BaKhabar, December 2012, Page-3 [OUR JOURNEY TO THE DAY OF RESURRECTION, Part- XVII + From Muhammad Tariq Ghazi, Ottawa, Canada]

BaKhabar, Vol 5, Issue 12, December 2012

OUR JOURNEY TO THE DAY OF RESURRECTION, Part- XVII [Haud-e-Kauthar]

- By Gheyas S Mahfoz Hashmi, Jeddah (hgheyas@albatool.com.sa)

… Continued from previous issues

Below are links to all the previous parts for the convenience of readers and those who are seeking Jannah.

Part-1 || Part-2 || Part-3 || Part-4 || Part-5 || Part-6 || Part-7 || Part-8 || Part-9 || Part-10 ||Part-11 || Part-12|| Part-13 || Part-14 || Part-15 || Part-16 ... contd.

In last issue I have put a write-up about Bida’at. Readers may have different opinions on an article but if the opinion is based on knowledge, all of us are benefited by them. However, job of Daáyi is not to heed to public reaction but he has to continue conveying message of Allah, knowledgably, wisely and professionally.
Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Raheem

Now we are resuming our account on Haud-e-Kauthar. Every prophet will have his own Houd but Kauther will have its own distinction as the nation of the prophet (S) has its own plus-point. Our prophet (S) will be first to be there to welcome his nation. He will be in the middle. His nation will drink it as much as they can. It is said that its length will be from Abla (Israel) or Amman (Jordan) to Aden or Sana (Yemen), and its width from Abla to Al-Juhfa (KSA-Miqat of Ahle-Sham). From this some have perceived that the Red Sea may be converted into Houd-e-Kauther (Tahfeem-ul-Quran).

Our prophet (S) had seen this Houd during his Meraj journey. Concerning its water, there are several reporting. Its water is whiter than milk, sweeter than honey and more fragrant than Mushk. The believers will be saturated with its water in so much so that they will never be thirsty, and the one who is deprived of it will never be saturated. Here are some more reporting about Houd-e-Kauther:

The Prophet (s) said: Do you know what the Kauther is? We said: Allah and His Messenger know best. The Prophet (S) said: It is a river which my Lord, the Exalted and Glorious, has promised me, and there is an abundance of good in it. My people would come to it on the Day of Resurrection and its cups would be equal to the number of stars. A servant would be turned away from (among the people gathered there). Upon this I would say: My Lord, he is one of my people, and He (the Lord) would say: You do not know what he had innovated new things (in Islam) after you. (Muslim)

The Prophet (S) said: The Kauther is a river which has been given to your prophet on the banks of which there are (tents of) hollow pearls and its utensils are as numerous as the stars. (Bukhari).

Addressing an assembly of the Ansar, the Prophet (s) once said: After me you will meet with selfishness and nepotism, endure it patiently until you meet me at the Fountain (Bukhari)

It is said that the water supplied to fill Houd-e-Kauther is from the river in paradise named Al-Kauther. So there are three things: Abundant good, Tank and River, all are called as Al-Kauther. (Fath Al-Bari).

… to be continued, Allah willing..
Only Allah

From Muhammad Tariq Ghazi, Ottawa, Canada

Muhammad Tariq Ghazi, based in Ottawa, Canada, is a veteran journalist and historian. He has been editor of several Urdu and English newspapers and journals published from India and Saudi Arabia. He is author of 'The Cartoons Cry', a book on the blasphemous Danish cartoons. He can be contacted at tariqghazi04@yahoo.ca

Asma Bibi,
No. We should not praise anyone this profusely. In Tasawwuf, great Sufya oppose, rather abhor, such practices. Praise Allah. He deserves all praise so much that He opens His Book with His own praise. That is how He teaches us mortals to extol the Eternal. Now why Sufya dislike such practice is a point to ponder. Have you ever thought about it? Perhaps not. So let us go on a backward time-lapse journey.

You know who was Namrud, or Fir‘awn, and the like. They were ordinary men like us, but then we are told that they claimed to be gods. Why? Has it ever occurred to you why did they make such unintelligent declaration, demanding people to worship them?
Let’s try to find an answer. Those men must have done something significant for their people. Something that ordinary people might not think of. So the people must have started praising them – praising day and night, praising in their presence, in their absence, in the company of others. Ultimately such profuse praise made them believe they were not only superior but exercised supernatural power. Hence arrogance. Hence self-deification. Hence condemnation of undue praise of human beings by true Sufya, whose objective is nothing but to constantly reminding The Self of its real worth, rather worthlessness, in the vast immeasurable Universe. To appreciate its vastness, look at our Sun. And then know that here are suns as big as millions of our whole Solar Systems, which is nothing more than a hint of a pin-point on a football. Now think of the weight and value of humans in a smallish planet called Earth – that is as big as a green-pea if the Solar System is reduced on scale with The Sun as large as an orange!

Here I am not minimizing the status of Man – Adam and Eve and their progeny. They are praised by Allah, but we must also know ourselves.

Now, if Earth is just a green-pea, think about the more than six billion-strong humanity, and about just one man, me, lost namelessly in those more than six billion humans!

Know thyself. That you can do by knowing your Self, realizing your talent: divine gifts of intelligence, understanding, wisdom, thought, expression that have been given to you by your Creator. Whether you know your Self or not is decided by your work, your contribution to society, to collective human knowledge and wisdom and heritage – regardless of someone acknowledging it or just ignoring it. If you are satisfied, rest assured you have recognized your Self. That is your reward. And it is not a mean reward.

Muhammad Tariq Ghazi <tariqghazi04@yahoo.ca>
Ottawa, Canada
Tuesday 30 October 2012