Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Sultan Mahmood Ghaznawi and the Thieves part 3

The third lesson from this story is this that on the day of Qiyamat no special quality will be of any benefit. All those deeds which contravene the laws of Allah will on the day of Qiyamat be bound around man’s neck even though, in this world, they were considered as being special qualities. The thieves mentioned those special gifts and qualities as if the were qualities of virtue, but in reality those very qualities were the cause of their destruction:“Each one of them exhibited their special quality,But all their qualities only caused their misfortune to increase.”Any special quality which does not bring a person nearer to his Creator, and which does not connect the heartto Allah, and which is not a medium towards the remembrance of Allah is no quality of virtue. In fact it is a cure and a misfortune. All the powers and attributes of man which are used in rebellion against Allah and towards disobedience and negligence, will one day cause him to be brought before Allah as a criminal. All those nations who have made great progress and through scientific inventions have made this world subservient to them, but turn away from Allah, passing their lives in disobedience, will realize on the day of Qiyamat, whether the speciality of scientific progress had been the cause of receiving Allah’s grace or His anger.“Blessed be to you the subjugation of the sun and moon,But if there is no light in the heart there is no light anywhere.”The fourth lesson from this story is that no special quality will be of benefit except that which leads towards recognizing Allah, just like the person who having seen the Sultan, recognized him and through this special quality, he not only savedhimself but was also able to intercede on behalf of this companions. As for his other companions, their special quality became a means towards earning Allah’s punishment.“Only the sight of the fortunate one was of any useWho recognized the Sultan during darkness of night.”The lesson derived is that this world is like a place of darkness. In the darkness of this world, every servant of Allah who follows the Divine Laws of Shariat and through its blessings recognizes Allah, will be provided with salvation against the punishment on hell-fire, on the day of Qiyamat. This recognition will also be a means towards intercession on behalf of other criminals, from among the sinners ofthe people of faith. However, there should not be any pride and over confidence in this recognition. In fact, one should alternate between fear and hope and in utmost humilitybeg for this intercession. Then Allah will accept this intercession from whomever He wishes according to His Mercy . For those whom He will not accept this intercession, He will in perfect justice exhibit His overwhelming vengeance. Hence, fortunate indeed is the person who, in the world, created within himself the knowledge of recognizing Allah. The Aarifeen (True knowers of Allah) who through their spiritual efforts and exercises recognize Allah with their souls, will tomorrow on the day of Qiyamat see Allah and attain salvation. Furthermore their intercession on behalf of other sinners will also be accepted. But the disbelievers and criminals will through their special qualities be admitted into hell-fire. On that day these poor starving ones with pale faces, patched coarse clothing, who today are being ridiculed and jeered at, will feast their eyes upon the countenance of Allah. On that day, the criminals will envy them:“Would that we had lived like them in the world and acquired their qualities.Would that we had recognized Allah properly!”The fifth lesson is this that the story also illustrates the high position these righteous and saintly ones have as far as their humanity is concerned. What a pity that nations and people, just like those thieves, spend their short span of worldly lives looking upon means of delight and comfort as special gift and accomplishment, and look upon material progress as being actual progress. Whereas on the other hand, they have adopted uncouth habits like urinating while standing and cleansing themselves with paperafter defecating. They also consider it normal to take a bath sitting in a tub and allow the water, which had become dirtied through being in contact with the anus to be drawn into their mouth and nose. They consider those actions as the norms of society. Can such people ever be considered to be cultured and peopleof progress? What a pity it is that the beloved cultural ways of Muslims should be cast aside and that such despicable ways of these people should be adopted.Source:Khanqah

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