السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ
Today is Wednesday 22nd April 2020. I would like to mention ‘The Last Shab Barāt of Shaykh ul-Ḥadīth Ḥaḍrat Mawlānā Muḥammad Yūsuf Motālā Ṣāḥib نور الله مرقده‘.
During 2019, my colleagues and I were blessed with travelling to Cyprus in the company of Shaykh ul-Islām Mufti Muḥammad Taqī Us̱mānī Ṣāḥib مدظله العالی, and the opportunity to visit the resting place of the famous Saḥābiyyāh, Ḥaḍrat Umm Ḥarām bint Milhān رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا.
During the trip, I asked Mufti Taqī Us̱mānī Ṣāḥib regarding the top 5 memorable moments of his life. Without any hesitation whatsoever, Mufti Ṣāḥib replied ‘number one has to be my first ever visit to Ḥaramain Sharīfain after I had reached the age of understanding‘, سُبْحَانَ الله , مَا شَآءَ الله. Most, if not all of us, would have given the same answer.
It was a blessed practice of our Ḥaḍrat Mawlānā Yūsuf Motālā Ṣāḥib to spend the whole of Ramaḍān in the Ḥaramain. Teachers, students, and other associates were also welcome to join.
It was the Ramaḍān of 1986 when I was blessed with my first visit to al-Ḥaramain ash-Sharīfain. I was one of the fortunate ones, along with a number of students, teachers and close associates of Ḥaḍrat. Fellow students like Mawlānā Us̱mān Ganī (Blackburn), Mawlānā Muḥammad Ādam (Bolton), Mawlānā ‘Abdur Raḥīm Limbādā (at that time, Dewsbury), Mawlānā Maḥmūd ul-Ḥasan (Bradford) and Mawlānā Aḥmed Miā (South Africa) are names I remember very well.
We were blessed to have the auspicious company of our Shaykh ul-Ḥadīth Ḥaḍrat Mawlānā Islām ul-Ḥaq Ṣāḥib and our Teacher of Qiraat & Tajweed, Qāri Ismā’īl Samniwālā (who later became my father-in-law) with us on this journey. It was a very special Ramaḍān.
Ḥaḍrat Mawlānā Yūsuf Motālā Ṣāḥib spent so many Ramaḍāns in the Ḥaramain, he was a true ‘Āshiq’ of the Ḥaramain. Ḥis associates and students will recall that Ḥaḍrat spent a number of days of Shābān in Ḥaramain, during 2019.
As the 15th of Shābān approached, Ḥaḍrat informed a very close relative of his to ensure they remained in the worship of The Almighty on Shab Barāt. This leads to the main point of this message.
Ḥaḍrat advised this relative to engage in worship on the 15th and 16th nights of Shābān saying ‘I’m not sure if the authorities have got the right night for Shab Barāt. Therefore, err on the side of caution and spend tomorrow night in worship as well‘. اللّٰهُ أَكْبَر, what foresight! What an amazing Walī of Almighty Allāh. That was Ḥaḍrat’s last Shab Barāt.
As Shābān came to an end last year, the Saudi authorities announced that we started Shābān one day too early. They encouraged people to look for the moon of Ramaḍān on the 30th of Shābān. This relative, remembering Ḥaḍrat’s advice from last year, remained in worship on both the 15th and 16th nights of Shābān, this year. Amazing!
Lo and behold, once again the Saudi authorities have announced that they started Shābān one day early and are encouraging the masses to look for the moon this Thursday, which is the 30th of Shābān. Here in the UK, following our Central Moon Sighting Committee (CMSC), we have now observed Shab Barāt on the wrong nights, twice in consecutive years. Will we now learn something from the foresight of our Ḥaḍrat نور الله مرقده, or, will we still keep on following our CMSC blindly?
I leave the decision with the followers of the CMSC, especially our Muftiyān-e-Kirām, Imāms, ‘Ulamā, and the Masjid management committees.
Almighty Allāh open our eyes to the reality, and give us the courage to speak out to please The Creator, not the creation.
Feel free to share.far and wide.
جَزَاكَ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا
Request for Du’ās
وَالسَّلَامُ Hanif Dudhwala