A very special branch of the Faith, through which it is carried to perfection,
is Ehsan, as the Prophet's (Peace be upon him) Tradition describe it,
or Tasawwuf, as it is known in common parlance. In plain words, It means
the creation of a real, living consciousness of God a consciousness so
strong and vivid as if one had actually seen him, sweeping aside every
trace of doubt and uncertainty. When this consciousness becomes complete,
it forges a bond of loyalty with God that fills the heart with his remembrance,
his love and an intense awareness of his night ; it becomes the essence,
the ruling spirit, of one's existence, of all one's thought and action,
in prayer, in morality, in social behaviour, in monetary dealings, and,
so forth. All that one does then is inspired, governed and regulated by
this all embracing faith and overpowering realization. One's external
life gets completely pervaded by this internal feeling.
Ehsan or Tasawwuf, thus, represents the very pinnacle of faith. It is
the supreme standard of one's spiritual state. One is perfect in his faith.
or not according to the measure with which he is blessed with this wealth.
The famous Tradition of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) consisting of
the dialogue between him and angel, Gabriel, is a pointer in this direction.
The manner in which the term Ehsan occurs in it after Imam and Islam testifies
to the truth of the assertion that Ehsan marks the ultimate stage in the
evolution of faith.
Briefly, the Tradition says that one day the Prophet (Peace be upon him)
was sitting with some of the Companions that Gabriel came in disguised
as a traveler from a far-off place. He took his seat close to the Prophet
(Peace be upon him) and began to ask him some questions. The first was,
"What is Islam (Faith)?" And, the second, "What is Islam?.
The Prophet (Peace be upon him) gave suitable replies to his questions.
Then he asked, "What is Ehsan" The Prophet (Peace be upon him)
answered, "Ehsan means to worship God as if one is actually seeing
him or is being seen by him."(In other words, the stage of Ehsan
is reached when the awareness of God becomes the greatest reality of one's
life and one's every act is performed under a constant sense of his presence
for although man cannot see God it is just not possible in this material
world God does see him all the time).
This state of sublimity can exist only when faith has worked itself out
to the highest degree and become one's life-breath. It was for the attainment
of this state that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) would beg fervently
to God. "O God! he would say, "Let such be my state that I may
fear Thee and revere Thee as if I was seeing Thee constantly till (at
last) my time came and I went up to join Thee."
This condition is known among the sufis(Muslim mystics) as Huzoori (presence)
and Yad-Dasht (remembrance) and Nisbat (affinity), and when anyone is
described by them as Saheb-i-Nisbat, it denotes that he has arrived at
it in a considerable way. When this state of spiritulity is reached, a
person gets permanently attuned to God and becomes immune to all kinds
of doubts and misgivings concerning his being. Setting forth his own experience
in one of his letters, Hazrat Mujaddid Alf-Sani says: "Acting on
the postulate: 'Acknowledge publicity the boons conferred by God,'a Dervish
of his (Naqshbandi) school narrates about himself that all doubts and
fears have totally disappeared from his heart, so much so that even if
he lives for a thousand years like the (Hebrew). Prophet, Nooh (Alai-hi-Salam),
not a single doubp or temptation can creep into it may, it cannot creep
into it even if he himself strives for it for many a long year".
As a natural outcome of this all-pervading effulgence of faith, this all-engulfing
sense of Divine presence, all other ties and attachments are merged and
lose their identity in the one great allegiance to Almighty, and all internal
and external acts, such as, love, friendship, enmity and social and business
intercourse begin to be gone through and carried out for his sake alone.
A Tradition of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) on the subject of Ehsan
tells that " A person whose state may be that when he loves, he loves
for the sake of God and when he hates, he hates for the sake of God, and
when he gives, he gives for the sake of God and when he withholds his
hand from giving, he withholds it for the sake of God he has attained
perfection in his faith.
The most exalted position in this respect was that of the Prophet (Peace
be upon him). He operated on the highest level to which a man can evolve
his destiny from the point of view of faith and Ehsan. In his life there
was contained the most ideal blending of knowledge and awareness, and
piety and the fear of God. He used often to say of himself, "No one
among you fears God more than me, no none reverse him more intensely than
me, and no one possesses a greater knowledge and a more complete awareness
of him than me."
From the Prophet (Peace be upon him) his Companions had received their
share aptitude and circumstances, and the possess-
ion of this very commodity has remained throughout the high merit of the
sufi-saints of Islam. All their special spiritual exertions remembrance,
meditation and acts of self-purgation have had no other aim than the acquirement
of it. As Hazrat Gangohi, a Sufi-saint of the Current century, writes,
"This is the ultimate goal of all systems (of Sfism)......... Why
had the holy Companions sacrificed all that they had life, family, property
and everything? What had they seen? It was simply because of the fact
that they had acquired absolute faith in God through their association
with the Prophet (Peace be upon him). This was, with them, the measure
of all things. How did Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani, Moinuddin Chishti and
Bahauddin Bukhari climb to greatness? Through this very faith". A
few lines later, the great Sufi goes on to observe: " This forging
of link (with God) is called Ehsan. The raising up of the Prophet (Peace
be upon him) was for its sake alone and all the Holy Companions were endowed
with it in different degrees. The saints of the Ummat than produced it
through another way."
The real thing, therefore, is the acquirement of the light of faith and
the inner feeling of Ehsan. The holy Companions had realized this state
through the fullness of their love for and devotion to the Prophet (Peace
be upon him), through the intimateness of their association with him,
and through dedicating themselves to life of virtue under his advice and
direction, and the making of utmost sacrifices in the case of God. After
the death of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), the Companions, both individually
and as a body, functioned as his successors and representatives in the
line, and as long as they remained in the world the exalted state of Ehsan
could be gained by sitting at their feet.
When the Companions, too, were gone and symptoms of moral and spiritual
degradation began to make themselves manifest in the Muslim society with
the laps of time, a stage came when the high should men in the Ummat,
who still cherished in their hearts the heritage of Ehsan and occupied
the same elevated position in their branch as the Mujahids in Figh, stirred
themselves into activity. Seeing that the inspiring society of the Prophet
(Peace be upon him) and the Companions was available no more and the Muslim
Millet was moving down steadily from the ideal of righteous-doing to corruption,
they evolved certain methods for the kindling of the flame of faith in
the hearts and the generation of that feeling of God realisation which
is the essence of Ehsan. These methodes included excessive remembrance
of God, meditation, and the control and discipline of the desires and
impulses of the self. Their utility is selfevident and their is a clear
proof also of their correctness and effectiveness in the original sanctions
of the Faith and Shariat. The bulk of the Ummat has consistently reposed
its trust in the soundneee of these methods and in the integrity of the
holy men who had worked them out, and they have, further, received the
greatest of sanctions the sanction of time. These last two factors, more
than anything else, place the worth and merit of the practices indicated
above beyond therealm of controversy.
For a thousand years and more, the finest elements in the community, from
the point of view of faith, have affirmed that the system in vogue among
the Sufis for spiritual self-evolution and the creation and strengthening
of God-consciousness is fundamentally correct and efficacious in practice.
Who can deny that hundreds and thousands of men have derived an immense
benefit as a result of their spiritual association with each of the leading
Sufi-saints like Khwaja Maroof Karkhi, Bishar Hafi. Siri Saqati, Shafiq
Balakhi, Bayazeed Bustami, Junaid Baghdadi, Abu Bakr Shibi, Sheikh Abdul
Qadir Jilani, Sheikh Shahabuddin Suhrawardi, Sheikh Amed Rifai, Sheikh
Abul Hasan Shazli, Khwaja Osman Harooni, Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti, and
Khawaja Bahauddin Naqshband, and the saints of the last three centuries
of the present Millennium of the class of Khwaja Baqi Billah, Imam Rabbani,
Mujaddid Alf-Sani Sheikh Ahmed Sarhindi and their deputies, and Shah Waliullah
Dehlavi and syed Ahmed Shaheed, and countless of other devoted men of
God, who like them, were adorned with the virtue of Ehsan and functioned
as the leaders of this feild during their time? Anyone who possesses the
briefest acquaintance with these luminous links in the chain of Sufistic
achievement will agree that what they had attained had come to them through
no other channel. How, then, can it be possible to doubt the soundness
and efficacy of a system that has produced such exuisite specimens of
religious perfection, so many splendid men of faith and conviction, who
may justly be described as the spiritual blossom and glory of Islam?
Of course, some sections of the Ummat have been guilty of error and folly
in varying measures and both of a conceptual and a practical nature in
the feild of Tasawwuf, as in the other fields of the Faith. But just as
the process of the caution and correction has been kept in operation steadily
in the other fields through the Ulema and the Mujahids, in this field,
too, it has been the same way with Sufis of deep learning and penetrating
vision coming up from time to time from God to straighten its curves and
to remove its impurities. Furthermore, it does not become any one to reject
a whole structure of belief and practice simply because some sections
of its followers have some mistakes.
such in brief, is the meaning of Ehsan and the place it holds in Islam.
The path by which it is reached is known popularly as Sulook or Tareeq.
It is an accepted fact that to undertake a journey along this path one
must place oneself in the hands of an expert guide who can show the way
and furnish lead at each step in the correct direction. One cannot start
treating oneself (or others) for physical ailments by reading books of
medicine. The same is true of the feild of spiritual well-being. For spiritual
treatment it is necessary to go to spiritual physician, i.e., to a man
who has attained the goal by going all the way himself and knows all its
ups and downs, and follow his directions faithfully. The first duty of
the pilgrim should, therefore. be to seek out a guide and a leader who
in addition to his religious and spiritual accomplishments. must also
be suited to his natural disposition and to commit himself to his charge
ungrudgingly. This is called Iradat.
Tragically true, as it is, that such accomplished men of God are becoming
scarce day by day, the world is not quite empty of them. There do exist
men about whom it can be said, subject to the limitations of human judgement
and understanding, of course, that to their lot has fallen the heritage
of God-consciousness which is the goal and destination of Ehsan and under
their guidance and with requisite enthusiasm and perseverance one can
successfully traverse the path of Sulook.
It is, surely, not that any one who flourishes himself as a peer is worthy
of being taken as a guide and a mentor. The world knows that there are
both fake and genuine among religious teachers and spiritual masters,
as among political leaders and physicians, and so forth. We admit that
the proportion of imposters in the religious, and so forth. We admit that
the proportion of imposters in the religious and spiritual sphere is far
greater than elsewhere. But, as elsewhere, the true can be distinguished
from the false here as well without much difficulty. The experts who are
blessed also with a keen understanding of the Shariat, like Shah Waliullah
and Kazi Sanaullah of recent times, have laid down in the light of the
Quran and Sunnah and their own knowledge and experience, certain suggestions
for recognizing men with an awakened heart and an evolved soul who can
be looked up to for spiritual guidance. the elementary test is that besides
piety and a strict observance of the Shariat their state should be such
that in their company people may be remineded of God. The hold of material
aspirations may weaken, and the love of God, and the solicitude for the
Hereafter may grow stronger as a result of associating with them, and
these qualities may also be clearly manifest in their adherents and disciples.
The seek after Ehsan should, therefore, provide himself first of all with
a guide of the above calibre, and if he cannot do so on his own, he may
take the advice of those who are expected to be helpful in the making
of the choice. If after listening to their advice he finds himself drawn
to a saint and this feeling increases further when he comes to know him
personally, he ought to turn towards him with faith and confidence, seek
guidance from him and carry out his instructions loyally as a wise patient
does the instructions of his physician. In such a case there will arise
no occasion for disappointment and God will surely reward him in some
degree or another with the radiance of faith and the feeling of Ehsan
by means of which one's religious state is brought to perfection, faith
in the unseen becomes as clear and firm as faith in the visible phenomena,
and obtaining full riddance from all manner of spiritual doubts and misgivings,
one's existence truly becomes a saga of undivided love and devotion to
God.
But, the path of Tasawwuf is a hard path. One who treads it has to pay
dearly in terms of suffering and sacrifice. Only a devotee who can make
it the sole object and mission of his life and is ready to forgo his desires,
his comfort and even his life for the sake of it can hope to do it successfully.
No wonder, therefore, that the travelers along this path have always been
few.
There is however, a lesser grade of Ehsan which lies in the endeavour
that on conjunction with loyalty to the fundamental articles of faith,
one's worship and remembrance of God may attain a standard so no impart
a real heavenly joy to the heart, the moral and practical spheres of one's
life may become reasonably clean at the least, and repugmamce to evil
and the longing for good deeds may come to one almost habitually. They
yearning for these ends is present in a fair amount in our religious circles
and most of the devotees now a days go to spiritual masters with the promotion
of these ideals as their object.
The present writer is not at all competent to tender advice towards the
realisation of the higher ideal embodying the true concept of Ehsan. For
that one will have to go to an enlightened teacher, and a real saint.
There, however, seems no harmand taking the liberty here of advancing
some suggestions regarding the lesser grade of that spiritual state, specially
when they do not contain anything apart from what he has learnt from the
masters and are representative solely of the general principles of the
Divine faith and the holy law. The writer is further persuaded by the
hope that should the reader be encouraged to put the suggestions to his
advantage by acting on them, he will become entitled to as much share
in the Divine reward as the latter for it is a merciful law with the providence
that " A person who guides another to virtue will be recompensed
equally with him". It is in this hope and in this spirit alone that
the following suggestions being offered.
(1) The most important thing is the soundness and integrity of faith.
If there is a defect in the basic structure of a person's faith, for example,
if there is a trace of polytheism in his spiritual outlook, all his endeavors
will come to nothing. Even if he fasted during the day devoted his nights
to prayer throughout the year, it would avail him nothing. Hence, the
initial condition is doctrinal purity and wholesomeness. What has been
said in this connection in the preceding chapters of the book should be
enough by way of general guidance.
(2) Care should be taken to learn the teachings and postulates of the
religion, whether they appertain to matters like Namaz and Roza, which
are obligatory for every one, or to the general conduct of life. The course
that may be best suited to one's peculiar needs and circumstances should
be adopted for this purpose.
(3) It is necessary to offer earnest repentance for sins of omission and
commission committed in the way of God and for the life spent thus far
in neglect and folly. It should also be resolved with all one's heart
and the strength of will to carry out in future the Divine Commands scrupulously
and lead a life of loyalty and devotion to God.
It should be remembered that God demands of his servants only what lies
within them to do, and that, too, without involving themselves in any
great difficulty. He never calls upon man to do a thing that may be beyond
his capacity or endurance. There is, in fact, so much regard for convenience
in religion that if it may be hard for a person to stand up for prayer
due to illness, he is permited to offer it up in the sitting posture or
even while lying in bed. In the same way, he is allowed to forego the
fasts Ramzan if he be ill or in a journey. The same is the case with the
other duties of religion also.........It is, as such, totally wrong to
suppose that to live upto the requirements of the faith is a highly taxing
business. This belief is due wholly to lack of will and absence of habit.
If a person makes up his mind and lets the observance of religious postulates
sink into himself as a settled tendency, he will soon see that there will
be no peace for him otherwise.
(4) Mere mortals that we are, we are a prey to numerous weaknesses. There
is the Devil, always on the look out to lure us into sin, and there is
our own sensual self. It is, therefore not inconceivable that in spite
of our sincere desire to observe the Divine ordinances and refrain from
civil deeds, we may fail into error in a situation like this our attitude
should be to seek the forgiveness of God as soon as we become morally
aware of the infringement and resolve not to be guilty of it again Repentance
at the commission of a sin. Provided that it is genuine, not only erases
its efects altogather but also wins for one the love and pleasure of God.
As the Quran says. "God loves those who seek forgiveness after committing
a sin."
If the infringement be of a nature as to involve a sin against man also,
like cruelty; injustice, back-biting. violation of or encroachment upon
the rights of others it will be necessary to make appropriate amends to
the aggrieved for the misdeed in addition to seeking the forgiveness of
God. We have already referred in the chapter on Monetary dealings and
social conduct, to the Prophet's (Peace be upon him) Tradition that on
the last day there will be people with a huge stock of Namaz, Roza, Zakat,
and Haj to their credit, but, side by side with it, they will also be
carrying heavy load of wrongs perpetrated on their fellowmen. The good
acts of such people will then be allotted to those against whom they had
transgressed, and, if the claims of the latter will still remain unsatisfied,
the transgressors will be thrown into the Hell, all their praying and
worshipping notwithstanding.
(5) The significance good morals command in faith and the crucial role
they play in the spiritual evolution of man have been amply discussed
in a previous chepter It should be a primary concern with all the votaries
of God and religion to adorn themselves with the best of morals. But since
moral behaviour is closely related to one's innat disposition and personality,
its cleansing and reformation is more difficult than that of the other
sphers of our activity. As a general rule, one is to exert oneself to
the utmost and assume deliberately even though one might not be actually
in possession of them the moral virtues, such as, humility, mildness,
affability, love, compassion, patience, contentment, generosity, selfnegation
and sicerity and good will towards others, and avoide the opposite qualities
like vanity, passion, stinginess, greed, jealousy, rejoicing at the misfortunes
of others, and selfishness. Insha Allah, in due course. one's personality
will get cast into the new mould. A Tradition of the Prophet (Peace be
upon him) assures that, "He who will assume chastity an effort. God
will make him contented; he who will assume forbearance with an effort.
God will make him forbearing." It is said that once a Companion complained
to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) of his own hard-heartedness upon which
the Prophet (Peace be upon him) advised him to make a habit of stroking
gently the heads of the orphans. It was a remedial measure of identical
style. Other moral healers have also attested to the efficacy of this
method.
(6) Care should be taken to observe the prescribed modes of worship, specially
the Namaz, in as ideal a way as possible, and also to keep up the Nafl
Prayers. Among the supererogatory prayers the Tahajjud is the most valuable.
Worship, whether it takes the physical or the financial form or be it
a mixed one and whether it is compulsory or super erogatory, is definitely
the greatest source of spiritual progress and access to God.
(7) The next thing is to make the recitation of the Quran and Zikr a part
of one's daily routine.
It is suggested that the confession, Subhan Allah wa Alhamd-o-Lillah wa
La-Ilah-a-Ilallah wa Allah-o-Akbar, and the Istighfar and Durood Shareef
be recited a hundred times each, morning and evening. During the recitation,
attention should be focussed on the meanings of the words and phrases
occurring in them, and the heart should also be made to participate in
the task. It should also be confidently hoped during the act that, a part
from the Divine recompense and reward that would accrue from the deed,
one's soul might as well permeated with the radiance of God's name as
a result of the auspiciousness of the phrases recited.
Moreover, what is popularly known as Tasbeeh-i-Fatima (Subhan Allah, 33
times; Al-Hamd-o-Lillah, 33 times; Allah-o-Akbar, 34 times) may be recited,
as for as possible, regularly after each Namaz. It does not take more
than two minutes, and with a little care, every one can it. On retiring
to bed for the night the above Tasbeeh may be said out once again, and
three times the Kalima-i-Istighfar,viz., Astaghfirullah-il-Lazi La-Ilaha-Illa
Hual Hayul Qaiyum wa Atoob-o-Ilaih.
Asuitable time may be fixed for the daily recitation of the Quran. The
length of the recitation is not important; it may only be a section or
two. What really matters is the regularity and the correctness of the
recitation and the feelings of earnestness and reverence with it is done.
The aspirants are further advised to cultivate the habit of bringing the
name of God on their tongues, in one from or another, at brief intervals
during their hours of occupation, as for instance, by uttering Ya Allah,
La Ilah-a-Illallah, or the full Kalima or Istighfar every little while.
After the period of conscious finding a place in the select circle of
those who have been spoken of in the Quran in these words: Men whom neither
traffic nor merchandise can divert from the remembrance of God. (Nur ,
5)
(8) After the Isha prayers in the night or at any other convenient hour,
four or five minutes may be reserved for what among the Sufis is called
'meditation of death' . During these moments, a person should contemplate
on what will occur to him when death will strike him down, which is an
absolute certainly ; then what will his condition be when he will be buried
in the grave after the necessary rituals of bathing and shrouding have
been gone through and the funeral service has been said; what will he
do in that dark, lonely call of the grave? How is he to pass the long
period of suspense and agony intervening between his death and the day
of final judgement if he does not prove worthy of Divine favour and forgiveness?
And, finally, on the Last Day, what will his state be when the balance
sheet of his conduct on the earth will be presented to God and He will
pass His judgement? (These events should be visualized mentally as if
one was actually going through them at the time.) Afterwards, he should
pray to God with urgent solicitation for forgiveness, for death in a state
of faith, and mercy in the life beyond.
(9) In worship, in Zikr and in all other acts of virtue, the eye should
be solely on Divine approbation and recompense, in the earning of which
full trust should be reposed. This, in religious terminology, is called,
Iman-o-Ehtisab (i.e.Faith and Censorship). Two Rakats of Namaz offered
up in this spirit are more precious than a hundred without it. With this
as the permanent attitude of the mind, even the minutest trifles of life,
like eating and drinking and the carrying out of the every day social
and family obligations, get elevated to an act of prayer.
(10) The making of sulemn entreaties to God for one's spiritual as well
as legitimate woldly needs and aspirations is not only an effective means
to their realization, but also a high act of worship by itself. A Tradition
reads "Dua is the essence and marrow of worship. And another says."
Upon whom the doors of Dua have opened. upon him the doors of mercy have
opened. A votary should make it a point to supplicate to God with special
care and ardency after each Namaz and at other suitable times believing
in it to be a most efficacious means of earning Divine pleasure and gaining
access unto him. Among the innumerable bounties conferred upon the Prophet
(Peace be upon him) by God, a most exclusive was the endowment of his
prayers with unique depth and fevor. Hundreds of his prayers are preserved
in the books of Traditions and they are imbued with an extraordinary effulgence
and auspiciousness . These Prayers have been assembled togather by the
scholars to make a separate volume. The volumes compiled by Mulla Ali
Qari, called Al-Hizbul Azam, and Hazrat Thanvi,under the title of Maqbool,
have the special advantage of containing the Urdu Translation of the prayers
and can be obtained casily. Both of them have been divided into seven
sections to provide one section for each day of the week. A section from
one of these volumes may be read every day.
These ten suggestions will. Insha Allah, suffice for the seekers of religious
and spiritual correction and reform, subject, of course, to the condition
that they are acted upon diligently and honestly. But there are people
who are temperamentally incapable of being profited by the mere reading
of a book. For them the advice, again, is to give themselves the benefit
of the company of a living guide.
|