our zaleel friend chimes in: https://barelwism.wordpress.com/202...h-in-action-salat-ghawthiyyah-salat-al-asrar/
there are two monographs on the topic, both found in vol.7 of fatawa ridawiyyah anhar al-anwar PDF azhar al-anwar PDF
my position on salatu'l asrar is the same as that of my master, alahazrat imam ahmad rida khan. the shaykh in the clip below has defended it, but i have to point out that his characterisation of imam ibn rajab is not right. i assume the shaykh has made a lapse based on the fact that "ibn rajab was ibn qayyim's student" and thus assumed that he was on the same manhaj. while reading works of history and biographies, we cannot exclude someone from ahl al-sunnah on summarised lines, unless it can be corroborated from other sources. we disagree with ibn rajab's opinion on bahjatul asrar of imam shatnawfi, but just that opinion should not lead us to form a negative opinion of the shaykh. === ibn rajab was indeed ibn qayyim's student - but he was very young when ibn qayyim died in 751 AH. ibn rajab was born in 736 AH and thus he would be 15 years old when ibn qayyim died - so the biographical notices you read in modern editions by salafi bent such as: "he remained in the company of ibn qayyim" is misleading. of course, he took hadith - and this is common among hadith masters - from ibn qayyim, as he was a leading hadith scholar of his day (in damascus). but he did not follow him or his shaykh ibn taymiyyah in their heresies. in the entry on ibn qayyim, ibn rajab indicates that he might have disagreed with his views as he says: "but he was not ma'sum" that is an euphemism to mean "he made mistakes" ---- ibn rajab accompanied shaykh zaynuddin al-iraqi in taking hadith from the prominent hadith master of egypt - sadruddin maydumi (d.745 AH), whom al-iraqi considered as the highest of his shuyukh. and he was the shaykh of ibn Hajar al-asqalani, who named his own commentary on bukhari, after the unfinished commentary of ibn rajab (which reached only until kitab al-jana'yiz): fat'H al-bari. --- in fact ibn Hajar in inba'a al-ghumur (1/460) notes that he used to first give fatawa based on sayings of ibn taymyyah and then he reverted from that. this caused hatred among the taymiyyans (followers of ibn taymiyyah) - and then he just stopped giving fatawa. ibn hajji said that he was a recluse and would not meet anyone or visit anyone. === it is clear from his books that he was a sufi, but the hanbalis in damascus of his day had influence of ibn taymiyyah, so he was not convinced of the book by shatnawfi. regardless, the books of ibn rajab are beneficial and there is no reason to disparage him. wAllahu a'alam.
