Meditation can slow age-related loss of brain's gray matter Friday, 6 February 2015

Los Angeles:

Meditation can help preserve gray matter which processes information in the brain, scientists have found.

Researchers from University of California - Los Angeles looked specifically at the association between age and gray matter.

Their earlier work had suggested that people who meditate have less age-related atrophy in the brain's white matter.

The new study compared 50 people who had mediated for years and 50 who didn't. People in both groups showed a loss of gray matter as they aged.

But the researchers found among those who meditated, the volume of gray matter did not decline as much as it did among those who did not.

Dr Florian Kurth, a co-author of the study and postdoctoral fellow at the UCLA Brain Mapping Center, said the researchers were surprised by the magnitude of the difference.

"We expected rather small and distinct effects located in some of the regions that had previously been associated with meditating," he said.

"Instead, what we actually observed was a widespread effect of meditation that encompassed regions throughout the entire brain," Kurth added.

Each group in the study was made up of 28 men and 22 women ranging in age from 24 to 77. Those who meditated had been doing so for four to 46 years, with an average of 20 years.

The participants' brains were scanned using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging.
Although the researchers found a negative correlation between gray matter and age in both groups of people - suggesting a loss of brain tissue with increasing age - they also found that large parts of the gray matter in the brains of those who meditated seemed to be better preserved.

The researchers cautioned that they cannot draw a direct, causal connection between meditation and preserving gray matter in the brain. Too many other factors may come into play, including lifestyle choices, personality traits, and genetic brain differences.

"Still, our results are promising," said Dr Eileen Luders, first author and assistant professor of neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

"Hopefully they will stimulate other studies exploring the potential of meditation to better preserve our ageing brains and minds.

"Accumulating scientific evidence that meditation has brain-altering capabilities might ultimately allow for an effective translation from research to practice, not only in the framework of healthy ageing but also pathological ageing," Luders said.
The study appears in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

http://www.siasat.com/english/news/meditation-can-slow-age-related-loss-brains-gray-matter

Spiritual insight (Firasah) of a believer:Light of Allah

Believer's Firasah: Light of Allah

“Beware the spiritual insight (Firasah) of a believer, for he sees with the light of Allah.” (Tirmidhi)

"Indeed, Allah has servants who know about people by reading the signs." [Al-Tabarani, Mu‘jam al-Awsat, no.3086, and its chain is hasan].

Imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah remarked: ‘O you who are defenceless! Beware the spiritual insight of the godly one, for he sees your hidden deeds from behind a veil. (Al-Fawaid)

Shaykh Surkheel Shareef writes: "Spiritual insight, or firasah, is a faith-based insight that Allah casts into the hearts of His faithful ones, by which peoples’ states or deeds are unveiled to them. They are from those saintly miracles (karamat al-awliya) gifted to them by God; the inner workings of which are the very opposite of magic and sorcery. Sorcerers claim power, for themselves or for others besides God. Saints (and more so, Prophets) claim only helplessness before their Lord, accepting they have no share whatsoever in the miracles which issues forth from them. Such spiritual intuitions or epiphanies that arise in the heart are seldom wrong if the heart is pure. Which is to say, the accuracy of a person’s firasah will depend upon their nearness to God and their strength of faith. For, as masters of the inward life say, when souls approach the presence of the Truth (al-Haqq), it is usually the epiphanies of the Truth that come to it." (thehumblei.com)

Shah al-Kirmani says, to increase the strength of one's insight:

1. Turn eyes away from the unlawful

2. Restrain passionate drives

3. Self-scrutiny and vigilance (muraqaba)

4. Eat only lawful food.

(Imam Qushayri's Risala)

In his Madarij al-Salikin, imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah discusses the reality of firasah, its cause, the sayings of the early masters concerning it, and its types. He also relates some wondrous accounts about the firasah of his shaykh and mentor, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah. He writes:

“I have witnessed incredible things from the firasah of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may God have mercy upon him; and what I have not seen are even greater – accounts that would need a large volume to document.

He (Ibn Taymiyya) informed his companions how the Tartars would invade the Levant (sham), in the year 699H, how the Muslim armies would be vanquished, and how there would be no indiscriminate killing or the taking of captives in Damascus, and how the army’s sole craving would be for wealth. All of this was before the Tartars had even decided to set-out. He then informed the public and the rulers, in the year 702H, as the Tartars were advancing on the Levant, of how they would be routed and defeated, and how triumph and victory would be for Muslims. He swore an oath about this over seventy times. So the people insisted, say ‘God-willing (insha’Llah),’ to which he replied: ‘God-willing; in the sense it will happen, not in the sense it could happen!’ I heard him say this. He said: ‘When they kept urging me, I said: Do not do so. For God, Exalted is He, has written it in the Preserved Tablet (al-lawh al-mahfuz), that on this occasion they will be defeated and that victory shall be for the armies of Islam.’ …

He once remarked: ‘My companions and others come to me, and I see on their faces, and in their eyes, things I do not mention to them.’ So I, or someone else, said to him: What if you just tell them? He replied: ‘Do you wish that I become a fortune-teller like those [in the courts] of the rulers?’

I once said to him: If you treat us according to what you see, it will help make us more steadfast and upright. He replied: ‘You would not be able to put up with me for even a Friday, or a month!’

He informed me on several occasions about certain private matters I intended to do, but which I had not spoken of to anyone. He told me of major events that would take place in the future, without specifying dates. I have seen some of them happen; I await the others. What his senior companions have witnessed of this is far more than what I have seen. And God knows best.”

3 grades of realizing and experiencing Tawhid in one's life

Salam. Interesting article on grades of realizing and experiencing Tawhid in one's life based on the great Imam Ibn Juzayy رحمه الله :

Tawhid: Theoretical Abstraction or Vibrant Living Reality?

Explaining the essence of Islam and its main pillars, the Prophet, upon whom be peace, said: ‘Islam has been built on five [pillars]: testifying that there is no deity but God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God, performing the prayers, paying the zakat; pilgrimage to the House; and fasting in Ramadan.’ [Muslim, no.21]

It is also related in these words: ‘Islam has been built on five [pillars]: worshiping God and rejecting whatever else is beside Him, performing the prayers, paying the zakat …’ [Muslim, no.20]

In another wording: “Islam is built on five [pillars]: an yuwahhadu’Llah – to single out God …” [Muslim, no.19]

Scholars have noted that the above three hadiths, despite their variant wordings, are synonomous with one another. That is to say, they each convey the same meaning. Thus, to testify or bear witness that there is no deity but God is the same as worshiping God and none other than Him, which, in turn, is the same as singling-out God. It is this convicion of singling-out God for worship which, above all else, lies at the heart of the Islamic faith.

The Qur’an proclaims: Worship God and ascribe not any partner to Him. [4:36] Another verse has it: We raised in every nation a messenger [saying]: ‘Worship God and shun false gods!’ [16:36] Yet another of its passages insists: We sent no messenger before you except that We revealed to him: ‘There is no god but I, so worship Me.’ [21:25]

This, then, is the doctrine to which every Muslim submits, and around which the life of the community of believers revolves; captured in Islam’s Declaration of Faith: la ilaha illa’Llah – “There is no deity [worthy of worship] save the One true God: Allah.” This declaration, which in Islam’s view is the central assertion of all the divinely-sent prophets, is a summons, as it were, to live an attentive and pious life.

♦

La ilaha illa’Llah is also called the statement of tawhid – a word which can be rendered as “divine unity” or “monotheism”; although a more accurate translation would be: “to assert God’s oneness.” This idea of tawhid – that God is inevitably and utterly one, perfect, indivisible and unique – is the cardinal tenet of a Muslim’s belief. Now since it is the nature of theologians to try and dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s, precise theological definitions of the term have been offered down the ages. Among them all, the following has received widespread acceptance. Tawhid is:

‘To single-out God for worship (ifrad al-ma‘bud bi’l-‘ibadah), accompanied by believing in His unity and affirming this for His Essence, Attributes and Acts.’1

Definitions like the above reflect the dual concern of Muslim theologians: to assert the absolute transcendence or “otherness” of God, and to affirm that God alone must be singled-out for worship. Lord of the heavens and earth and all that is between them. Therefore worship Him and be steadfast in His worship. Do you know anyone similar to Him? [19:65]

But Islam’s goal is God, not some theological abstraction written down on a piece of paper. To this end the Qur’an repeatedly enjoins upon us all a constant awareness of God, even in the midst of our worldly activities. This awareness is expressed by two words which the Qur’an frequently employs. The first is taqwa: often glossed as “fear of God” or “piety”. To have taqwa of God is to obey Him wholeheartedly, while being conscious of His gaze and scrutiny of us. In other words, it is to be profoundly aware of God, and to mould our lives around such an awareness.

Ihsan is the second word, and is commonly translated as “goodness” and “excellence”. The Prophet, peace be upon him, explained ihsan as: ‘To worship God as though you see Him; and though you may not see Him, know that He sees you.’ [Muslim, no.8]

Revelation’s insistance on taqwa and on ihsan is precisely so that tawhid may be made into a living, experiential reality and for faith to be deepened and be made profound. In explaining the verse, Your God is One God; there is no God but He. [2:163], Ibn Juzayy outlines the three ascending degrees of tawhid: the sublimest degree being to witness God with the eye of the heart; witnessing everything is from God, not that everything is God. He writes:

‘Know that peoples’ tawhid of God is of three degrees: First, that which the generality of Muslims affirm, by which their lives are protected in this world and by which they are delivered from residing in Hell eternally in the world to come: which is to reject partners, rivals, spouses, children, likenesses or equals with God.

The second degree is the tawhid of the elite. It is to perceive that all acts emanate from God alone, and to witness this through spiritual unveiling (mukashafah), not by way of formal dialectical proofs that are accessible to every Muslim. This station of tawhid of the elect enriches the heart with imperative knowledge (‘ilm daruri) and hence has no need for formal proofs. The fruits of such knowledge are a wholehearted devotion to God, putting one’s trust in Him alone, and a turning away from all creation; so that he does not hope in anyone save God, nor fear anyone but Him. For he sees no Doer save Him and that all people are in His overwhelming grasp; none of the matter is in their hand. Thus he dispenses with [depending upon] all secondary causes and earthly lords.

[The person at] the third degree does not see anything in existence except God alone. He is absent from looking at people; until, for him, it is as if they did not exist. This is what sufis term the Station of Annihilation (maqam al-fana); which means becoming “absent” from people until one is lost from oneself and from one’s tawhid – that is to say, being absent due to being immersed in witnessing God.’2

≈references:

1. Al-Safarini, Lawami‘ al-Anwar al-Bahiyyah (Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islami, 1991), 1:57; al-Bayjuri, Tuhfat al-Murid ‘ala Jawharat al-Tawhid (Cairo: Dar al-Salam, 2006), 38.

2. Al-Tashil li ‘Ulum al-Tanzil (Beirut: al-Maktabah al-‘Asriyyah, 2003), 1:164.

Www.thehumblei.com

Naqshbandi-Kilani Sufi sheikhs in Jordanian Ikhwan ul Muslimun:

Naqshbandi-Kilani Sufi sheikhs in Jordanian Ikhwan ul Muslimun:

Sheikh ‘Abd al-Halim Mustafa al-Kilani

‘Abd al-Halim Mustafa al-Kilani was born in the city of al-Salt 
in 1888. He would never get the opportunity to learn the ways 
of the Qadiri Order from his father, Sheikh Mustafa al-Kilani (d. 
1891 AD), because the sheikh died before ‘Abd al-Halim reached the age of ve years. Sheikh ‘Abd al-Halim would eventually become the mufti of al-Salt and was a teacher of the Qur’an and of Islamic studies at the high school there. 

He established a center for instruction in the Holy Qur’an in which he would continue teaching the sons of al-Salt, both young and old, for over 50 years. Indeed, seldom will one nd a person from al-Salt, from that time, who did not receive instruction at the hands of Sheikh ‘Abd al-Halim. In the course of teaching the Qur’an to the sons of al-Salt, he also taught them how to read and write. 
Sheikh ‘Abd al-Halim learned the ways of the Shadhili Order 
under the instruction and the guidance of Sheikh Muhammad 
Amin al-Ghudhuf, who came to al-Salt in 1910, and to whom 
tens of others ocked in order to receive instructions. Moreover, 
when Sheikh Nimatallah al-Naqshbandi visited Jordan from 
Damascus, ‘Abd al-Halim would attend all of Sheikh Nimatallah’s assemblies and would spend much time with the great sheikh. 
Indeed, Sheikh ‘Abd al-Halim was greatly infuenced by Sheikh 
Nimatallah and would undertake the covenant and the way of the Naqshbandi Order under the latter’s instruction and guidance. 

Sheikh ‘Abd al-Halim would also become a representative of the Organization of the Muslim Brotherhood in al-Salt. Indeed, he and Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Organization of the Muslim Brotherhood, would correspond regularly393 until the 
latter’s death. 

Sheikh Muhammad Amin Fahim Mustafa al-Kilani

Muhammad Amin Fahim Mustafa al-Kilani was the son of 
Sheikh ‘Abd al-Halim’s brother, as well as his son-in-law. He 
was born in al-Salt in 1926 AD, and his father, Sheikh Fahim 
(d. 1942 AD), was a Shadhili Su who named him Muhammad 
Amin after the Shadhili Sheikh Muhammad Amin al-Ghudhuf. 

Sheikh Muhammad al-Amin would graduate from the al-Salt 
Secondary School in 1946. In 1956, he completed his higher 
education at the faculty of Islamic shari’a at the University of 
Damascus. Later, he was appointed to many posts including 
that of principal of al-Salt Secondary School in 1966, 
advisor to the Minister of Education in 1981, director of the 
Community College of Jordan in 1985, director of the Ali Bin 
Abi Taleb Secondary Shari’a School, and as Mufti of the Balqaa 
Governorate in 1971. 

He also continued his relations with the 
Organization of the Muslim Brotherhood and was the deputy of the organization’s representative in al-Salt, Sheikh ‘Abd al Halim al-Kilani.

Sheikh Amin conducts assemblies of dhikr in the Kilani family’s diwan, a center for the communal use of the extended family, in al-Salt, Jordan.

Source:

Sufism and Sufi Orders: God’s Spiritual Paths

Adaptation and Renewal in the Context of Modernization 

[Book on Sufi tariqas in Jordan] (page172 and 173)

http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/amman/08884.pdf

Naqshbandi Sufi influence on modern Islamic political revival

An interesting study on Naqshbandi Sufi influence on modern Islamic political revival:

With references to influence of Shaykh Abul HasAn Ali Nadwi on Syrian Ikhwan.
 

Sufi Fundamentalism between India and the Middle East*

Itzchak Weismann – University of Haifa

In Martin Van Bruinessen and Julia Day Howell (eds.), Sufism and the 'Modern' in

Islam (London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2007), pp. 115-128.
 

Read Full text here:

http://humanities.tau.ac.il/history-school/files/barreading12-11.pdf

Introductions

Contemporary Muslim perceptions of Sufism, and following them much of the scholarly literature, are dominated by the radical Islamist viewpoint. According to this perspective Sufis are the most prominent example of deviation from the pure religion of the forefathers (al-salaf) and therefore are largely to be blamed for the so-called decline of Islam. Yet such a view ignores the major role that Sufism played in religious revival and reform efforts in latter-day Islam, as well as in the struggle against European colonialism.1 It also overlooks the fact that despite their criticism of popular mystical practices, leaders of the early fundamentalist trends of the second half of the nineteenth century, prominent among them the Ahl-i Hadith in India and the Salafiyya in the Arab world, remained committed to Sufi revivalist ideas and did not reject Sufism as such.2 When Salafi concepts were embodied in the following century in socio-religious movements such as the Muslim Brothers in Egypt and the Jama‘at-i Islami in the Indian subcontinent, these too, though transcending the Sufi tariqas, still drew on their modes of organization.3

Conclusion:

"Ahmad Kuftaru, ‘Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda, and Sa‘id Hawwa represent different ways within the broader Islamist middle strand of coping with the political and religious challenges of modern Syria. Kuftaru has kept to the traditional Sufi framework while allying with the State; Abu Ghudda and Hawwa transcended this framework while joining the opposition movement of the Muslim Brothers (Ikhwan al Muslimun), the one being primarily a religious scholar (‘alim), the other an Islamist ideologue and activist. All three were influenced by the ideas of the Indian scholar and propagandist Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali al-Nadwi, who like them came from a Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi background and lived under a non-Islamic government. Each of the three further elaborated Nadwi’s ideas into a scheme of “spiritual education” in accordance with his own point of view and needs. For Kuftaru, the notion of doing away with the Sufi terminology serves as a means to lure the moderate Islamists to make peace with the government. Abu Ghudda implemented the same idea in order to focus on what he regarded as the most urgent task of preserving the Islamic heritage in a secularized age. Finally, Hawwa relied on the complementary concept of rabbaniyya to propose a grassroots organization that would allow the opposition to continue its work under a hostile and vigilant regime. Their different solutions notwithstanding, these three Syrian men of religion thus ultimately shared with their Indian colleague the ideal of combining a Sufi type of spirituality with a fundamentalist ideology as the basis for a moderate alternative to both backward Sufis and vociferous radical Islamists."

The balance of Politics and spirituality in Islam-Mufti Taqi Usmani

The Place of Politics in Religion

(The balance of Politics and spirituality in Islam)

 

By Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani 
Translated by Zameelur Rahman

It has become well-known of Christians that they distinguish between religion and politics by their well-known dictum “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s”. It is thus as though religion has no relationship with politics and politics has no connection with religion. This worthless concept has slowly advanced to its ugliest form in recent times in the name of “secularism” (al-’almaniyah) or “secularisation” which expelled religion from all matters of life until it did away with it completely.

Truly this concept in reality is one category from the categories of association with Allah [i.e. shirk (polytheism)] whereby religion’s authority in the material world is not recognised and the authority of religion is restricted only to rituals and worship which one practices in his private [life] or in his place of worship. It is thus as if God is not god except in [matters of] worship and ritual, and as far as worldly matters are concerned, they have another god. And refuge is [sought] from Allah.

For this [reason] Muslims firmly rooted [in their religion] will continue to reject this deviant concept in every age and place because there is no scope for it in Islam which safeguards the creed of monotheism in its most accurate expression and its most perfect form, and which assigned divine rules in all affairs of life along with all that they contain of politics and economics. Therefore, it is incumbent on the people of knowledge to reject this concept and refute it knowledgeably and satisfactorily. And indeed they have undertaken this task, and all praise is due to Allah.

However some Muslims in our time^[1] who undertook [the task] of refuting secularism have gone too far in this until they fell into a subtle mistake, that changed the focus and caused many errors in this field; that is, they made politics and the establishment of an Islamic government the primary objective and highest aim of all the rules of religion, and it is as though the rules of worship etc. are not aimed at [anything] besides one goal which is the establishment of an Islamic government, and it is as though worship and religiosity (diyanah) are all means in the attainment of this primary objective; to [the extent] that they diminished the importance of worship and made it an exercise and training for the fundamental target, which is the establishment of a theocratic government (al-hukumat al-ilahiyyah).

Due to this cogitation, two dangerous causes of corruption emerged:

First: since worship became a means in the establishment of a theocratic government, it is not regarded as an objective in itself, and by its [performance] is intended a gradual progression to the fundamental target. Thus, if the conditions demanded that these means be sacrificed by choosing other means to [attain] that important objective then indeed from the results of this cogitation is that there is nothing preventing sacrificing them because they are not the objective.

Second: one does not have a relationship with means besides a basic ordinary relationship [which falls] within the domain of necessity, and naturally he will regard it as a transitory passing stage, and will not regard it as his life target and the goal of his efforts, and will not progress in it and excel therein with the sensations of [spiritual] experience, delight and tranquillity within him.

In the words of the esteemed scholar and great preacher Mawlana Shaykh Sayyid Abu ‘l-Hasan ‘Ali al-Nadwi (RA) in his refutation of some of such writings , “Indeed those who obtain their religious information from the source of this (over-politicized) interpretation of Islam alone, and limit their study of Islam to these books alone, their relationship with Allah will be rendered restricted and limited, and [will congeal] into dry, rigid formalism (jamidatun rasmiyyah), empty of internal states which the believer is required to adjust [himself] to. 

This is particularly when the emphasis that the root goal of sending Prophets and the end target of their teachings and the utmost of their actions is the production of change in this limited worldly life, and bringing about change for the better, and establishing human civilisation on proper foundations, appears [many] times repeatedly [in these books]; and when the focus on this aspect appears with ferocity and irascibility, enthusiasm and passion, and in a manner that makes conceptions of divine love, lordly pleasure and otherworldly success, meagre; it is natural and something that concurs with reason and is consistent with [logical] analogy that he departs the vehicle of effort and work from the road of faith in the unseen, yearning for the Afterlife, seeking Allah’s pleasure and devotion to His love, that road which the Prophets instituted, to the path of seeking rule, glory, dominance, and achieving rule and subsequently the materialist galaxy.” (Al-Tafsir al-Siyasi li ‘l-Islam, p. 107, published by Nadwat al-’Ulama Lucknow, 1399 AH/1979 AD)

In sum, these authors in their eagerness to refute secularism, and their focus on the political aspect of the Shari’ah, made all of Islam a political ideology, instead of making politics religious. 

The truth is that politics is a branch of the branches of religion, just as business and economics is a branch thereof, and indeed the rules of religion pertain to politics, just as they pertain to business. However nothing of politics and business is the root goal of the message of Islam, nor a fundamental objective of its rules and teachings. Thus, just as the connection of the rules of the Shari’ah to business do not entail that business becomes the objective of religion, similarly the rules of the Shari’ah pertaining to politics do not imply that politics be made the fundamental objective of Islam.

Hakim al-Ummah Shaykh Ashraf ‘Ali al-Thanawi (Allah Most High have mercy on him) drew attention to this point in a brief [but] firm statement, all of which is insightful, so we will quote it here, (translating it).  He says (Allah Most High have mercy on him):

“Allah Most High said: ‘those who, if We establish them in the land, establish regular prayer and give regular charity, enjoin the right and forbid wrong: with Allah rests the end and decision of all affairs.’ (Qur’an 22:41). It is clear from this verse that the essential objective is religiosity (diyanah) and nothing of politics and jihad is the fundamental objective — it is only a means to establish religiosity. And for this reason, spirituality and the rules [regulating] religiosity were given to every one of the Prophets (upon them be peace) without exception, while politics and jihad were not given to all of them. Jihad and politics were given to some of them when the need and interest [of their communities] demanded [them], and indeed that is the condition of means, since they are not given except for a necessity.

“It is possible that a doubt will arise here in the minds of some, which is that another verse of the Noble Qur’an indicates the opposite of this, that religiosity is a means, and establishment (tamkin) in the earth and politics are the objectives, and this is His statement (Most High): “Allah has promised, to those among you who believe and work righteous deeds, that He will, of a surety, grant them in the land, inheritance [of power], as He granted it to those before them; that He will establish in authority their religion — the one which He has chosen for them” (24:55). Since this verse makes belief and good deeds preconditions to the establishment [of Islam] on earth from what is apparent thereof of establishment and politics being the objective.

“The response is that Allah Most High promised in this verse establishment and power, and conditioned them on faith and good deeds, whereby establishment is qualified upon them, so politics and power are promised [to the believers conditional upon] faith and good deeds. It does not follow [however] from it being promised that it becomes the objective, for otherwise Allah Most High said in another place: “If they had observed the Torah and the Evangel and that which was revealed unto them from their Lord, they would surely have been nourished from above them and from beneath their feet” (Qur’an 5:66). So He promised expansion in provision [conditional] upon the observance of the Torah, Evangel and the Qur’an. Can then one say that expansion in provision is the objective of religion? No, rather it is promised. Thus, it is established that a promise does not entail that it becomes the objective. Similarly in the verse of establishment [i.e. 24:55], establishment is promised [conditional] upon faith and good deeds, so they are a consequence of them by the decision of it being qualified upon them, but that is not the objective of religion, nor a target of it.

“Thereby it becomes clear that politics is a means from the means and the objective is spirituality. The implication of this is not that politics is not sought after altogether. I only intend thereby to specify the place of politics in religion in that it is not the objective, as opposed to spirituality, for indeed this is the essential objective.” (Ashraf al-Sawanih 4:28-9, published in Multan)

Takmilah Fath al-Mulhim, vol. 3, pp. 224-7

---

1. This was written in the year 1987 

-Adapted from deoband.org article.

Ibn Taymiyyah on dhikr gatherings and practices of Sufism

Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah on gatherings of dhikr, and other practices associated with Sufism

 By Shaykh Abu Humayd
Edited by ‘Abd Allah al-Afriqi

 

Editor’s note: We have posted in the past regarding the views of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (Allah have mercy on him) (تقي الدين أبو العباس أحمد بن عبد الحليم بن عبد السلام بن عبد الله ابن تيمية الحراني‎) from his works which clearly and unequivocally prove beyond doubt that he was from amongst the grand scholars of the Ahl ‘l-Sunnah and that which his followers claim of him is often untrue and exaggarated. In this work, the noble brother has compiled from Shaykh al-Islam’s Majmu’ ‘l-Fatawa his various views and stance on various practices which today are solely associated with Sufism and the people of Tasawwuf. We hope that this compilation clears all wrong notions and understanding and is a means in bridging the gaping holes amongst the Ummah. Insha’ Allah.

 

Ibn Taymiyyah and Ijtima’i Gathering etc.

مجموع فتاوى ابن تيمية » الفقه » الصلاة » باب الذكر بعد الصلاة » مسألة الاجتماع على القراءة والذكر والدعاء

http://www.islamweb.net/newlibrary/display_book.php?idfrom=2733&idto=2734&bk_no=22&ID=1727

Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah was asked:

وسئل عن رجل ينكر على أهل الذكر يقول لهم : هذا الذكر بدعة وجهركم في الذكر بدعة وهم يفتتحون بالقرآن ويختتمون ثم يدعون للمسلمين الأحياء والأموات ويجمعون التسبيح والتحميد والتهليل والتكبير والحوقلة ويصلون على النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم والمنكر يعمل السماع مرات بالتصفيق ويبطل الذكر في وقت عمل السماع “

“He was asked regarding a man that rejects the people of Dhikr, who says: This Dhikr is Bid’ah, and raising your voice is Bid’ah, and their starting reciting of the Qur’an and finishing thereafter making Du’a for the Muslim for the living and the dead, and would collectively recite the Tasbeeh, Tahmeed, Tahleel, Takbeer and Hawqalah, and then sending blessing upon Nabi (Sallallahu ‘Alayhi WaSallam) – the person who rejects he would listen, they would slap their back wrist repeatedly to disturb them.”

The Shaykh replied:

الاجتماع لذكر الله واستماع كتابه والدعاء عمل صالح وهو من أفضل القربات والعبادات في الأوقات ففي الصحيح عن [ ص: 521 ] النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال : { إن لله ملائكة سياحين في الأرض فإذا مروا بقوم يذكرون الله تنادوا هلموا إلى حاجتكم } وذكر الحديث وفيه { وجدناهم يسبحونك ويحمدونك }

“The IJTIMAA’ (gathering) for the Dhikr of Allah, and ISTIMAA’ (listening) to His Kitaab and Du’aa is a GOOD PRACTICE. And it is AMONGST THE BEST FORMS OF WORSHIP in the Times. And in the Saheeh from Nabi (Sallallahu ‘Alayhi WaSallam). Said: (Quoting the hadith where the Mala’ikah look over Earth for People praising Allah) and the hadith goes on to mention in it: (Mala’ikah saying: we found them Glorfying Thee, and praising Thee)”….

Now isn’t Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah (Rahimahullah) allowing what Sufis are known to do?

 

First he praises Sufis here:

مجموع فتاوى ابن تيمية

تقي الدين ابن تيمية

http://www.islamweb.net/newlibrary/display_book.php?idfrom=1093&idto=1112&bk_no=22&ID=651

أي الصوفي ـ في الحقيقة نوع من الصديقين فهو الصديق الذي اختص بالزهد والعبادة

Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah says:

“And the Sufi is in reality a kind of Siddiq (Truthful One), that Siddiq who specialized in zuhd and worship.”

(MORE GOOD STATEMENTS ON SUFISM – CLICK THE LINK ON MAJMU’)

 

Then he gives out large amount of Dhikr counts to his devotees (70,000 Tahleels), here:

مجموع فتاوى ابن تيمية

تقي الدين ابن تيمية

http://islamweb.net/newlibrary/display_book.php?bk_no=22&ID=1909&idfrom=3075&idto=3171&bookid=22&startno=31

وسئل:

عمن هلل سبعين ألف مرة وأهداه للميت يكون براءة للميت من النار حديث صحيح أم لا وإذا هلل الإنسان وأهداه إلى الميت يصل إليه ثوابه أم لا

فأجاب:

إذا هلل الإنسان هكذا سبعون ألفا أو أقل أو أكثر وأهديت إليه نفعه الله بذلك وليس هذا حديثا صحيحا ولا ضعيفا والله أعلم

He was asked:

About uttering Tahleel 70,000 times then gifted its reward it to the deceased will result with that the deceased never enter hell-fire, is this a sahih hadeeth or not? also, if one utters tahleel then gifted it to the deceased would that reward reach the deceased or not?

He answered:

It is not a Sahih or even weak hadeeth. However, if one utters Tahleel then gift its reward to the deceased then that benefit the deceased. wallahu A’lam

 

Then he says there is nothing wrong in giving Ta’weedhs and other forms of Ruqiyah, here:

مجموع فتاوى ابن تيمية

تقي الدين ابن تيمية

http://www.islamweb.net/newlibrary/display_book.php?flag=1&bk_no=22&ID=1943

ص: 64 ] فصل ويجوز أن يكتب للمصاب وغيره من المرضى شيئا من كتاب الله وذكره بالمداد المباح ويغسل ويسقى كما نص على ذلك أحمد وغيره

He says “It is permissible for an ill or a sick person, that certain verses from the Qur’an are written with pure ink, then it is washed and given to the ill to drink -it is also reports from Ahmad and others than him.

عن ابن عباس قال : إذا عسر على المرأة ولادتها فليكتب : بسم الله لا إله إلا الله الحليم الكريم سبحان الله رب العرش العظيم الحمد لله رب العالمين { كأنهم يوم يرونها لم يلبثوا إلا عشية أو ضحاها } { كأنهم يوم يرون ما يوعدون لم يلبثوا إلا ساعة من نهار بلاغ فهل يهلك إلا القوم الفاسقون } .

Ibn Taymiyyah then quoted Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) to have mentioned a certain Dua that should be written and placed close to the woman who is experiencing hard labour at the time of giving birth.

And he also mentions:

قال علي : يكتب في كاغدة فيعلق على عضد المرأة قال علي : وقد جربناه فلم نر شيئا أعجب منه

he quotes ‘Ali (allah be pleased with him) saying this Dua should be written and tied to the arm of the woman. and that they have experienced that there is nothing more better than this.

And here:

مجموع فتاوى ابن تيمية

تقي الدين ابن تيمية

http://www.islamweb.net/newlibrary/display_book.php?flag=1&bk_no=22&ID=1349

In another place of his fatawa he was asked:

 [ ص: 599 ] وسئل رحمه الله عن المصحف العتيق إذا تمزق ما يصنع به ؟ ومن كتب شيئا من القرآن ثم محاه بماء أو حرقه فهل له حرمة أم لا ؟

Shaykh answers:

وإذا كتب شيء من القرآن أو الذكر في إناء أو لوح ومحي بالماء وغيره وشرب ذلك فلا بأس به نص عليه أحمد وغيره

The Shaykh answers again similar to the first one that it is okay to write the Qur’an or any Dhikr on a plate or pot and then erase it with water (or any other than water – like Saffron mixed water) for the Mareedh (patient) to drink, and that there is nothing wrong with it. Again he mentions that it is also from Imam Ahmad and others than him.

And now, Subhan-Allah, he affirms the group gathering (Ijtima’) and the doing of various acts like; Group Dhikr, reciting Qur’an and listening and making Du’a etc.

 

Wa ‘Alaykum al-Salaam

 

See more:

Kashf and Ilham of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah

The Karamat and Awrad of Sh. al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah

 

Source- http://ahlalbidah.wordpress.com/2014/02/19/shaykh-al-islam-ibn-taymiyyah-on-gatherings-of-dhikr-and-other-practices-associated-with-sufism/