TOPStandard
of respect to Sayyids
Sayyids are the descendants of Holy Prophet (Allah’s
Grace and Peace be upon him). A Sayyid, remains a holy descendant so long as he
follows the Holy Prophet (Allah’s Grace and Peace be upon him), else he is
repugnant. Except Sayyids, all Muslims are alike. Allah, the Almighty clearly
declares that whosoever wants to love Allah, should follow Holy Prophet
(Allah’s Grace and Peace be upon him) so that he could be loved by Allah. On
the other hand, the Holy Prophet (Allah’s Grace and Peace be upon him)
declares: whosoever wants to love me, should love my descendants.
Thus, having regard to Holy Qur‘an and Hadith one ought
to pay due regards to Sayyids. The following event would show as to where
A‘lahazrat stands in this regard. Allama Arshad al-Qŕdiri has written a
booklet "Dil Ki Ashnai" in which he has described an event relating to
A‘lahazrat. The way of description is as nice as the event itself. In short,
it runs as under:
"A palanquin is placed at the doorstep of A‘lahazrat.
A‘lahazrat has to go somewhere. All the people are anxiously waiting as to
when he comes out of his residence to get in. Such was the time when the
palanquins were in vogue. After all, A‘lahazrat comes out, extends due
courtesy to the waiting people and enters the palanquin. The palanquin-bearers
take the palanquin on their shoulders and go on. Just after a while,
A‘lahazrat asks to put down the palanquin on the ground and asks its bearers
if anyone of them is Al-i-Rasůl (descendant of Holy Prophet). The entire labor
is silent nobody speaks. Upon this, A‘lahazrat says; I ask you in the name of
Holy Prophet (Allah’s Grace and Peace be upon him), please do tell. I am
feeling the fragrance of Holy race". Now one of its bearers grows pale and
says, "Work is taken from labor, its race is not questioned. I know no
skill. Hence, I am doing this work. I am a Sayyid, if you ask me in the name of
my Holy Grandfather." Upon this, A‘lahazrat began to weep like a baby and
exclaimed, "All this has happened due to my ignorance, kindly excuse me,
kindly excuse me. Not only this, A‘lahazrat put his "Amama" (turban)
on the feet of that man and went on saying," Prince, kindly pardon me.
Whose footwear is the greatest crown for my head, I have ridden on his delicate
shoulders. Alas! what have I done! What would I reply if the Holy Prophet
(Allah’s Grace and Peace be upon him) asked me at Mehshar: "were the
shoulders of my offspring meant for your conveyance?" All the people were
stunned. The whole atmosphere was stunned. What was happening was neither seen
nor heard before. The greatest savant of the time was sobbing, repenting and
begging excuse in such a humble manner. He did not deter unseen the Sayyid
pardoned him several times. A‘lahazrat was not satisfied with this even and
said, "The only atonement is that let the Holy Prince insisted and so
insisted that this vice versa had to be given a practical shape and the people
practically realized the standard of A‘lahazrat in regard to paying respect to
the holy descendants of Holy Prophet (Allah’s Grace and Peace be upon
him)."
Through Hazrat Sakhawat Hussain, Khateeb of Jamia Masjid,
Bareilly, I learnt of another important instance. The fact was that on being
unhappy over some family matter, A'lahazrat did not take food. As a solution to
this problem, a Sayyid was invited to intervene in the matter and persuade
A‘lahazrat to take food and so he did. But, A‘lahazrat requested the Sayyid
not to kindly intervene in his home affairs. The Sayyid reacted forthwith and
said, "Okay, I will convey it as such to the Holy Prophet (Allah’s Grace
and Peace be upon him) at Mehshar." Upon this, A‘lahazrat sought apology
and took no time to accept the food. As is expected of a devout Muslim,
A‘lahazrat always surrendered before a Sayyid unconditionally.
H. H Sayyid al-Ulčma Hazrat Al-i-Mustafa Marahravi, once
disclosed a very interesting thing. A thought came to his mind that A‘lahazrat
possessed all qualities but one. It was that he was not a Sayyid. A‘lahazrat
took birth in a Pathan family. Allah could cause him to take birth in a Sayyid
family. Allah does what He wants. H.H Sayyid al-Ulčma said that when he thought
over the said case of palanquin, then he was forced to give a second thought to
his earlier thinking. He was then able to think as to why A‘lahazrat was a
non-Sayyid. If he were a Sayyid himself, how could the people know what respect
should be given to a Sayyid and how he should be dealt with?