| CONTENTS | SAHÂBA ‘The Blessed’ |
|||
| Waqf Ikhlâs Publications No: 18 | ||||
| A
BIOGRAPHY of HADRAT IMÂM RABBÂNÎ AHMAD FÂRŰQÎ SERHENDÎ ‘quddisa sirruh’ (971–1034) [1563–1624 A.D.] The book Maktűbât (Letters), originally in the Fârisî language, consists of three volumes. It also contains a few letters in Arabic. An elaborate printing of the book was accomplished in 1393 [1973 A.D.] in Nâzimâbâd, Karachi, Pakistan. It was reproduced by offset process in Istanbul. A copy of the Fârisî version exists in the library of the university of Columbia in New York, U.S.A. Maktűbât was rendered into the Arabic language by Muhammad Murâd Qazânî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’, and the Arabic version was printed in two volumes in the printhouse called Mîriyya and located in the blessed city of Mekka in 1316. A copy of the Arabic version occupies number 53 in the municipality library at Bâyezid, Istanbul. It was reproduced by offset process in 1963, in Istanbul. A number of the books written by Hadrat Imâm Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruh’ were reprinted in Karachi, Pakistan. Of those books, Ithbât-un-nubuwwa was reproduced by offset process in Istanbul in 1394 [1974 A.D.]. The marginal notes on the book, which is in Arabic, provide a biography of Hadrat Imâm Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruh’. In the following section we shall present an abridgement from the biography. People who would like to know Imâm Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruh’ more closely and with more detail would have to read the Fârisî book Umdat-ul-maqâmât, by Khwâja Muhammad Fadlullah, and the book Barakât, by Muhammad Hâshim Badahshî. The latter one, also in the Fârisî language and reproduced by offset in Istanbul, is of great help for the acquisition of stronger ikhlâs and more conscientious îmân. (Muhammad Murâd Qazânî was born in the Ufa town of the Qazan (Kazan) city of Russia in 1272. Completing his madrasa education in his hometown, he went to Bukhârâ in 1293 [1876 A.D.]. He studied higher Islamic sciences in Bukhâra and Tashkend, and went to India and thence to Hijâz in 1295. He carried on his education in the blessed city of Medîna, and attained a certain degree in Tasawwuf as well. In 1302 he translated the book Rashahât and then the book Maktűbât into Arabic. He also wrote a biography of Imâm Rabbânî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’ in Arabic). Muhammad Murâd Munzâwî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’ was another scholar. He did not translate Maktűbât into Arabic. There are various ways to learn the facts about past people; how they were, their knowledge and ignorance, their guidance and aberration, etc. The first way is, for instance, if they founded a madhhab or a regime, to study the institution they founded. The second way is to read their works, books. The third way is to hear people who are unprejudiced about them and who mention their merits and imperfections objectively. Now we will study Imâm Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruh’ from these three viewpoints: 1– Imâm-i-Rabbânî, mujaddid wa munawwir alf-i-thânî, Ahmad ibn Abd-il-Ahad, has an ancestral chain that reaches back to the Amîr-ul-mu’minîn ’Umar-ul-Fârűq ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ with the twenty-ninth paternal link. All his grandfathers were pious and virtuous people, and each of them was a greatest scholar of his time. 2– Implicit and indirect good news herald a person’s advent before he is born. Adumbration of this sort does not clearly name the person himself or his birthplace. An example is the news foretelling the advent of Mahdî. The occasional false pretensions to the name of Mahdî in recent history were merely attempts to exploit this latency. The same rule applies to the news foretelling our religious leaders (imâms). Examples of such news are the following hadîth-i-sherîfs: “If the religion (Islam) fled the earth and went to [the cluster of stars called] the Pleiades, a youngster of Asiatic origin would apprehend it and bring it back.” “Men will get into insoluble trouble and look for a scholar to solve their problem. They will see that none is superior to the scholar (who will be living) in Medîna-i-munawwara.” “Do not speak ill of the Qoureishîs. A scholar of their descent will illuminate the entire world with knowledge.” Of these hadîth-i-sherîfs, the first one refers to Imâm a’zam Abű Hanîfa, (the founder and leader of the Hanafî Madhhab,) the second one alludes to Imâm Mâlik bin Enes, (the founder and leader of the Mâlikî Madhhab,) and the third one foretells the advent of Imâm Shâfi’î, (the founder and leader of the Shâfi’î Madhhab) ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhum ajma’în’, according to other Islamic scholars. All these conclusions, regardless of the authenticity of the facts they are based on, are of conjectural capacity and therefore they are not definite knowledge. Whereas they are identical with knowledge in the friend’s view, they aggravate the foe’s stubbornness and vulgarize the denier’s nescience. For, it is either moral laxity and ignominy or vulgar ignorance and recalcitrance to deny something in the face of the great number and the high status of the people who believe it. Such is the case with Wahhâbîs, who obstinately deny the hadîth-i-sherîfs, which we have quoted above, about our religious leaders (imâms). The same applies to the deniers of Mahdî, for in effect it means to deny the so many hadîth-i-sherîfs (concerning Mahdî). For this reason, (some) Islamic scholars say that a person who denies Mahdî becomes a disbeliever. By the same token, Jews and Christians deny Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ although the good news about his advent is given in their holy books. We Muslims believe in him positively. Likewise, also, there are pieces of good news concerning Imâm Rabbânî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’, which are definite and positive facts in the view of his friends, although, by contrast, they exacerbate the denial and the obduracy of the enemy. The Believers’ faith is in their own favour, and the adversaries’ denial is at their own peril. In fact, a Believer ought to have a good opinion about another Believer, even though he is not someone he knows well. Would it not, then, be wiser by far to have a good opinion about the Awliyâ, who are praised in myriads of books and whose own books fill the entire world and whose followers have always been the most valued and beloved ones of their times and whose goodnesses shine far and near with solar brightness? 3– Our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ stated, “Of my Ummat (Muslims), there will come someone nicknamed Sila. Through his shafâ’at (intercession with Allâhu ta’âlâ for the slaves), many people will enter Paradise.” This hadîth-i-sherîf is written in the book Jam’ul-jawâmî, by Imâm Suyűtî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’. Providing an extensive explanation for the Awliyâ’s words on ‘Wahdat-i-wujűd’, Imâm Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruh’ proved that they were compatible with Islam, and combined the two very vast Islamic oceans, i.e. the Ahkâm-i-islâmiyya (the Islamic principles, tenets, acts of worship, commandments and prohibitions, ritual practices, etc.), and Tasawwuf (knowledge pertaining to heart and soul; orders, paths, methods and techniques for the purification and improvement of the heart and soul), (which had hitherto been considered apart from each other). This won him the epithet Sila, (which means reunion; combiner). One of his letters ends with the prayer of thanksgiving, “May hamd (praise and gratitude) be to Allâhu ta’âlâ, who has made me a sila between two oceans!” He was known with this nickname among his companions. No one before him had won the epithet ‘Sila’, which exists literally in the hadîth-i-sherîf giving the good news. It is a fact in the sunlight that the epithet had been meant for Imâm Rabbânî. He who believes this will be beloved to him. Supposing his belief were wrong, neither in this world nor in the next would he be blamed for having had a good opinion about a Muslim. Imâm Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ stated as follows, in versified narration: The doctor and the naturalist
supposed that when men 4– Mawlânâ Jâmî ‘quddisa sirruh’, in his book Nafahât, quotes the Shaikh-ul-islâm Ahmad Nâmiqî Jâmî as having stated as follows: “I subjected myself to the total amount, and even more, of the mortifications and afflictions suffered by all the Awliya, and Allâhu ta’âlâ blessed me with all the spiritual states and goodnesses enjoyed by the Awliyâ. Every four hundred years Allâhu ta’âlâ blesses one of His slaves named Ahmad with such grand gifts, in such transparency as all people will see the gifts clearly.” There are four hundred and thirty-five (435) years between Ahmad Jâmî and Imâm (Ahmad) Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruh’, and throughout that period there was no other Walî with the name Ahmad and the same degree of greatness. In all likelihood, Imâm Rabbânî must have been the target of Ahmad Jâmî’s congratulatory innuendo ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhum’. This presumption finds credence in another statement made, again, by the Shaikh-ul-islâm Ahmad Jâmî ‘quddisa sirruh’: “After me there will be seventeen people carrying my name. The last one, which is the greatest and the highest, will come after the first millennium (A.H.).” 5– Halîl-ul-Bedahshî ‘quddisa sirruh’ states: “Of the great scholars constituting the (chain of scholars called) Silsila-t-uz-zahab, there will come a paragon of perfection in India. He will be peerless in his century.” Imâm Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruh’ is the ineluctable addressee of the implication in this statement, since India produced no other scholar in the same silsila. 6– Imâm Rabbânî Ahmad Fârűqî ‘quddisa sirruh’ was born in the city of Sihrind, situated on the route between Lahore and Delhi, India. ‘Sihrind’ means ‘black lion’. For, the city was first established by Sultân Fîrűz Shâh on a site that had formerly been a jungle of lions. It was not long after being born when Imâm Rabbânî caught an infantile disease. So his father took him to his own master Shâh Kemâl Kihtelî Qâdirî. “Don’t worry,” said the profoundly learned scholar. “This child prodigy is going to lead a long life and make a very great person.” Then he held the child by the hand and kissed him on the mouth. Upon this the fayz and nűr (light, haloe) of Abdulqâdir Geylânî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ pervaded his blessed body. He received his initial education from his father, learned Arabic, and memorized the Qur’ân al-kerîm in his early childhood. Possessed of a mellifluous voice, he recited the sűras like a nightingale singing. He memorized several booklets on various sciences and went to the city of Siyâlkűt (Sialkot), where he studied some positive sciences and learned a great deal from Mawlânâ Kemâladdîn Kishmîrî ‘quddisa sirruh’, who was the highest scholar of his time and the great teacher who educated the renowned scholar Abdulhakîm Siyalkűtî. He received ijâzât[61] in Hadîth, in Tafsîr and in sciences of Usűl (methodology, procedures) from Qâdî Behlűl Bedahshânî, who was an ’âlim-i-rabbânî. He was only seventeen years old when he completed his education, in possession of ijâzât in all the branches of religious and positive sciences, as well as in sciences called Furű’ and Usűl. During his education, he received, through his father, the fayz and flavour in the hearts of the great men of Tasawwuf affiliated with the orders of Qâdirî and Cheshtî. His father was still alive when he already began to teach the disciples practical and spiritual sciences. In the meantime he wrote quite a number of books, among which are Risâla-t-ut-tehlîliyya, Risâla-t-ur-radd-ir-rawâfid, and Risâla-t-u-ithbât-un-nubuwwa (Proof of Prophethood). He was specially interested in belles-lettres. His eloquence, rhetoric, quickness of comprehension and great intelligence were objects of bewilderment for all the people around him. 7– With such superlative knowledge and unequalled spiritual perfection, his heart was burning with the love of the great guides of (the order of Tasawwuf called) Ahrâriyya. He was reading books written by the scholars of that path. A year after his father’s decease he left Sihrind for (a voyage to Mekka for the performance of the Islamic pilgrimage termed) hajj. Enroute to his destination, he called at Dehli, [i.e. Delhi,] and paid a visit to (the great spiritual master and scholar named) Muhammad Bâqî Billâh ‘quddisa sirruh’, who lived there. As soon as he entered the blessed sage’s presence, a nűr (light, haloe) shone up in his heart. He felt attracted, like a needle that was caught in a magnetic area. His heart became inundated with things unknown to him and which he had not heretofore heard of. He was going to come back after hajj and reap from the mellow spiritual source, yet the affection and the desire in his heart was too strong for him to wait that long. So the following morning he entered the great scholar’s presence again and extended his wish to attain the Ahrâriyya fayz. He remained there, in the blessed master’s service. Paying utmost attention to his own manners as well as to the perfectly adept guide’s words, he attached his heart to him. He preferred being with the owner of the Kâ’ba to going to the Kâ’ba. Exerting all his exclusively high talents and his well-endowed personality, he attained all sorts of perfections, which became manifest on his gifted person. So kind and magnanimous was his master’s compassionate concentration on him that it was hardly beyond two months’ time when he attained unprecedented spiritual realizations. A couple of months sufficed for him to become entitled to an unconditional authorization in the path of Ahrâriyya from his master, who ordered him to go back home thereafter, transferring most of his disciples to his care and sending them along to Sihrind. Back home, he began to spread zâhirî[62] and bâtinî[63] knowledge and nűrs to the world and to educate his disciples and students and guide them to spiritual heights. He was now an owner of universal reputation, and his own master joined in the influx of his admirers to reap spiritual lights from him. He would fill everybody’s heart with knowledge and haloes, and resuscitate and invigorate the religion of Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’. His utterly effective letters would encourage the time’s pâdishâhs, governors, commanders and judges to rally to the cause of Islam and to hold fast to the Sunnat-i-saniyya. He would raise a great number of scholars and Awliyâ. 8– Although he had acquired the spiritual knowledge (’ilm-i-bâtin) from Muhammad Bâqî ‘quddisa sirruh’, Allâhu ta’âlâ conferred even more upon him. And even this exceptional knowledge, which was peculiar to him, he publicized worldover. His master also would come to attain pieces from that knowledge, enter his presence and sit with adab (suitable manners). It was on one of those occasions that his master came, sensed that his master-disciple was busy with his own heart, told the servant not to disturb him (Imâm Rabbânî), and did not enter the room, waiting silently at the door. Some time later Imâm Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruh’ stood up and asked who was at the door. “It is this faqîr, Muhammad Bâqî,” called his master ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’. Upon hearing the name, Imâm Rabbânî ran to the door and welcomed his master humbly and with suitable manners. His master would always give him glad tidings, praise him in the presence of his acquaintances, and command his disciples to adapt themselves to Imâm Rabbânî after his decease. 9– Sayyid Muhammad Nu’mân ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’, a very great scholar and one of highest disciples of Khwâja Muhammad Bâqî ‘quddisa sirruh’, relates: When my teacher told me to adapt myself to Imâm Rabbânî (after his death), I tried to tell him that it would be unnecessary, saying, “The mirror of my heart will only be towards your bright heart.” My teacher retorted, “What do you think Ahmad is? His solar light outshines thousands of stars like us.” 10– Khwâja Muhammad Bâqî wrote as follows to some of his acquaintances, who were the greatest scholars of his time: A youngster came from the city of Sihrind. He has very much knowledge. And his behaviour perfectly reflects his knowledge. He stayed with this faqîr, (the great scholar means himself,) for a few days. I have seen much in him. I understand that he is going to be a sun that will enlighten the entire world. His relatives and all his brothers also are brilliant, valuable and knowledgeable heroes! And his sons, especially, are a treasure of Allâhu ta’âlâ each. 11– He said on another occasion: For the recent three or four years I have been exerting myself to guide others to the right path, to the way of salvation. Al-hamdulillah (May gratitude and praise be to Allâhu ta’âlâ)! My exertion has not come to naught, for a person like him has come out. 12– Khwâja Muhammad Bâqî ‘quddisa sirruh’ stated on another occasion: I brought this seed, which is a medicament for hearts and a cure for souls, from Samarkand and Bukhâra, and sowed it in the fertile soil of India. I spared no effort for the education and guidance of the disciples. When he surpassed all degrees and attained the highest grades of all sorts of perfection, I withdrew myself from between and left the disciples to his care. 13– In a letter that Khwâja Muhammad Bâqî Billâh ‘quddisa sirruh’ wrote to Imâm Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruhumâ’, he states as follows: “May Allâhu ta’âlâ bless you with the lot of attaining the highest grade and guiding all others as well! A line: Earth has a share from the meal table of the beneficent! “The unornamented truth is that the Shaikh-ul-islâm Abdullah Ansârî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’ stated, ‘I was educated by Abul Hasan Harkânî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’. However, if Harkânî were alive now, he would ignore that he had been my teacher, come and kneel down before me.’ My inaction is not due to complacency or snub; on the contrary, I am awaiting a sign implying admission. This is the truth of the matter. May Allâhu ta’âlâ bless us with guidance! May He protect us from conceit and vanity! Sayyid Sâlih of Nishâpűr, who will be bringing you this letter of mine, came to me for the cure of his heart. Because I do not have time and I am not in a convenient state, I am sending him to you lest he should waste his time with me. Inshâ-Allah, he will attain your high and generous attention and obtain something proportional to his talents. 14– “May Allâhu ta’âlâ, for the sake of His beloved Awliyâ, whom He has chosen for Himself, guide also those wretched and impoverished mendicants of knowledge and sagacity, the hapless count-outs of all windfalls, and make them attain their wishes! I have been unable to present my true respect to your rank, which is a resource of Awliyâ. Yes, this is the only proper way of addressing oneself to a rank whose states are true to its name. To call you ‘my disciple’ would mean to display the most shameless insolence and to obscure the truth with the apparent contraposition. I request your benedictions, sir.” 15– In addition to his own master, most of the scholars and sages of his time mentioned his name with laudatory remarks that he perfectly deserved, refuted those who were uncivil enough to speak ill of him, and all of them gathered like moths around the light of his ma’rifat. The greatest and the most distinguished ones among them were Fadlullah Burhanpűrî, Mawlânâ Hasan-ul-ghawsî, Mawlânâ Abdulhakîm Siyâlkűtî, Mawlânâ Jemâladdîn Tâluwî, Mawlânâ Ya’qűb Sirfî, Mawlânâ Hasan-ul-Qubâdânî, Mawlânâ Mîrekshâh, Mawlânâ Mîr Mu’mîn, Mawlânâ Jân Muhammad Lâhurî and Mawlânâ Abd-us-salâm Diyukî. Muhaddith Abdulhaqq Dahlawî spent a greater part of his life criticizing him; however, when the mirror of his heart rid the rust and dust of his nafs so that the rays of that sun illuminated his heart, he began to praise him and to refute the slanders of the stubborn deniers. 16– Fadl Burhanpűrî, for instance, would take pleasure from listening to laudatory remarks about his beautiful attributes and enjoy hearing about his ma’rifats. He would say that he (Imâm Rabbânî) was the Qutb-ul-aqtâb, i.e. the imâm (religious leader, the highest scholar) of his time, that his reports about the secrets of truth were always right and valuable, and that his adherence to all the subtleties of the Islamic religion and his universal popularity attested to the fact that his words were true and to the high status of the spiritual states he were experiencing and displaying. During the Imâm’s ‘quddisa sirruh’ imprisonment, he would pray for his release after each of the five daily prayers of namâz. When people from the neighborhood of Sihrind came to him to express their wishes to become his disciples, he would rebuke them, saying, “So you live at a place close to Imâm Rabbânî and look for knowledge and ma’rifat at other places. Leaving the sun, you run to the stars for light. You astonish me.” 17– Hasan-ul-ghawsî would praise him very much. He writes as follows about the imâm in his book Manâqib-ul-awliyâ: “The owner of the rank of Mahbűbiyyat, the ornament of the chairmanship of the assembly of Wahdâniyyat, the expert of the rank of Ferdiyyat, and the chief of the rank of Qutbiyyat.” 18– Mawlânâ Abdulhakîm Siyâlkűtî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’ was another admirer of Imâm Rabbânî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’ who paid profound respect to the Imâm. He would struggle against his deniers. He would call him ‘Mujaddid-i-alf-i-thânî (Restorer of the Second Millennium). He is said (by the Islamic scholars) to have been the first person to call him this name. He would admonish the deniers, saying, “It is ignorance to raise objections to great people’s words without properly understanding what they mean. People who do so end up in perdition. To reject the words of Ahmad the master, who is a source of knowledge, fayz and irfân, stems from not knowing and understanding him.” 19– Muhammad Mu’min Kubrawî of Belh city sent one of his disciples to Imâm Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruh’ for inâbat (repentance for sins), tawba (repentance and invocation for the forgiveness of sins, and resolution not to commit sins again), and sulűk (a term in Tasawwuf, which means ‘to enter a religious order; to make progress in one of the paths of Tasawwuf’). When the disciple entered Imâm Rabbânî’s presence, he conveyed the salâms which he brought from his master, from Sayyid Mîrekshâh, from Hasan Qubâdânî, and from Qâdil Qudât Tulek, and added: My master Mîr Muhammad Mu’min said, “I would go and be blessed with his lectures and serve him till death were it not for the hindrances such as my old age and the great distance. I would try to enlighten my heart with his nűrs, which have not fallen to anyone else’s lot. My body is far away, down here, yet my heart is up there. I beg him to accept this faqîr, (i.e. Muhammad Mu’min himself,) as if I were one of his pure disciples in his presence, and to scatter his blessed nűrs into my soul. Kiss his hand on my behalf, too!” The disciple kissed the Imâm’s hand again and, as he was leaving he said, “The blessed people in the city of Belh request of you to send them letters telling about sublime facts.” Upon this Imâm Rabbânî ‘qaddas-Allâhu sirrah-ul-’azîz’ wrote the ninety-ninth letter and gave it to him together with a few other letters. Some time later some devotees from Belh came to India with the report that upon receiving the Imâm’s ‘quddisa sirruh’ letter Mîr Muhammad Mu’min had read it with exuberant satisfaction and had said, “If great Awliyâ such as Bâyezîd the Sultân-ul-’ârifîn and Junayd the Sayyid-ut-tâifa were living now they would kneel down before Imâm Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruh’ and not even for a moment would they be absent from his service.” 20– One of the scholars of his time said, “The share that falls to the comprehension of scholars from Imâm Rabbânî’s ‘quddisa sirruh’ writings is identical with whatsoever ignorant people understand from the (words of metaphysical level called) hikmat that they hear from the (deeply learned and wise scholars called) hakîm.” 21– Another pious scholar of his time, whose religious practices were in harmony with his religious knowledge, observed as follows: “Experts of knowledge pertaining to heart and soul do either tasnîf (composition) or te’lîf (compilation). Tasnîf means an ’ârif’s writing the occult and mysterical pieces of knowledge that are imparted to him (and inspired into his purified heart). And te’lîf means to compile others’ words, to arrange them in a self-established order and then write them. It has been a long time since the business of tasnîf has left the world, although te’lîf still survives. However, what Imâm Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruh’ has been writing perfectly fall into the category of tasnîf. They are not te’lîf at all. I am not one of his disciples. Yet I have been studying his writings minutely, and for reason’s sake I have not so far found a single word belonging to others. All of them reflect his own kashfs (findings of the heart) and the pieces of knowledge flowing into his heart. All of them are sublime, acceptable, beautiful, and compatible with the Islamic religion.” 22– When the greatest qâdî (Islamic judge) of his time was asked about the (spiritual) states that Imâm Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruh’ had been experiencing and displaying, he replied, “The words and the states of the scholars of the knowledge of heart and soul are beyond the capacity of our minds. However, when I saw the states of Imâm Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruh’, I developed a realization and comprehension of the states and the words of the past Awliyâ. Before that, whenever I read about the states of the (past) Awliyâ and their peculiar acts of worship, I speculated a certain degree of hyperbolism about the written accounts. Yet, seeing his states and manners eliminated my speculations and hesitations.” 23– Abdulhaqq Dahlawî, a scholar of Hadîth, was formerly opposed to Imâm Rabbânî’s ‘quddisa sirruh’ writings; he would despise them and write refutations to them. Later, however, Allâhu ta’âlâ blessed him with seeing the truth; penitent of his former attitude, he made tawba. He wrote to Mawlânâ Husâmaddîn Ahmad, one of the graduates of Khwâja Muhammad Bâqî, about his tawba, as follows: “May Allâhu ta’âlâ’ bless Ahmad-i-Fârűqî with (all sorts of) salvation! This faqîr’s (Hadrat Dahlawî’s) heart is now true towards him. Curtains of humanity have gone up, and the blemishes of the nafs have cleared. Aside from the spiritual solidarity, it stands to reason that a religious superior like him could not have been defied. How unwise and crass I must have been! No words I would say now would suffice to express the shame and inferiority that my heart feels towards him. It belongs to Allâhu ta’âlâ, alone, to convert hearts and to change spiritual states.” In another letter, which Abdulhaqq Dahlawî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’ wrote to his own children, he said, “Tear the drafts of my letters which I wrote in opposition to the writings of Ahmad Fârűqî ‘sallamahullâhu ta’âlâ’! No longer is there any blur about him in my heart, which feels quite true towards him now.” This shows that his former opposition was merely human. It was the case also with all the other deniers. Jenâb-i-Haqq (Allâhu ta’âlâ) chooses some of His slaves and blesses them with His Compassion, saving them from the Hell of denial and guiding them to the Paradise of affirmation. The reasons for his tawba are not known for certain. According to some reports, he had a dream in which the Messenger of Allah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ reprimanded him. Some scholars say, on the other hand, that he drew lots on the Qur’ân al-kerîm, that once the âyat-i-kerîma which purports, “... If he is a liar, it is at his own peril. If he is telling the truth, Allâhu ta’âlâ will send onto you some of what He has promised to you,” came out, and that at another time the outcome was the âyat-i-kerîma which purports, “They are the beloved slaves of Allâhu ta’âlâ. Even in their business of buying and selling, their heart is not without Allâhu ta’âlâ in it.” According to a third report, the objections that he raised against him were consequent upon a letter that the adversaries of the blessed Imâm (Rabbânî) had sent to him, (i.e. to Abdulhaqq Dahlawî). When he realized the truth he repented and made tawba. A note: When his children received their father’s letter, they destroyed the drafts. Yet other people also had had letters from him, (which contained his former opinions about Imâm Rabbânî). Those letters still existed in a few books written in Persian. However, beautiful refutations were written to those letters. Short biographies of the scholars who praised Imâm Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruh’ would make up an entire book. 24– THE FIFTH PERSPECTIVE: When a person rises to fame owing to his virtues and perfections, a concomitant increase in jealousy follows. This has been the case since (the first man and the earliest prophet) Âdam ‘alaihis-salâm’. The jealousy of the ignorant is symptomatic of the abundance of the blessings possessed by the envied person. Our Master, the Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ states: “Of all people, prophets ‘alaihim-us-salâtu wa-s-salâm’, suffer the most disasters; next after them are scholars and then come the sâlih (pious, devoted) Muslims.” For that matter, Imâm Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruh’ had a considerable share from disasters. How could it have been otherwise, since he was the mujaddid-i-alf-i-thânî? In other words, Allâhu ta’âlâ had sent him a thousand years after the Prophet, our Master ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’, as a restorer to rehabilitate and strengthen the Islamic religion. Is it an easy job to rehabilitate something, to restore it to its pristine purity, and to undo all the so many superstitions that have become established customs throughout years? Would it have been a simple fait accompli to strengthen Islam and purge it from the deeply rooted impurities at a time when wrongdoings, heresies and superstitions are on the increase, aberrations so widespread, and sham dervishes of Wahdat-i-wujűd are known as Islamic scholars? 25– Mawlânâ Shâh Abdul’azîz (1239 [1824 A.D.]), a son of Shâh Ahmad Waliyyullah (1179), ‘rahimahumullâhu ta’âlâ’, observes as follows: Wahdat-i-wujűd deteriorated into various anomalies among the common people. Misunderstanding the words of the great, the ignorant deviated from Islam in the process of time. The highly esoteric and valuable science (,i.e. Wahdat-i-wujűd,) became a demolisher of Islam, and a source of heresy for the shaikhs of Tekke, whose aberrant paths spread among the ignorant populace. [The comatose trends buttered the bread of the enemies of Islam. Representing some irreligious and immoral people as poets of Tasawwuf, they designed school curricula containing their irreligious words, thus having the younger generations read them in the name of poetry.] Allâhu ta’âlâ, with His infinite compassion for His slaves, created a great mujaddid, Imâm Rabbânî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’. He blessed him with profound knowledge. Through him, He purified the minds of His slaves, separated right from wrong, and cleansed many a heart from heresy. These magnificent accomplishments incurred the spite of some people and a torrent of persecutions, arrows and vilifications followed. The jealousies were even aggravated when, one by one, scholars and other virtuous and mature people left their paths and guides and hastened to join the disciples of the Imâm (Rabbânî) and to serve him. Conspiracies were resorted to for the purpose of exposing the Imâm to danger. For instance, they provoked the ignorant folk by spreading the lie that he abhorred the great Islamic shaikhs such as Junayd-i-Baghdâdî. They began to estrange the short-sighted people from the imâm by alleging that he denied the Wahdat-i-wujűd which was a science for spiritual improvement established by the great shaikhs of Islam. They tried to antagonize his admirers by asserting that he denied the Meshâikh-i-izâm and boasted of having attained the ma’rifat of Allâhu ta’âlâ directly without a guide. The defamations culminated when they finally tried to besmear him with the political felony of insubordination against the government and contempt for the laws and, into the bargain, many another libel which a Muslim could never commit against another. 26– His alleged denial of the Meshâikh-i-izâm was a blatant lie. The truth becomes manifest immediately upon beginning to read his book Maktűbât, which is a clear evidence of his profound respect towards the Meshâikh-i-izâm, so much so that he attaches beautiful meanings even to their words that are vulnerable to misinterpretation and which for centuries their enemies have exploited as fulcrums to bring their calumniations to bear, -as for their words that do not seem to be susceptible of a benevolent interpretation, he says that they were the erroneous words which those great people had said during their apprenticeship and which they corrected after attaining higher grades. He says that errors of kashf (in the paths of Tasawwuf), like errors of ijtihâd (committed by scholars who have attained the grade of ijtihâd), are not only pardonable but also meritorious acts that are likely to be rewarded (in the Hereafter). As regards his alleged denial of Wahdat-i-wujűd; those who read Maktűbât will know that the truth is quite the other way round and that he handles the matter with unprecedented adroitness by, on the one hand, protecting Islam’s honour and, on the other, paying heed to the dignity of those great people. 27– The statesmen under the time’s Sultân Selîm Jihânghir Khân, including his grand vizier, his chief muftî and his harem, were not Sunnî Muslims. However, most of the Imâm’s letters, and also his booklet Radd-i-rawâfid, especially, repudiate people without a Madhhab and explain that they are ignorant, stupid and base people. Imâm-i-Rabbânî sent that booklet of his to Abdullah Jenghiz Khân, the time’s greatest Uzbek Khân in Bukhârâ, with the note, “Show this booklet to the Iranian Shâh Abbâs Safawî! If he accepts it, things will be quite all right. If he does not, then it will be permissible to make war against him.” When the Shâh’s answer was in the negative, a war was made. Abdullah Khân took Herat (Hirât) and the cities in Khorasan. -Those places had been captured by the Safawîs a hundred years before. Upon this all the lâ-madhhabî[64] people in India cooperated, and their spokesmen showed the Sultân (Abdullah Khân) a letter which Imâm Rabbânî had written to his own master and teacher (Muhammad Bâqî Billah), i.e. the eleventh letter of the first volume, and said, “He considers himself, and claims to be, higher than all other people, even higher than Abű Bakr ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’.” The Sultân sent his own son Shâh Jihân to Imâm Rabbânî, inviting the Imâm and his sons and the other great scholars educated by the Imâm. He was resolved to have them all killed. Shâh Jihân went to Imâm, taking along a muftî with him. With them they had a fatwâ legalizing (Islamically) prostration before the Sultân (head of the Muslim state). (A fatwâ is a written answer which an Islamic scholar gives Muslims’ questions. A muftî is a scholar authorized to give a fatwâ). Shâh Jihân knew that Imâm Rabbânî was a true person. He said, “I can save you if you prostrate yourself before my father.” The Imâm replied that the legalization in the fatwâ stipulated darűrat (necessity, inevitability prescribed by Islam), that azîmat (the harder and more commendable choice) and ideal devotion to one’s faith would require refusal of a suggestion of prostration, and that nothing would save a person when the foreordained time of his death came. Leaving his sons and his ashâb (companions and disciples), he went alone. The Sultân showed him the eleventh letter and asked him what it meant. So beautiful and satisfactory was the great scholar’s answer that the Sultân, far below the level as he was to comprehend such sublime and esoteric facts, became cheered and released him apologetically. When the plotters saw that all their efforts had come to naught, they said to the Sultân, “This person has quite a number of men, and his words have caught on throughout the country. If we let him go, a chaos may follow. You see what a conceited person he is. He not only refused to show reverence, which in itself would suffice to prove his detestation, but also did not even condescend to salute you.” Indeed, the drunken, infuriated and ferocious appearance of the Sultân, as the imâm had found him upon entering his presence, had divested him of the respect and dignity that a personage in that position would normally have inspired, so that the great scholar had not even saluted him (by uttering the expression of salâm, which we have described earlier in the text). After a long debate with the assembly, the Sultân ordered that the imâm be imprisoned in the fortress of Gwalior, the most strongly fortified and the most dreadful fortress in the country. Like a nightingale caged in with lowly inmates, the Imâm’s ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ blessed face was shrouded from Muslims’ sight. The harvest moon was covered with black clouds. So gloomy was the hapless night that Sayyid Ghulâm Alî, India’s renowned man of belles lettres better known with his nickname Âzâd, could not help exquisitely versifying the event in his doleful stanzas. 28– Formerly, Imâm Rabbânî ‘qaddas-Allâhu ta’âlâ sirrah-ul ’azîz’ had stated, “There are many other ranks that are above the ranks I have attained. Those higher ranks are attainable only by way of a training with Jelâl (Majesty, Wrath, Rage of Allâhu ta’âlâ, which materializes as disasters, misfortunes, cares). So far, I have been trained with Jemâl (Beauty, Grace of Allâhu ta’âlâ), i.e. with fondlings.” Also, he had said to some of his companions, “Between fifty and sixty, cares and disasters will shower on me.” It happened exactly as he had said, and he was blessed with those higher ranks as well. 29– Thousands of unbelievers imprisoned in the fortress were honoured with îmân and Islam owing to the barakat of the blessed Imâm ‘quddisa sirruh’. An approximately equal number of Muslims made tawba (for the sinful lives they had led before). In fact, some of them would later attain very high positions in Islamic scholarship. A striking example is the illustrious conversion to Islam of a great commander of the fire-worshipping Indians, who happened to be among the audience as the blessed scholar was explaining the eleventh letter to the Sultân and yielded to the merits of the Imâm’s religious steadfastness and the flavour and high standard of his wording. The Sultân’s vizier had appointed his own brother as a guard to wait upon the imâm with instructions that “the convict should undergo a harsh treatment.” Yet the fortunate brother, witnessing various karâmats (wonders and miracles) on the blessed imâm, and an awe-inspiring dignity, patience, and even exultation, instead of dejection, into the bargain, made tawba, doffed the halter of heresy, ornamented himself with the necklace of Ahl as-sunnat, and consigned himself into the pond of grace where bathed the truest disciples of the blessed religious scholar ‘quddisa sirruh’. 30– Not to the least extent did the imprisonment bear on the philanthropy that Imâm Rabbânî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ held towards the Sultân. Pleased with what he had done to him, he would always pronounce benedictions over him. As a matter of fact, some of the companions of the Imâm ‘quddisa sirruh’ had a design against the Sultân, which was very well within their power. Yet the Imâm prevented them, showing himself to them in their dreams as well as when they were awake, and advised them to pronounce benedictions over the Sultân. “Hurting the Sultân will cause harm to all the people,” he would say. Readers of Maktűbât will see these facts in all their clarity in the letters which he wrote to his sons from the dungeon. 31– Sultân Selîm Jihânghîr Khân’s son, Shâh Jihân ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’, rose against his father. He had a powerful army and was sincerely backed by most of the commanders who were apparently on his father’s side. Yet the advantages he had proved short of bringing him victory. He told his story to one of the time’s Awliyâ and asked for benedictions. The Walî said: Your victory depends on the benedictions on the part of the four poles (highest Walîs and scholars) of the present time. Three of them are with you. Yet the fourth one, who is the highest one, does not approve of your attempt. That exalted person is Hadrat Imâm Rabbânî Mujaddid-i-alf-i-thânî ‘quddisa sirruh’. Shâh Jihân went to the Imâm and begged the great scholar to invoke a blessing on him. The Imâm ‘quddisa sirruh’ counselled him to give up the plan to overthrow his father, saying, “Go to your father, kiss his hand and apologize! He will soon pass away and the sovereignty will be yours.” Shâh Jihân listened to his advice and gave up his plan. A short time later, in 1037 [1627 A.D.], his father passed away, whereupon he attained his wish, sovereignty. Then, how could one ever believe the jealous plotters’ slander that Imâm Rabbânî disobeyed the Sultân and flouted the laws? 32– Imâm Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruh’ had spent two or three valuable years in the fortress, when the Sultân began to feel remorse for his wrongdoing. Having him taken out of the prison, he showed him kindness. In fact, he became one of his true disciples and faithful friends. He ordered him to stay for some time among the army. Later, he set him free and, with deep reverence, sent him to his homeland. When Imâm Rabbânî ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh’ was back home, he had attained grades and states thousands of times higher than the spiritual positions which he had been occupying (before imprisonment). With the exception of his blessed sons and his successors whom he educated, no one can be privy to the occult and secret spiritual facts and ma’rifats permeating through his letters which he wrote in the aftermath. Those valuable letters of his complement the three volumes of Maktűbât. 33– Such afflictions and disasters befell not only the greatest Awliyâ, but also prophets ‘alaihim-us-salawâtu wa-t-taslîmât’, so that today’s Awliyâ and devoted Muslims will find solace in them and the afflictions and disasters that the ignorant witness to befall the contemporary Awliyâ will not be construed as symptomatic of iniquity (of the people who suffer them). Historians, who are unaware of this subtlety, write only about the pleasant facts concerning the Awliyâ, withholding some events which reflect their human demeanours. This sparing policy misleads their uncritical readers into visualising them as impeccable and angelic creatures; and, ergo, a most trivial sight of human weakness which they observe on a person who is said to be a pious and devoted Muslim or a Walî causes them to think otherwise, which in turn means that they cannot get a share from the spiritual gifts the blessed person has been endowed with, since you cannot acquire any blessings from a person about whom you have a bad opinion. Some people go even further wrong by gossiping about those pure Muslims. They do not know that Allâhu ta’âlâ hides His beloved slaves under the screen of human mediocrities. As a matter of fact, He declares, “I hide My beloved ones. Not everybody can recognize them.” Imâm Rabbânî ‘qaddas-Allâhu ta’âlâ sirrah-ul ’azîz’ offers a number of explanations on this subject in Maktűbât, while, on the other hand, Muhyiddîn Arabî ‘quddisa sirruh’ states in his book Futuhât that a peccadillo that breaks the heart and humbles the nafs is more useful than an act of worship which inflames the nafs and brings pride to the heart. 34– Having attained his loftiest aspirations, Imâm Rabbânî, Mujaddid-i-alf-i-thânî, Ahmad Fârűqî ‘quddisa sirruh’ reached the grades which Allâhu ta’âlâ bestowed on him, and thereafter, when the time which Allâhu ta’âlâ had foreordained, (i.e. the taqdîr-i-ilâhî,) came, he accepted the invitation extended by Azrâîl ‘alaihis-salâm’ (Angel of Death ) and attained the Refîq-i-a’lâ (Allâhu ta’âlâ) on the twenty-ninth day, Tuesday, of the blessed month of Safer (the second Arabic lunar month) in 1034 [1624 A.D.]. He was buried in the cemetery of Sihrind. May Allâhu ta’âlâ bless his soul with peace and his grave with plenty of nűr! May He make us attain the barakat of his valuable breath and his love! May He guide us to his shafâ’at and join us with his lovers who will assemble under his banner on the Rising Day! Âmîn. 35– People have different habits, different predilections, different wishes, and different thoughts. Therefore, not only as he was alive did he have admirers as well as adversaries, but also after his passing away two different groups of people held two opposite opinions about him. Whereas one group explicitly praised him, another followed the line of criticism. The antagonistic attempts, however, let alone choke his universally renowned ma’rifats, merely betokened evanescent snowflakes on a river. Or, rather, they contributed to his reputation, for, every attempt on the part of his adversaries to scatter poison his admirers counterplotted against with a variety of antidotal confutations. This reciprocal struggle proved fructiferous enough to give birth to more than seventy books specially devoted to this subject. One of them, perhaps the greatest one, the booklet Atiyya-t-ul wahhâb fâsila-t-u-bayn-al-hatâ wa-th-thawâb, a masterpiece composed by Muhammad Uzbekî Makkî, put the adversaries to a crying shame from which they should not have had the face to raise their heads. After the imâm’s passing away ‘quddisa sirruh’, many scholars lauded him and wrote very useful and important books. One of them is Mawlânâ Abdullah Itâqîzâda ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ, the Muftî of Mekka-i-mukarrama, the Shaikh-ul-Islâm, and the Imâm-ul-’allâma. We have not translated the passage from his book which occupies a few pages of the Arabic version. 36– A profoundly learned scholar who praised Imâm Rabbânî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’ after his passing away is Ziyâeddîn Mawlânâ Khâlid ’Uthmânî Baghdâdî ‘quddisa sirruh’, a leader of ârifs, a guide to truth, a paragon of the highest attainable spiritual grades, an owner of physical and spiritual perfections, and an ocean of knowledge. The following paragraph is a paraphrased translation of the couplets in the ninety-fourth page of his Persian divan, in which he utters the delicacies of his lofty soul: “Yâ Rabbî! Please do forgive me for the sake of the haloes in the eyes of Ahmad Fârűqî ‘quddisa sirruh’; a wayfarer of that endless path; a leader of the owners of knowledge; a source of the occult secrets which are neither perceptible to the human sight nor attainable with mind; an owner of greatness beyond the human cognizance and which Thou, alone, knowest; an ocean where meanings foam and crest like waves; a chief of a world where material beings or places do not exist; a source of nűr whose lights illuminate India; a beloved slave for whose sake the city of Sihrind was transmuted into the valley where Műsâ (Moses) ‘alaihis-salâm’ received the Word of Allâhu ta’âlâ; a document to prove the greatness of the religion of Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’; a light for the assembly of the keen-sighted; a commander of the army of absolute piety; a master who not only has attained unthinkable spiritual heights but also guides those who follow his path! Please do overlook my black face! So ruthlessly have I abused myself, innumerable are the faults I have committed, and so disloyal have I been in my promise. Yet the endlessness of Thine ocean of forgiveness and compassion makes me feel hopeful. Thine infinite Kindness, alone, do I rely on. For, ‘I am the Forgiver,’ Thou sayest.” 37– Another scholar who praised him was Hadrat Sayyid Tâhâ Hakkârî ‘quddisa sirruh’, a profoundly learned savant, a virtuous Walî-i-kâmil, a possessor of innumerable karâmats (wonders, miracles), and the highest of the Awliyâ educated and trained by Mawlânâ Khâlid Baghdâdî ‘quddisa sirruh’. 38– Another scholar who praised Imâm Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruh’ was Sayyid Abdulhakîm Efendi ‘rahmatullâhi ’aleyh’, a gem of scholarship and an ideal perfection among the Awliyâ. He states as follows in a letter that he wrote to a devoted Muslim: “Dhikr, and so the effect of dhikr, is a deep sea. No one has reached down its depths. It is a such rough ocean that the entire world is quite unaware of any one of its waves. It is such a vast mass of water surrounding the world that the entire universe would not be able to comprehend it. Dhikr is a spiritual state that occurs in the hearts of those who make dhikr. It is something impossible to describe, to write about, to explain. “A person who knows Allâhu ta’âlâ becomes speechless. He cannot find words to describe what he is experiencing. He becomes overwhelmed with bewilderment. He is quite oblivious to the world and to other people. As Allâhu ta’âlâ is the Person whose dhikr is being made, likewise, He, alone, is the Person who makes dhikr. He, alone, is capable of making dhikr of Himself. Who are poor creatures to make dhikr of Him? However, He commands His human creature to make dhikr of Him in order to tinge his own attributes with the (Attributes of Allâhu ta’âlâ termed) Sifât-i-ilâhiyya. Every person (who makes dhikr) finds an amount of consolation proportional to his abilities in that endless and wavy sea. Ways-al-Qarânî contented himself with a drop from that ocean. Junayd Baghdâdî was satisfied with a handful from that sea. Abdulqâdir-i-Geylânî only reached the shore of the sea. Muhyiddîn-i-Arabî took pride in a jewel taken out from the bottom of the sea. And Imâm Rabbânî acquired a great share from it ‘rahimahumullâhu ta’âlâ. “The letters alif, lâm and he (pronounced as he according to the International Phonetic Alphabet), which serve in the formation of the word ‘Allah’, i.e. the very great word representing a Person, -who is not comparable to any other being,- are means and vehicles that lead to the tenor. Dhikr is not, in itself, to pronounce these letters. Dhikr is the spiritual state produced through the word, ‘Allah’. The word is called dhikr out of necessity to symbolize, and not in the actual sense. “For the same matter, the expression (termed) Kalima-i-tawhîd is not dhikr, either. Yet, with respect to its being pronounced and its meaning, it serves as a means for dhikr, which, in reality, is a state of heart and spirit which comes into being from saying it repeatedly with the heart. Attainment of that spiritual state depends on the expression.” The above-cited translation of the passage from the letter, which is considerably much longer, is an elaborate, eloquent, concise, and at the same time detailed and thorough praise and laudation of Imâm Rabbânî ‘qaddas-Allâhu ta’âlâ sirrah-ul ’azîz’. Sayyid Abdulhakîm Efendi ‘quddisa sirruh’ would frequently say, “Ba’da kitâbillah wa ba’da kitâb-i-Rasűlillah, afdal-i-kutub Maktűbât-est,” during his lectures, and the same statement is written in several of his letters. This statement translates into English as follows: “After the Qur’ân al-kerîm, which is the Book of Allâhu ta’âlâ, (and which therefore is the highest and best of all books,) and after the book Bukhârî, which is a compilation of the hadîth-i-sherîfs, i.e. the utterances of Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’, (and which naturally, is the second highest and best book,) the third highest and best book written in the Islamic religion is the book Maktűbât, (which is a compilation of the letters written by Hadrat Imâm Rabbânî).” [Whereas Mathnawî (Mesnevî), written by Jalâladdîn-i-Rűmî (Celâleddîn-i-Rűmî), is the most valuable book telling about the ma’rifats and the perfections in the grades of Wilâyat attained by the Awliyâ-i-kirâm, Maktűbât, written by Imâm Rabbânî Ahmad Fârűqî, is the most valuable and the highest of the books explaining both the perfections and the ma’rifats in the grades of Wilâyat and the ma’rifats and the kamâlât (perfections) and the subtleties peculiar to the grade of prophethood.] An excerpt from one of his letters translates into English as follows: “... who has read and partly understood the book Maktűbât, which is the most useful book from worldly as well as religious points of view and whose compeer in the Islamic religion has not so far been written... .” He, (i.e. Abdulhakîm Efendi,) would say, “A person who knows a little Persian (Fârisî) language will understand Maktűbât better if he reads the Persian version. For the Turkish version rendered by Müstekimzâde Süleymân Efendi is both complicated and erroneous.” Müstekîmzâde Süleymân Efendi, a disciple of Muhammed Emîn Tokâdî, passed away in 1202 [1788 A.D.]. His grave is adjacent to that of his master at Zeyrek, Istanbul. The book Maktűbât was printed various times at various places. A splendid edition was made in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1392 [1972 A.D.]. It consists of two volumes. The first volume contains the first part, and the second and third parts are incorporated in the second volume. The two volumes were reproduced in pulchritudinous copies in Istanbul by offset process for which best quality paper was used. A Persian abridgement of Maktűbât was rendered in 1080 [1668 A.D.] by Muhammad Bâqir Lahôrî, an eminent one among the hundreds of Awliyâ educated and trained by Muhammad Ma’thűm Serhendî, one of the blessed sons of Imâm Rabbânî. The abridged version, entitled Kanz-ul-hidâyât by the author himself, is of a hundred and twenty pages and contains twenty hidâyats (subtitles). It was printed in Lâhôr in 1376 [1957 A.D.] The same blessed Walî wrote another book, entitled Urwa-t-ul-wusqâ, in the Fârisî language. Inheriting from Rasűlullah, he
was mujaddid alf thânî; He spread Islam worldover,
illuminated every Believer; All tenets in Islam he knew well,
the Sharî’at he obeyed well; All received fayz from his
sohbat, commanders and governors alike,
A
BIOGRAPHY of This book, SAHÂBA ‘the Blessed’, was written by the great Islamic scholar Ahmad Fârűq-i-Serhendî ‘rahmatullâhi ’aleyh’, and revised by Hadrat Sayyid Abdulhakîm Arwâsî. Immured within the smothering haze of complacency pampered by a smattering of science somehow acquired in the name of knowledge, we were bluntly unconscious of the existence of great Islamic scholars and their gigantic works, and especially of the so many highly exalted savants and Walîs who were compared to the Israelite prophets ‘salawâtullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în’, and all we possessed in the name of religious knowledge was a precariously diminutive assortment which consisted of whatever we had heard from our parents and which was being gnawed away piecemeal by the storms blowing around us; and the pitiable situation would have become no better, if not worse for the sake of most unflagging optimism, had it not been for Sayyid Abdulhakîm Efendî ‘quddisa sirruh’; a great genius, a gift that Allâhu ta’âlâ bestowed upon the Turkish nation and who made us hear about the names of innumerable Islamic books each and every one of which is a treasure of values and virtues and a key to the eternal felicity, and who caused us to attain the fortune of reading and understanding their contents which have a curing effect on psychopaths; a savior of the innocent and credulous people who had been fooled into lethal heresies and perdition by the sequinned fallacies of unbelievers and renegades; a learned psychotherapist who forearmed the younger generations with panacea by making people suffering from mental perplexities taste the existence of Allâhu ta’âlâ, the superiority of our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ and the inner nature of îmân and Islam; the refreshing morning breeze that swept away the clouds of unbelief and apostasy which had been blackening the hearts and obscuring the sacred path of our noble ancestors; a sun of knowledge and ma’rifat that cleared the horizons of the gloom of irreligiousness that had thoroughly enveloped the sources of îmân; a noble descendant of the Best of Mankind ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ and a profoundly learned Walî possessed of an expertise in all the subtle particulars of the four Madhhabs and in the sublime facts about the (spiritual grades attained through various paths and called) Wilâyat. It has therefore been seen fit to present a brief biography of that virtuous worldly and next-worldly guide and thereby to leave a keepsake for those happy people who have had the fluke of reading his books. Sayyid Abdulhakîm bin Mustafâ Arwâsî ‘qaddas-Allâhu ta’âlâ asrârahumâ’, one of the greatest scholars in the (chain of scholars called) Sôfiyya-i-aliyya and a model of excellence among those scholars who faultlessly practised their religious knowledge, was a personified treasure of faculties well above his colleagues and contemporaries in the accomplishment of Islamic services such as terwîj-i-dîn and nashr-i-’ilm and seha-i-tâbi’ and in the enactment and practice of the shar’i sherîf-i-Ahmadî ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’. He was born in Baţkal’a (Bashqal’a), a town within the limits of Van, (an Eastern Turkey) province, in 1281 [1865 A.D.]. He received an ijâzat [a diploma] in the earlier half of the hijrî year 1300. Not only did he receive an authorization from the Allâma Sayyid Fehîm ‘quddisa sirruh’ in sciences such as ’ilm-i-sarf and nahw (the Arabic grammar); mantiq (logic); munâzara (argumentation); wadi’, (which means, literally, posture, attitude, legislation); bayân (expression, discourse); ma’ânî (lexicology, semantics); bedî’ (rhetoric); kalâm (speech, branch of science helpful in understanding the Qur’ân al-kerîm); usűl-i-fiqh (methodology employed in fiqh); tafsîr (explanation of the Qur’ân al-kerîm); tasawwuf; nush-i-li-l-muslimîn; iftâ-’alal madhhabîn; ’ulűm-i-hikamiyya, or hikmat-i-tabî’iyya, [which covers sciences such as physics and biology]; hikmat-i-ilâhiyya; riyâdiyya (mathematics); hay’at [astronomy]; and ’ulűm-i-zâhiriyya. The same profoundly learned scholar taught and gave him full authorization in the orders of Tasawwuf such as Mujaddidî; Qâdirî; Kubrawî; Suhrawardî; and Cheshtî. His father was Sayyid Muhyiddîn, whose father was Sayyid Muhammad, whose father was Sayyid Abdurrahmân, who was at the same time Sayyid Fehîm’s father’s father ‘rahmatullâhi ’alaihim ajma’în’. That his paternal chain traces back to Alî Ridâ bin Kâzim, one of the twelve imâms ‘rahimahumullâhu ta’âlâ, is written in the registers of canonical lawcourt in Iraq, which is a document bearing the blessed signature of Sayyid Abdurrazzâq ‘quddisa sirruh’, a grandson of Sayyid Abdulqâdir Geylânî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’. Surviving the oppressions and massacres perpetrated by the Armenians, who were emboldened when the Russian army reached a spot only an hour’s march from Baţkal’a on the first day of the blessed month of Rajab, 1332 [1914 A.D.], Sayyid Abdulhakîm Arwâsî and seventy of his kith and kin, women, children and all, set out on a middle-eastern migratory odyssey which carried them via a number of Iraqi and Anatolian towns and cities such as Ruwandiz, Erbil, Mosul, Adana and Eskiţehir, and which eventually ended in the township of Eyyűb Sultân, Istanbul, in the early Shawwâl of 1337 [1919 A.D.]. First they were accomodated in the Yazýlý Madrasa, a school building in the market-place. Then he was appointed as imâm in the mosque called Murtadâ Efendi, which was in the vicinity of Idris Köţk at Gümüţsuyu. He had made hajj twice before the migration. He has a number of letters in the form of pamphlets. Among them are such extremely valuable masterpieces as his work telling about the commencement of religious practices such as Mawlîd and the using of the (prayer beads termed) Tesbîh and their canonical lawfulness; his booklet entitled Râbita-i-sherîfa; his book entitled er-Riyâd-ut-tasawwufiyya, which he wrote during his career as a mudarris [professor] of Tasawwuf in the Islamic university called Madrasa-i-mutahassisîn during the reign of Sultân Wahîdaddîn Khân; his books Sahâba-i-kirâm (Sahâba ‘the Blessed’) and Ajdâd-i-Peygamberî; and his work on the Islamic jurisprudence; in addition to his poems in Arabic, Persian and Turkish. He neither ventured into politics, nor involved himself in any political complications. He was against all factions, especially those which were being carried on in the disguise of mystic orders. He was never heard to mention words such as ‘shaikh’ and ‘murîd’ after the enactment of the law banning tekkes. Not only was he himself an ideal model in strict law-abidingness, but also he would always advise his company to follow his example. However, his sermons on the pulpits of various mosques of Istanbul such as Eyyűb Sultân, Fâtih, Bâyezîd, Bakýrköy, Kadýköy and Ađa, Beyođlu, wherein he reiterated his disapproval of a group of impostors who were exploiting the Islamic values for their worldly advantages, incurred the ire of the iniquitous rogues, who had recourse to calumniation in counteraction. So vigorous was the smear campaign they waged against him, that eventually he was arrested in his home in Istanbul on the eighteenth of Ramadân, 1362, which coincided with the eighteenth of September, 1943, a Saturday, and transported to Izmir, where he was first lodged in a hotel, Meserret, and then moved to a private house. After an almost three months’ sojourn there, he left for Ankara on the tenth day of Zilqa’da, Monday, and, arriving in the city on Tuesday, he went to his nephew Fârűk Iţýk’s place, where he stayed bedridden for eighteen days. It was eighteen minutes before sunset, twelve according to the adhânî time and six-thirty by the zawâlî time, on the twenty-ninth of Zilqa’da, 1362, which was the twenty-seventh of Teshrîn thânî [November], Saturday, 1943, when he attained his eternal palace in the Hereafter. A light earthquake was recorded during the night. That day his blessed corpse was taken to his son-in-law Ibrâhîm’s house at Keçiören, where he was washed and shrouded, the (prayer termed) janâza salât was performed, and the blessed corpse, (which had served one of the darlings of Allâhu ta’âlâ for eighty-one years,) was interred at Bađlum, a township twenty-four kilometres north of Ankara, at sunset. Husayn Hilmi Iţýk was the lucky person who was honoured to join the janâza salât for him, to enter his blessed grave, and to undertake the duty of talqîn. (Please see the thirteenth through nineteenth chapters of the fifth fascicle of Endless Bliss for information about death and terms, duties and services connected with death.) His grave is on the north-eastern part of the cemetery, which in turn occupies a gentle slope some fifty metres west of the township. Beside the entrance to the mosque of Bađlum is the blessed grave of Hadrat Sayyid Burhânaddîn Műshî. May Allâhu ta’âlâ make his rank even higher! May He make us attain his shafâ’at! May He bless us with reading his books, following the path he guides, and always reaping spiritual fruits from his blessed soul! Âmîn. Let each Muslim weep and shed
tears of blood, All were suddenly orphaned, so
destitute The earth danced with joy
throughout the night, He was, in his latest days, so
grief-stricken, In the name of eternity that has
embraced his soul, Mehmet Timurođlu
THE TWO MOST BELOVED Allâhu ta’âlâ has pity on all the people on the earth. He sends useful things to everybody. He shows them the ways to protect themselves against harms and to attain happiness and salvation. In the Hereafter, He will be magnanimously kind, forgiving those whom He chooses of the Muslims who are to go to Hell on account of the sins they have committed in the world. He, alone, creates every living being, keeps every being in existence, and protects all against fears and horrors. In the name of such an omnipotent being, Allah, we begin to write this pamphlet. We offer our hamd (praise and gratitude) to Allâhu ta’âlâ. If a person thanks any other person at any place, at any time, in any way and for any reason, the thanks paid, in its entirety, belongs to Allâhu ta’âlâ by rights. For, He is the sole creater of all, the single educator and trainer, and the one and only maker and sender of everything in the name of goodness. He, alone, is the owner of power and authority. No one can think of doing something good or bad, or have the will or desire to do so, unless He creates the idea. The choice that a slave exercises between doing good or bad to another is a mere nullity unless He, too, wills it and gives the power and the chance to do so. When some of His slaves whom He likes wish to do something bad, He does not will it and does not create the malevolent action. Therefore, only benevolent deeds proceed from such slaves. On the other hand, when His enemies, who have already somehow incurred His Wrath, will and desire to do evils, He, too, wills and creates those evils. Such iniquitous slaves have enslaved themselves to their nafs, and they never wish to do something good. Therefore, malevolence is the only product that comes out of them. We present our salât and salâm (benedictions and salutations) on Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’, the most beloved Prophet of Allâhu ta’âlâ. We invoke blessings on his Ahl-i-Bayt and on each and every one of his Sahâba ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum’. Allâhu ta’âlâ commands Muslims to cling to the Qur’ân al-kerîm and to unite around the Qur’ân al-kerîm. The Ashâb-i-kirâm, who were perfectly obedient to all the commandments, united together, loved one another and became brothers. Allâhu ta’âlâ praises them for this brotherly love among them in the Fath-h sűra. Unity engenders power. Disunity causes ruination. Let us be like the Ashâb-i-kirâm. Let us adopt their high moral values. Let us love one another. Let us unite in the path guided by the Qur’ân al-kerîm. Let us not believe the lies fibbed by those separatists who have deviated from that true path. Let us do good to everybody. Let us be soft-spoken and gently smiling with everybody and try to promulgate Islam’s honour worldover. Obedience to the government and to the laws is incumbent upon every Muslim. It is a grave sin to cause fitna or chaos. Differences of Madhhab should not be grounds for fighting. Some foreign bureaus are publishing books in all languages for the purpose of sowing discord among us. Defiling the hadîth-i-sherîfs, misinterpreting the âyat-i-kerîmas, and concocting sad stories, they are deceiving the young people. In order to expose the plots for undermining Islam from within and to refute the slanders and lies that the plotters have fabricated, the Islamic scholars have written thousands of books for a thousand years, thereby protecting the Muslims from falling victim to the guided extinction stalking them. One of those useful books is Qurrat-ul-aynayn, written in Fârisî by Shâh Waliyyullah Ahmad Sâhib ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh’, a great scholar of India. Hadrat Shâh Waliyyullah was born in Delhi in 1114 [1702 A.D.], and passed away there in 1176 [1762 A.D.]. All the arguments in the book owe considerable corroboration to the long and detailed documentary proofs written in the book Tuhfa-i-ithnâ ’ashariyya. In the seventh chapter, for instance, after confuting the wrong meanings which some people attributed to five âyat-i-kerîmas and twelve hadîth-i-sherîfs in their futile efforts to prove that Hadrat Alî should have been the first Khalîfa, it says, “According to the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat, the second most valuable book after the Qur’ân al-kerîm is Bukhârî-i-sherîf, which contains the hadîth-i-sherîfs of our Prophet. According to some people, Nahj-ul-balâgha is the second most valuable book after the Qur’ân al-kerîm. That book contains the khutbas of Hadrat Alî written by a person named Radî. As he wrote the khutbas, he excised Hadrat Alî’s statements which lavished praise on the Shaikhayn (Hadrat Abű Bakr and Hadrat ’Umar), in addition to other additions and changes. So badly changed and defiled were the khutbas of Hadrat Alî that the Shiite scholars who revised Nahj-ul-balâgha were unable to elicit any clear meanings from most of the book and had to copy the ambiguous parts exactly as they were.” The book Tuhfa-i-ithnâ ’ashariyya is in the Fârisî language. It was translated into Arabic. The Arabic version was abridged by Mahműd Shukrî Âlűsî, who entitled the abridged version Muhtasar-i-Tuhfa. Hadrat Sayyid Abdullah Dahlawî, a great Walî renowned for his high grade in the zâhirî knowledge as well as in the knowledge of Tasawwuf, states in the sixty-first letter of his Fârisî book Maktűbât that the khutbas in the book Nahj-ul-balâgha are not sahîh. Some people have been reproducing the schismatic book under the title Istinâd-i-Nahj-ul-balâgha and sending the subversive copies to countries worldover. Muhammad bin Husayn Műsawî Radî was the brother of the lâ-madhhabî heretic named Alî bin Husayn Murtadâ, who attacks the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat with a coarsely abusive and foul language in his book Husniyya. Both of them were Persian sayyids. They passed away in Baghdâd, Muhammad Radî in 406 [1016 A.D.], and Murtadâ in 436 [1044 A.D.]. The author of the book Tuhfa-i-ithnâ ’ashariyya, namely Hâfid Ghulâm Halîm Abdul’azîz bin Qutbuddîn Shâh Waliyyullah Ahmad Sâhib Dahlawî, passed away in 1239 [1824 A.D.]. Every Muslim has to learn, and also teach others, a book of ’Ilm-i-hâl written by (one of) the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat. Each of us has a nafs-i-ammâra which is an unbeliever. (The nafs-i-ammâra inherent in the human nature is such a stupid being that) it wishes us to lose our îmân or, at least, to deviate from the right path. It tries to drag us into reading the seditious and harmful books and magazines written by irreligious and heretical people and watching and listening to the radio and television programmes broadcast by foreign organizations. It relishes doing whatsoever Islam prohibits (harâm), believing the lies fibbed by heretics, and observing the customs and fashions of disbelievers. Worship is one of its pet aversions. It is for this reason that disbelief and heresies catch on so easily and spread so readily everywhere. Allâhu ta’âlâ declares in a hadîth-i-qudsî, “Know your nafs as My enemy. Your nafses are My enemies.” It is a great act of jihâd not to do the desires of the nafs. It brings much thawâb. The one and only medicine requisite for immunity against the traps set by our own nafs-i-ammâra and baited by heretical, lâ-madhhabî and irreligious people, is to read the books of ’Ilm-i-hâl, which have been written by the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat and which are the only true sources for learning the Islamic tenets pertaining to belief (îmân) and practices of worship. Muslims should be sure to send their children to teachers of Qur’ân al-kerîm so that they will learn how to read the Qur’ân al-kerîm, how to perform namâz, and the tenets of îmân and Islam, before they begin their elementary education. This is one of the crucial points where the nafs-i-ammâra will set its traps by raising various doubts. For instance, it will delude you into thinking, “A child should first learn how to make a living. Learning other things might as well wait.” Parents who look ahead to their children’s being good Muslims in future should first, themselves, weather the deceits and lies of their own nafs and of the human devils, by sending their children to teachers of Qur’ân al-kerîm. It will be very difficult, and even impossible in some cases, to do so after schooling begins. Cane is pliable when wet. Once past its prime, it will break rather than bend, which in turn will cause harm. A child who is not equipped with a religious background will become a heretic, if not a disbeliever. Parents’ mourning over it afterwards will not save them or their children from Hell. Our beloved Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ warns about this utterly bitter fact as follows: “Helek-al-musawwifűn!” Its meaning is as follows: “Do your good deeds immediately. Do not procrastinate until the following day.” The primary good deed, which is of foremost importance, is to teach Islam to your children. Each Muslim has to do this primary duty instantly and not delay or postpone it even for a day. No one has possessed worldly property
forever, be it gold’n silver;
THE
TWO MOST BELOVED The following treatise is a translation from Qurrat-ul-’aynayn fî-tafdîl-ish-shaikhayn, a book written in the Fârisî language by the great Islamic scholar Shâh Waliyyullah Dahlawî ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh’. The book, of two hundred and seventy pages, was printed in Peshâwar in 1310 [1892 A.D.]. The book Qurrat-ul-’aynayn consists of an introduction and two chapters. The introduction enlarges on the superiorities of the Shaikhayn (Hadrat Abű Bakr and Hadrat ’Umar) and presents an argument based on authentic reports and reasoning. The first chapter answers the writings in the book Tajrîd by Nasîraddîn Tűsî, a Shiite scholar. Muhammad Nasîraddîn Tűsî was born in the city of Tus in 597 [1201 A.D.], and passed away in Baghdâd in 676 [1274 A.D.]. The second chapter confutes the slanders and lies whereby some malicious and heretical people try to traduce the Shaikhayn. The Shaikhayn, i.e. Hadrat Abű Bakr and Hadrat ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhumâ’, are the highest ones of the Ashâb-i-kirâm. Concomitant to a recent increase in the number of holders of bid’at, i.e. heretics, doubts have been being voiced concerning their superiority. So dreadful is the decaying trend that the correct tenets of belief taught by the Salaf as-sâlihîn (the early Islamic scholars) are being forgotten gradually. Indeed, it is an open fact based both on narrations and on logic that the Shaikhayn are the highest. Narrations come to us through three different courses. Allâhu ta’âlâ promised to His beloved Prophet in the fifty-fifth âyat of Nűr sűra that He would give him believing and pious Khalîfas and reinforce the Islamic religion through those Khalîfas. This fact is confirmed by the dreams which the Messenger of Allah had as well as by the dreams that the Ashâb-i-kirâm had and which the Messenger of Allah explained. Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ stated several times both directly and indirectly that the Shaikhayn would succeed him as his Khalîfas after him. His statements, which are documentary sources, have been conveyed to us through (an authentic chain of narrations and reports termed) tawâtur. Then, the Shaikhayn are the highest Muslims. It is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf reported by Tirmuzî and Hâkim: “After me, follow Abű Bakr and ’Umar!” This hadîth-i-sherîf was reported by Huzayfa and ibn Mas’űd. Hâkim’s book quotes Enes bin Mâlik as having related: The tribe of Benî Mustalâq sent me to the Messenger of Allah to ask him to name the person to whom we were to pay our zakâts after him. When I came to Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ and asked him, he said, “Give them to Abű Bakr!” They sent me again. When I reported their question who would be the person to receive our zakâts after Abű Bakr, he said, “’Umar!” I came to him once again with the message asking for the name of the person to take our zakâts. The Prophet’s answer was: “(You will be giving them to) ’Uthmân!” As the Messenger of Allah had to repair to bed during his last fatal illness, he appointed Hadrat Abű Bakr ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh’ as the imâm (to conduct the public prayers called salât, [or namâz,] in jamâ’at). He explicitly rejected the question if someone else could be the imâm. This was the event from which the notables of the Sahâba such as Hadrat ’Umar and Hadrat Alî inferred that Abű Bakr was to be (the first) Khalîfa. None of the Sahâba was opposed to their inference. According to a narration in Bukhârî, Abű Bakr as-Siddîq was conducting the morning prayer in jamâ’at with the command of Rasűlullah, when the blessed Messenger slightly raised the curtain hanging in the doorway and, seeing his Sahâba performing the namâz, he gave a happy smile. Thinking that the Messenger of Allah intended to come in and conduct the namâz, Abű Bakr as-Siddîq moved aside, which made the Sahâba rejoice with the same expectation. Motioning with his blessed hand, the most beautiful human being commanded, “Complete your namâz!” Then he let the curtain go down. He passed away that day. According to a narration unanimously reported by the scholars of Hadîth, one day a woman asked Rasűlullah a question. “Come back later and ask (the same question),” was the blessed Prophet’s reply. The woman asked again, “O Messenger of Allah! What do I do if I can’t find you here?” Rasűlullah stated, “If you can’t find me when you come here, ask Abű Bakr!” Question: Hadrat ’Umar and Hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhumâ’ said that the Messenger of Allah had not stated who would be Khalîfa after him? What would you say about that? Answer: The two imâms, (i.e. Hadrat ’Umar and Hadrat Alî,) said that the Messenger of Allah had not convened his Sahâba to tell them to pay homage to Abű Bakr after him. For, according to both of them, the Prophet’s having commanded Abű Bakr to conduct the namâz in jamâ’at was an implication that he would be Khalîfa. Abű Wâîl reasons as follows: When Hadrat Alî lay down with the fatal wound he was asked whom he was going to appoint Khalîfa after him. “If Allâhu ta’âlâ foreordained goodness for you, you will elect the best of you as your president,” replied the blessed imâm. This statement of Hadrat Alî’s shows that Hadrat Abű Bakr was the highest. A hadîth-i-sherîf which is quoted on the authority of Hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh’ in Hâkim’s book reads as follows: “May Allâhu ta’âlâ lavish His Compassion on Abű Bakr! He gave me his daughter. He took me to Medîna in the Hijrat.” Nizâl bin Sabra ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ relates: One day I saw Hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ cheerful and asked him who were the people that he had chosen for friends. “All the Sahâba of the Messenger of Allah are my friends,” he replied. And when I asked him what he would say about Abű Bakr, he said, “He is such a person whom Allâhu ta’âlâ has honoured with the name ‘Siddîq’ through (His Archangel) Jebrâîl ‘alaihis-salâm’ and through His Prophet Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’.” Sa’îd bin Musayyab ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’ relates: “Abű Bakr as-Siddîq ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh’ was Rasűlullah’s vizier. Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ always consulted with him before doing something. In Islam he was the second (highest) person after the Messenger of Allah. In the cave he was the second person after the Messenger of Allah. During the Holy War of Badr, he was the second person after the Messenger of Allah under the wooden sunshade. He was the second person to be put in a grave, i.e. next after the Messenger of Allah. Rasűlullah would never put anyone before him.” In a hadîth-i-sherîf reported by Abdurrahmân bin Ghanam, Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ said to Hadrat Abű Bakr and Hadrat ’Umar: “I shall never disagree with anything on which you two agree.” Allâhu ta’âlâ reinforced the Islamic religion with Hadrat ’Umar. It is stated as follows in a hadîth-i-sherîf reported by Tirmuzî and Abű Dâwűd and Hâkim: “Allâhu ta’âlâ has placed the haqq (truth, right) into ’Umar’s tongue and heart.” It is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf reported by Bukhârî and Muslim: “The Satan will run away from ’Umar’s shadow?” Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ states in a hadîth-i-sherîf reported by Bukhârî and Muslim: “During Mi’râj[65] I saw the palace that will be given to ’Umar.” Allâhu ta’âlâ sent down âyat-i-kerîmas confirming Hadrat ’Umar’s words concerning the Maqâm-i-Ibrâhîm and women’s covering themselves and the captives taken during the Holy War of Badr. It is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf reported by Hâkim: “On the Rising Day, Allâhu ta’âlâ will greet ’Umar first.” In a hadîth-i-sherîf reported by Abű Sa’îd-i-Hudrî, the Prophet pointed to ’Umar and stated: “Of my Ummat, this person will occupy the highest grade in Paradise?” When Hadrat ’Umar asked Rasűlullah for permission to make ’Umra,[66] the blessed Prophet gave him permission and said, “O my brother, do not forget about us as you say your prayers!” Rasűlullah states in a hadîth-i-sherîf reported by Abdullah ibn Abbâs: “On the day when ’Umar embraced Islam Jebrâîl ‘alaihis-salâm’ came to me and angels gave one another the glad tidings that ’Umar had become a Muslim.” It is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf written in Tirmuzî and reported by Aqaba bin Âmir: “If another prophet were to come after me ’Umar bin Khattâb would be a prophet.” In another hadîth-i-sherîf written in Tirmuzî on the authority of Imâm Zaynal ’Âbidîn, who quotes it from his grandfather Hadrat Alî on the authority of his father Hadrat Husayn: Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ and I were sitting together, when Abű Bakr and ’Umar came over. The Best of Mankind said, “These two are the highest inhabitants of Paradise after prophets.” Enes bin Mâlik is quoted, in ibn Mâja, as having related: One day he was asked, “Whom do you love most, O Messenger of Allah?” “Âisha,” he replied. “And who is the man you love most?” “Âisha’s father.” It is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf written in Tirmuzî and reported by Huzayfa and Abdullah ibn Mes’űd: “After me pay homage to Abű Bakr and ’Umar!” Tirmuzî quotes Enes bin Mâlik as having related: As the Sahâba were seated together, Rasűlullah would just come and sit among them, stopping them from standing up. No one, with the exception of Abű Bakr and ’Umar, could look at him in the face. The two closest companions of the Prophet would look at him, and he at them, three of them smiling at one another. In a hadîth-i-sherîf written in Hâkim’s book and reported by Huzayfa Yemânî, Rasűlullah states: “I want to send my Sahâba to all countries so that my sunnats and the (tenets called) farz be taught far and near. Likewise, Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ (Jesus) sent out his Hawârîs.” When he was asked if he would send Hadrat Abű Bakr and Hadrat ’Umar as well, he replied, “These two I will not part from. They are like my ears and eyes.” In a hadîth-i-sherîf written in Tirmuzî and in Hâkim: One day Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ entered the mosque, with Abű Bakr on his right and ’Umar on his left. He was holding their hands. “On the Rising Day, we shall rise from our graves together, like this.” Abî Arwâ relates in a hadîth-i-sherîf reported by Hâkim: We were sitting with Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’, when Abű Bakr and ’Umar came over. “May gratitude and praise be to Allâhu ta’âlâ because He gave us strength with these two.” It is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf written in Tirmuzî and in ibn Mâja and reported by Abű Sa’îd Hudrî: “Those who will occupy high positions in Paradise will be seen like stars when looked from below. Abű Bakr and ’Umar will be (two) of them.” According to a narration reported unanimously by scholars of Hadîth, Abű Műsa-l-ash ’arî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ relates: Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ and I were sitting in a garden, when someone knocked on the door. The Messenger of Allah ordered, “Open the door and give the newcomer the glad tidings that he will go to Paradise (after death)!” I opened the door. Abű Bakr came in. I told him Rasűlullah’s ‘sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam’ glad tidings. There was another knock on the door. “Open the door and give the newcomer the glad tidings that he will go to Paradise,” ordered the blessed Prophet again. I opened the door and ’Umar came in. I gave him the glad tidings. Another knock came from the door. The Best of Mankind ordered, “Open the door! Give the newcomer the glad tidings that he will go to Paradise, and tell him that disasters will befall him!” ’Uthmân came in when I opened the door. I told him about the glad tidings and about the qadar (fate, destiny) which Allâhu ta’âlâ foreordained for him. “May hamd (praise and gratitude) be to Allâhu ta’âlâ, who is the only asylum to seek against accidents and disasters,” was his reaction. It is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf written in Hâkim and in the (book of hadîths entitled) Musnad by Imâm Ahmad, and which is reported by Hadrat Alî: “When Abű Bakr comes to power and presides over you, you will find him zâhid in the world and râghib in the Hereafter. When ’Umar presides over you, you will find him powerful, trustworthy, and undaunted in the way of Allah. When Alî gains the presidency over you, you will find him hâdi and muhdî. He will guide you to the right path.” Sa’îd bin Zayd ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh’ quoted the following hadîth-i-sherîf, which is written in Tirmuzî and in ibn Mâja: “Ten people are in Paradise, (that is, that they will go to Paradise is certain by now). (They are:) Abű Bakr and ’Umar and ’Uthmân and Talha and Zubayr and Abdurrahmân bin ’Awf and Alî bin Abî Tâlib and Sa’d bin Abî Waqqâs and Abű ’Ubayda bin Jerrâh.” Naming nine of the blessed Sahâbîs, Sa’îd bin Zayd kept back the tenth name. When they asked who he was, he said, “Abu-l-A’war,” implying himself. Irbât bin Sâriya narrates the following event, which is written in ibn Mâja and in Tirmuzî: We, the Sahâba, had assembled (on an occasion). Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ stated, “Fear Allâhu ta’âlâ. Obey your Amîr, who will be presiding over you, even if he is an Abyssinian slave! After me, there will happen differences among Muslims. During those disturbances hold fast to my Sunnat and to the sunnats of the Khulafâ-ar-Râshidîn. My Khalîfas will show you the right path. Follow the path that they will show you! Avoid the later inventions! All bid’ats are aberration and heresy.” Hadrat Safîna, who served the Messenger of Allah for years, relates: I heard Rasűlullah say, “After me, my Khalîfas will make my path live on for thirty years. Thereafter meliks (emperors, sultans) will preside over my Ummat.” The caliphate of Abű Bakr lasted for two years; that of ’Umar lasted for ten years; ’Uthmân’s tenure of office lasted for twelve years; and Alî held office for six years ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum ajma’în’. There is many another similar hadîth-i-sherîf citing the superiorities of Abű Bakr and ’Umar ’radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhumâ’ and stating that they are people of Paradise. Also, hundreds of other hadîth-i-sherîfs, which state the superiorities of the Ashâb-i-kirâm, of the Muhâjirîn, and of those blessed people who were present at a number of vitally important events such as Badr, Uhud, Bî’at-ur-ridwân and other Holy Wars, are, at the same time, laudatory of the two Khalîfas. That Abű Bakr is the highest member of this Ummat (Muslims) and that ’Umar is the second highest are two firsthand facts on which the Ashâb-i-kirâm and the Tâbi’în-i-izâm were unanimous. When Hadrat Abű Bakr was elected Khalîfa, none of the Ashâb-i-kirâm said a single word to renounce his authority. Nor were any protests voiced on the part of the Ashâb-i-kirâm when Hadrat Abű Bakr advised that Hadrat ’Umar should succeed him in caliphate after him. As Abdurrahmân bin ’Awf nominated Hadrat ’Uthmân as Khalîfa (after Hadrat ’Umar’s martyrdom), he stipulated that he should adhere to the course followed by the Shaikhayn. None of the audience raised an objection. Nor did Alî demur at all, although he was opposed to ’Uthmân’s being held superior to him ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhumâ’. As long as Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh’ held office as Khalîfa, he acknowledged on various occasions that the Shaikayn were superior to him. He would scold anyone who expressed doubts about that fact. The greater ones of the Sahâba would hear him do so, and yet they would not even imply dissuasion. Enes bin Mâlik is quoted, in Bukhârî, as having said, “Abű Bakr is the closest person to the Messenger of Allah. On many occasions he proved to be the second person after the Messenger of Allah. He must take the lead as our Amîr. Stand up and pay homage to him!” According to another narration reported on the authority of Enes bin Mâlik in Bukhârî: When someone asked Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ about the portents of Doomsday, the Sultân of Universe questioned, “What have you prepared for Doomsday?” “I have done nothing. However, I love Allâhu ta’âlâ and His Messenger ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ very much,” replied the man. Upon this, the Habîbullah (Darling of Allah) declared, “On Doomsday, (and so on the Rising Day,) you will be with your beloved ones!” I was very happy when I heard that declaration of the blessed Messenger. “I, also, love the Messenger of Allah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’, Abű Bakr and ’Umar. I hope that this love of mine will make me be with them, though I have failed to imitate them,” I said. Hadrat Alî pronounced the following benediction: “May Allâhu ta’âlâ bless Abű Bakr with His Compassion! He compiled the Qur’ân al-kerîm. He served the Messenger of Allah as he migrated (to Medîna). So may Allâhu ta’âlâ illuminate ’Umar’s grave with nűr as he has illuminated our mosques!” Sâlim bin Abî Ja’d relates: There were forty thousand people provided with residence in Najrân. Hadrat ’Umar evicted them from their homes. Upon this they came to Hadrat Alî and begged for intercession. He dismissed them, saying, “Everything ’Umar does is rightful.” If Hadrat Alî had been critical of Hadrat ’Umar (and his doings), the problem caused by the people from Najrân would have been a propitious occasion to level criticisms at him. He didn’t do so. On the contrary, he praised him. In an interpretation of a dream narrated by Abű Ya’lâ, Hadrat Hasan praised Hadrat ’Umar. Hâkim quotes, in his book, Abdullah bin Ja’far Tayyâr as having said, “When Abű Bakr undertook governorship over us, we found him the best and the most compassionate of people.” As Zayd-i-Shahîd was leaving for war, he said, “My ancestors loved the Shaikhayn very much.” Hâkim’s book contains a number of statements made by Abdullah ibn Abbâs and laudatory of Hadrat ’Umar. Hasan bin Zayd is quoted in Imâm-i-Ahmad’s (book of hadîths called) Sunan as having stated: I heard my father Zayd say that he had heard his father Hasan say that he had heard his father Alî relate the following event: Rasűlullah and I were sitting, when Abű Bakr and ’Umar came over ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhumâ’. Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ stated, “Yâ Alî! These two are the highest of the people of Paradise. With the exception of prophets, (who are naturally hi |