Dust Under Your Feet

23 January 1988

Q: Can a murid visit other Shaikhs? Can he ask the other Shaikh to give him Zikr or other recitals?

A: There is no harm in visiting other Shaikhs, but they should not be asked to give you Zikr or other recitals because it is the business of his own Shaikh like a personal or family doctor to prescribe medicines. A patient ruins himself if he goes to every chemists shop and takes medicine. It is also not allowed to take a second baiyat with any other Shaikh while his own Shaikh is living. When his Shaikh dies, and the murid is in a position to receive Faizan (spiritual blessings/inspiration) from him after his death, he need not take another Shaikh. But if he cannot receive Faizan from him (his passed away Shaikh), then he must take another Shaikh. The only important thing is that he (seeker of God) must see that he is a genuine Shaikh (for more details on selection of a genuine Shaikh or Spiritual guide, refer Malfuzaat dated 12 December 1984). Visiting other Shaikhs and asking genuine questions in good faith is permissible. But to ask questions simply to test a Shaikh is against adab.







Q: I remembered when I took baiyat with you 1985, I said, ‘ I hereby join the Silsala Chishtiya, Qadiriya, Naqshbandiya, Suharwardiya at the hands of… Can you explain why we have to mention other Silsalas name although we are mainly Chishtiya spiritual order?

A: This means that some of our earlier Mashaikh of Chishtiya Silsala joined other Mashaikh at the completion of the spiritual course and got Faizan (spiritual blessings/inspiration) from the, so that, that Faizan called Nisbat or Nisbah still exists and continues in our Silsala. But the Chishtiya Nisbat is prepondering in our Silsala. Therefore, the past Mashaikh of other three Silsala are considered to be our own Mashaikh and we respect them. But we have to be also careful about the present Shaikhs of other Silsala and even of the Chishtiya Silsala of the present time. There are so many spurious coins in the market.







Q: Is Tanazzolat-i-Sitta being mentioned in the Holy Quran? Can you clarify on the?

A: Tanazzolat-i-Sitta  has been mentioned in the Quran in the famous verse, “We created the creation in Six Days.” Day here means Tajalliyat or Manifestations, not the day of 24 hours, because the Sun and earth were not created when the higher Spiritual worlds were being created. So, how can “day” means this day of 24 hours. It is a pity that the exoteric ulama do not pay any attention or attach any importance to some of the most vital ayat of the Quran and AHadith such as, “The Qalb (heart) of the Momin is the Throne (arsh) of Allah,” or “Allah cannot be contained in His earth and His Skies but He can be contained by the Qalb (heart) of the Momin.”  The verse, “Wherever you look there is the Face of Allah”, or “Allah is with you wherever you are,” or the famous authentic  Hadith which says, “I become Man’s eyes, ears, hand, and feet  and he sees, hears, walks…….by Me.”All these Truths are in the Holy Quran and Hadith. And there are many more!







Q: This is about higher ideals of Islam. Are there Quranic verses and Ahadith to support higher spiritual Truths like Nafs, Qalb, Ruh, Sirr, Khafi, Akhfa,Qurb, Fana, Baqa, etc? Why do the exoteric Ulama do not attach importance to higher Spiritual Truth?

A: In your earlier question I have quoted some Quranic verses and Hadith relating to higher ideals of Islam including Qurb. Almost all the Sufi Shaikhs like Imam Ghazali and others have quoted them at length and also have given the names of Hadith books as well. But the trouble is that such Ahadith (plural of Hadith) or at least some of them have not been cited by a large number of people, while some Ahadith have been reported by many reporters. So the Muhaddisin (experts on Hadith lore) declare the former as non-authentic and the latter as authentic. According to them a saying reported by many Companions is more correct than those reported by a single person or a couple of persons. This is quite natural. But as matter of fact the sayings reported by one or two special and highly advanced Companions are more important because the sayings reported by a large number of Companions relate to routine affairs such as Wuzu, Salat, Fast, Hajj, Zakat, Trade, Social behavior and the Holy Prophet (pbuh) spoke about them to vast number. But so far as the high Spiritual Truths, Divine Secrets and Mysteries are concerned the Holy Prophet (pbuh) disclosed the only to a few selected and highly advanced Companions. Therefore, these sayings are more valuable to those who want to know more and more about Allah s.w.t, His Attributes (Sifat), His Actions (Afaal) and Divine Secrets of Nearness (Qurb), Presence, Union and deep relationship between the lover and the Beloved. There is nothing against this kind of Ahadith to reject them, but unfortunately some Ulama consider the other group of sayings (reported by many people) to be more authentic and declare the second category (reported by one or two persons) as less authentic. They call the former as “Mutawatir” or continuous and the later as Khabar-i- Wahid. Imam Ghazali has quoted a large number of such Ahadith in his books on high Spiritual themes. But the outward Ulama (exoteric) do not attach importance to them! So, what can be done? Let them have their way, and let us have our way. The Ahadith reported by Hazrat Umar about the hearing of Abu Jahl is given in all authentic Hadith books like Bukhari, Muslim, etc but the exoteric do not attach any importance to it. What can be done? Looks like they (exoteric) want to pull us down to their own low level of Iman and do not care to aspire for higher ideals of Islam like the one quoted in the world famous authentic Hadith which says about Ehsan where the Holy Prophet (pbuh) said, “Worship Allah as if you see Him and if you cannot see Him, thinks that He sees you.” Now, the Ahl Tasawwuf or Sufi Masters say that this “seeing” Allah is done through your inner eyes of the Soul which relates to higher ideal of Islam. This particular Hadith is the fountainhead of Sufism or Tasawwuf.

The trouble with the purely exoteric Ulama is that they neither try to understand or reach the higher Spiritual Maqam, nor do they allow the highly advanced Seekers of Truth (Salikin) to understand or reach them. So let them mind their own business, we will mind our own. If they care to look deeply in the Holy Quran and Ahadith the words like Nafs, Qurb, Qalb, Ruh, Sirr, Khafi, Akhfa are there. Tanazzolat-i-Sitta  have been mentioned in the Quran in the famous verse, “We created the creation in Six days,” which I have already answered in your earlier question.