Miracles of Hadhrat Khwaja Ghareeb Nawaz (May Allah shower His Mercy on him)

 
The veracity of miracles

 

The saints (Auliya) are those special servants of Allah Most High who spend every moment of their lives in the remembrance of Allah Most High.  They have given up the desires of their flesh and have abandoned the pleasures of this material world.  They spend their entire energies in the propagation of Islam.

 

The Holy Quran mentions them time and again.  This elite group of the Ummah will be on high stations in the Day of Judgment and they will be granted many bounties.  However, in this world itself, to express their high status, Allah Most High has granted them some special characteristics and qualities, which distinguish them from others.

 

Almighty Allah says in the Holy Quran:

 

And surely We wrote in the az-Zabur (the Psalms) after (stating the) admonition that the inheritors of the earth (in the Hereafter) will be My pious servants.  Surah Ambiya (21:105)

 

In the interpretation of this verse, some exegetes of the Holy Quran have written that the "land" meant here is the land of the paradise, while some others have said it means the land of this world.  Allama Ibn Kathir (May Allah shower His mercy on him) has written that the saints are the inheritors of the lands of both, the paradise and this world.

 

Translation:  Allah Most High is describing those things about which He has made the final decision for His pious servants that there are glad tidings for them in this world and the next and the land of this world and the hereafter is their inheritance.

 

When Allah Most High has made them the inheritors of the land, then out of his extreme benevolence, He has granted them power and command, which is called as "Karamah"

 

It is one of the basic beliefs of the Ahle Sunnah that the miracles of the saints are true, as given in the most basic tract on beliefs "Sharh Aqaaid Nasafi":

 

Translation:  The miracles of the saints are true.  (Sharh Aqaaid Nasafi, Pg. No. 144)

 

Difference between “Mu'jiza” and “Karamat”

 

“Mu'jiza” is the miracle, which is wrought at the hands of a Prophet and “"Karamat” is the miracle, which is expressed through the saints.

 

If any apparent miracle is expressed through a non-Muslim and irreligious person, then it is called “"Istidraaj.”  As given in Sharh Aqaaid Nasafi, Pg. No. 144.

 

The miracles, which go against the accepted traditions/customs of the society and are seemingly impossible when judged the against the present corpus of human knowledge, are in fact acknowledgement of the greatness of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).  Thus, Imam Nabhani (May Allah shower His mercy on him) mentions the opinion of Imam Shihabuddin Suharwardi in the foreword of his famous book, “Jame’ Karamat Ul Auliya”:

 

Translation:  It is narrated on the authority of Imam Shihabuddin Suharwardi (May Allah shower His mercy on him), he says:  Indeed!  Various miracles are expressed through the saints like they hear the divine voice (Hatif Ghaibi), they hear the voice of the inward (Batin) and recognize it, earth is rolled up for them and through the blessings of following the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam), they know of incidents before they happen.  The miracles of the saints are in fact the consummation of the miracles of the Prophets and are their blessings.  (Muqaddima Jame’ Karamaat Ul Auliya, Pg. No. 36)

 

Allah Most High has made the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam), the last and final Prophet.  Now there can be no Prophet.  Until the Day of Judgment, everyone needs to believe in the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).  Obviously, for those who embrace Islam, these miracles of the saints make them come closer to Islam and facilitate their acceptance of Islam.  For this reason, the miracles of the saints of this Ummah are far more in number than the miracles of the saints of the previous Ummah.

 

Imam Yousuf Nabhani (May Allah shower His mercy on him) writes:

 

Translation: Allah Most High better knows the reason why the miracles of the saints of the Ummah of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) are in such a great number.  One among them is that in the blessed life of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) and after He passed away into the presence of Allah, His superiority over all other Prophets has been well established.  He is the Seal of all Prophets, the Beloved of the Lord Almighty and His religion is to remain until the Day of Judgment.  For this reason, it is necessary that the signs of this religion being the true one have to be expressed in every era and among these authoritative proofs are the miracles of the saints, which are in reality the blessings of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).  (Muqaddima Jame’ Karamaat Ul Auliya, Pg. No. 36)

 

The Holy Quran mentions the saints and their miracles at many places.

 

It is mentioned in Surah Al-Imran:

 

So, her Lord graciously accepted her (Maryam [Mary]) with excellent acceptance and brought her up immaculately and entrusted her guardianship to Zakariyya (Zacharias). Every time Zakariyya (Zacharias) entered her chamber of worship he found with her (novel and uncommon) food items. He inquired: ‘O Maryam, wherefrom have these things come for you?’ She replied: ‘This (sustenance) comes from Allah. Verily, Allah provides sustenance without measure to whom He desires.’  Surah Al-Imran (3:37)

 

This verse of the Holy Quran explicitly establishes the miracles of the saints.  Hadhrat Maryam (May peace be upon her) is not a Prophet, but a saint.  Whenever Hadhrat Zakariya (May peace be upon him) came to her, he would see various fruits near her.  In summer, fruits of winter would be found and in winter, fruits of summer.

 

Out of season fruits and food/sustenance being present without any visible worldly means is the miracle of Hadhrat Maryam (My peace be upon her).

 

It is mentioned in the Holy Quran in Surah Kahf:

 

And (the people of the Cave [Kahf]) stayed in their cave for three hundred years and they added another (nine) years (to that).  Surah Kahf (18:25)

 

Here the incident of the people of cave (Ashab-e-Kahf) is being mentioned.  These are those pious servants of Allah Most High who were asleep for 309 years.  During this entire period, their bodies did not change at all.  This whole period, they neither ate nor drank anything.  Eating/drinking are the basic needs of the human body.  No one can remain without this need being fulfilled.  Let alone decades and decades, no one can remain even a few days without eating/drinking, but these pious servants of Allah Most High spent a period of 309 years without doing so.

 

This is the miracle through the power of Allah Most High that the People of the Cave spent a period as long as 309 years without eating or drinking.  Their bodies were not affected at all and even the dog, which remained at their doorstep, was safe.

 

It is mentioned in the same Surah:

 

And you see that the sun, when it rises, moves to the right from their cave and inclines obliquely from them to the left when it sets while they are (lying) in the open chamber of the cave. This (change of the sun’s course) is one of the (great) Signs of Allah’s (Might). He whom Allah guides is the one who is rightly guided, but one whom He holds strayed you will not find for him any wali (friend to help) and murshid (guide to show the path).  Surah Kahf (18:17)

 

This is a reality that the sun moves in its own orbit.  It neither delays nor makes haste anywhere in its path.  It does not swerve a hairbreadth’s worth of distance from its path.  This is the system of nature.  In spite of all this, Allah Most High granted the People of the Cave such excellence that for the whole time they spent in the cave, the sun swerved from its path.  When it would rise on the earth, it would move to its right and while setting, it would move to the left, so that the rays of the sun wouldn’t fall on them.

 

This is a sign of the power of Allah Most High and a miracle of the People of the Cave.

 

Imam Razi (May Allah shower His mercy on him) writes in the Tafseer of this verse:

 

Translation:  The rising and setting of the sun in this way is against what usually happens and is a great miracle, which Allah Most High has granted to the People of the Cave.  (Tafseer Kabeer, Surah Kahf, 17)

 

Almighty Allah says in Surah Naml:

 

Then the one who had some knowledge of the (heavenly) Book submitted: ‘I can bring it to you before your vision turns back to you (i.e. even before the twinkling of an eye). So, when (Sulaiman [Solomon]) saw it (the throne) placed before him, he said: ‘This is by the Grace of my Lord so that He may put me to the test whether I thank (Him) or not. And he who thanks (Allah) his gratitude is for the good of his own self, and he who is ungrateful surely my Lord is Self-Sufficient, Most Generous.’  Surah Naml (27:40)

 

In this verse of the Holy Quran, a miracle of a follower of Hadhrat Sulaiman (May peace be upon him) is mentioned.  When Hadhrat Sulaiman (May peace be upon him) asked his army that who among them would be able to bring the throne of Bilquis, a strong and powerful genie said:  I can bring it before you get up from your seat.  Hadhrat Sulaiman (May peace be upon him) said that the throne was wanted even sooner than that.  Then Hadhrat Asif bin Barkhiyya asked for permission and appeared with the throne in the blink of an eye.

 

That throne was of gold and was bejeweled with various precious stones.  It was installed in the innermost palace of all 7 palaces.  The doors were locked.  Guards were present.  It is beyond comprehension as to how Hadhrat Asif bin Barkhiyya carried such a heavy and securely kept thing from Yemen to Syria in the blink of an eye.

 

As ‘Allama Ibn Katheer writes in his exegesis of the Holy Quran.

 

The miracles of the saints have been established in light of the Holy Quran.  Now it will be established in light of the Hadith.  There is a Hadith in Sahih Bukhari:

 

Translation: It has been narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (May Allah be well pleased with him), he said that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  Allah Most High said:  Whoever bears enmity with my Friend (Wali), I declare war against him.  My slave doesn’t come closer to me with an act more beloved to me than the obligatory acts of worship (Fardh) which I have assigned to him and my slave keeps coming closer to me with supererogatory acts of worship (Nafl), so much so that I start loving him.  When I make him my beloved, then I become his ears with whom he hears.  I become his eyes with which he sees.  I become his hand with which he holds and I become his legs with which he walks.  If he asks me for something, I surely grant it.  If he asks me for protection, I compulsorily grant it.  If I want to do something, I don’t hesitate the way I wait before taking the soul of a believer when he (or she) does not desire it and I don’t like hurting him (or her).  (Sahih Bukhari, Hadith No. 6502)

 

This Hadith shows the great excellence and glory of the saints.  When the power of Almighty Allah Himself works in their senses, then they hear and listen to what is near them and also what is far from them.  They have extraordinary power in their hands and in their feet.  That is why their power is not like the power of the common people.  They place their feet with such power that in the space of a single moment, they traverse many many leagues.

 

Glad tidings of kingship

 

For those who are beloved of Allah Most High, the veils from the outward and inward sights are removed.  Thus, they see what is to happen in the future and the events of the past are also not hidden from them.  Hadhrat Ghareebnawaz (May Allah shower His mercy on him) also saw with the sight of his heart and mentioned the events of the future.  Thus, once the Khwaja was sitting with Hadhrat Auhaduddeen Kirmani and Hadhrat Shihabuddin Suharwardi (May Allah shower His mercy on him).  A lad, Shamsuddin Iltumish, passed by them.  The Khwaja said:  This lad will become the king of Delhi.  I have seen in the protected tablet (Lauhi Mahfooz) that this lad will not leave this material world unless and until he becomes the king of Delhi.  He became the king as the Khwaja had foretold.  (Iqtibaas Ul Anwaar, Pg. No. 377)