Transcribed
from a lecture given by his student Shaykh Abdullah Naasir Rehmani
Today, the topic of discussion that I have been given is the Seerah [biography]
of our Shaykh, Allaamah Badee-ud-Deen Shah ar-Rashidee. It is a coincidence
that in the past two days I was in the hometown, or rather in the library of my
Shaykh. The Shaykh belonged to an area named Saeedabad, which is approximately
at a distance of 70km from Hyderabad. Our annual conference was held there
these past two days. This was the 20th year, the series of conferences having
been initiated by Shah Sahib himself.
Whenever I visit the hometown of my Shaykh, I feel as if by the departure of
one man the whole town has become desolate. It reminds me of the following
verses:
Whenever
I visit the city of my friend
I don’t find my friend, though the city is unchanged
Anyhow,
this is a system ordained by Allaah, and it is by this system that the world
moves on. Our Shaykh, Badee-ud-Deen (rahimahullaah) was born on the 15th of
July 1925. His birthplace is a town named Pir Chando which is at a
distance of approximately 70 km from Hyderabad. When Shah Sahib's (sahib is a
term of respect used in the Indo/Pak subcontinent) (rahimahullaah) sixth
grandfather in the line of lineage, Syed Raashid Shah, passed away, he left a chanda
(flag) and a pagree (turban) to each of his two sons.
Shah Sahib's fifth grandfather in the line of lineage, Syed Yaseen Shah,
inherited the chanda and the pagree was inherited by his brother. This is how
the Rashidee family split into two different families, Pir Chanda and Pir
Pagara. Pir Pagara, which has a great deal of importance in Pakistani politics,
is from the extended family of Shah Sahib.
All
of them are from the progeny of Rashid Shah. It can be said that the Pir Pagara
family developed a leaning towards politics. Their history of Peeri Mureedi
continues on to this day. Conversely, the family of Shah Sahib was more
inclined towards religion and knowledge, and this legacy continues by the grace
and blessings of Allaah.
Shah Sahib's father, Ehsanullah Shah, was also a scholar and Muhaddith [scholar
of hadeeth]. He laid the foundation of a madrassah [institute of Islamic
learning] in his hometown. It is here that Shah Sahib got his early religious
education and was able to benefit from different teachers in various subjects.
It is during his education here that he developed an interest in
Uloom-ul-Hadeeth [knowledge of the sciences of Hadeeth]. He also travelled
outside his hometown to nurture this interest and to learn hadeeth sciences
from various scholars. Among them are:
Shaykh-ul-Islaam Maulana Thana ullah Amritsaree (rahimahullaah)
Muhaddith Abu Muhammad ‘Abdul-Haq Bahawalpuree al-Muhajir ul Makki (rahimahullaah)
Shaykh-ul-Hadeeth Allaamah Hafidh ‘Abdullaah Muhaddith Roparee (rahimahullaah)
Allaamah Abu Ishaaq Naik Muhammad (rahimahullaah)
Allaamah Abu Sa’eed Sharf-ud-Deen Dehlwee (rahimahullaah)
It is from Allaamah Abu Sa’eed Sharf-ud-Deen Dehlwee (rahimahullaah) that Shah
Sahib received an ijazah [permission to narrate from a teacher] and sanad
[chain of narration] in hadeeth. All of the above Mashaayikh were under the
direct tutelage of Shaykh-ul-Qul Miyan Nazeer Hussain Muhaddith Dehlwee (rahimahullaah).
This is one way in which our Shaykh, Badee-ud-Deen (rahimahullaah) was a
student of Shaykh-ul-Qul Miyan Sahib. The sanad of Shaykh-ul-Qul Miyan
Sahib is famous as has been noted in various books. I have read and seen this
sanad and after reading and doing some research I found out that this sanad can
be traced to Imaam al-Bukhaaree in seventeen ways. And if we take one
particular sanad of Imaam al-Bukhaaree which is from the tareekh of Imaam
Makki, then the sanad of Shaykh Badee-ud-Deen (rahimahullaah) can be traced
back to the prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) in 20 ways.
After receiving ijazah from the scholars, Shah Sahib returned to his hometown
and started da’wah and teaching in Sindh. This was a time when da’wah of
Qur’aan and Sunnah was full of hardships, especially in Sindh. In those days
almost everyone was associated with one peer or the other and it was their
‘Aqeedah [authentic belief system of al-Islam] that if they give presents to
their peer in the form of animals etc. then this is enough for their salvation.
They believed that by doing so, the peer would take care of their affairs of
this world and the hereafter. This was a dangerous ignorance and Shah Sahib
voiced out against this uncompromisingly. Initially, he busied himself with
teaching and taught a lot of the scholars of Sindh especially in hadeeth
alongside his work in the field of da’wah.
Shah Sahib had an astounding memory. He memorised the Qur’aan while an adult
in 1948 in just 3 months. The fact that he memorised such a lengthy book in
just 3 months can only be considered a miracle of a wali [Awliyaa of Allaah
(Ally of Allaah one who aids and promotes the correct understanding of the
religion of al-Islam]. Shah Sahib once told us that he was going for
some event on a camel from Saeedabad, and it was while sitting on this camel
that he memorised Soorah Noor.
Shah Sahib was in a way the first alim or mubbaligh [narrator of a message] to
have done da’wah work in his area. As mentioned earlier, the Sindh province was
and still is home to some of the worst forms of Jahiliyyah. In light of this,
it was very difficult to do da’wah work there. However, Allaah gave him tawfeeq
[ability] and even though he had to face many dangers, he went on with da’wah
work.
There were assassination attempts, and many a times his opponents would
complain to the governments and hence creating problems for him. He was banned
from speaking in public and put under house arrest on several occasions. All of
this was the propaganda of his opponents that made da’wah work difficult in its
incipient stages. There were few people with proper ‘Aqeedah. Our Shaykh once
told us that he was waiting at a train station so that he may go back to his
town, when he saw a man praying at the station with his hands on his chest and
also performing rafaulyadein [raising both hands level with the shoulders or
level to the ears at the time of going into and coming out of Rukoo and at the
time of getting up from the tashahud]. Shah Sahib was really pleased to see an
Ahlul Hadeeth [The People of Hadeeth] and decided to meet him. At that very
point, the train arrived. The train for his town came once a day. So he could
either take the train and go back, or meet the man at the station in which case
he would have to stay there for another day. But the Ahlul Hadeeth were so few
that he decided to leave the train and meet his Ahlul Hadeeth companion.
However, if you visit Sindh now you will see that the Ahlul Hadeeth are great
in number, and that the da’wah of Tawheed is everywhere. Shah Sahib told us
that when he began Salafi da’wah in Sindh, there was not a single Ahlul Hadeeth
Masjid in the province apart from a couple in Karachi and Hyderabad. However,
when our Shaykh passed away, there were about 700 mosques in the province. Now
the total has increased to about 850 Alhamdulillaah. These are the blessings of
Allaah, and the fruits of the work Allaah enabled him to do.
As mentioned earlier, on several occasions there were assassination attempts on
our Shaykh’s life. Even though he had to face severe opposition at times, he
demonstrated patience and steadfastness throughout. I'll now talk of one
incident out of the many that occurred during his da’wah work. The Shaykh was
invited to give a lecture at a village that only had a few Salafi’s in it. The
Shaykh went to the village walking a long distance since there were not that
many means to commute otherwise at the time. When the Shaykh arrived at the
village, the Imaam of the local Masjid opposed his visit. The Imaam gathered
the feudal leaders and popular personalities of the village on his side and
arrived at the Masjid with sticks and shovels and told the Salafi’s that they
will not let them proceed with their programme. Nonetheless, the Salafi’s had a
firm resolve to go ahead with the schedule even if that entailed much
sacrifice. However, Shah Sahib (rahimahullaah) forbid them from doing so since
that would be detrimental to their da’wah. One of the attendees suggested that
they to hold the lecture in his house. So the Shaykh proceeded to his house and
sat on the rooftop with his two or three companions sitting in front of him.
The Shaykh started his lecture and since Allaah had bestowed him with a loud
voice, his lecture could be heard in the surrounding houses. The propaganda was
that the Shaykh speaks out against the Prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam).
However, what they heard was completely different from the rumours that were
spread about him. He was presenting the Qur’aan and ahaadeeth of the Nabi (sall-Allaahu
‘alayhi wa sallam). So one person came from the surrounding area to listen to
him, then another, and another, and people kept coming from wherever his voice
could reach. Shah Sahib kept lecturing for hours and hours and as a result of
that, almost the whole village became Ahlul Hadeeth. This event is a testimony
of the patience of the Shaykh. In the initial stages of da’wah, one has to go
through a lot of hardships and difficult situations. Allaah ta'aala gave the
Shaykh taufeeq to remain steadfast.
Other than this, there were numerous instances in the life of the Shaykh where
graves were flattened. He was often challenged and accepted to debate with
people of various groups. A lot of people would become Ahlul Hadeeth at these
debates and at times even scholars. A testimony to this is a debate that took
place in Larkana during which Maulana Hayatullah Laashaaree (hafizahullah)
turned Ahlul Hadeeth. He is still amongst us today and is 130 years old having
turned Ahlul Hadeeth at the age of approximately 100 years. Before this he used
to teach fiqh [Islamic Jurisprudence] for about 70 years in various Hanafi
madaris but now is Ahlul Hadeeth with a very strong and deep grounding in
‘Aqeedah and is busy with da’wah work alhamdulillaah.
Our Shaykh also lived in Saudi Arabia for about 5 years giving duroos at the
Haram in Makkah Mukkarramah. His duroos were on Tafsir ibn Kathir
and Saheeh al-Bukhaaree. Other than those, he also gave a dars in
al-Muhallah by Ibn Hazm. For some time after that he gave dars at Daar
al-Hadeeth, Makkah, after which he lectured for 2 years at Mahd-ul-Haram
al-Makki for which Shaykh ‘Abdullaah bin Humaid specially requested him. It
was his duroos there that earned him worldwide acclaim. Some of his lectures
there were in Arabic and some in Urdu. These were extremely popular among the
taalib-ul-‘ilm [student of Islamic knowledge] and they would travel for far and
wide to attend these. They had an ilmi environment that cannot be described in
words. There are two duroos that he delivered at the Islaamic University of
Madeenah that became very popular among the masses. One of them was against
tasawwuf [soofism] and the other on the virtues of the people of Hadeeth. Both
of these were presided by Shaykh bin Baaz (rahimahullaah), as a matter of fact,
it was he who invited Shah Sahib to give the duroos. Shaykh Naasir-ud-Deen
al-Albaanee (rahimahullaah) was also present and praised the duroos given by
Shah Sahib. The Ulamaa there were surprised at his religious acumen and
especially by his command over hadeeth sciences. They were also impressed by
the number ahaadeeth he had memorised with isnaad and references.
The Shaykh also holds a special position in ‘ilm-ul-rijaal [knowledge of the
narrators]. The greatest attestation to this are the words of Shaykh Thana ullah Amritsaree (rahimahullaah) at a conference before the
independence of Pakistan. This conference was attended by many of the famous
Mashaayikh of the Indian subcontinent and was presided by our Shaykh
Badee-ud-Deen (rahimahullaah). At the beginning a speech given by Maulana
Thana ullah Amritsaree (rahimahullaah), He said: “I feel privileged to be speaking at an event presided by the Imaam of
‘ilm-ul-rijaal.” Being given such a tazkiyah [in this case a
personal character reference] from your teacher (who is one of the foremost
scholars of the subcontinent) is indeed an attestation to the abilities of the
Shaykh. He was indeed the flag holder of Tawheed and Sunnah in the province and
we think that Allaah brought him to this world for this purpose.
Throughout his time in Sindh there were very few days that he would actually
spend at home. He used to give duroos [regular classes] almost every day in
some village or city. At times he would be away from home for more than a week,
giving a lecture in one village and then straight away proceeding to another to
do likewise. He used to give each of these duroos with zeal and zest and made
sure he paid due attention to the aspects which required him to do so. His
da’wah sessions especially gained widespread acclaim in the desert area of
Thar. Most of his travelling there involved extreme exhaustion and even those
who go there today and with ample resources will not deny this. However, the
Shaykh sometimes used to spend about a month in a go in these regions calling
people towards Tawheed and Sunnah. Resultantly, there are literally hundreds of
villages in the Thar area which are completely Ahlul Hadeeth.
I have been fortunate enough to study under the Shaykh since 1982 till his
passing away in 1996. When I returned from Imam Muhammad bin Saud University in
1982, I contacted the Shaykh straight away and have often had the chance to
stay in his company till his death. What did I see during this time? I saw that
Shah Sahib was a Muhaddith, memorizer of hadeeth with asaneed and at the very
least he used to know in which book and chapter you could find a particular
hadeeth. It was the habit of Shah Sahib not to let go of a new book till
having read it from cover to cover. And since he had a tenacious memory, he
memorised everything he read. He always corroborated his stance by using
evidences from the Qur’aan and Sunnah. I remember vividly that at a dars in
Hyderabad, a Hanafi stood up and asked him to prove the manner of his prayer
using evidences only from Saheeh al-Bukhaaree and Saheeh Muslim. So at that
time Shah Sahib explained each and every step of Salaah, from
takbeer-e-tahreema [opening takbeer] to Salaam, using evidences only from the
aforementioned books and that also by memory.
While travelling, Shah Sahib either answered questions that were posed to him
or when he saw that his companions are silent, he busied himself with the
recitation of the Qur’aan. At times I saw that when he left his house for a
journey which was to last 3, 4 or 5 days, he used to begin reciting the
Qur’aan, and when he would be returning we used to hear him reciting some of
the last Soorah’s, i.e. he used to finish reciting the Qur’aan on a journey
which lasted just 3 or 4 days. He used to establish Qiyaam-ul-Layl [Night
prayer performed in Ramadaan] throughout his life; no matter how late he came
back from an event, he used to make sure that he got up for tahajjud. At times
if he feared that he would not be able to wake up, he would pray Qiyaam-ul-Layl
and then go to bed. When on a journey, he used to pray Qiyaam-ul-Layl on
whatever he was riding on, as is proven from the Sunnah.
The Shaykh travelled to various countries such as the US and some European
states. I feel honoured to have accompanied the Shaykh on some of his overseas
trips especially the one to Kuwait. During the time that he time spent there,
the Shaykh would be fully occupied with knowledge-based activities. After
Fajr, he would give a dars on Bukhaaree after which he used to rest for a
while. Dars-e-Mustallah from 11 in the morning till Dhuhr, and then duroos
after Dhuhr, ‘Asr and Maghrib. And the people who used to drive him from
one place to another in between these duroos used to read books from Shah Sahib
during these journeys. Many of the major scholars of the region took ijaazah in
hadeeth from him. When the news that Shah Sahib was in Kuwait reached Saudi
Arabia, a lot of the scholars and students from there travelled to Kuwait so as
to meet him and benefit from him. All throughout this month, Shah Sahib only
used to rest a couple hours a day, the rest of this time was either spent
giving duroos or answering questions. We used to be amazed at how Allaah
enabled him to do so much work for Islaam. This is the blessing of Allaah that
he bestows upon whomsoever He wills.
All of this is because Shah Sahib blessed by Allaah with an ocean of knowledge.
Whenever we used to read from the Shaykh or listen to his lectures, we used to
see the characteristics of the ‘Aaimah [scholars] in him. Amongst others, we
saw in him the reasoning skills of Hafiz Ibn Hazm (rahimahullaah), the
descriptive skills of Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullaah) and the power of proof of
Imaam ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullaah). When we used to study hadeeth or talk
about asaaneed we used to see in him the likeness of major scholars in the
field of Jarh wa Ta’deel [Praise and Disparagement of narrators in chains of
narration]. Allaah blessed him with all these qualities and hence people all
throughout the world would benefit from his ‘ilm. Because of the efforts of the
Shaykh, the zeal and fervour with which people learn ‘Aqeedah, hadeeth and
Sunnah, we do not see it anywhere else in Pakistan.
Shah Sahib's library is indeed an exemplary one. There are between fifteen and
twenty thousand books in this private library that include manuscripts and
books some that run into several volumes. In his heart he had a special place
for books; if he came across a new book he would try to buy it despite limited
financial means. Some books people would give him gratuitously; he used to be
very pleased when he received these gifts. If you open up a book from his
library you will often see that it is filled with notes in the margin area and
at other places. At times these notes would criticise or corroborate what was
written and at other times it would just be an elaboration of the points
mentioned. There are about 150 of our Shaykh’s own books and publications.
Most of these are in Arabic while the rest are in Urdu and Sindee. Shah Sahib (rahimahullaah)
had an equal command over all three of these languages. Furthermore, Allaah had
also blessed him with some proficiency in understanding and speaking Persian.
Some of his books are in such esoteric Arabic such that even Arabs are unable
to understand them unless they have a dictionary with them. For example, his
book al-Ujool which mentions 80 meanings of kalimah al-Ujoos; understanding
this book is not an easy endeavour. A lot of Arab Ulamaa have been astounded by
the book, and found it hard to believe that an ajmee [non-Arab] Alim could
write such a book. There is another book which he wrote on ‘Aqeedah, only
using words which do not have any dots in them. It is about 80 pages long and
there are words in it that are even difficult to find in Arabic dictionaries.
Other than this there are a lot of other books that he authored, the most
important one being in the area of Tafsir. He started writing this Tafsir in
Sindhi because there was no Salafi Tafsir written in it. He went ahead despite
a lot of people requesting him to write it in Arabic since it will have a
worldwide market. The Shaykh said I am not looking for fame; rather I want to
write a Tafsir from which people of this area can benefit. The Shaykh was only
able to write this Tafsir till Soorah Yoosuf after which he passed away. Nine
volumes of this Tafsir have already been published, the first one being the
preamble; the Tafsir of Soorah Fathiha is over 600 pages. It is expected
that the rest of the Tafsir will be completed and published in 15 volumes
inshaa’Allaah. This Tafsir has been written according to the Salafi Manhaj. It
is free from dh'aeef [weaknesses], ghareeb [being rare wordings] or Israelite
traditions. What is special about this Tafsir is that it has been attempted to
explain each ayah with ahaadeeth and that each explanation highlights the
Salafi creed.
Once Shah Sahib received a letter with 5 questions from Multan inquiring about
tawassul [the legislated forms of seeking nearness to Allaah] and the Sufi
concept of wahdatul wajood [The concept of Allaah and His creation being one as
promoted by Mohiyuddin ibn al-Arabi {the sufi)]. Shah Sahib began writing the
answer to these five questions and this answer took the shape of a 600 page
book which got published by the name of Tawheed-e-Khaalis.
When
Shah Sahib (rahimahullaah) was told about its publication, he expressed a
desire for it to be translated into Arabic. I have translated about 300 pages;
may Allah give me the taufeeq [ability] to complete its translation. This book
will be inshaa’Allaah a gem in ‘Aqeedah and these two issues in particular.
Shah Sahib did not pay much attention to matters of this world, he owned land
which ran over hundreds of acres but did not oversee the work on these fields
since that would mean distancing himself from ‘ilm [seeking beneficial
knowledge]. So he would sublet that land and receive a percentage of the
earnings from the land, but never allowed himself to be detracted from his
mission. Those who have met him are well aware of his high standing in ‘ilm. Shaykh
al-Albaanee once told the people of America to invite the Shaykh and benefit
from his ‘ilm. Other Shuyookh who have also praised him include Shaykh bin Baaz
and Shaykh Rabee’.
Allaah enabled him to work in the fields of da’wah, research, teaching and
other fields with which one can serve Islaam. I would say his life was a
reflection of the hadeeth: “In every age, there will be people who will
uphold this Deen.” Hence there will be people who will continue to learn,
teach and spread the correct understanding of this Deen and oppose those who go
against it. Allaah blessed Shah Sahib with these characteristics; all
throughout his life he presented the concept of Tawheed in its pure form. I
pray that Allaah make the Shaykh a manifestation of the du’aa made by the
Prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) at Mina: “Ya Allaah brighten the face
of the believer who listens to my hadeeth, memorises it and spreads it.” I
advise myself and all of you to form a relationship with hadeeth; it is the
basis of fahm-e-Deen [correct understanding of the religion]], fahm-e-’Aqeedah
[correct understanding of the belief system contained within al-Islam] and
fahm-e-Manhaj [correct understanding of the Methodology of understanding
al-Islam]. May Allaah give us all tawfeeq.
The Shaykh passed away in Karachi on 8th January 1996 and was laid to rest
in his ancestral hometown of Pir Chanda. A multitude of people arrived from
various parts of the country for his funeral in Saeedabad, as a matter of fact,
after we finished the funeral prayer, another one had to be arranged because
another crowd had arrived.
May Allaah enable to us to follow this path as well, and make us one of those
who uphold the Qur’aan and Sunnah and act upon it.
