Village Journals
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
Sufism & Shariah
Bismillah al-Rahman al-Raheem
was-salaat was-Salaam 'ala RasulAllah
wa 'ala Alihi wa Sahbihi wa sallim
KNOWLEDGE OF ALLAH
Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Al-Haqqani
We are speaking about the Knowledge that perceives the Lord of the Worlds. Sharia, meaning 'street' or 'course' and commonly translated as 'Divine Law' exists for one reason only: to help us to gain knowledge of the Lord of the Worlds, to prepare a way for the children of Adam which brings them closer to their Creator.
Generally, sharia is only presented as law: that is, as a collection of orders and prohibitions. Following these laws and rules or not following them seems then, to be a matter merely imposed for the sake of them. In other words, you have to comply because God wants it like that. If you follow the law, you will be rewarded by being left as and where you are, and if you do not, you will be punished. The sharia becomes then, a kind of penal system with higher backing. Because it seems to be much more cruel than our oh-so humanistic modern penal system, it is often and easily used to frighten those away from Islam who show some interest and who would like to understand it.
Amongst all orders and prohibitions there is, however, one that is more basic than all of them, and which colors them all. It is the order, or the offer, which Allah Almighty gave us when He gave us understanding. He offered us the possibility of knowing our Creator by giving us His Laws, so that we, by walking alongside them, by thinking about them, try to come nearer to Him. Man can sink below the level of animals or rise above it. However, he can only rise about it through the law and not through his own efforts. This is a law which allows him to know his Lord.
Such knowledge is of the greatest importance. Who created us? If we do not know this, or do not want to know, we are not even on the level of animals, for they know their Creator.
The sign that the animals know and follow their Lord is their satisfaction with the way they have been created. No animal complains about its station. That is the doubtful privilege of human beings. A cat is happy to be a cat. It does not want to be a dog. A mouse does not want to be a cat. The snake is a creature without legs, without feet, without wings, but it is content. It does not want to be a donkey. The donkey, although it has to carry heavy loads, although people beat it, still wants to be only a donkey. All creatures are happy and content with their Creator and they know Him. If they did not know Him, they would complain, object, and refuse.
The animals know their Creator according to their capacities. But what about man? Man has been given a mind so that he may know his Lord, in a way appropriate for him. Thereby, human beings are able to know themselves and their Lord, and be content with their lot in the same way. Each prophet came with a sharia appropriate for his time. In this way, all human beings had the chance to know their Creator. The sharia brought by the Seal of Prophets is, according to the Will of God, the last and most perfect testament. Without it, the people of our time are incapable of knowing their Lord and themselves. For they can only know of their Creator to the degree that He makes Himself known to them. This is precisely what happened with the last sharia.
Yet, although knowledge may bring a creature very close to contentment with itself and with its Creator, it does not give complete peace. Love grows from knowledge. The more you hear of someone, the more you understand and know that person, the stronger the desire in your heart will be to go and find him, to be with him. Knowledge is the first step, love is the second. When the believers hear about their Lord through the sharia, then, the more they hear of Him, the closer they will want to come to Him. They will want to know where He is and want to go where He is and be where He is.
Nothing is more lovely to them than being with the Beloved. By knowing about Allah Almighty with His perfect attributes, you will want to get up and go and look for Him. The Arabic word for this way, for this search, is tariqa.
Nowadays, it is quite common to raise objections against tariqa. It is said that tariqa is not an expression of true religiousness, and especially not of Islam. It is also said that it is only for people who mistake religion for superstition and flights of fantasy, and cannot see that it consists of sober reasoning and social ethics. Such objections are usually the product of misunderstanding or ignorance. If such people knew that tariqa is nothing but the way to Allah Almighty they would keep quiet.
For, if you have heard of God, if you know Him, how can you stay put on your chair? Does not each chair on which you sit, each spot where you are, become a fire driving you towards the Beloved?
Whoever has heard of the Ka'aba, of the House of the Lord, whoever knows about it, will set heaven and earth in motion to reach this sacred place. But there are two groups of people running to the House of the Lord. One is on its way to the House of the Lord, the other is on its way to the Lord of the House.
Each will find what it is looking for. The first group is bigger, the second is given more honour in the Divine Presence.
Sharia leads to the House of the Lord, tariqa leads to the Lord of the House. That is all.
To know of the Lord of the Worlds, you do not need to pay attention to particular objects only, you do not have to study selected fields. All and everything gives tidings and knowledge of its Creator. Turn towards what you find and learn from it. Learn to know your Lord.
Maybe you think that tariqa, the way to the Lord of the House, is long and difficult for you, especially in the beginning. But when you ask Allah Almighty for help, He will make your way easy. This is one of His attributes. If you put yourself into His hands, He will make things light for you.
Sharia is necessary because it lays the foundation for our personality. But the perfection of this personality and the fulfillment of our destiny which consists in being a perfect servant can only be reached through tariqa.
Bi hurmatil Habib
Bi hurmatil Surah al-FATIHA
"O Allah! It is not strange that I love You because I am a weak servant, but it is strange that You love me when You are the King of Kings."
--Sayyidina Bayazid al-Bistami (qs)
www.naqshbandi.org
was-salaat was-Salaam 'ala RasulAllah
wa 'ala Alihi wa Sahbihi wa sallim
KNOWLEDGE OF ALLAH
Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Al-Haqqani
We are speaking about the Knowledge that perceives the Lord of the Worlds. Sharia, meaning 'street' or 'course' and commonly translated as 'Divine Law' exists for one reason only: to help us to gain knowledge of the Lord of the Worlds, to prepare a way for the children of Adam which brings them closer to their Creator.
Generally, sharia is only presented as law: that is, as a collection of orders and prohibitions. Following these laws and rules or not following them seems then, to be a matter merely imposed for the sake of them. In other words, you have to comply because God wants it like that. If you follow the law, you will be rewarded by being left as and where you are, and if you do not, you will be punished. The sharia becomes then, a kind of penal system with higher backing. Because it seems to be much more cruel than our oh-so humanistic modern penal system, it is often and easily used to frighten those away from Islam who show some interest and who would like to understand it.
Amongst all orders and prohibitions there is, however, one that is more basic than all of them, and which colors them all. It is the order, or the offer, which Allah Almighty gave us when He gave us understanding. He offered us the possibility of knowing our Creator by giving us His Laws, so that we, by walking alongside them, by thinking about them, try to come nearer to Him. Man can sink below the level of animals or rise above it. However, he can only rise about it through the law and not through his own efforts. This is a law which allows him to know his Lord.
Such knowledge is of the greatest importance. Who created us? If we do not know this, or do not want to know, we are not even on the level of animals, for they know their Creator.
The sign that the animals know and follow their Lord is their satisfaction with the way they have been created. No animal complains about its station. That is the doubtful privilege of human beings. A cat is happy to be a cat. It does not want to be a dog. A mouse does not want to be a cat. The snake is a creature without legs, without feet, without wings, but it is content. It does not want to be a donkey. The donkey, although it has to carry heavy loads, although people beat it, still wants to be only a donkey. All creatures are happy and content with their Creator and they know Him. If they did not know Him, they would complain, object, and refuse.
The animals know their Creator according to their capacities. But what about man? Man has been given a mind so that he may know his Lord, in a way appropriate for him. Thereby, human beings are able to know themselves and their Lord, and be content with their lot in the same way. Each prophet came with a sharia appropriate for his time. In this way, all human beings had the chance to know their Creator. The sharia brought by the Seal of Prophets is, according to the Will of God, the last and most perfect testament. Without it, the people of our time are incapable of knowing their Lord and themselves. For they can only know of their Creator to the degree that He makes Himself known to them. This is precisely what happened with the last sharia.
Yet, although knowledge may bring a creature very close to contentment with itself and with its Creator, it does not give complete peace. Love grows from knowledge. The more you hear of someone, the more you understand and know that person, the stronger the desire in your heart will be to go and find him, to be with him. Knowledge is the first step, love is the second. When the believers hear about their Lord through the sharia, then, the more they hear of Him, the closer they will want to come to Him. They will want to know where He is and want to go where He is and be where He is.
Nothing is more lovely to them than being with the Beloved. By knowing about Allah Almighty with His perfect attributes, you will want to get up and go and look for Him. The Arabic word for this way, for this search, is tariqa.
Nowadays, it is quite common to raise objections against tariqa. It is said that tariqa is not an expression of true religiousness, and especially not of Islam. It is also said that it is only for people who mistake religion for superstition and flights of fantasy, and cannot see that it consists of sober reasoning and social ethics. Such objections are usually the product of misunderstanding or ignorance. If such people knew that tariqa is nothing but the way to Allah Almighty they would keep quiet.
For, if you have heard of God, if you know Him, how can you stay put on your chair? Does not each chair on which you sit, each spot where you are, become a fire driving you towards the Beloved?
Whoever has heard of the Ka'aba, of the House of the Lord, whoever knows about it, will set heaven and earth in motion to reach this sacred place. But there are two groups of people running to the House of the Lord. One is on its way to the House of the Lord, the other is on its way to the Lord of the House.
Each will find what it is looking for. The first group is bigger, the second is given more honour in the Divine Presence.
Sharia leads to the House of the Lord, tariqa leads to the Lord of the House. That is all.
To know of the Lord of the Worlds, you do not need to pay attention to particular objects only, you do not have to study selected fields. All and everything gives tidings and knowledge of its Creator. Turn towards what you find and learn from it. Learn to know your Lord.
Maybe you think that tariqa, the way to the Lord of the House, is long and difficult for you, especially in the beginning. But when you ask Allah Almighty for help, He will make your way easy. This is one of His attributes. If you put yourself into His hands, He will make things light for you.
Sharia is necessary because it lays the foundation for our personality. But the perfection of this personality and the fulfillment of our destiny which consists in being a perfect servant can only be reached through tariqa.
Bi hurmatil Habib
Bi hurmatil Surah al-FATIHA
"O Allah! It is not strange that I love You because I am a weak servant, but it is strange that You love me when You are the King of Kings."
--Sayyidina Bayazid al-Bistami (qs)
www.naqshbandi.org
Comments on this journal
Only Allah is your Wali and His Messenger and those who believe, those who keep up prayers and pay the poor-rate (zakah) while they bow (in ruku). -- The same verse is translated a little differently by Yousafali and Pickthal. But this is the proof: --
All the commentators unanimously hold, as Qushaji admits in the Sharh al Tajrid on the subject of imamat, that this verse refers to Ali when he gave his ring to a beggar while bowing down in the course of his prayers. Nasa-i has also recorded this tradition in his Sahihah al Nasa-i, and so has the author of Al Jama Bayn al Sihah al Sittah (corroboration of the six authentic books) in discussion of the commentary on al Ma-idah, and so does Tha-labi in his Tafsir Kabir, and al Balakhi in his Yanabi has copied it from Ahmad bin Hanbal's Musnad, vol. 5, margin of p. 38. Please refer to the commentary on this verse in Wahidi's book Asbab al Nuzul (the circumstances of descent) which contains the tradition related by Ibn Abbas. Al Khatib has recorded the tradition in Al Muttafiq, and Ibn Marduwayh and Abu Shaykh in their Musnads. It is mentioned in Kanz al Ummal, vol. 6, p. 391, tradition no. 5991. In Ghayah al Maram, chapter 18, there are twenty four traditions from sources other than the Ahl ul Bayt, all supporting the above statement about the descent of this verse.
I would recheck your info sources, If you really want the sincere truth, go to the source first hand and don't base your conclusions on things that 'appear' a certain way.
Also, there are a group of people called Habashis who spend much of their time speaking against Maulana Shaykh Nazim and the Naqshibandi tariqah. Here is a www.naqshbandi.org which refutes a claim that shaykh nazim said 'do not pray' or something of the sort. The refute highlights other points which we can all benefit from but the main one can be found in the last sentence. Shaykh Nuh of the Shadhili tariqah tells his mureeds to stay away from the politics that people play in tariqat because it is of no benefit on the path. May Allah swt protect us from it.
how can this be when the prophet peace be upon him only increased his prayer when he got closer to God?