PLEA TO 1.5 BILLION MUSLIM UMMAH WORLDWIDE!
TO BE OR NOT TO BE - THAT IS THE REAL QUESTION!
BISMILLAA HIRRAHMAA NIRRAHIIM
DEAR SAHABAH, BROTHERS AND IKHWAN!
ALHAMDULILLAHI, WABIHI NASTA'IN, BISMILLAHI, WABILLAHI, WAMINALLAHI,
WALLAHI, WAFILLAHI, WAILALLAHI, WALAA ILAAHA ILLALLAAH, ALLAHU AKBAR, WALA
HAWLA WALA QUWWATA ILLAA BILLAHI. AMMA BA':
1.0 MUQADDIMAH
' Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great; some achieve greatness;
and some have greatness thrust upon them' ' To be, or not to be: that is the
question'
The above neither needs introduction nor qualification! Who on God's earth
has not chanced upon the above cli'che, and who does not feel intellectually
arrogant upon uttering them, with tongue-in-cheek!
Nonetheless, in the spiritual sense, true greatness essentially is derived
not from the incessant imploring of a person’s undying or unconditional love
for Almighty God but more upon His exalted reception, acceptance and admission!
He indicates this by saying:
' Wastonaktuka linafsi.' Q.S.20:41.
' Thee, have I chosen for myself.'
PLEASE TAKE HEED: The love of a person towards his Beloved God, necessarily
involved ardent adulation and earnest worship, and a total annihilation and
denial of his love towards other than Him.
His heart resembles a raging fire in
whose glorious flame all earthly ills and desires are consumed and eradicated!
In comparison, the Love of Almighty God towards His servant, essentially and
inevitably renders him quite useless, unqualified and incompatible with all
earthly needs and attributes, other than His and
His alone, gloriously !
Henceforth, it begs a question, how vitally important is it for one to find
his eternal mooring, amidst disbelievers, rejecters, perpetrators, and
detractors who hiss and scoff, who deride and ridicule and who spurn with scorn
and contempt!
Facts remain that obstacles in life will not change, circumstances will not
change; crimes will be committed, there will be wars, killings, brutalities, miseries,
enmities, ailments, hardship and tough times and so forth; nonetheless, there
is absolutely nothing you can do to alter or change the course of anything,
except for one thing: YOU, WILL HAVE TO CHANGE! Change your mind-set, change
your attitude, change your world-views, change your heedlessness to heedfulness,
open your heart and windows to your soul, and jump on the Caravan of Faith and Love,
en-route to Beloved Almighty
God Allah SWT.!MASYAALLAAH!
2.0 RAISON D'ETRE'
However, Man will have to reach very deep within himself to provide enough
justifications to believe, indeed from sheer nothingness! Please refer Q.S.
Al-Insan: 1-3:
' Has there not been over Man a long period of Time, when he was nothing -
[not even] mentioned [remembered]?'
' Verily We created Man from a drop of mingled sperm, in order to try him.
So We gave him [the gifts] of Hearing and Sight.'
' We showed him the Way , whether he be grateful or not.'
Notwithstanding, we find the human race or humanity highly divisible and
extremely divisive as a result of their own ignorance, egos, sheer arrogance, 'intellect',
divergent beliefs and inclinations.
Allah SWT. confirms this in Q.S.Yusuf:103:
' Yet no faith will the greater part of mankind have, however ardently thou
dost desire it.'
Thus, we will continue to hear untoward, unsavoury and untenable remarks,
such as the following:
1. From a famous Statesman:
' I woudn't call myself an atheist. I neither deny nor accept that there is
a God,' 'So I do not laugh at people who believe in God. But I do not
necessarily believe in God - nor deny that there could be one.'
2. From a national MP:
' The option or liberty to choose one’s faith should not be confined to
non-Muslims alone!
3. ' All religions are the same as they preach good things in life, be they
plural, liberal, hedonistic, LGBT and so forth!', as claimed by throngs of
ignoramous idiots!
4. Etc, etc, etc.
Vehemently, Allah SWT assertively concluded, vide Q.S.10:101-109:
' Say: Behold all that is in heavens and on earth,' but neither Signs nor
Warners profit those who believe not.' 10-101,
' Do they then expect any thing but [what happened in] the days of the men
who passed away before them? Say: ' wait ye then: for I, too, will wait with
you.' 10-102,
' In the end We deliver Our apostles and those who believe. Thus is it
fitting on Our part that We should deliver those who believe!’ 10-103,
' Say: O ye men! If ye are in doubt as to my religion, [behold!] I worship
not what ye worship, other than Allah SWT! But I worship Allah Tabaraka
waTa’ala - Who will take your souls [at death]: I am commanded to be [in the
ranks] of the Believers.' 10-104,
' And further [thus]: set thy face towards religion with true piety, and
never in any wise be of the Unbelievers;’ 10-105,
' Nor call on any, other than God! Such will neither profit thee nor hurt
thee: if thou dost, behold! thou shalt certainly be of those who do wrong.'
10-106,
' If Allah SWT.do touch thee with hurt, there is none can remove it but He:
if He do design some benefit for thee, there is none can keep back His favour.
He causeth it to reach whomsoever of His servants He pleaseth. And He is the
Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.’ 10-107,
' Say, 'O ye men! Now, Truth has reached you from your Lord! Those who
receives guidance, do so for the good of their own souls; those who stray, do
so to their own loss and I am not [set] over you to arrange your affairs.'
10-108,
' Follow thou the inspiration sent unto thee, and be patient and constant,
till God do decide: for He is the best to decide.' 10-109.
3.0 DIRE ADMONITIONS
Truth be told, upholding faith in the true religion of Islam, in this
modern times is, as mentioned by the Holy Prophet pbuh, like grasping and
holding on to a burning amber in your hands. Hence, the fragility and infirmity
of the faint-hearted in the face of ruthless and relentless attacks, criticisms
and scepticisms from the enemies of Islam, whose intention from the very beginning
of time, is to denigrate and malign Islam or perhaps, wipe it off from across
the face of planet earth, by any methods possible!
This simply seems to be a western-habit of thought, contrived plans and
designs by the ‘Dajjal’ themselves, and it certainly does not help when the
Muslim themselves, being western- educated and oriented, and basically a
modernist, easy-going, pleasure-seeking and fun-loving exoterics, who
unfortunately, are not genuine Muslims at heart, connived and perpetrated
toward the religion’s possible downfall or even demise; as they had fervently
hoped!
Allah states in Q.S. Yusuf:103:
‘ Yet no faith will the greater part of mankind have, however ardently thou
dost desire it.’
But it is not to be! These ordinary Muslims, at best, wish nothing to do
with so-called torture of prolonged ibadah, austerities and hardships in the profession
of one’s love for Almighty God and His religion. They have not heard, out of
sheer deafness and utter ignorance, verses of the Holy AlQuran in which Allah
SWT. admires:
‘ Those whose bodies do not touch their beds in the nights.’
‘ Those who stay in the company of their Lord during nights praying,
bending and bowing all the time.’
‘ But keep in remembrance the name of thy Lord and devote thyself to Him
wholeheartedly.’
At best, these ignoramuses remain contented with the barest minimum of
Islamic worship, apparently, just enough to save themselves from Hell, by a
whisker, and apparently to reach Paradise, by the skin of their teeth! They
could ALL be their own worst enemies, period! God further elaborated in
Q.S.Al-Hajj:8-11:
‘ Yet, there is among men such a one as disputes about Allah SWT., without
knowledge, without guidance, and without a Book of Enlightenment!’
‘ [Disdainfully] bending his side, in order to lead men astray from the
Path of God Almighty: for him there is disgrace in this life, and on the Day of
Judgment, We shall make him taste the Penalty of burning [Fire].’
‘ [It will be said]: This is because of the deeds which thy hands sent
forth, for verily God is not unjust to His servants.’
‘ There are among men some who serve God, on the verge; if good befalls
them, they are therewith, well content; but if a trial comes to them, they turn
on their faces: they lose both this world and the
Hereafter: that is loss for
all to see.’
In reality, God Almighty strongly forbids us to follow the majority, or the
common run of men who treat religion with apathy, even conjectures, without
clear proof of pure gnosis and enlightenment.
Banded with Satanic forces, they
are bent on leading men astray, with their perpetual lies, slickness and
prejudices!
4.0 TRUE COMMANDMENTS
Basically, there are diverse classes of people, depending on their degrees
of intellect and capabilities, such as the common folks, mediocres, elite,
elite of the elite and super elites. Similarly, there are the pedestrian
ordinary Muslims, the pious ones; whilst, the most pious ones are called Auliya
Allah in the AlQuran.
Compare the notorious misdemeanors of the common Muslims above, with the
ritual demeanors of the elite [Khawas] and the elite of elite [Khawasul Khawas]
who basically and essentially, are the believers and practitioners of the
Science of Islamic Spirituality [Sufis], who aspire for higher values of Islam,
such as proximity [nearness], presence, union and communion with God Almighty,
as urged by the following Hadith-al- Qudsi, from Al-Bukhari:
‘ Allah says when a servant of mine tries to come close to me through deeds
of extra worship, I love him and come so close to him that I become his eyes
and he sees by me; I become his ears and he hears by me; I become his hands and
works by me, and I deliver what he desires.’
5.0 PSEUDO-MODERN MUSLIMS
It has become a general rule and common practice in these modern eras for Western-educated
and Western- oriented people in Islamic countries, to lay claims through one
pretext or another, to be able to reinterpret and redefine Islam by scant
references to the Holy Quran and at times disregarding entirely the Sunnah of
the Holy Prophet [pbuh]. This ploy, wittingly or unwittingly and by design is
meant to strike Islam at its very foundation, upon which the authenticity of
the religion has for the last fourteen and the half centuries been firmly
established!
The attempts by these mischievous and fake Muslims alike, are to marginalize
Islam to a simplistic set of general principles, most of which are their very
own concoctions and conceptions copied from their study of Western-sourced
literatures, and of course, not to mention having fallen victims to their own
lower satanic nafs! This, they hoped to enable them to live lives patterned on modernistic
or Western European lifestyles, while fixing Islamic labels to it! The birth of
Kharijiyah, Mu’tazilah, Qadariyah, Jabariyah, Shiah, Wahabbiyah, liberalism,
pluralism and so forth, are amongst some of the works perpetrated by these evil
hands Bravo! ‘JAZAA UHUM JAHANNAM’ and
‘HASBUHUM JAHANNAM!’-obviously, due to
their manifest errors and sins! That’s the way the cookie crumbles!
Admittedly, these exponents of denigrates and detractors of Islam are
themselves devoid of the essential knowledge, and too ‘uneducated’ to mount
such a monumental feat, let alone even to express an opinion on the religion! How
could anyone even pontificate on such a profound subject, without sound
recourse to the Arabic language, in-depth study [tadabbur] of the AlQuran, vast
bodies of valid documented literatures of Hadiths as the earliest sources of
Islamic Jurisprudences, an in-depth knowledge of Islamic History; and more
importantly Guidance from God Almighty! These culprits, could during the
Prophet’s time be dismissed entirely as ignoramus, or even as propagating acts
of apostasies! But, strangely today, such inventions of the flimsiest
superficiality and artificiality can pass-off as gifts of learned thoughts and
behaviour! Just how could pure fictions and wild figments of imagination appear
and be accepted as truth, whilst proof, valid testimonies, logic and history
are tossed out of the windows! And how could anyone sink so low!? Signs of the
times? You bet!
6.0 CLASSIFICATIONS ON SCIENCES OF ISLAM.
We shall now dwell on the various sciences of Islam in the light of the AlQuran
and the Sunnah practice of the Holy Prophet pbuh, in order to determine the
authenticity and validity of each case.
While it is true that the word Tasawwuf
was not in vogue during the Prophet’s time, but so were many other Islamic
sciences, such as Fiqh, Tafsir, Hadith, Tauheed, etc.; they were unknown by
these names. Does it therefore, mean that these sciences, currently and
prolifically in use now, are foreign in Islam? Truth be told, all these Islamic
sciences, including Tasawwuf, were already present during the Prophets’ time,
very much in spirit and substance, although not in form. What is in a name,
yes!
As the religion developed and spread to every corner of the universe, new
Islamic frontiers were breached, and new knowledge were soon formed, complete
with new words and terms of every description, made available by great Muslim
Reformers [mujaddid ulamas] to the Muslim world.
The various sciences of Islam were subsequently formulated and perfected
into regular sciences, in fact, by the Companions of the Prophet pbuh,
themselves. Those Companions who dwelt deep into the real meaning of the
AlQuran were known as Mufassireen, and this branch of science is called Tafsir.
Those who formulated the science of Tradition or Hadiths were known as
Muhaddithin, and this science is called Ilmul Hadiths.
Those who dealt in the Muslim Law [Jurisprudences] were known as Fuqaha,
while their speciality is called Fiqh.
Those who specialized in the science of spirituality were called Sufis,
whilst their science is known as Tasawwuf [Tariqatus Sufiyah].
However, by no means that those who specialized in one science were
ignorant on others. The fact of the matter is, which is indeed astounding, the Companions
of the Prophet pbuh, were all highly proficient in all these sciences, simply
by virtue of the Prophet’s closed company and sound teachings; they were all
proficient in the real knowledge of the Holy Quran, Hadiths, Islamic Law as
well as the Spiritual Science, without having to be known by the labels or
names of Mufassireen, Muhaddithin, Fuqaha, Sufis, and so forth. Period!Their
beliefs, practices and holds on Islam were therefore total, complete and
perfect!
Unlike the pseudo-ulamas of today, who specialized too much in one science
at the expense of other areas of knowledge, even to the extent of
denialibility! This is especially so when it comes to the subject of Tasawwuf,
where not many ulamas have what it takes to deal with it. The easy way to avoid
it, is to BAN it from the living daylights!
7.0 ROLES OF THE PROPHET PBUH.
The Holy Prophet pbuh, is guided absolutely and permanently by God
Almighty, in which the guidance is not limited or confined to matters of merely
receiving and transmitting the Holy Quran.
Conversely, the Islamic modernists
claim otherwise, that his other activities were carried out in the capacity of
a leader of a community and bears little or no permanent significance. This,
however, is put to rest when Allah SWT. delivers to us a book ‘ to which there
is no doubt,’ [kitab-e-mubeen] where the Prophet’s roles and functions were
deliberated and enumerated in detail!
‘ Allah has indeed shown grace to the believers in sending them a Messenger
from among themselves, who reciteth unto them His revelations, and purifieth
them and teacheth them the Book and Wisdom.’
The very purpose of sending the Messenger is, apart from ‘reciting His
revelations,’ firstly to ‘purify’ them, for the proper understanding of the
Book and of course, ‘WISDOM’; and the ability to put them into practice would
not be attainable, should the act of purification of the heart, being the
centre of wills, intentions and nafs has not been earlier achieved!
These four main functions of the Prophet pbuh, have been instituted and
carried out under the guidance of God Himself, considered as an integral part
of His Message delivered to mankind, through His Messenger that would render the
religion fulfilled and complete!
The ‘teaching of wisdom’ refers to the development into a science of
certain subjects which were treated in general in the Holy Quran, namely,
spiritual science, moral science, the science of Shariat, of Government, of
community, etc, whose guidance, both theoretical and practical were available
directly from the Holy Prophet himself!
8.0 SUFI DOCTRINES AND PROOFS OF THE ALQURAN.
In spite of the long drawn-out controversies between the esoteric [Sufi]
and the exoteric [Zahirites/Shariat/externalist] schools of thought in Islam, the
Sufis maintained that the esoteric spirit and ways of life, preceded those of
the exoteric or Shariat, which came much later, after about 13 years of Islam
in Mecca, and post-Hijra. In fact, Sufism was very much in spirit of Rasulullah
pbuh, and his Companions at that time. Sufism, therefore is real Islam, and
exoterism is of later growth.
Sufism began to surface and reared its head as a
result of carelessness and ease-loving, materially-inclined, and corrupt
tendencies and practices of the later generations, who were merely contented
with the barest minimum of Islamic worship and failed to maintain the full
S.O.P. of Islamic worship, as urged in the Holy Quran and practised by the Holy
Prophet pbuh, and his Companions. As a result, they failed to reach the stages
of Khusyuk, Divine nearness [Qurb], presence, union and communion with Allah
SWT., which indeed, were reached by the Holy Prophet, his Companions, Companions
of the Companions, and the Salafus-Soleh; while the Sufis, who maintained that
full standard of Islamic worship, did and decidedly, TO THIS VERY DAY, still do
reach these stages of Divine nearness!!!
The word Tasawwuf, although not in vogue during the Prophet’s time nor
appear in print in the Holy Quran, but is numerously mentioned by different
names in the AlQuran, such as Sirot, Sabil, Suluk, Wasilah, Ihsan and Toriq /
Toriqah. In fact, the word Toriq/Toriqah alone appears 9 [nine] times in 5
Chapters in the Holy Quran! The following are examples:
- ‘ Yahdi ilal Haqqi wa ilaa Toriiqeem mustaqeem.’
‘ It guides [men] to the truth and to a straight Toriq [path].’
Al-Ahqaf:30.
- ‘ Wa allawistaqaamuu ‘alat Toriiqah laasqainaahum maa an ghadaqaa.’ AlJinn:16.
‘ [ And God’s Message is]: ‘ If they had only remained on the right Toriqah
[way], We should certainly bestowed on them Rain in abundance.’
- Innallaziina kafaruu wa zolamuu lam yakunillahi liyaghfira lahum wa la liyahdi yahum Toriiqa. Illa Toriiqa jahannama khaalidiina fiihaa aabada. Wakaana zzlika ‘alallaahi yasiiraa.’Q.S4:168-169
‘ Those who reject Faith and do wrong- Allah will not forgive them nor
guide them to any Toriqa. Except Toriqa to Hell, to dwell therein forever. And
this to Allah is easy.’
Therein lies the similarities in essences between Tasawwuf and Sufism or
TariqatusSufiyah, which explained and justified the subsequent advent of
numerous Sufi Orders [Tariqah] in the Islamic world, rightly and successfully
led by their Islamic Mursyid [Mujaddid], right to this day!
It is more than crystal clear from the above that Sufism [Tariqat or
Tasawwuf] is not something occult or alien to Islam, but it is the very life,
blood and soul of Islam. It is actually the internal spiritual outcome of the
external actions of the Syariat! More importantly, Sufism comprises the ibadah
of specialization and intensification for the chosen, meant to elevate him to
higher domains of divine nearness, presence, union and communion with the
Divine Lord; NEVER, by any means imaginary or wishful thinking of the Sufis;
but in terms ascribed by the Holy Quran; in which God complimented those ‘Whose
bodies never touch their beds in the night‘; ’ who spend nights with Allah, praying,
bending and bowing before Him’, of performing additional worship, resulting in
‘ Seeing by Divine sights, hearing by Divine hearings, and doing everything
with Divine power;’ and according to alHadith, ‘Beware of the true believer’s
insight who sees by Allah’s light.’
It is therefore manifest that the main concern of the Sufi school of
thought [TariqatTasawwuf] is spiritual purification in order to attain Divine
nearness [Qurb] and Divine favours [Hikmah, etc], strongly urged by the
AlQuran, and intensely sought after by the Prophet[s] and Companions. Please
refer Q.S.4:113, 2:269 and 26:83.
‘ For God hath sent down to thee the Book and WISDOM [HIKMAH] and taught
thee what thou knew not [before]: And great is the Grace of God unto thee.’
‘ He granteth WISDOM to whom He pleaseth, and he to whom WISDOM is granted,
receiveth indeed a benefit overflowing; but none will grasp the Message but men
of understanding.’
‘ O my Lord! Bestow WISDOM on me, and join me with the righteous.’
The tasks to acquire the Divine’s domain of reception and acceptance appear
to be hard, but it is not! It is in fact, the quickest and easiest of all
missions, because the Merciful and the Compassionate God has this to say:
‘ When a seeker of Mine comes one span to Me, I go two spans to him. When
he comes one yard to Me, I go two yards to him. When he comes to Me walking, I
go to him running!’ What a great undertaking!
How tremendous and dazzling are God’s responses! No human, not even your
parents, or your own blood-relations can be so gracious, gentle, merciful and
bountiful! Accordingly, this is proof that the Sufi’s ritual life is strictly
in accordance with AlQuran and was actual living examples of the Holy Prophet
and his Companions, in comparison with the exoteric life of pedestrian Muslims,
whose endeavours and deliberations are tragically, half-hearted attempts of
being content with the barest minimum of Islam, which even, sadly falls short
of the standard or idealism, and the noble GOALS of Islam, embodied in the
Syariah!
9.0 SWORN PLEDGE OR BAI’AT OF ALLEGIANCE.
FINALLY! Here comes the tough part, back to the question of: ‘TO BE OR NOT
TO BE’ one with God, one with the affiliation [Silsilah] of the Prophet pbuh,
his Sahabah, Tabi’in, Tabiit-tabi’in, Great Mujaddid from amongst
Salafus-Soleh, whose names were engraved in gold! Among them were Imam
Hassan-alBasri, Ibrahim Adham, Syaikh Abu Yazid Bustami, Syaikh Junaid
alBaghdadi, Dzunnun-alMisri, Syaikh alQadr Jailani, Imam Al-Ghazali, Al-Arabi, Syaikh
Bahauddin anNaqsyabandy, just to name a few!
The writer stakes his whole life and soul to the propagation of Sufism or
TariqatusSufiyah, in total submission to Almighty Allah SWT., without any
exception. As Quranic exegesus, such as those above, prove beyond any shadow of
doubt that, Allah SWT. GUARANTEES: WALLAAHI, WABILLAHI, WATALLAHI, the final
salvation to Jannah-fil-Akhiraat!
So, dear Sahabah, Brothers and Ikhwan do take heed! You may swear your
Allegiance or Bai’at at the hands of a genuine and accredited Murshid, to
undertake to adhere to the teachings of any accredited Tariqah; or you may also
deliberate with the humble Faqir Ilallah writer himself! This affirmative
decision of your lifetime, no turning back, is entirely your very own! Do it
NOW, seriously, like your life depended on it; and mostly, because Allah SWT.
shall be extremely and duly pleased!!!
It is vital to take note, that none is considered safe and has found true
SALVATION, and LIBERATION in this dream-world of ours, or the hereafter, until one
has attained His absolute nearness and presence, in the depth of one’s heart! Inevitably,
this undertaking shall only be possible by way of the TariqatTasawwuf, which is
the SIRAATAL MUSTAQEEM; the WAY of Muhammad, the Prophet pbuh!
The writer hereby, solemnly swears that on the Day of Judgment, he shall
stand before all of you Sahabah, Brothers and Ikhwan, while Allah SWT and dear
Rasulullah pbuh, shall bear witness, ready to intercede, on account of your
decision and choice made TODAY, at this very moment in time, to be a SUFI! The
writer decidedly, has made it as his final and ultimate run, prior to his final
‘meeting’ with his Lord, on the Day of Judgment! InsyaAllah! TO BE OR NOT TO
BE, INDEED:
REMEMBER TO BE: His lover, in intimacy of devotion and worship, be mindful
and anxious in fulfilling His greater needs than fulfilling your own!
TO BE: Forlorn, despondent, despair and desolate in your heart towards
other than Him.
TO BE: With the world, but not of the world.
TO BE: Dead to others, in order to live in Him!
TO BE: Possessed, not by the world, satan or demon, but by Him.
TO BE: Solely with Him, and in Him; or be NOTHING!
Beloved God has caused His Lovers to be alive in their deaths, but has
caused His nemesis to die in their lives!
‘ For His Mercy, He specially chooseth whom He pleaseth, for God is the
Lord of bounties unbounded!’ 3:74
‘ Verily it is We Who have revealed the Book to thee in Truth: So serve God
with sincere Devotion!
39:2.
ALHAMDULILLAAH! WABILLAHIT TAUFIQ. TABARAKALLAHI RABBIL ALAMIN.
MADRASATUL BAITUL ADAM, SHAH ALAM, MALAYSIA. 07.SEPTEMBER,2013.