What is bay’ah (bai’at), the pledge to a shaykh?

Bay'ah, also written bai'at, bay'at, baiat or bayt, is an oath taken to the path of Ihsan: the heart connected to the shaykh, and the soul connected to the Awliya of the chain reaching back to the Beloved Prophet ﷺ. The basic principle within it is to keep the religion above worldly affairs, to consider the Shariah superior to the intellect, and to follow the Will of Allah.

Bay'ah in Tasawwuf is not an ordinary pledge but a pledge to follow the Shariah, and for that reason one must find someone who is fully adherent to the Shariah and capable of leading. It is a pledge, so spoken words are enough; it is a Sunnah for men to offer their hands when taking bay'ah with their shaykh.

The Beloved Prophet ﷺ took the pledge from his Companions on various occasions. On the occasion of Hudaybiyyah the pledge was taken from the Companions to be steadfast and to have fortitude in battle, and Allah approved of that pledge: "Indeed those who pledge allegiance to you, Muhammad ﷺ, they are actually pledging to Allah. The hand of Allah is over their hands." [Qur'an, al-Fath 48:10]

Some object that the pledge was only taken for the purpose of being steadfast in the war, but that is not true. There were various other occasions when the pledge was taken from the Companions for matters other than war. Awf bin Malik may Allah be pleased with him said, "We were in the company of the Messenger ﷺ nine, eight or seven of us, when Allah's Messenger ﷺ said, 'Will you not pledge your allegiance to Allah's Messenger ﷺ?' As we had only recently pledged our allegiance to him, we said, 'We have already pledged ourselves to you, O Messenger of Allah ﷺ!' Yet again, he asked us, 'Will you not pledge yourselves to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?' So, we extended our hands and said, 'O Messenger of Allah ﷺ! To what shall we pledge?' He replied, 'That you worship Allah and not associate anything with Him, that you perform the five daily prayers, and that you hear and obey.' Then, he whispered something to us. He said, 'And do not ask anyone for anything.' Since then, I have witnessed those men that even if they drop their whips while mounted would not even ask anyone to hand it up to them." [Sahih Muslim 1043]

Another hadith verifies the importance of bay'ah, where the Beloved Prophet ﷺ took a pledge from a group of his Companions and said, "Give me your pledge that you will not ascribe partners to Allah and that you will not steal." [Sahih al-Bukhari 18]

The Companions took the pledge at the occasions of the battles, to testify Allah, to be righteous, to obey in everything good, and not to die except firmly upon Islam. There are examples of a pledge for performing a good deed and examples of taking the pledge for forbiddance. Therefore bay'ah, or taking the pledge, is a Sunnah.

Mowlana Ashraf Ali rahimahullah explains that the type of bay'ah taken by Sufis, a pledge to adhere to the Shariah and perform all deeds in accordance with Qur'an and Sunnah, is often criticised as a blameworthy innovation; but the Companions who gave that pledge had already pledged to Islam, and it was neither a pledge for Islam nor for jihad, so the bay'ah in Tasawwuf does have its precedent in the Sunnah. [Thanvi, Haqiqat al-Tariqa min as-Sunna al-Aniqa 32]

There are also examples of the pledge taken from women, as the Qur'an mentions: "O Prophet ﷺ, when the believing women come to you pledging to you that they will not associate anything with Allah, nor will they steal, nor will they fornicate, nor will they kill their children, nor will they bring forth a slander they have invented between their arms and legs, nor will they disobey you in what is right, then accept their pledge and seek forgiveness for them from Allah. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." [Qur'an, al-Mumtahanah 60:12]

Before the Beloved Prophet ﷺ migrated to Madinah, women from Madinah came to Makkah to meet the Beloved Prophet ﷺ and he took the oath from them. Yet Sayyidah Ayesha may Allah be pleased with her narrated, "Never once in his life did Allah's Messenger ﷺ touch the hand of a woman who was not related to him. He took Bayá from them verbally. And when a woman pledged, he would then say to her, 'Go, I have accepted your pledge.'" [Sahih al-Bukhari 2713] No one is more chaste than the Beloved Prophet ﷺ and he was extremely cautious, so one must follow in his footsteps.

It is important that one who takes the pledge be pubescent and sane. It is narrated that a child was presented before the Prophet ﷺ so that he may take the pledge, and the Prophet ﷺ patted his head, prayed for blessings for him, and did not take the pledge from him.