Memories (Episode 50)

Second Trip to Cape Town for the Mirzai Case
With respect to the case in Cape Town that I mentioned before, the Court had rescinded the prohibitory injunction and ruled in favour of the Muslims, after which the Mirzais filed the actual case in the Supreme Court. In accordance with the legal processes there, it took two years to file the claim and counter-claim and complete other legal requirements, and the first hearing of the case was eventually set for the 1st of November 1984. The Muslims of Cape Town once again invited the delegation that had previously travelled there in 1982 for the hearing of the prohibitory injunction. This time, Dr Zafar Ishaq Ansari and Dr Mahmood Ahmad Ghazi (may Allah have mercy on them) and Mr Riaz al-Hasan Gilani Advocate were also with us, and we departed for Cape Town on the 25th of October 1984. However, this time only the preliminary legal points were debated in the Court after which the Court reserved its verdict. After returning from Cape Town, I visited Saudi Arabia and was blessed with a visit to the Haramain Shareefain by the grace and favour of Allah Most High, and also participated in the first meeting of the Majmaʿ Al-Fiqh Al-Islami (Islamic Fiqh Academy), a detailed account of which shall come later Inshā Allah. After Saudi Arabia, I directly travelled to Iraq. A detailed account of all these trips is availables in my book “Jahan-e-Deeda” (The World Beheld) under the title “Wādi-e-Dajla o Furāt” (The Valley of Tigris and Euphrates).

Third Trip in Relation to the Case
When the case later began in 1987, we had to travel to Cape Town a third time and stayed there for an extended duration. This time, Hadhrat Maulana Muhammad Yusuf Ludhianvi (may Allah have mercy on him) was also with us. Statements from the Muslims had to be filed in the court, for which various topics were distributed among the English-speaking members of the delegation. To this end, Professor Khurshid Ahmad and Dr Mahmood Ahmad Ghazi wrote quite detailed essays on some topics, while I wrote two essays in English; one about the Lahori group of the Mirzais and a second about those passages of the noble Sufis which the Mirzais employed in support of their fallacious arguments. Both of these essays have not been published yet but are under publication in my collection of English articles and essays which my colleague Maulana Shakir Jakhura (may Allah keep him safe) has compiled. For all citations of the books of the Mirzais referred to in these essays, we had to attach photocopies of the original books for the Court. Hadhrat Maulana Muhammad Yusuf Ludhianvi (may Allah have mercy on him) assiduously carried out this task. This was Dhu al-Hijjah 1407 AH. All of us would remain busy in this work from morning until evening, until the time of Eid al-Adha approached and work still remained. My friend Mr Shoaib Omar called from Durban and invited me to Durban for one day on the occasion of Eid al-Adha. I thus went to Durban one day before Eid, led Eid prayer there and returned to Cape Town after spending Eid day there, and thereafter completed my work and then returned to Pakistan.

Ijaza of Hadith from Hadhrat Shaykh Muhammad Yasin Al-Fadani
A special favour of Allah Most High on me was that I received opportunities to visit the Haramain Shareefain several times every year. It was perhaps Jamādi Al-Thāniyyah of 1405 AH (circa March 1985) that during a visit to Makkah Mukarramah, the Director of Madrasa Sawlatiyya Hadhrat Maulana Muhammad Shameem (may Allah have mercy on him) passed me the address of an elder of Makkah Mukarramah Hadhrat Shaykh Muhammad Yasin al-Fadani (may Allah have mercy on him). His ancestors hailed from Indonesia but he was born (in 1335 AH) and raised in Makkah Mukarramah itself and acquired education in Madrasa Sawlatiyya. Thereafter he studied various Islamic sciences from senior scholars of the Haramain Shareefain. He had a penchant for visiting scholars who would visit the Haramain Shareefain from all over the world, and would acquire ijaza of Hadith from them. In this manner, he possessed such a vast collection of ijaza of Hadith, and especially Aḥādīth Al-Musalsalah, which perhaps no one else possessed. He also wrote over sixty treatises on various Islamic sciences, which include commentaries on Sunan Abi Dawud and Bulūgh al-Marām.

When a desire to visit him arose in my heart, Maulana Shameem sent someone to accompany me. He used to reside in the “Utaybiyyah” neighbourhood of Makkah Mukarramah. When I visited him, he treated me with extreme kindness and not only granted ijaza of all of his Hadith narrations, but also narrated numerous Aḥādīth Al-Musalsalah with the corresponding Tasalsul[1].

Aḥādīth Al-Musalsalah are a unique and unparalleled expression of love for the Noble Messenger ﷺ from the Muhaddithīn, and it is in this manner: if the Noble Messenger ﷺ uttered something in a particular state, the Companion who heard it also narrated that Hadith to his students in that same state, and this chain reached us in the same manner, i.e. each teacher would teach that Hadith to his students in the same manner as uttered by the Noble Messenger ﷺ.

To this end, Hadhrat Shaykh Fadani (may Allah have mercy on him) first recited the Ḥadīth Musalsal Bi al-Awwaliyyah, which is also called Ḥadīth Al-Raḥmah. I also possessed this Hadith from Hadhrat Shaykh Hasan al-Mashat (may Allah have mercy on him) (demised in 1399 AH) which I have mentioned while describing the Umrah trip of 1963. After this, from what I remember, he granted me the following Aḥādīth Al-Musalsalah with the corresponding Tasalsul in two different sittings:

  1. Musalsal Bi al-Maḥabbah, which is narrated by Hadhrat Muadh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) who reported that the Noble Messenger ﷺ said to him:

“إني أحبك، فقل: اللهم أعني علي ذكرك وشكرك وحسن عبادتك”

“I love you, so say: “O Allah! Help me in remembering you, being grateful to You and in worshipping You in an excellent manner.”

Thereafter Hadhrat Muadh said this same statement to his student before narrating this Hadith, and after him each teacher would say this same statement to his student. Hadhrat Shaykh Fadani also said this statement to me before narrating this Hadith.

  1. Musalsal Bi al-Muṣāfaḥah, in which Hadhrat Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated the following Hadith to his student Abu Hurmuz:

صَافَحْتُ بِكَفِّي هَذِهِ كَفَّ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، فَمَا مَسَسْتُ خَزًّا وَلا حَرِيرًا أَلْيَنَ مِنْ كَفِّهِ

“I shook the hand of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with this hand of mine, and I have not touched any silk softer than the hand of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.”

At this, Abu Hurmuz said to Hadhrat Anas:

صَافِحْنِي بِالْكَفِّ الَّتِي صَافَحْتَ بِهَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ

“Shake my hand with the hand with which you shook the hand of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.”

At this, Hadhrat Anas shook Abu Hurmuz’s hand. Thereafter each narrator from him until us requested the same from his teacher, and the teacher shook his student’s hand and said: “Assalāmu ʿAlaykum”. Accordingly, when Hadhrat Fadani narrated the Hadith to me, I also requested him to shake my hand and he shook my hand and said: “Assalāmu ʿAlaykum”.

  1. Musalsal Bi al-Mushābakah: It is reported in this narration that while uttering a sentence, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ intertwined his fingers in the fingers of Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him). Thereafter each teacher would intertwine his fingers in his student’s fingers when narrating this Hadith. Accordingly, Hadhrat Fadani narrated this Hadith to me while intertwining his fingers into mine.
  2. Musalsal Bi al-Ḍiyāfat ʿAlā al-Aswadayn: It is narrated in this that the Holy Prophet ﷺ hosted Hadhrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) with dates and water, and uttered a long sentence with respect to the virtues of inviting someone for food. Thereafter each teacher would narrate this Hadith to his student while serving him dates and water. Hadhrat Fadani also gave me dates and water before narrating this Hadith. However, this Hadith is extremely weak, so-much-so that some Hadith experts declared it to be mawḍūʿ (fabricated). Despite this, Hadith experts have been narrating this Hadith with Tasalsul.
  3. Musalsal Bi Qirā’at Ṣūrat al-Ṣaff: This Hadith is narrated by Hadhrat Abdullah bin Salam (may Allah be pleased with him), which mentions that one time a group of the Companions were talking among themselves that if they could know the action which would be a means of getting the most closeness to Allah Most High, they would do it. At that, Surah Saff was revealed and the Holy Prophet ﷺ recited it to them in its entirety. Thereafter Hadhrat Abdullah bin Salam (may Allah be pleased with him) recited the entire Surah Saff to his student, and his student to his student, and so on. Likewise, this chain continues until our times. Accordingly, Hadhrat Fadani recited the entire Surah Saff to me when narrating this Hadith.
  4. Musalsal Bi al–Qabḍ ʿAlā al-Liḥyah: This Hadith is narrated by Hadhrat Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) which mentions that the Holy Prophet ﷺ uttered a Hadith and then said the following sentence while holding his blessed beard:

آمنت بالقدر خيره وشرّه، حلوّه ومرّه

Thereafter each narrator narrated this Hadith to his student while holding his beard. Hadhrat Fadani also uttered these words while holding his beard. However, the chain of narrators of this Hadith contains weakness.

  1. Musalsal Bi al-ʿAdd Fī al-Yadd: In this Hadith, Hadhrat Jibril (peace be upon him) counted upon five fingers of the blessed hand of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and told him five different forms of Ṣalawāt. Thereafter he ﷺ taught these five forms of Ṣalawāt to Hadhrat Ali in the same manner, and then each narrator taught these to his student in the same manner. Accordingly, Hadhrat Fadani recited these five forms of Ṣalawāt to me by counting them on my fingers.
  2. Musalsal Bi Waḍʿ al-Yad ʿAlā al-Ra’s: This Hadith is narrated by Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) who reports that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“None amongst you can enter Paradise by virtue of his deeds alone”. They (the Companions) said: “Allah’s Messenger, not even you?” Thereupon he said: “Not even I, but that Allah should envelop me in His Mercy.”

While saying this, he ﷺ placed his blessed hand on his blessed head. Thereafter each narrator placed his hand on his head while narrating this Hadith. Accordingly, Hadhrat Fadani also placed his hand on his head while narrating this Hadith. This Hadith is present in Sahih Muslim, and the narration of Ibn Awn only mentions pointing towards the head, while the Tasalsul of placing the hand on the head is from a different chain of narrators.

  1. Musalsal Bi al-Su’āl ʿAn al-Ism: It is mentioned in this narration that the Holy Prophet ﷺ asked Hadhrat Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) his name, lineage, teknonym (kunya), hometown and place of residence. When he replied, he ﷺ said: “O Anas! Make more friends, for you shall become intercessors for each other.” Thereafter each narrator of this Hadith asked the same questions from his student and then narrated this Hadith. This Hadith is weak in terms of its chain of narrators.
  2. Musalsal Bi Munāwalat al-Subhah: This is a narration in which every teacher from us until Hadhrat Hasan Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) held a tasbih in his hand and handed it to his student. It is reported in this narration that Umar al-Makki saw a tasbih in the hand of Hadhrat Hasan Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) and asked him: “O my teacher! Despite your lofty status and excellent worship, you still hold a tasbih in your hand?” At this, Hadhrat Hasan Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

“هذا الشّيء كنا استعملناه في البدايات ما كنّا نتركه في النّهايات ، أنا أحبّ أن أذكر الله بقلبي و يدي و لساني”

Translation:

“We used to use this thing in the beginning, and do not leave it now at the end. I love that I should remember Allah through my heart, my hand and my tongue.”

Hadhrat Fadani gave me ijaza of this Hadith by holding a tasbih himself and handing it to me. However, the chain of narrators of this Musalsal narration is weak.

  1. Musalsal Bi Taqarrub al-Jubn Wa al-Jawz: It is mentioned in this narration that once Hadhrat Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him) visited the Noble Messenger ﷺ and found him eating cheese and walnuts, and asked: “O Messenger of Allah! Cheese and walnuts?” He ﷺ replied: “Cheese is disease and walnut is disease, and when they combine, they become medicine by the command of Allah.” Thereafter each teacher presented cheese and walnuts to his student when narrating this Hadith. Hadhrat Fadani also narrated this narration to me in this manner. However, the chain of narrators of this narration is also weak, rather Ibn Jawzi has declared it mawḍūʿ (fabricated). However, Allama Sakhawi (may Allah have mercy on him) has said that there is no reliable evidence for it to be declared mawḍūʿ, thought it certainly is munkar.
  2. Musalsal Bi al-Talqīm: It is mentioned in this narration that the Holy Prophet ﷺ made a morsel and fed it to Hadhrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), who later did the same with Hadhrat Hasan Basri (may Allah have mercy on him), and thereafter each teacher from him until our times fed a morsel to his student. However, the chain of narrators of this narration is also weak.
  3. Musalsal Bi al-Ru’yah: It is mentioned in this narration that a person came to Hadhrat Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) and said: “O Abu Abdul Rahman! Have you seen the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with these two eyes of yours?” He said: “Yes”. The person again asked: “Have you talked to him with this tongue of yours?” He said: “Yes”. He again asked: “Have you pledged allegiance to him with these hands of yours?” He said: “Yes”. The person then said: “Glad tidings for you O Abu Abdul Rahman!”.

At this, Hadhrat Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: “Shall I not tell you something I heard from him ﷺ? I heard him ﷺ say:

((فمن رآني أو رأى من رآني إلي يوم القيامة دخل الجنة.)) ثلاثاً ((طوبي لمن رآني وآمن بي. طوبي لمن لم يرني وآمن بي))

At this point, it should be kept in mind that the chain of narrators of these Musalsal narrations with respect to the Tasalsul is weak in most of the narrations except Musalsal Bi Qirā’at Ṣūrat al-Ṣaff, and the chain of narrators of some of those Aḥādīth without the Tasalsul is reliable for deriving rulings, while some are weak even without the Tasalsul. In spite of this, major Hadith experts diligently sought them from their teachers with the Tasalsul. This is probably because with respect to any narration which contains a weak narrator in its chain, while no ruling of Shariah can be derived from such a narration, the meaning of it being weak is only that its chain of narrators contains a weak narrator, but it does not mean that a weak narrator always narrates erroneously. Therefore, there is always a possibility that a weak narrator may have narrated correctly. While a ruling of Shariah cannot be derived from that narration based on this possibility, this mere possibility is sufficient for an ardent lover to express his love. This is similar to the claims made by many people who claim to possess the blessed hair of the Noble Messenger ﷺ. In most cases, there is no evidence for this, but a possibility does exist that perhaps the attribution of this hair to the Beloved Messenger ﷺ may be correct. If someone views these hair due to the existence of this possibility, then this action stemming from the urges of love is not blameworthy in any way. This is the same for Aḥādīth Al-Musalsalah.

Besides these Musalsalāt, Hadhrat Fadani also gave me ijaza of all of his Hadith narrations, rather he granted me the honour of citing my name in his thabat[2], which has been published by the name: الفيض الرحماني بإجازة فضيلة الشيخ محمد تقي العثماني, and he sent five hundred copies of it to me. Hadhrat wrote at the beginning of this thabat:

وممن أعتني بعد ما اقتني حضرة الشيخ الأجلّ الأبرّ الفائق في كلّ فنّ علي أقرانه والسامي في أندية الخير علي أخدانه محمد تقي العثماني ابن شيخنا العالم العلامة الجليل سماحة المفتي النبيل سيدي الشيخ محمد شفيع الديوبندي، فحضر إلي منزلي بمحلّة العتبية بمكة المكرّمة المحروسة المحميّة، ولما تشرّفت بطلعته البهيّة، وسرّتني أخلاقه المرضية، طلب منّي الإجازة مع سماع بعد المسلسلات المتّصلة إلي خير البريّة صلي الله عليه وسلم وزاده فضلاً وشرفاً لديه، ولما علمت أنّ ذلك ناشئ منه عن حسن ظنّ وسلامة طويّة، لم يسعني إلّا إجابته بهذه الأمنيّة، فأجبت طلبه وحقّقت أربه نزولاً علي حسن ظنّه وتشبّهاً بمشايخي الأعلام.

فتشبّهوا إن لم تكونوا مثلهم إنّ التشبّه بالكرام فلاح. فأسمعته جملةً صالحة من المسلسلات المتداوَلة، منها حديثُ الأوّليّة، والمسلسلُ بالمحبّة، والعدّ علي الأصابع، وأضفته علي الأسودين الماء والتمر، وناولته السُّبحةَ وصافحته، وشابكته وأسقيته وقرّبت إليه الجبن والجوز، ولقّمته وقبضت علي لحيتي وقلت: “آمنت بالقدر خيره وشرّه، حلوّه ومرّه”، وأسمعته المسلسل بالرؤية إلي غير ذلك، كما فعل معي ذلك كلًّه جمعٌ من مشايخي.

ثم أجزت العلامة تقي الثماني المومئ إليه إجازة خاصّة بما تلقّاه منّي سماعاً أو عرضاً وأجزته إجازة مطلقة تامّة بما حصلت لي روايته وثبتت عنّي درايته من منقول ومعقول وفروع وأصول وبسائر مصنّفاتي من شروح وحواشي وتقريرات ومعاجم وأثبات ومشيخات، ثم كتبت هذه الإجازة له وسمّيتها:

(الفيض الرحماني بإجازة الشيخ محمد تقي العثماني)

Bizarre Incident of Musalsal Bi Yawm al-ʿĀshūrā
Due to the kindnesses of Hadhrat Shaykh Muhammad Yasin Fadani (may Allah have mercy on him), Alhamdulillah I had a special connection with him and I presented myself in his service more than once. One time, perhaps in relation to a meeting of Islamic Fiqh Academy, I visited Jeddah. It so happened that I only received a single day to visit Makkah Mukarramah, either during or immediately after the meeting. I thus visited Makkah Mukarramah to spend that day in the Sacred Haram. Since time was short, I did not inform anyone in Makkah Mukarramah of my arrival. When I exited the Sacred Haram after zuhr prayer, out of the blue a student of Hadhrat Shaykh Muhammad Yasin Fadani (may Allah have mercy on him) met me very warmly and said that Hadhrat Shaykh had called for me. I was astounded as to how he came to know of my visit. When I asked the student, he said that he did not know any details, and that the Shaykh had only instructed him to take a vehicle to the Sacred Haram where he would find Taqi, and to bring him along. Hadhrat Shaykh used to live in the Utaybiyyah neighbourhood of Makkah Mukarramah which was at quite some distance from the blessed Haram. I sat in the vehicle in compliance to the order and arrived at his house. After salam, he smiled at me and said: “You come secretly and don’t even inform?” I submitted: “Hadhrat! I apologize, but how did you know of my arrival?” At this he said: “Leave this aside, I have called you because today is the day of Ashura and there is a Hadith Musalsal Bi Yawm ʿĀshūrā which is narrated only on the day of Ashura. I thought since you are here today, it is a good opportunity to narrate this Hadith to you so that you can receive the blessing of this Tasalsul as well.” I plunged into embarrassment at his benevolence and self-regret. Thereafter Hadhrat Shaykh narrated the Hadith Musalsal Bi Yawm ʿĀshūrā. It is the famous Hadith regarding Ashura which is narrated in Sahih Muslim and other books, which mentions that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said regarding the fast of Ashura: “إني أحتسب علي الله أن يكفر السنة التي قبلها” Meaning: “I hope it (i.e. the fast of Ashura) expiates for the sins of the year before”. While the Hadith is well-known, the chain with which Hadhrat Shaykh narrated it was one in which most of the narrators had narrated it to their students on the day of Ashura. Therefore Hadhrat also narrated it to me on the day of Ashura and thus granted me the honour of being part of this Tasalsul. But till this day, I do not know how he came to know of my presence in Makkah Mukarramah on that day. I could not think of any other outwardly means of it except that either a student of his saw me from far and then informed him, or Allah Most High revealed my arrival to him. And Allah knows best. This was my last meeting with Hadhrat Shaykh. رحم الله رحمة واسعة

When granting me ijaza of Musalsalat, Hadhrat Shaykh Fadani (may Allah have mercy on him) had also instructed me to disseminate them to others. It has therefore been my practice since a long time that I narrate various Musalsalaat to scholars on the day of Ashura, and also narrate some of them to my students of Dawrat al-Hadith.

[1] Translator: Tasalsul: The unique and uniform way in which a Musalsal Hadith is transmitted

[2] A thabat is a book or booklet in which a Muhaddith collects his sanads, i.e. as to which book of Hadith he narrates with which sanad

 

…………….(Continued)…………….