Interview - Part Two
11.To what
extent does the Qur'an influence your moral judgements and which other authorities would
you seek if your situation was not covered by the Qur'an?
The two
primary sources of guidance are the Qur'an and the sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him). But, there are many different way of, if you will, hermeneutically (having
to do with the theory and methods of interpretation), engaging these primary sources which
is why different schools of jurisprudence, theology, philosophy and so on have arisen over
time in various places within the Muslim world.
The Folk of
the Path do not believe in hermeneutics. They recommend direct tasting, drinking and
immersion in the Reality of Being.
Do not read
the Book. Become the Book - according to one's capacity to do so. Do not read about the
sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Become the sunnah of the Prophet,
according to one's capacity to do so.
Do not try
to grasp the Qur'an and the sunnah of the Prophet with just one's mind. Grasp this
guidance also with one's heart, sirr, ruh, kafi and aqfah - the spiritual potentials which
Allah has placed in us and through which one can come to a direct knowing of Divine
guidance and the sunnah of the Prophet.
12.To what
extent do you feel the Hadith is an important guide in your life?
The Prophet
did not tell people to follow his hadith. He told them to follow his sunnah.
One examines
the hadith in order to try to gain an understanding of what the sunnah of the Prophet
entails. To properly understand the sunnah, one must try to gain insight into the niyat of
the Prophet in relation to such sunnah. One can never do this on one's own. One needs the
help of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
The Qur'an
asks a question of the believers - 'Shall I tell you who are the greatest losers in their
works?' And, then, Allah gives the answer - 'those who works go astray in the present
world while they believe they are doing good deeds.'
There are
many people who believe they understand the niyat of the Prophet concerning his sunnah.
Those who believe this and who have arrived at this understanding through their own
individual efforts will invariably be wrong. Only those who are rightly guided will come
to know something (according to their capacity to do so) of the niyat of the Prophet
concerning the meaning of his sunnah.
Furthermore,
the sunnah of the Prophet cannot be taken in piecemeal fashion and, therefore, out of
their proper context. Like the verses of the Qur'an, the meaning of any given sunnah (ayat
in the case of the Qur'an) can best be understood in the light of other sunnah (verses of
the Qur'an) of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Just as the Qur'an must, ultimately, be
taken as a whole, so, too, must the sunnah of the Prophet, and any attempt to consider
things in isolation from that whole are doomed to failure and misunderstanding.
13.Which
sins do you regard as most wrong and what repercussions do you believe befall those who
commit such sins?
As Rabi'a of
Basra said to a fellow Sufi who was quite taken with his own sense of spirituality -
"Thy existence is a sin with which none other can compare." The existence being
referred to here is that of the unrealized servant of Allah - the one who believes that he
or she has an existence which is independent of, and apart from, God.
All sins are
committed in this condition of ignorance. For, only through the belief that we are
separated from Allah do we permit ourselves to be seduced by our lower selves, or Iblis or
dunya (the realm of entanglements with the world by virtue of our desires).
Allah,
alone, knows what will happen to us for the transgressions we commit. Allah is most
merciful and forgiving and is ready to forgive all sins - except the sin of shirk in which
we die in a state of associating partners with God - and this includes associating
ourselves as real entities apart from Divinity ... for we have no such existence, and it
is only our inclination to shirk which supposes otherwise.
14.What
difficulties do you find, if any, in dealing with a non-Muslim society as a Muslim?
To be frank
with you, I have encountered far more difficulties living with Muslims who - in direct
contradiction to the teachings of the Qur'an and the sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him) - are all too frequently prepared to be unjust toward, and intolerant of,
both Muslims and non-Muslims . Neither the Qur'an nor the Prophet teach us to be full of
hate, prejudice, bias, meanness, arrogance, insensitivity, cruelty, and so on. Yet,
unfortunately, time and again, my experience has indicated there are all too many Muslims
who seem to believe the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) teach
otherwise.
There is a
reason why the condition of the Muslim world is like it is. Unbelievers are merely the
agents being used by God to construct the mirror of conditions which reflect the sad
condition of all too many elements of the Muslim community.
There are,
to be sure, good people in the Muslim ummah. But, to borrow from the New Testament, why do
so many Muslims complain about the mote in the eye of our non-Muslim brothers and sisters,
while we refuse to address the beam in our own collective eye?
15.How do
you view non-Muslim's status spiritually and what do you think awaits them after death?
I pray for
the spiritual redemption of all who go astray - whether they be non-Muslims, Muslims, or
myself. All of our affairs are in the hands of Allah's Mercy, and only Allah knows what
will happen with those who transgress against their own selves.
No one can
take anything for granted. Even the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) indicated that he
would not achieve Paradise except through the Mercy of Allah, and he was a man without sin
in his life --- so what can be said of the rest of us? What right do any of us have to
look with presumption and contempt on the sins of others when we have so many of our own
misdeeds staring us in the face?
16.How do
you regard the status of women in Sufism and in the Islamic world as a whole?
If you are
asking me whether I believe women are being treated with equity and justice in the Muslim
world considered as a whole, then I would have to say that their status is abysmal. If you
are asking me what the spiritual potential of women is, then, one must acknowledge the
teachings of the Qur'an and the Prophet concerning this issue - namely, women have a
capacity for self-realization just as men do, and that each woman has a unique capacity to
give expression to that essential Self, just as each man does.
Some people,
both men and women, have been given greater spiritual capacity than have some other men
and women. However, some people of lesser spiritual capacity - both men and women - might
achieve far more of their potential, by the Grace of Allah, than do some people of greater
spiritual capacity - both men and women. Whatever one's capacity may be, the goal should
be to realize that capacity for it is through that realization that we are best able to
worship God which, as the Qur'an points out, is the reason why man and jinn have been
created.
The purpose
of the Sufi Path is to help each individual realize his or her spiritual potential - both
in terms of essential identity, as well as in terms of spiritual capacity. It has been my
experience that all legitimate Sufi shaykhs are engaged in equitably helping all
individuals - whether women or men - achieve life's purpose.
At the same
time, some of those who have stepped onto the Sufi path but who have not, yet, realized
that purpose may treat others - those on and off the Path - with injustice. Being on the
Sufi Path is not a guarantee of freedom from misogyny.
People step
onto the Path with a great deal of emotional and ideological baggage. The task of the
shaykh - through the help and support of Allah - is to encourage people to move toward the
light of spiritual freedom and away from the darkness of oppression - whether of oneself
or others.
One who
oppresses another, is himself or herself oppressed. One must get to the root of this
self-oppression if one is to have any hope of getting the individual to move away from the
oppression of others.
17.To what
extent do you view Allah as personally approachable?
We are told
in the Qur'an that Allah is closer to us than our own ventricular vein. I don't think you
can get any more personally approachable than this.
Our problem,
however, is that we are blind to the presence of Divinity within us. Allah is quite
prepared to have a personal, intimate relationship with us, but it is we who keep refusing
the invitation.
However, to
say that Allah is personally approachable does not mean we can circumscribe or exhaust
Divinity. There are dimensions of Divinity that are entirely independent of, and
transcendent to, creation.
We can know
Allah personally to precisely the extent which God has given us the capacity to do this.
Yet, just as there are aspects of other people - even those with whom we are very close
and intimate - which will never be known by us, so too, there are dimensions of Divinity
which are off-limits to humanity - even the Prophets.
Nevertheless,
the relationship for which we have been especially created is that of a deep, intense,
abiding and personal love between the seeker and the sought. Which is which, is not always
easy to sort out.
18.What do
you feel to be the goal of the human spirit?
I feel I
have answered this in a previous response. However, to reiterate the matter, the goal of
the human spirit is to realize our essential spiritual identity and unique capacity for
manifesting that identity through loving worship of, and servitude to, Allah.
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