Sheikh Ali Al-Khawas RTA
Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
La Hawla Wala Quwwata illah Billahil Aliyyil Azim
O ALLAH, SOFTEN AND OPEN MY HEART AS I READ THE STORIES OF YOUR SAINTS AND SHOWER UPON ME BLESSINGS AND UNDERSTANDING SO THAT I MAY BENEFIT FROM EMULATING YOUR BELOVED…
SHEIKH ALI AL-KHAWWAS (RA)
A Saint of Allah who possessed laduni knowledge
Sheikh Ali Al-Kkhawwas RA was one of the most famous waliyullah in Cairo, Egypt. He was an illiterate.
Born to be ascetic (zuhud)
Sheikh Ali Al-Kkhawwas RA grew up in a poor family which meant that he had to strive and work hard in order to eat every day. At first he went around selling soaps and dates. After moving to Cairo, he opened an oil shop for several years. He then went on to basket-making. For this reason, he was known as Al-Khawwas (the basket maker) until the day he passed away. خوص (rattan), خواص الخواص (all Wali Allah),الخواص (the chosen one/Wali Allah)
Not once did he ever eat the food of tyrannical governments or their cronies. He did not use money from the government for his own interests or those of his family. He would accept it and then distribute it to orphans, widows, the elderly and those who were unable to work.
It was narrated that on one occasion, his eyes were severely swollen, but he continued to make baskets. Along came a rich person who gave him some money, saying, “O my Sheikh, use this money and rest until both your eyes have recovered.” Ali Al-Khawwas RA replied, “For the sake of Allah, with me being in this painful state, I am uncomfortable with my earnings, what more with any gifts from others.”
In fact, even when he did not have much, Sheikh Ali Al-Khawwas RA was most generous and humble. Every Friday he would provide his service at mosques, sweeping up rubbish, and giving charity to the destitute without calculating how much he gave and how he would eat later. He was the spiritual guide (murshid) for a great Sufi and fiqh scholar, Imam Abdul Wahhab Sha’rani, RA also known as an Al-Muhaddithin.
Sheikh Ali Al-Khawwas RA and Imam Sha’rani RA in the time before his tutelage)
Sheikh Abdul Wahhab Sha’rani RA was well-known as a Mujtahid scholar during his time, teaching at a mosque that was attended by thousands of students. One day, he overheard his students talking about a person whose job was to arrange the shoes at the gathering where his lecture was held. His students said that the shoe organiser named Ali Al-Khawwas RA did not need to look at the face of the people who gave him their shoes to be stored when receiving the shoes, and did not need to look at the faces of the owners when returning their shoes to them. This was such an amazing feat because it occurred at a gathering attended by thousands of people.
One day, as Sheikh Abdul Wahad Sha’rani RA was walking, he came across Ali Al-Khawwas RA who was mentioned by many as a wali Allah. At that moment, a thought crossed the heart of Sheikh Abdul Wahab Sha’rani:RA
لَا جَعَلَ اللُهُ وَلِيًّ جَاهِلًا
“Allah does not appoint the ignorant as His wali.”
Thus, Ali Al-Khawwas humbly replied:
جَعَلَ اللهُ لَهُ عَلَّمَ
“If Allah wishes to appoint someone to be His beloved, he is taught knowledge.”
And from that moment, an extended debate went on between the two of them lasting several days. It went on until one Friday night, when Sheikh Abdul Wahad Sha’rani RA returned home as usual after teaching a class post-Isha prayers at the mosque. Upon looking at the beautiful face of his wife, he became aroused. Despite begging and pleading with his wife, she refused to fulfil his sexual needs. As his sexual desires were too strong, his wife agreed upon giving one condition. Her husband was to be like a donkey and she was to ride him around their bedroom seven times.
As a result of his exhaustion, Sheikh Abdul Wahab Sha’rani RA fell asleep and when he woke up, he had missed the night prayers that he usually did at the mosque. As there was not much time left before he had to begin teaching his class, he rushed to his class. As was routine for Sheikh Abdul Wahab Sha’rani, RA when he saw Ali Al-Khawwas, he continued with his assumption in his heart:
“Allah does not appoint the ignorant to be his wali.”
Ali Al-Khawwas RA replied:
“A scholar with no shame. Because of excessive sexual desires, he was willing to become a donkey for his wife. Comes to teach at the mosque while missing the night prayers and the Fajr prayer.”
Sheikh Abdul Wahab Sha’rani RA was shocked because in his view, the shoe organiser’s heart had been given kashaf by Allah such that he knew of such secrets. From that moment, Sheikh Abdul Wahab Sha’rani, RA who at the time was already a scholar famous for memorising the Quran and sihah Sittah, repented on his knees before the Wali Allah who was the shoe organiser. And for more than forty days, he was educated and underwent spiritual training continuously until Allah opened for him various secrets behind the knowledge of the Sacred Law (shariah) which he had already possessed all this while. Not only did he understand the external aspects of the Sacred Law, but also its internal aspects.
The Blessing of Service
Such is the blessing of service to one’s teacher. My teacher once narrated how the same thing happened to Sheikh Ali Al-Khawwas, the teacher of Sheikh Abdul Wahab Sha’rani RA. Service does not mean being lazy in learning knowledge; rather, it more about learning knowledge practically by receiving instruction directly from a teacher who is truly a murshid. Therefore, studying a book in front of a teacher and then going home to sleep is far easier than being in the service of one’s teacher.
A good student will give his service to his teacher and a teacher who is a murshid will not take advantage of the service and obedience of his student. THE CONDUCT OF A STUDENT TOWARDS HIS SHEIKH IS TO SEEK KNOWLEDGE AND THE CONDUCT OF A SHEIKH TOWARDS HIS STUDENT IS TO GIVE KNOWLEDGE. Such conduct may take on any form and is not limited to just the reading of books in a halaqah. Therefore, some scholars have given this reminder that “Whoever refuses to be of service to his teacher or sheikh will come to regret it.”
The Knowledge of Al- KHAWWAS RA
Ali Al-Khawwas did not attend school. In fact, he could not read or write. This great Sufi was illiterate. Nevertheless, other scholars were amazed by the level of his knowledge. Ali Al-Khawwas RA was such an expert at interpreting the Quran and Hadith. His explanations are seen in the book written by his student Sheikh Abdul Wahab Sha’rani. “Much of what I wrote in the book al-Jawahir wa al-Duror were all his answers, which many other great scholars had difficulty finding, to the extent that it amazed great scholars like Sheikh Shihabuddin al-Futuhi al-Hambali, Shihabuddin bin al-Shalabi al-Hanafi, Sheikh Nasiruddin al-Laqoni al-Maliki, Sheikh Shihabuddin al-Romli as-Shafi’iy (Imam Romli, the author of the work An-Nihayyah in the field of jurisprudence),'' said Sheikh Sha’rani about about his teacher, Ali Al-Khawwas.RA
Further, Sheikh Al-Futuhi said, “I have struggled with knowledge for seventy years, and not once did it occur to me - neither question nor answer - a problem like the ones found in the work al-Jawahir wa al-Duror.”
In terms of knowledge, he was of an opinion that was different to most scholars. “A person does not deserve to be regarded as knowledgeable if his knowledge is obtained from others. The knowledgeable person is the one who has never acquired knowledge from others. His knowledge is original, direct from Allah. The person who gains knowledge from others is in fact merely talking about the opinion of those people. Nevertheless, he will still get his reward, namely the reward for those who carry and convey knowledge, not the reward for those who are knowledgeable. And Allah does not waste the reward of those who do good.”
The knowledge of Sheikh Ali Al-Khawwas was not focused on only shariah and tasawuf; he was also an expert in medicine and was able to cure those suffering from severe skin diseases, paralysis and other complicated illnesses that were usually difficult to cure, though not for Ali Al-Khawwas. Every one of his suggestions for the cure would always work.
Ali Al-Khawwas and Tasawuf
In the matter of tasawuf, this great illiterate Sufi scholar also had an interesting comment:
“A person will not be an expert of the Spiritual Path (Tariqat) unless he is knowledgeable in Shariat (the Sacred Law), its mujmal mubayyan, its nasakh dan mansukh, its khas dan ammah. The person who does not know any one of these will no longer occupy the position of a scholar or sheikh of a tariqat.”
Upon hearing his explanation, his beloved student, Sheikh Wahab Al-Sha’rani asked: “In that case, the sheikhs today will fall from this position as they are uneducated in the matters of Shariat?” He replied, “That is correct; they instruct people in only one part of the path of religion, when in fact, the mutasawwif (the experts in tasawuf) are those who, even when alone, are able to give what is needed by society, be it a problem in shariat or a question about hakikat.”
The intelligence of Ali Al-Khawwas also extended to the matters relating to al-khalwah الخلوة. In this matter, he said, “The practice of isolating oneself, being alone with Allah SWT, well-known in the world of Sufism by the name al-khalwah cannot be done except by wali Qutub or Wali Ghauth at all times. When his body is separated from his light and proceeds to the realm of the hereafter, Allah SWT replaces that wali with another wali. Allah SWT does not appoint two sultanul-auliya at any one time.”
This opinion is aligned with what happened to Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jailani, who was well-known for his munajat “Anta wahidun fis sama’ wa ana wahidun fi-al ardh (You alone are in control of your heavens, O Allah, and I am alone on this earth without any helper except you, O Allah).”
As to the relationship of a student with his teacher (sheikh or murshid), he said, “By right, the student should state the ailments of his heart to his teacher. If he has a corrupt heart, his teacher will show him the way to its cure and recovery. If the student does not do so out of embarrassment, there is a possibility that he will die with his ailment (qalbun mayyit).” He also said, “If you are asked about your teacher, reply, ‘We are his servants’ and do not say ‘We are his companions’ because the status of companionship is too lofty.”
He had many utterances that had never been uttered by anyone before. On one occasion, he was talking about mankind. “Al-Idrak (knowledge) is an attribute of the intellect. Hearing, sight, touch and smell, pleasure and anger are attributes of the baser self. Nature, light, guidance, and conviction are the attributes of the secret. The intellect, the baser self, the soul, and the secret are all attributes of mankind.”
The Mosque of Ali Al-Khawwas RA
The Mosque of Ali Al-Khawwas was originally the Zawiyah of Sheikh Barakat al-Khoyyat, built by his student Sheikh Ramadhan, located in front of Bab al-Futuh, Cairo, Egypt. However, when Sheikh Ali Al-Khawwas RA was buried there, the mosque became renowned with the name Al-Khawwas RA(named after Sheikh Ali Al-Khawwas). May he be showered with mercy and counted among the lovers of Allah.
Al-Fatihah ila ruhi Syeikh Ali Al-Khawwas.RA
Sheikh Anuar Al Qadri Al Khalidi
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