Topic
Misconceptions
29 entries
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Must a shaykh perform miracles or supernatural feats?
Supernatural feats can be manifested by disbelievers as well, and they are not among the prerequisites of a shaykh. Bayazid al-Bustami said not to be deceived by a man who can fly in the air until his state with regard to observance of the Shariah is seen, and Junayd al-Baghdadi said that all paths are closed on the entire creation except the one that follows the Prophet in totality. Mujaddid Alf Thani described Allah's friends as people whose associates are never wretched and whose company is light and effulgence.
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Can a shaykh see the future or know the unseen?
Some believe the Sufi masters know everything and can foretell what is to come, and that belief is a grave error. The one given the most knowledge, the Last Prophet, admitted in the narration of Jabir concerning the farewell Hajj that there was a thing he had not known at the time. A man who tells of the unseen while contravening the Shariah is showing istidraj, and the association to a great shaykh saves no one who does not follow the Shariah.
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What is istidraj?
Some men impress people with mystical exertions that are in fact istidraj from Satan. Marvels settle nothing about a man, because a disbeliever can show them too, and displaying them is not a condition of a true shaykh. The measure is his observance of the Shariah.
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How do you tell a genuine shaykh from a fake pir?
Judge him by his observance of the Shariah, never by marvels. A true shaykh follows the Sunnah, keeps clear of major sins, and asks nothing of a seeker that Islam forbids. The pretender gives himself away by claiming to have passed beyond the Shariah.
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Did Ibn Taymiyyah accept the spiritual states and stations of the heart?
Ibn Taymiyyah writes that the states of the heart, defined as stations and spiritual states, are from among the fundamentals and foundations of faith and religion, for example the love of Allah and His Prophet, trust in Allah, sincerity, gratitude, patience, fear and hope in Allah. The imams, he writes, have agreed that all of these actions are incumbent upon the entire creation.
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Is the purpose of the path of Suluk to see lights and visions?
Unseen images, forms, lights and colours are all useless entertainment, and the tangible forms, unseen forms and lights are all created, signs bearing witness to Allah's existence. The spiritual exercises prescribed by the Sufis have been devised for the ailments of the heart, just as doctors prescribe medication for physical ailments.
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Should the nafs be broken through hunger and sleeplessness?
The earlier Sufis did practise extreme rigors of hunger and sleeplessness. The way to restrain the nafs is constant effort: allow it what it wants within the boundaries of the Shariah, and make it serve you.
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What is the greater jihad?
Striving against one's own desires in the obedience of Allah. The perfect mujahid is the one who struggles with his desires.
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Is “do whatever makes you happy” an Islamic idea?
The common saying "do as you please or do whatever you feel like doing" is the way of the followers of Nafs e Ammara, not the way of Islam, and Nafs e Ammara indulges in the worldly pleasures and takes a man to the valley of desires, tempting yet barren. For those who put their nafs through rigor in this world, Paradise is promised as a refuge.
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If the heart is what counts, do outward acts still matter?
The Qur'an commands prayer and alms, patience and thankfulness, and a Muslim is to follow every one of Allah's commandments without picking and choosing. The hadith of the true emigrant shows that the true object of a deed is its inner significance, yet Allah has created for every inner meaning a corresponding external form, and without that form the inner significance cannot be acquired. Humility in prayer depends on performing the prayer, and knowledge without action has no reward.