Haj of a Quthb

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The following was kindly provided by Ustadz Fakhr ad-Din Uwaysi al-Madani.  We share here some of Shaykh Ibrahim ibn ‘Abdullah Niyas al-Kawlakhi’ (q.s.) experiences during his first haj in 1937, as described in his al-Rihlah al-Hijaziyyah, “Travelogue of the Hijaz.”  He described his inward experience of the haj thus:

“I removed my clothes today to adorn the ihram,

And my heart removed all other than You, in honour of You.

And indeed, when I circumambulate around the Noble House,

O My Lord!  My heart has encamped around Your Being,

And my running between the two mountains (of Swafa’ and Marwah),

Is complimentary to my running between Your Attributes (of Jalal and Jamal).”

Upon looking at the Blessed Ka’bah for the first time, Shaykh Ibrahim (q.s.) said, “O Allah!  I intend to draw closer to You by looking at Your Sacred House with the same intention by which Your Prophet (s.a.w.) used to look at it.”

The Shaykh (q.s.) also used to read his Divinely-Inspired du’a, the Kanz al-Awliya’ in front of the Sacred Door of the Ka’bah.  About the holy plains of ‘Arafah, Shaykh Ibrahim (q.s.) wrote:

“I pronounce the Labbayk of a one who has known and arrived

From Kaolack, the furthest point of the world to ‘Arafah.

And all praise, in this and that, is for the Lord.

For the slave has no say in the matter, if he only knew.”

Shaykh Ibrahim (q.s.) would also make this du’a when shaving the hair of his head after the pilgrimage:

“O Allah!  This is my forehead in Your Hands!  So Recompense me for every hair, a light on the Day of Judgment.  Bless my livelihood, Forgive my sins and Accept my actions.”

As for the City of the Prophet (s.a.w.), Madinah al-Munawwarah, Shaykh Ibrahim (q.s.) had written thousands of couplets in praise and yearning for it.  More than half of his Diwan is about that.  Ustadz Fakhr ad-Din translated a few couplets from the days of his visit to Madinah ath-Thaybah:

“O Thaybah of the Chosen Prophet!  How sweet is your fragrance!

Indeed, all beauty is encompassed in your appearance!

You have surpassed Makkah, as Makkah is Honoured by the House,

And the House was ordained by Thaha (s.a.w.), so glad tidings to you!

So accept greetings from me to you,

As long as the angels of Allah roam around the shrine of the Prophet (s.a.w.).”

Shaykh Ibrahim (q.s.) also recited Sirr az-Ziyarah when he visited the Blessed tomb of the Prophet (s.a.w.).  Shaykh Ibrahim (q.s.) also wrote, “And among the signs of the Acceptance of our du’a and Fulfillment of all our desires was that whenever we would lift our hands for du’a, the rain would pour.  This happened with the ‘abd al-faqir by the Ka’bah, by ‘Arafah, and by Mina.  And there were other matters which I cannot reveal.”

The noble caretaker of the Holy Ka’bah, Shaykh ‘Abdullah ash-Shaybi (q.s.) also gave Shaykh Ibrahim (q.s.) the rare permission to be alone inside the Holy Ka’bah with some of his disciples.

His Eminence, the Emir of Kano, Sulthan Abdullahi Bayero, prayed to meet the Quthb al-Ghawts of the Tijaniyyah in the precincts of the Blessed Ka’bah, and then immediately saw Shaykh Ibrahim (q.s.) before him.  Thereafter, he took the Thariq at-Tijani from Shaykh Ibrahim (q.s.) in front of the Maqam Ibrahim and invited him to make his visit to Nigeria, where tens of thousands entered the thariqa’.

Shaykh Ibrahim (q.s.) mentioned that a person in Jeddah, whom he recognised as Khidhr (a.s.), informed him that he was a quthb of the age.  He also mentioned that a Moroccan Sharif from Fez greeted him at the corner of the Holy Ka’bah and told him that he was informed by one Makkan wali that he would meet the ghawts of the age at the corner of the Ka’bah during the haj that year, and because of the presence of the ghawts, everyone else’s haj would be Accepted.  Shaykh Ibrahim (q.s.) asked the Sharif, “So who did you meet at the Corner of the Ka’bah?”

The Sharif replied, “You.”

Shaykh Ibrahim (q.s.) also mentioned that in the holy plains of Mina, a wali met him and told him, “You are a man who has inherited the maqam of a man from the town of Fez.”

In Makkah as well, he was also given the glad-tiding by the Moroccan wali who migrated from Fez to Madinah, ash-Sharif Ahmad at-Tibir (q.s.), “I have seen you take over all the masharib,” referring to the methods and knowing of the Path.

All of this and more is ar-Rihlah al-Hijaziyyah, in which he documents his first haj as well as his first visit to Morocco.  It is must read for anyone who wishes to know more about the early years of the Faydhah.  The travelogue itself contains numerous ud’iyyah and actions for every point of the haj and ziyarah, from leaving home to entering it again.  It also includes much of Shaykh Ibrahim’s (q.s.) experiences during his amazing journey to Makkah, Madinah and Fez.

Shaykh Ibrahim Niyas (q.s.) wrote that what he did not mention in his work is far more than what he did:

“And what I have concealed and cannot reveal

Is multiple and multiple times more than what I write.”