There is a person who teaches the Qur’ân a lot. Two persons from Jeddah came and said that they would like to train under him. What is your advice? I said to them: “Did the person whom you would like to adopt as your mentor also obtain some sort of training from anyone? If he has received training from someone, provide me with the identity of that person.” They replied: “We do not even know whether he has a mentor or not. He probably does not have a mentor. He trains others of his own accord.” I asked: “How can a person who has not been trained himself train others? What is it necessary to become first, a student or a teacher? If it is not confirmed that a person was a student, how can you adopt him as your teacher?” I then composed an Arabic sentence for them saying: ?? ?????? ???? ?? ?? ???? ??– the person who has no mentor, do not consider him to be a mentor. His lineage is not correct. Whereas –all praise is due to Allah Ta’ala- that we have a mentors, viz. Shâh ‘Abdul Ghanî Sâhib rahimahullâh, Shâh Abrâr-ul-HaqqSahib rahimahullâh, HazratHakeem-ul-Ummah Thânwî rahimahullâh, Hâjî Imdâdullâh Sahib rahimahullâh…our chain reaches Hazrat ‘Alî (radhiallaho anho) .

Thus, if you have no connection with the pious, you will fall into sin and you will not even express remorse over committing them. Hakeem-ul-Ummahrahimahullâh says: “A person who does not express remorse over his sins, who takes much enjoyment from speaking to young boys, engages in much eye contact with them, who teaches them about religion as an excuse to converse with them, while the soul is internally engaged in harâm pleasure, then such a person is under the wrath of Allah Ta’ala.”Hakeem-ul-Ummah Thânwî rahimahullâh says that if you see a person involved in an evil and in sin without his even having any perception of remorse, then you can conclude that he is under the wrath of Allah Ta’ala. What a lovely proof he provided for this: he says that Satan did not express remorse even till today. This absence of remorse is proof that he is rejected and that he is under the wrath of Allah Ta’ala. However, you must remember that even this remorse over sins is created by remaining in the company of the pious servants of Allah Ta’ala.

You should therefore make it your duty to go to the ‘ulamâ’ to study Islam. If you were to say to a specialist doctor that he must come to your house, carry his bedding and accompany you to go house to house in order to treat the people, and to come with you wherever you take him, he will reply and say: “I did not obtain this degree from London or America for this purpose. I will remain in one place. The person who needs me can come to me a hundred times.” If you have to go to the ‘ulamâ’ a hundred times, you must go personally, request their du‘âs, attend their assemblies, remain in their company and spray pesticide on the mosquitoes and bugs of pride which are sitting on you.