Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Aslamu-Alaikum my dear brother Burhan,

I wish to address a question to you:

For the past few years I have attended gatherings of Aaliyahs (peer), although before this time my understanding of islam was not immense, only after reading the glorious Quran my mind is in a state of confusion.

Firstly if a peer goes around pakistan and UK to gatherings in masjids and gives talks about Islam and especially about our Prophet Rasool saw, but claims that he is just a faqir in the path of Allah, and does not demand anything from people in the gatherings, I am confused why it is that in Saudia Arabia the peer does not permit any of his followers to be with him as he supplicates and prays in privacy throughout umrah.

Also in the gatherings is it permitted for people to sit on the floor whilst the peer sits on chairs, sofa`s or soft cushions prepared for him by the people.

And is it permitted for muslims that have peer`s to kneel on the ground and kiss the peer`s hand followed by putting both right & left eye on his hand.

After reading the glorious Quran my mind has asked many questions about Aaliyas and peers however I can`t say that in the gatherings there has been any demands to worship or follow the peer but it is for sure that out of devotion people turn to the peer for intercession of prayers and advice in all matters of life.

Is it necessary for a muslim to have a leader such as a peer, or is the glorious Quran enough for him.

I have noticed that some followers of the peer refuse to go to masjids that do not send short Durad salaam on our beloved Prophet saws after prayers, (Asalatu wasalamulaika yaa sayedi yaa rasoolulah, Asalatu wasalamualaika yaa sayedi yaa habibulah)

When I question what is wrong with reciting full Durad salaam they seem to divert from answering this clearly, which again confuses me.

I apologise if my question is unclear or long but you can see indications of my confusion.

I would be very grateful if you could use any evidence from the Quran or our beloved Prophets hadith that can clear this state of confusion I am in InshAllah.

May Allah subhanah reward you for your efforts.

Wasalam 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Peer faqir auliya

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Dear and Beloved Brother in Islam, Allah Subhanah has not appointed or given authority to any ‘peer’ or ‘faqeer’ to represent Him or His Deen! Our duty and command as believers is to unconditionally obey and follow only Allah and His Messenger (saws)!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisa verse 79-80:

We have sent you (O Mohamed) as a Messenger to mankind, and Allah’s witness suffices for this. Whoever obeys the Messenger, in fact obeys Allah, and whoever turns away from him, he will be accountable for his deeds. Anyhow, we have not sent you (O Mohamed) to be a guardian over them.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imran verse 31-32:

O Prophet, tell the people, “If you sincerely love Allah, follow me. Then Allah will love you and forgive you your sins, for He is All Forgiving, All Merciful.” Also say to them, “Obey Allah and His Messenger.” And if, in spite of this, they do not accept your invitation, warn them that Allah does not love those, who refuse to obey Him and His Messenger.

There is absolutely no harm if one chooses to study and learn the deen through any scholar of Islam, provided his absolute loyalty and obedience is to Allah and His Messenger (saws) alone. If ever there is a dispute between what is commanded by Allah and His Messenger (saws) and what is commanded by the chosen scholar, the believer must always chose to stand with the guidance of Allah and His Messenger (saws) and leave alone the opinion of the scholar! In effect, the scholar will only be listened to if what he says is in exact accordance with the guidance of the Quran and Sunnah.

The truth is brother that most, if not all, of the ‘peers’ and ‘faqeers’ so prevalent in the Indian sub-continent today are scams! These are self-invented,man-made and self-declared supposedly hereditary ‘holy men’, who take advantage of the ignorance of the people and make them their followers instead of guiding them to the Truth of the Quran and the Sunnah. They may or may not claim to be ‘sinless’, but their followers assume them to be so and take every word that comes out from their ‘peers’ mouth as the absolute Truth, regardless of whether what their ‘peer’ says or does is in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah or not! The modus-operandi of most of these ‘peers’ is that they form or employ a set group of dedicated ‘mujawirs’ or followers who spread fantastic stories regarding their supposed ‘holiness’, their supposed ‘devotion’, their supposed ‘miracles’, etc.…. These followers take whatever their ‘peer’ declares as ‘halaal’ as legal, and abstain from whatever their ‘peer’ declares as ‘haraam’ as forbidden, regardless of what is declared in the Quran and the Sunnah!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah Taubah verse 31:

They have made their scholars and their monks as their ‘Rabbs’ (Lords) besides Allah!

It is reported in an authentic narration that when the above Aayah was revealed, Hadrat Adi bin Hatim (r.a.) who was formally a Christian before accepting Islam, came to the Messenger of Allah (saws) and said what does the Verse actually mean for they never took their priests and their monks as ‘rabbs’ or lords besides the One and Only True Lord, Allah Subhanah. The Messenger of Allah (saws) asked Hadrat Adi (r.a.) whether or not they accepted whatever their priests declared as ‘halaal’ as permissible, and whatever they declared as ‘haraam’ as prohibited? When Hadrat Adi (r.a.) confirmed that indeed that is what they used to do, the Messenger of Allah (saws) decalred: ‘What is that other than making them ‘rabbs’ besides Allah?’

There is absolutely no room in Islam for such ‘peers’ and ‘faqirs’, and it would be best for the true believers to abstain from such sects and groups; for there is a definite fear that the unconditional following of such people might lead one to the evil abomination of the unforgivable sin of ‘shirk’!

Now to your questions:

Q-1: Firstly if a peer goes around pakistan and UK to gatherings in masjids and gives talks about Islam and especially about our Prophet Rasool saw, but claims that he is just a faqir in the path of Allah, and does not demand anything from people in the gatherings, I am confused why it is that in Saudia Arabia the peer does not permit any of his followers to be with him as he supplicates and prays in privacy throughout umrah.

Allah Alone knows what story the supposed ‘peer’ has given his gullible followers regarding why he needs to go alone to the Sacred House in Makkah, and why his followers are not allowed to be with him when he supplicates and prays in absolute privacy throughout his visit to the Sacred House!

It is also possible that if all the rites and rituals that happen in the presence of the ‘peer’ are done in Saudi Arabia, the true muslims might expose his ‘un-holiness’ and he might lose his position of superiority which he has so painfully carved in the sight of his gullible followers!

The ‘peers’ and ‘faqirs’ might get away with their misguidance in countries like India, Pakistan and the UK, but there is a definite chance that they might be thoroughly exposed in countries like Saudi Arabia which is frequented by knowledgeable muslims from all over the world!

Q-2: Also in the gatherings is it permitted for people to sit on the floor whilst the peer sits on chairs, sofa`s or soft cushions prepared for him by the people.

There is absolutely no harm if a scholar, while guiding people to the Quran and Sunnah or while delivering his sermons, sits on a chair or stands above the congregation so that all the believers who are assembled might be able to see and hear him.

But if one considers himself to be above the other believers in status, and would consider it an insult to sit amongst the believers, regardless of whether he is giving a sermon or not, but rather insists that in every gathering he sits on a lofted place of honor and all the other ‘commoners’ sit below him, etc…..then such a sitting is absolutely disallowed and forbidden in Islam!

It is reported that once when a stranger who had never met the Messenger of Allah (saws) came to a gathering where Prophet Mohamed (saws) was sitting with his companions, the stranger had to ask who amongst them was the Messenger of Allah (saws)!

Q-3: And is it permitted for muslims that have peer`s to kneel on the ground and kiss the peer`s hand followed by putting both right & left eye on his hand.

It does not behove and befit a believer, who sincerely fears Allah and the Last Day, to kneel down in reverence and adoration to anyone! To kneel down to someone or something in creation in reverence is a form of worship, and worship in Islam is the absolute and exclusive Right of Allah Subhanah!

To bow down to someone in creation in reverence and adoration is a clear manifestation of the heinous abomination of ‘shirk’!

Q-4: After reading the glorious Quran my mind has asked many questions about Aaliyas and peers however I can`t say that in the gatherings there has been any demands to worship or follow the peer but it is for sure that out of devotion people turn to the peer for intercession of prayers and advice in all matters of life.

If one is in direct conversation and in the audience of another, there is absolutely no harm in asking a brother in faith to make supplications for us, or taking the advice of a learned and wise man in the matters of life.

But it would definitely be a clear manifestation of ‘shirk’ if one were to invoke anyone other than Allah Subhanah in the ‘unseen’! For example, if the ‘peer’ is in the UK, and the devotee or follower is in Pakistan, and without any means or ‘asbaab’, one calls upon the ‘peer’ in the ‘unseen’ to help him or seeks intercession of prayers, etc.; that would be a clear manifestation of the heinous abomination of ‘shirk’!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumur verse 2-3:

So worship Allah Alone, making your religion His exclusively. Beware! Religion is the exclusive Right of Allah. As for those who have taken other ‘auliyas’ (guardians) with Allah (and justify their this conduct by saying): “We serve them only that they may bring us closer to Allah.” Allah will surely judge between them concerning all that in which they differ. Allah does not show guidance to any liar and denier of the Truth.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 10 Surah Yunus verse 18:

These people serve beside Allah those which can neither harm nor benefit them, and say, “These are our ‘shofa’a’ (intercessors) with Allah!” (O Mohammed (saws)), tell them, “Do you wish to inform Allah of that thing which He knows not in the heavens, or in the earth?” He is absolutely free from, and exalted above the shirk that they commit.

Your Question: Is it necessary for a muslim to have a leader such as a peer, or is the glorious Quran enough for him.

There is absolutely no need or necessity in Islam for one to have a ‘peer’ or ‘faqeer’!

Sahih Muslim Hadith 1885 Narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah

That the Prophet of Allah (saws) said in a sermon: “The best speech is that which is embodied in the Book of Allah, the Al Quran; and the best guidance is the guidance given by me, Mohamed (saws). The most evil affairs are the innovations, and every innovation is an error.”

Allah is our witness brother, the two sources of knowledge, the Quran and the Sunnah, more than suffice for the guidance of the believers to the Straight Path.

Your Statement: I have noticed that some followers of the peer refuse to go to masjids that do not send short Durad salaam on our beloved Prophet saws after prayers,(Asalatu wasalamulaika yaa sayedi yaa rasoolulah, Asalatu wasalamualaika yaa sayedi yaa habibulah) When I question what is wrong with reciting full Durad salaam they seem to divert from answering this clearly, which again confuses me.

Dear and beloved brother in Islam, sending the salutations to the Prophet (saws) is a command of Allah Subhanah; and this salutation is included in the prayers itself when one sits and recites the ‘tashahud’ before the tasleem.

There is absolutely no condition or necessity that one must send salutation to the Prophet (saws) after the prayers; one may send salutations whenever one wishes, but when one hears the mention of the name of Prophet Mohamed (saws) in a gathering or conversation, then it is obligatory upon all those present to send salutations for him.

Hadrat Abu Dharr al-Ghaffari related that the Prophet (saws) said, 'The most miserly among people is the one who fails to invoke blessings upon me when my name is mentioned in his or her presence.’

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 927 Narrated by Abu Hurayrah

Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘May the nose of the person be smeared with dust in whose presence I am mentioned, and he does not invoke blessing upon me.’

If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of never ever being misled; but if one believes, obeys and follows any other guidance, other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of being led astray.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan