Category: Travelling the Path

Is Practising Islam Easy or Difficult?

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

Islam is supposed to be easy but I am finding it hard to practise. How can we reconcile between this ease and hardship?

All good things are not beyond a person’s capacity to attain but they are only attained through effort. Even in worldly affairs, effort is required to attain one’s goals. If we look at the religion from the perspective that it does not give us obligations which we are unable to fulfil, we find ease in it. Continue reading Is Practising Islam Easy or Difficult?

The Renewal (tajdid) of Imam al-Haddad

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

Imam al-Haddad is known as the ‘renewer’ (mujaddid) of the 12th Islamic century. What form did his renewal (tajdid) take?

Imam al-Haddad brought about a general renewal and a specific renewal. He brought about a general renewal by giving life to the meanings of the religion in the hearts and the lives of its adherents. This was the promised renewal which the Prophet ﷺ informed us would take place every century. He brought about a specific renewal by explaining the spiritual path of his predecessors and making it easy for those who wish to travel it. He placed everything that a wayfarer on the path needs – whether it be the Ba Alawi path specifically or any Sufi path – in two of his books: ‘Good Manners’ (Adab Suluk al-Murid) and ‘The Book of Assistance’ (Risalat al-Mu`awanah).

Returning to Allah in Rajab

Sayyidi Habib Umar bin Hafiz (may Allah protect him and benefit us by him) describes the state the believer should be in as the blessed month of Rajab enters. 

O believer, look to see how you end the month of Jumada al-Akhirah, and look to see how you receive the month of Rajab, the month which stands alone among the sacred months. This month was venerated even in the times of Jahiliyyah, and Islam came to reinforce this veneration. Continue reading Returning to Allah in Rajab

Signs of Allah’s Contentment

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

What are the signs that Allah is content with me?

There are two signs of this:

  1. That you are content with Allah’s commands and do your best to obey them
  2. That you are content with whatever Allah decrees and surrender to that

 

Striving to Attain True Slave-Hood

Advice from Habib Ali al-Habashi (may Allah have mercy upon him and benefit us by him)

I counsel you by Allah to do your utmost to consistently perform extra acts of worship, especially the sunnah prayers before and after the compulsory prayers. Beware of leaving them. Give life to your night by rising to pray in it and give life to your day by fasting during it. Perform extra acts of worship in abundance for it is the means of attaining Allah’s love: “My slave continues to draw close to Me with extra acts of worship until I love him.” Continue reading Striving to Attain True Slave-Hood

Making Spiritual Hijrah

Sayyidi Habib Umar bin Hafiz (may Allah protect him and benefit us by him) calls us to make a spiritual hijrah. 

The new year always reminds us of the Hijrah. The physical hijrah is an obligation for those who are unable to freely practise their religion in the place they are in. They must find a place in which they can practise their religion. The angels say to those who fail to make this hijrah: ‘Was Allah’s earth not expansive enough for you to emigrate therein?’ (4:97) Continue reading Making Spiritual Hijrah

Defence Against Tribulation

Sayyidi Habib Umar bin Hafiz (may Allah protect him and benefit us by him) teaches us that our connection to Allah and His Beloved  ﷺ  are a defence against tribulation. He also helps us to understand some of the divisions among the Companions and the concepts of tawassul and service. 

All credit belongs to the Prophet ﷺ, our guide and teacher. The good works of anyone who reached any rank will be recorded in the Prophet’s book – from the Siddiqun and the greatest of them: Abu Bakr, `Umar, `Uthman and `Ali – to the first of the Muhajirun and the Ansar, to the Ahl al-Bayt, the scholars and callers to Allah. Every mosque and institute of knowledge that Allah accepted will be recorded in his book. Continue reading Defence Against Tribulation