The

Chishti Nizami Habibi Soofie 

International Sufi Order

Pietermaritzburg

South Africa

786/92

Islamic Leadership and Tazkiyah

Sura ash-Shams 91:Verse 9&10

  Anyone who comes forward to lead the Muslims to the goal[1] prescribed for them in the Holy Qur'aan should possess a personality illuminated in its spiritual, moral and intellectual dimensions. Thereby spreading light and love to others. But how can such a personality be built up? By mere emotionalism? By mere mysticism? By mere ritualism? By mere intellectualism? By mere externalism and legalism? By mere ritualistic missionary-ism? By mere political demonstrations in the name of Islam? No! A thousand times, No!

  The only, alchemy which can transform the human personality into pure gold is the alchemy of the rigorous discipline, of tazkiyah, or purification for the sake of development of the personality. This is what has been taught and demonstrated by the Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) and this is what has been practiced, throughout Islamic history, by those who had truly grasped the dynamics of leadership in Islam and were consequently able to achieve historic success. . One such personality was Sayyid Abd al Qadir al Jilani (Rahmatullahi alaihi) of Baghdad, the Ghaus al-Azam (Grand Master) and founder of the Qadiriyyah spiritual discipline, who built up, with the spiritual dynamism of his personality and without any political power, the forces that crushed the menace of the Assassins for good on the one hand and the might of the, Crusaders' barbaric hordes entrenched' in Palestine at that time, on the other.

  The Holy Prophet was born as Messenger of God, having been appointed by God as such at the dawn of Creation Sura al-i-Imraan 3: Verse 81, when He told a gathering of the Prophets:

Hence, he needed no, spiritual exercise, for earning that office. But we find him withdrawing from the life of the world to the Cave of Hira, in the stark solitude of wilderness, for fifteen years before he proclaimed his divine mission. Then, throughout his ministry, his exercise in the transcendental dimension with its spending of nights in prayers and the days in fasting and prayers both, in the midst of handling the different duties relating to the most glorious and comprehensive revolution of human history; with its majestic simplicity preserving extreme selflessness; with, its flowering in the moral domain at the highest level; and with the flood of multi-dimensional, blessings for humanity surging from his august personality- that exercise is the most prominent trait of his character. In that he established the Sunnah for every future Islamic leader.

Iman is not a mere ritual or formal exercise, but something real and alive, that must be cultivated. The nurturer of this iman is extreme love for the Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam). This is what made our forbearers great. We shall have to return to that iman. We are far from it today, most of us, despite our outer trappings and external, superficial following of Sunnah. Read the Qur’aan and try to think about the qualities of genuine Muslims. Sura al-Furqaan 25 Verse 63

How many of us have this humility in us? Judge ourselves and judge others silently- only to understand. The Qur’aan says in the very next verse of this chapter:

Are we doing it? Where will the moral and spiritual fibre come from if we don’t practice this humility and prostration? Therefore follow the advice given in Sura az-Zumar 39 Verse 53

  Then and only then, will our Ruh[2] or ‘our essence’, which is by its nature the reflector of Divine Qualities and the seat of being able ‘to imbue Divine Qualities[3]’ be itself illuminated and will be able to illumine other Ruh’s and absorb, strength and light from others as well. This is the reason we visit the highly illuminated souls at mazaars.[4] 

  There were in history many of his followers who realized the necessity of this Sunnah, in opposition to other leaders, whose personal limitations kept them away. One, of the glorious, products of this, Sunnah was the great Sayyid Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, to whom we have referred. It is recorded in history that, in imitation of the Holy Prophet's exercise of retreat to Hira, he was accustomed to retreat to the forest every evening during the course of his formal education, and after the completion of that education he withdrew to the wilderness and stayed there in solitude for many years in total devotion to God, finally acquiring through an extremely rigorous disip1ine that high level of tazkiyah which not only elevated him to great eminence in godliness but enabled him to change the course of history. The history of Islam is, studded with a host of other spiritual luminaries, commonly called Sufis, on whom the rigorous discipline of tazkiyah bestowed greatness in their achievements for the cause of humanity. Among them was Khwaja Muin aI-Din of Sanjar (later of Ajmer) alone with his spiritual dynamism and without any army or political thrust, pitched the banner of Islam in the heart of an inimical and alien population, changing the course of history in the South Asian sub-continent permanently. In Southern Africa we have our own Shah Ghulam Muhammad Siddique, better known as Soofie Saheb, who established 12 Sufi Centres for the propagation of Islam, service to humanity and dissemination of the Chishtia Sufi order. His services continue via his centres unto this day and purely through his spiritual personality he conquered the hearts of Muslims and non-Muslims. . Among them was Shaykh al-Islam Abdullah al-Ansari of Herat who fought with his spiritual armour alone against the, corruptions of the tyrants and brought them down to their knees with masculine grace. Among them were the Sufis of the, Naqshbandi Order who, under the most adverse circumstances when the prestige of the Muslims was at it lowest ebb, conquered, without any material means and purely through the power of their spiritual personalities, the hearts of the haughty enemies of Islam who had destroyed the po1itical power of the Muslims under Halaku Khan- defeating at the same time the Buddhist and the Christian' religious forces, that were fully entrenched in the field. And, among them were a host of others who, through, their tazkiyah and in contra distinction to those Muslim religious leaders who were devoid, of tazkiyah, acquired the glorious distinction of, becoming the sole pioneers in respect of the most difficult task of converting vast and widespread human communities to Islam."

  Tazkiyah in the Arabic language is also the word used for pruning. Pruning the garden plants in order that they may grow properly and attain their proper stature. Tazkiyah when it is applied to the human personality consists of purifying the personality of evil incentives in the domain of morals, moral life and of all those spiritual incentives that become an obstacle in obtaining experience of Allah or al Marifah. Thus a jihad has to be waged against one's own nafs al ammara or animal self. All devotions, spiritual exercises and teachings are directed towards this purification. Our spiritual Elders of Silsilae Chistia Nizamia Habibia have always emphasised the negation of greed, jealousy, pride and arrogance. In order to enter the spiritual path, the murid or "he who has made up his will" to attain Divine Proximity, is in need of a guide or Murshid to lead him through the different stations and to point the way towards the goal. The Murshid constantly supervises the disciple's way, prescribes spiritual exercises- adjusts them as the need arises, opens the eye to see his faults, remedies them and supervises every breath of the disciple. All this is derived from the Hadith:

 Suhbat or association with this experienced traveller who has completed his journey and reached the Goal is the system of Sufi teaching. The qualified Murshid or Shaykh possesses as a gift from Allah the power of transference of spiritual qualities, as a kind of outpouring or faiz from the always-full vessel of his heart. This spiritual action has been compared to a mother giving milk to her child, the physical outpouring of nourishment which makes possible his growth and development. When the admiration of the Shaykh is transformed into love it increases the spirit of emulation and becomes the main stepping-stone to success and achieving nearness to Allah. Although it has been pre-ordained who one's Spiritual Guide will be, the Saints of former times have prescribed certain necessary characteristics which should be sought for in one's prospective Master:

Firstly, he must follow the Shariah or religious law

Secondly, what is the condition of his Murids and do they receive regular training

Thirdly, when you sit in his presence do you feel an inner harmony and do your thoughts turn towards Allah and His Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam)

Fourthly, he should belong to a regular chain of spiritual teaching or silsila.

But most importantly is the harmony of the soul, which produces an inner attraction and conviction that it is through his medium that I can obtain Allah’s nearness.

The true pupil then is guided to proximity with the Grace of Allah. Our spiritual elders have summed this up beautifully by saying:

  Alas, the Islamic leaders of today have turned their backs on tazkiyah, with the result that they cannot benefit even the Muslims, not to speak of humanity at large. 'And, the world of Islam presents a scene of unspeakable mass destruction of Islamic values, with the, forces of the new fangled secular ‘isms’ pouncing upon the Muslim communities like vultures. The world of Islam will have, to, revive the pursuit of comprehensive tazkiyah in accordance with the norms and principles laid down in the Qur’aan the Sunnah, in order, that genuine Islamic leadership of the Muhammadan Pattern emerges on a high level and in a large measure and acts fruitfully for the fulfillment of the mission, of Islam

 .As matters stand in respect of the Muslim religious leadership of today, in most cases although their are exceptions, neither those who are popularly known as Sufis, nor those who have become anti-Tasawwuf, neither the Ulema nor professional preachers seem to possess any chance of defeating evil. The majority of the present day Ulema are involved in hair splitting over Aqaid[5] and religious gymnastics whilst the noblest pursuit of Tasawwuf has been commercialised, ritualised and degraded by many a person who claims to be a Murshid. Where their is much advertising and canvassing for disciples, one sees very little results, whilst where their is silent perseverance their is progress in every endeavour. In this age of degeneration it is unfortunate to note that their is a scramble for khilafath[6] or ‘right of succession’. Khwaja Nizamuddin Aulia (Rahmatullahi alaihi) explained the granting of khilafath as " The right of him who has no aspiration or desire to have it and those who possess aql salim (sound judgment) or matured knowledge to judge all intricate matters of the world with strict impartiality and forbearance. He who is an accomplished scholar and has a chest full of Divine love and wisdom."

  We must take care by organising education in accordance with Islamic concepts and produce God fearing, morally integrated, spiritually elevated, and intellectually enlightened Muslims in the community.

IRSHAD SOOFI

5 Rabi as-Saani 1424

2003-06-04