sorry i forogt to say it is by our beloved sidi abu Hasan on alaHazrat yahoo group. btw...if you go through the alaHazrat forum there are some great posts.
jazakAllah khair for sharing Islam is so beautiful, its adherers are so beautiful, I find nothing like this faith or its people anywhere in the world. nor in the mountains of Hokaido, nor in the steppes of Altai, nor in the valleys of the Alps, nor in the jungles of Guatemala, nor in the deserts of northern Chile. The Ummah of RasulAllah salalaho 'alaihi wa aalihi wa salam is truly beyond every other creation.
a`ala Hazrat is imam ahlus sunnah, ash-shaykh aHmed riDa khan barelwi raHimahullah. (also pronounced as raza in urdu/persian). his ancestors were from qandahar, the ancient city in afghanistan which was in the news recently for a different reason. he was born in bareilly, a thriving city in northern india, in 1856 in a prosperous and a religious family; a family of religious scholars as well. his father was the imam of his time, shaykh naqi `ali khan; a contemporary and friend of the legendary faDl ar Rasul badayuni. -- imam riDa was a Hanafi jurist, arguably the best Hanafi jurist of his time. a wizard at languages - even his prose sounds like poetry. and his poetry is sheer magic. inshaaAllah, wa bi idhnillah we will post some of it here. his expertise in Hanafi fiqh was such that the chief mufti of aHnaf in makkah (of that time) said: 'if imam abu Hanifah raDiyallahu `anhu saw this work, he would be pleased. he would admit imam riDa in his circle of students' even his enemies acknowledged that when it came to fiqh, and particularly Hanafi fiqh - he had no equal. -- he was also a peerless shaykh in the qadri order of his time. he has written copiously on almost every islamic subject most of which is printed as a collection in the 12 volume al `aTaaya an nabawiyyah fil fataawa ar riDawiyyah. he was a writer who incessantly came up with very creative ideas. for example, he had an uncanny ability to use the word with more than one meaning and howsoever you read it, the sentense would seem intelligible. --- as a jurist and the most prominent sunni scholar of his time, he refuted the deplorable fringe-group known as the wahabiya. most of his rigor was out of his love for the Rasul `alayhi afDalus Salatu was salam. he certainly was intolerant of the insolent insultors of Rasul `alayhi afDalus Salatu was salam. some sunnis tend to think that imam riDa is forgotten or that his antagonists, and the enemies of islam prevailed. rather, we should look at it in these terms: 1. imam riDa as a man. 2. imam riDa's mission. imam riDa as man might have been forgotten. suppose the liars prevail and succeed in tainting him. inshaaAllah they will see on the judgement day, that which is right and that astray. but imam riDa's mission succeeded. his mission was to stop the insolent few who spread falsehoods. his mission was to stop the self proclaimed 'saviors of religion' from printing shameless lies and slanders in the presence of awliya and anbiya. particularly the exalted Rasul `alayhiS Salatu was salam. and succeed he did. at first they tried to explain away their foul deeds; and now they are deleting those lines and hiding away from the public. that shows that they warn't right anyway. --- the apologies of the disciples of the erstwhile paradise dweller, clearly show that the insolent gang was ashamed, and knew that they were in the wrong. but owing to the love of this world they didn't admit it publicly. --- as a person, he was an exemplar sufi. he was full of zuhd, taqwa and war`a. he always chose the strictest and the most prohibitive ruling for himself, while his fatawa for the people were the most lenient ones. his love for RasulAllah Sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam and his blessed progeny was much more than can be described in words. his poetry was dedicated to the Prophet `alayhiSSalatu was salam and the beloved ones of Allah. he spent all of his life reading, writing, preaching and teaching. which he summed it up himself in the four verses, he wrote in persian: na mara nawsh zeh taHseeN, na mara neesh zeh ta`an na mara gosh ba madHe, na mara hosh dhamay! manam o kanj khamOli ke na ganjad dar way, juz man O chand kitabay O dawat O qalamay it isn't my object to flatter; neither plain criticize; i do not care for praise, nor do i heed ridicule. i am a dweller of that dark forlorn corner, wherefort is nothing with me, 'xcept for a few books, an inkpot and a pen.. --- imam riDa passed away in 1921 on a friday, just while the adhaan was being called out for the friday prayer. raDiyallahu `anhu. as an admirer and a follower i can keep on praising him; but as we say, the sun doesn't need a lamp shown to it to explain its brightness nor its existence. we shall post from his works and you be the judge. was salam.
