Hazrat Thanwi's Love For His Wife & The Glitzy Achkan!

A strange incident with regards to Hazrat Thanwi
(This article has been translated from Islahi Khutbaat)

Hazrat Mufti Taqi Usmani Sahib (DB) mentions,

“I remember a very strange story which I heard from my respected father (Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Shafi rahimahullah). It is a story which gives a great lesson.

Hazrat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi rahmatullahi alayh had two wives. One was elderly and one was young. Both had a great relationship with Hazrat. However the elderly wife was would always be thinking about how she could bring some rest to Hazrat.

Once, Eid was approaching and she really desired from her heart to make a Achkan (a long jacket type of thing click for image). There was a special type of cloth that would be used in that time for this and its name was “ankh kaa nasha” (the intoxication of the eyes). It was a very bright type of cloth also.

She began to sew Hazrat wala a Achkan without asking him prior to making it. She entertained the thought of seeing Hazrat’s happiness and thus did not tell him about it in order to surprise him. She spent the entirety of Ramadhan making this garment for Hazrat; this was because they did not have machines in those days so clothing had to be sewn and stitched by hand.

Thus she finished making the garment and she gifted it to Hazrat on the night before Eid. She said to him, “I have made this Achkan for you... my heart wishes that you wear this to the Eidgah and lead the prayer in it (the prayer would consist of thousands of people).”

Now, Hazrat’s persona was something else and this dazzling Achkan was something else (i.e. Hazrat was a very simple person and did not wear anything flamboyant). Hazrat’s persona was completely the opposite of this dazzling Achkan! However Hazrat mentions, “Had I refused to wear this garment, her heart would have been broken. She had spent the entire month of Ramadhan making this garment with so much effort and love.” Thereafter, just to make the heart of his wife happy, he said, “Masha Allah!!! You have made a beautiful Achkan!”

He then wore this Achkan to Eidgah and lead the prayer. When he finished the prayer, a person came to Hazrat and said, “Hazrat! You know this Achkan you are wearing, it does not give you any beauty because it is of a very dazzling nature.”

Hazrat replied, “Yes bhai! You are correct!” He then took this Achkan off and gave it to this man as a Eid gift and told him to wear it.

After this, Hazrat Thanwi related this whole incident to my father (Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Shafi rahimahullah) and he said, “Don’t ask me as to how much my heart was being torn apart inside as I was walking towards the Eidgah. This is because I have never in my entire life worn a dress as glitzy as this but in my heart I made the intention that ‘this Allah ki bandi (slave of Allah) has spent her entire month making this garment for me... let me make her heart happy. After wearing this, I even got joked about. People joked about me when they saw me and would say, ‘What has he come to this place wearing?!’ But I did all this just to make the heart of my wife happy.” [Islahi Khutbaat]

Allah hu Akbar! What is amazing here is the beautiful relationship Hazrat had with his wife. On one side there is a wife who loves her husband so much that she spent the entirety of Ramadhan making him a garment and on the other side, we have a man who loves his wife so much that despite him not liking the garment himself, he still put a front on to make his wife happy. How many of us can today say that 1) We would spend such time in thought of our beloved and 2) We would happily work towards keeping the hearts of our beloved happy despite being joked and jeered about?

May Allah Ta’ala give us strength and taufiq by which everything is then possible. May He out of His infinite love and mercy give us the ability to love in the correct manner. Ameen