Bio: Sh. Muhammad ibn Mas´ud al-Fasi | الشيخ محمد بن مسعود الفاسي

Bio: Sh. Muhammad ibn Mas´ud al-Fasi

Shaykh Muhammad b. Mas´ud al-Fasi

الشيخ محمد بن مسعود المغربي الفاسي
b. ~1212 H. in Fas – d. 1289 H. in Makka
qaddasa Allah sirrahu

Biography


Contents:
1- His upbringing and studies
2- Years of mujahada and khidma
3- Finding his Sheikh, and opening at his hands
4- His travels and his passing away
5- His miracles
6- His Poetry
7- Al-Yaqutiyya
8- His successors (khalifa’s)
9- His writings

1- His upbringing and studies
He was born in al-Maghrib al-Aqsa (Marokko today) in the city of Fas. His date of birth is unknown, however it can be inferred from the date when he met his Sheikh, Sayyidi Muhammad ibn Hamza Zhafir al-Madani (who was in turn a student of Sayyidi Imam Muhammad al-`Arabi al-Darqawi), in 1242 H. Assuming that he was at that time around thirty yeras old, his date of birth an be estimated to the beginning of  1210’s.

He studied the Quran and the religious sciences in Fas under its greatest teachers. In the the Maliki madhhab, he studied the book al-Khalil, and its commentaries by al-Kharashi and `Abd al-Baqi under the faqih al-Qadi al-`Abbas Abu Sauda ibn Murra al-Fasi al-Maliki. He studied  tafsir, and hadith and its terminology under the great muhaddith Sheikh `Abd al-Salam al-Bar`i, a member of the leage of `ulama, who was amazed at his capacity of memorization and intellectual and spiritual gifts. With Sheikh al-`Arabi al-Zarhuni al-Fasi, he studied books of hadith, history and sira such as: al-Kala`i, al-Waqidi, al-Harifash, al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib [books specified in the footnote of Tabaqat]. He studied Arabic literature, grammar and logic with Sheikh `Abd al-Salam ibn Musa al-Andalusi. And he read the Qursheyri Risala and other tasawwuf books with Sheikh al-Tihami ibn Hamadi.

2- Years of mujahada and khidma
After completing his Shari`a studies, he secluded  himself to worship his Lord, and spent day and night doing salutations upon the Prophet sall Allah `aleihi wa sallam. He used to recite the entire book of Dala’il al-Khayrat twentyone times every day, apart from other devotions such as the fard, sunna and mustahabb of salat, Quranic recital and adhkar. He often visited the awlia, the dead and the living. He was virtuous, abstaining from what Allah ta`ala has forbidden and turning down his glance fron what He dislikes. He left dunia behind him, and was engrossed in the love of Allah ta`ala.

At this time, he used to serve the brothers, cutting wood for them, and providing for them the things they liked. One of the miracles told of him occurred in this time: One day, four thieves came to steel from him. He pointed at them with his hand, and Allah made them blind to him, so that they could not see him, and they said to each other: “Where did he go? He was with us just now!” All this time he was with them, hearing what they said. [Cf. a similar story about Sayyidi Imam Abul Hasan.]

One of the men of Allah, known as al-Sharif Ahmad al-Ghiran, used to give him the tidings of wilaya. He was a man of gnosis and elevated states, whom nobody could approach, but when he met our Master, while in one of these states, he regained sobriety, hugged him and said to him: Hell my Master ibn `Ata Allah – this was how he would always address him.

3- Finding his Sheikh, and opening at his hands
He travelled to Tarablus al-Gharb (Tripoli), in search for a spiritual guide, and  in 1242 H. he was led to Sheikh Sayyidi Muhammad ibn Hamza Zhafir al-Madani (d. 1264 H), who had in turn taken the Shadhili tariqa from Sayyidi al-Sharif al-`Arabi ibn Ahmad al-Darqawi (d. 1239/1240 H). As soon as he met him, he realized that this was the guide that Allah ta`ala had chosen for him, and his heart became instantly attached to him. With him he stayed for eighteen years. Through him he received openings and became firmly established on the Path, of which he testtifies as follows:

“Allah gave me knowledge like the knowledge He gave to the predessors before (man sabaqa min al-Awwalin), and what al-Haqq gave me has room only in my breast.”

And: “By Allah, if it was not that I am bound by the Shari`a, I would disclose the most strange of strange things.”

And: “I have at this time received the permission from Allah and His Messenger to say: This my foot is above the neck of every living saint. I said this, while in the Diwan of the Awlia of Allah ta`ala, and some of the awlia that were present wanted to utter these words, but I said to him: By Allah’s Highness and Majesty, if you utter them, I will remove you from the Diwan and stripp you off your sainthood. So he remained silent and did not utter them.”

4- His travels and his passing away
He was given permission by his Sheikh to guide seekers while the latter was still alive. In 1260, he left al-Maghrib and spent twenty-nine years travelling through the lands of Hijaz, Hind, Yemen, Sham, Misr, calling to Allah and His Mesesenger, and spreading the Shadhili tariqa, and he founded countless zawiyas of dhikr circles. He came to Misr in 1289. That same year he went to Makka al-Mukarrama, where he passed away, and was buried in al-Ma`la.

5- Among his miracles are the following:
During one of his travels, he was staying in a town in the province of Tarablis (Tripolis). As its people saw on him the signs of rightousness, they gathered around him, crying, complaining, and begging him to help them against the oppression they suffered from their ruler, until the Sheikh – may Allah preserve his secret – was crying with them. Then he said: By Allah, other them Who there is no deity, He will not remain as a ruler over you more than this month, either he will be removed or he will die. No more than three days passed after this utterance, before this ruler was removed from power, and faced with accusations which led to his death sentence.

While on one of his travels, he suffered difficulties and weariness that made hes feet swollen, and something inappropriate concerning his teacher came to his mind, and he made the intention to go to al-Makka al-Mukarrama, to search for a perfect Sheikh. That night, he saw al-Haqq, high and majestic is He, in a dream. He ordered that he be whipped twice as a corrective, then he said: My God, I repent to you. Then Allah ta`ala said: Release him! Then He made him stand in front of Him and said: Ask Me! He said: My God, I ask from You protection (from sin – `isma). He said: I do not give you protection (from sin), this is not for anyone except for the Prophets. Then (the Sheikh) said: My God, i ask from You to be preserved (al-hifzh). He said: It is yours. Then he awoke from sleep.

Writings & Poetry

Yaqutiyya

Successors

عربي

Türkçe

Refs


Related Posts

StatCounter - Free Web Tracker and Counter