The Silsilah
Community and family are two words that are much in
vogue these days. The idea of a 'silsilah' shares
certain features in common with the notions of
family and community, but, as well, the former
concept also differs in important respects from
the latter terms.
Construed in its best sense, a community is not just
a collection of people who happen to reside within
a given physical space, but involves a set of values,
principles, practices, and goals that bind together
the people in that community. The purpose of such a
collectivity is to enhance the physical, emotional,
educational and spiritual welfare of its members.
Similarly, a family - at least, the ideal of a family,
consists of a set of relationships which goes beyond
biological connections, and envelops qualities of love,
caring, support, and assistance. These qualities are
intended to constructively embrace the members
of the family so that they can strive toward realizing
their potential - both individually and collectively.
Like true communities and constructive families, a
silsilah exists to enhance the welfare of its various
constituents, and is woven together through certain
shared aspirations, beliefs, standards, and
understandings. However, although a silsilah is not
unmindful of the material needs of its members, its
primary emphasis is on providing spiritual sustenance.
Of course, there are communities and families
that also are pre-occupied with matters of
spirituality and, as a result, seek to make
all other considerations a function of the
underlying dimension of faith. Nonetheless,
while both communities and families have
traditions and histories, of one sort or
another, the tradition and history of a
silsilah is rather unique. On the one hand,
a silsilah is tied, in particular ways, to the
essence of the Prophetic tradition, considered
as a whole, and on the other hand, a silsilah
gives expression to the personal histories of
spiritual struggle and sacrifice that have
characterized the passing on of gnostic light
from one shaykh to the next down through the
spiritual lineage of a silsilah.
Communities and families can, in certain ways,
be constructively dynamic, thrive, and continue to
exist even if there is no one within the community
or family who possesses the understanding that
comes through gnosis, or esoteric Self-realization.
Furthermore, families and communities of substantive
quality have existed without necessarily being tied
to the essence of the Prophetic tradition in any
direct fashion.
However, a silsilah cannot be constructively
dynamic in a mystical sense, nor thrive, nor
continue to exist, with any manner of spiritual
vibrancy, if there is no one within its current
manifestation capable of giving expression to
the presence of gnosis. Moreover, and to state
the flip side of the same gnostic coin, a silsilah
that does not possess a direct link to the essence
of the Prophetic tradition, cannot legitimately be
said to be a silsilah.
Every shaykh, guide, or spiritual master of the
Sufi Path has been appointed as such by the
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who
is the essence of the Prophetic tradition. Moreover,
every individual who has been so appointed is
provided with the spiritual wherewithal that
is needed to fulfill, God willing, whatever
duties may arise within the context of the
silsilah's particular sphere of influence.
Without such an appointment and the spiritual
potential that this entails, then, the dimension
of a silsilah which, by God's leave, helps make
spiritual transformation possible, is missing. As
much as the philosophy of 'rugged individualism'
would like to maintain that, among other things,
mystical realization is achieved through personal
accomplishment, the fact of the matter is that
one cannot rise up spiritually without being
aided through the support, nurturing, protection,
guidance, love, and generosity which comes through
the series of legitimately authorized loci of
gnostic manifestations that is known as a silsilah.
To believe that one can achieve mystical realization
and Oneness with Divinity by individual efforts alone
is to make the same mistake as Iblis or Satan did
when he refused to bow, when commanded by Allah
to do so, before the locus of manifestation through
which the Divine breath was being blown - namely,
the Self-realized human being - realization that
was itself an expression of the Divine breath. The
way to God always has come via a door - a door
which has been especially constructed for the purpose
of guiding people through the process of becoming
open to the spiritual potential that God had kneaded
into our being as so many hidden treasures and
jewels.
Communities and families are immersed in social
relationships of one kind or another and become
dysfunctional when there are, for whatever reasons,
disruptions in the social fabric from which those
relationships are constructed. A silsilah is not
about social relationships, although, sometimes,
people become confused about this and treat a
silsilah as if it were a social entity that existed
for the purpose of maintaining certain kinds of
social relationship.
In fact, on occasion, there are individuals who
come from backgrounds that suffer from family
and/or community dysfunction and are looking
for something to replace that problematic history.
As such, they approach the silsilah with the desire
that it fill the community or family void in their life,
and, quite frequently, become disillusioned
when they begin to discover that the purpose of the
silsilah lies in quite another direction - although, certainly,
enhancement of one's spiritual condition
can help one, God willing, to establish more healthy
relationships with other people, whether within or
outside of the silsilah.
A silsilah is about spiritual relationships. This
involves, first and foremost, one's relationship
with the individual who has been properly authorized
to serve as a doorway to spiritual realization - that
is, the shaykh, guide, pir, teacher, master, elder,
or whatever term is used to designate such a role or
function. Moreover, through this doorway one is
introduced to the spirit of the Muhammadan Reality
- both through the locus of manifestation of the
teacher's presence as well as through the locus
that lies waiting within one's essential being and
permits one to realize one's intimate and unique
relationship with Divinity.
A silsilah embodies the collective spiritual struggles
of a series of individuals who, link by link, can be
traced back to the household of the Prophet Muhammad
peace be upon him). Person by person, across this
series of individuals, there is a direct, spiritual linkage
with the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
through the process of spiritual authorization, and
person by person, there has been an activation of
spiritual potential and gnostic awareness which, God
willing, enables those individuals to do the spiritual
work of the silsilah.
Many people today - even those who have not stepped
onto the Sufi path, have heard of Rumi, the great
mystical poet of Konya located in what is now known
as Turkey. Yet, a friend of God once was reported
to have said: "There have been so many Rumi's who
have never uttered a word."
The foregoing pronouncement was not a criticism of
Rumi. Rather, it was an allusion to a larger reality.
More specifically, there are very few masters of
the Sufi Path who have been selected by God to
become known to the world. Most Sufi shaykhs
exist, or have existed, in anonymity.
They sought in anonymity. They struggled in
anonymity. They suffered in anonymity. They
sacrificed in anonymity. They became realized
in anonymity. They conducted the work of their
silsilah in anonymity.
Few people - with the exception of their
guides, a few other spiritual masters, and,
later, perhaps, some of their close mureeds
or students, knew, or had any inkling, of
their spiritual greatness. Yet, through
their efforts, the torch of the silsilah
continued, by the Grace of Allah, to be lit
from one generation to the next.
A seeker who, by the Grace of God, finds her
or his way to an authorized door of spirituality
enjoys a tremendous opportunity - an opportunity
that cannot be realized in any other way. Such a
seeker has been provided with all that is necessary
to embark on the mystical quest as long as, of
course, the seeker possesses the right kind of
spiritual intention and sincerity, both of which
are rooted in a desire for God and God alone.
A silsilah is more than community or family. It
is the lighted pathway of loving guidance which
comes from Divinity and leads back, God willing,
to Divinity.
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