Following the Sunnah

The second thing on which the Naqshbandi order is founded is the Master of all existence and space ﷺ —

that is, following and obeying him. It is evident that, of all Allah's creation, the one nearest to the Most Holy Lord is His Final Prophet ﷺ, so the means of nearness to Allah will also be following and obeying him. Whoever is further ahead in this following of the Sunnah will be further ahead in nearness as well. Hazrat Shaykh Abdul Haqq Muhaddith Dehlvi (may his secret be sanctified) says at one place in Ashi'at al-Lama'at that the lights and divine manifestations (tajalliyat) of the Most Holy Lord all rain down upon the heart of Mustafa ﷺ. Now, the more closely a person follows his Sunnahs, the nearer he will be to him, and in proportion to that nearness he will receive a share of those lights and manifestations — just as, where a stream of water is pouring down, the nearer one stands, the more of its spray falls upon him.

Among the Naqshbandis, all spiritual exercise and striving (riyazat and mujahada) is nothing but following the Sunnah. Observing the Sunnah in all one's deeds and words, in every movement and every moment of stillness — this is the greatest striving and the greatest spiritual exercise. Through this observance of the Sunnah and of the etiquette of the Shari'ah, these elders attained what people could not achieve through long forty-day retreats (arba'inat). Truth be told, acting on Naqshbandi principles is another name for acting on the Sunnahs; its spread is the spread of the Sunnahs, and its movement is a movement for reviving the Sunnah. The Master of Masters (Khwaja-e-Khwajagan), the balm of aching hearts, Sayyiduna Muhammad Baha'uddin Naqshband (may his secret be sanctified) says: “Our path is among the rarest of things and is a firm document; it is holding fast to the hem of the Sunnah of Mustafa ﷺ and following the traditions of his noble Companions. We were brought onto this path by the grace of Allah; from beginning to end we have witnessed only this grace of Allah, not our own deeds. On this path great openings (futuh) are gained through a little action, but observing adherence to the Sunnah is a great task.”

In another place he says: “The path is entirely courtesy (adab), nothing but courtesy. Seeking the way

has one condition, which is courtesy. There is a courtesy towards Allah, the Exalted and Glorified; a courtesy towards the Prophet ﷺ; and a courtesy towards the shaykhs of the path (tariqat). Courtesy towards Allah Most High is that one carries out His commands outwardly and inwardly with complete servitude, and turns away entirely from everything other than Him. Courtesy towards the Prophet ﷺ is that one keeps oneself wholly in the station of following and obeying him, keeps in view in all circumstances the service owed to him, and regards him as the intermediary between all existing things and Allah, the Exalted and Glorified — whoever exists and whatever exists, all lay their heads at his honoured threshold. The courtesy towards the shaykhs that is binding and obligatory upon seekers is due to this: that the shaykhs, by following the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, have reached the station where they call people towards the Truth. So the dervish should observe courtesy towards them both in their absence and in their presence.” (Tazkira-e-Mashaikh-e-Naqshbandiya)

History can never forget the lofty and sublime perfections that Hazrat Mujaddid and his sons and deputies (khulafa) attained through perfect following. All these heights, and such lofty flights in the stations of nearness to the Truth, are owed entirely to following the Sunnah. I present a few testimonies to the readers, from which it will be readily gauged what a tremendous passion for following the Sunnah these sons of the Ahmadi house had, and how, by acting on the Sunnah, they did the great work of reviving it and gave weighty proof of their heartfelt love for the Master of both worlds ﷺ. Hazrat Mujaddid and his sons had, as it were, handed themselves over entirely to the Master of both worlds ﷺ, and because of this they kept a whole world illuminated with the lights of the Sunnahs for a long time. May the Most Holy Lord, for the sake of these masters, enrich us servants too with the treasure of following in all our deeds and words, bestowed

in abundance. Amin.

All That Was Received Came Through Following the Sunnah

The one intoxicated with the Ahmadi wine, Hazrat Mawlana Muhammad Hashim Kishmi (may Allah have mercy on him), says in the sixth section of Barakat-e-Ahmadiyya that he heard from the blessed tongue of Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) many times; he would say: What am I, and what are my deeds? Whatever has been granted to me is pure generosity and sheer grace. If anything has become an occasion for that generosity, it is following the Master of the first and the last ﷺ, which I regard as the axis of my affair. Whatever has been given to me, in part or in whole, has been given because of this following; and whatever has not been given has not been given because some shortfall in complete following must have remained in us by the necessity of human nature. In this connection he once said:

“Once, out of forgetfulness, I put my right foot into the lavatory first instead of my left, and that day a great many spiritual states (ahwal) remained closed to me.”

Observing Odd Numbers

One day he told Mawlana Salih Khatlani (may Allah have mercy on him) to bring a few black peppercorns from the bag. He brought six. Hazrat became stern and said: This Sufi of ours has not even heard that “Allah is Odd (witr) and loves what is odd.” Observing odd numbers is among the recommended acts (mustahabbat).

The Importance of the Recommended Act (Mustahab)

He says: What do people know of the mustahab? The mustahab is beloved to Allah Most High. If one were to give this world and the Hereafter in exchange for a single deed that is beloved to Allah Most High, one would still have given nothing.

Perfect Following

He also said: We pay so much attention to observing what is recommended that, when washing the face, our intention is that the water should fall first on the right cheek. Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) was mindful of following the Sunnah at every moment — even at that hour when a person is unaware of his own and of strangers alike. The time of death is no trifling ordeal, yet even then, if this lover of the Messenger ﷺ had any concern, it was for the Sunnah. On the night whose morning he passed away, when a third of the night remained, he rose, performed wudu, and stood to offer the Tahajjud prayer; then he said: This is the last Tahajjud prayer. Some time before his death a state of self-absence (bekhudi) began to come over him. His second son, Hazrat Khwaja Muhammad Sa'id, asked:

“Is this self-absence due to weakness and frailty, or due to absorption (istighraq)?” He replied: Certain momentous matters lie before me, and I am turning my attention to them so that they may be unveiled and made manifest. Whenever he recovered from this state, he would stress following the Sunnah, avoiding innovation (bid'ah), and remembrance (dhikr) and meditation (muraqaba).

Then at the time of Ishraq he asked for a vessel to pass urine. When the vessel came there was no sand in it; he said: There is a risk of splashes, so take the vessel away and lay me down. When he was laid down, he placed his right hand against his cheek in the Sunnah manner and became occupied in blessed remembrance.

The Greatest Striving Is Acting on the Sunnah

Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) was once asked: We have heard that in the Naqshbandi order spiritual exercises and strivings are forbidden, on the grounds that through them unveilings of forms

come to appear. It is astonishing how any possibility of harm could be conceived in following the Sunnah, when the order is built on following the Sunnah, and the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) adopted very severe strivings and went hungry. The answer he gave contains very useful knowledge, so I present it to you. He says:

Where did you hear that in this order spiritual exercises and strivings are forbidden and harmful? In this path, constantly guarding the affiliation (nisbat), holding firmly to following the Sunnah — upon its bearer be blessings, peace and salutations — striving to conceal one's states, or rather adopting a middle state, and observing the middle way and the bounds of moderation in food and clothing, are among the most arduous exercises and the most severe strivings. At most it can be said that the common folk, who are like cattle, do not regard these things as exercises or consider them strivings. For the common people, exercise and striving is simply the name for going hungry; much hunger is a thing of great value in their eyes, because for these people of cattle-like nature eating is a very important business and their greatest aim, so inevitably giving it up will be a great exercise and a hard striving. By contrast, constantly guarding the affiliation, holding firmly to following the Sunnah — upon its bearer be blessings and salutations — and the like have neither value nor standing in the eyes of the common people, such that they would think their abandonment bad and regard their attainment as an exercise.

So the elders of this path should strive to conceal their states and give up that exercise which is of great worth in the eyes of the common people, which is a cause of popularity among creation and entails fame — something that contains calamity and leads to mischief. The Master of both worlds ﷺ said: It is enough evil for a man, in religion or in worldly affairs, that fingers

be pointed at him — except for one whom Allah protects.

“It is enough evil for a person that he be pointed at with fingers in matters of religion or the world, except one whom Allah protects.”

In this faqir's view, starving and going very hungry are much lighter and far easier than observing the bounds of moderation in food; the exercise of keeping to the middle state is greater than the exercise of much hunger. My honoured father (may his secret be sanctified) used to say: I saw a treatise on the science of wayfaring (suluk) stating that observing moderation in food and keeping to the middle limit suffices for reaching the Goal; with this observance there is no need of any remembrance or contemplation. The truth is that in food and clothing — indeed in all matters — moderation of state and the middle way are a most excellent thing:

Do not eat so much that it comes back out of your mouth,

nor so little that weakness drives the life out of you.

As for the case of the Prophet (peace be upon him), Allah Most High had granted him the strength of forty men; that is why he was able to endure such great spells of hunger. The noble Companions too, first through the blessing of his company, were able to bear this burden, and no slackness or disorder entered their deeds and actions. Despite this hunger, they had such strength in fighting the enemies of Islam that the well-fed do not have even a tenth of it. That is why twenty of the steadfast among them prevailed over two hundred unbelievers, and a hundred over a thousand. If people other than these were to undergo such severe hunger,

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Do not eat so much that it starts coming out of your mouth, nor so little that your life departs from weakness.

they would be unable to carry out the etiquettes and Sunnahs — indeed it is quite possible that they would barely manage to discharge the obligatory duties. So imitating the Companions in this matter without the strength for it is in reality to render oneself incapable of performing the Sunnahs and obligations.

It is reported that Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), in imitation of the Prophet (peace be upon him), began to keep the continuous fast (sawm al-wisal), and from weakness and frailty he fell to the ground. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said by way of objection: Who among you is like me? I spend the night with my Lord, and I eat and drink from there. Thus he ﷺ did not approve of imitation without the strength for it. Moreover, the noble Companions, by the blessing of the company of the Best of Creation ﷺ, were safe and protected from the hidden harms of hunger and starvation; other people do not have this protection and safety. The explanation of this is that much hunger (going very hungry) in any case bestows purity.

This purity is of two kinds: purity of the heart and purity of the self (nafs). Some attain purity of the heart and some purity of the self. The first increases guidance and bestows light; the second points towards misguidance and increases darkness. The exercise of hunger gave the philosophers of Greece and the Brahmins and yogis of India purity of the self and showed them the path of misguidance and loss. The witless Plato relied on the purity of his own self and took his imaginary unveiled forms as his guide, because of which he fell into self-admiration ('ujb), and did not obey Hazrat 'Isa, the Spirit of Allah — upon our Prophet and upon him be blessings and peace — who had been sent at that time, and said: “We are a guided people;

we have no need of anyone to guide us.”

(Several lines later he says:) Since this harm and loss is hidden in the very nature of hunger, the elders of the Naqshbandi path — may Allah Most High sanctify their secrets — abandoned the exercise of hunger and adopted instead the exercise of moderation in food and the striving of the middle state, and gave up the benefits of hunger because of the possibility of this grave and dangerous harm. Other masters looked at the benefits of hunger and overlooked its harms, so they enjoined hunger. The wise say that many benefits may be abandoned because of the possibility of harm. (For further detail see Maktub 313, Volume One.)

In Every Deed, Only the Intention of Following the Sunnah

Describing an unveiling (kashf) in Mabda' wa Ma'ad, he says: “This faqir used to offer the Witr prayer sometimes in the early part of the night and sometimes in the last part. One night it was shown to me that when a worshipper delays the Witr and sleeps with the intention of offering it in the last part of the night, the angels who record his good deeds keep writing good deeds in his name all night long until he offers the Witr; so the later he offers it, the better.

Despite this, in offering it in the early or the late part of the night, this faqir intends nothing other than following the Master of mankind — upon him and his family be blessings and salutations — and no virtue can equal following. (So since) the Prophet (peace be upon him) sometimes offered the Witr in the early part of the night, that is, before sleeping, and sometimes in the last part, that is, after sleeping at the time of Tahajjud, I too do likewise.

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We are a guided people; we have no need of any guide.

This faqir considers his good fortune to lie in resembling the Master of both worlds (may Allah Most High bless him and his family and grant them peace) in every matter, whatever it may be, even if that resemblance is only in outward form. People bring into some Sunnahs the intention of keeping the night alive (ihya' al-layl) and suchlike; one marvels at the short-sightedness of these people. We would not buy a thousand night vigils even for half a barley-grain of following. While in i'tikaf during the last ten days of Ramadan, we gathered our friends and told them: Make no intention other than following. What is our devotion and withdrawal (tabattul and inqita') worth? We accept a hundred entanglements together with the attainment of a single act of following, and we do not accept a thousand acts of devotion and withdrawal without the means of following.”

A Caution

Even while standing at so lofty a station of the Sunnah, Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) was not a ghayr muqallid (one who rejects following a school of law). Every fibre of Hazrat Mujaddid's being was illumined by the greatness and radiance of Hazrat Imam al-A'imma Abu Hanifa (may his secret be sanctified) and his school, as you have already read in the earlier pages. The truth of the Hanafi school was for him not merely a matter of reasoned proof but of unveiling. The real point was that this great imam of the Shari'ah and the path in his time knew Hazrat Imam-e-A'zam (may his secret be sanctified) very closely. He did not consider Imam-e-A'zam to be against the Sunnah by so much as a hair's breadth; rather, he regarded Imam-e-A'zam as a practitioner of the Sunnah beyond every other practitioner of it, and acting on his school was in reality acting on the Sunnah. The mentality that really lies behind ghayr-muqallidism is that none of the imams adhered to the Sunnahs, nor did they know the Sunnahs, and therefore the rulings of their schools do not accord with the Sunnah. We seek refuge in Allah from that.

Woe to that creed in which even these great leaders of the Ummah are not followers of the Sunnah! These ignorant people have a few issues — raising the hands (raf' al-yadayn), reciting behind the imam, and the like — which they consider to be the whole of Islam; by their own reckoning they have set themselves up as the custodians of guidance and regard everyone else as misguided. I shall relate some incidents, from which readers will understand well what importance juristic issues held in the heart of so great a practitioner of the Sunnah as Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified), and how deeply he loved the Hanafi school.

Khwaja Muhammad Hashim Kishmi (may Allah have mercy on him) writes that Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) had complete command of the issues of fiqh and abundant mastery of the principles of jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh); yet out of extreme caution, in most issues he relied on the authoritative books of fiqh. At home and on journeys he kept some authoritative works of fiqh with him, and was always keen that his practice should follow the position on which fatwa is given (mufta bihi) and the preferred view of the major jurists. In rulings where the jurists differed over permissibility and impermissibility, or lawfulness and unlawfulness, he gave preference to impermissibility and the side of prohibition; and if there was disagreement on some issue over whether it was disliked (makruh) or not, he preferred dislike — that is, he would not do something that some jurists had declared lawful and others unlawful, or that some had judged disliked.

Although most often his practice followed the position on which fatwa is given, whether it was the view of Imam-e-A'zam (may his secret be sanctified) or of his two companions (the Sahibayn), yet if on some issue the Imam (may his secret be sanctified) was on one side and the Sahibayn on the other, and the fatwa was on the view of the Sahibayn, Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) would mostly act on the position given in fatwa, but out of reverence for Imam-e-A'zam (may his secret be sanctified) he would also act on the Imam's view on which fatwa was not given.

The way of Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) was to combine the schools (jam' bayn al-madhahib); that is, his effort

was that his practice should be such that it did not contradict the school of any of the mujtahid imams.

For example, according to Hazrat Imam-e-A'zam (may his secret be sanctified) the time of Zuhr lasts until the shadow is twice an object's length, besides its original shadow, while according to Imam Shafi'i and others it lasts until it is once its length. So Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) would pray Zuhr at a time that was Zuhr time according to Imam-e-A'zam as well as according to Imam Shafi'i and others. This is why Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) generally led the prayer himself.

Hazrat Khwaja Muhammad Hashim (may Allah have mercy on him) says: The thought came into my heart: what wisdom lies in his leading the prayer? He said: The Shafi'is and Malikis hold that prayer is not valid without Surah al-Fatiha, so they recite Surah al-Fatiha behind the imam, and sound hadiths also point to this. But our imam, Imam Abu Hanifa (may Allah be pleased with him), held that the imam's recitation of Surah al-Fatiha counts as the follower's recitation, and so does not consider reciting Surah al-Fatiha behind the imam permissible. The majority of jurists and the Hanafis hold this view, though some less-preferred (marjuh) narrations of the Hanafis allow reciting al-Fatiha behind the imam. Since my endeavour, as far as possible, is that (practice) should be on what is agreed upon, I saw that the way to achieve agreement was for me to lead the prayer myself.

This effort of Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) lasted only so long as the hem of the Hanafi school did not slip from his hand. If a situation arose in which combining the schools was not possible, then he acted solely on the Hanafi school, even if all the imams were on one side and Imam-e-A'zam alone on the other. How firmly the Hanafi school, in Hazrat Mujaddid's eyes, rested on the principles of truth you can gauge from this

fact: concerning this very well-known issue of reciting al-Fatiha behind the imam (qira'at al-Fatiha khalf al-imam) — about which he says that sound hadiths point to it, and on account of which he himself had to lead the prayer — I present an unveiling he mentioned, which is recorded in his book Mabda' wa Ma'ad. Readers will understand well that if such is the case in an issue like this, what must be the case with the many other issues to which sound hadiths do not point.

He says: For a long time I wished that a sound rationale would become clear in the Hanafi school, so that I might recite Surah al-Fatiha behind the imam; for since recitation is obligatory in the prayer, turning away from actual recitation and declaring it a constructive recitation (qira'at hukmi) did not make sense to my reason — especially as the hadith of the Prophet (upon him be blessings and peace) states: “There is no prayer except with the Opening of the Book.” But out of regard for the school I kept abandoning recitation without choice, and counted this abandonment as a kind of spiritual exercise and striving. In the end Allah, the Exalted and Glorified, through the blessing of having regard for the school — since moving away from one's school is heresy (ilhad) — made manifest the reality of the Hanafi school regarding the follower's abandoning of recitation, and constructive recitation appeared, in the eye of insight, better than actual recitation. (The reason for this is that) the imam and the followers all stand together in the station of intimate converse (munajat) — “because the one praying is in intimate converse with his Lord” —

and they make the imam their leader in this matter. So whatever the imam recites, it is as though he recites with the tongue of the congregation. It is like a group that goes before a mighty king with some need and appoints one of them as their leader, so that he may be the tongue of all of them

in presenting their need. In that case, if the others also speak along with the leader's speaking, it counts as a breach of courtesy and is a cause of the king's displeasure. So the constructive speech of that group, conveyed through the leader's tongue, is better than the actual speech of all of them. Such is the case with the congregation reciting despite the imam's recitation: it amounts to clamour (shaghab — noise and tumult), is far from courtesy, and is a cause of disunity, which is contrary to congregating. Most of the disputed issues between the Hanafis and the Shafi'is are of this kind: in outward appearance and form the Shafi'i side is preferable, while in inner reality and truth the Hanafi school is supported.

It has been disclosed to this faqir that in the disputed issues of theology ('ilm al-kalam) the truth lies on the Hanafi side. They regard the attribute of bringing into being (takwin) as one of the real attributes; although it appears to reduce to power and will, by subtle reflection and the light of discernment (firasat) it becomes known that takwin is a separate attribute — and so on by analogy. And in the juristic disputes, in most issues the truth is certainly on the Hanafi side, and in a few it is uncertain. In the intermediate stage of my states, the Prophet — upon him and his family be blessings and peace — said to this faqir in a vision (waqi'a): You are one of the mujtahids of theology. Since that time this faqir has had a particular opinion and specific knowledge on every issue of theology.

In most of the disputed issues over which the Maturidis and Ash'aris contend, at the first appearance of the issue the truth seemed to lie on the Ash'ari side, but when the light of discernment and subtle reflection were brought to bear, it became clear that the truth was on the Maturidi side.

In all the disputed issues of theology, this faqir's opinion agrees with the views of the Maturidi scholars. The truth is that these elders have a great standing because of their following the radiant Sunnah — upon its bearer be blessings and peace — while their opponents, because of their admixture of philosophy,

do not have that standing, although both parties are among the people of truth. Who can describe the lofty rank of the greatest imam of these elders, the most exalted imam and most perfect leader, Abu Hanifa (may his secret be sanctified), who was the most learned, the most scrupulous and the most God-fearing of the mujtahids — whether Imam Shafi'i, Imam Malik or Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal.

Imam Shafi'i says: “All the jurists are the dependants of Abu Hanifa” (all the jurists are the children of Abu Hanifa (may his secret be sanctified)). It is reported that when Imam Shafi'i went to visit the grave of Imam-e-A'zam, he set aside his own ijtihad and did not act on his own opinion, saying: I feel ashamed to act, in his presence, on an opinion of mine that differs from his. He gave up reciting al-Fatiha behind the imam and did not recite the Qunut in the Fajr prayer. (The real truth is that) Imam Shafi'i knows the greatness of Imam Abu Hanifa's rank. Tomorrow, when Hazrat 'Isa — upon our Prophet and upon him be blessings and peace — descends, he will act on the school of Imam Abu Hanifa, as Khwaja Muhammad Parsa (may his secret be sanctified) has stated in his book Usul-e-Sitta. This greatness of his is enough: that a Prophet of firm resolve (ulul-'azm) will act on his school. A hundred greatnesses of others cannot equal this one.

Our Khwaja (Baqi Billah, may his secret be sanctified) used to say: A few times I too recited Surah al-Fatiha behind the imam. Finally one night I saw Imam-e-A'zam (may his secret be sanctified) in a dream reciting a radiant ode (qasida) in his own praise, from which this meaning was being conveyed: so many friends of Allah (awliya) have arisen in my school. From that time I stopped reciting Surah al-Fatiha behind the imam. (Mabda' wa Ma'ad, Kashf 28)

Since this blessed unveiling of his was very important, I have quoted it in full. Our

aim is to make those people understand whose hearts' windows are still open to accepting the truth. Surely the unveilings and sayings of such great leaders will be a guiding light for those who are wandering on the dark paths of doubts and suspicions. We have no complaint against those whose eyes have been closed off on every side and to whom Satan has made falsehood seem attractive. I would request all my sincere friends to read these blessed sayings of so divine an imam (Imam Rabbani) as Hazrat Mujaddid, and to act upon them.