Someone wrote and inquired about the process through which a person becomes a shaykh. My understanding of this process, together with some related issues is as follows.

One must, by the Grace of Allah, be appointed by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and this appointment is carried out at the hands of one's shaykh or through the elders of the silsilah when the identity of the shaykh-to-be is made known to such individuals through spiritual kashf. The passing on of the khirkah, or mantle of spiritual authority, is usually not a hereditary process (such as father to son) and when this does happen, it is purely for metaphysical reasons, rather than biological ones, and, as such, the biological connection is largely coincidental.

The appointment of someone as a shaykh by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is not a matter of qualifications in the usual sense of this word. That is, for a person to be a shaykh, the person need not be an Islamic scholar, or a Hafiz of Qur'an, or someone who has committed to memory so many thousands of Hadiths, or an expert on fiqh - although this may be the case.

The person who is selected as shaykh is someone who has certain internal qualities which make her or him a 'good conductor', if you will, of the sort of barakah that will be of assistance, by God's leave, to those seekers who wish to make the journey to Self - which is not so much a matter of distance as it is a matter of struggle and perspective.

There are many, many individuals - or, at least, there used to be - who have great spiritual capacity and scholarship but who do not become shaykhs. These individuals may have something to teach people by virtue of their spiritual understanding, but they do not, and cannot serve, as the kind of esoteric 'touchstone' or 'Philosopher's stone' which makes essential transformation possible unless they are made channel-ways for the special transformational barakah which is transmitted, by God's leave, from shaykh to mureed - if this were not so, there would be no need for a shaykh, for there are many people - or, at least there used to be - who are learned if this is all there was to it.

It is the nisbath between shaykh and mureed which, by God's leave, is the sine-qua-non of spiritual transformation. This is why Rumi (and any other number of great Sufi shaykhs), as great and knowledgeable as he was, became a different 'kettle of fish' after Shams than Rumi was prior to those encounters (may Allah be pleased with them both).

Without a Shams-like figure coming into one's life (although this special individual need not necessarily be of Shams' spiritual station and capacity), then, although there are many spiritual things which may be learned and while, God willing, spiritual progress, of a sort, is possible, the ultimate realization of Self is not likely to take place - at least, not in this world ... although Allah knows best.

Despite popular misunderstandings to the contrary, a shaykh does not necessarily have more spiritual development or capacity than some of the individuals who are not shaykhs (although this may be the case). Moreover, sometimes, a student may spiritually exceed one's teacher's spiritual station without himself or herself going on to become a shaykh.

There are all different kinds of spiritual stations and capacities among shaykhs. The one thing which they all have in common is that they were selected, via God's leave, through being appointed by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and, in being appointed in this manner, they are a channel-way for the sort of Prophetic blessings that are needed to effect essential spiritual transformation.

This is why - and many people still do not understand this - the greatest form of spiritual abuse is not (as heinous as these are) sexual or financial exploitation, or the like. But, rather, the greatest form of spiritual abuse is for someone to present himself or herself as a shaykh when she or he has not been appointed by the Prophet to serve such a function, and, as a result, they cannot help people to realize their holy longing for Selfhood.

There is no course one can take to become a shaykh. Although, to be sure, those who are destined to be a shaykh are put through many trials both before and after the appointment, nonetheless, these trials are part of God's curriculum, and not something which can be incorportated into an institutional format, with degree- or certificate-granting powers.

Fasting will not make one a shaykh; night vigils will not make one a shaykh; seclusion or chilla will not make one a shaykh; zikr will not make one a shaykh; contemplation and meditation will not make one a shaykh; austerities will not make one a shaykh; prayers will not make one a shaykh; sacrifice will not make one a shaykh; saying Fatiha will not make one a shaykh; service to the community will not make one a shaykh; recitation of the Qur'an will not make one a shaykh, and scholarship will not make one a shaykh. To be sure, all of the foregoing activities are important spiritual practices and are good things to do in and of themselves, but none of them - whether considered individually or collectively - will suffice to make one a shaykh ... only Allah's Himma will make one a shaykh, and, often times, out of this Divine Himma, so many other qualities are manifested as well - including the foregoing activities.