1151.    The truth is that obedience to Allah necessarily involves an “infringing” upon our Nafs (lower ego), which is why there is so much resistance coming forth every time from those who are untrained about the realities of the Nafs.

1152.    It is amazing that there is violation of the sanctity of the Awliyaa (RA) from the part of some Muslims, yet we expect victory in our struggles against the disbelievers. This will never ever happen, based on the realization of very well-known Ahadith about the status of the Awliyaa’ with Allah.

1153.    (As mentioned): The characteristic of true Prophetic religion is akin to a tree; its trunk and roots are fixed but its branches may move as per the winds- thus Islam has fixed aspects and changeable matters as well; don’t be either too rigid or too shaky.

1154.    The raptures or ecstasies that one has during Dhikr or prayer are like rattles given to a baby or like candy to small children – not worth much, rather the true Abid (worshipper) does his actions solely for Allah.

1155.    Religious communities must have continuity (like Salat, Sawm, practices that are basically unchanging); if this is tampered with, the Ummah is broken apart – and sometimes it is the goal of the enemies of Islam to break the Ummah apart through such tampering with the unchanging aspects of Islam.

1156.    There is some connection or similarity between the mental (psychotic) states and spiritual states of Qabd and Bast – the difference is that in the spiritual states one is still anchored, so that they can live their lives normally even while they are undergoing their internal states; however in the psychotic cases, such does not transpire, people are under enormous strain and cannot operate normally.

1157.    One needs to go back ultimately to principles when “controversial issues” come up like LGBT – we need to know what is the male principle, the female principle, how they manifest, what is procreation good for, what are lusts and how they should be directed, etc. Without a set of principles for understanding these matters, everything is an open season for experimentation, disappointments, and worst of all, breaking of the Divine Commandments.

1158.    (As mentioned) Why are the Mutashhabihat present to begin with? What happens is that this category is very rich in meaning, yet one has to get their basics straight (their Muhkam), have a strong conceptual framework and only then can they properly uncover meanings in the Mutashabihat. Otherwise they will get confused, have no anchor, and might make heinous mistakes in rulings and beliefs.

1159.    There is a distinction between actions and character. It may be that a person does an outward act of goodness like giving charity even though they are miserly (because they are calculating the benefit this charity will bring to them later on, for example).

1160.    (As mentioned) We know there were various types of periods in the lives of the initial Muslim community and of the Prophet (ﷺ); tests of faith, bans, being alone, but also ecstasy, rapture, and completion of the mission. So we need to relate with the Sirah internally and see where we locate ourselves and how we might reach completion and perfection; that is, even if we die before “finishing”, we are nonetheless on the path.

1161.    Knowledge about the Prophet (ﷺ) should make us love him (ﷺ) more and more; also, true love leads to commitment, without committing to his (ﷺ) path we are only talking empty words.

1162.    It is important to consider Madhaahib as philosophies on how to approach reality, knowledge, language, and the Prophetic Legacy of Muhammad (ﷺ). Merely saying “school of thought” often understates these facts.

1163.    Unity is not the same as uniformity; unity is to agree to a set of basic principles, and other details may vary and we can still be united in these diversities.

1164.    An admonition: So, we say we love the Prophet (ﷺ) but first we don’t follow his (ﷺ) way or do so inattentively; but also we are not willing to go the full way or even half-way to defend his (ﷺ) honor- that is, if our child or mother was being beaten up and ridiculed, would we just look around and watch? Or passionately say that the insults are a protected form of speech, and that our child and mother should consider themselves lucky to be allowed in the land and just put up with ridicule? So much more natural anger and protective jealousy must be there when we are dealing with insults to Islam and the honor of the Prophet (ﷺ).

A feeble sheepish attitude sadly seems the position many have taken first to the Prophet (ﷺ) and by extension to all Muslims around the world, that of lackadaisical inattentiveness, due to not wanting to get our own selves into trouble, or not wanting to diminish our potential economic profits.

1165.    We must reflect on the narrations in which it is mentioned that we Muslims are given Hasanah Kamilah for a good intention while the deed was not done– what is mentioned is a complete reward, not just a reward.

1166.    Note that a writer injects his bias into a book, even when he withholds certain sources.

1167.    It is said that Ibn Abbas (RAA) saw Jibril (Alayhi as-Salaam) 3 times, it is said the third was a reason for his blindness (since the angelic vision is so intense, for us normal people it may pierce physical vision itself).

1168.    There is a distinction between doing something “Lillah” (for Allah) and “Billah” (by means of Allah); this is reflected in the difference between the Abrar and the Muqarrabun.

1169.    We have Tawbah, Awbah and Inaabah. The first is repentance from the sin, then repentance from the evil qualities the sin emerged from, and finally repenting from all other than Allah.

1170.    Understanding the very nature of this lonely world as imperfect is crucial to understanding the Test we are undergoing; without this, people easily lose faith even, or at the very least are dissatisfied and unable to show patience through their lives.

Thus, there is a base level of Sabr that everyone must have; this includes being ready to do all the obligations regardless of the Fitan (trials) one faces, and also never ever despairing of good. These and related matters are obligatory for our hearts to adhere to.

1171.    Alhamdullilah has many meanings one of which is that ALL Praise is Allah’s; so much so that even if someone praises a creation for something they did well, that Praise is actually owned by Allah.

It is also said that the Eternal Speech wherein is pointed the words Alhamdullilah is comprehended only by Him (Exalted be Allah) – that is, as much as creation may try, they never can possibly know what Alhamdullilah really means.

1172.    The nature of this world is Fanaa’ (withering away) and associated intrinsically with this is disappointment. However, note that Islam has Allah as the Real, the True Existent. This is very much unlike certain ideologies which leave it at the world being unreal and withering away, but make no statement about the Divine Reality.

1173.    (As mentioned): The treaty of Hudaybiyah opened up many doors for conversions of people into Islam precisely because Islam and being Arab became synthesized. This is an important lesson for our own time as well, and how Islam can be and has become the indelible identity of many nations.

1174.    In the injunction for Siyaam, Kutiba has been used instead of Katabtu, the ‘Ulamaa say this is because Allah knows this is hard upon us, so it has been presented in a gentle manner (that is, the passive voice has been used, instead of the first person active verb indicating the command).

1175.    We should be careful that our perceptions of the Prophet (ﷺ) are not so distorted that they are merely projections of our own egos unto something we conveniently call “Muhammad”. We of course do want to think the best of the Prophet (ﷺ), but this has to be based on who he (ﷺ) truly was, not based on what we imagine or what we would like him (ﷺ) to be based on modern sensibilities or local pressures.