When in Canada and U.S.A. several opportunities were afforded to the author of this article to deliver lectures on various religious topics at Friday sermons. One of them was on :
"Ah! What will convey to you what is Lailatul Qadar?"
This reference relates to the how Lailatul Qadar could be attained by an ordinary person.
This makes it necessary to study the Holy Qur'an. Let us start with Sura 2 – Al Baqarah : Middle of Ayat 255 which confirms :
"...He (Allah) knows what is before them (humanity) and what is behind them. They encompass nothing of His Knowledge except (to that extent) what He pleases (to let humans know)..."
2. THE REVELATION OF FIRST FIVE VERSES OF QUR'AN – ITS IMPORTANCE TO EDUCATION
Allah is the source of all knowledge. The very first verses of the Qur'an revealed on earth were during Lailatul Qadar (the night of Power) during the night between Thursday and Friday called in Arabic "Shab-e-Juma" or the night of Juma during the last part of month of Ramadan at Gar-e-Hera (Cave of Research) on Jabl-e-Noor (the Mount of Light) just a few miles from Makkah to Muhammad (peace be on him) when he was forty years old. He is the only Prophet who has been an "ummi" i.e. one whom nobody could teach either to read or to write yet he taught the world what they knew not. That is why "iqra" has been used by the Revealer because He is the only Teacher of the Prophet. This revelation discloses that our Creator is the Teacher of all. He teaches us by the pen as is embodied in the opening 5 verses of the Qur'an in Sura 96 – Al Alaq : Ayats 1-5 reading :
1. "Iqra (read O Prophet Muhammad) in the name of your Lord, Who creates (everything).
2. "Creates human beings from a clot.
3. "Read : your Lord is Most Generous,
4. "Who teaches by the pen.
5. "Teaches (continuously) humanity what they knew not".
3. THE CREATOR TEACHES ILM-E-GAIB – KNOWLEDGE UNKNOWN TO US
The essence of these revelations may be summed up as :
"Read (O Prophet Muhammad) in the name of the Creator of the universe, Who teaches by the pen to the people on earth what they knew not" i.e. Ilm-e-gaib or knowledge which was unknown to the people. The daily discoveries now being made by the will of Allah by scientists become common knowledge once they are circulated in writing. Thus bringing out that the Qur'an in the very opening sentences 1400 years back foretold that the Almighty is going to teach humanity "what they knew not".
4. HOW WAS THE QUR'AN REVEALED
The Ilm-e-gaib taught to the world by the "Ummi Prophet" is the "Holy Qur'an". This Divine Scripture is the last of the Revelations. The Qur'an is protected by Allah. It overrides and completes all the earlier scriptures as shown by the last sentence of the Qur'an revealed at Gadir-e-Khum on 18th Zil Haj 11 A.H. This was during the return journey from Makkah after Haj-ul-Weda (the last Haj of the Prophet) in Sura 5 – Al Maidah : in the middle of Ayat 3 which reads :
"...This day those who disbelieve are in despair of (ever being able to harm) My religion blessed upon you (which was incomplete from the very beginning till the time of prophet Esa – Jesus) and completed My favours upon you and have chosen for you as religion AL ISLAM..."
The Qur'an was revealed in small parts spread over a period of 23 years. It comprised of the 114 Chapters (86 in Makkah over a period of 13 years addressed to the disbelievers and the balance in 10 years at Madinah). Some of the Madinah Suras were regarding Jews, Christians and hypocrites as well as laws for humanity to adapt. That left only very few Chapters addressed to believers containing the essence of Islam or the real teachings of love and brotherhood. All these Ayats of the Qur'an were revealed when the Prophet was in a state of trance. At such moments the Prophet uttered the revelations in a manner in which it was apparent that he was not in his normal conditions but the words were being put into his mouth by some supernatural external force i.e. Allah and he was merely uttering them. These revelations of Allah took place whenever any incident happened. These comprised of one or more verses of the Qur'an. These Ayats were the answers to the problems facing the people. The Prophet would also disclose at the same time that these verses would go into such and such a position in such and such a Sura (Chapter of the Qur'an). These were immediately noted with precision on whatever was handy. Sometimes they were written on skins or shoulder bones of animals etc. These scattered passages of the Qur'an were collected shortly after the departure of the Prophet from earthly life. They fitted into the super jigsaw puzzle without any confusion in spite of the fact that there were over 6200 Ayats. The essence of the Qur'an is that the Creator of the universe is only "One". There is no other god besides Him. Idolatry was blasphemy, an unpardonable sin. Anyone praying before imaginary idols of non existing gods would be condemned to Hell. This raised the anger of disbelievers of Qureysh. They were the leading tribe at Makkah. The vast majority of them in course of time had fallen from the worship of the One Allah, as taught by Prophets Ibrahim (Abraham) and Ismail, the builders of the Kaabah the house for worship of Allah, the Alone. But the majority used to worship 360 idols at the time of the birth of the Holy Prophet. The disbelievers of Makkah bitterly attacked the Prophet daily. To prevent these attacks the 86 Suras were revealed at Makkah. These concentrated mainly upon :
i) "Fear of Hell" for the mischief makers
ii) Heaven with all kinds of luxuries including palaces, hurs, fruits all of unimaginable wonders for those who do good. The number of believers was a few hundreds.
As against that the teachings at Madinah were based upon love of Allah and were addressed to the Muslims or those who wished to lead their lives in surrender to the laws of love revealed by Allah. This won over a million Arabs, making it clear which of the two teachings were more important.
The later teachings of Madinah would naturally have an overriding effect upon the Makkah Suras (in spite of their large numbers) because the concluding Suras in Madinah contained the essence and the final teachings of Allah.
5. REPEATED ATTEMPTS TO DESTROY & FORGE QUR'AN FAILED – GREATEST EXISTING MIRACLE OF THE PROPHET
The Qur'an is the greatest and ever lasting miracle of the Prophet in which not a single flaw could be forged till date. 1400 years of effort to produce even one small part matching those of the Qur'an has failed. Repeated attempts were then made at destroying the Qur'an by burning millions of copies in every city captured by the Crusaders and the Tatars. But all these attempts tailed because the Qur'an was known by heart by the Hafiz, who rewrote the Qur'an without any mistakes. Thereafter repeated attempts were made to introduce forgeries into the Qur'an. All such repeated attempts failed because these forgeries were instantly found out by the Hafiz and immediately corrected.
6. QUR'AN SAVES EUROPE FROM 800 YEARS OF DARK AGES
800 years of Dark Ages plagued the Europeans. It was at last the wisdom of the Qur'an which was Ilm-e-gaib or knowledge unknown to them which saved them as recorded by Chamber's Encyclopaedia on "Civilisation of Europe".
"We cannot consider in this place", records Chambers' Encyclopaedia, "what Islam has done for the cause of all humanity, or more exactly what is its share in the development of science and art in Europe. Broadly speaking, the Muhammadans may be said to have been the enlightened teachers of barbarous Europe, from the ninth to the thirteenth century.......
Arabic philosophy, medicine, natural history, geography, history, grammar, rhetoric and the 'golden art of poetry', schooled by the old Hellenic masters brought forth an abundant harvest of works, many of which will live and teach as long as there will be generations to be taught".
Sura 6 – Al Anam in the middle of Ayat 59 informs :
"...And not (even) a leaf falls (from any tree) but with His (Allah's) knowledge..."
So all progress amongst the Europeans and their settlers in America and elsewhere have led to many new discoveries being made. All this knowledge of the Almighty imparted to humanity led to the wonderful achievements of today. These include medicines, cures, treatments, computers, technology increased production, satellite communication, landing on the moon and probes into the planets of Mercury, Venus, Mars, the moons of Jupiter, Saturn etc. The sky is the limit for these daily new discoveries.
7. QUR'AN INSISTS ALONENESS OF THE CREATOR
The Qur'an starts Chapter 1 – Al Fateha : Ayat 1 by insisting :
"Praise be to Allah, the Rub (Sustainer Lord) of the Universe".
Allah is the Lord of all creation without any distinction of caste, colour, creed, religion whether they be living or even inanimate objects like the sun, moon, stars etc. Whether anyone accepts Allah as the Sole Creator of the universe or not makes no difference to His Glory. The Creator gives honour to whom He pleases and allows those who disobey to suffer disgrace over here as well as in the Hereafter. In reality His is the Sole Power Who does any and every thing that pleases Him.
8. ALLAH'S GIFT OF WISDOM IS A GREAT BLESSING
Sura 2 – Al Baqarah : Ayat 269 confirms :
"He (Allah) grants wisdom to whom He pleases. And whoever is given this wisdom (which enables one to know what others do not know), such indeed have been blessed a great gift. And (very sorry to say) none pay heed to it except people with understanding".
9. ALLAH IS FRIEND OF BELIEVERS – BRINGS THEM TO HIS LIGHT
Sura 2 – Al Baqarah : Ayat 257 informs :
"Allah is the Friend of those who believe. He brings them out of darkness into (His) light (of guidance)..."
10. THE FRIENDS OF ALLAH – THEIR POSITION
Sura 4 – An Nisa : Ayat 69 teaches :
"And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, they are indeed with those upon whom Allah has blessed His favours. They are from amongst Nabi-een (prophets) and siddiqeen (the truthfuls) and shuhada (the martyrs) and saleheen (the doers of good deeds). Indeed they are the rafiqs or best friends (of Allah)".
Their lives are based upon Sura 10 – Yunus : Ayats 63 – 65 which informs :
a. 63 – "Without doubt the "Auli - Allah" i.e. the friends of Allah are such for whom there is no fear, nor do they grieve.
a. 64 – "They are those who believe (in the Aloneness of Allah and the teachings of His Prophet) and observe "Taqwa" (i.e. their love for Allah is so firm and unshakable that no temptations on earth can induce them to sin).
a. 65 – "For them is only good news during their lives on earth and also in the Hereafter. Allah's promises never change. Without doubt that is the Supreme Triumph".
Hadis No. 509, Vol. 8, Sahih Al Bukhari records the following teachings of the Holy Prophet based upon the above revelations of Allah in the Qur'an :
"Abu Huraira informed : The Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) taught :
"Allah has said I will declare war upon those who show the least disrespect to any pious worshipper of Mine. And the most beloved things by which My slave draws near to Me is by observing 'Taqwa' i.e. His love for Me to be so firm that no amount of temptations on earth could make him to deliberately commit a sin, and he keeps on coming closer and nearer to Me through his 'Zikr' of Me i.e. lost in remembrance of Me till I fall in love with him and he becomes my 'Wali' i.e. friend. Then I become his eyes and he sees by Me, and I become his ears and he hears by Me, and I become his hands and he acts by Me, and I become his legs and he walks by Me and if he asks anything from Me, with pleasure I grant him all that he pleads for and I look after him".
11. ALLAH SELECTS FRIENDS AND MAKES THEM LIVING EVEN AFTER DEATH
Sura 3 – Al Imran : Ayat 27 revealed at Madinah states :
"You (Allah) causes the night to pass into day and the day into night. And You select (Your friends and make them) the living from the dead (i.e. those in their graves). And You bring forth the dead from amongst the living (on earth). And You give sustenance to whom you choose without limit".
In this manner Allah gives life to his friends - the prophets and the saints after being laid to rest in their graves. He also gives them sustenance without any limit. As such they can distribute the same also without any limits to those who come to them asking them to obtain favours from Allah.
12. ALLAH GIVES UNLIMITED KNOWLEDGE TO WHOM HE PLEASES
Here are brief details of "Ilm-e-gaib" revealed by Allah and blessed upon a saint. Thus making it clear that He has every right to bless upon anybody whatever information He likes. None can challenge Allah. A great prophet asked a saint to reveal some Ilm-e-gaib blessed upon him. He replied, "You do not have patience to wait for the explanation for the deeds I do". The prophet concerned assured he would be patient. On that agreement they boarded a sailing ship. Midway the saint damaged the boat. The prophet scolded : "Are you trying to drown us?" Next they went to the house of a pious family who treated them well. The saint killed their only son. The prophet lost his temper at this unjustified murder. Then they went to a town for shelter during the night. Wicked people threw them out at Sunset and closed the city gates on their faces. At midnight, after the city guards had gone to sleep, the saint built up the dilapidated wall of a house outside the city. Prophet Moosa (English : Moses) could not bear up with Khwaja Khizar (peace be upon them ) for this favour to the wicked town people. Thereupon the saint revealed the orders of Allah, in respect to the above mentioned three incidents :
a. Two rulers of the area were soon to have a naval battle. All good ships would be seized. The pious boatmen would lose the means of existence and die of starvation. He acted under orders of Allah to save them by making the ship look unseaworthy.
b. The son of the noble family when he grew up in 15 years would disgrace his parents very badly. As only one son was allotted by Allah to this family, the killing of the wicked boy would be replaced by a noble good heir and give happiness to the pious parents.
c. There was a treasure hidden under the wall. It belonged to orphan sons of the owner, who after twenty years would be able to take charge of their house and stay outside the city after 20 years and discover the treasure and do a lot of good with it to the poor.
Greater details are in Sura 18 – Al Kahf : Ayats 61-83. This brings out that Allah's gift of wisdom is a great boon and cannot be challenged by anybody - not even by such a great prophet as Moosa (Moses).
13. A SAINT REVEALS TONIGHT IS LAILATUL QADAR
The first experience of what is Lailatul Qadar to the author of this article was in 1940 A.D. His uncle Hajee Ebrahim Sidick Jamall phoned up to his mother and told her :
"Sister, there is a buzurg (saint) staying on the ground floor of my building, Court De La Range in Lower Range, Calcutta. He has disclosed that tonight, the 23rd of Ramadan, will be the night of Lailatul Qadar". Accordingly, after Taraveeh Prayers that night at Tippu Sultan Masjid on Dharamtolla Street, which is the third largest mosque in Calcutta this announcement was made by the author. People surrounded him and sent for the Imam. After hearing the author the Imam said : "Tonight is 23rd of Ramadan. It is one of the “taak” odd nights or the night for search of Lailatul Qadar. It is also the night between Thursday and Friday. Saints have Ilm-e-gaib blessed upon them. The most wonderful example in the Qur'an is to be found in Sura Kahf proving that the Ilm-e-gaib of Khwaja Khizar was far greater than the knowledge with Prophet Moosa (peace be upon them). Ilm-e-gaib cannot be challenged".
14. THE BLIND FAITH OF ABU BAKR WINS TITLE OF "AS SIDDIQ"
Then the Imam quoted the example of the event that took place on the morning of Meraj. Hadrat Abu Bakr returned to Makkah with his successful trading caravan. Whilst he was offering his prayers of thanksgiving to Allah at Kaabah, Abu Jahl and other leaders of Qureysh gathered. When Abu Bakr finished praying, Abu Jahl questioned very politely : O Abu Bakr how long will it take you on the fastest camel to go to Jerusalem and return. Abu Bakr gave his calculations of the number of days it would take. Then they enquired if someone was to say that he did this journey from Makkah to Jerusalem and came back to Makkah in one single night would you accept it? Abu Bakr replied : it was quite impossible. Having trapped Abu Bakr into this admission they tauntingly informed him that his Prophet has claimed this impossibility today in the morning. Don't you admit it is a lie? Abu Bakr questioned Abu Jahl : "Are you speaking the truth that Muhammad (peace be on him) has said so?" Abu Jahl swore by his gods and confirmed that he had spoken nothing but the truth. This was confirmed also by the other leaders of Qureysh. Thereupon Abu Bakr replied :
"I give evidence that without any doubt the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has in one night journeyed to Jerusalem and has returned back to Makkah."
The Imam said that for this "Aamanna Sadakna" or blind faith in the Holy Prophet and Islam Abu Bakr was awarded the title of "As Siddiq". Every Muslim must keep such incidents as their examples all the time before them when questioning or challenging any one on religious matters.
15. QUR'AN FORBIDS SUSPICION – IMAM ACCEPTS SAINT'S DISCLOSURE
This emphatic answer of Abu Bakr was quite beyond the disbeliever's comprehension. It shocked all the Makkan leaders. It left them dumbfounded. This spontaneous response was not based upon any kind of proofs or logic but only upon pure faith or Iman. In this manner Hadrat Abu Bakr, the first Khulifa-e-Rashideen has set a wonderful example for Muslims that they must accept the words of holy people without any question.
After this example the Imam to support his belief mentioned that the Qur'an is very specific in Sura 49 – Al Hujurat : Ayat 12 which starts with :
"O You who believe, shun suspicion the most. Without doubt suspicion is a crime..."
The Imam then said : "In view of the above without any further evidence being necessary I do hereby accept this statement that tonight is definitely Lailatul Qadar when a holy person has said it is so. I accept such things without any "Dalil" or evidence. I recommend 11 of you to observe this night with me as Lailatul Qadar and to search for its grandeur". Then he thanked me from his heart for having revealed this vital information for the benefit of Muslims. Then the Imam said : "Information gained from a short period of contact with a saintly person can bring benefits as would be equal to a hundred years of continuous worship of Allah. If we are successful in meeting Lailatul Qadar tonight then in me night we shall get 1000 months' benefit of worship". He then quoted the following from the famous Persian Sufi Poet and Saint Shaikh Saadi Shirazee :
"Ek Saaut Sauhbat-e-Ba Auliya
Behtar Az Sadahaa Ebadut bey Reya".
Translation
“One short period in the company of an auliya (friend of Allah),
Is better than hundreds of times of constant worship of Allah".
Every one present at Tippu Sultan Masjid that night very happily accepted this without any further proof or checking being necessary. Thus they showed their Amanna Sadakna without seeking any dalil i.e. proofs. They all resolved to pray the whole night in search of Lailatul Qadar. Many of them were successful. It changed their future lives to a better standard, of doing everything out of love for Allah.
16. THE EXPERIENCE OF LAILATUL QADAR
Upon returning home to No. 8, Kyd Street, Calcutta 700 016 and having rested till midnight, the author got up refreshed to perform 100 rakats of Nifil or optional worship. At 2.54 a.m. Calcutta time, which is equivalent to 2.30 a.m. Indian Standard time, I witnessed a flash of a bright white light of unimaginable brilliance, which lit up the western Sky i.e. in the direction of the Kaabah at Makkah. It was immediately followed by millions of drops of shinning light pouring like heavy rain from the heavens. This display of the Light of Allah was so wonderful that it caused an indescribable thrill of joy, contentment and peace all over my body. I stood transfixed with amazement.
Such actual experience makes one to realise what is the meaning of Sura 97 – Al Qadar Ayats 1-3 :
"Without doubt We (Allah) revealed it (Qur'an) during Lailatul Qadar (the Night of Allah's Power to Holy Prophet Muhammad at Gar-e-Hera or the Cave of Research).
"Ah! What can convey to you (who have not had the good fortune of meeting) what is Lailatul Qadar?
"(Those who have had the pleasure of seeing the grandeur of) Lailatul Qadar (know it) is better than a thousand months (of continuous worship of Allah)."
Upon recovering my senses I found that the lighted drops of rain of the "Noor of Allah" kept on pouring from Heaven for at least three and a half hours during that night. It brings out the meaning of Sura 24 – An Noor : Ayat 35 :
"Allah is the Noor (or Light) of the Heavens and the earth ..."
Over here it would be appropriate to quote a short poetry on "Allah" written by the German Poet Seigfried August Mahlmann (b 1771-d 1816) which was translated into English by Henry William Longfellow :
"Allah gives relief in pain
"Cheeks that are white with weeping
"Allah paints red again".
"The flowers and the blossoms wither
"Years vanish with flying feet
"But pure hearts live on forever
"Which on earth in sadness beat".
"Gladly to Allah's dwelling
"Yonder would I take flight
"There will all darkness vanish
"There shines Allah's Wondrous Light".
(By courtesy of Late Asgarali Abdulla Gangjee)
Thereafter for the past 61 lunar years during each Ramadan this unique gift of Allah of enjoying the Night of Lailatul Qadar was blessed by Allah Subhanatala upon the explainer of this article. Once when at Hong Kong during Ramadan, he informed everybody in the Happy Valley Mosque after Taraveeh prayers that Lailatul Qadar was that night. It was the 25th of Ramadan being the night between Thursday and Friday i.e. Shab-e-Juma. Accordingly it was very puzzling for him as to why he did not see this wondrous sight at 2.30 a.m. which was the usual time at which he was used to seeing this wonderful sight of joy and peace at Calcutta. But as he finished his "Sahri" i.e. the predawn breakfast eaten during Ramadan, there burst before him the grandeur of the sight at 5 a.m. Hong Kong time. It lasted till 8.30 a.m. i.e. even 90 minutes after sunrise at about 7 a.m. Such unique experiences granted by Allah cannot be fully described. Because it is not on any worldly basis nor is it something which can be scientifically tested. Rather this sight is from a Divine source which is completely outside human imagination and control. Then it dawned on him that the time of the sighting of Night of Qadar is governed by pure scientific calculation based on the time of midnight at Makkah which is equivalent to 2.30 a.m. by Indian Standard time and 5 a.m. at Hong Kong. At other places throughout the earth can easily be calculated accordingly based on world time schedule. He also experienced that by Allah Subhantala's will the night of Lailatul Qadar always falls on one of the "odd" nights of the last part of the month of Ramadan on Shab-e-Juma i.e. the night between Thursday and Friday It depends purely on which night the Ramadan moon has been actually sighted in central Arabia. As Ramadan starts on any one of the seven days of the week so also the Lailatul Qadar by the will of Allah, falls on any one of the last seven odd nights in Ramadan based on which of these nights is Shab-e-Juma. This year (1999-2000) the moon was born on 8/12/1999 and was sighted after Sunset on 9th December 1999 all over central Arabia. Hence Ramadan started from Friday the 10th December 1999 A.D. equivalent to 1420 Hijri. On this calculation the night of Qadar will by the Karam or Blessings of Allah Subhanatala be the night between Thursday the 6th and Friday the 7th of January 2000. It is equivalent to Shab-e-Juma the 29th of Ramadan 1420 A.H. This is the only one odd night by the Calendar during the last part of Ramadan which occurs on Shab-e-Juma. This is the actual experience of the blessing of Allah Subhanatala for 61 times on the Author of this article. Actual experience blessed by our Creator is something which is far beyond the theories and conjectures put up by those who have not had the pleasure of witnessing this blessed experience even once throughout their lives.
This finding is in accordance with Hadis No. 114 on page 553 in Chapter XXXV under the heading "The Blessed Night", in Vol. 3 of Al Hadis being the collection of Hadises by Al Haj Maulana Fazlul Karim, Printed by The Book House, 8, Trust Building, Urdu Bazar. P.O. Box 734, Lahore with Arabic Text and translation in English. This Hadis was revealed during Ramadan around 7 A.H. at Madinah, when his companions asked him if Lailatul Qadar was during the last seven odd nights of Ramadan. This is a popular and well known Hadis. It has been recorded in Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmed Hambal, Tirmizi, and ibn Majah as under :
Abdullah ibn Omar has reported that some of the companions of the Holy Prophet (peace of Allah be on him) saw the blessed night during the last seven odd nights of Ramadan. Then they asked about it from the Holy Prophet who said :
"I see that your vision agrees with the last seven (odd nights of Ramadan). Whosoever searches it (Lailatul Qadar), let him search for it in the last seven (odd nights of Ramadan i.e. 29th, 27th, 25th, 23rd, 21st, 19th, and 17th of Ramadan)".
This is the last Hadis of the Holy Prophet on the Blessed Night of Lailatul Qadar. So it has an overriding effect upon the earlier Hadises on this subject. Out of these seven odd nights during the end of Ramadan only one will be on Shab-e-Juma. Know well that this is the night of Lailatul Qadar. But the mere knowledge that this is the exact night of Lailatul Qadar is not enough You must fulfill carefully all the conditions taught by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace of Allah be on him) which are embodied in Chapter 24 of this article under the heading :
“Prophet trains us with Taqwa of Total Fasting from Head to Foot”.
Then only will you be entitled to see with your own eyes the wondrous grandeur of what is Lailatul Qadar, which is better than a thousand months of worship !
One such meeting with the seeing of Allah's wonders covers more than eighty three years and four months. To this has to be added the 12 years or so of innocence of childhood i.e. before becoming "Baligh" or mature. Together this is more than sufficient to cover 95 years which is normally more than the life of an ordinary person. All should make their best efforts to achieve this target at least once in their lives. May Allah bless all, who have in themselves that love for their Creator – as enlisted in Chapter 24 of this article.
17. THOSE WITH ACTUAL EXPERIENCE ONLY CAN GUIDE OTHERS
A group of villagers went to visit the Calcutta Zoo. In this crowd were three blind persons. They were anxious to feel and know what an elephant was like? The party made an arrangement with the keeper of the elephants to allow these three to touch an elephant. One felt the trunk of the elephant and said he was fully convinced every elephant is like a flexible pipe just like a huge snake. The second touched the legs and exclaimed his conviction that all elephants are like pillars or the stem of Coconut palm trees rising like columns from the ground. The third rubbed his hands on the stomach of the animal and confirmed that the elephant is like the roof of a house. These three started a heated argument amongst themselves. Each claimed that they now were experts on elephants after acquiring the desired knowledge by actually touching the elephant. Each insisted that the other two were completely wrong. It was quite clear that they were arguing on mere guess and conjectures, which everyone realises as quite absurd. This simple event brings out what is the indescribable difference between actual experience of seeing the wonders of the Noor of Allah on the blessed the night of Lailatul Qadar and those who have been blinded by their arrogance that they know everything being Alims. So they are unable to see the same. Thus they give wrong impressions to the public masses. Allah has made a reference to those who are blind to "Sauhbat-e-Ba Aulia" and as such blind themselves to the truths that Allah reveals to His Aulias or friends. There is a severe warning in the Qur'an in Sura 20 – Ta Ha : Ayats 124 & 125 :
a. 124 – "But one who has turned away from My Zikr (i.e. not even being prepared to listen to things explained by wasilahs concerning the Zikr of Allah and His revelations in the Qur'an and yet pride themselves on their knowledge) such will have a narrow life here, and I (Allah) shall bring such (out of the grave) blind to the Assembly on the Day of Resurrection.
a. 125 – "He will complain : My Lord why have You raised me (from the dead) blind, when I was able to see (during my life on earth)?"
The thought of being raised blind from one's grave to the beauties of Allah is something too alarming. Serious efforts have to be made to escape such a disastrous calamity. To avoid getting up blind from our graves here are some practical advices :
A. The essence of ISLAM as illuminated by its spelling as explained hereunder :
"I" - Every individual all over the earth is an "I". So "I" covers all human beings.
"S" - is "SHALL" as in "I shall do it just now". This SHALL stands for MUST
"L" - represents "LOVE"
"A" - embraces "ALL"
"M" - stands for "MANKIND" or the human race.
Therefore "ISLAM" stands for "I SHALL (MUST) LOVE ALL MANKIND". To achieve this fundamental aspect all have to love our Creator as the only God and follow throughout our lives the examples set by the Holy Prophet as explained in the Qur'an. So that each of our acts from morning till night have to be such that anyone seeing our life has to admit that without doubt this person is a living example of :
"La illaha Illallah, Muhammadur Rasulallah"
Translation
"There is no god except Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah"
This is how the Kalma has to be observed by those who are Muslims or those who have surrendered themselves to live on the basis of :
"Your will, Oh Allah, be done on earth as it is being done by the Angels in Heaven".
B. Today we say our prayers as a matter of routine without understanding what we are reciting. In Arabic it will be translated as "Iqrar-us-Salat". But the Qur'an orders : "Akimus Salat" which stands for "Establish contact with Allah during worship". There is a very great difference between these two principles. We have to strive very hard to reach that stage as described in Sura 29 – Al Ankabut: Ayat 45 which states :
"Innas Salata tanha anil fashaa-a wal munkir wala Zikrullahae Akbar…"
Translation :
"Without doubt our worship keeps us far away from misconduct and sins but the Zikr of Allah is greater or more important..."
If our "Salat" or worship does not save us from committing evils and sins then we must immediately realise that our prayers have not been performed properly. Merely performing prayers as a matter of routine without realising what we are talking to Allah is not a fulfillment of our salat or adoration. We must immediately rush not to an Alim but to a Durvesh or a holy person for guidance, on how to establish connection with Allah in our worship.
C. Ramadan fasting is compulsory for all believers who have reached puberty and are not sick nor on a journey. Fasting is to be observed for one month. It is to be done on the basis of the 14 conditions taught by the Prophet. These are detailed later in order to attain "Taqwa" as ordered by Allah Subhanatala in the Qur'an with effect from 2 A.H. as quote hereafter.
D. Zakat or Annual tax on our capital including savings has to be given correctly to the needy without feeling any reservations or sorrow that I am making myself that much poorer. It must be given out of joy that I am helping my human brothers and sisters to attain a decent living. If it can be given to only one single person it may enable him to se up his own business or factory. That could make him independent for life and also make him a person capable of paying Zakat. Is that not the best way to use your Zakat ?
E. If one has the money he has to perform the Pilgrimage of Haj to Makkah and to visit the shrine of the Prophet at Madinah to request him to plead with Allah for our forgiveness as required in Sura 4 – An Nisa the second portion of Ayat 64 which educates :
".... And had they (the believers) when they had wronged themselves, come to you (O Prophet Muhammad) and asked forgiveness (from Allah) and the Messenger had also pleaded (with Allah) for their forgiveness, they would have found Allah Most Forgiving, Ever Merciful."
Abu Zueb Hazli, a Bedouin, was an Ashab or a companion of the Prophet. Some mistake had been committed by him. So he decided to go to Madinah to get the Prophet to plead with Allah for his forgiveness. When he arrived at Madinah he found every one crying because the Messenger of Allah had already passed away from earthly life three days earlier and was buried the previous day the 14th of Rabi-ul-Awwal in 11 A.H. So he went crying to the Prophet's shrine accompanied by the people he met and appealed at the shrine of the Prophet as under :
"Now who is there to plead with Allah for us in terms of the above Ayat. Allah's promises in the Qur'an can never change".
Within a few minutes in the presence of Abu Bakr, Omar, Usman, Ali and the Ashabs who lad gathered there, every one heard the voice of the Prophet coming from his grave which announced clearly :
“I have heard your pleading. I have appealed to Allah for your forgiveness. I am pleased to inform you that Allah has accepted my petition and has forgiven you. Now go in peace." (page 58, Vol. 4, Hayatus Sahabah).
This proved that the Prophet was alive in his grave even after his worldly death and would continue to plead for the forgiveness of all who approached him because the Qur'an informs in Sura 21 – Al Anbiya : Ayat 107 :
"And We have not sent you except as Rahmat-ul-lil Aalamin i.e. as a blessing for the universe".
So long as any part of the huge, unfathomable Universe remains the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) will remain as a blessing for the universe. That includes all those who approach him !
F. Such incidents bring out that it is compulsory for all to search out a "wasilah" or an intermediary who has practical experience to be able to correctly guide them to reach to Allah as taught in the Qur'an in Sura 5 – Al Maidah : Ayat 35-37 :
a. 35 – "O you, who believe! Observe Taqwa towards Allah (i.e. your love for Allah should be so firm that nothing can make you to sin). And search out a wasilah (i.e. an intermediary – a saintly person with enough practical experience to guide you and under his instructions) to do jehad upon your nafs (i.e. strive to conquer your worldly desires in the manner instructed by your Wasilah – Waliyan Murshed) in order that you may be successful".
a. 36 – "Those who 'Kafaru' (i.e. disobey in seeking a wasilah) even if they have all (the good deeds) that are on earth and as much more also to offer to ransom themselves with it from the punishment of the Day of Resurrection, it would not be accepted from them ; and theirs will be a painful punishment.
a. 37 – "They will try to come cut of the Fire (like Iblis also tried to escape by means of his arguments) but they will not escape from it, theirs will be a lasting punishment."
The following Hadis is based upon the above Ayat. It is being quoted from page 33 of April 1925 issue of Israr-e-Tasawwuf, Lahore :
Abdullah ibne Omar stated that the Holy Prophet (peace be on him) has informed him :
"Anyone who dies without doing baiyat on the hands of a Waliyan Murshed has died the death of "Jahiliat". And he who had done baiyat on the hands of a "Walian Murshed" has in fact done baiyat on my hands over which are the hands of Allah". This Hadis make a pointed mention in Sura 48 – Al Fath : Ayat 10 which warns :
"Those who do baiyat (swears allegiance) on your hand (O Muhammad), do baiyat only upon Allah's hand which is above your hands. So whosoever breaks it (or does not do baiyat) only do so to the hurt of their souls. Whilst those who observe their baiyat, Allah will bestow upon them an immense reward".
18. WHY PROPHET TAUGHT BY HIS EXAMPLE TWO MONTHS PREPARATION NECESSARY FOR RAMADAN
The Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) taught believers that one should start preparing for Ramadan and the beauties of the wondrous night of Lailatul Qadar from the months of Rajjab and Shaaban, i.e. from two months before. Why is this so necessary? When the regulations for the observance of fasting according to common knowledge are only three simple requirements. These are to be observed, from dawn till sunset. They consist of :
a) Not to eat any food.
b) Not to drink water or other liquids i.e. nothing to go down your throats, not even to smoke or excessively pleasant fumes or scent, which would give mental relief or solace to the mind.
c) Husbands and wives to abstain from any sexual contact with one another.
After Sunset Muslims feel that they have full freedom to do just what they like. They should realise that Ramadan is not a joke. Fasting has been ordained for the definite purpose of "Taqwa" (Sura 2 – Al Baqarah : Ayat 183 as read earlier). This has to be the basis throughout our lives on earth and not only during the period Ramadan, which is the method of how to achieve Taqwa or our love for Allah has to be so firm that none can tempt us to sin.
All humanity know well that if they were to give up eating of food totally or abstain from drinking any water at all during their lives then they would surely die. Also if all husbands and wives were to give up contact with each other then the propagation of the human race would come to an end. Can such ever be the objectives of Ramadan as believed by the general public? No, most certainly not! Then what is it?
One should realise that food, water and contact between husband and wife are not only very good and lawful but absolutely essential for the existence of humanity. Hence the regulations of fasting have some very much deeper objectives. What are they?
During the period of fasting the body (Nafs Ammara) becomes weaker in its desires. That is the right opportunity for the human soul (Nafs Lawwama) to be able to get a control over one's selfish desires. All should realise what these two "Nafs" in each us are !
19. NAFS AMMARA
Nafs Ammara consists of over 99% of ourselves. It comprises of the physical body of a person. Our body is full of selfish desires of "I" or egoism. It cannot think of anything but how to achieve pleasures and material gain. It puts up its desires to every one in such a pleasant and attractive manner that it is simply impossible for anyone to escape except for prophets and saints i.e. those who have very strong unshakeable will-power. Here is the "dua" or pleadings to Allah of Prophet Yusuf (in English – Prophet Joseph son of Prophet Jacob – peace be upon him) quoted from Sura 12 – Yusuf : Ayat 53 :
"And I (Prophet Yusuf) do not consider myself safe from sins (being continuously attractively proposed by my) Nafs Ammara. Without doubt Nafs Ammara is always commanding evil. (It cannot be defeated) except for those upon whom my Rub (Sustainer Lord) has mercy. Without doubt my Rub is Most Forgiving, Ever Merciful".
20. NAFS LAWWAMA
Nafs Lawwama is the "Ruh" or soul blessed by Allah to human beings. It is less than even 1% of our body in weight. As long as the Ruh is inside of us, we are alive. As soon as it leaves, we die. So the "Soul" is much more important for human beings when compared to our physical body which is dependant upon the Ruh to keep it alive. Scientific experiments carried out in America by Medical researchers and faithfully recorded by several instruments in hospitals on people who were expected to die any moment. These weight recording instruments have recorded on the weight charts second to second what changes take place at the moment of the death of a person so that as soon as the Ruh or the Soul leaves the body, the weight of the dying person suddenly becomes less by a very small fraction of the weight of the dying person, who is immediately thereupon declared dead. The fall in weight and death have been recorded are simultaneous. Thus proving that the soul or the Ruh also has some weight and as such is something real even though we cannot see it or feel it or carry out any scientific experiments upon it except for the weight recording machines. This finding came as a shock to the Medical Researchers and proved what all religions have been preaching from the inception of humanity on earth.
Now let us analyse what are the functions of Nafs Lawwama? As soon as anybody is tempted by Nafs Ammara, which is our selfish desires then immediately this soul which is from Allah, Who is All Perfection, will prick our conscience. It will warn us that we are thinking or planning or engaging ourselves in something which is wrong and is not liked by God. This pricking in our conscience not only warns us but that we shall have to give an account for our deeds. On the Day of Judgment we have to face our Creator, Who is all the time present in each one of us and well knows about each of our deeds. Anything we even think of is immediately known to our Maker. This makes the position of the Ruh so important that Allah is swearing in the Qur'an at Sura 75 – Al Qiyamah : Ayat 2 as under :
"Nay I (Allah) swear by Nafs Lawwama, the soul or the self accusing conscience, in human beings (that this scripture is true)."
It would be good to think of Allah's Omniscience by referring to Sura 6 –Al Anam : Ayat 59 which informs :
"And with Him (Allah) is the knowledge of the unseen. None knows about them but He. And He knows what is in the land and under the seas. And not a leaf falls but with His knowledge. There is not a grain in the darkness of the earth nor anything green or dry but it is recorded in a clear book".
21. THOUGHTS ARE THE ORIGIN OF ALL ACTION AND BACKBITING
This Hadis was related on the authority of Hadrat Omar al Faruq ibne Khattab, the second Khulifa-e-Rashideen. He confirmed that the Holy Prophet taught :
"Without doubt our deeds shall be judged by Allah only on basis of the intentions ever person had when one performed the said act. As an example whosoever migrated for the sake of Allah and His Messenger from Makkah, then their migrations are for the sake of Allah and His Messenger. But one who migrates to attain the world (i.e. material gains) or to marry a woman, then his leaving his home and his sacrifices were what he migrate for."
Two great scholars of Hadis viz. Bukhari and Muslim have also recorded this.
Thought comes first. It makes us act i.e. deed follows. Hence intention determines the reason for the action. Good intention alone can produce noble deeds. People may be deceive by outward piety or by apparent goodness displayed in our actions, but Allah cannot be bluffed by such pretensions. He knows exactly the secrets of our hearts. So every action of ours must be dedicated to give joy to Allah. Then only are they noble and good and are a form of devotion and fervent adoration of our Creator. Allah accepts our intention only is also confirmed in Sura 22 – Al Haj : Ayat 37 which teaches :
"Nor their flesh, and their blood reaches Allah, but to Him is acceptable your Taqwa i.e. the love of Allah with which you have done the deed reaches (is acceptable) to Him..."
Another Hadis emphasizes :
"Allah looks not on your faces and your wealth, but He looks into your hearts to determine the nature of your deeds" (Muslim).
Backbiting is most commonly confused by many. Some references are given herein to bring out what is backbiting and its seriousness.
Case 1 : An aged widow used to pray all the time. Opposite her house lived a prostitute. The Imam of the locality used to praise the old lady a lot because she would not say a word against anybody. Her piety was well known in the locality. But every day the Imam would lecture to the prostitute to kindly become good. These two ladies died at short intervals. Soon after their deaths, the Imam saw in a dream the prostitute was happily roaming in Heaven. He enquired where the old pious lady was? She replied :
"In hell because of her backbiting against me whilst sitting at her window during prayers at night and counting every night how many visitors had come to me."
She informed the Imam in the dream that the old lady argued with Allah that she had not informed anyone about it, so how could it be backbiting? Allah’s decision was that you, the supposed pious lady, were deliberately seeing as well as recording the evils of others by moving the beads of your tasbih (rosary to count how much one has prayed) as each customer went to the prostitute. So instead of praying to Allah you were deliberately spending whole night noting the evils of others without any right whatsoever. Therefore you intentionally made yourself into a record keeper of the evils of others instead of praying all night to Me. So in this manner you bluffed the public with the show of prayer but you cannot cheat Me. Nobody ever gave you any authority to record the sins of others. This proved your intention was not prayers to Me but it was noting how many crimes the prostitute was doing each and every night. You had no right to sit on you window the full night just for the sake of noting the sins of others. This was backbiting in terms of your intentions as such you were spying all the time against the secrets of the prostitute against the orders in the Qur'an. You also did not ask forgiveness from the prostitute before your death, which was before that of the prostitute for your sins of the evil records which you were counting every night by sitting the whole night at your window instead of sleeping peacefully in your bed. It was a deliberate act of evil on your part. You cannot escape from the punishment for any act done with full intention deliberately against somebody else. This is an unpardonable sin against another person. Unless the prostitute forgave you before her death, you cannot escape from the crime you have deliberately committed against the prostitute. All your good deeds are not enough to compensate her. So all your good deeds are given to her as compensation. You have no authority whatsoever even to see, let alone to record the sins of anybody. Allah was watching all your crimes with disgust. For this crime Allah gave all the sawabs (blessings) of the good deeds of the old lady to me, the prostitute, as a compensation for the backbiting the old lady had done against me and He sent her to hell for recording my evils in spite of the fact that she had not disclosed the same to anyone else. Her intentions were very clear that she was spying upon me every night and noting my evils instead of worshiping Allah.
Case 2 : Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi was walking down the streets of Koyna, a town in Eastern Turkey. One day he saw a young man picking up grains of food from a dustbin and eating the same. He gave the youth money to buy food. He thought to himself why does this strong, healthy youth not work to earn a living instead of picking up grains of food from a trash can. That very night he saw in a dream that some angels brought a tray of food covered by a nice silken cover, saying :
"Allah has sent this for you to eat."
As soon as he removed the cover, to his horror, he saw the head of this youth on the tray. He recollected the sternest expression in the Qur'an at Sura 49 – Al Hujurat : Ayat 12 warning :
"O you who believe, shun suspicion the most. Without doubt suspicion is a crime. And spy not on each other nor let any of you backbite each other (even when the incidents were true but which when disclosed would hurt the feeling of others). Would anyone of you like to eat the carrion (rotted) flesh of your dead brother? You abhor that (so also shun suspicion, spying and backbiting)! And keep your Taqwa (towards Allah). Without doubt Allah is Forgiving, Merciful".
With a loud shriek Moulana Jalaluddin Rumi jumped out of his bed. He rushed out of his house wearing whatever dress was on his body in search of the youth to ask his pardon for having backbitten him in his thoughts even though it was the truth and even though he had not disclosed it to anyone. The youth upon giving his forgiveness cautioned :
“O Jalaluddin Rumi promise never again to commit such a blunder in your life of even thinking evil because it amounts to backbiting".
These few incidents clearly confirm Allah's meaning of the above warning in the Qur'an that the crime of backbiting has already been committed as soon as one thinks any evil of another even if it is the truth. Here is an explaining warning by Allah in Sura 2 – Al Baqarah : Ayat 284 :
Unto Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. And whether you reveal what is in your minds or hide them? Still Allah will call you to give an account according to them (the disclosed items as well as your secrets). Then He (Allah) forgives whom he pleases (i.e. those who have obtained forgiveness of those wronged) and punishes whom He wishes. And (without doubt) Allah is Possessor of All Power over every thing".
Case 3 : Hadrat Khwaja Hasan Basri was the infant son of the maid servant of Ummul Mominin Hadrat Umme Salamah, the widow of a martyr in the cause of Islam, who became later on one of the wives of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be on them). When Hasan's mother was busy and if the child cried Hadrat Umme Salamah would breast feed her own milk to the infant Hasan. One day the Prophet was praying in her room. (Each of the wives had a separate room. The Prophet by rotation would spend one night in the room of each of his wives). A bowl of water, as usual, was placed besides his prayer carpet. The Prophet drank some water from the bowl. Then he went out of the room for a few minutes. By the time he returned the bowl was empty. He naturally enquired who had drunk the water. Umme Salamah replied that no one had entered the room. She concluded that Hasan must have crawled to the bowl and drunk up the water. The Prophet replied :
"As much balance water Hasan has drunk from my bowl so much of my spiritual knowledge has gone into this child".
Immediately Umme Salamah picked up Hasan, whom she loved as her own child, and placed the baby in the Prophet's arms and asked him to bless the child, which the Prophet did.
When Hasan grew up he became the third Khalifa of Panjatan Pak Hadrat Maula Ali ibne Taleb, the fourth Khulifa-e-Rashideen. The effect of drinking the water from the bowl of the Prophet was so great that Hasan Basri was all the time very careful not to commit any sin. So much so that he considered himself the greatest sinner. Such a thought saved him from many a sin. One day he was strolling along the shores of Basra. He saw a young man with a wine bottle in front of him from which he saw him drink twice a sip, and a burkha clad woman with her face covered besides him. He thought to himself he had seen for the first time a person, who appeared to be worse than himself. As soon as this thought flashed in his mind a storm suddenly burst upon the calm waters even though a few moments earlier there was no trace of any clouds in the clear blue sky. Waves fifteen feet high started lashing the shore. A boat with three persons was coming towards the shore. It was overturned by the hit of the waves. This young man jumped into that terrible storm and saved two persons. Then he turned towards Hasan Basri and said : "This lady is my mother and the wine bottle contains only water. Yet you thought in your mind that you had seen for the first time a person worse than you. So in your thoughts you had committed backbiting against me, which was due to your wrong suspicion, which is a crime against me. Yet I, the sinner, according to your thoughts, has saved from the storm two persons, why don’t you the good person try and save the third ?"
Khwaja Hasan Basri became aware that he had committed backbiting and the sin of suspicion in his thoughts even though he had not revealed it to anyone, because Allah is aware of our thoughts and would take action on that basis warned in the Qur’an as read earlier, even though no one else knew about it. He also realised that it was not humanly possible for any one to jump into such a raging storm to save the last person. So he fell crying at the foot of this youth and begged his pardon for his sin and having obtained it he fell on the floor in sajdah to Allah begging for forgiveness. As soon as he fell upon the floor facing the Kaabah in sajdah then that very second the storm vanished. The sky was again clear blue. There was no trace of any cloud. The third person clinging to his upturned boat came floating safely to the shore.
This incident made it clear that seeing and thinking against any body already became the commitment of the sin of suspicion and backbiting which Allah had revealed miraculously to the person wronged in this dramatic manner so that Khwaja Hasan Basri may ask pardon from the person wronged and thus save himself from trouble on the Day of Judgment. In this manner Allah educated the Muslim public as to how one can obtain forgiveness of Allah which can be only after obtaining the pardon of the person wronged. Therefore those who consider that the sin of suspicion or backbiting occurs only after revelation are entirely in the wrong. According to the Qur'an and the teachings of the Holy Prophet the sin of backbiting and suspicion arises as soon as someone thinks an evil against anyone even though he has not revealed it to anyone. Because Allah knows your secret thoughts and you will have to answer for each one of them on the Day of Judgment.
22. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MAKKAH AND MADINAH TEACHINGS
Now let us come to the question as to how one may succeed in enjoying the grandeur of Lailatul Qadar. This is the real essence of the month of Ramadan because each meeting with Lailatul Qadar is better than a thousand months of continuous worship of Allah. This raises the point as to what is Ramadan? Sura 2 – Al Baqarah : Ayat 183 emphasis :
"O you who believe, fasting is ordained for you, as it was prescribed for those before you so that you may achieve Taqwa i.e. you may be able to develop so intense a love for Allah that none can induce you to do any evil".
The Ramadan fasting was made compulsory by this ordinance at Madinah during 2 A.H., which teaches the believers the love of Allah. There is a vast difference between the 86 Suras revealed at Makkah which were against the disbelievers of Qureysh. The earlier Suras comprised basically of materialist teachings :
a) Anybody praying before an idol carved out of wood or stone or worshipping stone or wooden images looking like living things on earth or in the sky carved by human beings out of their imagination as equal to god committed blasphemy. Both these are unpardonable sins under Islamic Laws.
b) If you do a wrong or you attack any person or you try to kill (because they are believers in the One Allah) then you will be punished in Hell which will be everlasting fire with snakes and scorpions to torture you continuously, or in other words worldly mortal fears which are easy for earthly people to understand. So that the disbelievers could easily understand the intensity of their punishment.
c) If you do good you will be rewarded a Heaven where you will be presented in material language with palaces full of hurs and every nice things imaginable. Such were the only types of worldly temptations which could attract the disbelievers of Makkah to give up idolatry and lead good lives.
d) This naturally induced people to fear their wrong deeds because of the tortures of Hell and induced them to pray to God with the idea of escape from the horrors of Hell.
e) Also it tempted the good to worship the Creator with desires for all the wonderful materialist temptations of attractions in Heaven. These Makkan teachings arose out of the terrible tortures which were being inflicted upon the believers so much so that the Holy Prophet almost daily returned home bleeding. Something had to be done to get the disbelievers to stop their wickedness. This period lasted for 13 years. At end of it the Prophet shifted to Madinah. All these previous teachings of Makkah were completely changed by the order of "Taqwa" in 2 A.H. at Madinah by the above Ayat.
f) The Madinah education was meant for the believers. It taught the Muslims to do everything out of love for Allah. This is Taqwa. It must be remembered that when people pray out of love or do things out of love for Allah then without any effort they will be able to put their whole mind, heart and soul into it. Thus their worship will reach very high stages of perfection and nearness to Allah, making it acceptable to our Creator. On the other hand worship out of fear of Hell and the wonderful attractions in Heaven is not worship of Allah. Rather it is a worship of safety from Hell and temptations of the luxuries in Heaven! It has nothing to do with the love of Allah and His worship.
All those who wanted to become Ashab (companions of the Prophet) had to achieve the second or the Madinah target of doing everything out of love for Allah with their hearts and souls put into it. This type of worship was neither out of fear nor out of temptation. It was not for any rewards, except that on the Day of Judgment they may be able to feast their eyes with the sight of Allah. Thus bringing about a worship which will be gladly accepted by our Creator. Hell and Heaven concerns only those who are under the influence of the 86 Makkan Suras, which became out of date after the revelation in 2 A.H. at Madinah which could in one night (Lailatul Qadar) gain for you the benefits of more than 1000 months of continuous worship i.e. a life of over 83 years of adoration of Allah out of love and no other considerations.
To train any person to come to near perfection takes a lot of time and a great deal of efforts on the part of every human being. That is the real reason why the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) for the purpose of training the Muslims would start fasting from Rajjab i.e. from two months before Ramadan. It was expected to give enough time to the sincere believers to train themselves to try and gain mastery over themselves to achieve "Taqwa". Many pious people till this day observe these 3 months of continuous lasting in their efforts to try and acquire such piety as would last them for the next eleven months till the coming of the next Ramadan in addition to the sight of Lailatul Qadar.
23. METHOD BY WHICH ONE CAN GAIN CONTROL OVER THEMSELVES
It is common knowledge that to control a wild animal, the beast has to be kept hungry occasionally and given food when it obeys. This teaches the animal to become obedient and do what is required by their masters. A visit to a circus of stunts by trained animals or to a sea animals Sporting Show would enable them to see dolphins and whales give wonderful displays of their skills. You will no doubt notice that immediately after each act the dolphins and the whales will swim to their trainers with big mouths open for fishes or food. So also is the case with human beings. During the period of fasting with no food or water or sex during the day the physical desires of the body becomes subdued by abstinence from the three fundament things of human lives being prohibited during the lay. That is the right moment to train the wild desires and egoism to become obedient to live according to the Divine Laws revealed in the Holy Qur’an.
24. PROPHET TRAINS US WITH TAQWA OF TOTAL FASTING FROM HEAD TO FOOT
The Holy Prophet has explained that if a Muslim can abstain from dawn till sunset i.e. throughout the day without any food or water or contact between husband and wife all of which are very essential for human beings just to make Allah happy then can one imagine how much more obligatory it is for each believer in Allah that during this period of Ramadan he should not commit any crime or sin, which would hurt the feelings of Allah. To induce people to try and achieve these perfect objectives “Taqwa” was ordained in 2 A.H. The Holy Prophet has told Hadrat Abdullah ibne Abbas (peace be on them) as follows :
"If Muslims understood the wonders of Lailatul Qadar and the benefits one can achieve through Ramadan they would all plead with Allah to give them the will power and stamina to continue to live their lives on those high ideals throughout their lives which they strive to attain during the month of Ramadan atleast daily during the rest of the year until the start of the next Ramadan."
Thus a target was set by the Prophet to the Ashab to continue to mould their lives on the basis of Ramadan and atleast continue same during the coming eleven months of the year in order to obtain the maximum benefits from their love of Allah.
These high principles which the Holy Prophet has taught on this subject amounted to complete fasting from head to foot thus involving each and every part of our human body including mind and soul of every one. Unless one's fasting leads us to achieve such perfect conditions then only one can hope to meet Lailatul Qadar which is meant for those who have drowned themselves in their Taqwa out of love for Allah. This induced the companions of the Prophet to try and excel one another in piety. The minimum condition of Taqwa to achieve the sighting of Lailatul Qadar as taught by the Holy Prophet are listed below :
1. The head is the highest part of the human body. It contains the brain. This is the source of human intelligence. It makes the unimaginable difference between human beings and animals. The human brain has the power to think, analyse and reason. These faculties give us the capacity to control our human body to do those things which are pleasing to Allah. Therefore to acquire the goal of Taqwa, our brain is our greatest help. It must not be permitted to think any evil of anybody. Otherwise it would command us to commit sin against others. That would destroy our chances of greeting Lailatul Qadar the objective of every Muslim during the month of Ramadan.
2. Next in height comes our eyes. They without any effort will notice whatever is around us. One normally cannot stop the eyes from seeing what is all around. Then automatically will convey the information to the brain. As soon as the sin of others reaches the brain it spontaneously without any realisation records it just like the memory of computer. It can be recalled at any time after many years i.e. long after the incident has been forgotten. As soon as that happens it becomes obvious that our eyes have the power to record in the memory of the brain a capability of doing harm to others. Thus the object of recording became our power of backbiting. Allah knows well what we shall do in later years. So one already has committed an act of sin unknowingly as seen from example quoted before. The golden rule of the Prophet was :
"See no evil in order to save yourself from thinking upon the wrong deeds of others".
That is the objective of all who desire to enjoy the wonders of Lailatul Qadar.
3. Lower than that on our body is the ears. One must never hear any evil about anyone. Otherwise we fall into the trap of being in a position to hurt the feelings of others. Never must we forget that our thoughts are the origin of all deeds. Even where we have not disclosed same to anybody else still Allah is fully aware of what you hide in secret in within yourselves. It does not save you from the crime which is there against other persons. Displeasure to Allah will destroy the purity of our fasting and cause punishment to be meted out to us just an in the case of the old pious lady who was counting the evils of the prostitute. That landed her into Hell. The Qur'an is very specific that Allah will reward us on the basis of our intentions. It does not make any difference whether we have revealed it to others or not. Further by such acts we shall lose the chances of sighting the grandeur of Lailatul Qadar. That would be a disaster for the pious.
4. Then is our mouth. Our mouth is in the absolute control of each individual. We must never speak any evil about anyone even if it is the truth, otherwise we are eating the rotten flesh of our dead brother as warned in the Qur'an and the example set by Allah in sending the cut head of the youth to Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi. Everyone must try their very best to save themselves from such a situation, which will deprive them of the wonders of Lailatul Qadar.
5. After that the responsibility of committing evils falls upon our hands. It must not be extended under any circumstances towards doing any evil or harm to others including human beings and animals and even to the nature around us so as to spoil it as a habitat for those who live on the planet Earth. None can escape the acts of our own hands. Every one will have to face death in this life and account for our actions in thoughts, words or deeds on the Day of Judgment.
6. Thereafter is our heart. It must not be permitted to harbour any thoughts of revenge, hatred or anger against anyone, because that would not only destroy the perfection of our fasting but also deprive us the gift of continuous worship of Allah for a thousand month i.e. our whole life, which is store for those who are blessed with the sight of the Night of Qadar.
7. Not to lift any steps to go towards any sin or evil otherwise your Taqwa of love for the Creator would come to an end. Thereafter you would not be able to enjoy the peace and contentment of Lailatul Qadar which is better than a thousand months of continuous worship or the reward of over 83 years of life of perfection in the worship of our Creator.
8. To partake Sehri or predawn tiffin and make our intention to fast for the pleasure of Allah. Niyyat or intention to fast is compulsory. But the predawn sehri is a sunnah or the example set by our Holy Prophet for the purpose of giving us encouragement to face with a smile the difficulties and temptations not only during the month of Ramadan but also throughout our lives. The Holy Prophet's life is a glowing example especially during the 13 years of tortures at Makkah which exceeded even the tortures experienced by the earlier 124000 prophets put together. The more so because he kept on praying to Allah for the forgiveness of the disbelievers and that Iman or faith may be put into their hearts instead of cursing them. All the earlier prophets had cursed the mischief makers of their time. So the example set by our Prophet is most unique and wonderful.
9. To end the fast as soon as the sun sets, because at that moment the night of the next date starts according to Islamic calendar. The Prophet has taught that those who open their fasts promptly would be blessed by Allah with "Rizak" i.e. wealth and happiness to the people. All should try to aspire towards such excellent targets for their own benefit.
10. To perform Taraveeh Salat preferably along with the recitation of the full Qur'an as part of the regular daily Night Worship. This should be done as far as possible behind an Imam who is a hafiz or one who can recite the full Qur'an by heart. This had been the sunnah or the practice of the Holy Prophet. Such worship will give us enough physical exercises to keep us fit. That is why the Islamic worship of Allah has been termed : "The Yoga of Islam" and lifts our souls to higher levels of piety and perfection.
11. To feed the poor and the hungry, the importance of which we are able to appreciate better when we ourselves feel the pangs of hunger after being hungry the whole day during the month of Ramadan. This educates the Muslim to look after their neighbours and see whether they have had food otherwise to provide them with their necessities. This come under the heading of : "Love your neighbours as yourselves".
12. To increase our Qur'an reading so that we may be able to appreciate better what are the Laws of Allah and try our best to improve our lives accordingly and thus become better law abiding citizens. Thereby setting the example for the world to follow and make it a better place to live in as the early Muslim traders had done, which removed the "dark ages" of Europe as confirmed by Chamber's Encyclopaedia.
13. To observe "Itikaf" (i.e. complete seclusion during the last ten days of Ramadan) within the mosque to enable people to completely divorce themselves from their daily routine of worldly life and concentrate upon Allah, the Alone, and try to acquire His love and become His friend – Auliallah. Ladies can perform itikaf in a corner of their living room by tying a curtain around the place so that no one may disturb them and give up all management of the house work. They must dedicate this period to contemplate upon their Creator and try to achieve Taqwa, which would last them till the end of their earthly lives. A target all should do their best to aspire for.
14. To forget ourselves, our desires and live in complete harmony or surrender to the will of Allah in terms of Sura 6 – Al Anam : Ayat 163 which enforces :
“Say (or teach O Prophet) : Without doubt our Salat (Worship) and our Sacrifices (to do good to others especially to the poor by going out of our way to help them, which is included in a life a Taqwa) and our living and our dying are all dedicated to Allah, the Rub (Sustainer Lord) of the Universe”.
This type of life is Taqwa. It enables us to achieve love of Allah by going out of our way to give service and care to the poor and the needy without any intentions of getting reward. It must not be for show, name and fame, otherwise one's intention would lose its value before Allah.
Here are the concluding remarks on Sufism from page 138 of "When you hear Hoofbeats think of a Zebra" by Shems Freidlander, published 1992 by Mazda Publishers, Costa Mesa, California U.S.A.
"We have to listen to those who have a greater understanding of life when they tell us how to live. If not, often our choices can turn into a snake and even sometimes kill us.
The ones who do not learn from the lessons of others become lessons for others.
Our rope to Allah is prayer. To love your wife is a prayer... it makes a heart feel good.
To help humanity is prayer.
To help the poor is the prayer of money.
To prostrate oneself before Allah is the prayer of the body.
To say la ilaha illa Allah is the prayer of the mouth.
To love Allah is the prayer of the heart.
To look and see lessons in everything is the prayer of the eye.
To listen only to the truth and act accordingly is the prayer of the ear.
As long as you have faith in your heart, whatever you do is prayer.
Prayer will neutralize the masks you have worn and the poisons you have taken to get you through life.
Work hard as if you will live forever but pray with that sincerity as if you will die any moment and may not get another opportunity again to ask forgiveness from Allah."
(By courtesy of Mrs. Sultana Lilani)
25. PROPHET REGULARLY BROKE RAMADAN FAST OF EVIL DOERS
In every case the Prophet held that any one, who does not desist from backbiting or talking evil of others or fighting with one another or doing crimes, his Ramadan fast has become null and void. On this basis he got several people during the Madinah period to break their Ramadan fast. He forced them to drink water. He ordered them as a punishment to fast after Ramadan for a day to compensate for their deliberate destruction of their said fast which was not under the category of Taqwa. Such people were accordingly forced to repeat their wasted fast. This made not only them but all those around them to observe their fasts on the basis of the minimum 14 conditions laid down as above so that their lives would be in accordance with the laws of the Qur'an and that also out of love for Allah so as to enable them to be fit greet the wonders of Lailatul Qadar.
26. HOW TO KEEP GATES OF MERCY OPEN THROUGHOUT THE YEAR
From the above it would be obvious that all who observe total fast from head to foot with full involvement of every part of one's body in total surrender to the above Madinah system of bring in Taqwa i.e. their love for Allah and His Prophet to be so firm that they cannot be tempted to do a sin. Such of them, according to the Holy Prophet, would enjoy not only during the month of Ramadan the sight of Lailatul Qadar but also during the coming eleven months the undernoted gifts of Allah, would continue to be blessed upon them even long after Ramadan has ended viz :
1. The gates of Mercy or Love of Allah which are greater than heaven would continue to remain open. Allah would be only too happy to receive them into His wondrous Beauties and give them a sight of Himself which is millions of times better than Heaven. Such joy would not only be reserved for the month of Ramadan but also during the following eleven months till the next Ramadan if the believers keep on living their lives in the love of Allah by their devoted conduct during the rest of their lives, which would be confirmed to them by being blessed with the meeting of Lailatul Qadar on earth and Allah's Beauties and Wonders in the hereafter. Those who do so are actually in the same state of purity all the time as they were during Ramadan. Allah will always greet them with open arms into His Wonders. Those blessed with the sight of Allah will never think of Heaven or its luxuries of Palaces, hurs etc. They will forget it. Because Heaven is simply nothing before the blessed sight of Allah where you will be drowned in the beauties of Allah continuously without have any desires for any thing else but Allah.
2. The gates of Hell would continue to remain closed for them also during the following eleven months because they have made themselves so pious that Hell will not permit them even to come near it, let alone the question of entering Hell.
3. Satan attached to each person in the form of our Nafs Ammara would continue to be powerless as if chained because of our continued Taqwa. Our worldly desires and egoism will have no power to induce us to commit any sins in spite of being over 99% of ourselves. Can one imagine what a great religious and mental victory for our Ruh or Soul which is less than even 1% of ourselves ? May the Lord bless every true believer with such true love for Him.
4. Indeed those who have the good fortune of the sighting Lailatul Qadar will in addition be also blessed with over a thousand months of continuous worship i.e. over 83 years of worship which tantamounts to their whole life on earth being blessed by Allah. They are those who are drowned in the love of Allah. They will be greeted by Allah as Sura 9 – At-Tawba : Ayat 100 the relevant last portion is quoted hereunder :
"Allah is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with Him, and He has made ready for them Gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide for ever. That is the supreme triumph."
27. ADVICE OF ONE WHO HAS MET LAILATUL QADAR ANNUALLY
Everyone does good deeds and prayers with some motive. If you ask the general Muslims you will get one of the two answers or a combination of both of them viz :
1. To save myself from the tortures of Hell
2. To obtain Heaven with its palaces, hurs, luxuries, fruits, foods etc.
Sorry to say both of them are not Allah, nor the worship of Allah. Both these thoughts are the worship of our selfish desires viz to save ourselves from Hell or to enjoy the pleasures of Heaven or both of them combined together
One is tempted to ask how have you been meeting Lailatul Qadar annually from 1940 at the age of twenty years then what is your secret? The very simple answer is :
Intention to do every thing out of love for Allah, without any thought of a reward. This is most important essence.
The Holy Prophet (peace be on him) has taught during the Madinah period that all our deeds must be based on Taqwa. Love is far greater than fear of Hell and temptations of Heaven. In love you do everything with your heart, mind and soul put into it. That is the only way of real and permanent success.
The Qur'an has repeatedly brought this out by teaching ask no reward or fee for the services one is rendering. Here is an example from Sura 34 – Saba : Ayat 47 :
"Say : I do not ask any reward. My reward is the affair of Allah only. He is witness over all things".
This makes it clear that one's worship has to be without any consideration at all. Its only aim is the pleasures of Allah and not out fears of Hell and the pleasures of Heaven. Such firm intention of doing things out of pure love of Allah is the real Iman or faith in Allah.
This was also displayed by the very first group of sufis who were then known as Ashab-us-Safa or Ashab-us-Saffa or the companions who were always in the first rows for worship of Allah in Masjid-e-Nabavi at Madinah. They comprised of about 400 saints. All the important companions of the Prophet were included. Amongst them were the four Khulifa-e-Rashideen.
This has also been brought out glowingly in the "Dua" or prayer of Hadrat Sufi Bibi Rabiya Basri (R.A.) the "Murid" or disciple of Hadrat Sufi Khwaja Hasan Basri (R.A.) the third Khalifa of Hadrat Panjatan Pak Maula Ali ibne Abu Taleb (A.S.) the Khatimul Khulifa-e-Rashideen. Khawaja Hasan Basri is the origin of four very popular Sufi schools spread all over the earth viz : The Qadriya, the Chishtiya, the Saharwardiya and the Raffai Orders.
We conclude with this famous "Dua" or prayer of Hadrat Sufi Bibi Rabiya Basri which is :
You out of fear of Hell
Then into Hell You cast me"
"Ya Allah if I worship
You out of desire of Heaven
Then withhold Heaven from me"
"But Ya Allah if I worship
You out of love of You
Then do not hide Your beauty from me"
May Allah bless all of us with the wonderful sight of Lailatul Qadar – Ameen.
