World of Tasawwuf

Shaykh as-Shah Abd 'al Haqq Muhaddith Dehlwi [ d. 1052 H - 1642 CE ] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan



Hadrat Mawlana as-Shaykh as-Shah 'Abd-al-Haqq al Muhaddith Rahmatullahi alayh was born in Delhi [Dehlwi, Dehlawi, Dehlvi], India. His father Saif al-Din Rahmatullahi alayh was a very pious and intellectual man, and this is a reason why Shah 'Abd-al-Haqq Rahmatullahi alayh's education and breeding was based on similar well founded principles. He was extremely fond of education and had a particular zest for learning from a very young age. Many hours of the day and the night were spent in reading and writing. After gaining his education in India, he was directed towards the Haramayn, Makkah in 996H. He stayed there for approx 3 and a half years, in which he attained his knowledge of hadith and also authored several books.



Some of his most popular and recognised works are listed below;-

Shah 'Abd-al-Haqq Rahmatullahi alayh was also a noted poet who went by the pen name of Hanfi. During his time the King known as Jahangir was a great believer in him. Jahangir praised many of his works, and also had many of his letters published.

On Dhikr, Shaykh Abdul Haq Muhaddith Dehlawi Rahmatullahi alayh says:

Shah 'Abd-al-Haqq Rahmatullahi alayh passed away at the age of 96, [17th Rabbi al Awwal 1052AH - 1642 C.E.] and is buried near the shrine of Khawaja Qutb al-Din Bahtyar Kaki Rahmatullahi alayh, in Delhi, India.

 

Madarij An Nabuwwah-Vol 1 urdu
Madarij An Nabuwwah-Vol 2 urdu

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Shaykh as-Sayyad as-Shah Muhammad Nausha Ganj Baksh al-Qadiri [d.1064H / 1654 CE] 'alayhir ar-rahman w'al ridwan

Sayyad Nausha Ganj Bakhsh 'alayhir ar-rahman was an expert in the religious fields of fiqh (Islamic law), hadith (traditions) tafsir (exegeses of the Qur'an), philosophy and kalam (theology concerning the tenets of belief). Besides being fluent in arabic and persian he also knew kashmiri, sanskrit and many another regional languages and dialects as well. After Islamic knowledge, he was regularly engaged in many spiritual exercises, mentally and physically. He was widely respected and honoured for his knowledge of tasawwuf. It is recorded that he memorised the Qur'an al-karim within a period of only three months. Amongst his teachers were Qari Qaym al-Din and Shaykh Abd 'al-Haqq [Radi Allahu anhum].

One of his famous sayings about shari'ah :

FURTHER READING SILSILA AL QADIRIYA AL NAUSHAHIYA :
http://www.qadri-naushahi.com/
http://www.jamiyattablighulislam.org/

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According to some sources Hadrat Sultan Bahu Radi Allahu anhu was born in the village of Shorkhote in Punjab Province in the year 1039 CE, during the reign of the great Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.  Hadrat Sultan Bahu Radi Allahu anhu  belonged to the Sarwari Qadiri tariqat and was a descendent of Amir al Momineen Imam Ali Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu.

 

Hadrat Sultan Bahu Radi Allahu anhu did not acquire the worldly sciences. Due to immense spiritual attractions and ecstasy it became difficult to attain to formal education. Yet his own person was luminous with Divine Light. In one of his writings the great wali (saint) refers to this when he says that: 'I did not have time to spare for formal education but spiritual experiences, divine favour and guidance and esoteric conquests has enabled me to acquire such vast knowledge that it would require many files of paper to record. Spiritual realities have so enlightened my inward that both the esoteric and exoteric sciences have been revealed to me....neither did I have the time to perform daily litanies (wird) because since the beginning I have been immersed in the ocean of Unity (Tawheed)'.

 

 

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Imam 'Abd 'Allah al-Haddad [d.1132 H - 1720 CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan

The Beloved Messenger of God, may the Blessings of Allah & peace be upon him & and his Family, prophesised that in every century God would raise up amongst his nation a man who would renew its religion. Imam 'Abdallah al-Haddad Radi Allahu anhu was the renewer, or Mujaddid, of the twelfth Islamic century. He was renowned, and deservedly so, for the breadth of his knowledge and his manifest sanctity. The profundity of his influence on Muslims is reflected by the fact his books are still in print throughout the Islamic world.

He was born in Tarim, in the hills of Hadramaut, one of the southerly regions of the Arabian peninsula, and grew up in an environment where the accent was upon piety, frugality, erudition, and an uncompromising thirst for gnosis (ma'rifa). His lineage is traced back to the Prophet, may blessings and peace be upon him, and his family, through Imam al-Husayn. His illustrious ancestors, the 'Alawi sadat, had for centuries produced generation after generation of great scholars, gnostics, and summoners to the Straight Path.

Imam al-Haddad's Radi Allahu anhu writings, if we except a few short treatises, and his volume of poetry, are mostly concerned with establishing within his readers the firmest possible foundations for faith and certainty. He recognised the signs of his times and of the times to come, and observed how people were drawing away from religion, exhibiting a reluctance to study and a diminishing inclination to seek spiritual growth. He therefore endeavoured to produce concise, clear, and uncontroversial texts. His concern for brevity is manifest throughout his books, many of which are abbreviated adaptations of Imam al-Ghazali's Radi Allahu anhu monumental Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya 'Ulum al-Din). Al-Ghazali Radi Allahu anhu had himself been the renewer of the sixth century.

Imam al-Haddad Radi Allahu anhu died on the eve of the seventh of Dhu'l-Qa'da, 1132 A.H. having spent his life bringing people to their Lord through his oral and written teaching, and his exemplary life. He was buried in a simple grave in the cemetary at Tarim.

 

Dr. Mostafa al-Badawi Al-Madina al-Munawwara [Ramadan 1408]

Source: Imam Abdallah ibn Alawi Al-Haddad, The Book of Assistance,
The Quilliam Press, London, 1989, p.vii-viii.

 

Courtesy : http://www.iqra.net/articles/al-haddad.html

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Shaykh al Islam 'Abd al-Ghani al-Nablusi [d. 1143A.H/1733C.E] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan

His status as a scholar and wali (friend of Allah) is also unstintingly acknowledged by Islamic scholars who came after him. As a prolific contributor to Hanafi fiqh, there is hardly a work in the school that appeared after him that does not depend on or discusses his legal opinions. In the well known and most depended upon work in Hanafi fiqh, Radd al-Muhtar, commonly known as The Hashiya of Ibn `Abidin, the author and Imam of the school in his time, Muhammad Amin ibn 'Abidin (d.1836), frequently quotes the legal opinions of Shaykh 'Abd al-Ghani, referring to him with a reverence and respect that is not apparent in the mention of other scholars quoted in his work. Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tahtawi (d.1816), the al-Azhari Shaykh of the Hanafi Jurists, in his well known Hashiya of Maraqi al-Falah, when discussing a legal opinion of Shaykh 'Abd al-Ghani refers to him as "The knower of Allah, my master 'Abd al-Ghani (al-arif billah Sayyidi 'Abd al-Ghani)". It is unthinkable that such eminent scholars should lend such respect to and depend on the scholarship of an individual who might remotely be accused of heresy. Nor is it thinkable that the numerable godfearing scholars who came after them and use and quote their works would find that acceptable (Ibn 'Abidin's work in particular has been used since it was authored by Islamic rulers implementing the shari'a in government, by judges, muftis, jurists and students of Islamic Law). This is particularly true in view of his book Wujud al-Haqq (On True Being), which details his Sufi ontology and which he taught in public seminars to hundreds of contemporary scholars in his own lifetime. 

 

I believe that a valid point can be made here; namely, that in the time of such scholars as Ibn 'Abidin and al-Tahtawi Islamic culture was a great deal more integrated and balanced than it is today, such that Sufism was understood by shari'a specialists and even considered necessary for a complete understanding and practice of the Din. In the time in which we live Muslims have been engulfed by a civilization that is completely materialistic in its outlook. I believe that this saturation of the worldly has had the adverse effect on the Muslims of making it difficult for them to comprehend anything beyond the physical, which is why the words and experience of the Sufis seem alien to them. This over emphasis on the material also seems to be the reason that modern day reform minded Muslims have found the concept of an anthropomorphic god acceptable as well as the focus of religion being limited primarily to the outward manifestations of the shari'a only, such as salat and hijab for example, without there being any emphasis on internal development. It is not uncommon to find that such an attitude leads to a spiritual crisis of stagnation and meaninglessness, when after several years of practice the initial sense of euphoria of faith fades and one no longer feels the forward motion of increasing in closeness to Allah Most High. 

Regarding the scholarship of Shaykh 'Abd al-Ghani radi Allahu anhu, one need only read his works to understand how truly brilliant this man was. In whatever subject he addressed, he wrote as an authority, whether Hanafi fiqh, hadith, Islamic ontology and metaphysics, Arabic literature, Quranic readings or other. Some of his works have been published, while the majority are still in manuscript form. Any skeptic could avail himself his works and make an honest investigation.

Ref; Umm Sahl

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Qutb al-Din Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Rahim Shah Wali 'Allah [d.1176 H - 1760 CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan

 

The principles of Qur'anic exegesis, which he set forth in al-Fawz al-Kabir, introduced a new dimension in the science of tafsir. He emphasized a direct approach to the Qur'an. Prior to Shah Wali Allah, because of the notion that the Qur'an may not be translated, Qur'anic scholarship had been an exclusive domain of specialists. Shah Wali Allah took a bold initiative and translated the Qur'an into Persian, the lingua franca of the Muslim literati in the sub-continent. Thereafter it became increasingly possible for ordinary people to understand the teachings of the Qur'an. A growing number of scholars concentrated their efforts in explicating the message of the Qur'an. 'Ubayd Allah Sindhi, one of the most prominent exponents of Shah Wali Allah's philosophy, expressed the view that after being imbued with the philosophy of Shah Wali Allah, one can understand the overall message of the Qur'an directly from its text and can be satisfied with it without being compelled to seek any external aid.



The Qur'an had always been regarded as the primary source of legal doctrines, yet later jurists tended to regard only approximately five hundred verses as legally important. Even men like Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 505 /1111) had not considered it necessary for a mujtahid to master the rest of the verses. Further, the classical exegetes tended to assign a certain strict context to each verse of the Qur'an. Shah Wali Allah emphasized that the Qur'an was applicable to the entire human thought and experience, emphasizing the essential comprehensibility of all the verses of the Qur'an, including those assigned by the exegetes to the category of mutashabih.



After a comprehensive survey of the contents of the Qur'an, he classified its themes under five subjects: (i) ahkam (injunctions); (ii) mukhasamah (dialectics); (iii) tadhkir bi ala' Allah (reminding man of the Divine favours); (iv) tadhkir bi ayyam Allah (reminding man of God's interventions in history); and (v) tadhkir bi al-mawt wa ma ba'd al-mawt (reminding man about death and the life thereafter). This classification clarified many misunderstandings of the Qur'an as well as a number of problems in the sequence of the verses, their inter-relationship and thematic coherence. Many 'ulama' had been neglecting dialectics of the Qur'an and thus were unable to appreciate the discourse of the Revelation which was addressed to all mankind, belonging to either of the following categories: (i) the faithful, (ii) the people of the Book, (iii) the polytheists or atheists, and (iv)  the hypocrites.



Shah Wali Allah's approach to the Science of Hadith is characterized by his view that the Sunnah is essentially a commentary on the Qur'an itself, rather than something independent of it. An intensive analysis of the Prophet's traditions led him to see an organic relationship between the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Further, he brought out the rational and beneficent considerations underlying the directives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He also took note of the severe criticism made against Ahl al-Sunnah by the rationalists, partly under the impact of Hellenistic philosophy in the classical period of Islamic thought. He advocated the traditional point of view of the former and supported it with strong rational arguments.



Shah Wali Allah adopted a method of interpreting the traditions of the Prophet in which he has shown an evolutionary process in the lives of all Prophets from Ibrahim up to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), in that they received Divine guidance gradually and commensurate with the onward progress of human civilization. He looked upon the teachings of all Prophets as a continuous commentary on the ever-unfolding process of revealed guidance. Moreover, unlike many other jurists, Shah Wali Allah did not assign to ijma' (consensus) a categorical position as an independant source of law. He had, rather, a restricted conception of ijma'. He recognized the binding character of the consensus based on the rulings of the early caliphs, especially Abu Bakr, 'Umar and 'Uthman, the three immediate successors of the beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), on any interpretation of the Qur'an or the Sunnah. He granted this special status to these Companions on grounds of their close association with the Prophet and their temporal proximity to him. Any other consensus which took place at any later period was, in his opinion, not of the same consequence in as much as it does not bind Muslims of any other era or area to any particular view. Thus, Shah Wali Allah gave ijma' a somewhat diminished position. According to him, ijma' is an explanatory source and an authentic interpretation of the Qur'an by those whose understanding is less fallible than of others for the reasons we have stated earlier. The fourth source of law, according to the generally held view of jurists, is qiyas (analogy). Again, this is not recognized by Shah Wali Allah as an independent source because it is integral to our process of understanding the Qur'an and its interpretations that are either embodied in the Sunnah or can be derived from the collective understanding of the Companions in the Best Era (khayr al-qurun).



In the field of law and jurisprudence, Shah Wali Allah had a remarkable ability to reconcile the differing views found among Muslims and explain them with reference to the basic principles that may be deduced from the Qur'an and be plausible on rational grounds. He mentions this ability as a great Divine favour to him. Shah Wali Allah did this with theology and mysticism as well. This is evident, for instance, from his synthesized version of the doctrines of wahdat al-wujud (unity of existence) and wahdat al-shahud (unity of manifestation).

 

These Muslim scholars, known as mutakallimun, resorted to articulating their position in the intellectual terms which they shared with the main exponents of Greek philosophy. As these discussions went on, a distinct corpus of knowledge emerged and the bulk of literature thus produced by Muslim scholars came to be known as 'I1m al-Kalam. In this process there appeared a galaxy of scholars who contributed to the development of 'I1m al-kalam and in the course of time diversified those discussions. Notable among them were such luminaries as al-Juwayni (d. 478/1085) al-Ghazali (d.505/1111), al-Ash'ari (d. 324/936), al-Maturidi (d. 333/944), al-Shahrastani (d. 548/1153) and many others. The last prominent representative of these intellectual giants was Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d.606/1209). The later mutakallimun developed their themes in scholastic discussions more or less on the same pattern. With the passage of time, it became fashionable for Muslim scholars to be immersed in highly formalised discussions of a theoretical nature in utter disregard of their diminishing value for their own ethos.



The corpus of Kalam which had evolved often lacked the coherence and consistency required of a well-organized and full-fledged discipline. The questions dealt with by the mutakallimun, in a great many cases, had no logical or sequential relationship with each other. The point of culmination in these discussions was a severe criticism and strong rebuttal of the premises of Greek thought by men like al-Ghazali and al-Razi.  Shah Wali Allah re-stated the fundamental postulates of the Islamic belief system within the framework of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, provided external evidence drawn from pure reason, empirical observation and intuitional imagination to reinforce the propositions derived from Revelation and tradition. While the expositions of earlier mutakallimun had exclusively focused on questions of belief ('aqidah), Shah Wali Allah sought to substantiate the inimitability (i'jaz) of the shari'ah (revealed code of law)  by establishing an organic link between 'aqidah and shari'ah. He emphasized the inimitability of the latter in as much as it responds to the diversity of the varying conditions of human life. Avoiding as far as possible a discussion of what he considered the archaic issues of early theology such as the eternity of the Qur'an and free will, pre-determination, and the indivisibility of Divine Essence and Attributes, his approach consisted chiefly in presenting the rationale of the injunctions of Islam on the premise of their compatibility with human nature. By developing this comprehensive approach to Kalam, Shah Wali Allah’s contribution was that he put in bold relief not only the rationality of belief, but also established a necessary nexus between the ordinances of the shari'ah and the innate urges of human nature.



One of the striking features of the writings of Shah Wali Allah is his stress on the necessary relation between the creation and the Creator which consistently pervades all his thinking. Whether the subject of his discussion is highly spiritual or purely mundane, the consciousness of the Ultimate Reality is always uppermost in his mind. This characterizes all his discussions including those pertaining to such questions as the evolution of man as a moral being or man's role as an active member of the society. This also characterizes his analysis of human instincts and behaviour, or his survey of the development of human society even when it is in the nature of an empirical enquiry.



In his discussions on the genesis of man and the creation of the universe, Shah Wali Allah developed three main terms namely ibda' (creation ex nihilo), khalq (creation), and tadbir (governance). Ibda' is creation out of sheer nothingness. Khalq is to create something out of an existing substance. Tadbir is to manage and employ a set of created things so as to derive the required benefits which are conducive to universal balance. With reference to these concepts, which signify different stages of the Divine creative process, Shah Wali Allah discusses the created phenomena.



In explaining the doctrine of 'universal soul' (al-nafs alkulliyyah), Shah Wali Allah says that deep and profound thought on the diversity of universal phenomena leads human intelligence to the notion that God has created a universal soul ex-nihilo. From this 'universal soul' or 'universal genus' emanate all existents. But the relationship between the Creator ex-nihilo and the 'universal soul' cannot be explained in terms of this material world. There is unity between the Creator and the 'universal soul'. But this unity is neither real, nor comprehensible to the finite human intelligence. The highest degree of perception attainable by human intellect is this 'universal soul' where it is able to combine all diversity of existence on one point. At this point the voyage of human intellect ends. This unique relationship between the Creator and the 'universal soul', which is called ibda' by Shah Wali Allah, is far beyond the grasp of the human mind.



Shah Wali Allah's position on the problem of existence was to reconcile the well-known doctrine of wahdat al-wujud (Unity of Existence) of Ibn 'Arabi (d. 638/1240) and wahdat al-shuhud (unity of manifestation), which was put forward by Ahmad Sirhindi (d.1034/1624) in the course of his criticism of the doctrine of Ibn 'Arabi. Shah Wali Allah maintained that there was no significant disagreement between the two ideas, but simply a problem of semantics. Both, according to him, ultimately arrived at the same conclusion.



Explaining his stand on the problem of Existence, Shah Wali Allah said that when we look at the things in existence, we find both common and distinctive features in them. For example, all human beings share the characteristic of humanness although in several other respects they are distinct from one another. At the same time, being a man or a horse distinguishes one from the other. But all the existents do have a common feature of existence. Both the 'contingent' (mumkin) and 'essential' (wajib) have the characteristic of existence. 'Existence', however, does not merely mean 'to be'. It rather signifies the 'Reality' on the basis of which we regard something as existent. This 'Reality' itself exists without any external cause, giving it its existence. Since this 'Reality' is the cause of all existence, therefore, it must, of necessity, exist by itself. Hence its existence is all-pervading. For if this 'Reality' were not there, every other thing would have been nonexistent. Now all other things that exist (other than this Essential Reality) are merely accidental. For without the Essential Existence they would disappear into sheer nothingness. This is the nature of all the things of this world. They merely have an accidental existence, the only exception being the 'Real Existence'. Thus it is clear that existence is a common feature of all existents. If there is no existence then all things shall vanish. The mystics known as wujudiyyah or 'ayniyyah maintain that God consists in the existents, or that He has manifested Himself in these existents. There are other Sufis known as wara'iyyah who believe that the existence of all things that exist is contingent upon this Real Existence and that the Essence of God is beyond this cosmic phenomena. There are some statements attributed to Ibn 'Arabi which suggest that his position is closer to the school of 'ayniyyah or wujudiyyah, and Shah Wali Allah has taken these statements in a metaphorical rather than literal sense. It may be pointed out that on other occasions Ibn 'Arabi clearly draws a line of distinction between the 'Essential Existent' (wajib al-wujud) and the contingent existent (mumkin al-wujud) and discusses at length the five stages (tanazzulat) of determination. These stages, according to Ibn 'Arabi, are ahadiyyah, lahut, jabarut, 'alam al-mithal and nasut, all of which emanate from the 'Essential Existent' (i.e. God). Like many other Muslim thinkers before and after him, Shah Wali Allah offers an explanation of the ideas of Ibn 'Arabi which conform to the views held by the major theological schools of Islam. Shah Wali Allah interprets all such statements of Ibn 'Arabi, statements in which he identifies a unity between the creational phenomena and the 'Essential Existent', to mean unity of the latter with the 'universal soul'. This is so because the stages of existence beyond the 'universal soul' fall, in his opinion, outside the cognitive domain of human intellect.

 

Shah Wali Allah's main focus was on the Qur'an, Hadith, Kalam, socio-political and ethical philosophy and spiritual sciences.  He wrote extensively in Islamic studies, including Tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis), Hadith (traditions of the Prophet), Fiqh (law), usulal' Fiqh, (principles of jurisprudence), 'Aqa'id (beliefs), Kalam (scholastics), philosophy, Tasawwuf (spiritual sciences), history, biography, Arabic poetry, and grammar. He also wrote in the areas of sociology, politics, psychology and ethical philosophy.

 

 
• Al-Fath al-Kabir (Arabic), Lucknow, 1314 A.H. It deals with the explanation of the difficult words used in the Qur'an, with terms that are usually called ghara'ib, i.e. words that are not quite familiar in the common diction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spiritual Sciences

 

 

 

 

 

 

History and Biography

 

 
• Qurrat al-'Aynayn fi Tafdil al-Shaykhayn (Persian) (Delhi: 1320 A.H.), 336 pp. It discusses the significant achievements of the first two Caliphs and their place in Islam. The discussion is substantiated by reference to the relevant verses of the Qur'an and traditions of the Prophet.

 
• Al-'Atiyyah al-Samadiyyah fi al-Anfas al-Muhammadiyyah (Persian). It is a short treatise on the biography of Shaykh Muhammad Phulati, a saint and maternal grand-father of Shah Wali Allah. Details as to the place and date of publication are not available.

 
• Al-lmdad fi Ma'athir al-Ajdad (Persian). It is a biographical account of some ancestors of the author. Its contents have also been included in Anfas al- 'Arfin.

 
• Surar al-Mahzun (Persian), 24 pp. It is a short comprehensive biography of the Prophet (peace be upon him). It was first published in Tonk, India in 1271 A.H.

 
• Al-Juz' al-Latif fi Tarjamat al-'Abd al-Za'if (Persian). It is a short autobiography of the author. It has been translated into Urdu by Muhammad Ayyub Qadiri and published in the monthly al-Rahim, vol. II. no. 5. October 1964. pp. 18-26.

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