Advice for the Muslim

64th âyat of the Sûrat an-Nisâ declared, “If they, after tyrannizing
over their nafses, come to you and beg Allâhu ta’âlâ’s pardon, and
if My Messenger prays for their forgiveness, they will certainly find
Allâhu ta’âlâ as the acceptor of tawba and merciful.” This âyat
promises that the tawba of those who make an intercessor of
Rasûlullâh will be accepted.’ Thereupon, Mansûr stood up and in
front of the Hujrat as-Sa’âda, ‘Oh my Rabb!’ he said, ‘Thou
promised that Thou wilt accept the tawba of those who make Thy
Messenger an intercessor! And I supplicate Thee for forgiveness in
Thine Exalted Prophet’s high presence. Forgive me, too, as Thine
servants whom Thou hast forgiven when they asked for
forgiveness when he [the Prophet] was alive! Oh my Rabb! I beg
Thee through Thine Exalted Prophet’s intercession who is the
Nabî ar-Rahma (Prophet of Blessings). Oh Muhammad, the
Highest of Prophets! I begged my Rabb through thine
intercession. Oh Rabb! Make that Exalted Prophet an intercessor
for me!’ While he prayed he stood in front of and faced the
window of the Muwâjahat as-Sa’âda, the qibla being behind and
the Minbar an-Nabawî on his left.
“NOTE: The advice given to the Khalîfa Mansûr by Hadrat
Imâm Mâlik (rahimah-Allâhu ta’âlâ) shows that those who pray in
front of the Hujrat as-Sa’âda should be very vigilant; it is not right
for those who can not show the modesty and respect appropriate
for that place to stay long in al-Madinat al-Munawwara. Hadrat al-
Imâm al-a’zam Abu Hanîfa (rahimah-Allâhu ta’âlâ) said, ‘It is
better we be in Baghdad and our heart be here [in Medina] than
we be here but our heart in Baghdad.’
“An Anatolian villager who had stayed and gotten married in
al-Madinat al-munawwara and had been doing a certain service at
the Hujrat as-Sa’âda for years, one day caught a feverish illness
and longed for an ayran (a cool drink made of yogurt and water).
‘I would have an ayran made from yogurt and drink it if I were in
my village,’ he thought to himself. That night, Rasûlullâh (sall-
Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam) appeared in the Shaikh al-Haram
Effendi’s dream and ordered him to entrust that certain service
done by the Anatolian villager to someone else. When he
answered, ‘Oh Rasûl-Allah! So and so of your umma is in that
service,’ the Prophet ordered. ‘Tell that person to go to his village
and drink ayran!’ in reply. The villager said, ‘With pleasure!’ and
set out for his country when his order was communicated to him
the next day.
“Hence, it should be realized that if a mere thought would
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