Ihyaaud Deen An Effort to Revive Deen in Totality
Explaining the importance that Hadhrat Moulana Khaleel Ahmad Saharanpuri rahmatullahi alaih showed to the performance of Salaah with jamaat especially in the Haram Shareef, Mufti Aashiq Ilaahi Meeruti rahmatullahi alaih writes:
“At all times, Salaah with jamaat would be the source of pleasure and joy for Hadhrat Moulana Khaleel Ahmad Sahib rahmatullahi alaih. One can well imagine what would have been the extent of joy when it came to Salaah in the Haram Shareef.
It would be impossible for any one of Hadhrat’s associates to declare that he had witnessed Hadhrat either missing the takbeer-e-ula, the first saff or standing on the right of the imaam. Despite the heat being so intense that by merely placing one’s foot on the ground blisters would begin to appear, yet Hadhrat would hurriedly walk to the Haram Shareef so that he may perform his Salaah in the first saff near the imaam.
I remember very clearly that we once experienced torrential rain after Maghrib Salaah. On seeing the heavy downpour, some of the companions began saying that the concession of:
ألا صلوا في رحالكم (Perform your Salaah at home i.e. due to the severe rain.) could now be practised. However, no sooner did the sound of the azaan fall on Hadhrat’s ears, he turned to me and said: ‘Come, let us go for namaaz.’ Despite my spirits being low at that time, I plucked up the courage to accompany Hadhrat. I took a lantern whilst Hadhrat took a container of water. This confounded me, for Hadhrat had already made wudhu. However, Hadhrat then said: ‘It is possible that our feet will get soiled with mud. Hence, we shall wash our feet at the entrance of the Musjid so as not to soil the Haram Shareef.’
Prior to that, I had not witnessed or seen the state of Makkah with rain and mud. As we stepped on to the road, it seemed as if the ground had caught hold of our feet. With each step, I wished that Hadhrat turns back and practises on the concession. I fully understood that this was unmanageable for Hadhrat, yet he was still walking ahead of me. Each one of us had separate umbrellas whilst I held the lantern in the other hand and Hadhrat had the pitcher of water in his other hand. We walked till the end of the bazaar until we reached the road. We only needed to cross the road to get to the Musjid.
As we got to the road we found that a 25 – 30 feet wide river was flowing very strongly. I became afraid of crossing it and was convinced that Hadhrat will decide to return. Contrary to my expectation, Hadhrat said: ‘Fold the umbrellas and pull up your trousers (to your knees). Take off your shoes, place them under your arms and we shall hold each other’s hands and step into the water. I have heard that these streams carry a lot of stones and there is a fear of falling.’
That wonderful spectacle is still before my eyes; walking barefoot with our trousers folded to our knees, holding each other’s hands like a pair of scissors and with the umbrellas hanging on our arms. Hadhrat then recited: ‘bismillahi majrehaa’ and placed his foot into the fast flowing stream. Since the water was flowing downstream and the path was steep it carried along all sizes of stones and pebbles. They were coming with such force as if one was being struck with bullets. As we walked further, the water reached my knees and I was on the verge of falling. However, Hadhrat held my arms firmly which saved me from falling. With firm reliance on Allah Ta`ala we finally reached Bab-us-Safa. As we got on to the steps Hadhrat rinsed his feet, placed his shoes in the rack and then entered the Musjid reciting the masnoon du`aa.” (Tazkirat-ul- Khaleel, p. 370/371)
