Enmity towards Saints

We as Muslims heed the divine warning conveyed through the Master of Masters, the beloved Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace):

"Whosoever shows enmity to one of My Friends, I shall declare war upon him." [1]

We are at an age when the least learned have started to criticize the works of the most learned. The very person who says Muslims must follow the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) is often the miscreant. He takes connotations out of context and tries to impose his thinking on others. This is a very unhealthy practice amongst Muslims. The Quran repeatedly again asks Muslims to equip themselves with knowledge both of this world and the hereafter. Hence all the actions of this kind of pseudo Muslim completely belie his outward preaching. It is an established principle that a non-expert in a particular field has no right to comment on it or its specialists. 

In this era confusion appears to be at its worst and anyone with a smattering of Arabic gives Fatwa regarding what Muslims should and should not do. 

Hazrat Sayyid Abdul Qadir Jilani (may Allah be pleased with him) commented on the people of the Mystical Path as divided into two groups. The first group is the Sunnis (Ahle Sunnat wa Jamaat) and they follow the teachings of the Holy Quran and the practices and rules derived from the behavior and works of the beloved Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). The Sunnis follow this guidance in their words, in their actions, in their thoughts and feelings, and they follow the inner meaning of religion. That is, they understand and do not follow blindly. They act upon and live in accordance with the religious precepts, tasting them and enjoying them, not merely enduring something forced upon them. This is the mystic path the true Sunnis follow. 

The second group is composed of heretics and the beloved Prophet warned us, "You like the children of Israel before you, like the community of Jesus son of Mary, will be divided and separated from each other". Hazrat Hazrat Sayyiduna Abdul Qadir Jilani (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote about the 73 sects that have gone astray.

We are happy when the month of Rabi-ul-Akhir arrives, as we are able to highlight a genuine scholar whose guidance comes from Almighty Allah. Rabi-ul-Akhir is the month in which this great Saint was born. The venerable Sayyiduna (our Master, the Sheikh) Abdul Qadir Jilani [may his soul be sanctified], is al-Ghaus al-Azam, the manifestation of Allah's attribute 'the All-Powerful', who hears the cry for help and saves one in need. He is al-Qutb al-Azam [literally 'pole', 'axis', the highest member of the hierarchy of Saints around whom the world revolves] the pole and the summit of spiritual evolution. He is the source of wisdom, container of all knowledge, a true inheritor of the perfection of the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace). [ghaus/ghauth, literally 'help[er]', a title of the highest member of the hierarchy of Saints]

His spiritual excellence has endeared many hearts to him. The requirement of man is what the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) referred to when he said: "we have returned from a minor Jihad to a major Jihad". He meant by this that the return was to resort to struggle with ones own inner self to achieve perpetuity and recurrence, a struggle against cravings of the lower self and that self being engrossed in sinful act.

The Halqa Zikr the Master Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani (may Allah be pleased with him) taught purges our hearts from sins. The animal self (nafs), the passions, they direct the heart to wrong doing, away from duties and responsibilities of the true self as a trustee of the universe, turning the self instead, into a rebellious self, the idol within. Hence we not only follow him, but also seek to teach his principles to our children, who are the future leaders of Islam.

Let us keep in mind the advice given by Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani (may Allah be pleased with him):

"O Wayfarer of the Hereafter! Be with a Guide each moment till you hit the destination. Serve him well throughout the journey. Be very respectful and do not wander away from his Path for he shall familiarize you with it and take you to Allah's nearness. When convinced of your Virtue and Sincerity, he will make you his deputy in the caravan till you are brought and entrusted to the care of the Holy Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). Pleased, the Prophet shall favor you with his deputy-ship in the realm of the spiritual truths and introspective states. So you will be an ambassador between the Creator and His Creation moving to and fro and a servant of the Prophet, remaining constantly in his attendance. Remember that all this cannot be attained through make believe and self-indulgence. It is something sacred, embedded in the hearts and borne out by practice".

"Guides are of two types, namely, guides of Shariah and guides of Tariqa. The former shall lead you to the creation and the latter to the Creator".  [ al-Fateh-ar-Rabbani, Majlis 50]

Alas! The work of the Sultan of Saints was over and Allah's invitation was nigh. He breathed his last on Monday, 11th Rabi-ul-Akhir in the year 561 A.H. at the ripe age of 91 years. Inna Lillahi wa inna illaihi Rajioon (Surely, we are from Allah and unto Him is our return). He is the Gray Falcon of every mystic.

A saint of his caliber who brought so much spiritual relief to people cannot be easily forgotten. Muslims all over the world commemorate his death anniversary [gyarhawin, literally 'eleventh'] by praying to Almighty Allah for his favor and mercy. The Urs normally begins with the recitation from the Holy Quran, followed by Naat shareef, speeches, followed by Halqa Zikr and Salaat-o-Salaam on the beloved Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace). Afterwards, in keeping with the Master's practice, the poor and indigent are fed and assisted in every way. The Qadiri Tariqat's daily wird [regular voluntary recital] is Qasidah Ghauthiya/Ghausiyah.

His miracles are numberless and he attained the stage of 'Kun fayakun' (Be, and it was done), which very few Saints attain. Sheikh Ali Arabi (may Allah be pleased with him) of Spain was childless and approached the Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding this matter, who replied that he was not destined to have a son. Sheikh Ali Arabi (may Allah be pleased with him) did give birth to a son and according to Shaikh Abdul Qadir's instructions named him Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi, who, became a great philosopher and also attained a very high spiritual station. He gained the title of 'al-Shaykh al-Akbar', the Greatest Shaikh. He is commonly known as Ibn al-Arabi.

Shaikh Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote in his mystical treatise 'The Journey To the Lord of Power', that the groundwork to be done by the seeker is:

Your first duty is to search for the knowledge which establishes your ablution and prayer, your fasting and reverence. You are not obliged to seek more than this. This is the first door of the journey; then work; then moral heedfulness; then asceticism; then trust.

 

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The complete hadith states: "Whosoever shows enmity to one of My Friends, I shall declare war upon him. My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have en­joined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with su­per­erogatory works so that I shall love him. When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask something of Me, I would surely give it to him. Were he to seek refuge in Me, I would surely grant him it. Nor do I hesitate to do any­thing as I hesitate to take back the believer’s soul, for he hates death and I hate to hurt him." Narrated from Abu Hurayra by Bukhari.