Choosing A Doctor Of The Heart

[ummtaalib]

Tasawwuf is the soul of Islam. Its function is to purity the heart from the lowly bestial attributes of lust, calamities of the tongue, anger, malice, jealousy, love of the world, love of fame, niggardliness, greed, ostentation, vanity, deception, etc. At the same time it aims at the adornment of the heart with the lofty attributes of repentance, perseverance, gratefulness, fear of Allah, hope, abstention, tauheed, trust, love, sincerity, truth, contemplation, etc.

 

To diagnose and treat the diseases of the heart normally requires the help of an expert mentor or Shaikh. Here are the qualities of a good Shaikh.

 

1. He possesses necessary religious knowledge.

 

2. His beliefs, habits, and practices are in accordance with the Shariah.

 

3. He does not harbor greed for the worldly wealth.

 

4. He has himself spent time learning from a good Shaikh.

 

5. The scholars and good mashaikh of his time hold good opinion about him.

 

6. His admirers are mostly from among the people who have good understanding of religion.

 

7. Most of his followers follow the Shariah and are not the seekers after this world.

 

8. He sincerely tries to educate and morally train his followers. If he sees anything wrong in them, he corrects it.

 

9. In his company one can feel a decrease in the love of this world and an increase in the love for Allah.

 

10. He himself regularly performs dhikr and shughal (spiritual exercises).

 

In searching for a Shaikh, do not look for his ability to perform karamat (miracles) or to foretell the future. A very good Shaikh may not be able to show any karamat. On the other hand, a person showing karamat does not have to be a pious person --- or even a Muslim. Prominent Sufi Bayazid Bistami says: "Do not be deceived if you see a performer of supernatural feats flying in the air. Measure him on the standard of the Shariah."

 

When you find the right Shaikh, and you are satisfied with his ability to provide spiritual guidance, you perform baya or pledge. This is a two-way commitment; the Shaikh pledges to guide you in light of Shariah and you pledge to follow him. Then the Shaikh will give his mureed (disciple) initial instructions. They include the following:

 

1. Perform repentance for all the past sins and take steps to make amends, e.g. if any salat has been missed so far in the life, you start making up for it.

 

2. If you have any unmet financial obligations toward another person make plans to discharge them.

 

3. Guard your eyes, ears, and tongue.

 

4. Perform dhikr regularly.

 

5. Start a daily session of self-accounting before going to bed. Review all the good and bad deeds performed during the day. Repent for the bad ones and thank Allah for the good ones.

 

6. Perform muraqaba-maut (meditation over death) every night before going to bed. Just visualize that you have died. Reflect upon the pangs of death, the questioning in the grave, the plain of Resurrection, the Reckoning , the presence in the Court of Allah, etc This helps bring softness to the heart and break the tendency to commit sins.

 

7. Develop humility. Even if you observe another individual committing the worst of vices you should not despise him/her, nor should you consider yourself nobler. It is very much possible that the perpetrator of the vice may resort to sincere repentance while the one who despised the sinner become ensnared in the traps of nafs and Shaitan. One has no certainty regarding one's end. One, therefore has no basis for regarding another with contempt.

 

Taken from "What is Tasawwuf?" By Khalid Baig

Full article here: http://www.albalagh...._tasawwuf.shtml

[ummtaalib]

Why a Shaykh?

 

“Take the example of a person who wants to lose weight. In the initial weeks, with self motivation at its peak, he will exercise regularly, follow a special diet and do all the necessary things required to achieve his objective. However, after a few weeks once the initial motivation wanes, he will return to his old ways and will end up as he started, with no long term benefit whatsoever.

 

In contrast, if this person had taken professional advice from the outset, he would have been able to set a timetable and develop a manageable action plan under expert guidance. This in conjunction with the continued supervision of the dietician would have resulted in long term benefit and success in his objective.

 

This is precisely the example of the relationship between a shaykh and a murīd. A murīd will find great difficulty in purifying his soul and acquiring the recognition of Allāh ta’ala by himself. Thus he needs someone to slowly – but surely – guide him and take him along the path that leads to soul rectification and the recognition of Allāh ta’ala. That someone is the Shaykh.”

 

Courtesy of In Shaykh's Company: a blog maintained by the students of Shaykh Muhammad Saleem Dhorat hafizahullah www.shaykh.org