USMANI DISCOURSES. English translation of talks by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB.

Part 3 of the talk “THREE SIGNS OF BEING FORTUNATE” By Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB.  

The Holy Prophet ﷺ said that there are so many rights of neighbours, and Jibrai’l (Gabriel) Amin (AS) kept stressing upon the rights of neighbours so much that I started thinking that neighbours will also get a share of inheritance.   

Hazrat Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) has narrated that someone asked the Holy Prophet ﷺ;   

“O Prophet of Allah. There are two women. One of them prays Tahajjud all night, fasts during the day, does many other good deeds, and gives Sadaqah. However, she also hurts her neighbours with her tongue (words). What is the judgment for this woman?”   

The Holy Prophet ﷺ replied,   “There is no Khair (good) in this woman. She is destined for (Hell) fire.”  

Then he was asked;   “there is another woman who prays Fard (compulsory), but not Nafl, (supererogatory) Salah, and if she does give Sadaqah she only gives some pieces of cheese (meaning she doesn’t give anything valuable in charity), but she does not cause harm to or hurt anyone.”   

The Holy Prophet ﷺ was then asked about the status of such a woman. He replied;  “She will be one of the people in Jannah (paradise).”

Part 2 of the talk “THREE SIGNS OF BEING FORTUNATE” By Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB  

Hazrat Thanvi (may Allah Ta’ala bless him) has narrated a story in his sermons that there was person who had great treasures of gold and silver. He used to go to inspect his treasures every week. The padlocks of his treasures were such that they could be opened only from the outside. One day when he went to inspect his treasures and went inside, the door closed behind him. He made many efforts to open the door from the inside but was unable to do so. He was sitting among all sorts of treasure of gold and silver, but they could neither satiate his hunger, nor quench his thirst. Eventually he died of thirst sitting between all his treasures.

Part 1 of the talk "“THREE SIGNS OF BEING FORTUNATE” by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB  

The Holy Prophet ﷺ used to say the following prayer after Wudu;  

“O Allah! Please forgive my sins, please grant me spaciousness in my house, and grant me Barakah (blessing) in my sustenance.”  

In this prayer the Holy Prophet ﷺ asked for Barakah (blessing) in his sustenance. He did not pray for a great amount of sustenance, for example, he did not say, “O Allah Ta’ala, give me a lot of sustenance.” Rather, he said, “O Allah Ta’ala, grant me Barakah in my sustenance.” It means that he is asking that even if the sustenance is not large in numbers, even if the wealth is not too great, but it should have Barakah.

The last advice of the Holy Prophet ﷺ Part 9.   

Once the Holy Prophet ﷺ was going somewhere. On the way, he saw Hazrat Abu Zar Ghaffari (may Allah Ta’ala be pleased with him) scolding his slave. That slave was Habshi (of African origin) so he was saying to him, “O’ Habshi, you are doing this.” When the Holy Prophet ﷺ heard these words, he said,   

“O’ Abu Zar! It seems like you still have some habits from the days of Jahiliyah (ignorance). That is why you are addressing your slave as O’ Habshi.”  

Hazrat Abu Zar Ghaffari RAA started crying upon hearing these words, and even later he used to remember again and again that the Holy Prophet ﷺ had said this about me.  

Once Hazrat Siddiq Akbar (may Allah Ta’ala be pleased with him) was scolding one’s slave and saying some curse words to him. When the Holy Prophet ﷺ heard this, he said;  

“You are a Siddiq and you also curse! By the God of Ka’abah both of these traits cannot be combined together.”  Meaning that a person cannot be a Siddiq and also be cursing other people. If a person is a Siddiq he cannot curse other people, and the person who curses other people cannot be a Siddiq. Hazrat Siddiq Akbar RAA trembled upon hearing this and freed not just the slave he had been cursing but also many other slaves.

The last advice of the Holy Prophet ﷺ Part 8. English translation of a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB  

Hazrat Anas (may Allah Ta’ala be pleased with him) remained in the service of the Holy Prophet ﷺ for about ten years. About how the Holy Prophet ﷺ treated him during all this time, he himself says;  

“I served the Holy Prophet ﷺ for ten years. During all this time he never even said ‘uff’ (an expression of exasperation) to me, neither scolded me, nor told me off, and never said ‘why did you do this do this’, or ‘why did you not do this’.”  

This seems simple enough in saying, but if someone tries to follow this Sunnah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ, only then they will realise what supreme self-control it will require to consistently do this for ten years! We are happy following the easy Sunnah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ, but this is also a Sunnah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and we must try to follow it too. May Allah Ta’ala grant us the motivation to follow all these Sunnah too. Aameen

The last advice of the Holy Prophet ﷺ Part 7. English translation of a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB  

In a Hadith the Holy Prophet ﷺ said;  

“Your employees are your brothers. Allah Ta’ala has made them your subordinates. Give them to eat the same food that you eat yourselves, and give them to wear what you wear yourselves.”  

It is narrated in a Hadith that once the Holy Prophet ﷺ passed Hazrat Abu Masud on his way. He was being angry with his slave and telling him off. It looked as if he was close to hitting him. Upon seeing this the Holy Prophet ﷺ said;  

“Allah Ta’ala has more power over you than you have over this slave.”

The last advice of the Holy Prophet ﷺ Part 6. English translation of a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB

The third advice the Holy Prophet ﷺ gave at the time of his parting from this mortal world, was related to the (Huqooq al-Ibad) Rights of People. He said;

وما ملکت ایمانکم

By using this word, the Holy Prophet ﷺ has cautioned people to be especially mindful of the rights of those people who are your subordinates, and who Allah Ta’ala has given you some sort of authority over. He emphasized it because people who are equal in status, do not hesitate in demanding their rights. But the person who is someone’s subordinate, cannot always demand his rights forcefully because of the status difference between him and his bosses. Sometimes he believes in his heart that he deserves more, but cannot demand so because of fear of consequences. Therefore, unless you have fear of Allah Ta’ala in your heart, and you are mindful that you have to fulfil his rights, then you will not be able to discharge his rights due towards you fully and completely.

The Holy Prophet ﷺ has said;

“When it is morning time, do not wait for the evening, and when it is evening, do not wait for the morning. Consider yourself to be one of those people who are in their graves.”

It means that keep thinking that you may be going to your grave any moment, therefore, do not postpone things you need to do, for tomorrow.

Satan has unique ways of deceiving people. So, it won’t try to convince a Muslim to give up praying Salah, or try to convince him that it is not important. It puts thoughts into a Muslim’s mind that “Salah is very important, but I will start praying it at a time when I know I will keep praying it regularly from then on. I don’t feel I am ready for that today, so what is the point of praying just one Salah or praying it for just one day. I will start from tomorrow.” When the chore for which a person had postponed his plan of starting Salah is finished, he comes across another chore, another commitment, and then another. And this way the Satan makes him keep postponing starting Salah to ‘tomorrow’, but tomorrow never comes.

The last advice of the Holy Prophet ﷺ Part 4. English translation of a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB

The Holy Prophet ﷺ has said;

“When it is morning time, do not wait for the evening, and when it is evening, do not wait for the morning. Consider yourself to be one of those people who are in their graves.”

It means that keep thinking that you may be going to your grave any moment, therefore, do not postpone things you need to do, for tomorrow.

Satan has unique ways of deceiving people. So, it won’t try to convince a Muslim to give up praying Salah, or try to convince him that it is not important. It puts thoughts into a Muslim’s mind that “Salah is very important, but I will start praying it at a time when I know I will keep praying it regularly from then on. I don’t feel I am ready for that today, so what is the point of praying just one Salah or praying it for just one day. I will start from tomorrow.” When the chore for which a person had postponed his plan of starting Salah is finished, he comes across another chore, another commitment, and then another. And this way the Satan makes him keep postponing starting Salah to ‘tomorrow’, but tomorrow never comes.

The proper way of performing Qada-e-Umri is to start praying a Qada prayer with every Fard (compulsory) prayer, for example, Fajr with Fajr, Zuhur with Zuhur, and Asr with Asr. The way of praying an individual Qada prayer to make a Niyyah (intention) before praying it that, for example, I am praying the first Fajr Qada Salah that is due towards me, and the same with all other prayers. And then keep doing it every day.

The person should also write a will that he is starting to pray Qada-e-Umri from that date, and will be praying one Qada(missed) Salah with every Fard (compulsory) Salah, and that he has three years of Qada Salah due towards him. However, if he dies before praying all the Qada Salah, then the Fidyah (compensation money) should be paid to needy people from his estate.

If a person does not leave such a will, then it is not Wajib (necessary) for his inheritors to pay that Fidyah. In Shariah, a person has full disposing authority over his assets only in his life, and before any terminal illness starts. If someone develops a terminal illness then they can dispose of only up to a third of their assets. It is not permissible for them to dispose of more than a third of their assets. So, if a person does not make a will for paying Fidyah while still alive and not suffering from a terminal illness, against his remaining Qada Salah upon his death, then it is not Wajib (necessary) for his inheritors to pay the Fidyah for his Qada Salah even if he has left behind hundreds of thousands of rupees. However, if they wish to do so out of their own free will, then they have the right to do so.

That is why everyone should make a will as soon as possible that if he dies before he is able to pray all the Qada Salahdue towards him, then the Fidyah (compensation) for the remaining Qada Salah should be paid from his inheritance. And he should also start praying the Qada Salah one by one from today. If a person starts doing these two things, then if he dies before he can pray all his Qada Salah, Insha’Allah he will be forgiven. But if a person doesn’t do these two things, neither he starts praying the Qada Salah, nor does he make a will for his remaining Qada Salah in case of his death, then he is being neglectful of one of the greatest Ibadah.