Imam
al-Ghazzali RA
---------------------
A renowned scholar who preached, wrote and spread only those
things that he practiced. This immortal genius and thinker
was born in 1058 in Tus in the province of Khurasan . His
real name was Abu Hamid ibn Muhammad an-Nishapuri. “Ghazzali”
was a title taken probably from his birthplace, Ghazala,
or from his father's trade, Ghazzal, meaning wool
merchant. His father was a very religious Sufi who used to
find special pleasure in associating with Sufis and dervishes.
He
started his career with a great Sufi who gave him lessons
in the Qur'an, Hadith and Sufism. He then studied
the Shari'a for some time with Shaykh Ahmad at-Tusi
and then he went to Jurjan to become a disciple of Imam Abu
Nasr of Jurjan.
He
devoted himself to studying Sufism and in 1078 was admitted
into the famous Nizamiyya Madrasa of ishapur. He became a
disciple of the principal of the Madrasa, Shaykh Abu'l-Ma'ali;
the Imam of the Haramayn. Under his leadership, he learned
religion, philosophy, jurisprudence and natural law. His profound
learning and unusual genius struck everyone.
Suddenly,
at the age of forty, when he was the undisputed leader of
Baghdad , he gave up and left all his fame, name and wealth,
and went away in search of the Truth. He cut himself off from
the world and went away into the desert to find his Lord.
He remained in hiding for ten years, far away from the distracting
crowds, meditating on his Lord and the Hereafter. Like a dervish
he roamed from place to place, to Syria, to Palestine, Jerusalem,
Cairo, Alexandria, etc. and also to the tombs of many distinguished
awliya' , and to many mosques in many countries.
While he was in this wretched condition he found his Lord.
His inner eyes opened and he found the Truth.
In
1106 he came back to Baghdad and at the request of the then
Prime Minister of Baghdad he agreed to start teaching again
in the Nizamiyya Madrasa. During this period he wrote his
famous book Ihya ‘Ulum ad-Din . From this book he
used to deliver lectures (khutbas) that were so
full of spiritual enlightenment and all-embracing knowledge
that people used to call him the Hujjatu'l-Islam
or the Proof of Islam. But after only two years he again left
the Nizamiyya Madrasa for his hometown of Tus where he spent
the rest of his life.
In
Tus he established a madrasa and khanqah
for the Sufis. It was devotion to meditation and to the Sufi
line of worship that he first learnt and he had been trained
under several renowned Sufis. That was also what he chose
in the end and the way he spent his final years. At last he
died, taking leave of this fleeting world at the age of 53
on 10 December 1111.
Al-Ghazzali
was one of the greatest thinkers and geniuses the world has
known. The focus of his thoughts and the principal aim of
his teachings and of his learned discourses were to attract
people to morality. He well realized that the society of his
time was steeped in the glitter and worship of this world
and hence realized the necessity of tremendous moral teaching
and religious injunctions. He devoted most of his time and
most of his writings to distracting people from the enjoyment
of this world and to diverting them to the uplifting of their
soul and spirit. His unique scholarship, wide experience,
sharp insight, deep thinking and wonderful sense of judgment
went a long way to give a direction to the then disillusioned
Muslim society. |
To
My Mother through Allah
By Fareed Pandor
-----------------------
Mother was always there,
But when you took her away from me,
She was gone: - GONE SHE WAS!!!
I became a lost Muslim and my world was upside down,
Oh
Allah, I distanced from you thinking I’ll find happiness,
Every time I tried to find happiness, I crashed into the wall,
But when I turned to you, I grew to love you,
Now I find peace in my heart,
Oh
Allah, Ya Allah, Oh my Rab,
No matter what do you do: I am pleased with you…
If you give me good: Alhamdulillah!!!
If
you give me bad: I am still pleased with you…
Oh
Allah, Ya Allah, Oh my Rab,
I am pleased with you because everything you do happens for
a reason
Mother was fair and kind,
Sweet and good hearted she was: - YES SHE WAS!!!
Over
and over I realize what you mean to me.
I lost my self when I lost my mother.
(Innalillahi WA inna ely he-rao geeoon),
Oh Allah, give me strength to surpass this feeling.
But
until then,
Oh Allah, Ya Allah, Oh my Rab,
No matter what do you do: I am pleased with you…
If you give me good: Alhamdulillah!!!
If you give me bad: I am still pleased with you…
Oh Allah, Ya Allah, Oh my Rab,
I am pleased with you because everything you do happens for
a reason
Mother
was the bravest of bravest: - YES SHE WAS!!!
Now that she’s gone, I follow her footsteps.
How I wish she was here,
I’d be kissing her cheeks and massaging her feet because,
Paradise for me lies beneath her feet.
Even
though she is gone, her love will always haunt me.
Oh Allah, Ya Allah, Oh my Rab,
No matter what do you do: I am pleased with you…
If you give me good: Alhamdulillah!!!
If
you give me bad: I am still pleased with you…
Oh Allah, Ya Allah, Oh my Rab,
I am pleased with you because everything you do happens for
a reason
So
those of you’s who have mothers,
I
envy you my brothers and sisters: - Alhamdulillah!!!
Look
after your mothers because,
You
don’t know what it feels like to lose your mother. NO
YOU DON’T!!!
Oh
Allah, Oh my Rab, Ya Allah,
You have nothing to lose,
In giving my mother a Garden of Roses in her grave. NO YOU
DON”T!!!
To my mother through Allah, may you rest in peace (R.I.P)
Oh
Allah, Ya Allah, Oh my Rab,
No
matter what do you do: I am pleased with you…
If
you give me good: Alhamdulillah!!!
If
you give me bad: I am still pleased with you…
Oh
Allah, Ya Allah, Oh my Rab,
I
am pleased with you because everything you do happens for
a reason. |