Transcript Sufism in Brief

Version 8.8.3
Abu Muhammad
The Writer
 He has not known anything on the topic,
 He has no right to talk about it,
 He has no audacity to write about it,
 The volume of literature on the topic described it
better than this writer,
 But the ardent love of it, pull the writer to talk and
write about it. NOTHING BUT LOVE & ATTRACTION
SO, FORGIVE THE POOR WRITER FOR THAT!
She, I love with all my might,
We meet when he hates her and warned me about her,
When she was slandered and denied the right to defence,
I looked into her innocent eyes,
And something told me is his hatred genuine?
I prayed to the Real to open my eyes to see the real,
About the two mighty pillars that support her.
When I opened my eyes is my bride I saw,
The very life that make my lifeless body alive!
Derivations(‫)اشتقق‬
 The word “Sufism” is the
English equivalent of the
Arabic
word
“‫”تسوف‬
(Tasawwuf).
 Tasawwuf is derived
from five Arabic words
i.e. Suf, Saff, Safah,
Suffah and Sufuh
 A Muslim practising
Sufism is called a Sufi.
‫(تسوف‬Sufism)
‫(صوفح‬Forgiving)
‫(صفة‬Bench)
‫(صافة‬Purity)
‫(صف‬Rank)
‫(صوف‬Wool)
Suf (Wool) The first derivative
 This is the fur remove from
animal like sheep and
made into cloth.
 As a derivative of Sufism, it
places special emphasis on
the wool detached from its
body so also is Sufism
detaching the Sufi away
from this world and its
pleasures and attractions.
Zuhd forms the core of
Sufism
under
this
derivation.
The central element in this derivative of Sufism is Zuhd
(Detaching one’s mind from the worldly illusions and
attractions that may hinder one’s spiritual development).
On the authority of Abu Abbas Sahl Bin Sa'ad Al-Sa'idi
(R.A.A.) who said: 'A man came to the Prophet (SAW) and
requested him: "Messenger of God (SAW), tell me
something by which I could win the love of The Almighty
and the people." The Prophet told him, "Do not love the
world, and The Almighty will love you; and do not have a
longing for that which people have, and they will love
you."' [Ibn-Majah]
On the authority of Ibn 'Umar (R.A.A.) who said: The
Messenger of God (SAW) caught my shoulder and said: "Be
in the world as if you are a stranger or a traveler." [Bukhari]
Abu Hurayra said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, say, "This world is cursed and
cursed is what is in it, except for the remembrance of Allah
Almighty and what brings one near to Him and the teacher and
the student." [at-Tirmidhi]
Ka'b ibn 'Iyad said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, say, 'Every community has a
trial, and the trial of my community is wealth.'" [at-Tirmidhi]
Ka'b ibn Malik reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, said, "Two hungry wolves loose
among sheep do not cause as much damage as that caused to a
man's deen by his greed for money and reputation." [atTirmidhi]
Moses(AS) is always known for wearing wool dressing a sign of
Zuhd, hence wool became a badge of Sufism, Sheikh Abdulqadir
Al-Jilani(RA) in his Futuh Al-Ghayb (Revealation of the Unseen)
stated, “Tasawwuf is based on eight qualities:
1. Generosity like that of Prophet Abraham;
2. Cheerful submission like that of Prophet Isaac;
3. Patience like that of Prophet Jacob;
4. Prayer like that of Prophet Zachariah;
5. Poverty like that of Prophet John;
6. Wearing of woollen dress like that of Prophet Moses;
7. Travelling about like that of Prophet Jesus; and
8. Religious poverty like that of Prophet Muhammad
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and all the rest).”
Qur’an 87:16-17, 8:67, and 13:26 all addressed the same issue.
Saff (Rank) The second derivative
 This is in accordance with the
word of Allah in Qurán 61:4
“Lo! Allah loveth those who
strive for His cause in
ranks, as if they are solid
structure” Being in ranks in
striving in the cause of Allah
is Sufism
 As a derivative of Sufism, it
places special emphasis on
the Harb Al-Nafs which is
one of the categories of Jihad.
Purification of the self to
attain a degree of obedience
to Allah is Harb Al-Nafs.
The central element in this derivative of Sufism is Harb Al-Nafs (Fighting
self and the temptations of self which include mind’s illusive pursuit that
leads to temptation and sin).
Jihad falls into the following categories:
 Harb Al-Kuffar
Harb Al-Nafs
Harb Al-Shaytan
Harb Al-Munafiqun
The Prophet (SAW) of God dispatched a contingent of the army (to the
battlefront). Upon their (successful) return, he (SAW) said: ‘Blessed are
those who have performed the minor jihad and have yet to perform the
major jihad.’ When asked, ‘What is the major jihad?’ the Prophet (SAW)
replied: ‘The jihad of the self (struggle against self )’”. [Al-Majlisi, Bihar alAnwar, vol. 19, p. 182, hadith no. 31] Ibn Taymiyya one of the famous
writers and formulator of Wahhabism doctrines, claimed this hadith to be
fabricated. This is not surprising, Harb Al-Nafs is never known to him and
any Wahhabis, so he found it difficult to believe it is the word of the
prophet(SAW) and secondly he thought the hadith will replace Harb AlKuffar with Harb Al-Nafs and having known that Wahhabis are going to
be deluded into waging unjustified battles later on, so he must cross this
hadith.
When a Sufi strive to correct his self, the self progresses from
the lowest stage of Nafs Al-Amarah to Nafs Al-Lawwama, then
to Nafs Al-Mutma’enna, then Nafs Al-Radiyat and finally to
Nafs Al-Mardiyyat.
In terms of difficulties, harb Al-Nafs is the most difficult,
because all the other striving you are fighting a known enemy
and by simply retreating from the enemy’s reach you can be
safe; but in the case of striving against self it is you yourself that
is the enemy and therefore no retreat.
Striving aims subduing and rendering the enemy impotent so
that the enemy cannot harm you, Striving against self is to
render yourself impotent of becoming disobedience to God due
to temptations and lewdness of the self.
The five stages of striving against “Self”, are milestone in
knowing the progress so far in subduing and rendering the
“Self” impotent. These stages are all mentioned in the holy
Qurán which is war manual for fighting “Self”. The stages are:
 Nafs Al-Amarah (The Evil Soul) The lewd soul that loves sins
and low life and succeeds in controlling one to disobey God.
Holy Qur’an 12:53 addressed this stage of the soul.
Nafs Al-Lawwama (The Accusing Soul) The lewd soul here
also loves sins and low life before actually divulging into it, but
suddenly develops regrets after the sins were committed and
keep on accusing one for committing sins thereby disobeying
God. Qurán 75:2 mentioned this stage of the soul.
Nafs Mutma’enna (The tranquil Soul) At this level the soul is
completely tamed against going after sins and low life, it diverts
its energy in serving God and it is satisfied with that. Holy
Qur’an 89:27 speaks about this stage of the soul.
 Nafs Al-Radiyat (The pleasant Soul) at this stage, the soul is
pleased with obedience to God and completely at His service.
Nothing pleases this soul but what is for God. Qur’an 89:28
explains this stage.
 Nafs Mardiyyat (The pleasant and pleased soul) at this stage,
God becomes pleased with the selfless dedication and
attachment the soul is exhibiting to Him. This is the highest
stage the soul will reach and the objective of Sufism. Holy
Qurán 89:29 mentioned this stage.
Major Component of Nafs(Soul)
Jasad (Body)
Ruh (Spirit)
Nafs Al-Hayawan
(Animated Soul)
Nafs Al-Hawah
(Transcendental Soul)
Systems that makes up Jasad
(Body)










Digestive
Respiratory
Reproduction
Lymphatic
Endocrine
Circulatory
Skeletal
Muscular
Excretory
Nervous
These are link with the animated soul
Organs of Jasad (Body) link with Nafs
Al-Hawah (Transcendental Soul)
 Ears
 Eyes
 Tongue
 Limbs
 Heart
 Sexual organs
 Belly
Through these organs the soul issues order to
commit sins and fall into low life
Safah (Purity) The third derivative
 This is in accordance with the
word of Allah in Qurán 91:7-9
“By Soul and He who
perfected it. And inspired it
what is wrong for it and (what
is) right for it. Successful is he
who purifies it.” Purification of
the soul until it attains degree of
purity(Safah) is the focal point
of a Sufis under this derivative.
 As a derivative of Sufism, it
places special emphasis on the
purification of soul to come
closer to Almighty Allah.
The central element in this derivative of Sufism is purification
of the soul in order to be successful in coming close to Allah.
Tazkiyyatin Nafs (purification of the soul) make the soul to
come out of certain impurities that lead to a low life in this
world. The Holy Qur’an 91:10 stated, “And he is indeed failure
who stunteth it(The Soul)!” Sheikh Tahir Uthman(RA) on
commenting on this verse mention filths that used to stunt the
soul and lead to spiritual failure as mentioned here, these are:
1. Dust (Attaching soul to comedic issues thereby neglecting
higher spiritual life),
2. Urine (Attaching soul to sexual pleasures thereby neglecting
higher spiritual life),
3. Blood (Attaching soul to murderous activities thereby
derailing from higher spiritual life),
4. Faeces
(Attaching soul to money-grubbing thereby
neglecting higher spiritual life), and lastly
5. Gutter (Attaching soul to all the above and totally losing the
lustre to pursue a higher spiritual life)
Sufi exercise restraint from these filths under the care of a
Sheikh, who monitors his spiritual progress on the purification
of the soul process.
When a Sufi completely detach his soul from these filths that
stunt the soul, he reach a stage referred by God in Holy Qur’an
91:9, “Successful is he who purifies it(Soul)!”
Spiritual success comes to him immediately which brings him
to the proximity of the Divine Essence and in complete
obedience of the Divine Instructions.
Suffah (Bench) The fourth derivative


This is in accordance with the companions of
the prophet(SAW) who came to Medina
because of the prophet(SAW) and were
homeless; so a space in the mosque of the
prophet(SAW) was apportioned to them and
that spot is known as Suffah (Bench) and the
companions as Ashabul Suffah the people of
the bench. The holy Qur’an 18:65 says “Then
found they one of our slaves, unto whom
we have given mercy from us, and taught
him knowledge from our Presence. Moses
said unto him, May I follow thee, to the
end that ye mayst teach me guidance(to
higher spiritual life) of that which thou
has been taught? ”
As a derivative of Sufism, it places special
emphasis on the seeking the company of a
spiritual guide who will see to the training of
one’s spirituality as did the people of the
bench seeking the company of the
prophet(SAW) even when they remain
homeless. Likewise did Moses(RA) seeking the
company of Khidr(RA)
The central element in this derivative of Sufism is Suhbat AlMurshid (Seeking the company of a spiritual guide who sees to
one’s spiritual growth) and live with such guide for one’s entire
life.
Sheikh Ibrahim Inyass(RA) in his Ruhul Adab (Spirit of Good
Morals) said “Seek for a knowledgeable and experienced
Teacher with sound advice, Complete in knowledge of
Divine Lord (and of course) a righteous leader.
Submit yourself completely to him and don't experiment
(on your efforts), Be like a dead person before its washer
and you shall be informed.”
The holy Qur’an 31:15 says “And follow the path of one that
has turned towards Me”
And that’s why the companions of the bench, the founding
fathers of Sufism abandoned all the pleasures of life and follow
the prophet(SAW) to guide them to higher spiritual lives
The companions of the bench are 53 in numbers, they are:
1. Abu Huraira
2. Abu Darr al-Ghifari
3. Wathilah Ibn Asqa
4. Qays ibn Tahfah al-Ghifari
5. Ka’ab ibn Malik al-Ansari
6. Sa’eed ibn Malik ibn Hadhim al-Jumahi
7. Salman al-Farsi1
8. Asma ibn Harithah ibn Sa’eed al-Aslami
9. Hanzala ibn Abu Amir al-Ansari
10. Hazim ibn Harmala
11. Harithah ibn Nu’man al-Ansari al-Najjari
12. Hudhayfah ibn Usayd Abu Surayhah al-Ansari
13. Hudhayfah ibn Yaman1
14. Jariyah ibn Jamil ibn Shabah ibn Qirt
15. Ju’ayl ibn Suraqah ibn al-Dumari
16. Jurhad ibn Khuwaylid al-Aslami
17. Rafa’ah Abu Lubabah al-Ansari
18. Abd Allah Dhu al-Bijadayn
19. Dukayn ibn Sa’eed al-Mazani
20. Khubayb ibn Yasaf ibn Anabah
21. Kharim ibn Aws al-Ta’i
22. Kharim ibn Fatik al-Asadi
23. Khunays ibn Hadhafah al-Sahami
24. Khabbab ibn al-Art
25. Al-Hakam ibn Umayr al-Thamali
26. Harmalah ibn Ayas
27. Zayd ibn al-Khattab
28. Abd Allah ibn Masud
29. Al-Tafawi al-Dawsi
30. Talhah ibn Amr al-Nadri
31. Safwa ibn Bayda al-Fahri
32. Suhayb ibn Sanan al-Rumi
33. Shaddad ibn Usaym
34. Shaqran
35. Al-Sa’eeb ibn Khalad
36. Salim ibn Umayr
37. Salim ibn Ubayd al-Ashja’i
38. Safinah
39. Salim
40. Abu Fazin
41. Al-Agharr al-Mazani
42. Bilal ibn Rabah
43. Al-Barra ibn Malik al-Ansari
44. Thawban
45. Thabit ibn Wadi’ah al-Ansari
46. Thaqif ibn Amr ibn Shamit al-Asadi
47. Sa’ad ibn Malik Abu Sa’id al-Khudari
48. Al-Arbad ibn Sariyah
49. Ghurfah al-Azadi
50. Abd al-Rahman ibn Qirt
51. Abbad ibn Khalid al-Ghifari (RAA)
And of course the last two didn’t live with the remaining in Suffah
physically in the mosque of the prophet(SAW). But were spiritually
with the others. These two are Khidr(RA) which the holy Qur’an
narrated how Moses(AS) sought his suhbat but failed to maintain the
essential discipline of that Suhbat. This story is relented in Suratul
Kahf of the holy Qur’an. The other one was Uwais Al-Qarni(RA).
Once the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him), while speaking to
Sahaba-Ikram (companions), said: "There is a person in my Ummah
(followers) whose prayers would bring forgiveness to as many sinners
as the number of hair of the sheep in the tribes of Rabia and Mazar."
The two tribes were well known for raising sheep during the time of
the Holy Prophet. The disclosure made the Sahaba-Ikram very
curious. They asked the Holy Prophet about the name of that person
and the place he lived in. The Holy Prophet first hesitated, but on
their insistence told them the name of a person who lived in Qarn,
Uwais Qarni.
These complete 53 Ashabul Suffah, the founding fathers of today
Sufism.
And these great personalities, most of them gave their lives to defend Islam, so that
Islam reaches us, the list of Shuhadaú (Martyrs) among them include:
In Battle of Badr
Safwan ibn Baidaa (ra)
Khuraim ibn Faatik (ra)
Al-Asdee (ra)
Khubaib ibn Yasaaf (ra)
Saalim ibn Umair (ra)
Haarithah ibn Al-No’maan Al-Ansari (ra)
In Battle of Uhud
Hanzala al-Ghaseel (ra)
In Battle of Hudaibiyyah
Jurhud ibn Khuwailid (ra)
Abu Sareeha Al-Ghaffaree (ra)
In Battle of Khaibar
Thaqeef ibn Ame (ra)
In Battle of Yamaama
Saalim (ra)
Zaid ibn Al-Khattab (ra)
Sufuh (Forgiving) The fifth derivative
 This is in accordance with the
words of Allah in Qurán 64:14
“O Ye who believe! Lo! Among
your wives and children there
are enemies for you, therefore
beware of them. And if ye
efface,
overlook
and
FORGIVE then Lo! Allah is
forgiving the most Merciful”
Forgiving others so that Allah
will forgive one.
 As a derivative of Sufism, it
places special emphasis on
softness and good behaviours
acceptable by people in order to
earn Divine forgiveness and
Mercy.
The central element in this derivative of Sufism is drilling the
mind to exhibit subtle behaviours to fellow creatures, embrace
them and forgive their mistakes and deliberates in order to earn
Allah’s forgiveness.
The mind of a Sufi is suppose to be so subtle to creatures that
the creatures looks on him as the manifestation of Divine
mercy. The Holy Qurán 48:29 “Muhammad(SAW) a
messenger of God and his followers are hard against
unbelievers(in battle times) and merciful among
themselves.”
The only place where the subtle behaviours is temporarily
suspended as mentioned in the above verse is during a battle
with unbelievers who put forward aggression against Islamic
state, at that stage a Sufi withdrew subtleness else it will become
weakness. However, in peace time, Sufi should be subtle.
The Five Definition of Sufism
 The Islamic knowledge and practice of detaching oneself




from the attractions to worldly things in order to gain the
love of Allah.
The Islamic knowledge and practice of striving to purge
away all forms of temptations and sins from one’s self in
order to earn the love of Allah.
The Islamic knowledge and practice of purification of the
soul aiming drawing closer to Allah.
The Islamic knowledge and practice that is acquired from a
perfect spiritual guide by keeping his company for one’s
entire life.
The Islamic knowledge and practice of keeping subtle
behaviours and forgiving fellow men in order to gain
Divine forgiveness and Mercy.
Who is a Sufi?
 Anyone who professes Islamic faith and
adopts any of the five cardinals of
Sufism.
 In this category, prophets(ASA) and
Messengers of God (ASA) are in the front
row and are all Sufis.
 The Companions of the prophet(SAW)
follows, particularly the companions of
the bench.
 The supplemental, they are those Sufis
that supplement the list of Ashabul
Suffah – prominent are Sayyidah Rabi’a,
Sheikh Hasanil Basari, Sheikh Junayd
Baghdadi, Sheikh Mansour bn Hallaj,
Sheikh
Ibrahim
Adham,
Sheikh
Muhammad Thuriy (RAA) and many
others.
 The patron-saints(RAA) of Sufi orders
then follows in the hierarchy.
 Then you and me that are initiates into
Sufi orders.
Who is a Sufi?
 Fundamentally there are two categories
of Sufis:
 Superior Class:- they are practice
Sufism without initiation into Sufi
Order, prominent example is Sayyidi
Khidr(AS), the Holy Qur’an 18:65
described him saying, “They found
they one of our slaves, unto whom
we have given mercy from us, and
had taught him knowledge from
our presence.” They derived their
esoteric directly from the Divine
Presence.
 Inferior Class:- are Sufis like you and
me who must be initiated into Sufi
Order under a patron-saint who must
belong to the blood of the
prophet(SAW). The prophet(SAW)
mentioned ‘My family members
(patron-saints) are like an Ark of
Noah(AS) anyone that enters it is
safe’
Who is a Sufi?
 The superior class (Ahlul Khas) are
Divinely selected by God Himself
and He sees to the spiritual training
of the selected. The Holy Qur’an
2:282 stated, “… Fear Allah, and
Allah (will) teaches you (therein)
. (For) Allah knows everything.”
 The inferior class (Ahlul Amm) are
divinely guided to a patron-saint
and they willingly request for
initiation into the Sufi Order of the
patron-saint. Once they became
steadfast to the Sufi Order, this class
too receives esoteric directly from
God, the Holy Qurán 72:16 stated,
“If they became steadfast on
Tariqa, we will give them to drink
of water in abundance” Tariqa is
the Arabic word for Sufi Order.
Sufi Order
 Sufi Order or Tariqa in Arabic is a
school of Sufi training established
by the prophet(SAW) and entrusted
into the hand of patron-saint who
must be a member of the
prophet(SAW) family. The exact
number is 313. complete list of these
Sufi
orders
are
found
on
www.faidha.net/sufi_orders.php
 Why should a Sufi takes a patronsaint is given in Holy Qur’an 5:35 “O
Ye who believe fear Allah and
find a way to approach unto Him,
and strive for His cause; so that
ye may succeed.” Wasilat (Means)
are the patron-saints which the
prophet(SAW) already described
like an Ark of Noah(AS)
Audio Clips
 Here is a confession of a
medical doctor who was once
a Wahhabis that believes
Sufism is Heresy, but was
surprised to find Sufis before
his eyes breathing their last
with Kalimatush shahada
which
prophetic
hadith
established anyone whose
last word happens to be it will
enter paradise. This makes
the medical doctor to repent
and shun Wahhabism.
 The audio is in Hausa
Language.
Audio Clips
 Listen to Dhikr & Diwani
Recitation by Zakiru
Cisse.
Some Prominent Sufi Orders










Tijjaniyya
Qadiriyya
Shadziliyya
Naqshbandiyya
Sunusiyya
Rufaíyya
Mulaviyya
Mukhtariyya
Khalwatiyya
Chistiyya, etc.
Sheikh Jalaluddeen Rumi(RA) the
patron-saint of Maulaviyya Sufi
Order
The leading Sufi Order
 The leading Sufi order in the
world today is Tijjaniyya due
to the following reasons:
 Its patron-saint, Sidi Ahmad
Tijjani(RA) is the seal of the
saints(the leader of all
saints).
 He(RA) is also the concealed
Pole, a rank never attained by
any saint.
 The prophet(SAW) selected
this Sufi order and made it
the zenith of all Sufi orders.
 Any initiate to other Sufi
order can make progress by
initiation into Tijjaniyya.
 Once initiated into it, one
cannot be initiated in any
other Sufi Order
The door of the International
Tijjaniyya Zawiyat at Fez, Morocco
Ultimate Goal of Sufi
 Sufi has one ultimate goal that
never change with time and that
is God. Any Sufi wishes to:








Know God (maárifah),
Draw close to God (Qurb),
Please God (Rida),
Completely loss oneself in God
(Fana)
Sustain being with God (Baqa)
Remember God constantly
(Dhikr)
Love God arduously (Hubb)
See
through
God
(Mutahaqqeeq)









Completely obey God (Taá)
Work for God (Ihsan)
Be attracted to God (Jadhb)
Completely rely on God
(Tawakkul)
Be satisfied with God’s
judgements (Gharq)
Be conscious of the presence
of God (Mushahada)
Attach one’s heart to God
(Taqallub)
Return every hope to God
(Raja)
Keep to God only (Malam)
Allah Only!
Allah Only!
"Everyone prays to You from fear of the
Fire;
And if You do not put them in the Fire,
This is their reward.
Or they pray to You for the Garden
(paradise),
Full of fruits and flowers.
And that is their prize.
But I do not pray to You like this,
For I am not afraid of the Fire,
And I do not ask You for the Garden.
But all I want is the Essence of Your Love,
And to return to be One with You,
And to become Your Face.”
Sayyida Rabi’ah Basra (RA)
Allah Only!
"I have planted love in my heart and shall
not be distracted until Judgment Day.
You have wounded my heart when You came
near me.
My desire grows, my love is bursting.
He has poured me a sip to drink.
He has quickened my heart with the cup of
love
Which he has filled at the ocean of
friendship.“
Aba Yazid Al-Bistami(RA)
Allah Only!
A man asked Aba Bayazid Al-Bistami(RA),
"Show me a deed by which I will
approach my Lord." He said, "Love the
friends of Allah(Saints) in order that they
will love you. Love His saints until they
love you. Because Allah looks at the
hearts of His saints and He will see your
name engraved in the heart of His saints
and He will forgive you."
Allah Only!
One of the disciples of Dhul Nun al-Misri(RA) was
following Aba Yazid Al-Bistami(RA). Aba
Yazid(RA) asked him, "Who do you want?" He
replied, "I want Aba Yazid." He said, "O my son,
Aba Yazid is wanting Aba Yazid for forty years
and is still not finding him." That disciple of
Dhul Nun(RA) then went to his master and
narrated this incident to him. On hearing it Dhul
Nun(RA) fainted. He(RA) explained later saying,
"My master Aba Yazid(RA) has lost himself in
Allah's love. That causes him to try to find
himself again.“
Ibn Taymiyya himself the founding father of
Wahhabism and a strong anti-Sufism, he himself
submitted to the Fana of Aba Yazid AlBistami(RA) and strongly admired him, he
referred to Aba Yazid(RA) as his master and said,
"There are two categories of fana': one is for
the perfect Prophets and saints, and one is for
seekers from among the saints and pious
people (saliheen).”
God is so close
In the early years of Islam, Allah raised a saint in the
present
day
Iran, then the area was dominated with Zorostrians
who worshipped fire as the manifestation of Ahura
Mazda. The saint was Sheikh Malik bn Dinar(RA), in
fact he was a pole(saintly figures very close to God
and serve as source of Divine Guidance) and has many
disciples who came and lived with him to learn Sufism
and come close to Allah. In the same town where
Malik bn Dinar(RA) lived, there lived two brothers
worshipping fire and practicing Zorostrian religion.
One of the was seventy years of birth and came from
Zorostrian
family.
He
asked
the
other, "Brother today we should test our decades
of worship to this fire. It used to burn those who
didn't have faith in it. But our decades of worship
is it enough to guarantee us its burn? We should
find out today." The other brother agreed and the
first man placed his hand on the fire and was burnt, he
quickly withdrew his hand. He was angry
and frustrated, it means this fire doesn't even know
my worship to it for decades, I don't think i'm on the
right path. He left his brother and lamented I'm going
to search for the right God to worship who
will
acknowledge
my
worship.
Sooner, he saw Malik bn Dinar(RA) delivering lecture
to his disciples, they were dressed in white and the
speaker was handsome and handsomely dressed, this
motivated him and went to listen. Good enough the
lecture that day was on God, One Living and caring
God who created the universe, he created fire. There is
what the man wanted to hear, so he started
pouring his questions to know about this God and the
answers motivated and satisfied his thirst for looking
for the right God, then he discovered fire is not God
itself rather created by God.
After hours of questions and answers the man
accepted to become Muslim and receive the Islamic
creed from Malik bn Dinar(RA). He brought his entire
family they too accepted to become Muslim.
He then bid Malik bn Dinar farewell saying he wanted
to go back to his village. Malik bn Dinar(RA) asked
whether he will stay with him, the man replied No, he
will only be visiting him regularly, he will carry
the message to his friends in his village so that they
too will be saved.In the village, things started
becoming hard for the man, his farm was damaged by
flood, his business failed and three square meal
becomes difficult in his house. He then went to the
mosque offered cycles of prayer and said, "O God, I
and my family have discovered You and came back
to you stopping worship of fire which is not You.
Now, the test you have put on me and my family is
too much for my family, for me is OK it will never
shake my faith in You. But my family I'm not sure
they can withstand it, they may be tempted to
think is the fire idol that is punishing them for
leaving its worship and that will affect their
faith in you. Rescue my family O! Living God" He
slept in the mosque and after some hours he left for
home. To his surprise on reaching home delicious
dishes were served to him for his lunch and he know
he left the house without a grain to cook. He asked his
wife, how comes this food. She smiled and said a man
came with many bags of food and ordered them to be
given to us, he told me that you have visited the King
today and in his palace you asked for these. The king
instructed him to bring these to your house. As he was
leaving I asked him what was his name and he said
"Jibril(Gabriel)."
This path of ours …
 Sidi
AbdArrahman AlFasi(RA) relented a dream
he had where he saw Sidi
Ibn Mashish(RA) where
the great master of Sufism
told him in the dream
saying, “My son, this Path
(Sufism) of ours is only
obtained by Abasement
and something of having
little of this world.”
Dear Reader,
 Sidi Ibn Mashish(RA) once said,
“Guide the people to Allah,
and do not guide them to
anything but Him, for he who
guides you to the world has
cheated you, and he who
guides you to work has made
you suffer. But he who guides
you to Allah has counselled
you well.”
 I hope and pray may these slides
that are poorly arranged and
written, guide you to the living
God, that is my earnest hope
and prayer.
The perspectives are two.
 There are two perspectives
that Sufism can be seen:
 Haqeeqa:- In this perspective
everything is seen from God.
This perspective is only seen
when God Himself granted
the Sufi such vision and it
explains the hadith Al-Qudsi
“… I became his eyes with
which he(Sufi) sees…”
 Sharee’at
:In
this
perspective the Sufi sees
everything from human
perspective.
Reality (Haqeeqa)





A Sufi that his vision is unveiled by God and
sees everything from God’s perspective is
referred to as Mutahaqqeeq. Such Sufis are
mentioned in Suratul Kahf of the holy Qur’an.
Khidr (AS) who punctured a canoe, killed a
child and mend wall is an example of these
Sufis.
Qur’an 81:29 says, “And you will not until
Allah willeth, the Lord of the Universe.”
You can’t will for anything except it is will by
Allah Himself.
Sheikh Al-Mansur bn Hallaj(RA) has a fatal
experience when absorbed intlo this
perspective that he experienced Tajalliyyat
Zatil Haqq (Divine manifestation). Sheikh
Mansur bn Hallaj(RA) under this mysterious
experienced was carried away and he said “ ‫انا‬
‫”الحق‬. This utterances provoked the Judges and
he was sentenced to death on the ruling that
the act amounts to apostasy. However, Allah
proved the Judges wrong, when Sheikh
Mansur bn Hallaj(RA) was beheaded blood
spurting from his neck wrote “‫ ”الله االهللا‬on the
ground, on the walls and on everything it can
touch. Meaning this man is Muslim and not
apostate.
Holy Qurán 7:143 Explains Tajalliyatil Zatil
Haqq. Where a mountain failed to withstand
it, but man out of his greatest spiritual calibre
is able to.
‫الله االهللا‬
‫الله االهللا‬
‫الله االهللا‬
‫الله االهللا‬
‫الله االهللا‬
Reality (Haqeeqa)
 Most Sufis under this perspective
leave city life, and went to jungle,
entered caves and live there. They
don’t want negative influences from
men particularly those who are
veiled.
 When a Pole(Qutb) manifested out
of this perspective he is referred to
as Qutbul Madar and cannot gather
disciples, for hardly will anyone
apprehends his vision, experiences
and esoteric, that’s why Khidr(AS)
told Moses(AS) “Lo! Thou canst
not bear with me.” (Qur’an
18:67)when the former requested
the companion of the later.
 Qutbul Madar of this time is like a
prophet(AS) who is not a
Messenger(AS), he kept his esoteric
to himself alone.
‫الله االهللا‬
‫الله االهللا‬
‫الله االهللا‬
‫الله االهللا‬
‫الله االهللا‬
Social (Sharee’at)





Sufis under this perspective, sees everything
within human perspective. He acquired his
exoteric from scholarly activities. His first
point of reference is his fellow man. In Suratul
Kahf story, Moses(AS) belongs to this
perspective and he always tried to measure
things within human understanding and the
prevailing laws handed to man by God and he
has no access to anything beyond this faculty.
Sheikh Abu Madyan Al-Gauth(RA) took this
perspective unto himself in order to stay with
men out of which most became his disciples.
These type of Sufis stay in cities, even take
political appointments and other professions.
If a pole(Qutb) emerges from this perspective,
he is referred to as Qutbul Irshad. He takes
disciples and teaches men about laws of God.
But he may not have access to great esoteric of
Sufism.
Qur’an 81:28 says, “Whomsoever will shall
stay upright.”
The Perfect Man
 There is however, special Sufis that were
made to have the two perspectives in
their lives. They divulged deep into
Haqeeqa and then float within the level
of Sharee’at, these Sufis are referred to as
perfect
men(Insanil
Kamil).
All
attributes of perfection are found in
them. They are plunged into reality and
therefore possesses its esoteric and
vision; and they are bound to men by
their exoteric on the laws of God.
 Sheikh Ahmad Tijjani(RA) is one of such
Perfect men, he lived in the mountain of
Abi Samghuna for many period of time
and his later life gathered disciples and
was even appointed a patron-saint of
Tijjania Sufi order by the prophet(SAW).
 Among the perfect men in period of not
less than 100 years, there emerges one of
them that is referred to as Kamil Al-Asr
(The perfect man of the century), in this
our time, Sheikh Ibrahim Inyass(RA) is
appointed by God to be the perfect man
of the century.
Will there be error?



No error in Sufism because it is a journey to
God who is absolutely error-free, however
Sufis as human may err in their utterances,
understanding or write ups. This error is in
trying to give their vision of reality an
explanation in a human language, but the
source of their explanation is forever correct.
Reality manifests to Sufis in its complete
nakedness – no language and no word, the
Sufi in an attempt to give it word may err.
Just like the case of six blind men that visited
India and for the first time came face-face with
an elephant. On returning home each tried to
explained how an elephant looks like. The first
said it is like a snake because he touched the
nose. The second said it is like a ball because
he touched the tummy. The third explained it
like a rock because he touched the tusk. The
fourth said it is like a big hand fan because he
touched its ear. The fifth said it is like a tree
because he touched its leg. The last blind man
said it is like squirrel because he touched the
tail. All the six men had met an elephant truly,
but their explanations is narrowed down to
their experience and understanding.
Will there be error?
 Example
of such error in
explanation is the saying of
Sheikh Mansur bn Hallaj(RA)
“‫ ”انا الحق‬under the mystical
condition of Tajally , Sheikh
Muyiddeen bn Arabi(RA) made
the correction by explaining it
under Wahadaniyyatil Shuhud
and Wahadaniyyatil Wujud.
 These
errors
are
always
corrected by Sufis themselves
when Allah grants them better
understanding.
 Allah raises another Sufi to
correct error in explanation of
another Sufi.
 The error are always in an
attempt to explain, but not in
the source or object or
explanation.
What of women?
 There are many women whose
Sufism had been recorded in
history. The first is the daughter of
the prophet(SAW), Sayyidah Fatima
Al-Zahra who attained the rank of
Qutbaniyyat (Poleship).
 Her maid, Sayyidah Baraka(RA) is
another instance of women in
Sufism. She spent a complete year
without uttering any word except
the word is in the holy Qur’an. If
people talk to her she find a verse of
the holy Qur’an that best answer
them and she recited it to them.
 Then outside companions of the
prophet(SAW) is our mistress in
Sufism, Sayyidah Rabi’a the Mystic,
the western world used to called her
“The Muslims saint Theresa”.
What of women?
 Sayyidah
Rabi’a
Basra(RA) is a strong
Sufi whose life is a model
to us. She is a pioneer of
Divine Love – Loving
Allah with all ones
might.
 For her biography visit
www.faidha.net/meseum
.php
What of women?
 Many women are found
in Sufi Zawiyyat world
wide, many are even
Sheikhat, many have
written
volumes
of
literature.
 Sufism is not for men
alone, neither is it for the
Arabs alone, but for the
Muslims only.
What of women?
 Listen to dhikr recitation
by Sayyidah UmmuHani
Inyass(RA) the daughter
of
Sheikh
Ibrahim
Inyass(RA) in a Sufi
Radio programme in
Michigan, USA.
City of the Sufis




There are two mysterious cities in this planet
we are living, they are so mysterious that veils
keep them invisible from our eyes.
The first is the city of Iram, which was
mentioned in Holy Qurán 89:7 “Iram the city
of pillars” this city was constructed by a King
immediately after the flood of Noah(AS), his
name was Shaddad of the Aad tribe who learnt
about paradise from Heber(AS) and instructed
his engineers to built paradise on Earth. After
the city was built, Shaddad was destroyed by
tornado and his engineers, the city veiled from
human vision.
The second city is the city of Sesame which is
also veiled from the vision of humans except
those granted the privilege. The gate to this
great city is water(river, sea and ocean). In this
city saints used to meet to exchange
pleasantries, conduct dhikr, listen to sama,
read the holy Qur’an and so on.
The souls of the universe used to be in that
city, they are known as the 500 invisible
hierarchy of saints.
City of the Sufis
 Testimonies from Sufis who visited that
city were numerous, we will cite one
given by a disciple of Sheikh Muhammad
Al-Bakhary(RA) the Pole.
 The disciple asked his sheikh to give him
Ismullahil Azeem (The greatest name of
Allah). The sheikh asked the disciple to
stroll with him. On reaching a river, the
sheikh threw the disciple into the river.
The disciple found himself in Sesame.
He met three friends who were also new
to Sesame, one used to give them food.
He stayed with them for three days and
on Friday they went to The central
mosque to observe Friday prayer. The
Imam came to lead prayer and the
disciple saw it was Sheikh Muhammad
Al-Bakhary(RA) that was the Imam.
After the prayer, he came to his sheikh
and plead with him to return him back
home, the sheikh said I think you want
to know the greatest name of Allah. The
disciple said No, I no longer want to
know I want to go back home. The
sheikh smiled and hold his hand, then
they were back home.
How can I become a Sufi?
 The common way is to look for a sheikh
in any of the 313 Sufi Order, who has the
authorisation to initiate someone into
that Sufi order and he will initiate you
into the Sufi order after he read the
regulations of the Sufi order to you.
 You can visit www.faidha.net/join.php
fill the form and you will be connected to
a sheikh or Muqaddim that will initiate
you through phone call.
 The litanies of the Sufi order will be
given to you and the time table for
recitation will also be explained to you.
 You can renew your initiation at any
point in time from a sheikh of that Sufi
order, particularly:
 When the second Sheikh is a superior
to the first.
 When you fear that you have not been
punctual in recitation of the litanies or
keeping to the regulations.
Post-Initiation Activities

Get a sheikh Murabby who will see to your spiritual
progress, and stay with him for life.


















Love him,
Respect him,
Keep his company always,
Listen to his teachings,
Spend for his welfare,
Please him,
Love his family,
Endeavour to study Islamic knowledges from him,
Make him happy, and
Be very transparent to him.
Attend the company of Sufis based on permission
from your sheikh, like mawalid, sama, majlis etc.
Read Sufis literature based on permission from your
sheikh.
Ask your sheikh permission to start a special drill
known as Tarbiyyat.
Frequent recitation of Salat to the prophet(SAW).
Observe the litanies of your Sufi Order very well and
be punctual on doing so.
Keep to the regulations of your Sufi Order.
If possible look for means to upgrade your initiation
by initiation into Tijjania Sufi Order.
If possible find out about the custodian of the spiritual
flood – Sheikh Ibrahim Inyass(RA) and adopt him as
your grand sheikh.
Post-Initiation Activities
 Beware of the followings as they
may cause sallab (Spoliation) of
your spiritual achievement and
retarding of any further progress:
 Despising your Sheikh or any Sufi
Authority,
 Joining
the
activities
of
Wahhabism and any anti-Sufism
group,
 Breaking
Islamic laws and
regulations,
 Frequent violation of rules and
regulations of your Sufi Order,
 Abandoning the litanies of your
Sufi Order,
 Abandoning
salat
to
the
prophet(SAW),
 Nurturing grudges against a fellow
Sufi.
Post-Initiation Activities
 What you stand to benefit as a Sufi, if
Allah wills:
 Intercession from a member of your
Silsila.
 Inheriting the services of Prophets and
messengers of God(ASA) on Earth,
 Access to esoteric and secrets that are
not available to the ordinary man,
 Access to the spirits of saints(RAA) and
prophets(ASA) and possibly having
their visions awake,
 Mastery of life in its entirety,
 Profound understanding of Islam and
its teachings outside what is learnt in
schools,
 Full security against Satan and Satanic
forces,
 Bestowing of graces that through them
solutions to many problems were made
available,
 Allotment of paradise after death,
 Achieving the countenance of Allah.
Sufism Critics
 Sufism in its early years didn’t embrace
writing as then it was thought “Pen” cannot
write Sufism. This left the commons to
misunderstand Sufism.
 The second aspect is the complexity and
mysterious nature of Sufism that makes it
very difficult for an outsider to apprehend it,
this also makes the common in loss about
Sufism.
The third reason is, in the early days of
Sufism, the Sufis are absorbed in Sufism and
did not turn toward the commons to explain
Sufism and show the basis as contained in
legal frame work
And finally, Satan likes this and he
provided the derailing of Sufism Critics
Sufism Critics
At this point in time, when the
commons becomes critics of Sufism;
Allah decided to raise a saint to bring
back the commons – Imam AlGhazali(RA).
He (RA) explained many of the
obscured issues of Sufism to the
commoners within Islamic legal frame
work (Shari’a).
He (RA) published volumes of
literature that clearly justified Sufism
within the legal and philosophical
context of Islam.
 He (RA) provided the missing link for
commoners who have no access to
esoteric knowledge from the Divine
Essence to understand these issues.
Sufism Critics
The greatest critics of Sufism are the Wahhabis
members of Wahhabism which was pronounced
by Ibn Abdulwahhab in Najd(Present day Riyadh).
These are heretics and deviant from the teachings
of Islam and therefore will naturally criticise
Sufism. Check my presentation on Wahhabism at
www.scribd.com/doc/181989936/The-mind-of-awahabis
(Pdf
format)
and
www.faidha.net/books/the-mind-of-awahhabis!.ppsx (Presentation format)
 The second category of critics of Sufism are the
veiled ones among the commoners who have weak
spiritual faculty and millions of veils stand
between them and their creator. Holy Qurán 83:15
says, “Nay, but surely on that day, they will be
veiled from their Lord.”
The last category are the undisciplined Sufis.
Sufis who created an indiscipline behaviours
particularly to their superiors. They are made to
suffer a spiritual decline until at a point in time,
they may exit themselves from Sufism and become
its critics.
Sufism Critics
There are three types of criticism levelled against
Sufism:
Critics that pose their criticism to Sufis, usually in
the form of questions or challenge. This criticism is
term as Questioning type.
Critics that went ahead and speak their minds of
what they rule out of Sufism without consulting any
Sufi. This type is referred to as Delusion type.
The last type is the critics that decided not to
share their criticism and ruling on Sufism. They
keep their stance on Sufism for themselves. This is
termed as Deaf type.
Allah in holy Qur’an 4:59 says, ”O ye who believe obey
Allah, and obey the Messenger and those of you who
are in authority. And if ye have dispute on any matter
, refer it to Allah and His Messenger if ye are
believers in Allah and the last day. That is better and
more seemly at the end.”
And 21:7, “… Ask the people of remembrance
(Knowledge) if ye knew not.”
I have another write ups which is yet to be published, I
have collected 100 common criticism levelled against
Sufism and attempt their answers in the light of Qur’an
and Hadith. If Allah spares my life you may read it.
Sufism Critics
 Satan is always sad whenever son of
Adam(AS) thread the path of
Sufism and will do everything to
stop one from threading such a
golden step to Allah.
 I may not talk about the criticism
Satan has build in your mind
against Sufism if you are its critic;
however I may give you a medicine
if only you will take.
 Perform ablution, observe two
cycles of Nafila prayer after Taslim
recite salatin Naby(SAW). Free your
mind and ask Almighty Allah to
show you the truth about Sufism, to
make you part of it if it is accepted
by Him and to distance you from it
if it is not accepted by Him. I
sincerely and honestly promise you
that you will not die until you
become a Sufi, once you did that.
If you become a Sufi through this way,
remember me with a prayer may Allah
forgive my sins and open another way for
somebody somewhere disturbed by Satan.
He carried the commoners along
Allah(SWT) raises another saint who
carried the commoners along in Sufism.
He spread Sufism in practice anywhere
he goes or anywhere his literature goes Sheikh Ibrahim Inyass(RA).
With his personal efforts Sufism
became accepted and well practised by
all levels of Muslims, young and old,
women and men, rich and poor. He
modelled Sufism into the lives of
Muslims and Muslim societies.
He inspired the love of the
prophet(SAW) in the minds of Muslims
and united the Islamic Societies.
Sheikh Ibrahim Inyass(RA)
with Sufis.
What the media says?
 Listen to what a famous
Arabic radio programme,
“‫“ ”الكاتب والكتب‬The Author
and the book” says about
Sheikh Ibrahim
Inyass(RA).
Sheikh Ibrahim Inyass’ love for the
prophet(SAW)
 One day a thief entered the house of
Sheikh(RA) and stole some properties,
he was caught and brought before
Sheikh(RA)and
the
following
conversation ensued between them.
 Sheikh(RA): Who are you?
 Thief: My name is Muhammad.
 Sheikh(RA): Your name is Muhammad!
 Thief: Yes.
 Sheikh(RA): Then you are not thief,
rather you come to take your belongings,
because all what is in the house is yours.
Please, give him more.
 And Sheikh (RA) instructed money and
clothes to be given to the thief just
because he is bearing the name
“Muhammad”, the name earned the thief
this dignity and respect by Sheikh(RA)
because of Sheikh’s love to the actual
owner of the name!
Sheikh Ibrahim Inyass’(RA) love for
the prophet(SAW)



In his book “Easy access to the best of the
messengers(ASA)” which is part of his
Diwani,
he
beautifully
extols
the
prophet(SAW) and expresses his deep love for
the prophet(SAW) and he confessed it was
that love that made him excelled in Sufism
and beyond.
I completed the English translation of Letter
“A” of that book, by Allah’s grace. Let’s have a
glance of some couplets from the book. The
complete translation can be downloaded at
www.faidha.net/books/Diwani1.ppsx if you
cannot download the file then send your email to me and inshÁllah I will send a copy to
you.
The couplet shown here are selected from the
book and are not serially following each other.
‫ابيت بليل التم سهران منشدا‬
‫لذكر الذي قد طاب بدءا و مختما‬
I spend the entire night wide awake and alert composing songs
and poetry for the, one who is completely pure from the
beginning (of his life) to the end (of his life).
‫مقفي امين و هو في الرسل مجتبي‬
‫حبيب اله العرش بدءا و مختما‬
(He is) A Paragon, Trustworthy and the best out of the
Messengers of God
He(SAW) is the beloved to the Lord of the Throne, the first and
the last.
‫فوقتي و ساعاتي صرفت لذكره‬
‫صالة و مدحا منه قد صرت جيلما‬
All my time and moments are spent in his memory,
(Saying)salat (to him)and extolling him, through these I
became exalted in my time.
Man is the custodian of God’s
Banner
 God wants us to come back to Him and
to be with Him forever, out of His love to
us. He uses man as the means of
attracting us to Him from the beginning
of time.
 He
uses
prophets(ASA),
messengers(ASA) to spiritually attract us
to Him, they are our sources of guidance,
they told us about Him and about His
laws, words and scripture.
 After them, God continue to let us know
about His presence through saints(RAA)
who inherited the prophets and
messengers(ASA), they told us about
God, his laws and His revealations(Wahy
Ilhamiyyat).
 These men we know God through their
model lives and presences are spiritual
satellites found on our planet.
 Sufism is the discipline that produces
these satellites now and then.
Man is the custodian of God’s
Banner





God has placed thousands of veils between
Him and commoners, but He provided a link
for them to find Him, that link is
man(prophets, messengers and saints).
The divine links in the form of men are drew
to proximity of God by spiritual progressing,
unveiling one veil after the other, until they are
in full proximity of God and have
comprehensive apprehension of God they are
referred to Arifu Rabbani or simply Arif (Sage
or gnostic).
There is no way a commoner can ever find God
except through a Sage as explain earlier. This is
why the Wahhabis derailed they thought they
can know and find God not through a Sage
and they ended up with anthropomorphism
belief.
The holy Qur’an 33:72 explained the making of
a Sage who carries the banner of God to attract
people to God, “Lo! We offered the trust to
the heavens and the Earth and the hills,
but they shrank from bearing it and were
afraid of it. And man bears it, surely he is
ever unjust ignorant.”
The only way to God is through a sage (Arifu
Rabbani)
Man is the custodian of God’s
Banner

The hadith telling us about this invisible hierarchy are:

The prophet(SAW) said“The Abdal(substitutes)
are forty men and forty women, each time a man
dies, Allah substitutes another in his place, and
each time a woman dies, Allah substitutes
another in her place”
The prophet(SAW) said”There will always be on
Earth forty people like Khaleel(Abraham AS),
and by then the people will be (rain) to drink,
and by them the people will be aided, not a
single of them dies except that Allah substitutes
another in his place” Transmitted by Tabarani
Reported by Ibn Umar(RA) that the prophet(SAW)
said, “The chosen ones(Akyar) of this nation are
500, and the substitutes(Abdal) are 40 in every
generations, and neither the 500 nor the 40 will
decrease, each time one of them dies Allah
substitutes another in his place .” The
companions said, ‘Tell us of their actions’, He(SAW)
said, “They forgive those that do wrong to them
and behave well with those who behave badly to
them.”





Al-Bany the staunch Wahhabis who use to filther
hadith for the wahhabis, lamented saying, “All the
hadith regarding substitues(Abdal) are fabricated
some weaker than the others”. That is the natural
expectation of what Al-Bany will do, if he believes
these hadith then he was disbelieving his master Ibn
Taymiyyah because substitutes(Abdal) are forever
found among the Sufis and never among the
Wahhabis, and Ibn Taymiyyah has levelled Sufism as
heresy.

One sage relies on another superior sage to approach
God, depending on the proximity of the former. This is
how the arrangement is maintained all over the world.
Each sage is a saint of God whether he knows it or not,
and God concealed him from the commoners, that is
why the hierarchy is referred to as invisible hierarchy
of saints. It is invisible because, with an ordinary eyes
no one can identify a member of that hierarchy. Most
of the members appear ordinary, they may be poor,
women, youth, old or from a lower class.
In the whole world of saints, four thousand (4,000)
were the most superior, any other lower level
sage(saint) looks to them for approaching God. These
are known as the 4, 000 hidden saints. They are
hidden even to the powerful eyes of most Sufis,
however, if Allah wills He may disclose any of them to
whomsoever He may wish.
Above this class is another group of saints known as
Akyar As-Sugrah (The lower Excellent ones). Their
number in the world at all time is two hundred (200).
Every second that number is maintained, if one dies
out of them, another saint from the 4, 000 hidden
saint is elevated to occupy that position by God. The
4,000 hidden saint may know they are saint due to
number of experiences they may have, but they don’t
know they are part of the 4, 000 hidden saints of the
world. However, the 200 lower Excellent Ones were
duly informed by revealation from God of their
belonging to the 200 lower Excellent ones. From the
lowest Excellent Ones representation of the offices of
prophets and messengers (ASA) starts. They are to the
commoners as how prophets and messengers(ASA)
are.
Man is the custodian of God’s
Banner




Above the 200 lower Excellent Ones comes
another hierarchy of saint consisting of 300
saints whose number is also maintained in
every second by God like the former. These are
known as the Excellent Ones (Akyar). The
lower 200 Excellent Ones are answerable to the
300, and they are their links to God.
Joining the lower 200 Excellent Ones and the
300 Excellent Ones gives the 500 invisible
hierarchy of saints who oversee the kingdoms
of God, and links all creatures to their creator,
and equally carry the messages of God to His
creatures. They are at an absolute proximity
with God, they received revealations from
God, and God bestowed on them supernatural
powers beyond human understanding.
The 500 invisible hierarchy of saints, like
angels discharge God’s duty beyond human
apprehension, they are delegated by God on
several missions the same way angels were,
they have access to many hidden things.
As the last hours draws closer, Allah stops
maintaining their 500 number, then the
number decreases and when the last of them
dies, the world comes to an end for there is no
ruler of it. Until then, the number is
maintained and sustained by the Almighty.


On top of the 500 invisible hierarchy of saints
comes forty saints that are known as the
substitutes(Abdal) . The substitutes oversees
the affairs of the 500 invisible hierarchy of
saints and link them to God. The monitor the
spiritual progress of the creatures of God.
They oversee the world like how a captain
oversee a ship. In the early years of Sufism,
they are mostly found in Syria and
Mesopotamia, however nowadays in Africa as
said by Sheikh Sukayrij(RA), “Africa is the
land of the saints.” The substitutes were once
members in the 500 invisible hierarchy of
saints before they were elevated to occupy a
vacant space created by the dead of a
substitute.
It was reported by Sayyidina Ali bn Abi
Talib(RA) that the propeht(SAW) said, “Don’t
curse Syria for there are Abdal there,
rather the injustice (of its people).”
trasmitted by Tabarani and Bayhaqi.
Man is the custodian of God’s
Banner

Out of the forty substitutes there are thirty that are
exceptionally on top of the remaining ten. Let’s
examine a hadith on that:



From Abu Darda’ that the prophet(SAW)said:
“When Prophethood ended – and they were the
supports (Awtad) of the earth – Allah substituted
their places with 40 men from the nation of
Muhammad (blessings and peace be upon him), who
are named “Abdal” (the Substitutes). Not one of
them dies except that Allah replaces him with
another one to take his place, and they are now the
supports of this earth. The hearts of 30 of them
contain the same certainty (yaqin) which Sayyidina
Ibrahim (AS) had. They did not succeed or rise
above the other people with much fasting or
prayer…but rather through being truthful in their
scrupulousness, having noble intentions, having
sound wholesome hearts, and giving all the Muslims
sincere counsel, desiring by that the Pleasure of
Allah, with patient forbearance, and a merciful core
(of being), and humility without being meek. They
do not curse anyone, or harm anyone, nor do they
see themselves as being higher or nobler than
anyone under them, or envy those above them. They
do not fake their humility, nor fake their being dead
to the world, nor are they ostentatiously impressed
with themselves. They do not love the world, nor
love for its sake...” transmitted by Tirmidhi
Also from ‘Ubada that the prophet(SAW) said, “The
Abdal in my community are thirty. By them, the
earth is balanced, and by them you are sent rain,
and by them you are granted help and victory.”
transmitted Tabarani.
The thirty are the invisible leaders of the world and
the direct inheritors of the prophets and messengers
of God(ASA).

The thirty out of the forty substitutes who are
specialities are:






3 special saints called Mafatihil Kunuz (The keys
to hidden treasures). Allah granted on them the
keys to hidden treasures of the world, and they
oversee how these treasures are used.
7 special saints known as The Pious Ones (Abrar).
There are numerous hadith on these too, but I will
cite one, Abu Hurayra said: “I entered upon the
Messenger of Allah (SAW) in the mosque, and
he(SAW) said to me, “O Abu Hurayra, in this hour, a
man will walk through this door, who is one of the
seven people of the world through whom Allah
diverts punishment from the Earth’s inhabitants.”
Just then a Habashi (Ethiopian) entered in through
that door. He was bald and maimed, and was
carrying a container of water on his head. So he said,
“O Abu Hurayra, that’s him,” and then said to the
man three times, “Welcome to Yasaar (other
versions mention Hilal).” This man used to sweep
and clean the Mosque, and he was a servant of
Mughira ibn Shu’ba. Transmitted by Tirmidhi.
4 special saints known as the pillars or stakes
(Awtad).
3 special saints known as the examiners or
watchers (Nuqaba). They are the saints very close
to the top of the hierarchy and anything coming to
the top must pass through them.
12 special saints on the top of hierarchy of saints of
the worlds, they are known as the poles (Qutb).
The entire universe is divided into what is known as
12 constellations, each pole is an overseer in one
constellation.
1 most special saint out of the poles was elevated by
Allah to be the leader of poles (Qutb Al-Aqtab).
Man is the custodian of God’s Banner
The leader of Poles
12 Poles
3 Examiners
4 Stakes
3 Keys to Hidden Treasure
7 Pious
Remaining 10 Substitutes
300 Excellent Ones
200 Lower Excellent Ones
4,000 Hidden Saints
The remaining Creatures of God
Man is the custodian of God’s
banner




Apart from the 4,540 invisible hierarchy of
saints that link creatures to God, who are the
very links of God’s mercy pouring to creatures,
there is another saint.
Another saint that is selected out of the 4,540
and assigned another special saintly duty is
Revivalist(Mujaddeed).
A revivalist emerged after a fixed period of
time and revives Islam in its entirety to
conform
with
the
civilisation
and
contemporary challenges of that time. He
issues edicts on issues that recently emerge
and have no direct ruling in Islamic
Jurisprudence. He sometimes even bring
political, economical and social changes to the
Islamic
world.
Without
a
revivalist
contemporary issues may arise that the Islamic
world cannot address and thereby making the
religion odd to civilisation.
A revivalist was given a public function to
serve and therefore he is not invisible, rather
visible to the public and inwardly he
discharges his spiritual function as member of
the 4,540 hierarchy of saints.
Man is the custodian of God’s banner

A revivalist is a source of two spiritual
elements to the entire Islamic world, including
his colleagues among the 4,540 invisible
hierarchy of saints. These two elements are:



Fayd (Spiritual Flooding). This is over
flooding of spiritual elements from God
through the soul of the Revivalist to the
entire mankind, particularly those close to
him. This flooding can cause people to
profess Islamic faith, people to become
righteous, saints to exhibits miracles, evil
activities to come to an end, Satanic forces to
be rendered impotent and justice to prevail
on Earth.
Baraka (Graces). This are kinds of reliefs,
emancipation, salvation, remedy, and divine
forgiveness to the world coming from God
through the soul of the Revivalist to the
entire universe.
There are two types of Revivalists:


Lower Revivalist:- He emerges after a
hundred years interval. That is in every
century in Islamic calendar a Revivalist is
send by God to the world.
Higher Revivalist:- He emerges after a
thousand years interval. In every millennia
Allah send a higher revivalist irrespective of
the existing lower Revivalist at that time.
This revivalist bring the greatest Fayd and
Baraka to the universe.
Man is the custodian of God’s banner
 An example of lower revivalist is
Sheikh Uthman bn Fodio (RA)
who established Islamic state in
the Northern Nigeria with seat
of government at Sokoto. Under
this state Islam grows in the
Northern Nigeria
 The higher Revivalist of this
time is a Senegalese vibrant Sufi
called
Sheikh
Ibrahim
Inyass(RA), his fayd makes 1,000
people to convert to Islam in one
day and his Baraka emancipated
African countries from colonial
masters, this he predicted in his
book “Africa for Africans” that
most of African nations will
achieve independence before
the end of his life.
Portrait of Sheikh Uthman bn
Fodio(RA)
Picture of Sheikh Ibrahim
Inyass(RA)
Man is the custodian of God’s banner
 There is still one more saint with
duties different from the 4,540.
He is only in the life of this
world. He was a Pole among the
12 poles, then the leader of the
poles and finally he was elevated
by God to a rank known as The
concealed Pole (Qutb AlMaktum). The same way the
poles are concealed from the
commoners, he himself was
concealed from the poles. The
differences between him and
other poles is far greater than
the differences between poles
and commoners.
 The concealed Pole for this
world is Moroccan dynamic Sufi
called
Sheikh
Ahmad
Tijjani(RA), a member of the
prophet’s(SAW) family.
Grave of Sheikh Ahmad
Tijjani(RA)
Inside the mosque of Sheikh
Ahmad Tijjani(RA)
God wants us to remember Him
 The remembrance of God is
paramount in Sufism, it is
one way you may easily
recognise a Sufi, the degree
he remembers God.
 Remembering God in the
heart is called Tafakkur. Sufi
in
Tafakkur
is
called
Mutafakkeer.
 Remembering God on the
tongue by calling Him is
known as dhikr. Sufi in dhikr
is known as Dhakeer.
 Remembering Him in actions
is known as Ihsan. Sufi in
Ihsan is known as Muhseen.
Dhikr session at the 1435 New
Year Hailalat in Bauchi town
(IBB Square)
God wants us to remember Him
“Therefore Remember Me, I will Remember you, Give
thanks to me and Reject Not Me”
The Holy Qur’an 2:152
God wants us to remember Him
 The one who constantly and regularly
remembers Allah in all the three
manners is AN ASSET OF ALLAH. My
advice to you, you should be very careful
of Assets of Allah, for His wrath is
invoked whenever they are touched.
 “Lo! Men who surrender to Allah ,and
women who surrender, and men who
believe and women who believe, and
men who obey and women who obey,
and men who speak the truth and
women who speak the truth, and men
who persevere and women who
persevere, and men who are humble and
women who are humble, and men who
give alms and women who give alms, and
men who fast and women who fast, and
men who guard their modesty and
women who guard (their modesty), and
men who remember Allah much and
women who remember ; Allah hath
prepared for them forgiveness and vast
reward” Holy Qur’an 33:35
 Warnings:
 Don’t allow your heart to engage on
Tafakkur on attributes of Allah
otherwise you derail like how Ibn
Taymiyyah derailed when he allowed
his heart to find where Allah is found
and he concluded that He is on the
throne sitting. The prophet(SAW) said,
“Contemplate on the created, don’t
contemplate on the creator…” Put
His infinite Mercy in your heart so that
you love Him.
 Don’t despise people engage on dhikr if
you cannot join them, don’t despise
them so that you derived blessings
from their actions.
God wants us to remember Him
 There are 94 verses of the holy
Qurán
that
mentioned
remembrance of God Almighty.
 Sallat itself is categorised as Dhikr
because in it the names of God are
pronounced silently and loudly.
 Chapter 13 verse 28 of the holy
Qur’an says, “Who have believed
and whose hearts have rest in the
remembrance of Allah. Verily in
the remembrance of Allah do
hearts find rest!”
 Qur’an 29:45, “Recite that which is
inspired on thee of the scripture,
and establish prayer(Sallat). Lo!
Prayer(Sallat) preserveth from
lewdness and iniquity, but verily
remembrance of Allah is more
important. And Allah is aware of
your doings.”
 Volumes
of
Ahadith
also
emphasised the importance of
rememberance of Allah. The
prophet(SAW) is himself the leader
of all that remembers Allah.
 Allah in Hadith Al-Qudsi said, “…I
am with him(my servant) when he
remembers me, if he remember me
in his mind, I remember him in my
mind. If he remebers me in
public(loudly), I remember him in a
gathering better than his.”
 The
prophet(SAW)
said,
“Remember
Allah
until
the
hypocrites said you are insincere!”
 The
prophet(SAW)
said,
“Remember Allah until people say
you are mad!”
God wants us to remember Him
Mawlana Sheikh Baba Harazimi(RA) delivering Sufism lecture on the
need to remember Allah constantly and have Allah in one’s focus.
Lecture is in Hausa.
God wants us to remember Him
Click here to see a TV
documentary
programme on a
Rooster that chants
“Allah” whenever it
was touched, in India.
Documentary
in
Indian language
“And that is in the Heavens and Earth glorifieth Allah and He is the
Mighty, the Wise” Qur’an 57:1
God wants us to remember Him
 “Men whom neither merchandise
nor sale beguileth them from
remembrance
of
Allah
and
constancy in prayer and paying to
the poor their due; who fear a day
when hearts and eyeballs will be
overturned.” Qur’an 24:37
 “… Then woe unto those whose
hearts are hardened
against
remembrance of Allah. Such are in
plain error.” Qur’an 39:22
 “Is it not the time ripe for the hearts
of those who believe to submit to
Allah’s reminder and to the truth
which is revealed, ….” Qur’an 57:16
 The prophet(SAW) said, “Should I
disclose to you such a thing which is
best of all virtuous deeds, which is
most hallowed to your Lord, which
raises your position and enhances
your status and which is superior
even to Jihad?”, the companions
requested the prophet(SAW):’Do
tell us O! Apostle of Allah(SAW)’the
holy prophet(SAW) told them,
“That is remembrance of Allah.”
 The prophet(SAW) said, “One who
recites the sacred name of Allah is
alive and one who does not
remember Him is dead.”
 The prophet(SAW) said that when
the people pass by the gardens of
Paradise they should graze their
heart’s content. On being asked
what those gardens of Paradise
were, the prophet(SAW) replied
that they were the assemblies of the
remembrance of Allah
God wants us to remember Him
Garden of Paradise where Allah is remembered
How I wish Abu Muhammad will be the shoes these Sufis stepped on as they are
coming to the garden of Paradise!
God wants us to remember Him
The daily Adhkar(Names of Allah) that are the Lawazeem of a Sufi
 After
sneezing,
happiness
or
achievements he says ‫الحمد هلل‬
 When surprised or confused he says
‫سبحان هللا‬
 When sad or grief he says ‫ان هلل و ان اليه‬
‫الرجعون‬
 When challenged or facing difficulty he
says ‫ال حول و ال قوة اال با هللا العلي العظيم‬
 When threatened he says ‫حسبنا هللا و نعم‬
‫الوكيل‬
 When he intend to do anything in the
future he says ‫ان شاء هللا‬
 Before he commences anything he says
‫بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم‬
 All the time particularly when death
approaches he says ‫ال اله اال هللا‬
 When confronted with hostile object he
says ‫هللا اكبر‬
 Whenever he falls to sin he says ‫استغفر هللا‬
 To sum up everything above, he says ‫هللا‬
God wants us to remember Him
Sufis (Members of Tijjania Sufi Order) Reciting New Year Hailala in
Bauchi town
God wants us to remember Him
‫الصوفي غياته هو هللا‬
Allah is all we have in Sufism and is all we need in Sufism, So keep to Allah
and dissolve yourself in His remembrance!
God wants us to remember Him
Portrait of Mawlana Sheikh AbdulQadir Al-Jilani(RA), the Succour (Gawth), He remembered Allah in all manners and
keep to Allah in all his dealings and one of the founding fathers of Sufism, we will relent his last hours on Earth which
keep to Allah even under the pains of death. Ya Allah, these are great men of Sufism
God wants us to remember Him
Relenting the last hours of Mawlana, Sheikh AbdulQadir Al-Jilani(RA), the
patron-saint of Qadiria Sufi Order.
 When the saint was suffering from the illness
of which he died, his son Sheikh Abdul
Wahliab said to him: "Give me a parting
admonition on which I should act after you
have left this world."
 He said to him: "It is incumbent on you to fear
God and not fear anyone except Him, and not
to hope from anyone except Him and entrust
all your needs to Him. Do not rely on anyone
except Him and ask everything from Him and
do not place confidence on anyone besides
Him. Stand by His Unity, stand by His Unity.
All are agreed on this."
 He further said: "When the heart becomes
right with God, nothing is felt missing and
nothing comes out of man.“
 Still farther he said: "I am the core without the
shell." And again he said: "Others have come
to me; so make room for them and show
courtesy to them. Here there is a great benefit.
And do not make the place congested for
these."



He was also heard saying: "Upon you be peace,
the mercy "of God and His blessings. May He
protect you and me and turn with mercy to
you and to me. I begin with the name of Allah
unceasingly.” He kept on saying this for one
day and one night and said: "Woe unto you. I
do not fear anything, nor any angel nor even
the angel of death. 0 angel of death! it is not
you but One who has befriended me and Who
has been bounteous to me.“
Then he gave out a loud cry, and this took
place on the evening on which he died and I
am told by his sons, Abdul Razzaq and Musa,
that he had been raising his hands and
stretching them out and was heard saying:
"And on you be peace and the mercy of God
and His blessings. Repent and join the line.
Presently I will be coming to you.“
And he was saying: "Wait", when there came to
him the last moment and the pang of death.
God wants us to remember Him
Relenting the last hours of Mawlana, Sheikh AbdulQadir Al-Jilani(RA), the
patron-saint of Qadiria Sufi Order.
 Between you and me and the creation, there is
only He as also between the heaven and the
earth. So do not judge me by anyone of them
and do not judge anyone of them by me.“
 Then his son Abdul Aziz asked him about his
pain and about his condition. He said: "Let not
anyone ask me about anything. I am being
turned over and over again in the knowledge
of God.“
 It is farther reported that his son, Abdul Aziz,
asked him about his disease. On this he said:
"Surely no one, neither any man nor any jinn,
nor any angel knows or understands my
disease. The knowledge of God is not
diminished by the command of God. The
command changes but the knowledge does
not change. The command may be abrogated
but not knowledge. God causes to pass away
and establishes what He pleases, and with
Him is the basis of the Book: “And He can not
he questioned as to what He does, and they
will the questioned” Qur’an(21:23).
 His son Abdul Jabbar asked him: "What part of
your body is ailing?" He said: "All the parts of
my body are ailing except my heart which has
no pain in it and is sound with God.“
 Then death came to him as he was saying: "I
seek the help of God with the formula: There
is no object of worship except God, glory be to
Him and be He exalted, the Everlasting, Who
does not fear annihilation; glory be to Him
Who has established His superiority through
His power and overpowered His servants by
means of death. There is no object of worship
except God and Muhammad is the Messenger
of Allah".
 Then Mawlana (RA) said: "Allah, Allah,
Allah,“, and his holy soul departed his blessed
body and returned to its creator. Allahu Akbar,
may Allah continue to bless that holy soul
forever, and make our present and our ends to
be in remembrance of God Almighty.
God wants us to remember Him
 As
Sufi
progressed
into
remembrance of the Divine Essence,
he is made to be in two conditions:
 Suluk:- Allah grants him personal
efforts and energy to remember
Allah excessively and in a mystical
manner.
 Jadhb:- When suluk reaches
certain degree, Allah bestowes
Jadhb on this Sufi. Jadhb is a
mysterious and spiritual pull that
attracts the Sufi to dissolve in
absolute
and
uninterrupted
remembrance of Allah, a pull only
understand by the Sufi himself.
Nothing can be say in regard to
Sufi at this stage, because is Allah
Himself that is pulling him toward
His remembrance, hence nothing
can stop that Sufi
from
remembering Allah not even
death!
God wants us to remember Him



Suluk is the effort of the Sufi and comes from
his heart, activated by love of the Divine
Essence and comfort in remembering Him. It
sometimes faces hurdles in the form of
tiredness, sensual attractions to the worldly,
hunger, thirst, sickness, families and friends
and so on. These hurdles if care is not taking
may hinder the Sufi’s progress to Jadhb. That
explain why Holy Qur’an 64:14 says, “O ye who
believe, Lo! Among your wives and your
children there are enemies for you,
therefore beware of them…” If they break
the circles of remembering Allah, they became
enemies to the Sufi.
Mawlana Sheikh Ahmad Tijjani(RA), may my
soul be sacrificed for him, said “ ‫المرءة تحب المودة‬
‫ ”و التجاني يحب العبادة‬meaning Woman(his wife)
wishes for (sensual)love while Tijjani wishes
for worship (Allah).
Sayyida Rabi’a (RA) used to sneak out of her
masters house and attend gathering of
remembrance of Allah, as a result she was
sometimes beating by her master. This is
Suluk.




Jadhb is a spiritual and mystical pull that
attracts like magnet, the Sufi to the
remembrance of Allah. No hurdle can be an
obstacle to Majdhub (Sufi in Jadhb).
Sayyida Rabi’a(RA) was observing prayer on
night vigil when thorn injured her in the eyes,
but she was not aware until after prayer, she
was completely absorbed in remembrance of
Allah.
In a gathering of dhikr, a Sufi sheikh observed
his disciples are dancing as they are chanting
name of Allah. He instructed them to stand
still and chant the name they should not
move. After a while, a young man out of the
disciples fell dead, he cannot control his body
to stand still as there is too much spiritual
attractions on his body that makes him to
dance; and when he attempted stopping his
heart failed and he died.
A Sufi I once met in recitation of Hailalatil
Jumma’at, when the Muqaddim instructed
dhikr session to stop, he couldn’t stop! He
continued and was crying, his body shaking. It
took us a while to console him to stop and
Allah bless us with success in consoling him.
God wants us to remember Him
 Sheikh
Uthman
bn
Fodio(RA)
in
Lamma
Balaghtu fidh dhikri, stated
that when he reached the
peak of remembering God, he
was mystically made to:
 See his internal organs, and
on his bones he saw names of
God engraved on them,
 Smell
righteous
people
smelling like perfume,
 Smell evil people smelling
foul odour perceived only by
him
Miracles of Sufis
 Allah created the universe and
assigned natural laws on how events
are going to unfold themselves,
these laws are known as laws of
nature. Holy Qur’an 25:2, “…. He
hath created everything and hath
meted out for it a measure.” Science
studies these laws and discovers
how to bring about events using
these laws.
 Magic and sorcery attempts to bring
events by violating these laws and
aligning with evil ones.
 Tasarruf attempts to bring events in
violation of these laws by aligning to
Allah.
 Tasarruf if manifested in a
prophet(AS) is referred to as
Muújiza while in saint(RA) is called
Karama.
 Tasarruf is a direct violation of laws
of nature and contradiction of
scientific discoveries.
Miracles of Sufis

Is miracle a sign of progress in Sufism?





There is only one answer to this question,
and that is NO, it is not; in some places it is
even retarding progress of a Sufi.
The Sufi grand masters called miracles as
“menstruation of men”, a term signifying it as
unwanted happening like menstruation to a
woman.
Mawlana, Sheikh Ahmad Tijjani(RA), may
my soul be sacrificed for him, on one
occasion was sitting with his disciples when
he observed most of them were hungry and
he requested for food. Sheikh Aliy
Tamassany(RA), one of his disciple spread
his hands and dishes of food appeared on the
spot. Sheikh(RA) said, “What is this? Return
it, we want natural food.”
Sheikh Muhyiddeen Arabi(RA) stated that
miracle is a retardation in Sufism and as such
it cannot be a measure of progress in Sufism,
he further stated it is THE MENSTRUATION
OF MEN.
Most Sufis are of the opinion that miracles
may drag pride to the Sufi, it may
unnecessarily bring unwanted publicity to
the Sufi, it may make the Sufi be pleased
with the state he is because of the miracle
and fails to look up for more stations ahead,
and above all it is better to leave events
unfold themselves through natural law than
complicate the system.

One day Sheikh Hasan al-Basri (RA) saw
Sayyida Rabi`a (RA) near a lake. He
throwed his prayer rug on top of the
water, he said, "Rabi`a come! Let us
pray two ruk`u here." She replied,
"Hasan, when you are showing off
your spiritual goods (miracles) in
the worldly market, it should be
things which your fellow men
cannot display." Then she threw her
prayer rug into the air and flew up onto
it. "Come up here, Hasan, where
people can see us.” she cried.
 But
seeing his sadness Sayyida
Rabi`a (RA) sought to console him,
so she said, "Hasan, what you did
fish can do (better), and what I did
flies can do (better). But the real
business is outside these tricks
(miracles). One must apply oneself
to the real business (serving Allah
sincerely)."
Miracles of Sufis
 However, there are some
Sufis who were divinely
ordained by Allah to
exhibit miracles and the
earlier
mentioned
restrictions
do
not
applied to them and
miracles
cannot
be
avoided by these Sufis.
 Sheikh AbdAlQadir AlJilani(RA) is one of such
Sufis, he was ordained
divinely
to
perform
tasarruf .
Miracles of Sufis
 How are miracles exhibited by Sufis?
 Only God knows how, but an attempt
can be made to answer this question,
to Allah is success.
 There are five horizons of existence,
anything that exists, will exist or once
existed is found in one of these
horizons. The five horizons(Awaleem)
are:





Khalq (Physical Horizon) this is a
container of anything physical in the
universe.
Hiss (Sound Horizon) it contain all
sounds in the universe.
Mithal (Similitude Horizon) it contains
the complete set of images of all
existences.
Amr (Commands Horizon) it contains
divine commands issued to angels and
other beings.
Arwah (Spirits Horizons) it contains all
forms of spirits and souls in the universe,
those yet to be born, those incarnated in
bodies and those that died.
 In Tasarruf a Sufi bring an object from
one of these horizons to another horizon
using a mystical power called Himma.
For example when Sheikh Uthman bn
Fodio(RA) resurrected a dead birth, he
looked for her soul from the spirits
horizon and brought it back to physical
horizon and it incarnate the body of the
bird which was left there after dead.
 Himma is a mystical power that develops
in the mind of a Sufi during meditation.
Meditation must be guided by a sheikh
and authorised by him using a litany that
can be mustered by the Sufi, else when
the power developed it can be disastrous
as in the case of Osman Baba. He was a
Sufi who unauthorised and unguided by
any sheikh, started meditation using the
divine name Mumit (He who Kills) and
himma developed in his mind and
wielded him with Tasarruf. When he
threw cotton on any creature, that
creature instantly dies. People became
scared and reported his case to a sheikh
and the sheikh instructed cotton be
thrown at his back, and when this is
done, Osman Baba died.
Miracles of Sufis
 Himma develops in the mind of a Sufi
base on the deepness of his meditation
and the coming into proximity of the
Divine Presence achieved by dissolving
of veils between the Sufi and the Divine
Essence.
In
subsequent
slides,
InshaÁllah we will look into meditation
(Khalwah). Himah equally started
diminishing and blurring, when the Sufi
prolong
disengagement
from
meditation.
 If a Sufi wields this power on any object
in these horizons, which he must have
the ability to see them first, the object is
subjected to the control of the Sufi, just
like how electronics are remoted using
remote. The Sufi then can remotely
move the object from one horizon to
another and the commons then called
this miracle.
 But do remember, brothers and sisters,
as said Sayyidah Rabi’a(RA) the real
business of Sufism is not on these tricks,
but on serving Allah in the best way.
Miracles of Sufis
 My sheikh, Ameer Al-Awliya sheikh
Muhammad Al-Ameen(RA) one day
relented to me the coming of Sheikh
AbdAlQadir
Al-Jilani(RA)
to
Baghdad. He came with cheetah
which was his pet. In Baghdad there
was a saint named Muhammad
Thaury(RA) he had a bull. One day
the disciples of Sheikh AbdAlQadir
Al-Jilani(RA) carried their wild cat
to jungle and they met the disciples
of
Sheikh
Muhammad
AlThaury(RA) with their bull. They
warned the latter not to come any
closer else their bull will meet its
end. The latter laughed and said or
your cat will meet its end.
 The two came closer and the wild
cat gave a chase, the bull also gave a
chase and the two somersaulted and
when dust settled down the wild cat
was dead. And the bull started
eating the dead cat raw.
Miracles of Sufis
 The holy Qur’an itself
relented miracle of a Sufi
grand master in the
person of Khidr(RA).
Chapter
18:60-82
relented the miracles
exhibited by Khidr(AS)
who is part of the
companions
of
the
bench in absentia.
 Volumes of literature
were
written
to
document miracles of
Sufis, this presentation
need not go into detail.
Retreat of Sufis
 Retreat Khalwa is a mystical exercise
Sufis engaged on in other to revive
their spiritual faculties to give them:
 Absolute understanding of reality
of realities,
 Mastery of spirituality and psychic
energies,
 Penetration into veils that stand
between God and creatures
thereby giving them proximity to
God,
 Harnessing any force or power
that may pose a threat to them,
 Ability to remove themselves from
the shell(body) they are tied
down,
 Ability to develop the spiritual
faculties in man, these faculties
are known as Lutfa
 Retreat in Sufism is done under
authorisation by a Sheikh who has
the right to authorise such exercise.
Retreat of Sufis

Spiritual faculties (Lutfa) that developed
during retreat are:








Nafs
Qalb
Ruh
Sir
Khafi
Akfa
These are the faculties that developed rapidly
during meditation and seek the proximity of
God.
These faculties when developed activate
powerful light on the Sufi, the lights flows in
his body and enters the environment through
his face. Some Sufis have this light very
strongly flowing to the environment through
their faces they are referred to as Musawi AlWirth. This is because Moses(AS) was the first
to have such light flowing strongly to the
environment from his face when he came out
of retreat on Mount Sinai, an Israelite that
looked into his face directly was instantly
blinded by the light, hence Moses(AS) used to
cover his face with blanket whenever he came
out from retreat, until the light strength
reduced. Sheikh AbdAlQadr Al-Jilani(RA) is
also an example and so is Sidi Muhammad
Salim(RA) the grand father of Sheikh
Ahmad Tijjani(RA).






This light is giving to the prophet(AS) and
saints(RAA) as an authenticity of what they
will say about Miqati or khalwa, that indeed
they have munajati with Allah(SWT).
Khalwa by a prophet(AS) is referred to as
Miqat.
The holy Qur’an 2:51 says, “And we did appoint
for Moses forty nights (of solitude), ….” This is
Miqat of Moses(AS).
Jesus Christ(AS) did the same in the
wilderness of Judea. And our blessed master,
prophet Muhammad(SAW) did the same in
the cave of Hira, where he received his first
revealation.
The same way human body needs food, rest
and exercise to develop and function very well,
the spiritual faculties in man need three items
too to develop and function very well and
these three form the pillars of retreat; these
are solitude, wakeful state and empty or halffilled stomach.
What differentiate Islamic meditation (Sufis)
from meditations of other religions like
Buddhism is the question of what next after
spiritual emancipation and mastery from
meditation? The Islamic type answers this
question by saying then bow before God and
serve Him well, while other religions says you
are semi-god and therefore don’t need God
anymore. Next slides will take a look at
meditation.
Meditation of Sufis
 Muraqaba
or
simply
“Keeping an eye” is the Sufi
word for meditation. It is a
practical steps taken to
keep an eye on one’s soul,
mind and heart so as not to
allow it to derail away from
God.
 Muraqaba is observed in a
sufism
laboratory
by
beginners while when a
Sufi attains mastery in his
entire life he can observe
Muraqaba
without
a
laboratory - anywhere.
 A secluded place, free from
any human interferences,
out of lights of the sun and
bulbs and not in complete
darkness,
pure
and
comfortable for the Sufi is
the
laboratory
for
Muqaraba.
 The early grand masters of
Sufism used caves and dark
jungles as laboratories.
Today rooms kept specially
for that purpose are found
in Sufi centres.
Stages of Meditation
 Gnosis of Self (Maárifatin
Nafs):- This is the entry
level for a beginner.
 Gnosis
of
universe
(Maárifatil Alameen):- this
is intermediate level after
mastery of the previous
stage
 Gnosis of the creator
(Maárifatillah):- This is the
advanced stage achieved
after mastery of the two
lower stages.
Sub-stages of Gnosis of Self
 Ghanood (Somnolence):- At this stage
the meditating Sufi is in between sleep
and wake stage. He is subconcious, he
will witness perceiving, feeling or even
seeing many things but cannot
remember any.
 Adraak (cognition):-With constancy by
the Sufi he progresses to this stage and
recovers from sleep-like stage of
somnolence. He becomes conscious but
knowledge flows from his subconscious
mind. Infallible and complete knowledge
flows to his conscious mind. He sees no
physical things before him, but perceive
its presence and have full knowledge of
it.
 Warood (coming, beginning):-This stage
comes after sustenance of the cognition
stage, at this stage the somnolence is
completely withdrawn and the spiritual
eye of the Sufi is waken. The Sufi starts
seeing the multitude of unseen
surrounding us. Invisible spirits and
even angels can be seen by the Sufi at
this stage.
Sub-stages of Gnosis of Universe
 Kashaf/Ilhaam (unveiling of arcane
knowledge):- At this stage divine
revealations came into the mind of the
Sufi granting him mastery of the
universe. Like events unfolding itself in
distant lands are made known to the
Sufi, past an future events as well.
 Shuhood (evidence):- the previous stage
starts without the Sufi looking for it but
when matured, the Sufi can activate it at
will. In this stage every aspect of the
universe comes to the vicinity of the Sufi.
He hears sounds clearly even from
distant planets, he sees anywhere he
wills in this universe, he smells fragrance
from far town and finally he can stretch
his hand to touch anything however far
it is in the universe. The universe
becomes like a model before the Sufi.
 Futuh (Opening):-This is the peak of the
evidence stage. At this stage the
mysterious powers of evidence stages are
available to the Sufi even in none
meditation stage, even when he is
absorbed in public or occupied with
human activities.
Sub-stages of Gnosis of Creator
 Fana (Annihilation):- At this stage
the Sufi becomes absorbed in God
and forget everything about himself
and the universe and focus on God
alone. His awareness about God
becomes so strong that he becomes
not interested in the awareness
about the existence of anything not
God.
 Sayr illallah (journey towards the
God):- at this stage the Sufi starts
drawing to the divine proximity
unveiling the veils that stand
between the creator and the created.
This stage is so mysterious and
complex. The Sufi is made to
penetrate the veils one after another.
The stage of the Sufi becomes veiled
from the commons.
 Fana fillah (complete annihilation):The Sufi mysteriously dissolves in
the divine attributes of Allah, his
attributes cease to be and give way
to divine ones. At this stage divine
powers existing in divine attributes
manifest themselves in the sufi.
 Sair minallah (journey from the
God):- At a greater awareness of
divine magnificent of God. Some of
the penetrated veils took shape
again and blocked the Sufi
proximity with God, he loses the
divine attributes behind the veil but
carries with him the infinite
knowledge of the divine attribute.
Gradually the Sufi come back to his
human
manifestation
and
attributes.
 The last sub-stage is in the next
slide.
Sub-stages of Gnosis of Creator
 Baqa billahi (Eternal life in
Union with God):- This last
stage is achieved when the Sufi
comes back to his human
manifestation and attributes
completely, Allah out of His
favour, will bestow on the Sufi’s
mind annihilation in the divine
Essence. The mind of the Sufi
remains dissolved in God,
nothing stays in it but God; his
body remains with the humans
and the Universe.
 The hadith & verses of Holy
Qur’an portraying this sub-stage
are shown beside:
 And the most beloved things
with which My slave comes
nearer to Me, is what I have
enjoined upon him; and My slave
keeps on coming closer to Me
through performing Nawafil
(praying or doing extra deeds
besides what is obligatory) till I
love him, so I become his sense
of hearing with which he hears,
and his sense of sight with which
he sees, and his hand with which
he grips, and his leg with which
he walks. [Hadith Al-Qudsi]
 We (Allah) are nearer to him
(man) than his jugular vein.
Qur’an 50:6.
Modes of Meditation
 Novice Mode:- this is a
mode
adopted
by
beginners who are new to
Meditation.
 Amateur Mode:- this
mode is usually adopted by
Sufis who are regular in
Meditation but are not
professional in ir.
 Professional Mode:- This
mode is adopted by
professional
Sufis
whenever they engage in
meditation.
Novice Mode of Meditation
 The main aim of the Sufi
under this mode is access to
remedy and solution. Like
remedy from physical or
spiritual diseases and defects.
 Lights of meditation glows on
different parts of the body of
the Sufi in this mode.
 These lights flows on
Above the head – Violet
Just above eye brow – indigo
On the throat – blue
In the heart – green
On tummy – yellow
On reproductive organs –
orange, and
 On limbs – red






 These
lights
bring
the
required remedy & solution.
Amateur Mode of Meditation
 This mode is centre
toward
awakening
spiritual powers and
energies. The Sufi
started
with
awakening his heart
where most spiritual
energies are sleeping.
 These energies are
awakened and they
become vibrant and
within the reach of the
Sufi.
Professional Mode of Meditation
 This is the best mode
and the achieving of
excellence. In this mode
the only goal of the Sufi
is God nothing more and
nothing less.
 The Sufi engages on
Tasawwur (Mind focus)
on God starting with the
representative of God
closest to the Sufi. Next
slide will explain this.
Professional Mode of Meditation
Tasawwurush shaykh
(Mind-Focus on Sheikh)
 The Sufi should place his sheikh in
mind as he meditates. He should find
the closest Sheikh in his Silsila
(Spiritual chain), preferably the one
they once lived together and for better
result the Sheikh should be deceased.
 The Sufi should never lose focus on
the Sheikh’s Image in his mind as he
meditate, he concentrate on focusing
on the sheikh, envisioning the sheik
sitting with him, stay completely focus
on the sheikh.
 The spirit of the Sufi penetrates into
the presence of the Sheikh, and it
carries the banner of the sheikh and
moves to the divine proximity. The
sheikh’s spirit carries the Sufi’s spirit
to a journey of divine proximity
crossing hurdles that the Sufi cannot
cross, but with the sheikh’s spirit he
can.
Professional Mode of Meditation
Tasawwurur Rasul SAW (MindFocus on the prophet SAW)
 The Sufi after he has progresses very deep
in mind-focus with his sheikh meditation,
he will find himself in the blessed presence
of prophet Muhammad(SAW) who is the
representative of God on the universe. He
will be privileged with seeing the
prophet(SAW) and strong link is
established between the Sufi’s spirit and
the Holy Spirit. At this stage, the mindfocus of the Sufi advances to focus on the
prophet(SAW).
 With the Sufi’s mind focusing on the
prophet(SAW), his spirit carries the holy
banner and moves to the proximity and
presence of God; no one comes to the
divine presence except with the holy banner
of the prophet(SAW) and through his
magnificent spirit.
 Some holy attributes of the prophet(SAW)
manifest on the Sufi at this stage. The Sufi
is one step to the peak of meditation.
Professional Mode of Meditation
Tasawwuruz Zatil Haq (MindFocus on the Almighty God
 The Sufi’s spirit with the banner of the
prophet(SAW) keep moving to the
divine proximity, until he comes very
close to the Divine Being.
 Note that God is close to all His
creatures and no space or time can
contain him, so drawing closer has
nothing to do with time and place. It
is removing of veils between the
meditating
Sufi
and
majestic
attributes of God which are preserved
for His selected servants that excelled.
It is coming closer to these attributes
that are referred to as divine proximity.
 The Sufi mind-focus takes only God
on focus, this is possible because of
the Divine attributes manifested
before the Sufi. As the Sufi continues
to meditate with total mind focus on
Allah alone he started experiencing a
highest spiritual progress – next slide
The peak of Meditation
 With total mind-focus on God, the Sufi’s
meditation progresses to the highest
spiritual level. The Sufi becomes
recipient of Tajalliyatiz Zatil Haqq
(Manifestation of The Divine Essence).
 Holy Qur’an 7:143 stated about the
manifestation of the Divine Essence on
Mountain and the mountain becomes
crushed, when Moses(AS) requested to
see God. This confirmed Tajalliyatil
Haqq.
 Note that it is the attributes of splendour
and majesty of God that manifest on the
Spirit of the Sufi, and the spirit uses
them as if it is its attributes. The spirit
becomes aware of the immediate needs
of the universe from these attributes and
it provides the universe with these needs
as permitted by God. This Sufi is then
referred to as Haqeeqatillah fiy Tajally
(God’s given-Reality by Manifestation).
This point may not be necessarily
understood at this point, nevertheless
you will understand it if God wills.
The form factor of Meditation
 Form
factor
of
a
meditation is the event
Sufi used to go into
meditation, the event has
the ability to induce
meditative influence on
the mind, spirit and the
body of the Sufi.
 Form factor of meditation
varies from one Sufi order
to other, or even from one
Sheikh to the other, but
there are three major form
factors
 Samaá (Spiritual sounds &
songs):listening
to
spiritual sounds or songs is
an event that is used to
bring the mind, spirit and
body of Sufi to meditative
condition. This is widely
use by the Maulaviyya Sufi
Order
(The
whirling
dervishes).
 Khalwa (retreat) which has
been explained earlier.
 Trance which takes over
Sufi
into
meditative
condition within normal
life
Sama’a Meditation
 Sounds having spiritual
tunes and played with
special instruments can
induce
meditative
condition to Sufi.
 Islamic
songs,
particularly those in
which names of Allah are
mentioned also have the
same effects
Sufis from Maulaviyya Sufi Order
in whirling dance from spiritual
songs, were induced into
meditative condition
Khalwa Meditation
 Khalwa (retreat) is the
most common form
factor used by Sufis for
meditation.
 Its complete days is 40
consecutive days.
 While lesser than that
number is done in some
Sufi centres, however
this retreat is referred to
as Khala’e (short retreat).
Sufi in reatreat (Khalwa)
Dedication
 These
slides
are
dedicated
to
the
prophet(SAW) who is
the grand patron of all
Sufis and the focus to
any Sufi.
 If you are touched by
this presentation recite
Salat
to
the
prophet(SAW).
+2348057414268