Question:
Why do you keep praising the Shaykh? Tariqa and Tasawwuf are not about praising a Shaykh all the time. That is not real Tasawwuf.
Answer:
The short answer is we can stop praising him once we have finished thanking him for teaching us not to be ingrates towards Allah’s blessings. Imam Baydawi said, “As for shukr (gratitude), it is the matching of favor in speech, deed and conviction. [The poet] said: ‘Graciousness earned you three things from me: my hand, my tongue and conscience within.'”
The long answer is the Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) said, “Whoever does not thank people does not thank Allah.” Sayyidina `Ali and others of the Salaf said “Whoever teaches my soul a benefit I shall be their slave for forty years.” Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal said he prayed for his teacher Imam al-Shafi`i in every single duaa. Imam Nawawi said your Shaykh deserves more love and attachment than biological parents because he gives birth to you in Akhira. Shaykh Muhyi al-Din Ibn `Arabi said it is fine for the murid to view their Shaykh as the one and only Ghawth al-A`zam (Greatest Arch-Helper) because it motivates them to progress and improvement, in addition to being true as far as they are concerned.
The objection that “Tariqa and Tasawwuf are not about praising a Shaykh all the time” is similar to the objection of those who say “Islam is not about praising the Prophet all the time. That is not real Islam.” But those who praise a lot, do they not also pray, remit zakat, fast, give sadaqa and fight their egos to avoid sin and achieve istiqama and high character? Yes, in sha Allah and with His tawfiq, they do. Or are all these acts incompatible with praising the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, and one’s Shaykh all the time? No, they are not incompatible.
So our madhhab is not that “real Tariqa is not about praising a Shaykh all the time.” Our madhhab is that “A real murid must say, ‘If it were not for my Shaykh I would have no chance at all to improve. I am nothing except with his help and he is the power with which I stand — my spirit, my essence'” (Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani) and “The Shaykh at whose hand Allah brings forth your guidance, that Shaykh is your Life” (Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani).
Hajj Gibril Haddad
