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.”[^1]
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.
Spiritual Openings (Futūḥāt)
Shaykh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh says in the Ibrīz[^2] 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,[^3] 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 [4]:
“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 (emphasis added) 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 (emphasis added); 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’).[^5] 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.”[^6]
As Ibn ʿAṭāaAllah[^7] 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.”
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[^8]:
“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^9:
“. . .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^10:
“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). . .^11
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).”^12
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).”^13
One should consider what Imam al-Ghazālī himself declares on a similar point, in his Revival of the Religious Sciences (Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn),[^14] 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.”^15
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.”[^16]
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.”[^17]
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!”[^18]
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 section, 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!”^19
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)[^20], 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[^21] (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!
Footnotes
[^1]: 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).
[^2]: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh, Pure Gold from the Words of Sayyidī ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh (Brill, 2007).
[^3]: Abdal Hakim Murad, “Contentions” Cambridge Mosque Project.
[^5]: Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhulī, The School of the Shadhuliyyah, vols.1 and 2 Orisons.
[^6]: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh, Pure Gold from the Words of Sayyidī ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh (Brill, 2007).
[^7]: Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhulī, The School of the Shadhuliyyah, vols.1 and 2 Orisons.
[^8]: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh, Pure Gold from the Words of Sayyidī ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh (Brill, 2007).
[^14]: Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad al-Ghazālī, Revival of the Religious Sciences (Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn).
[^16]: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh, Pure Gold from the Words of Sayyidī ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh (Brill, 2007).
[^17]: Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad al-Ghazālī, Revival of the Religious Sciences.
[^18]: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh, Pure Gold from the Words of Sayyidī ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh (Brill, 2007).
[^20]: Al-Faqīh al-Muqaddam Muḥammad b. ʿAlī Bāʿ Alawī (d. 653/1255) is considered the progenitor of the Bāʿ Alawī spiritual path.
[^21]: Sīdī Abū Madyan Shuʿayb b. al-Ḥusayn al-Andalusī (d. 594/1198) was one of the great Sufi masters of the Maghreb.
