Category: Travelling the Path

The Door of Repentance is Open

Sayyidi Habib Umar bin Hafiz (may Allah protect him and benefit us by him) discusses tawbah (repentance) and reminds us that Allah’s door is always open. 

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ informed us that Allah has opened the door of repentance, a door so wide that it would take seventy years to cross from one side to the other and that it will remain open until the sun rises from the west. Out of His immense generosity, Allah has opened to us this door and invited us to enter. Continue reading The Door of Repentance is Open

How We Direct Our Love and Our Hatred

Habib Ali al-Jifri (may Allah protect him and benefit us by him) explains how our love and hatred should be directed 

The Messenger of Allah said ﷺ : “Whoever possesses these three qualities will taste the sweetness of faith: that Allah and His Messenger are more beloved to him than anything else; that he only loves another person for Allah’s sake and that he would hate to return to disbelief after Allah had saved him from it just as he would hate to be cast into the Fire.” Continue reading How We Direct Our Love and Our Hatred

On the Cause of Harm Befalling You

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

When harm befalls you, how do you know whether it is from the effects of the Evil Eye or due to one’s sins?

Generally speaking, anything that befalls you is due to your sins, although it can be to raise your station. If it is due to the Evil Eye it usually occurs suddenly and it leads to a state which is not your normal state.

The Worst Type of Pride

Habib Ali al-Jifri said: “I asked my teacher, Habib Umar bin Hafiz: which is more dangerous – being proud of one’s actions or being proud of one’s understanding?”

Habib Umar replied (may Allah protect him): “Being proud of one’s understanding is more dangerous than being proud of one’s actions and its outcome is more serious. Look at the response of Iblis (may Allah protect us from him): I am better than him – You created me from fire and You created him from earth. Continue reading The Worst Type of Pride

What is the Intellect?

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

The intellect (‘aql) is a faculty which enables us to understand reality. It is unique to humans and through it they are able to access things which other creatures are unable to access. The intellect is a gift and secret which Allah bestowed upon mankind. Allah said about its origin: I breathed into him of My spirit (15:29) Continue reading What is the Intellect?

Dowra Gathering

Sayyidi Habib Umar bin Hafiz (may Allah protect him and benefit us by him) met with a number of students who have been attending this year’s Dowra from South Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

The students spoke of the sacrifices they had made coming to Tarim and what they had learnt in the Dowra. A student from Thailand said that all he possessed was three cows but he had sold them in order to buy a plane ticket to Yemen. A student from South Africa talked about the difficulties he had experienced on the journey to Tarim. He said that every hardship had been a means of purification and that in one of the first lessons he attended, Habib Umar explained the meaning of Allah’s saying in Surat al-Balad: We have created mankind in hardship. Continue reading Dowra Gathering

Weights and Measures

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

Any action which is heavy and hard upon the lower self (nafs) will be weighty when your good deeds are weighed on the Scales on the Day of Judgement. Any action which is easy for the lower self will be light upon the Scales.

When someone’s soul becomes tranquil (al-nafs al-mutma’innah), however, they no longer find any hardship or difficulty in acts of obedience. Continue reading Weights and Measures