Dimensions of Spirituality

by Shaykh Ahmad Hendricks

In talking about sin another urgent question needs to be looked at. Why and how do people fall into it? Knowledge of the causes and then of managing them wisely with the intention of ultimately removing them is one of the fundamental ways of overcoming the disease. There are both general and specific causes of sin whether they are sins of the body or sins of the heart. In this and the next essay we will look at the general causes. The specific causes of sin will be dealt with in future essays and as the need arises. Generally speaking people fall into a particular sin as a result of mainly four causes:

1. Lack of knowledge
2. The influences of Shaytan
3. The nafs or lower self
4. Friends and peer groups

Let us look briefly at each of these points starting with the first and second:

Lack of Knowledge.

Lack of knowledge is the great shortcoming of humankind. Educational systems of all types exist precisely to overcome this universal human weakness. Quite obviously sins cannot be avoided if they are not known to be sins. The beginning of right living or the persuance of the good life depends entirely on the degree of knowledge of the devotee. It has to be remembered though that knowledge can be both acquired (kasbi) or innate (fitri). Often people with a minutae of acquired knowledge feel dissatisfied with their lives. This dissatisfaction sometimes has its source in the innate knowledge of goodness and evil that every soul is inspired with. As Allah, the Most High, says: "And by the Soul and its creation in perfect proportion and balance, And the knowledge of evil and good He inspired into it." [Surah al-Shams,v 7-8]. Much of Islamic spirituality is geared to the awakening of that innate sense of good and evil. But this innate understanding of good and evil is not enough. Human nature is complex. Circumstance and upbringing can blind the fitrah. Some scholars hold that it can even be changed and distorted. As a result all of the well-known schools of spiritual development or tariqah (pl. turuq) as they are known stipulates the acquisition of a basic knowledge of Islam before higher instruction is given. And this, with good reason, if only to ensure that the student has a firm foundation on which to develop. It is hoped of-course that a basic knowledge of sin has been clearly described in the previous essays in this series.

Learning and acquiring knowledge is obligatory in Islam. One cannot go to the masjid everyday for the daily salah and neglect the important duty of gaining more knowledge. The two must go together. Doing the one and neglecting the other and still imagining that we are improving as Muslims is one of the great delusions of our time. The Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him said, " Seeking knowledge is an obligation on every Muslim male and female"[ Narrated by Bukhari]. In this hadith we have one of the rare occasions where the Nabi, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, specifically uses the Arabic term "faridah" or "obligation" mainly to underline the importance of knowledge.

Shaytan and the heart

In order to explain in meaningful terms the relationship between our heart and the workings of Shaytan, Ibn Qudama compares the heart to a fortress. He says " Know that the heart is like a fortress. The Shaytan is the enemy who wants to invade the fortress, own, and control it. And there is no way to protect the fortress except by guarding the entrances. The doors cannot be guarded if we are ignorant of them and the Shaytan cannot be repelled except through knowledge of his routes of penetration. The doors and pathways of the Shaytan are the qualities of the slave and they are many." [Mukhtasar minhaj al-qasidin, Abridgement of the path of the seekers, Ibn Qudama, pg. 193-194].

Traditionally the word heart (qalb) has a number of different applications. In this passage the author uses it to refer to the entire non-physical part of us. And we know the heart in this sense is both susceptible to higher influences in the form of guidance from Allah, the Most High, and tends to rebel against that guidance through its desires and passions. Now the point of the author is that Shaytan is able to influence us and work his tricks of illusion and deception precisely because we are not vigilant enough and not knowledgeable enough of our shortcomings and of our negative qualities. Take for example envy and greed. When these shortcomings are stimulated for some reason. We become, for example, envious of the wealth, fame or knowledge of another individual, or we become greedy for more worldly possessions. The first thing that then happens is the natural light (nur) of the heart becomes dim. It must be remembered here that innately (bil-fitrah) we are equipped to know the Devils ruse. Every human being is gifted with the light (nur) of insight. This insight however, is blocked and even seriously impaired if greed and envy gets the upperhand over us. Once this happens, once we fall victim to envy and greed and many other negative qualities � such as fascination with money, impatience, suspicion, bad-temper and so forth - Shaytan comes into our hearts and beautifies the actions that result from these blameworthy attributes. Whether the actions we want to take are haram or ugly in the extreme, we will do them because Shaytan makes them appear acceptable to us. The result is we adopt a sinful path while at the same ironically thinking we are living the good life.

Much of what we are still going to discuss in this column is going to deal with the crucial subject of self-discipline and self-knowledge and how these can be harnessed to overcome the influences of Shaytan.

The Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said in a tradition narrated by al-Baihaqi , " Your worst enemy is your nafs within you". In another tradition he, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is reported to have said, " We now return from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad, the jihad against the nafs". Another hadith, about which Imam Nawawi expressed reservations and which Imam al-Mawardi in his Adab al-dunya wa al-din argues is sound at least in its meaning, says, " He who knows himself knows his Lord". The person who knows and comes to realise the essential weakness, insignificance, powerlessness and impermanence of himself (his nafs) will realise and know the Strength, Greatness, Power and Permanence of Allah, the Most High. In other words one of the paths to knowledge of Allah, the Most High, is honest self-reflection and knowledge of the self (nafs). If this is true then the converse is equally true. The individual who is ignorant of himself (his nafs) will be ignorant of Allah, the Most High. These traditions and meanings are adequate proof of the importance of acquiring a good working knowledge of the nafs, its nature and ways of curing its illnesses.

In the Quran Allah, the Most High says, "O peaceful nafs (al-nafs al-mutma�innah) return to your Lord, satisfied and satisfied with. Enter into my jannah enter together with my slaves". In another verse Allah, the Most High, revealed that Zulaykhah said, " Surely it is the nafs (al-nafs al-ammarah bi al-su�) that commands with evil". In surah al-qiyamah Allah, the Most High, says, " Verily I swear by the the day of judgement and verily I swear by the reproaching self (al-nafs al-lawwamah)". Taken together these verses show the different phases and modes of the nafs. At one level of development it is completely at peace and at another level it is fiery, passionate and incitely. It drives one to cross the boundaries of good. In the other verse Allah, Most High swears by the reproaching nafs or the conscience as we would say today. We know that Allah, the Most High, in some instances swears by certain things to underline its importance. In this surah the day of judgement and the conscience is mentioned together and both of these realities we know play key roles in the process of moral and ethical transformation.

What then is the nafs? Opinions have differed on this crucial issue. A good working definition is given by Shaykh al-Kurdi, he says, " Know that the nafs is a divine subtlety and it is the ruh (human spirit) before it entered and became connected to the body. And Allah, the Most High, created the spirits before the physical bodies during which time it was near and close to Allah, the Most High. When He ordered them to connect and be associated with the physical body they perceived the world and became veiled from the Divine Presence as a result of attachment to the physical world�..".

To clarify all of this we have to bear in mind the following points. Everyone of us have basically two sides to him or herself. On the one hand is the physical body, which forms the subject of modern medicine, and on the other hand there is the non-physical side which psychologists and others attempt to understand. Our non-physical self we know as our emotions, our thoughts and feelings, our passions and desires even our complexes. These non-physical elements we collectively refer to as our "self". The earlier and later scholars of tassawuf used the term�s al-nafs al-insani (human soul) to refer to our emotional and rational nature and the term al-nafs al-hayawani (vital or animal soul) to refer to the element that animates the body and gives it perception. The vital soul is also the source according to them of our passions and physical drives like hunger, anger and sex. Now the "nafs" according to al-Kurdi includes or comprises of both of these dimensions. It is one integral entity also called the "ruh" or spirit when it is still in its pure state prior to creation. Once the "ruh" enters the body and gives it life it acquires a new character. It aquires an outer dimension called the vital soul (al-nafs al-hayawani) and an inner dimension called human soul (al-nafs al-insani). Now as a result of these changes the "ruh" is now called the "nafs".

As a footnote we must bear in mind that the word "qalb" or heart is also often used to refer to our inner selves or our emotions, rationality and beyond. The word "nafs" or self is also often used to refer specifically to the outer vital soul or our passions and desires.

In all of this it crucial to understand that our passions and our desires, our thoughts and emotions, if kept unchecked and undisciplined and unpurified, are the most important source of sin. Our thoughts and emotions can reach great and noble heights only if we are able to free them from the incessant fire of our drives and passions. When we are dominated by our passions and desires we are at the level of developement called al-nafs al-ammarah bi al-su� or the evil self. In this condition our passions determine the way we think and feel and consequently act. The great vices of pride, arrogance, envy, slothfullness, hate and greed develope. This is the veil that imprisons us and prevents the nur of the Divine Presence from penetrating our hearts and minds.

And as we are subjected to the discipline of knowledge, salah, fasting and other �ibadaat we gain mastery and greater control over our selves. As a result our thoughts and feelings are increasingly purified, deeper levels of the "ruh" or "nafs" are uncovered or if you will deeper functions of the mind are realized and awakened. Once the passions quieten down and the inherent tendencies of the "ruh" start to emerge and awaken we have progressed to the level of al-nafs al-mutma�innah or the peaceful self.

The final general cause of sin we having a look at is the impact of social circles on the direction people take in their lives. It is crucial that we look at this matter in a balanced and mature fashion. Many parents we talk to have the tendency to place all the blame of their childs misbehavior on the circle of friends. This is not entirely correct, indeed in this kind of judgement we are denying our children their independence and their sense of individual responsibility. The same points apply in the case of the disgruntled wife towards her husband and vice versa. In saying this we are not denying that the group has an impact. The point here is that we have to look at both the individual and the social circle. In the previous essay we briefly looked at the nafs and its basic impulses and drives and how that impacts on our behavior and our relationship with Allah, the Most High. This is sufficient to prove that the individual carries a large portion of the responsibility. We need to work hard on excavating and reviving our own spiritual tendencies and on disciplining the rebellious elements in our selves. We also have the added responsibility of assisting our families to those same ends. Much of the work starts in the family and on the relationships inside the family. It amounts to denial to simply blame the circle of friends for all the woes of the world. This however is not the complete tale. It would be equally shortsighted to ignore the influences outside the family.

Imam Ghazali, may Allah be satisfied with him, in his excellent book " The beginning of guidance" recognizes that in addition to basic requirement of being faithful to the commands of Allah, the Most High, who we mix with and on what basis we mix with them is fundamental to the spiritual life. Lets start with a verse from the Quran. Allah, the Most High says in Surah al-Kahf, verse 28, " And tie yourself to those who call on their Lord in the mornings and at night seeking only His Face�" and towards the end of the same verse He, the Most High, says, "�. And do not follow (obey) those whom we closed off their hearts from Our remembrance and who follow their own whims and desires�". It is clear from this verse that Allah instructs his Nabi, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and consequently the entire ummah to associate with others on the basis of certain criteria. On the one hand we are instructed to associate with the spiritually enlightened and on the other to break ties with the spiritually dead. The word used in the verse to connote spiritual blindness is "ghaflah". The meanings of this term include the shortcomings of negligence, forgetfulness, and intellectual blindness. It is also instructive to note that these traits form the basis of the unrepentant sinful life. So we are obliged to be discriminatory in the choice of our associations and that for a very important reason. Both Imams Bukhari and Muslim, may Allah be satisfied with them, narrates a hadith of Abu Musa al-Ash�ari, may Allah be pleased with his soul, that the Nabi, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said, " The example of a good companion (jalis) and a bad one is like a perfume vendor and a blacksmith. The perfume vendor either gives you something or you purchase an item from him or you receive a pleasant fragrance from him. The blacksmith however either burns your clothes or you acquire a bad smelling odor from him." In another tradition narrated by Abu Daud and Tirmidhi, may Allah be satisfied with them, the Nabi said, " A man adopts the din of his close friends, so look carefully at the person you befriend." A third tradition I want to cite here from the collections of both Bukhari and Muslim is one often not seen in this context and a hadith I believe to be critical in any discussion of companionship and friendship. Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates that the Nabi said, " Women are married for their wealth, pedigree, beauty and din, go and marry them for their din and you will succeed." The lessons from these prophetic traditions are numerous. We will consider a few relevant to the issue under discussion. It is human nature to absorb to a degree the qualities of people we respect, admire, and regularly associate with. This process of absorption is effectively compared by the Nabi to the way perfume and the stench of the blacksmith�s shop or even the smoke and smell of burning wood clings to one�s clothes. It is also generally accepted that although temperament fails to escape the laws of hereditary, environment can effectively change and fundamentally modify those traits. If one is serious about one�s spirituality and moral development and that of one�s children we have to choose our friends and associates. All of these sayings directly teach against passive friendships. It�s not a good practice just to fall into a friendship or companionship no matter how the person�s style or personality impresses one. Suhbah or companionship is encouraged in Islam. Friendship is to be valued and respected. They fulfill all sorts of needs the individual might have. But all this goes with a price. The central focus of a Muslim ought to be his din for the simple reason that din is ultimately his vehicle of nearness to Allah, the Most High. This principle is given an interesting context in the third hadith quoted earlier. After indicating the common and largely materialistic motives of the choice of partners, the Nabi says ". Go marry them for their din�". The reason for this, Imam Nawawi in his " Gardens of the Pious" indicates is precisely because our wives are our closest companions. And when she is strongly orientated towards the religious life we should actively seek her companionship to improve our own.

Passive friendships, refusal to exercise our intellects in the choice of friendships and indiscrimination in the choice of marital partners can open up all the woes of a sinful and spiritually alienated life.

Ghazali however reminds us in his "Beginning of guidance", " Know that your Companion that never leaves you whether you are travelling or staying at home, asleep or awake, indeed in life as in death is your Lord, Master, Owner and Creator, and whenever you perform remembrance of Him, He is your company. And He, the Most High, has said so ( Imam Ghazali is referring to a hadith qudsi here), " I am the jalis ( someone who regularly sits with one) of the person who remembers Me."

Shari�ah, Tariqah, Haqiqah

by Shaykh Ahmad Hendricks

The meaning and usage of the terms shari�ah, tariqah and haqiqah is a question that has been the subject of some controversy. What exactly do they mean and why do they exist in the first place. The first of those words "shariah" is to most of us a completely familiar term. When we talk about "shari�ah" people generally understand that we are either talking about the din in general or specifically about the legal aspects or fiqh of Islam. The common expression is " we have to live according to the shari�ah" and we immediately understand when we hear this " according to the law of Allah, the Most High". The question that often mystifies Muslims is what else can there possibly be besides the law of Allah, the Most High? We have our din, we have the shari�ah the prophetic code to live by, what is the tariqah or haqiqah we hear about in connection with tasawwuf? We hope to clarify some of this in the following essay.

I�ve made the point that tafakkur is the indispensable beginning of the conscious, purposive Muslim life. Without tafakkur our lives as Muslims have to be shallow. Our Islam wont be more than imitating our parents or wont go beyond simply falling in line with the Muslim social and cultural life style. The crucial point here is that tafakkur can be revolutionary. It can change our lives radically and totally. Through the barakah and nur of tafakkur the meaning of life is shown to be far more than merely imitation and blind belief. We become dissatisfied with our simple, shallow, imitative, material existence. This dissatisfaction often leads to anguish and confusion. We are in great peril if no reliable and solid guidance is available during this time. It is best we bide our time in patience and open ourselves to mature and wise counsel. Tafakkur, we have to remember, can be induced or even forced on us from unexpected quarters. The ways of guidance are many and sometimes mysterious. Deep tafakkur can, for instance, be triggered by a crisis in one�s life - the death of a loved one or the loss and the subsequent despair of a job lost or a critical accident where the victim looses a limb and so forth.

To this Muslim "in crises", Allah, the Most High speaks beckoningly, " Surely this (Quran) is a reminder (tadhkirah) and he who wishes let him seek a path (sabil) to his Lord."

This verse makes two important points;

1. The Quran is a tadhkirah. It serves as a reminder of fundamental truths we have forgotten, the truth of where we come from and where we ultimately are all going to. It is a light that re-awakens us to the nature of reality, to the truth of ourselves and of what is beyond the grave. We are called to our higher purpose and destiny. "And we have not created men and jinn except to worship Me". Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, says, "to worship me," means to "to know me".
2. If the Quran reminds the Muslim of this let him adopt a path that leads to a deeper spiritual knowledge of Allah, the Most High, to His Pleasure and ultimately to His Paradise. Let him adopt a path that leads to his ultimate destiny, to the ma�rifah of Allah, the Most High.

The "sabil" or path or general program that leads to these high goals comprises three interrelated aspects, according to the �Ulama. Let�s us look briefly at each of these aspects:

• All the rules, ethical principles and beliefs revealed to the Prophet, may Allah�s peace and blessings be upon him are collectively called the shari�ah. The scholars of tawhid, fiqh and tasawwuf did the crucial labour of deriving, extracting and compiling the shari�ah from its twin sources the Quran and Sunnah.
• The practice of the shari�ah, preferably under the guidance of a qualified master and teacher. In this particular context the practice of the shari�ah, or, if you like, staying away from all the prohibited things outwardly and inwardly and carrying out the commands of the shar� to the best of ones ability. This is referred to as the tariqah. The word tariqah which means "road" or "method" is the practice of the shari�ah. Other uses of this term will be explained later in this series of essays, insha�allah.
• The third aspect, referred to as the haqiqah, is the fruit of knowledge and its continuous practice. The haqiqah is the fruit of the shari�ah and the tariqah. As the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is reported to have said, " He who practices what he knows, Allah will teach him what he doesn�t know."

The haqiqah in turn involves three important phases of development:

• The lifting or thinning of the veil between the seeker and what he believes in of the Divine Essence and His Attributes, His Majesty and Beauty, His Nearness to us and His Nearer�thaness. As a result of these realizations and this deeper and more direct heart knowledge the seeker gains access to the secrets of the tariqah and the lights and insights of the haqiqah.
• The nafs is cleansed of all the lower qualities and rebuilt with the praiseworthy qualities. The great akhlaq of the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, now becomes his akhlaq. For instance his patience, repentance, taqwa, istiqamah (regular worship), reliability and tawakkul (trust in Allah) are deep rooted and genuine.
• His chest has now finally opened to the nur of Islam. Ibadah and good deeds comes to him without any effort. He has reached the stage of al-nafs al-mutmainnah (the peaceful self) and reached a state of complete acceptance of the din at every level of his being.

So to summarise what we are saying here; the shari�ah is the boat we all have to sail on, the tariqah is the sea, and the haqiqah is the jewels and pearls we extract from the sea; or the shari'ah is the tree, the tariqah are the branches and the haqiqah is the fruit we enjoy.

All three of these aspects together are referred to as the "sabil" (way) to your "Rabb" in the verse quoted earlier. We cannot come near to Allah, the Most High, unless we combine all three aspects in our life; knowledge of the shari�ah, practicing the shari�ah and consequently reaping the fruits of practicing the shari�ah. The solution to our dissatisfaction and spiritual alienation is found in combining all of these aspects. The words shari�ah, tariqah, haqiqah has been coined by the �Ulama to refer to these crucial aspects of the din.

It is reported that Imam Malik, may Allah be pleased with him said: He who practices the shari�ah without the haqiqah is a fasiq (reprobate); and he who lays claim to the haqiqah without the shari�ah has left the fold of Islam; but he who combines these aspects have truly realized (the fullness of Islam).

Sainthood (wilayah) and Nearness (qurb).

by Shaykh Ahmad Hendricks

(Part 1)

Sufism has often been criticized for "excessive" veneration of the saints. The focus of this critique are the many practices, or as some would say, abuses associated with visiting the shrines of the saints rather than the station of sainthood as such. In all fairness, some scholars in our Shafite legacy have also declared some of these practices either munkar or makruh. Others developed a more nuanced opinion. Imam Ramli for example holds the position that should a man throw himself onto the grave of a saint, and he is clearly motivated by a spiritual condition (hal) or the man is overwhelmed by an emotion, this act of his is neither munkar, makruh nor, least of all, "shirk". His condition, the Imam says, is like the situation of Sayyidna Bilal who rubbed his face on the grave of the Nabi, may Allah�s peace and blessings be upon him, upon his return from Syria. Bilal was in Syria when the Nabi, may Allah�s peace and blessings be upon him, passed away. The implication here is that the practice of throwing oneself onto a grave becomes an abuse (munkar) if people ritualize it. But even here the ruling of "shirk" is absent. The new development that has recently appeared in reformist circles in general - not only Wahabism - is to declare these practices "acts of shirk". This view betrays a basic confusion between the concepts of "act" and of " belief". The truth is "acts" can never become "shirk" unless they are accompanied by a polytheistic mindset. Even then the "act" as such is not "shirk" - the "belief" or "mental orientation" is. The "act" is called "shirk" figuratively. It is simply flawed to call any "act" that looks like a bow or a prostration "shirk". If this was true, Bilal is also a mushrik. The angels in bowing or prostrating before Nabi Adam and the brothers of Nabi Yusuf in performing sujud, as the Quran says, before him will have to be similarly judged. The purpose of this article however is not to deal exhaustively with the controversial issues. I want to focus on the core subject of sainthood. Why is the station of sainthood so sought after? What is a saint and do they perform miracles? Can someone know that he or she is a saint? People also often ask, " We hear that the saints are divided into different categories and that they form some sort of heirarchy, is this true?"

Let us first look at some of the traditions and verses on the subject.

Imam �Abdul Karim al-Qushayri narrates a tradition from �Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, that the Nabi, may Allah�s peace and blessings be upon him, said, "Allah says, The one who hurts a waliyy has deemed it legal to make war against Me. And there is nothing better for the slave as a means of coming closer to Me than performing the compulsory deeds. And the slave never ceases to grow closer to Me by nawafil until I love him. And I seldom waver in doing something like I waver to draw the soul of My believing slave; because he dislikes death and I dislike to harm and there is no escape from death." In another version of this hadith narrated by Imam Nawawi Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him said, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah�s peace and blessings be upon him, said " Verily Allah has said, the one who hurts my waliyy I have declared war against him. And there is nothing better for the slave as a means of coming closer to Me than performing the compulsory deeds. And the slave never ceases to grow closer to Me by nawafil until I love him. And when I love him I am his hearing that he hears by and the sight that he sees by, and his hand that grips with, and his legs that he walks on. If he asks Me I will give and if he seeks My refuge I will give him refuge."

Both Ibn Hibban and Nisaai narrates that the Nabi, may Allah�s peace and blessings be upon him said, " There is a group of the slaves of Allah that even the Prophets and martyrs will envy," Then someone said," Who are these people perhaps we can love them." And he said, "They are a people who love each other through the light of Allah not through wealth or family ties. Their faces are filled with nur (light) and they are on pulpits of light, neither do they fear when the people fear nor do they grieve when the people grieve." Then the Nabi, may Allah�s peace and blessings be upon him, recited the verse, " Verily the �awliya of Allah do not fear nor do they grieve." [Yunus, v. 62]

�Awliya in the verse is the plural of waliyy. This word is used in two broad senses. In ordinary Arabic waliyy means friend, associate, ally. In this sense every Muslim is a waliyy of Allah because he believes in Allah and associates himself with His din. For purposes of adopting the correct attitude towards Muslims in general Imam Ahmad Zarruq recommends we understand the traditions quoted above in this sense also. We should keep in mind that Allah declares war against one who harms or hurts a waliyy. This should be enough deterrence for us to avoid developing a negative attitude and act negatively towards other Muslims. Waliy however also has a more specific meaning. In this second usage the term waliyy refers to;

1. A Muslim who embraced the �ibadah of Allah in a special way. He regularly performs his �ibadat without committing a sin because he has succeeded in freeing himself from sin.
2. Or a Muslim who Allah embraced and taken him under His Care as He says in the Quran, "And He embraces (yatawalla) the pious (salihin)." [al-A�raf, v. 166] This verse is usually understood to mean that Allah protects this Muslim from falling into sin. As a result scholars say, the condition of a Nabi is to be sinless (ma�sum) and of a waliy to be protected (mahfudh) from sin.

 (Part 2)

Continuing our discussion from the previous article a relevant and important quote is Imam Qushairi�s clear ruling on the subject, " And both these descriptions are obligatory (waajib) for a waliy to be a waliy in the first place: It is obligatory for him to comprehensively observe the rights of Allah, the Most High, both in depth and breadth, and the protection of Allah in all circumstances good or bad." And further on in his seminal essay on Sainthood in his "Risalah" he says, "And anyone against whom the law (shar�) has an objection is deluded and deceived"

One of the important points in these quotations is the utter and complete respect shown to the shari�ah. Authentic tasawwuf has everything to do with the shari�ah. Insinuations to the contrary one sometimes hear coming from the ignorant or earlier orientalist opinions that Sufism teaches one to "transcend" the law are simply mistaken and uninformed. There is no tasawwuf without the shari�ah. One of the great features of Islam is that the shari�ah and thorough observance and knowledge of the shari�ah is the means to enter the Divine Presence. The salah, for example, we should see as the Divinely ordained key and instrument through which we "travel" to His Presence. The Nabi, may Allah�s peace and blessings be upon him, is reported to have said, "The salah is the mi�raj of the Muslim". We should note the very important comparison the Nabi, may Allah�s peace and blessings be upon him, is making here. Lets think through this point for minute. The salah is the great spiritual journey of a Muslim. Compared in this hadith to the great journey of the Nabi as he travelled from the Haram in Makkah to the Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem up to regions of nearness and intimacy to Allah where even angels cannot go. This journey of the Nabi prefigures the eternal quest of the travelers on the road of tasawwuf and in terms of this hadith should be the quest of every Muslim. Naturally ordinary men and women like ourselves cannot travel to Allah both physically and spiritually as the Nabi did. The point is that the salah is a gift from Allah and his Nabi to every Muslim and is the means to achieve that unique and blessed nearness and intimacy with Allah, the Most High, similar to what the Nabi experienced on that night.

Similar remarks can be made of the entire shari�ah. In a hadith quoted in a previous essay the Nabi, may Allah�s peace and blessings be upon him, reported that Allah, the Most High, said, " There is nothing better (as a means) for my slave to come closer to me than continuous observance of all I have made obligatory (ma iftaradtu �alayhi) on him". One quick point I want to make here is we have to remember that salah, fasting, haj, and zakah are not the only obligations (faraid) in Islam. Some of the other very important obligations in Islam, are for example, correct behaviour towards one�s wife, children and neighbours; justice and fairness in one�s business dealings; justice and fairness if we hold the reigns of power in a country; bravery on the battlefield against the enemies of Islam; purity of mind and the absence of jealousy, envy, hatred, arrogance and insincerity and so forth. The shari�ah deals with all of these matters in great detail. The basic principle in all of this is, there is no way that Allah will admit us into His Presence nor allow us to enjoy the great peace of intimacy with Him unless and until we fully respect and continuously struggle to perfect and realize His sharia�ah in our lives. The earlier �ulama even went to extent of including, in addition to the obligations (fards), all the sunnah�s of the Nabi and even all the aadaab of the shari�ah. Listen to this story of one of the foremost Imams of our din.

Abu Yazid al-Bistami once went to see someone described as a waliy by his acquaintances and students. When he arrived at the "waliy�s" masjid he sat down and waited for him to finish-up and leave. As this man left the masjid he spat, not outside the masjid but inside. Ba Yazid got up and left without greeting him. Naturally this caused a stir since Ba Yazid was a particularly prominent visitor, well known in the Muslim world at the time for both his spiritual status and his scholarship. People feverishly enquired why he did this obvious public snubbing of the man. Then Ba Yazid said, "This man cannot be trusted with a single adab of the aadaab of the shari�ah, so how can he be trusted with the secrets of Allah? ".

 (Part 3)

The saint (waliy) is at once close (qarib) to Allah, the Most High, and drawn near (muqarrab). He comes closer to Allah through his own efforts in observing the shari�ah, and Allah, the Most High, in turn, assists, protects and draws the saint close to Him. Abu Hurairah, may Allah be satisfied wit him, narrates that the Messenger, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said, Allah says, " I am with the thought of my slave, if he remembers Me by himself, I remember him by Myself, and if he remembers Me in a group I remember him in a better group (than his), and if he comes close to Me the length of an out-stretched hand I draw close to him the length of a fore-arm, and if he draws close to me the length of a fore-arm I draw near to him the length an arm, and if he comes to me walking I come to him like a wind", in another narration " I am with him if he remembers Me".

This hadith is full of meaning. There is great encouragement here for people who want to enter the path of inner knowledge and closeness to Allah. " I am with the thought of my slave" and in the other narration " I am with him if he remembers Me" implies two basic and important adaab. Firstly, when we perform our �ibadah we ought to do so with the utmost purity of thought (husn dhann) and good faith towards Allah. Indeed purity of thought itself is an �ibadah. Pure thought towards Allah (husn dhann) also implies complete acceptance of His Will. The aspirant has to work hard to remove all traces of sublimated anger towards Him. Allah gives to others and He withholds from us. Dissatisfaction with the Will of Allah and indeed seething anger towards Him is the essence of envy. And secondly, since we are sitting in the Presence of Allah and He is with us, we have to observe the adab of maximum concentration on Him. If this is difficult or we cannot focus and concentrate with our whole being on Allah during our �ibadah we are required either to train ourselves or seek out someone who can train us to achieve that. The station of nearness (qurb) and the station of sainthood (wilayah) are inextricably connected. Both of which should be the desire and objective of every Muslim. According to this tradition, Allah comes to us "faster" and with greater �vigour" than we to Him.

The elevated status of the awliyah is alluded to in the tradition known as the hadith al-awliyah. Allah takes them into His care and assists them. The one who loves the awliyah loves Allah. And conversely the one who injures them, "�Allah declares war against him" [Cited by Bukhari from Abu Hurairah] and in another version of this tradition Allah says, "� he (the person who commits the injury) has declared it halal for him to make war against Me" [Cited by Imam Ahmad and Imam Qushairi from �Aishah]. The versions of this hadith cited by Tabarani differ mainly in the wording. Tabarani�s narrations also include some very interesting additions not mentioned by the other narrators. A thorough analysis of these texts will have to be left for another time and place. Here we need to comment on some of the points raised by this tradition.

1. One important conclusion we can deduce from this tradition is that love and respect for the awliyah is obligatory (wajib). And it is prohibited (haram) to dislike or injure the awliyah. There is no heavier punishment than Divine War. A punishment of this magnitude is clear evidence of obligation and prohibition. Allah declares war against the one who injures the awaliyah either by word or deed. Therefore injury to them is prohibited and the converse, respect and love for them, is an obligation. They represent the best of Islam and they embody the shari�ah in all its fullness. And consequently they are the beloved of Allah and His chosen slaves. Abu Turab Nakhshabi expressed a very important point when he said, " If the heart turns against Allah it is accompanied by criticism and dislike of the awliyah" [Narrated by Imam Qushairi]. Every Muslim who fears Allah and cares for his din should be wary of this. The criticism and sometimes open hostility against the great scholars and spiritual masters and above all the against the Sahabah, may Allah be pleased with all of them, one hears from certain quarters is cause for concern. Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Shafi�i, Sayyid Abdul Qadir Jailani, Imam Ghazali and many others, if they are not awliyah of Allah, who is? Scholarly critique of their opinions is one thing, but begrudging and belittling them is an entirely different thing. The often inexplicable aggression and hatred against some of our own local scholars and awliyah falls into the exact same category. According to Abu Turab these are symptoms of a deeper and more dangerous tendency. The reason for this hate and hostility has to be looked for in the hearts of the critics rather than in the people they are criticizing.
2. Another basic point in this tradition is that the path to the station of nearness is the shari�ah. " The best way to attain nearness to Me is to practice the obligations (ma iftaradtuhu alayhi)" and further in the tradition "� and My slave does not cease to draw nearer to Me by going beyond the obligations (nawafil) until I love him�". The path to this station of nearness and sainthood are the obligations (fara�id) and the supererogatory deeds (nawafil) both of which are exhaustively dealt with in the shari�ah. So shari�ah is the teachings, tariqah is the practice of those teachings and nearness is the objective. The beginning of the path is struggle (mujahadah) against the self to implement the shari�ah and the end is vision (mushahadah) of the Majesty and Beauty of Allah in the station of nearness. The first step anyone interested in following the path of tasawwuf should take is therefore to make the necessary effort to study the shari�ah. I have also indicated in an earlier discussion that salah, fasting and hadj are not the only fards or obligations in Islam. The other important social and ethical teachings are just as important. In this regard one of the best books to study and digest is the riyad as-salihin of Imam Nawawi.
3. The station of nearness (maqam al-qurb) is divided into two types, qurb fara�id (nearness of obligations) and qurb nawafil (nearness of supererogatory acts). We will look at these two categories is greater detail in our next discussion, insha allah.

by Shaykh Ahmad Hendricks

Many years ago a book called " Penny for your thoughts" was published. It would be interesting to see whom of the modern generation read this book or heard of it. The cliched title shouldn�t fool one. The intention of the author is to explore the content and quality of everyday thought. This book is not a treatise on logical thinking or the rules of correct reasoning. The systematic study of logic has to be looked for in other works and is usually the forte of experts and scholars. The subject of this book is more humble but extremely important. People you meet often are so deeply steeped in some thought or issue. A look of utter surprise comes into their faces when you ask them, " Penny for your thoughts?". What is of great interest to me is the fact that often people fail to recall the stream of thought that so deeply engrossed them. Yes we are aware of some of the many reasons why this happens. But for a Muslim to be so entirely taken over by everyday worries and concerns is not good enough. The author of this book suggests interesting and useful methods to help gain control over ones propensity to sink into purposeless thinking and well worth a read.

The quality of our thought is a very serious and important subject for any Muslim to consider. Says Allah, the Most High, in the Quran surah al �imran verses 190 � 191, " Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the rotations of the day and night are signs for the ulul albab. Those who remember ( dhikr) Allah, the Most High, standing, sitting and whilst reclining on their sides and who think ( tafakkur) about the creation of the heavens and the earth, [ They say] O our Lord You have not created this in vain, Glory be to Thee and protect us from the fires of hell". In this verse Allah, the Most High, speaks highly of the ulul albab or literally the possessors of mind or the intellectuals. Qualities of this kind are mentioned in the Quran precisely because Muslims are expected to emulate them. The second important attribute of this level or quality of Muslim is remembrance (dhikr). We will discuss that in a later article. Our focus in this article is on the crucial matter of tafakkur.

Imam �Abdallah �Alawi al-Haddad says in his Book of Assistance, " Know that the reformation of both the din and the dunya depends on sound purposive thinking (tafakkur), and the individual who has mastered this ability has gained a portion of every possible good. It is said: Purposive thinking ( tafakkur) for an hour is better than a years worship. It is also related that Sayyidna �Ali, may Allah bless him, said: There is no worship ('ibadah) like purposive thinking (tafakkur). A certain gnostic is reported to have said: Purposive thinking ( tafukkur ) is the lamp of the heart, if it removed the heart has no light."

The reader will notice I�m translating the word tafakkur as "purposive thinking" not simply �thinking" or "contemplation". Imam Ahmad al-Haddad in his excellent book "Key to the Garden" defines tafakkur as follows: "And tafakkur is the focus and movement of the heart and mind through the meaning of things in order to reach the underlying intention, and by this, the pearls of truth is reached." Tafakkur is the art, if you like, of churning a matter around in ones mind. The intention driving this process must be to discover the truth behind a saying or clarify the real nature of a principle of belief. We shouldn�t be fooled, this is a skill one has to learn. Thinking to some purpose is a skill we have to acquire. It is also important to note that this kind of "quality thinking" formed an integral part of the texture and culture of Muslims since the time of the Prophet, may Allah�s peace and blessings be upon him. A saying attributed to both ibn �Abbas and Abu Darda, may Allah be satisfied with both of them, goes like this " Tafakkur for an hour is better than a whole nights salaah." This ability and capacity to think deeply about things is the light of a Muslim. The author compares the human heart to a house and tafakkur to the lamp that provides the light in it. The heart is steeped in darkness without the light of tafakkur. Indeed the full and even basic understanding of our din is beyond the scope of the unthinking.

Tafakkur in the context of din is traditionally divided into four types.

The first is the level of the ordinary people (al-�ammah). This level involves the search and discussion proofs and arguments to arrive at some conviction. Interesting to note is that the requirement or need for proofs before you believe in Allah, for example, is placed at the most basic level.

The second type of tafakkur is that of the worshippers ( al �abidin) whose main interest is to know the rewards of a particular �ibadah. They want to get on with the work. Knowledge of the rewards inspire them to greater activity.

A third type is the tafakkur of the ascetics (zuhhad). At this level the main focus is on the contingency of existence. They are deeply impressed by the truth of verses such as " everything will disappear and only the Face of Allah will remain". The results of that kind of thinking, which is often inspired by Allah, is a complete break from this world. They loose interest in wealth, fame, power and position.

The fourth type is the tafakkur of the gnostics (�arifin). They are the great searchers of the truth behind the universe and its creation. They delve into the secrets of the Names and Attributes of Allah, the Most High. And often they speak of things that far exceed the capacity of ordinary people. They are also the great lovers of Allah, the Most High. Love flows from knowledge of the Beloved. The greater our knowledge of the Beloved the greater out love for Him. So as Imam Ahmad al-Haddad says, " Knowledge comes from tafakkur and from knowledge adoration, and from adoration love".