The connection is not there as you did not press the

charger in properly into the socket and due to that, there is no charge coming through. Although the socket is plugged in, yet there is no power coming through. Your phone will

stay there uncharged and if someone observes it, he will notice the charger is connected

to the phone, but it is not charging. The reason is, although apparently connected, but in

reality there is a problem in the connection. The plug is not properly fitted into the

socket. When you are now going to fit it in tightly, the connection is going to be rectified

in between. After that, you will see the phone begin to charge and in a couple of hours the

phone will have 100% charge.

This is exactly the situation of the battery of our hearts. This is what is necessary. We

need to charge our hearts by taking that spiritual benefit. As I said, sometimes it seems

that outwardly someone is connected, but there is no power coming through because the

connection is not correct. Similarly, sometimes the heart to heart connection is not

correct and most of the times, it is due to things like pride, ego, which come in between

and hinder the connection, therefore, the power does not flow through.

Where a person is not ready to accept his faults and shortcomings, that he is spiritual sick

and needs treatment, then how will that person ever get better? Pride stops a person from

admitting that he has pride. The person will deny. The person will try to justify. He will

deny that he has got any spiritual sicknesses within him. Such a person’s connection will

have a blockage. The power is not going to come through and that person will remain the

way he is as his battery will not get charged. It will stay the same, yet outwardly the

person is connected. It is extremely important to remove all the blockages in between so

that the power can come through into our hearts. This is what is important. That is when a

person humbles himself totally in front of the spiritual guide, Wali of Allah.

This is what we need to do as all our batteries are down and we need to go and have them

charged and we need to make sure that the contact is without hindrances, so that the

connection can take place. Therefore both things are important, the unhindered contact

and the strong connection.

May Allah Ta'ala grant that to all of us InshAllah, that strong connection.

9 June 2017

Last week firstly, we mentioned the importance of Malfoozaat, their Maqaasid, what is

their main Maqsad. Then we read a couple of Malfooz, one of which was the method of

making Dua. The other was the fact that the Ahlullah, people of Allah, the Mashaaikh are

the ones who charge the batteries of the heart. When these batteries go down, we need

to recharge them. The chargers of our batteries are the Ahlullah, Mashaaikh to whom we

need to get connected. We had talked about the heart to heart connection which must be

strong. We gave the example of the phone being connected to the charger. When one plugs

the charger into the socket and if the charger is not snugly inserted then the power is not

going to flow through. Similarly, if the charging pin is not pushed in all the way into the

phone, the power is not going to reach our phone and it will lie there without being

charged. Similarly, we are connected, but the connection is not strong and firm, that is we are not

doing what we are supposed to do. Zaahiran, apparently, we are connected like the phone is

connected but whose pin or plug is not inserted snugly therefore, power is not flowing

through. In the same way, a person will stay in that Sohbat, companionship and not get the

full benefit.

Last week some sisters had asked for further explanations regarding the heart to heart

connection and I had told them not to worry as next week we will be going into another

Malfooz which will give the explanation to their question.

Hopefully these Noor filled Malfoozaat will Inshaallah illuminate the reality and the way

forward so that we can understand what is required of us and what we are required to do

in order to get connected to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala. This is all for one Maqsad which is

Ta’alluq Ma’Allah, to get connected to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala and to secure the Ridha,

pleasure of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala.

Third Malfooz

This is the example of the Sheikh and the Mureed relationship.

Courage is Necessary for Islah. This is what we always say, courage, Himmat, is very necessary for Islah. Without courage,

Islah is not possible. A person must be courageous and brave. People feel that without

exercising any courage, bravery, Mukhalafat of the Nafs, our Islah will occur on its own.

The mentality of people is that we will not have to go through any bitterness, difficulty

and inconvenience. Generally speaking, they feel that Sote Sote Islah will take place. It

does not work like that. We have to make the effort and we have to face a bit of

Mujahada, difficulty and bitterness. That is when we will get somewhere. This we know it

works for worldly purposes as well that nothing is possible without going through some

type of Takleef or the other.

Deen is loftier than Dunya. Definitely, we will have to give something in order to get the

Ta’alluq Ma’Allah. This is what Hadhrat Maulana Shah Abrarul Haqq Hardoi Rahmatullahi

Alaih is explaining in this Malfooz.

He says, ‘’One has to resort to courage for the Islah of the Nafs. One has to make a

concerted resolve, Pakka Azam, an extremely firm Niyyat to abstain from whatever sins

one is involved in. A person has to be brave and firm in order to make that Niyyat. He

should be very determined so that when opportunities arise to commit a sin, where it is

very easy for him to fall into it, but he uses his determination, his firm resolve not to

commit the sin.

Hadhrat Maulana Hakim Akhtar Sahib and all used to say, ‘I will not commit a sin even

though it may result in my life being lost.’’ When a person makes that firm resolve, then

Inshaallah Gunahs will not be committed. Many times, the Gunahs, sins occur because of

our weakness. Therefore, the Niyyat we made was shaky and wavers around. Thus, the

temptation is too strong for that weak Niyyat to stand up to and the person is pulled

towards it making him slip and fall. But when a person makes a firm intention, that no

matter what happens, no excuses, no ifs and buts, even if my life goes, I will not commit

this sin. Then it becomes easier to stay away from that sin. No temptation can move us

from our firm stand. At the end of the day, the life is not lost either. The Nafs frightens

us and uses scare tactics telling us, ‘’if you are not going to commit this sin then you will

die.’’ Or, ‘’if you are not going to commit this sin, then your entire family will break

relations with you, the Muashara, community or society will behave this way with you.’’ All

of these are excuses that the Nafs gives and due to our Niyyat being weak, we get scared

and give in.’’

Therefore, we need to tell the Nafs,‘’that I am ready for all of that because my Allah is

greater than all of that. The Ridha and the pleasure of my Allah is greater than all of that.

I have come here not to please people, I have come here to please Allah. I am ready for all

that even if it means giving up my life. You (Nafs) are saying that through staying away

from all of these my life will go, then let it go, no problem.’’

When you are going to be firm, then you will be able to stay away from the sin and as I

said, at the end of the day, the things which the Nafs was scaring us with, do not happen.

Our life does not go. Generally speaking, staying away from sins will not make us lose our

life. This is how firm we must be. That is the Himmat, bravery and courage which we need

to use.

Q. How does one ensure that the Niyyat is strong? Temptations and environment we are in

is crazy.

A. The Himmat/ courage. Many people say that they do not have the courage. That is a lie.

That is totally wrong. Because if we do not have the courage then Allah would not have

made it compulsory upon us to stay away from sins. The fact that Allah has ordained it

upon us to stay away from sins means, that we have the ability to stay away from sins. It

means that we have the necessary courage. It is there within us. It is just that we do not

want to use it or we do not have the courage to use that courage.

How to use that courage?

It is just to step in. Just to take a step. Tawakkul Alallah.

Example:

A person goes swimming. The water is cold and he is feeling it difficult to go into the

water. He puts his foot inside the water and immediately takes it out and says that the

water is cold and that he cannot go in. If his foot is freezing then how will his body feel

and how he will immerse his entire body in it as it is very cold.

But there is a way to do it and that is to just jump in!!! That is what you will have to do and

the only thing to do although you will hesitate. In the beginning for a few seconds it will be

difficult. You will get the shock and the jolt of the cold water. Once you jump and stay in

the water for a few minutes your body will start getting used to it. Now you will not feel

the water to be as cold as before and you start enjoying yourself. Then you will wonder

why you hesitated.

This is the psychology we use in going to a swimming pool. Exact same thing we have to do

here as well.

We must make that Niyyat and simply jump into the pool of the love of Allah. In the

beginning it is going to be difficult. People will force you, but do not worry as it is only for

a very short time. It is only a test. Very soon you will start enjoying what you

accomplished. Then you will look back and think to yourself, ‘’ Why was I hesitating? What

was stopping me all this time? It is not as difficult as I thought.’’

This is what is necessary. That is how to build that courage. It is just do it; not to

hesitate. Go ahead and jump into it.

Hadhrat says, when this level of resolve is resorted to, Allah's Fadhl/ His Grace

accompanies one.

When a person jumps in with that courage and has the firm resolve, then immediately

Allah's special help and kindness will come and accompany one. Allah will not leave us alone.

His help is always there. All you have to do is take that first step.

Hadhrat continues, let it not be that one remains soiled in the stage of sinful defilement.

Soiled in the Najasat of sins.

Remember whenever we say sin it means external and internal sins.

Let us not forget that internal sins refer to the spiritual sicknesses.

Hadhrat continues, if perchance one happens to slip and fall immediately make Tawba.

Make Tawba and get up again, get up and walk again.

Hadhrat is giving an example, if one is dressed in clean clothes and proceeding to the

Musjid for Jumu’ah, then a child happens to a squirt some ink on to one's clothing. Shiny

white clothing with big stain of ink, what will happen? One will get upset and ill at ease

until the stain is removed. A person will not feel comfortable. If it occurred before Namaz

then he will go back home, change his clothes and give them for washing. This is the

condition of the heart.

When the clothing is stained the heart is affected. It is restless. The heart on the other

hand due to sins is directly darkened with black spot after black spot.

What about sinning?

Sinning is even worse. The effect of the Ink on the heart was indirect. The effect of the

sinning on the heart is direct and the black stain of sins come directly on the heart.

What effect should this have on one?

How restless should one be?

Think of how Pareshaan this should make us.

Question is,

ARE WE GETTING PARESHAAN BECAUSE OF THIS?

ARE WE GETTING RESTLESS BECAUSE OF THIS?

I have all these stains in my heart. I need to wash my heart.

If the answer is ‘No’ then there is something very seriously wrong with our Iman. The

problem is with our Iman.

We are sitting without any worry and concern, yet when our clothes get stained we make a

big fuss about it. We cannot tolerate an external stain on the clothes but we tolerate

living with big black spots and stains on our hearts. We can happily laugh, eat, drink, sleep,

talk to everyone, have a good time and enjoy our life and not be bothered about it. It is a

very big problem. This is a sign that the heart's condition is not good.

Hadhrat continues, the Hadith Shareef states that for every single sin committed, a black

spot stains the heart. If one resorts to Tawba, it will be eradicated otherwise the

blackness keeps on spreading until the entire heart is engulfed in the dark oblivious sin.

That is when the heart is now sealed. If the heart is sealed then the Tawfeeq of Tawba is

removed and taken away from the person.

Allah save us from that. It is a very scary situation to be in.

Therefore, we will have to make the effort to stay away from that and to be saved from

that condition.

Hadhrat says, as long as one remains occupied with Mujahada against the Nafs, be it

lifelong which is Matloob/ necessary then Inshallah one will reach success.

So long as we are trying and pass away in that Mujahada then we will be successful.

Then Hadhrat says, keep informing one's Murabbi (one's Sheikh or spiritual guide) of

one's condition and whatever advice and instruction one receives from him then adhere

upon it completely.

Whatever advice and instructions we get, we make Amal on that. We inform what is

happening in our lives in detail our internal and external Haal. We lay everything bare.

Between the Mureed and the Sheikh there is nothing to hide. Perhaps it is one the most

open relationships to exist in the world. Things which you will not tell any person in the

world, not even your parents, you will have to tell your Sheikh. Things which you will not

tell the closest people in the world, you will have to tell them to your Sheikh. When you will

have to lay everything bare is when the Faidha is going to come.

Once he has informed regarding his condition, he receives instructions and advices from

his Sheikh. The Amal he makes, is the Mujahada.

Then Hadhrat says, by constancy on this is a continuous process. It is not a onetime thing.

It is a continuous thing. It is a thing which is perpetual, it goes on. It does not stop at any

time. It is not like we did it once and that is it. No.

Hadhrat says, ‘’by constancy on this, one will Inshaallah successfully cross the barrier out

of sin and into felicity.’’

Felicity means success. A person will achieve eternal success. Dunya as well, Aakhirat as

well - Falaah.

After that, he mentions a few Ash'aar, couplets, which are important couplets. They are

Mashhoor, famous couplets which I am sure we have heard before and they are extremely

important. These couplets are by Khwaja Azeezul Hassan Majzoob Rahmatullahi Alaih,

regarding the Mujahada of the Nafs. He says,

نہ چت کر سکے نفس کے پہلوان کو

Na chitt kar sake nafs ke pehlwaan ko,

تو يوں ہاته پاؤں بهی ڈھيلے نہ ڈالے

tou yu haath paon bhi dhile na dale,

ارے اس کشتی تو ہے عمر بهر کی

are usse kushti tou hai umar bhar ki,

تو دبا لےکبهی وہ دبا لے کبهی

kabhi woh dhabale, kabhi tu dhabale.

If you are unable to defeat the wrestler of the Nafs. The Nafs is being compared to be a

wrestler. If you are not able to defeat, throw down, Na Chitt kar sake, to throw down the

opponent in a wrestling match. If you are not able to completely flatten and throw down

the wrestler, which you are fighting with, the Nafs. Then do not simply sit back in idleness.

Do not just leave your hands and feet loose without doing anything as that will be foolish.

If you cannot defeat the opponent immediately and throw him down, then that does not

mean you should stop fighting, and just sit and let him take over. No.

He says, that understand the Kushti, fight with this opponent, wrestler, Nafs, is going to

be there for the rest of the life. It is there for the entire life (umar bhar).

kabhi woh dhabale, kabhi tu dhabale

Sometimes the Nafs will overpower you and sometimes you will overpower the Nafs. If you

continue with the fight, then eventually the victory is yours. That is why Hadhrat

Rahmatullahi Alaih, mentions in the end, "kabhi tu dhabale", meaning, the final result will be

you defeating the Nafs, if you are going to keep up the fight. Eventually the victory will be

ours. We just need to keep fighting.

Other couplets of Hadhrat Majzoob Rahmatullahi Alaih, again Mashhor couplets, very

deep.

جو نہ کام ہوتا رہے عمر بهر بهی

Jo na kaam hota rahe umar bar bhi,

بہر حال کوشش تو عاشق نہ چهوڑے

Bahar haal koshish tou aashiq na chhore,

يہ رشتہ محبت کا قائم ہی رکهے

Ye rishta mahabbat ka qaim hi rakhe,

جو سو بار ٹوٹے تو سو بار جوڑے

Jo so baar tute tou, so baar jhore.

He says in these couplets,

That person who keeps failing his entire life, yet, the lover who is still trying to get the

love of Allah, in his heart, the Saalik, the Aashiq, should not give up. The worst and the

last thing to do is, give up. The person who keeps failing is not a true loser, the true loser

is the one who gives up after failing. The person who keeps failing is not the true loser, in

fact he is a winner. The one who gives up after failing is the person who is a true loser.

Therefore do not give up.

"Ye rishta mahabbat ka qaim hi rakhe,"

Keep this bond, connection, relation of love intact, do not break it.

"Jo so baar tute tou, so baar jhore."

Even if the connection with Allah breaks a hundred times, mend it a hundred times. Do not

let it stay broken. If it breaks, mend it again, make Tawba, turn to Allah again. Cry to

Allah. If it breaks again turn back to Allah. If a person does that his entire life then

Inshaallah, even if he is not going to be counted as Awliya e Saadiqeen, then at least he

will be counted as Taaibeen or the Tawwabeen, and that is a big Neemat as well.

After that, Hadhrat mentions a very important point. I want you to all listen carefully the

conditions necessary for spiritual benefit. I was talking about that heart to heart

connection last week. There are four conditions or components that constitute the heart

to heart connection, the relation between us and the Sheikh. These are necessary for

spiritual benefit. Without these, spiritual benefit is not going to transpire. This is what we

are referring to when talking about the connection being firm. It is based on these

conditions. To these four conditions which I generally mention, I have added one more. You

can remember them in this way that these are the "five I's" as all of them start with "I"

in english. If you are going to write it down in Arabic, then they all start with a Hamza

with a Kasra. These are necessary for our benefit.

(Inqiyaadh) إنقياض .1Means total subservience and total submission. These are the two things that each person

must understand regarding himself. To basically put yourself down in front of the Sheikh totally, until nothing from your side

remains, no opinion, Rai, nothing. A person is totally in the hands of his/her Sheikh.

Inqiyaadh is the first condition and it is the most important. Without Inqiyaadh, total

submission, it is not possible. If we are not going to submit ourselves totally, and not keep

something back, or have an opinion regarding ourselves that we are good or we are

someone, it is not going to work. We need to have total annihilation, and subservience. In

other words, to leave our pride and ego on one side. To understand that we are nothing, we

deserve nothing.

I am nothing, I know nothing and I deserve nothing. One must understands that regarding

himself and he does not even deserve to be connected to his Sheikh, it is the Ne’mat of

Allah. When he totally puts himself down, that is when the Fuyuzat, the spiritual benefits

come showering onto him.

On the other hand when he has this mentality that, ‘’I am something, me kuch hu’’, then

that is going to form a barrier. Very many examples have been given regarding that. We do

not have time to go into these examples now maybe later on, at some time we will discuss

them InshAllah.

(I'timaad) إعتماد .2Once you have submitted yourself, then comes I'timaad.

I'timaad means total trust and reliance on the Taalim of one's Sheikh so that you can

make Amal without any doubt. Whatever my Sheikh is telling me is for my own good. Whatever he is giving me is for my

own benefit. Once you have submitted yourself then I'timaad will come automatically. That

is the second thing.

(I'tiqaad) إعتقاد .3

I'tiqaad means for the heart to be connected and inclined to one's Sheikh. To have that

Azamat and love ( Mahabbat ) for one's Sheikh. The greatness, the reverence, the love for

one's Sheikh, that is the third. This is also necessary, because many times our Sheikh is going to scold us for our Islah.

Many times he is going to say such things to us which our Nafs will not like. It will be

bitter for our Nafs. If there is going to be no Azamat and Mahabbat in the heart then the

Mureed will break off. He will run away. The ego will come into play and the Nafs will come

in between the pride, that how can I be told something like this. How can he tell me

something like this! The person's ego flares up, the Nafs flares up. Again this is connected

to Inqiyaad, to have faith in one's Sheikh, to have Azamat and Mahabbat.

('Ittilaa) إطلاع .4 Ittilaa' means to inform the Sheikh of one's spiritual condition with honesty. To inform the Sheikh regarding what we are going through so that we can get the

treatment for it. ' Insaaf Ke Saath'. Not to hide anything. We should not hide anything

negative so that we can get the Ilaaj. As I said, with honesty we inform whatever it is.

Whatever we are doing even if it is wrong, we inform, ‘’ look I am doing this, and I would

like to stop’’ because that is the whole Maqsad of Islah. A person cannot hide when he is

doing something wrong because he does not want to fall in the eyes of the Sheikh. Many

people do not want to fall in the eyes of the Sheikh. That is again the deception of

Shaitan. By informing the Sheikh of one's true condition, he never falls from the eyes of

the Sheikh and if anything, he rises in the eyes of the Sheikh because the Sheikh

understands, Subhanallah, this Mureed is sincere that is why he is telling me all these

things. He is sincere, he really wants Islah. In fact the level of the Mureed in the eyes of the Shaykh is going to rise instead of

falling.

So that is,

,'Ittilaa إطلاع .Ittilaa' - to inform ones Shaykh of spiritual condition with sincerity -إطلاع •

of informing the spiritual guide of our condition we are going through in our life and this is

not only related to our Ma'muls, whether we completing or not, it includes a number of

other things as well.

('Ittibaa) إتباع .5To follow whatever ilaaj, Naseehat we are given. Whatever treatment we have been given

now we follow.

Whatever we are told, whatever ilaaj we are given, and whatever Naseehat we are given we

do it.

Without any 'ifs' and 'buts'. Without saying even ‘’uff’’, whatever we are advised, we do

Ittibaa to follow.

These are the five I's, the four were mentioned by Hazrat Hardoi Rahmatullah Alaih.

I'timaad- total trust and reliance on taaleem of one’s Shaykh, was from my side, so -إعتماد *

a total of five. The five I's or the five Hamza's are necessary.

When these five conditions are present, then the connection is strong.

If these five conditions are not going to be there or even from among these five, if one

will be missing then that means the connection is weak.

That means that the spiritual benefit which we are supposed to attain, we will not get.

This is the malfooz, and we can see it is an extremely important one. The malfooz which

follows, ‘’Sheikh Steers Mureed in the Right Direction’’ is an explanation of what we just

did. Hazrat Hardoi is giving a very beautiful example.

Today is the last Malfoozat class of Ramadhan.

Inshallah we shall continue and these Malfoozat will be presented in some way or the

other.