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ramadhan of the pious akaabir ka ramadhan the practices of the saintly elders during ramadan have already been mentioned in the virtues of ramadan thereafter while working on aap beti and upon the demands of some friends i also made mention of some of the practices and habits of hazrat saharanpuri may allah fill his resting place with noor now because of the subject under discussion i will again refer to those practices in the booklet a list of questions regarding how hazrat hakeemul ummat maulana thanvi spent ramadaan was sent to kwaja azizul hasan saheb after receiving his reply it was the request of some friends as well as my own desire to answer those same questions with reference to the ramadan habits of hazrat saharanpuri hence first of all i shall write down those questions and then explain how hazrat saharanpuri moulana khaleel ahmad spent ramadan letter addressed to khwaja azlzul hasan saheb dearest khwaja saheb may allah increase your worthy efforts assalamo alaikum wa rahmatullah on hearing that you have been residing in thana bhavan for some time i was greatly pleased may allah grant you many degrees of spiritual progress the reason for writing this letters is to trouble you about something special and after much thought i have decided to ask you a favour at this time there is perhaps no one who has a more intimate relationship with hazrat moulana thanvi than you hence it will be quite easy for you it is my desire to find out what are the general habits and practices of hazrat moulana during ramadan i would have liked to ask hazrat himself but feel too much respect for him to ask and if i should wish to reside in his company in order lo observe his habits myself one or two days will not suffice therefore i have decided to make you the means for gaining this information i hope that you will not mind my laying this burden upon your head for the sake of ease i have drafted the questions myself 1 what is hazrat s manner of ascertaining the time of iftar does he rely on the times indicated on the calendar or does he observe the light of the sun moon etc 2 if he does rely on the calendar times how many minutes does he wait as a precautionary measure or does he not take any such precautions 3 does he have any special preference for iftar or does he merely partake whatever is placed before him to eat

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http www.rashidislamiccenter.com 4 how much time is allowed to elapse between breaking the fast and performing maghrib salaah 5 does he break his fast at home or in the madressa 6 does he break his fast in the presence of those present or alone 7 does hazrat generally break his fast with dates zam-zam or anything else 8 is there any change in the quantity or quality of the nafl prayers after maghrib if so what difference 9 what does he habitually recite in salatul owabeen kindly explain his usual habits as well as his practice in ramadan 10 what is his fixed habit regarding meals in other words what are his mealtimes is there any difference in the amount he eats in ramadaan as compared with non-ramadan times 11 with regard to taraweeh salaah i know that this year due to illness hazrat listens to the quran being recited by someone else in the madressa but generally what is his established practice does he himself lead the taraweeh prayers reciting the quran or does he always listen to it how much daily 12 is there a fixed time for finishing the completion of the quran on the 27th or 29th night or on any other specific night 13 does hazrat spend sometime with his attendants and followers after taraweeh salaah or not does he proceed homewards immediately or does so only after some time if he does delay a while how does he spend this time 14 on returning home does he immediately go to sleep or has he any other fixed habit if he does go to sleep then from what time until what time 15 what is his general practice in tahajjud salaah in other words how much does he recite and from what time till what time 16 what is his habit at `sehri time at what time does he take sehri and how much time before dawn does he finish 17 does he have the fixed habit of drinking milk or eating anything specific for sehri does his roti have to be freshly baked or does he eat that which was prepared the night before http www.allofislam.com/

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http www.rashidislamiccenter.com 18 does he perform his fajr salaah at the time of the onset of the greyness of dawn isfaar or some time before that 19 is there any special time for sleeping during the day or not if he does sleep is it in the morning or the afternoon 20 what is his habit regarding the `tilawat of the quran during the day in other words does he have a fixed amount to be recited daily in ramadan or not 21 does he have the habit of reciting for anyone to listen and correct daur or not 22 when he does recite does he do so by heart or from the quran 23 does hazrat always perform i tikaaf does he ever perform i tikaaf for more than the last ten days of ramadan 24 is there any marked difference between the practices of hazrat during the last ten days and the rest of ramadan apart from what is contained in these questions if you could write down any other special habits of hazrat pertaining to ramadan it will be greatly appreciated and should you be able to write in some detail and also find out the habits of hazrat hajee saheb how wonderful it will be at this moment the only person who will know the details of hajee imdadullah saheb s ramadan is hazrat thanvi i know that to entrust you with this task is placing a burden upon yourself but bear in mind that the actions and practices of the shaikhs are beacons of light and guidance for the novices insha allah many will derive benefit there-from yours truly mohammad zakariyya the answer from khwaja azizul hasan dear respected moulana zakarya your letter filled me with great joy because i was myself not fully acquainted with some aspects of hazrat s general habits in ramadan i was forced to present your letter to hazrat himself http www.allofislam.com/

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http www.rashidislamiccenter.com on reading it he said write back to him saying that if he wants to know he should ask me directly i write this merely to inform you it is because i am presently in i tikaaf that i write this in pencil kindly forgive me for this yours truly azizul hasan there is no date to this letter after further research hazrat thanwi s ramadan practices have become known to me which will be noted down later as already said after quoting this letter some friends felt that in answer to those same questions i should note down the practices of hazrat saharanpuri even though this has already been described in concise form in fazaa-il ramadan as well as in tazkira-e-khaleel i was most fortunate indeed to have spent ramadan with hazrat moulana khaleel ahrnad from the year 1328 h to 1345 except for the year 1344 hijri when hazrat was in mecca while i was in saharanpur the ramadan saharanpuri of hazrat moulana khaleel ahmad 1 special care was taken at hazrat s place with regard to the setting right of clocks and watches a special person was appointed to do that throughout the year but during ramadan special care was taken to set them correctly through the aid of the post office or the telephone department etc even then `iftar was started two or three minutes after the times shown on calendars similarly at raipur where the rising and setting of the sun can quite clearly be seen hazrat raipuri took special care that the times shown on watches were carefully synchronised for both those times as for my late father and my uncle maulana ilyaas they did not rely much on the times shown on calendars nor on clocks for them this hadith was of paramount importance when the night has set in from here and the day has departed from here the faster s fast is over 2 as already mentioned he used to wait two or three minutes after the times shown on calendars 3 hazrat was very particular about breaking his fast with dates and zam-zam when throughout the year any returning hajis brought presents of dates and zamzam these were stored away for use during ramadan there was no problem in http www.allofislam.com/

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http www.rashidislamiccenter.com keeping zam-zam stored away but if the dates started going bad they were distributed before ramadan however at the time of iftar hazrat also used to drink half or a quarter cup of tea with milk and then gave the rest of the cup to this humble soul 4 during hazrat s time a period of roughly ten minutes used to be allowed between the azaan and the salaah for maghrib so that those who performed their iftar at home could be allowed to arrive at the mosque in time to join the jama at 5 hazrat broke his fast in the madressa together with a few guests and attendants fifteen to twenty in all in medina he used to break his fast in the madressa uloom shar iyyah 6 this has already been answered 7 this has already been answered under no 3 8 there was no difference in the number of raka aat performed as nafl after maghrib however in the manner of performance there was a definite difference generally he recited 1-1/4 paras therein and during ramadan it was those paras which he was to recite in taraweeh later in the evening 9 this has already been answered 10 after salatul-owabeen hazrat used to return home to have his meal over which he took about twenty to twenty-five minutes but he ate very little during this meal here by us in kandhla and gangoh there was no custom of eating pulao at sehri time in fact there was a strong feeling against it as people considered it something which made fasting difficult by causing thirst for the first time i ate pulao at hazrat s place at sehri in saharanpur i have also never had the habit of eating pulao at iftar time because it proved to be a burden in performing taraweeh afterwards however as long as my health remained good i used to have a solid meal at sehri time 11 except for the last two years of his life when weakness and ill health troubled him hazrat used to lead the taraweeh prayers himself and recite the quran in it before the darul-talabah students hostel was built he used to lead the taraweeh prayers in the old madressa building but after the old student s hostel was erected then on the order of hazrat my late father led the first taraweeh prayers therein thereafter hazrat himself always led the taraweeh prayers himself http www.allofislam.com/

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http www.rashidislamiccenter.com 12 it was his fixed habit to finish the khatam of the quran on the evening of the 29th ramadan in the first number of nights he recited 1-1/4 paras and thereafter one para per night in this respect there is a story about hazrat shah abdul qadir r.a 1f ramadan was to carry 29 days he used to recite two paras on the first night and if it was to carry 30 days he used to recite one para his brother shah abdul aziz after having performed taraweeh in his own mosque used to send someone to shah abdul qadir s mosque to find out whether his brother recited one or two paras on the opening night of ramadan if it became known that his brother recited two paras he used to say this year ramadan will have 29 days note that this is not a case of knowledge of the unseen but knowledge obtained through the means of `kashf 13 after taraweeh hazrat used to rest for about fifteen to twenty minutes while some attendants pressed his legs at this time there used to be some general conversation on the quran for example someone may have erroneously corrected him from behind or it may be concerning something which might have happened during taraweeh some minutes used to be spent on this in light-hearted manner many hafiz sahiban came from far and wide to perform taraweeh behind him as for me i generally performed taraweeh in the masjid of hakeem is-haq saheb and sometimes on the insistence of my mother in hazrat s home i usually finished my taraweeh early and then proceeded to where hazrat led the prayers by that time hazrat had merely finished four or six rakaat this was so because taraweeh at hakeem ishaq s mosque started earlier than at the madressa apart from that i through my own inability used to recite quite fast once he started reciting surah talaaq yaa ayyuhan nabiyu iza tallaktumun nisaa a fa talliku hunnah erroneously i quickly corrected saying yaa ayyuhal lazinah aamanu at that time hafiz muhammad hussain saheb used to be the official corrector he used to come all the way from ujrara to saharanpur to spend ramadan in hazrat s company he and maulana abdul lateef as well as my father all together uttered yaa ayyuhan nabiyu after taraweeh while he was laying down to rest hazrat said moulvi zakarya what happened were you asleep http www.allofislam.com/

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http www.rashidislamiccenter.com i replied no sir definitely not i looked at the words iza tallakyumun nisaa a fa talliku hunna li iddati hinna wa ah sool iddati wattakullaha rabbakum la tukriju hunnah all these are in the plural and i thus thought that it must be because ya ayyuhan naabiyyu is in the single hazrat replied are you using `qiyaas on the quran too i replied no sir this is not `qiyaas this is merely a case of grammatical rules once it so happened that hafiz muhammad hussain gave a wrong `luqma correction in taraweeh i immediately gave the correct one unwittingly and involuntarily hafiz saheb said ha yes and then said what i had said after taraweeh during hazrat s rest i inquired hazrat did you accept my luqma or hafiz saheb s i meant that hafiz saheb by saying ha immediately invalidated his salaah which meant that he was then out of the salaah if hazrat took his `luqma it would mean that his salaah as well as salaah of everybody else would be broken but hazrat understood the trap of my question quite well he replied i would have been mad to have accepted his `luqma these were the kind of things talked about sometimes there was some light thrown on the meaning of some verse for example i remember once hazrat said commenting on the verse wa in ta uddu ni matallahi and if you should all count the favours of allah you will never be able to enumerate them he said with each favour of allah there joined countless other favours therefore the verse says and if you all should count 14 after taraweeh and after resting for a while he used to go home where for fifteen to twenty minutes he talked to his family members some of the women of the `mohalla town quarter also used to arrive at this time and he used to address them shortly advising them thereafter he went to sleep for about two and a half to three hours http www.allofislam.com/

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http www.rashidislamiccenter.com 15 it was his habit to recite two paras in tahajjud salaah sometimes it was a bit more and sometimes a bit less according to the time available when the hadith on `nazaa-ir came along in `bazal-majhood which is not in accordance with the sequence of verses in the uthmani quran he told me copy this hadith on a piece of paper today i want to recite it in this sequence in tahajjud prayers i have heard that hazrat shaikhul hind maulana mahmoodul hasan used to recite two-rakaat nafl salaah while sitting down after witr salaah someone asked him hazrat is it not so that the reward for salaah sitting down is only half shaikhul-hind replied yes brother but my heart desires to follow the example of rasulullah saw whether the reward is more or less my opinion is that according to the rule the reward for nafl salaah performed while sitting down is half but when performed with this love for rasulullah saw and with the desire to follow his example the reward is perhaps even more than when standing after all the saying is quite well known that majnoon even loved the dogs of the town where layla lived 16 according to different times of the year hazrat used to get up about two or three hours before dawn he had sehri about half an hour before dawn over which he took about fifteen to twenty minutes thus he finished about fifteen minutes before fajr 17 he had no special habit of eating anything special e.g milk or anything similar if it so happened that a present of `pheni a kind of sweetmeat was brought he used to give of it to the whole family while he himself used to take merely one or half a spoonful of it however sometimes pulao used to be cooked for sehri but never for iftar i have already stated that in kandhla and gangoh it was considered wrong to eat pulao at sehri time as it caused thirst afterwards as for myself after eating pulao at hazrat s place for as long as my health remained good and as long as sehri remained a special eating occasion i continued eating pulao and now for the last ten or twelve years since there has been a host of visitors at all times there has been pulao meat and roti at iftar times and sweet rice at sehri at hazrat s house fresh roti was baked there was also the fixed habit of tea drinking i cannot remember myself drinking tea at sehri time because in ramadan it was my habit to sleep after fajr salaah from 1338 h onwards i.e my first haj onwards the habit of not sleeping at night during ramadan started this has been my habit until the last seven or eight years however now lately my illness has put an end to all my fixed habits and practices http www.allofislam.com/

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http www.rashidislamiccenter.com 18 it was hazrat s habit in ramadan to perform fajr salaah at the onset of the greyness of dawn isfaar but it was done about ten or twelve minutes prior to the time at times other than in ramadan 19 throughout the year after fajr salaah it was his habit to sit reciting various wazeefas in the cold days of winter he did so after entering into the privacy of his own room while during the hot days he sat on a bed in the courtyard of the madressa until sunrise at such times he also went into deep meditation then from sunrise onwards he busied himself with his lecturing on bukhari shareef and sahih tirmithi after 1335 h he busied himself at this time with the writing of bazal-majhood until about 11 or 12 o clock during the ramadans of that time he used to rest for about an hour after performing ishraq salaah in the hot months he then dictated his thoughts on bazal majhood till one o clock while in the cold months he did so until 12 o clock thereafter resting till zuhr salaah 20 during ramadan hazrat himself used to lead the taraweeh prayers until about two years before his death after zuhr salaah he recited whatever he was to recite in taraweeh that night to hafiz muhammad hussain ujrarwy this was what hafiz saheb used to come to saharanpur for occasionally when for some reason or the other hafiz saheb was absent he used to make `daur with me but during his stay in medina he always recited to me after my return from haj it was a time when his work on bazal majhood had also been completed and he developed the habit of daily reciting one para to his wife it was this para which he was to recite in salatul-owabeen that night and also in taraweeh 21 from after this haj hazrat also used to make `daur with my late father may allah fill his resting place with noor it was this para which he was later to recite in taraweeh i have not seen hazrat make `daur with anyone else except my late father 22 i have very seldom seen hazrat reciting the holy quran by reading from the quran only sometimes did i see it 23 except for the last two or three years of his life when he had grown weak and was plagued by illness i have never seen him not performing i tikaaf of the last ten days of ramadan he used to perform it in the old madressa masjid before the erection of the darul talabah and after this hostel was built he performed i tikaaf in the darul talabah masjid even during i tikaaf he never put aside or suspended the writing arid dictating of bazal majhood in fact on or about the 20th ramadan all the books required for research and the writing of this monumental work were gathered and placed in the room on the western side of the http www.allofislam.com/

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http www.rashidislamiccenter.com kulthooma masjid it was my task to place these books in the masjid as required and to replace them in the room after use i have not seen him perform i tikaaf at any other time apart from the last ten days of ramadan 24 i have not seen any real difference between his actions during the last ten days as compared with the rest of ramadan except for the fact that he rose a bit earlier in the morning i have also mentioned in virtues of ramadan in concise manner that between the month of ramadan and the rest of the months of the year there was no real difference in the lives of hazrat saharanpuri and hakeemul ummat maulana ashraf ali thanvi however as for hazrat shaikhul hind maulana mahmoodul hasan and maulana abdul qadir raipuri there was a very marked difference of greater devotion and extra devotional activity 25 as for hazrat s occasional reading of newspapers at other times this was completely discarded in ramadan in fact apart from the last two or three years when he made `daur with my late father the tasbeeh was always in his hands and his tongue all the time busy with dhikr if ever any of his mureeds should ask something he replied them some people like mutawali jaleel saheb and riyadul islam saheb used to come from kandhla and meerut respectively to spend part of ramadan with him on a regular basis without performing i tikaaf because they always wanted to return home one day before eid in tazkira-e-khalil it is written whenever the new moon of ramadan was sighted which ushered the month of the revelation of the quran and a time for much recitation of the word of allah there was no limit to his efforts and exertion in ibaadat in taraweeh his general habit was to recite 1-1/4 paras performing ruku after the reading of a ruku finishing on the 27th night after his lecturing days in mazahirul uloom were over he performed taraweeh in the old madressa masjid and after the darul talabah was built he led taraweeh prayers for two years in the darul talabah masjid in the first year that the darul talabah was completed my father performed taraweeh and thereafter hazrat led the prayers and in that time hazrat also performed i tikaaf in the darul talabah masjid zakarya those who came to listen and follow him in salaah formed a vast gathering and from far and wide they came to spend ramadan with him in fact many huffaz used to leave aside their own recitations of the quran in order to stand behind him and follow his lead hazrat used to recite in a voice of medium loudness and in easy and comfortable mode so that every letter was audible and clearly understood because he had memorised the quran in his childhood and because he became so engrossed in his reading there were times when he could be corrected occasionally however he http www.allofislam.com/

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http www.rashidislamiccenter.com never recited wrongly it did happen on occasions that his tongue would stop or that he would become confused with some of the `mutashaabihaat verses whereupon those who were appointed as correctors would quickly answer sometimes even these correctors would give wrong `luqma which he would not accept he would then only correct himself after having given it a little thought before proceeding further never would he become displeased at being corrected wrongly in tact after the salaah he would console such an assistant by saying nothing to worry after all if the reciter forgets it is only natural for the listener also to forget so if the assistant forgets and gives wrong `luqma it is no surprise he always led the taraweeh prayers but later when his age went beyond seventy it became increasingly difficult for him to continue doing so he used to say when i go into ruku the thought comes into my mind that perhaps i will not be able to rise up again for the second raka then i take courage and with difficulty i come up in this manner i finally complete twenty rakaat fearing in every raka that i may collapse and fall down and feeling all the time that rising up from the sujood to the standing position is tantamount to climbing a mountain in this way two years passed with hazrat not losing courage eventually when his strength finally failed him he stopped leading the taraweeh from the mehrab thereafter he replaced it with listening to the readings of others and increased his own recitations of the quran during the holy month he then used to recite from after ishraq until eleven o clock tazkira-e-khaleel whatever maulana meeruty had written here was the situation prior to the writing of bazal majhood after zuhr salaah hazrat had the habit of reciting one para daily to hafiz muhammad hussain saheb who came all the way from ujrara annually from asr until iftar hazrat remained in the madressa-e-qadeem with his attendants and visitors generally in silence for two years i also saw him making `daur with my late father after asr in i tikaaf of the last ten days of ramadan my late father used to recite three paras daily in tahajjud salaah then also hazrat recited 1-1/4 paras daily in his nafl salaah after maghrib from 1345 hijri onwards i used to listen to these i i/4 paras which was to be recited after maghrib with me were maulana al-haj shah abdul qadir raipuri r.a moulana al-haj sayed ahmad saheb the brother of shaikhul-islam moulana madani as we followed him in salaah at that time hazrat raipuri was not feeling too well with the result that he used to sit down and perform this salaah behind hazrat hazrat however in spite of his weakness and advanced age remained standing http www.allofislam.com/

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http www.rashidislamiccenter.com because of his strong bond of friendship with some brothers from meerut viz the late hafiz faseeh-uddin haji wajeeh-uddin and sheikh rasheed ahmad hazrat used to attend the function on the completion of their children s recitation of the khatam of the quran in meerut these gentlemen fixed the khatam of quran for the evening of the 20th ramadan because of hazrat s going into i tikaaf hazrat usually left on the morning of the 19th and returned on the morning of the 20th his manner of participating in the khatam was such that he performed esha salaah in the masjid after which he was taken home to perform taraweeh behind the imam there then after witr he returned to the masjid for the children s khatam usually there was quite a delay on the eve of the khatam and they used to await hazrat s return to the mosque for the last four rakaat maulana meeruty writes after 1345 when the writing of bazal majhood had been completed the time used for the writing of this book was utilised for `tilawat or for studying the book wafa-ul-wafa after zuhr it was the practice for the women in the house to recite the holy quran to my late mother purdah used to be so strictly observed that even i could not go there the women folk had one floor of the building for themselves while the bottom floor was almost reserved for the attendants followers as well as for cooking and eating maulana meeruty also states when maulana ahmad saheb and moulana zakarya saw that hazrat after so much work involving mental strain was further taxing his brain by reciting from memory so much in spite of his bodily weakness they pleaded with him to have consideration for his mental health and well-being they told him that he was overtaxing his brain without hesitation hazrat replied what other use is there now for this brain that i should now have consideration for it once he also said because of my weakness there is some adverse effect upon my memory therefore i fear that i may forget the holy quran which i had memorised thus as a precautionary measure i recite so much once he also said if my brain so wishes it may go and give in and if it so wishes it may stay working soundly but under no circumstances shall the word of allah leave me and now as for the last ramadan of his life what is there that i can say about the glory thereof at that time his diet consisted of a mere cup of tea and a piece of roti which too was consumed with great difficulty but so much did he exert himself in reciting and listening to the quran in spite of his extreme weakness at http www.allofislam.com/

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http www.rashidislamiccenter.com that time he recited 1-1/4 paras from memory after fajr salaah then after zuhr he again was busy with tilawat either from memory or from the quran then after maghrib he again recited 1-1/4 paras in owabeen and then after performing esha salaah in the haram shareef he went to the madressa of sayed ahmad saheb where he performed his taraweeh salaah behind qari muhammad taufeeq this qari saheb was at that time a teacher of tajweed in medina and recited two paras daily in slow and easy fashion in this way the taraweeh would finish about 5 o clock in saudi arabian time which corresponds with our time of about a quarter past twelve thereafter at about 6 o clock medina time he settled down to rest for the night moulvi zakarya had been given the order to wake him up at 8 o clock moulvi saheb explains throughout ramadan it only happened once or twice that on waking him up that he was not already awake otherwise as soon as it was eight o clock i would see hazrat already performing wudoo or istinja at that time hazrat listened to two paras being daily recited on the qiraa t of imam naafi he had a great liking to listen to imam naafi s qiraa t two students from the madressa were appointed for that then on the evening of the 27th ramadan he was overtaken by fever which continued to plague him till his death before that in 1338 h while on boat towards hejaz for haj the crescent of ramadan was sighted on the boat at that time in spite of dizziness and extreme tiredness taraweeh was performed diligently and even then the practice of quranic recitations started in earnest moulvi zakarya accompanied him on this journey during the first eight rakaat hazrat recited half a para where after moulvi zakarya in the next twelve rakaat recited 3/4 paras they arrived in mecca on the 10th ramadan there hazrat performed taraweeh behind a qari saheb and completed his own khatam in nafl salaah on this journey the group arrived in jeddah at maghrib time the whole group was so tired that let alone taraweeh even the fard salaahs were performed with extreme difficulty so exhausted were they in spite of that hazrat performed some of the taraweeh rakats standing up and some while seated by allah this man had courage and perseverance and this courage and perseverance were some of his beautiful qualities in what words can this allah-given gift be adequately described actions which left one dumb struck in admiration for him tazkira-e-khaleel in `aap beti i have mentioned how on the boat en route to haj hazrat suffered such dizziness that he could hardly lift his head from the pillow the same was the case with me in spite of my comparatively youthful age apart from that there was http www.allofislam.com/

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http www.rashidislamiccenter.com a considerable amount of vomiting also the bad smells of the boat especially when it was being filled with petrol diesel caused one to become dizzy nauseous and induced vomiting on the 29th sha baan he told me bhai what is to become of taraweeh i replied hazrat i will perhaps be able to bear the dizziness and the turning of my head but what will happen if during the salaah i should start vomiting he replied that is all right if you should vomit then just go and perform wudoo once again the boat was a small one and used to roll about a lot in spite of the rolling about which made standing up quite an ordeal and in spite of dizziness and extreme weakness and exhaustion hazrat performed taraweeh standing up when we arrived at jeddah as related by moulvi meeruty we were completely exhausted so much so that we could hardly stand up haji maqbul ahmed saheb may allah pardon him said to me in a very angry voice do not allow this venerable old man to stand up in taraweeh salaah think about his weakness and have consideration for his welfare i honestly feared what haji saheb would do to me if i should go against his order he used to eat with hazrat and me i was thus in quite a dilemma he wanted me to tell hazrat that i had no strength left in me for taraweeh this i could not do and i did not want to antagonise haji saheb and further rouse his anger but then hazrat himself asked and now bhai zakarya what is your opinion about taraweeh out of fear of haji saheb i replied hazrat i am very tired the taraweeh commenced and my shame and sorrow knew no bounds when i saw how hazrat performed the whole taraweeh with so much ease and comfort i glanced in his direction time and again to see if he was still all right and felt exceedingly sorry for myself for having answered him in the way that i did time and again i wanted to explain to him that i merely pretended to be exhausted out of fear of haji saheb but fear of haji saheb withheld me i can still remember quite vividly that twice or thrice i drew near to him with the intention of explaining to him that it was out of consideration for his own weakness and exhaustion that i had tried to excuse myself but i feared haji saheb i feared that he would be displeased with me however the sorrow is with me to this day http www.allofislam.com/

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p. 15

http www.rashidislamiccenter.com the ramadan of maulana rasheed ahmad gangohi i have written in aap beti no 6 under the heading of spiritual exertion that while dictating the practices of hazrat rasheed ahmad gangohi in ramadan i wanted to note it down because of its relevance to the subject there i wrote his extreme exertion in spiritual exercises were such that onlookers felt pity for him such was he that in ramadan even when his age had advanced beyond seventy he fasted the whole day and then in owabeen instead of six rakats he used to perform twenty rakats during which he never recited less than approximately two paras so long did he stay in ruku and sujood that onlookers thought that he had forgotten himself on finishing this salaah he proceeded homeward to partake of the evening meal even during this time too he would not remain idle but en route and waiting for the food etc he also finished reciting several paras soon he would commence esha salaah and taraweeh which did not take less than an hour or an hour and a quarter at least thereafter he would lie down at about half past ten only to rise again at about two o clock or half past two for tahajjud at times his attendants and assistants found him performing wudoo at one o clock at this time of the night he used to spend 2-1/2 hours to three hours in tahajjud sometimes it happened that an attendant would go to him at five o clock to join him for sehri and would find him in salaah after fajr he remained busy reciting wazeefas wirds and engrossed in meditation until eight o clock or half past eight then it was time for ishraq salaah thereafter for a few hours he would rest during this time the mail would arrive and he would begin answering letters and writing fatwas or dictate them thereafter it was time for salatul-duhaa chasht and on performing this salaah he would have his daytime sleep after zuhr salaah he usually closed the door of his private room and busied himself with the recitation of the quran until asr time note that in the year for which this was his practices he was suffering from extreme old age and various other sicknesses to such an extent that to walk from the toilet to his room a mere fifteen paces he became so tired that he had to sit down somewhere along the way to rest in spite of this condition he never performed fard or nafl salaahs sitting down but remained standing for hours on several occasions attendants implored him hazrat today you should perform taraweeh from the sitting position this seems quite appropriate he always replied no that is a sign of lack of courage and perseverance http www.allofislam.com/

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