The False and the True
The real spiritual guide of us all is
Allah, and, I believe the nature of
God's curriculum is far too complex to
try to be reductionistic and quibble about
whether it is real, human teachers who choose
their students, or is it the other
way around. The fact that some shaykhs
may, by means of kashf or insight, know
that such and such a person's spiritual
destiny lays with some other teacher
does not mean that shayhks choose their
students, but, rather, Allah, assigns
such relationships according to Divine
purposes, and, as a courtesy, informs
a given teacher that someone really needs
to journey elsewhere to find their
guide.
Someone has indicated in a posting that:
"Some masters have said that if you are
false to your self you will fall amongst those
''Sharks'' as one brother called
them, otherwise the truthful sincere
student will always find his master,
he may not like his master."
The fact of the matter is, except for the
fully realized awliya of Allah, we are
all false to ourselves. This is why Ra'bia
of Basra said to a fellow Sufi, who was
being judgmental of 'ordinary Muslims'
who were not as observant of spiritual
practices as the Sufi, that: 'Thy existence
is a sin with which none other can compare."
We are all in need of help, compassion,
guidance, assistance, forgiveness, and
so on. To try to categorize some people
as being false to themselves, and others
as being the 'true' seekers is overly
simplistic and inherently problematic.
At another point in this on-going
Group-List discussion, someone has stated:
"One ancient teacher was asked what happens
when a sincere student falls in with a false
teacher, he said that, the real student will
change the character of the false teacher,
as TRUTH IS GREATER THAN FALSEHOOD."
The Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) did
not change the character of Pharaoh, so,
therefore, there was something wrong with
Prophet Moses (peace be upon him)? I don't
think so. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him) did not change the character of
his uncle Abu Lahab, so, therefore, the
Prophet was somehow not a locus of manifestation
of the truth? Again, I do not think so.
It is Allah who changes character for the
good, not human beings. At best, human beings
are loci of manifestation who serve as
mediums through which such transformations
occur, if Allah wishes.
Finally, someone has maintained:
"I suppose we also have to bear in mind
what some of the masters have said, that
being there are MORE FALSE STUDENTS THAN
TEACHERS... The real students as we all
know are few, though many masters, may
have thousands of students."
Should we assume,
in light of what was noted above, that because truth is
greater than falsehood, that the 'failure'
of real shaykhs to alter the character of
false students reflects adversely, somehow,
on such teachers -- that they have been
remiss in their duties? Or, should we
suppose that the problem in all of this
is trying to reduce everything down to
rules of thumb when the situation is far
more complex, nunanced, rich and subtle
than is being alluded to by far too many
individuals.
To the best of my knowledge there were only
twelve people who were given the good
news by Allah, during the time of the
Prophet (peace be upon him) that they
had been granted spiritual felicity in the
next life. I believe it is very dangerous
for any of the rest of us to suppose that
we know what our fate is to be on the Day
of Judgment.
Moreover, on that Day, there will be people
who have done little or no good with their
lives on Earth and, yet, they will inherit
Paradise. The reason for this is that Allah
wishes us all to understand that barakah
depends on Divine wishes and is in no way
dependent on human actions -- but the
better part of discretion is to struggle
toward the light and not hold out hope
that we are going to be the ones who
will be granted clemency in the foregoing
sense.
