LOVE AND DEVOTION WITH SAINTS
We have said that love and devotion is not only carnal and biological; there
is another kind of love and attraction, which is found in a higher phenomenon,
basically lying beyond the sphere of matter and materialism. It emanates from an
instinct superior to that of biological preservation. This in fact is the line
of distinction between the human and the animal worlds. To love human merits and
glories and be fond of human beauty and charm is abstract love and for that
reason human:
Love which is after a complexion,
Is not love, it ends in humiliation,
Because the love of the dead is not durable,
As the dead never reverts to us.
The love of the Living in the body and in the vision
Gives them both, freshness more than a budding flower has.
Love that Alive Who always exists,
Who is cup-bearer of wine of life.
Adopt His love all Prophets,
From Whose Love achieved all their aims and glories.
And it is this love which in the many verses of the Quran has been described
as, "Mohabat and Vod or Movaddat" such verses can be divided into a few
categories: -
(1) The verses which describe the merits of the believers and the intensity
of their love with God or with their co-believers:
Those who believe are serious in Allah's love. Those, who were settled before
the migrators in homes, are settled in the realm of faith, they welcomed the
emigrants and felt no indignation in their hearts for what they parted in favour
of migrators, rather gave them preference, may be they needed it more.
(2) The verses which describe Allah's love with the believers:
2.222 God loves the penitent and the pious.
3.148 God loves the virtuous.
5.13
9:4,7 God loves those who practise continence.
9:1.8 God loves the pious.
49.9 God loves the just.
60.8
(3) The verses, which describe both-ways love and love in reciprocity Love
of God towards the faithful and love of the faithful towards God, and love of
the faithful towards each other.
3.31 Say: If you love Allah, follow me so that God may love you and forgive
your sins.
5.54 Allah will raise a nation whom He loves and they
love Him.
19.96 Those who have become the believers and have done good deeds, Allah the
merciful bestows love on them.
30.21 Allah ordains compassion between you and your spouses and confers love.
And it is the very same love and affection, which Ibrahim wished for his
posterity, and which last of the Prophets besought from Allah Almighty for his
kith and kin. What is deduced from traditions is that the pith and substance of
faith is nothing other than love. Bareed Ajli says, "I was in that session of
Imam Baqir when a traveler came from Khorasan. He had covered that long distance
on foot. He appeared before the Imam. When he removed his footwears, his feet
were ruptured and split. He said: 'By God, but for your love nothing has brought
me here'. The Imam said, 'I swear by Allah, even if a stone loves us. God will
resurrect it along with us and install it in our vicinity on the day of the
Judgment'. The Imam also said "Is faith anything other than love"?
One man said to Imam Sadiq, "We name our children after your and your
fore-fathers' names; has this practice got any benefits for us"? The Imam
replied: "Yes, by God faith is nothing but love". Thereafter he recited, "If you
love Allah, obey me (Prophet) so that Allah may love you".
Basically love and affection would generate obedience. The lover does not
have the will to betray the wishes of the beloved. We see with our own eyes that
a youthful lover would forego everything for the sake of his beloved, and would
sacrifice everything for the sake of his beloved. The obedience and worship of
Allah by a man is proportionate to love and devotion he has for God; as Imam
Sadiq has said," You disobey God and yet profess love with Him. Because friend
is one who obeys whom one claims to be his friend'.
THE POTENTIAL OF LOVE IN SOCIETY
Sociologically love is a potential and effective force. The best of the
societies is that which is organized on the basis of fraternity i.e. the love of
the administrator and the ruler towards the subjects, and the devotion of the
people towards the ruler and the administrator.
The love and the affection
in the ruler is a major factor for the solidarity and continuity of a
government. As long as a ruler is divested of love, he may not be able to, or
with difficulty may, give lead to the people and make them disciplined and law
abiding. But as soon as he establishes harmony and justice in society, people
will become law abiding because they find their ruler also having respect for
the same. It is his respect, which persuades people to obedience and submission.
The Quran addressing the Prophet says that you have power of persuasion and
ability to organise a society:
"Because of Allah's bounty
and benevolence, you are of tender heart for them. Had you been harsh and
snobbish, people would have scattered away from you. So forgive them, beseech
their emancipation and in your affairs consult them".
Herein, firstly, Allah traced the cause, for which the people would rally
around the Prophet, in the love and affection, which he had for them.
Thereafter, Allah commands him to forgive them, to seek their emancipation and
to take them in confidence in the administration of affairs.
All these are consequences of love and affection because kindness,
forbearance and tolerance flow from love and equity.
He, with the sword of tolerance, redeemed so many people,
When the sword of iron was going to cut the throats of many;
Yes it is more victorious than hundreds of armies.
The Quran again says, "The
virtuous and the vicious are not alike. Repel mischief in a better manner so
that enmity that exists between you and him may change into friendship for you".
"Oh! my son forgive, because man may be captivated with favour and beast with
trap. Behumble an enemy with kindness.
This lasso cannot be cut with a sword."
Amir-ul-Momineen, while designating Malik-ul-Ashtar to the governor-ship of
Egypt, made him a behest for public dealing in the following words:
"Awaken, in your heart, the feelings of love, fraternity and tenderness
towards the people. Grant them share from forgiveness and pardon, as your love
with God ensures you His forgiveness and pardon".
The heart of a ruler must be full of love and affection for the nation. Power
and authority is not enough. It is possible that with power and authority men
may be driven like sheep, but it will neither awaken their latent potentialities
nor utilize them. Nay! power and authority is not sufficient. Even if justice
is administered with aridity, it will not be enough. The ruler must be as
affectionate as a father and must love the people from the depth of his heart.
He must show them kindness. He should possess an attractive and inspiring
personality, so that he may be in a position to utilize their will, their vigor
and their great potentials. He himself must keep the service of the people as
his goal.
THE BEST MEANS FOR SELF-EDIFICATION
The foregoing discussions in the context of love and devotion were only
introductory. Now we wish to gradually arrive at the conclusion. The most
important proposition, which in fact is the central subject of the moot, is
whether the love with saints and affiliation with the pious is in itself an end
or means to achieve self-edification, reformation of soul, virtue and human
beauties.
In animal love the lover pays whole attention and care to the face,
proportion of limbs, complexion and charms of-the beloved's skin. These charms
attract man and make him fond. But after once these charms fade away, nothing is
left to enkindle those flames. He gets cold and keeps mum.
But human love, as we have said earlier, is life and vivacity. It begets
obedience and submission. It is love, which makes the lover similar to the
beloved. He strives to be a reflection of the beloved. He copies the beloved's
manners. As Khwaja Naseer-ud-Din Toosi says in 'Shara-e-Isharat-e-Bu Ali': "The
spiritual love is that which emanates from the urge of the lover to resemble the
beloved. The lover pays greater attention to the manners of the beloved and, the
impressions, which originate from the beloved's heart. It is love which makes
the heart tender, anxious and eager; and it blesses the lover with such
susceptibilities which make him scornful of worldly contaminations".
Love pulls towards resemblance and similarity and becomes the source of what
makes the lover resemble the beloved. Love is like electric wire, which connects
the personality of the beloved to the lover's and thus the merits of the former
are flown to the latter. Hence the selection of the beloved of paramount
importance. Islam lays great stress on and makes special provisions for
selection and choice of friends. In this context many verses and traditions may
be cited, because friendship brings about uniformity in behaviour, it
beautifies and intoxicates. So much so, wherever love has held sway the demerits
of the beloved are taken as merits and a thorn is accepted as a rose or a
jasmine. Some of the verses and traditions have strictly forbidden company of
and friendship with impious and mendacious people. Some of these verses and
traditions call for making friends with the pious. Ibn Abbas says, "We were
sitting in the company of the Prophet, when somebody asked, 'who is the best of
the companions'? The Prophet replied, "The one whose appearance reminds you of
Allah, whose words enhance your knowledge, and whose gait reminds you of the
doomsday".
Man is always in need of the alchemy of love of the pious and the virtuous so
that the love of the virtuous makes his behaviour identical with and his looks
similar to the pious.
For the reformation of morals and the soul, many methods have been formulated
and different schools have come forth. Of all such schools, one is of Socrates.
According to the rules of this school, man is expected to reform himself through
wisdom and reason. Man should first completely believe in the merits of piety
and the demerits of debauchery. Thereafter, by adopting logical procedure he
should locate each and every vice, like a man who removes the hair from his nose
one by one, or like a farmer who clears his field of unwanted growths and weeds
one by one, or like a person who sifts the wheat from sand and dust, grain by
grain, and thus he cleanse the harvest of his life. According to this method one
should patiently, with determination and calculation, gradually remove the
impurities from the gold of his existence. Perhaps it is rightly said that for
wisdom it may not be possible to accomplish the task.
The philosophers want reformation of morals by force of logic and
methodology. For example, they say piety and contentment determine the prestige
and individuality of a man among the masses, and greed and ambition are the
cause of his disgrace and disrepute. Or, they say, knowledge is a factor to
achieve power and strength. Knowledge is like this and like that, or "the
knowledge is the seal of Solomon's authority". Knowledge is a light that
discerns a route from a ditch. Or, they say, jealousy and malice are spiritual
diseases and sociologically they will lead to a disastrous end, and things like
that.
No doubt, this method is a correct method and such means are fair means but
the difference lies in the comparative utility of this method to that of another
method. As an automobile is a good means, but we should see the extent of its
worth comparatively with an aeroplane.
Forthwith, we do not want to discuss the worth of rational course for
guidance. That is to say, we have nothing to argue as to what amount of
arguments, in rational terminology, may be sufficient to discover moral problems
exactly, faithfully, correctly, errorlessly and doubtlessly. Suffice it to say
that schools of reformative philosophy are innumerable and incalculable. And for
the purposes of rationality they have not so far travelled beyond "dispute" and
"disagreement". But we know that people of divinity conclusively say:
"The logicians have wooden feet.
Wooden feet are most treacherous".
Presently our discussion is not in this context. It is rather in this
context that what is the sum total of the output of these methods. The people of
divinity, morality and mysticism propound the course of love and devotion
instead of adopting the course of logic and rationalism. They say: "Find out a
perfect man and develop love, contact and affiliation with him from the depth of
your heart, because this is a method safer and quicker than that of wisdom and
logic". For purposes of comparison, both these methods are like the old manual
method and the mechanical method. The impact of the force of love and
affiliation to remove the moral vices from the heart is identical to the effect
of chemical process of purification of metal, e.g., one engraver burns away the
circumference of letters with acid, and not with a nail, a point of knife or a
thing like that. The effect of the force of reason in refining morals is like
the exercise of a man who with manual labour sifts the fragments of iron from
the dust. How difficult it is. If he has one powerful piece of magnet in his
hand, it is possible he may with a single effort collect the whole of such
fragments. The force of love and affiliation has the qualities of magnet, it
musters the vices to oust them. According to the belief of the saints, the love
and affiliation with the pious and the perfect is an automatic instrument which
of itself musters the evils and expels them. If endearment has reached such a
degree, it would be the best of the conditions, and this is what purifies and
lends glory.
Yes those, who have adopted this course, want moral reformation through the
force of love and rely on the force of devotion and dedication. Experience has
shown that the degree of moral influence, produced by the company of the pious
and love with them, could not be achieved by reading hundreds of books on
morals. Maulvi defines the message of love as lamentations of Flute:
Like flute none has tasted poison and panacea,
Whosoever has torn his garb in love,
He has become immune from greed and evil,
Bravo! my love, my happy madness,
O, the healer of all my ailments.
Sometimes we come across divines whose followers adopt even their gait, the
design of their robes, follow their manners and copy their dialect.
This imitation is not willful, it is rather spontaneous and natural. The
power of love and affiliation enters every limb of the lover and makes him
resemble the beloved. It is for this reason that everyone should strive to
search out a righteous personality and develop love with him so as to reform
himself:
"if you have a madness of fruition, O Hafiz!
You should humble yourself on the threshold of the righteous!"
Man has often decided to offer prayers or to do a good deed but lethargy
abstained him. Now as soon as love finds expression, the lethargy disappears.
His determination becomes strong and his urge vigorous
The love of the beautiful robs the faith recklessly,
The chess-board is not as captivating as a charming face;
You should not think that Majnoon became Majnoon of himself
It was Laila who pulled him from fish to the star;
I did not of myself reach the point from where the sun rises,
I was a dust particle but thy love elevated me,
It was the bend of your eyebrow and your heavenly palm,
Which moved in the 'assemblage' and captivated me.
History knows many great men whose love and affiliation with the perfect, at
least in the estimation of their followers, infused revolutionary spirit in
their bodies. Maula-i-Room is one of such persons. To start with, he was not so
anxious and aflame. He was a sage but cold and silent. He imparted instructions
in a corner of his town. From the day he benefited form Shams Tabrizi, he
developed devotion towards him. This devotion altogether changed him. It made
his soul ablaze. It worked as an ignition in a storehouse of gunpowder and
caused flames to rise. Although he himself might belong to the Ash'ari school
yet his 'Masnavi' no doubt is one of the greatest (poetical) works of the world.
This stalwart's numbers are all dynamism and activation. He has sung
'Diwan-i-Shams' in the memory of his ideal and beloved. He frequently reverts to
him in the 'Masnavi' as well.
In 'Masnavi', we see Maula-i-Room, though dealing with a particular subject,
is instantly put to the reminiscence of Shams. This arouses a violent storm in
his soul that produces roaring waves in him:
This spirit has put my soul on fire,
As if it has smelt the scent of Yusof's apron,
For the sake of company of years,
Repeat the mystery of those happy moments,
So that the earth and heaven rejoice,
Wisdom, soul and eyes are enriched hundred times;
I say, Oh! You the distant from your friend,
You are like a patient away from the physician;
What could I say, whose not a vein in his body is robust,
About the friend who has missed his friend,
Put off the details of the separation and its pangs,
Forget it for the moment till some other time,
Do not seek trouble, dread and blood-shed,
Do not say more about Shams Tabrizi.
In this context Hafiz has rightly said:
From the bounty of the rose, nightingale has learnt to sing, otherwise,
All this lyric and charm was not arranged in its
beak.
From here we can deduce that effort and attraction and activity and
inspiration must go hand in hand. Nor do emotions fructify without efforts, in
the same manner as attraction without efforts leads to nowhere.
INSTANCES FROM THE HISTORY OF ISLAM
In the history of Islam, we come across notable and unprecedented events of
intense love and devotion of the Muslims with the personality of the Prophet,
and. virtually this is the difference between the School of Prophets and the
School of Philosophers: The pupils of philosophers are only their students and
the philosophers do not impress them more than a teacher does; but the Prophets:
their impression is that of a beloved, such a beloved who has found way unto the
depths of lover's heart and has gripped all the veins of his life.
From amongst those dedicated to the Prophet, one is Abu Zar Ghifari. When the
Prophet ordered an advance towards Tabook (about 450 miles to the north of
Madina in the vicinity of Syria), some of the Muslims became reluctant and the
hypocrites created mischief. Ultimately, the invigorated army moved ahead. They
did not have arsenal of the warriors. They were facing scarcity and shortage of
provisions too. Sometimes a few soldiers would live on a single date. But all of
them were happy and jubilant. Love had invigorated them and the Prophet's
attraction had graced them with strength. Abu Zar also was amongst the army
moving towards Tabook. Midway, three persons, one after the other, lagged
behind. Whenever any one would lag behind the Prophet was informed of him, and
every time he would say, "If there is any good for us in him. God may revert him
to us and if there is no good in him, it is better that he has gone".
The weak and thin camel of Abu Zar could no longer walk. They saw Abu Zar was
also lagging behind. They said, "Oh Prophet of Allah! Abu Zar has also gone".
The Prophet again said, "If he is good for us, Allah will reunite him with us,
and if there is no good in him, it is better that he has gone". The army moved
along and Abu Zar stranded behind, but not out of treachery, his animal had
betrayed him. He did all that he could with it but it would not move. He was a
few miles behind the army. He released the camel and carried the load on his
shoulders. In the hot summer and in scorching heat of the desert, he moved
ahead. He got thirsty, reaching the verge of death. He searched a rock and found
rainy water having collected there. He tasted it. It was cold and sweet. He said
unto himself, "I will not drink it as long as my beloved, the Prophet, has not
tasted it". He filled his water-skin, carried it also on his shoulders and
hastened towards the Muslims.
They saw a figure from a distance and said, "Oh Prophet of Allah! we see a
figure marching towards us". The Prophet said, "May be he is Abu Zar". He went
closer. Oh! he was Abu Zar. But fatigue and thirst had humbled him; when he
reached near them he fell to the ground. The Prophet said, "Hurry, take water to
him". In a low whisper he said, "I have water with me". "You had the water and
even then you have reached verge of death due to thirst". He said, "Yes, O
Prophet of Allah! when I tasted the water, it struck me not to drink of it
before my beloved, the Prophet of God has done so".
Honestly, where is a school from amongst the ideologies of the world to have
produced such instances of devotion, curiosities and dedication? The other
instance from amongst the curious devotees of the Prophet is Hazrat Bilal
Habashi. The Qureish of Mecca would put him in unbearable chains. They would
chastise him by throwing him in the scorching heat on burning stones. Then they
would ask him to mention the idols and to proclaim allegiance to them. They
would bid him to renounce affiliation with Muhammad and declare severance from
him. Maulvi, in the sixth volume of Masnavi, has described this story of
victimization and the fact is that Maulvi has made marvel. He says: Abu Bakr
asked him to conceal his faith. But he did not have the capacity to suppress,
because "love to begin with is rebellious and ferocious":
Bilal sacrificed his body on thorns,
His master would beat him in admonition in the sun with a thorny club.
Being my slave you refute my faith!
But he would proudly say "One!"
Siddique passed that side,
And the word 'ONE' reached his ears too;
Thereafter in solitude he advised him:
Keep your faith secret from the Jews,
He is the knower of secrets, keep your purpose hidden
He said Oh Gracious! I repented prior to you (your advice),
My repentance has thus become abundant,
Ultimately repentance has become fatal,
Now I have exposed myself to all miseries,
Oh Muhammad! the enemy of the resiled repentance,
This body of mine, the veins herein, are full of thee,
Where the repentance to accommodate!
I have ousted repentance from my soul,
Why should I repent the perpetual bliss;
Love is dominant and I am dominated by love,
Llike moon I have been enlightened with the sublimity of love,
Oh stormy wind! I am a petal of grass in thy hands,
What do I know where will I fall;
Whether I am Hilal (moon) or Bilal,
I am fan of thy sun;
Why should moon worry about sorrow and grief,
It runs after the sun like its shadow;
Rivers have emerged into ferocious flood,
They have left themselves to the mercy of love,
Ever rotating like the stone of the grinding mill,
Night and day they are rotating and wailing anxiously,
Another instance: -
Islamic historians describe a famous tragedy in the early days of Islam as
Ghuzwa-i-Raji, and the day of that tragedy has been named as 'Day of Raji". It
is an inspiring story: Some people of the tribe of 'Azal and Qara, who were
obviously in league with Qureish and had settled near Mecca, in the third year
of Hijra came to the Prophet and said, "A section of our tribe has embraced
Islam. Kindly send a deputation of Muslims so as to teach us the meanings of the
faith and instruct us in the Quran, the rules and the fundamentals of Islam".
The Prophet sent six of his companions for this purpose along with them. He
appointed Mursad bin Abi Mursad or 'Asim bin Sabit as the leader of the
deputation. The deputies of the Prophet accompanied that band who had arrived in
Medina, and left for their abode. When they reached near the habitation of the
tribe of Hozail, they encamped. The companions of the Prophet were taking rest
that all of a sudden a group of the tribe of Hozail, with swords in their hands,
emerged like lightning and attacked them. It transpired that the band, which had
come to Medina, had initially evil designs and that when they reached this point
they changed their mind and out of greed they conspired with the tribe of Hozail.
They gave these six persons in captivity to the tribe of Hozail. When the
companions of the Prophet got aware of this conspiracy, they rushed to their
arms and prepared themselves for defence. But the people of Hozail swore that
they did not want to kill them and that their object was to sell them to Meccans
so as to get money from them. They said that even now they would promise not to
kill them. Three persons from amongst the captives, including 'Asim bin Sabit,
said, "We will never accept the promise of the infidels". They fought to death.
But the other three persons, namely, Zaid bin Dosna, Khobaib bin 'Adi and
Abudllah bin Tariq showed weakness and surrendered. The people of Hozail tied
them fast in strong ropes and left towards Mecca. Near Mecca, Abdullah bin Tariq
got his hands released from the rope and pulled out his sword. But the enemy did
not give him time and killed him with a blow of a stone. Zaid and Khobaib were
taken to Mecca. They exchanged them with two captives of the tribe of Hozail and
left Mecca.
Safwan bin Omeyya purchased Zaid from the vendee. To avenge the slaughter of
his father in Ohod, he wanted to kill Zaid. He took Zaid to the outskirts of
Mecca for killing him. The people of Qureish collected there to see the event.
Zaid was brought to the altar. He bravely walked up to the altar and displayed
no signs of fear. Abu Sufyan was amongst the spectators. He wanted to exploit
the last moments of Zaid's life. Hoping that he may be repentant, or sorry, or
may express indignation towards the Prophet, Abu Sufian went to Zaid and said "I
ask you to solemnly affirm, would you like that at this moment Muhammad may be
available in your stead and we may chop off his neck and may send you hale and
hearty to your kith and kin"? Zaid said, "By God, I will not like that a thorn
may prick Muhammad's feet and I may be idling in my home with my wife and
children". Abu Sufian's mouth remained agap. Turning towards Qureishites, he
said, "By God, I have not seen any one's friends to be so fond of him as the
friends of Muhammad are".
After some moments it was Khobaib bin Adi's turn. They took him out of Mecca
for execution, he asked the assembly to let him offer a prayer with two
genuflection. They allowed him. He offered two-unit prayer with complete
humility, submission, and delight. Then he addressed the assembly, "By God, but
for your insinuations attributing me having feared death, I would have prolonged
my prayers".
Khobaib was tied fast to the altar. In those very moments Khobaib was heard
singing the last supplication melodiously and with such an ecstasy which
captivated all present, and some of them out of Divine fear threw dust on their
faces: "Oh God! I have discharged our mission assigned by the Prophet. I pray
thee to apprise Thy Prophet of it just this early morning. Oh God! be wrathful
to all here, cut them into pieces and let none of them survive".
