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Praise be to Allah, the God of the Universe who made the Sufi
followers among the select few he saved from transgression. They are
the ones who wholeheartedly embrace truth, shun arrogance and
hypocrisy for the sake of the certainty of truth and eternity. They
are the harbor in times of need, the strength in times of weakness,
the fortified citadels in times of fear, for they have known the
value of this world and of the hereafter, favored what lasts forever
over the ephemeral, and forsook what perishes for the sake of the
eternal. Prayers and peace be upon the key to the secrets of existence and
sustenance, the seal of the preceding lights of prophecy, guidance
and light…our master Muhammed. May Allah’s prayers, peace and blessings be upon him, his pure and
worthy kinfolk, and his inspired and inspiring companions… Islam has come as a universal religion of which the reach embraces
all humanity. Then its teachings were sent to encompass all human
beings with their weaknesses and strengths, their instincts and
their inclinations, their capacities and their potentialities. Therefore, the Qur’an tells us about the various stations of daa’wa:
Islam, faith, kindness, certainty, as well as about the status of
the pious, the worshippers, the cherishers and the content. These
are stations on the path towards Allah, and positions of Allah’s
active servants, each rated according to his struggle, capacity and
endeavor, and of what has been destined for him and hence made
easier. All or most of the companions, may Allah be pleased with them,
crossed these stages and achieved these positions. They were pious and devout scholars and cherishers of Allah, have
dedicated themselves in submission to Him, and remain attentive to
their thoughts and emotions with the same attention and care they
showed toward their duties and sunan. The geographical reach of the Islamic world spread, and its nations
and peoples became many. They grew farther away from the Prophet and
the revelation. Worldly matters occupied people and the quest for
pleasure, greed and whims ruled them and deviated their hearts from
their faith. Then rose the men of Sufism to preserve the essence and
teachings of Islam. Sharia Schools Safeguard the Pillars of Islam Hadith schools first appeared in Medinah and Iraq and fiqh schools
emerged in Al Hijaz, Egypt, the Greater Syria and Baghdad. Then
schools of rhetoric, its rules and methods followed. Finally schools
of interpretation with their sciences and laws surfaced. All these movements, important as they were, were scientific and
intellectual trends of which the main pillar was art and thought, as
well as the research, didactic and argument they give rise to. These were schools which, although greatly beneficial, were more
like the schools of law, or medicine or architecture. With their
particular method and logic, they applied the rules to predetermined
curricula with little regard after that for the human being’s heart,
soul, senses, action and behavior. For this sublime goal, the great men of Islamic Sufism emerged with
their message, targeting the heart, soul, senses and behavior of the
human being on his itinerary towards Allah and in his march through
life. They have risen to preserve the spirit of worship and the essence of
Islam. They have emerged to make lofty ideals the divine way and the
human approach that leads to the perfect man, shapes the fervent and
immune believer who is fit for living and representing Allah on the
earth where He was created, and to become worthy of the Almighty and
worthy of the tremendous powers that He bestowed on man through what
was placed at his disposal in the heavens and the earth. Sufi Schools Preserve the Essence of Islam and its Traditions In the same way that fiqh scholars innovated in their branches,
hadith experts in the rules of narration and attribution, and in the
same manner that interpretation ulemas formed their theories of the
quest for the self, the attributes, the possible, the causes and
motives and of pre-destiny, the ulemas and sheikhs of Sufism engaged
in jurisprudence and formed their knowledge of rites and morals,
their behavior patterns, the diseases of the heart and the soul, the
pull of good and evil, the lights of dikr and submission and the
components of the perfect Muslim person. Mohieddine Ibn Arabi says: ‘The sufis have reached consensus that
there can be no prescription nor proscription after the Book of
Allah and the Sharia of the Messenger, the seal of the prophets.
Instead, it is the gift of understanding bestowed on the men of
Allah, as witnesses the hadith of Ali Ibn Abi Taleb, may Allah be
pleased with him: ‘It is a gift of knowledge that Allah bestows on
those who obey him. Allah inspires and enlightens them’. Similarly to the ulemas delving in the explicit and who safeguard
the limits of the Sharia, the Sufi scholars preserve its esoteric
teachings and its essence. While the former were allowed freedom and
initiative in inferring evidence, identifying limits and exceptions,
and ruling with lawfulness or prohibition as regards that which no
text governs and which was left open for interpretation, the Sufis
were free to create preferences and traditions and new forms of
worship for the Mourids and the devout. Diversity of Inferring Methods and Moral Codes of the Sufis If ulemas have followed many paths in searching and inferring, in
the types of evidence and the arts of Qiyas, the paths of Sufism
varied in behavior and knowledge, in morals and traditions, in dikr
and wird, in revelation and in the secrets of the soul. A school that has forged ahead on its itinerary towards Allah on a
momentum of fear and awe and followed its paths in life, combining
education and elevation with fiqh and tawhid, and making the best of
morals the basis and essence of every act of worship and submission. This school was built around the fear of God and invented, in the
course of its drive towards Allah, many stations and ranks with
knowledge and enlightenment, glory and hymns as the stepping stones
between them, urges people to embrace love, compassion and
solidarity, and has turned the world into a symphony of virtue,
fraternity and global goodness for those with a sensitive heart. It is a school based on self-questioning, the purification and
immunization of the soul, then proceeded to the infinitesimal and
gave voice to some of the greatest secrets of the soul, the arts of
the sensual and the inspiration of psyche and the senses. Then this
school attracted followers, advocates and disciples. Sufism Carried the Banner of Islam in Knowledge and Behavior As global and diversified as Islamic Sufism is, it is structured
within two trends: knowledge and behavior, and each of these two
trends has its own leaders and imams. The first generation of Sufis comprised men of knowledge and
science. When they laid down the rules of Sufism, enlightened its
way and determined its objectives, the educators, behavior and
guidance masters followed, giving rise to these tariqas which had
the greatest impact on life in the Islamic World and played a
leading role in shaping its spiritual and moral traits and its
intellectual features. These tariqas which folded in their bosoms the largest numbers and
strongest alliances stood fast through the centuries and the years
in the face of the intruding invasions, the internal tyranny and the
material and spiritual decadence. These tariqas prevailed among the masses, preserved their faith and
ethic and safeguarded them against disintegration and collapse. These tariqas have become the sparkling lights, the shining beacons,
the salvaging destination, the fertile oasis that offers shade, life
and nourishment for the doubtful, the stray and the weary. These tariqas have preserved the knowledge of Islam, the Quranic
revelation and the prophetic guidance, and built in every part of
the world mosques and sanctuaries, institutes and zawiyas for
students and the seekers of true life. These tariqas spread Islam and carried its banner throughout the
world, won over the hearts of millions, built the dynasties of the
Almoravids and the Almohads for the salvation of Andalusia and the
defense of the Arab Maghreb from the pouncing Europeans and the
raids of the pillaging pirates. Sufi Tariqas are Universities of Education Sufi tariqas are in reality great universities for education,
refinement and teaching and for the positive preparation of their
disciples for struggle and Jihad for the sake of life’s loftiest
ideals, in addition to their original mission, the daawa to Allah
the Almighty, the guidance of the mourids onto the right path that
guarantees the blessing satisfaction of Allah, through dikr and
adoration, the purification of the heart, the elevation of the
senses, lofty morals, the service of society and love for humanity
at large. These universities are truly the most prestigious universal
educational institutions. I am positive that no ancient or modern
university had programmes and prospects as wide as these Sufi
universities. These tariqas represent the university of the Quran, the school of
prophecy, and the higher institute that generates the ideal image of
the perfect man in life and religion. Islamic Sufism has managed to spread Islamic Daawa and make it
universal with no weapon and no aggression. It has carried its glow
and its guidance to Indonesia, the Philippines, China, and the
heart, east and west of Africa. It had stood fast in the face of
atheist and decadent movements in Russia, and rose as a barrier
protecting Muslim countries from the paganism of the Mongols and the
fanaticism of the Crusaders. Al Jabarti tells us that the failure of
the French campaign in Egypt was owed to the popular resistance
organized by the sheikhs and followers of the Sufi Tariqa who turned
Al Azhar and the popular districts of Cairo into impregnable
bastions and ever burning revolution torches. The author of the ‘History of Baghdad’ adds that when the Abbassid
Al Mutawakkil was overwhelmed by wars and found no release, he
called upon the Sufi youth who answered his call from everywhere and
formed his great army that protected Islam and defended its
frontiers. Sufism is a Form of Jihad against the Whims of the Soul, Hegemony
and Tyranny
Islamic Sufism, with what it entails in terms of elevation and
shunning of all basic instincts and whims, the adherence to lofty
values and sacrifice for their sake, is an education beyond all
other forms of education known in the world because it penetrates to
the core of the heart and impacts on the inner and outer dimensions.
It is an education that encompasses the conscience and the psyche as
well as the hand, the tongue and the senses. The arduous and violent Sufi jihad for the achievement of perfection
in all walks of life is a struggle against the self, against
temptation, greed and self-indulgence, hatred and envy. It is also a
struggle against hegemony and tyranny using wisdom, good counsel and
not terrorism, assassination, revolution and plotting against the
rulers. It is a struggle for purity and ascendance, an exercise in
strength and excellence, a form of jihad that grants the Sufi an
unbeatable determination, a will of iron, pride, practical
positivism and an emotional bravery that is unequalled in this
world. The Hujjat of Islam Al Imam Al Ghazali writes to Ibn Tachfine,
Sultan of Morocco, saying: ‘Either take up your sword for the sake
of Allah and the rescue of your brothers in Islam, or step down from
the leadership of Muslims so their rights can be championed by other
than you’. Imam Mohieddine Ibn Arabi, the chief sheikh of Sufism addressed King
Al Kamel when he floundered in the fight against the Crusaders: ‘You
have no pride and Islam will not recognize the likes of you. Stand
up and fight or we shall fight you as we fight them’. When the Mamluks wrought havoc in the lands of Egypt, the Great Sufi
Al ‘Izz Ibn Abdussalam flew into a rage and ordered that all the
Mamluks be arrested, proclaiming that he intended to sell them at
the slave market because they betrayed the trust of Muslims… Hatim Al Assam saw his brother Al Balkhi –both of whom were figures
of Sufism- laughing as he stood among the ranks of fighters in the
Battle of the Turks, and asked him: ‘What makes you laugh?’. He
replied: ‘Why would not I laugh when I am in the dearest place to
Allah? The happiest and most desirable of my moments is for Him to
see me working my sword for the love of Him, keen on dying more than
I am keen on living’. In all haughtiness and arrogance, the Umayyad caliph Abdulmalik Ibn
Marwane said to the Sufi Ibn Al Baitar: ‘I am Abdulmalik (the slave
of the king), so solicit what you need from me’. With the
faith-induced confidence of the Sufi, Abu Baitar: ‘I am also the
slave of the King, so let us solicit what we need from He of whom
you and I are the slaves’. Imam Ashshaarani, the historian of Sufism wrote: ‘Islam is innocent
of he who dresses in new clothes, eats a hearty meal, laughs
wholeheartedly and settles happily in his home while the Ummah is
troubled or suffering’. These noble Sufi virtues and these outlines of sublime humanity,
good morals and unequalled bravery are what we need today in our
fierce struggle, our burning conflict and our endeavor to edify the
Ummah and prepare it for its great civilizational role.
Conclusion
Sufism is a Shield and a Bastion Protecting our Ummah Today, we are facing world colonialism and confronting international
Zionism. In this boiling conflict, victory shall be that of he who
possesses the highest spiritual and moral powers. When nations morally fall apart, lose their positive power, their
determination to struggle and their desire to succeed, they become
defeated and at the mercy of stormy events. Let us then seek in the mission of Sufism the moral strength, the
power of the faith and the spiritual values that we can be used as a
shield and a bastion to protect and defend our nation, and a ladder
to climb in the ascent to its objectives and ambitions. Fidelity and nobility, authenticity and honesty, pride and
salvation, bravery and strength, dignity, faithfulness and virtue,
and every other divine trait, spring neither from the Wahabbite
thought, nor from that of the extremist Sufi preachers. These are virtues derived from the revelation of Allah, the
inspiration of Islam and its sources, and from the mission and
methods of Sufism. The pure and strong Sufi spirit must prevail on our lives and
existence, and must become a component of the curricula in our
institutes and schools, a guiding light in our newspapers, books and
radio stations, and an inspired way of life in every aspect of our
revival. Only then can we aspire to obtain the blessings of Allah and the
prevalence of life. Only then will our hands be rich with Sufi might
and the strength of faith, and will Allah’s words come true: ‘Do not
fail or be aggrieved for you shall be the victorious if you are true
believers’ (Al Imrane, 139). May the prayer of Allah be on Muhammed, his family and his
companions.
By: His Eminence Shiekh Muhammed Said Chennaoui,
Supreme Sheikh of Sufi Tariqas,
President of the Supreme Council of Sufism
Arab Republic of Egypt
Cairo, Imam Hussain Square
Umm Al Ghulam Street. |
