I entered the madrasah but the ambience was just not the same. There was a flurry of activity all around. Flushed, excited faces greeted me. “Baji, please look at this…..” “Baji, does the arrangement look good?” And so on and so forth. The reason for all this was that our beloved Hazratji (Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmed Naqshbandi DB) was coming to visit the madrasah and make dua. My own emotional state matched the hyperactivity all around. I just sat down in a corner and couldn’t stop the past flashing by in my mind when Sana and Kashif, my dearest daughter and her much loved husband, and I took the first tottering, shaky steps to start this madrasah five years back. At that time, after spending a lifetime in worldly pursuits and being associated with the elite academic institutions of material success, both Sana and I had recently graduated with an Alimah degree from Wifaqul Madaris while Kashif was on his way to the alim degree. It was a three sixty degree turn for us to leave that corporeal lifestyle and adopt the real life of Shariyah. I say for myself that I was dead while I lived a full worldly life and saw the light of day when Allah ta’ala opened the doors of His Deen for me. هذا من فضل ربّي……..الحمد لله………… So, we put our novice competencies together in this path of Deen that was so new to us and set out to do our best for Allah ta’ala, just as we had always tried to do our best for worldly gains. It was a new frontier and we could never have achieved what we have today had it not been for the mercy of Allah ta’ala and the sources He provided to guide us to set up an institution of Deen that today stands on much firmer ground. What were those sources? First and foremost was our bayt with Hazratji DB, who is now our patron. It opened our hearts and minds to a new light of spiritual awakening. Then, there is the support from his esteemed khalifa Shaykh Azher Iqbal DB, who provides invaluable advice and assistance. Lastly, it’s as if the whole universe conspires to help us stand on firm footing as we stumble and struggle in our ignorance and weakness. Our first batch of students graduated with honours, are now alimahs and teaching at our madrasa. The one classroom madrasa now takes up four rooms with more than 35 students and 8 teachers; and as Hazrat ji DB said when he met us as a group:
آپکو پتہ بھی نہیں چلے گا کب یہ تعداد ساڑھے تین سو ہو جاۓ گی ان شاء اللہ۔
(It will be no time at all before this number will go up to 350, insha’Allah.) Those words ring cherished in our ears and give us hope in times when we flounder and doubts grip us in the face of odds. May Allah ta’ala accept our humble efforts and make Madrasah Al-Aaizah an instrument of spreading the light of His Deen. Aameen
By Ustadha Almas Taufiq