Ihyaaud Deen An Effort to Revive Deen in Totality
Hazrat Moulana Khaleel Ahmed Sahaaranpuri (rahimahullah) was an embodiment of the sunnah. In all facets of his life, he made an effort to practice upon the sunnah and spread the sunnah among people. Below is an incident regarding his adherence to the sunnah qiraat in salaah:
Hazrat Moulana Khaleel Ahmed (rahimahullah) would be particular about reciting the sunnah qiraat in the various salaah. On one occasion, he said to Moulana Zafar Ahmed Thaanwi (rahimahullah), who was the imaam and would lead the people in salaah, “Moulana Zafar! When you perform the zuhr salaah, are you reading from the Tiwaal-e-Mufassal Surahs?” Moulana Zafar (rahimahullah) replied, “No, I read from the Awsaat-e-Mufassal Surahs.”
Upon this, Moulana Khaleel Ahmed (rahimahullah) said to him, “The Hanafi Fuqaha have mentioned that it is sunnah to recite from the Tiwaal-e-Mufassal Surahs in Fajr and Zuhr Salaah. Therefore, you should practice upon this sunnah by reciting from the Tiwaal-e-Mufassal surahs in the zuhr salaah.”
That same day, Moulana Zafar (rahimahullah) recited Surah Qaaf in the Zuhr Salaah, and this was difficult for the musallees as the surah is lengthy. After completing the salaah, Moulana Khaleel Ahmed (rahimahullah) said to him, “When I told you to recite from the Tiwaal-e-Mufassal Surahs, I did not mean that you should recite such long surahs from the Tiwaal. You could recite those surahs from the Tiwaal which are short so that it will not be difficult for the people. Surah Takweer is also among the Tiwaal-e-Mufassal Surahs, and Surah Infitaar as well. You should recite these types of Surahs in the Zuhr Salaah.”
On one occasion, Moulana Khaleel Ahmed (rahimahullah) mentioned, “It was the blessed habit of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) to recite Surah Sajdah and Surah Dahr in the Fajr Salaah on the Day of Jumuah. Some Shaafi’ees are so particular about reading it every week that it is as though they regard it compulsory to recite them. On the other hand, some Hanafis do not practice upon this at all. Both these practices are against the sunnah. The sunnah is that these Surahs should be recited most of the time, while being left out occasionally.”
Hearing this, Moulana Zafar Ahmed (rahimahullah) said, “Hazrat! The reason why I do not recite these surahs is that I have not memorized Surah Sajdah!” In a cheerful way, Moulana Khaleel Ahmed (rahimahullah) said to him, “It is not a long Surah! It consists of just thirty verses, so why don’t you memorise it?”
(Tazkiratul Khaleel pg. 312-313)
Importance of the First Saff
Moulana Sayyid Asghar Husain (rahimahullah) was once with Hazrat Moulana Khaleel Ahmed Sahaaranpuri (rahimahullah) in Madinah Munawwarah. He says:
During the time when I was staying in Madinah Munawwarah, the heat was very intense and severe, due to which it was difficult to perform salaah in the first and second saffs of Musjid-un-Nabawi.
At the time of Maghrib and Esha, and even at the time of Fajr, thousands of musallees would leave the inside of the musjid and perform salaah in the courtyard of the musjid as it was much cooler there. However, despite the intense heat, I saw that Hazrat Moulana Khaleel Ahmed (rahimahullah) would always perform his five daily salaah in the first saff, adjacent to the blessed mimbar.
After the salaah was over, when I would return to the place where we were staying, then Hazrat Moulana Khaleel Ahmed (rahimahullah) would light-heartedly say to me, “Sayyid Saheb! In which saff did you perform salaah today?” I would reply that I had performed salaah in the fourth saff or fifth saff, depending on which saff I stood in to perform that specific salaah.
I would also say, “Hazrat! The heat in the first and second saffs is unbearable!” Hazrat Moulana Khaleel Ahmed (rahimahullah) would reply, “It is on account of my weakness and old age that I do not feel the heat.”
It was Hazrat Moulana Khaleel Ahmed’s (rahimahullah) fine temperament alone which caused him to give the reasons of physical weakness and old age for his not perceiving the heat. Otherwise, the reality is that it was his enthusiasm, love and eagerness to acquire immense rewards that prevented him from feeling the heat, or perhaps he did feel the heat, but he was prepared to tolerate it to acquire the rewards. (Tazkiratul Khaleel pg. 346-347)
