Khatam Sharif

In honour of the venerable

Hadrat Sain Tawwakul Shah

O! Allah send peace and blessings on Our Master Sayyiduna Muhammad and the family of Our Master Muhammad . A prayer that saves us from all trouble, a prayer that aids us in our errands and our needs. A prayer that cleanse us from our sins. And a prayer that raises us to the highest of ranks, and a prayer that makes us reach for those goals, from all good in this life and after death, You are able over everything.

Bless the Beloved of Allah

On one fine day the companions of the Most Beloved of Creation were sat amongst themselves in the Sacred Sanctity that is Masjid Nabawi Sharif. As was their custom, they were engaged in some form of worship or another but all the while, they were eagerly waiting to catch a glimpse of the one for whom they would so easily sacrifice all. As fortune would have it, Rasulullah (s) entered the mosque at that moment to the apparent delight of the companions. They marvelled at Rasulullah's (s) blessed face which was more luminous and more beautiful than ever. Furthermore, news of glad tidings was apparent in Rasulullah's (s) facial expressions. The companions knew as much and waited on every second containing their excitement and in accordance with the adab that is due to Allah Almighty's Most Beloved, they remained silent with their ears perked. Rasulullah (S) sensing the companions excitement and eagerness spoke, 'Hadrat Jibrail came to me and delivered the message from Allah the Most High, 'Are you not happy, O Muhammad that someone sends blessings upon you once from your nation and as a result, I will send you ten blessings. If one person from your nation gives one salam upon you, I will reward him by giving ten salams to you. One of the Companions, Hadrat Ubay bin Kaab was once asked by Rasulullah , How

much salawat do you send upon me? Hadrat Ubay replied, In my free time, apart from when I am reading the Quran or salat, I also dedicate a portion of that time on sending blessings upon you. Rasulullah said, If you were to increase it, it would be better for you, and Hadrat Ubay mentioned he would increase it to two thirds. Again, Rasulullah repeated, If you were to increase it, it would be better for you. Hadrat Ubay kept on increasing until finally, he said, I will spend all my free time sending blessings upon you. Rasulullah responded, If you were to do this, then Allah will take care of all your needs, in whatever capacity.
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Allah Almighty grants such reward for this act of sending salawat as it is an act that He does, as He mentions in the Holy Quran; Allah and His Angels send blessings on the Prophet, O you who believe, send your blessings on him, and solute him a thorough salutation, (33:56). As this is an act which is done by Allah, it is is an act which never ceases and we can also assume that Allah Almighty has always sent blessings on Rasulullah . The first depiction of love in the history of creation is this love and bond between Allah and Rasulullah . It is not possible to define this love; it is an unimaginable and unquantifiable love. So it is a compulsory obligation upon every believer to send blessings on Rasulullah , it is not an optional matter To read salawat is to fulfil the command of Allah and by doing so, we are expressing our love towards Rasulullah . This act of sending salawat has been a practice of all the Prophets; beginning with Hadrat Adam when he wanted to marry Hadrat Hawa . The angels said that he must give haq mahr (dowry) and when Hadrat Adam asked how he was to do this, the angels said, Send salawat on Rasulullah three times; this is your haq mahr. Whilst in Paradise, Hadrat Adam gave his son Hadrat Sheesh the following advice; Remember that after our Creator Allah Almighty, the most beloved thing in existence is the Prophet . I am basing this on my personal knowledge and experience of seeing the name of Rasulullah where ever the name of Allah is present, whether it was on a leaf, on a piece of fruit, on the forehead of the houris or on the Arsh of Allah, it was everywhere, therefore keep his honour. This advice Hadrat Adam gave to his son was to help him understand that there is no separation or distance between Allah and Rasulullah . To remember and love Rasulullah is the same as to remember and love Allah. There are clear Prophetic sayings that Muslims do not worship Rasulullah but certainly true Muslims do not consider Allah and Rasulullah to be separate entities all together. Had that been the case, then surely there would have been separation in their names in the kalima (creed). We can understand this by reflecting upon the following incident; once a companion erred and seeking forgiveness he went to Masjid Nabawi and tied himself to the column and declared that he would not move from there until Allah Almighty had forgiven him. He remained there for some time before Rasulullah heard about his oath. Rasulullah remarked, Had he come to me and sought forgiveness, surely he would have been forgiven, but he has gone direct and that is a matter between him and Allah Almighty. This clear and apparent truth, from which many are veiled, is understood by all those who desire closeness to Allah Almighty and His Beloved, such as Hadrat Sain Tawwakul Shah who was renowned for his extreme love of Rasulullah . One of his followers called Mehbub Alam , narrates the following incident; One day I was sitting with another follower called Muhammad Ali Shah and the shaykh was asleep. We had a hand fan and were using it to keep the shaykh cool. A little while later when I looked closely I could not see the shaykh breathing, for a further ten minutes I kept looking and could not see any movement. I turned to my friend and said that the shaykh is not breathing. As we were talking about this, Sain Tawakkul Shah awoke and asked what

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we were talking about. We mentioned we were worried that he had not been breathing; he looked at us and replied, That is because I was in Madinah sharif. I immediately thought that he must have had a dream. Sain Tawakkul Shah looked at me and said, Moulvi, no! I was in Madinah sharif. There are men of Allah who if they lift their eyes and then look down in that moment they can be in Madinah sharif and back. As he said this both my friend and I were transported to Madinah sharif and back in a glance.

Introduction
Sain Tawwakul Shah was born in 1839 in Pakho, district Gurdaspur, India. He became an orphan at an early age and had no brothers or sisters. Sain Tawwakul Shahs grandfather, Mian Allah Din Shah Mast , who was linked to the Naushahi Sufi Tariqah was responsible for his upbringing. Sain Tawwakul Shah relates, My grandfather only had two children; my mother and my uncle. My uncle came to visit me twice in Ambala and spent his whole life in tajarrud, he never got married. Once Maulvi Siraj Uddin was reading some letters and came to one which was addressed to Sain Tawwakul Shah as Syed Tawwakul Shah. Sain Tawwakul Shah gave the following instruction to Maulvi Siraj Uddin ; Tell people not to write Syed with my name, as I am not a Syed. Regarding his name, Sain Tawwakul Shah mentioned to Maulvi Syed Zahur Uddin , Maulvi my real name is not Tawwakul Shah, this title was bestowed upon me by Allah. Sain Tawwakul Shah always loved to meet holy people, even as a young boy he would make every effort to sit in their blessed company. This was the main reason that he left his home and went to Ajmer Sharif. Here he met a Chishti Nizami Shaykh, with whom he spent much of his time. It was the practice of the Shaykh to go into seclusion after fajr prayers and remain there until zuhr; also he did not participate in the qawalli gatherings. Once, the local people repeatedly pleaded with Sain Tawwakul Shah to ask the Shaykh to join them in the qawalli gathering. Sain Tawwakul Shah mentioned the request of the local people to the Shaykh who replied, Son, no-one will be able to bear the intensity of my ishq. However due to the persistence of Sain Tawwakul Shah , the Shaykh attended the gathering. After a short while, the Shaykh became so intoxicated that he shouted out Illallah! As a result, all the people fainted. The Shaykh made his way back to his hujra and said to Sain Tawwakul Shah , Son, I told you that no-one would be able to bear my state of ishq. Sain Tawwakul Shah relates, During my stay in Ajmer Sharif, I noticed that there was a lot of nur and blessings coming on the mazar of Khwaja Gharib Nawaz . In one of my visions, I saw a gathering of Awliya and each one was sat neatly in his position. I looked around and there was no space for me so I jumped around like a child until I saw the Emir of the gathering, Khwaja Gharib Nawaz ; I went and sat next to them. Many Awliya did not approve of my behaviour but Khwaja Gharib Nawaz said, Let him be, this boy is mast.

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Search for the Master

In a vision, Khwaja Gharib Nawaz instructed Sain Tawwakul Shah that he belonged to the Naqshbandi Mujaddidi Tariqah and would find his master in Punjab. So as instructed he went towards Punjab. On his way he met a mast person who told him to go to Jahankhilan, which he did. There he met a madjhub lady who remarked, So you have come? Go as the sun of hidaya (guidance) is about to set, go and quickly take your proportion. So he continued on his journey until he reached the threshold of his master, the light of Gnostics, Khwaja Qadir Bakhsh . As he met him, the master asked kiyari kiyari ya iko van? (Little by little or all in one go?) Sain Tawwakul Shah replied, iko vari (all in one go). So the master hugged him tightly and transferred so much spirituality that he became overwhelmed and fainted. One of the murids who was watching commented, He has become mast, how will the silsila continue through him? The Master heard this and said, The silsila will become widespread through his efforts and my soul will nourish his murids. Sain Tawwakul Shah had a great deal of respect for his master, in the haiqa of dhikr, he would be the farthest from the master, yet he would benefit the most. He always lived in a state of hope and fear during his time in Jahankhilan at the Shaykhs khanaqah. When he needed the call of nature, he would go two miles barefooted out of Jahankhilan. When the masters son saw this, he offered to make a hut nearby but Sain Tawwakul Shah declined the offer saying, How can I attend to the call of nature or wear shoes in the vicinity of Jahankhilan, where my master resides? Sain Tawwakul Shah stayed with his master for a few months doing khidmat and was later instructed to go to Ambala. Then he would occasionally visit his master, Sain Tawwakul Shah mentioned to one of his murids, Maulvi, khilafat comes from the heavens as a gift from God. When this faqir received permission in this tariqah I saw a dastar (turban) suspended from the sky which began wrapping itself around this faqirs head. Sain Tawwakul Shah used to carry heavy loads on his head and take them from one place to the next. When Khwaja Qadir Bakhsh passed away, some of his children were very young so Sain Tawwakul Shah took it upon himself to look after the welfare of the family. He worked on the farms and would look after the children by picking them up and playing with them. He relates, Once I was carrying a very heavy bundle of grass and had Sahibzada Abdul Khaliq around my waist. As I approached the house, I carefully put Sahibzada sahib on the floor and took the grass through the doors with a great deal of difficulty, because the doors were very narrow. Sahibzada sahib became upset and said, Take the grass back out. I want you to carry the grass and me at the same time, only then will I be pleased with you. So I carried out the request with a great deal of difficulty.

Simple and Humble

Sain Tawwakul Shah lived a very ascetic life without possessions or homely comforts. Sain Tawwakul Shah relates, W hilst in seclusion in a jungle something fell into my turban. When I completed my seclusion I took my turban off and found a snake, which was motionless, it had become overwhelmed by the tajjali (manifestation). He would sleep on the floor because in his view, when the master of both of the worlds, Rasulullah , used to sleep on the floor, how can we sleep in luxury.

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He was of medium height and had a broad chest. His hands and feet were strong. He had long hair (which reached his earlobes) and he had a full beard. His eyebrows were thin like the crescent and his forehead was wide. His eyes were big and bright beaming with the experience of love. He was of fair complexion and had rosy cheeks. Whenever people flocked to him seeking bayat, Sain Tawwakul Shah would remark, You people are better than me, you pray, you are pious people, learned people and I am just an ignorant person. Better you find someone more learned to guide. Though some may have been deterred, others would persist until he relented and gave them bayat. He would then pray for them, O! Allah you sent them to me and I put my trust in you and teach them your name and I hand them over to you. He did not like people standing up in order to show him respect. If anyone recited poetry in his honour he would become sad and say, I am not worthy of this praise, I am nothing. His humbleness and detachment was clear for all to see, he once said, For the barakah of following the sunnah of Rasulullah , I go near my wife, otherwise even if the huris were to come before, I would have no interest. In accordance with the sunnah, Sain Tawwakul Shah would love to eat those things which Rasulullah ate. For breakfast sometimes he used to have egg, honey and blackseed oil. He would change clothes on Friday, and put kohl in his eyes and use perfume, as these were Sunnah acts. He would have lentils for dinner and rarely ate meat. He never complained about food and whatever was made, he ate; and if anyone complained about food in his presence, they would surely be met with the following remark, Do not eat for two days, then you will not complain. Sain Tawwakul Shah was by nature an epitome of generosity, he never refused a beggar and would always give whatever he had. He would never let anyone go without eating and if it was not time for the langar he would send them away with some money. Every visitor was treated equally, whether rich and poor, Muslim and non-Muslim, acquaintance or stranger. Once his neighbour who was an untouchable chura died and so Sain Tawwakul Shah did not eat until the body was cremated as he said it was not befitting to eat whilst the neighbours family was in mourning. It was Sain Tawwakul Shahs habit that if somebody praised something that he was wearing he would donate it to that person without hesitation. Once somebody bought a beautiful coat for him and a maulvi said, Hadrat it looks very nice on you. He immediately took it off and said to the maulvi, You keep it. He would never accept offerings from orphans. A lady offered him some money once and. Sain Tawwakul Shah asked, Is this the orphans money? She replied, No, this is my own. He said to her, Spend it on the orphan. Once he gave some food to a darwish hoping he would give it to the birds but the darwish ate the food himself, thinking it was meant for him. Sain Tawwakul Shah became worried and the darwish soon realised his mistake and asked for forgiveness for his actions.

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Sain Tawwakul Shah said, You have eaten the haq of the birds, ask them for forgiveness. So the darwish gave all his food to the birds. When Sain Tawwakul Shah used to recite darud sharif and his wazaif, birds would come and sit on his shoulders and laps.

Love of Rasulullah

and necessity of Durud Sharif

One day a discussion was taking place about life and death and someone said, It is often said that Rasulullah is alive, but we also know that he has passed away and is buried in Madinah sharif. So what does it mean he is alive? In what sense is he alive? Sain Tawwakul Shah replied, He is alive in the sense that as he had power and authority in the physical existence, he has that power and authority now. What he was able to do then, he can do now. Once, Rasulullah was asked about whether the blessings sent upon him by people from afar arrive to him, even after death. On this matter, Rasulullah said, I personally hear the salawat which is read by people of love and other salawat which is not of that category is presented to me as a gift by angels; either way it is presented to them. Salawat that is heard personally by Rasulullah is also accepted and acknowledged on a personal basis, such favoured people know this. Khwaja Qutub Uddin Bakhtiyar Kaki , the khalifa of Khwaja Gharib Nawaz would send 300 salawat on Rasulullah every night. After his second marriage, he became busy for a few days and so he did not fulfil his obligation as usual. Rasulullah came to him in a dream and asked, Qutub Uddin, where is your salawat? I have not received it. Such blessed people know immediately as they are told that their salawat goes directly to Rasulullah . Sain Tawwakul Shah explained that the Quran commands that reverence and honour is shown to Rasulullah and that one of the ways of showing this reverence and honour to Rasulullah is by sending blessings upon him. Sain Tawwakul Shah used to celebrate milad sharif on the 12th of Rabi al-Awwal each year. He used to sit away from the gathering and do muraqabah. Once Maulvi Syed Zahur Uddin said, Hadrat, why dont you sit in the gathering? Sain Tawwakul Shah replied, So much anwar of Rasulullah descend on the gathering, that I can barely remain conscious. Sain Tawwakul Shah relates that due to constantly reciting darud sharif he was blessed by the soul of Rasulullah . He narrates, In the beginning I saw an image of a person who was extremely handsome with radiant eyes who wore a turban with one shamla (tail). This image stayed with me all the time and I was mystified as to the identity of the person and did not mention it to anyone. Then later on I began to see two people. The second one had two shamlay. These images stayed with me for a long time. Later on I found out that the first person was Ghaus e Azam and the second was Rasulullah . Then these images disappeared and I began to see Rasulullah bilmushafa (in person) and my soul became fana in him. Phir ban moj hui (this we enjoyed very much). Maulvi Syed Zahur Uddin relates that Sain Tawwakul Shah mentioned, Maulvi sahib! When I recite this darud sharif, This is the darud sharif, Allahumma salli ala

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muhammadin wa ala ale muhammadin bi adadi kulli ma luma lika, the soul of Rasulullah meets me and puts a garland of flowers around my neck. Sain Tawwakul Shah also mentioned that when a person occupies himself with worship he is faced with trials and tribulations, however the beauty of darud sharif is that a person is protected from all of these. He explained this is as every type of worship can be rejected due to some fault with the exception of darud sharif, which is never rejected. It is recommended to read darud sharif eleven hundred times (1100) times daily. This is the minimum and there is no maximum. One of the benefits of reading durud sharif is that it enhances spiritual progress because it awakens the lataif. A person asked Sain Tawwakul Shah , Often people see their Shaykh in a dream and are given advice by the Shaykh; is the Shaykh aware or not? Sain Tawwakul Shah replied, The Shaykh is not always aware unless he gives tawajjuh and his soul guides the murid. Sain Tawwakul Shah said, Ban ba-barkat aur mubarak woh gharibi haijis ke sati khuda kiyad ho, jis gharibi aur tangi ke sath fisq o fajur ya kufr mil jaye woh khuda ke ghadb ki nishani hal kyoon ke dunya to gal hi thi din bi hath se jata raha Blessed is that poverty in which one remembers God and cursed is that poverty in which one disobeys Him because he has already lost the world, he now faces losing his din as well. Sain Tawwakul Shah said that a Sufi who is consistent on a particular dhikr will continue doing this dhikr even after his death. It is related that Sain Tawwakul Shah used to lick his lips during certain awrads. When asked why, he replied, W hen I read darud sharif or the name of Allah, it feels like somebody is putting sweets into my mouth.

Tawwakul
Sain Tawwakul Shah was given this name Tawwakul because the practice of tawwakul (Trust in God) was a very major feature of his life. He explains the practice, For the common person like a farmer, tawwakul is that he ploughs the field, sows the seed and puts all the effort into the land to have produce, then he leaves it to Allah because it is only through Allahs blessings, like the rain that he will have harvest; but he does all the work that is required. So the farmer in every sense makes every effort in his capacity and leaves the end product to Allah. Once, he was asked about the meaning of tawwakul and he said, Tawwakul is to be independent of people and totally dependent on Allah. He emphasized this point by narrating the following, Once, Sultan Bayazid Bastami was asked about tawwakul. He put his hand in the mouth of a python and remarked. We are the creation of the same God, this python and me. He cannot harm me unless he has permission from his Creator. Once a darwish, who had the formula of making gold came and stayed with Sain Tawwakul Shah . After a few days he realised that the langar was prepared through tawwakul alone as there was no reserve or regular funding and sometimes the langar fell short.

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So he prepared some gold and presented it to Sain Tawwakul Shah who took no notice of it at all. The darwish thought the Shaykh must not be paying attention to the offering because it was a small amount and I did not tell him the secret of making the gold. So he said 0 Hadrat! I am going to the market to get some ingredients and will create the formula with your blessed hands. As soon as he left, Sain Tawwakul Shah sent a khadim after him to tell him to take all his belongings and not to enter the khanaqah again. Sain Tawwakul Shah explained, His gold making is interfering with our total reliance on Allah. Sain Tawwakul Shah said, A person must always thank Allah Almighty for his benevolence and the biggest blessings of Allah are faith and good health, which people normally do not appreciate and thus they waste their precious lives. Sain Tawwakul Shah narrated, Once a darwish passed through a graveyard and as he passed the graves of the people of dunya he heard them saying Hal dunya Hal dunya. When he passed the graves of martyrs and pious people he again heard the cry of Hal dunya Hal dunya, which confused him. Allah Almighty informed him the people of dunya are crying because it was due to dunya that they have nothing and the holy people are crying because they wish they had more time in dunya to perform more pious deeds.

Death
Towards the end of his life, Sain Tawwakul Shah suffered from serious illness yet he continued to pray with jamaat to his dying day and remained occupied in reciting durud on Rasulullah . When asked to nominate a successor, Sain Tawwakul Shah said My name is Tawwakul Shah, I have planted the seeds of tawwakul, Allah will take care of it Sain Tawwakul Shah said, I saw my ruh (spirit) wearing a green turban and I saw the spirits of the Awliya descend from the heavens and shake hands with me. I had a vision in which the imam of our mosque hugged me and said, Shah Ji, they are waiting for you upstairs. Sain Tawwakul Shah explained that sending blessings and salutations upon Rasulullah was an excellent and accepted way of showing reverence and honour to Rasulullah . By showing this honour and reverence, believer ensure they re fulfilling the command of Allah and are expressing their love towards Rasulullah . The importance of sending blessings upon Rasulullah is illustrated by the following narration by Imam Qushayri ; On the Day of Judgement, one mumins sins will outweigh his good deeds. At that moment, a person will come and place a piece of paper which will increase the good deeds such that they outweigh the sins. The mumin will say, May my mother and father be sacrificed for you, who are you? The person will reply, I am your Prophet, Rasulullah and this piece of paper is the darud sharif you have read upon me. I have come to help you in your hour of need.

Al-Fatiha

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