


Shaykh Yusuf da Costa: Working towards loving each other in Allah (ﷻ)
On numerous occasions we have mentioned to you that we are so specially privileged by being in the Naqshbandi Tariqah that came from Sayyiduna Abu Bakr Siddiq (r.a.). We are also so specially privileged, because we are the nation of the greatest Messenger (ﷺ), the...

Shaykh Yusuf da Costa: Imraan, the Malawian
Perhaps the greatest blessing that we have received from Allah Almighty is the blessing of existence. If this blessing were not there, then we would not have been able to come to know of Allah (ﷻ), of His Messenger (ﷺ) and of His Message. Our existence means that we...

Shaykh Yusuf da Costa: The spread of the Wahabi-Salafi discourse
Perhaps the major challenge that we have to our work in this country is a very subtle and not very noticeable spread of the Wahabi-Salafi discourse. In fact, even a very cursory assessment of what goes on in our mosques and madrassas, shows a general decline in the...

Shaykh Yusuf da Costa: “Dissension is greater (as a sin) than murder”
This is one of the forgotten verses in the Qur’an. If not forgotten, then, of course, ignored, because the Muslim Ummah has been split into numerous pieces, with some at war with others. I can understand today why on so many occasions Nabi Muhammad (ﷺ) said: “Ummati,...

Shaykh Yusuf da Costa: Losing the Prophetic Practice
There are many matters in our religion that we have to deal with in very special ways as we walk this path of Tariqah with our hand in the hand of our shaykh. I’ve spoken to you on numerous occasions about the obstacles on this path and how difficult it is to see to...

Shaykh Yusuf da Costa: Our relationships
I imagine sometimes an individual appearing for judgment in the Divine Court. The angels in charge praise all his different forms of ibadat, and then, at the end, they inform him that he was a person that was unfair and unjust when it came to certain relationships. Do...

Shaykh Yusuf da Costa: Worship Allah (ﷻ) until you gain certainty
Sometimes one comes across a statement in the Qur’an or elsewhere, an explanation of which does not satisfy one. There is a statement in the Qur’an, for example: وَ اعْبُدْ رَبَّكَ حَتَّى يَأْتِيَكَ الْيَقِيْنُ Worship Allah until you gain certainty (xv: 99). Many of...

Shaykh Yusuf da Costa: Being in the presence of the pious
I have, over the years, examined people’s behaviour in the presence of the pious. At times I was very pleased with the extent of the adab of some people but I was also very displeased with a lack of adab shown by murids towards the shaykh or to other very pious...

Shaykh Yusuf da Costa: Being under His dome
In one of the many Holy Traditions, Allah Almighty uses the word “dome” to describe His Protection of the very special pious people on this earth. He says in this Tradition that nobody knows them and they are under His dome. Of course, we can only assume that Allah...

Shaykh Yusuf da Costa: The sun also shines in the townships
I do not know why, but perhaps it is what we call “blue Monday”, I thought a lot this morning [2012] about the divisions in the Muslim community throughout the world. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) predicted this when he said that the Ummah will be divided in...