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Syedina Ghous-ul-Azam is not only known as the
greatest of all helpers, but was also a great preacher, a great
educationalist, a great moralist and a great doctor of Muslim law.
He was the glory of the learned and the light of Islam; the
Spokesman of theologians, the Interpreter of men of spiritual
knowledge, the unique Leader of Leaders; the Leader of nations; the
Chief of the chiefs; the Succourer of men and the Jinn; the Reviver
of Religion; possessed of very high and perfect spiritual knowledge;
and hailed as the Honour of Religion
In Persia, in a place called Naif in the district of Jilan, in the
South of the Caspian Sea, there lived a pious and God fearing man.
He was Hazrat Abu Saleh Jangi Dost. He used to spend most of his
time in the contemplation and love of Allah (God).
Once he was sitting on the bank of a river in deep contemplation,
when upon opening of his eyes, he saw an apple floating down the
river. The apple, which reached him near the bank, was taken up and
eaten by him. Soon after, his conscince questioned the propriety
whether the apple eaten by him was lawful. He got up and walked
along the bank of the river towards the sides from where the apple
had come, in order to find out the owner of the garden where from
the apple had fallen into the river. Hazrat intended to pay him the
price for the apple in order to make the energy derived from that
apple lawful, since he had eaten it, without his permission.
After a long journey, he reached a spot where appeared a large
garden on the bank of the river, which convinced him that the apple
eaten by him had fallen from that garden. Upon inquiry he learnt
that the garden belonged to Hazrat Abdullah Sawmai. Hazrat Abu Saleh
approached him and begged his pardon for eating the apple of his
garden without his prior permission. Such approach made Hazrat
Abdullah Sawmai to perceive that Hazrat Abu Saleh was a pious and a
noble man. He therefore, asked him to pay the price of the apple
before his request for pardon was considered. The price was to serve
under him as long as he desired. Hazrat Abu Saleh agreed to serve
Hazrat Abdullah Sawmai for as long a period as his service was
considered necessary.
After a few years service, Hazrat Abu Saleh asked the owner of the
garden to grant him pardon and release him. Hazrat Abdullah Sawmai,
before pardoning and allowing him to leave, asked Hazrat Abu Saleh
to agree to marry his daughter who, he was told, was blind, deaf,
lame and paralytic of hands. After marriage he was also to stay with
them until a child was born to them. These were the qualifying
conditions of his release.
In order to obtain his pardon, Hazrat Abu Saleh Jangi Dost agreed to
the proposal and the marriage was accordingly fixed up. When he
entered the chamber of the bride, he saw instead a beautiful and
healthy lady. He turned his eyes from he assuming that he had
entered a wrong chamber because the lady before him did not tally
with the description given to him.
By his Kashf (Clairvoyance) Hazrat Abdullah Sawmai understood the
predicament of Hazrat Abu Saleh about his bride. He called him and
explained to him that he had stated that his daughter was blind,
because her eyes never fell upon any outsider other than members of
their family; she was said to be deaf, because she had never heard
untruthful statements; she was supposedly lame, because she never
undertook and stepped on towards committing acts, alien to the laws
of Islam.
Such a description of his wife enlightened Hazrat Abu Saleh with a
new light and he began to live happily with his wife whose name was
Umul Khair Fatima. She was the pious daughter of Hazrat Abdullah
Sawmai, who was himself a great Sufi and Saint of his time and was a
direct descendent of Hazrat Sayidina Imam Hussain (R.A)
In this Saiyed family of Saints, Hazrat Umul Khair Fatima gave birth
to a son in 470 Hijri during the month of Rabi-ul-Akhir. The child
was named Abu Muhammad Abdul Qadir. Abu Muhammad was his Kuniet that
is the name by which he was familiarly called by relatives and
neighbours.
Some of the Saints of the time of foresaw the birth of his Imam-ul-Auliya
Saiyidina Abdul Qadir Jilani. Hazrat Abu Bakar Bin Hawara once told
some of his disciples that in the near future a great Wali (Saint)
would be born in Ajam a non-Arab country – who would be God
fearing and highly respected by the people of his time and
thereafter. His foot will be on the neck of all Walis (Saints) and
Walis of his time would testify to the truth of his claim. Another
Saint, Hazrat Ahmed Abdullah Bin Ahmed stated about 468 AH, that
shortly a child would be born in Ajam whose miracles would be
numerous and whose rank among Walis (Saints) would be very
high.
From the above details, it will appear that Saiyidina Abdul Qadir
Jilani was a direct descendent of Hazrat Imam Hassan Ilaihe-salam (R.A) on his
father’s side. From his mother’s side he descended from
Saiyidina Imam Zainul Abedin Ilaihe-salam son of Hazrat Imam Hussain
Ilaihe-salam. He was
therefore both a Hassani and Hussaini Saiyed tracing his lineage
thereby to the two grandsons of Nabi Muhammad Mustafa (Sallalahu Alaihi Wa
Sallam).
All the writers agree that the age of Hazrat’s mother was much
above the normal age of child bearing, when this great Saint of
Jilan was born to her. Despite having taken birth in such an
advanced age of his mother, he was nevertheless, possessed of all
the good faculties normally expected of a healthy child. The child
was a born Wali (Saint). From the very birth, he was endowed with
germs of Psychic powers. His Wilayat was obviously felt from his
infancy.
His first Karamat was witnessed, when as an infant child during the
month of Ramzan, he would take his mother’s milk only at night and
not during daytime. This fact has been proved on the evidence of his
mother. Once the new moon of the month of fasting was not visible in
the evening on account of clouds. In the morning people came to his
mother to inquire whether the day was the first of Ramzan. She
replied that her child did not take her milk during daytime, which
indicated that the day was the first of Ramzan.
As a child, Saiyidina Hazrat Abdul Qadir would not play with other
children. The Psychic powers, which were exhibited by him in his
infancy, naturally developed as he grew up, and were visible in all
the stages of his holy life. Once the children of the vicinity,
where Saiyidina Abdul Qadir with his mother was living, invited him
to play. He led the game and asked all the children to say IL-LAL-LAH,
when he would recite LA-ILAHA. This play of the children reciting
LA-ILAHA-ILLALLAH (There is no God but God) could very well show the
inclination and pursuits of the Leader.
He was quiet and sober from his early childhood and was generally
disposed towards contemplation. His mother and his maternal
grandfather, who themselves were, Walis (aulia karaam) naturally
gave him the training that was necessary for a Wali. It may be said,
that he was brought up in the cradle of Sufism. Whenever he thought
of playing, he will hear a voice questioning him where he was going.
At this, he would be frightened and would run back to take shelter
in his mother’s lap.
At the age of ten, however, he attended school. The teacher would
ask his fellow students to make room for the Wali of Allah to sit in
the class. He lived in Jilan up to the age of 18 years. In one day
Hazrat would learn by heart as much of his lessons as others would
take a week to master. One day, he was going to the fields for an
excursion. A plough bullock was ahead of him. The animal suddenly
turned round and seemed to tell him that he was not born for the
purpose of utilising his time on excursions. Frightened at this
incident, he turned back to his house and climbed its roof. With his
spiritual vision, he saw vast assembly standing on Jabl-ul
Arafat.
He then requested his mother to dedicate him to ALLAH (GOD) and also
allows him to proceed to Baghdad, which was then famous in the
Muslim World as a great seat of learning for the acquisition of
knowledge. The desire to acquire knowledge was intensely burning in
the Hazrat’s heart and he overcame the love his mother, his hearth
and home, for the sake of ALLAH. He was not deterred by the prospect
of hardships of a long and dangerous journey, and residence in a
remote city without friends or relatives.
When his mother heard the proposal, she shed silent tears as she
perceived that on account of her old age, she was not destined to
see her dear son again, whom she had brought up so carefully and
tenderly, after the death of her husband long age. But the Saintly
Lady would not stand in the way of his devotion of ALLAH.
She sewed forth dinars (Gold Coins) into his garment, so that they
might not easily be lost. It was his half share of the money left by
his father. The other half was kept for his brother. He soon joined
a small caravan, which was going to Baghdad.
From the time of his childhood, he had never uttered falsehood, but
despite this trait of his character, his mother at the time of
parting, took a vow from him that he should not tell even one lie
under any circumstances. They then parted with heavy hearts. The
separation between the son and the mother was pathetic and sublime.
It was no less similar to that of the leading of Hazrat Ismail by
his father, Saiyidina Hazrat Ibrahim for sacrifice under divine
orders, as the separation in either case was not for wealth, rank or
fame, but for the sake of ALLAH.
The caravan passed quite safely as far as Hamadan, but beyond that
place, a gang of sixty robbers fell upon the caravan and plundered
it, but none laid violent hands upon Hazrat, taking him to be a
penniless, religious youth. One robber however, questioned him
whether he had anything with him. He readily said he had forty
dinars sewed into his garment. The man took it as a joke and went
away. Another robber also asked the same question from Hazrat, and
on receiving the same reply, moved off. They reported the incident
to the leader of the gang, who ordered the production of they youth
before him. Accordingly, when he was taken before the gang leader,
he said the same thing, which he had stated before. The garment was
then cut open and the forty dinars were found.
On seeing the "dinars" the leader was astounded and asked
Hazrat what had made him to tell the truth when he knew that he too
would be robbed. He replied that he had promised his mother not to
tell a lie under any circumstances. Hazrat added that if he had told
a lie on the very first stage of his journey undertaken for the sake
of acquiring knowledge of religion, he would obviously have no
chance of acquiring any real knowledge of religion at subsequent
stages of his career. Upon this, the robber realizing the felonous
life he and his companions lad led, burst into tears and said that
he had been breaking the commands of God throughout his life, while
a youth was so conscientiously fulfilling his vow made to his
mother.
By placing his hands upon the hands of Hazrat, the leader of the
robbers solemnly vowed to give up robbery. The other robbers also
followed their leader and repented. The robbed belongings were
returned to their owners. The conversion of the gang of robbers was
not only due to Hazrat’s strict adherence to truth but to his
psychic powers also. Most of the authorities are of the opinion that
this incident showed the greatness of Syedina, in the making. Had
his nature not been truthful in origin, such a courageous and
unwavering stand for truth, even in the face of such heavy odds,
would not have been possible for him. |
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