Members of the Warsi family (see story May 26, 1994) have come again to see Maharaj Ji. This time it is young Hamza, son of Rafiq Shariq, and Rafiq’s brother, Wasiq Rafiq Warsi. They present a photo of Prophet Muhammad’s house to Maharaj Ji, inscribed with a Qur’anic verse about keeping silence before the Prophet.
Maharaj responds by praising the Chishti Sufi saints for their “ocean” of preaching, by which village after village in India adopted Islam. But now, Maharaj says, not many people actually believe in Islam, and few are doing Namaz. He quotes Guru Nanak:
It is difficult to call oneself a Muslim. If one has these attributes, then alone is he one:
First, let faith in Allah seem sweet to him.
And then with this as scraper,
let him scrub his inside clean of ego.
And with faith in the leader of his faith,
let him break the illusion of life and death
And submit to the will of Allah,
and believing in his Eternal Creator, he should lose his self.
And, Nanak, if he is merciful to all creatures,
truly he is acclaimed as a Muslim.
[Guru Granth Sahib, p. 141]
Maharaj tells them:
The Holy Qur’an is not a separate sec; it is the Voice of God. If people speak offensively, do not listen to them, for that is not from God, Who is merciful. The Prophet Muhammad had no separate sect, but people are narrow-minded. They don’t understand the prophets. God has made no boundaries.
To our delight, young Hamza reads very nicely from the Holy Qur’an and then asks Maharaj to bless him, so that he may read the Qur’an well. Maharaj also advises them, “Doing Namaz is of great benefit to you, for God will be happy.”
Wasiq professes his love for Maharaj and tell him how his problems have disappeared with Maharaj’s darshan. Maharaj asks them who cleans the private area inside the Holy Kaaba. Hamza replies that the Governor does the cleaning before hajj. Then Maharaj asks them who cleans Deva Sharif (the monumental tomb in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, of which Wasiq’s father is the lineage-holder). Maharaj urges Hamza, “Clean it well!”
