| TASAWWUF IN ISLAM Prof. Dr. Mahmud Es'ad Cosan Bismillāhir-rahmānir-rahīm. Dear Brothers and Sisters! We all are aware of Islam. In brief, if a person believes in Allah and accepts Prophet Muhammad by saying shahādah: "Ash-hadu en lā ilāha illallah, wa ash-hadu enne muhammeden abduhū wa rasūluhū--I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah, and I also bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger," he becomes a Muslim. For instance, a Swedish person inquires about Islam, studies it, and decides to become a Muslim. What he needs to do is utter the words of the shahādah: "I accept the fact that Almighty Allah is one; He has no partners or equals. Muhammad Mustafā is His messenger, His prophet." That is all what one needs to enter Islam. This is called ijmāl-i imān--belief in the brief form. One
becomes a Muslim and saves himself from falling into the abyss by saying
Allah is one and Muhammad is His prophet. Is that all there is in Islam?
What are the details? What is the purpose? What is the outcome? What are
all these religions for? What do they want to establish? Why there is religion
on earth? What is the purpose? Where is Islam among all the religions? We may have answers for these questions because we grew up in a Muslim society, we were born to Muslim parents, and we read books on Islam. May Allah be pleased with them, our parents taught us about Islam. We know that we are not scholars, but we have enough knowledge to carry out our obligations. People talk about something called Tasawwuf in Islam. Some are in love with Tasawwuf: They smile when they hear about Yunus; their heart is filled with joy when they hear about Mawlāna [Jalaladdin Rumī]. They feel happy when they hear about great Sufis, and they have a genuine interest in them. There is also something called tariqa. Some Muslims are in these social organizations; they mention their tariqas when they talk: "I belong to Naqshi tariqa ... I belong to Qadiri tariqa ...etc." While many people are in favor of tariqas, some people are against them. For instance the National Security Council in Turkey and secularists do not like tariqas. We can perhaps understand why the National Security Council and some secularists are against the tariqas, yet there are some Muslim muftis and preachers who are against the tariqas. Some Muslims oppose to tariqas. During the last Ramadhan there was an anti-tariqa/anti-Tasawwuf campaign in the media. The newspapers, radios and televisions summoned all their might to attack the tariqas and Tasawwuf. They said so many bad things about Tasawwuf and they focused on two or three individuals. They reduced the entire Tasawwuf to a few negative actions of some individuals and advised people to stay away from the tariqas. I must say that this campaign and anti-Tasawwuf propaganda was quite effective. Some people who had no opinion on Tasawwuf became anti-Tasawwuf. Those who were about to enter the realm of tariqa were held back. For instance, there was a brother I met here. He had taken me to the airport with his car. We had decided that we would visit one another. He distanced himself from us after the campaign on televisions. We see that there are supporters of Tasawwuf as well as its opponents. Some love it some hate it. Some defend it some criticize it. One of you could get up and ask: "For God's sake, what is Tasawwuf? Can anybody explain it? Khawaja, you are a theology professor; can you explain it to us? We should know what it is first and then take our stance." a. What Makes Islam Different from other Beliefs 1. Unity of Allah Naturally we ought to make this statement: We are Muslims. Our major characteristic that makes us different from Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Brahmans, and from others who follow other religions is that we believe in the unity of Allah. This is very important. Allah is one and there is none equal to him or alike. He is the Creator and Lord of the universe. We believe in Him and Worship Him alone. Alhamdu lillāhi rabbil ąlemīn! He is the Lord of the universe, the creator of the worlds, the earth, the heavens, the stars, the moons, the suns, the milky ways, nebulae. He is the true owner of the universe and the Ruler of the Universe. We accepted this fact wholeheartedly, lovingly and sincerely. Almighty Allah created us. We can give our lives and property for Allah. We believe in the unity of Allah. This is important. You may say that others believe in Allah, too. Well, no! Let's be clear about it: God and Allah are not the same. Ask a Christian what he means by God. He means Jesus Christ when he says God. He does not think of the Creator of the Universe, the Lord of the Universe when he speaks of God. But, I do. He thinks of Jesus and worships him as his God. That means we do not believe in the same deity. I, too accept and love Jesus Christ, but not as he does. He thinks that Jesus is God, while I know that Jesus is a servant of Allah. Jesus Christ is son of Mary. She is a servant of Allah, too. There is a major difference in the creeds. A Christian associates Jesus to Allah; he does not believe in Allah properly. He thinks that one of the servants is deity, his mother is semi-deity. Christians also believe that one of the angels, Gabriel, is deity. They believe in trinity. It is called tethlith in Arabic. We do not accept such claims. Jews believe in Jehovah as though he is the deity of Jews only. They do not accept a universal deity; they do not believe in the brotherhood of the whole humanity. They do not believe in life in the hereafter. They think that everything will be in this life only. We do not agree with them. The Buddhists worship Buddha, a fat man in a sitting position. They make his statue and they worship to the very same statue. I saw it with my own eyes. A man got across from the statue and prostrated before it. It made my stomach upset. We could not accept anything like that. We cannot accept Brahmanism either. I saw Brahmans in Stockholm. They shave their heads except for a small area. They walked up and down on the streets with some bells in their hands. I inquired, "Who are these people?" I was told that they believed in Krishna. May Allah give them what they deserve. These are not good for us. I believe in Allah Who is the Creator of the universe and everything in it, the Owner of the universe and the Ruler of the universe. This is a sound and strong belief; it is complete and straight. There is no comparison with other beliefs. If we can communicate this fact to all people on the face of the earth well, they all will accept Islam. Now some people are against Islam. They have enmity towards Islam. When they hear the word Islam or when they see a practicing Muslim, they take a defensive -- often offensive -- position just as a cat arching its back and snaring when it sees a dog. They should not get angry or furious. Islam is the belief Almighty Allah is pleased with:
(Inned-dīna 'indalląhil-islām) [Indeed, Islam is the only way of life in the sight of Allah.] It is the religion Almighty Allah likes. "How can you get angry at a religion that Allah likes? Did you see any defects with Islam? Do you know Islam?" "No, I do not know Islam. But I have been taught that Muslims are people with swords in their hands. They enjoy shedding blood. That is why I get angry at Islam and afraid of Muslims." The religious organizations that are effective in Europe and America do not discuss the matter openly and with a clear logic. They know that they will lose if they discussed everything openly. They do not observe the rules of the game or competition. That is why they attack Islam in a roundabout way. In their schools, television shows, radios and movies, they misinform people about Islam. Whenever Muslims had a debate with other religions, it resulted in a clear victory for Muslims. There have been many examples. For Instance, the British organized a debate between the Muslims scholars and Christian priests in India. Before a large crowd, they decided to discuss issues such as God, prophets, and scriptures. The debate ended with a clear victory for Muslims. Afterwards, the church banned the priests from getting into any public debate with Muslims. They knew that the strong belief and scientific logic of Muslims will be victorious all the time. We had a friend, Yasar Bey, who is an engineer living in the United States. He was very fluent in English. As a part of the activity of a local mosque, they invited a rabbi, a priest and a Muslim khawaja for a public debate. A large meeting room was reserved for the event. The rabbi talked first, then the priest followed by the khawaja. The result was a clear victory for Islam. When the rabbi said that they do not believe in the hereafter, the priest got up: "Oh Brother! How can you deny the hereafter? Isn't it written in the Bible, in the Old Testament, in the Torah?" He gave the verse numbers. The Jews do not believe in the hereafter. How is it possible to deny the hereafter? The life in this world is limited--seventy-eighty years. Then everybody dies. [This life is a preparation for the hereafter. Denial of the hereafter makes this life meaningless.] In brief, the Judaism is no longer in its original form. There are also deviations in Christianity, too. In brief, the debate revealed the beauty of Islam clearly. Alhamdulillah, we can convince anybody on the existence and unity of Almighty Allah. We had a professor named Hikmet Tanyu who used to be a teacher at Arifiye Teacher's School. Later he became a professor of history of religions in the Theology College. He was a practicing Muslim. He used to tell us that he would prove the existence of Almighty Allah with mathematical formulas on the board. One can prove the existence and unity of Allah with physics, mathematics, chemistry or astronomy. All sciences take a person to Allah. The science of medicine can prove it too. Look at the human body, its systems, its creation, its formation starting from one cell and becoming a human being, ponder about it, then you will understand the existence and unity of Allah, too. All sciences including the medicine and history take a person to the existence of Allah. Any scholar who has the rectitude will accept Islam eventually. The history has witnessed many examples of Europeans, Americans, Japanese, Indians, priests, rabbis becoming Muslims. Roger Graudy, Mourice Buchai, and Muhammad Ali are examples. Why would these people become Muslims despite the fact that they were not raised in Muslim countries? The answer is that they were given knowledge and they have the rectitude in their heart. When they have the fairness, they admit what is fair. Then, why would the other people refuse Islam? We fail to explain clearly, and they fail to study. The combination result in what there is today. Once we performed prayers in an open area in Australia. It was by the seashore. A German man came there and watched us. He told us, "You are on the right track, not the priests. I have traveled extensively around the world and saw many places. I testify that you are right." The belief in the unity of Allah is very important for us. We cannot accept any flaws in the creed. 2. Adherence to the Path of the Prophet The second statement I must make is that we adhere to the path of Prophet Muhammad SAS. We follow his path because he was sent by almighty Allah for mankind to show them the truth and teach then the true way of life. Almighty Allah had sent prophets to each nation before Prophet Muhammad, yet people did not keep the messages brought by them well. So, most messages have been forgotten. We follow Prophet Muhammad, such a prophet that He said, "All prophets are my brothers." He respected them all from Adam AS to Jesus AS including Abraham AS, Ismāil AS, Jacob AS, Joseph AS, and other prophets. We love and respect all of the prophets, and show our love by naming our children after them. There are countless people in the Muslim world with [Biblical] names such as Yusuf (Joseph), Mūsā (Moses), Isā (Jesus), Ibrāhim (Abraham), Ismāil (Ishmael), and Maryam (Mary). Islam unifies the history of the revealed religions, encompasses them and points at the truth in their messages. Muhammad Mustafā, the chosen one, is our messenger. We can give our life for him:
(Fidāka abī wa ummī yā rasūlallah!) "May my life and my father and mother who are dearer then my own life to me be sacrificed for you, o Prophet of Allah!." We can give anything we have for the sake of the Prophet. The love of the prophet is very important because when a person lacks this love, when he does not listen to the Prophet, he cannot learn Islam. From him will he learn? Will he expect a scripture from Allah just for himself? Of course, not. Almighty Allah sent messengers to mankind, so people should listen to them. That is why we love and respect our Prophet very much. 3. Adherence to the Qur'an We also adhere to the Book of Allah, the Qur'an very much. We respect it so much that we do not place it on the ground or on the floor. We kiss it and put over our heads. It is dearer to us more than our lives are. In fact, these three essentials are sufficient: [Belief in Allah,] loving the prophet and loving the Qur'an. When a person loves the Prophet, he adheres to the Sunnah of the Prophet. When a person loves the Qur'an, he accepts everything in the Qur'an and the Sharia. That is all there is. Our fundamental creed has these three elements. We believe in Allah, we believe in the Prophet of Allah, Muhammad Mustafā, and we believe in the Qur'an that was revealed to Prophet Muhammad and kept intact since his time. We adhere to the Sunnah of the Prophet and follow the path of the Qur'an. When a person claims that he loves Allah, he has to prove by his deeds that he follows the orders of Allah. The orders of Allah are described in the Qur'an. If a person adheres to the Qur'an, follows the path of the Qur'an, he will demonstrate that he loves Allah. If a person commits offenses in contradiction to the Qur'an, his claim of loving Allah will have no value. One has to abandon drinking, gambling, lying and other offenses and fulfill the obligations such as daily prayers and fasting in Ramadhan to support such a claim. There is a verse in the Qur'an supporting this point. Some Jews and Christians during the time of Prophet Muhammad did not want to obey him saying that they have their own prophets and they will follow them. The Prophet responded: "If your prophet, Moses AS, were among you right now, he would follow me. This is my era. Almighty Allah has sent me as a messenger for this era. If you love Prophet Moses, you should obey me. Likewise, if you love Prophet Jesus, you have to follow me. Once a new prophet is sent to a nation, the era of the preceding prophet is over. That is why you have to obey me." Almighty Allah said:
(Qul in kuntum tuhibbūnalląh, fattabiłnī yuhbibkumulląh wa yaghfirlakum zunubakum) Almighty Allah instructed His Prophet to tell those people who claimed to love Allah, who followed their own religion and prophets, and who refused to follow Prophet Muhammed that he had been sent as a messenger: "Tell them, 'If you love Allah, follow me so that Almighty Allah loves you and forgive you your sins. '" (Ali-Imran 31)
Why did people follow Prophet
Muhammad? Those who followed him got to know him better and realized that
he was a true prophet of Allah. They gathered around him and became ready
to give their lives for his path. As we read the hadith books and history
books, we realize this fact. If we had lived during his time, we would have
followed him then, too. If the pagans had tortured us, most likely we would
have endured the pain and would not given up our faith in Islam.
Dear Brothers and Sisters, We adhere to the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet. Our forefathers have studied Islam and accepted this path. I am grateful for their decision. I love them very much, and I pray for them. They laid down the principle very clearly: If the Qur'an orders something we have to do it. If the Prophet of Allah recommended it, we ought to do it. How great a principle it is. Our ancestors were keen in following the orders of the Qur'an and the recommendations of the Prophet. They avoided all of the prohibitions without any objections. Praise to Allah, we have the Qur'an in our hands. It is the word of Allah in its original form without any alterations. As it was revealed to the Prophet, the revelation scribers who were with the Prophet put it in writing without delay. [That is how it was preserved.] That is why we are all the people of the Qur'an. We believe in Allah and we adhere to the Qur'an. We follow the path of the Prophet. [We are ahl-i sunnah.] We hear similar claims from everybody else, yet we look at the actions. If one does not do what he says, it has no value. Let me ask you: "Was there any neck-ties during the time of the Prophet?" I know you will say, "No, there was not." Now, the director of the Religious Affairs Office in Turkey wears a tie despite the fact that the necktie is the symbol of other nations. Another thing: Our beloved Prophet kept a beard; these people shave their face. Our beloved Prophet said, "Repent 100 times a day saying astaghfirulląh. I do it, too." These people do not do that. We fulfill the recommendations of the prophet while they do not. We have no objections to the statements of the Qur'an; we do not object the Prophet, either. We try our best to follow the Qur'an and the Sunnah, but they do not follow them. Imam Ghazzali, a great man of thought at his time, had studied all kinds of beliefs, groups and people. He said, "I saw that the Sufis were the only people who adhere to the Qur'an and the Sunnah the most." The other ones try to find excuses not to fulfill their obligations as they should be. Those who carry out the obligations are the people who have taqwa, who try to build their life in the hereafter, and who carry out their deeds sincerely. If you study people now, you will come to the same conclusion. The history repeats itself. As we advance on the path of the Prophet, some people get angry with us: "Do not be so religious!" For instance, Mrs. Tansu Ēiller, who was a prime minister some time ago, said: "The Turkish military is a religious military; its officers are not atheists." I would like to ask: "If the military is a religious military, then how come it is against the Imam-Khatib Schools? How come it tries to reduce their number? How come it had fifteen hundred Qur'an Schools closed?" The Qur'an Schools never bothered us; I do not think that there is anybody among you who is bothered by the Qur'an Schools. Why did the Qur'an Schools disturb the military? How come the Qur'an Schools do not disturb us, but the military is upset about them? The reason is that we adhere to the Qur'an, and they do not. We will be happy as long as the Qur'an is taught with or without a state license. There are bars and ABC stores with a state license. Are we happy about them? Are we happy about the gambling houses that have a state license? Of course not! A state license does not change haram into halal. Likewise, absence of a state license does not make the Qur'an Schools bad. We upheld the Qur'an and follow its path. b. The Essence of the Tasawwuf There is a group of people who say, "There is no Tasawwuf in Islam." It is a lie! They repeated this lie throughout the month of Ramadhan. People who have nothing to do with Islam, religion, faith or Tasawwuf undertook this anti-Tasawwuf campaign. One of them said, "We have been preparing for this for the last four months." He turned out to be a pornographic material publisher. We would not mind the criticism if he were a practicing Muslim and inviting us to adhere to Islam better. They also had special agents playing the roles of Muslims who were devout Sufis in appearance but had illicit relationships. They wanted to discredit Tasawwuf in the site of Muslims. The Director of the Religious Affairs Office in Turkey, too, made a statement: "There is no room for the tariqa in Islam; there were no tariqas at the time of the Prophet." Then I responded: "There was no Religious Affairs Office during the time of the Prophet, either." Of course, there were no such offices or directors during the time of the Prophet. However, later on a need for such an office or an organization appeared. They were established to carry out the religious duties better. Some people utter similar words about the schools of thoughts (Madhahib). When I pray in Masjid Al-Haram, somebody comes and tells me, "Do not pray that way." Why not? I follow the Hanafī school of thought, and according to that school, that is how it is supposed to be. He says, "There were no Hanafī school at the time of the Prophet." Of course, I am aware of that fact. However, later on a need arose in the interpretation of the Qur'an and the sayings of the Prophet. Various scholars expressed different opinions in the interpretation. Hanafī, Shāfī, Malikī, Hanbalī schools of thoughts appeared. We accept them all. I would like to give you a specific example. We performed a prayer in congregation in Masjid al-Haram. When the imam said, "As-salāmu 'alaikum wa rahmatullah," we turned our heads to the right and uttered the words of salam. Then to the left with imam. A few yards away, an old man started chastising our friends for not waiting for the imam to complete the salām on both sides before they started the salām. He was fighting with our friend for that. We have been following the imam in rukū, and sajdah. We do whatever he does. Why should not we follow him when he says salām? Why do you make a big seen out of it? The Prophet said:
(Idhā sellemel-imāmu fesellimū) "When the imam says salām, you say salām, too." That is why we say salām with him. As we followed him from the beginning of the prayer, we follow him in the end. Our hearts are in peace. Some brothers follow other schools of thought. It is possible that the Imam may do additional sajdah for the mistakes; that is why the other schools of thought suggested the congregation wait for the imam to complete the salām on both sides. My practice is in compliance with the hadith of the Prophet. The differences come from the different interpretation of the hadith. I responded the old man in this way. He screamed: "There were no Hanafīs or Shafīs during the time of the Prophet!" "If my school of thought did not exist during the time of the Prophet, yours did not exist either. What are you defending, then?" Now we have to clarify whether there was Tasawwuf during the time of our beloved Prophet. The Director of the Religious Affairs Office said that there wasn't. We have to respond to his claim and then prove it of course. We have a disagreement; he has to prove his claim. I claim that there were Tasawwuf during the time of the Prophet and I am going to prove it. Let me pose some questions: Q: What kind of a path is Tasawwuf? A: Tasawwuf is a path of taqwa and awareness of Allah. It is path of fearing Allah. There are many verses of the Qur'an asking the believers to have taqwa and fear of Allah. In this aspect, Tasawwuf complies with the Qur'an. Q: What kind of a path is Tasawwuf? A: The first Tasawwuf reminds me is the rosary and the dhikr. Almighty Allah asks the believers to do dhikr (remember Him):
(Wadhkurisma rabbika bukratan wa asīlā) "Remember the name of Allah in the early morning and late afternoon."
(Ya ayyuhalladhīna āmanudhkurullāha dhikran kathīrā) "You who believe, remember Allah often." Those who follow the path of Tasawwuf do the dhikr, therefore, follow the order of Allah. Now, I would like to ask Mr. Director: Do you do dhikr? Do you have a rosary? We form a circle and say "Allah Allah Allah," do you say it too? What makes you say that there were no Tasawwuf during the time of the Prophet? The verses above prove that there were dhikr and taqwa during the time of the Prophet. Q: What else does Tasawwuf remind you?
(Qad aflaha men zakkāhā. Wa qad khąba men dessāhā) "Anyone who purifies himself (his nafs) will prosper while whoever neglects to do so will be disappointed." This verse points at the purification of the self, the training of the nafs. Tasawwuf provides a training program for the dervish to purify his nafs. Where else do you see such a training program? I wonder if the Office of Religious Affairs has a training school like that. How can one train his nafs? The nafs-al-ammārah is quite vicious, haughty, lazy, and tending to evil as described in the Qur'an:
(Innan-nafsa lammāratun bis-sūi illā mā rahima rabbī) "...one's soul is prone to commit evil, except for anything my Lord shows mercy for. . . ." I wonder if the Office of Religious Affairs has established any institution at all to provide spiritual training. We know that it has not done so. Tasawwuf provides a spiritual training for Muslims to purify and train their nafs. Didn't you hear how Yunus Emre served in the tekke of his shaikh? Didn't you hear about how Hadrat Aziz Mahmud Hudāī was trained under the supervision of Shaikh Hadrat Uftāda? It is clear that training of the nafs, the purification of the self is stated in the Qur'an. Q: What else does Tasawwuf remind you? A: The dervishes in the tekke go into a retreat and say "Allah Allah Allah" and do dhikr. Is it something shameful? Is it something bad? Didn't the Prophet go into a retreat in the cave of Hira for many days? Our beloved mother Khadija used to take him food and leave it there. He used to worship days and days in that cave. As one can see, going into retreat (khalwat) for the purpose of worship and dhikr is a practice that existed during the time of the prophet. Nobody can deny that. Then we cannot say that there was no Tasawwuf during the time of the Prophet. The Prophet stayed away from people and retreated into the cave
of Hira. It is a place that takes one and a half hours to climb. It is not
a place that anybody could stop by for a chitchat. In that place with no
disturbance, our beloved Prophet used to worship. People who were not used
to such a practice would say: 
(Ashiqa muhammadin rabbahu) "Muhammad fell in love with his Lord." He is desperately in love with his Lord that he climbs up the mountains like a majnoon (insane). That is the Tasawwuf. A dervish goes into retreat just like the Prophet retreated into the Hira cave. A dervish takes his rosary and does the dhikr because Almighty Allah ordered it in the Qur'an. Also a dervish tries to purify his nafs because it was ordered by Allah in the Qur'an. There are orders in the Qur'an regarding the code of conduct for the believers. For instance,
(Walā yaghtab ba'dukum ba'dan) "... Do not backbite one another." There are verses that order to be patient and merciful. Muslims should carry out these orders. In Tasawwuf, too, good manners and code of conduct are emphasized and taught, and the bad habits and manners are abandoned. It is obvious that anything Tasawwuf reminds us was a practice during the time of our beloved Prophet and ordered in the Qur'an. Not only the Prophet himself, but also his companions practiced them. People during the time of the Prophet used to call it ihsān. Our Prophet said:
(Al-ihsānu an ta'budalląha ka-anna tarāhu fa-in lam takun tarāhu fa-innahū yarāka) "Ihsān means for you to worship Allah sincerely as though you see Him. Even though you do not see Him, He sees you." Our beloved Prophet recommended ihsān. We ought to do our worship attentively as though we see Allah and we are before Him, for He sees us and He is Omnipresent. From examples above, we conclude that the constituents of Tasawwuf are in the Qur'an and among the practices of the Prophet. That means there was Tasawwuf during the time of the Prophet, and the companions of the Prophet practiced it. Then it was called ihsān path or zuhd (pious asceticism). Zuhd means preferring the life in the hereafter to life in this world, not giving importance to the worldly things, being content and abandoning the worldly ambitions. It is clear that the Prophet was the leader of mutasawwifs (Sufis, those who practice Tasawwuf.) The Sufis would try to follow the Prophet in all aspects of life while many Muslims neglect it. That is why they look different from the rest of Muslims. The deviation from the path of asceticism started in the early time
period of the Islamic history. During the time of Umayyads, palaces were
built for the rulers and for the rich. Worldly pleasures, comfort, entertainment
and alike started then. There were no such things during the time of the
Prophet. They got the support of the army and started oppressing people,
then. The rulers and the rich deviated from the path of the Prophet first.
Those who follow the path of the Prophet are called mutasawwif. Those who follow the path of ihsān and taqwa are called mutasawwif. You may say, "All right sir. We think we understood all. How about those who claim to be shaikhs? The disciples circle around the shaikh, keep their heads down in his presence, and kiss his hand. Was anything like this practiced during the time of the Prophet?" Surely, yes. The Prophet was like that with his companions. He trained his companions like that. He did not live in a palace, come to a lecture hall, talk about Islam as though he was giving a talk in a conference, then leave. He was with his companions all the time. He lived just like they lived. He loved the poor and being with the poor. As he was among people, he would tell them, "Do not do it this way, for almighty Allah does not like it. Do it this way instead, for it is better." He trained them while he was among them. He was a member of the extended family of Muslims. Today, when we see a child who is well mannered, we say, "How nice! He has received a good training from his family." We say it because parents observe the shortcoming of a child and try to rectify it. If they raise the child well mannered, we say it is from his training in the family. The training in the family is different from the training at school. At school, the teacher comes to the class and says: "Quiet please! Do you see this ruler? Do not make me use it on your palms. Study this, and do this as homework." He points a student and asks a question. The students gets a grade depending on the answer. Of course, such a training is not sufficient. For a better training, the trainer and the trainee must be together as in the family. How did the Prophet trained Muslims? It was like in a family. The Companions were around him, and they lived as group full of love. They sit together, got up together, experienced many things together, prayed together, and they did many other things together. The prophet made suggestions for every aspect of life. He raised a group of people who were excellent in character. Each one of the companions were like a star in the sky to find the way in the dark:
(As-hąbī kan-nujūm, bi ayyihim iqtadaytum ihtadaytum) "My companions are like stars, no matter which one you follow, you will find the right path." When Hadrat Omar ibn Khattab was the caliph, he decided to go from Madina al Munawwarah to Makka al Mukarramah. He had two friends to accompany him. He had no special, luxurious and glittering clothes to indicate that he was the ruler of the Muslim lands. He did not have any soldiers with uniforms to accompany him. The three of them were on the road just like three strangers. Hadrat Omar had many patches on his dress. It is in the history books. The companions lived a simple life. Those who initiated a luxurious life among the Muslims started deviating from the path of Islam. We ought to ask the Director of the Religious Affairs Office, "Mr. Director, was there any luxury among the Muslims during the time of the Prophet? Was there any uniforms? How come you do not say that there were no uniforms then? Why do you say, 'There were no tariqas during the time of the Prophet,' when Tasawwuf is attacked?" Was there any ostentatious living among the early Muslims? Did they have Mercedes cars? Did the rulers distance themselves from people during the time of the Prophet? Our beloved Prophet lived a simple life; so did his successors. Hadrat Omar entered Jerusalem on foot. He had his slave on the camel. He entered the city barefoot. They did not have any luxury. Hadrat Omar and the two men who accompanied him on his journey to Makkah decided to take some rest in the shade of a tree. They had no uniforms, soldiers or bodyguards. I must point out that before Islam, it was impossible for a group of three to travel over long distances because they would be robbed. Islam trained people so well that there was peace and security throughout the country. Hadrat Omar and his companions met a shepherd there. They suggested the shepherd sold them a lamb so that they can cook it and eat it. The shepherd responded, "I am sorry, I cannot sell you a lamb. I am only a shepherd, not the owner. The owner has not authorized me to sell a lamb." Hadrat Omar wanted to test the shepherd: "Come on now. Give us a lamb. The owner will not notice a thing. If he does, you can tell him that a wolf must have eaten it." The shepherd did not know to whom he was talking to. He said, "Suppose
I deceived the owner. How about Allah? Can anybody deceive Allah? Allah
knows everything!" Hadrat Omar used to check the streets of Madina at night. Would a president of a country do that? He used to. The rulers would not sleep in comfortable beds or have entertainment whole night during the time of the Prophet. Mr. Director, Mr. Nuri Yilmaz, go and tell the President this fact if you can. While everybody is attacking Islam, tariqas and Tasawwuf, you say, "There was no tariqas during the time of the Prophet," Instead, I would like to see you telling the President, "Sir! There was no luxury during the time of the Prophet. You must be content with your old clothes with many patches on them. You must move into a simple house." Hadrat Omar was the Amīrul-Mu'minīn, the leader of the believers; he could have sent somebody for the patrol duty. Yet he preferred patrolling the streets by himself. At night, he used to put off the candle provided by the government when he wanted to do his own work. He would not say, "The government supplies it anyway." During one of his patrols, he overheard a mother telling her daughter to add some water to the milk. The girl refused, "But Mom, the caliph, the Amīrul-Mu'minīn said, 'Do not add water to the milk. Sell it as you have milked.' Didn't He?" The mother said, "Come on girl! How will he know it? We are in the house and it is the middle of the night." Of course, Almighty Allah had brought Hadrat Omar there and had him hear the conversation. The girl responded, "Mom, Caliph Omar would not know it, but Allah does! We cannot deceive Allah!" She did not listen to her mother. That was how Islam trained people. The Prophet was with people and the early caliphs were with people, too. Hadrat Omar marked the house and the next day, he knocked at the door: "By the order of Allah and by the consent of His Prophet, I would like to ask the hand of the girl of this house for my son in marriage." He had never seen the girl. He did not know if the girl was tall, how much she weighed, what complexion she had, or what color of hair she had. There are lessons for us to take from this incident. Nowadays, our brothers come up with a list of conditions as though they are ordering from a mail-order catalog: "Adi Hatēe, gözü gökēe, mali ēokēa, akli kitēa olsun--Let her name be Hatēe; her eyes, blue; her property, plenty; her intelligence, very little." They should learn a lesson. What if the girl was disabled? What if she was ugly, limp, or sick? These did not matter because she had the best of the characters: taqwa. She was conscious of Allah. She was aware of Allah. She feared Allah as Allah ordered in the Qur'an. Hadrat Omar chose that girl as his daughter-in-law without seeing her. Then he had grandchildren from her. She also had a grandchild that we know him as Omar ibn-i Abdul'aziz. He was born during the time of Umayyads. He was called Omar because of his great-grandfather. He became a famous personage in the history of Islam. He lived a simple life, did not receive any money from the treasure of the state, and he ad excellent service for the Muslim nation. May Almighty Allah bless us with his intercession on the Day of Judgment. That is how Islam transformed a society. These were practiced during the time of the Prophet. The mutasawwifs follow the path of the Prophet. There were no sultanate, no fancy dresses, no uniforms, no luxury, no lies and no deception. They all exist today. Those who are in charge, the Director of the Religious Affairs Office, and the Muftis should tell the rulers: "There were no such things during the time of the Prophet." If they fail to itemize them, they should simply say: "Become mutasawwif, follow a path of Tasawwuf, and follow the path of taqwa." Almighty Allah has prepared His Paradise for those who have taqwa--not for those who indulge in the glamour, luxury, pleasures and sins. The Paradise is not for the disobedient, rebellious and sinful servants, but for the servants who have taqwa:
(U'iddet lil muttaqīn) "Paradise is prepared for those who have taqwa."
(Wal ąqibatu lil-muttaqīn) "The good end is for those who have taqwa." One can classify the paths into three: Taqwa path, Fatwa path, and Satan's path. The path of Satan leads to Hellfire. The path of Fatwa gets by with the minimum requirements and leads to negligence and scarcity of the deeds. The path of taqwa leads to Paradise from a secure route. Tasawwuf is the path of taqwa. Everybody has to think straight and be truthful. Everybody must study the Prophet and understand the essence of Islam. We state it clearly that we never defend or follow anything that is not in Islam. If something is in the Qur'an, let us all do it. The Director of the Religious Affairs Office and the Muftis should carry out what is in the Qur'an, too. A mufti, with a western hat on his head, a tie on his neck and a cigarette in his hand, inspects the imams. With the pressures from the Office of the Religious Affairs, he says, "When I come to inspect you, I have to see you with a tie and ironed trousers." Was there a cigarette during the time of the Prophet? Didn't he say, "Do not look like non-Muslims"? In a county in Eskisehir, Turkey, some of our brothers decided to keep a beard. The mufti got angry at them for growing a beard: "Stop doing these innovations." That was a gross display of ignorance. How can a person claim that keeping a beard is bid'ah? He must not have any knowledge about the life of the Prophet. We all must learn about the essence of Islam and practice it. When we understand Islam and practice it properly, it is called Tasawwuf. c. Education through Sohbet Since the Prophet educated his companions by being with them as a member of their family, the shaikh does the same thing with his disciples. Unlike the Director of the Office of Religious Affairs, he does not educate the Muslims just by sitting in his chair and issuing congratulations memoranda for the holidays. The Prophet lived among his companions. His way of training was called sohbet. Here, sohbet does not mean "chitchat." Sohbet means to be a friend, to live in the same environment, to experience life together. While living among the companions, the Prophet would point out if something was wrong. The words of the Prophet are called "Qawlī Sunnah." The actions of the Prophet are called "Fi-ilī Sunnah." If he did not oppose to something while it is carried out, it is called "Taqrīrī Sunnah." Since the Prophet used to interfere when something is wrong, his silence would mean acceptance. Once, some companions visited the Prophet on an Eid day. There were some girls playing games in celebration of the Eid. When the girls noticed that there was Hadrat Omar among the companions, they stopped playing and run away out of fear. The Prophet told them to let the girls play. Once the Prophet and his companions were going somewhere on foot. They met a woman who was violently screaming because she had lost a close relative. The Prophet told her not to act violently and to be patient. The woman responded: "Do you know what kind of a calamity I am having? Do you know how big my loss is?" She continued screaming. The Prophet walked away. Some of the companions went to the woman and asked, "Do you know what you just did?" She was puzzled: "What did I do?" The companions explained: "The one who told you to be patient was the Prophet of Allah." She realized that she was quite disrespectful towards the Prophet. She ran after him and apologized: "O Prophet of Allah! Please forgive me, for I did not recognize you." Then the Prophet said:
(Innas-sabru 'indas-sadmetul-ūlā) "The patience is for a person to keep control at the very moment when the calamity falls on him." He said that she missed that moment, and being patient did not mean much afterwards. Right after a battle, the Prophet had it announced: "Whoever has gotten anything at all from the enemy during the battle, should bring it and turn it in." The spoils of the battle had to be gathered, calculated, one fifth would be allocated for the state and the rest would be distributed among the warriors. After the announcement, everybody turned in what they got be it a shield, a knife, a dagger, a sword, or some money. These were the spoils and the Prophet distributed them among the warriors. Some time passed after the battle, and somebody came to the Prophet: "Oh Prophet of Allah, these leather shoe strings were from the spoils. I had failed turning them in then. Now I am turning them in." During those times, the skin of the animal had to be sliced thin to make a shoestring. The Prophet responded: "Didn't you hear my announcement? Why didn't you bring them earlier? The distribution is over. You kept them to yourself. Now each string is a string of fire." It was no joking matter. However it may seem insignificant, it had to be brought in. Somebody who had been in the service of the Prophet died. The Prophet said, "He will end up in the Hellfire." The companions were puzzled: How come a believer who was in the service of the prophet deserved to go to Hell? They figured that he took some of the spoils before they were distributed. It was a form of stealing. That was how the Prophet trained his companions on Islam. He used to go to the marketplace and inspect, too. Once he looked at a sack of grain and dipped his hand to the middle of the sack. He realized that the top of the sack had the dry grain while the rest was humid. He said, "Do not deceive the customers. Those who deceive us are not from us." Here, "us" refers to "Muslims." He went to the marketplace, to the weddings, to the cemetery, and to visit the sick and elderly. He lived his life among his companions. He fulfilled his mission as a prophet. He conveyed the message of Allah, ordained what is good and prohibited what is wrong. He educated his companions while he lived among them. We have been gathered here for an educational activity. We are going to spend some time together and learn something. Since you have been living in different parts of the country, it is not easy to gather in one place often. We want to share few experiences with you. We have been doing similar activities at various places. Our brothers in Australia started such gatherings. Their gatherings are usually longer--ten to twelve days. Men, women and children attend them. We perform the prayers in congregation, eat food together, have some discourses on various matters and we train our people. We say everything there: "I see some children picking flowers in the yard. Do not let them do it. It is not befitting for the Muslims to do something like that. We have to be orderly while we are here as well as when we leave. Keep the place clean." We said everything we had to say. It should be like that here, too. We received a certificate of appreciation for our good conduct in Australia. The operator of the premises stated that they were happy having us there and they invited us again. They were happy because we tried our best to make things comply with Islam. We left the apartments clean and orderly. We never tried to deceive anybody. We gather for educational purposes. The origin of this goes back to the Prophet. He used to live with people and train them. He would go to expeditions, to the market, to the mosques with his companions. He would guide them saying, "That is wrong! The correct way is this way." The companions would follow him. During one of the expeditions, he told his companions not to fast during traveling because it was extremely hot and the expedition was arduous. Some people fasted while the others did not. Those who fasted had a hard time. They were extremely thirsty. Some even fainted. Those who did not fast served them. The Prophet commented: "This time those who did not fast earned more rewards than those who fasted." Anybody would think that those who fasted had more rewards than those who didn't. The Prophet stated the opposite. This was another example for the Prophet to be with his companions and educate them. We can cite more incidents of training from the time of the Prophet. The training method for Tasawwuf is the same; it was taken from the practice of the Prophet. As there were companions around the Prophet, there are disciples of a Shaikh around him. The shaikh is a successor, an inheritor of the Prophet as indicated by the hadith:
(Al-'ulamā'u warasatul-anbiyā') "The scholars are the inheritors of the prophets." The scholars continue carrying out the duty of guidance. They inform people, educate them about Islam and belief, and show them how to worship. They deserve to be respected. In Islam, the elderly, scholars and teachers are always respected. That is why a shaikh is respected. The shaikhs would not want any extraordinary treatment from people, yet it happens naturally. The respect shown towards the shaikhs bothers some people. They criticize it severely. On the other hand, the very same people say nothing about how the political party leaders are treated. The party leaders are treated like kings. They ride in luxurious cars and accompanied by an army of bodyguards. They can use the media freely. Their treatment should be criticized first. In Saudi Arabia, too, some people oppose kissing the hands of a shaikh. However, they do not object kissing the hand of their kings. People kiss the hands, the knees, the forehead and the shoulder of the king. Nobody seems to oppose that, yet they see us, the shaikhs, poor and defenseless and keep attacking with their words and criticism. To teach the Qur'an, to train people with the principles of the Qur'an, and to teach manners, the teachers and the students must be together and experience the life together just as in a family. That is the principle of a tekke. A school with good instructors will raise students well. If the instructors are not so good, the graduates lack some skills. We can classify the schools as weak or poor school. Is some private schools, everybody who pays the tuition gets a diploma. That does not mean that the graduate is well prepared. The graduates of good schools become important persons in life. The teachers and techniques of a school are very important in the training of the students. The students must be raised with good manners, truthfulness, awareness of Allah, and mercy. It is not an easy task, yet there are methods for this education. The tariqa is a method, a spiritual school to educate people and have them equipped with the best of the characters that Islam asks for. This life is important for us because it is a preparation for the life in the hereafter. It is important for us to live this life in compliance with the consent of Allah and upheld the Islamic principles. We neither classify ourselves as "traditional" nor "modern." We would like to practice Islamic principles as we live in this modern life. We do not disassociate ourselves from the modern life. We have a book titled, Islam, Tasawwuf and Life. We live in the present, in a modern era. We must live this modern life in accordance to Islam. We cannot disassociate ourselves from the life; we cannot deny the facts of the modern life and go back in time. We cannot disassociate ourselves from Islam, either. We are Muslims, we live in this modern era and we uphold Islam. We have to train ourselves to live in the modern era in accordance to Islam. This is possible through Tasawwuf. May 9, 1997 -- Stockholm/Sweden
|
