[Moupponge]

A letter by Hadhrat Mujaddid Alf-e-Thani to Mullah Hajji Muhammad Lahori:

The Ulama loving the world and being fond of it is like a black stain
on their beautiful faces. Though such men of knowledge are useful to
people, they are not useful to themselves. The honor of strengthening
the din and spreading the Shariat belongs to them, yet sometimes a
disbeliever or a fasiq also does this job. As a matter of fact, the
Master of Prophets "alaihi wa 'ala alihissalawatu wa ttaslimat'
indicated that evil people also will strengthen the din, saying,
"Allahu ta'ala certainly strengthens this din through fajir persons,
too." They are like flintstones. There is energy in a flint. Men start
fires with the power in this flint, thus making use of it. But the
flint itself does not gain an advantage. Likewise, these people do not
benefit from their own knowledge. In fact, their knowledge harms them.
For, on the Day of Judgement they will not be able to say, "We did not
know. If we had known that it was a sin we would not have done it."

It is declared in a hadith: "On the day of Judgement, the person who
will be tormented most is the Alim whom Allahu ta'ala did not enable
to benefit from his own knowledge." Certainly, knowledge, which Allahu
ta'ala esteems and which is honored above all, will be harmful to
those who make it a means for seizing property and rank, for coming to
the fore. In fact, being fond of the world is something which Allahu
ta'ala does not like at all. Therefore, it is a very loathsome deed to
spend knowledge, which Allahu ta'ala esteems, in a way which He
resents. It means to abhor what He esteems and to esteem, exalt what
He resents. To be clearer, it means to stand against Allahu ta'ala.
Giving lectures, preaching, issuing religious articles, books and
magazines are useful only when they are for Allah's sake, not for
gaining a rank, property and fame. And the symptom of such pious and
pure thought is not to be fond of the world. Those men of din who have
incurred this bane, who are fond of the world, are in fact worldly
men. These are the evil Ulama; these are the basest of people; these
are the thieves of faith and iman. However, they think of themselves
and represent themselves as men of din, as men of the next world, and
as the best of people. Surah Mujadala purports about them, "They think
of themselves as Muslims. They are liars. The devil has seized them.
They do not remember Allahu ta'ala, nor do they mention His name. They
have adapted themselves to the devil and have become devils. Be it
known that those who followed the devil suffered loss. Abandoning the
endless bliss, they threw themselves down into endless torment."

One of our superiors saw the devil sitting idly, not trying to deceive
people, and asked him why. The devil answered. "The evil Ulama of
today who pass for men of the din help me so much that there is no
need for me to do this important job." As a matter of fact, the recent
slackness in doing the commands of the Shariat and men's turning away
from the din are all because of the words said and articles written by
false religious men and because of these men's ill will.

Those Ulama of din who have not allowed their hearts to be seized by
the world and who are not ambitious about gaining property, rank, fame
or coming to the fore, are men of the Hereafter. They are the
inheritors, the representatives of Prophets "alaihimussalam". They are
the best of people. On the day of Last Judgement, their ink will be
weighed with the blood of martyrs, who gave their lives for the sake
of Allahu ta'ala, and the ink will weigh heavier. These are the people
who are praised in the hadith, "The Alim’s sleep is worship." These
are the people who understand the beauty of infinite blessings in the
next world, who see the ugliness, the evil of the world, and who know
that the next world is eternal but this world is transient and
exhaustible. For this reason, not looking at the things that are not
staying but changing and perishing, they hold fast to what is
permanent, to the beauties which do not deteriorate or perish.
Understanding the greatness of the next world is possible by seeing
the infinite greatness of Allahu ta'ala. And he who understands the
greatness of the next world does not care for the world. For, this
world and the next world are polar opposites. If you please one of
them, the other will become hurt. He who esteems the world offends the
next world. And he who dislikes the world has esteemed the next world.
It is impossible to esteem or abhor both of them. Two opposite things
cannot be put at the same place together.

Some great men of tasawwuf, after forgetting about themselves and the
world altogether, pretend to be worldly men for many reasons and
benefits. They are thought of as loving and demanding the world.
However, there is no worldly love or desire in them. As it is
purported in Surah Nur, "Their trading, buying and selling do not ever
prevent them from remembering Allahu ta'ala." They seem to be attached
to the world, but they have no such attachment. Khwaja Bahauddin-i
Naqshband Bukhari "quddisa sirruh" says, "At the bazzar of Mina in
Mecca, a young merchant was purchasing some goods which were worth
about fifty thousand gold coins. At the same time, his heart did not
forget about Allahu ta'ala even for a moment."
(Vol 1:33)