Title: Questions that have been raised about Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi's Bahishti Zewar

Question: There has been much criticism raised about Bahishti Zewar that Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi's teachings were against the holy Quran and sunnah. Some of the questions raised are i.e. "Part 2. (book arwaae salaasa urdu version published by Maktaba Remaaia (purchased from Amsons/IPCI Coventry Road in Birmingham) by Ashraf Ali Thanvi (author of Bahishti Zewar). (Ashraf Ali Thanvi says "Abdur Rahman was a great man of kashf whenever people came to him for a tawiz asking for a girl or a boy he would give it to them and inform them the gender of the child and when asked how he knows if it is a boy or a girl he used to reply what can I do the image of the child is displayed in front of me".) (page 162 and 243)". They say this is shirk and only Allah knows what the gender of the child is going to be. Could you shed some light on this please?

Answer ID: 45731Posted on: Sep 1, 2020

Bismillah hir-Rahman nir-Rahim !

(Fatwa: 992/L-352/TL=1434) (1) Who is criticizing Bahishti Zewar and which matter of it is against the holy Quran and sunnah? Explain it and submit the query again. (2) Sometimes an awliya and pious people are informed about some matters through kashf (spiritual insight) as per which they inform about the incidents happened in past. Such a condition is not unlikely if one’s heart is free from worldliness and mundane relationships. Hadhrat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanavi (رحمة الله عليه) writes: “The effect of kashf is that the incidents happening in the world of images which are hidden from common eyes come across their eyes and they see them. This is possible if the heart is free from materialism and mundane relationship.” In this connection the famous incident of Hadhrat Umar Farooq peace be upon him يا ساريۃ الجبل is a proof. Hence if some pious person tells that this woman shall give birth to a boy or girl out of kashf then it may happen and she can possibly give birth to a boy or girl as per his saying. However, Ulama have briefed about kashf and Ilham that they are suppositions and cannot be taken for granted. In contrary to it, the knowledge of Allah is ultimate in which there is no place for doubt. Thus, there is a difference between the knowledge of Allah and kashf and one cannot be equated with the other. Therefore it was also known that it is ignorance to term it as shirk.