Dars e Imam-Ability To Help
“Bismillahir Rahmannir Raheem””Al-Hamdu Lillaahi Rabbil ‘Aalameen was Salaatu was- Salaamu ‘Alaa Sayidinaa Muhammadin wa Aalihi wa Asabihi Ajma ‘een (tauheed- risalat- ahkirat and islam-iman-ihsan)
Some people argue that
once the pious have died – their ability to help anyone ceases. So, why do
people still go to their graves to seek help?
A: We, the Ahl as-Sunna wa’l Jama’at say that when the pious die, their ability to help
others does not diminish and end. They are alive in their graves and the power
of their souls become stronger than when they were alive. If you cover a
living person with a blanket, he would not be able to recognise those who pass
by, but it has been proved from narrations that the deseased can recognise and hear the footsteps of those who pass by the
grave. A living person cannot understand what the birds are saying, but the
deceased can hear and understand exactly what they are saying. Also, a living
person cannot travel millions of miles faster than the blink of an eye, but the
deceased can travel many millions of miles faster than the blink of the eye. An
example of this is when one sleeps, one can travel many miles and break the
physical laws of this world. In the same way the deceased can break the laws of
this world, as their spiritual bodies are stronger.
Ibn al Qayyim writes that the
deceased are pleased with those people who attend the funeral or those who
stand at his grave. When people pass the grave and convey their salaams, he
[the person in the grave]
returns the salaams and also recognises the person
who has conveyed the salaam. When the birds praise Allah – most High, the
person in the grave also understands the birds’ praises (i.e. what the birds
are saying).
The martyrs’ souls are in heaven, and when people convey their salaam to them
at their graves, they come back to their grave and return the salaam. The
ordinary souls at the very highest of the seven skies are at a place called
Illiyin and when someone greets them with salaam, they come back to their
grave, answer the salaam and also recognise the person. As in the case
with people who are alive – some are
strong and some are weak. In the same way, some souls are stronger than others
like in the case of the pious. The more pious the person is, the stronger the
soul. There could be some people who do not believe in what has been
written, but Allah – most High has created those people who believe this and
their hearts verify it. Every Muslim
should believe that the deceased soul meets other souls, in the same way that
the living people meet each other and this is proved in the Qur`an. Allah
– most High says in the Qur’an, in 39/42: Allah takes away the souls at the
time of their death and of those who don’t die during their sleep.
Then He with holds that against which He has decreed death and sends back the other until an appointed
time [39/42]
Imam Sudayy says that Allah takes souls
when people are asleep, and the deceased souls and people who are alive come together
and discuss issues in their dreams. The deceased souls can give the
living information that other people do not know. Sometimes they can inform
people when people are going to die. In
different matters, they guide the living. There were two companions of
the Prophet ﷺ called
Salman Farsi and Abd Allah bin Salam, May Allah be well pleased with them both.They both said that whoever dies first, he
would inform the other what had happened to him. Abd Allah bin Salam died first
and appeared in Salman Farsi’s dream. Abd Allah then informed Salman Farsi that
out of all of his good deeds, Allah – most High liked one particular deed the
most, which was perfect reliance of God, so Salman continued having
unshakable tust in Allah.
Ibn Sirin, may Allah be pleased with Him, appeared in his friends dream and said that Allah, most High has given
him paradise. The dreamer asked him about Hasan al Basri. He said Allah
has given him a higher status than
himself. There was another companion called Mas’ar and he used to appear in peoples’ dreams and inform them
to attend dhikr gatherings since Allah was pleased with this act.
Similarly, many people have seen Hafidhh ibn Taymiyya in their dream, and they
have asked him very complex fiqh questions, and Hafidhh ibn Taymiyya has
answered them and satisfied them all
Some people might say that these are only dreams and we don’t know whether they
are right or wrong so how can we trust them? But they should know that when the
deceased gives news about a person who is going to die at a particular time; or
says that on a particular day rain will fall; or there will be famine; or the
enemy will attack; or there will be trouble; or if he gives that kind of news
that nobody knows accept him, these will become reality. These types of facts are only ignored by a
person who is unaware of the power of the spirits. It is also a fact that if
many Muslims see a similar dream, this becomes evidence like Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said to
his companion: all of your dreams show that the Night of Power (Laylat al Qadr)
will be on the last ten days of Ramadan.
[Kitab ar Ruh, a summary of chapters 1, 2, 3 and 15, Hafidhh ibn
al Qayyim]
Let us remember that the
Nabi ﷺ himself put a large stone to mark the grave of his Sahabi Uthman
bin Maz’un and said: (li A’alama bihi Qabra Akhi) i.e. “So that I can know
the Qabr of my brother”. (Abu Dawud and Mishkat al-Masabih).This Hadith is the Asl (Islamic origin) for marking graves, especially
that of special people so that they may be KNOWN. The designs and style
of structure may change over the centuries, but the Original Idea comes from
the Sunnah, as the idea to decorate Masajid.
In a Sahih Hadith, Nabi Muhammad ﷺ says that the honour of a Mu’min who has passed away is the same like his honour was when he was alive (Hurmatul Mumini maitan ka Hurmatihi Hayyan).Allah, subhanaHu wa Ta`ala, says that the most honourable of you in the sight of Allah, subhanaHu wa Ta`ala, are the pious ones.
In another Sahih Hadith, it is narrated that when Nabi Muhammad ﷺ looked at the Holy
Ka’bah, he said, “How great are you, oh house of Allah, but I swear by Allah
who created me, that the honour the believer is even greater than you”.
The Holy Quran (22/32) says:”And
those who venerate the Sha’a’ir Allahi (Signs/Symbols of Allah), then that is
from the Taqwa in their hearts”. (wa man yuazzim sha’a’ir Allahi fa
innaha min Taqwal Qulub)
Iman =qalbi ibadat
Amal/deeds=zahir ibadat
When I want to talk to allah I say prayers and when I want that he talk to me I recite quran- Hazrath Ali(ra)
Make sure you forward this to others .