Naqshbandiya Foundation for Islamic Education

Revealed Grace: The Juristic Sufism of Ahmad Sirhindi r.a. (1564-1624)

2011-11-05T09:57:00.002-07:00

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Revealed Grace
The Juristic Sufism of Ahmad Sirhindi
(1564-1624)

Arthur F. Buehler

ISBN: 978-1-891785-89-4

Buehler has achieved a groundbreaking translation of a substantial portion of Sirhindi’s Letters, a mystical and philosophical masterpiece that has to date remained largely inaccessible to a Western audience. The work, masterfully introduced and meticulously annotated, is academically rigorous while yet taking seriously the author’s contemplative experiences, mapping the inner and cosmic landscape against which they emerge.
— Marcia Hermansen, Director, Islamic World Studies Program, Loyola University

The Letters of Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi are widely recognized as a remarkable and influential storehouse of Sufi experience and reflection. Arthur Buehler’s meticulous translation and explanation of these important yet difficult texts is a major contribution to the study of Islamic mysticism.
— Carl W. Ernst, William R. Kenan, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

This selection of letters furnishes the contemporary reader with an unusually rare glimpse into the formidably vast, yet finely textured, lifeworld of a towering figure in the history of Sufism, one whose teachings resonated far beyond the South Asian ambit in which they were initially nurtured. Undeterred by the notoriously elliptical Indo-Persian prose of the Maktubat, Buehler’s judiciously selected and skillfully rendered translations make an important contribution to our understanding of this acclaimed “Renewer of the Second Millennium,” a contribution which in the spirit of Sirhindi himself cannot but lead one to reconsider much of what has come before.
— Erik S. Ohlander, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne

Table of Contents
Dedication vi
Translator’s Preface: Disclaimers and Confessions ix
Introduction 1
Chapter One: Shariat, Sunnat, and JuriStS 63
The basics of faith: Letter 2.67 63
Shariat: Letter 2.46 81
The seven levels of the sunnat: Letter 2.54 90
Islam and other religious communities: Letter 2.55 97
Is there a place beyond the shariat? Letter 1.172 105
Differences between sufis and jurists: Letter 3.39 108
Similarities between sufis and jurists: Letter 3.32 109
Chapter twO: COntemplative experienCe 115
One of Sirhindi’s early contemplative experiences: Letter 1.11 115
Sirhindi’s further contemplative development: Letter 1.13 124
Types of certainty and stations on the sufi path: Letter 1.18 126
Sirhindi’s culminating contemplative experience: Letter 1.290 135
Realizing unity with God: Letter 1.291 159
Chapter three: aSpeCtS Of the Sufi path 169
Getting beyond the ego-self : Letter 1.52 169
Encouraging a youth to the sufi path: Letter 1.73 172
The expanse of the heart: Letter 3.45 178
Shadows versus the Essence: Letter 2.42 180
The sufi path: Letter 2.71 195
Reprimanding a beginner: Letter 2.77 197
Types of seekers on the path: Letter 1.292 201
The end is included in the beginning: Letter 1.200 208
Evaluating spiritual rank: Letter 1.293 212
Those who think they are further along than they are: Letter 1.220 218
Naqshbandi Cosmology: Letter 1.257 224
Sirhindi interpreting verses of Sharafuddin Maneri: Letter 3.33 227
Chapter fOur: Sufi treatiSe 1: letter 1.260 233
Chapter five: Sufi treatiSe 2: letter 1.287 266
Selected Bibliography 301
Index 310

https://www.fonsvitae.com/OnlineStore/tabid/58/pid/392/Revealed-Grace-The-Juristic-Sufism-of-Ahmad-Sirhindi-1564-1624-.aspx

Printing of this Book was funded by Naqshbandiya Foundation for Islamic Education (NFIE).Keep us in your Duas. Ahmed Mirza M.D Servant NFIE

Sufism: A Wayfarer's Guide to the Naqshbandi Way

2011-11-05T09:50:00.003-07:00

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Sufism
A Wayfarer’s Guide to the Naqshbandi Way

Originally written in Kurdish by Shaikh Amīn ‘alā ad-Dīn an-Naqshbandī
Translated into Arabic by Dr. Muḥammad Sharīf Aḥmad
English translation (from the arabic) by Muhtar Holland

with a Preface by: Shaikh Muhammad Ma‘sum Naqshbandi (ra)
Forwards by:

Professor Shaikh ‘Abd al-Karīm, Arthur F. Buehler, and Abdal Hakim Murad

SUFISM: A Wayfarer’s Guide to the Naqshbandi Way, unlike almost all books on sufism
in english, provides a window on the living sufism of the Khalidi-naqshbandi sufis of
Kurdistan.

This text is quite unique, as it contextualizes the practice of sufism both his-
torically and within the islamic religious milieu, clarifying many types of questions non-sufis typically ask.

The author discusses the full spectrum of stations that sufis experience, from repentance to servanthood, before outlining fifteen common altered states of consciousness (sing. hal). This is followed by a detailed discussion of sufi technical terms and praiseworthy and blameworthy attributes.

The final part of the book discusses the Naqshbandi path in detail. given its comprehensive content, this book provides a solid basis upon which to understand Sufism as it is practiced. it is will be of use to those who have never read about Sufism as well as those who are well read in Sufi literature translated into English. what you have in your hands is a serious treatise on Sufism; it is an owner’s manual for Sufi practice (though it is not a substitute for an actual Sufi teacher).

An invaluably thorough manual of Khalidi-naqshbandi spiritual method, this text
highlights the depths of the islamic revelation in its most authentic form.
— T. J. Winter, Cambridge University

A Wayfarer’s Guide is an important step forward on the understanding of the naqsh-
bandi-Khalidi lineage, especially in the way that the shariah of islam is harmonized
with its inner dimension, in the effectiveness of naqshbandi contemplative practices,
and the resulting transformations. an unusual synthesis of the naqshbandi teaching
written in a clear language and a very didactic approach, amin `ala al-din al-naqsh-
bandi’s book is a worthwhile exposition of sufism written by a prominent shaykh of a
famous sufi family in the Kurdish area of iraq.
— Thierry Zarcone, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris

It is much to be welcomed that this concise introduction to sufism, as understood by
the Khalidi branch of the naqshbandi order, is now available in a clear and straightfor-
ward english, in addition to the Kurdish original and arabic and Persian translations.
Particularly useful are the definitions of the technical terms of sufism. recommended
as an antidote to the psuedo-sufi literature now proliferating on the market.
— Hamid Algar, University of California, Berkeley

https://www.fonsvitae.com/OnlineStore/tabid/58/pid/386/FVsfg-122-Sufism-A-Wayfarers-Guide-to-the-Naqshbandi-Way.aspx

This Book is being printed by Richmond Printing and has been funded by Naqshbandiya Foundation for Islamic Education (NFIE).Keep us in your Duas.Ahmed Mirza M.D. Servant,NFIE

The Principles of Tasawwuf by Sheikh Muhammad al-Ya`aqubi

2011-08-17T11:49:00.001-07:00

The Principles of Tasawwuf
by Sheikh Muhammad al-Ya`aqubi

إن مبادي كل فن عشره الحد و الموضوع ثم الثمره
و فضله ونسبة و الواضع و الاسم الاستمداد حكم الشارع
مسائل و البعض بالبعض اكتفى و من درى الجميع حاز الشرفا

1. The definition- (الحد) Hundreds of definitions of Tasawwuf have been drawn. The great scholar sidi Ahmed Zarouq says: ”Tasawwuf has more than two thousand explanatory definitions; all ultimately refer to the following: True devotion to Allah from where He likes by the means He likes (صدق التوجه إلى الله من حيث يرضاه بما يرضاه) Some of the common definitions are: Acting upon knowledge العمل بالعلمNoble characterالتصوف أخلاق Acquiring the good characters and getting rid of the bad.

2. The subject-الموضوع: The Divine Essenceالذات العلية as how Allah can be known. Another opinion says that the subject of this discipline is hearts and souls; because it works on their purification and cultivation. Both opinions are correct as the latter looks at the goal and the former looks at the means; as it has been correctly said, ”He who knows himself will know his Lord”.

3. The fruit- الثمرة: The fruit or the benefit of this discipline is the purification of the heart and knowing the Master of the worlds.

4. The merit- فضله :Tasawwuf is a noble discipline of high merit. Its nobility stems from from its subject. Al- Ihsan الإحسان is one of the three levels of this deen and the highest.

5. The relation of this discipline to others- نسبته إلى غيره من العلوم: Tasawwuf is the base of the Sharia; without it all acts of worship would be imperfect. It is the core of the Quran and the Sunnah and the tissue of muslims spiritual life. Imam Malik says: من تصوف و لم يتفقه فقد تزندق و من تفقه و لم يتصوف فقد تفسق و من جمع بينهما فقد تحقق ”Whoever acquires tasawwuf without fiqh is a heretic and whoever studies fiqh without tasawwuf is unrighteous and who combines both has the reality”

6. The pioneer- الواضع : The word al-wadi means the one that sets forth this branch of knowledge. It is of course the Prophet (s). Many ahadith highlight this fact, most famous of wich is hadith Jibril (s). The first one who made this knowledge known is Sayyiduna Ali (r) and then his son Sayyiduna al-Hasan (r) and al-Hasan al-Basriy.

7. The name- الاسم: The name of this science is tasawwufعلم التصوف The word is derrived from souf: wool; or from safa: purity; or from suffa: the special place of a group of the sahaba in the Holy Sanctuary of the Prophet .
The discipline has been known by this name since the second century of hijra, i.e. the time of the salaf . It has been frequently called ilm as-Sulouk, ilm al-Ihsan, ilm at-Tarbiyah or ilm at-Tazkiyah.

8. The sources- الاستمداد : Tasawwuf relies on al-Quran and as-Sunnah as the sources and proofs of its material. The sayings of the great scholars are a rich treasure for the seekers and the masters alike.

9. The legal ruling- حكم الشارع : The legal ruling of studying tasawwuf is fard i.e. obligatory. Since all human beings are susceptable to sins save for the Prophets. Imam Abul Hasan ash-Shadiliy saysمن لم يتغلغل في علمنا هذا مات مصرا على الكبائر و هو لا يشعر ”Who does not deeply study this discipline will die persisting on major sins without being aware of it”.

10. The issues discussed- مسائله: Tasawwuf tackles some of the cardinal elements of the deen such as ikhlas: sincerity; sidq: truthfulness; wara: religious cautioness; tawakkul: reliance; zuhd: asceticism; mahabba: love; and similarly their opposites, wich are called the diseases of the hearts such as insincerity; hypocrisy; arrogance; greed. It also tackles some of the subtlest subjects such as the passing of thoughts; the states of the heart; inspiration. One of its most important subjects is dhikr, the remebrance of Allah and its virtues; another is the sheikh and his qualifications, the disciple murid and his adab.

Basic works in tasawwuf:

The Beauty of the Righteous by al-Hafiz Abu Nuaym al-Asfahani
The Revival of the Sciences of the Deen- Ihya Ulumid-Deen by al-Imam al-Ghazali
Al-Risalah of Imam Abul Qasim al-Qushayriy
The Aphorisms- al-Hikam og Imam Ibn Atta Allah
Revelation of the Unseen by Imam Abdul Qadir al-Jaylaniy
http://seekerofthesacredknowledge.wordpress.com/

Dr.Arthur Buehler at Mawlid,Gilbert,AZ

2011-04-29T19:03:00.013-07:00

Dr Art Buehler

Senior Lecturer,
School of Art History, Classics and Religious Studies.University of Victoria,at Wellington.NZ

Video-Mawlid & Talk April 24,2011 Gilbert,Arizona

Topic: Translation of Letters of Imam Ahmad Sirhindi RA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wep_wM5S_Fc&feature=channel_video_title

Qualifications

PhD (Harvard University)

Research Specialties

Art Buehler, a scholar of transregional sufi networks and the transmission of Islamic revivalist ideas, is senior editor of the Journal of the History of Sufism. He began his career teaching Arabic in Yemen for the British Council. After five years in the Arab world he entered the History of Religions Program at Harvard University specialising in South Asian Islam under the tutelage of the late Annemarie Schimmel. His subsequent two books are the result of four years of fieldwork in Indo-Pakistan. He has just finished a selected translation of Ahmad Sirhindi's (d. 1624 Sirhind, India) Indo-Persian sufi letters, which will be published by Paulist Press in 2012.

Imam Zaid Shakir at NFIE Mawlid 2011

2011-04-27T22:39:00.011-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVDu3o57PhU

The Mawlid un Nabi (saws) Conference, organized by the Naqsbandiya Foundation for the Islamic Education (NFIE) , was held on Saturday March 19th at the Chandler Community Center. Over 500 Muslims around the valley and its vicinity attended this spiritual event. The theme of the conference was “Celebrating the Prophet saws of Universal Mercy, Love and Beauty”. This was the 10th annual event of its kind in the valley.

Muhammed Bilal Siddiqui welcomed the guests and gave a brief background of the history of the Naqsbandiya Foundation in the valley. NFIE was founded by Dr. Ahmed Mirza in 1992 with the mission of serving Islam with a special focus on Tasawwuf (Islamic Spirituality).

The program commenced with the beautiful recitation of Surah Rahman by Al-Shaykh Qari Masood Omar Mohammad. Yousuf Bhuvad recited the popular “Ya Taiba” nasheed based on the love for the city of Medina. Sabah el-Ganimet, the Munshid from Iraq, also recited an Arabic nasheed. Imam Didmar Faja, the Imam Albanian American Islamic Center (Greenway Masjid), gave opening remarks on the purpose and the significance of Mawlid in the light of Sirah of Prophet Mohammed (SAWS). Syed Mansoor Johar presented the nasheed “Lam Yati” a well known rendition in 3 languages.

Dr. Ahmed Mirza, Secretary, NFIE, thanked the audience for making this event a success a year after year. He elaborated that NFIE was established in loving memory of Sayyid Jamaat Ali Shah Naqshbandi (rahmat Allah alayhi) and Shaykh Muhammad Masum Naqshbandi (rahmat Allah alayhi). He appreciated the local and guest scholars for their presence on this auspicious event.

Al-Shaykh Qari Abdelkarim Liousfi, the famous Munshid from Morocco, recited Nasheeds in Arabic. After the Salat al-Maghrib, Muhammad Bilal Siddiqui presented the famous Urdu nasheed ”Jashn-e-Amde Rasul" followed by Arabic nasheeds by Qari Abdelkarim Liousfi.

Imam Zaid Shakir, the keynote speaker from the Zaytuna College, captivated the audience by his talk on the life of Prophet (SAWS) on the theme of his mercy, love and beauty.

“He was kind and merciful to everybody around him including his enemies,” he said. He advised Muslims to expand their hearts and love to one other.

Imam Zaid Shakir teaches regular courses on Arabic, Islamic law, History, and Islamic spirituality at the Zaytuna College. New York Times described him as a “leading intellectual light” and was ranked as “one of America’s most influential Scholars”. This was his second visit to the valley in less than a month.

Imam Zaid Shakir conducted a Q & A session with Imam Didmar Faja on the Islamic Guidance and Spirituality.

The program ended with the Qiyam, Salat-o-Salam and Dua by the scholars. Salat al-Isha was offered and a delicious dinner was served.

For pictures and slideshow of the event, please visit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/azpakcommunity/sets/72157626312690260/show/

The Video & Audio will be available soon. For the monthly Mawlid and other information, please contact info@nfie.com and visit www.nfie.com.

To view NFIE videos on YouTube , please search for nfie and nfie1. NFIE appreciates your generous support and send your tax deductible donations to NFIE, P.O.Box 2978, and Gilbert AZ 85299

Regards

Yousuf

Returning to the Prophet saws by Shaykh Habib Umar

2011-03-14T23:15:00.004-07:00

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate

The following is a translation of Sayyidi Habib ‘Umar bin Hafiz in a recent talk delivered at a mawlid in Tarim provided by Ustadh Amin Buxton (Allah preserve and increase him and his teachers).
Please benefit and share:
At a time when the squares of some Arab cities are full of violence and chaos, the town square of Tarim last Monday night was full of people standing in celebration of the Beloved (may bless him and grant him peace).
Sayyidi Habib `Umar bin Hafiz mentioned the following:
Allah says: A Messenger has come to you.
To you, – all of us are being addressed, do you not realise? What is your portion of his coming to you? A Messenger has come to you from amongst yourselves; it grieves him that you should suffer; ardently anxious is he over you; to the most believers he is most compassionate and merciful. May Allah give us the taste of this compassion and mercy in our hearts!
The truthful ones amongst this Ummah are in a state of bliss in this life before the next due to their experiencing this through their connection to the Best of People (peace and blessings be upon him). They made Muhammad their foundation so no one is able shake them. Those who turned away from him are the ones in danger.
Allah says: Let those who disobey his order beware lest tribulation befall them or a painful punishment be inflicted upon them.
I swear by Allah that every tribulation that befalls any part of the Ummah in any place and at any time or any punishment that is inflicted is the result of disobedience to the Beloved (peace and blessings be upon him). Likewise the only cause of receiving the mercy of Allah and experiencing bliss in this life is following him, loving him and sacrificing everything in support of him.
The Prophet is more compassionate to the believers than they are to their own selves. Do you know Who is saying this, the sweetest of statements? When will you surrender the reins to him? When will you give him priority in your affairs and the affairs of your family? How can we not reflect upon following him, remembering him, praising him?
Let the hearts and souls respond because the call is addressed to them.
He said to the Ansar, and it is a message to anyone who gives support to him in any time: “Have patience (sabr) until the time when you meet me, for I am waiting for you at the Basin (hawd).”
Our presence in this gathering is only the result of his compassion, which has reached us through the most blessed of channels.
Raise yourselves above base desires – seek something higher. However much wrong anyone has done the door is open. Allah said of this door: If only when they wrong themselves they came to you and sought the forgiveness of Allah, and the Messenger sought forgiveness for them, they would find Allah Oft-Returning, Most Merciful. Allah is saying: if they feel that they have fallen into heedlessness then let them come to you. If they do so they will find Me, and in what state will they find Me? Oft-Returning, Most Merciful. Thus their previous sins will be wiped out.
It is only fitting that we express our joy for the existence of the Best of Creation, and for connection to him. It is only fitting that we not be distracted by the news bulletins of the lower world when we have received bulletins from the Lord of the higher world, brought to us by the Master of the higher world (peace and blessings be upon him).
Allah give life to our hearts as you give to the hearts of so many in this month.
Muhammad! Muhammad! By Allah do you not know what is received when his name is mentioned?
O Allah make us beloved to him and make us amongst the best of his Ummah, those who receive the greatest portion of his love and mercy.

Mawlid-Un-Nabi Conference 2011

2011-02-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

Mawlid-Un-Nabi Conference 2011

SATURDAY, MARCH 19^th, 2011, 4:30 – 8:30 pm

Chandler Community Center

125 Commonwealth Ave

Chandler, AZ 85225

Sponsored By

Naqshbandiya Foundation for Islamic Education

Celebrating the Prophet ^(pbuh) of Universal Mercy, Love & Beauty

Imam Zaid Shakir

Born in Berkeley, California, accepted Islam in 1977 while serving in the U.S Air Force. He Obtained BA with honors in International Relations at American University and MA in Political Science from Rutgers University. After a year in Cairo studying Arabic, he settled in New Haven, as Imam of Masjid al-Islam from 1988 to 1994. For seven years in Syria and briefly in Morocco he immersed himself in an intense study of Arabic, Islamic law, Qur’anic studies, and Islamic spirituality with some of the top Muslim scholars of our age. In 2001, he graduated from Syria’s prestigious Abu Noor University and returned to Connecticut to continue his work with the Muslim community in America. In 2003, he moved to Hayward, California with his family to serve as a scholar-in residence and lecturer at Zaytuna Institute. In 2009 he co-founded Zaytuna College where he now teaches regular courses on Arabic, Islamic law, History, and Islamic spirituality. New York Times described him as a “leading intellectual light” and was ranked as “one of America’s most influential Scholars”

Qari Abdelkarim Liousfi

Quran and Arabic Teacher. Studied Quran, Tajweed, Nasheeds with Eminent scholars in Morocco. As one of the best Munshids for 33 years, he used to recite Mawlid in front of the King and on the Moroccan TV.

Register for Free Conference & Dinner online, by phone or by email

Please Donate Generously(Tax Deductible)

Please make Checks Payable to: NFIE. (Tax ID: 37-1303679)

Naqshbandiya Foundation for Islamic Education

P.O.Box 2978,Gilbert Az 85299. E-mail info@nfie.com website www.nfie.com

Ahmed Mirza M.D Secretary, 480-792-9746 (H), 480-600-4707 (C)

Muhammad Bilal Siddiqui, 602-315-7433

Shah Waliullah and his link to the Ba-Alawi's

2010-06-30T14:38:00.002-07:00

Shah Waliullah And His Link To The Ba-Alawi’s
Friday, June 25, 2010
By admin

Salam

Please find below a brief article which I have finally had the chance to publish now. As many of you will be aware, recent years have seen the growing popularity of the Ba Alawi order in the West, more specifically amongst young people whose background is from the Indian Subcontinent. Muslims from the Indian Subcontinent have traditionally been linked to the more widely spread Indian orders such as the Naqshbandi, Chishti, Qadiri and others (keeping in mind the Ba Alawi link to the predominantly Shafi south of India).. Thus the recent rise in numbers of spiritual aspirants adopting the Ba Alawi way may be regarded by some as a shift from the more established Indian orders.

I was therefore interested to find that Shah Waliullah al-Dihlawi in his ‘Al-Initbah fi Salasil al-Awliyah’ makes mention of his link to the Ba Alawi order. The relevance of this link becomes all the more significant in light of the fact that many if not all of the chains of narrations for hadith in the Indian Subcontinent link back to Shah Waliullah. I remember a scholar describing this widespread scholarly link along the lines of, “Shah Waliullah is a tree, the branches of which are in all the houses of India’.

We could perhaps say that the Ba Alawi scholarly link to the Indian Ulema has existed for some time, but that aspects of it have only recently emerged generations later with children of immigrants from the Indian subcontinent. The information contained in this article might also interest those scholars who have graduated from Madaris, and whose isnad links to Shah Waliullah, and might have been unaware of this link.

I would like to thank Sidi Amin Buxton for his valuable help in suggesting corrections for the translation, unfortunately the edition of the Intibah that I obtained appears to be an old Indian edition filled with scribal errors. I would also like to thank Sidi Tahseen Khan for his help in locating a copy of this work. Note: I have tried to correct this passage as much as possible, including the dua in Arabic, however this still requires some attention.

***

Shah Waliullah al-Dihlawi said in ‘Al-Intibah fi Salasil al-Awliyah’ (p. 127) onwards:

“Section

The Madyaniyyah Order has many branches. Amongst them very famous in Morocco is the Magharibah branch and in Hadramawt the Aydarusiyyah branch from the line of Sayyid Abdullah Aydarus Kabir. This needy one is connected to each of them.”

Shah Waliullah mentioned some of his chains, and then went on to say:

“This needy one received this order from Shaykh Abu Tahir

From Shaykh Ahmad al-Nakhli al-Makki

From Sayyid Abd al-Rahman bin Ali Ba-Alawi the student of Sayyid Abdullah bin Alawi al Haddad and his son-in-law

From Sayyid Abdullah bin Alawi al Haddad whose nisbat in the tariqah is to Sayyid Muhammad bin Alawi who moved to Makkah

From Sayyid Abdullah bin Ali…

From Shaykh bin Abdullah al-Aydarus who is buried in Ahmadabad

From his father Sayyid Abdullah bin Shaykh

From his uncle Sayyid Abu Bakr al-Aydarus from Aden

From his father the Qutb, Sayyid Afif al-Din Abdullah al-Aydarus the senior figure to which the Aydurusiyyah branch is attributed

From his uncle Sayyid Umar al-Mihdar

From his father Sayyid Abd al-Rahman bin Muhammad Saqqaf

From his father Muhammad bin Ali Mawla al-Dawila

From his father [Ali bin Alawi]“

Shah Waliullah after citing a chain of this order said (p.134):

“We have copied this Aydarusiyyah chain (silsilah) and corrected many of the unclear names from ‘Al-Nafahat al-Qudsiyyah fi al-Khirqah al-Aydarusiyyah’ by Sayyid Abd al-Qadir al-Aydarus and from ‘Al-Mashra al-Rawi fi Aal Ba-Alawi’ by Muhammad Shilli.”

Shah Waliullah immediately thereafter wrote:

“Shaykh Abu Tahir narrated to us from Shaykh Ahmad al-Nakhli who said: I was given permission to recite this prayer (du’a) after each of the five prayers by Sayyid Abd al-Rahman bin Ali Ba-Alawi the student of Sayyid Abdullah al-Haddad and his son-in-law from his Shaykh Sayyid Abd al-Rahman bin Alawi al-Haddad Ba-Alawi (u: Sayyid Abdullah bin Alawi al Haddad) which is:

يا الله يا لطيف يا رزاق يا قوي يا عزيز أسئلك تألهاً بك و استغراقا فيك و فنائك عمن سواك و لطفاً شاملاً جلياً و خفياً و رزقاً طيباً هنيئاً و مريئاَ و قوة في ايمان و اليقين و صلابة في الحق و الدين و عذابك يدوم و يتخلد و شرفا يبقى و يتأبد لا يخالطه تكبر و لا و عتو و ارادة فساد في الارض و لا علو انك سميع قريب و صلى الله على سيدنا محمد و آله و صحبه و سلم

I say: Sayyid Abdullah al-Haddad has an anthology of poetry which is extremely fine and eloquent, it is predominantly regarding good counsel and spiritual travelling (suluk). I was handed some of its odes (qasaid) by his grandson Sayyid Abdullah al-Aydarus wal Aydarusi.

I say: I was informed by a group from the noble Aal Ba-Alawi from amongst them Sayyid Abdullah bin Jafar Mudhar (u: Mudbar) that the noble Aal Ba-Alawi generation to generation continue to advise the reading of ‘al-Ihya’, its memorisation, acting upon that which it contains and continuity upon its awrad. Their madhab in belief (aqaid) is the madhab of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah, their school in law is the Shafi school and their madhab in spiritual travel (suluk) is steadfastness upon that which is in ‘al-Ihya’, and Allah knows best.” With compliments from www.daralhadith.org.uk

International Symposium on Mavlana Khalid al-Baghdadi (RA)

2010-05-25T11:59:00.000-07:00

YUZUNCU YIL UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF DIVINITY & MUFTI OF VAN PROVINCE

دار الإفتاء بمحافظة وان& جامعة يوزونجي ييل كلية الالهيات

ULUSLAR ARASI MEVLANA HALİD-İ BAĞDADİ SEMPOZYUMU

INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON MAVLANA KHALID AL-BAGHDADI

المؤتمر الدولي حول مولانا خالد البغدادي

11-13/06/2010

VAN/TÜRKİYE

AÇILIŞ / OPENING / الإفتتاحية

KÜLTÜR SARAYI

OTURUMLAR / SESSİONS/الجلسات

M.E.B. HİZMET İÇİ EĞİTİM MERKEZİ

İletişim Adresi/Contact/ الاتصال

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Shaykh Abul Hasan Zayd al-Faruqi by Saleh Malik

2010-05-18T12:55:00.001-07:00

Shaykh Abul Hasan Zayd al-Faruqi

The great scholar and well known Sufi, Abul Hasan Zayd Ibn Abi al-Khayr Abdullah bin Umar Ibn Ahmad Saeed Ibn Abi Saeed al-Mujaddidi al-Faruqi was born in the city of Delhi, India on the 25th of Ramadan in the year 1324 Hijri/1906.

His lineage extends back to Imam al-Rabbani Shaykh Ahmad al-Faruqi al-Sirhindi (Allah have mercy on him) by means of 9 ancestors.

He was raised in an environment of knowledge and deep spirituality. He began his studies with Shaykh Muhammad Umar and Mulla Amanullah, and studied with him the books of sarf and nahw up till the al-Kafiyah of Ibn al-Hajib. He read some works such as Nahw Mir and al-Kafiyah with his father.

He then joined the Madrasa Mawlawi Abd al-Rab in Delhi and there studied a number of sciences from Shaykh Abd al-Wahab, Hakim Muhammmad Mazharullah and Shaykh Mahbub Ilahi. He took hadith from Shaykh Abd al-Aliyy and Shaykh Muhammad Shafi.

Shaykh Zayd then travelled to the al-Azhar University in Cairo in the month of Dhul Qadah 1349 Hijri/1931 along with his brother Abul Sa'd Saalim and attended the lessons of Sahih al-Bukhari of Shaykh Yusuf al-Dajawi al-Maliki. He read the Sharh Ibn Aqil on the Alfiyyah Ibn Malik from Shaykh Ali Shaib Ajiz.

He heard the pattern chained hadith of firstness (musalsal bil awwaliyyah) and gained ijazah from a number of scholars, amongst them being:

Shaykh Muhammad Bukhit al-Muti'i
Shaykh Muhammad Habibullah al-Shinqiti
The Muhaddith of Morroco, Sayyid Muhammad Abd al-Hayy al-Kattani, this was during his stay of a few days in Egypt in 1351 on his way to visit the Holy sanctuaries.
He gained an ijazah in hadith from the major hadith specialist in Syria, Shaykh Badr al-Din al-Hasani. This was my means of letter in the year 1351.

In the year 1350 he travelled to the Haramayn and heard the musalsalat narrations from Shaykh Abil Fayd Abil Isaad Abd al-Sattar al-Siddiqi Ibn Mawlawi Abd al-Wahab al-Dihlawi, then al-Makki, and gained an ijazah from him in the year 1351.
He heard the ten musalsal hadith from Shaykh al-Sayyid Ahmad Sharif al-Sanusi and gained ijazah from him in the year 1351.

He sat the exam from the Alamiyyah certificate of al-Azhar and passed in the year 1354 Hijri/1935.

He returned from Cairo on the 26th of Ramadan in the year 1354 Hijri/1935.

He took bayah at the hands of his father Shaykh Abul Khayr Abdullah in the year 1335 and his father authorised him to guide others in the Naqshabandi Mujaddidi order in the year 1340 Hijri.

He was honoured to perform the Hajj and visitation in the years 1346, 1350 and then in 1386.

He married in 1345 Hijri/1925 and was blessed with 3 sons and 6 daughters. He had a son Abu Turab Hamid in the year 1358 who died at birth. He had a son Abul Khayr in the year 1360 who passed away at the age of three. He had a son Muhammad Abul Fadl in the year 1355 who was a doctor and passed away during his fathers lifetime in the year 1404 Hijri/1984. He left behind a pious grandson named Abul Nasr Anas born in 1391 Hijri/1971 who has sought knowledge and is currently the Shaykh of the Khanqah of his forefathers.

Shaykh Zayd was a poet in the Arabic, Persian and Urdu languages. He authored a number of works indicating to his expertise in the Islamic sciences, aswell Arabic, Persian and Urdu, they are as follows:

1- Asanid al-Aliyah in Arabic (unpublished)
2- Khayr al-Mazid fi Irab al-Ayah wa Kalimah al-Tawhid in Arabic (unpublished)
3- Qawl al-Sanni fi al-Dhab an Shaykh Abd al-Ghani (unpublished)
4- Hujja fi Masala al-Layha wal Qabda in Persian (unpublished)
5- Bazm Khayr az Zayd Dar Jawab Bazm Jamshaid in Urdu (On his father Shaykh Abul Khayr)
6- Majmua Khayr al-Bayan (On the Mawlid al-Sharif)
7- Manahij al-Sayr wa Madarij al-Khayr in Persian (On the Naqshabandi Mujaddidi spiritual path)
8- Taqwim al-Khayri - On how to calculate the Hijri and CE dates (unpublished)
9- Khayr al-Maqal fi Ruyah al-Hilal in Urdu
10- Allamah Ibn Taymiyyah aur Un Ki Ham Asr Ulama in Urdu
11- Masala Dabt Wilada - On the issue of birth control in Urdu
12- Manhaj al-Aba fi Salam ala al-Anbiyah wal-Rida an Awliyah in Persian and Urdu.
13- Risala Wahdat al-Wujud in Persian and Urdu
14- Nabaqat bin Tabaqan [sic] in Arabic
15- Maqamat Khayr on his father and ancestors
16- Maqamat Akhyar in Persian
17- Aik Ilmi Maqala in Urdu on the life of Imam al-Rabbani.
18- Hazrat Mujaddid aur Un Ki Naqidin in Urdu.
19- Sawanih Hayat Shah Bilal in Urdu
20- Mawlana Ismail Dihlawi aur Taqwiyat al-Iman in Urdu, in which he refuted 7 issues from the Taqwiyat al-Iman.
21- Masala al-Masajid al-Mahjura in Arabic
22- Sarir al-Yara li Irtishaf Himya al-Sama in Urdu
23- Introduction in Urdu to Qawl al-Jalli fi Zikr Athar al-Wali, the biography of Shah Waliullah al-Dihlawi.
24- Introduction to Tasawwuf articles of Sayyid Wahid Ashraf al-Ashrafi al-Jaylani.
25- Sawanih Imam Azam in Urdu, a biography of Imam Abu Hanifah.
26- Zikriyyat Ayam Zayd, stories and incidents from his life (unpublished).
27- Naja al-Arib wa Safra al-Labib

Shaykh Abul Hasan Zayd al-Faruqi was from the great Naqshabandi Mujaddidi scholars. A large number of people from India, Afghanistan and Quetta in Pakistan took the spiritual path from him.

He travelled on to the next world on the 15th of Jamadi al-Akhirah in the year 1414 Hijri corresponding to the 1st of December 1994. He was buried next to his noble ancestors in the Zawiyah of Shah Abu al-Khayr in Delhi.

May Allah (most High) have mercy on him and all of the Muslims

Conference Celebrates & Remembers Prophet (saws)

2010-05-11T11:38:00.002-07:00

Conference Celebrates and Remembers Prophet

Nesima Aberra

Muslim Voice

The Naqshbandiya Foundation for Islamic Education held a conference Saturday, March 27^th, to honor the Prophet Muhammad's birth through lectures and nasheeds remembering his character and deeds.Since 2005, the Foundation has hosted a free Mawlid un Nabi conference in Chandler where Muslims from all over the Phoenix area attend. Similar conferences have been held all over the United States since the early 90's and attendance has been growing.Ahmed Mirza, Secretary of the Naqshbandiya Foundation, said the goal of the conference is to "educate both Muslims and non-Muslims about the great Prophet, the messenger of universal mercy, love & beauty, beloved of Allah & mercy for the mankind."Imam Abdulbasir, Dr. Mahmoud Sheikh-Khalil, Imam Didmar Faja and keynote speaker Sheikh Abdullah Nooruddeen Durkee all spoke to the attendees on various subjects relating to the Prophet and ways Muslims today could apply those lessons into their daily lives.Imam Abdulbasir talked about how increasing love for the Prophet meant following his akhlaq, manners, and being respectful, punctual caring and patient. He also mentioned finding time to remember him whether while cooking, shopping or waiting in line.Dr. Mahmoud Sheik-Khalil related several anecdotes of the Prophet's life showing how he dealt with oppression, rejection and misery as well as discussed the typical stereotypes of him as a violent, conquering individual by Western media.Imam Didmar Faja mentioned how Muslims "cannot know where to start and where to end" in describing the Prophet's admirable characteristics and that it is every Muslim's responsibility to learn about him and follow him. Imam Faja also touched on the controversy over the Mawlid event and questioned why a gathering that remembers the Prophet is not part of Islam."Even if we don't gather, Allah praises the Prophet," he said. "Isn't this also praise?"Sheikh Durkee devoted much of his speech to the controversy as well, saying he thought there was no reason to apologize for mawlids and that calling it bid'aa, innovation, was "utter nonsense.""Our lives are based on the Prophet's life. This gathering is to educate and inform ourselves on him," he said.He mentioned how everyone knew when the Prophet was born and cited a scholar Ibn Tamiyya, who is ironically often used to argue against the commemoration of the Prophet's birthday.

"Ibn Tamiyya said honoring his [Prophet's] day has immense reward when it is from sound reasoning and good intentions."The Sheikh then spoke on how if more people knew the Prophet and understood his mercy, there wouldn't be the corruption and weakness that exists in Muslim countries today such as preventing girls from going to school and individuals blowing themselves up in masjids.Sheikh Durkee ended with a cautionary, heavy message that Muslims need to examine and ask themselves if they are happy with the way they are treated and thought of in the world. His solutions to the problem was to make a conscious agreement like the Prophet did to "enjoin the good and forbid the evil" and to find the real Islam, which starts with celebrating and knowing the Prophet."It is worth celebrating him," he said, "Because without him, we are nothing."The speeches were interspersed with local nasheed singers and the night ended with a dinner and du'a.

In Memory of Shaykh Muhammad Masum Naqshbandi (R.A)

2010-04-17T14:35:00.008-07:00

In Memory of Shaykh Muhammad Masum Naqqshbandi (R.A)

By Rauf Naqishbendi - Kurdish Media - UK
Thursday, February 22, 2007

Naqshbandiyah which has been the most influential and wide-spread order in Sufism’s (Tasawwuf) long history is named after Khwaja Baha al-Din Muhammad Naqshband. Naqshbandiyah’s spiritual leadership rendered a significant transition from Shah “Abd Allah” Dehlawi to one of his splendid foreign disciples, Shaykh Mawlana Khalid Kurdi, and subsequently to the great Shaykh Othman Serajaddin and later to his son Shaykh Omar Zia’addin, in Kurdistan of Iraq.

It was Shaykh Omar Zia’addin who founded the famous Madrassa (school) of Biara. This in turn transformed Biara,Kurdistan,Iraq into a gigantic fountain of spiritual wisdom flowing to the neighboring regions. Since then, three generations of descendants with their utmost discipline have granted miraculous growth within Kurdistan and beyond, leaving no corner of the Muslim World untouched.

Millions of faithful followers have found spiritual comfort in this order not for the inducement to perform Karamat, but for the elation of the soul through the adherence to the true essence of teachings of Quran and close following of true Islamic principles (Sharia and Sunnah). The success and world-wide endorsement of the Naqshbandi order were engendered by their revival of the essence of Islam with an emphasis on the rules of Sharia.

Naqshbandi leaders have been spiritual guides to many, providing much needed hope to the hopeless, comfort to the troubled and kindness to the desolate. They fed the hungry, sheltered the homeless and gave medicine to the sick; they were emphatic about inclusion, implying that no one should be forsaken. They possessed nothing of their own. When these elders were redeemed, there was very little wealth to be bequeathed to their descendants, yet they left great respectability and the admiration of their followers to perpetuate and enshrine their names thereafter.

Shaykh Muhammad Masum, the grandson of Shaykh Omar Zia’addin and the last of this spiritual lineage, was born in Biara. He studied the Islamic sciences under the supervision of the most distinguished scholars of his time. Upon the completion of his studies, he was granted a “Certificate of Muddarres of Islamic Sciences” in 1942.

Shaykh Masum Naqshbandi left this world a short time ago at the age of ninety two, leaving his loved ones and his followers with a vacant seat that cannot be filled. He was living in Iran, in the small town of Mahabad in the western part of the country. He was not a politician but a spiritual figure, as his forefathers were, and he trod in their path faithfully.

In 1991, Shaykh Masum migrated to the United States where as an esteemed spiritual guide he continued to inspire, educate, and inform people about the universal message of Islam. Advanced in age, he continued in the path of his saintly life, very frustrated by what his country, Kurdistan, and his people had become.

Although illness had limited his public appearances during his final years in the United States, it did not prevent him from continuing his mission. Serving as a genuine source of guidance to many renowned Islamic scholars, he continued to comment with great insight on projected scholarly issues, reflecting his depth of spiritual wisdom.

When I last saw him, he expressed his profound desire to be buried amongst his forefathers upon his redemption. Thanks are due to his children, as they accommodated for his final resting place in the serenity of the crowd of his beloved ones.

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2010-04-07T14:00:00.001-07:00

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Gai Eaton: Remembering UK's Eloquent Voice of Islam

2010-04-07T13:41:00.004-07:00

Gai Eaton,Martin Lings,Hamza Yusuf

Gai Eaton: Remembering the UK's Eloquent Voice of Islam ---- HA Hellyer, The National, April 7, 2010

In retrospect, it was a little bit peculiar to call his house after his passing. I was hoping to give my condolences to his family – instead, I got a chance to hear his voice one last time. On his answering machine, he still came through as the distinguished gentleman I had always known him to be. With the passing of Charles Le Gai Eaton, also known as Hassan Abdul-Hakeem, the last of a particular generation of remarkable western Muslims left this world – and certainly, he was one of the more influential of them, as attested by the numerous condolence messages from across the spectrum of British society and Anglophones everywhere.

Raised as an agnostic, Eaton received his education at Charterhouse (a renowned school in England), before going to study at Cambridge University. After working for some time as a teacher and journalist in Jamaica and Egypt, he joined the British diplomatic service in 1949. In 1951, he became Muslim, which irrevocably changed his world view, enabling him to become one of the pre-eminent writers on Islam for a British audience in the contemporary age. He was deeply engaged with the challenges facing Britain’s Muslims, and later served them at the Islamic Cultural Centre at Regent’s Park in London with distinction for many years.

Many people in the UK have become Muslims since 1951 – but Eaton made a particular contribution to all English-speaking communities. As a young university student researching Islamic thought, I looked hard for contemporary authors in that area of study, even if they were not religious authorities themselves. Much of what was available at the time, particularly in the English language, was infused with political undertones, and aimed at an activist lifestyle. While the call to action through faith isn’t wrongheaded as such, it has its limitations. Eaton’s works, such as King and the Castle and Islam and the Destiny of Man, were completely different, aiming at reorientating the reader towards a God-centered life, rather than a life aimed at success in this world.

He was empowered by his deep attachment to living a faithful life in the contemporary world, combined with a profound suspicion of what modernity really had to offer in the advancement of the human being. He wrote as a Muslim, but those who read his works were from all faith backgrounds and none. He insisted that he was not a classically trained authority of the Islamic sciences, but he had a unique way with the English language that few writers on Islam could match. His admirers did not always share his philosophical perspectives, but few could deny his profound eloquence and high culture.

As a young student, I met Eaton at an academic conference, and took the opportunity to tell him how impressed and touched I had been by his books. He was so utterly humble – although I was much younger than him, he seemed incredibly embarrassed when I made the very suggestion that his works were of any worth. Recognizing him as one of the last great spiritual writers of his generation, and a reminder of high culture, I kept in touch with him, although it was certainly a one-sided relationship. When I last visited him in his home in Surrey with a friend, he was the epitome of a gentleman – he should never have exerted himself, considering his advanced years, but he nevertheless treated us with the highest hospitality.

My companion was incredibly grateful just for the opportunity to encounter him in the flesh – and that was entirely appropriate. For all those who read him, he was a deeply spiritual author who reminded us how the English idiom ought to be used when speaking of the highest spiritual matters. He was keen to jog our memory as to the importance of correct language, refusing to be swept away by current trends to overuse words like “tolerance” and “terrorism”, both of which he felt were utterly abused and bereft of their proper meaning. In the aftermath of the July 7 bombings, he warned many against curtailing civil liberties in response, and cared little for the fact it was an unpopular position to take.

In his last days, I received a message from a friend who had tended to him in his old age. At that time, Eaton was stable, but appeared as though he was wholly resigned to what he knew was inevitable for every soul. He saw his last days not in despair, but in hope for the mercy of God, displaying for his family and friends an elegant resignation. The Prophet of Islam said: “Death is the only preacher you need” – and Eaton himself was a preacher in the way he lived and the way he died.

His death, as his life, was fortuitous. He died on a Friday, which is noted as a special day in Islam – but he also died on the birthday of the Prophet. Eaton was particularly drawn to the Sufi experience within Islam, and within that experience, the celebration of the birth of the Prophet, as the “mercy to the worlds”, is especially important. That he passed away on that day is not something he would regard as coincidence – for indeed, he loved the Prophet with his heart and soul.

The school Eaton attended in Surrey had a Latin motto: Deo Dante Dedi – “God having given [to me], I gave”. His life is a testament to that adage – he felt so grateful to God, he made it incumbent upon himself to give to others in the books he wrote and the service he provided. With his passing, it truly is an end of an era for Britain.

Charles Le Gai Hassan Abdul-Hakeem Eaton was born in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1921. He passed away in London, England on February 26, 2010.

HA Hellyer is the author of “Muslims of Europe”, a Fellow of the University of Warwick and the director of the Visionary Consultants Group

MAWLID AR-RASUL MUBARIK (IslamUnity.Net)

2010-03-01T10:31:00.005-07:00

Mawlid Ar-rasul Mubarak ----From IslamUnity.Net
Title : You Are With Those Whom You Love
Date/Location: July 2007 – Talk delivered in Rochdale, Jamia Chistia
Speaker: Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Yahya Al Ninowy.

The shaykh talked about the very famous Ayah in the quran:
“Say: If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your mates, or your kindred; the wealth that ye have gained; the commerce in which you fear a decline: or the dwellings in which you delight – are dearer to you than Allah, or His Messenger, or the striving in His cause;- then wait until Allah brings about His punishment: and Allah does not guide the fasiqeen.” [Surah At-Tauba Verse 24]
If we are to summarise this religion of Islam, then we can say that it is a religion of love.
Allah (subhanahu wa’tala) encourages us through the Quran to love our parents and informs us not to even say ‘uff’ to them [Surah Al Israa].
The Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) informs us about love of the family, where he says “The best amongst you is he who is best to his family and I am best to my family”. He (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) also teaches us about loving our daughters, when he says “Fatima is part of me”,(Radiallahu Anhum) ,when they are on his shoulders and he is kissing them and a man comes and says , “Do you love them? I have 10 sons, I don’t kiss any of them.” The Prophet (SallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) replied “What can I do if Allah has taken away mercy from your heart?”. showing his deep love and affection for her. He also expresses his love for Imam Hassan and Husayn
He also teaches us love for our neighbours, where he says “Gibreel keeps coming to me and keeps saying neighbours, neighbours, as though he is inheriting from the neighbours”.
Allah (subhanahu wa’tala) orders us Ihsaan (be good) towards our society by saying in the Quran… “Allah orders you to be just and to do Ihsaan …” We should be positive contributors to society, because our beloved (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) came as a Mercy to the Entire Worlds, therefore we should be an extension of his mercy to the entire creation of Allah.
The more you learn about his beautiful qualities (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam), the more hostage you become to his love and his beautiful qualities…
Furthermore, the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) also taught us about love of his companions. Loving the family of Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) is also talked about in the Quran where Allah says “Tell them , I am not asking of you any reward in return, expect that you are kind to my offspring”. This is the wasiyah of the beloved, so don’t neglect it. There are Hadith that also emphasize this.
The Quran also teaches us to love the mothers of the believers… One should love their mother. The Quran also teaches of love of Allah and his Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) . This is all contrary to the saying of those who say that Islam is a religion of violence and hatred, but in reality, it’s a religion of love and forgiveness. (Subhanahu Wa Ta Alaa)
Note that the verse which is the theme of the talk says “That if you do not love Allah and his Prophet more than your family, your parents etc…” you shall await the punishment of Allah. This is actually waajib and fard upon you. Allah finishes the ayah by saying “Allah does not love the Fasiqeen”. Fisq from a Fiqh point of view is a “major sin” not a minor sin…
We need to ask ourselves the question “What number on the list of your priorities is the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam)?” If he is not number one , then make him number one!
If you have hardships in life, in your marriage, in your work, in your rizk, then take a look at where the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) is in your list of priorities..
Allah says in the Quran “whoever avoids my Dhikr , then we will fill their life with difficulties… and in the akhira they will be assembled blind…”“I had my vision in the duniya? “. Allah will say, “Our ayahs came to you , you forgot them, so today you shall be forgotten”. The person shall ask
Dhikr is amongst the name of the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) as Allah says in the Quran “Zikran Rasoolan”…
Allah also puts his own name with the name of the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam), in the same verse that we are talking about, therefore, Allah is glorifying the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam). If you put the love of the Prophet second, that’s not good enough, because in a race, the one that comes number two, is the first looser followed by many others.
There is usually a sign for everything, similarly, there is a sign for his love. One of the signs for his love is “Shauk (yearning) ” which we will focus on today….
When you hear his name (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam), your heart moves, you think about him, you dream about him, he is in your heart, your mind, your thoughts all the time….
A poet says “If you are far away in distances to me, you are in my heart, present and with me. Your image is in my head, your dhikr is always on my tongue, your dhikr is in my heart, where will you go?” We need to check our hearts to see if we have the yearning for the beloved (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam).
The Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) said “By the one who has the Nafs of Muhammad, there will be a time when one of you will not see me, then one of you will wish that you will give your whole family and everything you own , just to see me” [Sahih Muslim]
Lets look at some examples of Shauk, so that we can see the love of the Companions (Radiallahu Anhum) towards the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam).
In one of the battle, a woman was waiting, a man came to her and told her “Your husband was next to me in the battle, and he was martyred”… (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) instead and asked “How is he?”Another man came and said to her “I was next to your son and husband, both are marytred”… She asked “How is Rasoolullah? “Another man walked by and told her that her brother is also martyred. She just marched on and looked for the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam), and when she saw him eventually, she said “Every calamity happening to other than you is insignificant”. She asks about the Prophet
When Bilal (Radiallahu Anhu) was on his death bed and his family was next to him crying saying “how sad will we be when you are gone”. Bilal (Radiallahu Anhu) said “I have been waiting for this day for a long time, tomorrow I will be with Muhammad and his companions”.
A man from the Shawk of the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) every night before he went to bed, he repeated all the names of the Sahaba and then said the name of the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam). He then said “Those are my origin, oh Allah my heart falls for them, do not make me leave without seeing them .”
Abdullah Bin Zain (Radiallahu Anhu) was told that the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) passed away and he then made Sujood to Allah and said, “The last thing I saw was your Prophet, take my vision away, so I don’t see anyone other than him”… and Allah accepted his dua…
If there is no Shawk, then the heart does not move when you hear the name of the beloved sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam, then it’s time for resuscitation of the heart, otherwise it’s a sign of Fisq..
Why should we love him ?
1) You should love him because he loves you as Allah mentions in the Quran.
2) He guided us to the path of success, without him we would be perished. He did not leave a good single thing, but showed us how to do it and he did not leave a single bad thing, but showed us how to avoid it.
3) The Prophet recited the verses that Ibrahim (Alaihis Salam) recited and he cried “Oh my lord, my ummah , my ummah”… Allah sent Gibreel to ask him why he was crying after sending his Salams… Allah informed Gibreel “Go and tell Muhammad, that we will give you until you are pleased (Surah Ad-Duhaa) ” . Ask and you will be granted, interced and you will be granted…
4) Love him because he would have loved to be with you, he would have loved to meet you… He said “I loved to meet my brothers who believed in me, yet who did not see me”… Allah says in the Quran that he is caring about you more than you care about yourself. He use to say , “If any of the believers who die, and they owed people, tell them to come to me and I will pay them back on their behalf”.
5) Loving him in the world has a special effect on the believers. There is a Hadith where a companion asks him about how much time he should spend on making Salah and Salam on him, he said, “Then you will be sufficed from all your hardships in the duniya”.
6) He will benefit you on the day of judgement, his love will help you in the Akhira. As he said “those of you who have the closes seats to me on the day of judgement, will be the one who sends the most Salah and Salam on me”.
Anas (Radiallahu Anhu) said “Allah is my witness that I love Abu Bakr, Umar, the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam)
All the companions present said we have never been so happy about a Hadith, if you do your Faraid and you love the Prophet, you will be with him. We should check our heart and see who we love.
7) A Bedouin came and asked the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam) when the day of judgement is, he replied “What have you prepared for it?”. This is an important point and should give us the realisation that we should not waste our time on secondary non important issues and focus on preparing for the Akhira. Our priority list is confused, we are giving other things high priority, we indulge in secondary issues, indulging for the sake of argument. Your Qiyamah is when you die… The Bedouin replied, “Nothing, except I love Allah and his Prophet”. The Prophet then replied “You will be with those whom you love” and I pray that Allah assembles me with them..”
Ibn Ata’Allah said “The heart is either filled with Haqq or Batil, not both, the love of Quran and love of Shaytaan can not be in the same heart.”
The Quran will come as a witness for some, the Masjid will come as a witness for some on the day of judgement. It is natural to feel comfortable at your own house, regardless of where you are, the Awliya of Allah feel most comfortable in the house of Allah, the Masjid..
The lecture should enable us to understand the high status of the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam), so that we can remember him day and night, so that his image is in front of us all the time, so his Dhikr is on your tongues and in your hearts all the time…..
N.B If you have any questions regarding these notes, please contact the note taker on the e-mail address provided above. All credit and du’as should go to the note taker- I’ve just posted them on this blog in order for people to benefit from them.
http://sidramushtaq.wordpress.com/category/ibn-ataallah-al-iskandari/
COURTESY:ISLAMUNITY.NET

Poem: 12th Rabi'ul Awwal

2010-02-28T22:10:00.003-07:00

Assalatu Wassalamu Alaika Ya RasoolAllah

Assalatu Wassalamu Alaika Ya HabibAllah

Assalatu Wassalamu Alaika Ya NabiAllah

Assalatu Wassalamu Alaika Ya NoorAllah

I ask you whats the day today?

Twelfth of Rabbi-Ul-Awwal you say

What is special about this date?

Today was born Muhammad the Great!

Pray durood and send salaamupon the prophet of Islam

Remember Him in all you do

And remember his ways of life too

Just think of our pyare Nabi

And pray durood, its totally free

All you need is a loving heart

And praying durood is just the start

Nafl Namaz and verses of Qur'aan

Could help to strengthen your Iman

Think of the poor who you could feed

Meet your family, and REJOICE IN EID!!!

Coutesy: http://www.naqshbandiya.com/

GRAND MAWLID 2010

2010-02-23T15:12:00.002-07:00

Grand Mawlid Presents "The Power Of One"

http://www.grandmawlid.com/

Grand Mawlid Presents-A celebration of the life of Muhammad (peace be upon him)-The Power of One.How one sincere heart aligned with God can transform our world.

Speakers: Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Imam Zaid Shakir, Imam Tahir Anwar & Ustadh Yahya Rhodus Featuring: Sidi Abdul Kareem & The Bay Area Munshidun Hosted by: Ali Ataie

Over 1,400 years ago the heavens and the earth celebrated the announcement of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). They rejoiced in the arrival of the long awaited "Chosen One," who was to be the perfect manifestation of Allah’s mercy on earth and a beacon of light for humanity. He was and still remains the paragon of creation and is without question the greatest blessing and bounty that humanity has received from the Creator.
In recognition of this divine blessing, Muslims have celebrated his birth for centuries with reverence and gratitude. These celebrations, also known as Mawlid al-Nabi, vary in form, expression and duration across the many cultures of the Muslim world. In the Indian subcontinent, the Mawlid is celebrated throughout the city squares with melodious singing in praise of the Prophet (peace be upon him) accompanied by food and sweets.
In Indonesia, large processions involving hundreds of thousands of believers are held along the country’s main roads as an expression of love for the Prophet (peace be upon him). The Moroccans host large feasts and recite lines of classical poetry in his honor. Similar practices and traditions have developed throughout other parts of the Muslim world further infusing cultures and people with a deep-seated respect and reverence for him. No matter how these celebrations take place, one thing is certain, in celebrating his birth, his legacy and his life the Muslim community at large continues to strengthen its connection to him and thus God.
Please join us for a night of inspiration as we continue to carry on this timeless tradition. We look forward to seeing you for an evening filled with poetry, praise and reflections from our dear scholars!

CELEBRATE MERCY-GLOBAL MAWLID un NABI (saws)

2010-02-23T14:53:00.004-07:00

CELEBRATE MERCY-GLOBAL MAWLID un NABI (SAWS)
Thousands of Muslims Worldwide to Attend Historic Online CelebrationOn Thursday, February 25, the website celebratemercy.com will host a global webcast celebration of the Prophet Muhammad; this first event of its kind has attracted unprecedented attention in the online community. Throughout the Islamic lunar month of Rabia al-Awwal, millions of Muslims worldwide commemorate the Prophet Muhammad, by remembering his life and character. This year, for the first time, an online celebration is being organized to facilitate people everywhere—both those who are Muslim and those who are not—to celebrate his life with prominent world figures, scholars, and performers. Titled “Celebrate Mercy” and hosted by the website celebratemercy.com, the event will feature well-known Muslim speakers and entertainers in both pre-recorded video/audio presentations and live webcam presentations. The program will include short talks, songs, and poetry, all on the subject of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam. The program is expected to last three hours, beginning at 9:00 p.m. EST on February 25, with a global re-broadcast on Sunday February 28, at 10:00 a.m. GMT. Presenters at the event will include Yusuf Islam, the former Cat Stevens; Dalia Mogahed, a member of the Advisory Council to President Obama; the President of the Muhammad Ali Center; and several other notable Muslim scholars and artists. Marketing for the event began earlier this month through social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, and word of the event quickly spread across the online world. Within one week of the launch of celebratemercy.com, 3400 individuals became “fans” of the event on Facebook, representing over 60 countries, and over 400 people signed up to volunteer. As of this release, the event has garnered 500 paid registrants from 40 countries. Viewing centers are being set up in many communities, including cities in New Zealand, India, UK, Canada, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Australia. The success of the event is a testament to the power of online social networking. In explaining his inspiration for the event, Tarek El-Messidi, founder of celebratemercy.com, stated: “Muslims consider the Prophet Muhammad to be the best of God’s creation. It made me sick to my stomach to think that many in the West associate the name Muhammad with the disgusting actions of some Muslim extremists. When people hear the name Muhammad, mercy should be their first thought; this event will explain why.” The Prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca (in modern day Saudi Arabia) in 670 AD. Muslims believe that he was the last in a series of prophets chosen by God, and the teachings revealed to the Prophet Muhammad form the basis of the religion of Islam. Over one billion people worldwide commit to his teachings, and he is thought by many—Muslim and non-Muslim alike—to be one of the most influential people in history. Amjad Tarsin, one of the event coordinators, explained the significance of celebrating the Prophet’s life in today’s world: “[Prophet Muhammad] taught us that forbearance is greater than revenge; forgiveness more lofty than punishment; and compassion more effective than austerity. Above all, he taught us mercy. And in these difficult times, we are all in need of more mercy in the world.”Those who are interested can learn more about the event, including a full list of confirmed and invited presenters, and about the Prophet Muhammad at celebratemercy.com. Registration is currently open and will remain open until 12 PM EST on February 25. The cost for the event is $5.00 per person although those who are not Muslim are granted free guess access at www.celebratemercy.com/guest. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Haitian earthquake relief efforts. Quick Facts: What? Global online celebration of the life of Prophet Muhammad. Why?To facilitate a celebration of the Prophet’s life for people everywhere, with prominent world figures, scholars, and performers. When? Thursday, February 25, 2010, 9:00 p.m. EST. Global re-broadcast on Sunday, February 28, 2010, 10:00 a.m. GMT. (Video footage also available upon request)Where?Participants can join the event online by registering at www.celebratemercy.com. Cost of the event is $5.00. Those who are not Muslim are granted free guest access at celebratemercy.com/guest.

http://www.celebratemercy.com/

A Rabi'ul Awwal Gift- Habib Umar bin Hafiz

2010-02-22T23:11:00.003-07:00

Interpreter's Path---the blog of AbdulKarim Yahya

A Rabi'ul Awwal Gift

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
وبعد فهذه صيغة صلاة على النبي محمد صلى الله عليه وآله وصحبه وسلم للحبيب عمر بن حفيظ
وأوصى بالإكثار منها في شهر مولده صلى الله عليه وسلم
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh
This is a formula of prayers (salat) on the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him, his folk and companions and grant them peace) by Habib Umar bin Hafiz. He advised us to read it a lot in the month of the Beloved’s birth (Allah bless him and grant him peace):
اَللَّهُمُّ صَلِِّ وَسَلِِّمْ وَبارِِكْ عَلى النُّورِِ المُبين، عَبْدِِكَ وَحَبيبِِكَ سَيِّدِِنا محمدٍ الأمين، وَعَلى آلِهِِ ِوَصَحْبِهِ
وَحَقِِّقْنا بِِحُبِِّهِ، وَأكْرِِْمنا بُِِقُرْبِِهِ، وَاجْعََْلنا مِِنْ رُفَقائِهِ يا رَبََّ العالَمين
Allahumma Salli wa Sallim wa Barik ‘ala al-Nur al-Mubin ‘abdika wa Habibika Sayyidina Muhammad al-Amin wa ‘ala alihi wa sahbihi wa haqiqna bihubbihi wa akrimna biqurbihi wa-j’alna min rufaqa’ihi ya Rabbal-‘alamin.
“O Allah send prayers, peace and blessings upon the Manifest Light, Your Slave and Your Beloved, our Liegelord Muhammad the Trustworthy, as well as his folk and companions, and make us true in his love, honor us with nearness to him, and include us among his entourage. O Lord of the Worlds.”

Courtesy---Interpreter's Path Blog

http://abdulkarimyahya.com/2010/02/19/a-rabiul-awwal-gift/

Mawlid-un-Nabi (saws) in Makkah al-Mukkarma

2010-02-21T01:17:00.007-07:00

Birthplace-Mawlid al-Nabi (saws),now a library

Mawlid-un-Nabi (saws) in Makkah al-Mukkarma
Celebrations of great happiness & joy were held in Makkah al-Mukkurma on the Birthday of Gracious Nabi (saws) and this day was called "Eid Youm-e- Wiladat-e- Rasul’Allah",Festival of Birhday of Prophet of God (saws). Beautiful carpets were laid down in the Haram Sharif behind Hanafi Musalla. Sharif of Mecca and Commander of Hijaz and their Staff who were appropriatly dressed for the occasion were present.They just returned after reciting Naats & Qasidas at the Birthplace of Prophet (saws).The lamps were lighted in two rows from Haram Sharif to the Birthplace, Mawlid al-Nabi (saws). The birthplace was illuminated with lights. Mawlid Celebration (Mehfil e Milad) was held in Haram Sharif after Isha Prayers on 11th Rabi al-Awwal.The Turkish Artillary gave 21 gun salute from Jiyad Fortress at the each prayer time from Maghrib of 11th Rabi al-Awwal to the Asr of 12th Rabi al-Awwal. A report of Mawlid Celebration in Mecca was published in March ,1917 issue of Monthly Journal “ Tariqat”, Lahore:
“Mecca and its surroundings echoed with loud noise of Gun Salute and the Adhan Caller (Mu'adhdin) started calling Allahu Akbar ,Allahu Akbar, for the Asr Prayers. The people started congratulating each other on the happy ocassion of Eid Mawlid un Nabi (saws) .Sharif Hussain offered Maghrib prayers with a large crowd at the Hanafi Musalla. After the prayers the Chief Justice (Qadi al Qudat) congratulated the Sharif of Mecca. Then all ministers, Government officials & City Notables left with a large crowd to the Birthplace of Prophet (saws).The entire pathway to the Mawlid un Nabi was illuminated and colorful lights at the Birthplace looked heavenly. The visitors stood with respect and the speaker started narrating the events about the life of Prophet (saws).All present listened with humility. After this Shaykh Fawad,Deputy Foreign Minister gave a speech , shedding light on the Greatest Human Revolution brought by birth of the Prophet(saws). After this another speaker recited devotional poetry in the honor of the Prophet (saws),then everyone visited the birthplace and returned to Haram Sharif for Isha Prayers. After Isha,all gathered in Haram Sharif to listen to the Mawlid Narratives. The speaker discussed Spiritual and Physical qualities & characteristics of beloved Prophet (saws).On the occasion of Mawlid un Nabi (saws) all the courts, offices and schools were closed.”
Many Islamic Scholars have mentioned about Celebration of Mawlid un Nabi (saws) in Mecca in their books,for example: Allama Ibn Jouzi (al-Milad al-Nabwi),Hazrat Shah Wali’Allah Dehlvi (Fayuth al-Harmaiyn),Shaykh Qutub al-Din al-Hanafi ( al-Aalam ba Alam Bait' Allah al-Haram), Jamal al-Din Muhammad bin Jarr’Allah bin Zaheer (in Minhaj al Quran Lahore.Nov,1987) ,Mufti Enayat Ahmad Kaukorvi ( TawarikhHabib’Allah ) and Shaykh Muhammad Misri ( Muhammad Rasul’Allah).The tradition of visiting Birthplace of Prophet (saws) has been practiced by People of Mecca for Centuries. Imam Abu al-Hussain Muhammad bin Ahmad popularly known as Ibn e Jubair Andalusi (d.614 AH) writes about tradition of visiting Birthplace of Prophet (saws) in his Travel Journal (Rihla Ibn e Jubair):
“Birthplace of Prophet (saws) is one of the Ziyara of Mecca. The ground of this site is honored because it has touched the holy body of Beloved of God (saws)as the first thing in this universe. This is the place where greatest personality was born and he is the Mercy for the Ummah. We rubbed our cheeks at this site as we entered because, at this place the most blessed (mubarik )and pure ( tayyab )child of this universe was born and we were graced with the blessings ( barakat) because of our visit.
Referring to the blessings of visiting the Birthplace (Barakat e Mawlid un Nabi (saws)),Imam Qutub al-Din Hanafi (d.988AD), writes “Birthplace (Mawlid e Pak) is a famous place. It is visited until now. Prayers are accepted here. The People of Mecca (Ahle Mecca) hold Remembrance of God ‘s Gathering (Mehfil-e-Dhikr ) every Monday and the Muslims visit this holy site every year during the night of 12th Rabi al-Awwal, ”
Source: Mawlid un Nabi (saws) in Urdu: Research, Analysis and History by Muhammad Muzaffar Javed Alam Siddiqui ( Pages-919),Publisher-Fiction House,18 Mazang Road,Lahore,Pakistan

Mercy Springs from Mustafa's Mawlid

2010-02-19T23:25:00.002-07:00

Mercy Springs from Mustafa's Mawlid
An exqusite reflection on the birth of the beloved, may God's blessings and peace be upon him. From Wayfarer's Rest
With a whisper of the wind appears the first new leafAnd the trees tremble as life returns anewLike a gentle breeze that grows to a tempestA new song enters in my heart,And lifts me on its wings.Spring is here again.The birds have begun to sing again. Looking out, I see tiny buds beginning to poke their way through the soil; branches bare all winter have dared to send forth their first green shoots. The wind blows warmer, the rain feels somehow fresher. It is unmistakeable – spring is here again.How fitting that, as we approach the month of lights, the blessed month of mawlid, we should find ourselves entering the season of spring. For what more fitting time could there have been for the one whose birth signified the dawning of new hope for mankind, a new spring of tauhid after the dark and cold winter of disbelief; for the one who loved all things green and who revived dead hearts to life, than the month of Rabi’ al-Awwal (lit: the first spring)?Shaykh Hamza Yusuf mentioned that the Prophet (s) was born in spring and loved green. He continued that green was the first colour that the eye could perceive, and the last that it could make out; the middle of the spectrum of light. Green is also the colour of chlorophyll, which mediates photosynthesis in plants – the conversion of pure light into energy and nourishment that ultimately allows our continued existence. The parallels are manifest but beautiful nonetheless: he (s) is from the light of Allah, the first Prophet and the last, the moderate and median way, neither too harsh nor too lenient; he is the source of all nourishment and the means of continuation for all spiritual life. He (s) is, as the commentaries of the Quran mention, the solitary flowering tree in the midst of a barren desert – from whose fruits all men feast, and beneath whose boughs all find shade and rest.The advent of spring fills one with gladness – a joy that the believer cannot but feel when he or she contemplates the arrival of the best and most beloved of all creation (s). Allah says in the Holy Quran: ‘In the blessings of Allah and in His mercy – in that let them rejoice,’ and, ‘make remembrance of the Days of Allah.’ al-Bayhaqi relates that the Prophet (s) said, ‘the Days of Allah are Allah’s Blessings and Signs, and the Prophet’s birth is a great bliss.’ For almost a millennium, Muslims have joyfully commemorated the arrival of our spiritual Spring with the celebration of mawlid.Mawlid has three meanings: the time of the Beloved’s (s) birth, the place of his birth and the fact of his birth. However, for hundreds of years, the word mawlid has been used to signify the celebration of the Prophet’s (s) birth. Mawalid have been – and still are – held wherever there are Muslims; from the Islamic heartlands of Arabia, Egypt and Syro-Palestine to the very borders of the traditional Islamic lands such as Indonesia, the Caucasus and Western Africa. In the 20th century, the globalization of the Ummah and mass migration has seen mawlid celebrated in the most unlikely of places – from the rain-swept streets of the UK to the snowy mountains of Canada to the tip of Southern Africa.It is beloved of the common folk of the community and cherished by the elect. Kings and rulers have used mawlid to connect to their followers; scholars have used it to educate the people. Such has been its popularity among the learned and the unlearned – so deeply has it touched the hearts of Muslims from every walk of life – that one would struggle to find a place that has not been graced by the celebration of the Beloved of Allah (s).Rabi` al-Awwal Mubarak, dear friends. May Allah enlighten all our hearts with the love of his Beloved (s), ennoble our eyes with his (s) vision in this world and the next, and fill our limbs with the strength to follow his blessed way.Oh Cherishing Lord! Through the honour of Sayyidina Muhammad in Your eyes, purify our hearts from every evil quality that distances us from Your witnessing, Your love and Your mercy, let us die as members of his (s) community and under his banner of praise, yearning for the encounter with You, Oh Lord of Majesty and Grace! Then peace and blessings upon the elect of creation, the Master of the children of Adam, the Beloved of the Lord of the Worlds, Sayyidina wa Habibina Muhammad, his family, companions, and all who light their hearts from his blessed lamp.

Courtesy: Seeker of the Sacred-http://seekerofthesacred.blogspot.com/2007/03/mercy-springs-from-mustafas-mawlid.html

Virtues of month of Rabi ul Awwal

2010-02-19T11:09:00.003-07:00

VIRTUES of THE MONTH Rabi'- Ul - Awwal
It is mentioned in The Jawahar Ghaibi {Jewels of The Unseen} that in this month the Companions of the Beloved of Allah Hadrat Muhammad may Allah be pleased with them all, the Taba'een {those who saw the holy Companions} and Taba' Taba'een {the ones who saw the Taba'een} used to perform as a gift to the Blessed Soul of the Beloved of Allah Hadrat Muhammad, 20 Raka'h daily for 12 days. If one can not perform this Salah daily, at least it should be performed on the 2nd and 12th day and the gift passed on to the Soul of the Beloved of Allah Hadrat Muhammad ,because the Beloved of my soul came in the dreams of those who performed this Salah, and gave them the good news of Paradise. Seeing the Beloved of my soul, Hadrat Muhammad in the dream after his demise and giving the good news of Paradise just as if one saw him in real life.
It is mentioned in "Kitabul Awrad" that on the night the Hilal {visible moon} is seen, one should perform 16 Raka'h Nafl {voluntary} Salah, in sections of 2 Raka'ah and intentions {Niyyah} of 2 Raka'ah each and in each Raka'ah recite after Surah Al-Fatihah, Surah Ikhlas 3 times and after the completion of the 16 Raka'ah recite the following Salatul Nabi {Durood} on The Beloved of Allah, one thousand times:

Allahumma rabba hadhi-hid da'wa-tit-tamma wa-salatil qae-ma,Ati muhammadanil wasilata wal fadeela,Wab ath-hu maqamam-mahmuda-nil alladhi wa aadtha

O God, Owner of this perfect call and Owner of this prayer to be performed,Bestow upon Muhammad al waseelah (a station in Prardise) and al fadeelah (a rank above the rest of creation),And raise him to the rank you have promised him

The above Durood when continued to be recited daily for 12 days {one thousand times each day} after Salatul 'Isha, and then going to sleep in the state of wudu, the reciter will Inshaallah Ta'la see the Beloved of my soul, Hadrat Muhammad.
It is written in "Kitabul Mashaikh" that from the night on which the Hilal of Rabi-ul-Awwal is seen, if one recites the following Durood 1.025 times after Salatul 'Isha:

ALLAHUMMA SALLI ALA MUHAMMADIN WA ALA ALI MUHAMMADIN KAMA SALLAITA ALA IBRAHEEMA WA ALA ALI IBRAHEEMA INNAKA HAMEEDUM MAJEED
he will see the Beloved of Allah Hadrat Muhammadin his dream.
In the same book it is written that any one who recites in the month of Rabi-ul-Awwal one hundred and twenty five thousand times any one of the following 2 Duroods

Assalatu wassalamu ‘alayka Ya Rasulallah

Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam
he will certainly see the beloved of my soul Muhammad in his dream.

Courtesy: Daar-ul-ehsaan http://www.daar-ul-ehsaan.org/Rabi-Ul-Awwal.htm#themonth

Significance of Rabi al-Awwal by Shaykh Abdal Haqq Muhaddith Dehlavi (r.a)

2010-02-18T19:43:00.005-07:00

Islamic Months & Year (Ma sabata bilsunnah un amal as sunnah)
Shaykh Abdal Haqq Muhaddith Dehlavi (R.A)
Rabi al-Awwal

Blessed Birth of Prophet (saws)
1. Year of Prosperity & Joy
Dear Friends! Allah Taala guide you with light of Certainty (Nur al-Yaqeen) and illuminate your heart with remembrance of His beloved Prophet (saws), blessings on the Chosen Prophet (saws), his family & companions. As mentioned in the books of Sira & Ahadith, Hazrat Amina (r) witnessed unusual & strange events during her pregnancy. Quraysh of Makkah were suffering with severe famine and their land became green with trees bearing fruits after the blessed pregnancy. They became prosperous and therefore named 570 AD as “The Year of Prosperity & Joy”.
2. Blessed Birth in State of Prostration (Sajjada)
Abu Nuaym has narrated from Abdullah ibn Abbas (r) “Hazrat Amina, the mother of Prophet (saws) dreamed that someone said to her “You have conceived the best of humankind and master of the worlds, when you give birth to him, call him Muhammad and tell no one about your situation”. She said: “I saw a flock of birds that had come without my noticing from whence they came, until they covered my chamber. Their beaks were made of emerald and their wings of rubies. The veil was lifted from my sight and at that moment I saw the eastern and western regions of earth. I saw three banners raised a banner in the East, a banner in the West and a banner on the top of the Kabah.” “I gave birth to Muhammad (saws); when he came out of my belly I turned and looked at him, and lo and behold, I saw him prostrating himself with his Shahadah Finger raised like one who was pleading and supplicating. Then I saw a white cloud that had come from the sky, came down until it covered him and he was concealed from my sight; I heard a voice call out “ Take Muhammad (saws) around the East and West of the world; take him into all of the oceans, so that they will know his name, his description, and his form and they will know that he is called al-Mahi, the Effacer, because there is no polytheism but it will be effaced by him in his time.”
3. Last of the Prophets ( Khatim al-Nabiyeen)
Imam Ahmad,Bazar,Tibrani,Hakim and Allama Bayhaqi has narrated from Arbaz bin Sariya that Prophet (saws) said “ I am servant of Allah and last of the Prophets. I was Prophet when Adam was between water and mud and I will inform you of all events shortly. I am answer to the supplication of my father Hazrat Ibrahim, glad tiding of Hazrat Isa and I am dream of my mother which she saw. The mothers of Prophets see dreams about prophecy of their sons. The mother of Messenger of Allah (saws) saw a light emanating from her belly that reached to the castles of Syria. Hazrat Abbas bin Muttalib said about this
light in his poetry “Oh.Rasul! The earth became illuminated on your blessed birth and skies became bright with your light and we tread the path of guidance with your light.”
4. Seal of the Prophethood ( Muhr e Nabawwut)
Hazrat Aisha Siddiqa (r) stated that a Jewish Resident of Makkah addressed the Quraysh on the day of the blessed birth of Prophet (saws): “Oh !People of Quraysh! Did you have a birth of a son in your family? Then he said “The Prophet of Ummah will be born this night and there will be a seal of Prophethood between his shoulders as a sign of Prophecy. Quraysh found out that Abdullah bin Abdal Muttalib had a son. He took few persons with him to visit Hazrat Amina and wished to see the seal. He fainted after witnessing the seal and then stated “ Oh.People of Quraysh ! Listen, Prophecy has finished in the house of Bani Israel. Now you will become prominent & dominant in the world through this Prophet(saws) and his message will spread from East to the West.” Yaqub bin Sufyan has written this tradition with hasan isnad and is also included in Fath al-Bari.
5. Date and Time of the Blessed Birth
There is difference of opinion about date and time of birth however 12th Rabi al-Awwal is most popular opinion. The People of Makkah visit the birth place of Prophet (saws) on this day and this tradition is practiced even today. Taibi states, there is a concensus amongst Muslims that Prophet (saws) was born on this date. I (Abdul Haq) agree with Taibi. It is popularly believed that day of birth was Monday Morning. Qatada Ansari states that Prophet (saws) used to fast on Mondays and when he was asked about this, he said “This is the day I was born and this is the day, I was given Prophethood”. (Sahih Muslim)
6. Superiority of Night of Mawlid
The night of Mawlid is superior to the night of Destiny (laylat al-qadar). The night of Mawlid is the night of Prophet’s coming to this world and Night of Power was given to him, that which was honored by the very existence of one for whose sake it is honored, is more honorable than that which is honored by reason of what was given to him.
Thuwayba, the slave girl of Abu Lahab gave the glad news of the blessed birth of Prophet (saws) and therefore he freed her out of delight. When Abu Lahab died, one of his relatives saw him in dream. He said to him,” What happened to you?”.Abu Lahab replied I am suffering in hell however on Mondays, there is some relief and then he pointed to his two fingers, by signaling which, he freed Thuwayba .I am able to drink water with these two fingers. Ibn al-Jauzi has written that if Abu Lahab, the unbeliever whose condemnation was revealed in the Quran, was rewarded in hell for his joy on the night of Prophet’s Birth (saws), what is the case of Muslims who delight in his birth and spend all that they can afford or love of him? By my life, his reward from the Allah Taala can only be that He graciously causes him to enter the gardens of bliss. The Muslims have always celebrated Mawlid un Nabi (saws) during the month of Rabi al-Awwal. They prepare food, give charity to poor, distribute gifts and express happiness. They spend generously, recite Quran and decorate their homes. Allah Taala continues to shower His blessing & baraka on them. The Muslims who celebrate Mawlid-un-Nabi (saws) remain in Allah’s Security and their needs are fulfilled. Allah Taala sends His mercy on the person who celebrates Eid on the night of Mawlid un Nabi (saws). May Allah Taala reward us for our sincere intensions and enable us to follow the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet (saws). Allah is enough for us and He is the Best Helper.
Shaykh Abdal Haqq Muhaddith Dehlavi (r.a)
He was born in 1551 (958 AH) in in Delhi, hence the suffix Dehlavi to his name. He went on become a noted writer in Arabic and Persian, who was respected &honored by Mughal Emperors Jahangir (r.1605-28) and Shah Jahan (r.1628-58), and in time became a respected,authentic & authoritative scholar of Islam. His ancestors were natives of Bokhara, and later while visiting Delhi was enobled and attached to the Mughal Royal Court at Delhi. His father was also a great Islamic Scholar.In 996 AH, 1587 CE, he made the pilgrimage to Mecca, where he stayed remained for the next two years studying the Prophetic Traditions ( Hadith) and Sufism under various noted scholars. Upon his return to Delhi, he taught for half a century, and authored more than 100 works, noted among them a History of Medina, a Biography of Prophet Muhammad (saws), and a work on the lives of saints. He died in Delhi, in 1642 (1052 AH), and has over 40 works to his name. His mausoleum, today exists at the edge ofHauz-i-Shamsi near Qutub Minar, Delhi.

His Works
"Akhbar al Akhyar", 16th Century. Urdu Edition 1990
Sharh Mishkat Shareef
Perfection of Faith (Translation), Adam Publishers.
Madarij e Nabuwwah
Tārīh-i Haqqī (The History by Haqq). General history of South Asia from the time of the Ğūrids to the 42nd year of Mughal Emperor Akbar’s reign (1005/1596-7).
Source Wikipedia
Brief Biography at nfie.com/blog
http://www.nfie.com/welcome/blog/2009/12/shaykh-abdal-haqq-muhaddith-dehlvi.html

Salawaat in Rabi'ul Awwal

2010-02-17T23:06:00.003-07:00

Salawaat in Rabi'ul Awwal
The month of Rabi’ul Awwal came by and has passed us. But let us keep the presence of our beloved Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam fresh in every quantum of light that our eyes receive. And keep his spiritual essence alive in every breath we take.Don't you find it strange that some people (loudly claiming they are "purer" Muslims) look for excuses to not celebrate the prophet (saw) and critize fellow muslims who do celebrate? Get real! All Muslims should to celebrate Prophet Muhammad (saw), as had been done by the salaf and khalaf generations before us.

Part of Burdah of Imam Muhammad bin Said al-Busiri

As long as you do not follow the way of the Christians- who overly praise Jesus alaihissalam and turn him into god)-Praise him (Muhammad) the way you please(verse 43)

Salawat Khusus of Tariqah Ahmadiah

O Allah, send salutation, peace and blessings upon our master Muhammad and his family in every glance and breath, the count of which only known to Allah, whose Knowledge has no limit.

Part of Salawat ‘Azimiah of Sidi Ahmad bin Idris (rh)

I plea to Allah - by the Light of Allah the Magnificent, the Light that fills up the Pillars of the ‘Arash of Allah the Magnificent, with which the worlds come into being – that He send great salutation upon our master Muhammad. And great salutation upon the family of Nabi, a salutation fitting to the greatness of Allah......(until the end)

Salawat of Imam as-Shafi’i (rh) as found in Dala’il al-Khairat and elsewhere

O Allah, send salutation and peace upon Sayyidina Muhammad, every time those who remember (az-zakirun) make remembrance (zakara) of You.O Allah, send salutation and peace upon Sayyidina Muhammad, every time those who neglect (al-ghafilun) fail to make remembrance of you.

Part of the Ten Salawaat as given by a student of Madrasah Saulatiyyah, Makkah

O Allah, send salutation and peace upon Sayyidina Muhammad, who walks under the sun and he has no shadow following him.O Allah, send salutation and peace upon Sayyidina Muhammad, (so noble he is) that flies never set down on his person...(until the end)

Part of Dala'il al-Khairat as read on Saturdays

And may You (Allah) send salutation upon him (Muhammad) and his family. Send salutations as many times as the number of the creations - who glorify You, and who claim Holiness unto You, and who prostrate to You - since the the day you created this world up to the Day of Resurrection, and for each day you amplify 1000 fold...(until the end)

Salawat Shifa/Tibbiah

O Allah, send salutation upon Sayyidina Muhammad, the kind that cleanses the heart and becomes its healer, that remedies ailment and becomes health restorer, that lights up vision and becomes the illuminator.

Salawat Tafrijiyah

O Allah, send complete salutation and send perfect peace upon Sayyidina Muhammad, with whom ceases all that binds, and ends all sadness, and fulfills all wishes, and attains all desires, and ends with goodness, and causes the pouring of rain, by his generous countenance, and upon his family and his companions, as much as glance of an eye and every breath that is made that is in Your Knowledge.

Salawat Munjiyat

O Allah, send salutation upon Sayyidina Muhammad, with which You release us from catastrophe and misfortune, and You fulfill all wishes, and You clear all our wrongdoings, and You elevate our rank by Your side, and You suffice us with kindness during our lifetime and after it, and please send our salutation as well to Muhammad’s family and his companions.

Coutesy: Islam is Every One of Us

http://islaminus.blogspot.com/2009/03/salawaat-in-rabiul-awwal.html

Rabi al Awwal Mubarik

2010-02-17T22:48:00.003-07:00

Worship/Waziafs for Rabbi ul Awwal
ASALATU WASALAMU ALAYKA YA RASULLALLAH Salla Allahu ta’ala ‘alayhi wa Sallam
First Rabi ul awwal
One should perform 16 Raka’h Nafl , in sections of 2 Raka’ah and intentions of 2 Raka’ah each and in each Raka’ah recite after Surah Al-Fatihah, Surah Ikhlas 3 times and after the completion of the 16 Raka’ah recite the following Durood one thousand times:
Allahumma Rabba haazihid dawatit tammatee wassalaatil qaaimatee aatee Muhammadanil wasilata wal fadhilata
The above Durood when continued to be recited daily for 12 days {one thousand times each day} after Salatul ‘Isha, and then going to sleep in the state of wudu, the reciter will Inshaallah Ta’la see the Beloved Rasool Salla Allahu ta’ala ‘alayhi wa Sallam
If any one who recites in the month of Rabi-ul-Awwal one hundred and twenty five thousand times any one of the following 2 Duroods Will certainly see the beloved Rasool Salla Allahu ta’ala ‘alayhi wa Sallamin a dream Inshallah.
Assalaatu Wassalaamu Alayka Ya Rasoolallah Sallal Laahu Ta’ala Alayhi Wa Sallam
Sallal Laahu Alayhi Wa Sallam
It is written in “Kitabul Mashaikh” that from the night on which the Hilal of Rabi-ul-Awwal is seen, if one recites the following Durood 1025 times after Salatul ‘Isha:
Ala’ Muhammadinw wa’ala Aali Muhammadin kamaa salaita Ala’ Ibrahima aa ala’ Aali Ibrahima innaka hamidummajeed
He/she will see the Beloved Nabi Salla Allahu ta’ala ‘alayhi wa Sallam in his dream
Fasting on the First of Rabi ul Awwal is also recommended.12th Rabi ul Awwal EID MILAD UN NABI Salla Allahu ta’ala ‘alayhi wa Sallam
After Zuhar namaaz read the follwing nawafils.
1) Offer two rakaat prayer, In first Rakaat after surah fateha recite Surah e Kafiroon three times, in second rakaat after surah fateha recite sura e Ikhlas three times
2)Pray 2 rakats nafil namaz. In each rakat after Surah Fateha, pray Surah Muzammil Sharif once. After the namaz, offer its sawab to our beloved Prophet Salla Allahu ta’ala ‘alayhi wa Sallam. Then go into sijdah position and pray for fulfilment of your needs. Insha-Allah the wishes will be granted.
3) Pray 2 or 4 rakats (in 2 salams) nafil namaz. In each rakat after Surah Fateha recite Surah Ikhlas 25 times. After the namaz pray as in 1) above
Some acts to be carried out on 12th Rabi ul Awwal Eid Milad Un Nabi Salla Allahu ta’ala ‘alayhi wa Sallam.
* To perform Ghusal* Wear New Clothes* Wear Attar/perfume* Read Seerah of Nabi Salla Allahu ta’ala ‘alayhi wa Sallam* Greet Each other* Give Charity* Keep Fast* stay up all night and recite the Quran/ darood shareef and attend mehfils.
Throughout this month reciting of darood shareef in abundance carries great virtues/sawaab inshallah.

Coutesy: Ashiqe Rasool- http://madinasharif.wordpress.com/2009/03/06/worshipwaziafs-for-rabbi-ul-awwal/

Mawlid-Un-Nabi Conference 2010,Phoenix,AZ

2010-02-16T21:17:00.004-07:00

Mawlid-Un-Nabi Conference 2010

SATURDAY, MARCH 27th, 2010,3:00 – 9:00 pm
Chandler Community Center
125 Commonwealth Ave
Chandler, AZ 85225
Sponsored By
Naqshbandiya Foundation for Islamic Education
Celebrating The Prophet (pbuh) of Universal Mercy, Love & Beauty
Shaykh Abdullah Nooruddeen Durkee
Born in 1938 at Warwick, N.Y, became Muslim in early thirties.Studied with several Shayukh including Shaykh Ibrahim al-Battawi(al-Azhar),Shaykh Dr.Seyed Ali Ashraf (Cambridge,UK),Shaykh Umar Abdullah ( Comoro Islands) & Shaykh Muhammad al-Jamal ar-Rifai (al-Quds). Founder, Dar al-Islam, Abiquiu, NM & Islamic Study Center (Flag Mountain),Director, an-Noor Educational Trust & Principal,Green Mountain School. Eminent American Muslim Scholar, Thinker, Author & Translator. One of his main contributions is”The Transliterated Tajwidi Quran”. Imam & Khateeb for various Muslim Communities on East Coast.
Mahmoud Sheikh-Khalil M.D
Imam & Director, Islamic Center of Northeast Louisiana, Monroe, LA
Imam Abdulbasir Ali Teacher Phoenix Metro Islamic School
Imam Didmar Faja Imam Albanian American Islamic Center, Quran Teacher at Arizona Cultural Academy

Na’ats,Nasheeds,Qasidahs
Al-Haj Noor Muhammad Jarral

FREE EVENT-Register for Conference+Dinner online, e-mail or phone
Please Donate Generously
Please make Checks Payable to: NFIE. (Tax ID: 37-1303679)

Naqshbandiya Foundation for Islamic Education
P.O.Box 2978,Gilbert Az 85296. E-mail info@nfie.com website www.nfie.com

The Birth Of The Prophet Muhammad(saws):Devotional Piety in Sunni Islam by Marion Holmes Katz

2010-02-16T19:32:00.007-07:00

The Birth Of The Prophet Muhammad(saws): Devotional Piety In Sunni Islam (culture And Civilization In The Middle East) by Marion Holmes Katz,Ph.D. 1997, University of Chicago,Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies
Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies,50 Washington Square South,New York, NY 10012
In the medieval period, the birth of the Prophet Muhammad (the mawlid) was celebrated in popular narratives and ceremonies that expressed the religious agendas and aspirations of ordinary Muslims, including women.
This book examines the Mawlid from its origins to the present day and provides a new insight into how an aspect of everyday Islamic piety has been transformed by modernity. The book gives a window into the religious lives of medieval Muslim women, rather than focusing on the limitations that were placed on them and shows how medieval popular Islam was coherent and meaningful, not just a set of deviations from scholarly norms.
Concise in both historical and textual analysis, this book is an important contribution to our understanding of contemporary Muslim devotional practices and will be of great interest to postgraduate students and researchers of Islam, religious studies and medieval studies.

Editorial Reviews
Muslim World Book Review:
Wadham College, Oxford, Ahmed Weir
The Birth of The Prophet Muhammad: Devotional Piety in Sunni Islam. By Marion Holmes Katz. ISBN: 9780415771276.
In this work on devotional Sunni piety, Marion Jolmes Katz immerses herself, as a participant and observer, into the world of the mawlid, displaying an empathetic understanding of how the mawlid can touch the believers heart. It is a work of historical theology tracing the mawlid from its birth at some point in the eleventh century to its dead-hearted critics of the twentieth century.] [ Within her chapters on the historical development of the mawlid, Katz devotes considerable energy to the discussion of qiyam, or standing. In this she uncovers some gems. She traces the first recorded instance of standing to the Egyptian scholar Taj al-Din al-Subki. This happened in the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus in the fourteenth century during a public recitation of Al-Sarsaris ode, Writing in gold is but little for the praise of Mustafa.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments

Introduction

The emergence of mawlid narratives

An archaeology of mawlid narratives 6

Formal mawlid texts 50

Conclusion 61

Gifts and reciprocity in the celebration of the mawlid 63

Mawlid banquets 67

Pious utterances and the generation of merit 75

The exchange of merit and the economy of salvation 87

Conclusion 96

Emotion, law, and the celebration of the mawlid

Joy 104

Love 117

The salvific value of personal relationships 125

Standing as an expression of emotion 128

Conclusion 139

Time and merit in the celebration of the mawlid

The night of the mawlid and laylat al-qadr 146

Special times and their uses 147

Homogeneous and non-homogeneous time 153

Conclusion 164

Mawlids under attack

Wahhabi opposition 170

Modernist critiques 174

New rationales for the celebration of the mawlid 182

The marginalization of the mawlid in the late-twentiethcentury 184

The eclipse of the devotionalist model 188

Conclusion 206

Available from Amazon .Com

Realities of Sufism by Shaykh Abd al-Qadir Isa

2010-01-06T13:23:00.004-07:00

Realities of Sufism by Shaykh Abd al-Qadir Isa

http://www.sunnipubs.com/

Reveiw:
Written by Shaykh Muhammad al-Ninowy
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
All praise belongs to Allah as befits His Majesty and Perfection. And may prayers and salutations be upon our Master Muḥammad and his family.
He is our first teacher and Shaykh; the reliable pillar of those who arrived and the exemplar of the spiritual travellers; the possessor of splendid miracles and manifest spiritual allusions; the Shaykh of the Shadhilis in the blessed land of Aleppo; the reviver of the path of the esteemed ‘Alawi Darqawi Shadhilis in the Levant; the goal of the resolute and the qibla of the purveyors of spiritual divestment; and the possessor of radiant countenance and Muhammadan lights. He is the Shaykh of the noble and renowned Qadiri Shadhili spiritual path [Tariqa]; the spiritual guide and trainer: Sayyidi ‘Abd al-Qadir ‘Isa al-‘Azizi al-Husayni – may Allah have mercy upon him.
His biography resembles that of the rightly-guided Ummayad Caliph ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz – may Allah be pleased with him.
He grew up wearing the finest of clothes and using the most expensive of scents – in fact, similitudes were struck among the people on the basis of his elegant style and handsome appearance. That was until, the people of Allah captivated him with love for Allah Most High and complete immersion in His remembrance. He journeyed from the created universe to the Creator and remained in that state until his soul returned – content with its love for its Lord – to its Maker. May Allah Most High reward him on our behalf with the best reward.
He left Syria for the Hijaz and then to Jordan and was subject to injuries and tests for the sake of Allah. He was confronted by foolish people and remained firm in the face of many types of tribulation. He later went to Turkey to pour out his noble soul to his Maker and was buried next to the esteemed Companion, our master Abu Ayyub al-Ansari – may Allah be pleased with him.
During his days of exile and tribulation he wrote this beautiful book Realities of Sufism. His intention behind the book was to refute the various misconceptions and false claims levelled against the esteemed path of the real Sufism; the Sufism that is confined to the Book and the Sunna and that follows the predecessors of this Umma: Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jamā‘a.
In reality, the writings of our noble Shaykh – may Allah be pleased with him – are in fact his students, pupils, and loving well-wishers who filled the earth with light and knowledge. May Allah be pleased with him on our behalf and elevate his station in highest level of Jannat al-Firdaws.
Abu Yahya Muhammad b. Yahya al-Ninowy al-Husayni al-HalabiMay Allah forgive him, his parents, and the believers
Atlanta Georgia16 Ramadan 1430

Shaykh ul Islam Sayyid Muhammad Madni Ashrafi al-Jilani

2009-12-17T19:42:00.004-07:00

SYED ASHRAF JAHANGIR SIMNANI R.A
kichocha sharif
Muhammad Madani Miyan Ashrafee al-Jilani
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Muhammad Madani Miya Ashrafi al-Jilani is Chief caretaker (Sajjada Nasheen) of Makhdoom al Millat Muhaddith al A'zam al Hind (Rahm). His Silsila is Known as Ashrafia Silsila. He is a Sufi Scholar of Kichhocha Sharif U.P India. He extensively visits foreign countries in order to propagate Islam.He has written books on various topics of Islam, which have been published at various times during the last thirty five years. Some of the books authored by him are listed below :
Islam Ka Tassawure Ila Aur Maududi Sahib
Din Aur Iqamate Din
Masila Hazir O Nazir
Islamic Law
Khutbate Bartaniya
Islam Ka Nazriyae Ibadat Aur Maududi Sahib
Farizae Dawat O Tabligh
Video Aur TV Ka Shari Isatamal
Tafhim al-Hadith Sarrah Mhiskat Sharif
Islam Ka Nazriyae Khatme Nabuwwat Aur Tehzirun Nas
Kanz al-Iman Aur Digar Tarazum-e-Quran Ka Taqably Mutalia
Asri Takaze
Kitabatun Niswa
Muhabbate Rasul Ruhe Iman
Rasool-e-Akram Kai Tashreehi Iktiyaaraat
Islam Ka Nazriyae Ibadat
Khutbate Hyderabad
Roohai Namaz
Sharhe Hadeese Jibreel
Tafheem al-Hadees - Sharhe Shikwa
He was also the architect in publishing Ma'ariful Qur'an which is the translation of the Qur'an al-kareem into Urdu by Muhaddith al-Azam al-Hind Rehmatullahi alaih. This translation was published along with notes in Gujrati and Hindi languages.
He has written numerous Naats. When he first started writing naats he sent some of his work for perusal to the Indian poet Shafiq Jaonpuri who after reading his work replied that "poetry this complete and comprehensive does not require rectification or amendment."
He writes poetry under the pseudonym of Akhtar and a compilation of his work was made and published in the sub-continent titled 'Guldasta '.
Pilgrimage
His first visit to perform hajj took place in 1973 with his mother, wife, sister, younger brother Ghazi al-Millat Sayyad Muhammad Hashmi Miya Ashrafi al-Jilani, and nephew Sayyad Jahangir Ashraf. He has also visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem as well as shrines of the Ahl al Bayt, Sahaba-al-Kiram, Sufiya al-Kiram, Awliya Allah in Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Pakistan and India and throughout the Middle East & Asia in order to pay his respect and to obtain their blessings.Shaykh al-Islam has recently just completed another Hajj (2004/2005) - one of many. A mureed has written a personal account of his journey to Mecca and Medina.
Titles:
He acquired the title of Shaykh al-Islam circa 1974 when the Ulema of India started addressing him as such. Among the Ulema present at the time were Mufti-e-Azam al-Hind Mawlana Mustapha Raza Khan Rehmatullahi 'ta'ala alaih of Bareilly Shareef son of Ahmad Raza Khan; and Hadrat's Pir-o-Murshid - Shaykh al-Mashaykh, Mawlana Sayyad Mukhtar Ashraf 'Sarkar-e-Kalan' Rehmatullahi alaih.
He was first addressed as Raees al-Muhaqiqin by His Holiness 'Gazzali-e-Doaran' Shaykh al-Hadith Mawlana Sayyed Ahmad Saeed Kazmi Rehmatullahi ta'ala alaih of Pakistan after he had sent for his perusal a fatwa on the Islamic use of television & video. Gazzali-e-Doaran Sayyad Ahmad Saeed Kazmi Rehmatullahi ta'ala alaih was so pleased with his ruling and the way that he had dealt with this subject that he addressed him as 'Raees-ul Muhaqiqin'. A letter confirming this was published in the monthly journal 'Al-Ashraf ' in Karachi in 1986.
Video Lecture : Hub e Rasul (saws)-URDU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBngiOPTcwE

Dr.Muhammad Masud Ahmed Naqshbandi Mujaddadi Mazhari (r.a)

2009-12-16T13:16:00.004-07:00

Fall 2008 Issue of Sufi Illuminations Journal is dedicated to Professor Dr. Mohammad Masud Ahmad Naqshbandi (r.a).

Dedication to Dr. Muhammad Masud Ahmed (ra) (d. 28 April 2008 in Karachi)

Arthur F. Buehler

Prof. Dr. Muhammad Masud Ahmed (may Allah preserve his inner heart) was born in Delhi in 1930, and acquired his early education from his father, Mufti Muhammad Mazharullah (rahmatullah alayhi d. 1966), before attending Madrasa-yi Alia and then Oriental College, both located in Delhi.
He migrated from India to Pakistan in 1948, where he continued his education at Punjab University ( Lahore) and at Sindh University, Hyderabad, Sindh. Graduating with honours for his M.A. and M.Ed. at Sindh University, Dr. Masud Ahmed finished a Ph.D. dissertation on "Quranic translations and exegesis in Urdu" in 1971, supervised by the renown scholar and sufi shaykh, Dr. Ghulam Mustafa Khan (rahmatullah alayhi).
After this, Dr. Masud Ahmed continued researching the founder of the Barelvi school (Ahmad Rida Khan Barelwi, rahmatullah alayhi d. 1921), writing dozens of books and over one hundred articles on him after receiving his doctorate. He worked as lecturer, professor, and school principal, and examiner at Sindh University, Jamshoro; Khairpur University, Khairpur; and Punjab University, Lahore; as a paper setter for the Public Service Commission (Sindh); and as a supervisor of Ph.D. students at the University of Karachi and Khairpur University. He retired as Principal of the Government Degree College and Post-Graduate Studies Centre, Sukkur, Sindh, in 1992.
Dr. Masud Ahmed was initiated into both the Naqshbandiyya as well as Qadriyya lineages. His father, Mufti Shah Muhammad Mazharullah and Mufti Muhammad Mahmud Alwari (rahmatullah alayhi) from Hyderabad, Sindh are his two principal Naqshbandi shaykhs, while Zaynul�abidin Shah Qadiri (rahmatullah alayhi) from Nurai Sharif, Sindh and Mufti Shah Muhammad Mazharullah (rahmatullah alayhi) were his principal Qadiri shaykhs.
In 1992 the Government of Pakistan bestowed an award of excellence (Ijaz-i fadilat) upon him, the same year as he was recognised with an award from the Pakistan Intellectual Forum. Dr. Masud Ahmed founded the Idarah-i Masudia in 1992, which soon became a major centre of Islamic education and publications in Pakistan. In 2002, Jawid Iqbal Mazhari founded the Imam-i Rabbani Foundation in Karachi under the guidance of Dr. Muhammad Masud Ahmed. The aims of this foundation are:
1) To publish research articles on Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi (rahmatullah alayhi) who died in 1624 in Sirhind, India and is commonly known as the renewer of the second Islamic millennium, "Mujaddid Alf-i Thani."
2) To translate literature about Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi into Urdu from other languages.
3) To publish an encyclopaedia encompassing the biographies and teachings of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi lineages.
4) To hold an annual Imam-i Rabbani Conference and publish a journal Yadgar-i Majaddid.
5) To have communication with scholars studying the Naqshbandiyya- Mujaddidiyya on an international level.
At the time of Dr. Masud Ahmed's passing, the goals of the Imam-i Rabbani Foundation had manifested. His Jahan-i Imam-i Rabbani Mujaddid-i Alf-i Thani in eleven volumes had already been printed. The lifelong effort that Dr. Masud Ahmed has put into communicating the life and teachings of Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi is exemplified by this mammoth and unparalleled collection of scholarly materials.
All of the above indicates the tangible, worldly form of Dr. Masud Ahmed's magnificent contribution to Islamic education and research. It fails, however, to convey the more subtle formless qualities and aspects of his life and teachings. I had the honour of meeting Dr. Masud Ahmed eight years ago in Karachi. His calm, radiant being has left me with the lasting impression of a truly great man. The only way I can put it into words is to say that Dr. Masud Ahmed's being emanates the fragrance of the inner sunna of the Prophet Muhammad (may peace and blessings be upon him). If he had not published a word and if he had been totally unknown to the outside world, it would not have diminished his inner realisation at all. It is that realisation that can we can take with us when we return - as we all inevitably will - to our Lord.

Arthur F. Buehler
Senior Lecturer, Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand
4 November 2008

Mufti-i-Azam Shah Muhammad Mazharallah Naqshbandi Mujaddadi (r.a)

2009-12-16T12:25:00.003-07:00

MUFTI-I-AZAM SHAH MUHAMMAD MAZHARALLAH
(d. 1386 / 1966 )By: Prof.Dr.Muhammad Mas'ud Ahmed, M.A. Ph.D (Gold Medalist)Translated by: Mrs. Sai’ma Faisal Mas‘udi IDARA-i-MAS'UDIA, KARACHIISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN

Mufti-i-Azam Shah Muhammad Mazhar Allah was the famous grand son of Shah Muhammad Mas‘ud Muhaddis Dehlavi (1309/1892) and the son of Maulana Muhammad Sa‘id (d. 1307 / l889). He was “Hanafi” and “Naqshbandi Mujaddidi”. He was born on 15th Rajab l 303 Hijri corresponding 21st April 1886 at Delhi. When he was just four years he lost the paternal affection, after one or too years the auspicious shelter of his mother also left. At the early stages of his life he became orphan & motherless. After the death of his parents he was brought up by his grand father Shah Muhammad Mas‘ud but he was also died after two years then he was brought up by his paternal uncle Allama Muhammad Abdul Majeed (d. l 364 / 1944). His paternal family was a centre of knowledge and bounty but his maternal were also distinguished. His maternal grand father Hafiz Abdul Aziz belonged to a reputed family of the state of Jahjar, His birth took place on 1246/1830. After the revolution of 1857, when the state dismembered he was migrated to the state of Patodi (India) and became the teacher of the Nawabs of the state & other after that posted on the distinguished post of secretary. Al1 these details have been written by a cousin of him. Late Mr. Abdul Rasheed (Magistrate Class 1, state of Patodi, India) in a preface of a manuscript.
1. EDUCATION AND KNOWLEDGE: Mufti-i-Azam started his education with the study of Qura‘an-i-Hakim and in a short period he learnt it by heart and attained the perfection in Tajwid and Qir’at (art of recitation of Holy Qura‘an). The national and traditional knowledge was gained by his uncle Allama Muhammad Abdul Majeed whose succession of Hadith (tradition) belongs to Shah Wali Allah. Besides him he also got education from other contemporary scholars and got the proficiency by personal study. He started verdict writing at the age of sixteen or seventeen. Mufti-i-Azam had great proficiency in different subjects for example Qura‘anic Commentary and Fundamentals of Commentary, Jurisprudence and Fundamentals of Jurisprudence, Logic, Philosophy, Mathematics, Geometry, Literature, Grammar, Tasawwuf (Islamic Mysticism), Knowledge of Inheritance, Poetry etc. But he devoted all his life to serve Islam.
2. DISCIPLESHIP & SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE :At the age of fourteen Mufti-i-Azam set off from Delhi with Maulana Shah Rukn al-Din Alwari in the service of sayyid Sadiq Ali Shah (d. 1317 / 1899) resident of district Gordaspur (India). Shah Sahib was the pupil of Shah Muhammad Mas‘ud and was the elder son of Sayyid Imam Ali Shah (d. 1282/1865). At that time Mufti-i-Azam was of fourteen years, when Sadiq Ali Shah had admitted him as a disciple in the Naqshbandiyya Mujaddidiya order. Since then after two years of discipleship his gracious guide died. Where upon his spiritual training was taken up by Shah Rukn al-Din Alwari. He granted him Ijaza or permission of Bay'a, allegiance in all four orders i.e. Qadiria, Chishtia, Naqshabandia and Suhrwardia. Mufti-i-Azam generally took Bay'a in the Naqshbandia order but some disciples also took Bay’a in the orders according, to their natural inclination and aptitude. A good number of devotees and followers of Mufti-i-Azam are spread in Pakistan and India. Mufti-i-Azam was a perfect man endowed with spiritual miracles, which have been recorded in a book entitled Karamat-i-Mazhari (Karachi 1995). Rukhsana Khan Ch. (London) has translated it into English. His religious, scientific and spiritual services are unforgettable.
3. IMAMAT (RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONAL LEADERSHIP) Mufti-i-Azam was the Royal Imam of Shah Jahani Mosque Fatehpuri, Delhi. That chain of Imamat has been transferred to him as a royal legacy from his grand father Shah Muhammad Mas‘ud Muhaddis Dehlavi to him. Mufti-i-Azam has been holding that legacy for seventy years and gave great bounty to the world. This chain of lmamat has been in vogue since the rule of Mughal Emperors. At present the grand son of Mufti-i-Azam, Allama, Dr. Mufti Muhammad Mukarram Ahmed is the Imam of Fatehpuri Mosque and Mufti (the jurist of Islamic law) in Delhi.
4. SUBMISSION TO SHARI'A Mufti-i-Azam followed the Sunna i. e. the tradition of Holy Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) at every step. The love of Holy Prophet reflected as mirror on every aspect of his personal and practical life leaving no trace of any lacuna or void in his words and deeds. His prayers business, behaviour, and life all were transmitted full of love of Allah nd the Holy Prophet. He had performed the prayers of Tahajjud (midnight additional sunna prayers) since to age of fourteen till the last moment of his life. Fulfillment of obligations was well diffused by the Holy love. Though he was too old and physically infirm yet he never missed to keep fast in Ramdan al-Mubarak. More astonishing is that in those days special energy was observed in his physique. He offered the Tarawih prayers with congregation and seemed more active at the times of prayers than the ordinary days. Love of Allah and the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) was on the peak when in 1945 he went for to Pilgrimage of Holy Ka‘aba and performed Hajj. Due to fascination and absorption of the Holy places, even the names of the children seemed to affaced from his heart, and he could not correctly identify and recognize his own sons. 5. DETERMINATION Mufti-i-Azam always acted on determination and resolution of will (Azimat). Determination and courage were the distinguishable qualities of his auspicious nature. Many incidents were observed; regarding his determination some incidents must be noted. 1. Nawab of Hyderabad Deccan (India) Mir Usman Ali Khan (d.1384 / 1967) invited him twice at his court (Darbar) but both the times he had refused the invitation and said, “If he wants to see me he may come but I have no need to see him”. These events are mentioned by Allama Akhlaq Hussain Dehlavi in Monthly ‘Aqidat (New Delhi, India) and Mr. Irtiza Hussain (Mulla Wahidi) in monthly Hamdard (Karachi). 2. In 1945 when he was present in the sacred place of Mecca to perform Hajj special invitations of royal banquet were presented to him by Shah Sa‘ud, but he had refused it by saying, “One who has come in the court of world's emperor doesn't need to attend any other court”. 3. During the time of British Rule Government invitations were often brought to him but Mufti-i-Azam never paid attention. After the partition of India he received official invitations many times but he did not attend and led his life fearlessly. 4. A splendid example of determination and extreme moral courage was witnessed when his scholarly charming young son Maulana Munawwar Ahmed expired in 1943 who took up the speck can feel its severity. When the dead body of Maulnna Munawwar Ahmed was shrouded and lied down Mufti-i-Azam stood on his head side kept on smiling and said, “O” Lord if you want to examine your servant will never feel afflicted, he is willing to abide your will”. Similarly the same unparalleled patience and perseverance were seen at the time of death of his young son Maulana Manzoor Ahmed who died at Hyderabad, Sindh (Pakistan) in 1949. 5. During the disturbance of 1947 he showed a marvellous determination and constancy which ought to be written with the letters of gold in the history of determination and moral valour. From 1947 to 1958 non-Muslim enemies hurled bounds and explosives on Fatepur Mosque approximately six or seven times but his firmness did not flinch at any stage. The most critical moments were in September 1947 when mosque was besieged by the enemies. At this critical juncture it was unexpectedly fear stricken people could be transferred to a secure place under the supervision of army. Mufti-i-Azam was requested to leave the mosque but he said “You all are permitted to go but leave me here. If Allah would say at the Day of Judgement that I had entrusted my house to you, on whose mercy and favour you left it? Then what answer shall 1 give”. Hearing this answer all the people were expressed their readiness and willingness to die in the House of Allah. Mufti-i-Azam had ascended to the pinnacles of glory where man becomes fearless and casts dangers and evils from his heart. 6. If the preaching of Islam Mufti-i-Azam proved himself so determined and courageous which hasn't any example. Before the partition of India he made thousands of non-Muslims embraced Islam with the same zeal and spirit he continued even after partition when no one had courage to do so due to Hindu domination. He preached and made the non-Muslims embrace Islam fearlessly in the midst of numerous hurdles and obstacles. Mufti-i-Azam had never been influenced or overawed by any superior authorities and never approached them for personal benefits with the result all respected him. Fatehpuri Mosque (Delhi) was the great centre of Ahl-i-Sunna i.e. Sunni. Scholars and saints call on him in a large number and paid reverence to Mufti-i-Azam. Before partition during their stay at Delhi, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Shaheed-i-Millat Liaquat Ali Khan gave him great respect and Dr. Zakir Hussain (President of Republic of India) also showed dignity and honour to him.
6. ARRIVAL IN PAKISTAN After partition he did not come to Pakistan for long time because in his opinion photography was unlawful according to Sharia’. Mufti-i-Azam came to Pakistan first time in October 1961. On his arrival at Karachi Airport thousands of followers and disciples accorded a zealous welcome. During his stay in Karachi there was always a crowd of visitors and homage payers at his residence. Thousand of people were blessed and benefited. His devotees proved their love by giving him invitations. Allama Abdul Hamid Badayuni (President Central Society of Tabligh al-Islam) invited him at a grand reception in Karachi and in this great congregation the scholars addressed in praise of him and appreciated Mufti-i-Azam’s religious, spiritual as well as educational services. Different people had presented the Manqaba (poems in praise of Mufti-i-Azam) in which the following names may be particularly mentioned: Maulana Ziya al-Qadri Badayuni, Aziz al-Mulk; Maulana Muhammad Yousuf Sulaymani Jaipuri, Maulana ‘Abd a1-Salam Bandvi and Qazi Muhammad Himayatullah. Mufti-i-Azam also went to Hyderabad at the invitation of Allama Mufti Muhammnd Mahmood Alwari and Lahore and had a warm welcome on both places. Scholars, spiritual leaders and saintly persons also attended the gathering, the following persons presented the Manqabat at Lahore. Hazrat Zeba Narvi, Maulana Muhammnd Ahmed Quraishi. After two months stay in Pakistan Mufti-i-Azam left for Delhi in the end of November 1961. In July 1964 he came again in Pakistan but it proved to be his last visit. At that time also warm welcome had witnessed everywhere. He visited several places like Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpur Khas, Bahawalpur, Multan, Khanewal, Sahiwal, Sharaqpur, Lahore, Rawalpindi Muree etc. At all these places many disciples and devotees were present in appreciable number.
7. SAD DEMISE A few years before his death Mufti-i-Azam had such an overwhelming domination of Allah's Love in his heart and mind that love of all creatures even of his children emptied. The last moment of departure reached and on 14th Shaban al-Mu‘azzam 1386 on Monday (28th November 1966) at the time of evening the sun of knowledge and wisdom set down once and for all.
“Inna Lillah-i-wa-Inna Llayh-i-Raji‘un”
The holy shrine of Mufti-i-Azam is in the courtyard of Fatehpuri Mosque.
It is the venue of visit for all people regardless of their caste and creed; certainly it is the reward for his determination, unparalleled constancy and firmness of faith and brief which he demonstrated for seventy years especially in the period of turmoil in 1947. The news of his death was announced by All India Radio on the same day and spread like a wild fee in Indo-Pak subcontinent. Many newspapers and periodical magazines also published this prominently upteen columns were written which shed light on his virtues and qualities. Some of them also published the chronogramic verses (Qat‘at-i-Tarikh). On this tragic Incident of demise, Azhar Dehlavi (Lahore), also had written a long dirge of mourning, various newspapers and magazines had written about Mufti-i-Azam details of which were published in Hiyat-i-Mazhari (Karachi, 1974) and Tazkara-i-Mazhar-i-mas‘ud (Karachi, 1969).
8. FAMILY AND DESCENDANTS In respect of descendants Late Mufti-i-Azam were profusely blessed with bounty and grace of Allah. By mere a glance at his children and the children of his children and their offspring the famous verse of the Holy Qura‘an come unto the lips as if through a spontaneous utterance surging from the depth of the soul: Like a Holy Tree Whose Root isFirms standing and Branches are in the Heaven(Ibrahim: 24) The descendants of Mufti-i-Azam are spread in the different cities of Pakistan, India and abroad. The first wedding of Mufti-i-Azam was solemnized in 1903 but after few years his spouse expired, he married again in 1909. After two or three years his second wife also died in 1916 then he married third time but she too died in 1367 / 1947 in Delhi. He was blessed with seven sons and nine daughters by three wives. Among them four daughters and only one son are still alive by the Grace of Allah. The names of his sons are given below: Allama Mufti Muhammad Muzaffar Ahmed Karachi (d. 1970)Mufti Muhammad Musharraf Ahmed, Dehli (d.1981).Hafiz Qari Dr.Muhammad Ahmed, Delhi (d. 1970)Maulana Munawwar Ahmed, Delhi (d.1943)Maulana Manzoor Ahmed, Hyderabad, Sindh (d.1949)Prof Dr. Muhammad Mas‘ud Ahmed, Karachi (b.1930).Maulana Dr. Muhammad Sa‘id Ahmed, Delhi. (d. 1996).
CALIPHS & SPIRITUAL REPRESENTATIVES
The circle of his devotees is too vast and they are widely spread all over Pakistan and India. Some of his caliphs and spiritual representative are as follows: CALIPHS: 1) Allama Abdal-Majid, Ajmer, India2) Allama Mufti Hafiz Qari Muhammad Muzaffar Ahmed, Karachi, Pakistan. 3) Allama Hafiz Qari Mufti Muhammad Musharraf Ahmed, Delhi, India. 4) Alhaj Qari Hafiz Muhammad Hafiz Al-Rehman, Bahawalpur, Pakistan. 5) Maulana Qari Hafiz Dr. Muhammad Ahmed, Delhi, India. 6) Dr, Abu al-Khair Muhammad Zubair, Hyderabad, Pakistan. 7) Dr. Abd al-Karim Chittauri, India. 8) Mufti Maqbool al-Rehman Sevharvi, India. 9) Janab Muhammad Usman Tonki. India etc. SPIRITUAL REPRESENTATIVES: I. Hakim Muhammad Zakir, Karachi, PakistanII. Janab Bashir al-Din, Karachi, Pakistan.III. Janab Muhammad Yousuf, Karachi, PakistanIV. Hafiz Muhammad Saulihin, Karachi, PakistanV. Sufi Fazal-i-Ahmed, Karachi, Pakistan.VI. Janab Safdar Hassan, Lahore, Pakistan.VII. Mawlana Muhammad Ahmed Qureshi, Lahore, Pakistan.VIII. Prof Abul Kamal Shamsi Tehrani, Aligarh, India.IX. Sufi Muhammad Ibrahim, Karachi, Pakistan.X. Sayyid Nawab Ali, Hyderabad, Sindh.XI. Hakim Muhammad Aaqil Dhampuri, India.XII. Maulana Ghulam Ahmed Tonki, India etc. WRITINGS:Among the writings of Mufti-i-Azam, the Urdu translation of the Holy Qur‘an is the most prominent. It was published from Delhi before partition. Now the Zia al-Qur‘an Publication, Lahore is publishing its second edition in the near future. The top most among his writings are those verdicts, which he had been writing for nearly seventy years. These are unique in foresight and prudence and spread in the different parts of Pakistan and India. Its first and second volume had been published by the title Fatawa-i-Mazhari (Karachi, 1970). Now the third volume has been included in the new edition (Karachi,1999). The academic and religious importance of his verdicts is admitted by the scholars of all schools of thought. The second great contributions are those letters which are preserved in India and Pakistan by many of his disciples and devotees. Its first volume has been published entitled Makatib-i-Mazhari (Karachi, 1969). Now the revised edition has been published combined I and II volumes (Karachi, 1999). In addition to this some treatises are also included in his writings. The titles of some treatises are given below: Arakan-i-Din, printed by Hilali press, Delhi, 1331 / 1912.Mazhar al-Aqa‘id, printed by Hilali Press, Delhi, 1331 / 1912.Mazhar al-Aqa‘id, printed by Hilali Press, Delhi, 1331 / 1912.Kashf al-Hijab ‘an-Masa‘ala al-Bina al-Qubab,Printed by Jayyid Press, Delhi, 1344 / 1925. Tahqiq al-Haq, printed by A‘la Press, Delhi, 1346 / 1927.Risala Dar Ilm-i-Tauqit, 1350 / 193l.Khazina al-Kharyrat, Printed by A‘la Press, Delhi,1367/1947.lntifa al-Mihal fi Ruya al-Hilal, Printed by Jayyid Barqi Press, Dali, 1370 / 1980. Fatwa Ruya al-Hilal, Printed by Jayyid Barqi Press, Delhi 1378 / 1959. Qasd al-Sabil, Printed by A‘la Press Delhi, 1379 / 1959.Shajra-i-Manzum, Khandan-i-Aliya Naqshbandia Mujaddidiya Mazhariyya, Printed by Imperial Press, Delhi, etc. Treatise No. l to 3 have been published by Idara-i-Mas‘udia, Karachi, in 1998 in one volume entitled Zia' al-Islam, its English version will be published with the title of “Light of Islam” in the near future Insha Allah. Treatise no.5 published from Delhi in 1926, Abu al-Suroor Muhammad Masroor Ahmed has re-edited it and new edition has been published by Idara-i-Mas‘udia, Karachi, in 2000. Treatises No. 4, 8, 9 and 10 have been included in Fatawa-i-Mazhari (Karachi, 1999).
EPILOGUE BY SA'IMA FAISALFor thorough and detailed study on Shaykh al-Islam Mufti-i-Azam Shah Muhammad Mazharullah of Delhi end his descendants please see the following references. Shah Muhammad Mas‘ud Muhadith Dehlavii) Fatwa-i-Mas‘udi (Karachi, 1987).Shah Muhammad Mazharullahi) Fatwa-i-Mazhariyya (Karachi, 1999)ii) Makatib-i-Mazhari (Karachi, 1999)iii) Mawa‘iz-i-Mazhari (Karachi 1969)iv) Baqiyat-i-Mazhari (Karachi, 2002) Prof. Dr. Muhammad Mas‘ud Ahmed Karachi, 1969)I. Tazkara-i-Mazhar-i-Mas‘ud (Karachi, 1969)II. Faqih al-Hind (Karachi 1996)III. Hayat-i-Mazhari (Karachi, 1974)IV. Mah-o-Anjum (Sialkot, 1983)Dr. Abul Khar Muhammad Zubairi) Bazam-i-Janan (Hyderabad, 1988)ii) Sindh Key Sufiya-i-Naqshband (Hyderabad, 1997). Dr. Sayyid S.M. Arifi) Aashiq-i-Rasool (Bhawalpur 1997)Dr. Abd-al-Naim Azlz.i) Dr. Mas‘ud Ahmed Aur Nathr-i-Urdu (Karachi, 2002)R.B. Mazharii) Jahan-i-Mas‘ud (Karachi, 1 985) M. Abd-al-Sattar Tahiri) Manzil ba Manzil (Karachi, 1991)ii) Takhasussat-i-Mas‘ud-i-Millat (Lahore,1994)iii) Tizkar-i-Mas‘ud-i-Millat (Lahore, 1999).iv) Makatib-i-Mas‘udi (Karachi, 2002) Muhammad Masroor Ahmedi) Mas‘ud-i-Millat Kay Aathar-i-Ilmiyya (Karachi 1997)ii) Imam Ahmed Riza Aur Harat-i-Naqshbandia (Karachi, 1999).10. Dr. Ijaz Anjum Latifi i) Dr. Mas‘ud Ahmed life and works, Bihar University, India (Karachi, 2002) 11. Jawaid Iqbal Mazhari i) Malfoozat-i-Mazhari (Karachi, 1990)ii) Manaqib-i-Mazhari (Karachi, 1999) 12. Late Haji Muhammad Younus Barii) Anwar-i-Mazhariyya (Karachi, 1990) 13. Haji Muhammad Ilyasi) Karamat-i-Mazhari (Karachi, 1990) 14. Prof. Nabila lshaque Ch.i) Imam Ahmed Raza Aur Mas‘ud Millat (Karachi, 2000)

Coutesy : Idara Masudia http://www.almazhar.com/bio_hazrat_shah_mazharullah.php

Hazrat Syed Imam Ali Shah Naqshbandi Mujaddadi (R.A)

2009-12-15T23:07:00.003-07:00

HAZRAT SYED IMAM ALI SHAH R.A.
By Prof. Munawar Hussain
The great Hazrat Aboul Barkat Imam Ali Shah was borne at Rattar Chattar in 1212 A.H. His birthplace is presently known as Makkah Sharif. His father, Syed Haider Ali Shah was a herbal physician (Tabeeb). He was yet a child when he lost the benign shelter of his father. He received his basic religious education from Moulana Faqeer Allah Din Koti and was trained in his ancestral field of medication by Hafiz Muhammad Raza and Moulana Noor Muhammad Chishti. He was very intelligent and he surpassed his fellow students in every discipline. However, from his very child-hood, he possessed a sensitive nature and was inclined towards poetry. Even during the days, when he as a student, he could compose verses with felicity and ease.
In those days when he was quite young, he happened to visit the holy shrine of Hazrat Baba Fareed Gunj-e-Shakr where he met a fortune-teller who, by dint of his knowledge of physiognomy, read the promising signs of saintlihood on the face of the young saint and predicted: "This lad will command a sublime position in future and will be favoured by an elderly person of his family." Hazrat Sahib became anxious on hearing this prophecy and tried to visualize that particular person of his family, who was destined to lead and guide him on the Divine Path. In this respect, faces of all the members of his family flashed across his mind but he could not identify that special personality.
That special personality was that of Syed Hussain Shah who was the pride of his family. As the Providence had already set it. Hazarat Imam Ali , soon met his spiritual godfather who, at once, noticed the brilliance radiating from his blessed face and asked him, "My boy, which book do you read?". Before Hazrat Imam Ali Shah could manage an answer, Shah Sahib advised him. "You should read "Masnavi of Moulana Room. Its reading will benefit you a lot. It will reform your deeds, enlighten your heart and enrich your soul". This was the lesson that Syed Hussain Shah taught to the young boy who was going to occupy a prominent position as a spiritual leader of excellence among the Muslim saints. According to a tradition, the Holy Prophet Sallalho Alyho Wasalam had given special instructions to Hazrat Syed Hussain regarding the training and spiritual upbringing of Hazrat Imam Ali Shah
Next day Hazrat Syed Hussain Shah called him and explained to him a few verses of the "Masnavi Shrif". The words of his teacher stirred the very heart of Hazrat Ali Shah The very first lesson produced in him a great desire and urge to learn more of it. His interest rose to such a pitch that he started regular readings of the book. Whereas he proved himself a devoted student, his teacher, too, was not less devoted.The method of teaching of Hazrat Shah Sahib was superb. The manner in which he explained the difficult verses of the "Masnavi" was matchless and unique. When he spoke, the listeners were charmed and infatuated by the spell of his beautiful oration.
The more Hazrat Imam Ali Shah learnt from Syed Hussain Shah the more he was inspired by his great and sublime personality. Hazrat Imam Ali Shah himself narrated that once, during his education, he had to visit Hafiz Mahood at Jehlum, along-with Hazrat Shah Sahib He witnessed strange phenomenon at the meeting of the two great personalities of that time. People from the surrounding areas were present to show their allegiance to Hafiz Sahib. Hazrat Imam Ali Shah also requested him to shower his spiritual blessings upon him. At this Hazrat Hafiz Mahmood said, "Allah will bless you with the love of your mentor". In fact, he was referring to Hazrat Syed Hussain Shah Hazrat Imam Ali Shah said: "From that day, my heart was filled with love of and affection for my mentor. When we returned, I requested my mentor to grant me asylum in his spiritual regime. He was gracious enough to accede to my humble request and admitted me to his spiritual circle. He advised me to indulge in "ZIKAR" (remembrance of Allah).
Within a short span of time, by virtue of of his own diligence and hard work, and by the special attention with which his mentor treated him, he rose to such an eminence of spiritual status for which divine seekers endeavour for many years. Allah had blessed him with such miraculous powers as could purge the hearts of astray men at a single glance. He used to stay at the bank of a pond called "Dholi Dhab" for many consecutive nights. The pond was far from human habitation and was an ideal place for meditation and contemplation. He faithfully followed the routine, which his mentor had prescribed for him, throughout his life. He had a great respect for his mentor and held him in high esteem and reverence. He left no stone unturned to rise to the expectations of his mentor and served him to the best of his capacity. His love for his mentor had implanted in him a rare and special kind of humility as well. He crossed all limits in expressing this humility. He himself used to collect the excrement of his mentor as well as that of his horse in an earthen pot, carry it on his head and dispose it of into the river. This, indeed exhibited the humblest expression of his love and respect for his mentor. This is why Syed Hussain Shah had a great regard for him and held him very dear. Allah had bestowed upon him many blessings and a beam of light always sparkled on his face.
Even after the demise of his mentor, Hazrat Imam Ali Shah kept the sentiment alive. A famous incident happened in his family. Once he got annoyed with his son Sahibzada Sadiq Ali Shah Sahib on some thing. All the well-wishers tried to resolve the matter but in vain. At last the Sahibzada made a request to God at the tomb of Hazrat Syed Hussain Shah in the following manner: "If a father gets annoyed with a son, the latter has no place in the whole world to resort to. My father is not only my parent but also my spiritual guide. For God's sake, help me in my predicament and helplessness". When Hazrat Imam Ali Shah learnt of it, he called his son and asked. "What appeal have you made to Hazrat Hussain Shah ?. The Sahibzada replied, "The secret is open to you". Hazrat Imam Ali Shah , at once mellowed down and said." Since you have approached the higher court, I forgive you".
It is said that Hazrat Shah Hussain had permitted Hazrat Imam Ali Shah even during his lifetime, to take oath of allegiance from those people who were anxious to enter his spiritual circle. After the grant of this permission, he promoted the Naqshbandia School of Spiritual Order a great deal. A brief account of the valuable places of advice that he gave to his disciples is given as under:
Emphasizing the respect of mentor he said: "A 'Mureed' (follower) must cherish respect from his mentor to such a degree that, so long as he is present in his company, he should not speak without his permission; should not daringly make an eye to eye contact with him. He should prefer his mentor to all other things in the world. "Treeqat" is, in fact, just another name for respect. A disrespectful person remains deprived of the blessings of his world as well as those of the hereafter".
At another point he said: "Be all ears to listen to what your mentor says because to hear his advice is better than to read thousands of books. Perform whole-heartedly what your mentor enjoins you to do."
Defining the word, 'Mureed' (disciple) he said; "A 'Mureed' is one whose carnal of desires have been burnt down by the fire of Divine Love. When he gets up in the morning, tears flow from his eyes on account of sorrow and regret at the life he has wasted. He is humble and un-resourceful. He feels sad at his past sins and aspires for Divine favour in future. He is time-bound for deeds upright and bears all hardships with patience. He always confesses his fault and is a candidate for the forgiveness of Allah. He does not waste away even a single breath without remembering Allah; rather at every breath, he thinks that he is taking his last breath". Regarding spiritual benefits he said: "The bounties and blessings that descend upon a mentor also descend upon the follower, but a follower can not get benefit directly from the Divine Court because four basic elements of his existence and his carnal desires obstruct his exaltation. Since a mentor is free from these shackles, and remains attached to Allah Almighty; therefore a follower can also get benefit from his mentor." He further said: "Repent is such a manner that you may never think of committing a any sin again".
Describing the merits of 'ZIKR' "There are innumerable benefits of "ZIKR'. The heart of a person, who remembers Allah and remains busy in 'ZIKR', leaves no space in it for any other thing except Allah. That is why every object in this world is in his control".
Talking of Spiritual maladies, he said: "Allah Almighty disapproves that the followers of the beloved Prophet Sallalaho Alyhe Waslam may be condemned in any way (as earlier people were condemned). However, those, who do not fear or do not obey Allah are condemned for they blacken their hearts and do not refrain from sin'.
He advised his followers that they should never become idle. They should always remain busy in work and contented with their lot, and cherish the belief that God is the Sustainer and that He alone provides food to His creatures under all circumstances. However, it is impossible to get more than their due share. Therefore they should not disobey Almighty Allah by making complaints because disobedience causes damage in this world as well as in the hereafter.
Allah Almighty had especially blessed and gifted Hazrat Imam Ali Shah with two great qualities which he had acquired by dint of his great obedience to the Holy Prophet Sallalaho Alyhe Wasalam. One of the quality was his healing look and the other one was his brilliant fact. Many non-Muslims embraced Islam at his hands and many misled Muslims reformed themselves and got the real spirit of the Faith. Such was a little show of the stupendous miraculous powers he possessed.
It is that sick people got rid of their illness at his hands. Once a Sikh, who was a chronic patient of paralysis was brought for Hazrat Sahib. As soon as the patient had a look at the glowing face of the great saint he got up, embraced Islam, remained in his company throughout his life as a servant. It is stated that even in the season of winter, the said person used cold drinks in order to keep himself normal. He used to say: "Since the day Hazrat Sahib has cast his benign and kind glance at me, nothing soothes me down except cold drinks. It seems as if my whole body is on fire". Many lepers got rid of their disease by applying to their bodies, the wasted water used by him for ablution. Once a man brought his only son, who was blind, to Hazrat Sahib and requested him to help the boy, Hazrat Sahib put a little saliva into the eyes of the blind boy and prayed for him. In a couple of visits, the eyesight of the blind boy was restored.
This account of Hazrat Imam Ali Shah's spiritual perfection and miraculous powers will remain incomplete if we fail to mention his highly appreciated and lovable book "Mura-tul-Mohaqqeen". The book is in the Persian language and is reckoned as a masterpiece of brevity and concision. It depicts the artistic qualities of the author in a superb manner. It has been written in such a captivating and attractive style that one likes to read it time and again. The book has been divided into two parts. Its first part deals with the life history of Hazrat Shahbaz-e-Toheed Hussain Shah, while its second part consists of the sayings and quotations of Hazrat Imam Ali Shah In the following extract Hazrat Sahib has explained how we can get rid of the charms and attractions of this moral world. He says:
All material things that exist in this world impress the human heats very much and the impression is like a screen or veil between man and his Master. This impression gets deeper into the heart of man by adopting bad company, by seeing colorful shapes of different things and by indulging in idle pursuits. Therefore, to wipe out this impression, man should strive to get away from them. The other thing that strengthens this impression is the study of immoral books and man's participation in musical gatherings and idle talks. All these things widen the distance between man and Allah Almighty. It is, therefore, necessary to shun them and to become attentive towards Allah. Only then man can get his heart purified. The purification of the heart can not be achieved without giving up carnal desires and without negating physical demands."
At another place he says: "Let it be known to man that the real comfort lies in heaven. So, he should bear the hardships of this world where his stay is only for a few days so that he may find eternal peace and comfort in the next world. In all cases, whatsoever, he should follow the examples set by his forefathers in religion. He should always offer his regular prayers in congregation (JAMAT) and acquire the knowledge of Hadith. He should not run after popularity and worldly fame as these things cause a great trouble. He should not be proud of having a high rank; rather should spend his days in anonymity."
In his last days Hazrat Sahib fell ill. He breathed his last on 14th Shawal 1282 A.H. and embarked on his way to heaven. He was buried at Ratat Chatar (Makan Sharif India). He is spiritually alive till today and his valuable teachings will remain a source of guidance for the seekers of truth for all times to come. After his demise his son, Sahibzada Sadiq Ali Shah, succeeded him.
REFERENCEKhazina-e-Marfat by M. Ibrahim Kasuri, Sher-e-Rabbani Number Monthly Noor-e-Islam Sharqpur Sharif by Sahibzada Mian Jamil Ahmed Sharqpuri Naqshbanid
Note: Above matter extracted from Sher-e-Rabbani Digest.

Courtesy : Idara Masudia http://www.almazhar.com/bio_imam_ali_shah.php

Video Makan Sharif http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTUIJrGaJeM

Khwaja Abdul Ahad Naqshbandi Mujaddadi (RA)

2009-12-15T22:24:00.003-07:00

Dergah,Mazar-Imam Rabbani & Family

Khwaja Abdul Ahad, known as Khwaja Wahdat (Q), was the fifth son of Khwaja Muhammad Saeed (Q) and commonly known as Shah Gul Sa'di(Q). He got his early education from his father. Later he joined the disciples of his uncle Khwaja Muhammad Masoom(Q) and completed under his benevolent guidance and became a pole of spiritualism.Khwaja Abdul Ahad (Q) was a strict observer of religious obligations and Sufi rituals proposed by Imam-e-Rabbani (Q). Besides he had contributed substantially for preaching Naqshbandia order. He had written a number of letters to Mughal elite and impressing upon them to correct their faith. His deputies were many in number who travelled far and wide and initiated The Naqshbandia order in Arabia and Africa. He had good sense of poetry also. 'Wahdat' was his penname in his verses. His poetic works include a Dewan and Mathnavi Chahar Chamman, besides a number of books on religion and Sufism.In his last days, he went to Shahjehanabad saying that Sikhs would attack Sirhind. In fact, after two or three months Sikhs attacked Sirhind. Khwaja Abdul Ahad (Q) passed away on Dhul Hajj 27, 1127 AH., December 24, 1716 A.D. His body was taken to Sirhind and was laid to rest near the hermitage of Khwaja Imam-e-Rabbani (Q). He was succeeded by his son Khwaja Muhammad Hanif (Q).
Courtesy : Luari Sharif-http://www.luarisharif.net/predecessors.html

Khwaja Muhammad Saeed Naqshbandi Mujaddadi (RA)

2009-12-15T21:59:00.005-07:00

Shrine-Imam Rabbani
Khwaja Muhammad Saeed (Q) was the second son of Imam-e-Rabbani (Q). He was born in Sha'ban 1005 AH or March-April 1597 A.D. He learned his early and higher education in both secular and spiritual sciences from his father Imam-e-Rabbani (Q). At the age of 10 years, he not only graduated in secular sciences, but also reached the zenith of spiritualism.Khwaja Imam-e-Rabbani (Q) used to say: "My Son Muhammad Saeed is a perfect scholar." Many notable scholars like Molana Abdul Hakim Sialkoti, Mula Sa'adullah, minister of then sultan of India, were among his pupils. He had, on a number of occasions, arguments relating to altercations in the religion, but no one could stand before his grip over the references and diversity of knowledge.Khwaja Muhammad Saeed (Q) had also authored a number of books on Sufism and jurisprudence. A compilation of his letters is equally important to Maktoobat-e-Mujadidia of Imam-e-Rabbani (Q). His other works include a book on those Hadith on which the Hanafi jurisprudence is based. He also had written an antithesis about raising forefinger during prayers.About his spiritual attainment, Khwaja Imam-e-Rabbani (Q) said: "Muhammad Saeed (Q) has written about his affairs, all are true and noble. These affairs are not divulged on any of the friends with the peculiarity."He also used to say "anyone who would enter into the heaven, but by the stamp of Muhammad Saeed." Khwaja Muhammad Saeed (Q) also performed Hajj along with his younger brother Khwaja Muhammad Masoom (Q). It is related in his various accounts that when he went to pay respects at the Shrine of Prophet (PBUH) a celestial voice was heard, "Quickly, quickly; I am desirous of you."His name and fame Prevailed far and wide. Even the ruler of India king Alamgir also heard a lot about his marvels. He summoned him in Shahjehanabad. Khwaja Muhammad Saeed (Q) went to him, but fell sick. He took permission of the king and proceeded back, but bode adieu to the mortal world at Sanbalakh, 36 miles away from Shahjehanabad, on Jumadi-al-Sani 8, 1070 AH., January 15, 1665 A.D. His sacred body was taken to Sirhind. His brother Khwaja Muhammad Masoom (Q) ordered to lay him to rest in the shrine of Khwaja Imam-e-Rabbani (Q). Though initially, there was no space available there, but later it happened. He was succeeded on the Seat of The Naqshbandia order by his son Khwaja Abdul Ahad (Q).
Courtesy : Luari Sharif http://www.luarisharif.net/predecessors.html

Sayyid Abdullah Shah Naqshbandi Qadri (r.a)

2009-12-15T17:19:00.003-07:00

Abul Hasanat Sayyid Abdullah Shah Naqshbandi Qadiri ( محدث دكن ابلحسنات سيد عبدالله شاه نقشبندى قادرى‎), popularly known as Hadrat Abdullah Shah Sahib, was one of the celebrated scholars of Islam and spiritual reformer. He is more particularly known as a Muhaddith (one who specializes in Hadith literature), honorifically as Muhaddith-e Dakkan (the Muhaddith of the Dakkan) in the Islamic circles of knowledge all over the world. A prolific writer of Islamic Sciences, he wrote extensively on Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and compiled his best-known work Zujajat al-Masabih in five volumes. A unique and comprehensive collection of Hadiths pertaining to the Hanafi School of Law, the book is considered[by whom?] a magnum opus in Hadith and Fiqh literature. An erudite Mufassir (Qur'anic exegite) and expounder of other Islamic religious texts, he was more importantly one of the most celebrated Sufis produced by India in the 20th century. He is popularly considered to be one of the Saint scholars among the masses of South India, particularly Hyderabad.

Birth
The Shaykh was born in Husaini 'Alam, Hyderabad, on 10th of Dhu'l Hijjah, 1292(A.H) or 6th of February 1872 (A.D). His father was Mawlana Sayyid Muzaffar Husain Ibn Sayyid Yaqub of Naldrug. Since the migration of his ancestor, Hazrat Sayyid Ali, this family has been the recipient of land grant from Adil Shah I, the ruler of Bijapur. The daughter of Hazrat Gul Badshah was his mother.

Education
In keeping with the traditions of the then society, this young sufi didn't attend any formal school for his education and training. He received his elementary education and lessons in Persian from his father; Logic and philosophy from Mawlana Mansur Ali Khan; the Qur'anic sciences and other subjects from Shaykh al-Islam Hafiz Anwarulla Khan Faruqi, the founder of Jamia Nizamia, jurisprudence from Mawlana Habibur Rahman Saharanpuri, and the science of Hadith and literature from Mawlana Hakim Abdur Rahman Saharanpuri.

Teaching
Even while a student, he started teaching, in both formal and non-formal ways. At times this was in the form of adult education. Most of his audience consisted of elite and common people. He began his teaching career at the mosque named Ali Aqa at Husaini Alam, Hyderabad, and continued it uninterrupted till his last breath.
The well known Syrian scholar Shaykh Abdul Fattah visited Hyderabad and took ijazahs and asnad from Shaykh al-Allamah Abul Hasanat Abdullah Shah.

His Tasawuf
At first he became the disciple of Hadrat Miskin Shah a famous Sufi of Hyderabad, India. Later, on the death of the latter, he approached Hadrat Sayyid Muhammad Badshah Bukhari, popularly known as Bukhari Shah Sahib, who was a renowned spiritual personality of that time. The latter practiced both the Qadiriyyah and the Naqshbandiyyah Sufi Tariqahs or paths. So long as his spiritual mentor was alive, whatever the climate would be, he would see him on daily basis walking about 4 miles to serve him in his mid-night special ritual prayers, the Tahajjud, assisting his spiritual master in performing the ablution and other prayer rituals. This practice went on for about 20 years until the death of his shaykh, Sayyid Badshah Bukhari. During the life-time of his spiritual master, Hadrat Abdullah Shah did not like to have his own spiritual disciples Murids. The number of disciples Murids in his own life time, however, reached in hundreds and thousands. He consistently followed the Hanafi school of jurisprudence and the practices of his spiritual master by initiating his disciples both in the Qadiriyyah and Naqshbandiya Orders.Hadrat Abdullah Shah took immense care to adhere to the Sunnah in all his actions, sayings and writings. He was always eager to put into practice the teachings of the Prophet, recorded in the Sunnah.

Daily Schedule
His emotional attachment and sincere commitment to Allah and His Messenger was remarkably evident in all he did. He would spend most of his time in the service of Allah's creations. He would begin his day early in the morning from the Fajr prayer. He would then patiently listen to his disciples. Next he would meet the public and attend to individual grievances till 9 o'clock in the morning. After Ishraq prayers, for breakfast and other personal needs, he would spare a few minutes. From almost 10 A.M to 2 P.M, he would have a separate session for women who either approach him for guidance or spiritual consolation. At 2 P.M he would return to the mosque for midday Zuhr prayer and until late afternoon Asr prayer he would be engaged in giving instructions and individual attention to his disciples, responding to miscellaneous requests for help, and so on. The time between Asr and sunset Maghrib followed by the Awwabin prayers, he would have dinner, attend to the letters addressed to him and dictate letters of advice. At 10 P.M he would go to the mosque for nightfall 'Isha' prayer and return home at around midnight. He would sleep for three hours. From 2 A.M till Fajr prayer he would be busy again with Tahajjud prayers. In short, he would rest for three hours and the rest of the 21 hours he would devote his time to the remembrance of the Lord and His creatures.

Prediction of His Own Passing
When his contemporary Shaykh Hadrat Sayyid Muhammad Badshah Husaini departed from this world on 25th of August, Hadrat Abdullah Shah predicted that he too would leave this mortal world in two days. His prediction came true. With his death on 18th of Rabi' al-Thani, 1384 A.H or 1964 A.D, at the age of 92 years, the world lost a great spiritual leader and an eminent scholar. The funeral procession was the largest of its kind in the history of Hyderabad, attended by more than two hundred and fifty thousand people. He is buried in Naqshbandi Chaman, Misri Gunj, Hyderabad.

Works
Apart from Zujajat al-Masabih, he has written various books on diverse subjects, right from Salaat to Sulook. The following is a list of his works:
Fadhail Namaz- On the excellence and blessings of Salaat.
Yousufnama- Known as Guldasta-e-Tareeqat as well. This is an exegesis (Tafseer) of the Surah Yousuf of the Holy Quran.
Qiyamatnama- On the trials and tribulations of the Day of Judgment.
Merajnama- On the heavenly journey (Meraj) of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam)
Miladnama- On the Milad of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam)
Gulzar Auliya- A brief introduction of the Elders of the Naqshbandi order of Tasawwuf.
Mawaiz Hasana, Volumes 1 and 2- The sayings and teachings of Hadhrat Muhaddith-e-Deccan.
Suluk-e-Mujaddidiya- A treatise on the teachings of the Naqshbandi Mujaddidi order of Tasawwuf.
Fadhail Ramadhan- On the excellence of the month of Ramadhan.
Kitab ul Muhabbat- A treatise on the love of Allah.

His Legacy
His spiritual and intellectual legacy is being carried forward by his disciples and students. After him, his spiritual lineage was carried forward in the following way:
His eldest son, Abul Barakaat Syed Khaleelullah Shah Naqshbandi Mujaddidi Qadri.
Hadhrat Khaleelullah's son, Hadhrat Syed Anwarullah Shah Naqshbandi Mujaddidi Qadri.
Now, the last son of Hadhrat Abdullah Shah, Abul Khair Hadhrat Syed Rahmatullah Shah Naqshbandi Mujaddidi Qadri.
Apart from his sons, Hadhrat Muhaddith-e-Deccan has also authorized other persons to spread the teachings of Islam, who are carrying forward his legacy in their own way.
Under the guidance of Hadhrat Abul Khair, Mufti Syed Ziauddin Naqshbandi Qadri, Naib Shaykh Ul Fiqh, Jamia Nizamia started a research center, by name, Abul Hasanaat Islamic Research Center, which runs and manages the website Ziaislamic.com, which is gradually uploading the works of Hadhrat Muhaddith-e-Deccan on the net and thus fulfilling a long-felt need.And Still the Legacy Continues through his son's.

"Tazkarah Hazrat Muhaddith e Deccan" Swanih,Aqaid,Amal" in Urdu by Dr.Abul Khairat Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan Naqhbandi Qadri,M.A.,Ph.D, Khalifah Hadrat Abdullah Shah ,Sabiq Sadar Shubah e Arabi,Jamia Osmania,Hyderabad Deccan,India,published by Al-Mumtaz Publications,Lahore,Pakistan

Coutesy : Wikipedia

Hazrat Khalid al-Baghdadi (r.a)

2009-12-14T22:04:00.005-07:00

Tomb in Damascus
Hazrat Khalid ibn Husayn al-Baghdadi al-Uthmani [d.1242 H - 1826 CE] 'alayhir ar-rahman w'al ridwan
Khalid al-Baghdadi was a Naqshbandi shaykh and founder of the Khalidi branch of the Naqshbandi order. He was born [in the year 1193 H./1779 CE] in Shehrezur, Karadag an area near to Sulaymaniye in northern Iraq. His full name was Khalid ibn Husain taking the nickname "Ziyauddin" and al-Baghdadi later.
His grandfather was Par Mika'il Chis Anchit, which means Mika'il the Saint of the six fingers. His title is 'Uthmani because he is a descendant of Sayyidina 'Uthman ibn 'Affan Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu, the third caliph of Islam. He studied the Qur'an al-kareem and its explanation and fiqh according to the Shafi'i school. He was famous in poetry. When he was fifteen years of age he took asceticism as his creed, hunger as his horse, wakefulness as his means, seclusion as his friend, and energy as his light.
Young Khalid studied with the two great scholars of his time, Shaykh 'Abdul Karam al-Barzinji and Shaykh 'Abdur Rahim al-Barzinji [Allah be pleased with them], and he read with Mullah Muhammad 'Ali. He studied the sciences of mathematics, philosophy, and logicas well as the principles of jurisprudence. He studied the works of Ibn Hajar, as-Suyuti, and al-Haythami. He memorized the commentary on Qur'an by Baydawi. He was able to find solutions for even the most difficult questions in jurisprudence. He memorized the Qur'an according to the fourteen different ways of recitation, and became very famous everywhere for this.
He then entered seclusion, leaving everything he had studied behind, coming to Allah's door with all kinds of pious actions and much dhikr, both loud and silent. He no longer visited the sultans, but kept to himself and to his murids, until the year 1220 H./1806 CE, when he decided to make the Pilgrimage and to visit the Beloved Prophet . He left everything and went to Hijaz through the cities of Mosul and Yarbikir and ar-Raha and Aleppo and Damascus, where he met its scholars and followed its Shaykh, the master of both the ancient and the modern knowledge and the teacher of hadith, ash-Shaykh Muhammad al-Kuzbara. He received authorization in the Qadiri Tariqat from Shaykh al-Kuzbari and his deputy, Shaykh Mustafa al-Kurdi, who travelled with him until he reached the city of the Beloved Prophet .
He praised the Prophet in Persian poetry in such a way that people were astonished at his eloquence. He spent a long time in the City of the Beloved Prophet . He reported,
"I was looking for someone of rare piety in order to take some advice when I saw a Shaykh on the right-hand side of the Blessed Gravesite (Rawdatu-sh-Sharifa). I asked him to give me advice, counsel from a wise scholar to an ignorant person. He advised me not to object when I enter Makkah to matters which might appear to be counter to the shari`a, but to keep quiet. I reached Makkah, and keeping in my heart that advice, I went to the Holy Mosque early on the morning of Friday. I sat near the Ka’ba reading Dala'il al-Khayrat, when I saw a man with a black beard leaning on a pillar and looking at me. It came to my heart that the man was not showing the proper respect to the Kacba, but I didn't say anything to him about the matter.
"He looked at me and scolded me, saying, 'O ignorant one, don't you know that the honor of the heart of a believer is far more than the privilege of the Ka`ba? Why do you criticize me in your heart for standing with my back to the Ka`ba and my face to you. Didn't you hear the advice of my Shaykh in Madinah who told you not to criticise?' I ran to him and asked his forgiveness, kissing his hands and feet and asking him for his guidance to Allah. He told me, 'O my son, your treasures and the keys to your heart are not in these parts, but in India. Your Shaykh is there. Go there and he will show you what you have to do.' I didn't see anyone better than him in all the Haram. He didn't tell me where to go in India, so I went back to Sham and associated with its scholars."
He then returned to Sulaymaniyyah and continued his teachings of self-denial. He was always looking for someone to show him the way. Finally, there came to Sulaymaniyyah the Shaykh Mawlana Mirza Rahimullah Beg al-M'aruf, known by the name of Muhammad ad-Darwish 'Abdul 'Azim al-Abadi, one of the khalifs of the spiritual pole, Qutb al-A'zam, 'Abdullah ad-Dehlawi (q). He met with him and gave him respect and asked him about the perfect guide to show him the way. He told him, "There is one perfect Shaykh, a Scholar and a Knower, showing the seeker the way to the King of Kings, expert in this delicate matter, following the Naqshbandi Way, carrying the Character of the Beloved Prophet , a guide in the Knowledge of Spirituality. Come back with me to his service in Jehanabad. He had told me before I left, 'You are going to meet someone, bring him back with you.'"
After travelling to India where he studied under revivalist Naqshbandi Sufi Shaykhs he returned to Syria where he engaged himself in teaching his students. He died in 1242 after Hijri [1826 Common Era]. His funeral was performed at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.
Coutesy : Spiritual Foundation http://www.spiritualfoundation.net/sufisshaykhs5.htm#111014245
Belief & Islam by Mawlana Khalid (r.a)
http://www.hizmetbooks.org/Belief_and_Islam/

Shaykh Abd al Ghani al- Nablusi (r.a)

2009-12-14T21:53:00.007-07:00

Abdal al Ghani al Nablusi's Autograph
Shaykh al Islam 'Abd al-Ghani al-Nablusi [d. 1143A.H/1733C.E]
'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
'Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi radi Allahu anhu was born in Damascus in 1641[C.E] into a family of Islamic scholarship. His father, Isma'il 'Abd al-Ghani, was a jurist in the Hanafi school of fiqh and contributor to Arabic literature. 'Abd al-Ghani showed diligence in the pursuit of Islamic knowledge and before the age of twenty he was both teaching and giving formal legal opinions (fatwa). He taught in the Umawi Mosque in Damascus and the Salihiyya Madrasa, his fame as an accomplished Islamic scholar spreading to all neighbouring Islamic cities. He died in 1733[C.E] at ninety years of age, having left behind hundreds of written works in virtually all the Islamic sciences.
His status as a scholar and wali (friend of Allah) is also unstintingly acknowledged by Islamic scholars who came after him. As a prolific contributor to Hanafi fiqh, there is hardly a work in the school that appeared after him that does not depend on or discusses his legal opinions. In the well known and most depended upon work in Hanafi fiqh, Radd al-Muhtar, commonly known as The Hashiya of Ibn `Abidin, the author and Imam of the school in his time, Muhammad Amin ibn 'Abidin (d.1836), frequently quotes the legal opinions of Shaykh 'Abd al-Ghani, referring to him with a reverence and respect that is not apparent in the mention of other scholars quoted in his work. Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tahtawi (d.1816), the al-Azhari Shaykh of the Hanafi Jurists, in his well known Hashiya of Maraqi al-Falah, when discussing a legal opinion of Shaykh 'Abd al-Ghani refers to him as "The knower of Allah, my master 'Abd al-Ghani (al-arif billah Sayyidi 'Abd al-Ghani)". It is unthinkable that such eminent scholars should lend such respect to and depend on the scholarship of an individual who might remotely be accused of heresy. Nor is it thinkable that the numerable godfearing scholars who came after them and use and quote their works would find that acceptable (Ibn 'Abidin's work in particular has been used since it was authored by Islamic rulers implementing the shari'a in government, by judges, muftis, jurists and students of Islamic Law). This is particularly true in view of his book Wujud al-Haqq (On True Being), which details his Sufi ontology and which he taught in public seminars to hundreds of contemporary scholars in his own lifetime.

I believe that a valid point can be made here; namely, that in the time of such scholars as Ibn 'Abidin and al-Tahtawi Islamic culture was a great deal more integrated and balanced than it is today, such that Sufism was understood by shari'a specialists and even considered necessary for a complete understanding and practice of the Din. In the time in which we live Muslims have been engulfed by a civilization that is completely materialistic in its outlook. I believe that this saturation of the worldly has had the adverse effect on the Muslims of making it difficult for them to comprehend anything beyond the physical, which is why the words and experience of the Sufis seem alien to them. This over emphasis on the material also seems to be the reason that modern day reform minded Muslims have found the concept of an anthropomorphic god acceptable as well as the focus of religion being limited primarily to the outward manifestations of the shari'a only, such as salat and hijab for example, without there being any emphasis on internal development. It is not uncommon to find that such an attitude leads to a spiritual crisis of stagnation and meaninglessness, when after several years of practice the initial sense of euphoria of faith fades and one no longer feels the forward motion of increasing in closeness to Allah Most High.
Regarding the scholarship of Shaykh 'Abd al-Ghani radi Allahu anhu, one need only read his works to understand how truly brilliant this man was. In whatever subject he addressed, he wrote as an authority, whether Hanafi fiqh, hadith, Islamic ontology and metaphysics, Arabic literature, Quranic readings or other. Some of his works have been published, while the majority are still in manuscript form. Any skeptic could avail himself his works and make an honest investigation.

Coutesy : Spiritual Foundation http://www.spiritualfoundation.net/sufisshaykhs5.htm#111014245

Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shaykh Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi (March 19, 1641—March 5, 1731), an eminent Muslim scholar and Naqshbandi Sufi, was born in Damascus in 1641 into a family of Islamic scholarship. His father, Isma'il Abd al-Ghani, was a jurist in the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam and a contributor to Arabic literature. Abd al-Ghani traced his descent to the city of Nablus in Palestine, hence his surname Nabulsi ("of Nablus").[1]
Abd al-Ghani showed diligence in the pursuit of Islamic knowledge and before the age of 20 he was both teaching and giving formal legal opinions (fatwa). He taught in the Umawi Mosque in Damascus and the Salihiyya Madrasa, becoming renowned throughotu the region as an accomplished Islamic scholar.
He died and was buried in Damascus in 1731 at 90 years of age. He left behind hundreds of written works in virtually all the Islamic sciences.
His works
Idâh al-Maqsud min wahdat al-wujud (Clarifying What is Meant by the Unity of Being)
Sharh Diwan Ibn Farid (Commentary on Ibn Farid's Poem)
Jam'u al-Asrâr fi man'a al-Ashrâr 'an at-Ta'n fi as-Sufiyah al-Akhyar (Collection of the secrets to prevent the evils castigate the pious Sufis)
Shifa' al-Sadr fî Fada'il Laylat al-Nisf Min Sha'bân wa Layllat al-Qadr (Curing the heart on the Vitues of the night of Nisfu Sha'ban and The Night of Qadr), private manuscript collection, unpublished.
Nafahat al-Azhar 'Ala Nasamat al-Ashar
al-Sulh bayn al-ikhwan fi hukm ibahat al-dukhan, ed. Ahmad Muhammad Dahman (Damascus, 1924).
Ta‘tir al-anam fi tafsir al-ahlam, ed. Taha ‘Abd al-Ra’uf Sa‘d, 2 vols. (Damascus, n.d.)
al-Haqiqa wa al-majaz fi al-rihla ila bilad al-sham wa misr wa al-hijaz, ed. Ahmad ‘Abd al-Majid al-Haridi (Cairo, 1986).
Nihayat al-murad fi sharh hadiyat Ibn al-‘Imad, ed. ‘‘Abd al-Razzaq al-Halabi (Limmasol, 1994).
al-Hadiqa al-nadiyya: Sharh al-tariqa al-muhammadiyya, 2 vols. (Lailbur, 1977).
Hillat al-dhahab al-ibriz fi rihlat Ba'albak wa-al-Biqa' al-'aziz.
Kitab 'ilm al-malahah fi 'ilm al-falahah.
References
Islamic Cultural Centre. (1970). The Islamic Quarterly. Islamic Cultural Centre, p.86.
Barbara von Schlegell, "Sufism in the Ottoman Arab World: Shaykh ‘‘Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi" (Ph.D. diss., University of Pennsylvania, 1997.
Smoking and "Early Modern" Sociability: The Great Tobacco Debate in the Ottoman Middle East (Seventeenth to Eighteenth Centuries)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al-Ghani_al-Nabulsi"

Shaykh Abdal Haqq Muhaddith Dehlvi

2009-12-14T21:43:00.003-07:00

Lodhi Garden,Dehli (16th Century)

Shaykh as-Shah Abd 'al Haqq Muhaddith Dehlvi [ d. 1052 H - 1642 CE ] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwanHadrat Mawlana as-Shaykh as-Shah 'Abd-al-Haqq al Muhaddith Rahmatullahi alayh was born in Delhi [Dehlwi, Dehlawi, Dehlvi], India. His father Saif al-Din Rahmatullahi alayh was a very pious and intellectual man, and this is a reason why Shah 'Abd-al-Haqq Rahmatullahi alayh's education and breeding was based on similar well founded principles. He was extremely fond of education and had a particular zest for learning from a very young age. Many hours of the day and the night were spent in reading and writing. After gaining his education in India, he was directed towards the Haramayn, Makkah in 996H. He stayed there for approx 3 and a half years, in which he attained his knowledge of hadith and also authored several books.Some of his most popular and recognised works are listed below;-
Ash'at al-Lam'at : This is a commentary on the Mishqat Shareef, and is recognised as one of his important works.Tarikh al Madina' : Another well known and important book.Madarij an-Nabbuwaah' : A highly acclaimed classic.Akhbarul Akhyar' : A ground breaking piece of writing in which the respected positions of the Saints of Hindustan are mentioned.'Momin ke Mah o Sal' : Months & Years for a Believer
Shah 'Abd-al-Haqq Rahmatullahi alayh was also a noted poet who went by the pen name of Hanfi. During his time the King known as Jahangir was a great believer in him. Jahangir praised many of his works, and also had many of his letters published.
On Dhikr, Shaykh Abdul Haq Muhaddith Dehlawi Rahmatullahi alayh says:
"Undoubtedly, loud Zikr is permissible. One of its proofs is the saying of Allah Ta'ala, 'Remember Allah as you used to remember your forefathers'". (Ash'atul Lam'aat, Vol. 2, pg. 278) Allah Ta'ala also says in the Qur'an al karim :
"Then, when you have finished your prayer, remember Allah standing, sitting and lying on your sides". (Surah an-Nisa: 103)
In Sahih Muslim, it is reported from Abdullah Ibn Zubair Rahmatullahi alayhi : "When the beloved Rasool Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam uttered the Salutation at the end of his Salaah, he used to say 'LA ILAHA ILLALLAHO WAHDA HU LA SHARIKA LAHU' aloud" (Mishkaat, pg. 88)
Commenting on this Hadith Shareef, Shah Abdul Haq Muhaddith Dehlawi Rahmatullahi alayhi says: "This Hadith is categorical proof that Rasoolullah Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam used to perform loud Zikr". (Ash'atul Lam'aat, Vol. 1, pg. 419)
Shah 'Abd-al-Haqq Rahmatullahi alayh passed away at the age of 96, [17th Rabbi al Awwal 1052AH - 1642 C.E.] and is buried near the shrine of Khawaja Qutb al-Din Bahtyar Kaki Rahmatullahi alayh, in Delhi, India.
Madarij An Nabuwwah-Vol 1 urdu Madarij An Nabuwwah-Vol 2 urdu
Courtesy : Spiritual Foundation
http://www.spiritualfoundation.net/sufisshaykhs5.htm#111014245

Shah Abd'al Aziz Muhadith Dehlvi

2009-12-14T21:33:00.003-07:00

Jamia Mosque,Dehli

Hafiz Ghulam Halim Shah Abd'al Aziz Muhaddith Dehlwi [d.1239AH/1823CE] 'alayhir al rahman w'al ridwan

Shaykh Abdul Aziz Rahmatullahi alayh was born on the 25th of Ramadan al-Mubarak, in 1159AH [1746 Common Era], Dehli, India and was the eldest son of SHAH WALI 'ALLAH. Shaykh Abdul Aziz Rahmatullahi alayh memorised the Qur'an al kareem at an early age, and by the time when he was only 17, he became an expert in the sciences of tafsir, hadith, fiqh, Usul al Fiqh, Aqaid, mantiq, kalam, maths, history, geopgraphy etc. He had a great passion of all mental and written sciences. Shah Abdul Aziz was the most learned Islamic theologian in India, and his views on Muslim law were accepted by all parties among the Sunnis. Unlike most Muslims during this period, he recognized the value of learning English, and displayed no bitterness toward the conquerors. But he was a teacher and thinker rather than a leader.Shah Abdul Aziz translated the Qur'an into Urdu, 50 years of the Persian translation by Shah Wali 'Allah, when the Urdu language had started to replace the Persian. He completed the exegesis of his father from Surat al-Maida to the thirteenth verse of al-Hujurat.Shah Abdul Aziz soon built a reputation and a big following at his lectures which were extremely cultured and eloquent. When he spoke, he commanded his audience so much that his listeners were totally absorbed in his words. He would state some of the most difficult issues in an amazing clear way. His memory was matchless, he would dictate extremely long texts from books almost immediately after reading them. His compilations were reliable and trustworthy among the people of excellence. His compliations were reliable and trustworthy among the people of excellence.
Some known students of Shah Abdul Aziz Rahmatullahi alayh ;
Mawlana Sayyid Shah Al'e Rasul Qadri Barkati MarahrawiSayyad Ahmad BarelwiMawlana Fazl-e-Haq KhayrabadiMawlana Mahboob Ali Dehlawi Mufti Sadr al-Din Aazurdah Mawlana Muhammad AliMawlana Ahmad Ali
He wrote and dictated many books, some of which were ;
'Taufa Ithna Ashari' (Gift to the Twelvers) [Refutation of the shi'ah sect]
'Sirush Shahadhathayn'
'Fatawa Aziz', another famous book, is the collection of Fatawa (questions and answers on religious issue)
'Tafsir Fath al-Aziz' or 'Tafsir-i-Aziz' (in Persian)
Shaykh Abdul Aziz Rahmatullahi alayh passed away in the year 1823 [Common Era], 1239 After Hijri.
Courtesy : Spiritual Foundation http://www.spiritualfoundation.net/sufisshaykhs5.htm#111014108

Shah Wali Allah (Qutb al-Din Ahmad al-Rahim) (1703-62)

2009-12-14T18:58:00.006-07:00

Delhi,India

Shah Wali Allah (Qutb al-Din Ahmad al-Rahim) (1703-62)
Shah Wali Allah of Delhi, the greatest Muslim scholar of eighteenth-century India, made an immense contribution to the intellectual, economic, social, political and religious life of the Muslim community in India, the effects of which persist to the present day. He lived during a time when the Muslim empire was losing ground on the Indian subcontinent, with the Muslim community divided and at odds. Seeking to give theological and metaphysical issues a new rational interpretation and labouring to harmonize reason and revelation, he tried to reconcile the various factions of the Indian Muslims, thereby protecting the empire from collapse.
Shah Wali Allah contended that the root cause of the downfall of the Indian Muslims was their ignorance of the sacred scripture of Islam. He initiated a movement with the theme 'Back to the Qur'an', and translated the Qur'an into Persian to facilitate its understanding among all the Muslims of India. It is believed to be the first complete translation of the Qur'an from the Arabic by an Indian Muslim scholar.
1. Life
Qutb al-Din Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Rahim, known as Shah Wali Allah, was born in ah 1114/ad 1703 near Delhi, a member of a distinguished intellectual and religious family. He received a highly structured education and spiritual instruction at the madrasa (religious school) established by his father, Shah 'Abd al-Rahim, at Delhi. As well as the Qur'an, he studied Arabic and Persian grammar and literature and the higher philosophical, theological, metaphysical, mystical and juridical texts. He graduated from the school when he was barely fifteen years old; in the same year, his father initiated him into the famous Naqshbandi order. He began his career as a teacher at the Madrasa-e-Rahimiyya under the tutelage of his father; after the death of the latter in ah 1131/ad 1719, Shah Wali Allah became the head of the madrasa, teaching all the current sciences at the school for about twelve years. During the same period he continued his own studies, growing in stature as a teacher and attracting students to his circle.
In ah 1143/ad 1731, Shah Wali Allah went on the hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), after which he remained in Mecca and Medina, the sacred cities of Islam, for about fourteen months, studying hadith (accounts of the Prophet) and engaging in intellectual discussions, meditation and spiritual perfection. During this time, he saw the forty-seven spiritual visions which form the subject matter of his famous mystical work Fuyud al-haramayn (Emanations or Spiritual Visions of Mecca and Medina). After making his second hajj, Shah Wali Allah returned home to Delhi in ah 1144/ad 1732. He spent the rest of his life teaching hadith literature and metaphysics and writing. All but one or two of his works were produced during his later years. He died in ah 1176/ad 1762.
2. Intellectual and metaphysical contribution
Shah Wali Allah wrote in both Arabic and Persian. He published between fifty and seventy works, including five collections of letters and epistles. His writings played a major role in the intellectual and spiritual life of the Muslims in the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent, a role which continues today. Some of these works have greatly changed the Muslim approach to the study of the Qur'an.
In addition, Shah Wali Allah tried to reshape Islamic metaphysics in greater conformity with the teachings of the Qur'an and the sunna of the Prophet. He adopted a more rational approach to the controversial issues of metaphysics, which led to greater harmony among subsequent Islamic metaphysical thinkers. He was careful to give a balanced criticism of some of the views of his predecessors and contemporaries. His constructive and positive approach to those issues was always considered a sincere attempt at reconciliation.
Shah Wali Allah made the first attempt to reconcile the two (apparently) contradictory doctrines of wahdat al-wujud (unity of being) of Ibn al-'Arabi and wahdat al-shuhud (unity in conscience) of Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi. Shaykh Muhyi al-Din ibn al- 'Arabi, the advocate of wahdat al-wujud, was of the opinion that being in reality is one and God. All other actual and possible beings in the universe are manifestations and states or modes of his Divine Names and Attributes. By the act of creation through the word kun (be), Ibn al-'Arabi means the descent of Absolute Existence into the determined beings through various stages. This gradual descent of the Absolute Existence is called tanazzulat al-khamsa (five descents) or ta'ayyunat al-khamsa (five determinations) in Sufi terminology. On the other hand, according to Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi, the exponent of the doctrine of wahdat al-shuhud, God and creation are not identical; rather, the latter is a shadow or reflection of the Divines Name and Attributes when they are reflected in the mirrors of their opposite non-beings (a'dam al-mutaqabila). Shah Wali Allah neatly resolved the conflict, calling these differences 'verbal controversies' which have come about because of ambiguous language. If we leave, he says, all the metaphors and similes used for the expression of ideas aside, the apparently opposite views of the two metaphysicians will agree. The positive result of Shah Wali Allah's reconciliatory efforts was twofold: it brought about harmony between the two opposing groups of metaphysicians, and it also legitimized the doctrine of wahdat al-wujud among the mutakallimun (theologians), who previously had not been ready to accept it.
Shah Wali Allah wrote about thirteen works on metaphysics, which contain his constructive and balanced metaphysical system. One of the most important is al-Khayr al-kathir (The Abundant Good). This work is divided into ten chapters, each called a khizana (treasure). The first four chapters deal with the reality of wujud (being), knowledge of God, the relationship between God and the universe, and human knowledge. From the discussion of human knowledge, Shah Wali Allah turns to the discussion of the reality of prophecy and the prophethood of Muhammad. In the seventh khizana, he deals with the rules and principles of sainthood and mysticism. The eighth and ninth chapters contain details about practical aspects of Islam, the shari'a, as well as the eschatological view of Islam. In the tenth khizana, Shah Wali Allah explains his theological view which, according to him, is in full accord with Ash'arite theology.
Altaf al-quds fi ma'rifat lata'if al-nafs (The Sacred Knowledge) is another metaphysical work concerned with the inner dimensions of human personality. Here Shah Wali Allah deals with the important questions of mystical intuition (kashf) and inspiration (ilham). He examines systematically the reality of both the external and internal perceptive qualities of a human being as the heart, the intellect, the spirit, the self, the secret (al-sirr) and the ego. A separate chapter is devoted to the metaphysical teachings of Shaykh Junaid Baghdadi, wherein he presents a brief historical account of mysticism. The last chapter deals with the subtle question of 'thoughts and their causes'. Shah Wali Allah specifies various external and internal causes which affect the human mind and produce thoughts.
Sata'at (Manifestations) is a systematic division of wujud (being), representing Shah Wali Allah's view concerning the tashkik al-wujud (hierarchy or gradation of being). Existence, in relation to determined being, is composed of existence and essence and has many grades, stages and modes. The particular beings in the universe provide the foundation for the claim of the tashkik (gradation) and kathrat (multiplicity) of being. Each grade or stage covers a certain area of determination and each stage is related to the next, not in a way that a material being is connected to another material being, but in ma'nawi (conceptual) manner. He describes the relationship between the various stages of being as like that between the lights of various lamps in a single room. The lights of these lamps are apparently mingled and are one, and are difficult to differentiate from one another; but in reality, they are distinguishable from one another because of the number of the lamps.
Shah Wali Allah's 'magnum opus' is his Hujjat Allah al-baligha (The Profound Evidence of Allah). This comprehensive work deals with both intellectual and practical aspects of Islam. The first part deals with metaphysics, scholastic theology, the gradual development or evolution of human society and the philosophy behind the divine injunctions. The second part is devoted to ethics, politics, rituals and the social life of Islam.
Al-Tafhimat al-ilahiyya (Instructions or Clear Understanding) is one of his most comprehensive metaphysical works. The work is divided into sections called tafhim (instruction). Both Arabic and Persian languages are used for the expression of ideas and concepts in this work. These tafahim (plural of tafhim) are actually Shah Wali Allah's mystical visions and experiences, and his letters and articles written to various people at various times in different contexts. The famous epistle called Maktub al-madani (Madinian Epistle) to Isma'il Afandi is a part of the second volume of the book. This article is a detailed description of wahdat al-wujud and wahdat al-shuhud, along with Shah Wali Allah's attempt at reconciliation concerning this controversial issue. In addition to the ontological discussions, the work also includes the author's cosmological, anthropological and theological views.
Another important metaphysical work is al-Budur al-bazigha (The Full Moons Rising in Splendour). The introduction deals with basic metaphysical issues such as wujud in general, the unity of God, the essence and existence of God and the relationship between God and the universe. Shah Wali Allah considers the universe to be a manifestation of the Divine Attributes. In the first chapter, he deals with the study of humanity with respect to its social and rational being. The second chapter is devoted to humanity's relationship with the Creator. At the end of the work, Shah Wali Allah describes in detail the reasons and causes for the development and evolution of the various shara'i' (religions or religious laws) and milal (religious communities).
Shah Wali Allah also tried to provide a basis for bringing the four schools of law closer to each other. His commentaries on the Mu'atta (a collection of the Prophet's sayings) of Imam Malik, called al-Musawwa (Arabic) and al-Musaffa (Persian), were written with a view to finding common orthodox ground for the reconciliation of different schools of Islamic law. Likewise, he wrote 'Aqd al-jid fi akham al-ijtihad wa'l-taqlid with the proposal that the door of ijtihad (judgement) is open. According to him, the experts of Islamic knowledge ('ulama' (religious scholars) andmujtahidin (legists) have the right to respond effectively to new situations instead of being perpetually bound to previous solutions.
3. Political contribution
A hallmark of Shah Wali Allah was his ability to reconcile opposing points of view to the satisfaction of each side. Standing behind this aspect of his teachings is the unity of the Muslim community or umma. His powerful abilities as a reconciler enabled him to provide common ground and a strong basis for co-operation and harmony between the Sunni and Shi'i.
Shah Wali Allah lived during a time of political and moral decline, chaos and destruction in the Mughul empire. His vantage point near the centre of the Muslim state gave him a clear view of the situation. He did his best to bring stability to the tottering empire and protect the Indian Muslims from disaster. Through his writings, especially his letters, he appealed to the Muslim rulers, nobles and intelligentsia to be aware of the dreadful situation and its possible consequences. His correspondence reveals many factors of Indian politics in the eighteenth century. His detailed letter to Ahmad Shah Abdali, the founder and ruler of Afghanistan, contained a comprehensive picture of the political situation in India. Ahmad Shah Abdali heeded Shah Wali Allah's call to invade India and restore Muslim power to the country, culminating in the defeat of the Marathas and their allies at the battle of Panipat in 1761. Shah Wali Allah himself left a rich intellectual legacy in the form of literary works, well-trained disciples including his four sons - who also became eminent scholars - and one of the greatest educational institutions of the time.
See also: Islam, concept of philosophy in; Islamic philosophy, modern; Islamic theology; Mystical philosophy in IslamHAFIZ A. GHAFFAR KHANCopyright © 1998, Routledge.
List of worksShah Wali Allah (1703-62) Altaf al-quds (The Sacred Knowledge), ed. D. Pendlebury, trans. G. Jalbani, The Sacred Knowledge, London: Octagon, 1982. (A general account of the metaphysics of Shah Wali Allah.)Shah Wali Allah (1703-62) al-Khayr al-kathir (The Abundant Good), trans. G. Jalbani, Lahore: Ashraf, 1974. (Comprehensive discussion of the links between metaphysics and theology.)Shah Wali Allah (1703-62) Hujjat Allah al-baligha (The Profound Evidence of Allah), Lahore: Shaikh Ghulam Ali and Sons, 1979. (A detailed discussion of the links between theoretical and practical philosophy.)Shah Wali Allah (1703-62) Sata'at (Manifestations), trans. into Urdu by S.M. Hashimi, Lahore: Idarah Thaqafat Islamiyya, 1989; trans. into English by G. Jalbani, Sufism and the Islamic Tradition: the Lamahat and Sata'at of Shah Waliullah, London. (A systematic and highly influential account of being.)Shah Wali Allah (1703-62) Lamahat (Flashes of Lightning), Hyderabad: Shah Wali Allah Academy, 1963; trans. G. Jalbani, Sufism and the Islamic Tradition: the Lamahat and Sata'at of Shah Waliullah, London, 1980. (One of the important writings on Sufism.)Shah Wali Allah (1703-62) Fuyud al-haramayn (Emanations or Spiritual Visions of Mecca and Medina), Delhi: Matba' Ahmadi, no date. (A collection of pure mystical and metaphysical experiences and visions received during his stay in Mecca and Medina.)Shah Wali Allah (1703-62) al-Tafhimat (Instructions or Clear Understanding), Dabhail, 1936, 2 vols. (One of the most comprehensive metaphysical works.)Shah Wali Allah (1703-62) al-Budur al-bazighah (The Full Moons Rising in Splendour), Dabhail: Madinah Barqi Press, 1354 ah. (Important metaphysical work.)
References and further readingHermansen, M. (1986) 'Shah Wali Allah of Delhi's Hujjat Allah al-baligha: Tension Between the Universal and the Particular in an 18th Century Islamic Theory of Religious Revelation', Studia Islamica 63: 143-57. (A clear account of Shah Wali Allah's major work.)Kemal, R. and Kemal, S. (1996) 'Shah Waliullah', in S.H. Nasr and O. Leaman (eds) History of Islamic Philosophy, London: Routledge, ch. 37, 663-70. (Account of the life, times and influence of the philosopher.)Malik, H. (1973) 'Shah Wali Allah's Last Testament', Muslim World 63: 105-18. (A useful summary of his basic philosophical principles.)Rizvi, S. (1980) Shah Wali Allah and His Times, Canberra: Ma'rifat Publishing House. (A discussion of the links between Shah Wali Allah's philosophical views and the renewal movement in India.)
Courtesy: Muslim Philosophy http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ip/rep/H045

SHAYKH AHMAD SIRHINDI (r.a)

2009-12-14T16:43:00.002-07:00

SHAYKH AHMAD SIRHINDI (r.a)
Translated by Late Prof. F.M. ShaykhRevised by Munir Hussain Ma‘sudi(Birmingham, U.K)

Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi Mujaddid-i alf-i thani (revivalist of the second millennium) was born in 971/1563 in Sirhind (East Punjab, India). His family lineage joins with that of Amir ul-Mu'mineen ‘Umar the second Great Caliph of Islam at the 29th tier of the genealogical order. He learnt Philosophy, logic and the Traditional sciences from his father Shaykh ‘Abd-al-Ahad (d. 1007/1598) and other scholars of the time including Mawlana Kamal al-din Kashmiri, Mawlana Muhammad Yaqub Kashmiri and Qazi Bahlul Badakhshi. He acquired proficiency in these disciplines and sciences when he was only seventeen years of age. He arrived in the capital city Akbarabad in 998/1589. Here he met the two famous personalities of the Royal Court of Akbar, Shaykh Abu al-Fazl (d. 1010/1601) and his brother Shaykh Abu al-Fayz Fayzi (d. 1004/1595). He also helped Fayzi in compiling his Tafsir Sawati ‘al-llham. He carried along with them for a good time but when they drifted and deviated from the established norms of Sharia (Islamic Law) he parted company with them at grave risk of his own future ambitions for the cause and uplift of the mission of Islam in its true pristine and uncorrupted form. Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi had permission to impart and enlist in various chains of mystic orders, notably in the Silsila-i-Chishtiya from his father Shaykh Abdul Ahad (d. 1007/1598), in the Silsila-i-Naqshbandiyya from Khawaja Muhammad Baqibillah (d. 1012/1603) and in Silsila-i-Qadiriyya from Shah Kamal Kaythali (d. 981/1573). Khawaja Baqibillah acknowledged and appreciated the spiritual accomplishments of Shaykh Mujaddid and showed honour and reverences on him as befit the Shaykh or the head of the Silsila. He started the mission of social reforms for the benefit and uplift of the masses within the criterion of Sharia. During the reign of King Akbar (963/1556----1014/1605) he carried on his mission with resolute despite the displeasure of the Royal Court. The rest of the Mughal emperor’s rule was the period of the Mujaddid’s strenuous endeavors in his grand mission; but real success eluded him till after the end of Akbar’s rule and it was in the reign of Emperor Jahangir (1014/1605----1037/1628) that his endeavours bore fruit. He had cordial relations with the ministers and other dignitaries of the Royal Court. The familiarly and acquiescence of the royal personages afforded him grand opportunities, not secretly but in the full knowledge of the king, for the dissemination of his mission which attracted a large segment of the general public and maintained the affairs of the government. He was made the target of Emperor Jahangir's fury by those who held enmity towards him at the Royal Court. Hence, Jahangir had the Mujaddid imprisoned at Gawalior Fort for one year (1028-1029 AH). Afterwards he felt ashamed and released the Mujaddid awarding him some valuable gifts. Henceforth Emperor Jahangir kept him in his company (1618-24-1028-34) along with other ministers and high officials of the State. This provided the Shaykh the facility and opportunity to carry on his mission with calmness and rectitude in enlightening the people with the teachings of Islam. He brought about a revolution and reformation in the timeworn attitude and behaviour of the people, and presented before them the pristine and sacrosanct teachings of the Divine Religion of Islam. This resulted in an unbelievable transformation in their social and personal life. In other words, he proved to be the real ‘Mujaddid’ (revivalist) or a ‘vanguard’ of the great revolution of revivalism, which paved the way for the onward advancement of the Divine mission of peace and tranquility on earth. He continued his efforts for the establishment of an Islamic state (in India); non co-operation with non-Muslims (as their presence or inclusion) in any exclusive and purely Islamic revivalism might encourage them under some alien influence to sabotage the movement. He also worked tirelessly for the establishment of Muslim India. He rendered invaluable services in the fields of Sharia (Islamic Law), and Tariqa (mystic interpretation and application of Qur’an and Sunna), politics, government, social and economics reforms. The people in general as well as the well-to do among them were drifting away from the Sharia and falling prey to un-Islamic ceremonies and rituals. The Mujaddid, through his scholastic dissertations, mutual conversations and letters to inquisitive personalities of the country, transformed the thinking and modes of behaviour of the people and brought them round the norms of Sharia and thus showed them the line of guidance and liberation from the darkness of transgression to which they had fallen; if it were not for the timely deliverance by the great Mujaddid they would have become the victims of evil and liable to serious accountability not only in this world but also the hear after. The dismal picture of the drift from the right path was not only confined to the laymen but the men who claimed to be the Sufis and saints were also the unwilling victims of unsaintly and blind emulators of customary and ritual practices borrowed from non-Muslim neighbours and comrades in professions, and thus tarnished the fair visage of Islam and its Divine revealed teachings. Such persons were salvaged from the path of deceptive practices and brought back to the pristine track of righteousness by the constant persuasive endeavours of Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi. On the pathways of scholastic ideologies, the situation was not all that rosy. The two broad based concepts of Wahdat al-Wujud (unity of existence) and Wahdat al-Shuhud (unity of witnessing), were intermingled and confounded in a manner and on a pattern that led many unwary participants to the blind alleys in which lay only darkness. The Shaykh not only cleared the confusion regards this but also convinced the truth-seekers that true deliverance lay in the correct understanding and adherence to the ideology of Wahdat al-Shuhud rather than that in the Wahdat al-Wujud, which latter worked as an intoxicant to the self-seeker, while the former (Wahdat al-Shuhud) opened the mental perspective to witness and admire the colour and beauty scattered all over the expanse of nature and the universe. Incidentally this was the ideological concept (Wahdat al-Shahud) interpreted and propounded by Mujaddid-i alf-i thaniwhich attracted and influenced the ideological outlook of Dr. Muhammad Iqbal (d. 1357/1938) and which prompted the great poet to consolidate the foundational base of his Islamic philosophy (specially the concept of Khudi) and arouse the slumbering intelligentsia to truer and more lasting reality of wakefulness and persistent endeavours for the success of Divine Message of Prosperity of the humanity at large. It is, therefore not wrong to say that had there been no Mujaddid there would have been no Iqbal. Mujaddid-i alf-i thani was the ideological goal of Iqbal as also his everlasting desire, eager to be fulfilled as a thirsty tavern visitor looks at the cupbearer to quench his thirst! In the fields of Politics and administrative governance of the country which was based on nationality rather than foresight and performance, the Mujaddid's vision had a negative impact on Emperor Akbar's Hindu/Muslim one nation theory, and affirmed the separatist entity of Hindus and Muslims constituting two national entities rather than the one envisaged by Akbar; this in due course of time became the famous ‘Two Nation Theory’ which led to the Freedom Movement in the sub-continent and the ultimate emergence of Pakistan in 1366/1947 as a sovereign Islamic state. In a sense he gave a fresh and renewed impetus to the everlasting irreconcilable entities of Islam and Kufr (disbelief) or Muslim and Non-Muslim religious-cum-political blocs on the surface of the globe. This theory or ideology gained momentum and expansion with time and latter on great personalities took up the cause of Muslims. Amongst whom were Shah Wali Allah (d. 1176-1762), Ahmad Riza Khan Bareilwi (d. 1340/1921), Dr. Iqbal (d. 1357/1938) and Muhammad Ali Jinnah (d. 1367/1948). The efforts of Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi bore fruits during the time of Emperor Jahangir whom at the behest of the great Shaykh appointed a commission to manage and regulate the affairs of the state in accordance to Islamic Law. This commission comprised the learned scholars of the time. Hence, this reduced the influence and intervention of non-Muslim officials in state problems particularly those related to Islamic jurisprudence and other sacred laws. This also led to the gradual but sustained disintegration of infra communal Institutions under the auspices of the state and the Muslim establishment came to be recognized as a separate and self-existing entity. This helped the growth and expansion of Muslim society and Islam as a religion flourished far and wide till by the time of Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir (d. 1068-1658/1118-1706) the endeavours by the great Mujaddid and his sons reached the zenith of their success. Emperor Alamgir himself was the mystic disciple of Khawaja Muhammad Ma'sum (d. 1079/1668) who was the son of Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi and received spiritual guidance and enlightenment from Khawaja Sayf al-Din the son of Khwaja Ma‘sum. Undoubtedly the Mujaddid dynasty left a permanent impact on the Mugal Empire and on the thought process of Muslim intellectual and religious scholars. It also brought about the great revolution in spiritual and intellectual patterns of the Muslim establishment. Dr. Iqbal has rightly proclaimed the Mujaddid as the guardian patron of Islamic culture and education in India, who was endowed with a foresight which guarded the Islamic treasure of knowledge and warned the Muslim nation of the pitfalls that lay ahead, so as to make precautions to offset and thwart the impending dangers.
After having accomplished his revivalist and reformatory mission he bade farewell to Emperor Jahangir (in 1033/1624) and came back to Sirhind were he undertook solitary confinement which consumed the remaining days of his auspicious life in the remembrance of Almighty Allah and prayer for the unity and sustained development of the Muslim people, whom had yet to pass through graver and more complex trails and tribulations for the cause of Islam and its own survival in the land of uncertainties that was the Indian subcontinent. After a few months he left this mortal world on 28th Safar 1034/1624. He was survived among others by his two illustrious sons Khawaja Muhammad Sa’id(d. 1070/1660) and Khawaja Muhammad Ma'sum(d. 1079/1668) at whose door steps the princes of the Royal Family proudly paid their respect and homage and whose patronage the rulers regarded as a great honour and privilege. The marvels of his authorship are the famous Maktubat (letters) which run into three volumes and are invaluable treasures of enlightenment and wisdom, continuously shedding the Divine Light which Khawaja Baqibillah had observed, this Light reached far and wide illuminating the nooks and corners of its own dissemination. Suggested further reading: - 1. Abu al-Hasan Zayd Faruqi: Hazrat Mujaddid And His Critics, (Translation, Mir Zahid Ali Kamil), Lahore, 19822. ‘Abd al-Haq Muhaddith Dehlwi: Majmu al-Makatib etc. Dehli, 19133. ‘Abd al-Qadir Badauni: Muntakhib al-Tawarikh, (Urdu tr.), Lahore, 19624. Ahmad Sirhindi: Maktubat, vol. I, II, III, Karachi, 19725. A.H. Rizwi: Muslim Revivalist Movement, Lucknow, 19966. Badr al-Din Sirhindi: Hazrat al-Quds, (Urdu tr.), vol. II, Lahore, 19227. Burhan Ahmed Faruqi: Mujaddid’s conception of Tawhid, Lahore, 19478. Jawaid Iqbal Mazhari etc: Jahan-i-Imam-i-Rabbani Mujaddid Alf-i-Thani, 7 volumes, Karachi, 20059. Habib al-Haq Nadvi: Islamic Resurgent Movement, Durban, 198710. I.H.Qureshi: Ulema In Politics, Karachi, 197211. Iqbal: the Reconstruction of Religious thought in Islam, Lahore, 194412. Jahangir: Tuzak-i-Jahangiri, Lucknow13. Muhammad Aslam: Din-i-Ilahi Aur Uska Pasa-i-Manzar, Lahore, 196914. Muhammad Hashim Kishmi: Zubda al-Maqamat, Kanpur, 188915. Muhammad Mas‘ud Ahmed: Seerat-i-Mujaddid-i-Alf-i-Thani, Karachi, 197616. Muhammad Mas‘ud Ahmed: The Influence of Hazrat Mujaddid Alf-i-Thani on Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, Karachi, 1996 17. Nizam al-Din: Tabaqat-i-Akbari, Lucknow, 187518. Yohannan Friedmann: Shaykh Ahmed Sirhindi, London, 1971

Coutesy: Idara Masudia http://www.almazhar.com/bio_s_ahmed_sarhandi.php

HAZRAT KHAWAJA BAQI BILLAH R.A.

2009-12-14T16:33:00.002-07:00

HAZRAT KHAWAJA BAQI BILLAH R.A.
By Prof. Khalid Bashir
Khawaja Baqi Billah was the originator and pioneer of the Naqshbandia Order in the sub-continent. His name was Razi-ud-Din Muhammad Baqi but he was commonly known as Khwaja Baqi Billah His father Qazi Abdul Salam Khilgi, Samarkandi Qureshi was a famous scholar and saint of Kabul. KHAWAJA BAQI BILLAH was born at Kabul in 971A.H or 1563A.D. His lineage reaches Kh. Ubaid Ullah Ahrar R.A. through his maternal grandfather. His grandmother came of a Syed family. Hazrat Baqi Billah was admitted to the school of Khawaja Saad at five to learn the Holy Quran. He learnt by heart when he was eight years old. After getting elementary education, he went to Maulana Sadiq Hilvahi R.A.., a famous scholar at the age of 30. Saintliness was reflected from his face from his early childhood. He liked solitude and simple life. He went to Mavara-un-Nahr, which was considered as the centre of Muslim saints at that time. There he met a large number of Sufis and Saint from whom he gathered a lot of spiritual knowledge. Firstly, he attended Khawaja Ubaid R.A. a spiritual caliph of Maulana Lutf Ullah but he was not satisfied. Then he stayed with Hazrat Sheikh Samarkandi who prayed for him but even in his company he did not get the requisite satisfaction. Thereafter, he attended the company of Hazrat Ameer Abdullah Balkhi R.A. from whom he got a little peace of mind. During the period of learning, he was going through a book on Sufisim. Suddenly, he saw that the place was illuminated with light. He saw that Khawaja Baha-ud-Din Nashbandi R.A. was standing before him and showering spiritual favour on him. After this incident, his heart was filled with the love of Allah and the Holy Prophet Sallalaho Alyhe Wasalam. He wandered from Central Asia to India He traveled to Lahore and Multan on foot. Once, when he was offering prayers in a mosque at Lahore, a terrible voice rose from his heart. All the people in the mosque felt terrified. Hazrat Khawaja left the mosque at once after completing his prayers. One of his devotees narrated that, once, when Hazrat Khawaja R.A. was leading prayers, he was looking to Qibla as well as to the people behind. After the prayers Hazrat Khawaja Sahib R.A. advised his devotees not to divulge this secret to anyone else. Hazrat Khawaja Baqi Billah was blessed with great spiritual qualities because of his extra-ordinary love for and obedience to the Holy Prophet Sallalaho Alyhe Wasalam once related that a painful voice came out of the holy heart of the Holy Prophet Sallalaho Alyhe Wasalam while he was offering the prayers. He could see before himself and behind himself at one and the same time. Hazrat Khawaja Baqi Billah once travelled to Mavara-ur-Nahr. On his way, he dreamt that Hazrat Khawaja Amkangi R.A. was calling him and waiting for him anxiously. So, he went to see him at his abode and stayed there for three days. Khawaja Amkangi R.A. blessed him with his Khilafat (spiritual caliphate) and said: "Go to India because this Order (Naqshbandia Silsila) will be established there by you" Hazrat Khawaja Baqi Billah humbly said to his spiritual guide that he could not do that difficult task, but Khawaja Amkangi R.A. insisted and ordered him to get guidance from "Istikharah" (prayer for getting judgment from Allah), Hazrat Khawaja performed "Istikhara". In a dream he saw a parrot sitting on the branch of a tree. He thought that if the parrot sat on his hand, he would consider this journey as a lucky one. No sooner did this thought flashed across his mind, than the parrot flew towards him and perched on his hand. Hazrat Baqi Billah put his saliva into its beak whereas the parrot put sugar into his mouth.Next morning Hazrat Baqi Billah related the whole dream to his guide, who said that he should act in the light of the Istkhara. So, his guide ordered him to leave for India at once. Under the instructions of his guide, he travelled to India and stayed at Lahore for a year. Here a lot of scholars and nobles of the city met him and got spiritual blessings from him. Then he proceeded to Delhi and stayed at Qilla Ferozabad. It was a beautiful place situated on the band of River Jamna. He set up his dwelling in a mosque over there. Sardar Ali Ahmed Khan has highlighted the politico-religious trends of India at the time of Hazrat Khawaja Baqi Billah at page 92 of his book. "The Naqshbandis" as under: "Emperor Akbar's reign (1556-1605) was mostly marked with denial and heresy. In the beginning. Akbar was a Sunni Muslim but under the influence of his tutor Abtul Latif he adopted very liberal views and became a liberal thinker. During his reign he was surrounded by Hindu nobles and scholars as well as by his Hindu wives who had influenced his religious views to a great extent. Faizi and Abw-al-Fazal, two of his couriers, had wormed themselves into his confidence. They enjoyed his patronage, and adroitly influenced and determined his views. Unique in learning and scholarship, they were selfish, and intent upon worldly gains. Asna-Ashrite (a sect of Shite) in their religious views, they did not like that the Sunni Ulama, by gaining the emperor's confidence, should gain precedence over them. Accordingly, they persuaded the ignorant king to introduce Din-i-Ilahi, (Divine monotheism) in the year 1581 A.D, investing him with the rank of a prophet, and Abu-al-Fazl becoming the vice-regent in this respect. Before his evil influence, Akbar held the Ulama in deep respect. As is well known, Jahangir was born in response to Sheikh Salim Chistee's prayer in whom Akbar had profound faith. He also went on foot from Agra to Ajmer for thanks-giving at Khwaja Muinuddin Chistee's Dargah and to reiterate his faith in him. But after the introduction of Din-i-Ilahi, he tried to deform Islam. Like the Hindus, he marked his forehead with the Qashqa (to mark forehead), worshipped the sun, and married daughters of the Hindu Rajas and kept dogs and pigs as pets. Instigated by Abu Al-Fazl, he asked the Ulama to subscribe to Din-i-Ilahi, and on their refusal, they were expelled from the court. All the same, there were some self-seeking Ulama who embraced Din-i-Ilahi and issued Fatawas (decrees) in support of Akbar's anti-Islamic activities. They accepted him as the supreme head of religion and grand arbiter in spiritual and religious controversies." Hazrat Khwaja Baqi Billah strengthened the Naqshbandia Order in India. His contacts with the nobility of the Mughal Empire proved useful for the reformation of the Muslims of India. He took bold steps and played a heroic role to stop the prevailing heresy known as Din-i-Ilahi. His writings and counsels encouraged the people to combat this very innovation. The nobility also favoured him and he used their power for the betterment of the Muslims. He stressed on Sharia during the whole of his life and influenced the people by virtue of his piety and his strict adherence to the Sunnah. He preferred Sharia to Tariqah (Sufism) and reformed the Sufis and Ulama of that time. Khwaja Muhammad Kishmi, a disciple of Hazrat Mujaddid Alif Sani, writes about the achievements of Hazrat Baqi Billah as under: “Probably his greatest achievement is that in two or three years, he firmly established the Naqshbandi Order in India, whereas others of the same Order lagged behind and worked for many years". A tribute higher than, the following one paid by Hazrat Mujaddid Ali Sani R.A. to Hazrat Baqi Billah cannot be paid to any one else:"I am convinced that such training as I received from him has hardly been given by anyone else after the Holy Prophet Salallaho Alyhe Wasalam. I did not enjoy the Prophet's company but I thank Allah, I was not denied the honour of Khwaja Baqi Billah's R.A. Company." In fact, extra-ordinarily firm faith in the supremacy of God Almighty and strict adherence to Sunnah had elevated Hazrat Baqi Billah to such heights of spiritual excellence as could not be attained by any other saint of the Naqashbandi Order. He is indisputably, reckoned to be the greatest herald and torch-bearer of the Order, which he practised. He is incomparable and a class apart in his own line All words, deeds and actions of Hazrat Baqi Billah which were in the wake of the Holy Prophet Sallalho Alyhe Wasalam, worked miracles quite spontaneously. Many of his miracles, reflecting his immense love for his fellow beings and exhibiting his sympathy with other creatures of Allah Almighty adorn the pages of books, which have been written on him. Since it is difficult to mention all his miracles in this short article, only a few of them have been related as under: One, late at night, a few guests of Hazrat Baqi Billah came to see him. Since no foodstuff was available at home, he asked the baker, who held Hazrat Baqi Billah in great esteem and reverence, to serve the guests as directed. After having served the guests, the baker appeared before Hazrat Baqi Billah and demanded his remuneration. Hazrat Sahib asked the baker how much he was to pay for the dinner. On his own part, he tried to pay the price of the dinner but the baker declined to accept the remuneration in terms of money. The baker requested Hazrat Baqi Billah to make him just like him. Out of great love, which Hazrat Baqi Billah cherished for his fellow beings. Hazrat Baqi Billah took the baker into his (Hujra) room, embraced him, and transformed him into his own facimile When Hazrat Baqi Billah and the baker came out of the room, both of them resembled each other so closely that it was difficult for the people to distinguish between the two. The only difference between them was that whereas the actual Baqi Billah performed his duties, as usual, in a normal way, the transformed Baqi Billah lay lost in trance. Being unable to bear the stress of the great spiritual blessing showered upon him, the baker expired after three days. Another miracle, showing Hazrat Baqi Billah's love for any sympathy with other creatures of God, deserves special mention. It is said that one night Hazrat Baqi Billah after having offered his Tahajad prayers, stepped towards his bed to take some rest. To his great surprise, he saw a cat couching in his bed. Blessed and gifted as Hazrat Baqi Billah was with a kind and benign heart, he did not disturb the cat. He quietly sat down on the floor and passed the rest of the night in the chilly winter, whereas the cat enjoyed a sound sleep till morning. According to Hazrat Khwaja Baqi Billah Tovakkal (trust in Allah) does not mean that a person should not earn his living and become idle. This would be an act of disobedience to Allah. A person should do some work to earn his living, and should have a strong faith that only Allah is the Sustainer. Work is just like a source, mediation or an intersessor. There is a great moral lesson for our modern youths to learn from the philosophy and preaching of this great saint. In fact, according to all Nashbandi Sufis and saints, escape from the struggle of life is a cowardly and a selfish act. According to Hazrat Khwaja Baqi Billah R.A a hermit lives in a world of dreams, whereas to the adventurous and the brave, this world offers a splendid scope to struggle for existence. Sardar Ali Ahmed Khan, has remarked as under: "Judged by results, the greatest event of the life of Hazrat Baqi Billah. was the enrolment of Hazrat Mujaddid Alif Sani as his disciple in 1599."
Hazrat Khwaja Baqi Billah R.A went his way to eternity on 25 Jamadi-ul-Sani 1012 A.H. or 1603 A.D. His grave is situated in Delhi near the Qadam Sharif (foot-prints) of the Holy Prophet Sallalho Alyhe Wasalam at a platform. No dorne was constructed over his grave according to his will. There is no tree to cast a shadow on the grave. In spite of this, the visitors do not feel the effect of heat when they stand barefooted beside the grave.

BIBLIOGRAPHY- M. Ikram: Maadn-e-Karm. Aastana Aalia Hazrat Karman wala Okara 2001, A.D.S. Zarwar Hussain: Hazrat Mujaddid Alif Sani Karachi 1989. Masadn-e-Karam P.293.Sardar Ali Ahmed Khan: The Naqshbandis Sharaqpur Sharif-1992.

Coutesy: Idara Masudia http://www.almazhar.com/bio_hazrat_k_baqibillah.php

Khwaja Muhammad Zahid (Q)

2009-12-11T21:57:00.004-07:00

Mosque in Samarkand,Uzbekistan

Khwaja Muhammad Zahid (Q) was the most glorious disciple of Khwaja Ubaidullah Ahrar (Q). He belonged to Samarqand and descendant of the daughter of Hazrat Yaqoob Charkhi. He met Khwaja Ahrar (Q) in village of Shadiman while on his journey to Herat, Afghanistan circa 895 AH., or 1490 A.D.Khwaja Zahid (Q) went to visit Khwaja Ahrar (Q) when he was in the village for some personal engagement. Khwaja Ahrar (Q) read his intentions and asked Khwaja Zahid (Q) that there was no need to go to Herat. Despite deepest impression of spiritual power of Khwaja Ahrar, Khwaja Zahid (Q) was still intending to go to Herat but not without permission of Khwaja Ahrar.One day Khwaja Ahrar (Q) called him and took him to his place. Khwaja Ahrar (Q) took hold of his hand and Khwaja Zahid (Q) immediately achieved. This way Khwaja Ahrar (Q) entered Khwaja Zahid (Q) into the laity of Naqshbandia Saints.Khwaja Ahrar (Q) granted him permission to leave for Herat with certain admonishments to avoid: company of corrupt scholars who exploit religion; the dancing Sufis, who are like children; and, arguments of the philosophers and the people who understand nothing of Tassawwuf (Sufism).Khwaja Zahid (Q) headed towards Bukhara but he returned back from Tashkent to Samarqand where Khwaja Ahrar (Q) lived. For many years, Khwaja Zahid (Q) lived in Samarqand with him, until Khwaja Ahrar (Q) left this world.Shaikh Muhammad Zahid (Q) died on Rabi-al-Awwal 12, 936 AH., or November 3, 1529 A.D., in Samarqand. He was succeeded by to his nephew, and his pious deputy Darvesh Muhammad Samarqandi (Q).

Hazrat Yaqoob Charkhi (Q)

2009-12-11T21:34:00.004-07:00

Mosque in Uzbekistan

Hazrat Yaqoob Charkhi (Q) was born in Charkh, a suburb of Ghazni, between the two cities of Qandhar and Kabul. In his youth, he went to Herat for education. Later, he also went to Egypt where he learned the Islamic sciences and courses of logic. He conned Holy Qur'an as well as 500,000 Hadiths, both the authentic or the dubious. One of his teachers was Shihabuddin Shirawani, known as living encyclopedia during his time. He excelled in education and was allowed to issue Fatwa (decree).After completing worldly education, the spark of attaining spiritual light kindled in his heart. Once in Fatahabad, where he lived at that time, he was meditating towards shrine of Shaikh Alam Saiful Haq Bakhirzi (R), he was revealed to go to Khwaja Naqshbandi (Q). He took journey to Qasr Arifan and subordinated to his allegiance and was blessed by his training. At the time of Khwaja Naqshband's (Q) demise, he was in town of Kash, so grieved and disappointed over the demise of Khwaja Naqshband (Q), he decided to join some other spiritual guides but again Khwaja Naqshband (Q) revealed him to go to Khwaja Attar (Q). Later he had his completion under the guidance of Khwaja Attar (Q).Hazrat Yaqoob Charkhi (Q) passed away in the village of Hulaftu, on Safar 5, 851 AH. or April 22, 1447 A.D. He had many deputies. He was succeeded by Khwaja Ahrar (Q).--Courtesy:Lauari Sharif

Hazrat Ubaidullah Ahrar (Q)

2009-12-10T22:41:00.003-07:00

Tashkent,Uzbekistan
Khwaja Ubaidullah Ahrar (Q) was born in the village of Shash in Ramadan, 806 AH., or March 1403 A.D. His father was a prominent dervish. He was brought up in Tashkent by his uncle Ibrahim Shashi, a great scholar of his time who gave him early education. When he graduated in the worldly sciences, his uncle sent him to Samarqand for acquiring heavenly knowledge.The signs of sainthood were visible in him since his childhood. Khwaja Ahrar (Q) used to say: "from the age of three years, I was in the Presence of Allah. When I studied the Qur'an with my teacher my heart was in God's Presence. I used to think that all people were like that."Initially, he joined the disciples of Nizamuddin Khamush in Samarqand who was a prominent saint of his time and deputy of Khwaja Ahrar. At the age of 22, he went to Bukhara and outside Bukhara the city met Shaikh Sirajuddin Birmisi. After a brief stay with Shaikh Birmisi, he continued his journey to Bukhara.Here he found the favourable tutelage of Shaikh Alauddin Ghajdwani. Khwaja Ghajdwani was an excellent and exceptional orator. When Khwaja Ahrar met Khwaja Ghajdwani, he was 90, then. Khwaja Ghajdwani, despite of being old age, never discontinued the recitation, nor he refrained from making his auspicious company with his disciples and pupils. Khwaja Ahrar received the spiritual mass from Khwaja Ghajdwani, while both were busy in meditation at the grave of Shah Naqshband.Later on, he went to Khurasan via Merv. He reached Herat and stayed over there for four years with Syed Kasim Tabrizi, In Herat, he heard praise of Khwaja Yaqoob Charkhi (Q). He decided to benefit from him and started journey to Hulaftu and subordinated to him.Service to the humankind, physically or spiritually, was his motto. There were numerous instances of his benevolence. He used to say: "To help and serve people is better than recitation and meditation. Some people think that to do the supererogatory Sunnah is better than serving and helping those in need. It is our view, however, that to take care of people and to help them and to show them love is better than anything else." "...I didn't take this Tariqah from books, but I pursued this Tariqah by serving people." " I entered this Spiritual Order through the door of service." "...Sufism requires you to carry everyone's burdens and not to put yours on anyone."Khwaja Ahrar (Q) authored many books on Sufism and the knowledge relating to seeking closeness of Allah. Besides, he also established a big school and mosque which are still a centre of learning.Khwaja Ubaidullah Ahrar (Q) died on Saturday, Rabi ul-Awwal 29, 895 AH,. or February 20, 1490 A.D., in Samarqand after Isha prayer. His funeral attracted all and sundry. King Ahmad of Samarqand along with his troops also attended the funeral. The sultan carried his coffin. He was laid to rest in Samarqand.He gave the Noor of The Naqshbandia order to Shaikh Muhammad Zahid Qadi Samarqandi (Q).----Courtesy:Lauri Sharif http://www.luarisharif.net/hahrar.htm

Excerpts from Nafahat al-'Uns: The Lives of Notable Figures of the Spiritual Path

2009-12-08T12:11:00.003-07:00

Excerpts from Nafahat al-'Uns: The Lives of Notable Figures of the Spiritual Path
by Sidi Ruslan Moore

Khwaja Hasan 'Attar
May Allah (Exalted is He) bestow His mercy upon him!
He was the son of the venerable Khwaja 'Ala' ad-Din 'Attar, and the fruit of the tree of sainthood was he. His rapturous attraction [jadhba] was very strong indeed. Whenever he wished to influence someone with the qualities of rapturous attraction, they would take effect in that person. They would enable him to experience the spiritual state of ecstasy and unawareness of this world, transcending his ordinary self and neither knowing nor seeing transitory things. They would enable him to taste the experience of absence from this world and self-annihilation, an experience enjoyed by some of the spiritual wayfarers after so much strenuous endeavour, and rarely even then. Throughout Transoxiana and Khurasan, he became famous for the kind of spiritual influence he exerted on the seekers and the visitors [to holy shrines]. If anyone achieved the honor of kissing his blessed hand, that person would stagger and fall down. Early one morning, it has been told, he went out from his house while experiencing the spiritual state described above. Everyone touched by his gaze was utterly transformed, to the point of transcending his ordinary self. One of the dervishes set out on the blessed journey [of Pilgrimage] and came to Herat. The signs of ecstasy, absence from his normal self, rapture and bewilderment were evident in his condition. When he passed through the market, it was obvious that the inner state had overwhelmed him, for he was quite unaware of the people coming and going and what they were talking about. According to the venerable link in this chain of transmission, whose favour I need to receive: "The spiritual state of that dervish was nothing other than this: He was constantly observing and contemplating the form of Khwaja Hasan with the eye of the spirit, so he kept that form stored within himself. By virtue of this safekeeping, the rapturous attraction of that great individual had been infused into that dervish." In accordance with the chain of transmission of the Spiritual Path of the Masters of Wisdom [Khwajagan], the venerable Khwaja Hasan used to take upon himself the burden of the invalids, relieving them of their sickness. On one occasion, it has been related, he set out on the blessed journey [of Pilgrimage] and came to Shiraz, where a local nobleman was truly dedicated to him and had entered his Spiritual Path with sincere devotion. An illness had afflicted this man, so the venerable Khwaja Hasan took his illness upon him, rescuing him from the malady. The patient recovered, but the Khwaja fell ill in his place, and because of this illness he passed on to the other world. His death occurred on the Monday night of the Festival of Sacrifices in the year A.H. 826 (1422 C.E.). His blessed corpse was transported from Shiraz to the province of Saghaniyan, where it was laid to rest beside the tomb of his great father [the venerable 'Ala' ad-Din 'Attar].
May Allah be well pleased with him! (Courtesy:Sunni Path http://www.sunnipath.com/ )

Excerpts from Nafahat al-'Uns: The Lives of Notable Figures of the Spiritual Path

2009-12-08T12:09:00.003-07:00

Mosque/Tomb Complex,Abu Nasr Parsa,Balkh,Afganistan

Excerpts from Nafahat al-'Uns: The Lives of Notable Figures of the Spiritual Path
Answered by Sidi Ruslan Moore

Khwaja Abu Nasr Parsa
May Allah (Exalted is He) increase the sanctity of his innermost being!
This was the son of Khwaja Muhammad Parsa, the fruit of his sainthood and the successor to his spiritual station. His honorific title is Hafiz ad-Din, but he is generally known by the patronymic Abu Nasr. His full name is Khwaja Hafiz ad-Din Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Hafiz al-Bukhari (may Allah bestow His mercy upon him). By means of his distinguished father, he acquired knowledge of the sciences of the Sacred Law [Shari'a] and the customary practices of the Spiritual Path [Tariqa]. The technique of evanescence and self-extinction was also transmitted to him by his father. He concealed his spiritual state and station with such skill that it seemed as if he had never set foot on this Spiritual Path. The observer would assume that he had no knowledge of the science of this Sufi order. If someone asked him about some problem, he would say: "Let us look it up in the book!' As soon as he opened the book, he would come across the matter at issue. The solution to the problem would then be found by turning one or two pages in either direction. This would seldom prove inadequate. At his meeting one day, the books of Shaikh Muhyi'd-Din ibn al-'Arabi came under discussion. Quoting his father's words, he said: "The Fusus is the soul, while the Futuhat is the heart." He then went on to say: "If anyone reads the Fusus, let him be well aware that the summons to follow the venerable Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) will be firmly rooted in that person!" His death occurred in the year A.H. 865 (1460 C.E.). His blessed tomb is in Balkh. May Allah be well pleased with him! (Sunni Path)

Excerpts from Nafahat al-'Uns: The Lives of Notable Figures of the Spiritual Path

2009-12-08T12:06:00.002-07:00

Bukhara,Uzbekistan

Excerpts from Nafahat al-'Uns: The Lives of Notable Figures of the Spiritual Path
Answered by Sidi Ruslan Moore
Khalil Ata
May Allah the Exalted bestow His mercy upon him!
According to the venerable Khwaja Baha' ad-Din Naqshband: "I saw in my dream that they were sending me to a dervish by the name of Khalil Ata, who was one of the great Turkish Shaikh. When I woke up, the image of that dervish had stayed in my memory. I had a grandmother who was righteously devout in her worship and obedience. When I told her about my dream, she said: 'O grandson, good fortune will come to you from the Turkish Shaikhs!' "After this, I sought that dervish constantly, until I finally encountered him in the market of Bukhara. I recognized him and asked if his name was Khalil Ata, but I did not get to sit and converse with him on that occasion. I went back to my house and the night arrived, then a messenger came and told me: 'That dervish Khalil is wishing to meet you.' "It was the season of summer, so I took a supply of fruit and went to meet him. As soon as I saw him, I wanted to tell him about that dream of mine. He said in Turkish: 'What you have in your mind is quite obvious to me. There is no need to explain!' "My spiritual state was transformed. While in his fellowship, I was enabled by him to witness rare spiritual states and things unheard of and unseen. "After a period of time, the sultanate of Transoxiana was assigned to him. It seemed appropriate for me to remain in his service, and I witnessed great things from him during this period. He used to treat me with considerable kindness. Sometimes gently and sometimes harshly, he taught me the proper manners of fellowship. He has been very useful to me in this respect, for my business has derived great benefit from the things I learned from him about the stations of the journey on this path. "My being in his service was like this: In the public arena, I would always be respectful of his regal modes of conduct. In the private domain, however, I had become his personal confidant. "During the six years of his sovereignty, very many sessions of intimate fellowship took place. In the presence of the congregation attending his special gatherings, he would often say: 'If anyone serves me for the sake of the good pleasure of the Lord of Truth (Exalted is He), he will be distinguished among the people.' As for the person to whom he was alluding in this statement, his identity would always be known to me. "After six years, his material domain disintegrated. That kingdom, his servants and his sultanate turned to dust in an instant. "After this, my heart lost interest in the business of this world. I settled in Riwartun, one of the villages of Bukhara."
May Allah be well pleased with him! (Courtesy:Sunni Path http://www.sunnipath.com/ )

Excerpts from Nafahat al-'Uns: The Lives of Notable Figures of the Spiritual Path

2009-12-08T12:04:00.003-07:00

Mausoleum Khoja Ahmed Yasavi (1093-1166)
Excerpts from Nafahat al-'Uns: The Lives of Notable Figures of the Spiritual Path
by Sidi Ruslan Moore
Qutham Shaikh
May Allah the Exalted bestow His mercy upon him!
He was one of the Turkish Shaikhs and he belonged to the noble family of Khwaja Ahmad Yasavi. According to the venerable Khwaja Baha' ad-Din, the venerable Khwaja Amir Kulal had told him: "You now have authorization. Near or far, wherever you smell a fragrant scent, you must spare no effort in the quest for its source." For this reason he approached Qutham Shaikh, and this is what happened at their first encounter: Qutham Shaikh was eating a water-melon. He threw its rind towards the Khwaja. The Khwaja was feeling extremely thirsty at that time, so he seized the rind that was thrown in his direction and devoured it completely, regarding it as an auspicious omen. The same thing happened three times during that meeting. During one of their meetings, the Shaikh's servant came in and said: "I have lost three camels and four horses." The Shaikh pointed to the venerable Khwaja and said in Turkish: "You must treat him hospitably!" Four of his disciples were present. They looked at the Khwaja in awe, while feeling offended. It was as if a blood feud existed between them. The venerable Khwaja Baha' ad-Din (sanctified be his innermost being) then said: "If anyone does not understand the character of the Turkish Shaikhs, alas, he has lost all hope of following that spiritual path and he has gone astray." The Khwaja sat down on his knees, became absorbed in contemplation and concentrated his attention on the Truth. After the performance of the evening ritual prayer, that servant came in again and said: "The camels and the horses have come back of their own accord!" The venerable Khwaja stayed for three months, less or more, at the command and in the service of Qutham Shaikh (may Allah bestow His mercy upon him). When he finally took his leave, he showed deference to him and said: "I have nine sons. You are now the tenth, and you are superior to them all!" For many years, he used to go from the suburbs of Nakhshab to Bukhara. When he arrived there, Khwaja Baha' ad-Din would take good care of him and treat him with respect. He used to say to the Khwaja: "As for this quality of spiritual seeking which I have seen in you, I have not observed it in any of the seekers and the truthful." Qutham Shaikh had cut himself off from creatures and material things, so completely that he had no attachment to them whatsoever. Near the end of his life, he came to one of the markets of Bukhara. He traded various items, then left and departed. The signs of his state of health were clearly apparent. He entered a shop and sat down, then summoned those sons and followers of his who were present with him, and said: "Our migration is near at hand. Let us all join together in reciting the declaration of Oneness [kalimat at-tawhid]. He recited it himself and the others recited it together. At that moment he surrendered his spirit.
May Allah be well pleased with him! (Courtesy:Sunni Path http://www.sunnipath.com/)

Excerpts from Nafahat al-'Uns: The Lives of Notable Figures of the Spiritual Path

2009-12-08T12:02:00.003-07:00

Excerpts from Nafahat al-'Uns: The Lives of Notable Figures of the Spiritual Path
by Sidi Ruslan Moore
Sayyid Amir Kulal
May Allah the Exalted bestow His mercy upon him!
He was one of the deputies of the above-mentioned Khwaja Muhammad Baba Sammasi. It was from him that the venerable Khwaja Baha' ad-Din Naqshband received the link of fellowship, knowledge of the customary procedures of the spiritual path, and the teaching of the remembrance [dhikr]. A huge gathering had assembled one day. The venerable Amir sent for Khwaja Baha' ad-Din, then he looked at him and said: "O my son Baha' ad-Din, I have completely fulfilled what the venerable Khwaja Muhammad Baba Sammasi (sanctified be his innermost being) said on your behalf. For your sake, I have fulfilled whatever obligation there may be in the matter of training. That is because he had given me this command: 'You must not fail to provide my son Baha' ad-Din with training and kind treatment.' I have acted in accordance with his command.'" Then, pointing at his breast, he went on to say: "I have let this garden lie fallow for your sake. I have hatched your bird of spirituality from the egg of human nature. Nevertheless, your bird of aspiration is eager to fly high. You now have authorization. Near or far, wherever you smell a fragrant scent, you must spare no effort in the quest for its source." The venerable Khwaja Baha' ad-Din is reported as having said: "When these words issued from the venerable Amir (may Allah bestow His mercy upon him), they represented a means of testing, for if we remained completely loyal to the Amir, we would be remote from tribulation and close to safety." The venerable Amir once said to the venerable Khwaja: "When a teacher trains a pupil, he wishes to observe the marks of this training on his pupil, in order to have confidence in its effectiveness. If he notices a defect in his pupil's work, he must endeavour to correct it." He then gave him this command: "My son Amir Burhan is ready. No one has exerted influence upon him, and he has received no spiritual training. You must now preoccupy yourself with his training in my sight, so that I may observe its effect, and so that I may have confidence in your capacity." The venerable Khwaja Baha' ad-Din responded by exercising vigilant supervision under the watchful eye of the venerable Amir Sayyid. On account of his extreme dedication to propriety, however, Baha' ad-Din paused from time to time in his compliance with that command. The venerable Amir admonished him, saying: "There is no need for you to
pause!"
The venerable Khwaja Baha' ad-Din then duly complied with the command, focused his attention on the inner being of Amir Burhan, and preoccupied himself with exercising spiritual influence on his inner being. The signs of that influence were immediately visible in both the outer and the inner being of Amir Burhan. A magnificent state of being became manifest in him, and evidence of genuine spiritual intoxication was clearly apparent.
The compiler of the sacred words of Khwaja Baha' ad-Din Naqshband, he being Khwaja Muhammad ibn Muhammad HafiD Bukhari, has said in his work entitled Risalat-i Qudsiyya: "Towards the end of his life, the venerable Amir once sat for a day and a night with his attention focused on the Qibla [direction of the Ka'ba in Mecca]. He did not say a word to anyone. "Then, after having become the subject of gossip, he gave thanks to Allah and said: 'The purpose of this concentration was to ascertain whether they will open this door with acceptance or with rejection. In accordance with the meaning implicit in the noble Qur'anic verse:
For them there are good tidings in the life of this world and in the Hereafter. (10:64) la-humu 'l-bushra fi 'l-hayati 'd-dunya wa fi 'l-akhira.
-those who abstain from this world will depart from this world with good tidings.'"
May Allah be well pleased with him! ( Coutesy: Sunni Path http://www.sunnipath.com/ )

Excerpts from Nafahat al-'Uns: The Lives of Notable Figures of the Spiritual Path

2009-12-08T11:59:00.003-07:00

Excerpts from Nafahat al-'Uns: The Lives of Notable Figures of the Spiritual Path
by Sidi Ruslan Moore
Khwaja Muhammad Baba Sammasi
May Allah the Exalted bestow His mercy upon him!
He was the deputy of the venerable Khwaja 'Azizan ['Ali Ramitani]. It was he who adopted the venerable Khwaja Baha' ad-Din Naqshband as his son. Whenever he passed by the place called Qasr-i Hinduwan [Palace of the Indians], he used to say: "The scent of a hero emanates from this place. This Qasr-i Hinduwan will very soon become Qasr-i 'Arifin [Palace of the Truly Wise]." He eventually went out one day from the residence of Sayyid Amir Kulal, who was one of his deputies, and headed towards Qasr-i Hinduwan, saying: "That scent has grown stronger now. It seems that the child has been born!" When he reached Qasr-i Hinduwan, the venerable Khwaja Baha' ad-Din's birth had in fact occurred just three days earlier. His grandfather held him close to his breast, offered a perfect prayer of supplication, and handed him over to the venerable Khwaja Muhammad Baba, who said: "This is our son. We have adopted him!" Turning to his companions who were present with him, he went on to say: "This is the hero whose scent came to our notice. He will become the paragon of his age." He then said to Sayyid Amir Kulal: "You must not fail to provide my son Baha' ad-Din with training and kind treatment. If you are negligent in this, I shall not make any right of mine lawful to you!" Amir Kulal replied: "If I fall short in fulfilling the Khwaja's behest, no hero am I!" According to the venerable Khwaja Baha' ad-Din: "When I wished to get married, my grandfather sent me to the venerable Khwaja Muhammad Baba in Sammas, so that, through his blessed grace, events might take their proper course. When I had the honour of meeting him, the first charismatic marvel that I witnessed was the following: "One night, I had an experience in which the spiritual state of humility and supplication came upon me. I got up and went to his place of worship. I performed two cycles of ritual prayer. Then I put my head down in prostration, displaying a complete state of humility and supplication. At that point, these words streamed from my tongue: 'O my God, grant me the charismatic gift of strength to bear the weight of the trial and endure the test of love!' "When the morning came, I entered the venerable Khwaja's presence, and he told me: 'O my son, this is what ought to be said in the prayer of supplication: "O my God, by Your gracious favor and Your noble generosity, make this feeble servant firmly committed to that in which Your good pleasure resides!" If the Lord of Truth (Exalted is He) decides, by virtue of His wisdom, to inflict tribulation upon a servant, He will endow him by His providential care with the strength to bear that burden. He will also reveal to him the wisdom of this affair. Choosing to seek tribulation is a difficult matter, and arrogance is unseemly.' "After this, he prepared the meal. Once we had eaten the meal, he gave me a loaf of bread. This thought occurred to my mind: 'We have eaten enough here to satisfy our hunger. We shall reach the house in an hour, so why do we need this bread?' He set out on the road, and I was following in his footsteps with perfect courtesy. If a distraction arose within me as we went along, he would say: 'It is necessary to guard the mind!' "On the road, he reached the dwelling of one of his loving friends. That person was greeted with perfect delight and respect. When we alighted at his home, an uneasiness was apparent in that poor dervish. On observing this, he asked him: 'What is really troubling you?' That poor dervish replied: 'There is an amount of clotted cream, but there is no bread here.' On hearing this, the Khwaja turned to me and said: 'Fetch that loaf of bread, for it has served its purpose at last!' After witnessing these spiritual states of his, my belief in the venerable Khwaja was increased."
May Allah be well pleased with him! (Coutesy: Sunni Path http://www.sunnipath.com/)

Excerpts from Nafahat al-'Uns: The Lives of Notable Figures of the Spiritual Path

2009-12-08T11:56:00.004-07:00

Khiva,Uzbekistan

Excerpts from Nafahat al-'Uns: The Lives of Notable Figures of the Spiritual Path
by Sidi Ruslan Moore

Khwaja 'Ali Ramitani
May Allah the Exalted bestow His mercy upon him!
He was one of the deputies of Khwaja Mahmud Injir Faghnawi. In the chain of transmission of this Spiritual Path, he is known by the title "Hadrat 'Azizan." He was endowed with lofty spiritual stations and conspicuous charismatic talents. He was a weaver by trade, and according to what I have heard from some of the great masters, he is the Khwaja referred to in this poem by Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Rumi (sanctified be his innermost being):
If there is anyone whose knowledge of the spiritual state is beyond description in words, he must surely be Khwaja Nassaj [the Weaver], the servant of the grandees of Bukhara!
His blessed tomb in Khwarizm is a famous site of frequent visitation.
He was asked: "What is faith?" He replied: "To flee [from everything else] and to arrive [at the Truth]." They also asked him: "If a decree has been foreordained, when does that decree arise?" To this he replied: "Before the dawn!" He is reported as having said: "If one of the children of Khwaja 'Abd al-Khaliq Ghujdawani (sanctified be his innermost being) had been on the face of the earth, Mansur al-Hallaj would not have been hanged on the gallows.
May Allah be well pleased with him! (Coutesy:Sunni Path http://www.sunnipath.com/)

Excerpts from Nafahat al-'Uns: The Lives of Notable Figures of the Spiritual Path

2009-12-08T11:54:00.003-07:00

Gonbad e Alaviyan,Hamadan,Iran

Excerpts from Nafahat al-'Uns: The Lives of Notable Figures of the Spiritual Path
by Sidi Ruslan Moore

Khwaja Yusuf Hamadani
May Allah the Exalted sanctify his spirit!
His patronymic is Abu Ya'qub. He was an Imam, a scholar, a lordly sage, master of the spiritual states, endowed with abundant gifts, charismatic talents and illustrious dissertations. At the beginning of his career, he went to Baghdad, where he regularly attended the class of Shaikh Abu Ishaq Shirazi. He achieved a very high standard there, and he excelled his peers in the science of Islamic jurisprudence [fiqh], as well as in the other sciences, especially the theoretical sciences. In spite of his young age, Shaikh Abu Ishaq accorded him preference over very many of his companions. In Baghdad, Isfahan and Samarqand, he heard the noble Prophetic tradition [hadith] related by very many trustworthy reporters. He then left all that, and embarked on the path of worship, spiritual exercise and earnest endeavour. It is a well-known fact that he received his initiation into Sufism from Shaikh Abu 'Ali Farmadhi. He is also said to have joined the fellowship of Shaikh 'Abdu'llah Juwaini and Shaikh Hasan Simnani.
He had settled in Merv, and from there he came to Herat, where he stayed for a long period of time. After this, the notables of Merv came and asked him to return to Merv. In response to their request, he went to Merv. He then came again to Herat. While returning once more from Herat to Merv, he died on the road. That was in the early months of the year A.H. 535 (1140 C.E.). They buried him in the place where he died. They transported him to Merv a long time after that, and his mausoleum is a conspicuous and famous site in Merv.
As related by Shaikh Muhyi'd-Din ibn al-'Arabi (may Allah the Exalted sanctify his innermost being) in one of his literary works: "In the year A.H. 602 (1205 C.E.), Shaikh Awhad ad-Din Hamid Kirmani was in my dwelling in the city of Konya. He told me the following story: 'In our towns, Khwaja Yusuf Hamadani (may Allah bestow His mercy upon him) spent more than sixty years of his life on the prayer mat of Shaikhhood and spiritual guidance. He was in his convent [zawiya] one day, when his heart was stirred by the desire to step outside, although it was not his custom to go out except on a Friday, the Day of Congregation. This feeling that had entered his heart weighed heavily upon him, but he could not understand why it was necessary for him to go out at that moment. He mounted his donkey and set out on the road. He gave his donkey free rein, saying: "Wherever the Lord of Truth (Exalted is He) wishes me to go, let it carry me there!" The donkey carried him out of the city, then moved towards the desert. It brought him to a ruined mosque, and there it stopped. The Shaikh dismounted and went inside the mosque. He saw that someone was sitting with his head bowed down. After a while, he raised his head. He was young man inspired with awe. He said: "O Yusuf, I have been confronted with a problem that is difficult to solve." He proceeded to recount that problem, and the Shaikh explained it to him, then said: "O son, whenever a difficult problem arises for you, come to the city and ask me about it. Do not cause me trouble!" Shaikh Yusuf Hamadani went on to say: "When I spoke to him like this, that young man said: 'Whenever I have a difficult problem, every stone is for me a Yusuf like you!"'" Shaikh Muhyi'd-Din ibn al-'Arabi remarks: "What I understood from this is the following: When the disciple is sincere and truthful, his sincerity endows him with the power to move his Shaikh to his side."
As related by Shaikh Najib ad-Din Buzghush Shirazi (sanctified be his innermost being): "Once upon a time, a few excerpts from the sayings of the Shaikhs had come into my possession. I studied them with care and found them extremely pleasing. In order to discover their continuation and learn whose sayings they were, I embarked on the quest for their missing parts. "One night in my dream, I saw a white-bearded, extremely radiant and dignified elder arrive and enter the dervish convent. He went over to the washroom to perform the ritual ablution. He was wearing a white robe, on which the Qur'anic Verse of the Throne [Ayat al-Kursi] had been scrawled with liquid gold. This inscription covered the robe from top to bottom. I followed in his footsteps and he removed the robe and handed it to me. Underneath it, he had donned a green robe that was even more beautiful. The Verse of the Throne had been inscribed upon it in the same manner. He handed me that robe as well, then he said: 'Take care of these until I have performed the ritual ablution!' After performing the ritual ablution, he said: 'I shall give you one of these two robes. Which of them would you like to have?' I could not choose between them, so I said to him: 'Give me whichever one you wish!' He thereupon presented me with the green robe and donned the white robe himself. He then went on to say: 'Do you recognize me? I am the author of those excerpts, the person you have been seeking. I am Yusuf Hamadani! I have given them the title Rutbat al-Hayat [The Degree of Life]. I have also authored other literary works, all of which are excellent, such as Manazil as-Sa'irin [The Stages of the Travellers] and Manazil as-Salikin [The Stages of the Wayfarers].' When I woke up from my dream, I felt tremendously happy."
They say that Yusuf Hamadani was delivering a lecture on one occasion in the NiDamiyya College in Baghdad, when a jurist called Ibn as-Saqqa stood up and posed a question. The Khwaja told him: "Sit down! I am smelling the odor of unbelief from your speech. Perhaps you will not be in the religion of Islam when your death occurs!" Some time after this, a Christian came to the Caliph as an ambassador from the Emperor of Byzantium. Ibn as-Saqqa met with him, sought his companionship, and said: "I wish to abandon the religion of Islam and enter your religion." The Christian accepted this request of his and they went together to Constantinople (now Istanbul), where he met with the Emperor. He became a Christian and died in Christianity. Ibn as-Saqqa is said to have learned the Noble Qur'an by heart. When he was nigh unto death, they asked him: "Do you remember anything from the Qur'an?" To this he replied: "I remember nothing apart from this verse:
It may be that those who disbelieve will dearly wish that they had been Muslims. (15:2)" rubba-ma yawaddu 'lladhina kafaru law kanu muslimin.
Some authorities have related different versions of the story of Ibn as-Saqqa. Examples will be provided later, if Allah (Exalted is He) so wills, in the account of the venerable Shaikh Muhyi'd-Din 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (sanctified be his innermost being).
The deputies of Khwaja Yusuf Hamadani (may Allah the Exalted sanctify his innermost being) are four in number, namely: Khwaja 'Abdu'llah Barqi, Khwaja Hasan Andaqi, Khwaja Ahmad Yasawi and Khwaja 'Abd al-Khaliq Ghujdawani (may Allah the Exalted sanctify their innermost beings). After Khwaja Yusuf, each of these four held the post of missionary work [da'wa]. He also had other deputies at his service in the teaching of proper conduct [adab]. When Khwaja Ahmad Yasawi set out in the direction of Turkistan, he instructed all his companions to follow the guidance of Khwaja 'Abd al-Khaliq Ghujdawani. Similar accounts of the Shaikhs of this dynasty are provided in the treatises of some of the modern scholars.
May Allah be well pleased with him! (Courtesy:Sunni Path http://www.sunnipath.com/)

Nafahat al-'Uns: The Lives of Notable Figures of the Spiritual Path

2009-12-08T11:32:00.009-07:00

Madrassa in Khiva,Uzbekistan

Excerpts from Nafahat al-'Uns: The Lives of Notable Figures of the Spiritual Path
by Sidi Ruslan Moore
Khwaja 'Abd al-Khaliq Ghujdawani
May Allah the Exalted sanctify his spirit!
His conduct in the Spiritual Path has become a standard criterion, and he has been accepted by all the orders of the Spiritual Path. He strove with constant endeavour to hold the course of truthfulness and purity, to comply with the Sacred Law and the Sunna of Allah's Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace), and to avoid and oppose heretical innovation and passionate desire. He kept his own pure nature hidden from the view of strangers. While still in his early youth, he was taught the remembrance of the heart by the venerable Khidr (peace be upon him), and he demonstrated persistence in putting that lesson into practice. The venerable Khidr (peace be upon him) adopted him as a son, then gave him this command: "Go and dive deep into this reservoir of water, and say with the heart: 'La ilaha illa 'llah; Muhammadun Rasulu 'llah [There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is Allah's Messenger].' He did as he was told, so he learned that lesson and set to work, for he had discovered the opening. From the very beginning until the final moment of his career, he would be accepted and praised by all the people close to him. Some time later, the Shaikh of all the Shaikhs of the world, the scholar and lordly sage Abu Ya'qub Yusuf Hamadani (may Allah the Exalted sanctify his spirit) arrived in Bukhara. Khwaja 'Abd al-Khaliq joined his fellowship and discovered that he was also endowed with the remembrance of the heart. He therefore kept him company throughout the time he spent in Bukhara. It has been said that the venerable Khidr (peace be upon) him was his spiritual teacher, while Khwaja Yusuf was the master of fellowship and the dervish custom of wearing the tattered cloak [khirqa]. After Khwaja Yusuf had gone, Khwaja 'Abd al-Khaliq Ghujdawani became preoccupied with spiritual exercise, while striving to keep his spiritual states concealed. His sainthood reached such a degree that he would go to the Ka'ba and come back in the time of a single ritual prayer. He had many disciples in the noble city of Damascus, where they constructed a dervish convent and a palace. On one of the days of 'Ashura, we have been told, a large congregation had assembled at the Khwaja's command, and the Khwaja was giving a speech about esoteric knowledge. All of a sudden, a young man dressed like an ascetic appeared on the scene. He was wearing a tattered cloak and held a prayer rug on his shoulder. He sat down in a corner and the venerable Khwaja just glanced at him. After a while, that young man stood up and said to the Khwaja: "The venerable Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) has said:
Beware of the perspicacity of the true believer, for he sees by the light of Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He).
What is the secret meaning of this noble Prophetic saying [hadith]?" The Khwaja replied (may Allah the Exalted bestow His mercy upon him): "The secret meaning of his Prophetic saying is that you must cut off the zunnar [the waistband worn by the Magian unbelievers] and come to the true faith." That young man said: "We take refuge with Allah from the waistband!" Upon his uttering these words, the Khwaja beckoned to a servant, who promptly stood up and removed the tattered robe from the young man's back. A zunnar then came into view from beneath the tattered robe. The young man immediately cut off the waistband and came to the true faith. The venerable Khwaja then said to those present: "O my companions, let us fulfill our duty in accordance with the example set by this brave man. Let us cut off our waistbands and come to the true faith! Just as he has cut off the waistband of his outer being, we must cut off the waistband of the inner being, which consists of vain conceit and self-adulation. Just as he has been forgiven, let us also be forgiven!" When they heard him speak like this, a wonderful spiritual state became manifest among the companions. Each and every one of them immediately fell prostrate at the Khwaja's foot, and they all renewed their
repentance.
One day, according to what has been related, a certain dervish said this in the presence of the Khwaja: "If Allah (Exalted is He) has made me free to choose between paradise and hell, I am choosing hell. That is because, throughout my whole life, I have never acted in accordance with the desire of the self. In this situation, paradise is the aim of my own self, whereas hell is the aim of the Lord of Truth (Exalted is He)." The Khwaja rejected this statement of his, however, and he said: "What does the servant have to do with choice? Wherever He commands us to go, that is where we go. Wherever He commands us to stay, that is where we stay. Servitude is this, not what you say it is." That dervish then went on to ask: "Does the hand of Satan reach the traveller on the Spiritual Path?" The Khwaja gave this answer to his question: "If a traveller on the Spiritual Path has not attained to the secret of the degree of self-annihilation, because he has retained a feeling of anger, the hand of Satan reaches him. As for a traveller who has attained to the secret of self-annihilation, he feels no anger. He is inspired by zeal, and wherever zeal exists, Satan flees from that place. The following description has been applied to that person: He has turned his face towards the path of the Truth, holding the Book of Allah (Exalted is He) in his right hand and the Sunna of Allah's Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) in his left hand. Between these two lights, he continues to progress along the path." A visitor had once come to the venerable Khwaja from a distant road. At that same time, a very handsome young man came to the venerable Khwaja and requested a prayer of supplication. The Khwaja uttered the supplication, and that young man disappeared. That visitor asked: "Who was this young man?" The Khwaja said: "He was an angel whose station was in the fourth heaven. On account of a shortcoming, he had fallen a long way down from his station and descended to the heaven of this world. He asked the other angels: 'What must I do, so that the Lord of Truth (Exalted is He) will restore me to my previous station?' The angels directed him to this place, so he came and requested a prayer of supplication. We uttered the supplication and it was accepted, then he returned to his previous station. That visitor said: "Khwaja, for the sake of my faith, I am also in need of the help provided by the prayer of supplication. In the protective shade of this supplication, I shall save my soul from Satan's trap." Upon hearing him speak like this, the Khwaja said: "According to the promise we have received, whenever someone makes a supplication after performing the obligatory duties, it will be answered. You must set to work. After the obligatory prayer, you must remember us and we must also remember you. Perhaps the sign of acceptance will then become clearly apparent, both for your sake and for our sake."
May Allah be well pleased with him! (Courtesy:sunni path http://www.sunnipath.com/)

Mawlana Jami's Intense Love for Prophet (saws)

2009-12-08T10:24:00.006-07:00

Hazrat Abdur Rahman Jami and love of Holy Prophet (saws)

"Love is the water of life, drink it down with heart and soul."Hazrat Rumi

Hazrat Mawlana Nooruddin Abdur Rahman Jami (R.A) was born in the small town of Jam (also known as Khorasan), on the 23rd of Shaban 817AH. He is a famous Sufi, and a follower of the Naqshbandiyya Sufi Order.Because his father was from Dasht, Hazrat Jami's early pen-name was Dashti but later, he chose to use Jami because of the two reasons which he mentions in a poem:
“My birth place is Jam and my pen
Has drunk from (knowledge of) Sheikhul Islam (Ahmad) Jam
Hence in the books of poetry
My pen name is Jami for these two reasons.”In 822 AH, Khwaja Mohammad Parsa (R.A) happened to pass through the small town of Jam on his way to Hijaz. A great number of people gathered to honour and pay respect to this great holy Saint, and amongst these people was a young Hazrat Jami and his father. Reflecting on that moment sixty years later, Hazrat Jami writes, “the pure radiance of his (Khwaja Mohammad Parsa) beaming face is even now, as then, clearly visible to me, and my heart still feels the joy I experienced from that happy meeting.”Amongst his greatest characteristics, Hazrat Jami was kind and generous to the poor & needy, and his courage to defend righteousness never wavered.

Hazrat Jami (R.A) began his education at Herat, Afghanistan where he lived towards the end of his life. He was naturally intelligent, and it has been said about him that he’d take a book from a fellow student while on his way to school, and excel them all when they were tested in class.After this, he entered Samarqand, the most important centre of scientific studies in the Islamic World, and would often prove himself as wiser and smarter than his lecturer. It was here that Hazrat Jami completed his education.During his life, Hazrat Jami wrote approximately eighty-seven books and letters, some of which have been translated into English.
Of the Sufi path, Hazrat Jami held the view that love was the fundamental stepping stone for starting on the spiritual journey. To a student who claimed never to have loved, he said, "Go and love first, then come to me and I will show you the way."Here, it seems fit to share with you a great story regarding Hazrat Jami’s love for Rasulallah (s.a.w).Hazrat Jami had a deep and intense level of love for the Holy Prophet (s.a.w). As he was also a great poet, he would often spend his time composing and reciting poems in the praise of Rasulallah (s.a.w), as a means to comfort his heartache. It so happened that the time came when this love reached its peak, and Hazrat Jami grew restless with the weight of his devotion. In a moment of agony, he composed a famous Naat (poem in the praise of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w)), which he then vowed to recite infront of Rasulallah (s.a.w)’s mausoleum in Madinah Sharif. (The Naat is called Tanam Farsooda Jaa Para)
Once he had gathered some companions, he then began his journey to Madinah Sharif so as to fulfil his promise. After many months of travelling, the caravan of Hazrat Jami finally reached the outskirts of Madinah Sharif. They decided to camp for the evening before entering the Holy City, when in the distance they saw a rider on a horse galloping towards them. The man on the horse came to a halt when he reached them and enquired, “Which of you is Jami?” The disciples pointed out who Hazrat Jami was and said, “That is our leader, Imam Abdul Rahman Jami.”
The man alighted his horse, and greeted Hazrat Jami by saying. “Assalamu alaikum!” Hazrat Jami replied, “Wa alaikum salam! Who are you and where have you come from?” The man replied, “O Jami, I have come from Madinah.”
The name of Madinah had hardly left his mouth when, overwhelmed with love and respect, Hazrat Jami took off his turban and placed it the feet of the stranger, saying, “May I be sacrificed for these feet! They have arrived from the City of my Prophet!”
Hazrat Jami then enquired, “Good sir, for what reason have you come here?”
The man became silent and then answered, “O Jami, you must promise to listen to this message with strength in your heart. I have brought for you a message from the Holy Prophet (s.a.w).”Hazrat Jami at once enquired, “ Tell me, what does my Beloved say?”The man hesitated, and then continued, “Jami, the Beloved Prophet (s.a.w) has sent me to tell you that he has forbidden you from entering Madinah Sharif.”These words dealt a terrible blow to Hazrat Jami, and at once he felt light-headed and fell to the ground. His companions tried to revive him but to no avail. However a few hours later, he regained consciousness and the pain caused him to weep bitterly.The man who had bought the news was waiting for Hazrat Jami to recover from the shock. Hazrat Jami then turned to him and exclaimed, “O bringer of such news, tell me why my Beloved is displeased with me? What wrong is it that I have done?” The man then replied, “O Jami, it is quite the opposite. Rasulallah (s.a.w) is in fact, extremely pleased with you.” Hazrat Jami, in confusion, replied, “How can this be, when I have been forbidden to enter the Holy City? What is this you are telling me?”The man then explained, “the Beloved has told me to tell Jami thus: if he (Jami) comes to Madinah with such intense love in his heart, I will feel it necessary to come out of my tomb and greet him in person – such would be the recompense for his love! So convey the message to him that he should not enter Madinah, and that I will visit him myself.”

Such was the love of Hazrat Nooruddin Abdur Rahman Jami!

Persian Na'at-Mawlana Jami-Nasima Janib e Bat'ha Guazar Kun

2009-12-07T23:57:00.007-07:00

Mawlana Jami's Farsi Na'at recited by Zulfiqar Ali (QTV)

نسیما ! جانب بطحا گزر کن- زا حوالم محمد را خبر کن
O cool breeze of early morning whenever u go to Bataha (madina)
Say all abouts of me to Muhammad SAW
توئی سلطان عالم یا محمد- زروئے لطف سوئے من نظر کن
You are The King of All, Ya Muhammad SAW
Please look towards me with your sweet and blessing gaze
بہ برایں جان مشتاقم بہ آنجا فدائے روضہ خیر البشر کن
Please approach to me. I, The helpless and fond of You(SAW)
is perishing at your mausoleum O best of All
مشرف گرچہ شد جامی زلطفش -خدایا ! ایں کرم با ر دگر کن

Although Jami has been blessed by You, SAW
Please, for God's sake bless me once again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcxdVP_PQ1o&NR=1

PERSIAN NA'AT-MAWLANA JAMI - Tanam Farsooda Jaa Para-(تنم فرسودہ جاں پارہ ز ہجراں، یا رسول اللہ ۖ)

2009-12-07T23:34:00.011-07:00

MAWLANA JAMI 's Farsi Na'at recited by Zulfiqar Ali (QTV)

(تنم فرسودہ جاں پارہ ز ہجراں، یا رسول اللہ ۖ)
تنم فرسودہ جاں پارہ ز ہجراں، یا رسول اللہ ۖ دلم پژمردہ آوارہ ز عصیاں، یا رسول اللہ ۖ چوں سوۓ من گذر آری، من مسکین ز ناداری فداۓ نقش نعلینت کنم جاں، یا رسول اللہ ۖ زجام حب تو مستم ، با ز...
تنم فرسودہ جاں پارہ ز ہجراں، یا رسول اللہ ۖدلم پژمردہ آوارہ ز عصیاں، یا رسول اللہ ۖچوں سوۓ من گذر آری، من مسکین ز ناداریفداۓ نقش نعلینت کنم جاں، یا رسول اللہ ۖزجام حب تو مستم ، با زنجیر تو دل بستمنمی گویم کی من بستم سخنداں، یا رسول اللہ ۖز کردہ خیش حیرانم، سیاہ شد روز عصیانمپشیمانم، پشیمانم، پشیمانم، یا رسول اللہ ۖچوں بازوۓ شفاعت را کشا بر گناہگاراںمکن محروم جامی را در آں، یا رسول اللہ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7MdIFkmcuQ
Tanam Farsooda jaa para Ze Hijra Ya Rasulullah--Dillam Pazh Murda Aawara, Ze IsyaaN. Ya Rasulullah!
My body is dissolving in your separationAnd my soul is breaking into pieces. Ya Rasulullah!Due to my sins, My heart is weak and becoming enticed. Ya Rasulullah!
Choon Sooe Mun Guzar Aari, Manne Miskeen Zanaa DaariFida-E-Naqsh-E-Nalainat, Kunam Ja. Ya Rasulullah!
When you pass by me, Then even in my immense poverty, ecstatically,I must sacrifice my soul on your blessed sandal. Ya Rasulullah!
Ze Jaame Hubb To Mustam, Ba Zanjeere To Dil BustamNumi Goyam Ke Mun Bustum, Sukun Daa. Ya Rasulullah!
I am drowned in the taste of your love And the chain of your love binds my heart.Yet I dont say that I know this language (of love). Ya Rasulullah!
Ze Kharda Khaish HairaanamSiyaa Shud Roze IsyaanamPashemaanam, Pashemaanam, Pashemaanam. Ya Rasulullah!
I am worried due to my misdeeds;And I feel that my sins have blackened my heart. Ya RasulullahI am in distress! I am in distress! I am in distress! Ya Rasulullah!
Choon Baazooe Shafaaat RaaKhushaaI Bar GunaagaraMakun Mahruume Jaami RaaDaraa Aan. Ya Rasulullah!
Ya Rasulullah! When you spread your hands to intercede for the sinners,Then do not deprive Jaami of your exalted intercession.

Farsi Naat by Sayyid Fasih ud Din Suhrwardi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5JtVCX_OdI

Nur ad-Din Abd ar-Rahman Jami (1414--1492) was one of the greatest Persian poets in the 15th century and one of the last great Sufi poets.In his role as Naqshbandi Sufi Shaykh, Jami expounded a number of teachings regarding following the Sufi path. In his view, love was the fundamental stepping stone for starting on the spiritual journey. To a student who claimed never to have loved, he said, "Go and love first, then come to me and I will show you the way."Jami wrote approximately eighty-seven books and letters, some of which have been translated into English. His works range from prose to poetry, and from the mundane to the religious. He has also written works of history. Among his works are:
Baharistan (Abode of Spring)
Nafahat al-Uns (Breaths of Fellowship) Biographies of the Sufi saints
Haft Awrang (Seven Thrones) His major poetical work. The fifth of the seven stories is his acclaimed "Yusuf and Zulaykha" which tells the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife based on the Quran.
Lawa'ih A treatise on Sufism
Diwanha-i Sehganeh (Triplet Divans)
Tajnīs ’al-luġāt (Homonymy/Punning of Languages) A lexicographical work containing homonymous Persian and Arabic lemmata.--Wikipedia

Naqshbandi Traces of Prophet (saws) and Qudsiya of Khwaja Parsa (r.a), Dr. Abdal Haqq Godlas

2009-12-07T17:03:00.003-07:00

Illustration from Jami's Rose Garden of the Pious, dated 1553.

Naqshbandi Traces of Prophet (saws) and Qudsiya of Khwaja Parsa (r.a), A lecture by Dr. Abdal Haqq Godlas,Professor Islamic Studies,University of Georgia, delivered at Mawlid un Nabi Conference 1994,UIC,Chicago, Sponsored by Naqshbandiya Foundation for Islamic Education (www.nfie.com )
Video Lecture:Part1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JKUd08-PVA
Video Lecture:Part2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo0y_9Cyk-k
Video Lecture:Part3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-MAjfiM4hE
Video Part: Part4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO3SBTK13XQ

Muhammadan Path and Naqshbandi Sufis of Indo-Pak Subcontinent- Dr.Arthur Buehler,

2009-12-07T14:18:00.006-07:00

Khwaja Mir Dard-1721-1785
Dard was first and foremost a Sufi, a prominent member of the Naqshbandi Mujaddidi order, and the head of the Muhammadi path (tariqah muhammadiyah, a Mujaddidi offshoot) in Delhi. He regarded the phenomenal world as a veil of the eternal Reality, and this life as a term of exile from our real home. Dard inherited his Sufi temperament from his father, Khwaja Muhammad Nasir Andalib, who was a naqshbandi sufi saint and a poet, and the founder of the Muhammadi path.

"Muhammahan Path and Naqshbandi Sufis of Indo-Pak Subcontinent"- A lecture by Dr.Arthur Buehler, Professor, Islamic Studies, University of Victoria at Wellington, NZ, delivered at International Mawlid un Nabi Conference 1995, UIC, Chicago.Sponsored by Naqshbandiya Foundation for Islamic Education (http://www.nfie.com/)
Video Lecture:Part1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHCq5aCzYuE
Video Lecture:Part2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sOS_-Fzeck
Video Lecture:Part3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FnJfx6DUTg
Video Lecture:Part4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL_Jdy6Eesk
Video Lecture:Part5 -Daniel Abdal Hayy Moore
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gOg3iHR80c
Video Lecture:Part6-Daniel Abdal Hayy Moore
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9Mr7I5ugCQ

Art Buehler, a scholar of transregional sufi networks and the transmission of Islamic revivalist ideas, is senior editor of the Journal of the History of Sufism. He began his career teaching Arabic in Yemen for the British Council. After five years in the Arab world he entered the History of Religions Program at Harvard University specialising in South Asian Islam under the tutelage of the late Annemarie Schimmel. His subsequent two books are the result of four years of fieldwork in Indo-Pakistan.