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Showing posts from February, 2021

RECTIFYING UNDESIRABLE MENTAL ATTRIBUTES: 19 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 THE THIRD DEGREE OF GREED   The third degree of greed is that a person does like money, and does want to accrue more and more wealth. However, as a result of this wish to get more money, he neither commits any  Haraam  acts to get money, nor does he adopt the way of using excuses and justifications to claim what isn’t rightfully his. All he does is that he happily takes whatever Allah Ta’ala has given him through Halal (permissible) means, and tries to get more through Halal means. This degree of greed is not condemnable as it neither led him to committing any sins, nor did he stray from the right path as a result of it.

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 As has been mentioned previously, Shariah is a duty-based legislation, and not a rights-based legislation.  Hence, in many verses one finds commandments relating to do good to one group of people or another. In general, the more neglected or exploited a group is in society, the starker the warnings of the Noble Qur’an about the consequences of violating the rights of that group.    Yatama  (plural of  Yateem , orphan, in Shariah used for children who have lost their father and have not yet reached the age of maturity) are the most abused group of people in any society, and that includes physical, sexual, emotional and financial abuse. Hence the stark warning of the Noble Qur’an about filling up their bellies with fire for those people who abuse such children.

RECTIFYING UNDESIRABLE MENTAL ATTRIBUTES: 18 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 THE SECOND DEGREE OF GREED   The second degree of greed is that the greed does not influence the person to the degree that he resorts to overtly  Haraam ways of acquiring wealth, like robbery or theft, rather, it makes him acquire wealth through false justifications and excuses. This sort of greed is found more amongst religious scholars. Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Shafi (may Allah Ta’ala bless him) used to say that a Maulvis’ (religious scholar) Satan is also a Maulvi. If a Maulvi’s  Nafs  (inner-self) tells him to steal, commit robbery, or obtain someone else’s property by deception, he would reply that it is not permissible, and won’t listen to his  Nafs . But Maulvi’s Satan is also a Maulvi, it suggests different excuses and interpretations to him to convince him to take that property. Even though by Shariah he was not allowed to take that money, but his greed persuades him to use those excuses to obtain that unlawful money. This degree of greed is also  Haraam .

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  RIGHTS OF ORPHANS   “Give the orphans their property, and do not substitute what is bad for what is good, and do not eat up their property along with your own. It is, surely, a great sin.” (4:2)   “Surely, those who unjustly devour the property of the orphans do nothing but devour fire into their bellies, and soon they shall enter a blazing Hell.” (4:10)

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  Most Muslims stopped drinking alcohol after this verse was revealed as when you have to pray Salah five times a day, it doesn’t leave much time in between, not just to drink alcohol, but also to recover fully from its effects. Then the next verse was revealed which finally banned alcohol for Muslims for ever.   “0  those who believe, the truth is that wine, gambling, altar-stones and divining arrows are filth, a work of Satan. Therefore, refrain from it, so that you may be successful .” (5:90)

RECTIFYING UNDESIRABLE MENTAL ATTRIBUTES: 17 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 THE DEGREES OF GREED ( حرص )   Then there are different degrees of greed. The first and highest degree is that a person tries to obtain wealth through means which are clearly  Haraam  (unlawful) and impermissible. For example, that greed makes him try to acquire wealth through stealing it from other people, or by committing robberies, or by deceiving other people. May Allah Ta’ala save us from it. Aameen. This is the most severe degree of greed.

RECTIFYING UNDESIRABLE MENTAL ATTRIBUTES: 16 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 THE SPIRITUAL ILL OF GREED   For example, the spiritual ill of greed is naturally present in the hearts of many people. Allah Ta’ala has said in the Noble Qur’an;   “It has been made attractive for people to love the desired things; that is, women, children, hoarded heaps of gold and silver, branded horses, cattle and tillage…” (3:14)    Which tells us that such desires are part of human nature. If this greed is used appropriately, it is not a flaw in itself. For example, love of this material world to a degree which a person requires to earn his living, and to look after his family and fulfil their rights, is appropriate and permissible. However, there is another level of greed about which the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  has said;   “If a human being gets one valley of gold, he will lust to get another one. And when he gets the second valley, he will want a third one. Nothing can fill the tummy of the son of Adam beside dirt.”   This level of greed is  Haraam  (unlawful) as it forces a person t

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 Some time later, there was a party at a  Sahabi’s  home. As was the custom during those times, alcohol was served. When the time of  Salah  came a  Sahabi  led the prayer. However, because of the influence of alcohol he made some mistakes in reciting the Noble Qur’an which completely reversed the meaning of what was being said. After this incident, this next verse was revealed.   “ 0 those who believe do not go near Salah when you are intoxicated until you know what you say… ” (4:43)

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  ALCOHOL   Pre-Islam Arabia had a heavy drinking culture. For that reason it was not easy to change a whole society so heavily involved in drinking, into one that completely shunned alcohol. The injunctions to ban alcohol were therefore revealed gradually.   The first verse to be revealed in this context was;     “ They ask you about wine and gambling. Say, “In both there is great sin, and some benefits for people. And their sin is greater than their benefit. ”…” (2:219)   In this verse, even though alcohol was not banned but it was made clear that because its sin was greater than its benefit, it was not a wise choice to continue drinking it. Many Sahabah stopped drinking alcohol after this verse was revealed because even though it was not banned outright, it was made clear that it was not a habit favoured by Allah Ta’ala.

RECTIFYING UNDESIRABLE MENTAL ATTRIBUTES: 15 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 Explaining this further Hazrat Thanvi (may Allah Ta’ala bless him) said;   “Otherwise, with Mujahidah (sustained effort), neither a greedy person’s greed goes away completely, nor a miser’s miserliness, or Mutakabbir’s (person who has Takabbur in his heart) Takabbur (arrogance, grandiosity). However, they do get weakened.”   It means if someone has greed, miserliness or  Takabbur  in his heart, then it does not subside completely with effort though it does get weaker. ‘Weakening’ means the person still has those drives and desires inside him, but with repeated and sustained effort those drives have become so weak that they do not compel the person to commit a sin, and even if they do he can resist them easily.

RECTIFYING UNDESIRABLE MENTAL ATTRIBUTES: 14 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

  When he then stops staring at what he has been forbidden to stare at by Allah Ta’ala, it will be a little bit easier to move his eyes away the second time, and the third time will be a little bit easier than the second time, and so on. With repeated practice over a period of time, even though he will still have some degree of desire to stare at what he has been forbidden to stare at, but it will be much easier for him to stop himself from doing so compared to the very first time. It is because by repeatedly averting his eyes, his desire to stare has become weakened. That is what Hazrat Thanvi (may Allah Ta’ala bless him) means by saying that the primary aim of combating undesirable mental attributes is to weaken them, and ‘weakening’ in this context means that after repeated practice it becomes much easier to refrain from committing those sins, though a person still needs to make some effort to do so. No matter how much   Mujahidah   (sustained effort) a person performs, the internal

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  The last sentence of the verse, “whoever is compelled by necessity…” refers to situations in which a person is suffering from such severe starvation that if he does not eat he will die, and the only food that is available is   Haraam  (unlawful), then it is not only permissible but actually   Wajib   (necessary) under Shariah for him to eat that   Haraam   food to save his life. However, as the second part of the verse specifies, he is only allowed to eat as much as is necessary to save his life, and he shouldn’t be eating   Haraam   food to seek pleasure or eat more than is necessary to save his life.

RECTIFYING UNDESIRABLE MENTAL ATTRIBUTES: 13 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 CONTROLLING PHYSICAL DESIRES   Or, for example, excessive desire for physical pleasures is also an undesirable mental attribute. If a person uses this desire inappropriately it is a grave danger and is lethal in this  Tareeq  (Tasawwuf). For example, a person was used to using his eyes in a way that is forbidden under Shariah. When he set out on the path of Tasawwuf, he learnt that it is a major sin and he needs to stop himself from committing that act. Once he started on that path, there were again occasions when he developed similar impulses and an intense desire to use his eyes the way he used to previously. But then he remembered that he has started on the path of self-improvement. Therefore, he would need to avert his eyes and stop himself from staring inappropriately. When he would do this for the first time, it would be extremely hard for him to do so against his previous nature. But if he wants to progress on the path to self-improvement, he would need to make a conscious deci

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 The second restriction is that even amongst these animal categories which are Halal, Muslims are allowed to eat meat of only those animals which have been slaughtered in a certain way called  Zabihah   (ذبیحہ) , which includes, amongst other things, reciting Allah Ta’ala’s name at the time of slaughtering the animal. This is such a firm condition that if somewhere Muslims cannot obtain Halal meat at all after making every effort, they are allowed to eat Kosher meat (animals slaughtered by Jews following their religious practices), but they are not allowed to eat meat from an animal slaughtered even by a Muslim if he deliberately and knowingly chooses not to recite Allah Ta’ala’s name while slaughtering it. In actual fact, eating non- Zabihah  meat is as  Haraam  (unlawful) as eating meat from an animal which Muslims have been prohibited from eating under Shariah.

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  More specifically, the one food item on consumption of which Shariah has placed very clear restrictions is meat. These restrictions are of two types. The first is that Muslims are allowed to eat the meat of only certain animals. For example, in general, Muslims are not allowed to eat any land-based animals that eat meat themselves. Even among herbivores, there are many eating meat of which is permissible, but not necessarily all of them.

RECTIFYING UNDESIRABLE INTERNAL ATTRIBUTES: 12 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

  Same is true of undesirable mental attributes. For example, previously a person used to get angry excessively and on trivial matters. He would start screaming and yelling, and abusing and hitting people if anyone said anything that displeased him in the slightest. Then when he started undergoing self-improvement as he started travelling on the path of Tasawwuf, he learnt that becoming angry excessive and in inappropriate situations is a sin. Then the next time he comes across a situation he would have become angry in previously, he suppresses his anger and stops himself from exploding. Even if he feels strongly like screaming at or slapping the other person, he tries his best to stop that impulse and keep his temper under control. For a person who always used to explode in anger without restraint, it is initially extremely difficult and a herculean task to restrain his temper, but as he keeps practicing it, it becomes easier with repeated practice to the point that even though he may

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  As the verse quoted above tells us, certain restrictions have been placed upon what foods are   Halal   (lawful) for Muslims to consume. The first and foremost restriction is that a person’s source of income should be   Halal . If the majority of a person’s income is derived from   Haraam   (unlawful) sources, all he consumes becomes   Haraam , even though it may have been   Halal   by its nature. That is why before we start engaging in discussions about whether compound E (for example) added to food renders it   Haraam   or not, it is much more important that we learn about what practices can render our income   Haraam   and absolutely avoid those practices.

RECTIFYING UNDESIRABLE INTERNAL ATTRIBUTES: 11 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 AIM OF ‘ATTENUATING’ SPIRITUAL ILLS   Explaining this, Hazrat Thanvi (may Allah Ta’ala bless him) further said;   “The aim of attenuating undesirable mental attributes is to weaken them to an extent that they come under the person’s control. ‘Weakening’ means that after Mujahidah (sustained effort) it becomes easier to oppose those impulses.”   It means that these spiritual ills cannot be removed or extinguished completely from one’s inner-self. However, they can become a lot weaker so that it takes much less effort to oppose them and not act on what they are driving us to do. The same is true of everything we do in this world whether we do it for  Dunya  (material world) or  Deen . Sustained effort makes it easier for us to start doing something on a regular basis. For example, when a person previously was not in the habit of praying  Salah  regularly, it seemed very difficult to him to go to the Masjid five times a day and pray  Salah  there, and took a mammoth effort. However, if h

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  FOOD   “He has only prohibited for you carrion, blood, the flesh of swine and that upon which a name of someone other than Allah has been invoked. Then, whoever is compelled by necessity, neither seeking pleasure nor transgressing, there is no sin on him…” (2:173)

RECTIFYING UNDESIRABLE INTERNAL ATTRIBUTES: 10 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 THE UNDESIRBLE INTERNAL ATTRIBUTES ARE NATURAL   Hazrat Thanvi (may Allah Ta’ala bless him) has further said;   “The evidence for the internal undesirable attributes being natural is that we see that children also get angry, and scholars have said that anger stems from Takabbur (arrogance, grandiosity). This anger then leads to backbiting. If children get angry it means that they also have Takabbur, and if children have Takabbur, it means that these traits occur naturally.”   The reason for mentioning this here is to clarify that because these undesirable internal attributes are natural, a disciple should not hope in vein that one day his  Nafs  will be completely rid of these. They will never go away completely. Neither the anger will subside completely, nor the root of  Takabbur  will go away completely. The aim is to make these attributes weak, to attenuate them, so that they stop having an impact on a person’s thoughts, emotions and behaviour.

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  “Like for others what you would like for yourself.” (Prophet Muhammad ﷺ)

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  “A Muslim is one whose hands and tongue other Muslims are safe from.” (Prophet Muhammad  ﷺ )   While elaborating upon this Hadith, Mufti Taqi Usmani DB said that sometimes when people read Ahadith such as this one, they misunderstand that this pertains to rights of Muslims only. What they are sometimes not aware of is that these words were spoken by the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  at a time when Muslims lived mostly with Muslims. And that is why these refer to rights of Muslims only. Otherwise, the rights of non-Muslims to enjoy protection of life, property and honour are exactly the same under Shariah as those for Muslims, the only exception being when a Muslim state is in an open declared war with a non-Muslim state.

RECTIFYING UNDESIRABLE INTERNAL ATTRIBUTES: 9 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 INFORM AND FOLLOW   Hazrat Thanvi (may Allah Ta’ala bless him) used to say that when a person develops a mentorship relationship with a Shaykh, then he needs to do things, inform, and follow. ‘Inform’ in this context means that he should keep informing the Shaykh about how he is progressing with purification of his inner-self, and what is still remaining. ‘Follow’ means that he should follow whatever advice the Shaykh gives him after hearing about his condition. This is how purification of inner-self happens.

RECTIFYING UNDESIRABLE INTERNAL ATTRIBUTES: 8 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 So, the purpose of going to a Shaykh shouldn’t just be to ask how much  Zikr  (remembrance) should he perform, how many  Tasbeehat  should he recite each day, or how many  Nawafil  should he pray each day. These  Nawafil, Tasbeehat, Zikr are all aides on the way to  Tazkiyah , but they are not the primary goal. The primary goal of Tasawwuf is that a person keeps critically evaluating every moment of his life and should keep reflecting on his behaviour; whether he performed any actions under the influence of  Takabbur , whether he became unduly and excessively angry at some point, whether he did something under the influence of greed, or whether he is suffering from excessive love of this material world. He should keep evaluating all his behaviours, keep informing his Shaykh about his spiritual ills, keep asking him about how to treat them, and keep practicing the remedies his Shaykh tells him to perform. If he finds it difficult to follow any of the remedies for some reason, he should

RECTIFYING UNDESIRABLE INTERNAL ATTRIBUTES: 7 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

  Similarly, for example, a person has excessive physical desires and he is worried that it will make him do things outside the bounds of Shariah. Then he should ask the Shaykh how to bring those desires under control. Or if he feels, or others tell him, that he is suffering from   Takabbur   (grandiosity, arrogance) (in terminology of Tasawwuf   Takabbur   means that a person believes that he is superior to others and others are inferior to him: Translator). This   Takabbur   is such an illness that most people who suffer from it have no insight that they are suffering from it. No   Mutakabbir   (a person who is suffering from   Takabbur ) never calls himself   Mutakabbir . If anyone else asks him, “Do you do   Takabbur ?” he will always reply, “No, I don’t”, (because he truly believes in his heart that other people are genuinely inferior to him, and it is not just his belief). However, other people can recognize the   Takabbur   in him. So, if other people tell someone that what he d

RECTIFYING UNDESIRABLE INTERNAL ATTRIBUTES: 6 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 NEED FOR TREATING  HASAD  (ENVY, JEALOUSY)   Or, for example, if a person suffers from the spiritual ill of  Hasad  ( حسد ). (Translator: In the terminology of Tasawuf  Hasad means that a person feels so envious or jealous of something good befalling another person, for example, someone coming into wealth, or getting a good job, that he wishes and prays, and in extreme cases makes actual efforts, for that person to lose his good fortune, like his wealth or his job.) He must tell his Shaykh that he thinks he suffers from  Hasad , for example, if in an exam his colleague gets more marks than him, then he feels really jealous and wants him to get less marks or fail next time. He should ask the Shaykh if this is  Hasad , and if it is, how to get rid of it.

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  Violation of rights of people is an extremely delicate matter in Shariah. Shariah has declared that no matter how many violations of rights of Allah a person has committed, if they develop remorse before they die, do   Istighfar   (asking for forgiveness) and   Taubah   (repentance), and start making amends like praying   Qada   (missed)   Salah , Allah Ta’ala will forgive them on the Day of Judgment. On the other hand, even if a person develops remorse about violations of rights of people he has committed and performs   Taubah , these will still not be forgiven until and unless the person whose rights he had violated forgives them. And if we die without asking those people for forgiveness whose rights we had violated, then on the Day of Judgment our good deeds will be handed over to them in lieu of those violated rights, and once our account runs out of good deeds, their bad deeds will be transferred to our account!

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  The DOs and DON’Ts in Shariah are defined in two broad categories; Rights of Allah ( Huqooq-Ullah ), and Rights of People ( Huqooq al-Ibad ). Rights of Allah include   Ibadah   (acts of worship) like Salah, fasting and Hajj. Rights of people include primarily that we do not harm or hurt anyone unduly and unjustly. This includes harming them physically, as well as harming or hurting their reputation, their property, or their feelings. What people are sometimes not mindful of is that the rights of people are also rights of Allah, in the sense that it is Allah Ta’ala who has determined those rights of people, and commanded us not to violate them. For this reason, it is doubly important to be mindful of rights of other people due towards us.

RECTIFYING UNDESIRABLE INTERNAL ATTRIBUTES: 5 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

  Bringing one’s anger under control, so that it is only expressed in situations in which it is permitted to do so by the Shariah, and not expressing it in situations where it is impermissible to express it, is what one needs to learn from one’s Shaykh. If you get angry from time to time, but you do not know whether you express your anger appropriately or inappropriately, just tell your Shaykh about the situations in which you feel anger, how angry you get, and what do you do under the influence of your anger. He will guide you about whether you are expressing your anger appropriately or not. And if you already know that you get angry unduly and excessively, then tell your Shaykh about your excessive anger, and the situations you express that anger in. The Shaykh will guide you about how to gradually bring that anger under control, and how to use your anger in appropriate situations only. Then follow his advice.

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 One person’s rights are another person’s duties, for example, rights of parents are duties of children, rights of employees are duties of employers, rights of the poor are duties of the rich, rights of wives are duties of the husbands, and vice versa. If an employer fulfils his duties, his employees automatically get their rights, if a husband fulfils his duties, his wife automatically gets her rights. The way of Shariah is to remind everyone about their duties towards others, because once everyone has fulfilled their duties, everyone else’s rights are automatically discharged.

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  IV.  MA’ASHRAT  (WAYS OF INTERACTING W PEOPLE)   Ma’ashrat refers to how we interact with and treat people in the whole society, such as neighbours family members, neighbours, strangers, co-travellers, and even those people we go to war with. Shariah has very clear rules about how we treat all these people, and what rights we owe to everyone around us. However, before getting into details of those rights, one needs to understand a few underlying concepts.    The first point to understand in this context is that Shariah is not a “Rights-based” legislation, it is a “Duty-based” legislation. It becomes much easier to understand this concept if one reflects on how the Noble Qur’an narrates its commandments. If you read the Qur’an, you will not find a single instance where it says, “your RIGHTS are…” whether it is rights of parents, the poor, travellers, employees, etc. In fact, it addresses those people whose duty it is to fulfil those rights, for example, the children, the employers, th

RECTIFYING UNDESIRABLE INTERNAL ATTRIBUTES: 4 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 USING ANGER APPROPRIATELY   Allah Ta’ala has given us this emotion of anger so that if another person attacks your life, your property, your family, your relatives, then you use this emotion of anger to defend them. But if a person starts acting angrily in situations where it is not justified to do so, and where Shariah has prohibited us to express our anger in, then if a person shouts and screams at other people, or hits them in anger, then it is inappropriate use of this emotion. Becoming angry in such situations is Haraam (impermissible). So, there are some situations in which it is appropriate to use anger, and there are some situations in which it is inappropriate to use anger. For example, if a son does something wrong, then it is appropriate for the father to discipline him, or a teacher chastising a student, or a Shaykh a Mureed. It is appropriate to use anger in such situations. In fact, it may be wrong not to use anger at all in such circumstances. On the other hand, using a

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  KEEPING A PROMISE   “Those who break their promises would, before being finally punished in the other world, be humiliated before the whole human race when it assembles together on the Day of Judgment, for a flag would be placed as a stigma beside everyone who has committed this sin, and the bigger the crime, the higher would the flag be.” (Prophet Muhammad Peace be upon him)

RECTIFYING UNDESIRABLE INTERNAL ATTRIBUTES: 3 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

  It is important to understand that all the internal attributes we have which are generally considered negative, are all natural. Allah Ta’ala has put these attributes in us so that we use them at appropriate times. For example, if a person has no anger, then how would he defend his life, his property, his family? Not having any anger would mean that if someone attacks him, or his family, he will not feel any anger, and there will be no drive in him to protect himself or his family.

RECTIFYING UNDESIRABLE INTERNAL ATTRIBUTES: 2 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

  The word ‘ Salik’   literally means a ‘traveler’. In the terminology of Tasawuf, a person who goes to a Shaykh for the purification of his inner-self is known as   Salik , meaning he is traveling on the way of self-improvement. And the Shaykh is like a mentor who guides him like, go this way, don’t go that way. Hazrat Thanvi RE has recommended that the   Salik should get his internal negative attributes rectified and treated by the Shaykh one by one. For example, a person is prone to outbursts of uncontrolled and explosive anger, which lead to him losing control of his temper, and then screaming and yelling at people, and hitting them unjustly. This is a negative internal attribute and it needs to be treated. Now his responsibility is to inform his Shaykh that he suffers from excessive and uncontrollable anger, and he commits a number of transgressions under the influence of that anger. The Shaykh will then guide him towards bringing that anger under control. It does not mean that as

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  TRUTHFULNESS   “And do not confound truth with falsehood, and do not hide the truth when you know.” (2:42)

RECTIFYING UNDESIRABLE INTERNAL ATTRIBUTES: 1 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

  The undesirable and negative attributes that exist in a person’s inner-self are called  Akhlaq-e-Razilah   (اخلاقِ رذیلہ) . Hazrat Thanvi (may Allah Ta’ala bless him) used to say;   “ Salik  (a mentee or pupil in Tasawuf) should get his undesirable internal attributes rectified one by one by the Shaykh. When one attribute becomes attenuated and comes under his full control, then he should start getting the next one rectified. He should not wait for the first undesirable attribute to go away completely as it is impossible. There are many benefits behind the existence of such attributes.”

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  Gambling has a very similar effect on the brain. This is the reason gambling houses let new individuals win a few times when they are at the beginning of their gambling career. This is to get their brain Pleasure Centre get sensitised to the excitement and euphoria caused by winning. So, when they start losing they still keep gambling and losing all their assets, because their Pleasure Centre does not get stimulated by other pleasures in life, and is still seeking the same thrill they felt when they initially won. For them gambling often becomes not about money, but a desperate attempt to keep stimulating the Pleasure Centre in their brain.

WHAT IS TASAWWUF: 14 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 Anyway, it is not obligatory for a person to do  bayt   (بیعت)  at a Shaykh’s hand. What is obligatory is self-improvement. When a person enters into a mentoring relationship with a Shaykh, the primary purpose of establishing that relationship is to develop positive internal attributes  (اخلاقِ فاضلہ) , and get rid of or attenuate negative internal attributes  (اخلاقِ رذیلہ) . This is the primary aim.    Reciting  Tasbeehat  as in doing Allah’s  Zikr  (remembrance) is an aide to this process, but unless a person makes conscious efforts to conquer his negative internal attributes,  Zikr  alone is generally not sufficient. In fact, even the decision to perform  Zikr  and how much to perform, should also be made after seeking a Shaykh’s guidance. The primary aim is to purify one’s inner-self, and the way to do it is to keep informing the Shaykh about one’s thoughts and behaviour, and to keep modifying one’s thoughts and behaviour in view of Shaykh’s guidance, and to keep doing it for one

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  For some people gambling turns into an addiction. At the risk of over-simplifying things, there is a specific part of the brain called the Pleasure Centre or Reward Centre. It gets stimulated when we do something we enjoy, and with repeated engagement in that activity over a period, it gets sensitised to that activity, and gets stimulated to a greater and greater extent when we engage in that activity. If we stop engaging in that activity after a long time, it feels as if we are missing something in life because that Pleasure Centre is not getting stimulated. Alcohol is a good example. Brains of people who drink heavily over a long period of times become sensitised to the pleasure producing effects of alcohol, and that is why for people whose pleasure comes almost exclusively from alcohol, it is so difficult to give it up, and why they relapse so quickly if they drink only one drink even after months of absence. It is because their Pleasure Centre gets stimulated to a much greater ex

WHAT IS TASAWWUF: 13 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

  Similarly, if someone wants to define the desirable attributes of inner-self, it will be very difficult. For example, how can someone define   Tawazu   (humility) in words so that the reader can get a clear picture of what   Tawazu   looks like in real life? However, if you see a person with   Tawazu , observe their behaviour, and start spending time in his company, then you will start developing   Tawazu   yourself. That is why spending time in the companionship of a Shaykh, telling them about one’s own spiritual weaknesses, and then acting on their advice, is an essential part of   Tasawwuf . One cannot develop these attributes just by talking or reading about them, these are developed only after crushing one’s ego in front of a Shaykh and then Allah Ta’ala showers His blessings.

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  Coming back to gambling, it may now be possible to understand how gambling goes against the principles mentioned above. If you look at the social impact of gambling, it is only the gambling house which wins in the end, almost everybody else loses, many even become destitute. Think of the lottery which is seen as a more positive example of gambling. Many of us marvel at the luck of the individual who has just won a million dollar jackpot, but do we ever reflect on where that million dollars came from? Those million dollars are not given by the government, they are not donated by a philanthropist, they come from hundreds of thousands of people who buy lottery tickets with their hard earned and much needed money, in the vein hope that one day they will get lucky and get a million dollars in return for their one dollar or ten dollars, or however much they spent on buying lottery tickets. Considering that  if you buy a $7 ticket of NZ lotto, your odds of winning first division are 1 in 38

WHAT IS TASAWWUF: 12 (talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 AN EXAMPLE   I often give an example that if you ask the greatest philosopher, scholar, poet or orator to describe the scent of a rose in words so clearly that someone would be able to differentiate between the scent of a rose from the scent  of a jasmine flower just by listening to them, then they will never be able to do so. The only way to differentiate between the scent of a rose and a jasmine flower is to smell them. There is no other way of telling the scents of these two flowers apart.

ISLAM AND THE WEST - 68

 The second such system is that of laws of inheritance. In Shariah, inheritance is a right of close relatives like children or spouses, and there are very clear rules about who gets what percentage of a deceased person’s inheritance. A person can make a will for only a third of their estate as to who will get it after their death, and the distribution of the rest of the two thirds is governed by these laws of inheritance. Unfortunately, these laws of inheritance are not applied properly even in a number of Muslim-majority countries and traditionally the eldest son usurps the entire estate giving only a pittance of it to his siblings and other inheritors. If inheritance laws had been applied properly, the feudal system in countries like Pakistan would have died a long time ago as the estate of every dying feudal lord would have been distributed fairly between his close relatives according to the rules of Shariah.