THE TRUE WEALTH OF MADINA MUNAWWARAH by Hazrat Maulana Yunus Patel Saheb (rahmatu llah alayh) My respected Shaikh,

Hazrat Maulana Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Saheb (Daamat Barakaa tuhum), has mentioned, in his poetry, that our value is dependent on our Nisbat with Madina Munawwarah. When anything is purchased and brought from Madina Munawwarah, then a lover of N abi (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) will naturally appreciate and value it no matte r how small or how cheap. Why ? Because it has a connection with the city of the Beloved (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). It has been touched by the air of Madina S harief, or it has been produced from the blessed land of Madina Sharief - and th is is what has made it special. The residents of Madina Sharief are the neighbours of Rasulullah (sallallahu ala yhi wasallam) and they are the envy of the heavens, because they have such extr eme physical closeness to Nabi (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). They are the envy o f all of us as well for we too desire the honour of being in such proximity to N abi (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) at all times. Allah Taala, in His infinite Mercy and Grace, does not want to deprive anyone of us of this blessing of being close to Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), s o He has given us a simple recourse to always being near to our Beloved Rasulull ah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). This nearness is attained via our nisbat (conne ction) with the A maal of Madina Munawwarah i.e. the Sunnah (way of life) of Rasul ullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). Our value, in the sight of Allah Taala, is de pendent on our relationship with His beloved Rasul (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) . Allah Taala has informed us of this in the Qur aan Sharief : Say [O Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wasallam)]: If you do love Allah, follow me. A llah shall love you and forgive you your sins; And Allah is Most-Forgiving, Very -Merciful. [Surah Aal-Imraan 3 : 31] And my Shaykh has presented the same message is poetry form : "The footprints of the Beloved of Allah, Nabi Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), is the road to Jannat; The Sunnats of Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) connect one with Allah Taala." It is a misconception that a persons repeated performance of Haj and Umrah and re peated visits to Madina Munawwarah is to be taken as the yardstick of piety. The yardstick of piety is not how many umrahs or Haj, a person has made. The present day scenario is saddening to say the least, since Umrah and Haj have become a holiday, a shopping spree, and a tour for the majority. The deficit is in sincerity of intention. As has been said, the visitors are many, but the pilgrims are scarce. For many, these trips are now for business and trade. And for others, each trip is another feather in their caps which must be made known and announced to the wor ld. There are those that boast of their yearly trips, whether for Haj or Umra, or both, updating us on the number of visits they make to Makkah Mukarramah and Ma dina Munawwarah. We have heard people say : I have made Umrah for the past 20 or 30 years and have never missed out one. Yet, the reality is that we cannot count o ur umrahs and haj. We cannot say how many have been performed, because we do not know how many have been accepted. Those umrahs and Haj that are accepted are th

e only ones that we can count. And we will only come to know of their acceptance on the Day of Judgement. Despite the frequent visits to the Haramayn Sharifayn, there is generally not mu ch improvement in our spirituality. If we have not brought a reformation in our lifestyles : If we have not fulfilled the rights of people, if we have not retur ned to people that which is their due, if we have not asked forgiveness from tho se whom we have wronged, if we are not punctual with Salaah, and if our zaahir ( external condition) and our baatin (internal condition) does not reflect the pur ity and spirituality that come with visits to the Haramayn Sharifayn, then we sh ould truly be concerned as to the quality and acceptance of our Haj and Umrah. I have mentioned many times that the maal (wealth/material goods) of Madina Munaww arah is not what is available in its market places, bazaars and shopping complex es. Unfortunately, when we visit Madina Munawwarah, then more often than not, th e objective is the maal of Madina Sharief. The majority of those visiting Madina Munawwarah forget the purpose of their vis it once their gazes fall on the commercial centres of Madina Sharief. Many who d o know about the material commodities being sold, plan in advance that there wil l be an exchange or purchase of gold, there will be this commodity and that comm odity bought. Whilst in Madina Sharief, the talk is the latest technology, the ce llphones, the best gold shops, cloak shops, and so forth. The intention and pursuit becomes the maal of Madina and not the a maal of Madina Mu nawwarah. And this is how our stay of 7 or 8 days passes : mauled by the malls . O ur imaan, our love for Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), our time, our en ergy, our money are mauled in the obsession we have of shopping. We forget, and so metimes we do not even care to give any kind of attention or express any kind of appreciation to our host, Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) because we ar e so caught up in material purchases. Instead of filling up the pockets of our hearts with the wealth of Love for Rasu lullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) and with the wealth of his noble characteris tics, we fill up suitcases and suitcases many a time, even purchasing more suitc ases for filling up the material commodoties of Madina Sharief. I am not saying that it is Haraam to shop there. It will be meritorious if a per son makes purchases with the intention to support the businessmen and traders of Madina Munawwarah. The Hadith also makes mention that when we are on a journey, we should make some effort to bring back gifts for our families no matter how s mall or how cheap because there is always an expectation from those who remain be hind, at home, that the person on a journey will remember his loved ones and bri ng back something for them but this should not be misconstrued. Shopping is not meant to be the be all and end all especially of our visit to the Haramayn Sharifa yn. The person should purchase a few gift items a day or two before departure. A nd the gifts that we should be appreciating most are the duas of the Haramayn Sh arifayn, Salaam at the Raudha Mubarak, the Zam Zam of Makkah Mukarramah and the Kajur (dates) of Madina Munawwarah. Almost everything else is made in China, Taiwan and Japan and can be purchased a nywhere else in the world, including our own country, or city or town. However, the Haramayn Sharifayn offer a different market where such spiritual bounties are obtained, which cannot be obtained anywhere else in the world. The true lovers of Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) make this trip to fil l their hearts and lives with the A maal of Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam ) - with his beautiful seerat and soorat, with his kindness, forgiveness, mercy , compassion, generosity, abstinence and the treasure trove that we know of his noble life.

The visit should be purely to visit Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), to make Salaam to our Beloved Nabi (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), to spend time in h is Mubarak city and glean from our visit, those virtues, those qualities that wi ll be the medium of bonding with him and being the means of our own value increa sing in the sight of Allah Taala. If all the visitors to Madina Sharief were to return home with the true maal and w ealth of Madina Sharief i.e. the akhlaaq (character) and a maal of Nabi (sallall ahu alayhi wasallam), then the value of the entire Ummah will increase. The Sahabah were the stars of mankind guides and leaders for all nations and peopl e. They had to thus make the great sacrifice of leaving Madina Sharief to spread the religion of Islam. Despite them being distanced from their beloved Madina S harief, they traveled with the nisbat of Madina Sharief. This was the key to their success. Wherever they went, there was progress and success. On the other hand, we put price tags on ourselves by looking at our material pos sessions. What are material possessions ? Fanaa (annihilation and destruction) wi ll come over them. Let us introspect and consider our value in the light of the nisbat that we have with Madina Sharief. The reality is that we have discarded our nisbat with Madin a Sharief, and as such our value has decreased. Today, the Ummah as a whole is b eing sold very cheaply in the markets of the kuffaar. This is our own doing and downfall. If we have to re-connect with the way of life, the actions and characteristics o f Nabi (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), then most definitely, we will fetch a high price in Allah Taalas esteem, and we will be successful in both worlds.