By

Shaikh-ul-Arab Wal Ajam Arifbillah Hazrat-e-Aqdas Maulânâ Shâh

Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Sâhib,

May his shadow remain over us for 120 years.

All my writings and compilations are collections of the benefits and blessings of the companionship of our spiritual mentor:

Maulânâ  Muhiyus Sunnah Hadrat Aqdas Maulânâ Shâh Abrâr-ul-Haqq Sâhib rahimahullâh,

Hadrat Aqdas Maulânâ Shâh ‘Abdul Ghanî Sâhib Phulpûrî rahimahullâh and

Hadrat Aqdas Maulânâ Shâh Muhammad Ahmad Sâhib rahimahullâh.

Muhammad Akhtar

(May Allâh Ta’ala Pardon Him)

Topic: The Destructive Consequences of Not Observing Purdah.

Speaker: Shaikh-ul-Arab wal Ajam Ârifbillâh Hadrat-e-Aqdas Maulânâ Shâh Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Sâhib, may his shadow remain over us for 120 years.

Date: 4 Safar al-Muzaffar 1412 A.H., Friday, 16 August 1991.

Time: Before the Jumu‘ah salâh.

Venue: Musjid Ashraf, Gulshan Iqbal, No. 2, Karachi.

Subject: The harms of Not observing purdah, casting evil glances and false love.

Compiler: Attendant of Hadrat wâlâ, Sayyid ‘Ishrat Jamîl Mîr Sâhib.

First edition: November, 2009.

Copies: 2200

Supervision: Ibrâhîm Brothers.

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Today there is a nikâh in accordance with the Sunnah. I will try to have the nikâh before the salâh. However, if it is difficult to complete my topic, then – inshâ Allâh – the nikâh will take place after the Jumu‘ah salâh and I will also say something with regard to marriage. In fact, today I will focus more attention on explaining issues related to marriage.

Rasulullah (Sallellaho alaihe wasallam) said:

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The most blessed marriage is the one in which expenses are few, and which is simple.

Instead of wasting the money on unnecessary expenses, it is better to give the same money to one’s daughter, to one’s son-in-law, to be used to purchase carpets for a musjid, or to pay for the expenses of a student. In short, consult your shaykh and spend it in some correct avenue. The walîmah meal which is Sunnah is to be from the boy’s side – to whose house the bride is going. But today, the opposite is taking place. The girl’s side is spending thousands to feed and entertain the thousands of people who come from the boy’s side. If a person has five daughters, he estimates his cost at 600 000 rupees. Consequently, he steals, robs, and accepts bribes. Moreover, it is not necessary for the boy’s side to have such a large walîmah for which a tent has to be pitched, 10 000 people are invited, and hundreds of thousands of rupees are spent to feed the guests. A walîmah can be fulfilled by just five people as well. If any family is not invited, it has no right to complain.

Karachi is a very large city [so it is understandable if someone is not invited]. In a small town like Madînah, a Sahâbî – Hadrat ‘Abdur Rahmân ibn ‘Auf (radhiallaho anho) did not invite Rasulullah (Sallellaho alaihe wasallam) to his walîmah. Rasulullah (Sallellaho alaihe wasallam) saw the yellow coloured effect of fragrance on his clothes and gauged [that he just got married]. So he asked him: “Did you perchance get married?” But Rasulullah (Sallellaho alaihe wasallam) did not feel offended in the least for not being invited to the walîmah.

My shaykh, Shâh Abrârul Haqq Sâhib rahimahullâh, gave his daughter in marriage to a very noble family. Professor Hakîm ‘Irfânullâh Sâhib was a member of the Consultative Assembly of Deoband and a senior hakîm (Islamic physician) of Aligarh Tibbîyyah College. Hadrat said to him, “You must come with your son and one other child.” In other words, no more than three people may come from Aligarh to Hardoi. Thus, the father must come, the son who is going to become the son-in-law must come, and he may bring one additional child. No fourth person may come. This is what you call simplicity. But today people say that if we adopt simplicity ‘our nose will get cut’ [we will be humiliated]. Listen, the ‘nose’ is under Allâh’s control. If you opt for simplicity, you will be honourable in the sight of Allâh Ta’ala.

Ever since the ummah introduced fabricated customs and formalities on occasions of marriage, it became entrapped in evils such as debts, usurious loans, and accepting bribes. The root of all these evils is this unnecessary expense and extravagance. When the blessing of marriage is in enduring less expense, why does the ummah not avail itself of this blessing? Why is it depriving itself of this blessing by going into extra expenses and doing things for show?

These days, we see the practice of making movies on the occasions of marriage. I refer to it as mû’î. In past times, when a woman cursed anyone, she would say: “O you mû’î!” In other words, O you who are going to die! Look at the extent of immodesty in making movies where the bride and bridegroom are together, and they are also accompanied by the non-mahram friends and relatives of the bridegroom. They are then shown in all houses. You are displaying your daughter and daughter-in-law to strange men and accepting gifts in return. Can there be anything more shameful than this? Then you complain and say that you are distressed and that there is no blessing in your sustenance.

When you earn the anger and displeasure of Allâh Ta’ala, how will you experience blessing in your sustenance? Some people are under the assumption that they will experience blessing merely by reading some wazîfah (supplication, verse, etc.). Listen! You will certainly receive Allâh’s mercy by reading a wazîfah, but if we do not give up sins, Allâh’s anger will also befall us. If mercy and anger face each other, how will we find the path? An example of this is as follows: by committing sins, the truck of Allâh’s anger will approach; and by reading a wazîfah, the truck of Allâh’s mercy will approach. Neither of the two will give way to the other. If anger does not move aside, mercy will not come. We cannot expect mercy solely from reading a wazîfah, but we will receive mercy if we give up sins. Give up sins and you can undoubtedly read your wazîfah.

Tell me, if excreta falls on your clothes, do you apply perfume to your clothes, or do you wash your clothes and then apply perfume? The remembrance of Allâh Ta’ala is a perfume, but you must first remove the foul smell of sins. But this does not mean that you must not perform salâh, fast, etc. as long as you have not given up sins. Salâh, fasting, etc. are compulsory, obligatory and sunnat-e-mu’akkadah (emphasised Sunnah). Perform your salâh and fast, and also engage in the remembrance of Allâh Ta’ala. However, it is necessary to rectify this belief that merely reading a wazîfah will solve everything. No! It is essential to give up disobeying Allâh Ta’ala. Even if a person displeases Allâh Ta’ala for a single breath, he is making the anger of Allâh Ta’ala lawful to himself, unless he repents.

Just today, a person informed me that he is only twenty years old but ever since he is keeping a beard, even seventy-year-old women are addressing him as “uncle” and mocking him so that he may be frightened by this title and shave off his beard. I said to this youngster, “If a seventy year old woman addresses you as ‘uncle’, is there respect or disrespect for you by this title? You ought to be grateful to Allâh Ta’ala for this respect.” In like manner, if a seventeen or eighteen year old girl wears a burqa‘ (loose head and upper body covering), what do her family members tell her? [They mock at her and tell her]: “Mother, shift aside and give us way.” Now this young girl becomes agitated and thinks to herself that she has to bear being addressed as a “mother” because of this burqa‘. O you who are wrong in your thinking! Allâh Ta’ala is actually according respect to you in the sense that even elders are addressing you as “mother.” Be grateful that Allâh Ta’ala is giving you this respect. What, do you want people to address you as a “little girl”?

I had a friend who was a nephew of ‘Allâmah Shiblî. He was sixty years old and – mâshâ Allâh – he had a big beautiful beard. When he boarded a bus, some youngsters who were sitting stood up and said, “Uncle, you can sit in our place.” There was another person who was ten years elder than him, dressed up in modern clothing with a tie, clean-shaven, and was employed at an office. He asked my friend, “How old are you?” He replied that he was sixty years old. He addressed the boys and said, “I am ten years elder than him. Why do you not offer me a seat? Why do you not address me as ‘uncle’?” The boys replied, “You look like a nephew, you do not look like an uncle. You will only look like an uncle when you keep such a big beard.”

There is something else which is astonishing. In fact, it is most astonishing. There was a girl from a religious family, regular in salâh and fasting, who dressed in Islamic dress. In their quest for money, her parents got her married to a person who was educated in America, who had no religiosity, and who did not perform salâh. When she went to her husband’s house wearing a burqa’, her husband took the burqa‘ and burnt it in the fire. He said to her, you will have to apply lipstick, put on make-up, wear revealing clothes and accompany me to Clifton to Alfeston Street. You will have to meet my friends and relatives. If you were to don this old-fashioned burqa‘, I will lose all my respect. People will say: ‘What an old-fashioned wife this person has come with!’”

O how sorrowful! The thing which has been accorded respect by Allâh Ta’ala and Rasulullah (salellaho alaihe wasallam) is considered to be disgraceful by the Muslims of today. Tell me, where does the respect and dignity of a woman lie? Is it in purdah or moving about naked? Does a noble and modest woman want strange men to cast evil glances at her hair and cheeks, and whistle at her? Real respect lies in a woman offering salâh, keeping fast, serving her husband, bringing up her children, and wearing a burqa‘ when going out of the house. But today, the husband considers it respectful to walk around in the shopping centres with his fashionable wife. He feels embarrassed when his wife wears a burqa‘. What respect is there in others looking at your wife? There is a limit to shamelessness and absence of self-respect. When a person disobeys Allâh Ta’ala, his intellect is also tormented. He thus considers good things to be bad. Allâh Ta’ala refers to this as follows:

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Is he to whom the evil of his deeds is made fair-seeming, so that he considers it as good… (Sûrah Fâtir, 35: 8)

In other words, Satan beautifies evil and makes it appealing. Consequently, people start considering evils to be good. For example, women consider non-purdah to be good. As for the women who are pious, who adopt purdah, wear the burqa‘, fear Allâh, perform salâh, and keep fast, it is our duty to respect them and we ask them to supplicate for us. As for the women who walk about without purdah, who display their hair and cheeks, and thereby steal the îmân of the men, we will never respect such women. This is the theme of most of our talks: the hair and cheeks of women who are not in purdah must not destroy the îmân of our young boys.

One of my friends went to Hong Kong where there is excessive absence of purdah. There, the girls call the men openly; they call them to the public baths and offer them massages, and offer to bathe the men. This friend of mine said to me, “Had I not heard the talks at Khânqâh Imdâdîyyah Ashrafîyyah, Gulshan Iqbal, Block No. 2, and had I not imagined the anger and wrath of Allâh Ta’ala, the desolateness of the graveyard and my entering the grave one day, I would have fallen into committing adultery.”

Hadrat Thânwî rahimahullâh says that there are three types of false love:

(1) Some people are inclined towards handsome boys and have no inclination whatsoever towards women.

(2) Some people are inclined towards beautiful women and detest boys.

(3) Some people are inclined towards both. If they find a woman, they will disgrace themselves with her. If they find a boy, they will disgrace themselves with him.

Now tell me, does this not entail disrespect to beauty? I am not talking about women only; I am also referring to the young handsome boys. When you are in love with a handsome boy, go to the graveyard and see what has happened to his hair and cheeks. Look at how his limbs with which he committed sins have been reduced to soil. Everything has been reduced to soil. Go and look for those cheeks which you were kissing and those eyes which enchanted you. Go to the graveyard and see where all that sweetness has gone to. I have a poem in this regard:

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Do not destroy your life over something which is going to be reduced to soil.

Sacrifice your youth for the Being who blessed you with this youth.

Some people tell me that I speak a lot about false love and evil glances. I say to them that if a village is plagued by cholera, what should we worry about, colds and flu, or cholera? Evil glances, open display of beauty, videos, cinemas, film songs, etc. are totally destroying our youth. O you who are sitting in your homes like ducks! What do you know as to what is happening? As long as the desolateness of beauty and the conditions of the graveyard are not explained, the îmân of our youngsters will be destroyed by these women who are parading nakedly everywhere.

I saw a youngster belonging to a noble and distinguished family whose face had gone pale. His cheekbones were sticking out and his eyes were gone hollow. I asked him, “What is happening to you? Are you suffering from tuberculosis? He replied, “No, one boy showed me a pornographic film. Six months have passed since and I have not performed salâh. I am in an impure state all the time. My thoughts are going to that film all the time. When I am in prostration, the same thoughts come to me. When I perform salâh and go into prostration, that pornographic film comes to my mind.”

Ah! If Akhtar speaks about the destruction of this ummah by speaking a lot about this topic, then some foolish people make this objection that why is this topic dealt with so often? I am also a physical hakîm. Some weak and frail youngsters constantly come to me and say to me, “I am going to poison myself. I have disgraced myself so much by committing adultery that I have no strength left. I am going to get married soon. Treat me so that I may get back my strength.” Why did they have to take this poison? I have a poem in this regard:

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The one who became engrossed with women had to resort to taking poison.

There are two meanings to this: (1) If a person becomes separated and did not get a woman, he would be overtaken by grief, resort to arsenic (poison) and die. (2) If he gets his beloved, he had wasted so much of his sexual strength that he became impotent. He now has to resort to taking arsenic. Therefore, in both situations – attachment (obtaining the beloved) and detachment (separation from the beloved) – he had to take arsenic.

I have so many stories portraying the destructiveness of false love, that if I were to write about the destructiveness of the conflict between beauty and love, the destruction of health, and the desolateness of îmân, it would result in a book of 5000 pages. I have written a concise book titled “The ailments of the soul and their treatment.” It is available from the bookshop. Read this book.

If any person does not like this topic of mine, he must leave my khânqâh. Neither should any man nor any woman who does not have affinity with my talks attend my talks. Nor should that woman attend who says that she feels agitated when I talk about the desolateness of beauty and the indignity of women.

Now tell me, if I talk about the desolateness and destructiveness of beauty so that the îmân of the youth can be saved, and they may be saved from the women who are waking nakedly in this movie-world, does this entail indignity of women or their sanctity and honour? By speaking about their fleeting beauty, I am saving them from the hankering of immoral and sinful people. It is another matter if a woman is so promiscuous that she feels that people who hear my talks will show less attention to her beauty. Such unworthy women are not addressed.

I have no need for such souls who feel agitated by my talks. I am announcing again: if anyone does not gain benefit from my talks, he or she should conclude that he or she has no affinity with me. They should therefore not try to rectify my talks – neither the men nor the women. If a sick man or a sick woman tries to correct the doctor, it is his duty to expel him or her from the hospital.

Tell me, can a woman who is selling potatoes or vegetables go and advise a doctor and tell him, “Why are you prescribing a 250mg capsule when a smaller capsule can do the work?” In like manner, a person who is spiritually sick cannot go to his spiritual doctor and tell him why are you speaking so much on this topic? I am engaged in this work for the past twenty years. People come and thank me and tell me that before listening to my talks, they were living a very dangerous life. Through the blessings of these talks, they received salvation from the infatuation of false love and women.

The pious women who are in purdah and are the pious servants of Allâh Ta’ala are not addressed. We are in need of their supplications. When such women phone me, I ask them to supplicate for my health. Sometimes a woman tells me that she is going for ‘umrah and I must supplicate for her. I also request her to supplicate for me. I consider such women to be the pious servants of Allâh Ta’ala. I personally praise them. As for the women whose evils I speak about, I am referring to those despicable women who walk around naked without purdah in the shopping centres. One must at least use one’s intelligence. Man should not be so foolish and stupid. Try to understand what I mean. I am not disparaging women. I truly respect and honour the women who are the pious servants of Allâh Ta’ala. I am in need of their supplications. I constantly request them to remember me in their supplications. When we talk about the desolation of someone’s beauty, we are referring to those women who are standing nakedly at the bus stops, who attend educational institutes where there is intermingling of the sexes, who tempt the boys and are destroying the îmân of our youngsters. Can I accord any respect to such beauty? I send curses to according respect to such beauty which destroys the îmân of our youngsters.

I have the occasion to travel by plane a lot. I have seen with my very eyes girls from respectable families. They have no head covering, they are running around with food, they are sitting right next to the pilots and other young workers with their legs touching these young men, and joking and laughing with them. Once I was sitting next to my shaykh and we were going for ‘umrah or hajj. An airhostess touched my knee with her knee and sat down next to me. We immediately informed the responsible people and our friends who were there to tell this girl to go and sit somewhere else. It is your daughters-in-law and daughters who are on display here. Now you tell me, is their beauty being disparaged over there or from the talks of Akhtar? You are not grieving over the fact that your daughter-in-law and daughters are outside without purdah, and men are casting evil glances at them. You do not see any indignity in that. May Allâh Ta’ala remove the torment of the intellects of those who phoned me. This absence of purdah and false love have caused such dangerous conditions that one’s hairs will stand on end merely from listening to them. I will relate two such stories to you.

Hadrat Maulânâ Thânwî rahimahullâh explains that before the partition of India there was a person who took his modern wife to enjoy the mountainous air of Shimlah. Just as we in Pakistan have Murri, there is Shimlah in India. In those days, the British had their bungalows there. It was summer and two guards were sitting on their horses with guns in their hands and guarding a bungalow of a British officer. This person was dressed in modern western attire with a tie, had his young wife dressed in fashionable clothes with plenty of make-up because this was a “modern era,” we are educated people and we are progressive people. Allâh forbid – the ancient era of Rasûlullâh r is long gone. Now listen to the punishment of not observing purdah of this progressive age as related by Hakîm al-Ummah Thânwî rahimahullâh and which I am conveying to you in this musjid.

One year had passed since these two guards had come from London. The fire of passion was burning in them. Now tell me, what would their condition be when this woman was exposed before them? O you transgressors! It is for this reason that I tell you to show mercy to yourselves. You can still take benefit from this talk of mine. If you still find no benefit in it, give up coming to this khânqâh. You will purchase a kilo of meat and conceal it [on your way home] lest it is taken away by someone. You will purchase a litre of milk but conceal it from the cat lest it drinks the milk. If you have a thousand rupees in your pocket, you will keep your hand in your pocket lest it gets stolen by pickpockets. You do all this despite all these items not having the ability to go away on their own. The money does not have the ability to leave your pocket and go into the hand of the pickpocket. The milk does not have the ability to go away to the cat. The meat does not have the ability to fly away. However, a woman has the ability to go away somewhere on her own. We constantly read in the newspapers of women who fell in love with someone and eloped with him, having run away from her parents.

O you who place value to one litre of milk!

O you who place value to one kilo of meat!

O you who place your hand in your pocket in order to safeguard your money!

Don’t you feel ashamed at sending your daughter-in-law and daughters alone out of the house?

I lived in Nâzimâbâd for twenty years. A friend of mine who was a principal in a college there related an incident to me. He said, “A person came to me and said, ‘My daughter has not come home for the past three days. Check in your register whether she was marked present or not?’ I said to him, ‘Your daughter was present for all the subjects. If she does not go home after college, we are not responsible.’ The father said, ‘Ok, ok. No one must reprimand her. As long as she is not absent from college, I have no problem. She can be anywhere else, she can be living with a boy, I have no objection.’ After relating this incident to me, the principal began crying because he was an adherent of the Sharî‘ah, regular in salâh, and a pious man.

Therefore, if I talk about the illness of false love and a person does not like what I say, instead of benefiting from me he makes objections to my repeating the same subject matter, then I say to him: Go to Muftî Rashîd Ahmad Sâhib, go to Maulânâ Sub-hân Mahmûd Sâhib, go to Maulânâ Taqî ‘Uthmânî Sâhib, go to Maulânâ Muftî Walî Hasan Sâhib – in short, many elders are conducting assemblies, and he may attend them and leave Akhtar. Such a person will not even benefit by coming here. If a person is suffering from cholera, I will give him an injection for his cholera. Therefore, anyone having no affinity with me should not attend my assembly. Hakîm al-Ummah Thânwî rahimahullâh said that two people always benefit from the pious:

(1) The person who has intense love for that personality and every single thing which he says therefore appeals to him.

(2) He is extremely intelligent and gauges the fine points from everything that is said. If a person is stupid or not a true lover [of the shaykh], who does not have good thoughts [about the shaykh] – such people cannot benefit from the shaykh.

I am announcing again: Give up your thoughts of rectifying me. A sick person does not have the right to rectify the doctor. If you find my talks good and beneficial, you are most welcome. I will make du‘â’ for you in ‘Arafât, Minâ, Muzdalifah, in front of the blessed grave of Rasûlullâh r, in front of the House of Allâh [Ka‘bah], I will say, “O Allâh! Do not deprive the person who comes to my khânqâh. Make him Your devoted servant.”

Value my du‘âs, moans and sighs. That woman is most unworthy and foolish who phones me and tells me that I am humiliating and disgracing women when I talk about the consequences of false beauty. If that woman is not present here today, the women who are here must convey this message to her that she must never come here in future. I always speak on this subject which has spread like cholera and through which the children of the ummah are being destroyed.

Ah! If only some Maulânâ or some pious person had taught that couple who had went to Shimlah by saying, “O son! Do not take your wife without purdah out of the house. It must not happen that the honour of your wife is snatched away.” Consequently, those two guards threatened that “modern” husband with their guns, dragged his uncovered wife, and raped her right in front of her husband. This is mentioned by Hadrat Thânwî rahimahullâh. You want to become modern? You want to take your wives without purdah and display their nakedness in the shopping centres? Look at the consequence of this evil: the modern husband wearing a tie is standing and watching while his wife is being raped. He is watching what is happening but has no power to do anything because they had guns with them.

If this woman was wearing a burqa‘, this would not have happened. Till today, no woman in burqa‘ was raped. If she was, it was because she was not in purdah before that. Had she been in purdah, she would have been safeguarded. It is for this reason that Allâh Ta’ala issued an order to His servants warning them against casting glances towards another person’s wife, daughter, daughter-in-law, aunt, sister, and mother. This is what is known as the dignity of the woman. There is no dignity in my giving up this topic while you walk around like a stallion. If you really desire your reformation, you will have to listen to what I say. Tell me! Where does a woman’s dignity lie, in piety or in disobeying Allâh Ta’ala where she displays her beauty to such an extent that people are trapped into falling in love with her?

Women who remain in purdah, who perform salâh and keep fast, we personally ask them to supplicate in our favour. All praise is due to Allâh that there are many Allâh-fearing women in this gathering whose supplications we yearn for. They will even bear witness that when any of them phones me, I request her to remember me in her supplications. If I had no respect in my heart for those mothers and sisters, why would I request them to supplicate for me? What I really desire is that no one should steal the honour of your daughters. Keep them in purdah and make them wear the burqa‘. It is part of the destructiveness of non-purdah that people entice women, rape them and destroy their lives. It is for this reason we are commanded that when we leave the house, we must wear purdah. If you have to go to a wedding, wear simple clothes so that no eyes fall on your beauty. Your beauty is for your husband.

I always tell my friends that when they see any handsome boy, they must immediately say, “O Allâh! Let his beauty be a blessing for his wife.” Tell me! Is it not permissible for a wife to kiss her young handsome husband? In like manner, if your eyes unwittingly fall on a beautiful woman, say, “O Allâh! Let her beauty be a blessing for her husband.”

Many sorrowful women come crying to me for ta‘wîdh (amulets) and say, “My husband is trapped in this movie-world and is inclined towards other women. He is treating me like dirt.” Ah! How sorrowful! Virtually every house is caught up in the worship of lust, and yet I am told not to talk on this subject. Listen! I have been so affected by this foolishness [of the person who phoned me and told me not to speak on this subject] and I am so grieved by it that it knows no limits. Most of the women cry on the phone and tell me that because of the nudity that is displayed in the shopping centres, they have been denied the attentive eyes of their husbands. The husband looks at other women and tells her that she is not so beautiful, he is unfortunate, and his mother did not look at his wife-to-be properly. The reason for this is that Satan focuses more light on the women walking on the streets and mesmerizes the men. Consequently, the women on the streets appear more beautiful, while one’s wife appears less beautiful. These are satanic plots. Be content with the wife which Allâh Ta’ala gave you. It is mentioned in the Ahâdîth that these Muslim wives of ours will – inshâ Allâh – be made more beautiful than the doe-eyed damsels of Paradise. Consider a stranger thing to be strange. Can there be a more foolish person than he who looks at something belonging to someone else and then hankers after it and causes his heart to palpitate for it?

About fifteen years ago, a person was admitted into hospital and fell in love with a young nurse who did not observe purdah. His wife and family members came crying to me, and asked me to supplicate for him and give them a ta‘wîdh. I also cried a lot before Allâh Ta’ala. The man was saved and the family which was going through this trauma was also saved. It is for this reason that I say that it is most important to speak on this subject. There are many unmarried girls who have established a relationship of reformation and rectification with me. They write to me and tell me that they derive immense benefit from my talks, they are saved from casting evil glances, and they go to the extent of not even looking at the pictures of men in the newspapers. Tell me, are these young girls deriving benefit or not? All praise is due to Allâh Ta’ala that at least this much benefit is derived where I am receiving letters from these women and they are phoning me to tell me that they are supplicating for me and for my long life because they have given up many sins by attending my assemblies.

But what can I say about that mad woman who injured my heart. May Allâh Ta’ala save everyone from such foolishness. I supplicate to Allâh Ta’ala to guide her. If she has no affinity with me and does not benefit from my talks, I supplicate that she never comes here because it is useless for her to come here. If you are not deriving any benefit, why are you wasting your life? Go away to other ‘ulamâ’, but do not have the audacity to rectify the doctor. That woman tried to rectify me over the phone, whereas what right does a patient have to advise the doctor? If you are not benefiting from my treatment, go to some other doctor, go and admit yourself into some other hospital. This is a hospital for spiritual ailments. Do not consider these talks of mine to be ordinary talks. Talks are delivered everywhere these days. Does this mean that you can go and catch the ear of any speaker you like [and tell him whatever you want]? This is a spiritual hospital. Here, no patient has the right to come and advise me. If anyone is benefiting, he may stay. If not, he may go. Khwâjah Sâhib says:

The person who can neither see a majdhûb1 nor an ascetic may leave here.

  If a person is a sceptic, then why has he come here?

If a person wants to act intelligent, he must go somewhere else. But if a person wants to become mad [in the love of Allâh Ta’ala], he must come here.

Akhtar is not in need of you. My honour lies with Allah Ta’ala. Shamsuddin Tabrezî rahimahullâh had just one khalîfah, Maulânâ Jalâluddin Rûmî rahimahullâh but his word spread throughout the world. For the past twenty years, I am hearing thanks of people for my talks, and receiving their supplications in my favour. For the first time in twenty years, I received a phone call telling me that my disparagement of beauty is an indignity to women.

Is dignity being shown to women by her walking naked on the streets? I am directing my disparagement to those women not in purdah and whose beauty is entrapping people and destroying them. I also include the young boys in my disparagement of false beauty. Many people have the sickness of falling in love with young boys. The cheeks and black hair of these young boys are included in my disparagement of them. What beauty will there remain after these boys become old. I have a poem in this regard:

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No sooner the back became bent, they became like a bow.    Some became grandfathers and others became grandmothers.

Is any indignity being shown to anyone in this poem? I will say to that woman who phoned me that she must go to the grave of Maulânâ Rûmî rahimahullâh in Qunia [in Turkey] and say the same thing which she said to me over the phone: that my disparagement of false beauty is an indignity to women. Now listen to the poem of Maulânâ Rûmî rahimahullâh about the fall of fleeting beauty:

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O people! O believers! The person whose hair is black, whose hair has a dense and thick growth, which is emanating with the fragrance of musk, and which is causing you to lose your mind [by such beauty], do not believe in it, and do not give your life for it. When these women with long black hair will become old, their plaits of hair will look like the tail of an old donkey.

Who is saying this? Akhtar is conveying to you the meaning of Maulânâ Jalâluddîn Rûmî’s rahimahullâh Persian poem. Beware! Do not be entrapped by a woman’s long black hair. When she gets old, it will look like the tail of an old donkey.

In this poem, the word peer means old, and khar means a donkey. On what are you placing your belief? On what are you giving your life? Now you must say that you are not going to read the works of Maulânâ Rûmî rahimahullâh as well because it also demonstrates indignity towards women. Listen! Take your dignity and go somewhere else. I do not want such women listening to my talks. Nor such men who have no intelligence. Such immature people will not benefit from me. They are wasting their lives unnecessarily. I am saying to that woman, beware! Don’t ever come here. Tell me, do the youngsters learn from the poem of Maulânâ Rûmî rahimahullâh or not? Tell me, is the îmân of the ummah not being protected by this poem?

Now let me tell you something else. If your husband also hears this poem, will he look down on his wife? In fact, his gaze will be saved from others. Listen, through these poems, through these talks of mine, and through the grace of Allah Ta’ala, the more a woman’s husband becomes Allah-conscious, the more he will abhor the cheeks and hair of those women who are walking about without purdah, and the more respect he will accord to his wife. I am conveying this principle to you that the more pious a husband becomes, the more love for his wife increases. This is because if his heart is averse to the cheeks and black hair of other women, your value will increase. But if your husband casts his glances about and shows appreciation for the beauty of other women, you can well imagine what your condition will be.

There is a limit to these evil thoughts. If I were to say that because of sinning and because of disobedience to Allah Ta’ala, if any person experiences pleasure and enjoyment (‘ishrat), then may such pleasure and enjoyment be cursed. Now this ‘Ishrat Sâhib [referring to Hadrat’s special attendant] who is sitting here will stand up and tell me that I have disparaged him [because I used the word ‘ishrat which means enjoyment]. Now at least try to understand my subject matter and what type of ‘ishrat I am cursing. I am referring to the ‘ishrat which is acquired by disobedience to Allah Ta’ala. Stupidity is actually a torment from Allâh Ta’ala as punishment for a certain sin. It is a divine punishment for which there is no treatment.

Hazrat ‘Îsâ (Alaihis salaam) was fleeing from a stupid person. One of his followers said to him, “Hadrat, why don’t you get rid of his stupidity? When you pass your hand over a leper, he is cured. When you pass your hand over a blind person, his sight is restored. You also cure those who have white skin disease. But how is it that you are fleeing from a stupid person? Pass your hand over him as well and his stupidity will be cured.” Hazrat ‘Îsâ (Alaihis salaam) said, “Stupidity is a punishment and torment from Allâh Ta’ala. This torment of Allâh Ta’ala will only go if he repents.”

I am therefore saying that from today, no one is to phone me with such advice nor is anyone to write any such letter to me. My shaykh is sufficient for my rectification. You must not worry about my rectification. If my medication is not benefiting you, leave my clinic, leave my hospital, leave my khânqâh and go to the other khânqâhs. Patients who want to rectify the doctors will not find a cure for themselves.

Mullâ ‘Alî  Qârî rahimahullâh writes:

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(???????? ?: 1? ?: 374)

The person who makes an objection to his shaykh and looks with scorn at him will never be successful.

Hazrat Hâjî Imdâdullâh Sâhib rahimahullâh says that the more good thoughts, respect, and honour a person has for his spiritual guide (shaykh), the more he will benefit from him. This path is the path of the friends of Allâh Ta’ala. This is a spiritual path. These people who are moving around like leaders and delivering talks and then sitting like pious people without having rectified and reformed themselves under a pious personality, it is people like them who make objections to everything which the pious personalities do. They have been made to drink disrespect and insolence from the very beginning. To lay objections is the essence of their religion. They do not even leave the Sahâbah  and the Prophets. They make objections against everyone by saying that such and such person has this wrong, and such and such person has that wrong. The path of our elders is the path of respect. It is not the path of those who write literature of this nature.

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O Allâh! We ask You for inspiration towards showing respect as a disrespectful person is deprived of the bounty of Allâh Ta’ala.

I am now going to show you the treatment for false love. Tell me, if that boy who stopped performing salâh for six months, whose face was gone pale and whose bones were sticking out, had he not come to me, would he not have died? I then showed him the treatment. The illness of false love comes out with much difficulty. It takes a person’s life away, it conveys him to the graveyard. Therefore, everyone must listen attentively. Hakîm ul Ummah Mujaddid ul Millah Maulânâ Ashraf ‘Alî Thânwî rahimahullâh provides one treatment. He says that if your eyes fall on a beautiful woman and love for her is not coming out of the heart, then listen to this treatment for false love, listen to this treatment for removing the love of all apart from Allâh Ta’ala from the heart.

(1) Wear clean clothes, apply perfume, and read Lâ ilâha illallâh 500 times. When you say Lâ ilâha, then imagine that you have completely expelled all the idols which are embedded in your heart. When you say illallâh, then imagine that the light of Allâh Ta’ala has entered your heart, and that this reading of yours has reached the greatest Throne (‘Arsh) and met Allâh Ta’ala.

A Hadîth of Mishkât states that when a servant reads Lâ ilâha illallâh on earth, it traverses the seven heavens and meets Allâh Ta’ala. A narration of Mishkât states:

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(???????? ???? ???????? ?: 2? ?: 716? ?????? ????????)

There is no barrier preventing Lâ ilâha illallâh reaching Allâh Ta’ala

So if a person gets the inspiration to read Lâ ilâha illallâh he must understand that he has been able to meet Allâh Ta’ala, the Most Affectionate One, through it. Although we are unable to go to Him, this reading of ours is meeting Allâh Ta’ala. Ask the true lovers the value of this.

A poet says:

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It is sufficient for just one lamentation of ours to reach there even though we engage in many lamentations and appeals.

Inshâ  Allâh, through the blessing of Lâ ilâha illallâh, the appearance of the heart will change within a few days. Even if a person became insane and he was taking Valium 5 and Valium 10 (sleeping pills), he will give up all this and will get sleep through the blessing of the name of Allâh Ta’ala.

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When I am not given halâl wine, why should I sneak and drink harâm wine?

Those who are not married or their wives are gone sick or old should not spoil their eyes by looking here and there.

So what is the first treatment? Read Lâ ilâha illallâh 500 times and include Muhammadur Rasûlullâh occasionally as well. Inshâ Allâh, through the blessings of this, the heart will be purified of all apart from Allâh Ta’ala, and it will be filled with the love of Allâh Ta’ala. Secondly, think about yourself that you will have to go into the grave one day and the boy or girl whom you love will also have to go into the grave one day. Imagine that the bodies of both have become decomposed and reduced to soil. Now dig up both their graves and ask their soil – the soil of the beloved boy and of the beloved girl – O soil! Where have all your kisses and licks gone to? Where have all those body parts with which you used to commit sins gone to? You departed with curses from this world. A poet says:

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The pious servants have departed from this world, but their ways and habits are remembered. The wretched servants have departed but their sins and immoralities are discussed and curses are being sent to them.

Look at the condition of the film actors. Look at how much evil glances these naked women are inviting towards! All these curses will fall on them as well. The sin of all the deceased who looked at these women who displayed themselves with lust will fall on these women as well.

(3) The third treatment for false love is that you must imagine that the Resurrection is taking place. Allâh Ta’ala is asking you, “Where did you waste your youth? Where did you use your eyes? Did your parents give you these eyes or did I create these eyes in your mother’s womb and placed in them the ability to see?”

These lips of yours will also speak on the day of Resurrection. Allâh Ta’ala says:

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(???? ???? ???: 65)

This Day shall We set a seal on their mouths, and their hands shall speak to Us, and their feet shall bear witness to whatever they used to earn.” (Sûrah Yâ Sîn, 36: 65)

Allâh Ta’ala shall set a seal on your mouths, and your hands and feet shall speak. What will they say? Maulânâ Rûmî rahimahullâh depicts this as follows:

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The hand will say: “O Allâh! We used to pick pockets, we used to steal.”  The lips will testify: “We used to kiss non-mahram women and young boys.”

Now go to Qunia in Turkey, go to the grave of Maulânâ Rûmî rahimahullâh and say to him that he was also disrespectful towards beauty.

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The lips will say: “O Allâh! This wretched person used to kiss non-mahram girls and boys with these lips.”

On the Day of Resurrection you will learn how much of respect and dignity is being accorded to your lips. You will be asked, did you not know:

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When you do something in privacy away from the people, Someone from the heavens is watching you.

I now explained three treatments. The fourth treatment is that you must not go near these people, whether boy or girl. Hazrat Sa‘dî Shîrâzî rahimahullâh says that when there is a lot of mud, even elephants slip and fall. Allâh Ta’ala did not say do not commit adultery. What did He say? He said do not even go near adultery. This is because it is in the nature of man that when he remains with beautiful people, one day he will commit the sin with them. Now if Pakistani Airways employs a woman, can anyone save himself from falling in love with her?

Remember! Remain far from beauty – whether boy or girl. Flee from there or else you will not be able to save yourself. I say it time and again, those who remained near boys and girls were eventually caught in sin. Now there is no respect for beards also. You should therefore not rely on the strength of your self-restraint that you will not be soiled by sin. Allâh Ta’ala has already told us that we are weak:

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(???? ??????? ???: 187)

Those are the limits set by Allâh, so do not go near them.

(Sûrah al-Baqarah, 2: 187)

Do not go near the limits set by Allâh because you are weak. The one who tries to show his bravery will be disgraced by Satan. If not, after one day, after six months the poison of her love will gradually penetrate you, and you will be caught sinning with that same girl or boy. You should therefore remain aloof from girls, and from handsome young boys. In fact, remain aloof from boys with small beards towards whom you are sexually inclined.

Friends, the fifth treatment is very enjoyable. There is no hardship in it and it is most pleasurable. What is it? No matter which friend of Allâh Ta’ala you have love for and affinity with, go to him, remain in his company, and establish a relationship of reformation and rectification with him. You tell me, if a person has love for a religious mentor, does he not enjoy looking at him? Ah! It is so enjoyable that Muftî Muhammad Hasan Amretsarî rahimahullâh – the founder of Jâmi‘ah Ashrafîyyah Lahore, a great hâfiz, ‘âlim and mufti – said to Hadrat Thânwî rahimahullâh: “O my shaykh! If I were to look at you just once, and then remain in prostration for 1000 years in order to express my gratitude to Allâh Ta’ala for this bounty, I will not be able to fulfil the right of this bounty.”

So this fifth treatment – that is, remaining in the company of the close friends of Allâh Ta’ala - is the soul of Islam. Islam spread through this. Akbar Ilâhâbâdî rahimahullâh says:

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Deen is not acquired from books, lectures and riches. Rather, it is truly acquired from the company of the pious.

Listen to this: The sole manner in which Islam spread was through the gaze of prophet-hood. Islam spread through the gaze of Rasûlullâh (Salellaho alaihe wasallam). Islam then spread through the gaze of the Sahâbah (Radhiallaho anhum). It then spread through the gaze of the Tâbi‘ûn. Islam then spread from that time till today through the gaze of the true friends (auliyâ’) of Allâh Ta’ala. This chain will continue till the Day of Resurrection. My subject is now concluded.

A programme was held here on 14th August. These days, people do not understand the word nizâm (system). I am therefore forced to use the English word, programme. I am advising all of you to try to obtain a recording of my programme, which was conducted on the 14th of August. I have provided with proofs that Pakistan is an Islamic state.

Hakîm-ul-Ummah Mujaddid-ul-Millah Maulana Ashraf ‘Alî Sâhib Thânwî rahimahullâh who was the shaykh of personalities like Muftî Muhammad Shafî‘ Sâhib rahimahullâh, says that an Islamic state is defined as: the head of state is a Muslim and he has the power to promulgate Islamic law. Because of human weakness or weakness of îmân, he is intimidated by another country or is intimidated by conditions in his country, and is therefore unable to promulgate Islamic injunctions, then such a country will still be considered to be an Islamic state. Since he did not utilize his strength, the Muslim king, prime minister or head of state will be a sinner, but the country will be considered to be Islamic if the ruler is able to promulgate Islamic law.

Based on this definition, all the countries which have Muslim heads of state are all Islamic countries. Pakistan is therefore an Islamic country irrespective of whether the leaders have the power or not. If a person gives his life in the protection of a single inch of Pakistani land, he will be a martyr. Pakistan was created through the sighs, moans and supplications of our elders and the auliyâ’ of Allâh Ta’ala. Those ‘ulamâ’ and auliyâ are before me who strove for the creation of this country. My shaykh, Shâh ‘Abdul Ghanî Sâhib rahimahullâh was from among them. Therefore, we supplicate to Allâh Ta’ala to protect this country and save us from the slavery of the Hindus. Some foolish people are making statements like this: “It is better for the Hindus to take this country away.” Lâ haula wa lâ qûwwata illâ billâh. What a serious statement! May Allâh Ta’ala enable such persons to repent and may He pardon them. This is a very serious statement.

There is something else which I have to say. Many people show disregard to this matter these days.

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Fear Allâh  through whom you ask of one another for mutual rights, and be mindful of your relatives. (Sûrah an-Nisâ’, 4: 1)

[The above verse has the word] arhâm which is from rahim. People in general feel that maintaining ties of kinship is confined to their parents. However, ‘Allâmah Âlûsî as-Sayyid Mahmûd Baghdâdî rahimahullâh states in Rûh al-Ma‘ânî that after marriage, a person’s father-in-law and mother-in-law become equal to one’s own parents. In other words, just as it is necessary for one to be respectful to one’s parents, and just as one’s parents and grandparents have rights over a person, in like manner, the relatives of one’s wife also enjoy the same rights. In other words, they are also included in the order of maintaining ties of kinship. I now present the text of Rûh al-Ma‘ânî:

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(??? ???????? ?: 4? ?: 185? ??? ????? ?????? ??????)

This refers to genealogical relatives and those who become relatives by way of marriage.

The other thing is that you should rectify your speech. Allâh Ta’ala says:

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(???? ???????? ???: 70)

And speak honourable words. (Sûrah al-Ahzâb, 33: 70)

In other words, do not utter anything in anger or else you will regret later on and you will not be able to rectify this. Therefore, when you say anything, say that which would unite. Do not utter such painful things which would cause ill feeling and disunity.

The last thing which I want to say is that marriage is a Sunnah of Rasûlullâh r. Rasûlullâh r said that the person who does not marry is not from me, I have no connection with him. This refers to people who do not marry despite having the means to do so. If a person is excused, has no alternative, is unable to provide for a wife, does not have a house, is always refused when he proposes, is gone old to the extent that he can only find an old woman while he has no affinity with such a woman, then marriage does not remain Sunnah in such cases. There were many auliyâ’ of the past who did not marry, e.g. Hadrat Bishr Hâfî rahimahullâh, Shaykh Muhiyy ad-Dîn Abû Zakarîyyâ Nawawî rahimahullâh – the commentator of Muslim Sharîf - ‘Allâmah Taftâzânî rahimahullâh and others. You should therefore not look down upon anyone. In other words, if a person is not married, do not think that he is abandoning the Sunnah. There were many auliyâ‘ who, because of constrained circumstances, were excused from getting married. So if you see someone unmarried, think to yourself that he may have some good reason for this.

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Our final prayer is that all praise belongs to Allah,

The Lord of the worlds

All praise is due to Allah Ta’ala for enabling us to complete the translation of this book. May Allah Ta’ala accept it from us and may it be a means of our reformation in this world, and salvation in the Hereafter.

Mahomed Mahomedy

13 Jumâdâ al-Ukhrâ  1430 A.H.

07 June 2009