Maktubaat e Sadi

[dr76]

Paramountcy of Shari'ah

Another indecorous thinking that had gained popularity among certain mystics of the day was that the established religious institution could be brushed aside by them, for, according to them, one needs to follow the commandments of the Shari'ah up to a certain stage; but when he reaches the stage of acquaintance and attains the fellowship of Divine Essence, he could reject the demand for external conformity to the shari'ah. The wide diffusion of this erratic idea had given reins to many illiterate and misguided mystics who, acting as impious ministers of evil, were spreading infidelity and irreligiousness among the superstitious masses.

Even certain educated persons had started citing the Qur'anic verse: 'And worship thy Lord until there cometh death'. to support this contention.
(Q.XV:99 –almost all the eminent commentators of the Qur'an hold the view that the word Yaqin, in Arabic means death in this verse while certain mystics interpreted the word to mean spiritual enlightenment)

They argued that the shar'iah need be followed in letter and spirit until one attains the stage of certitude of the transcendental truth, but once one reaches that stage the chains of law fall to pieces for him. Makhdum Yahya Maneri raised his voice in defense of the authentic religious view and demonstrated the fallacy of the antinomian practitioners of Sufism.
He set forth arguments to show that whatever stage or station may be attained by a traveler of spirit, he has to follow the rules of Shari'ah to the end of his life's journey, for they are never suspended or superseded by the elevation of the spirit.

The following quotation from one of his letters will show that Makhdum severely taxed those who opposed the authority of the established religious institution finding expression in the laws of the Shari'ah.

"Brother Shams udd-din ought to be aware of the subtle ways of the Devil who sometimes makes the mystics believe that the object of renouncing sin is to weaken the natural human desires and inclinations so that the remembrance of God overcomes them and cleanses the heart of its impurities.
The whole endeavor is meant, the Devil tells them, to attain the perfection of Divine Knowledge , and so is also the shari'ah a means to arrive at the same goal. Thus, if a man already reaches that destination, what has he to do with the luggage and means of transport.

The prescribed forms of liturgical service would then become a veil for him. one already beholding Eternal beauty needs no prostrations, devotions and orisons as these are the aids for attuning the strings of one's heart with the melody of Divine Essence. They claim that they find themselves engulfed by celestial glory and the reign of spirit – But, in truth and reality, they give expression to what Satan had felt when he was asked to prostrate before Adam.

Being aware of his station he thought that nothing would he gain by bending low before a being lower than him. God has not referred to this story as a myth or fable but to serve as a warning for those who are given to the ruses of Satan.
God wanted to tell them that nobody should dare flout His law. Verily, the precursors of faith have correctly emphasized that the path chalked out by the shari'ah is the only way to attain the fellowship of God.

"Here Satan has kept an important point concealed from the view of this misguided group. He has persuaded them to believe that the only purpose of Shari'ah is to attain proximity of the lord. But this is wrong for the Shari'ahis meant for a lot more than that.
Take for instance , the prayers prescribed for five times a day; these are the five poles supporting a canopy of human perfection; if the poles are taken away, the canopy will fall to the ground as Iblis himself fell from his exalted postion.

Now, if you want to know how the prayers lend their support to make a man virtuous ; My brother, this something beyond your limited intellect to conceive.
These are the properties or characteristic qualities of medicines or other substances, or the attracting power of the magnet but nobody can find out the reason why these properties have been embedded in these substances"

Contd..

wa assalam..

[dr76]

Practical Wisdom of the Shar’iah

The Practical wisdom of the Shar’iah, utility of its practical functioning and the way it guards and enhances the faith and moral virtues of the believer and links his spirit to the Divine Essence has been set out by Makhdum Yahya Maneri in one of his letters.
He shows through an allegory how disregard for the rules of the Shar’iah leads a man to the destruction wrought by the devil within him.

“Suppose a man constructed a palatial house on the top of a hill and provided every means of comfort within it. When the time came to quit this world, he bade his son to make alterations he might desire in the house, but to leave untouched an aromatic grass planted by him in a portion of the courtyard even if the grass became dry.


When spring came, the hill and the vales wore the look of emerald green, flowers of numerous varieties blossomed forth and filled the air with their fragrance and the sweet smell of the old grass was overcome by redolent smells.

The boy thought that his father had planted that old spicy grass merely for fragrance and therefore it was no use to let it be there anymore. He, therefore, ordered his servants to pick out the grass.
But when the grass was thrown away, a black serpent came out of a hole and bit the boy. The aromatic grass planted by his father had two properties, first, to keep the house filled with aroma, and, secondly, to keep away the snakes.

It had an antipathic smell to the reptiles. The boy was so proud of his knowledge that he considered everything not known to him to be non existent. Being ignorant of the Divine revelation that ‘of knowledge ye have been vouchsafed but little’ (Q.XVII:85), the poor fellow was brought to ruin.

Similar is the case with those misinformed mystics who think that the wisdom and secrets of the Shar’iah laid open to them are all that is worth knowing about it. This is a great mistake they have made like many other travelers of spirit who have fallen prey to this fatal belief.

They had thought that the Shar’iah had only one objective and thus they could never think of its other aims and designs which were more important for attaining the best ends.

They could never conceive that if the Shar’iah intended to achieve only the end they had in view, then why the Prophet spent his nights standing in prayer until his feet used to swell up.
The Prophet never said that the prayer was incumbent on his followers but he was exempt from it.”
(Letter.no 70)


contd..

wa assalam..

[dr76]

In another letter on the subject Makhdum says:

"All those doctors of divinity , Sufis and saints who had attained the height of sanctity have held the view that every rule and condition laid down by the Islamic doctrine of duties is imperceptibly related to some spiritual merit beneficial for Divine blessing in the Hereafter. All of them have scrupulously followed the discipline of these laws till the end of their life.

Once an attendant of Shaikh Junaid Baghdadi , who was helping him in performing ablution, forgot to pass his fingers through his beard. The Shaikh caught hold of his hand and reminded him to do so for it was a Sunnah of the Prophet . Some person present on the occasion asked :

"Is it not permissible to omit these voluntary details especially when one is unable to perform the ablution by himself?".
The Shaikh replied: "I have been blessed by God solely because of acting on the Sunnah of the Prophet ".

This was the way trodden by those who had been blessed with interior illumination; but, alas, those who are misinformed are so easily thrown off the false scent. They think that whatever is beyond their understanding or not known to them, does not exist at all.

Fajr has two rak'ats of prayer, Zuhr has four, Asrhas again four, maghrib has three and isha has four of them, and then each rak'at is completed by a Ruku and two Sujood.
Each of these has its own merit propitious for attaining the entelechy of spirit. The worth and excellence of all these acts are manifested as soon as a man breathes his last. Then he knows that no perfection, no exaltation of spirit is of any use to him if the stipulations of the Shari'ah are taken out of them.

Every wayfarer of mysticism who will leave this world in that condition would find humself utterly ruined and then he would cry out : "What has happened to the perfection of spirit attained by me ?" then the reply he would get will be : ' The plank of your perfection was not nailed to your coffin and so it has been blown away in the same way as as all the merits and perfections of Iblis were reduced to dust for a single transgression of the Divine command" (Letter no.26)

Makhdum Yahya Maneri (rah) was so rigidly opposed to the Sufis' disregard of religious duties that in a letter he lashes out at their practice in these words:

"This is absolutely wrong and the creed of renegades who say that one (mysticism) is permissible without the other (Law of Islam) .they assert that when someone attains the truth and is rewarded with illuminations and beatifications, the Law becomes superfluous for him. Fie upon such beliefs and creeds".( Ibid)

contd..

wa assalam..

[syamuj]

Keep up the great work Dr. Saab.

[dr76]

Significance of shari'ah

Makhdum held that the path of mysticism was a misnomer without acting on the precepts of Shari'ah. Says he:

"Nobody can get anything out of mysticism if he does not obey the precepts of the Shari'ah. It is only the renegades and apostates who hold that one is permissible without the other. They maintain that the Shari'ah becomes needless after one has found the essence of truth. Damn this belief! Shari'ah is the outward expression of faith, but without inward credence it is hypocrisy; and the belief without external imperative is apostacy.

The exterior of the Shari'ah without interior faith is a defect : the faith concealed in the heart without outward expression is no more than avarice. That which is manifest is so integrated with its inner content that the two can never be separated." (Ibid)

Emulation of the Prophet

In his letters Shaikh Makhdum Yahya Maneri expounded the view that neither salvation could be achieved nor any perfection of spirit, or, for that matter, nor fellowship of Eternal being can be attained without following in the footsteps of the beloved Prophet of God . Commenting upon the Qur'anic verse : 'Say, (O Muhammed to mankind): If ye Love Allah, follow me, Allah will love you.' (Q.III:31)

Makhdum (rah) gave expression to his inmost feelings and the ardent love for the Apostle of God ( salallahu alaihi wasallam) in these verses of a Gnostic poet:

Seek not a new path, his word is gospel,
Seal your lips and stop all your prattle..
Whatever says he, saith the Lord,
Whate'er he does, is an act of God.
Be dust unto him to wear the crown,
To have your way knuckle down.
Like the dust of his way, if not is he,
He'll lick the dust, even if an angel be he." (50th Letter)

Concluded from Saviours of Islamic Spirit by Hazrat Maulana Shaikh Syed Abul Hasan Ali al Nadwi

At last a request to dear readers to recite Surah Ikhlas thrice and send the sawab to Hazrat Shaikh Sharfuddin Yahya Maneri (rah) and Hazrat Maulana Syed Abul Hasan Ali al Nadwi (rah).

also request to remember this worthless sinner in ur pious duas..

barakallah feek..

wa assalam..

dr76.

[Maripat]

Al-Mabruk.

[Maripat]

Shah Shuiab Firdausi relates in Manaqib - ul-Asfia that Shaikh Ahmed Sharafuddin was so assiduous at his studies that he did not like to spend a moment away from it. as the repast with others normally took a little more time which Shaikh Ahmed sharafuddin loathed to waste , his teachers had to permit him to take his food alone in his own room. It has been reported that he was so occupied in his studies that he never went through the letters sent to him by his family members , lest these might cause him some anxiety or distraction from his studies.

This itself is a high state of a Wali of Allah that we find difficult to fathom.

Having thought him all the then prevalent sciences , religious and discursive , maulana Sharafuddin suggested him to learn something about Alchemy too, but Ahmad excused himself by saying " Education of religious sciences would suffice for me " Maulana Sharafuddin had such a high regard for his talented disciple that he offered the hand of his daughter to him . During Ahmad's stay at sonargaon, his wife gave birth to a son whom he named Zaki ud-din.

I think this son and wife are the ones who will be left behind in his life because of the spiritual turmoil.
Very excruciating aspect of his life. This sinner was disturbed for months at the turn of those events - while reading the Maktubaat's preface.

[adam talha]

salam
bro. maripat.
could you tell us a more about what was intended by the following?
i dont know much about the noble shaykh.




* I think this son and wife are the ones who will be left behind in his life because of the spiritual turmoil.
Very excruciating aspect of his life. This sinner was disturbed for months at the turn of those events - while reading the Maktubaat's preface.
*

[Maripat]

I read the preface material of Maktubaat-e-Sadi when I was in theat state of mind that is common to people with modern education.

In that material we learned that Hazrat Muneeri (RA) left that innocent girl like wife with the young toddler son because he wanted to explore the reality of life.

Now demands of truth are much stronger than love of wife and cuty kiddy.

This was sort of eerie episode for this sinner to digest. A wife has her rights and a helpless infant needs much more attention as compared to a grown up wife.

It is clear that spiritual demands rode over the calls of duty.

I take both of them from Allah (SWT) and affirm that Hazrat Muneeri (RA) was one of the Walis of Allah (SWT).

May Allah (SWT) elevate his status and the status of his wife and son.