The
following book is what a leading Deobandi had to say about
Ala Hadrat Mujaddid o Millat Imam-e-Ahl-as
Sunnat Shah
Imam Ahmed Raza Khan Fadil-e-Barelvi
:
Imam
Ahmad Rida Khan Baraylawee
( B1856/D1921 )
A Versatile Personality
By Mawlana Kausar
Niazi
(Ex-Member, Senate of Pakistan, & formerly
Federal Minister,
Government of
Pakistan)
Published
by
Jama’at e Ahl e Sunnat UK Publications
Printed
By Tandaa Printers
Translated from Urdu into English
by Nigar Erfaney Sabiri
with the kind co-operation
of Idarah Tahqeqat e Imam Ahmad Rida
(Karachi, Pakistan)
Foreword By M.
Bana
The treatise you are
about to encounter was presented as a paper by the
Late
Mawlana Kausar Niazi,
ex-Member of the Senate of Pakistan, and
former Federal
Minister of the Government of Pakistan, at a recent
conference held in Karachi, Pakistan. The conference was
convened by
Idarah Tahqeqat e Imam Ahmad Rida of
Karachi to honour and render
tribute to the greatest
Islamic Scholar ever to emerge in the Indo-Pak
Subcontinent - the Mujaddid of Islam Aa’la Hadrat
Imam Ahmad Rida
Khan, Alayhi al Rahmah wa al
Ridwaan.
This august assembly
almost always attracts Scholars of profound
erudition
from all over Pakistan and abroad irrespective of their
religious
persuasion who consider it an honour to
participate in this open forum
projecting their views
objectively and in the spirit of fairness
and
impartiality.There were some very prominent
personalities whose papers
were of a very high standard
executing justice to the subject matter at
hand.
It must be borne in
mind that Mawlana Kausar Niazi is in no way
connected to
the school of thought of Hadrat Imam Ahmad Rida,
Alayhi al Rahmah, on the contrary some of his
tutors were Mawlawi
Mawdoodi of Jama’at e Islami,
Mawlawi Muhammad Idrees
Kandhaylawee Deobandi,Mawlawi
Ubaydul Haq Nadwi and others.
Therefore,the Mawlana’s
treatise replete with praises,glorification
and
appreciation for Aa’la Hadrat certainly cannot be discounted
as
bias or partisan.
He has presented his subject as
he saw it, independently, objectively
and devoid of any
prejudice or jealousy.
It is hoped that this
profile would go a long way in eliminating the
cobwebs
of doubts and false allegations against the Great
Imam,
implanted in the minds of the unwary Muslims by the
baseless and
fabricated charges emanating from the
Mulla’s and Mawlawis
burning in the fire of jealousy and
submerged in a whirlpool of prejudice.
In the Urdu language,
whenever the word Aan-Hadrat (literally
and
traditionally meaning: ‘that Excellent Man of the
Highest Dignity’,
Muhammad, Salla Allahu
Alayhi wa Sallam) is used, there comes to
mind
‘the generous existence’ of the Noble Prophet, (Salla Allahu
Alayhi wa
Sallam), with the Honour of Finality of Prophethood and
when the word Aa’la Hadrat (literally meaning: the man
of excellence)
is used, it brings forth the name of a
servant of the Great Master
Muhammad (Salla
Allahu Alayhi wa Sallam). One can see that Imam
Ahmad
Rida Khan,
(Rahimahu Allah), did not achieve this
position by virtue of the elegance
of Belief from his
admirers,but it is due to the munificence of his
immense
absorption in the love of his Great, Greatest
Master,Muhammad,
(Salla Allahu Alayhi wa Sallam),
and being an all-comprising personality.
We know that a
number of cyclopaedic personalities have passed in the
Indo-Pak sub-continent, but when an impartial critic
takes stock of all
profiles, he finds no other
omnigenous person but that of Shah Rida’s
(Rahimahu
Allah) versatile and compendious personality.
Which was the Faculty
of Knowledge where he had no access? He had
masterly
command over the Tafseer (Exegesis of the Noble
Qur’aan),
the Aha’deeth (the Prophetic
Traditions), the Fiqh (Juristic opinions
of Islamic
Sacred Law), Geometry, Mathematics, Science, Philosophy,
Astrology, Jafar (Numerology), Physics,
Chemistry, Economics, Geology,
Geography, History,
Politics, Ilm al Munaazarah, Algebra, Syntax,
Etymology,
Ilm al Ma’anee, al Badee, al Balaghah: meaning,
expression and oratory, Eloquence and Rhetoric
(figures of speech;
oratorial), Ilm al Tajweed
and the Orthoepy, Tasawwuf, Sulook,
Philology, Poetry
and Literature, Khat e Naskh and Khat e Nas’ta’leeq.
His
biographers have enumerated almost sixty faculties of
knowledge
in which he had full proficiency and command.
At a time he was a great
Writer and Speaker, Debater,
Dogmatist (Mutakallim),
Traditionalist
(Muhaddith) and Exegete (Mufassir), Jurist
(Faqeeh)
and Statesman. He is not wrong when
expressing gratitude, he says:
"Rida, the kingship of
the Realm of Expression is a worth of yours,
Wheresoever you have
come, you have established your authority."
(the word "expression"
implicates all the faculties of speech)
Due to the tyranny of
time, it is also a strange irony of fate that most
of
the great personalities of history have been treated
tyrannically
though they were popular and in their
context they have always
divided the people interested
in them. They did not leave anybody
impartial: some have
held much admiration for them, while others
have been
their opponents to the extent of enmity. In this opposition,
the dust of propaganda has also been thrown upon them.
Let us see
Ameer al Mu’mineen, Sayyidina Ali al Murtada,
(May Allaah, be
pleased with him). The Nusayries
incarnated him as God while the
Kharjites indicted him an
infidel. An example of recent times is of
Muhammad Ali
Jinnah. Admirers called him Qaid e A’zam (the
greatest leader), while the Fatwa-mongers (the
Mawlawis who issued
legal opinions against him)
charged him as the Kaafir e A’zam
(the greatest
infidel). The same situation has prevailed in the
chapter
of Imam Ahmad Rida’s personality.Those who are
in recognition of
his personality, maintain that he was
the Imam Abu Haneefa of the
sub-continent, while those
who opposed him to the extent of enmity
maintain that he
was a bid’atee (innovater), a aggresive jurist and
a polemic, and also a Mawlawi who favoured the English.
Contemporaneity has always been a cause of hatred
and malice,
but it is regrettable that even seventy one
years after his demise,
the horizon of criticism is
still filled with the dust storm. The people
who are apt
to see things through the colourful optics of prejudice
and bigotry, still do not try to see his bright face
with their clear eyes.
Had they demonstrated a
justifiable attitude, they would have no
difficulty in
adjudjing that the propaganda spread against Imam
Ahmad
Rida, (May Allah, be pleased with him) was consequent
of the dust clouds of malice afflicted over their
hearts; otherwise
each and every word from the Imam’s
tongue and pen, utterances
and actions have been calling
this out through the language of the
inner state,
that:
"I am neither a night
nor a night-worshipper, so I am not talking
about a
dream,
As I am the slave of a
sun (ie. Sayyidina Muhammad, Salla Allahu
Alayhi wa
Sallam)so I speak about the sun,(ie.Sayyidina Muhammad,
Salla Allahu
Alayhi wa Sallam)."
What an irony of fate?
The man who undertook the task of eradicating
the
bid’ah (innovations in
Islamic Beliefs and Practices) with a naked
sword,
was accused of supporting the bid’ah. When we go through
his thoughts and Fatawa’ (legal juristic
opinions), we see clearly
that perhaps no one has
opposed so bitterly the ways and practices
violating the
commandments of the Prophet of Allah,as he did.
(Salla
Allaahu Alayhi wa Sallam). When one of his
contemporaries,
Khwaja Hasan Nizamee Dahlawee wrote a
booklet entitled,
Murshid Ko Sajdah e
Tazeemee, (Prostration
before the Murshid
in Reverence), Imam Ahmad Rida,
(Alayhi al Rahmah), in response
to it wrote a
booklet entitled Hurmat e Sajdah e Tazeemee
(The
Prohibition of Prostration in Reverence), proving it
Haram,
(Unlawfull), corroborating from more than
one hundred Verses
and Ahadeeth. People generally think
that the Peeree Mureedee,
(the Spiritual Guidance and
the Discipleship), is an essential of Islam,
but he
has written in his famous book the As-Sunniyah al Aneeqah,
(The Beautiful Sunnism):
"At last for the
deliverance, it is enough to know the Prophet of
Allah, (Salla Allahu
Alayhi wa Sallam), as the Murshid
(Spiritual
Guide)."
However, he maintained
it correct and useful to accept someone
as a Murshid and
to uphold his bay’ah ( oath, allegiance), but
only
for the reformation and refinement of the
self.
Similarly, our people
display illumination over the graves. Imam
Ahmad Rida,
(Rahimahu Allah) maintains that the burning of
lamps
over the graves is a bid’ah. He allows it only in the
event
of the grave lying in the wayside or within the
premises of a Mosque
and its light may benefit the
way-farers and the Namazis; daily prayer
worshippers.
Today it has become customary that shrouds of cloth be
placed over the graves, weighing in maunds or tons; and
these shrouds
are generally used for the Dastar bandee
(adorning the head with a
turban as a token of
honour), of the Ministers and the affluent.
Imam
Ahmad Rida, (Alayhi al Rahmah), holds the opinion to
the
extent of offering only one shroud over the grave
(of Righteous
Scholars and the Awliyaa Allah). He
does not think it right to offer
heaps of shrouds as a
custom. He writes:
"...........The money
which they spend in this (offering), (they)
should
give it to a needy person in order to offer this
Reward to the auspicious
soul of the Walee al Allah
(the Friend of Allah)".
People who are unaware
of the Right, also maintain the Qawwalee
(a group of singers with musical
instruments), as an identification of
Imam
Ahmad Rida’s school of thought, although he has
declared
such qawwaalis wrongful which are displayed with
the musical
instruments, as we see in his treatise the
Masail e Sima’, (Problems
related to the audience of
the Qawwalis).
It is said, that Imam
Ahmad Rida, (Alayhi al Rahmah), was very
severe
and aggravating. In his books, he has indicted the
Ulama; Scholars
and dignitaries of high calibre as
Kafirs; infidels, but I say that this
is the one thing
that distinguishes and identifies him from other
schools
of thought.Unfortunately, many people think that
he was the founder
of a sect, namely Baraylawee; though
he is only a Hanafi,
(follower
of the Shar’eey Principles and Methodology of
Imam al Azam Abu
Haneefah), and a Salafee,
(the follower of the Pious Predecessors of
the
Ummah), and he was nothing else. Contrary to him, those
who
are called the Deobandee also profess the same
viewpoint relating to
Fiqh and most other questions, as
Shah Ahmad Rida Khan, Baraylawee,
(Rahimahu
Allah), believed and practiced. The Peeree Mureedee is
also
found among them (ie. the Deobandis). They
also believe in Istimdad
Bi Ghayr al Allah, (The Manifestation of the help of Allah
through the
Prophet’s and Righteous Awliya Allah).
They also admit the munificence
of the graves. They also
oppose the concept of not keeping along the
line of the
pious ancestors. They also prefer the Fiqh of Imam
Abu
Haneefa to all other schools of Fiqh. The real
contention took rise
from here that Imam Ahmad Rida,
(Alayhi al Rahmah), considered
the careless writings of some of their
dignitaries as objectionable
and since the matter
pertained to the Greatness of the Noble
Prophet,
(Azmat e
Rasool, Salla Allahu Alayhi wa Sallam), they were aimed
at
with his Fatawa’s on the basis of contempt of
the Noble Prophet,
(Salla Allahu Alayhi wa
Sallam). On studying them, one realises that
these
Fatawa’ provide the foundation of a separate identification
of
Imam Ahmad Rida, (Rahimahu Allah) and his
school of thought.
The rigidity and aggravation which is
spoken much of is the
identification of his self
and the recognition of his whole life. He was
absorbed totally in the love of the Prophet, (Salla
Allahu Alayhi wa
Sallam), as a result, his love was
not willing to tolerate even the least
possible contempt
of the Noble Prophet,(Salla Allahu Alayhi wa Sallam),
even in the state of doubt. At his last breath, the last
"will" he gave
to his inheritors and admirers
was:
"If you feel/find even
the slightest contempt or blasphemy in the Praise
of
Allah and his Prophet,
(Salla Allahu Alayhi wa Sallam), depart from
him
immediately no matter how dear he might be to you. When you see
a person
arrogant and impudent in the court/presence of the Prophet
of Allah, (Salla Allahu
Alayhi wa Sallam), depart from him immediately
no
matter how elderly and
dignified he may be, throw him out, (of
your
circle), like a house-fly, fallen in the milk." (Wasaya
Shareef).
I learnt my lessons of
the Saheeh Bukharee from a famous Deobandee
Scholar
Shaykh al Hadeeth Mawlana Muhammad Idrees
Kandhaylawee.
When in discussions, the A’la’
Hadrat was mentioned, Mawlana
Kandhaylawee would
say:
"Mawlawee Sahib (and
this ‘Mawlawee Sahib’ was his expletory word),
Mawlana
Ahmad Rida Khan will get deliverance due to these
Fatawa’.
Allah, the Almighty will say, "You, Ahmad Rida
Khan, You loved our
Prophet, (Salla Allahu Alayhi wa
Sallam), so much that you did not
forgive even such
great scholars. You considered that they had
committed
contempt of the Prophet, (Salla Allahu Alayhi
wa Sallam), so you issued
the Fatawa’ of infidelity
against them.Lo! We grant you deliverance
only due to
this one deed."
I have heard another
story on the same pattern from Mufti e A’zam
Pakistan,
Mawlana Mufti Muhammad Shafee Deobandee. He said:
"When Hadrat Mawlana
Ahmad Rida Khan, (Rahimahu Allah),
passed away, somebody
came to Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawee,
and informed him.
Involuntarily Mawlana Thanawee raised his
hands in
prayer. When the prayer was over, someone from the
audience asked; "He (Imam Ahmad Ridaa, Alayhi al Rahmah)
had been calling you a Kafir (Infidel) throughout his
lifetime and
you have prayed for his deliverance." He
(Mawlana Thanawee)
replied, (and this is the point which
requires consideration):
"Mawlana Ahmad Rida Khan
indicted the Fatawa’s of Kufr
against me because he
believed that I was guilty of contempt in
the Honour of
the Prophet, (Salla Allahu Alayhi wa Sallam).
After
having this belief and surety,if he had not passed any
Fatwa
a’ of Kufr, he would
have himself become a Kafir."
What people call the
aggravation of Imam Ahmad Rida, (Rahimahu
Allah),
is the result of his homage and vigilance in the court of
Prophethood. When the poet composed the following
couplet,
he did not practice poetry, but has interpreted
the Sharee’ah
(Islamic Sacred
Law);
"The
Station of reverence is a place under the sky which is
more fragile than the Arsh,
This is the place when
persons like Junayd and Bayazeed arrive
lose their
breath (in homage and Vigilance)."
And one of my own
couplet is;
"Even breathe very
carefully for this is the Court of the Noble
Prophet,
(Salla Allahu Alayhi wa Sallam),
The risk of being even
slightly ill-mannered is severely
contemptuous
here."
This mode of respect
and vigilence is prevalent in each and every
word of
Imam Ahmad Rida’s,(Alayhi al Rahmah), writings and
speeches.
This is the hidden burning passion which is
more dearer to him than
his life. It is the insignia of
his Iman (belief). It is the smoke of his
sighs.
It is the reward of the whole creation and universe. It is
superior
to "this" and "that". It is the
peace of the lovers heart. It is the
collyrium of the
Saalik, (who follow the path of Spiritual
Stations).
It is the translation of the Noble
Qur’aan entitled Kanz - al Imaan,
(Treasury of
Faith).
Look at the
translation of the verse:
Al Qur’aan
93:7
The Noble Qur’aan
provides the evidence:
"Our Companion neither
went astray nor was misled."
Al Qur’aan
53:2
Dalla ( ) is a verb
denoting the past tense. It means that the Noble
Prophet, (Salla Allahu
Alayhi wa Sallam), did not go astray in the
past.
The Arabic language is an ocean. Every word has multifarious
meanings. The translators, in the flow of their beliefs
and thoughts,
extract any meaning of these words. The
translation of should have
been done with the , the
evidence from the Noble Qur’aan completely
in accordance
with the Greatness of the Noble Prophet, (Salla Allahu
Alayhi wa
Sallam).But one should ask the translators what justice
have they done with this verse of the Holy
Qur’an.
Shaykh ul Hind Mawlana
Mahmood Hasan, translates thus:
"And (We) found you
astray, (then We) taught you the way."
It may be said, that
Mawlana Mahmood Hasan was not a literator,
so he made a
mistake. Lets turn to the literator, poet, author and
journalist, Mawlana Abdul Majid Daryabadi. His
translation is:
"And He found thee
wandering, so He guided thee."
Mawlana Daryabadi was
an old fashioned literator, let us ignore
the slip of
his pen. Now we knock at the door of Mawlana Sayyad
Abul
A’laa Mawdoodi, the contemporary writer of the
standards
in and around Delhi, his translation runs
as:
"And (We) found
you unaware of the way, and then (We) bestowed
(Our) guidance (upon you)."
Refuge is in Allah!
Bear in mind the hidden temptations and
causeless
wranglings in the words,the Prophet’s
unawareness of the way and the
bestowment of
guidance, and then look in Kanz-al Iman, (Treasury of
Faith), the Translation of Imam Ahmad Rida,
(May the Mercy of
Allah
be upon him),
"Bring forth here, if
you ‘know’ how to speak,
The poor dweller of
the city has many things to express."
What a Love-inspiring
and Ethical translation the Imam has done.
He
says,
"And He found you
drowned in His Love, therefore gave way unto
Him."
What a tyranny! The
sectarianists are hesitant to raise their voice and
take
a coherant action along side the world Muslims against the
non-
sensical writings of (salman) rushdi, lest
their masters benefactor
become dissapointed. Yet,
contrary to this a ban was imposed on the
Faith
preserving translation of Imam Ahmad Rida, (May the
Mercy
of Allah be upon him), which is a treasure of
Saturated Love for the
Messenger of Allaah, (Salla
Allaahu Alayhi wa Sallam), and a Wealth
of
encyclopaedic knowledge of Islam.
"Madness is named
wisdom, and wisdom madness,
Your beauty may
conspire whatever wonder it desires."
Poetry is a different
field where elements of mannerism and homage,
care and
vigilence are often abandoned impudently by the poets.
In the realm of poetry, the category of Eulogy
(Naat;Eulogium and
Epithet; in Praise of the Messenger of Allah, Salla
Allahu Alayhi wa
Sallam), is a difficult class of
poetry wherein each step is on the
Narrow Bridge (Pul
Siraat). Here, on the one side is love and on
the
other the Sharee’ah (Islamic Sacred Law). A
poet describes the scene
of his attendance at the
(Sacred) Tomb of the Messenger, (Salla
Allahu
Alayhi wa Sallam), in these words;
"In what state of fear
and hope is the visit of the Sacred Tomb made,
On the one hand is
Love (and) on the other (upholding) Sacred
Law."
In fact such a
overcoming state is not only relevant during one’s
attendance at the Sacred Tomb of the Messenger,
(Salla Allahu
Alayhi wa Sallam). When composing a
eulogy in Praise of the
Noble Prophet of Allah,
(Salla Allahu Alayhi wa Sallam), every poet
is
confronted with such a test and trial. Here also, Love is on
the one
side, whilst the Sharee’ah is on the other. If
only the Sharee’ah is taken
into account, then the
couplet loses its poetic charm and it becomes a
sermon
and a speech. Likewise, when only the requisites of Love are
fulfilled then each and every word will be convicted a
criminal of
wounding Sharee’ah. Urfi Sheerazi describes
this critical situation in
one of his couplets in these
words;
"Urfi, do not walk
fast for this is the ground of Eulogy, it is not a
desert,
Walk slowly for you
are treading on the sharp edge of a sword."
Imam Ahmad Rida was
also fully mindful of this difficulty. He says in
his
Malfuzat (Assertions and
Advices);
"Composing a Eulogy
(Naat) is to walk over the edge of a sharp
sword.
If one overstates he
arrives in Divinity, and if
he understates it is
disparaging."
For this reason, he
says in one place;
"I have learnt Eulogy
from the Qur’an."
Keeping in view this
criterion, we look at the piles of Naati’a Poetry,
and
only one Poet meets this standard, and he is non other than
Ahmad
Rida Khan Baraylawee, (May the Mercy of Allah be upon
him), himself.
As you are well aware, I am a student
of Literature. I too write couplets.
I have studied
Naati’a Poetry in Urdu, Arabic, Persian all three
languages, and have thoroughly studied them. Without
fear of rebuttal,
I concede all the Naati’a Poetry of all
languages and all ages on the one
side and the
(Famous) Salam"(Blessed be Mustafa, Mercy
for Mankind),
of Shaah Ahmad Ridaa on the other. If
both Naati’a Poetry were to be
put on a scale, then the
Salam of Ahmad Rida would still remain weighty.
If I say
this Salam is the ‘Qaseedah Burdah’ (‘Poem of the
Mantle’) of
the Urdu Language, then there is no
exaggeration in this, even the
slightest.The language
and expression, the depth of feelings and warmth,
the
knowledge and realities of the Qur’an and Aha’deeth, the
Secrets
and Wisdoms of the Nobility of Character and
Seerah of the Messenger
of Allah, (Salla Allahu
Alayhi wa Sallam), the Authority and Uniqueness
in
the arrangement and mannerism found in this Salam, cannot be
discovered in the Poetry Masterpieces of any other
language. I regret
to say that writers did not pay heed
to this task, for several books can
be written in
explaining one and every couplet.
I recite a couplet,
and challenge you, that you will have never heard
the
Praise of the Blessed Beard of the Final Prophet, (Salla
Allahu
Alayhi wa Sallam), in any form of Poetry, in
any language, as this.
Imagine there is a river,
surrounded by a green landscape. The beauty
of the river
is enhanced by the presence of the green vegetation.
What
is the river compared with? The Blessed Mouth of the Noble
Prophet, (Salla Allahu Alayhi wa Sallam). Nahr in
Arabic literally
means a river. The Blessed Mouth of the
Messenger of Allah, (Salla
Allahu Alayhi wa
Sallam), is illustrated as a River of Mercy, that is,
there is a River of Mercy which is outpouring from the
Blessed Mouth.
A Persian poet has
said;
"The Blessed Tongue,
never uttered the word ‘No’
