Acquiring Foresight [Basirat]
The light in the physical eyes of a person is referred to as Basarat. The light of the heart is referred to as Basirat. The person who is blessed with Basirat is such that the truth is clear to him in such a way that there remains no haze or doubt.
By means of Basirat, a person will be able to apply every ruling of the Shari'ah in its proper place without any difficulty. He will remain protected from doubts and misunderstandings, and he becomes a means of protecting the imaan and yaqeen of others too.
On the other hand, if a person is deprived of Basirat, he will make errors, and what comes from his mouth and limbs will be a means of confusion in the Ummah. If a person has studied the Shar'i sciences and he is deprived of Basirat, then he will cause harm and loss to the Ummah, rather than benefit and goodness. Such a person will present a confused and conflicting portrait of Islam and the Shari'ah to the masses. He will create an environment in which people think bad of the pious and the scholars of Islam.
A person who is deprived of Basirat is more inclined to the thoughts and discussions of the day, instead of concentrating on the Qur'an and Sunnah and its related sciences in the light of the understanding and explanation of the early day scholars and pious predecessors. For this reason, one will find him around modernists and liberals, and modernists and liberals around him. When he becomes more impressed with their ideas, he actually increases in his deprivation of Basirat and is rendered totally bankrupt of the great treasure required by a scholar, the treasure of Basirat. The reality is that it is not the physical eyes that are blind, but it is the hearts that are blind. [Surah Hajj: 46]
When a person is deprived of Basirat, he even makes mistakes in the most clear of the Shar'i texts, and he thinks that he is on the right. In fact, he becomes adamant that he is correct, but in reality, he is astray.
Allah Ta'ala has blessed the great 'Ulama' of Islam with immense foresight. Two of these illustrious personalities are: Hujjat-ul-Islam Imam Ghazali rahimahullah (d. 505 AH) and Sultan-ul-'Ulama' 'Izz-ud-Deen ibn 'Abd-us-Salaam rahimahullah (d. 660 AH).
How does a person acquire Basirat?
A person acquires the treasure of Basirat through Taqwa. In addition, when he will practice on his knowledge, then wisdom will flow from his tongue and pen. He will present material that quenches the thirst of humanity and they will be at ease at heart.
The second way of acquiring Basirat is to stay with those who possess Basirat. When a person stays with a person of Basirat, his bosom will expand and his knowledge, thought, imaan, and conviction will be protected from fitnah. The ultimate benefit is that he will be blessed with a good departure from this world, i.e., husn-e-khatimah.
Mawlana Ashraf 'Ali Thanwi rahimahullah says, "In this time, I say that it is fard-e-'ayn to stay in the company of the pious men of Allah. I issue fatwa that in this time, what doubt can there be in this matter, i.e., it being fard-e-'ayn to stay in the company of the pious men of Allah? From experience I have learnt that today, the means of protecting one's imaan is only the company of the pious men of Allah. After this link, by the grace of Allah, no black magic will affect a person."
Sources:
1. Basa'ir Hakeem-ul-Ummat p.146
2. 'Ilmi be Rahrawi ke Asbaab aur Jawed Ahmad Ghamidi ke Ba'd Nazriyyat ka Ja'izah
