Pakistani Muslim Scholar: Muhammad Tahir al-Qadri

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

Introduction

Just relaxing while waiting for afternoon prayer service time. Now, we talk about sub-Indian continent ulama and this one is from Qadiri mission order lineage. It is our heritage since some of our ancestors also hailed from here. We have several mission orders here whether in the Sunnah or the Shi'a ones. I am also cooperating and having contacts with some progressive Shi'a brothers. There are also people known by this mission in movements of Tabligh and Barelwi. So don't scratch each other faces but try to understand each other.

I can't really join our Tabligh Jama'at brothers or those from Wahhabi movements or any visible organizations. I did tried to combine myself into groups or visible mission orders but I feel like an out-caste and myself is very filthy when I listened to their speeches. We have to leave behind our customs. Say, if a Hebrew professing his faith to Allah and to the prophethood of Muhammad s.a.w. Do he or she has to leave behind all of her customs and traditions inherited from past prophets and messengers of the God while those traditions are actually mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah again through Muhammad s.a.w prophethood? 

Those in our masjid who used Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Wahhab kitabs are not all from religious schools and fields though they speak Arabic. I am aware about the basis of their religious science once I listened to their speeches because sometimes it is exceeding the limit of humility. We emphasize the basis of the Creed and also Shari'at which is the Path. We don't like to condemn people especially our brothers unless if we join them and look at their approaches. That is why I keep repeating about the first things of the Path in this site because some might think this site is the site of a grave worshiper, lol. I am not worshiping any grave, idols, human-being, demon, angel and I never worship any teacher anymore once I repented. Teachers are just examples especially for morality and the quest for knowledge. They are not gods like what I saw in fanatics attacking each other because others are not in accordance to their teachers (can I say their god?) opinions.

It does not mean that I won't help them or I hate them and encourage people to hate them. It is a sin to hate brothers and sisters in faith or anyone. I will certainly help them, but they must train their public members first before performing da'awat because not all of the public being preached are of the same level of knowledge regarding the Path. They should always revise their method of da'awat and checking whether for example they are performing the compassionate mercy equally to everyone which also includes the disabled, animals, plants, environment, and etc. As Muslims, we are taught to always be in the Middle Path on everything. We don't exceed the boundaries withing two lines: angelic and demonic. Because we are human-being. This is what I understood about our Path.     

I had already changing my school of jurisprudence from Shafi'ie to Salafi (Hanbali) one in order to be in compliance with our mission order and trying to learn from the scratch. Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab or Ibnu Taimiyah and etc are just among Hanbali school of jurisprudence scholars. They are not the creators of any new schools but fanatics developed movements from them and expounding their ideas for new-founded ideologies. These scholars are no gods, prophets, or messengers of the God but human-being who happened to be scholars. Everyone will become scholars if they are diligent to memorize the Quran, learning the Sunnah, practicing them in daily life and checking the basis of Shari'at with diligent teachers who are doing researches.

Biography of Sheikh Muhammad Tahir

His father is Farid ad-Din Qadri. His ancestors belong to Sial ethnic group who speaks in three languages which are Punjabi, Sindhi, and Saraiki. They hailed from Jhang close to Sargodha in Pakistan.

Early Education

It mentions that he started his education at Catholic mission school, Sacred Heart in Jhang. He was educated in English and exposed to Christianity at an early age. He was taught with Islamic sciences from the age 12 in Medina al-Munawwara in Saudi Arabia at the Madrasah al-'Ulum al-Shari'yya. It is situated on the site of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari house. It was the first place where prophet Muhammad s.a.w was offered to stay when he first reached the city of Medina. 

It reminds me of my dad stories about himself. He was also educated in Sacred Heart of Singapore under a Catholic brother supervision once he was kicked out of the village in Kodiang, Kedah after my grandpa passed away. Three of my elder sisters also began their education in Cantonese Catholic pre-formal school in Central Kedah. Some of my paternal cousins were also educated in Catholic church in Malacca where they also had to join Christian's prayer services though they weren't Christian. I was quite fortunate to begin my education in masjid system, haha.

      

His early teachers in Islamic sciences among them were:

1. Mawlana Dhiyaauddin al-Madani who died in 1981 at the age 107. 

2. Al-Hijaz Sayyid 'Alawi ibn Abbas Maliki al-Makki who taught hadith sciences.

3. Sayyid Muhammad bin Alawi Maliki al-Makki who was the foremost Sunnah authority in Mid East

4. Al-'Azam of Pakistan, Sardar Ahmad al-Qadri

He also learned from other prominent classical authorities in Islamic sciences such as from:

1. Abu Barakat Ahmad al-Qadri al-Alwari. He is one of hadith narrators of the Indian sub-continent. His dad is Didar 'Ali Shah al-Alwari who studied under Ahmad Ali Muhaddith Sharanpuri and Ahmed Raza Khan Baralwi. Sheikh Qadri studied under Abu Barakat for four years and received his ijazat in hadith and jurisprudence in 1972.

2. Abdul Rashid al-Ridwi. Sheikh Qadri completed the classical Darsi Nizami course with him from 1963 to 1970 at Jami'a Qutubiyya Ridwiyya in Jhang. Lessons were conducted from pre-dawn Tahajjud prater service at three early in the morning to eleven at night with pauses between noon and afternoon. Abdul Rashid only taught Sheikh Qadri alone without any other students. While attended an event for Sheikh Qadri, Abdul Rashid mentioned in his speech about Sheikh Qadri. He never miss his Tahajjud and optional services. He never absent to all of his lessons and never think to do that. He is a loyal student and is a qualified teacher too. He still maintains his humility wherever he is and Abdul Rashid prays for him to be successful in the order mission. 

3. Tahir 'Alauddin Qadri Gilani. This is a saint who become the spiritual guide of the Qadiriyya mission in 1996. He bestowed the ijazat and certification to Sheikh Qadri in hadith sciences. He started the Minhaj University and Minhaj al-Quran Institute.

4. Ahmad Zubaydi or Abu Hanifa Saghir of Syria. He is allegedly from the family of Imam Abu Hanifa. He reports that he personally heard Tahir Alauddin al-Gilani referred to Sheikh Tahir Qadri as the reviver of our Path. 

5. Abdul Ma'bud Jilani. This teacher studied under scholars such as Imdadullah Muhajir Makki, Ahmad Rida Khan, Qutbul Arifin Ali Sulayman ibn Mustafa an-Naqib al-Baghdadi, Abdul Rahman al-Mahd an-Naqib al-baghdadi, Shah Muhammad Sulayman Tonswi and Fazli Haq Khairabadi.

6. Fariduddin Qadri. The dad of Sheikh Qadri himself was a scholar. He studied from al-Hijaz, in Lucknow, Delhi, Hyderabad in India, Baghdad, Damascus and other places. He gained knowledge of sciences from scholars such as al-Haram al-Makka 'Alawi bin 'Abbad al-Maliki, Muhammad Abdul Shakur al-Muhajir al-Madani who had once studied in Darul Ulum of Deoband before leaving for Medina al-Munawwara. Fariduddin also studied under Abdul Hadi al-Ansari of Lucknow, Abdul Baqi Ali Muhammad al-Ansar al-Muhaddith, and many others because their name is so long, haha. Fariduddin taught Sheikh Qadri everyday from 1962-1970 and periodically from 1970-1974 about the principles of hadith, tafseer, aqeeda, tasawwuf, Arabic grammar, Arabic language styles, logic, philosophy, and Arabic literature as well as other traditional classical sciences. He gave Sheikh Qadri the Dawra al-Hadith to certify him in 1970.

7. Ahmad Sa'eed Kazmi. This guy was a famous authority of Pakistan and was known as the "Ghazali of his time." He was a close friend to Sheikh Qadri's dad. Sheikh Qadri was sent under his supervision at Jami'a Islamiyya Bahawalpur as well as in his own institution in Anwar al-'Ulum in Multan. The studies he acquired included hadith, aqeeda, the knowledge of kalam, and other classical sciences. Upon completion, he was awarded with the Sanadi Hadith in 1979.

8. Hussain ibn Ahmad Usayran. He was the last living student of the Lebanese authority, Yusuf ibn Ismail Nabhani. He gave Sheikh Qadri all of his ijazats in 2004, a year before he passed away. He gained knowledge from the topmost authority of sciences regarding hadith and jurisprudence from Middle East and North Africa.

9. Muhammad Fateh al-Kattani. This guy is a specialist of Hadith in Syria. He taught Sheikh Qadri in Damascus and gave him all his ijazats.

10. Burhan Ahmad Faruqi. He was a famous student of Zafar al-Hasan Uthmani and a student of Muhammad Sulayman Ashraf Aligarhi. He supervised Sheikh Qadri on the studies of philosophical reflection of Muhammad Iqbal and bestowed him all the certification (permission) to teach others.

Later Education

Sheikh Qadri studied law at University of Punjab in Lahore. He was graduated with an LLB in 1974 with a gold medal for academic achievements. After a period of legal practice as an advocate, he taught law in the University of Punjab from 1978-1983 and gained his PhD in Islamic Law majoring in Punishments in Islam, their Classification and Philosophy from the same university in 1986. His supervisor were Bashir Ahmad Siddiqui and Javaid Iqbal. He was appointed a professor of Law at Punjab University and taught British, US and Islamic constitutional law.

Career Life

Sheikh Qadri was appointed as a Jurist Consultant or Legal Adviser on Islamic Law for the Supreme Cpurt and the Federal Shari'ah Court of Pakistan. He worked also as a specialist adviser on Islamic curricula for the Federal Ministry of Education of Pakistan. At various times between 1983-1987, he received and declined offers for various high-level posts.       

He has delivered more than 6000 lectures on various fields such as on political-economy studies, religious philosophy, law, sufism, medical sciences, material sciences and astronomy. Numerous lectures are available in Arabic, English, and Urdu at Islamic bookshops around the world. Hurmm, I wanted to find them for my readings if I have time after this.

Sheikh Qadiri himself has awarded permission or ijazat to other leading Muslim scholars which makes them his students and linking them through his lineage mission order back to prophet Muhammad s.a.w and companions of the prophet s.a.w. It brings everyone into connection.

Closing

All of the stories we posted here are just for us to reflect upon ourselves based on real life experience. About the ulamas and scholars, example of their morality could help us to lead a noble life. This one is just for us to boost up our spirit to learn from good examples. This guy is not a god and for me. I never have a strict understanding about saints. Saints for me are my brothers and sisters whom I love so much. I am serving my beloved brothers and sisters for His pleasure as possible as I can. It is for us to struggle in pursuing our ambition. What is our ambition? To see His Glorious Appearance and to be close to Him, insha Allah :')

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace, and love, amin!

Halaqah: Lesson from Surah al-Mujadilah

Assalaamu'alaikum wa Rahmatullah!

Just returned from the mosque. I feel quite relieved and thankful to Allah that I could perform most of prayer services today through congregational way and also rawatib prayer services.  Well, rawatib prayers are not as important as five main daily prayer services but just optional. I choose to perform that simply because I love Allah Azza wa Jalla.

Sometimes people would appoint me to be a leader for small congregational prayers in some places. I would feel bad if I become a prayer leader without performing full part of prayers including the optional ones because I personally believe the rightful person to be a leader must be a person who is attached to daily code regardless obligatory or optional. However, this is just my personal belief, it does not apply to others. I read something in Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh of Ottoman stories and his characteristics also influence my thoughts.

Tonight, our Arab congregation have their halaqah (learning circle) and a syeikh (elder) would explain about different lessons according to different days in a week in the gap time after maghrib service and isya' service. They talked about surah al-Mujadilah. It is the 58th surah in the glorious Quran and we may see it in parah (part) 28th.  Everyone coming across this post may open up your tafseer (exegesis) of the glorious Quran that you have in whatever language that you have. His mercy and love to His servants know no language. 

We would just simplify our note into points here so everyone could gain benefit, but it would be better to recite the verse whenever we have free time to spend around. This is what we do when we feel empty without any companion. We would meditate and recite the verses that we could remember.  

Regarding Dzihar

1. Basically the surah talks about a lady who has a dispute with her husband and her name is Khawlah binti Tsa'labah and her husband is 'Aus bin as-Samit. 

2. The God listens and saw the event and He declares it in the surah (divine letter) through the tongue of His holy prophet Muhammad s.a.w. Nowadays, we are reciting His words with our tongues. It is about the husband who had divorced his wife according to ignorance period manner by declaring that the back of his wife is as his mum. This act is called as dzihar in our Arabic. 

3. So, the God says in His holy words that the divorce took place although he never declares that he divorced his wife. If he wants to get back to his wife again, he must free a slave. If there is no slave to be freed, then he must fast for two months without stop or if he could not perform the kaffarah (sentence) fast, he must treat 60 paupers with food. 

Concerning Conspiracy 

1. The God says that He knows everything in the heavens and the earth. He knows what is being discussed by groups of people, and He is noting every words spoken from the lips of people who conspire. Whatever they speak out in their heart or aloud, the God will certainly display everything that they did in the hereafter. 

The God says that conspiring something which would be sinful acts over the other is forbidden but yet many still doing it. These people greeting the other not according to what has been taught by holy words and mocking the God to torture them from their evil acts. The God made the promise that they would surely receive the torment that they desire in the place to torture them since they love to return to the horrible place.

2. Faithful servants who talk about something in a secret counsel and in hidden place should never discuss about committing sins, enmity, and betraying the messenger of the God. They must only speak in hidden or in a secret counsel about charity, righteousness and piety to the God.     

3. The God tells us that conspiracies are from Satan because it wants the faithfuls to grief while those conspiracies can never harm no one without His permission. The faithfuls must be dependent to Allah only and not to believe that conspiracies could harm them without His permission.

Politeness in an Assembly with the Messenger

1. The faithfuls must give way for the assembly, may the God gives them huge space. When ordered to rise up, thus they must rise up for charity, righteousness and piety! The God will honor the faithfuls and granting them wisdom. 

2. Before privately consulting the messenger concerning special issue, give your donation to the paupers as it is better for you.    

3. If you can't make the donation for paupers before privately consulting the messenger and the God forgives you your sin, then obey the order of the God through the performance of prayer services, paying the zakah, and obey the holy God and His noble messenger! 

Prohibition about taking the enemy of the God and His messenger as companions

1. People who violate His order are not the companions of the faithfuls. Why God says this? Because they are lying while taking the oath. A person who violate his or her oath are the hypocrites and they are the most hideous creatures amongst His creatures.

2. Why do they become like that? They had chosen to follow the Satan who made them forgetful to remember the God.  The people who choose to follow the Satan are the Hizbussyaithan (the men of the Satan).

3. The God says there is no love between the faithfuls and the adversaries of the God even if the adversaries and the faithfuls are in a family. 

4. The God helps the faithfuls with His boundless mercy which is the faith implanted in their heart and the ruh (guidance and faithful spirit) from Him. These faithful servants are the Hizbullah (the men of the God). This hizbullah is not the political party in Lebanon! It is a generic term for the men of the God. It means that these people are those who obeys Him. They are faithful, righteous and performing charity.

Then the syeikh also talked about the stories between Moses and Khidr regarding wisdom. Since tomorrow is optional fasting day for twice holidays, we should sleep early and wake up early so that we may get the birkah (blessings) in sahur. Later we would talk about Moses and Khidr in their rihlah (journey) full of wisdom if the God permits it, insya-Allah...     

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad, wa 'ala aali Muhammad. Ka-maa sallai-ta 'ala Ibrahim, wa 'ala aali Ibrahim. Wa baarik 'ala Muhammad wa 'alaa aali Muhammad. Ka-maa baarak-ta 'alaa Ibrahim wa 'ala aali Ibrahim. Fi-l 'aalameena innaka hameedum-majeed. Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin!