[Ayyuhal Walad Al-Muhib] A Talk by Sidi Afifi al-Akiti

Assalamualaikum wbt...

It has been a while since my last post on Ayyuhal Walad Al-Muhib series, right?
Alhamdulillah, in Dublin, there was a programme called "Hidden Treasure of Imam Ghazali", organised by MSM, PPIMI and Darul Firdaus. The speaker is Sidi Afifi al-Akiti.

The talk touched briefly on the history of Imam Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali and also the book, Ayyuhal Walad Al-Muhib (Dear Beloved Son), but just few first chapters because obviously, full sharah will take longer.

Take time and watch these videos, ok? (I just put part one as the other parts can easily be found in Watch Related panel in Youtube.)




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May you benefit from this, everyone!
Allah bless us all.

[Ayyuha'l Walad al-Muhib] Dhikir

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh...

Im sorry for long break from Imam Syafie's advices. My bad. Lets not waste time...

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Twelfth Counsel

Dhikir

My Dear Beloved Son,


"Awaken at night to pray [tahajjud]"(Quran, 17:79). This, my son is a command.

"And in the hours of early dawn, they were found praying for forgiveness." (Quran, 51:18). This verse indicate thankfulness.

"And those who pray for forgiveness in the early hours of the morning." (Quran, 3:17). This verse indicates dhikr of Allah the Exalted.

The Messengger of Allah s.a.w said: " Three voices are beloved to Allah the exalted: the voice of the cock, the voice of the one who reads the quran and tha voice of those seeking forgiveness in the early morning."

Sufyan al-Thawri r.a said:"Allah the Exalted has created a breeze which blows in the early hours of the morning, that carries the dhikr and the supplications to the Supreme King." He also said: "In the early hours of the night, a caller from under the Throne calls:" Let the worshippers rise," and they will get up and pray till the early hours of dawn. At that point a caller will call:"Let those who pray for forgiveness arise," and they will get up and seek forgiveness. At dawn a caller will say:"Let the heedless arise," and they will get up from their beds as the dead ressurrected form their graves."

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[Ayyuha'l Walad Al-Muhib] Sleep

Assalamualaikum wbt n hye...

Exams can greatly disrupt your sleeping pattern. Especially when ur one of the procrastinator. hehe... Good slap in the face for me. But who knows, as much as I promise not do do it last minute, it just happen every sem since Im here. Or did it started in Taylors? But as much as I remember, I was better during my school days. So dear me...remember ur days of glory and try your best next time,ok!

"Baik!"

Verily, its a shame for those who cant make today better than yesterday and tomorrow better than today.

Oh, back to sleep. (pun very much intended, Im sleep deprived!)
The following is another advice from Imam Al-Bukhari.

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Eleventh Counsel

Sleep

My dear son,

If mere knowledge is sufficient for you and you do not need any work other than this knowledge, then the call [of Allah], " Is there anyone supplicating? Is there anyone who seeks forgiveness? Is there anyone who wants to repent?" would have been useless. It was narrated that a group of Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) mentioned 'Abdallah Ibn 'Umar to the Messenger of Allah s.a.w and he said: "An excellent man, if only he would pray at night."

The Messenger of Allah s.a.w said to one of his Companions:
"O [so and so] do not sleep too long in the night, for much sleep makes one impoverished on the Day of the Judgement."

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Why cant we sleep our lives out at night? If we don't sleep, then what should we do???
Recite and refer the translation and tafsir of Surah al-Muzammil.
(yeah, sape suruh bace ni...dah dapat kerja umah.)

[Ayyuha'l Walad Al-Muhib] The Grave

Assalamualaikum wbt n hye....

Without further ado... I present the advice from Imam Ghazali.

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Tenth Counsel

The Grave

My Dear Son,

Plant resolution in your spirit, and place defeat in your lower self and death in your physical body. For your true destination is the grave and the people of the grave are awaiting for you at every moment. Take care, beware lest you arrive without provision for the journey.

Abu Bakr As-Siddiq has said:
"These bodies are like cages of those of birds, or like stables of animals; so consider yourself of which you are. If you are of the heavenly bird, when you hear the roll [of the drum] : 'Return to your Lord', you will fly upwards until you reach the highest towers of Paradise."

As messenger of Allah said:
"The throne of the Compassionate shook at the death of Sa'd ibn Mu'adh."

May Allah save you if you are as one of these animals, as Allah the Exalted says:
"They are like cattle, nay more misguided." (Quran, 7:179).

So do not consider yourself safe from the removal of your security of your home to the fire of Hell.

It was narrated that Hassan al-Basri r.a was given a drink of cold water. He took the glass whereupon it fell from his hands and he fell unconscious. When he regained consciousness he was asked: "What is the matter, O Abu Sa'id?" He said: "I remembered the desire of the inmates of Hell when they say to the people of Paradise: Give us some of the water or some of the provisions that Allah has granted you (Quran, 7:50)."

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p/s- Im coming up with a series of sketches called "Visualisation". Its gonna be another series like this Ayyuha'l Walad Al-Muhib. InsyaAllah (",)v

[Ayyuha'l Walad Al-Muhib] Action

Assalamualaikum wbt and hye...

My examinations are commencing tomorrow. (Yup,this is typed in between xm preparations.) Tomorrow will be my Chinese Ab Initio written exam. I really hope that Allah will bless our mujahadah and help us along His way...

Okay, time for another advice from Imam Ghazali.

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Ninth Counsel

Action

My dear son,

Knowledge without action is insanity, and action without knowledge is vanity. Know that knowledge today will not distance you from sins, nor bring you into obedience, nor distance you fromthe fire of Hell tomorrow. If you do not act today and do not derive lessons from your past days, you will say on the Last Day: "Return us to our previous life and we will do good deeds, " and it will be said to you: "O fool, it is from there that you have come."

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So, act before its too late.



"Never confuse movement with action."
(Ernest Hemingway)

"Speech is conveniently located midway between thought and action, where it often substitutes for both."
(John Andrew Holmes)

"We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action."
(Frank Tibolt)

"The self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through choice of action."
(John Dewey)

[Ayyuha'l Walad Al-Muhib] Hypocrisy

Assalamualaikum wbt ...

After few ngarut posts, we'll continue with another advice from Imam Ghazali to his students. (And for us too,of course)

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Eight Counsel

Hypocrasy


My Dear Son,

So what have you gained from learning sholastic theology, medicine, administration, poetry, prosody, astronomy, syntax and morphology except to waste your time against the will of the Lord of Majesty.

I saw in the Gospel of Isa a.s that he said:
"From the moment a corpse is placed on the funeral bed until it is placed at the edge of the grave, Allah by His greatness will ask him forty questions. The first of which is: 'O My servant, have you purified [yourself in] the sight of mankind for years and not for one hour have you purified [yourself] for Me.' Everyday He looks into your hearts and says: 'What are you doing for other creatures though you are surrounded by My kindness? Are so you deaf that you cannot hear?'"

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Its not wrong to study loads, but for whom?
For whom???


"Say, verily my prayer, my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are for Allah, the Lord of the worlds.."
[Al-An'am 162-163]

[Ayyuha'l Walad Al-Muhib] Death

Assalamualaikum wbt....

You and me.
We will die.
No doubt.

So,its time for the next counsel from Imam Ghazali...

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Seventh Counsel

Death

My dear son,

Live as long as you may, for verily you must die. Love whoever you wish, for one day you shall taste its saperation. And do what you will, you will be awarded accordingly.

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"Can you afford to die this very moment???"

[Ayyuha'l Walad Al-Muhib] Intention

Assalamualaikum wbt...

Exam daze is in the air right now. Sometimes its choking to think that the examination is coming in less than a week. But hey, if dont you realise, that exam is going on everyday? Verily, this life IS the examination. Allah evaluate us. Every minutes, every second.Ho! Every action, every thought, every feelings in your heart. And every intention.....

Now its time for another counsel from Imam Al-Ghazali.

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Sixth Counsel

Intention

Dear beloved son,

How many nights have you remained awake seeking knowledge and reading books, forbidding yourself the pleasure of sleep? I do not know for what purpose [you did this]. If it was for attaining worldly benefits and securing its vanities, its status and position and asserting your superiorities over your peers and brothers, then woe to you and again woe; but if your purpose is to revive the Shariah of the Prophet s.a.w and to train your character,and break the nafs al-ammara [the soul commanding to evil], then blessed are you and again blessed.

The poet spoke truly when he said:
"To spend the night awake and weeping for other than Allah is a foolish waste."

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So dear brothers and sisters in Islam, why do you stay up tonight??? Think about it.




Allahumma Najihna fi'l Imtihan, fi'd Dunya wa'l Akhirah.
Bi't Taufiq wa'n Najah! InsyaAllah...

[Ayyuha'l Walad Al-Muhib] Evaluation

Assalamualaikum wbt....

Time for the next Counsel by Imam Al-Ghazali. For those who just join us, please read the intro first so this will be more coherent.

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Fifth Counsel

Evaluation

My Dear Son....

He who does not work shall have no rewards. It is reported that a man from Bani Isra'il worshipped Allah the Exalted for 70 years. Allah intended to test him before the angels, so He sent him an angel to tell him that he did not merit Paradise even with this worship.When the angel informed him of this the worshipper replied: " We are created for worship and we can but worship Him. " The angel returned saying: " O my God, you know best what he said." Allah the Exalted said: "Since he did not turn away from worshipping Us, then with grace We shall not turn away from him. O my angels, bear witness that I have forgiven him."

The Messenger of Allah s.a.w said:
"Evaluate your works before you are asked to account for them. Weight your works before you are evaluated."

Ali r.a said:
"Those who think they can achieve their aims without work are dreaming, and those who think they will attain he goals through exertion alone are over-confident and consider themselves self-sufficient."

Hasan (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Seeking and demanding Paradise without actions is a sin from amongst sins."
He also said:
"The sign of [attaining] reality is in giving up regard for work,not in giving up the work."

The Messenger of Allah s.a.w said:
"The wise man is he who judge himself and works for what is after death, and the fool is he who persue his desires and [vainly] longs for Allah the Exalted."

[Ayyuha'l Walad Al-Muhib] Allah's Mercy

Assalamualaikum wbt.....

Time for fourth counsel by Imam Ghazali...
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Allah's Mercy

Dear beloved son...

Be not bankrupt of good deed, nor void of [spiritual] status. Know for certain that abstract knowledge alone will neither increase you in power nor strengthen you in situation. Likewise, if a brave warrior in possession of ten Indian swords and other weapons was alone in the wilderness, and a great ferocious lion attacked him, do you think the weapons could defend him if they were not used against the lion? It is well known that weapons cannot defend people unless they are brought into use. By the same principle, if a man read a hundred thousand scientific theories, they would be of no use to him if he did not try and apply them. Similarly, if a man suffering from fever and a kidney disorder, he should be treated with ginger and [other] plants. Without treatment no recovery is achieved.

[A poet once said:]
Though you measure two thousand bottles of wine
Unless you drink, no thrill is thine.

If you studied a hundred years and collected a thousand books, you would not be prepared for the mercy of Allah the Exalted, except by action.
Allah says:
Man Shall have nothing but what he strives for (Quran, 53:39)
Whosoever expects to meet his Lord, let him work righteousness (Quran, 18:110)
A recompense for what they used to do (Quran, 9:28)
As for those who believe and do good work, they will have for them the gardens of Paradise as an abode. No change will they desire from them (Quran, 18:107)
Except he who repents, believe and does good work (Quran ,25:70)

Prophet Muhammad s.a.w also said:
"Islam is built on five pillars: testifying that there is no deity but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; establishing the Prayer; paying the Zakat; Fasting in Ramadhan and performing Hajj at the sacred house for those able to do so."

Iman [faith] is confession with the tongue and belief in the heart and performance of the pillars of Islam. There are countless proofs on the necessities of actions, this is despite the fact that the servant shall attain Paradise only by the grace and favour of Allah the Exalted, but such [grace] follows the servant's readiness to obey and worship Him. Verily, the mercy of Allah is very close to the doer of good.

It may be said that the servant may reach the status through faith alone. We say "Yes", but when will he be able to reach it? How many obstacles will he be faced with? The first of these obstacles is the ravine of Iman; and who is secure [enough to guarantee] that he will not lose his Iman? And if a man loses his Iman, he will be bankrupt and dismayed in the Hereafter.

Hassan al-Basri said:
"Allah will say to His servant on the Day of Judgement: 'Allow My servant to enter Paradise by My mercy and divide it amongst them according to their deeds."

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[Ayyuha'l Walad Al-Muhib] Knowledge

Assalamualaikum wbt....

Its time for our third counsel.By Imam Ghazali.

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Third Counsel

Knowledge

To advice other is an easy matter. The difficulty is accepting advice, since this is a bitter thing for those who follow their own inclination and desires. They love the forbidden from the depth of their heart.This is more applicable to seeker of knowledge and students of learning, those of them who are busy in the grace of spirits and the benefits of this world. They believe that mere extract of knowledge, without proper action, will resque them. This is the beliefs of the philosophers.

Praise and glory be to Allah, the Greatest of All. They do not know this much, that when they acquire knowledge, if they do not work according to it,the indictment against them is certain. The Messenger of Allah s.a.w said: "The person most severely punished on the Day of Judgement is the learned one who did not follow Allah's guidance and did not benefit from his knowledge."

It has been narrated that someone saw al-Junayd (may Allah be pleased with his soul) after his death in a dream. Al-Junayd was asked: "What news do you have, Abu'l-Qasim?" He replied: "Perished are speeches and vanished are all illusions,; nothing benefited us except the prostrations which we made in the middle of the night."

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My lecturers always say this, or something close to this meaning, "You must know this. You must detect this, or else ur patient will die." or, "This is the thing that you need to remember for the rest of your life." You see, every little words of knowledge that i gain in these 5 years in medical school, insyaAllah I will need in my life. My life in the future as a doctor. (aminn)... everything is very practical. They have to be on my fingertips. They have to come to me, in a flow, effordless, just like i can speak in my first language.

Its the same right? For my friends in universities, all over the world. Now, everything we learn are going to be used in our future careers. Now that we "specialised".

For those who are passionate, this will be very easy. You will work for it. Sleepless nights. practices. tutorials.

See? How you treat knowledge coz ur life will depend on it. your future. You want to be good coz u wanna live with it.

Knowledge. All of this interesting, wonderful and exciting findings that people discover and arrage into lessons are actually the knowledge from Allah. Subhanallah, Praise be to the Al-Hakim, Al-Alim...

Now, see...
When I was in school, knowledge was for passing exams. Little I realise...its to be PRACTICED. Same as all Islamic knowledge you have. U think after SPM, or maybe the compulsory Pengajian Agama Islam at third level university, u dont have to learn anymore? This is where, many of our Muslims in Malaysia missed. This was what ppl missed when they are at school. Islam is another subject. U pass, u get A. Yay...merdeka. Dont have to visit em anymore. (even all other subject pun camtu)

Did u practice what uve learned???
Ok, knowledge is supposed to be sought continuously. "From the cradle to the grave." Lifelong learning. Allah pleced such a huge emphasis on knowledge, as the first Quranic Verse says, "Iqra' (read), In the name of your Lord Who has created (all that exist)" (96:1). Why? Coz we need the knowledge to live in Islam, as the Ad-Deen, the way of life.

I dont need to memorise word by word, the meaning of "ikhlas" or "ihsan", to practice it in my life. Just like i dont need to know the exact definition of "Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation" to so CPR. We just need to understand, and practice it.

So come on guys... You have known, u have learned loads. Dont be dont saperate Islam n ur life, coz your whole life and existence is Islam. Lets learn, practice and share!

[Ayyuha'l Walad Al-Muhib] Time

Assalamualaikum wbt...

Im a bit "weng" sket harini... so, inilah hasilnya....



I think i got the wordings wrong.. Apa itu?? Gambar tentang penyesalan kerana menyakiti org yg disayangi.Hahaha...ikut ske la nak interpret ape..



Gambar ni, random jer.. Awek irish kot sbb rambut merah. Tp kulit sawo matang...mungkinkah gadis melayu yang telah culture shock???



Kalau lukisan ni dipanggil "Monster", okay x?

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Time for Second Counsel

Time

My dear son...

Among the many pieces of advice which the Messengger of Allah gave to the Muslims was the following: "The sign that Allah has turned away from His worshipper is his busying himself in what does not concern him; and if a man has past an hour of his life in other than for which he was created, it is certainly fitting that his grief should be prolonged [on the Day of Resurrection], and whosoever has reached [the age of] fourty, and his good has not surpass his evil, let him prepare for the Fire." This advice should suffice the people of knowledge.

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STRIKE!!!
Right on aim!
Kene batang hidung...

So??? Ha, lets do what we are created to do!
rujuk (Q51:56)

Ilal Liqa' maa assalamah

[Ayyuha'l Walad Al-Muhib] Intro and Revelation

Assalamualaikum wbt and hye...

I just get this small yellow book from Nafisah, "Dear Beloved Son". A collection of advices from Imam Al-Ghazali to his student.

I decided to share the knowledge, Insya Allah. Too "sayang" to keep it to myself.

So??? Are you in???

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First Counsel

Revelation

My dear son...

May Allah grant you a long life as His obedient servant and may He place you in His service alone. May Allah guide you to the right path of those who love Him and are loved by Him. Know, my son, that the real advice should be sought by Revelation and the Sunna of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). If you have attained advice from it, what need you have of my advice? And if not, then tell me what you have attained in these past years?

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Wallahu alam. Wassalam.