Commentary on the Last Chapter in the Book Al-Murshidu Al-Mu’īn 08

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على المبعوث رحمة للعالمين وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين وبعد

Assalāmu Alaykum Warahmatullāh Wabarakātuh

Honored Brothers and Sisters on the Platform, you are welcome to this morning’s session of the Halqah where we shall continue from where we stopped in our Commentary on the Last Chapter of the Book Al-Murshid Al-Mu’īn which is written by the Imām Abdulwāhid bn ‘Āshir Al-Mālikī rahimahullāh

We stopped at where the Imām said rahimahullāh

يُطَهِّرُ الْقَلْبَ مِنَ الرِّيَاءِ                          وَحَسَدٍ عُجْبٍ وَكُلِّ دَاءِ

وَاعْلَمْ بِأَنَّ أَصْلَ ذِي الآفَاتِ               حُبُّ الرِّيَاسَةِ وَطَرْحُ الآتِي

رَأْسُ الْخَطَايَا هُوَ حُبُّ الْعَاجِلَةْ          لَيْسَ الدَّوَا إِلاَّ فِي الاِضْطِرَارِ لَهْ

“He purifies the heart from Riyā; and Hasad, Ujub and all Diseases

And know that the cause of all other defects; Is the love of leadership and procrastination

The Head of all Evils is the love of the temporal and there is no cure except in showing desperation to Him (Allāh)

And we commented last week up to *Procrastination*

To continue, we say, and help comes from Allāh Alone

The Imām referred to the *Love of the Temporal, which is the Love of this World* as the Head and source of all evils

Indeed Allāh Ta’ālā blamed the lovers of this Dunya in a very severe way and in several places in the Qur’ān

Of them is in Sūratu An-Najm where He said

فأعرض عن من تولى عن ذكرنا ولم يرد إلا الحياة الدنيا

“Therefore withdraw (O Muhammad SAW) from him who turns away from Our Reminder (this Quran) and desires nothing but the life of this world.”

This is because most times, there is no meeting point between being in love with the Dunya and turning towards the Qur’ān and following the Message of the Qur’ān and the Message of Allāh

In the Hadīth of Abū Sa’īd Al-Khudry that was recorded by Imām Muslim, the Rasūl salallāhu alayhi wasallam said

إنَّ الدُّنيا حُلوةٌ خَضِرةٌ، وإنَّ اللهَ مُسْتخلِفَكم فيها فَيَنْظر كيف تَعمَلون، فاتَّقوا الدُّنيا واتَّقوا النِّساءَ، فإنَّ أوَّلَ فتنةِ بني إسْرائيلَ كانتْ في النِّساءِ

“The life of the world is sweet and green. Allah makes you generations succeeding one another so that He may try you in respect of your actions. So beware of the beguilements of the world and those of women. The first trial of Banu Israel was through women”.

This is because the world is so glittering and enticing, inviting and deceiving and if one is not careful, he would be carried away and distracted from his Purpose in life

Allāh Ta’ālā said regarding it’s deception

فَلا تَغُرَّنَّكُمُ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا وَلا يَغُرَّنَّكُمْ بِاللَّهِ الْغَرُورُ ﴾

“So let not the worldly life delude you and be not deceived about Allah by the Deceiver.”

Then the Imām mentioned after all of that that *the cure for all of these is being desperate to Allāh in ‘Ibādah and in making Du’ā*

May Allāh grant us all the ability to be desperate and humble in our Du’ā and ‘Ibādah , Āmīn

**********

So, after mentioning that the first thing a Person must do on his Path to Allāh is Tawbah

And that the Second is to have Taqwah of Allāh

And that the third is to preserve the limbs from Harām

And that the fourth is to hold back from doing anything until the Knowledge of Allāh’s Injunction on that matter is known by him

And that the Fifth is to cleanse his Heart from the many Diseases of the Heart

The Imām then goes on to guide the Seeker of Allāh and His Pleasure to a very important Enabler on this Journey by saying

يَصْحَبُ شَيْخًا عَارِفَ الْمَسَالِكْ                يَقِيهِ فِي طَرِيقِهِ الْمَهَالِكْ

يُذْكِرُهُ اللهَ إِذَا رَآهُ                               وَيُوصِلُ الْعَبْدَ إِلَى مَوْلاَهُ

“He accompanies a Shaykh who knows the Treading Path; Who guides him on his Path from the Mahālik (things that destroy the soul)

He reminds him of Allāh whenever he sees him; And leads a Servant to his Lord”

Good Companionship is the most important aspect of seeking the Pleasure of Allāh

This is because bad company ruins whatever gains a person makes. The more a person gets in the Company of the righteous, the more he sticks to what earns him Allāh’s Pleasure. The best of Companions are good Mentors and Role Models for in their sight is a Remembrance of Allāh and in their speech is encouragement to keep Treading the Path of Allāh

This is why Imām Ibn ‘Atā’illāh said in the Hikam

لا تصحب من لا ينهضك حاله، ولا يدلّك على الله مقاله

“Do not be a disciple or companion of the one whose Condition (deeds) does not incite you nor does his words guide you toward Allāh”

It is similar to what Muhammad bn Sīrīn rahimahullāh said

إن هذا العلم دين فانظروا عمن تأخذون دينكم»

“Indeed, this Knowledge is Dīn, so pay heed in selecting the one from whom you take your Dīn”

And in the Qur’ān, Allāh said

وَ اِصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ اَلَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدٰاةِ وَ اَلْعَشِيِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ وَ لاٰ تَعْدُ عَيْنٰاكَ عَنْهُمْ تُرِيدُ زِينَةَ اَلْحَيٰاةِ اَلدُّنْيٰا وَ لاٰ تُطِعْ مَنْ أَغْفَلْنٰا قَلْبَهُ عَنْ ذِكْرِنٰا وَ اِتَّبَعَ هَوٰاهُ وَ كٰانَ أَمْرُهُ فُرُطاً

“And keep yourself patiently with those who call on their Lord morning and afternoon, seeking His Face, and let not your eyes overlook them, desiring the pomp and glitter of the life of the world; and obey not him whose heart We have made heedless of Our Remembrance, one who follows his own lusts and whose affair (deeds) has been lost.”

And this is the reason for which in the Story of the Tawbah of the man that killed  people, the Wise ‘Ālim advised him to travel to the land where there were Pious people to make his Tawbah

…so that he may benefit from their companionship and emulate their ways

O beloved one, if you desire to attain progress in your journey toward Allāh and preserve for yourself the gains you have made before, then avoid persons and communities that are not focused on the same goal

But seek the company of those who remind you of Allāh and whose Goal, day and night, is to attain His Pleasure

May Allāh grant us Tawfīq and Sadād. And count us among His Servants upon whom He has shown favour, Āmīn

Bārakallāhu Fīkum

Jazakumullāhu Khayran

سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك أشهد أن لا إله إلا أنت أستغفرك وأتوب إليك