His scholarship

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HIS SCHOLARSHIP

The miracle is that Shaykh 'Abdur Rahman Chohravi Rahmatullahi 'alaih did not obtain a madrasa education beyond learning Qur'anic recitation, nor did he learn how to write. His Majmu'ah Salawaat u'r Rasul is therefore a gift from Allah Ta'ala. It took 12 years, 8 months and 20 days to complete; and was sent for publication to his Khalifa in Rangoon, Burma in the year the Shaykh left his earthly existence in Pakistan on 1st Dhu'l Hijja 1342 A.H.

The preface to the Majmu'ah gives the life history of the Shaykh. That he was destined for great heights was revealed at the tender age of eight when he kept optional fasts for 40 continuous days while being initiated into tariqa (spiritual path leading to Allah Ta'ala). While yet a child, he achieved tazkiya (spiritual purification). Sub'haanAllah!

When you recite Majmu'ah Salawaat u'r Rasul, you realise that Muslim scholarship is alive and well, but that it is not disseminated widely enough. If a book remotely resembling this masterpiece had been produced by a Christian concerning his religion, dozens of Ph.D's would already have been produced on it but the aim of Muslims is to seek Ridha Allah (the Pleasure of Allah) and just the reciting of the Majmu'ah from cover to cover is enough of an achievement. And now we can benefit from its translation as well in Urdu by Shaykh ul Hadith Mawlana Muhammad Ashraf Siyalwi, of which the first six chapters have already been done with great loving care befitting its dignity and stature.

The Majmu'ah is in the tradition of Imam al-Jazuli's Dalaail u'l Khairaat (Proofs of Good Deeds), in that it is a compilation of salawaat existing upto that time. It is evident that Allah Ta'ala had opened the heart of Shaykh 'Abdur Rahman Chohravi to the vast seas of 'ulum (knowledge) of this world as well as the Hereafter. He was an authority on salawaat, dua, awraad and azkaar of which he presented his choicest collection in 1410 pages of the Majmu'ah. Indeed, he loved Dalaail u'l Khairaat so much that he composed a salaat on it as follows:

Allahumma Salli wa Sallim 'alaa Daleeli'l Khairaati
Salaatan tudallilunaa bihaa
Bi Dalaaili'l Khairaati wa Shawaariqi'l Anwaari
Wa tukhayyirunaa bihaa bikhayri khiyaari'l akhyaari'l abraari
Fastabiqu'l Khairaat

O Allah! Bestow blessings and peace on the "Proof of Good Deeds";
such blessings as in Dalaail u'l Khairaat wa Shawaariqu'l Anwaar
(Proofs of Good Deeds and The Brilliant Burst of Sunshine),
by means of which You may show us
and by means of which You may make us good people,
with the pick of the pious elite, the best of the righteous,
(as You said in the Holy Qur'an):
therefore, hasten to do good deeds (2:148; and 5:48).

The beloved Prophet Sallallahu 'alaihi wa Sallam is Daleel u'l Khairaat (Proof of Goodness), Imam Jazuli compiled a book of blessings on him called Dalaail u'l Khairaat (Proofs of Good Deeds) and Shaykh 'Abdur Rahman Chohravi composed a salaat on the Daleel u'l Khairaat with the title Dalaail u'l Khairaat to fulfil Allah's command of Fastabiqu'l Khairaat! Isn't that neat and special?

Chapter sixteen of the Majmu'ah titled "Fee 'Azamatihi wa 'Izzatihi" (On His Greatness And Respect), has 196 salawaat composed on a similar pattern. They start with an attributive name in praise of the beloved Prophet Sallallahu 'alaihi wa Sallam and end with a verse or part of the verse of the Qur'an. These form the Salawaat u'l 'Uzmaa (The Great Invocation of Blessings) of the Shaykh and have been printed separately in another kitab titled Awraad u'l Qaadiriyyah Rahmaniyyah (Regular Voluntary Invocations of the Qaadiriyyah Rahmaniyyah) compiled by al-Allamah as-Sayyid Muhammad Tayyib Shah Rahmatullahi 'alaih. Those who feel overwhelmed by the Majmu'ah would do well to recite at least the Salawaat u'l 'Uzmaa of the great Shaykh.

This naturally raises the question: if you really aspire to recite the encyclopaedic Majmu'ah from cover to cover, how would you really go about doing it? If you recite a chapter a day, you can complete its thirty chapters in a month. Each chapter takes about two to three hours to recite, depending on how fast and proficient you are at Arabic recitation. On the other hand, if the mureedeeen (disciples) decide to adopt a more leisurely pace and recite a chapter a week (7 pages a day), that would give them at most 21 minutes of recitation every day and at this rate, they can complete the Majmu'ah in seven months. Allahu Akbar, Allah is The Greatest!

To gain a flavour of it and some appreciation, the initiate would be well advised to recite at least the first three chapters because they form an integrated whole, starting with and ending in Asma u'l Husna, with salawaat and dua interspersed in-between. That might indeed provide the encouragement to complete the whole kitab! However, before embarking on this momentous venture, the saalik (spiritual traveller) would be well advised to get the ijaza (permission) of the Shaykh (spiritual master).

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