First Letter from Shaykh Ahmad al-Badawi
(Shaykh Ahmad al-Badawi was the student of Shaykh Moulay al-'Arabi al-Darqawi)
In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, Most-Merciful
There is no power nor strength except by Allah, the High, the
Immense, and may Allah bless our master and Prophet Muhammad and his
family and Companions and grant them peace abundantly until the Day of
RisingAllah. Allah. Allah.
To all the slaves of our Lord who follow us, wherever they are, especially our lords and masters of Ayt an-Nubu'a, and our lords and masters the scholars, and our lords and masters the descendants of the salihun whose ancestors were salihun, and our lords and masters who are the esteemed muqaddams and esteemed muqaddimat*, since they are our representatives who represent us and are our support and the pillars supporting our brothers. They are the dogs of the fuqara', barking at their heels and guarding them, bearing their loads and urging them on and never being irresolute. That is the reality of the muqaddims, so how great is their happiness and what good news for them because of that since as is reported, "The servant of the people is their master."
[*Women with the position of muqaddam.]
If you do not busy the nafs with the truth, you will busy it with the false. And anyone who does not serve the elite will be tried by having to serve thieves. May Allah make us people whose goal is Him alone since that is what is necessary for attaining the three stations of the deen: Islam, Iman and Ihsan. "So worship Allah making the deen sincerely His." The people of the station of Islam are distinguished by what goes from them to Allah. The people of the station of Iman are distinguished by what comes from Allah to them. And the people of the station of Ihsan are distinguished by what goes from Allah to Allah.
May Allah drown me and you in witnessing the oceans of the perfection of immensity as He has always drowned the people of purity and love in it. They are in three ranks: the rank of the knowledge of certainty, the rank of the eye of certainty, and the rank of the truth of certainty. In the first rank Allah makes you witness His nearness to you; in the second He makes you witness your non-existence through His existence; and in the third He makes you witness His existence without awareness of either your non-existence or your existence. "Allah was, and nothing was with Him. He is now as He was."
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah ta'ala and His blessings, and also upon all those whose inner eye has been opened by Allah and whose secret He has illuminated so that they witness all existence as being from Him, annihilated in the present, past and future. Among them are those who only love Allah, only exist by Allah, are only occupied with Allah and remember Allah often without calculation or limit as Allah has commanded. Allah jalla wa 'ala says, "O you who believe, remember Allah much, and glorify Him in the morning and the evening." (33:41-42) Imam al-Wasiti, may Allah be pleased with him and help us by him, said, "Never forget frequent remembrance."
Following on from that, the nub of my advice to you is: Always confirm your hold on your natural aptitude and intense yearning by serious study since it is the spirit of the Muhammadan Path. Constancy in it has an effect on the heart and elevates it to stations, stages and high degrees. Memorising two lines is better than bearing two heavy loads and two people engaged in study is better than both of these since your Lord, glory be to Him, is only worshipped through knowledge.
There are two types of knowledge: direct knowledge of Allah and knowledge of the command of Allah. The people of the Path of Allah are not concerned with anything other than these two. The fruit of knowledge of the command of Allah is direct knowledge of Allah. The fruit of direct knowledge of Allah is knowledge of the command of Allah. This rises in a continual spiral without end or cease for the one whom Allah makes firm.
The hadiths which have come about the excellence of knowledge and those who study and the reports of the righteous Salaf are numerous. They include the words of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, "The angels lower their wings to the seeker of knowledge out of pleasure at what he does." "Allah guarantees the provision of the seeker of knowledge." "Gaining a point of knowledge is better than a year's worship." "The movement of a scholar in his bed is better than forty years of the worship of a worshipper without knowledge." "Anyone who attends a gathering of knowledge and does not understand anything at all gains six degrees." Imam as-Samarqandi, may Allah be pleased with him and help us by him, related that. It is also related that the gathering of knowledge is better than the worship of seventy years.
It is a confirmed instruction that wherever you find gatherings of knowledge, you should attend them. Our shaykhs, may Allah be pleased with them and help us by them and give us great benefit through them, gave us idhn for that. Mawlana al-Junayd, may Allah be pleased with him and help us by him, said, "Stories told about the righteous are one of the armies of Allah by which Allah strengthens the truthful." He recited the words of Allah, 'azza wa jalla, "We have given you all this news about the Messengers so We can make your heart firm by means of it." (11:120) Our master and teacher, may Allah be pleased with him and help us by him, said, "I have not seen anyone who dives into the mercy of Allah tabaraka wa ta'ala like someone who attends a gathering of knowledge. Strive for that. Strive to the utmost in the study of the books of the people of Allah, may Allah be pleased with them and help us by them. We were also given idhn for that."
The secret that we ourselves found in doing that is beyond description. One of the gnostics, may Allah be pleased with him and help us by him, said, "My brother, so-and-so lived a life of great luxury and Allah inspired him to study the books of the People and that elevated him to a high station without any action or striving on his part." Our master and teacher, may Allah be pleased with him and help us by him, said, "Someone who persists in studying the books of the People and memorising their words can change his state and reach Allah without a shaykh."
But, my masters and brothers, may Allah be pleased with you and help us by you, study the books of the famous perfect ones, such as the Qut al-Qulub, and the al-Ihya', by the great imams, Abu Talib al-Makki and the Proof of Islam, Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali. Also Sunan al-Muhtadin and the Tabaqat by the great Imam ash-Sha'rani, al-Mabahith and its commentary by the great Imam at-Tadili, and the Sharishiyya in ra' and its commentary, The Antimony of the Eyes, by Mawlana Ahmad al-Fasi, the Hikam al-'Ata'iyya and its commentary by the majestic imam, Ibn 'Abbad, and the Tanwir Lata'if al-Minan by the imam, the shaykh of the shaykhs, Ibn 'Ata'illah, and similar books of the perfected masters, may Allah be pleased with them and help us by them.
Beware and again beware of studying the books of the two great imams, Mawlana Ibn al-'Arabi al-Hatimi and Mawlana al-Jili and those who follow them in the way they write, except for what they write on the adab of dhikr and its excellence and the order of travelling through the stations of Islam, Iman and Ihsan. I say this because, although their words, may Allah be pleased with them and help us by them, are fine and deep, from the source of the Divine Presence and the Muhammadan presence, they can only be understood safely by someone who has reached their station. As for the beginner, he will not benefit from them at all. Rather it is feared that the opposite might happen. Allah jalla wa 'azza says, "The fact is that they have denied something which their knowledge does not embrace and the meaning of which has not yet reached them." (10:39) "No one knows its inner meaning but Allah. Those firmly rooted in knowledge say, 'We believe in it. All of it is from our Lord. But only people of intelligence pay heed.'" (3:7) And the fact is that someone who has arrived at understanding of their words, no longer needs them because he is enriched by Allah and effaced in witnessing Him.
Do you then show me the knowledge of tawhidDhu'n-Nun al-Misri, may Allah be pleased with him and help us by him, was asked about what a gnostic is and he said, "He is here and he has gone." The greatest master, Sidi Ibn 'Ata'illah, may Allah be pleased with him and help us by him, said, "The gnostic is not someone who makes an indication and then finds Allah nearer to him than his indication. The gnostic is without indication - by his annihilation in His existence and his total absorption in witnessing Him." Our master, may Allah be pleased with him and help us by him, said, "The gnostic of Allah is unfettered, not bound, and he is water itself, meaning submitted, remembering Allah constantly."
when here are seas which are unexplored?This is the station of the people of tajrid
who stand in the presence of my Lord.
Beware and again beware of speaking about the ruh. Speaking about it is of no use to anyone. Rather someone who does that has wasted his life uselessly because only Allah - majestic is He - He who created it, knows its reality. Enough proof of the prohibition of doing that is the words of the Jews, may Allah curse them, when they wanted to ask the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about it. If he answered them he was not a Prophet. If he did not answer, he was a Prophet. He did not answer them and Allah revealed to him, "They will ask you about the Ruh. Say: 'The Ruh is my Lord's concern. You have only been given a little knowledge.'" (17:85) The righteous Salaf, may Allah be pleased with them, did not speak about it at all and the later ones have followed them in not doing it, and they had more knowledge of Allah and the command of Allah than those who came later. It is, however, true that some of the great guides of the Sufis and others among our masters, the scholars of the people of the outward, have spoken about it. There is evidence supporting both positions and there is mercy in the disagreement of our masters.
Beware and again beware of speaking about mutashabih ayats and mutashabih hadiths. Our ancestors, may Allah be pleased with them and help us by them, were also silent about that. They said, "We believe in them as they have come," as they also say about belief in Allah and in His Messenger: "We believe in Allah as our master the Messenger of Allah has commanded us to and we believe in the Messenger of Allah as Allah has commanded us to." What a majestic statement! How radiant and perfect! They were snatched from the mires of tawhid and saved from doubts and uncertainties. May Allah repay them with immense good on our behalf and on behalf of this community.
The slave of his Lord, Ahmad, (the writer) says, affirming the creed of his great predecessors: I am a slave of Allah believing what our master, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, believed regarding Allah and himself, and holding to his intention, and his forms of worship, his acts of devotion and his customs. Our noble excellent master gave an excellent notification to us, "How excellent are the divested brothers, the masters!"
Beware and again beware of speaking about the essence (kunh) of Divine Sovereignty and the Message. Speaking about them wastes the moment in trying to do what is impossible and displays bad adab towards the Great Highly Exalted Lord. The Universal Ghawth, the master of our master, 'Ali al-Jamal, may Allah be pleased with them and help us by it, forbade that frequently and with great force.
Beware and again beware of speaking about quarrels between the Companions, Tabi'un, and Tabi'i't-Tabi'in because they had clear reasons for the disagreements between them, may Allah be pleased with them and help us by them. "The one who strives to come to the truth and is right has a double reward, and the one who strives and is not right has one reward." The testimony of the Messenger about them is sufficient evidence of their worth and importance and rank to prove that that they are the best of the community when he said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, "The best of you is my generation and then the one after them and then the one after them."
Beware and again beware of preferring this person to that one. That is the worst of bad adab and results in hatred and destruction, except in the case of someone who is merely clarifying their rank and only the firmly rooted scholars are able to do that. Allah jalla wa 'ala said, "We preferred some Prophets over others." That is how the awliya' are also ranked. Some are perfect and some more perfect.
Beware and again beware of turning away from the company of the people of Allah. They are the treasure trove that has no end, the impenetrable fortress, the universal interspace and the overflowing sea. Their gathering contains all good, in both the sensory and the meaning. Sufficient evidence for their excellence is that they are the people, of whom it is said that "no one who sits with them is wretched," as is reported in the Sahih. Enough evidence against turning away from sitting with them can be found in the words of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in Sahih al-Bukhari, "Shall I tell you about the three men? One of them took himself to Allah and Allah took him in. The other was shy, so Allah was shy with him. And the other turned away, so Allah turned away from him."
Part of my complete counsel to you is only to leave their company if you have a strong legal need to do so. The connection of your sensory to their sensory guarantees the connection of your meaning to their meaning and that will result for you in the love of Allah which is the source of every good and will erase love of this world, which, as has been reported, is the source of every evil, from your hearts.
Strive as hard as possible to have a good opinion of Allah and the awliya' of Allah. The one who is truly deprived is the one who is deprived of the baraka of the awliya' of his time. Anyone who denies true wilaya has disbelieved by consensus as was stated by the greatest imam, Sahl ibn 'Abdullah at-Tustari, may Allah be pleased with him and help us by him, because he has denied the light of Prophethood. An aspect of the kindness of Allah to this community, however, is that the reality of wilaya is rarely definitively known. Its qualities are well-known but its seal is unclear. Its true stamp is that of which there is no proof: the collapse of lower desires and having love for the Master, as the Universal Ghawth, Abu'l-Hasan ash-Shadhili, may Allah be pleased with him and help us by him, said. Our master, may Allah be pleased with him and help us by him, said, "Whoever turns from his lower desires and advances towards his Master is a wali of Allah." The majestic imam, ash-Sharishi, may Allah be pleased with him and help us by him, said:
His signs are that he does not incline to passion.The treasure of wilaya is immense and great beyond "howness", description or quality. True are the words of the one who said, "The wali is the one whom Allah takes as a friend, whose quality is covered by His quality and whose attribute is covered by His attribute. The wali is the word of Allah which does not run out. Even if the trees had been pens and the sea ink and all creatures were to write, they would not be able to write the amount of a gleam which occurs to the heart of the wali of Allah, 'azza wa jalla." How and again how, can the person with this sublime state be recognised? The key of this treasure belongs to those whom Allah prepares for it by choice and preference so that they leave this world and devote themselves completely to Allah in secret and in public. Our master, may Allah be pleased with him and help us by him, said, "All who go without this world, by Allah, join the awliya'."p> The substance of my advice to you all is to hold as strongly as possible to giving up any hopes of this world and to abandon it and its people. Only take of it what is absolutely necessary, since when someone takes more than what is enough for him, Allah blinds the eye of his heart, as is reported. Do not mix with its people at all. The Universal Ghawth, the master of masters, 'Ali al-Jamal, may Allah be pleased with him and help us by him, said, "The leper should be kept a spear's length away from you but the lover of this world should be kept two spears length away." Allah Almighty says, "So turn away from him who turns away from Our remembrance and desires nothing but the life of this world." (53:29) The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace said, "Do not sit with the dead or that will make your hearts die." He was asked, "Messenger of Allah, who are the dead?" He replied, "Those who love this world and desire it."
His world is wrapped up and his other world is in the gathering.
Part of the instruction which the Qutb of Qutbs, Mawlana 'Abd's-Salam ibn Mashish gave to his student, Imam ash-Shadhili, may Allah be pleased with both of them and help us by them, was, "My son, Allah Allah Allah. People! Free your tongue from mentioning them and your heart from images of them and prepare for their coming to you at night and shunning you in the day. Do you not see that when they come, they are test?" A poet has said, and, by Allah, it is the most majestic of what is said:
Fear the people of your species and be afraid of them,Allah jalla wa 'ala, said addressing His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, "Say: 'Allah!' Then leave them engrossed in playing their games." (6:92)
as you fear wild animals and leopards.Beware of them and stay away from them,
and be like the Samiri saying, "Do not touch."Take Allah's earth as a companion,
and leave people aside.All people, if you examine them, are scorpions.
Say 'Allah' and leave existence and what it contains
if you want to reach perfection.
If you are sincere in your tawba, then you will be successful with those who are successful, be saved with those who are saved and reach the stations of the awliya' of Allah who are brought near. The greatest Imam, Mawlana ash-Sharishi, may Allah be pleased with him and help us by him, said:
All the stations are in tawba and zuhd.And one must constantly and always have certainty by Allah and reliance on Allah, trusting in the truth of His promise and threat. Allah jalla wa 'ala says, "Whoever puts his trust in Allah, He will be enough for him." (65:3), meaning He will give him what is adequate for his needs and help him. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "If you were to rely on Allah as He should be relied on, He would provide for you as He provides for the birds. They go out in the morning hungry and return in the evening full." We read in the Sahih Collection, "Seventy thousand will enter the Garden without reckoning. They are people who did not have themselves cauterised or use incantations or seek omens and they put their trust in their Lord."
A sweet fragrance spreads from their meadows.
Enough proof of the excellence of having trust in Allah is escaping the Reckoning and Allah's representing His slave and being enough for him, looking after his needs and enriching his children after him. It is reported that a poor person who relied on Allah and did not store up and did not own anything will stand before Allah at the Standing and He will ask him, "My slave, how did you leave your family?" He will reply, "My Lord, I left them poor." He - glory be to Him - will say to him, "I have made them rich after you." The rich man who relied on means and his worldly portion will stand and Allah - glory be to Him - will ask him, "How did you leave your family?" and he will reply, "Lord, I left them rich." He will say, "I have made them poor after you."
The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "O Allah, let me die poor. Do not let me die rich." He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "If someone devotes himself to Allah, Allah will spare him every burden and provide for him from where he does not expect. If someone devotes himself to this world, Allah will entrust him to it." It is said that the true faqir is someone who does not store up for himself and does not seek help. The faqir is the one who is in need of Allah's power, strength and existence and enriched by witnessing the One he worships. Our master and teacher, may Allah be pleased with him and help us by him, used to say, "By Allah, and there is no god but Him, everything except devotion to Allah is play and falsehood." He said, "By Allah, we have specified what we have specified and that is devotion to Allah, 'azza wa jalla, since there is no delay in gaining a goal you seek by your Lord and a goal you seek by yourself is never easy to achieve, as is said." The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The truest phrase a poet has said is the words of Labid, 'Everything except Allah is false.'"
Know that tawba has three degrees: the tawba of the common, which is on account of wrong actions; the tawba of the elite which is on account of being occupied with stations, stages and degrees rather than the Beloved; and the tawba of the elite of the elite which is on account of lapses due to pricks from Shaytan and moments of heedlessness, since no one possesses constant awareness of the Real, majestic is He. Firmness of election does not demand absence of the quality of humanness, as is said.
My Master inspired me with something from Him which I did not take from anyone and which I have not heard from anyone else. It is to say: "O Lord, the only thing You have given me to rely on is success and generosity from You in having been able to perform all sorts of righteous actions and acts which have brought me nearness to You. This is in any case conditional on Your beautiful veiling of my faults since if it had not been for the beauty of Allah's veiling, there would be no action worthy of acceptance. I have divided these actions into a hundred parts. Ninety-eight are a gift for our master, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. One goes to the people of the house of the Prophet and the shaykhs, scholars, martyrs, righteous and all the believers. One quarter of the remaining part is for anyone who has a right against us, a second quarter is for my parents, a third quarter is for the rulers of the Muslims, and the remaining quarter for everything else which Allah 'azza wa jalla created, seeking mercy from Him, each according to his state and station.
The dedicated, humble, sinful, insignificant slave Ahmad, who has nothing and is bankrupt before You, says with a tongue of supplication, abasement, weakness and need:
I have all faults; that is my quality.My God, if someone's realities are merely claims, how can his claims not be claims? If someone's good qualities are evil qualities, how can his evil qualities not be evil qualities? My Lord, I hope for Your mercy through Your mercy and the intercession of your Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, by Your generosity and nobility. There is no god but You. Glory be to You, truly I am one of the wrongdoers.
You have all praise and lauding.Grace, kindness and generosity come from You.
Poverty, bankruptcy and non-existence are my contribution.
It is certain that the best of your moments is the moment in which you admit to your absolute poverty and return to your abasement and in which you are safe from the suggestions of your lower selves and people are safe from your bad opinion since there are two characteristics which are not surpassed by any other good quality: having a good opinion of Allah and a good opinion of the slaves of Allah; and there are two qualities than which there is nothing worse: having a bad opinion of Allah and a bad opinion of the slaves of Allah, as is reported. Allah jalla wa 'azza says, "O you who believe, avoid most suspicion. Indeed some suspicion is a crime. And do not spy and do not backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat his brother's dead flesh? No, you would hate it. And fear Allah." (49: 12)
Our master and teacher, may Allah be pleased with him and help us by him, said, "We may see the water of the fuqara' being held back and the reason for that is bad opinion and arrogance. If they were to have a good opinion and lower their heads, then Allah would release their water. May Allah curse the one who denies them." Be also certain, then, that any words that are not dhikr are a distraction. That is why the Messenger, may the blessing and peace of Allah be upon him, never spoke except to remember Allah. Allah jalla wa 'ala says, "You who believe! do not let your wealth or children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. Whoever does that is lost." (63:9)
In short, put all your efforts into belittling this world and disdaining it and being content with little of it, and do not store up anything beyond your food for the following day, relying on Allah. Be content with everything that comes to you from Allah. Always be sad about acts of obedience to Allah you have missed. Do not talk about what does not concern you and only mention Allah. Fill your hearts with hope for success and fear of Allah. Close your eyes to the faults of others, dismiss their slips and overlook their evil deeds and repay them with good actions. Accept people's intercession and excuses. Purify your hearts of avarice and maintain ties of kinship and put things right between yourselves. Unite and do not separate. There is no good in those who are not friendly. Respect your brothers and honour them and receive them in every state. They are your support. Meet them with kindness and do not meet them with knowledge. Kindness makes people friendly and knowledge alienates. Leave what pains people's hearts.
Hasten to what is obligatory and recommended. Stop trying to look after yourself in all states. Looking after the self is bad news and inclining to it is a sign of hypocrisy in the heart. Self-satisfied people have the gates of mercy locked in their face and they are veiled from the secrets of the Unseen.
Keep contact with those who cut you off and give to those who refuse to give to you. Pardon those who wrong you. Give sadaqa to all believers in Allah. Always always keep your bodies, garments, places of worship, zawiyyas and houses clean. Be scrupulous with regard to istibra' and be extravagant in istinja' and encourage your wives to be extravagant in it. Every harm which afflicts your family in terms of serious illness, madness, the itch, leprosy and other such things comes from deficiency in doing istinja'. Do not allow your wives any laxness regarding purification from janaba. Every harm which comes to a woman with respect to her honour comes from her failure to ensure purity from janaba. When that happens the shaytans gain control of her and lead her by the forelock to every evil. It is related that janaba is hiding under every hair is and there is a shaytan connected to every state of janaba. It is also related that the angels do not go near anyone in janaba until they are purified.
[Istibra': a process used by a man to ensure he is free of urine.
istinja': washing the private parts with water.
janaba: impurity resulting from sexual intercourse. ]
Every harm which comes to a believing man or woman is the result of delaying the Subh prayer beyond its time since it is related that shaytan urinates in the ear of anyone who delays it and because of this the lower self begins to be lazy. Perform the prayer and pay the zakat. The prayer of someone who does not pay zakat is not accepted, as is related. Pay it with resolve at the end of the year and do not distribute it on the basis of your own opinion to other than those who are entitled to it. Those who are entitled to it consist of eight categories. Allah jalla wa 'ala said, "Zakat is for: the poor, the destitute, those who collect it, reconciling people's hearts, freeing slaves, those in debt, spending in the Way of Allah, and travellers. It is a legal obligation from Allah." (9:61) Do not be overcome by shaytan, your appetites and your nafs so that you fail to pay it, or let this world distract you so that you abandon the prayer or delay it beyond its time. Allah jalla wa 'ala, says, "As for those who hoard up gold and silver and do not spend it in the Way of Allah, give them the news of a painful punishment on the Day it is heated up in the fire of Hell their foreheads, sides and backs are branded with it: This is what you hoarded for yourselves, so taste what you were hoarding!" (9:34-35)
Anyone who abandons the prayer should be executed for unbelief according to the position of hadith scholars and that is also the position in our school in the opinion of Imam Ibn Habib, may Allah be pleased with him and help us by him. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Allah does not bless any work which distracts one from the prayer."
Fear Allah in respect of your women and what your right hands own [i.e. slaves]. That was the last instruction of the Messenger, may the blessing and peace of Allah be upon him. Fear Allah in respect of the prayer. "Fear Allah in respect of women. Fear Allah in respect of what your right hands own." Do not ever turn away a beggar disappointed. If the beggar is truthful, whoever repels him will not prosper, as has been reported. Do not prefer your sons over your daughters in respect of gifts and waqfs, based on opinion and appetite. There is an immense sin in doing that except in an instance when the Shari'a demands that boys be singled out. "Do not let the life of this world delude you and do not let the Deluder delude you about Allah." (35:5) "As for him who overstepped the bounds and preferred the life of this world, the Blazing Fire will be his refuge." (79:37-38) Anyone who does not accept good advice should prepare for disgrace in this world and the Next. Those who oppose Allah's command should beware of a trial smiting them or a painful punishment striking them.
Feed people - no action is equal to feeding people in the way of Allah. Its rewards and special qualities are countless, beyond number in this world and in the Next, as is confirmed by the Book and Sunna and the consensus of all the Muslims. One of its qualities is that it makes property grow and causes no decrease since property is never decreased by sadaqa. Another is that anything spent in the way of Allah is multiplied by ten up to seventy times and even up to seven hundred times to numbers without end. Another is that it is source of shade for you in this world and the Next. Another is that Allah makes it grow for you until the Last Hour. Another is that it distances you from the Fire. Another is that it extinguishes the anger of the Lord and brings the fruit of His pleasure. Another is that it brings about love and nearness to Allah and the Garden and other people. Another is that power will be with the poor and the very poor at the time of the Immense Standing since they will have the right of intercession at that time, as is related. Another is that it makes hearts soft, brings about strength of certainty and belief, expands provision and increases good character in the case of those who are lacking in good character.
One of my stressed and confirmed commands is that any of you who has an opening to any of knowledge of haqiqa should bury it and conceal it and not speak about it except by using subtle indications to its people. When you see people from among you or others divulging it, shun them, do not speak to them and do not be connected to them. Close connection with them is a poison which will penetrate your hearts, because such people are hated, disappointed zindiqs and suffer disgrace in this world and the Next unless they repent. Anyone who repents of wrong action is like someone who has no wrong action, as is related. Allah jalla wa 'ala said, "Say to those who disbelieve that if they stop, they will be forgiven what is past." (8:38) The Qutb, Mawlana 'Abdu'l-Warith al-Yasluti, may Allah be pleased with him and help us by him, said:
Those who divulge the haqiqa to ordinary peopleDo not divulge the secrets of your deen and this world except to a true brother. In the case of others, do not do so. Our master and teacher, may Allah be pleased with him and help us by him, said, "Do not divulge your secrets to anyone, even if he is loved by you, because he also has someone he loves who in turn has someone he loves who in turn has someone he loves and so on. So your secret will be spread among people everywhere and corruption will spread. That might lead to harm unless Allah prevents it."
are zindiqs. There is no god but Allah.
Bury your secret seventy feet deep in the earth and level it.May Allah give you success and guide you and give us happiness in both the worlds. May He relieve us of our cares and give us the best of both the worlds. May He cover us always in might, well-being, taqwa and righteous action which pleases Him and with which He is pleased, until certainty comes and we are with the Highest Companion, our master, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his party in this world and the Next. His greatest pleasure results in total delight with no anger after it ever. May He grant us health and well-being in the deen and this world and the Next World. May He preserve us from punishment. May our evil deeds be transformed into good deeds and may we receive the greatest intercession and gain the upper hand in this world and the Next World by Allah's pure mercy, generosity and forbearance. Amin. Amin. Amin.
Let people complain to Him on the Day of Rising.
We end our supplication with the words: Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, there is no power nor strength except from Allah, the High, the Immense. My success is only from Allah. I have relied on Him and I repent to Him. "Glory be to You. We have no knowledge except what You have taught us. You are the All-Knowing, All-Wise." If You do not forgive me and have mercy on me, I will be among the losers.
This letter should be recited out loud slowly and clearly to all the brothers and sisters whom it reaches. Each and every group should honour it greatly out of thanks to Allah, 'azza wa jalla, and follow it by doing the great dhikr of al-Latif and of His name, as-Sattar, according to the numerical value of its letters. Each group should write a copy of this letter in a clear script and the writer should be both a faqih and grammarian. It should be given to anyone who wishes to copy it. The master copy should be given to our relation by marriage, the source of great blessing, the wali of Allah Almighty, Sidi Muhammad ibn 'Umar, to be kept in his house and shown to the brothers and sisters as a special honour with thankfulness to Allah 'azza wa jalla. This should be done quickly.
There must also be much visiting - it is an immense pillar in the Path of Allah - especially visiting your daughters because maintaining ties of kinship increases life. It is related that kinship is suspended from the Throne which says, "Whoever joins me, Allah joins him. Whoever severs me, Allah severs him." May Allah support you and make you firm. As soon as this arrives letter send me your news with the first trustworthy person to come. May Allah guard you.
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah Almighty and His blessing with a complete universal and general peace and on your blessed happy circle. May Allah put it right and put others right by it and clothe us all in the immense ghawthiyya until the Day of Rising by His grace. Amin. Amin. Amin.
At the end of Shawwal 1268.
The most insignificant of the insignificant, the dog of the people of the presence of Allah, Ahmad al-Badawi. Allah is his Guardian.
Ramadan
Discourse 2
Shaykh Muhammad ibn
al-Habib
(tafsir on 7:168-170)
This was a discourse which Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib gave in his zawiyya in Meknes in the year he died. He was over 100 at the time.
[Transcribed and translated by Abdalhaqq Bewley]
[This has not been finally edited, but people have asked for access to the talks which have been transcribed.]
168 And We split them into nations in the earth.
Some of them are right-acting and some are other than that.
We tried them with good and evil so that perhaps they might return.
169 An evil generation has succeeded them,
inheriting the Book,
taking the goods of this lower world,
and saying, "We will be forgiven."
But if similar goods come to them they still take them.
Has not a covenant been made with them in the Book,
that they should only say the truth about Allah
and have they not studied what is in it?
The Final Abode is better for those who have taqwa.
Why do you not use your intellect?
170 As for those who hold fast to the Book and establish salat
We will not let the wage of the right-acting go to waste.
Allah ta'ala says in His Mighty Book: "And We divided them into nations in the earth." We have already told you that this sura is called Suratu'l-'Araf and was revealed to the Prophet, salla'llahu 'alayhi wa sallam, in the noble city of Makka, except for these ayats which we are looking at which came down to the Prophet salla'llahu 'alayhi wa sallam in Madina. We know this because there were no Jews in Makka, only idolaters, whereas there were Jews in Madina and all round it Ð for instance in Khaybar and places like that. These places were all inhabited by Jews. So all the references in the QurÕan concerning the Jews were revealed in Madina.
Anyway Allah, tabaraka wa ta'ala, says: "And We divided them into nations in the earth." This is an example of Allah telling us about unseen things in the future because the Jews will never be able to establish themselves as a nation. Allah says: "We divided them, meaning that Allah", tabaraka wa ta'ala, put some of them in every country. They will never be truly unified. All those Jews in Palestine who came from France and Britain and the West and various other countries will never establish themselves as a nation. Allah says: "We divided them into nations in the earth." Those whom Allah divided into nations did not follow Sayyidina Musa, 'alayhi salam. No! rather they disobeyed what they were ordered to do in the Torah.
Some of them are right-acting. This refers to the ones who followed Sayyidina Musa, 'alayhi salam, respecting what he brought and it also applies to those who died during the gap between Sayyidina Musa and Sayyidina 'Isa. Those who died during this gap are also called right-acting, in other words they wonÕt go to the Fire. When there is a gap between Prophets and you die during that period as someone who affirms AllahÕs unity you will not enter the Fire. This is because there was no Prophet there to be rejected. However, what about those who were alive during the life-time of Sayyidina 'Isa, 'alayhi salam, and did not follow him, what category do they fall under? They are kuffar because Allah sent Sayyidina 'Isa after Sayyidina Musa, 'alayhi salam. Then after that Allah sent Sayyidina Muhammad, salla'llahu 'alayhi wa sallam, and very few of the Jews followed Sayyidina Muhammad, salla'llahu 'alayhi wa sallam Ð just 'Abdallah ibnu Salam and KaÔb al-Ahbari, those two people.
When 'Abdallah ibnu Salam became Muslim the Jews did not know about his Islam. He went to the Messenger, salla'llahu 'alayhi wa sallam, and said, "I would like you, Messenger of Allah, to put the Jews to a little test," Ð and remember he was their leader and their great scholar Ð "I will hide and you ask them what is their opinion of 'Abdallah ibnu Salam. Then when they tell you and mention the respect they have for me, I will come out and say I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."
So the Messenger of Allah, salla'llahu 'alayhi wa sallam, did that. He summoned the heads of the Jews from Khaybar and surrounding areas and he hid 'Abdallah ibnu Salam from them. He asked them, "What do you say about about this man 'Abdallah ibnu Salam, your 'alim?" They said, "He is our master and the son of our master." He then asked them, "What would you say if he were to become a Muslim?" They said, "God forbid that he should ever become a Muslim." When they said that he came out and said the shahada. They immediately said, "He is our enemy and the son of our enemy." One minute they were saying he was their master and the son of their master and the next that he their enemy and the son of their enemy! Enemies of Allah, they will never admit the truth.
In any case Allah says: We divided them into nations in the earth. Allah split them up among different countries and they will never achieve unity. Some of them are right-acting Ð those who believed Ð and some are other than that Ð the kafirs among them. We tried them with good and evil so that hopefully the would return. What is meant by "good" here are all the good things Allah lavished on them, for example, plenty of rain, plenty of vegetation, and their trading. These are the "good" they had. As for the "evil" that refers to the droughts and illnesses they suffered. These are the "evil" referred to.
Go on! So that hopefully they would return. But, nevertheless, they did not return. Because Allah firstly tested them by pouring out good things on them, so they might return and cleave to the Torah and the deen of Sayyidina (Interruption "Muhammad") No, Sayyidina Musa, not Sayyidina Muhammad. We are only talking about Sayyidina Musa at the moment. They disagreed regarding him as well. Then when Allah sent Sayyidina Muhammad, salla'llahu 'alayhi wa sallam, they all rejected him outright, with very few exceptions. Like that Abdallah ibnu Salam and a few other Jews who followed the Prophet, salla'llahu 'alayhi wa sallam.
Go on! An evil generation has succeeded them, inheriting the book. Up to now we have been talking about the condition they were in. The word khalf (evil generation) refers to people of bad character. They are called khalf and then we also have the word khalaf. We have khalf and khalaf. Khalaf refers to descendants of good character. For example, a man appoints a khalaf to succeed him. He is his khalifa, a good successor. But if they are evil people we call them khalf. They are successors of bad character, who are no good for anything. That is why Allah ta'ala uses the word khalf here.
Go on! Inheriting the Book. What's the book referred to here? It's the Torah.
Go on! Taking the goods of this lower world. People would come to them for judgement and then they would take bribes and change the laws, which were in the Torah. Why did they do that? Out of pure greed.
Go on! and saying we will be forgiven. And in one reading adding, "because we do not associate anything with Allah," because Allah does not forgive anything being associated with Him. Allah says: "Allah does not forgive anything being associated with Him, but He forgives whoever He wills for anything other than that." 4:47 But that only applies if they are believers, not if they are idolaters or unbelievers, in that case there is no forgiveness. The only fate for a kafir is eternity in the Fire.
Go on! But if similar goods come to them again, they still take them. Has not a covenant been made with them in the Book, that they should only say the truth about Allah. The truth referred to here is what Allah revealed in the Torah. Because their Book was the Torah, which Sayyidina Musa received from Allah, ta'ala. This Torah is a big thing: "We sent down the Torah, containing guidance and light, and the Prophets who had submitted themselves gave judgement by it for the Jews Ð as did their scholars and their rabbis Ð by what they had been allowed to preserve of Allah's Book to which they were witnesses." 5:44 In any case the Tora contains sciences and secrets but the Jews destroyed it, may Allah curse them! They added to it and deleted things from it and altered it. They acted on what suited their whims and desires and abandoned everything in it which did not suit their purposes.
Go on! and have they not studied what is in it? The Final Abode is better for those who have taqwa. "The Final Abode". This advice applies to both them and us. This matter is something that also applies to us Muslims. Allah ta'ala says: "The Final Abode is better for those who have taqwa." Those people who have taqwa and have fear of Allah, they do not go along with bribery, for instance, because Allah has ordained that the practitioners of bribery, if they don't repent, they too will have an immense punishment. Because if someone is poor and people cheat him through bribery, they will take everything he has got. That's what bribery does. His money will disappear and everything else he has got. How? Through bribery.
Go on! The Final abode is better for those who have taqwa. You know what taqwa is, don't you? We have said on many occasions that taqwa consists of following Allah's commands and avoiding His prohibitions. "Whatever the Messenger gives you you should accept and whatever he forbids you you should forgo." 59:7 Allah has given us the injunctions of prayer and zakat and fasting and Hajj, and ordered us to safeguard our limbs from actions of disobedience, and to safeguard our hearts as well from envy and rancour and pride. If a person is free of this he possesses every good thing, every good thing.
Then Allah says: Will you not use your intellect? The purpose of the intellect is to examine what will bring us nearer to Allah and so act on it, and to examine what will distance us from Allah and so avoid it. If you have got any intellect, everyone with intellect uses it to examine things. If someone really has intellect they will use it to examine what brings them close to Allah and will act on that. And as for the things that they know will distance them from Allah, they know that the repayment of the Next World is coming. Belief in the Next World gives a person certainty about Allah's control of the decree. All of us are going to die. "Every self will taste death." 3:185 "Everyone on it will pass away; but the Face of your Lord will remain, Master of Majesty and Generosity." 55:24-25 "All things are passing except His Face." 28:88
If someone is certain about their death and what comes after death, such as the Reckoning and the Sirat and the Balance, and knows that he himself will have to go through this, he will certainly take this into account. If someone takes these things to heart he will know that when he dies there is punishment in the grave and that he will be tested at the Resurrection, and on the Sirat and at the Balance. These are big tests. But if Allah takes him by the hand, he will counsel himself and say, "Death is definitely something which will come to me. That is clear! And after it comes the Resurrection and after that the Sirat, and after that the Balance. And after all those things there is either the Garden or the Fire."
If someone knows this, and confirms it and believes it, he will certainly prepare for it. But if someone wastes their time in complete heedlessness, not knowing where he is at, not being aware of his death or what comes after it. He is going to be in trouble when he dies. He will have trouble in his grave and at his rising and on the Sirat and all of us are going to have to face these things. That is why Allah says: "Will you not use your intellect?" You should have an enlightened intellect to reflect with on what will benefit you and bring you closer to Allah.
Go on! As for those who hold fast to the Book. This is talking about the opposite of those other people - those who hold fast to the Book, they are the people who grasped hold of the Torah and acted on it. This ayat, however, also refers to us, because everything that is revealed concerning past peoples also applies to us. The commands and prohibitions they were subject to also apply to us, even if there are some differences. "those who hold fast to the Book", they are those who obey its commands and avoid its prohibitions.
and establish salat, Allah does not say just "do the salat"; He makes a distinction between doing salat and establishing it. Not everyone who does salat establishes it. Establishment includes, for instance, the freeing oneself from impurities which underlies the act of salat. Everything is built on freeing oneself from impurity. For instance someone might have urine on him when he does wudu'. But the whole purification process is based on being free from urine. And once that basic purification is in place then you have to be absolutely correct in your wudu'. You must not leave any dry spot on either your face, or your arms or your feet.
That is why Allah ta'ala says: and establish salat, And after you have finished wudu' you must give the salat its full due. Say the takbir al-ihram with majesty, and the recitation with clarity, and do ruku' until you achieve stillness, and say three times "subhana'llahi wa bihamdihi, subhana'llahi'l-'adhim" and if you want to to give full measure say, "subhana'llahi wa bihamdihi 'adada khalqihi wa rida nafsihi wa zinata 'arshihi wa midada kalamatih" and that is better. It encompasses a huge benefit. And likewise in sujud, "subhana rabbi'l'ala wa bi hamdihi 'adada khalqihi wa rida nafsihi wa zinata 'arshihi wa midada kalamatih". Allah gives a tremendous reward for this tasbih.
Go on! We will not let the wage of the right-acting go to waste. If anyone is right-acting (salih), putting both himself and other people right, Allah will never neglect his reward. It is incumbent on every human being to put himself right and his children and his wife and his close relations, "All of you are shepherds and all of you are responsible for your flock." Do not only think about yourself. What if your wife does not pray Ð and maybe does not even fast Ð tomorrow on the Day of Rising you will be questioned about that, and also about your children who are living with you: "All of you are shepherds and all of you are responsible for your flock." When they come back from school should ask them if they have prayed and if not they should pray. If you are not strict with them they will never have any deen, if you do not remind them they will not do anything, the teacher should be ordering from one side and the father from the other, so that there are two forces, one from the school and one from the home.
Go on! When We uprooted the mountain, lifting it above them like a canopy, No, not that yet; we still have not finished with the previous ayat. We will not let the wage of the rihgt-acting go to waste. We said that the right-acting is someone who puts himself right and his family and close relations, because as we said, "All of you are shepherds and all of you are responsible for your flock." You have your children and your friends and other people you mix with. It is your duty to counsel them for the sake of Allah. Tell them, for instance, that death is coming to us all, and the only thing of any use to us will be our right actions. The first thing that comes to people in their grave are their actions. If they are right actions they will be a comfort to them, if they are other than that they will torment them.
So the first thing to come to a person in their grave is their actions, if their actions are good, they take on a beautiful form and have a pleasant scent. They will ask, "Who are are you?" He will reply, "I am your right actions, and I am going to keep you company until you enter the Garden." And if, and we seek refuge with Allah from it, someone's actions are bad, they take on a hideous form and have a foul smell. An terrifying sight. He says, "Get away from me." "What do you mean get away from you? I am your actions. You are the one who made me look this." Everyone's actions enter their grave with them, if they are right actions they will be a comfort to them, if they are other than that they will torment them. So everyone should wary about that.
Before you go to sleep you should say: "astaghfirullah al-'adhim alladhi la ilaha illahu al-hayyu'l-qayyumu wa atubu ilayhi," three times. It has come in a sahih hadith: "Whoever retires to his bed and says 'astaghfirullah al-'adhim ladhi la ilaha illahu al-hayyu'l-qayyumu wa atubu ilayhi,' three times, his wrong actions will be forgiven even if they are as many as the froth on the sea, the grains of sand on the shore, the days of this world and all the leaves on the trees." This istighfar should be said by people, how many times? Before sleeping three times. There is no need to do it any more than that. This a hadith and it is sahih, recorded by the two shaykhs: "Whoever retires to his bed and says 'astaghfirullah al-'adhim ladhi la ilaha illahu al-hayyu'l-qayyumu wa atubu ilayhi,' three times, his wrong actions will be forgiven even if they are as many as the froth on the sea, the grains of sand on the shore, the days of this world and all the leaves on the trees."
Then Allah says, go on! When We uprooted the mountain, lifting it above them like a canopy. This is amongst the things which Allah used to discipline Banu Isra'il. When He ordered them to follow the Torah and they disobeyed Him, Allah ordered that mountain to hover above them, He lifted it above their heads. If Allah had ordered it to fall on them, it would have done so and crushed them. He lifted it as if it was a canopy and it stayed up there. It was waiting for the order, whether to fall on them and crush them, or not. But Allah just did it to scare them and didn't send the mountain crashing down on top of them. But they were frightened and some of them returned and held fast to the Torah, and some of, and we ask Allah's protection from that, stayed as they were.
Go on! and they thought that it was about to fall on them. It was on the point of falling on them but then our Master was kind to them and just caused them fear by it. Some of them returned to the truth and believed in Sayyidina Musa and acted on the Torah; and some of them remained hypocrites.
Then Allah says: Seize hold vigorously of what We have given you, Now this command, in the same way that it applied to Banu Isra'il, also applies to us. So it is incumbent on us as well to seize hold of the Book, i.e. the Qur'an, vigorously, in other words not neglect any of it. Wherever there is a command we have to comply with it and wherever them there is a prohibition we have to observe that. This doesn't just apply to Banu Isra'il; any sura or command directed at any previous peoples also applies to us.
Repeat the ayat. Seize hold vigorously of what We have given you, vigorously not feebly! Don't do salat: "da, da, da, da, assalamu 'alaykum" and that's it! Give it its full due; and safeguard the fast properly; and standing in the night in prayer; and all those things which bring you nearer to Allah. Do these things with energy and vigour, in the knowledge that you are going to leave this world. Here we are all sitting here but where have all the previous generation gone? All gone back to Allah. In any case it is clear that in death we have a great reminder. Allah commands us to remember death and what comes after death; but if we stay wrapped up in the world and our appetites and think of nothing else but it, and is only concerned with working for it, when we get to the Next World we will find ourselves utterly bankrupt. Allah ta'ala says: "Whatever good you send ahead for yourselves you will find it with Allah as something better and as a greater reward." 2:109 "Those who produce a good action will receive ten like it," 6:161 or indeed up to seventy, "Allah gives such multiplied increase to whoever He wills." 2:160
Go on! and remember what is in it, so that hopefully you will have taqwa. We discussed taqwa earlier. Allah mentions taqwa in His Book in relation to certain things. So anyone who wants knowledge has to have taqwa as well. Allah says: "Have taqwa of Allah and Allah will give you knowledge." 2:281 Those students who pray and have fear of Allah, Allah will open the doors of knowledge for them straight away. Because Allah says, "Have taqwa of Allah and Allah will give you knowledge." 2:281 But as for someone studying at school or college who doesn't pray or do dhikrullah, and spends all his time with the heedless or playing football or wasting his time like that, the door of knowledge will never open for him.
So Allah ta'ala says: and remember what is in it, so that hopefully you will have taqwa. Allah ta'ala orders Banu Isra'il to remember what is in the Torah and to act by it and He orders us to ponder the Qur'an and act by that. The meanings of the Qur'an embrace every other revelation; it includes what is in the Torah and what is in the Injil and what is in the Zabur; all the Revealed Books have been placed by Allah in the Qur'an. Just as Allah gathered together all good things for Sayyidina Muhammad, he gathered together all good for us in the Book of Allah.
Allah says: and remember what is in it, so that hopefully you will have taqwa. We said that taqwa is obedience to all the commands of Allah and avoidance of all His prohibitions. The first stage of taqwa is knowledge of Allah. If you ask someone if they know Allah they say la ilaha illa'llah, but this la ilaha illa'llah has a meaning, and if someone says it they should know what it means, in order to enter the land of tawhid. They must know Allah tabaraka wa ta'ala in the correct way, acknowledging the evidence for His existence, either phenomenological or epistemological. Allah tabaraka wa ta'ala commands us to affirm His Oneness and to gain knowledge of Him. This knowledge of him is of two kinds, one is based on evidence and proofs and one is from natural things. We might say to someone how did you get to know your Lord. He might reply I found my parents saying la ilaha illa'llah and so I said it. That is not enough. If someone says they know Allah they must produce something in support of that statement. A person might say that he was non-existent and then his Lord nurtured him in his mother's womb and continued doing that until he emerged into this world. Then He gave him milk to drink until he grew bigger. What is this called? It is phenomenological evidence and it is sufficient. An Arab was asked how he knew his Lord and he was someone who knew about camels. So he replied that the dung (ba'r) indicates the camel (ba'ir) and footprints indicate the traveller. And as the poet said: "The sky with its constellations, and the earth with its plant-life, and the oceans with their waves, do they not indicate the All-penetrating, the All- aware?" All that indicates Allah.
Who raised up the sky? Who filled up the seas with water? Who makes the winds blow? Who makes the rain fall? Who makes the plants grow? These are all phenomenological evidence for the existence of Allah. Allah ta'ala revealed seven hundred ayats in the Qur'an containing this type of evidence. "Mankind worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, so that hopefully you will have taqwa. It is He who made the earth a couch for you, and the sky a dome. He sends down water from the sky and by it brings forth fruits for your provision. Do not, then, knowingly make others equal to Allah." 2:20-21 "In the creation of the heavens and earth, and the alternation of the night and day, and the ships which sail the seas to people's benefit, and the water which Allah sends down from the sky Ð by which He brings the earth to life when it was dead and scatters about in it creatures of every kind Ð and the varying direction of the winds, and the clouds subservient between heaven and earth, there are Signs for people who use their intellect." 2:163 "Among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and earth and the variety of your languages and colours." 30:21 All of us are different. Why is this one black and that one white, this one tall and that one short, this one have a good intellect and that one not? They are all manifestations of who? Of our Master. And in that way they are evidence for our Master, subhanahu.
Anyway Allah ta'ala says: "Among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and earth and the variety of your languages and colours. There are certainly Signs in that for every being." 30:21 These ayats outlining phenomenological evidence for the Divine existence in the Qur'an are many. But as for the epistemological ones it is the logicians who talk about them. They bring, for example, the analogy of exception and the analogy of concurrence, and use linguistic analysis of Arabic. But this is beyond the majority of people. It is enough, in fact, just to have knowledge of yourself. You need only say to yourself, "Who gave me eyesight, enabling me to see? Who gave me hearing, enabling me to hear. Who gave me an intellect, enabling me to think." That is enough. It is what? It is phenomenological evidence for the Divine existence. This has all come from His words, subhanahu wa ta'ala: and remember what is in it, so that hopefully you will have taqwa.
Let's leave it here for the time being. I was saying a few words about Ramadan. We said to you that Ramadan is the storehouse of all the actions of the year. Why did we say that? It is because in it the nafila has the same status that the fard does at other times. So anyone who has missed a fard and does a lot of nafilas in Ramadan, then each nafila replaces a fard. If anyone does a voluntary action in Ramadan it counts as doing a fard at any other time and if anyone does a fard action it counts as seventy fards outside Ramadan. So we have a store of wealth in Ramadan which does not exist outside Ramadan. All of our actions are multiplied.
For this reason people should be especially on their guard. They should have all their faculties under control. The most important of them is the tongue because backbiting actually breaks the fast. The companions said, "Messenger of Allah, what if what we say about someone is true?" He replied, "If you say that about him, that is backbiting." If you talk behind someone's back and say, for example, that he is a thief, and he actually is Ð it's not that he is not, he really has got that bad quality Ð what you should do is advise him to his face: "My brother, I love you but I see things in you which people might find objectionable. If Allah guides you and you turn to Your Lord and go back to Our Master, know that the door of tawba is always open." That's a good thing to do. But on the other hand, if you talk behind his back and say that so and so is ignorant and doesn't know anything or keeps indulging in bad actions, and all of it is true, what is that called? It is backbiting. Allah ta'ala says: "Éand do not backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat his brother's dead flesh? No, you would hate it." 49:12
The Prophet said to us that we should adopt four traits: two which gain the pleasure of the Lord and two we cannot do without. The two traits which please the Lord are worshipping Him and not associating anything with him. So make sure that the aim of your actions is the Face of Allah, not doing things so that you will be given something in return, that puts you in danger, "They were only ordered to worship Allah, making their deen sincerely His." 98:5 Your actions must be for the Face of Allah alone. And this is what the slave will be asked about and this will be the important thing for the person concerned on the Day of Rising.
Anyway we were talking about the four traits two of which to gain the pleasure of your Lord: to worship Him and not to associate anything with Him. And you know what shirk is, don't you? With us shirk is of two sorts Ð and make sure you understand this Ð there is hidden shirk and open shirk. As for open shirk, it is when people worship statues and idols, thinking that they will benefit them, that they can harm them and give to them and prevent them from getting things, like the idolaters of Makka. They had idols and the thought that they harmed them and benefited them. That kind of shirk is open, no doubt about it, such people are in the Fire for ever. "Allah does not forgive anything being associated with Him." 4:48
Then there is hidden shirk and that is to attribute effects to their causes. Allah ta'ala has set up causes but effects accompany these causes, they are not brought about by them. In all the things that happen to us, Allah is the doer. "Allah created both you and what you do." 37:96 He created your actions, as for the good we link that to Allah but as for the ugly we link that to ourselves. So as for all the things which are good and right we link those to Sidi our Lord. He is the One who helps us, provides for us, gives us, keeps evil away from us, all this we link to Sidi our Lord. As for the ugly actions we say that we are the ones who disobeyed, we are the ones who went against the grain, and we ask Allah to grant us a effective repentance. It is necessary for every human being to know this.
We said that if someone does a nafila Ð and the night is very long Ð if you do a nafila in Ramadan, it is the same as doing a fard in any other month. We have all got some shortcomings in respect of our fards; no one completely fulfills all the fards he has to do. How many people don't start praying till they are eighteen, how many till they are twenty? And some do not start till they are thirty. So all of us have something to make up. And if you want to do that then every nafila in Ramadan has the status of a fard.
May Allah give us and you success in what is good and take us and you by the hand.
Ramadan
Discourse
Shaykh Muhammad ibn
al-Habib
(tafsir on 7:156-157)
This was a discourse which Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib gave in his zawiyya in Meknes in the year he died. He was over 100 at the time.
[This was originally published in the journal, Islam, in 1976. I don't know who did the translation]
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I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan. In the Name of Allah the
All-Merciful, Most Merciful. Peace and blessings be upon our Lord and Prophet,
Muhammad the Chosen, the Noble, and upon his family and Companions in abundance.
There is no power nor strength except in Allah, the High, the Great. Glory
be to You! We have no knowledge except what you have taught us. You are the
All-Knowing, the All-Wise. O Allah, open to us Your wisdom and cover us with
Your mercy, O Possessor of Majesty and Generosity.
Allah, to Whom belongs glory and power, says in His Mighty Book: "My mercy extends to all things but I will prescribe it for those who have taqwa." (7:156)
We have started with this sura which we talked about last year when we reached the words of the Almighty, "My mercy extends to all things." The name of this sura is Surat al-A'raf. Every sura takes its name from a word in it. So, for example, Surat al-Baqara is called al-Baqara because Allah mentions a cow (baqara) in it. It is the same with Ali 'Imran, an-Nisa' and so on. This sura is called al-A'raf. Allah says in it, "on the ramparts (al-a'raf) there will be men." Every sura is named after a word in it. This sura was revealed to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in Makka.
In any case, we reached His words, "My mercy extends to all things." This mercy, which embraces all things, is a mercy without limit, but there is also a mercy which is confined. This unlimited mercy encompasses animals, plants, angels, Prophets, Messengers, awliya', and even the mushrikun and the kafirun. They all comes within the scope of this mercy which entails existence and provision. Allah ta'ala gives them existence and sustains them. But then He makes them differ in their beliefs. Among them are mu'minun, kafirun and hypocrites. They all share in existence and sustenance.
This blessing includes even Iblis. Even he shares in it. Once he was with one of the gnostics ('arifin) and said, "I too claim a share in that mercy because Allah says, 'My mercy extends to all things.' and I am a thing." The gnostic replied to him, "But Allah has limited it by His words, 'I will prescribe it for those who have taqwa.'" He told him, "You don't know anything," – This was Iblis talking to Sahl ibn 'Abdullah – "because how can something which Allah has made unlimited then have limits imposed on it?"
This mercy without limit concerns existence and sustenance. Everyone is included in it. The kafirun have existence and sustenance, so has Shaytan and so has everything else. However differentiation exists. So what is it in? In iman. The people who follow the Prophets and Messengers and trust them have a special place. They will be among the people of the Garden. They will enjoy the vision of the Noble Face of Allah. But the people who have only existence and sustenance without any iman will have their payment in the Fire for ever. For ever in the Fire. Because Allah says, "I will prescribe it," i.e. that mercy for whom? "For those who have taqwa." Therefore the man who wants mercy must have taqwa.
What is taqwa? It is obedience to all the commands of Allah and avoidance of all that is forbidden. The things that Allah has commanded us to do are the prayer, zakat, fasting and hajj, and the things He has forbidden us are pride, envy, malice, hatred, bad thoughts about others. These people will taste that mercy because they have taqwa. "I will prescribe it for those who have taqwa." We have said that taqwa means to obey all the commands, and the man who has taqwa of Allah like this will receive mercy. He will experience mercy in this existence, in his grave, at his rising, and in the Akhira. But the man who does not have taqwa will be in misery. He will be punished in this existence, in his grave, in the Akhira, in everything of his. Taqwa gains for you every good quality. Allah ta'ala says, "I will prescribe it for those who have taqwa." Sidi Ibn 'Ashir says:
The attainment of taqwa is by avoidance and obedience, inward and outward. Thus you obtain it.If you want to do something you should ask about it first. "Ask the people of the Reminder if you do not know." (21:7) No action is left to our own intellects. Not eating or drinking or clothing. The whole business refers back to what? To the Muhammadan Shari'a. "Whatever the Messenger gives you you should accept and whatever He forbids you you should forgo." (59:7)
It has four divisions for the traveller
on the path of profit.
He lowers his eyes to what is forbidden
and restrains his ears from evil.
He guards his private parts
and fears the Witness.
He delays matters until he knows
what Allah has decreed for him in them.
Then comes taqwa against shirk. Shirk is the subject of much discussion by the 'ulama' of this time and they ascribe it to people. We divide shirk in two: open shirk and hidden shirk. Open shirk: a man must know the attributes of Our Master – subhanahu – because if he does not Allah, he cannot make Him one. Sidi Ibn 'Ashir says:
The first duty of the one under obligation who has been given clarityIf people know Allah by His attributes, they will not go wrong. They will know the vastness of the attributes of our Master and that no one has any part in them, neither Prophet nor angel nor wali nor Messenger. If a man does not know Allah, he cannot help but be destroyed. They say, "Sayyiduna Muhammad cured you" or "So-and-so helped me," and so on. But if a man knows Allah – effective power belongs to Him, particularised will belongs to Him, absolute knowledge belongs to Him, particularised wisdom belongs to Him – if he knows Allah in this way he will not be destroyed. If he knows Allah in this way, he will never, for example, associate Him with angel, wali, Prophet or Messenger.
Is to know Allah and His Messenger
by the attributes on which the ayats are based.
All the 'ulama' are agreed about this: that the first obligation of a man is to know Allah by His attributes. And what are His attributes? There are the attributes of the Essence of Allah, the salbiyya attributes, the ma'ani attributes, and the ma'nawiyya attributes. There are twenty attributes that everyone should know. The first attribute is existence. Our Master has the attribute of existence, but His existence is not like our existence. His existence is beyond-past-time. He has no beginning. Beyond-past-time, no beginning. And His existence is obligatory. We divide obligations into two: the obligations of the Shari'a and the obligations of the intellect. The obligations of the Shari'a are those things for whose performance you are rewarded and for whose abandonment you are punished. The obligations of the intellect are those things whose non-existence cannot be conceived. This existence of our Master is an obligation of the intellect. His non-existence cannot be conceived, because He is beyond-past-time and going on for ever. If the obligatory nature of His beyond-past-timeness is in your intellect and the obligatory nature of His going on for ever is in your intellect, you will never condition His existence. He has Beyond-past-timeness and Going-on without end. These two attributes apply to the Essence of Allah ta'ala.
Then there are the salbiyya attributes. They are Beyond-past-timeness, Going-on without end, Unaffectedness by events, and Oneness of Essence and Attributes. They do not take anything away from Allah, although this is what the mutakallimun assert, rather they take away from our intellects all that cannot be applied to Allah. If we know that Allah is Beyond-past-time, we cannot form a picture in our intellects of His coming into being in time, and if we know He is Going-on without end, we cannot conceive of His annihilation. Likewise, if we recognise that He has unlimited wealth, it is impossible for us to imagine Him ever being in need. And so on ... If we recognise that is not affected by events, we know that nothing can be equal to Him, not in His Essence, not in His attributes, and not in His actions. This is the first thing a man should know. Sidi ibn 'Ashir says about this:
The first duty of the one under obligation who has been given clarityThis is where the Wahhabis and others like them go wrong when they say, "You don't know Allah. You are committing shirk." But if a man knows Allah in this way he cannot make any mistake. He will never confuse Allah with anything else.
Is to know Allah and His Messenger
by the attributes on which the ayats are based.
Our Master has necessary attributes. Beyond-past-timeness to which there is no beginning. Not equal to Him is any Allah or Messenger or wali or angel. "Nothing is equal to Him. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing." "And not equal to Him is anyone." No equal, not in His Essence nor His Attributes nor His Actions. If a man knows His Lord he just cannot go wrong. He knows that nothing can be similar to Him. It is Him we serve as slaves, Him we prostrate to, Him we bow to, and Him we glorify.
The whole creation is variegated into many layers. Everything has its own degree. There are the degrees of the angels, the degrees of the Prophets, the degrees of the Messengers, the degrees of the awliya'. Everyone has his own degree. But everyone is a slave to Allah. "Everything in the heavens and the earth comes to the All-Merciful as a slave." All of us are slaves to our Master.
"Those who have taqwa" against shirk – manifest and hidden. We have been talking about manifest shirk. Hidden shirk is very common in people. Such as the person who says, "It was so-and-so who helped me," or "that medicine which I took was what cured me of that illness." What is that called? That is hidden shirk. Someone says, "It was so-and-so who did that thing for me," or "this material is what gave me warmth. If it wasn't for it, I would have died of the cold." Or again, "That drink that I had was what quenched my thirst." This giving intrinsic reality to the means is known as hidden shirk, but only if you give them effective power, not, of course, if you know that Allah is the cause of things when they happen. You could say that the cloth was the means of my getting warm, or this food was the means by which I was satisfied. It is always necessary for there to be a means. Means must always exist, and an unseen witness of them. But most of the time people go wrong. "If it wasn't for so-and-so, I would never have achieved my aim."
What do you mean? It is Allah who gives it to you. "It is He who subjects to you all that is in the heavens and the earth from Him." However you must thank the means. Really. Thank the one at whose hands you receive a good thing, thank him either by some good action or by making a du'a'. "If someone has done you a good service, repay him, and if you cannot, then pray for him until you think he has been repaid." say, "Such a one has helped us and has been the means to good things. O Lord, take his hand! O Lord, give him expansion! O Lord, protect him and his children!"
This we must do, but at the same time we must not forget that it is Allah who benefits us. He subjected the other to us and He turned his heart towards us so that the good thing reached us. But if we ascribe the whole thing to the creature, that becomes hidden shirk. Allah says, "Most of them do not believe in Allah without associating others with Him." (11:106) Try to understand this. A man who affirms the Unity must do so inwardly and outwardly. The means have no innate effectiveness, not even if the means is a Prophet or a wali or an angel or a Messenger. If it was not for the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, we would not know Allah. He is His means to our happiness. We will all – insha'Allah – be among the people of the Garden through following him. These things are all means, but Allah ta'ala is the Doer. There is no Doer but Allah.
Allah made these means as His instruments and we must show correct behaviour towards them. You should not let there be a case of anyone doing anything for you or giving you anything without you turning to him in thanks. If you have something to repay him with, then give it to him, and if not, then pray for him until you think you have fulfilled your obligation to him, But if you hold him to be the effective cause and believe that it was really him who caused the thing to be given to you, that he did it with his own power, then this is shirk and it might even turn out to be manifest rather than hidden.
He says, "Those who have taqwa." We have been explaining to you the meaning of taqwa. Allah says in His Mighty Book, talking about its benefits, "Have taqwa of Allah and He will give you knowledge." "Allah only accepts from those who have taqwa." "Those who have taqwa will be in Gardens and rivers on couches of sincerity with the King, the Powerful."
So you see, taqwa is the means to all good, both in this existence and in the Akhira. If you have taqwa of Allah, He will make your provision easy to obtain, you will be loved by His slaves, and your life will be made easy for you here and in the Akhira. When you go to the grave you will find it comfortable, and when you go to the Place of Rising, you will find the same. On the other hand, if you have no taqwa you will be in misery both in this existence and the Akhira. Taqwa is what collects together all the good. Allah, tabaraka wa ta'ala, says, "He who has taqwa of Allah, He provides him with what is enough for him." The thing a man needs is taqwa. And if you have taqwa of Allah, you will carry out the commands and avoid what is forbidden and accompany the people of blessings.
No one can come to anything except by specific means. And as for those people who say that means are unnecessary – where would they get knowledge from it there wasn't an 'alim to teach them? How could they see anything? You must affirm the means. It is necessary to have the means accompanied by wisdom. But watch out that you do not give them innate effectiveness and say, for instance, "If it was not for so-and-so, I would never have attained that thing." No! So-and-so is only the means and Allah is the Doer and Designer. But beware that you do not deny the means, saying that people have no part in it. This is a serious mistake. Why is that? Because it is haqiqa without Shari'a. The Shari'a makes things clear for us and gives everything its due. The Prophet, and he is that created being who is the means to our Islam, said to us, "If someone does you a good service, repay him." Know that he is the means to the good thing you received. All this that I have been saying has been about the ayat: "My mercy extends to all things but I will prescribe it for those who have taqwa." (7:156)
Then He says, "and pay the zakat." This zakat is what people today disregard almost completely, and in this they go very badly wrong. They say, "These taxes and rates we pay take the place of zakat." But that is not the case. Zakat is for those who are weak and poor, and these people still exist. "Surely your sadaqa is for the poor and the destitute." The taxes we pay are to support the administration so that they can guard the roads for you and ensure your safety, and so that you can rest tranquil in your homes. If there wasn't any support for the administration we would live in chaos. If we need the people to guard us and to watch over the roads and these things require financing, from where does the money come? From the people. We cannot say that we do this instead of zakat. This support of the administration and the taxes which go towards it are so that the whole business can be kept going. That is how we can have people to guard us and watch over us and do things to our benefit. We could never do them by ourselves. If there was no administration, we would not be able to manage. The administration over us is from us. This gathering is to their credit. If there was no safety you could not come and I would not see you.
"And so let them worship the Lord of this House who has preserved them from hunger and secured them from fear." There has to be a means to this "securing from fear." There must be a functioning administration which maintains people to guard us and to watch over the roads so that people can travel in safety and so that people who want to come can do so in safety, and so that people can sleep in their houses in safety. We must not begrudge the administration anything we give them and we must realise that what we give is to meet the cost of our security, to pay those who work towards it. But zakat, no, that is exclusively for the poor and destitute. Look out for the weak and destitute and take care of them. Give to them until you have paid what is due from you.
"Those who have taqwa and pay the zakat and those who believe in Our Signs." The signs of our Master are many. He shows them to us through the Revealed Books. What do we believe in? The Torah, the Injil, the Psalms, and the Furqan, and we believe in the angels and in all those things that are hidden from us, the things of the Akhira, such as the Rising, the Sirat, the Balance, the Basin, the Garden with its ascending degrees and the fire with its descending degrees.
"Those who have taqwa ... and believe in Our Signs." Then He says, "and those who follow the Messenger." Now the Banu Isra'il asked for precepts during the time of Sayyiduna Musa. Allah gave them, but they did not accept them and so He gave them to us, the Muhammadan community. He said, "I give you the whole earth to pray in wherever you go, and I authorise you to recite your Torah without using the Book." They said, "We will only pray in a synagogue – knowing quite well what Allah had told them – and we will not recite the Torah except from scrolls." Allah – subhanahu wa ta'ala – says to us, "The earth has been made for Me a mosque and a pure place." This is what Allah has given us. We do not have to look for a mosque when we want to say the prayer. No matter where we are when the time of prayer comes, we can say the prayer there. But as for them, this is veiled from them and they will only pray in their synagogues. Our Master gave them a choice in this matter and they choose the synagogue. And they also chose not to recite their Torah by heart like we recite the Qur'an. Allah made the Qur'an easy for us. We can recite by heart. Some recite by heart and others by the Book. This is veiled from them and they can only recite when the Torah is in their hands. This just foes to show. Allah gave all the easy things to the Banu Isra'il and they did not accept them. When they refused to accept them, who did Allah give them to? To this Muhammadan community. "Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet whom they find written down with them in the Torah and the Injil."
A complete description of Sayyiduna Muhammad is written down in the Torah and his description is also in the Injil, but the enemies of Allah changed and altered the Injil and changed and altered the Torah. This was so that those in power among them and their 'ulama', or those they call 'ulama', could deceive the majority of the people and keep them under their control. The Torah and the Injil were both full of descriptions of Sayyiduna Muhammad and of this Muhammadan community, but, as we said, the enemies of Allah changed and altered them.
He said, "Whom they find written down with them in the Torah and the Injil, commanding them to do right (ma'ruf) and forbidding them to do wrong (munkar)." Ma'ruf is the best of what is in the Shari'a, and He forbids them what is opposed to the Shari'a. "Commanding them to do right and forbidding them to do wrong and making good things halal for them." The things that are good have been made halal for us and other things He forbids us like wine or smoking, for example, like snuff and everything that has a smell. The mu'min is required to give these things up, and if it is not in his power to do so and he cannot find a cure, he should begin to cut down on it and take it like a medicine. Because there are people who are advised against doing something and then they just do not know what to do. There was a sharif with me on hajj who used to smoke, poor man. I said to him, "Now you've performed hajj and visited the Prophet, give this up." So he gave it up. Then we went to get the bus back to Jeddah and he nearly got into a fight with the driver of the bus. I saw that his eyes were red and that he was completely out of control, so I said to him, "Go and take that medicine of yours! But reduce the amount and make the intention of using it only as a cure."
If the protection of Allah is with a man and he manages to give the thing up in one go, then that, of course, is the best thing, but if he knows that he will not be able to, he should take less of it and be aware that he is only doing it to cure himself. This is so that he can put his house in order and so that everything doesn't go sour on him. However, if he just indulges his appetite, taking one after another, then that is a real disaster for him.
Allah ta'ala says, "and making bad things haram for them and relieving them of their heavy loads and the chains which were around them." Among the Banu Isra'il if a man committed a wrong action, he would be told, "Go and take your own life," or "Go and wander in the desert until you die," or "Burn your clothes." Their affairs and their tawba entailed great suffering. As for us, He has lifted that suffering from us. A man commits a wrong action, then makes tawba to our Lord, asks for forgiveness, and Allah accepts his tawba. "It is He who accepts tawba from His slaves and pardons their wrong actions and He knows what they do." (42:23) In any case, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Tawba erases all before it." It wipes out everything. It removes every single of your wrong actions. But with the Banu Isra'il it was otherwise. Their tawba was not like this. Allah told them, "Go and wander until you die" or "Take your own life." Allah ta'ala lifted this hardship from us." "Relieving them of their heavy loads and the chains which were around them."
"Those who have iman in him and glorify him." What's the meaning of glorify? Honour him. "To glorify" here means "to honour". These are people who do not honour him and they are mistaken because Allah has ordered us to honour what He has honoured. Allah has said about Sayyiduna Muhammad, "Those who give their hands to you, give their hands to Allah." And He says, "He who obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah." Allah has ordered us to honour what He has honoured and we do so to fulfil His command. The exaltedness of his degree is such that no one can hope to attain it.
It is byt the hand of Sayyiduna Muhammad, salla'llahu 'alayhi wa sallam, that Allah has shown mercy to this community – by him we are able to recognise Allah, enter the Garden, and enjoy the vision of the Noble Face of Allah. "And glorify him and help him to victory," against their enemies.
"And follow the Light that has been sent down with him." What was that? "And follow the Light that has been sent down with him." What is the light that was sent down? It was the Qur'an. "And follow the Light that has been sent down with him." What is it that was sent down with Sayyiduna Muhammad? It is the Qur'an. In this Qur'an Allah has gathered together everything. In it is the meaning the Torah, the meaning of the Injil, the meaning of the Psalms, and every other matter. In it Allah has gathered together for us everything. We need only to focus our hearts – on what? On the Book of Allah! And on the Sunna which makes it clear!
Allah ta'ala made the Qur'an an encircling ocean, but in it there are certain things to which we have no immediate access. The Sunna came and made clear to us the things that were difficult to understand in the Book of Allah. Then after that the right-acting 'ulama' came, and they too elucidated for us the things which were not clear. In any case the Book and the Sunna are the path which leads to happiness. "He who takes hold of the Book of Allah and the Sunna of His Messenger."
However the only who can know this is the one who knows its people. The ordinary man who spends all day in idle pursuits, wasting his days – if he wants to learn about the Book and the Sunna he must frequent the people of Allah who are those who will teach him how to perform the prayer and how to do wudu' and how to recognise Allah. If he does this he will undoubtedly gain a great gift. But if, for example, he just stays in his everyday occupations, he will go to the mosque without any knowledge. "Allah cannot be worshipped except with knowledge. "Seeking knowledge is an obligation on every Muslim man and woman." It is the duty of every man to teach his wife how to do wudu' and ghusl and how to do everything she is required to do, what she should do where her periods are concerned. The responsibility for her is on his shoulders. "All of you are shepherds, and all of you will be questioned about your flock." A man should ask his son, "Have you done the prayer or not?" When he comes in, say to him, "Have you come from school, did you perform the prayer there?" If he replies, "No, I haven't," tell him, "You know tomorrow on the Day of Rising you will be asked about the prayer." If he finds his father insisting day after day about the prayer, it is inevitable that he will do it. But if he comes in and no one asks him, he will never say the prayer.
Now in our time there is great laxity. We need teachers who command and fathers who are firm with their children. If the man who teaches commands, and the fathers says to his son when he comes home, "Have you prayed or not?" he will undoubtedly be aware of his Deen and he will undoubtedly perform the prayer. However, if, for instance, the teacher prays but does not tell his pupils to, and similarly a father does not ask his son, he will grow up without a scrap of the Deen and will never perform the prayer.
Allah ta'ala says, "And follow the Light that has been sent down with him, they are the ones who are successful." They are the ones who are successful: those who follow Sayyiduna Muhammad, salla'llahu 'alayhi wa sallam, and follow what came with him, the Book and the Sunna. They are the ones who will reap the harvest both in this world and the Akhira.
"WAISLAMU PEKEE NDO WARUHUSIWE KUCHINJA NYAMA YA BIASHARA"....HII NI KAILI YA LEO YA RAIS MWINYI
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by Abdi Mpemba
Ziara ya mwisho ya Ahmedinejad Afrika
16 Aprili, 2013 - Saa 10:09 GMT
Rais Mahmoud Ahmedinejad
Rais wa Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
anazuru nchi tatu za Afrika katika ziara yake ya mwisho ya kigeni kabla
ya kuondoka mamlakani baada ya kutawala mihula miwili.
Hata hivyo haijashangaza sana kuwa amemua kuzuru
Afrika. Wakati wa miaka minane ya utawala wake, amejikakamua
kushirikiana na nchi nyingi za kiafrika na zile za Amerika ya Kusini
ambazo nchi hiyo ina uhusiano wa kidiplomasia nazo.Wadadisi wanasema kuwa kuna sababu za kutosha za kidiplomasia, kwa sera hii ya bwana Ahmadinejad.
Huku shinikizo kutoka kwa jamii ya kimataifa zikiendelea kuongezeka na athari zaidi za vikwazo vya kiuchumi, Iran ilihitaji washirika kuunga mkono nchini hiyo kwakatika baraza la Umoja wa Mataifa.
Lengo lake halikutumia kwa sababu ya nchi nyingi zinazostawi kutegemea msaada kutoka kwa Marekani na mashirika mengine ya kimataifa ambayo yana ushawishi wa Marekani na washirika wake.
Kutaka nchi maskini kujizuia kupiga kura katika umoja wa mataifa kuhusu Iran, ndilo jambo pekee ambalo angependa lifanyike.
Lengo kuu la mapinduzi ya kiisilamu mwaka 1979 ilikuwa ni kueneza harakati za uisilamu kote duniani.
Afrika, ikiwa na nchi za kiisilamu si haba, ikawa ya kwanza kuonekana kana kwamba
inaweza kuunga mkono Iran.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
- Alikuwa rais wa kwanza wa Iran mwaka 2005
- Mnamo Oktoba 2005, aliona uwezekano wa kuondoa Israel na pahala pake kuwa taifa huru la Palestina.
- Matamshi yake yalitafsiriwa kama uchochezi wa kutaka kuiondoa Israel kwenye ramani ya dunia.
- Anasifika kwa kuishi maisha ya kiwango cha kadri na amekuwa akipinga ufisadi
- Inaarifiwa hakutumia pesa zozote katika kampeini yake ya urais
Sheikh Zakzaky, kiongozi wa waisilamu wa Shia nchini Nigeria,alikuwa mmoja wa waliopigia debe sana madhehebu ya Shia wakati wa mapinduzi nchini Iran.
Ingawa bwana Zakzaky anakanusha kuwahi kupokea msaada kutoka kwa Iran, mhubiri huyu anayepinga vikali Marekani, ana picha ya kiongozi mapinduzi ya Iran Ayatollah Khomeini nyumbani kwake.
Mwaka 2008, rais Ahmadinejad alimpokea aliyekuwa rais wa Comoros wakati huo, Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi mjini Tehran.
Mhubiri wa madhehebu ya Sunni, bwana Sambi alisomea dini nchini Iran na alikuwa mwanafunzi wa Ahmadinejad.
Wakati wa utawala wa Ahmadinejad, aliimarisha Uhusiano wa kibiashara na kiuchumi. Mapema mwaka huu, Iran ilisema kuwa biashara kati ya Iran na nchi zingine ambazo zimefika thamani ya dola bilioni moja.
Mfano mmoja ni uwekezaji wa Iran barani Afrika ulioanza mwaka 2007 kwa kufungua kiwanda kikubwa cha magari nchini Senegal.
Kutengeza Silaha?
Hata hivyo, Iran ina malengo mengine katika kushirikiana na Afrika. Kuna ripoti kuwa kwa kutumia biashara, Iran inajaribu kukiuka sheria ya vikwazo vya kimataifa.Zaidi ya miaka miwili iliyopita, Nigeria iliripoti kunaswa kwa silaha zilizokuwa zinatoka Iran,ikisemekana kuwa zilikuwa zinaelekea nchini Gambia.
Mwezi mmoja baadaye bila kuelezea sababu zozote, Gambia ilikata uhusiano na Iran.
Mwaka jana serikali ya Sudan,iliituhumu Israel kwa kushambulia kiwanda chake cha silaha. Israel hata hivyo haikukubali au kukanusha kuhusika na shambulio hilo dhidi ya kiwanda cha Sudan kilichoaminika kupeleka silaha katika Ukanda wa Gaza. .
Iran haijawahi kuzungumzia tukio hilo.
Licha ya Iran kuwa na uhushiano na nchi nyingi zinazostawi, wadadisi wanasema kuwa haijaathiri kivyovyote ushawishi wa Marekani kwa nchi hizo.
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