Ihyaaud Deen An Effort to Revive Deen in Totality
Hazrat Moulana Muhammed Yusuf’s (rahimahullah) Disinterest in the Dunya – Part Two
Hazrat Shaikhul Hadith Moulana Muhammed Zakariyya (rahimahullah) mentioned the following incident which transpired between Hazrat Moulana Muhammed Yusuf Kaandhelwi (rahimahullah) and Colonel Iqbal Saheb (rahimahullah) of Bhopal who was a wealthy officer in the army. Hazrat Shaikh (rahimahullah) mentions:
Colonel Iqbal Saheb had a property worth approximately 125 000 rupees which he wished to make waqf (stipulate as an endowment) for four institutes viz. Daarul Uloom Deoband, Mazaahirul Uloom Sahaaranpur, the Jamiatul Ulama of Delhi, and the Tableegh Jamaat of Nizaamuddeen.
Three of these institutes had accepted his donation, however Hazrat Moulana Muhammed Yusuf (rahimahullah) (who was the ameer of the Tableegh jamaat in Nizaamuddeen) refused to accept it. Colonel Iqbal had come to Nizaamuddeen on numerous occasions and had requested Moulana Muhammed Yusuf (rahimahullah) to accept it, however Moulana Muhammed Yusuf (rahimahullah) always responded with the same answer saying, “It is you that I need – not your money.”
Since Colonel Iqbal’s relationship with me had grown and we had become quite close, he wrote many letters to me, regarding the matter of this waqf, in which he asked me to instruct Moulana Muhammed Yusuf (rahimahullah) to accept the donation.
In order to keep Colonel Iqbal Saheb’s heart happy, I had written a few letters to Moulana Muhammed Yusuf (rahimahullah) (mentioning Colonel Saheb’s request and desire for him to accept the waqf). However – may Allah Ta‘ala reward Moulana Muhammed Yusuf (rahimahullah) abundantly – the response which came from him, which was not just lip-service but was the actual reality, was, “If it is your command that I must accept it, then I will not refuse it. However, I find it very difficult to accept it. I will have to keep an account of the money received from the waqf, then I will have to make a written record of the account, and then I will have to submit the account for auditing purposes – all this is too much for me and I cannot manage it.”
On receiving this reply, I wrote to Moulana Muhammed Yusuf (rahimahullah) saying, “Instead of accepting it on behalf of the Tableegh effort, accept it on behalf of the madrasah (i.e. the madrasah in Nizaamuddeen). The principal of the madrasah is appointed specially by you. He will take care of all these matters.”
At that time, the principal of the madrasah was Haji Abdul Majeed Saheb. He had experience in business, and thus handling these affairs would have presented no difficulty to him. However, Moulana Muhammed Yusuf (rahimahullah) still did not accept. I thus wrote to him saying, “I will not, in any way, insist that you accept it against your wish.”
Coincidentally, at the time when this transpired, I needed to go to Nizaamuddeen, and Colonel Saheb was also present in Nizaamuddeen at that time. On arriving at Nizaamuddeen, I got out from the car, and as I entered the musjid, Moulana Muhammed Yusuf (rahimahullah) hastened to meet me with Colonel Iqbal Saheb behind him.
After meeting Moulana Muhammed Yusuf (rahimahullah), embracing him and making musaafahah (shaking hands) with him, I extended my hands towards Colonel Iqbal to make musaafahah with him as well. I addressed him saying, “Colonel Saheb! I am very happy to see that you are here as well!” He replied, “I am even happier that you are here! I am now tired of requesting this Hazratjee to accept my donation (referring to Moulana Muhammed Yusuf [rahimahullah]). Your arrival has given me hope that perhaps you will assist me to fulfil my desire.” Saying this, he expressed great happiness.
I addressed him and said, “Colonel Saheb! Please first listen to what I wish to say! I am more happy to meet you than you are to meet me, and I am very happy to find you present here! The reason is that the waqf you made for our madrasah (i.e. Mazaahirul Uloom) – regarding this waqf, the people in charge of the madrasah decided that a delegation should go to you in Bhopal to thank you for the great kindness you have shown us. However, they had insisted that I should be part of this delegation, and as you know, traveling – for me – is difficult and inconvenient. The mashwarah regarding this has been ongoing in the madrasah for a few days. I certainly wanted the madrasah to send a delegation to you, but the people in charge of the madrasah said to me, “You have to be part of this delegation, as this will bring happiness to Colonel Saheb (on account of your relationship with him).” Therefore, the reason why I am so happy to meet you here is that I can personally thank you here on behalf of my madrasah and it will save me the trouble of traveling to Bhopal to meet you and thank you. May Allah Ta‘ala grant you an excellent reward!”
In this way, I thanked him and made dua for him – not just with my tongue but from my heart. Thereafter, I said to him, “Colonel Saheb! When some people become old, then they aren’t able to understand and comprehend things easily. Why are you insisting that Moulana Muhammed Yusuf should accept your donation?” He replied, “Hazrat! In one breath you are thanking me on behalf of your madrasah, and at the same time, you are also scolding me for me presenting the donation to Moulana Yusuf?”
I replied, “Colonel Saheb! Definitely – and I will again tell you the same thing that I said to you initially – I am affiliated with the madrasah, and therefore I am thanking you on behalf of the madrasah for the donation you have given to the madrasah, just as we send people in order to collect funds for the madrasah, and we thank them upon receiving their donations. However, this man (referring to Moulana Muhammed Yusuf [rahimahullah]) absolutely despises wealth, yet you are forcing him to accept your donation, and you are forcing me to make him accept something against his nature. Is this not unfair on your side?”
This entire conversation took place while we were still standing in the musjid, hence Colonel Saheb said to me, “Please come into the room. On hearing that you had arrived, I was overjoyed, but now you have started to scold me and stop me from presenting my donation to Moulana Muhammed Yusuf!”
I went into the room, and for approximately two hours, I spoke to him, thanking him on behalf of the madrasah, but also excusing Moulana Muhammed Yusuf (rahimahullah) for not accepting his donation.
I further said to Colonel Saheb, “If you want, give the share which you intended to give him to the madrasah. Why do you insist on giving it to people who do not appreciate it? You should rather give to those who appreciate.”
Colonel Saheb replied, “It is my heart’s desire that you should assist me to also allocate a share of this property for tableegh by getting Moulana Muhammed Yusuf to accept it.” I responded saying, “I cannot order him to do anything against his free will.” However, until the very end, Colonel Saheb continued to try and persuade me to make Moulana Muhammed Yusuf accept his donation, and he did not wish to relent.
Later on, the finance manager of our madrasah, brother Ikraam, mentioned multiple times, “Moulana Yusuf (rahimahullah) did the right thing by not accepting the donation. The reason is that there are unending court cases in relation to this waqf property, due to which those for whom it was made waqf have had to spend so much of money on trying to put it right, that if Moulana Yusuf (rahimahullah) had accepted the property on my insistence, I would have thereafter felt remorseful and embarrassed for putting him through the trouble.”
(Aap Beeti 6/182-184)
