My respect father, Maulana Mufti Muhammad Shafi‘
used to relate the story of a prince who had a habit of
doing everything according to a set routine. He had an
appointment for everything he did and a schedule for
starting and complete every task at the appointed times.
During that time, he did nothing else but the task that time
was apportioned for, even if he had finished the appointed
task before its time. For instance, if he had set aside six
hours to sleep and was scheduled to get up at 6 a.m. and
he happened to wake up at 5 a.m., he would remain in bed
until 6 a.m. Although he was not sleeping in reality, he was
sleeping according to his scheduled time.
One day, he awoke at 5 a.m. but since his time to get up
was 6 a.m., he remained in bed. Meanwhile, an ape came
in the house and stole his clothes. It came again and stole
the bread. It then came again and again and filched things
each time it came in. Lying on his bed, the prince saw the
ape each time but did nothing until 6 a.m. He then got up
and caused a commotion, “Is there no one to see the ape? Is
everyone dead? The ape is taking off with the whole house!”
People asked, “Master, did you see the ape steal off with the
things?”
He answered, “Why of course, I saw it carrying off with
many things.”
“Then, master, you should have stopped him yourself.”
He protested, “O but, according to my schedule, I was
supposed to have been sleeping at that time.”
How surprising that man can bind himself to a routine so
much that he even suppresses his innate need to protect his
life and property.
Allah has created anger and self-respect so that a man may
defend himself when anyone commits excess against him
or those related to him or his property. But this anger may
also be used incorrectly where the Shari‘a does not allow
it to be used. In such cases, it is exceeding the limits and
thus haram. There are proper and improper uses of anger.
In the former case, it is not wrong but rather necessary
to show anger. A good example or proper use of anger is
the father’s anger for his son’s misbehavior or a teacher’s
admonishing his student to correct his impropriety. An
example of wrongful use of anger is for a man to lose
temper on a guest who has come to meet him. The guest
should be treated kindly and entertained but, on the
contrary, his host began to give him a piece of his mind
over something small. This is blameworthy and wrong
and must be corrected.
A shaykh has to see, therefore, that the anger used is within
its rightful limits by the salik. He should not allow him
World Within
to misuse it. Thus if a man does not know whether he is
using his temper correctly or not then he must consult his
shaykh who will advise him on the right course. If a man
realizes that he loses his temper inappropriately, he must
apprise his shaykh of the situation and explain how he
misuses it. The shaykh will guide him in a way that he can
gradually control his temper. It is the salik’s responsibility
to observe the directions of the shaykh.
We may also consider a man who is jealous of other people.
Such a person must disclose to his shaykh his problem. He
may be feeling jealous of his friend who gets better marks
than him in his exams. He should ask his shaykh whether
this condition is jealousy and if that is so, how he may cure
himself of this evil.
The base and vile traits in the
inner self are called radha’il.
If a man is lustful, he must inform his shaykh of his
problem and seek his advice. Or, he may be arrogant and
people may have pointed out to him this problem in him
or he may have reflected and observed it in himself. But
arrogance is a disease that man generally does not realize
in himself. We know from experience that an arrogant
person will never consider himself arrogant and will deny it
even if others inform him of it. Nevertheless, other people
do recognize the problem in him. He must therefore let
his shaykh know that he has been informed by others that
he is arrogant or he himself detects this disease in himself.
He must seek his advise on the treatment. Therefore, one
must not go to a shaykh to seek adhkar or advice on what
he should recite or how to observe dhikr or how many
times he should glorify Allah for these things are an aid in
achieving the goal and are not an end unto themselves. The
purpose of this exercise is to take an account of one’s life
from morning to evening. He should evaluate himself to
see if he has been arrogant or short-tempered with anyone
unjustly or greedy in anyway. He should see if he has
love of worldly possessions in himself. He should always
continue to reflect on himself and report his findings to
the shaykh and then observe the treatment prescribed by
him. If he finds it difficult to carry on the treatment then
he must report that too to the shaykh. In short, he must
inform his shaykh of everything about himself concerning
the condition of his heart.
Taken from Spiritual Discourses (v. 1: pp.37-41); translator
unknown; condensed and edited by editorial board
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