Interpreter‟s Preface

No words are enough to send salutations on Prophet Mohammad, his Companions and People of the Cloak. As this universe exists by virtue of their beneficence and spiritual attention. This book is the English translation of the Urdu book, Khulfa-eRashideen, written by my beloved perfect spiritual guide, Sultanul-Ashiqeen Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman. Growing up I had always heard and read that there are four Rashidun Caliphs, until I read the Urdu version of this book. All history books mention the Rashidun Caliphate till Ali ibn Abi Talib, and no one ever mentioned Hasan ibn Ali as the fifth Caliph. This was a surprise to me so I started asking questions regarding this to Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen. The more I inquired, the more I realized how much love, regard and devotion he reveres for the Holy Prophet, his Companions and People of the Cloak. I want to adulate his tireless efforts in going above and beyond to collect sufficient arguments that verify and confirm Hasan ibn Ali‟s status as the fifth Caliph. I will not burden the reader by rewriting them here but I have to say I am heartbroken when Hasan‟s name as the Caliph is altogether skipped from history books. The Rashidun Caliphs are the luckiest as they gained direct beneficence from the sacred company of the Holy Prophet without any medium. Fortunate are the ones who witnessed the Rashidun era and gained benevolence of the Prophet through them. I often used to wonder why I was not born in the era of the Holy Prophet so I could be blessed with his beneficence like his Companions. I was so wrong! The Holy Prophet is the reason behind the creation and existence of this universe. If we think that the Holy Prophet and his beneficence no longer exist, then technically the universe should not exist. And people on the Day of Judgement may argue in front of Allah Almighty that He

deprived them of the beneficence of the Holy Prophet by not sending them in his era. Well! Allah Almighty cannot be unfair. The spiritual beneficence of the Holy Prophet at first transferred from him to the Rashidun Caliphs. When Prophet Mohammad passed away, Abu Bakr-the first Caliph, not only led the Muslim umma physically but also spiritually. The people of that era got the beneficence of Prophet Mohammad through the medium of Abu Bakr, who was the Universal Divine Man (al-Insan alKamil) of his time. This pattern continued till the last Caliph Hasan ibn Ali. After Hasan, the spiritual and the physical leadership was separated. The system of caliphate was demolished because Muslims let go the spiritual values they got from the Holy Prophet and latched onto the worldliness. Muslims chose world over the Divine proximity, this led to the downfall of the Muslims.

The policies that the Rashidun Caliphs put in place met the spiritual and physical needs of the people. This is why that era was the golden era for the Muslims. The policies of that era are exemplary and act as gold standard for not only Muslims but also for the occidentals. Most of the policies of the welfare states in Europe are inspired from the same prosperous principals of the Rashidun Caliphate. Yet they could not fully implement them because the five rightly guided Caliphs were not only leaders for their people but were also their perfect spiritual guides. The Rashidun Caliphs understood both the physical and spiritual needs of the people and would translate them into policies. These policies were implemented to its perfection. It was all possible because what Prophet Mohammad left behind was not only religion but his reflection in the form of the five Rashidun Caliphs, his perfect spiritual and physical followers, the perfect men who took Islam to the pinnacle of its glory. Those who followed the five rightly guide Caliphs wholeheartedly, got the spiritual beneficence of the Holy Prophet

through their medium. On the other hand, those who held grudge against them fell off the cliff and started plotting schemes against them. There are several books written describing the heartwrenching events that took place in the era of the Rashidun Caliphs. Different scholars and analysts tried to give arguments in an attempt to figure out who was at fault and what possibly went wrong that resulted in the end of the caliphate. What makes this book unique is the unbiased approach of Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen. His picturesque words have painted the clear picture of the painful events that took place in the Rashidun era. The reader is engrossed in them in such a way that he feels he himself is witnessing those events and then can decide for himself what went wrong to cause the downfall of the Muslims. The Rashidun Caliphate was meant to end, this decision was already made and sealed in the Mohammadan Assembly. Therefore, when Husayn ibn Ali inquired Hasan of his decision of leaving caliphate, Hasan replied to his dear brother that Allah Almighty will not join the physical rule and spiritual leadership under People of the Cloak. Allah has decided to give the beloved followers of the Prophet, his real heritage, spiritualism. Thus, the spiritual orders flourished from them which exist even to date. These spiritual orders are the medium for the seekers of Allah to guide them towards closeness of Allah. Whenever I reach out to Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen to seek guidance in any matter, be it outward or inward, he always refers to the life of Holy Prophet, People of the Cloak and the Rashidun Caliphs. This intrigued my interest to read the Urdu version of this book and was over the moon when Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen blessed me with the opportunity to translate it into English. If I were to describe my experience of translating this book in one sentence, I would say that the book made me spiritually live through the incidents happened in the era of Rashidun Caliphs. There were times when I engrossed in the words of the book so deeply that

my body would shiver from the pain and sensitivity of the situations and what the Rashidun Caliphs went through. At times, I was so conscious that I would not dare to write a word until I sought Divine help and felt it has taken me under the wings and given me the strength to transcribe the Urdu version into the English language for the world to benefit from this precious piece of writing by Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen. For sure, I could not depict the true colour and spirit of the words used by Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen in the original version. I can say this with utmost certainty that all the good in this book is the spiritual beneficence of my spiritual guide and all the shortcomings are solely mine. I will be forever thankful to Sahibzadi Muneeza Najib for boosting my confidence in times when I almost gave up on this enormous task. Her precious advice clanged to me throughout the process. She said, “Believe and depend on the spiritual beneficence and help of your spiritual guide and not on your own abilities.”

I am obliged to her and Mrs. Ambreen Moghees Sarwari Qadri for proofreading my book and providing their expert opinion in improving it. Lastly, I want to mention that I consider myself very fortunate that destiny took me to the sacred company of Sultan-ulAshiqeen, who is the 31st Shaikh of the Sarwari Qadri order. I have witnessed that with his spiritual attention he washed the filth of my inner self and bestowed me regardless of the boundaries of time and space. The spiritual beneficence of the Holy Prophet still exists in the present era and will forever exist. In the previous era, the Rashidun Caliphs acted as a medium between the seeker and the Prophet and now the perfect spiritual guides of Sarwari Qadri order are the medium and advocate for the seeker of Allah in the Mohammadan Assembly.

May Allah grant us the ability to yearn for this spiritual benevolence! (Ameen)

Fatima Noor October-2022