DEMISE OF HADRAT SHAH HAKIM MUHAMMAD AKHTAR SAHEB (RA)

A GREAT SORROW

What can be a greater sorrow for the entire Ummah than the passing away of a great Alim and pious person who has connected thousands of people to Allah Ta'ala? Indeed it is a means of great sorrow for all those that were connected to Hadrat. It is as though our father has left us and we feel the emptiness that an orphan child experiences.

Allah Ta'ala mentions in the Quraan Sharif,

الَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَتْهُم مُّصِيبَةٌ قَالُواْ إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ

(Those who exercise Sabr are) those who, when any difficulty befalls them they say, Verily we belong to Allah and to Him shall we return.

أُولَـئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ وَأُولَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُهْتَدُونَ

These are the ones on Whom the combined and special mercies of Allah descend and who are rightly guided.

In this verse of the Quraan Sharif there is great consolation. This reality must dawn upon us that we all belong to Allah Ta’ala and we are all going to be returning to him. If not today, tomorrow, or the following day, but one day we all have to leave the world and return to Allah Ta’ala. When a person follows the directive and recites the Dua in the verse quoted above then Allah Ta’ala showers his mercy upon him. ‘Salawaat’ refers to Rahmat – e – Khassa which means that the special mercy of Allah Ta'ala is showered upon him, whilst ‘Wa Rahmah’ means that Allah Ta'ala will shower his universal mercy upon him as well.

Those who realise this will not put up big tantrums and go around crying and wailing but they will accept it as the command of Allah Ta'ala, exercise patience and make Isaale-Thawaab (convey the rewards to the deceased). Such people are regarded as the rightly guided. Therefore on such occasions we should engage ourselves more in Isaale- Thawaab and Dua-e-Maghfirat (making Dua of forgiveness) for the deceased.

Once Hadhrat Sheikh Maulana Muhammad Zakariyya Saheb R.A. undertook a journey to Hijaaz–e–Muqaddas  (i.e. Makkah Mukarramah and Madinah Shareef). He stayed for a few days in Bombay. On the third day he gathered his Khulafaa, close associates and others that had accompanied him and addressed them saying, “This is my third day here in Bombay and I’ve made three Khatams of Quraan–e-Paak and I’ve passed the rewards of it to the deceased in Bombay. Whichever town I go to, I make one Khatam of the Quraan and pass the Thawaab to the Marhoomin of that area. I advise you people to adopt the same practice.” According to the Hadith, a person that recites Surah Ikhlaas three times gets the Thawaab of having recited the whole Quraan Sharif. We should also adopt the same practise.

The rewards of our recitation which we pass on to the deceased reaches them immediately and they are aware of who has passed on the rewards as well. Sheikh Muhiyud-Deen ibn Arabi R.A. was a very great sheikh who resided in Andalus (Spain). On one occasion he invited some people for meals and amongst them was a young boy. It was well-known that this young boy was Sahib-e-Kashf (certain things are revealed to them which are generally hidden from others). Whilst having meals, the boy suddenly screamed out loudly. The Sheikh asked him, “What’s wrong?” He replied, “I can see my mother burning in the fire of Jahannam.”

It has been reported in the Hadith Sharif that, “Whoever recites  لا اله الا الله(the Kalimah)  seventy thousand times, then the reciter and the one for whom it is recited for is forgiven (i.e. the deceased). The Sheikh had acted upon the above Hadith several times and thus had a few quotas of the Kalimah. So the Sheikh conveyed one quota of seventy thousand to the boy’s mother without any movement or change of facial expression. The boy smiled and became pleased. The Sheikh asked him the reason for expressing his pleasure. He said “I see my mother in the gardens of Jannah.” So the Sheikh explains, “From this incident I learnt that this Hadith is a Saheeh (authentic) Hadith, and I also realised that the boy is honest in claiming to be Sahib-e-Kashf.

From this incident, we learn that the rewards of the good deeds that we pass onto the deceased reaches them faster than an online transfer as well. Ibn Arabi rhas transferred the reward in a few seconds and it reached her immediately.

So we should always make Dua, in fact we should make it our regular practice to recite Surah Ikhlaas thrice daily and pass the rewards onto the deceased which is very simple. We can do much more, but this is the minimum we can do and pass the rewards to our parents, family members, the people of our town etc.

Also, we should seek assistance through Sabr and Salaah. The literal meaning of Salaah is Dua and the technical meaning of Salaah is the physical Salaah which we perform daily. So if it is not the Makrooh times of Salaah (such after Asr) then we should perform two Rakaats of Salaah, make Dua for them and exercise patience. We should not say anything inappropriate in a state of sorrow and sadness, or exceed the borders of Islam. This is the system of Allah Ta’ala which reigns supreme. It is the height of servitude to be pleased with the decision of Allah which is termed as “Rada Bil Qadha.” It is a sign of wisdom and the height of Imaan that a servant is content with Allah’s decree. Although we love our Sheikh to be with us, Allah knows best.

When the Sheikhul Hadeeth of Darul Uloom Deoband, Moulana Fakhrudeen Saheb who taught Bukhari Shareef for forty years had passed away, the principal of Darul Uloom Deoband Qari Muhammad Tayyib Saheb (RA) delivered a lecture. In his talk he mentioned that we do not understand, but the passing away of such senior people is also a mercy of Allah Ta'ala. He explained that if Rasulullah Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam had never passed away, the world would never have known the status of Hadrat Abu Bakr R.A. was.  If Sayyidinaa Abu Bakr R.A. had never passed away, the people would never have known the status of Sayyidina Umar R.A. was. His qualities were exposed to the world only when Sayyidina Abu Bakr R.A. left the world.

When Hadrat  Abbas R.A. the uncle of Rasulullah g had passed away, the people were filled with grief and sorrow. A Bedouin consoled the son of Hadrat Abdullah bin Abbas R.A. to such an extent that he said, “Nobody was able to console me as the villager had done. After greeting me with Salaam, he asked, “Has your father passed away?”

I replied, “Yes, my father has passed away.”

He then asked, “Is he gone to Allah Ta'ala?”

 I answered, “Yes, he is gone to Allah Ta'ala.”

The Bedouin asked, “Who will take care of him in a better manner, you, or Allah Ta'ala?”

I replied, “Allah Ta'ala, as He is the best of protectors and helpers.” What a great, honourable Allah we have who looks after His Amaanat so well.

He then said, “Why are you sorrowful? There are many things which you were unable to do for him yet Allah Ta'ala will do such things for him that are so much better. Ibn Abbas t says, “It was a source of great relief for me which made me feel extremely comfortable.”

We also hope and are convinced that Hadhrat R.A. is gone to a place of great pleasure and enjoyment, but Allah Ta'ala knows best.  We are convinced due to life of piety that Hadrat had lead.

This should be our purpose of life. We are not here to build mansions, own flashy cars acquire huge investments and big properties.  We are here to investment for our A’khirat and build our mansions of Jannah. We are here to beautify our gardens of Jannah. May Allah Ta'ala grant Hadrat the highest of stages in Jannat and grant us the Taufeeq to take lesson.