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My Head is Bowed to Thy Will

Major (Retd) Ghulam Muhammad

اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰہِ الَّذِیْ اَنْعَمَ عَلَیْنَا وَھَدٰنَا اِلٰی دِیْنِ اْلِاْسْلَام۔

Allah the Exalted Rabb has said:

O وَّ دَاعِیاًاِلَی  اللہِ بِاذْنِہٖ وَسِرَاجاً مُنِیْراً O اِنَّا اَرْسَلْنٰکَ شَاھِدًاو مُبَشِّراً ونَذِیْراً

"Indeed We have sent you as a witness and a bringer of good tidings and a warner. And one who invites to Allah, by His permission, and an illuminating lamp." [33:45-46]

The five qualities of the Holy Prophet^{Sall-Allahu-alaih-Wasallam} have been mentioned here—a witness, a bringer of good tidings, a warner, one who invites to Allah, and an illuminating lamp. Being a witness means that the Prophet^S-A-W will be the witness for the Ummah on the Judgment Day. In this regard, a long Hadees narrated by Hazrat Abu Saeed Khadri^{Razi Allah Anhu} has been reported in the Sahi Bukhari, Nasai, Tirmzi, etc. According to the excerpts from this Hadees, when Hazrat Nooh^AS will present himself before Allah on the Day of Judgment, he will be asked if he delivered Allah's message to his Ummah. He will say that he had conveyed it. Then, his Ummah will be presented, and they will deny receiving any message. At that time, Hazrat Nooh^AS will be asked if he has a witness to support his claim that he had indeed delivered the message of Truth. He will reply that Muhammad^S-A-W and his Ummah are the witness. His Ummah will argue that these witnesses were not even born in their times. How can they be the witness? The Ummah of Prophet Muhammad^S-A-W will be asked to reply to this argument. They will say that although they were born much later, they had received this knowledge from their Prophet^S-A-W, whom they fully trust and believe. Upon this, the Holy Prophet^S-A-W will be asked to testify to his Ummah's claim. The Prophet^S-A-W of Allah will confirm and endorse his Ummah through his testimony. The reality is that the Ummah's actions are presented before the Prophet^S-A-W every day, morning and evening. This is the reason why he^S-A-W will be made a witness of the Ummah on that Day (narrated by Ibn al-Mubarik via Saeed bin al-Musaib, Mazhari). The actions of the Ummah are replayed in 3D, as reading through written text is farther from logic. If a satellite can replay (what it records), can Allah not do such a thing for his Prophet? Moreover, the Dawwat [1]is also an extremely difficult task. It is beyond human capacity, unless Allah allows and helps him.

Another quality described here is that Hazrat Muhammad^S-A-W is an illuminating lamp. Hazrat Qazi Sanaullah^{Rehmatullah Alaih} has written in Tafseer-e-Mazhari that the quality “invites to Allah” pertains to the apparent and the spoken. And the quality “illuminating lamp” pertains to the Prophet’s^S-A-W blessed Qalb. Just like the whole world receives light from the sun, in the same way, the Qalbs of all the believers are illuminated by the Light of the Prophet’s^S-A-W Heart. This is the reason that the illustrious Companions, who benefited from the Prophet’s^S-A-W company, are superior to the whole Ummah. Because their Hearts received the Faiz and the Light directly from Nabi Kareem’s^S-A-W noble Heart, whereas the rest of the Ummah received this Light through the medium of the illustrious Companions, from whom it travelled through the generations, from chest to chest. It is an established belief that Rasool-Allah^S-A-W and all the other Prophets^AS, after having transitioned through this world, are alive and living in their graves. Because of this life, the believers’ Hearts will continue to draw upon the Light of the Prophet’s^S-A-W holy Heart. The more one respects and revers him, and the more one remains particular about the Darood Shareef, the greater the share of this Light that that person will receive.

The term “enlightened moderation” has become a buzzword in the recent years and religious fundamentalism is the target of the whole world. Following the Prophet^S-A-W and the illustrious Companions^{Razi Allah Anhu} one hundred percent is now considered extremism. I present before you some Verses from the Holy Quran.

فَاسْتَقِمْ کَمَآ اُمِرْتَ وَمَنْ تَابَ مَعَکَ وَلَا تَطْغَوْا ط اِنَّہٗ بِمَا تَعْمَلُوْنَ بَصِیْر

So remain on the right course as you have been commanded, [you] and those who are in your company after having repented,, and do not digress in the least. Indeed, He Sees what you do. [11:112]

اِنَّ الَّذِیْنَ قَالُواْ رَ بُّنَا اللہُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَا مُوْا  تَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَیْھِمُ الْمَلٰئِکَۃُ

Indeed, those who have said, "Our Lord is Allah" and then remained on the right course—the angels will descend upon them. [41:30]

لاتَمُدَّنَّ عَیْنَیْکَ اِلٰی مَا مَتَّعْنَابِہٖ اَزْوَاجاً مِّنْھُم

Do not (even) cast your eyes toward that by which We have given for enjoyment to [certain] categories of the disbelievers, and do not grieve over them. [15:88]

وَلَوْ اَنَّ اَھْلَ الْقُریٰٓ اٰمَنُوْ وَاتَّقَوْاْ لَفَتَحْنَا عَلَیْھِمْ بَرَکٰتٍ مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالْاَرْض

And if only the people of the cities had believed and feared Allah, We would have opened upon them blessings from the heaven and the earth. [7:96]

How can anyone embrace enlightened moderation after reading these Verses? In moderation, one has to follow the West, and not the Prophet and his Companions. One is supposed to imitate the western attire. One should offer his Namaz if one feels like it, and skip it if one does not. One should fast if one wants to, and not fast if one does not. Even if he keeps a beard, it should resemble Ghamdi’s[2] beard. There’s no shortage of enlightened spiritual guides, who do not offer Namaz at all. When asked the reason, they reply, “You pray five times, we pray all the time”! I also happened to meet in Jehlum one such Peer “Baba Jee”[3], who did not at all look like a Baba Jee by his appearance. When asked how he had gained the Wilayat[4], he said, “I was eighteen years old. One day, I was on the rooftop, when suddenly, the Peer of the Peers[5] appeared and poured everything he had upon me”. He has served in a bank all his life, and is now the spiritual guide of the bureaucrats. He uses a stick to ward away illness and suffering. He told me that he was looking after Pakistan, whereas his brother was responsible for India. He said he was living hand to mouth, and only possessed that 'shack' and a CNG station. The building that he was referring to as the shack must be worth tens of millions rupees, and I've heard that a CNG station involves investment to the tune of 100 to 120 million. I stayed there from Zuhr until Isha, and he did not say even a single prayer. Colonel Azmat told me that he says: "You pray five times, I pray all the time". In other words, he is all the time in the state of praying. Air Commodore Fazal Mehmood is an eyewitness of this whole incident.

We have turned away from the path of Allah's Prophet^{Sall-Allahu-alaih-Wasallam}, to please our western masters. We befriend them in the hope that that they will honor us, but they are themselves facing defeat and decline.  How can they honor anyone? Another Ayat of the Quran describes the way to get strength and honor from Allah.

اِلَیْہِ یَصْعَدُ الْکَلِمُ الطَّیِبُ وَالْعَمَلُ الصَّالِحُ یَرْ فَعُہٗ

This Ayat prescribes the Kalma Tayyaba or the Kalma of Tauheed[6] (in other words, the knowledge of Allah's Being and His Qualities) and righteous actions (or acting upon the Shariah) as the recipe for acquiring honor and power.

Hazrat Shah Abdul Qadir^{Rehmatullah Alaih} has written in Mauzah al-Quran that this formula for gaining respect is indeed true and effective, provided that one should be consistent in doing Zikr-Allah and performing righteous deeds. When this consistency reaches a certain preset threshold, Allah SWT blesses that person with such unending honor in this world and the Hereafter to which there is no comparison. The truth is that reciting the Kalma of Tauheed and glorifying Allah are insufficient unless righteous actions are performed. In the same way, righteous deeds also remain unadorned without doing Zikr Allah in excess. Only the excess of Zikr-Allah beautifies the deeds and makes them acceptable.

It doesn’t end here. My Allah says to his Prophet:

فاعرض عن من تولیّٰ عن ذکرنا و لم یرد الَّا الحیٰوۃَ الدُّنیا

"So turn away from whoever turns his back on Our Zikr and desires not except the worldly life." [53:29]

The relaxation of "eat and drink"[7] is meant for common folks. All such relaxations end for the person who treads the path that leads to Allah and makes Allah's Friendship his motive and objective. Allah then tests such people to see who is with Him and who is with his carnal desires. Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani says that he had not eaten anything for several days, when he met a person who gave him a pouch containing some Dirhams. The Shaykh bought some flat bread made of fine flour and some Halwa[8] made of dates. Just as he sat down to eat, he found a parchment on which it was inscribed: 'Allah SWT has mentioned in some heavenly Books that He has made wishes for the weaker among his people, so that they should take help from them for obeying Allah. As for the stronger, they have nothing to do with wishes.' The Shaykh says that he left the food and walked away.

Shaykh Abu Al Hassan Banan bin Muhammad^RA says that he saw Allah's Prophet^S-A-W in his dream. The Prophet^S-A-W said, "Banan". He said, "I'm here, O Prophet of Allah". The Prophet^S-A-W said, "Allah blinds the sight of the heart of the person who eats because of the desire of his Nafs[9], and I also don’t meet such people". Shaykh Banan^RA woke up and promised to himself that he would never eat to his stomach's fill ever again. He says that he had eaten two loaves of flat bread and a bowl of pulses that night.