THE MIRACLES OF MUSLIM SAINTS.

THE MIRACLES OF MUSLIM SAINTS.

Many of my friends advised me that in the book I should write about Hazrat Sultan Bahu ( Rathi Allahu ‘anh), I should merely deal with human aspect and avoid the super-natural side of miracles. But a reference to the miracles of saints could not be avoided.

Miracles are events in the phenomenal world that imply a break in the causal chain. It is not miracles that should be queried. This is ignorance. The source of the matter is the nature of what seems to be the causal chain. It lies in perception. It is better to discuss the matter following the performance of a miracle. This is not an unusual event for the people of knowledge (the Fuqara) and no fuss is made about it.

Miracles are happening around us every moment and all that is necessary is to develop the sight, which can discern through such happenings. Our human intellect can bear with us to a certain extent only. Beyond the intellectual horizons there are other worlds, and all that happens in such worlds are miracles. It is an extraordinary event produced in nature but not by nature. Being a deviation from the natural law, it is an anomaly and an exception. Therefore a miracle is an exception that proves the rule.

In Islam miracles may be classified as Karamat and Mu'jizat. Miracles falling in the first category are vouchsafed to saints, while the miracles in the second category are the exclusive prerogative of the Prophets. A Karamat is a favour, which Allah bestows on a saint, while a Mu'jiza is an act, which cannot be imitated by anyone. Thus miracles worked by the Saints are of a lower order than those of the Prophets.

On the concept of miracles Hazrat Data Ganj Baksh ( Rathi Allahu ‘anh), author of `Kashful Majzoob', holds the view that miracles may be vouchsafed to a saint so long as he does not infringe the obligations of the religious law. Such miracles are not intellectually impossible because their manifestation does not contradict any principle of the religious law . A miracle is a token of a saint's veracity, and as such cannot be manifested by an imposter. it is an extraordinary act performed while the Saint is still subject to the obligations of religion. He reconciles Karamat and Mu'jiza, by holding that the Prophet establishes his Prophesy by establishing the reality of Mu'jiza, while the Saint by the Karamat which he performs establishes both the Prophesy of the Prophet and his own Saint ship. He further states that when a Prophet performs a miracle in evidence of the genuineness of his Prophet hood, and a miracle is subsequently performed by a Saint, such a miracle is merely a confirmation of the genuineness of the Prophet of whom the Saint is a follower.

Some Sufi schools of thought hold that whereas the miracles of the Prophets are wrought in the state of sobriety, miracles to Saints are vouchsafed only when they are in a state of intoxication. It is argued that as a Prophet is a man of law and a Saint is a man of inward feeling, a miracle will not be manifested to a Saint unless he is in a state of absence from himself when his faculties are entirely under the control of Allah. When Saints are with themselves, they are veiled, but when the veil is lifted they are bewildered and in a state of intoxication. A miracle cannot be manifested except in the state of unveil ness which is the rank of proximity. That is a state of intoxication with which no human being except the Prophets is permanently endowed.

According to the al-Junayd school of thought to which Hazrat Sultan Bahu (RA) belonged miracles are manifested in a state of sobriety and composure, and not in the state of intoxication. The argument is that the Saints of Allah are the governors of His kingdom, which Allah has committed to their charge; therefore their judgments must be the soundest of all and their hearts must be the most tenderly disposed towards the creatures of Allah. They are mature, whereas agitation and intoxication are marks of inexperience. With maturity a saint’s agitation is

transmuted into composure.

The reality of Karamat wrought by the Saints of Allah is established in the Quran and Traditions itself. the Quran tells of the Karamat of Asif-b-Barkhiya who brought the throne of Bilqis to Hazrat Sulaiman (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa sallim) in the twinkling of an eye. We are also told of Mary (Allah's blessings be on her) that whenever her chamber was visited by Zakaria (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa sallim) there were to be found winter fruits in summer and summer fruits in the winter and the shaking of the palm tree by Mary (Allah's blessing's be on her) when she retired to the wilderness. Among the genuine traditions there is reference to a Karamat when the Prophet (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa sallim) related the story of a cave, whose entrance was blocked and how an opening was made when the persons stranded told of their good deeds. Another Tradition is of the three infants who were miraculously endowed with speech. There is also the happening of Ala-b al Hadrami who having been sent on a warlike expedition by the Prophet (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa sallim), walked dry sod across a river. There is also the story of Khalid-b-Walid (RA.) who said `Bismillah' and drank deadly poison which did him no harm. There are many other Traditions supporting the concept of Karamat's (miracles) wrought by the Saints of Allah. Suffice it to say that no Sufi uses miracles for the sake of self aggrandisement. He is obliged to display them unavoidably to fight the `devil in man', only to meet extraordinary emergencies.

Many of my friends advised me that in the book I should write about Hazrat Sultan Bahu ( Rathi Allahu ‘anh), I should merely deal with human aspect and avoid the super-natural side of miracles. But a reference to the miracles of saints could not be avoided.

Miracles are events in the phenomenal world that imply a break in the causal chain. It is not miracles that should be queried. This is ignorance. The source of the matter is the nature of what seems to be the causal chain. It lies in perception. It is better to discuss the matter following the performance of a miracle. This is not an unusual event for the people of knowledge (the Fuqara) and no fuss is made about it.

Miracles are happening around us every moment and all that is necessary is to develop the sight, which can discern through such happenings. Our human intellect can bear with us to a certain extent only. Beyond the intellectual horizons there are other worlds, and all that happens in such worlds are miracles. It is an extraordinary event produced in nature but not by nature. Being a deviation from the natural law, it is an anomaly and an exception. Therefore a miracle is an exception that proves the rule.

In Islam miracles may be classified as Karamat and Mu'jizat. Miracles falling in the first category are vouchsafed to saints, while the miracles in the second category are the exclusive prerogative of the Prophets. A Karamat is a favour, which Allah bestows on a saint, while a Mu'jiza is an act, which cannot be imitated by anyone. Thus miracles worked by the Saints are of a lower order than those of the Prophets.

On the concept of miracles Hazrat Data Ganj Baksh ( Rathi Allahu ‘anh), author of `Kashful Majzoob', holds the view that miracles may be vouchsafed to a saint so long as he does not infringe the obligations of the religious law. Such miracles are not intellectually impossible because their manifestation does not contradict any principle of the religious law . A miracle is a token of a saint's veracity, and as such cannot be manifested by an imposter. it is an extraordinary act performed while the Saint is still subject to the obligations of religion. He reconciles Karamat and Mu'jiza, by holding that the Prophet establishes his Prophesy by establishing the reality of Mu'jiza, while the Saint by the Karamat which he performs establishes both the Prophesy of the Prophet and his own Saint ship. He further states that when a Prophet performs a miracle in evidence of the genuineness of his Prophet hood, and a miracle is subsequently performed by a Saint, such a miracle is merely a confirmation of the genuineness of the Prophet of whom the Saint is a follower.

Some Sufi schools of thought hold that whereas the miracles of the Prophets are wrought in the state of sobriety, miracles to Saints are vouchsafed only when they are in a state of intoxication. It is argued that as a Prophet is a man of law and a Saint is a man of inward feeling, a miracle will not be manifested to a Saint unless he is in a state of absence from himself when his faculties are entirely under the control of Allah. When Saints are with themselves, they are veiled, but when the veil is lifted they are bewildered and in a state of intoxication. A miracle cannot be manifested except in the state of unveil ness which is the rank of proximity. That is a state of intoxication with which no human being except the Prophets is permanently endowed.

According to the al-Junayd school of thought to which Hazrat Sultan Bahu (RA) belonged miracles are manifested in a state of sobriety and composure, and not in the state of intoxication. The argument is that the Saints of Allah are the governors of His kingdom, which Allah has committed to their charge; therefore their judgments must be the soundest of all and their hearts must be the most tenderly disposed towards the creatures of Allah. They are mature, whereas agitation and intoxication are marks of inexperience. With maturity a saint’s agitation is

transmuted into composure.

The reality of Karamat wrought by the Saints of Allah is established in the Quran and Traditions itself. the Quran tells of the Karamat of Asif-b-Barkhiya who brought the throne of Bilqis to Hazrat Sulaiman (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa sallim) in the twinkling of an eye. We are also told of Mary (Allah's blessings be on her) that whenever her chamber was visited by Zakaria (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa sallim) there were to be found winter fruits in summer and summer fruits in the winter and the shaking of the palm tree by Mary (Allah's blessing's be on her) when she retired to the wilderness. Among the genuine traditions there is reference to a Karamat when the Prophet (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa sallim) related the story of a cave, whose entrance was blocked and how an opening was made when the persons stranded told of their good deeds. Another Tradition is of the three infants who were miraculously endowed with speech. There is also the happening of Ala-b al Hadrami who having been sent on a warlike expedition by the Prophet (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa sallim), walked dry sod across a river. There is also the story of Khalid-b-Walid (RA.) who said `Bismillah' and drank deadly poison which did him no harm. There are many other Traditions supporting the concept of Karamat's (miracles) wrought by the Saints of Allah. Suffice it to say that no Sufi uses miracles for the sake of self aggrandisement. He is obliged to display them unavoidably to fight the `devil in man', only to meet extraordinary emergencies. 

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