Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

SPIRITUALISM AND MODERN SCIENCE SERIES

SPIRITUALISM AND MAGNETISM

Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri

Minhaj-ul-Quran Publications

Lahore, Pakistan

مَوْلَاي صَلِّ وَ سَلِّمْ دَآئِمًا اَبَدًا

عَلٰي حَبِيْبِکَ خَيْرِ الْخَلْقِ کُلِّهِم

مُنَزَّهٌ عَنْ شَرِيْکٍ فِيْ مَحَاسِنِه

فَجَوْهَرُ الْحُسْنِ فِيْهِ غَيْرُ مُنْقَسِم

(صَلَّي اﷲُ تَعَالٰي عَلَيْهِ وَ عَلٰي آلِه وَ اَصْحَابِه وَ بَارِکْ وَسَلِّمْ)

Table of Contents

Preface 6

Statement of Case 9

Our Dissociation with the Past 9

Our Forebears’ Ingenuity and ourClumsiness 9

Weak Defence of a Strong Case 10

How to Counter the Conspiracy? 11

Our Pseudo Scholars and their Escape from Spiritualism of Islam. 13

Convincing New Generation to see the Real Light 14

An Exhorting Episode 15

A Dire Need of the Hour 16

Analysis of Problem. 17

Why Downfall? 17

Where Do We Stand? 17

The Reassured Belief 18

What is Mysticism (Tasawwuf)? (Observation and Experimentation) 19

Imam Ghazali’s Precedence 20

Scientific Bases of Spiritual Phenomena  23

Historical Aspect 23

The purview of Reason and Science 25

The Scientists on Science 25

Science and Psychic Experience 26

Extra-Sensory Perception (ESP)^[10] 27

The Concept 27

The Case of W T Wolfe^[12] 28

Winston Churchill’s ESP^[13] 29

Obsession of Son’s Death. 29

An Out-of-Body Experience (OBE) 30

(Consciousness A & Consciousness B) 30

Some Scientific Explanations of ESP^[14] 30

Electromagnetic Energy and ESP. 32

Static Electricity and Brain. 33

Effects of -ive and +ive ions on Human Mind. 33

Man in Electromagnetic Environment 33

Hadrat Suleman (AS) and the Ant 34

The Almighty within Us^[16] 34

Tuning in. 35

It Heals 35

It Brightens 36

It Delivers 36

Demonstrate Your Beliefs 36

Some Dreams Rescue Life 36

The Faith Pays 37

Glimpses from Spiritual Life Of Auliya Allah  38

Spiritual Link between Real Self of Man and the Divine Self 38

Glimpses 39

Hasan Basri and the Fire-Worshipper 39

Knowledge and Faith. 40

When Rabe’a Basri was Born! 40

A Glimpse of Faith. 41

Gratitude & Complaint 42

Ibrahim Adham. 42

Sweet Pomegranates 42

The Wind Subsided. 43

Allah’s Remembrance 43

Beggary. 43

Sitting Cross-legged. 43

Ba Yazid Bestami and his Mother 43

(1)“Go and be God’s” 43

(2)“O Lord, Care Well for our Exile.” 44

Abu Hafs Haddad and Junaid. 45

He began to Speak Arabic 45

Self-Sacrifice 45

Broth and Halwa 45

Abu Hafs and Abu Bakr Shibli 46

Abul-Qasim al-Junaid. 46

The Worst of People 46

The Creator’s Cure 47

The Question of Need. 47

The Spiritual Awareness about the Disciple 48

Mystic Intuition and Awareness 48

Nine Litters for Martyrs 48

Private Sanctuary of God. 49

The Essence of Friendship. 49

Dhun-Noon, al-Misri 49

The Inanimate World under Spiritual Command. 50

Stone turned into Emerald. 50

A Defiant Youth. 50

Dhun-Noon and the Holy Prophet (SAW) 50

When Dhun-Noon Died. 51

Ahmad Khazruya and the Thief 51

Seventy Candles 52

Lack of Faith. 52

Yusuf Razi and the Prophet Yusuf (AS) 53

Qur'an, Science and Phenomenology of Spiritual System   54

The Holy Qur’an on Divine Status of Auliya Allah. 54

Why Companionship of Allah’s Friends? 55

A Divine Rule since the Creation of Universe 56

By My Lord, this is Allah’s Threshold. 57

Inevitability of Messenger’s Channel for Allah’s Servants 58

The Order Of Names in stamp of the Holy Prophet (SAW) 59

Distribution of Allah’s Blessing by the Holy Prophet (SAW) 60

The ‘Channel’ of Aulia Allah. 60

Co-relation between Science and the Channel of Spiritualism. 61

Science: The Greatest Contemporary Standard of Knowledge 62

Analogy of Geo-magnetism of the Earth. 63

Magnetic System of Spiritual Universe 63

The Chief Pole of the Spiritual Universe: The Holy Prophet (SAW) 63

Making of Magnets? Difference between the Leader (Sheikh) and the Disciple (Murid) 64

Heat Conduction Process and the Conduction of Spiritualism. 65

An Illustration from Modern Scientific Discoveries and Electric System. 65

Tazkia: Cessation of Sinful Resistance! 66

Wonders of Spiritual Magnetism. 66

From Self-Purification and Perseverance to Resurrection. 67

The System of Electric Supply and the Contact with Auliya Allah. 68

Conquest of the Moon and the Apollo Mission. 69

Cardiac Screen and Spiritual TV Channel 69

The Special Kindness of Allah to ‘Ashab-e-Kahf’ 70

Auliya’s Life after Death. 71

The Pet Dog of Allah’s Friends Remained Alive 71

‘Rasool Allah’ (SAW) the Fountain Head of Allah’s Bounties: 72

Epilogue 74

Endnotes 76

Preface

The modern scientific thought has undergone metamorphic changes over ages. Its spirit, however, has constantly remained to justify the existing fact on rational grounds. Eventually, the twentieth century has witnessed an unimaginable scientific advancement that has assigned a vital role to man on the globe in the conquest of the universe.

In the quest of knowledge, the modern man has also discovered that the centuries old concepts about religion are contrary to the scientific thought and, therefore, need to be either discarded or made compatible with the scientific method. This is the challenge that the religious scholars and theologians have failed to face. Instead of analyzing the problem on scientific basis, they have adhered to their timeworn ideologies with a practical surrender to the materialistic values in vogue. Even the torchbearers, the so-called intellectuals and modern scholars of Islam who pretend to be abreast with the modern scientific thought have given in to the onslaught of modern sciences and in secret depths of their hearts feel nervous how to defend their position. They are doing more harms than good by defending their post with archaic weapons.

However, towards the dawn of new millennium, there has risen one guiding star on the intellectual horizon that has showered rays of his effulgent wisdom on the modern mind fallen prey to stray ideologies. Equipped adequately with the scientific and religious knowledge, he has given the call to modern man that Islam is the religion that, ever since its revelation, has the scientific bases which the modern scientific thought is now claiming to discover and further needs to explore in its totality. What Descartes and his successors (Locke, Barkeley, Hume, Kant and Hobbes, Montesquieu, Mill and Benthem and others) did to promote scientific method and rational thought in Europe, has been accomplished in the world of theology, single-handedly by Prof. Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. The world has already recognized him as‘outstanding man of the century’ and ‘leading intellectual of the world.’

This is not in our purview here to reckon the contributions made by Prof. Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri to the modern Islamic thought and its reconstruction. Nor can we measure his achievements in clearing and purifying Islamic ideology from muddling of various ‘isms’ wrought over centuries. But the aspect of his intellectual ventures focussed here relates to a sensitive issue that has disintegrated the intellectual unity of Muslim thinkers and their followers.

Who is ‘Wali’ and what role he plays in spreading light of divine guidance among the believers is a question that has been answered divergently under the reflective influences alien to Islam. A huge reservoir of literature exists on Mysticism, Islamic Mysticism, Pantheism and Transcendentalism, nature of Mystic Experience, its variety, allied philosophies and schools of thought. The antagonists too have generated colossal works proving it contrary to the ‘true Islam’ and labeling it as an impious innovation in the approved Islamic code of life. This controversy has inflicted serious damage to the modern Muslim mind leading the young educated Muslims all over the world to desperation and abhorrence from

Islam. They are confused and blatantly question the intellectual validity and logical wellbeing of Islamic thought. The Muslim scholars engaged in this unfortunate controversy, however, ill afford any attempt to recover from the ‘spin’. They drastically lack in advanced knowledge and are unaware of the ‘phenomena’ of modern scientific mind. Being the odd ones, they now stay out of this war of wits, which has spread over East and West. How to satisfy the modern scientific mind on the question of Islamic Spiritualism, its nature and significance; the ‘Friends of Allah’- Auliya, their role and task, status and dignity and the phenomenology of spiritual experience is an uphill task which Prof. Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri, however, has performed with tantamount facility, authority and command.

Without entangling himself in sterile controversy on mysticism and its various ‘schools’ and types, he has taken the Holy Qur’an as the basic and exclusive source of his logic. He triumphantly convinces the reader that a Wali Allah (a friend of Allah), whether a mystic or a saint (whatever term one may use to describe him), is a spiritually privileged Muslim. He acquires heavenly acquaintance and proximity to Allah through absolute obedience to and an overpowering love and adoration for the Holy Prophet (SAW). He then himself becomes a source of spiritual bliss and inspiration for those who stand fast in his company.

Simultaneously, endowed with a vividly historic insight, he educates the modern Muslim mind how, centuries ago, the Muslim scholars defeated their rival thinkers employing the then contemporary logic against them. He emphatically exhorts all educated Muslims of the world to acquire perfect knowledge of modern logic and defeat the antagonists of Islam who have joined hands against the ‘Ummah’ with an intention to shake the solid spiritual realities which are the bases of Islamic thought and ideology. Prof. Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, the intellectual spirit of our age, the divine genius of the new millennium and a ‘Friend of Allah’ has a sagacious eye on rise and fall of the Muslim and non-Muslim empires. He possesses a vision that penetrates into future and clearly discerns the impending dangers and their remedies.

While handling this most difficult and controversial subject of Islamic spiritual philosophy, disseminating it to the modern inquisitive mind, he has adopted an easy and logical style to communicate the ideas with the help of similitudes and parables and enviably sublime and inspiring expression. This is exactly the style of exposition and elucidation manifest in the Holy Quran where the divine principles and the spiritual realities of life are made home to man loud and clear through parables and similitudes. While explaining the nature of friendship with Almighty Allah he has based his arguments on the verses of the Holy Qur’an and has taken similitude from modern scientific subjects specially ‘Magnetism’ and ‘Electric Charge’. The concept of ‘Spiritual Magnetism’ and ‘Spiritual Charge’ enabling Auliya Allah to get into the ‘spiritual channel’ which originates from the Holy Messenger (SAW) is a dazzlingly unique and exceptional addition to the existing literature on Islamic Spiritualism. It attracts and convinces the modern educated reader and deletes his disbelief in spiritual values. It irrefutably proves that the phenomenology of Islamic Spiritualism is

compatible with the modern scientific method. This dissertation in this way is, by any standard, a classic piece of literature produced on the subject.

This work, besides spiritualism, also enlightens the reader on ventures of modern science especially in the field of parapsychology. An account of scientific research into finding the underlying reality of psychic experiences and supplying empirical interpretations to extra-sensory perception (ESP) and out-of-body-experience (OBE) has added substantial value to intellectual status of this exposition. The glimpses from spiritual life of Auliya, of their divine experiences in comparison to ESPs, OBEs and the concept of an infinite power within man, highlighting the real significance of Islamic Spiritualism, invite the scientific mind to struggle if it can and belie the spiritual reality. When they decline to disbelieve in psychic reality and its wonders on electromagnetic ground, how can they decline to believe in spirituality of real self of man, its special link with Allah and its acquired infinite spiritual competence towards conquering the universe, demonstrated by Auliya Allah. Studying spiritualism in the perspective of most modern scientific investigation in the field of parapsychology is an amazingly emphatic maiden attempt in the field. It has indeed opened the doors, to embrace Islamic Faith, on those who have been enabled by this study to develop their belief in Islamic Spiritualism on rational scientific grounds. We the believers, welcome this courage to convert to Islam on this rational basis.

While closing this prologue, I convey my sincere thanks to Dr. M. Z. Awan who provided me with his enlightening guidance towards finalizing compilation of this work. In this regard I owe to him a great deal. And Hakeem Muhammad Younas Mujaddady! I must say he is an angel who came and in a single discourse changed the course of my life. While talking about his ‘Quaid’ he glows with love and devotion. His motivation kept me in while accomplishing the assignment. He brought me spiritual proximity to the ‘Friend of Allah’ who is also a friend of all of us - Prof. Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, our great ‘Quaid’.

ABDUL AZIZ