Hadhrat Sheikh Moulana Muhammed Zakariyya (Rahmatullah Alayhi) and Sincerity
Hazrat Umar (Radiyallahu Anhu) narrates that Rasulullah (Sallalahu Alayhi Wasalam) has said that deeds depend upon the sincerity of intentions.
Significance: Owing to its great importance, Amir-ul-Mumineen fil Hadith Hazrat Imam Bukhari Rahmatullah Alayh has commenced his book Al-Musnad Al Jami Al Sahih with the above hadith. In terminology, this hadith is known as “sincerity”, and ‘Lillahiat’ (for Allah only). The main idea in this hadith is the sole motive and intention behind performing worship and virtuous deeds should be only to earn the pleasure of Allah. No other purpose whatsoever should be attached to such good works.
Now the practice of Hazrat Aqdas Maulana Zakariyya Rahmatullah Alayh in the above context is presented in brief. Of course, all events big or small in Hazrat Rahmatullah Alayh’s life and his religious services were carried out without any gain in mind, except with the intention of earning Allah’s pleasure. So much so, that even when purchasing a small item from the market, Hazrat Rahmatullah Alayh made the intention of purchasing it for a guest. Many pages will be insufficient to elaborate this issue, hence only one example will be cited:
The tremendous wealth upon which the entire life and youth of our Hazrat Aqdas Rahmatullah Alayh has been expended, is well known to both the distinguished and the laity. His famous marvels “Aujaz ul Masalik and Bazal ul Majhood” (books on the interpretation of Ahadith) have reached the Arab and the non Arab nations. Only Allah Ta’ala knows what tremendous sacrifices were made in their compilation and completion. Eminent worldly positions, handsome remunerations, youthful desires, comforts and pleasures of the nights, and Allah Ta’ala knows best what else besides these pleasures and worldly gains were rejected in order to write these books.
Finally Divine help made the publication of these books possible. After spending large sums of money, when the typed “proofs” of these forty years of effort accompanied by huge expenditure were prepared, a sincere companion of Hazrat Shaikh Rahmatullah Alayh mentioned, “Hazrat you are spending hundreds of thousands towards the publication of these books, but you have not obtained their copyrights. As soon as the books will appear on the market, some other merchant will produce their offset copy and will market his books at a quarter of your cost. He will be able to sell his books, but yours will not sell because of higher prices.”
“Ma-Sha-Allah” was Hazrat Shaikh’s (Rahmatullah Alayhi) reply. This reply was based on the pattern of the reply of Allah’s Rasulullah (Sallalahu Alayhi Wasalam) as described in the Quran:
“My wage is the concern only of Allah Ta’ala” Hazrat Shaikh Rahmatullah Alayh said, “If someone will intend to do so, then I will personally give him the money to cover his costs (of getting the offset copies). Hazrat’s Rahmatullah Alayh total reliance on Allah Ta’ala is noteworthy and needs to be preserved and embedded in the heart. He also added, “Then Insha-Allah my books will also sell”.
This is indeed what transpired. It really happened that while Hazrat Rahmatullah Alayh’s books were only at the stage of getting bound, someone put a copied version on the market. This made Hazrat Rahmatullah Alayh very happy, and by Allah’s mercy, his years-old desire was fulfilled. Hazrat Rahmatullah Alayh’s joy as a result of the beautiful addition to the works on Prophetic traditions is well known to many even today. As far as monetary gain from the sale of the books is concerned, it might be disrespectful to utter anything about it. It would suffice to say that Hazrat Rahmatullah Alayh kept himself far away from any profit whatsoever. It is well known to Hazrat Rahmatullah Alayh’s associates and friends that many of these books were gifted to Madrassahs and to scholars.
The sale of the remaining books hardly covered the expenses. The books were reprinted for the second time in Madinah-Munawwarah, but Hazrat Shaikh Rahmatullah Alayh did not concern himself with the profits resulting from this printing. We can thus conclude that the sole aim of Hazrat Shaikh Rahmatullah Alayh in the work of interpretation of Ahadith was to disseminate the knowledge of Sunnah, and the huge amounts expended were purely to earn Allah’s pleasure.
Extracted from Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Zakariyya Rahmatullah-Alayh’s Adherence To The Sunnah And Love For Rasulullah (Sallalahu Alayhi Wasalam) by Hazrat Sufi Iqbal Rahmatullah-Alayh