Contemporary Tasawwuf and Shari`ah Hesham Bazaraa |
The following is a response to an questions posted by Br. Zillur Rahim. In summary he tries to accept Tasawwuf without accepting the continuing line of Sufis to this day. The countless Islamic scholars who have accepted Tasawwuf leave no doubt that it is a vital part of Islam. However some have raised doubts about what some Sufis have said. Some of this is misquoted and some is misunderstood. Insha'Allah I will present from my limited view some simple answers for the questions he poses. he wrote: >In reply to Br. Bazaraa, I
would humbly comment that it is wrong to Many Salafis/Wahhabis certainly regard that Tasawwuf is a reprehensible innovation. You accept Tasawwuf and you say you deny the way it is practiced and preached by the sufi orders of today. Yet it has been show repeatedly that Tasawwuf throughout the Islamic era has been praised by the scholars of Islam including those of today. Do you think it suddenly completely failed today? You had said: "I think "prophet's grave is better than Kaaba and the arsh, etc.," is just one of so many Sufi beliefs. " [here your words imply your disagreement with "Sufi beliefs" and you are suggesting that so many of them are incorrect, despite your affirmation that it is part of Islam.] And that was the belief of Mulla Ali Qari'[d1014,R], among other scholars, a great and highly esteemed Hanafi scholar, and not a scholar "of today". It is possible that the number of very sincere Sufis today is less, but no doubt they can still be found, as Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani, Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, the Sufi Shaykhs of Imam Hamza Yusuf, Shaykh Muhammad `Alawi al-Maliki al-Hasani etc.. >As we know of the companions,
when some people saw them at nights Jihad as the Sahaba made both fighting the enemies of Islam under the banner of beloved Muhammad, Salla Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam, and struggling to perfect control of their egos, is not "knowing about this dunya"[regardless of what people think], neither has it been abandoned by the Sufis of today. >Hence quoting the great
scholars of Islam and trying to justify Most Salafi/Wahhabis are trying to refute it. I can cite numerous examples if you have any doubts. >Even contemporary scholars of
Islamic Movements, like Hasan It is known that he gave Bay'a[pledge] to his students/followers and recommended a specific daily Wird[Dhikr]. I also heard that he was blessed with a photographic memory such that he could remember anyone he met, even only once many years later by name and in detail. Recently we have read that he also used to visit the graves of the pious Muslims, as is recommended by our Prophet, Salla Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam[Egypt is fortunate to have a large number of the the Awliya' buried under its soil]. Misunderstanding of some of the things I have mentioned about him have lead the Salafis to condemn him as an innovator as they have accused all the Sufis.
Issues that are Islamic and yet Sufis were accused of innovating have been the source of numerous articles and posts by As-Sunna Foundation of America[ASFA] and the Haqqani Naqshbandi Foundation for new Muslims. Such issues include Mawlid[which is celebrated in nearly every Islamic country by Islamic scholars and non-scholars], Tabarruk and Tawassul. Some issues they have been sarcastically criticized for addressing even after the accusations of shirk, such as kissing hands and standing out of respect! After the accusations were made, when the accusers found out they had been ignorant in their accusations, not a single one apologized, rather they said why is ASFA wasting their time with kissing hands, etc.. The majority of issues were answered and explained with numerous quotes from Quran and Hadith as explained by the great scholars of the past and present. Some issues have just been misquoted or are out of context. >To quote you only a few, why
don't you let us know where did the sufis get these following
loud dhikrs from? Perhaps you are aware that Imam Hasan al-Banna recommended loud group dhikr in his book "al-Ma'thurat", as based on Hadith that commend it. Remember the posting on "the Love of Allah" in which it was said among the causes of mutual love between Allah swt and his servant according to Imam Ibn al-Qayyim[R] are: "...Second, getting closer to Allah by performing voluntary deeds after completing obligatory deeds. This is as is stated in a Hadith Qudsi: "My slave continues getting closer to Me by performing voluntary deeds until I love him." [al-Bukhari]... "Third, continual remembrance of Allah under all circumstances, with one's tongue, heart and actions. The extent of one's love of Allah is determined by this.... "Fifth, the heart being avid of Allah's Names, and Attributes and the heart roaming in that garden of knowledge..."[End of Quote] There are numerous Hadith recommending dhikr in general. If one where to decide to say, "La Illaha Illa Allah" one hundred and eleven times daily, or repeat, "Ya Latif" nine times daily those would not be reprehensible innovations even though they are not specifically cited in a Hadith with those numbers. Rather they would fall under the permitted voluntary dhikr of Allah swt using Quran and His names. Likewise Sufi teachers have recommended Dhikr, and have included for their students Dhikrs that encompass, repeating Allah's names, Salawat on the Prophet, Salla Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam, and Quran. Recently on msa-net we saw the example of how the Prophet, Salla Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam, 'COMMENDED' a Sahabi for INNOVATING a way of praising Allah swt after Ruku' in one Salat; what about outside of Salat?! I will quote that excerpt[I only received it as a part of Br. Hisham Hamed's reply]:
When one goes to learn Quran[or anything] from a teacher, he will give him certain excercises to read, a certain number of times to be repeated as the teacher sees the students progress. Likewise the Shaykh who is teaching Islamic spirituality and Ihsan[Islamic 'beneficence'] may first choose a certain number of repetitions of Dhikr [La Ilaha Illa Allah, Salawat etc.] to suggest to his student. >And, very humbly, what is the source of the following statement? "In our time, grandShaykh Shaykh Abdullah ad-Daghestani >said, "Whichever of the People of the Last Time (akhir az-zaman), wishes to attain a high rank and an exalted state, and get >what a murid normally gets by means of seclusion (khalwat), and spiritual exercises, then he must continuously perform these >awrad (dhikr). With this awrad we have set the foundations for the higher stations, which are built on this foundation. The murid >ought to know that if he fails to attain an exalted station and high grade in this world because of his lack of effort, then he shall >not be separated from this world, but that the Shaykhs make him reach it, and reveal for him his station, either during his lifetime, >or at the time of the seven last breaths during the agonies of death. According to my understanding:
Based on points 1-7 above and knowing that
then it is not unusual to say that if a Murid desires to reach a high rank and exalted station he should keep his dhikr daily, but even if he does not then if he is truly a Murid[see 'e' above], then he has been promised success[see 1-7 above especially 6]. The following is from msa-ec from brother Dr. Fouad Haddad of As-Sunna Foundation of America and clarifies points Ɗ' and 'a' above :
>>And again, what is the
source of the following claims? Can these be >substantiated on
basis of Qur'an and Sunnah? This has been reported by the universally respected Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani[R], in one of his books. He was even respected by Imam Ibn Taymiyya[R] who took the Sufi Tariqa through his chain of teachers as reported before by Shaykh Hisham Kabbani[inspite of Ibn Taymiyya's criticism of some other Sufis]. The following quote is from the new director of ISNA:
One must note that a Wali is one who forgoes his own desires and will, in acceptance of that which pleases Allah swt, and that which He wills. Thus Allah swt empowers him to carry out His divine orders. There are many aspects to the above words that I am not qualified to expand upon, however we all know that there are many circumstances that Allah swt will accept Dua's, and it was a trait of our beloved Prophet, Salla Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam, that his dua's were accepted, and that Allah swt would grant some of the very pious the gift of accepting their dua's constantly and that Muslims have turned to such people for their dua's at times of hardships. Allah swt has also empowered some with the ability to carry out His will, whatever that may be. The best example of that is the Prophets, peace be upon them. Sayyidina Khidr[S] whom some scholars consider a Prophet and others do not, was also such a person. I believe that most Muslims believe that this super ability has been given to Awliya as well. Note again the reference above[Quran 27:40]where a vizier in the court of Prophet Sulayman[S] had the ability to bring the Throne of Sheba [Saba'] in the blink of an eye. If such an ability was given to the Awliya of the time of Prophet Sulayman, what about those in the time of the Imam of Prophets and Messengers, Sayyidina Muhammad, Salla Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam?! Certainly the examples of the Karamat[miracles] of Awliya of Islam is expansive. Therfore "Kun Fa Yakun" for a Wali is not his whimsical desires, rather it is his carrying out the Will of Allah swt through the power which Allah swt has given him. >On page 1 of the book `The
Naqshbandi Way' it reads, This is explained in a very long footnote starting on the same page of the book. Basically it is NOT saying the sincere seeker at this time will be like a Prophet, or better than one. It says that as recorded in several Hadiths the seeker at this time will be given a huge reward which is special for him/her and which is due because of the hardships of sticking with Islam in these trying times['like holding on to a burning coal], and which was not possible at earlier generations. Imam Tabari[R] in his "al-Kabir" recorded that Ibn Mas'ud narrated that the Prophet, Salla Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam, said[to the Sahaba]: "Inna min wara 'ikum
zamanu sabr, lilmutamassiki fihi ajru khamsina shahidan
minkum" This Hadith has been graded as Sahih[authentic] The fact that the accuser who quoted the above excerpt from the Naqshbandi book did not quote its explanation, and instead tried to make us think it states that the Shaykh's murids are better than prophets, is evidence that the accusers are dishonest and will resort to gross distortion in order to put their fellow Muslims out of Islam in the eyes of others. >On page 13 of the book Haqiqat
ul Haqqani it reads,... On page 11 of the book Haqiqat ul Haqqani
it reads,... "Haqiqat ul Haqqani" is not an Haqqani Naqshbandi book; that is it is neither authorized nor approved of by Shaykh Nazim and Shaykh Hisham. > I think this is what you should consider addressing, rather than claiming, over and over again, that tasawwuf is part of Islam. We >all know that. If we all knew that why are so many Islam pages on the wwweb linked to books as "the other side of Sufism" which treats Tasawwuf as another religion. You may explore the following address to learn of its lies, distortions and slander of all Sufis and Tasawwuf: http://sunnah.org/salafi/tosos.htm >And I am sure Br. Amer will
also remind you of enlightening us all It is not a minor detail as the lives of the oppressed Muslims in Palestine is important to all of us. Shaykh Hisham and Shaykh Nazim are concerned with the well being of Muslims and potential Muslims[all] everywhere. They travel across the globe to revive in Muslims the Love of Allah, of Prophet, Salla Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam, and of Islam. They show the beauty of Islam on their faces and in their actions, so that many non-Muslims after meeting them also fall in love with Islam and accept it. If Allah swt gives them a chance to influence a political event to raise the name of al-Islam then they do, as for example Shaykh Nazim has done in Cyprus many times and continues to do so. They have both met with political leaders, Muslim and non-Muslim to encourage them to love Islam, place it above politics and to support Muslims. What is the best way to restore to the Palestinians their rights? I believe it is to increase their and our faith, sincerity and Love for Allah swt, His Prophet, Salla Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam, and Islam. I do not think there will be any solutions without Islam. So, number one priority, in my opinion is Islam. As for peace talks, etc., that is politics and we have currently no significant influence on it, nor will we let it[Insha'Allah] deter us from our purpose to raise the word of Allah swt and His Prophet, Salla Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam, to be above all in the hearts and eyes of everyone. AlhamduLillah both Sufi Shaykhs have been successful with Allah's support in bringing Islam to so many people and making us all feel very grateful to be Muslims. May Allah forgive me for my mistakes and forgive all of us. >And Allah knows the best. > >Was'Salamu Alaikum, Zillur Rahim >... Ph.D., P.E. Wa Alaykum AsSalam, |