Question:
Asalamu Alykom waRahmatullah Sayyidi!
With all my love and respect to beloved Shaykh Hisham Kabbani and all eShaykh mashayikh & with apology i’m here to ask a question which is running through my mind for almost 3/4 yrs… I’m an Afghan and I used to go to North of Afghanistan to a city called: Balkh where there is a very huge, beautiful tomb and they say it’s the tomb of Imam Ali (A.S) I’ve been there myself few times but they say Tomb of Imam (A.S) could be in Najaf too, the question which arises is where is exactly the tomb of Imam Ali (r.a)… due to the differences of opinions regarding this issue of Mashayikh, I though this matter could be more vivid to Awliya Allah thats why I’ve asked this question here so I may get the answer from Beloved MSH or if possible from MSN
Ma’salam
Answer:
wa `alaykum salam,
Sahaba and many awliyaullah have different tombs in multiple locations in different countries and these tombs are considered as we say in Arabic, a mash-had, meaning the ruhaniyyah of that Sahabi or waliullah appeared in that place and so the people built a tomb or shrine in that location. The reality is that Allah knows best where Sayyidina `Ali’s (r) burial location is. But, in the tradition of our way, we go with where-ever there is a tomb because that tomb indicates there is a spiritual presence of that wali there and it means du`a there is accepted.
Even when it is very well-known where a certain wali is buried, still there are other locations he has appeared spiritually, which we call mash-had.
Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani
