On the Necessity of Bay'ah to a Competent Shaykh
And avoiding debates with the ignorant
From Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad al Ghazali’s
Yaa Ayyuhal Walad (O by Beloved Son)
Now let’s return to our explanation and I will tell you the internal (inward) conditions for the student and seeker on the Path of Allahu ta ‘ala.
The fifth condition that is obligatory on the seeker on the Path of Allah, the Exalted, is that he/she should have a Shaykh al-Kamil (the perfected spiritual guide) who guides him/her and removes evil qualities [and morals] from the seeker and replaces them with noble qualities [and morals]. The example of [Shaykh’s spiritual] training is just like that of a farmer who when looking after a crop sees the unnecessary grass that emerged, pulls them out of the crop. Likewise, whatever weeds that pop up in the farm, he (i.e. the farmer) uproots them from the crop and throws them away. Then the farmer puts water and fertilizers in the crop so that the crop grows [better] and develops a good quality. Likewise, in every condition, the traveler on the Path of Allah has no cure or solution but to have a Murshid al-Kamil (a true Shaykh or a perfected spiritual guide). Because, Allah, the Exalted, has sent Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to His slaves (human beings) so that he proves to be an illuminated proof (guide) in the Way of Allah and so that he brings people to the Way of Allah, the Exalted. When the Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) departed from this world, he appointed his deputies and caliphs in his place so that they become a proof (Daleel) of the Way of Allah, the Exalted, until the Day of Judgment.
Therefore, for the seeker [of Allahu ta ‘ala], there should be a perfected spiritual guide (Shaykh al-Kamil) who, for the sake of walking on the Path of Allah, is an illuminated proof as a deputy (spiritual heir) of Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
QUALITIES OF A SPIRITUAL GUIDE (SHAYKH)
The heir of Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) who is made one’s Shaykh (spiritual guide) should be a scholar but every scholar cannot be a Shaykh al-Kamil (a perfected spiritual guide). For this work [of guiding people spiritually by purifying their souls and helping them progress with their souls in the Way of Allah] only that person can be qualified who has some specific qualities. Here we briefly narrate some [such] qualities so that every nut head (crazy) and misguided person could not claim to be a Shaykh (spiritual guide) [as it is necessary to define these qualities due to the presence of a large number of fake impersonators claiming to be Shaykhs whose sole purpose is to deceive people to gain material benefits thus causing great damage to this important aspect of Islam by disillusioning people and misguiding many].
I say this that only that person can be a Shaykh (spiritual guide) who after having turned his/her face away from the love of the world, [love of] honor, and [love of worldly] ranks, has given the Bay’a (a way of promising Allah on the hand of a Shaykh to turn away from evil inwardly and outwardly and to excel utmost in the Path of Allahu ta ‘ala by obeying Allahu ta ‘ala’s commandment, staying away from His prohibitions, and struggling with one’s soul to excel oneself in the Path of Allahu ta ‘ala by purifying one’s soul seeking Allahu ta ‘ala’s nearness and approval) to a perfected spiritual guide [who in turn has given the Bay’a to his perfected spiritual guide and so on] so that this [spiritual] chain [in this way] goes back all the way to the Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
This person must have done all kinds of Riyaadhat/Mujahada [spiritual struggles] and has obeyed every commandment of Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). This person must eat less, sleep less, pray more (performs prescribed five daily prayers along with optional prayers), fasts more, and does a lot of spending [in the Way of Allahu ta ‘ala] and charity. This person should have in his/her temperament (inner and outer personality) all good moral qualities and patience, gratitude, certitude [in Allah], generosity, contentment, trustworthiness, tolerance, seriousness [of purpose in life], humility, obedience [to Allah], truthfulness, shyness (modesty, reserve, fear of wrongdoing), dignity (an aura of honor and respect), tranquility, and other qualities like these should be a part of his character and conduct. This person should have acquired a light (illumination) from the lights (illuminations) of Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) so that all evil qualities like miserliness, jealousy, enmity, expectations from the world [and its inhabitants], anger, rebellion, etc., have been eliminated from him and he should not be dependent on anyone for knowledge except for that knowledge which we [specifically] obtain from the Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
These [above] mentioned qualities, among some qualities of perfected spiritual guides and leaders who lead spiritually on the Path of Allahu ta ‘ala, are capable of making one a deputy/heir of the Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Following such spiritual guides is the correct way.
OBEDIENCE TO A SPIRITUAL GUIDE
Such spiritual guides are very difficult to find. But if someone has obtained this wealth and this blessing that he/she found such a spiritual guide and this spiritual guide includes him/her among his disciples (Mureeds) then it is necessary for this disciple to have outer and inner respect or adab (honor and etiquettes) for his/her spiritual guide.
OUTER ETIQUETTES (ADAB/RESPECT)
Outer adab (etiquettes) [to one’s spiritual guide] include that [the disciple] does not argue with him/her and if some argument starts and if he/she thinks that the spiritual guide has forgotten something then he/she should not object to it. The disciple should not stand in place of prayers all the time but when its time for prayers then he/she should go to the place of prayers and perform prayers then. When [the disciple] is done with prayers then he should wrap up the praying mat and should not perform a lot of optional (extra and non-obligatory) prayers in front of the Shaykh (spiritual guide) after every [obligatory, i.e., five daily] prayers. Whatever the perfected guide commands, the disciple should obey it to the best of his/her capacity [It is extremely important for everyone to understand here that, of course, a true spiritual guide cannot and will not command a disciple to do something which is Haram (forbidden) in the Shari’ah (the law of Allah). On contrary, the fake impersonators claiming to be spiritual guides lacking in the aforementioned qualities, can command their disciples to do things that are Haram (forbidden)].
INNER ETIQUETTES (ADAB/RESPECT)
Inner adab (etiquettes) [to one’s spiritual guide] include that whatever the disciple apparently hears from the Murshid (spiritual guide), he/she should not entertain even a small grain of doubt in his/her heart about the Shaykh’s (spiritual guide) words or deeds otherwise the disciple will be called a hypocrite. If the disciple cannot do that then he/she should abstain from the company of the spiritual guide until his/her inside becomes like his/her outside.
The sixth condition is that the disciple (the seeker of truth) refrains from the deceptions of the Nafs (the lower self which is a subtle, invisible [to an outer eye yet clearly visible to a person having an inner eye or deep insight], inner presence [or subtle faculty like the soul] that commands one to evil by whispering it into the heart of a person). This is only possible if the seeker abandons the gatherings of the bad-charactered folks and the ignorant people. In this way, the domination of Shaytan (Satan) over his/her heart will come to an end and all Satanic (evil) influences will get eradicated from their roots. This Satanic group could be from among the humans or from among the Jinn (an invisible creation of Allahu ta ‘ala that was created from fire. Satan belongs to this group and he gets his recruits from this group).
The seventh condition is that in every situation, [a seeker] should give preference to humility and lack of greed over wealth and should adopt contentment [and satisfaction with the Will of Allah]. These seven things are essential for the traveler on the Path of Allah, the Exalted, and the seeker [of the truth].
THE PRINCIPLES OF DEBATE
Firstly, as much as it’s possible you should not have [religious] debates with everyone and do not argue with anyone on any [religious or non-religious] issue because there are many [hidden] calamities (harms) in it and has more harms than benefits. This work (debates and arguments) is the fountainhead (source) of all evil things such as ostentation (show off/Riya), jealousy, arrogance, resentment, enmity, pride, egoism, etc. If an argument starts between you and someone else [about an issue] and you desire the truth to prevail then your intention to argue in this matter is said to be correct. In this regards, there are two indications (signs) of your right intentions:
First [indication] is that, if truth is revealed from either your tongue or from the tongue of the opponent, it makes no difference to you. In other words, you are satisfied (content) in both cases that the truth has been revealed.
Second indication [of your right intention] is that you consider it better to argue on this [issue with your opponent] in solitude [and not in front of an audience]. But if you argue [or debate] on an issue and if you are certain that you are correct and the opponent is only arguing [for the sake of arguing] then you beware and do not argue with him/her and end your discussion right at that point otherwise grudges [and resentments] will born out of this and no benefit [whatsoever] will be achieved.
Here I explain a benefit. You should know that to ask questions about [religious and spiritual] issues is like narrating the diseases of the heart and its causes in front of a doctor (curer) of the heart. Furthermore, the efforts made by this doctor (curer) to cure the diseases of the heart, are like responding to the questions asked about [various] issues. You should have the certainty that ignorant people are like those patients who have a sickness (disease) in their hearts and [true] scholars are like doctors and curers.
Imperfect scholars are not capable of curing [the diseases of the heart] and perfected scholar (Shaykh al-Kamil) can cure the diseases. Furthermore, [a perfected scholar] can find the [root] causes of the disease, but if the disease becomes worse and if its causes are not found then an expert doctor (curer) should be consulted who can tell that this disease can be cured and this disease cannot be cured with any medicine. To be indulged in curing an incurable disease like this is equivalent to wasting time. Now you should understand that.
CATEGORIES OF PATIENTS:
Ignorant [people who are like] patients are of four kinds and among these [four] categories, the patients belonging to one category can be cured. The remaining three categories of patients are incurable.
First patient is the one who asks questions because of jealousy or who objects. Jealousy is such a lethal disease that has no cure. Just understand that whatever answer you will give, no matter how good it is, he/she will consider you an enemy and his/her fire of envy and jealousy will be further ignited. Therefore, it’s better to not respond to this person. A poet has said something good in this respect:
“Kullul ‘Adawati Qad Turja Izalatuha
Illa ‘Adawata Mun ‘Aadaka Min Hasadin.”
“Every kind of animosity can be rectified (corrected) but the animosity born out of jealousy is not possible to be rectified.”
Therefore, its solution is that you leave this jealous one so that he/she stays infected with this disease.
“Fa ‘AaRid ‘Um Mun Tawalla ‘Un Zikrina Walam Yurid Illal Hayatad Dunya.”
“So stay away from the individual who [because of jealousy] turns his/her face away from Our remembrance and desires nothing but [the pleasures of] the life of the world.”
Second kind of patient is the one whose cause of disease is the lack of intelligence and foolishness. This disease is also incurable. Prophet ‘Isa (Jesus, peace be upon him) said that I am [with the Permission of God] not incapable of bringing dead to life but I am incapable of curing the fools and the ignorant folks. Ignorant fool is the one who spends very little time acquiring knowledge and has not even started [learning] intellectual and transmitted religious knowledge but objects to those scholars who have spent their lifetime acquiring intellectual and transmitted religious knowledge.
This individual has no knowledge that his/her objection is considered agonizing by this individual [even though he/she is not aware of it], others like him/her, and scholars. Likewise, undoubtedly, this objection must seem agonizing to the one who is a great scholar. This individual does not even know that the objection he is having on the scholar is of no avail (useless) [to him/her]. This great scholar’s depth of knowledge and insights is not even known to him/her and to others like him/her. So if this person cannot even understand that (i.e. the knowledge and depth of understanding of the scholar) then it is his/her foolishness. One should stay away from this kind of person and should not even give [him/her] a response.
ADVICE ACCORDING TO ONE’S COMPREHENSION:
Third kind of patient is the one who, due to his/her restlessness and impatience, do not understand the teachings of the spiritually elevated ones (saints) and keeps relying on his/her lack of intelligence, for whatever this individual understands, understands it according to his/her own interest (benefit). This [kind of] person is simpleminded and mindless and his/her mind is incapable of understanding the truth. This kind of person should not even be given a response, because Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has said:
“Nahnu Ma’aashirul Anbiyaee Umirna Un Natakallamun Nasa ‘Ala Qadre ‘Uuqulihim.”
“Our group of prophets have been ordered [by Allah] to talk to the people according to their minds (i.e. mental capacities/understandings).”
INDIVIDUAL CAPABLE OF BENEFITING FROM ADVICE:
Fourth kind of patient is the one who is seeking the right path of guidance (Sirat al-Mustaqeem), is obedient, sharp and intelligent, and he/she should not have anger, following of the desires from the lower self (Nafs), jealousy, and desire for wealth and fame. Therefore, this person who is searching for the path of truth and for correct method (guidance), whatever question he/she asks or objections he/she makes is not due to jealousy or to find fault or to test. This type of person is that patient who can be cured. Therefore, to answer the questions of this person is not just legitimate but it’s obligatory (Wajib).