Faqr

The Gift of Miraj

The incident of Miraj is the evidence of the unmatched grandeur, glory and excellence of Prophet Mohammad. History witnesses that whenever an extraordinary incident happens, it has some hidden wisdom. Everyone understands it according to his intellect. This understanding depends upon the closeness between Allah and that person.

If Allah had summoned the Holy Prophet beyond the heavens and presented all the splendors, every spiritual status and every creation of land and water before him and had replete him with His Glory and Grace had He not asked him that:

“O My honorable guest! Demand anything from Me today. I will not return you empty handed.”

It is world’s tradition that if anyone comes to a royal court and the king becomes happy with him due to any of his quality then the king asks him to demand anything he wants. The person would surely ask the king according to his grandeur.

Allah is the King of both the worlds. Had He not admired his beloved Prophet Mohammad? Had He not presented before him the keys to everything? Surely He had, because no one is more bountiful and benevolent than Allah. At the night of Miraj Allah limitlessly bestowed everyone from the Ummah of Prophet Mohammad, whether common or special. According to early traditions, the gifts which Allah gave at the night of Miraj were:

The gifts of Allah at the night of Miraj

• As per the reward of a good deed, if anyone intends to do it but could not act upon it, then Allah will write the reward of that good deed for him as if he has performed it.
• If he has performed the deed as he intended to, then Allah writes ten to seven hundred times reward for him.
• And for a bad deed, if a person intends to do it but does not act upon it then Allah writes its reward for him as of one good deed.
• Allah writes the punishment for one bad deed if he has performed the deed as he intended to.
• Allah gave the last verses of Sura al-Baqarah as one of the gifts.
• For the Ummah Allah gave the gift of fifty salats which were lessened to five for the easiness of Ummah but the reward will remain equal to fifty salats. (Bukhari and Muslim)

Events before Miraj

We cannot understand the significance of the gifts of Miraj unless we do not know the background behind this special event. The incident of Miraj happened three years before migration. That was the time when the preaching of the Holy Prophet was at a stage between struggle and success. He had to face the boycott by the Makkans and their brutalities while his stay in the valley of Abu Talib.  He suffered calamities like the death of his beloved wife Khadija-tul-Kubra and uncle Abu Talib.  The journey to Taif for preaching was also a terrible one. The harsh attitude of his relatives was also exceeding its limits.

On one hand the Muslims were silently fighting for their survival and on the other hand it was also essential to make them believe that Allah is truth and there is no precedent for what He has for his steadfast men. The luxuries and profits of this transitory world are trivial.

The inspirations that came from journey of Miraj

The journey of Miraj inspired the human who is confined to this physical world to explore the world. It gave the hope to the seekers of Allah who were travelling the spiritual journey to meet Him. Also, it persuaded the Universal Divine Man to discover the inward and outward.

Sayings of Sultan Bahoo about the gift of Miraj

Sultan Bahoo says about the present which Allah granted His special seekers on the night of Miraj:

• Allah Almighty was determined to please His beloved Prophet Mohammad in every way at the night of Miraj. That is why He left the decision upon His beloved to choose the gift. During this ascension journey Gabriel presented eighteen thousand worlds, decorated and adorned beautifully, before the Holy Prophet. Allah asked him:

“O My beloved Mohammad, I have presented the eighteen thousand worlds before you and entrusted all the creations to you, what do you like the best among them and what do you wish to have? He replied humbly, “O my Lord! I like Faqr, Divine vision and Ism-e-Allah Zaat the most and I seek You from You”. Allah said, “O Mohammad, you have already got Faqr, Divine vision and Ism-e-Allah Zaat”. He replied, “O Allah, the King of universe, I want this for my Ummah” (Ain-ul-Faqr)

Indifference of Holy Prophet towards eighteen thousand words

Sultan Bahoo says:

“At the night of Miraj the Holy Prophet rode Buraq and angel Gabriel escorted him. During this journey Allah adorned both the worlds for His beloved. Gabriel presented eighteen thousand worlds, decorated, before the Holy Prophet. At the lote tree (Sidra-tul-Muntaha), Gabriel stopped moving forward.

In spite of all these arrangements the Holy Prophet did not take his eyes away from Allah Almighty. Allah says:

مَا زَاغَ الْبَصَرُ وَمَاطَغٰی۔ (النجم۔17)

Meaning: His eye neither inclined aside nor overstepped the limit; (it gazed in ecstasy at Whom it was to gaze).(53:17)

The Holy Prophet got the blessing of Faqr

The Holy Prophet did not pay any attention to these arrangements and when he reached the lote tree of heaven, he beheld the countenance of Faqr. He enjoyed the levels of Sultan-ul-Faqr, adorned his inward with Divine light of Faqr. Then Allah honoured him with his closeness at the level of Qab-a-Qausain and had conversation with Him. Then he entered the next level of Faqr i.e. annihilation in Allah and became the companion of Faqr. Allah, after that attributed him with the attributes such as mysticism, Divine love, passion, ecstasy, knowledge, clemency and generosity. As Allah says:

تَخَلَّقُوْا بِاَخلَاقِ اللّٰہِ

Meaning: Be attributed with the attributes of Allah.

After crossing all these levels and reaching at the height of Faqr when Prophet Mohammad was replete with the ocean of Faqr, he said with his pearl divulging tongue:

“Faqr is my pride and Faqr is from me”

 Holy Prophet returned to his Companions after Miraj

After the journey of Miraj, the Holy Prophet returned to the assembly of his Companions. When the reality of Faqr manifested from his existence which is an ocean of Faqr, then most of the companions desired the Mohammadan Faqr. Hence Allah said:

“O Mohammad, always pay attention to these Fakirs and never keep your eyes away from them because they ever remain drowned in the remembrance of Allah.”

Prophet Mohammad replied:

“All praises to Allah, now I will never become oblivious from obeying this command of Allah.” (Mehak-ul-Faqr-Kalan)

Fifty salats lessened to five

Allah made obligatory fifty salats daily for every common and special Muslim which afterwards lessened to five and the Mohammadan Ummah was blessed with Faqr and Ism-e-Allah Zaat for the knowledge of Divine Vision. Faqr is the most special and valuable blessing for which all the Prophets desired to be included in the Ummah of Prophet Mohammad. Faqr is a special present which Allah blessed the sinful Ummah of Prophet Mohammad only because of him.

All the Prophets desired Faqr

Sultan Bahoo says:

“All the Prophets desired Faqr but could not attain it. Only the Holy Prophet could acquire it which he conferred to his Ummah.” (Ameer-ul-Kaunain)

Allama Iqbal says about Faqr:

فقر ذوق و شوق و تسلیم و رضا است
ما  امینیم  ایں متاعِ مصطفیؐ   است

Meaning: Faqr is the name of passion, ecstasy, surrender and submission to the Divine will. It is the legacy of Prophet Mohammad and we are the heirs of this legacy.

Presence of inward is the real Miraj

Faqr and presence of inward is the true soul of salats and all the religious devotions. The Holy Prophet said:

لاَ صَلٰوۃَ اِلَّا بِحُضُوْرِ الْقَلبِ

Meaning: There is no salat without the presence of inward.

Salat is Miraj for a true believer

Sultan Bahoo says:

“So, establishing salat means having presence before Allah in the inward. The salat of pure men who are blessed with presence before Allah is that their body organs are busy in bowing and prostrating. Their tongue is reciting the Quranic verses but inward is engrossed in the Divine vision. Unless they are blessed with the Divine presence and vision during salat while recitation of Quranic verses in the standing position, they do not bow. They do not raise their head and bent for prostration unless they are blessed with the Divine presence and vision in bowing position. And unless they are blessed with the Divine presence and vision while first prostration they do not raise their head and go for second prostration because salat means having ultimate closeness and Divine vision.

As the Holy Prophet said:

• اَلصَّلٰوۃُ مِعْرَاجُ الْمُؤْمِنِیْنَ

  Meaning: Salat is Miraj for a true believer. (Sultan-ul-Waham)

Salat of men whose inward is not present

Sultan Bahoo adds:

“Following is said about those who say their salat in the manner that neither they are blessed with the vision of Allah in their inward nor their inward is present before Allah while offering salat:

• یَا لَیْتَنِیْ مَنْ لَّم یَرَی الرَّحْمٰنَ بِصَلوٰۃِ فَھُوَ لَیْسَ بِمْصَلِّ اَصْلًا

  Meaning: Grieve upon those who do not see the Rahman in their salat, they are the ones who do not offer their salat truly and properly.

The seeker who does not behold Allah while offering salat and doing other jobs, and does not even recognize Allah nor remains present before Him eternally, has not achieved his objective. He is still a seeker of Allah not the lover of Allah.” (Sultan-ul-Waham)

Physical worships and outward good deeds.

Sultan Bahoo further says:

“Hence, it is clear that one can rarely gain the closeness and union of Allah by physical worships and outward good deeds. As a Saint said:

Meaning: No doubt! Offering salat, recitation of Quran, performing Hajj and paying zakat are good deeds but the marvel of a true seeker of Allah is to reach the ultimate destination (i.e. union with Allah).” (Sultan-ul-Waham)

Final words:

Faqr is the soul of all the worships and is the special gift of Miraj which the Holy Prophet asked for his Ummah. Hence, it is compulsory for his every follower to desire Faqr through his medium so that Allah may guide him upon the path towards Himself. Amin

Note:

Faqr – The gift of Miraj is an Urdu article of the magazine “Mahnama Sultan-ul-Faqr Lahore” for the month of March 2019. Originally penned by Faiza Gulzar Sarwari Qadri is presently in English by Zainab Moghees Sarwari Qadri exclusively for the website. Do not forget to visit the original article to which you only have to click the link

https://www.mahnama-sultan-ul-faqr-lahore.com/march-2020-faqr-tohfa-meraj-e-mustafa/.

Do leave a comment or query as we would like to hear from you and for support hit the like button.