“Those who have learned a few things in ’ilm az-zâhir
but know nothing of ’ilm al-bâtin find ’ârifs’ words to be unbelief or
heresycausing words when they read books of tasawwuf. They disbelieve the
knowledge of ma’rifa which they do not understand. Thus, they disapprove of the
great leaders of tasawwuf (rahimahum-Allâhu ta’âlâ) such as Muhyiddîn Ibn
al-’Arabî [d. Damascus,
’ilm al-bâtin do not separate from each other but stay
together like the body and the heart do. ’Ilm al-bâtin flows from the ’ârif’s
heart to others’ hearts. ’Ilm az-zâhir is learnt through an ’âlim’s words. It
reaches the ears but does not go into the heart.’ A hadîth sharîf declares, ‘The
’ulamâ’ are the inheritors of prophets.’ These ’ulamâ’ are not those who possess only ’ilm
az-zâhir but those who live up to their ’ilm, possess taqwâ and have attained
to all the knowledge bestowed upon prophets. The light (nûr) of
knowledge does not enter the hearts and brains of those who possess only ’ilm
az-zâhir, since they have not become khâlis in their resolutions and have not
been rescued from the claws of shahwa (bodily desires, lust) yet. The fire of
Hell will clear their hearts and brains. Al-Imâm al-Munâwî quoted al-Imâm
al-Ghazâlî (rahimahuma’llâhu ta’âlâ): ‘The knowledge about the other world is
of two kinds. One of them is attained through kashf and is called ’ilm al-mukâshafa or ’ilm al-bâtin. All
sciences are only means or vehicles to attain this science. The second kind is
called ’ilm-al-mu’âmala. According to most ’ârifs, there is the danger of
dying in unbelief for those who have not got any share of ’ilm al-bâtin. The
smallest share of this science is one’s accepting to believe it. It does not
fall to the lot of those who are men of bid’a or are haughty. And those who
have set their hearts on the world and follow the wishes of the nafs cannot
attain anything of ’ilm al-bâtin even if they are very learned. ’Ilm al-bâtin
is a light that occurs to purified hearts. Our Prophet (sall-Allâhu
’alaihi wa sallam) declared, “There are those ’ilms that are very secret; only people of ma’rifa
know them.” This hadîth sharîf indicates ’ilm al-bâtin. ’Ilm az-zâhir, which was defined by Imâm
Mâlik as a means to attain ’ilm al-bâtin, was the science that was known and
lived up to in his time. It is not what is studied nowadays to earn worldly
wealth and fame. The knowledge called ’ilm al-hâl, which is
necessary for everyone in order to obey Allâhu ta’âlâ’s orders and
prohibitions, can be learnt easily in a very short time, and ’ilm al-bâtin may
occur by practising ’ilm al-hâl.’
“Men of religious authority who have not attained ’ilm
al-bâtin do not believe the sciences they are ignorant of. What they know and
say a ’ilm al-bâtin is either the hearsay they quote from ignoramuses like
themselves or the words they have memorized from ignoramuses like themselves or
the words they have memorized from the books of the ’ulamâ’ of ’ilm al-bâtin.
Their stained hearts have not opened (fat’h) and have not attained the
Divine Light. The ignoramuses who talk as if they were
experts in ’ilm al-bâtin are slaves of their minds. They misunderstand, by
reasoning with their short minds, the words of those great ’ulamâ’ just as they
misunderstand the Qur’ân
al-karîm and the Hadîth ash-sharîf. They write false, harmful books of tafsîr and lead
Muslims to ruin. The 40th âyat al-karîma of Sûrat an-Nur, ‘If Allâhu ta’âlâ does not give nûr to
someone, he cannot become munawwar (enlightened),’
refers to these ignoramuses.”[1]
[Attaining to, approaching, acknowledging and loving
Allâhu ta’âlâ; getting faid, enlightenment, becoming an ’ârif or a possessor of
’ilm al-bâtin and similar things can be achieved through the heart. The
intellect (’aql) cannot comprehend them. Allâhu ta’âlâ has created a cause for
attaining everything. It is necessary to hold fast to the cause of attaining
anything. The cause of attaining to the above-mentioned things is to clear
one’s heart of creatures (mâ-siwâ), that is, to get rid of their existence of
love from the heart. This is called fanâ’ al-qalb. If the
heart forgets about everything other than Allâhu ta’âlâ, the heart is
automatically filled with the above-mentioned things. The heart (al-qalb) is an
invisible thing that cannot be touched. That is, it is not material and does
not occupy space. It has a relation with the flesh known as the heart, similar
to the intellect’s relation with the brain. To fill a bottle with air, no
effort is needed except emptying it of the liquid in it. As the liquid is
poured, air enters spontaneously. It is the same for the heart. When the love,
or tought, of creatures are removed from the heart, it is spontaneously filled
with love for Allâh, faid, nûr and ma’rifa. The faith of Ahl as-Sunna,
refraining from the harâms and carrying out the halâls and the supererogatory
’ibâdât, however, are the causes to purify the heart of creatures. Among the
supererogatory ’ibâdât, performing the dhikr and keeping company with one of
Allâhu ta’âlâ’s awliyâ’ are the most effective and most rapid.]
Again ’Abd al-Ghanî an-Nabulusî wrote:
“Jamâ’a is rahma, that is, the union of Muslims on
truth brings forth Allâhu ta’âlâ’s Compassion. Tafriqa is ’adhâb, that is,
separation from the comnunity of Muslims brings about punishment from Allâhu
ta’âlâ. Hence, it is necessary for every Muslim to unite with those who are on
the right path. He must join and believe like them even if they are only a
small group. The right path is the path of as-Sahâbat al-kirâm. Those who
follow
[1] Ibid, p. 648.
this path are
called Ahl as-Sunnat wa
’l-Jamâ’a. It should not confuse us
that many heretical groups appeared after the time of the as-Sahâbat al-kirâm.
Al-Imâm al-Baihakî said, ‘When Muslims go astray, you should follow the right
path of those who came before them! You should not give up that path even if
you are left alone on that path!’ Najm ad-dîn al-Ghazzî wrote: ‘Ahl as-Sunnat wa ’l-Jamâ’a are those ’ulamâ’ who keep on the right path of Rasûlullâh and as-Sahâbat al-kiram. As-siwâd al-a’zam, that
is, the majority of the Islamic ’ulamâ’, have followed this right path. The Firqat an-nâjiyya which was defined to be the group of salvation among
the seventy-three groups is this true jamâ’a.’ The Qur’ân al-karîm declares, ‘Do not disunite!’ This
âyat karîma means ‘Do not disunite in i’tiqâd, in the teachings of belief!’
Most ’ulamâ’, for example, ’Abdullâh ibn Mas’ûd, interpreted this âyat karîma
as above and said that it meant ‘Do not deviate from the right path by
following your nafses and corrupt ideas.’ This âyat karîma does not mean that
there should be no disagreement in the knowledge of fiqh. It forbids separation
which causes discord and dissension in the knowledge of i’tiqâd. The disagreement
in the knowledge [of fiqh] derived through ijtihâd in the field of practices
(a’mâl) is not a discord, because such disagreement has brought to sight the
rights, the fards and the subtle teachings in a’mâl and ’ibâdât. As-Sahâbat
al-kirâm, too, differed from one another in those teachings that explained
daily life, but there was no disagreement among them in the knowledge of
i’tiqâd. A hadîth sharîf declares, ‘Disagreement among my umma is [Allah’s] compassion.’ The disagreement in the teachings of a’mâl, among the
four madhhabs is of this kind. Their existence [in the present age] is Allâhu
ta’âlâ’s guidance and mercy. They have all attained thawâb. The same amount of
thawâb attained by the followers of each of these four madhhabs is given to the
imâm of that madhhab until the Resurrection. The different specialization of
’ulamâ’ in various branches of knowledge on a’mâl is another example [of what
the hadîth ash-sharîf refers to]; thus, many ’ulamâ’ have specialized in
separate sciences of hadîth, tafsîr, fiqh and Arabic. It is compatible with
this hadîth sharîf, too, that mutasawwifs have followed different
methods in undertaking riyâda and in training the students, that various
tarîqas have formed. Najm ad-dîn al-Kubrâ[1]
(rahmat-Allâhi ’alaih) said,
[1] He was martyred by the soldiers of Jenghiz in Harezm in 618 A.H. (1221).
‘There are as many ways of approaching Allâhu ta’âlâ
as the number of human beings.’ This statement, too, points to the difference
between the methods of training the students, but not to any difference in
i’tiqâd. All awliyâ’ have had the same i’tiqâd. They all have been in the
i’tiqâd of Ahl as-Sunnat wa ’l-Jamâ’a. The multiplicity of craftsmen practising
different crafs is rahma, too. But disunion in i’tiqâd is the opposite, for Rasûlullâh (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) said, ‘Jamâ’a is rahma; tafriqa is ’adhâb.’ ”[1]
Hadrat ’Abd al-Ghanî further wrote:
“Rasûlullâh (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) declared, ‘One will be with whom one loves.’ As written in Muslim’s book, someone asked Rasûlullâh about the next world, and Rasûlullâh asked, ‘What have you prepared for the next
world?’ That person said, ‘I have
prepared my love for Allah and for His Rasûl.’ Rasûlullâh said, ‘You will be with those whom you love.’ Al-Imâm an-Nawawî, in comment to this hadîth sharîf, wrote: ’This hadîth
sharîf reveals the value and use of
loving Allâhu ta’âlâ, His Rasûl and dead or living pious and charitable
people.’ Loving Allâhu ta’âlâ and His Rasûl means obeying the orders,
abstaining from the prohibitions and being observant of and respectful to them.
It is not necessary to do what the pious [sâlih or awliyâ’] do in order to love
them and to get benefit from them, because, when one does what they do, he
becomes one of them. A hadîth
sharîf declares, ‘A person may love a jamâ’a but not become
one of them.’ ‘To be with them’ does
not mean ‘to have been promoted to their high degrees’. A hadîth sharîf declares, ‘He who
loves a jamâ’a will be resurrected among them.’ Abu Dharr (radî-Allâhu ’anh) asked, ‘Oh Rasûl-Allâh!
If a person who loves a jamâ’a cannot do what they do, how will he be?’ Rasûlullâh declared, ‘Oh Abâ
Dharr! You will be with those whom you love.’ However, Hadrat Hasan al-Basrî (radî-Allâhu ’anh) said, ‘You should
not misunderstand these hadîths! You may approach good people only by doing
their good deeds! Although Jews and Christians love their prophets,
they will not approach their prophets for they are not like their prophets.’
About this statement, al-Imâm al-Ghazâlî (rahmat-Allâhi ’alaih) said, ‘One will
not be with them by merely loving them unless he performs a few or all of their
good deeds.’ In summary, a person
[1] ’Abd al-Ghanî an-Nablusî, Al-hadîqat an-Nadiyya, v. II. p. 103.
who loves a jamâ’a belongs to one of these three
types: [1] he who adopts all their good deeds and manners; [2] he who adopts
none of them; and [3] he who adopts a few of them and leaves aside or does the
opposite of the remaining. He who does all of them [1] becomes one of them and
is among them. His love for them has made him completely like them. He has
attained the highest degree of love and is certainly one of them. He who does
not ever follow or look like those whom he loves [2] can never be one of them.
Al-Imâm al-Ghazâlî meant that Hasan al-Basrî had referred to this type of
persons. [Such love remains only in words and does not reside in the heart,
which is the place for love. Love in mere words is not called love at all. His
saying ‘I love’ is not true.] As for the one who follows a few deeds of the
people he loves [3], he cannot be one of them if he does not have the same
faith. He is never sincere when he says he loves. There is no love but
hostility towards them in his heart. No enmity is greater than the enmity
against faith. An example for this case is the Jews’ and Christians’ saying
that they love their prophets. As for him who claims that he believes like those whom
he loves do, but does not follow them fully in tâ’a and ’ibâdât, his claim to
love is of no avail if he does not follow them just because he dislikes those
deeds [3i]. He cannot be with those whom he says he loves. But, if he cannot
fully follow them because he is not powerful enough or is unable to take
control of his nafs [3ii], there is nothing to prevent him from being with
them. The hadîths refer to this second group [3ii] and were said for the one
who loved a jamâ’a but who could not fully be like them. The hadîth ash-sharîf addressed to Abu Dharr illustrates this openly and
makes [us, this type of] Muslims very happy [increases the hope of salvation].
In his last breath, Muhammad ibn as-Sammâk [(rahimah-Allâhu ta’âlâ), d. Kûfa,
[1] Sayyid ’Abdulhakîm-i Arwasî used to pray saying, “Oh my Allah! I have done nothing for You worthy of mentioning -I come to Your Audience with my face in shame! But, I have borne hostility towards those who want to destroy and annihilate Your Religion, Islam! Forgive me on account of this hostility of mine on Your behalf!”
that is, those
who believe as those whom they love but who do not want to follow them in their
deeds and manners; he said that this love and help of the cruel for the pious
was of no use to them. But, to us, the love of the cruel is like that of the
second group [3ii], that is, they believe as those whom they love but cannot
become like them in all respects. Ibn as-Sammâk, too, expressed this viewpoint
in his prayer. The cruel have tyrannized by following the nafs, but they love
the pious and try to win their prayers.”[1]
Hadrat ’Abd al-Ghanî went on:
“Rasûlullâh (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) declared, ‘One will be with whom one loves.’ We will attain the blessings of this good news if we
love Salaf as-sâlihîn, that is, the ’ulamâ’ of Ahl as-Sunna, even though we are
not like them. A person who loves dead or alive ones among those whom Allâhu
ta’âlâ loves and those who love Allâhu ta’âlâ attains great bliss and virtue.
To love them is, for example, to praise and defend them against their enemies
and the ignorant people who speak ill of them. The worst of those who set their
hearts on the world are those who speak ill of awliyâ’ whom Allâhu ta’âlâ
loves. Addiction to the world gives way to all evil deeds and causes one to
commit harâms such as jealousy, theft, bribery and haughtiness. The haughtiness
of ignorant men of a religious profession arises from their addiction to the
world. Muhyiddîn ibn al-’Arabî personally said that the opening (fat’h) of his
heart, or his attaining the sciences of bâtin, was due to his love for the
great leaders of tasawwuf and the defence he made on behalf of them. It is
written in his book Rûh al-quds: ‘Al-hamdu li’llâh! I have always defended
mutasawwifs against ignorant men of a religious profession. And I will go on
defending them till I die. I have been endowed with the knowledge of the heart
due to this deed of mine. He who attacks them and, mentioning their names,
slanders them exposses his ignorance. This person will fall into ruin in the
end.’
“Muhyiddîn ibn al-’Arabî (rahmat-Allâhi ’alaih) wrote
in his commentary to his book Al-wasiyyat al-Yûsufiyya
that he dreamt of Rasûlullâh (sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam), who asked, ‘Do you know how you have attained this
favour of Allâhu ta’âlâ?’ ‘No, I do
not know,’ he answered. The Prophet said, ‘You attained them due to your respect towards those who said
[1] Al-hadîqa, v. II, p. 113.
they were men of Allah!’ Whether they told the truth or not, his respect
towards them caused him to attain bliss.
“He who looks for his own faults and tries to correct
himself cannot find time to see the faults of others. He always sees Muslims as
better than himself. In other words, he regards every Muslim he encounters as
better than himself. He believes that he who says that he is a walî is telling
the truth.[1]
He who looks for others’ faults and does not see his own faults does not
believe the walî.
“Najm ad-dîn ad-Ghazzî wrote in his book Husn at-tanabbuh: ‘You must love, attend the suhba of, visit and attain
blessings through the sulahâ’ who are awliyâ’.’ Shâh al-Karmânî said, ‘There is
no ’ibâda more valuable than loving awliyâ’. Love for awliyâ’ leads to love for
Allâhu ta’âlâ. And Allâhu ta’âlâ loves the one who loves Him.’ Abu ’Uthmân
Khairi said, ‘He who attains the suhba of awliyâ’ finds the way to approach
Allâhu ta’âlâ.’ Yahyâ ibn Mu’âdh (rahimah-Allâhu ta’âlâ) said, ‘A faithful
person who attains the suhba of awliyâ’ forgets about everything. He is with
Allâhu ta’âlâ. He can never approach Allâhu ta’âlâ otherwise.’ Muhammad [ibn
’Alî ash-Shâmî] ibn Irâq wrote in his book As-safînat al-’Irâqiyya: ‘Muhammad ibn Husain al-Bajlî, a faqîh, saw Rasûlullâh (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) in his dream and asked him which deed
was the most beneficial. Rasûlullâh said, “Being in the audience of a walî among the
awliyâ’ of Allah” And when he asked, “If we cannot find a living one?”
Rasûlulâh answered, “Loving and thinking of him is the same whether he is alive
or dead.” ’
“Imâm Muhammad al-Birgiwî [(rahmat-Allâhi ’alaih), d.
Birgi, Anatolia,
[1] See above, p. 126, where it is meant that a walî, unlike a prophet, is not permitted to tell the friend or the enemy that he is a walî. But as meant here, a walî, who has been given the duty to guide (irshâd), has to tell by implication (e.g. “Inshâ-Allâh, you will obtain faid,”) that he is a walî, a rehber, and has to prescribe assignments (wazîfa) to the disciple who comes with ikhlâs to him to obtain faid. He who, though with sincerity and devotion, affiliates with and carries out the wazîfa given by one who is not a real walî, will be harmed rather than get any faid or good from him.
prophets,
angels, companions of Your Prophet and the Tâbi’ûn! Forgive our sins!’ It is permissible
and lawful to pray to Allâhu ta’âlâ for the love of His Prophet
(sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam), as-Sahâbat al-kirâm (radî-Allâhu ta’âlâ
’anhum ajma’în) and the Tâbi’ûn and to have recourse to them so that the
prayers may be accepted. This way of praying is nothing but asking for their
intercession which is regarded as permissible by the ’ulamâ’ of Ahl as-Sunna.
The Mu’tazila did not accept this. The prayer said by taking a walî as a wasîla
is accepted by Allâhu ta’âlâ out of its being a karâma of that walî, which
shows that karâma occurs on awliyâ’ after their death, too. Heretics, the
people of bid’a, do not believe this fact.
“In the commentary to Jâmi’ as-saghîr, al-Imâm al-Munâwî (rahmat-Allâhi ’alaih) quoted
al-Imâm as-Subkî (rahmat-Allâhi ’alaih) as having said, ‘It is good to make Rasûlullâh (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) a wasîla, to seek intercession through
him and to ask for his help in prayers. None of Salaf as-sâlihîn and the
’ulamâ’ who came after them opposed this, except Ibn Taimiyya, who denied it
and departed from the right path. He turned off into a way which no ’âlim
before him had ever followed. He gained fame in the Muslim world for his
heresy.’ Our ’ulamâ’ said that, as a superiority peculiar to Rasûlullâh, it was permissible to pray through Rasûlullâh but not
others. However, al-Imâm al-Qushairî (rahmat-Allâhi ’alaih) wrote: ‘Ma’rûf
al-Karkhî (rahmat-Allâhi ’alaih) said to his disciples that they should pray
through him, that he was a mediator between Allâhu ta’âlâ and them. Because,
awliyâ’ are the inheritors of Rasûlullâh, and an inheritor attains all superiorities of the
person of whom he is an inheritor.’ ”[1]
[1] Al-hadîqa, v. II, p. 124. See also the article 20, p. 102.