Epistemology and Islamic Spirituality The Forgotten Path

Islamic Spirituality - The Forgotten Path

 

A lecture delivered by Maulana Imran Nazar Hosein

at the Maulana Abd al-Aleem  Siddiqui Masjid, Singapore

Knowledge that comes directly from Allah ﷻ

Ye will be able to see the Hell-fire!

Knowledge is possible, but it does not only come this way (learned by the brain), it also comes this way (revealed to the heart). Remember that in addition to knowledge externally derived, it is also internally, intuitively, spiritually acquired.

The companions were sitting; talking amongst themselves in the Masjid and the Holy Prophet ﷺ came and sat with them. This was after the farewell Hajj when they had returned to Madinah and so he has only 81 days left in his blessed life. This  is the  last  part  of his life. Suddenly  a stranger  entered  into the  Masjid dressed all in white spotlessly clean with no dust upon him, with black hair. He was  not a traveler,  yet  no-one  could recognize  who he was.  This  is mystery, suspense as to who is this man. He came  and sat  directly  opposite the  Holy Prophet ﷺ and asked  five  questions as if he is a school-master  and the  Holy Prophet ﷺ replies. Every time the Holy Prophet ﷺ would reply, this man would say, ‘Your  answer  is  correct.’  Thereafter  he  got  up  and  left  as  suddenly  and  as strangely as he had come. The Holy Prophet ﷺ then asked, ‘Do you know who he was?’ They answered, ‘We don’t! Allah ﷻ and His Messenger know best.’  The Holy Prophet ﷺ said, ‘This was Jibraeel عليه السلام.’ The Angel Jibraeel عليه السلام appeared in front of everybody  as a human being, for all to see. The first time, the only time, the last time in history that it happened. It never happened before and it will not happen  again.  This  is  history,  if you  forget  this  you  pay  a  price  for it.  The questions were:  What  is Islam?  What  is Imaan?  And  then came,  What  is al- Ihsaan? I wish that they had not invented the word Sufism. Really! There was no need for it. I wish that  the term Tasawwuf  had never  been invented.  My life would have been easier. Whoever did it, whatever  the reason why he did it, did something which should not have been done. Because Allah ﷻ has Himself given us the word and the Holy Qur’aan tells us [in the 29th  Sura, al-Ankabuut (The Spider): in Verse69]:

Those who strive and struggle and make Jihad in Us, to reach Us

We will guide them to the paths, which lead to Us

And Allah  is ever with those who struggle for al-Ihsaan

And the Holy Prophet ﷺ is asked as to what al-Ihsaan.  It is there in the hadith and it is there in the Holy Qur’aan. Al-Ihsaan is Tasawwuf.  There  is no difference between the two. Why then did we need the term tasawwuf?  So that people could accuse us of bid’ah and haraam?   I agree with Dr. Israar Ahmad of Pakistan, the ameer  of Tanzeem e Islami who has argued that we should use the terminology given by Allah ﷻ and His Messengerﷺ .

Source:  Islamic Spirituality - TheForgotten Path

 to be continued  . . . .

COMMENCEMENT OF QURAN

Q.   How did revelation of the Qur-an commence?

  The holy Prophet (peace be on him) was stationed in this very cave (Hira) when the angel Jibril (Gabriel) appeared before him and said “iqra^?!”. This is the first word of the chapter “Al-‘alaq”. It means “read” or “proclaim”. The holy Prophet (peace be on him) said, “I am not literate”. The exhortation and the answer were repeated three times. Then Hadrat Jibril (Gabriel) recited the following verses:

IQRA^? BISMI RAB-BIKAL-LAZI KHALAQ KHALAQAL-INSANA MIN ‘ALAQ. IQRA^? WA RAB-BUKAL-AKRAMUL-LAZI ‘AL-LAMA BIL-QALAM, ‘AL-LAMAL-INSANA MA LAM YA’LAM.

The holy Prophet also repeated the verses after him. These are the earliest verses of the holy Qur-an revealed on the Prophet (peace be on him).

Q.   If the revelation of the holy Qur-an began with the above verses of Al-‘alaq, does it mean that the present order of the holy Qur-an differs from the order of revelation?

  The existing order does not reflect the order in which it was revealed. As said earlier, the revelation took place as and when necessity arose. But whenever a chapter was revealed, the holy Prophet gave instructions that the chapter concerned be inserted before and after such and such chapter. Similarly, when a certain verse or verses were revealed, the holy Prophet (peace be on him) used to direct their being written before or after certain verses. Thus, although the present order of the Qur-an does not reflect the order of revelation, this order is also dictated by his command and approval.

Q.   Is the present order of Qur-anic chapters and verses fixed by the Prophet if his own volition or by the will of Al-lah?

  Everything concerning Qur-an: number of Surahs (chapters), their beginning and end, number of ayahs (verses) in every Surah, its beginning and end, and order of the Qur-an, all was made known by Al-lah to Hadrat Jibril. He in his turn, appraised the Prophet of it and the Prophet intimated us.

Q.   Revelation of the Qur-an is now more than thirteen hundred years old. This being so, on what basis can we claim that the Qur-an in our hands is the same as was revealed to the holy Prophet (peace be on him)?

  There are a lot of things to substantiate the proposition that the present Qur-an is the same as was revealed to the Prophet. Here we enumerate a few of these that are easy to understand.

·   Tawatur (unanimity): there is not only general consensus but complete unanimity among Muslims from the days of the Prophet down to the present age on its text and version. Consensus or unanimity about a thing is conclusive proof of its authenticity, its being beyond any doubt or suspicion.

·   Millions of Muslims from the days of the Prophet down to our age have been memorizing the Qur-an by heart. Even today hundreds of thousands of Muslims, among them children, young and old, remember the whole of the Qur-an by heart. There can, therefore, be no doubt about the authenticity of a book whose text has been preserved in the hearts of millions from the day of its revelation to the present age.

·   In the holy Qur-an itself Al-lah has said:

IN-NA NAHNU NAZ-ZALNAZ-ZIKRA WA IN-NA LAHU LA-HAFIDHUN,

(We have revealed this book [the Qur-an] and verily we will preserve it.)

Thus, since Al-lah has taken upon Himself the onus of preserving the holy Qur-an and has made a promise to this effect, it logically follows that it is the same text as was revealed to the holy Prophet (peace be on him). The promise has ensured its unchangeability not only to this day but beyond, to the day of annihilation of the universe.

·   The unequivocal claim made by the Qur-an at the time of its revelation that the text of the Qur-an is unparalleled and inimitable by man has remained unchallenged to this day. No one in the world has ever been able to produce or claim to have produced the like of Qur-an upto this day. Nor can anyone ever hope to produce the like of it. This is another evidence in support of the Qur-an being in its original form as it was revealed to the Prophet.

Q.   What do we mean by the term mutawatir and tawatur (unanimous and unanimity)?

Anything reported by people in such an overwhelmingly large number that it is improbable for all of them to tell lies on the subject, is mutawatir (unanimous) and the fact of its being reported  from one to another in such a manner is called tawatur (unanimity).

Qur-an

Q.   How do we know that the Holy Qur-an is the Book of Al-lah?

  Hadrat Muham-mad (peace be on him) said that the Holy Qur-an is the Book of Al-lah who revealed it to him.

Q.   Was the whole of the Qur-an revealed to the Prophet at one time or bit by bit?

  It was revealed bit by bit according to the needs of the time. Sometimes one verse, sometimes two or three verses (ayahs) and sometimes the whole of the chapter (Surah) was revealed.

Q.   How long did the revelation of the whole of the Holy Qur-an take?

  It took twenty three (23) years.

Q.   How was the Holy Qur-an revealed?

  Hadrat Jibril (Gabriel) came to him. He recited the verse or the verses or the whole chapter to the Holy Prophet (peace be on him). The Holy Prophet (peace be on him) memorized it, then he dictated it to some literate person who commited it to writing.

Q.   Why did he not write it himself?

  It is because he was unlettered (Um-mi).

Q.   What is an Um-mi?

  Um-mi is one who has not learnt how to read and write from anyone. The Holy Prophet did not learn how to read and write from anyone, but Al-lah bestowed the profoundest knowledge upon him.

Q.   Who is Hadrat Jibril?

  Hadrat Jibril is an angel. He carried the orders of Al-lah to the Holy Prophet.