Shawahid Al-Vilayat - Khalifatullah Mehdi

Journey to Makkah 73my beloved is the garland of my neck.” In brief, the meaning ofthis doha is the same as that of the previous narrative. There thewords nisar or qurban means sacrifice. Its purport is ‘ishq. Itmeans that we are the lover of our Lord and our Lord is our Lover.Sehra [floral crown] and har [garland] is the practice in India. Inmarriages, the head of the spouses is covered with the floral crownand the garland surrounds the neck. Here, the Imam AS is saying thatwe are the floral crowns of our lord and our Lord is the garlandaround our neck. This is a sign of “Ana Ahmad bila meem [I amAhmad without ‘m’].” It is only a man of wisdom who canunderstand this.Hazrat Imam AS disembarked at the place where ihram 1 begins forthe Haj pilgrimage, and performed this practice of Hazrat ProphetMuhammad SLM . Then the Imam AS said, “Let anybody call us a hajior a ghazi.” When the Imam ASarrived at Makkah and startedperforming the circumambulation of the Ka’batullah, Allah MostHigh made most of the Arabs who saw the Imam AS , say, “This is aperfect man who has come after Hazrat Prophet Muhammad SLM .”Most of the people had become the devotees of Hazrat ImamMahdi AS .It is narrated that when the Imam AS came for the circumambulationof the Ka’ba in accordance with the command of Allah, he askedhis companion Hazrat Bandagi Miyan Shah Nizam RZ , “You hadcome to Ka’batullah earlier also. What signs had you seen then?And what do you se now?” Miyan Shah Nizam RZ said, “Miranji!The first time I had come, I saw Ka’batullah without its Lord.Now I am seeing it with its Lord.” Again Hazrat Imam AS asked,“Miyan Nizam RZ ! Do you see anything?” He said, “Yes. Miranji!1Ihram is the state of ritual consecration of the Mecca pilgrim [during whichthe pilgrim, wearing two seamless woolen or linen sheets, usually white,neither combs nor shaves and observes sexual continence]. —Arabic EnglishDictionary.74Shawahid Al-VilayatKa’batullah is circumambulating around Hazrat Miran AS[theImam AS ], and is reciting, ‘Fal-ya’-buduu Rabba haazal-Bayt’” 1It is narrated with constancy [tawatur] that the Imam Mahdi AS whopossesses the attributes and behaviour of Hazrat ProphetMuhammad SLMcompleted the circumambulation. Then he, inaccordance with the command of God, staked his claim to beMahdi between the Maqam and Rukn in a huge congregation ofgeneral public and said, “HE WHO FOLLOWS ME IS AMUMIN.” At that moment, two migrant-companions, HazratBandagi Miyan Shah Nizam RZ and Hazrat Qazi Alauddin RZ , said,“Aamanna-o-Saddaqna [We have reposed faith and we haveperformed his tasdiq (affirmed and confirmed him as Mahdi AS )].”Then they performed bai’yat [the affirmation of fealty] on thehands of Hazrat Imam AS . Some of the companions of the Imam ASand others too took the oath of fealty. Then the Imam AS started hissermon in accordance with the Quranic Verses. After this some ofthe Arabs too came forward and took the oath of fealty on thehands of the Imam AS . Some of the companions of the Imam AS askedHazrat Imam Mahdi AS , why he did not make the other companionstake the oath of fealty. The Imam AS said, “The command of Allaharrived that two witnesses were enough for the proof of theMahdiat. Be it clear that the Imam AS was alive for nine years afterthis staking of his claim to Mahdiat. The year of this claim was901 AH.Know it, O Musaddiq! By the very words the Imam AS staked hisclaim in the large assembly of people at Ka’ba, Allah has causedthe extraction of the chronogram of the year of the claim. Thewords the Imam ASused are: “Manittaba’ni fa-huwa mumin [Hewho follows me is a mumin—Faithful, believer]. The total of thevalue of the letters of the sentence comes to 901; that is the yearafter the hijrat [migration] of Prophet Muhammad SLM from Makkahto Madina. After this, Hazrat Imam Mahdi AS stayed for some time1 Quran, S. 106: 3 SAL. MMP translates the Quranic Verse as, “So let themworship the Lord of this House.”