166. Prophet Muhammad^pbuh Seen Over The Centuries. Part Three

 

We were discussing the dream of Nazir Ahmed. One day Nazir came to the town where Ghazi lived, and gave an account of his encounter, in a dream, with the holy prophet^pbuh. He told the following:

 

“I developed cancer in my right leg. Blood would ooze from the wound. The leg became smaller in circumference. I started using crutches. A friend took me to a doctor in Mayo Hospital Lahore. The doctor examined the leg and said that it has to be amputated. We rented a room in a hotel. The surgery was scheduled for the next day. I went to a nearby mosque for night prayer. I prayed to God to save my leg. At around 2 AM I fell asleep. In the dream I saw a beautiful house. Lot of people were going in. I asked somebody that why were the people going in? He replied ‘don’t you know the holy prophet^pbuh is inside’. I walked inside on my crutches. There I saw the holy prophet^pbuh sitting and many people around him also sitting, respectfully. I presented myself to the holy prophet^pbuh and said salaam, with reverence.

He said ‘What brings you here?’

I replied ‘I have come to ask you to pray for cure of my disease’

He said ‘Go to your home in the morning. The merciful God will have pity on you.’

Hearing these words I became certain that my leg will get better without any operation.

As I was turning to go, the holy prophet^pbuh said ‘do you know the person standing with me.’

I said ‘No, sir’

He said ‘this is my companion Abu Bakar, listen to what he has to say (see footnote)’

With great reverence I gave my salaam to Hazrat Abu Bakar^ru. He answered my salaam affectionately and gave me a piece of paper from his pocket. On the paper it was written; ‘Professor Ghazi Ahmed Principal Government Intermediate College Bochal Kalan, Distt Jhelum’

 

Abu Bakar^ru said “read the address and memorize it”. I did it. Then he said, “Do you know this man”

I replied “I have never heard of him”

He said, ‘Ghazi Ahmed is the person who was given the gift of Islam by the holy prophet^pbuh. Go to the home of Ghazi and tell him that he should gird up his loins for service of Islam’.”

When Nazir woke up, he told his friend that there was no need of surgery. They checked out of the hotel. His leg eventually healed by itself. He showed his leg to Ghazi, his foot wound had completely healed.

Ghazi stated that whenever he was invited to address a gathering he would remember the message of holy prophet^pbuh.

This dream of Nazir is very important, because of three findings.

(a). It resulted in the miraculous cure of Nazir’s leg.

(b). He was given the name and address of Ghazi. Such a person did exist at that address. He had previously never heard of Ghazi.

(c). Hazrat Abu Bakar verified the fact that Ghazi was converted to Islam by the holy prophet^pbuh. Before Mr Nazir’s account of his dream, one had no independent confirmation of this fact. Skeptics had claimed that this fourteen year old boy’s mind was filled with thoughts gleaned from reading the religious books which resulted in that fanciful dream; a creation of his own mind.

 

7. The readers of my blogs are aware of Data Gunj Bakhash, a great 11^th century mystic, who is buried in Lahore, Pakistan (blogs 62-4,115-6). His book (1) is an autobiography, and it influenced this mote. Data Gunj Bakhash narrates two dreams in which he met the holy prophet^pbuh. He writes:

 

“In the country of Syria, I was sleeping at the grave of Hazrat Blal^ru, the first muezzin (one who calls for prayer, in a loud voice) in Islam. In the dream I found myself in Mecca (where kaaba is located). I saw the holy prophet^pbuh entering through Bab-a-Shiba. He was carrying a man in his lap, like one would carry a child. With joy I ran towards the holy prophet^pbuh, and kissed his feet. I was wondering who this person might be, whom the holy prophet^pbuh was carrying. He surmised my thoughts, and said this is your Imam (leader), and he belongs to your order I realized that he must be Imam Abu Hanifa (the greatest of all Imams in Sunni Islam). It became evident by that dream that the innovative thoughts of Abu-Hanifa were faultless, not because he was following the holy prophet^pbuh but the holy prophet^pbuh was carrying him.”

 

8. Data Gunj Bakhash had one more dream of the holy prophet^pbuh. He narrates:

“I saw the holy prophet^pbuh in my dream. I asked him to give me some advice”

Now, are you not curious to know, that what was the advice given by one of the greatest prophets of all times to one of the greatest mystics of all times?

The advice was ‘Control your senses’

Data Gunj Bakhash elaborates the advice in a whole page.

“This is a comprehensive ascetic practice (to try to reach God), because all knowledge is acquired through the five special senses; see, smell, taste, hear and touch. Knowledge and wisdom are acquired through them……………”

I quote what St Teresa of Avila said (blog 75):

 

“It is most important, to detach oneself from all kinds of pleasures”. This is the same teaching which this mote has found in mystic practices of all religions; Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and others.

; Conquer one self.

9. My friend Dr Manocha had two visions of prophet Muhammad^pbum both times in dreams. In the first vision the holy prophet ^pbum was sitting on a mat or something. A black blanket was wrapped around him. He had thick beard of white and grey hair. His head was covered with a black turban. His face had pitted scars on it. Dr Manocha thought that Hazoor (a title of respect) must have suffered from small pox sometimes. He watched the holy prophet by walking in an arc. As he watched, he realized that those pits were emitting light like stars. Second time he saw prophet Muhammad^pbum from a distance. He was walking with a group of people. When he visited India, he specially went to a shop and bought a black shawl, as a token of his love and respect.

 

 

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Footnote. Abu Bakar^ru was the closest companion of the holy prophet^pbuh, and became the first caliph of Muslims after his death.

(1) Kashaf-ul Mahjoob by Data Gunj Bakhash.

 

 

165. Prophet Muhammad^pbuh Seen The Over Centuries. Part Two

 

We were discussing the authentic dreams about Prophet Muhammad^pbuh. Next night Ghazi (see previous blog) had another dream:

 

3. In the dream he saw that he was going home from the school in the company of several students. They met an apparition of a jet black, giant of a man, whose arms appeared to be about fifteen feet long and he had a horn on his forehead. Everybody was shaking with fear. Ghazi recognized that he was Dajjal, an evil figure, who is supposed to come before the end of the world. Dajjal asked the first student that who did he belong to? He replied ‘I belong to God’. Dajjal killed him. The next student was asked the same question, and he answered ‘I belong to you’. Dajjal was very pleased with the answer and gave the boy sweets. Next he asked the same question to Ghazi. Ghazi timidly replied that he belonged to God. Dajjal slapped him. He started weeping. Dajjal ordered him to come towards him.

 

Then he saw that prophet Muhammad^pbuh was seated nearby. The prophet^pbuh called him to come near. A thought occurred to Ghazi that he had seen the prophet^pbuh just yesterday, in far away Mecca, and today he was here. He saw the prophet^pbuh this time very clearly; his dress, his face, and a rosary in his hands. The prophet^pbuh was reciting something, facing Kaaba.

 

He said, “Son, listen, I have come so far only to help you. Now stop crying.” He was also stroking his back with his holy hand, just as a father would do to a weeping child. “Don’t ever accept the commands of Dajjal. He cannot hurt you anymore. These worldly gains are nothing as compared to heavenly rewards. If you stay steadfast in this test, you will get great boons in heaven. Pay no attention to Dajjal’s offers. I am praying for your success. By the grace of God, you will succeed. God will help you”

 

“Dajjal called me again. I saw that the other boys were eating sweets. The other boys said, ‘obey him, and enjoy like us.’ I said, ‘I will enjoy the bounty of next life’. Hearing these words, Dajjal became angry and lifted his hand to strike me. Out of fear, I woke up”

 

The prayer of prophet^pbuh bore fruits throughout Ghazi’s life. He succeeded in all the endeavors that he undertook. He had a very successful and peaceful life. He did Masters in two subjects and stood first in the university both times. He retired as principal of an Intermediate College.

He did not waver during the severe tribulations caused by his conversion to Islam. His mother would cry every day. All his relatives would taunt him for giving up the religion of his ancestors, and be a source of shame for the whole Hindu community in general and his parents in particular. His parents and his grandmother would beg him repeatedly, not to dishonor the family. His father beat him to a pulp with blood soaking his dress. The father took him to the edge of a creek and threatened to throw him down into the creek  from a mountain in Kashmir. He escaped with the help of a guide. They walked for about forty miles, over snow covered paths, sometimes over crevasses in ice. They did not find food for three days.

His father took the case to the court, and got the verdict in his favor, after bribing the judge. He had to leave his house and live with Muslims. During all this period he prayed to God and the holy prophet^pbuh to help him

In 1947, all his family members had to leave their ancestral village and migrate to India, because they were Hindus. He was left all alone in Pakistan with not a single relative because he was a Muslim. He never met his father again. He talked to his mother and one brother, once, across the barbed wire at the boundary between India and Pakistan. That was the last time he saw his mother.

 

 

4. Ghazi’s son, Tahir Jamil had the following dream:

 

“I was with my father. I saw a man with naked sword coming towards us. I felt that he was going to attack us. I moved forward to defend my father. The man approached near. I looked back and my father was no longer there, instead the holy prophet^pbuh was standing there. I thought this man is going to attack the prophet^pbuh . I thought I should sacrifice my life in order to defend the prophet^pbuh. I was going to step forward to fight with the man, but the prophet^pbuh gestured me to stop. I stopped as ordered. The sword fell from that person’s hand, and he said, ‘make me Muslim’. He became Muslim. I was very happy. The prophet^pbuh said ‘Tahir Jamil is there a mosque nearby?’ I said ‘yes, there is an old mosque’. The prophet^pbuh said, ‘Let us say maghrib prayer’. The prophet^pbuh led the prayer, with me and that other person following. As I finished the prayer, I woke up.”

 

5. Tahir Jamil had another dream of the prophet^pbuh.

 

“In the dream I was in Medina (where the prophet^pbuh is buried). I was reciting darood (a prayer honoring the prophet Muhammad^pbuh and prophet Abraham), with great fervor, at the outer boundary of the prophet’s^pbuh grave. The door to inner area opened by itself. I entered that door and kept on reciting darood. Another door which led to innermost room also opened. I saw three graves in that room. There was a tablet at the head of one grave, which read ‘ Muhammad rasool ullah’

I continued reciting darood, very passionately, at the foot of the prophet’s^pbuh grave. The grave opened and the prophet^pbuh came out. He asked me the reason of my coming. I said ‘to ask forgiveness for my sins’

The prophet^pbuh replied ^‘God has forgiven your sins and so have I’

I started weeping with happiness and gratitude.

Seeing the prophet^pbuh in such a kind mood I said ‘I want to do postgraduate studies in medicine. I request your prayer for my successes

The prophet^pbuh said ‘Son, study hard, I will pray for your successes’

I woke up.”

 

6. Ghazi received a letter from a man, Nazir Hussin Shah of Lalian, Pakistan. He thought that the man must have read his book and wanted to talk about it. Once he was travelling near Lalian, he thought of meeting the sender of the letter. He met Mr Nazir, an elderly man. He had never heard of Ghazi Ahmed nor had he read his book. He said he had a message from the prophet^pbuh for Ghazi, but he was told to go to Ghazi and give the message. Therefore, he would travel to Ghazi’s residence and will give the message. Ghazi got upset that may be the prophet^pbuh is upset with him, and the message is a scolding for his dereliction.

 

To be continued