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Bismillahir-rehmanir-raheem
Alhamdulillahi was-salaatu was-salaamu 'ala rasulehil-kareem
Amma ba'ad.
The belief of the Ulama-e-Deoband that the Holy Prophet (sallahu alaihi wasallam) is alive in his holy grave and can listen to the Salutation paid to him at his holy grave is not new, and this is proved by many Scholars from the Ahadith and Ijma-e-Ummah. The Mazhab of the Ulama-e-Deaband is no other than the Mazhab of the Ahle Sunnat wal Jam'ah which was the Mazhab of the Sahabah (radhiallu anhum). Few Ahadith on this subject are mentioned below :
Abu Hurairah (radhiallahu anhu) reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Do not turn my grave into a site of festivities, but send greetings to me for your greetings are raised to me wherever you might be." (Reported by Abu Daw'ud with a sound chain of authorities)
Aus (radhiallahu anhu) reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "The best of your days is Friday, so send more and more greetings to me on it, for your greetings are presented to me." They asked, "How are our greetings presented to you while you are dead and your body is turned into dust?" He replied, "Allah has forbidden the earth to consume the bodies of the prophets." (Abu Daw'ud and Nasa'i)
Abu Hurairah (radhiallahu anhu) reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "When any Muslim sends greetings to me, Allah returns my soul to me so that I may respond to his greetings." (Reported by Abu Daw'ud with a sound chain of authorities)
Further more Hadhrat Shaikhul Hadith Maulana Muhammad Zakariya (rahmatullahi alaih) in his famous work "Fazail-e-Amal" mentioned some Ahadith along with their commentary on this subject.
Excerpts from "Fazail-e-Amal", section Virtues of Darood Sharif :
Ibn Mas'ud (radhiallahu anhu) reports that the Holy
Prophet (sallahu alaihi wasallam) said, "There are
many angels of Allah who walk about the world and carry the Salam
to me which is sent by my Ummah (People). " [An-Nasai]
There are several Ahadith of the same meaning narrated by
different Companions of the Holy Prophet (sallahu alaihi
wasallam). 'Allamah Sakhawi (rahmatullah 'alaihi)
has quoted the same lines narrated by Hadhrat Ali (radhiallahu
anhu) that the Holy Prophet (sallahu alaihi wasallam) said,
"Some angels of Allah walk about the world and bring Darud
to me which is sent by my Ummah." It is quoted in Targhib
that Imam Hasan (radhiallahu anhu) narrated the saying
of the Holy Prophet (sallahu alaihi wasallam): "Send
Darud upon me at whatsoever place you may be because your Darud
reaches me." Hadhrat Anas (radhiallahu anhu) has
also reported the same lines from the Holy Prophet (sallahu
alaihi wasallam): "Whosoever sends Darud upon me, it
reaches me, in return of which I also send Darud upon him, and
ten virtues are also added in his account." In Mishkat it is
reported by Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (radhiallahu anhu) that
the Holy Prophet (sallahu alaihi wasallam) said,
"Send Darud upon me abundantly because it reaches me."
Hadhrat 'Ammar bin Yasir (radhiallahu anhu) narrates
that the Holy Prophet (sallahu alaihi wasallam) said,
"Allah has appointed an angel at my grave who has a power to
hear the talks of all the creation (of Allah). When a person asks
blessing upon me the angel conveys it to me telling the name of
that person and the name of his father."
'Allamah Sakhawi (rahmatullah 'alaihi) has quoted this
Hadith in his book Qaul-i-Badi'.
In another Hadith it has been reported that the Holy Prophet (sallahu
alaihi wasallam) said, "Allah has given power to one of
His angels to hear the talks of all the creation. That angel has
been appointed on my grave till the Day of Judgement. When a
person sends Darud upon me the angel tells me his name and his
father's name. Allah has promised me to send ten Darud on the
person who sends one Darud upon me."
Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (radhiallahu anhu) narrates that
he heard the Holy Prophet (sallahu alaihi wasallam) saying:
"I hear my self the blessings asked upon me nearby my tomb;
and the blessings asked upon me from a distant place are conveyed
to me." [Bahiqi, Mishkat]
'Allamah Sakhawi (rahmatullah 'alaihi) has quoted a
number of narrations of similar meaning in Qaul-i-Badi, that the
angels are appointed to carry the Darud, sent by the distant
person, to the Holy Prophet (sallahu alaihi wasallam), and
the Holy Prophet (sallahu alaihi wasallam) hears himself
the Darud sent near his holy tomb. Besides the fact of conveyance
of the Darud to the Holy Prophet (sallahu alaihi wasallam), this
Hadith also points out a more glorified and pleasurable event
that the Holy Prophet (sallahu alaihi wasallam) himself
hears the Darud sent on him near his holy tomb.
Mulla Ali Qari (rahmatullahi 'alaihi) says: "There
is no doubt that to send Darud near the holy tomb is superior
that to send it from a distant place because humility, presence
and concentration of mind is more in nearness."
Commenting on the above Hadith the compiler of Mazahir-i-Haque
Shaikh Abdul Haque (rahmatullahi 'alaihi) writes:
"It is clear due to this Hadith that the Holy Prophet
himself listens the Darud sent close to his tomb without any
other agency, but the Darud sent on him from a distant place is
carried by the angels. The Salaam is replied in both the
cases." This also marks the importance of the Salam and
signifies those persons who send it abundantly. It is, really, a
great honour to have only one reply of all the Salams sent in our
whole life then what to say about all the replies.
No doubt the Holy Prophet (sallahu alaihi wasallam) himself
hears the Darud sent close to his tomb because all the prophets
are alive in their graves. 'Allamah Sakhawi (rahmatullah
'alaihi) writes in his book Qaul-i-Badi': "We firmly
believe and confirm that the Holy Prophet (sallahu alaihi
wasallam) is alive in his grave. This is one of the
unanimous beliefs (on which there is Ijma') of the
theologians." Imam Behaqi (rahmatullah 'alaihi) has
written a book on the belief of "Hayat-i-Ambiya" (i.e.
the prophets are alive in their graves) Hadhrat Anas (radhiallahu
anhu) narrates the Hadith: "All the prophets are alive
in their graves and they offer there the Salat"
'Allamah Sakhawi (rahmatullah 'alaihi) has mentioned
this Hadith from a number of Isnad (Charters). Imam Muslim (rahmatullah
'alaihi) has mentioned another Hadith narrated by Hadhrat
Anas (radhiallahu anhu) that the Holy Pophet (sallahu
alaihi wasallam) said, "In the night of Ascention
(Lailat-i-Mi'raj), I passed by prophet Musa and saw him offering
the Salat in his grave." Imam Muslim has mentioned another
Hadith that Holy Prophet (sallahu alaihi wasallam) said,
"I saw myself with a group of the prophets and observed that
Hadhrat 'Isa and Hadhrat Ibrahim (alaihumas salam) were
in standing posture while offering Salat." Imam Bukhari (rahmatullah
'alaihi) has reported that after the sad demise of the Holy
Prophet (sallahu alaihi wasallam) Hadhrat Abu Bakr (radhiallahu
anhu) visited the holy corpse and uncovered the holy face
from the sheet. He then said, 'O Prophet of Allah! May my parents
be sacrificed for you, Allah has not caused two deaths for you.
The death which was destined for you has been caused."
'Allamah Suyuti (rahmatullah 'alaihi) has also written a
book on "Hayat-i-Ambiya" (i.e. the prophets are alive
in their graves). It is forbidden to earth to spoil the body of a
prophet.
Hadhrat Abu Darda (radhiallahu anhu) narrates that
the Holy Prophet (sallahu alaihi wasallam) said,
"Ask blessings upon me abundantly on Fiday because the
angels visit abundantly on this day. And as soon as a person asks
blessings (upon me), those are carried to me." Abu Darda
says: "I asked the Holy Prophet (sallahu alaihi
wasallam): even after the death?" The Holy Prophet (sallahu
alaihi wasallam) replied, "Yes, of course. Allah has
forbidden the earth to spoil the (holy) bodies of the prophets ('alaihumas
salam). [Ibn Majah] [So the Prophet of Allah is alive (in
his grave) and he is fed.]"
Mulla 'Ali Qari says: "Since Allah has forbidden the earth
to spoil the bodies of the prophets, there is not much difference
in their lives on the earth and in the graves." This Hadith
also points out that the Darud (blessings) is presented both to
the body and the soul. The last part of the Hadith: 'The Prophet
of Allah is alive in his grave and he is fed', seems to refer the
Holy Prophet (sallahu alaihi wasallam). But because of
its common meaning it may be taken for all the prophets.
In another Hadith it is stated: "The Prophets offer the
Salat in their graves"; this is a Sahih (authentic) Hadith.
The food (given to the prophets in their graves) may be of
worldly kind or it may be a simile.
'Allamah Sakhawi has quoted this Hadith through a number of
Isnad. He has quoted a similar Hadith narrated by Hadhrat Aws (radhiallahu
anhu) according to which the Holy Prophet (sallahu
alaihi wasallam) said, "Friday is the most excellent
day among all of your (week) days. On this very day Hadhrat Adam ('alaihis
salam) was created and also died. Both the first and second
Trumpets will be resounded on this day. I ask you, therefore, to
recite Darud abundantly on fridays, because your Darud is
presented to me." On this point the Companions (radhiallahu
'anhum) asked, 'O Prophet of Allah! How will our Darud be
presented to you in the grave where your (Holy) body would be
rotten?" The Holy Prophet (sallahu alaihi wasallam) replied,
"Allah has forbidden the earth to spoil the (holy) bodies of
the prophets ('alaihumus salam)."
One more thing I would like to mention at this point, that,
the Ulama's of Ahle Hadith group also supports the above
mentioned views and for that I had put up a website in Urdu www.geocities.com/badr_313/hayat-nabi.htm
so if anybody really interested to know about this please visit
the site.
By mentioning all this I just wanted to clear out the stand of
the Deobandis, which is not baseless. I am not at all interested
in any kind of debate nor I want to criticize anybody. It is
incorrect for non-scholars and non-academics to pass a judgment
especially on such learned people. They should fear Allah and
abstain from engaging themselves in such discussions. Rasulullah
(sallallahu-alayhi-wasallam) prayed:
"O Allah! let me not be alive and may you (O Sahabah!) also
not be alive at such a time when the Aalim will not be followed,
and when no respect will be shown to the wise-learned ones. The
people of that time will have hearts like kuffaar and their
tongues will be eloquently sweet like the tongue of the
Arabs." - Targheeb (al-I'tidaal of H.Shaikh)
O Lord ! Shower Thy Blessings and send
eternal peace in continuation, upon Thy Beloved (Prophet) who is
the Best of all the creation.
Show us the straight way, The path of those upon whom Thou hast
bestowed favors. Not (the path) of those upon whom Thy wrath is
brought down, nor of those who go astray... Ameen.
Wa Aakheru da'wana 'anil hamdu lillahi rabbil 'alameen.
-Good for nothing,
Shams Tabrez
13 Mar 2003 / 14 Muh 1424 A.H.
www.haadi.cjb.net