Man Pretending to be a Shaikh

Date: 27/11/2013
Location: Raichur – Karnataka

After preaching to a gathering, a person called Kalīmullah Khan came to me with a disabled person. I felt uncomfortable as soon as I saw him, so I started asking for madad from ḥaḍrat Shaikh Muḥammad al-Kasnazan. He asked in Arabic about my name, so I answered: “ʿImād ad-Ddīn, a caliph of Shaikh Muḥammad al-Kasnazan.” He then showed me his ID. He was a retired sergeant who currently ran a large property agency in Raichur, but was originally from Chennai. He also said that he was a member of a national committee. He said: “I have heard about you, so I came as I have some questions.” I said: “Sure, please ask.” He first asked: “What does the word ‘Kasnazān’ mean?” which I answered. Then he asked me about the origin of our Ṭarīqa and why I had come to preach to the Muslims. I told him that I do not target Muslims in particular but that this area has a lot of Muslims, and also that a lot of Hindus have also embraced Islam. I told him that he can ask my companion. As it happened, one Hindu man had embraced Islam just an hour earlier. He was surprised.

He went on to ask: “Do you have a tree?” He meant by that the family tree and the chain of Shaikhs. I gave him a printout of the chain, so he asked me: “Is your name in the chain of the Ṭarīqa?” I said: “Of course not.” He then produced a printout of a chain. It turned out that he was one of the caliphs of Ṭarīqa Qādiriyya Chishtiyya. His name was there as one of the caliphs of Shaikh Nāṣir al-Qādirī al-Baghdādī. I said: “You are a caliph, not a Shaikh.” He protested: “I am a Shaikh.” I said: “I am a servant of the Ṭarīqa and a servant of ḥaḍrat Shaikh Muḥammad al-Kasnazan.” He asked me a lot of questions.

I then said to him: “You have asked me many questions, but I would like to ask you one question.” I had a feeling of annoyance that I could not describe. I actually had no particular question in mind, but I stood up and said in a somewhat loud and hoarse voice:

What is the meaning of the following verse that is said by Ibrahim (peace be upon him): “O my son! I have seen in a dream that I sacrifice you. See what you think” (37.102)?

The man started shaking and farted loudly! Those present, as well as myself, were all stunned. I repeated the question hoping to help him cover up what he had just done, but he produced the loud noise again and defecated on himself. Drops started to show on his thighs and the place became full of a repulsive smell. He prostrated and said: “Forgive me for Allah’s sake. I have overstepped my limits. I will go to Shaikh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Gaylānī to ask for Allah’s forgiveness, but if He does not grant me forgiveness, I will kill myself.” I said: “Come and take the pledge, repent to Allah, and start with the dhikrs. This is sufficient.” He went and took off his dirty clothes, remaining only in a long shirt, performed ablution, and came back and took the pledge.