Hadrat Imam-i Rabbani says in the 17th letter of the third volume of his Maktubat:
We should eat food not for pleasure or flavour, but for getting strong enough to do Allah’s commands. If in the beginning you cannot intend so, force yourself to intend so at each meal. Entreat Allahu ta’ala so that you can develop a real intention! We should wear new and clean clothes, and, when dressing, we should intend to adorn ourselves for worship, for namaz (ritual prayer). Allahu ta’ala declares in the Qur’an: “When performing each namaz, wear your adorned, clean, and favorite clothes!” We should not wear our clothes for ostentation in the presence of others; this is a sin. [Ibni Abidin, while explaining the makruhs [1] in fasting, says that it is mubah [2] to dress smartly.] All actions, work, words, reading and listening, [sending one’s son to school] should always be for Allah’s sake. One should try so that these will be compatible with His Shari’at [3]. Then each of one’s limbs and one’s heart will turn towards Allahu ta’ala. One’s heart will mention Him [that is, it will remember Him]. For example, sleep, which is altogether a state of unawareness, will thoroughly be an act of worship when done with the intention of doing religious service with strength and soundness. For one has slept with the intention of worshipping.
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GLOSSARY
[1] makruh: (act, thing) improper, disliked and abstained by the Prophet (‘alaihi ‘s-salam).
[2] mubah: (act, thing) neither ordered nor prohibited; permitted.
[3] Shari’at: (pl. of Shari’a) i) rules and commandments as a whole of the religion. ii) religion.
We should eat food not for pleasure or flavour, but for getting strong enough to do Allah’s commands. If in the beginning you cannot intend so, force yourself to intend so at each meal. Entreat Allahu ta’ala so that you can develop a real intention! We should wear new and clean clothes, and, when dressing, we should intend to adorn ourselves for worship, for namaz (ritual prayer). Allahu ta’ala declares in the Qur’an: “When performing each namaz, wear your adorned, clean, and favorite clothes!” We should not wear our clothes for ostentation in the presence of others; this is a sin. [Ibni Abidin, while explaining the makruhs [1] in fasting, says that it is mubah [2] to dress smartly.] All actions, work, words, reading and listening, [sending one’s son to school] should always be for Allah’s sake. One should try so that these will be compatible with His Shari’at [3]. Then each of one’s limbs and one’s heart will turn towards Allahu ta’ala. One’s heart will mention Him [that is, it will remember Him]. For example, sleep, which is altogether a state of unawareness, will thoroughly be an act of worship when done with the intention of doing religious service with strength and soundness. For one has slept with the intention of worshipping.
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GLOSSARY
[1] makruh: (act, thing) improper, disliked and abstained by the Prophet (‘alaihi ‘s-salam).
[2] mubah: (act, thing) neither ordered nor prohibited; permitted.
[3] Shari’at: (pl. of Shari’a) i) rules and commandments as a whole of the religion. ii) religion.
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