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It
his own statement that "in the beginning there were only
a hand full of people to listen to my lecture but then suddenly
a mass crowd started emerging. I used to sit in 'Bab Al-Halba'
and when this place became overcrowded; my lecture chair was placed
outside the city. People used to come on horses, Mules and other
ways of transportation which were present at that time and used
to stand in a circle around the Meeting session. These people
included Ulma's, Musha'ikh, Faqihs and nobles of the city. In
his lectures many writers were present and during his lecture
400 people with pens and inks were always present to copy what
ever he uttered. According to Shatta Nawfi, The number of those
who attended his cermons reached 70000.
His
words had a magical effect on the hearts of the people and a large
number came to the right path and had good influence on society.
In fact, with his advent began a new phase in the history of Islamic
mysticism, when mass activity is inaugurated. People came to him
from Mesopotamia, Persia and Egypt. According to his son he delivered
sermons three times a week: On Friday morning Tuesday Evening
in his college, and on Sunday morning in his Hospice, four hundred
scribes recorded what ever he uttered. Jews and Christians also
came to his meeting and were so moved by his orations that often
they embraced Islam there and then. According to Shaykh Abdullah
Jibai at the hands of shaykh Abdal-Qadir 5000 Jews and Christians
embraced Islam. And more then one hundred thousand people came
on the right path. Questions from the Islamic world were asked
from him and he gave answers. Once a question was asked,"
a person swore after 3 divorces that he will say his prayer at
a moment when no one will be nearby. So what should be his prayer
so that he can fulfill his wish?" Nobody could give an answer
to this question. When this question was presented before the
Shaykh. He answered that mutafay Qaba should be emptied so that
he makes tawaaf alone, so that he can prevent himself from divorce.
because tauwafay Qaba is also a prayer and no one be his partner
(shareek) in it.
Shaikh
'Abd al-Qadir declares, in the presence of most of the Shaikhs
of 'Iraq: "This foot of mine is upon the neck of every saint
of Allah." We owe this next report to al-Hafiz Abu 'l-'Izz
'Abd al-Mughith ibn Harb al-Baghdadi, among others, who said:
"We were present at the regular session [majlis] held by
Shaikh 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, at his guesthouse [ribat] in the
Racetrack district [al-Halba] of Baghdad. Most of the Shaikhs
of 'Iraq were in attendance at his session on that particular
day, including all those in the following list:
*Shaikh 'Ali ibn al-Haiti *Shaikh Baqa ibn ibn
Batu *Shaikh Abu Sa'id al-Qilawi *Shaikh Musa ibn Mahin (some
say: Mahan) *Shaikh Abu 'n-Najib as-Suhrawardi *Shaikh Abu 'l-Karam
*Shaikh Abu 'Umar wa 'Uthman al-Qurashi *Shaikh Mukarim al-Akbar
[the Senior] *Shaikh Matir *Shaikh Jagir *Shaikh Khalifa *Shaikh
Sadaqa *Shaikh Yahya al-Murta'ish *Shaikh ad-Ziya Ibrahim al-Jawni
*Shaikh Abu 'Abdi'llah Muhammad al-Qazwini *Shaikh Abu 'Umar wa
'Uthman al-Bata'ihi *Shaikh Qadib al-Ban *Shaikh Abu 'l-'Abbas
Ahmad al-Yamani *Shaikh Abu 'l-'Abbas ash-Shawki (said to be one
of those remarkable men who travel by invisible means of transport)
*Shaikh Sultan al-Muzayyin *Shaikh Abu Bakr ash-Shaibani *Shaikh
Abu 'l-'Abbas Ahmad ibn al-Ustadh *Shaikh Abu Muhammad al-Kawsaj
*Shaikh Mubarak al-Humairi *Shaikh Abu 'l-Barakat *Shaikh 'Abd
al-Qadir al-Baghdadi *Shaikh Abu 's-Sa'ud al-'Attar *Shaikh Abu
'Abdi'llah al-Awani *Shaikh Abu 'l-Qasim al-Bazzar *Shaikh Shihab
'Umar as-Suhrawardi *Shaikh Abu 'l-Baqa al-Baqqal *Shaikh Abu
Hafs al-Ghazali *Shaikh Abu Muhammad al-Farisi *Shaikh Abu Muhammad
al-Ya'qubi *Shaikh Abu Hafs al-Kimani *Shaikh Abu Bakr al-Muzayyin
*Shaikh Jamil Sahib al-Khatwa wa 'z-Za'qa ['Owner of the Stride
and the Scream'] *Shaikh Abu 'Amr as-Sirafini *Shaikh Abu 'l-Hasan
al-Jawsaqi *Shaikh Abu Muhammad al-Huraimi *Shaikh al-Qadi [the
Judge] Abu Ya'la al-Farra'. |
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