All Praise is due to Almighty Allah, Master of the Day of Judgment, Choicest
Peace and Salutations upon the Master of humanity, Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (Sallallahu
Alaihi wa Sallam), his family, Companions and all the Righteous Servants of
Allah.
Few years ago, I received an email from a brother regarding the Ruling over
saying and writing Sug-e-Madina, Sug-e-Taybah etc. for Human beings (Ashraf-ul-Makhlooqat).
In connection to that email, I found many confused people objecting that Humans
are labeled as Ashraful Makhlooqaat then why they use words like SUG (Dog) for
themselves? The simple and straightforward answer is or can be... "Hum ISHQ kay
banday hain kyun Baat bar'hai hay" but just for their satisfaction, following
are some justifications and explanations to this issue.
Counter Questions:
First of all, I would like to put a counter question to them:
Moving on... Sayyiduna Siddiq al-Akbar Radi Allahu wished that may he be a Bird,
an ordinary piece of grass, may he not be a Human etc.
[Musannaf Abi
Shayba, Vol. 8, Page 144]
Sayyiduna Abi Dhar Ghaffari said, "Alas! May my Mother wouldn't have given me
Birth"
[Musannaf Abi Shayba, Vol. 8, Page 152]
And there are many Similar examples in which Sahaba have wished themselves as
not be a human, be a Sheep, be a stone, be a branch of tree and etc.
Will it mean that they are doing the disrespect of the Status given to them by
ALLAH Almighty? Not a single true Muslim can even think about it!! Its just
there humility and fear of ALLAH SubHanu wa Ta'ala that made them to make such
prayers in the court of ALLAH Almighty.
Saying and Writing the word
'SUG':
Now getting to the point... Actually, The word "Sug" is a Persian word for Dog.
But here the Sug is meant for the attributes and qualities of Dogs. As Hadrat
Baba Bhullay Shah wrote in his poetry:
Jis DIL ander ISHQ
na racheya KUTTAY uss thon changay
Maalik de durr raakhi denday Saabir Pukkhay Nangay
Maalik da durr naio chad-day pawen maro so so juttay
Uth Bhulleya chal yaar bana lay; Naee tey Bazi ley gaey KUTTAY
Allama Kamal al-Din Dameeri have stated:
"And Dog, a very faithful animal" [Hayat al-Haywan a-Kubra, Vol 2, Page 278, Berut]
Even Qur'an Al Kareem have commemorated the Faithfulness of the Dog of AsHab al-Kahf.
Hadrat Shah Abdul Aziz Muhaddith Dehlawi have stated:
Taking the same meanings of words used in Tashbeeh (Allegory) or Isti'ara (Metaphoricals) is the extreme illiteracy and foolishness. [ToHfa-e-Isna Ashariya (Farsi), Page 213, 4th Edition, Lahore - 1983]
So, it is to bear in mind that Dogs are famous for there faithfulness and
whenever any Aashiq-e-Rasool wa Awlaiya ALLAH uses the word "Sug" for himself
then it doesn't means that He is calling himself a Real DOG but the intention is
to show humility and Faithfulness towards Sayyiduna Rasoolullah Sallallaho
Alaihi wa Sallam, His City, Awliya as-Sualiheen and etc.
Hadrat Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Masood Radi Allahu Anhu said:
"I have an extreme respect and love for Ameerul Momineen Umar al-Farooq in my heart. If I come to know that Farooq-e-Aazam loves a DOG, I will also love that DOG and I am his servant till my last breath" [Al Maujam al Kabeer, Page 164, Vol. 9, Beirut]
An Ashiq-e-Rasool Sallallaho Alaihi wa Sallam for whom it is said that Sayyiduna
Rasoolullah Sallallaho Alaihi wa Sallam blessed Ameer-e-Madinah at that time
with his Vision in Dream and ordered him to Stop Allama Jami at the Border of
Madina Munawwarah because Sayyiduna Rasoolullah Sallallaho Alaihi wa Sallam
himself will have to come out from his Grave to Welcome Allama Jami in Madinah
Munawwarah. And the same Allama Abd ar-RaHman Jami Radi ALLAHu Ta'ala Anho said:
"Sagat Raa Kaash
Jaami Bood"
I wish if your Dog's name was Jami
Same Jaami says in praise of the Sahabah (Companions of the Prophet SallAllahu
Alaihi wa Sallam):
O Messenger of
Allah! If only like the dog of the Ashab e Kahf (Companions of the Cave),
I could be in Paradise among your Companions.
Is it right that their dog is in Paradise, whilst I am in Hell?
He was the dog of those Companions; I am the dog of your Companions!
He also said.
"Taab-e-Waslat
Kaar-e-Paakan, Man Azeeshaan Neestam
Choon 'Sagaanam' Jaaey Deh, Dar Saaya-e-Deewar-e-Khwesh"
Hafiz Shirazi, A famous Sufi poet of Persia (Iran) wrote:
Shuneedam kay Sagaan
Raa Qala deh May Bandi
Chara ba Gardan-e-Hafiz Namay Nahi Rasnay?
I have heard that you have put a rope over the necks of your Dog;
Why dont you tie your rope around the Neck of Hafiz?
Shaykh Yusuf bin Isma'el An-Nabhani Alaihir Rehmah wa ar-Ridwan once traveled to
Madinah Munawwarah. When he reached the boundary of Madina Munawwarah or Bab
as-Salaam; He stopped there. People asked, "Why you are not entering?" He
replied,
"The job of a DOG is to remain outside the home."
Shaykh Muhammad Budairi Damyaati said,
"I saw my Grand Father in my dream after his demise. I asked him about what happened to him after death. He replied I was forgiven because whenever I use to see any DEAD DOG, I use to wish that May I be that DEAD DOG." [Jamay Karamat-e-Awliya, Page 344]
Hadrat Khwaja Muhammad Saifuddin bin Khwaja Masoom Sarhindi bin Hadrat Mujaddid Alf Saani have said:
Man Kaseetam kay
Baato dam Dosti Zanam
Chandeen 'Sagaan-e-Kooay' tou yak Kamtareen
[Maqamaat-e-Khayr]
Peer-o-Murshid (Spiritual Master) of Hadrat Khwaja Gulam Farid, Hadrat Khwaja
Gulam Fakhruddin AuHidi Farooqi Chishti said in Deewan-e-AuHidi, Page 14:
Aarzu Daaram kay Bar
Khaak o Rash Choon AuHaday
Jaan-o-Dil 'Paysh-e-Sug' Aan o Bar ba Saazam Khuda
[Deewan-e-AuHidi, Page 14, Jahaniyan Mandi -
Khanewal]
Shaykh Bahauddin Zakariyya Multani says in his extreme humility of Ghawth
al-Aaazam:
Sag-e-Dargah-e-Jeelani, Bahauddin Multani
Liqa-e-Deen-e-Sultani, Muhiyyuddin Jeelani
Mawlana Sayyid Muhammad Akramuddin Bukhari, Khalifa-e-Majaz of Maulana Shah Fadl
ar-RaHman Ganj Muradabadi wrote:
Sag-e-Dargah-e-Jeelan mujh ko HAQ Kar de, tou Shahon se
Kahoon Dunyaa k Kutton, BaadShaahat iss ko kehtay hain
[Tazkira-e-Akaabir-e-AhleSunnat, Page 70, Lahore]
AlaHadrat Imam Ahmad Rida Khan Alaihir Rehmah wa ar-Ridwan have used the word
SUG at many places in his poetry. For example:
Koi Kyun Poochay
teri Baat RAZA
Tujh se KUTTAY Hazaar phirtay hein
And
Ba Keh'fay Rehmatam
Parwar; Ze Qiteeram Manay Kamtar
Sug-e-Dargah-e-Sultanum Aghisni YA Rasool ALLAH
Also,
Karam-e-Naat k
Nazdeek tou Kch door nahin
Kay Raza-e-Ajami ho Sag-e-Hassan-e-Arab
In the above mentioned couplets, the great Imam showed how down to earth he is
and first one is the same couplet by Imam on which he was awarded with the
vision of Sarkar Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam with open eyes.
For Sarkar-e-Baghdad Sayyiduna Ghous-e-Paak Radi Allahu Anhu, the great Imam
writes:
Raza Qismat hi khul
jae jo Geelan se khitaab aaiey
Kay tu Adna Sug-e-Dargah-e-Khuddam-e-Ma'aali
Here Imam is showing his desire of getting the label of SUG from the lofty court
of Gawth al-Azam. Here SUG is meant for the Servant.
From the House of the
Opponents:
Now, We must have a look at the evidences taken from the major opponents to this
issue.
Meer Ibrahim Sialkoti (Gayr Muqallid) have stated in Siraaj al-Muneera, Page
102:
"I am not SUG but more inferior (lower in grade) than the SUG"
The founder of Deoband, Qasam Nanotawi wrote:
Tou Saath
Sagan-e-Haram k teray Sath Phiroon
Maroon tou khaaen Madinay k mujhe Moor o Maar
lagay rahay teray Sug ko go meray naam se Aeb
Ye teray Naam ka likhna mujhe hay Izz o Waqar
[Qasida Bihariya, Page 134, Multan]
Conclusion:
The word SUG can be used for being faithful. Sometime it is meant for slave or
servant. Sometimes it is used for courage. Sometimes it is used to show humilty
and etc. Thus, there is no Harm in using the word SUG with the intentions that
are described above.
May ALLAH keep us away from the false misconceptions, delusions and confusions.
And may we keep firm on the True path of Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah till our
last breath. (Aameen)
Wallahu Ta'ala Aa'lam wa Rasooluhu Aa'alam
— —
—
Sug hoon mein Ubayd-e-Razavi Ghous-o-Raza Ka
Hein bhaagtay aagay se meray Sher-e-Babbar Bhi