Unparalleled preaching
Aubaid Akhoon
Morality is the judgement to distinguish right and wrong, vision to see the truth, courage to act upon it dedication to that which is good, integrity to stand by the good at one price.
The Prophet (PBUH) said: “I have been sent for the purpose of perfecting good morals”. Our beloved Prophet (PBUH) set an example of good morals and good character for all mankind.
We have many responsibilities in the development of positive morals. These responsibilities are both collective and individual. Parents should equip their children with the light of moral education as well as conventional education so that they can move forward with moral awareness and join the ranks of righteous children.
In collective responsibility, we need a society where it is imperative to lay the foundation for an environment free from immorality, shamelessness, oppression, murder, unjust bloodshed, bribery and wrongdoing, as the influence of the environment on morality is also felt.
Maulana Rumi saying in Persian is very popular
“Suhbat e sauleh tura saulah kunad
Suhbat E tauleh tura tauleh kunad ”
Meaning “In the companionship of good people man learns good? and man learns evil in the company of bad people”
Thus, 6236 verses in the Umm Al-Kitab are related to the positive values or negative values. But in both cases there is moral education. “The ethics of the Prophets and the righteous” is one of the topics in the Quran.
Aggressive thinking in the face of peace is the result of a reaction under a negative mindset. Aggressive thinking, whether individual or collective, is an example of a weak mind in itself. There is no place for aggressive thinking in Islam. The second and last name to ignore all other possibilities is the aggressive move. If you do not have the knowledge and penmanship then your last weapon is either ignorant words or arbitrary fraud.
A gentleman said to me during the conversation that may Almighty destroy disbelievers.
Addressing this person, I briefly expressed my objection that you are speaking ignorantly and not wisely. I said that if we look at our genealogy, then a few centuries ago our ancestors were also infidels and we became Muslims through preaching? If the callers of that time had the same opinion about the invitees like us that they are infidels, then we would not be in the ranks of Muslims today.
Allah, the Lord of Wisdom, in His Holy Book, advises the Messenger of Allah (Pbuh ) to invite the polytheists to Makkah to the path of Allah Almighty with good speech, wisdom and understanding. “Call people to the path of your Lord with wisdom and good advice and argue with them in the most courteous way, for your Lord knows best who strays from His path, and knows best who is rightly guided”. (Surah An – Nahal 125)
Selfishness; Hard-heartedness, miserliness and narrow-mindedness have never been honored. Time will inevitably uncover dishonesty and lies. History has no place for them.
What could be a better and more miraculous example of good speech than that in Kashmir Mir Syed Ali Hamdani (RA) known as Shahi Hamdani who came to the subcontinent and then especially Kashmir before seven hundred years ago.
Syed Ali Hamdani (RA) was the son of the King of Hamdan of Iran and was known by the title of Ameer- i- Kabeer. Shahi Hamdan (RA) was considered as the second important Muslim preacher after Sharif Ud Din Abdul Rahman (RA) famously known as “Bul Bul Shah” .
Among the famous mosques built by Shahi Hamdan (RA) during his preaching is the famous ‘Khankahi Moula’ ‘ located on the banks of the Jhelum River Jehlum near Zaina kadal Mahraj Gunj and Dargah Shahi Hamadan Srinagar etc. In Shahi Hamdan’s (RA) preaching speech, beautiful insight, luminous face, excellent literature, personal character were prominent and with it no aggressive move of any kind is found and for the sake of expansion and to smooth the work of preaching in Kashmir Mir Syed Ali Hamdani (RA) used industrialization as a tool for the promotion of da’wah due to which carpet making or pashmina making become popular Industry in Kashmir.
Why we lack the tendency to invite others.
The real and fundamental reasons are that we have shown irresponsibility in implementing the invitation model that Muslims had for other nations. This irresponsibility not only injures the work of Da’wah but also gives rise to aggressive thinking , pragmatic mindset another name for which is reactionary psychology which is not beneficial for a healthy nation.
No matter how much aggression we face from the opposite side in the field of da’wah, the purpose of da’wah should not be lost by uttering the words disbeliever or polytheist for the opposing party .This attitude is so harmful and immoral that an invitee can only be right or Islamic if he can prove others wrong and un-Islamic. The task of the da’wah is to avoid the words disbeliever or polytheist and to create an atmosphere of da’wah and invitation.
Shahi Hamadani (RA) is at the top of the list of those religious scholars and spiritual guides who spent their entire lives spreading the Message of Allah (SWT) in Kashmir. He was not only sincere but also one of the most active propagators of Islam. He was a great crusader and a man of piety, purity, courage and determination.
He did a lot to promote education in the valley and aimed at bringing local Kashmiris back to the righteous path. He brought about a manifest revolution in the world of Kashmiri culture, civilisation, society and religion. With his tireless efforts, Islam penetrated deep into the hearts of Kashmiris and gained firm ground.
Hazrat Mir Syed Ali Hamadani’s (RA) life was not only limited to religious activities and spiritual exercise; he was a man of action and lived his life thus. He toured Muslim countries three times over and surveyed the individual Islamic mission of each place within their boundaries.
According to various sources it has been noted that he was born in Hamdan in 1313 C.E. His lineage derived from Hazrat Imam Zainul Abideen (RA). His father was Syed Shahabuddin. Some sources relate that he was the leader of Hamdan and therefore had a close relationship with the nobility and elite of society. Hazrat Mir Syed Ali Hamadani’s (RA) mother, Seyyida Fatima, was a very virtuous lady.
Hazrat Mir Syed Ali Hamadani (RA) not only belonged to a noble family, he was very intelligent and sagacious too. He showed signs of truth and guidance from early age. He began his education under the supervision of his maternal uncle, Hazrat Alauddaula Samnani, and took his initial lessons from him. It was under his guidance that he memorised the holy Quran in addition to learning other Islamic sciences. He received spiritual training, too.
At a later date he was entrusted to saint Shaikh Taqiuddin Abul Barkat Ali Dosti (RA). He infused in Hazrat Mir Syed Ali Hamadani (RA) a deep sense of human divinity and human service in purity and sincerity. Since Hazrat Mir Syed Ali Hamadani (RA) was a son of a ruler, it was necessary to restrain any sense of arrogance so that it may not have overpowered him in any way.
Factors such as wealth, luxuries, alongside comforts and pleasures of life can lead to many evils of life. These factors can only be controlled by putting oneself into disgrace. Hence, his mentor entrusted him the job of collecting the shoes of visitors. A later duty involved sweeping the Khanqah. All such duties were accepted gracefully and cheerfully.
Hazrat Mir Syed Ali Hamadani (RA) returned to Ali Dosti once again after six others. After the death of his spiritual guide and mentor, he began undertaking long journeys where he made calling people to Islam the mission of his life. These journeys were very hard and tedious and he suffered untold miseries and hardships in Allah’s path. He did all this with undaunted courage. He never compromised on principles nor bowed before any power of the day. His plain talking drew many opponents around him but did not care for opposition. Scholars and rulers opposed him alike but he still called a spade a spade. He remained unchanged throughout his life because he never developed any desire for wealth and comfort.
It has been said that once Taimur had called him for a meeting. He had heard that Hazrat Mir Syed Ali Hamadani (RA) never sat with his back towards the Kaaba. The sitting arrangement was deliberately contrived so that the Kaaba would be towards his back. Taimur said to him, “I have heard that you never sit with your back towards the Kaaba, but today you seem to be sitting against your normal discipline.”
Hazrat Mir Syed Ali Hamadani (RA) replied: “Certainly one who faces you turns the Kaaba down. I have heard that you are making efforts to build your empire. About the empire I have once seen in a dream that a lame dog came and took it away.”
He then added the axiom of Hazrat Ali (RA): “The world is a dead corpse and the desirous are like dogs”.
Taimur became highly impressed with his fearlessness and requested that he stay with him. Hazrat Mir Syed Ali Hamadani (RA) declined the request and remarked that he was appointed for Kashmir and his duty was to spread Islam there.
There he found no trace of Islam; the place was covered by idol-worship instead of mosques. Even the ruler of Kashmir had dreamt that the sun was appearing from the south. Interpreting the dream, a Buddhist monk had said that a saint from Mawara’un nahar would come and illuminate all by the light of Islam. Some sources say that Hazrat Mir Syed Ali Hamadani (RA) arrived in Kashmir with a big band of seven-hundred men including his relatives. After illuminating the valley with the light of spiritual power, he breathed his last on January 14 in 1385.
Having arrived in Kashmir, Hazrat Mir Syed Ali Hamadani (RA) settled at Allauddinpura and set up a centre at the bank of river Jhelum. It was here that he lighted a can which kept the valley illuminated for a long period. People of all classes from various parts of the land would come to the centre to quench their spiritual thirst.
Although the Kashmiris knew something about Islam before the advent of Hazrat Mir Syed Ali Hamadani (RA), but they were quite unaware of the creed of Tauheed (oneness of Allah). They knew nothing about the purity of faith and the spirit of Islam. Some of the Muslims used to go to the places of idol worship. The masses and the ruler of Kashmir had been keeping Hindu creeds. They bowed before idols and adorned Brahmins. Hazrat Mir Syed Ali Hamadani (RA) raised the slogan of truth and taught the oneness of God with the sound of ‘Laillaha illallaha Muhammad-ur-Rasoolullah’ (SAW). He established a pure system of propagating Islam.
Hazrat Mir Syed Ali Hamadani (RA) was also a great moralist. Moral values of Islam were very dear to him. His moral precepts are very valuable and need to be followed because they emerge out of his Islamic sense and practice. It is the lust of luxuries and worldly power that lead men to the valley of sins and crimes. Hence, all the religious guides and saints have stressed detachments from the worldly life with its luxuries and comforts. Too much attachment with the worldly life leads to moral decadence and depravity.
Besides this, they also taught his disciples and men at large to renounce the worldly life and work more towards the next life which is eternal. They explained that this world is a prison for those on the spiritual path, where the feet of the delicate spirit is fettered and chained. But in spite of this confinement, the soul is free.
He contributed subjects like ethics, science, philosophy, jurisprudence, theology, poetry and prose immensely in Kashmir. He also profoundly impacted the architecture in Kashmir through construction of Khanqahas and tombs. Awrad-e-Fathiya is a major case in point. It is the collection of religious prayers of great religious people which is recited every morning after the Fajr prayers in almost all the Hanafi mosques across the Valley.
In any case, after the Prophets, it is our duty to take care of this duty till the Day of Resurrection so that the preaching of the Da’wah may be completed.
According to poet, “Mitta De Apni Hasti Ko Agar Kuch Marta-bah Chahiye, Ki Danah Khaak Main Mil Kar Gulo Gulzaar Hota Hain”
“Surukh roo hota hain insaan thokray khane k baad, Rang Laati Hain Hina Pathar Pe Piss Jane K Baad”
Meaning: “Erase Your Being If You Want Some Honor,
That The Grain Blooms Together In The Dust”.
“Crying Red Is When A Person Stumbles,
Color Comes After Henna Is Thrown On Rock”.
(The author is a columnist and a motivational speaker)
