Tasawwuf

Detailed Section - Information about Tasawwuf

Tassawuf - to be a separate art

Among the things that are to be done among manifested deeds (zahiri aamals), these could be classified as faraiz, wajibaat, sunnan, and mustaibat and likewise our hidden deeds (batini aamals) also hold the same classification. The things which are forbidden, these could be categorized as haram, makru (tunzihi as well as tahrimi), may it be manifested (zahiri) or hidden (batini). On the day of resurrection, nothing will go unasked for and some people’s fate may be decided on hidden deeds (batini aamals), whether big or small disobedience, it will carry its weightage on the weigh scale. Thus it becomes utmost important to save oneself from the disobedience altogether. Allah سبحا ن ؤ تعا لئ says in Sura hood ayat 15 & 16

مَن كَانَ يُرِيدُ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا وَزِينَتَهَا نُوَفِّ إِلَيْهِمْ أَعْمَالَهُمْ فِيهَا وَهُمْ فِيهَا لاَ يُبْخَسُونَ َ أُوْلَـئِكَ الَّذِينَ لَيْسَ لَهُمْ فِي الآخِرَةِ إِلاَّ النَّارُ وَحَبِطَ مَا صَنَعُواْ فِيهَا وَبَاطِلٌ مَّا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ

“Those who seek (merely) the worldly life and its beauty, We will fully recompense them herein for their acts, and their right will not be curtailed in this world. Those are the people for whom there is nothing in the Hereafter except fire. Nullified will be whatever they worked herein, and void will be what they have been doing.”

Meaning the people who do good deeds for the sake of self praise or other worldly purpose rather than to please Allah سبحا ن ؤ تعا لئ , they get good health, good repute, many children, wealth in their worldly lives as a reward of their deeds, if their good deeds weigh more than their bad deeds, but if their bad deeds weigh more than their good deeds, then these people don’t even get these bounties from Allah سبحا ن ؤ تعا لئ . These people will not be given any jiza (reward) in the akhira (life hereafter) and will be punished through hell. The reality of their deeds is that they will not carry any weight in the akhira due to their ill intentions.

Bukhari sharif’s famous ahadith about intentions of a person tells us that weightage of all deeds is dependent upon the intentions behind them. A ahadith from Tirmizi sharif put reflection on a similar topic as it tells us the fate of an religious scholar (aalim), martyred (shaheed), and sakhi, that they will all go to hell because they did their big deeds for worldly fame and not to please Allah سبحا ن ؤ تعا لئ . Hazrat Haraira (RAU), a sahabi (companion) of Muhammad صلئ الله عليه وآ له وسلمwould go unconscious while reciting this ahadith because of fear of Allah سبحا ن ؤ تعا لئ . It is given in a ahadith of muslim sharif that a person who is self conceited even a bit, he will not enter jannat (paradise). This is why it is that important to save oneself from these hidden (batini) illnesses and to attain virtues and to save oneself from vices for proper spiritual health. A person who achieve these traits is considered to have qalb-e-salim (purified/sound heart) as told by Allah سبحا ن ؤ تعا لئ in sura shourah ayat no. 88 & 89 says:

إِلَّا مَنْ أَتَى اللَّهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ يَوْمَ لَا يَنفَعُ مَالٌ وَلَا بَنُونَ

“the Day when neither wealth will be of any use (to any one) nor sons, except to him who will come to Allah with a sound heart”

It means that on the day of resurrection, neither offspring nor wealth will be of any use but the one with sound heart (qalb-e-salim) will be advantaged. After going through all these qurani ayats and ahadith-e-mubarika, one can easily decipher the importance of tassawuf but it is everybody’s personal choice to either take it or leave it in this world (examination hall). All manifested deeds (aamal-e-zahira) are given in easy to understand terms in fiqh books, which one can easily comprehend or get taught and then can begin implement them in his/her life. However, implementation of hidden deeds (aamal-e-batini) without any guide is a difficult ordeal. Let us for the sake of an understanding take the example of namaz (prayer). A person can learn faraiz, wajibaat, sunnun, and mustahibaat of namaz from either by reading good books or through an aalim without much difficulty but to perform real prayer with devoutness (ikhlas) is not easy. For this purpose one will have to achieve kahfiat-e-ahsan (to feel that Allah سبحا ن ؤ تعا لئ is watching us – a person who gets this feeling cannot do sin in front of Allah سبحا ن ؤ تعا لئ ) and this can only be attained by having someone who can guide us through this difficult path called saluk. Our guide (sheikh) should have few qualities to qualify for being considered as guide including that he understands the art of guiding as he himself should have gone through the same process, he should have gained confidence of his predecessors and this chain of placement of confidence should be linked with Hazrat Muhammad صلئ الله عليه وآ له وسلمwithout any break in between (called silsila). It is very difficult to get rid of hidden (batini) sins that’s why Hazrat Thanvi Rah have said that if he sees someone not practicing prayers 5 times a day, it doesn’t shock him to the extent when he sees someone self conceited because the person who is not offering prayers regularly can become regular within seconds of intending to be so but it will take years to take out self conceitness (pride) from the person completely.