Category: Praiseworthy Attributes

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

Keeping the Company of the Poor

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

You must show good character to all people. Through good character you may attain the stations of the people of immense truthfulness (al-siddiqun) and ascend to the highest levels of certainty. Be the most gentle and forbearing of people. Pardon those who wrong you and give to those who refuse to give you anything. If someone treats you badly, treat them well and forgive their wrongdoings however great they are. Continue reading Keeping the Company of the Poor

Benefiting from the Pious

Advice from Imam al-Haddad (may Allah have mercy upon him and benefit us by him).

You must keep the company of pious people, display the same etiquettes that they display and seek to benefit from their deeds and words. You do this by visiting both the living and dead amongst them in a state of great reverence for them, truthfully having the best opinion of them. This is how visitors benefit from those that they are visiting and receive spiritual assistance from them. Continue reading Benefiting from the Pious

Etiquette is Ihsan | Wisdoms of Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad

Words of wisdom from Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad (may Allah have mercy on him and benefit us by him). 

Etiquettes (adab) are what beautify one’s actions. One’s actions are not complete without etiquette. Etiquette is ihsan and ihsan is one of the three foundations of the religion mentioned in the hadith of Jibril. Ihsan is to perform one’s actions with etiquette and this is a means for those actions to be accepted. Continue reading Etiquette is Ihsan | Wisdoms of Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad

Finding Strength in our Weakness

Advice from Habib Kazim al-Saqqaf (may Allah protect him and benefit us by him)

To be raised by Allah, one needs to lower oneself and realise one’s weakness and one’s slavehood to Allah.

We should repeat this prayer which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught the Companion, Buraydah. He said to him: “Shall I not teach you words that Allah teaches to the one for whom He wants good, and then never allows him to forget them? Continue reading Finding Strength in our Weakness

On Priorities in Choosing Whose Company to Keep

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

Should we give priority to keeping the company of people who are on the same path or those who remind us of Allah?

You should strive to keep the company of those who remind you of Allah but at the same time give those who are on the same path their rights. Their rights are that you check up on them, help them as far as you able to and pray for them. It is not our way to avoid keeping the company of anyone as long as there is benefit in that and no harm.