Ramadan of the Elders

[afriki_haqq]

The Ramadan of Mawlana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi

By Shaykh Muhammad Zakariyya Kandahlawi

I have written in Aap Beeti Vol. 6 under the heading of spiritual exertion that while dictating the practices of Hadrat Rashid Ahmad Gangohi in Ramadan, I wanted to note it down because of its relevance to the subject. There I wrote:

“His extreme exertion in spiritual exercises was such that onlookers felt pity for him. Such was he that in Ramadan, even when his age had advanced beyond seventy, he fasted the whole day. Then in awwabin, instead of six rakats he used to perform twenty rakats during which he never recited less than approximately two juz. So long did he stay in ruku’ and sujud that onlookers thought that he had forgotten himself. Upon finishing this salat, he proceeded homeward to partake of the evening meal. Even during this time he would not remain idle, but en route and waiting for the food etc…, he also finished reciting several juz.

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The Ramadan of Mawlana Qasim Nanautwi

By Shaykh Muhammad Zakariyya Kandahlawi

Unfortunately I could not ascertain the details of how Mawlana Muhammad Qasim Nanautwi (Allah have mercy on him) spent his Ramadan and today there is no one alive who will be able to supply us with that Hajj journey of 1277 AH when he memorised the whole Qur’an. He daily memorised one juz (part), which was then recited in tarawih that evening.

Mawlana Muhammad Yaqoob Nanautwi (Allah have mercy on him) writes in Sawanih Qasmi that in Jumada ‘l-Thani 1277 AH, Mawlana Qasim departed for Hajj and arrived in Makkah at the end of Dhu l-Qa’dah. He arrived in Madinah for ziyarah after Hajj in Safar and only returned to arrive in Bombay at the end of Rabi’ al-Awwal. At home he arrived by Jumada ‘l-Thani.

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The Ramadan of Shah ‘Abd al-Rahim Raipuri

By Shaykh Muhammad Zakariyya Kandahlawi

The Ramadan of Mawlana Shah ‘Abd al-Rahim Raipuri is also described in Tadhkirah al-Khalil. He was a man with tremendous love and zeal for the teaching of the Qur’an, for which purpose he was instrumental in the erection of numerous Qur’anic schools in the rural areas and in and around the district of Dehradun (Northern India).

He had great love for the recitation of the Qur’an. He was himself a hafidh and it was one of his general habits to spend practically the whole of the night in tilawah (recitation). Of the whole twenty-four hours of the day it was hardly ever that he slept for one hour during the night. He loved solitude and felt depressed at the presence of people in his company as it robbed him of the opportunity of tilawah. The time between ‘Asr and Maghrib was set aside for meeting the public (as was the time from 9 to 10 in the morning).

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Assalaamu 'Alaykum

The Ramadan of Shaykh al-Hind Mahmud al-Hasan

By Shaykh Muhammad Zakariyya Kandahlawi

A few words have already been mentioned in Fadha'il al-A'mal about the Ramadan practices of Shaykh al-Hind Mawlana Mahmud al-Hasan Deobandi (Allah have mercy on him). Shaykh al-Islam Mawlana Husain Ahmad Madani (Allah have mercy on him) writes in his book Safarnama Aseer Malta:

“Because of the fact that Ramadan in Ta'if (Saudi Arabia) was a time of great unrest and upheavals, people could not obtain the necessary foodstuffs they needed and neither could they perform the tarawih salah in the mosques. The masjid of Ibn 'Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) is the largest masjid in the area and even there too tarawih was performed of the last ten surahs. Even then too very few people attended, while the rest either prayed in their local masjids or at home.

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[shatibi]

good prep for Ramadan.