Part 2 of a series on the spiritual path of the Ṭarīqa ʿUlamāʾ Makka
Sīdī Aḥmad Zarrūq (d. 899/1494) of the Shādhulīyya relates to us that the foundations of good conduct are five. In this, the basic practical principles of all the ṭuruq are the same:
“The foundations of right conduct are five:
- Seeking sacred knowledge to fulfil Allah’s commands
- Keeping company with spiritual guides and the fraternity of aspirants to gain insight into one’s faults
- Foregoing dispensations and interpretations concerning injunctions for one’s own protection
- Organizing one’s time with the remembrance of Allah to maintain presence of heart
- Suspecting the selfish soul (al-nafs al-ammāraʾ bī al-sūʾ) in everything in order to free oneself from its whimsical desires and to be safe from destructive circumstances.”[1]
In this regard, it is difficult, practically speaking, to envisage this being possible without the involvement of external intervention. This is the role of a spiritual counsellor of some sort, which is why the ṭarīqa becomes pertinent.
The Two Approaches to Iḥsān
Nevertheless, the hadith of Gabriel is clear about iḥsān’s two ‘approaches’:
“It is that you should worship Allah as though you see Him, for though you cannot see Him, He sees you.”
These two approaches are often referred to in the following fashions: the first approach is the way of the folk of Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhulī, which is described as the ways of gratitude (shukr), attraction (jadhb), and witnessing (mushāhada). The second approach is the way of the folk of al-Ghazālī, which is described as the approach of spiritual striving (riyāḍa al-nafs), wayfaring (sulūk) and observation of the self (murāqaba).
Sīdī Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhulī said:
“Spiritual knowledge comes from Allah in two ways: one way, the path of generosity (shukr), and one way, the path of enormous self-exertion (mujāhada).”
He also said, “Regarding the Source of generosity, it refers to those whom Allah has initiated with His Divine Gift and who by this Gift have attained to obedience unto Him. Concerning the great self-exertion, this refers to those people who, by obedience unto Him, have attained to His Divine Gift.”[2]
One could say there are two major differences between the Path of Gratitude and the Path of Wayfaring. The first difference is in how the occurrence of spiritual openings takes place. The second difference is in what the impetus for actions (ʿamal) is, or the orientation of the disciple in his spiritual life.
The Suitability of the Aspirant to the Different Approaches
If it is asked, “How does one know if one is more suited to the jadhbī way, or the sulūkī way?” the following is pertinent.
Firstly, the question is essentially extraneous. The jadhbī and the sulūkī are both in need of a shaykh. So, the practical repercussion of one’s question is not, ‘Am I a jadhbī or a sulūkī?’; rather, it is, ‘Who is my shaykh?’
Suitability in this regard is less a function of choice—and more of a function of what is or what is not the empirical reality of one’s nature. Again, this is something of a moot endeavour, if one wanted to try to discover—because the real question is ‘who is my shaykh?’
In this regard, a good indication of one’s jadhbī or sulūkī nature may well be the shaykh that one is guided to and benefits from. But this may not always be the case, for a sulūkī may well find he is guided to a jadhbī shaykh, who then trains him in accordance with his assessment.
The spiritual aspirant (murīd)[3] will benefit from any realised, genuine shaykh, whether the master is jadhbī or sulūkī in method. The shaykh basically serves all the types of murīds, and he is guided by his experience and intuition, after the light (nūr) of Allah and His Prophet ﷺ.
Nevertheless, there is something important to always keep in mind. While the murīd may think he has ‘discovered’ his shaykh, the truth of the matter is that the shaykh has found the murīd. And the match-up is decreed by Allah.
Here, one might mention the notion of affinity (nisba). Nisba literally means connection and is often used to describe a genealogical affinity or ancestry. In Sufism, it refers to the innate disposition that a person may have towards a particular ṭarīqa. That innateness is, as mentioned above, decreed by Allah.
The Path of Wayfaring (Ṭarīqa al-Sulūk)
If one is more of a sulūkī, then one’s inclination would be towards murāqaba. The one attracted more to sulūk feels an attraction to the path of the scholars, but does not necessarily have any of the spiritual states (aḥwāl). In fact, some of those who attempt to embark on the path of sulūk might never experience the aḥwāl, if left untended. They simply do not have the preparedness (istiʿdād).
Shaykh Aḥmad Hendricks reminds us that if not tended to, such an individual could even end up producing a sort of purely external and exoteric obsession, which is its own type of external (ẓāhirī) penchant. Relatedly, the sulūkī’s spiritual training (tarbīyya) should generally be varied between normal Qur’an and hadith expositions, and exposure to the experiential knowledge (maʿrifa) and books of the Shādhulīyya slowly, to encourage and ‘spark off’ the aḥwāl.[4]
When the path of sulūk is referred to, it is the referring to the traversing of the different sets of stations (maqāms) that two entities go through: the body and the heart. Or, to put it another way, the maqāms of the sharīʿa, which relate to the body, and the maqāms of ṭarīqa, which relate to the heart.
When those maqāms are considered together, it is to sulūk that is being referenced. As Shaykh Aḥmad Hendricks reminds us, ‘the one who practises and works to master some or all of these maqāms is a spiritual traveller (sālik).’[5]
The maqāms of the body, which are the maqāms of sharīʿa, are works of the body (ʿamal), such as fasting and prayer. The maqāms of the heart, which are the maqāms of ṭarīqa, are noted by many of our authorities as being ten in number: repentance (tawba), scrupulousness (waraʿ), asceticism (zuhd), poverty (faqr), patience (ṣabr), gratitude (shukr), fear of Allah (khawf), hope in Allah (rajāʾ), reliance on Allah (tawakkul) and contentment (riḍāʾ).
These maqāms in the path of sulūk bear fruits called the aḥwāl. These are spiritual states which sometimes happen to the murīd, or even the ordinary Muslim, and usually last a few seconds, or a few minutes in the case of a sensitive individual.
Indeed, aḥwāl can even occur to the non-Muslim—albeit unsoundly and untethered to the path (Sunna) of the Holy Prophet ﷺ. The reasons for a non-Muslim’s aḥwāl are different, but it is important to know that such pangs of insight, and ruptures of witness, even if microscopic, are indeed real. But what is the comparison between someone upon whom a drop of water falls from the sky, and someone who swims in the ocean, and drinks?
The aḥwāl, according to our mashāyikh, for instance, include how genuine tawba (repentance) produces love (maḥabba). This is a continuous disturbance and bending of the heart and feelings towards Allah, satisfied only by prayer and remembering Allah. The fruit of rajāʾ is the ḥāl of the entire psyche’s focus on Allah alone (wuṣūl) and the maqām of waraʿ produces an intense longing to meet and witness Allah (shawq). All of these are explained in the books of the Sufis.[6]
The Path of Gratitude (Ṭarīqa al-Shukr)
In speaking about the ‘Path of Gratitude (shukr),’ Shaykh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1720) said, as reported in the Ibrīz, perhaps one of the best and comprehensive descriptions:
“The Path of Gratitude is the original Way, and it was the Path travelled by the hearts of the Prophets and the Pure Ones among the Ṣaḥāba and others, and it consists of worshipful devotion (ʿibāda) of Him Most High with sincerity in servant-hood and being free of all personal aims and selfish portions, coupled with recognition and admittance of one’s own impotence and deficiency and inability to fulfil the rights of Lordship, and that all of that become established and settled in the heart in every passing moment and hour. So, when He (Most Exalted) saw their truthfulness in that, He rewarded them in accordance with what His overflowing Generosity would dictate, such as an opening into His Knowledge and obtainment of the secrets of secured belief (īmān) in Him.”[7]
In this way, it is an attraction (jadhb) that is the impetus for spiritual movement.
If one is more of a jadhbī, then one would usually have something of a taste of mushāhada at the beginning of their embarking on the way of taṣawwuf. The jadhbī feels the aḥwāl sometimes on the first meeting with the shaykh whom he is attracted to, or he experiences some of these by himself at home.
He might even be completely confused, if left untended to. Indeed, Shaykh Aḥmad Hendricks relates that some of the misguided sects of present and past might have emerged from individuals and groups that received certain aḥwāl but continued without proper guidance.
The shaykh in this regard would identify for the aspirant his states, and as part of his tarbīyya, put him on a strong program of sulūk, in order to root and balance him.
In this way of mushāhada, jadhb and shukr, which is the way of our masters, one must consider the initiation, by the shaykh, of the murīd, into the Divine presence, through the invocation of the Supreme Name. That is a means through which Allah may grant maʿrifa (experiential knowledge of the Divine) to the disciple.
When the oath (ʿahd) of the bayʿa is given, the murīd is initiated into a particular line that ends with Allah, and at every link, the Hand of Allah, in a particular way, is above their hands: “And above their hands is Allah’s Hand.”[8]
That initiation is not to be taken for granted, nor underestimated. It may appear to be outwardly merely symbolic, but the meaning of that induction is very real indeed, and it imbues responsibility, duty and blessing.
This relates to an attachment to a ṭarīqa via the bayʿa. It is well known that the first one to introduce a formalised institution of these elements was Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jilānī (d. c. 561/1166),[9] the well-known Ḥanbalī[10] and Shāfiʿī[11] jurist (faqīh) of Baghdād, a Ḥasanī[12] sayyid on his father’s side, and a Ḥusaynī[13] sayyid on his mother’s side.
In that regard, we fully recognise, admit, and do not deny that these institutions are somewhat novel—in that there was no formalisation of the ṭarīqa prior to Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jilānī. This does not affect matters in the slightest, except to remind us that such institutions are not in and themselves obligatory. Rather, what is necessary is to do the work that the ṭarīqa, at the hands of any genuine shaykh, seeks to do: give the aspirant the tools to draw nearer to their Lord, for the sake of their Lord.
Nevertheless, it would be foolish to imagine there is no providential wisdom involved in these institutions, even while they are not necessary in and of themselves.
To continue: in virtue of this knowledge in the path of mushāhada, the disciple then frees him or herself of low traits, one after another. This is done less by way of mujāhada (remonstrative efforts) and more out of gratitude before the majesty and maḥabba of Allah. Attaining maʿrifa (experiential knowledge of the Divine) in our way is thus not a ‘diploma’ certifying one is ‘finished’, but rather one of the perfecting processes within the way that is a key to others. This, in a sense, is the beginning of our ṭarīqa.
Sayyid ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Bil-Faqīh of the Bāʿ Alawīs, when speaking of the path of the sāda Bāʿ Alawī, said in his fatwa, with commentary from Shaykh Aḥmad Hendricks:
“And its inner core is the realisation of the truth of things [i.e. from the start of one’s inner journey which is normally achieved through knowledge, continuous remembrance (dhikr), and contemplation (fikr)] and divested tawḥīd [this is a term used by the Shādhulīyya, and it refers to spiritual annihilation (fanāʾ)] expounded by the Shādhulīyya.”[14]
In this regard, we see the ‘inner core’ of the path of the sāda of the Banī ʿAlawī; which is the same as the path of the Shādhulīs and, indisputably, the path of jadhb, shukr, and mushāhada.
Our impetus in this way is thus our thankfulness (shukr) to Allah, which is why the Shādhulī path[15] is called the ‘Path of Thanks’, rooted in maḥabba of Allah. This is the motive of all our acts of ʿibāda in our way. It is furthermore how we orientate ourselves towards the divested tawḥīd which the sāda of the Bāʿ Alawī mention.
Hence, Ibn ʿAṭā Allah (d. 709/1309) of the Shādhulīyya declares in his Aphorisms[16]: “He who is illumined in the beginning is illumined in the end.”
For the folk (sāda) of jadhb, illumination is recognised to exist throughout the path, not simply as the result of certain types of exercises. The sāda emphasize, first and foremost, and beyond all other considerations, that such illuminations are by the Grace of Allah.
Such illuminations are not the point—they are consequences, and beautiful ones to be sure—one might even say they are some of the adornments. But they are not the imperative. The imperative is always Allah.
Therefore, the focus is more on secure intuition (kashf) at the beginning and throughout the path, with the presumption of attraction (jadhb). The rational intellect plays a role, of course, as a gift from Allah, but it is not the fundamental vehicle for the arrival to the knowledge of Allah in this Way.
Spiritual Openings (Futūḥāt)
Shaykh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh says in the Ibrīz[17] that the spiritual opening (fatḥ) in the ‘Path of Gratitude’ (shukr) is sudden and unexpected, in contradistinction to the fatḥ that takes place in the path of self-exertion (riyāḍa), where the opening occurs through secondary means and efforts.
Or, to put it another way, as one of our contemporaries, Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad has done in his Contentions,[18] sulūk is untying the knot. Jadhb is cutting it.
As Shaykh Aḥmad Hendricks reminds us:
“The path of sulūk happens in the heart, while the path of aḥwāl (or jadhb) happens at the level of the spirit (rūḥ).”
Imam Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhulī said[19]:
“Of all the Ways there are two: the path of attraction (jadhb) and the path of wayfaring (sulūk). Ours is the path of attraction. Our beginning is their [the path of wayfaring’s] end, and their beginning is our [the path of attraction’s] end.”
From the point of view of Imam Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhulī, the one of the path of jadhb, or the majdhūb, as it were, begins with the aḥwāl. Those aḥwāl are not fruits of the maqāms of ṭarīqa mentioned above; rather, they are more spontaneous.
When the majdhūb experiences those aḥwāl, his natural response, as someone on the path of shukr, which is another name given to the way of Imam Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhulī, is for the majdhūb to be grateful. From the point of view of being grateful and being thankful, the majdhūb engages in the work (the mujāhada) of the ṭarīqa and the work of the sharīʿa.
But it is important to note: for the majdhūb, the aḥwāl are not fruits; they simply happen, and he responds with gratitude, as is his wont to do so.
This is different from the sulūkī or the sālik; because he experiences the aḥwāl as a result of his work—they are the ‘fruits’ of his labour, as it were.
The Impetus for Spiritual Struggle (Mujāhada) and the Work of the Murīd
In both of these paths—as with all paths of taṣawwuf—there will be spiritual struggle. In all paths, the friend (walī) of Allah is one whom Allah has made victorious over his four enemies: the ego, this world, caprice and Satan (Shayṭān).
Because this victory generally entails mujāhada, the difference between the Shādhulī path and other ways is not that the Shādhulī way is devoid of mujāhada. All paths must have mujāhada.
Rather, the difference when it comes to mujāhada between the folk (sāda) of the first path and the sāda of the second path, is how one is oriented towards mujāhada.
For the sāda of murāqaba, mujāhada and its resultant change are regarded as a means to reach Allah. For the sāda of the Shādhulī method or approach, reaching Him itself is regarded as the greatest means to this change.
For the sālik, he may reach various states of aḥwāl as a result of his effort and mujāhada. For the majdhūb, he already has a taste of those states. Then, due to that state, he naturally and gratefully engages in mujāhada.
One can see, therefore, the true difference between the path of the folk of Imam Abū al-Ḥasan and the path of the folk of Imam al-Ghazālī. For the latter, the initial impetus and essential imperative for spiritual exertions is to bring about a spiritual breakthrough (and thus their way is described as the way of ‘Illumination’).[20] In both paths, ‘work’ exists and in both paths, the external forms exist, which are performed. Nevertheless, the impetus and imperative are going to be different.
In another way, one can argue, as many of the Shādhulīs did, that there is a sulūk that is specific to the sāda of attraction. It is a sulūk, but it is a wayfaring unlike any other.
It is why one of the great luminaries of the Shādhulī way, Shaykh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh, declared in his Ibrīz that, “traveling in the first Path is a traveling of hearts and in the second Path is a traveling of bodies.”[21]
As Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh says:
“Do not think that the attracted (majdhūb) has no path. He has a path that has been enveloped by the ʿināyat Allāh (the providential solicitude of Allah) so that his way has been speedily expedited. Too often, we hear that the wayfarer (sālik) is more perfect than the attracted (majdhūb) due to the wayfarer’s experience of the path and the lack of experience of the attracted. This is not true. He does not miss it but misses only its hardships and the length.”[22]
And Allah knows best.
The Original Path: The Path of Gratitude
Al-Dabbāgh details how the sāda of sulūk responded to the realisations of the sāda of jadhb[23]:
“And when the sāda of Striving heard of the attainments of these, they made these attainments their ultimate aim and desire, and sought them through acts of fasting, praying at night, and periods of solitude (khalwa), until they obtained whatever they obtained.”
As such, as al-Dabbāgh reminds us:
“. . .in the first Path (of Gratitude) the hijra was—from the beginning—towards Allah and His Messenger, and not towards spiritual illumination and unveilings, whereas in the other Path (of Striving) it was towards the obtainment of spiritual openings and levels and degrees in that.”
These two are not the same; not in impetus, not in direction, not in type. They are both valid—but they are qualitatively different.
He continues, by seeing the difference in what sort of sulūk and what sort of hijra is required:
“The sulūk in the first Path is a travelling of hearts, while in the second Path is a travelling of bodies; and the fatḥ (opening) in the first is of-a-sudden, without the servant having any expectation or wait for it, so that while the servant is busy with repentance and seeking forgiveness, the manifest opening comes to him.”
“Both Paths are correct, but the Path of Gratitude is more correct and sincerer. Both Paths are agreed upon the necessity for spiritual exercises and striving, but in the first, it is a striving of the hearts, by upholding the attachment between him and Allah Most High, and stationing the heart constantly at His Door, and fleeing to Allah in both states of motion and stillness, and striving to stay away from any periods of heedlessness (ghafla) between moments of wakeful presence (ḥuḍūr). . .
In a word, it consists of the heart’s firm attachment to Allah and perpetuity in that state, even if outwardly one does not find (in those who practice the Path of Gratitude) great acts of worship. This is why you would find such a person fasting sometimes and feasting other times, sleeping sometimes and staying awake other times, sleeping with their spouses, and performing other duties of the religion which would appear in contradistinction with a way of life of bodily and physical striving (riyāḍa).”
Shaykh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh then goes on to warn about the possible pitfalls of those who embark on the Path of striving (riyāḍa), while being careful not to attribute this pitfall to all those who do so. It is not an essential characteristic of the sāda of al-Ghazālī that he is pointing out, nor of Imam al-Ghazālī himself, whom al-Dabbāgh calls “a true leader and a real saint”. Rather, it is a possible hazard of those who seek to emulate those sāda:
“As for the second way, the move (hijra) is towards spiritual openings and levels. Then, after the Opening, some of them remain stuck in their primary intention, so that his heart becomes attached to the things he witnesses, and he becomes happy and content with the unveilings and walking on water and moving long distances in short periods of time (lit:”folding up of distance,“) and he sees that this is the ultimate goal. These are the people whose hearts are emptied of Allah from the beginning of their affair till its end, among ‘those who are the greatest of losers in their acts, whose strivings are misguided in this life, while they imagine that they perform excellently’ (18:103–4).”
One should consider what Imam al-Ghazālī himself declares on a similar point, in his Revival of the Religious Sciences (Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn),[24] where he warns the aspirant:
“An aspirant who has devoted himself to remembrance and meditation may be divided from the Path by many things, such as self-satisfaction, ostentation or joy at the states which are unveiled to him, and at the initial charismata (awāʾil al-karāmāt). To the extent that he pays attention to such things, so that his soul is occupied with them, he will be caused to slacken or stop altogether in his wayfaring on the Path.”
Shaykh al-Dabbāgh then continues in the Ibrīz to note:
“But others change their intentions after the Opening, and Allah has mercy on them and takes them by the hand, so that their hearts become attached to Allah, and turn away from anything else.”[25]
Similarly, Imam al-Ghazālī goes on to speak of those who might be successful in the ‘Path of Striving:’
“The final purpose of self-discipline, then, is to find one’s heart constantly in the presence of Allah. This it will only be able to attain when, by virtue of long inward strife, it has been emptied of all else.”[26]
And then Shaykh al-Dabbāgh finalises his thoughts on this affair, declaring in the Ibrīz:
“And this state which occurs with them (them being the sāda of ‘Wayfaring’) is the beginning state for those in the first Path (of Gratitude)—so look at the great separation existing between the two!”[27]
“I Am not Your Lord”: Remembering Who One Is, Was and Will Be
In this way,[28] we recognise that arrival (wuṣūl) to the knowledge of Allah happens through the providential solicitude of Allah (ʿināyat Allāh)—through His Grace, His Deliverance. In this regard, our perspective on the ‘spiritual life’ is less about a question of our own choice; rather, it is recognised as a matter of vocation, and acknowledging that we were indeed present, and bore witness, on the Day of the Pledge (the pledge of Alastū Bi-Rabbikum).[29]
Just as Ibn ʿAṭā Allah notes in his book Light on the Cessation of Self Direction (Kitāb al-Tanwīr fī Isqāṭ al-Tadbīr):
“Know that The Truth (Ḥaqq) has always taken the best of care for you throughout all of your life since He brought you into existence on the Day of the Decree (yawm al-muqaddir), the Day of ‘Am I not your Lord?’ and you said, ‘Yes, we bear witness!’ Among the signs of His Care is that He caused you to know Him. He revealed Himself to you and you witnessed Him. It was He who made you speak and inspired you to affirm His Lordship and so confirm His Oneness.”[30]
“And when your Lord took from the children of Adam, from their spines, their seed and made them to witness of their selves ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said, ‘Yes! we bear witness,’ lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, ‘As for us we were not aware.’”[31]
Professor S.M. Naquib al-Attas comments on this theme succinctly:
“Fiṭrah is the pattern according to which God has created all things. It is God’s Manner of creating, sunnat Allāh, and everything fits each into its pattern created for it and set in its proper place. It is the law of God.”
He then goes on to remind us:
“It is cosmos as opposed to chaos; justice as opposed to injustice. When God said: ‘Am I not your Lord?’, and man’s true self, testifying for itself, answered: ‘Yea!’ in acknowledgement of the truth of God’s lordship, it has sealed a covenant with God. Thus, when man is manifested as man in this worldly life he will, if rightly guided, remember his covenant and act accordingly as outlined above, so that his worship, his acts of piety, his life and death is lived out for the sake of God alone. One of the meanings of fiṭrah as dīn refers to the realization of this covenant by man.”[32]
And the reality is, as Shaykh Nooruddeen of the Shādhulī ṭarīqa reminds us:
“This statement concerning the pre-eternal celestial witnessing is crucial to the understanding that within all human beings there is a part that always has known the Truth both of origin and destination. The whole question of the spiritual path (ṭarīqa) is thus not so much a matter of going ‘somewhere’ as it is an awakening to where one already is and a remembering of who one is, was and will be.”[33]
It is simply that we have forgotten that reality—and if we were to summarise the point of the Way, it is to remove that incidence of forgetting, so that we, indeed, remember. That day of Alastū bi-Rabbikum is that original pledge, that original witnessing; and that was at the beginning.
Our shaykh, Sīdī Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhulī was conscious that the path was, ‘not from you to Me but rather from Me to you.’[34] With him, it was a matter of being—not travelling. As one of the murīds once pointed out: ‘Allah is close—it is ourselves that are far.’ This should be taken only as a taste of what the way entails in words, for truly, the way is one of experience and action.
The Spiritual Way of the Sages of Makka: Combining the Path of Jadhb with Some Elements of the Path of Sulūk
At the beginning of this piece, we mentioned the hadith of Gabriel, which is clear about iḥsān being about two ‘approaches’: “It is that you should worship Allah as though you could see Him, for though you cannot see Him, He sees you.”
Our way, that of Sayyid Muḥammad b. ʿAlawī al-Mālikī, is, as mentioned previously, Shādhulī in essence (which is essentially jadhbī). However, Sayyid Muḥammad was a master of the Ghazālīan method (which is essentially sulūkī), and he brought the two approaches together. His way was jadhbī inwardly, and outwardly, it was not simply a sulūkī approach. Rather, even in the outward sulūk, there was a very jadhbī ‘interpretation’ of the sulūk.
And it is indeed possible to join between the two, as Sīdī ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh notes in his Ibrīz as his answer to the question of, “Is it possible for one man to travel both these paths (the path of Imam Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhulī and the path of Imam Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī)?”
“. . .the answer is that it is possible, for no contradiction exists between the two. It is possible for a person to attach his heart to Allah—He is Mighty and Glorious—with regard to everything he does and omits to do, while he engages his exterior in forms of ascetic struggle and self-mortification. But Allah the Sublime knows best!”
From one perspective, one can denote our ṭarīqa as the joining of two traditions—the Shādhulīyya tradition of Imam Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhulī on the one hand, and the path of the sāda of the Banī ʿAlawī, or the ʿAlawīyya, as delivered through al-Faqīh al-Muqaddam (d. 653/1255)[35], on the other, though heavily interpreted via a Shādhulī palate.
From another perspective, it is a single tradition—for those who practiced the spiritual path of the Banī ʿAlawī were clear that their path is based internally on the Shādhulī method, and externally, it appears, as “the Proof of Islam” al-Ghazālī’s approach (and certainly, externally, the folk of the Shādhulīyya also carry out their outward practice and form as Ghazālīans). From that perspective, this is one tradition—the tradition that is shared by al-Faqīh al-Muqaddam and Imam Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhulī, who are connected through Sīdī Abū Madyan[36] (d. 594/1198), who was a grand shaykh of them both, and thus to Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jilānī. May Allah bless them and us through them, Amen!
[1] This comes from Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson’s partial translation of ‘Foundations of the Spiritual Path,’ a text by Aḥmad al-Zarrūq.
[2] Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhulī, The School of the Shadhuliyyah (Madrasat al-Shādhulīyya), vols.1 and 2 Orisons, ed. and trans. ʿAbd al-Halim Mahmud and Abdullah Nooruddeen Durkee (Cairo: AUC Press, 1993).
[3] While murīd is a masculine word, the spiritual seeker can also be female, a murīda. Throughout the text, murīd will be used, but implies both female and male seekers on the path to the Divine.
[4] Citation directly from Shaykh Aḥmad Hendricks.
[5] Citation directly from Shaykh Aḥmad Hendricks.
[6] The foundational (ummahāt) books, as they are called, include Abū Ṭālib Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-Makkī, Kitāb Qūt Al-Qulūb: Fī Muʿāmalat Al-Maḥbūb Wa waṣf Ṭarīq Al-murīd ilā Maqām Al-tawḥīd; ʿAbd al-Karīm b. Hawāzin al-Qushayrī, Al-Qushayrī’s Epistle On Sufism: Al-Risāla Al-Qushayrīyya Fī ʿilm Al-taṣawwuf, trans. Alexander D. Knysh; Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad al-Ghāzālī’s magnum opus, Revival of the Religious Sciences (Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn); and Shahab al-Dīn Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar Suhrawardī, ʿAwārif al-Maʿārif (The Knowledge of the Spiritually Learned).
[7] ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh, Pure Gold from the Words of Sayyidī ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh, Al-Dhahab al-Ibrīz min Kalām Sayyidī ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh, trans. John O’Kane and Bernd Radtke (Brill, 2007).
[8] Cf. Q 48:10 Victory, al-Fatḥ.
[9] The great Sufi shaykh, ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī’s, biography may be found in several books. See, for example, Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, The Onlooker’s Delight: Ghibṭa al-Naẓir Fī Ṭarjuma Al-Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir, trans. Mokrane Guezzou, ed. Hafiz Ather Hussain al-Azhari (HSBT Publications: United Kingdom, 2016).
[10] One of the canonical four Sunni schools of Islamic law, named after the scholar Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Ḥanbal Abū ʿAbdallāh al-Shaybānī (d. 241/855).
[11] One of the canonical four Sunni schools of Islamic law, named after the scholar Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī (d. 205/820).
[12] Indicating that his ancestor is Ḥasan b. ʿAlī (d. 50/670), the Prophet’s ﷺ grandson.
[13] Indicating that his ancestor is Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī (d. 61/680), the Prophet’s ﷺ grandson.
[14] Citation directly from Shaykh Aḥmad Hendricks.
[15] See Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhulī, The School of the Shadhuliyyah (Madrasat al-Shādhulīyya), vols.1 and 2 Orisons, ed. and trans. ʿAbd al-Halim Mahmud and Abdullah Nooruddeen Durkee (Cairo: AUC Press, 1993).
[16] The Aphorisms refers to the famed text of this Alexandrian scholar and sage, Tāj al-Dīn Abū al-Faḍl Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Karīm b. ʿAṭāʾAllah al-Iskandarī al-Shādhulī. The full text is named Ḥikam al-ʿAṭāʾiyya with several different editions available.
[17] ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh, Pure Gold from the Words of Sayyidī ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh (Brill, 2007).
[18] Abdal Hakim Murad, “Contentions” Cambridge Mosque Project.
[19] Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhulī, The School of the Shadhuliyyah, vols.1 and 2 Orisons.
[20] Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhulī, The School of the Shadhuliyyah, vols.1 and 2 Orisons.
[21] ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh, Pure Gold from the Words of Sayyidī ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh (Brill, 2007).
[22] Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhulī, The School of the Shadhuliyyah, vols.1 and 2 Orisons.
[23] ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh, Pure Gold from the Words of Sayyidī ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh (Brill, 2007).
[24] Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad al-Ghazālī, Revival of the Religious Sciences (Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn).
[25] ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh, Pure Gold from the Words of Sayyidī ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh (Brill, 2007).
[26] Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad al-Ghazālī, Revival of the Religious Sciences (Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn).
[27] ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh, Pure Gold from the Words of Sayyidī ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh (Brill, 2007).
[28] See Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhulī, The School of the Shadhuliyyah, vols.1 and 2.
[29] Cf. Q 7:172 The Heights, al-Aʿrāf. The Arabic means, “Am I not Your Lord?” We also reference Abdullah Nooruddeen Durkee, “The History and Practice of the Tariqat al-Shadhuli” in The Muslim Magazine and Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhulī, The School of the Shādhulīyyah, vols.1 and 2 Orisons.
[30] Ibn ʿAṭāʾAllah Iskandarī, Illuminating Guidance on dropping Self-Direction, trans. Ibrahim Hakim (Noon Publications, 2011).
[31] Q. 7:172, The Heights, Al-Aʿrāf.
[32] See Syed Muḥammad Naquib al-Attas, Prolegomena to the Metaphysics of Islam: An Exposition of the Fundamental Elements of the Worldview of Islam (Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC: 1995).
[33] See Abdullah Nooruddeen Durkee, “The History and Practice of the Tariqat al-Shadhuli” in The Muslim Magazine and Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhulī, The School of the Shādhulīyyah, vols.1 and 2 Orisons.
[34] Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhulī, The School of the Shadhuliyyah, vols.1 and 2 Orisons, ed. and trans. ʿAbd al-Halim Mahmud and Abdullah Nooruddeen Durkee (Cairo: AUC Press, 1993).
[35] Al-Faqīh al-Muqaddam Muḥammad b. ʿAlī Bāʿ Alawī (d. 653/1255) is considered the progenitor of the Bāʿ Alawī spiritual path.
[36] Sīdī Abū Madyan Shuʿayb b. al-Ḥusayn al-Andalusī (d. 594/1198) was one of the great Sufi masters of the Maghreb.
