Shariah, Tariqah and Haqiqah

 

Worship is nothing but obeying the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) and following His orders, in words, actions, His orders as well as His prohibitions.  Even if you do something which seems to be worship, it will not be considered worship unless it is done as per the Shariah.

 

Just see!  How distinguished a form of worship is Salaat, but offering it in the prohibited times is a sin.  Similarly, fasting in itself is a great form of worship, but fasting on Eid days is a sin.

 

Whiling away time playing, etc. isn’t good, but doing it with one’s wife is worthy of reward.  All because of the orders of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).  For this one should make one’s spiritual conditions and states subservient to the Shariah.  For the Seekers (Salikeen), first the beliefs should be pure in which there shouldn’t be even a shadow of an innovation.  The second thing is true repentance after which one doesn’t even approach any sin.  The third thing is to treat the whole creation, whether friends or foes, in such a manner that nobody’s rights are outstanding.  The fourth is to acquire that much knowledge of the Shariah that one can distinguish between permissible and impermissible and so much from other sciences that is included in deliverance.

 

Hadhrat Shaykh Shibli (May Allah shower His mercy on him) says: I learnt 4000 Hadith from 400 teachers.  From among them, I selected only 1 Hadith for acting upon it.  That Hadith is, “Work for this world to the extent that you have to remain in it and work for the hereafter to the extent that you have to remain there.  Work for Almighty Allah to the extent that you owe Him and work for hell to the extent that you can bear its agonies.

 

Hadhrat Shaqeeq Balkhi (May Allah shower His mercy on him) asked his student and disciple Hadhrat Hatim Asamm (May Allah shower His mercy on him):  How long have you stayed with me?  He said:  33 years.  Then he asked him:  In all this time, how many sciences did you learn from me and what did you gain?  Hadhrat Hatim Asamm (May Allah shower His mercy on him) said:  Only 2 things.  Hadhrat Shaqeeq (May Allah shower His mercy on him) said:  I have spent my whole life in your education and you have gained only 2 things!  Hatim (May Allah shower His mercy on him) said:  O Shaykh!  This much is enough for me.  I have no desire to gain anything more than this and more than this is waste.  Hadhrat Shaqeeq Balkhi (May Allah shower His mercy on him) said:  Just tell me what are those 2 benefits?  He said:  The first is that I saw something or the other is beloved to every person in this world.  Among those things, some stay till death and some till the grave.  After careful thinking, I selected such a beloved that it should be a friend in the grave as well.  That is good deeds.  Hadhrat Shaqeeq (May Allah shower His mercy on him) said: Ahsanta (very well said).  The second is that I saw everyone in the world following their own Selves and desires although I have seen this verse of the Holy Quran:  Surah Nazia’aat, 40.  I felt sure that the Holy Quran is nothing but the truth.  Thus, I trapped my Self (Nafs) in the snare of mortification in such a manner that it lost all its strength and it was busied in obedience of Almighty Allah without any tantrums.

 

Hadhrat Sahl Tustari (May Allah shower His mercy on him) would suffer from excessive urination.  All the time, he would keep a vessel with him.  When the time for Salaat would come, he would make his toilet and offer Salaat.  When he would step on the pulpit, everything would cease.  When he would step down from the pulpit, all the troubles would return.  Still, the Shariah would never be disobeyed by him.

 

Hadhrat Dhun Noon Misri (May Allah shower His mercy on him) says:  The commandments of the Shariah have come to us to dispel desires of the flesh and to make the Base Self (Nafs Ammara) give up.  To stop the desires of the flesh, following one rule of the Shariah is better than thousands of years of mortification, because the mortifications which aren’t as per the Shariah strengthen and invigorate the desires.  For a Seeker, following the Shariah is compulsory.  Thus, a Seeker should carefully follow the Shariah and meticulously guard it.  Then due to the blessings of following the Shariah, the Seeker will start gaining the blessings of the Tariqah through the heart.  Then, when the Seeker courageously fulfills the rights of the Tariqah, Allah Most High will raise the veils from the eyes of the heart and the truth will be revealed to the seeker.  Thus, the Shariah is the safeguard of the affairs and the Tariqah is the reformation of the inward aspect from blameworthy traits.  For e.g., keeping the clothes free of filth is Shariah and keeping the heart free of filth as per the Shariah is Tariqah.  Facing the Qibla in Salaat is Shariah.  Turning the heart to Almighty Allah is Tariqah.  Those who are graced with knowledge of the Haqiqah should walk the Tariqah along with obedience to the Shariah so that they come out of the category of the laymen and are included among the elite.  It shouldn’t be misunderstood that these 3, viz. Shariah, Tariqah and Haqiqah are the 3 stages of Sulook (the path to Allah Most High).  A human being is also the compendium of 3 things: Self (Nafs), heart (Qalb) and soul (Ruh).  But no one has understood the soul except those whom Almighty Allah favors.  Haqiqah is what can’t be described in words or metaphors.

 

Hadhrat Ghouse Azam Dastagir (May Allah shower His mercy on him) says:  The trust that was offered to the earth, heavens and the mountains, as mentioned in the Holy Quran, is the Shariah.

 

The Prophets (May peace be upon them) would exhort the populace to follow the Shariah and would themselves follow the principles of Tariqah.  From the Ummah, those whose courage is great and wants to reach the reality should follow the Tariqah so that he/she is removed from the category of the laymen and is entered among the elite.

 

The person who wants the Tariqah to be revealed to him and the reality be unveiled, that person should first fulfill the rights of the Shariah and should be punctual about the orders of the Shariah.  The Shariah is the word of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam), the Tariqah is His actions and the Haqiqah is His state.  This can be understood in this manner as well that the rules brought by the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) are the Shariah.  The way He acted on them is the Tariqah and the (spiritual) state of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) is the Haqiqah.

 

the knowledge of the tongue is the knowledge of the Shariah and the knowledge of the heart is the knowledge of the Tariqah and the accomplishment of a human being lies in acquiring both of them.  If any of them is incomplete, then that knowledge is imperfect and that person is not steadfast on the religion.  This is because whatever is there in the Shariah is the management(?) of the means and the Haqiqah is the vision of the Master of the means (Musabbib Ul Asbaab).  The Haqiqah can’t be gained without the Shariah and the Shariah doesn’t take the Seeker to the pinnacle of accomplishment without the Haqiqah.

 

Hadhrat Khwaja ‘Ubaidullah Ahraar (May Allah shower His mercy on him) says:  There is a difference in worship and devoutness.  Worship means fulfilling the duty of a slave and that is bound up with timings.  Devoutness means being conscious of Allah Most High all the time and at no time is one exempt of this.

 

A Siddiq is a person who doesn’t stray even a wee bit from the obedience of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).

 

No matter how much a worshipper and an ascetic a person is, as long as that person is tied up in his own ego, he/she is away from Allah Most High and is deprived of the taste of worship and unable to understand the secrets of the Shariah.  The one who has recognized the Haqiqah recognizes the Shariah as the Haqiqah.  Its reality can’t be gained with arguments and debates and through mincing words.  However, it can be through divine unveiling (Kashf), which is dependent on the benevolence of Allah Most High.  Whomever He wants, He honors them with unveilings and miracles.

 

The sign of understanding the Shariah as the Haqiqah is that that person is never free of worship and mortification even for a moment and doesn’t stray from the Shariah deliberately.  That person spends his/her whole life in worship and devoutness as that is the very intent of Allah Most High and in following the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).  The person who claims to have gained gnosis (Ma’arifah), but whose state is unlike it is nothing but a liar.  Great humility is found in the person who has gained gnosis.  Have you not heard that in spite of the great status of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam), which no high angel and no other Prophet has enjoyed, the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  Maa ‘Abadnaka Haqqa ‘Ibaadatika Wa Maa ‘Arafnaka Haqqa Ma’arifatik.

 

Neither has no one reached the Being (Dhaat) Allah Most High completely nor has one become aware of His Haqiqah.  Whoever has known, has known in an ambiguous manner.  To know oneself is to know the Lord Almighty.  The saying: Man ‘Arafa Nafsahoo Fa Qad ‘Arafa Rabbah supports this.

 

It should be known that in the terminology of Tasawwuf, Shariah means those religious rules, which Almighty Allah has sent for the sake of His slaves through His Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) to them.  Those deeds, utterances and rules following whom leads to betterment and attainment of perfection in the worldly activities and the activities of the hereafter, the laypeople and the elite are all included in it as this is the manifestation of the blessings of Allah Most High and His general mercy.

 

In the terminology of Tasawwuf, Tariqah is termed as “Sayr,” which is particularly associated with the Seekers.