The real Sufism; a beautiful speech of mufti Taqi Saheb

When mufti Taqi Uthmani Saheb madda zilluhu came for the launch of Sufi study book, he gave a beautiful insight into what tasawwuf is all about. My dearest, Mufti No’man noted the speech down, literally word for word. He had sent it to me. It remained in my notes, neglected for a whole year.

Now, while travelling to Toronto, I was cleaning up the note book on my iPhone. I went through the points of the speech and found them extremely beneficial.

After a little bit of editing, they are being presented to the readers.

Read and enjoy! AR

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Hadhrat mufti Taqi Saheb recited the masnoon khutbah with his melodious voice and then recited the following ayah:
إنما يحشي الله من عباده العلماء
“Innama yakhshallaha min ibadihil Ulamaa”

Then he began;

Hadharat moulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi has always been my idol, I was not fortunate enough to see him as he passed away three months before I was born, However, My father (mufti Shafi Saheb rahimahullah) would always cite the sayings of Hazrat very frequently.

Outside the subcontinent few people know of him, this is our fault that we could not translate or convey his message to the wider world, thus many were deprived of benefitting from him.

It is encouraging that this gathering (Turath.co.uk book launch of Sufi study of Hadith) will introduce his works to the english speaking world.

Hadhrat Thanwi was a student of hazrat sheikhul Hind. As a student he concentrated very much on his education. After graduation he was appointed as a teacher in kanpoor after which, his teachings spread throughout india.

Our Deen consists of four main branches
Tsfseer, hadeeth, Fiqh and Tasawwuf/ihsan /tazkiyah

Hazrat has works in all of these fields

In the field of Tafseer, there is Bayanul quran. Since the tafseer is in urdu, it is often presumed that it was written for the layperson.

Allamah kashmiri’s view:

Allamah Shabbir Uthmani says regarding Allamah Kashmiri that perhaps he has left no book unread, Hadhrat Thanwi would say that when in the presence of Allamah Kashmiri, I feel in awe of his knowledge.

This same Allamah Kashmiri would say that this tafseer is for ulama and the benefit appears for the alim. When he reads the arabic tafaseer, he sees Hadhrat Thanwi has summarised the basic principles, so the person is not in need to turn to any other tafseer.

I used to read his mawaaiz, I always keep his Mawaaiz by my bedside and read at least one page before I sleep.
When he explains an ayat of the quran, I see that this explanation is not even in Bayanul quran. I tried to collect these and they were published in 4 volumes. Allah, through Ilham gave him these points about delicate subjects of the Quran

Turning to the second branch of deen, Ahadeeth;

He taught all books of hadeeth for several years

His greatest work is I’la us sunan which he started and his student Moulana Zafar Ahmed Uthmani completed. I’laus sunan has two such introductions (to the field of hadith) that youlll never find elsewhere.

In fiqh, we have Imdadul fatawaa, in six volumes, it is a book of reference for all muftis, though in urdu it is a source of benefit for ulama throughout the world

These are the uloomuz zahir (knowledge of the apparent or the exterior)

However, his most innovative work was in tazkiyah.

In his days there were two extremes about tasawwuf:

The first being that it has no place in sharia and that it has no basis in the Quran or Sunnah.

Hadhrat Thanwi (RA) explained the basic sources of tasawwuf from quran and sunnah.

The other extreme, where tasawwuf had become a bid’ah because it was perceived to be over and above the quran and sunnah.

These Sufis did not take heed of quran and sunnah. To them tasawwuf was only dreams, ilham (divine inspiration) and karamaat (miracles) etc thus they had distorted the whole concept of tasawwuf.

Hadhrat showed taswwuf through the holy Quran;

In the Quran Allah mentions that the sending of the messenger has four objectives
هو الذي بعث في الاميين رسولا منهم يتلو عليهم اياته….

“Wa Yuzakkihim”
This shows that Recitation, knowledge of meanings and wisdom alone are not enough; Tazkiyah is also needed

What is Tazkiyah? It is the same as taswwuf.

The acts prescribed by the Quran and sunnah are of two types: Some related to outwards which are visible, for example Tilawate Quran Salah , Fasting Zakat Hajj and Umrah these are all al A’amaluz Zahirah (Apparent actions)

Many acts are not visible; they are related to inward qualities, for example Patience
“Wasbir nafsaka ma’allazeena yad’oona raabbahum…”
“Ya ayyuhalzeena aamanusbiru wa saabiru..”

Sabr is not visible, it is in our hearts
These are all al-A’amalul Baatinah (Esoteric)
To purify the heart through al a’malul batina is tazkiyah.

Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam did tazkiya of the sahabah, they of the Tabi’een and so on in every generation after.

To explain this In another way, we have in the body some limbs and its beauty is through their itidaal (moderation). An extraordinarily tall person or one with a very big nose or ears might Not be considered beuatiful, this is called “khalq”

Other charesteristics are not visible these are called “khuluq”
A perfect person needs the beauty of both

This is why we read the dua when we look in the mirror
“Allahumma Anta hassanta Khalqi fa hassin khuluqi”
Oh Allah you have beautified my “Khalq” so also beautify my “Khuluq”

This is the essence of taswwuf

For example, if someone is arrogant his khuluq ar not in I’tidal, the same with hasad (jealousy) Etc.

Allah has prohibited liquor and pork. In the same way hasad, arrogance riya are all prohibited

One must have ikhlas, must be polite and shouldn’t cause trouble for others.

These qualities are the subject matter of taswwuf

Hazrat Thanwi has enlightened on both aspects by refuting those who say taswwuf is against sharia, also by reforming the distorted form given to Tasawwuf by some.

He refuted the first extreme by writing Masaailus sulook min wasaili malikil mulook, in which he explains tasawwuf in light of the Quran.

He Also wrote At Tasharruf, which is tasawwuf in light of Hadeeth

This has been translated by Yusuf Talal Delorenzo and published by Turath publishing

On the other hand, through his mawaaiz and his books, he showed how to practice tasawwuf and removed misconceptions

For example he says a person should not be of any trouble to anyone.

My elder broth Mohamned Zaki was young and had just learnt to write, my father instructed him to write his first letter to Hadhrat. However, His handwriting was not so good.

Hazrat replied to the letter and encouraged him with duas, but at same time, he said improve your handwriting with the intention that the reader may not be troubled in reading your letter.

He closed the letter by saying “Dekho me tumhe abhi se sufi bana raha hun”, “Look! I am making you a Sufi from this tender age”

A normal person may think tasawwuf is all about muraqabah and dhikr, But my brother’s tasawwuf was in writing this letter. This intention makes even writing the letter a form of ibadah

Hazrat’s basic way of training was that essence of removing trouble of others.

Poem: tasawwuf is not tasbeeh musalla or wearing certain clothing,
Tariqah is to become a khadim of all other people

He made tasawwuf a part of our life from morning to evening. Any act with good intention and according to sunnah is tasawwuf.

Hadhrat would say that when someone becomes my mureed and I come across his shortcomings in dhikr and muraqbah, I don’t pay much attention. However, if he causes trouble for others, I hate this.

Once hazrat made a person his khalifah, meaning he gave him ijazah to take bay’ah

The khalifah came to hazrat with his son to seek dua for him.

Hazrat made dua for barakah then he asked the child’s age. The khalifah answered “13” he asked “Did you purchase a full ticket?” He said “half” The rule was that a child above 12 must pay full charge. He said “He looks less than 12 years old so I paid the child fare”.

Hazrat withdrew his khilafah and said. “Moulana Aap ko tasawwuf ki hawa bhi nahi lagi” ie “You have not even received the hint of tasawwuf”

Tasawwuf is to comply with all rules of shariah. This act was due to hubbul maal, love for money, otherwise, he would have purchased the full ticket.

Hadhrat was once travelling from saharanpur to kanpur. If his baggage was overweight he would pay the extra charge. He was standing in the queue when a hindu railway officer recognised hadhrat. When he saw him in the queue, he asked why is hadhrat standing in the line? Then he went on to say “Why should you pay? I exempt you from this” Hadhrat said said how? He said “I will tell The guard”, Hadhrat said he will be a guard upto which station? he said upto so and so station, Hadhrat said then? He said He will tell the next guard and so on until you reach Kanpur

Hadhrat said what will happen In Kanpur? He said the Guard will tell the person at the station, Hadhrat said after that? He said Nothing, Hadhrat said ” No, I have another journey, I have to go to Allah. Who will save me there?

Taswwuf for hadhrat was not only sitting alone and doing dhikr
Dhikr is important, helpful and rewardful but it is not the main objective.

For this, Hadhrat had a khanqaah, many people would come and he would oversee them.

When Allah chooses someone, his every minute is beneficial for others

His khulafa say, he would have a majlis after dhuhr, he would reply to letters, people asked many questions, when he felt a question’s reply will benefit the audience, he would say a person has asked this, and this is his reply. In this way many principles of shariah and taswwuf were explained

I feel that while he replied to these letters, four books were prepared

The fiqhi question became imdadul fatawa in six volume

Malfoozat were published in 20 volumes

Taswwuf questions became ‘Tarbiyyatus Salik’ in 3 volumes, this book is unique and has no parralel.

Previously, A shaykh would respond to the mureed privately and the responses were not recorded, Hadhrat’s faiz was such that they were gathered and classified into chapters such as chapters on ikhlaas, shukr, jealousy, Arrogance and riya. Unfortunately it has not yet been translated, otherwise, it is a masterpiece as it deals with every problem faced by a student of tasawwuf.

Mawaaiz, speeches on reformation.

Sometimes he delivered a lecture for seven hours standing without a break , sometimes they would be less but the Minimum was two hours, people wrote them and they are now published in 20 volumes each volume has 10 mawaaiz.

He never spoke about a subject asked by people, he would say “I dont prepare when I stand or sit for lecture, I ask allah to give me tawfeeq for such things which are beneficial and a flow of subjects would come and such aspects were delivered which were never heard before.

He would say “This is from Allah, I have no knowledge”

Once he was invited to a large gathering. He says I recited the khutbah, Normally an ayat would come to my mind. On this instance, no ayah was coming to my mind, I recited one ayah and I translated it but nothing further came to mind, I tried a 2nd and 3rd time but nothing came into my heart, then i felt it is not Allah’s will so i told the audience “Nothing is coming to mind so sorry I will not be able to speak further”.
This was because the purpose was naseehah with ikhlaas.

When a persom renders service for Allah with ikhlaas and not to show others then Allah bestows mercy on him which benefits the whole ummah.

Nowadays, particularly in the west there is a craze for sufism, even non muslims write on it and taswwuf is used as a shield against shariah

They praise sufis and encourage others about sufis.
However, thier sufi does not care about the Ahkaam
They use music, yoga etc this is not real sufism
Real suifism is what the quran and hadeeth say
Every great sufi said sharaih is the main thing
One who goes against sunnah, can never be a sufi

Brothers must be aware of this misguidance!

Once in our Darul Uloom (Karachi) an ambassador of a western country visited, he said “Mr Taqi! You are educating in islamic studies but you must promote sufism” I asked which kind? He said “Play at least some music, because you have a rich history and culture, they do qawwali and music, this improves the spirit”.

I said let me explain what is sufism, when I explained, he was surprised.

This concept is being promoted sometimes deliberately to avoid the injuctions of the shariah

If they study thanwi they will find the true essence of tasawwuf

However, due to the academic nature of this book (A sufi study of Hadith), it should be studied by a shaykh.