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The Walis of Allah, acting on behalf
and under the stamp of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and not
proclaiming their existence and position' until commanded by Allah
serve humanity, by their preccipts and examples and pray incessantly
for the general forgiveness of human sins.
The idea regarding the existence of such Walis and their approach
towards some form of intercession for humanity is borne out by
Verses 20-27 of Sura Yasin, a perusal of which will show that even
among a nation doomed to destruction for its inequities, there live
persons who testify to the truth of a Prophet appearing among them
by their powers of reality, recognising the will of Allah. The event
is begun with the following words, "And from the remote part of
the country there came a man running who said, O' my people follow
this messenger, "The story of the prophet Loot as given in Sura
Hud, gives an indication to the effect that punishment for the sin
of a nation is averted by the presence of an eminent man of
spritually.
The defernment of such punishment is out of deference to a spiritual
personality living in its midst.
The punishment of Quraish was deferred till the migration of the
Holy prophet from Mecca. Al-Quran lay? down this principle in so
many words "Nor is Allah going to chastise them while you are
among them" (8:33). The well known hadith ascribing to Allah
the Words "One who is hostile to my Walli receives an
announcement of War from Me" presents only the counterpart of
this idea. Because if hostility to a Wali excites the wrath of Allah
it follows that the attention and prayers of the Wali can induce the
mercy of Allah. Of course the Wali spoken of are Walis of the
eminence like that of Hazrat Ghousul Azam Abdul Qadir Mohiyuddin.
Miracles are abnormal and extra-ordinary acts that can only be
performed by the privileged few like the Prophets and Walis of
Allah. Perhaps such acts may sound illogical to the rationalist. But
they do occur and are beyond ordinary comprehensive. The parting of
the Red Sea for the Prophet Moosa and such like events are examples.
Even in the life of ordinary mortals, miracles occur, by the mercy
of Allah, to save them from catastrophes or accidents.
The miracles of Hazrat Ghousul Azam recorded are innumerable, when
compared to other Saints. Of these innumerable, miracles, a few are
given below.
After Hazrat Ghousul Azam settled down in Baghdad remarkable stories
about his power circulated in Baghdad. The day to day increase in
the circulation of such stories made a large number of great
scholars of the town to decide to visit him, altogether in other to
test his knowledge by posing one, hundred difficult questions. On
their arrival, the Hazrat foretold them of their purpose and gave
each question the correct answer, even profounding to them
explanations beyond the limits of their comprehension on their own
special subjects. This" thought reading was daily manifested by
him. It was not necessary for the visitors who came with petitions
of desires to tell him, for he looked straight at them and gave them
the answers.
On one occasion; two weary and hungry travellers from Arabia joined
his audience unobtrusively. The Hazrat immediately stopped his
discourse saying "Poor travellers; they have just come a long
way and have had practically nothing to eat." He then described
correctly their last meal to the astonishment of all concerned.
One of the most remarkable things we hear from this Saint's life is
that even a man's destiny could be deflected from conscious life
into the dream state. A merchant of Baghdad one day approached
Sheikh Hammad Al-Dabbas for his blessings before taking a caravan to
Syria. Sheikh Hammad forbade him to undertake the proposed journey
because he foresay that the merchant was likely to be robbed and
murdered by highway men. The merchant very much depressed, met
Hazrat Ghousul Azam on the way and informed
him what the Sheikh had told him. The Hazrat promised the merchant
his personal responsibility for his safe journey and asked the
merchant to proceed. He reached his destination safely with his
goods.
On his journey the merchant forgot to take back his money kept in
the place where he had performed his 'ablution. On going to bed he
was murdered. On waking he saw blood round his neck and also felt
the pain of the blow. However, he realised that what he had seen was
a mere dream, but remembering his lost purse, he went back to the
place and recovered it.
While he was returning to Baghdad he was confused in his mind to
decide whether seeing Sheikh Hammad first would be proper, as he was
the senior Sheikh or seeing Hazrat Ghous first was appropriate as it
was his predictions had proved true. He suddenly saw Sheikh Hammad.
He asked him instead to first go to Hazrat Ghousul Azam by whose
prayers his predistened murder had been changed into a dream and the
loss of property the purse changed into forgetfulness.
One of Hazrat's own servants, who visited his master complained that
he had, in a dream slept with man women. Upon this, Hazrat said that
it was the servant's destiny to sleep with all those women but this
misdeed had been transformed into a dream. Before the servant began
to describe the event, Hazrat gave him a list of the names of all
the women including those he knew and those he did not.
Khalifa AImustanjid Billah once came to Hazrat and presented him
some bags of gold. He refused, the gift but when the Khalifa begged
and pleaded for their acceptance the Hazrat took two bags and
pressed them. Blood seemed to ooze out of them, which was indicative
of the fact that the wealth had been amassed by oppressing people,
which was represented by the blood seen.
On one occasion a Christian Clergyman came from Yeman and accepted
Islam from him in an assembly where he had delivered a sermon. After
his conversion, he voluntarily stood up and related to the assembly
that he was a man of Yeman and had decided to accept Islam from the
hands of the most eminent Muslim in Yeman. He reported that had seen
Prophet Eesa in a dream who directed him to proceed to Baghdad and
accept Islam from Hazrat Abdul Qadir, who was the most eminent at
the time in the whole world.
Once three Faqihs, who came to see him offered their prayers under
his Imamath (leadership). They did not like his reading of the Quran
and formed a low opinion of him. They slept that night and went to
the spring for a bath late at night. A Tiger clung to their clothes
and cought hold of them. The Faqihs became afraid of their lives.
The Hazrat at that moment came out of his closet. The Tiger
quietened and crawled (it his feet. Hazrat sternly looked at the
Tiger as if to question why it had interfered with his guests though
they had formed low opinion of himself. The Faqihs came to him and
repented for their conduct and begged his pardon. Hazrat then
addressed his guests remarking that while he had been improving his
heart, they had only been improving their tongue to speak ill of him
and slander people.
Sheikh Shihabuddin Umar Suharwardy in his youth used to read
voraciously books on scholasticism, inspite of the advice of his
uncle to the contrary. Once his uncle took him to Hazrat Ghousul
Azam and informed him that the boy was devoting all his time to
scholasticism. Upon this Hazrat asked Sheikh Shihabuddin what books
he had read on the subject. On getting a reply, he placed his palm
on the breast of Sheikh Shihabuddin. No sooner was the plam removed;
he surprisingly forgot all he knew of scholasticism. But in lieu of
it, he felt his mind replaced by the knowledge of Allah. Sheikh
Shihabuddin Umar Suharwardy ultimately became the Imam of the
Suharwardy Order and is the author of the famous book on Sufism
named "Awariful Maarif."
Sheikh Muzzafar bin Mansur said that in his youth he saw the Hazrat
in the company of a large number of persons. When he sat down with a
book on spiritual philosophy, Hazrat without seeing the book but
questioning him said that the book was not a good one for him and
should be discarded. However, be did not like to discard it owing to
his love for the book, but at the same time he neither desired to
incur the displeasure of Hazrat also by retaining that book. So he
decided to keep it somewhere else and tried to get up to do so. But
he could not. He felt as if he was planted to the ground.
Hazrat then asked him to show the book to him. It was given. Hazrat
passed his hand over it and said that the book was Ibuzari's
"Fazil-ul-Quran" and then returned it to him. I opened it
and saw that it was "Fazil-ul-Quran'' but without the chapter
on spiritual subject and philosophy "contained therein earlier.
Hazrat asked him to repent for what had passed through his mind He
first repented and then got up, but found that he could not
thereafter remember a single portion of that book.
A relattion of the Khalifa was once taken to Hazrat. The man was
suffering from dropsy and had an enormously swollen stomach. He
sought relief. Hazrat passed his hands over his stomach, upon which
it contracted to its normal size.
Hazrat Ghousul Azam had spiritual powers to hasten to the rescue of
those who called him in an hour of emergency or adversity even from
afar, such as the hearing of a thundering shout that rang, to
frighten away marauders who tried to molest and loot owners of a
caravan in the desert of Samarakand, who, in their hour of peril,
called and appealed for the aid of the Hazrat.
Sheikh Shihabuddin Suharwardy's parents were for long childless,
until his mother approached him and begged of him to pray to that
she may be blessed with a son. Raising His hands in supplication he
prayed and said that Allah the Beneficient would grant her wish. He
desired the child when born to be named Shihabuddin and predicted
that the child would rise up to be a Sheikh of Sheikhs. In the
ceurse of time she bore a son though she was above the normal age of
child bearing.
His powers over the souls of this disciples extended beyond the
grave. One day in Baghdad a man informed him that his deceased
father in a dream had desired him to appeal to him to pray for (he
redemption of his dead father's soul, as he was suffering. Hazrat
asked the visitor "Did your father ever visited my
Madrassa?" Yes he answered. Hazrat remained silent for a while
and referred no further on the matter. A few days latter, the man
returned to Hazrat saying that his father appeared to him in a dream
wearing a green robe and had told him that his punishment has been
lifted due to Hazrat Ghousul Azam's prayers.
Abdullah Zayyat once said that one night Hazrat came out of his
closet with a walking stick in his hand. Abdullah within himself at
that moment wished to see Hazrat performing some miraculous act. No
sooner this thought had occured to him, the Hazrat set up his stick
on ground and it became luminous and began to glow. Soon it became
so bright that it illuminated the entire house. He then took up his
stick, and looked at Abdullah and remarked you desired this sort of
act. Abdullah was amazed.
A mother brought his son to the Sheikh to become a murid (follower)
A few months later she returned and saw him looking under nourished.
She complained that Hazrat was himself partaking the delicious dish
of chicken daily whereas his poor son had been made to keep up on
dry bread. Hazrat on this complaint picked up the bone of a chicken,
by this bone suddenly transformed into a live cock, which crowed as
if to testify that there is no Allah but Allah. Mohammad is His
Prophet "and Sheikh Abdul Qadir is His Wali". Addressing
the terrified woman he commented "when your son is able to do
this, then there will be no reason why he should not eat the same as
I do."
He once asked nearly three hundred residents of a dewelling place to
vacate it immediately. No. sooner these people vacated, (he building
fell to the ground. He had forseen the occurence and warned them in
time.
Sheikh Alt Arabi of Spain had no children. At the instance of a
Mujzub (a mon of distracted mind owing to' divine attraction) he
approached Hazrat Ghousul Azam for his blessings and prayers for a
son. Hazrat said I have one more son yet unborn in my destiny. I
give it to you. Rub your back against mine and name him when born
Mohammed Mohiyuddin. He would rise up to be a Qutub of his time. The
child was eventually born and was named accordingly. He became a
great philosopher and attained high spiritual advancement. He gained
the title of Sheikh Akbar and is commonly known as Ibn-al-Arabi.
During a famine in Baghdah, Abdul Abbas Ahmed, the servant of Hazrat
complained to him of the need for funds and of food grains. Hazrat
gave him a reasonable quantity of wheat and asked him to store the
grain in a covered receptacle and never to weigh it, but to take out
according to necessity, by opening out a small portion of the
container. He used to draw grains in this way for an unusually large
period. The wife of the servant of Hazrat at last felt very much
curious about it and in order to satisfy herself opened the mouth of
the container. She surprisingly found almost *he same quantity of
grain as was kept in the beginning, still remaining and unexhausted.
Once the water in Tigris rose to an extra ordinary high level on
account of an unprecedent flood. The inhabitants of Baghdad became
frightened of the imminent danger. They came to Saiyidina Hazrat
Ghousul Azam and solicited his help. There upon Hazrat went up to
the river side and planting his stick on the river bank said
"Remain with in this limit. The flood then began to recede
slowly and came down to the Limit demarcated by him.
Once a resident of Baghdad approached Saiyidina Ghousul Azam and
stated that his son has been getting fever for a year and a quarter,
and could not shake it off by any means. Hazrat instructed him to
speak into the ears of his son and say '0 fever leave my son and go
to the village of H Allah.' He acted accordingly, and the fever left
his son at once.
It is related on the authority of Sheikh Adi Bin Musafir that once
Hazrat Ghousul Azam was conversing with some persons assembled to
hear his sermon when it began to rain. Hazrat looked upon the sky
and solicited "I call together men for your (Allah's) sake but
you disperse them." As soon as he had uttered this, the clouds
disappeared and rain ceased in the precints of the Madrassa of
Hazrat, though it was raining outside.
Sheikh Osman Sayrifini and Sheikh Abdul Haq Harimi stated ".We
were present before Saiyidina Hazrat Ghousul Azam in his Madrassa on
third Saffar 555 A.H., when Hazrat suddenly got up with his wooden
sandles under his feet and performed ablution. He offered two Rakats
of prayers and with a loud shout, threw one of the sandles into the
air. It disappeared from our sight. With another shout, his Holiness
threw the other sandle into the air, which also disappeared. None
present dared questioning him on the incident.
But thirty days after this incident a caravan came to Baghdad from
Ajam and said that they had brought some presents for Hazrat. Hazrat
permitted the acceptance of the presents of valuable things but
these the same pair of sandles which were thrown in the air by
Hazrat. They related that on the third of Saffar when they were
travelling, suddenly a gang attacked them and plundered their
merchandise and murdered some of them in the caravan. The gang then
entered the jungle to divide the booty. Then they had halted at the
outskirts of the jungle and it struck them to solicit the help of
Hazrat Ghousul Azam. Just at that time they had heard two loud
shouts which reverberated throughout the jungle. They had mistaken
the shouts as the aftermath of a scuffle between the gang that
attacked us and a stronger gang of Arabs. We were terror stricken.
Some members of the gang came to us and said that a calamity had
befallen them and requested us to take back the plundered goods. We
went to the place where the booty was lying divided and saw two of
their leaders lying dead and the two sandles lying close by.
Sheikh Abdul Hassan commonly known as Ibn Astantana of Baghdad
stated "When I used to live in the Madrassa of Saiyidina
Ghousul Azam for the acquisition of learning, I generally keep
awake, at night in order to serve the Hazrat, if and when required.
One night in 553 A.H. Hazrat came out of his room, presuming he
required water for ablution, I took it to him but his holiness did
not take it. Instead, he proceeded towards the gate of the Madrassa.
I quietly followed him. The gate automatically opened and when he
passed on, it closed itself. He then went towards the gate of the
city which also similarly opened and closed automatically. Shortly
after this we reached a town, which I had not seen before. On
reaching the town he went to a house which was similar to his own
Ribat in appearance. There were six persons in the house, who
saluted him. He proceeded further on and I, stood, by a pillar. I
heard the groaning of a person in a low voice. After a few minutes,
the groaning ceased and another person went to the place whence the
groaning came and carried away a dead body on his shoulder. Shortly
after this, another person bare headed and with long whiskers, came
there.
The man sat down in front of Hazrat who made him recite the
declaration of faith used in converting one to Islam. Hazrat then
cut off his whiskers, put a cap on his head and named him Mohammad.
He said that he had appointed him in place of the deceased. The
persons residing in the house accepted the decision submissively. He
then left the place and in a short time came to the gate of Baghdad,
which opened and closed automatically as before. His holiness (hen
entered his Madrasa. In the morning when I resumed taking lesson
from Hazrat I prayed him to explain the incident of the previous
night. Whereupon he said that the town I had seen was Nehawand a
distant city in the outskirts of the empire under the Khalif of
Baghdad. The six persons in the Ribat, were Abdul and Nujaba. The
man ^ho died was one of shem. The man with long whiskers was a
Christian of Constantinople who accepted Islam and was appointed by
him to fill the place of the deceased. The man who carried away the
corpse was Hazrat Khizar.
It seems desire able here to explain that according to the Sufis,
there exists a sort of hierchy of Saints at all times in the world
through whom Allah manifests His mercy to the world of humanity. In
the absence of the Prophet, they are the vice gerents of Allah on
earth on the Prophet's behalf. They are of three different grades,
Abdal is a plural of Badal meaning literally "substitute",
so called because should any one of these saints die, Allah
immediately substitutes him by another (Sihah). They are righteous
persons of whom the world is never destitute. But on more
authoratative view is that they are given this name, because of
their ever changing spiritual condition. They are inaflux; and are
not allowed to remain in one state. Being on their way to
Realisation, they are not allowed to settle down at any intermediate
point. As to their exact number and their locations, opinion, is
divided. They seem to be the lowest in rank amongst the spiritual
successors of the Prophet, Ghousul Azam and Qutubs.
According to the best authorities they are a hirearchy of the saints
of a particular generation and are supposed to be pre-eminently
endowed with sanctity and faculties to even perform miracles. If
anybody is a Qutub or a Ghouse, he is recognised as such only by his
agents. Abdals, themselves reveal their position to a. particular
person. The literal meaning of Qutub is axis or pivot, the point
upon which a thing turns, the chief around whom the state of affairs
turns. So a Qutub is he, whose attention and prayers decide the
course of events in a particular society of people? He may be
regarded as a kind of spiritual agent in a particular community.
The literal meaning of Ghouse is 'AID' or 'Succour' in the midst of
difficulties. So Ghouse is a kind of intercessor, who intercedes at
a moment when the sins of a nation or humanity are at the point of
being punished. These great men appear to be particularly tender
hearted like the Holy Prophet. Their hearts melt at the woes and
sufferings of humanity and as such become a means to be able to
avert Divine punishment. With the assurance of acceptability of
their prayers, their prayers become a plea for Divine forgiveness
and mercy. Hazrat Ghousul Azam has once said that the Almishty has
given him the knowledge of all his murids up to the end of the
world, and His Holiness has proclaimed that none of his murids would
die without repentance, and attain the seventh degree to alude in
paradise. Once he remarked that he would not have the presence
of Allah unless He did not accompany him and his murids to enter
paradise. His Holiness was once questioned as to the position of a
devotee who has regard and love for him, but was not actually his
murid nor wore Khirqa from him. He said that such a person was also
his murid although the real process of his becoming a murid was not
complete. Even a person who had love and reverence for him would not
be disappointed by the graciousness of the Almighty. |
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