The sun of Friday 16th Rabi ul Awwal 1435 [17th Jan 2014] dawned with the promise of taking us a day closer to the celebrations of the 103rd Milad Mubarak. But by sunset we found ourselves in bereavement and mourning. What was once unthinkable had occurred and no one was prepared to face the truth.
Everyone rushed to the one place where they knew they could calm their hearts. Saify Mahal. Every nook of this historic edifice was decorated with grief stricken faces. Tearful eyes reflected the agony of their bleeding hearts. They knew what had happened but their hearts refused to believe it. Their tongues shuddered to mention it and their lips murmured desperate prayers. Prayers to undo the tragedy. Prayers begging to turn reality into a bad dream. Prayers to calm their hearts.
They sat there all day. Where else could they go ? They prayed all day. What else would they do ? They had lost someone. Someone dear. So dear that they themselves couldn’t comprehend the magnanimity of the loss. A father? A teacher? A leader? A guide? He was their Aqa Maula. The essence of their being. The centre of their universe. How can this happen? How can they lose a vital part of themselves and still go on? How can they possibly live without someone whose name was their first education? How can their hearts keep beating when its rhythm had been lost? Was this true? Had this really transpired? Yes it had.
Syedna Mohmmed Burhanuddin (RA) was no longer amongst them. His merciful eyes had closed forever. His munificent hand would no longer rise in salami. His comforting voice would not be heard except in the loneliness of their hearts.
As they watched his janaza being carried towards Raudat Tahera, the visions of him being carried in his miyana flashed before them . The chants of “Maula Maula” were replaced with inconsolable sobs of pain. The eyes that once sparkled with happiness at the sight of their Maula were brimming with tears of angst. The place where they had seen him performing countless sajda and ziyarat would now become his final resting place.
As they mourned the loss of their Maula they extended their condolences to his son and heir Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin (TUS) . The pillar of support whose presence is a soothing balm for their aching hearts. The virtous son, standing amongst them on the pedestal of his illustrious father. His luminous visage a reflection of his father’s countenance. As they joined their hands to him they spontaneously chanted:
مولاك مضى و مولاك بقي
A maula has passed and a maula remains. Burhanuddin Maula (RA) has departed leaving behind Mufaddal Maula (TUS) in his stead. The mercy of his eyes will now shine in the eyes of Mufaddal Maula (TUS). His munificence will now flow from the hands of his prodigious son. He will now speak to us by the medium of his successor.
May Allah grant him the strength to endure this great calamity and grant him a long life of prosperity and happiness. And may Allah fulfill all the goals and intentions of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (RA) in him.