'O God, carry us in the ships of Thy deliverance, give us to enjoy the pleasure of whispered prayer to Thee, make us drink at the pools of Thy love, let us taste the sweetness of Thy affection and nearness, allow us to struggle in Thee, preoccupy us with obeying Thee, and purify our intentions in devoting works to Thee, for we exist through Thee and belong to Thee, and we have no one to mediate with Thee but Thee!' Imam Sajjad ('A); Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya

Monday 22 October 2007

Ayatullah Behjat and 3 Spiritual Advices

Ayatullah Behjat on 'The Value of Contemplation and Thought' Agha Shahi remarks: “Ayatullah Behjat is constantly stressing the importance of controlling one’s tongue and maintaining silence.
He would say, “We must control our speech. We should spend 23 hours of the day in contemplation and thought, and only one hour in speech; in fact, often even that is too much.'

Being in a State of Constant Dhikr

Ayatullah Behjat often advises his students to inculcate the habit of being da’im al-dhikr, i.e. remaining in constant remembrance of Allah swt.
He has said, “Someone who is constantly in dhikr, will always perceive himself in the presence of Allah swt and will be continuously communicating with Him.”

For those who want to combat waswasa, (constant suspicion of the motives of others), he recommends highly to continually recite the “tahlil”, which is the dhikr, “La Ilaha Illallah”. Another great contemporary scholar, Ayt. Hasan Hasanzadeh Amuli has remarked that tahlil is al-dhikr-al-khafi (secret dhikr); i.e. it can be constantly repeated without anyone else being aware of what you are doing, because this dhikr can be pronounced without even moving the lips, unlike other dhikrs like “Subhanallah” or Alhamdulillah”!

Ayatullah Behjat on 'The Secret of Salaat'
Ayat Behjat has said:
“Namaz (Salaat) symbolizes the Ka’ba.
The Takbirarut’l Ihram stands for casting aside everything other than Allah swt and entering His haram (sanctuary).
The Qiyam represents a conversation between two friends.
The Ruku’ symbolizes the bowing of a slave in front of his master and
the Sajdah is the ultimate display of lowliness, humility and helplessness in front of the Master.
And when the slave returns from such a Namaz, the souvenir he brings back is the greeting of peace (salaam) from his Lord…”

Wednesday 10 October 2007

An Important Rule Often Neglected 2

A Code of Practice For Muslims in the West: 
Dress & clothings» General Rules
Ayatullah al Uzama Syed Ali al-Husaini Seestani

Wearing if leather belts / watches / bands in Salaat


195. Leather products are impure (najis) and salãt in them is not permissible, if we know that they have been made from the hide of an animal not slaughtered according to Islamic laws. Such products are considered pure and salat in them is permissible, if there is a probability that they were made from skin of an animal that is essentially halãl and was slaughtered according to Islamic laws.


In all these cases of probability, wearing a belt and things like that made from leather is allowed [in salãt], provided that they are not big enough as to conceal the private parts. If there exists no probability that it was slaughtered according to Islamic laws, and, on the contrary, we are sure that it comes from skin of an animal that was not slaughtered according to Islamic laws, then it is najis and salãt in it is not permissible. [With no such probability,] even the use of belt and other things (that cannot conceal the sexual organs in salãt) is not permissible on the basis of obligatory precaution. It would be the same law if the probability was very low that sensible people ignore it (for example, 2%).