Gathering Notes 20 August 2008 - Reading

Bismillah. Alhumdulillahi Rabbi l’alamin.
As-salaatu wasalaamu alaika Yaa Rasul Allah sallallahu alaihi

wasallam
Gathering with Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi in Reading on

Wednesday 20th August 2008
Shaykh Muhammad went through Imam Ahmad Zarruq’s work on: Principles of the Tariqa- the
Shadhilli way.
People joining the tariqa have committed themselves to higher goals than other Muslims. They want
to taste the sweetness of Imaan; feel the love and attachment to Allah and the Prophet sallaAllahu
alayhi wasalam; they want to experience the khushoo in salah; understand tawakkul; want to face
the difficulties in this world. This is what Tassawuf is about.
In order to get closer to Him, we have to acquire the divine attributes- get rid of your own qualities
and take on the attributes of Allah.
The first step is purification of the heart- Tazkiyya, and the last step is Ihsan. In between there is
Muhjahida (struggle) and Hidaaya. Those who struggle for Allah’s sake, Allah will give guidance to
those.
Imam Ahmad Zarruq’s 5 principles include:
1. Taqwa of Allah in secret and public

2. Following the sunnah in words and actions
3. Turning away from people whether they are friendly or unfriendly, with or against you.
4. To be content with whatever Allah gives you
5. Turn to Allah in states of adversity and prosperity
We need to achieve these 5 levels.
Taqwa
- We share this with all Muslims.

- Taqwa is to shield yourself from the fire by coming to Allah and adhering to His commands.
- Fear of Allah drives you to avoid haram- it makes you keep away from sins, even when no
person looks at you.
- Once upon a time, Harun Rashid made an oath that he is one of the people of al- Jannah, if
not then his wife would be divorced. After realising what he had said, he called Imam Abu
Yusuf and asked him what would happen re: his oath. The Imam asked whether he feared
Allah. Harun Rashid replied he did. Imam abu Yusuf replied that there are two ranks of al-
Jannah:
1. Kashiya (sp?)- Perfect adab with Allah. Only the ulema have kashiya.
2. Kauf (fear)- fear of Allah- common people have the fear of punishment from Allah.
To achieve taqwa, we need to get to this rank of fear and act upon the book of Allah and the
sunnah of the Prophet sallaAllahu alayhi wasalam.
- Anyone who claims sufis are exempt from shariah are heretic.
- ‘Worship thy Lord until you die’
We need to be ready to leave this world at any time. You should have settled your accounts-
paid off your debts, made up your missed prayers, repented to Allah for your sins. Allah will
be happy to meet you.
Death for the believer is not calamity but treasure. Death brings him the best rewards- gets
rid of the calamities of this life.
There will be a lot of challenges and tests in life. We want to increase our imaan so when we
leave this world, we should be happy to leave. It’s calamity for the family, but relief for the
believer as he is leaving the perishing and entering the everlasting world.
2. Following the sunnah of the Prophet sallaAllahu alayhi wasalam
- Sufis are the best people who follow the sunnah.

- We are familiar with sunnah in terms of the sunnah prayers, but we must apply this
in every moment of our lives.
- A lot of people ask how to be attached to him sallaAllahu alayhi wasalam- it’s a very
common question. If you practice the sunnah and noticing the sunnah, you will be
seeing rasulAllah sallaAllahu alayhu wasalam. Take time out to reflect on the
sunnah. For example whilst eating, sit like the prophet sallaAllahu alayhi wasalam
and eat- you will eat less! When you wake up in the morning, recite the dua, when
you look into the mirror , recite the dua. So in each aspect, each action, you are
following the example of the Prophet sallaAllahu alayhi wasalam.
- Our ‘lifestyle’ is the Sunnah!
- Imam Junayd said that our knowledge is bound by Allah and the sunnah of the
Prophet sallaAllahu alayhi wasalam
- Some of the sunnahs are difficult to practice these days. For example growing the
beard. Grow your beard just for a few days, just to fulfil the sunnah. Don’t grow it
out of laziness! A lot of people these days grow it, like businessmen who do not have
time to shave. It’s a sign of how ‘busy’ they are hence are unable to shave their
beard- they keep it untidy etc. Don’t do that! Grow it to fulfil the Sunnah of the
Prophet sallaAllahu alayhi wasalam.
- The moment you commit one sin, it’s easier to commit more sins. If you apply one
sunnah, it’s easy to apply other sunnahs.
3 . Turning away from people whether they are friendly or unfriendly, with or against you.
- Most of us have this challenge: people are causing harm, are evil to us etc. Who is your goal-
people or Allah?
- Why do you bother so much about people? Leave people to their Creator!
- No one should bother you when you are with Allah!
- Allah is the one who is moving the hearts of people. Instead, of busying yourself with people,
busy yourself with Allah.
- When people are treating you wrong, do not think what did you do wrong to that person,
instead think what have I done wrong to Allah? That is the correct attitude to have.
- Don’t bother with people, if you have this attitude, you will live in peace. The better you are,
the more people will envy you.
- Struggle and you get more.
- The best means is to come to Allah. Remove the veil of people between you and Allah. Allah
is your goal.
You have responsibilities towards your family and community. There is so much you can do, and your
work will be noticed.
It doesn’t matter if you are close to the shaykh or not, who drives the shaykh around in a car etc. If
you just sit at home and do dua for the shaykh, that will be enough! Even if you don’t get to attend
the shaykh’s gatherings, Allah will take you to the Shaykh.
Turn away from people when they harm you.
We ran out of time, hence Shaykh Muhammad was unable to go into details about the 4 th and 5th
principles, but *might* continue at the Birmingham gathering on Saturday evening- Allahu ta’ala
alim.
Jaza ‘Llahu anna Sayyidina Muhammadan sallaAllahu alayhi wasalam ma huwa ahluhu
Subhana Rabbika Rabbi l’izzati amma yasifun, wa salamun ala l’mursalin, wal-humdulilahi Rabbi
l’alamin.
(Please bear in mind that these are my notes and most likely not a good reflection of what
Shaykhuna said. Therefore, any mistakes, errors and misinterpretation of words are from me
alone, so please do forgive and correct them. Jazaka’llahu khayran.)

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Bismillah. Alhumdulillahi Rabbi l’alamin.

As-salaatu wasalaamu alaika Yaa Rasul Allah sallallahu alaihi

Gathering with Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi in Reading on

Imam Ahmad Zarruq’s 5 principles include:

1. Taqwa of Allah in secret and public

We need to achieve these 5 levels.

- We share this with all Muslims.

2. Following the sunnah of the Prophet sallaAllahu alayhi wasalam

- Sufis are the best people who follow the sunnah.

Turn away from people when they harm you.

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