From the discourses of
Arifbillah Shaykh Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar

PRESENCE OF THE AULIYA (SAINTS)
My dear friends, in every era when great Auliyaare alive and present, then people falsely believethem to be insignificant or not as significant ascompared to the Auliya of former times. Only when they pass away, the people suddenly realise their true status and value. To understand this point better, consider the
following example; A person falls ill in Makkah. Will he sit around waiting for Hakim Ajmal Khanof India to come from his grave all the way from Delhi to treat him? Will he say’ “I am a great personality and
therefore only Hakim Ajmal Khan or one of his calibre can treat me?” No! such an ill person will seek treatment at the hands of the physicians present. Similarly, Alah has created spiritual physicians in
every era, and we can be treated by these physicians of our time and thereby become Bayazeed Bustãmi or Hãji Imdãdullah. In other words, we too can become what is termed as Sãhibun Nisbat, though not of the same calibre of those saints.

SÃHIBUN NISBAT
The actual object is to inculcate Taqwa, to gain the Pleasure of Allah, to shun sins and to become His truly obedient servants. This will link us to Allah and this is what is termed as Nisbat. People often ask; “Who is a Sãhibun Nisbat?”
The reply to this question in the words of the Qur’ãn is; “Those who have Imãn and have Taqwa (piety).” So if a person has inculcated piety after having embraced Imãn, he is a Wali, a Sãhibun Nisbat, a saint, i.e. one who has connected himself to Allah.

Shaykh Ashraf Ali Thãnwi (R) used to say; “We all have Imãn. Now we only have to inculcate Taqwa, and we will become Sãhibun Nisbat.”

BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF A SÃHIBUN NISBAT
The Auliya of the Silsilãs (chain of various sufi orders), the Chishtiya, Suharwardia, Qadria and Naqbandia are unanimous that there are three basic requirements of becoming a Sãhibun Nisbat. The first of these requirements is for us to connect ourselves to another Sãhibun Nisbat.
One lamp is illuminated or lightened by another lamp. Therefore one must place his heart close to a heart which is already burning brightly.
“This fire burns not on its own, It is caused to burn by another flame.”

Khwaja Azizul Hasan (R) says; “The characteristic of fire and the characteristic of the love of Allah is the same. Fire burns from house to house and the love of Allah from heart to heart. There is a pre-condition for the fire of the love of Allah to spread from one heart to the next. The un-illuminated heart must be attached
to the heart which is burning brightly.”

SAINTHOOD
Another question arises; Has Allah closed the doors of Sainthood? People often wonder as to whether it is still possible for us to emulate our pious predecessors and become saints like them? Has Allah closed the doors of sainthood just as He
has closed the doors of Prophethood? The answer to all the above questions is NO. By Allah! Even today the roads leading to sainthood are all open.

From TarbiyatusSaalikeen Shaykh Mufti Zubair Dudha
Islãmic Tarbiyah Academy