No Pain No Gain. If anyone has acheived anything in life, it is through commitment, hard work and dedication and if we want to really excell at anything then it means passion. If we want a nice house or a good career or if we want to have a successful business, it means really working towards it. It means punctual times, long hours, sacrifices and even heart-felt prayers.
With the name of Allah most Beneficient ever Merciful
Nothing comes without striving. Our Pir O Murshid, Dr Hakim Hazrath Khwaja Sayed Shareef Ahmed Ali Shah RA (Hazrath Poona Wale Shah Saib RA) used to say “No pain, no gain!” Even when it comes to religion, its the same. If we want to get close to our Creator, it means going that extra mile. It means making sacrifices in other aspects of our lives. It means making our religion and our Creator THE priority in life.
Now, when it comes to being religious, I am not talking about just fulfilling our 5 daily prayers. Islam is far more that this.
Our Pir O Murshid RA was once discussing Shariah and Tarika and he said: in Sharia a person gives 2,5% and keeps 97,5% of his extra money but in Tarika he gives 97,5% and keeps 2,5%. Similarly, when it comes to prayer then in Tarika a person spends more time on contemplation of Allah SWT above anything else. So I am talking about practices over and above Shariah, I am talking about the extra mile that we can go to to attain closeness to Allah SWT and our spiritual guides.
Sometimes we do a little in terms of religion and we think we achieved a lot. This is limiting ourselves, this is putting a cap on how much we can achieve in terms of religion. The Holy Prophet Muhammad SAW achieved so much yet he would still make tauba while tears rolled down his cheeks.
A quotation from the Holy Quran:
“These are the persons who remember Allah standing, and sitting and (lying) on their sides and reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth (and say,) `Our Lord! You have not created (all) this in vain. Glory be to You, save us from the punishment of the Fire.” Al Quran 3:191
Study the lives of the Prophets (AS) and the Aulia Allah (RA) and you would see that its about sacrifice, commitment and passion. Our Holy Prophet Muhammad SAW used to spend days in the cave of Hira meditating.
When he went on his mission to teach the people of Taief, they stoned him. The Meccans boycotted him and his followers for 3 long years. Ponder over this, the sacrifice, the commitment and dedication.
Hazrath Ebrahim bin Adham RA, a great sufi saint, gave up an entire kingdom with all the fineries, luxuries and even his wife and unborn child to walk the path of religion. What we today strive towards in terms of worldly matters, he had far more but he gave it all up.
He was a king yet he went on to earn his living by cutting wood and spent his time in the service of Allah SWT by teaching others. We work our entire lives and still we do not own anything near to what Hazrath Ebrahim bin Adham RA owned.
Not only that, he had prestige and position. Everyone looked up to him but instead he lowered himself to such a point where others, could and did, physically beat him. Imagine a king being beaten by a random person.
Our esteemed Pir O Murshid RA gave up a top, well-paying job to do our silsila work. He quite often would leave his family and children for weeks on end to teach others in far off places.
The Meccans offered our Holy Prophet Muhammad SAW vast riches and status with the condition that he give up his preaching. They were not mad. They strived for something far greater than worldly possessions.
Consider. How did Allah SWT throughout time talk to humanity? It is always through His Prophets (AS) and Aulia Allah (RA). Now, is that not a great thing, to know our Creator and be able to communicate with Him?
Its everything and nothing can compare to it. Its so special that such people would sacrifice anything and everything for it. Subhanallah!
So let’s be inspired by these great personalities and follow in their footsteps to sacrifice on the path of Allah SWT. End
Published by Anjuman e Waris e Mohammedi
Anjuman e Waris e Mohammedi was founded by Dr Hakim Hazrath Khwaja Sayed Shareef Ahmed Ali Shah RA (lovingly known as Hazrath Poona Wale Shah Saab RA)
Author: Mohamed Hassan Gaffoor WhatsApp +27849101486.