Statements of Ismaa'eel Dahlawi about Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam

9-7-2016 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalaamu alaykum Shaykh. I would like to know about Shah Ismail Dehlavi, may Allaah have mercy upon him. I know that he did a lot to wipe out Shirk (polytheism) from the subcontinent, but I am confused about some of his statements that could be viewed as disrespectful for prophet Muhammed, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam. Here are some of them:
Ismail Dehlavi said, “All creatures, small (such as common men) or great (such as Prophets and saints), all are before Allaah's majesty more lowly than even a cobbler.” Ref: Taqwiat-ul-Iman (Pg14, Published By: Faiz-e-Aam Sadar Bazaar Dehli)
Ismail Dehlavi said, “Respect of the Holy Prophet should be equal to human beings (Bashar) also lower than it.” Ref: Taqwiat-ul-Iman (Pg35-61)
Ismail Dehlavi said, “The Holy Prophet was out of his senses.” (MaazAllah) Ref: Taqwiat-ul-Iman (Pg55)
Is this statement not disrespectful towards the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

This man is Ismaa'eel ibn Abdul Ghani ibn Waliyyu-Allaah ibn Abdur-Raheem Ad-Dahlawi. He was known as a man of knowledge, and he used to call to Tawheed (pure monotheism) and the Sunnah. It is enough for him that he was praised by a great scholar, Siddeeq Hassan Khaan, as he said about him in his book Al-Hittah fee Thikr As-Sihaah As-Sittah, when he was speaking about the scholar of Hadeeth, Shah Waliyyu-Allaah ibn Abdur-Raheem Ad-Dahlawi, “Also, his grandson, Al-Mawla Muhammad Ismaa'eel Ash-Shaheed, who followed the footsteps of his grandfather in all his words and actions, and he completed what his grandfather had begun and did what was required of him … and Allaah will reward him about his good deeds and good statements and correct conditions, and he did not invent a new path in Islam as the ignorant people claim…”

His book Taqwiyat Al-Eemaan was written in Urdu, and we have found a translated copy into Arabic. The book includes this expression: “If all the Prophets and the Awliyaa' were compared to the Greatness of Allaah and His Might, then they would be less than an atom.”

If one examines this statement carefully, he will find that it does not include any disrespect to the Prophets and Awliyaa', and he did not intend to disparage their status; because his statement here is a comparison between the Greatness of the Creator and the greatness of the creature; there is no doubt that there is no correlation between the two.

Shah Waliyyu-Allaah ibn Abdur-Raheem Ad-Dahlawi mentioned this statement when explaining the hadeeth in which a man said, “We seek your intercession with Allaah, and we seek Allaah’s intercession with you.” Thereupon, the Prophet said, “Subhaan Allaah, Subhaan Allaah ” and he continued saying this until this was known in the faces of his Companions, and then he said, “Woe to you, no one seeks the intercession of Allaah with anyone; Allaah is Greater than that...”

The statement of the author should not be understood outside its context.

Why is it that people just refer to these words and do not look at what he said at the end of his book, as he said:

“(While speaking about the Prophet Muhammad): but he is distinguished from all other servants of Allaah with the Message, and people are ignorant and negligent about it; the only way to get to this Message is through the way of the Prophet, so they should return to it (his way) to learn the religion of Allaah and to know Allaah’s rulings and legislation. O Allaah, send a thousand prayers and a thousand blessings on this merciful, honorable Prophet, and reward him on our behalf for his struggle in teaching the religion and in getting the people out of darkness into light. O Allaah, reward him with the best reward that you reward a Prophet on behalf of his nation, and grant him the best compensation, as You are able to do so, while we are unable to do so, and you know that which we do not know, and which our gratitude cannot encompass.”

With regard to the second statement, we have not come across a statement with this meaning, but he said when explaining the hadeeth: “Do not extol me as the Christians extolled ‘Eesa (Jesus) the son of Mary; I am only a slave, so say ‘the Slave of Allaah and His Messenger.’” He (the author) said after it, “The meaning of the hadeeth is that the purpose of the Message contains all the goodness and virtues that Allaah honored me with, so if it is said in this context, and it is said, 'Prophet of Allaah;' so we do not add anything to it, as the Message is the highest purpose that human beings can reach, and all other statuses are below it...”

If you refer to this statement, then as you see, it is very far from what you mentioned.

The third statement, which is that he was out of his senses, then we have not come across it, but if we presume that he said it, then it is not considered disrespect to the Prophet as the Prophet was a human being, and he experienced the worries that all other human beings experience.

Ibn Abbaas narrated that the Prophet at times of anxiety, used to say, “Laa ilaaha illa Allaah Al-'Atheem Al-Haleem, laa ilaaha illa Allaah Rabbul 'Arshil-'Atheem, laa ilaaha illa Allaah rabbus-samaawaati wal-ardhi wa Rabbul 'Arshil-Kareem.” (None has the right to be worshiped except Allaah, The Great, The Forbearing. None has the right to be worshiped except Allaah, The Lord of the Magnificent Throne. None has the right to be worshiped except Allaah, the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth and The Lord of the noble Throne.) [Muslim]

Another narration was reported with the meaning that whenever he was in distress, he would say the same supplication.

Finally, we emphasize in addition to what we have mentioned above that the translation may change the meaning and take some expressions out of context and that, consequently, they would be misunderstood.

It is more appropriate to refer to the trustworthy scholars who are fluent in the language in which this book was written and who are more aware of this man than other people as they are from the same country.

Allaah knows best.