"Almighty Allah says, I treat my servant according to his expectations from Me, and I am with him when he remembers Me. If he remembers Me in his heart, I remember him in My heart; if he remembers Me in a gathering, I remember him in a better and nobler gathering (i.e. of angels). If he comes closer to Me by one span, I go towards him a cubit's length, if he comes towards Me by a cubit's length, I go towards him an arm's length, and if he walks towards Me, I run unto him."  

(Hadith – Bukhari and Muslim)

There is a simple litmus to see if we are true believers or not. Think about the Munkar and Nakeer's questions in the grave. They will ask: What is your Deen? The answer to us is obvious now in the privacy of our living room. But if this question is posed by our employer in front of other employees at our work place - or in any other confrontational situation - what would our response be and how quickly will we answer the question?

If we believe our answer will come to us naturally and spontaneously, we can say al-Hamdulillah, we are Muslim by faith. But if we feel our response may be delayed or even not forthcoming, then we should fear hypocrisy and ask Allah to strengthen our Iman. The questioning of the Munkar and Nakeer will be confrontational and not against the back drop of Paradise.

Remember, this amount of Iman is the bare minimum that is required of all. May Allah strengthen our iman and make us answer the questions in the grave with ease and comfort.

Said Dhû al-Nûn: Three [traits] are amongst the tokens of true-faith (îmân): the heart grieving due to the afflictions of Muslims, giving counsel to them while overlooking their bitter attitudes, and guiding them to what is in their interests despite them behaving foolishly and being averse to it. 

What you see in dreams (subject to interpretation) is far more real than what you perceive with your five senses.

Shaykh Amin in the context of a lecture on the etiquette of seeking interpretations of dreams.

If ever you have disobeyed Allâh in any location, then do not depart from that particular location until you do an act of obedience in that [very] location and perform in it an act of worship. For just as that location will testify against you when it is requested to testify, likewise it will testify for you, and at the moment you will be free from it. Similar to this are your clothes [thawb], if you disobeyed Allâh wearing them then do as I mentioned to you: worship Allâh wearing them. Similar to this is that which separates from you from trimming your mustache, shaving the pubic regions, trimming nails, combing hair, and removing any filth. 

Dala’il al-Khayrat, the most celebrated manual of Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in history, was composed by the Sufi, wali, Muslim scholar of prophetic descent, and baraka of Marrakesh Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Jazuli (d. 870/1465). Born and raised among the Gazulah Berbers of the Sus region in southern Morocco, he studied the Qur’an and traditional Islamic knowledge before travelling to Fez, where he memorized the four-volume Mudawwana of Imam Malik and met scholars of his time such as Ahmad Zarruq, and Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah Amghar, who become his sheikh in the tariqa or Sufi path. 

Amghar traced his spiritual lineage through only six masters to the great founder of their order Abul Hasan al-Shadhili and thence back to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). After initiating Jazuli into the way, he placed him in a khalwa or solitary retreat, where he remained invoking Allah for some fourteen years, and emerged tremendously changed. After a sojourn in the east and performing hajj, Jazuli himself was given permission to guide disciples as a sheikh of the tariqa. 

Imam Ahmad al-Sawi relates that one day Jazuli went to perform his ablutions for the prescribed prayer from a nearby well but could not find any means to draw the water up. While thus perplexed, he was seen by a young girl who called out from high above, “You’re the one people praise so much, and you can’t even figure out how to get water out of a well?” So she came down and spat into the water, which welled up until it overflowed and spilled across the ground. Jazuli made his ablutions, and then turned to her and said, “I adjure you to tell me how you reached this rank.” She said, “By saying the Blessings upon him whom beasts lovingly followed as he walked through the wilds (Allah bless him and give him peace).” Jazuli thereupon vowed to compose the book of Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) which came to be known as his Dala’il al-Khayrat or “Waymarks of Benefits.” 

His spiritual path drew thousands of disciples who, aided by the popularity of his manual of Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), had a tremendous effect on Moroccan society. He taught followers the Blessings upon the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), extinction of self in the love of Allah and His messenger, visiting the awliya or saints, disclaiming any strength or power, and total reliance upon Allah. He was told by the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in a dream, “I am the splendor of the prophetic messengers, and you are the splendor of the awliya.” Many divine signs were vouchsafed to him, none more wondrous or unmistakable than the reception that met his famous work. 

Its celebrity swept the Islamic World from North Africa to Indonesia. Scarcely a well-to-do home was without one, princes exchanged magnificently embellished copies of it, commoners treasured it. Pilgrims wore it at their side on the way to hajj, and a whole industry of hand-copyists sprang up in Mecca and Medina that throve for centuries. Everyone who read it found that baraka descended wherever it was recited, in accordance with the Divine command: “Verily Allah and His angels bless the Prophet: O you who believe, bless him and pray him peace” (Qur’an 33:56). 

(al-Mutrib fi awliya’ al-Maghrib, 143–44). 

-Sheikh Nuh Keller

Recovering stolen goods 

One night a gang of thieves broke into a man's house and stole his household goods. They also forced the owner to take an oath to the effect that if he identified the thieves he would be irrevocably divorced from his wife. The next morning the owner saw the thieves selling his goods but he could say nothing because of the oath he had taken. He came and related the incident to Imam Abu Hanifa. The Imam requested him to gather the Imam, Muazzin and other influential people. When they all arrived Imam Abu Hanifa asked them : "Would you all like to see the goods of this man returned to him?" They replied : "Yes, we do." He then said : "Gather all the evil people you know of amongst you in a house or masjid. Then let them come out one at a time and ask the owner if he is the thief. If he is not the thief he should say so. If he is the thief then the man should remain silent. When he remains silent you should arrest the thief." They did as Imam Abu Hanifa had advised them and all the stolen good were recovered. (Al-Azkiya) 

Refreshing your memory 

A man came to Imam Abu Hanifa and explained that he had burried some wealth in a place but he had forgotten where it was. Imam Abu Hanifa said to him : "This is not a question of fiqh (jurisprudence) that I can give you guidance on. However, go home and perform Salaah the entire night. Insha-Allah you will soon remember. The man did as he was told. Not even a quarter of the night had passed when the man remembered where he had burried his wealth. He came back to Imam Abu Hanifa and told him what had happened. The Imam explained : "I knew that Shaitaan would not allow you to perform Salaah the entire night and he would make you remember the place. Why did you not spend the remainder of the night in Salaah in gratitude to Allah?" (Al-Azkiya)

Said Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Salamah: Dhû al-Nûn counseled me [saying]: The faults of people should not divert you away from your own faults. You are not a guardian over them. Then he said: The most beloved of Allah’s servants to Allah Mighty and Majestic is the one most understanding of Him. The completeness of a person’s understanding and their humbleness regarding it is to be inferred only from a person’s listening to someone even if that person may be [more] knowledgeable than speaker, promptness in accepting the truth even though it comes from one below him [in stature], and a person’s acknowledging of a mistake if it comes from him.