The Defense of the Sunnah – An Analysis of the Theory and Practices Of Tasawwuf (Sufism) pdf download

The Defense of the Sunnah: An Analysis of the Theory and Practices of Tasawwuf (Sufism) by Ibrahim Muhammad Hakim ash-Shaghouri Edited by: Hajja Noura Durkee

THE DEFENSE OF THE SUNNAH: AN ANALYSIS OF THE THEORY AND PRACTICES OF TASAWWUF (SUFISM)

Book Contents

• Introduction
• Topic: The Light of the Prophet (asws) and his special distinctions
• Topic: The Existence of the Special Awliya’ and their Degrees
• Hadith of the Wali
• Miraculous Knowledge of the Unseen
• Vision of the Prophet (asws) in a wakeful state
• Topic: Tawassul and Tabarruk
• Hadiths about Tawassul
• Multiplying and Dividing the Oneness of Allah
• Hadiths about Tabarruk
• Seeking blessings through the Prophet’s (asws) grave
• Topic: The Graves of the Righteous and Practices Connected to Them
• The Life of the Grave and the Hearing of the Dead
• Visiting Graves to Gain Blessings
• Reciting Qur’an at graves and donating it as a reward
• Topic: Understanding Innovation (Bid’a) in Islam
• Topic: Audible Group Dhikr in Masajid
• Compiling Ahzab and Awrad
• Prayer Formulas (Ruqya) and Amulets
• Topic: Commemorating the Birth (Mawlid) of the Prophet (asws)
• As understood by the scholars
• Did the Sahaba commemorate his birth?
• Topic: Seclusion (‘Uzla) and the Spiritual Retreat (Khalwa)
• Topic: Extra Worship in Rajab and Sha’ban
• Topic: The Integral Place of Tasawwuf in Islam
• Miscellaneous Topics
• Kissing the Hands and Feet of Righteous Scholars
• Hadith of the Lesser and Greater Jihad
• “Nothing contains Me but the heart of My believing servant”
• Special Knowledge and Gnosis
• Shaykh al-Akbar Ibn al-‘Arabi and the ‘Oneness of Being’
• al-Khadir (alayhi salam): Is he still alive?
• Hadiths about the Family of the Prophet (asws)
• Conclusion

Book Introduction

In the Sanctified Name of Allah, the Universally Merciful, Uniquely Compassionate. All Praises and Lauds belong to and come from Allah, the Lord, Creator and Sole Sustainer of and Provider for all the worlds and realms.

May He continue to send glorious benedictions and strengthening greetings of peace upon the heart, spirit, and blessed light-form of our Prophet, Guide, and Master Muhammad, and upon his household, companions, and inheritors, ‘till the Last of Days and the Final Judgment.

I testify with full conviction that there is absolutely no deity other than Allah the Most Exalted, and that our liege-lord Muhammad is His most perfect worshipper and final messenger.

And I bear witness that Heaven is real, Hell is real, the Final Hour is real, the Scale of Justice is real, the Bridge is real, the Pond of Abundant Blessings is real, the angels and jinn and spirits are real, and that all of the Prophets and Messengers from Adam (asws) to Muhammad (asws) have come with the unaltered Truth from their Lord and guidance for their people, and that Prophet Muhammad (asws) came to all of the people from his time till the end, with the merciful religion of Islam, abrogating all previously revealed religions and creeds, and that whoever dies upon the belief above shall enter Heaven by the grace of Allah, while whoever dies rejecting the belief above after its clear exposition to him shall suffer torment in Hell by the justice of Allah.

I seek forgiveness and pardon for my sins and shortcomings, as I do likewise on behalf of my Muslim brothers and sisters, past, present, and future, especially the reader of these words.

This Book…

The purpose of this book is to educate the reader about some of the beliefs of Sufis and their practices, and to demonstrate how they are in full accordance with the Shari’a.

Tasawwuf from the very beginning has always been integral to the Din, functioning as the realization and implementation of the pillar of Ihsan in the being of the Muslim. Tasawwuf is not a madhhab, nor a sect, nor an ideology, nor a cult, nor a foreign import, nor an heretical invention.

 It is nothing other than a science concerning the reality of Allah, His Messenger, and the self, transmitted faithfully and without interruption from the Prophet (asws) himself.

It is the belief of the writer that the current corruption of the Ummah and its degradation is a direct result of – among other things – the crumbling away of the pivotal pillar of Ihsan as realized through the practice of Tasawwuf and its principles. In the words of one Muslim leader, Syed Zayn al-Abedin:

“Many calamities have befallen the Ummah during the last 200 years, but one of the worst has been the rejection of Tasawwuf. We find ourselves without coherent leadership and following self-proclaimed scholars who teach a dry, literalist and legalistic religion cut off from its traditional and spiritual heritage.

In some cases this develops into a harsh and uncompromising political ideology, with violent results.

While we understand the sources of this ideology, we cannot condone its methods or attitude. Islamic civilization, which was remarkably stable and united for over 1200 years, is now in a crisis of disunity.”

It is unfortunate, then, that something as essential as Tasawwuf should have enemies, whether they be from within (those who believe that Tasawwuf can be divorced from Islam) or without (those who believe Tasawwuf never belonged to Islam).

It is my hope that with an honest and thorough study of this book and others like it, the reader will come to an understanding of the integral place of Tasawwuf as one of the sciences of Islam, not just due to simple acceptance of my words, but based on authentic knowledge from the Qur’an and Sunnah and rightly guided scholars.

The Din will be revivied in its fullness by the return of Tasawwuf to its rightful place in the lives of the Muslims. It is hoped that this will aid in the spreading and rooting of Islam in the hearts of Muslims and non-Muslims alike, in accordance with the promise of Allah: “He is the One Who has sent His messenger with the Din of Truth, to have it overcome all other religions and ways of life, and Allah is sufficient as a Witness.” (Q48:28)

Note of Thanks: I am a student of knowledge and a servant of its people, and much of the beneficial knowledge and insights in this book come from them.

Therefore, I would like to express my appreciation of and gratitude towards the following contemporary scholars and shuyukh, whose help and previous work has been indispensable in the composition of this book, and to whom are owed a great deal:

 my Shaykh Sidi Abdullah Nooruddeen Durkee and his wife Hajja Noura, Shaykh Ahmad ibn Mustafa al-‘Alawi, Shaykh Gibril Haddad, Shaykh Abdullah ibn Siddiq al-Ghumari, Shaykh Mahmud Mamduh, Shaykh Nuh Keller, Shaykh Mahmud Subayh, Shaykh ‘Isa ibn Mani’ al-Himyari, may Allah continue to bless them and increase their favors to us, and shower with mercy those among them who have passed away beyond this world.

I would also like to thank my dear friend and elder brother, Sidi Hisham Zoubeir, for his advice and comments. I ask the reader to recite a Fatiha and Ikhlas on their behalf.

Note on Hadith Documentation: In this book, I have attempted to my utmost to provide the reader with source documentation for the Qur’anic ayat and Prophetic ahadith and scholarly writings.

 For the Qur’an, I have used the reading and numbering of Hafs, which is the most popular across the Muslim world.

The translations have been for the majority my own, while relying on the published translations of Shaykh Nooruddeen Durkee, Abdullah Yusuf ‘Ali, Muhammad M. Pickthall, and many others.

As for the hadith sources, I have taken care to provide sufficiently thorough documentation for them also, using for the most part the most well-known major collections. As those who are familiar with hadith collections know, there are a number of different published editions and commentaries out there.

As an example, the Sahih collection of Imam Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Bukhari has undergone a number of publications, some of them in three volumes, some in four, with different page numberings and different editions and dates of publication. In addition, there are different numbering systems for the hadiths. So for example, the Dr.

Bugha edition of Sahih Bukhari counts 7124 hadiths in three volumes, while the Fath al-Bari numbering system counts 7563 hadiths, whereas the “universal numbering system” of Sahih Bukhari counts 7008 hadiths.

Therefore, for the sake of clarity and consistency, in sourcing hadiths I have used the universal numbering system of most of the major collections (mainly