Sufism is not just an emphasis on
the purification of the soul but a
complete ideology in itself and it
is marred by un-Islamic concepts and
philosophies like:-
1.
The belief of Wahdat al-Wajood,
which implies that the Creator
(Allah) and the creation are one,
and the creation is just the
manifestation of the Creator.
2.
The belief that the Prophets and the
Sufi saints are alive in their
graves, just as they were alive in
this world. They are fully aware of
the outside world; they can
communicate with the living and help
those who call upon them.
3.
The spirits (Ruh) of the righteous
comes back from the Barzakh.
4.
Gross exaggeration in praising the
Messenger of Allah (sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam) whilst neglecting
his (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam)
teachings in understanding the
religion.
5.
Total and complete obedience to a
Sufi Shaikh.
6.
Penance and living the lives of
hermits are ways to get closer to
Allah.
7.
Some Majzoobs, who have reached the
goal of Sufism, run the affairs of
the creation.[1]
Extremist Sufis have even more
deviated beliefs, but we limit our
discussion to only those beliefs
that are related to the Deobandis in
this book.
S. R.
Sharda comments in his book, ‘Sufi
Thoughts’, “Sufi literature of the
post-Timur period shows a
significant change in thought
content. It is pantheistic[2].
After the fall of Muslim orthodoxy
from power at the center of India
for about a century, due to the
invasion of Timur, the Sufi became
free from the control of the Muslim
orthodoxy and consorted with Hindu
saints, who influenced them to an
amazing extent. The Sufis adopted
Monism[3],
Bhakti[4]and
Yogic practices from the Vaishnava
Vedantic schools. By that time, the
Vedantic pantheism among the Sufis
had reached its zenith.”
This
observation by S. R. Sharda is
correct, because eastern religions
have a well-established and highly
revered position for mysticism and
abstinence, and Sufi beliefs are
amazingly similar to them.
Sufi
Masters like Ibn Arabee[5],
who is greatly revered by the
Deobandi scholars[6],
believed that every religion has an
element of truth in it. He
considered the Pagan religions and
idol-worshipers as followers of the
truth because in his view,
everything is Allah and since there
is no difference between the Creator
and the created, the worship of the
creation is worship of the Creator.
His belief as mentioned in al-Fatoohaatul-Makkiyah
is: “The slave is the Lord and
the Lord is the slave, I wish that I
knew which was the one required to
carry out the required duties, if I
were to say that the servant then
that is true, or if I were to say
the Lord, then how can that be
required for Him.”
Ibn
Arabee says about the Sufis: “Sufi;
the person with complete
understanding is he, who sees every
object of worship to be a
manifestation of Truth (Allah)
contained therein, for which it is
worshiped. Therefore, they all call
it a god, along with its particular
name, whether it is a rock, or a
tree, or an animal, or a person, or
a star, or an Angel.”[7]
It is
this lax attitude of the Sufis
towards false religions that makes
Sufism receptive to many false
philosophies and un-Islamic beliefs.
Following is a comparison of five
concepts and beliefs of Eastern
Pagan Religions as compared to Sufi
practices.
Hinduism and Buddhism claim to
possess great books of wisdom
inherited from the ancestors but
instead of learning from these
books, all of their philosophers and
thinkers have to take up an
essential journey to the
wilderness... in search of God. The
Sufis too, instead of referring to
the Qur’aan and the Sunnah for
guidance wander in forests in search
of God. They seclude themselves from
the society (Khilwah) for specific
periods (Chillah), and examples of
this are abundant in their books…
1.
Moulana Zakariyah says: “He (Imdadullah
Muhajir Makki) withdrew himself from
the midst of people and wandered in
the wilderness of Punjab, which
became his home… He would refrain
from eating for up to eight days.
Not a grain would go down his throat
in these periods of self-imposed
starvation.”[8]
(click to view the scanned image of
the quote)
2.
Moulana Zakariyah says: “A beggar (a
Sufi master in disguise) chewed
something, and gave Abdul Hadi to
eat. As he ate the morsel, his state
began to change. Shaikh Abdul Hadi
developed a dislike for company and
became claustrophobic in
settlements. He would wander into
the forest and spend most of his
time there.”[9]
3.
Moulana Zakariyah says: “Shaikh
Ahmad Abdul Haqq Radoli was a person
of ecstasy, and Uloom-e-Batiniyyah
(inner knowledge) attracted him in
full force. Even before completing
his academic career, he adopted
solitude and wandering in the
forest.”[10]
The
Hindus, Buddhist and Jain religions
unanimously agree on the concept
that everything is the Creator (i.e.
nothing exists other than God. The
Creator and His creation are, in
reality, one) and ultimately
everything merges in Him (the
Creator). This merging is basically
the goal of worship in Hinduism and
Buddhism, which is also known as ‘Moksha.’
These
pantheistic views of the Hindus and
Sufis are amazingly similar. If one
reads books explaining Pantheism by
the Hindus and the books of Sufis,
one would hardly see any difference.
We shall see this with ample proofs
in Chapter 3: ‘Pantheism, Wahdat al-Wajood
or Moksha.‘
According to these religions; piety,
wisdom and nearness to God is only
possible when one devotes all his
time in the wilderness and abandons
the civilized world. Sadhus or
hermits cause great hardships to
themselves by practicing harsh acts
of abstinence. They live without
food for days to end until their
bodies are reduced to just bones.
Their devotional exercises include
hanging upside down on the branches
of trees for hours and sleeping on
bed of nails. They meditate for long
periods sitting without any movement
in one position and hold their
breaths for enormously long time.
Professor D. S. Sarma, the author of
numerous Hindu books says: “The
higher phase of self-control is
detachment. We have not only to
overcome what is evil in life but
also to become independent of what
is good. For instance, our domestic
affections, our family ties, our
love for home and friends are good
in themselves. But, as long as, we
are passionately attached to these
earthly things, we are only on the
lower rungs of the spiritual
ladder.”[11]
The
Sufis too believe in complete
abstinence from worldly pleasures
and deprive themselves of the
blessings of Allah. It is mentioned
in Irshaadul-Mulook, “According to
some Sufiya, it has been learnt from
experience that thirst is a
deceptive desire. Therefore, whoever
develops the habit of drinking less
water at the time of thirst; Allah
will quench his thirst until he
gains the ability of abstaining from
water for several months at a time.
He will not even have the desire to
drink water. Despite this, his
physical health will not deteriorate
in anyway whatsoever. His body will
be sustained by the moisture
acquired from the food he eats.”[12]
We
find number of stories concerning
wandering and starvation of their
Shaikhs mentioned in their books,
1.
“He (Khwaajah Abu Hubairah) loved
solitude dearly. His entire life was
spent in one room. He would cry so
much that people thought he would
die. He abandoned all delicious
food.”[13]
2.
“Khwaajah Shareef Zandani stayed in
forest for 40 years, fleeing from
people. He subsisted on the leaves
of trees and whatever he could find
in the forest. He loved poverty and
starvation. He would break fast only
after three days. When he ate food,
it was only salt-less vegetables.”[14]
3.
Khwaajah Uthmaan Haaruni adopted
Mujahadah for 70 years, never eating
to satiation (to satisfy fully or
excess) in all this time. He would
drink mouthful of water only after
seven days.[15]
4.
“Hazrat Faridud Deen’s Shaikh
advised him (Faridud Deen) hunger
for three days and then eat what
comes from Ghayb (Unseen). After
three days, nothing came. On account
of extreme hunger Faridud Deen put
some pebbles in his mouth, the
pebbles turned into sugar; he spat
them out. A short while later, he
again put some pebbles in his mouth
which too, became sugar. This
happened again for the third time.
When Faridud Deen informed his
Shaikh of the incident, his Shaikh
said: “It would have been good if
you had ate it.”[16]
5.
“Khwaajah ilw Mumshad Dinwari was a
perpetual faster. It is said that
even during his infancy he would
sometimes abstain from drinking his
mother’s milk. He is therefore
called a born wali.”[17]
6.
Moulana Zakariyah says: “It is said
that Khwaajah Abu Ahmad Abdaal
Chisti never slept on bed for 30
years.”[18]
Excessive chanting and
breath-holding exercises are
essential rituals of mysticism. This
is generally done in solitude and
for hours together. It is believed
that such rituals enlighten the
heart with knowledge and gives them
miraculous powers.
The Sufis too
have similar types of Dhikr…
Moulana Zakariyah says: “Hazrat
Nizamuddin al-Umri was instructed by
his Shaikh to recite ‘Allahu’ 90
times in a single breathe gradually
increasing the number in accordance
with his ability. Ultimately, he
developed his ability to the extent
of up to 400 times with a single
breath.”[19]
The
practice of heavy breathing, as in
the Sufi Dhikr of inhaling whilst
saying “La-ilaha” and then exhaling
to create a loud and sharp voice
saying ‘ill-lal-lah’ is seen in
various oriental and eastern
religions. Islam neither specifies
breathing techniques as part of
Ibaadah, nor sets any guidelines in
this regard. This aspect of Sufism
will be discussed further under,
‘Chapter 7: Worship in Islam.’
Eastern mystics claim to have
eternal life. No people would
worship a mystic or depend upon him
to avert evil, if he had no control
over his own existence. The concept
of death would imply that they could
not avert harm or help the people.
Thus, the concept of eternal life -
as is also inscribed on the grave of
Rajneesh, “Osho – Never Born, Never
Died - Only visited this Planet,
Earth between Dec 11-1931 to Jan
19-1990.”[20]
The
Sufis consider their Shaikhs in the
graves to be alive and in their
senses. They consider them able to
benefit their followers. Moulana
Zakariyah quotes Haji Imdadullah
Muhajir Makki in his book
Mashaikh-e-Chist saying, “…The Faqir
does not die. He is simply
transformed from one abode to
another. The same benefit which was
received from the Faqir’s physical
life will be acquired from his
grave.”[21]
These
abovementioned examples show the
origins of the many deviated and
un-Islamic concepts that the Sufis
have borrowed from Pagan religions.
The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam) and his Companions
(radhi allahu anhu) did not live the
life of hermits, neither did they
abstain from Halaal blessings of
Allah. They did not punish
themselves, nor did they indulge in
the types of innovative and
excessive Dhikr that the Sufis
prescribe. They knew that guidance
is only in following the revelation
and not wandering in the wilderness.
[1]
Moulana Zakariyah says:
“According to some Ulema, he
(Shaikh Ibnul Hamaam Hanafee)
was among the Abdal (the
Deobandi translator says Abdaal
are a class of Awliya whose
identities remain concealed.
They possess miraculous powers
and execute a variety of tasks
under Divine Command in various
places of the world). [Ikhmaalush
Shiyaam (Eng. Trans.) p.59.]
[2]Pantheism:
The belief that God and the
universe are the same - doctrine
that God is an expression of the
physical forces of nature [The
World Book Dictionary]
[3]Monism:
The doctrine that the Creator
and His creation are one and
that nothing exists other than
Allah. In Soofi terminology, it
is known as Wahdat al-Wajood
[4]Bhakti:
Selfless devotion as a means of
reaching a higher spiritual
being.
[5]
Abu Bakr Muhyiddin Muhammad bin
‘Ali al-Tai, commonly known as
Ibn Arabee / Ibn ‘l-’Arabee
(1165-1240), was born in Murcia
(Spain) and died in Damascus. He
was one of the leading
authorities on Sufism, who is
respected by Sufis around the
world.
[6]
The scholars of the school of
Deoband consider Ibn Arabee to
be one of ‘the great Soofi
saints’ and refer to him,
Ash-Shaikh al-Akbar (The
Greatest Shaikh). A Question was
put to Mufti Abdur Rahim Lajpuri,
‘Some Moulvis (religious
leaders) allege that Moulana
Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi, Moulana
Muhammad Qasim Nanotwi, Moulana
Khalil Ahmad Ambethvi, Moulana
Ashraf Ali Thanvi and other
religious divines are infidels
and apostates, faithless and
heretic, accursed and denizens
of Hell etc. Please comment.
Answer:
“The unholy endeavor of
vilifying and maligning men...
is not something new”. Mufti
Lajpuri then gives the examples
of Prophets, the Sahabah, the
scholars, the pious Imams and
the Soofi saints who have
suffered likewise. He then
states, “(Even) the mystical
statements of Ba Yazid of
Bastami were adjudged to be
inconsistent with the Sharee’ah...
About the most great
Shaikh Muhiyyud-Din Ibn Arabee
it was said, ‘His unbelief
(Kufr) is worse than the
unbelief of the Jews and the
Christians’.” [Fatawa Rahimiyyah
(English trans.) vol.1, p.2-4]
[20]
Rajneesh has a great admiration
for Sufism, and he wrote
numerous books on the subject.
Among them are, ‘Soofis – the
people of the Path’, ‘Just like
that’, ‘The Secret’, ‘The Wisdom
of the Sands’, ‘The Perfect
Master’ and ‘Until you Die.’
