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 11th 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 11thShareef 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.
