Question:
ASSALAMU ALAIKUM, RESPECTED SHAIK IS IT ALLOWED DO TAWAF AROUND SUFI SHRINE ?….IF SO CAN I KNOW THE PROOF FOR THAT?….PRAY FOR MY HIDAYAH AND I AM NEWLY MARRIED AND DO DUA ON MY HAQ AND FAST BLESSING OF A CHILD AND WEALTH… FORGIVE ME IF I HAVE ASKED
Answer:
Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu:
Often times, outside observers assume that visitors to a shrine are making tawaf when in reality they’re simply walking in a procession around the shrine from the entrance to the exit. If there are hundreds of visitors to a shrine, such as the case in the Indian subcontinent for example, then it is impossible for a visitor to come inside the shrine and then turn around and walk out since it is so crowded. Therefore, visitors usually walk around the maqam from the entrance to the exit.
Having said that, some visitors who experience an intense haal (spiritual state) sometimes do make a tawaf (circumambulate) around the shrine out of ecstasy and intense love for Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, the Beloved Prophet allahumma salli ‘alayhi wa ‘ala alih and the saint who resides in the maqam. As Allah says in the Qur’an:
Indeed, Allah does not burden a soul more than it can bear. (Surat al-Baqara, 2: 286)
Such individuals are not responsible for their actions because they have been overwhelmed with love. Moreover, sentimentally speaking, tawaf is a cosmic universal phenomenon: the planets revolve around the sun, moon around the earth and our solar system around a larger qutb (pole). How can a movement that Allah has made a fact of the universe be deemed forbidden?
Al-Hafidh al-Dhahabi mentions as well that a person who makes sajda (prostration) to our Beloved Prophet’s tomb – and by extension the maqam of any saint – is not to be accused of shirk or disbelief but only reprimanded. This is especially true since the parents and brothers of Prophet Yusuf ‘alayh al-salam prostrated to him out of respect. Although this action, sajdat al-ihtiram wa-l-tabjil (prostration of respect and reverence) was abrogated with the coming of Islam, it in no way means that it implied associating partners with Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala or disbelief, since Prophet Ya’qub alayh al-salam, the father of Sayyidina Yusuf, who prostrated to his son out of respect is infallible and protected from such a sin.
Therefore, tawaf around a shrine is either done out of necessity, such as overcrowding, or due to an intense haal and should not be mistaken for an act of disbelief, sin or polytheism by the devoted lovers of the saint…
Alhamdulillahi rabbil `alameen.
Wa `alaykum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu,
Ali Hussain
