15 JANUARY 2025

A’MAAL UMMI DAWUD

13 JANUARY 2025

Wiladat Mubarak
A few thoughts on IMAM ALI (pbuh)
1. One of the most phenomenal human beings that walked the earth.
2. Most perfect student of Rasulullah
3. Defender and Supporter of the Prophet

Only way to love someone is to get to know them.
“Every human being lies under his words”
Prophet (pbuh)

My father died when I was 10. There were 3 books he cherished – The Qur’an, Mafatihul Jinaan & Nahjul Balagha.-
His Nahjul Balagha was a brown book embossed with his initials with a translation in Farsi and Urdu. I used to leaf through the pages after he died praying that one day I would be able to read it

One bookmark etched into my mind was a neatly folded corner with my birthdate marked on it – LETTER NO 31
The little Urdu i knew told me it was the letter written by Imam Ali to Imam Hasan on his way back from Siffeen.
I made a mental note that one day I would make it my life plan. Days become months and months became years – When my son was born in 1985 and I looked at him for the first time there was an overwhelming feeling which said what my father used to say to me:
“I find you a part of myself, rather i find you as a my whole, so much so that if anything befalls you it is as though it befalls on me, if death comes to you, it is as thought it comes to me.”

I bought a copy of Nahjul Balagha and have since tried to fall in love with Ali through its words.
So to inspire you to do the same I will share some drops from this vast ocean with you…

A line from the first sermon
“The first step in religion is its acknowledgement or its understanding”
When Imam Said
MAN “ARAFA NAFSAHU FAQAD ‘ARAFA RABBAHU
this book teaches that the greatest achievement for humanity is not in it’s works of art, science, technology.. but the recognition of its own disfunction.

Imam (the perfect student of Rasulullah) speaks of suffering and delusion says – Observe yourself
“LOOK HOW YOU LIVE, SEE WHAT YOU ARE DOING, THE SUFFERING YOU CREATE”
This teaching, however simple, is a powerful force to evaluate especially in these days of Rajab, Sha’ban & Ramadhan.

SERMON 91 KHUTBATUL AS BAAH
SERMON OF SKELETONS
(Describe Allah so we may understand Him)
Look beyond the surface layer – we are connected with everyone and to the source of life from which we all came.
Even a bat (Sermon 155) or a Peacock (Sermon 165) can show you the way to Allah – when you look at creation – look beyond the mental label and create a sense of awe.
This is what artists do and succeed in conveying their art.
VAN GOGH didn’t say – that’s just an old chair. He sensed the being ness in the chair and then took his brush to the canvas
The chair was worth a few pounds – the painting today is worth over $100 million

NAHJUL BALAGHA encourages a depth in life – Imam stresses MORTALITY – warns of unchecked striving for MORE in the WORLD
AN obsessive pre occupation with things and the illusion of ownership.
He warns against identifying with I HAVE THEREFORE I AM & THE MORE I HAVE THE MORE I AM
Descartes said
“I think therefore I am”

Imam 1400 years ago said
I AM WHEN I LET GO OF SELF DEFINITIONS AND WHEN I SURRENDER TO DIVINITY

In Letter 31 there are precise instructions to get to this stage
1. Hold on to God Conciousness
2. No connection is more reliable than the one between you and Allah
3. Study the lives of past people – ponder over their activities, where they were and where they are now
4. Give up discussing what you dont know
5. WA TAFAQQAH FID DEEN – Acquire insight into religion
6. Make yourself the measure of dealings between you and others
7. Do not say to others what you do not like to be said to you
8. Know that He who owns the treasures of the heavens and the earth has permitted you to pray to Him and has promised acceptance of due. He has not placed anything between you and Him. And if you make a mistake, He has not prevented you from repentance nor does He hasten punishment.
9. So place before Him your needs, unveil yourself before Him, complain to Him of your worries, seek help in your affairs – He has placed the keys of His treasures in Your hand in that He has shown you the way to ask Him
10. Place your religion and your world at Allah’s disposal and beg Him to ordain the best for you in respect to the near and far, this world and the next, and that is the end of the matter.

AND FROM HIS WILL
I advise you, and all my children, my relatives, and whosoever receives this message, to be conscious of Allah, to remove your differences, and to strengthen your ties. I heard your grandfather, peace be upon him, say: “Reconciliation of your differences is more worthy than all prayers and all fasting.”
·        Remain attached to the Quran. Nobody should surpass you in being intent on it, or more sincere in implementing it.
·        Be in awe of  Allah in relation to your salaa. It is the pillar of your religion
·        Maintain communication and exchange of opinion among yourselves. Beware of disunity and enmity.
·        Persist in striving in the cause of Allah, with your money, your souls, and your tongue.
DO NOT YEARN FOR THE WORLD, AND DO NOT BE SEDUCED BY IT. DO NOT RESENT ANYTHING YOU HAVE MISSED IN IT