By Miss Sumaira Rafaqat Kahloon Advocate (Nazima Women League)

The capability to remember is a great blessing. All activities of our life rest on it. We speak and utter words in an order. We learn this order through remembrance. That is how we understand others and convey our minds to them at the same time. And communication takes place. Really, memory is a miracle.

We meet many people daily, see them, recognize them, talk to them and do a wide variety of things. We also remember our way to office, things to do and way back home. All that is possible only because we are blessed with memory and a capability to remember our past and keep in mind promises and things we commit ourselves to do tomorrow or day after. If we forget something, we feel upset and do not relax until we succeed to recall what is forgotten. We also recall and remember much what gives us pleasure and try to delete from our memory things that bring us agony and pain. We have been so designed we feel inclined to pleasure and averse to pain. We remember abundantly what we love and what pleases us the most. And we forget what we despise. That is how we live our life.

The most significant aspect of this blessing of remembrance is its basic role in making possible for us maintaining our faith. We believe in the Quran and also the Revealed Books sent down before it. We believe in the Beloved Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) and all the Prophets and the Messengers that preceded him. We remember them well and are also required never to forget the Day of Reckoning. Allah says:

"Surely those who turn away from the path of Allah, for them is severe punishment because they forget the Day of Reckoning." (al-Quran, 38:26)

This remembrance keeps us pious. We love Allah so we remember Him; we fear His displeasure and punishment and, therefore, never forget Him. While love is unforgettable, fears too are remembered well. That is why our faith is based on both love and fear. Allah says:

"And always fear me alone." (al-Quran, 2:40)

But He says at the same time:

"But those who believe, love Allah the most (far more intensely than anyone else)." (al-Quran, 2:165)

But the real charisma of remembrance lies in living lost in thoughts of the Beloved Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him). The fortunate one who is blessed with his remembrance is the piety incarnate. When we remember him day and night and send on him salutations and greetings Allah sprays on us fragrance and perfumes us with his love. When we remember the Holy Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) we cannot commit any sin. A sense of shame then envelops us and a Mediterranean of tears gushes forth in eyes. We hear Allama Iqbal (may Allah be well pleased with him) lamenting:

"O Allah! If opening up the record of my deeds becomes so very essential on the Day of Judgment, I pray, hide it from the holy sight of the beloved Mustafa (blessings and peace be upon him)."

Such is the remembrance of the Beloved Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him). How can you feel angry, revengeful, spiteful or arrogant and haughty when you remember the most venerable Holy Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him)? The love of the Holy Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) purifies our hearts and makes us submissive and good-natured in such a way that we give up everything prohibited and do whatever has been commanded. When someone loves Allah's Messenger more than anything else in the world, he loses his will. The lover can have no will above the will of his beloved. He is content with what Allah and His Messenger have given him and remains on toes to sacrifice everything for their pleasure. He abandons bed, sleep and rest and spends neither an ordinary day nor night. He glows with their love and strives to spread this light all around through his most modest, truthful, pure, sincere, selfless humble and dignified behaviour.

Let us see what the Holy Quran says about this love:

(O Esteemed Messenger!) Say: ‘If your fathers (and forefathers) and your sons (and daughters) and your brothers (and sisters) and your wives and your (other) kith and kin and the riches that you have earned (so hard) and the trade and business that you fear may decline and the homes you are fond of are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) and struggling in His cause, then wait until Allah brings His command (of torment). (al-Quran, 9:24)

Here is a Prophetic tradition highlighting the significance of the ardent love for our Beloved Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him).

According to Abdullah ibn Hisham (may Allah be well pleased with him):

“We were together with the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and he was holding Umar al-Khattab by the hand. Umar said to him: ‘O Messenger of Allah! You are surely dearer to me than everything except myself,’ so the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: ‘No, by the One in whose hand is my soul, unless I am dearer to you than yourself (you cannot be a true believer)!’ Umar then said to him: ‘Now, by Allah, the Lord of Honour, you are surely dearer to me than myself!’ The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: ‘Now, O Umar! (you are a perfect believer).” al-Bukhari , as-Sahih, 6/2445 *6257

No love is possible without remembrance. We see Allah (Most Exalted) remembering His Beloved Messenger in the Holy Quran so very frequently with degree of intensity increasing ever more. He calls him by various beautiful names and also uses singular pronoun while mentioning both Himself and His Beloved Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him). He has engaged His angels in sending salutations on him along with Himself and ordains the believers to join Him in sending salutations on His Beloved Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him).

Let us see how the venerable Companions of the Holy Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) used to remember him.

1. According to Musa ibn Uqba (may Allah be well pleased with him), in the course of a lengthy story:

“Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) sent Uthman ibn Affan (may Allah be well pleased with him) as an ambassador to Quraysh (on the occasion of Hudaibiya agreement)…. After the negotiations they offered Uthman ibn Affan to circumambulate the Sacred House [the Kaaba], but he refused to circumambulate and said: ‘By Allah! I will not circumambulate it until Allah’s Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) circumambulates it!’ Then he returned to Allah’s Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) without circumambulating.” (al-Bayhaqi)

2. According to Abdur-Rahman ibn Sa'ad:

“The foot of Ibn Umar (may Allah be well pleased with him and his father) became numb, so a man said to him: ‘Remember the dearest of the people to you!’ He Called out (loudly): ‘(O) Muhammad, aaah!’” And he was alright there and then. (al-Bukhari, al-Adab)

3. According to Qazi Iyyaz in ash-Shifa:

Once, Abdullah ibn Umar was turning his camel round at a site. When the Companions saw him doing it, they asked: What is going on, O Ibn Umar? He said: I also do not know myself but one day I saw the Holy Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) turning his camel round at this very site. I remember him so passionately I could not help following his action and started turning my camel round in his remembrance.

4. After the demise of our Beloved Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) the venerable Bilal (may Allah be well pleased with him) felt quite forlorn. He would go round the streets of Madina saying: O people! Have you seen the Messenger of Allah anywhere? Show me too if you have seen him. In discomfort of love he left Madina and went to Halab in Syria. Six months passed when he saw the Beloved Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) in dream. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) said: 'O Bilal! You have stopped visiting us. Don't you want to meet us?'

When he woke up, the remembrance surged so passionately that the next moment he was on the camel back riding fast towards Madina chanting: labbaika ya Rasul Allah! (O Messenger of Allah! The slave is coming.)

Reaching Madina he would look around, looking for the Beloved Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him). He would search the Prophetic mosque peeping into every nook and corner and also the private chambers of the Holy Prophet. When he found him nowhere he put his head down on the Holy grave and could not then control his sighs, cries and tears submitting: 'O Beloved Messenger! The slave has most humbly reported.' Then he lost his senses. The news of his arrival spread everywhere in Madina that the Holy Prophet's slave Bilal had come from Halab and was lying senseless near the holy shrine. Everybody turned up to see the Prophet's favourite caller to the ritual prayers.

People requested him to chant the call for prayer only once remembering Allah's Beloved Messenger but the venerable Bilal would not find in him enough strength to revive the most touching memory of the love-laden ritual. Some of the Companions suggested submitting to Hasnain Kremain to ask the venerable Bilal for adhan. So the venerable Imam Hussain (may Allah be well pleased with him) took Bilal's hand in his own sacred hand and expressed his desire for adhan. So he agreed and started chanting adhan from the same spot he used to call during the holy days of the Beloved Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him). The moment he called loud Allahu Akbar, everyone present there burst into tears. As the adhan progressed this state of things further aggravated, and when the venerable Bilal called out ash'hadu anna Muhammad ar-Rasul Allah the situation went beyond description. Even the ladies left their homes and came out thinking as if the Beloved Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) had come. None can describe the sight. No one ever saw the residents of Madina weeping and crying in the remembrance of the Beloved Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) as intensely as they did on that day.

The remembrance of the Beloved Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) is a great blessing of Allah for us. It relieves us of all the worry and anxiety here in this world as well as in the Hereafter. We in Minhaj-ul-Quran in general and in Women League in particular are the luckiest souls that in the companionship of Sayyidi Murshadi Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri we have been blessed by Allah (Most Kind) with the unique opportunity of remembering our Beloved Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) every moment of our life invoking salutations on him whether we are doing our duty in our office or the field or are busy working for the mission at home and also relaxing for a while to freshen up our energies to get ready for the next day. May our Sayyidi Murshadi live long and may we seek spiritual benefits from him more and more and attain to the nearness of the Beloved Messenger's holy door through his means. May Allah Most Gracious fill our hearts with the ever-increasing love for the Beloved Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) and may we live a life completely absorbed in his holy remembrance. Ameen!

Remembrance - II

Living a life in durood-ecstasy do you have any doubt that, coffin clad, we are going to be presented before the Beloved Messenger of Allah this very morning or evening or any time when ‘we are turning to Him alone’? O’ how pleasant it would be to appear before the Messenger of Mercy for all the worlds (blessings and peace be upon him), chanting his hymns, nasheeds, greetings and salutations! I am sure this way he will straight away take us under his mental of benevolence and mercy on the very first sight in the grave and we will kiss and cling to his holy feet flooded in tears, sighing, ‘O Beloved Messenger of Allah, I have been missing you all my life begging forgiveness, a fish out of water at your door steps; then I waited for this moment! Ya Rasul Allah (blessings and peace be upon him), when people snatched opportunities of growth from me, I did not retaliate and just remembered you, sent salutations on you and forgave everybody. When they deprived me of my right I remembered you, sent salutations on you and spared them. When I could take benefit by telling a lie I abandoned the benefit, did not tell lies and, remembering you, sent salutations on you. Similarly when I found opportunities to do damage to my opponents I withheld myself, remembered you, sent salutations on you and spared them. Whenever someone would annoy or anger me I would immediately remember you, make wudu and send salutations on you. That is how I remembered you in my life O’ my Beloved Messenger of Allah! But life is still full of lapses; I committed countless follies and mistakes for which I have been repenting and I seek your mercy. I do not know how I should submit my humble thanks right now bowing at your holy feet.’

I remember Riaz Hussain Ch. wrote in one of his poetic verses:

“A sight it would be when That Day we meet,
Riaz would not leave clinging to his feet.”

I started loving animals because they too remember the Holy Messenger of Allah intensely (blessings and peace be upon him). They also fall into rapture, remember him and shed tears remembering him. I would not forget a pigeon doing it. It would frequently come at the fence of our roof, lost in Durood melody of the Hassan-e-Minhaj, Afzal Noshahi; it would coo when there was a pause observed in Nasdeed and would stop cooing when the Nasheed pause was over and the sweet melody of nasheed was at play. And the lovely bird would rehearse cooing every time like a drill. Many a time I played the nasheed and observed the pigeon would observe the same discipline. Then I realized it was not only for picking at the grain the pigeons would gather around the tombs of the mosques and shrines; it was rather the ecstasy they look for in Durood melody around the towns. How peaceful and lovable is this bird! That is certainly due to its verve and feelings of love in its heart that we regard it a symbol of peace. They are tranquil, calm and quiet in the remembrance of the Beloved Messenger of love, peace and Mercy for all the worlds, birds too. They are like angels mentioned in such traditions as here:

According to Abu Hurayra (may Allah be well pleased with him), the Prophet said (blessings and peace be upon him):

“Allah says (Exalted is He): ‘I am compatible with My servant’s opinion of Me, and I am with him when he remembers Me, so if he remembers Me in his heart (quietly) I remember him in secret (quietly), and if he remembers Me in an assembly (loudly), I remember him in a better assembly (of angels) than his (loudly). If he draws near to Me an inch, I draw near to him a cubit. If he gets closer to Me a cubit, I get nearer to him a fathom, and if he comes to Me walking, I come to him at high speed!’” (Minhaj as-Sawi)

According to Abu Hurayra and Abu Saeed al-Khudri (may Allah be well pleased with them), they both bore witness that the Prophet said (blessings and peace be upon him):

“A group of people will not sit remembering Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) without the angels covering them (by spreading their wings over them) and mercy enveloping them. Tranquillity descends upon them and Allah remembers them among those in His presence.” (Minhaj as-Sawi)

Look at the beasts how they remember the Beloved Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him). The freed slave of the Beloved Messenger of Allah Safina says:

“I was travelling by sea when the boat I was in broke off. I managed to get over one of its planks. That moved over the surface of the water drifting along the waves towards the bank. It took me to a thick jungle. There a lion got closer to me. It had nearly attacked when I said, ‘O Abu al-Harith, I am the slave of the Beloved Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him).’ Hearing this, the lion bowed down its head, got forward and pushed me with his shoulder, and then started walking ahead of me. So it led me out of the jungle and produced a low voice as if seeing me off. That was my last meeting with that lion.” (al-Badaya)

Another incident of a lion has also been attributed to the same Companion venerable Safina. According to Ibn Mundkar (may Allah be well pleased with him) “Safina got away from his troops and lost his way or he was captivated by Romans and he escaped from the prison. So he was looking for his troops. Suddenly he saw a lion. He called it out and said, ‘O Abu al-Harith, I am the slave of the Beloved Messenger of Allah and this is what has happened to me (he narrated the entire incident to that lion). The lion waving his tail came before him and kept standing (displaying his loyalty and obedience) then led him in a direction. It safeguarded him on the way pushing off all the beasts he saw on the way till he took him to the troops and then returned to the jungle.” (al-Badaya)

According to Wahb ibn Uban Qureshi (may Allah be well pleased with him),

“Once, Abdullah Ibn Umar set off on a journey. On the way he saw some people crowding over a spot. When he inquired about the reason he was told that there was a lion blocking the way and the people were afraid of it. Ibn Umar dismounted and walked straight to the lion. He caught the lion’s ear, twisted it, slapped on its neck and pushed it away from the path. Then he turned towards the crowd and said,’ The Holy Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) warned that only that thing overpowered man he felt afraid of. If he does not fear anyone except Allah, nothing will overpower him except Allah. Man is delivered to a thing he believes would bring him profit or loss. If he does not expect profit or loss from anyone other than Allah, Allah would never consign him to anything else.” (al-Badaya)

These are a few instances quoted here to prove how deeply the beasts love, honour and remember the Beloved Messenger of Allah and how the animal kingdom is permeated with his fragrant remembrance.

We are so lucky we are honoured with the holy remembrance of Allah’s Beloved Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him).

Readers, you will certainly agree with me that whatever remembrance of the Beloved Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) has fallen to our share we owe it to our Suhba with our Sayyadi Murshadi Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri madda zilluh-ul-aali. His entire life is in front of us. He has not missed even a fraction of a second remembering him. In his study or in meetings with the workers and leaders of the MQI, on a peace tour, Hidaya camp journey or addressing the youth, the women league, the Ulama or the students, attending political parleys or speaking to the legislative assembly, whatever is the occasion or venue Sayyadi Murshadi cannot help remembering the Sovereign of our spiritual universe and the Life of the universe, the Beloved Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him). He remembers him so much, so deeply and so intensely that the whole world observed the winds also started remembering the Beloved Prophet, they shaped themselves into his holy name in front of the whole world by getting into the shape of clouds dancing into the sacred Arabic alphabet shaping Muhammad around the moon of 12 Rabi-ul-Awwal; that was sheer ecstasy of the universe and all the forces of the universe in the companionship of a great lover of the Holy Messenger our Sayyadi Murshadi. In Gosha-e-Durood MQI Lahore salutations are sent on the Beloved Messenger of Allah 24 hours continually without break. The durood party keep fast, recite durood and recite the Holy Quran. The durood is also recited in all the centers and durood circles of MQI all over the world. The salutations so recited are counted including salutations recited allover the globe and are presented to the Holy Presence of the Beloved Messenger of Allah every first Thursday night every month. Sayyadi Murshadi would address the gathering telephonically making the humble presentation of the recited durood before the holy Presence of the Beloved of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him). The MQI has spread these circles all around busy remembering the Beloved Messenger of Allah every moment.

We the MQI workers also remember the Beloved Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) while working and carrying out our duties and responsibilities for the mission whether in office or in the field. I pray we keep remembering him till our last breath and enter our graves with the durood melody on our tongues, Ameen.

Those who do not remember are the unfortunate ones, the worse than beasts, the suicide bombers, the terrorists and their accomplices. But In Sha Allah with the blessings of Durood they will perish and peace, security and tranquility will prevail and our generations will definitely become secure, safe and protected by the holy means of our Beloved Messenger of Mercy for all worlds (blessings and peace be upon him).

Mawla ya sal-e-wa sallim daaiman abadan
Alaa Habibi-ka khair-al-khalq-e kullihimi

The whole universe is busy remembering him along with the Creator of the universe. So what if we are sinful. Allah will certainly forgive our sins for the sake of His Beloved and will award us with His nearness and with the nearness of His Beloved Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him). Let us devote ourselves remembering the Beloved Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) every moment right from today onward. Never forget that we are already blessed with the pious company of our Sayyadi Murshadi Huzoor Shaykh-ul-Islam. Long live our Sayyadi Murshadi! Long live Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri!