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The Holy Prophet (PBUH) said, "To spend money·
on performing Hajj is like spending money in the way of Allah Almighty".
Sheikh-ul-Hadith Maulana Muhammad Zakaria says that he went to Arabia along with
his spiritual guide Maulana Khalil Ahmed Saharan Puri two times for Hajj. He
further says that it was the habit of his spiritual guide not to accept gifts
presented by Indian people. He would rather insist on giving those gifts to the
deserving locals. He would sometimes tell the addresses of those deserving
people. He used to advise his followers to purchase goods from the markets of
Arabia so that the local people might benefit from it. Maulana Zakaria says,
"I have seldom heard my Sheikh (spiritual guide) saying couplets. But when
he entered Masjid-ul-Haram (House of Allah Almighty at in Mecca), he
emotionally said this couplet. ·
There is no comparison between us and the
perfume of rose. We can only thank morning breeze.
A Bedouin dreamt that the Holy Prophet (PBUH)
was walking to somewhere swiftly. He asked the Holy Prophet (PBUH) where he was
going. The Holy Prophet said, "Khalil Ahmed Hindi has passed away.
I am going to attend his funeral prayer."
The Bedouin attended the funeral prayer of
Hadrat Maulana Khalil.
Ahmed Saharan Puri in Medina Munawara told his
dream to the people who had come for funeral prayer.
Sheikh Akbar says that once he was
circumambulating Ka'ba after Jumu'ah Salat (Friday Prayer). Akbar says that he
was surprised to see 8 person who was circumambulating Ka'ba but he did collide
with any body.
He says, "I, at once, recognized that it
was a soul. When that person came near me, I greeted him. He responded to· my
greetings. We talked to each other for a while". Akbar says that it was
the soul of Sheikh Ahmed Sayoti.
Hadrat Bayazid says that when he first time
went for Hajj, he saw the house of Allah Almighty (Ka'ba) but the second time,
he saw not only the house (Ka'ba) but also the owner of the House (Allah). The
third time, when he went for Hajj, he did not see the House (Ka'ba) he only saw
the owner of the House (Allah)
It was the habit of Hadrat Abdullah Bin Mubarak
to perform Hajj one year and to go for Jihad (religious war wage by a Muslim)
the other year. Once he set out for Hajj with five hundred gold coins. When he
reached a point in Kofa where camels were sold, he stopped to buy a camel. Then
he, suddenly, saw a dead duck lying on the garbage. A woman was pulling its
feathers. Abdullah says that he went near the woman and asked her what she was
doing. She said that he should n0t inquire about the matter not related to him.
When Abdullah insisted, she told him that she was a widow with four children.
She further told that they had been hungry for the last four days and therefore
dead duck was halal (Not forbidden from religious point of view) for them. That
woman's story made Abdullah feel conscience pricking. He gave those five
hundred gold coins to her and cancelled his program of going to Arabia for
Hajj. When people returned from Arabia after performing Hajj, they told him
that they had met him at specific points during Hajj. He was surprised to
listen to all this. At night, he saw the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in his dream. The
Holy Prophet said, "O, Abdullah! do not be surprised at this. You helped a
calamity-stricken needy person. I prayed to Allah Almighty to depute an angel,
who would perform Hajj.on your behalf."
Sheikh Hadrat Yaqoob Basir says that once he
stayed at Haram Sharif (House of Allah Almighty) for a long time. During his
stay, he did not eat any thing and lived on Zam Zam water only. When he grew
weaker, he went out of Haram and found a rotten turnip. He picked it up and
then threw it away, thinking that he stayed hungry for so long time and at the
end found a rotten turnip for eating. He retuned to Masjid-ul-Haram (House of
Allah Almighty) and sat there. In the meantime, a man came there and told him
of the sea-voyage he had been for ten days and perils he faced. When the boat
was about to sink, each person in the boat made a vow that if he was saved he
would give that pouch to a person whom he first met in Masjid-ul Haram. Yaqoob
says when he opened the pouch he found white sugar-candy, dried bread, peeled
almonds and sweet meat in it. Yaqoob says that he took fistful of each item and
returned the rest to the man.
Hadrat Abdul Hasan Siraj says that he was
circumambulating Ka'ba (House of Allah Almighty) when he caught sight of a
beautiful woman whose face was very bright. Siraj says, "I said, Good God!
I have never seen such a beautiful woman before. It seems as if she had no
grief." She listened to may words and said, "By God! I am
grief-stricken and my heart is surrounded by worries and calamities. There is
no person to sympathize with me".
Then she started her story and said that once
on an Eid day her husband sacrificed (slaughtered) a goat while her two
children were playing and an infant was in her lap. She went to cook mutton. In
the meantime, one of those two playing children said to the other if he wanted
to know how their father slaughtered the goat. He slaughtered his brother like
a goat and then fled away because of fear and climbed up a mountain. There, a
wolf ate him up. His father went out to find him and during search died of
thirst. She left her infant in the room and went out of the house so that she
might know about her husband. In the meantime, her infant moved to the
fireplace where curry was being cooked in a kettle. He touched the kettle and
the curry fell on him and he was badly burnt. Her eldest daughter, who was at
her husband's house, came to know about all these tragedies, became senseless,
fell on the ground and died on. h earing all this. Destiny left her alone. Siraj
asked her how she stayed patient in spite of these calamities. The beautiful
woman said these three couplets.
"I stayed patient because patience is the
best thing to be trusted in. And I know, impatience cannot give me any benefit.
I showed patience on such troubles which if had fallen on mountains; they would
have been turned into pieces. I held back my tears and my eyes dried. Now my
tears fall on my heart. These tears of patience have brightened my heart. Now
Allah Almighty (God) is with me. He has liberated me from fear and grief'.
Hadrat Abdullah Bin Saleh kept moving from one
city to another to avoid people·. But he stayed at Mecca Mukarma for a long
time. Sohail Bin Abdullah asked him why he stayed in that city for so long.
Saleh replied that he had never seen such a city before where the blessings and
mercy of Allah Almighty descend in so big a quantity. Angels keep descending on
this city every time.
Angels in different shapes circumambulate
Baitullah (House of Allah Almighty).
He swore by God and said that he had seen many
miraculous things happening in that city. He further told him that the souls of
all great saints come to this city on every Thursday night.
Hadrat Junaid Baghdadi says that once he set
out for Hajj alone. During stay at Macca Mukarama, it was his habit to
circumambulate Ka'ba at late night. Once he saw a young girl who was
circumambulating Ka'ba and saying the following couplets.
"I tried my best to conceal my love but it
could not be concealed. Now it has fully overpowered me. When the flame of love
enkindles, it makes my heart restless and if I seek closeness to my beloved, He
seeks closeness to me. When he appears, I am lost in him and then again I come
to life for Him. He elevates me to that extent that I am devoid of senses and
become selfless".
Junaid says I asked her why she was saying that
type of couplets at such a sacred place. She turned to Junaid and said, "I
am wandering in His love and His love has made me restless and crazy".
After this, that girl asked Junaid if he circumambulated Allah Almighty (God)
or Baitullah (House of God). Junaid replied that he circumambulated Baitullah
(House of God).
The girl turned her face to the sky and said,
"Good God, how Great and Elevated you are! Stone like unconscious
creatures circumambulate stones while conscious people circumambulate the owner
of the house. If these people had 'been true in their love, their own
characteristics would have disappeared and Allah Almighty's (God's) attributes
would have awakened in them" Hadrat Junaid says, "After listening to
this, I became senseless due to excessive grief and fell down. When I came to
senses, the lady had departed.
Khawaja Moin-ud-Din chishti says, "Haji (a
pilgrim) circumambulates Ka'ba with his body while a sufi (mystic)
circumambulates by heart and soul. He further said that he circumambulated
Ka'ba for a long time. Now he benefits the spiritual lights coming from Ka'ba.
Hadrat Ibrahim says that once during a journey
he was so thirsty that he fell down because of the intensity of thirst, and
became senseless. Someone poured water on his face. When he opened his eyes, he
saw a very handsome man sitting on a horse. The horseman climbed down the horse
and gave water to him and asked him to ride the horse along with him. They had
moved a little ahead, when the horseman asked him about the populated area they
had reached. He surprisingly told, him that it was Madina Munawara. The horseman
who was prophet Khezar (PBUH) asked him to climb down and requested him to
convey his Salam (compliments) to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) when he reached his
mausoleum.
Sheikh Abul Khair Aqta says that once he went
to Medina Tayyeba where he had to spend_ five days without eating any thing.
Aqta says that he could not have the chance to eat anything even in small
quantity. He went to the Holy Prophet's (PBUH) grave and conveyed his
compliments to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and Hadrat Sheikhain (The prophet's first
two great successors). He went behind the pulpit and slept there. He saw in his
dream that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) had come and Hadrat Abu Bakr Siddique (God
be pleased with him) was at his right and Hadrat Umer (God be pleased with him)
was at his left while Hadrat Ali (God be Pleased with him) was in front of him.
Hadrat Ali (God be pleased with him) asked him to stand up as the Holy Prophet
(PBUH) had come. Aqta says that he stood up and the Holy Prophet (PBUH) granted
him a loaf of bread. He ate half of the loaf. When he woke up, he found the
half loaf of bread in his hand.
Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi went to Medina Munawara
during Hajj. When he reached the mausoleum of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), he
wished that he could see the Prophet of Mercy Hadrat Muhammad (PBUH) with an
open eye. He stood at head side of the grave of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and
kept repeating Da'rood Sharif (To Pray to Allah Almighty for the Holy Prophet)
Then he wrote Na'at (poem in praise of the Holy Prophet PBUH) which starts with
this couplet.
"He moves through the garden of
roses".
"It is because of his arrival to the
garden that spring has come before time".
He vocalized this Na'at, standing at the head
side of the sacred grave and then closed his eyes, waiting in a respectful way
for the sight of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). His destiny favored and he had the
sight of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) with an open eye.
KHWAJA SHAMS-UD-DEEN AZEEMI
Many a scholar has written a lot about
spiritualism and pantheism. One school of thought is of the view that as saints
often used to wear wooly dresses therefore people would call them sufis. Wool
is called sauf in Arabic. They used to wear such a dress, for it had been the
habit of many a prophet, saints and pious people. According to some people, as
they have been associated with the Ashaab-e-suffa that is why they are called sufis;
whereas according to yet another school of thought the word sufi is linked with
suf a.... but all these explanations are not satisfactory.
In fact, the terminological meaning of Sufi'ism
(tasawaf) is self cleansing. It is the name of a true spirit that is related
to conscience and the light of conscience is always inherent. A sufi always
thinks in the context of Allah. His talk moves around Allah. He lives with
Allah and dies in the name of Allah. He recites His words and always praises
Him and remains enmeshed in His love. He sacrifices everything in order to see
and meet Allah.
