O Allah, bless
Muhammad and his family and grant them peace.
Thus speaks
the faqih, Imam and Hafiz, Abu'l-Fadl `Iyad ibn Musa ibn `Iyad al-Yahsubi,
may Allah have mercy on him:
Praise to Allah who is unique in possessing His most splendid Name and alone
possesses invincible might. There is no final end falling short of Him and
no target to aim at beyond Him. He is the Outwardly Manifest without need
for the use of imagination and without illusion, and the Inwardly Hidden,
absolutely pure without that bringing about non-existence. He encompasses
everything by His mercy and knowledge. He pours out universal blessings on
His Friends. He sent a Messenger from among themselves to both Arabs and non-Arabs,
who was the most noble of them, the purest of them in nature and upbringing,
the greatest of them in intelligence and forearance, the most abundant in
knowledge and understanding, the strongest in certainty and resolution, the
one with the greatest compassion and mercy for them.
Allah purified him both in spirit and body and kept him free from all faults
and blemishes and bestowed wisdom and judgement on him. By means of him Allah
opened eyes that were blind, hearts that were covered and ears that were deaf,
and He made people believe in Him. Those to whom Allah had allotted a portion
of the booty of happiness honoured and helped him. Those for whom Allah had
written wretchedness rejected him and turned away from His signs. "Whoever
is blind in this world is blind in the Next World" (17:73) May Allah bless
him with a blessing that grows and flourishes, and his Family and Companions,
and grant them peace.
May Allah illuminate my heart and your heart with the lights of certainty!
May He show you and me the kindness which He bestows on His Friends, those
who fear Him, those whom He has honoured with the hospitality of His absolute
purity and whom He has alienated from other creatures through intimacy with
Him. He has singled them out for gnosis of Him and for the vision of some
of the marvels of His Malakut and the traces of His power and this fills their
hearts with delight and leads their intellects into utter confusion, lost
in His immensity. They make Him their sole concern and witness only Him in
this world and the Next. They are blessed by beholding His beauty and majesty,
and they go backwards and forwards between the traces of His power and the
wonders of His immensity. They glory in their exclisive devotion to Him and
their reliance on Him. They are dedicated to the application of His words,
"Say, Allah and leave them playing in their plunging." (6:91).
You have repeatedly asked me to write something which gathers together all
that is necessary to acquaint the reader with the true sature of the Prophet,
peace and blessings be upon him, with the esteem and respect which is due
him, and with the verdict regarding anyone who does not fulfill what his stature
demands or who attempts to denigrate his supreme status - even by as much
as a nail-paring. I have been asked to compile what our forebears and Imams
have said on this subject and I will amplify it with ayats from the Qur`an
and other examples.
Know, may Allah ennoble you! that you have burdned me with a very difficult
task. You have confronted me with a momentous undertaking which fills my heart
with trepidation.
Writing about this calls for evaluation of the primary sources, examination
of secondary sources and investigation of the depths and details of the science
of what is necessary for the Prophet, what should be attributed to him, and
what is forbidden or permissible in repsect of him; and deep knowledge of
messengership and prophethood and of the love, intimates friendship and the
special qualities of this sublime rank.
Here we find a vast desert wastes in which even the sand-grouse becomes
bewildered and which cannot be traversed, and unknown places in which [minds]
go astray if they are not guided by a waymark of knowledge and a clear eye,
and slippery slopes where feet falter if they do not rely on success and
support from Allah alone. However, I have great hopes of gaining reward and
repayment for both me and you in the matter of answering this question by
making known the great value and sublime character of the Prophet and clarifying
his special qualities. I will mention the duty that Allah gave him which
is the highest of duties, "So that those who have been given the Book would
know for certain and those who believe would be increased in their belief."
(74:31)
Allah has made it an obligation on those who have been given the book to
make it clear to people and not to conceal it, as in the hadith related to
me by Abu'l-Wahid Hisham ibn Ahmad, the faqih, when I studied with him. He
said: [...] "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
said, 'Anyone who is asked about knowledge and conceals it, Allah will bridle
him with bridle of fire on the Day of Rising'."
For this reason I have hastened to find some clear anecdotes with the object
of achieving my goal and fulfilling the prescribed duty. I seized upon them
quickly because in his life a man's body and mind are occupied with the trials
and tributations of affliction by which he is tested and which very nearly
distract him from both obligatory and superogatory actions and cause him,
after having the best of forms. to revert to the lowest of the low.
If Allah desires the best for man, He makes him totally concerned with what
will be praised tomorrow, in the Next World, and not censured. On that day
there will be only the radiance of Bliss or the punishment of Jahim. Therefore
a man just mind his own business, look to the salvation of his own soul, seek
to increase the number of his right actions and acquire useful knowledge for
his own and other people benifit.
Allah is the one who mends our broken hearts, forgives the immensity of
our wrong actions, lets us make all our preparations for our return to Him,
gives us many reasons for doing things that will save us and bring us near
to Him and bestows His favour and mercy on us.
So having made the intention to proceed with the task, I planned out the
chapters and organised the material and set about putting it together. I have
called it Ash-Shifa´ bi-ta`rif huquq al-Mustafa ("Healing by the recognition
of the Rights of the Chosen One")
