Ihyaaud Deen An Effort to Revive Deen in Totality
Among the illustrious pious personalities of the recent past was a great aalim and saint known as Hazratjee Moulana Maseehullah Khan (rahimahullah). Hazratjee (rahimahullah) was born in the year 1330 AH (1910) and passed away in the year 1413 (1992). He hailed from the Sherwaani family who were sayyids (descendants of Hazrat Rasulullah [sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam]).
Hazratjee (rahimahullah) was blessed with piety from his childhood, and at a young age, he began to study the kitaabs of Hazrat Thaanwi (rahimahullah) such as Behishti Zewar, etc. Allah Ta‘ala had blessed Hazratjee (rahimahullah) to complete his aalim studies in Daarul Uloom Deoband where he benefited from the luminaries of the time such as Hazrat Moulana Husain Ahmed Madani (rahimahullah).
Hazratjee (rahimahullah) had taken Hazrat Moulana Ashraf Ali Thaanwi (rahimahullah) as his Sheikh (spiritual guide and mentor) during his student days, and Hazrat Thaanwi (rahimahullah) granted him khilaafah the very year he qualified as an aalim, at the age of twenty-one.
On the instruction of Hazrat Thaanwi (rahimahullah), Hazratjee (rahimahullah) settled down in the area of Jalaalabaad. There was a small madrasah that was functioning in this area known as Madrasah Miftaahul Uloom. This madrasah was under the supervision of Hazrat Thaanwi (rahimahullah). Since one of the ustaads, Moulana Muhammed Umar Saheb (rahimahullah), had left, Hazrat Thaanwi (rahimahullah) appointed Hazratjee (rahimahullah) in his place, and also made him in charge of the madrasah. Hazratjee (rahimahullah) ran this madrasah for 55 years, and under his supervision, it progressed from being a small maktab to a fully-fledged Daarul Uloom to which hundreds of students flocked from different countries in the world to acquire deeni knowledge.
Many of the Ulama around the world had spent time in the company of Hazratjee (rahimahullah) and benefited from him. Many Ulama of South Africa also benefited from Hazratjee (rahimahullah). In this manner, Allah Ta‘ala allowed the fuyooz (spiritual blessings) of Hazratjee (rahimahullah) to spread in South Africa and in other countries as well.
When we examine the life of Hazratjee (rahimahullah), then we find that the salient quality which was glaring in every dimension of his life was his firm adherence to the shari’ah and the blessed Sunnah of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam). Undoubtedly, it was on account of this quality that Allah Ta‘ala had bestowed him with qabooliyah (divine acceptance) and made him a means of thousands of people reforming their lives.
Below are two incidents which reflect his firm adherence to the blessed Sunnah of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam):
The Sunnah of Removing Clothing from the Left Limb First
It is mentioned that whenever Hazratjee (rahimahullah) folded his sleeves to make wudhu, he would fold up the left sleeve first before folding up the right sleeve, and after completing his wudhu, he would first roll down the sleeve of the right arm before rolling down the sleeve of the left arm. The reason for Hazratjee (rahimahullah) doing this is that this conformed to the Sunnah of commencing from the right limb when wearing clothing, and commencing from the left limb when removing clothing. (Hayaate Maseehul Ummat pg. 192)
The Sunnah of Washing the Hand on Awakening
On one occasion, when Hazratjee (rahimahullah) was ill and weak, he woke up during the night to go to the toilet. However, when proceeding to the toilet, he remembered that he forgot to first wash his hands.
The teaching of the Hadith is that upon awakening, one should first wash his hands before immersing them into a utensil of water. This is on account of the fact that while a person is asleep, his hands could move around his body (perhaps to scratch), and it is possible that his hands may touch his private part, and some impurity may get onto his hands. Hence, the Hadith has encouraged one to first wash his hands upon awakening before immersing them into a utensil of water so that if there is some impurity on the hand, it will not enter the water, thereby causing it to become impure.
Hence, when Hazratjee (rahimahullah) realized that he had forgotten to wash his hands upon awakening, he returned and washed his hands, and thereafter went to the toilet. From this incident, we see how Hazratjee (rahimahullah) endeavoured to follow the sunnah of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam). (Hayaate Maseehul Ummat pg. 192)
