Ghulamey Ahlulbayt 2022 : A Very Uniquely Spiritual Attar

Ghulamey Ahlulbayt is a very spiritually and meaningful Islamic-themed Attar, of which the story unfolds below ...


July 2022...

This was a really unique project that came about as a bit of a complete accident.

I had a customer that had received several samples from me. He liked everything, but for some reason felt compelled to mix those samples together. To his surprise ... something truly magical happened, to which he has been imploring me to recreate and then offer in the shop. Who am I to deny a request such as that?

Before I knew what he had done, he described this otherworldy scent to me :

"The result is just absolutely out of this world and unexplainable. I get hints of rose and musk attar that are very well balanced and it has a nasal and sinus soothing and cleansing feel similar to menthol or eucalyptus but without the mintiness, nasal draining, sharpness or anything of the like. It is a very ethereal smell, almost 4 dimensional. I just want to keep smelling it. I hope you can do something with this and make something really amazing!"

I had wanted to name it after him, but he asked rather to name it Ghulamey Ahlulbayt.

I told him he was going to need to elaborate on what that name meant, and this is the wonderful story I was told.

Below is a transcription of the conversation :


THE STORY


Customer:
"The name is comprised of two words, Ghulamey and Ahlulbayt.

Ghulam means "servant" in Urdu language. Ghulam-ey with "ey" at the end means "servant of."
Ahlulbayt is a portmanteau of three separate Arabic words Ahl (People) Al (of) Bayt (the House), Ahl Al Bayt = Ahlulbayt.
Ghulam-e Ahlulbayt means "servant of the People of the House."

Now who the People of the House are may be too deep a rabbit hole than in which you perhaps would wanna delve into right now, though I highly suggest you do if you're curious about gaining significant knowledge. And I'm happy to tell you more about them if you're interested.

Suffice it to say that this sentence only has the utmost positive connotations and meaning for those who understand it, and for those who don't, it would also have a positive meaning if they were to understand it.

It holds an inexplicable value to me, and I would much prefer it to be used for the scent's name instead of my name, and it would mean a lot to me if you did."


My Reply :
"Take me down the rabbit hole"

Customer :
"I've been thinking since you asked me on how best to take you down the rabbit hole, at what speed, to what extent, and with what purpose. Because it is my belief that this hole isn't a hole, it's an infinitely wide and infinitely deep well that contain all of the knowledge, wisdom, and secrets of all things, everywhere, in all of the universe. And it is up to us individually whether we are guided to this well, how long we choose to stay, whether we decide to drink, and if so how much we drink.

And perhaps this is an entirely too long and too deep of an answer, far beyond what you perhaps would want or expect to be behind the title of a scent. But you did ask, and I feel obliged.

I've come to the conclusion that perhaps the best thing to do right now is to give you a very brief summary of my personal beliefs in hopes that it both answers your question about the name I chose, and sparks your own curiosity to learn more if you find yourself desiring to know more. Each of the sentences below could have entire libraries overflowing with books dedicated to describing the intricate depths of them, and still not be sufficient.

I thought that I can go into such detail with you because I believe you may be very open-minded and curious to all forms of knowledge, as one should be. Since you have used the name Ghilaf e Kaaba for a scent and were willing to use my name as one as well.

I'm a Shia Muslim and the following is what I believe whole heatedly.
I believe in One God Who created this and all universes and all things within those universes, including us. And I believe this not through the blind lens of simple faith, but instead through the wide open and illuminated spectacles of deep understand of all sciences including biology, chemistry, anatomy, physiology, physics, astrophysics, maths, quantum physics, psychology, sociology, etc. And through utmost utilization of my logical and rational capabilities.

I believe the purpose of our creation is to come to realize the existence of One God and understanding Him through understanding His creations (universe and all within it) and His revelations and messaged sent directly to us to make us aware of Him and be guided to Him, but all in a very specific and unique manner that is of His choosing, not ours.

I believe He first created a Noor (an essence of pure and indescribable light which He separated from His own essence) that was Prophet Muhammad SAWW. He then divided that Noor into four additional Noors, his daughter Fatimah ASWS, brother in law and Imam Ali ASWS, and his grandsons Imam Hasan and Imam Hussain. These Five are known in Shia Islam as The Pure Five, and also The People of The House, The Ahlulbayt.

Out of love for these Five, God created all things and us so that we may come to recognize and understand Him and His essence through these Five.

He then sent man, Adam down to earth as His deputy and representative knowing what would occur and become of humanity. He then consecutively sent down 124,000 prophets around the world, throughout all of time and history, to all civilizations, to educate and guide them, and evolve and prepare them by increasing their intellectual capacity. And those who were unjust and exceeded all bounds, He utterly destroyed, such that we today walk in the remains of what they had created although they no longer exist themselves.

Some of these prophets hold a really high stature and status in Islam and they include Noah, Moses, Abraham, and Jesus. Last and greatest of all of these 124,000 prophets, the seal of the prophethood, is Prophet Muhammad SAWW.
Who transformed the most vile, uneducated, atrocious, despicable, utterly animalistic beings, who used to bury their new born daughters alive, keep and brutalize slaves, worships while naked and drunk, and not honor any agreements, torture and oppress the poor, etc. into human beings who sparked the modern intellect and social etiquette of mankind by inventing maths, sciences, and social principles.

However, God didn't send 124,000 prophets to mankind and give them original Torah, Psalms, original Bible, and then finally Quran and Islam, to then just abandon them without any further firm and undeniable guidance. He Himself chose and appointed 12 Imams who are absolutely pure, utterly righteous, and totally infallible to govern and guide mankind after prophet Muhammad's SAWW death. And 11 of them are grandsons of the prophet himself, from his household, and his lineage. They start first and foremost with Imam Ali, the cousin and son in law of the prophet, who was on numerous occasions verbally, physically, and Quranically appointed as an Imam after the prophet. However, some "men" under the guise of "Muslims" and "companions of prophet", completely ignored the prophet's specific commands, which were God's commands, and chose themselves as leaders of the Muslims and forced pretty much all to pay allegiance to them the day of the prophet's death. So due to these animals, right after the death of the prophet, the Muslims split into two groups, the "Shia" who believe that the sole authority to govern and guide mankind can and is only chosen by God Himself and not by men who are themselves inept, naive, sinners. Therefore only the prophet's own family and his grandsons can guide mankind, starting with Imam Ali. The second being the "Sunni" who believe that humans can indeed choose their own leaders and believe in the "caliphs".

Now coming back to the title itself, The People of The House is how God refers to prophet Muhammad SAWW, his family, his progeny, the Pure Five. And I am a servant of these Pure beings. Hence Ghulamey Ahlulbayt. It is far more meaningful and honorific to me than my own name."


**This is a transcription of my client's story. It is HIS story. HIS journey. If this resonates with you, I hope that you can enjoy this Attar, composed entirely by accident by the combining of several samples of my work, which I present to you here.

Materials: Ratnaditya,Man Musk,Musk Rose Attar,Ghilaf e Kaaba,Mysore Sandalwood,Hindi Oud,Malaysian Oud,Thai Oud