Peace,
Im stealing this from Sunni Forum. It was originally posted by Originally a brother named rahmaniyyah in the "I'tikaf Experience" thread. Click here to see the original.
Im stealing this from Sunni Forum. It was originally posted by Originally a brother named rahmaniyyah in the "I'tikaf Experience" thread. Click here to see the original.
---x---
I promised to have something written for today so i've left it till the end! I pray it benefits me and others, but the reality of anything can only be understood when personally experiencing it. Someone can talk all day about how awesome the sight of the ka'bah is, but nothing compares to the sight of the ka'bah itself.
My i'tikaf was spent in zambia, in the company of the kamil shaykh, the mahboob of the ulama, hadhrat zulfiqar sahib (db) and many of his khulafa. A lot of people ask why zambia is chosen - and the most common response is "you'll only really understand when you go to zambia". The khidmah jamat in zambia is so unique and so special one can't imagine where to begin. Their reward is surely with allah.
We arrived on the day of 20th and entered the masjid with niyyah for i'tikaf from asr. Hadhrat (db) arrived in between asr and maghrib. That was the first time i saw hadhrat (db) and what a sight!! When you see him, you will know that this is actually him. And the effect of his presence was immediate on my sinful heart - one can only imagine what the other pure souls experienced. He was dressed in sunnah from top to bottom, and a beaming smile. He also carried a staff and was tall. His beard was long and straight. Everybody stood up and masha allah hadhrat individually greeted and hugged everyone. I can think about that scene all day and derive benefit. The deepest and final thought i arrive at is just what effect rasulullah Must have had on the sahabah and what connection the sahabah had with the perfect creation . May allah grants us the company of rasulullah In jannah, ameen.
Daily we would sit in hadhrat (db)'s talk after taraweeh. Then people would go and sit in hadhrat's company, take lessons and consultation. Then we would pray nafl qiyamul layl. After this, hadhrat would again probably be meeting people, or take rest, or be busy with writing reading etc. Most people would sleep till suhoor, others stayed up mostly in muraqabah through the night. After suhoor, there would be over an hour for tahajjud. There was a short english reminder everyday after fajr by a khalifah shaykh andalib from zimbabwe (these were phenomenal and it was normal for people to be moved to tears). A lot of people would stay up till ishraq. At this time, hadhrat's khulafa from south africa would arrange an english talk. This was conducted by mawlana musa - what can i say about him? The way he carried himself was enough to bring tears to the eyes. He would speak so lovingly of hadhrat too - this is a person we should meet if the opportunity is available. Then we would sit in muraqabah until ishraq. Other khulafa were present and also gave the english talk, like shaykh mawlana khoka, shaykh tauqeer, mawlana junaid moola, mawlana ebrahim. Each khalifah is so unique subhan allah - and one wonders hadhrat has so many khulafa to capture the light he carries, then what of the heart of rasulullah Which required over 100 000 sahabah to carry the message!
After ishraq pretty much everyone would rest until hadhrat's bayan in the morning which was particularly for the women - but all would sit. We then had taleem, reading from majalisul faqeer which was read by shaykh professor muhammad aslam sahib (db) and then zubdatus sulook which was taught by mawlana salahuddin saifi sahib (db) in urdu and mufti kamaluddin (db) in english. These sessions were gems and the advices from majalisul faqeer were so simple but powerful. Then it was zuhr, after which mawlana ebrahim sahib would read from fadhail e amaal and sublime conduct. After this we had khatmul khwajgan and muraqabah. Professor aslam sahib would lead the most amazing khatmul khawjgan - i just wish i recorded it. He lead the first two. Again i can write a lot on professor aslam sahib but i fear this is already getting too long. Other days, hafiz sohail (db), shaykh abdul qayyum (who also lead a very unique muraqabah!) and other khulafa lead the khatam.
Most people went to sleep at this point until asr, but the english guys stayed up with mufti kamal, mawlana musa, mawlana junaid, shaykh abdul qadir (hadhrat's nigerian khalifa) and others. Mufti kamal would continue to teach from zubdatus sulook. After asr, one of hadhrat's khulafa would give a bayan. These were in urdu and the duas at this time were so special subhan allah. Most people would be engrossed in dua until adhan for maghrib. Hadhrat (db) lead dua on the 27th with asmaul husna, as well as on the 29th day.
Ok i think i wrote a bit too much on the daily schedule so i should stop now. There's so much more to write though, including meeting with the russian and nigerian jamats! As well as some deep insights from mawlana khalilur rahman sajjad nomani sahib (db) on the last day (i definitely have intention to write on this talk at some point), and also the amount of barakah in our time. Honestly we felt we had entered a whole new time-dimension. We had time to complete so much in a short 9 days. I felt like i was able to evaluate my life, strive to clear my past record and make firm new intentions in plenty of time. At times when i used to think "what am i, of all people, doing here?" (which was quite often), i couldn't help do shukr for allah's blessing. Other times, i felt way out of my depth surrounded by so many elevated souls. This was really a unique factor - almost every other few people was a khalifah of hadhrat and having the opportunity to simply observe how they worship allah is a unique blessing in itself. To add to this effect, almost everybody was dressed in white (except locals for taraweeh time) which i thought was quite symbolic!
Being utterly undeserving, i can't thank allah enough for the opportunity. I pray allah gives further opportunities like this in the future to all of us. I must stress the necessity of itikaf (even though i've done it only this once). I may write some of what i learnt on that too at a later date. I pray the above is of some benefit, particularly for myself. Ameen
i pray allah grant us the suhbah of the kamil shuyukh, that allah be well-pleased with hadhrat (db), his khulafa, and all those connected to him and the entire ummah. Ameen
I promised to have something written for today so i've left it till the end! I pray it benefits me and others, but the reality of anything can only be understood when personally experiencing it. Someone can talk all day about how awesome the sight of the ka'bah is, but nothing compares to the sight of the ka'bah itself.
My i'tikaf was spent in zambia, in the company of the kamil shaykh, the mahboob of the ulama, hadhrat zulfiqar sahib (db) and many of his khulafa. A lot of people ask why zambia is chosen - and the most common response is "you'll only really understand when you go to zambia". The khidmah jamat in zambia is so unique and so special one can't imagine where to begin. Their reward is surely with allah.
We arrived on the day of 20th and entered the masjid with niyyah for i'tikaf from asr. Hadhrat (db) arrived in between asr and maghrib. That was the first time i saw hadhrat (db) and what a sight!! When you see him, you will know that this is actually him. And the effect of his presence was immediate on my sinful heart - one can only imagine what the other pure souls experienced. He was dressed in sunnah from top to bottom, and a beaming smile. He also carried a staff and was tall. His beard was long and straight. Everybody stood up and masha allah hadhrat individually greeted and hugged everyone. I can think about that scene all day and derive benefit. The deepest and final thought i arrive at is just what effect rasulullah Must have had on the sahabah and what connection the sahabah had with the perfect creation . May allah grants us the company of rasulullah In jannah, ameen.
Daily we would sit in hadhrat (db)'s talk after taraweeh. Then people would go and sit in hadhrat's company, take lessons and consultation. Then we would pray nafl qiyamul layl. After this, hadhrat would again probably be meeting people, or take rest, or be busy with writing reading etc. Most people would sleep till suhoor, others stayed up mostly in muraqabah through the night. After suhoor, there would be over an hour for tahajjud. There was a short english reminder everyday after fajr by a khalifah shaykh andalib from zimbabwe (these were phenomenal and it was normal for people to be moved to tears). A lot of people would stay up till ishraq. At this time, hadhrat's khulafa from south africa would arrange an english talk. This was conducted by mawlana musa - what can i say about him? The way he carried himself was enough to bring tears to the eyes. He would speak so lovingly of hadhrat too - this is a person we should meet if the opportunity is available. Then we would sit in muraqabah until ishraq. Other khulafa were present and also gave the english talk, like shaykh mawlana khoka, shaykh tauqeer, mawlana junaid moola, mawlana ebrahim. Each khalifah is so unique subhan allah - and one wonders hadhrat has so many khulafa to capture the light he carries, then what of the heart of rasulullah Which required over 100 000 sahabah to carry the message!
After ishraq pretty much everyone would rest until hadhrat's bayan in the morning which was particularly for the women - but all would sit. We then had taleem, reading from majalisul faqeer which was read by shaykh professor muhammad aslam sahib (db) and then zubdatus sulook which was taught by mawlana salahuddin saifi sahib (db) in urdu and mufti kamaluddin (db) in english. These sessions were gems and the advices from majalisul faqeer were so simple but powerful. Then it was zuhr, after which mawlana ebrahim sahib would read from fadhail e amaal and sublime conduct. After this we had khatmul khwajgan and muraqabah. Professor aslam sahib would lead the most amazing khatmul khawjgan - i just wish i recorded it. He lead the first two. Again i can write a lot on professor aslam sahib but i fear this is already getting too long. Other days, hafiz sohail (db), shaykh abdul qayyum (who also lead a very unique muraqabah!) and other khulafa lead the khatam.
Most people went to sleep at this point until asr, but the english guys stayed up with mufti kamal, mawlana musa, mawlana junaid, shaykh abdul qadir (hadhrat's nigerian khalifa) and others. Mufti kamal would continue to teach from zubdatus sulook. After asr, one of hadhrat's khulafa would give a bayan. These were in urdu and the duas at this time were so special subhan allah. Most people would be engrossed in dua until adhan for maghrib. Hadhrat (db) lead dua on the 27th with asmaul husna, as well as on the 29th day.
Ok i think i wrote a bit too much on the daily schedule so i should stop now. There's so much more to write though, including meeting with the russian and nigerian jamats! As well as some deep insights from mawlana khalilur rahman sajjad nomani sahib (db) on the last day (i definitely have intention to write on this talk at some point), and also the amount of barakah in our time. Honestly we felt we had entered a whole new time-dimension. We had time to complete so much in a short 9 days. I felt like i was able to evaluate my life, strive to clear my past record and make firm new intentions in plenty of time. At times when i used to think "what am i, of all people, doing here?" (which was quite often), i couldn't help do shukr for allah's blessing. Other times, i felt way out of my depth surrounded by so many elevated souls. This was really a unique factor - almost every other few people was a khalifah of hadhrat and having the opportunity to simply observe how they worship allah is a unique blessing in itself. To add to this effect, almost everybody was dressed in white (except locals for taraweeh time) which i thought was quite symbolic!
Being utterly undeserving, i can't thank allah enough for the opportunity. I pray allah gives further opportunities like this in the future to all of us. I must stress the necessity of itikaf (even though i've done it only this once). I may write some of what i learnt on that too at a later date. I pray the above is of some benefit, particularly for myself. Ameen
i pray allah grant us the suhbah of the kamil shuyukh, that allah be well-pleased with hadhrat (db), his khulafa, and all those connected to him and the entire ummah. Ameen
---x---
Peace till next time ~ MoCo
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