The son of today does just not talk to his father whilst looking in his eyes, but by holding his collar. The daughter of today does not comfort her mother, but causes her pain instead. The younger ones have no manners, elders are not affectionate, friends are not loyal, daughters are cruel, sons are rude, mothers are harsh, fathers are angry, students are immodest, and teachers are not people of virtuous character. Due to being deprived of Islamic knowledge and righteous company, neither do parents give Islamic upbringing to their children, nor do children serve their parents.

Lack of moral values has led to the destruction of our social and family lives. When we look into the blessed lives of our pious predecessors رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ  and the blessed Companions رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْـهُم, we learn that they used to show utmost respect towards their elders.

Respecting your spiritual guide (murshid)

‘Allamah Imam Abu Qaasim ‘Abd al-Kareem Qushayri رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه used to present himself in the court of his spiritual guide, i.e murshid, whilst observing great respect. He comments on this himself by saying,

In my early days, whenever I was blessed with the privilege of visiting my murshid, Sayyiduna Abu ‘Ali Daqqaaq رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه , I would fast on that day and then perform ghusl. Only then would I gather the courage to attend his gathering. Many times, I would reach the door of the madrasah, but would return out of shyness. If ever I would gather the courage and enter the Madrasah, then as soon as I would reach the middle of the Madrasah, then such a unique sensation would pass through my body that even if a needle was plunged into my body during this time, I perhaps would not have felt it.^[1]

Dear Islamic brothers! Have you seen how the people of the past era used to respect their murshid? It was as though this deep-rooted respect, love and manners were flowing through their very veins. Tales of their wholehearted acts of respect and devotion render us speechless, as such love for one’s murshid is something not commonly found nowadays. It is for this reason that they attained the blessings of their respective murshid.