It was the practice of Hadrat Ibrahim Khawas (mercy be upon him) that whenever he set out on a journey to someplace he neither divulged it to anybody nor anyone could have any knowledge of it. He used to take one jar for ablution in his hand and then set out on the journey. Hamid Aswad (mercy be upon him) says: “Once I was, in his company, sitting in the mosque when he took that jar and set out. [also followed him. When we reached Qadasiyah, he asked me: ‘Hamid! Where do you intend to go?’ I told him: ‘1 only want to accompany you.’ He informed me: ‘I intend to visit the sacred Makkah.’ I stated: ‘I shall if Allah so wills, visit that place (Makkah).’ After a day's journey, another young man joined us. He travelled with us for a day and night but did not observe a single prayer.
I requested Sheikh that the third person who had joined us had not said any prayer. The Sheikh asked him: ‘Why have you not observed the prayer?’ He said: ‘The prayer is not obligatory for me.’ He asked: ‘Why? Are you not Muslim?’ He said: ‘I am a Christian, and in Christianity, I spend my life reposing my trust in God. My inner self had ‘whispered that I had become perfect in the matter of trust.’ I refuted his claim and brought him into this wilderness where there was none save one God, intending to test his claim. The Sheikh, however, said nothing but walked on and advised him not to interfere with him and let him travel with them.
He travelled with us until we reached “‘Battan Mard”’ The Sheikh put off his dirty clothes and washed them. Then he, asked that boy: ‘What is your name?’ He said: ‘My name is Abdul Masih.’ The Sheikh said: ‘O Abdul Masih! This is now the boundary of Makkah. In other words, this is Haram Sharif and the Almighty and Glorious God has prohibited the entry for those who ascribe partners to Allah.” Thereupon, the Sheikh also recited to him a Qur’anic verse, the translation of which is:—
«Those, who ascribe partners to Allah, are dirty. They should not even come near the sacred mosque.”
And the outcome of the test you wanted to give to your inner self, is already known to you. So you should not enter Makkah. If we see you there we will object to your presence. Hamid says: ‘*We left him there and moved forward. We reached the sacred Makkah. Subsequently, when we reached ‘Arafat, we saw that boy there wearing the ihram. He came to us by looking at the faces of the people (pilgrims) and fell down at the feet of Sheikh. * The Sheikh asked: “O Abdu! Masih! What has happened to you?” He requested the Sheikh not to call him by this name of his, as he was not then the servant of Masih but a slave of that Being whose slave was also Hadrat Isa Al Masih (peace be upon him).
Hadrat Ibrahim (mercy be upon him) asked him to tell him his history. He narrated thus: ‘I sat down at the place where you had left me. And when another caravan of Muslims came there, I liked the Muslims, wearing ihram, and joined their company by impersonating myself as a Muslim. On reaching the sacred Makkah, when I saw Allah’s House all other religions, except Islam, had paled into insignificance. I took a bath, became Muslim and put on Ihram. I have been looking for you since this morning. Thereafter, he and we remained together until he breathed his last in the company of the saints.”
No comments:
Post a Comment