The Reality of Qaseedah Burdah (Poem of the Scarf)

Questioner:

What is the reality of the famous Qaseedah Burdah (Poem of the Scarf) by Imam Busayree and which is shown on T.V? Who is this Imam Busayree?

Answer:

There are two(2) people famously known as Busayree:

• Haafidh Shihaab ud-Deen Abu al-Abbas Ahmed ibn Abee Bakr ibn Isma’eel al-Busayree al-Qaahiree

  He was born in 762 hijri and died in 840 hijri at the age of 78 years. He was a student of Haafidh Balqeenee, Hafidh Iraqee, Haafidh Haythamee & Haafidh Ibn Hajar, and others. Zawaaid Sunan Ibn Maajah & Ithaaf al-Khayrah al-Mahrah fi Zawaaid al-Masaneed al-Ashrah are very famous amongst his works. His teacher, Haafidh Ibn Hajar has praised him in his book ‘Anbaa il-Ghamr’ (8/431). The condition of this Busayree is mentioned in the following books:

  Anbaa il-Ghamr, al-Zui al-Lama’ by as-Sakhawee (1/251), Hisn al-Muhaazarah by Suyuti (1/363), Shazaraat az-Zahab (7/233), an-Nujoom az-Zaahirah (15/209), Zayl Tabaqat al-Huffaz (379), and others.

  He was as-Shaykh, al-Mufeed, as-Saaleh, al-Muhaddis, al-Faadhil. But he had a hot temparament and his letters had a lot of extrapolation in terms of text and names.

• Muhammad ibn Sa’eed ibn Hammad ibn Hassan al-Busayree al-Walasee

  Born 208 hijri and died 295 hijri. This man came before Haafidh Ibn Hajar & Haafidh Dhahabee. According to my knowledge, no hadeeth scholar has mentioned him nor is his being declared Thiqah or Sudooq (truthful) is proven from any of the dependable hadeeth scholars. So it is known that he was an unknown poet.

Qaseedah Burdah is filled up with exaggeration and has poems against Qur’an & Sunnah. For e.g: it is written in الفصل العاشر فی ذکر المناجات و عرض الحاجات

يا أكرم الخلق مالي من الوذ به

سواك عند حلول الحادث العمم

O most honorable of creation!I have no one to take refuge in except you at occurrence of widespread calamity.

(Itr al-Wardah fi Sharh al-Burdah, translation by Dhul Faqqaar Ali Deobandi p. 85)

To say that the only place of refuge in times of widespread calamity is the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) is in complete opposition to the Qur’an and the saheeh ahadeeth.

Allah says in the Qur’an:

And there is no help except with Allah, the Overpowering, the Perfectly Wise.

(Surah Aal-e-Imraan v.126,translation by Ahmed Raza Khan Barelwi p. 106)

Hence, it is understood that to help without any other medium is a characteristic Attribute of Allah. Thus, to ask for such a help from the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) is incorrect.

A man who said or will say to the Prophet: “O Messenger of Allah! Help me!”, so the Messenger of Allah(sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said : “I do not own anything to give you”.(Saheeh Bukhari 3073, Saheeh Muslim 1831)

This hadeeth is also supported by Surah al-A’raaf v. 188

Also, it should be kept in mind that a saheeh hadeeth is evidence in itself, be it Beliefs or Jurisprudence or Rewards(for action) or Virtues even if it has a clear verse of Qur’an supporting it or not. In all the cases, a saheeh hadeeth is evidence. All praise is due to Allah.

Benefit:

It has been written in Qaseedah Burdah

The extreme depth of our knowledge and research concerning him was that,

He was a man and the best of humans, and you.

(Qaseedah Burdah ;translation by Malik Ashraf Naqshbandi)

In this poem, Busayri has described the the Prophet and the light of guidance, the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) as Human and the Best of all the humans. However, a few people get irritated with the word human (when describing the Prophet)

Author: Hafiz Zubair Alizai Rahimahullah

Translated by: taalibeilm via (sheikhzubairalizai dot wordpress dot com)

Reference: Sheikh Zubair Alizai`s book Azwah Fataawa Ilmiyyah (vol:01 Page:101-103)