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THE
LIFE AND TIMES OF "HAZRAT OAWIS AL-QARNEES [ABO AMER OWAIS
BIN AMER BIN HARB BIN MORAD BIN KARN BIN AL-MORADEE] (May Allah
Be Pleased With Him)" WITH THE DEEPEST RESPECT AND DEDICATION
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O
GOD, IF I WORSHIP THEE FOR FEAR OF HELL,
LET ME BURN IN HELL
AND IF I WORSHIP THEE OUT OF LONGING FOR HEAVEN,
THE FORBID ME HEAVEN
IF I WORSHIP THEE ONLY FOR THY SAKE,
THEN DO NOT DEPRIVE ME OF THY SIGHT
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HAZRAT
OAWIS AL-QARNEES [ABO AMER OWAIS BIN AMER BIN HARB BIN MORAD
BIN KARN BIN AL-MORADEE] (May Allah Be Pleased With Him) was
born in a small village called karan, situated in yemen he was
tall, thin and weak his complexion was wheatish and his eyes
were blue his body was very hairy and he had a dense beard.
HAZRAT
OAWIS AL-QARNEES (May Allah Be Pleased With Him) led a very
simple and lonely life, spending most of his time in worship
and the remaining tending and caring for his aged mother who
was blind. he was very obedient and never went against the wishes
of his mother his clothing consisted of a pyjama and a blanket
make from camels hair food was never important, he would go
on for days eating only dates and fasting.
People
considered stones mad, they teased and pelted stones at him
when children stoned him, he would tell them to throw small
stones at him so that he would be able to worship ALLAH despite
the injuries he led a solitary life and was never worried about
worldly affairs.
HAZRAT
OAWIS AL-QARNEES (May Allah Be Pleased With Him) clearly loved
and followed the sunnats of PROPHET MOHAMMED (Peace And Blessings
Of ALLAH Be Upon Him) his desire to meet the PROPHET MOHAMMED
(Peace And Blessings Of ALLAH Be Upon Him) personally was never
fulfilled because his mother needed constant care. inspite of
this fact HAZRAT OAWIS AL-QARNEES (May Allah Be Pleased With
Him) loved PROPHET MOHAMMED (Peace And Blessings Of ALLAH Be
Upon Him) more than all the SAHABAS.
On
a instance it is said in Hadis that on hearing that PROPHET
MOHAMMED (Peace And Blessings Of ALLAH Be Upon Him) had lost
a tooth. HAZRAT OAWIS AL-QARNEES (May Allah Be Pleased With
Him) broke all his teeth a gesture which none of the SAHABAS
showed.
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Few
people were aware of HAZRAT OAWIS AL-QARNEES (May Allah Be Pleased
With Him) existance as he did not like fame once a man by the
name of Rabi-Bint-A-Khatim waited patiently with the intention
of meeting HAZRAT OAWIS AL-QARNEES (May Allah Be Pleased With
Him) three days passed by, HAZRAT OAWIS AL-QARNEES (May Allah
Be Pleased With Him) did not spare him a moment as he was totally
engrossed in pray the man returned without meeting him.
Before
the end of PROPHET MOHAMMED (Peace And Blessings Of ALLAH Be
Upon Him) he sent his Salaam and request to HAZRAT OAWIS AL-QARNEES
(May Allah Be Pleased With Him) asking him to plead to ALLAH
almighty for mercy and forgiveness of all mankind HAZRAT UMER
FAROOQ (May Allah Be Pleased With Him), HAZRAT ALI (May Allah
Be Pleased With Him) and HAZRAT BILAL (May Allah Be Pleased
With Him)inquired a lot about HAZRAT OAWIS AL-QARNEES (May Allah
Be Pleased With Him) during haj. with the help of the description
given to them by PROPHET MOHAMMED (Peace And Blessings Of ALLAH
Be Upon Him) they found HAZRAT OAWIS AL-QARNEES (May Allah Be
Pleased With Him) in a jungle in yemen. they greeted him and
presented the Kurta PROPHET MOHAMMED (Peace And Blessings Of
ALLAH Be Upon Him) had sent for him.
Taking
the kurta HAZRAT OAWIS AL-QARNEES (May Allah Be Pleased With
Him) went away deep into the jungle to ask ALLAH to spare mankind
of his sins. his head bent in pray, HAZRAT OAWIS AL-QARNEES
(May Allah Be Pleased With Him) did not rise, HAZRAT UMER FAROOQ
(May Allah Be Pleased With Him) disturbed his prayer otherwise
it is said that HAZRAT OAWIS AL-QARNEES (May Allah Be Pleased
With Him) would have made ALLAH forgive mankind of each and
every sin.
HAZRAT
OAWIS AL-QARNEES (May Allah Be Pleased With Him) invited HAZRAT
UMER FAROOQ (May Allah Be Pleased With Him) the next day for
fajr namaz he asked him to get along with him the king and his
noblemen on reaching the mosque on friday fajar. the king, his
noblemen, HAZRAT UMER FAROOQ (May Allah Be Pleased With Him)
saw HAZRAT OAWIS AL-QARNEES (May Allah Be Pleased With Him)
wearing rich and fine clothes, sitting on a throne it is said
that the clothes, finery and throne were brought down by angels
from heaven. this was a small Miracle of the lost capabilities
of HAZRAT OAWIS AL-QARNEES (May Allah Be Pleased With Him).
Towards
the end of his life he lived in a cave and worshipped ALLAH
day and night he joined the army and fought the “Jung-a-Safin”
he died a martyr, fight Islam or is mujahedeen did not have
to dig a grave for HAZRAT OAWIS AL-QARNEES (May Allah Be Pleased
With Him) as it was already present. the burial clothes “Kafan”
did not look like they belonged to the world.
SHRINE
One
of the Outstanding, Islamic & Archeological
Monuments in Yemen
Saleh Abdullbaqi
Cultural Editor - Yemen Times
Casting
an eye over the Islamic monuments in Yemen, you will be amazed
to discover that they are indeed great and far from any kind
of description. These Islamic landmarks had been centres of
illumination and enlightenment for the establishment for the
establishment of one of the greatest civilizations history have
ever recorded. They also became a tourist bridge that receive
local as well as international attention. They are perfect examples
of the deeply-rooted civilization of Yemen.
In this cultural article of this issue, I will be focusing on
an important milestone of our Islamic culture at Zabeed, Al-Fakeeh
House in Hodeidah. It is the grave of the Holy Man, HAZRAT OAWIS
AL-QARNEES [ABO AMER OWAIS BIN AMER BIN HARB BIN MORAD BIN KARN
BIN AL-MORADEE] (May Allah Be Pleased With Him). His grave is
a pivotial monument highly Appreciated and admired by Yemenenis
as well as Pakistani and Indian muslims. Who have annual festivals
in this place. When writing this article, I also made Use of
good book called “The Feature Layers of the Honest and
Faithful People” by Aboo Al-Abass Ahmad Al-Zabeedi.
Owais
Al-Qarnees whole name was Abo Amer Owais bin Amer bin Harb bin
Morad bin karn Bin Al-Moradee then Al-Qarnee. He is considered
to be one of the noble, virtuous people who had done a lot to
serve Islam. The PROPHET MOHAMMED (Peace And Blessings Of ALLAH
Be Upon Him) talked about him and said that there would be someone
called Owais from Yemen who will be known for his sincere followship.
He is from the “Karn”, Indicating his nickname, who
will come suffering from leprosy. He would ask God to cure him
from this disease except for a small spot and God shall not
turn him down. The PROPHET MOHAMMED (Peace And Blessings Of
ALLAH Be Upon Him) also said that if he swore by ALLAH, ALLAH
would carry out what he swore for. Then, he pronounced the name
OWAIS and when they inquired about his identity, he said that
he suffered from leprosy, had bluish-black eyes, broad shoulders,
a long beard, he used to always look at his prying place and
cry over himself.
There
was a bright spot under his left shoulder, which was a unique
mark of his. However, he was very well known to be among the
most faithful in heaven, so the PROPHET MOHAMMED (Peace And
Blessings Of ALLAH Be Upon Him) asked OMAR BIN AL-KHATAB as
well as ALI BIN ABO TALEB (May Allah Be Pleased With Them) if
they could meet him one day and ask him to ask God to forgive
their sins. When the PROPHET MOHAMMED (Peace And Blessings Of
ALLAH Be Upon Him) passed away, HAZRAT OMAR and HAZRAT ALI (May
Allah Be Pleased With Them) kept looking for him for almost
ten years. however, they could Not find him at all. In the same
year of HAZRAT OMAR's death, a person called Abo Kaiss Went
at the top of a mountain in Yemen and shouted as loud as he
could Asking whether the natives know someone called OWAIS.
They told him that there was no one called so, then a person
turned up and said that he had a poor nephow called Owais but
he was a mere camel peasant.
HAZRAT
OMAR(May Allah Be Pleased With Him) asked him then about his
distention. He was told that he was living in Ba’arak Arafat.
Therefore, they rode quickly to Arafat. When reaching there,
they could see him praying and his camels were around him they
greeted him and then they asked his name. When he saw their
insistence to know his name, he told them to leave him alone.
Only then they told him that the PROPHET MOHAMMED (Peace And
Blessings Of ALLAH Be Upon Him) told them that there would be
someone called OWAIS, who suffered from leprosy and had bluish-black
eyes. They told him that they wanted to make sure of another
thing to prove that he was the right person. They told him that
there was a bright spot under his left shoulder. When they saw
it they started kissing him and asking for his blessing. They
asked him to pray to God to forgive them and he refused.
Then,
he asked them who they were. Realizing that the two inquirers
were not more than the CLAIF OMAR and ALI BIN ABI TALEB, he
stood up and agreeted them and asded God to forgive and have
mercy on them. When HAZRAT OMAR (May Allah Be Pleased With Him)
tried to give him some money and clothes he refused and said
that he earned his living from his work and he was content with
what he had. Then, he asked them to go back to where they were
and leave him to lead the same life style. However, interstingly
after this incident, Owais give up his career as a camel peasant
and devoted his life to worshipping God.
During
the caliphate of HAZRAT ALI(May Allah Be Pleased With Him),
he participated in Islamic conquests. He was said to have died
in Safeen during the caliphate of Ali bin Abi Taleb rule in
37. It is also said that he used to pray for long periods of
time to the extent that he used to spend the whole day and night
praying to God and asking for his forgiveness.
Many
people are used to visiting this place, especially Pakistanis
who used to stay there for some days upon their getting back
from Al-Haj (Islamic primilage) season. They stay there to perform
some rituals. They also used to distribute some presents and
gifts to the people living in the region. They also rebuilt
and renewed the shrine several times. It is said that the French
Orientals who visited Yemen in the nineties visited this shrine.
However, today the people in the area feel very sorry because
this shrine has not been appropriately cared for lately, and
is suffering from ignorance and carelessness.
The
dome which appears in the picture was rebuilt after it was destroyed
in the 12th Century (1320). When I inquired why the shrine was
mostly visited by Pakistani and Indian Muslims, I was told that
when Indians used to go to Al-Haj in the past, they used to
moor their ships at Mocha, in Hodeidah. Then, they walked the
rest of the way to Saudi Arabia through Yemen, as there were
no means of transportation at that time. On their way, they
used to pass by this holy shrine. They were very attracted to
it for it was eloquently decorated. They used to stay there
for many days before continuing their journey to Makkah. Thus,
Indians and Pakistanis inherited the conventions of visiting
this shrine. Today, visiting HAZRAT OAWIS AL-QARNEES (May Allah
Be Pleased With Him) has become a practice done every year.
To
sum it all up, this Islamic shrine of this virtuous and holy
man should be given some attention and care. We pronounce this
plea for those in charge to keep and preserve such Islamic,
historical and archaeological monuments for we will never achieve
anything in the future without preserving our past which was
very fertile and rich
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