A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is a defence of the Ash’ari school of creed, by one of the foremost scholars of ahadits and fiqh , Shaykh Muhammad al-Hasan ibn ‘Alawi al-Maliki ( r.a. ).   Shaykh Muhammad al-Hasan ibn ‘Alawi al-Maliki ( r.a. ) said that Many Muslims are ignorant of the Ash’ari school, whom it represents, and its positions on the tenets of ‘aqidah , and yet some of them are not God-fearing enough to refrain from accusing it of deviance, departure from the religion of Islam, and heresy about the Attributes of Allah ( s.w.t. ).  The ignorance of the Ash’ari school is a cause of rendering the unity of the Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah dispersing its ranks.  Some have gone as far as to consider the Ash’ariyyah among the categories of heretical sects, though it is beyond me how believers can be linked with misbelievers, or how Sunni Muslims can be considered equal with the most extreme faction of the Mu’taziliyyah , the Jahmiyyah . ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Muhammad al-Hasan ibn ‘Alawi al-Maliki ( q.s. ) wrote, in al-Insan al-Kamil , “The upright tabi’i , Wahb ibn Munabbih, from whom Imam al-Bukhari, Imam Muslim, and others, narrated ahadits , said, ‘I read seventy-one scriptures, and deduced from all of them that Allah ( s.w.t. ) did not Give to any of humanity, from the world’s beginning to its end, an intellect comparable to Muhammad’s ( s.a.w. ) intellect, except as a single grain of sand compared to all the sand in the world; and that Muhammad ( s.a.w. ) is the most intelligent and soundest of all humanity.’   The perfection of his intellect was manifested in how he confronted a world whose every realm was infested with ignorance to the extent that the people had utterly lost their minds, and changed this mentality into a sound and righteous mentality.  To do this, requires sound intellect and correct thought; and there is no doubt that this was achieved by means of the Teachin...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ When morning after the Mi’raj came, the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) remained alone and, knowing that people would belie him, sat despondently.   The enemy of Allah ( s.w.t. ), Abu Jahl ‘Amr ibn Hisham al-Makhzumi, was passing by, and he approached and sat down next to him, saying in the way of mockery, “Has anything happened?”   The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) replied,  “ Yes.”   Abu Jahl asked,  “ And what is that?”   The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) replied, “I was enraptured last night.”   Abu Jahl asked, “To where?”   The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) replied, “To the Hallowed House.”   Abu Jahl said, “Then you woke up here among us?”   He replied, “Yes.”   Abu Jahl decided not to belie the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) for fear the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) would deny having said this to him if he went and told the people of Makkah, so he asked, “What do you think if I called your people here?   Will you tell them what yo...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ During the night of the Mi’raj , the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) was Raised up to the Lote Tree of the Farthest Limit.  The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) continued to travel until he reached rivers of milk whose taste does not change, and rivers of wine which bring only pleasure to those who drink it, and rivers of honey purified, and overhanging those rivers were domes of hollowed pearl whose circumference is like the Aquarius star.   Another narration said above the rivers were pommels resembling the hides of the humped camels.  Its birds were like the Bactrian camel.  Upon hearing this, Sayyidina Abu Bakr ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Utsman asw-Swiddiq ( r.a. ) said, “O Messenger of Allah, they are certainly delicate!”   The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) replied, “And daintier to eat yet, and certainly I hope that you shall eat from them.”   This is an indication of the rank of Sayyidina Abu Bakr ( r.a. ) in Paradise, as the Prophet’s ( s.a.w. ) hope, li...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ “ Laa hawla wa laa quwwata illa billah ”, “There is no power and no strength except Allah”, is the refrain of the oppressed, and the comfort of the distressed.  It is the Promise, as Mawlay Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad al-‘Arabi ibn Ahmad ad-Darqawi ( q.s. ) said, that whatever we lose can be replaced with something better, but if we lose Allah ( s.w.t. ), then nothing can replace Him.  He is Omniscient and Omnipotent.  He has Power over all things.  There is no better recourse than Allah ( s.w.t. ).   Imam ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Alawi al-Haddad ( q.s. ), in “Gifts for the Seeker”, wrote, “It is reported that ‘ Laa hawla wa laa quwwata illa billah ’ is a remedy for 99 ailments, the least of which is sorrow.  It is a remedy for sorrow because grief mostly occurs when one misses something one loves, or when a distressful thing occurs; and whenever either of these things occurs people perceive their helplessness and inability to achi...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ A century ago, eleven major scholars of the Ahl as-Sunnah in India issued a fatwa on the lawfulness of travelling with the explicit intention of visiting the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) in response to the following questions: What do you say concerning travelling to visit the Prophet ( s.a.w. )?   Which do you prefer for the traveller at the time of undertaking travel: to intend to visit the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), or to intend also to visit the mosque?   For someone said, “One travelling to Madina must not intend other than the Mosque of the Prophet.” The reply was reproduced in full in the book al-Mufannad al-Muhannad , and Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Alawi al-Maliki ( q.s. ) again reproduced it recently in his book, Shifa’ al-Fu’ad bi Ziyarat Khayr al-‘Ibad .   This fatwa was subsequently approved and co-signed by scholars of Makkah, Madina, Egypt, and Syria. These are the scholars who signed the fatwa .   The scholars from India we...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The Shaykh of Makkah, Shaykh Muhammad al-Hasan ibn ‘Alawi al-Maliki ( q.s. ) composed an excellent booklet entitled al-Anwar al-Bahiyyah min Isra’ wa Mi’raj Khayr al-Bariyyah , “The Resplendent Lights of the Rapture and Ascension of the Best of Creation.”   The following is an attempt to put the various hadits and stories of the Mi’raj in some semblance of order, quoting from the various sources.   He said, “Praise be to Allah ( s.w.t. ) Who has Chosen His praiseworthy servant Muhammad ( s.a.w. ) for the Message, Distinguished him with the sudden rapture on the Buraq , and Caused him to Ascend on the ladders of perfection to the high heavens to show him of the greatest Signs of his Lord.   He Raised him until he reached to the Lote-tree of the Farthest Boundary where ends the science of every messenger, prophet and every angel Brought Near, where lies the Garden of Retreat, to the point where he heard the sound of the Pens tha...