Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera – Sufism Name vs Reality Confusion Shaykh Abu Aaliyah
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim
Al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alameen wa Salatu was Salam ala barakato see
the now Mohammed in while early here or sadly he made
a shudder one La ilaha illallah who was the hola Cherie Keller?
What I showed the one Mohammed Abdullah who are a solo nabad A
salaam aleikum, wa Rahmatullah.
It's nice to be in this Masjid again. Nice to meet many vaguely
familiar faces and and a few well known faces.
May Allah last ones Allah bless you, bless the community, bless
the organizers, the Imams of them of the masjid
for organizing this particular talk and also to share Salim Dr.
Salim.
Who is ever concerned especially in this area
mashallah if you ever want to see a person kind of roll up their
sleeves and really be concerned with delivering knowledge to the
people in this kind of wider Redbridge area. Mashallah. Then
Dr. Salim Allah has given him a father.
Probably you won't like me saying so. But Allah has given him a
fatherly in this in sha Allah to Allah. And the more that we
appreciate those people that Allah puts around us, and the more we
can aid in the system, the better our personal journey to Allah
subhanaw taala
Okay, so Wolf, a brief introduction. Big word, the soul
Wolf, and it's going to be a brief introduction. So
hands up who has no idea what the soul Wolf is? This foreign word?
Mashallah, very honest, one or two hands up? Okay, a few more hands
up after second thoughts Mahershala.
If I put my hand up that would really surprise you, right.
Okay, hands up. Those of you who kind of know how to sew off kind
of in English we called the soul of what
spirituality? How else is the soul of translated into English? What's
the most popular term?
Meditation, perhaps something else? Sufism? Who's heard of the
word Sufism? And Sufis.
So hands up, those of you who've heard of the word Sufism and
Sophies. And anytime you hear it, like kind of alarm bells go off in
your head.
Like you start looking around thinking, How do I get out of
here?
Hands up when you hear the word Sophia and Sophia, is that you
think, Oh, this is probably going to be quite comfortable and quite
enlightening. Hands up who feels comfortable? So a few of you hands
up who's not sure. Like, well, I've heard some things which are
really good, but I've heard some things which, you know, makes me
want to run away.
Okay, so a few confused souls.
Okay, so I'm going to try to clarify as best as I can.
In the early 80s 8384.
When I was trying to learn my Islam in a very unscholarly way,
just from people who weren't scholars,
we were told, and I firmly believed, I didn't have any other
reason not to believe that there are dodgy Muslims around
and you will find no one more dodgy than Sufis say every time
you hear this word, Sophie.
And Sufism of the soul, Wolf.
Go the other way, run the other way.
And, rightly or wrongly, I became a fast runner.
In those days, I used to run I mean, not literally
metaphorically. When someone said there was I was really upset. I'll
tell you what one of my teachers in in madrasa in Leytonstone
mosque.
Had a good look good connection relationship with him as we were
growing up. I'm like 1819. And then someone said that he's a
Sophie.
And one day in the hotbar. I heard him say one of the Sophie said he
didn't say I have a sore feet. But he said one of the Sophie said,
and I remember, I was distressed. I was really distressed. I was
thinking how to approach him after maybe I can never approach him. My
relationship with him I don't know is it shattered?
Such are the traumas
that
the term and the calm
sept can cause and even today amongst Muslims, if one is not
blessed and blessed to go on social media, right, you will see
the intra Muslim wars about Sophie's.
Okay, all sorts of insults and all sorts of accusations being held
this way and being held that way. And not just against ordinary
people, ordinary Muslims against ordinary muscles, but even
sometimes against scholars, ordinary Muslims saying things
about scholars, Muslim scholars who are known to be Imams,
but all other scholars in our history.
So it's something that is a bit difficult to tackle. And those of
you who kind of know,
more or less what to saw off is about will probably understand
why. So
a good place to start would be simply let's leave names.
Let's leave Sophie, let's leave Salafi, let's leave the soul,
let's leave, leave this, let's leave that let's just try to do
concepts.
Because if we get the concept, then the name doesn't really
matter, right?
So I could say, I'm an admin,
I can say, I am one of the people of truth. And then I can print a t
shirt, right? with Ebola, he is one of the people of truth on it,
and then I can pass out my T shirts to you and you can join my
club. And then we can all be part of the people of truth.
But that won't make us people of truth. What will make us people of
truth is if our beliefs, our practices,
inwardly and outwardly conform to HAC the truth, which in this case
for Muslims is revelation.
The name doesn't matter in that sense.
What counts are the beliefs and the inward and outward actions are
practices
that will define whether we are upon truth or not.
And that's why the Scholars say
Ibra
Bill haka, ik Wilma Annie, la love the Alpha they will Madani Okay,
our scholars say the lesson what what should be considered or taken
into consideration? Is haka, ik Wilma, Annie, are the realities
and the correct meanings.
Not alpha the world Madani not just the terms and the names.
So I'd like to approach this topic from exactly that. That chi that
that rule or that maximum or principle, that let's leave the
word to solve, let's leave the word Sophie, let's leave
everything. And let's try to just do a bit of
concept meaning and then after that,
I would like to quote some passages from a famous scholar
called Ibn Taymiyyah, one of the scholars of the eighth century
from Syria, eighth century Salam, to actually maybe help further
understand
whether this issue of the soul war for Sufism, whatever it means is
part of Islam or not part of Islam, whether we need to have
alarm bells ringing or not. And I And if you don't already know I'll
explain later on in Sharla, if I remember why I'm going to pick on
this Imam Ibn Taymiyyah rather than, you know, 100 other scholars
or several 100 scholars that we could pick on Okay, so that's in
Charlotte allah how I intend bit of Allah will be lucky to have it
so. Okay.
Allah subhanaw To Allah says in the Quran, I will be learning
initiator and the regime for Theodorou Ilango. fleets, Allah,
run back to Allah. Go to Allah hasten to Allah. Whatever is
distressing you and you're running away from that, run to Allah.
Okay. Sometimes we run to something
because something else is frightening us. So we're running
away from something and we're running to protection.
But for federal Illawarra running away from something could be we're
running away from woes and distress not something that really
frightens us.
But kind of saddens us or distress, it just stresses us and
we flee to
something that comforts us. We rush into
Layla Majnoon rushes into the arms of Leila. The lover rushes for
federal along la for federal Illa il heavy, rushing towards the one
you love. So we're not Allah Jalla Jalla Allah Who says for Pharaoh
Illawarra fleet Allah, it could be fleeing in fear,
fleeing from fear
to Allah, and that flight that running is
motivated by fear, or it could be wanting to move away from sadness,
distress, anxiety is something that kind of troubles the soul
into the comforting presence of Allah, because Allah is the
Beloved. So the fleeing could be out of fear. The fleeing could be
out of hope the fleeing can be out of love. The Prophet salasar ism
says, confront dunya can Nikka Heidi Yvonne o RB o Seville b in
this world are obviously b2b In this world as though you are a
traveler, or a stranger. Okay, let's take the travel bit. Be in
this world as though you're a traveler. Anyone from outside of
London.
Okay, so none of us are travelers in the shadier sense of the word.
But let's just say I can't remember what the 100 year rule
is. But if I was if I live like say 50 miles away and 48 miles is
actually the the distance
then coming into London, for a 40 plus mile journey would be for me,
a suffer a travel, which then, according to the show, do which
then allow gives me certain competence, compensations and
routes, I might be able to shorten my prayer, for example, and
barring handle fees, I might be able to combine my prayer. Okay.
Life the props also be saying is to be thought of as a travel as a
sufferer, as a savior, as a solution. As a journey. We're
traveling from this world, to the hereafter.
We're traveling from here
to ensure that the presence of Allah subhana, Allah
confit dunya can carry out a bit of study, be in this world, as
though you are a stranger or traveler.
And the traveler respects the places that they travel to. But
none of those places are permanent homes.
They may be temporary stopping stations, temporary service
stations,
but they are temporary, not permanent.
Permanent is home. And the home of the believer is our here is the
hereafter the afterlife.
The home of the believer is the Huddersfield ILA here the divine
presence to be in the hubiera in the Presence of Allah subhanaw
taala.
So it's not just about our Hara, it's about Allah as well. Do we
not remember the
the Lady asiyah, the wife of Pharaoh, her own
husband finds out she's the Muslim follower of the Prophet Musa Ali
Salaam.
Husband has a bit of a Temper, temper.
He's a bit of a rough guy. And so he takes his wife and he buries
her in the hot Egyptian sand.
Head up
the whole time
for sure. He knows she's going to die of heatstroke.
Heat exhaustion or thirst, any one of those but it's going to be a
painful death. Nonetheless, that's the point.
This is a way for husbands not to behave just in case you know,
health warning.
And she is dying.
Okay, she's dying, he's enraged. She's a Muslim and she is dying
and she makes her arm which the Quran mentions
towards her. Her death on her deathbed, so to speak. Oh Allah,
build me a house.
Actually, it would be Oh ALLAH build me a house in paradise.
But there's something even greater than that. You think well, what
could be better than a house in paradise? I mean, you could have a
palace and paradise but let's just say the house this house is a
palace.
Oh Allah build me a house in your presence in paradise
Right.
They say the Arab say
just a couple of Dar the neighbor before the house when we were
moving 20 odd years ago from Leytonstone to red bridge, looking
at the houses down that end across the the other side of Eastern
Avenue. We saw houses, but we also asked about the neighbors. Only
one time where we told by the occupant if I'm and it was it was
a Muslim occupant, if I'm honest with you,
currently, my both my neighbors are
rascals, one of them is really bad. And the house was okay. And
we were thinking of it. But then when he said that, actually, we
chose not to why because neighbors matter, right neighbors matter.
And the lady asiyah
For her, the neighborhood of a house matters, right?
What's the point of the house if I'm not in the presence of God?
It's another way of thinking right?
And that there, that solute traveling
from the darkness into light
from roughly a heedlessness of God, to vicar remembrance of Anwar
which is what the Imam recited. Okay.
Leila Alba Alladhina. Yet, karuna Allah pm and recording Hola,
juubi. Maria Corona, if you have kids, Mr. T, well,
that who are these all above Who are these intelligent ones?
They are those who remember Allah standing, sitting or lying down.
And they contemplate and ponder, make difficult over the creation
of the heavens and the earth.
And inspires them to say, Oh our Lord,
You haven't created this
for nothing.
So save us from the punishment of the blazing Fire.
And then they make a few more two hours that we heard recited
the journey and this is the believers job. Okay. This is the
jobs job description of the Muslim of the movement. The vocation of a
believer is moving out of the darkness into the light.
That's that shouldn't be the job of every human being. The Quran
says the job of every human being must be to move out of the
darkness of disbelief
into the light of Iman and Islam.
But those who Allah has blessed to move from the darkness of kufr,
into the light of Iman and Islam,
they still have to continue as Muslims moving out of the
darkness.
Not the darkness of kufr of disbelief but the darkness of
Massier of sins and disobedience.
The darkness of forgetting Allah,
the darkness of having the ego that knifes overcome you, overcome
us the darkness of following our whims.
which contradicts revelation, our false desires.
The darkness of putting obedience to someone else, over above
obedience to Allah subhanaw taala the darkness of allowing the heart
to fall in love with something more than it falls in love with
Allah Subhana Allah to Allah.
So the believers job is to move from the darkness into the light.
And that is SoloQ. Right? That is slow, that is spiritual traveling
spiritual wayfaring. And we have to do it constantly, every minute,
every second of the day, more or less.
So the believer can never rest comfortable. The believer is
content, but never comfortable with yet. I don't have to try
anymore. I don't have to roll up my sleeves.
A slam equals rolling up our sleeves
to move from the darkness into the light.
So far, who disagrees with roughly what I've said we might disagree
with how I've expressed some of this fun who disagrees with the
basic concept that I've said?
Who agrees
okay, because there's nothing unusual about that. That's just
kind of bog standard basic Islam. And part of that moving out of the
darkness into the light, we might say, based upon the Hadith
Gibreel Ali Salam, the famous Hadith of the angel Gabriel, come
to the prophets awesome. They don't know he's the angel Gabriel,
the process and knows.
And he asks the prophets Allah or some three questions, he comes to
the modulus of the process and a famous Hadith. And it's long, I
don't want to go into it too much. But I just want to highlight
something. I want to highlight the three questions and the three
answers that he gets, and link it with our salute or our journey in
from the darkness into the light darkness into the light.
But one side point quickly Mullah Ali elkaar in the commentary in
this to this hadith, in his,
in his famous commentary of the Muscat
mid Carter morality in his in his middle class, which is a famous
commentary to the MacArthur Masaba Mala allow, he says it has been
said so it's not definite or certain Yochanan. But it has been
said meaning by some scholars, that this modulus of the angel
come into the process and to ask him, these three questions
happened about 80 days before the Prophet Alayhi Salatu was Salam
passed away.
I think he says at 83 days. So we're really talking about 23
years worth of Prophetic teachings. The teachings from the
niche of Kabbalah
going to be summarized in five, three minutes or however long that
Mubarak modulus took. And so he comes to the Prophet Sal awesome
after getting everybody's attention, that Angel and says
Binney and Al Islam.
And so tell me about Islam. So the problem says Islam is the testify
to La Ilaha Allah Muhammad Rasul Allah to establish a prayer, give
the cigar peddlers a card fast in the performing the pilgrimage and
fast in the month of Ramadan.
And he said, Oh, you've spoken correct.
And he says, Eman. Sometimes it's the other way around. And the
processes that Eman or faith is that you believe in Allah the
books the last day, the messengers,
the Divine Decree, and I missed the uncover.
And then he says, been the annual San, tell me about SR excellence
and here it means spiritual excellence, because the answer is
related to the heart. There are two types of excellence in Islam,
this excellence which we would call spiritual excellence, because
the Prophet saw some said and that Abdullah can Nicotra for Allah
Ilam to Contura HuFa Inaho Yara Ehsaan is that you worship Allah
as though seeing him
and it is the Arcada of orthodox Islam with Anderson noble Jamar
that with the difference about the prophets are some side that in
this world
no one sees Allah but this is a gift for the believers in akhira
May Allah make us amongst them. So with the difference that the
process um Did he see Allah on the night of the Mirage and if so, how
with the heart or with the eye or not?
Then
those scholars are united are agreed, that no one sees Allah
with the eyes of the head in this world. This is, this is our here.
So here when the process says to worship Allah as though seeing him
in seeing Allah with the eye of the heart, be Emile Bussiere the
spiritual eye
and though you may not see him know that he sees you to have this
maraca, this vigilance that Allah is watching me, Allah hears and
sees all things right?
Now of course that could be like a CCTV camera but I don't think the
Quran means it to be like a CCTV camera. You know, the one that I
mean that we're doing bad we're driving too fast down the
motorway, then sat nav says CCTV camera, and then we just put on
the brakes a bit to get within the law within the Sharia, right? Or
someone's out there thinking of harming someone but they know CCTV
so they kind of control their emotions and get within the law.
Sometimes, the maraca is meant to be that, that in the Quran, when
Allah tells us about Allah is ever watching and, and versus like that
it's sometimes it was meant to just simply put the fear of God
into us and just straighten us up. Sort your life out. But other
times it's tough to beat. It's reassurance It's comfort.
I remember when I was young father, Rahmatullah Ali, was one
of the founding people in on the later loads Leytonstone, Masjid
1960s
I was when the masjid was formed. Now officially
and what I used to hear when that the uncles used to gather, you
know, and have their little gatherings and whatever is some
one or the other from the committee uncle's always
complaining,
always feeling under appreciated. And I used to think, barring being
like the Prime Minister of the country, there probably is no
harder job and no sadder job than being on the mosque committee.
Because all these people are regularly complaining. They're
under appreciated all the work that they made. And I, in my mind,
I was thinking, Well, my dad, what kind of work does he do? And yet
he was what works or worked in the DHS. In the evening. He used to be
a driving instructor, and then he used to do this moss committee,
and at some point, we moved out of Leytonstone to Chingford, right.
So it was quite a drive. So I was like, wow, but under appreciated.
When Allah blessed me to just begin to be available as a student
of knowledge. One of the first things we were reminded in
Revelation and from our teachers is, don't worry if you're
underappreciated by anyone. I mean, this has nothing to do with
mosque committee, but it applies to the mosque committee. Because
if none of you appreciate my work, and Allah is watching,
Allah appreciates Allah will reward. What's the problem, right?
What's the problem?
You can all turn a blind eye.
But Allah always knows and sees. And that is not CCTV. That's just
the bid that's just comforting, consoling to the heart. Right.
So these three,
these three
questions eliciting these three answers or responses.
Tell me about Eman. Here are the Archon or Eman the basic beliefs
that makes someone a Muslim, there are more beliefs. But these are
the basic beliefs that we have to affirm to become a Muslim.
Okay, and then accountable Islam the basic obligatory duties, the
ferocity, the words about in Islam, I better use the word for
right because I'm in 100 females right
the basic Farah it of Islam, right basic obligations of Islam.
There are more obligations than these five shahada salads, so on
and so forth. But they are the, the main ones, right? Can't
imagine
functioning as a Muslim fit for purpose without them, especially
not, you can't be a Muslim. Well, the first one anyway.
And then the third one is something spiritual about the
heart, let the heart be in a particular state, or Halle.
Nurturing us, this have this state in the heart.
That at one level, that always trying to the heart trying to
remember Allah, that remember Allah sees and hears and knows.
So beware, and also be consoled and comforted, higher than that
the heart is filled so much with faith. So much with Eman so much
with know
that it is as if the unseen becomes seen it as if not that it
becomes
that is the state that human hearts are created for.
But they are like the best iPhone out there. But we use our human
heart, just like those old blueberries, those old clunky
phones that can't do anything, but you can just press numbers on
them. But the smartphone right can do all these amazing things,
right? The human heart, we don't even use hardly any of its
potential even as Muslims
it's a smart heart. But we make a Dumb heart.
But actually Allah saying, have a smart heart.
In Islam,
the science are there in
where we are taught the outward rules of prayer and fasting and
pilgrimage. We call that
immortal.
Yep, the science of Islamic law, Islamic jurisprudence, the outward
actions of Islam.
In Islam, the science of what beliefs we should have in our mind
or in our heart.
We call that
a chi ID or app
Qaeda
beliefs. It has other words as well, but we'll stick with al
Qaeda.
So the obvious question is what is the science called?
That deals with the states of the heart
to solve solvable any other offers
any other names that it's known by
the scale
or solution?
And even though
the second one, the one that you mentioned, my brother is actually
mentioned in a sound Hadith.
The other two aren't mentioned like that. I mean, the first one
to solve isn't mentioned in the Quran or Hadith like that. And the
word solo in this context isn't mentioned in the Hadith or the
Quran like that site. But very early on how early on
just before the time of Imam had been humbled Imam had been humbled
dies when well let's let's start with something that it's good for
many of you to know not because I want to make you his be or
partisanship or but broadly whatever. But when did Imam Abu
Hanifa rather Iran who die
in Hijiri?
One 151 50 Hijiri that's really early when did Imam akhmedov been
humbled die?
Oh, 242 just maybe one year too much. But 241 Okay.
90 years difference between the first and the fourth Imam. It's
quite a long time actually.
Imam Shafi is born the year that Imam Abu Hanifa passes away. And
he has a kind of short life to tour for HIV
just before the time of Imam Muhammad. Okay. A few decades,
we're not quite sure. And during his time,
and more so just after his time, this science of the spiritual
states of the heart, which is called L ml s on the science of
spiritual excellence, as a cause in the Hadith, or the science of
dusky, which is a good word. But it's not the most popular word
that the scholars use, or that the classical scholars use. The
classical scholars use either illness solo the science of
spiritual traveling or wayfaring, or even more, Ill the soul wolf.
The science of Sufism.
The science of the soul of
the science of the soul, began to be spoken or publicly and codified
written down in in books and taught as a subject.
Just before Abu Hanifa time,
the science of fit was being written down. But then Allah sent
Abu Hanifa to the world. And by the time he put his mind on it,
and his efforts with it on it with some of his students, the way that
the chapters are fikar done in any school Shafi, Maliki, you humbly
we follow the way that Abu Hanifa systemize, the order the third
theme of all right.
So fifth was before Abu Hanifa Rahim Allah.
But he was one of those who just like from A to Zed started
codifying it thoroughly. And over a long period of time, like was
Malik and likewise Shafi as well, and later on Imam Ahmed,
and roughly just after that time, roughly
30 years, 20 years, 50 years, but roughly after that time,
it was felt there was also a need to codify, at least in short,
booklets, the correct beliefs of the Muslims that right Sunni
beliefs. Why because by Abu Hanifa, this time, a few misguided
Muslim sects had arisen. And so they're going around town, various
Muslim cities saying the wrong thing against the Sunnah against
the way of the Sahaba and so it was felt that we now need to write
these small things and maybe sometimes read them out after the
prayer in the mosque. So even normal Muslims ordinary Muslims
can hear and know the right from the wrong but just before Imam
afterwards time,
and during and after. You have these names.
Amongst which include
and these names that are going to mention these are like the four
Imams these are like
Imam Abu Hanifa Imam Malik Imam, Shafi Imam, avid even humble, how
they are to the science
of Islamic law of fic. These names I'm not gonna mention many of
them, but these names are like these Imams to the science of
Islamic spirituality, which we will now call docile Wolf. And
that's the word I'm going to continue to use. Just before Imam
Ahmed people like Matador Qaddafi, for they live in El in his time,
as he was living in Baghdad in Baghdad Bashar Al Houthi
just after Imam Ahmed just a few decades after people like Abu
Sulayman Dharani
Junaid Al Baghdadi
Sahel a two story
Okay, and it continues
and the Junaid Al Baghdadi becomes like the Abu Hanifa
in Fick Junaid becomes like the Imam of imams in Orthodox orthodox
salute of the soul of spirituality in Islam.
So far I've said something which no scholar no scholar will deny.
Yes, if we're not scholars, and we're a little bit ignorant, we
will deny
if we have some
bits of misguidance and misinformation even if our overall
orientation is suddenly towards parama and Sunnah we might deny.
And there are groups of Muslims today.
Since the kind of
1900s, the last 150 years we've had groups of Muslims, well
intended,
ascribing themselves to the Quran and the Sunnah and the way of the
Sahaba and the way of the early Muslims.
But they will reject
the word to solve and if you keep the work to solve out and you
explain the soul just like I explained in the beginning, they
will not the head and weep and Rafa and Mashallah. But once the
work the soul gets in, is that hulless is a deviant. And I saw
that brother give him salaam so that brother must be a deviant and
then someone gave that brother's Salam we're getting that
can happen. Otherwise scholars are completely fine. All right, so
that is really what I've said. This so look this moving from the
shadow into the light, from disobedience to obedience or from
forgetting Allah to remembering Allah, from being ungrateful to
Allah to thanking Allah. From the Heart, being in love with
something other than Allah, to Allah is love just dominating the
heart, from the world becoming the thing that I am chasing.
Even if it means through haram means to the world becoming pretty
insignificant. It's a means to a goal. I have to use the world I
have to be responsible in the world. But the world isn't my
goal. Dunya isn't my goal. Yes, I'm interested in how Morocco are
doing against Portugal. Part of the dunya right as I left
literally as I was shutting the door I heard the people in my
house so ah like that. So I knew someone had scored so I actually
thought Hold on let me go back in I actually stepped up at the
house. And I went back in here it was one nil.
Fine, take an interest in it. There is a buzz in the air. But
come on.
Football is nothing significant.
Even if Morocco win
and it doesn't matter how many Muslims do surged on the pitch.
It's not it's not significant.
But it can be a buzz it's okay to be a buzz. It's okay to have that
national interest. It's okay to love the game itself in that
sense. But no more than that, not for the emotions to be so wound up
on upon it
I can't remember when it was but it was in somewhat right towards
the mid or late 80s But when England got knocked out by
Argentina in that famous marathon a so called Hand of God thing. The
next day on LBC radio, this is like it was 86 or something like
that a six next year next day on LBC radio. The speaker was talking
about how it's now been proven over the last 15 years of research
and data that domestic violence in household goes up goes up when
England loose.
I was like Subhan Allah, you could never imagine the emotions could
be tied. I mean, as a nation we are we are we know we have the art
of losing alright. Mashallah. Mashallah, okay, we've perfected
the art of losing.
But to that degree, so both ways with something that captivates our
heart that what much which is not
which is not Allah or linked to Allah. It's not really the way of
a believer.
It's not really because our heart is too precious to be captured by
something other than Allah Jalla Jannatul we have to have that
amount of self respect.
So enjoy, be fascinated.
Love the beautiful game, but just keep it in its place.
So what I'd now like to do is I'm going to read one or two
statements just to end my talk because I've got about 510 minutes
max
and I'm going to pick on the mom even taking it because for two or
three reasons one, it is still claimed that Imam Ibn Taymiyyah,
this scholar who died about 700 years ago in Damascus
was anti tasawwuf. He was anti Sophie's
this, this was set by Orientalist back in the late 1800s or 19th
century and until very recently in non Muslim Western Islamic studies
used to be taught.
And unfortunately some of our brothers and sisters followings,
some insha. Allah Tala, well intended Masha scholars of today
of today, a handful
say the same thing that all this dissolve is all nonsense.
Nothing like that in Islam, and all Sophie's people who ascribe
themselves to this disorder.
They're all dodgy at some level.
Okay, various levels of dodginess, but they all have the big D, big
dodgy big demon on them.
And
what that does is two things it causes schisms amongst Muslims,
because there are most Muslims. And certainly most Muslim scholars
are totally okay with this, and what are you talking about, and it
causes schisms. It causes people start wagging their finger against
their fellow Muslim, and it causes hearts to split, which is never a
good thing. But perhaps more importantly, it corrupts the
knowledge, the actual revealed knowledge, it changes the
knowledge that's probably more important. So let me quote Ibn
Taymiyyah. And this is a standard way that he speaks about to solve.
Okay, so this is not like, I've just quoted a line from him, and
he has so many other No, this is just standard stuff from him.
And it's in a collection of his his fatwas over over his lifetime.
We're eventually collected into,
like 36 volumes in module for tower
are Yeah, he did. I mean, he wasn't the scholar who wrote the
most but he was one of those scholars, one of those 1020
scholars who really had a phenomenal output.
And in the 11th volume, as it is in Trent now,
it's the volume could
sort of, he didn't, he didn't print the volumes because it's
done like in the 19th or 20th century, but it's called to solve
for all of his fatwas and his little treaties and little
booklets and some larger books about to solve or their their
volume before that volume 10 is Elon Musk solo, the science of
spiritual Wayfair they could have both been called to solve part one
to solve part two but for some reason
the compiler who was a scholar in himself or humbly scholar and
himself decided to call it animal silicon to solve in to solve
volume 11 pages 17 to 18 Let's just
bit by bit and end the talk and Charlotte moved up there man we'll
we'll take over in Charlotte. So he's he's asked this question. So
what is so what is a Sophie what is the soul of Sufism? What is
fucker spiritual property, which is another word for the soul was
right or wrong, good or bad? So this is how he kind of begins to
address it. I mean, he says some things before, but let's skip that
bit. He says, who I feel Haqiqa know on ministered de Thien the
Sophie, in reality is a type of sedate pain is a type of higher
Saint
like a higher Wali. For her acidic Livi that's so bizarre Ibadah I'll
watch the each the huddle fee.
He is the saint particularized with Zoom, wildly detachment and a
bother and and worship according to his exertion or efforts in it.
Who is this? Sophie in general, is not been specifically just
generalizing generally. Those who are known as Sophie
is they are from the higher Olia who are the lower Olia every
Muslim.
Every Muslim, Imam Taha Rahmatullah ally,
famous Hanafi scholar
died three
something, something 321324326 Something in the 320s.
Particle AFRICOM, he says in his famous archy, that which also new
Muslims accept, okay, it's really, ideally this should be the
standard aqidah
in my opinion, and Allah knows best it is just so beautifully
constructed, maybe not arranged in the best way but beautifully
construct and the words are just so redolent of oh, that's how
revelation kind of states it more or less, there's a kind of a
fiddly thing to it as well. That's my personal belief. He says, I'll
move on.
Couldn't do whom only are
the believers all of them are Olia of God of Allah Most Merciful.
Why? Because the Quran says in the only Allah la joven Allahu Allah
who has an old Alladhina amanu or can or yet cool the believes the
only of Allah no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve.
There are those who have
it. How has it go? Yeah, those have Eman. Where can you get the
phone and have Taqwa? So to the degree that some human being has
Iman and Taqwa and by definition, every Muslim, even the most sinful
Muslim, has Iman and Taqwa even if it's just one little speck, then
that is his only worship with Allah, which is not much.
Okay, but it's there. This is really ship. It's not the ideal
Valley ship.
And the more Eman and Tukwila person has, because now they're
fulfilling the FARA obligations. And as a process, some said that
Allah said and my servant doesn't draw closer to me with anything
more loved by me, then the foreign aid that I have enjoined on him.
So the first and main in fact the main thing of our time today in
the journey of love of Muhammad, Allah Jalla Jalla Allah who is
adapted for fulfilling the ferocity the outward fluoride like
prayer and fasting, the outward fluoride some other Blacklock
obligate shape, outward fluoride in terms of my Alma lab in
transacting how I buy and sell marry and divorce and things like
this, a kind of a big beard, right? And then in my business, I
cheat and I'm doing haram and
because generally the beard is Sunnah, right?
And cheating and doing those types of things in business is haram
right
we don't want this upside down Islam
we want an Islam that is meaningful and that Allah is
pleased with it right
so going back, going back to the point this Cydia cone okay they
are so everyone is the only are the law but only about the sofas
in jail in generally Potamia seeing is not making a difference.
They are like kind of generally the higher earlier when we hear
about them and the names that I mentioned just before Junaid
Bertha the Sona so but they are generally from the higher layer of
Allah subhanaw taala
then he says
after saying that scholars differed in the early days that
about what's the salt and Sufism okay? Or was it a bit dodgy and
deviant he says this
to NASA NASA theta at him.
People differ about their way for PI for
that for PI for them as Sophia with the soul. One group condemned
the Sophie's and the soul Wolf. historically true, what they
condemned or what specific to soul facilities they get. That's a
different thing. But a group condemned had condemned the
Sophie's and the soul what Carlu in homage to the Rhona hottie
Jonah and his sunnah and they declared that the Sophie's are
innovators or deviance who have left the fold of orthodox Islam of
the property guidance or sunnah.
Were nucleolar and BIFA Minal ima fi Valley coming in Colombo who
are models, and this was related by a group of the scholars and
their words about this as well known it's well known that a group
of a pocket full of hat early scholars had real problems with
what they saw.
being spoken of as the soul of as Sufism
Hey,
what's up mera mera la Valley kappa wife Min 50 Wo Kalam and
they these people who condemned Sufis and Sufism, and they were
followed in this condemnation by pockets of jurists and theologians
in just before Imam achmad There were some notable a handful of
notable voices from the great Imams who had a big problem. Okay,
so that was one group even Tamia says what Pfeiffer and then
another group
let's see him what Deru under home after lol hope over acmella Humble
Ambia and then another group went to the opposite extreme even
Xavier says another group only could claim that the the Sophie's
are the best of the people and the most perfect of them after the
prophets are leaving was Salatu was Salam. But he says and this is
really the
if you get it and Seamus where he's coming from then it kind of
the whole thing becomes salted for those who were a bit confused why
Killa
Killa Tara Tara Fahad healer or more than him but both of these
views are both of these extremes in this issue in this matter are
reprehensible
they've just gone overboard that kind of the second one is over
exaggerated the worth of bit Sophie's in general in them and
the first one has really undermined their value
so he says was so odd but what is correct so this isn't taming
whatsoever and know whom which the he do wanna fita it law he can
match their head lie to him in athlete by Attila what is correct
is that they are people who exert themselves and make efforts to
obey Allah okay there's a bodily exertion but there's also an HDR
the exertion okay a scholarly thinking exertion, like others who
exert themselves in obeying Allah which is a just thing to say
nothing phenomenal. It's just that's right. And then he divides
them. Then he gets down to a little bit more distinction. For
fee him aside they put them on
behalf of each they had he
n of the Sophie's
of the Sophie's, this is recognized. amongst their ranks
are the Sadiq Khan Carbone and anyone who has a brief even a
vague familiarity with the Quran, know that really after the
prophets and the messengers alayhi wa salatu salam, there is no MACOM
or station higher than the Sadiq Khan or collarbone those who are
drawn closer to Allah.
Those who are curry those who Allah has given that thought,
right because really, that's the whole point of being created.
chlor muhabba
it's
praying, bowing, recall such that is important
and we have to do it whether we're doing it good or bad inwardly out
it has to be done.
But it's meant to be done with mana with meaning, what meaning
curb and muhabba to draw closer to Allah
to love Him and be loved by Him
not just to love him
which would be a thing right? But to be loved by Him
deftly definition of
sadness definition of despair, to give love to receive no love in
return
that's kind of a disaster for a lover
of Allah.
Different
and that's why really so Wolf. And I can say Islam generally because
we don't need to get hung up on the term remember algebra Belhaj
call man Allah be alpha they will Avani
we can just say the path of Allah the path of Islam the spiritual
path or just Islam itself is the Hobby Lobby Mariela becoming
beloved to Allah by doing what pleases Him.
More than ever, it's important to put love into the equation. It is
the thing that gives meaning to the whole concept
of Islam of Ibadah of life itself.
If we present to our children or others Islam as a set of rules of
do's and don'ts once upon a time, that worked for most people,
it worked.
But the last time it worked was probably my generation.
From then on, it started to fall to pieces such that by the time of
my children's generation, it doesn't work for so many reasons
which are not their fault.
Nor is it necessarily bad teaching or parents
because they themselves haven't been taught, put Mariner meaning
into things.
Islam, the Sunnah in particular is about teaching us manner in surah.
Teaching us meaning in forms
the sun or doesn't. The sun that gets us to recognize some people
are black, some people brown, some people are white, some people are
yellow, some people are male, some people are female. And I'm not
going to get into the other gender distinctions that we don't really
recognize.
But those are Surah those are just outward forms.
But the man or the substance of the male or female, black, brown,
white is that how they are with Allah how they are with people how
they are with when they hear revelation,
how they are inside.
Right.
And the whole of Islam teaches us that
the process says when any of you stands to pray Hadith say let him
wear his best dress for Allah has more right? That you beautify
yourself for him.
Why? Because manner, if I'm going to go out of my way to a wedding,
I mean, hopefully you're not like me, because I probably would go to
a wedding like this.
And when I got married at that time, I had two trousers and
I had two shirts, one of which was not wedding material at all.
I still run and jogging and everything like that. So like kind
of how I was on Thursday was how it was on Saturday. Except that I
did have a bath and I combed my hair and
put a turban on my head. But most people will dress up that's the
right thing to do. Right? So if we're dressing up for a wedding
for an interview for whatever
Allah has more right but we beautify ourselves because there's
a manner it's all about the to unlock the connection with God.
Right? So I'm going on i Let me just finish this thing from even
teaming. So it says of them there are the cyberpunk celestially The
Arabic among them are the foremost drone close to Allah, according to
their level of striving. And among them there are the Malta Sedona,
the middle of course, the companions of the right hand, and
these descriptions book the sea dune aggro Yemen, these are
Quranic descriptions, each of these two groups, there are those
who strive but get it wrong.
Or those who sin and repent are those who sin and don't repent.
There are of the Sophie's there are the darlin, darlin enough say,
Those who sin and therefore wrong their own selves. And these are
the three categories of Muslims anyway, even saying you're saying
these are the three categories of Sophie's, but they actually the
three categories of Muslims according to is according to the
Quran.
And then he says,
what was tested by La hinfo wife mean a little bit our Zanda and
this is kind of important.
But there are those pockets of innovators and heretics. handfuls,
not larger numbers but handfuls of deviance and in and heretics who
ascribe themselves to Sophie's I am a Sufi I am upon to solve. I am
upon that spiritual humble Bill Allah be my Yoda becoming beloved
to Allah by doing what pleases Him.
While lacking in the haptic Amen athletes are so off lay so minium.
However the verification verifying scholars that major scholars have
to solve say, these people, whoever they are, or not of us are
not on our path. Okay.
And Ibn Taymiyyah has in mind, something that Allah has already
had in mind that 200 years ago, which is some people are saying,
when we speak about divine love
Allah's muhabba
you know, we have reached such a high degree in love.
We are excused from praying and fasting. Our dialogue with Allah
has gone higher than that.
And though they don't say exactly they, they basically say has gone
higher than the prophets who are still praying and fasting and who
had that connection with Allah. So these were
heretics, right? And there will be
people similar to them, but maybe lesser in their deviation. These
are the people who even Taymiyah had in mind as Al Azhar Lee had in
mind 200 years before him, and all of the people of the soul said the
Imams Junaid and all these, you know, these people are not on her
path. And in some cases they may not even be on his slam that's how
bad it could be.
And then finally, even Taymiyah says
Then he says and, and he gives an example and it's a controversial
example, but I'll mention it anyway. Lisa minim kill her large
Methoden fit in Accra, mache, Atari and Kara who were acquired
Yahoo and etheric from these heretics and demons and then even
Taymiyah taking one position of his school humbly school says an
example of this is a particular personality in the fourth century
of Islam called Ultra large, highly controversial.
So whilst even Taymiyah and Abu yalla and a group of other humbly
say this and they follow in this Junaid, Al Baghdadi, and many of
the great Imams as you can tell me says it a tsunami of data and a
tsunami in his debit card. Sofia had people backed out in the tar
dock that they quote that he was off, he was majorly off. But the
flip side of that is other scholars
Sofia's and others, like if not Kodama, not the see one of the
Imams of the humbly score. And others like him said know how
large was misunderstood. And he was a Wally. But he doesn't matter
because her large is gone right? He will not affect our lives. And
if you ever come across her large in a book,
either you are a deep scholar who has investigated this not this
matter and Allah has put into your heart, this view or that view, or
you're a deep scholar and said well, they are a people who have
passed, they will not be accountable for what we do and we
won't be accountable for what they do. As regards to anyone else.
Sukkot silence or Hala Jaya I heard, even Tamia said something
about him. I heard geneticists on the mountain I heard him Kodama
say something about but you know what, kind of doesn't change the
price of bread. And Allah hasn't asked me to,
to take a stance this way or that way, this way is safety for us,
but just an open to saying there are some dodgy people and he gives
what he thinks is one example. And it could be right or wrong, that
example. And they didn't just say off the top of their head. There
are kind of reasons for it historically, and some of the
utterances
and so and then he just says he just finishes by saying
from my thumbs in no who bother valleca TASHA well what ANOVA was
solid, a Sofia
filata to us now. And then after this, the Sophie's they split up
into various branches such that the Socrates there are three
categories and this is where where I lend his saying, it says Sophia,
Sophia, Allah Azza wa, Sophia Rossum. So these are three
categories. The Sufis have true realities. I mean, these are the
genuine Sophie's like the journeys and the saddles and the mouth offs
and Radi Allahu anhu, much Mandarin, right, who really become
the Imams of of right guidance for us even till today. And the and
the Orthodox Sufi teachings of today, trace their pedigree, back
to these type of Imams. Okay, so there's a Sophia Sophia is of true
reality, the genuine service, Sophia is just to earn a living.
If you're in majority Muslim lands, even today, you might still
find some of it. Okay. And they do well. They earn a good living
gait. And then there are just Sophie's in appearance. Okay, they
don't want to live in their appearance for two reasons, either
charlatan appearance, because they want to earn a living, or
actually, they want to just imitate the way of the righteous.
So they have kind of good intent but they are just they don't have
the the substance perhaps they would like the substance. So we
hope
that as the process of said, you will be raised up with those whom
you love.
So when we love the holy art, there's some hope there Right.
But they could also be people just for the show because they they're
more closer to the Sofia and Azhar just the fake Sophia is trying to
earn just trying to calm people out their money for one reason or
the other. But it's okay. Just trying to get bad Muslims, just
like we get bad sore knees.
We get bad selfies.
Some are worse than others. But that doesn't mean the whole of
Islam is defunct. The whole of Orthodox, mainstream Islam, Sunni
Islam and Asana well Gemma is wrong
likewise, that doesn't mean the whole of the software is wrong.
It's just that.
And how do we sort out the wheat from the chaff we make in this day
and age, if we were living 100 years ago, I would say different
and if she had that man or not, so you want to correct me on this,
and I'm very much open to correction. But today, when we
learn this science, just like we learned Fick, just like we learn
Aikido when we learn the science, either we're learning the detailed
rulings of the heart to develop the heart, or we're just having
good spiritual companionship. Try to make sure that the person who
is claiming the soul Wolf and teaching the soul Wolf, from whom
we're going to open up our hearts to Him, He is cyber Sharia, it
could be a shame as well, but he's a person of Sharia in this day and
age.
Not because that is a condition, the condition is that they should
be following the Sharia law is forget it.
But in this day and age, let them be an alum of Sharia as well. Why,
because there's just a lot of issues and it's there's more
confusions that scholars are still trying to sort out in this thing.
So that's that there is no reason for alarm bells, Turin.
I personally feel so this is not Fatah, my personal opinion can be
taken a left.
It's more important to reach out to people's hearts with the
concept more than the name.
And it's more important that we live something of the concept more
than more than just preach it. We need to be people actively trying
to step out of the darkness into the light and have some kind of
silk in our lives. And that's it. To start off is to have mobile
Allah be ma yada yada.
It's becoming beloved to Allah by doing that which pleases Him but
it's actually rolling up the sleeves. One of my chefs have the
law to Allah says today this the soul will pass rest on three
pillars
that will fry it.
Let's flip it around the article haram abandoning the Haram which
means fulfilling the obligations actually. Darko haram Diwan was
Dicker doing as much as dhikr, as we can constantly as much as we
can,
and sort of the masala him and to have good spiritual companionship,
not companionship of an alum necessarily, who can give you FIP
and Aikido. Unless of course that alum is a person of to solve and
settle. And then you've got the kind of cream of the crop as
regards to the four Imams of fifth. All of them were people of
the solo off. Okay.
And the one that we know most about in the books of the solo off
is Imam Ali had been humbled for no particular reason other than he
was there. At the time, things were being written down and
crystallized.
Otherwise, these people were people of inward and outward law
of Allah, the outward law called FIP, the inward law called solo
that scared the * the MACOM or the things Subhanallah because I
believe that the Ummah Yasuko was salam ala mausoleum, Al
Hamdulillah, Billa mean Sorry, going, like 1012 minutes. So the
point of a lecture is to encourage people to act to get further an
inspiration, and encouragement, persuasion. The next step is to
actually start learning seriously, to read books to take on a subject
of Islam and to understand all the subjects of Islam at least at the
basic level, so that we can become more aware of what our Dean wants
from us. And that's why we started Rayyan courses, so that you can
actually take organize lectures on demand whenever you have free
time, especially for example, the Islamic essentials course that we
have on there, the Islamic essentials certificate, which you
take 20 Short modules, and at the end of that inshallah you will
have gotten the basics of most of the most important topics in Islam
and you'll feel a lot more confident. You don't have to leave
lectures behind you can continue to live, you know, to listen to
lectures, but you need to have this more sustained study as well.
JazakAllah Harun Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato