EATING AND DRINKING (II)

The great scholar and superior Walî, murewwij-ush-sherî’a Muhammad ’Ubeydullah Serhendî, (d. 1083,) the third son of ’Urwat-ul wuthqâ Muhammad Ma’thûm Fârûqî, (1007, Serhend – 1079 [1668 A.D.], the same place,) ‘qaddas-Allâhu ta’âlâ sirrahumâ’ states as follows in the hundred and forty-fifth letter of his book entitled Hazînat-ul-ma’ârif: “Abû Dâwûd quotes the following hadîth-i-sherîf on the authority of Mu’âdh bin Jebel and Enes bin Mâlik: ‘If a person recites (or reads) the following prayer after eating, most of his past and future sins will be forgiven: “Alhamd-u-lillâh-il-ledhî at’amanî hâdhat-ta’âm wa rezeqanî-hi min ghyri hawlin minnî wa lâ quwwata. If he says the following prayer as he puts on new clothes, most of his past and future sins will be forgiven: “Al-hamd-u-lillâh-il-ledhî kesânî hâdha-th-thawb wa razaqanî-hi min ghayri hawlin minnî wa lâ quwwah.’ ” Wahhâbîs and their followers, who are lâ-madhhabî people, say that it is an act of bid’at to say prayers after meals. The hadîth-i-sherîfs quoted above will suffice as an answer to them. Please see the final part of the fourteenth chapter of the fourth fascicle of Endless Bliss! Sayyid ’Abd-ul-Hakîm Efendi ‘quddisa sirruh’, an expert in the science of Fiqh and the mujaddid of the fourteenth (Islamic) century, and a professor who held the chair of Tasawwuf in the Madrasat-ul-muhassisîn, would say the following prayer after meals: “Al-hamd-u-lillâh-il-ledhî eshba ’anâ wa arwânâ min-ghayri hawlin minnâ wa lâ quwwah. Allâhumma at’im-hum kemâ at’amûnâ!”