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has added a new journal1. ALLAH Any person who is suffering from a big
disease which is uncureable reads this name 100 times
and prays for his good health God will grant him health.
2. AL-RAHMAN If a person reads this name 100 times
after every prayer God will remove all kind of
irresponsibilites from his heart.
3. AL-RAHEEM If a person reads this name 100 times
after every prayer all the nation of God will love that person.
4. AL-MALIK Any person who reads this name of God
after every prayer of Fajar God will make that person a Ghani.
5. AL-QUDOOS The person who reads this name after
zawal as much as he can God will remove all the
soulely problems from his heart.
6. AL-SALAAM If any person reads this name as much as
he can he will always be prevented from all mishappenings and if
a person reads this name 115 times and prays for an unhealthy
person that person will get good health.
7. AL-MOMINO If a person is suffering from any kind of
terror he should read this name 630 times his terror
will be vanished at the moment.
8. AL-MOHAIMENO If a person reads this name 115 times
then God will give him the power to know the hidden facts.
9. AL-AZIZ Any person who reads this name after every
prayer of Fajar God will never make him let down in front
of other people and that person will get great respect.
10. AL-JABAR Any person who reads this name 226 times
he will always be prevented from his enemies.
11. AL-MUTAKABIR Any person who reads this name before
starting any kind of work and read it as much as he
cnan God will succed him in that work.
12. AL-KHALIQ Any person who reads this name all the
time as much as he can God will make an angel for him
who will always pray to God on that person's behalf.
(But still that person is suppose to offer his prayers).
13. AL-BARI If a women who has no chlidren fasts 7
days and after opening her fast with water reads this
name God will grant her children.
14. AL-MUSAVER (same as above)
15. AL-GHAFFAR Any person who reads this name 100
times after every prayer of Friday God will show that
he is being blessed for his sins.
lulu_
Salams HumaI would becareful posting such spiritual prescriptions, because sometimes one can do harm to themselves with the wrong "medication".
Unless you are a sheikh with the knowledge, wisdom and spiritual authority to administer spiritual prescriptions, I would refrain from posting them for all to use.
It is advisable that is a person is suffering that they visit their spiritual sheikh to receive a prescription that is tailored to what THEY need.
All the best,
Salams.
L.
SilkySword
I never heard of this way of 'healing' but from a Tableeghi Jamaa'at ignoramus who told me "if you wanted to know if that girl was good for u as a wife, repeat Allah's name "al-Aakher" 1000 times"!!!And after many many years of browsing fiqh and hadith books, I never found neither what he advised me to do..nor do I recall finding what u'r advisign us to do here, sis.
This is baseless.
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has added a new journalSalaam Alaykum to all...
Ive been reading a few articles here and they are quite nice, inspirational at times and gracious. However, one thing is lacking here, in this month there has been so uch stress and emphasis on the Holy Qur'an, Fasting, its virtues and everything else, but what peple are missing is The Beloved of Allah, so, i ask all of those out there who truly love The Beloved of Allah to write a few lines here, maybe a paragraph, or even a full-blown essay on the superior qualities of the Most Beloved Prophet of Allah..
Mine is given below, taken from a scholar friend of mine, it focuses on the superior knowledge of the Beloved Messenger, after all, it is knowledge that individuates, it is knowledge that identifies the superior from the inferior...Please enjoy:)
Some people cite the verses of the Holy Qur'an which they translate to mean that Allah commands the Prophet to tell the companions that he has no knowledge of the unseen. I was surprised at hearing this and decided to write to you for your view. The stand of the real Ahl al-Sunna with respect to Rasulullah's knowledge of the unseen will be appreciated. Also, what is the belief of Ahl al-Sunna regarding the awliya's knowledge of the unseen?
Al-hamdu lillah wa al-salat wa al-salam `ala rasulillah: Knowledge of the Unseen is one of Allah's prerogatives, exclusive to Him except insofar as He discloses it to His elect servants:
"He discloses not His unseen (ghayb) to anyone, except only to such a Messenger as He is well-pleased with." (72:26)
Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani explained this verse thus:
It follows from this verse that Prophets can see some of the Unseen, and so do the saints (wali, pl. awliya') that follow each particular Prophet also, as each takes from his Prophet and is gifted (yukram) with his knowledge. The difference between the two is that the Prophet looks at this knowledge through all kinds of revelation, while the saint does not look upon it except in dreams or through inspiration, and Allah knows best.1
Ibn Hajar quotes al-Qurtubi's words confirming this:
The truthful, righteous Muslim (al-muslim al-sadiq al-salih) is he whose state matches that of Prophets and thereby is bestowed (ukrima) some of the same kind of gift they were, and that is to behold the unseen (wa huwa al-ittila` `ala al-ghayb). As for the disbeliever (al-kafir), the corrupt person (al-fasiq), and the contentious one who confuses matters for the listeners (al-mikhlat)-- then no.2
It is incorrect and improper, therefore, to say that the Prophet did not know the Unseen except if such a statement is qualified, such as saying: "He did not know that of the Unseen which only Allah knows." Otherwise it is untrue that the Prophet did not know the Unseen. How could such a claim be true of any truthful Prophet who brings news from His Lord, especially one who ascended above the seven heavens and the eight Paradises to His Lord's presence, one who told of the events that attended creation, one who saw the events after resurrection, and one to whom was revealed the inimitable Qur'an? And Allah said to him:
And We granted you knowledge of what you knew not, and the bounty of Allah for you has been infinite. (4:113)
This is of the tidings of the Unseen which we reveal to you. You did not know it before this, nor your people. (11:49)
Say: ... Allah has already informed us of the true state of matters concerning you: It is your actions that Allah and His Apostle will observe... (9:94)
And some of them hurt the Prophet and say, "He is all ear!" (i.e. gullible). Say: An ear of good for you: he believes in Allah, and believes the Believers, and is a Mercy to those of you who believe... (9:61) Imam al-Baydawi commented: "This verse is a warning that It is not due to his ignorance of your true position that the Prophet accepts what you say but out of leniency and mercy for you."3
However, the Prophet did not like to boast and he always stressed that certain matters of the Unseen were Allah's exclusive domain, especially knowledge of the Last Hour, and "the five things" mentioned at the end of Surat Luqman (31:34). This is confirmed by the hadiths:
1. Utiytu mafatihu kulli shay'in illa al-khams. "I have received the keys to everything (unseen) except the Five (which Allah alone knows)."4
Ibn Mas`ud similarly narrates: Utiya mafatihu kulli shay'in ghayr al-khams. "He has received the keys to everything (unseen) except the Five (which Allah alone knows)."5
Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani also cites, without weakening them, two very similar hadiths in Fath al-Bari:
Utiya nabiyyukum `ilmu kulli shay'in siwa hadhihi al-khams.
Utiytu mafatih al-ghayb.
"Your Prophet has received everything except these Five."
"I have received the keys of the Unseen."6
These five things are:
Knowledge of what is in the wombs
Knowledge of when the Hour will rise
Knowledge of what one will gain tomorrow
Knowledge of the land in which one will die
Knowledge of the time Allah will send rain
(Hadith of Ibn `Umar in Ahmad and Bukhari.)
2. A man from Banu `Amir, after asking the Prophet certain questions, said: "Is there any knowledge left which you do not know?" whereupon the Prophet said: "Allah has taught me a great good, and there is a kind of Unseen knowledge which Allah alone knows: He has knowledge of the Hour, He sends down the rain, He knows what lies in the womb, no one (but He) knows what one will gain tomorrow, and no one (but He) knows in what land one shall die."7
3. It is confirmed by Ibn Mardawayh's narration from `Ali cited in the chaper of Surat Luqman in Kanz al-`ummal, as a commentary for the verse 28:66 in Surat al-Qasas, "On that day tidings will be darkened for them," whereby `Ali said: "Nothing was darkened for your Prophet except five matters from the secrets of the Unseen." (lam yu`ma `ala nabiyyikum shay'un illa khamsun min sara'ir al-ghayb.)
4. In Tirmidhi (hasan sahih) and Baghawi in Sharh al-Sunna on the authority of Mu`adh ibn Jabal:
The Prophet said: "My Lord came to me in the best image and asked me over what did the angels of the higher heaven vie, and I said I did not know, so He put His hand between my shoulders, and I felt its coolness in my innermost, and the knowledge of all things between the East and the West came to me."
`Ali al-Qari wrote about this hadith in the chapter on the Prophet's turban in his book Jam` al-wasa'il fi sharh al-shama'il, a commentary on Tirmidhi's Shama'il or Characteristics of the Prophet:
Whether the Prophet saw his Lord during his sleep or whether Allah the Glorious and Exalted manifested Himself to him with a form (bi al-tajalli al-suwari), this type of manifestation is known among the masters of spiritual states and stations (arbab al-hal wa al-maqam), and it consists in being reminded of His qualities (hay'atihi) and reflecting upon His vision (ru'yatihi), which is the outcome of the perfection of one's inner detachment (takhliyatihi) and self-adornment (tahliyatihi).
And Allah knows best about the states of His Prophets and Intimate Friends whom He has raised with His most excellent upbringing, and the mirrors of whose hearts He has polished with His most excellent polish, until they witnessed the Station of Divine Presence and Abiding (maqam al-hudur wa al-baqa'), and they rid themselves of the rust of screens and extinction (sada' al-huzur wa al-fana').
May Allah bestow on us their yearnings, may He make us taste their states and manners, and may He make us die in the condition of loving them and raise us in their group.8
al-Qari also said in al-Asrar al-marfu`a:
Ibn Sadaqa said that Ibn Zar`a said: "The hadith of Ibn `Abbas is sound (sahih), and no-one denies it except a Mu`tazili" ... Ibn al-Humam answered that "this (representation) is the veil of form (hijab al-sura)." It seems that he meant by this that the entire goal can be visualized if it is interpreted as a formal manifestation (tajalli suwari), as it is incontrovertibly absurd to interpret it as a real or literal manifestation (tajalli haqiqi)... for Allah is exalted from possessing a body, a form (sura), and directions with regard to His essence... And if the hadith is shown to have something in its chain that indicates forgery, then fine; otherwise: the door of figurative interpretation is wide and imposes itself (bab al-ta'wil wasi`un muhattam).9
5. The Prophet's "knowledge of all things between the East and the West" is confirmed by the famous narration with a grade of hasan (fair) from al-Bara' ibn `Azib whereby:
At the time of the Battle of Ahzab or the battle of the Trench, the Prophet went down to hit a rock with his pick, whereupon he said: "Bismillah" and shattered one third of the rock. Then he exclaimed: "Allahu akbar! I have been given the keys of Syria. By Allah, verily I can see her red palaces right from where I stand." Then he said: "Bismillah," and shattered another third and exclaimed: "Allahu akbar! I have been given the keys of Persia. By Allah, I can see her cities and her white palace right from where I stand." Then he said: "Bismillah" and shattered the remainder of the rock and exclaimed: "Allahu akbar! I have been given the keys of Yemen. By Allah, I can see the gates of San`a' right from where I stand."10
6. Another version of the above is related from Salman al-Farisi. Ibn Hisham relates it in his Sira through Ibn Ishaq thus:
Salman al-Farisi said: "I was digging in one corner of the trench at which time one rock gave me difficulty. Allah's Messenger came near me and saw my difficulty as I was digging. He came down and took the pick from my hands. Then he struck and a great spark flashed under the pick. He struck again and another spark flashed. He struck a third time and a third spark flashed. I said to him: My father and mother (be ransomed) for you, O Messenger of Allah! What is that I saw flashing under the pick as you were striking? He said: Did you see this, O Salman? I said: Yes! He said: The first time, Allah opened Yemen for me; the second time, He opened the North (al-Sham) and the West (al-Maghrib) for me; and the third time, he opened the East (al-Mashriq)."11
7. The above two narrations are confirmed by Abu Hurayra's words related by Ibn Hisham in his Sira directly after the above narration:
Ibn Ishaq said: A reliable source narrated to me that Abu Hurayra used to say, when these countries were conquered in the time of `Umar and in the time of `Uthman and after `Uthman: "Conquer what comes within your sight. By the One in Whose hand lies Abu Hurayra's soul, you do not conquer any city nor will you conquer any city until the Day of resurrection except that Allah the Exalted gave Muhammad its keys beforehand."12
8. A further confirmation of the above is the hadith in Muslim:
The earth was collected together for me so that I was shown its Easts and Wests. And the kingdom of my Community will reach to the extent that it was brought together for me.
9. A further confirmation is the hadith in Bukhari:
Narrated Asma' bint Abu Bakr: I came to 'Aisha during the solar eclipse. The people were standing (offering prayer) and she too, was standing and offering prayer. I asked, "What is wrong with the people?" She pointed towards the sky with her hand and said, Subhan Allah!'' I asked her, "Is there a sign?" She nodded with her head meaning, yes. When Allah's Apostle finished (the prayer), he glorified and praised Allah and said, "There is not anything that I have not seen before but I have seen now at this place of mine, even Paradise and Hell. It has been revealed to me that you people will be put to trial nearly like the trial of Ad-Dajjal, in your graves. As for the true believer or a Muslim (the sub-narrator is not sure as to which of the two (words Asma' had said) he will say, 'Muhammad came with clear signs from Allah, and we responded to him (accepted his teachings) and believed (what he said)' It will be said (to him) 'Sleep in peace; we have known that you were a true believer who believed with certainty.' As for a hypocrite or a doubtful person, (the sub-narrator is not sure as to which word Asma' said) he will say, 'I do not know, but I heard the people saying something and so I said the same.'" (Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 92, Number 390)
10. A further confirmation of the above is the hadith of Hudhayfa in Bukhari and Muslim:
The Messenger of Allah gave us an address in which he did not leave out anything that would happen until the Last Hour came. Whoever remembered it remembered it and whoever forgot it forgot it. Many companions of mine have known it. When any of it came to pass, I would recognize it and remember it as a man remembers the face of a man who has gone away and which he recognizes when he sees him again." Then Hudhayfa said: "I do not know whether my companions may have forgotten or pretended to forget , but Allah's Messenger did not leave out the instigator of a single disaster that was going to happen until the end of the world. There were more than three hundred of them. He named them for us, each with his own name, the name of this father and his tribe.
11. A further confirmation is the hadith in Bukhari:
...Then Allah's Apostle said, "By Him in Whose Hand my life is, Paradise and Hell were displayed before me across this wall while I was praying, and I never saw such good and evil as I have seen today." (Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 92, Number 397)
12. A further confirmation is the hadith of Abu al-Darda' in Tabarani and Ahmad, which is sound (sahih) according to Haythami in Majma` al-zawa'id:
When the Messenger of Allah left us there was not a bird that flies in the sky but that he had given us some knowledge about it.
And all this profusion of knowledge of the Unseen on the part of the Prophet has been characterized by Allah as perspicuity and ability to reveal knowledge of the Unseen in the two verses:
His sight swerved not, nor swept astray. (53:17)
He is not stingy of (his knowledge of) the Unseen. (81:24)
13. Nor is the Prophet's knowledge after his life in dunya in any way lessened. Rather, the contrary is true, as established in the following hadith:
My life is a great good for you, you will relate about me and it will be related to you, and my death is a great good for you, your actions will be presented to me (in my grave) and if I see goodness I will praise Allah, and if see other than that I will ask forgiveness of Him for you.13
Qadi` Iyad in his al-Shifa' fi ma`rifat huquq al-mustafa (The Healing Concerning the Knowledge of the Rights of the Elect One), al-Qastallani in his al-Mawahib al-laduniyya bi al-minah al-muhammadiyya (The Gifts from Allah: the Muhammadan Dispensations), and other scholars of Ahl al-Sunna included in their excellent books on the Prophet extensive chapters establishing his knowledge of the unseen and future events.
In the light of the above evidence, such statements as that of Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Wahhab at the end of his leaflet paradoxically entitled "The Three Principles of Oneness" are false whereby:
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One who claims to know something from knowledge of the Unseen is a taghut or false deity (Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab, Three Principles of Oneness)!
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This is utterly rejected as false and gross falsehood spoken against the Prophet by those who would deny his status and the prerogatives of his rank established by Allah in His speech and by the sound hadith of the Prophet. We seek refuge in Allah from such statements as signify extreme ignorance, indeed enmity to the Prophet and to Allah's Pure Religion. And Allah knows best.
QADI `IYAD'S CHAPTER ENTITLED:
"THE PROPHET'S KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNSEEN AND FUTURE EVENTS"
FROM HIS BOOK AL-SHIFA'
WITH SOME OF MULLA `ALI AL-QARI'S COMMENTARY ON THIS CHAPTER14
Qadi `Iyad says:
The hadiths on this subject are like a vast ocean whose depths cannot be plumbed and which does not cease to overflow. This is one aspect of his miracles which is definitely known. We have many hadiths which have reached us by multiple paths of transmission (tawatur) regarding his familiarity with (ittila`) the Unseen.
Hudahyfa said: "The Messenger of Allah gave us an address in which he did not leave out anything that would happen until the Last Hour came. Whoever remembered it remembered it and whoever forgot it forgot it. Many companions of mine have known it. When any of it came to pass, I would recognize it and remember it as a man remembers the face of a man who has gone away and which he recognizes when he sees him again." Then Hudhayfa said: "I do not know whether my companions may have forgotten or pretended to forget , but Allah's Messenger did not leave out the instigator of a single disaster that was going to happen until the end of the world. There were more than three hundred of them. He named them for us, each with his name, the name of this father and his tribe."15
Abu Dharr said : "When the Messenger of Allah left us there was not a bird that flies in the sky but that he had given us some knowledge about it."16
The compilers of the Sahih17 and the Imams18 have related what he taught his Companions and family about regarding his promises to them of victory over his enemies, the conquest of Mecca, Jerusalem, the Yemen, Syria and Iraq, and the establishment of security so that a woman could go from Hira in Iraq to Mecca fearing none but Allah.
He said that Madina would be raided and Khaybar would be conquered by `Ali the next day. He foretold those parts of the world that Allah was going to open up to his community and what they would be given of its flowers and fruits, such as the treasures of Chosroes and Caesar. He told about what would happen among them with regard to sedition, disputes and sectarianism., acting as those before them had done, their splitting into seventy-three sects, only one of which would be saved, that they would spread out in the earth, that people would come would would wear one garment in the morning and another in the evening, and dish after dish would be placed before them. They would embellish their houses as the ka`ba is embellished. Then he said at the end of the hadith: "Today you are better than you will be on that day."
He said that they would strut about on the earth and that the girls of Persia and Byzantium would serve them. Allah would would withdraw their strength from them and the evil ones would overcome the good. They would fight the Turks and the Khazars and Byzantium. Chosroes and Persia would be obliterated so that there would be no Chosroes or Persia afterwards. Caesar would pass away and there would be no Caesar after him. He mentioned that Byzantium would continue generation after generation until the end of time. The noblest and best people would be taken away. When the time grew near, knowledge would be taken away, and sedition and bloodshed would appear. He said: "Alas for the Arabs for an evil that draws near!"
The earth was rolled up for him so that he could see its eastern and western extremities and the dominion of his community was to reach what was rolled up for him. That is why it has extended from the east to the west, from the Indies in the east to the sea of Tangier, beyond which is no civilization. That was not given to any of the nations. Islam did not extend to the north and south in the same way.
He said: "The people of the west (ahl al-gharb) will know the truth until the Hour comes." Ibn al-Madini19 believed that his refers to the Arabs because they are distinguished by drinking from a certain kind of leather bucket (al-gharb). Another believed that it refers to the people of the Maghrib.
In a hadith from Abu Umama, the Prophet said: "A group of my Community will remain constant to the truth, conquering their enemy until the command of Allah comes to them while they are still in that condition." He was asked, "Messenger of Allah, where are they?" He replied: "In Jerusalem."20
He foretold the kingdom of the Umayyads and the rule of Mu`awiya and counselled him and said that the Umayyads would make the kingdom of Allah a dynasty. He said that the descendents of al-`Abbas would emerge with black banners and would rule a far larger area than they now ruled.
He said that the Mahdi would appear and told about what the Ahl al-Bayt, the Prople of his house, would experience and about their slaughter and exile.
He foretold the murder of `Ali and said that the most wretched of people would be his killer and that `Ali would be the apportioner of the Fire -- his friends would enter the Garden and his enemies the Fire. Among those who would oppose him would be the Kharijis and the Nasibiyya and a sgroup who claimed to follow him among the Rafidis would reject him.
He said: "`Uthman will be killed while reciting the Qur'an. Perhaps Allah will have him wearing a shirt . They will want to remove it and his blood will fall on his utterance of Allah's words: "Allah is enough for you against them." (2:137).
He said that sedition would not apprear as long as `Umar was alive, al-Zubayr would fight against `Ali, the dogs of al-Haw'ab21 would bark at one of his wives and many would be killed around her and she would barely escape. They barked at `A'isha when she went to Basra.
He said that `Ammar would be killed by an unjust group and the companions of Mu`awiya killed him . He said to `Abdullah ibn Zubayr: "Woe to the people from you and woe to you from the people !"
He said about Quzman : "He will be tested together with the Muslims although he is one of the people of the Fire," and later Quzman committed suicide.
He said that a group which included Abu Hurayra, Samura ibn Jundub and Hudhayfa: "The last of you will die in a fire ." They kept asking about each other, and Samura was the last of them to die when he was old and senile. He tried to warm himself over a fire and burned himself in it.
He said about Hanzala al-Ghasil (Washed-by-the-Angels): "Ask his wife about him. I saw the angels washing him." They asked her and she said: "He left (for jihad) in janaba (state of major ritual defilement after sexual intercourse) and died before he could do ghusl (major ablution)." Abu Sa`id said: "We found his head dripping with water."
He said: "The khalifate is with Quraysh. This business will remain with Quryash as long as they establish the Religion."
He said: "There will be one liar and one destroyer (kadhdhab wa mubir) from Thaqif." It was thought that this referred to al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf and al-Mukhtar ibn `Ubayd.22
He said that Musaylima would be destroyed by Allah and that Fatima would be the first of his family to follow him to the grave (she died six months later).
He warned about the Great Apostasy (al-ridda) and said that the khalifate after him would last for thirty years and that it would then become a kingdom. This happened in the period of al-Hasan ibn `Ali.
He said: "This business began as prophethood and mercy, then mercy and a khalifate, then a voracious kingdom and then arrogance and tyranny and corruption will enter the community."
He told of the existence of Uways al-Qarani and that there would be Amirs who would delay the prayer beyond its time.
In one hadith he says that there would be thirty liars in his community and four of them would be women. Another hadith says thirty liars, one of whom would be the Dajjal or Antichrist. They would all deny Allah and his Messenger.
He said: "The time is near when there will be a lot of non-Arabs among you who will consume your property and strike your necks. The Last Hour will not come until a man from Qahtan drives the people with his staff."
He also said: "The best of you are my generation, then those after them, and then those after them. After that, people will come who give testimony without being asked to do so, who will be treacherous and are not trustworthy, who promise and do not fulfill. There will be corpulence among them."
He said: "A time is only followed by one worse than it."
He also said: "My community will be destroyed ath the hands of youg menfrom Quraysh." One version from Abu Hurayra says: "If I had wanted to, I would have named them for you -- the Banu so-and-so and the Banu so-and-so."
He told about the appearance of the Qadariyya and the Rafidis (those who curse the Companions and declare Ahl al-Sunna to be disbelievers), and said that the last of this community would curse the first of it. The Ansar would diminish until they became like the salt in food (i.e. rare). Their position would continue to dissipate until not a group of them remained. He said that they would meet with despotism after him.
He told about the Kharijites, describing them down to the malformed one among them, and said that their mark would be tahliq or shaved heads.23
He said thashepherds would become the leaders of the people and the naked barefoot ones would vie in building high buildings. Mothers would give birth to their mistresses.
He said that Quraysh and their confederates would not conquer him, but that he would conquer them.
He foretold "the Death" -- a plague which occurred in the time of `Umar and in which seventy thousand people perished -- which would come after the conquest of Jerusalem and described what the houses of Basra would be like.
He said that they would raid in the sea like kings on thrones. He said that if the Religion had been hung in the Pleiades, men from Persia would have obtained it.
A wond blew up during one of his raids and he said: "It blows for the death of a hypocrite." When they returned to Madina, they discovered it was true.
He told some people sitting with him: "The tooth of one of you in the Fire will be greater in size than the mountain of Uhud." Abu Hurayra said: "The people eventually were all dead except for me and one other man. Then he was killed as an apostate during the Ridda in the battle of Yamama."
He told about the man who stole some pearls from a Jew and the jewels were found in that man's saddle-bag, and about the man who stole a cloak and it was found where he said it would be. He told about his she-cmael when she had strayed and how she was tied to a tree with her halter. He told about the letter of Hatib (Ibn Abi Balta`a) to the people of Mecca.
He told about the case where Safwan ibn Umayya persuaded `Umayr ibn Wahb to go to the Prophet and kill him. When `Umayr arrived where the Prophet was, intending to kill him, the Messenger of Allah told him about his business and secret, and `Umayr became Muslim.
He informed them about the money which his uncle, al-`Abbas, had left concealed with Umm al-Fadl. al-`Abbas said: "No one except she and I knew where it was." So he became Muslim.
He informed them that he would kill Ubayy ibn Khalaf and that `Utba ibn Abi Lahab would be eaten by one of Allah's beasts of prey. He knew about the deaths of the people of Badr and it happened as he said it would.
He said about al-Hasan: "This son of mine is a master (sayyid) and Allah will make peace between two groups through him."
He said to Sa`d (Ibn Abi Waqqas): "Perhaps you will survive until some people profit by you and others seek to harm you."
He told about the killing of the people of Mu'ta on the very day they were slain, even though there was more than a month's distance between he and them.
The Negus died and he told them about it the very day he died although he was in his own land.
He informed Fayruz (the Persian minister) of the death of Chosroes on the very day that a messenger came to him bearing the news of his death. When Fayruz verified the story, he became Muslim.
One time when the Prophet found Abu Dharr sleeping in the mosque in Madina he told him how he would be exiled. The Prophet said to him: "How will it be when you are driven from it?" He said: "I will dwell in the Masjid al-Haram." He asked: "And when you are driven from there?" The Prophet told him of his life alone and of his death alone.24
He said that the first of his wives to join him would be the one with the longest hand. It was Zaynab bint Jahsh because of the length of her hand in giving sadaqa.
He foretold the killing of al-Husayn at Taff . He took some earth from his hand and said: "His grave is in it."
He said about Zayd ibn Suhan: "One of his limbs will precede him to the garden." His hand was cut off in Jihad.
He said about those who were with him on Mount Hira: "Be firm. On you is a Prophet, a true man, and a martyr." `Ali, `Umar, `Uthman, Talha and al-Zubayr were killed and Sa`d was attacked.
He said to Suraqa: "How will it be when you wear the trousers of Chosroes?" When they were brought to `Umar, Suraqa put them on and said: "Praise be to Allah who stripped Chosroes of them and put them on Suraqa."
The Prophet said: "A city will be built between the Tigris and Dujayl and Qutrubull and al-Sara. The treasures of the earth will be brought to it which the earth will swallow up," clearly indicating Baghdad.
He said: "There will be a man called al-Walid in this Community and he will be worse for this Community than Pharaoh was for his."
He also said: "The Hour will not come until two parties fight each other with the same claim."
He said to `Umar about Suhayl ibn `Amr: "Perhaprs he will be in a position which will delight you, `Umar." That happened. He stood up in Mecca in a similar way to Abi Bakr on the day when they heard about the Prophet's death. He addressed them with a similar speech and strengthened their insight.
When he sent Khalid to Ukaydir, he said: "You will send him hunting for wild cows," and he did.25
All these matters took place during his lifetime, and after his death, just as he had said they would.
He also told his Companions about their secrets and inward thoughts. He told them about the secrets of the hypocrites and their rejection and what they said about him and the believers, so that one of the hypocrites would say to his friend: "Be quiet!By Allah, if he does not have someone to inform him, the very stones of the plain would inform him."
He described the magic which Labid ibn al-`Asim used against him and how it was in the comb, the combings and the spathe of the male palm and that he had thrown them into the well of Dharwan. It was found to be just as he had described it.
He told Quryash that the termites would eat what was in the paper which they issued against the Banu Hashim by which they cut off relations with them. He said that every mention of Allah would remain. It was found to be as he had said.
He described Jerusalem to the unbelievers when they did not believe what he had said as is related in the hadith of the Night Journey, describing it to them as someone who really knows it. He told them about their caravan which he had passed on his way and told them when it would arrive.
All of these things happpened as he had said, including all that he told them regarding events which would take place and things whose beginnings had not yet even appeared, such as his words: "The flourishing of Jerusalem will prove the ruin of Yathrib. The ruin of Yathrib will result in the emergence of fierce fighting. The emergence of fierce fighting will encompass the conquest of Constantinople."
He mentioned the preconditions of the Hour, the signs of its arrival, the Rising and the Gathering, and told about what would happen to the good and those who deviated, the Garden and the Fire and the events of the Rising.
A whole volume could be devoted to this subject, but there is enough for you in what we have indicated. Most of the hadiths are in the Sahih volumes and have been mentioned by the Imams.
FROM SOUTUL ISLAM PUBLICATIONS (PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA)
ON THE SIGHT OF THE PROPHET
The eyes of the Holy Prophet were matchless in their outward beauty as well as in their vision and sight. Ibn Abbas in describing his beauteous eyesight states:
The Holy Prophet could see equally well during the darkness of the night and the brightness of the day. (Bukhari)
Anas narrates: The Holy Prophet himself said:
O people! I am your Imam.Do not precede me in ruku` and sajda because in addition to seeing what is in front of me I also see what is behind me. (Muslim)
Abu Huraira similarly narrates the Prophet's words:
I swear on Allah Almighty, neither your ruku` is hidden from me nor your sajda because I can see you behind my back as well. (Muslim and Bukhari)
The gist of the commentary which the great scholar Sheikh `Abd al- Haqq Muhaddith Dehlvi has written on these traditions is as follows:"Only Allah Almighty exactly knows the truth of his vision. In addition, every blessed limb too falls in this category , because no one can fully understand what they were." They are without doubt beyond one's imagination and intellect. Any assumption falls short of their virtuosity. Allah Almighty has full Power to bestow vision to every part of the body, or grant this unique sight as His Favour and Grace on His beloved Messenger.
If by this sight is meant vision of the heart, then it is that knowledge which was bestowed upon him by Allah Almighty.
Some people tend to incorrectly rely on the inauthentic tradition whereby the Holy Prophet said: "I do not know what is behind the wall." No origin is known (la asl) for such a hadith. Even if such an improbable saying were attributable to the Prophet, then its purpose would to show personal humility and not to negate such knowledge. The meaning would then be: "I do not know that on my own, nor do I have such knowledge on my own," but as far as Bestowed Knowledge is concerned, i.e knowledge given by Allah Almighty, the Holy Prophet was fully equipped with it by his Creator.
The Holy Qur'an bears the testimony to this:
And We granted you knowledge of what you knew not, and the bounty of Allah for you has been infinite. (4:113)
CONCLUSION :
THE PROPHET KNOWS AND CAN BUT HE IS HUMBLE AND DOES NOT BOAST
The "Salafis" are often seen adducing the following verses in support of their view that the Prophet is no more than an ordinary individual:
Say : I have no power to benefit myself nor to harm it, except that which Allah wills. Had I knowledge of the Unseen, I would have acquired much good, and adversity would not have touched me... (7:188)
Say: I am but a man (or: a mortal) like yourselves (18:110, 41:6)
And they say: We will not put faith in thee till thou cause a spring to gush forth... Or thou have a garden... and cause rivers to gush forth... Or thou cause the heaven to fall... or bring God and the angels... have a house of gold; ascend up into heaven... bring down for us a book... Say: My Lord be glorified! Am I naught save a mortal messenger?" (17:90-93) etc.
You will see them quoting such verses continually to try to prove that the Prophet was an ordinary person. They never remember the last part of the verse that states:
Say: I am but a mortal like yourselves, but I receive revelation.
Of course, they also try to extend this Communist-like doctrine of perfect ordinariness and equality to the awliya as being even more ordinary. Such behavior is typical of certain groups standing in the way of the propagation of true Islam to whom Nuh Keller refers in his notice on Yusuf al-Rifa`i in his Reliance of the Traveller (p. 1112):
He (Yusuf al-Rifa`i) takes a keen interest in the problems of Muslims today, and at a recent symposium in Amman with Sheikh Abdullah Muhammad Ghimari and Sheikh Hassan Saqqaf, he voiced his concern for the obstacles to the current Islamic revival and world propagation of Islam that are being put in its way by "fundamentalists" whose view of Allah is anthropomorphic, view of the Prophet is that he is over-venerated and loved by Muslims, and view of Muslims is that they are unbelievers or immersed in unlawful innovations.
To go back to the above verses, the scholars' explanation for them is not that the Prophets declare their mortality as an expression of their ordinariness, but rather of their dignity and humbleness on the one hand, and on the other hand to destroy any claim of a nature other than human -- e.g. god or angel -- that might be attributed to them.
These verses also came in answer to some people who asked the Prophet for signs in a spirit of disbelief and mockery, such as a group who claimed that they would attest to his prophethood only if he performed for them certain miracles, while it is established by the scholars of asbab an-nuzul (Context for Revelation) that the Prophet disliked being asked for miracles by unbelievers. To quote these verses in an attempt to prove the supposed ordinariness of the Prophet is an aberrant practice and a true under-estimation of his rights and of Allah's generosity towards Him. The Prophet certainly was not limited in the reductive sense that disbelievers claimed about prophets in the verse: "They said: Ye are but mortals like unto us" (36:15).
Finally another reason for the disclaimers concerning the Prophet was his humbleness. The explanation of Ibn 'Abbas quoted by Qadi `Iyad in al-Shifa' and al-Khazin in his Commentary (18:110) suffices for anyone who looks at the Prophet with the eyes of belief rather than those of skepticism: "Allah has taught modesty to His Prophet Muhammad, lest he boast before His creation. He has therefore ordered him to be dignified and say: I am but a mortal man like you, except that I was chosen for Revelation."
We close this section with an excerpt from Qadi `Iyad's al-Shifa' on the angelic nature of Prophets:
Allah says: "Muhammad is only a Messenger, and Messengers have passed away before him. Why, if he should die or be killed..." (3:144) and "The Masih (Christ), son of Maryam, is only a Messenger. Messengers have passed away before him and his mother was a truthful woman. They used to eat food" (5:75) and "We only sent Messengers before that are food and walked in the markets" (25:20) and "Say: I am a mortal like you to whom revelation has been given" (18:10).
Muhammad and all the Prophets of mankind were sent to men. If it had not been for that, people would not have been able to meet them face-to-face, to have accepted from them and spoken with them.
Allah says, "If We had made him an angel, We would have made him a man" (6:9). That is to say, the angel would have taken the form of a man to whom they could speak since they would not be able to face an angel and speak with it if they saw it in its true form.
Allah says, "Say: if there had been angels on the earth walking at peace, We would have sent down upon them an angel as a Messenger from heaven" (17:95). That is to say, it is not possible in the Sunna of Allah to send an angel except to one who is the same as it or one to whom Allah gives a special gift, choses and makes strong enough to be able to face it, such as the Prophets and Messengers.
Prophets and Messengers are intermediaries between Allah and His creation. They convey His commands and prohibitions, His warning and threat to His creatures and they acquaint them with things they did not know regarding His command, creation, majesty, power and His Malakut. Their outward form, bodies and structure are characterised by the qualities of men as far as non-essential matters such as illnesses, death and passing away are concerned and they have human traits.
But their souls and inward parts have the highest possible human qualities, associated with the Highest Assembly, which are similar to angelic attributes, free of any possibility of alteration or evil. Generally speaking the incapacity and weakness connected with being human cannot be associated with them. If their inward parts had been human in the same way as their outward, they would not have been able to receive revelation from the angels, see them, mix and sit with them in the way other mortals are unable to do.
If their bodies and outward parts had been marked by angelic attributes as opposed to human attributes, the mortals to whom they were sent would not have been able to speak with them as Allah has already said. Thus they have the aspect of men as far as their bodies and outward parts are concerned, and that of angels in respect of their souls and inward parts.
It is in this way that the Prophet said, "If I had taken a close friend from my Community, I would have taken Abu Bakr as a friend, but it is the brotherhood of Islam. Rather your companion is the close friend of the Merciful."26
He said, "My eyes sleep and my heart does not sleep."27
He said, "I am not made the same as you but my Lord gives me food and drink."28
Their inward parts are disconnected from evil and free from imperfection and weakness.
This summary will certainly not benough for all those who are concerned with this subject...29
And Allah knows best.
THE AWLIYA'S KASHF (UNVEILING) OF THE UNSEEN
Kashf or unveiling consists, according to al-Sharif al-Jurjani's definition in his Kitab al-ta`rifat, in "apprehending beyond the veil of ordinary phenomena, whether by vision or experience, the meanings and realities that pertain to the unseen." It is a kind of intuitive knowledge or discovery that typifies Allah's Friends, whose rank Allah extols with the affirmation:
Lo! Verily the friends of Allah are those on whom fear comes not, nor do they grieve (10:62).
Many sayings of the Prophet mention the various types and ranks of the saints, as Suyuti has shown in his collection of these sayings in his fatwa already mentioned entitled: al-Khabar al-dall `ala wujud al-qutb wa al-awtad wa al-nujaba' wa al-abdal or "The reports that indicate the existence of the Pole, the Pillars, the Leaders, and the Substitutes" in his Hawi li al-fatawi. These and other types of perfected individuals form the khawass or elite of the pious, whom Allah also calls the siddiqin (saints, literally "Most Truthful Ones") and ranks directly after the Prophets and before the Martyrs in the verse:
Whoso obey Allah and the Messenger, they are with those unto whom Allas has shown favor, of the Prophets and the saints and the martyrs and the righteous. The best of company are they! (4:69)
Their position in relation to Allah on the Day of Judgment is even described as an object of desire for the Prophets in the following sound hadith of the Prophet related by `Umar and others. This is the narration of Abu Malik al-Ash`ari from the Musnad of Imam Ahmad:
When the Prophet finished his prayer he turned to face the people and said: "O people! Listen to this, understand it, and know it. Allah has servants who are neither Prophets nor martyrs and whom the Prophets and martyrs yearn to be like, due to their seat and proximity in relation to Allah."
One of the beduin Arabs who came from among the most isolated of people twisted his hand at the Prophet and said: "O Messenger of Allah! People from humankind who are neither Prophets nor martyrs and yet the Prophets and the martyrs yearn to be like them due to their seat and proximity in relation to Allah?! Describe them for us!"
The Prophet's face showed delight at the Beduin's question and he said:
"They are of the strangers from this and that place. They frequent this or that tribe without belonging to them. They do not have family connections among themselves. They love one another for Allah's sake. They are of pure intent towards one another. On the Day of Resurrection Allah will place for them pedestals of light upon which He will make them sit, and He will turn their faces and clothes into light. On the Day of Resurrection the people will be terrified but not those. They are Allah's Friends upon whom fear comes not, nor do they grieve."30
Another famous description of the characteristics of awliya was given by Sayyidina `Ali, as related by Ibn al-Jawzi in the chapter devoted to him in Sifat al-safwa:
They are the fewest in number, but the greatest in rank before Allah. Through them Allah preserves His proofs until they bequeath it to those like them (before passing on) and plant it firmly in their hearts. By them knowledge has taken by assault the reality of things, so that they found easy what those given to comfort found hard, and found intimacy in what the ignorant found desolate. They accompanied the world with bodies whose spirits were attached to the highest regard (al-mahall al-a`la). Ah, ah! how one yearns to see them!
The knowledge of the awliya' may attain higher levels than that of any other knowledge of humankind and jinn including in certain cases even the knowledge of Prophets. The preternatural knowledge or powers which Allah bestows on some of His friends (awliya') who are not Prophets have a firm basis in the Qur'an: for example, the wali who was with Prophet Sulayman and brought him the throne of Balqis faster than the blink of an eye. He was characterized as "one who had knowledge of the Book" as Allah stated:
One with whom was knowledge of the Scripture said: I will bring it thee (O Sulayman) before thy gaze returneth unto thee... (27:40)
and this is Prophet Sulayman's scribe Asif ibn Barkhya according to the Tafsir Ibn `Abbas and the majority of the scholars, i.e. a non-Prophet human being:
"One with whom was knowledge of the Scripture": i.e. an angel... or Jibril... or al-Khidr or Asif ibn Barkhya Sulayman's scribe, which is the most correct, and the jumhur (majority) agrees upon it...31
Similarly, al-Khidr -- although considered by many to be a Prophet -- possessed knowledge which Prophet Musa did not have and he is characterized as "one of Our slaves, unto whom We had given mercy from Us, and had taught knowledge from Our presence" (18:66).
However, the greatest of Allah's Friends are those of the Community of the Seal of Prophets, and it is in this sense that Abu Yazid al-Bistami's declaration must be understood whereby "We have crossed an ocean on the shores of which stood the Prophets." That is: the awliya' of the Community of the Prophet Muhammad, blessings and peace upon him, have inherited from him a knowledge and a position which the Prophets of Banu Isra'il yearned to attain. This is established by the hadith of Abu Malik al-Ash`ari we have just cited, and yet this does not contradict the fact that the Prophets are by far Allah's elect in creation, as Imam Tahawi's article of faith makes clear:
We do not prefer any of the saintly men of the Community over any of the Prophets but rather we say that any one of the Prophets is better than all the awliya' put together.32
The word for both vision and true dream is ru'ya, which Allah mentions in the Qur'an thus: "Allah has fulfilled the vision (ru'ya) for his Messenger in very truth" (48:27). The Prophet said:
The vision or dream (al-ru'ya) is one-fortysixth part of prophecy.33
When the Time draws near, almost no vision or dream of the believer will be false. The believer's dream is one-fortysixth part of prophecy, and prophecy never lies.
Whoever sees me in vision or dream sees me (truly), for Satan cannot take on my form, and the believer's dream is one-forty-sixth part of prophecy.
Among the greatest of lies is to ascribe to one's eyes the sight in a vision or dream of what one did not see.
Nothing remains of prophecy except the glad tidings (mubashshirat). They asked him: What are they? He said: The good vision or dream. (al-ru'ya al-saliha).34
That kashf is an opening granted by Allah that is completely independent of one's own exertion or capacity for learning is clear from the saying of Abu Hurayra: "I have retained from the Prophet two large vessels of knowledge":35 he used the term "vessels" to preclude the connotation of learning on his part, since liquid is not taught to the vessel, but poured in it. This indicates a state of passive receptivity, independent of exertion or skill. Another hadith, also in Bukhari, confirms that the Prophet was literally pouring knowledge into Abu Hurayra rather than teaching it:
Narrated Abu Huraira: I said, "O Allah's Apostle! I hear many narrations from you but I forget them." The Prophet said, "Spread your covering sheet." I spread my sheet and he moved both his hands as if scooping something and emptied them in the sheet and said, "Wrap it around you." I wrapped it round my body, and I have never since forgotten a single Hadith.36
Just as the true dream is a characteristic of the believer, so is kashf a characteristic of belief according to the following hadith:
From al-Harith ibn Malik al-Ansari (some chains have: al-Haritha ibn al-Na`man al-Ansari): He passed by the Prophet who asked him: "How are you this morning O Haritha ?" He replied: "This morning I am a real believer." The Prophet said: "Take care of what you say: what is the reality of your belief?" He said: "I have turned myself away from this world by keeping awake at night and by keeping myself thirsty by day; and I can almost see the Throne of my Lord in full sight; and I can see the people of the Garden of Paradise visiting each other; and I can almost see the people of the Fire wailing to each other in it." The Prophet said: "O Haritha, you do know: therefore cleave to it." Some versions add: "This is a believer, Allah has illumined his heart" (mu'minun nawwara Allahu qalbah).37
The Prophet highlighted `Umar's gift in this respect in particular:
In the nations before you were people who were spoken to (muhaddathun) though they were not prophets. If there is anyone in my Community, it is `Umar ibn Khattab.
It is related by Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, and Ahmad. It is elucidated by the two hadiths in Tirmidhi (which he graded hasan) whereby "Allah has engraved truth on the tongue of `Umar and his heart" and "If there were a prophet after me verily it would be `Umar." Tirmidhi adds to the muhaddath narration that according to Ibn `Uyayna "spoken to" means "made to understand" (mufahhamun), while in his narration Muslim adds: "Ibn Wahb explained "spoken to" as meaning "inspired" (mulhamun)," and this is the majority's opinion according to Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari (7:62:#3689) who adds "spoken to" means "by the angels." Nawawi and Ibn Hajar said respectively in Sharh Sahih Muslim and Fath al-Bari:
The scholars have differed concerning "spoken to." Ibn Wahb said it meant: "inspired" (mulhamun). It was said also: "Those on the right, and when they give an opinion it is as if they were spoken to, and then they give their opinion. It was said also: the angels speak to them... Bukhari said: "Truth comes from their tongue." There is in this a confirmation of the miracles of saints (wa fihi ithbatu karamat al-awliya).38
The one among who is "spoken to," if his existence is ascertained, what befalls him is not used as basis for a legal judgment, rather he is obliged to evaluate it with the Qur'an, and if it conforms to it or to the Sunna, he acts upon it, otherwise he leaves it.39
One of the "Salafis" claimed that since the hadith states "If there is anyone in my Ummah, it is `Umar," it must follow that at most the number of such inspired people is one. However, it is wrong to think that other Communities had many but this Community only one, as Ibn Hajar also stated in his commentary on that hadith. What is meant by the hadith is the perfection of the quality of ilham (inspiration) in `Umar, not its total lack in other Muslims, and Allah knows best.
The exalted status of the knowledge and power of the awliya' is referred to in the verses "Those who strive hard in Us, We shall most surely guide them in our Ways" (29:69) and ittaqullah wa yu`allimukumullah ("Be aware of Allah, and Allah Himself will teach you" 2:282), and the hadith man `amila bi ma `alima warrathahullahu `ilma ma lam ya`lam ("Whoso acts upon what he knows, Allah will make him inherit a knowledge that he did not have").40 Our master Bayazid al-Bistami cited this hadith in response to some "Salafi" types in his time who were asking him: "From where and from whom did you get this knowledge which you claim to have?"41 The Shaykh al-Hakim42 al-Tirmidhi in the second chapter of his Adab al-muridin describes such striving as a kind of door which leads to nearness to Allah, and Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani refers to the knowledge and power that result from it in Discourse 16 of Futuh al-ghayb:
And fear Allah and He will teach you, then He will invest you with the power of controlling the universe with a clear permission which will have no obscurity in it... and He has done this with many of His Prophets and awliya and people especially favored from among the children of Adam.
To receive such knowledge is called a karama for the saint and a mu`jiza for the Prophet. The process of receiving it is similarly differentiated: as wahy for the latter and ilham , ru'ya , kashf , firasa , mubashshira , mukashafa , mushahada , or mukhataba for the former. Shaykh `Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani said in Discourse 9 of his Futuh al-ghayb:
To awliya' and abdal (Substitute-saints) are disclosed such workings of Allah in the course of kashf and mushahada as overwhelm the reasoning power of man and shatter into pieces all habits and customs.
al-Siraj al-Tusi in his famous book al-Luma` (The lights), a compilation of the sayings of the Sufis, mentions the following two definitions of the conditions of kashf:
Abu Muhammad al-Jurayri said: "Whoever does not work to fulfill what lies between him and Allah the Exalted by way of godfear and vigilance, will never reach unveiling and contemplation." al-Nuri said: "The uncoverings of the eyes are through eyesight, and the uncoverings of the hearts are through connection (ittisal)."43
One of the highest examples of such favor is undoubtedly the meeting and true vision of the Prophet, which is a reality established in the hadith of seeing the Prophet in dream, and documented through the relations of the trustworthy from the Companions to the Successors and their Successors down to our day. Some of these relations have been recorded in Suyuti's fatwa Tanwir al-halak fi imkan ru'yat al-nabi wal malak (The illumination of intense darkness through the possibility of seeing the prophet and the angels) in his Hawi li al-fatawi. We have already mentioned in the section discussing the evidence that the Prophet hears and sees us al-Haytami's answer in his Fatawa hadithiyya whereby it is possible for Allah's Friends to meet the Prophet while awake in our time.44 They can also meet al-Khidr, as Sakhawi relates about Imam Nawawi:
It is well-known that he (Imam Nawawi) used to meet with al-Khidr and converse with him among many other mukashafat.45
The exalted status of the saints' firasa is mentioned in the hadith whereby the Prophet said: ittaqu firasat al-mu'min fa innahu yara bi nurillah "Beware the vision of the believer, for he sees with the light of Allah," then he recited the verse: "Therein lie portents for those who read the signs" (al-mutawassimin) (15:75).46 Tirmidhi narrated this authentic hadith in the Book of the Commentary of Qur'an in his Sunan and said that some of the commentators have explained "Those who read the signs" as meaning: those who possess vision (al-mutafarrisin)." al-Sakhawi in al-Maqasid al-hasana (#23) mentions another authentic hadith whereby the Prophet said: "Allah has servants who know (the truth about people) through reading the signs" (tawassum).47
It is established in the sound hadith that at the end of time every Muslim will be endowed with this ability to "ready the signs," so that he will be able to recognize the dajjal or antichrist as a disbeliever by reading the letters K-F-R over his forehead.48
It is related that the firasat of a pious shaykh was at the origin of Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani's decision to take up the study of jurisprudence rather than devote himself exclusively to hadith:
Ibn Hajar said: "He (Muhibb al-Din al-Wahidi al-Maliki) said to me: "Invest some of that energy of yours into fiqh, for I see by way of firasat that the scholars of this country (Egypt) are going to be depleted, and there will be need of you, so don't indulge yourself." And his word to me helped me greatly, and I still pray for him for that reason, may Allah have mercy on him."49
The following account of firasa is related about Imam al-Junayd al-Baghdadi:
Abu `Amr ibn `Alwan relates: I went out one day to the market of al-Ruhba for something I needed. I saw a funeral procession and I followed it in order to pray with the others. I stood among the people until they buried the dead man. My eyes unwittingly fell on a woman who was unveiled. I lingered looking at her, then I held back and began to beg forgiveness of Allah the Exalted.
On my way home an old woman told me: "My lord, why do I see your face all darkened?" I took a mirror and behold, my face had turned dark. I examined my conscience and searched: In what did calamity befall me? I remembered the look I cast. Then I sat alone somewhere andI began to ask Allah's forgiveness assiduously, and I asked to do with little for forty days. (During that time,) the thought came to my heart: "Visit your shaykh al-Junayd." I travelled to Baghdad. When I reached the room where he lived, I knocked at his door and heard him say: "Enter, O Aba `Amr, you sin in al-Ruhba and we ask forgiveness for you here in Baghdad."50
The possessor of such gifts and powers of vision is of course in no way exempted from the obligations of religion. Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili warned:
If your kashf opposes the Book and the Sunna, leave kashf and tell yourself: Allah has guaranteed infallibility to the Book and the Sunna, but He has not guaranteed it for kashf.51
Ibn `Arabi similarly said:
Someone in this Community who claims to be able to guide others to Allah, but is remiss in but one rule of the Sacred Law -- even if he manifests miracles that stagger the mind: ... we do not even turn to look at him, for such a person is not a shaykh, nor is he speaking the truth, for no-one is entrusted with the secrets of Allah Most High save one in whom the ordinances of the Sacred Law are preserved.52
Shaykh `Abd al-Qadir Gilani says the same thing in the Futuh. And their leader in this is the Sultan of the Knowers of Allah Bayazid al-Bistami who said:
If you see him fly in the air and walk on water do not be deluded by him, but see how he stands on the orders and the prohibitions.53
It is evident from the definition of the term kashf that it refers to a hidden knowledge of a tremendous nature, and that is what Ibn `Arabi meant by saying "the secrets of Allah Most High," as is alluded by continuation of the hadith of Abu Hurayra mentioned above:
I have stored up from the Prophet two large vessels of knowledge. One I have disseminated among the people; if I were to disseminate the other, they would cut my throat.
Imam Bukhari said: "The Knowers (al-`ulama') are the inheritors of the Prophets, that is: they have inherited (their) knowledge."54 The first part of his statement is actually an authentic hadith of the Prophet.55 Thus it is beyond anyone's reach to put limitations on the gifts Allah bestows on His Friends, except that we give such gifts different names -- mu`jiza or karama -- depending whether the recipient is a Prophet or a saint. Nor is it impossible that some saints of the Prophet's Community, like the Prophet himself, do know the Unseen except for what Allah hides from them and reserves to others of His creatures -- such as angels -- or exclusively to Himself, according to His will.
The inheritorship of the Prophet's knowledge by the great scholars is illustrated by al-Khatib's relation from al-hafiz Abu Nu`aym already mentioned, whereby Abu Nu`aym considered it incumbent upon all Muslims to invoke Allah for Abu Hanifa in their prayer due to his preservation of the Prophet's Sunan and fiqh for them.56 Another example is the following account about Imam Malik related by Ibn al-Jawzi in the chapter entitled "Layer 6 of the People of Madina" of his book Sifat al-Safwa:
Abu Mus`ab said: I went in to see Malik ibn Anas. He said to me: Look under my place of prayer or prayer-mat and see what is there. I looked and I found a certain writing. He said: Read it. (I saw that) it contained (the account of) a dream which one of his brothers had seen and which concerned him. He said (reciting what was written): "I saw the Prophet in my sleep. He was in his mosque and the people were gathered around him, and he said: I have hidden for you under my pulpit (minbar) something good -- or: knowledge --and I have ordered Malik to distribute it to the people." Then Malik wept, so I got up and left.57
Observe the attitude of the awliya towards the meeting with the Prophet in dream and their strong belief both in the absolute credibility of such dreams and their particular contents. This one explicitly states that the Prophet has kept something good hidden for his Umma, and that he continues to give it through one of the greatly learned `ulama after his time.
Similarly Imam Ahmad cited in Kitab al-zuhd, also Ibn Abi al-Dunya, Abu Nu`aym, Bayhaqi, and Ibn `Asakir from Julays from Wahb ibn Munabbih who said: I saw the Prophet in my sleep, so I said: "Ya Rasulallah, where are the Substitutes (budala') of your Community?" So he gestured with his hand towards Syria. I said: "Ya Rasulallah, aren't there any in Iraq?" He said: "Yes, Muhammad ibn Wasi`, Hassan ibn Abi Sinan, and Malik ibn Dinar, who walks among the people similarly to Abu Dharr in his time."
The "Salafis" have claimed in their ignorance that the principles of kashf and of the inheritorship of the Prophet in any sense other than memorization or bookish learning contradict Allah's saying: "Today I have perfected your religion, completed my favor upon you, and accepted for you Islam as religion" (5:3) and the Prophet's status as having conveyed the Message to the people perfectly. They also direct the same false claims to ijtihad (qualified independent reasoning), ijma` (consensus of the scholars), and qiyas (analogy) themselves, as al-Zahawi showed in his refutation of the Wahhabi heresy:
They (Wahhabis) denounce by saying that the Imams believe that the religion of Islam is deficient and that they complete it by "reasoning" like ijma' and qiyas. For this, they cite the Qur'anic verse: "Today I have completed your religion." (3:5) They say we find whatever is necessary for life clearly stated in the Qur'an. So what need do we have for qiyas. The texts take in the whole of life's eventualities without need of derivation (istinbat) and analogy (qiyas)...58
The sect of the Mu`tazila did not believe in the miracles of the saints, and some today even claim: "The awliya are not known except to Allah, and there is no such thing as kashf in the shari`a" and "We only trust a person whom Allah or His Messenger ordered us to trust, but as for those claimed awliya', there is no specific evidence about them from Allah or His Messenger" as a way to withhold their respect from the pious or pay it out stingily and reluctantly.
These are all matters in which the "Salafis" and those who deny kashf reveal their Mu`tazili leanings. One of them even said: "The sufi-doctrine of "miracles of saints" claims that the awliya' have control over it. Of course they say by Allah's will. (Also, the sect of the Shi`ah believe in that!)"
Observe how he contradicted himself in his haste to cast blame upon a figment of his imagination: on the one hand he makes his concocted "sufi-doctrine" claim control over the elements, yet on the other he makes those who hold that doctrine ("they") say: "By Allah's will," which eradicates any claim of a
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has added a new journalFYI i have a lil 50% sufi background..But wallah i never went to their dargahs in pakistan or india.. as i never liked it one lil bit
Sufiiiissss u will get zaras joootiii (shoes) hahaha
umer2281
Actually i was just reading this discussion again. The issue of whether all sufis negate shariah or not is not the point. What i'm trying to say is that its erroneous to assume sufism = asharism.umer2281
Your wrong for grouping all sufis together like that. I mentioned Muhammed Haya al-Sindi because him and the other scholars mentioned becuase though they practiced tasawwuf they seemed to have literalist views in regards to aqidah (but were not anthropomorphs).Not all sufis neglected sharia. In fact the formation of sufi tariqas is largely attributed to Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani and the Qadiriyya tariqa. Shaykh Jilani in many of his sermons and would repeatedly stress the importance of shariah.
The reason why ppl immediatly think of people prostrating to graves, singing and dancing when they hear the word 'sufi' is because they've allowed western perceptions to define the term for them.
Kashmiran
to my understand, they (kurani, al sindi, Qushashi) were of the neo-suffi order, considerably different than suffi's of the past, and stressed importance of sharia whereas those of the past neglected it due to their 'spirituality.' Correct me if I'm wrong.
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has added a new journalNarrated by al-Tirmidhi (204) from 'Amr ibn Salamah who said:
We were sitting at the door of 'Abd-Allaah ibn Mas'ood before Fajr prayer, when he came out. We walked with him to the mosque, then Abu Moosa al-Ash'ari came to us and said: "Has Abu 'Abd al-Rahmaan come out to you yet?"
We said: "No."
So he sat with us until he came out, and when he came out we all stood up. Abu Moosa said to him: "O Abu 'Abd al-Rahmaan, just now I saw something in the mosque that I have never seen before, but I do not think it was anything but good."
He said: "What was it?"
He said: "If you live, you will see it." He said: "In the mosque I saw some people sitting in circles waiting for the prayer. In every circle there was a man, and in their hands they had pebbles. He would say: 'Say Allaahu akbar one hundred times,' and they would say Allaahu akbar one hundred times. He would say: 'Say Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah one hundred times,' and they would say Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah one hundred times. He would say: 'Say Subhaan-Allaah one hundred times,' and they would say Subhaan-Allaah one hundred times."
He said: "What did you say to them?"
He said: "I did not say anything to them; I was waiting to see what you think and I waited for your command."
He said: "Why did you not tell them to count their bad deeds and guarantee to them that their good deeds would not be wasted?"
Then he moved on and we moved on with him until he came to one of those circles, and he stood over them and said: "What is this that I see you doing?"
They said: "O Abu 'Abd al-Rahmaan, these are stones with which we count the takbeers, tahleel, and tasbeeh."
He said: "Count your bad deeds, for I guarantee to you that none of your good deeds will be lost. Woe to you, O ummah of Muhammad! How quickly you have become doomed! His companions are still alive and his cloak has not worn out, and his vessel is not yet broken. By the One in Whose hand is my soul, you are either following a way that is more guided that the way of Muhammad or you are opening the door to misguidance."
They said: "By Allaah, O Abu 'Abd al-Rahmaan, we intended nothing but good."
He said: "How many of those who intended good did not achieve it. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told us that some people would recite the Qur'aan and it would not go any further than their collarbones. By Allaah, I do not know, perhaps most of them are from among you."
Then he turned away from them and 'Amr ibn Salamah said: "I saw most of those circles on the side of the Khawaarij fighting us on the day of al-Nahrawaan."
Shadhili2003
Correct me if I'm wrong but it does not seem that this is from the Prophet(saw). The Prophet(saw) seems to be mentioned in third person as if he is not present.Ibn `Umar reported, "The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, `When you pass by a garden of paradise, avail yourselves of it.' The Companions asked, `What are the gardens of Paradise, O Messenger of Allah?" The Prophet, peace be upon him, replied, `The assemblies of dhikr. There are some angels of Allah who go about looking for such assemblies of dhikr, and when they find them they surround them.'"
aim786
nope thas all I ask...