السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ
It’s Saturday 26th September 2020.
Let’s talk about ‘Shaykh Muḥammad Saleem Dhorāt, حفظہ اللہ, & the IDA‘ today.
When I enrolled at Dārul Uloom Bury in 1982, it was like living with one big family. There were 300 students in Dārul Uloom then, from all over the UK and also many parts of the world. Very soon, I got to know the majority of the students. I was in Ḥifẓ Class when I first met Shaykh Muḥammad Saleem Dhorāt, while he was in his final years of ‘Ālim class.
As I completed my Ḥifẓ and enrolled into ‘Ālim class in 1985, Shaykh had graduated and started teaching at Dārul Uloom. I was blessed to be taught by Shaykh. Today, 35 years have passed. Trying to still benefit from Shaykh as much as possible, I was over the moon when a very close friend from Preston offered to take me to Leicester last Friday, 18th September, to take part in Shaykh’s Majlis at the Islamic Dā’wah Academy, in Leicester. Having left Blackburn at 7pm and offering Maghrib Ṣalāh en route, we joined the Majlis at 9:30pm, just as it was about to start. The next 90 minutes were just amazing.
The gems and pearls of wisdom just kept coming from Shaykh. The topic was ‘Zuhd and Ghinā’, translated by Shaykh himself as ‘Abstinence‘. With social distancing in place and everyone wearing face masks, the auditorium at the IDA was full to the limited capacity. It was a most memorable evening.
Upon the completion of the Majlis, Zikr bil Jahr (audible Zikr) took place, after which Shaykh performed the Du’ā It was about 11:30pm when the locals and guests from the Midlands left. Those of us who had travelled from Lancashire, Yorkshire, London and distant towns and cities then had the chance to benefit further from Shaykh’s company, and words of wisdom.
Since the day I met Shaykh, I was intrigued by his amazing memory. Today, 35 years on, I was just mesmerised the way Shaykh asked each guest by name how he was, etc. Shaykh had called me to sit close to him, right at the front, and must have asked me about at least 15 colleagues and ‘Ulamā by name, their health, how they were, etc.
Coming to the point, the residents of Leicester are very blessed. Shaykh’s Majlis takes place every Friday evening. You are just minutes away from the IDA. Soak yourself in the spirituality of this Walī of Almighty Allāh. Residents of the Midlands, you are not very far away. Try to attend regularly and benefit from Shaykh’s company.
We left Leicester at 2am and got back to Blackburn at 4:30am. It is a big sacrifice, but I would request brothers from other parts of the UK to visit at least once monthly. Of course, there are those who attend every week from all over the UK to benefit.
Shaykh has a unique style of addressing the audience, مَا شَآءَ الله. He captivates the hearts, and hardly anyone moves during his discourses. There is pin drop silence all the way through. I could keep writing about Shaykh but I’ll let Shaykh’s work (see links below) do the talking.
In addition to the Friday Urdu Majlis, Shaykh also delivers a number of other programmes, including Hadith Dars (Lesson) on Thursday evening, and Qur’ān Dars on Sunday afternoon. There are also other programmes daily, most of which are broadcast over the receiver and the internet (mixlr).
- Programme Schedule
- Live Broadcasts (Urdu programmes are simultaneously translated into English, also Live)
- IDA Publications, (at-Tazkiyah) Publications (English and Urdu)
- IDA Audio, (at-Tazkiyah) Audio (English and Urdu)
In any case, please try and tune in to the live broadcasts even if you can’t make it to the IDA, and listen to the recorded programmes.
Almighty Allāh lengthen Shaykh’s shadow upon us and bless us with the opportunities to benefit from Shaykh’s auspicious company again and again, Āmeen.
جَزَاكَ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا
Request for Du’ās
وَالسَّلَامُ Hanif Dudhwala