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Shaykh of Sufism
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A Shaykh of Sufism is a Sufi who is authorized to teach, initiate and guide aspiring dervishes. There are several types of such Shaykh.
- A Shaykh of barakah (blessing). This can, for example, be someone who inherits leadership of a group of Sufis, who although he does not have the spiritual standing of a genuine Shaykh of Tarbiyah (Instruction) nevertheless has a blessing in that by holding to him his followers have unity and community, as is in the Noble Hadith, "The hand of Allah is with the group (jama'ah)."
- A Shaykh of Ahwal (states). This is a shaykh who has genuine tasting of the states of Sufism and can transmit them.
- A Shaykh of Tarbiyah (instruction). This is properly the correct usage of the term Shaykh according to the Sufis. This is the realised gnostic ('arif) of Allah, who has been granted idhn (permission and authorisation) by Allah and the Prophet Muhammad, to lead the followers of the path of Sufism to knowledge of Allah. This idhn is not to be confused with ijazah (authorisation) granted by a Shaykh or a scholar to a student to teach. Even if all of the scholars and shaykhs granted their ijazah to a student, he would still not be a Shaykh of Instruction until he had the idhn of Allah and His Messenger.
The customary position with the people of Sufism, particularly in the Shadhili and the Darqawi tariqah, is that a person will not be a shaykh without having had a background in the basic disciplines of the Qur'an and Sunna. This is the position of Imam Junayd. However, in unusual circumstances there have been exceptions to this rule, among them the famous wali of Allah, Shaykh Abd al-Aziz ad-Dabbagh [1] of Fez, and in the Darqawi tariqah, the Shaykh Sidi al-'Arabi ibn al-Huwari from whom Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib took the tariqah, and most famously Shaykh Ahmad al-Alawi, a master of Sufism whom all accept without reservation.
The basic requirements for a person to be a Sufi Shaykh are as follows.
- He understands the primacy of the Qur'an and Sunna.
- He is a good muslim
- He is not satisfied with his spiritual station or state.
- He must be trained in the sufi path by another qualified shaykh and must have been with the latter for enough to time to absorb his state and attitude towards religion.
- He must be authorised and he must have an unbroken chain of masters linking him back to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
- He must have the Aqida of Ahlul Sunna wal Jama'ah.
- He must be a Faqih and be knowledgeable in one of the four Madhabs.
- He must know the stages of the Sufi path like fana, baqa, marifa experientially.
- ourworld.compuserve.com
- Introduction by Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib as presented to his Diwan
- What does a Shaykh do in Tasawwuf and Tazkiyah A blog of a prominent Shaykh of Sufism, Tasawwuf and Tazkiyah
- Shaykh Abdalqadir As-Sufi [2]