In tassawuf, once a person reaches a high level of akhlaqe hameedah/praiseworthy qualities, then they reach the stage of contentment with decree. In Arabic, this is termed ‘radha bil qadha’. Our Shaykh Yunus Patel رحمة الله عليه had a high level of this radha. At one stage when Shaykh رحمة الله عليه was diagnosed with a heart problem, he was instructed to go for a bypass. Months passed, years passed, Shaykh even had heart attacks, yet he refused to go. Family and friends were saying that you need to go. Doctors were saying to Shaykh that your heart is not functioning, we don’t know how you’re still living.
Eventually after a long time, Shaykh went for the bypass. He then said to us that, you may wonder, why did I not go earlier? It’s because I did not have the money. I thought if Allah wants me to go, He will create the means for me to go. Whether I go or not, I won’t live one day more than my appointed time. Now, Allah has given the means. So it will be incorrect for me not to go, so I went.
My late father, Allah fill his qabr with noor, would normally take guidance from a certain Mufti. My father’s kidneys had failed him so the doctors said that the only thing that will help is a kidney transplant. Naturally, we all suggested to go for a transplant but he was not going. Eventually, my father’s brother/my uncle came home and told my father that I have checked, and our blood group is the same, so I will give you my kidney.
After my uncle left I asked, “Papa now what’s the story (i.e will you accept)?” He replied that no, I’m not going to do this operation. One or two weeks later, he called me in the room. He was lying down on the bed and he asked me to open the cupboard. Inside, he had a black folder containing all his correspondence. I handed him the folder and he took out a letter he had written to the Mufti whom he normally took His guidance from, حفظه الله. He gave the letter and requested me to read it. Prior to that, family members had given him fatawa that it’s permissible to do the transplant.
I read the letter. In the letter, my late father رحمه الله was asking Mufti saab whether he can go for the transplant. This was many years back, before the kidney story came up. Mufti saabs opinion – not fatwa – was that no, you shouldn’t. Upon reading this my father stated that; I spent my entire life following the fatwa of my Shaykh, why should I change now? If my time is up, it’s up.
This is RADHA BIL QADHA – (a high level of) contentment with decree. If a person is not content with decree one of two things will happen; he will either go into frustration or a depressive state causing him to lose drive. Both are not conducive for a believer.
The only solution is radha as we can never escape tests. Everyone has a test – some just handle it with radha so we assume they have no test. Shaykh Hakeem Akhtar رحمة الله عليه said that the hearts of awliya, like a waterproof watch, become ‘harm proof’. They have their own set of problems but they handle it with radha. We try to fight our taqdeer but they accept. We need to endure our tests with sabr, read duas and carry on with our life. Otherwise, forget trials killing us, our own mindset will kill us.
I was travelling with one person once, we went through a small town so we stopped to buy some drinks. He went to the cafe only to return in a very sullen mood. I said, “Bhai, what happened to you?” With tears in his eyes he begins telling me that I wanted to marry a certain girl, but my mother didn’t like her. We had so many arguments over this so in the end, I didn’t marry her, I married someone else. But that girl, that girl I wanted to marry, I just saw her in the shop. She has a rare illness, may Allah grant her Jannah. I’m not saying she’s a bad person but Allah saved me through this doubt in my mother’s heart whilst I was fighting against it.
May Allah grant us the tawfiq to be content with decree, Aameen.
— Shaykh Dawood Seedat حفظه الله
The above is an extract from Shaykh’s talk on 23/10/15 in Cape Town. To listen to the full audio, please click here.