Types of Saints and Spiritual Grace

There is a category of Saints known as Kamil Mumaat and people cannot obtain Spiritual Grace from them in their lifetime. There is Hadith that says one who dies while still acquiring knowledge is a martyr (Shaheed). Because this Hadith was seen written in schools, I thought that while obtaining the knowledge of chemistry and physics if we died, we would be martyrs. The thought came to me that even those who do not believe in God are acquiring this knowledge, how can one who does not believe in God be given the rank of martyrdom?

When I met His Divine Eminence Gohar Shahi and my chest became enlightened with His knowledge, I understood those who are unable to reach their destination, while acquiring the Esoteric (Batini) Knowledge are called Shaheed. The destination of those on the spiritual path is the Theophanies of God and to see God. If one is on the spiritual path and his subtleties of the spiritual heart (Qalb) and soul (Rouh) have been initiated and the Nafs (Self) is in the process of purification but he had not reached his destiny; He had not seen God or acquired the rank which God had written in his fate, and died before acquiring the Theophanies of God, such a person is Shaheed.  

Shaheed means he will stay alive even in the grave. But is it the body that shall stay alive? Will the Nafs stay alive? The subtleties (Lataif) and souls of such a person will remain in the grave.

Hadith: The merciful glance of God falls upon the broken hearts and graves.

This means when the heart is worthy of theophanies, the theophanies shall fall upon it and the broken grave refers to those who began acquiring the spiritual knowledge but died during the process and continued to receive spiritual knowledge whilst in the grave, for which Prophet Mohammad said, ‘The acquisition of knowledge starts from the womb of the mother to the grave.’ Once the acquisition of spiritual knowledge has been completed in the grave, the theophanies fall upon the grave, such is the case of Shah Abdul Lateef Batai.

If spiritual knowledge has been completed in one’s lifetime. they reach their destination quickly whereas in the grave it takes a long time. If it takes one twenty-four years to reach their destination in their lifetime, it takes ten times longer to reach their destination in the grave, about 200-250 years; and such a person is called Kamil Mumaat.

According to the Spiritual Law, a Kamil Mumaat initiates the heart within three days. Many people go the graves of Saints but they do not know who is Kamil Mumaat, Kamil Hayat, or Kamil Dhaat. The common public is unaware of this and they simply develop respect and love for the saints and visit their graves. Those saints, who hold a person’s fate in their hands, come in the dreams of the person and signal them to come to their grave and spend some time there. A Kamil Mumaat’s souls and subtleties remain in their graves, in their shrines. However, the subtleties and souls of other saints return to the higher realms while their Nafs stays in the grave and such saints only render Mundane Benefits. If one is Kamil Dhaat, the Spiritual Grace rendered in his lifetime and after his death remains the same and only those shall obtain Spiritual Grace whose fate is in the hands of this particular saint.

The Reality of Celebrating Commemorative Days of Saints

Those people who celebrate the Urs (death anniversary) and birthdays of saints and consider themselves to be disciples of the saints are in great deception. If somebody becomes a regular to the shrine of the Saint Data Ganjh Baksh and takes part in celebrations there, will Data Ganjh Baksh grant him salvation? Because a Hadith narrated by Abu Zar Ghaffari says that on the Day of judgement, when the saints will come many people will recognise them and say, 'This is a saint from our era,' and they will say, 'We helped him while performing ablution, we fed him, we gave him clothes,' etc. and in return they would be granted salvation. Obviously those who gave food to the saints didn’t do so in the grave and if they gave him clothes it was during the saint’s lifetime, and this would be in the knowledge of the saint. When the saints are in the grave, there is no guarantee that they would grant salvation; you do not even know whether they are pleased with you visiting their shrine or not. If you present a gift to a saint, it is entirely his decision whether he chooses to accept it or not. The saints accept some gifts and reject some. Those whose gifts have been accepted can expect to be granted salvation, but those whose gifts have been rejected, how can they expect salvation? If the saint is Kamil Dhaat, this is easy to figure out but if the saint is in the grave and you visit his grave, there is always a doubt because you do not know whether he is pleased with you or not. If you are greatly flawed and you visit a saint, he would point out your flaws and criticise you and tell you stop these negative things if you wish to continue coming to him. People go to the shrines of the saints and think they shall be granted salvation. I am a little skeptical about it because they do not focus on the pillars of the religions, Salat, fasting, or Dhikr. Nor do they have good deeds or a good character. Those who pay homage to the shrines and lay flowers on the grave and believe they are destined for paradise of course live in fool’s paradise. This is not in accordance with the Laws of Sufism.    

His Divine Eminence Gohar Shahi is the only personality who sitting in front of the Shrine of Baba Farid said, 'You think that by passing in front of the "gate to heaven" you will enter the paradise? Greater than this is the court of Prophet Mohammad and having been there, there is no guarantee that one will enter the paradise, so how can there be a guarantee for this "gate to heaven"?' The courage to openly declare this truth is in His Divine Eminence Ra Riaz Gohar Shahi alone.

Wherever He went, He spoke the truth only and none else had the courage to do so. HDE explained that Baba Farid did not mean those who pass through the [physical] gate would enter the paradise; rather, those who adopt and travel his spiritual path, the teachings of Sufism, shall enter the paradise. People assumed the gate where Baba Farid sat was the ‘gate to heaven’ he was referring to. The question is, if somebody will enter the paradise by passing through this gate of Baba Farid, then why people do not enter paradise by passing through the gate of Prophet Mohammad? Even after going to the Kaaba or Medina, there is no guarantee and you think simply by going there you are guaranteed a place in paradise, why then do you call the Saudis, who hold the control system of these places to be Kafir, Munafiq and blasphemers of the Prophet?

We understand that visiting these places that are Shayer Allah (God’s Signs) or have an attachment with saints, such as Maqam-e-Ibrahim, Safa Marwa, the mosque of the Prophet, Kaaba, Bait ul Muqaddas, etc., is a means of obtaining spiritual rewards however it is not a means of obtaining salvation. It is a good thing to go to the graves and shrines of the saints but not with the intention of obtaining worldly prosperity/Mundane benefits. If your relative is in jail or you are in financial crisis and you beg for help that help would be your reward. Such things are common in Pakistan. People celebrate 11^th Shareef (commemorative day for Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jillani Ghous Pak) and believe themselves to be disciples of Ghous Pak and many people believe themselves to be disciples of Data Ganjh Baksh because they participate in his Urs (death anniversary) every year.

People think giving money to build a mosque means they have bought themselves a place in the paradise. Muslims should reflect on that fact that a Muslim must earn by Halal (permissible) means. If you have built the mosque with money acquired through a Haraam (prohibited) means, in fact, even if you built another Kaaba with the prohibited money you will still not be able to obtain a place in the paradise.

A new trend has begun in Pakistan. Previously people used to visit the Shrine of Laal Shahbaz Qalandar and celebrate his Urs (death anniversary) however most of the people were those who used to go there to smoke marijuana and hashish.

Shiites believe that Laal Shahbaz was from the Shiite sect and they think Imam Bari Sarkar whose shrine is in Islamabad was Shiite also. However, those who possess Divine Light (Noor) do not belong to any sect and a saint is one who follows Sufism.

In Pakistan now, people have adopted some strange customs. They take Mehdi (Henna) to the shrine and they drink alcohol, smoke marijuana, say they are lovers of Qalandar Pak and they think they have become Faqirs. All of these absurdities are because people no longer aspire for the religion nor do the Muslims possess the knowledge of Sufism any longer and many centuries have passed therefore people have become unaware of the essence and reality of Sufi Knowledge. Moving the head from side to side doing Dhikr of Allah Hu in a darkened room is their conception of Sufism. By celebrating 11^thShareef nobody enters the discipleship of Ghous Pak nor does anybody become a disciple of Data Sab by celebrating his death anniversary. People did not become pious in the eyes of God by performing Salat, Hajj or engaging in Dhikr of the Kalima nor did people become lovers of the Prophet Mohammad by sending salutations upon the Prophet (Durood-o-Salam) then how can you become a disciple of Ghous Pak simply by singing songs of praise? People who are engaging in such absurd activities are in great deception. They are not in search of the religion. Many of these people go for the fulfillment of their carnal desires. On normal days if somebody is caught smoking marijuana the police would lock him up but on this festive occasion, even the police officers are smoking therefore people get away with it and such these incidents are common at various shrines.

Among the Sunnis this concept of going to the shrines of Saints as a means of obtaining salvation or entry into their discipleship is their great misunderstanding. Nobody becomes a disciple of a saint by celebrating their commemorative days. Everybody must become a Momin in accordance with the teachings of the Quran and must follow the method which God has prescribed to obtain the status of Emaan. Otherwise, if you adopt your own innovative path it will increase sectarianism and no good shall come from it.

In this era of great mischief when no one is connected with God and Esoteric Knowledge is no longer available, those who claim to be spiritual simply read the books of the Sufis and give great lectures on spirituality however this play with words and knowledge does not purify the Nafs nor does it enlighten any heart with Divine Light.