بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
و الصلاة و السلام على أشرف المرسلين
و على اله و اصحابه أجمعين
The sufi knowledge is the noblest one, it is the mother of all the knowledges, it is the spirit of our religion and its highest degree. It was our duty to clarify the teachings of the way in order to ease the path for the pupil animated by love and who wants to reach the Truth’s knowledge. The path is clear and has been smoothed by the beloved ﷺ who summarized it in one sentence: “Is that you serve Allâh as you were seeing Him.”
Then Allâh’s people brought to Light this principles. They did for sufism what the four imams (Allâh have mercy upon them) did for islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) and its principles (usul).
It was written in the Hikam, “God makes some people remain in the service of Him, and He singles out others to love Him.”
“To each [category], We extend – to these and to those – from the gift of your Lord. And never has the gift of your Lord been restricted.” [1]
In our way, we choose to never belittle someone who testifies Truth’s oneness because we know the worth he has with Allâh. The Truth (al-Haqq) granted us with an immense gift by putting in our hearts mercy for all muslims and by allowing us to love all his creation.
Likewise, The Truth granted us with knowledge coming directly from Him. Nor can they encompass any knowledge of Him except what He wills.
In this way, sidi ‘Abdulqader ibn Muhammad says in a poem:
Allâh gives his benefits to whom he wills
Only By preference and MercyAs soon as he chooses a servant for his Proximity
He prefers Him [over the rest] without any reasonAnd by his justice, he forbids whom he wills
From the flux of His Benefit without diminishing it
We do not hide this knowledge to the creatures, because we know that Abu Sa’id al-Khudri narrates that the messenger of Allâh ﷺ said, “Whoever conceals knowledge which Allâh has made beneficial for mankind’s affairs of religion, Allâh will bridle him with reigns of fire on the Day of Resurrection.” [2] We do not hide this knowledge for those who are ennobled to it but we do not share it with those who disrespect Allâh and who go against him. As people who make sport of Him. We also do not share this knowledge to please people and we disavow from the deeds and the words of those who only act to please people.
Allâh ﷻ says, “[Allâh praises] those who convey the messages of Allâh and fear Him and do not fear anyone but Allâh. And sufficient is Allâh as accountant.” [3] We also have no time to loose anymore to debate on subjects that will only bring tensions and clash between people who are nowadays whith their Lord, and we ask divine mercy for them.
All the claims in this book are based on quranic verses and hadith. If it appears for the reader that something in this book is contrary to the sacred texts, then it comes from his own understanding and not from the absence of evidence. Likewise, let us not forget the athar that says, “No personality traits are nobler than the following two, the good opinion of Allâh and the good opinion of Allâh’s servants. No personality traits are viler than the following two, the bad opinion of Allâh and the bad opinion of Allâh’s servants.”
Let us present the scheduling of this book in which we began each chapter by giving the definition of the concept in the arabic language and its definition within our Tariqa. Then we will show where the concept matter appears in the Quran and the hadith so we can develop it.
Dear reader, you need to hold firmly onto the transcendence (tanzih) of the Creator and the total invalidity of analogy [4] (tashbih), in accordance with the verse, “There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.” [5], so the Truth (al-Haqq) ﷻ allows you to perceive the mystical truths and to water you in the river of His knowledge.
Shaykh Muhiy ad-Din ibn ‘Arabi said, “He who claims that Allâh incarnated in his creation (houloul), his religion is wrong. And no one has claimed ittihad (unification of Allâh to his creation) but an apostate.”
Take care to not deny this knowledge because he who only denies the least part of this knowledge is deprived of its beneficent force (barakah). By nature, man is the enemy of what he ignores. Allâh ﷻ says, “And We have certainly diversified in this Qur’an for the people from every [kind of] example; but man has ever been, most of anything, [prone to] dispute.” [6]
By the grace of Allâh, our way is clear and simple and its funding principles are seven:
- The rosary (as-subha)
- The wandering (as-siyaha)
- The spiritual dance (al-hadra)
- The patched clothing (al-mouraqqa’a)
- The Name (al-Ism)
- The spiritual seclusion (al-khalwa)
- The secret (as-sirr)
All the teachings are summarized in one sentence:
Belittle yourself and give importance to your neighbor
It means to focus entirely on worshipping our Lord by belittling and modesty, fulling our hearts with mercy and humility towards all the creation, even for the smallest insect, because as the Quran says, an ant had the honor the talk with sayiduna Sulayman. Allâh ﷻ says, “Until, when they came upon the valley of the ants, an ant said, “O ants, enter your dwellings that you not be crushed by Solomon and his soldiers while they perceive not.” So [Solomon] smiled, amused at her speech, and said, “My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and to do righteousness of which You approve. And admit me by Your mercy into [the ranks of] Your righteous servants.”” [7]
Furthermore, sayiduna Musa (Peace on him) received the divine Word through a burning tree: “But when he came to it, he was called from the right side of the valley in a blessed spot – from the tree, “O Moses, indeed I am Allâh, Lord of the worlds.”” [8]
So give the greatest importance to the creation of Allâh, leave all the considerations of yourself (nafs), your passions and be careful to do not attach importance to hearsays. Seek the company of the one who helps you in your religion, who helps you to moist your tongue by the mention of Allâh. In this way, you will be preserved in this lowly word and your will be successful in the other one.
The founding principles of the Tariqa Karkariya,
Shaykh Mohamed Faouzi Al Karkari (may Allâh sanctifiy his secret).
[1] Surah al-Isra, verse 20.
[2] Sunan ibn Majah, hadith 261.
[3] Surah al-‘Azhab, verse 39.
[4] Tashbih is an islamic religious concept meaning closeness. In islamic theology, two opposite terms are attributed to Allâh, tashbih and tanzih, or distance and transcendence.
[5] Surah ash-Shura, verse 11.
[6] Surah al-Kahf, verse 54.
[7] Surah an-Naml, verses 18/19.
[8] Surah al-Qassas, verse 30.