Question:

Salam Shaykh Gabriel,

(1a) Can a non-Muslim punish a Muslim for transgressions of Sharia?

I mean if it is not the law in their country can they say this to a Muslim and practice against him and use shayateen against him and his family and say it is a punishment for your sins because a Sufi Shaykh told them to do this?

(1b) Please give references from all four schools fiqh and all schools of aqida and tassawuf, especially about whether they can punish a Muslim for his sins, from the point of view of Shariah, or whether a Muslim could in a non-Muslim country, if not the khilafah, all of these questions with or without any exception?

Answer:

Alaykum Salam,

The answer to (1a) is yes, for example punishment for murder, theft etc. As for sihr it is haram, as is use of shayateen, and among the enormous sins.

Gibril Haddad

Question:

When I was in my teens and twenties, I used to read roughly 3-4 books a week, but sometime in my early to mid-twenties I began to have real difficulties concentrating for any length of time until I couldn’t read 2 pages from beginning to end. By the time I had finished the 2nd page I had forgotten what was written on the 1st and I’d have to start again and the same thing would keep happening until I just gave up trying. The ability to concentrate just seems to have left me. Is there any kind of explanation for this from a Sufi perspective for why this would happen?

Answer:

Tasawwuf is all about action rather than memorization. Furthermore, as stated in two foundational hadiths, what is best is what suffices even if little, and regular action even if little, is best:

مَا قَلَّ وَكَفَى خَيْرٌ مِمَّا كَثُرَ وَأَلْهَى

which means “What is not much but suffices is better than what is much and distracts”

and

كَانَ أَحَبُّ الأَعْمَالِ إِلَى رَسُولِ الله صَلَّى الله عَلَيه وسَلَّم مَا دَامَ عَلَيْهِ الْعَبْدُ وَإِنْ قَلَّ

which means “The most beloved of deeds to the Messenger of Allah (upon him blessings and peace) was what was practiced regularly, even if little.”

Hajj Gibril Haddad