Advice to stay firm on the ‘Aqida of Ahle Sunnah:

 

Hadhrat Muhaddith-e-Deccan (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) writes advising us to remain firm on the Aqida of the Ahle Sunnah in these words:

 

Translation: Hadhrat Imam Rabbani Shaykh Ahmed Sirhindi (May Allah be well pleased with him) says that it is necessary for the Salik (the one who traverses the spiritual path to Allah's SWT closeness) to keep his/her Aqida in accordance with the Aqida of the delivered group (Firqatun Najiyah) Ahle Sunnah so that the blessings of the Aakhirah become your destiny. Following the wrong Aqida against Ahle Sunnah is a fatal poison, which takes you to eternal death and the wrath of Allah SWT. There is still hope for those who are lax in following the rules of Islam (beamal), but there is no chance of forgiveness on defiling the Aqida. (Mawaaiz-e-Hasana, Vol Pg No: 306)

 

It has been mentioned in Hadith that some people will bring virtuous acts (nek a’amaal) to the extent of the mountain of Uhud, but because of wrong Aqida, all those acts will go waste the way sand is scattered by wind.

 

Advice to restrain from disrespect:

 

Hadhrat Muhaddith-E-Deccan (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) set right the hearts and the sights of the people. He saved his disciples and lovers from those things which are obstacles in Suluk to those who set out on it. He instructed them to abstain from the blameworthy characteristics (sifaat radheela) and acquire lofty characteristics and to perform all kinds of virtuous acts. He says:

 

Translation: Son! Disrespecting and insulting somebody is not the mark of a Salik. A Salik should abstain from those things which spoil the heart. Disrespecting somebody pains the heart. Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) was once going somewhere with much pomp and grandeur. On the way a Syed (a descendant of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam)) met him and asked him: I am a Syed, but I see that you status is better than mine. Why is it so? Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) answered: This is because I acquired the legacy of your Illustrious Forefather, the King of the Prophets, Hadhrat Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) (that legacy is knowledge). And you have acquired the legacy of my misguided father. For this reason you status is low. That night he saw the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) in a dream.

 

The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) was angry and told him: You have insulted my son, which has pained Me a lot. Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) got up in a very disturbed state and started searching for the Syed. There the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) graced the dream of the Syed and told him: Son! If your actions were good, Abdullah could not have insulted you. The Syed also started searching for Hadhrat Abdullah (May Allah shower His Mercy on him). Both of them met each other, related each other’s dreams and repented. See! Insulting somebody is such a thing that it pains the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) too. (Mawaaiz-e-Hasana, Vol 1, Pg No: 109, 110)

 

To save oneself from the company and the books of the misguided groups

 

Our master Hadhrat Muhaddith-E-Deccan (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) details the reasons for losing Iman at the time of death in his lecture. In it he mentions:

 

Translation: My friends! One of the reasons for losing Iman at the time of death is that nowadays there is a strange commotion. Somebody says something and somebody else something. Nobody cares for what the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said and what the Sahabah (May Allah be well pleased with them) said. Whoever feels like saying anything starts doing it. My friends! Do not get stuck in that wrong Aqida! Don’t read those books! Don’t sit with such people! If that Aqida comes you at the time of death, then you will regret it. In short when the reality of Aqida is revealed at the time of death, then at that time you will regret: If I had not held these Aqida, it would have been better. If death comes at such a time, then you will lose your Iman.

 

The favors which the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) bestowed on the Ummah

 

The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) has bestowed many favors on the Ummah. In the same way, He (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) has many rights on the Ummah. Hadhrat Muhaddith-E-Deccan (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) mentions the 3 most important rights which the Ummah owes to the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam):

 

Translation: In short, looking at the favors which the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) has bestowed on the Ummah, so many rights of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) are binding on the Ummah that till Qiyamah, the Ummah cannot ever fulfill the rights of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) . There are hundreds of rights of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) on the Ummah. Among them 3 are the most important. Leave alone all rights; even if the Ummah fulfils these 3 rights, it is more than enough:

 

1. To follow the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam)

 

2. To respect the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam)

 

3. To love the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam)

 

The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) is Noor (radiance) through and through

 

In regard to this, Hadhrat Muhaddith-E-Deccan (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) has authored a truly rejuvenating assertion in the light of the Holy Quran and the Hadith.

 

O Prophet! Truly We have sent thee as a Witness, a Bearer of Glad Tidings, and a Warner― (45) And as one who invites to Allah's (Grace) by His leave, and as a Lamp spreading Light.

 

Surah Ahzaab (33:46)

 

there hath come to you from Allah a (new) Light and a perspicuous Book.

 

Surah Al-Maida (5:15)

 

In the verses mentioned, the reason the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) has been addressed as “NoorAllah” is that Noor is a means between the desired and the desirous. The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) is the means between Allah SWT and the worshippers of Allah SWT. Allah SWT has addressed Him as Noor of Allah SWT as He (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) is the perfect and absolute manifestation of the attributes of Allah SWT.

 

The details: Even other Prophets were radiant with the Noor of Allah SWT, but they were not perfect and absolute manifestations of the attributes of Allah SWT. For this reason, their messages were for particular nations and particular times. The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) is the perfect and absolute manifestation of the attributes of Allah SWT, so here guidance was also absolute and it reached all the corners of the world. This is a shining proof that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) is the perfect and absolute manifestation of all the attributes of Allah SWT.

 

Allah SWT says: With Our Noor, the skies and the earth is radiant, but no once could be the perfect manifestation of that Noor. If you want to see the perfect manifestation of Our Noor, then look at the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) . We have manifested Our Noor in its entirety in the bosom of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) . Understand this with this example, that there is a lamp which is kept in a niche and that lamp is all the more radiant because it is in a glass; and the lamp has olive oil in it.

 

The way the lamp’s light reaches its pinnacle by virtue of being in a niche and being covered by a glass, in the same way the Noor of Allah SWT emerged in the bosom of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) and reached its pinnacle. In clarifying this Allah SWT says:

 

We have entered our Noor in its entirety in your bosom, because of which Your bosom got absolutely illumined and Sharh Sadr is done.

 

The Noor of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) has no shadow:

 

A Noor does not have any shadow, since the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) is Noor through and through, He (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) has got no shadow. (See Khasais Kubra)

 

Through the Noor of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) hundreds of exteriors and interiors have been illuminated. Interiorly, all the Auliya and ‘Ulama and all the virtuous will be illuminated till the Qiyamah. Externally also many things have been illuminated. Have a look at some of them:

 

Hadith from Sahih Bukhari: Two Sahabah took leave from the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) after offering the Salaat of Isha. It was cloudy then and dark. The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) handed a twig of a date tree to one of them and that twig started shining and that illuminated the way. When both of them parted ways, the other Sahabah rubbed his stick on that stick and even his stick started shining. In this light, each one of them reached their house.

 

This is an example of things being illuminated externally through the Noor of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).