TASAWWUF
Prof. Dr. Mahmud Es'ad COSAN
translated from the book Islam, Tasavvuf, Hayat , Istanbul: Seha, 1996, pp.299-322

Alhamdu lillâhi Rabbil àlemîn. Was salâtu was salâmu alâ sayyidinâ muhammedin wa alâ âlihî wa sahbihî ajma'în. Wa men tebi'ahû bi-ihsânin ilâ yawmid dîn.

Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all beings.  The peace and blessings are on our beloved Prophet Muhammad, his family, his companions and on those who follow his path sincerely till the Day of Resurrection.

Dear Respected Brothers and Sisters!

We know for sure that the purpose of our life is to earn the consent of Almighty Allah.  We all are aware that we are in this life for a test.  If we are successful in the test or if we try to pass the test sincerely, we become a beloved servant of Allah.  If we obey the orders of Allah and avoid the prohibitions, we would receive His grace and be awarded with His paradise in the Hereafter.  Without any doubt, our main purpose in this life is to earn the consent of Allah.

We often express this purpose with the following words:

"Ilâhî ente maqsùdî wa ridàke matlûbî--O Allah, You are my purpose, and I seek Your consent."  These words are taken from a Hadith Qudsi.  Our purpose is Almighty Allah, and we want to earn His consent.  If we keep this in mind in everything we do, then all will be complete and wholesome.  [We would succeed in the test.]

To reach this goal, to attain this purpose, man has to follow the straight path!  One who follows the straight path will be guided aright.  That is why we ask Almighty Allah for guidance.  At least forty times a day we seek guidance in the prayers:

(Ihdinas sirâtal mustaqîm.) "Our Lord, guide us in the Straight Path."  We also know from the Qur'an:

(Inneke lâ tehdî men ahbebte walâkinnallàhe yehdî men yeshâ') "O My beloved Prophet, Mohammed the Chosen!  You cannot guide whom you like in the straight path, but Allah guides whom He wills."  (Qur'an 28:57)  If Allah does not allow, a person may not be guided in the right path.

That means, even the Prophet of Allah could not guide a person to the right path.  Here is an example:  The Prophet was very grateful for his uncle Abû Tâlib who had raised him and provided protection and shelter against the pagans of Makkah.  In his deathbed, the Prophet begged his uncle:  "Dear Uncle!  Please utter these words: Ash-hadu an lâ ilâha illallah wa ashadu anna muhammeden abduhû wa rasûluh --I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah and also I bear witness that Muhammad is his servant and messenger.  If you utter these words, I could be an intercessor on the Day of Resurrection for you."  Yet, Abû Tâlib failed to do so.  The Prophet could not guide his own uncle in the straight path.

Would Almighty Allah turn down the request of his beloved messenger?

Almighty Allah would not turn down the request of His beloved Messenger, yet each person is responsible towards Allah.  The person has to have the intention and take the first step.  Each person must have a desire to be guided in the straight path.  If a person has a desire to be guided, Almighty Allah guides him.  Without that desire, Almighty Allah will not guide a person by the request of third persons.

"Sir, my father drinks all the time and indulges in interest.  Please make dua for him so that Almighty Allah guides him."

I am sorry but it does not work that way!  He has to have a desire from his own.  Without it, Almighty Allah does not guide him in the straight path.

I would like to recite three verses on this matter:

(Wallàhu lâ yehdil qawmal kâfirîn.) "Allah does not guide the people of unbelievers." (Qur'an 2:264)Why is it so?  It is because the guidance is something so precious that if a person receives it, he would be receiving the key to Paradise!  When a person is guided into the straight path, he becomes a beloved servant of Allah and enters paradise.  That is why Almighty Allah does not give guidance to unbelievers. He does not guide them because they deny His existence and unity and disregard His orders and prohibitions.

Here is the second verse:

(Wallàhu lâ yehdil qawmal fâsiqîn.) "Allah does not guide the people of the ungodly, the defiantly disobedient." (Qur'an 5:108)  Here the word fisq means deviation from the path of Allah.  For instance, it is stated in the Qur'an about Satan:
 

(Fefesaqa an emri rabbihî) "... He departed from [i.e., disobeyed] the command of his Lord ..." (Qur'an 18:50).  The same root fisq is used there.  Almighty Allah does not guide those who commit fisq.

That means, Almighty Allah does not guide a person into the straight path when the person is committing a sin.  What must the person do then?  He must stop committing the sin, and end his disobedience and deviation.  He must acknowledge his wrong doings and turn to Allah.  Then Almighty Allah guides him.

Almighty Allah does not guide a person who insists on drinking.  Almighty Allah does not guide a person who continues stealing.  We would not know how Almighty Allah treats people, yet because it is stated in the Qur'an as "Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people," we can infer that He does not guide people who insists on committing sins.

We understand that Almighty Allah does not guide the unbelievers and defiantly disobedient people.  A person should be an obedient servant carrying out his duties to be eligible for the guidance.  All right.  We understand that.  To deserve the blessing of divine guidance, we ought to avoid the disobedience and try our best to do the good deeds.  It is a great reward from Allah.  It is the key to Paradise.

Here is the third verse:

(Wallàhu lâ yehdil qawmal zâlimîn.) "Allah does not guide the people of the evildoers." (Qur'an 2:258)

Zâlimîn is the plural form of zâlim, i.e., an evildoer.  The first thing the word zâlim reminds us is the oppressor:  A person who mistreat people with the power he has.  Pointing the gun on the head, stepping on the throat, beating, torturing and alike are the actions of the oppressors.  In the same category are the Serbian oppression in Bosnia, Russian oppression in Caucasus, and Hindu oppression in Kashmir.  People are deprived of their basic rights.  Their lives and properties are threatened.  All of them are forms of oppression (zulm).

There is another kind of oppression (zulm) according to Islam:  A person who commits sins and offenses affecting himself are called self-oppression.  The Qur'an describes such a person as "zâlimun linafsihî--a person who oppressed himself."

Why would a sinner be called a self-oppressor?

He is called a self-oppressor because he commits the sin and will suffer the consequences in the hereafter:  he will be thrown into the hellfire.  He would not do anything to other people, yet he leads himself to hellfire.  That is why he is also called a zâlim, an oppressor.

The Qur'an is our guide, a major source of information...  It is the book that we neglect to study and recite and that we are unaware of its message.  It is the book that we keep in an embroidered bag hung on a nail on the wall of our bedroom or in our bookshelf.  It is the word of Allah that we respect. We get everything from the Qur'an.  Our forefathers and elderly had taught us that way, and that is how it should be.

Almighty Allah revealed the Qur'an to be read, studied, and practiced.  It was not meant to be kept in a bag hung on the wall.

Not the brand-new prayer rug but the old one that is worn out from the places where the feet and the face touches is more valuable.  The rosary that became shiny out of extensive use is better than a new one.  The booklet of Qur’an that has been wrinkled because of extensive use is more valuable than the one kept on the wall.

In the Qur'an, Almighty Allah informs us that He will guide us into the straight path if we are not zalim or fasiq.  We shall not do injustice or oppression to ourselves or other people.  We should not deviate from the order of Allah.  Only then Allah loves us.

What is the purpose in life?  It is to earn the love and consent of Allah.  It is Allah who created the universe and everything in it.  He is the Lord of the Universe.  He sustains our life; He has granted all for us:  the air, the water, the sunlight, the fruits, the trees, the seeds, the nourishment.  Allah informs us in the Qur'an that He gave us the sheep, the lambs, the fish, and other animals.  He says, "All is from Me, do not be afraid of them."  If Almighty Allah had not informed us about His permission, we could not eat meat, catch fish, hunt a bird, or cook a chicken.

Almighty Allah says in the Qur'an:

(Awalem yaraw ennâ khalaqnâ lehum mimmâ 'amilet eydînâ en'àmen fehum lehâ mâlikûn.) "Do they not see that We have created for them from what Our hands have made, grazing livestock and then they are their owners?" (Qur'an 36:71)  This verse [and the following verses] informs us that Almighty Allah created all for us.  Everything is created for us to benefit from.  Almighty Allah says in another verse:

(Kulû washrabû wa lâ tusrifû innehû lâ yuhibbul musrifîn.) "...Eat and drink, but be not excessive.  Indeed He likes not those who commit excess." (Qur'an 7:31)

We all must have the purpose of earning the love and the consent of Allah in this life.  If we do not have such a purpose, [we live in vain.]  The scholars who spoke here before me expressed the problems of modern man.  The first problem was having no goal in life.  They expressed how the society suffers from such a problem.

Naturally, we are aware of such problems and of the solutions as well.  Here is the principle:  The goal in life must be becoming a beloved servant of Allah.  All the work to attain this goal is classified as Tasawwuf work.

The first work in Tasawwuf is training the nafs (self) that prevents the person from obeying the orders of Allah.  If we fail to obey and worship Allah, it is because we follow our nafs.

We have a hard time getting up in the morning for the Fajr prayer; the sleep is sweeter.  Is it a big deal to give up some sleep?  The nafs prefers the sleep, and it is hard to overcome.

A man sees red apples or oranges hanging in the trees that belong to other people.  He should not touch them!  He looks around.  There is nobody, no fence, no walls.  The fruit looks very attractive through the leaves.  Should he pick a fruit or not?  His nafs asks:

"Pick one!  I want it!"

When the man reaches the tree and picks a fruit, he would be carrying out a haram act that was dictated by his nafs.  Likewise, when he fails to get up for the Fajr prayer in the morning, his nafs would be suggesting disobedience towards the order of Allah.

In everything we do, we face our nafs.  We have to obey Almighty Allah to be guided in the right path and be rewarded with Paradise in the hereafter.  The main obstacle, the main enemy in the path of Allah is within us.  It is in ourselves.  We wish it were something visible, so we could see.  It is something like electric power.  You cannot see it even if you open it up.

Our nafs makes us disobey the order of Allah.  When we disobey, when we become a fasiq or a zalim, Almighty Allah does not guide us.  That means we have to train our nafs for it is the number one enemy.

"Which one is a greater enemy:  Satan or nafs?"

When the nafs is trained and corrected, Satan could not do anything to a person.  That means, the major enemy for man is his nafs.  It is because it keeps asking for things since the childhood: "I want a candy, a balloon, a lollipop, a toy..."  We keep giving what the nafs wants.  Then the nafs gets used to getting what it wants.  Its desires are countless.

We have to be able to say "stop" to our nafs.  To do so, we have to train our nafs.  We should be able to say, "I know you want it, but it is haram!"  "Yes, I know the sleep is enjoyable, and I went to bed late, yet I have to get up to do the prayer!"

Man needs to overcome his nafs.  It is Tasawwuf [to help him in doing so]... Man needs to overcome his nafs and get ready to carry out orders of Allah and abstain from the prohibitions.  It is more important than avoiding Satan.

Satan does not put a chain on the individual and drag him to sinful places.  He does not say: "You come here!  You are my slave!"  Instead, Satan offers him choices: "How about doing this or that!"  We call it the misgivings (waswasa) of Satan.

Satan is a creature that provides misgivings; it shows the bad deeds as good deeds.  The nafs goes after the suggestions of Satan.  When the nafs enjoys the bad things and if the individual does not prevent his nafs, the bad deed is carried out.  The nafs goes one step ahead; Satan stays behind.  That is why the greatest enemy of man is his nafs.

The Prophet SAS stated:

(A'dâ aduwwuke) "Your greatest enemy is (nafsukelletî beyne jenbeyk) your nafs that is between your shoulders."

The greatest battle is the battle man has to put up against the improper desires of his nafs.  The desires would be extremely strong.

The desires of the nafs would be in five levels:

1. Up to the age of puberty, the desires are consisted of eating, drinking and alike.

I ask my grandchild what he wants in the grocery store.  He says, "chips" or "lollipop."  It is the desire for food and juices. It is like that in children.

2. At the age of puberty, the individual has an interest in the opposite gender.  He would want to get engaged or married.  It is a strong desire to want somebody.  These desires would be very strong and could lead a person to grave sins.

The desire for eating and drinking could also lead to sin such as stealing and other haram deeds.  They would be strong, too.

3.  Once a person gets married and form a family, then he would have additional expenses such as the rent of the apartment, cost of clothing, and the needs of the wife and children.  Then the desire to make more money and accumulate wealth and property starts.

Everybody likes money and property.  It is a strong desire of the nafs to accumulate them. Man starts saying: "I wish I had more money and property.  I could do many things with them."  These desires could lead the individual to evil.

4.  Once the individual earns money and accumulates enough wealth, then the desires for a high rank in the society starts: "You have money and property.  Why not joining a political party and be elected as a representative in the national assembly?"

This would be a strong desire, too.  There would be unimaginable plots and ploys in the politics, and many sorts of injustices are carried out intentionally.  The prince takes the king, his own father, down to rule the country.

5. After the desire for rank, the desire for leadership takes over.  This is called hubb-u riyaset (the love for the leadership).  That is extreme level of the desire for rank in the society.  The individual would not be content with being a representative.  He wants to be the leader of the party, then the prime minister or president of the country.

Once, the Ottoman ruler Yavuz Sultan Selim looked at the world map and said:  "Not large enough for two rulers!"  The ruler of the country soon will not be content; he would ask for more and more.  That is the ultimate desire of the nafs. 

All these are the desires of nafs; we call them hawâ or shahawât-i nafsâniya.  Our forefathers have taught us about these desires, so we know them.  The Europeans the Americans would not know this.  They would not know what nafs is and what kind of enemy it is.

We ought to overcome the desires of the nafs and carry out some work to train our nafs.  We must practice the methods to overcome the desires of the nafs. 

Naturally, when a person overcomes his nafs, becomes a sage, a virtuous person... For instance, some people in India acquire some extraordinary abilities such as staying in a grave-like place for forty-seven days without food.  Some can throw the rope in the air and climb on it.  One could ask, "So what?"

(Wallàhu lâ yehdil qawmel kâfirîn.) Almighty Allah does not guide the unbelievers to the straight path.  It does not matter how skillful a person is if he does not believe in Allah.  The first thing a person must do is to become a believer and acknowledge Almighty Allah.  That comes first.

That is why we can state that Tasawwuf has two aims:  acknowledging Almighty Allah and to correct the nafs to deserve the love of Allah.

Without the acknowledgment of Allah, a person will not receive guidance from Allah.  There are so many people in the world, yet they have no value.  They are valueless like trash or dust or smoke.  Each person must acknowledge Allah and control his nafs to be a good servant of Allah.  Carrying out these two tasks is Tasawwuf.

These are within Islam, not outside of it.  Outside the realm of Islam, they do transcendental meditation.  The Americans get curious and bring fakirs and gurus from India.  They gather around them and imitate what they do.  That would not take them anywhere significant.  It is similar to some gymnasts' training on the balance beam, parallel bars, trampoline and other things.  A gymnast would jump on the trampoline, do three somersaults in the air, do something else for five times, and dive into water head down.  Good, mashâ-Allah!  The person acquires a physical skill by practicing.  The knowledge received from the gurus and others would have a similar effect.

Few years ago, we visited Sweden.  In the middle of a town we heard the sound of bells, a melody, a musical tune. Men, women and children were marching in the marketplace.  They were dressed in Hindu costumes.  They had their head shaved except for a small area.  With bells in their hands, they walked up and down in the marketplace.

Who were these people?  These are Swedish people who are from a Christian society.  They were not content with Christianity, so they started practicing Krishna religion of India.  They were marching to advertise their belief.  They had been doing things in a state of search.

These have no value before Allah.  Each individual must accept the existence and unity of Allah!  Worshipping the moon, the sun, the ox, the crocodile or alike is not acceptable.

The ancient Egyptians had various idols.  The ancient Greek believed in various gods such as the wine god Bakus.  They had believed in gods that they had invented themselves.  None of such beliefs is acceptable.

The individual must inquire about Islam, study the Qur'an, get to know the Prophet Muhammad - the chosen one, and learn his ahadith.  Of course, acquiring the knowledge is not sufficient; he has to practice what he learns.

It is not acceptable for a person to lie while knowing that lying is a sin.  It is not proper for a person to steal while knowing that stealing is against the law.  Knowledge alone is not sufficient; it has to be practiced.

Knowledge is a must, and it comes from the Glorious Qur'an and the Ahadith of the Prophet.  It is the divine knowledge in these sources: What does Almighty Allah ask of us?  What are the prohibitions?  What kind of persons should we be?  How do we live our lives?  We have to learn this from the Qur'an and the sayings of the Prophet of Allah.

The Tasawwuf has two major source of knowledge:

1. The Glorious Qur'an.  You have to read and study the Qur'an and try to understand it.  You must request those who understand it well to explain it to you.  You ought to say, "Let's leave the other kinds of talks aside and try to understand what the Qur'an says."

You have been spending your time with reading newspapers, watching television and with casual conversations.  You hold special days, bake pastry for your guests, and pass your time enjoying the food.  Instead of this, you ought to study what Almighty Allah says in the Qur'an.

2. The Ahadith of the Prophet Muhammad.

Tasawwuf is like a pool of knowledge, and the main source of knowledge is the Glorious Qur'an.  The knowledge comes as the water gushes in.  The second source of knowledge is the blessed words of the Prophet.

In fact, the words of the Prophet were inspired by Almighty Allah.  The Prophet did not speak from himself.  Almighty Allah taught the Prophet and revealed the Qur'an to him.

The knowledge from these sources, like crystal clear water, fills the pool of spirituality.  If knowledge comes from other sources, it will contaminate the pool just as dirty water would spoil the clear water.

The effects of Shamanism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, Neoplutonism would pollute the pool of Tasawwuf.

...

One of the most important things that the Qur'an teaches us is the taqwa (righteousness).  It is also one of the most important principles of Tasawwuf.  A person who has taqwa is called muttakî.

Having taqwa means being aware of own actions. A muttakî person would be very careful when he does something.  He would try to do good deeds and avoid the bad deeds.  He would not be disorderly, lazy or ignorant.  He wishes that Almighty Allah loves him and saves him from His wrath.  He would avoid being in a situation that is not pleasing to Allah.

Without taqwa, without the fear of Allah, a person would spend his time in vain in entertainment, unawareness and sin.

Having taqwa is very important.  Each person should fear that he may loose the love of Allah; he may lose the paradise.  He could be thrown into the hellfire.

I am sure you heard verses of Qur'an about taqwa.  It is the most important subject in Tasawwuf.  In fact, Tasawwuf is briefly described as "the way of taqwa."  Tasawwuf is the path of taqwa.  If you walk on the path of taqwa, you will be a mutasawwif.  The best of the mutasawwif are those who have the most taqwa.

That is why we must learn about taqwa and practice it.  That is you think about your deeds all the time and fear Allah all the time.  You have to question yourselves: "Would Almighty Allah dislike me if I commit that?  Could my words be offensive to Allah?  Would Allah have wrath on me?"  That would be a state of awareness and fear which is named as 'alâ hazerin--to be cautious, on the alert.

It is stated in a verse of the Qur'an:

(Innemâ yeteqabbalullàhu minal muttaqîn) [Allah accepts only from those who have taqwa.]  (Qur'an 5:27)  The worship will be accepted only with taqwa.  If you offer your prayers with taqwa, they will be accepted.  If you pay zakah or spend on charity with taqwa, your deed will be accepted.

The verse above describes the event that took place between the two sons of Hadrat Adam AS.  They both offered sacrifices, yet the sacrifice only from one of them was accepted while the sacrifice from the other son was not accepted.  The reason was explained as:

(Innemâ yeteqabbalullàhu minal muttaqîn) "Allah accepts only from those who have taqwa."  (Qur'an 5:27)  Allah does not accept from one who has no taqwa.  If one has another intention, if he is not sincere, if his intentions are not pure, his deeds will not be accepted.

For this reason, Tasawwuf is described as follows: "Tasawwuf is the path of taqwa.  It is a path of paying attention not to fall into sin and not to neglect the good deeds."  We have to learn that.

We must also learn about ikhlâs that means the purity of heart and intentions.  If a person has bad intentions and goal, and if he does some good deeds to accomplish his goals, would Allah reward his good deeds?  Allah will not accept his deeds because He accepts only the sincere worship.  If there is no sincerity in a deed, He would not accept it.

Based on this fact, we have to purify our hearts and intentions.  We must eliminate the ill intentions and evil thoughts from our hearts.  That is why it is stated that man has to "clean" his heart.

How do we "clean" our hearts?  You could not wash your heart by inserting the garden hose in your chest and turning the faucet on.  You cannot wash your heart with soap and water!  In fact the heart (qalb) is not the piece of meat pumping blood in our chest; it is the spiritual heart (gönül in Turkish) that could not be hosed down to clean.

Having a "clean" heart means having good and pure thoughts and getting rid of ill intentions and thoughts.  It means having good intentions towards everybody.  That is also called ikhlâs.  It is needed.

The guides in Tasawwuf take a person and train him.  The person becomes his student, his disciple, and his spiritual child.  He educates the person.  That is the Tasawwuf education.

Each person undergoes an education or training.  For instance, a mechanic gets an apprentice and trains him:  "Son, hold the hammer like this.  Avoid hitting like that because it would damage or deform the piece.  Pound it right here."  In every occupation, an expert teaches the beginner how that occupation is carried out perfectly.

The Shaikh Effendi, the spiritual guide (murshid) in Tasawwuf trains the novice disciple (murid).  Murid means a "desirous person."  What does he desire?

"I desire to be a beloved servant of Allah!"

"All right!  I will guide you in a path leading to the love of Allah.  I will teach you how to become a beloved servant of Allah!"  says the Shaikh Effendi and takes him for training.

When the Shaikh Effendi accepts a novice, he starts with training the nafs because he would know about the shortcomings of the nafs.  He teaches him how to overcome his nafs.  The novice must learn self-control.

This kind of education cannot be acquired from outside; it has to start from within.  For instance, some parents use force to raise their children better: "Get up for the prayer!  Go to school!  Do your homework!  Study for the exam!" When the child gets older, he starts objecting.  He could even runaway from home.  It cannot be actualized by force.  The desire must come from within a person.

Of course, there are methods to train the novice.  The novice, the desirous student, must undergo a training program to go where he wants to advance.  That is administrated by a tariqa in Tasawwuf.

Now people [in Turkey] are scared when they hear the word tariqa.  They do not mind the word Tasawwuf, though.  Since they know about great personages of Tasawwuf, they would not mind the word Tasawwuf.  They like Mawlânâ Jalal-ud-Din Rumî and Yunus Emre who were mutasawwifs.  Yet when they hear the word tariqa, they are terrorized: "Did you say tariqa?  I have to leave now.  May God be with you!  Good bye!"  As a matter of fact, Mawlânâ Jalal-ud-Din Rumî was a man of tariqa, so were Yunus Emre, Eshrefoghlu Rûmî, Hadji Bayram-i Velî, and Ibrahim Hakki of Erzurum.

Tariqa means path.  People who performed Hajj must have heard the words "tarîq, tarîq, tarîq!" when somebody wants to pass through the crowd.  That means "provide a path of passage for me and allow me to pass."

Tariqa is the path of training the nafs and becoming a beloved servant of Allah.  It is a method.  What is there to fear?  You like Tasawwuf but not the tariqa!  You like the destination but do not like the path.  You like the outcome but do not like the method.  That is not acceptable.  If you want to reach your destination, you have to follow a path.

There are many tariqas:

(Etturûqu ilallàh, bi adedi enfâsil khalâiq) "The paths leading to Allah are as many as the number of breaths of the creation" --not the number of the creation but the number of their breath.
 
Imagine how many times a person would inhale and exhale in his lifetime.  Then the number of paths leading to Allah is amazingly large.  What is strange is that man fails to find Allah despite the multitude of paths.  That is the bitterest face of the matter.

While all paths lead to Allah, if a servant fails to go to Allah, it would be a great pity!  It would be a great pity for a person who avoids all paths leading to Allah.

If one decides to receive the training, he has to practice the method decided by the guide.  Depending on the abilities of the novice, the guide provides the instructions.

Once somebody asked me: "Shall I resign from my position and become a candidate in a particular political party?"

I responded, "No!"  Of course I had thought about it and had good reasons to tell him "No!"  Now he is not talking to me.  If you were not going to like my answer, why did you ask then?  Why did you become a murid for me?  You could have chosen not to ask me and decided by yourself.  We could still be talking now.  Nevertheless, it is better this way because there is no place for deception or falsity in this path.  One has to be sincere.  The sincerity could be put in a test.  If it does not pass, everything would be in vain.

One of the methods of Tasawwuf is dhikr (remembrance of Allah) that originates from the Qur'an.  The murid must do dhikr to achieve his goal.  He has to get his rosary in his hand and do dhikr because Almighty Allah has ordered us to do dhikr in many verses of the Qur'an.  The word dhikr is used over two hundred times in the Qur'an, and about eighty of them are in the order form.  Shouldn't we carry out what Allah ordered?

Almighty Allah instructed us to do dhikr, so we shall do it.  It is an obligation on us.  We offer daily prayers (salat) because Allah ordered us to do so.  We fast in Ramadan because Allah ordered us to fast.  We perform Hajj with its difficulties and expenses because Almighty Allah ordered us to do.  We ought to do dhikr because Almighty Allah ordered us to do. Here is one verse of the Qur'an that instructs us to do dhikr:
 

(Yâ eyyuhelledhîne âmenudhkurullàhe dhikran kathîrâ.)  "O you who believe!  Remember Allah with much remembrance" (Qur'an 33:41).  We have no choice but do dhikr, i.e., remember Allah, often.  Here is another verse:

(Wadhkurisme rabbuke bukratan wa asîlâ.)  "Mention the name of your Lord morning and evening" (Qur'an 76:25).

Why did Almighty Allah order us to remember Him?  Why did He ask us to do dhikr? Of course, we cannot interrogate Almighty Allah, yet we can try to understand why He asked us to remember Him:

(Fadhkurûnî adhkurkum washkurûlî walâ takfurûn.) "If you remember Me, I will love and remember you, too.  Be grateful to Me and do not deny Me" (Qur'an 2:152).  What an honor!  I will say "Allah," and He, the Lord of the Universe, will say my name.

As the servant continues doing dhikr, the "dirt" in his heart is washed away:

(Elâ bidhikrillâhi tatmeinnul qulûb.) "Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah (dhikrullah) hearts are assured" (Qur'an 13:28).  The dhikr eliminates the evil feelings from the hearts and the hearts get purified gradually. Then the individual progresses towards the love of Allah and becomes a beloved servant of Allah.  The love of Allah occurs within a person.

If you read the poems of Yunus Emre, you see that they are full of love for Allah.  If you read the Divan of Mawlânâ Jalal-ud-Din Rumî, you see that thousands of couplets are written on the love of Allah.  We do the dhikr to acquire the love of Allah.

Imagine a manual water-pump sucking and pumping water from a deep well.  At first, as the handle is moved up and down, you only hear the noise of the metal pieces hitting one another.  All of a sudden, the water gushes forth.   You feel happy to get the water.

Doing dhikr is similar to the water pump.  As the individual continues doing the dhikr, the love of Allah grows in his heart.  That leads to becoming a beloved servant of Allah.

You may wonder if Almighty Allah loves you.  To figure that out, you must look at your heart.  How much do you love Allah?  How strong do you think your ties to Allah are? How strong is your servitude towards Allah?  Your love towards Allah is an indication how much almighty Allah loves you.

The dhikr is ordered so that the love towards Allah grows in the hearts, and the hearts become illuminated.  Other principles of the tariqa, too, are practiced so that the novice learns how to overcome his nafs.  The murid learns self-control, rejects the improper desires of his nafs, and disregards the calls from his nafs that would keep him from carrying out the obligations.  He holds the control; his nafs would be trained.

When that happens, the novice obeys the orders of Allah, and Almighty Allah grants him guidance that is the key for Paradise.  The individual becomes a beloved servant of Allah and enters paradise in the hereafter.  This is the essence of the matter.

On the subject of Tasawwuf, there have been many words stated; books, written; extraordinary and glamorous events, organized.  The rhetorical aspect of the matter is different from its essence and practice. The main principle of Tasawwuf is what I stated above.  If a person follows the path of Tasawwuf, he becomes a beloved servant of Allah.

What happens when a person becomes a beloved servant of Allah?  Almighty Allah says: "When I love my servant, I become the seeing eye, hearing ear, speaking tongue, grasping hand and walking feet of My servant."  All kinds of extraordinary capabilities would be granted to the person in this life, and he would be placed in Paradise in the hereafter.  Of course, the life in this world is not that significant; yet the person is given eternal bliss in Paradise in the hereafter.

If I am to summarize, Tasawwuf is the path of Paradise, the path of taqwa, the path of the Glorious Qur'an.  It is also the path of our beloved Prophet.  It is not merely a rhetorical matter.  The rhetorical matter would be qàl (speech), but this is hâl (state).  Everybody could talk, deliver a conference speech [on Tasawwuf]. For instance you could invite the German Orientalist Anna Marie Shmell; she could talk about Mawlânâ Jalal-ud-Din Rumî.  She is very knowledgeable on that.  [However, the practice is different and more important.]

The mere talk is not important, but the practice and state are. The state and the practice are important when they are sincere.  The person must learn and practice what he learns with sincerity.  Then he becomes a beloved servant of Allah.

You should act upon these recommendations that are not difficult to remember: Hold on to the Qur'an, hold on to the ahadith of the Prophet, follow the path of taqwa, be sincere, and do your dhikr duty.

As-salaamu Alaikum wa rahmatullah!

November 25, 1995 -- Alanya, Antalya TURKEY