When Prophet Muhammad (s) sat wth the apparently filth-ridden people, God spoke in their favour...
'Do not avert your attention from them for they seek your Lord day and night'.
And when the thieves and sinners became associated with His Divine Eminence Gohar Shahi,
then God said to HDE Gohar Shahi, 'You should scold them'.
The One Who Embraced The Sinners
When a human being is born, as soon as the child is delivered from the mother's womb and takes the first breath,
the stench of this world permeates into the body through the nose
and the souls fall unconscious.
And they remain unconscious.
If simply breathing in [the air of this world] rendered [the souls] unconscious, the stench of sins would not revive them, right?
But human beings are engrossed with worship that the soul does not benefit from.
Clever are those who devote their lives to a Spiritual Guide should they be lucky enough to find one.
If you find a Spiritual Guide and you continue living your normal life,
there are two outcomes of this: firstly, it gives the Spiritual Guide the impression that you are not sincere...
Now just imagine, let me address the ladies specifically...
Let's say you get all dolled up; you apply makeup, style your hair and spritz perfume,
and when you come out of your room, nobody compliments you.
Wouldn't that make you angry?
Similarly, when such personalities descend on Earth and no one seeks them, they become fed-up of such individuals.
For example, in the era of Prophet Muhammad (s), there were some people
who had abandoned their homes, their families, everything.
They began to live outside the Prophet (s)’s room.
Then, the Prophet (s) had a raised platform built for them.
Day and night, the only two things they were engrossed with were either Zikr Allah or gazing upon the comely countenance of the Prophet (s).
They are memorialised by the title of Ashab e Sufa (Companions of the Bench).
And the Prophet (s) would frequently come outside to sit amongst them.
Now, obviously, there was a lot more dirt, dust and sand back then as compared to today.
So whenever the wind blew, the dust and sand would stick to their hair.
There were no air-conditioners 1450 years ago...
So imagine how hot and humid it must have been back then.
Now ponder, when the blistering heat of the sun hits the sand, it emits a reactionary heat
so it doubles the heat.
Therefore, one would naturally perspire [in such conditions].
And they [the Companions of the Bench] would perspire profusely,
their hair matted with dirt.
Regardless, the Prophet (s) would sit amongst them.
So when [the other companions] would go out to preach [Islam] -
for instance, Abu Bakr Siddiq was always involved in preaching -
for example, we have this term in our vocabulary: to propagate this mission.
You go out and tell people of this mission.
In a similar fashion, they too preached [Islam] to others; they would bring people [to meet the Prophet (s)].
When the message reached the opulent leaders of the Quraish tribe
they would come to meet the Prophet (s) to find him sitting with the Ashab e Sufa.
And that is where the Prophet (s) would agree to meet them which troubled them greatly.
The wealthy tribe leaders would not agree to meet with the Prophet (s) among the filthy folk.
They'd ask the Prophet (s) to meet them separately, elsewhere.
Some of the other companions urged the Prophet (s) to comply with their wishes for the sake of the religion.
The Prophet (s) is known in the Qur'an to be ardent when it came to preaching the religion of Islam.
The Prophet (s) desired for the message [of Islam] to reach as many people as possible.
So bearing this in mind, the Prophet (s) thought perhaps it would be sensible to meet [the tribe leaders] elsewhere.
This thought had only crossed the Prophet (s)'s mind when God revealed a verse:
''wasbir nafsaka ma'al lazeena yad'oona Rabbahum bilghadaati wal'ashiyyi''
'O Prophet (s), be patient with their stench
and stay with them'.
''wasbir nafsaka ma'al lazeena - [be patient] and sit with these people''
Then, God mentioned two things here.
There are two things that God approves of in the apparently unkempt group of people (Ashab e Sufa)
And what is that?
''yad'oona Rabbahum - they call upon their Lord''
This is the translaton provided [for this]
'yadoon (to call out)' - this is the translation provided.
However, I have also been provided the translations and meanings behind this verse by God...
The verse reads: 'yadoona rabbahum'
'Yadoona' means to seek.
Which means [God referred to them as]: 'those who seek God'.
The word 'yadoon' is derived from the word 'daawat'
and 'daawat' means to invite.
So here, it is said, 'these people seek your Lord'.
[The Prophet (s)] didn't say this, it was God.
'They seek your Lord'.
''yureedoona wajhahoo''
'And they inted to see the countenance of the Lord'
In other words, they seek the Lord and sit there in earnest of witnessing the divine splendour
Then [God] said, 'wala ta'adoo'
'O' Messenger of God, do not turn away your eyes from them...'
'tureedoo zeenat ul hayat ud dunya
'And it doesn't seem to me that you would become impressed by the apparent worldly affectation on the faces of the wealthy...'
The wealthy demanded the Prophet (s) to preach Islam to them privately, but then what does God instruct the Prophet (s)?
'wala tutay man aghfalna qalbahu an zikrena'
Are you giving preference to those that I have made heedless of my Zikr?
Whereas these [apparently] unkempt group of people are those, the hearts of whom are constantly engaged in Zikr Allah.
Now, dirt is of two types.
The first is apparent dirt.
And, the second is spiritual dirt.
[inner] contamination
These people...
Obviously, what is written in this verse makes us assume that it is the apparent impurity and dirt that is being spoken of.
However, when HDE Gohar Shahi came into this world, they came across the same kind of people
However, now (in this era), they are those whose impurity and dirt lie within them
Filthy and down-trodden hearts
[that] are not involved in any worship
[that] have no care for the purification of the heart
[that] have no care for the apparent purity
[they're] thieves, crooks, rogue and hooligans.
Such were the people that began to approach HDE Gohar Shahi.
And the apparently pure, that assumed they were stringently following the religion, [they] worshipped and seemed pious
Such people, for [God] knows what reason, were unsuccessful in establishing a bond of love with HDE Gohar Shahi
And the sinners, the crooks and thieves, they were naturally humble, because they were crooks and thieves
No one had paid them any attention before [HDE Gohar Shahi].
[Whereas] HDE Gohar Shahi spoke to them affectionately and became their sanctuary
[for] the crooks and thieves, the [seemingly] useless people.
Then what happened?
It's something [you] should ponder upon
When the apparently unkempt took company with the Prophet (s), God speaks in their favour
[He instructs the Prophet (s)], 'do not turn your eyes away from them, for they seek your Lord, day and night'
And when the thieves and crooks sat in the company of HDE Gohar Shahi
Then what happened?
Then God says upon HDE Gohar Shahi, 'scold them'
When the unkempt and dirty people sat in the company of the Prophet (s), God favoured them
But when the unkempt and dirty people sat in the company of HDE Gohar Shahi, God says, 'Why do you not scold them?'
Strange, isn't it?
This happened before us... a live conversation
We were in a small city, Antrim, near Belfast, Ireland
HDE Gohar Shahi was touring that city and were residing at a certain place
HDE Gohar Shahi opened the window sometime between 4:30-5pm in the evening and noticed that we were all standing outside
All this maturity [of mine], I developed after the occultation [of HDE Gohar Shahi]
Prior to the occultation, we lived a life in which we were never mature
We were always in a state of ecstasy, laughing about and carefree of the world around us
in the intoxication of, 'now we are attached to HDE Gohar Shahi, what do we have to fear now?'
So, as such, we were standing outside and pulling each other's legs, laughing around
Suddenly, HDE Gohar Shahi opened their window, upon which, everyone became alert
Then, HDE Gohar Shahi said, 'Today, we conversed with God'
So, we said, 'Yes Lord. Lord, what did God say?'
HDE Gohar Shahi explained that God said, 'Why do you not scold them, they've become spoilt'
We asked, 'Lord, what was your reply?'
So, HDE Gohar Shahi replied, 'I said, why must I scold them?'
HDE Gohar Shahi replied, 'I said, why must I scold them? You are benevolent upon them'
God says, 'Really? I am benevolent upon them? How so?'
HDE Gohar Shahi replied, 'Your name echoes in their heart, and it does so with your authorisation and permission. If this is not benevolence, what else is?'
'You have approved of them, and since you have, this is your benevolence, is it not?'
There are certain personalities that have walked this Earth, of whom the Qur'an mentions, but not by name.
Now, the crooks and thieves that were stood before HDE Gohar Shahi, their stories too had travelled to the Empyrean of God
Which is why God is asking, 'Why do you not scold them?'
HDE Gohar Shahi said that their nature is the same in all that they do, be it religious or [to do with] the world, it remains the same for everyone.
HDE Gohar Shahi said, 'When someone does something bad, we do not scold them, we give them more love'
'Then, if one does something bad again, we give them even more love'
When one does something bad again, then they think, 'they give me so much love, what if they were to become upset with me?'
This fear then rectifies such a person
So, this way of dealing is for HDE Gohar Shahi alone
The question is, who stands amongst those people?
To be stood amongst such people, one must appease HDE Gohar Shahi'.