The Academic Education and Spiritual Training of Hadrat Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi

By Ḥaḍrat Shaykh Muḥammad Zakariyyā Kāndhlawi

Translated by Shoaib A. Rasheed[1]

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Maulana Rashīd Aḥmad Gangōhi (1826-1905) was an important figure in the history of Deoband. He was one of the college’s founding members, as well as its second patron (sarparast). In the realm of Sufism, he was responsible for setting the boundaries of acceptable practices within Deobandi Sufism. He was one of the two major transmitters of the Chishti-Ṣābiri line through Ḥājī Imdādullāh, the other being Maulana Ashraf ʿAlī Thānwi who himself was greatly influenced by Maulana Gangōhi’s thought. The Deobandi School is often unfairly accused of being against Sufism, and accusation that is strange when one considers that all of its most important figures were Sufi masters, usually subscribing themselves to Chishti-Ṣābiri order. In reality, the Deobandis were critical of specific Sufi practices which they assessed as unacceptable according to Islamic Law, and not of Sufism as a whole.

This translation is an excerpt from the book Tārīkh-i Mashāyikh-i Chisht written by Maulana Muḥammad Zakariyyā Kāndhlawi, who himself was a Sufi master from Maulana Gangōhi’s line. In the book, the author recounts the biographies of all the masters in his spiritual lineage. The biography of Maulana Gangōhi as written in this book focuses on the spiritual aspect of his life. Hence, this translation is an important addition to Deobandi studies because thus far, the spiritual and Sufi aspect of Deoband has been neglected in the literature at the expense of its political, pedagogical, and academic aspects.

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Ḥaḍrat Imām-i Rabbāni [i.e. Maulana Rashīd Aḥmad Gangōhi] began his primary education under his very first teacher, Miānjī Quṭub Bakhsh Gangōhi. Even during this early period, his teacher could be heard praising his intelligence and studiousness. It was the habit of Miānjī Quṭub Bakhsh to inspect the mouths of the students and ask them what kind of food they had eaten before coming to class. When the student answered him, he would tease them by saying: “You gobbled your breakfast without a fuss – why didn’t you bring along any for us?” When Ḥaḍrat-i Aqdas heard this, he began filling his pockets with the meals he would receive from home. He would not eat the food himself; rather he would bring it to class and present it to his teacher as a gift. At first, his family remained unaware of this sacrifice of his, but soon they noticed stains and remnants of food on his clothes. His family scolded him and demanded that he explain himself. Only then did they discover his tale of sacrifice. This was an example of the happiness, selflessness, and the motivation to bring joy to others that the Divine had deposited within him.

He used to say: “When I was perhaps four or five years old, my honorable mother gave me and my elder brother, Maulwi ʿInāyat Aḥmad, some milk to drink. I demanded that I be given more. My elder brother did not like this obstinate behavior of mine, so after drinking his own share of milk, he drank my share as well. From this incident, I learned that the consequence of being willful is that a man becomes deprived of his own portion as well as whatever else he was demanding.”

I was not able to determine exactly where he learned the Glorious Quran. It is quite possible that he simply learned it at home from his honorable mother, for in those days, the women of the respected families were well-acquainted with the Glorious Quran, knowledge of the Sacred Law, and other such topics. He studied Persian mostly with his maternal uncle, Maulana Muḥammad Taqī in the city of Karnal, and to some extent with Maulwi Muḥammad Ghauth. He studied the preliminary books of Arabic morphology and syntax with Maulwi Muḥammad Bakhsh Rāmpūri, and then upon his encouragement, Ḥaḍrat traveled to Delhi in 1261 A.H./1845 C.E. in pursuit of more knowledge. He was seventeen years old at the time.

Upon arriving in Delhi, he sat in many classes taught by various teachers and considered each one closely, but he did not find any of them satisfying enough to join on a permanent basis. Now, by sheer coincidence and divine faculty, it so happened that Ustādh al-Kul Ḥaḍrat Maulana Mamlūk ʿAlī was returning to Delhi from his journey to the Ḥijāz. On his way, he stopped in his home-town of Nānautah, where, after the holidays had finished, he collected his teenaged nephew Ḥaḍrat Maulana Muḥammad Qāsim and brought him along to Delhi to educate him. This all happened in 1260 A.H./1844 C.E. Ḥaḍrat Imām-i Rabbāni had not yet began his studies because he still had not found any teacher that satisfied him. At last he presented himself before Ḥaḍrat Maulana Mamlūk ʿAlī and enrolled in his class. Thus it happened that both Maulana Rashīd and Maulana Qāsim, sun and moon of knowledge and piety, came under the tutelage of the same teacher, and they busied themselves in their academic education. Ḥaḍrat Imām-i Rabbāni used to study the books Ṣadrā and Shams-i Bāzighah under Ḥaḍrat Maulana Mamlūk ʿAlī in the same way that a hafiz studies the Quran.

He stayed a few years in Delhi and completed his academic studies. Besides Ḥaḍrat Maulana Mamlūk ʿAlī, his other teacher in the rational sciences was the famous master Maulana Muftī Ṣadr al-Dīn. He also had the honor of studying under Qāḍī Aḥmad al-Dīn. His teacher in Hadith was Ḥaḍrat Maulana al-Ḥāj Shāh ʿAbd al-Ghanī Muhājir Madanī Mujaddidi Naqshbandi. He was so dedicated and engrossed in his study of these texts that he would only spend seven hours per day taking care of his daily needs such as eating and sleeping. For the entire time that he lived in Delhi, he would prepare his own food and drink, and he did not impose this task on anyone. Every month, he would receive three rupees from home with which he would take care of all his needs.

After receiving authorization in all the sciences and disciplines at the age of twenty-one, he returned to his home town of Gangōh and busied himself in teaching. He would exert himself teaching various subjects such as grammar, rhetoric (maʿānī), fiqh, tafsīr, and Hadith. He kept on teaching in this manner until the end of the year 1300 A.H/1883 C.E., but starting from 1301 A.H./1884 C.E., he focused on exclusively teaching the noble Hadith. He would teach all the books of the Ṣiḥāḥ Sittah all by himself. In the month of Shawwāl, the lessons of daurah-e hadīswould commence, and by the month of Shaʿbān, he would have finished teaching all the Hadith books entirely.

As for sulūk and the story of his initiation into the Sufi Path, Imām-i Rabbāni himself has recounted it many times: “When Maulana Muḥammad Qāsim Ṣāḥab and I were studying in Delhi, we both eagerly wanted to study Sullam, but because of Ḥaḍrat Ustādh [Mamlūk ʿAlī]’s busy schedule, it ended up being decided that we would receive only two lessons per week in that book. One time, our lesson in Sullam was in progress when a man with a blue shawl over his shoulders entered. As soon as he came in, Ḥaḍrat, along with all of his disciples, rose to his feet and showed the man great love and honor. Ḥaḍrat Ustādh exclaimed, “Ḥājī Ṣāḥab has arrived! Ḥājī Ṣāḥab has arrived!” Then he turned to me and said, “Mr. Rashīd, we will continue the lesson later.” I was greatly disappointed by the loss of the day’s lesson, and I remarked to Maulwi Muḥammad Qāsim Ṣāḥab, “A fine ḥājī he is! We just lost our lesson!” But Maulwi Muḥammad Qāsim said, “Do not say such things about a saint.”

At this point in the story, Ḥaḍrat Imām-i Rabbāni would remark: “Little did we know that this was the very Ḥājī who would eventually take us under his wing.”

Ḥaḍrat Imām-i Rabbāni would continue: “During my days as a student, I spent much time in the service of Ḥaḍrat Shāh ʿAbd al-Ghanī Ṣāḥab Muhājir Madani (May Allah illuminate his resting place) because I was studying the noble Hadith under him. Hence, I would constantly bring up the idea of pledging allegiance (bayʿat) with Ḥaḍrat Shāh Ṣāḥab, but every time, Maulana Nānautwi would say, “No. We shall not make bayʿat with anyone except Ḥaḍrat Imdād.”

As time went on, however, his love and relationship with Ḥājī Ṣāḥab continued to deepen until he became utterly dedicated to him, and he performed bayʿat on his blessed hands. The way it happened was that Imām-i Rabbāni traveled to the town of Thānah Bhawan to discuss an intellectual issue with Ḥaḍrat Maulana Shaykh Muḥammad Thānwi (May Allah be pleased with him). Before commencing with the discussion, he paid a visit to Ḥājī Ṣāḥab at his home. At the time, Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat Ḥājī Ṣāḥab was busy reciting the Glorious Quran. This was Ḥaḍrat Gangōhi’s fifth encounter with Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat. Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat greeted him with great generosity and affection, and then asked, “What have you come here for?” He replied, “I came to have a debate with Maulana Shaykh Muḥammad.” Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat said, “Oh! Come, man, don’t do such a thing. We have a great deal of respect for Shaykh Muḥammad.” Ḥaḍrat Gangōhi replied, “If you consider him to be above you, then he must be above me as well.” Then, Ḥaḍrat Gangōhi seized the opportunity and made the request for bayʿah. In order to test his resolve, Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat refused, but the seed of love that had been planted in Ḥaḍrat’s heart on their very first encounter had by this time sprouted roots that were quite steady, so despite being met with refusal, he refused to change his mind and held his ground. After two or three days, Ḥaḍrat performed bayʿat with Ḥājī Ṣāḥab.

At the time of bayʿat, Ḥaḍrat Imām-i Rabbāni confessed to Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat Ḥājī Ṣāḥab: “Ḥaḍrat, I am totally unable to perform the zikr, shaghl, miḥnat, and mujāhadah that is the regimen of a Sufi disciple, nor am I able to wake up at night for worship. Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat replied with a smile on his face: “Good! No problem at all!”

At this point in the story, one of Ḥaḍrat Imām-i Rabbāni’s disciples asked, “O Ḥaḍrat, what happened then?” He replied – and what a strange reply he gave! –: “Death and Annihilation happened.” Two or three days later, Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat assigned him the zikr of bārah tasbīḥ.

At night, Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat awoke to pray tahajjud and engage in zikr as per his routine. He performed wuḍū and headed for the mosque. Ḥaḍrat happened to wake up also, and after performing wuḍū, he sat in another corner of the mosque and engaged himself in tahajjud and zikr. He himself used to recount: “I was young back then, and I had strength and energy. I did zikr abundantly and loudly. In the morning, Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat remarked, ‘Last night, you performed zikr like some sort of expert.’ Ever since that day, I fell in love with zikr.”

While Ḥaḍrat was staying in Thānah Bhawan, Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat Ḥājī Ṣāḥab – May Allah illuminate his resting place – decided to test his patience, endurance, and self-discipline. Ḥaḍrat Imām-i Rabbāni explains: “I had been staying in Thānah Bhawan for a few days now, and out of a sense of honor, I refused to allow Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat to take on the burden of feeding me. I wanted to leave, but Ḥaḍrat did not give me permission. He told me, “Stay for a few more days.” I remained silent. I decided to stay, but I was still worried and thought I should make my food arrangements somewhere else. A little while later, when Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat started to head home, he perceived the source of my hesitations and said: “My dear Rashīd Aḥmad! Do not worry about food. Come eat with me.” In the afternoon, the delivery of food arrived from his house. One dish contained kōftē that looked extremely delicious. In the other dish was some very simple curry. Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat had me sit down at the dastarkhwān, but he kept the dish of kōftē far away from where I was sitting. Ḥaḍrat Ḥāfiẓ Muḥammad Ḍāmin joined us. He saw that the dish of kōftē was far from me and said to Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat: “My friend! Can you not see that Rashīd Aḥmad will have difficulty reaching so far? Why don’t you set this dish closer to him?” Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat harshly retorted: “He should be grateful that I even have him eat with me. What I really want is to get rid of him. I should have shoved a scrap of bread into his left hand like a lowly shoemaker and been done with him.” After this caustic comment, Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat looked at my expression to detect if it had changed at all. But all Praise is due to Allah that it affected neither my expression nor my heart, for I had honest conviction that whatever Ḥaḍrat had said just now was totally true – from his kingly court, even to be presented with a mere scrap of bread is a blessing, no matter how meager the scrap may be, and no matter in what manner one receives it. After this, Ḥaḍrat never tested me again.

Exactly one week after having performed bayʿat, Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat said: “My dear Maulwi Rashīd Aḥmad! Whatever Bounty that Allah Most High has given me, I have given it to you. Now, the duty of developing it further is in your hands.” Ḥaḍrat Gangōhi used to say, “At the time, I was completely bewildered by his statement. Exactly what could this thing be that I had been given? It was not until fifteen years later that I understood what that thing was.”

Ḥaḍrat Gangōhi stayed in Thānah Bhawan with Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat for a total of forty-two days. After having collected treasures upon treasures of hidden riches and spiritual bounty, the time came for him to leave Thānah Bhawan. Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat, along with a large group of people, wanted to see him off, so he walked a long way with Ḥaḍrat on foot. Finally, just when Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat was about to part ways, he took hold of Ḥaḍrat’s hand and led him to a secluded spot. Then he said: “If anybody requests bayʿah from you, then go ahead and give them the bayʿah.” Ḥaḍrat replied, “Who would possibly make such a request of me?” Aʿlā Ḥaḍrat replied: “That is no concern of yours. Just give it to whoever wants it.”

After departing from Thānah Bhawan, he arrived in Gangōh. When he reached Gangōh, the spiritual state he was in, and the passion and ecstasy that had come over him, were so great that his maternal cousin, Maulana Abu ‘l-Naṣr, says: “Upon returning from Thānah Bhawan, Ḥaḍrat-i Aqdas stayed at my house. In the middle of the night, when he would wake up and head to the mosque, I would trail behind and follow him. As soon as Ḥaḍrat would begin reciting zikr out loud (zikr bi ‘l-jahr), it would feel like the entire mosque was trembling. Who knows what sort of states he must have himself been experiencing!”

After having received ijāzat and khilāfat, his tears and weeping increased a great deal. He would lose himself crying the entire night away. His honorable mother made a blue shawl for him to wear at night on the way to the mosque to protect him from the cold. Due to his profuse weeping and using the shawl to wipe the tears from his eyes, it was not long before the shawl became entirely discolored.

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[1] This was translated from Kandhlawi, Muhammad Zakariyya. Tārīkh-i Mashāyikh-i Chisht. Karachi: Maktabat al-Shaykh. Pg. 265-273. This translation was published on http://www.silentadmirerblog.wordpress.com in March 2017.