3. LÍNEA BASE AMBIENTAL
3.3. ASPECTO SOCIAL
3.3.5. ESTRUCTURA DE SERVICIOS
Highest Vision. They are the vicegerents of God the Exalted in I Iis land. How one yearns, how one yearns to see them!'51
They are the skilful physicians whom God has assisted wiili
a spirit from Him
, so that they treat the diseases o f hearts with wisdom, and pour guidance into pleasant and permissible moulds in order to take the ordinary people along the road o f their desires to the desired truth, so that they join G od’s faction without being aware of it. “ He who loves a certain people becomes o f them.” It is therefore not surprising that the religion has been preserved by this particular group and by those who attach themselves to it and follow in its tracks in unfurling the banners o fda'wa,
and in making the Word of Truth supreme throughout the land, despite the denial, corruption, obscenity, and deviation which in this age has spread through every region and in each assembly, and despite the grievous silence and the shirking o f both those who have knowledge and those who have political power. There is no ability or power except with God.N ow , should you wish to know the attributes of the shaykh who can be followed in the w ay set forth above, then you should know the following. The word “ shaykh” means literally “ an old man whose hair has turned gra y.” The word is also commonly used to refer to a man of reason and experience, so that one speaks of the “ shaykh” of a town or village or the “ shaykh” o f a tribe. As a technical term, however, the word denotes someone who is well versed in the three sciences of the Sh arfa, which are:
1. Faith
\Tmdn\
which is the subject matter of the sciences which pertain toTawhld
and the principles[usul]
o f the religion. 2. Submission [isldm\, which is the subject matter o f thedisciplines of jurisprudence\fiqh) and the Sharia. 3 • Excellence [
ihsan\
which is the subject matter o f the science ofThe shaykh who trains and qualifies people is someone who lias reached the degree of being learned and devout, and can train, refine, and guide others along the path to the Real, even if he is yet a young man. He is a physician of spirits, who uses the medicines that God has taught him to use to cure the obstinate sicknesses which afflict them.
In the language of the hadith experts, a “ shaykh” is someone who has learned both the texts and the chains o f transmission of one hundred thousand hadiths.
Other definitions of a shaykh are: Someone who teaches you with his words and elevates you with his state; someone who benefits the seeker and unlocks the sought; and someone who is perfected in himself and perfecting to others.
Every art should be taken from its masters. One does not rely on a Sufi for jurisprudence, unless he is known to have mastered jurisprudence and to have upheld it in practice. Sim ilarly, one does not rely on a jurist in questions o f Sufism, unless he is known to be worthy of it and to have upheld it in practice. N or does one rely on a hadith specialist for either of these unless he is known to have upheld them in practice. Anyone who speaks about a discipline other than his own will come up with the most remarkable oddities.
We must lay the blame nowadays at the door o f many scholars and other eminent people, and students also, for maintaining a profound silence and an indecent apathy to propagating the call to Islam and to transmitting it by all possible means to all those whom they can reach in every region o f the earth. This is an inescapable responsibility which they carry around their necks, for it is to this that they have pledged their oath and covenant.
On the other hand, we must not blame and denigrate those followers of any of the shaykhs who are on rightly guided paths, have praiseworthy qualities, and have been selected for the call to God. They gather the common people around that which draws
KEY TO THE GARDEN
them nearer to G od , H is M essenger J l , and the virtuous amoiii: H is servants, and rem oves them from the sh ad ow y depths o f then unaw areness and the abysses o f their w o rld ly life, to the salvation o f those w hose security is in R em em brance, h aving entered its im pregnable fortress. T h is is indicated in the hadith, “ T h is w orld is accursed, and all that it contains is accursed, except the Rem em brance o f G o d , and w h at fo llo w s from it.” ' Such a m an m ust not be accused o f bringing in h eterod ox practices and superstitions. H ow could such a claim be m ade w hen he is calling the heedless to the Rem em brance o f G od the E xa lte d , inviting them to return to H im , under the sign o f religious harm ony and brotherhood based on faitli and on the basis o f affection and love fo r the sake o f G od ? O n the contrary, w e ough t to d ecorate him w ith a m edal o f gratitude, firstly for his bearing the hnrden o f sum m oning to Islam , and secondly for relieving us o f this en d eavor and responsibility. H o w ev er, should w e, at any tim e, observe any d eviation in his behavior, or any transgression o f the boundaries, w e should guide him gently and w ith insight to the kind o f b eh avior and courtesy required o f people w h o call to Islam and to Rem em brance. W e should speak up but w ith kindness, fo r h ow ever high his rank m ay have becom e, he is still under the au th ority o f the SharTa and the good m anners laid d o w n th rough Prophecy.
H ad the shaykhs o f the Path in this age been rigorou s in observing the courtesies o f Rem em brance and the Path and in inculcating them into their follow ers, they w ou ld have found it helpful in their w a yfa rin g and their attainm ent to the Presence o f the K in g o f K ings. T h is w ou ld have been a delightful gift, w ith no b lood spilt, no fear o f the political au thorities, and no battles. U n fortu nately, h ow ever, they (and I am not saying all o f them , only the unrefined am ong them) have confined them selves to form alities and ou tw ard m anifestation s, and have disfigured the land m arks o f the rad ian t Path, thus presenting the critical thieves and the w eevils w h o eat
H A BIB AHMAD M ASHHUR AL-HADDAD
,w ay at belief w ith the opportu nity to vilify th ei, exalted tan k. A d d ition ally, they h ave opened a crack for th e i, assaults by be.ng fragm ented into gron ps w h ich are not nntted in th e n e ffo rt, to reae the intended g o al, as w ell as by a certain ex.rerm sm rn d o cm n e nd by celeb rating glories that have no b ean n g on the o b , e c , e . ta Ins w ay, they w ro n g them selves and invite criticism . T he Path innocent o f all this.
An eye infection makes the eye deny the sun, and sickness makes the mouth pure water’s taste to shun. 54
CH A PTER 4 8