Category Archives: Ahl us-Sunnah
Visiting the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him)
February 1, 2004 / Dhul Hijjah 1424
Volume 1, Issue 4
Visiting the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) is the best of all devotions and recommended acts. As a matter of fact it is from those necessary acts of worship which are obligatory for us to perform because the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) emphatically urged us to desire it.
He (Peace Be Upon Him) said:
“For whom it is possible to visit Me and he or she still does not do so, has committed a great injustice against Me.â€
He (Peace Be Upon Him) also said:
“Whoever visited My honorable grave, My intercession becomes incumbent upon him or her.â€
He (Peace Be Upon Him) also said:
“Whoever visited Me after My passing onto the next realm, it is like he or she visited Me in my life.â€
And there are Ahaadeeth (sayings of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him)) besides these.
According to the scholars, it is proven that the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) is alive and is given sustenance and is enjoying worship; however people who are unable to reach these high stations, the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) is hidden from their eyes.
And when we saw many people unaware of the right a visitation requires and its details (in its entirety and small portions, obligations and recommendations) which are sunan (the Way of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him)) for visitors, we wanted to write the “Etiquette of Visitation†after completing the topic of Hajj to complete the usefulness of this book.
So we say that one who is intending to visit the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him), this person should send Darood Shareef (noble prayers on the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him)) in abundance as a gift to the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) because He (Peace Be Upon Him) listens and this is conveyed to Him (Peace Be Upon Him) and the virtues of Darood Shareef are so famous that they don’t need to be mentioned here.
When we see the walls of Madinah, the Pure, start reciting Darood Shareef and say: “O Allah! This is the Blessed Sanctuary of Your Messenger (Peace Be Upon Him) and Keeper of Your Revelation. So send me Your favors so I can enter into it, make it the cause of safety for me from Hell and punishment and make me among the people who will be awarded intercession of the Noble Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) on the Day of Reckoning!â€
Before entering Madinah, the Pure, or after entering it, but before visiting the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him), if possible, take a shower, wear perfume and nice clothes. He should do this out of respect for presenting himself in the Presence of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him). After this when his companions are settled in one place and he is at peace regarding his family and luggage etc., then, keeping in mind the awesomeness of the place, with calm and dignity, enter the city reciting these words if possible:
“I enter with the Name of Allah, Most Exalted, Most High and upon the community of the Noble Messenger (Peace Be Upon Him). O my Lord! Enter me with a good entrance, and bring out good, and bless me with energy and help from You. O Allah! Send blessings on our leader Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa (Peace Be Upon Him) and His followers. (Read Darood Shareef till the end.) Forgive my sins and open the doors of Your Mercy and Blessings for me.â€
After entering the Noble Mosque of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) pray two cycles near His Noble Pulpit and stand there in such a way that the handle of the Pulpit is next to your right shoulder. The Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) used to stand here.
And there are gardens of paradise between the Holy Prophet’s (Peace Be Upon Him) Illumniated Grave and Noble Pulpit. As the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) has informed us about it:
“My Pulpit is on My Basinâ€
In addition to the Tahiyyatul–Masjid (2 cycles offered upon entering a mosque out of respect for it), read two cycles of prayer of Shukr (gratitude) because Allah Almighty endowed you with the tawfeeq (success) to come here and granted you the favor of bringing you here.
The above piece was translated from the famous Hanafi Fiqh Text “Noor-ul-Idah†by Ayyaz Yousaf Qadri, Managing Director of IECRC.
Interval Between Death & Resurrection (Barzakh)
August 16, 2003 / Jamad-uth-Thani 1424
Volume 1, Issue 2 (Part 5)
After death and before the Day of Judgment, between this world and the other, there is an interim world called the “Realm of Barzakh”. All humans and jinn live in this world after death. In this realm of Barzakh, some experience peace and others pain, based on ones actions in this world.
It is our belief that even after death, the soul’s connection with the body remains. If the soul is separated from the body and the body experiences rest or shock, the soul will feel it and be affected by it; just like in this life when the body feels ease or pain, its sensations are experienced by the soul. Similarly, in the realm of Barzakh, whatever reward or punishment the body faces, its pleasure or pain is received by the soul.
It is also our belief that the souls of the believers, according to their levels, rest in different stations. Some stay at their burial site, some at the well of Zamzam (Holy water of Makkah), some between the sky and earth, some in the skies, some in lanterns below the Throne, some in the high ‘Illiyyeen (level of Heaven). Wherever the souls are stationed, they are connected to their bodies. If anyone comes to their burial site, the deceased can see, recognize and hear the words of the visitor.
Similarly, the souls of the disbelievers also stay at their grave or burial site. Some are at a sewer pipeline in Yemen. Some are below the seventh earth. Some are in “sijjeen†(prison). Wherever the souls are, they have a connection with their respective bodies. Therefore, anyone who comes to their grave or burial site, the deceased can see, recognize and hear the words of the visitor.
Some people believe that after death the soul goes into the body of another person or an animal. Believing this takes one into the realm of disbelief as we do not believe in the philosophy of reincarnation.
It is our belief that after death, regardless of where the deceased’s body is, he or she is visited by two angels called Nakeer and Munkar. These angels question the deceased: “Who is your Lord?â€, “What is your Deen?â€, and they ask about the Prophet Muhammad (prayers and peace of Allah be upon Him) , “Who is He ?â€Â If the deceased is a believer, he or she replies correctly that my Lord is Allah, my Deen is Islam and that Hazrat Muhammad (prayers and peace of Allah be upon Him) is Allah Almighty’s Messenger. Then, a window into Heaven opens for him from which cool and fragrant breezes keep coming into his grave. And the deceased rests in comfort and peace and sleeps in happiness in his grave. If the deceased is a disbeliever, then his response to all the questions is that he doesn’t know. Then, a window from Hell is opened for him and hot and foul air blows into his grave. The deceased is made to suffer severe punishments and he remains restless and tormented. The angels beat him with rods. His evil actions punish him in the form of snakes and scorpions.
It is our belief that the deceased talks and his speech is heard by all creation except humans and jinn. If a human hears the talk of a deceased, he will surely lose consciousness.
It is also our belief that the graves of believers and good people expands 70 times. The graves of some people expands to as far as their eyes can see. And the graves of some disbelievers and sinners constricts so much that the ribs of one side moves to the other.
It is our belief that whatever punishment and reward the deceased experiences, only the deceased is aware of them. Alive humans are not aware of these happenings; just like a sleeping person in his dreams sees different things and experiences comfort, pain or pleasure and an awake person next to him is completely unaware of the sleeping person’s experiences.
The deceased can receive the rewards of the good works they did in this world, either through pious children or any other deed they did as a Sadaqa Jariya (ongoing charity). Also, they receive the reward of any good actions anyone does for them, which is why it is essential to remember our dead by reading Quran and doing other good deeds for them. This is called Isaal-e-Sawaab.
One must therefore not consider death as the end of life, but only that the soul has moved onto a different realm where it experiences the realities of that world while waiting for the eternal abode of the Hereafter. May Allah Almighty by the waseela (connection) of His Beloved Prophet (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) help us lead a righteous life and grace us with His Mercy in the Barzakh and Hereafter. (Aamin).
The majority of the above article was translated from “Jannati Zewarâ€, an Urdu text written by Allama Abdul Mustafa Azhari Azimi Mujaddidi, who was a prominent scholar of Ahle-Sunnah and Shaykh-ul-Hadeeth at Darul Uloom Amjadia, Karachi, Pakistan. The Shaykh was a Khalifa in the chain of Imam Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi (may Allah have mercy on him). Many well-known Ahle-Sunnah scholars are from among his students. “Jannati Zewar†was published in 1369 Hijri (Islamic calendar) by Mushtaq Book Corner, Lahore, Pakistan.
Ishq-e-Mustafa aur Munafiqat
IECRC Volume 1: Ishq-e-Mustafa Sallallahu alaihi wassalam aur_Munafiqat [gplayer href=”https://www.iecrcna.org/Hazrat_Talks/IECRC_Vol1_Ishq-e-Mustafa_aur_Munafiqat.mp3″][/gplayer];
