13 - On page 180, the Wahhâbî quotes some lines from al-Imâm al-Busîrî’s Qasîdat al-Burda and comments:

“In these words, trust in someone other than Allah and greater esteem for a creature is suggested. And this is polytheism.”

Allâhu ta’âlâ praised Rasûlullâh (sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam). And Rasûlullâh, mentioning the blessings bestowed upon him, praised himself, too. He praised himself so much that Hadrat al-Busîrî’s eulogy is not worth mentioning in comparison. Praising Rasûlullâh is an ’ibâda. All the Sahâbat al-kirâm eulogized him; for example, Hassân ibn Thâbit and Kâ’b ibn Zubair’s long eulogies have been well-known. Kâ’b ibn Zubair praised the Prophet in his eulogy Bânat-Su’âd more than al-Bûsîrî did. Rasûlullâh, being pleased with it, forgave his faults and gave him his khirqa as a gift. That same khirqat as-sa’âda is kept in the Topkapý Palace, in Istanbul, today. The Wahhâbite book quotes the couplet, “Yâ akram al-khalqi mâ lî man a’ûdhu bihî siwâka ’inda hulûli hâdithi ’l-amami,” (Oh the Great Prophet who is the highest and most generous of creatures! I have no one but you to take refuge with at my last breath) from al-Busîrî’s qasîda and says that asking Rasûlullâh for help is polytheism. And quoting the hadîth as-sharîf reported by at-Tabarânî, the Wahhâbî writer says that it is polytheism to ask help (istighâtha) of a creature. This hadîth sharîf was said upon the event that a hypocrite annoyed Muslims and Abu Bakr as-Siddîq said, “Let’s go to Rasûlullâh and ask for his help, take refuge with him.” The Prophet’s reply was, “I am not to be asked for help; Allah is

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to be asked for help.” The Wahhâbî, putting this hadîth sharîf forward, is in a struggle to attack Ahl as-Sunna. Whereas, this hadîth sharîf means, “Allâhu ta’âlâ alone is the One who protects everyone from every harm, creates the protective means and gives the means the power and effect of protecting. If He does not wish so, He does not let one reach these means; in other words, the means would not have any influence even if they existed. Those who take refuge with me should know that this effect is not mine but Allah’s.” Did not Abu Bakr know this? Of course he did, but Rasûlullâh (sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam) explained Hadrat Abu Bakr’s short statement so that Muslims, who would come until the Last Day, should not misunderstand it. Therefore, Muslims always know that effectiveness is from Allâhu ta’âlâ. Imâm Muhammad Ma’sûm, in the 110th letter of the first volume of his Maktûbât, wrote: “Allâhu ta’âlâ hid His Power behind the means. As He declared that the only one who had power was Him, He ordered us to hold on to means. He made it known that the perfect Muslims should hold on to the means and trust in the Creator who gives the means the effective power. And He praised the Prophet Ya’qûb (’alaihi ’s-salâm) stating in the Qur’ân al-karîm that he both clung to the means and trusted in Allâhu ta’âlâ. He declared, ‘Ya’qûb knows what We revealed. But most of the human beings know not that taqdîr prevails over precaution,’ in the Sûrat Yûsuf. In the tafsîr book Tibyân, this âyat karîma is explained as: ‘Polytheists do not know with what Allâh ta’âlâ has inspired His awliyâ’.’ Those who believe the effect to be of the means but do not believe that they affect by Allâhu ta’âlâ’s Power are heretics. Anyone who wants to do away with the means, who does not recognize Allâhu ta’âlâ’s Divine Wisdom, believes, in fact, that Allâhu ta’âlâ created creatures without any cause or for no use. This belief causes one to become lazy. The one who believes that Allâhu ta’âlâ put effective power in the means reaches the right way and will be saved from both of these dangers.” If the Wahhâbîs understood this subtlety, they would also understand the above hadîth ash-sharîf correctly.

Imâm Muhammad ibn Sa’îd al-Busîrî (rahimah-Allâhu ta’âlâ), who passed away in 695 A.H., was one of the superiors of tasawwuf. He was one of the awliyâ’ educated by Abu ’l-’Abbâs al-Mursî ash-Shâdhilî, who was Abu’l-Hasan ash-Shâdhilî’s khalîfa. When he suffered a stroke and half of his body was paralysed, he asked for Rasûlullâh’s help and composed his famous qasîda in praise of the Highest of Mankind, Muhammad

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(’alaihi ’s-salâm), to whom he chanted it in his dream. Rasûlullâh liked it and took off his khirqa, put it on the Imâm and rubbed the paralysed parts of his body with his blessed hand. When the Imâm woke up, his body was restored to health, and the khirqat as-sa’âda was still on him. That was why his eulogy was called “Qasîdat al-Burda.” ‘Burda’ means ‘khirqa, overcoat.’ Hadrat Imâm ran in joy to the mosque for morning salât, and on the way met a person known for his righteousness and pious ascetism, who said:

“I would like to listen to your qasîda.”

“I have many qasîdas. Everyone knows all of them,” the Imâm said.

“I want the one which no one knows and which you recited to Rasûlullâh last night.”

“I haven’t told anybody about it. How do you know it?”

Thereupon, that person told exactly what the Imâm dreamt. Vizier Bahâ’ ad-dîn heard about this qasîda, had it recited through and listened to it standing respectfully. It has been seen that the sick got well and places became safe of malady and calamity when it was recited. In order to receive the value of it, it is necessary to believe and read it with a sincere resolve.

Qasîdat al-Burda is composed of ten parts:

The first part expresses the value of the love for Rasûlullâh.

The second part explains the wickedness of man’s nafs.

The third part praises Rasûlullâh.

The fourth part tells about Rasûlullâh’s birth.

The fifth part explains that Rasûlullah’s prayers were accepted instantaneously.

The sixth part praises the Qur’ân al-karîm.

The seventh part explaines the subtleties in the Mi’raj of Rasûlullâh.

The eighth part tells about Rasûlullâh’s jihâds.

In the ninth part, he asks Allâhu ta’âlâ for mercy and maghfira and asks Rasûlullâh for intercession.

The tenth part tells about the superiority of the status of Rasûlullâh.

The Wahhâbî writer praises the cruel people who martyred thousands of Muslims. On the one hand, he likens their cruel swords stained with innocent blood to the blessed swords of Muslim mujâhids, and, on the other hand, likens eulogizing

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Allâhu ta’âlâ’s Great Prophet to idolaters praising their idols. He brands as ‘polytheist’ those who eulogize Rasûlullâh (sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam). The stupid Wahhâbî cannot understand that disbelievers praised their deified idols as creators, gods. Such a praise can be only for Allâhu ta’âlâ. Muslims eulogize only Allâhu ta’âlâ in that manner. We praise Rasûlullâh as the Highest of Creatures. And none of the scholars of Islam, who love Rasûlullâh and praise him very highly, has ever raised the Exalted Prophet to the degree of creator or god; they have not eulogized him as they praise Allâhu ta’âlâ. The Wahhâbîs cannot distinguish between reality and falsehood. The Wahhâbî has filled his book with âyats and hadîths about non-Muslims and, giving wrong meanings to them, attacks the scholars of Islam and calls great mutasawwifs and Muslims whom Allâhu ta’âlâ loves “polytheists and disbelievers.” Those who read the Wahhâbite book, seeing the âyats and hadîths on every page, are being duped and, regarding those meanings to be correct, they are being drifted to perdition.