Isn’t Zikr Enough?
Without the suhbat of a shaikh, if a person does an abundant amount of zikr, he still will not benefit properly. Hazrat Khwaja Sahib (RA) asked Hazrat Thanwi (RA), “Should not the zikr of Allah on its own be sufficient and not require this condition of suhbat of a shaikh?” Hazrat Thanwi (RA) replied, “It is zikr alone that makes a person climb the stairs of success, but the custom of Allah (‘aadatullah) has been that without a shaikh, a person is not able to progress solely on the basis of zikr. This is why suhbat of a shaikh is a condition. It is the sword that makes the cut, but the sword will only be able to cut when it is in the grasp of a person who can control it. A sword by itself can not do anything even though the sword is what makes the cut.”
Taken from Kashkol-e-Ma’rifat pg. 143
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An-Noor 
March 7, 2007 at 11:27 pm
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March 7, 2007 at 8:01 am
Still the question remains… But why is abundant zikr of Allah not sufficient? Does Allah not command us to make abundant zikr in the Quran Sharif?
In answer to this I have heard Hazratwala (damatbarakatuhum) say:
“If abundant worship and zikr, alone by itself, without the company of a Shaikh-e-Kamil to supervise and keep the nafs in check, was sufficient, then shaytan would have been the most pious of all.”
Iblees worshipped Allah for thousands of years and due to not having anyone over him to keep his nafs in check. He started to get pride in his worship and self-righteousness and arrogance creeped into him.
Then, all his internal evil manifested itself when he was commanded by Allah to prostrate to Adam (alaihis salaam) wherein we all know what transpired from then on. May Allah Ta`ala save us.
The important point to remember is that the Sahabah also followed the command of abundant zikr but they had the company of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam)which was a constant reminder and spiritual supervision.
Similarly the Tabe’een had the company of the sahaabah, and the Tabiut-Tabe’een had the company and supervision of the Tabe’een, and so on.
And they had this supervision in all aspects of Deen not only in zikr… that’s why they were successful.
Now we come along centuries later and think that we can reach Allah alone without that company and suhbat. How is that possible?
We have seen that it is the way of Iblees to invent independant and isolated spirituality.
As for treading the path of Deen through company and suhbat, this is the way of the Prophets, and those who followed them.
May Allah Ta`ala grant us the understanding and taufeeq.