Get Out You Dog
The Strange incident of Shaikh Abdul Haq رحمه الله
Hadhrat Moulana Shaikh Abdul Haq رحمه الله was a resident of Madinah Munawwarah and he was a sahib-e-huzoori. Sahib-e-Huzoori is a person who is blessed with the fortune of seeing Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم daily. The manner in which they see Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم, whether sleeping or awake is best known to them.
Once, Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم instructed him to go to India. Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم also said, “Be affectionate and kind to the poor of India.” He replied, “Huzoor صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم ! presently I reside in Madinah Tayyibah and I daily visit your blessed grave. If I go to India, how would I ever be blessed with this grace?”
Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم replied, “You will still be granted the opportunity from there.” Thus, he left for India and settled in Delhi. He took the post of teaching Hadeeth and he also wrote several books on tasawwuf. Whenever he learnt of a pious person he would immediately visit him. Once, he learnt that a faqeer (pious person) had come and that people were flocking to him. Moulana also thought of visiting him. On reaching he found a large gathering sitting around the faqeer who had a bottle of wine in his hand. On seeing Moulana, the faqeer asked him to drink some wine. Moulana refused and said, “This is Haraam. I will never drink it.” The faqeer did not insist and there was no further discussion.
That night Moulana dreamt of a group of people who were walking in a certain direction and he asked them where they were going to. They replied that they were going to visit Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم who had come to a certain house. Moulana decided to join them. Upon reaching the house he found the faqeer standing at the entrance with a baton in his hand. He allowed the others to enter but he did not allow Moulana. Moulana tried to enter but this faqeer raised the baton and said, “I will not allow you to enter because you refused to drink the wine.” With a fright and shock Moulana’s eyes opened. He understood the boundaries of shari`ah for he was a proficient `aalim. He immediately recited لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِٱللَّٰهِ ٱلْعَلِيِّ ٱلْعَظِيمِ and he realised that this was a trick of shaitaan i.e. he will not be granted the opportunity of seeing Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم because of not consuming wine. The next day Moulana returned to the gathering of this faqeer and found him seated amongst his followers with the bottle of wine in his hand. Upon him reaching there the faqeer told Moulana, “Now drink this.”
Moulana now understood that the dream was due to the tasarruf(spiritual powers) of the faqeer directed towards him or that perhaps the faqeer came to know of the dream through kashf (inspiration). Moulana replied, “Display your tricks to someone else but I will not drink this wine.” The next night Moulana saw a similar dream and the faqeer was again standing at the entrance with his baton and did not allow Moulana to enter. He woke up with a shock and recited لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِٱللَّٰهِ ٱلْعَلِيِّ ٱلْعَظِيمِ. On the third morning, he went back to the faqeer. The faqeer told him, “Listen, you have been deprived of visiting Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم for the past two nights. Now drink this wine.”
Moulana replied, “I may be deprived of visiting Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم for the rest of my life but I will never drink wine. I am not prepared to commit a wrong in order that I get the opportunity of visiting Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم. There is no harm if I do not visit him, but my actions are accepted. My refusal to drink it is tolerable to Nabi but my drinking it is intolerable to him.”
On the third night, he saw the same dream again and the faqeer was standing at the entrance with his baton and did not allow him to enter. This seemed strange to him that he would only be granted permission to enter if he drank wine. Whilst thinking of what strategy to adopt,Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم suddenly asked from inside, “Two days have now passed. Why has Abdul Haq not come as yet?” As soon as he heard this, Moulana answered from outside, “Huzoor صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم! I am anxious to visit you but this faqeer is standing at the entrance and he is not allowing me to enter.” Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم asked, “Who is he? What is the problem?” He replied that he is the faqeer who consumes wine (and says whoever drinks wine can only enter).
Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم then said: Get out you dog!
Hadhrat Ali who was also present drew out his sword and chased the faqeer who then fled. The path was now clear and Moulana Abdul Haq Sahib presented himself in front of Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم . Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم asked him, “Abdul Haq! Where have you been for two days?” He replied, “Huzoor صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم! For the past two days, I intended coming, but this faqeer would not allow me to enter unless I drank wine. However, you have prohibited us from consuming wine and you have cursed the person who drinks wine. How was it then possible for me to then drink it?”
Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم said, “You had done the correct action.” Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم then treated him affectionately and kindly. The next morning he woke up happily and returned to the residence of the faqeer. He found all the mureeds seated but the faqeer was not present. He asked them, “Where is your shaikh?” They replied, “He is still inside the room.” Moulana knocked at the door but there was no response. He opened the door but there was nobody inside. Moulana asked the congregation to see that there was anybody inside. When they looked for themselves and did not see a soul they were taken aback for there was no other exit besides the door. Had he come out then where did he go to? Thereafter Moulana asked them, “Didn’t anything come out from the room?” They replied that they had seen a dog running out of the room.
On hearing this, Moulana related to them his entire series of dreams and said, “The dog was your very shaikh. He wanted to distort the shari`ah of Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ , so Allah Ta`ala transformed him into a dog.”
The words, “Get out you dog” were uttered by Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم . Thus, how can a person ever remain a human being when Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم had called him a dog? The shari`ah of Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم is crystal clear without a shadow of doubt. If shaitaan or his agents wish to corrupt some law of the shari`ah then Allah Ta`ala will take care of it as was the case in this incident.
The faqeer made the drinking of wine a means of gaining proximity to Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَم, whereas it is totally haraam. In this way he tried to distort the pure Islamic shari`ah. Allah Ta`ala had then disfigured him and protected the pure shari`ah of Islam.
Malfoozaat of Faqeeh-ul-Ummat 469
