Obeying the Law
Once Muftī Muhammad Taqi Usmānī (may Allah preserve him) visited Jeddah for one day to attend an Islamic finance seminar. He was on a business visa which explicitly forbade performance of Umrah and Haj. Giving due respect to this absurd restriction, he did not perform Umrah and only visited the Haram Shareef to perform Fajr Salah and make tawāf.
Muftī M. Taqi Saheb is quite particular about these kinds of laws and restrictions. He considers them to be a part of religious injunction to fulfil the rules and regulations made by the authorities in charge. He takes them very seriously and expects his disciples also to do the same.
Mufti M. Taqi Saheb is also particular about the five year rule for Hajj and tasrih (Haj permission certificate). That is, a person should not perform another Haj before a five-year interval. This applies to all Muslims, both living in Saudi Arabia and abroad. In addition, those living in Saudi Arabia have to get an authentic Haj permission certificate from the concerned authorities prior to Haj.
The 5 year non-return Hajj rule imposed by the Saudi authorities may be the reason why the same rule has been imposed upon the staff of Darul 'Uloom Karachi. No member of the staff, including the senior teachers, are allowed to go for Hajj during the Madrasah teaching time within a minimum of 5 years of their last trip.
Indeed Muftī Muhammad Taqi Uthmāni Sāheb is not the first nor the only leading 'Alim to abide by rules and regulations of authorities in this way. This is something they have learnt and inherited from their noble father, Muftī Muhammad Shafi' who in turn had inherited it from his mentor, Hakimul-Ummah Moulānā Ashraf 'Ali Thanwi (rahimahumullah).
There are countless incidents from the life of Hakimul-Ummah which illustrate this strict adherence to the law of countries, even if they be non-Islamic countries.
A khalifah-e-mujaz (and not 'majaz' as many tend to say!) of Hakimul-Ummah, once came to Thana Bhawan to visit him. He had travelled by train from another part of India to reach the khanqa in Thana Bhawan.
When he met Hakimul-Ummah, the latter, when asking the former of how he was, etc., asked him how old his son who was accompanying him was. The khalifah replied that he was so many years old.
Hakimul-Ummah then asked him whether he had bought him an adult's ticket for the train journey. He replied in the negative, justifying it (as many people would) by saying that though the boy was not eligible to travel on a child's fare due to his age, he appeared to be a child.
Upon hearing this, Hakimul-Ummah said "Inna lillahi wa inna …" and stripped the khalifah of his khilafah (successorship) or ijazah (permission) in sulūk (tasawwuf).
(a student of Mufti Taqi Uthmānī)
