ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF SHAYKH IBRAHIM NIASSE'S BOOKS: JAZBUL AH’BAAB ILAA HADRAT RABBIL ARBAAB (ATTRACTING THE LOVERS TOWARDS THE LORD OF LORDS)

"جذب الأحباب إلى حضرة رب الأرباب"

Delivered by: Sheikh Alhaji Ibrahim Niasse

Hausa Interpreter:
Mallam Tijani Usman (Kano)

Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse & Mallam Tijani Usman (Kano)

(in the city of Kaduna, Nigeria on the 12th of Dhul qa’adah, 1391AH/1970)

Translated by:

Husseini Yushau BabalWaiz (Journalist, Author & Tutor of Arabic Langauge & Islamic Studies in New York)

Salam Alaikum, folks, I hereby resume the two-weeks recess I took from my weekly translation of the books of Maulana Shehu Barhama Kaolack, in order to mourn the sudden death of my Sheikh and mentor, Sheikh Sani Waliyu Lah Bun Yusif Niass. He was known to be showcasing the life and legacy of Maulana Sheikh Ibrahim Anyas through his teachings and da'wah services. May his soul and the souls of all our departed shuyuk rest in perfect peace. And being one of the students whom he had taught basic Arabic language before we were promoted to study under the tutelage of Khalifah Ujjatul Islam Sheikh Muhammad Mustapha Kamil, i dedicate the reward for this translation service to him as well as to the entire souls of our departed parents, grandparents teachers, scholars and shuyuk.

This is the second part of the first excerpt of the book:

{ جذب الأحباب إلى حضرة رب الأرباب }

{Attracting Lovers to the Lord of the Lords}. It is a three to four pages translation of one of his 75 books. Maulana Shehu Islam had interspersed these few pages with biological, pyschological, ethical and political discourse which will fascinate every reader:

Praise be to Allah Lord of the Worlds. And Prayer and Peace be upon the most honored among the messengers.

However, Allah Almighty says: {Verily, We have created Mankind from the genes from clay then We made it a sperm in dwelling place[womb]. Then We created into leech, We created the leech into chewed-like object. Then We created the chewed-liked object into a bone. Then We enveloped the bone with meat and We then formulated it in a new creature, glory be to Allah the best of creators.”

This is the only methodology that mankind gets to exist. If you observe the creation of mankind, you would notice that Allah made him a wonderful creature. He made for him same sets of organs. Each organ that he needs in his life Allah formulated it before his emergence from his mother’s womb. He has two legs that he walks with. He has two hands that he touches with. He has two eyes that he sees with. He has hears that he hears with, he has a tongue that he talks with and others among organs.

Allah has created him a strong creature to shoulder the responsibility of succession on behalf of Allah Almighty [Allah says in the Qur’an]: {We have created him[man] and have strengthen his structure.} we have strengthen his organs: His hands have been strengthen. You do not see a man walking with his one hand, or leg or eye falling off….You see a vehicle moving and one of its spare parts would wear out. This is the difference between creation of Allah and the creation of Mankind.

Mankind has sense of hearing and sight and he has a mind to differentiate between things. His hearing is not like beasts. The hearing of man differentiate man’s voices he hears and would know this is the words of man and that is the voice of beast, this is the language of animals, and that is the twit of birds. This language I understand and other I do not understand. This words are focus on me and that language are focus on the other.

This is a statement that needs an answer, And at the same time it is a statement that does not need an answer. This the statement I like and this is the one I do not like. It is only the hearing of man that realizes this. As for the beasts, voices are same to them. They do not differentiate. And same applies to the sense of sight of man: This is white and this is short, and this is a group of people, this is nice and this is ugly. This I like and this I don’t like. It is only the sight of man that realizes this.

And He[Allah] has honored man when he was in his mother’s womb: He would change his mother’s menstrual blood into milks that he would be nourishing on it, while he was in his mother’s womb. Allah protects him and build him step by step. Until he would deliver him into the world. He would bring him into the world having nothing-He knows the world need something [to live with], but he does not have it.

Even whenever a man is born, he extends his hands like this…showing that he has nothing with him. Allah would receive him with his gentleness and generosity. He made for him milk in the breast of his mother, he suckles so long as he is in the breastfeeding period. Until he gets weaned [from breastfeeding] and be able to eat and before a man is born, he would have fully formed organs, except teeth because, man is born without having tooth, because Allah knows his livelihood when he was born[having lived] from the sustenance of his mother’s breast. If he had been born with teeth, he would have hurt his mother’s breast. So as he grows step by step, the teeth emerges step by step, until the entire set of teeth covers his mouth, even before he would need it.

All these are part and parcel of Allah‘s care-taking of mankind. So, hasn’t Allah Almighty been so caring for him[man]. Allah is a King and kings in the world when they have slaves and servants they divide them into three parts: A part working for them to increase their wealth, a section would engage in cooking and making drinks and serving food. While a section would sit with them and honor them and make them laugh. Allah Almighty says:

“I have not created Jinn[demon] and mankind but to worship me. I do not need any wealth from them, neither would I want them to feed me. Verily, Allah is sustainer the possessor of strength.”

The first two section[of the slaves], [kings] in the world do not need them. They do not like those who feed and provide them with water. It has[therefore] left with one group-They are those who attend to Allah Almighty and glorify him. They are believers in Allah, He has created the entire mankind to believe in him and worship him.

And worship is what the messenger brought from Allah Almighty. All the messengers have united on two things, all laws [canons] depends on these things. The first one: Honoring the creator [Allah] Almighty, and the second: Sympathy upon the creatures, you would worship Allah and would not associate any partner with him. Allah does not accept any one who associate partners with him. And the one who associates partners with Allah will not be forgiven at all. Allah says in the Qur’an: “Verily Allah does not forgive to associate partners with Him but he forgive other[act]to whomever he wishes.” It is a must to believe in Allah only, it is a must to limit worship to Him Almighty only.

And after that, Kindness to the creatures: The entire human creation of Allah first and the entire creation of Allah, even cat. A woman entered the hell fire because of a cat.

And someone entered paradise because he quenched the taste of a dog with water. And the greatest right upon the servants [of Allah] is his two parents[mother & father]. And the greatest right after the right of Allah is the right of parents, [Allah Almighty says in the Qur’an]: {Allah has decreed not worship none but Him and be kind to parents]. And part of obedience to parents is kindness to the close relatives, and then kindness to neighbors .

And there are three types of neighbors:

A neighbor with three rights, a neighbor with two rights and a neighbor with one right.

A neighbor who is a Muslim and close to you has three rights(The right of neighborhood, the right of Islam and the right of kinship).

A neighbor who is not close[family wise] , but he is a Muslim has two rights, the right of neighborhood and the right of Islam.

And a neighbor who is neither close[family member] nor a Muslim had the right of neighborhood. And each must be given his right. And there should be kindness to every creature.

This is what worship is about: Prayer, Fasting, Remembrance of Allah[zikir], Quranic recitation, Pilgrimage to Makkah-This is between you and Allah.

Charity and spending [in the course of Allah] and kindness-This is what is between you and the creatures [mankind]. And as kindness is mandatorygupon the creation, it is mandatory as well to avoid oppressing, extorting and abusing them.

Translated by: Husseini Yushau BabalWaiz.

October 8, 2015

This is the second part of the first excerpt of the book:

{ جذب الأحباب إلى حضرة رب الأرباب }

Praise be to Allah Lord of the Worlds. And Prayer and Peace be upon the most honored among the messengers.

“I have not created Jinn[demon] and mankind but to worship me. I do not need any wealth from them, neither would I want them to feed me. Verily, Allah is sustainer the possessor of strength.”

And after that, Kindness to the creatures: The entire human creation of Allah first and the entire creation of Allah, even cat. A woman entered the hell fire because of a cat.

And there are three types of neighbors:

A neighbor with three rights, a neighbor with two rights and a neighbor with one right.

A neighbor who is a Muslim and close to you has three rights(The right of neighborhood, the right of Islam and the right of kinship).

A neighbor who is not close[family wise] , but he is a Muslim has two rights, the right of neighborhood and the right of Islam.

And a neighbor who is neither close[family member] nor a Muslim had the right of neighborhood. And each must be given his right. And there should be kindness to every creature.

This is what worship is about: Prayer, Fasting, Remembrance of Allah[zikir], Quranic recitation, Pilgrimage to Makkah-This is between you and Allah.

Charity and spending [in the course of Allah] and kindness-This is what is between you and the creatures [mankind]. And as kindness is mandatory upon the creation, it is mandatory as well to avoid oppressing, extorting and abusing them.

Translated by: Husseini Yushau BabalWaiz.

August 14, 2015

Folks, this is a three page excerpt i just translated from the masterpiece of Maulana Qamoosul Haqeeqati Wal Shariah, His Eminence, Sheikh Alhaji Ibrahim Anyas below, entitled:

"جذب الأحباب إلى حضرة رب الأرباب "

"Attracting the Lovers Towards the Lord of Lords."

Wow! Folks, so interesting and exciting. It is interspersed with contemporary knowledge such as sociology, history, social science and political science. In fact, one would always wonder how comes Maulana Sheikh Barhama had never been to any Arabic or western academic institutions and yet he had possessed knowledge in virtually all fields of academic/human endeavors. I guess Allah gave him such intuition by virtue of his unflinching love of the Prophet(PBUH).

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When Allah Almighty created creatures, he created handicrafts, so people will be preoccupied for their livelihood. And the most important of these handicrafts are four: Farming, Weaving, Building and Governing. All these things are essential to have.

First Farming: Because man definitely has to eat, "We have not created for you a body not to eat food."(Al-Qur'an). So due to this, farming is very important to seek for food. This is the root of essential needs.

The second one is Weaving(knitting of clothes from animal skin). Allah has created beasts, walking unconscious. He created mankind different from that. Humankind is bound to cover his/her body, hence weaving is necessary. And building is essential because, Mankind would not remain in the air like beasts. All of us need to have a house to be dwelling in it. It was due to this that building is necessary. However, the fourth one is government or governance. Because man can not live alone, he lives among people. They have to gather or assemble until they become a village or community, helping one another. Then the village would form a city(country).

Whenever people gather, there is bound to be oppression and violation of the right of others by others. So there is the need for establishment of the government. Also, the king is the shadow of Allah on his earth, responding to the oppressed and violated. He is the one who takes the rights of the oppressed or oppressor, hence obedience to him is mandatory. Governance and Kingdom are likely to be for a Muslim and for a non Muslim. But there is bound to be justice. Kindgdom can be sustained even by a non-believing king, but would not last with injustice and unfairness.

This world was ruled by four men, all of them led this entire world in their era without rebels against them:

SULAIMAN BUN DAWUD, ZULQARNAIN (ALEXANDRA THE GREAT), NAMARUZ and BUKHTANSSAR. Two were believers, and two were non-believers. NAMARUZ 's kingdom lasted for 400 years. He was never been destroyed until after he oppressed Ibrahim. And BUKHTANSSAR aslo. Hence, because of this, kingdom can not be strengthen with religion but only justice. And for a king, whether he is just or not, his obedience is compulsory upon the subjects or the common people. (The Sahabah) Asked the Prophet(PBUH) : (What can we do) If we found out that the kings or leaders are taking away their rights from us, while they are denying us our rights? He said: "Give them their rights and seek your rights from Allah the Almighty." This is the proof that, even if a king or a leader is oppressive and unjust, his obedience is compulsory. And this era is an era of consultation. Governance gets established through consultation. Hence, governance is for us all. We choose a leader or a president (and ministers). If there are ministers and presidents among us, and good things come, it will be for us all and also if evil comes, it will affect us all, as one body if a part is infected, it impacts the entire body.

Translated by: Husseini Yushau BabalWaiz, a journalist, author & tutor of Arabic Langauge & Islamic Studies in New York.

October 8, 2015

This is the second part of the first excerpt of the book:

{ جذب الأحباب إلى حضرة رب الأرباب }

Praise be to Allah Lord of the Worlds. And Prayer and Peace be upon the most honored among the messengers.

“I have not created Jinn[demon] and mankind but to worship me. I do not need any wealth from them, neither would I want them to feed me. Verily, Allah is sustainer the possessor of strength.”

And after that, Kindness to the creatures: The entire human creation of Allah first and the entire creation of Allah, even cat. A woman entered the hell fire because of a cat.

And there are three types of neighbors:

A neighbor with three rights, a neighbor with two rights and a neighbor with one right.

A neighbor who is a Muslim and close to you has three rights(The right of neighborhood, the right of Islam and the right of kinship).

A neighbor who is not close[family wise] , but he is a Muslim has two rights, the right of neighborhood and the right of Islam.

And a neighbor who is neither close[family member] nor a Muslim had the right of neighborhood. And each must be given his right. And there should be kindness to every creature.

This is what worship is about: Prayer, Fasting, Remembrance of Allah[zikir], Quranic recitation, Pilgrimage to Makkah-This is between you and Allah.

Charity and spending [in the course of Allah] and kindness-This is what is between you and the creatures [mankind]. And as kindness is mandatoryg upon the creation, it is mandatory as well to avoid oppressing, extorting and abusing them.

Translated by: Husseini Yushau BabalWaiz.

August 15, 2015

خواطر الشيخ ابراهيم انياس حول اهمية الام في حياة الانسان نقلت من كتابه"جذب الأحباب الى حضرة رب الأرباب"

"الأم (هي) التي حملت بك تسعة اشهر(و) أنت راقد في بطنها, تتوسد كبدها. أتى يوم من الأيام اخذها الطلق حتى خرجت فيه بالعملية الحراجية الالهية, ثم بعد ذالك ترضعك عامين كاملين. تترك النوم لنومك أنت واذا مرضت تكون هي أشد مرضا منك, شفقة بك...."

Intuition of Sheikh Ibrahim Anyas about the significance of Mother in the life of Mankind culled from his book, "Attracting the Lovers Towards the Lord of Lords".

"The mother was the one who conceived you for night months, while you were laying(comfortably) in her womb, compressing her liver. Then one day, she was overcomed by labour, leading to your exit through a divinely inspired surgical operation. After which she breastfed you for two full years. She sacrifices sleep for you to sleep first. Whenever you would fall sick, she would be the one who feels the worse pain of your sickness, due to her tender-headedness towards you...".

Culled & Translated by:

Husseini Yushau BabalWaiz

"الولاية ليس لها علامة, ولهذا يقولون: لا يعرف الولي إلا الله. ولكن لوكانت للولاية علامة لكانت حسن العبادة وحسن الخلق مع كل مخلوق."

من اقوال الشيخ ابراهيم انياس الكولخي في كتابه, "جذب الأحباب إلى حضرة رب الأرباب"

"The concept of "wilayah"(friendship with Allah or being in good standing with Allah), has no (visible)sign, that was why they(scholars) say: Nobody knows "waliyi" except Allah. But if "wilayah" has a sign, best act of worship and good character would have been with every creature."

Part of the statements of Sheikh Ibrahim Anyas in his book, "Attracting Lovers Towards the Lord of Lords"

Analysis:

Folks, this is one of the evidence telling us that, Sheikh Ibrahim had never claimed to be a "Waliyi Lah". He was a very humble and down-to-earth kind of personality throughout his life time. But this "Wilayah" was seen within him by people through the inspiration of Allah. However, the ignorant 'lovers' of him, calling themselves "Yan Haqiqah", are going the extra mile to give him certain titles and divine attributes that he himself had never claimed even far lower than those(titles). Please fellow brethren, let us learn and read the literary works of such a great intellectual legendary and know him well. By so doing, we can even learn to reduce some excesses introduced in the Tariqah and stick to the Shariah of Islam which he was known for.

Translated & Analysed by:

Husseini Yushau BabalWaiz

August 13, 2015

"الكون عند الإنسان كلوح يدرس فيه كل يوم. يدرس سطرا في أول العالم."

قاله فريد عصره وقطب زمانه, الشيخ الحاج ابراهيم ايناس الكولخي في كتابه, "جذب الأحباب إلى حضرة رب الأرباب"

"The world to mankind is like a slate that he studies on it everyday. He learns a line(each day) from the beginning of the world".

Said by the loner of his era and leader of his time, Sheikh Alhaj Ibrahim Anyas Alkaolacki in his book, "Attracting Lovers towards the Lord of the Lords."

Translated by Husseini Yushau BabalWaiz.