Answered by Sayyidi Habib Umar bin Hafiz (may Allah protect him and benefit us by him)

We are establishing an institute for Qur’an memorisation and teaching Arabic. What intentions should we make in doing so?

You should intend: to elevate the word of Allah; to support the cause of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ according to the methodology of his pure inheritors; to be a means for the downpour of Allah’s mercy, warding off evil and allowing the light of guidance reach people’s hearts; to serve the Three Objectives (knowledge (`ilm), spiritual wayfaring (suluk) and calling to Allah (da`wah); to connect to the Qur’an and its secrets and to the one to whom the Qur’an was revealed ﷺ and to open up the meanings and understanding of the Qur’an and the speech of the Prophet ﷺ through the Arabic language. You should also intend what the pious intended, what Qutb al-Zaman intended and all good intentions which are in Allah’s knowledge.

If Allah blesses a single seed it becomes many seeds: The parable of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is as the parable of a grain growing seven ears (with) a hundred grains in every ear; and Allah multiplies for whom He pleases; and Allah is Ample-Giving, All-Knowing (al-Baqarah, 2:261).

Habib Muhammad al-Haddar made many great intentions when he founded his Ribat (learning institute) in al-Bayda. As a result, someone saw his father in a dream who told him to tell Habib Muhammad that as soon as he built the Ribat those who were being punished in their graves in the local graveyard were no longer punished.