His Yearning Comes to Fruition

It is with the utmost sadness that I write this post informing the readers of the passing away of my beloved shaykh, Hazratwala Hazrat-e-Aqdas ‘Arif Billah Shaykh-ul-‘Arab-wal-‘Ajam Mawlana Shah Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Sahib (RA).  Hazratwala (RA) had been quite ill and then there was a glimpse of hope where his condition was improving, but alas, the preacher of the love of Allah was called by his Beloved to the abode of eternal bliss.  Hazratwala (RA) passed away around maghrib time on June 2nd, 2013, corresponding to the 23rd of Rajab 1434.  His funeral prayer was led by his illustrious son Hazrat Mawlana Shah Hakeem Muhammad Mazhar Sahib (DB).

Hakeem-ul-Islam Hazrat Mawlana Qari Muhammad Tayyib Sahib (RA) once mentioned that even the passing away of our seniors is in a way a mercy.  Hazratwala (RA) has been continuously ill for 13 years after suffering from a stroke in May of 2000.  Initially many people were broadcasting the news of Hazratwala’s (RA) passing and rightfully so.  This feeble one was so dumbfounded by the news that I found myself in a state of bewilderment.  I was at a loss for words and did not know how to react apart from keeping to myself and making dua’ for my beloved shaykh (RA).

Hazrat’s (RA) passing, for the ummah as a whole generally, and for his mureedeen specifically, is such a catastrophe that an infinite number of words cannot articulate the level of sorrow that is felt.  After the news reached me, I have continually felt that I am stuck in a vast desert, which has no sign of shade and shelter for leagues to come.

Hazrat (RA) was a manifestation of Allah’s mercy on this earth.  He was the epitome of kindness.  Whoever had come into contact with him, even for a brief moment, left with this etched in their memory forever.  He was a mujaddid in the field of tasawwuf and had spearheaded reforms in the science of tazkiyah and ihsaan.  He truly was a sun in the galaxy of the stars of the Thanwi silsilah.

Although the trauma from his passing is extremely severe, we have learned from Hazrat (RA) that Allah is both Hakim and Hakeem.  Allah is has the most mercy towards His servants; more than any human can have for another.  His every action is full of wisdom and benefit.  No one comes in this world to live here forever.  Death comes to knock at everyone’s door, whether they are the Prophets (AS), the Sahabah (RA), or even the greatest saint.  However, it is the bounty of Allah that even though our eyes are moist, we obey the commandment of Allah and recite the istirjaa’, which holds within it a great reward for its mere recital.

To adequately write about Hazratwala (RA) would require a separate lengthy publication, and at the moment those that are connected to Hazrat (RA) are so heartbroken that they lack the strength to lift a pen to write about it.  At this point it is requested from the readers that they pray for Hazrat (RA) that Allah grants him complete maghfirah, elevates Hazrat to the highest stages of proximity to Him, and that He grants his family sabr jameel, and that Allah grants us the tawfeeq to implement his teachings in our lives.

 

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