Khatam Sharif

In honour of the venerable

Madhu Lal Husayn

To drink or not to drink?
In a kingdom far away there once lived a noble king, who was loved by all his people. Whenever he travelled through his lands he would be met with such love and affection that was never shown to any other. When he spoke, his words changed peoples opinions and lives, and none spoke about him without first praising him. However, there was one old witch who despised the king for this very reason and so one day decided to poison the only river in the kingdom. She discretely went to the river and dropped a talisman into it whilst reciting her magic words. It was not long before every person in the kingdom had drunk from the river and began to show signs of the magic working. After a while the king wandered through his lands and was met with disgust and hatred. If he tried to speak the crowd would leave, nothing he said or did had any effect on his people. Soon this strange behaviour spread within his palace, affecting his family and friends. The king himself remained unaffected from the magic; this was because his drinking water was from a particular spring within his palace, which no other was allowed to use. Even though he still remained the king and had all he had before, it was not long before he became very lonely. He could not take the rejection he was facing from society as none would speak, or sit with him, and if they did it was only because they felt obliged to do so. He could not stand the hatred people had for him as their opinion really mattered to him. The rejection he faced was burning him up inside and every moment for him was agony. All he desired was the people to love and praise him once again. Even when he found out that all this was the witchs doing , and he was the only one in the entire kingdom who was unaffected by her black magic, he still decided to go to the river and drink from it.
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The king preferred falsehood over truth as he could not bear the idea of being different. O reader, are you the one who will drink to succumb to societies whims and desires like the king, or are you one who will remain steadfast upon the Truth regardless of the consequences?

Introduction
One God fearing man, not only went against the norm of society to live by one rule, what is my state with my Lord? He also felt that even for a split second, had he compromised his inner state for others opinions and conformed to the flavour of the month, then he would be a hypocrite. For that moment this faqir would deem himself as one who had sold his iman for the pleasing of duniya. This great faqir of Allah almighty is, Madhu Lal Husayn (real name is Husayn but because of his love for Madhu Lal, he preferred to be known as Madhu Lal Husayn). Madhu Lal Husayn is called Lal because of the red garment he wore. The colour red is not just seen to depict something precious i.e. a ruby, but in Sufism it is also depicts mature love.
Sayyiduna Sahl bin Sa`d As-Sa`idi reported: A man passed by the Prophet (S), so he asked a man who was sitting near him, "What is your opinion about this man?'' That man replied, "He is one of the noblest men. By Allah he is certainly a proper person for (a girl) being given in marriage if he seeks to marry, and his recommendation is fit to be accepted if he recommends." Messenger of Allah (S) remained silent. Then another man passed. Messenger of Allah (S) enquired, "What is your opinion about this man?'' He replied: "O Messenger of Allah (S), he is one of the poor Muslims. He is not a proper person (for a girl) to be given in marriage to, and his recommendation would not be accepted if he makes one; if he speaks, he is not to be listened to.'' Messenger of Allah (S) said, "He is better than the former by earthfuls".
(Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Life
Madhu Lal Husayn was born in Lahore during the rule of the Mughal emperor, Akbar, in the year 1538. From his ancestors it was his Grandfather who embraced Islam. His father was called Shaykh Usman , a weaver from the Duda tribe of Rajputs. Madhu Lal Husayn was extremely knowledgeable and became a scholar at a very young age. Whilst studying to become Hafiz-ul-Quran, he also became a murid of Shaykh Bahlul Daryai and took initiation into the Qadriyyah order. Like any other follower of tariqah, he was pious, God fearing and practiced shariah. Madhu Lal Husayns first teacher, with whom he did hifz of seven parahs of the holy Quran, was called Hafiz Abu Bakr . It was durin g this time that Shaykh Bahlul was ordered to go to Lahore and find this young boy called, Husayn, and guide him.

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When Shaykh Bahlul came looking for Madhu Lal Husayn in Lahore, he did not know of his whereabouts and so after asking the locals he was directed to the mosque where he was studying. Upon entering the mosque Shaykh Bahlul saw a young boy studying and immediately felt affection towards him. After treating him with such love and affection he asked Hafiz Abu Bakr the young boys name. He is Husayn and is in the process of memorising the eighth parah of the holy Quran. He is a good boy, Allah is bachay ki samaleh, he replied. Shaykh Bahlul called the boy and told him to go to the river and bring back some water. Whilst filling his container with water, Madhu Lal Husayn met with a very handsome old man with a beautiful white beard, who said, Shaykh Bahlul has asked me to help you spiritually and to give you knowledge. Give me some of the water so I may pour it for you to drink, as after this your heart will open to all types of knowledge. Upon realising that this holy man was Sayyiduna Khidr (as), Madhu Lal Husayn fell in his feet out of respect and when told to lift his head, he said, I am not deserving of such great honour. Sayyiduna Khidr (as) then said, You must go back to your shaykh and give him my salam. After receiving many blessings, Madhu Lal Husayn returned to Shaykh Bahlul with the water, with which he made wudu. He then told him not to speak of what happened with anyone. During Ramadan sharif, Shaykh Bahlul expressed a desire to pray the travih prayers behind Madhu Lal Husayn . After reading the seven paras, Madhu Lal Husayn completed the travihs. When asked why he had stopped, he replied, O my Master, this is all I know, this is all I learned. Shaykh Bahlul then said, Make the niyah and carry on. From the blessings of his Shaykh and Sayyiduna Khidr (as), Madhu Lal Husayn was immediately able to recite the whole Quran sharif after this. After this Madhu Lal Husayn was ordered to go to the river and whilst standing in the water, recite one whole Quran every night; and in the morning sit at the darbar of Data Ganj Baksh and finish another one. This was his wazifa, and he continued this practice for twelve years consecutively. When Shaykh Bahlul left Lahore he advised Madhu Lal Husayn to continue visiting this darbar, as Data Ganj Baksh would fill his heart with nur and guidance. During this part of his life Madhu Lal Husayn became a poet and continued his practices living in accordance to shariah, and as a sober faqir. Shaykh Abu Hafs al-Haddad said, The most beautiful things for the servant is to always be in need of his Lord, always to be a faqir when it concerns his Lord in every situation. The difference between a normal person and a faqir is that when a normal person is wealthy he forgets Allah almighty. As he feels he is self-subsistence and only in the time of trouble will he remember Him. However, a faqirs relationship with his Lord is of love, he is
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always in need, not of money, or duniya but in need of Allah almighty. Even if he becomes a millionaire he is still a faqir as he cannot do without Him.

Kafis of Madhu Lal Husayn

Kafi: Path of Love

If love-raptured you were, love youd gain Loves way is the eye of a needle, if a thread you were, passing obtain Pure on the surface, polluted within, call yourself a Shaykh you fake Says Husayn if you become detached, a special station youd attain. (A. Ghafar) Kafi: Separation

Mawlana in Mathnavi sharif begins by expressing pain of separation from the Beloved, and it is this same pain that Madhu Lal Husayn speaks of. He starts this kafi as a girl lamenting the pain of separation to her mother. He says that this pain is not physical and cannot be remedied with medicine. It is a dard of separation and the longing desire for the Beloved. He says that in this state of love, the person concerned loses taste, and when given the sweetest of foods it becomes bitter. Madhu Lal Husayn ends this kafi saying that if he finds his Beloved then he will be happy, and until that time, he will continue to burn with this love.

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Kafi: Total surrender

O my Lord! I have become Yours Dont forget me, for in every matter I reject myself No quality in this worthless one, only your grace can liberate me Keep me as you please Beloved, I am taking shelter in You If you look at me with approval, then I will be raised to lofty ranks Says Husayn, the Lords devotee, Im a dog at your gate Kafi: Fantasy

One day theyll just be dreams, these streets of the sire Bees have flown from flowers, taking the leaves and branches Only the afflicted self knows, they prattle who is ease retire Only the afflicted know pain, for others it is easy to talk about Come judge! The hearts not content with what has, and what will happen. (A. Ghafar) Kafi: Eyes

O my beloveds! We listen to the eyes! Those people whose vision is pure, cannot be deceived Just like black silk cannot be dyed white, crows cannot become white Shah Husayn you will become a true martyr, if you give your life for your beloved
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Kafi: Know yourself

Madhu Lal Husayn writes, O man, know yourself and you will come to know Him. He says that you spend your time building golden castles and chasing silver, but all of these will be put to the ground and perish. So instead occupy yourself with what is worth spending your time on. O person, know yourself. The angel of death is standing above your head whether you acknowledge it or not, O person, know yourself. All you own is this three foot land, do not be so arrogant and foolish. O person, know yourself. Wealth, gold, silver all of these treasures are your guests, one day they will leave you. O person, know yourself. Madhu Lal Husayn ends this kafi with, Says the Faqir, Husayn, leave your arrogance at the door. O person, know yourself.

Faqr Spiritual Poverty

Whether we know and accept it or not, everything is from Allah almighty. The ordinary choose to ignore this and over time begin to believe that they are in control of their own lives. However, the few who fight the ego and have total reliance in Him, will know faqr. Whilst in Makkah sharif, Shaykh Banaan al-Misri saw a man place a bag of coins in front of a boy, who said, I have no need for this, give this to the poor people. Later that evening Shaykh Banaan al-Misri saw that same boy searching for something to eat in a valley and said to him, It would have been good if you had kept something for yourself, now you could have eaten. The boy replied, I did not know I would live this long. These men give up duniya and all its pleasures to live a life without comfort and ease, as a result Allah almighty bestows upon them the faqiri robe of honour. This khirqa is of great value to the faqirs and under no circumstances will they give it up. However, when the Master passes on this robe to his successor it is done not only through spirituality, but also as a physical item; usually denoted as a jubbah hence the term robe of faqiri.
My poverty is my pride. (Hadith sharif)

Sayyiduna Ibrahim bin Adham left his kingdom and all his wealth in search for spiritual poverty; he left amiri to find faqiri, and duniya came running to his feet. However, the ordinary fear poverty so much that they spend their lifetimes running away from it, only to be confronted with it at each stage of their lives. Shaykh Hamdn al-Qassr said that when Iblis gets together with his minions nothing gives them more pleasure than three things. They rejoice when a mumin kills a mumin, when a person dies in the state of kufr and also at the heart which is filled with khawf al faqr, fear of poverty.
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Hadrat Abu Darda said that he would rather fall from a castle than sit in the company of wealthy people, as he heard Rasulullah (S) say, Beware of the company of the dead. Shaykh Abu Ali Daqaqq said that it has come in the traditions that anyone who respects a rich person because of his wealth loses one third of his iman. It is said that wonderful is the sultan at the door of the faqir, but terrible is the faqir at the door of the sultan.

Faqiri
As narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah , a faqir is one whose appearance is such that everyone looks upon him with pity, as he is shabbily dressed, hair out of place and looks lost; but he is also the one that if he were to take Allah almightys name, then He would fulfil his qasam. In his own hal, a faqir was once walking through a bazaar in Lahore. Due to the rain and his slippers, wet mud was being thrown into the air. As he walked past a prostitute some of this mud fell on her face, seeing this, her boss came over to the faqir and out of anger hit him. Not giving the incident a second thought the faqir continued walking. A little while later he returned down the same street and was stopped by the same prostitute, Sain tu badwa ditti. You must have cursed my boss because as soon as you left he fell down some stairs and died. The faqir replied, I didnt do anything, I didnt give him any badwa...but I can understand what might have happened. He was your friend and he got upset with me because I put mud on your face, and maybe when he slapped me, my Friend got upset with him. Hadrat Muaz Al Nasafi said that Allah almighty does not destroy a nation because of their actions, but because of the disrespect they begin to show to the Faqirs. Faqiri is a divine sword and when opposed nothing can get in its way. Faqirs have no desire for this world and its temptations, but they use each situation encountered to further develop their relationship with their Lord, unlike the man of this world. For this lover of duniya only sees his own selfish needs and desires, and believes each trial and tribulation to be a barrier rather than a way of getting closer to Him. From travelling on this path a faqir removes all false faces and hypocrisy, created from the ego; and when finally arriving at his Beloveds threshold, the door is answered as there is nothing of the self left to oppose Him, no greed, envy, anger etc. It is for this reason that Shaykh Abul Hasan Muzayyin said that the way to Allah almighty are more than the stars in heaven, and no path or door remains open except for the way of faqiri, as this is the most beautiful way. Zindapir once said that one should hide his faqiri like a women hides her private parts. This is because faqiri is a gift, a nimat from Allah almighty and it should not be displayed to the world. The faqirs use malamah (to lay blame upon oneself) to achieve this.

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Malamah To lay blame

O you who believe! Whoever from among you turns back from his religion (Islam), Allah will bring a people whom He will love and they will love Him; humble towards the believers, stern towards the disbelievers, fighting in the Way of Allah, and never afraid of the blame of the blamers. That is the Grace of Allah which He bestows on whom He wills. And Allah is All-Sufficient for His creatures' needs, All-Knower.
(Holy Quran 5:54)

The first person to display malamah, a noble quality loved by Allah almighty, was Sayyiduna Adam (as). O Adam (as)! What have you done? Allah almighty gave you such honour that even the angels prostrated before you. You were living in peace, enjoying heaven and eternal bliss and yet you gave all this up for a mere moment of weakness, he said. Another spoke, Not only have you condemned yourself, you have condemned your children to this life of difficulty and struggle; and youre supposed to be His deputy! If you had not fallen so easily to our kings whispers to eat from the forbidden tree, you and your children could have remained in heaven for eternity; and now from this act you have fallen from your Lord almightys grace. laughed the third devil. From that time till the day of judgement, people like this will blame Sayyiduna Adam (as) and not Allah almighty; but what these unfortunate people will fail to see is that this was the point of the transgression in the first place. For, if Allah almighty had expelled Sayyiduna Adam (as) from heaven without the transgression taking place, then mankind would have blamed Him for being unfair and unjust. It was already written in the divine decree that a servant will disobey his Lord, replied Sayyiduna Adam (as), and yes it is true Allah almighty created me to be his deputy on earth, and this was His will. It was either I protect myself in others eyes and allow the blame to be placed upon my Lord for expelling me from heaven unjustly, or, eat from the forbidden tree and complete His decree of becoming His viceroy on earth. O foolish ones! It is far more befitting for me to take this blame placed by you, and others like you, than having such filthy fingers pointed at my Lord! Malamah is done to destroy the many different faces and idols created in the mind. However, it is a difficult thing to perform as it requires great bravery and courage. A person of malamah will know that all outward appearances of piety are merely a show from the ego. Therefore he will not, under any circumstance, find pleasure in any al. He will struggle against finding satisfaction in doing any good, since he believes that every action and pious deed which he looks upon with appreciation is worthless. Along with all of this he also fights any desire to seek approval by others. One person went to the Shaykh and said, O Shaykh, what can I do...these people will simply not leave me alone, they come to me day and night asking for this and that. What can I do?

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O my son, that is not a problem, replied the Shaykh, just say to the people, I dont know anything, I am an idiot, a fool, I am a jack ass, what are you coming to me for? The man replied, O Shaykh, I cannot do that, this is my reputation. Im a bit of a celebrity in my area and if I say that I will lose all my respect. The Shaykh said, Puttra, I sent you to do work and not to behave like a celebrity. Once a Qari led the prayer at a mosque, and recited the holy Quran with such eloquence and with such beauty. After the prayer the Shaykh said, Masha-Allah, very nice, is that how you read at home? That you should have one face in front of your Lord and another for people is hypocrisy. These faqirs look at society and consider it filled with hypocrites, and they recognise this hypocrisy to be a disease that is spreading around people, especially the holy ones, and so they become determined to remove this disease by adopting malamah. To the ordinary these people become fools of God as they incur blame through actions which outwardly seem contrary to Shariah; but this is all a cover, as in fact they are hiding themselves from duniya and pretending to be foolish. This is malamah is to protect their inner hal as they know hypocrisy does not leave you no matter how long your beard is, or how many books you may have read. Man-made honorary titles such as, Mawlana, Grand Shaykh, Shaykh ul Mashaykh etc mean nothing to these faqirs for they see duniya for what it is worth, and know that if it would serve their purpose people would call a donkey their saviour. These faqirs detest hypocrisy and therefore recognise it to be a fatal disease of the heart, and so choose not to live out their lives in this manner.
If you cannot be true to yourself then how can you be true to your Lord? If you cannot even see and know your own hypocrisy, then how can you get closer to Him?

Faqirs understand the danger of faking it with their Lord, so instead they fake it with people, and be true to themselves. This however, incurs the wrath of the people as the faqir becomes a mirror to reflect their states, and people do not like to see their pitiful realities shown to them.
(Malamah) is to abandon in every situation the desire to smarten up in front of people. To renounce in all ones states and actions the need to please people, and to be at all times beyond blame in fulfilling ones duties to God.
Shaykh Hamdn al-Qassr

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Malamah of Madhu Lal Husayn

Up to the age of 36, Madhu Lal Husayn followed the traditional way of shariah, he prayed, kept his fasts and did all the necessary commandments; however, at this age he began to question everything. He looked at the people and saw hypocrisy, he saw all saying the right things but with no substance, they were putting on an act in front of each other. He then looked within himself and began to raise the kind of questions which we are too afraid to face. After asking himself what his level of sincerity was with Allah almighty, he began to hide himself through malamah. It was during this time that Madhu Lal Husayn fell in love with a Brahmin Hindu boy called Madhu Lal. Around him, others immediately began to make degrading accusations, and because Madhus family was much respected amongst the Muslim community, they politely asked, Please dont disgrace us, these people are speaking such dirt about our son. Whilst all this was happening, Akbar the Mughal ruler began to hear of how a faqir living in Lahore drinks wine whilst dancing with a Hindu boy, and so on. He immediately sent his guards to go and arrest Madhu Lal Husayn and bring him to court for questioning. Although they tried, they could not arrest Madhu Lal Husayn and so instead they arrested his followers. After locking them all in a cell the guards said to Madhu Lal Husayn , If you dont give yourself up, we will punish your followers! But if you make it rain we will let them all go. Madhu Lal Husayn said, Only after you provide roast for our friends and they eat, will I do dua for rain. Immediately after his followers had eaten Madhu Lal Husayn prayed and it began to rain. Eventually Akbars men arrested Madhu Lal Husayn , but whenever the guard had him chained, it would break, and so he said, I am an evil person, and even if I have to strike nails into your feet I will take you to Akbar. Madhu Lal Husayn returned with the guards voluntarily, saying, Ok, let us see what your Akbar has to say. Upon reaching Akbars courtroom Madhu Lal Husayn stood with a wine bottle in his hand and said, Whats the matter, what is it you want. Youre supposed to be in the Qadri order, what is this shaytani thing youre doing? Akbar demanded. Madhu Lal Husayn showed him the bottle in his hand, to which Akbar said, This is water! When told to look again, he cried, This is sherbet. And when he looked for the third time it was milk. Confused, Akbar ordered his guards to take Madhu Lal Husayn to the prison to be questioned later. As Akbar walked into the harem he was astonished to see Madhu Lal Husayn standing before him, bewildered and afraid he immediately ordered his release.

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Madhu Lal Husayn was Hafiz ul-Quran, a great scholar and wali, but when he took on this path of malamah, he was accused of many kinds of things. He was rejected by the people and criticised for all his actions, but all this was done deliberately to hide his inner state. In Madinah sharif Hajji Yaqub would always see Madhu Lal Husayn during muraqabah inside the holy mosque. So he travelled to Lahore, Pakistan to meet and benefit from him. In Lahore, Hajji Yaqub was told many stories about Madhu Lal Husayn and none seemed befitting for a man of Allah. Eventually when he met with him, Hajji Yaqub thought, This cannot be that shaykh, I must be mistaken. and then said to Madhu Lal Husayn , Shaykh, what is.... Madhu Lal Husayn grabbed hold of his hand, took him to one side and said, Close your eyes. After closing his eyes he witnessed Madhu Lal Husayn sitting in masjid e nabavi sharif just like he had been seeing him do so as before.
If the beautiful image of the Beloved is in the seekers eyes, then why should he worry about anything, for not one moment does He leave him.

The people of duniya do not understand this concept as they look at the faqir and immediately think that he is not following shariah; but what they dont understand is how can someone who is so meticulous in controlling his ego and trying to please Allah almighty can ever think of disobeying Him. How can this man have any spirituality if even for one moment he is ghaib (absent) from the Divine Presence?

Madhu Lal, beloved and successor

Gradually Madhu Lal became Muslim and a sincere devotee of his master . Following the death of his beloved master he became his successor and Khalifa, and is now buried next to him. It is etiquette for anyone visiting Madhu Lal Husayn to pay respects to his beloved Madhu Lal first.

Shrine of Madhu Lal Husayn and Shaykh Madhu Lal

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Death
Madhu Lal Husayn lived to be 61 and died of Friday in 1599, and towards the end of his life, came back to the sober way. Allama Iqbal explains that Muslims are in difficulty not because they are behind in worldly matters, but in fact it is because they have sold their iman for wealth and give no importance to faqiri. If you want a solution to your problems for here and the hereafter then become faqirs for Allah almighty. For if you were to find this faqiri, none would have the courage to look you in the eye, for you would be an enigma to all. Whilst taking to his murids Sayyid at-Taifa Junayd al-Baghdadi said, O group of faqirs, you are known as the people of Allah almighty and are given great honour and are respected by people because of this nisbat; but look at yourself, for how are you with Him when you are alone.
The patient faqirs will be Allahs guests on the day of judgment.
(Hadith Sharif)

Al Fatiha
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