The Prophetic Mysticism in the Discourses of Hazrat Inayat Khan
By Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi, New Age Islam
08 February 2023
Main Points:
1.
The
godliness—Rabbaniyat—and the inherent goodness in it is Mysticism in
Islam which is also known in the Prophetic Traditions as Ihsan.
2.
Hazrat
Inayat Khan, Tipu Sultan's great-grandson, was both a mystic and a musician
from India.
3.
He believed
that Prophetic mysticism means to live in heaven and on the earth at the same
time; head in heaven and feet on the earth. That is, to be able to listen to
the Voice of God and at the same time every cry of humanity.
4.
He preached
that one need not convert to Islam in order to become a Mystic.
5.
Hazrat
Inayat Khan beautifully elucidates that the Prophet was an interpreter of the
divine law in a human tongue.
Riding on the horse of hope,
Holding in my hand the reign of courage,
Clad in the armour of patience,
And the helmet of endurance on my head,
I started on my journey to the land of love.
--HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN
Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi
------
The holy Qur’an clearly states: كُونُواْ رَبَّانِيِّينَ بِمَا
كُنْتُمْ تُعَلِّمُونَ الْكِتَابَ وَبِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَدْرُسُونَ
Translation: “Be a godly people, by teaching the
holy Book and studying it” (3:79)
This godliness—Rabbaniyat—and the inherent
goodness in it is Mysticism in Islam which is also known in the Prophetic
Traditions as Ihsan; righteousness, beautification, perfection, or
excellence in the human character. Etymologically, Ihsan comes
from the Arabic root letters “Husn” meaning “perfection" or
"excellence". In Islamic terminology, Ihsan means “excellence
in faith” which requires us to inculcate moral, ethical and spiritual values
such as love for all, peace with all, universal brotherhood, religious harmony,
tolerance, inclusiveness, and common goodwill. Therefore, Ihsan is the
highest rank of faith in Islam, which lays the foundation for Islamic
mysticism.
Who was Hazrat Inayat Khan?
Before we talk about the Prophetic Mysticism in the
Discourses of Hazrat Inayat Khan, let us take a brief look at his heroic life
and valiant contributions to mysticism: Hazrat Inayat Khan, Tipu Sultan's
great-grandson, was both a mystic and a musician from India. According to Sadia
Dehlvi, he was a man of many tastes. Born in 1882 in Baroda (Vadodara),
Gujarat, Rehmat Khan aka Sufi Hazrat Inayat Khan was an Indian
Muslim musicologist, Sufi philosopher, poet, singer and exponent of the Saraswati
Vina. In 1920, Inayat Khan travelled abroad to give music concerts. He
was initiated into Sufism by Sheikh Syed Abu Hashim Madani of the Chishtia
lineage known as A’alim-e-Ladunni (keeper of divine knowledge)
in Hyderabad, India.
In 1910, heeding the spiritual advice of his
Murshid, Hazrat Inayat Khan sailed with his brothers to the West. There,
travelling through America and Europe, he spent the rest of his life spreading
the universal message of love for the Divine ideal, service to one’s fellowman,
and respect for the unity of religious ideals. At a time when the western world
was devastated by the wars, Inayat Khan widely travelled across Europe, America
and Russia to save mankind from destruction. As a true Sufi Mystic, he
enlivened the essence of love and peace from India to England and gave the
slogan: “Violin, not violence!” Thereafter, he is known in our history as “Baani
e Maghribi Tasawwuf” (the one who introduced Sufism to the
West). Inayat Khan was married to Ora Ray Baker (an American woman) who bore
him four children including the famous Sufi princess and spy of World War 2,
Shahzadi Noor-un-Nisa (Shaheeda). Hazrat Inayat Khan passed away in 1927
and is buried in a beautifully structured graveyard in Basti Hazrat
Nizamuddin in South Delhi. His Dargah differs much from the typical Sufi
shrines and untidy Dargahs of Delhi. It is well taken care of by a woman
Sufi and a Darvisha Dr. Fareeda Ali of the West Indies. After Pir
Vilayat Khan, son of Hazrat Inayat Khan, now (Dr.) Pir Zia Inayat Khan heads
the Inayatiyya Sufi Order as an erudite spiritual and intellectual
successor. Today, the Delhi-based Dargah of Hazrat Inayat Khan is offered as a
place of prayer and meditation for all people, without regard to religion,
creed, gender, caste, class, nation or race.
What is Mysticism in his understanding?
Mysticism, according to Hazrat Inayat Khan, is a
way of life based on universal love, harmony, and beauty. He preached that one
need not convert to Islam in order to become a Mystic. Now let us try to
understand how he defined religion from the point of view of a mystic! In a
collection of his Sufi discourses titled, The Unity of Religious
Ideals (volume 9), Hazrat Inayat Khan throws new light:
Religion, in the outer sense of the word, is a form
given to the worship of God, and a law given to a community to help them to
live harmoniously. But in the inner sense of the word, religion means a
staircase made for the soul to climb and reach that plane where Truth is
realised. Both these aspects of religion may be found in the words, and in the
soul of the prophet: his words, the law; his message, the wisdom; and his
being, that peace which is the seeking of every soul.
What is ‘Prophetic Mysticism’?
When we explore the Prophetic life, right from the
early Meccan period to the Medinite period, from Pre-prophetic (Qabl
Ba’asat) to the post-Prophetic era, the entire life and mission of the holy
Prophet cab be beautifully described as Mysticism, which is known as Ar-Rabbaniyah in
the holy Quran and Ihsaan in the Prophetic
Traditions. This is clearly explained by the famous Hadith-e-Jibril:
One day while the holy Prophet (pbuh) was
sitting along with some of his companions, the angel Gabriel came and asked a
few questions:
1. What is Islam? The
Prophet (pbuh) described it as the "Five Pillars of Islam".
2. What is Iman?
The Prophet (pbuh) described it with the "Six Articles of
Faith"
3. What is Ihsan?
The holy Prophet replied:
"Worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you
are not able to see Him, if you cannot achieve this state of devotion then you
must believe that He is seeing you."
Sufis interpret the second part of the above
Prophetic tradition as: if you don’t exist [i.e. if you lose your existence and
get diffused in the divine existence] then only you can achieve the level of Ihsan.
Now it is very important for us to try to understand what was the Holy Prophet
doing before he was declared as Messenger of Allah (Rasoolullah). We
don't know much but what we know for sure is that he spent most of his time in
his pre-Prophetic life in mysticism, mediation, moral, ethical, and spiritual
activism. In the words of Hazrat Inayat Khan:
The Prophet is a Mystic, and greater than a Mystic.
The Prophet is a philosopher, and greater than a philosopher. The Prophet is a
poet, and greater than a poet. The Prophet is a teacher, and greater than a
teacher. The Prophet is a seer, and greater than a seer. Why greater? Because
he has a duty to perform, together with the blessing that he brings upon the
earth.
Hazrat Inayat Khan believed that Prophetic
mysticism means to live in heaven and on the earth at the same time; head in
heaven and feet on the earth. That is, to be able to listen to the Voice of God
and at the same time every cry of humanity. He goes on to say:
The Soul of the Prophet represents both the human
and the divine. With his feet on the earth and his head in heaven, he had to
journey on the path of life.....There is a Sufi expression, Akhlaq-ul-Allah
(Takhallaqu bi Akhlaqillah), which means to adopt the “manner of Allah'', and
this manner can only be seen in the Prophetic soul.
Thus, Akhlaq-ul-Allah (the divine
manners) are the means to achieve the Rabbaniyah through
righteousness, piety, God-consciousness, self-discipline, moral uprightness,
spiritual purification, humanitarian and social activism. And all these were
the brightest personality traits of the holy Prophet even before he pronounced
his prophethood. The Prophet used to engage in his mystic meditations in the
cave of Hira (Ghar-e-Hira) for days and weeks at a stretch. In
the first chapter titled as “The commencement of the Divine Inspiration to
Allah's Apostle”, even Imam Bukhari has relayed the Prophetic mysticism
and his meditations in these words:
حبب إليه الخلاء، وكان يخلو بغار حراء، فيتحنث فيه –
وهو التعبد
(Solitude was endeared to the holy Prophet, and he
used to live in seclusion in the Cave of Hira).
Clearly, the Prophet chose solitude (tahannus)
and seclusion Ta’abbud for his to worship Allah in
self-seclusion far from worldly matters and mundane affairs. So, what was this
solitude for? Why was this seclusion and worship of Allah in loneliness? This
was Mysticism, plain and simple. It is patently clear from various other
prophetic traditions. Now we need to think and ponder over why the holy Prophet
had cultivated a mystical inclination even before he announced the noble
position of his prophethood, in the 40th year of his age. Imam
al-Ghazali, a prominent Islamic theologian and Sufi philosopher of his times,
also avers that the Prophet was a Mystic even before he announced his Prophethood.
It implies that Allah chose to declare his beloved Mustafa a Mystic before he
declared him as an Apostle.
Hazrat Inayat Khan tells us that
most people know that the Prophet (pbuh) was a warrior! But very few know that
he was first Mystic and then anything else. In fact, Hazrat Inayat Khan
explains that most people are unaware of the fact that Moses had the same
experience. The whole lives of the prophets who were sent to different
territories across the world reflected the same mystical inclinations. However,
they had to go through struggles and sometimes wars and battles in the path of
Deen, Dharma, and Righteousness. Hz. Inayat Khan was perhaps the first Sufi mystic
to explain this. He says:
The Prophets of India—from Rama to Krishna—were
also both Mystics and at the same time warriors from beginning to end. Their
scriptures are full of the battle stories that went on all through their lives,
and if some prophets apparently did not have to wage a war, then they had some
other form of struggle to go through....The seers and saints, who live a life
of seclusion, are happy when compared with the prophet, whose life’s work was
in the midst of the crowd. The Prophet representing God and his Message is
tried and tested and examined by every soul.... A mystic is free to speak and
act. He or she doesn’t care what others think of him or her. However, the
prophet had to be very careful, not for himself, but for those who follow him.
More to the point, Hazrat Inayat Khan says: Many
follow [or so to say, claim to follow] the Prophet, but very few comprehend his
ideal. It is this that made Hazrat Muhmmad (pbuh) say: ‘I am city of knowledge,
and Ali is the door’.
In essence, Prophetic Mysticism, according to
Hazrat Inayat Khan, means to live in heaven and to live on earth at the same
time. That is, Prophetic Mysticism rises so high that it can hear the voice of
God, but at the same time, it must bend so low that it can hear every little
whisper of human beings.
This mystical inclination of compassion was
manifest in the holy Prophet’s persona and personality traits, in his sincerity
and honesty (Amanat), truthfulness and trustworthiness (Sadaqat)
for which he was known as “Muhammad Al-Ameen” (the trustworthy Muhammad)
and “Muhammad al-Sadiq” (the truthful Muhammad). And this bright
spiritual aspect of the Prophet’s personality was best described by his wife,
Hazrat Khadijah.
When Hazrat Jibril A.S brought down
the first revelation to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), he began
trembling with fear and greatly wondered what was going to happen next. At this
stage, the Prophet returned to his wife Khadijah, and said, "Cover me,
cover me." She covered him until he regained peace and comfort. He then
told Khadijah whatever happened to him in the cave and said that he was
horrified. And then Hazrat Khadijah tried to comfort and soothes the holy
Prophet. When he said, "I fear that something may happen to me", what
Khadija said to reassure him is remarkably notable. She replied:
كَلاَّوَاللَّهِ
مَا يُخْزِيكَ اللَّهُ أَبَدًا، إِنَّكَ لَتَصِلُ الرَّحِمَ، وَتَحْمِلُ الْكَلَّ،
وَتَكْسِبُ الْمَعْدُومَ، وَتَقْرِي الضَّيْفَ، وَتُعِينُ عَلَى نَوَائِبِ
الْحَقِّ.
"Never! Allah will never disgrace you. Because
you unite the relations; you bear the burden of the weak; you speak the truth,
you help the poor and the destitute, you serve your guests generously and you
assist those afflicted with a calamity."
After the declaration of his Prophethood, mysticism
became the main component of the entire prophetic life and mission. Part of his
mysticism was to reform and civilize the Bedouin Arab society which was deeply
steeped in Jahiliyyah. He educated them to shun all forms of
violence, retaliation, and vengeance.
Hazrat Inayat Khan has beautifully
elucidated that the Prophet was an interpreter of the divine law in a human
tongue. He was an ambassador of the spiritual hierarchy, for he represented to
humanity the illuminated souls who are both known and unknown to the world, who
are both hidden and manifest, and who are both in the world and beyond the
world. Hence, the Prophet is called Rahmatul lil Alameen in
full synergy with the divine attribute of Rabbul Alameen. He
concludes:
Being a Mystic, the Prophet was both an initiate
and an initiator. He was an answer to the cry of humanity as much of
individuals as of collectivity. He was the one who sympathised with those in
pain, guided those in darkness, harmonised with those who were in conflict, and
thus brought peace to the world which is losing its equilibrium..... As a
mystic, the prophet brought love and light which is the food of every soul.
Even today, the prophet is a living light, a light which is greater in power
than the sun. For the light of the sun can only make things clear to the eyes,
but the Prophetic Light can make the hearts see all that the eyes are not
capable of seeing. In a nutshell, Prophetic Mysticism has brought us all the
love of the Beloved Creator as the loving essence of all humanity, a love that
is life itself. No words or actions can express that love in reality.
(This essay draws on an address entitled, “Caravan:
Wisdom from Invited Guests” by a regular columnist of NewAgeIslam.com, Ghulam
Rasool Dehlvi, which he delivered at the 95th Urs Celebration of Hazrat
Sufi Inayat Khan on Friday, February 3rd to Sunday, February 5th, 2023
organized by the Hazrat Inayat Khan Memorial Trust under the auspices of
International Sufi Movement, Inayatiyya Order, Sufi Ruhaniat
International and Sufi Way.)
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Regular Columnist with Newageislam.com, Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi is an
Indo-Islamic scholar and English-Arabic-Urdu writer. He graduated from a
leading Islamic seminary in India, and acquired a Diploma in Qur'anic sciences
and a Certificate in Uloom ul Hadith from the Al-Azhar Institute of Islamic
Studies. He has also participated in the 3-year “Madrasa Discourses” program
initiated by the University of Notre Dame, USA. Presently, he is pursuing his
Ph.D. in Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi.
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