AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH MIAN MUSHTAQ AHMED AZEEMI

A panel , comprised of following persons took an exclusive interview of Mian Mushtaq Ahmed Azeemi , at LAHORE MURAQBA HALL on Sunday , SEP 2008, at 2 PM ,PST.
Mr Jawad Ali Sheikh azeemi , Mr jawad azeemi , Mr samad ali azeemi , Mr tayyab hussain azeemi , Mr sheikh ahmed anees , Mr and Mrs Nauman khan azeemi.

GENERAL INTERESTS OF MIAN JEE:

Favourite Food :   paya naan (pakistani clay oven bread with shank curry), biryani (traditional dish made up with rice , meat and exotic spices)
Favourite drink : lassi  namkeen (saltish buttermilk)
Favourite Flower: Gulaab ka Phool (ROSE)
Favourite Colour: White (As it is my Murshid kareem's favourite colour)
Favourite weather: Spring
Favourite Place: MADINAH MUNAWWARA
Favourite Singers:  I used to listen the songs and still  have sense and taste . I like M. Rafi and Lata .

1- Tell us something about your childhood?

I Was born on 26 Feb 1941 at 1:25 PM in Lahore.I spent my childhood in Lahore, I was the only son to my parents and I have five younger sisters, Who all are living healthy by the grace of Allah. My father was a respectable person. I and my sisters all were very much influenced by our mother. She was very pious lady who used to offer Tahajjud prayer regularly and fast often .In our home ,we were not given the breakfast if any one of me or my sisters did not offer the fajar prayer.

2- Education:

 I did my matriculation from Mazung High school Lahore. Then ,after doing F.A from Islamia Collage Lahore ,I did B.Com( Hons) and M.Com from Halley Collage of Commerce ,Punjab University. Then I got my further commerce education from England.I got appointed as a 17th grade officer in the Punjab government , and took retirement as a Deputy secretory finance , Punjab gov as a 20th grade officer in 1998.
I got married to my relative Salma Mushtaq on 21st april 1973 , who is currently in charge of ladies muraqba hall Lahore.My wife was bait with the Sufi Muhammad Hussain of silsila e naqshbandia. After his death , She got admitted as a student in silsila e azeemia.She is a very nice and pious lady. we have 5 daughters.who are living healthy by the grace of ALLAH. Three of them have got married in silsila azeemia and living happily with their kids and families.

3- How did you start your professional life and at what designations did u serve till retirement?

As I have mentioned before that i started my carrier as a 17th grade officer in 1963 and took retirement in 1998 in 20th grade on the order of my murshid kareem , although 5 yrs were left in my official retirement.At the time of retirement i was deputy secretory finance in Punjab Gov.

4- How did u get attracted towards spiritualism?

Environment of our home was very religious.I use to give azan in the mosque at the age of 14 and also used to fast.my paternal grandfather was a disciple of silsila e naqshbandia . He was amongst the special disciples of mian sher muhammad sharaqpoori and was one of the khulafa of muzang area.and those pious people used to visit our place often. Present mian jamil ahmed sharaqpui often used to ask me to get bait . I also used to go to their place with my wife which i have mentioned in my book ALLAH KAY DOST.I used to read the column of ruhani daak by murshid kareem , published in Mashriq Lahore and Daily Jang Karachi. Then my wife got me the edition of October or November in 1979 , and I decided to get bait in the Silsila e Azeemia . Then i sent a request to murshid kareem in Karachi , and he accepted me in silsila e azeemia on 5th January 1980.

5- HOW DID U GET INTRODUCED TO SILSILA E AZEEMIA , AND WHEN DID U MEET MURSHID KAREEM FOR THE FIRST TIME?

In January 1980, I got bait in the silsila , but had not met murshid kareem Hazrat khwaja shamsuddin azeemi yet. I had not even seen him till then.In 1981 , I received a post card from farrukh azeem, saying there is a good news for you , Hazrat khwaja shamsuddin azeemi is coming to Lahore on Saturday by super express , so u r advised to contact on phone.When i called , he told me that the train will arrive at 10 pm , so reach at the Lahore railway station around 9 30pm. I reached there earlier at 8 30 pm , I neither knew anyone and nor i had seen the person i called . I only knew his name .His name was choudary jalaluddin. On station I met a young boy whose name was rasheed shaheen. He was holding a roohani digest in his hands . He told me that he had also come on calling from choudary jalaluddin. Then we met another young boy , asghar ali , who got to know choudary jalaluddin.
At around 9: 45 pm , an old man arrived , whose age was around like 60 /70 .Our friend told us that he is choudary sahab . When we met him , he asked us have you guys ever seen Khwaja shamsuddin azeemi sahab , we all replied never .Then he asked how would you guys be able to recognise him. I replied to him that we will follow you , and the person you ll be welcoming , he sure will be khwaja shamsuddin azeemi . He didnt say anything . Then the train arrived , and we follow choudary sahab to the compartment in which the murshad kareem was sitting ,. Then choudary sahab met murshid kareem and asked his driver to go outside . We assumed that choudary sahab will let us meet murshad e kareem outside the station . but when murshid kareem sat in the car , choudary sahab asked us to come next morning to his home at garden town , as the murshad kareem is tired .We all said salaam to murshad kareem then choudary sahab brought him home . We all were very disappointed . Then i came home on my scooter . My children asked me if I met murshad kareem or not, I told them the whole story . At night , I was very uncomfortable and unable to sleep . I got down quietly , started my scooter and headed towards garden town . When i reached near garden town hamdard factory , 2 huge stray dogs attacked on me , I fell down from the scooter and the scooter came on me .Somehow ,I managed to get up and took scooter to some distance by walk. That was around 2 'o clock at night . At last I found choudary sahab's house.When I rang the door bell ,his servant came and started questioning me . Then choudary sahab showed up . He said , I asked u at the station to come in the morning and you have come at this time . I pledged him but he closed the door and I came back home.
The next day I went to chodary sahab's home straight from my office and there I met murshid e kareem.He asked me where do you live.I replied that I live in muzang 7 kms from here. He asked me is your home near the city , I told him that muzang is a part of the city , then he said come tomorrow , I want to go to your home.I was very happy to listen that . Choudary sahab was also sitting there , he asked about my work, I told him that i m a Gov Officer.I came back after sitting for some time.chodary sahab asked me to bring a big car which could accomodate 7 to 8 people.So, I arranged a wagon from office that could accomodate 15 to 16 people. I took all the kids with me and reached at the choudary sahab's place.Over there murshid kareem met salma and kids and we all had tea with him. We all were very happy . We had a long chat with murshid kareem . Then we all went to dada hazrat abulfaiz qalandar ali saharwardi's tomb with murshid kareem . On way back we came to muzang. We served tea to murshid kareem ., then ch. sahab told murshid kareem that we had to go to somebodys place.I requested murshid kareem to have dinner with us and told him that family had prepared food for him.I asked him to eat a lil bit but ch. sahab was insisting to leave . After observing my facial expressions , murshid kareem told choudary sahab that we are going to have dinner with mian sahab.I was so glad. Then murshad kareem visited all the rooms in the house n chose the roof as it could accomodate a large number of people.Then he decided that the first mehfil e muraqba in lahore will be held at my my home on coming sunday. Then we all had dinner together and i dropped murshad kareem at ch. sahabs house.Next day, I prepared some flyers from my office saying that silsila e azeemia's nmehfil e muraqba is going to held at 158 A main bazar muzang.I gave those flyers to murshad kareem.Whoever was visiting murshad kareem , he was giving them the flyer and advising them to attend mehfil e muraqba at muzang on coming sunday.So , on the sunday a large number of people around 30 - 40 men and women attended mehfil e muraqba , they all were entertained with tea and sweets afterwards.Then murshid kareem announced that from now onwards , mehfil e muraqba will be held at 158 A main bazar muzang, Lahore .This was all about the very first mehfil e muraqba . Since 1981 till today mehfil e muraqba is being held at the same place. Then i converted the lower level of the house into muraqba hall , which is still famous as muraqba hall in lahore, and I m doing spiritual healing at the same place for last 28 years.

 6 -HOW YOUR SPRITUAL TRAINING WAS DONE?

Spritual training never comes to an end, it keeps going on.The time i had spent with murshid kareem is an institution to me.I did a 6 years training course by murshid kareem in Karachi . Whenever murshid kareem had called the caretakers of all meditaion centers , I had been there all the times.I have done a lot of practice(CHILLA) to learn spiritual healing under the supervision of murshid kareem .People who visit me for spiritual treatment ,. I tell them whatever i have learned during my training with the permission of murshid kareem ., and people get healed by the mercy of ALLAH and blessings of Hazoor (saw)and murshid e kareem.Murshid kareem says that a man keeps on learning every moment of the life and that time is the biggest teacher. All men are helpless infront of circumstances and they have to move accordingly where ever the circumstances take them.

 7- WHAT DIFFICULTIES DID YOU ENCOUNTER DURING YOUR SPRITURAL TRAINING AND HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO OVERCOME THOSE?

You have to encounter difficulties to initiate every work and same thing goes with the spritualism too.the greatest difficulty i encountered was to control my sleep , but gradually i have overcome it.now i sleep for 2 hours 45 mins at night. in addition with the 5 times salaat (prayers) I have to offer tahajjud prayer too , then have to recite durood sharif in a large number at night as well and have to fast every wednesday . when i was young , everything was so much easy to do , but as now i m a 70 years old man , everything seems to be difficult . By the grace of ALLAH , i manage to do meditation on my fixed time . A person faces difficulties because the inner person is not use to of such things .and when your nerves get pressurised then things look difficult.

8- DID YOU EVER GET BORED OR UNCOMFORTABLE DURING YOUR SPIRITUAL TRAINING?

In spiritualism , the teacher transfers his thoughts to the student. It is mandatory for a spiritual person that he must have full faith in ALLAH . He must be thankful to ALLAH when going through good circumstances. And when he encounters undesirable situations , even then he calls upon only ALLAH , asks for HIS forgiveness and have an approach that whatever is happening , is sure for his betterment , but as we people are weak and cannot take the burden of these problems so request ALLAH to forgive us and to guide us towards the right path. actually spiritualism is a school of thought.A spiritual person's mind is always attentive towards ALLAH. If we concentrate on the teachings of all the prophets and their books , then we shall come to know that every person has a relation and affiliation with ALLAH . That's why , if the thoughts of murshad kareem are being adopted , then instead of getting bored you enjoy. and while listening and practicing the teachings of murshad e kareem , your mind is only attentive towards ALLAH .

 9- A COMMON APPROACH IS THAT SPIRITUALISM IS A HURDLE IN EVERY DAY LIFE. WHAT DO U SAY IN THIS REGARD ?

 I don't agree with you.spiritualism teaches us that while living in this world , one should perform everyday routine chores , dress up well , eat well , but what ever he does , should turn all his deeds towards ALLAH , WHO is the creator of this world.eat food because ALLAH wants us to eat food or this world would become lone , drink water because ALLAH wants us to drink water so that ALLAH'S beautiful garden (world)keeps on blooming.we must do upbringing of our kids in such a way that ALLAH becomes everything to them.and when they grow up they should steadily turn their all deeds , voluntary or involuntary towards ALLAH. In fact , we could get help from spiritualism in everyday life , the example is doing istakhara before starting some important work , which tells us that doing such thing is beneficial for us or not.

10- WHAT IS SPIRITUALISM ACCORDING TO YOU ?

Spiritualism is actually observation. a thing that comes into observation from divination is called spiritualism.a person cannot enter into a spiritual world unless he comes to know his own inner.before getting know to ALLAH , it is necessary to get to know yourself first.and to get introduce to yourself , one should negate this mortal world.negation doesn't mean that one should get cornered from this world and leave everything . self negation means that one should perform all duties to carry on his living but leave the result on ALLAH , should be thankful in all circumstances , serve the creatures of ALLAH and in the loneliness of night ;concentrate in the meditation that ALLAH ALMIGHTY is watching him and all his deeds.when this perception becomes an observation then a person gets freedom from all the boundaries of senses , he gets introduced to his soul , his inner and then reality of spiritualism gets revealed to him.

11- WHAT SHOULD BE THE APPROACH OF A DISCIPLE AND WHAT ARE THE THINGS HE OR SHE MUST AVOID FROM ?
My murshad kareem khwaja shamsuddin azeemi says that when a legalistic person obeys all the orders of ALLAH , saves himself from the evil , apologizes to ALLAH for his mistakes and deficiencies , tries to follow righteousness , he gets closed to ALLAH.That person gets to know ALLAH , sees ALLAH , observes HIS ambiance on everything
and comes to know that HE is even closer than the royal vein (shah rag). After spiritual training , a person's Consciousness becomes able to believe Transcendence and too see the creatures subsisting there.In order of self or soul purification, the student has to confront some limitations too , which are as follows
avoid idol-ism
never blaspheme the majesty of the LORD.
do not transgress the legalistic rules.(shariat)
avoid from evil deeds.
apologize to ALLAH for his mistakes and deficiencies
get control on anger
.never lie . speak the truth etc etc.

12- WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF MURAQBA ?

Muraqba is such a thoughtfulness which reveals that ALLAH wants HIMSELF to be known and get recognized.The more we concentrate , the more we get familiar with its characteristics.By doing meditation , a person gets the knowledge of his inner or his sou land after getting this knowledge a person gets familiar with his soul or inner.
Every person experiences two stances during his life, since birth till death.The one stance is wakefulness and the other one is sleeping or dreaming.while awake , a person remains pent into time and space.But during sleep he gets free from the bondage of time and space .Besides these two , every person experiences one more stance , which is death. Death is a state in which , soul cuts off its connection with the body.So we come to a conclusion that every person experiences three stances .i-e , wakefulness , sleep and death. The similarity between wakefulness and sleep is that in both the stances , body is affiliated with the soul indirectly or directly , respectively.But in case of death , the soul cuts off its affiliation with the body.
mediation is actually an exercise , a struggle and a thoughtfulness by which a spiritual person could enter into the night trans while being awake.Mediation should be performed under the supervision of a mentor who is familiar with ALLAH'S IRFAN. Mediation wakes up the dormant abilities of a person . A person gets closer to ALLAH . Attains peace of mind.Stay protected from evils and worries . His faith on ALLAH becomes even more stronger and he also gets ill very seldom.

13- WHAT DOES NISBAT (AFFILIATION) WITH THE MENTOR (MURSHID) MEAN?

My murshid kareem says that during the early ages and during the time of sahaba e karaam people used to have muraqba ahsaan. their souls or inner were enriched with the love of Hazoor (saw) .and their spiritual thirst used to get quenched by concentrating and practicing the sayings of prophet (saw)
and those people didn't have to put an extra effort to enlighten and activate their inners.after that era , when people started forgetting the teachings of HOLY QURAN and sayings of PROPHET (SAW) , the spiritual people realized the lacking and started struggling to find the ways that could lead them to ALLAH. Sheikh shahab uddin saharwardi , Sheikh abdul qadir jailani , Khwaja moeen uddin chishti and other spiritual persons introduced different azkaar . This method was not practiced during the time of Sheikh hasan basri.
Nisbat (affiliation) is of following types.
1- NISBAT E SAKEENA : This affiliation develops through the love and sacrifice for HAZOOR (saw).
2-NISBAT E ISHQ:This nisbat develops , when a heart of a person becomes overcrowded with the kindness and favours of ALLAH .
3-NISBAT E JAZB: Hazrat bahauddin naqshbandi named this nisbat as a NISHAAN E BENISHANI. This nisbat is called YAAD'DASHT in silsila e naqshbandia.
My murshid kareem Hazrat khwaja shamsuddin azeemi says that there are two ways to get entered into spiritualism. One method is QURB E NAWAFIL and the other one is QURB E FARAIZ. They both are transfered by murshid kareem through NISBAT E AWAISIA.

 14- WHAT IS YOUR ADVISE FOR A SPRITUAL STUDENT?

A spiritual student or a disciple should always obey the instructions of the mentor (murshid) and should refrain from the things he has not been asked for.Elderly people say that do whatever murshid says , but never do what he does.
All the members of silsila e azeemia are required to follow the teachings and rules and regulations of the silsila true heartily . And must always remember the rule of "stand jointly and steadfastly for the cause of ALLAH and do not be divided amongst yourselves". Should respect elders and be kind enough to young ones.

 

 

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