A Wave Like Mountains Part 2: The Calm in the Eye of the Storm

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى الصَّابِرُونَ أَجْرَهُم بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ

'Those who patiently persevere will truly receive a reward without measure!'

(Surat al-Zumar: 10)

This article was written by Mazoon-e-Dawat Syedi Dr. Abdeali Bhaisaheb Saifuddin AAB in 2017.

The darkness of the night after Syedna Burhanuddin RA passed away lasted for many days - the sun of our lives, Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin was no more. The thickness of the heavy clouds that darkened the skies seemed ever increasing as we faced the most testing hours, days and months of our lives.

Our beloved Dai’s janaza mubaraka was to be taken to Saifee Masjid from Saifee Mahal the morning after wafaat.

The usurpers had done their homework - they had planned the takeover meticulously, just as the usurpers had done after the wafaat of Rasulullah SA. They had shamelessly abused the person of the Dai for their own ends, both in the years before Syedna Burhanuddin’s wafaat and then in the hours after wafaat. Before wafaat, they took Syedna Burhanuddin from place to place in an extreme state of infirmity to fulfil their self-serving agenda of trying to legitimize their fraud in the eyes of people. Four days before wafaat, they even brought him to Rozat Tahera for a program which was hours long, all through which Syedna Burhanuddin’s eyes were closed.

After wafaat they put our beloved Dai’s janaza mubaraka out in the open, displaying it for the world to see – this had never been done before in the history of the Imams and Du’at Mutlaqeen. After wafaat, they continued to use Syedna Burhannudin to further their agenda to beguile people into believing their fraud.

That morning tens of thousands of people gathered for the janaza mubaraka.

Syedna Khuzaima Qutbuddin RA spent the previous eve (17 Rabiul Awwal 1435H/ 18 January 2014), with one overwhelming concern: leading the janaza namaaz of his beloved predecessor Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin RA. Syedna Qutubuddin wrote a letter to Shz Qaid Johar Bhaisaheb and Shz Mufaddal Bhaisaheb informing them that he was the true successor of Syedna Burhanuddin and that he was the 53rd Dai-l-Mutlaq, and therefore it was his right to lead the janaza namaaz of his predecessor Syedna Burhanuddin.

There was no reply to the letter.

From Darus Sakina, Syedna Qutbuddin’s bayaan was made available to all Mumineen all over the world, in which he conveyed that he was the true successor of Syedna Burhanuddin, he was the 53rd Dai-l-Mutlaq, and it was his right to lead the janaza namaaz of his predecessor Syedna Burhanuddin.

In the face of such an enormous tragedy, immense heart crushing difficulties continued to arise – the 53rd Dai-l-Mutlaq was denied the right to lead the janaza namaaz of his predecessor. The usurpers continued to misuse Syedna Burhanuddin’s janaza mubaraka. In yet another self-serving step with no historical precedent, they unashamedly placed the janaza mubaraka on a truck, and sat next to it. Syedna Burhanuddin had walked behind the janaza mubaraka of Syedna Taher Saifuddin RA all the way from Saifee Mahal to Saifee Masjid, and Mumineen carried the janaza mubaraka on their shoulders the entire journey. The sunnat of Rasulullah is that a janaza should not be put on a vehicle unless it is necessary. After Syedna Burhanuddin’s wafaat, there was no shortage of people to carry the janaza mubaraka – Syedna Burhanuddin was our beloved Dai, the loving father of all Mumineen.

Syedna Qutbuddin had made the call of truth, guidance, principle, and of good future for the community; but the battle was yet to start. We did not know that what we were bracing for was probably the biggest storm that Dawat had faced for hundreds of years. Not since Abdul Majeed’s usurpation of the Fatemi throne had Dawat seen such a scale of upheaval; perhaps even greater than the fitnat of Jaafar, almost 500 years ago, when in Ahmedabad whole Mohollas turned away from the Dai, when the enemies of Dawat took the children of Mumineen and crushed them under grind-stones.

We had heard about these tragic events in the history of Dawat in bayaans and waaz. But these stories of fitnat seemed to be at a far distance from us because the age of Syedna Taher Saifuddin and Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin seemed to be of plenty, and of security.

But we soon found ourselves face to face with a beast far more vicious and terrible than we had ever imagined. Soon after the janaza mubaraka of Syedna Burhanuddin was laid to rest, the usurpers convened a Majlis, supposedly for sipara of Syedna Burhanuddin. In reality, it was a rally for laanats - laanat on one who had been Mazoon of Syedna Burhanuddin for fifty years, one who they had sworn allegiance and loyalty to in Misaaq taken by Syedna Burhanuddin himself for fifty years. Many broke their oath during those days, if indeed they had not already broken it long before when they started opposing the Mazoon of Syedna Burhanuddin in his lifetime.

Between these calls to curse, henchmen were sent to intimidate Mumineen in their homes, forcing them to sign a piece of paper professing their loyalty to the usurper Shehzada Mufaddal Saifuddin. Many succumbed to the pressure, some held out. One elderly gentleman who lived with his wife, daughter and grandson in the center of Mumbai, who had long served Dawat steadfastly, stood up to these goons, and refused to sign. He debated with them, until they left with their heads bowed with nothing left to say. He faced them off with courage and conviction.

In Darus Sakina, thousands of messages and calls poured in, many professing their support and faith in Syedna Qutbuddin. Some, caught up in the mob that had been stirred up spewed hate and threats. The henchmen came to Darus Sakina to shout slogans and throw stones. The police of Thane provided full protection and stationed a van outside the bungalow.

Of the many who had come to Darus Sakina with Syedna Qutbuddin, some lost their wits, got scared, and left. But most stayed, with courage, the conviction of their faith, and their steadfast and unshaking belief in the truthfulness and strength and resolve of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin and Syedna Khuzaima Qutbuddin.

In the first two months after Syedna Burhanuddin’s passing away, there were close to a hundred people living in Darus Sakina, the home of Syedna Qutbuddin. Syedna Qutbuddin safeguarded and nurtured them in his home bestowing priceless shafaqat and doa that gave them courage to face all the challenges that arose. They faced the storm with unflinching confidence and put everything on the line – their families, their livelihoods, their homes, and their own personal safety – for the sake of truth, principle, faith, and their love of and belief in Syedna Qutbuddin. They served in khidmat, in the eye of storm without ever asking if it was day or night.

In the center of this storm, Syedna Qutbuddin was the mountain of strength and resolve. Moment to moment, he instructed and guided his family and all khidmat guzars on what was to be done.

And he consoled them through this time of grief and mourning through sincere and heart rending prayer. Every day before maghrib, for forty days, Syedna Qutbuddin convened a Majlis for tilawat of Qur’an Majeed on the niyyat of Syedna Burhanuddin. He recited sadaqallah doa with mourning and fervor of love for Syedna Burhanuddin. He composed a qasida in remembrance of the shaan of his predecessor and additionally in the Majlis newly composed qasidas and marsiyas, humble expressions of grief and loss, were recited.

Darus Sakina was the eye of the storm. It was pilloried and buffeted, physically, and virtually, from all sides, but inside, because of the presence of this Dai of Imam-uz-zaman SA—this epitome of conviction, faith, and tranquility— there was peace.

In the next chapter of the series, insha'Allah I will narrate details of Syedna Qutbuddin’s guidance and instructions to Mumineen, especially those in Darus Sakina.

May Allah Ta’ala grant Syedna Qutbuddin afdal al-jaza on behalf of all Mumineen, and Dawat, and may He prolong the life of his successor, our Dai and our Aqa, Syedna Taher Fakhruddin TUS till the day of Qiyamat, and give him fath-e-mubin, clear victory over the usurpers very soon.