Leave Yourself and Your Self at the Door and then Enter

Alhamdulillah, we have been taught by our Shaykh (DB) that the salik should not have an opinion regarding matters of islah.  It is for this very reason that one must examine a shaykh inside out prior to forming a relationship with that shaykh.  Once a relationship has been formed with a shaykh, then the salik must leave them self and their self i.e. their nafs at the door and then enter into the silsilah of the shaykh.  This is the only way to benefit completely from the shaykh.

A major illness that is common amongst us mureeds is that we opine that we have a right to opine over any matter.  May Allah forgive us, but when a few mureeds discuss some matter, and one of them says that our shaykh has said this regarding this issue.  The other mureeds will comment by saying, “Hazrat is not well-versed with the situation in which we are in.” Mureeds are supposes to be helpful for other mureeds.  This will only happen when both mureeds are headed in the same direction and they have the same purpose.

The effect of suhbat is as bright as day.  Mureeds need to be extremely mindful of who they associate with.  Mureeds feel that they can associate with anyone they wish.  The most beneficial suhbat a person can have is with their shaykh and other pious individuals. Obedience to the shaykh is mandatory. Now-a-days, a new disease has cropped up amongst the mureeds, and that is the disease of hiding things from the shaykh.  Albeit, giving people the benefit of the doubt, their intentions may be good. However, as a general rule, if you have to hide something from your shaykh, there can be no khayr or goodness in that.  Some people fear that their shaykh will get angry.  This too, is a positive thing because the shaykh getting upset will lead to one’s islah.  We sometimes speak with people who have negative things to say about our shaykh and other mashaaikh.  This is a major sin of the ears.

A mureed has to understand that a basic right of the shaykh is i’timad, i.e. reliance. This means that I rely completely on Allah in that my shaykh is the most beneficial person for me.  Please let the shaykh do his job and the mureed should try to fulfill the other basic rights of the shaykh and not try to second guess the shaykh.  The shaykh and the mureed are not playing a game of chess where each player thinks twenty some odd moves ahead.

For this reason we must leave ourselves and our self at the door and then enter properly and completely into the silsilah.  Let us not use our own mind to try to understand things which are beyond our understanding. Often times, mureeds find that their friends are those poor souls who are no longer part of the same silsilah. These people have it in for the shaykh and often make up stories about the shaykh.  They will encourage the simple obedient mureed to secretly disobey their shaykh.  The only rational outcome of such company is confusion and doubts. How is someone like that not going to cause doubts? If they can encourage one to undercut one’s own shaykh, then I think it’s obvious that they are going to cause problems.

The biggest problem with all of us is “Me, Myself, and I”.  The best way to rid ourselves of these doubts and confusions is to stop making assumptions about the shaykh.  We feel that since our shaykh is human, and humans are prone to err, therefore, my shaykh can possibly err in making my islah.  This faulty thinking and is in reality an objection against Allah.  The reason for this is due to the fact that the shaykh only figuratively makes our islah.  In reality, it is Allah that makes our islah.  The best way for one to
relieve one’s self of their doubts is to stop making assumptions about their shaykh period. Whether they are right or wrong, one is not going to benefit from trying to break down the shaykh’s every move, especially when one’s analyses are pretty much always wrong. That may seem harsh to many, but it is to teach us a lesson. Whether we learn it or not is up us.

To end, I’d like to end with a a few lines of poetry by my beloved and respected teacher, Hazrat Mawlana Mansoor-ul-Haq Sahib (DB), which goes as follows:

Khud apni rai pe chalne ko payrawi nahi kehte

Ghulami nafs ki karne ko bandagi nahi kehte

Nazar ke chor ke sar par nahi hai taj-e-wilayat

Jo muttaqi nahi hota ussey wali nahi kehte

Agar mili na ghulami kisi Khuda ke wali ki

To ‘ilm-e-Dars-e-Nizami ko ‘ilm hi nahi kehte.

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