Saturday, August 22, 2026

Sacrifices of the Companions and Ghaus-e-Azam’s Struggle Against the Nafs

10. Thought-provoking sermon

Sayyidunā Khālid Bin 'Umayr 'Adawī has narrated that the governor of Basra, Sayyidunā 'Utbah Bin Ghazwān once delivered a sermon. After glorifying Almighty Allah , he said: Without doubt, the world has declared its end and it is departing with utmost speed. At the moment, only as much part of the world remains as the small amount (of food) is left at the bottom of the pot and the owner of the pot is benefiting from it. You are about to be transferred from this mortal world to an eternal abode. Therefore, take the best of things from the world and depart towards that abode (of Hereafter). We have been told that a stone will be thrown into Hell from its corner that will continue to fall for seventy years, but it will not reach the bottom (despite the seventy year travel). By Allah ! This Hell will certainly be filled. Are you surprised at this? We have also been told that the distance between the two doors of Paradise is of forty years and it will be filled because of the crowd. I was one of the seven people who were with the Holy Prophet . Except the leaves of trees, we had nothing to eat and our lip corners had sores (because of eating the leaves). Once I found a piece of cloth which I tore in half sharing the other half with Sa'd Bin Mālik . We both used it as Tahband (i.e. a piece of cloth used to cover the lower part of the body). (In those days, we suffered such intense hardships and poverty) and today, every one of us is the ruler of a city. I take refuge of Allah from considering myself dignified but being regarded as despicable by Allah .

(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, vol. 2, pp. 408, Ḥadīš 2967)

May Allah have mercy on them and forgive us without accountability for their sake!

Dear Islamic brothers! Did you see that the companions endured starvation in order to promote the 'call to righteousness', (at times) relying only on leaves! They endured extreme hardships but (still managed to) nurture the tree of Islam. In those times, there were severe difficulties as mentioned in the following narration.

11. The first to shoot an arrow in path of Allah

A companion from amongst the 'Asharaĥ-e-Mubashsharaĥ¹ Sayyidunā Sa'd Bin Abī Waqqās has narrated, 'I am the first Arab who shot an arrow in the path of Allah . We used to fight in battles in the company of the Holy Prophet and we had nothing to eat except for the leaves of acacia tree. Our faeces would be like the excrement of the sheep, which has no sign whatsoever of any sticky substances.'

(Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, vol. 7, pp. 231, Ḥadīš 6453)

May Allah have mercy on him and forgive us without accountability for his sake!

¹ The 10 companions who were given the glad tidings from the Beloved and Blessed Prophet of entering the Heaven.

Dear Islamic brothers! Even after having conveniences, the spirit of these companions did not even relent, let alone end. Rather, they became more fearful lest they consider themselves dignified whereas Allah is displeased with them. May Almighty Allah grant us the fervour to spread the 'call to righteousness' for the sake of the companions' spirit of making sacrifices for Islam. Āmīn!

Every Islamic brother should make up his mind that 'I must strive to reform myself and the people of the entire world.' In order to pay homage to the great sacrifices made by companions in the path of Allah , all of us should travel with the Madanī Qāfilaĥs of Dawat-e-Islami to attain religious and worldly benefits. Here is an account of the blessings of a Madanī Qāfilaĥ.

12. Warts on hand

The following is a report from one of the Islamic brothers from Tando Adam (Sindh, Pakistan). He has said, 'I was very worried for about two years due to warts on my arm. I spent a lot of money on medication and even had an operation performed, but no medicine proved to be effective. Instead, the warts increased in number. I feared that these warts would turn into cancer and my arm would be amputated on that account. May Almighty Allah keep Dawat-e-Islami's provincial Majlis of Baluchistan happy! They held an Ijtimā' at provincial level in Quetta for two days (27th and 28th of Jumādal Aūlā 1425 A.H.).

Luckily, I also attended this two day Sunnaĥ-Inspiring Ijtimā'. Innumerable Madanī Qāfilaĥ of Dawat-e-Islami travel throughout the world to spread Sunnaĥ. I had already heard that the prayers of the travellers of Madanī Qāfilaĥ are answered. So, plucking up the courage, I also travelled with Dawat-e-Islami's Sunnaĥ-Inspiring Madanī Qāfilaĥ for 12 days from Quetta. I prayed to Allah with intense humility with the Wasīlaĥ of the Holy Prophet . This sinner was blessed and all the warts of my hand disappeared, اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰه عَزَّوَجَلَّ. The most amazing thing is that the warts removed by the operation had left their marks on my arm but even the marks of the warts healed during the twelve days Madanī Qāfilaĥ disappeared.'

Lūīnay raḥmatayn Qāfilay mayn chalo
Sīkĥnay Sunnatayn Qāfilay mayn chalo

To gain mercy, travel with Madanī Qāfilaĥ
To learn Sunnaĥ, travel with Madanī Qāfilaĥ

Dear Islamic brothers! The (spiritual) king of Baghdad, Ghauš-e-A'ẓam endeavoured for many years to get rid of the traps of Satan and Nafs. He spent 25 years consecutively in the jungles of Iraq worshipping alone for attaining the pleasure of Allah .

13. Ghusl for forty times in one night

It is stated in Baĥjat-ul-Asrār that Shaykh 'Abdul Qādir Jīlānī has stated, 'اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰه عَزَّوَجَلَّ, I spent many years in the jungles of Karkh. I used to survive on tree leaves and herbs. Every year, a person used to come and give me a wool gown to wear. In order to get rid of the love of the world, I endured many hardships. I remained anonymous; people would consider me as dumb and insane due to my silence. I used to walk on thorns, enter dangerous caves and horrific valleys without any fear. The world used to appear to me in a beautiful form, but I never turned my attention towards it, اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰه عَزَّوَجَلَّ. My Nafs used to plead to me that it would obey whatever I liked and sometimes it used to argue with me. Allah gave me victory over it. For a long time, I stayed on the plains of Madyan and kept battling against my Nafs. For one year, I consumed the things lying on the ground and did not drink water. For the other year, I drank only water and did not eat anything. Then for one year, I neither ate nor drank anything. I would encounter extreme hardships. One night, I was tested in extreme cold weather. I would repeatedly fall asleep and Ghusl became obligatory for me due to nocturnal emission. I would immediately go to the river and make Ghusl over there. On that night alone, I had to make Ghusl forty times (in icy cold water).

(Baḥjat-ul-Asrār, pp. 164-165)

May Allah have mercy on him and forgive us without accountability for his sake!

صَلُّوْا عَلَی الْحَبِیْب ۔ صَلَّی اللہ تَعَالٰی عَلٰی مُحَمَّد

No comments:

Post a Comment