After having
exaggerated and innovated in the concept of Allah’s
love and fear, the Sufis began to compare their
existence and stature to that of Allah, and found
themselves to be completely insignificant in front
of Him. Exaggerating further in the concept of
humility and modesty, they felt that they should
degrade themselves in order to be truly free from
Riya (showing off). Following are some examples of
this…
1. Moulana Zakariyah
says that among the Akhlaq of the Sufiya is ‘to
regard oneself as the most inferior…’ This has also
been quoted as a saying of Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi by
Moulana Zakariyah in Mashaikh-e-Chist (Eng. Trans.)
p.255.
2. Moulana Zakariyah
says: “Hazrat Shah Ishaq Muhajiree Makki advised to
Imdadullah Muhajir Makki: “Regard yourself to be
most inferior in the entire creation.”[1]
3. “A man, who used
to fast throughout the year and offer Salaat
throughout the night for thirty years. He was one of
the regular attendants of the circle of Abu Yazeed
al-Bastami (one of three mystic ‘masters’).
Nevertheless, he was unable to find the kind of
knowledge, which Abu Yazeed possessed! So, Abu
Yazeed taught him that even if he fasts for three
hundred years and offers Salaat throughout the
nights of such period he would not be able to find
even an ant-weight of such knowledge! When asked
about the ‘cure,’ Abu Yazeed told him that he should
shave his head and beard, hang a nosebag filled with
nuts around his neck, gather some kids in the market
around him and tell them, ‘Everyone who slaps me
once, I will give him a nut!’[2]
4. Shah Abu Saeed
Naumani traveled to Balkh to his Shaikh in order to
learn Sufism. His Shaikh started his training by
assigning him to look after the toilets. He was
given little food but was not allowed to meet his
Shaikh not was any Dhikr prescribed for him. After a
considerable period passed, the Shaikh ordered a
cleaner to dump a basket of dirt onto Abu Saeed. The
cleaner did as he was told. This angered Abu Saeed
and he threatened the cleaner, which meant that he
was not ready to enter Sufism. After a period of
time, the Shaikh again instructed the cleaner to do
as before, but this time Abu Saeed got angry but did
not say anything. Now too, Abu Saeed was not ready.
After a period of time, the Shaikh instructed the
cleaner to throw dirt on Abu Saeed again. On this
occasion his Nafs was completely docile and
submissiveness. He gathered the dirt, which had
fallen to ground and strew it onto himself. When the
Hazrat Shaikh was informed, he commented:
“Alhamdulillah! The first stage has been traversed.”[3]
Taking a step
further, the Sufis began to address themselves as
dogs, given that dog is generally looked down upon.
The Qur’aan says,
“So his description
is the description of a dog: if you drive him away,
he lolls his tongue out, or if you leave him alone,
he (still) lolls his tongue out. Such is the
description of the people who reject Our Ayah
(proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs,
revelations, etc.).”[4]
1. Moulana Muhammad
Qasim, the founder of Darul-Uloom Deoband says in a
poem, which has been recorded in Fazaail-e-Aamaal,
“Because of the huge amount of sins even the dogs
treat my name as an abuse, but I am proud of your
name and your relationship (Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam))... and I desire that my name may
be included as a dog of (the streets of) Medina… May
I live with the dogs of your Haram and when I die
may my corpse be eaten by the vultures of Medina.”
[5]
2. Moulana Zakariyah
advises a person in a letter that when he goes to
the Prophet’s grave he should also say: ‘One black
Indian dog (Moulana Zakariyah Kandhalvi) also sends
his salaams.’[6]
3. Moulana Ilyas
signs his letters addressing himself as THE DOG
OF PROPHET’s CITY
[7]
[5] Fazaail-e-Aamaal (Eng. Trans.)
The Virtues of Darood, p.164, no. 46. (Edn. 1985
– Published by Dini Book Depot, Delhi).
[6] Savaneh Muhammad Yousuf,
p.132. (India – Maktabaa Taalifaat Ashrafeeyah)
1304 H.
[7] Makatib Hazrat Moulana Shah
Mohammad Ilyas) compiled by Moulana Sayed
Abul-Hassan Ali Nadvi – Idara Ishaat al-Diniyat,
Nizamuddin, New Delhi) p.54.
