Canadian Wilderness
A few days ago, I returned from Canada. I had gone to visit with some friends –– people who, like me, and some others in this Sufi Spiritual Abuse Recovery Group, had their lives altered by the insidious activities of a person who claimed –– and, on the surface, appeared –– to be an authorized Sufi master, complete with: flowing beard; talk of God, the Prophets, and awliya; observance of halal proprieties; regular saying of Fatiha; a peaceful demeanor; constant references to the Qur’an and Sunnah; an impressive familiarity with the history of tasawwuf; a knack for zeroing in on the essence of a matter; Sufi-like affability and friendliness; an engaging manner; a soft-spoken quality; enchanting stories; penetrating insights; useful counsel; diverse zikr practices; an apparently deep concern for humankind and its many spiritual illnesses; an indirect, subtle, gentle way of teaching; a circle of devotees who were all gushing in their thankfulness to God for having sent such a mother-lode of Divine barakah in the form of their shaykh, and, finally, a Sehjrah [the names of the individuals who historically precede and –– in authentic cases –– both stand in spiritual support of a given shaykh, as well as, by the leave of Allah, have authorized and approved the appointment of a guide or teacher to serve the silsilah -- chain of spiritual transmission that is rooted in the person of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) -- by, among other things, assisting seekers in suluk or spiritual journeying in relation to the purpose of life and human potential].
I have seen skeptics, cynics, fundamentalists, and people from an array of cultural, theological, spiritual, and educational backgrounds interact with this man. Most, if not all, of them have gone away very intrigued, fascinated, and impressed -- singing a very different tune about tasawwuf than the one with which they may have arrived prior to their encounter with this man.
Individuals I have known for years, and who have never had an altered state of consciousness or who are not the sort of people who would pretend in such areas, have rolled around on the floor screaming uncontrollably and, then, speak of wisdom given during such episodes. People, independently of one another, would mention various manner of kiramat, or wondrous deeds, which have occurred in relation to this man.
I have been in the company of at least four individuals who, supposedly, are reputable shaykhs here in North America, and who refer in glowing terms to this individual –– including one shaykh who knew my first shaykh and who said of this individual about whom I have been speaking: “I have loved two people in my life ... my own shaykh, and this person here,” and he pointed to the individual being described in the foregoing. I have seen, talked with, and spent a lot of time with some people who are grizzled veterans of the many problems surrounding mystical chicanery in North America and were completely enamored with this individual. Even those who did not take ba’yat with this man, loved to sit with him for hours whenever he visited one city or another and asked me to notify them whenever this alleged Sufi shaykh came to town.
People who spent time in the presence of this individual felt good, happy, secure, peaceful, accepted, protected, loved. Hours and days would melt away like inconsequential vapors whenever he was around. People would not want to go away from him, and, literally, would sleep on the floor in anticipation of another day with him. They felt like they had found the friend of a life time –– someone who wasn’t just their spiritual teacher, but someone who actually cared what happened to one on a day to day basis ... someone who would make arrangements to help people in financial need ... someone who would encourage people to help others in concrete ways ... someone who always seemed to be talking about the very issues with which one was concerned in one’s heart ... someone who said that whereas many others use scissors to cut relationships apart, the people of tasawwuf always use a needle and thread to sew things back together.
I started this essay by saying that I had just come back from Canada. While there, I have seen, close up and personal, the human carnage which this so-called man has left in his wake. My experience there was heart-wrenching, for rather than having taken a needle and thread to sew a family back together, this man has butchered asunder the relationships among a family of seven –– almost all of whom, at one time, or another belonged to, or were friendly with, the silsilah which the individual in question claims to serve.
I learned first hand how this man lied, manipulated, extorted, exploited, cajoled, maneuvered, and betrayed a variety of individuals in order to get control over two of the daughters in the family, and was busily trying to gain control over a third. I have learned how this man set a number of the children against the parents, put the parents at odds with one another, encouraged antagonism among the sisters, and interfered with four marriages within the family.
The so-called teacher was able to maintain plausible deniability –– as the politicians say –– by using proxies, both within, and outside of, the family -- to do his dirty work. Whenever anyone would approach him directly about what was going on –– and he always encouraged everyone to do this (in this way, he controlled the flow of information) –– he would act surprised and hurt that so and so had done such and such. He would indicate that he would try to correct the situation, in his own way, as best he could.
Inevitably, however, as more and more information was disclosed by different individuals, it became obvious that the man had been orchestrating the entire set of events. He would lie to your face, but he had the ability to not only induce one to accept the lie as truth, but, as well, to incline one to think he was doing one a favor in the process even though the lie, sooner or later, would have a destructive effect upon one’s life.
I am reminded of a story I once read when taking German as an undergraduate. It was called: “Biedermann und die Brandstifter” –– Biedermann and the Fire-starter or Pyromaniac. It was by Max Frisch.
The story was a satire on the rise of Nazi Germany, and the character of the ‘fire-starter’ was a stand in for Hitler, and Biedermann was jederman –– that is, the every man, average citizen caught up in historical circumstances. Although Biedermann had been hearing regular reports on the radio and in the newspapers about an arsonist who was on the loose, nonetheless, when a potential border knocked on his door, seeking to rent a room, Biedermann invited the man in, showed him around, and, eventually, rented a room in his house to him.
As time passed by, the guy who rented the room began to bring in cans of gasoline, cloth, boxes of matches, and other things for making fires. Each time, Biedermann would inquire about the nature and purpose of the materials being brought into the house, and each time the guy renting the room would provide a plausible explanation of what he was doing with such things.
In the end, of course, Biedermann must suffer the consequences of what has been going on right under his nose, just as the German people, the Jewish people, and the rest of the world had to suffer the consequences of letting Hitler and his fanatical cohorts –– the pyromaniacs of their time –– rent room amongst them. Many people who pride themselves on their 20-20 hindsight, believe it was obvious what would happen, and feel that the world was just like Biedermann -- oblivious to all the warning signs and indications going on around them.
Yet, the nature of historical events -- just like signs, symbols, and language –– are open to a multiplicity of interpretations ... not all of which are correct, but many of which are quite consistent with the available data. Trying to see the thread of unfolding history amidst the many existing possibilities tends to be easier after the fact, than beforehand –– and, yet, even then, people still continue to argue, explore, discuss, and question the actual nature of events after the fact of their having transpired.
In Canada I saw two young women who were among the most loving, gentlest, humblest, sincerest, warmest, friendliest, caring, loving, compassionate kids I have ever met –– young people who very respectful and devoted to their parents and family –– young people who have been turned into snarling, sullen, angry, resentful, argumentative, critical, uncaring, hypocritical, lying, abrasive, finger-pointing, self-righteous, hard-hearted, unreasoning, individuals who reject their parents, the rest of their family, and anyone else who has the audacity, in a peaceable manner, to try to inform them and warn them about the sort of activities which their ‘beloved’ spiritual guide is engaged.
These young people have been ‘taught’ to be suspicious of their parents and their other sisters. These young women have been ‘taught’ to look upon anyone who has a different opinion from their teacher as: dangerous, insincere, Muslim activists, fundamentalists, not to be trusted, suffering from religious mania, vengeful, in the clutches of their own nafs, having strayed from the straight path, mentally ill, and so on. These young women have been taught that it is all right to lie and deceive if the purpose of the lie or deception is to do good –– “good” being whatever their shaykh deemed to be such.
Ironically, I sympathize with the plight of these two young women who have been transformed into programmed zombies that trust no one but their shaykh. I have witnessed, first hand, the great disconnect which exists between, on the one hand, the nature of one’s memorable, pleasant, interesting, intriguing, educational, and soulful experiences with the so-called spiritual guide in question, and, on the other hand, the absolutely appalling, unacceptable, puzzling, and destructive behavior which is emanating from, through, and around that same individual.
How does one reconcile the two? And, if one is forced to choose between one version and the other, the way to go is not, necessarily all that obvious.
All manner of aspersions have been cast on the Prophets, on their Companions, on the awliya. Iblis is always trying to cast doubts into one’s interior world and to separate a human being from the straight path. One’s own nafs has been described by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as our most dangerous enemy.
One is taught, as a matter of adab, not to harbor suspicions about others, or either speak, or even think, ill of others –– let alone one’s alleged spiritual guide. One is taught that those who oppose the friends of Allah, have Allah as an enemy. One is informed in the Qur’an that one will be tested in many different ways. One is encouraged to see through the vision of faith, rather than through the blinders of limited reason. One is taught to love, forgive, be tolerant, forbearing, charitable, and so on.
So, if someone comes along and says that one’s shaykh has been doing certain sorts of abhorrent behavior, what is one to do? Should one listen to the evidence, such as it is, knowing that there are well-established principles of Shari’ah which indicate that one who listens to back-biting is as guilty as the one who utters it? Should we leave it all to Allah, even while knowing that we have a spiritual responsibility to warn others of wrong-doing? Should we shy away from contentious issues fearing that if we participate in any fashion with respect to such matters that we may be guilty of creating fitna and divisions among people -- something for which Allah has clearly indicated a great distaste? Should one act on such information in a way that takes one out of harm’s way and, then, silently steal away in the night, leaving others to sort our their own decisions and fate? Is speaking the truth in the face of an oppressive, abusive shaykh, a form of jihad? Will God forgive one, if one is wrong? Does one have a responsibility to attempt to do whatever one can to help spiritually heal the so-called shaykh –– especially, if the person in question has given no indication that he or she feels anything wrong has transpired, let alone that they need spiritual healing –– and, if so, then, do we have a spiritual responsibility to seek to heal Iblis, as well?
I am always somewhat amused -- but not really -- by people who assume they would be able to recognize a spiritual fraud just by spending a moderate amount of time with such an individual –– as if such things were always palpable and obvious ... as if we ever really come to know another person, even those with whom we spend a lot of time. I have ‘known’ people whom I thought were my friends, with whom I have interacted closely for many years, with whom I have gone through many difficulties, whom I thought I knew, whom I thought would be incapable of certain kinds of acts, and, yet, these people betrayed me in fundamental ways.
Did Abel know beforehand that Cain would do what he did? Did Noah (peace be upon him) understand that his son would rebel? Did Joseph (peace be upon him) know that his brothers would betray him? Did Lot (peace be upon him) know that the woman he married would, one day, be one who turned back and rejected Divine guidance? Did the Prophet (peace be upon him) know that the woman who was giving him sweet-meats was trying to poison him as he took them and put some in his mouth -- before spitting them out in response to a Divine intervention?
We know only what God wishes us to know. If Divinity can hide things from the elect of Creation, then, surely, Divinity can keep secrets from the rest of us.
If Divinity did not hesitate to subject Habib Allah to the great trials, suffering, and difficulties that have been recorded, then, surely, Divinity will not hesitate to twist the rest of our lives any way He wishes: “He cannot be questioned concerning what He does, and they shall be questioned.” (Qur’an 21:23)
Divinity understood that Adam (peace be upon him) and Eve (may Allah be well pleased with her) would transgress, and in doing so, help to inaugurate the unfolding of the rest of spiritual history, God knew that Satan would transgress, not repent, and ask for a respite during which he would be given permission to seek to seduce human kind away from the straight path, or that, one day, many dajjals, or imposters, would arise who are capable of raising the dead and, more importantly, inducing people to confuse evil for good, and all of whom would help pave the way –– again, with God’s permission -- for the most dangerous dajjal of them all –– the last of them in this cycle of time. And, Divinity understands what is going on when people are brought into contact with fraudulent, spiritual teachers –– and, why this happens to some people, but not others, or why some people are permitted to escape, but not others.
However, I am still amused there are people who actually believe they fully understand all the ins and outs of such events, the hidden and the apparent, the Divine reasons, the meaning of trials, the significance of evil –– as if it were all child’s play that was as clear as the nose on one’s face ... something which anyone of sense and spiritual wherewithal could recognize. I am amused –– but not really –– there are people who will make critical judgments about matters involving people who become mixed up with spiritual frauds without even understanding their own vulnerability to precisely the same thing ... maybe in the future, maybe in their present life.
Evil has many, many disguises. The person who supposes he or she can unmask evil wherever it appears is blinded by her or his own arrogance. The person who believes that God, surely, will disclose such dangers –– whether through intuition or in some other way -- to one whenever they occur, is being rather presumptuous if not foolhardy.
I have left a family in Canada whose members –– at least, those who still have some degree of spiritual independence from the influence of the charlatan who has been toying with their lives –– are just beginning to come to grips with the horror of the evil which has touched them ... who are trying to come to grips with why this has happened ... who are struggling to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives ... who are attempting to deal with the grief of having been betrayed by people they trusted ... who are seeking to overcome the soul-wrenching grief of having lost children and sisters before their very eyes –– hopefully, God willing, only temporarily, but, unfortunately, perhaps forever ... who are trying to figure out where to go spiritually, now that much of their life has been turned upside down, and they must work to deal with the inevitable aftermath of spiritual betrayal –– doubt, guilt, distrust, shame, anger, anxiety, fear, blame, disappointment, frustration, cynicism, grief, and uncertainty, loss of faith, depression, sadness, and so on.
What is happening in relation to this family from Canada, is happening, and has happened elsewhere, as well –– in other parts of Canada, in different parts of the United States, and in other parts of the world –– not only in conjunction with the so-called shaykh to whom I have been alluding throughout the foregoing, but in conjunction with many other individuals who are passing themselves off as authentic shaykhs, but who are not. This also is true in many spiritual traditions besides Islam and its mystical dimension –– in fact, I know of no spiritual tradition that, currently, is not being deeply affected with similar problems. It is an on-going malignancy that has invaded the perennial wisdom - or, more correctly, our access routes to such wisdom.
There are still some legitimate spiritual guides who exist. It will be this way until the Seal of the Children, a descendent of the Prophet Seth (peace be upon him), comes into this world, calls people to the Path all of his life, and will leave this world without anyone having responded to that invitation.
Nevertheless, finding such authentic guides is becoming more and more difficult. Spiritually speaking, we do not live in the best of times ... in fact, the world has been in spiritual free fall for quite some time. The further in time we are removed from the days of the Prophet (peace be upon him), the closer we are to the Latter Days, and the Latter Days, with certain brief exceptions, are steeped in an increasingly prominent presence of spiritual darkness.
There is a reason why the Prophet (peace be upon him) indicated to his Companions that if they left out even one-tenth of what had been proscribed for them to do, they would not inherit Paradise, but there would come a time when if the people in that time were able to do even one-tenth of what has been proscribed, they would be granted Paradise. Spiritual discernment is a rare commodity these days, and spiritual murkiness is all about us.
Let us pray for this poor family in Canada that has been put to so much trial through their unknowing contact with a spiritual fraud –– a family whose only real mistake, as far as I can see, is that they trusted a few people who, on the basis of the evidence which was available to them, were eminently trustworthy, and, yet, such people turned out to be otherwise. Let us pray for all of us who may be in a similar set of circumstances but have not, yet, awoken to the nightmare which may be engulfing us while we are every bit as unaware and unknowing as this Canadian family.
Truly, there but for the Grace of God goes anyone whom Allah pleases, and there, but for the Grace of God, one will stay until God pleases otherwise. Divinity is neither unjust to the Creation, nor arbitrary, nor whimsical, nor fickle, nor cruel, nor mean –– but, truly, there are very, very few among us who have any idea of what is going on, or why. One may feel safe, secure and happy when one is away from such travail, but make no mistake, we are all being stalked by fate Safety, security, or happiness can be, if God wishes, very ephemeral states or hal. May God have mercy on us all –– as has been said: “I seek refuge in God, from God.”
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