Sharjeel Ahmed
sharjeel.ahmad18@gmail.comThe author is a certified
Islamic scholar, professional teacher trainer, training & development
manager, writer, researcher, and motivational speaker based in Karachi,
Pakistan. He holds a masters degree in Education (Hamdard University) and a
masters degree in Islamic Studies (Karachi University) along with a degree in
Islamic Theology (Aleemiyah Institute of Islamic Studies, Karachi). Currently
he is Chief Operating Officer at Spectrum Professional Development Centre
(SPDC), Karachi.
Note: The present article was published in Yadgar-e-Mujaddid Magazine (Issue No. 18) in 2018.
Imam Rabbani Sheikh Ahmad
Farooqi Sarhindi(1) رحمة اللہ علیہ (971
Hijri/1563 CE – 1034 Hijri/1624 CE)(2)
was one of the great servants of Islam and a prominent member of the Naqshbandi
Sufi order. He has been described as “Mujaddid Alf Thani”, meaning the “reviver
of the second millennium”, (3) for his work in
rejuvenating Islam and opposing the un-Islamic practices and customs prevalent
in the time of Mughal Emperor Akbar.
Among the works of Imam
Rabbani, there is a book entitled “Ithbat-un-Nubuwwah” which consists of 30
pages.
(4)
It was written in 994 Hijri/1586 CE. (5)
It provides a precise and comprehensive explanation of the topic of Prophethood
and also serves as a historical account of what was happening in India in the
time of Mughal Emperor Akbar.
The book
“I that-un-Nubuwwah” consists of an introduction and two articles. The introduction is divided into two topics:
- The
Meaning of Nubuwwah
- The
Meaning of Mujizah
The two articles are:
- Bithat:
The Sending of Prophets (علیہم السلام) & Its Necessity
2. The Proof of Hazrat Muhammad’s (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم) Prophethood
ANALYSIS OF THE PREFACE
The preface to the book
“I that-un-Nubuwwah” mentions the rationale behind this work. Here are the key
points and aspects of discussion found in the preface.
USING METAPHOR TO EXPLAIN
THE WAY THE PROPHETS (علیہم السلام) SHOULD BE FOLLOWED
Imam Rabbani uses a metaphor
to explain the way the Prophets (علیہم السلام) should be followed. He writes:
“As
a blind person entrusts himself to those who will lead him or as a helplessly an ill person commits himself to the care of compassionate doctors, people must
submit themselves to Prophets (علیہم السلام)
Allah has sent so that they will attain benefits beyond mind’s grasp and escape
calamities.” (6)
HIGHLIGHTING
THE DISTORTION OF ISLAMIC TEACHINGS IN INDIA
While
highlighting what was happening with Islam in India, Imam Rabbani writes:
“I
have seen with regret that the people of our time have become increasingly
slack in believing in the necessity of Prophets’ sending (بعثت), in the twenty-five Prophets (علیہم
السلام) whose names are given in the Qur’an, and in
obeying the religion brought by the Last Prophet (صلی
اللہ علیہ وسلم).
Moreover, some powerful people with authoritative
positions in India have been persecuting pious Muslims who diligently follow
Islam. There have appeared people who mock the blessed name of the Last Prophet
(صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم) and substitute the blessed names given to them by their
parents with absurd names. Sacrificing a cow has been prohibited in India.
Mosques are either being demolished or turned into museums or stores. Islamic cemeteries
are being made into playgrounds or places for rubbish. Disbelievers’ churches
are being restored in the name of monuments. Their rituals and festivals are
being celebrated by Muslims, too. In short, Islam’s requirements and Islamic
customs are being abhorred or totally abandoned. They are being called
“retrogressive”. Disbelievers’ and atheists’ customs, false religions, immoral
and shameless acts are being praised. Efforts are being made to spread them.
Depraved and squalid books, novels, and songs of the Indian disbelievers are
being translated into the languages of Muslims and sold. In this way efforts to
annihilate Islam and Islam’s beautiful ethics are being carried on which results
in Muslims’ faith weakening while unbelievers and rejecters are increasing.
Moreover, even men of religion, who must be healers for the disease of
disbelief, are falling for this disaster and drifting into calamity.” (7)
STATING THE CAUSES BEHIND
THE RELIGIOUS IGNORANCE AND MISGUIDANCE
While telling us the
causes behind the religious ignorance and misguidance he found among the people
of India, Imam Rabbani writes:
“I have studied the
causes for this corruption in Muslim children’s belief and have scrutinized the
origin of their doubts. I have come to the conclusion that there is only one
reason for the slackness in their faith. And the reason is that much time has elapsed
since Rasulullah (صلی
اللہ علیہ وسلم), while at the same time some fanatical,
short-sighted, religiously nescient politicians and some ignoramuses, who pass
themselves off as scientists, talk on religious matters, and have their words
accepted as true. I have spoken with people who read and believe the writings
of such fanatics of science and who therefore describe themselves as
enlightened, modern people. I have seen that they err mostly in comprehending
the rank of Prophethood (Nubuwwah).” (8)
POINTING OUT AND REPLYING
TO THE ARGUMENTS
In the preface, Imam
Rabbani has also pointed out some arguments of the so-called intellectuals of
his time and then replied to them. Here we quote one of those arguments along
with the reply of Imam Rabbani.
Argument:
“One who has heard of the
Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم)
and his miracles but who disbelieves this information because centuries have
passed ever since is like a person who lives in the mountains or in a desert
and has not heard about the Prophet at all.” (9)
Reply:
“We have not seen the
medical scientist Casinos or the grammarian Amr Sibawaih. How do we know that
they were experts in those branches of knowledge? We know what the science of
medicine means. We read Calinos’s books and hear some of his statements. We
learn that he gave medicine to the ill and cured them. Hence, we believe that he
was a doctor. Likewise, when a person who knows the science of grammar reads
Sibawaih’s books or hears some words of his, he knows and believes that he was
a grammarian. By the same token, if a person knows well what Prophethood is and
studies the Qur’an and the Hadith, he will understand thoroughly that Hazrat
Muhammad (صلی اللہ علیہ
وسلم) was in the highest grade of Prophethood. As one’s belief in
the above-mentioned scholars would never be upset, so the slanders and
vilifications of the ignorant and deviated will never undermine one’s faith in
Hazrat Muhammad (صلی
اللہ علیہ وسلم), since all the sayings and behaviors of
Hazrat Muhammad (صلی
اللہ علیہ وسلم) guide people to perfection, make their
beliefs and behaviors correct and useful, and illuminate their hearts to
cure them of diseases and disencumber them of bad habits. This is what
Prophethood (Nubuwwah) means.” (10)
IDENTIFYING THE TARGET
AUDIENCE OF THE BOOK
While identifying the target audience of his book, Imam Rabbani writes:
“With the intention of
removing the doubts and suspicions of those who acquired their religious
knowledge from the books of religiously ignorant people and from the venomous
pens of the enemies of the religion, I have thought of writing what I know.”
(11)
STATING THE OBJECTIVES OF
THE BOOK
Imam Rabbani states that
the objectives of his book are:
- To
explain what Prophethood means.
- To
eliminate the doubts of the unbelievers concerning the Prophethood of
Hazrat Muhammad (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم).
- To
display the wickedness and harms of a few bigots of science who attempt to
suppress this fact with their personal thoughts and opinions.
(12)
Besides this, Imam
Rabbani has also mentioned in the preface that in this book he will cite documents
from the books of Islamic scholars and add his humble thoughts too. This can be
termed as the methodology that Imam Rabbani took for writing this book.
ANALYSIS OF THE
INTRODUCTION
In the first part of the
introduction, Imam Rabbani explains the meaning of Prophethood. He clearly
describes here the difference between the understanding of the scholars of
Kalam and the understanding of the Greek philosophers on the issue of
Prophethood. He cites Sayyad Sharif Al-Jurjani’s book Sharh-ul-Mawaqif while
defining Prophethood. Finally, he points out the incoherence of the conditions
the Greek philosophers have put for Prophethood.
In the second part of the
introduction, Imam Rabbani explains the meaning of Mujizah. Here too Imam
Rabbani cites Sayyad Sharif Al-Jurjani while explaining the meaning of Mujizah.
He explains the concept point-wise and also provides answers to the questions
commonly raised regarding Mujizah. He also answers the questions that are
raised on the explanation given by Sayyad Sharif Al-Jurjani.
ANALYSIS OF THE FIRST
ARTICLE
In the first article of
the book, Imam Rabbani discusses the necessity of sending of the Prophets (علیہم السلام) and also supports his explanation with
rational arguments. For example, he writes:
- “Denial
of what cannot be comprehended is the result of not comprehending, not
knowing.” (13)
- “As
sense organs cannot comprehend things that are known by wisdom, likewise,
wisdom cannot perceive the things that are known by the power of Prophethood.”
(14)
- “Those
who doubts the existence of the power of Prophethood doubts its possibility or if its possibility is accepted, its occurrence. Its existence or occurrence shows that it is possible. And its existence is demonstrated by
Prophets’ (علیہم السلام) giving information beyond the intellect’s ability. This information, which cannot be acquired through intellect, calculation, or experimentation, was acquired only from
Allah’s Ilham (inspiration placed upon the heart by Allah or His angels).”
(15)
- “The
intellect’s finding something beautiful, ugly or nonsensical is not always
valid.” (16)
- “The the inability of the intellect to grasp the benefit of the things does not
show the absence of their value.” (17)
In the first article of
the book, Imam Rabbani has also cited Imam Ghazali’s work Al-Munqidh
Min-ad-Dalal. Moreover, he has replied to a series of questions raised by the
so-called intellectuals. For example:
Question:
“The intellect does the
thing it finds useful and does not do the thing it considers harmful. When it
cannot understand whether something is useful or harmful, it does it when there
is a need to do it. Because of this function of the intellect, sending Prophets (علیہم السلام) is unnecessary.”
(18)
Answer:
“There are many things
which are misunderstood or which cannot be understood by the intellect, and
they have to be taught by Prophets (علیہم السلام). A Prophet is like a specialized doctor.
He knows the effects of medicines well. The effects of some medicines might be
found by laymen through the intellect after long experiences, but men of
intellect might face risks and harms before learning them, and it would require
a great deal of time and work. They would have no time left for using their
intellect in doing other necessary jobs. By giving the doctor a little
recompense, however, they attain the benefits of medicines and rid themselves
of their illnesses. To say that Prophets (علیہم السلام) are unnecessary is like saying that
doctors are unnecessary. Since the commandments taught by a Prophet are Wahi
revealed by Allah, they are all true and beneficial. The doctor’s knowledge,
although being the result of thought and experience, cannot be said to be
wholly true.” (19)
ANALYSIS OF THE SECOND
ARTICLE
In the second article of
the book, Imam Rabbani writes about the proof of the Prophet Hazrat Muhammad’s
(صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم)
Prophethood. In addition to the rational arguments, he mostly uses here the
question-answer technique to explain the things and answer to the arguments of
those who deviated from the right path. For example:
Question:
“Useful things reported
by philosophers, materialists and doctors, are believed because they have been
discovered by experience. Ibadat is not believed in because its usefulness
has not been experienced.” (20)
Answer:
“Scientists’
experimentations are believed when they are heard of. The things reported and
experienced by Awliya are communicated in the same manner. Also, the benefits
of most things enjoined by Islam have been seen and experienced. Even if the
advantages within the rules of Islam were not revealed by experimentation, it
would still be reasonable to believe in them and to fulfill their requirements.
Let us suppose that a physician’s wise son, who does not know anything about
drugs, becomes ill. He has heard from many people and has even read in
newspapers about his father’s achievements and knows that his father loves him
very much. His father gives him some medicine and says that if he takes it, he
will recover immediately, for he has tried it several times. But when he sees
that the medicine will be injected and hurt him, would it be reasonable for him
to react to his father by saying, “I have never tried this medicine. I don’t
know if it is good for me. I can’t believe if your words are correct.” Who in the
world would approve such an answer?” (21)
In the second article of
the book, Imam Rabbani has also cited Imam Fakhr-ad-Din Al-Razi’s work
Al-Matalib-ul-Aliyya. Imam Rabbani also talks about the importance of Tasawwuf
in strengthening one’s faith. He writes:
“A person who acquires
knowledge of Prophethood and then studies the Qur’an and the Hadîth will
perfectly understand that Hazrat Muhammad (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم) is the Prophet and occupies the highest
degree of Prophethood. And if he learns of the effectiveness of his words in
purifying the heart and then obeys him, by which his own heart begins to see
the truth, his belief in his Prophethood will become absolutely certain
(Yaqin). He will gain continuous realization of the truth in the Hadiths, “If the person lives up to his knowledge, Allah teaches him what he does not know”; “He
who helps a cruel person will suffer harm from him,” and, “The person who only
thinks of attaining Allah’s love every morning will be given his wishes for
this world and the Hereafter by Allah.” Thus, his knowledge and faith will be
strengthened. For the faith to become strengthened, that is, to improve it up
to a state wherein one feels as if one sees the reality, requires endeavoring
in a path of Tasawwuf.” (22)
Finally, Imam Rabbani
ends his book with these statements:
“The Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم) sorted out the beautiful habits from the
ugly ones and the good deeds leading to felicity from the bad ones leading to
perdition. He taught true Iman and Ibadat. Those who believed him were
enlightened by this Iman and Ibadat. He rescued humanity from distorted,
concocted religions. He attained the victory promised by Allah. All his enemies
soon perished. Depraved, factious, provocative words and actions came to an
end. People were rescued from dictators, usurpers, and the cruel. Every place
became illuminated with the sacred lights of the sun of Tawhid and the moon of
Tanzi.”
(23) “Hence
it has become clear that the ancient Greek philosophers were on the wrong way and
that those who read the harmful books which they have written with their
personal points of view on religion and prophethood will acquire wrong
religious information and will drift towards perdition.” (24)
REFERENCES
(1)
Tazkira-e-Mujaddid-e-Alf-e-Thani,
Maktabat-ul-Madina, Karachi, ISBN 978-969-631-823-1.
(2)
Irshadat-e-Imam-e-Rabbani, pp. 5 – 12,
Zia-ul-Islam Publications, Karachi, 2002 CE.
(3)
Glasse, Cyril, The New Encyclopedia of
Islam, Altamira Press, 2001, p.432 (retrieved from Wikipedia on November 5,
2017)
(4)
Ithbat-un-Nubuwwah (Arabic), Hakikat
Kitabevi, Istanbul, Turkey, 2011 CE.
(5)
Irshadat-e-Imam-e-Rabbani, p. 5,
Zia-ul-Islam Publications, Karachi, 2002 CE.
(6) I that-un-Nubuwwah - The Proof of
Prophethood (English), p. 5, Hakikat Kitabevi, Istanbul, Turkey, 2015 CE.
(7)
Ibid. p. 6.
(8)
Ibid. pp. 6 – 7.
(9)
Ibid. p. 7.
(10)
Ibid. p. 8.
(11)
Ibid. pp. 8 – 9.
(12)
Ibid. p. 9.
(13)
Ibid. p. 17.
(14)
Ibid. p. 18.
(15)
Ibid. p. 18.
(16)
Ibid. p. 20.
(17)
Ibid. p. 24.
(18)
Ibid. p. 23.
(19)
Ibid. p. 23.
(20)
Ibid. p. 26.
(21)
Ibid. p. 26.
(22)
Ibid. p. 27.
(23)
Ibid. p. 38.
(24)
Ibid. p. 39.
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