“The one who got these treasures from the unseen, who got
these gems through Bihar-ul-Haq, got strength from them
in the Tariqat, he is Tahir Rafiq Sahib”
BY HAROON RASHID BHAT
There is a verse in the Quran which say, Prophet,“O Allah! Lord over all authorities! You give authority to whoever You please and remove it from who You please; You honor whoever You please and disgrace who You please—all good is in Your Hands. Surely You alone are Most Capable of everything. Almighty Allah creates a situation to give spiritual elevation to anyone whom He likes. Kawaja Tahir Rafiqiwas one of the noblest souls who received abundant blessings from the creator. Hassan Shah Khoihami drafted his biographical sketch in his historical book- TawareekHasan. According to that historical account, Khawaja Tahir Rafiqi belonged to a business-class family- (Cloth-Business). He carried on ancestral business matters up to the age of twelve.Outwardly, It seemed that HazratKhwaja was sitting in a shop busy withworldly trade, but internally he always remained busy in the remembrance of God- Ziker-Azkar. He was so ascetic that he would remain fast for the full year. His humble attitude, pious religious life, and his fear of God made him an Iconic figure in the locality. Though his father-Hazrat Ibrahim gave him religious lessons and developed his personality for worldly life from the very early stage he attained spiritual elevation after the episode that happened with his father at Lohore. Almost all historians who wrote the biographies of Sufi saints like Hassan Shah Khuiohami, M. Azim Dedmari, Baba Dawood Mishkati,etc mentioned that episode.
It has been noted down that one day Hazrat Ibrahim was on a business trip to Lahore. Fortunately, Sheikh Abdul Shakoor- the son of MukhdoomBahayu-Din ZakariaMultani was on a visit to Lahore. Khawaja Ibrahim invited him to the feast along with his companions. He accepted the invitation. Sheikh Ibrahim gave him warm welcome and offered him gifts that include 100 shirts and pajamas stitched to his companions. As a mark of love,Hazrat asked him to express his desire. Jenab Shaikh Ibrahim asked how can I thank God, who has provided me with all facilities. Only I desire to have a good ending in my last age. He got more pleased with that answer and asked him to express his wish. This time, Hazrat Ibrahim said, “My daughter is suffering from paralysis in Kashmir. Please pray for her recovery.” The praised Hazrat went a while into meditation and said, “At present, she is with her mother handing over vegetables to her maidservant to dry for the winter season. The Great Healer has healed her. The praised Hazrat told him to ask for something more. He replied that my hereafter should be good.Hazrat S. Abdullah Shakoor asked him about his family. And he came to know that he had two sons. He instantly declares one of his sons- Tahir as his Khalifa. For a moment, he got surprised and said, “ Right now my son is in Kashmir” Hazrat smiled and in the meantime, he saw his son seated beside him. He blessed Hazrat Tahir with the appellation of Rafiq. After this seeing off HazratKhwaja Ibrahim blessed him outwardly with a gown, rosary of HazratBaha-Ud-Din ZakariaMultani along with a (KhatiIrshad)-letter of the authority of Suhrawardy order for HazratKhwaja Mohammad Tahir Rafiq. The sacred rosary still exists with the Rafiqi family.
There is a very interesting episode related to his life that became the reason for his spiritual elevation has been noted down by the historian like this “One day Khwaja Tahir Rafiq was sitting in the cloth shop when HazratKhizar (AS) came and said, The worst of all places is a market and out of all places the Masjid is the best place.” Just on hearing this HazratKhwaja bade farewell to shopkeeping and got busy in the guidance and indoctrination of the prayers according to the great orders of Suhrawardy, Qadri, Kubravi, and Naqshbandis and training the people. He obtained the bayat of Qadri order from HazratSayyid Ismail Shami (RA) and to him, he offered the bayat of Suhrawardy order. He acquired the bayat of Kubravi order from HazratSayyid Ali Wali Muttaqi (RA) and to him, he offered the bayat of Suhrawardy order. The Naqshbandi order was ancestral from his great ancestor Hazrat Sayyid Jalal-Ud-din Sangeen (RA) the brother of Hazrat Sayyid Baha-Ud-Din Naqshband (RA) passing through the ancestral lineage.Through his connections with Suhrawardy that he got through his honored father (RA) with (Khatt-I-Irshad) letter of authority from Hazrat Shaikh Abdu-s-ShakoorLahori (RA), his contemporaries like Hazrat Sultan-ul-Arifeen Shaikh Hamza Makhdoom (QS), Jami-Ul-KamalatHazrat Shaikh YaqoobSarfi (RA), Hazrat Shaikh Baba Ali Waali (RA), Hazrat Shaikh Baba Dawood Khaki (RA), HazratSayyid Mir MirakAndrabi (RA), Baba HardiReshi (RA), etc became so close. He got the honor to lead the Janaza prayer of Hazrat Shaikh Hamza (RA). While defining the spiritual status of his Sultan-Ul-Arifeen Sheikh Hamza Mukdoom RA he uttered the following lines; “I was blessed by Almighty Allah. I kept it that way. HazratMakhdoom increased the trade with him. I was given only labor and he got prodigious reward along with labor.”HazratKhwaja Mohammad Tahir Rafiq (QA) left this transit on Sunday, 1stZilhaj 1001 AH/19th August 1593 AD. Hassan Shah Khoihama mentioned his date of physical death on 999 Hijri. Your last resting place is at Fathakadil-Srinagar.
Appraisal note in the form of prose highlighting his spiritual Stature.
“The one who got these treasures from the unseen, who got these gems through Bihar-ul-Haq, got strength from them in the Tariqat, he is TaharRafiq Sahib”
Special thanks to Nisar Ahmad Sufi ;Syed Kamal Ud Din Colony Rathpora Eid Gah Srinagar for his support.
Haroon Rashid Bhat is a teacher and columnist
minamharoon123@gmail.com.
Mushtaq B.Barq is a Columnist, Poet and Fiction Writer. He is the author of “Feeble prisoner, “ Wings of Love” and many translation works are credited to the author like “ Verses Of Wahab
