Mawlana Karamat ‘Ali Jaunpuri (1800–1873 CE), a prominent Hanafi scholar and influential shaykh of India/Bengal, was associated with the movement of Sayyid Ahmad Shahid (1786–1831 CE). He first met Sayyid Ahmad Shahid and the group of scholars accompanying him – including Shah Isma‘il Shahid (1779–1831 CE) and Shaykh ‘Abd al-Hayy Burhanawi (d.1828 CE) (1) – in 1819 CE in Raebareli.
In his book Nur ‘ala Nur, Mawlana Karamat ‘Ali Jaunpuri recounts an incident from this trip to Raebareli as follows:
Before hearing this story, keep in mind that Hazrat Mawlana Shah ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (his soul be sanctified) would call Hazrat Sayyid Ahmad Sahib from early on “Mir Sahib”, and Hazrat Mawlana ‘Abd al-Hayy Sahib and all of us devotees used to call him “Miyan Sahib”. Mawlana ‘Abd al-Hayy used to call Mawlana Muhammad Isma‘il “Miyan Muhammad Isma‘il”. I will narrate this story exactly as it was told, so these names will appear as mentioned, preserved for the sake of accuracy. Now listen to the story.
One day this humble and needy one asked Hazrat ‘Alim-i-Rabbani Mawlana ‘Abd al-Hayy (may Allah have mercy on him): “You have great trust in Miyan Sahib and, having left all worldly things like money, clothes, etc., you have chosen the companionship of Miyan Sahib. You have no other clothing besides that on your body, and when you speak in front of Miyan Sahib, you become fearful and tremble. So, for Allah’s sake, truthfully tell us what you saw in Miyan Sahib that made your condition such.”
The late Mawlana said:
InshaAllah, I will share with you the truth, so listen carefully. My condition was that I was very eager for suluk ila-Allah (attaining closeness to Allah) and mushahadah (spiritual witnessing). I thus requested Mawlana Shah ‘Abd al-‘Aziz to teach me suluk ila-Allah, and prior to this, I had sought tawajjuh (attention) from many murshids (spiritual guides), both local and foreign, but had not achieved my purpose.
He sent me to Hazrat Shah Ghulam ‘Ali (his soul be sanctified). (2) I remained there for some days seeking tawajjuh but did not achieve my purpose. Then I again requested Hazrat Mawlana (Shah ‘Abd al-‘Aziz): “This servant needs tawajjuh from huzur but he sends me elsewhere. Please teach me yourself.” (3)
Then Hazrat Mawlana said, “Miyan, I have become old and weak and do not have the ability to sit for long. Your purpose will be achieved from Mir Ahmad Sahib; pledge bay‘at to him.” This command of his was very difficult for me, (4) and I remained silent in displeasure. Afterwards, I requested several times more but received the same answer.
Eventually, a few days after this incident, Hazrat Miyan Sahib, Miyan Muhammad Isma‘il and I began to live in the same house of the madrasa. One night after ‘Isha’, while the three of us were sleeping in our beds, Miyan Sahib said, “Mawlana, the Lord of the Worlds, through His sheer grace and blessing, has informed me by a gift of ilham that on such-and-such a date I will embark on such-and-such a journey; in such a place there will be this, in such a place there will be that, and this many people will become murids,” and he spoke of other similar things.
The next day as well, he related similar strange and unusual things. In this way, over several days, he detailed accounts of a (future) journey to Makkah Mu‘azzamah and a journey of Jihad. Then Miyan Muhammad Isma‘il and I consulted with each other, thinking that if all these things were true, then surely he was a very great person and a spiritual master (qutb). Benefiting from him would be very necessary. We decided to test him on something. Miyan Muhammad Isma‘il said, “You are senior to me, you suggest something to test him.”
Eventually, when at night Miyan Sahib called, “Mawlana!” I replied, “Hazrat! There is no doubt that you are a buzurg, but what benefit do we get from all these things? Please endow us with something.” He asked, “Mawlana, what do you ask for?” I said, “Hazrat, I ask that I may be able to offer two rak‘ats of salah similar to the salah performed by the Sahabah Kiram.” Upon this, Miyan Sahib suddenly became silent and said nothing more that day.
I thought these were just verbal things that had no connection to matters of actual substance, but out of respect for lasting friendship and companionship, I said nothing – there was no need to cause any embarrassment – and quietly went to sleep. Then, shortly before or after midnight, Hazrat Miyan Sahib called out, “Mawlana.” From that call, I got goosebumps over my body, and great trust arose in me towards him. I answered, “Hazrat!” He said, “Go and perform wudu’ for the sake of Allah.” My body again got goosebumps, and I said, “Very well.” I had taken two or three steps when he called again, “Mawlana, listen.” I came back and presented myself before him. He said, “Did you understand what I said? I said, go and perform wudu’ for the sake of Allah.” I said, “Very well,” and started walking. After two or three steps, he called again and thus repeated the same instruction three times.
On the third occasion, I went and started wudu’ with etiquette, in such a state of presence of heart and fear of Allah as I had never experienced before. Then, after wudu’, I presented myself before Hazrat, and he said, “Go and, for the sake of Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, perform two rak‘ats.” I got goosebumps on my body and went for salah. After taking two or three steps, he called me again. I returned to his presence, and he said, “Did you understand well or not? I said, go and perform two rak‘ats salah for the sake of Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.” I said, “Very well,” and went for salah. Then he called for the third time and repeated the same instruction.
Then I started salah in a corner. With the opening takbir, I became so absorbed in witnessing divine majesty that I lost awareness and sobbed so much that my beard became wet with tears. I became so immersed in the salah that I entirely forgot the world. With great fear and pleasure, I performed two rak‘ats of salah. When I completed the two rak‘ats, it occurred to me that I had not recited Surah Fatihah (properly), so I made the intention to perform another two rak‘ats. After completing them, I felt I had not added a Surah after Surah Fatihah (properly), so I started again. In this way, each time, I felt I had omitted some obligatory component and considered the salah incomplete and thus repeated it.
Allah knows best, I must have prayed more or less one hundred rak‘ats by the time dawn approached. Having no choice, I ended with salam and felt deeply ashamed that my capacity was so limited – that I could not complete two rak‘ats with full presence of heart while trying to test such a great and accomplished person. If he were to ask me now, “Have you prayed two rak‘ats for the sake of Allah?” what would I answer? I could not even pray two rak‘ats properly with the presence of the heart as it ought to be done. In this thought, I drowned in a river of shame, acknowledged my shortfall, and, fearing Allah, began to say, Astaghfirullah! Astaghfirullah!
When the Adhan was called, I regained awareness and recalled that this was the state of the Sahabah Kiram, who used to worship throughout the night and seek forgiveness at its end. About them, Allah Exalted is He, said: “And those who seek forgiveness in the predawn time.” I realised that surely he is a very accomplished murshid, through whose words I achieved my purpose – something I had not attained after prolonged effort and labour but obtained immediately by his command.
Then I went to the masjid before the Fajr salah and pledged bay‘ah to Hazrat Miyan Sahib. After Fajr salah, I narrated the whole night’s story to Miyan Muhammad Isma‘il. As he deemed me truthful, he also pledged bay‘ah to Hazrat Miyan Sahib.
Then during the day, I went to Hazrat Mawlana Shah ‘Abd al-Aziz and told him about the night’s incident and bay‘ah. He said, “Barak Allah! Barak Allah! Well done! Miyan, this is why I used to say to you, have you seen Mir Sahib’s accomplishments?” Then I said, “Hazrat, I have served many shaykhs and practised shughl and muraqabah in accordance with many tariqahs but never achieved the goal. Hazrat Sayyid Sahib said something once with his tongue, and I attained the goal. Hazrat, what is this tariqah called?” He said, “Miyan, such people do not need any tariqah; what they say with their tongue is the tariqah. Such people are themselves the holders of the tariqah and produce tariqah.” Hearing this from Hazrat Mawlana, I became even more certain of Hazrat Miyan Sahib being a true murshid and master of tariqah, and my trust increased even more. Hence, I stand in servitude to Miyan Sahib and do not consider myself worthy of his servitude.
The speech of Mawlana ‘Abd al-Hayy (may Allah have mercy on him) ends here.
(Nur ‘ala Nur, pp.68–73; as cited in Sirat-i-Sayyid Ahmad, 1:150–154; and Tazkirah Hazrat Mawlana Karamat Ali Jaunpuri, pp.23–27)
(1) Shaykh ‘Abd al-Hayy Burhanawi was a close relative and student of Shah ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Dihlawi (1746–1824 CE). He was the nephew of Shah ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Dihlawi’s wife and the grandson of his teacher and father-in-law, Shah Nurullah. Due to this close relationship, Shah ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Dihlawi was very fond of him and married him to his daughter. Shaykh ‘Abd al-Hayy Burhanawi studied under Shah ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Dihlawi and other scholars, was an expert in fiqh and highly learned. Amongst his students was Shah Ishaq Dihlawi (1783–1846 CE), grandson & successor of Shah ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Dihlawi and famous muhaddith of India/Makkah. His son Mawlana ‘Abd al-Qayyum Burhanawi married the daughter of Shah Ishaq Dihlawi and became mufti of Bhopal. Mawlana ‘Abd al-Qayyum Burhanawi was one of the teachers of Mawlana Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri.
(2) Shaykh Ghulam ‘Ali (1743–1824 CE) was one of the prominent Naqshbandi Sufi shaykhs of the period and was the shaykh of the famous Shaykh Khalid Naqshbandi, who in turn was the shaykh of Ibn ‘Abidin Shami.
(3) As a close family member, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Hayy Burhanawi had a somewhat informal relationship with Shah ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Dihlawi.
(4) At that time, Sayyid Ahmad Shahid was not yet famous. Furthermore, he was many years junior to Shaykh ‘Abd al-Hayy Burhanawi in age, and Shaykh ‘Abd al-Hayy was considerably superior in external knowledge. Even after Sayyid Ahmad Shahid became his shaykh in later years, he still sought Shaykh ‘Abd al-Hayy’s advice on fiqh matters.
