Shrine & Meditation chamber of Hazrat Zaynuddin Soharwardy

[Meditation chamber: چلہ گاہ or چلہ خانہ] The son of Hazrat Ziauddin Abu Najib Suharwardy, may God sanctify their secrets!
His tomb is in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Why Sufism? Hazrat Samnani's autobiography

By Hazrat Ruknuddin Ala-ud-Daula Samnani, [d. 21st Rajab, 732 Hijri] may God sanctify his secret!
The author of the Firmest Bond, on his journey to Sufism, excerpted from the Mirror of Secrets, a 10th CE book:-
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When I left the Medressa[Quranic school] I was 15 years old. For ten years I lived without covetousness and considered fancy clothes & worldly goods to be distractions. Whatever I had learned of the intellectual & the traditional sciences, that was it. Till, by the Grace of God, when Shah Arghavan, who was from the lineage of Chengis Khan, came with his army to join with the army of Sultan Ahmed at Qazvin, so at that time this poor soul [Hzt. Samnani] was in that army, aged 24. This was in 683 Hijri. In youthful enthusiasm I wished to charge my steed into the midst of the enemy, but at that very moment the Veil was lifted and I was left rapt & bewildered sitting on my horse, even till the battle was over and the hosts had left. At that moment my heart went cold to all worldly desires.
AT any rate, I resigned from the army of Shah Arghavan, at that time I had some inherited money and goods, which I distributed after giving what was due to my family, and plunged into trying to acquire the Spiritual sciences, and the Path as delineated by Hazrat Shaykh Abu Talib Makki in Qut al Qulub [The Sustenance of the Hearts, an early Sufi classic]. This book I made compulsory upon myself.

Despite God's infinite grace, and my Remembrance, Renunciation and other practices, once Satan whispered in my heart, and brought forth many suspicions. I however removed these doubts through an effort of Will. After this, Satan began to visit often.

He said, there have been 124,000 Messengers from God. Do you know who is best for you to follow? Because all of them have a different Sharia [law].

Now I threw myself into more worship and striving, so that the answer to Satan would arise from my inner soul [rather than mind]. My heart called out to me, do not trust the Devil's deception and his whisperings, and know that all the Prophetic Ways are based on those of seven Prophets, who are exalted above the others. They are, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus and the leader of Mankind, the pride of creation, Muhammad, peace be upon them all. All these Prophets called their nations to their Sharia, which was established at that time by Divine Decree. Now, it is compulsory for you top follow that person, whose teachings are simplest, whose purity is complete and most beautiful, whose worship is most perfect and concise, and the reward thereof greatest. Hence I looked back on the past nations, till I settled on this Middle Nation of Muhammad peace be upon him, which God has called the Best of Nations. So my Nafs was tamed and at that moment I was bestowed the Vision of the Reality of Faith with my inner eye.

But once again Satan whispered in my heart, that Rasulallah [sws] has said that soon my nation shall split into 73 sects, but only one of those sects shall be saved, and the others shall go to Hell. Now this Hadith is true, and every sect claims it is the saved sect. Do you really know which sect is true so that your submission and your worship may be according to that sect's beliefs? And that your actions may be according to it's teachings? Because this is what Rationality & Revelation demand.

After this whispering of Satan I once more humbly pleaded with God to please unveil the Truth to me so I could act accordingly. By the Grace of God it was revealed to me that "the nation of Muhammad [peace be upon him] despite the multitude of sects, can be classified into seven basic groups. These are, The believers in Determinism, Free-will, Immanence, Transcendence, and the Khariji, Rafizi [Shia] and the Sunni.
So follow that group which avoids extremes and blame."

When I reflected upon these sects I found all of them given to extremes & blame. The Determinists exaggerated Unity and the Free-Will crowd limited it. Believers in Transcendence were excessive [in divorcing the Creator from His creation] while believers in Immanence were disrespected the Divine Attributes. The Kharijis were foolish & dishonest in the matter of the Prophet's family, because God Himself has praised this family & purified it, and He has commanded that we love this family.
And the Rafizis [Shia] I saw were involved in the madness of criticizing some wives of the Prophet, despite God praising them in several verses in the Qur'an and the Prophet's saying "learn religion from my House."

And the Rafizis due to ignorance & idiocy also criticize the Companions, even tho' they are praised on several occasions in the Qur'an!

However, I found that the Ahl e Sunna Wa'l Jamaat [Sunni], all 4 schools, compared to all the other sects, were far closer to following the Prophet, peace be upon him & the Companions. I found their every action & statement according to Reason & Revelation. So I ignored all the other 6 sects.

However I saw that even the Sunnis backbiting each other, and running down the other Imams. So the followers of Imam Shafi'i & Imam Abu Hanifa criticize one another... when I directed a Gaze [spiritually] on the matter I found both Imams to be correct in their statements, but their followers prejudiced.

So when I saw that all 4 Imams of the Sunnis were according to the Qur'an & Traditions [hadith] I leant towards following them. But though schools' arguments & disagreements & biases worried my soul, still I found their way straighter & closer than the others, and I thought I'd stay alone as one's own company is better than bad company.

WHICH SECT IS THE SAVED SECT
But I had hopes of God that I would not be left alone, so I waited patiently. Till one day when God out of His Infinite Mercy lifted the veil from my heart. In the Unseen Realm by way of Kashf, I saw a group of Purified Ones, captivating was their perfume of Love & life-enhancing was their vision.

When I greeted them with 'salam' they returned the better greeting, and graciously replied to this poor man [Hzt Samnani]. I asked them, "Please tell me, who are you? For your faces carry the marks of the Righteous."

They replied, "We are servants of God, and we follow three conditions: organization, worship & purity. Our way is the Faith of Muhammad and the nation of Abraham. Our path & mazhab is that we avoid extremes & blame, and as far as we can go in this, we make our religion; and we do not call anyone a disbeliever who recites the Muslim creed, nor the one who prays in the direction of the Ka'aba."

When I asked them about the 4 Imams, i.e. Abu Hanifa, Shafi'i, Malik, Ahmad bin Hanbal, they praised their sayings and their law and said thanks were due to these 4 for their efforts.

Therefore I was really amazed at this perfected group's and I asked them as to who & where they were.

They said, "Our people are called Sufis, and we have seven levels:
1. Those who Seek طالبین
2. Those who Intend مریدین
3. Those who Travel سالکین
4. Those who Walk سائرین
5. Those who Fly طائرین
6. Those who are United with God واسلین [i.e. those at Fana]
7. Those who are the Poles of Guidance. قطب ارشاد [i.e. those at Baqa]

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[Hazrat Samnani became a disciple of Hazrat Nuruddin Abdur Rahman al-Asfarani, who is from the lineage of Hazrat Najmuddin Kubra]

Subhan Allah- Prayer

Excellent slideshow:- Ramzan Sharif, the Big Picture at Boston.com
Photo by JUNIE DOCTOR/AFP/Getty Images

Moment of Silence- Emmanuel Ortiz

A MOMENT OF SILENCE, BEFORE I START THIS POEM

Before I start this poem,
I'd like to ask you to join me
In a moment of silence
In honor of those who died in the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon last September 11th.

I would also like to ask you
To offer up a moment of silence
For all of those who have been harassed, imprisoned,
disappeared, tortured, raped, or killed in retaliation for those strikes
For the victims in both Afghanistan and the U.S.

And if I could just add one more thing...
A full day of silence
For the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have died at the
hands of U.S.-backed Israeli
forces over decades of occupation.
Six months of silence for the million and-a-half Iraqi people,
mostly children, who have died of
malnourishment or starvation as a result of an 11-year U.S.
embargo against the country.

Before I begin this poem,
Two months of silence for the Blacks under Apartheid in South Africa,
Where homeland security made them aliens in their own country.
Nine months of silence for the dead in Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
Where death rained down and peeled back every layer of
concrete, steel, earth and skin
And the survivors went on as if alive.
A year of silence for the millions of dead in Vietnam - a people,
not a war - for those who
know a thing or two about the scent of burning fuel, their
relatives' bones buried in it, their babies born of it.
A year of silence for the dead in Cambodia and Laos, victims of
a secret war ... ssssshhhhhhh...
Say nothing
we don't want them to learn that they are dead.
Two months of silence for the decades of dead in Colombia,
Whose names, like the corpses they once represented,
have piled up and slipped off our tongues.

Before I begin this poem.
An hour of silence for El Salvador ...
An afternoon of silence for Nicaragua ...
Two days of silence for the Guatemaltecos ...
None of whom ever knew a moment of peace in their living years.
45 seconds of silence for the 45 dead at Acteal, Chiapas

25 years of silence for the hundred million Africans who found
their graves far deeper in the ocean than any building could
poke into the sky.
There will be no DNA testing or dental records to identify their remains.
And for those who were strung and swung from the heights of
sycamore trees in the south, the north, the east, and the west...

100 years of silence...
For the hundreds of millions of Indigenous peoples from this half
of right here,
Whose land and lives were stolen,
In postcard-perfect plots like Pine Ridge, Wounded Knee, Sand Creek,
Fallen Timbers, or the Trail of Tears.
Names now reduced to innocuous magnetic poetry on the
refrigerator of our consciousness ...

So you want a moment of silence?
And we are all left speechless
Our tongues snatched from our mouths
Our eyes stapled shut
A moment of silence
And the poets have all been laid to rest
The drums disintegrating into dust.

Before I begin this poem,
You want a moment of silence
You mourn now as if the world will never be the same
And the rest of us hope to hell it won't be.
Not like it always has
been.

Because this is not a 9/11 poem.
This is a 9/10 poem,
It is a 9/9 poem,
A 9/8 poem,
A 9/7 poem
This is a 1492 poem.

This is a poem about what causes poems like this to be written.
And if this is a 9/11 poem, then:
This is a September 11th poem for Chile, 1971.
This is a September 12th poem for Steven Biko in South Africa, 1977.
This is a September 13th poem for the brothers at Attica Prison, New York, 1971.
This is a September 14th poem for Somalia, 1992.
This is a poem for every date that falls to the ground in ashes
This is a poem for the 110 stories that were never told
The 110 stories that history chose not to write in textbooks
The 110 stories that CNN, BBC, The New York Times, and Newsweek ignored.
This is a poem for interrupting this program.

And still you want a moment of silence for your dead?
We could give you lifetimes of empty:
The unmarked graves
The lost languages
The uprooted trees and histories
The dead stares on the faces of nameless children
Before I start this poem we could be silent forever
Or just long enough to hunger,
For the dust to bury us
And you would still ask us
For more of our silence.

If you want a moment of silence
Then stop the oil pumps
Turn off the engines and the televisions
Sink the cruise ships
Crash the stock markets
Unplug the marquee lights,
Delete the instant messages,
Derail the trains, the light rail transit.

If you want a moment of silence, put a brick through the window of Taco Bell,
And pay the workers for wages lost.
Tear down the liquor stores,
The townhouses, the White Houses, the jailhouses, the
Penthouses and the Playboys.

If you want a moment of silence,
Then take it
On Super Bowl Sunday,
The Fourth of July
During Dayton's 13 hour sale
Or the next time your white guilt fills the room where my beautiful
people have gathered.

You want a moment of silence
Then take it NOW,
Before this poem begins.
Here, in the echo of my voice,
In the pause between goosesteps of the second hand,
In the space between bodies in embrace,
Here is your silence,
Take it.
But take it all...
Don't cut in line.
Let your silence begin at the beginning of crime.
But we,
Tonight we will keep right on singing
For our dead.


By EMMANUEL ORTIZ

Discourses of Hazrat Shahidullah Faridi

Hazrat Shah Shahidullah Faridi, a great Waliullah [Friend of God] of the 20th century. May God sanctify his secret!
Both the picture & the speeches have been graciously provided by a sister in Faith, please pray that God elevate her station and bless her in this life & the next.
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19-A. LAMBI UMAR
bismillah ir rahman ir-raheem
The book Tarbiutul Ishaq was to be published and Hazrat saheb gave the example about its proof- readings he said this book of precepts of Shah Saheb was proof- read five times but even now some mistakes were overlooked … Once the book has been printed nothing can be done. In the same way we overlook many of our own wrong deeds. So continue to check your deeds. So also in our book of deeds don’t let it reach the stage where you have overlooked your deeds which you should have asked forgiveness for while you are living one has the opportunity to do Tauba – ask Allah’s forgiveness make amends and corrections - as long as we are alive and in this world one must go over our deeds to check our shortcomings. Some venerated persons/Buzurgs- only prayed for a long life/lambi umar so that there would be time to atone for ones sins and shortcomings

Tauba does not mean asking to be forgiven but continuing to do the same deeds!
Tauba /asking for forgiveness of sins must be done and this includes the condition which requires that one must try our best and with sincere intention decide to stop doing wrong. It must be a firm commitment in your heart; the conditions of Tauba include feeling shame and regret too, this is the way in which one can attempt to reform, correct and protect oneself from doing wrong.

Tauba must be done until the very end of life as we overlook many of our faults and shortcomings and even forget about it - so one must never give up hope from asking for forgiveness as one may have overlooked our wrongs and not asked for their forgiveness. Whatever your spiritual status some shortcoming may have been overlooked…Once the final printing of your book of deeds is done nothing can be done…you cannot correct anything after you die! Nothing can be erased…

Your intention should be sincere for asking Allah to forgive you and the intention of never doing it again, decide to earn or eat or do only that which is permissible and to avoid every prohibited thing or action.
As one progresses spiritually one carries extra responsibility and will be accountable to a greater degree than one who has not…….it is like if you have given a responsibility for a work to someone, you will check on him and if has not done the work you will question him and he is accountable for that as against a person who has not been given any work.
Such a person will receive merit for whatever good deed he has done and his small lapses will be erased and forgiven.

In the Quran we find that Allah says time and again that as long as you have Belief in God and the Hereafter and do good deeds you will be rewarded and your small lapses and sins will be forgiven. This is for the ordinary average persons but for those who have been given the opportunity to have studied the knowledge of the requirements and training to achieve a higher status- one who has progressed spiritually - will be accountable to a greater degree, others may have lapsed but such a person will be questioned, they should not have done wrong! One who has been given the status of a Teacher or a role model- an example…will be accountable to a greater degree!

The time spent in worship and practising permitted deeds and avoiding all prohibited deeds and things in one’s youth has great merit. When you are young bad habits can be changed and corrected in old age they have become so ingrained it is not easy change
The same things in old age do not carry the same reward. When one is young one has the power - the capability, opportunity and strength to indulge in wrong actions and sins so abstaining from these in youth when you are capable - is highly rewarded. So also you can worship by praying extra namaz and staying awake in the nights to please Allah and beg for forgiveness which is not possible in old age.

When old we cannot commit sins as our strength, power, opportunities are absent!
In old age when people come ask for what to pray and how to worship, one cannot advise them to spend nights in worship or the day in fasting for Allah’s pleasure and atonement of sins as they do not have much strength and such ability at their age. They can only do Tauba…as the door of Tauba has been said to be very wide and it is always open/ajar so spend time in asking for forgiveness of sins and having full trust in Allah’s compassion and mercy is all you can do right up to old age and while you are still alive!.

It is said that on the Day of judgement when everyone will feel great heat as the sun will be so close and all will be drenched in perspiration…the young people who have spent time in worshiping and remembering Allah will be in front, facing the Arsh without feeling the heat or any anxiety!

There are four kinds of people who will be right before the Arsh, on the day of Judgement - one the young people who have done worship in the remembrance of Allah, secondly those who have loved others solely for the sake of Allah. Loving your blood relatives is an innate thing but to love someone who has love for Allah and you love the people solely for Allah’s sake because of your mutual love of learning about and for Allah will be rewarded thus, third those who cry solely and sincerely in remembrance of Allah…not cry for some calamity in your life for loss of wealth or the death of a close and loved one…but only in awe and remembrance of Allah as when you remember Allah with tears you recall all the wrong, the sinful and punishable deeds you have done and pray for forgiveness and do tauba sincerely.

Upcoming Sufi feature film

Seems like a good effort.

Discourses of Hazrat Shahidullah Faridi-1

From Hazrat's "Malfuzat," from the seventies, graciously translated & provided by a sister in Faith.
Keeping in mind the readership of this blog I've replaced some of the Urdu words.

The word's of this saint are of great relevance, may God sanctify his secret.
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Malfuzat 14-A. JUMA. [Friday Congregational prayer]

Someone living abroad said that they hold a prayer congregation on Sunday. They have a khutba[sermon] also, as they cannot do so on Friday. Hazrat saheb said that Juma means a getting together for namaz[prayer] and it is perfectly alright for them to continue doing so on Sunday as it is not possible for those working in non-Muslim countries to do so on Fridays. If things are beyond your control and your intention is the juma namaz God will accept it as such, of course, wherever it is possible to have the juma namaz on Friday do so on Friday.

God has made things easy for us. If there's no water, for wudu[washing] you can still pray and if you cannot physically do the namaz, you are allowed to stand, sit or do so lying down.

Hazrat saheb mentioned that one must also do tabligh [propogation of the Faith]. Have any Australians converted to Islam? he asked. The gentleman addressed replied that a few have and they do display an urge to know Islam. The Qadiyanis were doing much tablig and they are the ones who have converted a few and recently the literature of the Jamate Islami had started coming in.

Hazrat saheb said that they will never be successful and there would be no interest in the Jamat's literature. The Jamate Islami can only succeed in Pakistan he said. The westerners have achieved their political, social and economic principles; they are interested in the spiritual aspect, which is what they lack, and are searching for the spirituality. Historically too it can be seen that it is the spiritual aspect which appeals and causes the change of heart.

Man wishes for power and prestige and to this end use Islam. When some work politically they tell themselves and others, that they do so to serve Islam. This isn't true: they do so for power and position, that is a human weakness....


Some claim that the Maulanas[scholars] have made Islam too strict. That's not true, these people wish to find a way to tackle the question of alcohol and veiling, so they look for indulgence in these rules and fool themselves. There are also people who say they're working for Islam, they are charming people and speak in a gentle, attractive manner but present their own arguments built on wrong premises. Such Muslims do more harm to Islam then non-Muslims.


One cannot reform society, until one helps improve the individuals. We have been instructed to do good to everyone. One must look for helping and offering what is better to others. One must not think or believe that we ourselves are the best and everyone else is not as good as us, or as good as oneself. One must always think good of people, always believe the best about them. One must expect only good or the best from the other person and you will find it so. One must cover the faults of others, not publicize them.

These rules apply to Jihad too. If you see only faults in others and have disagreements with others, how can you succeed in Jihad? One must not also alienate ones enemies as going out of the way to alienate your enemies provides a powerful force to them in their fight against you.

The method used by Palestinian guerrillas, killing innocent civilians is not Islamic. It's not allowed in Islam, to kill innocent women and children. This gives Islam a bad image. people think those who follow Islam have beastly methods. This is no help to the cause of Jihad, which is to achieve freedom from aggression; not to cause retaliations as that goes on without end. These methods are used by those who are not capable of doing any better, so they decide let's do it this way. This way is not the approved Islamic way. One must build up one's army like Libya, to counter and be capable to fight aggression...

In our country, we have the fault of believing every rumor. Allah and His Prophet have strictly warned us against doing so. One must verify news and rumors before spreading them....


The publication of the book Tarbiyat-ul-Ushaq was expected. Hazrat saheb said that everyone asks a lot of questions and all these have been answered in this book. So, when anyone wishes to learn about any topic, they can be told to read and refer to this book [a compilation of Hazrat Zauqi Shah's precepts].

He next advised that the Qur'an must be read and understood. So one must read with translation. To understand the Quran is very important.....



The scientists have found rules and principles in everything in this world. The thought of action, causes us to do the action almost instantly. What's this connection between the thought-process in the mind, which wishes to walk to the door, and causes you to get up and walk to the door?

The connections between the laws that govern the various workings of the Universe is a mystery. There are many ongoing studies, but the link between them, remains unraveled. The Prophets too are a link between Allah and mankind. Prophet Muhammad is known as the highest link of the links.
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