shaykh yunus jaunpuri – My Little Breathing Space – I write for the few, not the many. The few that are left out!

By Shaykh-ul-Hadīth, Hadrat Mawlānā Muhammad Saleem Dhorat hafizahullāh

On Tuesday 11th July 2017, upon awakening I received the sad news of the demise of Hadrat Mawlānā Ismail Badat rahimahullāh, the khalīfah of Shaykh-ul-Hadīth Hadrat Mawlānā Muhammad Zakariyyā rahimahullāh. Mawlānā Ismail Badat rahimahullāhhad settled in Al-Madīnah Al-Munawwarah in the 1970s and lived a life of piety and devotion. Māshā’allāh, it was his daily practice to recite the entire Qur’ān. He would begin reciting at home and come to Al-Masjid An-Nabawī before ‘Asr Salāh, where he would continue reciting until he had completed the Qur’ān. May Allāh ta‘ālā accept his efforts and worship, and elevate his status in Jannah.

I was still in a state of grief, when a few hours later I received the sad news of the demise of another great luminary of our era, the great muhaddith, Hadrat Shaykh-ul-Hadīth Mawlānā Muhammad Yunus Jonpuri rahimahullāh. He was also a khalīfah ofHadrat Shaykh rahimahullāh and a very knowledgeable person with a very high status in piety. He was a master in the science of Hadīth, due to which he was given the title ‘Muhaddith-ul-‘Asr’, the muhaddith of our era.

Naturally, I was very grieved and overwhelmed by the loss of two great personalities in one day, both of whom I had personally derived benefit from. The passing away of great ‘Ulamā one after the other is clearly a sign of Qiyāmah. The demise of such ‘Ulamā, who cannot be substituted by others of equivalent calibre, is a clear indication that the Day of Qiyāmah is drawing closer. Rasūlullāh sallallāhu ‘alayhi wasallam says,

Verily, Allāh does not take away knowledge by snatching it from the people, but He takes it away by taking away (the lives of) the ‘Ulamā till no ‘ālim remains. Then the people will take ignorant ones as their leaders, who, when asked to deliver religious verdicts, will issue them without knowledge, (the result being that) they will go astray and will lead others astray. (Al-Bukhārī, Muslim)

The knowledge of Dīn diminishes with the passing away of such ‘Ulamā. And as knowledge decreases, the Ma‘rifah (recognition) of Allāh ta‘ālā decreases. And when the Ma‘rifah of Allāh ta‘ālā will remain no more, there will be no one to remember Allāh ta‘ālā and this will bring Qiyāmah. Rasūlullāh sallallāhu ‘alayhi wasallam has mentioned:

Qiyāmah shall not arrive until it is not said in the earth: ‘Allāh, Allāh.’ (i.e. Qiyāmah shall only arrive when Allāh ta‘ālā is no longer being remembered in this world.) (Muslim)

In the past 20 years, many great luminaries have left this world. Each one of them held a place of his own in the field of ‘ilm and ‘amal and accomplished great achievements. Sadly, their demise has left a vacuum unfilled. During such occasions, we should take lesson and start to prepare for the hereafter. The following lessons will benefit us:

1) Nobody stays in this world forever. Even the close friends of Allāh ta‘ālā must leave this world one day for the hereafter. Allāh ta‘ālā says to His Messengersallallāhu ‘alayhi wasallam:

We have not prescribed eternal life for anyone before you. (21:34)

2) By studying the lives of these pious people and their efforts, we should learn the method of acquiring the success of this world and the hereafter. These people truly became the embodiment of the hadīth of Rasūlullāh sallallāhu ‘alayhi wasallam:

(The best is he) whose life is long and actions are good. (At-Tirmidhī)

Hence, we should study the lives of these great luminaries and strive to follow in their footsteps, in both ‘ilm and ‘amal.

3) When a great ‘ālim and friend of Allāh ta‘ālā passes away, we feel remorse for not having benefitted from him in the way we should have. Therefore, upon realising this, we need to take maximum benefit from the ‘Ulamā who remain behind; from their academic and spiritual expertise with regards to Dīn, lest we are again left with nothing but regret. Rasūlullāh sallallāhu ‘alayhi wasallam has said:

The righteous will continue to depart (from this world) one after the other, and the useless people, like the husk of barley and dates, shall remain. And Allāh will not care the least for them. (Al-Bukhārī)

May Allāh ta‘ālā accept the efforts of these great personalities and give them the best of rewards in the hereafter. And may He give us the ability to follow in their footsteps and acquire success in this world and the everlasting success of the hereafter. Āmīn.

Some dreams of Shaykh Yunus saheb RH

Some dreams of Shaykh Yunus saheb damat barakatuhum. (Now he’s Rahmatullahi alayhi. I wrote this during his life so left it as it was)

Shaykh is a very talkative person. He narrated some of his dreams and their interpretations. I noted down a few of them.

He narrated that he used to see Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam a lot in his dreams. However, it stopped for some reason. Then he said “I recently dreamt that I was teaching Hadith. I tried to explain something which the students would not understand. I said to them “If you don’t understand, ask the one who said it” I pointed towards Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam who was standing tall near the cave of Hira. He was in the form of Sayyiduna Ibrahim AlayhisSalam.”

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He once said:

“When Nazim Saheb (Mawlana Asadullah Saheb) gave me ijazat (khilafat), I dreamt that I am in Ajmer sharif and that I am drawing water from a well over there. I took the meaning that my shaykh has taken me to saahibus-silsilah, (the leader of our chain of mashaaikhe chisht, khwaja Muinuddin Chishti Ajmeri rahmatullahi alayhi). It is now up to me to draw as much fayz as I can.”

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He said:

“I once dreamt that I was in the masjid of Nazim saheb. I took the lota of water to do wudhu, but I saw that it was filled with sharbate Rooh Afza. I took the meaning that holding firmly to the A’maal of masjid will bring afzaaiyyat to the rooh (ie. it will enlighten the soul.)”

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He said “One alim was sahibe Kashf. He once said “Mawlana Siddiq (Bandwi) Saheb has surpassed Nazim Saheb.” Then he said “No he hasn’t” He said this again some time later. Then again on a third occasion. So I said “What is this? You are undermining our shaykh!! Mawlana Siddiq Saheb has become more famous, and this is due to him being a sayyed. Otherwise spiritually, Nazim was way ahead”

(NB: Ml Siddiq Saheb was also Khalifa of Nazim Saheb. Shaykh Yunus Saheb has khilafat from two of his teachers; Hazrat shaykh Zakaria and Nazim Saheb rahmatullahi alayhima)

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He said: “In my childhood two of my teachers were totally different. One would have a tasbeeh in his hand and he would be reading it during free time. He would keep busy in Dhikr. The other would just pray what is necessary. He would nickname the other ustad ‘Tasbaa’

I once saw them both in a dream. “The one who used to have tasbeeh said he was not taken to account and seemed very happy. The other one was asking for a lunghi, (lower garment to cover the body). It seems that he was in need.”

Then he said, “This tasbeeh is very precious. Hold on to it and read as much tasbeeh as you can.”

He would say I read kalima tayyeba 200 times in morning, durood sharif 500 times along with the morning adhkar.

Few malfoozaat of Shaykh Yunus Saheb Damat Barakatuhum.

“Stay well away from:

1. Bud aqeedagi (corrupted beliefs)

2. Tarke faraidh (abandoning obligatory duties)

3. Irtikaabe maharim (committing forbidden acts)

4. Tarke ittibaae Sunnat (abandoning sunnat)

5. Tarke mustahbbat (leaving mustahabbat)

6. Tarke khilafe awla (leaving what is more desirable)

Assistance for the above is with controlling gaze

Most important of all is Dhikrullah

Hadhrat Thanwi would say, “Keep so busy that you don’t have free time for haram actions.”

Bayhaqi narrates a Hadith: راس الحكمة خشية الله “Root of wisdom is fear of Allah”. The heart in which khashyat sets in, can have all his affairs sorted out (Jis dil men yeh samaa jaata he, Sab theek ho jaata he)

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“Recite Qur’an in Salah as much as you can, at least one juz a day. Start with praying a few pages in the sunnats before & after faraaidh. It will be a struggle in the beginning however, once ytou get used to it you will begin to love reading in Salah.”

Shaykh Yunus Saheb said:

In our neighbourhood, a man was named Umardaraaz. His mother used to make dua for him that ya Allah make him such that he is always reciting the Quran.

He used to cut wood. While he would be working, he would be reciting the Quran. When he would strike something with force, he would utter “ya ayyhullazeena aamanu….” That would make people realise that he is reciting the Quran.

When he got old and was unable to continue with cutting wood, one local madressa employed him to teach Quran to kids. He died while teaching the Quran.

This is the Barkat of motherly dua. Never underestimate the dua of a mother.

Plus his mother was both, pious and wise. She didn’t say “Ya Allah give him a house or wealth” she said give him the ability to recite Quran all the time.

Mawlana Abdul Raheem Saheb (hafidhahullah), Ustadh of Darul Uloom Bury, UK

20 Shawwal 1438