Hujjat-ul-Islam-Imam Ahmad Ghazali

Imam Ahmad Ghazali 

 

Abu Hamid Muhammad, famous in the world of learning as al-Ghazzali. The Imam major Shafi‘i jerist, heresiographer and debater, expert in the principles of doctrine and those of jurisprudence. He was born in 1058 AD (450 Hijri), in "Tus" (Khorasan province of Iran). Imam al-Ghazzali was fondly referred to as the "Hujjat-ul-lslam", Proof of Islam, He is honoured as a scholar and a saint by learned men all over the world.

He was formally schooled in his early adulthood, studying under al-Juwayni, a prominent theologian located in Nishapur. During this period, the young Imam Ghazali produced various texts on Islamic law and theology, which are still used to this day. 

 

Once his way back from Jurjan to Tus, Imam Ghazzali was robbed by highwaymen. When they left him he followed them but was told: "Leave us or you will die." He replied: "I ask you for Allah’ sake to only return to me my notes, for they are of no use to you." The robber asked him: "What are those notes?" He said: "Books in that satchel, for the sake of which I left my country in order to hear, write, and obtain their knowledge." The robber laughed and said: "How can you claim that you obtained their knowledge when we took it away from you and left you devoid of knowl-edge!" Then he gave an order and the satchel was returned to him. Imam Ghazzali said: "This man’s utterance was divinely inspired: Allah caused him to say this in order to guide me. When I reached Tus I worked for three years until I had memorized all that I had written down." 

Imam Ghazzali came to Baghdad in 484 Hijri and began a prestigious career of teaching, giving fatwa, and authoring books in nearly all the Islamic sciences of his day. His skill in refuting opponents was unparalleled except by his superlative godwariness, which led him to abandon his teaching position at the Nizamiyya school four years later, deputizing his brother Ahmad, famous for his preaching, to replace him. Upon completion of pilgrimage to Makkah, Imam Ghazzali headed for Damascus, then al-Qudus, then Damascus again where he remained for several years, taking up the ascetic life with the words: "We sought after knowledge for other than Allah’s sake, but He refused that it be for anything other than Him." 

Imam Ghazali once said: "The Sufi path consists in cleansing the heart from whatever is other than Allah. I concluded that the Sufis are the seekers in Allah's Way, and their conduct is the best conduct, and their way is the best way, and their manners are the most sanctified. They have cleaned their hearts from other than Allah and they have made them as pathways for rivers to run, carrying knowledge of Allah." 

He came out of seclusion in 499 and travelled to Cairo, Iskandariyya and other places, finally returning to Baghdad where he taught his magnum opus Ihya Ulum al-Din until his death in nearby Tus, occupying the remainder of his time with devotions, Qur’an recitations, prayer and fasting, and the company of Sufis.

Al-Ghazali died at Tabran in Jamadi al Ukhra 505 AH at the age of 55 years. Ibn al-Jawzee narrated in al-Thabat ‘Inda al-Mamat ("Firmness at the Time of Death") from al-Ghazzali’s brother Ahmad: "On Monday [14 Jumada al-Akhira] at the time of the dawn prayer my brother Abu Hamid made his ablution, prayed, then said: ‘Bring me my shroud.’ He took it, kissed it and put it on his eyes, saying: ‘We hear and obey in readiness to enter the King’s presence.’ Then he stretched his legs, facing the Qibla, and died before sunrise – may Allah sanctify his soul!"

" It is related that al-Shadhili saw a dream in which the Holy Prophet pointed out Imam Ghazzali to Musa (Moses) and Isa (Jesus) asking them: "Is there such a wise scholar in your communities?" to which they replied: "No."

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Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb: Bad Ruler or Bad History?

Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb: Bad Ruler or Bad History?

By Dr. Habib Siddiqui
Posted: 9 Jamad-ul-awwal 1427, 5 June 2006
on http://www.albalagh.net

Of all the Muslim rulers who ruled vast territories of India from 712 to 1857 CE, probably no one has received as much condemnation from Western and Hindu writers as Aurangzeb. He has been castigated as a religious Muslim who was anti-Hindu, who taxed them, who tried to convert them, who discriminated against them in awarding high administrative positions, and who interfered in their religious matters. This view has been heavily promoted in the government approved textbooks in schools and colleges across post-partition India (i.e., after 1947). These are fabrications against one of the best rulers of India who was pious, scholarly, saintly, un-biased, liberal, magnanimous, tolerant, competent, and far-sighted. 

Fortunately, in recent years quite a few Hindu historians have come out in the open disputing those allegations. For example, historian Babu Nagendranath Banerjee rejected the accusation of forced conversion of Hindus by Muslim rulers by stating that if that was their intention then in India today there would not be nearly four times as many Hindus compared to Muslims, despite the fact that Muslims had ruled for nearly a thousand years. Banerjee challenged the Hindu hypothesis that Aurangzeb was anti-Hindu by reasoning that if the latter were truly guilty of such bigotry, how could he appoint a Hindu as his military commander-in-chief? Surely, he could have afforded to appoint a competent Muslim general in that position. Banerjee further stated: "No one should accuse Aurangzeb of being communal minded. In his administration, the state policy was formulated by Hindus. Two Hindus held the highest position in the State Treasury. Some prejudiced Muslims even questioned the merit of his decision to appoint non-Muslims to such high offices. The Emperor refuted that by stating that he had been following the dictates of the Shariah (Islamic Law) which demands appointing right persons in right positions." During Aurangzeb's long reign of fifty years, many Hindus, notably Jaswant Singh, Raja Rajrup, Kabir Singh, Arghanath Singh, Prem Dev Singh, Dilip Roy, and Rasik Lal Crory, held very high administrative positions. Two of the highest ranked generals in Aurangzeb's administration, Jaswant Singh and Jaya Singh, were Hindus. Other notable Hindu generals who commanded a garrison of two to five thousand soldiers were Raja Vim Singh of Udaypur, Indra Singh, Achalaji and Arjuji. One wonders if Aurangzeb was hostile to Hindus, why would he position all these Hindus to high positions of authority, especially in the military, who could have mutinied against him and removed him from his throne?

Most Hindus like Akbar over Aurangzeb for his multi-ethnic court where Hindus were favored. Historian Shri Sharma states that while Emperor Akbar had fourteen Hindu Mansabdars (high officials) in his court, Aurangzeb actually had 148 Hindu high officials in his court. (Ref: Mughal Government) But this fact is somewhat less known.

Some of the Hindu historians have accused Aurangzeb of demolishing Hindu Temples. How factual is this accusation against a man, who has been known to be a saintly man, a strict adherent of Islam? The Qur'an prohibits any Muslim to impose his will on a non-Muslim by stating that "There is no compulsion in religion." (surah al-Baqarah 2:256). The surah al-Kafirun clearly states: "To you is your religion and to me is mine." It would be totally unbecoming of a learned scholar of Islam of his caliber, as Aurangzeb was known to be, to do things that are contrary to the dictates of the Qur'an.

Interestingly, the 1946 edition of the history textbook Etihash Parichaya (Introduction to History) used in Bengal for the 5th and 6th graders states: "If Aurangzeb had the intention of demolishing temples to make way for mosques, there would not have been a single temple standing erect in India. On the contrary, Aurangzeb donated huge estates for use as Temple sites and support thereof in Benares, Kashmir and elsewhere. The official documentations for these land grants are still extant."

A stone inscription in the historic Balaji or Vishnu Temple, located north of Chitrakut Balaghat, still shows that it was commissioned by the Emperor himself. The proof of Aurangzeb's land grant for famous Hindu religious sites in Kasi, Varanasi can easily be verified from the deed records extant at those sites. The same textbook reads: "During the fifty year reign of Aurangzeb, not a single Hindu was forced to embrace Islam. He did not interfere with any Hindu religious activities." (p. 138) Alexander Hamilton, a British historian, toured India towards the end of Aurangzeb's fifty year reign and observed that every one was free to serve and worship God in his own way.

Now let us deal with Aurangzeb's imposition ofthe jizya tax which had drawn severe criticism from many Hindu historians. It is true that jizya was lifted during the reign of Akbar and Jahangir and that Aurangzeb later reinstated this. Before I delve into the subject of Aurangzeb's jizya tax, or taxing the non-Muslims, it is worthwhile to point out that jizya is nothing more than a war tax which was collected only from able-bodied young non-Muslim male citizens living in a Muslim country who did not want to volunteer for the defense of the country. That is, no such tax was collected from non-Muslims who volunteered to defend the country. This tax was not collected from women, and neither from immature males nor from disabled or old male citizens. For payment of such taxes, it became incumbent upon the Muslim government to protect the life, property and wealth of its non-Muslim citizens. If for any reason the government failed to protect its citizens, especially during a war, the taxable amount was returned.

It should be pointed out here that zakat (2.5% of savings) and ‘ushr (10% of agricultural products) were collected from all Muslims, who owned some wealth (beyond a certain minimum, called nisab). They also paid sadaqah, fitrah, and khums. None of these were collected from any non-Muslim. As a matter of fact, the per capita collection from Muslims was several fold that of non-Muslims. Further to Auranzeb's credit is his abolition of a lot of taxes, although this fact is not usually mentioned. In his book Mughal Administration, Sir Jadunath Sarkar, foremost historian on the Mughal dynasty, mentions that during Aurangzeb's reign in power, nearly sixty-five types of taxes were abolished, which resulted in a yearly revenue loss of fifty million rupees from the state treasury.

While some Hindu historians are retracting the lies, the textbooks and historic accounts in Western countries have yet to admit their error and set the record straight

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HAZRAT SALMAN FARSI 

(RADIALLHAHU ANHU)

1-Introduction
2-Salman's inclination to Christianity
3-Salman's inclination to the Arabs and Islam
4-Salman's role in islam
5-Salman as a scholar
6-Conclusion

 
Introduction
This is the story of the pious, mystic, Faqhi, intellectual and ascetic, Salman the Persian. He grew up in the town of Isfahan in Persia, in the village of Jayyan. His father was the Dihqan (chief) of the village. He was the richest person there and had the biggest house.His father loved him, more than he loved any other. As time went by, his love for Salman  became so strong and overpowering that he feared to lose him or have anything happen to him. So he kept him at home, a virtual prisoner, in the same way that young girls were kept. 
Salman  became devoted to the Magian religion, so much so that he attained the position of custodian of the fire, which they worshipped. His duty was to see that the flames of the fire remained burning and that it did not go out for a single hour, day or night. 
Salman’s father had a vast estate, which yielded an abundant supply of crops. He himself looked after the estate and gathered harvest. One day as he went about his duties as Dihqan of the village, he said to Salman, ‘My son, as you see, I am too busy to go out to the estate now. Go and look after matters there for me today. 
On the way to the estate, Salman  passed a Christian church and heard voices raised in prayer, which attracted his attention. He did not know anything about Christianity or, for that matter, about the followers of any other religion. His father had kept him in the house away from people. When he heard the voices of the Christians, he entered the church to see what they were doing. He was impressed by their manner of praying and felt drawn to their religion. He said, ‘This religion is better than ours. I shall not leave them until the sunsets.’

Salman's inclination to Christianity
Salman  asked and was told that the Christian religion originated in Syria. He did not go to his father’s estate that day and at night, he returned home. His father met him and asked where he had been. Salman  told him about his meeting with the Christians and how he was impressed by their religion. His father was dismayed and said: ‘My son, their is nothing good in that religion. Your religion and the religion of your forefathers is better.” 
‘No, their religion is better than ours,’ he insisted. His father became upset and afraid that Salman would leave their religion. So he kept Salman  locked up in the house and shackled his feet. Salman  managed to send a message to the Christians, asking them to inform him of any caravans going to Syria. Before long they contacted him with the information he wanted. He broke the fetters and escaped his father’s estate to join the caravan to Syria. When he reached Syria, he asked regarding the leading person in the Christian religion and was directed to the bishop of the church. He went up to him and said: ‘I want to become a Christian and would like to attach myself to your service, learn from you and pray with you.’ 
The bishop agreed and Salman  entered the church in his service. Salman  soon found out, however, that the bishop was corrupt. He would order his followers to give money in charity while holding out the promise of blessings to them. When they gave the bishop anything to spend in the way of Allah, he would hoard it for himself and not give anything to the poor or needy. In this way, he amassed a vast quantity of gold. When the bishop died and the Christians gathered to bury him, Salman  told them of his corrupt practices and, at their request, showed them where the bishop had kept their donations. When they saw the large jars filled with gold and silver they said, ‘By Allah, we shall not bury him.’ They nailed him on a cross and threw stones at him.  Not long after, the local people appointed another man in place of the first. Salman  stayed on, in the service of this person who replaced him. The new bishop was an ascetic who longed for the Hereafter and engaged in worship day and night. Salman  was devoted to him and spent much of the time in his company. 

Before he passed away, Salman  said to him, “O so and so Priest! The time has come for you to witness Allah Ta'ala's decision (meaning death). I swear by Allah, I have never adored anyone as much as I have adored you! So what would you instruct me to do? And who can you recommend for me to see?”

He replied, “O son! I do not know of anyone except for a certain man living in the city of Mosul. Go to him, for you will find that he is similar to me.”

A short while after he passed away, Salman  arrived at Mosul and found the priest he had been sent to, and indeed, he was very much like the one before him in terms of simplicity and striving. After he passed away, Salman  was referred to another priest who in turn sent him to a priest in Ammuriyah (Ameria, near Rome) , before his demise. Salman  stayed by this Roman priest, and decided to make a living. Eventually hemanaged to acquire some sheep and cows.

When his death was near, Salman  told him of my story and asked him for his advice just as he had asked those before him. He said: “There is nobody following our ways of life I can send you to. Nevertheless, your life seems to coincide with the era of the predestined Prophet who will arise from the Haram. His migration will be to a city full of date trees. Moreover, he will certainly have some distinct features: Between his shoulder blades, there will be the Seal of the Prophethood. He will eat food, provided it is a gift and not a donation. If you can reach that city, then do so, because you are very close to his era.”

Salman's inclination to the Arabs and Islam
A group of Arab leaders from the Kalb tribe passed through Ammuriyah. Salman  asked them to take him with them to the land of the Arabs, in return for whatever money he had. They agreed to take him along. When they reached Wadi al-Qura (a place between Syria and Madinah), the Arabs broke their agreement and made him a slave, then sold Salman  to a Jew. Salman worked as a servant for him but he eventually sold him to a nephew of his, belonging to the tribe of Banu Qurayzah. This nephew took Salman  with him to Yathrib, the city of palm groves, which is how the Christian at Ammuriyah had described it. 




At that time the Prophet  was inviting his people in Makkah to Islam but Salman  did not know of this because of the harsh duties slavery imposed upon him. When the Prophet  reached Yathrib after his hijrah from Makkah, Salman  was on top of a palm tree doing some work. Salman’s  master was sitting under the tree. A nephew of Salman’s  master came up and said, ‘May Allah declare war on the Aws and the Khazraj (the two main Arab tribes of Yathrib). By Allah, they are now gathering at Quba to meet a man, who has just today, arrived from Makkah and who claims to be Prophet.’ 
Salman  felt light-headed upon hearing these words and began to shiver so violently that he had to climb down, in fear that he may fall. He quickly swung down from the tree and spoke to his master’s nephew. 
‘What did you say? Repeat the news for me.’ 
Salman’s  master grew angry at this breach of protocol and struck him a terrible blow. ‘What does this matter to you’? Go back to what you were doing,’ he shouted.
Hazrat Salman himself narrates:

I left the house for a while, making inquiries. I asked a woman I met from the city whose entire family had become Muslim. She showed me the way to the Prophet .

When it was evening, I took some food with me and went to the Prophet . The Prophet was in Quba at the time. I said, “Word has reached me that you are a very pious man, and that you have some travellers in your company. I had some charity and thought that you would be most deserving of it. This is it; you may have some to eat.” The Prophet withdrew his own hand, not eating from it, but told his Companions to eat. At the time, I thought, “This is one of the characteristics my Mentor told me of.”

On my way back, I saw that the Prophet was heading to Madinah . Thus, I took the food to him, saying, “I saw that you were not eating from this charity. As a matter of fact, I presented it as a gift and not charity.” This time, the Prophet also ate with his Companions. “That makes two signs,” I thought.

Later on, I approached the Prophet as he was walking behind the corpse in a funeral. I remember that at the time, he was covered in two sheets, and that his Companions were with him.

I was trying to steal a look at the Seal on his back, when the Prophet saw me glancing. Realising that I wanted to verify what someone had told me, he let his cloak drop a little, and I managed to see that the Seal between his shoulder blades was exactly the way my Mentor had described it. I threw myself down before the Prophet (sallallahu-alayhi wasallam) kissing (his blessed hands/feet) and started to cry. The Holy Prophet said, “O Salman! Reveal your story.”

So I sat in front of him, relating my story to him and hoping that his Companions could also hear it. When I had finished, the Prophet said, “O Salman! Make a deal with your owner to free you.”

Consequently, my master did agree to free me, but in exchange for the following: ‘Three hundred date trees, as well as one thousand, six hundred silver coins.' Hence, the Sahaba (Radhiallahu anahum) helped by providing around twenty to thirty date plants each, and a tenth of every man's land in accordance to how much he owned. The Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said to me, “Dig a hole for each date-plant. When you are finished, let me know so that I can personally fix all the date-plants into place with my own hands.” Thus, with the help of my friends, I dug holes wherever the date-plants were to be put.

Later on, the Prophet came. We stood by his side holding the plants as he fixed them into the ground. I swear by The Being Who sent the Prophet with the Truth, not a single plant died out.

Nevertheless, I still had the silver to pay. A man came to the Prophet bringing from the mines some gold which was roughly the size of a pigeon's egg. The Prophet said, “O Salman! Take this and pay off whatever you have to.”

I replied, “O Messenger of Allah! How will this be enough for my debt?”

He said, “Allah will surely make it sufficient for your debt.”

As a result to this statement, I swear By Allah, it outweighed the one thousand, six hundred coins. I not only paid off my dues, but what I had left with me was equivalent to what I had given them.

The strict honesty of the Prophet  was one of the characteristics that led Salman  to believe in him and accept Islam. Salman  was released from slavery by the Prophet , who paid his Jewish master a stipulated price, and who himself planted an agreed number of date palms to secure Salman’s  manumission. After accepting Islam, Salman would say when asked whose son he was, ‘I am Salman, the son of Islam from the children of Adam.’ 




Salman's role in islam
Salman  was to play an important role in the struggles of the growing Muslim State. At the battle of Khandaq, he proved to be an innovator in military strategy. It was he who suggested digging a ditch or khandaq around Madinah to keep the Quraysh army at bay. When Abu Sufyan, the leader of the Makkans, saw the ditch, he said, ‘This stratagem has not been employed by the Arabs before.’ Salman  participated in all of the other campaigns of the Prophet  thereafter. He was also with Saad in the conquest of Iraq. After the grand victory, the Caliph Umar  chose him because of his knowledge of the terrain, to select the land upon which Kufa was to be built. 
Salman  became known as ‘Salman the Good’. Salman  was a scholar who lived a rough and ascetic life. He had one cloak, which he wore and  slept on. He would not seek the shelter of a roof but stayed under a tree or against a wall. A man once said to him: ‘Shall I not build you a house in which you may live?’  ‘I have no need of a house,’ he replied.  The man persisted and said; ‘I know the type of house that would suit you.’  ‘Describe it to me,’ said Salman.  ‘I shall build you a house which if you stood up in, the roof would hurt your head and if you were to stretch your legs, the wall would hurt them.’ 
Later, as a governor of Al-Madain (Ctesiphon) near Baghdad, Salman  received a stipend of five thousand dhirhams. This he would distribute as sadaqah. He lived from the work of his own hands. When some people came to Madina and saw him working the palm groves, they said, ‘You are the leader here and your sustenance is guaranteed and yet you do this work?’ 
‘I like to eat from the work of my own hands,’ he replied. Salman  however was not extreme in his ascetism. 
It is related that he visited Abu Dardaa  with which the Prophet  had joined him in brotherhood. He found Abu Dardaa’s wife in a miserable state and he asked, ‘What is the matter with you.’‘Your brother has no need of anything in this world,’ she replied. 
When Abu Dardaa  came, he welcomed Salman and gave him food. Salman  told him to eat but Abu Dardaa  said, ‘I am fasting.’‘I swear to you that I shall not eat until you eat also.’ 
Salman  spent the night there as well. During the night, Abu ad-Dardaa  got up but Salman  got hold of him and said, ‘O Abu ad-Dardaa, your Lord has a right over you. Your family has a right over you and your body has a right over you. Give to each there due.’ 
Then in the morning, they prayed together and then went out to meet the Prophet . The Prophet  supported Salman  in what he had said.  (Bukhari) 




Salman as a scholar
As a scholar, Salman was noted for his vast knowledge and wisdom. Ali  said of him that he was like Luqman the Wise. And Kab al-Ahbar said: ‘Salman is bursting with knowledge and wisdom. He is an ocean that does not dry up.’ Salman  had knowledge of both the Christian scripture and the Quraan in addition to his earlier knowledge of the Zoroastrian religion. Salman  in fact translated parts of the Quraan into Persian during the lifetime of the Prophet . He was thus the first person to translate the Quraan into a foreign language. 
According to the most reliable account, he died in either 31 or 34 A.H, at the age of 250 years, during the caliphate of Uthman, at Ctesiphon. 
Abu Hurraira  narrates, that the Prophet  prayed the following verse: ‘If ye turn back, He will substitute in your stead another people, then they would not be like you.’ (Q47:38) The Sahabah asked the Prophet , ‘O Prophet , who are these people that Allah has mentioned, that he would chose them instead of us? That they will not do as we did?’ The Prophet  placed his hand on Salman’s thigh and said, ‘It will be his people. And even if faith is near the Surya (the Pleiads), someone from the Persians would attain it.’ 
Who were the people of Kufa and Iraq? Who was Imaam Abu Hanifah? They were all Persians. The divinely chosen denizens of Kufa were Persians. Their spiritual teachers were Persians and so were the three about whom the Prophet  said, ‘Paradise longs for three people. Ali, Amar and Salman.’ (Tirmidhi) 
Abu Hurraira  narrates in another Hadith, that the Prophet  once prayed the following verse: ‘As well as others of them, who have not already joined them.’ (Q62:3) The Sahabah asked, ‘O Prophet of Allah , who are these people,’ The Prophet  placed his hand on Salman   and said, ‘If faith was near the Pleiads, then someone from them would attain it.’  (Bukhari and Muslim) 
Time bore witness to the realisation of the Prophet  words. The progeny of the Persians spread their knowledge and populated the world.

Conclusion
Once Abu Sufyan came to Madinah and passed by Salman , Bilal  and Sohayb . The three companions said, ‘Have not the swords of Allah beheaded this accursed man yet?’ Abu Bakr  upon hearing this said, ‘Do not say such things of the leader of Quraish.’ After that, Abu Bakr  went to the Prophet  and told him of this conversation. The Prophet  said, ‘Have you annoyed these three? If you have, then you have annoyed Allah.’ Abu Bakr  made haste to the three companions and asked them whether they took offence on his words. They told him that they had not and further said, ‘O brother, may Allah forgive you.’ The annoyance of Salman is the annoyance of Allah. Even the likes of Abu Bakr fear to offend him. 
It has come in another Hadith that the Prophet  said, ‘Allah has commanded me to love four men, for He too loves them. They are Ali, Abu Dhar, Miqdad and Salman.’It has also come in a Hadith that, ‘Each Prophet had seven helpers and protectors, I was given fourteen. Ali, Hasan and Hussain, Hamzah, Abu Bakr, Umar, Masaab Ibn Ameer, Bilal, Salman, Amar, Abdullah Ibn Masood, Abu Dhar and Miqdad.’ 
This was Salman Farsi  , the Persian who’s quest for the true faith lasted almost all of his 250 years of life. As Muslims and as students, it should be our point of aspiration to achieve at least some of the dedication of Salman Farsi  to faith and the gaining of knowledge.
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